ACT 01 – Day One, The Journey Begins
"I can't believe your leaving!" the mother cried, furiously hugging her plump, little twelve year old child. Dave Stewart could only watch from the end of the driveway at the scene unfolding right outside the house's front door for but a second before turning away. Shrugging, he looked at the street, but there were no more children going back and forth, all the parents had gone back inside their homes now. He and Gruff, the stocky boy who was still being embraced, were the last ones. Which means that they probably would be the last ones to get to Viridian City, and the Pokemon Center might already be all filled up, and they might not get a place to sleep or eat, and, and… Dave had to stop himself, or he would start hyperventilating. Everything would be fine; he had to keep reminding himself of that fact.
Dave was a fairly wiry child and not especially tall either, though he was taller than his friend, Gruff. He pushed his heavy framed glasses back up the bridge of his nose and snorted in aggravation. Finally he turned back to see Gruff, or Lionel Gruff really, though none ever used his first name, plodding down the walkway to him an exasperated look on his face. The short, stocky boy was never anywhere without his favorite green cap which proudly adorned his head, or for that matter the disgruntled look on his face. Behind him, his mother still waived and yelled, "good bye, be safe," the sort of thing that all parents say despite their children believing without a doubt that they have everything under control. Well not every child, Dave was a worrier.
"That is the same thing that happened to me," Dave said, his voice had a nasally quality that was not too pleasant to the ear. He gave a slight waive to Mrs. Gruff before turning and walking down the street with his friend, whom he had known nearly all his life, since the very first days in pre-school. Gruff had been taunted for being overweight, and Dave was a nerd, so naturally they found a common bond in that. Though that was perhaps the only thing they had in common. Dave was mild mannered and smart, Gruff was ambitious but ultimately a wimp.
"Moms," Gruff declared, his own voice was just like his name, somewhere between a grinding sound and a whine, though it fit his demeanor perfectly. "Good riddance for the next year, huh."
"Well, you have to admit that the food will be less than stellar though," Dave retorted, and that gave Gruff pause, for he was a boy who certainly did enjoy a good meal three times a day, or maybe four…and once in a while five.
"Where are Stan and Em," Gruff asked, changing the subject to get those most unpleasant thoughts out of his mind. As he did so he allowed his hand to drop and fish through a pocket before he felt the miniaturized pokeball there, safe and sound where he left it.
"I'm not sure. If you didn't see them at Professor Pine's and neither did I, then they might not have even gotten a pokemon yet. You know how late they can be." Dave allowed his own thoughts to wander to his own selection, his pokeball resting on its clip fastened to his belt. "Say what pokemon did you pick up there, Gruff?"
"Oh, well the best one of course," the chubby child replied with a big grin, "Bulbasaur." The humor of Gruff choosing a Bulbasaur was not lost on Dave for he could instantly see the parallel between the two. Both were small and stocky with a big mouth and something of an attitude if Dave didn't know better. "And you?"
"Squirtle." The mischievous water pokemon was a strange choice for Dave and he knew it, though he saw great potential in the tiny fighter. Also he believed that Blastoise was by far the strongest of the main three starters in the end. So being the calculating, mathematical child that he was he figured that though it might be harder to train, it would give far better rewards.
"So, Stan and Em haven't gotten their pokemon yet," Gruff said as they walked out of the neighborhood now and down the main road that would lead them out of Pallet Town and to the forest and the path they would take to Viridian City. "Doesn't that mean that they are going to get what, an Oddish or something? I mean when I got there, there weren't many Pokemon left."
"Wait, if you got their so late, how did you manage to get a Bulbasaur? A lot of kids were gunning for it," Dave questioned, eyeing his friend quizzically. Gruff just gave a devious look that somewhat reminded the nerdy child of the one his Squirtle always had. "Never mind, I probably don't even want to know."
"It's for the better."
The pair continued to talk for the remainder of their walk, about many different things, especially those things Gruff enjoyed holding over Dave's head. Finally they made it up the tall, round Pallet Hill that overlooked their fair town. The simple hike was nothing for Dave, but Gruff was already beginning to wheeze as he finally made it to the top. That gave Dave some ammunition to shoot back at the chubby child as they continued to walk to the fork in the road. It was to be the final meeting place for the pair and the rest of their group, should they not see each other elsewhere.
Dave was beginning to wonder if Emily and Stan had forgotten to set their alarm clocks or something, surely he would have seen either of them by now. Emily and Stan were so anxious to get their pokemon. So Dave found it hard to believe she wasn't nearby. As the road turned from a concrete path to dirt, the trees grew thicker, and the calls of wild pokemon became louder, they neared the fork in the road and Dave began to hear what he believed was…cheering?
It slowly grew more intense as they approached, and Dave grew more anxious to learn the source, after all the voices sounded young. At the fork he saw a clearing where a large group of people were gathered around something. He turned back to see Gruff who had been strangely silent for the past couple of minutes was actually a hundred feet behind him on the path slowly dragging one foot after the other; taking off his cap and wiping his forehead on his sleeve. Dave had been too preoccupied to notice his friend lagging behind. Waiving one hand high into the air he raised the other to point at the group before darting off to join the mob. Gruff raised one hand weakly, but his trouble went unseen.
At the clearing above the cheering of the crowd the commands of pokemon trainers could be heard. Dave tried to cut his way through the crowd to see what was going on, but resolved himself to stand behind the shortest people he could find to peer at the battle. He knew most of the faces he saw, they were all about twelve, just like he and Gruff, there were about thirty of them in all, gathered to see the nine or so kids off who had actually gotten their first pokemon this day. Obviously two of the kids had decided to test their starters before even setting a foot outside of Pallet.
From his vantage point he saw the battle, a small Poliwag was ducking and weaving as it fought a Charmander with an exceptionally shiny coat. Craning his long neck Dave saw the Poliwag's trainer, and it was Martin, a schoolyard bully. Not the smartest of children, but he was big for his age and liked pushing others around, or at least those he could. Dave and Gruff were among his targets, but luckily their friendship with a local athlete star had protected them for some time.
"Tackle," Martin roared, as the Poliwag followed the order and charged forward, lowering its head and forcefully smacking into the Charmander sending the fire pokemon reeling. The red, dragon-like pokemon slowly raised itself to its feet. Dave again had to shift his position to see that the Charmander's trainer was none other than his friend Stan Short. "Poliwag, finish it off with one more tackle!" the bully commanded, and it was humorous to see such a large kid give orders to such a diminutive pokemon.
"Charmander, dodge and trip it with a tail whip!" Stan ordered. The water pokemon charged forward, lowering its head once again to slam into the fire pokemon, but this time the Charmander leaped aside at the last moment, following instructions and swinging its tiny tail to catch the Poliwag's foot and bring the small creature to the ground. "Now, Charmander, scratch!" Before Martin was able to say anything, the red pokemon turned on its heel and brought a swiping claw down on the back of the recovering Poliwag, sending it right back to the ground.
At that point the water pokemon tried to get up, but despite its attempts, it fell back down and was out. Martin yelled at his pokemon before stomping forward towards it and ripped his pokeball from his pocket and ordered the Poliwag to return. "Next time, pretty boy," Martin declared before turning round and storming off with his posse. Stan turned round and finally saw Dave, and waived his friend over. Dave had to use a little finesse to make his way through the crowd to his friend. Everyone was forming little groups and talking. A few people were challenging one another now to see whose pokemon was better. Dave got to Stan just in time for Gruff to enter the clearing, and again started his plod over to his friends.
"I didn't think you two would ever show up," Stan said, flashing a white-toothed smile, he was as different from Dave and Gruff as they were from each other. Stan was a born athlete, a friendly guy, and all around perfect at everything he tried. Sure it could be infuriating to those around him, but those who were really his friends knew the kid had his share of problems, namely being that despite all his work he wasn't too terribly bright, at least not like Dave, and he could become quite competitive with certain people. "Em and I have been waiting for like, forever."
Out from behind Stan's larger frame came the petite Emily Thomas. She was a sweet kid, with a kind heart and not a mean bone in her entire body. Though again her cute demeanor could change in a second, if certain people were around. Dave had often thought himself as the brains of the group, but Emily often showed him up more than once or twice on some facts. "I was beginning to worry about you…two," she said, peering around Dave at Gruff who trudging up to them, it appeared as if the guy had been lost in the desert for days and never even seen water.
"So what pokemon did you two pick up," Stan was quick to ask as he recalled his Charmander after patting the pokemon on the head. Dave knew he would be the first to ask, after all Stan hated surprises, and he knew that it wouldn't be long before he requested a match, just a friendly thing…of course.
"Squirtle," Dave finally responded, turning his head to look at Gruff and rolling his eyes.
"Bul…ba…saur," Gruff finally said between pants, taking out a bottle of water and quickly draining it. Shaking his head he adjusted his cap and composed himself, again wiping the sweat from his brow. "I had decided to run a couple of miles before I caught up with Dave here. You know, keep in shape and all." Dave wondered how far he could roll his eyes back into his head.
"Er…so, what about you Em," Dave asked.
"Oh, well I got the most adorable one of course," she said as a Pikachu walked out from behind her, Dave had to take a peek around it to see if anything else was hiding.
"So why is it not in a…" Stan's hand clapped over Dave's mouth before he could finish his sentence. Gruff seemed to not be paying attention and knelt down to take a closer look at the electric mouse pokemon.
"We don't use the P-O-K-E-B-A-L-L word around Pikachu," Emily whispered to Dave as she leaned in close to both he and Stan, but even as they tried so hard to keep everything under wraps they heard the faithful words that made them all cringe. Of course, clueless Gruff uttered them.
Leaning right in, inches from the Pikachu's face, he asked, "So why isn't he in a pokeball Em?" With a blinding flash of light, the group was quickly electrocuted and brought to the ground writhing. After a few second, the Pikachu satisfied itself and stopped, the four kids just laid there and smoldered for the next few minutes. At least until they heard the most disdainful sound: clapping, followed by an unforgettable laugh, as they watched a pair of brown boots walk along the grass up to them.
"Not even at the Pallet Town limits and your own pokemon attack you. I know that's some kind of record," a voice said. They all knew who it was, the kid they hated, more than Martin the Bully or any others like him. When it came to Stan and Emily's "certain people" it universally referred to Corey Masters, a long time rival. Obviously he had been among the crowd and nobody noticed.
"It's good to see you too, Corey," Stan said, being the first to get back up on his feet and dusting himself off. He made sure to stand between everyone else and the other twelve year old. Not because they were in any sort of danger, but perhaps to show that he viewed his own competition with the boy as paramount to anyone else's. "I hope you managed to catch my match just a few moments ago," Stan said, puffing out his chest and letting his ego swell like a balloon.
"Beating Martin the Moron is nothing special," Corey replied sharply, popping Stan's balloon. "If you noticed, he only ordered 'tackle' because that's the only attack he knows. If Martin had managed even a water drip you'd of been done."
"Hey, how about a go right now," Stan declared flatly, grabbing his pokeball from his belt and letting it enlarge in his hand, holding it out for Corey to see. The rest of the group were on their feet, Dave and Emily glaring, Gruff trying to not make eye contact and whistled nervously. "You know anytime, anywhere, any of us will be ready."
"Well, maybe not 'any' of us," Gruff said under his breath.
"Please," Corey answered in a disdainful tone, "I might as well give a pokeball to a chair and battle with it, we real trainers only fight when we know we'll actually gain something from it. Bashing around wannabe chumps like yourself would only be a waste of my time, and as I have said before, I'm not letting you slow me down anymore." Turning round, the youth walked off, travel bag thrown over one shoulder and he moved down one of the paths that led from Pallet Town.
With his back turned, the whole group glared at Corey, including Gruff who had mysteriously gotten braver, before finally turning back into a circle and talking. They discussed a few things, and finally decided on the path they would take out of Pallet, the one other than their rival's. Giving Gruff a few minutes…and then an hour, they finally began on their Journey. Their first day had just begun and now they were walking off into a grand adventure.