athenian200
Circumspect
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2010
So, I actually started writing this over a year ago. What inspired me to create this story was playing through Pokémon Red again, and noticing that there were several Lass trainers in and around the early part of the game that seem obsessed with catching cute Pokémon and cancelling evolution because the evolutions are "ugly," even though that's not very good strategy. But one on Route 3 stood out to me, because she took out two of my Pokémon due to my overconfidence. I noticed she had a Rattata and a Nidoran, which were stronger and more aggressive than most of her peer's Pokémon on the same route. Somehow, I almost pictured this girl on the edge of her social group trying to justify her choice of a Nidoran to her skeptical peers by saying things like, "Well, yes it has poison spines, but it's purple! That's still cute, right?" Eventually, she became an entire character. I ended up naming her "Minna," simply by adding an extra "N" to the Japanese Gen III name of the trainer that inspired her character in order to make it into a more common name of German origin. The name of her best friend Sally is actually inspired by the English name of the same trainer.
When you try to picture Minna, you should picture the original sprite or artwork from R/B/Y, which suggests this shy, but excitable trainer with long, brown hair and her hands near her heart. When you try to picture Sally, you should start off thinking of the more confident, playful-looking Lass sprite in the FR/LG remakes.
So, I'm going to be presenting this one chapter at a time, as I manage to clean up the chapters and polish the writing a bit. This first chapter really isn't that interesting, admittedly, but it does contain a lot of setup for what follows.
“Go, Nidoran!” Minna shouted. The Rattata intimidated her Nidoran with a long stare, but then shook it off and tackled the Rattata. Minna, without hesitating, threw out a Poké Ball and captured the Rattata. She held it up to her heart and exclaimed “Yay! I got another purple Pokémon. Isn't this great, Sally?”
Sally didn't seem so sure. “Minna, I know you like purple, but you would be raising a rodent. Doesn't that gross you out a little?” Minna shook her head dismissively. “Not really. I had a cute hamster when I was younger, and this wouldn't be much different from that, really. You're not afraid of her, are you?”
Sally sighed, “No, it's not that. My younger brother has a Rattata, and if I were going to be afraid of one of your Pokémon, it would probably be your Nidoran. It has poison spines on its body, for goodness's sake. I guess I just never thought of Rattata as cute, but it's pretty charming until it evolves into Raticate.” Minna grinned and said, “Well, it's not like I have to let it evolve. We can cancel evolution, remember?” Sally finally smiled back. “Yeah, that's right. Oh, look at the time! We don't want to be late for the party at Janice's house. Come on, let's go!”
While they were at the party, everyone laughed and talked about various pieces of gossip that Minna pretended to be interested in, until finally the discussion turned to an informal local Pokémon tournament to be held next week just outside Pewter City. Everyone was excited to test their skills, but Minna was exceptionally excited and shrieked a little bit. “That sounds so interesting! But do you really think I'm good enough to enter, Janice?” Janice giggled a little. “Don't be so modest, Minna. You have some of the toughest Pokémon among us here tonight. Besides, it's not like Brock or any serious trainers will be there. It's just a friendly game to help our Pokémon get a little exercise more than anything else. None of us have exactly made Pokémon the center of our lives. No need to be nervous.”
Later that night, Minna was training her new Rattata on Route 2. She was very pleased with its passionate attacks and the speed with which it was taking down wild Caterpie and Pidgey. It had grown nearly two levels in what seemed like no time at all. Suddenly, she saw a lantern light coming towards her and had Rattata guard her. Then she heard a voice saying, “Chill out, Minna. It's just me, Anthony.” She recognized the voice. “Oh, sorry. Rattata, return! You shouldn't scare me like that Anthony, I thought it might be a stalker. What are you doing out so late, anyway?” He chuckled. “Looking for Venonat. They're very rare in Viridian Forest, but they have been said to appear at night. What are you up to?”
Minna sighed. “Training for the upcoming competition. I know it's silly, but I'm afraid of losing my first battle in front of everyone and embarrassing myself, so I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen.” Anthony laughed.“You're one of the best trainers in Pewter City, but you don't have a lot of self-confidence. Still, training isn't silly, it's smart. There's no shame in wanting to win.” Minna blushed. “W-Who says I want to win? I just don't want to be in last place, that's all!” Anthony sighed. “Come on, Minna, I know you better than that. Who are you trying to beat?”
Minna smiled a big grin and a little fire flashed in her eyes. “All right, but don't tell anyone. I want to beat Janice. She's always been the oldest in our group. First to get a Pokémon, first to get an allowance, first to develop... she's always first and everyone looks up to her. I think she could stand to be knocked down a peg, and no one else has tried so far. So I want to try. I guess that's a little tough to understand, right?”
Anthony rolled his eyes, “Nope, that's actually a lot easier to understand than all the other stuff you all do. I think just about every remotely competitive Pokémon trainer starts to see someone in their peer group as their rival. I mean, what do you think motivates people to challenge gym leaders? Same mentality.”
Minna sighed with relief. “Thanks, Anthony. It's good to have someone I can talk to about this stuff. I guess everyone secretly wants to win, but with most of my friends it seems like it's somehow bad to admit you want to win or be seen as trying too hard for it.” Soon after that, they said good night to each other and headed home. She pretty much fell asleep the moment she got home that night.
The night after that, Minna was sitting in her room already dressed for bed, watching a Pokémon League tournament on television after spending the afternoon helping her friends make the decorations and fliers for the upcoming local tournament. It was a battle between Nidorino and Gengar, and for just a brief moment she imagined what it would be like to fight Gengar with her own Nidoran, although she soon realized how outmatched she would be and dismissed the thought. Still, she had a soft spot for Nidorino and quietly rooted for him to win.
Suddenly she heard her Mom shout, “Honey, one of your friends is here! Are you asleep yet?” Minna quickly changed the channel to the Home Shopping Network and shouted, “No, I was just watching TV! Go ahead and send them up!” Sally came upstairs and said, “Hi, Minna! Huh, you're really watching HSN this late at night? I would have thought for sure you'd be watching something Pokémon battle related.” Minna forced a laugh. “No, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't care about that stuff. I was just looking at this gold-plated Poké Ball on HSN because I couldn't sleep. It's a pretty good price at $4.99.” Sally looked sideways at Minna, “Well, anyway, I just wanted to ask what level Pidgey evolves at. Is it anything like level 10 or 9 that I could reach fairly easily by the end of the week?” Minna replied, “Well, I haven't studied this stuff in a while, but I think it's something like level 17 or 18. You'd probably need a couple of weeks. Maybe we should ask my Dad to be sure, though.” Sally shook her head, “No, that sounds right to me. Thanks anyway, Minna.” Minna added, “Wait, Sally, I think I remember that Pidgey learns Quick Attack at level 12. You could possibly reach that level in a reasonable amount of time, if that helps you.”
Sally smiled and said, “You still remember quite a bit, don't you? Well, I probably won't be able to get Pidgey past level 10 any time soon, but I hope that at least one of us does well in the competition. Good luck, Minna.” Minna replied, “Good luck to you too, Sally.” After that, Sally left the room, and Minna almost immediately switched the television back to the battle. Sally peeked her head in through a crack in the door for a second, and suppressed a small chuckle as she walked away. “Once a fighter, always a fighter,” she thought to herself as she left Minna's house.
When you try to picture Minna, you should picture the original sprite or artwork from R/B/Y, which suggests this shy, but excitable trainer with long, brown hair and her hands near her heart. When you try to picture Sally, you should start off thinking of the more confident, playful-looking Lass sprite in the FR/LG remakes.
So, I'm going to be presenting this one chapter at a time, as I manage to clean up the chapters and polish the writing a bit. This first chapter really isn't that interesting, admittedly, but it does contain a lot of setup for what follows.
Chapter 1 - Nidoran and Rattata
It was a pleasant, sunny day on Route 2, just south of Pewter City. A Lass-type trainer named Minna was with her friend Sally, trying to decide which Pokémon she should capture next. “What color do you like?” Sally asked her. “Purple, I guess. Like my Nidoran,” she replied. “Well, there aren't any purple Pokémon around here besides Rattata. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to go to Route 3 and catch a nice Jigglypuff like Janice did?” Sally suggested. Just then, a wild Rattata appeared.
“Go, Nidoran!” Minna shouted. The Rattata intimidated her Nidoran with a long stare, but then shook it off and tackled the Rattata. Minna, without hesitating, threw out a Poké Ball and captured the Rattata. She held it up to her heart and exclaimed “Yay! I got another purple Pokémon. Isn't this great, Sally?”
Sally didn't seem so sure. “Minna, I know you like purple, but you would be raising a rodent. Doesn't that gross you out a little?” Minna shook her head dismissively. “Not really. I had a cute hamster when I was younger, and this wouldn't be much different from that, really. You're not afraid of her, are you?”
Sally sighed, “No, it's not that. My younger brother has a Rattata, and if I were going to be afraid of one of your Pokémon, it would probably be your Nidoran. It has poison spines on its body, for goodness's sake. I guess I just never thought of Rattata as cute, but it's pretty charming until it evolves into Raticate.” Minna grinned and said, “Well, it's not like I have to let it evolve. We can cancel evolution, remember?” Sally finally smiled back. “Yeah, that's right. Oh, look at the time! We don't want to be late for the party at Janice's house. Come on, let's go!”
While they were at the party, everyone laughed and talked about various pieces of gossip that Minna pretended to be interested in, until finally the discussion turned to an informal local Pokémon tournament to be held next week just outside Pewter City. Everyone was excited to test their skills, but Minna was exceptionally excited and shrieked a little bit. “That sounds so interesting! But do you really think I'm good enough to enter, Janice?” Janice giggled a little. “Don't be so modest, Minna. You have some of the toughest Pokémon among us here tonight. Besides, it's not like Brock or any serious trainers will be there. It's just a friendly game to help our Pokémon get a little exercise more than anything else. None of us have exactly made Pokémon the center of our lives. No need to be nervous.”
Later that night, Minna was training her new Rattata on Route 2. She was very pleased with its passionate attacks and the speed with which it was taking down wild Caterpie and Pidgey. It had grown nearly two levels in what seemed like no time at all. Suddenly, she saw a lantern light coming towards her and had Rattata guard her. Then she heard a voice saying, “Chill out, Minna. It's just me, Anthony.” She recognized the voice. “Oh, sorry. Rattata, return! You shouldn't scare me like that Anthony, I thought it might be a stalker. What are you doing out so late, anyway?” He chuckled. “Looking for Venonat. They're very rare in Viridian Forest, but they have been said to appear at night. What are you up to?”
Minna sighed. “Training for the upcoming competition. I know it's silly, but I'm afraid of losing my first battle in front of everyone and embarrassing myself, so I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen.” Anthony laughed.“You're one of the best trainers in Pewter City, but you don't have a lot of self-confidence. Still, training isn't silly, it's smart. There's no shame in wanting to win.” Minna blushed. “W-Who says I want to win? I just don't want to be in last place, that's all!” Anthony sighed. “Come on, Minna, I know you better than that. Who are you trying to beat?”
Minna smiled a big grin and a little fire flashed in her eyes. “All right, but don't tell anyone. I want to beat Janice. She's always been the oldest in our group. First to get a Pokémon, first to get an allowance, first to develop... she's always first and everyone looks up to her. I think she could stand to be knocked down a peg, and no one else has tried so far. So I want to try. I guess that's a little tough to understand, right?”
Anthony rolled his eyes, “Nope, that's actually a lot easier to understand than all the other stuff you all do. I think just about every remotely competitive Pokémon trainer starts to see someone in their peer group as their rival. I mean, what do you think motivates people to challenge gym leaders? Same mentality.”
Minna sighed with relief. “Thanks, Anthony. It's good to have someone I can talk to about this stuff. I guess everyone secretly wants to win, but with most of my friends it seems like it's somehow bad to admit you want to win or be seen as trying too hard for it.” Soon after that, they said good night to each other and headed home. She pretty much fell asleep the moment she got home that night.
The night after that, Minna was sitting in her room already dressed for bed, watching a Pokémon League tournament on television after spending the afternoon helping her friends make the decorations and fliers for the upcoming local tournament. It was a battle between Nidorino and Gengar, and for just a brief moment she imagined what it would be like to fight Gengar with her own Nidoran, although she soon realized how outmatched she would be and dismissed the thought. Still, she had a soft spot for Nidorino and quietly rooted for him to win.
Suddenly she heard her Mom shout, “Honey, one of your friends is here! Are you asleep yet?” Minna quickly changed the channel to the Home Shopping Network and shouted, “No, I was just watching TV! Go ahead and send them up!” Sally came upstairs and said, “Hi, Minna! Huh, you're really watching HSN this late at night? I would have thought for sure you'd be watching something Pokémon battle related.” Minna forced a laugh. “No, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't care about that stuff. I was just looking at this gold-plated Poké Ball on HSN because I couldn't sleep. It's a pretty good price at $4.99.” Sally looked sideways at Minna, “Well, anyway, I just wanted to ask what level Pidgey evolves at. Is it anything like level 10 or 9 that I could reach fairly easily by the end of the week?” Minna replied, “Well, I haven't studied this stuff in a while, but I think it's something like level 17 or 18. You'd probably need a couple of weeks. Maybe we should ask my Dad to be sure, though.” Sally shook her head, “No, that sounds right to me. Thanks anyway, Minna.” Minna added, “Wait, Sally, I think I remember that Pidgey learns Quick Attack at level 12. You could possibly reach that level in a reasonable amount of time, if that helps you.”
Sally smiled and said, “You still remember quite a bit, don't you? Well, I probably won't be able to get Pidgey past level 10 any time soon, but I hope that at least one of us does well in the competition. Good luck, Minna.” Minna replied, “Good luck to you too, Sally.” After that, Sally left the room, and Minna almost immediately switched the television back to the battle. Sally peeked her head in through a crack in the door for a second, and suppressed a small chuckle as she walked away. “Once a fighter, always a fighter,” she thought to herself as she left Minna's house.