Chapter 1: Mission Underway

I ran out of Elm’s lab with a smile on my face. A gentle breeze blew through New Bark
Town, and the sun shined brightly. I looked at the Luxury ball in my hand and grinned.
“Scyther, come on out!” I said calmly. The sleek Pokeball spun through the air, and let
out a beautiful white light. The light slowly dissipated, and revealed a light green Pokemon
standing in front of me. It had two wings, and arms that ended in sharp scythes.
“Scy-ther!” the bug Pokemon cried. It turned to me with a confused look on its face. I
knelt down to it, and held out its Pokeball.
“Hey. I’m Ryan,” I laughed. I had to admit, I felt pretty stupid. I doubted that Scyther
would understand what I was saying.
“Scyther! Scy-ther!” The bug Pokemon replied.
“O…kay… Well, we’re partners now,” I said smiling. This was pretty awkward.
“Ryan! Wait! I forgot something!” Professor Elm yelled. He ran out holding a small bag,
and a backpack. He opened the bag, and pulled out five Pokeballs. “These are used to-“ the
professor started.
“I know. They’re used to catch Pokemon,” I finished. Elm nodded, and handed me the
backpack.
“What’s in here is very expensive and hard to get a hold of. This is Pokegear. It will be
one of the most important things on your journey. And, if you look in that compartment,”
Professor Elm explained, pointing to a compartment on the side. “you will find a cell phone. I
advise you carry this around in your pocket. You can contact anyone else who has one, anytime,
as long as you have their number.”
“Thanks, professor!” I responded gratefully. Scyther jumped up and down excitedly next
to me.
“Once again, good luck!” he said as he walked back into his lab.
“Scyther… Together, we can beat anyone, and anything,” I said enthusiastically.
“Scyther! Scyther!” The bug Pokemon replied happily.
“Alright, we better get moving. Return,” I said calmly. I held out Scyther’s Pokeball, and
pressed the button on the middle. A beam of golden light swept out of the ball, surrounded
Scyther, and disappeared back into the Luxury Ball. “Hmm… Gold is for the rich, I suppose,” I
thought out loud. I pulled out my phone, and dialed 1-732-922-5070. “Hello, who’s calling?” A
deep voice anwered.
“Dad, it’s me. Ryan,” I replied.
“Ah, I see you got your gift. Very good!” He laughed.
“Yeah. Eerr…” I thought about the incident with Team Rocket. “While I was there, I
found a paper on the ground. The title said something about Team Rocket Re-Uniting.”
“Ah. Well… You know how people twist words. It’s not official yet, but Team Rocket is
trying to get me back as their leader.”
“I should probably go now. Can’t keep the world waiting forever,” I sighed and hung up.
I started off towards Route 29, thinking about what my dad said. I walked slowly. Today was a
wonderful day, the sky was clear, and everything seemed so peaceful. I was so entranced by the
beauty of my surroundings, I didn’t even notice I had made it to Cherrygrove.
“Hey! You!” A voice yelled.
“What? Huh?” I asked, snapping out of my trance. An old man began walking towards
me.
“You’re a new trainer, aren’t you? Don’t know the basics? I’ll show you!” he offered.
“Well, I may be a new trainer, but I know…“
“I’ll show you around, come on!” the old man said.
“Okay… I guess…”
“First, we’re going to… THE POKEMON CENTER!”
“Do you do this tour for every new trainer?” I asked.
“Just about,” he said with a melancholy tone. I followed him over to the Pokemon Center,
but I didn’t really need any help with finding it. The big sign outside of it that read ‘Pokemon
Center!’ kind of gave it away.
He grabbed onto my wrist, and pulled me to the building next door. “This is the
Pokemart! You can buy anything you need for your journey here!” He explained. We walked
over to a much smaller building.
“… What’s this?” I asked.
“This is my house! Here, have this! Nice meeting you!” He said quickly. He handed me a
weird card device, and shut his door. I examined the card carefully until I saw something in
small print that read ‘Place in Pokegear’. I shrugged, and slid the card into a small slot on the
radio-like device. A map of Johto opened up on one of the screens. “Maybe that could come in
handy,” I laughed. I walked over to the Pokemart with a grin on my face, and
strolled in through the door.
“Hello, how may I help you?” The clerk asked.

“Hmm… Twelve Pokeballs, two potions, three antidotes, and that’s it,”
I replied.

“Okay, I should inform you that with every ten Pokeballs you buy, we
throw in a Premier Ball for free,” She said as she placed my items on the
counter. “Your total comes to 2,300 Pokedollars.”

I slid a stack of money towards her. “Keep the change,” I winked. I

exited the building, and headed out onto Route 30. Only around ten or
twelve steps out into the route, I noticed a small house, and knocked on the
door. A chunky man opened the door, and eyed my belt, which contained a
Luxury Ball. “Another new trainer? Well, take this,” He said, handing me a
berry. “And, help yourself to whatever is left on the tree outside.”
 Before I could even say thanks, he slammed the door in my face. I
walked over to the tree, and examined it. “Damn it… Someone already took
the last of the berries…” I cursed under my breath. I continued my journey
up the path, until I heard someone try to get my attention. I turned around to
see a boy with dark spiked hair around my age wearing a black hoodie and
jeans.

“Let’s battle!” He exclaimed.

“Alright. Let’s do this! Go, Scyther!” I replied. I threw the Pokeball

through the air, and got prepared for my first battle. The gold light died down
and revealed Scyther, looking more pumped up than ever.

“SCY-THER!” My Pokemon cried.

“Go, Heracross!” The boy called out. He threw out his Pokeball, and it
revealed a large blue, beetle Pokemon. I took out my Pokedex.

Heracross the Singlehorn Pokemon. With powerful legs and claws, it

generates enough power to hurl foes over great distances.

“Scyther, this is going to be a tough match!” I warned.

“Hera-CROSS!” The opponent’s Pokemon taunted.

This, being my first battle, was pretty exciting. I had watched my dad
defeat many challengers before, and I finally ready to participate myself.

“Heracross, use Horn Attack!” The boy commanded. The beatle

Pokemon lowered its horn, and charged towards Scyther at full speed.

“Scyther, dodge it!” I replied. Scyther’s body tensed, and right when
the lowered horn was about to ram it, it leaped into the air, and landed on a
tree branch. Heracross kept charging, and tumbled into a small pond.
“Cross!” It cried.

“Now, Quick Attack! Hurry!” I said. Scyther jumped into the air, and
aimed at Heracross. Scyther’s wings started flapping, keeping it sustained in
mid-air. With the blink of an eye, Scyther was gone. In his place was a blur of
green and white headed straight towards Heracross.

“CROSS!” The horned Pokemon yelled as Scyther made impact. A

splash of water soaked the dry area around the pond as Heracross was
knocked back onto its back.
 “Let’s try something different! Night Slash!” The kid said. Heracross’
claws began to glow black, and its expression darkened.

“Scyther, dodge it! Hurry!” I called out. I was too late, the glowing
claws collided directly into Scyther.

“Scyyyy!!” Scyther cried as it was sent flying into a tree.

“Once more, hurry and hit it while it’s down!” The kid ordered. Its
claws began glowing again, and the Pokemon prepared to charge.

“Vacuum Wave!” I said. Scyther jumped back up onto its feet, and
glared at Heracross. The beetle Pokemon took this as a challenge, and took
off towards Scyther.

“Scy…Ther!” One of Scyther’s scythed arms whistled through the air. A

frenzy of visible slashes that consisted of air followed the cutting motion, and
collided into Heracross. The force of the attack sent the poor creature flying
backwards into a tall hedge.

“Hera! Cross…..” The Pokemon whimpered.

“Good job, return, Heracross,” The trainer sighed. “That was awesome!
I’m Barry, by the way.”

“I’m Ryan, and you’ve met Scyther. That was an amazing battle,” I
replied.

“We should battle again; do you have a cell phone?” Barry asked.

“Yeah, what’s your number?”

“I’ll put it in for you, you look new to using phones.” Barry took my
phone, and pressed several buttons.

“I should get going. I hope I’ll see you around,” I said. He nodded, and
took off. I had just noticed something. On the back of his jacket was a red ‘R’.

“Team Rocket…” I muttered. But… He was different… He was kind…