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 to their homes. When Mark was just about reaching the door to his house, he saw a movement in the bushes. Could it really be... a pokémon? He looked, but there was nothing there. He opened the door and thought no more about it.
After dinner, Mark sat down in the living room and was looking out of the window. He suddenly remembered the movement. 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 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 unconcious. Mark did, of course, what anyone would do in that situation – picked up the poor Charmander. It opened one eye and looked at 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.
“You will have to keep it warm,” his mother called. “Charmanders die if they become to cold to keep their tail burning.”
He heard his father say something like “do you really believe that stupid joke, he probably just wants attention” but he didn’t mind at all. The only thing that mattered now was the Charmander. Mark put it in his bed (after making sure it wouldn’t burn his pillow) and went to sleep on the floor himself. Maybe, he thought, maybe I can own it. Maybe it can be my pokémon, and I can become a pokémon trainer. Maybe a trainer lost it and I will get a lot of money for finding it...
When Mark woke up, early next morning, Charmander’s face was looking at him. It seemed to recognize him, even though it had only seen him with one eye for a second.
“Charmander! You’re alive!”
“Charmander!” it said happily.
Mark was happy too.
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 it was saying. The basic thing it 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 it to be more than a friend. He wanted it to be his pokémon, he wanted to be a trainer...
And the next day, he started training pokémon. That means he started walking to the next city with a Pokémon Center, Cleanwater 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 Goldeens and Seakings and Magikarps living in the lake). Once, a Gyarados was said to live there, but it could never catch prey because it was so easy to see. No one knew where the Gyarados went, as there was no river in or out of the lake, and it just suddenly disappeared. 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...”
“Charmander?” it 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.”
“Char charmander char mander,” it said sadly.
“A trainer owned you? Did he leave you?”
“Charmander mander char charmander.”
“Traded you? For what?”
“Char charmander mander.”
“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!”
“Charmander charmander char!” Charmander said angrily.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean you were weaker than Magikarp, I...”
“Charmander char char charmander!”
“I didn’t mean Quilava is stronger than Mewtwo either! It’s like... It’s like... trading Quilava for Charmander.”
“Mander!”
“Yes, but anyway, why did that Quilava trainer accept the trade?”
“Charmander mander charmander, char mander charmander.”
“The Quilava was level fifteen, and he told the other trainer you were also level fifteen and just about evolving? What level are you then?”
“Charmander.”
“Five? Well, what did the other trainer do when he found out you were only level five?”
“Char char char mander.”
“Threw your pokéball away so you got out? And for what did you go to our village?”
“Charmander charmander.”
“Looking for your old trainer? But he betrayed you! He traded you and lied just to get a stronger Pokémon in exchange for you!”
“Char man der.”
“You are angry with him now so you don’t want to find him anymore? Well, guess I would be too. Just forget about him... Oh, a house!”
There was a house ahead. A farm, that is. There was a big fence full of Tauros, Miltank, Ponyta and Rapidash. But a large sign intrested Mark the most. It said: PONYTA AND RAPIDASH FOR SALE.
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 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 sleep here tonight? And my Charmander?” he asked when he remembered that it was still a long way to Cleanwater city.
“Okay with you, but your Charmander... well, if you make sure it won’t burn the house, it’s okay.”
“Thanks a lot!”said Mark.