January 25, 1996


SHWOOOM!
Sam Beckett leapt into his new form in the middle of a big arena on a platform. In the middle of the field, he saw strange creatures. The larger of the two creatures started pummeling a little yellow mouse-like animal with black tips on its ears.
Sam looked around. People were all around him, cheering, "ASH! ASH! ASH!" and "GISELLE! GISELLE! GISELLE!"
The young girl across the stadium on the green platform yelled, "HEY, DIPSTICK! MAKE YOUR MOVE!"
Sam looked behind him. Two kids, a tall boy with brown, spiky hair, and a girl holding a thing that looked like a cracked egg were cheering him on.
The girl cried in a high-pitched voice, "Ash! Use your Pikachu's Thunderbolt!"
"Oh, boy," he said. "What?"
The girl cried again, "The THUNDERBOLT, Ash! The THUNDERBOLT!"
"Okay…" Sam turned to the two creatures. He wondered who he was. He wore a red and white cap, a blue vest, jeans, and fingerless gloves on his hands.
"Uh, um, Thunderbolt…?" he cried.
The little yellow mouse jumped backward from the giant thing in front of it and shot lightning bolts from red patches on its cheeks.
"Piiiii-KAAAA-CHUUUUUUUUUU!!!"
Instantly, the other creature was engulfed in a small electrical storm! Sam jumped back just in time, for a stray strand of electricity hit the spot where he was standing.
A referee raised a red flag and yelled, "Ash Ketchum is the winner!"
Again, Sam looked around and saw a large TV mounted on posts. On it was a boy around ten wearing a red and white cap and a blue vest. His jet-black hair sprouted in all directions from under his cap. Sam waved his hand and the boy on the TV did the same. The screen started showing the statistics of the boy. It read: "Ash Ketchum…Age Ten…Winning PoKe`MoN: Pikachu…New PoKe`MoN Master!"
Sam couldn't understand. Why was he here? Where's Al? He thought. He should be here by now.
Just then, the tall spiky, brown-haired boy and the redheaded girl came up and hugged him.
"Oh, Ash!" Said the girl, "You were great!"
"Huh?" Sam asked. "Who are you?"
The boy piped up. "Don't you remember? I'm Brock, and this is Misty!"
The girl, Misty, said, "The electricity must've hit him. We'd better get you to Nurse Joy."
"Wha…?" Now Sam was really confused.
"Come on, Ash," the boy called Brock said, "we'll be there in no time."



Sam was rushed into a building with what looked like a large red and white ball on top.
What is going on? Sam thought. Where or who the hell am I?
As if on cue, Sam's holographic counterpart from the future, Al Calavicci, stepped out of his doorway from late 1999. Al had been with Sam ever since Sam had first leapt into another person's body using the Project.
"NURSE JOY!" Yelled the tall dark-haired boy, "We need your help!"
"Oh, my!" Said the nurse, "This is a PoKe`MoN hospital, not a human hospital!"
"Well," the red-haired girl said, "Can't you help a little?"
Nurse Joy surveyed Sam.
"Boy, Sam, that's on odd-lookin' getup ya got there!"
"AL!" Sam yelled. Nurse Joy and the others looked at Sam strangely. "Where in the hell have you been?"
"Hey, hey," said Al, "Watch you language! You're only ten years old!"
"Pi?"
"Hah?" Al looked down at his feet. There was Pikachu, staring up at him, amazed.
"Pii-ka, pi pi pi-cha!" It said, getting Misty's and Brock's attention.