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A Weird Pokémon Journey- Ch. 3

I had woken up early ("Someone in this house up early?") and it was around 5:15. I jumped up on my bike (my bike?) and rode as fast as I could across the town to Professor Oak's lab. As I ran up the stairs I saw, very far off in the distance, a limo, a huge group of skimpily clad cheerleader boys and girls (it was the beginning of spring for godsakes!). Geri (Geri?) was hanging out the window, waving and shouting something about she was going to be the best. Used to be such a nice girl, too. Along with her was her 9-year-old bro, Gary. I think. "Hmm. We'll see about that!" I whispered to myself and continued running up the stairs.

I came through the large metal door of the lab after ringing the bell a million times. Then I almost tripped over a gray-haired guy wearing a coordinating nightgown and nightcap, who was running at the door. I had knocked him down, though. Professor Oak? But he looked a little... out of it. "Um, Professor Oak?" I said hesitantly. "Professor..." Still slumped on the floor. "YO PROFESSOR!!" I finally yelled. "Ahh! Nooo! It's the evil purple marshmallow bunnies! They're taking over! Help!" he screamed, scrambling back from me. "Where am I?!" "Uh, what?"

"Huh? Oh, hello Ashley. So lovely to see you. Now what the hell are you doing here?" He asked. "I wanted to get my pokémon trainer license and a pokémon?" "Ah, yes. So why would you be here now?" "Well, I'm not late.." "No, not like the post-training sessions.. Very well.

"Since you're the first, you may have your pick: Charmander, Squirtle, and Pikachu. I might find some more when I'm awake." Ignoring the hint, I observed, "You changed the lineup.. I thought this was the game." "Huh?" "Nevermind. So that's all you've got, huh?" "Oh yes! Of course!" he exclaimed quickly. "You sure?" "No more! There aren't!" I stared at him for a full three and a half seconds and he seemed to shrink back.

Then he said, "Well, there is one more... I don't think you'd really want it... She's a little... wild." "So where is it?! I'll take her!" I said, impatient again. "In this pokéball." Prof. Oak said slowly, presenting it. I grabbed it before he could draw back again. Really! He was as wimpy as the guy from Sleepy Hollow was.

So anyway, there was a little plant sign thing on it. 'Aha! Pikachu and Bulbasaur changed places in this... world,' I thought, looking at the pokéball. Then I threw it without saying anything. Why say 'Pokéball go'? If my friends could see me now. Anyway, the bulbasaur was out of the ball before it even hit the ground. Then it came right to me and was running circles around my legs! It was acting kind of like a cat, if you thought about it.

"Oh yeah, wild fella, huh?" I giggled, petting the bulbasaur. "It seems to like you... It hasn't really been around many humans, since she always lashes out at people. You must have a breeders' charm!" Prof. Oak decided. "Right. You haven't been bad, have you, Bulbasaur?" I said in a mock angry voice. "Bul-ba-SAUR!" Bulbasaur growled indignantly and scratched both the professor and I up. "Or not," Prof. Oak groaned, dropping down into a chair.

"Hey! That was real nice." I said, touching my face. Only little scratches. "Saur, bulbasaur?" "Why would you think that?" I answered sarcastically. "And why do I practically know what you're saying?" "Well, some trainers can understand Pokémon talk a little. But not usually this soon-" said Mr. Information. "-and that's nice and handy and all, but can I get some sleep?" "Sure. I'm leaving.

"Don't I get a Pokédex?" "Of course. My dream was to create a record of all Pokémon, but now I'm too old." (Got that right, bud.) "So all of this year's trainers will get a Pokédex. How did you know about my invention?" he yawned, handing me a Pokédex. "Um, uh, I saw it on TV. You were on last night!" I covered. (He wasn't. Well, he was, actually. I wasn't there.. I think.) "Right. G'night..." yawned Prof. Oak again and dropped his head.

"So I guess it's just you 'n' me... hey, want a nickname? How about- Spear?" "Saur? Bulba!" "What? Whatever. I'm not supposed to be able to understand you anyway." I decided, shouldering my backpack. "C'mon, Spear." I shoved the door open and ran down the stairs at record speed. Then I saw Mrs. Stormlight, a neighbor, standing by my bike. She was so small (shorter than me) but she had this huge voice. I don't know how I know so don't ask.

"Oh, there you are! I wondered who would be the early bird this year! There's always a person who comes so early that Professor Oak forgets to give them pokéballs." "But I can buy them in-" "Nonsense! Here are your pokéballs and belt. And Mr. Trickover wants you to have this Doduo. The town Dodrio had babies, you know!" "Uh, thanks. Where's Luna?" (Who this was I put in the back of my mind at the moment.) "Look, she's coming right now!" "I think I'll wait for her. Goodbye!"

I picked a pokéball from the belt I had put on and threw it to Spear. To my (stupid) surprise, she bounced it back at me. I threw it back three or four times with no luck. "How cute! She's playing with you! Now goodbye!" exclaimed Mrs. Stormlight and hurried off. I watched her leave. Then I said to Spear, "No pokéball, huh? I shouldn't be surprised. Just like Pikachu." "Saur?" Spear looked confused. "Nev'mind. Let's go to the gate." I mounted my bike and started pedaling hard. "Saur!" complained Spear. "Hey, I never said it would be easy out of the ball!" I laughed, but slowed down.

When we got to the gate opening to Route 1, I saw a girl slowly approaching. She was pedaling painstakingly slowly, but when she finally got here, she dropped off her bike. "Hey Ash." Luna gasped. "I got... Pikachu. I love... electric... Pokémon, don't you..." "Hi Lune!" I said, feeling strangely friendly. Not that I'm not friendly, but I felt like she was my best friend or something. I had gotten the 'who's she?' question again in my mind. Well, obviously, she was my best friend. She also had my same exact birthday.

Luna had black hair with blond at the ends, which seems very electric to me; I had an auburn-red, same as my world. She had blue eyes that I guess means the sky; I had this weird combo of indigo and green, which could mean nature or something. Her fave color was black; I had discovered I liked green better than blue (horror of horrors!!) in this world. She had sorta punk clothes; I was liked the camouflage and neutral colored tanks and vests and stuff. If you're wondering why I'm telling you this, it's because I'd heard that people often had characteristics of their fave type Pokémon. Cool, huh?

So anyway, her Pikachu wouldn't get into the ball either. I wondered how she had gotten the Pokémon so quickly, but something in my head told me Luna was a speed demon or something. "Except that my mom gave me all this extra stuff. It's not really that heavy, but too much anyway. I'll probably get really tired riding alone, even with Flash." Luna explained. "Yeah, I guess it would. Hey, you wanna ride together?" I suggested. "Ashley, you are a psychic," Luna declared. "I was just thinking that! Let's go."

As we set off down Route 1, we saw 10 and 9 year old boys with wild black hair running towards the lab in their pajamas. Eric (10) and Ash. Was this game a time warp, too?