"Traveling the Same Path" Episode 101: A Beginning in Pallet Town
It was a beautiful sunset. The last day that Craig, Ryan, and Eric had to endure schooling for soon to be Pokemon trainers. They had all turned ten years old by now, and were to receive their Pokemon license tomorrow, along with the standard starting Pokemon from Professor Oak's lab, the Pokemon professor from Pallet.
The bell, with its sweet sound of freedom, rang clear throughout the school. Eric and Ryan, the two best students in the three-person tutoring session, tore like hell to get home and prepare for the long journey ahead.
"Whew, Ryan. Class is finally over!" said Eric.
"I know. I'm not trying to be mean to the professor or anything, but I had to struggle to get an A," said Ryan.
"What?! But you always were our class valedictorian! How did you struggle?"
"I struggled to stay awake."
"Sleepover at your house again?" asked Eric.
"Count on it."
However, they immediately ran back to class, because they forgot to ask who was going to pick their Pokemon first tomorrow.
Craig stayed behind, to talk to his grandfather, who was Professor Oak. He wanted to persuade him to, er, raise his trainer class.
"Grandpa, I know there were rumors that the Pokemon League has the power to grant you with any Pokemon that you wish to have, because this is Pallet's only Pokemon Center and Trainer School."
"Yes, Craig," Professor Oak said, "I can write up a form using E-mail and request the temporary use of any Pokemon I may need."
"Well," Craig said, reaching his point "I was sorta wondering if, maybe, instead of getting a wimpy starting Pokemon, if you can write up the League and have them give me a Mewtwo?"
Oak looked at his grandson as if he had three heads.
Oak, as if feigning calmness said, "Craig, out of all the people that I have ever met, I cannot believe that…"
Then he exploded "I don't believe that you, of all people, would ask me to manipulate the system! When I say that I can get any Pokemon, I mean for experimental purpose! And as for the Mewtwo, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE MEWTWO! I mock your Mewtwo handling abilities."
Craig looked at his uncle like he was Satan himself.
"What you just asked me to do was immoral, unjust, and illegal. Now, for your punishment…"
At that moment, Eric and Ryan, out of breath, burst through the door.
"*Pant, pant* We *huh* forgot *huh* to see who is going first *huff*"
Then, he noticed Craig was there.
Craig and Ryan had been enemies ever since Ryan moved to Pallet Town from the Cinnabar Islands. They had been competitive at everything.
Their hatred for one another seemed to electrify the building.
Finally, Eric said, "I'm picking up on some tension here."
That was the understatement of the year.
Then, Professor Oak answered Ryan's question, "I've decided that you, Ryan would go first, Eric, you will go second. And as for you, Craig, you will take whichever Pokemon is left, whether you like it or not."
Craig skulked out of the room, muttering a few impolite words.
Then Eric gives Ryan a high five.
Later, at Ryan's house, they discuss which Pokemon to choose. Ryan and Eric were in his bedroom, watching a movie and paying no attention to it whatsoever. CJ, Ryan's golden retriever, was sitting on Ryan's bed. CJ had been a gift from a zoologist. Golden retrievers were animals, so they weren't common. And the Pokemon equivalent, Goldiegirl, was extinct.
"Eric, which Pokemon do you want?" said Ryan.
"Well, it doesn't really matter to me. Either Bulbasaur or Charmander," answered Eric.
"Yeah, I agree with you. Squirtle stinks. Out of all three Pokemon, I like Bulbasaur the best. It totally rocks."
"I know, but I wish they had Abra or Drowzee as one of the starters."
Eric had a few underdeveloped psychic abilities due to him studying Pokemon's strengths and weaknesses. As a result, he never really got a chance to harness his powers.
"I really wish Growlithe or Seel were one of the starters."
Ryan sometimes volunteered at a nature reserve in a nearby town. It had millions of wild Pokemon and the last remaining group of terrestrial animals. His favorite Pokemon resembled animals that he liked to work with.
All of a sudden Ryan thought of an idea.
"Hey Eric, I just thought of something…"
"Wait, don't tell me. Ummmmmm…" Eric started to concentrate, "You want Craig's Pokemon to be weak against yours, so you want… Squirtle. And you want me to choose…Bulbasaur."
"Um, well, not exactly…"
Ryan told Eric his master plan and he agreed. So they decided to sleep on it.
The next day, All three students were waiting at Oak's lab. Ryan was jumping up and down, waiting till when Oak would open the door. When he did, Ryan ran into the lab… and into the bathroom. Afterwards, Oak led them to the podium, where there were three Pokeballs, one green, one red, and one blue.
"Oak really is color coordinated," Eric whispered to Ryan.
"Now," Professor Oak said "I don't think that you're stupid, so you can guess which Pokeball holds which Pokemon. Ryan, you're first."
Ryan approached the podium and took… the green Pokeball.
"Bulbasaur, I choose you!"
He threw the Pokeball towards the ground, and out came Bulbasaur, a plant Pokemon that resembled a frog with a bulb on its back.
"Bulbasaur!" it called out.
"Okay, Eric, you're next," Oak said.
Ryan recalled Bulbasaur as Eric reached the podium.
Craig was thinking to himself If Eric picks Squirtle, then I get Charmander. Then I'll be able to beat Ryan. Pick Squirtle, Eric. Please pick Squirtle.
As if to mock Craig, he started to reach for Squirtle…and went right past it and grabbed the red Pokeball.
"Charmander, go!"
Out came Charmander, which resembled an upright lizard with a flame on its tail.
"Char, Char," it replied
NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Craig silently screamed. "You son of a %$*#^!"
Eric turned around, "What did you call me?"
"Char?" his Pokemon echoed.
"You heard me you &@%^@$*. You go to $%##. You go to $%## when you die," Craig screamed.
"Well," Eric said, "You've just earned yourself another rival." He threw Squirtle's Pokeball at Craig. He caught it. "Have a miserable life."
Craig fumed and stomped out of the lab, remembering to snag a Pokedex and a generous amount of both red and blue lined Pokeballs.
Eric and Ryan also take their Pokedexes and Pokeballs. Oak bid them farewell.
Ryan set his bag to backpack mode. He had gotten a complementary aerobag from serving 500 hours of volunteer work at the reserve. It was a duffel bag that was hooked up to an online storage system, so that he could pull out whatever he might need.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," and Eric, with his Charmander, walked down the steps of the lab.
"Eric," Ryan called out, "Wait!"
"Yeah."
"Listen, if we go our separate ways, then eventually, we'll be enemies. I'm thinking…"
"Wait, don't tell me, Umm, why would you want to team up with Craig, he's a low-down son of a…"
"No, no, no. I want to team up with you."
"Oh. That's different. Of course I will. We're best buds. Of all the friends I've had… you're the first, but can we stop by Craig's house?"
"Why?"
"So we can get a map from his mom. She gives out free maps to Pokemon trainers, not to mention some excellent chocolate chip cookies", And so that we can TP Craig's room.
"Okay, let's go!"
An hour later, they were completely packed and on the road. Charmander had been recalled. Eric had found from his map that the closest way to get to Viridian City was by means of Route 1. The only Pokemon on the route were Pidgeys and Rattattas, but they were at a low enough level that the duo made stand a chance against them.
After a minute of crawling through some bushes, Ryan had flushed out a level 5 Pidgey.
"Yes, a Pidgey! I always wanted one!"
Ryan was fond of birds.
"Bulbasaur, I choose you!"
Bulbasaur came out with a loud "Bulba!"
"Bulbasaur, Tackle attack, now!"
The flower frog pounced on the small bird, which quickly got up and performed a gust attack.
"Bulbasaur, growl, weaken the gust's blast!"
A resounding "SAUR!" seemed to shake the ground, and caused the tornado's effects to weaken.
"Bulbasaur, one last tackle!"
Bulbasaur's last attack caused Pidgey to nearly faint.
"Pokeball, go!" Ryan cried as he pitched a red-lined Pokeball towards Pidgey. The ball hit Pidgey, opened up, transformed Pidgey into a red light, and drew Pidgey in.
The ball wiggled…
And wiggled…
And wiggled…
Until finally…
DING! The Pokeball seemed to shout out that Pidgey was caught.
"Yeah! I caught Pidgey! My second Pokemon! Bulbasaur, return"
Meanwhile, Eric had encountered a Rattata and he called forth his Pokemon.
"Charmander, go!"
"CHARRRRR!"
"Charmander, Scratch attack, now!"
Charmander clawed at the rat Pokemon, while it engaged a Tail Whip.
"Scratch it again"
As Rattata started a Tackle attack, Charmander dodged and scratched it again.
"One last scratch should do it."
The lizard Pokemon gave it another scratch, but Rattata faints in the process.
"Char?" Charmander said, confused.
"Charmander grew to level 6" the Pokedex stated.
"Well, that's good."
Eric and Ryan regroup and head to Viridian. Their first stop is the Pokemon Center. Sitting at the desk is Nurse Joy, a pink-haired nurse that runs the rejuvenator machine.
"Hello Nurse, uh, Joy," Eric said as he read the name tag Nurse Joy was wearing, "I was wondering if you could help us out. You see *sniff* *sniff* ACK!!!"
Eric realized that Charmander accidentally lit one of the plants near the front desk on fire. Eric kicked the plant pot down and started to stomp out the fire. After completely snuffing out the flames, Eric started to give Charmander a lecture on being careful where you stick your tail. Suddenly, Charmander fainted! Eric heard a loud growl emanating from Charmander's stomach.
"Hmmm," Eric said, "He must be hungry."
"It doesn't take a psychic to figure that out," Ryan wisecracked.
Nurse Joy ran to Charmander's side.
"This poor Pokemon," Nurse Joy interrupted, "You're a lousy trainer!"
"What did I do?" Eric said, puzzled.
"How could you starve you Charmander until it got in this condition?"
"First of all miss I did not STARVE Charmander."
"That's right! Charmander was well fed when we left, so was Bulbasaur!" Ryan interrupted.
"SHUT UP! Don't interrupt me! Uh hum. And second of all, it's our first day. And lastly, we came to you for help and put out a fire and THIS is what we get as SERVICE!?" Eric screamed.
Nurse Joy was visibly appalled and aghast at Eric's rude behavior.
"Uh excuse me, fellow trainer, Poke Nurse, we just want all of our Pokemon healed up and then we'll leave." Ryan said, trying to stop the conflict.
Nurse Joy took Charmander to the Emergency room and then a Chancy came and put Bulbasaur and Pidgey's Pokeballs to the rejuvenator machine.
"Well it's getting dark," Eric said to his comrade, "We better hit the hay."
The duo found a place to sleep and bid each other a "Buenos Noches."
The next day, Ryan woke up to a very loud "Yes!" He looked to Eric's bed to find he wasn't there. He also checked the ER. Charmander wasn't there.
He found Eric out in the bushes holding up a Pokeball proudly. Charmander was jumping up and down with glee.
Eric finally ran to Ryan.
"I got a Pokemon!" Eric exclaimed.
"*Yawn* which one?" Ryan replied, still a bit sleepy.
"A Spearow!" Eric answered.
"Well, well, well. Look who's playing with baby Pokemon." A familiar voice mocked.
"Oh no. Look Eric. It's the class creep." Ryan retorted sarcastically.
"HA! While you dunderheads were out in the bushes collecting weakling Pokemon, not to mention ticks, I got here hours before you two!" Craig said.
"So how many Pokemon do you got?"
"Er, uh hm. Just one." Craig sort of muttered.
"And what level is that *snicker* *snicker* sorry excuse for a Squirtle at?" Eric said, chuckling.
"It's at level 5 still but I bet my Squirtle is much tougher than your gay Charmander!" Craig said looking at Charmander, "That's right I'm talking about YOU! You probably like that queer Bulbasaur of Ryan's!"
Charmander knew that it was insulted. Out of anger Charmander scratched Craig a couple of times.
Then Squirtle came out and tackled Charmander into a nearby lake.
"NO!" Eric yelled as he dived into the lake to save his drowning Pokemon.
"Eric you fool! You can't swim either!" Ryan yelled to his friend.
Upon this, Ryan, who had once swam against the strong currents of Cinnabar Island, saved the drowning trainer and Pokemon.
Charmander passed out before it could thank Ryan.
"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT! No one but NO ONE nearly drowns my friend and his Charmander! All right, you dirty piece of white trash! Pokemon battle right here, right now! You and me!" Ryan yelled.
Don't do it! Please stop the fighting! Eric telepathically said to his eager friend.
"That's all right, I won't make a cop start writing, but I will beat Craig into next Tuesday." Ryan said to his fallen friend, not getting his message as clearly as he'd hoped.
"All right, Squirtle go!" Craig yelled.
"Squirtle!" the turtle Pokemon yelled.
"Ok, Pidgey I choose you!" Ryan yelled.
"Prrrrr-idgey," the tiny hawk cooed.
"Squirtle, tackle"
"Pidgey, sand attack"
Pidgey blew a sand cloud over Squirtle, as it tried to tackle it. Squirtle failed to tackle Pidgey.
"Pidgey, Gust" Ryan called.
As Squirtle tried to blow away the sand, Pidgey blew Squirtle into a tree. Squirtle miraculously survives.
"Pidgey, return. Bulbasaur, I choose you!"
"Bulbasaur" the flora/fauna Pokemon called out.
"Bulbasaur, tackle it"
Bulbasaur rushed Squirtle and collided into it. Squirtle was blown over the trees and landed in a patch of mud forty feet away.
Craig, fuming, screeched "You haven't seen the last of me. I'm going to get Pokemon and totally cream you. You haven't seen the last of me. Not by a long shot."
Craig went off fuming.
"That wasn't necessary," Eric said, after Craig had left.
"Yes, it was. Necessary experience points, and…" he picked up some money left by Craig "necessary money. I won my first trainer battle. And it was against my worst enemy. Also, it was defending you and Charmander."
"Speaking of which, we should rush Charmander back to the ER," Eric said, "Oh, one more thing."
"What?"
"You do the talking."
Ryan chuckled, and they raced to the Pokemon Center only ten yards away, but it seemed like ten miles. Meanwhile, Charmander had regained consciousness. In that brief moment, he saw Ryan. As he looked, he held a look of gratitude, a look of respect, and most importantly, a look of friendship. As he looked, for about three seconds, he thought, you truly are my friend.
That was his last thought before sinking back into unconsciousness.