Might be an odd time to be writing about anything related to Pokemon Black/White, given Black 2/White 2's recent release (playing it myself right now) but I felt the urge to try this.
Anyway, this is experimental, a first chapter to test how I might feel about this. I may or may not continue this and write a full fic that is basically a novelization of the first Black/White game. I'll employ some creative liberties with the story, of course. Nothing fundemental would be changed, but I'd add my own spin to it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Unova sunrises were said to be the most beautiful sunrises of any region. One might argue that the claim was filled with positive bias, spoken by the Unova people who had too much pride in their land. Yet, as the sun rose, the claim was hard to argue against. The rays of light came, chasing away the darkness that had hitherto blanketed the region.
The Pokemon of the region roused. Some woke more ungracefully then others. The morning, like most, was dominated by the chirping of the birds. Pidoves flew freely, some not far from a mother Unfezant. Patrat's scampered through the grass, stopping occasionally to sniff the air before darting off in some other direction. Occasionally their curiosity was rewarded with a juicy fruit fallen from some tree.
The water rippled with the movements of the fish beneath. Basculins swam in small schools close to the water's surface. Some occasionally poking up above the water. As long as Basculins of two different stripes didn't meet, they were surprisingly peaceful to watch.
The beauty of the morning was perhaps most easily seen in Nuvema Town, in the south eastern corner of Unova. In the civilized, urbanized land of Unova, Nuvema was a quiet and calm town. The less tactful might have called it backwater. Some of the people here had big aspirations, no doubt, but overall it was an uneventful place, and the older citizens of Nuvema took pride in that.
Nuvema was known to be peaceful and quiet, but among the people who lived there, there was a more famous trait of the town. Ask any of them what that trait was, and they'd smile before mentioning the boy who was quite possibly the boy who loved sleeping in more then anyone else in history.
The boy in question was still ever so fondly asleep in his bed as the morning sun was beginning its timeless journey up and higher into the sky. He turned in his covers, letting his head sink into the pillow. The lights were still off. His hat was hanging on his bedpost, his usual clothes were on some nearby racks.
A fan spun quickly on the ceiling. The shelves were lined with books, but if one thought that the boy was the studious sort, that would be a horrifically inaccurate assumption. The occupant rarely read them, he just seemed to keep them.
The door slowly creaked open. An older woman slowly walked in, her movement reminiscent of a prowler. She was clearly no thief, but simply someone who knew that this room's occupant loved little more then his beauty sleep. The wooden floor creaked in protest as her feet came down on it, but it was far from something loud enough to wake the boy. Reaching a table not far from the bed, she placed a box on it.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at the bed and smiled at the notoriously slow riser. He was known for sleeping so deeply that he tended to fall into near comas, but she still didn't risk walking over to the bed to ruffle his hair. Instead, she simply exited the room as quietly as she could.
Outside, some people were already awake and about. One of them was a studious and serious boy named Cheren. He was stern to a fault and took competition very seriously. He prided himself on his punctuality and demanded it in others, and so he began to tap his foot impatiently as two certain some bodies did not show up on the agreed upon time.
The minutes crept by with a malicious slowness. Cheren sighed and adjusted his glasses. He should have just given up and left, but he would not ever, ever risk anyone asking him 'Where were you?' when he wasn't the one who was late, and so he stayed.
"Sorry we're late!" A female voice finally, mercifully sounded. Cheren turned, and rather then smile and burst into enthusiasm at the fact that his wait was over, his eyes narrowed at the sight of two familiar girls.
"Just because I've known you for years doesn't mean I find this cute, Hilda." Cheren said coolly. He had addressed a girl, with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a hat and a sleeveless outfit, and who seemed to have no issue walking around with some exceptionally short… shorts.
"Not my fault I'm late. Someone-" Hilda elbowed the other girl in the hip. "-used every trick in the book to try and get out of leaving with me."
The second girl rubbed at the hip that had just been poked by a good friend's elbow. "I just… wanted to take it at my own pace."
Cheren looked at the second girl, her name was Bianca. She was the effective opposite of Cheren. She was slow-witted, overly friendly, and, put in nicest terms, an airhead and a scatterbrain. Yet something about her seemed to attract others to look past her faults and help her along.
"I'd ask where the last of our little group is, but it's obvious where he is." Cheren sighed then turned his gaze to a house, the house that belonged to the boy with a mythical ability to sleep-in.
The door to the house opened. Out stepped the older woman who had left a box in the boy's room. She passed by the three teens and smiled. "I left him a present, but I think you'll all like it."
She, that is, Professor Juniper, one of the world's leading authorities on Pokemon research, walked past them. The three teens exchanged glances then all nodded and began moving toward the house.
"Oh, Hilbert's friends." A woman inside the house looked away from the kitchen counter as she noticed the arrival of the three teens. She tacitly didn't mention that they had forgotten to knock before opening the front door. Her son's friends were good example setters, the occasional slip-up didn't bother her.
"Hello Mrs., um…" Bianca struggled to recall a name, "Mrs. Hilbert's mom." The woman in the kitchen looked ready to either start laughing or flash an indignant expression. Bianca was a natural when it came to forgetting things.
"We heard he had been given a gift by the Professor." Hilda quickly explained why they were here. "We were told we'd all like the gift. Can we see him?"
"Sure. He's in his room." She turned back to the counter, still in the process of cooking food. "Good luck waking him up. I'm the only one who knows better then you three how much of a struggle that is."
"Oh. We'll find a way." Cheren said, his tone of voice made it seem as though he had just accepted a challenge. "Thank you for letting us see him." The three turned and began to head for the stairs.
"Where did that boy get that urge to sleep from?" She wondered aloud as she began to chop a carrot up. "Had to have been from his father. He only got good things from my side of the family."
"Here we go again." Hilda muttered, looking at the sleeping Hilbert. She immediately grabbed the covers and yanked them off the bed, revealing the boy, still in his pajamas. He didn't look discomforted at all at the lose of the covers, and continued to snore.
The two girls made various attempts at waking their friend, everything from playing music from the computer at max volume to trying to yell in his ear. Hilda grabbed a megaphone that was lying on the computer desk in the room and was prepared to try and scream into it, but was stopped by Cheren's hand on her shoulder.
"That won't work." Cheren said impassively. "But I do know a surefire way to get him up. Let's leave the room for a moment." Hilda and Bianca looked at each other, Hilda shrugged her shoulders and they both followed Cheren out of the room.
"I need to get something from my house. Give me a minute." Cheren walked off, leaving Hilda and Bianca alone in the upstairs hall. They waited, and before either could truly start to get worried, Cheren was back, holding a very large box in his arms.
"What…?" Bianca tilted her head curiously at what Cheren had.
"My ace in the hole." Cheren spoke with a tone that made it clear that he knew exactly what he was doing. He made a glance at both Hilda and Bianca, wordlessly assuring them that whatever he was planning on doing was going to net results before he entered Hilbert's room.
Hilda raised an eyebrow, wondering what was happening. Cheren suddenly poked his head out of the doorway.
"I'd explain this, but it's extremely technical." He ducked back into Hilbert's room. Bianca and Hilda were left to themselves, and after a few short minutes a boyish scream pierced the air.
Downstairs, Hilbert's mother turned away from the stew she was stirring and looked up to where the unexpected noise came from. She suddenly wondered if letting Hilbert's friends try to wake him up was the best idea.
"Okay Cheren, okay!" Hilbert was on the floor, his hand over his chest, his heart beating so fast that it wasn't unfeasible that it might explode. "I'm up. I'm up!"
"If you got up at the same time everyone else did, I wouldn't have to resort to extremes."
Hilbert scrambled to his bare feet, breathing hard. He turned to see Hilda and Bianca entering.
"What did you do to him?" Bianca asked, looking at how rattled Hilbert was, and beginning to bridle on his behalf.
"I woke him up." Cheren responded with an utterly neutral tone as the just woken up friend began to stand up. "Hilbert, put on some clothes, please."
Hilbert looked down at himself, still wearing his dark blue sleep clothes. He looked at those present, then at his clothes hanging around the room. "Um… can you at least… turn around?"
The two girls smirked, Cheren sighed. "It's not like it's something I'd want to see. Yes, we'll turn around. Hurry up." The three turned their backs to Hilbert as he stripped himself of his pajamas and started to put on his regular clothes.
"No peeking, Cheren." Bianca teased as she kept her eyes focused on the wall. Cheren twitched in annoyance.
"All my friends are depressing." Cheren stated as he shook his head. Then he grunted and nearly fell over as Hilda punched him, hard, in his hip.
Hilbert turned to the bedpost and grabbed his favorite hat. "Done. You can turn back around." The three looked at their friend as he was adjusting his hat. He didn't look like someone who was so infamously hard to wake when he was alert and dressed. "Was there a particular reason you guys came?"
"The Professor left you a present." Hilda said, pointing to a table in the room. Hilbert looked to the side and saw the box. His eyes brightened and he walked over to it. The first thing he noticed was the small handwritten note. He picked it up and scanned left to right, taking in every letter.
"What's it say?" Cheren questioned. He received no immediate answer, and then Hilbert put the note down and started to open the box.
"The Professor has three Pokeballs in the box. I, I mean, we… can have the Pokemon in them."
Bianca gaped, then grinned at the prospect, immediately zipping over to Hilbert's side and waiting eagerly for him to open the box. She had been asking her parents for a long time now about having her own Pokemon, but they, especially her dad, were always quick to change the subject.
"Three Pokemon… for four of us." Cheren lightly closed his eyes and sighed. "And how do we settle who doesn't get one?"
"I… um…" Hilda looked uncomfortable for a moment, then spoke. "I'll skip out. I don't really want a pet, and I'm not interested in being a trainer. I wouldn't want to see my Pokemon get hurt."
That quickly solved the issue of who would be getting the shaft. Hilbert opened the box and saw the three Pokeballs, each having a note by them.
"Just hope there's not a Ghost-type." Hilbert said with a suddenly hesitant voice. Hilda tried, and failed, to keep herself from snickering. Hilbert had a known phobia with Ghost Pokemon. He read all the notes and breathed a sigh of relief. "A Grass, a Fire, and a Water type."
Cheren stepped forward, bringing a hand up to his chin and beginning to stroke it, he looked ready to try and grab one of the balls, but Bianca grabbed his shoulder.
"It's Hilbert's present. He gets first pick."
Cheren felt annoyance tug unmistakably at him, but didn't argue. Hilbert looked at the three balls, then smiled. He reached down and grabbed the one that had the Grass type contained within.
"My turn!" Bianca spoke up enthusiastically, she looked down at the balls, her eyes filled with exuberance.
"Who said you could pick next?" Cheren suddenly protested. He turned to the friend who had received the gift. "Hilbert, she doesn't deserve to just decide that she can pick before me like this. Let her and I… play some game of chance, let the winner get the second pick."
Hilbert looked back at Cheren, then turned to Bianca. "Go ahead."
Cheren's eyes narrowed indignantly, but Bianca smiled a thanks. She looked at what remained, and chose the ball that had the Water type contained within.
"Really?" Cheren walked up, biting back the sigh he wanted to give. "Fine by me. I wanted the Fire type in the first place." The statement was brutally honest, though it sounded more like he was trying to save face. He grabbed the only remaining Pokeball in the box and quietly examined it. He was touched by curiosity to see the Pokemon within, but didn't think this was the appropriate place.
He glanced at Hilbert, then noticed Bianca had raised her Pokeball over her head. Before he could say anything, such as the fact that this shouldn't be done in Hilbert's room, she had thrown it. The ball snapped open in the air and released the Pokemon contained inside. The sound caught Hilbert and Hilda by surprise, and all four of them stared as a small white creature appeared on the ground.
"Osha…" The creature spoke. It looked around, then took a nervous step back as it noticed four comparatively tall creatures staring at it. One of them stepped forward and picked up the thing before it could dare to scamper away.
"It's just adorable!" Bianca held her Pokemon in her arms. It fidgeted and squirmed in panic for a moment, but began to calm down as Bianca's hand moved gently across the top of its head.
"Wott. Osha… wott." The little Water-type got out of Bianca's arms and scampered up to her shoulder. Seemingly already comfortable with her, it put its arms on the girl's cheek. She giggled and stood up straight to keep it from falling down.
Cheren offered one of his rare smiles at the sight. Then turned to Hilbert. Seeing as he didn't seem to have any objections to this happening in his room, he decided to go along with it. "You next."
Hilbert grinned, then tossed his Pokeball, in moments a small green creature materialized on the floor of his room. Immediately it cocked its head from left to right, then stretched its neck to relax itself.
"Sniv." It said coolly. In contrast to Bianca's Water-type, this Pokemon was calm in the face of the eyes studying it. Eventually, Hilbert crouched down and extended his hand invitingly. The Grass type moved forward with a mix of confidence and awareness. It sniffed Hilbert's hand, then fearlessly jumping on the hand and crawled up to Hilbert's shoulder before scaling his head and perching on the hat.
"Adventurous, isn't he?" Hilda chuckled. She reached a hand up and patted the little Grass type on the head. The green Pokemon turned to the girl and nodded, almost like it was giving the girl royal permission to continue.
"What are they called?" Hilbert wondered aloud. He looked at what was standing on Bianca's shoulder. The blonde looked at the Grass type on Hilbert's head and shrugged.
"Don't you pay attention in Biology class?" Cheren asked in annoyance. "Bianca, you have an Oshuwott on your shoulder. Hilbert, that's a Snivy. As for this…" He raised the Pokeball he was holding and tossed it. A red and black Pokemon came into view. "…is a Tepig."
"Tep!" The Tepig sounded cheerfully, immediately running up to Cheren and rubbing affectionately against his leg. Cheren sighed, lowering himself and placing a hand on the Tepig's head.
"Yes. I like you too." Cheren said honestly. He looked at his friends. "Now that we have our Pokemon, what's the first thing to do with them?"
A moment of silence crept in. The Pokemon seemed to be enjoying what they were doing as the humans were brainstorming. Then a light-bulb turned on in Bianca's head.
"Let's have a Pokemon battle!" She exclaimed. Everyone gave her a look. She turned to specifically address the two boys. "Come on, you two have talked about being Trainers before. It had to have been on your mind the moment we learned what was in the box."
Hilbert was ready to try and deny that, but no rebuttal came to him and he sighed. "You called it, Bianca."
"We can't fight in Hilbert's room." Cheren said. "This place will become a disaster zone if we did. Let's fight outside the house."
"Oh, it couldn't really be that bad." Bianca argued. "The Professor had to have known that we'd be inexperienced, she wouldn't give us really strong Pokemon." She turned to Hilbert. "It's okay, right? Some quick battles won't hurt anyone."
Hilbert shrugged. He raised his head slightly, and Snivy suddenly jumped down, using the front of Hilbert's hat like a diving board to land almost elegantly on the floor. It turned its head, blinked its red eyes and waited eagerly for a challenger. Bianca smiled at the enthusiasm. She turned her head to her Oshuwott. "Ready?"
The Water Pokemon narrowed its eyes and jumped down, landing across from Hilbert's Snivy. It readied its small arms, hopped from foot to foot for a moment and made a few small practice jabs.
"Since when were Pokemon aspiring boxers?" Hilda joked before laughing at Oshuwott's display. She took a seat on Hilbert's bed as Hilbert and Bianca readied themselves for their first battle. Cheren sighed and stepped back. He took a final look at the room while it was still intact, and began to ready himself to offer an 'I told you so'.
The two Pokemon postured. Snivy and Oshuwott readied themselves. Oshuwott looked ready to conquer the world, Snivy stood confident, perhaps even a little cocky as it smirked and waited for its opponent to make the first move.
"Go get 'em!" Bianca called. Oshuwott eagerly started, running up and looking ready to crash its head into Snivy. The Grass type easily darted to the side. Oshuwott skidded to a halt and readied itself for another charge.
"Stop the attack cold." Hilbert ordered. Snivy smirked and braced itself. Oshuwott came again, but this time Snivy caught its enemy in its fairly small arms. Oshuwott tried to push forward, but after a few moments Snivy managed to win the pseudo-wrestling hold. It lifted Oshuwott up and tossed it across the room.
Oshuwott crashed into the base of a bookcase and slumped to the ground. A mountain of books suddenly fell off the shelves and onto the Water type. It quickly threw the books that landed on it aside and stalked back to the battlefield. It was formally determined, but now it was mad, and it was still holding one of the books that landed on it. Without warning, it suddenly threw the book at Snivy, and it smacked into the Grass type's nose.
The book ricocheted, bouncing straight up into the fan, bouncing off of the spinning fan and flying into the window, shattering the glass. Cheren looked at the window and raised a hand to his forehead. Hilbert and Bianca and even Hilda seemed to have zoned out of everything not related to the battle.
"Show them who's boss, Snivy." Hilbert said. The Grass type nodded and aggressively charged. Oshuwott counter charged and their heads crashed into each other. They continued to push for a moment… and then, slowly, Oshuwott gained an advantage. Starting slow, it began to swiftly push Snivy back, leaving large unmistakable scratches in the floor as Snivy skidded back. It pushed the Grass type forcefully into the wall. Oshuwott immediately backed up, planning on making another attack, but Snivy darted away, leaving Oshuwott to break a hole in the wall that led to the outdoor air.
Snivy tackled Oshuwott, hitting it hard in the chest and knocking it off-balance. It attacked again, spinning around and smacking Oshuwott with its tail, sending the Water type off of its feet and onto its back. It tried to get back up, but the young Pokemon seemed to have reached its limits and couldn't do it by itself.
"This fight's over." Hilbert said. Snivy walked up and, showing some good sportsmanship, helped Oshuwott get back to its feet. The two Pokemon stared at each other tensely before turning and going back to their trainers.
The Oshuwott returned to Bianca, looking at the ground in failure. Bianca picked it up and simply smiled. "You did good. You did great for your first time." She hugged it close.
"Touching." Cheren said, standing away from where the battle had taken place with his arms crossed. He took his glasses off for a second to wipe them with a cloth, then put them back on. "Hilbert. Take a second to glance around your room. You might be surprised by what you see."
Hilbert raised an eyebrow and turned. He cringed as he saw a wrecked bookshelf, long scratch marks on the floor, a hole in the wall, and lastly, a broken window. "How did-"
"I told you so." Cheren said, his lips curled into a smirk as he spoke the words he had been dying to say. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out some medicine made for Pokemon. He immediately set to work spraying some on Oshuwott. It seemed to burn at first as the spray landed on its bruises, but it quickly perked up, like it had never been hurt at all.
He moved to Snivy and gave it a similar treatment. The Grass Pokemon was less willing to accept the gift, but Cheren rather forcefully grabbed the Pokemon and gave it the spray. In moments Snivy was back in perfect condition. It waved an arm, almost as if it was a work boss dismissing Cheren. Cheren's brows drew together in offense, but he did indeed leave.
"Seeing as you clearly don't care about damage to your room, you'll fight me here as well." Cheren said with a commanding and challenging tone. "Tepig."
He expected to see the little pig running ahead and readying itself for combat. Instead, he felt something pushing on his leg. He looked down to see Tepig developing a romantic interest in his heel.
"Tepig." Cheren said quietly. The little thing looked up at its trainer, and noticed the finger pointing forward. It immediately rushed forward enthusiastically, happy to do something that would impress Cheren.
Bianca took a seat in a chair, Oshuwott sat in her lap as Hilbert and Snivy readied themselves for a second round.
"Tepig. Finish this quickly." Cheren said. The Fire type eagerly obeyed, charging forward at a speed that Oshuwott and Snivy couldn't hope to match. It looked ready to take Snivy out with one blow, but Snivy simply took a step to the left and put its tail down. Tepig tripped over the tail, and hurtled straight into the wall.
Cheren gritted his teeth in frustration as his Pokemon crashed face first into the wall, leaving a large crack in it. Tepig immediately got back on its feet, but did not charge again. It pawed the ground and snorted. It waited, looking for any possible opportune moment.
Hilbert gave the order to attack, Snivy moved forward. Tepig wasn't ready to move yet, but instead charged only when Snivy had almost completely closed the distance. It caught Snivy with its sudden movement and continued to run, planning on ramming Snivy into a wall.
Snivy regained its orientation and managed to jump off of its enemy right before it would have been painfully slammed against furniture. Tepig ended up smashing its snout into the bottom of a bookcase. The bookcase wobbled, then fell to the side, which proceeded to cause an inevitable domino effect.
Cheren sighed at the destruction he was helping cause, but focused on the battle. Tepig tossed its head around before turning around and quickly charging. It managed to head butt Snivy, knocking it onto its back a full meter away. Snivy shook its head and looked up to see Tepig has jumped in the air, planning to land on top of its opponent.
Quickly rolling away, Snivy got back to its feet as Tepig landed harmlessly on the wooden floor. Snivy broke into a run and shoulder tackled its enemy, knocking Tepig across the room. Tepig slid forcefully into a wall but was quick to rise… but then its front feet buckled.
Cheren contemplated continuing the battle, but shook his head. "You win both rounds, Hilbert." He muttered, deciding that the fight was over. It walked over and picked up Tepig. The Fire type didn't seem as dejected as Oshuwott had been, and wagged its tail happily in Cheren's arms. "What do we do about the room now?"
All four of the friends looked around, seeing books all over the floor and all of the bookshelves knocked down. There were cracks on the walls and one hole blown straight through the wall. Hilda had thought that the battle was interesting and had entirely ignored what was happening to Hilbert's room.
"Um…" Bianca looked apologetically at Hilbert. "Well, it was my suggestion that we fight here. I should… tell Hilbert's mom." She looked at the Pokemon in her arms and sighed. "I could get grounded for life for this."
"You won't get all the blame." Hilbert said before Bianca could try to walk off. He put his hand on her shoulder, hopefully to a reassuring effect. "Come on, we'll explain it to my mom." Bianca blinked at Hilbert's friendly face before she smiled. Snivy got up behind Hilbert and scaled up Hilbert's leg, climbing until it got back onto his head.
The two left, Cheren watched them and brought a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. It was Hilbert who hadn't objected to fighting in his room, he should get some of the blame for his misjudgment. After a time he, with his Tepig, left the room with Hilda.
All four of them found themselves in front of Hilbert's mom.
"So, Bianca's idea completely destroyed your room?" She asked, her arms crossed with a ladle still wet from stirring soup in her hand, and she was staring right at the girl.
"I okayed the idea, mom. It's not entirely her fault." Hilbert said, trying to divert some of the blame from his friend. "And I willingly participated. Cheren did too."
The older woman wrinkled her nose before sighing. "It's good that you're responsible enough to admit this." She made a small, weak smile. Though not eager to see the mess that had been made, or be the one to clean it up, she decided against putting a black mark on the day her son got his first Pokemon. The Snivy standing on her son's hat had to have been one of the cutest things she ever saw. "You two get your friends and just run along, I'll take care of the room. Go see the professor, she probably wanted you to go see her after you got accustomed to your Pokemon."
Hilbert took in a breath and relaxed the tension in him. Considering how his mom would normally glare over something like this, he expected a vicious draconian punishment, but he wasn't complaining.
Hilda scanned from side to side and then smirked. "And I was hoping one of you would have been shoved into the oven for what just happened."
"Oh, ha, ha." Hilbert fake laughed as he adjusted his hat. "We going to Juniper's lab?"
Hilda shrugged and nodded. Cheren moved forward. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Hilbert's mother suddenly called. The four of them all collectively froze. Hilbert's first thought was that his mom had reconsidered, and the four of them would spend the rest of the day cleaning. The woman walked up to her son. "Before you go, Hilbert…" She handed a small device to her son. "Here's your Xtransceiver. You forgot to put it away properly last night. I'll use it to stay in touch."
Hilbert took the device and rolled his eyes. He expected his friends to start to laugh at him, but no sound came. Pocketing the Xtransceiver, he motioned to the door.
Juniper was busy organizing various documents, and frequently taking a moment to type something on a computer. She was so busy, she failed to notice her four visitors. She suddenly climbed onto boxes to reach high places and sort some papers, until finally Hilbert cleared his throat and the sound carried to Juniper's ears. She turned around and saw the four of them, with the three Pokemon she had gifted them with.
"Oh, you're here." Juniper quickly got back down to the floor. "Today is an important day for you. Today some of you got your lifetime partners." As she said the word 'some' she looked sadly at Hilda, but the teen just smiled and shrugged, this apparently didn't bother her at all. "As such, I should start at the beginning. My name is-"
"Professor Juniper." Cheren said, looking slightly annoyed. "A leading expert on Pokemon research. We know."
Juniper pushed her lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "As gentlemanly as ever, Cheren? This is an important day. Let's do it properly." She cleared her throat and began again. "I am Professor Juniper, and I am a researcher of Pokemon. My focus is studying when Pokemon were born."
"Born?" Hilbert lowered his head for a moment to think. "You mean, when Pokemon came into existence?"
"Yes!" Juniper had never talked about her specific field of research with the four, and was glad that Hilbert caught on so quickly. " I see you have your Pokemon, and they already seem to love you." Snivy had apparently staked out its territory on Hilbert's hat. Oshuwott was still on Bianca's shoulder, and Tepig was pretty much fused to Cheren's leg.
"I would appreciate it if he wasn't so clingy." Cheren said quietly.
"She." Juniper corrected. Cheren raised an eyebrow. "The Snivy and the Oshuwott are male, the Tepig is female."
Cheren looked down at his Tepig, she looked up endearingly at her trainer. Cheren raised his head and sighed. "Great."
"What's wrong with girl Pokemon?" Juniper teased, then moved on to other subjects. "Right then, now, onto the reason I gave you the Pokemon. Have any of you ever heard of a Pokedex?"
Three of them gave blank expressions. Cheren looked at his three friends and sighed. "The Pokedex is a staple appliance for all trainers. The only thing more essential are Trainer IDs."
"Yes." Juniper said, not surprised that Cheren was the only one who knew that. "It's a marvelous device that automatically records any Pokemon you encounter. I was hoping that, now that you have Pokemon, you would want to go on a journey through the region. You would meet all sorts of Pokemon. My research here would prevent me from going all around Unova to fill it up."
"A journey…?" Hilbert wondered aloud, stroking his chin. Snivy jumped down to Hilbert's shoulder and nodded enthusiastically. It was all the encouragement Hilbert needed. He raised a hand, clenched it, and did an enthusiastic fist pump.
"An adventure!" Bianca spoke cheerfully. She turned to her Oshuwott, it just tilted its head. It apparently hadn't been paying attention to the conversation.
"A quest." Cheren's eyes narrowed the way they always did when he was accepting a challenge. "Yes, we'll all go."
Hilda felt a little left out. As her three friends looked more ready to leave with every passing second, she had to say something.
"Hold it." She said, all three of her friends jumped at Hilda's uncharacteristic hostile tone. "I am going with one of you. I am not going to have all three of you walk out on me." She was gritting her teeth, and it was doing a good job at intimidating all three of them. She stepped up to Cheren, the one who had the misfortune of standing right in front of her, and grabbed him by his collar. "You are taking me with you. No complaints and no excuses."
Juniper smiled at the drama. Cheren gave in almost immediately. The boy turned back to Juniper with an aggravated expression, while Hilbert and Bianca were beyond relieved. "I figured something like that would happen." She walked forward and, one by one, handed Hilbert, Bianca, and Cheren their Pokedexes. " It may just be almost the afternoon, but I'd advise you leave tomorrow morning. Take your time saying goodbye to your families and all of Nuvema. You probably won't be back here for a long, long time."
She looked at the four. They were all smiling, they all looked ready. She just hoped that they were really ready for this. She also hoped that she hadn't manipulated them into doing this for her, or forced them to feel obligated to take her up on her suggestion. There was just one final thing she needed to say.
"Hilbert. About your… sleep schedule…"
Hilbert smirked. "I'll have to find… some way, to make sure I wake up tomorrow."
Juniper allowed herself and the other three to laugh as Hilbert sheepishly bowed his head.
"You're leaving?" Hilbert's mom exhaled as she took in the news. Her son, with the Snivy standing on the kitchen table, was going to leave for a Pokemon journey? No longer living peacefully with her? She-
"Mom. Please-"
"No, no." She raised a hand. "I understand. I understand completely. Everyone, even the most cautious, wants to go on an adventure someday. But… I just thought you'd stay here longer."
Hilbert was quiet, and just adjusted his hat.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, then opened her eyes slowly. "Alright. If this is the last day you spend here for… a while, then I… I'll fix you your favorite meal, with your favorite drink. You can skip out on your chores, I might as well start getting used to doing everything around here by myself anyway. This is your day, to live however you wish."
Hilbert smiled. "Thanks, mom."
She turned to the cupboard to find an appropriate pot to cook in. Then she suddenly turned around. "Oh, and Hilbert…" She looked to the side, looking at the family portraits on the wall. "I met your father on my own journey years ago. My life changed forever when I met him. There's no doubt that you'll change forever on this journey to. The next time I see you, you'll probably walk in that door with a girl in your arms."
"M-mom!" Hilbert backed away. He turned red at the mental picture.
"You'll be in your tux. She'll be in a bride gown, and-"
"Mom!" Hilbert growled out, his mom turned smiling away from the portraits and back to her posturing son.
Getting reactions out of her son was so easy it was hard to resist the temptation to tease him. The only mercy he ever got was that she wouldn't tease him in front of his friends. Unless he did something that put her in a particularly vindictive mood. "Alright, Hilbert. But, you know that you won't be the same past tomorrow. There's hardship in this world, unlike anything you've ever known. You need to learn to rely on your Pokemon. Snivy, and any others you meet out there. I'm sure your friends will be right there for you. I know you well enough to know that you'll be there for both your Pokemon and your friends as well."
He sat down. After the girlfriend and marriage tease he wasn't in the most smiling of moods, but he knew what had just been said is true. "I'm not the sort to abandon people, or let them down." If the other three needed his help, he would most definitely offer it. He wasn't the lone wolf sort.
He thought for a moment and looked around his house. He would feel a bit of loss at leaving this comfortable place, but he was ready. There was one detail left. "There's just one thing I want to ask you to do…"
"I'll use every trick in the book to wake you up tomorrow morning." She said, practically reading his mind.
Cheren was still getting his things organized. He unexpectedly had to be packing for two rather then one. Supplies for himself and Hilda, and food for Tepig had to also be considered, of course. Fortunately, his surprising travel companion decided to help him pack. Even with Hilda's help here, this could take until night, since Cheren had said that he was preparing for every possible contingency. As Hilda learned, he really meant to prepare for every possible contingency.
Tepig also helped, pushing some bags around herself. It was a very helpful little Pokemon, and now that he was over the unexpected shock that the thing was actually female, he enjoyed watching it running around. It would stop being cute before too long, once it gains experience in battle.
He brought the checklist out as Hilda came in with another box. Hilda put the box down, she was covered in sweat, and was probably wondering how preparing could take this long. Cheren decided to wait on telling her that they had completed only a quarter of their packing.
"No!" The man raged at his daughter. "Absolutely not! You are not ready to do something like this."
Bianca took a step back from her father, but her face was filled with defiance. "I told the Professor I'd go-"
"Then you'll have to go back on your word." Her father cut her off. "You are not ready to go on a journey like this. Not when you're still so obviously clueless and naïve about the world out there. You are staying right here." He pointed to the floor of the house with a finger that was shaking with anger.
The Oshuwott had become scared the moment Bianca's father had grown furious, and was trembling behind Bianca's leg. The man heard the sound of the little Pokemon. "The only thing you got out of today was a pet. Get to your room and forget about your 'adventure'. Tomorrow you are staying in Nuvema."
Bianca looked ready to protest, but her father turned away. This conversation was over, and he had put his foot down on the matter. Bianca turned around and picked Oshuwott up. She said nothing and moved to her room. She sat on the bed, her thoughts entirely on her friends. What would they think if she ended up not leaving with them tomorrow morning? It would disappoint them so completely, and she had been so eager to do this with them.
She took a deep breath, resisting the urge to bury her face in the pillow. It's not like she was getting influenced by a bad crowd, her father knew and liked her friends. She knew they were true friends that she shouldn't let down like this, and… she had to go on this journey. She had already told Professor Juniper that she would.
The Oshuwott climbed the sheets and waddled onto Bianca's lap. It sat down and tilted its head, not understanding why its trainer was so distressed.
"Wott! Wott!" It got up and jumped up and down, then turned around and wagged it's little tail. Bianca smiled as it tried to cheer her up. She took it into her arms.
"I'm going to find a way to leave with them. I can't let the Professor and Juniper down." She looked down at her Pokemon. "I just… need a plan."
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