001: Poliwag
Red
It was a cold day in Pallet Town. It was as if the town knew that this would be a day of loss. They would leave. Perhaps they would return. Perhaps not.
It was Ash Ketchum's 12th birthday today. He was of an average height for his age, with odd red eyes, and black hair visible only from under the edges of his beloved red and white cap; the only memento of his absent father he had, or at least that he could take on his journey. Other than the hat, he was wearing a navy blue shirt underneath a short-sleeved jacket matching his hat, and a pair of well-worn denim jeans.
He was sitting in his small room in his small house in the small town he lived in, playing on his NES. He wasn't having second thoughts about his decision to go on this journey; Ash, or 'Red' as he was known throughout the town, was not one for second thoughts. He wanted to escape the stuffy little town, wanted to win the 44th Pokémon championship, and, most importantly, wanted to find his father, Dan.
His father had disappeared 9 years ago, when Red had only been 3 years old. After Red's grandfather, the gym leader of Viridian city, had died, Dan had left abruptly, and without a word to his family. Everyone had said he was dead, but Red had refused to believe that. He knew that his Mother simply didn't want to admit that there was anything more important than family in Dan's life.
Red wanted to know what could have caused his father to leave. He wanted to meet him, and ask him, why?
Next to him in his room, in a small water tank sat his Poliwag, Polli. It was a small blue Pokémon, with a small round body, a large spiral on his chest, two small, toeless feet, attached to smaller legs, two constantly wide eyes, a little pink nose and a long, incredibly thin tail, which it twitched whenever loud noises came from the games console. As he had no mouth, he needed to absorb nutrients and energy from water, Professor Oak had told Red. Polli was Red's only Pokémon at the moment, though he had been promised another by Professor Oak. He had been friends with Polli since before he could remember. And they were friends. Red knew all about Polli, and, he hoped, Polli knew all about him. He had what Professor Oak called "A Knack" with Pokémon. Once, his Mother had been forced to shoo away a group of friendly Rattata that had climbed all over Red, and he had almost drowned once, attempting to greet a nice Goldeen that had wanted to play with him in the sea.
All of them weren't nice, though. Red had learnt that the hard way, when he'd nearly had his eyes pecked out by a particularly aggressive Spearow. Despite that incident, he hadn't lost his friendly optimism, or his recklessness.
Because of his 'Knack', the few children of Pallet Town had shunned him anyway, all except Professor Oak's Grandson, Gary. At least, for a while. A fierce rivalry between the two had quickly developed, while not being particularly serious for Red; it had become almost an obsession for Gary, who had gone as far as to insist everyone called him 'Green'.
Red abruptly threw down the controller, making the timid Poliwag jump in shock. "It's no use!" Red cried. "I'm too stoked about today to concentrate!" He stood, and pressed the central button on Polli's Pokéball, returning the Poliwag in a flash of red light. Red didn't like having to use Pokéballs, but Professor Oak had said that they were an essential tool for any trainer, and that he should get used to using them.
"Mom, I'm going over to the lab now!" Red shouted down the stairs.
"Don't go just yet!" Came the reply. "I have something for you."
Curious, Red darted down the stairs, narrowly avoiding dropping the Pokéball containing Polli down the stairs. He skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, placing the red and white ball under his matching cap. "What is it?"
"Hold on a minute." His mother instructed, reaching down into the permanently-locked cupboard, now mysteriously unlocked, and drew out a sheathed Katana. "This belonged to your father." She said with the look always in her eyes when remembering her husband.
The hilt was wrapped in red cloth, far too much to cover only the hilt; the bandage-like cloth trailed off for an arm's length. Delia unsheathed the blade a little, showing a gleaming metal. Red grabbed at the blade, but it was pulled away. "Careful, it's sharp!" she warned. "I want you to have protection, but I don't want you to hurt yourself. If I hear you've cut your own arm off, I'll be very angry. You got that?"
Red nodded. "Can I have it now?" He grinned.
Green
Gary Oak pounded the desk with his fist. "Why can't I just have Firestorm now?" He cried. "I don't need all this waiting crap!" His Machop, Bison made an agreeing sort of noise. If he was going to get the Charmander anyway, why did he have to wait until his birthday?
"You have to learn that patience is a virtue, Gary." His sister, Daisy, answered.
Gary whirled in shock. "Stop pulling all that ninja crap!" He shouted.
"Oh, Gary, I wish you'd stop using such foul language." His sister sighed.
"'Crap' isn't even a swearword!" Gary exclaimed in anger. "And I've told you a thousand times, call me 'Green'!"
"Oh, Gary" She giggled. "You need to control your anger." She finished, darting through the door to her adjoining room as Gary flung a pillow at her head.
"Crazy old witch, stay out of my room!" He shouted.
He looked around the room, calming down. He had a NES, and a Gameboy, which was much better than whatever crap Red had. He had two Pokémon, too, and either of them could easily beat Red's stupid Poliwag... Bison, the grey, red-eyed humanoid, with a small size that belied his uncanny strength, and Rockman, the constantly angry, well-camouflaged, armed (Which alone made it better than Red's stupid Poliwag, Gary thought.) Geodude. He looked at them, admiring the faint yellow auras surrounding them, which apparently only he and his sister could see. Sighing, Gary walked over to the door connecting to his sister's room and locked it; he didn't want her in his room again. He picked up the empty Pokéballs and returned the two Pokémon with a sigh, clipping the balls onto his belt, and descending the stairs.
Gary was taller than Red, if only due to his tall, brown, spiky hair with the green eyes of his nickname. He wore a long-sleeved green shirt, with purple combat trousers with abundant pockets. He wore a tight teardrop necklace, given to him by his father, the very day before the attack...
His father and mother had both died after being attacked by a wild Pokémon, much stronger than any around Pallet Town should have been. They had left their Pokémon behind, thinking that they would be able to repel any attack from the usually weak Pokémon in the area.
"Hello Gary!" Oak shouted through the door.
"Green." Gary automatically corrected, though his heart wasn't really in it.
"I shall let you and Red choose your Pokémon in an hour or so. However, I wanted to first talk to you for a minute." Samuel Oak paused, slipping his right hand into his long lab coat and fishing around. "Now, where on Earth did I put it?" He wondered, a look of confusion on his face.
"If you're talking about the hammer, it's in your left hand..." Green sighed, exasperated.
Professor Oak chuckled. "Just a little joke of mine. I'm not that senile yet!" He smiled warmly, holding the hammer up. "On your journey, you may find that a blunt instrument works better than a Pokémon, especially if your life is at risk. But use it only when you need to."
"Why a hammer? That's kind of a stupid weapon. Couldn't I get a sword, or a gun?" Gary asked.
"No." Oak stated. "I will not abide guns, and you're more likely to hurt yourself with a sword. Hammers are reliable. I know this, because I am old and wise. Listen to your old wise Grandpa!"
"Ok." Gary muttered, taking the hammer. He bounced it in his hands twice, exploring the weight, then gave a test swing. "Thanks, I guess." He smiled, studying the weapon. It was a short sledgehammer, fitting easily in one hand. The handle had a pattern of green flames, which Gary admired, though thinking it to be a little ostentatious. The head, on the other hand, was a beautiful metal, not looking quite like steel or iron, a shining, heavy cuboid. "Yeah, thanks, Gramps." Green said, this time more sincere. "Anyway, can I have that Charmander now?"
"Now Gary, I never said that you could have the Charmander, necessarily. If Red wants it too, then you'll have to flip a coin or something. I only said you could have one of the three." Oak explained.
"What!" Gary shouted, "But I'm your grandson! Why do you always favour him?"
"Gary, I'm not favouring him, I'm treating you both equally."
"Exactly! I'm your grandson, you should be favouring me! And call me Green!"
Professor Oak sighed. "As I'm offering this opportunity to both of you, I have to treat you equally. Perhaps you should try being grateful that I'm offering you this at all."
Gary calmed down. "I'm sorry, Gramps. I just really want that Charmander."
"Don't worry, Gary. I'm sure Red will give you it if you just explain that to him. He won't just try to take it out of spite. Come on, now. Let's go to my lab."
Blue
Blue looked around at the town from her vantage point on the top of the biggest building in town. It was a crummy little place, she thought. She'd seen houses bigger than the entire town put together. Still... It seemed peaceful. She might have stayed longer, if she didn't have a job to do elsewhere.
She was 12 as well, that very day, in fact, though she didn't know that. She had stopped counting a while ago. It had been an unnecessary extravagance. She was remarkably cold and sad for a girl her age. She wore a pale blue vest-top matching her eyes perfectly, and a short red skirt. Her long brown hair flowed out from underneath a sweet hat; white with a red ribbon around the base. She wore a single white and red glove on her right hand, with only a small bracelet on her left wrist.
"Need a rope, Ditty." She said. The glove started to ripple, changing colour to a dim pink, stretching out into a long thin rope, still attached to the girl's hand. She gestured, and it moved to a loop around a metal fixture on the roof. While it did this, she tied the rope around her leg.
She prised open the skylight, looking straight down onto the table containing three Pokéballs, each next to an odd-looking red device. Blue ignored these; she had come here for the rare Pokémon in the Pokéballs.
She had been surprised to learn of the stash of rare, powerful Pokémon that Oak was simply willing to give away. Blue might have simply asked for one, but even if she had been allowed one, well, that wouldn't have been enough anyway. She needed all the power she could get to perform her task.
Blue checked that the gun was safely in its holster, then started to lower herself down into the room gradually. She looked around the room, noticing the multitude of weird-looking machines and computers. She shivered, remembering.
What? Is that- Stop the machine! Stop this immediately! A shattering sound. Glass flying everywhere.
No. She couldn't afford to remember at the moment. Later. She descended, faster, until she was at the table. Curiosity struck her, and she lifted one of the red devices-with the hand not holding her hat against the pull of gravity-flipping it open. "What is this?..." She wondered aloud.
Muffled voices came from the connecting room. Blue gasped, scooping up the three Pokéballs and the device in her arms, dropping the hat to the floor. "Up!" She demanded. "Quickly!" The rope began to pull her up, though not smoothly. As the rope jerked and twitched, two of the Pokéballs fell to the floor. "No..." Blue sighed, tightening her grip on the remaining items in her grasp.
She reached the roof, sighing. "I only got one..." She dropped the items, patting her head. "Ditty, quick, get my hat!" The rope complied, snatching and lifting the hat from the floor of the lab, just as the door opened, Professor Oak, Red and Gary walking through it.
"That's odd..." Oak said, confused. "I swear I left those on the table..." He moved to the table, looking at the Pokéballs on the floor, suspicious, then looked up through the skylight. Blue was out of sight.
She inspected her loot. The device had been switched on after she had grabbed it so tightly earlier. Blue fiddled around with the buttons on the gadget, but didn't achieve anything. She put it down, lifting the Pokéball instead. She decided not to open it yet. Later. For now she wanted to try and find out about the machine she had found. She needed to take a few precautions, though. "Mask..." She whispered. Ditty clung to Blue's face, transforming into a blank white oval, pushing her hat off. "Eyeholes..." She breathed. The Ditto complied, allowing her to see.
The mask... It brought back bad memories, but how was Ditty to know that? She started to hyperventilate, the mask straining her lungs. The Ditto sensed this, and removed itself from her mouth and nose, covering only the Blue's eyes.
She drew the gun. She wouldn't fire it; she had only done so once before... A long time ago. But it would be useful to threaten with, to buy time to get away. She looked at the weapon, repulsed by it. It was a revolver, obsidian black, ugly. She hated the thing. Hated its ugliness, its capabilities, how it could kill with a minimum of effort- how a life could be taken away without giving any thought, and most of all she hated why she couldn't get rid of the thing. It had an obscene hold on her, though she told herself she needed it, she knew that wasn't true.
With a sigh, she dropped the weapon to her side, and crouched over the skylight, looking down into the lab.
Notes: With this fic, I'll be taking elements from the games, Pokémon Special, and the anime, though primarily the games. I do plan on doing 151 chapters, so this is going to take a while.