Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 28: Turning it up a Notch



Matt decided to phone Lizzie, wondering and worrying why she hasn't arrived at his house yet. Perhaps he forgot to give her directions? Matt let out a heavy sigh. "God, why didn't I think of this before hand?"

Jess, deciding to snoop, walked into Matt's room. "Ooh, what's this? Are you calling your girlfriend?"

"What?" Matt shot around, and noticed that Jess was there. He blushed. He then motioned with his free arm for her to leave. "Yes, I'm just about to call her. Please, don't say or make any stupid noises while I'm talking to her, okay?"

"Stupid?" Jess replied, shooting back at Matt a rather upsetting look. "You're not very nice, you know?" She then left his room.

Matt rolled his eyes, then searched for a slip of paper on which his parents wrote down Lizzie's number. He then picked up the receiver and dialed the number. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to afford a monitor-phone, so Lizzie may not be able to see him, but he didn't mind. The phone rang.

"Hello...?" a rather deep, husky female voice asked as soon as there was a quiet clicking noise.

Matt, not recognizing the voice, thought it would have been better to introduce himself. "Hello, this is Matt. Matt Tenks. I want to know if Lizzie is there, please?" he asked.

"Lizzie? Just a moment, I'll go get her for you," the voice replied. Matt blinked, and made a face. For some reason, the voice sounded bizarre. It sounded a little bit like Lizzie, except it sounded like it was slightly different. Perhaps they sound the same, he reassured himself.

Matt pulled out a chair as he sat and waited for a few moments. Soon, he could hear some background noise, which included some footfalls, then heard a: "Hello?"

"Lizzie?"

"Speaking...is this Matt?"

"Yeah. Did you get the badge at Viridian?"

"Well, strangely enough, the Gym Leader returned just as I arrived there. Some freaky man. He was sitting in a chair with a Persian sitting beside him the whole time."

"How did it turn out?"

"Pretty good. I managed to do really well, but then, he brought out some WEIRD Pokémon."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, some sort of psychic creature. I don't know really how to explain it. It was mostly gray; it had weird hands, too. They weren't like paws, and they didn't have claws or anything, it just had three fingers. Its feet were kind of like a dog, or a cat. It had this really long tail. That's all I could make of it. It was really hard to see its face, but they were really shiny. Anyway, it just suddenly appeared, and knocked out all of my Pokémon in one blow each!"

"So you lost?"

"Obviously! Afterwards I returned to the Pokémon Center and asked to borrow a Pokédex. I must have searched through that entire encyclopedia about three times. I couldn't find any information: no pictures, no name, no data; nothing!"

"Could it be one of those Pokémon that are found in other leagues? I was at Professor Oak's the other day, and he said that there are a lot of other Pokémon out there that he doesn't even know about yet."

"I suppose so..."

"But wait," Matt paused, "does that mean you can't compete for the Pokémon League now?"

"Well, I have a couple of options."

"What would that be?"

"Well, I could take a couple of oral exams, and some battling tests, maybe. If I'm good enough, I'll get a badge that will automatically allow me admittance into the Pokémon League."

"How long will that take?"

"Umm...at least a week or two to prepare."

"And here I am, sitting here for nearly two weeks doing nothing. I'm feeling really bad here. "

"I'm sorry..." Lizzie replied, disappointed.

"Whoa, don't apologize! I honestly should be wishing you luck! I mean, come on, you're about to go up against some really difficult exams, here!"

"So, you've done no training at all, then?"

"Nope," Matt replied, "if worst comes to worst I could always let two of my Pokémon out at a time and watch them beat each other up." He laughed.

Lizzie giggled. "Well, you should go out into some fields and try fighting some of the wild Pokémon there."

"That's a good idea, actually, but I'll hardly get any battling experience out of them. The only Pokémon that hang around here are Pidgey and Spearow. Those are the first ones that I've caught, actually. I haven't used them lately, though."

"Well, what ELSE do you want me to suggest?" Lizzie asked.

"I guess I could look up some battle strategies or something..."

"Well, make sure you keep busy, okay?"

"Fat chance. All I've been doing is sitting around and--oh! I forgot to tell you! The professor found an egg a little while back, and it hatched into a Chikorita!"

"A Chiko-what? What the heck is that?"

"Oh...it's some sort of Pokémon that appears in Johto. Maybe like that other one you saw in Viridian gym."

"Geez, this is all too complicated. You mean there are other Pokémon that are exclusive only to Johto?"

"Don't ask me," Matt muttered. "Anyway, I shouldn't keep you if you're going to study for those exams."

"Hey, I'll call you later this week. How does that sound?"

Matt smiled. "Perfect."

"Okay? I'll see you later then!"

The two said their goodbyes, then they hung up.

Matt threw himself on top of his bed. "I'm so bored..." he whined. "I guess this means I have to wait another two weeks before I actually get something done."

Matt laid still on the bed for a few minutes, when he heard a conversation strike between two people outside. He could only hear a bit of the conversation, since his window was closed. Suddenly, he wasn't quite sure, but he thought he heard the word 'Pokémon' appear. He quickly opened a window and listened some more.

"...Yeah, you wanna do a three on three?" one kid asked.

"Three on three? That's weak! We should do a full best-of-five!" the other kid replied.

"That seems a bit harsh, but, you're on!"

Matt turned around and smiled. "All right!" he yelled to himself. "The trainers are coming back now from their journeys! I should challenge a couple of them; that'll suit me perfect for the Pokémon League!"

Matt picked up his Pokéballs and Greatbals that were lying on his desk, but he couldn't seem to find his Squirtle. "Hey! Zeni! Where are you?"

"Are you looking for your Squirtle, dear?" Matt's mother asked him from downstairs.

"Yeah! Have you seen him?"

"I think your sister took him outside!"

"What?" He let out an exasperated groan. "I told her to ask me if she was going to use them! What if I need him? As a matter of fact, I need him now!"

"Oh come on now, she likes Pokémon; she wouldn't do anything to harm it."

Matt dashed down the stairs and from the kitchen window he saw Jess playing with his Squirtle in the backyard. He quickly walked out the door yelling: "And just WHAT do you think you're doing?!"

"Oh, calm down," Jess replied, "we're just having some fun."

"You know, you should have said something first."

"You were too busy talking on the phone with your girlfriend, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"Yeah, yeah, can I have him back?" Matt asked, rolling his eyes. "I saw some trainers; I need to shape up before the Pokémon League starts."

"What's the rush? You have months until it starts!"

"Look, all of the other trainers are preparing already. I can't allow myself to fall behind. If I wait another half a month, then I could start to forget about my strategies."

Jess handed Squirtle over to Matt. "Fine. But don't stay out too late; mom's already worried about you."

"What else is new?" Matt patted his Squirtle's soft, yet hard head.

As soon as Jess walked back inside, Matt leaped over the fence of his backyard and onto the dusty roads of Pallet. He saw many trainers come by, as he challenged as many as he could.

* * *

"Onix, use Bind!" Matt commanded.

Onix swatted down the Pidgeotto which was trying to escape, and wrapped its tail around it, and began to squeeze. The bird Pokémon then began to squawk in pain.

"Pidgeotto!" the Pokémon's trainer yelled out loud. "Okay, okay, I give in! You win, you win!"

"Onix, let it go," Matt commanded. His Onix followed the command as the trainer drew his Pokémon back inside of its Pokéball.

"Wow, how long have you been training?" the boy asked. He had bright blue eyes, and long, blonde hair. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt, and khaki jean-shorts.

"Me? About two, three months, I guess."

"Oh, are you one of those trainers who had to follow the old age rule?" he asked.

"Yeah, but it's a good thing that they changed it." Matt said, calling his Onix back.

"Me, too, or else I would have had to wait, like you. Oh well!" The trainer smiled. He then looked at its watch. "I have to get home now, I had fun battling!"

Matt smiled. "Take care, okay?"

"You bet! Phew, I hope I don't have to face YOU in the Pokémon League!" The kid turned around and ran towards his house.

Matt smiled, he found that last comment rather flattering. "Keep training, okay?"

"Okay!" The trainer replied.

Matt looked at his watch. "Wow, I've been training all afternoon. My Pokémon did very well today; but then again, facing the same Pokémon over and over, I'd have to keep beating them, wouldn't I?" Matt jumped the fence to his backyard and went back inside his house for the remainder of the day.

* * *

"I passed!" yelled an exhilerated Lizzie over the phone.

"Sweet!" Matt replied. "So, when will you be getting here?"

"Sometime this afternoon; my mom's driving me. Oh, Matt, I can't believe I passed! I thought I did horribly on the written part, but I actually aced it. Oh, but the battle exam was REALLY hard, I was forced to battle with Pokémon I didn't even have and, oh, it's just so exiting!"

"That's great. That's really great, and I mean it." Matt replied. "And hey, some trainers have appeared here, and I managed to battle some of them."

"Oh? How did you do?"

"Flawless. I didn't lose even once. You know, I don't even know if this is worth it, because I kept seeing a Pidgey here, a Caterpie there, a Weedle here. I mean, didn't any of these trainers get any good starting Pokémon from Professor Oak?"

"No, you've just been training a lot. Don't put yourself down. You're really good."

"Well, thanks for the support," Matt replied, smiling. "Hopefully I can finish high in the Pokémon League. Well, I hope we both do, actually."

"Fighting the Elite Four would be SO cool! Anyways, I better go; mom wants me to help with the dishes before I come over. Have you told your parents yet?"

"Nope, I'll do so now. This is great! See you soon, okay?"

"Okay! Bye!" Lizzie hung up.

Matt smiled as he hung up. "She's finally coming over! I better go tell my mom..."

* * *

The final three weeks had finally, but slowly, passed, with both Matt and Lizzie pushing their Pokémon over their limits with extensive training. After a long time waiting, they were now both ready to enter the Pokémon League without any sense of doubt in their minds to what place they're going to finish. Their only goal was to do their best and when they could, to try and have some fun.

"Bye, mom! You'll watch me fight, won't you?"

"Of course, dear! I'll make sure I'm on time for your first match!"

"Okay! I'll look for you in the crowd!"

"Don't look too hard, now, dear. Have a good trip! See you later, Lizzie!"

"Goodbye!" Lizzie called out, as both she and Matt exited the front door, beginning to walk the long, dirt path to Viridian City.

"Phew! Well, how are you feeling?" Matt asked.

"Pumped; all of that training did us good," Lizzie replied.

It was a bright afternoon in Pallet Town, as it always seemed to be for that time of year. Matt was pleased; it was almost just like the very first day he left home on his Pokémon journey. After a long walk on an old, recognizable Route 1, Matt and Lizzie managed to reach the Pokémon Center in Viridian City by nightfall. After dropping off their Pokémon, they were forced to quickly dash towards the registration office so they could actually battle in the Pokémon league, although the deadline was days later. They both completed their registration forms with relative ease, and through a random generator, figured out who they would be facing, and in which field the battle would be taking place.

Matt looked at his registration card. "Grass field. I'm going against a Cerulean trainer named Gill. I fight on the first day, Friday at 2:30."

"I fight before you, but in the same field. My fight's at 12:30."

"Speaking of which, Jordan said he would try and come. I got a message from him as soon as I came home from Cinnibar, but other than that, I don't know where he is at all." Matt said.

"Hey, yeah! I wonder where he is? Could he make it?"

"If he did, he did. If he didn't, well, he didn't." Matt shrugged. "But he did say he had some other business to attend to here, didn't he?"

"Yeah, at least our parents will be there."

"Yep. It's getting late, why don't we go and rest at the Pokémon Center?" Matt suggested.

Lizzie nodded, and walked back with Matt at the Pokémon Center. "Yeah. Let's get all the rest we can; Friday's going to require a whole lot of proper rest."



TO BE CONTINUED.