This is a story about my own characters Pokémon journey, and unlike most, he doesn't set off with the main goal of collecting all the badges and taking on the elite four, he wants to become a powerful trainer, but for a more personal reason.
"There's nothing to do again" I thought for the twentieth time this week.
*Okay so my names Tyler! I'm 17 years old, 5 foot 11 inches head to toe, brown eyes and short-ish brown hair that can never seem to be straightened. I'm strong, but not toned, and although I don't like to admit it, I've got a little bit of a belly. I live in a small house with my brother Clayton on cinnabar Island. We did live with our parents... they worked at silph co. as scientists, and were held hostage the day red and blue took down Rocket, and unfortunately most of the building as well. I heard stories that my parents made sure every last worker/ hostage got out of the building before it collapsed on them both. And that was 7 years ago. So now we live alone. Anyway! On the island there are two things you can do, Go to Blaine's school of Pokémon for ages 16 and under, which I can't do, or Battle the new cinnabar Gym leader, Blaine's replacement and son, 'Scorch', which I also can't do because I don't own a Pokémon. So until Clayton comes back from the Poké school, I sit in my room and read.*
"One day I'm going to leave this Island and see the world!" I promised myself mentally.
The door slammed downstairs, bringing a small smile to my face. I knew it'd be 6 seconds from now that Clayton would open my door an-
"Hey Ty, had a good day?" Clayton asked knowing damn well I hadn't.
"You know if I had a penny for every time I say no to that question I'd have bought a boat 2 years ago and been off this dump of an island!" I told him chuckling to myself "how was school?"
Clayton wasn't the most organised person in the world. He'd been here 2 minutes and already there were books and stationary all over the floor. He sat himself on the end of my bed and raised an eyebrow at me.
"You haven't heard about the volcano yet have you Ty?" he asked me, a look of worry in his eye.
I stood up and went to the window asking "No. What's the matter?" as I did. I opened my curtains and gazed over towards the large volcano cinnabar was famous for. It was smoking.
"Blaine says the volcano is waking up, and that Moltres is going to fly again!"
Moltres is said to have entered the volcano the same day Red took down Team rocket, and he apparently absorbs the heat to power himself.
I squinted my eyes as I stared at the smoke being emitted from the volcano, and they shot open when I realised the smoke cloud had a burning orange colour to it. The volcano was ready to erupt! Noticing the same thing Clayton shot up and ran to the window stopping next to me.
"Tyler It's erupting! It's actually going to do it!" he shouted at me, a petrified look plastered to his face.
Almost as soon as he said it 2 things happened simultaneously. The ground began to shake and crack, swallowing trees and bikes, and causing houses to crumble, and Moltres, the God-like, fire Pokémon emerged from the volcano, lava following it, and shot off towards the mainland of Kanto.
I turned to my 14 year old brother after seeing the Legendary bird itself, his expression impossible to read, and I grabbed his arm.
"We need to get out the house. Right. Now." I told him, trying to stay calm as possible for his sake.
His face turned to mine but his eyes couldn't follow straight away. He couldn't stop looking at the horrific sight before him, our new home town crumbling before his eyes. Finally his eyes met mine, he swallowed hard, and nodded. The two of us ran faster than we knew we could, which in his case was bloody fast. He'd left the house before I'd even reached the stairs, and when I eventually caught up with him, his panicked look and grown, his usual short-ish, straight, brown hair had been blackened by a mixture of ash and sweat, and it stood in every direction. The air was thick with the volcanic ash, and was dry and exceedingly hot. We both began to run again across land that was cracking and opening faster than we could escape. I fell down quick, hitting my head on the floor which gave me just what I needed right now. A throbbing headache. I turned to see my ankle caught between two rocks that had been forced from the once flat path. Clayton also saw by the looks of it, because he was running back to me looking concerned.
"Clayton, turn back and run to the Poké centre!" I screamed at him "get someone from there to come and help me!"
I knew the second he ran into the building he'd be grabbed by one of the escape Pokémon team, a team of trainers whose job it is to get people off the island as quickly as possible in an emergency using their Pokémon, and they'd be able to get him to safety. Unfortunately he knew as well.
"I'm not leaving the island without you Tyler! You're all I have left! I don't want to lose someone again!" He shouted as he knelt beside my trapped ankle, tears now in his eyes.
He began working at the rocks trying to get me free. Clayton is scrawny and fast, strength isn't his thing, so how he managed to move the rocks I'll never know. Pure adrenaline maybe? Doesn't matter. I shot to my feet and began running again, grabbing Clayton and dragging him along as well, now running on adrenaline myself, as my stamina died down a while ago. The whole island was now shaking harder than before, and was heating up as well. Magma wasn't just racing down the volcano now, it was coming from the cracks in the ground, blocking most of the path ahead. All of a sudden a large crater formed in front of us where rocks fell into the sea and were replaced by a small pool of lava.
"Clayton do you trust me?"
"What?"
We had picked up a decent amount of speed since we began to run again, just enough in fact.
"Tyler stop there's lava in that hole, we can't jump it!"
Yes we could, and we would.
Still holding Claytons arm I began to swing him around towards my front, and just as we reached the lava pit I let go. At the same time I put all my remaining energy into one big push with my legs. The jump seemed to last much longer than it was, but when I hit solid ground, and noticed Clayton had reached the other side as well, I couldn't help but do a little dance of joy. The celebrations were apparently done too soon as the ground shook hard flinging a large piece of earth with Clayton and I on into the air, and plummeting into the water.
"Garble~~GARBB!" I tried, realising I couldn't speak underwater.
"Where is he? WHERE IS HE?!" I shouted to myself mentally.
My head was snapping back and forth looking for my brother under the rubble filled water surrounding me, but to no use. He's nowhere to be seen... where... Clayt...
Darkness.
"Tyler get away from the water, there's a strong undercurrent here!" I heard a voice shout to me.
My mother? My mother! Where?
SPLASH!
Water soaked my clothes and filled my lungs. I couldn't kick or move my arms. A silhouette closed in on me in the water, grabbed me and dragged me out on the hard ground.
"Tyler! Wake up!" The comforting voice of my mother shouted "Wake up, Tyler!"
The voice turned from that of a woman's to a young boys slowly.
"Tyler! We're okay now, open your eyes!"
I did. Clayton was there smiling, soaked from head to toe, but smiling.
"Lapras saved us! It told me to get on it's back, and then I told her about you, and then she found you using her psychic moves, and then I dived down and grabbed you, and then-"
"Slow down Clayton, I get it, we're safe!" I told him, in a rather un-appreciative tone.
Clayton's smile faded and his head sunk.
I ruffled his hair "Thanks bro, you saved my life..." Lapras made a 'huff' noise in front "..And you Lapras"
Clayton's smile returned.
My vision went blurry once again. This time I eased into my blackout, knowing Clayton was safe. Darkness again.
I woke up briefly a few times. Once to see Clayton swimming beside Lapras. Once to see him floating in mid-air in front, I'm guessing using Lapras's psychic techniques. And once more to see them just talking. Then finally I awoke to see Lapras diving under the water and disappearing. I quickly realised that Clayton and I must have been dropped off on a beach somewhere. The air was cold but smelled amazing, so fresh with hints of all kind of fruit. The sand beneath me felt great, much better than the hard rock that cinnabar was once atop of. I could hear the sound of Pokémon in the air and around the beach. I felt I could really relax here.
"TYLER!" a loud screech said behind me "Look at all the cool shells I've found"
A mountain of old shells and multicoloured rocks were dumped in front of me ruining my relaxation.
"Clayt where are we?"
My words fell on deaf ears. Clayton had already begun running to a small cliff, with what looked like a town behind it. Now food was all that was on my mind. Neither of us had eaten in a good day or two by the sounds of my stomach. I slowly and painfully got myself to my feet, my ankle and head still throbbing from events from a few days ago. My thoughts went to cinnabar, and I hoped everyone made it off the Island. Limping, I made my way over to where Clayton had stopped to stare at a small yellow ball. As I got closer I realised it was no ball, but a Pikachu, the rare electric mouse Pokémon.
"Quiet Tyler, I want to make friends with it" Clayton whispered as he put his arm out to stop me.
"What..? How do you plan on doing that?"
I watched closely as he approached it, lowering himself so he didn't look as threatening. Sparks were zipping around Pikachu's cheeks now.
"Careful Clayt..." I whispered
He placed his hand on Pikachu's head, and the sparks disappeared, replaced by a smile from both of them.
"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, stepping closer.
Pikachu turned to face me, and then bolted for the town quick. Clayton Followed quicker.
"Hey what did I... Clayton come back! Wait!" I shouted towards him.
Once again, deaf ears. I ran quickly as my bad ankle would allow, catching glimpses of the speeding lunatic that was my brother hopping fences and almost running into people. I was following his every move, and would have caught him. BANG! Never mind. I'd ran into two lads that looked my age, and had knocked a load of parcels out of their hands.
"Watch where you're going!" the shorter of the two shouted.
"Ouch. Sorry, are you okay?" Asked the other, a slightly taller boy with sandy brown hair.
I looked towards my brother's last position and back at the two victims of my clumsiness picking up parcels. I wanted to help, but Clayton was my top priority. I bolted in his direction again. I heard the rambling of the first boy and then a rather rude insult shouted my way. No time to stay and argue, I saw where my brother currently was, Pikachu just ahead. They were headed towards a building in front of a large forest, a pokéball emblem on the roof, and the words 'Safari zone' beneath. The pair burst through the doors and out of my sight.
"Damn it! I shouted as I too ran through the doors.
I quickly realised he wasn't in the building, and could therefore only have exited through the back doors with two mean stood in front facing outward and shouting "Get back!"
I'm not proud of it but a charged straight through them, running over them as they fell, face first, into the mud. I once again saw Clayton up ahead, and began closing in on him for the final time as he was stood still looking around. 20 meters. 15 meters. 10 meters. 5! I pounced at him, tackling him to the ground.
"Why on earth did you run away?! You don't know this place, and you didn't know that Pikachu either!" I said panting heavily
"I wanted to be friends with the Pikachu, but YOU scared it away!" He pointed accusingly at me, other hand rubbing his head after the tackle.
"You can't just become friends with a Pokémon by patting it on the head, you have to catch them!"
"How would you know? You don't even have a Pokémon!"
"Well... because... I just know ok!"
In a mood, Clayton began to climb a tree nearby, knowing I wouldn't try and climb after him. I hate when he does this. All of a sudden, a Krabby came over, leaving a small pond just ahead. It looked angry, probably because of all the noise.
"Hey, go back to the pond Krabby, We'll go away okay?"
It didn't listen. It hit the tree with its powerful pincers, causing Clayton to come tumbling down. I went to kick it, in self-defence of course, it started it. Bubbles began to fly from its mouth at a fast speed, knocking me down. Who'd have thought bubbles could actually hurt! I looked up to see what the Krabby was doing now. Holding its razor sharp pincer to my brother's throat was the answer.
"Stay calm Clayton, just don't move or make any noise whatsoever" I said, slowly standing, trying to keep Clayton calm.
A smile formed on his face. Why? I don't get it! Suddenly a bush ruffled beside us, and out emerged a bolt of yellow hitting Krabby away hard.
"Nice job Pikachu!" Clayton said, smile widening as he stood himself up "Now hit it with thunder shock!"
Pikachu's cheeks sparked again as it nodded, and then a brilliant arc of electricity made its way to Krabby body, surrounding it in a powerful charge of thunder. When the powerful light died down, an image of Krabby's paralyzed and shocked body was left.
"Now Pikachu, go!"
Without even sounding a proper attack, Pikachu followed Clayton's words and disappeared, only to reappear a second later, hitting Krabby back into the pond. A quick attack! The Pikachu turned to Clayton and ran, jumping into his open arms. Clayton placed him down and sat beside him, congratulated him, and then began to talk.
"Brilliant job Pikachu, you saved me!"
Pikachu's ears jumped up and it made a sound of happiness, and then began 'talking' to its new friend. To my surprise Clayton responded.
"That's just my big brother, Tyler! He won't hurt you"
"pika-pi! Chu-pikachu!"
"yeah our home is gone, so we've come here now"
"pi-chu"
"Thank you, I like you too, how would you like to be my first Pokémon?"
"PIKA!"
Pikachu jumped on to Clayton's arm and made his way up his shoulder. Clayton went into his jacket pocket and pulled out an odd looking ball, and held it near Pikachu, who tapped the button with his hand, then vanished inside.
"You comfy in their Pikachu?" Clayton asked, directing his question towards the ball.
A jolt of electricity ran over the ball.
"Glad to hear it!" Clayton said, shrinking the ball and putting it in his pocket before zipping it up.
"Okay, I have like..." I started to count on my hands "a lot of questions!"
Clayton turned to me and smiled, prompting me to ask away.
"How did you control Pikachu so well?"
"I asked nicely? I don't know, he just seemed to want to battle for me"
"How did you speak with it, AND understand it?"
"I could just tell by the way it spoke what it was saying, couldn't you?"
"NO!"
"Anything else?"
"uhh..." I scratched my head "OH yeah! Where did you get the pokéballs from?"
"Ah yeah... okay... don't get mad! When we ran through the building I saw them on the desk, and I had a feeling I should take a couple! I was right wasn't I?"
I didn't know how to answer. He always seems to be able to justify his wrong actions. Always.
"Stealing is wrong okay, when we go back through, you need to apologise, and give them the remaining ones you have left, okay?"
"Fine, sorry. Hey can we find something to eat now? And a place to sleep!"
"Yeah good idea" I looked around "There! A small group of trees, we'll find berries and fruit there, and then we can camp out under them"
Clayton and I began walking over to them. Now the excitement had all gone, I started to think about the events of today, and the day of cinnabar's reckoning also. I wonder what has become of the island... is everyone okay?
We reached the trees, and as expected there was fruit everywhere. Clayton released Pikachu from its pokéball and without even talking to him they both climbed separate trees. My thoughts changed to him and his new partner. How does he communicate with it so well? It was the same with Lapras, they just clicked! Even Krabby didn't hurt him, when it so easily could have... strange. Fruit began to drop around me.
"Will that be enough Tyler?" Asked Clayton's voice, coming from up one of the trees.
"Yeah should be enough for a few days"
"A few days? How long are we staying here?"
"I don't know... We've got nowhere else to go..." I whispered to myself.
Clayton and Pikachu climbed down from the trees, and joined me around the stack of fruit. We all ate, Pikachu and Clayton played a bit, we spoke, and then finally started to sleep. I wonder if it's warm inside a pokéball. Sleep wasn't coming easily to me, after all the blackouts I felt quite rested, it was nice. I decided to take a stroll round the park, seeing if I could find any cool Pokémon. I even took Claytons last pokéball with me, you never know!
A short while later I saw a light in the distance, and curiosity getting the better of me, decided to wander over to it. It might be people, and that means I might be able to find out where exactly we are. I'd heard stories about a great safari zone, in fu... erm, fus... nope, can't remember! The light is getting brighter now, so I must be close. I decide to take a route where I could stay out of sight.
Finally I reached the source, and I was amazed by what I was seeing. Two large Pokémon, a purple one and a blue one, were holding up a smaller purple Pokémon, their child I'm guessing. 'Nido'. That's what they kept saying, a load more larger versions of the baby were gathered round, holding stones in their mouths. Like the two large ones, there was a mix between purple and blue. Nidoking and nidoqueen! I'd heard of these Pokémon! Wait, how did I only just notice what the light was? Some of the Pokémon with stones in their mouths were glowing, and growing, this is evolution! Wow... Pokémon have always been a slight interest of mine, but for the first time, I'm really noticing just how amazing they are! Nidokings and nidoqueens were now stood proud all around after evolving from their weaker and smaller pre-evolutionary states, I can only guess I'd just witnessed a very rare sight indeed! The Pokémon all started looking around suddenly, and then began to run away. These powerful Pokémon had all been frightened by something, which sent shivers down my spine. What was it that so easily scared these wonderful creatures off? All I knew is I had to get back to Clayton quick!
I found myself running at top speed once again, heading towards where we set up camp, and noticed a low rumbling quickly getting faster. I was running to fast to turn, I'd have fallen if I did, and so I was shocked when a mountain overtook me at incredible speed. Okay so it's not a mountain, it's a big snake, made of mountain? IT'S ROCKS! Green rocks? Odd. What's happening?! Ah, I've heard of a rock snake Pokémon, Clayton mentioned it once. It's out of sight, and headed right towards camp! Crap, got to run faster!
By the time id reached the camp, all that was left was a large area of disturbed ground where that Pokémon must have come through. There was fruit on the ground, some squashed. There was a few broken trees. And there was a jacket. My brother's jacket. Clayton and Pikachu were gone.
Hope this was enjoyable! I appreciate any helpful criticism and positive comments!
