"Damn," I hummed, walking out of a row of tall grass as I took in the sight in front of me.
Towering buildings, an actual paved road, and people walking down the street greeted me. I had arrived at Viridian City.
After seeing the poor, three-building city that was Pallet Town, I hadn't expected much from any of the other cities in this region. I figured they'd be how I remembered them to be in the games - that is, just a couple of buildings chucked in the middle of nowhere, with a road or two between them. I was in Kanto, and the detail put into the towns in the older games was lacking, to say the least, compared to newer ones.
So, imagine my surprise when Viridian City was a real-ass city! Not a huge one or anything, mind you, but compared to the population of Pallet Town, which couldn't have been more than twenty, even with the bustling laboratory, Viridian City looked like it at least had a few thousand people inside of it.
It was no Tokyo or New York, but there looked to be numerous neighborhoods within the city, and there was a main 'downtown' area with a Pokemon Center, Pokemart, and, most importantly, the Viridian City Gym. Cars drove casually, lampposts lined the streets, and I didn't feel like I was in the middle of nowhere anymore - which was kind of odd, considering I'd only walked for a couple of hours to get here from the isolated Pallet Town. But, I wasn't going to complain!
"First, the Pokemon Center," I decided, glancing down the main road within Viridian City, which was by far the busiest, as I quickly spotted the structure. It was damn-near in the exact middle of the city, and was bigger than any other building I had seen so far.
It looked to be two stories tall, with tall white walls, and the symbol of a poke ball plastered on the front near the roof. I didn't know if Charmander was tired from the trek here like I was, though I knew he hadn't taken any damage since all of our opponents were bugs, but I figured giving him a rest wouldn't hurt.
I walked up to the building and pushed on the door, causing it to swing open as I stepped through it. Instantly, I let out a sigh as the cold air of an air conditioner hit me, and I glanced around. The interior was about what I expected - just a desk with a woman behind it, a couple of chairs for trainers to sit at, and a singular round table.
"Welcome to the Viridan City Pokemon Center! I'm Nurse Joy!" The woman behind that counter called out as I entered, and I realized I was the only one in here pretty quickly.
I had just naturally expected more people to be in here, since there were always at least a few in the games, but it actually made more sense for it to be empty. It only took, what, ten seconds for your pokemon to be healed? With a process that quick, it wasn't like there would ever be a line or anything.
"I'm, Red," I gave her a friendly grin, pausing for a split second as I had to remember what my new name was, "I just need a few pokemon to be healed."
Nurse Joy also looked about how I expected her to, as she had long pink hair, a pretty face, and thin body - though I couldn't see much of it, as she was both standing behind a counter and wearing a thick, long, pink gown. As I told her what she needed, she looked at me with a slightly strange look in her eyes.
"Yup… that's what the Pokemon Center is for," She said, reaching under the counter and pulling out a tray with six circular indents in it, "What else would you do here?"
I stared at her blankly, wondering if I should be offended as she looked at me like I was stupid, but then just shrugged. I reached into my pockets, pulling out the collection of poke balls, and then placed them in the long tray.
"This will only take a few seconds," Nurse Joy's 'are you dumb' look switched to a pleasant smile as she turned around, and slid the tray into a large, white machine behind her. The machine started to whirl as it shook lightly, and a light shone inside of it for a moment. Then, Nurse Joy reached back in and slid out the tray of poke balls.
"That was quick," I nodded approvingly, and quickly wished I had.
"Yup… I said it would only take a few seconds, but good observation." The smile didn't falter off her face for a moment, and this time, I did feel insulted as I took my poke balls out of the tray and looked at her dryly.
"I thought customer service workers were supposed to be friendly," I said in a slightly accusing manner, to which Nurse Joy just matched my dry look.
"Deal with rock-brained trainers every day, and see how 'friendly' you feel afterward."
When I thought back to how Joey had acted, I could definitely see her point. Even in a non-pokeman battle sense, he was a little bit slow in the head, and that was probably because he spent his childhood running around catching bug pokemon instead of being in school.
Seriously, there were only a handful of schools throughout all of the regions, and most of them were pokemon schools! Where the hell did the kids here learn how to do math and read and shit?!
"Fair enough," I shrugged, but a grin spread across my face as my eyes locked with hers, "But, I'm not one of those idiots, alright? So, don't look down on me next time I come through!"
"What's 7 x 8?" Nurse Joy asked instantly in response, her dry look not fading as she matched my gaze.
"What?" I blinked at her words, confused by the sudden question.
"What's 7 x 8?" Nurse Joy asked again, not backing down. I wasn't ashamed to admit that I paused for more than a few seconds, just staring her down in silence as my brain worked. Maybe my teacher was right when he said I wouldn't always have a calculator with me.
"56," I finally said after roughly five seconds, and, to my surprise, Nurse Joy's eyes went wide, staring at me with slight awe.
"You… you can actually do math?!"
"Why the hell wouldn't I be able to do math?!" I shot back, glancing down as I wondered if I looked stupid or something, "Anyone over the age of ten could do that!"
I did get a response as Nurse Joy just continued to stare at me, her eyes wide, "A trainer… a not stupid trainer…"
"Alright, fuck this," I shoved the poke balls into my pocket and promptly turned around, heading for the door. Were the usual trainers actually so dumb that me knowing how to do simple multiplication was shocking?!
"W-Wait! If you're both smart and a trainer… then you're going to be the greatest! O-Or, at least a champion! TAKE ME WITH YOU!" As I was stepping out the door, I was promptly tackled from behind, and my untrained body - or, Red's untrained body, which struggled with even walking for a couple hours through tall grass - fell to the ground.
"W-What the hell are you doing?! Get off of me!" I tried to push myself to my feet, but Nurse Joy was surprisingly strong.
"Nope, I'm coming with you!" She huffed, staring down at me with fiery determination filling her eyes.
"Why the fuck would you come with me?!" I groaned as I started pulling myself out from under her.
"I can tell you're going to be a legendary trainer! I need to be a part of your journey!"
"I already got Charmander, and that's all the traveling buddies I need! Fuck off!" I finally pulled myself free and took off sprinting down the street.
"Noooooooo! Don't leave me with all these idiots!" Unfortunately, Nurse Joy started sprinting after me. Even more unfortunately, she was much faster than this untrained body.
In a strange fashion I had never imagined, I had found my first traveling partner.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, um… what moves do you know?"
"Bulbasaur!"
"Does that mean 'vine-whip?'"
"Bulbasaur!"
"Fuck this," I groaned, staring down at my Bulbasaur as he was very unhelpful in figuring out what moves he knew.
Not that he was the only unhelpful one or anything, as I'd gone through this exact same process with all of Charmander, Squirtle, and Pikachu at this point. In the end, the little creatures didn't speak the same language I did, and wouldn't even give me nods or head shakes to help me narrow down their move pool. Apparently, Ash's Pikachu was the smartest Pikachu to ever Pikachu, and mine might have been the dumbest.
Instead, I'd have to figure it out through trial and error. I'd made some progress with Charmander yesterday, as I narrowed down that the mouth-beam of fire he shot out whenever I told him to 'burn the shit' out of something was likely Ember. Beyond that, he could also use 'Scratch' - I think, at least, as I told him to 'smack the life out of that Caterpie' and he ran up and swiped his claws at it.
"I'll have time to test you out on the way to Pewter City," I hummed, glancing down at Bulbasaur before I recalled him into his poke ball.
Soon, I would leave Viridian City after only being here for one night and head for Pewter City. When I arrived here, I had just instinctively considered it as nothing more than a quick resting place, as in the games, you had to challenge the Viridian City gym last, despite arriving there first. Then, as I was here longer, I thought about just challenging the gym right away - because, at worst, I'd just lose and head to the Pokemon Center, so why not say 'fuck it' and try?
That thought process had been swept away when Nurse Joy confirmed to me that the gym leader, Giovanni, was out of town, and wouldn't be back for more than a week. So, now I was forced to do things in the right order - which meant heading to Pewter City now.
"...Maybe if I sneak out early, she won't notice?"
Right now, I was staying in the singular hotel within all of Viridan City, which was more like an Airbnb than a hotel. It was just a simple, large wooden house, which had a couple of rooms for guests, and in which the owner was still staying. It was pretty cheap, costing only a few hundred Pokedollars, and I got a pretty big room in return.
The only downside was that it was right next to the Pokemon Center, which meant it was right next to Nurse Joy, who was still intent on joining me. She'd even offered to let me spend the night in the Pokemon Center, but her crazy eyes had made me decide that I'd rather spend money than risk being murdered.
The short break I got last night and this morning had allowed me to take stock of what I actually had on me, but it was about what I expected. Looking in a mirror had told me that I was indeed the 'Red' from the games, as I looked exactly like him, though I was older than I expected. This body seemed to be around 18 or 19, possibly 20, compared to the younger age I thought 'Red' would be.
Looks aside, I also found a couple of thousand Pokedollars in my pockets, which, along with the money I took from Joey yesterday, let me purchase roughly a dozen poke balls from the Pokemart. I'd even gotten a discount, as Nurse Joy had still been following me, and shouted at the worker about how I was destined for greatness, so I still had nearly a thousand Pokedollars left - and, I had even gotten a couple free bags of Pokefood in the process!
Nurse Joy might've been a little bit crazy, but I couldn't deny the benefits she got me.
"I'll just head out now," I muttered, walking a bit awkwardly towards the door as my pockets were stuffed with poke balls, "She's probably still asleep, right? Maybe I have time to go buy a bag, too…"
I headed out of the room door, then walked through the small house to the main door, and slowly, and silently, crept out the door. Nurse Joy was still staying in the Pokemon Center, so if I made too much noise, she might hear me and catch me before I left town-
"Ready to go?" I blinked, pausing as I finished pushing open the door, and came face to face with a beautiful pink-haired woman.
"...Have you been here all night?" I asked dryly.
"Yup!"
"And you don't think that's weird? Not a bit stalker-ish to you?" I deadpanned, to which Nurse Joy just smiled brightly back.
"I think I was being a considerate traveling partner and ensuring you didn't leave without me!"
I stared at her for a second, and then, as per usual, just shrugged. As long as she didn't try to kill me in my sleep, I guess having company that could say more than their name was nice. And, she wasn't hard on the eyes either, so I couldn't complain.
"Fuck it, let's go. We're headed to Pewter City."
"Yay!" Nurse Joy cheered at my acceptance, "You're going to take down the gym, I assume?"
"Yup, but first…" I glanced down at the empty poke balls in my pocket, and a small smirk crossed my face. "I need to get a slave."
…
…
…
"A-A slave? I think that's illegal… I know you're on track to become a champion, but if you really do that, then I'll have to report you to Officer-"
"An HM slave! I meant an HM slave, damn it!"
And so, my first of many journeys with Nurse Joy began.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He's perfect! Use Ember on him, Charmander! But not too hard!"
"Char! Charmander!" Charmander cheered in response, opening his mouth and releasing a burst of fire towards the pokemon standing across from him.
"...Perfect? Maybe I was wrong about you…" Nurse Joy muttered, staring as a poor Weedle was engulfed in flames, "It's a Weedle. You've been making fun of all those kids that challenge you for having Caterpie, but a Weedle isn't much better."
"Yup, but as far as pokemon battles go, he's pretty fuckin' useless," I agreed, casually chucking a poke ball at the fainted Weedle, "But, he has other uses."
As far as pokemon battles went, Weedle was useless and would stay pretty useless. It wouldn't get many moves at all until it was fully evolved, and I had no idea how long that would take considering the real-life monsters in front of me didn't have level indicators, and even when it did become a Beedrill, the moves were decent at best. Combined with its poor typing, as in it was a damn bug, and I had pretty much no reason to capture a Weedle.
"Other uses?" Nurse Joy asked, raising an eyebrow at me, "Like what?"
"Cutting," I hummed, walking up and picking up the poke ball as it finished shaking, "It's a long-term plan, but there aren't many pokemon in this region that can learn cut, and I'm not putting it on one of my damn starters!"
"...Cut?" Nurse Joy asked dryly, the same 'are you stupid' look appearing on her face, "If you need to cut something, you can just buy a pair of scissors. I even have scissors on me, because I'm a Nurse, remember?"
She reached down into the small pouch on the front of her outfit, searched around for a second, and then pulled out a small pair of scissors.
"Not like that," I shook my head, "Like, cutting a tree."
"...I don't think a Beedrill can cut down a whole tree," Nurse Joy shot back with a deadpan, "Why would you even want to cut down a tree?"
"N-Not like a whole tree! Like, a little tree in the way!" I justified, suddenly feeling self-conscious, "What if there's a tree in the way, and you can't walk past it without cutting it down!"
"...You can just go around it? It's a tree," Nurse Joy said again, and I paused for a second, "And, where are you going where a tree would be in the way? How would that event happen?"
I glanced down at my body, and now that I thought about it, there really were about a hundred different ways to get through a tree. Hell, I could just climb it, or tell a pokemon to climb it and pull me up, or even have Charmander burn it down. And, she was right! How the hell would a tree be blocking a path?! It wasn't going to be so flesh against something that I couldn't just squeeze around it!
"Am I…" I slowly raised my hand, covering my face as a realization hit me, "...Am I the NPC?"
"What's an NPC?"
I ignored Nurse Joy's question and just turned to stare into the large array of trees to our side. I raised my hand, and then promptly chucked the Weedle's poke ball as far as I could. It soared through the air and went over the treeline, and wherever that Weedle ended up, I hope he had a good life.
"You didn't have to get rid of him!"
I turned, ignoring Nurse Joy's words, and continued forward on our path to Pewter City. She wouldn't understand, but I could never let my shame see the light of day.
On our trip to Pewter City, I was the NPC.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey there! You look like an up-and-coming trainer! How about a bet?!" I stared dryly at a strange man in a far too fancy suit for the location we were in, as we arrived at the front of Pewter City.
The city as a whole looked to be around the same size as Viridian City had been, as there was a genuine road, a couple of cars driving on it, and various buildings. On our way here, Nurse Joy had given me a bit of insight into the region as a whole, as Kanto was a smaller and more out-of-the-way region in the grand scheme of the world, which I hadn't expected. I remembered the region from the games was based on actual Kanto, which included Tokyo and the shit-ton of people that came with it.
Instead, it seemed the world around me followed a more 'time progression' timeline of the games, as Nurse Joy had only been to Kanto and Johto, but she said Kanto was the smallest, followed by Johto, and then she'd heard Hoenn was the third smallest. Essentially, the later in the game timeline the games were, the bigger and more developed the regions were going to be.
It made some sense with the world I was seeing with my own two eyes, as aside from Pallet Town being a damn-near one-to-one recreation of the town from the game, Viridian City and Pewter City were both bigger than just a few buildings, but not huge, bustling cities or anything.
"A bet?" I raised an eyebrow at the man, who looked like the world's most obvious con-artist, "What kind of bet?"
Was that even a fake mustache?! A shady man in a fancy suit is standing right outside the first road in a major city, with a thick, evil-looking fake mustache - he had con-artist written all over him, but considering how everyone in this world seemed to have a screw loose in their head, I might be able to use this to my advantage.
"I'm here from Celadon City, promoting the grand opening of the new Rocket Game Corner!" The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a flyer that had what looked to be a rather small casino on it, with various money signs plastered all over the front, "The name's John Smith! Nice to meet ya!"
I reached out, blandly shaking the man's hand as he offered a handshake. Seriously, 'John Smith?' He couldn't think of a better fake name?
"I'm Red," I responded in turn, nodding at my companion, "And that's Nurse Joy."
"Oh! I quit being a nurse to follow you around, so you can just call me Joy!" Joy supplied helpfully.
Now that I think about it, how the hell was the Viridian City Pokemon Center functioning if she just left? It's not like she put in a two-week notice or anything! That surely wouldn't become problematic for the city in the future, right? Right? Right? Righ-
"Now, to promote the game corner, I'm giving aspiring players the chance to start their journey off strong! You see this? This here is a legendary pokemon from a different region!" 'John Smith' reached into his pocket, fished out a poke ball, and then chucked it forward, "Go Ho-Oh!"
For a second, my eyes went wide, and I genuinely thought I was about to see a Ho-Oh appeared before I even challenged the first gym. Then, the poke ball hit the ground and released a creature that was, very obviously, not Ho-Oh.
"W-Woah, that's Ho-Oh!" Joy muttered behind me, awe in her eyes.
"That's a fuckin' Abra," I responded dryly, glancing back at her, "What part of that looks like a damn Ho-Oh?!"
"W-Well, I've never seen one! I don't live in Johto!"
"You don't know what an Abra looks like?"
"How would I? I heard that it can only teleport, so it's not like anyone uses one!"
"It evolves into Kadabra! The Saffron City gym leader has one!"
"W-Well, I've never been to Saffron City! I'm not a trainer, y'know?!"
"A-Anyway, young trainer, I'm giving you a chance to win this legendary!" John pushed forward as if I hadn't just called out his bullshit, "Just beat me in a battle, and it's yours!"
I blinked, taken aback by the abrupt request. It wasn't really a legendary, but In this region, it damn well could've been. Abra really was busted, as it was a Psychic-type pokemon - as in, there was nothing besides a Gengar or a couple of bugs that would never even get the chance to attack that it was weak to! If I could get an Abra here, I'd definitely be set up for the long run, but-
"What's the catch?" I asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at John, "You gonna use some crazy pokemon?"
The battle was enticing, but I had a team full of three unevolved starters and a Pikachu. If this random scammer whipped out a Dragonite, then I'd be fucked.
"There's no catch! Just a straight-on battle!" John leaned forward, looking at me with the most suspicious smile I had ever seen, "I have only three pokemon - a Vulpix, an Oddish, and a Staryu! But we'll both only use one! You have to tell me your pokemon, and then, if you beat me, you get the Ho-Oh! But if I win, then you gotta give me all the money in your pockets!"
With his pushy words, suspicious smile, and very convoluted and frankly complicated bet, I felt like this was definitely a trap, but I just shrugged. I had about three thousand Pokedollars after farming poor bug-catchers on the way here, but it wasn't like he knew that. If he really did whip out a level 100 Oddish, then I'd just give him a couple of bucks and pretend I didn't have any more.
"Deal," I agreed, and his smile got even wider.
"Then, tell me what pokemon you've got!" He pressed, "But, if you lie at any point, you forfeit the prize, alright? Those are the rules!"
This really just kept getting more and more complicated, didn't it? How the hell did this guy get anyone to go along with his plan?
"Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pikachu," I listed out simply, and John's eyes went wide, looking surprised that I wasn't just holding onto 6 Caterpies.
"Not bad! Alright, then, I'm going to use my Staryu! What about you?" He asked, taking a couple of steps back as he held up a poke ball.
Well, if he was just going to tell me about his Staryu, then…
"Bulbasaur," I said, which seemed like the obvious choice. Even if this Staryu was on steroids, it was still going into a type disadvantage. But, as John's grin spread even wider, I suddenly didn't feel so good about it.
"Alright! Then, go, Vulpix!" He shouted abruptly, shoving the ball in his hand into his pocket, and then pulling out a different one and throwing it. As it hit the ground, it popped open, and a Vulpix, not a Staryu, came flying out.
"Vulpix!"
"What happened to not lying?" I asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. Was this really the whole trick? He'd just say he was going to use one pokemon, then switch at the last second?
"I said you couldn't lie, kid! I never said I wouldn't!" He smirked back at me, obviously feeling proud that he had pulled one over on me, "Now, throw out your Bulbasaur, and let's get this over with!"
At that point, I could've just walked away from the situation, because what was he going to do about it? Physically attack me and rob me for my money? How's he gonna do that when I have a little dragon-lizard to defend me?
But, after spending so much time listening to his long-winded bet, I felt like I was in too deep - and I still wanted that damn Abra! So, I just reached into my pocket, pulled out my poke ball, and gave him a taste of his own medicine.
"Fuck 'em up, Bulbasuar!" The poke ball hit the ground, and a small creature came out.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle gave a prideful shout as he appeared on the battlefield.
"W-Wait! You said you were going to use your Bulbasaur! That's cheating!" John shouted indignantly, "You weren't allowed to lie! Don't be mad just because you got outplayed, kid!"
"I didn't lie," I responded easily, "That's Bulbasaur."
"Squirtle!" The Squirtle raised his hand, waving as if he were introducing himself.
"T-That's clearly a Squirtle!"
"Well, he's a Squirtle, but he's Bulbasaur," I clarified, gesturing at my Squirtle, "That's his name. Bulbasaur."
"What… you can't just name a Squirtle Bulbasaur!" He huffed, gesturing panickedly at my Squirtle.
"Says who? I did it," I just shrugged, then pointed at the Vulpix, "Water gun all over him, Bulbasaur!"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle opened his mouth, pointing it at John's Vulpix, who looked over its shoulder at its trainer fearfully.
"V-Vulpix?" I didn't even know a pokemon could sound doubtful, but it definitely did. It was right to feel that way, as the water gun slammed into its face before John even called out a move, and it was sent stumbling backwards from the force. Then, it slumped to the side, and X's filled its eyes.
"D-Damn! You knew who I was, huh? That's why you took the bet!" John yelled, pointing at me accusingly as he recalled Vulpix, "And that's why you brought a Squirtle named Bulbasaur! Team Rocket won't let you get away with this! I'm gonna go tell the boss!"
I blinked, surprised at his words, as I definitely didn't have any idea who the man was. Team Rocket? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they exist here, but at the same time, I expected them to be a bit more… competent. Though these were the same guys whose top-level soldiers were sent 'blasting off' by a Pikachu pretty much daily, so maybe I was expecting too much.
He promptly turned around, looking like a true one-episode villain as he sprinted into Pewter City, yelling back one final 'gotcha' line, "That stupid pokemon can only teleport anyway! Good luck winning a battle with that, punk!"
As he sprinted away, at a rather slow pace that meant it took a few minutes for him to leave eyesight, I turned to look at the Abra - who was still just sitting on the floor, seeming like he either had no idea what was going on, or just didn't care.
"Well, at least he left you," I hummed, walking up as I picked up the Abra, and then his poke ball, which was just lying on the ground next to him, "Even Team Rocket has standards, huh?"
To be fair to 'John Smith,' he'd definitely been trying to scam me, but he'd been strangely loyal to the bet we made. He never said in the rules that he couldn't lie, he didn't back out when I tricked him, and he even left the prize behind for me. Overall, for a Team Rocket member, he wasn't that bad of a guy.
"Now, what should I name you? Any ideas?" I asked the Abra in my hands, to which he just tilted his head, and didn't even give me the typical 'Abra!' response I was looking for.
But, this was going to be my strongest pokemon throughout the region, so he did deserve a genuine name. He was just a little Abra right now, but once he evolved, he would be a Psychic-type in gen 1 - aka, he was going to one-shot everything. For such a powerful pokemon, he needed a name that would strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. And, that battle with 'John' had just given me a pretty good idea.
"Ho-Oh," I nodded sagely, only confusing the Abra more, "If I tell people I have Ho-Oh, it'll scare the shit outta them! Oh, but I should also pick a weak name in case I want them to underestimate me… Weedle. Ho-Oh Weedle."
For the first time in pokemon history, a pokemon was granted not just a first name, but a last one as well. Today, my journey with Ho-Oh Weedle, the strongest Abra this region would ever see, began.
…
…
…
"You can't just do that. There's gotta be a rule against that or something!" Joy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "'Ho-Oh Weedle?' You can't just name a pokemon the name of two other pokemon! That's so confusing!"
"I can do whatever the hell I want! If there are no trees that need to be cut, or rocks that need to be smashed, then there's nothing holding me back! I'm using my free will!"
"W-What does that even mean?!"
Unfortunately for Joey, the realization that I wouldn't need HM's had created an even bigger monster.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thank you for reading! I've decided to continue this story, and it will be updated every 4ish days! However, it'll be updated twice as often on my Patreon (every 2 days)!
Chapter 3 is already on there, and Chapter 4 will be posted in two days! Patreon.com/Koyon if you're interested!