Grass swayed and fluttered as a light breeze brushed by. It was a lovely day, with the sun shining brightly in the clear blue skies. Even in the earliest of mornings, the temperature wasn't too cold, nor too hot, just perfect for a cup of coffee with a breakfast donut or so. Humming a soft tune, Mavis Taylor gazed out towards the wide-open green field, stray rays of warm light peered and lingered through the branches of the small forest that was snuggled away in one corner, and crystal blue water shone and glimmered as it's waters gently splashed and licked at the small shore line. The bright soft green blades swayed back and forth framing the peaceful scene. Her soft amber orbs were admiring the small pokemons that wandered out to play with one another in this lovely morning.
A soft brush against her shin captured the young teen's attention, making her shift her soft amber eyes down to the green creature that had walked up next to her. It was a chikorita, his gentle brown orbs staring into Mavis's own amber orbs. With a gentle smile, Mavis crouched down to the pokemon's level, "Good morning Florus," she greeted, stroking the tiny grass starter's head. She wasn't supposed to give nicknames to the pokemon that inhabited the laboratory, since she didn't own any of the pokemon, but she and the chikorita had grown awfully close since she started helping, she couldn't help but give him a name.
After showing some affection to the tiny starter, the girl stood back up, brushing the invisible dust off her pants as she did so. Walking towards the shed with the small pokemon following close behind, the girl continued her soft humming, searching the shed for the wagon full of various pokemon food. After finding the rusty-red wagon, she pulled it out with ease, watching as Florus jumped into the wagon, snuggling himself comfortable near the back. The blonde gave a soft chuckle, walking over to the side. "Have you ate, Flo?" she asked, grabbing one of the white bowls stacked in the corner and a scoop. The girl filled the bowl up with the small brown pellets before setting it down on the wooden floor of the wagon. "Enjoy," Mavis smiled, setting things back where they were and grabbing the handle of the wagon.
Continuing with her song she had stuck in her head, the blonde started her walk around the field, filling up the white bowls and setting them down just outside of each area. Her gentle smile greeted the pokemon as they came scurrying to the bowls, hungry for breakfast. After setting the last bowl of food in front the middle of the field, she crouched down, watching as the sentrets and rattatas scurried over to devour the food in presented to them.
"Mavis!" a young, wise voice called out for her, catching the blonde's attention. She turned her head to find Professor Elm standing at the door, waving at the young girl. "Good morning," he greeted. "Can you come inside, please? I have a favor to ask!"
The girl stared at him for a moment before giving him a kind smile, "Yes! I'll be right there!" she replied, standing up. She quickly stored the wagon away, placing it back into the shed before scooping Florus out of it and hurrying back into the lab.
Entering the building sent a warm feel tickling down her spine. The warmth and sound of the various small machines scattered along the edges made the shadow of a smile creep to her lips. Every object felt familiar to her, was familiar to her. Familiarity was like the comforting glow of a scented candle, filling the room and lingering for the oncoming times. It was home to her, and a warm bright feeling wrapped around her like a blanket when the hope for the comfort staying for months to come filled her thoughts. The girl quickly maneuvered her ways through the simple kitchen towards the office, where Professor Elm sat waiting patiently, typing away at his computer. His soft brown orbs looked up once he heard Mavis enter the room. With a gentle smile, the professor made his way to the girl. "Ah, that was quick," he commented, glancing at the chikorita. "Hello Florus." The chikorita gave a soft "chi" in reply.
"Ah, yeah, I had already finished feeding everyone," she said, before jumping straight to the point, "What did you want, Professor?" Mavis politely asked.
As if he forgot, the professor gave a small gasp in remembrance, "That's right! I wanted to ask if you could do me a small favor?" Elm asked. Before Mavis could question what for, he went on and answered for her, "My old friend and research partner, Mr. Baker, just emailed me about a recent discovery! Since his house a bit further away than I would like, I was hoping maybe you could stop by and retrieve this information? He said he would write it to me, but it's a physical object, and he would like me to examine it."
After the explanation, Mavis stood there for a bit, pondering about it. She didn't have anything to do today, and she was planning to go out to Cherrygrove anyways to do some grocery shopping for her and her mother. With a soft shrug and a smile the girl nodded, "Sure, I can do that for you. May I have his address please?" she requested.
"Really?" Professor Elm asked with an excited breath, "Thank you so much, Mavis! Here, let me write it down for you," he murmured, grabbing a blank slip of paper from his mess of a desk and a pen. He scribbled down the address before handing it to her, "His house is just right outside of Cherrygrove."
Taking the slip of paper, Mavis gave him a smile, "You're welcome, Professor. Well then, I'll be on my way," she said, folding the paper neatly and stuffing it in her pocket. She glanced at the chikorita in her arms, "Would you like to tag along, Florus?" Mavis inquired. The leaf pokemon nodded softly, and the girl grinned.
Waving a farewell to Professor Elm, Mavis exited his office, heading towards the main room where she had last left her purse. She set Florus down on the floor as she gathered her things. Checking her watch strapped around her thin wrist, the girl thought it might be a good idea to stop by and inform her mother where she was heading.
With one more check around the lobby, the girl left the lab with Florus trotting close behind. It was still early morning, with the sounds of pidgeys chirping and the breeze brushing past the town. Checking her watch once more, she figured her mother was already up and making herself some breakfast. With that thought in mind, Mavis headed east towards her home, which wasn't too far. In this tiny town, nothing was too far. The town barely had ten houses, plus the pokemon lab. It was a fairly peaceful and quiet town and nobody knew about it, which Mavis was glad about. She didn't really like being in places where there was a lot of people. In fact, most people believe New Bark Town was just apart of Cherrygrove, which was a smaller city outside of New Bark Town. A ten minute walk.
Reaching the front door of her small, wooden house, Mavis unlocked the door with the keys she stored in her bag. Walking in, the aroma of homemade pancakes filled her senses, making Mavis's mouth water just slightly. "I'm home, ma!" she called out, walking into the kitchen where her mother stood, finishing up the last of her cooked pancakes. The brunette glanced behind her to find her daughter glaring at her. "Maa~" she whined, "You didn't save some for me?"
The older lady gave a small sheepish chuckle, "Oh hello Mavi, I didn't realize you were coming home," she said with a sheepish tone. "You're back early? And with Florus too?" the lady scrambled out of chair and bounded over towards the tiny chikorita, who gave a soft coo of his name as Mavis's mother started to stroke the grass pokemon's large leaf.
Mavis let out a chuckle, "Well, actually, I'm gonna head into town. I came back to see if you wanted me to grab anything?"
Mrs. Taylor stood there, pondering on what they needed before shrugging, "We actually don't need anything. I went into town the other day, so we're okay!" the lady gave her daughter a large grin and a thumbs up, making Mavis chuckle at her mother's weirdness. "Why are you heading into town?" she asked, standing up to meet eyes with her daughter.
"Ah, Professor Elm asked me to retrieve some information from his old friend," Mavis explained. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Is my xtransceiver back from the repair shop?"
"Oh, that's right!" her mother chirped, walking over to the counter where a scatter of papers and pens were. Despite the mess, sitting neatly on top a piece of paper was her xtransceiver. It was a simple black watch, with a soft blue lining around it. It looked brand new, and not destroyed and dipping wet in mud when it was first taken into the repair shop. Snatching the shiny watch, her mother handed her the watch in exchange for the actual clock watch that was strapped around her wrist.
Giving her mother a thanks and a kiss on the cheek, Mavis announced her leaving, heading out the door once more. The blonde glanced down at her quiet chikorita, giving him a soft smile, "You ready, Florus? Off to Cherrygrove!"
It was a peaceful walk. It wasn't that far, either, it took the girl roughly six minutes to reach Cherrygrove, where it was much more livelier than New Bark. Despite it being a city, it was fairly tiny, more like a town than a city. There were only a few homes near the front of the town, placed in a staircase pattern, more were lined up in a similar pattern behind it. Think green lively trees stood guard around the town, with the pokemart and pokecenter being nearly concealed by the families of trees that lined up around them and a few houses nestled in here and there. Soft green blades grew chaotic in a few places as they stretched over some places along the dirt pathway that cut and wove through the tone. In a few places the pale colored dirt pathways abruptly gave way to a few brick patterned stone pathways, this was mainly in front of the pokemart and pokecenter. But in a few places they patterned out in front of home walkways. Lush and bright flower beds lay scattered along the edges, their petals glistening with fresh water droplets in cobblestone beds.
Mavis didn't bother to stay long, after all, she was just passing by. She and Florus breezed past the city, and back onto Route 30, where they continued their small errand journey. A house neared their sight, and Mavis wondered if it was Mr. Baker's house. Instead of knocking and asking, however, the girl shuffled into her pocket and grabbed the slip of paper, glancing at the number on the house. Sadly, the numbers didn't match.
"Too bad," Mavis sighed, glancing at her chikorita who also gave a sigh. Without further ado, the girl continued on her journey. She passed two young trainers battling, watching as the rattata launched its small body towards the pidgey, tackling the bird pokemon to the ground. It intrigued her, battles. Despite her interest, she didn't stay for long, remembering she had an errand to run and turned her heel to leave.
Another ten minutes or so passed and the house Mavis was seeking came into view. It was a fairly simple house, one story, with beige-colored painting. Red rustic looking wood lined the few windows that speckled the front, highlighting the warm vanilla curtains that were half drawn on the inside. The red smooth tiles on the rooftop glistened and shone under the brilliant sunlight, and the stray rays brightly lit up the rainbows of flowers that stood proudly in the stone bed beside the front door. However, instead of idling and admiring the nice house, the girl walked up to the red-colored wooden door, knocking softly. She heard the talking of voices pause, before some scrambling and rustling then the door had opened wide. Standing there was a young man, he barely looked older than his forties, with a cheeky grin on his face. He had a simple brown fedora on, with a matching brown suit. His brown eyes were inviting, his facial hair giving him a father-like feel.
"Hello! Are you Mavis Taylor?" the man asked, glancing at the petite young girl.
Mavis nodded in confirmation."And you're Mr. Baker?" she asked, a bit timidly.
"That's me! Come in, come in!" Mr. Baker gestured for the lady to come inside. Mavis give him a soft thanks, walking inside. The interior wasn't much. Walking in, you could see the living room, with a simple leather couch and a rug placed right in front of the fireplace. Behind the coach, was the kitchen, an island placed in the middle. Sitting on one of the bar stools sat an even older man.
He was definitely a lot older than both Elm and Mr. Barker, and he looked strangely familiar. It was if a strong wind over time forced his palely colored hair to point off in one direction on the side, all aside from a few strands that pointed down the bridge of his nose. His black bushy eyebrows stood out dramatically in comparison to the lightly colored head of hair. Small crinkles folded at the corners of his eyes from countless smiles he had given, and his eyes shone with shadows of years of experience. His white lab coat hung around his shoulders and arms, and if it was closely looked at the years of wear and use could be seen in some of the fraying seams. Yet somehow, he managed to keep it a brilliant white. After pondering for a moment, Mavis realized she recognized him from various of TV shows and commercials.
"Professor Oak?" she inquired, tilting her head slightly in a cute fashion.
The famous professor glanced up from his paperwork towards the young nineteen year old. He blinked before giving her a warm smile, "Hello. And you are?"
Mavis gave him a shy smile, "I'm Mavis, Mavis Taylor," she introduced, bowing in the polite Kantonese manner. She gestured to the chikorita that sat quietly beside her, "And this is my friend, Florus." Florus made a small sound, before falling silent once more. Professor Oak's warm smile widen when she introduced her chikorita.
"Nice to meet you, Mavis, Florus," with a small nod of his head, he gave them both a welcoming smile. "Now, why are you here?" he politely asked.
Mr. Baker, who was standing on the sidelines gave a large grin, "She's here because I requested her." Pausing for a moment, Mr. Baker quickly corrected himself with a small chuckle, "Well, actually, I emailed Elm asking if he could come by to look at this egg I found, but instead, he emailed me back saying he was gonna send a young lady named Mavis Taylor." He gestured to the girl, who nodded in confirmation. Then without further ado, Mr. Baker walked over to his living room couch, where he retrieved a mysterious pokemon egg sitting comfortably in a glass containment meant for storing pokemon eggs. He handed Mavis the egg, who took it uncertainly, giving him a confused look.
"This! Is what I found. Bring that back to Elm, would you? I would like to know what pokemon it is, and I'm sure Professor Elm knows what it is!" Mr. Baker asked with a large grin. The girl looked at it, before nodding. "Ah! Thank you so much!" Though, she doubt Professor Elm could figure out this spotted egg. By the looks of it, it has been nicely cared for, shining in it's all beauty. It was white, with red and blue speckles decorating it. Mavis had never seen such an unique egg, and she was awfully curious herself what pokemon it was.
"Is that all?" Mavis asked, shifting the egg so she was comfortably holding it with both hands. "If so, I'll be on my way then." As she turned her heel to leave, the other voice quickly stopped her.
"Wait a moment, young lady," Professor Oak interrupted, pausing Mavis's movements. The young blonde glanced at the old professor with a curious look in her eyes. "Do you happen to have a pokedex?" he asked. The girl looked at him weirdly, confused by the sudden and off-topic question. She shook her head no, explaining how the Professor never gave her one. "Is that so? Then please," Mavis watched as he shuffled into his lab coat pocket, pulling out a shiny, new red pokedex, "Take this."
Setting the pokemon egg down gently on the counter beside her, the girl hesitantly grabbed the pokedex from his hands, "Why?" Mavis inquired, wondering why she was receiving a pokedex. Usually, most people would be excited receiving a pokedex, especially from the Professor Oak himself. It meant that they were eligible to leave on their own pokemon journey, which most young teens like her were awfully excited about. Despite this, Mavis didn't feel any excitement, rather she was very hesitate to accept the pokedex. She had no intentions of leaving New Bark Town for a journey.
"I would like you to go on a journey and collect information about the pokemon around you!" Professor Oak grinned. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it! After all, you have your first pokemon already." He said, gesturing to the chikorita at her side.
Mavis stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, "Oh no, no, no. Florus isn't my pokemon. We're just friends that's all. But I have to ask, why would you like to me to start on a journey?" she murmured, a bit unsure of herself. She never found the idea of leaving her house to explore the world. In fact, the mere thought of it scared her. She really didn't want to go on a journey.
It's not that she doesn't want to meet new pokemon and explore the world ahead of her, it's just that...she was afraid of the dangers of being out there alone. She knew the dangers and risks there are if you became a trainer. You could find yourself in near-death situations and that thought made Mavis too scared to do anything. Not to mention, she didn't have a lot of strength or will to start a journey. Mavis fears she will disappoint everyone. She knows her father was a pokemon trainer, but she hasn't heard from him since she was six years old, nearly thirteen years ago!
"Well," Professor Oak started, "I think it would be good for you. It will be a good experience for you," he smiled, ruffling the young teen's head. Mavis's lips twisted into a thin line as she looked away uncertainly.
"Okay, I guess?" she mumbled, shoving the red pokedex into the front of her purse. "I'll think about it. For now, I must be heading out." Mavis said, collecting the egg once more and glancing down at her chikorita. As she headed out the front door, she glanced back at the two old men, "Farewell," she smiled, attempting to wave at them. They responded back with a friendly wave. Without another thought, the girl closed the door behind her and continued her way back towards New Bark Town.