Author's Note: Here we are, folks! Season 4 of Through the Years! Like I said in the last episode, there's a lot in store for our three protagonists. Sinnoh will certainly test them in new ways, and it will be interesting to see how they react. Here's the premiere, I hope you enjoy!
Episode 1: The lake of truth
The Sinnoh region…Niko thought as he looked out on the vast expanse of ocean that divided the boat he was standing on from his next destination. Days previously, he and his two friends, Brittany and JJ, decided to leave their home region of Kanto once again to travel in another unknown land. There, Niko hoped to continue his pokémon training by defeating the gym leaders of Sinnoh and compete in the annual Pokémon League held in the spring.
I wonder what we'll see here. If its anything like Hoenn, it'll certainly be…Niko paused, trying to think of the right word. Shaking his head, he tried to think about other matters. Once they got to Sandgem Town, where Sinnoh's regional professor, Rowan, lived, Niko hoped to register for the Sinnoh League and hopefully get some more information on battling in the region. Beyond that, he had no idea what their journey would look like. He then felt a pang in his stomach, which was his body's way of reminding him of his motion sickness. "I hate this," He muttered before turning back around and walking down to the lower level of the boat, where JJ and Brittany were residing.
"Hey Niko," JJ said casually, playing cards with his umbreon. The moonlight pokémon had gotten used to the types of games its trainer played, and was a quick learner. Upon being beaten once again by his pokémon, JJ looked up at the dark type and smiled with pride while ruffling the curly blonde hair he had grown out over the previous summer.
JJ was one of Niko's friends from school. On the day Niko and their mutual friend, Fay, decided to leave on their journey, JJ spontaneously decided to join them. With his first pokémon—eevee—he originally set his eyes on Kanto's gym challenge. After losing to Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, JJ quit the gym challenge and simply set his eyes on travelling with his friends and seeing the world. Over the course of their journey, he flitted with the idea of being a pokémon breeder after successfully raising his growlithe from an egg. After meeting with a beautiful young girl named Maizie in the Johto region, JJ fully committed himself to becoming a pokémon breeder.
It was only during his travels in Hoenn did JJ deviate at all from his dream. He participated in Pokémon Contests, which are a type of competition that combine battling with the style of a pokémon's moveset. He was hardly successful at it compared to his friend Brittany, but he nonetheless enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to grow with his pokémon, which he sees as helpful in being a better pokémon breeder.
"Wow JJ, that's like the third time umbreon's beaten you today. You sure it isn't a psychic type?" Brittany asked, sitting with her spheal, pikachu, and tangela, which composed three of the five pokémon on her team. Brushing back some of her brunette hair, she looked up at Niko with hazel eyes and smiled. "Oh, hey Niko. You okay?" She asked as her smile turned quickly into a look of concern.
Brittany is originally from Vermilion City. On what turned out to be a fateful encounter aboard the S.S. Anne, Brittany met Niko, JJ, and Fay, and the four became fast friends, enough that once the cruise ended, Brittany decided to leave her home to travel with the three boys. Throughout much of their journey in Kanto and Johto, Brittany had no goal in mind, except for considering becoming a breeder like JJ when she received an egg that later hatched into her pichu. However, once they reached the Hoenn region, her goals changed a bit when she discovered Pokémon Contests.
On JJ's urging, Brittany entered her first contest in Slateport City, and didn't do very well. She briefly considered quitting it, but Niko, JJ, and Jake—Niko's younger brother—convinced her otherwise, and she continued, competing in a total of six contests and earning for herself three contest ribbons, which allowed her to compete in the annual Grand Festival, the contest equivalent to the Pokémon League. There, Brittany competed against 167 other "coordinators" and placed in the Top 8 overall.
"Oh, I'm fine. Motion sickness again," Niko said as he sat down on his sleeping bag. The lower level of the boat was relatively cramped for three people, but they made it work. It wouldn't be much longer before they reached Sandgem Town.
"So, have we thought about what we'll do first?" JJ asked, looking at Niko for direction. During their adventure in Hoenn, Niko became the decisionmaker between the four of them, for whatever reason. JJ generally was the navigator of the group, and would always estimate the distance they would need to traverse between cities. Brittany worried more about the logistics of their travels—such as supplies. They seemed to make it work, and couldn't imagine any other arrangement.
"Well, we should see Professor Rowan. I would like to get an idea of where we should start our travels. And I'll also need to go out and catch a pokémon."
Niko, for the second time, chose to travel "alone"—i.e., without any of his previous pokémon on hand—like he had done in Hoenn. Generally, he got a pokémon from the regional professor, as he had done in Kanto with Professor Oak, Johto with Professor Elm, and Hoenn with Professor Birch. But he couldn't assume that the same would be true for Professor Rowan, and so considered catching a pokémon of his own this time.
"That's true. You can borrow one of mine if you need to," JJ said, turning to umbreon who nodded in agreement. Having travelled for so long with Niko, all of JJ's pokémon respected the tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed trainer, and the same went for all of Niko's pokémon.
"Thanks, JJ," Niko said with a sincere smile, "I'll keep that in mind."
They continued talking for a bit—with Niko saying considerably less than he normally would, partially due to the nausea he was feeling—before the boat's captain popped his head into their room and said they had landed in Sandgem Town.
"Great," Niko said, slowly standing back up and packing his things before climbing up to the deck. The first thing he saw was a beach with a road to the north that presumably would take him to Sandgem Town. He, JJ, and Brittany all got off the boat, thanked their captain, and turned to face the Sinnoh region.
"We're here," JJ said, patting Niko on the shoulder. The pokémon trainer nodded and led the three of them down the path ahead.
Sandgem Town was relatively small, about the same size at New Bark Town in Johto, but smaller than Pallet Town and certainly smaller than Littleroot Town. The three walked through the town until they saw a large, cylindrical-shaped building with a windmill behind it. Figuring that it was the lab, they approached the gate that separated it from the rest of the town and entered.
The inside of the lab was incredible. The ceiling was high-set with long-arching windows of varying sizes running along the walls. On the ground-floor, there was a set of machines on one end of the main room with a living-room style setup in the middle. Niko looked around for any sign of an older-looking man, but instead found a young man approaching him. He was about JJ's height—which was a few inches shorter than Niko—with ruffled black hair and dark gray eyes. He wore black jeans and a red turtle-neck long sleeve, as if he were dressing for a trip to some snow-covered land in the near future.
"Hello, my name's Lucas. How may I help you?" He said in a calm voice.
"Hi, my name's Niko. This is JJ, and Brittany. We're here from Kanto to see Professor Rowan."
Lucas's eyes widened slightly and he replied with a silent "oh," pulling out a small notebook from his back pocket, he flipped through the pages until he nodded. "Yep, he's definitely got an appointment with you three. Unfortunately, he's out on a visit to Lake Verity right now, and won't be back for some time. Blast it, Rowan always does this!"
"Well, how far is Lake Verity?" JJ asked. "We could just meet him there."
Lucas nodded at the suggestion. "Yes, that'd work. Lake Verity is about an hour west of here. Do you guys have a map?" The three of them shook their heads. "No worries, let me grab one for you," Lucas then ran up a set of stairs behind him and came back down minutes later, panting but holding on to a scroll of paper. "We don't use paper maps much anymore, as we've moved to Pokétch technology, but we still have plenty of them. Here," Lucas handed JJ the map, and the three leaned over to look at it.
The Sinnoh region was magnificent looking. It was akin to a crude drawing of a triangle, with a large growth of land on its western edge. There was also a massive landmass to the northeast that looked almost like a two-pronged fork. Lucas pointed down in the southwestern region.
"We're right here, Sandgem Town. To the southwest of us is Twinleaf Town, and to the west is Lake Verity. You just had to walk down route 201 and you'll get there in an hour or so."
"Wow, thanks Lucas!" Niko said, shaking the boy's hand. "We'll return this when we get back."
"Psh, don't worry about it. We've got plenty," Lucas said passively. "Anyways, go find Rowan."
The three nodded, and then set off west in the direction shown to them. As they walked through the forested route 201, they saw a host of pokémon they've never seen before. One of them looked like a beaver with its large teeth and small tufts of fur for a tail that almost resembled a baby beaver. They were gathered along the edge of a river in small groups. They would also see small black and gray-feathers birds engaging with larger birds that bore similar feather colors. They eyed Niko and his friends warily as they passed, but didn't feel the need to attack.
I wish I had a pokédex so I could at least know what these pokémon are…Niko thought to himself. Hopefully Rowan has some.
They eventually reached a path through the trees that looked to be man-made. Walking through they eventually saw a small lake with an even smaller island in the middle. Sitting on the edge of the lake was a gray-haired man in a lab coat overlooking the lake. Upon the trainer's arrival to the lake, he turned to look at them.
"Oh, hello there. Here to visit the lake, too?" He asked in a gruff, but kind, voice.
"Actually, professor, we're here to see you," Niko said. Rowan looked curiously at the three trainers approaching him. "My name is Niko, this is JJ, and this is Brittany. We're from Kanto."
"Ah! You're the youngsters Oak told me about! Welcome!" Rowan said, holding out his hand to shake Niko's, JJ's, and Brittany's. "My apologies for not being present at my lab. You see, I often come to Lake Verity here as a means of relaxing. You three are not familiar with Sinnoh, I assume?" They shook their heads. "Very well. Sinnoh is well known for its myths, similar to Johto. There are three major lakes in the Sinnoh region—Lake Valor, Lake Acuity, and Lake Verity. Each are the home to guardian pokémon—Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, each of whom are tied to the creation of the Pokémon world. Here, the guardian is Mesprit, who is known as the Being of Emotion, hence the name of the lake.
"I mention this because it is important to understand the history of the places you visit, so you can better appreciate the travels you undertake. Oak told me about you three. You've been to many regions of the world, so this sort of explanation should be familiar to you. And plus, I always find it fascinating to learn about history and how I can relate it to my everyday life, in addition to impressing its importance on the next generation."
Niko looked out at the lake, which resembled a pond, if anything else. The Being of Emotion…Mesprit. I wonder what kind of abilities it has.
"Anyways, we should get back to Sandgem Town. There's a few things I'd like to go over with you before you begin your journey."
Back at the lab, Rowan sat down on one of the couches on the ground floor opposite Niko, JJ, and Brittany. "So," He began, "From what I know of you three, you each have a different goal in Mind. JJ, you aspire to be a pokémon breeder, yes?"
"I do, sir," JJ said curtly.
"Interesting profession, it is. It requires a lot of patience, more than most other disciplines. It's much like research—you won't get immediate results on anything. Breeding and raising pokémon takes time, much like any research project. Now, Brittany, you were a coordinator in Hoenn, yes?" Brittany nodded. "I see. We have contests here in Sinnoh, and I certainly encourage you to enter them. However, I warn you that they are different than in Hoenn, which you'll soon find out, I'm sure. In fact, there's a contest being held in Jubilife City in a few days, if you're interested."
"Thanks, Professor, I'll keep that in mind," Brittany said with a kind smile.
"And now…Niko," Rowan's glaring, but friendly, eyes turned to the third trainer sitting across from him. "Oak had the most to say about you. You've competed in three Pokémon Leagues, correct?" Niko nodded. "That is certainly impressive. I knew a trainer once who competed in every league he could find. Needless to say, he's done well for himself. Do you intend on competing in the Sinnoh League?"
"Yes, I do," Niko said with another nod.
"Alright then. As part of my job, I get trainers started on their journeys. You're already quite aware of this, I believe," Rowan then stood up and walked over to the end of the room with the machines, and picked up a series of objects. "I have a few things for the each of you. First, your pokédexes. They have information on all of the pokémon you might encounter in the Sinnoh region. I usually ask for trainers to go out and help me collect data on pokémon, but it is my understanding that this is not your priority. However, if you find something unique or exciting, please feel free to give me a call or show me next time we meet."
Rowan handed the three trainers their new pokédexes. Like usual, they were a sleek red color with a directional pad on the left, a sensor of sorts on the right and a display screen in the middle. Rowan then handed Niko a new badge case.
"I'm sure you'll be needing one of these, so I thought I'd procure one for you."
"Thank you, Professor," Niko said, looking at the sleek new badge case with a gray and black pokéball in the center. Rowan then reached into his bag and pulled out two pokéballs.
"So, Oak also made me aware of the fact that you didn't bring any of your previous pokémon with you, Niko," Rowan said, placing the pokéballs in the center of the table. "And so, I'm giving you the option of taking one of the traditional Sinnoh starter pokémon with you. I would normally have three, but I have not yet had the chance to obtain a third one, as a trainer just left with it a few days ago."
"What kind of pokémon are in them?" Niko asked.
"Ah, yes, you should probably know that first," Rowan said with a chuckle. He picked up the pokéballs, walked behind the couch into an open space, and released them. Out of the pokéballs came a small monkey-like creature with a fireball for a tail and a light green turtle-like pokémon with a small seedling growing on the top of its head. On its back lay a soft brown and black shell.
"Here we have our traditional fire starter, chimchar, and our traditional grass starter, turtwig," Rowan said. Niko got on one knee to observe the two before instantly making a choice.
"Turtwig," Niko said, looking back up at Rowan. "I choose turtwig."
"That was fast," Rowan said, impressed. He returned chimchar to its pokéball. "Very well, turtwig is yours."
Niko pat the top of turtwig's head. "Hello there. My name is Niko, and I'm your new trainer. Will you go on my journey with me?"
The tiny lead pokémon nodded shyly. Niko silently laughed before petting turtwig again. He stood back up and took the pokéball from Rowan before returning turtwig to it.
"Also, since you're challenging the gyms here, I would recommend starting in Oreburgh City. The gym leader—Roark—is a kind young man, but he will provide enough of a challenge for you, I believe. Also, it's not far from Jubilife, either, just a couple days east."
"Thank you for everything, Rowan," Niko said before shaking the professor's hand. Rowan returned it with a sincere smile as Brittany and JJ did the same.
"It's my pleasure. Best of luck to the three of you—you'll need it."
Niko, Brittany, and JJ departed the lab as the afternoon sun began to lower itself into the forest to the west. Looking at each other, they nodded and set off north towards their first destination—Jubilife City!