Touko barely slept for a minute since the day Professor Juniper told Bianca, Cheren, and her that they would each receive a Pokémon. She had just finished breakfast when there was a knock on her door. She jumped out of her chair so fast it fell to the floor. Her mother didn't even move a muscle, knowing that Touko would be at the door long before she stepped foot out of the kitchen. There was a loud bang as the door crashed against the wall and revealed Prof. Juniper with a large blue box with a green ribbon and bow.
"Are they in there?" Touko asked immediately drawn to the package.
"Hello to you too, Touko," Juniper laughed. "Yes, they are. There's one for Bianca, Cheren, and you so please try not to fight over them."
"Oh, don't worry. We all talked about which one we want." Touko wanted to grab the package from Prof. Juniper's hands. "Can I?"
Prof. Juniper handed the box to Touko's excited, shaking hands and said, "Please, be careful not to drop it and make sure each of you see me after you've picked your Pokémon."
"Thank you, Prof. Juniper. Thank you so much." Touko stared wide-eyed at the box in her hands. A life changing once in a lifetime opportunity was within her grasp.
It wasn't every day that a teenager, especially one in a small town such as Nuvema, got the chance to travel the world and become a Pokémon trainer. That kind of opportunity was usually reserved for those with enough money to either buy a Pokémon egg or go to a special school from a young age. It was very rare, though not unheard of, for a Pokémon professor to allow teenage interns to do field research on Pokémon for him or her. When Prof. Juniper told Touko that she had an Oshawatt, a Snivy, and a Tepig avalible for such research Touko jumped at the chance, and put in several good words for her best friends. After months of discussions, training, waiting for school to end, and getting a license, the day had finally come.
"You're welcome, Touko. Make sure you see me before you leave, understand?"
"Yes!"
"And make sure you take good care of all the Pokémon you catch."
"Oh, I will!"
Touko ran up the stairs to her room and immediately called Bianca and Cheren.
Touko stood in front of the box and stared at it relentlessly while Cheren paced the floor behind her.
"I can't believe she's late! I mean, she's always late, but this is more important than a party or a movie," he exclaimed throwing his hands into the air.
They heard the door click right on cue. There were very few muffled words before Bianca came bursting into Touko's room.
"I'm so sorry I'm late guys. Did you open it yet?" Bianca asked as she walked up to the box.
"No, we decided to wait for you and boy was that a mistake," Cheren said sarcastically.
"I said I was sorry. If I could have come here the second Touko called me I would have, but my dad is still trying to convince me not to go."
Touko felt sorry for Bianca's situation with her dad, but was much more concerned with getting her first Pokémon. She put her hands on the bow and said, "Ready?" They both nodded and she slowly undid the bow, hoping to save it. She dropped the ribbon next to the box and opened the top. Inside were three Pokeballs, each one labeled with the name of the Pokémon within it and a small picture for further recognition.
Touko took a deep breath and grabbed the Pokeball containing Snivy. She held the Pokeball close to her chest and looked down at it lovingly. She didn't even notice how quickly Bianca snatched up Oshawatt and Cheren grabbed Tepig. She knew from that moment on that she had found a life partner and nothing would be the same.
"Hey, why don't we have a Pokémon battle?" Bianca asked enthusiastically.
"Even though they're small and weak we should not have a Pokémon battle in a house," Cheren chided.
The two went back and forth as usual until Touko released her Snivy and said, "Let's do it." There was fierceness in her voice reserved only for times such as these when she felt passion and determination for a cause.
Bianca released Oshawatt and the two Pokémon and trainers immediately jumped into the battle. The Pokémon tackled each other until the room was a disaster and Snivy stood victorious. Touko didn't even mind the mess her room had become. She was overwhelmed with joy and pride.
"Let me heal your Snivy before we battle, Touko," Cheren said.
"Thanks, Cheren."
"I thought it was a bad idea to battle inside," Bianca interjected.
From the look of annoyance on Cheren's face, Touko could tell that he wished Bianca were somewhere else. "It is," he conceded, "but her room is already a mess and it's no fair that you two should have all of the fun."
"Well, why don't you battle me?"
"I want Touko to be my first battle." The look Cheren gave her almost made her blush. Ever since their vacation in Undella town, Cheren seemed to look at Touko a different way.
"Then release Tepig already," Touko urged.
Once again tackles were exchanged, with Tepig giving more and taking less damage than Oshawatt seemed to. Snivy was on his last leg when Tepig whipped his tail rather than tackled Snivy. Touko looked confused at Cheren, knowing that he had missed the perfect chance to win his first Pokémon battle. Touko showed no such mercy and ordered Snivy to tackle Tepig causing it to faint.
"Looks like you won again, Touko. You must be a natural at this," Bianca exclaimed, smiling as always. "I'm going to go apologize to your mom for the mess we made."
Cheren returned Tepig to its Pokeball and said, "Me too." He followed Bianca down the stairs, but not before taking one last look at Touko.
Touko stood alone in her room. Her Snivy looked at her as if waiting for something.
"I'm going to call you Voltaire." He seemed to approve.
Touko looked for the green ribbon and when she finally found it she tied it into a bow in her hair. "It's green just like you, Voltaire." She smiled but he didn't seem to be very impressed. She returned him to his Pokeball and headed downstairs.
Touko walked in on the latter half of the conversation about her room. Her mother didn't seem too upset by the fact that they had had a Pokémon battle in Touko's room, but that was thanks to years of practice in hiding her emotions and the fact that she hadn't seen Touko's room yet.
"Shouldn't you all be on your way to Juniper's lab now?" Ms. Shiro said as calmly as possible.
"Oh yeah, I have to go home first. I'll meet you guys there," Bianca said before running out the door.
"Thanks for understanding, Ms. Shiro. I'll see you there, Touko."
Once Cheren left, Ms. Shiro walked up to her daughter and sighed. "I know I'm not going to like what I see up there so let me give you this and heal your Pokémon first." She handed Touko a small pink box.
Touko removed the lid to see a brand new pink cross transceiver. "Thank you, mom." She put it on and gave her mom a tight hug.
"Now go before I have to ground you."
"I love you." Touko gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and ran out the door straight to Prof. Juniper's lab.
Touko ran right up to the entrance of the lab to see her friends waiting for her. She pushed her friends inside, too excited to even wait for them to walk themselves in.
"Oh, good, I've been waiting for you three. Now, you all know why you're here but let me just explain one last time. This is an unpaid research position. You will each receive a Pokedex and then it is your duty to meet as many Pokémon as possible so the Pokedex can collect data. It will automatically scan any Pokémon you run into as long as the Pokémon is within range. Do you all still wish to take the position and become Pokémon trainers?"
Bianca, Cheren, and Touko all nodded.
"Good. I've already showed all of you how to catch and scan a Pokémon, so I guess it's time for you to all head off. Have fun, take good care of your Pokémon, and don't forget to check in every so often. I need this data. Oh, one last thing." Prof. Juniper walked over to her desk and picked up three small bundles. "Here are some Pokeballs. I'll be in touch."
The trio stepped out of the lab and Ms. Shiro ran to catch up to them.
"What's wrong, mom?" Touko asked.
"Nothing. I just forgot to give you all a parting gift." She handed region maps to each of them and gave them hugs. "I'll miss all of you. It's like I'm losing three children instead of one. You're all just so grown up now. I'm so proud of you."
Touko could sense that her mom was on the verge of tears and grabbed her friend's arms. "Thanks so much, mom. We love you too. We'll still visit and let you know how we're doing."
Touko pulled Bianca and Cheren and her mother stood there watching. Touko tried not to think about how painful it must feel for her mother to watch her leave. She was an adult now and she had to leave the nest now or she would never be able to.
They reached the town limits and stared at the route ahead of them.
"Let's take our first steps onto Route 1 together," Bianca suggested.
They nodded in agreement and on "three" all crossed town limits onto Route 1.
It wasn't long before Touko ran into a small Lillipup. She released Voltaire and smiled. She couldn't wait to actually catch her first Pokémon. She took a deep breath before telling Voltaire to tackle the Lillipup. It did a lot more damage than Touko had expected it would so she called off Voltaire and threw a Pokeball instead. Once she caught the Lillipup she stepped out of the tall grass and released it.
"Hi there," she smiled at the Lillipup, but it was still cautious of her. No matter how much she tried to convince it that she was nice and gentle the Lillipup would not warm up to her. She gave up but before returning it she said, "You're name's now Bo. I hope you like it."
It yipped right before the beam of light stretched out from the Pokeball and drew Bo in.
Touko spent some time training before heading up to Accumula's Pokecenter. Her first priority was to heal her Pokémon and once that was complete she spent every cent she had on Potions and Pokeballs.
When she exited the Pokecenter there was a crowd in the square. Her curiosity drew her closer to the growing crowd. She walked up to Cheren who pulled her to the front of the crowd. They watched as an imposing man with green hair stepped forward from a line of nearly identical uniformed men and women.
"I am Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation."
Murmurs erupted from the crowd but it did not delay Ghetsis's speech. He knew that if he spoke others would listen.
"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans only assume this is the truth? Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers. They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"
Touko was taken aback. She had only just started training but she could already feel the connection between Voltaire, Bo, and herself. He had to be wrong. On the other hand, she had only just started training and he certainly seemed to be much older. Maybe he knew something about Pokémon training she did not.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility to these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"
"Liberation?" someone in the crowd asked.
"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon. Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention." With that the eerily identical men and women formed a square around Ghetsis and lead him away.
The people in the crowd began to talk amongst themselves about the speech. Neither Touko nor Cheren, nor anyone they could over hear could even fathom "liberating" Pokémon. Touko had only just gotten hers and already she was extremely attached to them. Once the crowd dissipated a boy around Touko's age approached her and Cheren.
"Your Pokémon, just now, it was saying -" he said.
"You can hear my Pokémon talking?" Touko questioned, thoroughly confused.
"Yes, they talk. You two can't hear it either then. How sad," he looked down disappointedly. Suddenly his head popped back up. "My name is N."
Cheren introduced himself and Touko and explained their job to complete the Pokedex's they were given.
"My main goal is to become the Champion, though," Cheren said proudly.
N seemed disappointed and mentioned confining many Pokémon in order to complete the Pokedex.
"Are Pokémon really happy that way?" he asked. "Well, Touko, are they? Let me hear your Pokémon again."
Touko looked at Cheren out of the corner of her eye and wondered how they managed to meet such a weirdo.
Voltaire and Bo wiped the floor with N's Purrloin but N seemed more interested in whatever they were "saying" to him. Touko was relieved when he gave her prize money for winning the battle. She had only just then realized that she had saved no money for a hotel to sleep in that night.
"As long as Pokémon are confined, they will never become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they are my friends," N said right before suddenly walking away.
"Okay," Touko said, stretching the word out for several seconds longer than normal.
"Whatever. I wouldn't worry about either of them. Pokémon and people help each other out. We're good to them and they're good to us. End of story. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go to Striaton City. I'm going to go from Gym Leader to Gym Leader so my Pokémon can become stronger. See ya."
"Bye, Cheren."