Back to Adventures of a Pokemon Trainer                                                                                 

The Adventures of a Pokémon Trainer: The Ancients

    Last time, Lugia commanded John to retrieve the 8 Emblems of the Ancients, or else Orange Island would be frozen in time forever. To help him on his quest, the great Ash Ketchum gave him a Pokémon League Special Commission badge, and advised him to go see Professor Oak in Pallet town. Our heroes are now arriving at the Professor’s cottage.

    I’d read about Professor Oak in a few Pokémon scientific articles. Although Professor Utsugi in Wakaba Town was better equipped, Oak was regarded as the true authority. Besides, I figured, Utsugi is frozen with the rest of Orange Island. I wasn’t really disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to compete in the Shock League. This would be so much more exciting.

    As we reached the door, an intercom buzzed. “Who is it?” questioned a raspy voice.

    “Uhh, I’m John Grain, sir. Ash Ketchum sent me.” I was surprised at the harshness of the voice. Oak had always looked so vibrant for his age. I’d expected his voice to be the same.

    “Uhh, hold on a moment.” The voice seemed surprised.

    A butler answered the door. It was a small place, not the kind of home you’d expect to see a butler in. He showed us to the Professor’s living room. Oh, no.

    I’m sure the first thing Lucy and Tony noticed was that Oak was in a wheel chair. He looked terrible; he even had an oxygen tank. But I didn’t pay attention to that. What I saw was my father sitting in a chair across from Oak.

    “Hello, John,” he spoke in a soft voice. It felt like I hadn’t seen him in ages, but I knew it had only been 3 days.

    “Hi, dad,” I answered shakily. Now Tony and Lucy understood. They started backing off slowly.

    “I’m sure these two need to talk, kids. We’ll leave them and talk about why Ash sent you,” Oak said, wheeling himself out of the room.   

    When they were gone, I opened my mouth to speak, but my father interrupted me.

    “I don’t want to here it, John. You’ve pulled some stunts before, but this one really takes the cake. We are going home NOW.”

    I sighed. I really had no fear at this point, I knew something he didn’t. “Dad, you can’t send me to Pokémon Tech-,” He tried to interrupt me, but I silenced him, “because I have complete authority over them.

    “What the h*ll are you talking about?”

    I showed him the badge Ash gave me. “I’m talking about this. Ash Ketchum himself gave it to me. I have a job to do and I need Oak to do it. Try to stop me and I have your breeder’s license retracted!”

    “You wouldn’t,” he muttered.

    “Try me!” I shouted.

    Meanwhile, Oak was showing my friends his lab as they told him our story. He seemed concerned at the mention of the ancients, as Tony would later relate to me, but he said he new nothing about them. He did, however give them both Pokédexes, to help them on their quest, he said, and showed the six Pokéballs.

    “These were abandoned by their trainer. I’ve been looking for someone to take them, but no one wants rejects,” he said, half-sad, half disgusted.

    “We’ll gladly take them, Professor,” Lucy told him.

    “Great! You can take this Odish and-,” he started, but Lucy interrupted him.

    “Professor, are those Hitmon-chan and –lee?”

    “Why, yes.”

    “Can I take those two, then?”

    He was used to the stereotype that girls only liked cute Pokémon. “Very well. Tony, you can take this Growlithe and this Farfetch’d, and John can take Spearow and Odish.”

    I then walked in. I asked him a few brief questions about the ancients, Lugia, and the Great Mediator. All he said was that if I kept looking I’d find something. So I left with my two new Pokémon, without seeing my father again. I didn’t know what they conversed about as they watched our backs head off into the wilderness…

    “Did he tell you what they were doing?”

    “No, what?

    “They’re after the emblems.”

    “Good God!”

    “I know. But they’ll be after him now. I did all that I could to help him. Even gave them some of those new Pokémon I’d been breeding. The ones with the Ditto properties.”

    “I can’t believe this.”

    “I know how you feel. But it’s us or him, now. Understand that?”

    “I know. But suppose he does it. He tested 100% negative. He’d blow the entire thing.”

    “Then he can’t make it.”

    “It’s a funny feeling, knowing you’re going to kill or be killed by your own son. For his sake, I hope he does it.”

To be continue...