Episode 5: Route 1 (Part 1)

I would be lying if I said I didn't want to unleash hell upon the rabid-looking Rattata that was charging me. My hands reached for all three of my Pokeballs. Then I remembered that Prof. Oak and Gary were right behind me, so a wiser idea prevailed.

"Ahh!" in a feigned and exaggerated panic, I ran towards Prof. Oak and Gary. "HELP ME!"

I saw Prof. Oak with a Pokeball in hand, about to throw it at the Rattata, but Gary stepped in front of him first.

"I got this, gramps!" he said, throwing the Pokeball at the Rattata.

The Pokeball made contact, and then opened up with a familiar "pop" sound. Rays of bright white light came out of the Pokeball, and appeared to engulf the Rattata. It "swallowed" the creature whole, so to speak, and then closed up and fell to the ground. It did the whole bleeping and twitching thing on the ground, then settled with a satisfying "bleep."

"HA!" I caught it!" Gary declared triumphantly, running to claim his Pokemon. "My first Pokemon! Did you see that, Ash?"

I put on my best "very impressive, Gary" face. I had to try very, very hard not to laugh.

"It seems Gary can take care of himself," Professor Oak reached me. He looked at me with kind concern. "But are you alright, Ash?"

"Yes, I'm okay, Professor, thanks for asking."

"That's a relief. But what were you thinking, going into the wild on your own like that?" Oak asked.

"Well, I came looking for you at the lab earlier, but didn't see you there."

"Yeah, we were waiting for you, gramps, but then Ash told me about this Rattata, so I went home to grab my bags and my Pokeballs and had to save him! IN YOUR FACE, ASH! I CAUGHT IT!"

"Yeah, you sure did, Gary," I said. I guess I have to be glad that a wild Rattata was actually here. This lucky coincidence added validity to my story.

Gary smirked condescendingly at me. Then turned to his grandpa for a second and asked "Why'd you call me over anyways?"

"Well, I had a few Pokemon in my lab and wanted to give one to each departing trainer."

Oh shoot. He mentioned the starters. He would eventually figure out that I took them, and then maybe he would ask for them back. What about Gary? If he found out that he was actually supposed to take one of them too, he might take one off of me. I had to think quickly.

"Professor, you mean you were going to give me my very first Pokemon?" I asked.

"Yes," Oak replied. "It would be dangerous to go into the wild without a Pokemon to defend yourself with."

Gary looked at Oak.

"Is that why you called me over, gramps? To give me a Pokemon?"

"Yes, Gary, and now that we're all here, we can walk back to the lab together."

Uh-oh. We couldn't walk back together. I had to think quick.

"WAIT," I said. Then an idea. "I mean YES OF COURSE, Professor Oak. It would definitely be unreasonable for a ten year-old kid like me and Gary to not receive any help from you. Let's go, Gary, let's get a Pokemon from Professor Oak because we'd be helpless without his Pokemon." I turned to walk towards the lab, and Oak started after me.

For a second Gary said nothing, and I was afraid my bluff was called.

Then he shouted, "No, way!I'm not going."

YESSSSSSSSS GO AWAYYYYYY

Prof. Oak and I turned towards him.

"What do you mean, Gary?" Oak asked.

"I don't need to come with you to the lab, gramps, because I already caught my first Pokemon! I don't need you to help me, like I'm some sort of a LOSER."

Gary went off on a short rant about how he was the best and was going to be the Pokemon master, and he didn't need a Pokemon from his grandpa. Blah blah blah.

"But Gary, I think you'd really like one of the Pokemon I was going to give you," Professor Oak said.

OMG STFU OAK

I needed Oak to let Gary go.

"Oh, on second thought, Professor," I said. "Gary DID catch that SCARY Rattatata all by himself, showing that he can take care of himself. I had NO IDEA what to do, but Gary even knew how to catch it!"

"That's right, gramps!"

Oak seemed to consider this, and then relented.

"Well, I guess you're right, boys," he said. "Alright Gary, why don't you go on your journey now, seeing as how you have all your stuff on you. Don't forget to check in with me, okay?"

"Fine, gramps, fine," Gary said. He then turned to me, triumphantly. "Ha! It's the first day, and I'm already ahead of you, Ash! Smell ya later!"

He practically sprinted away from us, towards Viridian city. What a relief.

"Come on Ash, come to the lab with me."

We walked back into the Pallet Town threshold, and I walked with him a few dozen yards. Then, confident that no one (especially Gary) was within earshot, I stopped walking.

"Professor Oak," I called.

"What's the matter, Ash?"

"I have something to confess," I said. He waited for me to continue.

I had to play this differently than I did with Gary. Let's think. Professor Oak. What would appeal to his NPC script? What's his nature? A Pokemon "expert" whose Pokedex data is blank… But nevertheless a paternal figure. I gotta continue playing the helpless card.

"Earlier when I went to the lab looking for you, I didn't find you there, and when Gary rushed out to deal with the Rattata, I thought it would help, so I actually took the Pokemon from the lab."

"Oh?" He didn't seem too upset, but the jury was still out.

"You see, I was afraid, and so I thought having a Pokemon would be helpful. Then I saw the Pokeballs just sitting there, and I knew that they were meant for us."

"But you said you took all three?"

I saw this question coming.

I took the three Pokeballs out, and held it out for him. I tried to make my voice like I was on the verge of tears.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," I said. "At first I took just one, but then I realized that if I didn't take the others, they would just sit there, on your lab table, for a very long time."

"That's not... true" he replied. He didn't sound sure.

"Really? You're telling me that if I took one, and Gary took another, the third one wouldn't just sit there? Like… forever?"

The Professor was surprised by my remark. The notion probably never occurred to him before. He thought about it, opened his mouth, as if to say something, then closed it again.

"I'm sorry I took them," I lied. "But I knew that Gary was good enough to catch a Pokemon all on his own, and I didn't want to take one Pokemon and leave others behind, neglected. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A DAD."

I just added that last part for fun.

He seemed to consider this a bit.

"I promise I'll take really good care of them," I said, using my ten year-old innocence to my advantage.

"Gee, I…"

"I will travel across the land, Professor," I started, trying my best to speak, not sing. "Searching far and wide… Each Pokemon, to understand, the power that's inside…!"

He thought about it for another few seconds, then relented.

"Okay, Ash. I guess that's fine. Just take good care of them like you promised, and check in with me from time to time, okay?"

"Of course, Professor! Thank you!"

He wished me well on my journey and walked back to the lab alone.

In the end, what could he do? Gary and I were the only two trainers leaving Pallet Town, and no one else needed the starter Pokemons. And I must've appealed to the Professor Oak NPC's underlining programming in a way that allowed me to get away with it.

I walked back into Route 1 and started walking North. I was thrilled I got away with taking all three starters! Now nothing was stopping me from getting to Viridian City.

Well...except that group of half dozen angry-looking Rattata there. They were running right at me.

Damn it.