rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (don't cross me)
Riona ([personal profile] rionaleonhart) wrote2019-01-05 11:28 am

Old Fanfiction Book Club: Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Part Three

More of the fic I wrote when I was twelve!

Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Danielle caught a Pikachu that HATED ME RACHEL FOR NO REASON, and it's just Thundershocked Rachel awake while she was sleeping.

My original author's note on chapter five: Wow, people actually reviewed it? ^_^ Thank you so much! Well, a promise is a promise. I've got chapters 5 and 6 done! Enjoy!



"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR???!!!" screamed an enraged Secret.

I tried to twist my head round to see the person who had spoken, but the Thundershock had half-paralysed me. Two boys came round and stood near me. One saw what had happened and fumbled in his backpack, coming out with a Paralyse Heal and sprayed it on me, and after a minute my nerves came back. I climbed painfully to my feet.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. "Thanks for healing me. Not nice being paralysed."

"Hi."

"Err... what's your name?"

I'm slightly socially awkward even in my fanfiction, it seems.

"Me? I'm Jedidia. And he's H. Hippo."

"I AM NOT H. HIPPO!!!!!!!!!" yelled the second boy in a fury, setting upon Jedidia. "I'M FRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Jedidia and Fred are based on my brothers, Joseph and, erm, Fred. At the time I wrote this, Joseph would have been nine years old and Fred would have just turned seven. I never mention Jed and Fred's ages, because if they're under ten they're not supposed to be on a Pokémon journey!

'H. Hippo' is the name of a character my mother invented. He was a mild-mannered shopkeeper in the world of the Rupert Bear comics. She and her brother drew comics in which Rupert and his friends were horrible bullies and tormented poor H. Hippo constantly. So, er, I suppose he's my mother's Rupert Bear OC.

If I recall correctly, I asked my brothers what names they wanted in my story. Joseph requested 'Jed' for himself (Jedidia was the name our dad originally wanted to give Joseph, before he was actually born), and then suggested 'H. Hippo' for Fred. Fred attacked him. I wrote this into the story, even though it would clearly make no sense to the readers.


"Are you on a Pokémon journey as well?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jedidia said, fighting off H. Hippo- err- Fred.

"Erm- wanna come with us?" I asked.

"Sure!" Jedidia said. "Are you OK? That Pikachu shocked you pretty hard back there."

'Hi! Thanks for helping me out. What are your names? Want to COME WITH US ON OUR JOURNEY ACROSS THE COUNTRY?' This is how people interact, right?

"Um- I'm fine," I said, embarrassed. "What Pokémon do you have?"

"That's Foamy over there. I started with him," Jedidia said, indicating a sweet Squirtle behind him.

Foamy the Squirtle was Joseph's starter in Pokémon Blue. This is, incidentally, the fourth Pokémon I've described as 'sweet' in this fic: I've also used the word in reference to Secret, Bulba and James's Eevee. I mean it in the sense of 'lovely' rather than the sense of 'rad'.

"And I've got Water Gun and a Weedle!" Fred said proudly.

"Wow! You've got a Waninoko?"

"AND a Weedle!"

"H. Hippo called it Butter," Jedidia snorted. "He thought it would evolve into a Butterfree!"

"I AM NOT-"

I asked Fred what Pokémon he wanted in this fic, and he really did say he wanted a Weedle called Butter because he thought it would evolve into a Butterfree.

Pokémon Gold and Silver had come out in Japan by this point, and it would have been released in North America around the time I was writing this, but it wouldn't be out in Europe for another six months. We knew of the little crocodile Water-type starter, and we knew it was called Waninoko in Japan, but we didn't yet know that the English name was Totodile.


"Hey," interrupted Danielle. "What's that over there? I thought I saw something move."

I walked over to some bushes and peered in. "Meowth! Two of them!"

"All right!" Jedidia said, coming over as well. "I get the one with the silver charm!"

"Well, I've got the Meowth with the gold one!" I said.

Look, I'll be honest, I wanted a Meowth with a silver charm, because that's cool and special and I wanted to be cool and special. But I was always very conscious that I shouldn't make Rachel too cool and special. So Jed gets the special Meowth instead.

Like Vulpix, Meowth is a Pokémon I wanted but couldn't actually catch because it wasn't available in Pokémon Red.


"Uh-uh-uh," Danielle said. "I was the one who saw them."

"Oh, c'mon," Jedidia said. "You've got Spiteful Sparky, Hippo's got Butter, it's time we caught some Pokémon!"

"Spiteful Sparky???!!!" Danielle said angrily.

CLEVER NAMECALLING. (There's no reason Jedidia should know Sparky's name, come to think of it.) Also: three question marks and three exclamation marks! She must be very angry.

"Go, SECRET!" I cried. But Secret didn't come. Turning around, I saw her locked in a furious battle with Sparky.

"Secret, NO!" I yelled, dragging her away.

OH NO, THE POKÉMON ARE FIGHTING, THIS IS TERRIBLE. You should be fighting this Pokémon instead.

"What? That STUPID Pikachu shocked you!!!!!!! That hurts!!!!! Don't you want me to get back at it?"

I'm strangely touched by Secret's determination to defend her trainer.

"Sparky can wait. Look over here!"

Secret hopped over. "Hey, cool! Meowth!"

Is my Vulpix a Meowth fan? I've never really thought about whether some Pokémon particularly like other species of Pokémon.

"Okay then, Secret, Tackle!!!!"

"Which one?"

"The one with the gold charm!"

"But they've both- oh!"

Secret assumes for a moment they both have gold charms, because that's what's usual for Meowth.

Secret ploughed into the Meowth. It looked stunned, but shook it off.

"MEEEEEEOWTH!!!!!!!" it yelled, scratching Secret. Secret scratched back. The Meowth scratched again. So did Secret. After a few rather silly-looking rounds exchanging scratches, Secret Tackled the Meowth to the ground and took advantage of the pause to scratch it firmly across the face, just below the charm. The Pokémon fainted instantly.

Action scenes have never been my speciality.

"Pokéball, G-" I started to say, before I realised that I didn't necessarily have to take Ash's corny line, I just chucked the Pokéball.

Rachel really seems to have something against poor Ash.

The Meowth was sucked in. The ball didn't even wiggle. I was actually surprised, though I should have known better; a fainted Pokémon is an almost-guaranteed capture. Unless you give it time to recover and run off with your lunch.

I was always sort of outraged that the games didn't let you catch fainted Pokémon. As an adult, I can appreciate the challenge 'weaken the Pokémon without fainting it' adds to the games; as a kid, I was furious.

"Well done, Secret!" I said, patting my Vulpix. "Now Meowth needs a name." I held the Pokéball containing my new Pokémon up in front of me. "I think I'll call you... Stardreamer."

I'm the best at names.



I promise we'll reach some sort of plot eventually. Not right now. And it won't be good plot. But eventually.



Jedidia, Danielle, H. Hippo- uh, Fred- and I kept walking, with all our Pokemon close behind. With the exceptions of Stardreamer (who was still fainted); Scratchy, Jedidia's new, silver-charmed Meowth, which he carried (not fainted, but very weak); and Sparky, who was perched on Danielle's shoulder (and looking very smug about it).

WE'RE ALL VERY BAD AT NAMES. A lot of our Pokémon sound like their names were invented in half a second. Stardreamer is an exception, but, er, it's not a good one.

I notice I'm no longer using the 'the Pokémon refuse to get into the Pokéballs' excuse; we just don't keep our Pokémon in their balls.


At first Jedidia had tried to be friends with Sparky, but since it shocked him on purpose when he tried to stroke it he had abandoned all pretence of being friendly, and now the two were exchanging very rude remarks up front. He and his Squirtle were especially furious with Sparky since the fact came to light that Sparky was shocking Foamy regularly- just for the fun of taking advantage that he was weak to it! (Jedidia had started threatening to get a strong Rock Pokémon and set it on Sparky.) Secret, Foamy and Water Gun (whom Sparky enjoyed shocking too) had become sworn rivals of Sparky, forming the PASS- Pokémon Against Spiteful Sparky.

I'm not sure whether the PASS actually does anything. Forming clubs that never actually met up or did anything (or technically had any members other than me and my brothers) was a favourite activity of mine when I was a child. The main club activity was 'coming up with passwords and demanding them before letting anyone into our bedroom, despite the fact that we could tell perfectly well from voices whether the person was one of the club's THREE MEMBERS'.

I can't believe I correctly used 'whom' in the fic I wrote at the age of twelve.


Sparky was cruel and spiteful, and the only person with a place for him in her heart was Danielle, who was just starting a heated argument in favour of him with Jedidia and Foamy. Bulba had joined the PASS because Sparky was shocking him, since he wanted all of Danielle's attention, to be her only Pokémon. So had Scratchy and Butter, since Sparky had teased Butter about being a weakling and saying that Scratchy was 'stupid' to be caught.

Sparky's so pointlessly evil and it's magical.

Scratchy joined in the argument up front, bringing Sparky's point up and saying:

"Hey, Sparky, you know how I must be stupid to be caught? Well, Danielle caught you, so I guess you must be stupid, huh?"

"Who's in their owners arms because they're too weak to walk?" Sparky snapped, electricity building.

"Wait 'til I get healed!" Scratchy retorted. "And anyway, who's on their owner's shoulder because they're too lazy to- AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Sparky channelled electricity through Scratchy's body, and gave a satisfied smirk as he fainted.

"Scratchy!" cried Jedidia. "Right, that's it, you ****! You can-"

I really want to know what the censored word was supposed to be.

"Hey! Look, it's Viridian!" I yelled.

"Whoo-hoo!"

We ran for a minute, and finally emerged into Viridian City.

***

"How many Pokémon would you like revitalised?" asked the smiling Nurse Joy at the Pokécenter.

"I need Scratchy and Foamy treated, please," said Jedidia.

"My goodness! How did your Pokémon get this hurt?" she said, shocked.

"Mostly due to a certain nasty Pikachu that I know," he muttered darkly, glaring at Sparky.

SPARKY: SO EVIL HE SHOCKED NURSE JOY.

"Can you heal Water Gun?" asked H. Hippo.

It's weird that I'm calling Fred 'H. Hippo' in Rachel's narration.

"And I'll need Secret and Stardreamer healed," I said.

"And my Bulba!" Danielle said earnestly.

"This may take some time," Nurse Joy said, looking at all our Pokéballs. "Come back in... about an hour and a half?"

I'm evidently working by anime rules, where your Pokémon might need to stay in the Pokémon Centre for a little while to recover, rather than game rules, where your Pokémon are restored to full health in four seconds.

"Okay," I said. We went out and wandered into the Pokémart next door and each bought a Pokéball and a Potion. Then we went out into the grass and sat down.

I find it really strange that we all buy exactly the same thing.

"This is boring, we've got no Pokémon with us!" Jedidia complained eventually.

"Yes we have! We've got Butter!" H. Hippo said.

Poor Butter. Everyone overlooks the Weedle. I like that Fred always defends Butter's value; earlier, when Rachel went 'wow, you've got a Waninoko?', his response was 'AND a Weedle!'

"And Sparky," said Danielle.

"Is that meant to be a good thing or a bad thing?" Jedidia asked. Sparky began to spark around the cheeks, and Danielle looked at him angrily.

"Sorry, Danielle, but that's the way it is," I said. "I know you've always wanted a Pikachu, but you could have got one with a more agreeable personality."

"Sparky's personality is just fine!" protested Danielle.

Are you sure? Are you sure, Danielle?

"Danielle, Sparky is just a big bully," said Jedidia.

"Sparky was really mean to me!" Butter piped up. "He called me a pathetic weakling!"

"Well, you are!" Sparky spat. "You're useless. All you know is Tackle and String Shot. You're only level 3! You're nothing. The weak perish. The strong survive. And I am the strong!"

Oh, my God, this is amazing. He's so dramatic! YOU'RE ONLY LEVEL THREE; YOU'RE NOTHING.

"You're only 2 levels above me, and you only know Growl and Thundershock. Secret is stronger than you!" said Butter angrily.

"Secret is fainted in the Pokémon Centre. She's no better than you. And, may I add, Thundershock is a strong attack. Thundershock is powerful. A million of your kind couldn't match the power of my Thundershock."

SO DRAMATIC.

Butter rolled his eyes. "Want me to demonstrate? CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Sparky, sending a blast of electricity into the Weedle. He collapsed on the ground, twitching.

"Butter!" cried H. Hippo, dropping to his knees beside his Weedle and spraying some Potion on it.

"He deserved it," snarled Sparky.

"He didn't! He's just an innocent Weedle!" I said, angry as well.

I don't know why I find the line 'He's just an innocent Weedle!' so hilarious.

Sparky whipped round. He brought his tail forward until it was touching my forehead. "Don't make me do it to you," he said, very softly.

SO DRAMATIC

Danielle was pretending not to hear, but I saw her wince.

I froze. He laughed and withdrew his tail. "Afraid of me? You should be."

"Danielle, that 'chu is a monster!" Jedidia said. "I don't know what you see in- AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sparky shocked him hard.

"You are asking for it, Jedidia," Danielle pointed out.

"Call me Jed," he said, sitting up. "Man, that hurts!"

Interesting point at which to invite someone to address you by a nickname, but I suppose it works.

"Shall we try training our Pokémon?" Danielle suggested.

"No way," I said. "I don't want that thing to get any stronger-" Suddenly the area became a blaze of pain and flashing yellow.

Sparky the Evil Pikachu shocking everyone is, I'll be honest, a little overdone. I think I ease off a bit after this chapter, at least.



In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club, we finally reach Pewter City, and there is one entire paragraph of Pokémon romantic angst before I completely forget about that subplot.
wyomingsmustache: (Default)

[personal profile] wyomingsmustache 2019-01-05 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
They're wonderful! The writing is clearly that of a twelve-year-old, but it's also clearly of someone having fun, so that part is irrelevant. Also, the annotations are hilarious.

I'd forgotten that too! I play gen five VERY rarely for some reason, and despite being my Pokehusband I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of his appearances. (Though I tend to overwrite them when I play them, to account for my self-insert's canon. But I do that a lot, given he's an adult so they wouldn't respond to him like a child.)
wolfy_writing: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfy_writing 2019-01-05 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Sparky reminds me of a Facebook post my sister-in-law made about her cat - she was holding him and smiling while he was giving the camera the death glare, and she captioned it “Bunny hates everyone, especially you!” (Bunny is the cat’s name, because he was named when my oldest niece was about six.)