Pokémon - The Oak Adventures
By Chris Devlin: Chris_Devlin@hotmail.com
Part Three: Tom Gains an Friend
Note: To understand bits of this you will have to have read ALL previous parts.
Basically Tom is Prof Oak when he was a kid. Ok.
THEN - 50 YEARS BEFORE THE EVENTS OF POKÉMON
He walked up to the large stone entrance. On a large slab of rock above the enormous door, the words "Pewter Gym" were carved into the heavy gray stone. Pushing the door, it creaked open revealing a large dimly lit room. "Hello." Tom shouted into the darkness. Suddenly someone rushed out of the darkness, knocking Tom to the ground. "Ha, Ha, so long suckers!" the figure cried as it ran from the Gym. Tom had just gotten to his feet, when two set of footsteps running emanated from the inside of the Gym.
"Oh, he got away!" cried the owner of one set. "We could use my Pokémon to catch him." suggested a much younger voice. "No. He's too far away.". Tom turned round to see two people looking past him into the distance. The first was a small boy of about six years old, the other a man of around twenty five. "Hey!" said the boy just noticing Tom standing watching them. "Did you see where that kid went?" he asked. "No, sorry." replied Tom. "He knocked me over before I could do anything.". "Oh." said the boy. "Thanks anyway." said the man. "I'm Sandy by the way, and this is Flint." he said motioning to the small boy. The boy waved at Tom. "Oh, right, I'm Tom.". "Nice to meet you Tom." Sandy reached out his hand and shook hands with Tom. "I'm the Gym leader here, and Flint's my junior trainer. My VERY Junior trainer." he said. "Cool." Tom said in reply. "What did that kid do? He seemed to be in an awful hurry to leave." Tom asked. "Hmm. That Kid stole one of our Gym Badges." Sandy said, all elements of joking gone from his demeanour. "A Gym Badge. That's why I'm here. I was going to challenge you to gain a Badge, so I could enter into the Pokémon league." Tom said. "Well you're certainly in the right place." Sandy replied. "The thing is my Pokémon are all at the Pokémon Centre right now. They've been doing some intense battling recently. The only Pokémon here are Flint's.". "Oh." Tom said, some of his enthusiasm gone. "Hey!" Flint cried. "You could stay with us tonight, and we could battle while we wait for Sandy's Pokémon to be revived!" he suggested. "That's a good idea Flint." Sandy said. "So how about it Tom? This way you get a place for the night and a Pokémon Battle.". Tom looked up at the sky, it was beginning to get dark, and he didn't fancy the thought of sleeping outside again. "Yeah, sure why not." Tom replied. "Ok." said Sandy, "Just let me lock up and then we'll head back to our place."
Giovanni looked at the Boulder Badge in his hand. "A job well done." he congratulated himself and continued to walk towards the Hotel he was staying in. "That was a breeze. The Gym leader hardly put up a fight." he thought to himself as he walked through the Hotel's foyer and up the stairs to his room. opening the door, he threw the badge on the bed and picked up the phone. He dialed his home number and waited. Soon enough the phone was answered and an image of a Butler appeared on the viewscreen. "Rocket, residence, who may I say is calling?". "Hey starch shirt it's me! Put my father on!" he said to the butler who rolled his eyes at the insult. "Very well Sir." he replied before going off Camera to fetch Giovanni's Father. From off screen he heard the Butlers faint voice say "Master Luigi, your son is on the Phone." Suddenly the screen changed. On the screen now was an image of a thin vaguely Italian man sitting in a Chair stroking a Persian. "Hey Pop's. Just thought I'd let you know I swiped my first Gym badge." Luigi smiled. "Good." he said. "Let's just hope it's not your last. I need those badges so I can copy them and enter my operatives into the Pokémon League. Perform this task well and I know that this Organisation will be in good hands when I retire. Our operation in Viridian City is slightly behind schedule, so you may require to gain all 8 badges. Oh and don't think that because the organisation is paying for your expedition that you can order Room Service every night. I will be most displeased if you do. Good Luck son." The screen flickered, then faded to one small white dot before fading completely. Giovanni, chuckled to himself. He looked forward to the day when Team Rocket would be his. He dialed the phone again. "Hello, Room Service?"
"Go, Serenade!" Tom yelled throwing Serenade's Pokéball to the ground in front of Flint. "Hmm, a Jigglypuff." Flint said. "Go Geodude!" he yelled before launching his own Pokéball toward Serenade. The Pokéball exploded in a shower of light, leaving the floating form of Flint's Geodude. "Geodude, Tackle attack now!" Flint cried. "Geodude!" it said while screaming through the air towards Serenade. "Serenade, dodge it the do your Pound attack!" Tom shouted to Serenade who nodded in acknowledgment. Geodude shot threw the air towards the waiting Jigglypuff. Just as it looked as though Serenade couldn't possibly dodge Geodude, he jumped in the air as Geodude crashed into the ground where he was but a second ago. As Serenade reached the peak of his jump, he stiffened and then shot downwards landing with a smash on top of the already dazed Geodude. "Geodude!!" it cried in pain before going into unconciousness. "Geodude return!" Flint said. He placed the Pokéball on his belt. "Well done! That Jigglypuff of yours sure is strong!" Flint said in awe. "Thanks. I've had Serenade for as long as I can remember. Serenade return!" Tom replied and watched as the red beam from the Pokéball engulfed Serenade before it retreated into the smooth red and white sphere. "I don't know if I wanna continue Tom. Your Pokémon are so much stronger than mine!" Flint said. "Thats alright. Besides it looks like our foods almost ready." he said looking through the open door to the kitchen where Sandy was putting the finishing touches to the meal "Come and get it!" Sandy announced.
The next morning Tom was woken by the sound of birds singing and the light that poured in through the open window. He looked around trying to remember where he was. Then came the moment of recognition as it came back to him. Getting dressed he opened the bedroom door and went downstairs. Flint and Sandy were sitting at the kitchen table. "Oh, morning." said Sandy as Tom walked in. "We were about to go wake you up. I take it you slept well?" he asked him. "Oh, yeah, great." Tom replied obviously still half asleep. "Good. Here have some breakfast. We'll be leaving for the Gym soon, so eat what you can. "Ok. I'm not actually that hungry but i'll grab what I can." Tom said as he picked up some slices of toast and started to butter them.
The trip to the Gym took around half an hour longer than it normally would, due to Sandy picking up his Pokémon from the Pokémon Centre. "Finally." Sandy said. "Ok Tom you ready for a Pokémon Match?" Sandy challenged him. "Sure, this way I can win my first badge!" Tom replied. "Well lets Get Ready To Rumble!!!!" Sandy yelled.
The Lights came on with a clunk, illuminating the darkened Arena. The field was basically the same as a soccer pitch, two boxes at either end for the trainers and a centre circle. "I hope you're ready to hand me my badge!" Tom said. "We'll see." replied Sandy in a very calm voice. "Here are the rules. Two Pokémon each, no time limit. Select your Pokémon." Tom explained. "Ok. Serenade, Go!!" Tom yelled as he launched Serenade's Pokéball into the air. "Graveler, I choose you!!" Sandy called as the large shape of a Graveler appeared before Serenade. Both Pokémon stood motionless staring at each other. "Graveler, tackle attack now!" yelled sandy. Immediately the Graveler charged forward bearing down on the small shape of Serenade. "Serenade, use your Defense Curl!" Serenade complied, and quickly curled itself into a ball. The Graveler smashed into him sending Serenade flying through the air until it smashed against the wall. "Serenade!" tom cried. Serenade stood up, and wobbled on its feet before it fell over again. "Hmm, Serenade return!" Tom said and watched the Pokéball swallow Serenade's beaten form. "Right, that does it." he said. Reaching into his pocket he produced another Pokéball. "I call, Staryu!!" again the Pokémon appeared in front of Tom. "This time i'm on the attack. Staryu, Water Gun attack!!" Tom yelled. He watched as Staryu's water gun attack smacked into Graveler sending it reeling. "Graveler return." Sandy said solemly. "Go Onix!!" this time the shape of an enormous Snake made entirely of Rock appeared and towered over Tom's Staryu. "Woah!" Tom cried in shock. "Impressive isn't it?!" Sandy bragged. "Maybe so but it's still a rock Pokémon, and weak against water. Staryu Surf attack!!!" Tom replied. Staryu stepped back before it summoned a tidal wave which smashed in to the Onix. The Onix stood there screaming in pain as the water weakened it. As the wave subsided Tom looked up to see the Onix still standing there. "What!" he said. "That should have wiped out Onix". "I think it did." said Sandy. "What d'you mean?" Tom asked and looked at the Onix. It stared to wobble, and slowly but inevitably came crashing to the ground. "Well, I guess that means you've earned a Boulder Badge. Well done." Sandy said "Yaay!" shouted Flint as he ran toward them from his place on the sidelines. "It was nothing, really." Tom said sheepishly. "Maybe, but it earned you this." Sandy said as he handed Tom a Boulder Badge. "Thanks." Tom replied "I was wondering." Sandy started. "Would you mind if someone came with you on your travels?". "No, not really. It'd be good company." Tom replied. "Well how about taking Flint with you?". "What!" said Flint. "He wouldn't be much trouble , it's just that he's learned as much from me as he can. It'd be good for him to find out about Pokémon in the wild." Sandy explained. Tom seemed to ponder this for a second. "Yeah, sure he can come if he wants." Tom answered. "Thanks Tom. Well, what do you think Flint. Do you want to go with Tom?". "Do I!" he replied. "Well lets go." Tom said.
Tom and Flint walked out of Pewter City, heading East towards Mt Moon waving back at Sandy. When he was out of sight it was just the two of them. Up ahead they could see the distant peak of Mt Moon. Neither of them knew what they would find there. But they would find it together.
To Be Continued!!!!!!