Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 2: It Has Just Begun



Afternoon had finally arrived, as Matt's Pokémon journey had finally begun. For his first Pokémon, upon thinking long and hard, he had decided to choose a water Pokémon, Squirtle. He did like the other two selections, but he felt that there was something in particular about this Squirtle. Something that could only mean good things to him in the near future.

Matt was walking down Route 1, which would eventually lead to Viridian City. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was walking; he was lost in very deep thought. He was full of exhileration, adrenaline, and potentially some impatience. He's aware that it takes a long time to be a good Pokémon trainer, but he was rather anxious about whether he'll get there.

Matt broke out of his deep thought, then looked at his Pokéball. "I haven't even seen my Pokémon yet. Perhaps I should start to cope with it." Matt removed it from his belt and enlarged it. He opened it up as a large beam of white shot out onto the ground. This was the first time Matt ever saw a Pokéball open.

Matt watched closely as the white light transformed into the Pokémon. He saw the bulging, curly tail. Above it was a shining brown shell, and on top of that was the Squirtle's head. Bright, blue and shining just like its shell.

The Squirtle was unsure of where it was, for it had been resting inside its Pokéball for a long time. Matt wasn't certain how long; it could have been for weeks, or even worse, months.

"Squirtle?" it stated. It then looked up at Matt. "Squ...ir...tle?"

"Don't be afraid. My name is Matt, and I'm your new trainer, Squirtle!" Matt blushed somewhat, then felt somewhat embarrassed. "I could have said something a little less cheesy," he muttered under his breath.

"Squirtle?" it squeaked. Matt noticed that it was less hesitant with its second response.

"I'm the very first teenage trainer to ever leave from Pallet. Because recently, you can be as young as ten to start your journey. I know that this could be boring for you, but I certainly hope that we can get along. It's important for us to if we plan to have a succesful journey! You with me so far?"

Squirtle nodded slightly, still unsure.

"Don't worry, I have a good fighting method, surely my battle plan will be unbeatable, if you understand what I mean. Now, let's start our journey."

Squirtle nodded, seeming much less hesitant, and much more confident than before. This pleased Matt greatly, for already his Pokémon already has trust and confidence in him. This is crucial, he thought to himself.

"I don't know how long you've been trapped inside that Pokéball of yours, but perhaps you should get a little bit of exercise," Matt stated. He then pulled out his Pokédex. "But actually, I just thought of something. I'm not sure how to use this."

Matt pushed in a few buttons, then groaned in frustration. "You could have made this thing a little more user-friendly, professor," he muttered. He then was able to put up Squirtle's image on the screen. "There it is!" He pushed in a few more buttons as a new data screen came up. Included was the Pokémon's number, the trainer ID, along with its gender.

"Ah, so you're male, huh? That's cool," Matt said to himself, putting away his Pokédex. He noticed Squirtle was staring at him. "It's nothing," he said aloud. "Now, I heard there are supposed to be a whole load of wild Pokémon here; let's go get some."

Matt and Squirtle continued to walk down Route 1. Matt had to look back from time to time to ensure that Squirtle was as a matter of fact keeping up with him. He had to slow down so Squirtle would catch up to him.

Further ahead, Matt and Squirtle enter a large, grassy area. This field was very far away from any town; it was natural that nobody would ever attend to it. In the distance, Matt spots a bird.

"Hey, I think that's a Pidgey. I can't tell from here; it could be just an ordinary bird," Matt took out his Pokédex and placed in some information.

"Pidgey. A flying Pokémon. A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand. This Pokémon is usually best for new trainers, for it is often an easy capture," the Pokédex replies.

"An easy capture? What is this thing? Since when is a Pokémon an easy capture?" Matt put the Pokédex away. "Okay then. It's time for our very first battle; hopefully we will come out victorious! Squirtle, how do you feel?" Matt asked.

Squirtle nodded, then stepped up close to the Pidgey, who had no idea of their presence.

"This is perfect; it hasn't even noticed us yet. Okay, Squirtle, surprise it with a Tackle attack!" Matt commanded.

Getting down into a low position, Squirtle tried his best to remain unseen. When the Pidgey moved in closer to view, Squirtle leaped off of his hind legs and clasped its two stubby hands around the Pidgey. Pidgey squacked in surprise as it was taken down heavily into the field.

"Yes! That's the way to do it!" Matt shouted. "Now, hold it still, I'm going to try and capture it!" Matt shuffled around in his backpack for an empty Pokéball when he heard a noise. He quickly looked back towards the battle. Pidgey had escaped and had started to fly up.

"Oh hell, don't tell me it's trying to escape," Matt said.

Squirtled pulled himself to his feet, watching the Pidgey very closely. Pidgey got high enough off the ground, and turned around towards Squirtle. It stopped and began flapping its wings at a very rapid pace, surrounding Squirtle with a fierce wind.

"A Gust attack?! After that hit?" Matt groaned, trying to shield his eyes from the sudden wind yet at the same time trying not to look away from the battlefield.

Squirtle was unable to maintain its composure and was knocked off of its feet, colliding heavily with some hard soil nearby. After the Gust attack, Squirtle slowly pulled himself to his feet, somewhat weakened from the attack.

"Squirtle, when it gets low enough, try another Tackle!" Matt shouted. "Don't give up! You can outlast this thing!"

Pidgey flew in closer towards Squirtle, and began to flap its wings again. Squirtle quickly pulled itself into position and leaped off the ground once more. He clutched Pidgey once more and slammed it heavily into the hard soil below. Squirtle released its grip and moved away from the Pidgey. It was not moving.

"Yes! That did the trick!" Matt scrambled to find an empty Pokéball that he had placed in his backpack. After pulling one out, he enlarged it. He aimed carefully, and tossed the Pokéball towards the Pidgey. The ball struck, then opened up. The Pidgey's form transformed into a large white beam, as Squirtle's once was. It began to decrease in size and slip itself inside the Pokéball. It then fell onto the soil.

"Now we wait..." Matt silently stated.

The Pokéball began to twitch rapidly. Eventually the twitching's pace would decrease, but it would not stop.

"Come on..." Matt replied. His heart began to beat rapidly, as he wiped off some sweat from his forehead. An easy capture? We'll see, he told himself.

The Pokéball after one final twitch stopped moving, as a silent 'beep' was heard from the Pokéball. Matt had made his first capture.

"Yes!" Matt exclaimed, jumping in the air. "Way to go, Squirtle! I knew you could do it!" Matt put backpack back on and started to walk towards the hard soil where the battle had taken place. He picked up the Pokéball and examined it for a long time. He held it up into the sky.

"This marks history. Matt Tenks of Pallet Town captures his very first Pokémon. Type: Flying. Name: Pidgey." He pressed a button in the center, minimizing the Pokéball and placed it on an empty slot in his belt. For now, he has two Pokémon with him.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle responded, possibly the loudest noise he has ever made so far during the day. This made Matt even happier. Now his Pokémon had full confidence in him.

"I told you I had a good battle plan, now didn't I? Okay then, now that you've had some exercise, you should return to your Pokéball for a bit." Matt pulled out the Pokéball next to Pidgey and enlarged it.

Squirtle's face fell as his eyes enlarged themselves in total fear. "Squirtle!" it shouted out and recoiled in his shell.

"Huh? What?" Matt looked around. "What's going on? What happened?" Squirtle refused to move. Matt kneeled down next to it and tapped on it.

"Uh...what's the problem? You've been fine up until--" he looked at the Pokéball. "Wait a second, is it the Pokéball...?"

"Squirtle," it muttered in agreement.

"I don't get it, why don't you want to go inside of your Pokéball? I need to check the Pokédex on this." Matt whipped out his Pokédex, and tapped in a few buttons until he found some information about the Pokéball.

"The Pokéball is an ideal invention. It is necessary to use when capturing Pokémon and carrying more than one around. However, due to the restraining force that these Pokéballs contain, it is known that some Pokémon may strongly dislike being confined, and may become hesitant to enter its Pokéball. However, this is only known in very few cases," the Pokédex replies.

"What? That's it?" Matt responded, somewhat surprised by the lack of information. "What a load of crap! What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He looked back at Squirtle.

"Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice then." Matt stood up and dusted himself off. He put the Pokédex away, dusted off his hands and faced Squirtle. "Okay, just for now, you can stay outside of your Pokéball...."

Squirtle jumped out of his shell and stood up, relieved.

"However," Matt continued, "the instant something goes wrong, you need to get back inside your Pokéball. Do you understand?"

Squirtle nodded, rather disgusted with his trainer's motives about the Pokéball. But the fact that he cared so much about his safety rather pleased him more than frustrating him.

"Okay then. Let's keep going down Route 1," Matt said, as he continued to walk down the path, with his Squirtle not far behind him.

Not long after, Matt spots yet another bird. "Another one? Hey, I think I've seen these before," Matt responds, while taking out his Pokédex.

"Spearow. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings at high speed to stay airborne. Unlike Pidgey, it has a terrible attitude. It has been known to be extremely violent and will attack anything that challenges it. If a Spearow is wild, it is known be jealous of human-trained Pokémon," the Pokédex explains.

"Excellent, a Pokémon with a strong attitude would make a great addition to our team," Matt said, putting away his Pokédex. "You wanna give it a go, Squirtle?"

The Squirtle nodded, and approached the Spearow.

"Okay, Tackle attack!" Matt commanded.

Squirtle placed himself in a low position just like it did previous times before. Right after his leap, the Spearow noticeed, but it was too late. It was clutched in Squirtle's grasp and brought down to the ground. Spearow then kicked away Squirtle and gazed into its eyes.

"A Leer attack," Matt muttered. "It doesn't do much, but if it does it too often, Squirtle will become too frightened to attack. Squirtle, use Bubble!"

Squirtle heard the command from Matt, but was hesitant to attack. Spearow took advantage of this and dashed right towards him, striking Squirtle with a series of pecks.

"Damn it! Squirtle, come on, use Bubble!" Matt commanded.

Squirtle managed to push away the Spearow, and formed several bubbles in its mouth. He released them, striking Spearow each time. The Spearow pulled itself to its feet again, not showing any signs of weakness.

Matt noticed Squirtle gasping for breath. Two consecutive battles after not getting much exercise in a short amount of time will eventually take its toll. "He needs to rest," Matt pulled out the Pokéball with Pidgey inside of it. "According to rules, I can only use one of these at a time. I can't take the risk of using two at once. Okay, Squirtle! Come back!"

Squirtle managed to catch his breath, then turned around and began to runs towards Matt for a rest. Spearow started to think that he was running away from the battle, and began to charge towards it.

"A sneak attack? I think not." Matt enlarges the Pokéball and hurls it in the air. "Pidgey, go! Use Sand Attack!"

As soon as Pidgey was released from the Pokéball, it began flapping its wings as close to the ground as possible. The Spearow was surprised by this sudden attack, as several pieces of dust entered its eyes. It lost its balance and struck the ground.

"Geez...what else does Pidgey know," Matt began to think. "Some sort of speed related--that's it! Quick Attack!"

Pidgey landed before firing itself off the ground again. With a quick burst of speed it closed in and struck Spearow heavily, sending it soaring off the ground. Still blinded, Spearow did not react, and just struck the ground below heavily. Spearow was now far too weak to move.

Matt quickly found an empty Pokéball and enlarged it. He tossed it towards the weakened Spearow as it was captured inside. The Pokéball began to twitch. Matt clenched his fists and teeth when finally, the Pokéball stopped moving. The Spearow had been successfully captured.

Matt sighed. He then went towards the battlefield to retrieve the Pokéball. He then patted his Pidgey on the head. "Even though you were slightly injured from the last battle, that was really a great job!" Matt said, calling Pidgey back inside its Pokéball. "I guess a little bit of luck helped itself, too, because Spearow wasn't really expecting a sudden attack like that so soon; its guard was down."

Matt looked toward Squirtle who was sitting on the grass. "Is everything all right, Squirtle?"

Squirtle slowly nodded his head, still out of breath.

"You seem tired. You know, if you could go into your Pokéball, things would be a lot easier," Matt teased. He then picked up Squirtle and continued to walk down Route 1. "Let's keep walking down Route 1, so we can get to Viridian City."

Matt watched as the dirt path of Route 1 ended. He noticed a grassy hill and began to climb it. Upon reaching the top, he could see an entire city from beneath him. This has to be Viridian City, Matt told himself.

Matt took a minute looking around the city. "Wow. I haven't been to the city in such a long time. So many buildings, so many places to explore." He shook his head. "No, I can't lower myself to such trivial matters; I have a journey to attend to. But...oh, what the heck, why can't we have some fun once in a while?"

Matt began walking down the hill. "Now this is the way a Pokémon journey should begin...."



TO BE CONTINUED.