Story Notes:
This is going to be a story with several parts. I spent 15 days on this chapter, but most of that was figuring out plot and other things. I hope you enjoy it.Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 2 - First Flight
I am not happy. Everything I'm being forced to do right now is absolutely ridiculous and one hundred percent against my beliefs. There is a very good reason I hate pokemon training and I have no doubt that I'll rediscover it again. Unfortunately for me, I have no choice in the matter. The Director along with my mother are forcing me do this, and I understand that we don't exactly see each other often, and she wouldn't... truly understand my reasoning... but really? Did she have to go this far?
Whatever, I'll do it. I just have to be extra careful this time. No slip ups. What's worse is I'm being thrown into a Region I have zero knowledge about. Sure, there'd be plenty of books to read and plenty of items to study, but you can't beat real experience and the fact that I haven't even touched a Pokeball in ten years doesn't help my case any.
I left the Head Quarters quickly after I had received my orders and am now standing perfectly still on a subway as it speeds its way down the tracks and toward the good old city of Goldenrod. I'd catch a flight there, and once I arrived in Unova I'd receive more specific orders from the professor stationed there. I had my hoodie on, and the hood covered my head in a vain to create some form of silence for myself. It didn't exactly cut out all the noise of the children and their parents that filled the train, but it did help.
Unfortunately, I'm fairly unable to focus on any details about the subway as I have a lot more important things on my mind. For instance; stopping a large group of extremely powerful people with myself and six pokemon I don't even know yet. How am I going to do this without the Orders help? I'm strong, but not nearly that strong. This journey is most definitely going to take a heavy toll on me, and whomever I pick to help me, both physically and mentally. I've heard stories about some of the pokemon in Unova. Powerful... terrifying, and ruthless in the hands of the wrong person. All that coupled with the actual threat? What hope do I really have of succeeding in this mission? Not much of one, I'll tell you that much. Sure, I'm good... really good at what I do, and even better at training Pokémon. But even still, the future is bleak. I was suddenly yanked out of my thoughts by a tugging on my sleeve and I looked down into the eyes of a small child, around eight or so. Perfect, just the age for their interest to grow in Pokemon.
"Hey! Do you have Pokemon mister?" Called it. "Jake! That's very rude! Come over here and sit down. I'm terribly sorry, he gets so excitable." I met his mother's eyes with a smile, and pulled my hood down. "Don't worry about it." I bent down and releasing my hold on the handle that I was using to keep myself standing during the turns. "Nope, I sure don't." I said to the boy. He frowned cutely, and it brought an honest smile to my face. "But I do have this," I shoved my hand blindly into the front pocket of my pack and reached around for what I knew was inside. I found it with ease and pulled it out to show the item to the boy."Know what this is?"
"A Pokeball!" he shouted with joy, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the sphere. It was in its minimized state, and I held it pinched between my thumb and index finger. "I'll let you have this so that you can catch your own Pokémon one day, with your moms help of course." I added, dropping it into my palm and opening my hand to him. "But you have to promise me something."
"Sure, anything!" he was nearly jumping with joy at this point. "You have to promise that you will always cherish and love your Pokemon like it's your most precious friend. And if you capture even more, I want you to treat them with the same respect. Understand?" I moved my hand forward, lowering it so he could grab it. The ball rolled onto its white bottom, bringing up a reminiscent from me.. "I will! I promise!" he reached forward and picked the ball up in his small hand, and looked at it with excited and hopeful eyes. He thanked me and ran over to his mother to show her, laughing with joy as she acknowledged it. She mouthed a thank you to me, and I smiled in return while he expanded and minimized it repeatedly.
-
The rest of the train ride was fairly uneventful, and I was nearly bored out of my mind when the captain said "We have arrived in Goldenrod City, please make an orderly line and you will be let out onto the platform shortly. Thank you for choosing Golden Rail transit, we hope you have a pleasant day." Many people moved into action and began grabbing their luggage and stretching. I stood still, waiting for them to start moving forward. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, and started walking at a slow pace along with the other passengers. I sighed in relief once I stepped foot on the concrete platform and walked up the stairs into the main room of the train station. I walked past the man at the gate and walked out of the building and into the luxurious Goldenrod City.
I observed the tall buildings with curiosity, noticing the almost golden sheen each seemed to have. I suppose that's why it was named that. The bricks that were used to pave the streets seemed to resemble a golden color as well, and the people here looked fit to be here. I hardly blended in, but I wouldn't be here for long anyways. I stayed long enough to visit the local Mart to grab something quick to eat before going to the airport behind the city, watching the people as I walked. They all seemed to care more for trivial things like jewelry more than anything. In a way, it was disgusting. To each their own, I suppose. I sidestepped people as they walked toward me, not bothering to adjust their direction so that they wouldn't run into me, and I sighed. I know... somewhere inside them is something that resembles a good soul, but through all the clothes, jewels, makeup and other crap these people put on themselves, it isn't exactly an easy item to find.
After a good ten minutes of walking through the busy streets, I stepped out of the busy part of town and into the area sectioned off for the airport. My ticket had been supplied before I had even accepted the mission, so I would have no trouble getting on my designated flight. Soon enough, I was sitting again, looking through a window at the seemingly endless streams of clouds as we flew past them, unable to see the city's through the fluffy whiteness the clouds were. I had decided rather quickly to skip the crappy flight and sleep through it, but still had to wave away the flight attendants as they woke me, asking me if I wanted something stupid like wine and beer among other forms of alcohol I both wouldn't enjoy or would never touch.
All in all, it was a boring and slightly irritating flight, but I managed to sleep off the majority of the trip. It wasn't until the next day that I awoke, looking out at the darkened sky as we flew. The lights were dimmed and the snores of the people around me weren't in a limited amount as I gazed at the new clouds. We would be in Unova in just a few hours... I would become a pokemon trainer, again... in a few hours. My life, and potentially the lives of millions would change in just a few hours and though it would be unnoticed by the vast majority of people, It's insanely difficult to wrap your mind around something like that, though realistically it's a hell of a lot more accurate than any other prediction I've made. My head ached slightly from sleeping for too long, and my back was in the same boat from sleeping for so long in such an awkward position. I stretched as best as I could before grabbing a pair of headphones from the back of the seat and plugging them into my MP3 player . I listened to the music quietly, only using it to pass the time, really. Unfortunately, the train hadn't offered a pair of headphones, or I'd have done this to keep out the noise. I could almost see the sky changing colors as the sun began to rise. The orange, pinks and reds that were painted so beautifully on the clear blue sky brought a peaceful smile to my face. Almost like the eye in a tornado. So peaceful and calm despite the hectic world outside. Soon enough I'd be spit back out into that world and be forced to do something about it.
-
The plane touched down on the tarmac in Mistralton City, and I shivered in anticipation when it came to a stop. I pulled the headphones off of my head at the unbuckle seatbelts light, and stood, giving myself a proper stretch before I grabbed my bag from the overhead compartment. I walked along in the line toward the boarding ramp, and thanked the captain when I passed by him. The passengers and I were out of the plane and on the ground finally, and I nearly smiled at the "Welcome to Unova" sign as it rotated in an infinite loop on the large monitor that hung from the ceiling. Supposedly, I'm supposed to be picked up by one of the Professors Assistants and escorted so that I wouldn't have to walk for god knows how long. Time is precious right now, and I have very little patience for anything other than my assignment. I would get in, get done, and then get out, hopefully losing the least amount of lives possible.
The entire car ride was spent browsing through the seemingly endless pages of the newly updated Pokedex I had received from the professor's assistant and by the end of the car ride I had read nearly every single entry of the pokedex, and was currently using the personal features with a slight smile on my face. They really had gone all out on this latest model. You could customize everything from the interface to the actual color of the device. Paint was either injected into, or extracted from the hard plastic shell to change the colors. If you looked carefully, you could see each small tube inside that held the paint. It was amazingly compact as well, just like your typical 'dex. It was even touch screen. After changing backgrounds, fonts, lightings, colors and other various options, I was left with a fully tricked out Pokedex, painted a nice pale purple to match my eyes. I turned to the assistant and asked "Hey, do you know when we'll get there?" He looked over at me for a second before turning back. "Yeah, we should be back in about ten minutes. Sorry this is taking so long." He answered with an apologetic frown. "Don't worry about it. I understand, it takes a while to drive that far. I've been keeping myself busy with this thing anyways." I held up the 'dex and laughed once. "Yeah, pretty nice, right? Professor Juniper has been working on that for about ten years before she released it to the public. Around the time she did people started talking about Unova more and then people started flying over to get a shot at the League here. It had always been happening, but when she finished with that, Unova exploded. There's a ton of people now. It's pretty strange, honestly." I nodded as he spoke. That sounded about right. I myself hadn't heard about this place until Celebi made her 'prediction' if you can call it that. That whole day was full of surprises. Not a day I like to remember.
I sat back and looked out at the scenery. Everywhere I looked was a pokemon I had never seen before. In all honesty, I was really looking forward to this whole thing. I was in a new place surrounded by new pokemon... a whole new region to start over in. The car began to slow, and I looked away from the car window and at the lab assistant. He stopped just outside what looked like a small town. "Welcome to Nuvema Town. The Professors lab is at the very back. It's not a large walk so you should be just fine. If you need to, just ask one of the people around town, they will be glad to help you. The people here are very kind." He unlocked the doors and I opened mine. "I have to go do some more research for the Professor, so you don't mind if I leave you here, do you?" He asked, leaning toward the passenger seat while I stepped out. "I'll manage. Thank you for the ride." The door shut with a quiet slam, and I began walking forward into the town of Nuvema.
My first thoughts were; Small and... well, small. There were maybe twenty houses in total, each of them of medium size. I noticed children running about, laughing and playing with each other, parents sitting, watching with a cold drink and a smile. Even some pokemon which, of course I didn't recognize. I took a look to my right and saw a single two story house and another off to my left. Interesting, very interesting. I'd love to explore this wonderfully quiet town, maybe talk to a few people and just enjoy myself... but I have a job to do. I began to walk down the dirt path that led to the back of the place, and smiled at the small buildings. They weren't half bad at all, pretty comfortable if you ask me. Most of them had the same blue painted roofs and plain brown paint. It wasn't over the top, but it was attractive. It gave the houses a warm feeling. Maybe, after all this is over... if I survive, I'll come back here and live a happy and comfortable life. One day. I continued my walk for around five minutes, and couldn't help but notice I was being followed. Or rather, the two behind me were going in the same direction I was. I listened closely to their talking, just to make sure they weren't following me.
"Bianca, you're such a ditz." One of them complained, a boy. "Soooory!" She responded, dragging out the sound in a way that seemed to grind on my nerves. The boy flinched audibly and sighed. "I hate it when you do that. You do realize what day this is, right?"
"Duh! We get our Pokémon today!"
"And of all days, you choose this one to be late?"
"I said sorry! Now let's hurry and go!" I heard her shoes stomp on the dirt ground and stepped out of the way just in time to see her run through where I had been standing, backwards. It seemed she hadn't noticed I was there. "Careful, there's-!" The boys voice cut off when I sidestepped her, and she was left with a confused look before she noticed me. "Oh! I'm so sorry, sir!" She talked with a southern accent, and her blonde hair and blue eyes couples with the accent and the way she seemed to act confirmed for me that she was not somebody I'd generally get to know. "I nearly ran into you, haha!" She had stopped in her tracks, and I slowed enough that I could respond before continuing on my way. " Don't worry about it. Please, excuse me I need to be headed somewhere." I walked past her, picking up speed again before I was interrupted by her running in front of me. "Wait! Are you going to see the professor, too?" Must be a local, she can tell by my direction where I'm going, though I can't say I didn't expect that. "Yeah. I presume the two of you are going the same way? Pardon my rudeness, but I eavesdropped a tad bit." It was hard to keep myself from mimicking her accent, for some reason it was infectious.
"Don't worry about it! Me and Cheren are going to get our first Pokémon today!" She said with a big smile. The boy, Cheren sighed before stopping beside me and pushing his glasses up on his nose. "Sorry about her, she's... well, not that bright. My name is Cheren White, she's Bianca Belle." I smiled, and Bianca laughed. "Nice to meet you!" She exclaimed, seemingly not noticing Cheren's insult. "Likewise," I guess. "We really should get going, though. The professor is sure to be waiting for the two of you." With a nod and another laugh from Bianca, the three of us began our trek to the professors lab, Bianca skipping the whole way while Cheren attempted to start some form of a conversation up. I could tell by the way he spoke that he was fairly intelligent. He'd probably make a good trainer if his priorities are set correctly, but that's for him to find out, not me. Our trek turned out to be a short walk, thank Arceus, as we stopped in front of a large, plain looking building. "This is it!" Bianca exclaimed excitedly, not hesitating to run through the automatic sliding doors. "B-Bianca! Wait!" Cheren called out, running in after her. Awfully excitable, aren't they? The door began to slide closed, and I stepped forward into the view of the small camera placed atop the door to keep it from doing so. The two stained glass doors slid back again, and I stepped off of the crisp grass and onto a black mat. I wiped my feet slowly, watching as the two of them talked to the professor. It brought a smile to my face; she played her role so perfectly. I made my way over to them and smiled at the professor's glance at me out of the corner of her eyes. "Alright, alright! Give me a minute to get the things!" She said with a large smile. She motioned to me with her finger to step into the side area, and I nodded silently before walking past the two kids quietly and into the small living-room like area of the lab.
It took her a few minutes, but she was soon standing behind her clean desk again with several things in hand. She placed down the obvious things, pokedex and pokeballs along with a small box. "Inside this box lies what you'd generally expect of me." She said with a proud smile before removing the top.
Inside on a velvet cushion were three polished and shiny looking pokeballs, presumably with the starters for these two children. "Up first, we have Oshawott." She tapped one, then moved over to another. "Second is Tepig," She moved to the last one. "And lastly is Snivy. You two should be familiar with all three of these, so I shouldn't have to explain much about them, right Cheren?" He nodded excitedly and shifted his weight to his other leg impatiently. "Take your pick, these will be the pokemon you keep with you for the rest of your life; your first." She stepped back from the table and watched them as they looked at each ball, making a decision. It wasn't long after this that Cheren snatched up one of them. "Tepig, you're mine." He said this with a large smile, and the professor nodded silently as if she had expected it. "I want Oshawott!" She picked up the ball and held it up while giggling uncontrollably.
Another nod, and she slid the other items toward them. "These are what you'll need for your journey, now I want to make sure you know what you're going to be doing-" She was cut off by Cheren's laugh. "Professor? We know what the Pokedex is for. We're going to be helping you with your research of the region and record data on all the pokemon we meet. That's standard." She smiled at this as Bianca nodded impatiently. "Good, then I don't need to explain everything. Go on home and talk to your parents, they should know you're going on a journey, after all!" With a few last words and many 'thank you's' from Bianca, the two left the lab and the Professor was walking back to the table. "Oh, Professor there's something you should know." Cheren stopped at the door and turned to look at her. "There was a man before, he said he was coming to see you as well. He was standing outside the lab last time we saw him, we didn't get his name, though." She nodded and smiled. "Oh, yes I remember now. Thank you very much Cheren, I'm sure he'll show up eventually." And with that, they were gone. She sighed and began to walk back toward the metal desk and looked into the box. "They always pick the water type first, you know. I expected Cheren to be a bit different, but I'm sure you already knew that." She looked at me fully for the first time and placed her hands on the desk, using it to support her weight. "You know what you're to do, correct?" She asked, grabbing the ball from the box and looking closely at it. "Do you honestly think I would just come here without knowing anything? Professor, I'm hurt." I gave one short laugh before walking to stand in front of her on the other side of the desk. "Yes, I know what I have to do. I won't fail." She grabbed my wrist and dropped the ball into my hand. "Good, now get out of my lab, I have things to do." She turned and walked deeper into the lab, waving me off as she went. "Wait, I need to know something." She turned, cocking an eyebrow and motioned with her hand for me to go on. "How much control do they have currently." She rolled her eyes as if I should know this already before turning her back on me. "Too much. They already have a steady following of humans. If they aren't stopped, and soon... well, you know what will happen. You must raise that one with care. I don't know how long I've had it, but I can tell you that it is much smarter than any I have had before. Take good care of it. And yourself." With that, she left me alone in the front room of the lab.
I turned and walked through the doors, stepping onto the fresh grass once more. With a shake of my head, I dropped the ball into my pocket. The clink it made shouldn't have surprised me, but it did regardless. I reached in and grabbed the bracelet, scowling at it as I held it in my palm. "Not yet." I pulled my bag around and unzipped one of the pockets that was more hidden from sight. I quickly dropped the thing in and zipped the pack up again, then swung it casually around my shoulder and slid my arm back through the second strap. With that done, I began my walk back to the front of the town, toward the gate that stood before this region's Route One.
To the start of my journey.
Fuck.
-
Whatever, I'll do it. I just have to be extra careful this time. No slip ups. What's worse is I'm being thrown into a Region I have zero knowledge about. Sure, there'd be plenty of books to read and plenty of items to study, but you can't beat real experience and the fact that I haven't even touched a Pokeball in ten years doesn't help my case any.
I left the Head Quarters quickly after I had received my orders and am now standing perfectly still on a subway as it speeds its way down the tracks and toward the good old city of Goldenrod. I'd catch a flight there, and once I arrived in Unova I'd receive more specific orders from the professor stationed there. I had my hoodie on, and the hood covered my head in a vain to create some form of silence for myself. It didn't exactly cut out all the noise of the children and their parents that filled the train, but it did help.
Unfortunately, I'm fairly unable to focus on any details about the subway as I have a lot more important things on my mind. For instance; stopping a large group of extremely powerful people with myself and six pokemon I don't even know yet. How am I going to do this without the Orders help? I'm strong, but not nearly that strong. This journey is most definitely going to take a heavy toll on me, and whomever I pick to help me, both physically and mentally. I've heard stories about some of the pokemon in Unova. Powerful... terrifying, and ruthless in the hands of the wrong person. All that coupled with the actual threat? What hope do I really have of succeeding in this mission? Not much of one, I'll tell you that much. Sure, I'm good... really good at what I do, and even better at training Pokémon. But even still, the future is bleak. I was suddenly yanked out of my thoughts by a tugging on my sleeve and I looked down into the eyes of a small child, around eight or so. Perfect, just the age for their interest to grow in Pokemon.
"Hey! Do you have Pokemon mister?" Called it. "Jake! That's very rude! Come over here and sit down. I'm terribly sorry, he gets so excitable." I met his mother's eyes with a smile, and pulled my hood down. "Don't worry about it." I bent down and releasing my hold on the handle that I was using to keep myself standing during the turns. "Nope, I sure don't." I said to the boy. He frowned cutely, and it brought an honest smile to my face. "But I do have this," I shoved my hand blindly into the front pocket of my pack and reached around for what I knew was inside. I found it with ease and pulled it out to show the item to the boy."Know what this is?"
"A Pokeball!" he shouted with joy, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the sphere. It was in its minimized state, and I held it pinched between my thumb and index finger. "I'll let you have this so that you can catch your own Pokémon one day, with your moms help of course." I added, dropping it into my palm and opening my hand to him. "But you have to promise me something."
"Sure, anything!" he was nearly jumping with joy at this point. "You have to promise that you will always cherish and love your Pokemon like it's your most precious friend. And if you capture even more, I want you to treat them with the same respect. Understand?" I moved my hand forward, lowering it so he could grab it. The ball rolled onto its white bottom, bringing up a reminiscent from me.. "I will! I promise!" he reached forward and picked the ball up in his small hand, and looked at it with excited and hopeful eyes. He thanked me and ran over to his mother to show her, laughing with joy as she acknowledged it. She mouthed a thank you to me, and I smiled in return while he expanded and minimized it repeatedly.
-
The rest of the train ride was fairly uneventful, and I was nearly bored out of my mind when the captain said "We have arrived in Goldenrod City, please make an orderly line and you will be let out onto the platform shortly. Thank you for choosing Golden Rail transit, we hope you have a pleasant day." Many people moved into action and began grabbing their luggage and stretching. I stood still, waiting for them to start moving forward. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, and started walking at a slow pace along with the other passengers. I sighed in relief once I stepped foot on the concrete platform and walked up the stairs into the main room of the train station. I walked past the man at the gate and walked out of the building and into the luxurious Goldenrod City.
I observed the tall buildings with curiosity, noticing the almost golden sheen each seemed to have. I suppose that's why it was named that. The bricks that were used to pave the streets seemed to resemble a golden color as well, and the people here looked fit to be here. I hardly blended in, but I wouldn't be here for long anyways. I stayed long enough to visit the local Mart to grab something quick to eat before going to the airport behind the city, watching the people as I walked. They all seemed to care more for trivial things like jewelry more than anything. In a way, it was disgusting. To each their own, I suppose. I sidestepped people as they walked toward me, not bothering to adjust their direction so that they wouldn't run into me, and I sighed. I know... somewhere inside them is something that resembles a good soul, but through all the clothes, jewels, makeup and other crap these people put on themselves, it isn't exactly an easy item to find.
After a good ten minutes of walking through the busy streets, I stepped out of the busy part of town and into the area sectioned off for the airport. My ticket had been supplied before I had even accepted the mission, so I would have no trouble getting on my designated flight. Soon enough, I was sitting again, looking through a window at the seemingly endless streams of clouds as we flew past them, unable to see the city's through the fluffy whiteness the clouds were. I had decided rather quickly to skip the crappy flight and sleep through it, but still had to wave away the flight attendants as they woke me, asking me if I wanted something stupid like wine and beer among other forms of alcohol I both wouldn't enjoy or would never touch.
All in all, it was a boring and slightly irritating flight, but I managed to sleep off the majority of the trip. It wasn't until the next day that I awoke, looking out at the darkened sky as we flew. The lights were dimmed and the snores of the people around me weren't in a limited amount as I gazed at the new clouds. We would be in Unova in just a few hours... I would become a pokemon trainer, again... in a few hours. My life, and potentially the lives of millions would change in just a few hours and though it would be unnoticed by the vast majority of people, It's insanely difficult to wrap your mind around something like that, though realistically it's a hell of a lot more accurate than any other prediction I've made. My head ached slightly from sleeping for too long, and my back was in the same boat from sleeping for so long in such an awkward position. I stretched as best as I could before grabbing a pair of headphones from the back of the seat and plugging them into my MP3 player . I listened to the music quietly, only using it to pass the time, really. Unfortunately, the train hadn't offered a pair of headphones, or I'd have done this to keep out the noise. I could almost see the sky changing colors as the sun began to rise. The orange, pinks and reds that were painted so beautifully on the clear blue sky brought a peaceful smile to my face. Almost like the eye in a tornado. So peaceful and calm despite the hectic world outside. Soon enough I'd be spit back out into that world and be forced to do something about it.
-
The plane touched down on the tarmac in Mistralton City, and I shivered in anticipation when it came to a stop. I pulled the headphones off of my head at the unbuckle seatbelts light, and stood, giving myself a proper stretch before I grabbed my bag from the overhead compartment. I walked along in the line toward the boarding ramp, and thanked the captain when I passed by him. The passengers and I were out of the plane and on the ground finally, and I nearly smiled at the "Welcome to Unova" sign as it rotated in an infinite loop on the large monitor that hung from the ceiling. Supposedly, I'm supposed to be picked up by one of the Professors Assistants and escorted so that I wouldn't have to walk for god knows how long. Time is precious right now, and I have very little patience for anything other than my assignment. I would get in, get done, and then get out, hopefully losing the least amount of lives possible.
The entire car ride was spent browsing through the seemingly endless pages of the newly updated Pokedex I had received from the professor's assistant and by the end of the car ride I had read nearly every single entry of the pokedex, and was currently using the personal features with a slight smile on my face. They really had gone all out on this latest model. You could customize everything from the interface to the actual color of the device. Paint was either injected into, or extracted from the hard plastic shell to change the colors. If you looked carefully, you could see each small tube inside that held the paint. It was amazingly compact as well, just like your typical 'dex. It was even touch screen. After changing backgrounds, fonts, lightings, colors and other various options, I was left with a fully tricked out Pokedex, painted a nice pale purple to match my eyes. I turned to the assistant and asked "Hey, do you know when we'll get there?" He looked over at me for a second before turning back. "Yeah, we should be back in about ten minutes. Sorry this is taking so long." He answered with an apologetic frown. "Don't worry about it. I understand, it takes a while to drive that far. I've been keeping myself busy with this thing anyways." I held up the 'dex and laughed once. "Yeah, pretty nice, right? Professor Juniper has been working on that for about ten years before she released it to the public. Around the time she did people started talking about Unova more and then people started flying over to get a shot at the League here. It had always been happening, but when she finished with that, Unova exploded. There's a ton of people now. It's pretty strange, honestly." I nodded as he spoke. That sounded about right. I myself hadn't heard about this place until Celebi made her 'prediction' if you can call it that. That whole day was full of surprises. Not a day I like to remember.
I sat back and looked out at the scenery. Everywhere I looked was a pokemon I had never seen before. In all honesty, I was really looking forward to this whole thing. I was in a new place surrounded by new pokemon... a whole new region to start over in. The car began to slow, and I looked away from the car window and at the lab assistant. He stopped just outside what looked like a small town. "Welcome to Nuvema Town. The Professors lab is at the very back. It's not a large walk so you should be just fine. If you need to, just ask one of the people around town, they will be glad to help you. The people here are very kind." He unlocked the doors and I opened mine. "I have to go do some more research for the Professor, so you don't mind if I leave you here, do you?" He asked, leaning toward the passenger seat while I stepped out. "I'll manage. Thank you for the ride." The door shut with a quiet slam, and I began walking forward into the town of Nuvema.
My first thoughts were; Small and... well, small. There were maybe twenty houses in total, each of them of medium size. I noticed children running about, laughing and playing with each other, parents sitting, watching with a cold drink and a smile. Even some pokemon which, of course I didn't recognize. I took a look to my right and saw a single two story house and another off to my left. Interesting, very interesting. I'd love to explore this wonderfully quiet town, maybe talk to a few people and just enjoy myself... but I have a job to do. I began to walk down the dirt path that led to the back of the place, and smiled at the small buildings. They weren't half bad at all, pretty comfortable if you ask me. Most of them had the same blue painted roofs and plain brown paint. It wasn't over the top, but it was attractive. It gave the houses a warm feeling. Maybe, after all this is over... if I survive, I'll come back here and live a happy and comfortable life. One day. I continued my walk for around five minutes, and couldn't help but notice I was being followed. Or rather, the two behind me were going in the same direction I was. I listened closely to their talking, just to make sure they weren't following me.
"Bianca, you're such a ditz." One of them complained, a boy. "Soooory!" She responded, dragging out the sound in a way that seemed to grind on my nerves. The boy flinched audibly and sighed. "I hate it when you do that. You do realize what day this is, right?"
"Duh! We get our Pokémon today!"
"And of all days, you choose this one to be late?"
"I said sorry! Now let's hurry and go!" I heard her shoes stomp on the dirt ground and stepped out of the way just in time to see her run through where I had been standing, backwards. It seemed she hadn't noticed I was there. "Careful, there's-!" The boys voice cut off when I sidestepped her, and she was left with a confused look before she noticed me. "Oh! I'm so sorry, sir!" She talked with a southern accent, and her blonde hair and blue eyes couples with the accent and the way she seemed to act confirmed for me that she was not somebody I'd generally get to know. "I nearly ran into you, haha!" She had stopped in her tracks, and I slowed enough that I could respond before continuing on my way. " Don't worry about it. Please, excuse me I need to be headed somewhere." I walked past her, picking up speed again before I was interrupted by her running in front of me. "Wait! Are you going to see the professor, too?" Must be a local, she can tell by my direction where I'm going, though I can't say I didn't expect that. "Yeah. I presume the two of you are going the same way? Pardon my rudeness, but I eavesdropped a tad bit." It was hard to keep myself from mimicking her accent, for some reason it was infectious.
"Don't worry about it! Me and Cheren are going to get our first Pokémon today!" She said with a big smile. The boy, Cheren sighed before stopping beside me and pushing his glasses up on his nose. "Sorry about her, she's... well, not that bright. My name is Cheren White, she's Bianca Belle." I smiled, and Bianca laughed. "Nice to meet you!" She exclaimed, seemingly not noticing Cheren's insult. "Likewise," I guess. "We really should get going, though. The professor is sure to be waiting for the two of you." With a nod and another laugh from Bianca, the three of us began our trek to the professors lab, Bianca skipping the whole way while Cheren attempted to start some form of a conversation up. I could tell by the way he spoke that he was fairly intelligent. He'd probably make a good trainer if his priorities are set correctly, but that's for him to find out, not me. Our trek turned out to be a short walk, thank Arceus, as we stopped in front of a large, plain looking building. "This is it!" Bianca exclaimed excitedly, not hesitating to run through the automatic sliding doors. "B-Bianca! Wait!" Cheren called out, running in after her. Awfully excitable, aren't they? The door began to slide closed, and I stepped forward into the view of the small camera placed atop the door to keep it from doing so. The two stained glass doors slid back again, and I stepped off of the crisp grass and onto a black mat. I wiped my feet slowly, watching as the two of them talked to the professor. It brought a smile to my face; she played her role so perfectly. I made my way over to them and smiled at the professor's glance at me out of the corner of her eyes. "Alright, alright! Give me a minute to get the things!" She said with a large smile. She motioned to me with her finger to step into the side area, and I nodded silently before walking past the two kids quietly and into the small living-room like area of the lab.
It took her a few minutes, but she was soon standing behind her clean desk again with several things in hand. She placed down the obvious things, pokedex and pokeballs along with a small box. "Inside this box lies what you'd generally expect of me." She said with a proud smile before removing the top.
Inside on a velvet cushion were three polished and shiny looking pokeballs, presumably with the starters for these two children. "Up first, we have Oshawott." She tapped one, then moved over to another. "Second is Tepig," She moved to the last one. "And lastly is Snivy. You two should be familiar with all three of these, so I shouldn't have to explain much about them, right Cheren?" He nodded excitedly and shifted his weight to his other leg impatiently. "Take your pick, these will be the pokemon you keep with you for the rest of your life; your first." She stepped back from the table and watched them as they looked at each ball, making a decision. It wasn't long after this that Cheren snatched up one of them. "Tepig, you're mine." He said this with a large smile, and the professor nodded silently as if she had expected it. "I want Oshawott!" She picked up the ball and held it up while giggling uncontrollably.
Another nod, and she slid the other items toward them. "These are what you'll need for your journey, now I want to make sure you know what you're going to be doing-" She was cut off by Cheren's laugh. "Professor? We know what the Pokedex is for. We're going to be helping you with your research of the region and record data on all the pokemon we meet. That's standard." She smiled at this as Bianca nodded impatiently. "Good, then I don't need to explain everything. Go on home and talk to your parents, they should know you're going on a journey, after all!" With a few last words and many 'thank you's' from Bianca, the two left the lab and the Professor was walking back to the table. "Oh, Professor there's something you should know." Cheren stopped at the door and turned to look at her. "There was a man before, he said he was coming to see you as well. He was standing outside the lab last time we saw him, we didn't get his name, though." She nodded and smiled. "Oh, yes I remember now. Thank you very much Cheren, I'm sure he'll show up eventually." And with that, they were gone. She sighed and began to walk back toward the metal desk and looked into the box. "They always pick the water type first, you know. I expected Cheren to be a bit different, but I'm sure you already knew that." She looked at me fully for the first time and placed her hands on the desk, using it to support her weight. "You know what you're to do, correct?" She asked, grabbing the ball from the box and looking closely at it. "Do you honestly think I would just come here without knowing anything? Professor, I'm hurt." I gave one short laugh before walking to stand in front of her on the other side of the desk. "Yes, I know what I have to do. I won't fail." She grabbed my wrist and dropped the ball into my hand. "Good, now get out of my lab, I have things to do." She turned and walked deeper into the lab, waving me off as she went. "Wait, I need to know something." She turned, cocking an eyebrow and motioned with her hand for me to go on. "How much control do they have currently." She rolled her eyes as if I should know this already before turning her back on me. "Too much. They already have a steady following of humans. If they aren't stopped, and soon... well, you know what will happen. You must raise that one with care. I don't know how long I've had it, but I can tell you that it is much smarter than any I have had before. Take good care of it. And yourself." With that, she left me alone in the front room of the lab.
I turned and walked through the doors, stepping onto the fresh grass once more. With a shake of my head, I dropped the ball into my pocket. The clink it made shouldn't have surprised me, but it did regardless. I reached in and grabbed the bracelet, scowling at it as I held it in my palm. "Not yet." I pulled my bag around and unzipped one of the pockets that was more hidden from sight. I quickly dropped the thing in and zipped the pack up again, then swung it casually around my shoulder and slid my arm back through the second strap. With that done, I began my walk back to the front of the town, toward the gate that stood before this region's Route One.
To the start of my journey.
Fuck.
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