Pokémon Adventures
Chapter 1: The traumatised Eevee
"Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey!" a repeated cry of a Pokémon rang through the room as a young bo who had been previously been fast asleep awoke with a jolt as his eyes snapped open and he sat upright immediately. Without looking he shoved his hand over his Pidgey alarm clock and closed it, ceasing the Pokémon cry at once.
"It's finally happening..." said Ben slowly as his excitement build up.
"I'm becoming a Pokémon Trainer today!" exclaimed the boy as he jumped out of bed and hastil put on his brandnew clothes that his mother had handpicked for him just the other day.
They consisted of a pair of white sneakers, black trousers, a plain white T-shirt with an azure blue trainer's jacket over it. Furthermore Ben had short chestnut-brown hair, dark brown eyes to match and stood at about 4.6 ft, been quite taill for his age.
Speaking of his age, today happened to be Ben's tenth birthday, meaning he was finally able to get a Pokémon license, but more importantly he was now old enough to get his first-ever Pokémon and set out on his journey as a Pokémon trainer. This was the whole reason for his excitement.
As Ben finished up getting ready, putting on his red Pokémon League cap and his light-brown bag, he moved to his door and headed down the flight of stairs, entering the kitchen where his mother was already at work at the stove, the smell of fried eggs wafting through the room. His mom looked up as he entered the room. She had curly black hair, emerald-green eyes and was still wearing a lightblue bathrobe, she beamed as she saw her son enter.
"And there he is! My wonderful new Pokémon trainer, oh baby I'm so proud!" she said excitedly as she couldn't help but walk up to her son and envelop him in an endearing hug.
"Mum!" said Ben in a somewhat annoyed tone. He loved his mother very much but sometimes her overeagerness to display her affection for him was a bit much.
He managed to escape his mother's grasp and smoothed out his clothes.
"I'm glad you're happy and all but shouldn't you be watching the stove before something gets burned?" asked Ben as he put down his bag and sat in his usual spot at the table opposite the dinner room window, where he could see the sun had started to rise, filling the sky with shades of orange and pink.
"Oh Ben, honey, I'm just happy for you, getting your first Pokémon, stepping out in the world and experiencing new things! I envy you kiddo, I wish I could do so myself..." his mom said dreamily as she turned her attention back to the stove.
"So why don't you Mom? I mean... I'm leaving the house today, you could go you know?" said Ben as he grabbed the newspaper: 'The Daily Pokémon' and noticed an article about one of the Elite Four: Bruno and flipped a couple of pages to get to the corresponding article.
"Oh Ben, I wish that I could but I'm too old. No, it's your time to shine honey, you go out there and make mommy proud!" she said as she slided some fried eggs and sausages in Ben's plate.
"Don't forget to say 'hi' to Prof Oak from me when you get there honey."
"I will mom" said Ben as he took a bite out of his breakfast.
Prof Oak is the authority around Pallet Town when it comes to Pokémon. He's a renowned Pokémon researcher who resides in Pallet Town. In addition to his research, he gives starter Pokémon to beginning trainers, and thus he was the man from which Ben would subsequently get his first Pokémon.
Ben scanned through Bruno's article reading how Bruno was describing his first encounter with one of his partner Pokémon: Onix.
'I was training together with my Fighting-type Pokémon in the mountains. My Pokémon and I were performing karate on a pile of rocks to strengthen our moves, but all of a sudden, the ground roared and trembled as if it were angry with our presence and then a towering figure of rocks rose up from in our midst that we instantly recognised for an Onix. It became clear we had tread on it's territory and it began rampaging around. We tried to stop it but it made excellent use of Dig to dodge our attacks and popping up below my Pokémon from underground. We had to medidtate, use all of our senses to track Onix's movements.
The next time Onix popped up we were ready. My Hitmonlee launched a Hi Jump Kick into Onix knocking it down. Then I caught it. We've become quite the team since then.'
Ben smiled thoughtfully as he finished reading making him wonder how things would turn out with his first capture. But he was ready. He'd read about all he could on Pokemon that he could get his hands on, having quite a collection of informative looks in his room he was called somewhat of a walking Pokémon encyclopedia by some for his vast knowledge.
Ben practically wolfed down his breakfast after having read the article as he was eager to get underway, he checked a final time if he packed everything in his bag and then turned to his mother to say his goodbyes.
"Now you just take care of yourself ok dear?"
"Remember to call your mother sometimes, she'd like to hear about all the Pokémon and people you've met and I'll always support you with everything you do out there because this journey is all about you growing up and discovering who you are, so make me proud honey" she said while fiddling around with his clothes straightening them out and adjusting his cap.
"Don't worry Mom, I've prepared for this. I'm pretty sure I'm able to handle myself" said Ben reassurringly.
"I know, but there's a difference between reading something in a book and putting something into practise. But I know you'll be great honey."
They embraced each other in a hug sharing a tender mother-and-son moment.
"Have fun on your journey honey!" Ben's mom said as Ben set off and they waved each other goodbye.
Ben looked around Pallet Town as he made his way to Prof Oak's laboratory wanting to take one last look at his hometown before he'd depart for a while.
It was a small, peaceful town that was composed of standalone houses, dirt trails, and surrounded by wide, open grassy fields, it was definitely the ideal kind of town for people who wanted a laidback sort of lifestyle.
Ben listened to the Pidgey singing their merry songs while going along the main trail to Oak's lab when all of a sudden he heard the voice of his childhood friend Mick calling him, coming up from a sidepath, running towards him.
"Hey Ben! Ben!"
As he came closer the boy was revealed to have spiky, jet-black hair and bright orange eyes, and sporting a red hoodie with a big emblem of a Charizard pinned on it, black ripped jeans and black sneakers. He wore a goofy sort of smile "So Ben, are you ready man? Ready to get out there and show the world what we're made of and climb to the top of the Pokémon League?!" he said as he held up his hand.
"You bet!" said Ben with almost equally as much enthusiasm.
"I feel ready to take on just about anything and I wouldn't want to rather do it with anybody else! So you're on!" he said as he grabbed Mick's hand in a bro handshake as if making a vow to each other.
Ben and Mick knew each other since they went to kindergarten together and have been fast friends since then, practically doing everything for fun together and always been competitive with one another but in a friendly way never getting angry between the two of them and been genuinely happy for each other's accomplishments while Mick was the more physically capable of the two, Ben was the brains which made a good team together. They had agreed long ago that they'd travel together.
Mick did tend to be rash and headstrong sometimes getting himself into trouble more often than not but he never lacks for enthusiasm having a strong will to become the best at everything he does.
"Alright, come on! Let's go! I'm dying to get my first Pokémon already!" said Mick, yearning to get underway.
Ben snickered but remarked:
"You could do with a little more patience sometimes, did you prepare properly for our journey?" Ben asked as they made their way to the hill overlooking Pallet Town, on which stood a rather large building with a wind turbine behind it. It quickly grew larger as they approached it.
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry Ben, I got it covered, Poké food, sleeping bag, flashlight, some other stuff, it's all there." responded Mick waving his hand with a dismissive gesture, as if he wasn't interested in Ben's lectures.
"Did you at least read a couple of the books I let you borrow or were they collecting dust in your room?"
"Uh sure.. I might've peeked in it once or twice."
"I sure hope for your sake you've done more than just peeked in them. You need to know all about type matchups and status conditions and the like if you wanna hold your own in a Pokémon battle Mick." said Ben in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
"I told you I got this! No worries dude."
"But I do worry... I'm not quite sure you realise just how many things go into a Pokémon battle in order for you to fight effectively with your Pokémon."
As they were talking they had crossed the bridge over the river and reached the open gate of Prof Oak's lab and walked into the domain, going up the steps to the door.
"I suppose you're sticking with Charmander?" asked Ben.
Ben and Mick had already made up their minds on what Pokémon they'd choose as their starters.
"Yep. Didn't the Charizard on my hoodie give it away? And I suppose you're sticking with Bulbasaur then?"
"Yea, I think it's the perfect one to get started with. Besides it's the easiest one to raise."
At last Ben and Mick had reached the door of Prof Oak's lab and Ben rang the doorbell while they looked over at one another giddy with anticipation.
They heard the doorbell run through the building and then fall silent, but all they could hear afterwards was the swaying of the branches and the leaves with a gentle breeze that was blowing and the creaking of the wind turbine. There didn't seem to come anybody.
"Try again, maybe Prof Oak is in the back somewhere and he didn't hear it" said Mick.
Ben once again put his finger on the doorbell as they heard the bell galming through the halls. They waited for a while once more but again nobody came.
"Strange..." said Ben. "Prof Oak knew we were coming he wouldn't forget about us." he tried the handle and noticed the door was open.
"Hmm... Let's go inside and have a look around. Maybe Prof Oak is in the middle of something."
They proceeded to go inside the hallway which had severall doors spread across it. To the side there was a staircase up to the second floor. Neither Ben nor Mick had ever been inside before and thus weren't sure what was behind each door. They started trying severall doors that included: a simple broom closet, a library that included a study room, the Pokémon storage room.
"Hey check it out! This must be where all the Pokémon are stored from trainers from Pallet Town! Let's open some!"
And Ben was forced to restrain Mick for a while as he tried to eventually persuade Mick that it wasn't a good idea to start opening Poké Balls left and right as for one thing someone might think they'd be stealing if they found them like this.
They kept looking as they found a lobby, a living room and found no sign of Prof Oak.
Having tried most of the rooms on the ground floor, the rest had been locked, they proceeded upstairs which apparently mostly served as the main research floor. Coming up to one door they found it to be slightly ajar and Ben could just make out a pair of brown eyes belonging to a small figure before it scurried away.
"Did you see that?" said Mick "Yeah, it looked like a Pokémon, let's take a look inside."
As Ben opened the door he saw before him what must be the heart of the laboratory. He saw severall strange-looking machines which he figuered had to be for Pokémon testing and a table with various chemicals on it. Nearby was a blue office chair with a large computer in front of it. Beside the computer Ben could make out a Poké Ball Transfer Machine which he knew was used for the transportation of Pokémon to their trainers in a Pokémon Center. There was also a drawing board, a brown couch; a few machines were connected to a glass container full of water, possibly to study aquatic Pokémon. Hidden below the desk was the small figure they'd seen before.
It was a four-legged Pokémon with primarily brown fur. The tip of it's bushy tail and it's large furry collar were cream-colored. It had short, slender legs with three small toes. It also had brown eyes, long pointed ears with dark brown interiors, and a small black nose.
It seemed to be shivering and it's ears were dropped gazing at the two new intrusions with a seemingly fearful look in it's eyes from below the desk.
"It's an Eevee." said Ben with a softening look on his face. "It seems scared of us..." he said quietly.
"Awesome! I've never seen this Pokémon before." said Mick as he took a few paces forward which made Eevee make a yelp and back up further underneath the desk till it touched the wall, curling up in a ball, covering its eyes with its bushy tail.
"Stop it Mick." Ben said as he grabbed Mick by the shoulder to push him back.
"You're scaring it even further." he said, trying not to sharpen his tone too much so as not to cause further anxiety to the brown-furred Pokémon.
Mick blinked back at his best friend looking confused.
"But I don't wanna spook it or anything, I just want to say hello."
"You may want to, but Eevee's never seen us before, it doesn't know our intentions. For all it knows we're just two trespassers that wanna hurt it." "I guess I see your point..." said Mick slowly "Still don't really see why it should be scared of us tho."
"Well Eevee may not be used to seeing other humans then Prof Oak and doesn't know what to think of us. Let me handle this."
And so Ben taking care took a few steps closer to Eevee and lowered himself in a squat position a few meters away from the desk where it took one quick look at Ben from behind it's tail before letting out another yelp and began to shudder from pure fright. A rather pained expression formed on Ben's face as he watched the Eevee closely.
Something was very wrong with this poor thing thought Ben.
"It doesn't look like he likes you anymore then he likes me." Mick stated.
Ben remained slent, his gaze remaining on Eevee as he continued to watch it as determination formed in him. He wanted to befriend this Eevee. Wanted to tru no matter what it took. He wanted to understand what it was that made this Pokémon cause so much fear within it.
And thus Ben remained in squat position and formed a big smile on his face, as if trying to transmit his warmth to Eevee to show it he meant no harm.
Minutes seemed to pass as Ben remained like that, unwavering, remaining patient, remaining hopeful. Still, Eevee continued to tremble and refused to move or do anything too petrified to even look at Ben. Until at long last it lowered it's bushy tail and looked at Ben once again with one eye from behind its tail.
Ben noticed a shift of emotion passing over Eevee as it gazed into its one eye and it turned its head slightly sideways and blinked in confusion.
"Eie?" said Eevee confused as it was still shivering but not as fiercely as before.
Ben responded with a slight chuckle, then slowly he unstrapped his backpack and put it to the side rummaging in the contents for a while, still keeping eyecontact with the scared Pokémon all the while before pulling out a bag of nutrious Poké food out and opened it, pulling some of the kibble out and slowly outstretching his hand towards the Eevee who seemed to become even more puzzled at the human's offering.
Ben thinking it wasn't trusting him decided to take one bit of the Poké food in his other hand and put it in his own mouth.
Eevee watched as Ben tried to show how much he enjoyed the taste of the food by making content expressions and then swallowed it.
"Mmh, it's good. You should try some." Ben said in a soft voice as he gently threw some of the food in Eevee's direction. It landed near Eevee's feet as it blinked and sniffed the food and then carefully proceeded to take a small bite out of it. To it's apparent surprise it liked it and quickly ate the whole thing.
Ben chuckled once more feeling a bit of a relief as he wasn't sure this particular Poké food would be to it's liking.
He tossed another bit of food to Eevee and continued to do this repeatedly luring the scared Pokémon out from beneath the desk bit by bit. Eevee somewhat hesistant at times, unsure what Ben might do but he made sure to not make any sudden moves as he managed to make Eevee start lowering it's guard somewhat.
Finally Ben took a handful of the Poké good and held it out to Eevee with inviting eyes, smiling brightly all the time.
"Vui?" Eevee backed up a bit glancing from the good, to Ben's face, slightly shivering. It had already come quite close to him standing about a meter apart but it seemed to really question getting that close to him. But Ben just remained as patient as ever just smiling continuously at it and letting Eevee come across this last obstacle.
Slowly but surely, Eevee drew closer and closer, looking around as it did, wary, looking worried. But eventually it stood in front of it's hand and then slowly began eating from Ben's hand. And Ben slowly extended his other hand, drifting it towards Eevee's head to pet it...
"Remarkable!" a voice said from behind them, surprising everyone. Eevee gave a yelp and a jolt and bolted running towards the blue office chair as it hid beneath it, shivering once more.
Ben turned seeing an elderly man with grey hair and wearing a lab coat who could be none other then-
"Prof Oak!" said Ben and Mick in unison. Ben had forgotten Mick was with him in the room.
"Yes, greetings Ben and Mick, here to collect your starter Pokémon I assume?"
"Yes sir" they both said at the same time.
"But my, quite remarkable what you did there Ben." said Prof Oak, his eyes studying Ben closely and shifting his gaze back to the Eevee.
"Fascinating how you managed to gain Eevee's trust Ben. I've been looking after it for days but it wouldn't come near me or eat anything at all. Somehow you managed to succeed where I couldn't. Indeed, remarkable!"
"Yeah, I must say I'm impressed too Ben" said Mick gazing at him in wonder and looking puzzled at the same time.
"I don't know how you did it but that Eevee got really close to you in the end."
"I... just" Ben began "I think I just trusted my instincts and did what felt natural." Ben said uncertainly "But professor what's wrong with that Eevee? Why does it seem so scared?"
Prof Oak's face darkened for a moment and spoke in a grim tone.
"Team Rocket is responsible for that. Unfortunately that Eevee has been through a lot. They experimented on him without any care for the Pokémon's health and well-being, it's been subjected to electrical shocks and more and withstood great pain. It's been heavily traumatised as a result and doesn't trust any humans either."
Ben felt anger welling up his chest as he heard Prof Oak describing the details of Eevee's torment and how it affected it.
"How dare they hurt such a poor innocent Pokémon! How could people do that?!" Can they not understand that Pokémon got feelings too?!" said Ben in a raised voice balling his hands into fists and then he looked back over to Eevee under the chair who once again was shivering and seemed to be uneased by the sudden yelling and his anger faded instantly making room for sorrow instead as he sighed.
"Sorry Eevee, I didn't mean to scare you, I just... I just feel sorry for you."
"Eievui?" said Eevee noticing the change in Ben as he had looked at him and now tilted his head slightly to the side observing him curiousily.
Ben wondered if the Eevee understood what he said.
"Who's this Team Rocket anyways?" Ben said turning to Prof Oak and Mick.
"You've never heard of Team Rocket before?" asked Mick dumbfounded.
"They're a group of bad people who steal other people's Pokémon, they are quite famous around here, I'm surprised you've never heard of em. I thought you knew everything Ben."
"Well not everything, but a lot. I'm just disgusted there are people like that."
"Hmm. Well there will always be people like that." said Prof Oak. "It's a pity but that's how things are. But I don't believe they're all bad people. They're just unfortunate souls who stumbled into the wrong when they saw no other solution to their problems. Of course it also means we cannot allow their activities to continue for everyone's sakes."
"All I know is" said Ben with a growing determination as he once again turned his one hand into a fist.
"That if I ever come across Team Rocket I will make sure they never hurt anyone again."
"Careful Ben." said Prof Oak with a growing concern in his voice.
"While you might feel that way now. You've got to remember these are dangerous people. If you ever come across them it would be best to report it to the police."
Ben didn't say anything. He just couldn't fathom there were people like Team Rocket out there who went about stealing and seperating Pokémon from their trainers and causing Pokémon so much pain, it seemed unforgiveable to him.
"Anyways let's move on" said Prof Oak as he regained some of his moderate enthusiasm from earlier.
"Let's go over here" said Prof Oak moving towards a table where three Poké Balls we're waiting for Ben and Mick as they approached them.
"As you know there are three starter Pokémon. And Prof Oak pointed to each Poké Ball in turn as he called them out.
"Bulbasaur, the Grass type Pokémon" Ben looked at the Poké Ball on the left with interest.
"There is Squirtle, the Water-type Pokémon" Oak pointed at the Poké ball in the middle.
"And last but not least Charmander the Fire ty-"
But Prof Oak was cut off as Mick made a lunge for the Poké Ball on the right, grinning from ear to ear as he held it into his hands.
"Hehe, finally I got Charmander! Come on out and meet your new trainer!" he said throwing the Poké Ball a few feet into the air before it came to a standstill in mid-air and the Poké Ball opened with a flash of white and red, taking form and shape quickly to reveal a, reptilian Pokémon with a primarily orange body and blue eyes, it's underside of it's belly been cream-colored, while a fire burned from the tip of it's slender tail.
"Char, Charmander." said the Pokémon as it turned it's blue eyes turned over to Mick, looking up at him curiously.
"Hey Charmander!" said Mick, looking giddy as he kneeled down at his Pokémon to get to eye-level while balling his hands into fists. "How about you and me aim for the Pokémon championships together, work hard, become stronger and become the best of the world someday, what do you say?"
Charmander blinked for a moment, taking in what his new trainer said then the Charmander nodded once in agreement, seemingly smiling.
"Excellent! I knew I made the right choice!" said Mick, as if already counting down his victories.
Mick's eagerness caused Prof Oak to laugh heartily.
"Haha well, aren't you eager to set off aren't you Mick? But, beware, raising a Charmander can prove difficult for beginning trainers, you may be in for more then you can chew"
But it didn't seem like Mick was about to be discouraged as he stood back up, looking as determined as ever.
"Believe me professor, there isn't going to be anything that will stop us! I just know me and Charmander will be the best team ever!"
Prof Oak seemed to be quite thrilled.
"Haha, well, if you keep your spirits up like that I'm sure you'll be fine, now then. Ben? Which Pokémon will you pick?"
Ben who shook his head in amusement at Mick's spontaneous behavior, still feeling happy for his friend, now turned his attention to the table once more where 2 more Poké Balls remained.
He wasted no time in moving his hand towards the left Poké Ball as he took it into his hand and stared at it for a moment.
He could feel his heart beating faster with excitement as he gazed at the Poké Ball in his hand.
This was it.
Inside this Poké Ball was his first ever Pokémon. The Pokémon he'd travel with, battle with, eat with, sleep with, go on all kinds of amazing adventures together no doubt.
"I choose you, Bulbasaur!" said Ben as he threw the Poké Ball into the air and it too opened in a flash of white and red and when it took form there stood a small four-legged Pokémon that has blue-green skin with darker patches. It had red eyes with white pupils. Each of it's thick legs ends with three sharp claws. On Bulbasaur's back was a green plant bulb.
As it appeared the Bulbasaur looked around curiously for a moment before setting its gaze on Ben and seemingly smiled at him and from it's bulb a dark-green vine erupted from the side and extended all the way to Ben.
"Bulbasaur" said Bulbasaur as if greeting him. Ben smiled calmly and extended his own hand, taking the vine into hand and given it a slow shake as he we're exchanging hands with it and then let go.
"Heh, you're a friendly Pokémon, it's nice to meet you too Bulbasaur."
"Bulba!" said Bulbasaur as it calmly nodded at him.
"That one is a very social Pokémon Ben." said Prof Oak to him, smiling as he had observed the exchange. "It doesn't hesistate to greet other Pokémon or people and generally likes to help out where it can, I think it will fit you quite well." Oak concluded.
Ben smiled at that, because he liked helping out wherever he could as well, as such Bulbasaur's helpful nature would mean a lot to him.
"All that's left now." said Prof Oak turning to the pair of new trainers as he had collected two trays from the table, containing two red high-tech devices of sorts as well as five Poké Balls.
"Is to give you these. Here are five Poké Balls and a Pokédex for each of you." he said as he held out the trays and both Ben and Mick took the five Poké Balls setting them in their belts as taking the Pokédex, which they both stared at in awe, though Ben was clearly the more excited of the two over it.
"Oh wow! My very own Pokédex!" exclaimed Ben as he opened it up and put it in front of Bulbasaur scanning it, soon enough a picture of Bulbasaur appeared on the screen and a blue light at the top of the Pokédex flashed, indicating it was talking:
"Bulbasaur. It bears the seed of a plant on its back from birth. The seed slowly develops. Researchers are unsure whether to classify Bulbasaur as a plant or animal. Bulbasaur are extremely tough and very difficult to capture in the wild."
Mick did the same thing with his Charmander:
"Charmander. A flame burns on the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that a Charmander dies if its flame ever goes out."
As both Ben and Mick put away their Pokédexes and recalled their Pokémon inside their Poké Balls. Ben looked back over at the Eevee who was shivering slightly once again, but nevertheless it's gaze seemed to be fixed at Ben, looking at him with it's big round brown eyes, touching Ben's heart as he dropped down to his knees and gazed at it with a sad look, then slowly he'd reach his hand out, noticing Eevee didn't back away this time and he was able to touch Eevee's head this time and petted, feeling it's soft, warm fur underneath his hand.
"You take care Eevee. Don't worry you're safe here. Nobody's gonna hurt you... and if I ever come across that Team Rocket I'll make them pay for what they did to you."
"Eievui..." said Eevee quietly as it just allowed itself to be petted, it didn't seem to mind so much, but it was hard to tell, there was still a fearful look in Eevee's eyes. Ben continued to pet Eevee while Mick was occupied with Prof Oak, asking some last-minute advice on how he should raise his Charmander and what's it's strengths and weaknesses were.
Eventually tho Ben got up as Mick seemed to be finished talking to Prof Oak, they said their goodbyes to him and set out into the world of Pokémon, leaving Prof Oak's laboratory behind, no telling what adventures awaited them.