Tea with Oak and Mr. Pokémon

"Hahaha!" the boy said, his Pidgey flapping triumphantly at the defeated Rattata. "Take that! I win!"

"Damn!" the boy standing across from him. "Good battle, Mikey. I guess you won fair and square. Rattata, return!" the fainted Pokémon returned to its Poké Ball. "Maybe I need more Pokémon."

"Ha! Still wouldn't have a chance against a champ like me!" Mikey lowered his cap over his face, grinning.

A boy who had been watching from the sidelines for sometime stepped in. "Oh really?" he asked. "How about we have a battle then?"

"Ha!" Mikey said, turning to the boy and pulling his cap up. "Come on, then! Gimme a battle! Two on two!"

"Alright," the boy said, grasping a Poké Ball in his hand. "Let's do this, then. Go, Sentret!"

The boy threw the Poké Ball, releasing a Sentret, standing on its hind legs, its claws drawn out.

"Ha! Looks weak as hell!" Mikey's Pidgey, already out of its Poké Ball, came to settle on the ground. "Pidgey, Gust!"

The Pidgey began to flap its wings, creating a small gust of wind, then flew towards Sentret, launching the gust right into it. Sentret fell back, slightly fazed.

"Go, Sentret! Scratch!"

Sentret leaped into the air and slashed Pidgey with its claws.

"Now, follow it up with a Quick Attack!"

Sentret threw itself at the falling Pidgey, knocking it even further away. The Pidgey landed in a daze.

"Come on, Pidgey!" Mikey said. "Tackle it!"

Pidgey cooed, then, with the last of its strength, threw itself at the Sentret. Sentret dived out of the way, then launched itself at Pidgey.
"Good work, Sentret!" the boy said. "Now, Scratch!"

Sentret gave Pidgey one final strike with its claws, then landed on the ground, triumphant.

"Yeah, Sentret!" the boy exclaimed.

"Huh," Mikey said smugly, switching out his fainted Pidgey. "I guess you got lucky. Now it's time to bring out my best Pokémon. Go, Rattata!"

Mikey threw a Poké Ball, releasing a mean looking Rattata.

"Alright, Sentrert, come back!" the boy said. Sentret came back into its Poké Ball. "Time for our own big guns. Go, Dimitri!"

The boy threw his Poké Ball, releasing a growling Chikorita.

"Chika!" the Pokémon exclaimed, leaves flying off its back.

"Well, this looks like an interesting fight," Mikey said. "Go! Quick Attack!"

The Rattata leapt towards Dimitri at an amazing speed, and slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Dimitri recovered quickly, and stood up to face his opponent.

"Dimitri! Razor Leaf!" the boy commanded.

The Chikorita ran towards his opponent, releasing razor-sharp leaves from the stalk on his back that flew towards the Rattata at an amazing speed.

"Quick, Rattata! Out of the way!"

Mikey's Rattata attempted to jump out of the way, but the leaves hit it in the legs and stomach, sending it into a spiral. Rattata landed on the ground in a heap, scratched and groaning.

"Alright, Dimitri!" the boy said. "Finish him with a Tackle attack!"

Dimitri jumped at Rattata, and slammed into it, knocking it further away.

"Tata!" it said, then dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Yeah!" the boy exclaimed in delight. "Good work, Dimitri! Come back!"

The Chikorita let out a final cry of accomplishment, then returned to its Poké Ball.

"R-rattata, come back," Mikey stuttered. "W-wow, I guess y-you are pretty good."

He pasued for a moment. "So, what's your name.

The boy had already begun to walk away, but he turned to Mikey to reply. "My name's Polo, and I'm gonna be the world's greatest Pokémon breeder! Nothing is going to stand in my way! Especially not an amateur like you!"

"Well, I have to say," Mikey said. "Good luck, Polo. You did beat me fair and square."

"Thanks, Mikey. Good luck to you, too!" With that, Polo turned north, to walk up Route 30.

It had been a long first day for Polo, and finally he was arriving at the house of Mr. Pokémon. After a day full of battle and adventure, he was happy to just relax.

Polo walked up to Mr. Pokémon's door, and knocked three times. After a moment, an old man answered the door.
"Yes?" he said.

"Mr. Pokémon?" Polo asked nervously.

"I'm sorry, young man," the old man was very tall and fit, but had very gray hear. He wore a white labcoat, a red, necked shirt and brown trousers. "I'm not Mr. Pokémon. I'm Professor Oak. Mr. Pokémon is, however, right this way."

The professor stood to one side and gestured to Polo. Polo walked through the door.

Polo could see why Mr. Pokémon called himself Mr. Pokémon; the house was a collection of everything Pokémon. Books on Pokémon lined the walls, several computer monitors displayed several Pokémon related diagrams and pictures, statues and little toys of Pokémon were crammed into every corner.

"Mr. Pokémon!" Professor Oak called. "You have a visitor!"

"Coming!" a self-assertive voice boomed from a room deep inside the house; there was so much mess that Polo couldn't see any other doorways.

A clatter of pans dropping rang through the house, making Polo and Professor Oak cringe. The sound of footsteps grew nearer, and Mr. Pokémon emerged from behind a stack of papers, knocking them over in the process.

Mr. Pokémon was shorter than Professor Oak, but had a sort of radiance. He had white hair that stuck out under the edges of his brown hat, and a big, scruffy white moustache that hung down over his mouth. He wore a baggy, brown suit, a dirty white shirt and a tie that hung askew from his neck.

"Ah, so you must be Polo!" he said in his booming voice. "Professor Elm told me you would be coming!

"Yes," Polo replied. "Here I am."

"Come along, boy, come into the dining room," Mr. Pokémon began to walk through the house. "I've just made some tea."

Polo soon found himself in a cluttered dining room, sitting on a damp, wooden chair, drinking herbal tea.

"So, Polo," Mr. Pokémon said. "I hear that you've just started your very own Pokémon adventure!"

"Yeah, just a day ago," Polo replied, sipping his tea.

"You must be very excited! In fact, the egg I'm about to give you will help you quite a lot in your journey to become a Pokémon master."

"I'm not really interested in becoming the best of the best," Polo said. "I'm more interested in breeding, you know, and catching Pokémon."

Mr. Pokémon looked stunned. "You're actually interested in breeding and catching Pokémon?"

"Well, yeah," Polo said, shrugging his shoulders. "The whole 'being the best' thing just seems a little… out of reach!"

"Why, but that's marvellous!" Professor Oak said, entering into the conversation. "All trainers want to do these days is build a small, select, pre-planned team and become a Pokémon master! Nobody's interested in collecting Pokémon except old coots like us. But this is absolutely astounding, especially for my work!

"You see, not that long ago, I developed a thing called a Pokédex that I would give out to a few select Pokémon trainers who I thought showed potential. Great trainers like Viridian City's Blue, now the Gym Leader there, and the famous Red, now training on Mt. Silver, have received Pokédex's from me and helped me quite a lot with my research. Now, all over the region, all over the Pokémon world, in fact, Pokédex's are being handed out to any Wally who happens to want one. They have no interest in Pokémon, they merely want to become the best trainer there is!

"But that's not the point! Pokémon trainers grew from Pokémon collectors, who were interested in how the creatures lived, how they affected the world around us. Of course, they battled for fun, but the real enjoyment they got out of their work was knowing that they were doing something great for the broader community."

Professor Oak paused for a second, to sip his tea.

"This is why I'm glad you've come along, Polo. With so many new Pokémon being discovered, I need someone to help me learn about these creatures. Some, although we don't realise, exist in places they are not generally found. Some say creatures from Hoenn and Sinnoh, like Wurmple, can be found in the Indigo super-continent, but I wish to know how they differ from ones in Sinnoh, why they exist in the place they do. That is why I am entrusting you with my special, very own Pokédex."

Professor Oak handed Polo a scratched, bulky red box, with several newer additions added onto it.

"This once belonged to a very special person, one of the greatest Pokémon trainers of our time," he said. "Now that's he's stopped collecting, he entrusted it to me, to give to a very deserving person. I think that person is you, Polo. Now, be off, and get collecting, Polo! Get collecting!"

Professor Oak's speech had almost driven Polo to tears. "Yes, sir!" he said, saluting, and almost ran out the door.

"Polo!" Mr. Pokémon laughed. "You silly lad! You forgot to take my egg!"

Polo blushed, and turned back to Mr. Pokémon. Mr Pokémon handed him a red and blue-spotted egg.

"Take good care of it," he said. "And bring it to me when it hatches."

"Thank you, Mr. Pokémon!" Polo said brightly. "And thank you, Professor Oak!"

"Goodbye, Polo!" Professor Oak said, waving as Polo walked through Mr. Pokémon's cluttered front room. "I hope we meet again soon!"

Polo walked out the door, smiling and waving to the barely visible Mr. Pokémon and Professor Oak, and turned. His real adventure was only beginning.