Hello guys, DarkArtificer here, with my very first Pokemon story, and my first story I'm putting effort into. Try to pay attention to the words, because I have a question to ask at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Pokemon. All rights reserved to the appropriate company.

A lone man was walking down a road in Kanto. The man was tall, slightly over six feet. He was fit, not over muscled, but well defined. He had dark brown, almost black, hair. A pair of blue eyes peered intently at the world around him.

He was clad in a white shirt underneath a black jacket, as well as blue jeans. His shoes were black with white bottoms. He had a green pack of camping and traveling supplies upon his back. Two bottles could be seen in a side pocket.

He had been walking for several hours now, it was nearing noon, and the heat was bearing down on his shoulders. Small rainclouds could be seen in the distance, but only barely, and they were small anyway, so he was not concerned.

He stopped near a tree, sat down in the shade, and pulled out a bottle of water, and took a long drink from it. After that, he pulled a book out of his jacket pocket and began reading.

He read and rested for a nearly an hour in the shade, and then checked the sky. The sun was barely past midday, so he began to stand up. However, as he did, his phone began to ring. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, and answered it.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hello, this is Professor Oak. Is this Navarone?" Came the reply.

"Yes, it is, and its good to hear from you again Professor. It's been a while." Said the man, who's name was revealed to be Navarone.

"Yes, far too long since we last spoke. Are you still traveling?" Professor Oak asked.

"Yes, I'm actually in Kanto right now. Why'd you ask?"

"I needed to speak to you." Oak said

"About what?" Navarone asked.

"How do you feel about people abusing their Pokemon?"

"It's a horrible thing when a trainer will abuse his Pokemon. Although, I feel as if there is more to this. After all, you wouldn't call me just to ask how I feel about that. What's going on?" Navarone asked, as he shifted his weight onto his right leg.

"A man, Apollo, was recently arrested for the intentional mistreatment of his Pokemon, of which there were three." Stated Professor Oak.

"It couldn't have been that bad. A few mean words maybe?"

"They were starved and beat to the point of being extremely weakened and injured. They-"

"What! What the hell would have caused him to do that? It's fucked up!" Navarone interrupted him, furiously. He began pacing around the tree in an attempt to calm himself.

"Please watch your language, Navarone. It's unbecoming of you. However, I do agree with your overall point, if not the specific words you used." Oak said in a flat tone of voice.

"So you want me to come to you in Pallet? What for?" Asked Navarone

"Actually no, before you interrupted me, I was going to say that they were taken to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. I'm there as well."

"Alright, so you want me to meet your there?"

"Yes, I thought I made that clear. I'll explain everything once you get here, okay?"

"Alright, I'm coming. I should be there by tomorrow, around noon, barring anything unexpected." Said Navarone.

"Very well, do try to hurry though." Oak replied.

"I'm not going to sprint straight there. I'll be there when I'm there." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Oh, alright. I shouldn't have expected anything different. Also, I have a set of PokeTranslators here for you. I know you sold your old ones after Lilly and Gra-"

"Goodbye."

Navarone hung up, and replaced his phone back into his back pocket. He slipped his book into his jacket, and gathered his bearings by using the sun's position, and set off northward towards Viridian City.

Navarone knew it was time to set up camp once the sun neared the horizon. He dropped his pack on the ground, pulled out his collapsible tent, and quickly put it together near a lone tree, which had very few branches.

He took a step back and admired how well he did. To think, just ten years ago, I had no idea how to set a tent up. If it weren't for Lilly I'd be- No I can't think about that.

Navarone began collecting sticks and a few branches from the forest a couple hundred feet away. He then arranged the sticks in a pyramid shape leaving one side open enough for him to place some tinder from his pack into the center.

He then surrounded the area with stones to prevent the fire from spreading through the grass on the ground.

He pulled out a box of matches from his jacket and lit the tinder with a match. He put the box up and started lightly blowing on the flames. As it started to burn, he placed a few bigger branches into the fire.

He watched the fire, only moving to place a few more branches in the fire every so often.

Once an even bed of coals was in the ring, he pulled a medium-sized pot out of his pack and filled it halfway with water from his bottle. He set it upon the fire and let it start boiling.

Once it did, he dropped a few strips of salted meat into the pot. He added a few more spices and a couple herbs that, when crushed, released a pleasant aroma.

As he waited for it took cook, he let his mind wander.

"Run! Get out of here, I'll distract them!" Shouted a young, female voice, barely heard over the sound of howling.

"No I'm not leaving you here, Lilly!" Said a voice, reminiscent of of Navarone's.

"You need to get Grace and yourself out of here." Lilly replied.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"Mommy, what's happening? I'm scared." Said a young, trembling voice.

"Don't worry, Grace, go back to sleep." Lilly said.

"Lilly, we're surrounded." Navarone said.

"Oh no, we're too late."

Navarone ripped himself out of his memories, and slapped himself for letting his mind wander. He dried his tears on his jacket sleeve.

He pulled a rag and spoon out of his pack, and used the rag to pull the pot of the fire. Then, he began to eat. For not having restocked on supplies in three weeks, this stew is surprising good.

After he finished, he grabbed a few pieces of jerky from his bag and began to chew one. He placed the leftover stew into a bowl, and covered the lid.

He picked up his pot, spoon, and his bottles and went in to the forest, to find a stream or river.

After nearly 10 minutes, he came upon a little stream flowing rather quickly. The water was flowing fast enough to not be contaminated, so along with cleaning his utensils, he filled his bottles up.

As he finished, he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He reached inside his jacket and grabbed a six inch knife and slowly turned around. When he did, he saw a small Rattata walk cautiously out of the woods. He could see it sniffing the air.

He smiled and placed his last two strips of jerky on a stone near the stream, picked up his pot, spoon, and bottles, and left.

He returned to his camp and saw that the fire was nothing but coals now, and tossed a fair amount of dirt anyway. He then put away the pot, spoon, and water bottles into his pack, picked up the bowl, and went into his tent.

Inside his tent, he lied down on his sleeping bag after he set his pack near the flap. He quickly fell asleep and dreamed restlessly.

"Get out! Run! There!"

Fire, everything was on fire. There were balls of darkness whizzing by at dizzying speeds. Throughout it all, the sound of a young child crying could be heard.

Navarone awoke the next moring, slowly, simply letting the sound of the drizzle outside calm him. The nightmares weren't that bad this time. Maybe I'm finally healing.

He layed in bed for a while, simply listening to the sound of light rain outside the tent, letting the sound calm him.

Shit. I can't light a fire. I'm eating cold stew for breakfast, aren't I?

With a sigh and a grunt, Navarone pulled himself out of bed and grabbed his jacket, put it on, flipped the hood up, and walked out into the rain.

Once he got out into the rain, he stopped. He stood still for a long while, before tightening the collar of his jacket, and turning his head upward, and feeling the rain on his face.

After nearly an hour of pondering on what the Professor said, and enjoying the rain, he heard a soft noise from the nearby. He turned, and looked, but only saw his tent, the tree, and the ring of stones. He grabbed his knife's handle, but didn't fully pull it out, and began to walk around the tent.

As he rounded his tent, he heard a small whimper, and saw a young-looking Vulpix, facing away from him, trying to take shelter from the rain under the tree. The Vulpix was soaking wet, and shivering constantly from the cold and water.

Poor fella. If he stays out in the rain much longer, he'll freeze to death. As a fire type, he even more susceptible to the cold and rain. I better bring him into my tent. Let's hope he isn't violent. Navarone neared the Vulpix, and crouched down. When he did, the Vulpix noticed him, and wimpered again.

"Hey there, little guy, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get you out of the rain." Navarone said, it a soothing voice, and motioned for the Vulpix to cone closer.

The Vulpix didn't move, but rather watched him, and Navarone stayed crouched down. They both remained in this position until a gust of wind blew over the tree, knocking hundreds of water droplets off and down upon the two beings.

The Vulpix shivered harder than before, and wimpered once more. Navarone flipped his hood up again, grateful he had the option. This, however, only made him want to help the Vulpix more.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. If you stay out here any longer, you'll die from the cold." Navarone said.

That seemed to do it, for the Vulpix slowly walked over to Navarone, and stood underneath him. From close up, he could see that the Vulpix was male, due to the body structure.

"There we go. See? I'm not a bad guy. Let's get into my tent and out of the rain."

Navarone slowly picked the Vulpix off the ground, and was surprised at how cold he was, as well as how little he resisted.

It must've been raining longer than I thought it was. Poor guy.

Navarone brought the Vulpix into his tent, and set him on the bedroll. He then grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around the canine.

Slowly, the Vulpix stopped shivering, and then rubbed his head against Navarone's leg, once, as if to say 'thank you.'

Navarone reached over and grabbed the leftover stew, and removed the lid. He then grabbed another bowl from his pack, and placed a portion of the food into the bowl, and set it in front of the Pokemon.

"I know it's cold, but I'm afraid its the best I could do right now due to the rain." Navarone said, apologetically.

The Vulpix looked up at Navarone, and smiled, before beginning to eat. This surprised Navarone, but he quickly got calmed down as he remembered a fact.

Right, I forgot they can understand us without a translator, but we need one to understand them. Rather strange how that works, isn't it? We need translators, but the inverse is true for them. Maybe someday I'll actually figure out why that is.

Once he finished his thoughts, Navarone began to eat as well. Even cold, the stew was still good. Far better than stale bread, cheese, and any berries he could find, at least. Once they finished eating, Navarone grabbed the bowl, pot, and spoon, and stood up. "I'm going to clean these, you shiuld wait here because its still raining, alright?" Navarone

The Vulpix nodded once, before pacing in a circle on the bedroll, before laying and going to sleep.

Hehe, cute.

Navarone put his hood up, grabbed a rag from his pack, and walked into the rain. He set the bowl and pot on the stones by the fire pit, and put the spoon in the bowl, and let them fill up with rain water.

Once they were nearly full, he reached and began washing the bowl, only to yank his hands out with a hiss.

Damn, that's cold. And that Vulpix was in this for at least an hour. Surprised he didn't freeze to death. He began to wash the bowl again, doing his best to ignore the cold. As he preformed the age-old task of washing dishes, he started thinking.

What do I do with the Vulpix? I can't just let him go into the wild. He obviously has no idea how to survive. If he did, why didn't he take cover from the rain in the forest, instead if a lone tree, one with few branches?

At the same time, its not my choice whether or not he comes with me, it's his and his alone. What do I do then?

Navarone thought for a moment, only pausing to begin washing the pot. Then, he decided his course. I'll ask him to travel with me. If he says yes, I have a few Luxury Balls in my pack. If not, I'll give him my last few pieces of jerky and hope he learns quickly.I really hope he agrees, it has been a long time since I've had a companion, and it doesn't sit well with me to leave a young Pokemon like him alone in the wild.

Navarone finished washing the pot, and grabbed it along with the bowl and spoon, and headed into the tent. He set all three things near the flap, to let them dry. He looked over at the Vulpix to see it awake and starring at him.

"Hey there. You're awake already? You didn't sleep that long." Navarone asked. He moved and sat down on the bedroll, next to the Vulpix, who nuzzled his hand, before quickly pulling away.

Navarone sat quietly for a while, thinking, before he sighed and turned towards the canine, catching his attention.

"I need to ask you something. How would you feel about coming with me? I'm not going to force you to do so. If you don't want to, I certainly won't make you." Navarone spoke.

The Vulpix looked at him quickly, and then looked down, as if to think.

"I just don't think you fit in with the wild, you seem far to calm. You weren't born wild, were you?" He asked.

The Vulpix shook his head."Either way, I don't think you'll last much longer out here, but its your choice, and who knows? You could prove me wrong. What do you say? Come with me, or no?"

The Vulpix thought for a moment, before looking at the man, the strange human who shared his food, his bed, and his home with a random Vulpix, and nodded, once.

Navarone smiled, before reaching into his pack, and pulled out a black ball.

In the middle was an orange button, surround by a white circle, inside an orange circle, which was again surrounded by a white circle. From the final orange circle, wrapping around the ball, came an orange stripe, with a white stripe on both sides. The same was repeated near the top, but with red and yellow, instead of orange and white.

"This is a Luxury Pokeball. It is very comfortable for Pokemon, or so I heard. Onc of the best features, it has a release function inside, so that the Pokemon inside can get out themselves."

Navarone then set the ball on the ground, in front of the Vulpix, and continued talking.

"The ball is just to prevent another trainer from capturing you. You don't have to stay in it if you don't want to. Far be it for me to force you. Simply press the button in the middle, and let it catch you. The release should be easy to figure out, since it was designed to be that way."

The Vulpix nodded, before walking to the Pokeball, and pressing the button in the middle. It caught the Pokemon with a bright light, and shook once, before beeping.

The ball then opened, and releasde the canine, who looked up and smiled, seeing that the man hadn't lied to him.

Navarone smiled back, then said, "If your are going to come with me, you need a name. I can't just call you Vulpix."

The canine made a noise, which reminded Navarone of laughter, before nodding.

"How do you feel about 'Verrin?'" HeHe asked.

The Vulpix thought for a second, before nodding his head firmly, and smiling at Navarone.

"Then welcome to the team, Verrin."

So! How did you like my first chapter of my first Pokemon story? Horrible, Bad, Meh, Good, or Great? Don't hesitate to review. All constructive critism is appreciated, however flames will be deleted.As for that question I told you about. Could you tell that I have never played a Pokemon game, or watched the show? I did my research before hand, plus I have a good friend name Greg who helped me big time. If it weren't for him, this would have been several days later. I will try to update on Thursdays, but no promises, most of you understand how life is. One final thing; 3,000 words. Too long, or just right? Maybe even not long enough? I don't want each chapter to roll on endlessly, or to be over in a flash.