Pokémon: You're the Monster

Introduction

It's dark and quiet. Where am I?

Clonk!

Spot lights come on, and I cover my eyes. After adjusting for a moment, I can see my final opponent standing before me. Blue smiles and throws out his first Pokémon.

"Go Pidgeot!"

"Go, Sparky!" I yell as I throw out my trusted Raichu. I evolved my trusty Pikachu from back in Viridian Forest just before this battle with a yellow stone. Now he is immensely stronger than before and will have a type advantage against Blue's flying Pokémon so I'll save my own Pidgeot for later.

"Sky Attack!" Blue yells, and I watch as the bird dives at Raichu. He takes a hit but not too hard.

"Thunderbolt!" I command. A bolt of lightning strikes the Pidgeot, and I feel my hands raise as the animal faints before I notice my own excitement. One down and five to go.

"Come back Pidgeot! Go Rhydon!"

Blue has me now. Electric attacks have no effect on ground Pokémon. I yell "Swift" and Raichu is fast enough to get the first strike, but this normal attack hardly touches the rock body of Rhydon. Blue instructs Rhydon to use "Horn Drill," and I watch Raichu fall over instantly.

"Come back Raichu!" I say as I throw out his ball and return him safely to my belt.

"Go Beast!" I exclaim and release my biggest Pokémon, a dragon like serpent creature called Gyrados. Now I have the type advantage against Blue once more, water beats ground. Training this creature from the wimpy Magikarp was no easy feat but well worth the effort in the end. Blue has Rhydon use Sand Attack to cut down Beast's accuracy, and at first Beast keeps missing he chance to strike Rhydon. At last I command Beast to use Hydro Pump and watch a fire hose like water assault knock the Rhydon down for good.

"Come back Rhydon! Go Alakazam!" Blue says as he switches out Pokémon once more. This Pokémon is Psychic and doesn't have a type advantage over Beast so I'm not sure why he chose it unless he doesn't have a better option to beat me.

"Psychic!" he yells and an energy beam strikes Beast hard. I have him use Surf on Alakazam but he endures the shot and uses Recover to heal from his wound. I have Beast use Bite multiple times, but each time Alakazam is able to Recover lost health. I have Beast try Hydro Pump once more, but he misses! A Psywave hits him, and I hold my breath as he faints at last.

"Come back Beast! Go Spike!" I yell as I throw out my Nidoking. I instruct him to use Earthquake, his most powerful ground move. The Alakazam collapses, and I see Blue furrow his brows.

"Come back Alakazam! Go Exeggutor!"

I have Nidoking use Body Slam but Exeggutor endures the hit and begins storing energy. This time I instruct Nidoking to use Earthquake, but he misses! I watch with mouth wide open as the Exeggutor knocks out Spike with Solar Beam.

"Come back Spike! Go Girly!" I say throwing out my Vileplume. I won't have a type advantage, but I'm holding back my Charizard for his strongest Pokémon on purpose. He's my trump card. I have Girly use Poison Powder on the Exeggutor and poison it. Then something I didn't plan on happens. Exeggutor uses Psychic and KOs my Vileplume. I forgot that Exeggutor is part Psychic and has a type advantage against Poison.

"Come back Girly! Go Inferno!" I call as I send out my Charizard. My evolved Charmander, the Pokémon I started my training journey with and one that I hoped to use as a last resort is who I throw out next. Blue has Exeggutor strike Inferno with Psychic as before, but he endures the hit, and we respond with Fire Blast. The grass Pokémon falls at last. Blue grits his teeth then smiles and gives me a wink. This is it, he's going to use his starter.

"Come back Exeggutor! Go Blastoise!" Now he has a fully evolved starter like me but with a type advantage again. The tide of the battle has gone back and forth so far, I can't say for sure who will win. He instructs Blastoise to attack with Hydro Pump, and Inferno takes a beating but endures the hit. Without really thinking it through, I call Inferno back and send out my last Pokémon Gale, a Pidgeot. Blue has Blastoise use Hydro Pump but luckily for me it misses this time. I use the moment to use a Full Restore on Inferno. Blastoise uses Body Slam on Gale, but she endures the hit. Then I use a Full Revive on Sparky. Blastoise strikes Gale once more and he endures the hit. Now to see if I can do some damage to this creature.

"Fly!" I command and watch as Gale soars into the air. For a moment, Blastoise can't reach her. Then she dives fast at Blastoise delivering a solid assault. He endures the blast and after a quick Water Gun, my Pidgeot finally goes down, but Blastoise is weaker, and I have two Pokémon ready to go where as Blue only has one left.

"Come back Gale! Go Sparky!" I say and throw out my Raichu once more. Blue says nothing but tightens his gaze. This is it. The next few attacks are everything.

"Thunder!" I yell and watch as massive energy slams Blastoise from the sky and knocks him out cold.

"Come back Blastoise! Go Arcanine!"

So that's it. Blue's final Pokémon is also a Fire type. No more type advantages just strikes to the end. But before I commit to my next train of thought, Blue yells something at me.

"What!?"

"Red, you need to wake up! Come on you're going to be late." As I try to make sense of this statement, everything in the room starts to get fuzzy, and I feel very faint. I close my eyes and open them to darkness. It takes a minute then I realize I'm in my bed with a blanket over my face. The covers come back and I'm blinded by light.

"Agh!"

"Come on honey, you have to get up or you're going to be late for sure!" I hear my mother say. Her face suddenly enters my sight, and I feel awake.

"Ah man! I had the coolest dream! I was training Pokémon to battle and beating all these trainers. At the end, I went against Blue and, I was about to beat him before you woke me up."

"Oh, now that's an imagination you have. Pokémon fighting battles for us. And I know that Blue isn't always nice to you honey, but you really shouldn't think about him so hatefully. If you respond hate for hate…"

"You'll only get more hate! I know Mom, I don't hate him, and I just had a cool dream. Ah never mind. I'm going to go shower!"

As the hot water touches my shoulders, I remember the plan. It's Monday, and today I'm supposed to see Professor Oak so I can get an Element Skill, but internal clock tells me I'm very behind. I quickly get in and out the shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed. I'm starting my adventure today in Kanto Championship and have to look the part. I grab my favorite clothes: a black shirt and blue jeans, my father's red jacket, and my favorite cap and sneakers. Red is important to me in meaning and wardrobe obviously, but I'll get into that later. I just know I'm running behind so much that I think I'm going to throw up. I grab my watch which reads 8:57am! I should have been up nearly an hour ago, and I have to run a few blocks across town in three minutes or I'll be late to Professor Oak's.

"Be here at 9am, Red, and I'll let you be the first to pick an Element Skill!" I hear the Professor's words in my head. "But if you get here even a minute late, I'm going to pick first!" Blue remarks in his nasal voice. Old playmate and neighbor, Blue can sometimes be the most annoying person I know, and I have to pick first or I'll never forgive myself. It's not every day that a world renowned expert in Pokémon research picks you over their idiot grandson.

"Here you go honey!" mom yells as she throws something in my hands at the front door. I look down to see a bag of jerky and carrots. Yum, survival food! I'll have to stop for breakfast after going to Oak lab. "Here's your bag," she adds, "There are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the front pocket. Sweet! I stop myself and turn to give my mother a hug and kiss.

"Bye Mom! Love you!"

"Love you honey! Good luck!" she says. I put the silver bag over one shoulder and run down the path from my house to the Pallet Town Laboratory. This journey is officially about to begin.