HOME | DD

Description
There are a couple of places that I'll never forget from my adventures with Pokemon: the hustle and bustle of Saffron City, the smell of salt and the caw of the gulls in Vermilllion, and of course the entirety of the Indigo Plateau. These places are timeless in memory, the rest having been or soon to be stripped by age. Unlike some Pokemon that can easily live for a century, humans tend to crumble quite severely with time, and I'm merely thankful that I spent my youth with Pokemon and had enough time and sense to write this manuscript before it all got the best of me. One of these places in particular that I'll remember is the Professors' lab. The woosh of cool, metallic doors clanging open, the tintinabulation of machinery working constantly, and the look of the Professor himself as he spied me making my entrance. The Professor, standing next to Riddle.

This is the first time I'm writing of Riddle in this manuscript and so it is only fair to my readership that I describe who I am blithering on about. Riddle is a lot of things - Oak's grandson for one. I'm not quite sure what happened to Riddle's parents, we were never close enough for him to tell me. On our best days we were rivals, on our worst... well we weren't polite shall we say. Riddle was standing there also watching me enter the lab, over dramatically checking his wrist watch as if to point out to the nonexistant crowds around him how much time I was wasting. I was gearing up for yet another verbal, and possibly physical conflict, when my eyes turned from the pair of people to the Pokeball. The single Pokeball. The last Pokeball.

As I approached the Pokeball, Oak made a a faux attempt to shoo Riddle away.
"Greetings, greetings Myth! And Riddle, too, though I didn't expect to see you here."  Riddle looked amused.
"I got sick and tired of kicking around waiitng Gramps. Are you going to give me a Pokemon or what?' His eyes darted towards the Pokeball on the table; the ball left for me.
"Yes, yes Riddle" Oak proclaimed, "All things in their time my boy. This Pokemon belongs to Myth." My heart started to pound; a Pokemon - meant solely for me?
"Go on Myth," Oak said, gesturing widely to the ball on the table behind me, "That Pokemon is your new partner and friend.' Pure glee swept over me. I turned to the table and started towards it, but horror gripped me in place. Riddle had managed to sneak over while we were talking, and had already taken the ball .
"Riddle!" Oak hollered, "that Pokemon was meant for Myth!" If Riddle was capable of showing any empathy, that talent was not showing itself now.
"Yeah right and let a loser like him get such a neat Pokemon like this? I don't think so Gramps. Smell ya later, and try not to eat too much of my dust Myth!"  And with that statement, Riddle was gone.

I pivoted for what seemed like a very long time before I was facing Professor Oak again. In his eyes held the look of pure fatherly concern, yet there was also something else. Something glimmering, like Hope in the box of Pandora, amidst all the Evils.
"Myth my boy, don't you fret. There is another Pokemon." I had heard Oak's words, but they did not register for almost a full minute.
"Wha- What do you mean, another? There was only one left Professor! Only one, and now there's nothing!' Tears stung my eyes. For years I had dreamed of this moment, only to have it so cruely snatched away at the last insant.
"Myth, remember that yellow mouse that I caught out in the field? It was a Pikachu, one that I think would do you a much better service than I."
I dried my eyes with the back of my hand and stared at the Professor, his hand outstretched, and in it a Pokeball emblazoned with a crest shaped like a lightning bolt. And yet the strangest thing happened when that Pokeball traded hands from his to mine. The instant the weight shifted, the ball cracked open on its own, followed by the trade mark blinding white light, and there stood the same creature we had encountered in the forest. There stood my first Pokemon, my Pikachu.

"How strange" Oak mused to himself, "It seems as if your Pikachu doesn't want to be traditionally confined to the Pokeball. I've never seen this sort of behaviour from a Pokemon so recently caught in the wild."  I bent down to get closer to eye level with the creature, and in retaliation it sprayed a light but colourful display of sparks from it's cheeks roughly in my direction.
"Listen," I began, "You don't know me yet, but I'm going to be your trainer. The boy that just walked out of the room has been putting me down and treating me like crud for years. Whaddya say, little buddy? Will you help me get even? Will you help me realize mine, and Professor Oak's, dream of being a Pokemon Master? Will you help me blitz any and all competition?' It was on that last sentence that the Pikachu really took notice of me. Uttering a cry and nodding its head, apparently perfectly able to understand human speech, the mouse like creature sprung from the floor and onto my shoulder.
"Well, it seems like you've quickly gained a new friend, Myth. Your skills with Pokemon are already starting to shine through." Oak looked pleased, more than pleased, he looked like he had shed ten years. "Do you have a nickname for your new pal here?" And I as I looked the bright, furry creature directly in its dark, almost questioning eyes, I knew.
"Yeah, Prof, I do. His name is Blitz." Oak clapped his hands in delight.
"Good, good. Now why don't you do undertake a little task for me in order to get better acquainted? I need you to venture over to the next town, Viridian, and visit the Mart for me. I'd go, but there's always so much to do around here."
"Sure Professor," I replied hastily, "Anything you say. I'll be back before you know it."

Little did I realize just how much I had undertaken that day, with Bltiz on my shoulder and a dream held in my chest. But when you're ten years old and just learning how the world works, that's about all you need. If you're going to survive.

Description
There are a couple of places that I'll never forget from my adventures with Pokemon: the hustle and bustle of Saffron City, the smell of salt and the caw of the gulls in Vermilllion, and of course the entirety of the Indigo Plateau. These places are timeless in memory, the rest having been or soon to be stripped by age. Unlike some Pokemon that can easily live for a century, humans tend to crumble quite severely with time, and I'm merely thankful that I spent my youth with Pokemon and had enough time and sense to write this manuscript before it all got the best of me. One of these places in particular that I'll remember is the Professors' lab. The woosh of cool, metallic doors clanging open, the tintinabulation of machinery working constantly, and the look of the Professor himself as he spied me making my entrance. The Professor, standing next to Riddle.

This is the first time I'm writing of Riddle in this manuscript and so it is only fair to my readership that I describe who I am blithering on about. Riddle is a lot of things - Oak's grandson for one. I'm not quite sure what happened to Riddle's parents, we were never close enough for him to tell me. On our best days we were rivals, on our worst... well we weren't polite shall we say. Riddle was standing there also watching me enter the lab, over dramatically checking his wrist watch as if to point out to the nonexistant crowds around him how much time I was wasting. I was gearing up for yet another verbal, and possibly physical conflict, when my eyes turned from the pair of people to the Pokeball. The single Pokeball. The last Pokeball.

As I approached the Pokeball, Oak made a a faux attempt to shoo Riddle away.
"Greetings, greetings Myth! And Riddle, too, though I didn't expect to see you here."  Riddle looked amused.
"I got sick and tired of kicking around waiitng Gramps. Are you going to give me a Pokemon or what?' His eyes darted towards the Pokeball on the table; the ball left for me.
"Yes, yes Riddle" Oak proclaimed, "All things in their time my boy. This Pokemon belongs to Myth." My heart started to pound; a Pokemon - meant solely for me?
"Go on Myth," Oak said, gesturing widely to the ball on the table behind me, "That Pokemon is your new partner and friend.' Pure glee swept over me. I turned to the table and started towards it, but horror gripped me in place. Riddle had managed to sneak over while we were talking, and had already taken the ball .
"Riddle!" Oak hollered, "that Pokemon was meant for Myth!" If Riddle was capable of showing any empathy, that talent was not showing itself now.
"Yeah right and let a loser like him get such a neat Pokemon like this? I don't think so Gramps. Smell ya later, and try not to eat too much of my dust Myth!"  And with that statement, Riddle was gone.

I pivoted for what seemed like a very long time before I was facing Professor Oak again. In his eyes held the look of pure fatherly concern, yet there was also something else. Something glimmering, like Hope in the box of Pandora, amidst all the Evils.
"Myth my boy, don't you fret. There is another Pokemon." I had heard Oak's words, but they did not register for almost a full minute.
"Wha- What do you mean, another? There was only one left Professor! Only one, and now there's nothing!' Tears stung my eyes. For years I had dreamed of this moment, only to have it so cruely snatched away at the last insant.
"Myth, remember that yellow mouse that I caught out in the field? It was a Pikachu, one that I think would do you a much better service than I."
I dried my eyes with the back of my hand and stared at the Professor, his hand outstretched, and in it a Pokeball emblazoned with a crest shaped like a lightning bolt. And yet the strangest thing happened when that Pokeball traded hands from his to mine. The instant the weight shifted, the ball cracked open on its own, followed by the trade mark blinding white light, and there stood the same creature we had encountered in the forest. There stood my first Pokemon, my Pikachu.

"How strange" Oak mused to himself, "It seems as if your Pikachu doesn't want to be traditionally confined to the Pokeball. I've never seen this sort of behaviour from a Pokemon so recently caught in the wild."  I bent down to get closer to eye level with the creature, and in retaliation it sprayed a light but colourful display of sparks from it's cheeks roughly in my direction.
"Listen," I began, "You don't know me yet, but I'm going to be your trainer. The boy that just walked out of the room has been putting me down and treating me like crud for years. Whaddya say, little buddy? Will you help me get even? Will you help me realize mine, and Professor Oak's, dream of being a Pokemon Master? Will you help me blitz any and all competition?' It was on that last sentence that the Pikachu really took notice of me. Uttering a cry and nodding its head, apparently perfectly able to understand human speech, the mouse like creature sprung from the floor and onto my shoulder.
"Well, it seems like you've quickly gained a new friend, Myth. Your skills with Pokemon are already starting to shine through." Oak looked pleased, more than pleased, he looked like he had shed ten years. "Do you have a nickname for your new pal here?" And I as I looked the bright, furry creature directly in its dark, almost questioning eyes, I knew.
"Yeah, Prof, I do. His name is Blitz." Oak clapped his hands in delight.
"Good, good. Now why don't you do undertake a little task for me in order to get better acquainted? I need you to venture over to the next town, Viridian, and visit the Mart for me. I'd go, but there's always so much to do around here."
"Sure Professor," I replied hastily, "Anything you say. I'll be back before you know it."

Little did I realize just how much I had undertaken that day, with Bltiz on my shoulder and a dream held in my chest. But when you're ten years old and just learning how the world works, that's about all you need. If you're going to survive.