Bright sunlight flooded the Doctor's view. He winced, he had been in the dark for several hours now, and the light hurt his eyes. However, a second after he winced, a thought occurred to him: "Sunlight? Well, I'm somewhere, at least."
As his eyes adjusted, he peered out the door of his little blue box. The place certainly looked pleasant enough. Green grass, blue sky and –
"People!" the Doctor breathed, and then, locking it behind him, strode out the door of his TARDIS towards a spiky-haired man in a white lab coat.
"Hello!" He said to the man "I'm the Doctor. Where am I?"
The man turned, faced the Doctor, and said "What, just flew in from Sinnoh? This is Pallet Town. I'm Professor Blue Oak. Doctor what, exactly?"
"Just the Doctor, thanks. Where IS Pallet Town?" the Doctor replied.
"In the Kanto region, of course. What, been living under a rock?"
"Nah, just that box." The Doctor grinned, pointing at the TARDIS. "What are you a professor of, anyway?"
"Pokémon, what else?"
"What are Pokémon?"
"Follow me, I'll show you." it was the Blue's turn to grin now. He loved doing this, no matter what age of person he was introducing. Granted, this guy seemed a bit… eccentric, but, speaking as the guy whose catch phrase was 'Smell ya later' for a solid 3 years, what right did he have to judge?
As they passed the construction site upon which a long-overdue Pokémon Center was being built, Blue felt a pang of nostalgia. How long had it been since he had done almost this exact same thing with his grandfather, 30 years? He recalled his year or so as a gym-leader, and how it was only when his grandfather had fallen ill that he realized what was important.
"Uh, Blue?" the Doctor said, snapping him back to the present. "I think we're here."
"Sorry, yeah, we are." Blue said as he got out a card and swiped it, allowing him and the Doctor access to the lab. "Now, you asked what a Pokémon was, right? Well then, follow me." Blue walked down a short hall to a room that held not much more than a display case that held three balls. Red on top and white on the bottom, with a black band that separated the two halves and a button in the very center.
Blue picked up all three of these capsule-patterned balls and pressed the button. Bright red light shot from the balls, and when it died away, three creatures were standing on the ground.
"These are Pokémon. The world is inhabited by them. For some people, Pokémon are pets. Other use them in Pokémon battles. This use is particularly common, as it strengthens the bond between people and their Pokémon." said Blue with a smile on his face.
The Doctor looked shocked. "Sounds terrible! You mean to tell me that you make these creatures fight until they got unconscious? What if one dies? And what do you think they feel?"
Blue looked thoughtfully at the Doctor. "You know, in over 25 years of doing this, never once has anyone expressed their concern for Pokémon like you have. To answer your questions, all moves are absolutely incapable of killing or permanently disabling anyone. And as for how the Pokémon feel…" Blue looked out the window "Once, about ten years ago now, I met a man. His name was N. He claimed he could talk to and understand Pokémon. He proved it, too. Apparently, in all his travels, he has learned that Pokémon are fine with battling for their trainers – provided that they are loved and do love their trainers in return.
"Charmander, char!" said the red lizard that had been standing on the floor, sounding like it was agreeing with Blue.
The Doctor squatted down and looked at the lizard. "Who's this little guy, then?"
"That's a Charmander" said Blue, smiling "You like him?"
"Yeah… he kinda reminds me of the Silurians."
"The what… never mind. Anyway, if you like him, he's yours."
"Wait, what? No, no, no…."the Doctor stammered, but it was too late. Blue had shoved one of the three Pokéballs into the Doctor's hand, along with a device with a large screen.
"That's a Pokédex. It'll give you all the information that you will need for your Pokémon journey." Blue said "Don't worry, it has all the upgrades for the other regions installed. It also has a map and a phone. My number is programmed in, call me if you need any help."
"But – but..." the Doctor looked into Charmander's eyes. They seemed to be pleading with him. This Charmander felt like it was going to be abandoned – again. The Doctor knew how that felt. "Okay, fine. I guess I'll be off then. Allons-y, Charmander!"
With that, the Doctor strode out of the lab, Charmander close at his heels.
Ohh, what will happen next? Constructive criticism is welcome and requested, flames will be used to barbecue steak.