Memoirs of a Pokémon Master 2002
Chapter 2 - Arrival
By Mega Raichu
The sun was still high and the air was still warm as Alexia and I combed the beach, trying to find whatever of our gear was left after ship sank. As luck would have it, I found my bag, but all that was inside was my trusty skateboard, one power cell, and my Swiss Army knife. Alexia was not so lucky. She had found her bag, but that was in it was a single pokéball and her PDA, both ruined and beyond repair. Once our things were collected, we walked with Prof. Elm to his lab in New Bark Town.
New Bark wasn't much of a town, just a few buildings and houses. No Pokémon Center or market was visible. But Prof. Elm led us to his lab where he had a Pokémon rejuvinator. We let our Raichus rest on it and get recharged. The professor then started rummaging through his things. While he rummaged, Alexia was still fuming.
"Oooh. Team Rocket is so buying me a new PDA." She said in an angry tone of voice.
"Hey don't worry about it. I'll buy you a new one after we're done with this, okay?" I said, trying to console her.
Alexia smiled.
"Well I guess I can settle with kicking their butts." She said with a smile.
I returned her smile. Then Prof. Elm turned around and walked towards us holding a pair of PokéDex's and an odd looking device.
"Our researchers have been working around the clock to update our PokéDex's with as much data on the newly discovered Pokémon as possible. And now it's up to you trainers to go out and find all these new Pokémon." He said as he handed the PokéDex's to us.
I took mine and inspected it. It was the same as the one I had previously used, only now it had more data in it. I keyed in my personal data as Alexia did the same on hers. Once we were done, Prof. Elm then held up a strange looking device. It looked like a cell phone with a wrist strap.
"This is what I call the PokéGear." He said as he demonstrated it's functions. "It's a map, a radio, and a cell phone all in one. It will store several phone numbers for you so that you can call home or here if you need to. I've already programmed in my phone number. This way, you are never out of reach."
Alexia took the Gear. Just then, the bell on the rejuvinator sounded and our two Raichus hopped off of it and came over to us. Prof. Elm looked down at them.
"You've only brought these two Pokémon with you?" He asked.
"That's right. We don't go anywhere without our Raichus." I said.
Alexia nodded in agreement. Prof. Elm stood in thought for a moment.
"Well, since this is a special case, I suppose that the Johto League will allow it, but I still have to issue you some official Pokémon starters." He said and motioned to a nearby table that held three Pokéballs.
Each ball was seated above a small monitor that displayed the picture, name, and type of the Pokémon they held. The first one held what looks like a small green creature with a large leaf sticking out of it's head. It's type was grass and was named Chickorita. The second held a small mouse with flames on its back. It's type was fire and was named Cyndaquil. The third held a blue crocodile-like creature. It's type was water and was named Totodile.
"You may each choose one." Prof. Elm said.
I let Alexia go first and she immediately chose Chickorita. She let the small grass Pokémon out of it's ball and she immediately hugged it, loving it at first sight. Chickorita felt the same way and began to let off a pleasant scent from it's large leaf.
"Chickorita will give off different scents depending on it's mood." Prof. Elm explained.
Alexia nodded and continued snuggling the little plant Pokémon. I went over to the table and picked up Cyndaquil's ball.
"You're choosing Cyndaquil?" Alexia asked.
"Yeah. I started with a mouse before, I might as well start with one again." I said as I released the small fire mouse.
The Cyndaquil stood before me, but it's fire had not sprouted from it's back. It leapt up at me and I caught it in a hug as it licked my face.
"I think it likes me." I said with a smile and a laugh.
Alexia laughed too. We each drew our new Pokémon back into their balls and pocketed them. Prof. Elm then produced a dozen new balls and gave them to us. We each took six.
"This will help you to build up your team of Pokémon. As well as the new Pokémon, you will see a lot of Pokémon that you encountered in Kanto." Prof. Elm explained.
He then led us to the path to the next town.
"Cherrygrove City will be your next stop." He said as we walked. "From there you will be able to make your way to Violet City, where the first Gym is. Be careful."
Prof. Elm turned and walked off back to his lab. We were already anxious to get on with our journey and so we headed out onto the path.
As we walked along the path, Alexia fiddled with the PokéGear. She was already entering phone numbers and finding radio stations. She found a good station and let it play as we moved along. Raichu was doing his usual thing as we traveled - he was watching the grass and the bushes for anything that might be moving. Suddenly Raichu dove into the grass. We stopped dead in our tracks when he dove. A pidgey flew out of the grass. I smirked a bit.
"Nice try Raichu, but I don't think a pidgey is what we're looking for." I said with a small laugh.
But Raichu was not finished in the grass. He continued rustling around until an odd looking Pokémon. It looked like a cross between a squirrel and a racoon with a big white circle on it's stomach. I pulled out the Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon.
"Sentret. The scout Pokémon. A very cautious Pokémon, it raises itself up using its tail to get a better view of its surroundings." The PokéDex said.
"Okay Raichu, come back. This one's mine!" I shouted.
Raichu obediently returned to my side as I fished out Cyndaquil's ball. The ball popped open as it hit the ground and Cyndaquil appeared and was ready for battle.
"Since Cyndaquil is a fire type, it must know ember!" I shouted to it.
Cyndaquil responded by sprouting flames on it's back. The flames grew and embers flew off towards the Sentret. The embers made contact and the Sentret howled painfully. The Sentret then launched into a tackle attack at Cyndaquil, but it's attack was too slow and Cyndaquil was able to dodge easily.
"Tackle Cyndaquil!" I shouted.
Cyndaquil took the initiative and slammed into Sentret from behind, sending the other Pokémon tumbling forward. The Sentret then turned and propped itself up on its tail and let out a mean sounding growl. Cyndaquil seemed a little frightened by the growl, but took a few steps forward anyway, seeming to dare the other Pokémon to attack. The Sentret appeared intimidated by this and didn't make a move. I took the initiative here.
"Give it another tackle!" I shouted to Cyndaquil.
Cyndaquil launched forward and made contact with the Sentret, dead on. The Sentret flew back and rolled as it hit the ground. It did not attempt to get up. My Pokéball flew through the air quickly and hit the Sentret and began drawing it in. The ball snapped shut when Sentret was drawn in and fell to the ground. It shook for a few moments and then stopped. I had caught a Sentret!
Night fell as we finally arrived in Cherrygrove. A police officer stopped us as we entered town. He was holding a flashlight and had a Growlithe at his side.
"Halt! Who are you and why are you out so late?" The officer demanded.
I stepped forward to explain the situation.
"We came from New Bark Town and were told we should go through here to get to Violet City so that..." I started, but the officer interrupted me.
"Oh you're Pokémon trainer's eh? Well that's fine, but the road to Violet City is blocked." He said. "There's some thieves hiding in town and... hey you aren't with them are you? Because if you are, you're under arrest!"
I quickly shook my head.
"No no, we're not thieves!" I said quickly. "Honest, we're just trainers trying to get into the Johto League."
The officer took a look at us and nodded.
"Well, I'd better take you back to the station for questioning." He said, and led us off.
We sat around a small table in a drab looking office in the police station. We had explained our situation to him and he was explaining his situation to us.
"Earlier today there was a terrible crash on the road just outside of town. When we went to investigate, there was nothing there, but then Pokémon began disappearing all over town. They even took one of our police Growlithes! Can you believe that?" He explained.
"Uh, did anyone see the thieves?" Alexia asked.
"Yeah. Two young males. One had a raichu." He answered.
Alexia and I looked at each other.
"Team Rocket." We both said at the same time.
"Team who?" The officer asked, obviously confused.
"Team Rocket is a gang of bad trainers from Kanto. They followed us here." I explained.
The officer nodded.
"Well, do you think you could help us catch them?" He asked.
"Sure thing!" I answered enthusiastically. "I've been wanting to get them off my back for some time now!"
"Great. I have a plan then." The officer said.
We leaned in close to hear his plan.
Alexia and her Raichu walked slowly down the dimly lit street. Her gaze was fixed on the ground as she walked along with her hands in her jeans pockets.
"Man, why do we have to be the bait?" She asked herself.
The officer and I were close by, hiding behind a garbage bin.
"Are you sure they'll come out?" He asked me.
"Oh they'll come. They've been after my Raichu for quite some time, and they'll definitely want to get to her to get to me." I replied.
"Okay, so long as you're sure about this."
We stayed quiet and watched. When Alexia reached the end of the street, she turned about and walked back down the street. Suddenly all the streetlights became extremely bright, flooding the street with light. Alexia and her raichu were blinded by the light and didn't see the two figures jump down from out of nowhere in front of her.
"Well well, look at what we have here." One of them said.
"It looks like it's the girl of that annoying kid we've been after." The other said.
Alexia tried to blink her blindness away as they talked. Her raichu was rubbing her eyes.
"That's them!" I said to the officer as I leapt over the bin.
The officer wasted no time in following me.
"Halt in the name of the law!" The officer shouted as he threw his Pokéball, releasing his Growlithe.
The two figures jumped and turned around to see me, my raichu, and the officer running at them. They quickly produced their own Pokéballs. The officer quickly drew his gun.
"You are under arrest!" He shouted.
But the two figures weren't even phased.
"No we're not!" One shouted.
"We're Team Rocket!" The other replied.
"And we're here to get every last Pokémon out of Johto, and we'll begin with these two Raichu's, and maybe your Growlithe!" The first shouted.
That set our Raichu's off. They didn't even wait for the two to send out their Pokémon. They both let loose with their electric attacks on Team Rocket.
"Hey! That wasn't fair!" The first retorted.
"Yeah! You gotta let us release our Pokémon before you attack."
I recognized them as Jared and Jace. All I could do was laugh. But that was enough for them. They realized that they were outnumbered and bolted. We gave chase, with the Growlithe taking point. We turned a corner and quickly skidded to a halt as we came face to face with what looked like a tank with a very short cannon on it's turret.
"We may be outnumbered." Jared's voices came over a loud speaker, "But now we've got you outgunned!"
The turret turned and let off a round. We dived as the ground exploded behind us. Our raichu's let loose with their electric shocks but their attacks were uneffective.
"Ha! Our tank is insulated against electric attacks!" Jared's voice over the loudspeaker came again.
I looked to the officer, and he and he nodded. I grabbed for Cyndaquil's ball with one hand and a pile of newspapers with my other hand. I threw the papers over what seemed to be a viewport on the tank and released Cyndaquil.
"Cyndaquil! Use ember on the newspapers!" I shouted.
Cyndaquil obeyed and used it's ember attack to get the newspapers to flare up. Fire clouded the viewport on the tank and the turret began to turn and the cannon fired wildly. The officer then called a command his Growlithe. The Growlithe jumped in front of the tank and opened it's mouth and a stream of fire issued forth and engulfed the tank. The metal on the tank grew red and then the top of the tank exploded and the Jared and Jace flew out with a long loud cry "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
Alexia, the officer, and I watched them fly off into the night sky.
"They seem to do that a lot." She remarked.
"Must be their calling card." I remarked.
We laughed as we made our way back to the police station. The officer was kind enough to put us up in an empty cell for the night, which he furnished with a couple of comfortable mattresses. We slept comfortably and the next morning, we headed out towards Violet City.