A/N - Hi - sorry for taking so long to update this. I know it's been quite a while... this chapter is quite long, well, compared to the first chapter. I'll probably keep this as my average chapter length form now on (and will try to update more regularly, though i do need to start reviding for my AS exams...).
Just a couple of things i wanted to mention that are brought up in this chapter... i know that in the games/anime/manga pokemon can break out of pokéballs if they aren't weakened enough, but i though, if they can invent a ball that can house a massive pokemon like onix inside it somehow, then it's about the size of a golf ball when it's minimised, it should be able to catch them whether they resist or not. So instead i think the challenge should be more baout actually being able to hit the pokemon with the ball.
Also, i have included the character of Green in my fic (who'll be brought up in this chapter) and, although this fic is mostly going to be based on the games with a lot of influences from the anime, i've based Green more on the character in the manga series.
Anyway, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy the new chapter. Also, r&r please ~
Disclaimer - I do not own Pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon.
Pokémon Lilac – The Kanto Chronicles
Chapter 2 - Pikachu
It took Lilac almost twenty minutes to reach the towns border and the start of route one. Lilac turned around as she crossed the border and looked back at the town she had grown up in. Pallet was built at the base of a small hill, and so from where Lilac stood to the north of it she had a good view of the whole town. Her house was in the south west and standing on her tip toes she could just about see it's roof.
On the hill just behind her house was a large building surrounded by a tall fence. It was the laboratory of the famous Professor Samuel Oak who was a pokémon researcher. Lilac had only seen him once or twice because he rarely left his house on the hill, but she'd heard a lot about him.
A sudden gust of wind blew in off of the sea in the south, blowing Lilac's hair around her shoulders and snapping her out of her thoughts. The smile returned to her face and with a whispered goodbye to her home she turned around for the last time and started off along the path in front of her.
Route one was a wide dirt path that wound north-east through thick grass and widely spaced trees, leading to Viridian City which was about five miles north of Pallet.
Lilac had regularly travelled to the start of route one after school with the other children from Pallet to spot pokémon. Because Pallet was in such a remote area many pokémon lived around the town and along the route, though not many types. There were mainly just pidgey roosting in the trees and also the occasional spearow, but sometimes there'd be other pokémon like rattata. Rattata were forest pokémon, but they sometimes ventured out of the forest and could be seen around Pallet foraging for food. Lilac had only travelled along route one to Viridian City a couple of times, though.
Now Lilac was a pokémon trainer, the first thing she needed to do was catch her first pokémon, and she already new which pokémon she was going to catch. Her favourite pokémon had been pikachu ever since she had been young. Pikachu were forest pokémon, like rattata, only they were a lot shyer. Lilac had learnt in school that there were pikachu in Viridian Forest, and so that was where she was heading first.
Despite how badly she wanted to reach the forest she made herself take the journey slowly. She new she was probably going to have to do a lot of walking that day. Finding a pikachu was going to be hard because Viridian Forest was so vast, and pikachu were known for being shy and also evasive, and Lilac didn't want to waste her energy too early in the day.
Two hours later, Lilac eventually reached the city. Viridian City seemed so big compared to Pallet, although Viridian was actually quite a small city. It took Lilac under an hour to cross by the main road and then she was on route two leading to Viridian Forest.
Route two was a little wider and better kept than route one. It was a commonly used route and so Viridian City employed people to keep the route in good condition, though the main difference between route one and two was the amount of trees.
It took ten minutes to reach the immense forest. As she reached the edge of the forest Lilac tilted her head upwards to look up at the trees that towered above her. Lilac felt excitement prickle through her. She was finally going to catch a pikachu and become a pokémon trainer!
Inside the forest felt almost like an entirely different world. The trees grew so closely together that their branches interlocked in every direction, almost entirely blotting out the sky. The sunlight that managed to reach the forest floor threw the canopy came out slightly green, tinting the forest.
A thin trail cut through the centre of Viridian Forest, winding north to where route two continued on the other side of the trees towards Pewter City. The trail was a dirt track, making it distinguishable from the rest of the forest floor which was a tangle of thick grass.
Lilac kept to the path as she started in to the forest. She was worried about straying from it in case she couldn't find it again and got lost in the trees, although she knew that she'd probably have to leave the path at some point if she was going to find a pikachu. She followed the path for almost two hours without seeing anything other than some weedle and what she thought was a pidgeotto flying over the tree tops.
Eventually, though, Lilac realised she wasn't going to find a pokémon by just following the trail, no matter how slowly she walked. Looking around at the surrounding trees, she wondered if maybe now would be a good time to start searching the forest around the trail. It was quite light now, being almost midday, so Lilac figured it wouldn't be too hard to see where she was going. What she was worried about though was finding the path again.
She took a few tentative steps in to the trees, turning slightly to look back. She could still clearly see the path because it created a gap in the trees, and so Lilac took several slightly more confident steps forward then turned around to look again. The gap in the trees at the path was large enough that is was still clearly recognisable. Lilac began to slowly walk backwards, keeping her eyes on the path. Eventually the clearing started to become less clear. Lilac was quite deep in to the trees now, and as she looked around she noticed a dip if the forest floor behind her. She glanced back one last time at the trail and then turned to walk over to where the ground dipped.
She had reached a sort of clearing. Where the ground dipped there was an area of no trees, just flat grass and a few bushes. But the trees around the edge were so tall their branches still kept the sky mostly from view.
Lilac crouched down, steadying herself by putting a hand on to the ground and then dropped in to the clearing. She looked around, wondering of there were any pokémon. A pidgey suddenly took flight from a nearby tree, chirping as it flew over Lilac's head.
Out of the corner of her eye Lilac thought she saw something move on the other side of the clearing. Lilac felt her heart start to beat faster in excitement. Was that a pikachu? Lilac made her way as quietly and slowly as she dared towards where she had thought she had seen something, one hand clutching a minimised pokéball from her belt.
She quickly reached the bush and just as she did the pokémon that had been under it looking for food dashed out. But Lilac was disappointed to see it was a rattata. Lilac sighed as it scurried away from her. Turning back she could still see the clearing and so began to search around.
Lilac wasn't sure how long she walked around the trees searching, hoping to come across a pikachu. But eventually she noticed that the light had started to dim a little, so new it was far gone midday. Lilac started to wonder if maybe she needed a new tactic. Pikachu probably had good hearing, maybe they can all hear me coming? Lilac wondered.
She made her way back to the clearing and sat down a little way from the edge where there was a small clump of bushes to hide her from view. As she sat she suddenly realised just how tired her legs were and felt relieved that she was resting them now.
As Lilac sat, waiting for a pikachu to appear, her thoughts wandered to Green. Green Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak, had lived in Pallet Town with her, but he had left a while ago when he had turned eleven about two weeks before her. They had been friends, well, sort of friends, Lilac thought.
Because they were the only two the same ages as each other in Pallet they had naturally grown close. They had been good friends as children, spending most of their time together. But as they had gotten older Green had changed, though Lilac supposed that she had probably changed too. Green became more and more indifferent towards her, and more interested in pokémon than anything else. He'd started to change when they were about eight, and by the time they were nine he was ignoring her entirely, until eventually Lilac gave up and left him alone altogether. She had sort of hoped that if she left him alone he would stop ignoring her, but it hadn't happened.
Though, the day after he had received his pokémon license in the post and was leaving Pallet to become a trainer, he had come to see her where she had been reading in her back garden. Lilac had been so shocked she was almost entirely speechless, which she regretted bitterly now. He'd told her that he was leaving to go reach his goal and become the world's greatest pokémon trainer. Lilac already knew that and wasn't really sure how to reply. She remembered the way he had watched her, as though hoping for her to reply, but gave up after several seconds of her staring dumbfounded at him. He'd asked her if she still planned to be the world's greatest pokémon trainer too, like they had always said when they were kids, though he didn't mention the latter part. Lilac had stammered a yes, wondering where this was going, noting the slightly frustrated look in his eyes as she responded, though it quickly faded. He'd then told her that made them rivals, then. Lilac hadn't known what to say to that. The way he had ignored her the last couple of years, she had never expected anything like that. He'd then said he guessed he'd see her again, if they were going to be rivals. Lilac remembered mumbling that she guessed so too. She'd thought she heard him sigh slightly, then he'd turned around and left.
The whole thing had left her completely confused, and infuriated with herself for being so stupid. She wished she had talked to him properly, maybe tried to ask him what had happened…
Lilac was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by rustling at the edge of the clearing quite near her. Lilac quickly moved from where she had been sitting to kneel just behind the bush in front of her, about a metre from the edge of the clearing, quickly picking up the pokéball she had left lying on the grass by her side.
Lilac felt so tense in the few seconds before the pokémon appeared it felt almost painful. Then the pokémon appeared just several meters away.
Lilac couldn't believe her eyes as a pikachu peeked out of the undergrowth, checking around carefully, not noticing her where she knelt at all. The pikachu then took a few tentative steps forward in to the clearing. The pikachu was quite small and looked as though it was quite young. It defiantly seemed shy as it cautiously crept across the forest floor, constantly checking for signs of danger.
Lilac was completely captivated by the pikachu, completely forgetting about the fact that she'd wanted to capture it. Suddenly she remembered the pokéball in her hand and quickly pressed the pokéball's button, expanding it to it's full size. The pikachu was in the middle of the clearing, sniffing at a nut that had probably dropped from a branch above.
Lilac stood up as quietly as possible, trying not to let the pikachu know she was there. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself, then reached back and threw the pokéball at the pikachu. She had never been particularly good at throwing, but since she had finished school she had spent a lot of time practising her aim for when she left home to become a pokémon trainer.
The pokéball flew from her hand, arcing in to the air and in to the clearing. The ball began to plummet down, right where the pikachu stood. The pikachu looked up just as the pokéball reached it, striking the pikachu on the forehead. It let out a cry of surprise, but it was too late for it to do anything. The pokéball's button had been pressed as it hit the pikachu, and as it fell away from it towards the ground, the pokéball opened, shooting a beam of red light at the pikachu. As the beam hit it, the pokémon glowed the same red until it was nothing but red light and was pulled in the pokéball. The ball shut and even from when she was stood at the edge of the clearing in the silence of the forest Lilac heard the sound of the button clicking shut.
Lilac rushed to the middle of the glade and picked up the pokéball, almost unable to believe that she had actually caught her first pokémon, that she actually had a pikachu. The seconds ticked by as she stood there, staring at the small red and white ball in her hands.
Lilac suddenly snapped to her senses again and looked around. The light had dimmed considerably since she had first entered the forest. It was probably late afternoon by now, and considering how long it had taken her to walk this far in to the forest, by the time she exited the forest it would be much later, and so Lilac realised she needed to hurry.
Lilac needed to head back to Viridian City to take her newly caught pikachu to the pokémon centre there to give it a check over to make sure it was healthy, and to phone her mum like she had promised, but before that she thought it would probably be a good idea to let it out and introduce herself. She thought it would probably be a good idea to do it in the same place where she had caught the pikachu, so it didn't confuse the pokémon if it was suddenly released in an unfamiliar place such as a pokémon centre.
Lilac took a step back and pointed the pokéball in her hand at the ground in front of her feet and pressed the small white button at the centre of the ball. The ball opened, letting out a red beam which quickly took the shape of the pikachu she had just captured. The ball shut and the red light faded until there was just the pikachu left, looking nervously up at Lilac. Lilac took in a deep breath, then greeted the pokémon.
'Hi Pikachu, I'm Lilac. Nice to meet you.' The pikachu looked apprehensively up at her.
'Pika?' It responded. The pikachu still stared up at with the same level of nervousness. Lilac crouched down very slowly, trying not to startle the pikachu, and then reached her hand slowly out towards it. It backed up several steps, looking from Lilac's face to her hand and back again. Lilac gave the pikachu a reassuring smile, but didn't move any further. The seconds crawled passed and then the pikachu took a tentative step forward, then another one and another and sniffed her hand. Lilac couldn't help the grin that broke across her face, which seemed to confuse the pikachu.
Lilac slowly retracted her hand and spoke to the pikachu again.
'It's getting late now, so we need to get going. I'm going to put you back in the pokéball now, okay?' The pikachu blinked up at her, and then changed it's gaze to the pokéball still in her hand, then back to her face. Lilac stood back up and pointed the pokéball at the pikachu. It continued to watch her, though it's expression seemed less nervous now as she pressed the button, returning it to the ball. Lilac reattached the ball to her belt and then quickly went to where she had left her bag in the bushes, pulling it on to her back, and began to make her way out of the forest.
When Lilac finally reached Viridian City again she headed straight for the pokémon centre to get her pikachu a check over. The nurse happily took the pokéball from her and informed Lilac that she could come back and pick up pikachu in half an hour.
Lilac decided to use the time to go to the pokémart to buy some supplies, now that she had a pokémon to look after. The pokémart was a ten minutes walk down the road and so she left quickly.
It took her some time to find all the things she wanted, having never been in a pokémart before and not being used to the lay out, but managed to find everything. She bought pokémon food, a handful of potions and also a couple of antidotes, seeing as they would have to go through the Viridian Forest again, and they would probably come across plenty of bug pokémon trainers.
By the time Lilac returned, her pikachu was ready and so Lilac took back her pokéball, and then booked herself a room at the pokémon centre for the night.
Before she went up she remembered to go and use one of the pay video phones and called her mother. The phone rang four times before her mother picked up.
'Hello? Lilac! How are you? Where are you?'
'Hi mum. I'm fine, I'm in Viridian City, in the pokémon centre.' Her mother calmed down and sat down to talk to her properly.
'How was your day? Did anything happen?' Lilac couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.
'I caught my first pokémon mum, I've got a pikachu!' Her mother smiled widely too.
'Well done Lilac, I'm proud of you. I knew you'd do well.' Her mother paused. 'Have you eaten since this morning?' Lilac lost her smile. She had completely forgotten about food, she had been too focused on finding a pikachu. Her mother's expression turned stern as she realised the answer to the question in her daughter silence. 'Go and eat something this instant! And make sure it's healthy, you can't live off of pancakes. You'll never be a good pokémon trainer if you don't eat properly…' Lilac let her mother lecture her about eating properly until her mother hung up so that Lilac could go eat.
Once in her room Lilac let pikachu out and greeted it. Her pikachu seemed even more nervous at first as it got used to it's new surroundings. Lilac waited, not wanting to startle it further, before offering it some food. After some encouragement the pikachu nibbled some of the food, and, deciding it was okay, began to eat, though it still seemed cautious. Lilac ate some food herself as she watched her pikachu eat. She hadn't wanted to spend money on more food when she still had the pancakes from earlier that day, despite what her mother had said, and so ate the pancakes. She hadn't realised how hungry she was until she started, and the pancakes were soon gone.
Lilac took a shower in the small bathroom, changing in to her pyjamas and then crawled in to the small bed. She'd offered her pikachu to return to the pokéball or to stay out, and it had decided to stay out, curling up on a spare pillow which she had found in the wardrobe. Tired from her day of walking, Lilac quickly fell in to a deep sleep.