The Story of Silver Ketchum
Chapter 2-The Chance
Silver could hardly stop reading the diary that week. She hardly ate or slept. She even forgot to feed Mew, leaving the job for her mother. The diary seemed to become a part of her, since she was never without it. (Fortunately, it was summer vacation.)
The life of her great-grandfather intrigued Silver. The diary was a way for her to experience a life that was forbidden her. Ash's daily entries continually left her puzzled, amazed, or just plain laughing. They also described the personalities of Misty, Brock, and even Pikachu.
It seemed that Silver had judged Misty correctly. Almost every entry listed an argument between Misty and Ash. She seemed to think the world revolved around her, and would bite the head off anybody who disagreed. She was constantly butting heads with Ash. She drives me crazy! Ash had written, Why does everyone think I like her?
Silver now realized why she had recognized Brock. He had been the gym leader of Pewter City, and was now recognized as the best Pokémon breeder of all time. The position of Pewter Gym Leader had been passed down through his family. No wonder the current Gym Leader looked just like him!
Pikachu never failed to amuse Silver. The little electric Pokémon was full of personality and continually had a mind of his own. He insistently rode on Ash's head or backpack, and would shock anyone if provoked. But he obviously loved Ash as more than a trainer, as a friend.
Silver waited until she had read the diary at least three times before showing it to her parents, but when she did, they were amazed. As she continued to read the diary throughout the week, her parents seemed to study her intensely. Everywhere she went in the house, Silver felt their eyes on her. What's wrong? She wondered. I'm remembering to take care of Mew now, and I've hardly done anything this week. It's not like I've done anything wrong…
Silver continued her wondering until Sunday evening, when her parents called her into the den. She sat down on the couch and stared at them.
Her mother spoke first, "Silver, honey, we've been watching you this week and thinking about how we never let you go on a Pokémon journey…"
Her father continued, "We've decided that since you now understand what being a Pokémon trainer is like that you're old enough to make your own decision about becoming a trainer or not."
Silver gasped. She had never expected this. But already she felt free, able to do what she wanted. "When can I start?" she queried happily.
Her mother laughed. "How about Tuesday?" she asked. "We have to get you some supplies first. Oh, and one more thing. I was talking to Amanda's mother yesterday and it seems that Amanda is going to start a Pokémon journey this week too. You could travel with her!"
Great, just great, thought Silver. Amanda is the most annoying person I know. She hates me! How could anybody as stuck-up as her possibly train Pokémon? "Uh, I think I'd rather just travel alone, mom."
"All right, sweetie. Now get ready for bed. It's 10:00 already."
Silver walked to her room. Mew was there waiting for her. "Mew, we're going on a Pokémon journey!" Silver said. Mew jumped excitedly into her arms, seeming to say "When do we start?" Silver giggled. She was extremely happy, but she just couldn't get Amanda (blech) out of her mind.
Silver pulled a volume out of the set of encyclopedias by her bed. She flipped to the information on Mew. I might as well learn all of Mew's capabilities before I start out, since she's going to be my first Pokémon, Silver thought.
The encyclopedia entry read: Mew is mainly a psychic type Pokémon, but is unique in the fact that it can learn moves from any Technical or Hidden Machine (TM or HM). This means that Mew can be customized to any type or types that the trainer desires. Mew have high offense and defense capabilities, and are very powerful in the hands of a skilled trainer.
After reading the entry twice, Silver lay on her bed and began to think hard about how to begin training with Mew. She must have fallen asleep. Before she knew it, it was dawn.
RIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIING! Silver's alarm clock jolted her awake. 8:30 a.m. Why had she set her alarm so early? Oh, yeah. She needed to find supplies today.
Silver carefully slipped out of bed (she had fallen asleep with her clothes on), being careful not to wake Mew, grabbed her wallet, scribbled a note to her parents, and headed out the door, to the Pallet Town Poké Mart.
"Hey, Dennis," Silver called to the guy behind the counter. Silver was a regular in the store and was always there early on Mondays to see the new shipments from the Mart headquarters in Celadon City before everyone bought it all. She loved buying new kinds of Pokémon food and seeing how Mew liked them.
"Hey, Silver. We got a big shipment of the brand new Pokédex models from Silph Co. Check them out."
Silver walked to the glass display case. In it were all kinds of metallic hand-held Pokédexes. A green-and-gold colored one caught her eye.
"Wow, how much is this one?" she queried.
"Two thousand. The usual." Dennis answered, coming over to unlock the case so Silver could get a better look.
"I'll take it!"
"Your parents finally agreed, huh? Need anything else?"
"Yeah…" Silver glanced around the store. "A dozen pokéballs, three potions, and a bag of Pokémon feed."
"That reminds me. Headquarters sent three big boxes that I didn't open yet. Want to see what they are?"
"Yeah!" Silver exclaimed. Dennis carried out the mysterious boxes. Upon opening them, Silver and Dennis found that they contained what seemed to be silver pokéballs, 50 in each box.
Silver found a letter in one box. "In honor of Poké Day, every Poké Mart has been shipped three boxes each of all 50 Technical Machines. The first 50 customers to make purchases at the store will receive three free Technical Machines," she read.
"I completely forgot!" exclaimed Dennis. "It's the 150th anniversary of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon Hall of Fame entry!"
Silver smiled. "I guess I deserve three of those! How much will all of my stuff cost?"
Dennis rang Silver up at the cash register. "That comes to exactly five thousand. Which three TM's do you want?"
"Uh, how about Water Gun, Thunderbolt, and Earthquake?" Silver chose moves that would be strong against the first three gym leaders.
"Here you go. And here's your Pokédex." Dennis handed Silver a big bag and her new hand-held computer.
Silver turned to walk out the door- and almost smacked into Amanda.
"Hi, loser," Amanda smirked, "Buying more food for your crummy little Mew? Too bad you aren't allowed to become a Pokémon trainer like me."
"Actually, I was just getting my training supplies. And as for you being a Pokémon trainer, I'm sure you'll do it as badly as you do everything else." Silver walked calmly out of the store, satisfied with the look on Amanda's face.
To Be Continued