Chapter Two
Poke Mart Mergency!
Buck woke up early the next day to begin his Pokemon Journey. The party the night before was a fantastic send off. Derek, and a few of Buck's classmates, left that night wanting to be the first among their peers to begin their journey. Still many others were planning to leave the next day on their adventure. Buck intentionally woke up at the crack of dawn, when Pallet City was the quietest, so he could begin his journey alone. He didn't want to walk past the eyes of many bystanders and townsfolk, all of which likely would be saying the same thing. "There's that kid that got beat in the finals of the exihibition tournament last night. I hope he'll be okay!" Buck hated the idea of people pitying him. He dreamed of one day returning to Pallet Town a legend, inspiring awe, not pity, from his home.
The red haired youth, with a freckled face and light blue eyes, put on his best pair of jeans...that only had two holes in them. He put on his favorite red T shirt, and and favorite black windbreaker. These were his favorites because this past year on his birthday, his mom bought him new clothes just for this moment, when he would be embarking on his journey. He packed his red backpack with all the necessities his mom helped him organize the night before, and went downstairs and grabbed a bagel to eat on his way out. He glanced over at his mom's room and thought about waking her to say good bye. He decided against it, he knew she was up late helping Professor Davis clean up after the grand party last night and needed her rest.
"Good bye, Mom." Buck thought as he smiled towards his mother's room, "When your son comes back, he's going to be a great pokemon trainer, maybe the best in the world! I'll make you proud, just you wait!"
Buck left his house and walked through the quiet streets of Pallet City calmly, excited to finally begin his journey as a pokemon trainer. He would be following the path so many great trainers before him had gone down, and he aimed to honor their legacy, and then be even better.
As Buck moved past city limits, he began to walk down the grassy path of Route One. He paused, and unhooked the pokeball containing Barkley, and released his best friend. As the cheerful Growlithe appeared on the ground and barked happily at Buck, the trainer spoke to his pokemon.
"Alright Barkley!" Buck said confidently, as they now stood on a path, out of city limits. "Yesterday may have been a little rough with our last battle ending in a pretty big defeat. But today is a new day! Today is the first day of our very own pokemon adventure. Are you ready to be the very best?"
Barkley barked, jumped up, and ran around the legs of his trainer in agreement and excitement.
"Good!" Buck said as he leaned down and patted the head of his puppy. "I knew you would be!"
The two continued to follow the path in Viridian City, admiring the beautiful day and scenary. Route One had tall grass, and was very hilly. As it was still a brand new morning, the sun was in the perfect place as it was rising, and the morning fog was beginning to subside. Buck took a breath in, enjoying the peace and tranquility...until it was interupted by the scream of a kid not far away.
Upon hearing the scream, Buck began to run towards the direction, off the path slightly, and Barkley followed closely behind. The two ran up and hill and when they reached the top, they looked down and saw a young boy, a couple years younger then Buck, on the ground, surrounded by a group of three Ratattas. The boy tried to back away, but he found himself backing into a stump, which startled him and he shrieked once again.
"Hey, are you okay?" Buck yelled down the hill to the kid.
"I...I don't know!" He replied, his voice trembling with fear. "At first, it was just one Ratatta and I was thinking, "Oh man, I can catch this...Rattatas are usually the weakest pokemon, and I need one a pokemon for protection..." but then I threw one ball, and he dodged it, and then called his friends...and now I am in this big mess!"
"Let's give him a hand, Barkley!" Buck ordered as he pointed to the ratatta horde, and his Growlithe knew to run forward. "Be careful out there, okay buddy?"
Barkley leaped down the hill and and landed between the kid and the rattatas and began to bark fereciously at the rats, who growled back at him.
"Barkley!" Buck ordered, "Use Ember!"
Barkley opened his mouth and shot orange sparks of fire towards the left most Ratatta, hitting him in the face. The purple mouse shrieked in pain, and fell to the ground unconscious.
'Great!" Buck thought, "They are lower level ones. Barkley should be able to handle all three with ease!"
The Ratatta furthest on the right rushed forward to attempt a tackle on Barkley, but upon Buck's order, his Growlithe countered with a swift Bite. This also dazed the Ratatta, and it fell motionless to the ground.
Now, it was just Growlithe and the lead Ratatta, who snarled with anger at Barkley for hurting his friends.
"Barkley!" Buck spoke once more, "Use Ember again!"
Barkley shot another small blaze towards the Ratatta and hit him in the face. It left a little singe mark, and Buck smiled with pride as his Growlithe left a burn on the opposing Ratatta. Upon wincing in pain, the Ratatta's eyes turned red for a second and he growled and straighrned up
"Man," Buck thought, "This Ratatta has guts! He's a toughie!"
Without any warning, the Ratatta rushed forward and hit Barkley with a swift Quick Attack. The puppy fell backwards, but didn't lose his footing. He did shake his head in pain, trying to brush off the hurt.
Buck ran down the hill to stand near the frightened boy, who had now stood up to watch the battle. Buck withdrew a pokeball, and knew this was the perfect time to catch this strong Ratatta.
"You have a lot of fight in you!" Buck spoke to the purple rat, "I could use that! Pokeball, go!"
Buck threw the ball at the Ratatta, and as it hit him, the ball opened up and began to turn Rattata into that familiar red energy. The pokemon was caught into the ball, which swivled on the ground a few times, with the center button of the pokeball still flashing red. Buck prayed that the ball's light would turn green, any moment now!
Then, without warning, the ball popped back open, and the Rattata emerged once again crying out in frustration. It did not want to be caught! Suddenly, Rattata started to glow blue and begin to grow. Barkley, Buck, and the boy, all watched in amazement as Rattata began to evolve into a Raticate.
"Uh oh..." Buck spoke out loud, "I guess this Ratatta was a lot stronger then the others..."
Raticate glared at Buck, angry that the pokemon trainer tried to capture him. Barkley growled and barked at Raticate, trying to regain his attention, but the rat was very focused on the human trainers. He lunged forward with a vicious Hyper Fang attack and Buck yelled in surprised as he dodged to the left. Unfortunately, the boy behind him did not move as quickly, and got bit incredibly hard in the leg by the wild Raticate. He knelt to the ground, holding his bloody wound, crying in pain.
"Oh no!" Buck cried out in concern for the boy, "Barkley, show this rat a real Bite! Give it everything you got!"
Barkley lunged forward and chomped down on Raticate's neck, with a vicious bite that the rat was not prepared for. The wild pokemon fell to the ground struggling to get up, and Buck rushed over to pick up the pokeball that didn't catch Raticate before he evolved. He threw it once again, and this time the ball captured him, swiveled a few times with a red light in the center, and then the light switched to green. Buck had captured Raticate!
The trainer's celebration was short lived though, because there still was a young boy next to him with a very vicious and bloody wound on the ground.
"Hey, are you okay?" Buck asked as he rushed over and knelt by the kid. "What can I do?"
"Go get my dad!" The boy spoke through the pain, tears filling his eyes, "He works at Viridian City's poke mart. He'll know what to do!"
"You got it!" Buck spoke as he stood up. "Viridian City isn't far from here. OK, Barkley you stay with this boy! Keep him company, and I will be right be back as soon as I can!"
Buck rushed down the path of Route One to Viridian City. Normally, he would be terrified from seeing the blood, the scary Raticate, and all the action he had to deal with so quickly. But the emergency of helping the wounded child was enough to make Buck forget about his fear, and rush forward to do what needed to be done.
He was not far from Viridian City, so the run into the city limits was not a difficult one. As soon as he entered the city he rushed over to the nearest citizen and asked where the Poke Mart was. Obviously seeing that something was wrong, the person nervously pointed to the direction of the Poke Mart. Buck rushed down the street and into the store and ran to the front desk. He explained who he was, and that he saw an injured boy on Route One who said his dad worked here. Instantly the shop attendant from across the counter piped up with concern.
"Oh my god, you're talking about my son Joseph!" He yelled with concern, "I told him it was dangerous to leave the city without a pokemon...quick, take me to him!"
Buck, accompanied now by Joseph's dad, rushed out of the city once more and ran back to where Joseph was still laying. The man showed Bucky a short cut, by hopping ledges to avoid the grass where wild pokemon may be lurking.
Finally the two made it back to Joseph, who was being guarded by Barkley who was barking protectively. When the puppy saw Buck return he rushed to his trainer with relief and happiness. Joseph's dad ran to him and quickly administered first aid. He wrapped the boy's leg, after cleaning the wound, and gave him some sort of medicine, and helped him slowly to his feet. As things were looking better, everyone made their way back to the Viridian City Poke Center.
As Buck and Barkley were going to part ways with Joseph and his dad, Joseph handed Buck a potion and said. "Thank you so much for your help! I hope next time Barkley's in a bind, this potion will come in handy!"
"Thanks!" Buck said as he took the potion, then with excitement he took out his pokeball containing Raicate and let out his new pokemon. "And now, Barkley won't be alone!"
Raticate came out and looked around suspiciously. Then the pokemon seemed to realize what had happened, how he had been caught, and he looked towards the direction of route one longingly. Buck frowned as he realized what had happened. The Raticate he caught must have been a ring leader for most the ratattas in the area, and he looked concerned for his family. Buck looked then at Joseph, who also looked bum that he wasn't the one that caught the strong Raticate. Instantly, Buck knew what he needed to do.
"Joseph you visit Route One frequently, right?" Buck asked, as he walked a little closer to the Raticate who still seemed uneasy about Buck.
"Yeah..." Joseph replied, "Almost everyday. I help my dad with his deliveries."
"Well, if you travel out to Route One every day you are going to need a pokemon..." Buck said, and then he looked down at the Raticate and spoke softly to him as he pet his head. "And I can't imagine a better guide and guardian then a Raticate who is used to taking care of the whole route, right?"
The Raticate looked into Buck's eyes, as if he knew exactly what Buck was suggesting. Buck handed Joseph the poke ball that now was the container for Raticate. "Here, you take good care of Raticate, let him visit Route One often, and I am sure he'll keep you safe and serve as a real strong pokemon!"
"Are you sure?" Joseph stammered with excitement, "Oh man, this is so exciting!" Joseph ran over and patted the Raticate on his head as he spoke with great enthusiasm. "I promise I'll take good care of you Raticate! And we'll go to Route One everyday! I'll show you my favorite places, and you can show me yours and..."
Joseph continued to talk to Raticate as Buck left him, and went to see the sights of Viridian City.