“Oh my god, I love them,” Cashe breathed. All three starters look up at him. Charmander backed away slowly when it made eye contact with Cashe, clearly not sharing Cashe’s excitement.

Squirtle craned its neck trying to look all the way up at Cashe's face and tipped itself over onto its back, letting out a loud “Squir-tle” call as it fell. It rolled around on its shell happily, spinning slowly and making loud gurgling sounds that Cashe took for laughter.

Bulbasaur met his eyes without hesitation, neither backing down, nor making any aggressive movements. It stood a little higher when Cashe looked at it, lifting its chin in pride or defiance. But something was off.

“Is there something wrong with it?” Cashe said. He couldn’t put his thumb on it, but the Bulbasaur did not look like the one he saw in the pokedex.

“You noticed, did you?” Oak said with a regretful smile, “I was hoping you wouldn’t. Yes, Bulbasaur here has a discoloration. It happens sometimes. It has no effect on a pokemon’s ability to do anything, but trainers avoid it.”

“What, why?” Cashe snapped his head up to the professor. Had the little guy been left behind?

“They are thinking about their future,” Oak said, with a sad shrug, “I can’t say I blame them. It’s a shame too, this little Bulbasaur is excellently well bred. Maybe if his nature were more offense oriented he would have been taken already, but the little guy isn’t suited for it.”

“What do you mean he’s not suited for it? And why is discoloration such a problem?” Cashe’s heart throbbed as he looked at the Bulbasaur. It was ridiculous. Throwing away a beautiful little man like that just because his skin was a little green.

Cashe bent over to inspect the Bulbasaur more closely. His entire body was just more green than it was supposed to be, but everything else seemed fine. He even looked bigger than the two foot average height the pokedex mentioned. He was closer to three.

“Pigmentation is very important for pokemon mating,” Oak explained, “You’ve heard of albinism? Well this is like that, except in a pokemon's eyes, the discoloration signifies ill health. Even though Bulbasaur is extremely healthy, it will be difficult for him to breed at all. Trainers want to avoid that as much as they can.”

That was bad, at least if the games had anything to say about it. Breeding was one of the surefire ways to get a strong pokemon. But this Bulbasaur was already strong.

“What about the other two? Are they any different?” Cashe said. Squirtle was still spinning on his shell, not even making an attempt to right himself, so maybe there was an issue there, but he didn’t see anything wrong with the Charmander.

“Nothing so detrimental,” Misty said, walking up and righting Squirtle. She gave him a fond scratch on his bald head, “Both of these little guys just might be difficult to train. Charmander is shy and it takes a lot of patience to train a pokemon like that. Some veteran trainers prefer it, but for beginners?” She made a face, “Might be tricky. It’s the same story with Squirtle here, except he's just a little goofball.” Misty grinned and scratched Squirtle under the neck, “Yes you are. Yes you are.”

Squirtle gurgled in delight.

“You’ve missed the start of the season by quite a bit,” Emilia said, “So these are the only three we’ve got left. You can wait a few months and we will get the next-”

“No,” Cashe stood still staring down at the three starters, “No, I’ve made my decision.”

Oak nodded in understanding, “Who will it be then, Charmander or Squirtle?”

“What?” Cashe shot Blue a questioning look, “Neither.” He bent down and picked up the Bulbasaur, grunting as he lifted him. Jesus, the little guy was heavy. Wasn’t he only supposed to be fifteen pounds? It didn’t help that his arm was still throbbing with pain from the vaccinations. He looked Bulbasaur in the eye, “What do you say, bud, you want to come with me?”

“Bulba!” The little guy croaked, “Bulbasaur!” His wide tongue shot out of his mouth and licked Cashe across his face. Bulbasaur squirmed in his grip in an attempt to get closer to him. He had a surprising amount of strength. Cashe pulled the little man into a hug.

“See? This guy loves the idea already,” Cashe said, “I’m taking him.”

“Really?” Blue looked surprised, but not unhappy. The opposite, in fact, “You’re willing to take the risk that he won’t be able to breed?”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Cashe said, putting Bulbasaur down and picking up his pokeball, “This guy is going places, I can feel it.”

“That’s not very-” Misty started to say.

“That’s great!” Emilia interrupted her mother, “I think you’ve made a great decision. Pokemon training isn’t about optimization or perfect breeding, or whatever. I mean it is, but it’s not all about that. The bond you form with your pokemon is just as important, probably even more so. I think you made a great decision, Cashe.”

“Thanks,” Cashe said, genuinely happy someone understood what he felt.

“Plus it means I’m free to take this little fella,” Emilia plopped down in front of the Charmander. It flinched back, startled at her sudden movements, “Hey there little guy,” Emilia said softly, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” She reached into her pocket and took out a bright pink berry with a pale yellow tip, shaped a bit like a jalapeno pepper. “You want something to eat? It’s safe, see?” Emilia took a small bite from the berry, “You’ll like it, I promise.”

“You’re taking one too?” Cashe said. What the hell? This was just like the games! The rival always picked second and got the type advantage.

Wait.

Did that mean he had a rival? Did that mean Emilia was his rival?

“Of course, I’m beginning my journey as well,” Emilia said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“What about the pokeballs on your belt, don’t you already have pokemon?”

“Only one,” Emilia said. Charmander was nibbling on the berry now, still looking unsure of himself. Emilia turned back to face him, “What’s wrong, little buddy? Don’t like it? Don’t worry, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.”

Charmander’s eyes went wide and it snatched the berry away from Emilia’s reaching hand, scarfing it down in an instant. She burst out in delighted, bubbling laughter, joined by her parents.

“So you do like that, huh? If you come with me, there will be a lot more.” Emilia said with a winning smile.

Charmander eyed her suspiciously for a second more and nodded in acceptance. Emilia grinned and pulled him into a quick hug, “Knew you’d make the right choice. We’re going all the way to the top, you and me.”

Cashe grinned at the fire lizard’s conflicted face as Emilia hugged him. He seemed to be asking, ‘What have I got myself into?’

“Bulba!” Cashe felt a nudge at his leg. Bulbasaur was pulling gently at his pants with a pair of long vines that were protruding from his bulb.

“Sorry buddy, I don’t have any berries on me,” Cashe said, genuinely sorry, “I promise I’ll get you some as soon as I can.”

“Oh, I can help you with that,” Emilia jumped to her feet, putting down a relieved Charmander. She searched her pockets until she pulled out an oddly shaped berry. It was large, and looked like a wide vase, with the top half an off-yellow and the bottom a dark orange. She handed it to Cashe, “Here. That's an Iapapa Berry. Bulbasaur should love it.”

Cashe recognized the name, “Aren’t those kind of rare?” He said, “And expensive?”

Emilia waved away his concerns, “Debbie grows them locally. She gave me a bunch of different berries this morning, didn’t you see?”

“Maybe,” Cashe hadn’t been paying much attention. He bent over and gave it to Bulbasaur, who snatched it up without hesitation, gobbling the berry down with gusto. “You like that one, huh?”

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Bulbasaur nodded, too busy chewing the berry to speak.

“I’ll be sure to get more, then,” Cashe said.

“Is it my turn yet?” Annie said loudly. She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration, “I’ve waited so long! And I didn’t even say anything, just like you said!”

“Oh, I’m sorry dear,” Misty gave her granddaughter a warm smile, “You’ve been very good. You can give Cashe his present now.”

“Good!” Annie turned to Cashe, who looked down at her expectantly. Suddenly shy, she pressed the small, wrapped gift into his stomach and ran into Emilia’s arms, “Auntie Emi, save me!”

“You’re scared of how scruffy he looks, huh,” Emilia teased, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“Thank you, Annie,” Cashe said, remembering his manners and giving Blue and Misty a smile. It was obvious who really provided the gift. He quickly unwrapped the gift, taking care not to tear the paper. Jen always liked to save it, just in case. He grinned. Ridiculous.

He stopped.

Jen wasn’t here.

“Bulbasaur.” A pair of vines wrapped around Cashe’s shoulders. Using Cashe as leverage, Bulbasaur dragged himself up under his arms to hang against his stomach.

Cashe blinked. “Hey there buddy, you might be a little too big for a ride.”

“Are you okay, Cashe,” Misty said, “You froze up there for a moment.”

“Ah, yeah, just remembering something,” Cashe cleared his throat, as Blulbasaur lowered himself back to the ground. “Did someone say something?”

“Open your present!” Annie demanded from her aunt’s lap.

“Right,” Cashe pulled open the wrapping paper without tearing it and folded it up, placing it to the side, revealing a familiar black rectangle folded in half.

“It’s a pokedex!” Annie shouted, “You need one to be a trainer!”

“Thank you very much, Annie,” Cashe said, giving her a smile. He picked up Bulbasaur and sat down at the table, placing the pokemon in his lap, “Now, time for some cake.”

“Yay!” Annie slid off of Emilia’s lap and hopped up in her own chair. Emilia grinned and leaned over to Cashe, “So, a discolored Bulbasaur, huh?”

“I couldn’t leave him unselected again,” Cashe said with a small smile, “Poor little guy was all alone. He’s just like me.”

Emilia mirrored his sad smile and struck him lightly in the arm, right on top of where he got his shots. “Idiot. You’re not alone. Look around.”

Cashe did. Misty was cutting a slice from the small, freshly baked cake, slapping away Annie’s hand as she tried to steal frosting. Blue was sitting back in his chair, relaxed and smiling at the scene before him. Chansey was waddling around, a large egg between her hands, looking for someone to give it to. Unable to find anyone, she gave it to Squirtle, who promptly took an enormous bite out of it. Gengar was…missing.

But they were all here to celebrate with him. To celebrate his and Emilia's first step as a pokemon trainer.

“You might be right,” Cashe said. His smile felt warmer now, “You might be right.”

***

Three weeks passed as Cashe waited to receive his citizenship ID and trainer ID from the Pokemon League.

During those three weeks, Cashe filled his time with learning about pokemon. He had an entire world's worth of knowledge to consume, and with only three weeks, he focused on what seemed most relevant.

Feeding a pokemon, as it turned out, was a bit more complicated than going to a store and picking up a can of food. Trainers wishing to raise competitive pokemon would have to design their own meal plans for their pokemon and closely monitor their growth, adjusting those plans as needed. Luckily, Professor Oak’s lab was well stocked on a wide variety of vitamins and nutritious foods, which allowed Cashe to learn what was best for Bulbasaur at a steady pace. The pokedex was an invaluable resource here, containing years of input data and research that helped him identify issues and fix problems with his methodology.

Training was something else entirely. Bulbasaur turned out to be a voracious competitor and constantly worked to outperform Charmander and Emilia’s second pokemon, Omanyte. Emilia thought it meant he was a natural champion, but Cashe was pretty sure the little guy was just overjoyed to finally have a partner.

With her years of education on the subject, Emilia was a godsend for Cashe, as he struggled to keep up with Bulbasaurs insatiable desire for training. Blue and Misty had also offered their support, but Cashe felt guilty about asking them for too much, so he found himself leaning on Emilia more and more. Luckily, she was happy to help.

“New moves only appear in the pokedex once your pokemon have a good grasp on them,” she told him during a break of one of their training sessions. Bulbasaur was munching down on a healthy mix of greens with enthusiasm while Charmander was charring his meal to a crisp. He seemed to like it better that way. “However, most pokemon will be able to attempt moves before they appear in the pokedex. I’m pretty sure I saw Bulbasaur attempting a Leech Seed there. You should try using it when we have a practice battle after lunch.”

Cashe nodded, “We can do that. Maybe it will help Bulbasaur pull off more wins against Charmander. I think he’s tired of losing out due to the type disadvantage.”

***

An hour later, he and Emilia were standing in a familiar location. They were in a small field behind the lab. The hard packed ground was covered in short grass that had been flattened down in a rough circle from their regular battling.

Bulbasaur bounded into the circle without any instruction from Cashe, eager to get started.

“Looks like he’s ready,” Cashe said.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Emilia grinned, “Alright, Charmander, let’s go!”

Charmander entered the ring as well. Bulbasaur tensed, ready for battle. Charmander had lost much of his natural shyness, especially around battling, and had a winning record against Bulbasaur. Part of that was the type matchup coming into play, but most of it was that Emilia was simply better than Cashe. She was calculating and meticulous with her instructions to her pokemon, and savagely efficient at getting the most out of them.

And the most she got was brutal. In their very first battle, Bulbasaur had run into Charmander with enough force to total a car. And that was just using Tackle. Despite sending Charmander to the ground and bouncing into a tree, the little fire pokemon was fine and had retaliated with a Scratch that probably would have torn Cashe’s leg off.

And they had come a long way since then.

“Charmander, use Ember!” Emilia shouted, starting the battle without warning.

“Dodge it left!” Cashe said, “Then Vine Whip.”

Charmander was quick, charging up a burst of flame in his mouth in a fraction of a second, but Bulbasaur was used to his speed by now and was already moving as soon as he saw the sparks beginning to form in the little fire lizard’s mouth.

Bulbasaur darted to the side, avoiding the swath of flame by a good margin. Twin vines shot out from the bulb on his back, flying towards Emilia’s Charmander. Emilia was not idle, however.

“Charmander, Growl and Scratch to deflect them!”

Charmander let out a deep, rumbling growl, causing Bulbasaur to shiver uncomfortably, his Vine Whip losing some of the force behind it before clashing with Chamander’s Scratch. The attack hit Charmander’s glowing claws, overpowering them but doing little damage.

But Bulbasaur wasn't the only one used to Charmander by now. This was part of the plan.

“Bulbasaur wrap him up now! Use Leech Seed!” Cashe shouted.

“Get out of there Charmander, break his grip!” Emilia called, but it was a moment too late.

Bulbasaur wrapped his vines around Charmander’s arms and with a look of intense concentration fired off a flurry of small seeds at the pokemon.

“Bulba-SAUR!”

The seeds were scattered, and flew everywhere, most of them not coming close to hitting Charmander. Some did, however, and they latched onto the lizard, burying themselves into its body just as Charmander broke Bulbasaur’s grip. A slow stream of golden light began to leave Chamander and enter Bulbasaur.

Cashe shivered at the visual. What the hell? He shook it off. Can't get distracted in battle.

“Good job, Bulbasaur, now Tackle!”

“Counter with smokescreen, Charmander. Dodge and use Ember!”

An inky black plume of smoke erupted from Charmander’s mouth, obscuring that side of the battlefield. It was a tricky combo for Cashe and Bulbasaur, especially since they only had physical moves to work with at the moment. Fortunately, a solution had already presented itself.

“Watch the energy stream, Bulbasaur,” Cashe shouted, “It will lead you right to him! Get ready to dodge!”

Ready or not, the Ember, obscured by the inky smoke, came too quickly for Bulbasaur to completely avoid. A blast of flame scored the side of Bulbasaur as he barreled through the smoke, darkening his side as he followed the golden trail of energy. Bulbasaur cried out in pain and burst from the smoke with Charmander in tow, both pokemon tumbling to the ground.

Bulbasaur was back on his feet in an instant, but Charmander was slower, the trickle of energy draining from Leech Seed already starting to show its effects.

“Charmander, you have to burn out the seeds! Use Ember on yourself!” Emilia called.

Charmander did not hesitate, immediately sparking a fire in its mouth.

“Hit him with one more Vine Whip Bulbasaur, you can take him out!”

Flames washed over Charmnder’s body, burning away the seed buried in his skin, but also damaging himself. A second later, Bulbasaur’s vines crashed into him, sending Charmander flying across the battlefield and into a pile on the ground. Charmander did not get up.

“Bulbasaur, you did it!” Cashe laughed as Bulbasaur bounced around in excitement. Cashe picked him up and pulled him into a big hug.

“Charmander, return,” Emilia called, sending the pokemon back to his ball in a swirl of light, “You did a really good job there, Cashe. Bulbasaur made use of his new move really well."

"Thanks, Emilia, I think he was more excited for the win than I am." Cashe scratched Bulbasaur under the chin, "I'm proud of you, little buddy."

Bulbasaur made a happy croaking sound.

"Do you want to take a break and go over some notes or do you think Bulbasaur has it in him for one more?” Emilia rested her hand on her belt where the pokeball for Omanyte lay.

Cashe looked at Bulbasaur, who grinned widely. “Bulba.”

“I think he’s good for another round.” Chase said, mirroring Bulbasaur’s grin.

*****