Yes, it's me again, here with a new chapter!
This is where the story may get a bit more familiar, so with any luck more than one person'll reply afterwards... :p
Anyway, let's get on with it, huh?
Here goes...
(By the way, I looked back, and the chapter title doesn't really suit this chapter, so I altered it a little.)
Chapter 2
A Slow Start
A few days later, on the opposite side of the island of Kanto, sunlight streamed down on the villa known as Pallet Town.
Pallet Town, also known affectionately as 'the town where shades of journeys await,' is a small town near the southwestern tip of Kanto, where most beginning trainers of Pokemon go to get their Trainer's License and, more importantly, their first Pokemon.
Getting a Pokemon from the Pallet Town Pokemon Laboratory was a cause for excitement, to say the least. It was like making a new friend, getting a pet, opening a long-awaited Christmas present, and becoming an adult all in one fell swoop. Most new trainers, ranging from the ages of 10 year-old kids to full-grown adults, would be so ecstatic over this venture that they'd lose sleep for days before the big event.
Near the center of the small town, however, one new trainer wasn't very excited at all.
The young girl looked out her living room window in a bored way, hand resting on her fist.
She was an attractive youth with long brown hair that fell to her waist, shining green eyes, and a gorgeous face. She also had quite a stunning figure, at least for a 12 year-old. She was currently clad in a yellow T-shirt with a symbol on the front resembling a Chinese or Japanese katakana, as well as knee-length dungaree shorts, long socks, and white sneakers. A few large white pearls were strung through her hair, compliments of her father's Clamperl.
'So,' she thought, unexcited, 'today's the big day...'
BOING!
'Today's the day I get a Pokemon. Whoopee... most kids beg for a pet; I'm being forced to get one 'for my own well-being...'
WHOMP! BOING!
'My own well-being... Yeah, right. I'm just doing this 'cause Mom wants me to grow up to be her exact duplicate. Like mother, like daughter.'
BOING! BOING!
The girl turned towards her little sister, who was bouncing on the couch while playing a video game.
"Pamela, will you please turn that thing down?" the girl groaned.
Pamela didn't reply - she was currently enamored in the action of her game.
"I mean it, Pam!" the older girl said sharply. "I can't even hear myself think over here!"
Her 7 year-old sister paused her game and giggled.
"Trust me, Linda," she said with a big grin on her face, "that's not because of the video game!"
The older girl, Linda, frowned.
Linda Hennessee was different from many of Pallet Town's younger residents. She got bored easily, and she wasn't too active, either. She'd passed up becoming a Trainer when she was 10, then again when she was 11. After turning twelve a month earlier, her parents had begun to grow concerned. After all, their daughter could grow up to be a professional couch potato unless she started becoming more active soon.
And so, after a long talk (which was murder on poor Linda), a compromise was reached: Linda would try her hand at Pokemon training for a month; then she'd return home and make a choice; she could continue training Pokemon, or she'd be forced to get a job at the market in Viridian City, just north of Pallet.
And as much as Linda hated to be active, she hated taking orders even more...
"Shut up, Pamela." Linda sighed. "I'm not in the mood right now..."
"Aw, come on!" Pamela said optimistically, resuming her gameplay. "Why are you being such a sourpuss?"
Linda rolled her eyes.
"Uh, because Mom and Dad are practically forcing me to become a Pokemon Trainer, that's why!" she snapped.
"Oh, don't be so upset." her sister told her. "Everyone likes Pokemon! They're everywhere: They're on TV, in the news, and there's even some in my video game! See?"
Linda looked at the TV.
"Pamela," she said slowly, "that's a Mario game."
"So?" Pamela asked.
"So," Linda explained condescendingly, "there are no Pokemon in Mario games."
"No, not true!" Pamela shot back, proud to know something her sister didn't. "There's one right there!"
Linda looked back at the screen.
A 2-D Mario was climbing around on what Linda assumed was a mountain.
The outside world was a confusing and dangerous prospect, one the Jothokians dared not to even reveal their existence to, but at least some good video games came from it.
That was Pamela's opinion, anyway.
"Where?" Linda asked.
"Right there!" Pamela insisted, moving Mario across the screen.
With a crumbling noise, a small blue creature with a smiley face popped out of the ground.
"That's a Whacka." Pamela explained.
"So?" Linda asked, now getting impatient.
"So," Pamela said, now sounding like her big sister, "I've looked in Daddy's Pokemon books, and that Whacka looks like a cross between a Diglett and a Quagsire; that's where they got the idea for him from! I just know it!"
Linda shook her head and turned back to the window.
"Whatever."
Pamela frowned.
"What's wrong, Linda? You don't like Pokemon?" she pouted. "Not even Claptrap?"
Linda sighed.
"Of course I like Pokemon," she admitted, "but-"
"YAY!" Pamela squealed, hopping off the couch and running out to the backyard. A moment later, she returned, carrying in her hands a basketball-sized creature resembling a blue clamshell, inside of which were several ice-blue 'pearls' surrounding a serene-looking pink head shaped, again, like a large pearl.
"See, Claptrap?" Pamela said to the Clamperl in her hands. "See, see, I told you she likes you!"
"Clamperl!"
With a high-pitched call of his name, the small Pokemon began to clamp and un-clamp its shell merrily, smiling cutely at Linda.
Linda couldn't help but smile. She did like Pokemon; it was just the thought of being outside and on the move so much that rubbed her the wrong way.
"LINDA!" a woman's voice called from upstairs. "LINDA, IT'S 11:30PM!"
Linda raised an eyebrow, though her mother couldn't see it.
"So?" she asked under her breath.
"You've got to be at the lab at noon, right?" Pamela asked.
Linda nodded grimly.
"Yeah." she said. "And that's when my sentence begins..."
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Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Hennessee's car slowed to a stop outside the Pallet Town Pokemon Laboratory a few miles away. The long, ceramic-white building was adorned with a huge Pokeball over the front doors and several tall towers behind. Sounds of Pokemon and high-tech machinery emanated from the structure.
"Well, here you are!" Mrs. Hennessee said, sounding positively chipper.
"Yeah." Linda replied, not anywhere near as happy.
Linda's mother gave her daughter a thoughtful look.
"Oh, Linda," she said empathetically, "I know you think that you'll hate being a Pokemon Trainer, but I'm sure that you'll see just how wrong you are soon. Training Pokemon takes a lot of hard work, but it's so rewarding - you'll make new friends, you'll get to see the world, you'll have so much to show for your responsibility when you return home, and you'll have a lot of fun!"
Linda looked away from her mother.
"You had me at 'hard work.'" she replied flatly.
Mrs. Hennessee sighed as her daughter got out of the car.
"Come back home when you're done." Mrs. Hennessee instructed. "I want to see what Pokemon you get; I'm sure Pamela will, too. Good luck!"
With that, Mrs. Hennessee drove off, leaving her daughter in front of the Laboratory.
"Well," she sighed, "here I am..."
'Quick, am-scray before somebody sees you!' a fervent voice in her head told her.
Linda contemplated this for a moment, but then she realized that she wouldn't get far.
Besides, after her parents found her out, she'd likely be sentenced to work at the Viridian Pokemon Mart until she started collecting her social security.
Linda took a deep breath and nonchalantly walked up to the door, ringing the bell.
"Just a minute!" a young man's voice called from somewhere beyond the door.
Linda stuck her hands in her pockets and kicked at the ground while she waited.
A moment later, the door opened, revealing a man in his late twenties with spiked black hair, dark eyes, and a friendly disposition, clad in a white lab coat, jeans, and white sneakers.
"Oh, Linda!" he said, smiling warmly. "I've been expecting you!"
Linda forced a small smile.
"Hey, Professor Sketchit." she said casually.
Professor Tracey Sketchit had taken over the Pallet Town Laboratory 7 years earlier, after the Lab's previous caretaker - Professor Samuel Oak - died of heart problems. Many in Pallet had initially doubted that he, the Professor's scatterbrained assistant at the time, could pick up where Oak had left off, but Tracey had surprised them all by effectively running - and improving - the lab ever since, earning his Bachelor's Degree in Pokemonology in the process.
"Come on in!" Prof. Sketchit urged her, beckoning for her to enter.
Linda sighed to herself and followed him inside, into a room with several computers and advanced pieces of equipment lining the walls.
Prof. Sketchit. walked to a small table surrounded by a few padded chairs. A few sheets were laid out on the table, as well as a pencil.
"Have a seat." he instructed. "Make yourself comfortable."
Linda obediently sat down.
"OK," she said, trying to sound interested in what she was doing, "so how do I choose what my first Pokemon is?"
Prof. Sketchit smiled and gathered up the papers on the table.
"This is how." he replied, handing her the papers. "In order to ensure maximum compatibility between a Pokemon and its Trainer-to-be, I don't just give a Trainer his or her first Pokemon anymore. Instead, you've got to take this."
Linda looked at the papers, slightly puzzled.
"And, this is... what, exactly?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That," the Professor, replied, "is the PPT: the Pokemon Placement Test. I have a cousin who lives in Toreen, to the north; he told me about this system a few years ago. I've been using it, too, ever since."
Linda groaned.
"I hate tests..." she whined.
Prof. Sketchit laughed out loud.
"Don't worry," he assured her," there are no wrong answers. This is just to see what Pokemon you'd be best suited to start with."
Unfortunately, Linda had stopped listening after 'There are no wrong answers.' She grabbed the pencil and began to fill out the test.
Prof. Sketchit raised an eyebrow.
"Excited to finish, are you?" he asked with a grin. "Alright, I'll be outside working on the new Water Pokemon habitat expansion. Call if you need anything."
As he exited, Linda crossed one of her legs over the other and got to work.
'Name,' she thought, 'Linda Hennessee.'
She wrote that down in the appropriate spot.
'Age, 12.'
She wrote that down.
'Date, July... uh, 16th? Or is it the 17th?'
She looked up and around until her eyes fell on a calendar.
August 4th.
'Oh, yeah...'
She wrote the date down.
After getting down basic information, the questions began to get more complex.
'Ugh, I HATE these stupid fill-in-the-bubble tests...' she thought, irritated.
Linda quickly scanned over the test, eventually finding the last question.
The question was numbered '84.'
'I have to answer 7 dozen of these dumb things!?' she thought in anguish. 'Screw that!'
Linda set down the papers and folded her arms.
An idea came to her.
Linda glanced around to see if anyone was watching her.
No one was.
Smiling sneakily, Linda began to fill in random circles, not even bothering to look at the individual questions that she was answering.
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Ten minutes later, Linda smiled, satisfied with herself as she checked over her test papers once more.
'Well, everything looks OK.' she thought. 'No missed questions, all pertanent info is here... I think I'm ready.'
She placed her hands behind her head, leaned back in her chair, and relaxed for a little while.
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About twenty minutes later, Prof. Sketchit returned, apparently surprised.
"Done already, are you?" he asked, his smile not wavering. "It usually takes new applicants at least twice as long to finish! You must really want your first Pokemon!"
Linda gave him an unreadable look.
'If only you knew...' she thought sarcastically.
"Oh, well, I guess I can understand." Prof. Sketchit added, walking to the main computer. "I was the same way when I got my first Pokemon..."
Linda stood up and followed the Professor, who fed the test papers into a slot next to the computer screen. The computer began to hum and beep as it read Linda's test answers.
"But," he cut himself off, shaking his head, "that's ancient history that I'm sure you don't want to hear about..."
Linda shrugged.
"Didn't think so..." Professor Sketchit said with a snicker, removing a few small objects from a drawer under the computer screen.
"Here." he said, offering Linda a small metal object, colored red. "Your Pokedex."
Linda stared at the small object in his hand and sniffed.
"Uh," she said, "not to be a pain, but I kinda don't like this color..."
Professor Sketchit nodded.
"OK, no problem." he responded, taking back the metal device and replacing it in the drawer before pulling out another one. "How about blue?"
Linda smiled and nodded.
"Blue's fine." she said, taking the Pokedex and flipping the front of it open. The Pokedex was a door-shaped piece of colored metal (in this case blue) that could be flipped open like a folder. Inside were several buttons of different colors and shapes, at the center of which was an LCD screen beside a round light situated inside of a Pokeball-shaped dial.
"Alright, now you just have to input your ID into it." the professor told her, also handing her 5 unexpanded Pokeballs (Unfortunately for her, the only vacant Pokeballs he had were the standard red-and-white models.).
Linda looked at him, puzzled.
"Right... how do I do that again?" she asked, pocketing the Pokeballs.
"Just press that green button under the screen to turn it on; then, press your thumb against the screen. The Pokedex Registration Database will handle the rest."
Just then, the computer beside the two made a sharp noise.
"It's done!" Prof. Sketchit announced as the machine produced a printout. As he looked it over, Linda pressed the button on her Pokedex that she'd been told to.
'Pokedex registration now active.' it said in the voice of a youthful but obviously robotic female. 'Please input fingerprint identification.'
Linda pressed her thumb against the screen, which ran a green laser over itself as it analyzed her fingerprint. Finally, the laser vanished.
'Fingerprint identification verified.' the Pokedex said. 'Recipient identified as Linda Hennessee. Age, 12. Gender, female. Status, beginning trainer. Zero Pokemon seen. Zero Pokemon owned. I look forward to assisting you in your journey, Linda.'
With that, the Pokedex turned off.
'Well,' Linda thought, flipping the small device shut, 'I hate to disappoint you, but...'
"Well, Linda," Prof. Sketchit said, interrupting her silent musings, "the computer has analyzed your test and, according to your scores, your best starting Pokemon would be this little guy."
He pushed a series of keys on the keyboard, and a small metal panel opened, revealing another LCD screen. Prof. Sketchit pressed his index finger against it, allowing a veil of light energy to scan his fingerprint.
When it was done, a green light beeped above the scanner, which slid back into the computer; out of the wall next to the computer slid a thin steel box.
Professor Sketchit removed a twisted key from his pocket and inserted it into a lock atop the steel container.
With a soft click, the professor unlocked the flat safe, which flipped open like a book to reveal Pokeballs of all colors and models.
Professor Sketchit reached into the box and pulled out a brown-and-white Pokeball.
"This," he said seriously to Linda, expanding the ball, "is your first Pokemon, chosen specifically for you. I hope you'll be very happy together.
Linda took the Pokeball in her hand, nervousness building up inside her. She could feel the warmth and movement of a living (though currently atomically reorganized) being within the Pokeball.
A being that was her responsibility, whether she would become a full-time Trainer or not.
A being that she'd chosen completely at random and may not be properly suited to care for.
Thinking ahead wasn't on of Linda's strong points.
"Uh, Professor?" she began.
The Professor looked back at her.
"Something wrong, Linda?" he asked kindly.
"...The test score... How reliable is it?" Linda asked.
Prof. Sketchit smiled.
"It hasn't given me one wrong answer in the four and a half years that I've been using it." he said, sounding proud of that fact.
Linda didn't know how to react to that.
"Don't worry, Linda." the Professor reassured her. "Like I said, there are no wrong answers. I'm sure you received the Pokemon that's right for you."
Linda's nervousness faded a little, but she still wasn't convinced.
"Well," she muttered, turning towards the table at the room's center, "here goes something..."
She clutched the Pokeball in her hand, then tossed it gently onto the table.
The Pokeball bounced once, then it opened, revealing a sphere of white light inside that darted out of the ball and expanded, settling into a solid form on the table.
The light faded to reveal a strange little creature.
He was about the size of a small dog, with sandy-orange skin and a small round body supported by 4 stubs of legs. On the front of his body was a head at least twice as big as his body, with beady little eyes and a jagged mouth that seemed to smile a crooked smile.
The small creature blinked sleepily, then swiveled his oversized head and looked up at Linda.
"Trapinch?" the small creature said in a high-pitched but slightly gravelly voice.
Linda's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"Linda," Prof. Sketchit said, "this is Trapinch. Trapinch, meet Linda, your new Trainer."
Linda and the insectlike Pokemon stared at each other for a moment.
"Uh...hi." Linda said uncertainly.
The Pokemon cocked his head to the side.
Linda was silent for a moment, until she remembered the Pokedex in her hand. She pointed its light at Trapinch and flipped the top open.
"Name: Trapinch." the computerized female voice reported. "Order: Ground. Genus: Ant Pit. This Pokemon is skilled at surviving in the arid desert, being able to survive for over a week without water. Its powerful jaws allow it to chew through tough cacti, absorbing water and nutrients in the process without injuring itself."
Linda shut the Pokedex and pocketed it, lowering herself to the Trapinch's level.
"Trapinch, huh?" she asked. "Well, I'm glad I got you instead of something big and ugly..."
"Pinch?" the Pokemon replied.
She offered Trapinch her hand.
Trapinch glanced uncertainly at Linda, then trotted up to her hand and sniffed it.
The Pokemon's crooked smile broadened...
In the next instant, it'd opened its jaws wide and shut them on Linda's hand. The small creature hadn't bitten her hard enough to hurt her or break the skin, but when Linda pulled her hand back, the small Pokemon stayed clamped onto her.
Linda lifted her hand quizzically; Trapinch was still biting onto it, hanging from her hand like an ornament from a Christmas tree, apparently content to stay in that position for an unknown amount of time.
Prof. Sketchit chuckled.
"He likes you!" he said happily.
"He has a funny way of showing it." Linda said, sweatdropping.
"Oh, don't mind that." the Professor replied. "He'll get bored soon and let go."
"How soon is 'soon?'" Linda asked, attempting to shake the creature off.
But Trapinch thought Linda was playing, so he simply shut his eyes and held on tight.
Professor Sketchit shrugged.
"A half an hour." he said. "Give or take."
Linda groaned.
Prof. Sketchit almost laughed, but he thought it better not to, for fear of insulting Linda.
Insulting Linda was not a good idea.
"You can give him a nickname, if you want." the professor said off-hand.
Linda held up her hand so that she could look into the Trapinch's eye.
The Ant Pit Pokemon looked back, staring at her in a carefree, almost blank manner.
Linda glanced down at the creature's jaws, which were still locked tightly around her knuckles.
She sighed.
"I think," she said thoughtfully, "I'll call him... Chewy."
Professor Sketchit stifled a laugh as best as he could.
But Linda heard him. She glared daggers at the professor, causing him to flinch slightly.
"Uh, that is... Chewy is a great name! I love it! Chewy... heh..." Prof. Sketchit corrected himself, stuttering slightly.
Pokemon Prof. Sketchit understood.
Girls, on the other hand...
Linda nodded like a parent enforcing a rule upon her child, then turned back to her new Pokemon.
"What do you think?" she asked him. "You like the name 'Chewy?'"
"Trap, Trapinch!" the Ground Pokemon replied affirmatively.
But it still wouldn't let go of her.
Linda sighed.
"Chewy it is." she said, picking up his Pokeball with her free hand. "Return."
A pink beam shot forth from the ball, enveloping Chewy in a pink light. The small Pokemon barely flinched as it was atomized and converted into potential energy, then sucked back into the ball.
"Well..." Linda began.
The professor raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked softly. "Is everything OK?"
Linda paused, then nodded.
"Yeah, fine." Linda replied. "Um, thanks, Professor... I don't know what else to say."
Prof. Sketchit smiled.
"Then don't say anything else." he replied. "Thanks is just fine."
Linda pocketed the Pokeball containing her new Trapinch.
"Well, I should be getting home." she told the professor.
He nodded.
"Alright." he said as he walked Linda to the door. "If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."
"I'll keep it in mind." Linda replied. "Thanks."
Prof. Sketchit nodded and shut the door behind Linda, who took a deep breath as she walked down the sidewalk.
'Well,' she thought on her way back home, 'that could've gone worse... I'd have hated to wind up with a Grimer or a Rhyhorn!'
She removed Chewy's Pokeball from her pocket and examined it.
'Instead,' she thought, 'I got you...'
And deep down, inside the complex workings of her subconscious mind, affection towards the little Trapinch began to grow...
Well, there's the second chapter! So, like it? Hate it? Come on, I need some feedback, people!
Anyway, the focus is gonna be on Linda next chapter, following her home and then out on the open road.
Hopefully, she'll begin to get more into the spirit of Pokemon training in the process...
Keep an eye out for the next chapter, entitled "Catch of the Day."
Don't forget to review!
And if you have any character/Pokemon ideas, let me know! New ideas are always welcome!
Re: Shiny new Smiley Town *bling*
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Originally Posted by mr_pikachu
smilie. I love that thing.
You and I haven't been talking much, have we?
