Shocking Birds

I ask Bulbasaur as the two of us officially exit the Pallet Town, "Do you want to go back to your Pokeball or do you want to be out?"

Bulbasaur looked at the cloudy sky and grumbled. He pulled out of a vine from his bulb and tapped the button on his Pokeball, which sucked him in. I looked at the cloudy sky and muttered, "In this weather, I would want to be in a Pokeball too."

As I kept walking, my mood increased as it neared noon, the Pallet Forest (or Route 1, as is its official name) has always been nice to me, though the fact that the most dangerous Pokemon living here are the Pineco (known for exploding a lot) probably contributed to that. I have heard stories of trainers fighting clans of Dragonite and even encountering Zapdos itself here, but those are probably rumors. With Professor Oak and his Pokemon in Pallet Town neighboring this route, no dangerous Pokemon would want to come here.

I sighed and continued, careful to walk on the thin walking path and not on the grass nearby. I have seen some kids angering Ratattas by stepping on their burrows hidden in the grass.

A Pidgey landed on my shoulder and I glanced at the bird, it had probably smelt the Pokemon food I had in my bag. I told it, "C'mon, buddy, I am sorry but I can't give you food today, maybe later."

Pidgey let out a sorrowful trill and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, Bulbasaur wouldn't eat that much anyway, he could do photosynthesis.

So, I sighed and said to the bird on my shoulder, "Alright, little guy, I will give you some food but I want something from you too, you heard me?"

Pidgey nodded in ecstasy and a few minutes later, I was sitting on the ground drinking some water while Pidgey ate one of the Razz berries I had. I closed my thermos and asked the Pokemon, "So, you ready to help me?"

Pidgey squawked in agreement and I explained to it, "I am on a journey to become the best Pokemon Trainer in the world, and for that, I need more than one Pokemon. So, do you want to join me on my journey?"

I knew many trainers thought of Pidgies and even their evolved forms, Pigeottoes, as weak, but nobody can say that a Pidgeot is weak. I have heard of Johto's Flying Type expert, Falkner, who has a Pidgeot that can defeat Aurorus (a Rock/Ice Pokemon). After hearing that, how can I not want a Pidgey?

The Pidgey looked at me as if it was somehow judging my worth as a Trainer, and then decided to let out a noise of agreement. I took out an empty Pokeball and opened it to capture the Pidgey, who did not struggle.

As the bird was captured, I said out loud in excitement, "Yes! My first capture!"

It was then I saw a red convertible zoom by me. I looked at the jackass driving on a path like this and saw-

"What the hell, Gary, you could've asked a friend if he needed a lift."

But he was out of my sight by now, so it looked like it was back to walking through the Pallet Forest while trying not to scare the Pineco and anger the rare Fearows. I sighed and picked up my bag.
_

The journey was a bit boring, though I did meet a few friendly Spearows, and man, do they get a bad rep due to the more common and angrier members of their species.

Of course, I did not capture a Spearow or let out Pidgey during this time, because I did not need another Normal/Flying bird Pokemon and also because the two bird species hate each other for some reason. I think it's because a Pidgeot is considered more powerful than a Fearow, but I don't know really.

I let out a yawn, I did not think the Pallet Forest would take so much time to cover, I had left Pallet Town four hours ago. It's a good thing I like walking or else I would have just turned back and gone to Route 21 to Cinnabar Island for my first badge, could've gotten myself a Horsea or Magikarp.

A Pikachu leaped in front of me, seemingly scared of something, it probably scared a Pineco into exploding. I said softly, "A Pikachu, I wonder if I can catch you."

The Pikachu kept running away and I figured I don't need an electric-type Pokemon right now. I sighed but it was then something else happened. A boy my age (Is that Mrs. Ketchum's son?) kept running in the same direction as Pikachu, he looked scared too.

I called out to him, "You okay, friend?!"

The boy looked back at me (Hey, I know his name, it's Ash!) and his eyes widened. Ash called out to me, "Run! Spearows behind you!"

I looked behind me and indeed there were multiple flocks of Spearows and more than a dozen Fearows flying behind me. I quickened my pace as I started jogging and then eventually, running. As I ran beside Ash, I asked, "What did you do, man? The Pokemon don't attack for no reason."

Ash looked back at the Spearows and started running faster, he picked up the Pikachu from the ground into his arms as the little guy couldn't run as fast as us, and turned to speak to me, "Professor Oak gave me Pikachu as my starter."

"Really?"

Ash looked at my impressed face and sighed, he said, "I woke up too late to get another starter, I wanted a Squirtle. Also, this guy just doesn't listen to me."

I dodged a Spearow's beak and said casually, "Well, even if you were early, Gary was there in the Lab since last night and chose Squirtle before anyone."

Ash groaned and complained, "That's so not fair."

"Yeah, Professor Oak did do us a little dirty with that trick."

I continued, "Anyway, how did you anger the flock?"

"Oh, that? Pikachu doesn't like me all that much and tried to shock I but hit a Spearow a little while ago. We have been running for about half an hour now," Ash said as his Pikachu looked back at the Spearows in fear.

I spotted a lake in front of me and said, "Jump in!"

Now, I am not a bad swimmer but I am not exactly as good as, say, Ash or Gary at swimming. So, while I did know that the flock of birds would leave us be when we entered the water, I had to try hard not to drown.

I don't know if it was an hour or ten minutes later when a sudden wave sent Ash, Pikachu and me crashing onto the ground in front of a girl, but all I could do was cough out water as the girl stared at us in shock.

The flock of Spearows and Fearows, who were still following Ash and Pikachu by the way, went over my head as I lay on the ground while the two ran away with the girl's bicycle.

The girl looked at me and asked in shock, "What was that?"

I took in a deep breath and answered, "Ash's Pikachu shocked a Spearow and we had to run away. Thanks for giving him your bike, by the way, I don't know if we could have held up against that flock."

The girl, who had just noticed her bike missing, groaned and said, "That's the second time this month that my bike's been stolen, I will so kill your friend if it's dented in any way."

She helped me stand up and introduced herself, "Name's Misty, by the way."

I smiled at the redhead and said, "Thanks, I am Slate, and that guy was Ash."

Misty rolled her eyes and said, "I figured from your words. Now, let's get to the Pokemon Center. If this 'Ash' is smart, he would've taken my bike to the Viridian City's Center quickly."

I let out a snort and said, "Your bike's probably broken by now. Ash is the clumsiest boy I've ever met, with possibly a single brain cell wasted on anything that's not Pokemon."

Misty groaned.
_

"Ash!"

Misty and I stopped as soon as we saw him standing right at the counter of the Pokemon Center. Ash looked very tense and more than a little nervous, and he also looked as if he had wrestled someone's Machop in the dirt with his torn and dirty clothes. He looked up at me from the ground and I could see some tears in his eyes.

Oh Arceus, he really liked that Pikachu, didn't he?

He sniffled and said to me with a smile, "Hey, Slate, how're you doing?"

Before I could say a word, Misty stepped in front of me angrily and snapped at Ash, "Oh, look at this, you are feeling sad, aren't you? I saw my bike on the way here, how did you even destroy it? Not even the insurance money will get it back in shape!"

I could literally see Ash getting angry as Misty continued her rant so I stepped in between them and said, "Stop this right now, his Pokemon is currently in treatment. We will continue whatever this is later."

Misty sighed and nodded, finally realizing that Ash had been crying before we got here. I patted the other boy on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Ash, Pikachu will be fine."

He nodded and then looked at Misty, Ash said, "Don't worry, I will pay you back with a new bike, I promise!"

Misty huffed and said, "You better", but it was clear she wasn't angry with him anymore.

Realizing that there isn't much for me to do here anymore, I looked at Ash and Misty, and said, "Guess I should get moving now then, since there isn't anything I could do."

Ash and Misty looked at me, a little shocked. I guess they expected me to stay and I would have, but traveling with people, or really anyone, isn't my style. If Ash was a better friend or if I had known him more than I do, I would have settled to be a good friend and stayed back with him, but even now, I could feel the sounds of Pokemon from the Viridian Forest.

Ash nodded a little sadly and said, "Yeah, man, but remember that Pikachu and I will kick your ass at the Indigo League"

"Sure, if you can even manage that", I grinned at him. I gave Ash a fist bump and turned to Misty, I nodded her goodbye and turned. I held back my guilty thoughts, I was leaving a friend behind who could use some familiar company after all, but he had Misty with him.

It's probably alright anyway, he would forget it if I offered him food the next time we met.

I took Bulbasaur's Pokeball in my hand and said, "Guess we should continue our travels. Right, friend?"

The Pokeball shook a little in response.