Our story takes place in a world alike and yet very different from ours. A strange world where people co-exist with strange creatures with strange powers. Our story is about a young man and the bond he shares with these strange creatures. Our story is about triumph, friendship and how a boy become a man…
The summer sun beat down on the town of Manetown as a teenager sat under a tree. He was of average height and weight and had white hair with golden eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with light gray shorts and shoes. He looked on at the other kids, somewhat enviously at them, as they played with their Pokémon.
What are Pokemon, you’re probably asking? Well, Pocket Monsters, or “Pokémon” are strange creatures that have existed in this world for as long as we humans have. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some use them as pets, or for fighting, but more on that later. There’s quite a lot about Pokémon that we still don’t know about, but we learn more and more about them with each passing day.
Now, back to Manetown and the boy. He sighed as he continued to watch everyone have a good time with their Pokémon while he was alone. True, he did have his brother, but he was much younger and the boy preferred to be with people his own age.
“Hey, Thunderlame!”
Well, people that weren’t this particular individual. The boy turned to face a girl his age. The most noticeable thing out her was her multi-colored hair, violet eyes and near-permanent arrogant grin. She wore a blue tube top and white jeans with white sneakers.
“My name is Thunderlane, Rainbow Dash,” The boy said, annoyed. He noticed that Rainbow Dash wasn’t alone, counting three or so other teens with her. He also noticed that the park was a lot more empty than it was a few seconds ago.
“Great, I’m about to get jumped and it looks like no one is going to do anything,” Thunderlane thought to himself. He took a deep breath and turned back to Rainbow Dash.
“What do you want?” He asked, trying to sound tough.
“Just wanted to see how your Pokémon are doing,” she sneered. “Oh, wait, I forgot, you don’t have any!” She and her gang laughed, amused with her taunting. Thunderlane never understood why. While he didn’t have any Pokémon (“You’re too young and I can’t trust you with one”, his mother claimed.), he didn’t see it as a reason to be picked on. Normally, he would’ve just walked away, but he was already in a bad mood, and Rainbow being here making fun of him, he decided he was going to fight back for once.
“What’s wrong, Thunderlame?” Taunted a boy with a Rattata, a small rat Pokémon. “Gonna cry?”
“Nah,” said a girl who had a Pidgey, a small bird Pokémon. “He’ll just run home to his mommy!”
“So true,” Rainbow chimed in.
“Y’know, Rainbow,” Thunderlane replied, “You don’t have any Pokémon, either.”
Rainbow Dash took a step backwards in shock. Thunderlane never said anything back to her before, and now he was trying to humiliate her in public. That wasn’t fair! She had to do something to save face, as her group were giving her questionable looks.
“He’s full of it, I so have Pokémon! They’re at my house.” Good save, Dashie. Good save.
“No, those belong to your old man,” he countered with his stupid logic. “I mean, you personally don’t have any Pokémon, so where do you get off making fun of me for not having any?”
OK, that did it. She didn’t want to say what she was about to say, but he forced her. Besides, she’d apologize later.
“Well, at least mine’s still around!” She countered.
Thunderlane gave a shocked and what appeared to be hurt expression. He clenched his fists and gave Rainbow Dash a strong glare.
“What did you just say…?” He said, now angry. Rainbow felt a little guilty for what she said. The subject of Thunderlane’s father was something the town silently agreed on not speaking about, at least in front of his family. But, she wasn’t about look like an idiot in front of everyone.
“You heard me. You’re moron of a father left your sorry ass, and I can see why. You’re a loser who couldn’t catch a paralyzed and confused Magikarp. You’re always so depressed about how no one wants to be near you, and that you have no Pokémon, but you never do anything about it. He was just smart enough to give up and get as far away from you as possible-”
“SHUT UP!” He yelled back. Thunderlane clenched his hands into fists and gave Rainbow an angry stare. To her credit, she complied. He took a deep breath and stormed off.
“That’s it,” Rainbow jeered. “Run away like a coward! Like father, like son!” She turned to her gang, only to be meant with disapproving looks.
“What?” She asked.
“Dude,” said Rattata boy, “Not cool.”
“Shut up, Featherweight."
“Hi, Thunder!” Said a cheerful voice. It belonged to Thunderlane’s younger brother, Rumble, a small boy of around four.
“Hey,” the elder brother responded as he went to his room and slammed the door.
“W-what was that?” Called a timid voice from the kitchen.
“Thunderlane’s home, Mom,” Rumble responded. “He didn’t look happy, though.”
“Oh, I see. Let me go check on him. Oh, and dinner’s ready!”
“OK!”
Thunderlane punched the mattress of his bed. How dare she? How dare she say that?! She had no right! Who was Rainbow Dash to insult his father?
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Um, Thunderlane?” Called the small voice of his mother. “May I come in, if that’s alright with you?”
“OK, Mom.”
The door opened to reveal a small, lovely woman with pink hair, wearing a yellow dress. Her name was Fluttershy. She sat down and put a gentle hand on her son’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
“Rainbow Dash.”
“What about her?” Fluttershy was confused. While she didn’t approve of Rainbolt and Firefly’s daughter bullying her son, she knew that Thunderlane never took what she said to heart. This must have been serious.
“She-she Dad abandoned us. She’s wrong! He’s just travelling around Equestria again, that’s all! He’ll be home soon.”
Fluttershy frowned as she gave her son a soothing back rub. Her husband was a Pokémon Trainer, someone who used Pokémon for battling. He was rather talented, too, having caught almost every kind of Pokémon there was. However, his line of work required him to travel all over the Equestria region, often leaving for months at a time. One day, he just up and left,, leaving his son and pregnant wife. She didn’t know how she and her boys were able to survive these past four years, but they have. While she had managed to get over it and Rumble never knew his father, anyway, Thunderlane had convinced himself that he was just on another trip and would return one day.
“If he does, he better not be anywhere near this house,” She thought to herself. She noticed that Thunderlane had fallen asleep. She laid him down on his bed, put a blanket over his body and kissed his forehead.
“Goodnight, Thundey.” She whispered as she left his room, quietly shutting his door.
The next day was an average one. Clear sky, bright sun, etcetera. Thunderlane was eating his breakfast when Fluttershy called for him.
“What is it, Mom?” He asked.
“Professor Celestia called,” she said. “She said something about a job for you.”
“Probably just another delivery run to Ponyville” Thunderlane thought to himself.
Professor Celestia was a woman who researched Pokémon to discover more about them. Thunderlane recalled meeting her when he was younger and his dad still around. When he got older, she started to hire him to do odd jobs for her, like clean up her laboratory, get items she ordered from Ponyville, the next town over, or give her Ninetails a bath.
“‘Kay, I’ll be right there.”
After finishing his meal and getting dressed, Thunderlane walked to Celestia’s Pokémon Laboratory, which was a few blocks from his house. He opened the door to see a tall, older woman with blue, pink and green hair wearing a white lab coat smiling at him. This was Professor Celestia.
“Ah, right on time as always, Thunderlane,” Celestia said, cheerfully.
“Anything for you, Professor,” he responded. “So, what did you want for me to do? Another PokeBall delivery?”
“No, it’s much bigger than that. You’ll see as soon as the other person I’ve recruted for this job arrives.”
And, right on cue, said “other person” arrived.
“S’up, Grandma?” Said a familiar and obnoxious voice. Thunderlane turned to see that it was indeed Rainbow Dash that he just heard.
“Rainbow Dash?! Grandma?!? Professor, can you explain?” Thunderlane asked impatiently.
“Wait, Thunderlane’s here? What gives, Granny?” Rainbow asked, just as curious and rude.
“Both of you be quiet!” Celestia said, slightly raising her voice. She didn’t like to yell, but she wasn’t going to deal with the rivalry between these two. Besides, if everything went according to plan, then maybe they’d gain some respect for each other.
“Now, then,” she said, in a more cheerful tone, “to answer your questions, Thunderlane, this is my granddaughter, Rainbow Dash. Dashie, this is Thunderlane, the boy who helps me out at the lab. You two seem like you know each other already, though.”
Thunderlane was at a loss for words. How could Professor Celestia, one of the most hard-working and dedicated people he knew, be related to someone as rude, lazy and unpleasant as Rainbow Dash?
Rainbow Dash was also shocked, but for different reasons. She was already a bit sore as it was this morning. Turns out, Blunderlane’s mom found out about what happened yesterday, and told her parents, who weren’t happy with her. Now, she had to apologize (and she felt bad to begin with!) and had to go do something for her grandmother (not that she disliked her, or anything, it was just that Granny was a tad on the boring side, even if her talks about Pokémon were quite interesting). And he works for her?
“Now,” Celestia said, getting the two youth’s attention once more, “take a look at my desk, what do you see?”
On the desk sat two black devices that could fit on one’s hand. They looked like ordinary cell phones. When the two pointed this out, Celestia giggled in response.
“They’re more than just phones, children,” she said. “These are the first in my latest invention, one that has taken me years to complete. I was working on it before I met your grandfather, Dashie.”
“Behold,” Celsetia paused for a few seconds in an attempt to add suspense, “The Pokémon Index, or PokeDex!”
“PokeDex?” Thunderlan said, confused.
“This device is something that will revolutionize how we study Pokemon,” Celestia explained. “It will record data on any Pokemon its user discovers.”
Thunderlane and Rainbow’s jaws dropped. Something like this sounded too amazing to be true. Thunderlane then noticed something.
“Um, Professor, why are there two PokeDexs?”
“I’m glad you asked, Thunderlane,” she responded, her smile growing even further. “You see, you two will be the very first people to use the PokeDex.”
Again, the teens were left shocked.
“You’re probably wondering why.”
“The thought occurred to me,” Rainbow snarked.
“Well, children, when I was young, I dreamt of learning about every single Pokémon to exist and finding a way to do so.”
Celestia sighed as she continued. “But, alas, I’ve become too old and my skills as a Trainer just aren’t what they used to be.” She perked up as she continued once more.
“However, I do know that you two are just the ones I need for this job. I’ve known you since you were small, and I can safely say you’re the best I could hope for.”
Celestia turned to Thunderlane as she spoke once more. “Thunderlane, as I’ve gotten to know you, I see that you’re a hard-worker. Someone who doesn’t let things get him down (at least not for long), who is reliable, determined and wants to see all life has to offer.” Thunderlane beamed at the praise as he received his PokeDex.
She then turned to her granddaughter. “Rainbow, I believe you’re first word was “Pokémon”. Since then, they’ve become your passion. You want to know all about Pokémon, just like your Granny.” Rainbow became a bit flustered as she received her PokeDex.
“Now, one more thing,” Celestia said as she pulled out two baseball-sized device from her pocket. “You can’t start a Pokémon journey without a Pokémon, am I right?”
Thunderlane almost fainted. This sounded like a dream come true. He got to go on what could be the greatest journey of his life and he got a Pokémon? If this was a dream, whoever woke him up would get his foot in their ass.
His hand trembled as he received the PokeBall, which were devices used to store Pokémon. He wondered what kind of Pokémon was inside.
“Hey, Thunderlane, let’s check out our Pokémon,” Rainbow Dash suggested. Thunderlane nodded as they both pressed the button in the center of the balls, causing their PokeDexs to turn on. They recorded Rainbow’s Pokémon, a small, fluffy brown and cream-colored creature resembling a fox kit, first:
“POKEMON #133- EEVEE, THE EVOLUTION POKEMON- HAS BEEN REGISTERED. THIS RARE POKEMON’S GENETIC STRUCTURE IS RATHER UNIQUE, ALLOWING IT TO EVOLVE INTO MORE THAN ONE FORM.
Then, to Celestia’s shock, Thunderlane’s Pokémon as well:
POKEMON #025- PIKACHU, THE ELECTRIC MOUSE POKEMON- HAS BEEN REGISTERED. THIS POKEMON STORES ELECTRICITY IN ITS CHEEKS, ALLOWING IT TO UNLEASH SAID ELECTRICITY IN GREATER AMOUNTS AND POWER.
Pikachu was yellow, slightly taller than Eevee, and indeed looked like a mouse. It’s cheeks were red and it’s tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Celestia thought to herself. They were both supposed to get an Eevee. She must’ve picked up the wrong PokeBall this morning. As Celestia was about to speak up, Thunderlane went up to her, happier than she had ever seen him.
“Thank you so much, Professor! I love it already!”
Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “Well, if he’s happy…”
“Hey, Thunder, I’ve got an idea,” Rainbow said as she got done looking over her PokeDex again.
“This should be worth a laugh,” Thunderlane thought to himself. “What is it?” He asked.
“Let’s test out our Pokemon!”
"Well, damn," thought Thunderlane. I guess miracles do happen.
“You mean, in a Battle?” Thunderlane knew what Battles were, but he didn’t expect to get in one so soon. He looked down at Pikachu, who gave a happy grin in return. Well, it certainly didn’t object.
Outside the lab, Thunderlane and Pikachu and Rainbow Dash and Eevee got ready for battle.
“Ready to lose, Blunderlane?” She taunted.
“Was gonna ask the same thing, Dashie,” he said back. Thunderlane wasn’t sure where this newfound confidence was coming from, but he liked it.
“Alright, then. Go, Eevee!”/“Pikachu, let’ get ‘em!” The Trainers commanded.
“Ka-Chu!”/”Vee!” The Pokémon responded. An odd fact about Pokémon was that while they had their own language that they can all understand, humans only hear the Pokémon say their name, or give a grunt/roar of some kind.
“OK, Eevee, use Sand-Attack!” Rainbow called out. Eevee created a cloud of sand from out o nowhere and threw it at Pikachu, hitting its eyes.
“Pikachu, are you OK?” Thunderlane asked, concerned for his Pokémon. Pikachu gave a thumbs up and a “Pi-Pi” as it tried to get the sand out of its eyes. Thunderlane was also confused as to how Rainbow could already know her Pokémon's moves after having it for all of a minuet.
“Ha!” Rainbow scoffed. “It’s just sand, it’ll be fine. Well, not after this: Eevee, Tackle!”
Eevee rushed at Pikachu, knocking it down.
“Pikachu!” Thunderlane cried out.
Eevee kept Tackling Pikachu every time it tried to get up. Thunderlane was panicking. What could he do? Checking Pikachu’s statistics on the PokeDex, he saw Pikachu’s movepool, and mentally face-palmed. How could he have forgotten this?
“PIkachu, use Growl!” Thunderlane commanded just as Eevee was about to Tackle again, sending the brown Pokémon back towards its Trainer.
“Hey, get back up!” Rainbow commanded. “Tackle it again, it can’t take another hit.”
Thunderlane frowned. As much as he hated to admit it, Rainbow was right. Pikachu couldn’t afford another hit. It appeared that this was the fight’s climax.
Eevee went to Tackle Pikachu, when Thunderlane smirked and gave out a command.
“Pikachu, use Thundershock!”
Pikachu charged electricity from its cheeks as Eevee was about to make contact. When the two Pokémon collided, Pikachu unleashed it’s electricity, shocking Eevee good. After the shock wore off, the two Pokémon collapsed, fast asleep.
“Wait, so who won?” Rainbow asked.
“I’d say it was a draw,” Celestia said, amused with how the fight went down. “Still, you both put up a good effort, so there’s that.
Rainbow pouted as she retreated Eevee back to its PokeBall, slightly upset that she didn’t win. Thunderlane smiled at Pikachu as he did the same. Celestia took their PokeBalls and put them in a machine that healed Pokémon. Right after doing so, Pikachu popped out of its ball, smiling happily. When Thunderlane tried to put it back in its ball, the Pokémon kept coming right back out, looking slightly more annoyed each time. Eventually, it shocked its Trainer after one too many tries.
“Hm, this is odd,” Celestia observed. “Your Pikachu doesn’t seem to like PokeBalls.”
“Brilliant observation” Thunderlane thought sarcastically as he tried to shake off the shock he was given.
“No matter,” the professor said. “Just walk around with it, and that should make it happy.” Thunderlane shrugged. Well, if that’s what it wanted, who was he to complain? Pikachu climbed up on his shoulder and nuzzled him.
“Well, you’ve both had quite the morning, why don’t you both go home and talk to your families about this?”
Thunderlane face-palmed. How could he have forgotten his mother and brother? This was going to be a bit of an explanation. Pikachu again nuzzled him, as a way of comforting his Trainer.
“Hey, Thunder!” Rainbow Dash called out.
“Yo,” He responded. “If it’s about the match, don’t worry about it. I mean, technically I lost, so there’s that-”
“No, I meant about what happened yesterday.”
“Oh.” An awkward silence came upon the two.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“No, it’s not!” She yelled. “I might not like you, but I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What’s with the sudden polite-thing going on?”
“Well, I have to treat my rival with some respect,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Wait, we’re rivals?” He asked, confused.
“Yep. I mean, we’re both competing to see who can complete the PokeDex first after all.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, Rainbow Dash.”
“Too late, it’s official!” She said, running home. “Smell ya later!”
Thunderlane sighed. “That girl’s gonna be the death of me,” he muttered.
“Pi-Pika-Pi,” the Pokémon replied, causing Thunderlane to chuckle as they began walked home as well.
Professor Celestia watched as the two young ones left and smiled. They’d become good Trainers yet, she hoped. He face deflated when she realized something.
“With Thunderlane leaving, who’ll do all the stuff I’m too lazy to do? I wonder if I can make an ad for a Chore Monkey…”
