Chapter 1: How the adventure began

Mark lived in a very small village. It was far from all pokémon so no pokémon trainer came there, and nobody could give away starting pokémon for kids that wanted to train pokémon.
And that was why Mark thougt he could never become a pokémon trainer.
UNTIL THAT DAY.
Mark was outside with his friends when a thunderstorm started. They said goodbye to each other and hurried home. When Mark was about to reach the door to his house, he thought he saw a movement in the bushes.
A pokémon? he thought. Can that be?
He rushed to the bushes and rattled the branches, but there was no sight of anything living. Mark assumed he had been imagining it, and went inside.
After dinner, Mark sat down in the living room and looked out of the window at the weather. He suddenly remembered what he had thought to be a pokémon. Maybe it was a pokémon, after all. Looking better wouldn’t hurt.
The window was very wet, but through it, he saw the blurry image of the road. And there was indeed something moving out there. He rushed to the door and opened...
On the road was a real, living Charmander. Well, barely living. The flame at the tip of its tail wouldn’t last long in that weather. In fact, the flame was nearly extinguished. That was also why it lay there unconscious. Mark did, of course, what anyone would do in that situation – picked up the poor pokémon and checked it out a bit. It was a male, and clearly young. The Charmander opened one eye with difficulty and caught Mark’s face, then fainted again. Mark hurried back inside and closed the door.
“Mom! Dad! I – I found a Charmander outside and it is dying!”
“Oh, stop teasing us, Mark,” said his father from upstairs. “We know very well there are no pokémon here.”
“No, really! Can you help me a bit!” Mark shouted angrily.
His mother, however, came downstairs.
“Oh my god!” she said. “John, you have to see this! It's a Charmander!”
He heard his father grumble something like “do you really believe that stupid joke, he probably just wants attention”, but he didn't really care and his mother didn't either. She hurried back upstairs, got a flame-proof garment from the kitchen and some extra pillows, and told Mark to place the Charmander on the pillows and put the tail on the garment so it wouldn't burn the house. Then she advised him to put the pokémon near himself so it would get warm quicker. He did so, and fell asleep with his hand on the Charmander's body, in dreamy thoughts.
Maybe I can own it. Maybe it can be my pokémon, and I can become a pokémon trainer. Or, maybe a trainer lost it and I will get a lot of money for finding it...

Mark woke up the next morning and found his hand on the empty garment. Charmander, however, was staring happily at his face.
“Charmander! You’re alive!”
“Mander,” said the Charmander and nodded.
Mark nodded too and couldn't believe his luck.
That day, Mark checked out all the news and “lost pokémon”, but no one had reported a lost Charmander. Charmander seemed to be really thankful for being saved. Mark had been very good at Pokémonish at school, so he could understand Charmander pretty well, although he wasn’t always sure what he was saying. The basic thing he said, though, was something around the lines of “Thanks for saving my life out there, I thought I’d never make it!”. Charmander was very nice as a friend, but Mark wanted him to be more than a friend. He wanted him to be his pokémon, he wanted to be a trainer... and it was an actual possiblity. After a long debate with his parents, they finally allowed him to go on a journey and become a pokémon trainer.
And the next day, he started training pokémon. That means he started walking to the next city with a Pokémon Center, Cleanwater city. It was actually a pretty interesting city. A Suicune was said to clean the Lake of Purity next to the city every day, and the city’s name came from that legend. At least, the water was so clear that you could always see the bottom (and all the water pokémon living in the lake). Also, a Gyarados was said to have lived there once, but it could never catch prey because it was so easy to see. But then it suddenly disappeared. No one knew where the Gyarados went, as there was no river in or out of the lake. That was what he had read in one of his many books about pokémon legends, at least. He really liked legends. But, at least, the city’s many pokémon legends attracted tourists, so many trainers came there, and many trainers need a Pokémon Center and a Pokémon market, so that was where Mark headed. As he obivously had no pokéballs, Charmander just walked beside him.
“Charmander, I’ve been thinking...”
“Yes?” Charmander replied.
“What were you doing out there? You can’t be a wild Charmander, then you would know where to go when it’s raining. Besides, there are no pokémon around our village.”
“A... a trainer used to own me,” Charmander said and hung his head.
“What? Did your trainer just leave you in the rain?”
“No, traded me,” said Charmander.
“For what?”
“Quilava,” said Charmander bitterly
“A Quilava? But – no one trades an evolved pokémon for an unevolved pokémon of its counterpart evolution chain. It’s like trading Mewtwo for Magikarp!”
“Oh yeah, so I'm weaker than Magikarp, am I?!” Charmander said offended.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I...”
“Then I guess you mean Quilava is invincible, do you?”
“I didn’t mean Quilava is stronger than Mewtwo either! It’s like... It’s like... trading Quilava for Charmander.”
“That's better!”
“Yes, but anyway, why did that Quilava trainer accept the trade?”
“Quilava was level fifteen. My trainer told the other trainer that I was also level fifteen.”
“Oh, and of course, Quilava evolves at level fourteen, but Charmander at level sixteen... what level are you really, anyway?”
“Five,” said Charmander lousily.
“Well, what did the other trainer do when they found out you were only level five?”
“Threw my pokéball away.”
“So you got out. But for what did you go to our village?”
“Looking for my old trainer, I guess.”
“But he betrayed you! He traded you and lied just to get a stronger Pokémon in exchange for you!”
“Yes, that has dawned onto me by now. I have no interest in finding him now.”
“Just forget about him... Oh, a house!”
There was a house ahead. A farm, that is. Inside a fence, there was a lot of pokémon like Tauros, Miltank and Mareep. But a large sign intrested Mark the most. It said "PONYTA AND RAPIDASH FOR SALE". Under it, it said "Bed and breakfast".
Just as he read the sign, a middle-aged woman came out of the house. “How much is a Rapidash?” Mark asked her.
“40000,” was her answer. The way her voice sounded told Mark that she wasn’t ready to lower the price.
“Oh, I only have 10000. Aren’t the Ponytas any cheaper?”
“They’re 20000,” the woman said in the same tone of voice.
“Can they battle?” Mark then asked.
“No, of course not!” the woman said. “They are trained not to attack anything but in self-defense, and then they are not supposed to use their fire powers. But of course they can burn people that touch them,” she added nastily when she saw Mark’s hand was getting close to one of the Ponytas. He quickly withdrew his hand.
“Can I buy a night here for me my Charmander?” Mark asked when he remembered that it was still a long way to Cleanwater city.
“Charmander, eh?” said the woman. “Well, if it burns the house down, you'll have to pay.”
Mark walked inside with her.