The alarm went off, playing Primrose's favorite song, "Vanilla Twilight" by Owl City. The time on the clock was flashing repeatedly, showing that it was six in the morning. Primrose flung out her hand, feeling for the off button that would inevitably turn off the music that was blasting at the highest possible volume, waking Prim from her sleep. The covers felt nice and warm as she pulled them comfortably over her shoulders, and the pillow felt like a cloud under her head. The pillow was, after all, stuffed with Swablu feathers and her blanket was made out of Piloswine fur, but dyed to look like a bunch of Oran, Aspear, Yache, and Chesto berries randomly placed on a white backdrop.
As comfortable as her bed was, this was not the day to sleep in. Today was the day that Primrose would be getting her first Pokémon from Professor Elm, her neighbor and family friend. Her parents wanted her to at least finish middle school before she went off on her journey around the Pokémon world, so she would have to leave at the age of fourteen instead of ten, but she was still just as eager to leave New Bark, her home town. Prim even decided exactly which Pokémon she wanted from Professor Elm, a Cyndaquil. She always loved fire Pokémon and Cyndaquil was no exception. She even made sure to get up extra early to be the first person to get to Professor Elm's lab.
Primrose lazily crawled out of bed and into the kitchen. Her father was already at work, studying plants and berries, while her mother and younger brother were still sleeping. She promised her mom to stay quiet that morning so that she wouldn't wake up her brother, Nikola, who would inevitably wake up her mom because he had autism. They didn't need to wake up for another hour and a half because Nikola's bus came to take him to school at eight o'clock.
Prim quickly opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and chocolate syrup from the top shelf. She dropped them on the counter, next to the sink and started to rummage through the shelves and drawers until she found a cup and a long, thin spoon. She carefully poured the milk into the cup and squirted out more than enough chocolate syrup, just the way she liked it. She placed the milk and chocolate back into the fridge before she went downstairs to retrieve a package of Oreos. Was this a healthy breakfast or what? When she was done eating a couple cookies and chugging down the last of the milk, she lugged her tired body to the bathroom where she took her glasses off and put in her contacts so she could see better. After that, she brushed her teeth until she got all of the Oreo pieces out of her mouth. She quietly wandered into her room, putting on a black tank top and a pair of dark green cargo pants before walking up to the mirror on her walk-in closet's door.
Primrose inspected herself, brushing out her long, dark, brown hair before whipping it up into a quick ponytail. Her green and brown eyes shined in the light coming from the ceiling lamp and her lightly tanned skin made her eyes pop even more. She rarely went outside, especially considering the windy weather of her town and the ranger who didn't let anyone leave the town unless they had a Pokémon with them at all times. Sure, Prim could go out for short walks with her family's shiny Furret, Keke, but her parents didn't want her out anyway because Keke was needed at home to help watch her brother and help her mother around the house. All this resulted to Prim having pale skin for most of the year and being extremely good at playing video games, especially her favorites, The legend of Zelda, Okami, and of course, Pokémon!
After getting dressed, Primrose checked her bag that she packed the other night, making sure she didn't miss anything important that she would need for her journey. Prim even had a check list that named every item that she would need. It read:
Things for journey
Pokégear
Money (1000 poké)
Food and water bottles
Extra Clothes
Potions and Antidote bag
Extra contacts and glasses
Berry Bag
Sleeping bag
If she needed anything else, Prim could always stop at a store to buy something or she could pick berries if she ran out of food. Plus, she had her handy, waterproof pokégear if she needed to call for help.
After Primrose was done making sure everything was set and ready, she rushed downstairs to quickly feed Keke some pokéblocks before running out the door, almost tripping down the steps of her porch. She hopped onto her bike and rode down the block until she finally arrived at Professor Elm's lab. Ten minutes before she was supposed to arrive, however, the other two kids that were also getting their Pokémon that day also had the same idea to come early. She walked up to a boy that was about her age, maybe slightly older by a few months. She'd seen him around in school before, they even shared a math class together, but she never seemed to pay the brown haired boy any attention. He was one of those popular boys in school that every girl loved, but Prim always disliked people like that. She scraped though her memory until she remembered the boy's name, Johnny.
Primrose looked over at the much younger girl who looked like she was around the age of nine. She was a short, blonde haired, blue eyed, annoying brat named April. The reason why Prim was able to remember her name was because April's mother would always come over and gossip with her own mom about everything that was going on and she often brought April over to play with Keke and for Prim to babysit her. Out of the two, she decided to talk to Johnny because he was her age, despite the fact that she disliked him. Primrose was usually quick to judge and Johnny was no exception, but she might as well talk to him to pass the time because it appeared that the gates to the lab were locked.
"So…What Pokémon are you going to get?" Primrose asked him.
"A Totodile, you?" Johnny responded, looking right at her with his light, blue eyes.
"I was going to choose a Cyndaquil."
"Cool, I heard they're really strong on their last evolution."
"Yeah, they're just adorable too."
"I was going to get a Chikorita cause they're cuter." April butted in.
"I guess there won't be any fighting over which Pokémon we get then." Johnny replied.
"Lucky us." Primrose mumbled, but after that, it was quiet until one of Professor Elm's workers came up to open the gate. He was a pretty large man, probably in his late thirties to early forties. His lab coat was covered in some kind of yellow-ish substance and a scowl was plastered onto his face. "Well git in 'ere." He grumbled, obviously tired and grumpy from lack of sleep and no coffee to wake him up. He lazily motioned for them to follow him with his right hand and turned around to walk back to the lab. The three followed behind him, not saying a word in the worries that he might snap at them. He opened the double doors, not caring to hold it open for any of the younger kids, and he led them to a backroom where they were to sit and wait for professor Elm.
After what seemed like ages, professor Elm came in. His hair was a mess, one of the lenses on in his glasses was cracked diagonally across the center, and his lab coat had the same yellow-ish substance staining its white color. "Welcome to my lab! Sorry I was a little late. The team and I were watching two Munchlax eggs that hatched late last night, but they spit up all over us after we tried to feed them some MooMoo milk as you can see." He spread out his arms to better show the gigantic mess that was all over him. April shrunk back in her chair and stuck her tongue out, obviously disgusted by him, while Primrose and Johnny showed just a little discomfort. "I bet you guys can't wait for your Pokémon! Follow me and I'll bring you all over to the room they're in!" Professor Elm said a bit too enthusiastically, which was probably because he actually had his morning coffee…or because he was crazy, but Primrose suspected that it was a mix of both. He led them though a long hallway, pointing out different rooms and explaining what each was used for. He even managed to throw on another lab coat, this time a clean one that was unbuttoned, showing his teal-green shirt with a yellow and blue stripe going across his chest. "They should be in here." He said, opening a door labeled "Safely Tested Specimens." The three kids followed Professor Elm into the room, amazed by how plain it looked compared to everything else they were shown. The walls were a buff white and the floor was made from ebony wood. The only things inside were a couple wooden tables and three pokéballs sitting on the furthest table in the back. Professor Elm scurried over and picked up on of the pokéballs. "This one should be a Totodile!" He exclaimed holding out the ball in his hand, his arm fully extended as if he was waiting for something to happen. "Um…Maybe not… This pokéball has a Pokémon in it!" He did the same with the second pokéball and again with the third, but with no luck. "OH NO! I forgot to have the Pokémon sent over! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! This isn't good! Um… I'll have to give you one of our spares, or… if that's okay with you?" He yelled in a mix of frustration and embarrassment.
Primrose knew that Professor Elm was forgetful, but to forget to get them their Pokémon was just astounding! How on earth could someone forget that? The three kids looked at him dumbfounded until Johnny spoke up. "We still get to choose from the same three Pokémon, right?" He mumbled worryingly.
"I'm afraid not. The Pokémon you're getting aren't even tested or trained yet, unless you want to wait two weeks for them to be sent over?" Professor Elm mumbled, trying to sound positive, but failing miserably.
"You've got to be kidding me! I'm already all packed and everything! I'm getting my Pokémon today!" Primrose ordered.
"I'm not waiting for my Pokémon! I WANT IT NOW!" April yelled, almost to the brink of starting a tantrum.
"I'm s-so sorry about this! I'll take you to the other room! P-Please don't be mad!" Professor Elm pleaded, running to the door and eagerly motioning for them to follow. They walk to a room that was two doors down labeled "Untested Minor 1," which didn't seem like a very good thing, but Professor Elm said that they will at least be getting a Pokémon, even if it wasn't her dream Pokémon, Cyndaquil. Inside the room were various test tubes and a couple cages and tables scattered across the room. There were a couple Pokémon inside. Primrose could see two Voltorbs, a Krabby, an Abra, a Pikachu that was being followed around by three Pichus, a Sandshrew, four Shroomish, and a Venipede all in different pens and cages in the room, but they at least seemed happy and content in their small homes. "Now the only pokemon I would recommend taking are the Abra, Krabby, Voltorb, and Sandshrew." Professor Elm said, trying to sound enthusiastic again.
"I'll take the Sandshrew." Johnny exclaimed, reaching his hand out to the small Pokémon. It nuzzled him back happily, already liking its future owner.
"I don't want any of these! They're so ugly! I want the Pichu or something cute like that!" April whined, turning her face into an angry pout. Prim, on the other hand, just stood there looking over the Pokémon. She obviously wasn't thrilled about the choices, but she didn't say anything. "How about one of the Munchlaxes? Would you like to have one of them?" Professor Elm asked, now running out of options for the impatient, young girl. She nodded happily in agreement, thinking that a baby Munchlax would be one of the most adorable thing ever. Elm looked over at Primrose who was blankly staring at the choices she had. "And I think I have a good Pokémon for you somewhere Prim! You two hold tight while I get your Pokémon!" Professor Elm rushed out the door, only to come back with a baby Munchlax cradled in his arms and a pokéball held at the tips of his fingers. He handed Prim the pokéball and then handed April the Munchlax that now appeared to be sleeping and sucking its fingers in its sleep.
"Uh…What is it?" Primrose asked while April was busy cooing over her new Pokémon.
"Well, go find out yourself!" Professor Elm exclaimed happily.
Primrose threw the ball, letting out a large, red light. At the end a small, orange figure appeared. It turned around and in the blink of an eye, jumped up and bit Elm on his hand. Primrose grabbed the pokéball and immediately brought it back inside. "Are you okay Professor?" She asked.
"I'm fine, no worries! Believe it or not, this happens to me all of the time." He replied.
"Okay, that's good. Was that a Trapinch that bit you?"
"You bet! I just know that you two will come to like each other!"
"Um…Thanks." Primrose mustered up, trying to hide her growing disappointment. Johnny took the Sandshrew out of its pen and Professor Elm handed him a pokéball before he directed them all into the main hall. "Now, I have three more things to give you guys! The first is going to be two more pokéballs for you to use to capture more Pokémon. The second thing I'm going to give you is a nationaldex that can be used to record all Pokémon because I want you guys to keep stopping by to show me what information you got from your journey. You're not the only ones benefiting from this! However, the last thing I wanted to give you guys was something that nobody else has. It's called a Pokétalker! It's my newest invention that will astound the whole world, even Professor Oak! I want you three to test it out for me and see if it works, but it's going to take some time. Let me explain how it works!" Professor Elm handed each one of them two pokéballs and a pokédex before coming back with some kind of headphone with a microphone attached to the end. "Now first off, before you can use the Pokétalker, you need to befriend your Pokémon enough that they will trust and like you, pretty much becoming your best friends. If you don't do this, it won't work because you need to have a bond with your Pokémon before anything happens. After you make a close bond with your Pokémon, you can put these on and talk in the mic, making whatever you say understandable to all Pokémon, but that's not the best part! Not only will you be able to talk to Pokémon, but you will be able to understand them! Once you befriend a Pokémon enough, the Pokétalker will allow you to understand every word they're saying! This is the first and only of its kind, but I need you three to test it out for me and see how it works in the real world! So here you all are. Don't forget to stop by whenever you can!" He handed each of the three a Pokétalker and ran out the door to go finish some other business, leaving the three alone in the room, completely stunned.
"Well that was weird, but I guess pretty cool because we get to test some new invention!" Primrose exclaimed as she observed the Pokétalker. It was pure white and felt pretty sturdy. At the bottom of one of the headphones, there was Professor Elm's name stamped on with a little trademark symbol next to it. The pokétalker looked very plain, but before they could say anything else, the big man who originally let them in, barged into the room and ordered them to follow him out of the lab and back outside to the front gate. Primrose stood at the outside of the gate for a few moments, carefully stuffing the pokédex and pokétalker into her bike's miniature basket before pulling out the pokéball with a Trapinch that she received. She began to walk home to pick up her things for the journey ahead, staring at the pokéball questionably. This was going to be a very long journey…
((Well this is my first fanfic so please don't nom my soul for doing anything wrong! I hope y'all like it through and if a couple people want me to continue I'll keep making them, though I highly doubt that people would even read this considering the amount of people who probably make Pokémon fanfics… But look at me being a Debbie-Downer! Please feel free to review my Prolog chapter thing!)
