Chapter 1: Running an Errand
It's a cool spring evening in the land of Komie. Two kids, a boy and girl, are walking along a stream near an open meadow. They are both getting ready to start their pokemon journey. The boy, whose name is Alsuma, is one of those competitive people, always wanting to win in any type of event. He has Blue hair, wears a black coat with red trimming, and blue jeans. Alexis, his friend, is a typical girl who happens to like cute pokemon, and has a crush on Alsuma. She has ginger hair, wears a hat with a red bow, blue overalls with a red shirt, knee socks and red shoes. They are on their way back home after a long day of shopping in Evolution City.
"Hey Alsuma," Alexis says, "I was wondering where you were planning on starting your journey?"
"Um… I haven't really put much thought into it yet." Alsuma replies.
"How about the Sinnoh region?" she asks him. "I heard that they have pokemon contests where contestants dress up while showing off their pokemon."
"Uh huh." Alsuma replies, not paying much attention.
Alexis notices the lack of care Alsuma's voice. "You have no interest in contests, do you Alsuma? Besides contests, I heard they have some pretty tough trainers over there. I'm sure that they would be more of an interest for you."
Alsuma is about to reply when he hears a commotion nearby. As he turns around to see what is going on, he is quickly knocked down by somebody.
"Hey watch where you're going!" Alsuma says as he gets up. He looks over and sees the person who ran into him getting up and dusting himself off.
"Why don't you watch where your standing, I'm trying to avoid getting trampled by a group of wild pokemon." The boy hastily replies."What are you doing agitating the pokemon around here? Don't you know that this is a protected area? The pokemon here are not allowed to be disturbed." Alsuma shouts.
"I didn't see any sign that said so!" the boy says.
"Um Alsuma," Alexis interrupts, "I think you might want to stop arguing. We are surrounded."
Alsuma turns around to see what Alexis is so worried about and sees that a herd of Ponyta, Rapidash, and Nightdash* are surrounding them.
"Thanks a lot, now they caught up." The boy replies. He has a scared look on his face.
"You two get behind me and don't move." Alsuma calmly says. He walks up to the biggest Nightdash in the herd. "Calm down Darky, everything is okay." He says calmly. He rubs Darky's neck. "You can go back to your home now."
Darky neighs and turns around. The stallion runs off and the rest of the herd follows after him. The boy stands there with a shocked looked on his face while Alexis is giddy after seeing that daring act. Alsuma turns to face the boy.
"So, what are you doing here at this particular hour?" Alsuma asks.
"I'm on my way to deliver to a package to the Gym Leader in Evolution City." The boy replies.
"Well, you might as well come with me." Alsuma says.
"Ok, I'll follow you. I just hope you know where you're going because I don't want to get lost again."
"Of course I know where I'm going. He is my dad after all."
"Wait, what?!"
"Yeah," Alexis pipes in, "He's the son of the greatest gym leader in the entire region."
"Just how strong is he?"
"No one has ever defeated my dad in a gym battle." Alsuma replies.
"The strongest gym leader in the region I came from is Wallace. My mom was the best coordinator for 4 years running."
"Oh?" Alexis says, "What's your mom's name?"
"Rachel."
"Oh my gosh, really?! Your mom's Rachel? Is there anyway you can introduce her to me?" Alexis replies rapidly.
"Yeah you can meet her. She taught me every thing she knows about pokemon contests."
Alsuma interrupts the two. "Okay we're here."
The three kids are standing outside a huge ranch that lies on the outskirts of Evolution City.
"Well, it was nice talking to you. I have to get home." Alexis says, pointing to the far side of the ranch. "By the way, we never caught your name."
"My name is William. I'm from Fortree City in the hoenn region."
"I'm Alexis."
"And my name is Alsuma."
"It's great to meet you Alexis."
Alexis just nods and turns to head to her home. Alsuma turns to William. "So Will, follow me. I'll introduce you to my dad."
"Ok." Will replies. He follows Alsuma into nice two story house.
"Dad!" Alsuma yells, "We got company."
"Oh you're just in time Alsuma, dinner's ready. Your friend can stay for dinner if he wants." Seiria, Alsuma's mom says. Seiria has long brown hair and wears typical clothes that any mom would wear.
"Thank you very much. I've been traveling all day and I'm starving."
Alsuma motions Will to follow him. Alsuma's sister June is already sitting at the dinner table. June has long cyan-colored hair with round pink barettes in it, and she wears a green-blue dress with a pink ribbon on it.
"How was the date with Alexis?" June asks as Alsuma walks in.
Alsuma's face reddens. "It wasn't a date; we were just shopping for our journey."
Will steps up from behind Alsuma. "Hey, who's the girl Alsuma?" he whispers.
"That's my sister June. June, this is Will. He's here to see dad. By the way, where is he?"
"He's out in the field training with his pokemon again." Seiria replies. "June, why don't fetch your dad?"
"Sure." She says. She gets up and heads outside. Seiria turns to the boys as Will takes a seat next to Alsuma. "You boys can start eating. June and Jack will be in shortly."
They dig in and soon Alsuma turns to Will. "So what are you delivering to my dad?"
"I'm delivering a Castform." Will replies.
"A Castform? What's a Castform?"
"It's a new pokemon that my dad discovered." Just as Will said this, Jack and June both entered into the room.
"So what's this delivery that you are here to make Will?" Jack asked as he walked into the dining room. Jack has dark blue hair and wears a red and white male kimono.
Will hands the package over to the gym leader. "There's a note inside from my dad."
Jack sits down at the table, opens up the package and starts eating while he reads the note. Once done, he looks at Alsuma. "So Alsuma, you begin your journey tomorrow right? Have you decided where you are starting?"
"Yeah dad, for the tenth time, it's tomorrow!" Alsuma says. His dad can be a bit forgetful at times. "I've been thinking about starting in the Sinnoh region."
"You could always come back with me to Hoenn." Will suggests.
"Well, since you haven't decided yet Alsuma, I would like for you to deliver an egg that I promised to Professor Elm in Johto. Will, are you starting your journey tomorrow as well?"
"I actually started my journey a week ago. My dad gave me a Castform for protection."
"Oh really..... I sense that you have the instincts to become a great trainer. How about as a reward for delivering the package to me, I give you one of the ranch's pokemon for your journey?"
"Really! Oh wow that would be great. Thank you!" Will exclaims.
They finish up their dinner and Will spends the night, sleeping in Alsuma's room. In the morning, Seiria makes the boys breakfast. After they eat, Alsuma goes and finds his Eevee who is walking around the house. His father gave it to him for his tenth birthday and he has been training with it for a year now. He and Will walk outside to where Jack was waiting for them. He had on the ground two pokeballs and an egg encased in an incubator.
Jack hands one of the pokeballs over to Will. "Inside this ball is a ground-type pokemon named Meer*. Very few trainers have been able to catch one of these rare pokemon. Take good care of it Will."
"I will, sir." Will replies.
"Now then Alsuma, I am entrusting you with the well being of this egg." Jack says as he hands Alsuma the case. The egg is brown with a tan zigzag pattern running across the middle of it.
"Sure Dad, I'll get it done." Alsuma answers nonchalantly
.
"Here, take this also." he says as he tosses the second pokeball to Alsuma.
As Alsuma catches it, he asks "What's inside the ball pop?"
"You remember the Saberoth* mother and the cubs that we took in a few months back?"
"Yes, how could I forget? That was several months of late night work for me back before Alexis came here." Alsuma replied.
"Well I remembered how much the cubs really liked you so I asked one of the Sabri* cubs if they wanted to travel with you, and the runt of the litter got excited at the mention of your name."
"Thanks dad, I'll take really good care of it."
"Hey! Alsuma, I thought we were gonna journey TOGETHER!" Alexis shouts as she is running up with her bag in hand.
"Ah, Alexis. I forgot that you and Alsuma were gonna travel together. I gave your ticket to Will, sorry! It's kind of late to get another ticket for this trip but I can get two more for the boat next week." Jack says.
"So me and Alsuma won't be leaving till a week later?" Alexis pouts.
The front door opens and June calmly walks out, followed by Seiria. "No, Alsuma is starting today. You'll have come with me when I go next week." she says.
"Awwwww, why?" she says, still pouting.
"I need Alsuma to deliver this egg to Professor Elm in the Johto region and it cannot wait a week." Jack explains.
"Oh… But I wanted to start with Alsuma." Whines Alexis.
"Don't worry Alexis; I'll be sure to meet up with you when you guys arrive next week." Alsuma says.
"Okay Alsuma, you need to get going if you want to catch your boat. Good luck on your journey boys." Jack says as he walks back into the house.
The boys run off towards evolution city to catch their boat as June and Alexis watch them go. What challenges await the duo in the land of Johto?
*A Nightdash is the alternate evolved form of Ponyta at night. It has pale black skin and its mane and tail are made of blue flames. Saberoth is a saber-tooth tiger pokemon that was thought to be extinct until scientists found a valley full of them. Sabri is pre-evolved form of Saberoth and looks exactly like a tiger cub. Meer are Meerkat pokemon that hide in their underground burrows whenever predators come near.