“… What’s that?” I glanced up from my “Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl Guidebook”, and said exactly that. He acknowledged my choice in entertainment that I had chosen for the day long drive to his hometown of Churubusco, Indiana, by mentioning how he remembered when Pokémon first came out, thus proving to you how old he is… sorry dad. But, anyways, we started talking about all the different types of Pokémon there are, and the types of Pokéballs, and even the N.P.C.’s (A.k.a. Non Playable Characters). But then I mentioned Mew, the “New Species” Pokémon, and that’s when it started to get interesting. This is what we came up with.
Part 1: Professor Oak. In the Pokémon world, there is always a “professor” who will start your journey. In the first game it was Professor Oak. This is what we think. Professor Oak was working on “Cold Fusion” (the theory that you can turn matter into energy). He started off by testing it on small, inanimate objects, like rocks and dirt. But he then realized that he could turn this energy into data. So he moved up to working on small, organisms, like mice.
Part 2: The Incident. But one day, while he was working, his best friend, and his loyal companion, his cat, was caught in the cold fusion’s beam, and he got sucked in. Professor Oak was mortified. He had just lost his only friend! “Oh God… Wait! I still have the data!” His friend was still alive! But he didn’t have a way to get him out. And if he tried and failed, he could kill his friend. So, he went out and started to test on other Pokémon. But as he collected the data of the Pokémon and released them, each time, his friend tried to escape so some of the data and memories stayed behind. And he had seen how all of the Pokémon had been treated, and he began to fear the Professor.
Part 3: Changed. Then, one day, after he had collected all of the data he needed, he released his cat. But he had changed. As soon as he was free, he took off and fled from the city. After all the work he had done, the Professor had lost his friend again. He was about to hang up his lab coat for good, but then he realized, he still had the copy! So he went to release it again, but when he did, something awful came out.
Part 4: Ditto. It was some foul, blob of matter, which in no way resembled his friend. He tried again and again, but the same “thing” kept coming out! “Great” he thought, “Now I have all of these things to deal with!” So he went outside and told them all to shoo. But now he felt even worse, because now he had too much data… “I know what I must do.” he said. So he packed up his equipment and headed over to his partner’s company, “Team Rocket”.
Part 5: The Heartless One. When he arrived, everyone was delighted to see him. They asked him how his research was coming, and he said that he needed their help. “You guys are the only ones who have a DNA separator. Please help me!” So they got to work, removing the excess data. But they didn’t get it perfect. As they were removing the data, they were removing the soul of Professor Oak’s cat. And once they removed the last strand of Bulbasaur, they released “it”. They had just created the cruelest, most hateful, and ruthless Pokémon the world should never have seen; Mewtwo, the “Genetic” Pokémon. It destroyed the lab, along with the Professor’s data and fled out of the city. “…Oh…My…God…” The Professor didn’t know what to do. But Team Rocket knew what they needed to do. “We have to stop it! Let nobody stop us!” And they left the Professor to his tears.
Part 6: Red. As he moped back home to his wife and grandkids, he realized he still had a chance. He grabbed his portable cold fusion machines, and hurried home. “Grandpa!” his kids shouted when he returned. “Hey kids! How would you like to help Grandpa Oak with some research?” he said. And he took them out back and started training them to use the machines. “So, we can catch
Pokémon inside of these balls?” asked his youngest son, Red. “Yes” Oak said very pleased with his child’s observation. “Then why don’t you just call them ‘Pokéballs’?” It had never occurred to him. He would need to mass produce these things so his kin could have a refillable stock, so why not give it a catchy name? “Ok! That sound like a great idea! Pokéballs! ” And so, his grandchildren set off with the orders from their grandpa to collect all of the Pokémon’s data in an electric journal called a “Pokédex”.
Part 7: Me & You. So after many years, his youngest son, all grown up, returned to him with a smile as big as a Snorlax (That’s a Pokémon pun). “I did it, Grandpa! I filled it up!” He took the Pokédex from Red and scanned it. He couldn’t believe it! His cat’s data was in the Pokédex! So he released it from the digital world and into the real world. But he backed away, to make sure he didn’t scare it away again. But it just stood there. And when he called its name, it ran to him. “Thank you, Red! Thank you!” He finally had his friend back. And that night, as he sat in his rocking chair, with his friend in his lap, he fell asleep saying, “It’s just me and you. Just me and you. Me and you. Me you. Mew…”
“Well, here we are!” my dad said, jolting me out of my trance-like state. “You know dad, this has been an awesome ride. I hope we don’t forget this story.” “Maybe you could write a paper about this?” he said. “Maybe” I said, “But who would read it?” Then my dad said the best thing ever. “Just me and you, son. Just me and you.”