Jon Chapter 00
“They may be identical twins, but Matt and Marc could not be any more different.”
The Adventure Begins-Prologue
In the tiny village of Wheatland, a pair of brothers are about to begin their adventures out into the world. Requested by the local scientist/biologist to research all regional species of creatures the two are this day preparing to depart on their long trip from one end of this land to the other. As they pack they quickly double check all of the things they will need on their long trip.
“Did you pack an extra pair of socks?” Mrs. Davenport asks. Their mother is a bit skeptical about this undertaking, but is still supportive of the idea that the boys go out and see the world. “Yes mom, we’ve packed 2 extra pairs of socks each, as well as underwear and pajamas.” Marcus is beginning to grow weary of these continual disturbances, and would like to get going as soon as possible. It was actually his idea to get out and see the world for a change, but his brother was the one approached by Professor Ferne for the studies.
“Mom, do you have any extra batteries? I just want to make sure my phone doesn’t run out of power in the first day.” Matthew has been recharging his phone, but is a bit more apprehensive about the whole idea. It would be a nice idea to try and see new places, but the thought of not being in the comfort of their town and in unknown places is a bit scary for Matt. He double checked his backpack again, and finally agreed that all things are finally in order.
Though the two Davenport brothers are twins, they could not be more different. Marcus is an outgoing student at their local school and already knows several friends from across the Michi region that they will be exploring. His backpack is a little smaller and lighter than Matt’s since he doesn’t think they will need to carry as much between towns. “Ok, yeah……we should be in that area in about a week. We’ll probably have to pick up some supplies anyway. Ok, see you soon.” Marcus is making a few final calls to his friends. He hopes that they will be able to help with their research as well as just to hang-out.
It was still early in the morning, and the sun had just risen a few hours ago. Mr. Davenport walked in from his work in the garage, and asked a few minor questions about how the boys were doing and if they were really ready to set out. They had spent the previous week preparing bicycles to use to travel across parts of the Michi region, as walking would be hard for certain parts.
Finally, they checked their final pieces of equipment, and possibly the most important for this journey, their pocket monsters. They had gone to some trouble to find and capture them a few weeks ago with the help of their friend Jamieson. In the areas around their city there were several places to look for such creatures, but the really rare ones were just that “Rare”. There had been sightings of an occasional zigzagoon, or sentret, but not much else really came by their region.
Matthew had chosen a meowth, as it was probably the easier of the two they had managed to catch so far. Marcus had chosen a geodude, and that one had really given them trouble, especially given its rock like skin and sturdy nature. Even with help from Jamieson, his brother Ian and his sister Katie they had taken nearly 2-3 hours to find one and another hour to wear it down and catch. They also checked their support equipment for their travel partners. Each had packed a few potions to heal their monster if it was hurt, and a full heal in case it was in real trouble.
Marc strapped his water bottle to his bike, Matt checked his bike compass and prepared to say goodbye. “We’ll be sure to call when we get to Cement City. It’s only a day’s ride northeast, and there should be a few other places to call from along the way.” They set their pedals to their feet and waved good bye as they cycled down the road. Their mother and father waved and soon were beyond the horizon.
The country was open and hilly for the first few miles. From atop a hill they looked down at their small town, they sun now almost overhead. It was the end of May and the roads were starting to become busier as trainers started their yearly quest to earn the 8 badges required to enter the Pokémon tournament in August. Even if they did manage to collect all 8 regional badges, they would still need to compete in 4 or 5 rounds of elimination against other trainers before facing the ‘Elite 4.” These elite trainers were rumored to be among the toughest in the region, and would have to be faced all in a row; a single defeat would mean immediate elimination from the tournament. Adding to the difficulties was the fact that the “Elite 4” was constantly changing, so you could never be sure who or what types you would face.
At last, if they survived the 4, they then faced any other trainers who also had been victorious against the 4. Usually by this point there were fewer than a dozen left to compete for the title of “Champion.” In a few rare cases one individual had been champion for 2 or 3 years in a row, though it had only happen once in the past 10 years. Also there had been years where no one had managed to defeat all 4 of the elites, and thus there was no champion. Those years had been some of the least memorable, as the battles for the championship were quite magnificent.
In their minds they were glad to not be trainers and under that kind of pressure to win the 8 regional badges, and then have to train to prepare for the final battles at the end of July. They kept biking for a few more miles before coming to a grassy clearing along the road. They took a little time out and rested their tired legs, and gave their Pokémon a chance to get out and exercise themselves. Marc’s geodude exited its ball and let out a glad “Geodude!” It was strange for a rock-type to feel the need to get out of the ball, as most of its body looked like a roughly shaped ball.
Yet, just as soon as it had a chance to dig up a small patch of ground it just went back to resting. As it reclined its head on its oversized arms, Matt let his meowth out of its ball. Unlike the lazy nature of Marc’s geodude, Matt’s meowth was slightly more inclined to do what Matt told it to do. “Meowth, scratch that tree.” The meowth started scratching the tree, and as soon as it felt it had done enough, it sharpened its claws a little. It looked back at Matt for a signal of approval, and as soon as Matt glanced back it climbed up the tree and began looking out over the area from its new vantage point.
Marc started to eat one of his energy bars, and suddenly the geodude woke up from its nap. “Geodude, dude!” It looked like it was begging for a taste of the food that its owner was eating. “Wanna try a bit?” “Dude, dude!” Marc gave it a piece and the geodude set to enjoying its meal, loudly munching its own portion of the chocolate bar. “Could you make him eat that a little quieter?” Matt was trying to relax as well, but didn’t seem to approve of the loud munching sounds the geodude was making. “You know how he is.” Was Marc’s reply, “He doesn’t really think much of quiet, but then he’s a rock isn’t he?”
Matt decided to let it rest for now, since they would need to start searching the area soon and begin keeping track of the Pokémon types and species in the area. The plan was to get to Cement City first, stock up on supplies, and then start searching the areas around Wheatland. Or at least that was the initial plan, but Matt knew that Marc wouldn’t stick around too long, and was looking forward to them going on their separate ways. It would actually work to their benefit if Marc and Matt split their travels; at the very least they could record the ones they did see on a pokedex network program that Matt could go over later at the Poke centers.
Soon they packed up and were making more progress to Cement City. Matt had checked the map, and they would be there in a few more miles, or at least the bordering areas of the city. As they biked down the roads, Matt had only noticed a few pidgeys and spearows, but not any other types. The road was mostly wooded, and it was now past noon, so there were more people on the well paved biking route. Occasionally they had stopped to see some of the younger trainers’ battle, but it was mostly just kid trainers who didn’t have much experience yet, and would be too young to tackle the 8 badges yet.
Anybody could be a Pokémon trainer, and that had always been one of the reasons for so many trainers. It didn’t matter if you were a 6 year old boy, an 80 year old grandparent, a busy parent, or angst-filled teenager, it was something everyone could enjoy doing. Neither Davenport had taken much interest in that particular aspect of Pokémon, so neither Matt nor Marc had chosen to register as a trainer.
Finally the route opened up to a grassy hilly area, and it was up and down biking trails from the forests to the city now. Just as the landscape had changed, so too did the types of Pokémon present. The pidgey and spearow were nowhere to be seen, instead a few doduo were racing over the soft grassy plains. There were a few wingull in the air, with a few larger butterfree drifting on the gusts of wind higher up. Matt thought he saw a Golem in the far distance, but it could have been a trick of the light, since they were much larger and heavier than any other types present. A chansey was prancing happily alongside one of the trails next to its owner; it seemed to really be enjoying the mild summer breeze.
Then it all happened so fast. A sandshrew happened to be burrowing out and Matt’s bike hit the edge of the hole, sending both Matt and the bike flying out of control. Matt hit the ground hard, and rolled to avoid getting anymore hurt. Marc stopped and doubled back to see how Matt was doing. As Matt looked up, a certain instinct took over, and he sent out his meowth. He’d wanted to catch a sandshrew for a while now, but none had ever been sighted in Wheatland, so now was his first chance. “Meowth, scratch!” The meowth closed the distance quickly, but not quickly enough as the sandshrew dug into the ground and attacked the meowth as it approached the hole.
Marc sent his geodude into the fray, also hoping to get in on the catch. “Geodude, tackle it!” The geodude launched itself at the sandshrew, and managed to deliver what looked like a solid body blow. The sandshrew recovered quickly and began flinging dirt at the geodude in an attempt to make it lose sight of its target. “Geodude, hit it again!” The geodude tried to hit the sandshrew but the dirt had had its effect on the geodude as he missed and face planted into the grass.
The sandshrew took this chance to flee quickly back into its burrow and disappeared from sight. “Why did you try and catch it? I had my meowth out first, it was my catch!” Matt was angry that Marc would take this chance to catch the same one he had targeted. “Hey, I thought it was a fair catch. Your meowth was a little busy trying to free itself from the dirt!” Marc was equally angry at his brother for thinking there was some rule against 2 people trying to catch the same one. The two continued to argue until they noticed that neither of their Pokémon was taking any interest in their argument. The meowth had just curled up into a ball and started resting, while the geodude was rolling around like a strange rock shaped ball and singing, “Geodude, dude, dude, dude, geo.”
This comical little act had the effect of calming Matt’s and Marc’s nerves, and they quickly set things to right and were back on their way. “At least neither of our Pokémon was hurt, so I guess that’s a good thing.” “Yeah, I guess.” Keeping their eye out for any other species, they didn’t find anything new. The hills went by, and they waved at passing Pokémon and owners alike. It was relaxing to see people out with their Pokémon enjoying the nice weather.