With Charmander by my side, the two of us exited the room for what will probably be the final time for a long time, and made our way to professor Oak's lab. Waiting there for us was May, professor Birch, professor Oak, and a youth that I had only met a few times over the last few days.
"Hey Gary." I said in greeting to him, earning me level look in return.
Gary Oak was a teen with dark orange hair that bordered on brown, spiked in every direction, and light brown eyes that seemed to look at everyone around him with judgment. Currently he was wearing a dark denim jacket, and light brown pants with numerous pockets on both.
"Good morning, Noah." The professor said when his grandson didn't answer me, not that I expected him to.
"Good morning." May said as she sidled up to me, taking my hand with her own yet again.
"Morning everyone." I said to them, before turning my attention to the reason we were here. The three pokeballs sitting in front of us.
"We are just waiting for the last two to join us now, and then we will be ready to start." Professor Oak said while glancing at the clock, which read that it was almost eight.
"Who are we waiting on?" I asked, right as someone I hadn't met yet entered the room.
"Good morning everyone!" Declared a girl who appeared to be about the same age as Gary.
She had messy dark brown hair that went down to her lower back, toped with a white hat that had a pokeball logo on it. She was wearing a sleeveless teal shirt that hugged her body tightly, and a red ruffled skirt that showed off her pale legs since her teal socks were scrunched up down at her ankles.
"Good morning Leaf." The professor answered her, before turning toward May and I. "May, Noah, this is Leaf Green. She'll also be receiving a starter from me today, and going off on her own journey."
"Yep! And YOU must be the wonder boy everyone is going on about. The one who fell from the sky." Leaf said as she stepped right up to me with no regard for personal space, and while completely ignoring May.
"My oh my, what a hunka hunka burning love YOU are." She said while sizing me up, even going as far as to touch my abdomen through my shirt and rubbing my biceps.
"Thanks?" I replied, not quite knowing what else to say. Especially since I could practically feel May radiating irritation beside me.
"Of course! Now then, have I got an offer for you! Interviews, talks shows, merchandise, I can give you all of that and more! Just sign this contract that I printed up, naming me your exclusive agent(and giving me 75% of the profits)!"
I looked at the girl before me in disbelief at her offer, even complete with the contract that she pulled out from the bag hanging from her shoulder. Behind her, I could even see the professor shaking his head wryly.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline." I told her politely, but apparently Leaf wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"If you want, I'm sure I can throw in some added incentives~" Leaf tried to said seductively, moving even closer so that her body was actually almost pressed up against mine. Right up until May grabbed her by the ear.
"I think that's enough. Unless you want to answer to my Blaziken." May growled at her angrily, and I was content to watch as she handled this.
"Tch."
Leaf actually clicked her tongue as she eyed May irritably, specifically her breasts.
"Next time~." She purred at me finally, before shooting another dirty look at May as she turned back to the others.
By now the time was well after eight, and the professor sighed. "It looks like the last person is going to be late. We might as well start without them."
Saying so, he pressed a button and all three of the pokeballs before us opened at the same time.
"Bulbasaur~!"
"Squirtle!"
"Chu!"
Standing there before us, was a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Pichu, each of which were looking at all of us with interest.
"Originally I planned to have four pokemon, one for the three from Pallet town and one for May. But then Noah appeared. I hope you don't mind May." The professor asked worriedly while looking at her.
"Not at all sir. I did manage to find and capture a Squirtle myself before we arrived." May replied while holding up a pokeball.
"That's good. Now then, would you like to start, Gary?" The professor asked his grandson.
"Of course." Gary drawled as he stepped forward, not even stopping to think about it as he reached out to place his hand on Squirtle's head. "Naturally, I'm going to choose the strongest of the lot."
"Squirtle squirt!"
The little Squirtle cried happily at being chosen first, and hopped down from the platform to stand beside Gary while Leaf made her decision.
"Well I'm going to pick the cutest one of course! Bulby!" She declared while picking up the Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur~!" It cried happily at being chosen as well. This left only the Pichu for the mysterious late person.
"Excellent choices, both of you." The professor told them, before pulling out a couple devices that he handed over to Leaf and I.
"These are your Rotom Phones, devices that are inhabited by the pokemon Rotom. I already added my contact information to them, as well as the Pokedex app. They can be used to look up any information you'll need from the Pokenet, and there are numerous other apps you can download onto them as well." The professor explained, mostly for me as Leaf eagerly took hers and began fiddling with it. Gary already had one of course.
"Not only can I also use them to keep track of your progress, but you can use them switch out your pokemon whenever you need without having to go to a Pokemon Center. These might very well be one of the most important and versatile tools you'll have on your journeys." The professor continued as I pocketed the phone for now. I'll look at it more when May and I either make camp or make it to Viridian tonight.
"If that's all, then later gramps." Gary said as the professor finished explaining about the phones, immediately exiting the lab with his new Squirtle following him.
"I think that's our cue as well." May said, taking my hand as she led me towards the door.
"If I hear any interesting rumors about any rare or interesting pokemon, I'll let you know." The professor promised me.
"I'll hold you to that." I told him seriously, as my primary goal was still to catch at least one of every single pokemon. And even with the help of May's viewers, I doubted we would hear about EVERY interesting pokemon there was to be found.
"Good luck, and be safe." Professor Birch said as he waved after us.
"We love you honey~!" May's mother called after us next.
"I love you too! I'll be sure to call often!" May waved back at her parents, even as she dragged me out the door, Leaf right on our heels.
"So where to first?" Leaf asked curiously, as if she were joining us on our journey.
"WE are going to Viridian city, and plan to spend a few days in Viridian forest to start with. I don't know what YOU are planning to do." May told her irritably.
"Ah. Don't be like that May! With my brains, Noah's brawns, and your boobs, we will be unbeatable! All of the money in the world will be ours!" Leaf declared dramatically as we reached the edge of town.
"Excuse me?!" May growled at Leaf dangerously, and I tuned out of the impending argument momentarily.
Curiously enough, Charmander and I just so happened to look back in time to see a young man with messy black hair racing through Pallet town in nothing but his boxers, heading straight for the lab. I wonder if that was the final person we had been waiting on?
The two of us looked back at one another while cocking our brows at each other, before and shrugged before turning back to May and Leaf as they continued bickering. We eventually had to even herd the two of them out of town and down the road to Viridian as they continued fighting, eventually dissolving into name calling.
"Miltank tits!"
"Entitled brat!"
"Wanna be!"
"Bra stuffer!"
"YOU-!"
Leaf could only sputter indignantly at May after hearing THAT, telling me she probably was stuffing her bra. Which then made me wonder with what, and how much?
"I challenge you to a battle!" Leaf declared angrily, even as May continued taunting her by crossing her arms under her own breasts to flaunt them.
"Is that so~? Alright then! But no crying when you lose." May stated as she pulled out a pokeball.
"I have complete faith in my Bulby!" Leaf replied, even though she'd only had Bulby for less than an hour. But that hadn't dampened neither Leaf nor Bulby's desire for battle.
"Go, Altaria." May said while lazily tossing out her pokeball, and the beautiful dragon appeared.
"I can't watch this." I said while looking away from the 'battle', where apparently May had no intention to take it easy on Leaf.
Charmander followed me as I walked a little ways away from the two girls as they battled, where I noticed a bush rustling slightly.
"See that?!" I whispered to Charmander in excitement, pulling a pokeball out of my bag as I did so.
"Char!" He whispered back at me as we crept up towards the bush.
"When I give the go ahead, use your Scratch attack to clear away the leaves, got it?" Charmander nodded in affirmation to my plan, flexing his claws as he prepared.
"Go!"
"CHAR!"
Charmander unleashed a battle cry as he shot at the bush and delivered a series of vicious Scratches at the branches and leaves, clearing them away to reveal a small purple rat.
"Tatta?!"
The pokemon, a Rattata, jumped in surprise as we exposed it, giving Charmander an opening as I told him to pepper it with an Ember attack.
"Ember, now!"
"CHAR!"
"TATTA!"
The Rattata cried out in pain as it was showered with burning coals, leaving it even more open as I chucked the pokeball at it.
"Pokeball, GO!"
"TAT?!"
With nary a chance to fight back, the pokeball hit Rattata before sucking it inside. The ball then clattered to the ground, and shuddered back and forth for a couple seconds before falling still with a soft ding.
"I did it..." I uttered as I went and picked up the pokeball.
"I CAUGHT A POKEMON!"
A sense of child-like jubilation filled me as I pulled out my Rotom phone and scanned the Rattata excitedly.
~~~
Rattata- The Mouse Pokemon
♀️
This pokemon is cautious to the extreme. It maintains it's awareness even while it sleeps, constantly keeping it's ears on the alert for any noises. They can be found in almost any environment, making it's nest almost anywhere.
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Bite.
~~~
My cheeks were literally starting to hurt as I read Rattata's information, right up until I got a notification stating that money had been deposited into my account.
"Huh? Do I get paid for actually catching pokemon?" I muttered out loud, before deciding to ask the professor about it later when we got to Viridian city.
Placing Rattata's pokeball on my belt, Charmander and I turned around and made our way back to May and Leaf, where the former was gloating while the latter was sulking.
"You cheated..."
"Did not. You challenged me to a battle, and it was not specified which pokemon I could or couldn't use. Not my fault you didn't think ahead."
"Now now, that's enough fighting." I told them wryly while rejoining them, and May immediately seemed to notice the second pokeball on my belt.
"You caught something?" She asked with interest, seemingly forgetting about her fight with Leaf.
"Yup! I caught a Rattata!" I stated excitedly, readily holding the ball up and calling the pokemon out.
"Tatta?"
Rattata looked around warily as she appeared, still carrying signs of our battle.
"Come here, I'll fix you right up." I told her while pulling some medicine from my bag. The professor made sure it would have everything I needed to take care of my pokemon until I could afford more.
"Rattata!" She hissed as I sprayed her with the Potion, though it apparently only stung for a moment before she relaxed.
"Did you seriously catch a Rattata?" Leaf asked as she approached us, still looking sore with her loss against May.
Rattata appeared annoyed with the tone of her voice, but I immediately answered, "Yup. I plan to catch every single pokemon out there, even the Legendaries. And my goal started with the very first one, Rattata."
My words made Rattata look up at me with what appeared to be awe, before tears filled her eyes.
"Tatta tatta rat!" She declared passionately, which I took to mean that she swore to help me with my goal.
"I'm counting on it. You're the first pokemon I ever caught after all." I told her.
"Charmander char!" Charmander cried in agreement beside me.
Thankfully, Rattata only had superficial wounds from Charmander's Ember attack, and she didn't need a Burn Heal on top of the Potion. After giving her a moment to let the Potion heal her, we were able to continue on our way.
Soon I became aware of NUMEROUS wild pokemon around us as we traveled, though they were all either more Rattata or Pidgey. And I had no intention of catching another Rattata, unless it was the Alolan variant.
The Pidgey however, were proving to be a bit of a challenge.
The first one I tried to catch dodged Charmander's Ember with ease, before flying away out of our reach. The second one used Quick Attack to not only avoid Charmander's attack, but also to give him several sharp Pecks before flying away, chirping in a manner that reminded me of laughter.
"Ok... Maybe time for a new tactic." I muttered as May and leaf stiffled their own laughter behind me.
The next Pidgey we found was on the ground, scratching around i the dirt and searching through the grass for something.
"Char..." Charmander growled in anticipation, seemingly ready to help me actually catch this one.
"Sorry buddy, not this time." I whispered to him, making Charmander look at me with dismay. Instead, I called out Rattata.
"Tatta?"
"Can you use Quick Attack on that Pidgey? Catch it by surprise for me." I asked her.
"Tatta!" She stated as she got in a ready stance, preparing to show me what she could do.
"Now!"
"Tatta!"
Rattata shot forward like a small purple blur, moving so fast that the Pidgey couldn't even react before she plowed into it.
"GEE!"
It cried out with both shock and pain from the attack, but appeared to be unwilling to back down.
"Again!" I ordered Rattata, who immediately veered around and came back for another attack. And again, the Pidgey was hit to ground.
"Now!" I yelled, more to myself this time, as I threw a pokeball at the stunned Pidgey, hitting it and sucking the pokemon inside.
The pokeball clattered to the ground and shook for several seconds, before finally falling still with a soft ding.
"YES!" I exclaimed while hurrying forward to pick it, excited that I had caught my SECOND pokemon already.
"Never heard of someone so excited to catch a Pidgey before." Leaf commented wryly, but I just ignored her while reaching for my phone to scan it.
Suddenly...
"!!!"
All of the hair on my body stood on end, and a deep sense of foreboding filled me.
"LOOK OUT!" I shouted in alarm, shoving both May and Leaf to the sides right as something lunged at us from the tall grass.
I myself hit the ground as whatever it was flew over me, just barely missing my head to the point that it still ruffled my hair.
As it landed with a thump I spun around to face it directly, finding myself staring at a serpentine figure that was at least seven feet long. It was purple with a yellow belly, mathcing eyes and a band right behind it's head.
"Kansssssssssssss..." The figure hissed at me menacingly, baring it's fangs while violently rattling it's tail.