Pokemon: Crimson and Azure

Chapter 1: The Start of an Epic Journey

In This Chapter:

~Humble Beginnings-A New Rival-Prof. Oak-Starter Pokemon-Crimson's First Battle~

~Humble Beginnings~

Each story has got to begin somewhere ..

It was a bright, warm and sunny summer morning in the world of Pokemon. It was, however, not an ordinary morning for our two heroes: Crimson and Azure, as it was the first day of their Pokemon journey today. Both of them are girls from Pallet town in the Kanto region, which was a peaceful little town set in the South-East of the Kanto region. Both of them had the same dream: To become the greatest Pokemon masters the world has ever seen. It was a perfect place for anyone to start their Pokemon journey, as the famous Prof. Oak lived there as well, who is responsable of giving new trainers their starting kit.
Crimson woke up to her alarm at exactly 7:00 AM. She had everything planned out ever since the last week, when she finally hit the age of 13. She quickly turned her alarm off, hopped out of bed and got into her school-like uniform. Her mom, who was already up, was sitting on the kitchen table downstairs, drinking her coffee. She was startled when her daughter ran down the stairs like a bolt of lightning coming from a Voltorb. „Morning!" Crimson said, quickly opening the top drawer to take out her cereal, and then the fridge to take out her milk. „Jesus, sweetie, don't startle me like that!" Her mom said to her with a slightly grumpy expression on her face. „Sorry mom, I just don't want to be late!" Her daughter replied with a slight giggle, putting the cereal and milk on the table, then quickly taking out a spoon and a bowl from the dishes drawer. She sat down at the table and poured the milk in, then the cereal, and began eating swiftly. „Don't eat so fast, sweetie, you might choke!" Her mother said with a little chuckle. Crimson just mumbled something as she was halfway done with the bowl already. Her mother got up and headed to the closet, opening the door and taking out Crimson's new bag especially made for Pokemon travelling. When she returned to the table, Crimson was already drinking the last droplets of milk from the bowl, ending it with a sigh. „Here's your bag." Her mother said, placing it on the table. „I already put some basic clothing in, as well as 1,000 pokedollars." „Thanks mom!" Her daughter replied, grabbing the bag and put it on. She then ran over to the door and slipped on her shoes. „Be careful! Don't forget to call me if something is wrong!" Her mom said to her whilst she still could. „Yeah, okay, bye mom!" Crimson said with a quick wave before opening the door and heading out. Her mother just watched her with a smile as she disappeared in the distance, headed towards Oak's Lab on the hill. „They grow up so fast .." she thought to herself.
In the meantime, our other heroine, an azure-haired girl with two long twintails, was still asleep, even though it was already 7:30 and Oak accepted new trainers from 7 to 8 every morning. She had been so excited for her new journey she couldn't get much sleep the night before, she couldn't even hear the alarm once it went off. If it wasn't for her mother waking her up, she would've been late...
There was a knock on her door. „Azure, it's time to get up!" Her mother said. Azure shuffled in bed a bit before opening her eyes and mumbling something to herself. She looked at the clock and gasped at the time. „7:30 AM!? I'M LATE!" She shouted and quickly got up, putting on her shorts, teddy bear shirt and socks on, then rushing out of her room to the kitchen downstairs. „Good morning, sleepy-head!" Her mother greeted her with a warm smile. „Yea, Yea, Morning! „ She said, hurrying over to the fridge. „Ahem ... Look at the table ..." Her mother said. Azure did so and saw bacon and eggs, with some buttered toast and orange juice already waiting for her on the table. „So that's why you didn't wake me up earlier ..." She said to her mother, sitting down and beginning to stuff her face in as quickly as possible. „Yes, sorry about that ... but hey, I'm sure you will make it in time, Prof. Oak's lab is just around the corner anyway." Her mom said, smiling as she watched her daughter eat swiftly. She had also turned 13 just yesterday, and always loved Pokemon and wanted to have a journey on her own. Azure had already finished her breakfast and got up, still chewing. Running over to the door, she slipped on her sneakers. „Aren't you forgetting something?" Her mom said behind her, holding her special Pokebag. „Yea, thanks mom!" She said, grabbing it from her hands and slipping it on her shoulder. „There's some money, water and a set of clothes when your current ones get dirty. But you have lots of free space for your gadgets and other stuff." Azure's mother smiled. „That'll do, thanks mom! Bye!" She said, bursting outside like an eagle and running towards the hill in the near distance, where a small lab stood.

~A new Rival~

All of us must have rivals to test our strengths against..

Crimson was walking along the streetwalk, following the signs towards Oak's Lab. She stopped to enjoy the fresh air and the peaceful town center, with three identical fountains along with some trees and benches right at the center of town. She suddenly had so many wonderful memories of when she was a small child and played here with all of her neighbourhood friends, who were now far far away, on Pokemon journeys of their own. She then quickly snapped out of it, and looked at her digital wristwatch. It displayed 7:30. „Shute! I gotta hurry!" She said to herself and began to walk again, this time a bit faster, but she didn't need to run ... yet.
In the meantime, Azure has stopped to catch her breath at the gates leading towards Oak's lab on the hill. She looked at her wristwatch to see it was 7:45. „Thank god, i made it in time." She said to herself, panting from the exhaustion and sweating from the heat the summer sun was emitting. After a quick drink of cold, mineral water, she went through the gates and began climbing the steps up towards the small, lonely lab. It took her 5 minutes to reach the top. „Finally..." She said to herself once up there, a warm breeze blowing through her hair. She rang the bell and waited ...
Crimson was now running, looking at her wristwatch to see the dreadful 7:45 displayed. „Oh gosh i'm gonna be late ... I hate living on the edge of town." She thought to herself, but at last, she could see the gates. She stopped in front of them to catch her breath for a few seconds, but then began running up the steps. Once she reached the top, she was surprised to see another girl roughly her age already waiting in front of the door.
Whilst waiting, Azure yawned. There was no answer for 30 seconds straight. She then felt a light tap on her shoulder. A short but high pitched scream escaped her mouth and she swiftly turned around to see a girl with long crimson hair, tied to a long ponytail with two black ribbons, dressed in an odd combination of a black shirt and white undershirt, black stockings and black and red striped skirt, reminding her a bit of a school uniform. Azure was panting from the sudden jumpscare the girl put on her. „Don't scare me like that!" She then said. „Sorry... I just wanted to know if Prof. Oak is here." Crimson replied politely. „I'm afraid he is not, altough it's still 7:50 .." the girl with the twintails replied. „Did you ring the bell?"
„Yes, nobody came for about a minute ..."
„That can't be right, even if we were late, Prof Oak still lives here ... He must have gone out somewhere."
„Probably ..." Azure agreed, dropping to the ground with a sigh.
„Tell you what, you wait here in case he comes back, I will look for him." Crimson said.
„Alright." Azure agreed and looked up at the blue summer sky, no clouds in sight.
Crimson turned around and headed down the steps and back to the main gate. „Now where could he be ..." She said to herself, looking around.

~Prof. Oak~

Ex-trainer, currently a scientist!

Crimson headed towards the end of town, passing by the last house, which was quite frankly, Azure's home. She reached a sign saying „Route 1, Connecting Pallet Town and Viridian City."
Then, all of a sudden, she heard a voice from behind. „WAIT! You can't go out yet, it's dangerous without a Pokemon!" She turned around to see a middle-aged man in a lab coat approaching her. „You must be a new trainer ..." He said.
„Yes but ... how do you know?"
„Your bag looks too empty, trainers have their bags full of antidotes, pokeballs and such."
„Good point. Are you Prof. Oak?"
„Why yes I am! And darn, I forgot I had two new trainers to meet today! And I just went out on a morning walk ..." Oak said, facepalming at his bad memory.
„I'm one of those trainers and I was out looking for you.. The other one is still waiting for you up at the lab."
„Gosh, I'm so sorry ... Come on now, let's head back to the lab and get you your starting Pokemon." The kind and old professor smiled, turning around and beginning to walk back. Crimson followed him and soon after they were standing at the gates. They climbed the stairs to find Azure sleeping, still on the same spot she was when Crimson left about 20 minutes ago.
„Well what do we have here..." Oak laughed.
„I'll wake her up." Crimson said, nudging her as Oak unlocked the door and headed inside.
„Zzzz... humph...huh!?" Azure jumped up as Crimson nudged her. „POKEMON! OAK! STARTER!" She shouted and looked around. „Oh..."
Crimson couldn't help but let out a giggle. „Not yet, come on, let's head inside." Azure frowned at her and followed her inside the small lab.

~Starter Pokemon~

Future battle partners and friends!

There wasn't much in the lab to start with. Just a lot of book shelves and a few machines here and there. The second floor was off limits as it was Oak's home. His kitchen, bedroom, living room and research room were all up there. Downstairs were only basic healing machines, computers and Pokeball storage. Crimson and Azure were both looking around in curiocity. Oak in the meantime took out three pokeballs from their pods and placed them on the white table in front of the two new trainers. „Here they are! Unfortunately i only have one left of each of the three starters, so you have to choose wisely. Let's start with you!" He said, pointing towards Crimson. „What's your name?" „Crimson, sir." She replied. „Crimson... what a lovely name! Well Crimson, which starter Pokemon do you choose? The fire lizard, Charmander? Or the water turtle, Squirtle? Or maybe the grass Pokemon, Bulbasaur?"
„I've already decided over night. I'm going to choose Charmander. I always loved fire types." Crimson replied, picking up Charmander's Pokeball.
„A wise choice indeed! This pokemon is very healthy! I'm sure she'll like you!" The professor said.
„Wait, it's a female?" Crimson replied.
„Yes. Pokemon have genders and their own personalities just like humans do. Would you like to give her a nickname?"
„Yes. I'm going to call her ... Flare."
„Okay then ..." Oak said and took out two Pokedexes. He opened one of them and did something in it. He then handed it to Crimson. „Here you go, your Charmander is registered as Flare! If you ever want to give any other Pokemon a nickname, a pop-up will appear once you've caught them, whether you want to give them a nickname or not."
„Thank you very much, sir!" Crimson replied and bowed politely.
„My turn my turn!" Azure said, jumping in joy. Finally the time has come.
„Okay miss ..."
„Azure. My name is Azure."
„Okay then, Azure. Which Pokemon do you choose?"
„I'll take Squirtle! I always found water Pokemon to be the most beautiful and visual appealing! They can be quite strong too!"
„Yes, I agree." Oak nodded as Azure picked up Squirtle's Pokeball. „What gender is it?" Azure asked.
„Male." The professor replied with a smile. „And do you want to give it a nickname?"
„Hmm... something cute and yet fitting ... Oh I know! Foamie!"
Professor Oak laughed. „That's actually a good nickname ... okay let me just register it ... there we go." He said before closing the pokedex and handing it over to her.
„Yay! Come out, Foamie!" She shouted in excitement, releasing the Squirtle from it's Pokeball.
„Squirtle!"It said and jumped in Azure's embrace as she giggled happily.
„You too, Flare!" Crimson said and released the little Charmander from it's ball.
„Char char!" It jumped onto Crimson's head, keeping it's tail far away from her hair due to the small flame on it. Crimson couldn't help but giggle.
„Oh! And one more thing!" The Professor interrupted them. „Each of you take these 5 Pokeballs! They are used for catching wild Pokemon! You can get them for 150 Pokedollars in each Pokemart!"
„Thank you very much!" Both of the girls said at the same time and took the pokeballs. Azure attached them to her belt on her waist, whilst Crimson put them in the Pokeball pocket in her bag.
„I should better explain what you can use your dexes for." Oak continued his speech. „Pokedexes will update information about every Pokemon you catch and add to your collection. My goal when I was a young trainer was to capture all of the 151 Pokemon there are! But alas, I am too old! But that's where young trainers like you come in! Set out on a journey of your own! Catch all of the Pokemon you can find! And if you want to sign up for the Indigo League Challenge, you can do it on the first Pokemon Center you enter! The nearest Center is in Viridian City, which isn't far from here."
„I will catch all the Pokemon in the world and defeat the elite four of the Indigo League with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back!" Azure said, feeling confident in her abilities as a trainer already.
Crimson glanced over at her with an unimpressed expression, then looked back at Oak with a smile. „Thank you very much for everything, Professor. I'll be going now." She bowed once more and turned around, heading towards the exit. „Goodbye, Crimson!" The professor said and waved.
„WAIT!" A voice shouted from behind her

~Crimson's First Battle!~

The first battle of a trainer and their Pokemon is always the most memorable one.

Crimson looked back to see Azure walking towards her, looking unpleased. „You're just gonna walk away when there's a chance to have your first battle right here? Come on, let's battle and test out our Pokemon!" Azure said, her Squirtle jumping out of her embrace and landing on the ground, ready to battle. „Squirtle Squir!"
Crimson just rolled her eyes. „Fine, if you wish." She said, Flare jumping off her head and landing on the floor, glaring at Squirtle with a flame in her eyes.
„I'll be the judge then." Oak said, walking over to the side. „The battle between Crimson and Azure from Pallet Town is about to commence! It will be a one on one battle with no time limit! Begin!"
„Hehe, watch this professor! Foamie, use tackle!" Azure commanded her Squirtle.
„Squirtle!" He shouted before launching an attack straight at Charmander.
„Flare, jump up and then use Scratch!" Crimson said calmly, as her Charmander did exactly as asked, jumped up as Squirtle stopped. Then the fiery lizard landed on top of the little turtle, leaving a scratch right on it's head.
„W-What!?" Azure questioned. „Okay then, if that's how you wanna play ... Foamie use tail whip!"
The Squirtle managed to get the Charmander off his back and then hit it with his tail, which didn't do any damage but lowered Charmander's concentration.
„Flare, stay focused!" Crimson shouted.
„Now, Foamie, launch another tackle attack!" Azure commanded.
"Squirtle!" Foamie began charging towards Flare.
"Flare, use growl!"
The small Charmander let out a growl which startled the poor Squirtle as it came to a stop.
"Now use Scratch!"
Flare then jumped and readied it's claws.
"Foamie, quick, dodge it! Then use tackle!"
Foamie jumped out of the way and managed to dodge the attack, then launched for a tackle, finally getting a successful hit, pushing the Charmander back as it fell on the ground.
"Flare, get up!"
Flare got up, not looking very damaged from the impact.
"Let's end this … Foamie, tackle, now!"
This was Azure's biggest mistake, getting self confident and charging straight for an attack .. It was exactly what Crimson was waiting for. "Flare, use growl, then use scratch!"
Flare growled again, starting the Squirtle then launched a very quick scratch attack which was impossible the dodge, striking the Squirtle down.
"Foamie get up! I know you can do it!"
Foamie could hear Azure's shout and got up, panting from exhaustion.
"Good, now use tail whip!"
Azure's Squirtle charged at Crimson's Charmander with a tail whip. "Flare, grab on Foamie's tail and send him flying!"
Flare did as she was told and grabbed on Foamie's tail just before he could hit and sent the poor thing flying, as it hit the wall. "Now finish off with Scratch!" Crimson said, her Charmander charged at Azure's squirtle in full speed striking it with a scratch attack as it fell unconscious.
"Foamie is unable to battle, Crimson and Flare are the winners!"
Crimson just smirked at Azure.
"Foamie!" Azure hurried over to Foamie and picked him up, then frowned at Crimson.
"You are way too confident in yourself, Azure …" Crimson said.
"S-Shut up!" Azure replied in a grumpy rage.
"Now for my reward …"
"Reward? Aren't you getting a bit greedy?"
"Not really … At the end of a Pokemon battle, the looser has to give the winner some well earned money." Oak nodded.
"Humph … I'll get you next time. " Azure said, handing over 300 Pokedollars to Crimson with one hand, holding Squirtle in her other.
"Will Squirtle be alright?" Azure asked Oak.
"Yes, it just needs some rest. I have a special healing machine which you can only find in Pokemon Centers, so you're gonna have to stay here for an hour or two until Foamie has rested up."
"Okay … " She said, looking down in disappointment.
"Don't feel bad, we all do mistakes sometimes … Plus you battled really well for your first time." Oak encouraged her.
She just nodded and followed him to the healing machine
Crimson sighed and smiled at Flare, who got up on her head. "Charchar!"
"You and me, Flare… together we will become the champions of the Indigo League." She said to her with a smile before turning around and heading out. /Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon franchise, all credit to the region, towns and everything goes to Nintendo
Sorry if there might be minor mistakes, English isn't my native language and this is my first Pokefiction ever, so it can't be perfect…
Story inspired by: The Pokemon games and anime (Duh), and the Grisaia no Kajitsu soundtrack (Music usually inspires me to think up new stories, weird I know …)

Next time: On The Road to Virdian City