Episode 1: The Crucial Journey
Between Hearthome city and Solocean Town in the Sinnoh Region, 9:17
The room was quite still, the only sound was that of an old clock on the wall and of Raian breathing. It was around nine in the morning, Raian had decided to sleep in since it was a very big day to him, the day he would begin his journey. Raian had just turned seventeen a few days before this particular day, he was rather tall and the most distinguishable feat of his was his thick curly pitch black hair. Raian moved his legs slightly, being careful of the creature which slept on them; a Glaceon the small dog like creature slept well on top of Raians legs, its fur very cool against Raian as it snuggled itself in. Raian slowly opened his eyes, very blurry as he looked around his room, the first thing across his eyes was what slept to his left on his bed, his greatest friend Lucario. Raian smiled as he stretched his arms, Glaceon woke up and yawned as it too stretched. Raian nudged lucario in the shoulder, the bi-pedal blue wolf slowly opened its eyes.
"Come on guys, wake up" Raian said in a soft dreary voice "Today's the day" Glaceon jumped off the bed next to the large penguin like bird on the floor, Raians third Pokémon, Prinplup. Raian sat at the side of his bed as Prinplup sat up to look at him, Glaceon staring at him, and lucario rising off the bed.
"Alright guys" Raian said in a more awakened voice "We're starting a few years later than Mica, but we've been in great training for contests which is sure to help us out" each Pokémon gave a small noise to signal acceptance. "Let's get us some breakfast and head to Hearthome" Each Pokémon nodded at Raian and he smiled back. Raian rose to his feet, he towered over his Pokémon, Lucario being the tallest and merely coming to about Raians mid torso. Raian walked across his room, on the wall several cases holding ribbons and pictures hung. Pictures of Lucario, prinplup, and glaceon dressed up and holding the ribbons which now decorated Raians wall. Raian looked at the highest ribbons on the wall and smiled, there were two master rank ribbons for Cool and Smart, and atop them was a picture of Raian dressed in a suit next to Lucario wearing a top hat, bow tie, and other neat accessories. Raian had spent the majority of his life dedicated to contests, but he constantly felt as though he was in his older brother Miccas shadow. Ever since Raian was little he had heard of his brothers journey to be a Pokémon master, the most dangerous profession in the world. Raian finished changing and looked at his desk, there sat an assortment of things he had packed the night before. Raian grabbed the black hoodie with an odd white pattern and threw it on, he then attached the two master ranked contest ribbons to its left shoulder. Raian smiled as he grabbed the small white touch screen phone and the midnight purple pokedex and put them into his pocket. Raian looked at the remaining items on the desk.
"As friendly as some Pokémon are" Raian said to himself as he slung a metal closed cylinder over his right shoulder "Many are cruel beasts which let out their internal power as attacks to harm and even kill others, human and Pokémon alike" Raian said as he lifted a black recurve bow "If My Pokémon lives are endangered I will do what is necessary to save them" he said as he threw the bow over the cylinder which held it onto his back. Raian then grabbed the last two items on the table; a large backpack and a large duffel bag. Raian looked back at his three Pokémon who stood upright, ready, and happy, they were ready.
After a quick breakfast Raian stood with his Pokémon at the front of his house, waiting for someone. It wasn't long before Raians grandmother came outside of the house towards him next to her Pokémon, the floating mysterious creature; Sigilyph. Raians grandmother was a small very tan woman with long black hair which shown light brown in the sunlight. Raian looked at his grandmother and her sigilyph, he found the Pokémon quite fascinating ; its large colorful wings flapping smoothly and its long black feathered neck ending in a small head with a solitary eye, the skin under the feathers was almost leathery which was very curious to Raian. Raian said his very emotional goodbye to his grandmother and turned, taking the first step of his journey.
Hearthome City, 10:04
Iian sat outside the Pokémon center quietly waiting for his comrades to arrive. The sun was very bright and its rays felt good on Iians skin. Iian was a light skinned, green eyed, blonde haired, and rather average looking seventeen year old boy. Iian was from the Hoenn region and had not been living in Sinnoh very long, the cold weather rather annoyed him and his Pokémon. Iian tapped his fingers as he looked at the Staraptor and Starly flying overhead, he tapped his large camping backpack with his foot as he hummed the kanto anthem. Iian brightened up as he saw a familiar face walking towards the center.
"Raian!" Iian yelled waving his arms. Raian looked at his friend and walked towards him, walking next to Lucario.
"Hey" Raian said as he reached Iian and shook his hand "You ready?"
"We're all ready" Iian replied "I've been training for this ever since I was ten, I will be the next Pokémon master"
"I've been in contests since I was eight" Raian replied "I illegally owned Lucario and Glaceon back when they were Riolu and Eevee. But that's the problem, I've always been happy with contests, so now it's going to be difficult to start training for battles"
"Yeah, better hope we don't run into any of those crime syndicates" Iian said wiggling his fingers in a mocking tone
"Don't even kid about that" Raian replied "I heard a few days ago that Team Plasma attacked a Pokémon center"
"Eh whatever" Iian replied shrugging "You may have been dancing and playing dress up with your Pokémon, but I've been training mine"
Raian rolled his eyes and looked at Lucario as they both sighed.
"Whatever, I'm sure you'll see just how powerful my Pokémon are soon enough" Raian replied "But in order to do that we need Josue to arrive"
"Well I've been here for fifteen minutes or so, and you're usually the early one, so I bet he won't show up for another few minutes" Iian replied in an annoyed tone
"Kind of makes me wish I didn't get everything ready last night" Raian said slipping his backpack off and setting it down "At least that way I would have something to do"
"Want to battle?" Iian suggested with a smug grin
"For the millionth time" Raian replied digging through his bag "I don't want to battle you unless it's in the Pokémon league"
Iian rolled his eyes as he sunk to the ground, Raian pulled out a poffin from his bag and tore off a chunk, throwing it to Lucario.
"Let's just relax until Josue arrives" Raian said sniffing the poffin "This is our adventure, I'm more than sure we'll all get more than enough time to show off our skills against wild Pokémon"
Hearthome City, 10:23
Raian leaned against the wall of the Pokémon center and listened to Iian hum impatiently sitting on the ground. The sun had come up a small bit and the air felt rather nice and warm, the day was well under way. Iian and Raian watched the street for a sign of their friend, both growing rather impatient. After more humdrum waiting the two heard a familiar noise, an odd bark. Raian smiled as he looked up from the street ground to see a small red ball of fur running towards him. The small red dog was none other than a Growlithe, a small Pokémon even for its species, barely reaching a foot and a half in height while standing on all four legs. Iian tried to hide his smile but could not as he jumped to his feet. The small dog jumped off its tiny legs at the two in excitement, licking both and yipping in joy. Growlithe ran to lucarios leg, sniffed and then continued in energetic circles around the three. Raian patted the small pup as he looked down the street to see its owner lazily walking.
"Josue!" Raian called out to boy, no older than fifteen, light skinned with long shaggy brown hair, rather short and thin holding a backpack nearly comically big. The boy nodded his head in acknowledgment of Raian as he continued his relaxed pace towards the group.
"Hey guys" Josue said as he reached Iian and Raian, having an odd yet distinguishable tone "Ready?"
"Are we ready?" Iian said in a pestered tone "You're the one that's late!" Josue reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue pokedex and flipped it open
"Oh, what do you know" Josue replied "My bad" Iian sighed and shrugged It off
"Regardless we need to get going, our train leaves soon" Iian replied picking up the energetic Growlithe who began throwing its head back to aggressively lick Iian
"Well then let's go, we can talk more on the train ride" Raian replied as Josue took his growlithe. Iian nodded and they began walking; Lucario by Raians side, Growlithe in Josues arms.
Train, 11:08
Raian, Iian, Josue, Growlithe, and Lucario sat in their own small room aboard the train, they were some of the few passengers for this particular day.
"Alright" Raian said to the others "Now that we have some time I think we need to discuss our game plan to make sure we have everything down"
"Right" Iian replied as Josue nodded
"First thing is supplies, who has what?" Raian asked
"I have quite a bit" Iian replied "I have my Pokémon, a tent, a sleeping bag, basic camping gear, canned food for Pokémon and humans, eleven regular pokeballs, six great balls, and three ultra balls, four hyper potions, and six super potions. That's pretty much it besides clothes, toiletries, money and such"
"Sounds good" Raian replied "I have my Pokémon, a tent, covers, pillows, basic camping and survival goods, my bow, a quiver of fourteen arrows, my poffin case, my accessories case, six regular pokeballs, six great balls, and six ultra balls, four super potions, and four hyper potions. Other than that its just basic things; money, clothes, notebooks, paint, and such"
"Paint?" Iian asked in confusion "We'll be surviving on our own for an unknown amount of time and you bring paint?"
"Shut up' Raian replied 'What about you Josue?"
"Hmm" Josue thought for a second "My Pokémon, snacks, water, soda, twelve regular pokeballs, two great balls, four ultra balls, one dive ball, one dusk ball, two love balls, camping gear, survival gear, clothes, snacks, canned food, money water..and..hmm..that's about it"
"Well it seems like everyones fairly well supllied" Raian said "we might need to do some wager battles for money along the way with other trainers though"
'How does that work?" Josue asked
"Wager battles?" retorted Raian
"No" Josue responded 'non official tournament Pokémon battles. I mean the battles you see on TV are regulated and watched over for emergencies, how does a pick up battle with a trainer work?"
"Well" Iian replied "you pretty much have to make your own rules'
"But what if a Pokémon gets badly hurt or even worse…killed?" Josue asked
"It's part of being a Pokémon trainer' Iian replied "Pokémon are powerful creatures…"
"Inside each Pokémon is a powerful internal energy which is released in the form of an attack' Raian added "The amount of energy each Pokémon has is limited, we know this by its common name of Power Points; how many of each attack a Pokémon can use before running out of power. When a Pokémon runs out of power it will fall into deep exhaustion, fatigue, and in rare cases comas or even death"
"But don't worry too much" Iian added "Pokémon are much tougher than most humans, they can withstand a lot of damage before being completely incapable of battle"
"That's right" Raian continued looking at Josue "But on that note you must keep something in mind…Never, ever, forget just how powerful and dangerous Pokémon truly are. We know Pokémon as more tame than they truly are because of the type we've been introduced to; Non-Feral"
"Non-feral?" Josue asked "I vaguely recall that term"
"As you know before being allowed to obtain a government regulated 'starter' Pokémon at the age of ten you have to go through basic schooling, there's probably where you learned the term" Raian replied
"There are three broad classes of Pokémon" Iian persisted "The first is Non-feral also known as domestic. This doesn't include only domesticated Pokémon but refers to more human friendly Pokémon in general, this would include 'starter' Pokémon or Pokémon such as your growlithe or Raians glaceon and Lucario"
"The second class" Raian added with a slightly more serious face "Is Feral. Which is as you could guess the basic wild Pokémon. These Pokémon usually don't care about humans as friends or enemies really, sometimes they live in the human cities or in the forest, they can attack or just ignore humans, this would include a Pokémon such as a shellos..."
"or a nincada" Iian added
"Exactly" Raian finished "And the final class…"
"The vicious" Iian finished with a stern look on his face "These Pokémon view humans and usually all other Pokémon as enemies, as food, or simply as something to fight. These are the Pokémon that even experienced trainers can have trouble with"
"Y-yes but…" Josue interrupted "Being a trainer is the most dangerous profession there is, no doubt about it, but to be in such unison with Pokémon and to fight other great trainers who have tamed these beast is what it's all about. To travel all seven regions, to be the best, to catch them all, and to train them…"
Raian and Iian looked at each other with a smile
"This kid is going to go far" Iian said, Josue smiled "So Josue, what are the seven regions?"
"Well that's pretty easy" Josue responded "The seven main regions known to trainers are; Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and the frontier"
"Very Good" Raian responded "And we will all be battling in the frontier tournament by the end of our journey, I guarantee it"
"Says mister coordinator" Iian chuckled
"Hey you laugh but I doubt your Pokémon have enough precision, balance, and beauty to win even a normal rank contest" Raian snickered back
"They don't need to" Iian responded lounging back in his seat "Don't need to be pretty to be strong'
Josue laughed as the train continued on its way and the three trainers came closer and closer to the first stop of their journey.
Anville Town, Unova 12: 13
The look from the trains window to the outside was quite a peculiar sight, the light bursting into the deep tunnel from the sky was nearly blinding as the train slowed down into a large roundabout stop. The pressure being released from the brakes was an audible and welcomed signal to the end of the long train ride. Raian looked at his comrades, both asleep, Lucario being the only one awake.
"Attention passengers" a voice said over the crackling PA system "We have arrived in The Unova Region at Anville town, at this moment all passengers must dismount the train, another train will be leaving shortly for Nimbasa city, please enjoy your visit to the Unova Region and be cautious of wild Pokémon, thank you"
Raian nudged Iian and Josue to wake them up, both lazily opening their eyes and stretching as they rose to their feet. Raian reached into the overhead compartment and pulled out his quiver and bow, throwing them over his shoulder. Josue slipped his arms into his bag and stood up hunched over, holding the still sleeping Growlithe. Iian shook his head and rubbed his eyes as he threw on his backpack, the excitement of the journey beginning to run through his mind.
"Alright come on, let's hurry up to the train headed to Nimbasa" Iian said pushing the others onward out the train
"What, but we just got to Unova" Josue argued as he walked through the trains aisle "Can't we look around Anville for a little bit?"
"No, let's just hurry up and get moving" Iian said pushing onward "If we want to make it to the Unova Pokémon League we need all eight gym badges and I don't want to waste a second in collecting them"
"What?" Josue argued still being pushed by Iian "We have more than enough time, we have nearly a year before the unova Pokémon League, Raian back me up"
"Well" Raian thought walking on, reaching the door, all the arguing stopped as they stepped off the train. The fresh Unova air hit them all, the open air station was filled with the smells of the woods all around, and was filled with the sound of a melodious flute. As Raian stepped off the train onto the platform he looked up at the steep hill and its houses resting above. The three walked to a set of benches and admired their first view of the Unova region for a moment. The feeling of the region was far different than Sinnoh for Raian and Josue and fairly different from the Hoenn region for Iian. The three set their bags down on a bench and took in a deep breath. They all took a few steps around, stretching their limbs from the train ride in quiet appreciation of the atmosphere. Raian walked a few steps to a large sign which had the words 'BATTLE SUBWAY MAP' across it along with a picture of different routes across the region. Josue walked to the back safety rail and looked out over the forest and the hills, he looked back as the train left back to the roundabout turntable, suddenly his eye caught a glimpse of something, he walked over to a trashcan awkwardly placed in front of a bench and looked inside.
Iian walked slowly up the steep steps to a second level, he looked over the side to see the trees and hills. As he got to the top he found a great view over the train station. Iian walked to the safety rail and looked over the train as it left back through a tunnel. Iian looked to his right to see a beautiful girl playing a flute. The sound of the song mixed with the fresh air and sweet smell of the trees reminded Iian of his home in the Hoenn region. Iian reached onto his belt and felt three pokeballs, on the first one he could feel a small engraving. Iian smiled as he plucked the pokeball from his belt and pressed on its center button, as he threw the ball a few feet to his side it expanded and opened, letting out a red ray which compiled into a silhouette. Iian smiled as the silhouette took form and the light disappeared revealing a combusken. Iians combusken was very tall for a combusken, reaching three and a half feet tall. The large bird was covered in yellow and red feathers, it had rather long arms which at one point in its evolutionary chain must have been wings , now useless for flight, however the large talons at the ends of its arms and legs were very useful in combat. Combusken made a weird squawking growl in a sign of confusion and excitement over its newly found location. Iian smiled at Combusken as the bird jumped onto the safety rail overlooking the train station.
"Attention" a crackling PA said abruptly, disturbing the groups moment of peace "The next subway to Nimbasa cities battle subway station will be arriving shortly"
Iian smiled at combusken and headed back to the bottom platform where Josue and Raian were waiting.
"I'm just saying" Iian overheard Raian say to Josue "I seriously doubt you're always going to find functional ultra balls in trash cans, you just got lucky"
Iian chuckled to himself as he and Combusken reached the others. Lucario gave a slight head bow as a sign of greeting to combusken, combusken returning the greeting with another of its squawks.
"Hey iian" Raian said upon seeing iian "Now that you're here lets quickly go over our game plan for Unova before the subway arrives"
"Right" Iian nodded sitting down on the bench next to his equipment
"Okay we're going to arrive in Nimbasa city, but we aren't going to stay, we're going to quickly head for route 4. We need to make it to the Striaton City gym as quickly as we possibly can, we can sight see on our way back up the routes." Raian said "We need to get the eight badges as quickly as possible, the quicker we get them the more time we have to train for the Unova Pokémon league tournament. It is very important we do well in this league, we need three top 8 Pokémon league appearances to qualify for an invitation into the Frontier League"
"Wait, wait" Josue stopped raian "I don't quite get the track we're following"
"Alright let me sum it up quickly" Raian responded "We will take this train to Nimbasa city where we will cut through quickly to route 4. After route four we will arrive in castelia city, where depending on how long we've been traveling we may rest the night. We then continue on over the Skyarrow Bridge and though Pinwheel Forest into Nacerene city, where yet again depending on time we may stay. After Nacrene we cut through route 3 quickly and into Striaton City where we will fight for our first gym badge, it shouldn't be difficult. Once we have our first gym badge we shall restock, rest, and then head back up the routes, now fighting for our gym badges at each city"
"Oh" Josue said nodding his head 'I understand'
Just as Josue finished his sentence the group heard a subway slowly roll up to the station, the doors opened and a few passengers walked off past the three as they got on. Raian took a deep breath as the doors closed, he was on his way to the heart of unova, his journey was truly beginning. Iian looked at Combusken, he smiled about his journey, he was on his way to be the best Pokémon master there ever was. Josue patted the now awakened growlithe, he knew he wasn't the strongest rookie, but he believed that he would one day be a Pokémon master and that this journey was the first step towards it.
Battle Subway Station, Nimbasa City 12:30
The three took their first steps off the subway, the underground concrete platform was quite different from what they were all use to, seeing the information woman in the kiosk, seeing the Unova PC system next to the kiosk, and seeing the crowd of people pileing onto the subway was very peculiar to all of them. Raian looked at Iian and Josue and shrugged as he and Lucario took the small flight of steps upwards into the main terminal of the Battle subway. The light of the busy station nearly blinded all of the group, and the noise filled the air as dozens of trainers walked around the large roundabout into the different battle subways.
"When we arrive back in Nimbasa we'll take some more time to look around this battle subway" Raian yelled over the crowds noise to iian and Josue "But right now let's just hurry up to Route 4!"
The two nodded as they pushed through the crowds. Iian re-clicked his pokeball to return his Combusken and Josue held onto his growlithe to make sure he didn't lose track of him.
After several minutes of pushing through the crowds the three finally pushed their way up the last large flight of stairs into the open. Raian caught breath after dealing with the slightly claustrophobic setting he was in, Iian and Josue admired the sights they could see from the front of the subway. Lucario stood next to the hunched over Raian and patted him on the back as collected himself. Raian looked up and smiled at Lucario for helping him, the two then both looked up at the grandiose battle subway building. Raians eyes widened as he turned from the battle subway to the other grandiose buildings and the colorful ferris wheel.
"OhMyGoshThisPlaceIsSoPrettyAndFlashyAndLooksLikethePerfectPlaceForAContest" Raian said in one hasty breath as he swooned over the buildings "LikeICanTotallySeeMyselfAndLucarioAndGlaceonDressedUpAndDancingAndWinningAllTheMasterContestsHereAndEvenTheGymTooBecauseAfterAllIAmAlsoGoingToBeAPokemonMasterNotJustAGrandCoordinatorBecauseItRunsInMyGenesIMeanIfMyBrotherCanDoItWhyCantI,ImeanComeonMyPokemonAreAllBeautifulAndBalancedAndCanDanceWithBottlesOnTheirHeadsAnd…"
"Woooah there" Iian said grabbing Raian by the shoulders "Calm it down, remember...We'll be back, but we got to go right now"
Raians wide eyes watered up as Iian dragged him and Lucario from the building down the street, Josue walked looking towards the sky as odd Pokémon flew overhead, particularly one rather large flying type he had never seen before, Josue just shrugged it off and continued walking with Iian who dragged forth raian towards the entrance to Route 4. The true journey about to begin…
End of Episode 1
(Make sure to scroll down for images of the Pokémon seen this episode)
Pokémon seen in this episode;
Glaceon;
Lucario
Prinplup;
Sigilyph;
Staraptor
Starly
Growlithe (Arcanine also pictured)
Combusken
Mystery Pokemon
