“Good thing I picked the better Pokemon. Yours looks so weak!” Blue laughed and I cringed. “I can't believe Grandpa would give you a sickly Pokemon like that.”
“Shut up and battle!” I yelled back at him. If he was just going to taunt me I was going to make the first move. I knew from the start, Professor Oak only gives out starter Pokemon that know starter techniques. Which means there were no type advantages here. At least until we train them some. “Bulbasaur, tackle!”
While Blue was busy gloating, Charmander was distracted and Bulbasaur got in a good tackle sending Charmander flying backwards and landing with a skid. My first attack in a real Pokemon battle and it was great. I hoped the next one would be a critical. Blue was more alert now and took the next move. “Charmander! Don't take that laying down! Scratch him with your claws!” Charmander nodded to Blue and charged at Bulbasaur.
“Bulbasaur, dodge!” But it was too late. Charmander was too quick and had already given Bulbasaur a big swipe across the face. Bulbasaur could only shake his head and whine “Bulba...bulba...” But it wasn't long at all before he came to his senses and was ready to fight again. “Okay, Bulbasaur, it's time to lay it on thick. Use leer and then tackle it!” Bulbasaur really got serious and narrowed his eyes and with a flash, Charmander was stunned. Before he could regain his senses, Bulbasaur charged in and hit it with another tackle. The impact was enough to knock Charmander out cold. Blue had no choice but to call his Pokemon back.
“Charmander, return...” Blue looked sad for a second. But got cocky again almost immediately. “I knew I got a weak Pokemon. I guess that means I'll have to make it stronger. Through discipline and tough battling, of course.” Just then a sporty convertible drove up screeched to a stop next to us. The driver scooted over and Blue hopped in the driver's seat. “Till we meet again, Red. See ya, sucker!” He threw a bunch of money at me from the car and before I could say anything else, he was speeding off and headed to the next town.
“Good job Bulbasaur. You did great. Thanks so much for our first victory.” I gave him a hug and he smiled. “Bulba...bul bulbasaur.” Looking back now I think that meant “You did awesome too. But I don't even know your name.”
“By the way, my name is Red. I'll be your new trainer. It's nice to meet you.”
“Bul. Bulbasaur. Bulba bulba bulbasaur.” Which I think meant “It's nice to meet you too. My name is Bulbasaur.
“Well, now that Blue is out of the way, let's head to the next town okay?” I got a not of agreement from Bulbasaur and I returned him to his Pokeball. I picked up the money Blue dropped and counted about 500 bucks. It was time to leave. I knew the way out of town because I stared down that road many times, just wishing I could leave. My first step meant a lot. So I took my first step slowly and savored the moment.
I hiked up my backpack, straightened my Pokemon belt and continued on to Route 1. Who knew what weird characters I would see and possibly get to battle there? I was soon to find out. Because as I walked I could hear someone behind me. But every time I turned around there was nobody there. I was barely out of town and was already being followed. It was a problem that would present itself eventually. Until then I decided to just enjoy my surroundings. The newly paved road under my feet, the wide open fields of tall grass on either side of me, probably full of Pokemon waiting to be captured, The clear blue morning sky above me, and the beautiful snow-covered mountains on the horizon. It was all so beautiful, I wanted to stop and just take it all in. But I wanted to get some walking time under my belt before I did any stopping.
Down the road a little bit I could see a tree with what looked like a wild Pokemon under it, enjoying the shade. I decided to take a closer look and approached the tree. It turned out to be a Pidgey. This was perfect. I would need a flying Pokemon at some point and Pidgeot is the best bird Pokemon in the whole world. It's big, it's powerful with the right training, and it looks awesome! This was my chance to train for one early on.
I hid in the tall grass. I called out Bulbasaur quietly and had his crouch with me in the grass. “Bulbasaur. There's a wild Pidgey out there. Let's sneak up on him and catch him.” He nodded in agreement. There weren't any item shops in my town but I had managed to scrounge up some Pokeballs over my life and I kept them for when I left town. A great Pokemon trainer catches lots of Pokemon so it's important to be prepared.
“Okay Bulbasaur, tackle that Pidgey!” He followed the order and jumped out of the grass, and caught the Pidgey just as it was spreading its wings to fly away. Its head hit the ground pretty hard but it somehow made it back to its feet, though dizzily. It didn’t have time to regain its senses before I called down another tackle. Bubasaur didn’t tackle though. Instead he smiled at me and motioned toward his blub where I could see vines started to protrude from the spaces in his bulb. Signal received. Bubasaur had learned vine whip and it was time to lay it down.
“Bulbsaur, vine whip!” He nodded and extended his vines out, sending one after the other to whip at Pidgey with stunning accuracy. He wrapped up the Pidgey in his vines and gave it a squeeze. It squawked for mercy and I was ready to oblige. I pulled out a Pokeball from my pack. “Pokeball go!” The ball hit the Pidgey and it turned into a ray of light which got sucked into the ball. The ball sat on the ground and shook a little. Left, then right, then left again and finally it clicked.
“YES! I caught my first Pokemon! Thanks Bulbasaur! You were so awesome in that battle!” “Bulba” Bulbasaur blushed. I called him back to his Pokeball and picked up my new Pidgey. I gazed at the two of them in my hands. These were the start of something beautiful. Something life changing. I was going to be a Pokemon master.
