You May Call Me Old-Fashioned
A Pokemon Fanfic by Arizima
Chapter One
AN: Well… I got the idea for this fic last night while playing Pokemon Sapphire. I caught a Gulpin, but thought it was useless. I looked at its summary, found that its nature was Lonely, so I felt sorry for it and added it to my team. So now my Sapphire team will consist of Grovyle, Beautifly, Gulpin, Skarmory, Golduck, and Pikachu. (I haven't actually caught the last two yet, but they're not that hard to catch.) Anyway, I got the idea from Gulpin which I think is kinda cute in a freaky way.
If you don't know what Gulpin looks like, go to the Pokedex at Pokemon.com and look him up; there's also a black diamond on his back that you can't see, though.
On with the fic!
A boy, about 12 years old, rolled off the couch in his living room and onto the floor, still asleep. He blinked, rubbed his brown eyes, stifled a yawn.
" How'd I get down here…?" Shrugging it off, he got up and went into the next room of the house, the kitchen. Spotting a note on the refrigerator, he took it off and read it out loud. " Dear Isaac, I've gone shopping in Oldale Town. I'll be back at noon to see you off. Love, Mom." He sighed and ruffled his golden-brown hair, looking at a clock above the kitchen counter. " Only 9:00…. I've got enough time." He trudged off to his room, grabbed a bundle of clothes, then trudged to the bathroom.
Down the road, nearer to the other side of Littleroot Town, three Pokémon trainers were waving goodbye to Professor Birch and his assistant, Joshua. After they disappeared from sight, Joshua glanced down at his watch. " Why didn't Isaac come? He sounded like he was really looking forward to this last time I talked to him."
Isaac walked into the kitchen again, having exchanged his dark blue pajamas for a plain white shirt, light blue hooded jacket, and jeans; clothes more suitable for traveling. He glanced up at the clock again.
" STILL 9:00? Then that means…. Oh, for pity's sake!" Isaac grabbed a piece of bread from the breadbox and stuffed it in his mouth, all the while running to the front door and almost tripping on a large black backpack. He put the backpack on, as well as a pair of shoes waiting by the door, then ran out of his house.
" D'you think we should wait for him?" Joshua asked.
" Maybe. He's probably slept in and…." Professor Birch was interrupted by a distant cry.
" Wait! Professor! Wait for me!" Isaac ran full-speed toward the two men, then leaned over, panting. " Sorry… I'm… late. Our… clock… stopped." He puffed. He caught his breath and straightened himself. " Do you have any starter Pokémon left, Professor?" Professor Birch shook his head.
" I'm sorry, I've given them all away and the reserve Pokémon haven't come in this year. You'll have to wait until next year, I'm afraid." Professor Birch glanced at Isaac's crestfallen face. " Or… I could bend the rules slightly, knowing how trustworthy you are." Joshua looked surprised.
" Professor?"
" What do you mean, Professor?" Isaac asked.
" Well… It's not as good as having a Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip, but you'd at least get a Pokémon. I could loan you one of my Pokémon and let you catch your own, but there's nothing but Poochyena and Zigzagoon out there. When you catch one, you'll come back here and I'll register it as your first Pokémon." Isaac nodded eagerly.
" Okay!" Professor Birch smiled and turned to walk back toward the lab.
" Follow me, then, and I'll get the Pokémon." Isaac and Joshua followed Professor Birch inside his lab, where he picked up seven Pokéballs and placed them in Isaac's hands.
" This is Oddish, and these are six empty Pokéballs, just in case the first throw doesn't catch it." Isaac nodded again as he put them in separate pockets of his jacket.
" Thank you, Professor. I won't forget this…. I'll be back by noon."
" Go ahead, then. We'll see you at noon." Isaac waved and left the lab, heading for the road to Oldale Town.
The suburbs of Littleroot Town soon gave way to wide fields, and as Isaac passed by a lightly wooded area, he heard Pokémon cries.
" Tail! Taillow!"
" Gulp! Pin! Gulp! Pin!" This startled Isaac; what was a Gulpin, of all Pokémon, doing on this route? He ran for the noise and soon came to where a flock of Taillow where attacking something, probably a Gulpin.
" Leave the Gulpin alone! I'll bet it didn't do anything to you!" Isaac yelled at the Taillow. The Taillow paused in their attack, hovering in the air, long enough for Isaac to see a Gulpin shivering. The Gulpin looked normal, except for the black diamond on its back that was divided into many different black specks, and the fact that it was battered and bruised.
" Taillowwww!" The flock screamed as one; they dove down on Isaac as he ducked behind a tree. As the Taillow flew around for another dive, he reached into his jacket and maximized a Pokeball.
" It's a Grass type, but better than nothing…. Go, Oddish!" A tiny blue Pokémon with leaves growing out of its head appeared. " Oddish, Sweet scent!" Isaac yelled. Oddish shook its leaves; pink spores flew out and wafted toward the many Taillow. The Taillow began to flap their wings, and dissolved the scent, then dived at Oddish. Their beaks and talons hit home as Oddish fell upon the ground, eyes swirling about in dizziness before it passed out.
Isaac's goal, however, was accomplished: Oddish had distracted the Taillow long enough for him to get to Gulpin.
" Nice Gulpin, I'm trying to help you!" He said as he struggled to pick it up; despite its many wounds, it was putting up quite a fight. " Don't you want to get away from the Taillow?" The Gulpin suddenly stopped struggling against him and looked up into his face.
" Gulp, pin," it said shakily before seeking comfort against Isaac's chest. Isaac quickly returned Oddish to its Pokéball and faced the Taillow while holding Gulpin.
" If you want Gulpin that bad, just try and catch me!" He yelled, before racing past the Taillow, back towards Littleroot Town.
The Taillow screeched with renewed vigor as they gave chase; Isaac chanced a glance backwards and saw that the Taillow were gaining fast. Unless he was very lucky, they were going to catch him, and what happened next wasn't going to be pretty.
With a burst of speed, Isaac cleared the woods, looking wildly about; a girl was standing by a shiny black bicycle, glancing worriedly into the woods. He hurried to her.
" Can I borrow your bike? It's an emergency!" The girl glanced at the battered Gulpin and opened her mouth to speak when the screech of the Taillow sounded again.
" Why don't we both go?" she said hurriedly, taking Gulpin and placing it in the basket; she then swung one leg over the bike and patted the piece of metal atop the rear wheel. " Come on!" Isaac hesitantly sat on it and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist when she kicked off, saying a quick "Sorry!" as the Taillow flew out of the woods and spotted them.
The girl pedaled with all her might as the Taillow gave chase; her long, black hair blew into Isaac's face and obscured his vision.
" We're headed for Littleroot, right?" she asked, yelling over the wind caused by the bicycle's high speed. Isaac nodded.
" Yeah!"
" Lean forward, I'll explain later!" The girl leaned forward until her back was parallel to the ground, Isaac clumsily nearly on top of her.
" Sorry," he apologized again. He glanced back as they entered the suburbs; the Taillow still gave fierce chase, though a few of the smaller ones stopped at the edges of civilization, hovering angrily. There was nothing to do now except… Isaac was suddenly thrown to the ground as the chain of the bicycle snapped and sent them tumbling.
" No! Pichu!" The girl yelled, whipping out a Pokéball even as she struggled to get up. A tiny electric mouse was revealed as Isaac scooped up Gulpin. " Pichu, try and…." The girl was interrupted.
" What's going on here!?" called a deep, familiar voice.
" Professor!" Isaac called happily. They were saved!
Professor Birch hurried to the scene from an unseen street and whipped out a Pokéball. " Raichu, use Thunder on the Taillow!"
A darker, larger version of Pichu appeared, and grinned as its cheeks began to spark. " Rai… CHUUUUU!!!"
The Taillow dropped to the ground, singed, but shook their heads and took flight again, just as ready to dive at the trainers. " Raichu, again!"
" Rai… CHUUUUU!!! Rai… CHUUUUU!!! Rai… CHUUUUUUU!!!!!" With Raichu's final "chu", the Taillow finally retreated; Professor Birch looked down at Raichu, who was sweating and panting.
" Good job, Raichu. Take a rest now." He returned Raichu to its Pokéball, then looked to Isaac, the girl, Pichu, and Gulpin. " What's going on here?" he asked again.
Isaac looked down at the beaten Gulpin in his arms.
" Professor, Gulpin needs help."
AN: Before I hear anyone complaining that Professor Birch doesn't have an Oddish or Raichu, let me remind you that he is a Pokemon Professor; he probably has dozens of Pokemon at his command. Also, the characterization of Professor Birch was pretty hard for me but I think I've got more or less right unless something on the show after this contradicts it. *shrug* Judging on the way he handled Mudkip vs. Poochyena, it seemed like he'd be willing to Thunder some Taillow that were trying to hurt people. Anyway…. ^^;;;
I like Gulpin for some weird reason, even though it seems like a useless Pokémon to most people. Maybe because it looks like an In-Training Digimon… either way, I like Gulpin. Yay Gulpin.
Oh, by the way, I'm looking for a beta for this fic since my usual un-official beta (basically I just ask him, " Will you look at this fic I made? I need a second opinion before posting it.") hasn't been on lately. If you're interested in the job, e-mail me, please? My e-mail address is in the Claimer below.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything related to it.
Claimer: I do own this fic, though. If you want to use it, e-mail me (Arizima@hotmail.com) for permission.
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