Right, here's chapter one. Seemed pointless to upload a Prologue and then make you wait for the first chapter. I hate when people do that, so why should I do that to you? (Yes, I know I've got a Harry Potter story that has been up a while and existing only as a prologue, but were someone to review, I might be inclined to continue!) Anyway, here we go with the first chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Pokémon; it belongs to Nintendo and others.

Johto Adventure

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins.

The alarm clock sounded, waking the boy named Gold from his slumber. Groggily, he reached out and silenced the noisy device and dragged himself out of bed and into the shower.

After showering, he returned to his room to get dressed. Once he was done he flicked on his top of the range computer and checked for e-mails. He grinned; one from Crystal, his best friend;

Adventure!

Excited!

I love Pokémon!

Short, and to the point.

He could see what she was so excited about.

Today was the day.

The day they had been waiting three years for. Ever since they had read about to adventures of two trainers in Kanto, Gold and Crystal had been eagerly awaiting the day that they could get their Pokémon trainer's licences and get their very own Pokémon.

And that day was today.

Turning the computer off, Gold went about packing his store-it-all rucksack. It was amazing; this thing was no bigger than a normal rucksack, but it fit so much more inside. In no time at all he had packed his one-man tent, his sleeping bag, three changes of clothes, and it still had room for loads more. When he had bought it, his mother had joked that he could probably fit a bicycle in there as well.

Gold doubted that.

On that note, however, it was time to say goodbye to his mother. He did one final sweep of the room before heading downstairs, where his mother handed him a Pokégear.

After a tearful goodbye (well, tearful on mother's part anyway), Gold left the house and went in search of Crystal.

Her mother and father were sat at the kitchen table as Gold entered their home. Crystal's mother was nice enough and sent Gold upstairs to find Crystal. Crystal's father, on the other hand, did not speak, just stared at Gold with a hard glare.

Upstairs, Gold found Crystal dashing around her untidy room trying to find all that she needed to pack.

Grinning, Gold leaned against the door, wondering how long it would take her to notice his presence.

After two and a half minutes, he got bored, so decided to get her attention.

"Hey."

Crystal nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, which caused Gold to snigger. Something which earned him a Shellder Doll to the face.

In response, he picked up her Pikachu Doll and threw it towards her. She caught it and retaliated with both the Pikachu Doll and a Clefairy Doll.

She then ducked to avoid the Shellder Doll, dodged the Clefairy Doll, caught the Pikachu Doll but Gold scored a direct hit with a triple-whammy of her Jigglypuff Doll, her Charmander Doll and her Gengar Doll.

Gold opted for a drop-and-roll technique to dodge her return fire, manoeuvring out of the way of the Dolls Shellder, Pikachu, Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Gengar, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Magikarp, Voltorb, Diglett, Machop, Grimer, Staryu, Poliwag, Oddish, Geodude, Weedle, Tentacool and Unown, but there was no escaping her Big Snorlax Doll. Her Big Lapras Doll joined it, and her Big Onix Doll was draped over them.

Crystal crouched down, patted him patronisingly on the head and said "Now you be a good boy and wait there whilst I finish getting ready, 'kay?"

Gold's response was to do his personal version of a Growl attack.

Crystal went about packing up her bag and then freed Gold from the Poké-Doll tomb before leading the way downstairs.

After being handed her own Pokégear by her mother, Crystal cheerfully bade her parents farewell, and Gold offered them a "See ya." His goodbye was returned by Crystal's mother, but not her father, who merely glared at the boy who was dragging his youngest daughter out into the big, wild world.

If Gold was unnerved by his best friend's father, he said nothing to her about it, and they made their way to Professor Elm's Pokémon Lab.

Inside they were greeted by the Professor himself. Well, truthfully speaking they both had to clear their throats quite loudly to get the oblivious man's attention. And even then they had to wait whilst the man tried to remember who they were and why they were here.

Gold wanted to prompt the man, but apparently Crystal thought it would be funny to let the guy work it out for himself.

When he did work it out, he had them sit down and watch a DVD that explained all the basics of being a trainer, from type match-ups to how to catch Pokémon using Pokéballs. Neither Gold nor Crystal had the heart to tell the man that they already knew all this stuff, so sat and watched it, hoping for some handy tips to come up.

When the DVD was over, they once again had to get Elm's attention. Once they had it, he began.

"Well, did you understand everything in the film?" he asked them as he led them over to a storage device.

"Yes." they replied in unison.

"Good. Now, the device over there contains three Pokéballs, each containing one Pokémon. You can choose one each. Go on."

Gold and Crystal made their way over to the device and the protective glass slid aside, allowing them to access the Pokéballs within. After some thought, Gold took the fire type Cyndaquil and Crystal took the grass type Chikorita.

With that sorted, the absent-minded Professor bade them farewell and returned to his studies. Gold and Crystal headed outside and looked around.

Gold could have sworn he saw someone sneaking about around the side of Professor Elm's Lab, but before he could make sure, Crystal grabbed him arm.

"C'mon Gold! New Pokémon are this way."

And so the duo headed out into the perils of Route 29.

Before long, Crystal spotted a Pokémon and proclaimed that she shall be the one to capture it.

Sentret were relatively common normal type Pokémon familiar to both Gold and Crystal and widely considered to be a good catch for any fledgling trainer.

Chikorita was promptly sent forth and ordered to use two Tackle attacks on the foe, receiving two Scratch attacks in return for her trouble.

"Right, that should have weakened it enough" said commented Crystal "Now to throw a Pokéball..."

And the search began, during which the Sentret merely blinked at her.

"You don't have any Pokéballs on you, do you?" asked Gold.

"Wait." replied Crystal "I'm sure I have some... wait... no... Phooey!"

"Before you ask, I don't have any either." said Gold "And we're unlikely to get any until we get to Cherrygrove City."

Crystal huffed "Oh, fine. Chikorita, finish the battle."

Chikorita nodded and charged the Sentret with another Tackle and sending it flying. At that point the Sentret decided to back down and let them pass.

And so they continued; defeating several Pidgey, Sentret and the occasional Rattata before making it to Cherrygrove City.

"You WHAT?" demanded Crystal.

The young Poké Mart employee winced at her tone before replying "I said we're fresh out of Pokéballs."

Gold sighed "Is there anywhere nearby where we can get some?"

The man shook his head "Best bet is to head on to Violet City. They're guaranteed to have Pokéballs."

"But that's miles and miles away." complained Crystal "And I want to catch a friend for my Chikorita."

"Sorry, little lady." said the man "Nothing I can do."

"Watch who yer callin' "little lady"!" yelled Crystal, waving her fist threateningly "I'll have you know I'm third tallest in my class!"

Gold gave a cough, which, for some strange reason, sounded strangely like "cough-ninth-cough."

Crystal turned a death glare onto him "You say somethin', Gold?"

Gold rolled his eyes and sighed before checking his Pokégear.

"C'mon Crystal. We'll heal our Pokémon at the Pokémon Centre, and then get moving towards Violet City via Route 30."

The trip along Route 30 was more irritating than anything. Pokémon kept appearing, but they could not capture them without any Pokéballs, and Chikorita and Cyndaquil could only fight so many of them before they had to have a break. The main problem was that this route consisted mostly of bug and flying type Pokémon, both of which Chikorita was weak against. Cyndaquil fared better, but an unfortunate encounter with a Weedle left it poisoned.

Turned out they were so preoccupied with trying to get Pokéballs that they forgot to buy any potions or antidotes.

The pair gathered up their Pokémon and made a run for it.

The poison that was ailing Cyndaquil did finally wear off, but he had so little health left it was pointless sending him into a fight.

Finally they came upon a house. Hoping to receive aid they headed inside.

Inside they came across two men working at computers.

One man grinned "Ah, these must be the new trainers Elm mentioned."

"Er, hi." offered Gold.

"Our Pokémon are hurt." said Crystal "Can you help them."

The man chuckled "But of course. They don't refer to me as Mr Pokémon for nothing, you know?"

With that he took the two Pokémon and began examining them as the second man approached the duo.

"Hm?" he mused, looking them over "Elm's new trainers eh?"

"Um, yeah." replied Gold, sounding a little unsure.

"Good to meet you." said the second man "I'm Professor Oak."

"Really?" asked Crystal excitedly as Gold's eyes bugged.

Oak chuckled "Yes, really. And what might your names be?"

"I'm Crystal, and this is by sidekick Gold."

Gold scowled. If anyone was the sidekick here it was her, though he knew better than to voice that opinion out loud.

"Well it's very nice to meet the both of you." said Oak "Now then, seeing as you are new trainers, I wonder if you'll be interested in these?"

He held out a pair of pocket-sized computer devices.

"Are those Pokédexes?" asked Gold, awe in his voice.

Oak chuckled "They most certainly are. One for each of you."

"Wow, thanks." said Crystal, as she and Gold took their new devices.

"For now those only contain data on Pokémon that you are likely to encounter in the Johto region. Once you have been training for a while, I will upgrade them to National Dex status, allowing you to view information on all six hundred and forty nine Pokémon currently known."

Gold let out an awed whistle as Mr Pokémon turned back to them.

"There, all done."

Cyndaquil and Chikorita looked much better.

"Thanks mister." chimed Crystal.

Mr Pokémon chuckled "Not a problem, my dear. Now, would it be possible for you two to do me a favour?"

"I suppose." replied Gold.

Mr Pokémon went over to a storage device and opened it. When he came back he was holding an egg.

"Could you take this egg to Professor Elm? I'd like him to take a look at it."

Crystal's face fell "But that's miles away."

Oak chuckled at her and said "Don't worry. I'm driving to Cherrygrove City. I can give you a lift that far."

Gold and Crystal accepted. They wanted to repay Mr Pokémon for healing their Pokémon, but walking all the way back home would be tedious.

Not too long later, Oak dropped them off and headed to the Pokémon centre whilst Crystal hurriedly led the way to the east of the city.

"Hurry up Gold!" she shouted whilst jogging backwards to face him "If we hurry, we can get home before it gets dark!"

Unfortunately, her jogging backwards meant that she was not looking where she was going, and she ran straight into a boy with dark red hair.

He must have been a lot sturdier than her because he only stumbled backwards from the knock whilst Crystal bounced off of him and fell flat on her face.

"Hey, watch it, bimbo." spat the boy as Gold hurried over and helped his friend to her feet.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I think so." Crystal replied, brushing the dirt off herself.

"You a trainer?" demanded the boy.

"Who wants to know?" replied Gold.

The boy snorted "Someone who wants a battle."

Gold eyed him suspiciously "Yeah, I'm a trainer."

"Good." replied the boy, taking a Pokéball "Totodile, stand by for battle."

"Toto-toto-diiile!" cried the small, blue bipedal crocodile-like Pokémon that emerged from the Pokéball.

Gold drew his Pokéball "Cyndaquil, you're up pal!"

"Cynda-quiiiil!" cried the fire-mouse Pokémon.

"Totodile, use Leer to lower Cyndaquil's defence."

Totodile gave Cyndaquil a menacing look, causing Cyndaquil to shiver a little in nervousness.

"Cyndaquil, return the favour. Use your Leer attack."

Cyndaquil copied Totodile's actions, getting a similar result.

"Totodile, use Scratch."

Totodile charged at Cyndaquil and took a swipe with its clawed hand.

Cyndaquil reeled from the damage, but was more than ready to return fire.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle attack."

Cyndaquil charged Totodile and collided with the foe.

"Scratch again!"

Totodile swiped is claw, this time connecting with the back of Cyndaquil's head.

"Fall back and use Smokescreen."

Cyndaquil bounded away from Totodile, turned and emitted a wave of smoke, which promptly surrounded Totodile.

"Focus, Totodile. Find Cyndaquil."

In the smoke, Totodile listened for Cyndaquil, but just as it pinpointed the fire mouse Pokémon, Cyndaquil charged in with another Tackle.

Totodile pushed itself up again, only to find itself on the receiving end of another Leer attack.

"Totodile, use your Leer."

Totodile stared down Cyndaquil, but Gold pressed the advantage.

"Cyndaquil, use another Tackle."

Cyndaquil charged forwards and rammed Totodile, sending it flying. This time when it hit the ground, it did not get up.

"Great job, Cyndaquil" cheered Gold "You did it."

The boy, meanwhile stepped up to his defeated Pokémon with a look of complete distain on his face "That was pathetic."

"Hey, it did its best." said Crystal "Cyndaquil's a higher level."

"Whatever." replied the boy, returning Totodile to its Pokéball and walking away.

"Wow, what a jerk." remarked Crystal.

Gold nodded and lead the way back along Route 29.

It was dark now, so the Pidgey and Sentret had returned to their nests, Rattata were out in greater numbers and the Hoothoot were out hunting.

When they got back to New Bark Town, they headed to Elm's Lab, but found a Police car outside.

"Professor Elm?" asked Gold once they were inside "What happened?"

"Oh, it's terrible! Some heartless person broke in here and stole the last Pokémon I had."

Gold and Crystal looked over at the device which had contained the three Pokémon they chose from. The glass was smashed, and the third Pokéball was missing.

"Wait, wasn't the last Pokémon a Totodile?" asked Gold.

"It was, why?" asked Elm.

"I battled a trainer on the edge of Cherrygrove City who used a Totodile." replied Gold.

"And he wasn't kind to it." added Crystal.

"This trainer," said a Police Officer "did he look like this?"

He handed Gold a printout taken from one of the security cameras. Gold examined it whilst Crystal peered over his shoulder.

"Yeah that's him." said Gold.

"Did you happen to get his name?" asked the Officer.

"No. All I can tell you is that he was in Cherrygrove City."

"And when was that?"

"Just as the sun was going down." replied Gold.

"He could still be there, at the Pokémon centre." offered Crystal "Gold beat him in battle, and I don't think he had any other Pokémon on him."

Just then the videophone in the corner rang. Elm went to answer.

"Ah, Professor Elm." greeted a cheerful Professor Oak "I see that Crystal and her sidekick have made it back to you safe and sound. Both show a lot of promise, you know? That third trainer leaves a quite a lot to be desired, though."

"Third trainer?" asked Elm.

"The one you gave the Totodile to." explained Oak "I met him here in Cherrygrove's Pokémon Centre. Seemed a bit harsh towards his Pokémon, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him have a Pokédex of his own."

"Professor Oak, that Totodile was stolen." said Elm.

"Stolen?"

"Yes. He broke in here and stole it."

Gold leaned in over Elm's shoulder "Professor Oak, is the kid still there?"

"No, I'm afraid not. He headed out on Route 30 about an hour ago."

"Did you happen to get his name?" asked Elm.

"Yes, I had to get it in order to program his Pokédex. He said to call him Silver."

"Thanks Professor." said Elm "Be sure to call the police if you should spot him again."

"Will do."

Not long later, the entire Police force had sped off to scour Cherrygrove City and Route 30, and Crystal, having handed over the mysterious Pokémon egg to Professor Elm, headed to her house for one more night's rest at home.

Gold, meanwhile, ventured a little way into Route 29. Professor Elm had been so grateful to them for bringing him the egg he had given the pair five Pokéballs each.

Gold was determined. He vowed never to lose against someone like Silver, but the guy's Totodile had the type advantage over Cyndaquil. The victory today was just luck; Cyndaquil was a higher level than Totodile, and Totodile had not learnt any water-type attacks yet. If it had, Cyndaquil would not have stood a chance.

To be able to continue to stand his ground against Silver, Gold would need more Pokémon. And here tonight, a short distance into Route 29 was as good a place as any to start that collection.

He had to wait a while, but eventually there was a rustle in a nearby tree. Slowly Gold drew two Pokéballs. One contained his new companion, Cyndaquil. The other was empty.

The Pokémon hopped down from the tree.

A Hoothoot, the owl Pokémon, and a species familiar to Gold.

In the blink of an eye, Cyndaquil was out of his Pokéball and had struck the flying type with his newly learned Ember attack.

Hoothoot's eyes lit up in a faint pink glow as it used Foresight to identify Cyndaquil in the dark.

It flew forward, intending to strike with a Tackle attack, but Gold ordered a Smokescreen from Cyndaquil.

The owl Pokémon lost its way in the smoke, but Cyndaquil was able to strike it with a Tackle.

Gold then threw the empty Pokéball, and Hoothoot vanished inside.

The ball rocked on the ground a few times as the exhausted Pokémon fought its capture, and then the ball went still.

Gold walked over, picked the ball up and pressed the small white button on it, letting the Pokémon out.

He grinned at his new capture "Welcome to the team, Hoothoot."

"Hoo." replied Hoothoot, before hopping up onto Gold's shoulder.

Together they, with Cyndaquil walking alongside, returned to Gold's house for a well earned rest.

Tomorrow, Gold and Crystal would set off again, better prepared this time.

Gold fully expected to encounter Silver again at some point, and when he did, Gold would be ready.