Chapters A Soul of Silver: The Johto tales
Chapter 1: Here we go!
"Ugh..."
I woke up after a night of terrible sleep. When I began rubbing my eyes, my hands felt...weird. Not like hands at all. Like something had engulfed my hands in some fuzzy yet sturdy tubes or something. When I opened up my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw! Hooves! Yellow ones. Not my favorite color, but that didn't matter at the point in time. All panicky, I jumped off of my bed, only to stumble and hit my chin on the floor. I figured if I had front hooves, I'd have back hooves as well. Adjusting myself easily, I trotted to the full-body mirror in my room. Or, well, it wasn't my room. It seemed more colorful. It also had a laptop on a desk I didn't have before, a BIG TV which I didn't have either, and my Wii that I sold a while ago.
Looking in the mirror, it wasn't me looking back. No, the image showed a cream-colored Earth pony with a messy black mane and dark brown eyes. His cutie mark seemed to be what I believed was the GS Ball from the Pokémon animé I used to watch when I was a little kid. I was shocked and yet, excited as well. I knew the pony in the mirror was a lookalike of most ponies from my favorite show: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Not to mention, I looked exactly like the protagonist of the Pokémon Soulsilver game, Ethan. Not exactly knowing what was going on, I went downstairs. Knowing the pony and that this wasn't my room, I figured I was dreaming about being in the game.
Once downstairs, a pony with my coat color came trotting up to me. However, she was a mare, a little bigger than myself and with brown hair pointing outwards on each side. I figured this was the mother character in the game.
"Hi, Sand! You're finally awake."
Huh. I was still named Sand. It's a name some friends on Skype or any other site know me as. It was funny that my 'mother' called me the same.
"Your friend Lyra was just here. She was playing hide-and-seek with her Marill."
Lyra? So apparently I wasn't Ethan, but my co-protagonist was Lyra, apparently. I began fantasizing it would be Lyra Heartstrings, and I chuckled silently. She'd probably be a ponification of the actual Lyra.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Our acquaintance, Professor Veritas, was looking for you. He said he had a favor to ask of you."
My eyes widened slightly at that name. Veritas was one of my pony roleplay OC's! How could he possibly be in a pony version of my favorite Pokémon game?
"You know where the lab is, right? It's right next door to us."
I figured as much. I haven't played the remakes of Silver and Gold yet, but I figured most things would be the same as old. Think now would be the time that 'mom' gives me my bag and whatnot.
"By the way, do you have everything you need to go out? Here, use these Saddlebags to carry things..."
Heh, Saddlebags. Nice alternative for ponies in this world. As 'mom' said that, she strapped two saddlebags around my body and continued talking. She handed me a card with my picture on it.
"And this is your Trainer Card."
Hm. I expected her to say that 'these are buttons to save your progress and that the options are rather helpful'. Then again, this was a world of its own, not really a game. I began wondering when I would wake up from this dream. But I walked outside anyway.
As I looked around outside, standing at my door, I felt something bump against my hoof. I couldn't believe it. A Marill sat in front of my hoof, smiling at me. No way this was real anymore. Ponies AND Pokémon? Now I HAD to be dreaming. I reached my hoof down to pet it, and Marill just let me. Then, I saw a mint-colored pony standing on the staircase against the lab next to my house. At first I looked surprised and then I burst into laughter.
My actual fantasy was a reality in this dream! Lyra was played by none other than the actual Lyra Heartstrings! She trotted away after Marill happily jumped up her back. Having done laughing, I decided to enter Elm's-no-Veritas' lab.
Next to the lab, I saw another familiar fan-named pony staring in the window. Dark grey coat, black mane, purple eyes... Octavia! So Octavia would play the rival Silver later on. Neat.
I trotted on to see my actual OC Veritas stand at the very end of the lab. I recognized his red-brownish coat and golden mane anywhere. Standing in front of him, he began talking.
"Hi, Sand! I've been waiting for you! Do you know anything about my research?"
Before I could say a thing, he continued.
"As you know, Pokémon are carried in Poké Balls these days. But before the Poké Ball was invented, people used to walk with Pokémon. Just like your friend Lyra does!"
So Lyra turned out to be my friend already. Which of course, I found awesome. Excited, I listened on.
"Poké Balls are great because you can carry many Pokémon. But walking with Pokémon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how Pokémon grow or evolve..."
And what he said next baffled me.
"So, I'm going to give you a Pokémon! Can you walk beside this Pokémon, outside of its Poké Ball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between Pokémon and people? The device over there has some Pokémon you could choose from..."
As he went to his PC, hearing the sound of an incoming e-mail, I hurried over to the device containing 3 Poké Balls. Veritas continued talking though.
"Hey, I have this acquaintance, Vinculum. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries."
Of course, Vinculum. One of Veritas' best friends in my roleplays. Surprisingly, this role fit Vinculum well.
"Anyway, I just got an e-mail from him saying that this time it's real. It's probably another Pokémon Egg, but we're still so busy with our Pokémon research..."
Suddenly, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Wait! I know!"
I raised an eyebrow.
"You can go in our place, right? Can we count on you? You can choose one of the Pokémon over there." He pointed at the device I was looking at.
Now came the biggest decision before starting my adventure. What starter to pick...?
A Soul of Silver: The Johto tales
Chapter 2: My journey begins
Chapter 2: My journey begins
Surprisingly, just like the Pokémon Adventure manga series I used to read in my homeworld, the Poké Balls seemed to be transparant on the red side unlike the animé I used to watch. In the three balls, I saw Pokémon watching me. They all seemed to be a different kind of Pokémon, including their types.
One was Chikorita. It seemed to be looking rather excited to join me on my adventure.
I pushed the button on the device, causing the machine's disk system to turn to the right.
The next Pokémon was a Totodile. I remember picking him in my old game, but I didn't feel like taking him this time. I pushed the button again.
Cyndaquil had its eyes closed, so I wasn't certain if it even realized where it was. I picked up Cyndaquil's Poké Ball, and Elm smiled at me.
"So, you will pick the Fire Pokémon, Cyndaquil?"
I nodded and pushed the button on the Ball, and there it was. A little echidna creature with a flaming back.
"How do you like walking with your Pokémon?", Veritas asked as I walked up to him.
"It's not bad, is it? You can take it all the way to Vinculum's house. If your Pokémon gets hurt..."
He glanced behind him, watching a machine that seemed to have 6 indents next to a PC.
"You should heal it with this machine. It's easy to use, just check the PC on my desk!"
He turned back to me.
"Vinculum goes everywhere and finds rarities. His house is past Cherrygrove City. Go north a little past Cherrygrove. I'm counting on you, Sand!"
Cherrygrove... So the town names didn't change into a pony version of themselves. Good.
As I walked outside, one of the generic scientist ponies (the only one there) and gave me Potions, which I knew were handy at the start of my journey. What happened next astonished me.
"That's kinda generous of him."
I looked around the lab, searching for the girly voice that said that.
"Down here, Sand!" I glanced down at Cyndaquil, shocked.
"Did you hear me?" My eyes widened even more. My Cyndaquil was talking to me! That was awesome!
"...You can talk?" I asked her curiously, to which she nodded. "I knew you could hear me! You're the special trainer!"
This only made my curiosity increase.
"Special trainer?"
Cyndaquil nodded happily. "Yup! By the way, thanks for picking me, Sand! We'll be great friends in no time!"
My curiosity replaced itself with a feeling of bonding and I picked up the little Cyndaquil talking to me, giving her a hug.
"So, you're a girl... That's quite rare for a starter Pokémon. I should give you a name!"
I began thinking of names, and finally, I found one.
"Clara! That will be your name. Clara the Cyndaquil.", I told her with the widest of smiles.
Cyndaquil jumped up and down, clearly approving of the nickname I just gave her. I figured naming her after the Santa Clara, a volcano in the Galapagos islands in the real world. Seeing how Typhlosion could learn attacks like Lava Plume and Eruption, it fit her perfectly.
As Clara and I walked outside, Marill bumped against my leg again, this time being chased by Lyra. As she saw me, she trotted up to me, calling my name.
"So you picked a Cyndaquil? That's a cute Pokémon you have! When you walk with it, it'll become more friendly. You should turn around and talk to it sometimes too. Oh, that's right! Why don't you show her to your mom?"
She waved and trotted off again, leaving me baffled.
"What just happened, Clara?"
Clara shrugged.
"Dunno, but she told you to show me to your mom. Let's go!"
Clara ran to my house, somehow knowing where I lived already. As I entered, I saw Clara comfortably laying in "mom's" lap.
"This is one cute Pokémon, Sand. Professor Veritas gave it to you?"
I nodded and walked towards Clara and 'mom'.
"Yeah, the prof gave me a task..."
'Mom' only smiled at that. "Oh? What kind of task?"
I told her the request Veritas had made to me like the character does.
"I see. That sounds a little difficult."
I nodded.
"But when someone makes that kind of request of you, it must be important!"
She showed me a watch. Or, well, it looked like a wristband with PDA functions, almost.
"By the way, your Pokégear came back from the repair shop! Here you go!"
I wrapped the Gear on my left...wrist? If ponies had those. Otherwise it'd just be my left front leg.
"The Pokémon Gear, or Pokégear, as it's often called, is what every Trainer should have. And guess what?"
I interrupted her.
"Don't say, mom. I can use the Pokégear to make a phone call, too?"
She nodded and continued.
"You remember how?"
I nodded again. Surprisingly, the way 'mom' and I nodded was very similar. After receiving my Gear, I walked outside, ready to fulfill the quest Veritas had given me.
Before I left for the route left to New Bark Town, my hometown in this world, Veritas stopped me to give his Gear number to me. I continued my journey right after.
My first battle ever occured soon, a wild Sentret on Route 29. Clara only knew Tackle or Leer, so I supposed I could use Tackle to take it down. Determined, Clara followed my every command while trying her best to avoid Sentret's attacks. Eventually, the battle was over, with Clara still standing. In the short time I had met her, it felt like we had been battling like this all our lives. Clara jumped up and I hugged the Cyndaquil which I knew would be my partner for the rest of this journey. One battle later, she learned Smokescreen, a pretty cool attack.
Once in Cherrygrove, the familiar old guy gave me the Town Map for my Gear and the Running Horseshoes, which I found was very clever, and I proceeded to Vinculum's house, with Clara clearly enjoying her ride on a pony's back. On the way there, I also got stopped by a stallion giving me a Case for Apricorns, something that was completely new in this game, I believed.
As I entered the house I was looking for, Vinculum already came trotting up to me. On the other side of the table, another stallion sat, his coat darkish blue with a silver mane and tail. He looked like the opposite of Vinculum, who was rather cheery to see me, whereas the other one remained calm and collected.
"You must be Sand. It was I who sent an email to Professor Veritas earlier."
He walked to a closet and took an egg out, handing it to me.
"This is what I want Veritas to examine for me. A friend of mine from Ecruteak City gave it to me. I bet you can't find this kind of egg here in Johto. I thought Veritas might be able to tell what this is. "He's the best when it comes to the research of Pokémon evolution." That's a quote from the famous Professor Menda."
At the mention of the name Menda, which was familiar to me as I played him in roleplays, the blue stallion rose from his chair and walked towards me.
"And with that... I am Menda, a Pokémon researcher! So you are Sand! I was just visiting my friend Vinculum here. I heard you were running an errand for Professor Veritas, so I waited here."
He glanced at Clara, who showed the old stallion a warm smile.
"Hello, professor!", Clara happily exclaimed.
"Oh, what is this? A rare Pokémon! I see... You must be helping Veritas' research! I think I understand why he gave you that Pokémon. You will treat it with love and care, it seems."
He paused for a few seconds and continued his sleep-inducing (to me) speech.
"How would you like helping me out?" He showed me another familiar device. "This is the latest version of the Pokédex. It automatically records data of Pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a high-tech encyclopedia! I'd like you to have it!"
After registering my number in his Gear and vice-versa, I said goodbye to Vinculum and went outside, when suddenly, my Gear's phone began ringing.
I pushed the button and saw Veritas' face on the little screen, panicked and worried.
"H-Hello? Sand?", he began with a tremble in his voice.
"Professor, are you OK?"
"It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It... Oh, no... PLEASE GET BACK HERE NOW, SAND!"
With those words, the call stopped. I glanced at Clara and nodded at her, receiving a nod back. Clara and I began running back to Veritas' lab.
A Soul of Silver: The Johto tales
Chapter 3: Who is that mare?
Chapter 3: Who is that mare?
Clara and I kept running, though Cherrygrove City really wasn't that far off. Seeing how Clara fought some Pokémon like Pidgey and Weedle, I had to take her to the local Pokémon Center to heal her up a bit. As I was about to leave Cherrygrove, I was stopped and amazed from who I saw. It was the mare that was peeking in Veritas' lab!
"... You got a Pokémon at the Lab. What a waste." She chuckled at that last sentence. "That's a Pokémon that's too good for a weakling like you."
"I'm not a weakling!", I replied, looking at Clara, who nodded back at me.
"Don't you get what I'm saying?"
I just stared. Was she insulting me, because I really didn't get what she meant.
"I too have a Pokémon from the lab. I'll show you how to be a real Trainer!"
A battle between us began. Or, well, between Clara and... the Totodile from the lab! That must've been what Veritas called me about! This mare probably stole the Pokémon from the lab and is using it to defeat Clara. No way I would let that happen.
Upon sending out her Totodile, I noticed something falling from the mare's mane. I didn't pay too much attention, seeing as how I had to focus on the battle.
Tackles and Scratches were shared between the two, and slowly I began to think I'd lose. However, I refused to give up. And so did Clara. Despite being covered in scratches, the flames on her back kept on burning with determination. No way was this mare gonna get away with theft.
"Humph... You're not half bad.", the mare spoke to me. "For a weakling, at least."
I grinned and took out one of my Potions. I used it on Clara, and her scratches vanished. Clara was back to full health, no way we were gonna lose now. I saw that Totodile on the other ha- no, hoof- was wounded quite badly.
"This is it, Clara...", I began. "One final Tackle, go!" Clara did as I asked, but Totodile managed to dodge it. Clara grinned and jumped straight at him, causing Totodile to fall back and faint. Clara won!
The mare looked at the ground. "...Are you happy that you won?"
"You bet your flank I am!"
"...Do you want to know who I am? I will be this world's greatest Trainer."
With a scoff, she pushed me aside. I picked up what had fallen from her mane. A Trainer Card. I checked it out and read the name. Wasn't very surprising what the name was. She looked back and trotted over again.
"Give that back! That's my Trainer Card!", she exclaimed as she yanked the card from my hoof. "Crap... You saw my name..." was her final sentence before the ran off again.
Clara and I decided to take a very small break so she could rest and eat something. After all, Clara looked hungry. After our break, we ran back to Veritas' lab. Upon entering the lab, a sense of panic filled the room. I trotted over to Veritas, who was accompanied by a police officer that was glaring at me, as if I did something wrong.
"What's the problem, officer?", I asked as if I was a character in some action movie. Well, part of it was true. Pokémon games in general tend to make you a hero.
"We're investigating the case of the missing Pokémon here."
I nodded at that. "What do we know of the criminal?"
"Rule number one: Whoever did it will come back to the site of the crime. So you must be the one who did it!"
I stepped back. Did he really think I stole the Pokémon? Veritas was in too much a shock to say anything. Luckily, I heard a familiar female voice back at the entrance of the lab. The cyan mare trotted up to us. It was Lyra!
"He has nothing to do with it, officer! I saw some grey mare peeking into the lab earlier!"
I nodded. "And I even battled her a while back!"
The officer took out a notebook. "Did you happen to get her name?"
Remembering the Trainer Card I saw, and the obvious background pony from the show, I said her name. Octavia.
"I see. Octavia was her name. Thank you for helping my investigation, sir. My next assignment, apprehend this criminal! Good day." After that, he left the lab and Lyra cheered.
"I'm so glad they understand you're not the criminal, Sand. I'll see you later!" And with that, Lyra left as well.
After a while, Veritas calmed down and walked up to me.
"So, Sand. What was Vinculum's big discovery?"
A Soul of Silver: The Johto tales
Chapter 4: Prologue to destiny
Chapter 4: Prologue to destiny
As I gave Veritas the egg Vinculum gave to me, he jumped back in surprise. "This... is an Egg, isn't it? It may be something I've never seen before...still, it's just an egg. Vince always has been fascinated by Eggs, after all..."
He took the Egg and looked all over it. "Well, since he gave it to us, we might as well find out what secret it holds. I'll keep it for a while to find out about the Egg."
"Another thing, professor. Your friend Mendacium gave me this thing called a Pokédex."
"What!?", he exclaimed. "He did? Then he sees your potential as a Trainer! I knew you'd be a bit different. Things will be fun!"
He glanced at Clara, who was just sitting on my back, being adorable as ever.
"Clara seems to like you a lot, so why don't you try taking the Pokémon Gym challenge? If you manage to defeat all the Gym Leaders, you'll get to challenge the League Champion!"
My eyes widened along with my smile. Me, challenging the League Champion! That sounded awesome!
"Or not. Ha ha! Becoming a Champion isn't easy, but you can certainly challenge the Gym in Violet City, the town beyond Cherrygrove. Do your best, Sand!"
After that, I went outside again and looked down at Clara. "So, Clara? Are we gonna challenge those Gyms together?"
Clara looked at me and nodded happily. "Together, nothing can stop us, right?"
I nodded in response and picked up Clara in a hug. She even nuzzled my cheek shortly before I put her down again. I'd really grown attached to the little creature smiling at me. Sure, she was a bit naive, but still I enjoyed her company very much. We both went inside and Clara nearly shouted her greetings at 'mom'. At least, they were greetings to me. To mom, those words were just Clara's name, Cyndaquil.
"Hello there, Clara and Sand!" She looked at me with a worried face, yet her eyes told me she knew what I was going to say. "Is something the matter?"
With a nod, I began explaining. "Mom... I've been sent on a quest. It involves a big adventure with Clara and I don't know when I'll return. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll try and stop by when I get the chance again."
Mom nodded. "Okay. But I will help too. How about I save some money you earn after a battle?"
"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, mom." It began to feel kinda natural to call her mom for some reason, even though she was just an NPC and not my actual mother. Either way, after that, I went upstairs to my room and went to bed. As I crawled under my blanket, I felt something rubbing against my chest. From under my blankets, Clara's head popped up, to which I lightly chuckled.
"Your mama's really nice, Sand.", she said with a slightly sad face. "I wish my mama used to be like that..."
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, "I wish my mama used to be like that"? What happened?"
Clara snuggled against me and nuzzled my arm. "Well, my mama disappeared when I was sleeping."
Slowly I sat up and hugged her. "Would you mind telling me a bit more about that?"
"Sure. Are you ready for my story?"
I nodded. This was one story I wouldn't enjoy hearing all that much.
A Soul of Silver: The Johto tales
Chapter 5: A burning heart
Chapter 5: A burning heart
"When I was a little Cyndaquil, I lived with just my mama. She was a really pretty Quilava. And really kind too."
I nodded at Clara with a smile and she continued her story.
"When I was sad, mama would use her flames to keep me warm and cuddle with me. Her fur was really really soft, a lot like yours!" When she said that last word, she began snuggling against me before carrying on.
"Mama and me were out in the forest to get ourselves some berries. See, I was kinda hungry."
"Clara, I've known you for just one day and you were almost eating all the time!", I replied with a playful tone, followed by a chuckle.
Clara giggled a bit. "True. Anyway, mama and I were getting ourselves some berries when she looked around and told me to duck."
"To duck? Why?"
A moment of silence filled the room. "Mama ran off, telling me to hide, which I did. After some while, I heard something."
"What did you hear?"
Small tears filled Clara's eyes. "I...I heard fire burning and mama was shouting. I didn't know what happened, but mama didn't return... I think she left me."
Embracing Clara, I was shedding a tear now too. Normally I'm not the kind of guy that cries easily. But this was so real. This was sort of a little girl telling me her mother was... well, dead. I knew about the Cubone and Marowak story in Lavender Town from the first Pokémon games, which didn't affect me too much as they were only games. But this... This made me realize I wasn't just in a game anymore. I was in the actual world, with actual Pokémon having actual feelings instead of only Natures and character traits. Clara was now crying on my lap, her face rubbed against my chest, getting my fur soaked in her tears.
"W-When mama was gone, a strange Pokémon found me. H-He was all black and had big white horns, a hooked tail and red eyes, and I think he was hurt on his side..."
I began thinking. A hooked tail, all black, horns... Considering there was fire, and the Pokémon that found Clara clearly survived it, it had to either a Houndour or Houndoom.
"He told me his name was Houndoom..."
And with that, I was certain. A Houndoom must've found her back then.
"He took me with him and his trainers. They were dressed funny, all in black and white. They also wore a big red letter on their clothes."
I was shocked. Team Rocket? ...Why was I so surprised about that? I know the story of this game, nothing should surprise me. Maybe this world began affecting me, changing me into an effective character here, I don't know. Either way, I was more surprised about Clara being taken to Team Rocket.
"Mister Houndoom trained me for a while, but I couldn't use any Fire attacks. His Trainer didn't like that, so he told Mister Houndoom to take me away."
And here I sat, crying along with Clara. So this Trainer, probably some Rocket Grunt, actually abandoned Clara after finding her too weak? What a butt.
"I ran and ran and I didn't know where to go until that doctor mister caught me in that Pokéball."
Still shedding tears, I nodded. She meant Veritas with that. And I was relieved to hear that.
"And then I ended up with you. You're a really nice Trainer, Sand."
"Thanks, Clara. You're a really nice Cyndaquil too.", I replied right away, wiping my tears and smiling again.
"...I hope you won't abandon me like mama or Mister Houndoom..."
"Never, Clara. I'd never abandon my best friend." With that answer, I hugged her tighter and subconciously kissed her head, as if she was a little sister or something.
In response to that, Clara nuzzled my nose and fell asleep thanking me. I felt that Clara really liked me, that she felt comfortable with me. It was almost as if I were her mama. And I knew we'd go through whatever adventures we'd meet, we'd go through them together.
I snuggled under my blanket again, keeping Clara hugged safely in my arms. After all, tomorrow would be quite a long day. Slowly, I fell asleep, a smile covering my face. My adventure had finally begun...