Tank Abrams

**Tank** is an unemployed Apricorn Crafter, who was laid off due to an increase in artificial Pokeball production. He lost his family in a forgotten accident, and one day found himself in the Johto region with no explanation.

## **Story**

### **Let the Training Begin!**

Tank's journey as a Pokemon Trainer begins shortly after Red's. After receiving a message from Professor Hickory, Tank arrives in his truck. He enters the lab to find Hickory pacing around nervously. Hickory hires Tank on to watch over Red, to make sure he doesn't kill himself during his journey. In exchange for keeping him safe, Hickory gives Tank his very own Dratini, as well as a weekly payment of ₱5000. With an advance in hand, Tank gets in his truck and heads to Route 29.

Making his way through Route 29, Tank comes across a young boy named Red, who is having a fit of frustration. Tank steps out of his truck to see what's going on, and Red explains his situation. Tank decides to try his hand at Pokemon catching, and succeeds, obtaining his very own Pidgey.

Tank offers Red a ride in his truck, which Red accepts. However, this doesn't last very long, as Red swiftly disrespects Tank, who forces him to get out and walk. Tank drives off without him, but not before slipping a Poke Ball into Red's bag.

### **Cherrygrove City**

Arriving in the city well before Red does, Tank decides to take a much needed break at the Magikarp Cafe. After enjoying a hearty meal for a generous price, he decides to go fishing in the lake nearby.

Meanwhile, Red arrives in town around 6 PM. While he goes to the Poke Mart, Tank catches himself another Pokémon, this time a Magikarp. Deciding to treat both himself and his Pokemon, Tank heads back into the Cafe, and buys Treats, as well as an Adult Beverage.

As both adventurers are leaving their respective stores, a commotion is heard outside. Two members of Team Cyclone are seen harassing an Old Man, trying to force him to come with them. This prompts Tank and Red to step up and battle the two. While Tank uses his fists, Red opts to use his Froakie. After Tank ties up one of the Cyclone Grunts with a length of rope, and said Grunt's Houndour is majorly damaged by Froakie, the two Grunts leave out of fear. Having forced them to leave the Houndour, Tank picks it up and takes it to a Pokemon Center, while Red looks on in disbelief.

In the Pokémon Center, Tank walks up to Nurse Joy, Houndour in hand. After about half an hour, the Houndour wakes up. In order to speed up the healing process, Joy asks for Houndour's Poke ball. Not being his original trainer, and being a big old softie when it comes to Pokémon, Tank bends down and talks to Houndour, giving him the choice to get in a Poke ball. While fiercely loyal to his original trainer, the Team Cyclone Grunt, Houndour understands that Tank is trying to help him, and reluctantly gets in the Poke ball.

Having healed the Houndour up, Tank heads out of the Pokémon Center. Upon leaving, he meets the Old Man outside, as well as Red. The Old Man, wishing to thank them both, invites them to his house.

### **Old Man's House**

Inside the Old Man's House, the pair see a multitude of things: the walls are covered by bookshelves and knickknacks, a desk rests in the corner, a large open book sitting atop it. A clock above the desk reads 7 PM, meaning it is now night time. A recliner sits in front of a fireplace, on top of a strange rug. The man sits down at a dinner table and gestures for the pair to sit. On the table is a lockbox, which the man opens up, revealing three items: a Good Rod Voucher, an Unidentified Feather, and a Mysterious Note.

To Tank, he gifts the Good Rod Voucher, which Tank is hesitant to accept at first. To Red, he gives the Unidentified Feather, stating that it was this item the Team Cyclone Grunts were after. He claims that he doesn't know what it is, but feels it would be safer in Red's hands. As he hands Red the feather, he drop the Mysterious Note. Tank tries to let the Old Man know, but Red hushes him, picking up the note instead.

After reading the Mysterious Note, Red jots down the content in his Trainer's Notebook, before returning the note to the Old Man. Realizing that he might, at some point, have to abandon his truck, Tank begrudgingly sells it to the Old Man. In exchange, he receives an EXP Share and ₱5000. Tank gets his belongings from his truck and sets up his tent, resting for the night.

### **Route 40**

After a restful night, Tank wakes up feeling refreshed. He stops by the Café and picks up a coffee. Afterwards, he heads out towards Route 40. He runs into a wild Weedle on the way, and catches it. Continuing on his way, he finds a Shady Shack, with a sign reading "Free Berries Inside". Entering the shack apprehensively, he meets a Not-Very-Good Thief. The two fight, and Tank knocks him out. Looting his belongings, he finds ₱500 and a TM Case, containing the following HM and TMs: Cut, Ember, and Thundershock. Deciding to see if the next town has a bounty on the Thief, he asks his Dratini and Houndour to drag him along.

While his Pokémon are dragging the Thief behind them, Tank comes across a fork in the road. The path splits between a dark, overgrown forest and a sunny, bright path. Choosing the easier path, Tank heads northeast to the bright path. There he sees a recently healed Marowak, which Red has just fled from. Having witnessed the Marowak decimate Red's Froakie, Tank decides to catch the Pokémon for himself.

However, its baby Cubone jumps in front of it, stopping Tank from finishing off the poisoned Pokémon. Doing its best to communicate with him, the Marowak pulls out a map, pointing at the Johto Safari Zone. Agreeing to take them there, Marowak and Cubone join Tank's team, under the condition that they would not be forced to fight.

### **Mr. Pokemon**

Tank catches up with Red quickly, outside of Mr. Pokémon's house. Tank uses the HM Cut in front of Red, not breaking eye contact the entire time. Red tries to tell him to let him use the HM, but Tank refuses, pointing out that Red has been nothing but rude to him. Their argument gets heated, and Mr. Pokémon comes out to see what all the commotion is. Introducing himself to them, Mr. Pokémon notices the Thief being drug along by Tank's Pokémon.

Mr. Pokemon explains how the Thief stole his TM Case from him, and how he was offering a bounty of $1000 to whoever could catch him. Tank trades him the Thief for the bounty, and Mr. Pokémon is so thankful that he throws in the HM Cut as well. Red asks for it, but Tank keeps it away from him.

Looking inside Mr. Pokemon's mailbox, Tank finds seven more Cut HMs. Upon returning them to Mr. Pokemon, Mr. Pokémon immediately gifts them to Tank. After this, Tank is willing to sell Red an HM, which he buys for far too much money. Using Cut on the nearby tree, our heroes go on their way to Route 31, where Tank catches a Poliwag.

### **Violet City**

As our heroes approach Violet City, they notice a purple haze shrouding the location. Unfazed by this, Tank and Red head into the city, only to find the remains of chaos. Upon entering the city, the players stumble across the Pokémon Center, a tattered building that somehow survived through whatever conflict overtook the city. Needing to heal up their Pokémon, the pair enter the center.

Inside the Pokémon Center, they find a timid nurse, hiding behind the counter. He begs for them to spare him, before realizes they're allies. He allows them to use the Healing Station nearby, as well as sells Tank some potions. He then explains how nobody can leave the town, due to the purple haze. Everything was fine until supplies stopped coming in, whist the population kept growing. He suspects that the purple haze had something to do with the construction of Sprout Hotel.

As the players make their way to Sprout Hotel, in order to investigate the purple haze, they encounter the Pokémon School, whose doors have been blown open, and whose insides strewn about everywhere. While Tank finds a knife stuck in the blackboard, Red finds a fresh pool of blood on the ground. Convinced there's a murderer on the loose, Red is eager to leave. Tank rushes behind him, as is his job.

Once they reach the Sprout Hotel, they notice that it's locked from the inside, with no visible keyhole. Tank knocks on the door, and a scared voice from inside tells them to go away. After convincing them that they mean no harm, and are there to help, the group quickly lets them inside.

### **Sprout Hotel**

Inside the hotel, the players find the majority of the town's population. It's revealed that, as the population of the town kept growing, due to the Sprout Hotel, the resources dwindled, leading the outsiders to become violent towards anyone they perceived as threats. It's implied, since Tank and Red didn't encounter anyone in the town, aside from the nurse, that the others had died, and the nurse, or somebody else, had disposed of the bodies in the surrounding lake. Learning that the Sprout Hotel was built over the old Sprout Tower, which was torn down to make the hotel, Tank and Red decide to go investigate the upper levels, leaving Marowak and child behind.

Heading up to the second level via the stairs, the most obvious route becomes inaccessible, due to the stairs having collapsed. Instead, the players head down the hallway, until they reach room 109. Pushing the door open, they find a disheveled room, with an unmade bed. The window is open, as if somebody had previously used the fire escape. In the closet, Tank finds a Fancy Faded Suit, inside of which lies two Ultra Balls.

Climbing the fire escape to the third floor, our heroes find a broken window. Deciding to use him to make sure there's nothing hiding in the room, he throws Red through the window. Red lands on an Ekans, who then retaliates, prompting a battle. Red succeeds in knocking out the Ekans, but now has to carry it in his hand, putting his Lamp in his backpack. The pair continues on their way, climbing the unbroken set of stairs to the fourth floor. On the fourth floor, there are three vending machines, all empty, save for one Potion, as well as the entrance to a museum. After healing their Pokémon up, the duo enter the Sprout Tower Museum.

### **Sprout Tower Museum**

It is here that Tank and Red find the source of the purple haze: a Kaiju sized, mutated Bellsprout. Sneaking across the room, Tank heads to his target, a Katana in a glass display case. He smashes the glass and equips the Katana, as well as picking up Red's Fainted Ekans, and wearing it around his shoulders. Due to the plant's size, as well as it's stationary status, the heroes and all their Pokémon make short work of this mutation. After being defeated, the Bellsprout disintegrates, leaving behind an Unidentified Charm, as well as some monetary loot and a Mythical Bracelet, which Red picks up. Tank picks up the following key items: Mysterious Fossil and Sage Outfit.

As they're looking around, the pair hear a dull thud, and turn around to face two Cyclone Field Researchers: a skinny, older looking man named Field Researcher Cavendish, and a husky looking younger man, Field Researcher Dakota. After being threatened, the researchers convince Tank and Red to accompany them to the Cyclone Research HQ.