Episode
1:
The Call
“You called?” Nick stood in the
doorway, dressed as he normally was on a mild sunny day, in jeans and a t-shirt
with a stylized pokeball in the center. Most days in Spring City were exactly
like today, with a few clouds but mainly sun and warm breeze. With the Earth’s
Back Mountains to the south, the ocean to the west, and Bright Bay northwards,
Spring City was the perfect location for constant mild weather year round.
Adam took a good look at his best
friend. They were the same age, but different in every other way. Nick had
shaggy brown hair, was lean and of middle height with a slender face, with none
of the striking features that make a man handsome, but not someone who a smart
girl would turn down either. Adam on the other hand never had to worry when it
came to physical appearances. He had short cropped black hair, tanned skin
covering a muscular body which he took immense pride in, and chiseled features
that turned heads. The differences were more than skin deep, but that’s what
brought them together so close.
“Like you weren’t going to come over
today anyway? You haven’t missed my birthday since we met.” Adam gave Nick a
playful punch, which brought a look from the pokemon by Nick’s feet. The
Nidoran was less than a foot tall, but its huge ears added additional height,
putting it at around a foot and a half. Its skin was a purplish color with
darker spots here and there. Nidoran’s ears perked up, and a cheerful barking
sound greeted Adam as he bent down to pet its head. “Hello to you too, Nid. Now
come out back, I have a huge surprise to show you!”
As the two young men walked through
the house, Nidoran was greeted by Adam’s Herdier. The shaggy dog-like pokemon
was twice the size of Nidoran, with a black blanket of fur on its back covering
its brown fur underneath and lighter-colored tufts of hair on its face making a
star pattern. Adam’s mother kept Herdier for protection as much as a companion,
but had known Nick’s Nidoran since it was a new hatchling. The two ran off to
play outside as Adam opened the back door, but all four beings stopped dead in
their tracks at the sight in the back yard.
A deep guttural sigh met the two
smaller pokemon, and Herdier began growling at the strange pokmeon invading his
territory. Standing at four and a half feet from ground to shoulder, eight feet
long from nose to stubby little tail, and weighing in at close to a ton of
solid rock and muscle, the Rhyhorn was both a frightening and awesome sight. It
was gray in color, with a foot long horn on its nose and a steel-hard frill
protecting its skull. A rocky ridge adorned its back, and plates of rock armor
covered the rest of its body, making the pokemon resemble a walking tank. Adam
walked up to it and patted its shoulder, smiling from ear to ear.
“Well, what do you think?”
For a moment Nick was speechless.
“Where the hell did you get a Rhyhorn from? They’re endangered, you can’t even
catch one in the Safari Zone, and they aren’t found anywhere else!”
“I know!” Adam exclaimed, still
smiling and laughing in joy, “It was a birthday present.”
“From who? The champion himself?”
“No, but close enough! You’ll never
guess so I’ll just tell, my new Rhyhorn is from my dad! Can you believe it?”
The excitement Nick was building
slowly drained away. “No, seriously Adam I can’t. You haven’t seen your dad in
what, ten years?”
“Yup, he hasn’t set foot in my life
since my tenth birthday when he walked out. But earlier today he just showed up
on the doorstep, asking to come in and see me! It was surreal, my mom didn’t
even know what to say. Then he takes me out back here and hands me a pokeball
and says ‘Happy Birthday son. I know I haven’t been here for you, but there was
work that needed to be done. However I’d like to change that now.’”
“Woah that’s crazy,” Nick said, his
eyes wandering back to the massive pokemon behind Adam. Nidoran had scurried
back by Nick’s feet, intimidated by the size of the beast, while Herdier was
circling and inspecting it with interest. “Is he still here? I’ve never even
seen a picture of him.”
Adam looked down, the smile fading.
“Nah, he went in to talk to my mom and I heard her yelling at him. Next thing I
know he’s gone and she’s in her bedroom with the door shut. I don’t know what’s
going on between them, but I have a feeling she was perfectly happy with him
gone.”
“Damn I’m sorry man,” Nick said and
walked up to put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. Before he could the Rhyhorn gave
a sigh and stamped its foot, causing the ground to rumble a bit. Nick backed
off quickly, but was more surprised when Nidoran ran between him and the
Rhyhorn and started barking.
“Oh hey!” Adam said, turning to his
Rhyhorn, “Hey Nick’s a friend, its okay.” The Rhyhorn dipped its head as in
acknowledgement and went back to actively ignoring Herdier. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s alright,” Nick said bending
down and calming Nidoran down, “he’s new and doesn’t know me. It’s only
natural.”
“True,” Adam said looking down at
Nidoran, “but I’ve never seen Nidoran jump to your rescue like that! Look at
him being a little tough guy.”
“I know, it’s not normal. But I
guess I’ve never been threatened by another pokemon before. It is nice knowing
he’ll have my back through.”
“Speaking of having your back, there
is another thing my dad told me. He said he thinks it’s time I go out and
follow in his footsteps to become a pokemon trainer.”
“Oh wow, so that’s what he does?
That’s really cool, no wonder he gave you such a strong pokemon to start with,
he must really want you to succeed.”
“Definitely, however,” Adam paused
and gave Nick a devious smile, “that would mean leaving Spring City and
traveling the world, seeing all the sights, battling all sorts of trainers and
pokemon-”
“-wooing all the ladies,” Nick added
with a grin.
“Yes yes, that too. But it would
also mean me going out there all alone.”
“You wouldn’t be alone, you’d have
your pokemon with you.”
“Well yeah, but I wouldn’t have any
human company.”
Nick paused and gave Adam a
quizzical look. “I have a feeling I know where this is going.”
“Oh come on Nick! It’s not like we
have anything keeping us here besides our parents! We both have little
part-time jobs and you can always take a break from school. Besides, your dad
is a freaking gym leader! Training pokemon is in your blood!”
“I’m not gonna lie, I’ve thought
about it, but there’s a reason not many people do it. It’s insanely tough, not
to mention expensive. Where are we going to get all the money for food, hotels,
supplies, everything we’ll need?”
“What are you talking about?
Pokecenters provide all of that! Well except for the supplies, but we can use
the money we win from battles for that.”
“Adam, I’m sorry, but I’m not
sleeping in a free pokecenter. There’s a reason they are free. I’d rather sleep
outside in a tent.” No sooner did the words leave Nick’s mouth he say Adam’s
face light up.
“Perfect! We’ll camp out in the
wilderness. We’ll hoof it like the original pokemon trainers back in the good
ole days. Come on Nick, you know you want to come.”
Nick sighed, looking down at
Nidoran, who had his ears up to listen to everything. Even though Nidoran
couldn’t understand the language, the pokemon knew when something big was
brewing. Nick knew it was his dream to go out and become a powerful pokemon
trainer, but his dad had always grounded him in reality, telling him of the
hardships to take the shine of the glories. Nick knew the hardships ahead, but
Adam…
“You’re gonna get yourself hurt if
you go out there alone, or worse.”
Adam had another big smile on his
face, which made him seem like a child once again. “I know, which is why I need
you, Nick. You’re the brains to my brawns. Me and you make a perfect team.
Nick, I can do this without you, but it would break my heart to do so.”
“Ugh, you are so damn persuasive.”
Nick looked up and smiled at his friend. “Alright, what the hell, let’s give it
a shot. It’s not like we have to go very far to get to the first gym. My dad’s
place is just a few blocks away.”
“Absolutely not. And I don’t think
Adam’s mother should let him go either.” Nick’s father Julius was not a
physically imposing man, but his demeanor made people think twice about taking
him on. Plus it didn’t hurt that he was an official Pokemon League Gym Leader,
and acted as unofficial guardian of Spring City. Normally he was an even
tempered and easygoing person, but the moment Nick returned home to tell his
parents of Adam’s idea, anger took over.
“You’re kidding, right?” Nick was
very confused with his father’s answer. Being a gym leader, Nick assumed his
father would have seen this day coming.
“No I am not.”
“Julius-” Nick’s mother put her hand
on Julius’ arm, but he held firm.
“Cecilia, you and I both know Nick
is not ready for a responsibility of this magnitude. He’s still in school!”
“College, dad, but it’s not like
that’s where my interests lie.”
“Oh and this sudden bout of interest
in pokemon training has always been there, has it?
“Well, I’m not sure about training,
per se,” Nick said, looking down at Nidoran, who was nuzzled against his leg,
“but you know I love spending time and exploring with Nidoran. I wanna get out
there and see the world!”
“Then you should have gone to school
for geology,” Julius said gruffly. “You are not ready to be a pokemon trainer.
You have no idea how hard it is out there!”
“Yes I do!” Nick yelled back,
getting angry himself. “You constantly tell me how hard it is, yet you did it,
and you’re still sticking to it! Did it never occur to you that eventually your
own son would want to try it too?”
“Yes I did!” Julius yelled back, his
deep voice startling the family’s Arcanine outside. “And I prepared for this
day for a long time. As much as it pains me to say it, you are not ready for
this.”
We’ll see about that,” Nick said as
he turned and headed out the front door.
“Nick honey, where are you going?”
Cecilia yelled out after her son.
“I’m going to prove him wrong!” Nick
yelled back, slamming the door.
