Disclaimer – I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters. This is purely a work of fanfiction and will not be used for monetary gains.
Note – This story mostly takes place in the Kanto and Johto regions, but includes Pokémon from all regions and generations. I have taken inspiration from the anime and game and will be taking quite a few liberties with battle mechanics.
I hope you enjoy it.
WILDLING – A POKEMON FANFICTION
Chapter 1 – A Boy and His Bulbasaur
Pallet Town was a sleepy place on the Southern Coast of the Kanto Region. No more than twenty houses stood in the small village, and they were mostly home to fishermen and the occasional farmer. There was of course also the lab and research ranch of the famous Pokémon professor, Professor Oak.
Professor Oak, already seventy years of age, loved the town of Pallet for various reasons, the first being that it teemed with Pokémon. In the summer flocks of Wingul could be seen drifting on the warm air currents above the town, or swooping down into the waters between Pallet and Cinnabar Island to catch Magikarp or Tentacool. In the winter Dewgong and Seels could be found sunbathing on the shore, a favorite sight of tourist ferries that passed the town using the strait to the South. To the North the forests and unkempt fields of grass on the way to Viridian City also provided a wealth of different Pokémon to study. In Oak's opinion there was no better place for a Pokémon Professor to be.
"Professor!" a boy of about ten charged into Oak's lab, a Bulbasaur at his side. It startled him so much that he nearly dropped the Nidoran egg he was busy setting into an incubator.
"Dale! How many times have I told you not to just come bursting into my lab when I'm working? I could have dropped this egg."
Dale just huffed. Nidoran eggs were notoriously tough and wouldn't suffer any damage from a short drop onto the lab floor. "But, professor." He whined, "I have something to tell you."
"Well you'll just have to wait until I'm finished." Signaling that he was done with the discussion, Oak turned back to the incubator and carefully set the egg inside it, then he turned the dials on the side to the correct temperature for a Nidoran egg and closed the lid.
"Now then, what was so important that you couldn't wait long enough to knock?" Oak looked the boy up and down. He was skinny, and quite tall for his age. He had a head of thick blonde hair that looked like it rarely saw a comb or a pair of scissors. His eyes were a murky green that almost mirrored those of the Bulbasaur that was always at his side. His nose was slightly askew from falling off a Rhyhorn when he was eight years old, and his cheeks were covered in freckles. At the moment his usually serious face was split into an uncharacteristic grin of excitement.
"Did you forget what day it is already, professor?" he asked, practically bouncing on his heels as he did. Oak had to admit. He didn't have an idea what the boy was talking about.
"Why don't you tell me?" Oak prompted dutifully.
"It's my birthday!" Dale shouted, and Bulbasaur echoed his shout with a roar, "I finally get to become a Pokémon trainer!"
Oak grimaced. Of course, Dale's tenth birthday, how could he have forgotten? In many ways he was the perfect candidate to go on a journey to become a Pokémon trainer. The thing that held most trainers back from leaving home and setting out on their own was the thought of leaving their families, but Dale didn't have any family. When he was just five years old he had been on a ferry with his parents. They were traveling from Johto to Kanto when a storm broke out. The ship capsized. Most of the passengers were saved, but both the boy's parents drowned. He was found floating alone in the ocean, clinging to a deckchair, a one-month-old Bulbasaur cradled in his arms.
The police and port authority tried everything they could to find the rest of the boy's family, but they had no success. Eventually the people of Pallet Town adopted him. They fed him, clothed him, and sent him to school. But, it was Professor Oak who opened his home and gave Dale a place to live. He also taught him all he could about Pokémon, making him much better informed about the different creatures in the world than most other kids his age.
Because of his past, and his present, he was perfectly suited to become a Pokémon Trainer. But, it was because of these same reasons that Oak found it nearly impossible to let him go. He had grown very attached to the boy and was deathly afraid that something would happen to him on his travels. He just couldn't let that happen, but he also couldn't keep the boy in Pallet Town if he didn't want to stay. Like an old student used to say, "You have to let people find their own goal in life, you have to let them follow their dreams."
"Ten years old, huh? Are you sure it's not nine?" Oak joked, tussling Dale's hair.
"No, it's definitely ten. And you said that's when new trainers get to set out on their Pokémon journey." He fixed Oak with a suspicious glare, clearly worried that the professor would somehow keep him from becoming a trainer. Bulbasaur, blissfully unaware, snuffled about their feet for treats. Not finding any he extended his twin vines up Oak's legs and started rifling through his coat pockets.
"Well, if it's definitely ten, then I guess there's only two things left to do. Hey!" Oak realized what the Bulbasaur was doing and slapped the vines away, but he was too late. The bulbous grass Pokémon had already stolen an open chocolate bar and was happily munching it, despite the professor's protestations.
"What are the two things, professor?" Dale asked, grabbing Oak's attention again.
"Well, firstly, all new trainers are given a starter Pokémon. In Kanto the league provides us with a choice of three, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. But, since you already have a Bulbasaur who is much further along in his training than any Pokémon the government provides, I think we can skip that step."
Dale was a bit disappointed at not being given a chance to pick a starter Pokémon, but Bulbasaur had never let him down. He patted his friend's head.
"Okay, so what's the second thing?"
"Your Pokedex. Here, I personally updated this Pokedex with all the latest data on all known Pokémon. It will be an invaluable tool on your journey since it is also a phone, and contains a map of the entire Kanto and Johto regions. Other areas can be uploaded onto the Pokedex as needed too." Oak handed Dale a brand new, bright red Pokedex. He flipped it open and ran his fingers over the dark screen almost reverently. It was the most expensive thing he had ever owned, and it was real proof that he was officially a Pokémon trainer.
"Thanks professor." He whispered, a tear involuntarily dripping down his cheek.
The next day saw Dale setting off from Pallet Town. Most of the town came to see him off, in such a small town everyone knew each other, and Dale held a special place in all their hearts. He waved goodbye to the townspeople as he left vowing that he wouldn't return before catching a bunch of Pokémon and collecting some badges.
Professor Oak watched with a heavy heart as Dale walked into the grass to the North of the city. He was wearing a red cap just like his idol and former pallet town inhabitant, Ash Ketchum. For a long while Oak watched the red hat bob up and down in the distance before disappearing into the tall grass.
"Well, Bulbasaur, I guess it's just you and me for now." Dale said, bending down to pat his long time friend on the head. "What do you say about clearing away some of this grass so we can actually see where we're going."
"Saur," Bulbasaur agreed and nodded his head.
"Okay, Bulbasaur, use razor leaf."
"Saur!" a flurry of leaves shot from the bulb on the Pokémon's back, spun about him for a second, then shot forward slicing through the tall grass. Green ribbons of grass fluttered to the ground revealing the path ahead, but the path wasn't the only thing the razor leaf uncovered. Three Spearows that had been scratching in the dirt for grubs looked up in confusion as their cover was suddenly blown.
The Spearows' confusion soon turned to anger. Spearows were extremely temperamental, and a wave of razor sharp leaves disturbing their lunch had put them completely on edge. The first spearow let out a screech and launched itself into the air. The other two charged along the ground, their wings held to the side for balance as they raced to attack Dale and Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, use tackle!" Dale shouted, swatting at the flying spearow with his backpack."
Bulbasaur reacted immediately. He charged forward and before the spearow duo could launch an attack he threw his body at them. The spearow were running close together and bulbasaur's tackle managed to hit both of them at once. The stunned Pokémon were sent flying backwards. Unscathed, Bulbasaur picked himself up off the ground and ran to help Dale.
"Use vine whip, Bulbasaur. Smack it out of the sky." Bulbasaur's vines immediately shot out. The agile Spearow dodged the first vine that reached it, but the second grabbed him around the middle. With a twist of his body, Bulbasaur yanked the vine downwards and slammed the Spearow into the ground. The Pokémon gave a weak cry before fainting. The other two spearow were nowhere to be seen.
"Good job, Bulbasaur. You were amazing! I don't think any of those starter Pokémon could have taken on three Spearows without even taking a hit. Now let's see if we can catch our first Pokémon." Dale dug around in his backpack till he found one of the poke balls a fisherman had given him as a going away present. It was blue and apparently better at catching water Pokémon than any other ball, but Dale was sure it would work just as well at catching a passed out Spearow.
He tossed the poke ball at the Pokémon. It hopped lightly on the bird's head before sucking the Spearow inside itself with an electronic sounding hum. The poke ball barely wiggled before pinging once to declare the Pokémon had been captured. Dale grinned down at Bulbasaur.
"We just caught a Spearow!" he shouted. Bulbasaur didn't seem very phased. He had just discovered that the Spearow had dropped an Oran berry and was happily munching on it without sparing Dale a second glance.
"Whatever, I'm excited enough for both of us." Slightly deflated by Bulbasaur's unimpressed demeanor he picked up his bag and started walking. He wanted to get his new Spearow to a Pokémon center and then maybe he'd go look for his first official Pokémon battle.
