Hi! This is my first fic on this sight. I know the whole pokemon thing is uber lame, but there is something there, especially with the manga. THE ANIME SUCKS AND THIS FIC IS NOT REMOTELY AFILIATED TO ITS UNIVERSE. NO TALKING POKEMON, NO NOT-SO-SUBTLE-SEXISM, NONE OF IT. THIS IS THE GAME PLOT WITH SOME STUFF THROWN IN. Now that I've had my rant, I just want to warn before I get flamed: I did kind of steal the Naruto/sakura/sasuke thing for the three main characters, but hopefully its not as obvious as in Naruto, and the girl doesn't seem totally useless… anyway, I've introduced this fic, so read it, review it, and take it lightly. Enjoy!!!
Alex opened his eyes blearily, rubbing them to clear his sight. He sat up and yawned, running his fingers through his ever tangled black hair. He got out of bed, carelessly knocking his sheets onto the floor. He walked halfway to the bathroom when he realized what day it was. He dashed halfway back to his room, before remembering he needed to shower regardless of the date, and ran back to the bathroom. He turned the water on and immediately got in, coming into scalding water. With a shout, he fell backwards out of the shower onto the tiled floor. Grumbling, and fully awake, he adjusted the waters temperature, and resumed bathing.
When he had finished, he quickly toweled himself off, and dashed back to his room. He quickly pulled on his underwear, and got into the clothes he had already picked out: White cargo pants, a black T-shirt, his black hoodie, and his hat, a black beanie with two horizontal white stripes running along the bottom. He pulled on his socks, and laced up his converse shoes.
His backpack was already packed with all his essentials, so he had grabbed it and was running out of his bedroom when he noticed the bright green numbers of the digital clock on his bed stand. He froze, and groaned, hanging his head. Four in the freaking morning… he thought to himself. Knowing he'd never fall asleep again, he took off his backpack and went downstairs. He collapsed onto the couch, and turned on the T.V.
He kept the sound low so his mom wouldn't wake up, and started surfing the channels. He doubted he'd find anything useful, but he had five hours to kill, so it hardly mattered. He watched the first ten minutes of whatever was on, but contrary to his first belief, he fell asleep quickly.
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He woke up suddenly to the sensation of something cold and sticky on his face, and the sound of his nine year old sister laughing hysterically. "Ugh…" he said, wiping his face clean of what seemed to be whipped cream. "I didn't...didn't think...it would…IT WORKED!!!" His sister, Izzy, said between fits of laughter and gasps for air. He noticed she was holding a twig, and that the cream was also on his hand, and he understood what happened. "Alright, alright, you got me, now stop laughing before you wet yourself." Izzy continued giggling, but handed him a towel.
He could smell pancakes cooking, and called "Morning, mom."
Towards the kitchen. "Morning, sweetie." His mother, Stella, called back to him. He touseled Izzy's hair, and walked towards the breakfast table as Stella put down three plates. "Shouldn't you be going soon?" said Izzy. "I've got t…" he stopped as he glanced at the clock, which read 8:57.
"CRAP!" he yelled. He grabbed his backpack, and ran towards the door, leaping over the glass coffee table to avoid stepping through it. He nearly collided into his mom as she exited the kitchen, but he spun around her giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and snatched a pancake from the platter in her hands. "Bye mom!" he yelled as he barreled out the front door. " But I made-" "No time!" he yelled through the pancake which now dangled from his teeth. "GOOD LUCK!" Izzy shouted.
Crap crap crap crap….. He repeated over and over in his head. CRAP!!! He was really annoyed at himself for choosing today to wake up early and then wake up again late, as well as very grateful that Izzy had woken him at all, albeit in an unconventional way. He had to be on time because today was his first day as a trainer. Today he would receive his starter pokemon, along with his I.D and his license.
He had wished that the would-be trainers would not be forced to receive their starters on one specific day. Although he had turned fourteen just a day short of eight months ago, (fourteen being the youngest age that a person could register for the League Challenge) starter pokemon and registrations were held on September 5, and then ended for a year. So even though he had been applicable for registration, he had been forced to wait almost eight months.
He checked his watch. Crap! One minute left!!! He could see the registration center. He ran harder, swallowing the last of his pancake. He saw only two people waiting outside. Damn it! Are they the only ones left!? He ran harder, and was finally at the center when his foot collided with something hard on the ground. "OW!" he yelled as he stumbled and skidded across the ground.
"Oh…hi, Alex." Alex looked up. "Oh, hey, Mara." He stood up and dusted himself off. Mara was a girl a few months younger than him. She was pretty, with fair skin, straight, dark red hair that went a foot past her shoulders, and light green eyes. She was dressed in blue jeans, a white jacket, and a grey-green shirt with mid length sleeves.
"Why in such a hurry to be early?" she asked. "Wai...bu…..what!?" he managed to sputter between the heavings of his chest. "Isn't the thing at nine?" He asked. "Dumbass…" said the second person, who Alex again recognized as a boy named Seph. Seph dressed plainly, in black jeans, a T-shirt, and a light jacket. Unlike the other two, his hair was short, his spiky bangs hanging above his eyebrows. "It starts at nine. But the registration process continues for the rest of the day."
For a second, Alex just stood there. With a groan, he fell back against the wall of the registration center, letting himself slide down to the ground. Mara laughed, though not unkindly. "Well, at least we all can choose our starters together. You know they group every three entries into sets?" Alex shook his head while Seph nodded. "D'you mean we travel together?" Alex asked. "No. We just get grouped together in the League database. We each choose from the same set of three starters, so that we each get different starters."
"Oh, I get it. But what if two of us want the same starter?" Alex asked. "Hm…I guess I never thought of that." Mara said. "Think of it later." Seph said, glancing at his wristwatch. "We can go in now." "Sweet!" Alex said, hopping to his feet and dusting himself off. Together they walked to the door, and entered the building. Alex had been expecting sort of hotel lobby with a reception desk, but instead it was just a long room with a counter at one end.
They approached the desk, where they were greeted by a receptionist. "Hi!" she said, somewhat over-enthusiastically. "You're our first trio! Are you ready to register?" They all said yes, so she handed them some forms. Fill out your name, age, birthplace, and all the other personal info it asks for."
They took the next few minutes writing out their names, and filling out their particulars. When they had finished, they returned the forms, and waited as the overzealous receptionist entered all the information into a computer. There was a short wait, and then a beep from a monitor at the desk. On a large screen behind the receptionist, all the information that Alex, Mara, and Seph had entered scrolled up, along with each of their headshots.
"Well, that's all you need. You can all go right on through." Alex then noticed that to the right of the counter was a door. "Thanks." He said as they left the front room.
The new room was large. It was round, with dull metal walls on all sides. There was a circular indent in the center, with three more rounded indents within it. But other than a door that hung ajar on the opposite end of the chamber, the room was entirely empty.
Alex stepped forward. "Hello?" he called out, half expecting there to be no answer. Instead, he heard a large crash through the open door, followed by the sound of glass breaking. "A moment!" A raspy voice shouted. This was followed by several more crashes, and low mutterings, until finally, a man stepped out of the door.
He was old, perhaps in his seventies. His left hand shook as he walked, and he murmured constantly to himself. "Could work…easier if contact…perhaps a serum…no, no, waves…Oh...hello..." he said. He was clearly distracted in his thoughts. His glasses dangled from his ear, and his straggly white hair was a mess, tangling about like weeds. He wore a white lab coat over a shirt and lopsided bow tie. "I'm professor Odone.."
"Can I…Did you register?" He asked, veering off in midsentence. Seph said curtly, "Yes. We're here for our starters." "Oh..Ah, yes." "Sorry if I interrupted anything interesting." Alex said. "Sorry?" The old man asked. "There was a pretty big crash." He pointed out. "Oh…er, yes. Nothing…just a neural transponder…testing waves with synapses…brain stimuli…nothing really…Oh, starters, was it?" "Yes." "Right, right…"
The man reached into his coat pocket, and retrieved three differently colored round objects: one red, one blue, and one green. "Your licenses…"
He gave each of them one, the red going to Alex, the blue to Mara, and the green to Seph. They were round, about four inches across, with a small panel over the top.
With a press of his thumb, the panel pushed out, revealing a screen on the devise, and a small key pad. Pushing a button on the top of the device showed Alex's headshot, and all his information. "You can call with it also…send messages…it can also categorize species…and link with computers…It can even receive radio transmissions…" "Nice!" Alex said, admiring the device. It had a strap connected, which he used to attach it to his wrist.
"What about our starters?" Seph said, wasting no time. "Yes…where is it…" Prof. Odone reached into several of his pockets before retrieving a small remote. He pressed the only button on the device. There was a beep, and with a humming sound, the three rounded indents rose to reveal three four foot high pillars. When the pillars had risen to their full height, the tops separated into three panels, revealing a pokeball within each pillar.
The three stood there waiting expectantly, until the professor said "Well…choose!" "How do we know which ones they are?" Alex asked. Professor Odone said nothing, simply pointing at the devices he had given each of them. "Oh…right!" Alex said, for the first time noticing that the device had some sort of scanner on the back.
Alex strode up to the center pillar, and prepared to scan the pokeball. He paused for a moment, then put away the device. "I choose this one!" he said. "You didn't even look at it!" Mara protested. "Yeah, I know." Alex responded. "But this way there's no argument over who gets which, and if I looked I'd be unable to decide, and keep second guessing myself. Besides, I like to make the best of the situation at hand." "Well, you're sure…" the professor said. "I am." "Then scan the ball and press down on the pad to confirm it as being under your ownership." The scanner activated, shooting out a series of red fluctuating lights. They shifted over the ball for a moment and then pinged, with a diagram of the ball. The ball faded, replaced by an image of an orange, reptilian creature. "Charmander" the scanner said in a metallic voice. Seph and Mara also chose their starters, and their scanners also identified their choices, saying "Squirtle" for Mara and "Bulbasaur" for Seph.
"Well, than it is done." The professor said. "All that remains is for you to name your pokemon, which you can do at any time." "Thanks, professor." Alex said. "Thank you." Odone responded "And good luck!"
Outside, they walked to the outskirts of the village. They stopped their, looking at each other. Alex was the first to move. He retrieved the pokeball containing Charmander, and released his first partner. With an instant red flash, the young lizard appeared, looking curiously up at Alex with a small yawn. With a chuckle, Alex reached out and rubbed the creatures head. Entirely serious, but still laughing, he said with an air of generality, "What the hell do we do now?"