Class B settled into their seats for their final class ever. Everyone was chattering excitedly, even the moody underpaid teachers were in a good mood. Mrs. Achino, our homeroom teacher, smiled at all of us, and went through attendance to verify that everyone was here to receive their Trainer License. I looked eagerly onto the stack of laminated cards that she brought out from behind her. I had been waiting for this moment ever since I saw my first Pokémon match on TV, a battle between Red, the current Pokémon Master, and Lance, the previous champion of the Kanto Pokémon League. I then proceeded to watch it again and again, until I memorized every move that the trainers were going to make in the clip. I snapped out of my trance once Mrs. Achino set my License on the table, as well as a Pokéball. I looked on curiously onto the Pokéball. I had never heard of starters being distributed like this. Usually starting trainers got a choice between a Water, Fire and Grass type. After handing out the Pokéballs and Licenses, Mrs. Achino made her way to the front of the class.
"I'm sure you all have questions about the Pokéball currently in front of you," Mrs. Achino stated, crossing her arms and pacing back and forth like she was dictating a book. "That Pokéball contains the Pokémon you first met on the recent trip to Oak & Co. Laboratory. Apparently, the researchers were all impressed by the bond you were able to create withthe Pokémon, so they decided to give them to you." My eyes widened as I looked at the Pokéball in front of me. I, like many other students, immediately grabbed the Pokéball. The cold metal sphere nestled comfortably in my hand, and I pressed the button on the front. A blue mist exploded from the Pokéball, materializing into a small brown fox that hopped immediately into my arms, smiling cheerfully.
"Eev-vui!" He exclaimed happily, snuggling further into my chest trying to seek my body heat, even though it wasn't particularly cold outside. I laughed as he squirmed out of my arms and climbed onto my shoulder, preening. Situations like this occurred all over the classroom, the Pokémon performing various affectionate actions to their new trainer.
Mrs. Achino smiled at her class, which she had taught for over six years. It was fun to see how the new Trainers were already playing with their Pokémon. The school bell rang, and all the Trainers jumped out of their seats, not bothering to return their Pokémon.
Outside, one of my friends, Exton, tapped my on the shoulder. His black hair, which looked constantly gelled but was not, was set in bangs, swept to the left. His similarly black framed glasses with oval lenses were propped up high, and framed his relatively small dark brown eyes. His Turtwig, who he had named Atlas after its final evolution, Torterra, the Continent Pokémon, standing faithfully by his side.
"Hey, are you excited to finally become a trainer?" He said excitedly, which was unusual forthe unempathetic student.
I rolled my eyes and responded. "Hello? Anyone there? I've been waiting for this for over a century!"
"...You're twelve years old." He said in a deadpan tone. Ah, there was the person I knew.
"Hyperbole." I said back to him in an equally deadpan tone.
"Anyways, you know what I'm here for." He said. We looked at each other with a spark in our eyes.
"When two Trainer's eyes meet, a Pokémon battle must begin!" We both chorused the first rule in the Trainer's Handbook. We jumped back to create a suitable battlefield for the Pokémon. Atlas stepped forward, and Eevee jumped forward onto the battlefield from my shoulder. I winced a bit as Exton smirked.
"Tackle!" Exton exclaimed, and Atlas was wreathed in a white glow as it charged forward towards Eevee.
"Jump up, and Yawn!" I exclaimed. Eevee jumped up and let out a huge yawn. White beams emanated from his mouth, and they headed towards Atlas. Atlas missed Eevee, and looked around confusedly. The white beams hit him head on, and Atlas teetered around, fake wooziness manifesting in his head.
"Atlas, shake it off and Seed Bomb to launch yourself towards Eevee!" Atlas shook his head and he belched out a green seed, which launched him towards Eevee. Atlas struck Eevee and fell to the ground, asleep. Eevee let out a cry of pain.
"Wish, and then Covet!" I yelled worriedly. Eevee stood up, and a white energy came from him and went up to the sky. Eevee then sidled up to Atlas, and took out a Leftovers from him. Eevee then smacked Atlas with his tail and jumped back, ready for more.
Atlas woke up, and looked angrily at Eevee. The two Pokémon were now at the opposite ends of the battlefield, and were on about the same amount of HP.
"Atlas, Minefield!" Exton shouted. Atlas belched out multiple seeds and spit them out onto random places on the battlefield. They then proceeded to start exploding.
"Covet!" I yelled again. Eevee tried to dodge the explosions, failing a couple of times, and whacked Atlas with his tail again.
Eevee jumped back into battle stance, panting heavily, legs wobbling. He was on his last legs, and Exton and I both knew this. He smirked, but then looked confused as a smile slowly grew on my face.
"FLAIL!" I yelled, and Eevee used the last of his speed to run towards Atlas and hit him witheverything he had left. Exton looked on in horror as his Pokémon was pummeled by mine. Turtwig almost fainted from that, but had just enough to belch out a Seed Bomb at Eevee. Just before the Seed Bomb hit my Pokémon though, a white light descended from the sky, restoring my Eevee to around half his HP and energy.
"Jump in front now!" I shouted. The proceeding explosion hurled Eevee towards Atlas, who looked to his trainer proudly, expecting praise for his presumed victory.
"Look out, Atlas!" Exton yelped, and Atlas looked behind himself, confused. His eyes widened at the sight of the brown fox jumping towards him. Eevee crashed into Atlas, knocking him unconscious. The brown fox was still in relatively good condition despite almost being unconscious a second ago. I gave a thumbs-up sign to the small Eevee, which then gave me a tired, but cheerful "Ee-vui!" back. Exton sighed but recalled his Turtwig into his Pokéball. Eevee galloped back to me, jumping back onto my shoulder. I pet Eevee, who nuzzled my palm with his nose. Exton walked towards me, hand outstretched. I met him in the middle, shaking his hand.
"That was a good battle, Alvin." He said. I smiled back.
"You did good too. If I didn't call that Wish back there, I would've lost." I said, complimenting him.
"Nah, you just have better forward planning than me." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He was always horrible at taking compliments. His eyes then lit up, remembering something.
"Oh, right." He took out his wallet and extracted 150 Pokédollars from it, and handed it to me. I graciously took the money and shoved it in my pocket.
"Oh, right. I was wondering if you would like to travel with me!" I said to Exton, who looked off into the distance thoughtfully.
"Sure. I mean, I have nothing else to do." He said. I pumped my hand into the air, victoriously. I heard footsteps echoing behind me, when I turned around and someone smacked into me. We both fell to the floor. I opened my eyes. My other friend, Matthias, looked back at me.
"Ow..." I moaned in pain. He got off me quickly. His Eevee, my Eevee's sister stood next to us, shaking her head. Matthias had olive black hair, longer than both of ours, that was swept to the left. He was the only one out of the three of us who didn't need glasses, and had gray eyes, and a sharp chin. His signature happy-go-lucky grin was set on his face as he stared at me.
"Why did you have to run into me so hard?" I questioned. He looked back at me.
"I was wondering if I could travel with you guys too. I overheard your conversation, and I think it could be really fun!" He said.
I nodded. "The more the merrier!" I yelled.
"Are we going to get going, or what?" Exton said impatiently behind us. We both looked at each other, and started running towards Route 1.
That's where we started. Us three, running into the first Route of the Kanto region, to start our journey to the top. Similarly, that was how our journey through Kanto ended, but with only one of us left walking towards the light.