Snippet #2368807

Seth Dixon awoke that day with a smile on his face. Today was the day that he had planned to begin his journey as a Pokemon Trainer. Many of his friends had started six years ago on their tenth birthdays, and Seth may have as well if he had not been busy taking care of his sick mother. At the time, she had been fighting a terrible illness that left her wasted in body and drained of spirit. Fortunately, Professor Oak was able to put together a special serum that cured his mother of her illness. He had recently graduated early from Pallet Town High School, and it was time for him to follow in the footsteps of the great trainers before him.

The first thing he needed to do was get down to Professor Oak's lab to receive his Pokemon License, Pokedex, and first Pokemon. He jumped into the shower, got dressed, and headed out the door to the lab in the middle of town. When he got in, Professor Oak was sitting at his desk with a smile on his face.
"Ah, Seth. Are you ready to begin your journey as a Pokemon Trainer?"
Seth nodded.

"I'm more than ready, Professor."
"Very well," he replied as he produced a paper and some pencils, "Just take this test and show me your knowledge of Pokemon. If you pass, you'll receive your License and we can get started."
Seth nervously took the paper and sat down. However, when he glanced at it, he was shocked by how easy it was. Of course, it made sense that the test would be easy for him, since ten year olds could take it and pass it.

After flying through the test, he handed it to Professor Oak, who glanced over it.
"Congratulations, Seth. You got a perfect score and are ready to start your journey."
He reached into his desk and produced a red object that looked like a calculator.
"This is called a Pokedex. It gives you information on any Pokemon you may encounter on your journey. However, you'll have to find these Pokemon before your Pokedex can tell you about them."
Seth took it and put it in his pocket.

"Now for the fun part."
Seth followed Professor Oak into a nursery, where a few Pokemon were milling about.
"All of the trainers in Pallet Town can choose from one of four beginning Pokemon. The lightning type is Pikachu, the fire type is Charmander, the water type is Squirtle, and the grass type is Bulbasaur. I'm currently out of stock for Pikachu, so one of the other three will have to suffice."
Seth looked at them and saw a lone Charmander by himself.

"Why is he over there by himself?"
Professor Oak sighed.
"That Charmander was mistreated by a previous trainer. When I found him, he was practically dead of starvation and his tail had almost gone out, meaning that he could have never battled again. I nursed him back to health, but he still bears the marks of his mistreatment and does not trust humans."
Seth clenched his fist, as there was nothing he hated more than an abusive Pokemon trainer.

"Do you think he would attack me if I got too close?"
"He's never been violent. But, I would be careful."
Seth carefully approached the Charmander and tapped on the shoulder. It turned to him with an angry expression on its cute face.
"I know, I know. You don't trust me. But I'm good, I promise."

Charmander looked at him skeptically, swishing its tail nervously.
"Look in my eyes, Charmander. You'll see that I mean you no harm."
The creature did look in his eyes, and seeing no malice, relaxed a little.
"Good, we're making progress. I can see real fire in those eyes."

Charmander maintained eye contact, trying to further gauge Seth's intentions.
"You and I, we could accomplish a lot. We're both very spirited, I can sense that about you. Be my Pokemon, and together, we can accomplish great things."
Charmander turned away a bit, then looked at Seth sideways.
"I won't mistreat you, I promise."

Charmander looked down for a minute, then back at him with a smile.
"Charmander!" he said in a chipper tone.
"Attaboy!"
Seth hugged his Charmander, then turned to Professor Oak.
"I'll take this one. He's not just my first Pokemon, he's my new best friend."

Professor Oak smiled and nodded.
"That's what it's all about. Pokemon are great for battling and winning prestige for their trainer, but it should all be done in the spirit of friendship. You have forged a bond with Charmander that is pure and good, but it may take him awhile to fully trust you."
He went over to a counter and took out a rack of small spheres with red on top and white on bottom.
"These are called Pokeballs, made for carrying around your Pokemon to use in battle."

"Pokemon League rules say that a maximum of six Pokemon can be carried around at one time. A seventh one can accompany outside of a Pokeball, but that is as far as it goes. The rest are to be logged into a computer system, and if you're from Pallet Town, they'll be sent here to me to be taken care of. In your case, I would not recommend putting Charmander in a ball. He will hate it."

Seth took the six balls and clipped them onto his belt.
"Thanks for everything, professor Oak. I'll be sure to take good care of any Pokemon that travel with me."
He left the lab and began heading for the exit to Pallet Town.
"Our first stop should be to the forest south of here, since fire types are good against forest dwellers and you could sue the practice."
"Charmander!"