Hello everyone! This is my first Pokémon fanfiction in quite a few years, I've had this idea going in my head for years now but I finally went ahead and started. Anyways: This story is about Ben, Mick and Laura. They set off from Pallet Town to begin their journeys and will travel through the Kanto region. (I know, I know, not very original) Ben is an intelligent kid, with a strong sense of justice and his biggest dream is to one day meet a Legendary Pokémon. Then you've got Mick, his dream is to become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer and takes a particular interest in Fire-type Pokémon and last but not least there's Laura, a mysterious girl who is struggling to find her place in the world.
While some content will largely be based on the anime and the games some ideas will be entirely my own. I want to make this a continously updated story with the hope that in due time this trio will possibly travel to other regions and have more adventures there but I won't just rush through it as I really want to make character development here.
I'd love to hear what you think of the story! Not just that but I'm open to hearing out your ideas on what YOU wish you want to see happen in the future. Who knows? I might take up your idea and add it in the story but only if I deem it fitting enough and it works out. For now: happy reading ^^
A Troubling Beginning
It was the eve of his Pokémon journey.
Tomorrow he would become ten years old, then he could get his first Pokémon and start his adventures as a Pokémon Trainer. The boy named Ben could still hardly believe the time had finally come.
He sighed and got up from his bed, walking over to the window and placed both of his hands upon the windowsill, taking a deep breath as he gazed up onto the inky black sky filled with dozens of tiny, twinkling stars along with a crescent white moon. Below them lay the sleeping and tiny town of Pallet. It was quiet and calm as it usually was in Pallet Town. The town was still pretty young and didn't get many visitors, as such it was mostly composed of dirt trails and wide open grass fields with a few houses here and there.
Ben was a pretty tall kid for his age, reaching 4.9 ft though rather skinny. He had chestnut brown eyes and short, dark blonde hair which had been gradually darkening as he grew older. He was wearing indigo-blue pyjamas and Pikachu slippers and looked like he was ready for bed, but he had a hard time catching any sleep for the big day tomorrow.
Ben looked up at the crescent moon.
'I wonder what kind of Pokémon I'll meet.' he wondered.
He could imagine quite a few. The fields outside this town were full of Rattata and Pidgey they would probably be among the first he'd meet on his journey. But there were many more kinds of Pokémon and he hoped he could meet them all. He'd smile to himself as he turned around and walked across his room to the painting hanging next to the door, it depicted three great bird Pok mon, each one in a different color, the one on the left was yellow, the one in the middle was blue and the one on the right was red. Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres. The Legendary Bird Pokémon. Ben smiled as he gazed upon them.
'I'd love to meet one of them someday' he thought. For that was his dream.
Ever since Prof Oak had once told him the story of these Legendary Pokémon he had dreamed of meeting one of them someday and ride on it's back, flying around the world. They sounded so majestic and powerful and the fact that so few people had seen them that they were referred to as 'legends' got him all excited. He had heard there were more legendary Pokémon in other faraway regions but these three Legendary Pokémon seemed particularly well-known here in the Kanto region as the few times that they had been spotted had almost always been in Kanto. He wouldn't mind meeting some other legendary Pokémon instead though, they all sounded like just meeting one of them would be the experience of a lifetime.
Legendary Pokémon wasn't the only thing Ben had great interest in, another category of his interest were ancient and extinct Pokémon. Right next to the painting was a diagram of a Kabutops. A Pokémon who was believed to have lived thousands of years ago but had now become extinct. Fossilised remains of the Pokémon were proof that these Pokémon had once long ago had walked across the face of the Earth. Therefore his other dream was to one day discover a Pokémon fossil of his very own, hopefully even of a species that nobody had ever discovered yet. He was thinking of becoming a Pokémon archaeologist when he reached adulthood but he wasn't quite certain yet. For now though..
He turned around once again and sighed, looking around the room he had slept in for several years now. It was going to be the last time he would sleep in here for who knows how long?
There were several drawings hanging on the wall that he had created over the years. One was of himself, together with Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. These were the three starter Pokémon beginning trainers could get here in Pallet Town from Prof Oak. He's had a very long time to think about which one he was going to choose but he had decided on Squirtle, the Water-type Pokémon. Sure, Charmander seemed great too and so did Bulbasaur but he'd noticed that Squirtle could hide into it's shell for defense and he considered that this could be a useful technique to use in his first couple of battles.
He imagined himself battling alongside his Squirtle while looking at the other drawings. Most of them were the Legendary Bird Pokémon one of his favorite things to draw, but also one of himself and his mother and another one of various and different Pokémon in all in one. They weren't masterpieces or anything.. but he liked them nonetheless and his mother liked them too, there was a lot of love in them and they were rather precious to him. There was a bookshelf with several informative books. Ben liked reading a lot, mostly about Pokémon. Among the books lining up the shelf were such titles as: 'A Beginner's Guide to Pokémon' 'Legendary Pokémon: Fake or Real?' 'Millenium Pokémon: How Pokémon lived like long ago' 'The Guardians of Alto Mare' and many more. A computer had been placed in the corner of the room which had been used a lot by Ben, mostly to research various things of Pokémon every time he wondered about something since he simply wanted to know everything about Pokémon that he possibly could. Next to the computer was a TV which was turned off for the moment. There was his drawers where he put all his clothes in on one side of the room, a box with various toys that he played with. A desk where he liked to make his drawings and a blue mat with several big plush dolls of Pokémon and finally there was his bed with his pillow and blankets covered in yellow stars and Poké Balls. He liked his room, he was sorry to leave it for such a long time. But not nearly sorry enough that he'd refuse to become a Pokémon trainer for it.
His eyes fell upon the desk where his Voltorb clock was placed and noticed it was 9:32 PM.
'I suppose I ought to get to bed, it will be a long day tomorrow.' he thought.
He made some last-minute arrangements like putting a couple of books into his Poké ball colored traveling bag that he considered might be useful to consult on his journey. After that he climbed into his bed and turned the lights off, it took him a hour or two before he managed to fall asleep. He had stayed awake, fantasising once again flying over Pallet Town on each of the Legendary Bird Pokémon while the people all chanted his name and looked on in awe, he smiled and closed his eyes, his fantasies turning into actual dreams as he finally fell asleep. Little did he know of the gift he possessed, the fateful encounters he would meet on his adventures and how he would play a key role in changing the fates of many people and Pokémon alike...
Morning came, the sun was rising and already Ben was on the road. His head raised high, his backpack on his shoulders and with a focused, yet excited glint in his eyes he was heading towards a small hill located near the southern border of the town. On that hill was a building perched on top and a single windmill behind it. It was Prof Oak's laboratory. It was only a short walk but to Ben it seemed to last forever, he couldn't wait to get his hands on his first Pokémon and head out of town and start training and catching some Pokémon.
He was wearing an ultramarine blue jacket with short white sleeves and a plain black T-shirt beneath, green sage trousers, jet-black shoes and a white-red cap, shaped like a Poké Ball just like his backpack. He was also wearing some kind of pewter pendant necklace in the form of the yin yang symbol around his neck. Something he always wore wherever he went.
While he was walking, several people he obviously knew waved to him and passed down words of good luck to him and said their final good-byes to him. The people of Pallet Town liked Ben, mostly because he was well-mannered and had always been helpful and friendly towards everyone.
Sometimes Ben had helped an old lady with carrying her groceries from the store and was usually rewarded with some candy for it, he'd stay at her house afterwards and happily listened to the many stories she had to offer, he knew she was living all by herself and probably got lonely often so he made certain he could provide her company sometimes. At other times he had been known to help his neighbour out, a man in his fourties, together they pulled the weeds out his garden and help water the flowers. His neighbour had try to convince him the last few days to stay in Pallet Town so he could educate him in herbology and become his assistant, starting a small shop together, however he had already set his mind to becoming a Pok mon Trainer and had kindly rejected the offer. But his helpfullness wasn't the only reason he was so popular in town. Most people knew him however for showing signs of high intelligence at a young age. For once the age at the age of two he had been able to pronounce the names of all the 149 Pokémon* that were known in Kanto correctly in that in the right order according to the Pokédex. People expected him to become the new Prof Oak in town, but he had dismissed the thought thinking he didn't feel like spending every day in a lab. But people did have high expectations of him and it was pressurising him somewhat. But he wasn't going to let that trouble him today. Today was all about taking that first step into the larger world of Pokémon and having loads of fun!
He was almost a few steps from reaching the professor's lab now, it was just here around the corner. But then suddenly he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. Ben looked behind him and smirked upon seeing his best friend running towards him.
"Yo, buddy still alive?!" he called out to him, waving his hand in greeting towards him. He had spiky, jet-black hair and dark brown eyes and appeared to be about the same height as Ben. He was dressed in a black hoodie with an image of roaring crimson flames taking up most of the front part, navy-blue jeans and white sporting shoes. He too was sporting a backpack on his shoulders and it became clear he seemed to be possibly even more excited then Ben.
"Yo, Ben! Ya ready for this?! You and me man, taking on the Pokémon League and becoming the greatest Pok mon trainers this world has ever seen!" exclaimed Mick, with a determined look in in his eyes.
"You bet!" replied Ben raising a clenched fist to show off his own determination before he continued.
"I'm ready to get out there and show the world what I'm made of!"
"That's what I like to hear! So what are we standing around here for?! Let's go! Time's wasting!" said an enthusiastic and impatient Mick as he took off and ran the last couple of meters towards the lab.
Not wanting to lose to Mick, Ben chased after him and soon caught up to him, they looked sideways at one another as they sprinted towards the lab and laughed together.
Ben and Mick had been best friends for as long as anybody could remember, they had been born on the same day, in the same hospital and only ten minutes apart from one another. They were seen together often. Usually playing video games together, for they had always liked to compete against one another and as such they were not only friends but rivals as well. But that rivalry was about to take a whole new turn now that they were both getting their first Pok mon. They had promised each other they would aim to get into the Pok mon League and battle each other in the finals. They had also agreed they would travel together since they had always been playing together since when they were little and as such they didn't see why they couldn't travel together.
"I hope you prepared for the journey" said Ben between breaths as they kept running.
"Course I did! I've been rewatching all the matches of the Pokémon League this week!"
"I mean. Reading the book I've recommended to you."
"Pfft.. Come on Ben! This is me we're talking about! I don't need some kind of musty old book to help me become a trainer!"
"Mick.. I've told you, there is a lot more to been a trainer then ju-"
"Ah, don't worry! I got it all covered." said a confident-looking Mick.
"Eh.. I have my doubts.." said Ben, who didn't look reassured.
Ben knew Mick to be very determined to accomplish his goals and mostly would get into anything head-on, in a way he thought this was pretty cool and it made him a great guy but on the other hand.. he is arrogant sometimes and didn't always use his head, but the thing is if you don't use your head in Pok mon battles you would probably end up losing a lot. Sure he doesn't lack willpower but he should try to approach things differently sometimes, thought Ben.
Mick won their little sprint towards Prof Oak's Lab by a few centimetres and put his hands into the air and yelled out in victory 'I'm king of the hill!'
"Uhm, isn't Prof Oak king of the hill? I mean he does live here after all" replied Ben.
Before Mick could respond however the front door was opened and a man with grey, messy hair and dressed in a white lab coat appeared in the opening. He seemed to be wearing a rather stern expression.
"All ready to go aren't you Mick? Though I sincerly hope you won't be yelling so loudly all the time on your journey or you'll scare all of the wild Pokémon away."
"Prof Oak!" replied both the kids at the same time as they both bowed their heads.
"I've been expecting both of you. You're here for your first Pokémon, am I correct?"
"Yes sir!" they both replied again at the same time "Very well, follow me please."
Prof Oak turned around and walked back inside his lab. Ben and Mick looked at one another briefly for a moment, seeming both acting somewhat nervous all of a sudden. Perhaps it was due to the more official-like atmosphere that radiated from Prof Oak. They hurriedly went inside and followed the professor through the corridor and up a set of stairs as they came upon what looked to be like the main laboratory. Several high-tech machines and a computer that also seemed to function as a videophone were lined up against one wall. On the other side a strange looking tank and various chemicals could be seen. Somewhere near the back and center of the floor was a table with three Poké Balls placed on top and Ben guessed those must be containing the starter Pokémon they could pick from.
"Well now, I trust you are both ready? This will be a long and difficult journey and you will undoubtedly come across many harsh challenges." asked Prof Oak calmly observing the two would-be trainers but still having the same stern expression on his face.
"You bet!" said Mick as his determination flared up again
"Yes, professor." replied Ben in a more calmly manner.
"Good, now allow me to introduce you to Bulbasaur, the plant Pokémon, Charmander, the fire Pokémon and last but not least Squirtle, the water Pokémon. Now choose carefully be-
Ding-dong. The doorbell rang and Prof Oak's sentence was cut short.
"Oh, dear me, I wonder who that could be. Would you two kindly wait here while I go and see who it is? And please don't touch anything."
The two boys nodded in response as they watched Prof Oak leave the room.
"Man, I'm so psyched!" said Mick as he balled his hand into a fist, looking as eager as ever.
"Heh, you know you should save some of that energy for when we're actually on the road. You know we're going to be walking long distances from now on." said Ben.
"Yeah, I guess you're right.." said Mick absentmindedly before speaking again.
"So Ben, still picking Squirtle?"
"Yup and I'm guessing you're sticking with Charmander?" asked Ben.
For as long as he'd known him, Ben knew Mick always wanted to pick Charmander as his starter Pokémon. He had always said so and he seemed to take a great interest in fire-type Pokémon. Perhaps it was because he was so passionate and had such a fired-up determination.
"Of course! You just wait and see Ben! I'll have that Charmander evolve into a Charizard in no time flat and then I'll really burn the competition!"
"You know uh.. evolution takes a while for most Pok mon, you need to raise it properly"
"Ah, don't worry Ben. I'm sure I know what to do!"
"Actually... I'm not sure you do." said Ben unconvinced.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" said Mick getting rather angry.
He knew Mick was quick to anger and quite impulsive most of the time, however he was used to it and he was one of the few people who could usually calm him down. He was also practically the only one of the neighborhood who actually hanged out with him. The other kids didn't like him so much since he usually ended up yelling at others for the smallest things. He often wondered if Mick was bothered by this but it seemed he didn't mind one bit. He had at least one good friend and that seemed to be enough for him. Mick was one of those guys who didn't really consider or respect the viewpoints of others, except for Ben's ocassionely.
"I mean that..." began Ben but he blinked and averted his gaze from Mick, having spotted movement in the corner of his eyes and gazed towards a table in a corner of the room, a small figure seemed to be hiding beneath it, it was somewhat difficult to make out, but Ben could see a pair of deep, dark brown eyes gazing upon him curiously. Mick seemed to follow his gaze and spotted it as well.
"Is that... a Pokémon?"
"I think so.. I can't make it out what it is exactly from here though."
Ben kept eyecontact with the creature as he slowly and carefully walked towards it, taking his time and not trying to make any sudden movements he then bended down on his knees trying to get a better look at it, but before he could get a proper look at it, the sound of approaching footsteps on the stairs and two pair of voices could be heard. The sounds frightened the creature as it ran out from the table and quickly dashed outside the room. Ben caught a glimpse of a light-brown coat of fur on four short, slender legs before it dashed off.
"What was that?" asked Mick "I think it was an-"
But he didn't finish his sentence, Prof Oak had returned, but he wasn't alone he was accompanied by a girl that seemed to be around their age.
She had twintail, lavender hair that reached down to her waist held together by a pair of black ribbons. She was wearing a white silk peasant blouse, a lilac skirt and light brown sandals. She seemed slightly shorter then the other two boys and she was distinctedly wearing a glittery, turqoise, heart-shaped, pendant necklace that was resting on her top. She appeared to be nervous as well as she gulped upon seeing the two boys in the room and spoke in something of that was barely audible in a whisper
"Uhm... H-Hi"
Ben blinked twice upon seeing the girl, he had never seen her before and he pretty much knew every person in Pallet Town. Her appearance caught him somewhat off guard, it was almost as if she could be glowing. Yet...
He seemed to be getting the feeling that there was something mysterious about her, or was he imagining it? His eyes rested on her pendant necklace.
'It's beautiful..' he thought and he wondered who made it and where she got it from but he was quickly drawn out of his thoughts upon hearing Mick's voice.
"Uh, hey.. My name is Mick, nice to meet ya, I guess" said Mick, who judging from the tone of his voice didn't seem particularly interested in the girl.
Ben however smiled widely at her, trying to make her feel welcome.
"Morning. My name is Ben, it's nice to meet you." he said in a gentle tone.
The girl turned towards them both and gave a slight nod to each, though her bright purple eyes seemed to linger longer on Ben who realised by now he was staring at her and not wanting to seem rude turned towards Prof Oak.
"Uhm. Professor? There was a small Pokémon in here just now. It got kind of frightened and ran away. I'm not sure what it was but.. I'm guessing it shouldn't be running around here in the lab should it?"
To his surprise Prof Oak gave a gentle laugh, as if he seemed to know who he was referring to.
"Ah, well that was probably Eevee, it's a very timid Pokémon and it doesn't like strangers all that much and it's too shy to come near the other Pok mon either so it stays here in the lab with me, keeping me company. It doesn't seem particularly fond of humans though."
"Oh.. an Eevee, huh? Thought it might be.. It was just speeding away so fast I couldn't get a proper look at it. Ah well.."
So it was an Eevee after all.. a very rare Pokémon. 'Such a shame', thought Ben. 'I really wanted to see it up close..'
"This is Laura." said Prof Oak as he indicated the girl he had come along with.
"She's newly arrived here in Pallet Town and it appears she's here to take a Pokémon and start a journey as well."
Mick blinked at this, somewhat disturbed by this little piece of information.
"Well there's no way you're taking Charmander! I already called dibs on that!"
"Mick, please! That's no way to talk to her." said Ben as he raised his voice and felt like Mick's behavior was a tad over the line.
The girl named Laura seemed rather shocked of been spoken to in such a way by Mick, but blinked upon hearing that Ben seemingly defended her.
"Now, now." said Prof Oak putting both his hands up, trying to calm them with a bit of a nervous look on his face.
"There's three Poké Balls here, you will all end up with a Pokémon each, there no reason to fight over them."
"Well I've already chosen my first Pokémon!" said Mick as he hurriedly stepped over towards the table and snatched the Poké Ball on the right which contained Charmander. He glanced back over the others in the room with something of a triumphant smug on his face and raised his arm holding the Poké Ball into the air for all to see.
"This Charmander and I right here will beat the Pokémon League! Nothing will stop us! We will be the best team you'll ever see!"
Ben couldn't help but smile ever so slightly upon seeing Mick's enthusiasm. But a second later he turned towards the girl with a bit of a worried expression on his face.
"I uh.. heh.. hope Charmander wasn't the Pokémon you were going to pick?.." he asked in a somewhat awkward tone.
Usually whenever he was around Mick he would join in with his energetic and enthiaustic remarks but somehow the presence of this girl made him feel very aware of his actions and words.
Laura looked back at Ben and bit her lip, but then looked away, glancing towards the table with the, now, two Poké Balls on top.
"Uhm.. I-I'm not really sure w-which Pokémon I want really.." she spoke in a soft yet sweet voice.
Prof Oak decided to pick in at this.
"Both Bulbasaur and Squirtle are great Pokémon but if you think that raising Pokémon might be difficult for you, at first, you might like to pick Bulbasaur, it's the easiest out of the three starter Pokémon to raise."
"Yeah" said Ben as he nodded in agreement. "and Bulbasaur are known to be very gentle as well."
Laura seemed to consider these comments and after a few seconds she nodded once but then turned back towards Ben "Uhm.. but what about you? Did you want Bulbasaur?.. I mean.. if you rather ha-"
But Ben shaked his head and smiled at her.
"Oh no, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I was going to pick Squirtle when I got here, you can have Bulbasaur."
"Oh uhm.. ok" Laura nodded at Ben again and then slowly walked over towards the table, Ben seemed to get the feeling like this moment was almost too much for her to handle, she seemed so nervous about all this, almost as if she was forcing herself to do this, but maybe he was just imagining it, he didn't know her after all.
Mick meanwhile was showing off his Poké Ball, spinning it around on his index finger, still having that same smug on his face and seemingly been in his own world of fantasies with his Charmander.
As Laura reached the table she closed her eyes and took a deep breath for a moment before reopening her eyes and reaching out for the Pok Ball on the left, carefully taking it into both of her hands as she seemed to embrace it.
She seemed to be whispering something against it but Ben couldn't make out what she was saying towards it. She then turned around a bright smile was now on her face and she seemed quite happy as if she realised she had a Pokémon of her very own now.
"Thank you so much Prof Oak. I promise, I'll take good care of it."
Prof Oak nodded in approval and returned the smile.
"I've got a good feeling that you will Laura, well then Ben your turn." he said as he patted Ben's shoulder briefly Ben nodded and smiled and headed towards the last remaining Poké Ball that was on the table as Laura moved to the side to allow him to pass. A confident smile was upon his face as he reached out his hand towards the Poké Ball but before he could grab it he was interrupted as he jumped along with the others in the room when a sudden loud explosion could be heard that appeared to come from somewhere within the building.
"What the heck was that?!" called out Mick almost dropping the Pok Ball of Charmander in surprise
"I don't know.. Prof Oak?" Ben turned around and looked questionly towards the Professor who seemed to be the most alarmed of all.
"Oh my! I think that came from the Pok mon storage room!" said Prof Oak in shock.
"Hurry, let's go check it out." said Ben, taking charge as he ran out of the room first with Mick following closely behind.
Ben ran headlong down the staircase, taking two steps at one once, once he was on the bottom floor he looked around him, unsure where to go, he had been in Prof Oak's Lab before but he had never been inside the storage room before and the lab was quite big, thankfully there was a small sign at the top of each door that indicated what each room was used for. So Ben sprinted up the corridor, trying to look for the right sign, it took him about ten seconds before he reached the end of the corridor and finally found the door that read 'Storage Room' not wasting another second he pulled the door wide open and his eyes widened upon seeing what was beyond it.
There was a hole in the wall, that looked like it was caused by a big explosion perhaps, but what was even more troubling was what was sticking out of the hole. A vacuum. Not just any vacuum though, but a vacuum with the opening been about the size of a Golem was protruding into the hole, Ben quickly realised: 'Burglars'
"Hey! What's going on here?!" Mick who had quickly been following behind Ben appeared at the dooropening and saw the scene for himself.
"Somebody is trying to steal all of the Pokémon!" Ben yelled out.
As if on cue the vacuum was turned on and was sucking air out of the room with a massive force, the Pok Balls which were all neatly lined up on rows on the wall were been pulled out their sockets and send flying straight into the opening as the two kids had to shield their eyes from the draining of the air in the room which was making their eyes feel dry.
Prof Oak and Laura had finally caught up to them as they gasped upon seeing the vacuum and they in turn had to pull their arms up.
"No! Stop that!" Prof Oak called out "O-Oh my goodness! W-Who would do such a thing?!" wondered Laura.
"We've got to do something." said Ben gritting his teeth.
"Yeah, but what? If I send out Charmander it might get caught into that gose as well." said Mick, who held the Poké Ball with Charmander against his chest with one hand, keeping a firm grip on it to make sure it wasn't pulled into the machine as well, while using his other arm to shield himself.
While the four of them watched on and tried to come up with something else caught Ben's attention. Shivering in a corner of the room and attempting to hide behind a trash can was a small brown figure, Ben recognised it immediately as the Eevee he had seen earlier. It was clearly very afraid of what was happening and appeared to refuse to move from it's spot, it's eyes closed.
"Eevee what are you doing here? Get away from here!" Ben called out but the Eevee either didn't hear him over the noise emitted from the huge machine, or it simply was too frightened to acknowledge him.
Afraid something would happen to the Pokémon if it remained there, Ben decided to move towards it which was quite difficult as the vacuum was hindering his movement somewhat he tried his best but he was running out of time as the trash can the Eevee was hiding behind was pulled up from the floor and sucked in through the hose, leaving Eevee completely vulerable. It opened it's eyes and yelped as it now received the full blast of wind and it was pulled centimeter by centimeter closer towards the opening, the small Pokémon been in danger of been sucked inside. Ben tried to close the gap to it as quickly as he could pushing his body through the wind but it was too late. With another yelp and a scream that was lost in the rush of wind it was lifted off the floor and Ben could see the clear fright in Eevee's dark brown eyes as it was pulled and sucked in through the hose.
"No, Eevee!" Ben called out.
"Oh no, poor Eevee.." Laura said in dismay.
By now, all the Poké Balls in the room had been sucked in through the hose and a few seconds later the machine was suddenly turned off and the next second the hose was been retracted out of the hole and seemed to be going up and out of sight. Ben, Mick, Laura and Prof Oak sprinted through the room and into the hole, to come outside and looked above them.
There floating in the air was a black balloon with a big red R been in the center of the balloon, it was difficult to make out but Ben could see two people occupying it, a male and female who appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties and wearing a black uniform of sorts, they had their arms crossed and laughed hysterically in victory, below them hung a huge net with their catch in which all of Prof Oak's Pok Balls had been deposited and the big vacuum that had delivered their catch to them, Eevee was pressed in between the Poké Balls in the net, appearing to be hurt and frantically calling out for help.
Mick gasped upon seeing the balloon, his eyes seemed to be fixed on the R in the center of the balloon.
"I know that symbol! It's Team Rocket!"
"Team Rocket?" the other three asked in choir as they turned to look at him.
"I've seen them in the news! They're bad guys who try to steal other people's Pokémon!"
"So our reputation is proceding us today it seems." said a female voice from above, as they all turned to look up at the balloon.
"Team Rocket thanks you for your contribution Prof Oak. We'll make sure the Pokémon are put to good use." said the male Team Rocket member in turn.
"Have a fine day!" sneered the female Rocket member as their balloon started lifting higher into the air and started floating over and away from the lab.
"Thieves! Come back here!" Mick called out.
"You won't get away with this!" yelled Ben in turn.
But the balloon was probably out of earshot by now but Ben wasn't going to give up that easily as he began running after the balloon and he knew his friend Mick was right on his heels. They ran around the lab as quickly as their legs could carry them and started giving chase.
Most kids or even grown-ups would probably not have the courage to try and stop organised criminals of the likes of Team Rocket. But not Ben. He wasn't afraid at all. There was a rush of adrenaline going through his body and the only thing he could think of was getting those Pokémon back somehow. It must probably look foolish thought Ben. Two little kids chasing after a balloon of stolen Poké Balls. But he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
"How do we stop them?!" asked Mick as they now started running through the grassfields and managed to keep up with the balloon, for the moment.
"I've got no idea. But we can't let them get away!" said Ben in turn.
How WERE they going to get the Pokémon back? Even if they could keep up with the balloon, there was no way they could possibly reach it. He had never heard of this Team Rocket before either, it seemed that Mick did however, he wanted to ask more but figuered that would be a waste of breath for the moment. They needed to keep running and they couldn't waste oxygen talking to one another.
'Think, Ben, think..' but nothing jumped to mind at the moment. One thing was for sure if they kept on running on foot they would get tired out fast, Ben began looking around while Mick seemingly only had eyes for the balloon.
'Need transportation..' thought Ben.
That's when he spotted it. Back from where he came from, down against the steps, resting against one of the brick pillars that formed some kind of gate to Prof Oak's lab was a pink bicycle.
'It must belong to that girl.' he thought. There was no choice, he had to borrow it. This was an emergency after all.
"Keep going!" he said to Mick as he ran back in the opposite direction, making a beeline for the bicycle.
"Wait! Where are you going Ben?!" he heard Mick calling back to him, but he didn't look back and kept running towards the means to catch up to the balloon.
'Urgh.. it's pink, I can't believe I'm going to ride this..' thought Ben.
'Keep your head in this darn it! You've got more important things to worry about!' said another voice in his mind as he shook off the thought of riding a girly bike. Getting the Pokémon back from Team Rocket was all that mattered right now.
He reached the bike and mounted it, the saddle was lower then he would've liked but he had to deal with it, he kicked off from the ground and started paddling towards the balloon which had gotten a headstart since he ran back and looked quite small now in his eyes, it must be about four football fields ahead of him now. Fortunately the bike had multiple gears and soon he was speeding up and the balloon started becoming bigger again, he saw Mick ahead of him who seemed to begin to get tired out, his pacing seemed to become more irregular and he was slowing down, shaking his head. He eventually came to a standstill and looked behind him just in time to see Ben zoom past him.
"Leave it to me Mick!" he called out to his best friend as he left him behind.
The chase had now led him outside Pallet Town and he was riding through the countryside as Team Rocket attempted to make it's getaway. The low position of the saddle didn't help him one bit, his legs started to complain to him that they began aching, telling him to stop, but there was no way he could do that. He ignored the cramps, trying to speed up some more and soon he was closing in on the balloon, he could see the huge net of Poké Balls below it and there in the middle of them was the brown figure of Eevee, still calling out for help, it's desperate cries for help gave Ben strength to keep going. He had to save it. He failed in grabbing it before the vacuum pulled it in and he would never forgive himself if Team Rocket got away with it.
It seems that Eevee wasn't the only one who noticed that they were persued however, he looked up to see one of the duo release a Poké Ball from his hand.
He was summoning a Pokémon.
The Poké Ball opened and the white-redish light formed into shape into a tiny, floating Pokémon. It might've looked like a flying pair of magnets but Ben knew better.
It was a Magnemite.
"Magnemite use Thundershock!"
Ben gritted his teeth and had to make a sharp turn with the bicycle to avoid the hit, realising he was in danger now, but that wasn't going to stop him. He was determined.
They were not getting away from him!
Magnemite tried to strike again as this time he swinged the two-wheeler to the right and barely avoided been shocked.
"Team Rocket, give it up! Give the Pokémon back! You're not getting away from me!" he called out to the balloon.
"You're pretty brave kid, but that's not going to get you anywhere today. Allright Magnemite! Let's make sure we hit him this time! Use Thundershock again!"
The Magnemite went flying behind Ben now and thus he couldn't see it this time, he tried to turn the bicycle once more but it was too late as he got hit by the Electric attack, the shock caused him to let go off the handle from his bicycle and soon he was send flying and landed in a bush that fortunately broke his fall and caused a more or less soft landing, however the Thundershock had been quite thorough on him and he was aching and tintling all over and he had lost all feeling in his muscles, it was almost a miracle he managed to stay consious but he was paralysed and unable to move, he could just manage to lift his head barely and with a somewhat foggy vision looked up at the balloon which was beginning to fade away from view.
"N-No.. I-I c-can't.. let them.. g-get a-away." he said to himself. He attempted to lift himself up from the ground but his muscles were going through some kind of shock and he had to gasp for air. He looked back at the balloon and blinked.
It was a small, black speck in his eyes from that distance but something airborne was dashing towards the balloon at quite a high speed, the thing, whatever it was, flew straight through the balloon, causing it to puncture as air was leaking out of it fast and the balloon was losing altitude and it was send crashing into a nearby forest and a great dust cloud was rising from the place the balloon had crashed. The black speck faded from view into the dust cloud.
What was that? What had brought down that balloon?
There was no time to ponder about it, the balloon had crashed nearby, if he hurried maybe he could catch up to Team Rocket and stop them somehow.
Slowly but surely he was regaining some measure of feeling in his muscles though they still ached but he was able to lift himself up from the ground, his clothes covered in leaves, grass and dust, he looked around for the bicycle and spotted it been several feet away from him lying in the middle of the path but as he stepped forward with difficulty noticed it was in no shape to ride anymore. The impact of Magnemite's attack and the crash had bent the front tire somehow and the saddle was missing as well.
On foot then. But it was no easy task, still feeling the effects of the Thundershock he tried to press towards the forest, he looked around him, Team Rocket had let him so far on this wild Swanna chase that Pallet Town was barely visible anymore, he was kilometers away from the town and he saw nobody else, save for a flock of Pidgey flying overhead and a few Rattata scurrying in the grass. He was on his own. It was up to him.
It took him about five minutes to reach the forest and as he got closer his muscles began slowly but surely working properly again though he was still hurting. But as he looked around him he had trouble figuring out Team Rocket's exact landing loction. What was he going to do anyways? He was just a little kid who had no Pok mon yet. There isn't that much he could do..
'Argh.. I should've taken Squirtle before that explosion.. then I could actually battle Team Rocket somehow.' he thought.
But even as this thought came to him, he knew it would probably be futile, those crooks had a Magnemite, an Electric-type Pokémon which meant his Water-type Squirtle would be at a disadvantage.
'There is no way I can do this on my own.. I should probably get some help somewhere.'
He sighed and shaked his head, he turned around, thinking vaguely of heading back to Pallet Town and tell Prof Oak what had occured but before he got anywhere far he heard a frightened scream of a Pok mon calling for help.
"Eievui!"
Ben turned back around in a flash, it was Eevee and it sounded pretty closeby.
He rushed towards the place he heard the frightened Pokémon cry from. Gasping for air, the chase and the zap from Magnemite had left him physically exhausted but he couldn't turn around now. He wasn't going to let anything bad happen to Eevee.
Suddenly a small brown figure erupted through one of the bushes in front of him. It was Eevee. Somehow it got away, running away as fast as possible but it jumped and came to a halt upon seeing Ben and he did the same. It lowered it's head, it's long, pointy ears dropping and slowly backed away from him, seeming afraid of Ben in turn. Ben remembered Prof Oak's words that it was very timed and scared of humans. Ben eyes caught a spot on it's back where a small area was reddened, it seemed to be bleeding, it needed treatment.
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds Eevee appeared to be uncertain what to do. It didn't seem to want to run away from him at first glance, but neither did it seem to want to come any closer to him, it was trembling and quietly ushered small cries.
"Eie.. Eie.."
Ben's instincts told him he had to be very gentle and slow if he wanted to let this Pokémon knew he was it's friend.
'Ok, careful..'
Ben steadily lowered his backpack, keeping eyecontact with the Evolution Pokémon as he did, he then carefully bended down on his knees which was quite difficult as his legs had been complaining to him for a while now, his knees almost gave way which almost made him stumble onto the ground with a wave of his arms which frightened the Eevee as it backed away a few more steps, he bit his lower lip, he couldn't afford another mistake like that.
Slowly he unzipped one of the pockets of his backpack, still keeping eyecontact with the brown Pokémon he dived his hand into his backpack, feeling his way through, this particular pocket had been filled with several berries his mother had bought him before he left. He knew she had put some Oran Berries in it. It didn't take long to feel he found the right one as he pulled out a small, blue, circular shaped berry as he smiled at the Eevee and raised the Oran Berry to his mouth and took a slight bite out of it, the Eevee blinked it's eyes focused on the fruit now.
"Mmh, tastes pretty good!" he said as he nodded which received a confused look from Eevee as it tilted it's head slightly.
"Do you want it?" he asked the small Pokémon as he extended his hand with the berry towards it, smiling brightly.
Eevee did seem somewhat interested in the food, it's eyes fixed on the blue berry. Slowly and cautiously it approached still seeming wary of the human. Ben tried to make it easier on Eevee by placing the berry on the ground and slowly backed a few steps, still smiling at the Evolution Pokémon. Step, by step it carefully stepped closer until at long last it reached the fruit, it blinked seeming to hesistate, looking back at the human with a doubtful expression on it's face.
"Go on, try it. It's allright" Ben spoke in a soft tone.
Eevee still seemed to be unsure but eventually it opened it's mouth and took a bite out of the fruit. A few seconds passed while the little Pokémon chewed the food and eventually swallowed. Eevee blinked and it's pointy ears went upright once more and seeming less wary now it took another bite from the blue berry, seemingly liking the taste.
'There, that should heal Eevee a bit for the time being.' Ben thought, as he smiled watching it.
Just as he thought of asking Eevee if it knew where the Poké Balls were that Team Rocket stole he heard a couple of voices nearby and he swiftly got back to his feet, Eevee who had just finished eating the berry heard the voices and quickly turned around dropping it's ears and head once again and started backing away once more, moving closer towards Ben, as it began to quiver.
"Where did that Eevee go?!" he heard the female voice of the Rocket member.
"This way!" he heard her male partner respond.
They were coming this way and they sounded closeby.
"Eevee, quick, hide behind me." Ben called out to the small Pok mon Eevee looked behind him and looked up at Ben's face, frightened and shaked it's head several times in disagreement. It still didn't seem to trust him.
Ben looked back up to see the Team Rocket duo appear before him, he balled his hands into a fist and stared at them with an angry expression on his face.
The female Rocket grunt had relatively short, blue hair that appeared to be dyed and was quite skinny, there was a rather fierce glance in her garnet eyes. Her partner on the other hand had short, shamrock green hair with violet eyes and seemed to be having a more calculated look about him. They were both wearing inky-black uniforms with a big red R spanned across their chests.
"There is Eevee!" said the female Rocket grunt
"And there is that annoying kid as well, I thought Magnemite had knocked him out cold." said the male Rocket grunt as he crossed his arms and looked at Ben in dislike
"It's gonna take more then that to keep me down, Team Rocket!" said Ben determined in reply.
The Rocket grunts laughed at him, both at the same time. Then the female spoke again.
"and what's a little kid like you going to do to stop us? Do you even have any Pokémon yet? You look a little young to be a Pokémon Trainer."
They were mocking him. He was been played as a fool and Ben had to admit that this all seemed rather rash on his part. Ben ignored the question, instead asking a question himself.
"Where are the Pokémon you stole from Prof Oak's Lab?!"
The male grunt smirked before answering him.
"Oh don't worry about that. Team Rocket has them safetly stored away somewhere until we come back to retrieve them."
The female now turned it's attention to Eevee who was still cowering before them.
"Now, Eevee make this easy on yourself, come with us and we promise we won't hurt you."
"Leave Eevee alone!" said Ben angrily
"You shouldn't interfere kid. I could let Magnemite easily zap you out cold you know." said the male grunt, seeming amused by Ben's attempts to defend the helpless Pokémon.
"Just who do you think you are anyways?" asked Ben, trying to buy himself time somehow.
"I'm Chloe" said the female grunt as she introduced herself.
"and I'm Isaac." said her male partner as he introduced himself in turn, before the woman named Chloe took the word again.
"We're the rising stars in Team Rocket kid, we've accomplised things you could only dream of." she said with confidence.
"Indeed and this latest sheme is sure to impress the boss. We might even get a promotion!" as the man named Isaac seemed to become excited at the idea before Chloe took over again.
"But we need to get that Eevee to make sure we get that promotion. It's a very rare Pokémon you see and Team Rocket needs rare Pokémon."
"I won't let you take Eevee!" said Ben as he rushed forward towards Eevee who was rooted to the spot and stood in front of it, stretching out his arms in a defensive stance.
He could hear a cry of surprise uttered from Eevee behind him as it watched the human defending him.
"Fine. Be that way. Should've run while you could kid. Magnemite come forth! Use your Thundershock!"
Ben braced himself as he watched the male Rocket grunt throw a Poké Ball and the same Magnemite appeared before him that had zapped him off the bicycle earlier.
"Eevee, go! Run while you still can!" Ben called out while looking behind him and looked down at Eevee who looked up at him, half in fright, half in admiration.
A second later he yelled out in pain as he was shocked by the Electric attack, feeling his body becoming numb under the high voltage he was put through. A second later he collapsed onto the ground, his vision going black as he struggled to remain consious.
"Eievui! Vui!" he heard a nearby voice
It took him a moment before he realised what was obscuring his vision.
It was Eevee.
Instead of running away like he had told it to it had crouched down near his face, he looked into it's bright dark eyes, he could see a rise of concern appearing in the young Pokémon's eyes, he felt it nudging his forehead with it's own as if it attempted to push him up.
"Eie.. Eievui..." it desperately told him.
"Run.. Run Eevee.. s-save.. your... yours-"
But his word were failing him as the blackness surrounded him, the last thing he saw was a sudden bright light been projected from somewhere and then nothing.
*Note it says 149 Pokémon instead of 150 the explanation is that Mewtwo was not discovered yet before this time
That's it for Chapter 1, I hope to post Chapter 2 soon please leave some reviews if you liked it and let me know what you think. Also ideas for what YOU want to see happen in this story are welcome ^^