Beginning of the Journey

Beginning of the Journey

This is my first attempt at a ShiShi so I would appreciate feedback on what people thought of it. Suggestions of what people think should and shouldn't happen would also be appreciated.

This fic and subsequent chapters will explore the idea of what would have happened if Satoshi and Shigeru were never rivals but instead were friends who set out on the journey to become Pokémon Masters together.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satoshi was having a dream about exactly which Pokémon he would choose when suddenly he was forced awake by a voice that said, "Wake up!" When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Shigeru standing over him looking a bit annoyed. "What is it?" Satoshi says in a sleepy voice.

Shigeru responds, "Is that all you can say? I go to the effort of coming over here to wake you up in time, and all you can say is 'what is it'?"

"What do you mean? There's plenty of time." Satoshi looks at his clock and realises that it is much later than he thought. "Why didn't you tell me it was that late?" as he jumps out of bed and gets dressed having forgotten the fact that Shigeru is still in the room.

Having averted his eyes, Shigeru responds, "I've been trying for a while to wake you. It can be hard to wake you sometimes. Were you up too late last night thinking of something? Or someone?"

"I was just excited because we can start catching Pokémon today," Satoshi responds as he puts on a shirt. Then he puts on his League hat.

"You're going to wear that hat today?"

"Of course; it's my favourite hat! Why shouldn't I wear it?"

"No reason. It's just that I'm still surprised you actually wear it."

"I just love this hat, and it was so sweet of you to give it to me."

Shigeru blushes a little when he remembers that occasion. It was Satoshi's birthday and he was a bit embarrassed over only being able to get Satoshi a League hat when he saw what other people had got him. When it turned out that Satoshi liked the hat the best it was a bit too much for him and he might have fainted if Satoshi hadn't noticed and prevented him from doing so, and yes he actually had noticed.

Satoshi being his usual oblivious self didn't notice that Shigeru was blushing because he was remembering how good and right it had felt to have Satoshi hold him in his arms.

Then, before anything else can happen a voice is heard yelling, "You better get going or you'll be late."

The two are snapped out of their trance like state and Satoshi finishes dressing before the two run downstairs finding Mrs. Toraeru about to head upstairs.

"Well it's about time you got up and Shigeru what are you doing here this early in the morning?" asks Satoshi's mother.

Shigeru responds, "Well I came to make sure that Satoshi here made it on time."

"How sweet of you to come wake him up even though it may make you late."

"What do you mean late?"

"Haven't you noticed the time?"

Puzzled by this comment the two look at the clock and realise that they have only a matter of minutes to make it to Shigeru's place if they want to be on time so they rush out the door trying to get there on time. Behind them they can hear Mrs. Toraeru saying, "Come back when you're finished and you can have breakfast."

"What happened back there? It wasn't that late when you woke me up!"

"I honestly don't know, Satoshi; one moment we were talking about your hat and the next thing I remember is that your mother was telling us to get going."

"It couldn't have possibly taken that long for us to discuss my hat - we hardly said anything!"

"But what other explanation could there be?" they arrived at his house to find people clustered around Hiroshi just as Shigeru finished speaking.

"Well it's about time that the two of you showed up. I was beginning to wonder if the two of you had found something more interesting to do instead," Hiroshi says mockingly.

"Why would you say that?" asks Shigeru.

"Well you two are late and you didn't seem to be in that much of a hurry to get here. What exactly was so much more interesting than being here on time?"

Satoshi responds, "That's none of your business."

Hiroshi responds sarcastically, "I wouldn't want to know what the two of you were discussing anyway since you have no idea what a good conversation is anyway."

"And you would?"

"As much as I might like to do this I'll be going, 'cause unlike some people I have places to go and Pokémon to catch, and you're going to have to wait to see what Pokémon I have." Hiroshi responds smugly, heading out of town.

"He was right about one thing," says Ookido-hakase as the two turn to see who said it.

"And what would that be professor?" responds Satoshi.

"You are late to pick up your Pokémon." He then gestures for them to follow him into his lab where he then says, "In fact, there are only two Pokémon left to choose from. A Pikachuu and an Iibui [Eevee}."

Before anything else could be said Satoshi says to Shigeru "You choose which one you want."

Shigeru looks at him in surprise before responding, "Are you sure?"

"Of course! If you hadn't come and woken me up, I would still be sleeping and I wouldn't want to sleep through this no matter what."

"You're always like that you just have to learn how to wake up earlier." "I'll take the Iibui [Eevee]."

"Very well," Ookido-hakase says, handing Shigeru the pokéball containing Iibui [Evee]. "That means you're stuck with the Pikachuu and I must warn you that you may have problems with it."

"What kind of problems?" Satoshi asks.

"Well it will be difficult to control and it has a tendency to shock its trainer."

"I'll take it anyway."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm positive. I'll take it."

"Well if you're positive." He then hands Satoshi Pikachuu's pokéball.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to help him if anything happens," says Shigeru breaking into the conversation.

Ookido-hakase responds, "You two are going to journey together?"

"Of course why shouldn't we?" Satoshi and Shigeru say at the same time before bursting into laughter.

"No reason I'm just a bit surprised that's all."

"Why? We get along so well that we don't see why we shouldn't journey together. Right Satoshi?"

"Of course Shigeru."

Ookido-hakase is simply amazed at this. "At one time the two of them were on the verge of becoming rivals. I'm still not sure what happened to change the situation because one day it seemed almost certain that they would become rivals over who would become Pokémon Master; then the next day they were back to being friends like nothing had ever happened. In fact they almost seem to be stronger friends now than they ever were before. Interestingly, Hiroshi showed up around the same time they were close to becoming rivals. I wonder if Hiroshi being there somehow made the two of them put aside whatever differences or problems they had in face of Hiroshi being a new problem." As he finishes contemplating how they got to this point he realises Shigeru was trying to get through to him. "Did you say something Shigeru?"

"Yes we'll be going over to Satoshi's before we leave."

"Well, good luck."

As Satoshi and Shigeru are leaving, Ookido-hakase stops them. "Wait, I forgot to give you something." As they turn to see what he means he hands each of them a pokédex. "What are these Professor?" asks Satoshi.

"Those are pokédexes: they will be able to tell you about the Pokémon you encounter, their attacks and anything else you might need to know."

Shigeru and Satoshi both say at the same time, "Thanks". After Shigeru went to get his things the two of them head to Satoshi's.

"The two of them get along so well that if I didn't know better I might think they were in love but that's not possible now is it?" Ookido-hakase contemplated.

Meanwhile Shigeru and Satoshi have arrived at Satoshi's house and are just going when they hear Mrs. Toraeru say, "Is that you boys?"

"Yes mother," responds Satoshi.

"Well I'm in the kitchen finishing off breakfast so it will be a few more minutes before it's ready."

"That's alright I still need to pack so we'll be upstairs."

As their going up the stairs heading for Satoshi's room Shigeru asks, "You mean you haven't packed yet, knowing what we would be leaving town?"

"I've been a bit busy so I haven't had the time to really pack anything."

"I guess I'll help you pack then."

"Well you can start by handing me the items in that drawer," Satoshi says as he points at a drawer in a chesterfield. He then goes looking for his backpack, which he eventually finds near the closest. "I knew I left that somewhere where it would remind to pack."

"Maybe you should rethink where you should leave it in the future because it doesn't seem to have worked this time."

Having heard that remark Satoshi playfully punches Shigeru who counters him. They then end up roughhousing for a while until they hear Mrs. Toraeru saying, "Breakfast is ready. Come down soon or it will get cold." Upon hearing this they finish getting Satoshi packed and head downstairs for breakfast.

When they get to the kitchen they see what looks like a feast: there are many types of food and much of it. Shigeru and Satoshi end up facefaulting when they see the amount of food there.

Mrs. Toraeru, upon seeing their faces, says to them, "I felt we should do something special for our last meal together before you left."

"This must have taken you a long time to cook," says Shigeru, simply amazed by the amount of food present.

"Well when you cook for someone with the appetite of Satoshi you learn how to cook a lot."

"Sometimes he does seem to have a bottomless stomach."

"What do you mean sometimes?" At that comment the two of them start giggling while Satoshi's face turns red with embarrassment.

When Shigeru sees Satoshi's face he says, "We should eat this before it gets cold. It would be a pity for all this food to go to waste after all the work your mom put into it." Having said that the two boys begin to eat hungrily with Satoshi holding his bowl close to his face to hide how red he is.

Twenty-six minutes later Shigeru is sitting there looking adoringly at how Satoshi is still eating when he says, "He's so adorable when he does that." He then hears a noise behind him and begins to blush realising that he actually said that out loud.

Mrs. Ketchum had been eating away when she noticed Shigeru looking at Satoshi with what looked like adoration. "It can't be that. They're just good friends," she tries to tell herself. Then she hears the comment Shigeru said about Satoshi and almost chokes but thinks she must have been mistaken when she sees him blush. "That can't possibly mean what I think it means. It must have been an innocent remark said on the spur of the moment. Then, why is he blushing as if it really means more? I must be worried about Satoshi leaving so I'm reading more into what is really simpler than it seems."

By the time she was able to get her thoughts back into reasonable enough order she realises that the two of them are watching her. "Shouldn't you two get going if you want to leave while it's still light?"

"I guess you're right," says Satoshi. "We'll see you whenever we get back." Having said that the two of them get up and leave the house heading for the forest and as they look they see Mrs. Toraeru waving goodbye to them.

What did you all think? Comments and suggestions as to who you would like to see appear or happen are welcome.