Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me. Last I checked, Pokemon belonged to Satoshi Tajiri. The only things I claim ownership to are the own characters in this story.

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DUNNE DAYS

Part 4: T-100

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* * * 09:44 - 7 June 2004 * * *

"Hm…" Brown muttered. He looked down at Bulbasaur, who looked back up at him.

They were standing halfway along Route 1. There had been Trainers, but none of them challenged him because they were all worn out from a previous opponent… Although he had managed to score a free Potion after listening to a man ramble on about some kind of shop.

"So, Bulbasaur…" Brown started again. He had been trying, rather unsuccessfully; to start a conversation with his Seed Pokémon, but Brown couldn't understand Bulbasaur's language.

"Aur…" Bulbasaur sighed, giving up.

"Yeah…" Brown muttered, following Bulbasaur's example and dropping to sit on the floor.

They sat there for some time, watching the nearby Trainers nurse their Pokémon. The silence was broken eventually by a scream.

"!" a blond haired boy came crashing into the clearing, scaring away some of the Pokémon Trainers' Pokémon, and causing their Trainers to chase after them.

The boy was being chased by an angry group of Rattata, and the remaining Trainers quickly scattered as their Pokémon were too injured to fight.

"HELP!" the boy yelled, and Brown sprang to his feet.

"Bulbasaur, scare the Rattata away!"

Bulbasaur jumped in front of the group of Rattata, causing them all to skid to a halt and snarl at him.

"!" Bulbasaur growled, causing some of the mice to flinch. "BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Bulbasaur repeated, louder this time, and the Rattata fled.

"Way to go, Bulbasaur!" Brown said before approaching the redhead who had collapsed from exhaustion. "You alright… erm…?"

The boy opened his eyes, "Are they gone?"

"Yup!" Brown grinned.

"Phew…" the boy sighed, raising his legs and making an agile leap from lying down to standing upright. "Name's Jordan."

"Uh, I'm Brown."

"Heh," Jordan nodded. "Suits your clothes."

"Yeah…" Brown laughed.

Jordan bent down and eyed Bulbasaur. "This guy yours?"

"Yeah, that's my Bulbasaur…" Brown said.

"Hm, I want one," Jordan nodded, standing back up but eyes still locked on the plant creature.

"A Bulbasaur?" Brown asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Jordan nodded, before correcting himself. "Well, any Pokémon really… I'm not picky."

"Oh…" Brown muttered. "So you were going to Pallet Town to meet Professor Oak and get a Pokémon?"

"Exactly!" Jordan said. "Only… I stumbled into this group of Rattata and tried to catch one…"

"Oh, so that's why they were chasing you."

Jordan's head snapped up to look at Brown. "So, you given your Bulbasaur a nickname?"

"Uh…" Brown hesitated.

"Are you gonna?"

"Probably…" Brown muttered, thinking for a while. "How about Kern? It was my granddad's name…"

"Definitely not," Jordan shook his head. "Try again."

"Green Day?" Brown suggested.

"No!" Jordan laughed. "How about something catchy… something that's a pun on something…"

"Erm… Colonel Kernel?" Brown guessed again.

"Good but too long," Jordan scratched his head then turned to Bulbasaur. "Henceforth you shall be known as the Germinator!"

"… I don't get it…" Brown muttered.

"Germi… Nator? GERMINATOR!" the newly named Pokémon yelled, trying out its name before nodding happily.

"See, Bulbasaur likes it," Jordan grinned.

"I still think "Kern" is better…" Brown muttered.

"Well, tough, it's your Pokémon's thoughts that matter, not yours!" a new voice said.

Brown, Jordan and the Germinator turned to face the newcomer. It was a Fisherman with an orange lifejacket and 6 Poke Balls around his waist while a strange looking fishing rod was attached to his back.

"Hi, I'm Karp," the man introduced.

"You're the guy who beat the entire Indigo League using only Magikarp!" Jordan said, raising an accusing finger.

"That's me," Karp nodded. "And I like your choice of names for Bulbasaur. But I'd have to say Germinator is clearly the best."

Bulbasaur grinned at this compliment, "Germ!"

"So, where you guys headed?" Karp asked.

"My name's Jordan and I'm going to Pallet Town to get a Pokémon," Jordan said.

"I'm going to Viridian City to get something for Professor Oak," Brown said. "Oh, my name's Brown, by the way."

"Ah," Karp said. "Well, I'm going to Pallet Town as well!"

"Really?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, me and my Magikarp want to get to Cinnabar Island," Karp explained. "And I had to make a quick stop at the bank in Viridian City."

"The Share Holders?" Jordan asked sadly.

"Yeah," Karp nodded, before noticing Jordan's sad look. "Say, Jordan… Why don't I go with you to see Professor Oak?"

"You'd do that for me?" Jordan asked, excited.

"Sure!"

"Okay…" Brown muttered. "Well I'll see you guys later. I gotta get going for Professor Oak's package! Good luck in getting a Pokémon, Jordan!"

"My dad always said that real men make their own luck."

"Hey, Brown," Karp said. "You got a Pokégear?"

"Yeah," Brown replied, showing it off. "You guys wanna register me?"

The three held their Pokégears together as they registered.

"Look at me…" Jordan muttered. "Getting a Champion on my Pokégear..."

Karp laughed. The registration soon completed, and the three took back their Pokégears.

* * * 09:58 - 7 June 2004 * * *

"Hey!"

Brown span to the source of the voice, "Huh?"

A young boy with a yellow top, blue cap twisted to the side and similarly coloured shorts that didn't even reach his knees was standing on a small boulder to raise himself to Brown's eye level, a Poke Ball in his hand.

"You were just talking with Karp, weren't you?"

It was a statement more than a question and Brown nodded.

"Wow," the boy raised his eyebrows and jumped off the rock. "My name's Yuuki. I'm a Pokémon Trainer."

The boy raised his free hand to shake Brown's. "I'm Brown; this is my Bulbasaur… the Germinator apparently…"

"Germinator?" Yuuki asked; a blank look on his face before he understood the joke and fell about laughing.

Brown scratched his head, still not understanding the humour behind Bulbasaur's name, and watched as Yuuki pulled himself together and stopped laughing.

"Heh, anyway…" Yuuki said, standing up. "I'd like to challenge you to a battle."

"Oh, what Pokémon do you have?" Brown asked.

"A Rattata," the Youngster shrugged. "My prized partner, Carnig."

Brown looked down at Bulbasaur, who was already going into a battle stance. "Okay, let's go."

"Good," Yuuki nodded, spinning his Poke Ball onto the floor and releasing the Mouse Pokémon. "Go, Carnig!"

"Carrrrrrrrr rat!"

"Carnig, use Quick Attack!"

The Rattata lunged forwards, straight at Bulbasaur, who managed to leap and dodge most of the damage, but still got a bruise on its right side.

"That's a fast Pokémon…" Brown noted. "Okay, Germinator, you use Tackle!"

"Tor! Germinate!" Bulbasaur cried out as it leapt forward and tripped over a small rock, making it land painfully on its back.

"Tackle!" Yuuki yelled, taking Bulbasaur's fall as an opening.

The mouse closed in on Bulbasaur, who struggled to get to its feet.

"Germinator… do… something!" Brown said, realising his Bulbasaur wouldn't be able to get up in time.

The green Seed Pokémon thrashed around, trying to pick itself back up, and Brown's desperate eyes were swayed from his Pokémon's plight by a red flash at his hip and a beep that accompanied it.

"Bulbasaur has learnt the move Leech Seed," the robotic voice of the Pokédex rang out.

"Leech Seed?" Brown repeated wonderingly.

"Germ…" Germinator's bulb spat out some small pips, that hit Carnig and sprouted as the bruises on the Bulbasaur's body faded.

"Leech Seed is a move that steals health from the enemy to cure the Pokémon using it!" Yuuki explained, and Brown cheered.

Bulbasaur stood back up, ready to get back into the battle.

"Okay, Germinator, use Tackle!"

"You Tackle too, Carnig!" Yuuki shouted, and the two Pokémon charged at one another.

"Car…" the strong attack was too much for the little Rattata, who ended up being thrown back into a nearby tree.

"Woah!" Yuuki exclaimed, before running over to his Rattata. "You okay, buddy?"

"Carnig…" the Pokémon sighed sadly as it opened its eyes.

"You did good," the Youngster smiled, and the Mouse Pokémon smiled back before the boy put the Pokémon back in its Ball.

"Is he okay?" Brown asked after congratulating his Bulbasaur.

"Yeah, he's fine," Yuuki grinned. "Germinator is really strong; no wonder you were talking to a Pokémon Master."

"Pokémon Master?" repeated Brown. "I thought he was just a Champion."

"Nah, he's famous for having beat loads of Leagues," the Youngster nodded. "That makes him a Master."

"Don't you have to have a lot of Pokémon to become a Master as well though?"

Yuuki laughed, "Just because he's famous for using Magikarp doesn't mean he hasn't got other Pokémon. Professor Oak confirmed that Karp managed to capture over 100 Pokémon - but he gives them out to Trainers who show promise."

"Wow," Brown gasped, eyes wide.

"I think you're deserving of one of his Pokémon… to be perfectly honest."

Brown blushed at this praise, before a ringing sound was heard.

"Oh!" Yuuki exclaimed. "That's my alarm clock! I set it to go off when it was time to go home for lunch."

"Where do you live?"

The younger boy pointed north, "Viridian City… uh, I gotta go…"

"I'm headed there too…" Brown pointed out. "We could go together?"

Yuuki looked down at his only Poke Ball containing his only Pokémon, "Well… I could do with the protection… especially these days with Team Palm around…" he looked up at Brown, beaming. "Sure, let's go."

…

Author's Note: I have always been bad at Pokemon nicknames, so coming up with Bulbasaur's was a real pain. I eventually decided on "Germinator", as a pun on the word "Germinate", and the film, "Terminator".

Yuuki and Jordan are very interesting characters, or at least, they will be, in terms of character developments. I'm not going into any more details here though, because when I get started on spoilers I just can't stop!

The next chapter, by the way, is about Blake. I haven't actually written that bit, I'll be honest, because the original plan was that I would put the Blake bits in a separate story. That story is still in the making as well, it focuses on Blake's past. If the Blake chapter is not finished by 1st April 2012, I will ignore it and put it in the Blake's past story instead.