Sunlight shone down on Nuvema town on an early Autumn morning. It was bright, and beautiful, and it was the perfect day for a girl to begin her pokemon journey. She was a girl by the name of Maria. She had wild brown hair, tied back in a ponytail and brown eyes. The day had finally come. Today she would have her very first pokemon.
"Where is Bianca?" Cheren, a young lad with slicked back black hair and a cowlick was tapping his foot impatiently. His arms were crossed and he looked more irritated than ever.
"You know she's always late." Maria said much less impatiently. "I thought you might be used to it now."
"But today, of all days?" Cheren shouted. He let out an exasperated sigh and pushed his glasses up to his nose, as was customary when he was upset.
"I'm here!" A voice shouted excitedly. Maria turned around to see a blonde girl with a green hat enter the room. She was smiling from ear to ear. "Sorry I'm so-"
"Bianca, where have you been? Of all days to be late, why today! You know how important this day is to us!"
"Oh, Cheren, you're such a worrywart! Its not like the pokemon are gonna get out of their pokeballs and leave if we take to long." Bianca waved Cheren's worries and shouts aside. She stepped into the room to stand beside Cheren. "Is that it?" She asked, pointing to a box on the table. "Maria, you should go first because it's your house that the pokemon were delivered to."
"Thanks, Bianca." Maria said. Slowly she stepped forward and picked up the letter that was sitting on top of the neatly wrapped box. She began to read the letter aloud for Cheren and Bianca to hear. "I've brought three pokemon, one for each of you. Please choose wisely. Whichever pokemon you choose will be by your side for your entire journey. Enjoy your pokemon. Sincerely, Professor Juniper."
After the letter, Maria proceeded with opening the box. There were three pokeballs sitting there. One pokeball had a green leaf on it, one had an orange flame, and the final had a blue bubble. Maria studied them carefully. She thought about which pokeball contained which pokemon. The leaf was probably Snivy, the bubble Oshawott, and the flame Tepig. Slowly she reached for the pokeball with the leaf on it.
"Hurry up!" Bianca shouted in Maria's ear, causing her to jump. The box bumped, and one of the pokeballs rolled over onto its button, causing it to pop open. It was a Tepig. "Ooh, a Tepig! Great choice, but I would've chosen Snivy!" Bianca cheered before taking the pokeball with the leaf on it.
"But I-" Maria tried to protest, but it was too late. Bianca tossed the bubbled pokeball to Cheren.
"I wanted-" Cheren began, but Bianca interrupted him.
"Come on, Maria, let's battle!" Bianca cheered. Before Maria could react, Bianca's Snivy was in a battle stance facing her.
"Okay…" Maria sighed, knowing that she would have no choice. Inside, her thoughts whirled. I never wanted a stupid Tepig! She thought bitterly. I chose Tepig by accident! "Tepig, use Tackle!" Maria called. The Tepig charged forward and sent Bianca's Snivy flying across the room. It crashed into a bookshelf and books began to topple onto the floor.
"Snivy, use tackle!" Bianca ordered, but Snivy couldn't move. It was trapped beneath a rather large book that was about the various species of pokemon in the Unova region. Tepig took the opportunity to use tackle on the bookshelf, causing the books to collapse in an avalanche of word-covered pages. Snivy managed to jump onto Maria's computer desk just before the book-alanche. Tepig was jumping on books as they were falling and he landed safely on top of the TV. *Ahem- Parkour*
"Tepig, use Tackle!" Maria ordered. He leaped from the TV and charged toward Maria's laptop desk, where Snivy was trying to wipe the word 'buddy' off his forehead. Tepig sent the Snivy crashing into the table beside Maria's bed, where he was now unconscious. "Yeah, great job, Tepig!" Maria cheered.
"It was nothing!" Tepig replied modestly. Maria opened her mouth to reply, but Cheren interrupted her.
"How about you battle me next? Its not fun sitting on the sidelines when your friends are having a real battle." He sent out Oshawott. "Alright?"
"Alright." Maria agreed. "Come on, Tepig, let's show them who's boss."
"Bring it!" Tepig shouted.
"Use Tackle!" Cheren shouted. Oshawott charged forward.
"Counter it with another Tackle!" Maria demanded. Tepig charged forward and collided with Oshawott, but Tepig's heavier weight provided an advantage. Oshawott skidded backwards. "Hit him with another Tackle!" Maria encouraged Tepig onwards. Oshawott didn't have time to move out of the way. "Yes!" Oshawott stood back on his feet. "Aw…"
"Tackle, again!" Cheren called. Oshawott charged toward Tepig. Tepig jumped out of the way, but Oshawott's head still hit the red orb on the end of Tepig's tail. Tepig's eyes widened and he began to thrash, sending Cheren's Oshawott crashing into the wall. The battle was over, but Tepig was still thrashing.
"Tepig!" Maria called and she walked over to calm him down. He stopped thrashing. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.
"I'm fine."
"Meet us at the professor's soon so we can get our pokeballs and leave." Cheren said. He watched the scene worriedly and left the room. Bianca followed.
"What was that?" Maria asked, referring to his spasm.
"If pokemon attack the orb at the end of my tail," Tepig explained, "I have muscle spasms." He shivered.
"Well I'll make sure that no one attacks your tail." Maria promised. She picked Tepig up and walked over to the window. "We're going to travel across the Unova region together. I only wish my dad could see it."
"Did he die?" Tepig asked after a while of silence. Maria laughed.
"Nah!" She waved her hand to dismiss the thought. "He lives in another region that's too far away for me to visit. I just wish he was here now." Maria pushed back the urge to let out another sigh. She reached her hand down to scratch Tepig's head lightly. "Let's get to Juniper's." She whispered. When she reached the lab, Bianca and Cheren were waiting for her.
"You ready?" Bianca asked. Maria nodded. The three of them entered the lab together.
"Maria, Cheren, and Bianca!" Professor Juniper seemed to be waiting for them. "As you all know, I am Professor Juniper. I am a pokemon researcher here in the Unova Region. I gave you three Pokemon because you seemed to posses the certain qualities of pokemon trainers. And of course, you are all at the age of fifteen, so you are ready to begin your very own pokemon journeys." Professor Juniper looked at all three of them until her eyes finally fell upon the pokemon who wasn't in a pokeball. "You've already had a pokemon battle?" She seemed astounded. "And your pokemon already seems to trust you very much. So much that he might let you give him a nickname."
"A nickname?" Maria looked down at Tepig. "What do you want to be called?"
"Me?" Tepig seemed surprised that she would ask him what he wanted. Most humans just named their pokemon without asking. Then again, most humans couldn't talk to pokemon. "There was a name that all the other pokemon used to call me before the Professor found me… I didn't like the name, but it's the only one I can think of, and it would probably sound better if you said it."
"What was it?"
"Spaz."
"Spaz. How does it sound when I say?" Maria wondered aloud.
"It sounds funny! I like it!" Tepig smiled.
"Okay, then. Spaz it is." Maria stated. It was a funny name, but it seemed to fit.
"Wait a minute." Professor Juniper looked from Maria, to Spaz, then back again. "You can talk to pokemon?" Juniper's mouth was wide.
"Yeah. Maria's been able to talk to pokemon ever since she was little." Cheren explained. Professor Juniper looked astonished.
"Well that should make your journey a lot simpler." The Professor advised. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful. Pokemon battles can be more dangerous than you think. Pokemon can die in battle."
"We'll be careful." Maria gulped. She wanted to pull Spaz a little bit closer.
"Leaving it on that pleasant note, good luck!" Professor Juniper sung.
"Finally." Maria grumbled when she left the lab with Spaz. "I thought she'd never stop talking." Maria sounded annoyed, but on the inside she was worried. Pokemon can die in battle. The professor's voice echoed in her head.
"Don't worry about me, Maria!" Spaz tried to cheer her up. "We'll train a lot and get strong together. We'll meet other Pokemon to, and they can help!"
"Thanks, Spaz." Maria felt the butterflies in her stomach as they headed towards route one. She gulped and prepared to take the first step…
"Wait for us!" A voice called. Maria stopped and turned around. Cheren and Bianca ran up to her. "We want to take our first steps together!" Bianca chimed. "It was Cheren's idea."
Maria sighed. Her friends surely were something. Of course, they weren't just friends anymore. They were rivals as well. She took a deep breath and stepped. Cheren and Bianca stepped as well, perfectly in sync. They had taken their first steps on route one and they had done it together.
"Let's see who can catch the most pokemon!" Cheren challenged.
"Yeah!" Bianca agreed. The two of them raced off before Maria could stop them.
"I think I'll only catch one pokemon, if it's okay with you, Spaz."
"Fine by me." Spaz shrugged.
"Okay then. Let's go into the tall grass." Maria took a step into the tall grass.
"Hey!" A voice yelled. Maria scrambled backwards with surprise. "Watch it! You nearly squashed me!" A small puppy Pokemon leaped out of the tall grass.
"Spaz, use Tackle!"
"Hey, what are you-?" The Lillipup went rolling through the grass. Maria searched around for a pokeball and she threw it. The Pokeball rolled multiple times before little stars popped out. She had caught the pokemon. She sent the Lillipup out. "You could have been a little bit more gentle."
"Sorry." Maria apologized. "I was excited. So what's your name?" She asked.
"Logan, but- wait. How can you understand me?" The Lillipup barked.
"Well, Logan, that is a long story. I'll tell you some other time, okay?"
"Looking forward to it." Logan yipped happily.
Maria's POV
I didn't know it then, but that was when my journey really began. It was after the capture of my first Pokemon. I secretly wondered to myself if these faces would still be with me at the end of my journey. I tried to fight these stupid thoughts away. I tried to remain optimistic, and I succeeded for a short while.
Spaz's POV
I couldn't be happier. I had a trainer who loved me, and I was making new friends. I didn't know how much the world was going to change, or what dangers we would have to overcome. I did know that I was happy, and that was enough, at least for the time being.
Logan's POV
I don't know why, but I trusted this trainer. There was something about her that made me feel safe. I knew our journey would be marked with all the points of a real journey. We would face danger and devastation, but we would also come to new lands we had never seen before and we would reach heights we could never imagine. Or at least some of us would.