May, 1995

Kelly sat in the grass out the front of the Power Plant. She was
waiting for her dad and getting bored. Although she was in high
school this year, she still liked to go to the Power Plant after
school to meet her father when he finished work. Although it was a
long walk Kelly had done it a million times and wasn't worried about
getting lost, or attacked by wild pokemon. Kids at school teased her
for being a tomboy, but Kelly liked thinking she was tough and being
able to look after herself. Dad was late, he must have been working
overtime. Kelly didn't mind though, cause it gave her time to play
in the forest. From the top of one of her favourite trees, Kelly
could see something red buried in the bushes. Curious, she jumped
down for a closer look. Pushing away the branches and grass she
found a Voltorb, and could see that it was injured. People were
scared of Voltorb and Electrode because they can explode, but Kelly
wasn't scared. This Voltorb was hurt and frightened and Kelly hoped
that it would know she was its friend and let her help it.
"Good Voltorb, there's no need to be scared. I'm going to look after
you, everything's going to be okay." She pulled the Voltorb out of
the bushes and hugged it. She heard a rustle in the bushes and put
the Voltorb down to investigate. A wild Electrabuzz jumped out at
her, growling. They had an Electrabuzz as a pet at home, but wild
ones were dangerous. Kelly screamed and tried to run away, but got
her foot caught in the root of a tree and she fell over.
"Run Voltorb, get away!"
"VOLTORB! The Voltorb was weak, but rolled itself between Kelly and
the Electrabuzz. Using the last of its energy, Voltorb used Self
Destruct to defeat the Electrabuzz and save Kelly. When Kelly woke up
she was at the Pokemon centre, a little scratched, but fine. Her new
Voltorb was going to be fine as well.

Jan 2nd, Afternoon
Route 7

Kelly stopped so suddenly that Ned almost walked right into her.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" He was pissed off because he had a
headache.
"LUNCHTIME!!" Kelly yelled.
"Already? We've only been walking for a few hours," Ned said, "I
think we should wait until we've gone a little further, or we could
wait until...." He broke off and turned around to see Kelly and her
pokemon sitting on a picnic blanket eating. Even when I do talk she
still doesn't listen, he thought with anoyance, then sat down and
released his pokemon.
"Maro, WAK!" Marowak spied Kelly and went strait for her.
"Hiya Marron! Did you miss me while you were on holiday?" She asked
the pokemon.
"Hey, don't give nicknames to my pokemon!" Ned protested.
"But she likes her nickname, don't you Marron?" Kelly said, stroking
the pokemon on the back, who was growling with delight. Ned sighed
and released his other pokemon. Out of the whole bunch, Marowak was
the most stubborn and unfriendly. Why she had taken to Kelly was a
mystery, Ned himself had spent weeks trying to earn her trust when
she was still a Cubone. His Rhyhorn, he hated to admit had almost no
personatity at all. He didn't mind though, Rhyhorn kept to himself
and didn't cause any trouble. Machoke was very protective and didn't
trust strangers. Eyeing off Kelly, Machoke sat behind Ned and waited
for his food. When they were done eating Ned called his pokemon back
to their balls.
"You want to go already?" Kelly asked, reading his mind. "Can't we
just lie around for a while, I'm sooo tired." She flopped down on the
blanket to prove her point.
"We have to be in Saffron by tonite or we'll get in trouble." Ned
was begining to loose his patience.
"Trouble trouble trouble, relax and live a little. Just don't whine,
your upsetting Voltorb, he wants to rest some more."
"How can you tell with an oversized Pokeball?" Ned said, not
realising he was talking out loud.
"What was that?" Kelly said, putting her face up to his. "Are you
saying my pokemon don't have feelings? Voltorb happens to be very
sensitive, more than most humans are, you're a good example of
that." She turned her back on him.
"Jolteon return, Voltorb, you can stay with me, you can shock the boy
whenever he's cruel to you okay?"
Kelly started walking dow the path, Voltorn in her arms, Magneton
floating behind her. Ned though he should apologise, but didn't know
what to say. After standing there for a while, he followed but
stayed a few meters behind.
****
Two hours later…..
****
Kelly was feeling pretty good, tired but good when they reached to
edge of the city. She was still carrying her Voltorb in her arms and
Magneton had picked up the local radio station. Kelly sang along as
she walked, making the time pass faster. Ned was walking beside her
and hadn't said a word, but Kelly wasn't mad at him anymore. A young
trainer from Saffron City saw them approaching and ran up to them.
"Hey you two, I challenge you to a battle! You can't get past without
beating me!"
"Oh really?" asked Kelly, not looking impressed.
"Y- Yeah!" the kid said. This was Kelly cue to say, Ned, teach this
brat a lesson, but to his surprise she said:
"Well get out your pokemon, cause your about to loose."
"Kelly!" Ned said in surprise, "Do you want to battle?"
"Your damm right I want to battle, choose your pokemon boy."
"I uh, only have one, but it's strong!"
"We'll see about that."
Ned very rarely saw Kelly battle, she didn't seem to enjoy it. She
was good, no doubt about that, but if they encountered a trainer
looking to fight she always palmed them off onto him. In fact, Ned
was beginning to think that she only used her pokemon to get out of
tough situations. And to have someone else to talk to.
"Go, Starmie!" The boy yelled, releasing a strong looking water
pokemon. Kelly smirked,
"I choose, Voltorb!"
"Voltorb!"
"Voltorb? Kelly that's your weakest Pokemon!" Ned protested.
"Don't interfere, Voltorb may be weak, but we have the type
advantage." She looked at him, "We'll show you what an overgrown
pokeball can do."
So that was it, she wanted to prove herself, Ned thought. It made
sense now.
"Starmie! Watergun!" Voltorb didn't even seen to feel it.
"Bad move kid, Voltorb, start with a thunder wave." Voltorb
paralysed the opponent.
"Come on Starmie! Tackle attack, you can do it!" Starmie tackled,
weakening Voltorb a little.
"Voltorb, use swift, now!" Voltorbs swift almost knocked Starmie
strait out.
"Starmie, try to tackle it again!" Starmie tried, but couldn't move.
"Time to finish up, Voltorb, use swift again!" Voltorb's attack
knocked Starmie out.
"Great work Voltorb, time to get some rest." Voltorb returned to its
pokeball.
"I can't believe it! I haven't lost in a long time! My starmie is
strong! Starmie, return!"
"It may be strong, but water is weak against electricity, even though
your pokemon was almost double the level of mine, strategy wins over
strength." She turned back to Ned. "Come on Ned, lets go."