Chapter 1: A new team.
"Hey!"
"Hey, wake up!"
I awoke staring into the eyes of my luxio, Raiden.
He beamed at me as I sat up, my eyes slowly focusing on the room around me.
"Do you know what today is?" He asked, maintaining his wide toothy smile. I knew exactly what today was. Today was the day of my 18th birthday, meaning that as of today I was officially a Pokémon trainer.
The legal training age was actually 16, but I figured that waiting a few more years would mean I was less likely to do something stupid. I looked down at Raiden; he took it as a sign to elaborate. "Today you promised you would become a trainer!" He squealed excitedly. "And I become a trained Pokémon!" He could hardly contain himself as he started jumping on the bed, smiling. The least I could do was get up as quickly as possible, throwing my usual attire over myself (which consisted of denim jeans and an olive drab fleece) before trotting off down the stairs, with Raiden at my heels the entire time.
Me and Raiden first met when my parents ran him over in our car. He ran out into the road chasing a lone Beedrill, he wasn't terribly injured, just unconscious. When we took him to the nearest centre I had decided; he would be my first Pokémon. He seemed to like the idea.
That was when I was 6. Since then he had evolved from a little shinx into a fully grown luxio and he was soon due another evolution.
I grabbed my military Bergen that I had packed last night and double checked its contents; it all seemed to be there; maybe I wasn't as dippy as I had myself down to be. With a grunt I hefted the bag onto my shoulders and made for the door.
I should mention that we live in Veilstone city, Sinnoh. And around here; trainers are a very common sight. So, as expected our first battle was only a stone's throw away. But it wasn't quite what we were expecting.
As we slowly entered the forest, two things became immediately clear; someone was very angry and also that same person had access to a vast array curse words. I silently signalled for Raiden to stay low as I peered around a nearby tree. I had to reel back suddenly to avoid the shattered remains of a Pokeball that collided with aforementioned tree.
"Stupid bastard!" That same voice called. "Get in the fucking ball you orange prick!"
I could see what was going on now; A boy who looked to be around 16 was hurling volley after volley of pokeballs at a rather beaten up looking dragonite. Maybe 'beaten up' was an understatement; It looked like it had been dragged through hell. It had a black eye, numerous lacerations and several nasty looking burns; I was amazed it could even stand.
That was when I saw it; it was wearing a small, black backpack on its back. This Pokémon has a trainer, and that little shit was practically killing it! I stepped out of my makeshift cover and into plain view, my luxio still beside me.
"Hey!" I yelled at the assailant. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm catching a Pokémon, dumbass." He replied, frustration evident on his face.
I stepped closer. "That's a trained Pokémon, genius." I deadpanned. "You can't catch it. Besides, look what you're doing to it!" I yelled, gesturing to the now swaying dragonite. Its scales looked a few shades lighter than it should have and it seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
"Now, are you going to leave, or are we going to have a problem?" I asked.
"I'm sure the local rangers would love to hear about this." I continued.
"Then I will battle you for him!" I glanced over at him. "Who?" I asked, slightly confused.
"The dragonite!" He practically screamed back. "You want him? Fight me."
I was about to reply but Raiden beat me to it; "He can't. He hasn't got his licence yet." I could do nothing but wince at that. This whole ordeal was going south very quickly.
I could see the mental cogs turning in the boys mind. Eventually, he spoke; "So you aren't a trained Pokémon? Meaning he hasn't technically caught you yet?" He asked with a smirk. Raiden shook his head and I saw the boy reach for another pokeball. I quickly stepped forward producing an 8 inch survival knife from my pocket. I held it out in front of me in a ready position.
"Try it and you die." I growled. His eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. "Whoa, hang on there, mate. I wasn't gonna"- He stammered, but I cut him off, smacking the ball out of his hands. "Well guess what, mate. I've just lost patience with you. Now kindly, piss off!" I snarled, gesturing off into the woods.
Needless to say, He turned tail pretty quickly and ran off into the forest. I turned back to Raiden, his eyes looked vacant and he was shaking slightly. "You okay?" I asked, concerned with my Pokémon's welfare. "I feel kinda funny." Was the statement I received before he collapsed.
"Raiden!" I yelled, running to his side. His body became enveloped in a bright white light, which became brighter to the point where I had to shield my eyes. When the light faded, There was no sign of the luxio, only a very large luxray. One that was now chest height with me. "Wow." I stated. "Wow indeed." The luxray replied.
My luxray.
"This is freaking awesome!" He continued, doing a little jig. "I can feel all this power and…" He gasped. "I can see through stuff too!" He added smiling at me. Yeah, it was still Raiden, but that smile would no longer pass for cute. His new, sharper teeth ensured he looked absolutely terrifying.
I sighed to myself. This was going to take getting used to.
Shit! The dragonite! I mentally cursed myself for forgetting. I congratulated the excited luxray, patting him on the head before making my way over to the large orange dragon. It looked a little bit better, but the wounds were still there, and it looked completely knackered.
I stepped toward it slowly, hands raised in an offering of peace.
Its focus switched from the floor to me, and it was only then could I appreciate the sheer size of the creature; It was easily 2ft taller than me sitting down and I estimated it could easily be 10ft when it was standing.
It looked me up and down, and then glanced over at Raiden, who seemed to be examining his new claws.
"Thank you." It said sincerely. Its voice was smooth and masculine. It was most likely male, then.
I waved off the comment. "Don't thank me yet, we need to get you to a Pokémon centre. Here, I'll help you." I stated, offering him a hand.
Thirty minutes later and we had finally arrived at the Veilstone centre, Raidens' new ability to see through walls proving to be invaluable.
As our party staggered precariously through the automatic doors, the nurse ran up to us, a small army of chansey in tow.
"Oh good, you found him!" She exclaimed as the chansey swarmed the wounded dragon, picking him up and carrying him off. I waved to him as he was carted away.
"Who is he?" I asked the pink-haired nurse.
"Have you heard of a trainer named Keith Young?" Was her reply.
I Knew exactly who he was. I followed his campaign across Sinnoh on television, he was looking to be the next champion and everyone knew it. Right up to his disappearance last year.
"Who hasn't?" I replied. The nurse brushed off the comment. "Well, that dragonite was on his team."
"Really?"
"Yes, and he's been missing since his trainers' disappearance, a year by himself, out in the wild. Thanks again for bringing him in."
"It's no problem. What happens to him now?"
"That's all up to him, we just need him here to register his decision and to check up on him."
At that moment, the horde of chansey waddled back into the lobby, the leader of which sided up to Nurse Joy; "We fixed the dragonite!" It chimed, the others nodding in agreement. And sure enough said dragonite rounded the corner behind them, largely covered in bandages. He decidedly looked much better; most of his bruises had mostly faded.
I shook my head at a sudden thought; "The real reason I came here was to pick up my trainer's licence, but I got a little side-tracked. If you could give it to me we'll be on our way." I said gesturing to my luxray, who was still checking out his new form.
"No problem, just gimme a sec." The Nurse replied walking over to a large filing cabinet adjacent to the front desk, and browsed its contents.
"Name?"
"Jack Walker"
"Gender?"
"Uh, male." As if it wasn't obvious.
"Date of birth? Oh wait, never mind. Here you go." She produced a laminated piece of card from the cabinet and handed it to me. It was formatted like any official licences were; Names and other information in bold lettering to the right side, and a large picture of my face featuring a very stupid looking smile to the left.
"Thanks." I said, before turning to Raiden, who was now staring at the card in my hand. "Well, now I can officially capture you." I stated, provoking an accepting nod from him. I took a pokeball out of my bag and held it in front of myself. "Try not to break it, these are expensive." I said with a smile.
"Who, me? Never." Raiden replied with a grin. I gently tossed the ball in his direction; it immediately burst open and pulled Raiden inside with a beam of red light. Once he was in the ball clattered to the floor and rolled slightly on the tiling, the button on the front pulsed red for a couple of seconds and then; nothing. I carefully shuffled over to the now stationary ball and released Raiden again. "I told you I wouldn't break it." He said, poking his tongue out at me. "Yeah, okay, okay. You were right." I admitted, ruffling the fur on the top of his head.
Turning back to the Nurse, I saw the dragonite whispering something in her ear. Whatever he was saying, he clearly didn't want us to hear.
"Have you entered my luxray on the system?" I interrupted.
"Oh, uh, yeah I have." She stated. "Hey listen. Jack, was it?"
"Yes"
"The dragonite; His name is Maverick, and he asks if you could take him on as one of your team. What do you think?"
"I uh…" I honestly didn't know what to say. It's not every day that a high-level semi-legendary Pokémon asks to be on your team.
"Me? Are you sure? I mean, I'm new to this, and there are plenty of experienced trainers about." I asked the dragonite.
He turned and whispered to the nurse once more, his face showing a few degrees of embarrassment.
"He says it doesn't matter how inexperienced you are. You were kind to him and protected him from bad people. You remind him of his old trainer."
"Oh, okay. What do you think Raiden?" I asked, turning to him once again.
"The more the merrier." He stated. "Besides, it might get boring with just you to talk to." He quipped.
"Watch it!" I warned. This sort of banter was frequent between us, no matter what it sounds like we were close friends, and we both knew it.
"Yes, we would be honoured to have you on our team, Maverick." I nodded to the dragonite. "Let's make it official." I continued before capturing him, and then releasing him.
"Shall we go?" I asked my newly formed team. They nodded in reply. I turned, thanked the nurse and exited the centre.
"Welcome to the world of training" Maverick chimed.
"Happy freakin' birthday, trainer." Raiden added.