Disclaimer: I own nothing. Pokemon and all original Pokemon belong to
Nintendo. All other created pokémon belong to their respective creators.
Author notes: ^...^ = a thought '...' = something from the pokédex [....] = pokémon translations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flashbacks go in between these ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One - A Chance Meeting
The rain had just started to lessen. It had been coming down in buckets for most of the day and Matt was now thoroughly soaked, even under the thick tree cover of the Viridian Forest. The little pink blob the rested on his shoulder didn't seem to mind the rain and also didn't seem to notice how grumpy its trainer was. "You are the most USELESS pokémon there is. The least you could do is transform into something to keep this rain off." "Ditto! Ditto!" replied the little pink blob. The ditto started to glow softly preparing to transform. With a loud THUD a huge metal bucket landed squarely on Matt's head. "That's not quite what I meant." Matt said angrily as he removed the bucket from his now sore head. The bucket glowed softly and was replaced by a sad looking little Ditto. "Aww, it's ok. You were just trying to help. I meant something like an umbrella or a poncho." Ditto looked up at its master with a confused look. "I guess you don't know what those are do you." "Ditto Ditto" "Remind me to take you shopping when we get to Pewter City." "Ditto!" replied Matt's only pokémon. Matt trudged on with a now smiling Ditto asleep on his head. As he walked his mind began to wander back a few days to when he first saw his Ditto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He was walking to his house in Viridian City from his aunt's house in Pallet town when he saw a trainer, not much older than his own 18 years, storm out of the local gym. As he watched, the trainer threw something down on the ground. "I never want to see you again!" the trainer yelled back as he tromped away. Matt waited until the trainer was out of sight before he walked over to examine what the trainer had thrown down. There on the ground laid a battered Ditto that looked like it was on the verge of tears. He carefully scooped up the little bundle of gel and hurried to the Poké-Center down the road. After only a few minutes, Nurse Joy came out. "Your Ditto will be fine, it just needs some rest." "But it's not mine. I just picked it up after its trainer threw it down and left." "In that case I will have to keep it for 24 hours to see if its trainer comes back for it." Joy replied after some thought. "After that it's yours." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice that the rain had stopped. Nor did he notice the myriad of pokémon emerging from their dry homes to frolic in the mid-afternoon sunlight. Most of these happened to be small Caterpie, Weedle and the occasional Butterfree. There was one very big exception that Matt didn't see until he was dusting himself off on the ground after he had run into it. After picking himself up and making sure his Ditto was ok, he gazed up at the huge bulk blocking his passage through the forest. "What is that thing?!" Right on cue, Matt's pokédex chimed in. 'Snorlax. A sleeping type pokémon. It can only be awakened from its deep sleep by a Pokéflute.' It went on to spout off statistics about this specific Snorlax. "Hey Ditto, You do know what a Pokéflute is, right?" Ditto responded by glowing softly and transforming into the odd looking instrument. "It's a good thing that I took those lessons a few years back." Matt commented as he picked up his new Pokéflute. "Ditto!" it replied. Matt's first few attempts at a good wakeup song resulted in a few scared and cringing Caterpie that were munching nearby. Eventually, Matt got a very simple, very shaky tune to come out of the instrument. At first, it seemed to have no effect, but then a soft rumbling sound emerged from the Snorlax's mouth. The sound grew as it heaved its immense bulk around to get into a standing position so it could attack whoever had played that Pokéflute so badly. "SNOORRLAAAXX!" it roared at Matt and his Ditto/Pokéflute. "Oh shoot!" Matt said softly as he turned and bolted back down the path. Behind him he could hear the Snorlax softly saying its name over and over. "Snor - lax, Snor - lax, Snor - lax." From the back pocket of his bright yellow field pack, Matt's pokédex chimed in. 'Metronome. Allows pokémon to use attacks that they would not normally learn. Use extreme caution around any pokémon that knows this attack.' As soon as it had chirped out those words, Matt was on his back staring up at a very disgruntled Snorlax. As Matt slowly crawled backwards, the Snorlax started another Metronome attack. He gazed in utter fear as the Snorlax's arms glowed a soft blue. The attack was almost ready. ^What would it be this time?^ Matt wondered. Suddenly there was a flash of light. Matt curled into a fetal position in anticipation of the attack. When nothing happened, Matt slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The Snorlax had just disappeared. Thankful for still being alive, Matt gave his Ditto an affectionate squeeze. Matt struggled to get up (his pack was somewhat heavier than he remembered) and then set off again. "I think we can go a few more hours before we run out of light," Matt commented to his Ditto. It, however, was already fast asleep on his shoulder and didn't hear him.
At about 8:00, just when it was getting hard to see, Matt noticed some lights in the distance. He hurried towards them and found a small cabin nestled in a little grove of trees. It didn't seem to be in very good condition but it looked dry enough. Matt walked up to the door wondering why anyone would want to live so far away from everything. Before he had a chance to knock, the door flew open and a girl not much older than himself rushed him inside. "What do you think you are doing!?! What you are doing is quite foolish, not to mention rather dangerous!" she scolded him. "Who, what?" "Every person and every pokémon in this forest knows that right now is the peak of Golbat breeding season." "Oh, I didn't know..." Matt replied. "You will not make it far as a trainer," she said matter-of-factly. "Well can I at least..." "Yes, you may stay here for the night, but you must leave first thing in the morning." "Fine with me."
That night as Matt lay on the hard wood floor with his Ditto cuddled up next to him, Matt remembered how anxious he had been to start training. His parents wouldn't let him start training until he had finished school. By then, he was already eight years behind his friends who had started right away and being a trainer didn't seem very likely. That was until he got his Ditto...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He had gone back to the Viridian Poké-Center the next afternoon to check on the Ditto he had found only to find a very frustrated Nurse Joy. "I CAN'T FIND IT!" Joy screamed. "Can't find what?" "Oh hi." Joy said as she quickly regained her composure. "I didn't hear you come in." "That's ok. Now what can't you find?" Joy looked shamefully down at her feet. "That Ditto that you brought in transformed into a pokéball and now I can't find it." "Did you try calling it?" "Um, no." "Here, let me try." Matt went over to the tray pokéballs and softly said, "Come here little Ditto. Remember me? Come on out." Just then, one of the pokéballs glowed softly and leaped out of the tray onto Matt's shoulder. The pokéball-turned-little-pink-blob nuzzled up to Matt's neck and smiled contently. "I guess it really likes you." Nurse Joy commented. "Does that mean I get to keep it?" "Since its old trainer left it and didn't come back looking for it, you are now its trainer." "Ditto!" the little pink blob squeaked with joy. "Now I'll need to see your pokédex to get him transferred to your name." "Um, I don't have a pokédex." "Now that's a problem. You need a pokédex before you can start training that Ditto. You'll have to go to Pallet Town a pick one up from Professor Oak. I'll call him and tell him that you are coming." After packing some essentials, Matt made the short trip from Viridian to Pallet to get his pokédex from Professor Oak. Professor Oak met Matt at the entrance to Pallet Town with a pokédex in his hand. "You must be Matt. Nurse Joy told me all about you and your Ditto. It is very fortunate to come into the hands of a caring person like yourself. Here is your pokédex. It acts as your ID and also a storehouse of all pokémon knowledge." "Thanks Professor. Is there anything else I need to know before I go." "Um, yes. If you run across any pokémon that aren't in the pokédex just point this little IR sensor at it and it will record an image of the pokémon and also your current location. If you are able to catch it please send it to me at once so I may study the new species further." With that, Matt headed out on his own pokémon adventure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author notes: ^...^ = a thought '...' = something from the pokédex [....] = pokémon translations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flashbacks go in between these ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One - A Chance Meeting
The rain had just started to lessen. It had been coming down in buckets for most of the day and Matt was now thoroughly soaked, even under the thick tree cover of the Viridian Forest. The little pink blob the rested on his shoulder didn't seem to mind the rain and also didn't seem to notice how grumpy its trainer was. "You are the most USELESS pokémon there is. The least you could do is transform into something to keep this rain off." "Ditto! Ditto!" replied the little pink blob. The ditto started to glow softly preparing to transform. With a loud THUD a huge metal bucket landed squarely on Matt's head. "That's not quite what I meant." Matt said angrily as he removed the bucket from his now sore head. The bucket glowed softly and was replaced by a sad looking little Ditto. "Aww, it's ok. You were just trying to help. I meant something like an umbrella or a poncho." Ditto looked up at its master with a confused look. "I guess you don't know what those are do you." "Ditto Ditto" "Remind me to take you shopping when we get to Pewter City." "Ditto!" replied Matt's only pokémon. Matt trudged on with a now smiling Ditto asleep on his head. As he walked his mind began to wander back a few days to when he first saw his Ditto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He was walking to his house in Viridian City from his aunt's house in Pallet town when he saw a trainer, not much older than his own 18 years, storm out of the local gym. As he watched, the trainer threw something down on the ground. "I never want to see you again!" the trainer yelled back as he tromped away. Matt waited until the trainer was out of sight before he walked over to examine what the trainer had thrown down. There on the ground laid a battered Ditto that looked like it was on the verge of tears. He carefully scooped up the little bundle of gel and hurried to the Poké-Center down the road. After only a few minutes, Nurse Joy came out. "Your Ditto will be fine, it just needs some rest." "But it's not mine. I just picked it up after its trainer threw it down and left." "In that case I will have to keep it for 24 hours to see if its trainer comes back for it." Joy replied after some thought. "After that it's yours." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice that the rain had stopped. Nor did he notice the myriad of pokémon emerging from their dry homes to frolic in the mid-afternoon sunlight. Most of these happened to be small Caterpie, Weedle and the occasional Butterfree. There was one very big exception that Matt didn't see until he was dusting himself off on the ground after he had run into it. After picking himself up and making sure his Ditto was ok, he gazed up at the huge bulk blocking his passage through the forest. "What is that thing?!" Right on cue, Matt's pokédex chimed in. 'Snorlax. A sleeping type pokémon. It can only be awakened from its deep sleep by a Pokéflute.' It went on to spout off statistics about this specific Snorlax. "Hey Ditto, You do know what a Pokéflute is, right?" Ditto responded by glowing softly and transforming into the odd looking instrument. "It's a good thing that I took those lessons a few years back." Matt commented as he picked up his new Pokéflute. "Ditto!" it replied. Matt's first few attempts at a good wakeup song resulted in a few scared and cringing Caterpie that were munching nearby. Eventually, Matt got a very simple, very shaky tune to come out of the instrument. At first, it seemed to have no effect, but then a soft rumbling sound emerged from the Snorlax's mouth. The sound grew as it heaved its immense bulk around to get into a standing position so it could attack whoever had played that Pokéflute so badly. "SNOORRLAAAXX!" it roared at Matt and his Ditto/Pokéflute. "Oh shoot!" Matt said softly as he turned and bolted back down the path. Behind him he could hear the Snorlax softly saying its name over and over. "Snor - lax, Snor - lax, Snor - lax." From the back pocket of his bright yellow field pack, Matt's pokédex chimed in. 'Metronome. Allows pokémon to use attacks that they would not normally learn. Use extreme caution around any pokémon that knows this attack.' As soon as it had chirped out those words, Matt was on his back staring up at a very disgruntled Snorlax. As Matt slowly crawled backwards, the Snorlax started another Metronome attack. He gazed in utter fear as the Snorlax's arms glowed a soft blue. The attack was almost ready. ^What would it be this time?^ Matt wondered. Suddenly there was a flash of light. Matt curled into a fetal position in anticipation of the attack. When nothing happened, Matt slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The Snorlax had just disappeared. Thankful for still being alive, Matt gave his Ditto an affectionate squeeze. Matt struggled to get up (his pack was somewhat heavier than he remembered) and then set off again. "I think we can go a few more hours before we run out of light," Matt commented to his Ditto. It, however, was already fast asleep on his shoulder and didn't hear him.
At about 8:00, just when it was getting hard to see, Matt noticed some lights in the distance. He hurried towards them and found a small cabin nestled in a little grove of trees. It didn't seem to be in very good condition but it looked dry enough. Matt walked up to the door wondering why anyone would want to live so far away from everything. Before he had a chance to knock, the door flew open and a girl not much older than himself rushed him inside. "What do you think you are doing!?! What you are doing is quite foolish, not to mention rather dangerous!" she scolded him. "Who, what?" "Every person and every pokémon in this forest knows that right now is the peak of Golbat breeding season." "Oh, I didn't know..." Matt replied. "You will not make it far as a trainer," she said matter-of-factly. "Well can I at least..." "Yes, you may stay here for the night, but you must leave first thing in the morning." "Fine with me."
That night as Matt lay on the hard wood floor with his Ditto cuddled up next to him, Matt remembered how anxious he had been to start training. His parents wouldn't let him start training until he had finished school. By then, he was already eight years behind his friends who had started right away and being a trainer didn't seem very likely. That was until he got his Ditto...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He had gone back to the Viridian Poké-Center the next afternoon to check on the Ditto he had found only to find a very frustrated Nurse Joy. "I CAN'T FIND IT!" Joy screamed. "Can't find what?" "Oh hi." Joy said as she quickly regained her composure. "I didn't hear you come in." "That's ok. Now what can't you find?" Joy looked shamefully down at her feet. "That Ditto that you brought in transformed into a pokéball and now I can't find it." "Did you try calling it?" "Um, no." "Here, let me try." Matt went over to the tray pokéballs and softly said, "Come here little Ditto. Remember me? Come on out." Just then, one of the pokéballs glowed softly and leaped out of the tray onto Matt's shoulder. The pokéball-turned-little-pink-blob nuzzled up to Matt's neck and smiled contently. "I guess it really likes you." Nurse Joy commented. "Does that mean I get to keep it?" "Since its old trainer left it and didn't come back looking for it, you are now its trainer." "Ditto!" the little pink blob squeaked with joy. "Now I'll need to see your pokédex to get him transferred to your name." "Um, I don't have a pokédex." "Now that's a problem. You need a pokédex before you can start training that Ditto. You'll have to go to Pallet Town a pick one up from Professor Oak. I'll call him and tell him that you are coming." After packing some essentials, Matt made the short trip from Viridian to Pallet to get his pokédex from Professor Oak. Professor Oak met Matt at the entrance to Pallet Town with a pokédex in his hand. "You must be Matt. Nurse Joy told me all about you and your Ditto. It is very fortunate to come into the hands of a caring person like yourself. Here is your pokédex. It acts as your ID and also a storehouse of all pokémon knowledge." "Thanks Professor. Is there anything else I need to know before I go." "Um, yes. If you run across any pokémon that aren't in the pokédex just point this little IR sensor at it and it will record an image of the pokémon and also your current location. If you are able to catch it please send it to me at once so I may study the new species further." With that, Matt headed out on his own pokémon adventure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
