Chapter 3

To Be A Child

Time passed smoothly, and the rains came and went. Little Adam grew vigorously, and made a vast number of friends at kindergarten, and then first and second grade. Buddy and he were inseparable, and they were always playing out in the yard or watching TV together or whatever Adam wanted to do.

(The St. Eva Church will now take you to some flashbacks from where we last left off up to the present, where Adam is 10.)

Meeting the "Rest Of The Family"

It was late evening in August, during Adam's 7th year, and he and Buddy sat by the fire, Adam imitating a barking dog and Buddy copying him.

Chris came up and kneeled down next to his son. "You know, junior, Buddy isn't the only Pokemon in the house."

Adam was confused. "Huh?"

"Well, your mother and I have Pokemon too. Her Pokemon and mine helped us accomplish a great deal."

"Can I see them, daddy?"

"Of course! Kristal?"

Kris, who had been seated on the couch, idly reached into her bag and removed a Poke Ball, which she popped open. After the flash of light, there stood a blue, crocodile-shaped creature with red spines on its back and two playful, large eyes.

"Totodile!" It roared.

Adam was ecstatic at seeing another Pokemon.

"Seltzer, this is my son, Adam," Kris cooed. "Go, visit him!"

Adam went to pet the creature, which at first hesitated, and then closed his eyes and growled in contentment.

He was then taken by surprise at another flash, and when it cleared, he beheld a large, beige-colored cat.

"This is Persian," his father told him. "He's the one that saved your mother from a bully."

"Do you have any more?" Adam asked.

The room was filled with light, and then several Pokemon stood there. There was the Weepinbell, Pidgey, Sentret, and Magnemite which belonged to Kristal, and the Fearow and Muk that belonged to Chris.

"Wow!" Adam squealed. "You have so many!"

Chris put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Someday, you too will be able to collect Pokemon."

"Really? When?"

"When you turn ten years old, you can get permission to catch Pokemon."

"Awww!! That's too long to wait!!!"

Kris smiled. "Don't worry. Time will pass before you know it."

Father And Son, Together In Pokemon

Adam was eight, and his parents felt he could start watching Pokemon battle. Kris suggested that Chris take him outside Verdantuff to show how Pokemon were fought and captured.

"Okay, let's go, sport!" Chris said, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" Adam asked, who was at the moment playing on his Game Boy.

"We're going to see Pokemon!"

"Awesome!" Without even bothering to save his game, Adam turned off the power and followed his dad. "Are we gonna catch them, too? Am I gonna get new ones?"

"Welllll, not exactly. Your mother and I think it's time you learned how Pokemon battles go, and I'm also going to show you how to catch them, but we're going to release them later, understood?"

"Yes, dad."

As they were on their way out the door, Chris stopped and said, "Why don't you bring Buddy along? Just for company."

"Okay! Buddy! Here boy!" Within no time, the Dark type had come running over. "We're going to hunt Pokemon!" Adam told him. "Come on!"

"You'd better keep him in his Poke Ball," Chris said. "Just in case any wild Pokemon attack us unprepared."

"Okay. Ready, boy?" Adam had taught buddy to stand on his hind legs when he was going to be withdrawn into his Poke Ball, and to put his front paws together like he was diving into a pool.

Buddy stood, and Adam pressed the center button on the Pokeball. A red beam engulfed Buddy, and he shrank and was withdrawn.

"Now let's go!"

"Okay, be very very quiet." Chris whispered, as he and his son crawled through the tall grass. "Let's see what we can find."

They crawled back and forth for several minutes, and then Chris perceived a rustling in the grass before them. He parted the bushes gently, and pointed.

"Look! See that? It's a Whismur!"

"Oooohhhh…" Adam breathed, as he beheld the pink Pokemon with floppy ears. It was bouncing across the field, humming.

"Ready to see some action?" Chris asked with a grin.

"You bet!"

"Okay. Let's see which Pokemon I should use… ah-ha! I'll use Tentacool. Go!"

Chris gently threw the Pokeball to the grass, and out came Tentacool, a jellyfish-shaped water type with large red markings on its head and a pair of stinging tentacles. Chris whispered in its ear.

"Only use Poison Sting. Use it three times, and then give it a Poison Gas. Got it?"

"Tentacooooooollll…" was the affirmative response, and the Tentacool idled over to the unsuspecting Whismur, and delivered a poisonous needle to it.

"WHISMURRR!" cried the startled Pokemon in an unusually loud voice. Tentacool hit it again, and once more, all the while the Whismur screaming at the top of its lungs.

"Now comes the fun part," Chris said. He heaved a Poke Ball at the shrieking Whismur, and in a brilliant flash of blue light, it was taken inside and captured.

"All right, Dad!" Adam cried, giving his dad a hug. "You rock!"

Chris was still.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Shh!" Chris snapped, and was horrified as he heard several loud voices screaming, coming closer and closer. It was the rest of the Whismur! They had heard the call of distress!

"What is it, Dad?"

"It's the Whismur's family. They heard it screaming. Adam, run!"

Adam did as he was told, and ran behind his father towards town. Behind him, he could hear the angry Whismur running after them, screeching.

Chris looked behind him, and shouted, "Son! Duck!"

Adam dropped to the ground just as the herd jumped towards him. They missed Adam and tacked Chris to the ground, using their Uproar attacks to cause jarring pain.

"DAD!!!" Adam cried, but his father was struggling just to get the Pokemon off of him.

"Run, Adam!" Chris said. "Go get Professor Birch! Hurry!"

But even in his young age, Adam knew it would be too late by then. He acted on instinct.

"Go, Buddy!" he cried, throwing down the Poke Ball. "Stop those Whismur!"

As unaccustomed as he was to being given a battle command, Buddy obediently turned and faced the herd that was mauling Adam's father.

What happened next was a blur. Before Adam's eyes, Buddy disappeared, and five seconds later, every single Whismur dropped to the ground, and then Buddy reappeared.

"Good boy, Buddy," Adam said, scratching his pet. He ran to his father's side. "Dad! Dad, are you okay?"

Chris twitched. "That was a Faint Attack…" He moaned as he sat up. He turned to his son. "We need to have a talk, buster. Get over here."

Adam's face fell. "Am I in trouble?"

"Now!"

Adam reluctantly plopped down next to his father. To his surprise, he was enveloped in a big bear hug, noogies and all.

"You saved me, son!" Chris said. "You really did. I'm so proud of you!"

Adam blushed. "Well I knew it would've been to late by the time I got Prof. Birch, so…"

"Speaking of him, I will be talking to him about your incredible feat today. I'm sure he'll be proud as well."

Adam grinned.

"Come on son, let's go home and tell your mother!"

And so, as we arrive at our current place in time, Adam is ten and in third grade.