Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Two
"How much longer is it to Viridian?"
"Check your Town Map."
"I can't read it properly."
"Then what was the point of Daisy giving you one, then?"
Red sighed. There was no point in arguing with Leaf. He took out his Town Map and analysed it as best he could. They had to keep heading north, that much was obvious, but it was quite tricky to gauge the distance accurately from Pallet Town to Viridian City.
"We'll be there soon," Red said at long last, stowing his Map back in his rucksack.
Leaf smiled at him slyly. "You have no clue, do you?"
"Of course, I do."
Leaf shook her head. "We'll be there in less than an hour if we keep this pace up."
"Exactly what I thought."
They grinned at each other and continued on their way to Viridian City, the closest and easiest habitable site to get to from Pallet Town (Red and Leaf had agreed that heading to Cinnabar Island instead would be more hassle than what it was worth).
It had been an eventful day so far. Getting their first Pokémon, heading out on their journey, getting a Pokédex…
Ah yes, the Pokédex. If one would have told Red, Leaf, and Blue that they were only going to start their journeys as official Pokémon Trainers and nothing more, then they all would admit they would be ecstatic. However, being entrusted by one of the foremost authorities on Pokémon with a new machine was something else entirely.
o~o~o~o~o
"I have a request for you three," Professor Oak said. He directed them over to another desk. Upon them were three red devices. He picked them up and handed them, one by one, to the children. "These are my invention, the Pokédex! It automatically records data on any Pokémon you've seen or caught. All in all, it's a high-tech encyclopedia! But remember: you must catch Pokémon to obtain their complete data; the data won't be as detailed if you simply see them.
"And to catch wild Pokémon, you'll need Poké Balls, which my assistants will give you when we're done. Wild Pokémon are fair game for capture; never, ever try to capture another trainers Pokémon! But simply throwing a Poké Ball won't work most times; you'll have to weaken it first. You'll have to strategize. You'll need to be lucky."
Professor Oak gazed out into the distance, seeing something the children could not. "To make a complete guide on all the Pokémon in the world," he sighed, "that was my dream. But I'm too old for that now! It's beyond me. So, I want you three to fulfil my dream for me. I know you can do it! This is a great undertaking in Pokémon history!"
"Yes, sir!" Red and Leaf shouted, giving him a salute.
"Nice speech, gramps," Blue said, rolling his eyes. "But can you sign my Trainer Card? I want to be out of here already."
"Patience is a virtue," Professor Oak said, taking Blue's Trainer Card and signing it with a blue pen from his lab coat pocket.
"Possibly," Blue said. "But not right now." He tucked his Card into his back pocket and recalled Squirtle into its Poké Ball. "Now, I'm going to make my Pokémon fight and toughen it up."
Blue turned on his heels, paused, and looked back over his shoulder. "Hey, Leaf. Reddy. I hate to say this, but I don't need either of you." He snapped his fingers. "I know! I'll borrow a Town Map from Daisy. I'll tell her not to lend you guys one!" Blue chuckled. "Anyway, Gramps, smell ya later."
Professor Oak shook his head warily. "What ever am I going to do with him?"
Red and Leaf both had suggestions but chose not to say them out loud. They were rather rude.
Fortunately, Daisy Oak was much more sympathetic and nicer than her younger brother and actually ran over to Red and Leaf's homes to give them their own Town Maps.
"When Blue asked me for a Town Map, I had a feeling you and Leaf would need your own too," she explained to Red. "Especially if you're travelling everywhere doing this errand for grandpa."
Red's heart melted at her pure smile and he thanked her profusely, ignoring the squeals of delight from inside his home as his mother cuddled Charmander.
"Will you be up to anything, Daisy?" Red asked. Enquiring after people was a polite thing to do, according to his mother. "You going to head anywhere? Or just staying in Pallet?"
"I'm going to be travelling back and forth between here and Celadon," Daisy replied, her eyes dazzling as she imagined the sky-high buildings of the city.
"For your tea?" Red said, with a cheeky grin.
Daisy giggled and gave Red a playful punch in the arm. "Well, yes. And no. I'll be going to Celadon University to tutor aspiring Coordinators in the art of Contests."
"Ah…" Red had almost forgotten Daisy already had an established career in Pokémon Contests, competitions that focused on style rather the frenzy of pure Pokémon battles. Only three years older than him but she had already made a name for herself. She truly was Professor Oak's granddaughter.
And when she left, Red could not help but think how amazing it would be for everyone to know his name. Technically, everyone across the world knew it, but only knowing it as the colour did not count.
So… back to the present.
Leaf scanned the area. She sighed. "Great. We're almost to Viridian and we haven't captured a single Pokémon between us!" She tore off the new hat her mother bought her and chewed the rim. "Not. Even. One," she said, her voice muffled.
"There's a whole bunch of Pidgey and Spearow there," Red said, pointing at two flocks of bird Pokémon flying in opposite directions, the former a group of plump, brown and cream-coloured creatures and the latter another bunch of brown birds with pink wings.
"They're too high up!" Leaf complained. "Bulbasaur hasn't got any moves that can hit them from the ground."
"I'm sure they'll be more wild Pokémon beyond Viridian," Red said helpfully. "I think Viridian Forest's north of there, but I'm not one-hundred percent sure."
"It is," Leaf said. "But I'm not waiting until then to catch my first Pokémon." She plopped her hat back onto her head and set her mouth into a determined line. "That's it: I'm not heading into Viridian until I capture at least one Pokémon."
Red stared at her blankly for a few seconds. Then he gave her a smile and said, "I get you. But I'm going to move on to Viridian myself. I don't want Blue to get too far ahead."
"But what about your own Pokédex?" Leaf asked, her eyes widening.
Red scratched the back of his head, looking quite awkward for a second. "I'm going to be honest, I don't think it matters that much since there's three of us working on it. Think about it: if you, me, and the idiot capture loads of Pokémon between us then Professor Oak's going to still get a lot of data about them, perhaps all the Pokémon on the Pokédex." Red grinned. "So, I'm just going to focus on enjoying the journey with Charmander and whomever else I become friends with."
"I guess you've got a point," Leaf admitted. "To be honest, I just wanted to research ancient and legendary Pokémon; I don't care about battling too much."
"It's all those history books you read as a kid," Red said with a chuckle. "No wonder that was your best subject."
Leaf joined in with his laughter. "You can thank mum and dad for that; I didn't get the fairy tales most children would've gotten."
They sniggered for a few moments longer before falling silent. Leaf was the first one to speak again:
"Well, we never said we were going to travel together anyway."
"No, we didn't."
"But Kanto's not that large. We'll probably end up seeing each other so often that it'd seem like we were travelling together."
Silence drifted upon them once more. They stared at one another and lifted their hands. With a sharp, smacking sound, they gave each other a high-five.
"Tell me if you ever find anything cool," Red said.
"You'll be the first," Leaf promised. "And you'll tell me if you ever come across any ancient or legendary Pokémon, won't you?"
"Maybe."
Leaf gave him a mock kick to the bottom and Red pretended to be aghast, shaking his fist at her in a jokey fashion. They then said their final goodbyes and went their separate ways.
o~o~o~o~o
A man sat at a desk, his eyes glued to the computer screen. On the screen was a ruined building, a mansion to be precise.
The man pressed a button on the keyboard and another picture appeared, showing another angle of the ruins. He pressed the button again. Another picture, this time of the inside, displaying the remains of a giant, shattered tube.
Photo after photo flashed by, photos he had seen over and over again for the past two years. How had they failed? How had they unable to contain it? Even after all this time it irked him.
They have succeeded in many ways since then, yes. But this was a mistake he would rectify. Maybe not soon, but one day.
The man rose from his chair.
Yes, until then Team Rocket still had a lot of work to do.
