Chapter 1
"C'mon Harrison," a young boy shouted. "You can do it!"
Fourteen year old Max Harding stood out in the middle of a forest. Wearing his traditional red shirt and jeans, he was looking at the makeshift battlefield that was in front of him. Harrison was a bulbasaur, a young one too evident by his height. Across from the bulbasaur was a weedle, the pokémon's opponent. The weedle almost seemed to be laughing at Harrison.
"Harrison, make sure you dodge the next poison sting attack alright!" Max watched as the bulbasaur gave a nod in confirmation. The enemy weedle's stinger began to glow a dull purple colour. The weedle let out a cry as a flurry of purple, needle-like blasts left its stinger. Harrison timed the approaching attack, and dodged to the left just in time. The bulbasaur then ran at the weedle, its stumpy legs pushing the bulb pokémon as fast as it could. The weedle shot out a string shot attack, striking Harrison in the face. The bulbasaur stumbled over his front legs, slamming into the ground. The weedle seemed to laugh at Harrison while the grass type tried to remove the string that covered its face.
"Harrison, calm down," Max said, watching his pokémon start to stress out. "Listen to me. Use your vine whip attack when I say." Harrison gave a grumble in reply as he relaxed. Two long green vines emerged from the bulb on his back. The vines moved around slowly as Harrison waited for Max's command. Max watched the weedle, trying to figure out what its next move would be. The bug-poison type pokémon then let out a small growl, as it charged up another poison sting attack.
"Harrison!" Max shouted instantly. "Use your vine whip to your left!" As soon as the words left Max's mouth, Harrison reacted. The two vines rocketed towards weedle's location. The weedle's eyes widened as the two vines struck the pokémon directly in its large, red nose. The weedle recoiled in pain and Max smiled.
"Good job Harrison," Max said. "I'll take over from here." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out an empty red and white pokéball. Max smiled and threw the pokéball at the weedle. The ball hit the bug and it disappeared in a flash of white light. The pokéball fell to the ground and started to shake. After a brief moment, a ding emerged from the device, signalling the capture of the pokémon.
"Yes!" Max shouted. "We did it Harrison."
"Bulb, bulbasaur," replied Harrison. Max walked over to the grass type and pulled the rest of the string off of his face. The pokémon was pleased, having regained the ability to see again.
"You did good buddy," Max said. "Now, let's go tell old man Jones that this weedle won't be eating his plants anymore."
It had been two hours since Max had caught the weedle, and the twelve year old stumbled back into Pallet town. Old man Jones was happy to hear about the weedle, and had even congratulated the young boy on having captured it. Max was glad to be helpful, even though it was an hour walk home. Pallet town was as busy as it normally was which really wasn't that busy at all. A few of the elderly walked through the paved streets, strolling with their partner or pokémon. Max walked through the main street of town, smiling as he and Harrison passed by several of the town citizens. He nodded to a few and said hello to others, each one replying with a greeting in turn. As he made his way through, he finally reached the end of the main street. Unlike many of the other buildings that surrounded several of the paved streets, the building at the end was the size of at least two houses. A large windmill was spinning slowly in the backyard, and several pidgeys sat on the roof of the building.
'I wonder if professor Oak has finished working on that new device,' thought Max as he walked up to the door of the building, recalling Harrison as he did so. He walked in, and was instantly greeted by the sound of shouting. A young boy, about a year younger than Max, was arguing with an old man. The boy was short, but only a little shorter than Max, but his spiked up hair made him appear taller. The boy had a faded purple sweater and jeans that seemed to not suit his personality. The older man also wore a sweater, though it was brown. Over the top of it was a white lab coat. The argument between the two seemed to only be getting worse.
"Gary, my word is final. You will not be joining the league tournament!"
"Why not grandpa? My dad left Pallet when he was ten! I'm twelve now, already two years older than what he was when he first started. So how come I can't go! I've already got Salvador to battle with, and I caught Vance by myself too!"
"Gary, while you may currently be competent enough to catch a pidgey, the league tournament should not be underestimated. Even though they handicap themselves by using pokémon at your skill level, they battle for real. If your pokémon cannot keep up, they can die Gary. While your father was never around to tell you, his first gym battle was not a good one."
"Just because my father had trouble with his first gym battle, doesn't mean I will!"
"Gary please, I…" Professor Oak turned to Max, only just noticing his presence. He sighed and adjusted the collar of the brown sweater around his neck. "Ah, Max. Welcome back. I take it Mr Jones was glad to be rid of that pest?"
"Don't speak too loudly," Max said, pulling out a pokéball. Then, with a smile he said, "He might hear you!"
"You caught it too?" Oak appeared to be a bit surprised by the revelation. Max and Harrison only smiled at the old man in return. Professor Oak sighed as he looked back at his grandson. "Look, Gary, I will need to think about what you wish to do. A journey isn't something to just instantly decide on."
"I know grandpa," Gary said. "But this is something I really want to do! I'm strong enough to do it as well. I bet I could even beat Max now!" Max looked at Gary, curious about his last statement.
"Are you sure about that Gary? Do you not remember our first battle? Where I beat you?"
"One win does not make you better than me. If you want to keep talking big, then let's battle right now."
"Now, now, hold on a minute you two." Professor Oak stepped forward, in between the two as they seemed to let the conversation heat into an argument. "You two can save your arguments for another time. Gary, I'm ending our current argument too. I do not give you permission to enter the league challenge."
Gary glared down his grandfather, hoping the old man would break. When the boy realised how stern Oak was, he sighed and stormed out of the building, slamming the door behind him. Professor Oak sighed and turned to Max.
"I'm sorry that you had to see that," Oak said in an apologetic tone. "He's wanted to join the league challenge for quite some time now but he doesn't get how dangerous it is…"
"While that could be true professor," Max said with a smile. "There's no better way to learn than to witness the experience. Even just traveling to Viridian city like I do is dangerous for the team I have. Even the weedle that I caught earlier could be dangerous. But he needs to learn."
"Yes well… I'm still not so sure about the idea. You have been training with Harrison and Bella for about eight months now. He's only been with Salvador for two months, and only one with Vance. In a couple of months I might be more eager to let him go out."
"If that's what you want Oak, I'm not going to argue. Anyways, I fixed old man Jones' weedle problem," said Max while pulling a pokéball out from his pocket, opening the device at the same time. The weedle that he caught earlier emerged, looking around curiously at its surroundings. Once the weedle was happy that he was safe, he crawled over to Max and climbed up the side of his body, resting on his right shoulder.
"Ah, what a fine weedle that is!" Oak approached the bug type to get a better look at it. The weedle seemed to be smiling as Oak inspected it. "Was it an easy catch? You haven't had to catch a pokémon in quite some time."
"It was tricky, but Harrison and I managed to deal with it fairly easily. We're a pretty good team."
"That's good then," Oak said with a chuckle. "Does he, or she, have a name?"
"It's a he," Max said. "And I was thinking Steven would be a good name." The weedle seemed to like the name, evident by its apparent smile and head bobbing.
"Looks like its Steven," Oak said smiling. "Now, I'll take it you want another errand at some point?"
"Yeah, whenever is easiest for you professor," said Max as he petted Steven. "I'm not fussed as long as I can help out."
"Well, I can give you an errand now. Mrs Gardner has-"
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
The female voice that now entered the room caught both the professor and Max by surprise. The two watched as a girl, who looked to be a year older than Max, raced up to the professor.
"Daisy, what are you doing here?"
"Grandpa, its Gary! He's packed up all of his stuff and is about to leave! I tried to stop him, but he just ignored me! I didn't know what to do."
"It's okay darling, stay here." The professor turned to Max, "Max could you come with me? I feel like I'm going to need your help here."
Max recalled Steven and attached the pokéball to his belt. "Can do professor, let's go."
Max and the professor found Gary at the edge of the town. He had all his things packed and was speaking to Salvador, his charmander, about what his plan was. The professor was not happy when he got there.
"Gary Richard Oak, get here this instance!" The professor stopped about ten metres away from him, waiting to see what the boy would do. Max was behind the professor, watching curiously from behind, trying to figure out what Gary was hoping to achieve.
"I'm not coming back grandpa," Gary said with confidence. The charmander by his side seemed to back up his statement, letting out a 'char' in reply.
"Come back now Gary, and I'll forgive you. Just wait a couple more months and I'll let you go. But not now, it's too-"
"You don't get to decide anymore grandpa," Gary said. "Smell ya later."
Max had had enough. He moved forward, bridging the gap between Gary and Oak. "Gary. Stop. I have a proposition for you."
The boy stopped as Max spoke. He turned around, nodding his head to hear his proposal.
"Battle me in a two on two battle. If you win, fine, you can leave. But if you lose, you go home. Deal?"
Gary looked at Max for a good ten seconds, obviously thinking about his choices. Max waited for the answer, unsure of what the boy was going to do.
"You're on," Gary said. He stepped back towards Max, grabbing a pokéball on his belt. He threw it towards the field between himself and Max, and a pidgey appeared, the brown bird giving a small chirp as it appeared. Max smiled and grabbed a pokéball from his own belt. He threw it towards the field too, and his own pidgey appeared. Max's pidgey was slightly different where the feathers on his head were slightly smaller.
"Vance, get in there with a quick attack," Gary shouted, starting the match off instantly. His pidgey soared towards Max's pidgey, a white streak following Vance.
"Bella, use your quick attack to dodge it!" Max's pidgey soared straight up, Vance barely missing Bella from underneath. "Turn around and strike with a gust!"
Bella reacted quickly to Max's command, turning mid-air. She flapped her wings rapidly, sending small blasts of air at Vance. Gary was stunned, unsure of what command to give Vance, as his pidgey fell to the ground from the gust. Vance went to get up but was weak
"Now Bella, get in there with your quick attack again!" Bella soared straight for Vance. The male pidgey's eyes widened as it was struck hard. Vance rolled along the dirt, kicking up dust as he did. He came to a stop but couldn't get back up. Gary groaned and recalled Vance, sighing at his first loss.
"You did alright buddy," Gary said. "Salvador, let's go." The charmander at Gary's feet ran out to the field, firing an ember into the air to show its eagerness.
"Alright Bella, catch a break girl," Max said, recalling his pidgey. He grabbed another pokéball and threw it. "Harrison, let's do this buddy!" From the pokéball, Max's bulbasaur emerged. Harrison gave a nod and smile to Max as he emerged. His attention was then diverted to Salvador, who was busily eyeing him down.
"You may have won the type disadvantage last time," Gary said. "But it won't happen again. Salvador, ember attack!"
"It will still be the same outcome," Max said. "Get a leech seed onto Salvador, Harrison." Harrison focused as a small ball of fire came rushing towards the bulbasaur. Harrison dived to the seed, following up in a quick motion the firing of a seed from his bulb. The bulb struck Salvador directly in the chest, where roots emerged from it and grabbed on to Salvador, draining the fire types health, and letting Harrison gain health back.
"Salvador, burn the seed off and then hit that bulbasaur with a scratch attack!" Salvador spat a ball of fire at the seed that burnt it off almost instantly. The charmander then charged at Harrison, with his claws glowing a bright white colour. Harrison took the attack to the face, but pushed back at Salvador to gain some space.
"Grab him with your vines Harrison," Max said quickly. A vine shot out from Harrison's bulb and grabbed Salvador by the leg, lifting the fire type up into the air. "Now throw him!"
At Max's command, Salvador went flying, getting slammed into a nearby tree. The fire type pokémon was beginning to get weak, Harrison having gained the advantage from the short time the leech seed was planted on Salvador. The charmander crawled back to the field, ready to fight again. However, Gary looked at the scene and sighed.
"Alright then, Salvador, create a smokescreen!" The charmander nodded and then released a thick, black smoke from his mouth, reducing the sight of both Harrison and Max. Oak couldn't see either, eyeing the smoke to try and see where Gary was. "Now, full power with another ember!"
Out of nowhere, a large fire ball erupted from the smoke, striking Harrison dead on. The bulbasaur fell to one knee, scorch marks appearing over his body. Harrison let out a few quiet cries of pain, before turning to the smoke to see where Salvador was.
"Where is he…?" Max muttered, looking through the smoke. Professor Oak was wondering the same thing as he watched it. No sound came through the smoke, nor did any sign of movement. Max was thinking that something couldn't have been right. The smoke was still lingering but it was fading away. When the smoke cleared, Max's eyes widened.
Gary was gone.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him professor," Max said, as he and Oak sat at a table in the lab. Max was drinking a bottle of water while the professor was drinking a cup of tea. Oak seemed to be only slightly stressed out surprisingly. He took another sip of his drink then set the cup on the table.
"Don't worry about it Max," Oak said. "I probably wouldn't have been able to keep him here for long afterwards anyways. He's too similar to how his father was when he was younger."
"I'm sure he'll be fine anyways," Max said, finishing off his water. He put the lid back on and stood up. "Besides, I'm going to go keep an eye on him."
"What? Max, what do you mean?"
"I've wanted to join the league challenge too for some time now, but could never get the motivation to get up and go. At least now, I have something else to do while I travel. I'll go participate in the challenge, and I'll look after Gary for you."
"Really? Thankyou Max, really, thankyou."
"Professor, you introduced me to the world of pokémon. The least I can do is return the favour by looking out for your grandson."
"Thankyou Max," Oak said smiling. His face turned from one of stress to relief. "Is there anything I can do to help you get started?"
"Yeah, I'll need a few pokéballs, potions and antidotes and stuff. Basic medicine really."
"Alright, well I'll get all of that sorted for you Max," Oak said. "Shall we say meet back here tomorrow at ten?"
"Sounds good professor," Max said getting up and heading for the door. "Don't worry professor, Gary will be fine."
Professor Oak smiled as Max left, but the smile disappeared once the boy had gone. Oak rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"What have you done Gary…"
A/N: Well, here is the rewritten version of chapter one. What I first put out was a horrible first chapter. I am much happier with this one. Leave a review if you guys would like anyways. They help me out with knowing if I'm doing anything wrong or not. Anyways, my nuzlocke catches were edited in story for story purposes only. The actual catches that were seen in this chapter are here below:
Harrison, Bulbasaur, lvl 5, Pallet Town
Bella, Pidgey, lvl 3, Route 1
Steven, Weedle, lvl 4, Viridian Forest