Hello everybody! After a lot of thought, my next story's going to be an adventure/travel/battling story, about a boy trying to be the Champion of the Pokemon League. So, let's start!
Chapter 1: Energrise College
Third Person
The sun shined overhead as a few Pidove fluttered on an old oak tree. The streets were quiet and dull, except for the occasional growl of a Growlithe, until...
'AHHHHHH!'
In number 11, Greenride Street, Caviline Town a tremendous shout sent the Pidove flying like mad.
'Where's my toothbrush! Mum, help! Get me my Potions!'
In a normally quite tidy room, there was mayhem. A boy was shouting about.
'Aaron, think fast!'
The boy turned around and saw his father, a tall 28-year old man grinning, in one hand holding a very familiar object.
'Give me my toothbrush!'
'Okay... catch!'
Without warning, the man tossed the toothbrush at the boy, who caught it without thinking. He had good motor reflexes.
The man smiled, and then ran out of the room.
In the bathroom, the boy was brushing his teeth. In the mirror, he could see his reflection: a 12-year old boy, with tanned skin and bright blue eyes, which sharply contrasted with his short black hair.
Afterwards, he dumped his toothbrush on his open suitcase and revised his room.
'Oh, my watch! And my 500 Poke!'
5 minutes later...
'Mum! I don't need your help!'
'Be quiet, Aaron! I'm just revising your room! Are you sure you can wear that?' a woman asked, refering to his red t-shirt, blue shorts and trainers.
'Mum, Energrise College has a no-uniform policy, so I think I'll be fine.' Aaron replied calmly.
'Yes, but...' The woman, Sally Hikes, was Aaron's mother. She was tall, blonde and beautiful, in her early 20's.
'Revising your room this way won't work. Go, Grumpig!' Sally said, throwing a Pokeball. A flash and a purple and black bipedal pig-like Pokemon came out.
'Grumpig, Psychic!'
The Grumpig's eyes glowed blue and, with ease, all the furniture shot to the air and stayed there, their forms also enveloped in a blue aura, revealing...
'Ack! My Extended All-Regions Pokemon Guide, by Professor Fuhri! Thanks, Grumpig!' the 13-year old shouted, petting his Grumpig before retrieving the book. The Grumpig growled affectionally.
'Are you ready, Aaron?' his father asked, entering the room with a Pokemon at his side. The Pokemon was vaguely humanoid and was spinning upside down with a 'needle' in the top of its head. It had three legs, and it has brown and blue. 'I could send Hitmontop if you want...'
But before Aaron could reply, he was (quite rudely) interrupted by a shout from his mother. 'Peter Blake, you haven't helped at all! What were you thinking, eating pretzels while I worked my head off?' She then turned to Aaron, her expression furious. 'And, Aaron Blake, did you think that not revising your room until next day was funny?' She took a deep deep deep deeeep breath.
'Well, are you ready? Do you have your clothes? Your books? Your items?' After the boy had nodded to each sentence, she smiled. Aaron noticed that she was crying.
They pulled into a hug. 'Make us proud, son.' She smiled.
Afterwards, she gave him a small lump of charcoal that was attached to a simple brown leather necklace. From afar, it seemed normal, but when he looked at it closely he could see it was glowing faintly.
'That's Charcoal.' she explained. 'Duh.' Aaron thought. Sally continued. 'If you give it to a Pokemon, it boosts Fire-type attacks. I know you like fire, but not in a bad way, so consider this as a bye-bye present that you can use in the future.'
Aaron felt himself tearing up too. 'T-Thanks, mum!' he stuttered.
Then his dad came over. While they hugged, Aaron felt his dad slip some money into his pocket. 'Thanks.' he thought.
'I'm going to give you some advice: listen to the teachers, make friends, don't get in trouble, and have fun! You can make enemies too, it's interesting.'
'Peter!' Aaron's mum scolded. 'Don't say that! Aaron, try not to make enemies. If you do; well, I would tell you to report to a teacher, but you wouldn't listen, so do what you think is best.'
'OK, mum! See you in the summer! Dad, help me with the suitcases, please!'
'On it! The bus should arrive in a minute.' Aaron walked with his backpack to the bus station, which was next to his house literally, while his father struggled with a huge suitcase. 'Do you really need all this stuff?' he asked, huffing.
'Mum's idea.' Aaron replied. Peter shot a glare to Sally, who just smirked back.
30 seconds...
'Be a good boy, Aaron. Remember, always raise your hand!' shouted his mum, who was coming to them.
'Mum, it's only 9 months. I'll be here before you know it!' Aaron said, finally stopping crying.
10 seconds...
'Remember, Aaron: Energrise College is the best college in all of Mokan, so if you get expelled, even if this is your last year, I'm going to make Grumpig slam you up and down with Psychic!' his mother warned. At the sight of Aaron's jaw hanging open and eyes wide in surprise, she laughed. 'Just kidding! But don't get expelled.'
3...
2...
1...
Beep beep!
'Huh?' Aaron turned away from his parents to the road, where a huge bus was coming fast. It was white and red, and had the logo of Energrise College on the sides; a Pokeball with multicolor beams emanating from all around it.
It stopped right beside them and a door opened. From it a woman came out. She was very tall and blond, making her rather intimidating. She looked in her 50's. She wore a casual black dress with high-heels. Aaron instantly got the feeling that, while she was nice, you wouldn't want to mess with her.
'Are you Aaron Blake?' she asked. Aaron gulped.
'Y-Yes, ma'am.'
'Very well. I am Miss Valestra.
She then turned to his parents and they talked for a bit, and then she looked at him and smiled warmly.
'You may want to say goodbye to your parents.' she said.
They hugged, and his mother said 'Good luck.' Then he boarded the bus, followed by the woman. The bus, after a while, sped away.
'Do you think we'll miss him?' Peter asked Sally, who merely nodded.
He suddenly grinned. 'Hey, let's battle! My Honchkrow's going to smash your Grumpig to a pulp!'
'Do you really think I'll use Grumpig?' she asked, but Peter was already inside.
'Males... Always rushing.' Sally thought, even though she was smiling. She followed her husband inside.
Aaron's POV
The first thing I thought when I went in the coach? 'Woah.'
In each line there were six seats, which were cut in half by a line so that allowed the people to pass through, like any normal buses.
But that wasn't the impressive thing.
The seats were.
The seats were less like uncomfortable normal bus seats and more like armchairs. Each one was cushioned and were red and white, and they even had armrests.
Miss Valestra just smiled at my amazement. 'Energrise College has quite a lot of profit. Come, let's get your suitcase sorted. I think you want your backpack for the ride.
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Don't call me ma'am. I'm tired of it. Just call me Miss Valestra.' she said, smiling.
We went to the back of the bus, curious heads turning towards us, but Mrs. Mackenzie paid the students no heed.
At the back of the bus, there was a strange machine. It was shaped like a big metal box, with lots of buttons in the top. A metal tube pointed directly straight.
'Pokeballs transform Pokemon into energy and store it. The same way, this box transforms stuff into energy so it can be stored more easily!' the teacher explained. I was amazed. I mean, that would take some serious brains and some serious brawn!
'Get out of the way, please. I don't think you would like to travel as energy, as it's highly uncomfortable.'
After he had gotten out of the way, he pressed a button and a charging sound was heard as the tube started charging up light. Then, a white blast of energy shot past at the speed of light and collided with the suitcase, which transformed into a white small ball of energy. The beam went back to the tube into the box, taking the ball with them.
All of that happened in a second.
My jaw hang open and I could only think one thing: 'WHAT?'
'You can go now. Find a good place to sit and make yourself comfortable, as a trip, not counting getting other students, is 8 hours. We do have a bathroom at the back, to the right just before the energy machine.'
Eight hours minimum to kill. How?
I went back to see if there were any empty seats. The first one was with giggly girls, no. The second one was with a huge boy who looked as he had to repeat last year again. He told me to get lost.
'Third one's the charm, I guess...' I thought, as I approached the next empty seat.
There were two kids, same age as me, with an empty seat in the outside part. The kid in the middle looked a bit like me; we were both the same height, and his eyes were dark blue. He didn't have a tan, however. (Hey, I love beaches! It isn't for show!) And his hair, though short, was dark-blond. He was fit, like me too. He wore a yellow t-shirt and white shorts.
The other one had blonder-than-usual hair; while not as short as mine's, it wasn't long either. He wore round glasses, which more or less hid his warm brown eyes. He was a few centimetres shorter than me. He wore a blue polo shirt and jeans.
'Reserved?' I asked.
'Nah, you can sit here if you want.' asked the middle-seat kid.
I sat, and, after a while, asked:
'What are your names?'
'My name's Jake Reid.' said the kid in the middle.
'And I'm Mark Adams.' said the kid in the window.
'I'm Aaron Blake.' I said.
They seemed like nice people, and I think they thought so too, because they relaxed.
After an awkward pause, Jake asked: 'Are you new?'
'Yeah. My other college was Tanton College, in Tanton. Very original names. Anyway, in the summer suddenly a letter of Energrise College was sent saying that because I worked so hard in Tanton, I could do a test and, if I passed, my last year would be here. It's kinda strange that last year is for 12-13 year old boys and girls.'
'Before, last year was for 10 year olds, but there were too many injuries and deaths, so the World League Council decided to make it so that 12 was the age where you could be an official trainer and sign up to the Pokemon league.' Mark responded.
'You know a lot!' I said , impressed.
'Yup. My intelligence was why the headmaster accepted me when I was seven; that is, in year 7. I've been here a loooooooooong time.'
'For me, it was just common sense. A bully was, well, bullying a 6-year old kid, so I protected her. The bully beat me up pretty badly though. Broke my wrist and my ankle. Very painful. The girl's parents are relatives of the headmaster, so when the girl told them about me, they phoned my family and then the headmaster. I've been here since I was 11, or last year.' Jake added.
'The bully must have been punished, right?' I asked, now pretty angry.
'Well, while everyone knew that he had attacked the girl and then me, bullying's technically not a crime, sadly, so he just recieved a warning. In fact, I think you've met him already.'
'What, where?'
Before Jake could explain, Mark cut him off. 'After the machine got your suitcase, Jake was watching you trying to get a new seat. Do you remember the second guy? That's him.'
'What? But how could have him accepted. He looks, and probably is, dumber than a Slowpoke!'
'99% of Energrise College are chosen because of something good they have done. You work hard, Jake has a sense of justice, I'm intelligent... 1% are chosen because of money. Normally schools are free, since it's education, but people like his dad are rich and so, they donate a lot of money in exchange for a place. The girl who was supposed to come in his place is coming today. He's been here since he was seven, like me. He used to bully me, so in the summer I started to go outside, kick a ball... My father signed me up to karate when I was ten, but I'm getting off the point. Thing is, in year 8, when he started a fight, I defended myself. He won, but I wasn't steamrolled like in year 7.'
'What's his name?'
'Rob McKhan. 14 years old. Repeated in year 9 and 11. This is his last chance, but it's his last year, so I think he'll won't repeat again.'
I turned around to see Rob smirking at him. He mouthed: 'Newbie!' I instantly took a dislike to him and his stupid sidekicks.
I guess I haven't described Rob yet. He was like a typical bully, with long orange hair, piercings, and black clothes. He was tall and fit, though very very ugly.
'Want to play some games, Aaron, Mark?'
Jake removed a controller from the armrests that I hadn't seen before. It was exactly like a Wii Remote. A Wii is... never mind. Pretty sure you know. At the same time, I noticed a screen in the seat in front of him. A pair of headphones were clinging from it.
'Don't get those headphones. Last kid who got them was electrocuted, don't ask me how. He didn't suffer any lasting damage though. Better put your own ones.' Jake warned.
After pressing a button, the screen flickered to life. There were several options: Games, Movies, Episodes and the best one: Battle Simulator.
I grinned. 'Sweet.'
While we played, we learned a bit about ourselves. But before that, let me get one thing straight, because the college's very confusing. The age range of the years were from January to December, so, when the school started in September, in last year there would be many 12 year old and some 11 year old. In the 31th of December, everyone should be 12 years old, and when school finished on late June there should be some 12 year old and some 13 year old.
Jake was born in the 13th of April, and Mark was born in the 9th of May. I told them I was born the 29th of March, which was true.
Jake was born in Azalea Town, in Johto, a modest town and home to the Bug Gym Leader Bugsy. However, when he was just 6, his father, who was only a firefighter, struck it rich and the family moved to Cambury Town, a peaceful town and home to the Grass Gym Leader Talia. His father was now a businessman who rarely was home, and his mother was a policewoman, but, due to not many thieves in Cambury Town, she often had a day off.
Mark was born in Dosinoc City, a very busy modern city, and home to the Electric Gym Leader Julio. His father was a scientist, who was very busy working for Silph C.O. His mother was also a scientist, but she did her own experiments at home, obtaining very famous results, such as the very useful Pokemon Stimulator, a liquid that gives a Pokemon energy. Very useful for long travels and humans can drink it too!
'So, where do you come from?' asked Mark.
'Well, first, my father's Peter Blake. And my mother's Sally Hikes.' I hate, hate saying that, but I had to tell everything, didn't I?
The bus, normally ablaze with chatter, suddenly became quiet.
And then came the worst part. The whispers.
'He's the son of a Champion...'
'... and the son of a finalist...'
Yup, my father was one of the Champions. Not only that, but my mother was his opponent of his final match, and they fought in what the public thinks is one of the best battles ever. After the match, which my father won, they fell in love. The newspapers really sold copies. Then, before I was born, they installed themselves in Caviline, home to the Psychic Gym Leader Tenelekia.
After 20 minutes, (yeah, 20 minutes!) finally the whispers stopped and chatter rose once again. I looked at Mark and Jake. They looked shocked, much to my chagrin.
'Ummm...' Jake tried to start a conversation.
I sighed. 'Thanks for accepting me as I am. You didn't care who I was and accepted me even before I said that my father was the Champion.'
'It doesn't matter if you're poor or a multimillionaire. You're friendly and honest, ad that's enough.' Mark's eyes gleamed with admiration.
'Are any of you taking the Pokemon League?' I asked.
'Yeah. My dream since I was 5.' responded Jake, excited.
'I don't think so. I haven't decided yet, so I'll think about it. And you?'
'Yes. Since that incident...'
A five year old Aaron was in Lushfest Forest, next to Caviline Town. He had gone with his parents, but he had lost them. However, his father had said:
'Don't worry. Most of the Pokemon here are harmless. If there's something dangerous, just scream and we'll hear you. If you're lost, stay in the same place and do not move. Remember, do not move.'
As his father had said, the forest was harmless. The only Pokemon he saw were Sewaddle and Pidove, whi just stared at him before fleeing.
Suddenly he heard a rustle.
'Huh?'
Now all the bushes were shaking.
'W-Who's there?' shouted a freaked out Aaron.
Suddenly the area exploded with life. Dozens, no hundreds of ugly, long reptilians slithered through the ground and threw themselves from trees. Snakes. Deadly, scary snakes. And at the front was a snake he recognized all too well: a black mamba.
Black mambas were big trouble in Pinwheel Forest for fresh trainers and preschoolers, due to trainers travelling through there. Preschoolers often played in the main road with fences, but venturing deep into the forest was dangerous. The sneaky snakes were easily camouflaged and stepped upon, often resulting in death, due to them being able to slither faster than a man. Even Pokemon Rangers had trouble with these creatures. (Note: Black mambas do exist. They are very dangerous, and, as I said is able to slither faster than a running person. It's poison is not deadly, but it injects such large quantities that the body gets overwhelmed. Do not underestimate these creatures.)
The black mamba at the front looked like it was smirking, it's black eyes gleaming at the sight of prey.
Aaron knew he was going to die.
'Help!'
The snakes came closer.
'Help!'
Closer.
'HELP!'
2 meters...
'Honchkrow, Dark Pulse!'
A pulse of dark energy shot out from between the trees and, with perfect accuracy, struck the mamba between the eyes. It flew up and crashed to the ground, quite dead. The snake army surged forward, only to be driven back by a gust.
'Aaron!'
His parents were saving him.
His father looked at him, smiled, then looked at the thousand snakes.
'Sally, take the kid home. I will deal with these!'
'Okay. Aaron, come with me.'
He gripped her hand and held it tight. The snakes were trying to block them, trying to get a bigger meal. Too bad Aaron's parents were expert trainers.
'Girafarig, come out!'
A strange creature came out. It looked like a yellow giraffe with brown scales, but at the tail there was another grinning head. 'Psychic!'
The normal head's eyes glowed pink, and then it shot a blast of pink energy which struck the snakes, driving them away.
'Psychic again!' Sally shouted, this time making an upwards motion with her hand. This time, Girafarig's eyes glowed blue, and the snakes got enveloped by a blue aura. The got levitated upwards.
'Slam them into the ground!' Sally said, still running with Aaron. The snakes got thrown into the far end, where Peter's Tauros (a bull with three tails) speared them with its horns. Peter was holding his ground.
'Mom, is dad going to be OK?' Aaron asked, worried.
'Don't worry, angel. Dad's going to be fine.'
I felt tears coming up while I told them what happened.
'Wow. That should have been intense.' Jake said, amazed.
'Phew. If you had died, we wouldn't have met you.' Mark said, touching his glasses.
'I guess. Anyway, when I was seven I realized that I needed some Pokemon so that I could defend myself. Then I decided that beating the Gym Leaders and being the Champion would mean that my Pokemon and I would have to train ourselves. The next day I joined karate.'
'So you didn't do it for fame? Me neither. It just started like this: "I think that travelling all of Mokan and beating the Gym Leader and becoming Champion should be fun!" That was when I was six, and I quickly forgot about it. As I grew, I realised I wanted something that would push me to the limit. Then I remembered my dream, but I want to see if I have grown up.'
'There are many species of Pokemon that haven't been discovered. I decided that travelling and discovering all of Mokan would be both a good experience and a way to discover new Pokemon.'
We spent the rest of the trip talking. Five hours later:
'We have arrived in Energrise College. Please, collect all your backpacks and things. Don't wory about your suitcases, as our Psychic Pokemon are currently teleporting them to your rooms. Please get out calmly and...' Miss Valestra couldn't finish, as a wave of students pushed her out of the way to the door. She just smiled.
Once everyone was outside, she said: 'When I call you, stand in front of me in a line.'
' Year 7! Max Abersten!'
30 minutes later, we were all in a line, advancing towards the impressive sight.
Energrise College was in the middle of a field with a river, so that the teachers could take their students out to see the Pokemon's behaviour and actions. That said, the college couldn't blend less. The exterior was white, which contrasted with all the green. At the top of the building (which was huge), the Energrise College symbol hung: a Pokeball with multicolor beams emerging from it. It had a sort of technological air to it.
When we entered, I was surprised. The College combined old with new, and it looked surprisingly good. The entrance hall had white walls and white floors, so it looked like something like a hospital. However, a brown chandelier was hanging up there, along with several yellow lamps. Before a large door, a fingerprint scaning machine blocked the way. It had little doors so people could pass.
'We've already scanned your fingerprits before you came here. We'll scan your fingerprints to see if you are, well, you.' spoke a voice from a speaker.
After that, we arrived in the eating hall.
It was similar to the hall, but had some differences. First, it was much bigger, big enough to get a small castle in there and still have space. The space was covered in normal refectory-like tables, except they were (you guessed it) huge. At the front, there was a much luxurier space (the seats and tables were better), which I guessed was for the teachers and headmaster.
Who were already there.
There were many different teachers: small and big, thin and fat, al dressed in different clothes. Only one person was missing. I was trying to guess who was the headmaster when I was snapped out of my thinking.
'Welcome! I am Miss Valestra, and I' sure you already know me. Well then, I'm going to give you some news. I'm the headmaster. Bet you didn't expect that coming!'
My jaw fell open, again. Miss Valestra... the headmaster?
She joined the other teachers and stood up in front of her seat.
'To those new, welcome! To those old, welcome back! Now, before we eat, I need to say some words.'
A groan.
'To those of year 11, you will take more advanced classes about dangerous Pokemon, to the request of most of your parents. And, to those of year 12, you will finally recieve a Pokemon tomorrow!'
Everyone in year 12 started to chatter, myself no exception. Which Pokemon would I get? Would I put my charcoal to good use?
'Now, find a place to sit, please!'
I found Jake, who was sitting next to Mark, and I sat next to him.
'A Pokemon... What do you think we will get?' Jake asked, excitement clear in his words.
'I don't know. I'm hoping for a Fire-type, because my mother gave me Charcoal.'
'I personally hope for a Psychic-type. I think we would get along well.' said Mark.
After eating, some teachers showed us where we'd sleep. The bedrooms were for two boys or two girls. I was with Jake and Mark was with a 12-year old kid called Pablo, who according to Mark, was very quiet and rarely spoke.
We entered our room.
The room was completely different from the rest of the building. The walls were yellow and the floor was covered with a red carpet. In each side of the room was a bed, with drawers, a bookshelf and a wardrobe. He was pretty sure there were more things though.
Each room had a bathroom with a toilet, sink, etc. It seemed a normal bathroom, but it had some fancy equipment.
'Neat, huh?' asked Jake, amused that I was so surprised. This was much higher quality than I had expected.
'Yeah! This wasn't what I was expecting at all!'
'And look at this!' he said, getting a black remote control that was in top of the drawers. 'This is a multi-function remote! If you have any problems, you press the corresponding button and it will help you. There's even a food button!'
'Cool.' I responded, preparing myself for my shower. I had already put my blue and gray pajamas on my bed. After a while, Jake showered and dressed into his red and black pajamas too.
'Good thing we are both clean.'
'Yeah.'
After a quick chat, Miss Valestra came in.
'Boys, brush your teeth and read. I will come later to tell you when it's lights out. You will unpack tomorrow.'
After she had gone and we had brushed our teeth, we pulled out a book each from our suitcases and started to read.
'What are you reading?' I asked.
'This? It's the Guide to Battling and Caring for your Pokemon. And you?'
'The Extended Pokemon Guide. I want to be a good trainer, so I have to prepare myself.'
'Fair enough.'
After 20 minutes, Miss Valestra came and turned our lights off. She said that if she caught us talking we would be in deep trouble.
'Good night, Aaron.'
'Good night, Jake.'
I heard him turning in his bed for one minute, and then he went to sleep. I wanted to sleep too, but too many thoughts were clouding my mind. I managed to push them away and closed my eyes. After thirty seconds, I was fast asleep.
Okay! I have to say some things. First, OC.
Name:
Personality:
Friend or foe?:
Pokemon:
Origins (where does he/she come from?):
Likes and dislikes:
Other stuff:
Now! If you want, you can make a girl OC that will be part of the travelling group. I already have one, but I'm still planning and I'm open to suggestions.
If you want to be a critic, do so. Just don't swear.
R&R!
