The Other Trainer

You've heard of Ash Ketchum. You've heard of Gary Oak. These boys are famous for becoming the two Pokémon trainers from Pallet town to make it to the Pokémon League, with Ash becoming the Pokèmon Master while Gary was defeated by Lance, the dragon trainer. These two trainers became the pride of Pallet town. Prof. Oak always brags, "Yep. I knew that Ash was going to be the Master."

You probably don't even remember me or the other trainer do you? Ash was late to get his first pokémon, so he got his Pikachu, which was the only one left. Gary was first to get his starter pokémon, so he got a Charmander. But don't you remember? There were two other starter pokémon. That means there were two other trainers. Yeah, you remember now. Two other trainers that you heard of once, but were never spoke of again. Well guess who I am. That's right. I'm the second trainer.

My name is Stephen. Never heard of me? I'm not surprised. Not many people hear about orphans until they end up on the news for stealing, or the poor kid is found dead in a ditch. Well, that's me. Stephen the orphan. Since you don't know anything about me, why don't I tell you? You might even find out why nobody ever hears about me or the other trainer that was with us when we got our first pokémon.

Chapter One

"SQUAAACK!! SQUAAACK!! SQUAAACK!!"

A Dodrio, the town alarm clock, was squawking it's heads off on top of city hall. I awoke with a start in the town pokémon center. I was glad they had built this place. I was tired of sleeping in parks and in alleyways. With this new Pokémon Center, I was able to spend every night in their free hotel in a nice, warm bed. And a shower! You don't know how good a hot shower feels after you've been sleeping in the muddy city park for the past two weeks.

I sat up, stretched my sore back, grabbed some new, clean clothes I had bought the day before and headed for the bathroom. Hey, I may be an orphan, but I'm not poor. I was able to get some part time work the Pokémon Center as an assistant to the Chansey nurses. You know, handing them things and carrying in sick or hurt pokémon that wouldn't fit on the stretchers. That's why my back was so sore. I almost broke my spine carrying in a 400 lb. Cloyster.

I hopped out of the shower and quickly dressed. I grabbed the necklace that my parents had given to me and clasped it around my neck. It was solid steel links and had a medallion shaped like the legendary bird Zapdos on the end. Today was an important day for me. I know what you're thinking. "Today, he turns ten years old and is going to get his pokémon license." Yeah right. I turned fifteen last month and I've had a pokémon license since I was eleven. Today, I was getting a pokémon so I could actually start training. Not that I wouldn't have my troubles even getting to Prof. Oak's lab...

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

"Come on you stupid door! Open!" I yelled as I banged on the door to my room. I was dressed and had packed up my few belongings in a backpack someone had left in the closet and was trying to leave, but my door was stuck.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

I continued to slam on the door. I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 7:45 a.m.

"No! I'm late!" I gasped. Trainers had started to arrive at the lab ten minuets ago!

Suddenly, my door swung open and I almost whacked a Chansey over the head. She handed me a clipboard.

"Sorry." It read. "A heating break caused warping in the door jams on this floor."

"That's okay." I said hastily as I dashed down the hallway. I took the stairs by three at a time and ran up to Nurse Joy in the lobby.

"Nurse Joy, can I borrow one of the Center's bikes for a while?" I asked quickly.

"Sure Stephen." She answered. "Take one for as long as you need."

Thank the Lord for that woman. She always was very generous. I ran out the sliding doors and grabbed a blue, ten speed bike from the bike rack on the side of the building. I hopped on and raced off towards Prof. Oak's lab, barely dodging a girl and her Tangela who were walking from the Breeding Center across the street.

I arrived at the Pokémon Lab about five minuets later and dashed inside, gasping and panting.

"Am I (gasp, gasp) too late?" I wheezed.

Prof. Oak stood by a pokéball stasis unit with three pokéballs in it. He looked at me and smiled.

"Why, no Stephen." He said. "You're actually ten minutes early."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I looked at a clock on the wall. It read 7:30 a.m. That meant that the clock in my room was ten minuets fast!

"Does that mean I'm the first one here?" I asked hopefully. The first person to arrive always gets to pick first, thus getting one of the better pokémon.

"Nope." Prof. Oak said. "My grandson Gary is already here."

"Dang." I said. I hated Gary! Most people I knew hated him. He was a self-centered jerk who thought everyone on the planet was there to serve him. Plus he had that stupid group of cheerleaders following him all the time. He had to be the most stuck up ten year old I've ever seen.

"Hi Prof. Oak!" a boy said as he came into the lab. I guess he was about eleven years old. He was about four and a half feet tall with light blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He had his pokémon license pinned to his shirt.

"Hello Kyle." Prof. Oak said as he opened the protective dome over the stasis unit. "It's a good thing you're here. You three get the first pick of the three pokémon I have in stasis right now.

"Three?" Kyle asked, looking at me.

"Gary's here." I grumbled.

"That's right!" Gary said as he came out of a side room. "I, Gary Oak, was here before all of you dorks!"

"Please calm down Gary." Prof. Oak chided. "But you're right. Since you were here first, you get first pick."

Gary walked up to the unit and picked up a pokéball with a small flame on drawn on it.

"I, Gary Oak, will pick the Charmander. The pokémon that is far more superior to the other pokémon."

"Then I'll take Squirtle. Water types are stronger than your Charmander, Gary." I said as I gave Gary a dirty look and picked up a pokéball with a water drop drawn on it.

"I guess that leaves me with Bulbasaur." Kyle said as he picked up a pokéball with a leaf etched into it.

"Leaves, Bulbasaur. Hehee..." Prof. Oak chuckled. "I'm the only one that thinks that's funny, aren't I?"

We all nodded and Prof. Oak just shrugged. He gave us each a pokédex and some pokéballs. I thanked him and headed out to the main gate. Gary and Kyle walked a little bit ahead of me.

"I've got to go now kiddies, but you guys will definitely see me again." Gary said in a snotty tone.

"Kiddies?" I asked angrily. "Who are you calling kids? You're younger than either of us. Heck, I'm five years older than you!"

Gary was just about to talk back when we reached the front gate. A huge crowd had formed out front. Kyle was greeted by his family and friends while Gary was greeted by a mob of fans. There were happy faces and joyous voices. Kyle's mother gave him a kiss on the cheek while his father patted him on the back, beaming with pride for his son who was setting out on his own. I saw Gary shoot me a smug look. Watching wistfully, I sighed, climbed onto my bike, and rode away as a boy wearing pajamas dashed up to the lab and stumbled into Gary.

Chapter Two

It had been two days since I had left Prof. Oak's lab and I was now deep within the Viridian Forest. Unfortunately, I had only captured an Oddish, which had been running around looking for cover from the storm last night. I could have sworn that I heard Spearows squawking somewhere, but I didn't see any. I was trying to vary the types of pokémon I captured to build a good team, but pokémon seemed to be scarce around the path. Squirtle and I were getting along very well together though.

"Okay Squirtle, Water gun!" I said as I pointed at a small sapling.

Squirlte blasted the tree so hard, it began to uproot. But Squirlte couldn't get it totally uprooted.

"Great job Squirtle!" I said as I patted him on his hard shell.

"Squirtle!" he cried happily.

Suddenly, I heard a loud rustling behind me. I turned with my pokédex already drawn. I pointed it at the rustling bushes.

"Pidgey." It beeped. "This small, bird pokémon is a must for beginning trainers. It is calm and gentle, but easily scared."

"All right then." I said putting my pokédex back into my pocket. "Let's sneak up on it Squirtle."

Squirtle nodded and crawled into the bushes to the left and behind the shaking bush. Suddenly, a small bird was blasted out of the bush and into a tree trunk by a solid stream of water. It sat there, dazed as I lobbed a pokéball at it. The Pidgey barely put up a struggle and was captured in a few seconds.

"Yes!" I cried. Squirtle hopped out of the bushes and into my arms.

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle said as he did a little "V for victory" sign.

Squirtle beamed himself back into his pokéball and I headed off on my bike. After about an hour of riding, I found that the forest around me began to get denser and close in towards the path. Soon, it was so thick that I couldn't ride my bike any longer. I heaved the bike onto my shoulders and took off on foot.

"Just my luck." I grumbled as a pushed past some branches.

Eventually, I came to a small clearing. By this time, it was already dark out, so I decided to set camp. I found some dry branches and started a small fire with a lighter I kept in my pocket. I let out all my pokémon to eat a small dinner of canned chili and bread. Squirtle supplied the refreshments with a weaker version of his water gun attack. Afterwards, they went back into their pokéballs for the night. I laid on the ground by the smoldering fire and watched the stars. It was a warm night, so I didn't keep the fire up. The sky was crystal clear with stars twinkling like a Dragonair's eyes. The moon shone bright and strong through the canopy of trees as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

"Mom! Dad! No!" I cried. I as watching my parents being dragged off into a helicopter by two men in black uniforms. Team Rocket had come to rob our house one dark night. There were two big, burly men wearing black Rocket uniforms, with dark masks covering their faces. My parents had awoken and seen them.

"Get out of my house!" my father had yelled as he struggled with one of the Rockets. He grabbed the man's mask and tore it from his face. Only then had my father realized his mistake. When Rocket's wear masks to burglaries, it's so they cannot be identified. If someone sees what they look like, they cannot let that person get away, lest they be identified and arrested later on. My father and mother had gotten a good long look at the man's face. The next thing I knew, I was screaming through my bedroom window up to a helicopter that was flying my only family out of my life.

"No...no...NO!!" I screamed. Suddenly, I was back in the forest, sitting bolt upright as I awoke in terror from my nightmare. I had often had nightmares about my parent's kidnapping so many years ago. I was only seven when it had happened, but the memory was still as fresh in my mind as if it had happened only the night before. Rubbing the tears from my face, I quickly packed up and tramped through the forest, the events of my dream slowly fading from my mind. I came up to a small stream a few hours later a refilled my canteen as Squirtle splashed around merrily in the water.

I started back on the trail refreshed and eager to get to the next city. Passing a nearby campsite, I heard over their radio that the Pewter city gym leader had been defeated by a trainer from Pallet town. I could only have been Gary. He had taken off in a red convertible the day we left Pallet Town, so he could've made it to Pewter city in a matter of hours. Knowing how Gary was, he'd probably be lounging around in some fancy hotel, bragging his head off about his victory.

I continued on through the forest and spotted a Metapod lying on the ground in a small field. Pulling out a pokéball, I let out Squirtle and pointed at the cocoon pokémon.

"This should be an easy catch." I said to Squirtle. "Metapod can't even move, so you can beat without breaking a sweat."

Squirtle nodded to me and got ready to attack the Metapod when a boy about ten years old stepped out from behind a tree. He was a little more than half my size and wore a samurai outfit. He had a long sword strapped to his waist.

"Are you a trainer from Pallet?" he asked me.

"Yeah, but I'm a little busy right now, so can you..." I replied.

Before I could finish what I was saying, the kid leapt over the Metapod and landed in front of me, his sword just inches from my face. Giving the boy a skeptical look, I took the edge of the blade in my hand and bent it away.

"You shouldn't attack someone with a fake sword you know." I said as I released the blade and it swung back and forth loosely.

"My weapon does not matter. My name is Samurai and I wish to battle you with pokémon, not with swords."

"Fine, fine. Just let me catch that Metapod and I'll get right back to you."

The boy held out a pokéball, aiming it at the Metapod. A red beam lanced out and sucked in the pokémon.

"You mean that was your Metapod?" I asked, disappointed that I couldn't capture it.

"Yes it is." The boy answered. "I left it out to attract trainers for battles. As you can guess, it worked quite well."

"Just send out a pokémon."

"Very well then. Go Metapod!"

The boy threw out his pokéball and the Metapod popped out. Rolling my eyes, I pointed to Metapod.

"Go Squirtle!" I said as Squirtle hopped in front of me.

"Hah! A simple Squirtle will not be able to defeat my all powerful Metapod." Samurai laughed. "Metapod, harden!"

The pokémon's shell began to shimmer a bright green color and became slick and hard.

"Oh please." I said. "Squirtle, Water Gun."

Squirtle took in a big breath and then blasted out a steady stream of water, weakening the Metapod.

"Metapod, Maximum Harden!"

"Tackle attack Squirtle."

Squirtle ran and leaped at the Metapod, pulling his head into his shell and ramming Metapod backwards into Samurai's arms.

"Only a slight inconvenience." Samurai said as he returned his Metapod. "Now then, Pinsir, assume battle stance!"

Samurai tossed out another pokéball and a beetle about half my size appeared. It had large, spiked claws on the top of it's head.

"A Pinsir huh?" I said as I pulled out my pokédex.

"Pinsir." It beeped. "A bug type pokémon. This pokémon is able to crush steel with it's massive pincers. It is weak against Ghost, Flying, Fighting, and Fire type pokémon."

"All right then." I said as I returned my Squirtle and pulled out another pokéball. "Go Pidgey!"

Pidgey popped out of it's pokéball and took to flight, circling the Pinsir.

"Pinsir, Vice Grip attack." Samurai commanded.

The Pinsir leaped at Pidgey, it's claws open, waiting to crush it.

"Pidgey, Gust attack!" I cried.

Pidgey began to beat it's wings furiously and the Pinsir was forced to the ground from the wind.

"Now Pidgey, Whirlwind!"

Pidgey flapped it's wings even faster and a small tornado rose up from the ground and sucked up the Pinsir, throwing it several feet away. Samurai quickly returned it before it hit the ground.

"Looks like you won." Samurai said, looking downtrodden.

"Guess I did. But I just got lucky." I said, scratching the back of my head. "Do you think you can tell me how to get to Pewter city?"

"Of course. Just head due north along Route 4. But watch out for the Beedrill nest along the way."

"Thanks." I said as I got on my bike and rode off.

I traveled about twelve miles before I passed by the Beedrill nest. I was able to capture a sleeping Beedrill, but woke up the rest and got chased for a mile. I was able to outrun them on my bike and get back on the main path. After another four hours or so, I finally reached Pewter City, just before nightfall. I was able to get into the Pokémon Center for the night and was very thankful for the hospitality shown to me by Nurse Joy and the Chanseys there.

It turns out that most of the Chanseys in Pallet Town are related to the Chanseys in Pewter City, so the ones in Pewter had heard good things about me from their relatives. Nurse Joy had asked me to help out a little bit, as they were short on Chanseys at the time. I agreed and spent the next three hours setting a very angry Fearow's broken wing. I was able to get it calmed down a little bit by letting it talk to my pokémon while I was helping a Chansey set the bone, which had been shattered in four places by another trainer's Starmie.

Later that night, my pokémon and I were overjoyed to find out that the Chansey cook in the cafeteria had made me and my pokémon a pizza with the sentence "Thanks for helping" spelled out in pepperoni. We all slept soundly that night with full stomachs and happy hearts. Especially me, since I was able to avoid having my usual nightmares.

Tomorrow, I would have a busy day. Tomorrow, I would go to face the Pewter city gym leader.

Tune in next time for Chapters 3 and 4.