A Trainer's Journey
Chapter 2
As Chase and Charmander entered Route 1 (Kanto), they were taking in the sights of the route, Charmander especially because he is a bit of a recent addition to the Poke World. They then heard rustling in the tall grass, followed by a cooing noise; Charmander leered at the grass and prepared for his first fight as Chase made a casual aside to him "Be ready, pal…" The grass then rustled violently, before a Pidgey flew out, leering at Chase and Charmander in a piercing stare; it then cried at them angrily, prompting Charmander to jump off Chase's shoulder and got into his battle stance.
Pidgey initiated the battle with Tackle, but Charmander stopped her with Growl; he then dodged a Tackle from Pidgey, before he countered with 3 Scratch's in a row. Pidgey then tried to stand up, but was obviously weakened from the attacks; Chase then threw a Poke Ball at her and she went inside it, before it rocked once… twice… thrice… *Click!* Chase has caught his first ever Pokemon and held Pidgey's Poke Ball in the air with a broad smile, before he made a hi-five with Charmander, who was also smiling broadly.
Although Chase was informed by Professor Oak that Route 1 had Pidgey's and Ratatta's, he miraculously didn't encounter more of them before he entered Viridian City. The first thing on his mind was to find the Pokemon Centre to heal his Pokemon; by a window of luck, a passing Officer Jenny noticed Chase and asked "Is there a problem, young man?" After a moment of explaining, Officer Jenny led Chase to the Pokemon Centre and bids him a good day before resuming her patrol. Chase then entered the Pokemon Centre, feeling the A/C the second he made a step past the automatic doors; he then noticed the front desk just ahead of him, as well as a Nurse Joy and her Pokemon assistant, Chansey.
Chase then approached the front desk, just as Nurse Joy and Chansey bowed at him and said "Welcome to the Pokemon Centre! We will heal your precious Pokemon to full health with no cost!" Just to be cautious, in case he and his Pokemon were suddenly ambushed by Trainers or wild Pokemon, Chase gave Nurse Joy Charmander's and Pidgey's Poke Balls; Nurse Joy then gave the Poke Balls to Chansey, who places them on a metallic tray, and wheeled them to the recovery room.
Nurse Joy then informed Chase that she'll notify him the second his Pokemon are recovered; nodding at Nurse Joy, Chase went to a nearby waiting chair and pored through a magazine. He went through page-by-page, until he saw an article entitled 'The Legendary Trainer Red: Where is he now?" Interested in the article, he read through it word-by-word:
7 years ago, a Trainer from Pallet Town named Red, who's undertaking the Gym and Victory Road Challenge, singlehandedly took down the criminal organization named Team Rocket.
Witnesses from Celadon City saw Red enter the Game Corner after defeating Gym Leader Erika, then saw Team Rocket Grunts, including the suspected Leader, Giovanni, leaving the building towards Saffron City; a minute later, they saw Red, with his notable Pokemon partner Pikachu, leaving the Game Corner.
Days later, the president of Silph Co. praised Red for evicting Team Rocket from the Silph Co. and Saffron City itself, rewarding him with the only functioning Master Ball for his determination.
By the time he journeyed back to Viridian City for his final Gym Badge, witnesses heard loud noises of a brutal, yet valiant battle between Red and the evasive Gym Leader. The witnesses were surprised to see that the Gym Leader that first exited the Gym was none other than Giovanni himself; astonished that he was bested by two trainers, who were just 10 years of age, he agreed to disband Team Rocket upon Red's request, though Law Enforcement suspected he was biding his time until he can fully rebuild Team Rocket.
Recent re-hired Elite Four member Lance told reporters that Red had defeated him, as well as the other 3 Elite Four members with ease; he then heard a vicious battle in the Champion's room after Red defeated him, before being informed by Professor Oak later that Red was titled the Champion of the Elite Four after defeating his long-time rival, Blue (see 'The Strong, yet Cocky Rival' in next week's magazine).
Witnesses then saw recent Champion Red enter Celadon Cave and heard a violent battle that lasted for 10 long minutes, before Red emerged victorious. Since then, Red has vanished from Kanto for 2 years and no-one, not even his mother, had received contact from him.
There were rumors that a Trainer from the neighbouring Johto Region had fought against the legendary Red at the peak of the mountain separating the two regions and won, but there wasn't any witnesses, on account of powerful Pokemon residing on the mountain.
3 years later, a large amount of witnesses watched the legendary Red fight against a Trainer in the Unova Region's PWT Stadium and lost, before leaving the stage without uttering a single word.
6 months ago, witnesses in the Alola Region saw Red fighting in the Battle Tree against a local trainer who just became the Champion of Alola, before losing to the latter. A witness then swears she saw Kanto Champion Red giving the Alolan Champion Mega Stones for Venusaur, Blastoise and Charizard, respectively, with a brief, warm smile, before leaving.
No one had since saw Red, but there are speculations that he returned to Kanto, for reasons still unknown…
Chase was startled by Nurse Joy tapping on his shoulder and informed him that his Pokemon are fully healed; Chase thanked Nurse Joy, before he closed the magazine and placed it back on the table. Nurse Joy then said "By the way, I remembered the first time I saw Red: Like you, he was a rookie trainer and I greeted and healed his Pokemon, like I always do. He's rather a silent guy, rarely socializing, but he has a good heart, always willing to help Pokemon and humans alike from evil." Chase smiled warmly at Nurse Joy, before he replied "It'd be a real honour to meet him. Despite the chances of that are, sadly, quite low… Anyway, thanks for healing my Pokemon, Nurse Joy."
Nurse Joy almost forgot about that, so she hurried to the Recovery Room and gave Chase his Poke Balls, when both Charmander and Pidgey emerged out of their respective Poke Balls and hugged Chase in happiness. Chase was briefly surprised, before he hugged them back in a warm embrace; Nurse Joy then noted "This is very interesting; even though you just started on your journey, your Pokemon are firmly loyal to you already." Chase made a shrug at Nurse Joy, before his Pokemon broke off the hug and shrilled happily at their Trainer.
Chase then grabbed their Poke Balls and asked "Here's the deal: You guys will take turns traveling with me out of your Poke Balls each time we rest at a Pokemon Centre, at a camp or resting at a friendly residence." Charmander and Pidgey nodded in agreement, before Charmander pressed the button on his Poke Ball and withdrew inside it. Enlightened to be with her new Trainer, Pidgey flew onto Chase's shoulder and stroked her head along his cheek, receiving an affectionate scratch on her head in return. Pidgey cooed softly at Chase, before she flew beside him as the latter stood up and bids Nurse Joy goodbye for now; they then headed out of the Pokemon Centre, ready to venture through Viridian Forest.
