Cedar is a Pokémon Student. She is getting her licence tomorrow at the Choosing Ceremony. Unfortunately, on the "Eve of the Choosing", things don't turn out the way she hopes! Cedar has to use the full amount of her ability to become the Pokémon Trainer she longs to be!
Cedar, full name Cedar Chemalle, the 10 year old girl, Gallium Town resident, Pokémon-trainer-to-be, was very excited. Tomorrow she was going to go to the Choosing Ceremony and get her first Pokémon ever! She couldn't wait. And she knew what she was getting, as well, Kimistle, the Grass Pokémon.
She was watching TV on her Jigglypuff style mattress and jumping on her bed. On the TV, a hopeful Bird Keeper was being thrashed by the 1st Elite, Lorelie. They were showing Contests of the Elite which had all the battles that the Elite 4 had every year. Cedar could already imagine herself battling and winning, these were high hopes, she knew, but it could happen. The commentator was basically wetting his pants with excitement, which was silly, because this battle was a flop.
"And the Bird Keeper is staring into the face of the first Elite, and he is reaching for his Pokéball, the one Pokémon he has brought into the ring!
"Go Fearow!"
"He sends out a Fearow, what an amazing bird! Lorelie looks calm, oh! She's reaching for HER Pokéball now! What an amazing battle!"
Oh yeah - thought Cedar - what an amazing battle - it hasn't even started yet!
"And Lorelie sends out a Dewgong, her best Pokémon yet! THE DEWGONG IS 3 LEVELS HIGHER THEN FEAROW, SHE GETS TO GO FIRST!!"
"Dewgong! Aurora Beam now!"
Dewgong's eyes narrowed, its mouth opened and a pale cylinder of light shot out.
VREEE!
"OH MY, WHAT AN AMAZING MOVE! A SPECTACULAR MOVE! THE FEAROW IS DOWN! WOW!!! THIS IS JUST ONE OF THE SPLENDID BATTLES WE WILL GET TO SEE IN THE TIME OF THE 'ELITE BATTLES'. Catch you after this ad break!"
"Better luck next time, Bird Keeper." a voice said from the doorway.
"Oh, it's Mum. Now she's going to say "Cedar, get to bed." Cedar thought, and groaned silently.
"Cedar, get to bed, come on, it's a quarter to nine.
Cedar groaned again, but this time vocally.
"Aw. " Yes! Right again! How many times had she known what her Mum was going to say!? This time she actually listened to her, although Cedar knew that even if she went to bed at ten, she still would get up at the right time, it just was to exciting to miss!
"Oh........ okay mum."
Cedar woke up at 5:15am because of nerves, and the fact that she was peckish. She groaned, and got out of bed. She might as well go have something to eat, there wasn't anything else to do. Her tummy was writhing with snakes, even at this hour she was nervous.
Cedar walked downstairs and gasped. She could hear someone outside their place! Her brain started racing. It must be a robber, who else would be out at this time? They would have Pokémon, wouldn't they, and they can't break in if I win a battle, can they?
She couldn't use Mum's prize Eevee for the fight, it was only level 20, and was used for shows. If Eevee had a spot on it, her mum would ground her forever.
She could use her big sister's Golem, level 72 (very cool!), her big sister (Alanna) had got it by trading it for a Haunter (now Gengar.)
Yes, that's what she would do.
She crept into her big sisters room and snatched the Pokéball. Lucky that her sister was out, maybe at a Pokémon rally. Creeping downstairs, she could faintly see three outlines outside, a man, a woman, and an Arcanine. She sneaked out the back way and stood stock-still. Cedar could hear whispering.
"Yes, we should be able to pull this off, Ned, don't worry. I've heard from the Boss that this girl has completed the First Challenge which means she has 149 Pokémon, and is going to try beat the Elite Challenge soon."
"Oh no!" thought Cedar, "That's my older sister they're talking about!"
Ned sniggered.
"After we've finished, she won't have any left to battle."
Cedar felt enraged. "Hold it right there!" she said (a bit braver then she felt) and stepped out of her hiding place.
"Oh! look Ned, a little brat trying to save the day! Ha!"
"Never mind, I'm in the mood for a fight, aren't you, Kelly?
"Go Golem!!" Cedar cried and the Pokéball opened, and Golem flew out.
"Raaawwwwww!!" it roared.
The Arcanine whimpered.
Just then, Cedar heard a loud singing noise from outside and realised it was her sister coming home. Cedar could tell by the way she was singing that she was totally, totally drunk at the moment. Alanna must have been at one of those parties at The Bulbasaur Bar. They were really popular with the teenagers, and she had heard that loud music boomed out in the city all night. Cedar was glad that it hadn't been built in Gallium, it would be very hard to get to sleep at night.
"Hey!" Cedar called out. "Alanna, help!"
"Whaaaaat? What'sh going on?" she questioned, and as she staggered through to the gate, she saw what was going on.
"Sheedaaar! What are you doing?" she drawled. "Down't yuu know thaa you're shupposhed to fight in daylart? Never miiiind, I'll do it." Cedar was just about to protest, when Alanna shouted "Golem! Eshploshion Attaaaaack!"
Everyone froze. Explosion?!?! Her sister must be out of her mind!
Everyone knew what Explosion was. It wasn't very hard to forget.
Everyone knew a level 72 Golem. (They aren't very hard to miss, as they are huge, heavy and tough.
Everyone knew how stupid it is to say that.
But Alanna was to drunk to even notice.
All eyes were on the Golem.
"RaaaawwwwwRaaaawwww" it roared.
It bent down, ready to attack. It tensed up its body and clenched its teeth. Then suddenly it started to go white, and beams of light shone out of the now golden/white circle. Then it Exploded, and Cedar saw the house just lift up in mid-air to just fall to bits! Oh no! Her mum was inside! Then, the ground beneath her feet started to shake violently and she fell over. As they subsided, the wind that had been caught by the force of the attack blew her of the ground and she was flying, flying away. She was blown over the fence, and up to her neighbours roof. Cedar nearly hit the aerial, and when she landed, she slipped, nearly off the roof, and she hit her head on the roof really heavily.
Cedar got time to see where she was, before everything went black.........................
Cedar has fallen unconscious after the Explosion, and never witnesses the saving of her mother, her sister, and most importantly, herself! She wakes to find herself in the professors bed - and is fine, only late - by three days. She starts on her Pokémon Journey with a new faithful friend, only to find her ex-best friend is scorning her! Poor Cedar! She is very late and must work hard to be up to standard.
"EeeeeeeeeAwwwwwwwwwwwww" an ambulance screamed, roaring into Gallium Town. It screeched to a halt, and Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny jumped out of it, surveying the scene of the blown up house with horror.
"WE NEED EMERGENCY BACKUP!" Officer Jenny shouted into her walkie-talkie, and they dashed into the rubble.
"Chansey! Go!" Joy shouted, and the pink Pokémon materialised from thin air.
"Chansey Chansey!" it called, and started to search under pieces of wood.
"Growlithe, I choose you!" Jenny said, and Growlithe too, started searching and sniffing, trying to find the scents of the 3 people he had to rescue. Suddenly from the road, a whole pack of Growlithe came racing down the stairs, barking and howling.
"Well, these are our emergency backup" Jenny said grimly. "Hey! Growlithe! Get to sniffing!" The fully trained police-Growlithe's started searching instantly for the family. Suddenly one of them barked, causing an uproar as all the rest of Growlithe howled, and swarmed over to the piece of rubble. Pushing over the wood, a face appeared: Cedar's mum! Joy and Jenny gently pushed away all the wood and pulled her out.
"Wow, look at those cool Pikachu pyjamas! Those are so in fashion!" Jenny commented, feeling a bit envious of the unconscious woman.
They then put her on a stretcher and stabilised her condition.
As they walked back to the site, Joy exclaimed:
"Will you look at that!" As Jenny looked over to where she was pointing, Joy had already run over to a berry bush, and next to it was a teenager, lying on the grass. She looked perfectly fine, and was gently snoring away.
Joy started chuckling as they put her on the stretcher, but they kept looking for the youngest one, Cedar, in case she was in critical condition, so the Growlithe's kept searching for scents.
On an impulse, Jenny took her Growlithe to the side of the house to search there. In an instant, it was trying to climb over the fence, barking excitedly. Jenny knew what was going on, and sending out Fearow, she climbed on its back, and flew next door to its roof. There she was, breathing shallowly, and obviously in danger. vJenny scooped her onto Fearow, and flew down to the ambulance. They loaded all of them on, and it zoomed out of sight.................
"Huh, where am I?" Cedar asked, her eyes slowly focusing. Then she saw who was leaning down concerned. "Professor Eucalypt!" she cried and tried to get up.
Wincing, and biting her lip in pain, she lowered herself, because she couldn't get up.
"Cedar, careful!" Prof. Eucalypt told her. "Don't worry, you're in my bed, in my house, safe and sound. Just I don't want to hurt yourself again. For one thing, Nurse Joy will throw me out, even though it isn't a hospital. "
Cedar was suddenly bursting with questions.
"Is my mum okay? Is my sister okay? Is the house okay? I know Alanna blew it up, but is it okay anyway? What day of the week is it? What Pokémon do I get to have?"
"Erm, um, weeelllll, lets see. Your mum and Alanna are okay, they're walking around fine, the house had insurance, it's fine, and, and, um........ahhhh......."
Cedar had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"I've missed the Choosing Ceremony, haven't I. I knew something was wrong." she said in a small voice, "Have all of them been taken?"
"Afraid so, but, as always, there was a spare, just in case someone arrives half an hour late to the Lab, in their pyjamas, just like Ash did with Oak." Cedar smiled.
"He was my great-grandad." she said dreamily. "I suppose I'm just like him, we both were late, but I didn't do anything, Golem did."
"Well, Golem was only obeying her trainer, so all this wouldn't of happened if you had just notified your mum without trying to battle the robbers without a Pokémon Trainer License. By the way, the robbers are actually a part of the split-up Team Rocket. They took all the professionals from Team Rocket they needed and formed Team Missile. Still you should have never tried that. " he said severely. "But this is your Pokémon, Cedar, even though this Choosing Ceremony is three days late."
He put a Pokéball on the bedside table, and it started to wriggle. Suddenly it burst open, and what beamed out was the smallest Pikachu she had ever seen! And the other fact strange about it apart from the size was it had hair in between its ears.
It looked around it for a minute, and saw Cedar. It beamed at her with the cute grin Pikachu tend to have.
"Pi-ka - pika pika, pi-ka CHU!" it said with the littlest hint of "Come on trainer! let's get this show on the road!"
"Hah, the patient Pikachu is getting a little tired of waiting, are you?" Prof. Eucalypt chuckled.
"Cedar, I think it's time to go. You are ready, I assume?" he asked.
"Yeah! lets go catch 'em all!" Cedar enthused as she eased her way out of bed.
Eucalypt handed her all the stuff she needed to become a Pokémon Trainer: the actual Pokémon Trainer Licence, the Pokedex (which was an old version. Eucalypt probably had the one after the one better then it.) , the Backpack which her mother had bought her, and the stuff inside, which was her Map, a Potion, Money (200 laquats), Pokegear (this she had pleaded with her mum for) and the empty closed Pokéball that Pikachu had bounced out of.
Cedar understood why it wasn't in the Pokéball. This Pikachu must have a slight fear of Pokéballs, not as much as Ash's did, but would only go in one if its life depended on it.
As Cedar headed out the door, Pikachu followed at her heels. She was suddenly confronted by her mother, who exploded with talk as soon as she saw Cedar.
"OhdarlingareyouokayI'vebeensoworriedisthisyourstartingpokemoni'msoproudofyou pikachucanyoulookaftercedarformeyouaresocuteareyougoingnowIhavealittleprezzieforyouhopeyoulikeit!"
After she had dumped the present in Cedars hands, she rushed off for an urgent talk with Prof Eucalypt, most likely going a bit like this............
"oh,idon'tthinkmybabyisreadyforthis,sheisabittooyoungandisonlytenyearsold. whoshallshebewithinthenightwithnobedtocrawlinto? Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
"Wow, Pikachu, I never knew anybody could talk so fast!"
Cedar is progressing well on her journey, she is learning lots already. Suddenly she gets two presentsl, a Pokemon, and a new upgraded Pokedex! A breeder befriends her in Rhodium, and helps out. Almost unexpectedly, her ex-best-friend now wants to battle! Cedar knows nothing on what her status is. How will Cedar defeat her arch rival?
Cedar looked back at the present. Ever since she was 3, Cedar had been playing the game where she would guess what the present was before it was opened. This one was no contest. It was obviously a Pokéball, but what was in it? Cedar unwrapped it.
"Go Pokéball." she whispered, and out popped an Eevee! The Eevee had a pink ribbon around its neck.
"Eevee! wow, what a cool present!"
The Eevee looked around it in disgust, and as a dust particle settled on it, it shrieked and disappeared back in the Pokéball.
The dust particle, however, having nothing to land on, floated down to the ground.
"Oh great, Mum's given me the fur fanatic." she moaned, using the nick-name that Alanna had made up to scorn it. This was the level 20 Eevee that she had questioned to fight the robbers. Cedar attached the Pokéball with Eevee inside to her belt.
She went outside with Pikachu but was almost knocked down by a girl going in.
"Watch your step!" she shouted at Cedar.
"Huh? Oh.....(it's you)..... hi Hawthorn, haven't you left yet? You would be ages away by now! Are you giving me a chance or something?"
"Oh, yeah, I heard about your accident, thought I wouldn't finish my Pokémon Journey last, because you would, and thought I might stay around. You know how scary it is out in the forests at night."
"So you stayed in Gallium for three days!?"
"No, stupid! (Cedar frowned) Why would I stay here? I was driven to Saffron and I stayed at the motel there. And apart from that, I was lucky and I got two cool new Pokémon to add to my Starting Pokémon! See yah!"
Feeling dispirited, Cedar walked away with Pikachu at her heels, and reflected.
This was her ex-friend Hawthorn. They had been great friends once, but ever since both her parents had died, she had hated everyone! Hawthorn wasn't obviously caring for her and wanting to give her a chance, she was scorning her and being lazy for her own convenience, but heaped onto that was the fact she got two new Pokémon with her Starting Pokémon, while Cedar had only got one! Oh well, she'd show Hawthorn one of these days!
She walked with Pikachu out of Gallium town, and started her Pokemon Journey.
As Cedar walked into Route 47, she found a patch of long grass, and not caring about dodging, walked into it.
After a few steps, she couldn't see anything below her waist. Something fluttered into her, and she stepped back from shock.
"Prrriiii! pri pri pri!" it scolded, and came out of the grass.
"Woah! Cool! A Pidgey!" Cedar enthused. "Pikachu! Lets get it!"
Pikachu scampered up Cedars leg, and on coming to her waist, pointed at her belt with nothing on it.
"Pi Ka Pikachu. (we need Pokéballs!) " it said, pointing at the belt.
"Ah.. Oh.., right, we need some Pokéballs to catch Pidgey."
Pikachu suddenly looked like it had a craving to say "DUH!" Instead, it said "CHUH!"
Cedar smiled guiltily at Pikachu.
"Yeah.....lets Run from it then." Cedar said, and they scampered away from the indignant Pidgey. Cedar passed many grassy areas, but stayed away from them.
When Cedar finally got to Rhodium City, she looked around in amazement. Comparing to Gallium, this city, well, it was a city! As she looked around, a teenager walked up to her.
"So you're from Gallium, huh? And wait! You're also starting your journey, right? Don't worry, I'm not a Psychic, I could tell by the look on your face. It was of startled 'oh my Muth how huge.'." she explained, and Cedar told her
"Yeah, are you a Rhodium resident?"
"To tell you the truth, no, I'm also from Gallium, but I started ages ago, and now I'm a breeder! My name's Willow."
"Cool, I'm Cedar, and this is my starting Pokémon, Pikachu!"
"The Cedar?! You mean Ash's great-grandchild? Cool! And you got a Pikachu too, so you should go just as well!"
"Thanks, since you know the way around here, could you tell me the places to go?
"Well, the Museum is pretty cool, to get Pokéballs, go to the Pokémart, and last of all, Clara's Gym."
"Gym Leader?"
"Yeah - she uses Normal Pokémon. I won't tell you what ones however - it would all be spoilt. "
"Oh, Ok, so I'll be battling Clara, using Normal Element."
"Yeah, but watch out, her Pokémon are pretty tough."
"Oh well, we'll just have to beat them, won't we, Pikachu." Pikachu didn't look so sure, it looked up at Cedar, and scampered up her back.
"Pi, pika" it said uncertainly.
"Well, I'd better go look at the museum, then. See you!"
As Cedar walked in the direction of the museum, it suddenly loomed up before her. On walking in, the man behind the counter snapped:
"A child's ticket is 50 laquets, if you are coming in, that is."
"Oh." Cedar said as she rummaged around in her bag for the money. "Here you are."
She handed over the money and walked in. To her left and her right there were glass cases, with bones in them. As she walked over to the left one, a boy walked past her and muttered:
"What on earth is so special about a stupid rock?! It just evolves Pokémon and that's all!"
Cedar wanted to find out what he was talking about, so she stepped over to look at the rock, whatever that was. There was a heap of it on the bottom of the case.
"Moon Stone......they say it fell from the moon......." a creepy voice whispered. Cedar swung around and behind her, was a girl, mesmerised by the Moon Stone.
Cedar, feeling uncomfortable, sidled away to the bones. Looking into one of the glass cases, she saw that the bones had been wired together, to form a creepy Pokémon that had two scythes for arms, and it read.
"Kabutops: This Pokémon is extinct, but scientists are trying to create it again using a Dome Fossil."
"Wow! what a cool Pokémon!" Cedar said, walking to the other one. Now this one had a flying dinosaur in it.
"Aerodactyl: This Pokémon was long extinct, until a scientist came upon Amber. Amber can recreate this prehistoric Pokémon. Unfortunately, the scientists are too busy to Fly over to Cinnabar, where the lab to extract D.N.A is."
Thinking that would be a great Pokémon to have, Cedar walked away to the stairs. Suddenly Cedar had to stop, she could see something in her mind. She closed her eyes, and it was like having a hallucination. It was wierd. She was in a cave, with the Kabutops. The Kabutops, came before her, swinging its arms, getting closer, and closer, and then she was the Kabutops, swinging her deadly arms, walking slowly to a terrified girl, who would pay for the sacrifice of Death...The vision ended, and Cedar was on the floor.
Cedar awoke to find herself on the floor. What was that? A wierd hallucination, something like that...Maybe she was going mad. Pikachu was shaking her urgently.
"Pika Pika Pika CHU!" Cedar jumped. The store-woman was leaning over her.
"Hello? Are you alright? What happened?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm okay." Cedar reeasurred her, trying to stop all the eyes that burned into her, all the shopkeepers and visitors. She got up shakily.
"Really, I'm fine. I...just....passed out." Cedar reeasured her again, lying about the passing out bit. That wasn't fainting, it was something surreal.
Trying to escape all the rude staring people, she climbed quickly up the stairs.
On the top floor, a little girl whined.
Daddy, ....can I pleeeese have a Pikachu?" while the father reassured her.
"Yeah, a Pikachu soon, I promise!"
When Cedar looked around on the top, she saw a space shuttle in a glass case. Talking to one of the scientists, he said excitedly
"Look, a new exhibition, the space shuttle that went to the moon!"
Although it looked very interesting, Cedar left, and walked out to go to the Pokémart.
The shopkeeper, however, called her over instantly
"Hey, you! Are you from Gallium? I have a parcel here for the Professor. You wanna give it to him?"
"Uh, ok, can I buy some Pokeballs?"
"Well sure - but not right now. You need to go and deliver that parcel, young Pokemon Trainer." Cedar felt angry, she wasn't young! She walked out of the shop with the parcel.
Surprisingly Cedar didn't run into any Pokemon as she was walking through the grass. She was still feeling annoyed, she didn't know why, she just was scowling.
However, as she walked into Prof. Eucalypt's Lab, the going got way better!
"Oh! thanks Cedar! The custom Pokéballs I ordered from the Pokemart! Thank you, in fact, I actually needed to see you, come over here, and look at this!" Unfortunately, before she could even move, Hawthorn barged in, speaking loudly to the Aide, and quite rudely, in fact.
"Yeah what is it? Come on, you're just wasting my precious time" The Aide quavered under her fierce stare, and pointed to Eucalypt.
"The Professor wants to talk to you."
Eucalypt suddenly noticed Hawthorn waiting there and smiled.
"Ah! Hawthorn! The present I promised to you is here! Take it! Your new upgraded Pokédex!" Hawthorn shrugged, but took it from him.
"Well Cedar, here is your one, I thought it would be helpful. It comes with all your info-if it is stolen or lost, people cannot delete or change the information programmed in it-and remember-police do a monthly check to see if you actually own it, so thieves won't get far. It is voice activated to answer any question, and you can enter your Pikachu right now, in fact. Hang on-just let me activate it onto your first one!" The actual 'Pokedex' he was holding looked like a small rectangle-red, and it had a few clips on it. Cedar guessed that he would fit the new upgrade onto her old one by the use of these clips. She was right. He took the old Pokedex and fitted it onto the back. He turned it on. Handing it back, he spoke again.
"Alright Cedar-lets see how you have been training to be a 'pro'."
Cedar flipped open the red Pokédex, pointed it at Pikachu and pressed the enter button.
"Pikachu. This is your Pokémon. It is level 5. Element: Electric, Type: Mouse, Moves: Thundershock and Growl. " it talked in its mechanical voice. "When several of these Pokémon gather, they attract so much electricity that they can cause lightning to strike." it said.
"Cool!" Cedar enthused, and pointed it at Prof. Eucalypt.
He jumped, but the biggest shock was still to come.
"Professor Eucalypt. This is a wild Pokémon. It is level 40. Element: Normal, Type: Human, There is only one of these Pokémon in the whole world, and still nobody has managed to capture it."
"Aahhhh!" Prof. Eucalypt cried, and ran out the door.
"Pi pi pi?!?!?" Pikachu said in confusion.
Putting the Pokédex near Eevee's Pokéball, she pressed the enter button.
"Eevee, this Pokémon is Marie's rightful owner. It is level 20. Element: Normal, Type: Evolution. You are not Marie. For what reason do you have this Pokémon with you?" Cedar hated talking into machines, it made her feel uncomfortable. This was probably why she spoke so formally.
"Uh, I am Cedar Chemalle, my mother, who is Marie Chemalle, gave Eevee to me as a Pokémon Present."
"Accepted, is this now your Pokémon?"
"Yes, what's its Pokédex?
"Its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from elemental stones."
"Hey, aren't you going to log in your three Pokémon?" Cedar enquired. "Show me what one you chose!"
Hawthorn had just been mooching around all that time, and studying the Pokédex.
On the sound of her being addressed, though, she jumped and immediately scowled again.
"That's none of your business what one I got! Leave me and my Pokémon alone!"
Cedar felt shocked. Her head erupted with thoughts.
"It isn't my fault Hawthorn has turned out mean and rude to everyone after the new science building in Celadon fell over, killing both Hawthorn's parents and heaps of other people as well who were inside. Just because Prof. Eucalypt is her grandfather, he decides to look after her, but unfortunately he has a soft spot where she is concerned, and lets her get away with everything!" she thought sulkily. "It was devastating, but she didn't have to lay it on to her friends! Nobody likes her any-more, because she hasn't opened up and explained how she was feeling about it to us!"
Lost in her trail of thought, Cedar suddenly snapped back to reality and found that Hawthorn had left.
She and Pikachu did the same, and walked back to Rhodium City.
"Hi! may I help you? Hey, did you gave the parcel to the Prof?" the shop-keeper asked brightly when Cedar entered the store again.
Coming over to the cashier, there were quite a lot of things for sale, such as Potion, Repel and finally, Pokéballs!
Cedar bought two, and went back to Route 47. She didn't have long to wait long, before she felt a rustle and cry of surprise.
Whatever she had bumped into dashed out of the grass, glaring at her. A small but robust Pokemon stood there, with a mean look in its eyes. It had big teeth, with ears to match, claws and a tail with a swirl in the end.
"Look! Pikachu! Wow, that's a Rattata!
Pikachu suddenly looked like it had a craving to say "DUH!" Instead, it said "CHUH!"
Cedar smiled guiltily at Pikachu. She opened up the Pokédex and pressed the enter button again.
"Rattata. This is a wild Pokémon. Element: Normal. Type: Rat. The Pokedex has no entry for Rattata since you have not caught this Pokemon. Use your Pokéball to capture it. Remember it needs to be weakened before attempting to catch it. " She looked at its statistics. It was level 3, which was okay for now. As is all wild Pokémon, it was full health. This was her 2nd wild Pokemon to face, but this was more exciting because she, Cedar from Gallium, was to catch it and train it as her new Pokemon! The Rattata snarled. It scratched its front paws on the ground, started running and raced past Pikachu lightning speed, showing off its moves.
"That was a Quick Attack, Pikachu! Come on! Let's get it!"
"Ok Pikachu, go get it! Use your Thunder Shock Attack!" Cedar ordered Pikachu.
"Piiiii Kaaaa CHUUU!" Pikachu shouted. A yellow bolt shot out of Pikachu's cheeks, towards Rattata and, checking the statistics of Rattata's health on Cedar's Pokédex, it could resist a Pokéball still.
The Rattata looked surprised at being electrocuted, but recovered its composure and dashed towards Pikachu. Running full speed toward it, it Tackled her and Pikachu was knocked over. It stood up really quickly again though, and snarled at Rattata.
"Another Thunder Shock!" Cedar said.
"CHUU!"
Cedar checked Rattata again. It was almost fainting! Cedar quickly pulled the first empty Pokéball from her belt, and hurled it at Rattata.
"Go Pokéball!"
It opened, and Rattata was pulled inside. This was the crucial moment. It wobbled once, twice, thriiiccccceeeeee...and stopped!
Cedar whooped with joy! Her very first caught Pokémon! She knew she could catch it! Wow! Cedar couldn't get over it. She was over the moon.
"And when I defeat the Elite five, Rattata, you will be the one that I caught first! You'll be famous!"
A loud beep suddenly came from her Pokédex. She opened it up and stared at it again. The screen was flashing, showing some words:
"Congratulations! You have just caught a level 3 Rattata."
"Yeah! Oh cool! How good are we, Pikachu!" Pikachu smiled, and nodded. Cedar opened up her hand and the now full Pokéball zoomed to it. Wow, what a pro, she thought. She attached the ball to her belt.
Cedar walked to the Pokémon Centre to heal it. The Nurse beamed at her when Cedar entered, talking to her at the same time.
"Hi! Welcome to the Pokemon Center. Do you want to heal your Pokemon?"
"Yeah, here they are." She unlocked the Pokeballs from her belt and handed them to the Nurse. Pikachu was at her heels. She lifted her up and also gave her to the Nurse.
"Pokeball phobia, huh?" asked the Nurse.
"Yeah, she doesn't like them much, uh, Nurse..."
"Kate!" she explained.
Kate put the Pokeballs on the Healing Machine. Then the beam went through them, and Cedar almost heard a sigh of relief from the Rattata. A thing with so much energy must like being full health.
"And now you, Pikachu!" Kate said, picking up the Mouse. She put Pikachu on the Machine as well, and it beamed through Pikachu as well. Kate handed the Pokeballs and Pikachu back to Cedar.
"Thanks for visiting!" Kate enthused, and Cedar walked out, ready to continue.
Now what was the other Pokémon she saw........, hey, it was a Pidgey. Her days at the Pokémon school sure had its good moments, even though Pikachu demanded that she was to know every Pokémon before Cedar did.
Now-back to her trail of thought.......Pokémon school was really cool, Cedar had learnt so much there, about Pokémon mostly, but a little about the Journies, names, evolutions, elements, types, weaknesses, resistances, height, weight, temperament, locations, and basically everything. And they had different facilities for people who didn't want to take up the Gym and Elite Challenge and become Trainers, instead they could become Breeders, Scientists (although some have trained Pokémon anyway), Professors, Aids, the list was endless. Cedar walked back to Route 47, and back into the grass. She had to walk around a few more times before a Pokemon arrived. It was a bird, brown and cream coloured, with a short beak and little wings. Pidgey. Pikachu instantly crouched into attack mode, ready for every command, and Cedar's heart swelled.
A few days ago she had been a wannabee, imagining her super-power Pokémon defeating every Elite, and now she had two real Pokémon, one showing real promise, and the other she was sure would be great.
The Pidgey was at level 4.
"Like before, Pikachu! Thundershock!"
"Chuu!"
Pidgey's HP was halfway down already, Cedar saw on her Pokédex. Why? She racked her brains. Oh! Pidgey's Element was Flying and Normal, which meant it was weak to Electric attacks. Should she risk another Thundershock? Surely it wouldn't faint! Before she made her decision Pidgey sent a Gust to Pikachu, and its Energy lowered down to the orange level.
"Pikachu! Another Thundershock!" Cedar wanted to get back at the Pidgey for Gusting Pikachu. After all, it was only level 5!
"Pi-Ka-CHU!" The Pidgey was shocked again. Cedar saw its energy draining away on her Pokédex. Orange, Red.....and it fainted. The look on Pidgey's face was of dullness. Then it flopped down on the ground with its eyes shut. It lost all its colour except for white, and Cedar reached for her Pokéball, thinking that she could be able to catch it if it had fainted. Before she could throw the Pokeball, the Pidgey-well-it looked like it suddenly Teleported out, like its whole body formed a cylinder and zapped out, but any Pidgey can't do that! The Pidgey had disappeared. Cedar slumped in annoyance. Of course she couldn't catch any Pokemon when they had fainted! A chuckle sounded behind her, and she swivelled around to see who had laughed. Willow was walking up to her.
"Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, just the look on Pikachu's face is adorable!" Cedar looked back at Pikachu. It was wandering about, trying to find the Pidgey, with a surprised look on its face. If it could talk, it would be talking at the moment, something like this:
"Hey, you weren't supposed to do that!" Willow spoke again.
"Did you know I can still remember the first time I did that? Silly, really. I was battling a Nothyp, and I used the most strongest move I could with my Nidorino. But the two real reasons I tried to find you was, one, to get your Phone-Number. Do you have Pokegear?" Cedar nodded and held it out. "Great! Now we can contact each other and talk. If you need any help, just ring and ask me." Willow and Cedar held the Pokegear's together and they downloaded each others numbers.
"Now for number two." Willow said. "Pokemon battles. I think you already have an arch-rival. I met her in the Mart. She was talking about you a bit. I think her name is-"
"Hawthorn", Cedar answered glumly. "Yeah, she used to be my best friend, but now..."
"Hey, main rivals can still be friends! Why, you may ask, why am I putting this subject to you? Because she wants to battle. Thursday night at seven o'clock. Exactly seven o'clock. Where? The battling ground in Gallium. I don't think I like her very much, like, she was showing off, really prissy. She was acting like her Pokemon were pretty tough." Willow did an imitation of Hawthorn, strutting up and down the Route, like Cedar's Eevee. Cedar burst out laughing.
"I didn't know you were so good at imitation! About her Pokemon, however, well she did get some in Saffron, and I don't know what they are, or at what level they are at. If she really is good, then how many would she have now?"
"You can now thank your lucky stars. Hawthorn is taking it easy, with training and that, even though she was acting like some hotshot Elite. She has no badges yet, and is making sure all her Pokemon obey her, and in doing that, keeping the levels low. None of them are above level 10. With friends, however, she is going strong. People are clustered all around her, because of her rare Pokemon. Yep, they are rare, but not strong. Just train. Train, and you will beat her."
"Thanks Willow, I will. Okay, catch you later!"
"Bye!"
"Hey Pikachu, get over here!" Cedar called out. Cedar was in the grass at R47. She had been training her Pokémon, battling more and more wild Pokémon to prepare for the battle against her and Hawthorn. Pikachu, however was not prepared to show Cedar's enthusiasm, and was lying on the grass, really hamming it up, acting like she was exhausted, with her tongue out and breathing rapidly. Pikachu had only been in 3 battles, only 3. Rattata, however, had been in 6, with 2 visits to the Pokécenter for a quick heal. Rattata was very energetic, and eager to please, which was what Cedar wanted.
"Peekaaachhuuuu...." Cedar teased. "I'm gonna put you in my Box on the P.C........" Pikachu got up really quickly, and sent a jolt of lightning over to a passing Pidgey. It squawked and flew up in the air, to accept the attack and to attack back. A Gust came down, and narrowly missed Cedar. She groaned with annoyance. Pikachu was being stubborn, again. It basically fought without any of Cedar's commands, and she only hoped that Pikachu wouldn't muck up in the battle. It was so important to her. It was a feeling of "oh, if I lose, then Hawthorn is going to win" not in the 'duh' way, but in the 'rights of way' way. She really wanted and needed to win! Pikachu sent up another Thundershock to the flying Pidgey, and only then did Cedar pay attention. Maybe she could catch it, if it didn't faint. She watched on her Pokédex. The first Thundershock had been a half hearted one, so-Yes! Pidgey hadn't fainted! Cedar grabbed her empty Pokéball and threw it at the Pidgey. The ball hit it-what a shot!- and opened. Pidgey was sucked inside. The Pokeball fell to the ground.
Wobble.........wobble..........wobble............ it closed. Cedar, having a buzz from this sort of 'pro' thing, opened up her hand. Cool. She loved the way that the Pokéball almost reacted to her thoughts, and how it zoomed through the air to impact neatly with her hand. Her Pokedex was beeping annoyingly. It always did, she told herself, and that is to show what I just caught. She opened it up and checked out Pidgey. Its level was 3, and it was unhealthy, due to Pikachu's Thundershocks. Cedar figured that if she trained Pidgey well enough today, which was the actual day of the battle, she could use it for the battle. Great! Another Pokémon for the team. (The unbeatable team) Cedar added, and grinned.
"Pi-ka pi Pika! Pikachu-chu Pi ka-chu Pi Chu? (This place is boring! Can't we battle in that other grass?)" Pikachu complained. Cedar knew what she was talking about. While being in Rhodium city, they all had discovered another patch of grass on the right, leading away to a corner, to a place which Cedar knew nothing of. It did look interesting, she told herself-and maybe it held stronger, more interesting Pokémon.
Cedar suddenly remembered the Pidgey. It needed to be healed before it battled again, otherwise a faint was inevitable. A quick walk to the Pokémon Centre fixed this problem, and Cedar was ready.
"Fine! We'll go." Cedar said, and Pikachu eagerly ran ahead to the grass. Cedar walked into the long grass.
"Ugh! All this dry grass is sticking to my top!" Cedar complained, getting the heebie-jeebies as she thought of what might be in here. What if they were stronger than Pikachu? That was her strongest, level 8. Rattata came next, level 6, and then Pidgey, level 3......She swapped Pikachu's Pokéball with Pidgey's one, making sure that Pidgey popped out first. Pidgey needed training. Yikes! A Pokémon! Cedar felt her leg brush against a back, and she jumped from the suddenness of it all. It came out of the grass, a Spearow! Level 3. Great, perfect to acclimatise to Pidgey. She sent it out.
"Pidgey! Pri pri!", it called, and glared at the Spearow. Behind Cedar, Pikachu slumped and looked disappointed, this was one battle it wasn't going to participate in.
"Alright Pidgey-give it a Gust attack!" Pidgey flapped its wings, so fast that Cedar couldn't see the individual ones, it was just a blur. A mini-tornado swirled around and hit the Spearow. The Spearow whirled around and flew out, looking worried. Waiting for the attack onto Pidgey, she stood tense-but it never came. It just kept looking around, with a worried look on its face.
"Come on, attack!" Cedar willed it, thinking: "attack Pidgey, attack Pidgey..."
Finally thinking that it was just too slow, Cedar ordered another move.
"Gust attack!" Again the tornado swirled round Spearow. Again more peering, and again, no attack. Why, why, why, she thought.
"Another!" The Spearow was looking pretty battered by now. It still didn't retaliate. Cedar was just about to speak again when a voice sounded.
"Hey! Stop beating up my Spearow!!" Spearow perked up, and looked at the direction of the voice. Cedar turned around, and saw a girl walk up to her. She gaped, relising why the Spearow wouldn't attack. It belonged to the girl, and was waiting for the command to attack! This wasn't a wild Pokemon at all!
"'Spearbeak'-Wing attack!" Now the glint of angry came into its eyes, while Pikachu looked at the battle scene, getting excited. Spearow flapped into the air, and raced towards Pidgey. It breezed past it and delibarately left the wing trail, so it bashed into Pidgey. Pidgey was bowled over, Cedar gasped. Wing Attack? That was a move that a Pidgeot would use, nor a level 3 Spearow! This was a cool battle-but what others would she use if Spearow fainted?
"Tackle it Pidgey!"
Pidgey took to the sky, and flapped furiously, getting higher and higher. Then the time seemed right, it folded its wings into its body, and faced to ground. The ground rushed up to Pidgey, and it raced down to the Spearow. At the last moment it flared its wings, and bashed into Spearow who was on the ground. The girl gasped. Spearow had finally had enough, it flopped to the ground, and fainted. The glimmer of silver went round its body, and Cedar watched. The girl, instead of recalling it, ran and picked it up.
"Oh, sorry Spearbeak, I never should have let you battle-you're still sick!"
"Hey-since when do Pokemon stray from their owners? Is it disloyal?" Cedar demanded. She finally shifted her eyes to Cedar.
"Oh, yes, maybe I should explain. I'm Cherrie, and both my parents are Doctors. This isn't my Spearow-it was brought into the hospital when it had fallen sick with 'flu. We nursed it back to health and we're keeping it if no one comes back for it. See when they're not dangerously ill-we let them run around in this patch of grass to get better. We basically use them as our own-but they're not." We can't put them in Pokeballs, though we give them nicknames, don't we Spearbeak!"
"Oh, I get it. Hi Cherrie, are you a Trainer as well as Doctor, by any chance? You seem to know what's going on."
"Well, I do use the Pokemon for fighting, but I don't follow the Gym Challenge. You're obviously going to-I can see the look of determination in your eyes."
