Yeah, sorry about that... I decided to take Red out of the title because I realised the part he was playing wasn't that big.
Chapter One: The Pokéverse.
I was lying on a patch of grass, curled up around a soft object. I shifted, slowly getting up, painfully aware of a small, hard something digging into my hip. I felt about, determined to get rid of the annoyance. My fingers closing around a small golf ball sized sphere, warm from my body heat. I plucked it out and lifted it up to my eyes.
I froze, staring at the red and white ball I held between my trembling fingers.
No way. A small part of my mind whispered in awe.
If I was right, then I am now in the Pokéverse and the shrunken Pokéball I held now contained my starter Pokémon.
I got up slowly, stumbling over to a small pool nearby and peered at my reflection. I blinked in shock at what I saw. Black hair tied in a ponytail and olive skin. That part was normal.
What wasn't normal was the black and red cap, red t-shirt, black jacket, dark gray pants, and flexible black leather boots surprisingly suited for running. Also note the blood-red eyes and the fact I looked like I was ten years old.
Now, the normal response to this situation would be screaming and running about in circles. My response? "Score!" I yelled, punching the air. Now, to find out what I had in the Pokéball and the bag (which turned out to be the soft object I was curled around).
I pressed the button on the golf ball sized sphere. Immediately, it grew to a size that was slightly bigger than a tennis ball.
Now, the moment of truth. If wasn't the Charmander I reserved, I'm so gonna sue old Prof Oak. Though a Snivy would have been acceptable.
I took a deep breath and pressed the button again. The Pokéball jerked back like a shotgun been fired and released a globe of fire. The fireball exploded outwards with a burst of heat, and revealed a golden reptile with a flame on the tip of its tail, staring at me with big blue eyes.
"Wait a moment... I didn't order a Shiny, right?"
The Charmander looked at me with some measure of confusion. "Yeah, suckers!" I whooped. "I have a Shiny Charmander! Take that, Blue boy!" Then I abruptly shut up, realizing that since I was in the Pokéverse now, there was actually a chance that Blue was nearby and could hear me.
Somewhere nearby...
"-at, Blue boy!"
Blue blinked. He was sure he just heard someone call his name.
Then again, his parents did name him after a colour.
It was probably just someone else talking about a colour.
He shrugged. Meh, he's got bigger fish to fry. He's supposed to pick his starter tomorrow, and he still doesn't know what he wants. He turned back to the Pokémon encyclopaedia he was reading and started rereading the entries on the three starters again.
I bent down until I was eye level with the confused Charmander and gave it my most charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Charmander! I'm your new trainer, Aster. Pleased to meet you!" The Charmander smiled back uncertainly in a reptilian way. "Now wait a moment while I find my Pokédex. There should be one in the bag. I dug around in the bag and found 500 Pokédollars in notes, a few potions, the standard five Pokéballs for a beginning trainer, some Pokémon food, and a black 'Dex streaked with red. My favorite colours. I flipped it open and scanned Charmander.
Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon-
Yeah, yeah. Skip that bit, been through it thousands of times.
This Charmander is male
Level: 5
Ability1: Blaze. Ability2: Solar Power.
Current moveset: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Dragon Dance.
Egg move: Ancient Power
The unusual colouring of this Pokémon suggests that it is a Shiny.
I frowned a bit. Seems like things here don't work exactly the same way as the game does. Aren't Charmander supposed to learn Ember at Level 7? And what's the deal with Ability 1 and Ability 2? I'm pretty sure Solar Power is the Hidden Ability for the Charizard line.
Flipping the Pokédex shut, I turned back to Charmander.
"Do you want a name?" I asked. He tilted his head and seemed to think about it. After a while, he shook his head. I sighed in relief. I wasn't really planning to name him, it just popped into my head. I wasn't sure if I could even come up with a name.
I clipped his Pokéball back onto my belt and stuffed the spare ones into my pockets. Then I packed everything back into the bag and hoisted it onto my shoulders. Even that action felt weird. I guess I'm just not used to being a 10 year old again.
"Let's go."I said to my companion. I'd rather not put him back inside the Pokéball, so I guess he was walking with me. I started walking in a random direction, expecting him to follow.
Suddenly, I felt a warm something hit my back, claws flailing for purchase. I yelped in surprise and turned my head to see Charmander crawling onto my shoulder. He pulled himself upright and growled in triumph, huffing a little smoke out of his nose.
"Alright." I sighed. I resumed my random walking, even though I really had no idea where I was.
Tall grass blocked my vision from every direction.
Wait a moment... Tall grass? Isn't that where you find wild Pokémon? I grinned, rubbing my hands together. Time to find something to capture.
A Long Time Later...
Are Pokémon usually this hard to find? I've being walking around this place for ages without finding so much as a Caterpie. Maybe I was being too loud. Or maybe it was because of the knee-height lizard with a burning tail sitting on my shoulder.
There was a rustling in the tall grass and I perked up. At this rate, I'd settle for a Pidgey (I like Pidgeots anyway).
But nope, not even that. I breathed out a sigh of disappointment as a Rattata jumped out in front of us. Charmander immediately leapt down from my shoulder and placed himself in front of me, baring his teeth in a snarl.
"Right... Charmander, Ember!"
I must have had a lucky break, because the Rattata was just in the middle of Tackle, and ran straight into the stream of flames. Without me needing to tell him to, Charmander darted forwards and finished to job off with a Scratch.
"Cool!" I grinned and picked the squirming Charmander up. "Let's find another one".
More walking later...
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of yellow. I whipped around, Charmander barely managing to cling on.
There was a Pichu.
Sure, the stats of the Raichu line may not be great, but I've always caught a Pikachu on the way to Pewter just for the sake of having it. For some unknown reason, I've always had a Raichu on the team.
"Score." I whispered. "Don't beat this one up too badly, Charmander. That's our future teammate." the oblivious mouse still hadn't noticed us yet.
"Stick to long distance attacks." I ordered quietly. "If you touch it, you might get paralysed." Charmander nodded his understanding as his eyes narrowed, focused on the target.
"Ember!" I snapped. Immediately, the Pichu was hit by a stream of fire from Charmander's tail. It squeaked in pain and surprise, bolting upright and scanning for the attacker with a sharp gaze.
Charmander hopped into view, firing another Ember, sending Pichu reeling back, away from the worst of the heat. "Dragon Dance!" I said. Charmander started jumping around dancing in what looked like a really weird jig. Pichu's cheeks sparked, and it loosed a Thundershock that Charmander didn't completely manage to dodge. Charmander fell back with a sharp cry, and Pichu took the opportunity to attack. It wrapped itself in a cloak of electricity and charged, getting faster and faster.
No way! It know Volt Tackle?
"Charmander! Dodge!" I shouted desperately. Too late, as the Pichu slammed into Charmander and knocked him back out of sight. It turned its furious gaze on me.
'Piii-'
Ah crap.
I yelped like the little girl I was and ran around in circles, trying but not completely succeeding in avoiding the bursts of electricity the little mouse was sending my way. I dug my hand into my pockets as I ran, fumbling around for an empty Pokéball. I clicked the button on the Pokéball, enlarging it as I cried out in pain from a zap to my backside.
Charmander staggered back into view, his golden scales dirty and broken in places. He tackled the angry mouse to the ground and Scratched it again and again. Then, a sheen of electricity crackled over his scales and Charmander froze.
Pichu's ability, Static.
Double crap!
The Pichu pushed the paralysed Charmander away, giving him another good zap for the measure, and turned its attention back to me. I bolted. But I wasn't running away. I ran towards it.
Pichu's eyes widened as I smacked the Pokéball to its head, going momentarily cross-eyed before the beam sucked it in (I almost felt sorry for the little creature. The Pókeball I hit it with was at least as large as its tiny head).
I kept my eyes on the Pokéball as it wobbled, reaching for another just in case.
Twitch.
Twitch.
Twitch.
Twitch.
DING!
I sighed in relief as the Pokéball stopped wobbling. I plopped myself on the ground and recalled the fainted Charmander. I laughed shakily as I inspected the Pichu's Pokéball.
"I CAUGHT A PICHU!" I yelled, raising it to the sky. "I c-caught a P-Pich-u-"
Then all the Thundershocks I took to the rear end caught up with me and I passed out.