Chapter 2-Joe's First Pokemon!
Joe couldn't help but smile as he strutted down route 1. Part of it was due to the great weather, but also sending that kid flying had cheered him up considerably. As he walked he marveled at the trees, the flowers, and even the grass. Mere days ago he never would have been able to leave the town. Though route 1 did not have many scary pokemon, it was still considered very dangerous to travel without one. "Though, that never stopped me the few times that I snuck out." Joe thought to himself as he walked along the dirt path. Glancing back he saw his squirtle walking behind him. The turtle pokemon was also taking in many of the sights, a look of amazement etched on its face. "He looks happy." Joe thought to himself, and then decided to get a better lay of the land. Seeing a familiar tree, he began running up to it and grabbed one of the branches. He then rocked his legs back and forth until he gained enough momentum to pull himself on top of the tree branch. Having reached the top, he now had a bird's eye view of route 1. "Wow, I can see everything! Even Viridian city." However, though the lights were impressive, they weren't what he was looking for. Out in the distance, Joe finally spotted what seemed to be three pokemon surrounding a rock formation. "Finally some real action!" Joe thought as he jumped down to the grass below. "C'mon Squirtle, let's go." He called out as he ran towards where he had seen the rock formation. "Time for my first battle!" Joe thought enthused. However, when he reached the actual rock formation he realized that things were not really what they had seemed. "What the?" Joe thought confused. In front of him was a pack of Growlithe who had surrounded a different pokemon. His eyes widened as he saw that the pokemon was a wild Charmander. The pokemon was standing on top of a small rock, keeping the Growlithe at bay by swiping whenever one tried to climb the rock. "I've got to do something!" Joe thought as he shouted, "Quick Squirtle, use water gun!" He was left dumbfounded however, when he noticed that the move he had called out was not very effective. In fact, nothing happened at all. Joe wondering what had gone wrong looked to his side and noticed that his Squirtle had completely disappeared. In fact as Joe turned back he could see his pokemon hiding in the bushes, a look of fear etched in his eyes. Then things got infinitely worse. Hearing a menacing growl, Joe looked towards the source of the noise. Having heard him call out his attack, half of the Growlithe pack had turned and were advancing on him. Joe looked closely at the menacing teeth of the Growlithe, but he knew that the teeth were nothing compared to the fire that could be launched at him at a moment's notice. Slowly he began to back away, step by step trying not to agitate the pokemon. All of a sudden however, he heard something that made him stop. With the pack slowly encircling him, the lone Charmander looked towards Joe and let out a cry of desperation. Though he didn't speak pokemon, Joe knew what it was. A desperate cry for help. It was then that he was faced with a decision. He could make a run for it and try to grab the Charmander, or he could save himself and leave the Charmander to the Growlithe. With only moments to decide, Joe's mind clouded by fear and anxiety made the logical choice. Faced with death at the hands of being torn apart or worse; burnt alive, Joe slowly turned and ran. As he ran through the bushes, he picked up his Squirtle and sprinted as fast as he could. "It was the right decision." He kept telling himself as he ran but that didn't help to drown out the tortured cries of abandonment which followed him as he forced himself not to look back.
"What a coward." Shane thought as he watched the kid run away. As soon as he had heard Oak talk about the last starter pokemon, he immediately ran out of the entrance. At first it had been difficult to find the kid due to his head start. Then he had finally spotted him, standing on top of a tree branch looking out across the valley. He would have made a move sooner, but then Shane had noticed the Growlithe pack and decided to hide in case the pack decided to attack him instead. However, now that the kid and his pokemon had separated themselves from the pack he realized that his moment would come soon. "I'm so close." Shane thought as his eyes followed them. "I only have to watch and wait, and then I'll be able to strike." As he silently followed them, gray storm clouds began forming in the sky.
"That was too close." Joe thought as he wiped the sweat from his brow. They had ran for miles until Joe knew for sure that they were out of danger. But while Joe who was in shape quickly caught his breath, Squirtle was panting. "He's got that heavy shell on his back, plus something about him has seemed off this entire time." Joe carefully looked back towards the direction they had come from, once again making sure that the coast was clear. "Squirt Squirtle Squirt." His pokemon growled as it finally caught its breath. "What are you saying?" Joe asked with a confused look on his face. Though he could read emotions, he was having a hard time understanding Squirtle-speak. Then he saw Squirtle looking back towards the rock formation. "Oh what so you think that this is my fault?" Joe said as his voice started to rise. "Squirtle Squirt." Squirtle answered. For the first time today, it seemed confident for whatever reason as it pointed an accusing finger at Joe. Joe had officially had enough. Today he had been used by Sadow, lied to by Oak, and then attacked by a group of Growlithe. But the biggest factor behind his temper boiling was the face of the charmander stuck in his head. "Oh and it can't be because of you at all right. I mean, if you hadn't been such an awful coward then perhaps that pokemon wouldn't have become Growlithe food!" Joe exploded as the pressure inside of him finally burst out in one barrage. The sudden burst of bravery from his Squirtle immediately disappeared and was replaced by the shyness from before. But Joe wasn't finished. Opening his mouth he said one last thing that he immediately regretted. "You're pathetic!" Joe stated with as much venom as he could muster. At first Joe's expression stayed unchanged, but then Squirtle reacted. Joe watched in horror as Squirtle's face slowly went from fear to an outright mixture of sadness and depression. "Squirt-" Joe tried to say, but it was drowned out as the pokemon began to cry. Joe's anger was replaced by guilt, but then again replaced by anger, this time directed at himself. As if to echo his own emotions, he heard a crack of thunder. Looking around, he realized that not only were they deep in the valley but it was also getting late. "We won't be able to beat the storm out. It's best to just find some shelter until tomorrow." Spotting a cave close-by, Joe turned to Squirtle and coldly beckoned, "C'mon, let's go take shelter in that cave over there." For a couple moments the pokemon stood right where it was, but eventually began to slowly follow Joe along the path. Rain steadily began to pour as they sprinted inside the cave. Sitting down, Joe cupped his hands and blew out a hot stream of air warming them up. He then noticed Squirtle shivering in a corner. "Come here." Joe called, intent on making up for earlier. But the pokemon just ignored him and kept sitting in the corner with its back turned to him. "Oh well, he'll get over it eventually." Joe mentally shrugged as he yawned. It had been a long day, and his energy was running low from lack of food. Tired, he lied down on his back and put his hands behind his head. Surely but slowly, the fatigue took over as his eyes drooped and then closed sending him into darkness.
Before he woke up Joe knew that something was wrong. He just had an instinct, as if something that had been there before was now missing. Getting up, he put his hat on his head and immediately scanned the cave. Then he realized it, Squirtle was gone. As he looked outside, he noticed that the rain had not stopped and there was a powerful wind causing tree branches to lash out in all directions. "He won't be able to survive a storm like this, water pokemon or not." Joe thought to himself as he began moving towards the door. However, while he was worried for Squirtle the image of the Charmander flashed in his mind. Shaking his head, he put his hand on his hat to keep it from being blown off and began running full tilt into the storm. "Squirtle! Squirtle!" He called out as his voice struggled to beat out the sounds of thunder clapping in the sky. But he got no answer and he realized that it was hopeless. He had lost Squirtle, and he knew that he was never coming back. Disheartened, Joe began to walk back towards the forest for cover when all of a sudden he heard a cry for help. "Squirtle?" Joe called out as he looked towards the source of the cry. But instead of a turtle, he saw a reddish-orange lizard like pokemon standing under a tree. "That's that charmander from earlier." Joe thought in amazement as he began moving closer to it. "It has to be, especially with that scar running down its eye. The Growlithe must have been scared by the storm and run off." As he drew closer, it saw him and let out a warning hiss. Seeing it open its mouth, Joe hit the deck as he felt a wave of heat flow over his back. The Charmander closed its mouth and gave him an aggressive look. "Well it's not like I didn't deserve that, but there's something else to that look. Not just aggression, but…Fear?" Joe wondered as he picked himself up off of the ground. He then realized why. The tree that the Charmander was hiding behind was also home to a Beedrill nest, or at least it had been. Joe was forced to catch his hat in mid-air, as a great gust of wind rolled through and knocked the Bee-drill nest off of it's branch… Right next to the Charmander. Joe watched in horror as 5 miffed Bee-drill came out of their nest and immediately began buzzing around the unfortunate bystander below. "They must think that he was the one who ruined their nest!" For a second, the Beedrill were thrown off-guard by the wind. "Now's your chance, run!" Joe called out to the Charmander. But it was no use, and Joe was forced to duck as another wave of fire was shot out at him. Then Joe saw it. Charmander, whose cover had just been ruined, was forced to jump to the side in order to protect his tail. However, because he was in the air he was vulnerable and as if on cue the wind had picked the worst moment possible to die down. Time slowed down as Charmander flew through the air, and all 5 Bee-drill flew in formation with the intention to skewer it with their stingers. Joe could see the look of fear on Charmander's face as the stingers reflected in his eyes. Once again Joe was forced to make a decision. This time however the path was clear. Taking a step forward he began to sprint towards the Charmander. The torrent of rain combined with the wind felt like blades against his skin as he ran, but he didn't care. "I'm not going to run away this time. I'm not going to let another pokemon get hurt." Joe thought determined as he gathered all of the strength in his legs and jumped forward. At the last moment he saw the look of utter surprise etched on Charmander's face as Joe appeared in front of him which Joe returned with a smile. And then it turned to a grimace as he felt five stingers stab straight into his back. But though the pain was considerable, Joe knew that the worst was yet to come. All of a sudden his body was wracked by waves of pain as the poison from the sting began to kick in. But he didn't care, because this time Charmander was safe. As he fell to the ground, he heard the Charmander walk up to him growling inquisitively. "Time for you to go buddy." Joe answered as he looked into it's green eyes. But it was persistent a look of worry mixed with confusion etched on its face. "Charmander I… I'm sorry." Joe said as the pain in his body increased. "I… I shouldn't have abandoned you earlier. I shouldn't have ran. But this time… I didn't because, I know what it's like to be alone." If it hadn't been raining, Joe could have sworn that Charmander was crying. Despite the Bee-drill hovering over them, he continued. "My mother, she loves me but she's always working. And my father… I don't have a father." He knew that he didn't have much time left, but he wanted to finish. For some reason this living thing felt different from everything else, as if he had an obligation to continue. "But it felt good for a while at least, to… to meet someone who was the same as me. Who knew how I felt." Joe finally finished as blackness began to close in on his eyes. The Bee-drill, having recovered from another gust of wind began to close in on them looking to finish the job. "Charmander, you have to go." Joe urged. But Charmander would have none of it. It simply stood up and faced the Bee-drill. "Charmander…you!" Joe thought. Suddenly his pain eased a little as his adrenaline kicked in. "Thank you Charmander!" Joe thought to himself as he placed his hands on the ground. It took every ounce of strength that he had to fight back against the agonizing pain from the poison. But Joe endured, pushing as hard as he could until finally he stood right behind Charmander. "Alright Charmander, let's take-em down!" Joe stated coolly as Charmander opened its mouth and let loose a blast of fire. "This is incredible!" Joe thought to himself. Though they were surrounded by enemies, Joe felt no fear as a look of calm determination was etched on his face. This was mirrored by the look of tenacity on Charmander's. As Joe's determination grew, so did the flame on Charmander's tail. Fueled with pure determination, Joe shouted, "Alright Charmander, use ember at full power!" Charmander nodded and opened its mouth wide. Joe watched with satisfaction as it let loose a barrage of fire bullets which slammed straight into the Bee-drill. "Fire moves like that ember ought to wreck these bug pokemon." Joe thought as he watched the Bee-drill go flying. "Besides, nothing can stop us!" For a second, their wings seemed to flutter, but then that died out as all 5 Bee-drill slammed to the ground. Relieved, Joe couldn't help but smile as Charmander let out a blast of fire in victory. "Good job Charmander, that was amazing!" Joe said as Charmander turned around and tackled him. He was immediately knocked over, but not by Charmander's tackle. Pain rushed through his body again as the adrenaline wore off. Charmander immediately let out a panicked cry as Joe fell to the ground. He knew that he was probably going to die, as it had taken everything he had to stand and fight with Charmander. As blackness closed in on him, his mind drifted back to Squirtle, Oak, Charmander, and his mom. The thought of losing them hurt, but he didn't care. "At least I got to be a trainer for a little while." Joe thought. Finally, he succumbed to the darkness. But before he was taken away, the last thing he saw was a serpent-like figure flying amid the clouds.
"So this is how his story ends? How disappointing." The shadow said aloud as he got off of his pokemon. The boy was lying on the ground, unmoving, cold. "While I told him that this life was a hard one, he should have listened." Yet, for some reason the person continued to approach as if compelled to confirm the boy's death. As he grew closer, the pokemon began to hiss warning him to stay away. "Relax my little friend. I'm not here to hurt him. Besides the damage has been done already." The person reassured and then signaled his pokemon. All of a sudden the air was filled with white spores. Confident, the person took another step forward but a shocked expression took over his face. Not only was the pokemon staying on its feet, but the boy was still breathing. The person pondered their next move as he waited for the pokemon to succumb. "So is this your answer? What you want? The pain you have experienced today is nothing compared to what lies ahead if you carry down this path." But as he reached the boy, he smiled. "But the potential that I have seen in you is incredible, as is your determination. And I confess that I look forward to seeing you grow. While in that case…"
"Joe, honey wake up please." Joe was immediately awoken by his mother. Startled, he nearly fell off of his bed as he sat straight up. "Where… where am I?" Joe asked confused. "You're home honey." His mother answered as she offered him some water. After seeing his confused expression she added, "Why, is something wrong honey?" "What's going on? The last thing I remember was collapsing out in the valley." He thought as he answered, "No it's just, how did I get here?" "Why Professor Oak brought you back here last night." Andrea replied, a worried expression on her face. Joe shook his head and wondered if he was dreaming again. None of this made a shred of sense to him. Andrea changing the subject asked, "By the way who's your new friend?" Joe looked to who she was addressing and saw Charmander sleeping on his lap. "This is…" However, he trailed off. "I know he's a Charmander but to me this one is special. The question is what to name him?" For a couple moments, he was deep in thought. But then it came to him. Smiling he answered, "This is Blaze, my first pokemon." Upon hearing his new name, Blaze immediately awoke and snuggled close to Joe. "Haha, I think he likes it!" Andrea laughed, then added, "He's adorable." Blaze immediately growled in protest, as did Joe. "My pokemon are not going to be "adorable" mom." He disagreed as he and Blaze folded their arms simultaneously. "Whatever you say dear. By the way you had this in your hands when Oak brought you over. Perhaps you should hang on to it." Andrea replied as she handed him an object. Joe looked closely at it. It was a hard rock that gave off a green glow and to his surprise… heat. "Thanks I guess." Joe said with a confused look on his face. "Well Joe, you seem to be healthy again and you have your own pokemon. What will you do now?" His mother asked, a hint of hope in her voice. Joe exchanged a look with Blaze and answered, "Well…"
It was time. Joe had all of his clothes, sleeping bag, medical supplies, etc. He had always been a well-prepared person, sometimes too well prepared. Though it was the second time this week that he was at the entrance to Pallet Town, this time was different. Not only was there a crowd gathered to see him off, but this time he was leaving. For good. With no intention of coming back for a long time. "Are you sure about this?" His mother asked him as she gave him a hug. "Relax mom, you worry too much." Joe answered as he rolled his eyes. "I know but that's my job." She replied sadly. As they separated, she said, "Oh by the way I have a present for you." "For me? What is it?" Joe inquired, curious as to what else she could stuff in his backpack. As he looked on, she pulled a strange looking small device out of her bag. "This is a PokePad. It's the latest gear from Silph Co. which can act as a phone, map, radio, gps…" "Mom, mom." "…and make sure you eat plenty of food and brushyourteethandwash-" Andrea said as she began to ramble on. But Joe interrupted her by saying, "Andrea. I'll be alright." Andrea smiled sadly and answered, "I know… It's just hard to see your kids grow up." Joe simply removed his old watch and replaced it with his PokePad. But instead of chucking it, he gave his stainless steel watch to his mother. Silently nodding, she put it in her pocket and stepped back. Then Oak stepped forward, and Joe immediately looked down at the ground. This was the conversation that he had been dreading. "Joe-" Oak started to say but Joe cut in. "Professor, I know I let you down with Squirtle." But he stopped when he saw Oak hold up his hand. "You're right Joe, you did let me down with Squirtle." Oak answered with a serious voice, but then he smiled and put his hand on Joe's shoulder. "But I know that you will make it up to me because I know you." Oak stated proudly. Joe slowly smiled and with a determined look on his face he answered, "I won't let you down sir!" Then Oak took his other hand and handed Joe a couple of items. "These are your official pokedex and complimentary poke-balls. They will be invaluable on your journey." Oak stated as Joe took the items. At that point, everything had been said. Farewells had been made and Joe knew it was time to go. Turning around, he waved to the crowd and turned to leave. As he walked away, he heard several people shout out things such as good luck. "Goodbye Joe." "Good Luck on your Journey!" He even heard someone shout, "Give-em hell kid!" But one voice stood out from all the rest. "Take care of yourself honey!" Without looking back, Joe simply raised his hand in goodbye. As Pallet Town faded into the horizon, Joe looked towards his new partner who was walking beside him. "Looks like it's just you and me from here on out." Joe stated as they walked forward. Smiling, Blaze spoke his approval, "Char Char!" Returning his smile, Joe looked towards the future and replied with a determined look. "Well Blaze, let's go get-em!"
