Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.
("Pokespeech")
Chapter 4: Into The Unknown
- Three Years Later -
Charles stood in front of his bedroom mirror admiring his trainer outfit.
He wore the hat and scarf Flo gave him on his seventh birthday and the black googles Leaf gave him on his forehead.
Charles also wore a dark red felt trench coat. Thick enough to keep out the cold, but light enough to move around in.
"This is it," Charles declared to Benny as the pikachu climbed on his shoulder and got comfortable.
("I know right. I can't believe it,") Benny replied also excited.
The last three years have been productive for the brothers. They have honed their skills as trainers with Charles coming up with a distinctive style of battling. While Benny had learned and perfected almost every possible move to gain the advantage over ground and rock types from Iron Tail to Dig.
They have studied every type of Pokemon types from fire to dark types. Charles even heard of a new fairy type, but it hasn't been studied enough in the Kanto region.
The brothers were more confident of their skills as trainers and today is the day that Charles will receive his starter Pokemon.
Charles has been thinking about which starter he would meet to join his family.
Charmander, a bipedal orange reptile (a fire type), bulbasaur, a green quadruped with a bulb on its back (a grass type) and squirtle a blue bipedal turtle (a water type).
All of them were powerful Pokemon in their own right.
However, Charles decided to let Ash, Gary and Leaf choose first before he chooses the last one. He was sure that whoever was left was more then sufficient to become part of his family.
"You ready to meet our new member," Charles asked Benny on his shoulder.
Benny gave a nod and they left their bedroom.
He headed towards the main lab where he was supposed to meet the others for their Pokemon.
He saw the elderly professor who was sat at his computer finishing his latest report.
"Morning professor," Charles greeted him as he entered the lab.
The professor turned away from his computer to look at the young boy.
"Ah, good morning Charles. Ready to meet your first starter?" he asked.
"Ready as we'll ever be, isn't that right, Benny," Charles stated confidently.
("You've got that right,") Benny said from his shoulder.
"Well, Gary, Ash and Leaf will be arriving any minute now. So please take a seat while I prepare the starters," the professor told him as he walked towards the back room.
Charles took a seat in the waiting area while Benny sat on his lap, both waiting patiently for the others to arrive.
A thought struck Benny.
("Hey, if there are three starters and four trainers, what would happen to the last trainer?") Benny asked looking up at Charles.
"Huh... I don't know. Maybe the professor has prepared another starter or something," Charles answered also confused.
"Maybe one person will get that pikachu we found the other day," Charles joked.
("I hope not, that pikachu was very angry when he was caught") Benny replied humorously.
Charles was about to reply when the lab's door was swung open violently.
"Hey gramps," came the voice of a ten year old Gary wearing a blue shirt and trousers.
"I'm here for my Pokemon," he called out completely ignoring Charles and Benny.
"Must you open the door like that, your going to break it one day and also good morning, Gary" Charles said wearily at the boy's actions.
"The sooner I get my Pokemon, the sooner I can get out of here," Gary declared, ignoring what Charles said.
("Wow, he's extra arrogant today,") Benny quietly said with a sweatdrop.
Suddenly, Charles' eyes were covered up and a feminine voice called out behind him.
"Guess who?" the voice giggled.
"Hmmm... Oh Ash your voice sounds very different this morning," Charles joked with grin.
The mysterious figure uncovered his eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey, that's not funny. I sound nothing like him," the voice said in a false insulted tone.
Charles chuckled lightly and turned to the girl behind him.
"Good morning Leaf," he greeted a ten year old Leaf wearing a white hat, a blue and black vest and a red skirt.
"Morning Charles, have you decided which starter your going to get?" She asked.
"I don't mind, as long as they are happy to travel with me, Benny and Flo," Charles responded in a laidback tone. Leaf seemed to frown a bit when he mentioned that Flo was travelling with him, but it disappeared as fast it appeared.
"Pah... your wasting your time. I'm going for the strongest Pokemon to join my team," Gary said with a smirk.
("Nobody really asked you, Gary,") Benny said with a sigh.
Before Gary could continue, Professor Oak entered the room again.
"Alright, are we all here?" The professor asked.
"Actually, Ash is not here yet. Shouldn't we wait for him," Charles stated with a unsure look.
"Hey, you snooze, you lose. If Ashy boy can't turn up on time then that his fault," Gary said snootily.
"Gary is right," the professor agreed.
("He is?") Benny asked with a deadpan expression.
"Ash has to learn to be on time for these things. Now come through to meet the starter Pokemon." Oak ushered the three soon-to-be trainers into the main lab.
On the table in the middle of the lab sat three pokeballs. The professor took each pokeball and opened them up to reveal three different Pokemon.
The first was a squirtle who stood with his arms crossed and superior smirk on its face.
The second was a bulbasaur who looked around curiously before giving a dopey smile.
The third and last was a charmander who was nervously shaking. When he saw the humans he hid himself behind his tail.
"These are the three starters. Who would like to choose first?" the professor asked.
Gary strode up to the three and inspected each one. He then turned to the squirtle.
"You look tough. I'll choose you," Gary declared.
("Hmph, naturally he would choose the best,") the squirtle arrogantly said before entering his pokeball again.
("Like Trainer, like Pokemon,") Benny dryly remarked from Charles' shoulder.
Charles turned his face to Leaf with a kind smile.
"Ladies first," he said letting Leaf choose before him.
Leaf blushed slightly before walking up to the Pokemon. She turned to the bulbasaur.
"Would you like to come with me?" she asked politely to the grass Pokemon.
The bulbasaur smiled up at her and nodded.
("Sure you seem nice to me,") bulbasaur said in a dreamy voice as Leaf put him is his pokeball.
Charles walked towards the last Pokemon who was still hiding behind his flame tail. He knelt down by his head as Benny jumped onto the table.
"Well looks like you'll be with me then," Charles said gently to the nervous charmander as he lightly stroked the top of his head. The charmander tensed up before purring lightly at Charles stroking.
"This charmander is not used to humans yet, but I bet if anybody can get him out of his shell it'll be you, Charles," Oak told Charles from beside him.
"Huh, of course you'll get the scared Pokemon, Charles," Gary snarked. He then cried out in pain as Leaf stamped on his foot for that comment.
Charmander deflated at what Gary said.
"Now, now don't listen to the boy with the stupid hair," Charles reassured.
"Hey!" Gary retorted while Leaf giggled.
Charles ignored him.
"There's nothing to be nervous. I actually want you to join my family," Charles calmly said still stroking the charmander.
He pointed to Benny who gave him a friendly wave.
"That over there is my brother Benny and you can talk to him about battling, moves and training, isn't that right, Ben," he turned to his brother.
("Yep, there's nothing to be nervous about Charles. He can also understand Pokemon speech,") Benny added to the conversation.
The fire Pokemon lifted his head slowly.
("R-r-r-really?") the charmander asked curiously.
Benny nodded his head. The charmander turned his head towards Charles.
(M-m-may I ask h-h-h-how?") the charmander asked shyly.
For the next ten minutes, Charles and Benny answered the curious Poemon's questions. Slowly the charmander started to get used to humans and by the end of the ten minutes the charmander was talking rapidly about how cool Charles' ability to talk to Pokemon was.
The professor and Leaf were both smiling at seeing the bond between human and Pokemon grow. Gary was waiting impatiently for them to be done, but didn't say anything otherwise Leaf would give a hard kick.
"So would like to join the family?" Charles asked the charmander.
The charmander smiled and jumped into Charles' arms.
("Yes, I'll join you guys,") the charmander joyfully said.
"Great, well if you're going to join, you're going to have a name," Charles said being careful with his lit tail.
Charles thought for a moment before coming up with a name.
"What about Pyro," Charles suggested.
The charmander pondered before a bit before nodding in agreement.
Soon after, the professor gave each of them their extra five pokeballs and their pokedex to record all the Pokemon they see on their journey.
Charles wasted no time to record Benny and starters in his pokedex.
Pikachu: When several of these Pokemon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms.
Squirtle: After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. It powerfully sprays foam from its mouth.
Bulbasaur: A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokemon.
Charmander: This Pokemon obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail.
The professor then bid them farewell and the three trainers left the lab.
A large crowd greeted the three trainers as their exited the lab. There were even cheerleaders waving their pom-poms.
"Did you arrange this Gary?" Leaf asked the brown haired boy.
"What makes you think I'd arranged it. They're here because they wanted to give Pallet Town's best trainer a grand farewell," Gary said snootily.
"Gary, Gary he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!" The cheerleaders suddenly chanted while high kicking and waving their pom-poms.
"Yeah, they wanted to be here," Charles said as he, Leaf and the two Pokemon sweat dropped.
Coming out of the crowd was Flo wearing hiking gear. She was waiting for Charles so they can begin their journey together. She greeted Charles warmly with her usual hug. She then turned to the charmander in his arms.
"Aww he's so cute," she said scratching Pyro under the chin causing him to purr.
"He sure is. Flo meet Pyro my starter Pokemon. Pyro meet Flo she will be travelling with us," Charles introduced the two to each other.
("Hello,") Pyro greeted Flo a bit timidly.
Flo then greeted the other two trainers beside Charles.
"Hello Gary," she turned towards Leaf with a tight smile.
"Leaf," she greeted plainly.
"Florence," Leaf greeted back just as plainly.
Ever since the rhyhorn incident Flo and Leaf have been... well...not hostile, but definitely standoffish when they were around Charles for some reason. What was weird was that Charles has been informed that they were best of friends when he wasn't around. This confused Charles a bit, but thought it wise not to comment.
Flo returned to her cheery nature "You ready to go on our journey, Charles?" she asked. What Charles didn't notice was the slight smirk directed at Leaf when she said that causing Leaf to pout.
"Yep, I just need to see if- wait is that Ash?" Charles started to say before he spotted said boy running towards the lab... in his pyjamas.
Ash was gasping for air as he pushed by the crowd and cheerleaders.
"Ash did you oversleep, again?" Charles asked the exhausted boy.
"I may of smashed my alarm clock," Ash asked sheepishly.
Ash turned towards Gary to ask about his Pokemon. Never to miss an opportunity to brag, Gary decided to say that he's got a Pokemon and Ash doesn't. He then started to addressed the crowd about how he was going to be the greatest Pokemon master.
("Do you ever feel like your just an unimportant side character in someone else's story?") Benny asked.
"Only when I'm around Gary," Charles muttered in reply.
Gary then got into a red car that was nearby with his cheerleaders and they drove away out of Pallet Town.
The crowd quickly dispersed after that.
As Professor Oak led Ash into the lab to get his Pokemon, the three friends left behind were staring in silence at where Gary drove away.
Charles decided to break the silence.
"Where did he-?" baffled by Gary and his car full of cheerleaders.
"I don't know," Flo answered just as confused.
"He's ten years old, right?" Charles asked trying to wrap his head around it.
"Apparently so," Leaf answered this time, equally as confused.
"That must be illegal, right?" Charles asked one more time.
Nobody replied that time.
"Should we call Officer Jenny?"
Charles, Flo, Benny and Pyro stood on the outskirts of Pallet Town.
Leaf left them a while ago on her bike.
She gave Flo a hug and then hugged Charles (which seemed too long for Flo's liking) and wished them good luck on their journey.
The duo had decided to record important events on their travels with photos which they would put in an album.
Their first photo they took was of them and the Pokemon giving big smiles.
It was time for them to leave.
"So this is it," Flo said facing the path leading into the forest.
"Yes, it is. Ready to take the first step?" Charles asked.
Flo nodded in reply and the pair both took the first step of their journey out into the world.
The group had been travelling for a couple of hours now and so far it has been peaceful.
They decided to take a break with Charles and Flo sitting along a small river while Pyro and Benny were busy playing a game of tag.
Charles was idly nibbling on a biscuit when something shiny caught his eye.
He looked at the river and a Pokemon was looking back at him.
The Pokemon was a magikarp, which resembled a goldfish, but significantly bigger and with two long whiskers on either side of gaping face.
Charles had met many magikarp before at the lab, but what caught his eye was that instead of it being orange and yellow, it was gold and white.
"Hello there," Charles greeted the magikarp warmly, also getting Flo's attention.
The magikarp was going to dive down having been caught.
"There's no need to be afraid. Here are you hungry?" Charles assured the Pokemon, before holding out his biscuit.
The magikarp emerged again and took nervous nibbles of it. The Pokemon then gave an eye smile liking the food.
Charles decided to scan the magikarp with his pokedex.
Magikarp: In the distant past, it was somewhat stronger than the horribly weak descendants that exist today.
Charles hummed in annoyance at the 'horribly weak' part before turning back to the Pokemon.
"You know, your so pretty I never seen a magikarp like you," Charles told it petting its scales gently.
("Really?") the magikarp asked shyly in a female voice.
"Really, you're so gorgeous" he answered confidently causing the Pokemon to giggle in delight.
Flo smiled knowingly at the scene. Charles has tendency to pamper Pokemon he finds cute. Usually, they were the small, furry variety like Benny, but he also has a soft spot for ones that may seem too dangerous for the average trainer like gyarados. Charles often forgets his surroundings when he meets a cute Pokemon, because he's too busy cuddling them. He once almost walked into a river, because he was too busy pampering an oddish.
("Here he goes again,") Benny sighed having been a frequent victim and witness of Charles pampering.
("That's something I'm going to have to get used to,") Pyro said sweat dropping at the scene. He too being a victim when they were travelling earlier.
Before Charles could continue his pampering and baby talking they were interrupted by an annoying scratchy voice.
"Hey, that magikarp is mine, back off," the voice said causing the Charles, Flo and Pokemon to turn around.
Standing a few feet away from them was a chubby boy with spiky blond hair, a round face and wearing a red bandana. He looked to be a bit older than them and he had a Pokeball in his right hand.
Charles stood up and went into lecture mode.
"First of all, this magikarp is her own Pokemon you don't own her. Secondly, don't address us like that and thirdly why don't you back off," Charles said slightly annoyed by this boy.
The unknown boy's face turned red in rage.
"How dare you speak back to me, don't you know who I am," the boy shouted.
Flo and Charles glanced at each other in confusion.
"No, sorry," Flo admitted.
The boy became more angry, before adopting a smug smile.
"The name's the amazing Thackeray Bud," he declared with an exaggerated flare.
...
...
...
"Your name is Fat Hairy Butt?" Charles asked in confusion, mishearing his name.
The boy's face raging face returned while Benny burst out laughing.
"IT'S THACKERAY BUD AND I'M THE GREATEST TRAINER EVER AND JUST FOR THAT I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU IN A BATTLE! YOU'RE GOING TO BE SORRY NOW!" he screamed while raving his arms about.
"Well that's attractive," Flo sarcastically said with a smirk as Benny was recovering from his laughing fit.
Thackeray pointed at Charles bodily with his eyes close. "We'll have a 1 on 1 battle and when I win I'm going to be having that gold magikarp. Let me tell you now that I'm not going go easy on you, kepeche,"
"Ok Pyro this is going to be your first battle are you ready,"
Thackeray opened his eyes to see that Charles was talking to his charmander and not paying attention to him.
"HEY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!" Thackeray screamed at Charles again.
"Yes, yes, one moment" Charles called out over his shoulder waving his hand dismissively.
The charmander looked down nervously, but felt his courage build up. He wanted to get stronger and prove to everyone he's not afraid anymore.
("I'm ready,") Pyro told Charles confidently causing his trainer to smile.
Flo with Benny in her arms walked up to Charles.
"Charles are you sure about this?" Flo asked in concern.
("Yeah, this is like your first official battle,") Benny chipped in.
"Hey, why don't we sweeten the deal by giving me the girl when I win. You can keep the stupid looking rat," Thackeray called out from the side.
Flo's and Benny both smiled, but the demonic aura around them held their true thoughts.
"Charles, do me a favour and show that low life, scum no mercy," Flo said sweetly while Benny nodded, agreeing with her.
"Err sure," Charles complied, slightly terrified.
As the two boys stared at each other competitively, the magikarp looked on curious as to who would win.
X
Hope you liked the chapter. A lot has happened in this chapter. Next time would be Charles and Pyro's battle and Team Rocket's attack on the Pokemon Centre. Please leave a review. Thanks.