Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
It's a bright clear morning in Pallet Town with barely a cloud in the sky as a young boy, 10-year-old John Russi makes his way to Professor Oak's Lab to receive his first Pokemon. Having turned 10 in the past fall, he is now old enough to become a Pokemon trainer. However, it is now past 8 and he had slept in. It takes John longer to reach the Professor's lab than normal as John fails to tie his shoes in his rush to reach his location thus resulting in him tripping from stepping on the loose shoelaces. John gasps from shock as he loses his footing but quickly catches himself by grabbing onto a nearby wooden fence placed near the dirt road. After saving himself from a scraped knee and regaining his footing, John corrects his earlier mistake and ties his shoes before continuing on his run.
Once in front of the lab, John kneels over, hands on his knees as he takes a moment to catch his breath and swallows. A man wearing a lab coat with a green undershirt steps out of the double wooden doors and sees John.
"Ah, you must be John. The Professor is waiting for you. Do you need some water? You look like you have been running a marathon." the lab aid said as he approached John.
"Yeah, I can use a bit of water. Sorry for keeping the Professor waiting. My alarm didn't go off for some reason." John panted.
"Well now let's not keep the Professor and the other new trainer waiting." the lab aid said as he turned around and led John inside with the young boy following him.
"Other new trainer?" John asks as they enter the large building and is handed a paper cup filled with water from a water cooler near the entrance. John's eyes widen as he realizes who this other trainer is. "Oh no, don't tell me Flash is here already?"
"Well the Professor did give you both a time to be here." the aide remarked. John follows the aid through the building, finishing his water before tossing the used paper cup into a conveniently placed waste bin.
They soon reach Professor Samuel Oak's main study. A two-story room with nice comfy furniture, a healing station for Pokemon, a computer with a Pokeball transporter, a small TV, shelves upon shelves of books, a loft area that looks down onto the main floor of the room, and large windows that overlook the acres upon acres of pasture behind the lab were trainer owned Pokemon roam when they are not with their Trainers, traveling. Near the window, John spots the old Pokemon Professor along with another boy who is the same age as himself. With his black hair combed back, wearing faded blue jeans, track shoes, and a red shirt with an above profile picture of a Spinarack dead center of his shirt sitting on a black web. This is the other new trainer that John and the aide spoke of.
"About time you got here dork! Any longer and I was about to hunt you down myself and give you a pink belly!" Flash scoffs as John walks over to the pair after the lab assistant excuses himself and leaves the room.
"My alarm didn't go off! Give me a break Eugene!" John yelled back.
"What did you call me?! I told you my name is Flash now! Get it wrong again and I'll really give you a "break" you loser!" Flash yells as he holds up a fist before Professor Oak gets in between the two boys.
"Now, now boys. This is no place for a schoolyard fight. Regardless of whether John was late or not. Today is an important day as you both are about to take your first steps on a grand adventure!" Professor Oak said as he put his hands up to calm down the situation.
"If I'm late, how come Flash is still here?" John asks as he looks around the old man and at his Rival.
"Well, Flash was nice enough to wait for you and let you have the first pick." Professor Oak answers. Flash just crosses his arms and scoffs.
"I have other reasons rather than being nice and patient," Flash says earning a glare from John.
"Either way, it is now time for you two young men to pick your starter Pokemon." Professor Oak jesters to the table next to them. There sitting on top is a trio of Pokeballs. Each one has a sign that declares which Pokemon is in each ball. "I have three Pokemon for you to choose from today. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Both of you can only choose one. So John which shall it be?" John steps forward, his gaze going from Pokeball to Pokeball as he thinks long and hard until he nods.
"My starter Pokemon will be Charmander!" He announces as he reaches forward and picks up the middle Pokeball. John then releases the Pokemon inside as the Chamander appears and materializes in front of him. The Charmander looks up at John and lets out a happy "Charmander!" before leaping up into the boy's arms and gently nuzzles John's chest. John laughs at the Pokemon's effectiveness. "I think I'll call you Blaze."
"Oh please go get a room!" Flash gags as he walks up next to John and reaches for the Pokeball on the right. "Since you are going with Charmander. I'm gonna go with Squirtle!" Flash smirks as he releases his new Pokemon. The tiny Pokemon appears in front of him on the table, with his arms crossed.
"Hey John, how about we go outside and have a battle? I wanna see how well my Pokemon can kick your Pokemon's butt!" Flash said as he gave John a side-eye glance but adds in. "No wager. There's no point seeing that I'm going to win!"
"You're on but you are going to lose," John says as he pumps a fist with his right arm while holding his Charmander in his left. The two boys and the Professor head out back behind the lab but not too far into a grassy area, with John carrying his Charmander while Squirtle follows Flash.
"Dude you're going to need a kick-butt name. Like Hydro!" Flash declares. The Squirtle lets out a cry as he pumps his little fist in the air.
The two boys break away from each other pacing about an 80-foot distance between each other as Flash's Squirtle stands confidently in front of his trainer all the while John sets down his Charmander.
"Go, Blaze, charge in and use scratch!" John Orders as he points towards Flash and his Pokemon.
"Ha meet it head-on and use Tail Whip, Hydro!" Flash says as he grins confidently.
The two Pokemon rush towards each other with the Charmander being the faster of the two. Blaze Reaches the Squirtle first as he raises an arm up and scratches the turtle Pokemon. Hydro grunts as he takes the damage and rapidly wags his tail. Blaze looks taken back as his defenses drop.
"Keep going, Blaze! Use scratch again!" calls out John as he gives the order.
"Use tail whip again!" Flash ordered. His smirk does not leave his face.
Blaze quickly swipes at Hydro. Causing little damage to the Water type while once again the Squirtle wags his tail. With a repeat command of their trainers' orders Blaze once again scratches Hydro this time causing more damage to the Squirtle as Hydro once again wags his tail. Hydro at the moment is looking a little stagger and scratched up.
"That's it, buddy! Use scartch!" John happily commands.
"Time to mix it up! Use tackle!" Flash orders as he throws a fist forward.
Blaze moving faster than his opponent swings one of his arms at Hydro and once again landing his attack, scratching the Squirtle's underbelly, not doing as much damage as before. Hydro not looking so good, strikes back as he tackles the fire lizard. Knocking him back about 2 meters.
John's eyes widen as the Tackle attack has done more damage than he thought it would. "Uh oh, quick Blaze get back in and use growl!"
"Go Hydro use Tackle once again!" Flash calls out.
Blaze gets up and quickly closes the gap between him and Hydro. Growling at him, making the turtle wince and lowering his attack. However Hydro responded by once again tackling against the Charmander, pushing him back to where he was just seconds ago, dealing a huge amount of damage as Blaze is not doing good.
"Oh no this is starting to get bad. Quick Blaze use scratch!" John said as he points at Hydro.
"Finish the lizard off with one more tackle attack!" Flash orders.
Blaze quickly gets up and quickly rushes towards Hydro, before Hydro can connect with his tackle attack. Blaze scratches the Squirtle's face. Causing a deep cut on Hydro's cheek as blood splatters across the Charmander's tiny claws. Blaze looks shocked as Hydro falls to his side, knocked out and injured. Blaze wanted to win for his new trainer but didn't mean to cause such an injury to his foe. Flash now looking mad, recalls Hydro back into his Pokeball.
"You got lucky this time dork! Your Charmander only won by the skin of its teeth!" Flash growls as he glares at John.
"Now now Flash. John won fair and squire. Now how about we get both of your Pokemon healed up?" Professor Oak says as John recalls Blaze back into his ball as both boys nod in agreement. They follow the Professor back into the lab where he places both Pokeballs into the healer machine. The boys only had to wait 30 minutes for their Pokemon to heal. For John, Blaze is fully healed and his Pokeball is returned to him but for Flash, he has to wait longer as Professor Oak calls Hydro out and starts treating the cut on the Squirtle's face.
"This might take a while. You may leave if you want to John, but make sure you talk to one of my aids before you go." Professor Oak says as he works with a Pokemon first aid kit.
John looks over at Flash who only glares back at him, acting more like a sore loser. "Yeah, I think I'm just gonna go now," John said as he places Blaze's ball onto his Pokeball belt.
"The next time we battle John, things will be different!" Flash says angrily as John walks out of the room. As John heads towards the front double doors he meets up with the same aid that he met earlier.
"Off on to your Pokemon journey now?" the aid asks.
"Yes but the Professor said I needed to meet up with one of you guys first?" said John.
"Ah yes! Professor Oak will be sponsoring you as a Trainer if you are planning on competing in any of the Pokemon leagues like the one here in Kanto." The lab assistant said as he started to dig into his pocket, looking for something.
"Are you kidding?! Of course, I'm going to compete! Leagues, tournaments, I'm going to take them on and grow stronger and stronger!" John announces as he raises a fist in front of him.
"Then you are going to need this." the aide said as he pulls out an envelope with John's name marked on it. He gives the envelope to John who tears it open and pulls out a debt card of sorts with his name on it. "As being sponsored by Professor Oak you will be getting 300 Poke a week for starters but you can only use this card on essentials to your trainer career. Basic food, healing items, and Pokeballs."
"I understand. Thank you and please tell the Professor that I said thank you as well" John says as he shakes the older man's hand.
"I will, and be safe out there." the aide said, smiling as he watches John rushes out the door.
Two hours later John has left Pallet Town and is walking down Route 1. He stops before he pulls out Blaze's Pokeball and calls out the Charmander. Blaze looks around looking confused before he looks up at his trainer, tilting his head as he gives out a "Char?".
"You did good earlier this morning buddy but we need to get stronger and better. Come on let's do some training!" John said as he bent down and pumped both fists. Blaze cries out a happy "Charmander char!" as he jumps up and down. For an hour John takes the time to train Blaze. Giving him a little experience and some inspired training. John even works on bettering Blaze's perception by surveying the area around them. Once their training ends John's stomach growls as does Blaze's. John reaches into his bag and pulls out a turkey sandwich for himself and an apple for his Charmander as they sit down and eat a small lunch. With a Happy "Char!" Blaze bites down on the apple and enjoys its sweet and tart juices.
"When we get into town we should stock up on food for the both of us that can last us for a while," John said as he took a bite of his sandwich.
"Char char!" Blaze cries out as he enjoys his apple. John has no idea if the Charmander understands what he means or if he is even agreeing with him.
As their quick meal ends. John quickly stands up as he hears something and looks around. In the nearby tall grass, John spots a female Rattata scampering about, her nose twitching as the normal type Pokemon can smell the food that John and Blaze were just eating.
"Alright! Time to test our skills! Go Blaze! Engage that Rattata and use scratch!" John says as he points at the rat Pokemon.
Blaze gently puts down his apple core before he rushes up onto the Rattata. He raises his tiny claws to strike down on the wild Rattata but his aim goes wild and misses. Blaze almost trips himself but quickly regains his balance by spinning on one hind foot, bringing himself back to face his new opponent. The Rattata however notices the Charmander attacking her as he misses. She turns her whole body towards him, Rearing back before she launches herself towards him in a tackle attack that results in Blaze taking a massive hit and knocking him back 2 meters and almost over a meter-high edge. Blaze was able to stop his roll from going over the edge which would have caused more damage.
"Get on its flank and use scratch again!" John ordered, learning from his match with Flash that maybe going head first is not a good idea.
Blaze nodes as he gets up and dashes to his right and rushes up on the Rat's left flank. The Charmander raises his claw to strike down on the wild Pokemon but only to miss again as the Rattata ducks below his swing. The Rattata once again tackles the Charmander. Knocking him back however this time as Blaze lands in the tall grass he hits a hidden small rock and injures his left arm as the Charmander cries out in pain. John however notices that Blaze is not looking so good as he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a potion and runs out to the Charmander that is 5 meters away from him and applies the medicine, healing his starter to near full health.
"You can do this Blaze, show that Rattata who the boss is with Growl," John says encouraging Blaze.
Blaze gets up and quickly closes the gap between him and the wild Pokemon. Growling at her and making her wince in fear but the Rattata response by wagging her tail at him, lowering the Charmander's own defense.
"Now use Scratch!" John yells out.
Blaze raises his right arm as his left hangs limply with a large bruise forming. His claws strike true, scratching the wild normal type across the face. She cries out but she quickly counters by tackling Blaze again. The Charmander is sent rolling back and landing next to John and twisting his right ankle. As Blaze moans in pain, John glares at the Rattata for injuring his Pokemon two times now.
"That's it! I had it!" John yells as he reaches into his bag and pulls out a Pokeball.
"This ends now! Pokeball go!" John yells out as he throws the Pokeball at the wild Pokemon. The Pokeball nails the Rattata on her forehead and is sucked in. The capture light on the ball flashes yellow as it twitches to the left. And again as it twitched to the right. And once more as it rocks forward. The ball stops twitching as the light turns green and clicks. John has caught his first Pokemon.
"Yeah, I just caught a Rattata!" John yells as he runs over to the Pokeball and picks it up before clipping it to his belt. Blaze whimpers in pain but nonetheless he raises a forepaw up into the air as he gives a pained but happy "Mander.". John remembering his little buddy's injuries walks over to Blaze and gently picks him up.
"You fought hard today buddy. Don't worry I'll get us to the next town and get you healed up quick" John says as he starts to make his way northward towards Viridian City with the Charmander in his arms. By the time he can see the City's skyline the sun is starting to arch down. As he makes his way towards his destination, it is only one small step on John's journey for he will have many adventures, meet many great friends, see fantastic places, face off against evil foes, and find amazing creatures beyond his imagination as the journey continues.