Chapter 2: Meeting My Family

I'm sorry for the delay, school threw my schedule out the window. I'm pushing back updates to Saturdays every two weeks. Here's chapter two.


Jason

Current Pokémon team:

Blaze (Cyndaquil)

A fresh breeze greeted us as we walked out of the lab. Blaze and I had just started walking back to my house when…

"Jason!" A voice from behind us shouted. I turned around to see who it was.

A lab assistant rushed up to us and said, "Jason, you left Cyndaquil's Pokeball behind!"

"Oh, thank you!" I said. That brought up a question that I needed to ask Blaze. I turned to look at Blaze, who was sitting next to me, totally uninterested in the conversation.

"Blaze, would you prefer to travel inside or out of your Pokeball?" I asked.

Blaze replied, "Where do you think wise guy!"

"Okay, Okay, you can stay out," I said.

"Would you like to ride on my shoulder?" I asked.

Blaze said, "Well, it's better than walking," nodding.

"Okay, hop on!" I said to Blaze. We then raced home like little kids. It didn't take long to get home.

"Okay, Blaze can you go under my hat?" I asked. "I want to surprise my family."

"Fine." Blaze replied reluctantly.

"When I say 'now,' I want you to jump off my head. Don't worry, I'll catch you." I took off my red cap and Blaze crawled up my head. Then I placed my cap back on my head covering up Blaze and hiding him from view.

"Okay, we're going in!" I said. As soon as I walked into the house, I was bombarded with about a million questions.

"Okay, hold on, one at a time!" I said.

"Jason, what Pokémon did you choose?" said Jane, my oldest sibling.

"Where is it?" said my second oldest sibling Jasmine.

"Okay, now!" I said. Suddenly Blaze jumped off my head knocking off my hat and landed safely in my arms.

"Wow!" said Jenifer, "It is so cute!"

"Guys, this is Blaze, my Cyndaquil. Blaze, this is Dad, Mom, Jane, Jasmine, Jenifer, and Jacob. My family." I said.

"Ooh, hey. I've just had the most brilliant idea. What if you and Dad have a Pokémon battle?" Jane asked.

"Battle! Battle! Battle! Battle! Battle!" My sibling chanted.

"I don't know guys, I've never battled before," I said hesitantly.

"Let's wait to battle until you've had a bit more experience," Dad said, amused.

"Jason is afraid to challenge dad!" Jane taunted.

"I am not!" I shouted back at her.

"Prove it. Wimp" she taunted.

"Fine Dad I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!" I said and instantly regretted it My dad was a gym leader in Kanto before moving here.

"Well, I only have Spot with me right now." He said. Spot is the family pet.

"That's good with me," I said.

"Honey, can you referee?" Dad asked Mom.

"Okay Let's go outside for this." Mom said. When we got outside all my siblings sat on the patio were no attacks would hit them.

"Okay, this is a one on one battle between Jason Wood from New Bark Town and Derrick Wood." Mom said in her announcer's voice." No side may switch out. The first one to make knock out the other wins. Are you both good with these conditions?" We nodded.

"Then let the battle begin!" Mom shouted. (cue Johto trainer battle music from and .)

"Go, Blaze!" I shouted pointing to the battlefield. Blaze ran on my outstretched arm and did a summersault off my arm and landed perfectly.

"Go, Spot!" he shouted. Spot the Growlieth raced on the field from behind him.

"Let the battle begin!" said Mom.

"Let's take the offensive, Blaze!" I said, "Use Tackle!" Blaze rushed forward.

"Spot dodge left and use Bite!" My dad shouted. Spot barely dodged but as he did he bit down hard a threw him back to our side of the stadium.

"Okay, Blaze use tackle but listen for my orders while you're doing it, I have a plan up my sleeve. Use tackle!" I said. Again, he rushed forward.

"Spot dodge right and use Bite!" My dad said.

"Use smokescreen!" I shouted. Two seconds before Blaze hit he let out a smokescreen which through off the growlieth just enough to hit him and keep him from using crunch.

"Use smokescreen again!" I said to keep a dense layer of smoke on dad's side of the field. Luckily there was just enough breeze to make it denser on Dad's side than our side.

"Use tackle!" I said.

"Okay, look out for any movement and try to dodge!" Dad said. Spot had never been in this kind of battle, so it didn't have any experience in fighting in smoke.

"Growl!" shouted Spot.

"Spot, try using your smell rather than your eyes. Use your smell to track down Blaze and use bite" Dad said. Why would Dad tell Spot to use his sense of smell? Then a realization dawned on me.

"Get out of there now Blaze!" I shouted. I just remembered that a Growleith can track a smell through anything including smoke which is why firefighters use Growleithes.

He ran right out of the dense region of smoke our side was we could see better. He was followed by Spot.

"Jump over a spot and use tackle!" I said. I wasn't sure if he could jump that high, but I knew that Spot was gaining on him. Blaze surprised everyone. He managed to jump over Spot and ram into to Spot. The force of the impact knocked Spot down.

"Use tackle again!" I said. The Growleith pretended to try and get up. But then as Blaze was about to hit him, Spot used bite to throw Blaze to the side. By now the smoke had pretty much cleared so everyone could see again.

"Blaze are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." Blaze replied nodding.

"Good! Use tackle don't let him counter." I said. Spot couldn't dodge fast enough and got hit. Spot was too exhausted to get up and fell unconscious.

"Spot is unable to battle! Jason and Blaze are the winners!" Mom shouted.

Most of my siblings cheered for me on the porch.

Jane, however, said, "Beginners luck!" I didn't care what she thought because I was so happy that I won.

"Yes! We did it!" I shouted.
"Did you ever doubt me?!"Blaze said.

"No, not for a second, Blaze," I said hugging Blaze.

"Wow, it is like you understand what Blaze is saying." My Mom said to me.

"Can't you?" I asked puzzled. Why can she understand Blaze? Can't everyone understand Pokémon? The tone of the conversation suddenly became very serious.

"Honey I don't think you're well you should wait a few days before go on your journey." My Mom said.

"What's going on?" My Dad said.

"Can't you understand what your Pokémon say, Dad?" I asked.

"Well, I can understand my own Pokémon a little bit, but that's because I have a very strong bond with my Pokémon." My Dad said.

"What!?" I said shocked.

"Are you okay?" My Dad said.

"Yes, I am okay!" I replied.

"I think he should rest, he must not be feeling well." My Mom said

"But Mom I am not sick! I feel great. Besides, I could understand Pokémon as long as I can remember." I said. My parents were shocked.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Jane asked.

"Go inside with your siblings we'll explain later." My Dad told her.

"When did it start?" My Mom said.

"I told you I always could understand Pokémon, even when we lived in Saffron City. But I don't remember much about Celadon City though."

"Can you show us?" Dad asked.

"What is your favorite color?" I asked Blaze.

"Orange." Blaze said.

"He said his favorite color is orange," I said taking out paper and a pack of color pencils. I took out all the orange colored pencils. After several attempts, I managed to find his exact favorite shade of orange which is an orange that you see in a campfire.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked.

"I'm not sure..." Dad said. looking reluctant.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Mom said concerned

"Okay, do you want some more evidence? I don't know the location that Blaze was captured. I'll ask him where and how he was captured." I said.

"Blaze, can you tell me about the day you got captured?" I asked.

"Well, I used to live in Mt. Ember in the Sevii Islands near a hidden magma chamber. My parents warned me not to stray too far away from the chamber, but I got lost and one of the Professor's lab assistants captured me and they gave me to you." Blaze told me.

" Do you miss them?" I asked.

"Yes." Blaze said. He looked like his was very upset about his family.

"You'll see them again. I promise." I said.

"Thanks!" Blaze said.

"What did he say?" Mom said curiously

"He said that he lived in Mt. Ember in the Sevii Islands. He strayed too far from the hidden magma basin and got lost. Then one of the professor's lab assistants captured him. He really misses his family." I said.

"Oh my! I feel bad for you Blaze," Mom asked.

"I want to call the Professor really quick," Dad said. Dad left and went inside. He came back with his Pokegear and called the Professor.

"Hello Professor Elm, My Wife and I was wondering where Jason's starter Pokémon was caught- we wanted to know it's background." My Dad said.

"Really, I didn't know that Cyndaquil lived in Mt Ember. Thanks." Dad said hanging up.

"Wow, the Professor just confirmed what Jason said. He was also surprised you weren't curious about where he came from." Dad said baffled.

"Son, you've convinced me. I don't know how it is possible, but you can talk to Pokémon. You need to keep this secret. People could come after if they know about you being able to understand Pokémon." Dad said.

"Dad, it's not like Team Rocket is going to kidnap me. They disbanded three years ago." I said.

"Just be careful," Dad said.

"Honey, I wasn't sure what to think, but I guess you can talk to Pokémon." Mom said.

"I just want you to be safe." Mom continued.

"Professor Elm wants me to run an errand for him, so I'll be back soon," I said.

"Be safe." Mom said worriedly.

"I will," I said as Blaze and I left the Backyard. We started walking down the road towards route 29. We met lots of people along the way. A lot of them wanted to wish me luck on my journey. Others asked if I would come back to visit. I told them yes. I left town and started to travel across route 29.