A/N: This is my first Pokémon fic for the site and if all goes well it should be a long and interesting one. The first couple of chapters of the story will be a little slow but after those there will be plenty going on. Two important points, the story only features OC's as main characters and it is written entirely in first person. Characters from the show or games may appear later but only in brief or cameo roles.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon or any of the respective games or tv shows etc.
For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. Not just any Pokémon trainer though, the very best one. I later discovered that most kids my age had the very same goal. The difference between them and myself however is that I have to be. You see, my father is the champion of the Hoenn region.
Turns out when you have a father like mine everyone expects you to be just like him. "Like father, like son." they would say, and they would say it all the time.
When I was young I appeared on tv alongside my father for during a couple of interviews, never saying anything groundbreaking but always in the public eye. Millions of Pokémon fans know my name and I haven't even done anything to deserve such attention. When I was eight a specialist program decided they wanted to feature me as one of their 'Potential Future Stars'. Before I knew it everyone was expecting me to become this great trainer I had absolutely no idea how to be.
I think my father had expected it, he always knew what would happen before it did, maybe that's why he's such a great trainer. He personally taught me a lot about Pokémon and taught me all how battles worked. That was step one of his plan for me. Step two came as a much greater shock to me. When I turned ten he dropped the bombshell on me.
"Toby. Do you want to go on a Pokémon journey in Sinnoh?" he asked me just minutes after I blew out my birthday candles.
I nearly choked on my cake, which I happened to be eating a slice of at the time.
"I know that going by yourself to such a far away place seems daunting but when I was ten I started my own Pokémon journey I think it would be a great experience for you." he looked at me with a serious look I rarely saw outside of his Pokémon battles. "Are you interested? Yes or no?"
I didn't know what to say, he really put me on the spot at that moment. I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer but never expected this is how it would happen. I put the half eaten cake back on the plate in front of me thinking how to respond to such an outrageous idea. I quickly weighed up the pros and cons and managed to cough out a single word.
"Yes."
So here we are then, just three days after that conversation took place. A deserted airport at quarter to twelve, almost the middle of the night. Dad decided to see me off so I didn't have to travel so far completely alone.
The plane we had caught was the last plane expected to arrive at the airport that night so the place was largely empty. We walked across the tarmac after getting off the plane and headed to the bag carousel where we had to wait with everyone else for our bags. Bags eventually began to tumble onto the belt and went around and around until people grabbed them. I kept my eyes open for our bags but soon enough we were the last two people there and all the bags were gone.
"So what now?" I asked Dad yawning.
Dad still seemed rather excited about the whole thing despite our missing bags. I was far too sleepy to share his enthusiasm. The nonstop flight between Evergrande City and Jubilife City had been over 15 hours and since I couldn't sleep on that cursed plane I was now incredibly tired, not to mention the timezone jump meant the night was already half over. Dad told me to wait on the nearby seats while he talked to one of the airport staff. He returned a couple of minutes later with bad news.
"They can't find our bags." he said with a disappointed tone.
"Can we please just go to the hotel then?" I pleaded sleepily.
"Ok, I'll get them to send them to the hotel if they turn up."
He then proceeded to make a couple of phone calls and before I knew it I was in the back of a taxi heading for the hotel. The city looked like it was a million miles away, there wasn't any traffic on the road but the lights on the horizon didn't seem to be getting any closer. Before long my eyes began to droop and I guess I fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes again I was greeted by the bright morning sun shining through a cheap hotel curtain. I quickly pieced together what happened but I was still getting over the fact I had travelled so far within such a short time frame. I sat up in the bed and looked around the room for any sign of my stuff, I didn't see of my bags so I got out of bed to have a better look. I pulled back the curtain to let some more light into the room and after a few moments of putting the situation together I realized I was still in my clothes from yesterday.
I opened the bedroom door to find Dad talking on the hotel phone. He saw me, smiled and pointed at a small fridge on the other side of the room. He then went back to his conversation. I quietly opened the fridge to find a variety of overpriced food the hotel keeps in your room hoping you'll be stupid enough to eat it. I knew better and grabbed the half empty milk bottle from the fridge door. I also found some cereal in the cupboard next to it, I poured some of it into a bowl and began eating. After eating a few mouthfuls Dad hung up the phone.
"The airline lost our luggage." he said unhappily. "It could be days before it gets here. So, we'll just have to go shopping for some new supplies before you set out."
I simply nodded at this and went back to eating while he read a newspaper until I was done. When I finished I put the empty bowl near the sink and noticing I was done he put the newspaper down.
"Well, there's no point wasting any time. Have a shower and get cleaned up so we can go."
He seemed like he had a well thought out plan while I was still trying to get up to speed. He must have been planning this.... no, my journey for quite some time because it seemed to me like he had every little detail figured out right down to what I would need to take. But had he thought about how I would feel about it? Regardless of that I again simply nodded in response. What the day will hold I have no idea but it was sure to be interesting.
After a short shower I slipped my black tshirt back on along with my dark blue shorts. I then tried to flatten down the horrible mess of black hair on my head into something presentable before finishing up and going back into the main part of the hotel room.
"Ready to go?" Dad asked.
"Yeah." I replied softly.
"I put your shoes near the door." he said pointing to my red trainers. "But we'll have to find you something better than those. Otherwise you'll get terrible blisters from walking so much."
The department store loomed above us casting a huge shadow across the rather quiet street and blocking out the morning sun and most of the sky with it.
"What do we have to get from here?" I asked him. Another question, almost everything I had said in the last three days had been a question. I bet he was getting sick of answering them.
'Clothes." he said grinning.
"Clothes." I moaned. "You brought me this far to go clothes shopping?"
"Well, we wouldn't have to if the bags had made it it." Dad said matter of factly.
"I guess not." I replied defeated.
"Look on the bright side, you can get something local so you won't stand out as much."
"I guess so." I said making sure he realized how much I hated the idea of clothes shopping. "Won't these clothes do?" I asked shaking my arms and grabbing hold of my shirt.
"Not at all." he said bluntly. "You have no idea what you'll be up against out there."
I just looked at him blankly as that idea went through my head. What would I be up against? Does it snow here. I heard it does. Will I freeze to death at night or will it be so hot I could never sleep?
"But don't worry." he continued noticing my doubt. "You'll be fine, once we get you the right gear and a Pokémon."
I smiled a little when he said that, a Pokémon. I going to get a Pokémon. I wonder what kind it will be. Will he give me one or will I have to catch one myself?
I was distracted from my many question when we entered the building through a large revolving door at the front. A few people were wandering around the various clothes racks that filled the room we entered and a couple of them looked at us. Strangely nobody stopped and stared, if we were in Hoenn then people would drop what they were doing just to talk to my Dad. Maybe that's why Dad insist we fly all the way here and not just some large city in Hoenn. Dad didn't seem to notice the lack of attention, he just looked at a directory on the wall before leading us to an elevator.
After a short elevator trip and some calming music we arrived in what was clearly a department dedicated to Pokémon trainers.
"We'll find you some clothes first before we buy everything else." he said pointing the clothes section at the back of the department.
At this early time in the morning there were no other customers here. The sales assistant came straight over to us. She looked like a nice lady and unlike many sales assistants I'd met before she was actually rather helpful. Dad told her what we were after.
"Everything a new Pokémon trainer will need."
Going from that she led us right to where we needed to be. The advice she gave before we started was also useful and I'll remember it for a long time.
"Make sure you pick something that is comfortable but also looks good. You'll likely be stuck with it for quite some time."
Dad nodded and the assistant smiled. She began to sort through a pile of pants.
"These look about your size, they are popular with trainers your age." she unfolded a pair of dark brown pants covered in pockets.
"They look good don't they Toby." Dad said looking at me and then at the pants the shop assistant was holding.
"The pockets could be useful." I mulled, "I prefer to wear shorts though, like the ones I have on now."
Everyone looked at the dark blue shorts I had been wearing for the last three days.
"Trust me, you'll want pants." Dad said before the shop assistant had any ideas to show us some shorts.
"Ok." I sighed. I would have preferred shorts but Dad knew what he was talking about, he is the champion after all.
"Lets look at something to go with those then." said the sales assistant cheerily as she folded up the pants and gave them to Dad. The lady led us from one section to another making the pile of clothes bigger as we went. Eventually Dad insisted I try them on so he didn't have to carry so such a huge pile around.
One change room and an overly excited sales assistant later I had decided on an outfit that would not only met Dad's high expectations of something that would survive a journey but I must admit it looked good and felt great too.
"Now stand over here and look in the mirror." said the sales assistant.
"I'm not a girl." I complained, not feeling the need to look at clothes any more.
"Nonsense." she said. "Stand in front of the mirror and you'll see how professional you really look."
Not wanting to cause a seen (not that there was anyone to see it besides the three of us) I did as she asked and walked over to the mirror.
"There, isn't that great." she said. She was right. I hadn't really noticed it, but the black pants she had chosen looked much better than the brown ones we had earlier. They went really well with the light blue jacket Dad had chosen.
"It's fine." I said, firstly because it was, but also because I was sick of clothes shopping. "Don't we have a whole bunch of other stuff to get?"
"Yes, a lot." Dad said. "Grab a basket from over there." he pointed to the front of the store.
I did as he said and went back to the front of the department to grab a basket, when I returned I noticed the sales assistant had gone back to the counter, Dad had obviously told her we would be fine getting everything else.
Dad knew what he was after and I could barely keep up while carrying the basket as it became increasingly heavy. By the time we were done the basket was overflowing with gear, mainly due to the large box at the bottom which contained a pair of suitable shoes for walking long distance. The basket also contained six Pokéballs, some medicine, a sleeping bag, a belt for my pokéballs, a metal drink bottle, a pair of black gloves and some extra underwear much to my embarrassment. On my back I wore a new dark blue backpack simply because I had no other way of carrying it.
Before going to the counter to pay for it all Dad stopped in front of a display covered in red gadgets. Sinnoh and National Pokédex read the large glowing read letters above the display. Dad picked up a device and examined it, pressing a few buttons. I put down the basket and picked up a similar device to have a look.
Now, I'd seen Pokédex before but I'd never actually touched one, let alone owned one. What would I need it to do? The one I picked up had what looked like millions of options so I had no idea where to begin. I put the device down and decided to let Dad choose a suitable one. He handed me a sleek looking one that he looked pleased with. IDex was printed boldly above the screen. After reading the name I looked down at the confusing and daunting screen below and then gave Dad a puzzled look.
"Its a touch screen." he said pressing one of the colored icons on the screen. A blank trainer card appeared on the screen,
"It's just a display model." he said. "I'll register the one we get once we pay."
"Ok I said, this one will do." I had no idea if it was a good one or not but since Dad picked it out I assumed it must be ok.
"That's it then." he said proudly. "We have everything you'll need."
I picked up the basket and he put the small IDex box on top of it before leading the way to the counter.
I felt sorry for the shop assistant. We had so much stuff it took her a good ten minutes to sort it all out. We put everything inside the backpack we bought including my old clothes. Strangely we managed to get everything inside with plenty of room to spare, except of course for my old shoes which we had to carry in the shoebox. When we were finished I looked at the price in shock, being a trainer wasn't cheap. Then again, Dad was loaded and we had bought the top of the line for just about everything. So, I guess it could have been a lot cheaper.
I looked at Dad to see if he was going to pay but he looked somewhat distracted. He examined my outfit from head to toe before excusing himself and heading back to the aisle. He returned moments later carrying a blue Pokémon league hat that matched my jacket.
"And this too." he said handing the ripped off tag to the sales assistant. "No real trainer can go out without a proper hat."
"You don't wear a hat." I told him bluntly, not sure if the hat was such a good idea.
"You'll get used to it." he said ignoring the statement. "Besides, it makes you look like a really cool trainer."
"If you say so." I said without complaint. Thinking about it, a lot of the cool trainers I've seen did wear Pokémon League hats. So I decided to give it a go.
Dad thanked the assistant before we left the store via the elevator. It was a strange feeling. I had entered the building just some boring kid but I had left looking like a real trainer.
A/N Sorry for the slow start but I can assure you we'll see more characters.... and maybe if your lucky some actual Pokémon soon. I'm happy with the way the chapter turned out but I may come back to it later and edit or add bits if the need arises. Please let me know what you think of it so far, all comments welcome.