Awakening Anew[Open to all]

The slight breeze blended well with the subtle rays of the sun as Chez arose from his couch, placed at the end of the laboratory. Next to the couch, where he carelessly tossed his thin blanket, where stacks of files that he and Squirtle had been given to sort. That was their payment for staying here-they tidied things up, ran errands, and answered Pokemon-based quizzes as lab experiments. In return, he got to stay and eat there, as well as was able to meet Pokemon up close, which was Chez' favorite part of the day. Squirtle awoke suddenly with a tired look, as the blanket had been thrown onto him. After muttering a cranky "Sqqqquuuuiiirrt!" to his sometimes-obnoxious trainer, he stumbled up to his feet and turned to the make-shift bed. Chez lay limp, half asleep and too tired to move, simply groaned at Squirtle, and turned in the cushions. "SQUIRT! Squirtle SQUIRT squirrrt!" He pointed, eyes squinted, yelling at his trainer. The scientists giggled behind their laptops, peering over a bit at the commotion. As Squirtle's tirade settled, Chez didn't move an inch. Then he was blasted with at least a bucket-full of water to his face, and leaped out of the couch-bed. He turned, his undershirt and shorts soaked, to his angry Pokemon. "WHO DID THAT? WAS IT YOU!" He pointed, left hand in a fist at his side. Squirtle assumed the same stance. "SQUIRTLE! Squirtle Squirtle squirt!" They leaned toward each others head, angry faces becoming more angry. "Can't the two of you be quiet?" Professor Oak walked in wearing a grin, his Lab coat seeming glistening in the sunlight. "You two seem to be fighting more and more. Maybe it's time for you to leave." Chez' face loosened and turned to worry. "What?!? You can't just kick us out like that!" Prof. Oak held up a hand as a sign to calm down. "No no, lad, I mean go out on an adventure. You two like to fight? Then enter the Pokemon League and try and win your way up to the Elite Four." Both Pokemon and master took a sigh of relief. "How do I get started?"

"By changing..." Professor Oak tossed him his duffel bag and turned to leave. "Wait, this is already packed...YOU REALLY DON'T CARE IF I WENT TO THE POKEMON LEAGUE, YOU JUST WANTED ME GONE!" Squirtle laughed at his trainer, and so did Prof. Oak, who had left the room already. Ten minutes later, Chez walked out of the room sporting his jeans, T-shirt, overcoat, and gloves. He bent down on his knees, and placed a hand on his young blue pall, and smiled. "Hey, we can be big shots now, bud!" Squirtle smiled and replied "Squirt!" Chez opened his Pokedex, pointing the lens at Squirtle. "I almost forgot to do this, I want to raise and catch every single Pokemon, as well as beat the Gym Leaders!" He pressed a button and a slight flash shot out, confusing Squirtle fora moment. Instantly, it read back:

"Sweet! That's one! Like, 500 more to go, but we'll get there!" Squirtle gave a happy grin as it returned to its spherical, temporary home. "Be safe, Chezlaw. There are many dangers of Pokemon training, many Pokemon aren't as friendly as Squritle." Just before stepping out of the lab, Chez looked back. "So, then I'll catch it and tell it that it should be." And then he adjusted his backpack, and wandered into Pallet Town.

A small child could be seen running around near route 1 at the edge of town. She was very small, probably around 7 years in age and had long blond hair and a flowing white summer dress on. She was running in a circle, smiling and playing with a Pokemon who kept beating its wings and cooing happily. The Pokemon species could be easily recognized as the common Pokemon: Pidgey.

Chez held his hand over his eyes as a visor, and glanced around the town.

"Oh, hey there!" He yelled to a young girl playing nearby. There was a Pokemon behind her, Chez recognized it as a Pidgey, who he knew where native to this part of Kanto, although, he never recorded it in his Pokedex, and what better chance than now? He flipped out his small, red, book-like contraption and held it out towards the Pidgey.

"Say Cheese!" He clicked the button, and a small flash let out that captured a picture of the smiling Pidgey in mid-flight. The Pokedex whirred, and then played it's usual recording:


He pondered for a moment, and then pocketed the contraption. He started walking over to the girl, thinking of some way to greet her without it seeming awkward.

"Hey there! Is that your Pidgey?" Chez blurted out, trying to retain his composure. He was used to talking to people he knew, and had never really come into contact with anyone outside of his comfort zone-let alone someone this young. But he knew he'd have to get used to it if he was to continue his journey.

The girl halted her playing and dancing about, hearing Chez' voice call out. She stood straight, turning her head to face him. Pidgey hopped a couple feet in front of her, cooing and tilting its head at the stranger. "Yes, he's mine," the girl said, just a bit shyly as she placed her hands folded neatly behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels.

The Pidgey fluttered up, landing on the girl's shoulder and nuzzling into her hair a bit. "I hatched him from an egg I found...you aren't gonna tell on me are you?" she asked, a bit of worry in her eyes.

Tell on her? Chez couldn't do that to her, he could tell that she, to, enjoyed the presence of Pokemon and something had to be done about this. Eventually, she won't be able to keep this secret, and then what kind of home would Pidgey have? Was he reading too much into this? Probably, she might have just found an egg one day and raised it to hatch. But still...

"Nah, I'd never tell on ya!" He said grinning. He noticed the worry in her eyes, and she may start crying. And although he's never been in this situation before, he knows what happens when an older kid stands around a younger one who's crying, and he doesn't want to be sent back to Oak's laboratory because of a crying child.

"Hey, you wanna see a really cool Pokemon?" Chez grasped the Pokeball at his waist, and removed it from it's belt-holster. Clicking the ball so that it enlarged, he chucked it at a patch of grass next to them.

"Say hi, Squirtle!" The ball stopped spinning almost immediately, and popped open, launching a red beam at the patch. A scarlet shadow digitized in front of them, and then faded into Squirtle.

"Squirtle, squirt!"
"This is Squirtle, he's my Pokemon! I guess he's kinda rare, since I haven't seen any other of him, not even at the lab. So I'm glad I have him, even though he can be a handful..." Squirtle glared up at Chez who glared down at him, his eyes saying You better be on your best behavior!

The girl smiled a bit as he promised not to tattle, then offered to show her a Pokemon. Of course, she got a bit giddy at the thought. "Oh, you're a Pokemon trainer then!" she said as he pulled out the pokeball. It popped open and she quickly skipped over a bit, kneeling down in front of Squirtle. "It's the Kant starter! I saw posters of it before," she mentioned, holding her hand out to pat Squirtle.

Squirtle half-closed it's eye as her hand touched her head. He didn't like this very much, but Chez seemed to be O.K. with it, so he didn't speak out. Chez smiled, and wondered what the Pokeball was for.

"Are you a trainer too? Are you of age?" That's when a spark lighted in his head. Of course she's not of age, if she was, she wouldn't have to hide her Pidgey. Chez really wished he could tell her some amazing story about his travels, but to be completely honest, his "travels" have been a few yards from the complicated laboratory of Professor Oak. And then he realized something-he had never been in a Pokemon battle. Of course he'd need to on a daily basis, but he hadn't even tried. This girl had a Pokemon, and a Pokeball, and it seemed as though she was interested enough...

"Hey, you wanna have a Pokemon battle?" This caught Squirtle's eye. He had only been in one Pokebattle, a mock one at that, but he loved it. Maybe the real deal was better.

"Squirtle, squirt!"

The girl stood up as Chez started asking questions. She tilted her head, he seemed to have a lot going through his mind. "My daddy says that when I turn eight I can have a Pokemon of my own. Until then Pidgey has to stay outside," it was then the battle was brought up. She'd played with wild Pokemon, and had a few mock battles between them before, but never a full on battle.

She turned her head to Pidgey, still perched on her shoulder. "What do you think?" she asked, to which it replied with a coo, flapping its wings and hopping off her shoulder. It landed in front of her, flapping its wings before it screeched a bit. "Alright, if you're ready then so am I. That's a yes, Mr. We're ready!" the girl said, holding up her fists excitedly, ready for action.

"Heh, alright! My name's Chezlaw, you can call me Chez! Squirtle, ya ready?" Chez didn't need to ask, it was already in a battle stance, a satisfied look on its face even before the battle.

"Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!" It suck out it's stubby light-blue arm, nudging a finger forward like a dramatic part in a martial arts movie. Squirtle squinted at his opponent, he judged it to be weaker than he was because it was just a hatchling, but it could fly, and that may be a problem. Chez got into position, and to break the silence, yelled:

"Squirtle, use Tackle!" Upon those words, Squirtle leaped into action and kicked off with his feet, about to slam his shoulder into the bird Pokemon in front of him. He kicked off the ground a bit more to give him some speed, but he still looked like a big blue baby waddling across the grass.

{Pidgey Level 7}The young girl nodded, "I'm Jessie," she said, then took a few steps back. She'd been with Pidgey for a while now, and the few mock battles had helped raise it some. "Pidgey, up!" the girl called, Pidgey flapping its wings hard as it took off, soaring upward just in time to be knicked by Squirtle's tackle attack. "Pidgey, use your sand attack!" she called, to which Pidgey cooed, and began flapping its wings heavily. The wind it caused kicked up some sand, shooting it in the direction of the foe Squirtle.

Chez reacted on instinct at the Sand-attack, and barked an order.

"Quick, Squirtle! Use Bubble!" Squirtle, who had to skid in the ground a bit to stop itself, turned and covered it's eyes, shooting bubbles everywhere to delude the sand around him. Once the final bubble popped, he uncovered his eyes and grinned, repeating his name twice.

"Now Squirtle, use water gun!" The Pokemon took a deep breath, bending back. It's cheeks swelled up, and when it was about to burst, he lunged forward and opened wide as a thin jet of water spat out at the airborne Pidgey.

"Pidgey, spiral and use tackle!" the girl said. For a beginner she seemed...well, more advanced than she was letting off. Pidgey shot forward, looping and spiraling around the stream of water headed straight for Squirtle with its tackle attack!

Squirtle's eyes widened as the Pidgey's beak collided with his forehead, knocking him to the ground.

"C'mon, Squirtle! Don't tell me ya'd loose that easily?" Squirtle nodded and spun on it's shell back onto it's feet. This Pidgey was no ordinary hatchling-what basic pokemon could simply maneuver around a water gun like that? Squirtle stared at the Pidgey who cooed at him.

"Squirtle, use Tackle once more!" Squirtle did as he was told and spun on his heel, bending his legs so he would have good lift. He stopped short, and closed his eyes, kicking off the ground with both feet, hoping to smack his head into the bird Pokemon.

The girl hopped up and down excitedly seeing that Pidgey's attack landed successfully. She giggled a bit, "Go Pidgey!" she called as the Squirtle got back up quickly. The girl gasped, and Pidgey was completely dumbfounded as Squirtle smacked head first into it! Pidgey tumbled back a bit, then stood back up, ruffling its feathers as some dust fell loosely from it. "Alright Pidgey, hit it again with your tackle!" the girl called, pointing at Squirtle. Pidgey's eyes went sharp, and it quickly took off into the air, diving down for increased momentum, carefully aiming at Squirtle, tail feathers bending to keep it in line.

Squirtle wobbled, dazed, for a moment, as the blow shook him up a bit, but he came to after a few moments. He giggled to himself as the Pidgey rose from it's blow, but was already raring for an attack. Tackle again? But this time it was worse than before-Chez did not know of Squirtle was ready to take a hit like that. But then he realized that it was falling down at a tremendous speed, and probably couldn't move very well if it could at all. That's when his master plan came into his mind.

"Squirtle, quick, shoot a Water Gun straight up at Pidgey!"
"Squirt!" Within moments Squirtle complied, tilting back far enough to tip him over if he was pushed. The Pidgey's beak reflected the sun as it fell, and it would hit him again if he did not act soon. He felt his checks fill up with water, and then opened wide to let the stream burst out of his mouth. The force knocked him on his shell, but he did his best to maintain the flow.

Pidgey was hit by the stream of water, but the extreme angle and aero dynamics of it helped him out. He took damage, but nearly sliced right through the water, still headed right for Squirtle!

Chez was shocked to see that the attack was cut through. What kind of Pidgey is THAT?! But, he had little time to hesitate. He was not going to lose to a little girl. Something MUST work here...but what? This was quite a predicament, but he had to come up with something. Since he couldn't attack, maybe it was time for some strategic thinking.

"Listen up, Squirtle! Fire a Water Gun at the ground next to you!" Squirtle looked puzzled.

"Do it NOW!" Squirtle shook his head and charged the water rather sloppily and quickly, since the Pidgey was closing in, but when he fired it at the ground, he was thrust back a few feet, and realized what he was trying to do. If Squirtle couldn't smack into it, then it could smack straight into the ground!

Being so close, Pidgey was able to quickly open its wings, changing its trajectory straight for the Squirtle who was close enough to smell. "My Pidgey is really determined!" the girl giggled, yet inside knowing that Pidgey had in fact been weakened some by the previous attacks.

Squirtle was still falling back, there wasn't much he could do. Chez had little to no options-was this it? No, he wasn't about to lose. Time for a Kamikaze, and see which would come out on top.

"Squirtle, Tackle straight for Pidgey!" Squirtle pushed off the ground as soon as it landed, forcing his head, once again, at Pidgey. This was gonna hurt, he could just tell...Chez braced himself and prayed that Squirtle didn't get too hurt.

The two collided, making a large commotion as they both fell to the ground. Dust and mud flew around them, swirling in the air. Jessie shielded her eyes from it, her heart thumping because she knew... The dust settled, and there lay Pidgey, completely exhausted. It attempted to pick itself up, but simply collapsed back to the ground. It glanced over to Jessie, and cooed weakly. "Pidgey!" the girl cried, running up and scooping it off the ground, gently stroking its head.

Chez stared intently at the aftermath. He couldn't take his eyes off-he knew Squirtle was tough, but...wait...The smoke cleared, and he saw Jessie caress her fallen Pidgey. That was good for him-it fainted, but what about Squirtle? He moved over to the battle scene. A sound groaned in his ear, and he knew it well.

"Squa.....squirttttt....." Squirtle was limping, hand on it's head, which now had a big purple bruise the size of a quarter. There where no Pokecenters in Pallet Town, and he couldn't trek across Route 1 without a Pokemon. He unzipped his bag and pulled out a spray bottle, it was purple, and had a white Pokeball symbol on it. He spritzed the entire bottle on Squirtle, and gave it a big hug.

"That was amazing, Squirtle!" He giggled, lifting Squirtle in his arm. He noticed the girl crying, and forgot she was only eight...maybe he should have let her win. He couldn't sit there and let her worry like that, so he pulled out another bottle from his bag, and knelt down next to her.

"Here, this'll make it all better!" Chez squeezed the bottle, spraying the healing chemical all over the Pidgey. If it fainted, than it wasn't going to do much good, but he had to try something. If she wasn't allowed to bring the Pokemon inside, then how was she supposed to heal it?

The girl looked up at the boy, taking care of his Squirtle. That was how trainers were supposed to be. No wonder she wasn't allowed to have her own Pokemon yet! She sighed, lifting Pidgey and the pokeball she had for him up. "Please...could you take care of my Pidgey?" she asked, seeing he was a very capable trainer. She knew he could get to the next town over, since his Squirtle was tough, but she wasn't allowed to leave herself. She held up the weak bird Pokemon and pokeball to the boy, wondering if he would accept, and make Pidgey strong.

{Squirtle gained 7 EXP}

Chez was...overjoyed. Of course he'd watch her Pokemon for her, if that's what she really wanted. At least now he'd have a story to tell.

"I'll come back to visit once I'm the Champion! Got it? You'll be amazed at how strong your Pidgey has gotten!" He patted her head, and let the weakened bird into it's Pokeball. He had Stand by his side, just in case, and smiled at her. "You, to, should grow up to be a strong trainer!" He smiled and waved at her, departing on his journey down Route 1...

The girl nodded, saddened to see Pidgey go. Yet, she knew he would be better off with a trainer who could raise him properly. She waved, a single tear running down her face that she wiped away with her free hand as she watched her friends disappear into the distance.

Mid way through the route, some scurrying sounds could be heard in the tall grass they were surrounded by. Abruptly, two purple figures burst from the bushes, they seemed to be quarreling over a berry one had found. With a chomp down on the larger one's tail, it was sent running back into the brush as the Rattata sat down, nibbling on its sweet victory.

Chez marched through the route, confident to challenge the Pokemon league, when he noticed a little quarrel going on before him. Survival of the fittest, he guessed. But the Rattata did interest him, so he flipped out his Pokedex. After the usual performance, his dex scanned back:


Hm. Interesting. This route was probably bustling with life, and he wanted to get a taste. But he needed to heal Pidgey-getting to the next town should be his goal. But he doesn't have a Rattata, and his goal is to catch em' all...Chez stopped when he took a few steps past the purple rat.

"Alright, prepare to be mine! Go, Squirtle!" Squirtle was anxious to fight again, even though it hurt. And making new friends was never a bad thing. Squirtle stood in his focused stance, ready to leap.