A young man enters the laboratory and smirks as he spots the pokeball with his chosen trade. Professor Oak smiles softly and greets the youth. Most people will start their journeys at ten but this young man waited for six years. He towers over everyone else in the building and dark hair shadows his face. He is dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. His eyes glint when the light hits them and shows their dull grey color.
"Greetings young william! Have you decided upon your pokemon partner for your journey?" professor Oak asks warmly.
"Yup. I'm taking charmander." William rumbles.
The aged man smiles and hands the correct pokeball to william. The young giant smirks and twists to face someone next to him. The woman is about five foot four and is under oak by a few inches. Oak is under william by a full foot. The young woman smiles and hands William a pokeball as he hands her the one with a charmander. Both people shake hands and release their new pokemon.
Charmander emerges in a flash of light and it cries its name before turning to face its master. Its little fangs gleam in the sunlight that streams through the windows. A small candle-like flame burns at the tip of its tail and the little lizard chirps before rubbing against the leg of its owner.
A flash of light fades to reveal a living candle. Standing a bit shorter than the two foot four charmander and having a flame at the top of its head instead of on a tail. The new pokemon is bone white instead of flame orange like the lizard next to it. Its flame is eerie purple and the color matches its singular right eye. The little pokemon is called litwick.
"Wait. Why did you give your charmander to this young lady? Who is she? Why does she have a litwick?" professor Oak asks with shock flooding his voice.
"Her name is sarah. Her mom gave her a litwick when she heard Sarah was starting her journey today. Sarah doesn't like ghost types but i'm a fan. So we traded. She can't get a starter from you since she's not a native to this region. I get charmander from you then trade her for litwick and everyone wins." William explains.
"Well charmander is a powerful starter and charizard is legendary for its strength. Wouldn't you rather have that than a simple litwick?" professor Oak asks.
"Nah. Charizard is cool and all don't get me wrong. Chandelure is more my style. Ghosts use tactics and effects to win. Charizard might be strong but if you face something stronger than your bones. Chandelure will have a more varied move pool and thus more options in a fight. Fear the smart fighter more than the strong fighter after all." William rumbles.
Professor Oak goes to protest but he closes his mouth. The giant is actually right. Most people just grab a starter that looks cool or that they think will be powerful. This young man is thinking ahead and picking based on his preferred strategies. The pair exit and oak sighs as he grabs another pokemon from the shelf. Contrary to popular belief he does have spares. He is the pokemon professor of this region and thus is responsible for providing starters to the children that come to him. This way they have a nice, well behaved pokemon that will keep them safe out in the big wide world. The old man sighs again before his grandson enters.
William is walking out of pallet town and his new litwick is on his shoulder as he reads on his pokedex.
"Alright. Seems like the first gym is in pewter. To get there we need to head through viridian city then the forest right after that. So. shall we start this journey buddy?" William mumbles before addressing his partner.
"Lit! Litwick!" the living candle chirps.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes since you don't seem unhappy." William replies as he pockets his device.
The pair travel along and Litwick migrates from William's shoulder to sit on top of the duffle bag he is lugging. They encounter a few pidgeys which are quickly defeated with blasts of fire from Litwick's candle flame. They do spot something odd though.
A young boy with a vibrant red cap is dragging a small yellow pokemon that resembles a rat. The rat is wrapped around the middle with rope and is digging its paws into the ground to try and stop the boy from taking it with him. William raises a brow at this and looks at litwick.
"Guess I'm lucky you're pretty chill huh?" william questions.
"Lit lit." Litwick responds with a nod.
The young boy stops dragging his rat and William takes the chance to scan it with his pokedex.
"That's a pikachu? Huh. thought they'd be bigger." William mumbles.
"Lit! Litwick wick!" litwick exclaims as it glares at the tall man.
"What? I've heard about them on the news and they always sound like these huge beasts of power and lightning. Not a dinky yellow rat." The giant defends himself.
Litwick huffs and flares its flame so it towers over the treetops for a moment. William shrugs at this and admits defeat in the size equals strength debate. The pair continue traveling and night soon falls. A decent sized cave is found and after they investigate it. They decide to sleep a few miles away. William is setting up camp and Litwick is standing on his shoulder acting as light.
"Lit lit." litwick mumbles unhappily.
"Oh I'm sorry. Did you want to fight the pissed off steelix in that cave?" William sarcastically asks as he rolls out his sleeping bag.
"Lit lit. wick lit." Litwick responds angrily.
"Don't take that tone with me! You would have been squashed like wet clay and I'd get turned into red mulch." the human responds.
Litwick pouts and William rolls his eyes before stripping to his boxers and climbing into his sleeping bag. Litwick enters its ball and the item is then placed in a hidden pocket in his sleeping bag, and sleep quickly claims the young man.
/
A screech fills the air and William jolts up as Litwick emerges from its ball with its flame flaring in preparation for battle. The screech repeats and the pair look up to see a flock of spearow flying past them above the treetops. William groans as he climbs out of his sleeping bag. The young man packs up his stuff but stays in his boxers as he walks through the woods to a nearby stream. His bag is hung up and Litwick hops onto a rock as the young man removes his boxers and enters the stream till he is waist deep. A rough sound fills the air as William brushes his teeth while using his other hand to scrub off the dirt and grime of the other day. A few spits and mouth rinses follow the brushing and litwick glares at william.
"What?" William asks. His hair drips as he raises it from the water.
Litwick just points at the foam from his toothpaste floating away. The white pokemon gestures angrily and crosses its stubby arms.
"Dude chill. It's biodegradable. Ya know. Fine to toss in nature? Hell. i coulda swallow it if I wanted." William explains.
Litwick looks at the tube by its feet before shyly looking away. William sighs as he exits the stream and wraps a towel around his waist. He sits on a large rock next to litwick.
"It's fine man. I'd rather you get upset that I might be polluting the environment than not giving a shit what happens. That just shows you care." William soothes the pokemon.
Litwick chirps softly before hopping rocks to lay next to William as they sun themselves. William is soon dry and he stands to get some clean clothes before a growl stops him. The young man turns to see a large dog with red fur and a white mane.
'The fuck are you?" william mutters.
"Growlithe. A pokemon known for its fierce loyalty and unwavering bravery. As a fire type they are quite passionate in doing what their trainers tell them too. These traits are what make them popular for the police of Kanto." a mechanical voice chirps.
William looks over to see that Litwick is holding his pokedex and pointing it at the growlithe.
"Those things can talk? Cool. wait. Why is a cop dog all the way out here?" William says this before looking at the pokemon growling at him.
"Freeze! Viridian city police force!" a woman cries out. He bob cuts blue hair sways as she runs out of the forest. Her blue uniform is dark blue while her hair is sky blue.
"The fuck? Why are you rushing outta the woods after I bathed?" William asks.
"You're under arrest for stealing pokemon! Your excuses won't work!" the woman snaps.
"Stealing? Litwick's mine. Traded for him fair and square." William replies.
The woman marches over and grabs the pokedex, ignoring the angry litwick as it growls its name, before reading the identification page. She abruptly blushes and bows to William as he digs in his bag.
"Sorry! I was chasing a pokemon thief and lost him in the woods. Growlithe caught a scent and led me to you. Is there anything I can do to make up for harassing you?" the officer apologizes.
William steps behind a boulder and rustling is heard before he steps out fully clothed. Same clothes as yesterday but his shirt has a skull on the front.
"Could ya tell me where to find some dark, poison, or ghost types? I'm trying to think about what to add to my team but all I can think of are ghastly or zubats." William asks.
"Of course! Three miles west of here is a cave that is full of ghost and dark types. Poison is a bit tricky but I'm pretty sure there's some of those in the viridian forest along with the bugs." the officer offers.
The two look at a map for a little bit and the officer shows William where the spots are that she mentioned. He thanks her and they part ways. Litwick is perched on William's bag as he walks and the young man looks around before looking at his partner.
"I'm not the only one worried about the thief right?" William asks.
Litwick shakes his head and flares his flame. The message is clear. Any attempt to take litwick will be met with pain. William smirks and continues walks as he follows the map. The forest casts shadows over the duo and the sounds of distant pokemon echo around them. A few times there is a rush of movement and William stops to look over at the sight of a group of caterpie scattering through the underbrush. The young man soon shrugs and resumes his walk. If only he paid attention to the fact that the caterpie were going in the opposite direction of him.