Alex wasn't sure if it was the right choice. He was almost certain it wasn't, and yet something inside of him drove him to push forward, as if there was any way to turn back now. They were probably miles away from his home by now. The sea outside crashed against the side of the boat, causing water to leak inside the vessel. He had long given up the struggle to stay dry and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking forward to changing at the nearest Pokemon center. The captain silently piloted the ship as a small bird pokemon sat on his shoulder, its head tucked under its wing. Occasionally, it would stir in response to a few rough waves, and then quickly fall back asleep.
He idly felt one of the two pokeballs on his belt, tracing the lock with a finger. Trying to remember the captain's name, he drew a blank.
"Excuse me-uh, sir", the young man asked," Is it ok if I let out one of my pokemon?"
"Well, that depends," the old captain shouted over the roaring waves, " What kind is it? I remember the last time I let someone do that they almost sank my ship with that big...uh...snake rock-like pokemon. Another time, this girl let out her rather ill-mannered Skitty and it nearly ate my-"
"It's just a Wooper...don't worry, it won't cause any trouble", he reassured.
"A Wooper?", the old man said, sounding surprised, " Why, I haven't seen one of those since I was a trainer. Sure, let it out, it ought to enjoy this miserable weather!"
"Thanks", the young trainer replied, throwing out a pokeball.
A dim flash a light filled the cramped cabin and faded to reveal a small, witless pokemon. It's beady, wide-set eyes observed its surroundings, finally turning to face its master.
"Wooo...," the pokemon sang as it began to waddle to the young man.
"Hey, Skip, what's up?", he asked, rubbing its smooth, slimy head.
"Hey, now, you be careful!", the captain exclaimed, " You should know better than not to touch a Wooper with bare hands!"
"I'm used to it, me and Skip have been together for a while now", the trainer assured, wiping the film onto his jeans.
Probably for six years now, ever since he was 10 years old. It was a few days after he a failed to score in the Top Three for his Pokemon Trainer's exam, thus failing to earn his license and missing the chance to choose his first pokemon. He didn't even make the top ten, who were at least given permits to catch and train pokemon with the help of others. While it's true that very few 10 year olds ever make it into the Top Three their first time, it was expected in his family. His older brother had the highest score out of his class when he took the exam, and his dad had made second. 23 out of a class of 50 just wasn't very impressive.
He remembered hanging around a dirty pond that was connected to a creek that ran behind his house. He had taken his brother's old rod with him to catch a few Magikarp for sport. Not like he could keep them, just hook them and throw them back in, but it was something to get his mind off his troubles. After an hour or so of waiting, he had finally caught something, a Magikarp of course. Just as he unhooked the wriggling fish, a green, four-legged creature tackled it out of his hands. It flopped around on the ground for a while until the creature tackled it again, causing it to faint.
"Great job, Chiklet!", said a girlish voice. A young girl with short brown hair ran into the clearing and quickly embraced her pokemon.
"Thanks a lot, Lily! That was my Magikarp!", Alex yelled as he baited his hook and placed it back into the water.
"Really? Because I don't think you can say any pokemon is yours", Lily sneered," By the way, how do you like my Chikorita? Isn't she just adorable?"
"Shut up, no one cares about your stupid Chikorita!", the boy said bitterly, attending to his fishing pole.
"You're just jealous because you didn't get a pokemon.", she taunted, hovering over him. Her pokemon did its best to mimic its trainer's stance.
"Whatever, I -", he started, but was interrupted by loud splashes. Something was hooked at the end of his line.
"Hey, I caught something!", he exclaimed, forgetting his annoyance.
"Probably another dumb Magikarp," Lily said under her breath.
However, it didn't move anything like a Magikarp. Instead of trying to pull itself away from the line, it merely wiggled in place. It didn't take much effort to pull whatever he had caught onto shore. Once it was on land, he realized that it hadn't taken the bait; it had tangled itself up in the fishing line and was still trying to eat the bait, only a few inches out of reach. It noticed the boy and looked at him with a blank, yet friendly expression. It blinked a few times, though the timing for each eye wasn't quite in synch.
"Wooopaa", it gurgled, not entirely aware of what had happened.
"What is this?", he asked, confused by the strange pokemon.
"It's a Wooper, you idiot. If you actually studied for your exam you would have known that!", the female trainer boasted, " It's a water/ground type that occasionally comes onto land and is covered in poisonous mucus."
The Wooper continued to try to eat the bait, flailing its little flipper-feet in vain, unaware of any possible danger around it. Lily snickered at the pokemon's behavior.
"Wow, it must be retarded or something", she laughed.
"How do you know? Maybe it's just hungry", Alex said.
"You caught it with an old rod, everyone knows you only get Magikarp with an old rod. How else could you catch anything else with that piece of junk if it wasn't defective?", Lily said matter-of-factly.
"What do you know?", he snapped, tired of his classmate's remarks.
"More than you", Lily boasted as she turned around to leave, "See you when you finally get your liscense, if ever."
He ignored her and tended to the tangled Wooper. Carefully, he slowly removed the fishing line from its slimy body. A numbing pain shot through his fingers as they came in contact with the mucus, making him wince. Finally, the Wooper stood up and stared at the boy, it's wide mouth resembling a smile. It bent down and ate the bait, chewing slowly. From that day forward, that Wooper would make many visits to Alex's house, often loitering around in his backyard, idly nibbling on a few plants in his mother's berry garden. It was seen as a pest by his family, but Alex always saw it as nothing short of a friend. Though it wasn't registered as a pet, he treated it as such, giving it a name and making sure it was always well-fed and healthy. When Alex decided to leave home, it took no effort to conceal it in a pokeball he had "borrowed" from his brother.
Alex snapped back to reality when a strong wave broke against the side of the ship, water splashing into his lap. He looked on the floor and saw that Skip had fallen asleep in a large puddle. He flexed the hand he had pet Skip with, slowly regaining sensation in his fingers. Years of exposure to the Wooper's mucus had slightly lessened the effects of the poison, but numbness was still a problem. The view from the porthole was ink black, the movement of the waves was all that was visible with the rest blotted out by the darkness. It would be hours before they would reach shore. He leaned against the side of the cabin and closed his eyes, hoping to sleep but knowing that it wouldn't come easily.