A/N: Chapter 2 is up now! :) I admit that the intro prologue was a little cut-and-dry, but the action will soon heat up, I assure you. I'll be introducing a couple Fakemon in this chapter also (or at least mention them. More details in the ending A/N). Again, it's mostly introduction, but without those you can't really get a base to stand on, know what I mean? :-/ Anyway, go ahead and read onward. Oh, and please review, too!
5 YEARS LATER...
Five years has passed since Joey's dad Jason and John's dad Bill had left on an expedition. They never came back. Or were ever heard from again.
During the months after they seemingly vanished, Joey, John and their mothers tried every possible means of finding them. But Soto is a big, nay, a huge region. With the only enforcement groups consisting of a small band of Pokemon Rangers, combing the entire region became a monumental task. They just couldn't handle it. And as such, the missing men were presumed to be dead.
Joey was devastated. For weeks on end he would cry and wail and carry on, whilst his mother simply sat by and mourned the loss in her usual, quiet manner.
As the years passed, Joey gradually accepted his dad's loss, and his friend John accepted his as well. John never really got along with his father a whole lot, so it was easier on him. But Joey was a much different matter. He would hang on to his inner sadness for a long time.
Until at last, the time for moving on in the world would come.
On one particular dawn during the spring time, Joey, a somehat thin boy with brown hair and gray eyes, slept soundly as a gathering of people assembled in the kitchen below. Unbeknownst to Joey, today was his tenth birthday. Funny, as he had completely forgotten about it.
Mom stood downstairs in the kitchen as their guests (the only guests unfortunately, as Littlebud Town is rather bare), Joey's best friend, John, and his mother.
"Where is the birthday boy now, Patti?" John's mom asked, "Is he still sleeping or something?"
Patti sighed. "Yes, he has a tendency to stay up late at night reading stories and the like, so he always sleeps in. I'll go wake him."
John, a blond-haired boy wearing a red buttoned wool sweater and dull green jeans, was estatic about the party. Today, oddly enough, is his birthday as well, so no wonder he was so excited.
"C'mon! Go wake up Joey already, I wanna have some cake!" John nearly shouted, apparently wanting to lessen the wait for consuming delicious pastry otherwise known as cake.
"Be quiet, John!" John's mother hissed, "We're in a little place called indoors thank you."
"Sorry mum..." said John apologetically.
Patti walked up the stairs into Joey's bedroom. It was already obvious that the room was wearing out and getting too small for Joey. There was clutter here and there, books shoved messily into a bookcase (some were on the floor of course), and to cap it off, Joey's pet, Hamtric, was sleeping cutely among a pile of fresh laundry, still in the basket.
Hamtric is a furry, small and affectionate electric-type Pokemon that is suited for domestic life, as a pet. It looks like a hamster or gerbil, but about six inches long, with light-yellow and tan fur, beadier eyes, and large, spiky ears that it uses to discharge electricity (or cover its eyes if in fear).
As Patti came up the stairs, the little Gerbil Pokemon sprung awake. "Ham! Ham!" It squeaked in surprise, but when it saw the disturbance was from its master's mother, Hamtric calmed down.
"Good morning Hammy," Patti said with a broad smile, "Guess what? Joey's birthday is today."
"Tric! Hamtric!" Hamtric squealed in excitement.
"Aww, so cute, as always." She turned to Joey's bed. "Joey! Get up sweetheart!"
Joey didn't stir. She called again. And again. Nothing.
Patti smiled a bit mischieviously. "Oh Hammy, why don't you give my little Joey a wake up gift for his special day?"
A devilish little smirk spread across Hamtric's cute face. "Ham!" It squeaked, nodding.
Hamtric, in one swift motion, jumped atop the bed which Joey was sleeping in, and released a pulse of static electricity from its ears that made the bed's occupant leap into the air in shock, which in turn threw Hamtric off the bed as well.
"Eeeyah!" Joey shreiked as he jumped from the bed onto the floor, sending a few books to the floor as well. The electic pulse didn't hurt, it simply startled the heck out of Joey. Thankfully, his fall was absorbed by the large number of clothing strewn on the floor.
His mom giggled. "Mornin' sleepyhead. Guess what today is?"
Joey rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. "Not sure. And also, do you have to use my own Pokemon against me?" He said, then turned too his pet. "Shame on you, Hamtric!"
"Ham..." the Pokemon sighed, slightly downcast about being scolded.
Patti shrugged. "Well dear, I swear that you sleep like a Slakoth sometimes, hardly ever moving except occasionally scratching."
"Oh come on mom," Joey said, rolling his eyes, "I do no-"
"You do too. Do you remember that one time a few months ago? I tried to shake you awake, and you just started flailing around your arms around and knocked my glasses off! Then went right back to sleep! See what I mean?"
Joey was silent. "No comment... So anyways what day is today?"
"You honestly don't remember? It's your tenth birthday dear!"
"Wait... what? I forgot my own birthday AGAIN?"
Patti sighed. "You're so buried in those books of yours. I mean just look at them! Keep at this for a few more years and you'll be up to your knees!"
"But I can't help it, mom!" Joey pleaded, "I love reading about legends and treasures and stuff like that."
"I can see that. Obviously your father's taste for adventure and mysteries rubbed off on you." Patti said.
Joey thought about his father. Five years ago he left with his friend's dad on an adventure. He could still remember the night he left, the last time Joey saw him.
"...He still owes me an adventure of my own. He promised... But now... I don't know..." Joey said quietly, and he started to get teary-eyed and cried a little.
"Hamtric..." The little electric gerbil cried softly, and it snuggled up on Joey's lap.
"Thanks Hamtric... You'll always be my best friend..." said Joey, wiping away his tears.
Patti sat down beside her son and comforted him. "There there, it's no good to be so sad on your special day! You're ten! Double digits! Don't you know that today you'll be recieving your Trainer Cards? Then you can journey around with your Pokemon! You should be happy!"
It may already be common knowledge, but whenever a boy or girl turns ten, then they recieve a Trainer Badge that authorizes them to train Pokemon and compete against the Gym Leaders to obtain Pokemon League Badges, and when all eight of a region is collected then said Trainer may challenge the Elite Four for the position of Champion of that region.
Joey almost swooned at the thought. He nearly forgot that was a perk of being ten. He had heard rumors of the Soto Gym Leaders. Many of them were old, but experienced. Recently, the leaders of Scarlet City and Wingtip Town were replaced with younger, but still tough Leaders.
I have to fight them? Joey thought, Well, at least I have a slight chance...
"Joey!" Patti shouted, startling him from his deep thought, "Forgetting something? Your friend and his mom are waiting downstairs!"
Joey sat for a moment without doing anything, then came to his senses. "Huh? Oh! Y-Yes mum! I'm coming!" He said, then went to put on his clothes.
Patti went downstairs while Joey put on his daytime clothing, and slipped on his red and gray jacket. As he went to go downstairs, he motioned for his Hamtric to follow. "C'mon Hamtric, let's go do this party thing." He called to it.
"Ham Ham!" It cried in response, and it and Joey walked down the stairs into the kitchen, where everyone was waiting.
"There you are Joey!" Patti called out as he entered the room.
"The birthday boy is awake at long last! My oh my the boy loves sleepin' don't he?" John's mother chimed.
John started bouncing off his seat in anticipation. "About time Joey! For a minute there, I figured I would have to eat that cake all by myself! Hahaha!" He said quickly, and laughed.
"John!" His mother snapped, "This is Joey's party too, not just yours, so you can afford to wait for him!"
"Sorry mum... I just love cake is all..."
"Oh, don't slam the poor kid Minerva, he is who he is after all." Patti said.
Minerva sighed. "I suppose that's true, but he should know better."
Patti shook off the thought and turned to her son. "Joey, come and sit down here by your friend and we can get started, okay?"
"M'kay, mom." Joey replied quickly, and he went and took a seat next to John at the kitchen table. Hamtric followed, hopping up onto its master's lap.
John turned to Joey, and whispered to him, "I'm like, SO psyched man, I can't wait until we get to be Pokemon Trainers!" His eyes started to sparkle with wonder, "Wow... Pokemon Trainers... And one day I could be the best ever!"
"YOU be the best ever?" Joey whispered back, scoffing, "That's a stretch! I'LL be the best ever!"
"No, me!"
"Wrongo, it's gonna be me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"ME!"
"Okay that's enough you two," Patti said, sighing.
Joey and John both shut up, and Hamtric just let out a tiny sigh of exasperation.
Patti got up and went into another nearby room, but soon came back with four boxes, two large and two small. She placed one of each sized box in front of both Joey and John. "These," She began, "Are your gifts. They were bought by us of course, with your little upcoming adventure in mind. Go ahead and open them!"
"Alright!" Both boys said, and started tearing the wrapper off their larger gift boxes. Inside each was a brand-new backpack. Joey's was green, and John's was bright blue.
"Oh cool!" John said, "It's totally my color!"
Joey was just as happy, "Thanks a ton, mom!" He said, then noticed something. "Ooh, look Hammy! There's a little pocket for you to stay in while we're walking!"
"Tric! Tric!" Hamtric squeaked, happy over the added feature to save it a lot of walking.
Patti smiled. "Glad you like them you two!" She said.
"Yesiree, Patti and I spent all day looking for the right ones." Minerva said also.
The boys set to work on their next gift, the smaller package. Inside, was a brand-new and high-end PokeCELL! They were the latest craze among kids and Trainers, made by both the Silph and Devon companies as an improvement over their respective PokeGear and PokeNav devices. It looks like a common cell phone, but sleeker, and silver-ish in color. They can tell time, make calls, surf the web, see a GPS map, take pictures and video, play music via radio and MP3, and numerous other applications.
"Woah! Thanks so much! This is awesome!" both Joey and John said loudly, grinning hugely over recieving such a wonderful gift.
Patti giggled. "Of course, only the best for our little dears. Those should come in real handy!"
"Thanks again mom," Joey said, "Wow, I can't believe I got such an... expensive gift!"
"It doesn't matter, money is no object when buying for you two. Especially considering it's such an important birthday!" Minerva said with a smile.
John was estatic. "Thank you so much mum!" He said, and gave his mom a hug.
"Oh Johnny, that's so sweet of you..." said Minerva. "You know, it reminds me of the time I gave you your first-"
Before she could finish that statement the front door swung open, and everyone turned to gaze at their surprise guest. It was a middle-aged man with grey hair, wearing a white lab coat with a faded fuschia shirt underneath, light brown pants and brown shoes. Joey could hardly believe his eyes. He was in the presence of the famous Pokemon Professor of the far-off Kanto Region, Professor Samuel Oak.
"Oh!" Oak exclaimed when he saw the group was in the middle of a discussion, "I hope I'm not interuptting anything here, I apologize for being a tad late, there was a bit of rough weather on my way here."
Joey and John stared at the famous Professor with their mouths dropped open in surprise, and didn't speak. Patti quickly spoke up though.
"P-Professor! I'm so glad you c-could make it!" She said, happy that a world-renowned Professor of Pokemon could take the time to visit their small town, "The boys have always wanted to meet you, say hello to Mr. Oak!"
"H-Hey Professor... A pleasure to m-meet you." Joey said slowly, humbled to be in the man's presence.
John smiled brightly and waved. "Hello P-Professer! My name's John! I'm a huge fan!"
Oak smiled back and laughed. "Aha, the pleasure is all mine, please. Now, I believe we have some business to attend to."
The Professer walked towards the table they were all at and stood in front of both Joey and John, and both of them couldn't stop fidgeting.
"Wow Professer... I'm actually meeting you right now! This must be a dream..." John said, misty-eyed.
Joey couldn't speak, he simply gazed up in awe at Oak. The creator of the Pokedex, the legendary Professor Oak was standing before him. This kind of thing can't even be imagined in Kanto, much less in the countryside of Soto!
"It is very nice to meet you boys at last. My old mentor Professer Spruce told me all about you two, and your fathers. I... offer my condolences." said Oak.
Joey's thoughts turned to that 'old coot' in Sandhill Town, Professer Spruce. He was known as the teacher of Professer Oak in college, but now he had retired to Soto for peace and quiet. Yet Spruce continues to do loose research on the local Pokemon and such. Some say he's gone senile now, but the last time Spuce and Joey met he left a good impression on him. Spruce was also a friend of both Joey and John's fathers, Jason and Bill.
Joey smiled weakly. "It's okay sir... I'm over it. But thank you anyway."
"Yeah," John said, shrugging, "Me too. Me and my dad didn't really 'click' if you know what I mean."
Oak nodded. "I see. Hmm. Well then, I won't delay any further. On behalf of the Pokemon League of Soto, I present to you both your official Trainer Cards. These will mark you as Pokemon Trainers and give you permission to challenge the Gym Leaders of Soto and other regions, should you wish. I have taken the liberty of placing them in special Trainer Cases, just for you two."
The Professer handed both Joey and John a chrome-plated and wallet-sized case. Inside each was a plastic card with their names etched in it and a picture of them in the corner, almost like an ID card. There was also a foam 'backing' inside the case, with eight depressions of varying shapes in it.
"That," Oak explained, "Is where you keep your obtained badges. The badges are valuable, so keeping them safe is important. Same goes for your Trainer Card. Treat them all with care and don't lose them!"
Both boys nodded in understanding. "Yes sir," they both said.
Hamtric, who had been hiding from Oak from the start inside Joey's new bag, now came out from its hiding place. "Tric!" it squeaked at Oak, unsure of what to make of this stranger.
"Hmm? What's this?" Oak asked, eyeing the electric gerbil intently.
Joey scooped up the Pokemon in his arms, and stroked it. "This is my best friend, Hamtric." Joey explained. "But we sometimes just call him Hammy."
"Hamtric! Tric!" Hamtric cried happily, and licked Joey's face in affection.
Oak smiled. "Well now, Hamtric really likes you!" He said, impressed at their friendship.
"Heheh, yeah, Hamtric's always been there for me. It helped make coping with dad's disapperance easier." Joey said, patting the electric gerbil on its head gently.
"Hmhm... I am aware that Hamtrics make excellent companions, but you, Joey, seem to have to best bonding with one I've seen yet." Oak said, then a thought crossed his mind. "Have you by any chance, gotten to know any other Pokemon around the area?"
"Oh sure," Joey said, "Me and John've made friends with a bunch of the Pokemon in the Little Woods, like Woodling, Squito, Zigzagoon, Sentret, Pidgey, and lots of others."
Oak's eyes widened, "All of them? Both of you? Impressive! You both show a talent for being friends with Pokemon!"
"Umm, if I can ask, how are we that impressive? Aren't a lot of other Trainers like that?" John asked, somewhat confused.
"Hmph, well, unfortunately a lot of people aren't that kind to Pokemon, so seeing you two with such a bond towards Pokemon is a welcome surprise. In fact, some people mistreat and abuse Pokemon. Have you heard of the problems we've had in Kanto and Johto with Team Rocket?"
"Oh yeah," Joey said in realization, "I think that was... Five years ago? Or was it four?"
"About five years, yes. Anyway, I've only known a few select other Trainers to be as remarkable as you. What was his name now... Red, I think, in Kanto five long years ago. And there was also Gold in Johto, Brendan and May in Hoenn, and Dawn and Lucas in Sinnoh, about two years ago. I've had the pleasure of meeting them all you see. In fact it has been some time since I saw Red... I wonder how he's doing... Hmm..."
Oak took a look at his watch. "Oh dear, I simply must be going. I'm going to miss my ferry..."
The Professer hurried to the front door, but before he left he turned back to the group. "I apologize for not being able to stay longer and get to explain a few more things to you two boys better, but I have a ferry to catch."
"Oh that's okay," Patti said, "We all know how busy you can be Professer."
Oak nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll stop by Spruce's Lab in Sandhill for a minute before I leave back to Kanto, and have him arrange to meet you boys tomorrow. He'll explain the details, because right now I have to go, please excuse me. I hope we will meet again!"
"Bye Oak!" "Yes, bye Professor!" "See you later!" everyone said as Oak left out the front door.
Things were awkwardly silent for a moment, until John's mother Minerva broke the ice. "Well, it's not every day a world-renowed Professor vists on your birthday, hmm?"
"Mom," Joey said to Patti, ignoring Minerva's comment, "Why did Oak show up here? Did you...?"
Patti giggled. "That's right, I asked our friend Spruce if he could ask Professor Oak himself to come here for your birthday. It was either him, or some Pokemon League representative, but I know how much you look up to the good Professor. And I even convinced him to get you that snazzy Trainer Case, they don't normally give those out, but when Oak is involved anything's possible!"
"Oh mom..." Joey said, sighing.
Minerva then spoke up, intending to start a new topic. "Oh well, now that all that's out of the way, did I ever tell you about the time I got John his first present? Oh, it was too cute, he was just one at the time so he couldn't really say thanks or anything and yes he tried chewing on it but oh it was so wonderful blah blah blah took lots of pictures blah blah blah I told Patti all about it blah blah blah Jason thought it was hilarious blah blah blah..." And on and on she went.
John and Joey could do nothing but sit and listen. Hamtric couldn't take it, and hid in the backpack once again.
"Ughhh..." John groaned, then whispered to Joey, "You know my mom, when she starts she can't be stopped..."
No one said anything, except of course Minerva, until John quietly asked himself, "When's the cake...?"
Oak exited the house, and began walking down the main road of Littlebud Town, occasionally passing the odd house (most of which were abandoned).
The old houses weren't what was concerning Oak however. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a small red device that resembled an old-model PDA with a screen cover. He flipped it open and the device chimed to life, beginning to list down a number of Pokemon species. This was Oak's personal Pokedex, the first one he ever made, and the one he always used and upgraded himself.
Oak scanned through the Pokedex interface and checked it's completion level based on known species of Pokemon. "CURRENT COMPLETION LEVEL: 649 POKEMON REGISTERED IN DEX / 750 SPECIES KNOWN IN WORLD; 101 UNIQUE SPECIES CONFIRMED IN REGION: SOTO." The device read.
He frowned. "Hrmph. I'm too busy to scour the Soto region, Spruce is too old and frail, and I can't contact any of the other Pokedex holders... Hmm..." Oak said to himself, contemplating something. "Maybe those boys and their special bond with Pokemon will prove useful... I better talk to Spruce about this..."
Stuffing the Pokedex in his pocket, Oak walked onward, with a new idea set in mind and new plans to be put to action.
A/N: And there! Surprise cameo appearances FTW! Anyway, Joey and John are now (*drum roll*) officially Pokemon Trainers! Now all they gotta do is sit still long enough while Professor Spruce comes by with their starting instructions, but can they really be that patient? John probably won't. xP So, the new Pokemon shown were Hamtric, the Electric Gerbil/Hamster Pokemon, and Squito (pronounced "Ski - toe"), the Mosquito Pokemon. Mind you, Squito is only mentioned briefly in this chapter and not shown, but it will appear in future chapters as one of this storie's primary Bug-types. Please review and I'll get back to you with Chapter 3!
Fare thee well!
-gl1m0