Chapter 2:
Tommy strolled along the dirt roads of Pallet Town, leaving Professor Oak's lab behind him. Charmander was stowed away comfortably in his pokéball in Tommy's pocket, and the backpack Tommy wore was now heavier by the weight of pokéballs, his pokédex, and a few days worth of pokémon food that the professor had given him. The pokémon food was made specifically for fire types so it would be perfect for Charmander.
Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out Charmander's pokéball. "Alright buddy," Tommy said, "let's get to know each other a little better." Pressing the button on the front of the pokéball Tommy released the lizard pokémon.
"Mander, char!" Charmander said as he appeared on the ground.
"You wanna walk with me Charmander?" Tommy asked.
"Char!" Charmander responded. Tommy continued to walk through Pallet Town, now with Charmander at his side.
"So, Charmander. I was thinking…do you want a new name?" Charmander looked at him, confused, tilting his head to the side. "I mean like a nickname. I figure it must get confusing since we just call all charmanders Charmander. So, what do you think?" Charmander stopped walking for a minute, seeming to give the idea some thought. After pausing for a moment, Charmander nodded his head and exclaimed.
"Char! Charmander!" Tommy smiled and continued walking.
"Okay, how about…cinder? That sounds fiery." Charmander shook his head. "Yeah, you're right that's a bad one. What about, Cole? Or Coal? With an o-a instead of o-l-e? Either one?" Charmander spit on the ground and shook his head vigorously. "Ah, yeah that one stinks too. Okay, I'll think about it for some more time. No rush."
The sun shone high in the sky above them, casting a bright glare down upon them in the early afternoon. As they walked Tommy told Charmander a little more about him: that he was from Vermillion City, his goal was to become a pokémon champion, and even his likes and dislikes. As they neared the Pallet Town exit, Tommy realized that while he had food for Charmander and camping supplies, he didn't have a lot of food for himself. It would probably take him at least a day to get to Viridian City, so he would need to buy some food. But there was sure to be a grocery store around there somewhere. He looked around for a townsperson he could ask about a grocery store, but didn't see anyone. Then he heard a teenager's voice in the distance.
"Come on Pikachu, let's go!" The boy's voice was filled with positivity and excitement. Tommy looked ahead and saw the boy from the back. He was wearing a blue jacket and a hat, as well as some jeans. The pikachu sat on the boy's shoulder.
"HEY!" Tommy yelled. "Can you tell me where the grocery store is?" The boy didn't turn around. "Excuse me?" He yelled. The boy still didn't hear him, and instead of turning around, he began to run off away from him, back into town. "Alright Charmander, let's go after them!" Tommy begun to run, with Charmander trailing behind him. "HEY!" Tommy yelled, but the boy kept running. They continued to chase the boy, but as Tommy got tired, the boy kept running full steam ahead. Tommy was close enough to him that the boy should definitely have heard him. "HEY! Stop man!"
"Char!" Charmander said, breathing heavily. Tommy looked back to see Charmander lagging behind, exhausted. His tiny legs weren't made for running.
"Come on buddy, get on my shoulder." Tommy let the lizard pokémon climb up onto his shoulder and continued running. "What?" He said, shocked. When he had turned back around, the boy was gone. Tommy stopped and did a 360, but couldn't see the boy anywhere. "Dang it!" Charmander groaned apologetically. "No, it's okay Charmander, it's not your fault." Tommy suddenly noticed where they were. They stood in front of the small house with the white picket fence that Tommy had noticed earlier. Tommy felt a strange pull towards the house. "Let's go ask the people that live here for directions. Maybe the boy with the pikachu lives here." Tommy walked to the front door of the house and knocked three times. At first, nobody answered, but after a moment, the door swung open. A Mr. Mime stood in the doorway smiling cheerfully.
"One Second!" A woman's voice called from another room in the house. Tommy looked at the Mr. Mime and shuddered. The way it stared at him was a bit creepy. After nearly a minute of awkward silence, a middle-aged woman with long brown hair appeared in the hallway and walked to the door.
"Hello! So sorry for the wait. What can I do for you?" Tommy smiled.
"Hi. My name's Tommy. I just got my first pokémon from Professor Oak, and was wondering where the grocery store is. I forgot to pack food." He said the last part sheepishly.
"Nice to meet you Tommy. The grocery store is a few blocks over that way," she said pointing in the distance. "but unfortunately it's closed for the rest of the day. All of the businesses in Pallet Town are family run, so the hours are a bit peculiar."
"Oh," Tommy said, disappointed. "Well thank you anyway."
"Is there anything else I can do for you? Maybe I could make you a meal or two to take with you?"
"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that." He paused for a minute. "Maybe I could ask you this. Does the boy with the pikachu live here?" Her face registered a look of shock and her face went pale.
"Oh my. Do you know Ash? How wonderful. Please come in. Come in." Before Tommy could protest the woman pulled him and Charmander inside. "I rarely see people who know my son these days. Oh, this is just wonderful. Mimey," she said, gesturing to the pokémon, "would you please whip up some sandwiches for Tommy to take with him?" The Mr. Mime nodded and walked away, presumably to the kitchen. "So you're Tommy, and who's this?" The woman said, looking at Charmander.
"This is Charmander. He's my starter pokémon."
"How lovely," she said. "I'm Delia Ketchum."
"It's nice to meet you, m'am. So the boy with the pikachu, is he your son?"
"Mhm." She responded. "Ash is my son. He's been traveling for years to become a pokémon master with his partner pikachu. I'm sorry if I seemed a bit crazy earlier. I just haven't seen Ash in nearly three years." She paused. "Ever since…" She shuddered. "Anyway, I just get excited once I meet someone who knows him."
"I don't really know hi-…wait…you haven't seen him in three years? He's not here?"
"Here," she sad sadly, "no. Ash hasn't been here in years. Really, nobody has seen him in years. That's why I was so excited." Tommy was confused. He didn't know what to make of the situation. He was pretty sure he had just seen the boy, but he didn't want to tell this woman that. She seemed pretty upset already. He had probably just seen somebody else.
"Oh." Tommy said. "It must not have been him then. I'm so sorry for the confusion Mrs. Ketchum." Mrs. Ketchum's face fell for a moment, but soon enough a smile replaced her crestfallen stare.
"That's perfectly alright dear. I love meeting new trainers anyway, so it's quite alright." Suddenly the Mr. Mime entered the room carrying three sandwiches that were plastic wrapped. "Looks like your sandwiches are here. Here, take these."
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Ketchum handed him the sandwiches.
"Mime, mime mime!" Mr. Mime said, insisting that he take the food.
"Of course dear. I hope you and your lovely charmander have a wonderful journey."
"Char, charmander!"
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Ketchum." Tommy said, stowing away the sandwiches. He then made his way over to the door. "It was great to meet you."
"You too, Tommy. Take care then!"
"Thank you," Tommy said as he stepped out the door, "you too!" The door closed behind them and he and Charmander began walking towards Route 1 once more. "That was weird buddy. How many kids are running around with a Pikachu on their shoulder?"
"Char," Charmander agreed. But as Tommy walked down the road and out of Pallet Town, a sinking feeling in his stomach told him that the boy he had seen must have been Mrs. Ketchum's son. Ash. Huh, Tommy thought. Weird.
The two continued walking out of Pallet Town, eventually making it to Route 1.
"Alright Charmander, you ready to catch some pokémon?
"Char!" Charmander exclaimed determinately. They began to search through the grass, but found nothing. After nearly twenty minutes of walking, Tommy still hadn't seen a single pokémon.
Suddenly, Tommy saw rustling in the grass ahead of him. Then, a spearow popped out from the grass and chirped at them.
"Charmander, come here." Charmander jumped in front of Tommy, hissing at the Spearow. "Alright buddy, this is our first battle together. Let's catch this guy."
"Char!"
"Okay Charmander, use scratch!" Charmander leaped at the spearow and scratched it with his now glowing claws.
"Spear!" The Spearow yelled in pain.
"Nice work Charmander! Look out!" The spearow dove at Charmander with a glowing beak. "Dodge it!" Charmander narrowly leapt out of the way as the Spearow whizzed by. "Good job Charmander. Now use scratch again!" Charmander leapt once more at the tiny bird pokémon and scratched it with his glowing claws. This time, Charmander made direct contact with its wing. The spearow flopped onto the ground, unable to get up. "Now it's time to catch it!" Tommy reached into his pocket for a pokéball when he suddenly realized something: all of his pokéballs were in his backpack. "No!" Charmander turned around and looked at him with confusion. "One second Charmander!." Tommy threw down his backpack, unzipped the pocket, and began rummaging around for the pouch of pokéballs that Professor Oak had given him.
"Char! Charmander Charmander!" Charmander yelled urgently.
"One second buddy! Almost…there. Got it!" Tommy turned around, pokéball in hand, only to find the Spearow gone and Charmander sitting on the ground with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry Charmander. You were great. That was on me. But we'll get the next one."
"Char, Char."
"Thanks for forgiving me buddy. I won't let you down again." Tommy and Charmander continued walking on Route one. They came across a few pidgey, but Charmander defeated them easily, and Tommy decided not to catch them. Instead, he wanted to wait for something special. "Great work buddy. You're getting stronger with every battle!"
"Charmander!" Charmander agreed.
"ROW! ROW! FEAROW!" Tommy turned around and was shocked at what he saw. Multiple spearow flew above them, but the leader of the group, was a massive bird with a long and sharp beak. A fearow. The fearow seemed to be challenging them to a fight.
"I think thats the spearow we fought earlier Charmander. And it brought friends." Tommy grabbed his Pokédex and scanned the fearow. Fearow. The beak pokémon. A normal and flying type pokémon. A Pokémon that dates back many years. If it senses danger, it lies high and away, instantly. Tommy began to sweat nervously, but Charmander stepped forward, ready to fight anyway. "Be careful buddy, this fearow looks tough."
"Fearow!" The pokémon screamed before diving at Charmander with a glowing beak. But this time, the fearow spun as it dove at Charmander, adding even more force to an attack.
"That's drill peck! Dive to dodge it Charmander!" Charmander dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit. "Use scratch!" Charmander leaped towards the Fearow and attacked. Tommy whooped as Charmander made contact, but the Fearow hardly seemed to care. Instead, the Fearow dropped back and landed in a tree. The pokémon then began to glow as the tiny scratch mark disappeared from its body. "That's roost!" Tommy gasped. "Okay, Charmander use scratch again!"
Charmander jumped at the Fearow once more, but this time, the Fearow intercepted him with Drill Peck, launching Charmander into the ground. "Charmander no!" Tommy yelled as Charmander smashed into the ground, sending dust and dirt flying up into the air. "Charmander! Can you stand buddy?"
"Char," Charmander mumbled weakly, pushing himself off the ground gingerly. Charmander looked hurt, hurt badly.
"Charmander! We should just run! You can't fight this guy! He's too strong!" But with a determined look Charmander stood up tall and faced the Fearow.
"CHAR!" Charmander screeched. Charmander began to glow red and the flame on his tail grew and nearly quadrupled in size. Tommy grabbed his Pokédex and scanned Charmander.
"Blaze, huh. Fire type moves are powered up." Charmander doesn't know any fire type moves yet! Unless… "Charmander! Use ember!"
"MANDER!" Charmander took a deep breath before shooting fire from his mouth at the Fearow. The Fearow screeched in pain. The blast ended, but the fearow's wing remained on fire. Screeching even louder, the Fearow sped away with the two spearows following behind.
"Charmander! That was amazing. You learned ember!"
"Char! Mander, charmander!" Charmander began to dance in celebration, pumping his fists into the air.
"You know, that's a pretty cool ability. Hmm." Charmander wasn't paying any attention to Tommy. "Charmander!"
"Char?" Tommy smiled.
"I figured out what your new name is gonna be. Great battle…Blaze!"
Okay Guys - That's the end of chapter 2. I know not a lot has happened yet, but the next few chapters will really pick up. Also, Tommy is going to catch some new pokémon in the next chapter, so if anyone wants to make suggestions, include them in your reviews.