"Journey of the Unchosen."
Chapter 1
"Forgotten by Destiny."
"Have fun on your adventure kids!" Professor Oak waved his hand at the retreating children. "Be sure to take good care of your new partners and remember to tell your parents before you leave Pallet Town!"
"We will, Professor!" The girl holding a Squirtle called back.
"Wish us luck when we reach the Pokémon gyms, professor!" Her male counterpart pressing his newly acquired Charmander to his chest, shouted over his shoulder before disappearing through the door.
The elderly man of science chuckled loudly to himself, shaking his grey head in amusement.
"Ah…to be young and so full of unspent energy…" Oak mussed loudly, completely missing the tear-covered face of the remaining Pokémon in his disposal. "I remember when I was just as wee as those two whippersnappers, running around Kanto with my trusty Growlithe…" He sighted at the memory playing against his closed eyelids. "Ah…those were the days…"
The, constantly overlooked by his more popular companions, grass Pokémon called Bulbasaur could only look up at the elder human with tears shining in his large red eyes that begged the renown Pokémon researcher to, just once, say that there is one more child expected to show up, only is running late.
Just once.
But the plea was never answered as professor cut off his chuckling at the sound of a rather loud sniff.
"Oh! Oh dear…" He said with something resembling sympathy as he kneeled in front the distraught Pokémon. "Don't worry, buddy." He said trying to offer comfort. "I'm sure you'll find yourself a very caring and nice boy or girl willing to become your lifelong partner, in tomorrow's pick-ups."
That was a lie.
One that was fed to the poor naïve Bulbasaur ever since he was the one left behind for the first time, to keep his spirits up.
And, sadly, it was a lie to which the young Pokémon caught up to quite easily.
The truth was, kids in the Kanto region liked Charmander the most because he was the most devastating out of the three starters and evolved into a pretty cool-looking dragon. And, whoever had a neighbor that wouldn't shut up about his beloved little fire-breather, naturally chose the natural rival of said Pokémon, Squirtle, to wash the grin off every Charmander-owner they encounter.
Bulbasaur however…well he was regarded as the 'weakling' of the starters and, since most of the children around Kanto chose Charmander as their chosen starter, nobody in their right mind would pick a Pokémon who's biggest weakness is fire.
True, the other part of the trainer population own a venerable Squirtle, but before one can even think about engaging a water-turtle in battle, they must first go through a whole army of bloodthirsty Charmander owners that just like the sound of leafs burning, which is music to their ears.
The poor Bulbasaur faced those facts a long time ago and decided to give the children of Pallet town one more chance, before accepting the fact that it will never grow into a powerful Venusaur and have an everlasting friendship with a human, and running off to join his wild living kin in the wilderness wherever they might be.
Not wanting to have his hopes crushed for what felt like the hundredth time, the grass dinosaur jumped off the metal table and, ignoring the shocked yells of professor Oak calling him to stop, ran towards the open door as fast as his short pudgy legs could carry him.
Once outside the baby Pokémon kept his eyes focused on the road before him, not wanting to see all the other happy Pokémon-human partnerships having fun together playing ball or sharing ice-cream.
He dodged little toddlers chasing after Caterpies and fully evolved Butterfrees, pretended to not hear the shocked gasps of passerby's trainers upon seeing a starter Pokémon running around scot-free and generally tried to blink away he tears that threated to fall, whenever they were from the wind blowing against his eyes from the speed of his run or from everything that's been going lately, he couldn't tell.
The broken Pokémon only slowed down when the heat of the asphalt warmed by the summer sun was no longer felt under his feet, a quick look around the area he was in confirmed that he left the borders of the dreaded city and entered the forest area where most of the novice trainers look for Pokémon to fill in the gaps in their teams. Since he's an overgrown 5 level Bulbasaur who should have long since been halfway towards becoming an Ivysaur and knows 'Vine Whip', he shouldn't worry about being chased off by local Pokémon.
Not as far from civilization as he would like, at least until the wound of being rejected by everyone who came to choose a Pokémon stopped pulsing, but good enough for now.
Sighting deeply Bulbasaur welcomed his new home and set out to search for a source of water to quench his growing thirst.
Using his sense of smell he was able to quickly locate a nice flowing river, deep enough to drown a young human, habitat to many a water Pokémon and perfect for fighting dehydration.
As he was dripping his tongue in the cool tasteless liquid a piercing scream and a lot of splashing was heard from the farther side of the river, where it disappeared hidden by trees and bushes.
Startled, the Bulbasaur twisted his head towards the source of the squeal and was met with an unusual sight.
A young looking girl, about 10 or 11 if he was comparing her to the kids he saw earlier the same day, with short dark blond hair was trashing in the water fighting to stay afloat.
"H-Help!" She managed to scream before her small head was forced back down underwater. "I-I can't swim!" Bulbasaur watched water enter the girl's mouth just after those words were spoken, forcing her to cough and be dunked back under the unforgiving waters of the river.
Knowing the poor child wouldn't survive any longer inside the deadly waters, the brave little green dinosaur used his famous 'Vine Whip' and wrapped the vines around the drowning human's shoulders. Once he was certain she won't slip through his grip, the young grass monster gathered all his strength and began fighting the river current for her life.
After a rather tiring struggle Bulbasaur managed to pull the frightened child out of the deadly situation, both of them wheezing heavily from both fear and strain. Once the girl was safely on the ground she began the tedious task of coughing out water from her lungs.
Bulbasaur took the chance to look over his charge, while he was gathering his strength back and she turned around to thank him, her breath still labored and wheezing.
"Thank you." She rasped out giving him a nervous smile. "I would have d-drowned if it wasn't for you."
The girl was small for her age, her clothes were torn and worn in many a place but the thing that shocked the grass Pokémon about her was the color of her eyes.
They were milky-white.
And he was pretty sure they couldn't see him.