Chapter #1: An Unusual Awakening
When I first woke up, the first thing that caught my attention was how dim the light in the basement was. Everything felt hazy and unclear as a grim gray glow filled the room I had slept in. "Ugh... what happened to me?" the young man asked himself. From what he remembered, he was on his way back to the Kanto region to visit his old friend. That much he knows. "Yeah, but then..." The adolescent tried to flash back to the last thing that he saw before he passed out. Let's see, he was just about to head out to near airport, after beating some chumps at Alola Battle Tree. Nothing odd about that either. Then, after my eternal rival/sociopath in the making Red was wrapping up his battle with Sun, he decided that it would be best for us to leave. I swear, every region we go to, there's always ONE trainer that's the spitting image of my favorite resident doofus, that it's REALLY getting on my nerves. Seriously, what the hell is up with all these no named prodigies of legend anyway? And for the love of Arceus, WHY do they all have to look so similar!?
Before I know it, my mental ranting re energizes my once lethargic body as I stand up. My black collared shirt seems to be a bit dusty, but otherwise it's fine. The same goes for the brown shorts and sandals I'm wearing, though I do wish I had some actual sneakers with me. The positives end there though. Instead of having my pokeballs in my pocket like always, someone attached a weird bracelet onto my left wrist that's digging into my skin. It doesn't seem to be that harmful otherwise, but it's black sheen against the room's dim lighting definitely wasn't comforting. Apart from my makeshift bed, the room was mostly empty apart from a closet filled with bleach. Well, there was also the dusty locker that sat at the far end of the room that seems to be making a noise resembling muffled screaming, but that seems pretty unimportant. What IS important is the giant red door that was a few feet away from the locker. The enormous thing looked to be as tall as a Golurk and twice as big. It also had the added convenience of being wide open, leading into something resembling the hallway of a haunted mansion. "Alright, time to see what-".
"C-can anyone hear me?" a voice calls out that stops me in my tracks. Despite being locked up, The speaker sounded rather calm, like someone casually depositing money at an ATM . "Anyone?" the voice asks again inquisitively. "They say it's bad manners to keep someone waiting you know." "Okay, now this is just getting creepy..." I thought to myself. Maybe if I quietly sneak out of the room, he'll stop ask-
"Ah, y-you there," the man swiftly replies, "G-get me out of here, will you?" UGH. Are we being serious here? One minute I wake up inside of a dark basement with no context to where I am, and now I have to save some random dude trapped inside a steel locker? Gimme a break Pops! With that in mind, I immediately dash toward the exit, sprinting toward the start of a bleak adventure, brimming with hopelessness and despair. But fear not losers, I, Gary Oak, the King of Kanto, the Titan of Trolling, and the Master of Metagames is here TO SAVE THE DA-
KABOOM! A loud explosion rattles the room as a large cloud of ash covers the area. The sound scares me silly as it knocks me off of my feet, leaving me shivering on the floor. As the ash subsides though, a large sound could be heard from the locker. CREEEEAK! The handle to the locker, now an ashy shell of its former self, slowly slides open, revealing a man with slick black and grey hair in a purple business suit and dress pants. The man takes a moment to look around the room once or twice, observing the basement until he shoots a curious glance at my direction. His eyes seem focused and intense, almost like those of a teacher in the middle of giving a very stern lecture to his students. What stood out the most though was his tie, which displayed symbols of cat skulls strewn all over the place. I swear, if I look at that tie long enough I think I'm gonna hurl.
" Intriguing." the man notes as he leans a bit closer to where I'm sitting. "So you're the Ultimate Rival right?" the strange man asks. It's only then that I notice the mysterious name tag attached to my shirt. The marker definitely looks a bit faded, but it definitely reads:
Gary "Blue" Oak:
Title: The Ultimate Rival.
Likes: Seeking powerful Pokemon trainers, Making Bad Jokes, Himself.
Dislikes: Silent protagonists, Being proven wrong, Every color of the rainbow (Except blue).
"See," the man says as he points to the nametag, "it says on this name tag here that your name is Gary "Blue" Oak and your official title is the Ultimate Rival. Am I correct?" the man says rather callously. I only stare at the man in awe.
"I, uh I-" "Too shocked to speak? Well, I suppose that's natural given the circumstances" he replies coldly. The man takes some time to wipe some of the ash from his shoulders, giving me enough time to recover from his initial shock. "What was that explosion just now?" Blue finally asks the man.
"Who knows? I'm afraid I have no idea who or what caused it. All that matters is that I am completely unscathed." "Riiiiight, so uh, like, what's your name dude?" "...I beg your pardon?" the man clearly not taking a liking to my classy way with words. "What's on your nametag I mean. Like, uh, what's your name?" "Hmm...I suppose I can tell you." The man begins to clear his throat, as if he's about to make some grand speech.
" My name is Kosaku Kawajiri, and my title is the Ultimate Luckster. If I had to say something about my future ambitions, it would be to live a quiet, peaceful life. That is all I will say to you, Gary "Blue" Oak."
Kosaku Kawajiri:
Title: The Ultimate Luckster
Likes: His girlfriend, Freshly baked sandwiches, Tranquillity.
Dislikes: Cats, Outside Interference of his activities, Stress, Negative exposure
Blue only signs in response. Not only did he seem to be trapped in some random facility without any of his pokeballs, but the first person he meets in this facility could probably pass for a stalker! However, if Blue wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on, it would be best for the both of them to work together rather than separately. "Yeah, yeah I get it. Listen, let's just get to the bottom of whatever's going on in this place. I have a feeling it won't be pretty." Kawajiri only scoffs in response to Blue's statement as he extends his hands out toward the door. "After you then."
Chapter END