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Description
There are a lot of things I wasn't expecting that happened to me on my Pokemon journey, and some of them didn't even have to do with the creatures themselves. But I think the one thing that I was the most unprepared for was the brutality of it all. How violent Pokemon battles were. When you're young and you hear all the exploits of up and coming Pokemon Masters, what you're never told is what happens to the loser. What the state of the Pokemon are after a particularly vicious struggle. Sometimes I remember some of the battles that Blitz, myself, and everyone else went through and fresh tears are shed. Oh well. I supppose we all have to learn somehow.

Warm sunglight greeted my arrival to the fresh air and opportunistic feel outside of Professor Oak's lab. I took a moment to glance at Blitz while he stretched his body out and enjoyed the sunshine as much as I was. "Well Blitz, it's time to head on out to Viridian City and collect whatever Oak needs us too."  The creature let out a soft sound of acknowledgement, and we proceeded to the outer gates of the city. That's what happens when an epidemic like the flu breaks out, we all start fencing ourselves off from one another. I suppose that's human nature, but it's a grim thought.

As I made my way along the path through the ever present trees, I took a momement to breathe in the silence. One of the benefits of living in a small, rural community is the plethora of silence, how it seems to surround ever body like a blanket, every  building like a moat. We continued on for perhaps a half a mile or so before we heard the sound. A wimper, small enough to be neglected had Blitz not stood up on his tail, ears stiffed upwards, listening himself. It sounded like a man, and it sounded painful. Suddenly Bltiz took off at a run, and I after him. What we saw made me gasp sharply. There was a young man, outfitted with a simple bandanah and apron - obviously a shop attendant of some description - lying face down on the ground, blood on his arms and in his hair.

"Sir! Sir are you okay?" I ran to the man's side and gently rolled him onto his side. He was better than I thought, a lot of the blood was coming from a broken nose as everything else seemed to check out okay.
"You - you have to go.. they're .. " the man tried to speak, but found himself only able to sputter out a few words before a coughing fit over took him.
"Listen, let's just get you sitting up an-" without warning, I was struck in the back of the head with what felt like the blunt side of an ice pick being swung by a much burlier individual than I. I fell forwards quite without grace and bit the proverbial and literal dirt. When I could see again, I scrambled to my feet, still disorientated from the blow, and scanned my surroundings. Nothing.
"What in the-" I began, but was cut off by a shrill, echoing cry which originated from somewhere above me. I turned my face to the sun and had to shield my eyes, but I managed to identify the source; a small brown and cream coloured bird with talons and beak at the ready - a Pidgey- had swooped overhead and knocked me to the ground. I called for Blitz, who ran to my side, and without realizing it until much later, began my first ever Pokemon battle.

Without warning, the Pidgey dove at Blitz, emitting a screech that would rival the finest crystal-shattering opera singer. I quickly came to the conclusion that I had bitten off a little more than I could chew, but as I stated earleir in the manuscript, I reckless if nothing else.
"Blitz, shock it!" I cried, but the yellow mouse didn't hear me in time, and Pidgey's talons came down hard on the top of his head. I had until this point never seen blood that did not come from my own body, but coupled with the injured man who I was defending, thin red lines began to trickle down the back of my Pikachu's head.
"Blitz, when it comes around for another Tackle, you've got to shock it, it's all we've got!" I knew what I was saying, and I knew that my partner was listening, but what I failed to grasp was whether two and two were being put together. Amidst the confusion, the Pidgey did indeed come around, and as Blitz turned to face it head on, again the talons struck the mouse hard on the side of the face, raking a series of deep red lines that instantly started bleeding. I couldn't take this, I wasn't cut out for it, but I had to save my Pokemon. He was the only friend I had.

I spied a fallen branch from a tree nearbye, and swept it up in my arms just as another shriek from the Pidgey tore the blanket and smashed the moat. I scanned the sky and found the bird Pokemon, diving straight towards Bltiz. I don't know what happened next, I stopped thinking I guessed. All I remember is that I was running like a mad man, swinging the branch to and fro - I was never on any Pallet Town sports team, suffice to say - and screaming. The next think I know, I trip over the injured Mart worker's arm and go sprawling down, not before managing to grab Blitz's arm and pull him closer to me and out of the way of the Pidgey. The bird struck the ground and tumbled for a while, and I recognised this as my chance. "Blitz, you've gotta do it now, Thundershock it!" And with that command, I witnessed the death of my first Pokemon.

The stunning, yellow-white bolt erupted from the mouse Pokemon and struck the Pidgey directly. The bird convulsed for a second or two before dropping still, the only movement remaining being the black smoke rising from its charred corpse and twisting in the wind. This was something all the Pokemon schools, all the stories you hear on the news, all the tales and everything else don't prepare you for. All of a sudden my lunch found its way back up my throat and I scrambled to turn over before I lost it all. After the encounter, which seemed to go on for an eternity but in reality must have lasted only two, maybe three minutes at best and after I had confirmed that, much like the man laying next to me, my Pikachu's injuries were not as severe as I originally imagined, Blitz, the Mart worker, and I just lay on the ground looking at the sky for a while.

"Is this what the journey is really like?" I thought to myself, as I scrambled onto my feet, picked the Mart worker up onto his, and cradled Blitz in my arms. "Is this what Pokemon are for? For this kind of brutality?" Our sad trio had not much further to walk until we reached Viridian City, and we made it well before dark. A million questions raced through my mind as I handed Blitz over to the nurse at the Pokemon Center, the primary one of which was, 'Am I going to be able to do this?'

After all this time, I suppose one could assume I  did do it. I did make it. I did succeed in my goal. Well, perhaps I did. But its moments like that first day on the road that made me want to turn back every step of the way. Pokemon teach us a lot of things, but I think the best lesson I learnt was that of tenacity. I wanted to be the vey best, like no one ever was, and with that sort of goal, well, you just can't quit.

Description
There are a lot of things I wasn't expecting that happened to me on my Pokemon journey, and some of them didn't even have to do with the creatures themselves. But I think the one thing that I was the most unprepared for was the brutality of it all. How violent Pokemon battles were. When you're young and you hear all the exploits of up and coming Pokemon Masters, what you're never told is what happens to the loser. What the state of the Pokemon are after a particularly vicious struggle. Sometimes I remember some of the battles that Blitz, myself, and everyone else went through and fresh tears are shed. Oh well. I supppose we all have to learn somehow.

Warm sunglight greeted my arrival to the fresh air and opportunistic feel outside of Professor Oak's lab. I took a moment to glance at Blitz while he stretched his body out and enjoyed the sunshine as much as I was. "Well Blitz, it's time to head on out to Viridian City and collect whatever Oak needs us too."  The creature let out a soft sound of acknowledgement, and we proceeded to the outer gates of the city. That's what happens when an epidemic like the flu breaks out, we all start fencing ourselves off from one another. I suppose that's human nature, but it's a grim thought.

As I made my way along the path through the ever present trees, I took a momement to breathe in the silence. One of the benefits of living in a small, rural community is the plethora of silence, how it seems to surround ever body like a blanket, every  building like a moat. We continued on for perhaps a half a mile or so before we heard the sound. A wimper, small enough to be neglected had Blitz not stood up on his tail, ears stiffed upwards, listening himself. It sounded like a man, and it sounded painful. Suddenly Bltiz took off at a run, and I after him. What we saw made me gasp sharply. There was a young man, outfitted with a simple bandanah and apron - obviously a shop attendant of some description - lying face down on the ground, blood on his arms and in his hair.

"Sir! Sir are you okay?" I ran to the man's side and gently rolled him onto his side. He was better than I thought, a lot of the blood was coming from a broken nose as everything else seemed to check out okay.
"You - you have to go.. they're .. " the man tried to speak, but found himself only able to sputter out a few words before a coughing fit over took him.
"Listen, let's just get you sitting up an-" without warning, I was struck in the back of the head with what felt like the blunt side of an ice pick being swung by a much burlier individual than I. I fell forwards quite without grace and bit the proverbial and literal dirt. When I could see again, I scrambled to my feet, still disorientated from the blow, and scanned my surroundings. Nothing.
"What in the-" I began, but was cut off by a shrill, echoing cry which originated from somewhere above me. I turned my face to the sun and had to shield my eyes, but I managed to identify the source; a small brown and cream coloured bird with talons and beak at the ready - a Pidgey- had swooped overhead and knocked me to the ground. I called for Blitz, who ran to my side, and without realizing it until much later, began my first ever Pokemon battle.

Without warning, the Pidgey dove at Blitz, emitting a screech that would rival the finest crystal-shattering opera singer. I quickly came to the conclusion that I had bitten off a little more than I could chew, but as I stated earleir in the manuscript, I reckless if nothing else.
"Blitz, shock it!" I cried, but the yellow mouse didn't hear me in time, and Pidgey's talons came down hard on the top of his head. I had until this point never seen blood that did not come from my own body, but coupled with the injured man who I was defending, thin red lines began to trickle down the back of my Pikachu's head.
"Blitz, when it comes around for another Tackle, you've got to shock it, it's all we've got!" I knew what I was saying, and I knew that my partner was listening, but what I failed to grasp was whether two and two were being put together. Amidst the confusion, the Pidgey did indeed come around, and as Blitz turned to face it head on, again the talons struck the mouse hard on the side of the face, raking a series of deep red lines that instantly started bleeding. I couldn't take this, I wasn't cut out for it, but I had to save my Pokemon. He was the only friend I had.

I spied a fallen branch from a tree nearbye, and swept it up in my arms just as another shriek from the Pidgey tore the blanket and smashed the moat. I scanned the sky and found the bird Pokemon, diving straight towards Bltiz. I don't know what happened next, I stopped thinking I guessed. All I remember is that I was running like a mad man, swinging the branch to and fro - I was never on any Pallet Town sports team, suffice to say - and screaming. The next think I know, I trip over the injured Mart worker's arm and go sprawling down, not before managing to grab Blitz's arm and pull him closer to me and out of the way of the Pidgey. The bird struck the ground and tumbled for a while, and I recognised this as my chance. "Blitz, you've gotta do it now, Thundershock it!" And with that command, I witnessed the death of my first Pokemon.

The stunning, yellow-white bolt erupted from the mouse Pokemon and struck the Pidgey directly. The bird convulsed for a second or two before dropping still, the only movement remaining being the black smoke rising from its charred corpse and twisting in the wind. This was something all the Pokemon schools, all the stories you hear on the news, all the tales and everything else don't prepare you for. All of a sudden my lunch found its way back up my throat and I scrambled to turn over before I lost it all. After the encounter, which seemed to go on for an eternity but in reality must have lasted only two, maybe three minutes at best and after I had confirmed that, much like the man laying next to me, my Pikachu's injuries were not as severe as I originally imagined, Blitz, the Mart worker, and I just lay on the ground looking at the sky for a while.

"Is this what the journey is really like?" I thought to myself, as I scrambled onto my feet, picked the Mart worker up onto his, and cradled Blitz in my arms. "Is this what Pokemon are for? For this kind of brutality?" Our sad trio had not much further to walk until we reached Viridian City, and we made it well before dark. A million questions raced through my mind as I handed Blitz over to the nurse at the Pokemon Center, the primary one of which was, 'Am I going to be able to do this?'

After all this time, I suppose one could assume I  did do it. I did make it. I did succeed in my goal. Well, perhaps I did. But its moments like that first day on the road that made me want to turn back every step of the way. Pokemon teach us a lot of things, but I think the best lesson I learnt was that of tenacity. I wanted to be the vey best, like no one ever was, and with that sort of goal, well, you just can't quit.