"Raichu used Thunderbolt. It's super effective!"
"Lapras used Surf. Raichu is unable to battle!"
"Ugh! Knocked out my key team member! Raichu was gonna make the comeback!" a brunette boy whined. "I dunno how else to deal with this Lapras..."
"Go, Venusaur!"
"Venusaur?" the black haired boy asked. "Lapras is a Water and Ice type though. Venusaur's not very good for that."
"Notice how you said Water and Ice typed there. Venusaur will still have super effective stuff," the brunette replied.
"Venusaur used Mega Drain. It's super effective! The Lapras had its energy drained."
"...that didn't KO?" the brunette asked, frowning. "I thought for sure it would. It was so low on health."
"Lapras used Ice Beam. It's super effective!"
The brunette groaned, leaning back in the plastic blue chair he was situated in. His eyes were fixated on a purple rectangular device in his hands with the words "Game Boy Color" written on it. A transparent cord with a purple tint to it connected the brunette's Game Boy Color to his black haired friend's yellow Game Boy Color.
"Looks like this is game," the black haired boy said as he watched the Pokemon on the screen perform their attacks.
"Venusaur is unable to battle. Stewart wins!"
As soon as the characters in the games were out of the battle lobby and the game had been saved again, the brunette pulled the cord out of his Game Boy Color and tossed it onto the table. There was a scowl on his face as he pressed buttons on the directional pad to have his character walk out of the Pokemon Center and into a place with lots of slot machines, the Celadon Game Corner.
"Remind me not to battle you again until I get my Porygon. Then I'll really be able to beat you," the brunette said.
"How close are you to getting that Porygon, Blake?" Stewart asked, turning off his Game Boy Color and gently placing it into his backpack.
"I'm only a thousand coins off," Blake replied. "If I'm lucky, I could have the Porygon as early as tonight."
"Good thing those slot machines are all based on luck," Stewart replied. "Why don't you just buy the coins like I did?"
"Because I feel like wasting away hours of my life on getting a Porygon," Blake said.
"Sounds like you're really going to enjoy competitive battling then," Stewart said. Blake shrugged.
There was a bell that rang through the loud speaker in the cafeteria. The commotion in the cafeteria increased as students started gathering their things, throwing their food away and returning their trays to the cafeteria staff to clean, and slowly leaving the cafeteria to return to their classes.
"I'll have the Porygon by Friday, don't you worry, Stew," Blake said as they reached an intersection in the hallway. "I'll see you after school."
*****
The sun was beginning to rise over the campus of Northwest River High School in Blackwall, Virginia. The city itself was named for the coal dust that would collect on walls and make them appear black. Located in western Virginia approximately fifty miles from the coal mines, Blackwall was a large city home to the coal miners. Northwest River High was located in just the place one would expect, in the northwestern part of the city. It was the oldest high school in the city, though it was renovated five years ago to help accommodate the growing student population and the changes in technology.
The campus of Northwest River High itself was beautiful, especially when the sun rose and set over it. There was a river that flowed through the center of the campus that divided it into a West Side and an East Side; a stone bridge connected the two sides. A third building in the front of the campus was dedicated to the administrative offices as well as the gymnasium, pool, cafeteria, and the elective courses. The sun would reflect off of the river and shine a beautiful light onto the campus in the mornings and evenings.
In the mornings, students would gather at black tables scattered across the campus that were to be used for socializing, studying, or eating. Once the weather started warming up outside, there would be sky blue umbrellas on the tables to help shield the students from the sun's rays. On this Friday morning, Stewart and Blake were seated at one of these black tables, Blake with his Game Boy Color in hand.
"Okay, I'm gonna get it. You watching?" Blake said. Stewart nodded, peering over his friend's shoulder as he walked up to the middle of the prize counter. Blake pressed A, and the woman behind the counter started talking.
"Welcome to the Celadon Game Corner Prize Corner. Would you like to see what we're offering?"
An on screen dialog box popped up with the answers YES and NO with a small black arrow pointing towards yes. Blake pressed A, and another on screen dialog box popped up with the following information.
Pinsir - 2500C
Dratini - 4600C
Porygon - 6500C
The little black cursor was next to Pinsir. Blake moved it down to where Porygon was and pressed A. The woman spoke again.
"You want a Porygon?" Another dialog box popped up with the answers YES and NO inside; the cursor was next to YES. Blake pressed A. "That'll be 6500 coins, please." The coins were handed over...
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Blake and Stewart jumped, the former tossing his Game Boy Color onto the table in front of him. The loud buzzing got the attention of other students in the vicinity that could hear the buzzing, and they were all looking at Blake and Stewart. While you couldn't actually hear them, the students were murmuring about what was going on.
The boys peered over the Game Boy Color. The black and white screen was glitching and not showing a proper picture. There was suddenly a bright flash, something similar to a camera taking a picture, and then it all went dark.
*****
Blake groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position. His friend was beside him, groaning as well as he too sat up. Blake looked over at his friend, and his eyes widened once he saw the sight before him.
"Stewart, what happened to you?" he cried. "You're black! And white! And a little blue too!"
"What are you talking about?" Stewart asked, still a little dazed. He blinked a few times before looking at himself, and then at Blake. His eyes widened too. "Whoa! You're black and white and a little blue too!"
The boys stood up and took in their surroundings, taking extra care to stay close to each other. Everything around them -- the trees, the road, the sky -- was in black and white, and there were little hints of blue scattered in there as well. It was absolutely nothing like the world full of color they were just in.
"Can everything just go black and white if you hit your head?" Blake asked, turning to his friend.
"Maybe, I'm not sure," Stewart replied. "This doesn't look anything like Northwest River though. There's too many trees. We don't have anywhere near this many trees near the school."
Blake nodded. There were trees around the campus of Northwest River High, but not this many, and they certainly didn't look like pine trees. They were the kind of tree that had color changing leaves, the kind of tree that would lose its leaves in the winter and grow them back in the spring. It made the campus of the high school look beautiful in the fall when the leaves changed colors and again in the spring when everything came back to life.
"Weedle?" a small black and white Pokemon said. The boys cried out and jumped back, their eyes fixated on the Weedle before them.
"That's a Weedle?" Blake asked. "It looks so weird in person."
"It does. We should be careful though. The last thing we want to do is get poisoned by touching its stinger," Stewart replied. His friend nodded.
"Wish we could catch it. Seems like Beedrill's a pretty cool Pokemon," Blake said. "Shame we don't have any Poke Balls... or Pokemon..." Blake's eyes widened again. "Whoa, wait, Stewart! This is a Pokemon! A real Pokemon! This is a real Weedle!"
Stewart studied the little Weedle for a moment. The Pokemon seemed unfazed by the fact that the two humans were staring at it; in fact, it just looked up at them curiously. Then Stewart's eyes widened too.
"Holy ****, you're right!" Stewart exclaimed. "That is a real Weedle!"
"Weedle?" the Pokemon said, clearly confused by the humans before it.
"Guess that means we're in Viridian Forest," Stewart said. "We should probably get out of here. It seems like it's daytime now, and I don't think we want to be here at night."
Blake nodded. "Good point. Viridian City and Pewter City are the closest two cities, yeah? We should probably go to one of those two for the night."
"I think overall, Pallet Town would be our best bet. We don't really know why we're here, and if we end up being stuck here for a while, we're going to need Pokemon. Oak's lab is in Pallet, and he'll be able to help us get started while we're here," Stewart said. His attention went to the Weedle that had yet to leave. "Hey, Weedle, you think you can help us out a bit? We need to know how to get to Viridian City. Can you show us the way out of here so we can get there?"
The Weedle nodded its head and then started slowly crawling away down the path it had come down. The boys followed the Weedle through the forest, taking in the scenery of trees and plants that the forest offered. They saw a lot more Caterpie and Metapod than they did anything else. Once they actually did reach the exit, the Weedle nodded its head and crawled off.
"Thanks for the help, Weedle!" the boys called to the little Pokemon. It didn't make any motion of responding, it just crawled away.
Outside of Viridian Forest, the most noticable change was the change in lighting. The trees had helped shield travelers from the sunlight, and now that the were outside of the forest, the sun's rays were able to beat down on them with full force. A sign along the route said that they were on Route 2, and the boys could see the tops of the buildings in Viridian City.
Lots of trees surrounded the city, and for a city, it was actually kind of small. A sign near the south entrance to the city said that there was only a population of thirty. There were only a few small houses, a Pokemon Center and a PokeMart, and a gym. To the west, the boys knew that there was the Indigo Plateau and the Elite Four.
Their southern route took them to Route 1. The trees continued to surround the route, but there was also a nice amount of tall grass. They took extra care to avoid the tall grass, hopping over the small ledges to not only shorten the time it would take them to get to Pallet Town, but also to avoid the tall grass that was home to Route 1's wild Pokemon.
"Welp, we made it," Stewart said, taking in the scenery of Pallet Town. Lots of trees and only a few houses. The Pokemon Lab in the town was the biggest place, and that was their final destination as the sun began to set over the trees to the west. A sign they passed on their way to Oak's lab said that the town had a population of ten.
They stepped into the laboratory and were greeted by a scientist. He too was in black and white; for some parts of his outfit, like his lab coat, the black and white worked out well, but for other parts, like his shirt and hair and eyes, it didn't work out so well. It left the boys curious as to what color those things were.
"Hi, we're here to talk to Professor Oak," Stewart said.
"Right this way," the scientist replied, walking towards the back of the lab. Blake and Stewart followed, and they were led to an area with a computer in the left corner and a large table with three black and white capsules on it. There were more bookcases in the right corner, and eight bookcases, three on each side, divided the front and back of the lab. The scientist spoke again. "Professor Oak? These boys are here to see you."
"Thank you, Matt," an older gentleman replied. He was seated at the desk in the left corner, and he got up to approach the boys. "What can I do for you two today?"
"Um, well, it's a weird story..." Blake said, trailing off at the end. "I was playing Pokemon Blue on my Game Boy Color because I thought it'd be fun to try and complete the Pokedex in all of the Pokemon games from beginning to end, and I went to get a Porygon from the Celadon Game Corner. When I paid for the Porygon, the game started glitching and there was this loud buzzing noise coming from my Game Boy Color. Next thing we know, there was this bright light when we went to look at the game, and then we woke up in Viridian Forest."
"And then we came here because we figured that was the best option, given that you might be able to help us the most," Stewart added. "We're not really sure how much you'll be able to help us, if at all, or if anything we're saying is going to make sense, but we know you'll be able to at least give us starter Pokemon so we can make it in this world."
"Well, you're right about me not really understanding your situation," Oak replied with a chuckle. "I do understand that you need some Pokemon though and something to get started on your journey. It sounds like you're not from this world, and you want to get back home."
"That's correct, sir," Stewart replied.
"I have three Pokemon here on the table then," Oak said, gesturing to the table. The trio walked over to stand closer to the table; Oak stood on one side of the table, and Blake and Stewart stood on the opposite side. "The Poke Ball on your left contains a Bulbasaur, the one in the middle has a Charmander, and the one on your right holds a Squirtle." As the Pokemon Professor spoke, he gestured to each of the balls.
"You wanna pick first or should I?" Stewart asked.
"I think we have a pretty good idea of what we want, don't we?" Blake replied. "I mean, we'll probably just go with what we chose in the games for our starters, yeah?"
"True," Stewart replied. "I've always liked Charmander anyways."
"And it'd make sense for us to be each other's rivals," Blake added. "Like Red and Blue!"
"Oh, you two know my grandson?" Oak chimed in.
"Kind of," Stewart replied. "It's... complicated. We've never met him in this world, but we know of him from our games."
"Ah," Oak replied, nodding. "He and Red are actually traveling the world now as we speak. Not quite sure where they're at, but I hope they're doing a good job of filling their Pokedexes..."
The boys chuckled, but it was Blake who spoke up next. "Alright, I guess I'll go ahead and take Bulbasaur then."
"Then I'll take Charmander," Stewart said. Blake picked up the Poke Ball on the left while Stewart took the one in the middle.
"I'd also like to give you five Poke Balls and a Pokedex to help start your journeys," Oak said. "Wait here, I'll be back."
The boys nodded, and then Oak shuffled off to gather the items he said he'd be gathering. When he returned a few moments later, he had two black backpacks on his arm and two grey devices in his hand. He handed a backpack and a device to each of the boys before explaining everything. "Those backpacks hold five Poke Balls for you two. You'll probably want to get a full team of six Pokemon. You can catch more than that, but they'll automatically be sent here for me to hold onto. You can buy more Poke Balls at the Poke Marts in each town or city, and you can exchange Pokemon with me at Pokemon Centers also located in each town or city by using the PC inside. You'll also be able to heal your Pokemon in the Pokemon Centers." He paused for a moment to take a breath. "I'm giving you those backpacks to hold supplies you may find on the roads or anything you might buy or whatever you want to keep in them. It didn't seem like you boys had any supplies, and I'm in charge of providing those things to you all, so take them and keep them. The devices in your hand are Pokedexes. You'll use those to record information on Pokemon you encounter here in the Kanto region. They'll help me do my research on all of the Pokemon in this region."
"We're not really sure how long we'll be here though. Are you sure you want to give us these things?" Stewart asked.
"Yes, yes, it's fine," Oak replied, waving his hand dismissively. "The Pokedex data will be sent straight to my computer anyways once you record it, so even if you mysteriously disappear like you mysteriously came here, I'll still have any data you've gathered."
Stewart shrugged. "Alright, but what about our Pokemon? My Charmander and Blake's Bulbasaur, and any other Pokemon we catch. What'll happen to those if we mysteriously disappear?"
It was Oak's turn to shrug now. "I'm honestly not sure. If they're here, I'll be able to release them into the wild or give them to families that want them or whatever, or so I think. This has never really happened before, so I can't tell you what'll happen if you disappear. That's something we'll have to figure out when the time comes."
"Okay," Stewart replied. "Is there anything else we should know?"
"Not unless you have any questions about anything," Oak said. "Unless you need to know how to catch wild Pokemon."
"Nah, I think we can figure it out," Blake chimed in. "If we have any questions, we can just ask people."
"Alright. If you'd like to stay the night, I have an extra room upstairs," Oak replied. "You can start your journey in the morning."
"That'd probably be best," Stewart said. "We should rest anyways. Today's been an... interesting day."
"Agreed," Blake said.
Professor Oak nodded and led the boys upstairs to a second floor of the lab. As he led them to a room, he spoke again. "By the way, I never caught your names."
"Oh!" Stewart exclaimed. "How rude of us! I'm sorry! I'm Stewart Moore."
"And I'm Blake Fisher," Blake added as Oak opened the door to a room with two beds.
"You can stay here for the night and leave after breakfast," Oak said. "I'm Professor Oak, by the way. You met my aide Matt earlier, and there's also two other aides here as well. One is named Patrick and the other is Veronica. If you need anything while you're here, just find one of them and they'll be able to help."
"Okay, thank you," the boys said together. "Good night, professor!"
"Good night!" Oak replied before the boys shut the door to their room.
*****
The following morning, the boys joined Oak and his aides in the dining room for a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs. Six glasses full of some sort of drink were next to each plate, and a pitcher of what was presumably the same drink sat in the center. There was also a tray of what appeared to be butter with a butter knife as well as biscuits and extra pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs in the center of the table. What the boys assumed to be a syrup jar full of syrup also sat alongside the rest of the food and drink in the middle.
Once breakfast was over (and the drink was confirmed to be orange juice, the butter was confirmed to be butter, and the syrup confirmed to be syrup), the boys bid the aides and Professor Oak farewell and set off on their journey. They headed north back towards Viridian City, which would take them through Route 1.
"I wonder what all we have to do to get back home," Blake said as they walked through the tall grass of Route 1. "Do we have to catch some Pokemon or beat the Elite Four or what?"
"Who knows?" Stewart replied. "For now, we'll just have to explore this world like any other trainer would. We'll catch Pokemon and get a team of six like Oak suggested, maybe catch some extras if we see anything we really want. We can challenge gyms and become eligible for the Elite Four too. Even if that's not what we're supposed to do, at least we'll have the eligibility for it unless we find out before we get all eight badges."
"Alright," Blake replied. "We can ask gym leaders too once we beat them, and other travelers too. They might have some information."
"The Celadon Game Corner might know something too. They were the ones that were going to sell you your Porygon," Stewart added.
"True," Blake said. "For now, we should probably focus on the upcoming gyms until we get more information. Our first gym might be Viridian City's gym. That's a Ground type gym in this game, isn't it?"
"Assuming the gym's unlocked when we get there, yes," Stewart replied. "Your Bulbasaur would be good, but my Charmander would get beat up easily. I'll need to get my hands on a Water, Grass, or Ice type to stand a chance. Might just go for a Water type because we'll need Surf to get to Cinnabar Island."
"We should probably get Flying types too so that we can Fly around this region more easily," Blake added. "Pidgey's a pretty common Pokemon, maybe we should get one of those?"
"You can get a Pidgey, I'd prefer Fearow," Stewart said. "You might want to get a Water type too for Surf."
"Yeah, definitely," Blake said. "Let's just take it one step at a time. Worst case scenario, we can leave Pokemon with Oak."
Just then, two black and white birds flew in front of the boys. Their feathers were in varying shades of gray, and their eyes had a blue tint to them. Stewart and Blake pulled out their Pokedexes, and once the devices were open, they began speaking in robotic voices. "Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. This Pokemon is a common sight in the woods and in forests, and it will flap its wings at ground level to kick up sand that can blind its foes."
"So Sand Attack," Stewart said as he and Blake put their Pokedexes away. Stewart took his Charmander's Poke Ball off of his belt; the aides at Oak's laboratory had modified their belts overnight so that they could hold six Poke Balls, three on the left and three on the right. "Like I said, I don't want a Pidgey, so I'll just fight the other one for the experience. Charmander could probably use that. You can catch your Pidgey if you want."
"Don't mind if I do," Blake replied, grabbing his Bulbasaur's Poke Ball. "Come on out, Bulbasaur!"
Blake threw his Poke Ball out, and it bounced off of the ground on contact. There was a flash of white light, and the black and white Bulbasaur appeared.
"Saur!" the Pokemon cried out.
"You too, Charmander!" Stewart called. He too threw his Poke Ball out, and when it bounced off the ground, the flash of white light made a Charmander appear.
"Charmander!" the Fire type cried.
"Alright, Bulbsaur!" Blake called, jabbing a finger at the Pidgey in front of his Bulbasaur. "Use Sleep Powder!"
"Saur?" Bulbasaur asked, turning to his trainer and curiously looking up at him with black eyes.
"Sleep... Powder?" Blake repeated slowly, slightly confused as well. "Don't you learn Sleep Powder?"
The Bulbasaur made a bit of a shrugging motion, as best as he could considering he was standing on four legs. In the distraction, the Pidgey opposite Bulbasaur was able to flap her wings and create a small tornado that struck Bulbasaur from behind and made him cry out in pain.
"Okay, okay!" Blake quickly said. "Tackle! Do you know Tackle? If you do, use that! If not, just do something!"
Bulbasaur turned back to face his opponent with a nod. He rushed forward and slammed his body into the bird, knocking her back and sending her tumbling into a nearby ledge. Off to the side, Charmander was taking a beating from Pidgey's Gust attacks, but the bird was starting to stumble a bit from all of the Scratch attacks it had been dealt.
"Okay! Do that one more time, and we should be good to go!" Blake called out. He saw the Pidgey get up and start flapping her wings again to create another Gust. "And dodge that Gust too!"
Bulbasaur rushed forward again, his eyes focused on the greyscale bird that was flapping her wings. With one powerful flap of her wings, she sent the small tornado towards Bulbasaur. He was able to sidestep to dodge it, and that put him in a good position to knock her to the side with a second Tackle.
"Nice work, Bulbasaur!" Blake shouted as he took a black and white capsule from his bag. The Pidgey that Charmander had been facing had flown off, and Stewart had returned his Fire type starter to his Poke Ball. "Now let's see if I can catch this Pidgey!"
The young boy with grey hair that was brunette in his real world tossed the Poke Ball into the air and watched as it hit the Pidgey. The ball automatically opened on contact and absorbed the bird into it with a grey light. It bounced on the ground for a moment and then froze. Then it shook once... twice... thrice... Click! A few sparks flew from the center of the ball when it clicked, but Blake took no mind to those. That was normal for Poke Balls in the games, it was probably normal for Poke Balls in this world too.
"Alright! Got me a Pidgey!" Blake said with a grin. He picked up Pidgey's Poke Ball and attached it to his belt. "You should rest now, Bulbasaur. I'll have Nurse Joy heal you when we get to Viridian City."
"Bulba!" the Pokemon replied before it was absorbed back into the ball with a grey light. Blake put the ball back on his belt, and then he and Stewart were on their way to Viridian City.
"I think these Pokemon only know very basic moves," Stewart said as the approached the entrance to the city. "Your Bulbasaur looked really confused when you told him to use Sleep Powder. Charmander just went and used Scratch when I told him to use Ember, which worked, so I just went with it."
"Seems like it. I wonder when they'll learn new stuff then," Blake replied with a bit of a frown. "Tackle and Scratch aren't going to get us very far."
"We'll just have to figure it out as we go," Stewart said.
The boys approached the Pokemon Center and entered it. They dropped their Pokemon off with the Nurse Joy and were told to return in an hour to pick them up. The break gave them a chance to sit down and have a lunch at one of the empty tables in the center. Professor Oak's aides had made them turkey and cheese sandwiches to have for lunch, and they also handed each of the boys three thousand PokeDollars. They'd be able to accumulate more money by defeating gym leaders and other trainers, but the aides felt that would be a good start so that they could survive their first days out in this new, familiar yet unfamiliar world. The hour passed by quickly, and once they picked up their Pokemon, they stepped back outside to contemplate their next course of action.
"We can either go west or north," Stewart said, looking at the map that one of the aides had given them before leaving the lab. The boys had been given lots of supplies before they left Oak's laboratory that morning, though they'd only received one map between the two of them. "West takes us to Route 22, and north takes us to Viridian Forest where we started yesterday."
"Do you remember what all's on Route 22?" Blake asked. "I know there's some tall grass, and it'll take us to the Indigo Plateau and Victory Road, but we're not ready for that just yet. Might be worth seeing what's in the tall grass over there unless there's nothing really worth it over there."
Stewart was silent for a moment. "Rattata are pretty common over there," he said when he finally spoke. "I believe there's Spearow over there too, but they're pretty rare. I do want a Spearow, but they're more common on other routes. If we go over there, I can try to find one, but if not, I can wait. There's also typically lots of female Nidoran, but their male counterparts are more rare."
"I'm glad you can remember all of this because I sure as hell can't," Blake replied. Stewart gave a bit of a shrug. "Nidoran sounds cool, but I don't think it's really worth it. I'd suggest it for you to help you take on Brock in Pewter, but I don't think it'd be much help there either."
"No, probably not," Stewart replied as he and Blake started heading north. "I think I'd have better luck with my Charmander, to be honest."
*****
The boys continued north through Route 2, which was home to Caterpie and Pidgey, neither of which interested the boys. Blake already had his Pidgey, and a Caterpie wouldn't be very useful for Stewart against Brock. Viridian Forest was also home to Caterpie, but there was the occasional Metapod, Weedle, and Kakuna as well.
"Pika, pika!" a chubby, white and grey mouse said.
"Oh, hey! A Pikachu!" Stewart exclaimed. "Those are really rare here!"
"Might be good for you to try and catch it," Blake commented, putting his hands in his pockets. "Your Charmander might be able to deal with Brock once he gets Ember, but he definitely won't be able to deal with Misty once we get to Cerulean. Her Water types will destroy your Charmander."
"That's true," Stewart replied. "I'll try to nab it."
He tossed his Charmander's Poke Ball out, and the little grey Pokemon reappeared before him and the Pikachu. While he had taken a bit of a beating in his earlier battle with Pidgey, the hour they'd spent at the Pokemon Center had done wonders for the Fire type. He was ready to fight the chubby mouse.
"Alright Charmander, use Scratch!" Blake commanded.
Charmander didn't hesitate in lunging forward to swipe a clawed hand at the Pikachu. Stewart and Blake had gotten a bit of practice in with battling their Pokemon against the wild ones along Route 2 prior to entering the forest. The attack struck the Pikachu, but the mouse retaliated by shocking the Fire type.
"Thunder Shock," Stewart murmured. "Alrighty then... Charmander, use Scratch again, but this time, move a little faster so you don't keep getting shocked!"
The Fire type nodded and lunged forward again. Stewart's plan hadn't really worked since Charmander still got electrocuted, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last time. The battle continued like this for a bit with Stewart's Charmander constantly using Scratch and the Pikachu retaliating with Thunder Shock. It wasn't long though before Stewart was able to throw a Poke Ball at the mouse and watch as it shook three times before clicking.
"These battles are kinda boring," Blake said after Charmander was returned to his Poke Ball and Pikachu was added to Stewart's belt. "We just have to keep using the same moves over and over and over again until we catch the Pokemon or defeat the opponent."
"Agreed, but maybe they'll get more exciting once we get farther into this world," Stewart replied once they were on the move again. "This forest is home to Pokemon for newer trainers like us. Once we get to places like Celadon City and beyond, we'll find stronger Pokemon that'll make for longer and more exciting battles."
"I hope so," Blake replied. "We're not really new to Pokemon though."
"We're not new to Pokemon, but we're new to this world," Stewart said. "We have an idea of what we're doing, but we don't have the same things that we had in the other world. This isn't just a game, this is real."
*****
Night was beginning to approach as they reached Pewter City. They went straight to the Pokemon Center and dropped their Pokemon off with the Nurse Joy. She told them that their Pokemon would be staying overnight and that they could be picked up in the morning; they were also welcome to enjoy dinner with others staying at the center overnight.
The following morning, they went back out into the forest to train. The boys had agreed to spend the entire morning training, and after lunch, they'd challenge Brock. They would stay the night at Pewter City, exploring the place and hopefully finding some answers as to why they ended up here in this world and how they could get home. If no answers were found in this city, then their travels would take them to Cerulean City in the morning after breakfast with the hopes that Misty would have some answers for them.
Lunch came around quickly, and the boys were grateful for that considering that they were exhausted from all of their training. Their Pokemon were left with Nurse Joy and her Chansey partner again, and once the hour passed, they were off to the gym with their fully healed Pokemon.
"Whoa," Blake said once they'd entered the gym. "There's more color in here."
"Yeah," Stewart said. "This world isn't just black and white with a bit of blue. There's some shades of brown in it too."
While much of the gym was in greyscale because of the rocks that decorated the inside, one could see hints of brown not only in the rocks themselves but also in the outfit of the trainer that didn't hesitate in approaching them.
Blake and Stewart quickly took out the trainer. Blake's Bulbasaur knew Leech Seed now, so that helped take out the trainer's Pokemon while also keeping his own Pokemon as healthy as possible. Stewart's Charmander, despite knowing Ember, still had a bit of difficulty against the trainer's Diglett and Sandshrew, but it was nothing that the Potion he'd used after the battle couldn't mend. The battle had earned them two hundred and twenty PokeDollars each to add to the three thousand they already had.
Their next battle took them to Brock, who also had the hints of brown on his clothing and in his hair. His leading Pokemon was a Geodude that also looked more brown than black and white, and his second Pokemon, an Onix, was just brown as the Geodude before him. Again, Blake had few problems against Brock's Pokemon, but Stewart struggled a bit.
"Congratulations, boys," Brock said after the boys had battled Brock and won. He handed over a grey badge that looked similar to a rock, money that added up to a total of 1386 Poke Dollars, and a white CD to each of the boys. "That there is your prize money, the Boulder Badge that will allow you to use HM Flash outside of battle, and TM Bide."
"Alright!" Blake said with a grin as he put his winnings in his bag. Stewart did the same, but without the exclamation.
"Before we go, Brock," Stewart said. "Could we ask you a question?"
"You'll head to Cerulean City next," Brock replied almost automatically. It was as if he'd answered that question hundreds of times to trainers that had beaten him in battle.
"Oh, no, no!" Stewart quickly said. "We know where to go next! We were just wondering if you'd ever heard of anyone just... magically appearing in this area or anywhere in the Kanto region, or if you knew of any disturbances involving a Porygon."
There was a pause for a moment. Brock shook his head before speaking. "Can't say I've heard anything. Maybe Misty in Cerulean City would know something. You can try asking her."
"Will do," Stewart replied. "Thanks, Brock!"
Outside of the gym, Stewart paused for a moment. "Hey, Blake," he called out to his friend. "Your hair looks brown again."
"It does?" Blake said, tugging on a few strands of his hair to see for himself. "I guess it does."
"Maybe we just discover more color in this world as time goes on," Stewart said. "We started out in a world of black and white with a little bit of blue, which was why I was able to maintain my hair and eye color since my hair is black with the blue tips and my eyes are blue. Now that we've beaten Brock, you're getting your brown hair back."
"Makes sense," Blake replied. "Guess we'll have to wait and see."
*****
Misty had no answers for Blake and Stewart either. Bill at his cottage to the north of Cerulean City had no answers for them, but he certainly provided a fair bit of information on his Pokemon storage system. Neither did Lt. Surge in Vermillion City nor any of the passengers or crew on the SS Anne. No matter who they talked to in any city, no one had any idea as to why they ended up here. All that they received was money, TMs, and badges. Those things were great, but the boys craved information... and their world of color back. More and more things were starting to display in more colors than just shades of black, white, blue, and grey.
They arrived in Celadon City at sunset and spent the night at the Pokemon Center. It would do them no good to head to the Game Corner when they were tired, and the gym was closed for the day anyways. They wouldn't be able to challenge the Celadon gym until the morning.
By this point, Blake and Stewart's teams had changed a lot from the Bulbasaur and Pidgey and Charmander and Pikachu, respectively, that they once had before they challenged Brock. Blake's Bulbasaur and Pidgey were now a Venusaur and a Pidgeot, respectively, and Stewart's Charmander was now a Charizard. Stewart's Pikachu was still a Pikachu, but that was because he had yet to get his hands on a Thunder Stone yet. Now that he was in Celadon City, he planned to head to the department store in the morning and purchase the stone to evolve his Pikachu into a Raichu.
However, they also added new Pokemon to their teams. Blake rounded out his team with a Golem that was originally caught as a Geodude, a Lapras another trainer gave to him as a gift, an Alakazam that gave him hell as an Abra, and his recently acquired Eevee that would become a Jolteon tomorrow morning once he too purchased a Thunder Stone. Stewart got his hands on a Sandslash that was originally caught as a Sandshrew, the Fearow he wanted since the beginning (though he caught it was a Spearow), a soon to be Vileplume but currently a Gloom, and a second Fire type in Growlithe. He would be evolving his Growlithe into Arcanine tomorrow too when he purchased a Fire Stone and his Gloom into a Vileplume with the purchase of a Leaf Stone in addition to the Thunder Stone he was already purchasing.
In the morning, they purchased the evolution stones. Blake evolved his Eevee into a Jolteon, and Stewart evolved his Gloom into Vileplume, his Pikachu into Raichu, and his Growlithe into Arcanine. With their newly evolved Pokemon, they headed straight over to the Game Corner's prize center.
"Excuse me," Blake said when he approached the counter. "Would you happen to know anything about a strange Porygon?"
"No, not really," the woman behind the counter replied. "All of the Porygon here are perfectly normal. If you're interested in one, it'll be 6500 coins."
"Okay, thank you," Blake replied with a bit of a frown. He and Stewart turned to leave the building with the disappointing news. No answers here either.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
The boys fell to their knees and covered their ears at the loud buzzing sound. It was the same sound they'd heard when they were at school in their real world, but it was different... it felt... louder.
"I hope you can hear me," a robotic voice said. The boys struggled to look around. The sound was affecting them in more ways than one. The voice didn't seem to care though as it continued on. "I am the Porygon that brought you into this world."
"Porygon!" Blake roared, suddenly standing up with a newfound strength. He wobbled a bit, likely from the headache he got from the loud buzzing that had yet to go away. The Porygon's voice echoed in Blake's head even as he spoke. "Porygon, where are you?"
"I'm waiting for you at the end of Victory Road," the Porygon said. "I want you to meet me there once you get all eight badges from the gym leaders of the Kanto region."
"We want to go home!" Blake shouted. "Take us home!"
"If you and your friend can defeat me in battle, then I shall return you to your home," Porygon replied. "However, if you lose, then you shall be trapped here for all eternity."
"We won't lose!" Blake roared. "We'll get the badges and we'll come to Victory Road and we'll beat you and go home!"
"See you soon, young ones."
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
The buzzing noise came back again, louder than it ever was before, and that made Blake fall back to his knees and cover his ears. The sudden burst of energy he had faded away. This time the buzzing noise slowly faded away, and once it was gone, the boys were able to breathe again.
"Are you boys alright?" one of the ladies behind the counter called out.
They turned to look at the woman and nodded, but it was Stewart who spoke. "Yeah, we're fine. We just stumbled a bit and fell. Nothing that hasn't happened before."
"Okay," the woman replied. "Take care now, boys!"
They nodded again and walked out of the game corner. Once outside, Stewart spoke up again. "Did they not notice what had happened?"
"I guess not," Blake replied. "They didn't seem to notice the screaming or the buzzing."
"This is weird," Stewart said. "It seems like no one's really noticing what's happening to us."
"Yeah," Blake said. He shrugged. "I guess it doesn't really matter though. We know what we have to do now. We've gotta fight the rest of the gym leaders in Kanto and get through Victory Road. We don't even have to fight the Elite Four."
*****
That they did. They were able to defeat the remaining five gyms of the Kanto region and earn the last five badges they needed to travel to Victory Road. While their path wouldn't take them to the Elite Four, they were ready for whatever would happen after they defeated the Porygon.
There was no if about it. They would defeat that Porygon and return home, go back to their normal bodies and their normal lives. All would be well once more. This world of full color that they'd unlocked by defeating the eighth gym leader in Viridian City was great, but their real world of color was much better. (Though they would miss the fact that they got to actually play and travel and interact with real Pokemon.)
"I don't even know where we are," Blake groaned. "I feel like we're lost."
"I couldn't tell you if we were lost or not. All these rocks look the same," Stewart said.
"Such rocks. Much lost. Wow," Blake said. Stewart rolled his eyes. The joke probably would've been more amusing if they weren't lost in the rugged terrain of Victory Road.
But there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Yes, there it was. Their way out of this rugged place. Their way back home, their way to Porygon...
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
The light suddenly got really bright. The boys had to shield their eyes from it, and when they lowered their arms, they were in a white room. It was as if Porygon had transported them into a void of some sort.
"So you made it, I see," the Porygon said.
"Go, Golem!" Blake shouted. He tossed the Poke Ball into the air and out came a cracked boulder with arms, legs, and a head. The boulder grunted a bit, but the Porygon otherwise looked unfazed.
"Skipping the formalities, are we?" the Porygon asked. "Fine, in that case, I'll just remind you that if you and your friend lose this fight, you'll be forced to stay here in this world for all eternity. If you win, you can go home."
While the red and blue creature spoke, Stewart had sent out a Pokemon of his own. This one was a large electric mouse with a long black tail that had an electric bolt at the end.
"Raichu!" the mouse said. No sooner had Raichu cried out her name, however, the Porygon started glitching. Suddenly there were clones of the red and blue creature surrounding the boys and their Pokemon.
"Guess we gotta get rid of these clones," Blake said. "Golem, use Rock Throw!"
"Blake, I don't think that's a good idea..." Stewart said, his eyes scanning the area.
Rocks materialized around Golem, and he picked them up and tossed them at the Porygon. Some of them hit clones and they disappeared, but as soon as one clone disappeared, another popped up in its place. The Porygon used this opportunity to send out a cool beam of ice that struck Golem and caused the rocks around him to disappear. He dropped the rock he was holding on his foot, and that caused him to hop around in shock for a moment.
"Raichu, use Thunder to strike where that Porygon attacked from!" Stewart said, pointing to the attacking Pokemon. His Raichu charged up electrical energy for a moment, but by the time the attack struck, there was a clone standing in the attacker's place. Stewart frowned. "Alright, well, that didn't work. Nice work anyways, Raichu."
"Chu," the mouse said, nodding her head.
"Golem, do it again! Expose the real Porygon!" Blake shouted. More rocks materalized around the cracked boulder-like Pokemon, and he picked them up and tossed them at the Porygon and its clones. They mainly hit the clones though.
"Raichu, keep an eye out, and when the Porygon attacks, use Thunder," Stewart told his Pokemon quietly. Raichu nodded her head, and electrical energy sparked from the yellow circles on her cheeks. When Porygon struck Golem again, this time with red, light blue, and yellow energy that swirled together to form a single beam, Raichu released the electrical energy she'd been charging up in the form of a powerful thunderbolt. The thunderbolt ended up striking a clone, and the real Porygon got away again.
"Blake, I don't think this is the way to fight," Stewart told his friend. "We need to clear the clones and expose the real Porygon."
"And how the hell do you think we should do that?" Blake snapped, turning to face his friend. The brunette's hands were clenched into fists. "My Golem's the one doing all the work! You're just sitting there doing nothing!"
"I guess you failed to see those two Thunders then," Stewart replied. His voice was calm when he spoke. He brushed some of his black hair out of his face before continuing. "You're attacking rashly. Calm down a bit and let's try to eliminate all of the clones at once."
"How?!" Blake shouted.
"Raichu, I want you to charge up electrical energy for a bit. When I tell you to, I want you to jump on top of Golem and release the electrical energy in the form of a powerful Thundershock, but I want you to spin around while you use it to hit all of the clones, okay?" Stewart told his Raichu quietly so that Blake wouldn't hear. The electric mouse nodded again and started to charge up electrical energy like Stewart had told her to; sparks flew from the yellow circles on her cheeks. Stewart brought his attention to Blake, speaking louder this time so that his friend could hear. "Have your Golem use Rock Throw one more time."
"Fine. I hope Golem can take another hit," Blake mumbled. He called out to his Golem next. "Rock Throw one more time!"
For a third time, rocks materialized around the Golem, and he would pick them up and throw them, again hitting clones that would be replaced in a matter of seconds. Porygon struck for a third time, this time with a magenta beam of psychic energy that moved in a wave. Raichu jumped up and landed on the top of Golem's boulder-like body and released the Thundershock. It struck the first clone, and she started to gradually move her body around. If the attack came into contact with a clone, there would be a puff of smoke, but the clone would reappear in a matter of seconds.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
All of the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, and only the real Porygon remained. It was making the loud buzzing noise again, and while the boys and their Pokemon had to cover their ears, Stewart took the opportunity to call out to his Raichu. "Use Quick Attack and then follow up with Thunder!"
There was a brief pause as Raichu reacted to her trainer's commmands. When she did move though, she rushed forward at the speed of light and struck the Porygon. Electrical energy had sparked from her body as she rushed forward, and as soon as she struck the Porygon, she released a powerful burst of electric energy.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
"We're weakening it," Stewart said. "I'm not sure how much more we'll have to beat on it, but I think we're making progress."
"Yeah," Blake said. "Let's just attack it while it's down. Golem, Rock Throw!"
More rocks materialized around Golem, and once more, he threw them at the injured Porygon. The red and blue Pokemon took a few hits and let out a weak buzzing noise, but by the fourth hit, it was moving again. It released another Tri Attack and Golem's barrage of rocks was put to an end.
"We need a new strategy. Return your Golem and send out Venusaur," Stewart said. "I'll send out Sandslash."
"Fine," Blake said, frowning. He returned his Golem, and in his place was a large green, quadripedal dinosaur-like creature with a plant on his back, a Venusaur. Stewart's Raichu had been replaced by another mouse, this one with dark brown spikes on his back.
"Okay, you have Venusaur use Vine Whip to grab the Porygon and pin it down. Sandslash will use Fury Swipes when you've got it pinned, and you can hit it with Razor Leaf," Stewart said. Blake nodded, and so did their Pokemon. Venusaur didn't even wait for a command from his trainer to send out two vines from the plant on his back.
"You... you will stay with me," the Porygon said. Its voice was glitched and staticky, as if the damage it had taken from the battle had damaged its voice too. "I want... I want a friend..."
"A friend?" Blake asked. "You want us to stay here and be your friend after you forced us into this world? **** that."
"Be... be my friend..." the Porygon said weakly. It was taking hits from the Vine Whip now, but it was still agile enough to avoid capture.
"Why did you bring us here anyways?" Stewart asked.
"To have a friend," Porygon said, the static from its voice gone for a brief moment. "No one... no one ever wanted... wanted me from the Game Corner... I wanted... a friend..."
"Blake could still be your friend without us physically being here," Stewart said. "He'll just interact with you through his game instead of in person like this. You have to let us go home. We have family and friends that are probably worried sick about us."
"I want you to stay..." the Porygon said.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
As soon as it finished speaking, Venusaur's Vine Whip got a hold of it and pinned it to the ground. Porygon tried to wiggle out of the Venusaur's grip, but the razor sharp blades that struck the Pokemon made him stop trying. Stewart's Sandslash jumped into the fray now too, swiping his claws at the Porygon's body and leaving white scratches on the Pokemon's metallic body.
"Stay..." the Porygon said weakly. "Stay..."
"We'll still be with you, Porygon," Stewart said. "We'll be in different worlds, but we'll still be with you."
"Promise me... promise me you'll stay..."
"Does it have to be in this world?" Blake asked, frowning.
"No," the Porygon replied.
"Then yeah, I can promise that," Blake said. He turned to his friend. "What about you?"
"I can too," Stewart said.
"Then... then I'll let you go," Porygon said. It suddenly disappeared out of Venusaur's grip, and there was a white light where the Porygon once was. That white light expanded and eventually ended up blinding the boys and their Pokemon.
*****
"They're waking up!" a woman's voice said. "Honey, they're waking up!"
The boys groaned as they pushed themselves into a more comfortable position. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they could see that they were surrounded their parents, Blake's younger sister, and a doctor. There was a beeping sound coming from monitors near the bedsides of both boys.
"What happened?" Stewart groaned.
"You've been in a coma for the past three months," the doctor said. "I'm Doctor Matthews, I've been taking care of you two boys the past three months."
"A... a coma?" Blake asked. "How?"
"We're not really sure. You passed out at your school, and you were brought here. We had to put you both in the same ambulance because if you got too far apart, your vitals would drop," Doctor Matthews explained. "Even here, we've had to keep you in the same room."
"That's... weird," Blake said slowly. He was trying to wrap his head around everything, and it was taking him a moment to do so. "Was there anything making a weird buzzing noise when you picked us up?"
"Your Game Boy Color was. It just stopped making the noise a few minutes ago," the doctor replied. "If we tried to move that too far away from you boys, your vitals would drop too."
"It's like we were connected to the Game Boy then," Stewart said. He turned his head to look at his friend. "When Porygon transported us into its world, our bodies were left here to be in the coma, and if either of us got too separated from each other or if the Game Boy got too far away from us, it would affect us here."
"But we didn't feel anything there," Blake replied. "We felt just fine there. I mean, we had to take care of basic needs like using the bathroom or eating or whatever, but other than that, we were fine."
Stewart shrugged, and so did their family members and the doctor. The doctor spoke. "Well, whatever it is, you two seem to be fine now. You can play the Game Boy if you'd like, but be careful. We don't want you to end up back in the coma."
"I don't think that'll be a problem," Blake said, reaching over to grab his Game Boy. As the doctor and their families left the room to let the boys rest, a message popped up on the screen when Blake turned the game on.
"I'm sorry," the message read. A pixelated picture of Porygon followed the message.
"It's fine," Blake typed in response, using the directional pad and the A button to type those words. "We'll be fine, thank you."
And they would be fine. Porygon had friends in Blake and Stewart, and the boys were back in the world they knew and loved. All was well once more.
Pokemon: Porygon {Demanding, 40-55k}
Character Count: 52969
Author's Note: This feels a lot longer than it actually is, I swear. Also, sorry, no drunken stories today. I had some free time before dinner and wrapped this up. Maybe next time. ;)
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