JayFive PokeTechnologies present:
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Pokemon: Uprising - By Jayfive (jonathan.highfield@btinternet.com)
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This Pokemon Fanfiction isn't kiddie stuff, but it's not a lemon or a gorefest
either.
There's a bit of swearing in this chapter, but no violence or sex (Yet :p ).
Legal crap:
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All characters contained...blah blah Nintendo...4Kids Production, Game
Freak..yakkity shmakkity....
All helpful/constructive criticism, reviews, ideas, suggestions, MiSTings,
feedback, related artwork, side stories and general correspondence is greatly
appreciated and actively encouraged.
All flames, abuse and anti-Pokemon propaganda will be ignored.
POKEMON: Uprising
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Chapter 1 - Subtraction
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Luke had just turned 10, and as was customary in his home town of Pallet and
all the districts for countless miles around, it was nearing the time for him to
embark on his journey into adulthood by going out in the mysterious wide world
to catch and train Pokemon. Hopefully, he would follow his heroes into the
Pokemon League Hall of Fame.
Earlier on in the day, he had visited the Beginner's Centre down the road and
collected his trainer's license and his first Pokemon: a beginner's Rattata. It
was a small, indigo rodent with tended towards the timid, but could get pretty
vicious with those protruding front teeth when cornered. He had spent most of
the afternoon playing with it to increase its confidence. Although for the first
couple of hours, 'playing' meant coaxing the nervous creature out from under
various items of furniture without getting scratched.
It's not much to start with, thought Luke as he prepared for bed, but I can
train it and start to win battles and then my reputation as a trainer will
spread around the towns.
He plodded sleepily into his bedroom and saw his single Pokeball on his bedside
table, the chill of anticipation wriggled up and down his spine. He couldn't
help but pick the ball up and juggle it from hand to hand. He practiced a couple
of Ketchum-technique wind-ups that Sensei had taught in Theory class -
"Scientifically proven in Oak laboratories to have the best throw-capture ratio
due to the combined factors of surprise, speed and applied spin" - he
automatically recalled from the text-book he had memorised for the exams he had
passed two weeks previously.
He was watching himself winding up like a baseball pitcher in the mirror for the
fourth time when he noticed the reflection of his mother leaning in his doorway
with an expression of amusement tinged with more than a dab of parental pride.
Luke blushed and disengaged himself from his theatrical stance.
'Big day tomorrow dear' said his mother 'I can't believe my little boy on his
first Pokemon field expedition with his Sensei...'
'Aw, mom....'
'...his first step to becoming the town's next great master' she gushed 'I'm so
proud!'
Luke's mother bounded over in a paroxysm of motherly love and embraced the boy
in a bear hug, which made him lost his balance and drop the Pokeball which
rolled away. Luke pulled away from his mother's arms in a panic.
'Where did it go? I hope it isn't broken' he started lifting up discarded T-
shirts and old Pokemon League programmes searching for the missing sphere, the
shame of explaining to Sensei that his first Pokeball had been damaged!
'Luke, stop fretting! I saw it roll under the bed, I'll get it'
She knelt down and began to fish out the Pokeball from the denizens under her
sons bed, only stopping for a moment to pray she wouldn't find anything else,
and threw it gently back to its owner who sagged with the relief.
'OK that's that little emergency over, get to bed now, its an early start.'
'No problem, the way I feel, I could out-sleep a squad of Snorlax'
She smiled warmly, said her "goodnight"s and "I love you"s and turned off his
light.
After half an hour, Luke's mother crept back into the boy's room and watched his
slowly undulating outline as she wondered what adventures and fulfilled dreams
lay before him. The Sensei had told her at Parent's Evening a month ago that he
was more committed to all things Pokemon than any boy his age and that the raw
material was there to be shaped into a disciplined trainer. She took one last
look, sighed thoughtfully and went downstairs to prepare Luke's packed lunch to
tide him over tomorrow. The first day of his new adventure.
Eventually, the lights in the household winked out as Luke's mum went to bed and
all was quiet.
'Brother...' said a voice on the wind.
Nothing.
'Brother, come to us....' the voice gently insisted
Luke's new Pokeball began to shudder and suddenly it rolled off his bedside
table and landed with a muted bump on his thick Bulbasaur rug.
'Brother, free yourself...'
'Rattata..go.....' Luke mumbled as he turned over in his sleep.
The sphere popped opened and a surprised purple rodent sat up and sniffed the
air.
'RRrrraaatt?' it said to the world in general. To it's surprise, it got an
answer.
'We welcome you, brother...'
'Rat. taa ta rat?'
Being a fairly young member of its species, and to be honest, the runt of its
litter, this Rattata wasn't certain what was happening and sure as hell wasn't
following any beckoning voices. Last time it did that, some rotten Two-Legs
caught it and brought it here.
'There is shelter, brother, and food and friends'
'Raaaaatata!!'
The words resonated inside the little Ratatta's mind and, more importantly, its
stomach. It scampered across the room and hopped onto the window sill where it
saw that the top window was open just enough for a determined little Pokemon to
squeeze through.
The Ratatta turned and looked back at the sleeping Two-legs for a moment, it
seemed to be weighing up the possibilities.
'Join us Brother!'
The command hammered out any other primitive thoughts in the immature Pokemon's
mind.
'Taataa!' it said, jumped for the open window, scrambled for some purchase with
his claws on the sill, slipped through and scampered off into the night.
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'Students! Prepare for inspection'
A formation of thirty pre-teen bodies stood rigidly to attention as the special
guest Master of Ceremonies for the field trip, former Eilte Four member Master
Bruno, yelled at them like a drill instructor. He strode along the line of
youngsters and regarded them with a learned eye.
'I can honestly say that I'm impressed, Sensei Yakamoto, one of the best turned
out set of new students I've seen in many a year'
The instructor bowed graciously and allowed himself the indiscipline of
teacherly pride.
'So' continued Bruno 'may my humble self and the gathered people of Pallet have
the esteemed pleasure of feasting their eyes on your new travelling companions?'
The children looked a little around a little uncertainly, but this sudden
politeness was a deliberate ploy by Bruno.
'Preeeeeee-sent your Pokeballs!'
Some of the youths jumped about a foot in the air of this sudden command and the
rest reached quickly for the Pokeballs attached to their waists.
Except for Luke.
He didn't know how he thought he could get away with getting through this trip
without anyone noticing him and, most importantly the space on his belt where
his Pokeball should be. He could feel himself trying to shrink into his clothes
and get out of sight of the imposing figure of Bruno and the imminent
disappointment of his Sensei.
'From the left people, let's see your Pokemon!'
One by One, on the order of Master Bruno, the neophyte trainers lobbed over
their Pokeballs which pinged open, released a plethora of creatures onto the
field. One smart-alec decided on a full Ketchum-technique pitch, fluffed it and
sent a very bewildered Caterpie skidding and rolling across the turf before
coming to a halt between the eyes of an equally surprised Geodude. The assembled
crowd of parents, friends and well-wishers applauded this brave soul and even
the hard-faced Bruno could raise a faint smile.
Luke was still hoping against hope that no-one would spot him at the end of the
line and the field trip would start without him, but inevitably everyone waited
expectantly to see which Pokemon he would send to join the low-level menagerie
formed in front of him.
'Well?' shouted Bruno as he paced towards Luke.
'Um....'
'What is it?' said the Fighting Master as he ignored the fidgeting and nervous
laughter of the other students. 'Where's your Pokemon?' He shoved his face into
Luke's. You haven't LOST it have you'. More laughter.
'Ah...' Luke cringed, any second now, he thought.
Bruno suddenly noticed the shame-faced boy's empty belt, and detonated like an
angry Voltorb.
'WHAT? YOU HAVE? Yakamoto, get your fetid carcass OVER here!'
The Head Trainer shuffled humbly over to the Master's imposing form, which was
quaking with anger.
'Is there a problem, Master Bruno?'
'A PROBLEM? What kind of kindergarten do you run here? How is it POSSIBLE how
this child to LOSE his first Pokemon? How was this, this BABY allowed to receive
sponsorship from the Pokemon league.'
'But it wasn't my fault....' started Luke, a lump forming in his throat.
'I'm sure there's a explanation....' said the Sensei, trying to quell the rising
ire of the hot-headed Master.
'Quiet both of you! The Pokemon league was had just about enough humiliation
just lately without the pathetic attempts of the likes of you and this excuse of
a trainer....'
'That's enough out of you, you bully' shouted a female voice from the stand.
Oh no, thought Luke, now she's going to show me up. Things just get better.
Bruno turned around with a nasty, sarcastic smile on his face.
'And who might you be, my dear?'
'I'm the boys mother and....'
'Oh, a mummy's boy as well as a useless trainer I see' Bruno interrupted,
casting a sneer in Luke's direction.
'CATCH!', Luke's mother yelled and pelted something at the bulky Master who
caught it in one hand.
'Nice throw, a variant of one of Agatha's old techniques I believe. Her memory
continues to live on' said Bruno examining what he had received.
A Pokeball.
'I was a trainer for a few years but I gave it up and settled down when I became
pregnant with Luke'
Luke stared wide-eyed in astonishment. This was the first he had heard about
this, there was no evidence of it around his house, but it did cast some light
his mother's unbridled enthusiasm at the idea for him becoming a trainer. She
jogged over to them and bowed in respect to Bruno, who barely bothered to return
the gesture.
'I see' said Bruno, rolling the Pokeball between his fingers 'so is this ever so
dramatic entrance is for any particular reason?'
'I came to explain that far from losing his Pokemon, it actually escaped last
night from Luke's bedroom during the night'
Bruno's tone was as calm as the eye of a storm. 'Oh I see! That's OK then! It
makes perfect sense that a...what was the boy given?'
Sensei flicked through the notes on his clipboard. 'A level 4 Rattata' he
reported.
'Indeed, how could I, in my haste, have overlooked the fact that a Pokemon which
had not yet reached maturity and specially captured to not put up any resistance
to humans, could have the strength and the will power to escape from a Pokeball'
Bruno's voice lowered to a growl and slid up to a shout 'Except maybe the fact
THAT IT ISN'T POSSIBLE!'
Over in the crowd of patiently waiting Pokemon, a Pidgey judged by standard
procedures to be Level 3 looked around in surprise at the other Pokemon, all of
the No-Feathers and at the sky, wondering where that insistent voice was coming
from.
Luke's mother was unimpressed by Bruno's theatrics.
'Run a check on the Pokeball'
Bruno gave her a withering look and reached out a demanding palm, which Sensei
Yakamoto duly filled with a handheld Pokeball Integrity Tester designed by the
Ivy Institute and used to examine faulty or damaged trainer equipment for
trainers out in the field when a Pokemon Centre wasn't available. It was a
pistol shaped object with a socket to plug the suspect ball into, a trigger to
activate the plethora of tests and a small LCD screen for results. The viewer
for this particular P.I.T. didn't give the answers Bruno was hoping for. His
expression blackened further from mild anger to powerless fury.
'Shit!' he expectorated and flung the tester at the Sensei who tried his best to
give a second opinion on the test results, but could yield no alternative
explanations.
'How can this be?' he gasped, and turned to Luke and parent, 'I think we owe you
an apology. The Luke's Pokeball ID number checks out OK, but the readings show
that the ball was opened at 1:31 this morning but it also says that there was no
ball activation commands and there are no faults in the ball's mechanisms. I
can't understand it.'
'I still don't believe it' Bruno shouted 'This is some kind of trick, there is
no way on earth that such a weak Pokemon could have escaped'
At this point the distracted Pidgey suddenly unfurled it's wings and lifted
itself into the air. It shot up to the crowd, gave them a mild Gust Attack which
removed a few hats, span around and swooped in the direction of Bruno and left
him with a going-away present on his tunic. The crowd watched as the bird soared
away. The Pidgey's former owner started to cry and ran over to his parents.
'Ugh' said Bruno, patting his pockets for a handkerchief.
'Well' said Luke's mother with a hand on her hip 'would you like to try and
catch up with that Pidgey and tell it that what it just did wasn't possible?'
The Fighting Master's shoulders sagged. 'I may as well tell you now you saw
that, the boy's Rattata wasn't the first low-level Pokemon to escape just
lately'
'What?' said Luke, his mother and his teacher as one voice.
'It was the fifth this month alone. Sixth with that Pidgey'. The child's father
was trying to comfort him with promises of a shiny new Pidgey and a dinner down
at the Beedrill Burger Bar.
'These are only the incidents that I have heard of in Pallet and Viridian. The
league is sending out researchers to the other town's and is preparing to open
an investigation' Bruno continued, wiping his tunic 'We were trying to keep it
quiet, but now with all these people seeing that little performance there's not
much chance of that. People may as well be Psychic Masters the way gossip and
rumour spreads'
Seeing as he was off the hook for the moment, Luke decided to chip in with a
question for the muscle-bound Master. 'Has the League got any idea why this is
happening?'
'No' Bruno looked out to the mountains far to the North that peeked over the
treetops of Viridian Forest 'but we're planning to speak to some experts'
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"Anna took off her glasses and removed the pins from her hair. She shook the
blonde tresses free and they fell all the way down to her shapely hips".
'Why Nurse Jones, you're beautiful...' Doctor Forrester gasped.
'Oh Doctor, I've waited so long for you to notice me on the Pokemon ward, but
now I can't be away from you any longer, I love you.' She embraced the Doctor
and he held her in his strong grip and they slowly moved their lips
together....."
'PROFESSOR IVY!'
'Woah!'
The chair, its occupant, a bottle of lemonade and the well-thumbed copy of 'Love
at the Pokemon Centre' all collapsed in a heap as a junior research assistant
burst into Professor Ivy's private study. As the young man got his breath back
from his long run, the Professor clambered to her feet, swore at the fizzy drink
stain on her lab coat and fixed an annoyed stare upon the intruder.
'Ever considered a crash course in knocking this semester?'
'Sorry Ma'am, but I thought you might want to come and see this' he replied as
he turned to run back out of the door. Professor Ivy ran after him and caught up
a few doors down the corridor.
'Look, er...'
'Quentin'
'Yeah, um...Quentin, what exactly is it you're so desperate to show me?' A
panicky thought invaded her mind 'this had better not be another of those
student pranks or they'll be hell to pay' she warned as she swerved to avoid a
litter bin.
'No, there's been a breakout over at Lab 1'
That's where Brock is today, thought Ivy, I'm supposed to be meeting him for
dinner after work. Wonder if this is going to....
Ivy's train of thought suddenly left Lovelife Central and derailed itself. She
stopped running and gaped at the receding back of the sprinting Quentin.
'A WHAT?'
'Some Pokemon have escaped to the outside! Come on!'
A few minutes later, the two runners crossed the main courtyard of the Ivy
Institute with its giant mosaic of an Eevee and its five evolutionary forms.
They came to halt outside the entrance to Lab No.1 - Behavioral Studies, the
biggest single department in the whole Institute, taking up just under half of
the total area. Ivy and Quentin arrived just in time to see a window pane
vibrate and explode from a Supersonic attack. A couple of Zubats, a Venomoth and
a Butterfree flew through the glassless rectangle and soared away, the latter
species chanted 'Free, Free' in what Ivy thought was a tone with a more than a
hint of mockery.
'I guess saying "some Pokemon have escaped" was a bit optimistic' said Quentin
ruefully.
A shout came through what was left of the window.
Professor Ivy swung open the double doors of the lab and peered in. Quentin
followed her, the sight that greeted him was as if something had Seismic Tossed
the lab across the Island and back. Just about every shelf, cupboard and
workbench had been stripped, smashed and generally annihilated. Every test
subject cage was conspicuous by its lack of Pokemon contents. Quentin couldn't
think of anything intelligent to say, so he went for the obvious.
'Good God..'
Professor Ivy crunched her way through the broken test tubes trying to find her
fiancée, a groan from the back of the lab she noticed two brown-trousered legs
poking out from underneath a small hillock of shelves, filing cabinets and
large, unwieldy text books. Ivy nervously called out to her beau.
'Brock honey, you OK?'
A voice eminated from the mound of scientific rubble.
'I think so, are my legs still there?'
'What? Under those shelves?'
'Yep. At least all of me is in the same place, that's a good start. Fancy
getting me out of here Felly?'
The Professor and Quentin, still blaspheming at the state of the lab, started to
gingerly dig Brock out from his tomb of research materials. When they finally
got to him, Brock appeared to miraculously uninjured save for a few scratches
and a twisted ankle. The two rescuers took a shoulder each and helped him over
one of the very few intact chairs. Brock sat down, jerked back up grimacing in
pain and gingerly lowered himself down again.
'OW! Must have a big bruise THERE!'
'I'll put some ointment on it later' said Ivy who immediately realised what
she'd said and blushed.
Meanwhile Quentin's eyebrows made a beeline for his hairline.
'Ahem' he managed.
'So what the hell happened here?' said Ivy, getting her brain back in gear.
'I'm not sure' said Brock, running his hands through his heavily-gelled hair,
which sprang back into it's familiar spiky formation. 'I was just running some
tests on the Butterfree's spore sacs. Y'know, trying to sort out why they get
blocked up with mucus every so often, when all hell broke loose. It was a couple
of Mankey's started it, they busted out of their cages....'
'Mankey's?' interrupted Ivy, angrily glaring at her boyfriend. 'I thought I told
you to make sure they were sedated, you remember what happened last winter, we
don't want any more court cases'
'They were, Quentin here did it himself not more than an hour ago'
The junior researcher nodded enthusiastically at the chance to absolve himself
of any blame.
'Anyway, they went for me. The weird thing is, they seemed to be more interested
in restraining me than attacking me. One of them held me down and....well, sat
on me, while the other started to open the other cages.'
Professor Ivy was incredulous. 'I'm sorry, can you run that by me again?
Mankeys? That's the furry fellas with the anger management issues and the punch
like a sledgehammer, yes? Working in TEAMS?'
'I know, I swear it's the truth. I saw it with my own eyes'
That doesn't count for much, thought Quentin, as he smiled as he recalled his
friends drunkenly toasting 'Good ole Squinty' at the End-of-year party last
summer.
'So, all the Pokemon went Primeapeshit on me and completely totalled the place,
even the Colony of Parasect's joined in, pushed those shelves on me. All the
Pokemon seemed to be working together, I've never seen behaviour like it. I
would've been intrigued if I wasn't busy having furniture piled on top of me'
'Where was security?'
'I think they got here pretty quickly, but that Butterfree spored them all out.
Listen' Brock put a finger to his lips, the others stayed silent and could make
out the sound of snores drifting over them from outside the room.
'It was if a couple of Pokemon stayed behind long enough to make sure everyone
escaped. The more I think about it, the more astounding it is. This is a hell of
a breakthrough in Behavioural Studies'
'It's the breakages in Behavioural Studies I'm concerned about. I'll get on the
phone to the police and see if they can do anything, the Pokemon had radio tags
didn't they'
Brock didn't answer and looked away.
'You'd better have tagged them Brock or.....' began Ivy with mounting anger but
then noticed what Brock was looking at.
'Oh my God'
In one corner of the lab was a pile of purple loops of material with a
electronic device attached which normally helped keep track of Pokemon if they
were released back into the wild after being studied. It seemed obvious to Ivy
that the Pokemon had disengaged each other of these instruments so they wouldn't
be followed.
It slowly dawned on Brock that everything he had been researching and studying
these last few years what starting to fall apart around his ears.
'Just what the hell is happening? Since when did Pokemon co-operate like this?
Since when did they feel the need to escape?'
'That's what we're trying to find out' said a new voice from the lab entrance
The three scientists whirled around to see a silhouette of a shapely female form
leaning on the doorframe.
'Mistress Prima, nice to see the League is taking actually interest for a
change' said Professor Ivy icily, shutting Quentin's lower jaw for him.
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David was in deep trouble, he knew it was incredibly dumb to go out in the
storm but he hadn't expected this to happen. He'd been making a dash for his
sister's house in Celadon when her prized pedigree Slowpoke was spooked by an
ember of wild Growlithes that seemed in a terrible hurry to be some place else.
The first thing that entered David's mind was what kind of vicious wild Pokemon
predator was chasing the canines. After all, the puppy Pokemon was famous for
it's bravery.
Then a terrible notion occurred to him. Whatever beast was pursuing them might
also settle for being a Davidivore. But there was no tell-tale rustle of the
bushes and a hungry thing with lots of big teeth bursting out. Only the patter
of rain on David's steadily dampening coat and a grumbling of thunder.
And an almighty explosion.
A bolt of lightning crashed into a tree a few yards away and severed a huge
branch from a tree. David hadn't had time to throw himself anywhere and watched
with horror as the enormous limb landed on the body of his sister's Pokemon
which had dawdled off away from the pack of fleeing Growlithes while David had
been considering himself as a evening snack. It got up and shrugged off the
smoldering limb more or less straight away and David thought he had got away
with it when it walked back towards him.
And then it collapsed, along with the pit of David's stomach. He nudged the
stricken Pokemon a few times, because Slowpokes had a reputation for false
alarms like this, but the eyes had closed and the dopey expression had been
replaced by a grimace.
David spent the next few minutes in a rain-sodden panic.
When he had finished swearing and pacing about, he decided to make a break for
the Pokemon Centre in Celadon. He reckoned it was still about fifteen minutes
walk away, but seeing he was going to have to sling one hundred pounds of prime
pedigree Slowpoke over his shoulders, it was going to be about thirty minutes
stagger away.
An hour and a half later, the townspeople of Celadon, had they been looking out
of their windows and saying 'glad i'm not out there dear, the rain's terrible
tonight', would've have seen a drenched young man carrying a large pink object
draped over himself. Also, had the thunder not been so loud, the Celadonians
would've heard him wondering out loud why his sister had decided to enter her
Slowpoke in the Super-Heavyweight class for shows.
David, by now seeing flashes of colour in front of his eyes, stumbled towards
the neon-lit exterior of the Pokemon Centre and prayed that it still had
automatic doors. The mechanical swish and blast of warm air made his heart sing.
He was barely able to drop the Slowpoke on the counter and ring the service
buzzer before his knees buckled. He slid down the counter, closed his eyes and
occupied himself with hyperventilating.
After a minute, a nervous voice called out, 'Hello? Anyone there?'
David's eyes jerked open and the first thing he noticed was a row of what
appeared to be Wanted posters featuring various Pokemon. He fought the urge to
black out completely and explained to the Nurse from his rapidly growing puddle
of rainwater what had befallen him and his Slowpoke.
'Oh' the female voice came back when David finished his story, 'I'll do my best
for your Slowpoke. It is my first week, but I specialise in Water Pokemon, so
your luck's in'
'Oh right' said David, finally plucking up the courage to get to his feet 'so
you're not the same Nurse Joy who I met when I was here a few weeks....oh,
you're not Nurse Joy at all'
David found himself staring not into the face of one the Nurse Joy clan which
most people involved in Pokemon training knew better than the back of their own
hands. Instead he was looking at a face of a woman a few years younger than
Nurse Joy but despite her comparatively few years on the planet seemed knotted
with stress. Although her face gave her away, her big blue eyes burned with
vitality, and it took all of David's will power to stop himself from flinging
his arms around her and telling her not to worry.
'Ten out of ten for observation, Nurse Joy's on holiday' she said and melted all
the stress away with a warm smile, 'Let's get this Pokemon sorted out'
After the two of them had taken a stretcher between them, David was sat outside
the Water Pokemon ward restoring some of his own energy with an industrial-
strength coffee. He was worrying how he was going to explain to his sister why
they were several hours late and why her prized Slowpoke looked considerably
more confused than is normal when a local police officer came through the door.
'Hello there Sir, I'm Officer Jeremy of the Celadon Constabulary.' The officer
flicked opened his wallet with his Police ID and Pokemon trainer's license.
'While you're waiting for your Pokemon, can you tell me what happened?
Slowpoke's aren't in the habit of getting into accidents like this'
David explained his encounter with the pack of Growlithes and they didn't seem
to be running away from anything. The policeman seemed perplexed.
'We've had a lot of cases of this, and people have started reporting a big drop
in wild Pokemon numbers just lately. I've had a number of trainers saying that
the Pokemon don't seem to be running away from something, but running TO
somewhere.'
'Weird, oh and what's with all the wanted posters? Are there rampaging gangs of
Pokemon burglars now?' David thought he was joking, but the Officer's grave
expression didn't seem to agreee with him.
'No, that's Pokemon which have disappeared from their trainers, sometimes while
they were still in Pokeballs.'
'You don't think Team Rocket could have reformed again and be doing all this?'
'Don't think there's much likelihood of that, do you?'
The two of them chuckled at the absurd notion which seemed to brighten both
their moods.
'So you think the Pokemon escaped then?'
'That's even less likely than Team Rocket been behind this, it's in a Pokemon's
nature to be loyal to it's trainer. After all, it's a lot better life than in
the wild.'
Just then, the Nurse that David first met popped her head around the door of the
ward and smiled.
'You can leave all the worrying to me now' she said ' It'll have a headache for
a day or two and I wouldn't let it use it's Confusion attack for a while, but
other than that it'll be fine'
'Thanks Nurse, I don't know how I can repay you'
The Nurse nervously put one hand behind her head and blushed 'Just doing the job
I love' she giggled.
David felt that his luck was on a bit of a roll now, so he went for it.
'Tell you what, next time I'm in Celadon, and the weather's a bit less
apocalyptic.' Deep breath. 'How about I treat you with dinner somewhere?'
The nurse's blush went supernova. 'S-sure' she stammered. 'It's a real pity
you've got to get home to be shouted at by your sister, because I finish my
shift in a few minutes'.
'Um...OK, so who do I call for when I'm in the area next then'
'Nurse Waterflower' said the girl, pulling off her unflattering nurse's hat,
letting waves of shimmering orange hair fall about her shoulders and making
David's libido take an express elevator to the Penthouse Suite.
'But....I think you can call me Misty'
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A couple of teenagers in matching green hiking apparel strolled along a forest
path on their way to Mount Moon, two Pokeballs to each of their names. Two pairs
of eyes regarded them with interest from the undergrowth as the two travelling
companions laid down their equipment in a nearby clearing and prepared to eat
lunch.
Neither of the two observers recognised the two young Pokemon trainers
personally, but one of them could identify with the scenario. The less then full
complement of Pokemon indicated that they were intermediate student trainers on
their first adventure into the wider world. He remembered the fun, he remembered
the disappointments. He remembered the feeling of seemingly having everything to
gain.
He also remembered that he hadnt eaten a square meal in two days.
He sighed and whispered to his companion 'You know the drill'.
The other watcher nodded and began to skirt around the edge of the clearing, as
it neared the two trainers, it began to deliberately kick up a disturbance on
the forest floor and finally came running past the picnicking youngsters.
The male trainer looked up and nearly choked on the sandwich he was halfway
through. When he had finished coughing, he nudged his female companion.
'Was that what I think it was?' he said, not taking his eyes of the motion
amongst the trees.
'Yup, shall we?'
'I think lunch can wait for the minute. Sandshrew go!'
'Nidorino, go get it'
The two Pokemon popped out and followed their trainers into the undergrowth.
However, their quarry had a decent head-start and was darting and weaving at an
amazing speed among the trees, not even attempting to engage in a battle with
either of the trainer's Pokemon. The chase went on for ten minutes before both
humans gave up, returned their Pokemon and sat down on a log exhausted.
'That was a waste of time' said the lad petulantly
'It's all experience in the end, maybe we should get some speed enhancers for
Sandshrew and Nidorino'
'I know one thing, I've worked up a hell of an appetite, let's get back and
finish lunch'
When they did return to the clearing, they were aghast to find their gear
ransacked and all their food and money stolen.
'Oh no, what are we gonna do Andy?' sobbed the girl into her companion's
shoulder.
'Don't worry Melissa, my mum gave me a swipe card. We can go back to town and
get some emergency cash'
He reached out for the girl's hands and looked tenderly into her eyes.
'All we need is our Pokemon.....and each other'
The thief watched this scene of blossoming young love from a distance and cursed
himself for even entertaining notions of jealousy. He never remembered it being
that easy, then again he never tried.
After the couple had gathered up the remnants of their belongings, scratched
'A 4 M 4eva'
on a tree trunk and moved up back the way they had came. The two secretive
figures moved into the clearing and began to share out the food they had
procured. The larger of the two started to count the banknotes he had discovered
in a rucksack compartment.
'There's quite a bit here, they're giving kids much more money to start with
than when I was their age.'
The other barely acknowledged him as it munched on a cupcake.
The human looked down sorrowfully at the bounty he had stolen and the
temporarily shattered dreams it represented. He felt disgusted for having
lowered himself to the level of nothing more than a common criminal. However,
like the two trainers that had been his victims, he had chosen a certain path
for himself in life and he knew that cicumstances meant there could be no other
way but to live as an outcast.
No matter what the consequences where.
No matter what it did to his honour and self-image
No matter how many friends he had lost and enemies he had gained.
No matter how he tried to justify his actions, it didn't make him feel any
better.
He looked at his Pokemon companion and longtime friend.
'This way of living just isn't good for the soul' said Ash solemnly.
'Pikachu' the electric rodent agreed.
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Author's notes:
Sorry there's not a lot of swashbuckling action and epic Pokemon battles in
chapter 1 but I'd prefer PK:U to be a fairly slow starter. And trust me, I do
intend for it to get a bit darker in tone.
Shouts
------
To Lex, Tim and Brandooooon and everyone on the 'Ultimate Dodge Forum'
Anyone who thinks the American dubbing of 'Mewtwo Strikes Back' is a travesty.
The author of the mighty gothic fantasy that is 'Pokemon Master' Ace Sanchez
Author of 'Pokemon: Evolution', Alicia Ashby
All the other good Pokefic writers: you know you are!
Pika163, Jessica Rocket and all other top Pokemon fanfic MiSTers
The mighty Dr. Thinker and all good-humoured MiSting victims
All AAMLers everywhere
All Pokemon freaks who should be too old for this sort of thing, hell I know I
am!
Finally a request, if anyone has screen grabs or movie clips of the end credits
of any of the pokemon movies please please please please please send them to me!
---------------------------------
Pokemon: Uprising - By Jayfive (jonathan.highfield@btinternet.com)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This Pokemon Fanfiction isn't kiddie stuff, but it's not a lemon or a gorefest
either.
There's a bit of swearing in this chapter, but no violence or sex (Yet :p ).
Legal crap:
-----------
All characters contained...blah blah Nintendo...4Kids Production, Game
Freak..yakkity shmakkity....
All helpful/constructive criticism, reviews, ideas, suggestions, MiSTings,
feedback, related artwork, side stories and general correspondence is greatly
appreciated and actively encouraged.
All flames, abuse and anti-Pokemon propaganda will be ignored.
POKEMON: Uprising
-----------------
Chapter 1 - Subtraction
-----------------------
Luke had just turned 10, and as was customary in his home town of Pallet and
all the districts for countless miles around, it was nearing the time for him to
embark on his journey into adulthood by going out in the mysterious wide world
to catch and train Pokemon. Hopefully, he would follow his heroes into the
Pokemon League Hall of Fame.
Earlier on in the day, he had visited the Beginner's Centre down the road and
collected his trainer's license and his first Pokemon: a beginner's Rattata. It
was a small, indigo rodent with tended towards the timid, but could get pretty
vicious with those protruding front teeth when cornered. He had spent most of
the afternoon playing with it to increase its confidence. Although for the first
couple of hours, 'playing' meant coaxing the nervous creature out from under
various items of furniture without getting scratched.
It's not much to start with, thought Luke as he prepared for bed, but I can
train it and start to win battles and then my reputation as a trainer will
spread around the towns.
He plodded sleepily into his bedroom and saw his single Pokeball on his bedside
table, the chill of anticipation wriggled up and down his spine. He couldn't
help but pick the ball up and juggle it from hand to hand. He practiced a couple
of Ketchum-technique wind-ups that Sensei had taught in Theory class -
"Scientifically proven in Oak laboratories to have the best throw-capture ratio
due to the combined factors of surprise, speed and applied spin" - he
automatically recalled from the text-book he had memorised for the exams he had
passed two weeks previously.
He was watching himself winding up like a baseball pitcher in the mirror for the
fourth time when he noticed the reflection of his mother leaning in his doorway
with an expression of amusement tinged with more than a dab of parental pride.
Luke blushed and disengaged himself from his theatrical stance.
'Big day tomorrow dear' said his mother 'I can't believe my little boy on his
first Pokemon field expedition with his Sensei...'
'Aw, mom....'
'...his first step to becoming the town's next great master' she gushed 'I'm so
proud!'
Luke's mother bounded over in a paroxysm of motherly love and embraced the boy
in a bear hug, which made him lost his balance and drop the Pokeball which
rolled away. Luke pulled away from his mother's arms in a panic.
'Where did it go? I hope it isn't broken' he started lifting up discarded T-
shirts and old Pokemon League programmes searching for the missing sphere, the
shame of explaining to Sensei that his first Pokeball had been damaged!
'Luke, stop fretting! I saw it roll under the bed, I'll get it'
She knelt down and began to fish out the Pokeball from the denizens under her
sons bed, only stopping for a moment to pray she wouldn't find anything else,
and threw it gently back to its owner who sagged with the relief.
'OK that's that little emergency over, get to bed now, its an early start.'
'No problem, the way I feel, I could out-sleep a squad of Snorlax'
She smiled warmly, said her "goodnight"s and "I love you"s and turned off his
light.
After half an hour, Luke's mother crept back into the boy's room and watched his
slowly undulating outline as she wondered what adventures and fulfilled dreams
lay before him. The Sensei had told her at Parent's Evening a month ago that he
was more committed to all things Pokemon than any boy his age and that the raw
material was there to be shaped into a disciplined trainer. She took one last
look, sighed thoughtfully and went downstairs to prepare Luke's packed lunch to
tide him over tomorrow. The first day of his new adventure.
Eventually, the lights in the household winked out as Luke's mum went to bed and
all was quiet.
'Brother...' said a voice on the wind.
Nothing.
'Brother, come to us....' the voice gently insisted
Luke's new Pokeball began to shudder and suddenly it rolled off his bedside
table and landed with a muted bump on his thick Bulbasaur rug.
'Brother, free yourself...'
'Rattata..go.....' Luke mumbled as he turned over in his sleep.
The sphere popped opened and a surprised purple rodent sat up and sniffed the
air.
'RRrrraaatt?' it said to the world in general. To it's surprise, it got an
answer.
'We welcome you, brother...'
'Rat. taa ta rat?'
Being a fairly young member of its species, and to be honest, the runt of its
litter, this Rattata wasn't certain what was happening and sure as hell wasn't
following any beckoning voices. Last time it did that, some rotten Two-Legs
caught it and brought it here.
'There is shelter, brother, and food and friends'
'Raaaaatata!!'
The words resonated inside the little Ratatta's mind and, more importantly, its
stomach. It scampered across the room and hopped onto the window sill where it
saw that the top window was open just enough for a determined little Pokemon to
squeeze through.
The Ratatta turned and looked back at the sleeping Two-legs for a moment, it
seemed to be weighing up the possibilities.
'Join us Brother!'
The command hammered out any other primitive thoughts in the immature Pokemon's
mind.
'Taataa!' it said, jumped for the open window, scrambled for some purchase with
his claws on the sill, slipped through and scampered off into the night.
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'Students! Prepare for inspection'
A formation of thirty pre-teen bodies stood rigidly to attention as the special
guest Master of Ceremonies for the field trip, former Eilte Four member Master
Bruno, yelled at them like a drill instructor. He strode along the line of
youngsters and regarded them with a learned eye.
'I can honestly say that I'm impressed, Sensei Yakamoto, one of the best turned
out set of new students I've seen in many a year'
The instructor bowed graciously and allowed himself the indiscipline of
teacherly pride.
'So' continued Bruno 'may my humble self and the gathered people of Pallet have
the esteemed pleasure of feasting their eyes on your new travelling companions?'
The children looked a little around a little uncertainly, but this sudden
politeness was a deliberate ploy by Bruno.
'Preeeeeee-sent your Pokeballs!'
Some of the youths jumped about a foot in the air of this sudden command and the
rest reached quickly for the Pokeballs attached to their waists.
Except for Luke.
He didn't know how he thought he could get away with getting through this trip
without anyone noticing him and, most importantly the space on his belt where
his Pokeball should be. He could feel himself trying to shrink into his clothes
and get out of sight of the imposing figure of Bruno and the imminent
disappointment of his Sensei.
'From the left people, let's see your Pokemon!'
One by One, on the order of Master Bruno, the neophyte trainers lobbed over
their Pokeballs which pinged open, released a plethora of creatures onto the
field. One smart-alec decided on a full Ketchum-technique pitch, fluffed it and
sent a very bewildered Caterpie skidding and rolling across the turf before
coming to a halt between the eyes of an equally surprised Geodude. The assembled
crowd of parents, friends and well-wishers applauded this brave soul and even
the hard-faced Bruno could raise a faint smile.
Luke was still hoping against hope that no-one would spot him at the end of the
line and the field trip would start without him, but inevitably everyone waited
expectantly to see which Pokemon he would send to join the low-level menagerie
formed in front of him.
'Well?' shouted Bruno as he paced towards Luke.
'Um....'
'What is it?' said the Fighting Master as he ignored the fidgeting and nervous
laughter of the other students. 'Where's your Pokemon?' He shoved his face into
Luke's. You haven't LOST it have you'. More laughter.
'Ah...' Luke cringed, any second now, he thought.
Bruno suddenly noticed the shame-faced boy's empty belt, and detonated like an
angry Voltorb.
'WHAT? YOU HAVE? Yakamoto, get your fetid carcass OVER here!'
The Head Trainer shuffled humbly over to the Master's imposing form, which was
quaking with anger.
'Is there a problem, Master Bruno?'
'A PROBLEM? What kind of kindergarten do you run here? How is it POSSIBLE how
this child to LOSE his first Pokemon? How was this, this BABY allowed to receive
sponsorship from the Pokemon league.'
'But it wasn't my fault....' started Luke, a lump forming in his throat.
'I'm sure there's a explanation....' said the Sensei, trying to quell the rising
ire of the hot-headed Master.
'Quiet both of you! The Pokemon league was had just about enough humiliation
just lately without the pathetic attempts of the likes of you and this excuse of
a trainer....'
'That's enough out of you, you bully' shouted a female voice from the stand.
Oh no, thought Luke, now she's going to show me up. Things just get better.
Bruno turned around with a nasty, sarcastic smile on his face.
'And who might you be, my dear?'
'I'm the boys mother and....'
'Oh, a mummy's boy as well as a useless trainer I see' Bruno interrupted,
casting a sneer in Luke's direction.
'CATCH!', Luke's mother yelled and pelted something at the bulky Master who
caught it in one hand.
'Nice throw, a variant of one of Agatha's old techniques I believe. Her memory
continues to live on' said Bruno examining what he had received.
A Pokeball.
'I was a trainer for a few years but I gave it up and settled down when I became
pregnant with Luke'
Luke stared wide-eyed in astonishment. This was the first he had heard about
this, there was no evidence of it around his house, but it did cast some light
his mother's unbridled enthusiasm at the idea for him becoming a trainer. She
jogged over to them and bowed in respect to Bruno, who barely bothered to return
the gesture.
'I see' said Bruno, rolling the Pokeball between his fingers 'so is this ever so
dramatic entrance is for any particular reason?'
'I came to explain that far from losing his Pokemon, it actually escaped last
night from Luke's bedroom during the night'
Bruno's tone was as calm as the eye of a storm. 'Oh I see! That's OK then! It
makes perfect sense that a...what was the boy given?'
Sensei flicked through the notes on his clipboard. 'A level 4 Rattata' he
reported.
'Indeed, how could I, in my haste, have overlooked the fact that a Pokemon which
had not yet reached maturity and specially captured to not put up any resistance
to humans, could have the strength and the will power to escape from a Pokeball'
Bruno's voice lowered to a growl and slid up to a shout 'Except maybe the fact
THAT IT ISN'T POSSIBLE!'
Over in the crowd of patiently waiting Pokemon, a Pidgey judged by standard
procedures to be Level 3 looked around in surprise at the other Pokemon, all of
the No-Feathers and at the sky, wondering where that insistent voice was coming
from.
Luke's mother was unimpressed by Bruno's theatrics.
'Run a check on the Pokeball'
Bruno gave her a withering look and reached out a demanding palm, which Sensei
Yakamoto duly filled with a handheld Pokeball Integrity Tester designed by the
Ivy Institute and used to examine faulty or damaged trainer equipment for
trainers out in the field when a Pokemon Centre wasn't available. It was a
pistol shaped object with a socket to plug the suspect ball into, a trigger to
activate the plethora of tests and a small LCD screen for results. The viewer
for this particular P.I.T. didn't give the answers Bruno was hoping for. His
expression blackened further from mild anger to powerless fury.
'Shit!' he expectorated and flung the tester at the Sensei who tried his best to
give a second opinion on the test results, but could yield no alternative
explanations.
'How can this be?' he gasped, and turned to Luke and parent, 'I think we owe you
an apology. The Luke's Pokeball ID number checks out OK, but the readings show
that the ball was opened at 1:31 this morning but it also says that there was no
ball activation commands and there are no faults in the ball's mechanisms. I
can't understand it.'
'I still don't believe it' Bruno shouted 'This is some kind of trick, there is
no way on earth that such a weak Pokemon could have escaped'
At this point the distracted Pidgey suddenly unfurled it's wings and lifted
itself into the air. It shot up to the crowd, gave them a mild Gust Attack which
removed a few hats, span around and swooped in the direction of Bruno and left
him with a going-away present on his tunic. The crowd watched as the bird soared
away. The Pidgey's former owner started to cry and ran over to his parents.
'Ugh' said Bruno, patting his pockets for a handkerchief.
'Well' said Luke's mother with a hand on her hip 'would you like to try and
catch up with that Pidgey and tell it that what it just did wasn't possible?'
The Fighting Master's shoulders sagged. 'I may as well tell you now you saw
that, the boy's Rattata wasn't the first low-level Pokemon to escape just
lately'
'What?' said Luke, his mother and his teacher as one voice.
'It was the fifth this month alone. Sixth with that Pidgey'. The child's father
was trying to comfort him with promises of a shiny new Pidgey and a dinner down
at the Beedrill Burger Bar.
'These are only the incidents that I have heard of in Pallet and Viridian. The
league is sending out researchers to the other town's and is preparing to open
an investigation' Bruno continued, wiping his tunic 'We were trying to keep it
quiet, but now with all these people seeing that little performance there's not
much chance of that. People may as well be Psychic Masters the way gossip and
rumour spreads'
Seeing as he was off the hook for the moment, Luke decided to chip in with a
question for the muscle-bound Master. 'Has the League got any idea why this is
happening?'
'No' Bruno looked out to the mountains far to the North that peeked over the
treetops of Viridian Forest 'but we're planning to speak to some experts'
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"Anna took off her glasses and removed the pins from her hair. She shook the
blonde tresses free and they fell all the way down to her shapely hips".
'Why Nurse Jones, you're beautiful...' Doctor Forrester gasped.
'Oh Doctor, I've waited so long for you to notice me on the Pokemon ward, but
now I can't be away from you any longer, I love you.' She embraced the Doctor
and he held her in his strong grip and they slowly moved their lips
together....."
'PROFESSOR IVY!'
'Woah!'
The chair, its occupant, a bottle of lemonade and the well-thumbed copy of 'Love
at the Pokemon Centre' all collapsed in a heap as a junior research assistant
burst into Professor Ivy's private study. As the young man got his breath back
from his long run, the Professor clambered to her feet, swore at the fizzy drink
stain on her lab coat and fixed an annoyed stare upon the intruder.
'Ever considered a crash course in knocking this semester?'
'Sorry Ma'am, but I thought you might want to come and see this' he replied as
he turned to run back out of the door. Professor Ivy ran after him and caught up
a few doors down the corridor.
'Look, er...'
'Quentin'
'Yeah, um...Quentin, what exactly is it you're so desperate to show me?' A
panicky thought invaded her mind 'this had better not be another of those
student pranks or they'll be hell to pay' she warned as she swerved to avoid a
litter bin.
'No, there's been a breakout over at Lab 1'
That's where Brock is today, thought Ivy, I'm supposed to be meeting him for
dinner after work. Wonder if this is going to....
Ivy's train of thought suddenly left Lovelife Central and derailed itself. She
stopped running and gaped at the receding back of the sprinting Quentin.
'A WHAT?'
'Some Pokemon have escaped to the outside! Come on!'
A few minutes later, the two runners crossed the main courtyard of the Ivy
Institute with its giant mosaic of an Eevee and its five evolutionary forms.
They came to halt outside the entrance to Lab No.1 - Behavioral Studies, the
biggest single department in the whole Institute, taking up just under half of
the total area. Ivy and Quentin arrived just in time to see a window pane
vibrate and explode from a Supersonic attack. A couple of Zubats, a Venomoth and
a Butterfree flew through the glassless rectangle and soared away, the latter
species chanted 'Free, Free' in what Ivy thought was a tone with a more than a
hint of mockery.
'I guess saying "some Pokemon have escaped" was a bit optimistic' said Quentin
ruefully.
A shout came through what was left of the window.
Professor Ivy swung open the double doors of the lab and peered in. Quentin
followed her, the sight that greeted him was as if something had Seismic Tossed
the lab across the Island and back. Just about every shelf, cupboard and
workbench had been stripped, smashed and generally annihilated. Every test
subject cage was conspicuous by its lack of Pokemon contents. Quentin couldn't
think of anything intelligent to say, so he went for the obvious.
'Good God..'
Professor Ivy crunched her way through the broken test tubes trying to find her
fiancée, a groan from the back of the lab she noticed two brown-trousered legs
poking out from underneath a small hillock of shelves, filing cabinets and
large, unwieldy text books. Ivy nervously called out to her beau.
'Brock honey, you OK?'
A voice eminated from the mound of scientific rubble.
'I think so, are my legs still there?'
'What? Under those shelves?'
'Yep. At least all of me is in the same place, that's a good start. Fancy
getting me out of here Felly?'
The Professor and Quentin, still blaspheming at the state of the lab, started to
gingerly dig Brock out from his tomb of research materials. When they finally
got to him, Brock appeared to miraculously uninjured save for a few scratches
and a twisted ankle. The two rescuers took a shoulder each and helped him over
one of the very few intact chairs. Brock sat down, jerked back up grimacing in
pain and gingerly lowered himself down again.
'OW! Must have a big bruise THERE!'
'I'll put some ointment on it later' said Ivy who immediately realised what
she'd said and blushed.
Meanwhile Quentin's eyebrows made a beeline for his hairline.
'Ahem' he managed.
'So what the hell happened here?' said Ivy, getting her brain back in gear.
'I'm not sure' said Brock, running his hands through his heavily-gelled hair,
which sprang back into it's familiar spiky formation. 'I was just running some
tests on the Butterfree's spore sacs. Y'know, trying to sort out why they get
blocked up with mucus every so often, when all hell broke loose. It was a couple
of Mankey's started it, they busted out of their cages....'
'Mankey's?' interrupted Ivy, angrily glaring at her boyfriend. 'I thought I told
you to make sure they were sedated, you remember what happened last winter, we
don't want any more court cases'
'They were, Quentin here did it himself not more than an hour ago'
The junior researcher nodded enthusiastically at the chance to absolve himself
of any blame.
'Anyway, they went for me. The weird thing is, they seemed to be more interested
in restraining me than attacking me. One of them held me down and....well, sat
on me, while the other started to open the other cages.'
Professor Ivy was incredulous. 'I'm sorry, can you run that by me again?
Mankeys? That's the furry fellas with the anger management issues and the punch
like a sledgehammer, yes? Working in TEAMS?'
'I know, I swear it's the truth. I saw it with my own eyes'
That doesn't count for much, thought Quentin, as he smiled as he recalled his
friends drunkenly toasting 'Good ole Squinty' at the End-of-year party last
summer.
'So, all the Pokemon went Primeapeshit on me and completely totalled the place,
even the Colony of Parasect's joined in, pushed those shelves on me. All the
Pokemon seemed to be working together, I've never seen behaviour like it. I
would've been intrigued if I wasn't busy having furniture piled on top of me'
'Where was security?'
'I think they got here pretty quickly, but that Butterfree spored them all out.
Listen' Brock put a finger to his lips, the others stayed silent and could make
out the sound of snores drifting over them from outside the room.
'It was if a couple of Pokemon stayed behind long enough to make sure everyone
escaped. The more I think about it, the more astounding it is. This is a hell of
a breakthrough in Behavioural Studies'
'It's the breakages in Behavioural Studies I'm concerned about. I'll get on the
phone to the police and see if they can do anything, the Pokemon had radio tags
didn't they'
Brock didn't answer and looked away.
'You'd better have tagged them Brock or.....' began Ivy with mounting anger but
then noticed what Brock was looking at.
'Oh my God'
In one corner of the lab was a pile of purple loops of material with a
electronic device attached which normally helped keep track of Pokemon if they
were released back into the wild after being studied. It seemed obvious to Ivy
that the Pokemon had disengaged each other of these instruments so they wouldn't
be followed.
It slowly dawned on Brock that everything he had been researching and studying
these last few years what starting to fall apart around his ears.
'Just what the hell is happening? Since when did Pokemon co-operate like this?
Since when did they feel the need to escape?'
'That's what we're trying to find out' said a new voice from the lab entrance
The three scientists whirled around to see a silhouette of a shapely female form
leaning on the doorframe.
'Mistress Prima, nice to see the League is taking actually interest for a
change' said Professor Ivy icily, shutting Quentin's lower jaw for him.
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David was in deep trouble, he knew it was incredibly dumb to go out in the
storm but he hadn't expected this to happen. He'd been making a dash for his
sister's house in Celadon when her prized pedigree Slowpoke was spooked by an
ember of wild Growlithes that seemed in a terrible hurry to be some place else.
The first thing that entered David's mind was what kind of vicious wild Pokemon
predator was chasing the canines. After all, the puppy Pokemon was famous for
it's bravery.
Then a terrible notion occurred to him. Whatever beast was pursuing them might
also settle for being a Davidivore. But there was no tell-tale rustle of the
bushes and a hungry thing with lots of big teeth bursting out. Only the patter
of rain on David's steadily dampening coat and a grumbling of thunder.
And an almighty explosion.
A bolt of lightning crashed into a tree a few yards away and severed a huge
branch from a tree. David hadn't had time to throw himself anywhere and watched
with horror as the enormous limb landed on the body of his sister's Pokemon
which had dawdled off away from the pack of fleeing Growlithes while David had
been considering himself as a evening snack. It got up and shrugged off the
smoldering limb more or less straight away and David thought he had got away
with it when it walked back towards him.
And then it collapsed, along with the pit of David's stomach. He nudged the
stricken Pokemon a few times, because Slowpokes had a reputation for false
alarms like this, but the eyes had closed and the dopey expression had been
replaced by a grimace.
David spent the next few minutes in a rain-sodden panic.
When he had finished swearing and pacing about, he decided to make a break for
the Pokemon Centre in Celadon. He reckoned it was still about fifteen minutes
walk away, but seeing he was going to have to sling one hundred pounds of prime
pedigree Slowpoke over his shoulders, it was going to be about thirty minutes
stagger away.
An hour and a half later, the townspeople of Celadon, had they been looking out
of their windows and saying 'glad i'm not out there dear, the rain's terrible
tonight', would've have seen a drenched young man carrying a large pink object
draped over himself. Also, had the thunder not been so loud, the Celadonians
would've heard him wondering out loud why his sister had decided to enter her
Slowpoke in the Super-Heavyweight class for shows.
David, by now seeing flashes of colour in front of his eyes, stumbled towards
the neon-lit exterior of the Pokemon Centre and prayed that it still had
automatic doors. The mechanical swish and blast of warm air made his heart sing.
He was barely able to drop the Slowpoke on the counter and ring the service
buzzer before his knees buckled. He slid down the counter, closed his eyes and
occupied himself with hyperventilating.
After a minute, a nervous voice called out, 'Hello? Anyone there?'
David's eyes jerked open and the first thing he noticed was a row of what
appeared to be Wanted posters featuring various Pokemon. He fought the urge to
black out completely and explained to the Nurse from his rapidly growing puddle
of rainwater what had befallen him and his Slowpoke.
'Oh' the female voice came back when David finished his story, 'I'll do my best
for your Slowpoke. It is my first week, but I specialise in Water Pokemon, so
your luck's in'
'Oh right' said David, finally plucking up the courage to get to his feet 'so
you're not the same Nurse Joy who I met when I was here a few weeks....oh,
you're not Nurse Joy at all'
David found himself staring not into the face of one the Nurse Joy clan which
most people involved in Pokemon training knew better than the back of their own
hands. Instead he was looking at a face of a woman a few years younger than
Nurse Joy but despite her comparatively few years on the planet seemed knotted
with stress. Although her face gave her away, her big blue eyes burned with
vitality, and it took all of David's will power to stop himself from flinging
his arms around her and telling her not to worry.
'Ten out of ten for observation, Nurse Joy's on holiday' she said and melted all
the stress away with a warm smile, 'Let's get this Pokemon sorted out'
After the two of them had taken a stretcher between them, David was sat outside
the Water Pokemon ward restoring some of his own energy with an industrial-
strength coffee. He was worrying how he was going to explain to his sister why
they were several hours late and why her prized Slowpoke looked considerably
more confused than is normal when a local police officer came through the door.
'Hello there Sir, I'm Officer Jeremy of the Celadon Constabulary.' The officer
flicked opened his wallet with his Police ID and Pokemon trainer's license.
'While you're waiting for your Pokemon, can you tell me what happened?
Slowpoke's aren't in the habit of getting into accidents like this'
David explained his encounter with the pack of Growlithes and they didn't seem
to be running away from anything. The policeman seemed perplexed.
'We've had a lot of cases of this, and people have started reporting a big drop
in wild Pokemon numbers just lately. I've had a number of trainers saying that
the Pokemon don't seem to be running away from something, but running TO
somewhere.'
'Weird, oh and what's with all the wanted posters? Are there rampaging gangs of
Pokemon burglars now?' David thought he was joking, but the Officer's grave
expression didn't seem to agreee with him.
'No, that's Pokemon which have disappeared from their trainers, sometimes while
they were still in Pokeballs.'
'You don't think Team Rocket could have reformed again and be doing all this?'
'Don't think there's much likelihood of that, do you?'
The two of them chuckled at the absurd notion which seemed to brighten both
their moods.
'So you think the Pokemon escaped then?'
'That's even less likely than Team Rocket been behind this, it's in a Pokemon's
nature to be loyal to it's trainer. After all, it's a lot better life than in
the wild.'
Just then, the Nurse that David first met popped her head around the door of the
ward and smiled.
'You can leave all the worrying to me now' she said ' It'll have a headache for
a day or two and I wouldn't let it use it's Confusion attack for a while, but
other than that it'll be fine'
'Thanks Nurse, I don't know how I can repay you'
The Nurse nervously put one hand behind her head and blushed 'Just doing the job
I love' she giggled.
David felt that his luck was on a bit of a roll now, so he went for it.
'Tell you what, next time I'm in Celadon, and the weather's a bit less
apocalyptic.' Deep breath. 'How about I treat you with dinner somewhere?'
The nurse's blush went supernova. 'S-sure' she stammered. 'It's a real pity
you've got to get home to be shouted at by your sister, because I finish my
shift in a few minutes'.
'Um...OK, so who do I call for when I'm in the area next then'
'Nurse Waterflower' said the girl, pulling off her unflattering nurse's hat,
letting waves of shimmering orange hair fall about her shoulders and making
David's libido take an express elevator to the Penthouse Suite.
'But....I think you can call me Misty'
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A couple of teenagers in matching green hiking apparel strolled along a forest
path on their way to Mount Moon, two Pokeballs to each of their names. Two pairs
of eyes regarded them with interest from the undergrowth as the two travelling
companions laid down their equipment in a nearby clearing and prepared to eat
lunch.
Neither of the two observers recognised the two young Pokemon trainers
personally, but one of them could identify with the scenario. The less then full
complement of Pokemon indicated that they were intermediate student trainers on
their first adventure into the wider world. He remembered the fun, he remembered
the disappointments. He remembered the feeling of seemingly having everything to
gain.
He also remembered that he hadnt eaten a square meal in two days.
He sighed and whispered to his companion 'You know the drill'.
The other watcher nodded and began to skirt around the edge of the clearing, as
it neared the two trainers, it began to deliberately kick up a disturbance on
the forest floor and finally came running past the picnicking youngsters.
The male trainer looked up and nearly choked on the sandwich he was halfway
through. When he had finished coughing, he nudged his female companion.
'Was that what I think it was?' he said, not taking his eyes of the motion
amongst the trees.
'Yup, shall we?'
'I think lunch can wait for the minute. Sandshrew go!'
'Nidorino, go get it'
The two Pokemon popped out and followed their trainers into the undergrowth.
However, their quarry had a decent head-start and was darting and weaving at an
amazing speed among the trees, not even attempting to engage in a battle with
either of the trainer's Pokemon. The chase went on for ten minutes before both
humans gave up, returned their Pokemon and sat down on a log exhausted.
'That was a waste of time' said the lad petulantly
'It's all experience in the end, maybe we should get some speed enhancers for
Sandshrew and Nidorino'
'I know one thing, I've worked up a hell of an appetite, let's get back and
finish lunch'
When they did return to the clearing, they were aghast to find their gear
ransacked and all their food and money stolen.
'Oh no, what are we gonna do Andy?' sobbed the girl into her companion's
shoulder.
'Don't worry Melissa, my mum gave me a swipe card. We can go back to town and
get some emergency cash'
He reached out for the girl's hands and looked tenderly into her eyes.
'All we need is our Pokemon.....and each other'
The thief watched this scene of blossoming young love from a distance and cursed
himself for even entertaining notions of jealousy. He never remembered it being
that easy, then again he never tried.
After the couple had gathered up the remnants of their belongings, scratched
'A 4 M 4eva'
on a tree trunk and moved up back the way they had came. The two secretive
figures moved into the clearing and began to share out the food they had
procured. The larger of the two started to count the banknotes he had discovered
in a rucksack compartment.
'There's quite a bit here, they're giving kids much more money to start with
than when I was their age.'
The other barely acknowledged him as it munched on a cupcake.
The human looked down sorrowfully at the bounty he had stolen and the
temporarily shattered dreams it represented. He felt disgusted for having
lowered himself to the level of nothing more than a common criminal. However,
like the two trainers that had been his victims, he had chosen a certain path
for himself in life and he knew that cicumstances meant there could be no other
way but to live as an outcast.
No matter what the consequences where.
No matter what it did to his honour and self-image
No matter how many friends he had lost and enemies he had gained.
No matter how he tried to justify his actions, it didn't make him feel any
better.
He looked at his Pokemon companion and longtime friend.
'This way of living just isn't good for the soul' said Ash solemnly.
'Pikachu' the electric rodent agreed.
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Author's notes:
Sorry there's not a lot of swashbuckling action and epic Pokemon battles in
chapter 1 but I'd prefer PK:U to be a fairly slow starter. And trust me, I do
intend for it to get a bit darker in tone.
Shouts
------
To Lex, Tim and Brandooooon and everyone on the 'Ultimate Dodge Forum'
Anyone who thinks the American dubbing of 'Mewtwo Strikes Back' is a travesty.
The author of the mighty gothic fantasy that is 'Pokemon Master' Ace Sanchez
Author of 'Pokemon: Evolution', Alicia Ashby
All the other good Pokefic writers: you know you are!
Pika163, Jessica Rocket and all other top Pokemon fanfic MiSTers
The mighty Dr. Thinker and all good-humoured MiSting victims
All AAMLers everywhere
All Pokemon freaks who should be too old for this sort of thing, hell I know I
am!
Finally a request, if anyone has screen grabs or movie clips of the end credits
of any of the pokemon movies please please please please please send them to me!