Pokémon: The Kanto Chronicles
Disclaimer: First of all, I don't own Pokemon at all, nor Ash Ketchum or Prof. Oak. However I do own the original characters, Sora Seijin, Misa, and Ariana Smith.
Prologue: Surpassing them All
"Okay, Swellow! Use your fastest Quick Attack!"
With the orange, weighty Corphish on its back, the swallow Pokémon Swellow shot forward toward the Swampert and Arcanine, which were poised to strike at a moment's notice. The large Swampert had a beady look in its orange eyes as its webbed fingers shook with tension to stop the Swellow in its tracks, as the noble Arcanine growled and shook its white fur to let off the frustration of having to battle for longer than it had ever before. The Swellow and Corphish, however, were confident in their Trainer's plan and were sure to succeed.
Two trainers stood opposite each other on the battlefield. One was tall and lean with a silver jumpsuit with purple wings and styled purple hair. The other was much younger wearing a red hat covering his spiky black hair, a blue jacket with a white hood, probably never used because of the hat, black gloves in either hand with the finger sleeves cut, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Both trainers were shaking with the aspiration to win this match.
At about a hair's breadth from the dynamic Pokémon pair, Swellow swerved to the right and shot past them.
The purple-haired trainer of the Arcanine and Swampert looked amazed, but kept a straight face and shouted to his Pokémon, "That frontal attack was a bluff. Quickly, turn around!!"
Swampert and Arcanine spun around to face the Swellow and Corphish only to get pelted in the faces by a glowing crab claw and a sharp golden beak. Swampert and Arcanine were flung onto the hard battleground floor knocked totally unconscious before the eyes of the surprised Trainer.
"He…he knocked them both out…at the same time." The trainer couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could the crowd.
The referee, riding a floating stand above the battleground looked at the knocked out duo and declared, "Swampert and Arcanine are unable to continue! Corphish and Swellow are the winners, and the victor is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!!"
Ash Ketchum, standing on the far right side of the field, stood shocked, widened his eyes and jumped into the air shouting, "We did it!!!"
His small, yellow companion, Pikachu, jumped into the air as well, cheering for its comrades, "Pika-chu!!"
From his bedroom, decorated from wall to wall with Pokémon toys, a twelve-year-old boy with messy brown hair wearing a blue t-shirt with a lighting bolt design on it and white cotton pajama pants had his eyes glued to his TV, watching a famed battle of Pallet Town's legendary trainer, Ash Ketchum, against a leader of the Battle Frontier, Tucker the Dome Ace.
The moment the brazen Trainer's declaration of victory ended, the boy shot up from his floor cheering his heart out as if he had been there himself. Excited, the boy took the Pokéball clock from his bookshelf and held it at arm's length. He spoke boldly and truly to himself, "Almost six years ago, Ash Ketchum left this town to begin his Pokémon journey. Now he's left again to challenge the Sinnoh region! When he comes back, he'll find the next great Trainer of Pallet Town—Me! Sora…"
"Sora Seijin, you have to go to bed!!" the booming voice of the boy's mother, Misa Seijin caused young Sora to lose his balance and fall on his bottom to the floor. Sora looked at the doorway to his room, where his angry mother stood steaming like the salad they had for dinner. "Sora, have you looked at your clock lately?! It is 11:30 p.m. and tomorrow's your birthday, young man! Get in bed!"
Sora sat up from his spot on the floor and faced his mom, "Sorry, Mom, I kinda lost track of time after watching the Hoenn League Championships again!" He laughed nonchalantly, but his mother remained furious.
Misa groaned and ruffled her hair, "My goodness, you're always the same! Excuses, excuses, just like your fath…er."
Misa had forgotten that Sora didn't like to hear about his father, Kain Seijin, the late Kain Seijin who had died four years ago in a landslide during an excavation of Pokémon fossils, leaving his wife and son alone in their house in Pallet Town. Since then, Sora and his mother didn't speak of their lost family member so much, knowing only pain would follow. Sora stared at the floor for five seconds until Misa knelt down to her son to speak to him.
"Sora, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but we can get through this, all right? Please be strong for me, will you?"
Sora sighed and looked up to his mother, "Yeah, I'll get to bed now."
Misa picked up the remote from Sora's bed and switched the channel to a program with the local town professor, Samuel Oak, telling a lecture on three Pokémon. "Actually, since you're beginning your Pokémon journey tomorrow, you should watch this; it'll show you the Starter Pokémon you'll choose from. Just watch this and go right to sleep, okay?"
"All right, I will," Sora answered then turned to the screen.
"Good evening, I am Professor Oak, and for those of you hoping to become Pokémon Trainers or Coordinators in the near future should know about the three Pokémon you may be starting with: First there is the Grass-type, Bulbasaur, able to use moves such as Vine Whip or Razor Leaf. After Bulbasaur, there's Squirtle, a Water-type turtle that can use Water Gun and Bubble. Finally, there's Charmander, a Fire-type that uses moves such as Flamethrower and Ember. Now, each of these Pokémon has their own strengths and weaknesses which make them no better or weaker than one another so choose wisely as you begin your Pokémon journeys."
Sora looked intently at the screen, already thinking of which Pokémon he should start with. He gazed at his Pokéball clock on the floor reading "11:45" in red numbers. Sora picked up his clock, placed it back on the shelf and lay down in his bed. As Sora began to fall asleep he mumbled to himself, "Tomorrow…when I turn thirteen…a new Pokémon Master…will be born…"
In his sleep, Sora imagined individual situations in which he used each of the Starter Pokémon in battle. He mumbled silently, "Bulbasaur…Grass-type…Razor..." he let out a small yawn, "…leaf…"
"All right, Bulbasaur, I choose you!!" Sora tossed the Pokéball in his hand in front of him on the battlefield and a white light released the Bulbasaur inside.
"Bulbasaur!!" the Grass Pokémon cried out. Its main body was blue-green with small red triangles scattered around it and a large green bulb like a budding flower stuck out from its back.
"Now use Razor Leaf!!" Sora designated.
Bulbasaur stood its ground and two spinning leaves shot from the base of its bulb, firing straight ahead toward the area ahead.
Sora tossed to the right in his bed and imagined another situation.
"Squirtle…isn't such a bad choice…either…can put out fires…with just one shot of water…"
"Squirtle, let's rock and roll!" Sora threw his Pokéball onto the ground before him and a Squirtle came out in a split second.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle made its entrance by thrusting its arms into the air and giving a huge grin. Its exterior was light blue all around and a large mahogany shell fit snugly around it like a jacket.
"Okay, Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Sora declared.
Squirtle nodded and opened its mouth to unleash a concentrated torrent of water.
Sora was nearly at the bed's edge now as he thought in his head once more.
"But then…there's Charmander…kind of the underdog…of the three…gotta be patient with that one…"
"Go, Charmander, I choose you!!" Sora chucked his Pokéball with great force and the ball hit the ground as it unleashed the…
Sora's right arm slid over the edge of his bed and he went crashing down onto the cushion on his floor. He scrambled helplessly, trapped in his blanket, until he shed it off and took the clock out of his shelf.
"'11:46…am?! Oh, shoot! I overslept!!!" Sora immediately dashed out of his room and out the front door of his house. He ran out so fast, as Misa slowly walked in the hall she saw a blue blur of wind zapped past her and nearly thought it was a hedgehog.
About a minute after he left his house, Sora began running his options through his head once more.
"All right, there's Bulbasaur, grass, Squirtle, water, and Charmander, fire…Agh! Anyone is fine with me; I'll be lucky to get any at this rate!!"
As soon as he arrived at the lab of Professor Oak, he tried to slow down, but he was running so fast he couldn't stop on a dime and accidentally crashed into the person standing in front of him. A second upon impact to the cold, hard ground, Sora blanked out for a few seconds until the figure he had landed on top of tossed him off onto his back.
"Aarrrggghhh!" Sora could recognize that angry howl from a mile away. He looked up from the dirt and saw the disgusted face of Ariana Smith, a young blonde American woman who was Sora's current age, thirteen, who hated Sora's half-Japanese guts for as long as they could both remember.
(A/N: I mean the American/Japanese thing as a compare/contrast of their heritage. Not being racial here, brothers and sisters.)
"Sora Seijin, you shoved me!!!" Ariana roared at Sora's face.
"Sorry, Ariana," Sora apologized as he got up from the ground and dusted off his bottom, "Ya see I overslept and I was supposed to get my first Pokémon today and…"
"Overslept, you say?" Ariana raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders, "Typical Sora, always late for the action. Too bad for you, all of the Starters have already been taken."
Sora immediately took a double take then grabbed Ariana's shoulders, "You're not serious! All of them are gone?!"
"Yep, that's right!" Ariana picked Sora's hands from her shoulders and reached into the bag over her shoulder, "And I got this last one. Come on out!" She took a Pokéball from her bag and tossed it into the air. A white laser shot out as the ball opened and out came a small Pokémon with brown fur, two long ears, and a white fur coat around its neck. Sora recognized this Pokémon from TV; it was the evolution Pokémon, Eevee.
"How did you get an Eevee?" Sora inquired, "I thought you could only choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle!"
"Oh, you heard right," Ariana nodded, "But it was so hard to choose, I figure I just get an Eevee and decide later!"
"How'd you get the Eevee, then?" Sora was getting annoyed.
"Let's just say being the daughter of a Professor in the Pokémon business has its perks!" Ariana grinned. Sora knew that was true. Ariana was the daughter of Professor Smith, a researcher from the Seafoam Islands who studied numerous Pokémon that thrive there.
"So," Sora shuffled his foot in the ground, "There really aren't anymore Starters?"
"Nope," Ariana said proudly, "And now I'm off to become Kanto's next Pokémon Master. Ta-ta!" She stepped past Sora and departed from Pallet Town for a long time to come.
Sora trudged toward the lab entrance and leaned against a wall adjacent to the door.
"I can't believe I overslept," Sora groaned to himself, "Now I'll never be a better Trainer than Ash."
Then suddenly, the wooden door to Professor Oak's lab opened, and a young man wearing a green shirt, blue shorts, and a red headband turned to face Sora. He stared wide-eyed at Sora as if he were a ghost.
"Wait, hold on!" the boy shook his head, "Are you Sora Seijin?"
"Yeah, that's me," Sora nodded, "Why do you ask?"
"The professor was expecting you three hours ago!" the boy grabbed Sora's arm and dragged him into the lab. "Oh, yeah, by the way, I'm Tracey Sketchit! I'm Professor Oak's lab assistant."
"You must be proud," Sora replied as he tried to keep his footing while following Tracey.
"Ya know, I'd tell you about what I'm doing now, but we're already heading toward Professor Oak's lab! He'll help you with your first Pokémon, don't worry."
"But I thought there were no more Starters, though!" Sora said.
"Oh, well you don't know the last resort Starter," Tracey turned to Sora and gave him a wink, "Professor Oak only gave this one certain Pokémon to one certain Trainer six years ago under special circumstances. You'll see soon enough what Pokémon it is."
Sora could only think about what Pokémon the last resort Starter would be. It could be a Normal-type Pokémon like Eevee, who can use a variety of attacks and evolves into Water, Fire, or Electric-types as far as he knew. But Sora assured himself that he'd find out himself.
Tracey's running hit a halt as they arrived at another wooden door. He pushed Sora in front of the door and said, "Okay, here's Professor Oak's room, don't be stiff, because he's just a man like you and me…only he's an expert of Pokémon worldwide and we're not. Okay, good luck!" And with that, Tracey Sketchit had left toward the fields out back.
Sora knocked nervously on the door to the professor's room and waited for a voice to answer.
His wish was granted, for he heard a stumbling voice saying, "Just a moment! Oh, darn! I dropped my pizza! Hold on!" The door opened in front of Sora, revealing the Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak, wearing a brown shirt, brown khaki pants, and a white lab coat. His gray hair was spiked in one general direction and in his right hand was a slice of anchovy and pineapple pizza. If it were a pepperoni pizza Sora had glanced at, he would have been drooling, but instead he was starting to feel the last night's dinner crawling up his stomach.
"Uhh…" Sora faltered to speak, but cleared his throat, "Excuse me, but you're Professor Oak, right?"
"Why yes, last I checked, I was Professor Oak," the professor smiled, "And you must be the last-minute entry, Sora Seijin! Are you considering going on your Pokémon journey in a T-shirt and sweatpants?"
"Oh no, sir!" Sora stood straight embarrassed, "See, I overslept and I just rushed out of my house like crazy!"
"There's no need to feel sorry for yourself, boy," Professor Oak raised a hand, "Now follow me into my room." He turned around and walked into his room. Sora quickly followed behind.
"To tell you the truth," the professor remembered a familiar subject, "Ash Ketchum was late to receive his first Pokémon as well, six years ago."
Sora's eyes widened as he heard what the professor said. "Ash Ketchum, the greatest Trainer of this town, overslept like me?!"
"That's right!" Professor Oak grinned, "And he missed his chance to get any of the Starter Pokémon I had. However, when I told him I still had one Pokémon left, he demanded he have it, even after I told him there was a small problem with it."
"Was that Pokémon the same as what I'm going to get?" Sora began feeling nervous.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Professor Oak took a red Pokéball from a shelf and handed it to Sora. "This is only the second time I have ever given this kind Pokémon to a Trainer as a Starter. Open it, my boy."
Sora did as he said and the ball opened in his hand. The white light flew to the table next to them and took shape into a Pokémon. The light faded as the shape took full form. The Pokémon was small with two pointy ears sticking out from its head, tiny paws and feet, and two red cheeks stuck on either side of its face. When the light fully faded, its natural color was shown as pure yellow and its eyes shone black like two shiny onyx gems. Sora's eyes widened once again and he instantly recognized this Pokémon from Ash Ketchum's Pokémon roster in every battle he fought.
It was the Pokémon known as Pikachu.
The Pikachu looked at Sora intently and its ears raised and lowered cutely as it cried, "Pi-ka-chu!"
End of Chapter
Well, that's that so far. I'll be unloading more soon. Review please!