Even at a height of two feet, a fall still hurts when you land a wooden floor. The young man, who is now flat on his back staring at the ceiling of his room, rubbed the back of his head in a pathetic attempt to ease the throbbing pain. “Damn, that was a hell of a dream” he groaned as he picked himself off the floor. “I don’t know why I told him I was a girl…” He paused as he patted his chest to reassure himself, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Last time I take a nap with the news on” He muttered as the pain dulled.
He glanced at his TV as a distinguished old man continued his lecture. “A world of dreams and adventures awaits!” The audience erupted in applause as the man in a lab coat waved goodbye. “That was renowned Professor Oak concluding his weekly rookie trainer convocation. Stay tuned to POKèMON News Network for an exclusive interview with former Kanto league champion and Vermillion gym leader Gary O-“
“Why do they air this every week?” he asked himself out loud. “He says the same thing over and over again”
“Auggie! I heard a loud thud up there, is everything alright?” yelled an older female voice
“Yeah mom, just getting out of bed.”
“Okay anak. Oh, Lyra stopped by earlier with her Marill, but I told her you were sleeping”
Lyra? What could she want? He thought as he sat down in front of his PC. Let’s see, pmail.com, check inbox…
Make your Metapod harden for hours!
Delete…
Win big $$$ Gamble online at Meowth’s Money Magic Casino!
Delete…
See the lovely lady leaders of Kanto in the nude!!!
…Saved…
Eventually Auggie sorted through his spam and found an email from Lyra. He raised an eyebrow at the subject line:
Important! Please Read!
“Knowing Lyra…” he muttered as he clicked the message.
ADVENTURE!!!
EXCITED!!!
I LOVE POKèMON!!!
-Lyra
…Delete…
“Well, that killed a minute of my life” Auggie shutdown his PC and headed out his room. As he headed down the stairs he overheard his mother talking on the phone. He stopped midway and listened in, but he could hear who it was on the other end.
“Oh really? Just for him?”
…
“No I’m sure he’ll be very happy”
…
“Don’t worry; I had a feeling this day was going to come. Okay I’ll send him over right away”
“Who was that mom?” Auggie asked as he reached the end of the stairs. “Oh that was just Professor Elm.” “What did he want?” “He wants you to come over; he has some important business with you apparently.” Auggie’s mother gave her son a knowing smile at the last part. “Um…alright.”
As Auggie headed out the door his mother called to him from the kitchen. “Be sure to pick wisely!” Auggie couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. He shrugged off his confusion and closed the door behind him.
It was a sunny day in New Bark Town. The Pidgeys were migrating above and the Spinaraks in the forest buzzed loudly. Auggie took a moment to enjoy the scenery.
Professor Elm huh? Haven’t seen him since I dropped out of his Pokèresearch class…I wonder if he’s still mad about that? Lyra was furious; she wouldn’t talk to me for months. At least she got ove-
Auggie’s thoughts were interrupted when a jet of water made contact with his face. “Good shot Marill! You got that Grimer good” Lyra giggled playfully as her Marill hopped in amusement. “Very cute Lyra” Auggie murmured as he wringed out his bandana. “Sorry Slowbro, you looked so out of it I figured I’d wake you up.” Lyra pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Auggie. “Well thanks for that I guess” For a moment Auggie looked at the piece of cloth uncomfortably, but before Lyra could notice he took it and was wiping his face. “Anyway I’d love to stay and be a target for your Marill, but I got an appointment with Elm right now…”
“Oh really? Tell him dinner will be ready at 6 tonight! And that his fiancée will have a very angry Marill waiting for him if he’s late again…” Hearing that last part brought back feelings Auggie thought he buried long ago. “Yeah yeah, I’ll tell him that.” He resumed walking and tossed the handkerchief into the air and dropped it, leaving Lyra scrambling to catch it. “H-Hey! Watch it Mankey!” “Whatever Pokèmaniac…” He said nonchalantly waving his hand. Auggie just kept on walking, not turning back; he didn’t want Lyra to see the saddened expression on his face.
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Auggie stood outside Professor Elm’s lab. He looked to his right and saw his own house not so far away. In fact, he could still make out his mother waving in the living room window. He felt like he’d been walking for hours, yet Elm’s lab was only a half a block away. That’s odd, it feels like after I left Lyra, I was standing in the same spot doing nothing…like I was ‘saving’ my energy or something. He shrugged off his existential train of thought and entered the doors.
No sooner did he take his first step he was greeted by Elm’s assistant Baxter. “Auggie! You made it. Elm’s been fidgeting around nonstop waiting for you to come.”
“It’s only been ten minutes since he called…”
“Yeah, but you know the professor, always has a million thoughts going through his head.”
They shared a laugh as Auggie hung his coat up on the hanger. “Oh by the way, Lyra said to not be late for dinner again.” A deceptive smile hid any negative feelings Auggie had as he said those words. “Man, thanks for the heads up, I really don’t want to be chased around by her Marill again. Anyway Professor Elm’s waiting for you in the back. Don’t forget, choose wisely” Auggie nodded quizzically. That’s the second time I’ve been told that…what’s going on here? He thought as he made his way to the backroom of the lab.
“Auggie my boy! I’m glad you came.” Professor Elm was in the middle of reading some printouts as Auggie entered the room. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Lyra made me take a quick shower courtesy of her Marill.” Elm snickered aloud as he put the printouts away. “She’ll never forgive you for dropping my class...”
“Er…yeah…sorry about that again” Auggie’s shoulders slumped as he looked away in slight shame. “Now now that’s all water under the bridge, I had a feeling PokèResearch wasn’t the path for you anyway.” Before Auggie can question his former mentor’s words Professor Elm motioned to a table nearby. Atop the table were three Pokèballs. “A colleague of mine, Mr. Pokèmon, asked me to pick up a special item. Unfortunately my assistants and I are far too busy with our research that we can’t retrieve it from his possession.” Elm picked up a Pokèball and stared at it with a bemused look. “I was hoping that you would be so kind as to make you way to his house. He lives just north of Cherrygrove City.”
Auggie let out a small chuckle and began to make his way back outside. “Is that all? No problem Professor, I’ll be back in-“ “Wait!” Elm waved his extended arm at Auggie. “You know it’s dangerous to walk through the tall grass without a Pokèmon! So I’m lending you one of our resident ones to protect you along the way.” He placed the Pokèball back onto the table with the rest. “Now then, feel free to pick one of the available Pokèmon.” Oh, that’s what Mom and Baxter were talking about… Auggie walked up to the table and gave each Pokèball a quick glance. How the hell am I supposed to figure out which one to pick? They’re all in their freaking Pokèballs!” He randomly picked one of the spheres and examined it. “So how do I open this thing again?” He turned the button on the Pokèball towards himself. “Well you just press the release button on the front, but be sure to face it towards the grou-“ –CLICK– Before Elm could finish Auggie pressed the release button. “Whoops, finger slipped.” He said casually as he followed a beam of red light shoot into the air. Midway the beam stopped and a small blue creature materialized midair. “Catch it! It could get hurt that Totodile falls from that height!” Elm shouted frantically. Auggie waved his arms around ready to catch the Pokèmon. “I got it I got it I g-“ –CHOMP–
For a few seconds Auggie said nothing. There he was in Elm’s lab, and a Totodile had its jaws clamped around the side of his head. Huh…pain is a bit delayed. Wait…here it comes…3…2…1. “AHHH! Get it off! Get it off!” Elm could only stare in shock as Auggie scrambled around his lab like a headless chicken, or rather a chicken whose head is stuck in a clamp, a sharp, spiky clamp.
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Five minutes, a jaws of life, and a few bandages later Auggie sat crossed legged on the floor giving the Totodile a dirty look. The Totodile scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry about that bro. I guess the shock of being released in mid-air kinda threw me off. First instinct of us Totodiles is to clamp down on the nearest object to save yourself you know?” Auggie dirty look did not soften. “Hey hey Broski, don’t take it personally. My teeth aren’t that sharp yet, you didn’t lose that much blood. See?” The Totodile gave a wide smile that softened Auggie’s anger. “Okay, apology accepted” Auggie sighed and turned to Elm. “I’ll take this little guy, I doubt I’d get in much danger with that set of teeth by my side.”
Elm nodded. “Excellent I’ll just put the other two away for now” He picked up the remaining Pokèballs and placed them in his desk drawer. Out of the corner of his eye Auggie swore he saw a red-haired person staring intently through the window. Before he could focus on it the mysterious figure was gone. Auggie shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the Pokèmon in front of him. “So what’s your name anyway?”
The Totodile pounded his chest and prideful tone spoke. “Broseidon, Bro-tier lord of the sea!” Auggie resisted the urge to facepalm as he stood back up. “Well…Broseidon…let’s get going now shall we?” He started walking towards the door and motioned for Broseidon to follow. “Wait up Bro!” Broseidon waddled quickly to catch up to Auggie. “We’ll be back soon Professor!”
Professor Elm chuckled to himself as he waved the pair off. Little did he know the mysterious red-haired male was staring intensely at Elm's Desk. A small devious grin appeared on his face before he disappeared to make his move.
End Chapter 1
Losses: 0
Current Team:
