Master Blue’s Challenge
I awoke the next morning around 7:30, and headed downstairs. Shinx got up and followed me. Aunt Cassie was sitting on the couch watching TV. I said, “Hey Auntie, is it okay if I go over to Mark’s house for a while?”
She turned her head towards me. “Sure,” she said. “Make sure you and your Pokemon eat before you go.”
I went to the kitchen and pulled out some cereal. After serving myself, Shinx, and a bowl for Charmander when he got up, we sat down at the table and began to eat. Right on cue, Charmander walked down stairs yawning as he went. “Good morning, Charmander,” I said to him as he entered the room. “I got you some cereal here at the table.”
Charmander’s eyes jolted open and he sat down at the table in front of the bowl. After eating, the three of us walked outside the house and headed toward Mark’s house. But I remembered something before I crossed the street.
“Charmander,” I said. “International law says only one Pokemon is allowed out of its Pokeball per trainer, so I’ll have to put you in for a little while, okay?” Charmander nodded, and soon he was in the Pokeball on my belt. As we past the Windmill Park, I saw the Windmill PokeMart and checked my bag to see if I needed any supplies. Turned out I only had one Potion left, so Shinx and I walked in and purchased 2 Potions for![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2FNXVe1C8NVPR7uSxntaFSFn7VCIM914_DFsGnHRejRXZ0pElfMtB0JMPTQ6n-ldJzgKPnusNEyokE53w9aHSa6uKJ3Skg9PrWriofZfulBNudvlrZN19ZasM8T-0r_RMcPqYgFiVr&hash=58d1a8da80f3d07489477992eac5e906)
3.05 each.
Around 9:15am, Shinx and I reached Mark’s house. I knocked on the door, and after about 12 seconds Mark’s mom opened the door. “Hi Dimrill, how are you? Come in, come”
As I entered, Mrs. Erickson asked,” Would you like any breakfast? You can take it up to Mark’s room.”
“No thanks, Mrs. Erickson,” I answered and went upstairs. I knocked on the bedroom door and said through the crack,” Hey Mark, it’s me, Dimrill.”
A voice from inside said, “Oh hey! Come on in!”
I pushed open the door to find Mark on his computer, checking his email. He looked up from the screen. “Hey listen,” he said. “Professor Elm emailed us and he wants to see us at his lab. He wants us to stop by at 10:30.”
“Alright,” I said. “It’s probably another errand he wants us to run.”
“Hey, can I see your Charmander? You said you caught one, right?”
I unclipped the Pokeball form my belt and released the Pokemon inside. My Charmander emerged from the white light and looked walked towards Mark’s desk. He picked up the Pokeball on the table and released Mark’s Butterfree from it. Butterfree hovered low to the ground near Charmander, studied him for a minute and at last cried out, “Freeh!”
Mark at last said, “Dang, now you have a huge advantage over me in battle.” He looked over at his alarm clock. “Oh shoot, its 10 o’clock, we better head over to the lab or we’ll be late!” So without further ado, we left the house (“Have fun dears!” Mrs. Erickson called after us) and walked down Orga Boulevard toward the lab.
A few things about the lab. It looks like a creepy shipping facility on the outside, but this is done to avoid fans bombarding the doors. Mark and I discovered it a few years back when we saw someone was moving a crate of rare candies into the back room. We snuck in as the door was closing and looked around. There was a lot of shelves full of documents and books on Pokemon research and a few lab stations where the lab assistants were experimenting with Pokemon, evolution stones, rare candies, and berries. Eventually we got caught, but for our efforts Professor Elm let us be his personal assistants. Mainly we ran to the store or to Mr. Pokemon’s House on Route 30 to retrieve some research.
Anyways, when we reached the side door, we knocked twice and within about two minutes, one of the lab assistants opened the door and let us in. We walked past the lab stations and the library to Professor Elm’s office. He was standing outside waiting for us, but there was someone else in the room pacing back in forth.
Professor Elm was about 63 years old, with white hair, circular glasses, and wore a white lab coat. Everyone in the lab wore this coat over their clothes. Professor Elm had on a blue dress shirt and black pants on underneath the open coat.
“Hey boys,” he said as we approached. “How are you today?”
“Not much,” Mark said. “What’s our job today?”
“Your lives are about to change,” he said. He took a deep breath. “Inside my office is a professional Pokemon Trainer. He’s the gym leader of Viridian City, and an old friend of mine.”
Mark and I looked at each other. “Blue?” we asked together. The professor nodded. “He’s been looking for trainers to battle for a while and hasn’t found any good ones. I’ll let him introduce his proposal.” Elm opened the door an gestured us in.
Master Blue was around 36 at the time, with spiky brown hair, wore a chain necklace, a wool blue sweater, and blue jeans. He’s rivals with another Pokemon Master named Red, who never speaks. So the only real story we have about their journey through Kanto is in his perspective. But he’s a cool guy, so I’ve heard. He treats his Pokemon well, and they even became champions of the Indigo League, which was the Pokemon League for Kanto and Johto. In the League of Champions about 20 years ago. No one really knows why, but Red always seemed to beat Blue barely. But enough about Blue and Red.
“Hello trainers,” Blue introduced. “You already know who I am.” He paced once again. “I’ve been the gym leader of Viridian City for about 20 years. I’ve battled a few tough trainers, but not for a while. My Pokemon have been wanting a real trainer to fight for a while and based on what I’ve heard about you two from Professor Elm, I think you have what it takes to give me a challenge.” He paused. “I need you to travel throughout Kanto or Johto and collect the 8 official gym badges and challenge the Indigo League.”
Mark pumped his fists. “I’ve always wanted to travel around the world training Pokemon!” he said cheerfully. I stared out the window and thought about an event about 2 weeks before...
It was the day after the last day of school. My friends and I were excited to start our lives. Most of us looked to travel, or follow a profession. Mark wanted to travel, but his parents wanted him to stay and find a job here in New Bark Town. Me?
I was sitting in the woods by the pond, where this story started. “Hey, Dimrill!” I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around to find my girlfriend Bella coming to sit with me. She sat down next to me and I cuddled her close to me. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do with my life…” I said.
“Well,” Bella said, “You could travel the world with me and we could train Pokemon together. Wouldn’t that be sweet?”
“Actually, I wanted to work as a lab assistant for Professor Elm,” I recalled.
“So, you don’t want to go with me?” she said, raising her voice slightly.
“It’s not that,” I said. “I’m just really grateful for my aunt, and I want to be able to take care of her when she becomes old. It’s… a little complicated.”
“Dimrill,” Bella said, pulling away. “I want to follow my dream, and be with you, but I can’t follow both. Long distance relationships don’t work out in the end.”
I looked at her in the eyes. “I love everything about you Bella,” I said. “But I just don’t have the courage or motivation to leave town for good.”
She stood up. “I’ve already decided that I’m leaving tomorrow. I would love for you to go with me. But even if you don’t, I still have to follow my dream. So choose. Me or your aunt.” Then she left dramatically.
Obviously as I was in New Bark Town still I didn’t go with her. So we broke up and she left with her Espeon to travel Johto.
“Dimrill, are you alright?” Mark asked me. Everyone was watching me look out the window.
“It’s nothing. We’re still talking about the quest, right?” I responded.
“So, will you take my quest?” Blue asked. I looked at Mark, who was about to follow his dream. I thought about Bella, who left to follow her dream. That’s when I found my dream. To be surrounded by my friends. Wherever they go, or I go.
“I’ll do it if Mark comes with me,” I said finally. Shinx leaped into the air and got onto my shoulder.
Mark grinned and said,” I’m game!”
Blue smiled. “Awesome! Now make sure to talk to your peoples before you leave. I look forward to seeing you two soon.” And with that, he opened the door and walked out. “Thanks Professor!” he called before he left.
Professor Elm looked up at us and he said,” I just had a flashback to the day I gave Ethan his Cyndaquil. I guess I don’t have to give you two any Pokemon of your own.”
Mark and I thanked him and walked out of the lab. “I’ll call you at home if my parents say yes to our adventure,” Mark said and then we departed.
Shinx and I walked back to the house in silence. He must have sensed my sadness and he stayed on my shoulder all the way back. At last I got to the door and let myself in. “Aunt Cassie! I’m home!”
She walked around the corner out of the kitchen. “Oh hey Dimrill! Why are you back so early?”
I sighed. “I’ve been offered a quest by Master Blue to travel through Johto and collect gym badges.”
“Isn’t that what Bella’s doing now?” she asked.
“Yeah. Is it okay if I go?” I asked her.
“Well,” Aunt Cassie said. “This choice has been brought upon you. I think you should be the one to decide.”
I though for a minute. “Alright. I’ll go!”
“Aunt Cassie became teary-eyed. “Okay then. Will Mark be going with you?” I nodded. “You better begin packing up for your journey tomorrow.”
I went and gave her a long hug. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me Aunt Cassie,” I said softly. We embraced for a long time, then I walked upstairs to my room and began to pack. Shinx and Charmander helped me pack my clothes.
I packed a few shirts, pants, lots of socks, underwear, a few potions, Pokeballs, some food, a tent, and my sleeping roll. While packing, Charmander accidently burned up one of my shirts (“Char?” he said apologetically). Around 9:30, Shinx and I climbed up in bed to get a good night’s rest for tomorrow.
I awoke the next morning and called Mark the second I got dressed. He told me he’d meet me at the entrance of Route 29 in about 2 hours. So I headed downstairs to eat my last meal at the house.
Aunt Cassie, my Pokemon and I ate bacon and eggs, which was my favorite breakfast. After a long goodbye to my aunt, I headed for Route 29 to wait for Mark. 20 minutes came by, then I saw him walking towards me.
Mark put his hands in his sweater pockets. “So, are you ready to go?” he asked. I nodded. “Well,” he said, “Since we’re starting a new adventure, why don’t we have a battle to determine who’s stronger?”
“Alright,” I agreed. Soon we stood about 20 feet apart both with Pokeballs in hand. At the same time, we sent out our Pokemon. He sent out Butterfree and I sent out Shinx.
Let me explain how battles work. In the video games, Pokemon only know 4 moves, the trainer chooses what attacks they do, and Pokemon take turns attacking. But in reality, the Pokemon do the fighting, so they choose the attacks they use. However, the trainer can throw out suggestions to their Pokemon. But the trainer chooses what Pokemon to send into battle. That way, Pokemon and trainers have equal roles in Pokemon battle.
Butterfree sent a pink wave of energy at Shinx using its antennas - a Confusion attack - which blew Shinx back a foot or so. Shinx came back by shooting a yellow ball of electricity at Butterfree - a Spark attack - and it nailed Butterfree in the chest. Shinx began to charge up another to make the next one more powerful. Butterfree last resorted to a Signal Beam at Shinx’s face. Shinx finished off Butterfree with the charged up Spark attack.
Mark scooped up his fainted Butterfree and returned it to its Pokeball. “Alright,” Mark said. “I guess you win. I’ll head back to the Pokemon Center to heal Butterfree. You can go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.” And without further ado, mark picked up his pack and headed back into town.
I reached into my pack and sprayed some potion onto Shinx, picked up my pack, and then Shinx and I walked down the trail onto Route 29 to begin our adventure...
I awoke the next morning around 7:30, and headed downstairs. Shinx got up and followed me. Aunt Cassie was sitting on the couch watching TV. I said, “Hey Auntie, is it okay if I go over to Mark’s house for a while?”
She turned her head towards me. “Sure,” she said. “Make sure you and your Pokemon eat before you go.”
I went to the kitchen and pulled out some cereal. After serving myself, Shinx, and a bowl for Charmander when he got up, we sat down at the table and began to eat. Right on cue, Charmander walked down stairs yawning as he went. “Good morning, Charmander,” I said to him as he entered the room. “I got you some cereal here at the table.”
Charmander’s eyes jolted open and he sat down at the table in front of the bowl. After eating, the three of us walked outside the house and headed toward Mark’s house. But I remembered something before I crossed the street.
“Charmander,” I said. “International law says only one Pokemon is allowed out of its Pokeball per trainer, so I’ll have to put you in for a little while, okay?” Charmander nodded, and soon he was in the Pokeball on my belt. As we past the Windmill Park, I saw the Windmill PokeMart and checked my bag to see if I needed any supplies. Turned out I only had one Potion left, so Shinx and I walked in and purchased 2 Potions for
3.05 each.Around 9:15am, Shinx and I reached Mark’s house. I knocked on the door, and after about 12 seconds Mark’s mom opened the door. “Hi Dimrill, how are you? Come in, come”
As I entered, Mrs. Erickson asked,” Would you like any breakfast? You can take it up to Mark’s room.”
“No thanks, Mrs. Erickson,” I answered and went upstairs. I knocked on the bedroom door and said through the crack,” Hey Mark, it’s me, Dimrill.”
A voice from inside said, “Oh hey! Come on in!”
I pushed open the door to find Mark on his computer, checking his email. He looked up from the screen. “Hey listen,” he said. “Professor Elm emailed us and he wants to see us at his lab. He wants us to stop by at 10:30.”
“Alright,” I said. “It’s probably another errand he wants us to run.”
“Hey, can I see your Charmander? You said you caught one, right?”
I unclipped the Pokeball form my belt and released the Pokemon inside. My Charmander emerged from the white light and looked walked towards Mark’s desk. He picked up the Pokeball on the table and released Mark’s Butterfree from it. Butterfree hovered low to the ground near Charmander, studied him for a minute and at last cried out, “Freeh!”
Mark at last said, “Dang, now you have a huge advantage over me in battle.” He looked over at his alarm clock. “Oh shoot, its 10 o’clock, we better head over to the lab or we’ll be late!” So without further ado, we left the house (“Have fun dears!” Mrs. Erickson called after us) and walked down Orga Boulevard toward the lab.
A few things about the lab. It looks like a creepy shipping facility on the outside, but this is done to avoid fans bombarding the doors. Mark and I discovered it a few years back when we saw someone was moving a crate of rare candies into the back room. We snuck in as the door was closing and looked around. There was a lot of shelves full of documents and books on Pokemon research and a few lab stations where the lab assistants were experimenting with Pokemon, evolution stones, rare candies, and berries. Eventually we got caught, but for our efforts Professor Elm let us be his personal assistants. Mainly we ran to the store or to Mr. Pokemon’s House on Route 30 to retrieve some research.
Anyways, when we reached the side door, we knocked twice and within about two minutes, one of the lab assistants opened the door and let us in. We walked past the lab stations and the library to Professor Elm’s office. He was standing outside waiting for us, but there was someone else in the room pacing back in forth.
Professor Elm was about 63 years old, with white hair, circular glasses, and wore a white lab coat. Everyone in the lab wore this coat over their clothes. Professor Elm had on a blue dress shirt and black pants on underneath the open coat.
“Hey boys,” he said as we approached. “How are you today?”
“Not much,” Mark said. “What’s our job today?”
“Your lives are about to change,” he said. He took a deep breath. “Inside my office is a professional Pokemon Trainer. He’s the gym leader of Viridian City, and an old friend of mine.”
Mark and I looked at each other. “Blue?” we asked together. The professor nodded. “He’s been looking for trainers to battle for a while and hasn’t found any good ones. I’ll let him introduce his proposal.” Elm opened the door an gestured us in.
Master Blue was around 36 at the time, with spiky brown hair, wore a chain necklace, a wool blue sweater, and blue jeans. He’s rivals with another Pokemon Master named Red, who never speaks. So the only real story we have about their journey through Kanto is in his perspective. But he’s a cool guy, so I’ve heard. He treats his Pokemon well, and they even became champions of the Indigo League, which was the Pokemon League for Kanto and Johto. In the League of Champions about 20 years ago. No one really knows why, but Red always seemed to beat Blue barely. But enough about Blue and Red.
“Hello trainers,” Blue introduced. “You already know who I am.” He paced once again. “I’ve been the gym leader of Viridian City for about 20 years. I’ve battled a few tough trainers, but not for a while. My Pokemon have been wanting a real trainer to fight for a while and based on what I’ve heard about you two from Professor Elm, I think you have what it takes to give me a challenge.” He paused. “I need you to travel throughout Kanto or Johto and collect the 8 official gym badges and challenge the Indigo League.”
Mark pumped his fists. “I’ve always wanted to travel around the world training Pokemon!” he said cheerfully. I stared out the window and thought about an event about 2 weeks before...
It was the day after the last day of school. My friends and I were excited to start our lives. Most of us looked to travel, or follow a profession. Mark wanted to travel, but his parents wanted him to stay and find a job here in New Bark Town. Me?
I was sitting in the woods by the pond, where this story started. “Hey, Dimrill!” I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around to find my girlfriend Bella coming to sit with me. She sat down next to me and I cuddled her close to me. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do with my life…” I said.
“Well,” Bella said, “You could travel the world with me and we could train Pokemon together. Wouldn’t that be sweet?”
“Actually, I wanted to work as a lab assistant for Professor Elm,” I recalled.
“So, you don’t want to go with me?” she said, raising her voice slightly.
“It’s not that,” I said. “I’m just really grateful for my aunt, and I want to be able to take care of her when she becomes old. It’s… a little complicated.”
“Dimrill,” Bella said, pulling away. “I want to follow my dream, and be with you, but I can’t follow both. Long distance relationships don’t work out in the end.”
I looked at her in the eyes. “I love everything about you Bella,” I said. “But I just don’t have the courage or motivation to leave town for good.”
She stood up. “I’ve already decided that I’m leaving tomorrow. I would love for you to go with me. But even if you don’t, I still have to follow my dream. So choose. Me or your aunt.” Then she left dramatically.
Obviously as I was in New Bark Town still I didn’t go with her. So we broke up and she left with her Espeon to travel Johto.
“Dimrill, are you alright?” Mark asked me. Everyone was watching me look out the window.
“It’s nothing. We’re still talking about the quest, right?” I responded.
“So, will you take my quest?” Blue asked. I looked at Mark, who was about to follow his dream. I thought about Bella, who left to follow her dream. That’s when I found my dream. To be surrounded by my friends. Wherever they go, or I go.
“I’ll do it if Mark comes with me,” I said finally. Shinx leaped into the air and got onto my shoulder.
Mark grinned and said,” I’m game!”
Blue smiled. “Awesome! Now make sure to talk to your peoples before you leave. I look forward to seeing you two soon.” And with that, he opened the door and walked out. “Thanks Professor!” he called before he left.
Professor Elm looked up at us and he said,” I just had a flashback to the day I gave Ethan his Cyndaquil. I guess I don’t have to give you two any Pokemon of your own.”
Mark and I thanked him and walked out of the lab. “I’ll call you at home if my parents say yes to our adventure,” Mark said and then we departed.
Shinx and I walked back to the house in silence. He must have sensed my sadness and he stayed on my shoulder all the way back. At last I got to the door and let myself in. “Aunt Cassie! I’m home!”
She walked around the corner out of the kitchen. “Oh hey Dimrill! Why are you back so early?”
I sighed. “I’ve been offered a quest by Master Blue to travel through Johto and collect gym badges.”
“Isn’t that what Bella’s doing now?” she asked.
“Yeah. Is it okay if I go?” I asked her.
“Well,” Aunt Cassie said. “This choice has been brought upon you. I think you should be the one to decide.”
I though for a minute. “Alright. I’ll go!”
“Aunt Cassie became teary-eyed. “Okay then. Will Mark be going with you?” I nodded. “You better begin packing up for your journey tomorrow.”
I went and gave her a long hug. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me Aunt Cassie,” I said softly. We embraced for a long time, then I walked upstairs to my room and began to pack. Shinx and Charmander helped me pack my clothes.
I packed a few shirts, pants, lots of socks, underwear, a few potions, Pokeballs, some food, a tent, and my sleeping roll. While packing, Charmander accidently burned up one of my shirts (“Char?” he said apologetically). Around 9:30, Shinx and I climbed up in bed to get a good night’s rest for tomorrow.
I awoke the next morning and called Mark the second I got dressed. He told me he’d meet me at the entrance of Route 29 in about 2 hours. So I headed downstairs to eat my last meal at the house.
Aunt Cassie, my Pokemon and I ate bacon and eggs, which was my favorite breakfast. After a long goodbye to my aunt, I headed for Route 29 to wait for Mark. 20 minutes came by, then I saw him walking towards me.
Mark put his hands in his sweater pockets. “So, are you ready to go?” he asked. I nodded. “Well,” he said, “Since we’re starting a new adventure, why don’t we have a battle to determine who’s stronger?”
“Alright,” I agreed. Soon we stood about 20 feet apart both with Pokeballs in hand. At the same time, we sent out our Pokemon. He sent out Butterfree and I sent out Shinx.
Let me explain how battles work. In the video games, Pokemon only know 4 moves, the trainer chooses what attacks they do, and Pokemon take turns attacking. But in reality, the Pokemon do the fighting, so they choose the attacks they use. However, the trainer can throw out suggestions to their Pokemon. But the trainer chooses what Pokemon to send into battle. That way, Pokemon and trainers have equal roles in Pokemon battle.
Butterfree sent a pink wave of energy at Shinx using its antennas - a Confusion attack - which blew Shinx back a foot or so. Shinx came back by shooting a yellow ball of electricity at Butterfree - a Spark attack - and it nailed Butterfree in the chest. Shinx began to charge up another to make the next one more powerful. Butterfree last resorted to a Signal Beam at Shinx’s face. Shinx finished off Butterfree with the charged up Spark attack.
Mark scooped up his fainted Butterfree and returned it to its Pokeball. “Alright,” Mark said. “I guess you win. I’ll head back to the Pokemon Center to heal Butterfree. You can go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.” And without further ado, mark picked up his pack and headed back into town.
I reached into my pack and sprayed some potion onto Shinx, picked up my pack, and then Shinx and I walked down the trail onto Route 29 to begin our adventure...
