Description: Touko has a gift, the ability to speak with Pokemon. When Professor Juniper asks her to complete the pokedex, Touko sets off on the journey of a lifetime, and she meets a young man not too different from herself along the way.
A/N: So, I just restarted my game in Black Version, and I felt like making a game story with more romance than the actual game. The premise is AU, but the dialogue is all game with some additions to add meat to the story. Enjoy!
\/\/\/\/Speak\/\/\/\/
"Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me,
Why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?"
~Walt Whitman~
\/\/\/\/\/\/ Chapter 1: The First Steps of a Journey \/\/\/\/\/\/
I've known Cheren and Bianca my entire life. From the moment Bianca's family moved to Nuvema town, we have been the best of friends, just us three… and before he left on his own journey, my elder brother, Touya. But it was really always just the three of us. Cheren was the smart one, he always got straight A's in school, and the teachers were thrilled at how quickly he learned. I can't say the same for Bianca and me. Bianca was often described by my brother as a flibbertigibbet. She may have been overprotected by her father and older sister, but nevertheless, she was always fun to be around. And she wore a green hat that was shaped like the top of an acorn, gotta love that.
I was different from the moment I met Cheren and Bianca. I always knew so, considering that I can speak to pokemon. Yes, you read correctly. I can understand pokemon, and they can understand me. The talent came from nowhere when my mother found an injured Patrat just outside Nuvema Town on Route 1 as she went for her daily berry picking. As my mother wrapped the poor creature's broken arm and sprayed a super potion on it to speed up the healing process, I said hello to it—and it said hello back. That was only the beginning. When I asked my mother why I could understand pokemon, she told me that my father could also understand pokemon, so I must have inherited it. I never knew my father; I only knew that he lived in Kanto with his second wife. I never forgave him for leaving mom.
When the town Professor, Juniper, told the three of us that we would be getting our very own pokemon, my first question was which one should I get? Should I get the Oshawatt that could easily take down any fire type? Or the Snivy who could learn awesome moves such as Leaf Blade and Leaf Storm? Or what about the little Tepig who would eventually evolve into the mighty Emboar? So many awesome pokemon to choose from and only one would be my first. So I decided to speak to each one, and whichever one wanted it most would stay with me.
I was sleeping in that morning, considering I had not actually fallen asleep until about 3AM because I was riddled with excitement for the next day. I truthfully don't know why my mother decided to let Cheren into the house either, but she did, and his mop of dark hair was the first thing I saw as I cracked my eyes open and squinted at the light. His glasses reflected out his anticipation and, oh great, not only had he barged into my room, but he had turned on the lights as well.
"Good Moooorrrrning Touko!" he exclaimed. "Are you ready for the big day?" I didn't respond, I only waved my hand at him so that I could close my eyes even tighter, and then I remembered that all I was wearing was a sports bra and short shorts.
"Cheren get out of here!" I moaned loudly. He backed up as I sat up in bed and he got a good look at my clothing… or lack of it.
"I'll uh… be downstairs, call me up when you're ready…" he muttered as he turned and headed towards the staircase. Even while squinting, I could tell that he had been blushing. Great, that was the last thing I needed this morning. Now where'd I put my baseball cap?
Cheren paced across the floor, taking the exact same number of steps in one direction before pivoting on his foot and turning in the other direction. I simply watched him as he faced the staircase, groaning, and going back to pacing again. He made his way over to me and we stared at the large blue gift box with a green bow on top. Cheren looked as if he wanted to tear the box open.
"What's keeping Bianca?" he complained loudly, tapping his foot on the ground. Suddenly we heard footsteps and turned to see the green acorn hat appear at the top of the stairs. Bianca stepped off the top step and gave a nervous grin.
"Am I little bit late again?" she asked. Cheren practically ran over to her and got up in her face.
"Yes! You are!" he yelled. I grinned nervously, staying out of the conversation when Cheren got into one of his moods.
"So-oooo-orry!" Bianca cried. "Dad was being asinine again, and I had to convince him that I was going to be okay if I simply walked over to Touko's house but he was dead set. So I snuck out the window!" she explained hastily.
"Bianca…" Cheren groaned. "I've known for 10 years that you have no sense of time but… seriously…"
"It wasn't my fault!" Bianca countered.
"You've known about this day for two weeks now! We finally get our first pokemon from Professor Juniper! I would think that's important enough to convince your father."
"Cheren cut it out. She's here isn't she?" I finally piped up. Cheren turned to me and nodded.
"You're right, I'm sorry for yelling Bianca," he apologized.
"I'm sorry too Touko, Cheren… I'll try to be more punctual in the future!" she said. I watched as Cheren suppressed a snort. Bianca walked around him and over to the table where the gift box lay. "Are the pokemon in here?" she asked excitedly.
"That's what it looks like," Cheren said.
"I think since the Professor brought it to Touko's house that she should get first pick!" Bianca said. "What do you think Cheren?" Both of us looked over at Cheren, who looked as if he wanted to protest. I could tell that he tried to cover it up with a smirk.
"Naturally," he said.
"Nice recovery," I said half-jokingly.
"Thank you very much… Now open the box!" Cheren said. I will admit that I was nervous as I lifted the lid off the gift box and looked down inside. There were labels on each one, so that we'd know which pokemon is which. I was having a hard time deciding.
"Would you guys mind if I let all three out?" I asked turning around to face my friends.
"That's fine with me," Cheren said.
"Me too!" Bianca added in.
Although they didn't know about my gift, I was glad that they were so willing to oblige to my wish. I tossed all three pokeballs into the air and the three rare starters all stood between us. The Oshawatt stared up at the three of us before cringing behind Tepig. Tepig didn't bother to push it away. Snivy stood off on its own, smug and proud.
"Hey there Snivy" I said to him, looking up at Cheren and Bianca to make sure that they hadn't realized what I was doing. Bianca was too busy cooing over Oshawatt to care at the moment. I turned back to Snivy.
"Who are you?" Snivy grunted at me in and exasperated tone.
"Well, we're new trainers," I replied, crouching down by Snivy. "Do you want to join me on my journey?" I asked it nicely.
"Are those two my other choices of who to go with?" Snivy grunted, gesturing to Cheren and Bianca.
"Uh yeah…" I began, following Snivy's gaze.
"Sure, I'll go with you," Snivy said proudly. I smiled and collected it up in my arms, only to get hissed at. "But NEVER pick me up!" he growled. I set Snivy down and he stood at my leg.
"You picked Snivy?" Cheren asked. "It seems like he doesn't like you very much." I rolled my eyes at Cheren.
"Can I have Oshawatt?" Bianca pleaded. "Please, Please, Please, Please, Pllllleeeeeaaaaassseee?" she begged. I laughed at her persistence as she held the little water pokemon in her arms and hugged it.
"I don't see why not," Cheren and I said in unison. The Oshawatt looked very happy with its new trainer.
"I guess that means you're with me Tepig," Cheren said looking down at the fire pig.
"That's cool," the Tepig grunted. I smiled, even though Cheren didn't hear him say that. Bianca looked around excitedly.
"Everyone has chosen a pokemon! So that's that," she said happily. Cheren nodded and looked down at his Tepig, while Snivy looked up at me. "I know! Let's have a battle!" she said. "It'll be so much fun!"
"Honestly Bianca, even though they are still weak pokemon, you shouldn't have pokemon battles inside a house!" he reasoned. Bianca pouted and looked down at the Oshawatt in her arms, I could sense that the little guy wanted to battle.
"I don't see an issue with it," I said. "What do you say Snivy?" I asked, looking down at him.
"I've always wanted to battle a pokemon that's weaker by nature…" he said, nodding his head.
"I guess it's settled then!" Bianca stated proudly, setting her Oshawatt on the ground. "Besides, pokemon can't get stronger unless you train them, right? I challenge you Touko!" she cried excitedly. Cheren and Tepig stepped back as we prepared to fight. "You get first move Touko!" Bianca said.
"Alright then uh… Snivy use tackle!" I called out. My Snivy sprinted forward towards Bianca's Oshawatt.
"With pleasure" it grunted.
"Ah! Oshawatt! Dodge it!" she called, but it was too late, Snivy had gotten it in the side. "Ouch! I won't let you get away with that! Oshawatt use tackle too!"
"Dodge it Snivy!" I called out, but nevertheless Snivy took a small amount of damage. "Tackle!"
"You too Oshawatt!" Bianca yelled. This went on for some time, Oshawatt and Snivy tackling each other, slowly lowering the health of each other. Finally Snivy and Oshawatt were back on their respective sides, both panting.
"Think you can pull one more tackle Snivy?" I asked it.
"You bet!" It said before tackling Oshawatt. Bianca didn't even have time to issue a command. Oshawatt fell to the ground defeated.
"The winner is Touko and Snivy!" Cheren called out like a real referee. "Man I've always wanted to say that!"
"Oh Oshawatt I'm so sorry!" Bianca said, crouching by her fallen friend. The Oshawatt smiled up at her and cuddled in close. The bond was already forming, I could tell. "Wow Touko, you're so good! You're going to be an awesome trainer someday, I can tell!" I smiled.
"Uh… Bianca have you taken a look around?" Cheren pointed out. Bianca raised her head and finally took a good look around the room.
"W-whoa! What happened?" she asked clueless. I laughed at her reaction and eventually Cheren was chuckling as well. "Who knew such small pokemon could cause so much damage? Sorry about your room Touko," she said.
"It's okay, not a big deal," I reassured her.
"You… are completely hopeless," Cheren said, spraying what looked like a potion on Bianca's Oshawatt.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are TOO!"
"AM NOT!"
"ARE TOO!"
The arguing went on like this for a little while before I finally looked down at Snivy.
"Are they always like this?" it asked me.
"Yup…" I told it. Cheren turned around and sprayed a potion on Snivy, then ether. Snivy looked content as Cheren tended to it.
"There, you're all better Snivy," Cheren told it. Suddenly, Bianca gave a big grin to the both of us.
"Hey Cheren! You should battle too!" she exclaimed as if she had just found a cure for cancer. "With all you know, I'm sure you can battle without turning the room into a disaster area like I did!"
"I believe you're right. I mean, how could it get any worse?" Cheren replied. I rolled my eyes and stared at Snivy again. "Besides, it's not fair if you guys are the only ones who get to battle right?"
"Cheren, you've convinced us… stop presenting evidence," I told him.
"Then it's decided… you'll be my opponent in our first pokemon battle!" Cheren told me. I looked down at Snivy for approval.
"Eh, one more couldn't hurt. Let's do it!" Snivy said in a determined tone. We faced each other and Tepig jumped out in front of Cheren.
"Let's see what you can do Tepig!" Cheren stated proudly. "You first Touko because I challenged you!" Cheren called.
"Alright Snivy, let's hit it with a tackle!" I said.
"You too Tepig, let's go!" Cheren said. Both pokemon charged at each other and hit head on. We exchanged tackles a few more times, managing to stay contained on the lopsided carpet.
"Again Snivy, you can do it!" I called out as Tepig charged for another attack which Snivy dodged expertly before getting Tepig over the back.
"Use Tail Whip Tepig!" Cheren called, "Get Snivy off of your back!" As Snivy flew into the air it stared at me.
"Use tackle again Snivy, finish it!" I called out. Snivy landed on top of Tepig again and knocked it to the ground.
"Ah! Touko and Snivy win again!" Bianca called out nervously. Snivy glowed for a second.
"What was that?" I asked it.
"I just grew a level, I'm stronger now!" Snivy replied happily. Cheren smirked.
"That was simply a blunder, don't expect me to lose next time!" he said while spraying a potion on Tepig. I smiled and patted Snivy on the head. "I can't believe that I'm finally a trainer…" he muttered.
"It feels good, doesn't it Cheren?" Bianca asked.
"It really does!" he said, looking around the room. "I think we should go apologize to your mother for the messed up room though…" Cheren finished, taking Tepig and putting it back in its capsule.
"Oh! I had better come too!" Bianca said, putting away Oshawatt and walking after Cheren. I stayed where I was and looked at Snivy.
"What do you say Snivy, should I keep you in your pokeball or no?" I asked it.
"May I stay out?" it asked. "No one has ever offered that to me before"
"Well I just did, would you like to stay out of your ball?" I asked.
"That would be most appreciated." Snivy said.
"Then it's settled. Come on, let's go meet the others downstairs," I told it. Snivy gave a single head nod before following me down the stairs.
"I'm very sorry for all of the trouble Mrs. White," Cheren was apologizing as I reached the bottom step.
"Me too!" Bianca piped up. "We can um… we can clean up…" she added.
"Cleaning up? No worries you two. I can take care of it later." My mom said. Gosh, my mom was so cool. "Besides, shouldn't you be on your way to meet up with the Professor right now?"
"Yes, thank you! Please excuse us," Cheren said respectfully, making his way to the front door. He turned to face me before leaving. "I'll see you there Touko!" he said. "Are you coming too Bianca?"
"Yes! But, I need to go home first." Bianca said. "Thank you for having us over Mrs. White!" she told my mom before leaving with Cheren. As soon as they left, my mom made her way over to me.
"My, my Touko, pokemon battles are so lively aren't they? I could hear them all the way down here!" she told me. "It reminds me of the first pokemon battle I ever had. It was me VS your father, his Eevee and my Charmander. Oh well, there's no time for that now, do you want me to heal your cute little Snivy?" she asked.
"Sure mom, that'd be great, thanks," I told her as my mom sprayed a homemade full restore on Snivy.
"There, Snivy is looking great!" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Wow, you two are so good for each other. I'm so proud of you sweetie."
"Thanks mom, I'm going to head to Professor Juniper's now, okay?" I told her, beginning to walk away.
"Do you have your cross-transceiver?" she asked. I held up my wrist to show it to her. "Alright then… have fun, say hi to Juniper for me!"
"Will do mom!" I called back, closing the door behind me.
The first steps of a journey are always some of the hardest. You are stepping away from the comfort of what you know, and the familiarities that you grew up around. But the thought that you are breaking away and becoming a true adult is the best reward that one can receive from such a journey. Even more so was how nerve racking the first step outside of my house, even though I had been outside hundreds of times. This time, I was stepping out as a real Pokemon trainer! I saw a flock of Pidove flying around the town, and the little kids playing with a Patrat, most likely wild. I made my way over to the lab, but Cheren hadn't gone in yet.
"Hey Touko, Bianca said she had to go home for a bit, but she isn't back yet. Can you go see what's taking her?"
"Why can't you go?" I asked him.
"Her father hates me. It's why we had to break up four months back," Cheren said. "Can you go check on her, please?" he pleaded. I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, I'll go get her…" I said, leaving Cheren in front of the lab and running towards Bianca's house with Snivy close behind.
When I got there, the door was open slightly, and I could hear yelling from the inside.
"NO, NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!" her father's voice echoed as I entered the house. Bianca looked as if she was about to cry, holding onto Oshawatt for dear life as if her father was going to rip it from her arms.
"But daddy! I'm … I'm a good trainer who got a pokemon and everything!" she argued.
"Just because you have a pokemon doesn't make you a trainer Bianca!" her father countered. "I said no, you can't go and that's final!" Bianca's mother walked over to her father and began talking to him. Bianca turned to me and walked over.
"Oh… Touko. I'm sorry you had to see that. Everything is okay, really! Let's go thank the Professor," she told me, turning back around to face her furious father. I nodded slowly and followed Bianca out of her house, closing the door behind me.
"Bianca, I'm a bit worried… is everything okay with you and your dad?"
"Yeah, he's just overprotective. It doesn't help that I'm a bit stubborn sometimes. It's just, this is really important to me… and he doesn't understand that," she explained. "Come on, let's go to the lab," she said. I didn't argue, but simply followed her, Snivy by my side.
"I feel kind of bad for her and Oshawatt…" Snivy told me as we walked.
"Yeah well, not all families are perfect. She's a good friend and I care about her," I replied.
"I'm glad you care," Snivy said as we approached the lab where Cheren and Bianca waited.
"Hey Touko, why isn't Snivy in its pokeball?" Cheren asked as we approached.
"He doesn't want to be in there, so he doesn't have to be in there," I said simply. "Are we going to go in or what?"
"Ah, yeah… we should probably go in," Bianca said. Cheren nodded and opened the door for the both of us, closing it behind him. We all walked into the spacious laboratory, where machines of all kinds lined the walls. A tall brunette woman in a white lab coat typed something into a computer and three handhelds popped out of a machine next to the computer. She gathered them up and turned to face us.
"Ah, good you're here! I've been waiting for you three," the woman said. I stared at the handhelds that she clutched in her arms, and then at the Minccino on her side. Snivy nodded it's acknowledgement to the other pokemon. "Let me introduce myself again, I'm…"
"Professor Juniper? We know your name," Cheren interrupted. The professor rolled her eyes at Cheren, who had gained all three of our angered glares.
"Come on Cheren, this is not the time to be snarky," Juniper stated. "This is a big deal for all three of you. You should behave with at least some formality." Cheren crossed his arms over his chest and grunted. We all turned our attention back to the professor, waiting for her to continue. "That being said, again… My name is Professor Juniper, and I have devoted my life to researching when and how pokemon came into existence," she finished, walking around and handing out the little handheld machines. She looked at my Snivy for moment. "Well that's unusual…" she added. "Have you three already battled with your pokemon?"
"Yeah, we're sorry…" Bianca apologized.
"No need to be dear, that's perfectly okay. In fact it makes my job a lot easier. By the way, would you like to give your pokemon a nickname?" she asked us. I looked at Snivy, who had already raised his head.
"What do you think of Smugleaf?" I asked Snivy.
"Percy," Snivy said to me sternly.
"I like the name Percy," I told Juniper quickly and nervously. Snivy looked very happy with my decision to call him by his name. Only we knew that he had intimidated me into it.
"What an interesting name, very well. Percy it is!" Juniper said excitedly. "Would you two like to name your pokemon as well?" she asked my friends.
"I like the name Watt, because I have an Oshawatt," she said. Cheren rolled his eyes.
"How original," he groaned.
"Oh and I suppose that you could come up with something better?" she responded angrily.
"I have, my Tepig's name is King, which unlike a name like Watt actually describes my pokemon," Cheren said.
"King is no more original than Watt!" Bianca argued. I put my fingers on either of their forehead to prevent their foreheads from touching.
"Guys, cut it out!" I cried. Professor Juniper straightened her lab coat and stood tall as Cheren and Bianca calmed down. She gestured to the devices in our hands and began to talk again.
"The reason I've called you here today and given you pokemon is in your hands. This is…"
"The latest version of the pokedex!" Cheren cooed happily, opening the machine's cover and powering it on.
"A pokedex… is that what this thing is?" Bianca asked, confused.
"I am astonished, well done Cheren!" Juniper praised. "Yes, this is the pokedex version 5.0; it has everything you need to successfully record the data on every pokemon in Unova. The only issue is that you have to catch the pokemon to get all the data." I flicked open the cover of my device and scanned Percy with it.
"Snivy, the grass snake pokemon," the machine said. "It is very intelligent and calm. Being exposed to lots of sunlight makes its movements swifter" the machine also displayed move information and level.
"You're level 6 already Percy, that's impressive!" I praised him.
"I hope it stays sunny out today" Percy told me simply.
"Touko, Cheren, Bianca, my request to you is to complete the Unova pages. See the world, meet pokemon and people alike. You can also fight gym leaders and maybe even the champion! Will you do that for me?"
"Yes," all three of us said in unison. Juniper clapped her hands together happily and made her way forward.
"That's great to hear you guys! I need to grab a few things, but I want to teach you some basics. Meet me on Route 1, okay?"
"We're on it professor!" Cheren responded for the three of us. The Professor smiled at us and then she left.
"Well, since we were asked to… I guess that means I can go on an adventure. Right?" Bianca asked as the door closed.
"I don't see why you couldn't," Cheren said. "I want to be the pokemon champion!"
"That's aiming pretty high Cheren, think you can handle it?" I asked half-jokingly. His face formed into a determined expression.
"I know I can do it!" he exclaimed. "Come on; let's go meet the professor on Route 1!"
I walked out of the lab with Cheren and Bianca close behind me. The first thing I saw was my mother on the path outside the lab.
"Hey you guys, what did the professor have to say?" she asked us eagerly.
"She asked us to complete the Unova pokedex!" Bianca responded excitedly.
"That's great you three! Even though I knew she was going to ask. So I bought you these town maps, there's one here for each of you! Now you'll never get lost!" she said, handing us each a map.
"Thanks mom!" I said, opening it and looking at the map.
"Thank you Mrs. White, I'll take good care of it!" Cheren said.
"Th-thank you so much Mrs. White!" Bianca said as she examined hers.
"We're going to take off Touko, meet you at Route 1!" Cheren said, walking off with Bianca. I was about to follow them when my mom stopped me.
"And Touko, don't worry about your room… or what's left of it… I'll tidy it up since I know how busy you are. Okay?"
"Okay mom, thanks so much!" I said, hugging her tightly around her waist.
"I'll miss you Touko. Please don't forget to call your mother every once in a while! Have a great trip darling," she said. I smiled at her before jogging off to join Cheren and Bianca. I noticed them staring out at Route 1, silently.
"Hey guys, are we going to go or what?" I called out. Bianca turned around and walked over to me.
"Bianca says that if we're starting a journey together that we should take our first step together…" Cheren said in an annoyed tone.
"I think it'll be cool, but Cheren doesn't!" Bianca said with a pout.
"Come on Cheren, join us! It'll be fun," I pleaded.
"Fine… come on you two," Cheren said. We all locked hands and "One… two…" Bianca said slowly.
"THREE!" we all said together while taking our first official step onto Route 1. To the average person, it wasn't anything truly special, but it was to me. The first step of our journey together had begun!
"Oooohhhh, this is so exciting!" Bianca said happily in a squealing voice. "I wonder what will happen!"
"It sure is!" Cheren added. "C'mon, I see the professor waiting for us up ahead!" he said, sprinting ahead of us to join the professor by the tall grass. She waited patiently, smiling as we approached her.
"Sorry we kept you waiting professor," Cheren said apologetically.
"Not an issue, now that we are all here, let me teach you how to catch a pokemon!" she said, "Follow me please!" we all followed her into the grass where almost on cue a Patrat appeared. Bianca flipped open her pokedex and scanned it.
"Patrat, level two," she stated, watching as Professor Juniper sent out the Minccino from earlier. The Patrat looked ready to fight.
"Alright Minccino, use a tackle attack!" Juniper commanded. I watched intently as Juniper weakened the Patrat before grabbing a capsule from her side and tossed it. The ball leaned once, twice, three times, before settling on the ground with a click. "And there you have it. You have to lower HP, and then throw the ball. Pokemon with all of their energy are harder to catch than those with lowered. You could always paralyze it with an electric move, or make it fall asleep with yawn or another type of move. To wrap this up, I have a gift of 5 pokeballs for each of you." She said. "I'm going on ahead to Accumula Town, meet you there!" the professor said, walking away without another word. I turned to Cheren, then Bianca. We stayed silent for a little bit. Snivy looked up between us.
"Why is it so quiet? I don't like this… it feels weird" he whined.
"She forgot to mention that pokemon appear in tall grass…" Cheren finally said. "But I feel that was too obvious. I think I'll head to Accumula Town before it gets too dark out."
"Yeah, I can't wait to get there and go shopping for Pokeballs!" Bianca added. Cheren began to stride away towards the tall grass. "Wait a second!" she called out. "Hey Touko, Cheren, I just had a great idea! We…"
"Bored already… It's getting dark and the professor is waiting for us!" Cheren said.
"Would you listen for two seconds? I think we should have a pokemon catching contest! It would help the professor and we could fill Pokedex pages! The one with the most pokemon by the time we reach Accumula Town is the winner!" she explained.
"I see… That could be fun I suppose," Cheren said thoughtfully. "Very well, let's have a contest. But for now if we need to heal our pokemon we need to go back to our own houses. See you there Touko!" Cheren said, finally walking through the grass.
"You guys are going to compete to see how many pokemon you can catch? I don't approve of that…" Snivy said as soon as my friends were out of earshot.
"I don't see what the big deal is. I say the more friends the better," I replied. "Come on Percy, I need your help for this."
"I'll have you know that it is wrong to capture pokemon for sport. I willingly was captured and now I am cared for by you," he said. "We should go anyway; your geeky friend was right about it getting dark," I took that moment to look up at the sky and seeing the setting sun.
"Alright, come on… let's get going," I told him.
We made our way slowly through the tall grass, looking for wild pokemon to battle and hopefully catch. I had 5 useable pokeballs, so I had to be very strategic about how I used them as I was thinking; a wild Lillipup appeared and began barking at us.
"Hey trespasser! I wanna fight!" it growled. I looked expectantly at Snivy who nodded and jumped in front of me.
"Go Percy, use tackle!" I commanded, watching as Percy attacked the Lillipup head on. It jumped back and only took a small amount of damage, using what looked like a leer attack on Snivy who couldn't defend itself against the attack. "Again Percy!" I called out as my Snivy attacked with more power than before. Lillipup still stood, but it was visibly weakened. I pulled a pokeball out of my bag and tossed it at the Lillipup. It rolled once to the left, twice to the right, and then the third time to the left before settling on the ground with a click. My first caught pokemon! I walked over and picked up the ball, tossing it into the air and releasing my new companion. I pulled out my pokedex and scanned the little dog to get information.
"Lillipup. The puppy pokemon. It faces strong opponents with great courage. But, when at a disadvantage in a fight, this intelligent pokemon flees" Came the electronic voice from my handheld. It was a level two and knew leer and tackle just like Percy.
"Hi Lillipup, do you have a name you want me to call you?" I asked it.
"I like the name Dante."
"So your name is Dante?" I asked it.
"Yup!" it barked happily. "Wait… you can understand me?" it asked, thoroughly confused.
"I can… don't know why, but I can," I told it. "It's nice to meet you Dante."
"You too mommy!" it said happily.
"Did Dante just call you… mommy?" Percy asked me.
"I think so…" I said. Suddenly, a Patrat ran at us full force, using tackle on Percy. He bounced back a bit, skidding in the grass.
"Please let me kick its butt!" Percy pleaded to me. I nodded and he went with a tackle on the Patrat. It took some damage but not a lot. Percy attacked again and this time it did more damage. Percy hit one more time and the Patrat started panting. I took out a pokeball as Percy was about to attack again.
"Percy wait I want to catch it!" I called, throwing the pokeball. It too rolled on the ground three times before giving me a satisfied click. Percy and Dante followed me to the pokeball where I simply hit the button and took out Patrat. I reopened my pokedex and was greeted by the electronic voice.
"Patrat. The scout pokemon. Using food stored in cheek pouches, they can keep watch for days. They use their tails to communicate with others."
"Good to know…" I muttered, putting away my pokedex and crouching by my newest companion. "Hi there Patrat, what's your name?" I asked.
"The name's Scout." It said quickly.
"Very well, nice to meet you Scout. This is Percy and Dante, they are also joining us on my journey," I explained to it.
"Nice to meet you guys too," Scout said.
"As much as I want to have other companions, I think we should get out of the tall grass." Percy said. I nodded and all four of us made our way out of the grass. I returned the others to their capsules and stared down at Percy.
"Thank you."
"For what?" it asked. "I didn't do anything really."
"You battled at my command, I'm proud of you Percy," I told it. "Come on; let's go catch up with Bianca and Cheren."
"I'm cool with that…" Percy said, following me as I made my way down the path.
As soon as Bianca and Cheren came into my line of vision, I started jogging. I don't know why I did, but the urge to do so was too great. I went up to Bianca who tapped her foot patiently on the dirt path.
"Ah Touko you're here! How about it, do you want to compare which one of us has the most pokemon with them?" she asked.
"Yeah sure, let's count them up," I said. I held out all three of my pokeballs, even though only two of them were currently full.
"Wow, 3? That's awesome! Are you excited to have that many Pokemon with you?" she asked me.
"Meh, I suppose," I told her, my gaze falling on Percy in the process.
"Well I'm off to Accumula Town! The professor is waiting." Cheren said. Suddenly all three of our Cross-Transceivers began ringing simultaneously. I hit the "answer button" and Juniper's face graced the screen along with mine, Bianca's, and Cheren's.
"Hello! How is everybody doing?" Juniper asked from the other end.
"Ah Professor, everything is going well! Where in Accumula Town are you?" Bianca asked.
"I'm in front of the pokemon center. I have more things to explain to you, so hurry on over everybody!" she said. Then the line died.
"Well, I'm going on ahead then," Cheren stated, walking away with Bianca. I made my way after them and onto a gray stone path. I saw the ever famous pokemon center and the Professor stood right in front of the doors. I made my way over to her.
"Ah, Touko! There you are!" she said. "I need to explain a couple of things to you, come on in!" she said. The automatic double doors of the Center opened and I followed her into the brightly lit room. A woman with pink hair stood behind a counter, and I noticed Bianca making small talk with the woman.
"Hi girls, and professor, I'm Nurse Joy," the woman said in introduction. "If you ever need your pokemon healed then see me or my sisters in any pokemon center and we'll be glad to help you out!" she said.
"The cool thing about Pokemon Centers is that they heal pokemon for free!" Juniper piped up. "Why don't you give it a try Touko, your Snivy is looking a bit tired out." I was happy to oblige as I picked up Snivy and placed him along with my other two pokeballs on the counter.
"Alright, that'll be just a moment!" Nurse Joy said happily while taking my pokemon and putting them on a huge machine. A minute or so later, Nurse Joy set the pokeballs on the counter. "Thank you for waiting. Your pokemon are good as new! We hope to see you again!" I release Snivy from his capsule and he stretched.
"Wow, I feel so much better now!" he said in a content tone. "Thanks."
"No prob Percy," I replied, turning back to Juniper who had obviously caught me talking to Percy.
"Okay, now I get to show you how to use the PC at a center!" she said happily, leading us over to a computer on the counter. She turned it on and selected a "Someone's PC" option. "This is the pokemon storage system. Since you can only have up to six pokemon with you at a time, all the extras are sent to your PC!"
"Professor, it says 'Someone's PC' on the screen. Who is Someone?" Bianca asked.
"Isn't it the person who invented the PC storage system?" I asked.
"Yes it is, Touko. That's a great observation, Bianca. But for now just ignore that and use the settings provided."
"Okay…" Bianca said.
"Let's move on shall we?" Juniper asked us three. She led us to another counted against the wall where two men in aprons stood silently. "This is the mart where you can get supplies such as pokeballs, potions, and you can also sell things you don't need."
"Cool!" Bianca cooed at the mart, looking at the displays of stuff she could buy.
"Well you two, I think that's about it. I'm going to head back to Nuvema Town."
"Okay thanks Professor," Bianca said happily.
"Oh and one last thing Touko… when you reach Striaton City go meet an inventor named Fennel, she's a friend of mine from long ago and I'm sure she'll be able to tell you a few pointers."
"Okay, thanks!" I said. The professor nodded and left the center.
"I'm going to find Cheren, okay?" I told Bianca who was still cooing at the display case.
"Okay…bye," Bianca said in a mesmerized tone. I rolled my eyes and walked outside the center, seeing a couple of men talking.
"Sounds like something is going on in the plaza!" one of them said.
"Well let's have a little look-see," the other said, following his friend to the town square. I decided to follow quickly and quietly when there indeed was something going on in the square. I saw Cheren in the front row, and he turned and saw me.
"Hey Touko, come here a sec," he said. We both turned to face a menacing man in an orange cloak. He had tea green hair and what looked like a robotic eye.
"My name is Ghetsis…" he began. "I am here representing Team Plasma and today ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about pokemon liberation," he said. This elicited some mutters from the crowd as they all turned back to the creepy man. "I'm sure that most of you believe that we humans and pokemon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other," he continued.
"Because we do!" Cheren called out rashly. The man, Ghetsis skulked over to Cheren.
"Do you really believe that's the truth boy? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans only assume that this is the truth?"
"It IS the truth," Cheren countered.
"Pokemon 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?" he asked directly. The crowd began to murmur again. I admit that it was somewhat true… but… "Now ladies and gentlemen pokemon 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 toward these wonderful beings called pokemon?" he asked. The crowd murmured something that sounded like the word, liberation. "That's right! We must liberate the pokemon! Then and only Then will humans and pokemon truly be equal. I end my words today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and pokemon…and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention," the man finished as the cronies in gray behind him formed a block around him and left the scene. The crowd began to murmur and chat about what had just happened. Cheren looked at the ground.
"I need time to think Touko, I'll see you at the center in a bit…" he said, walking away, leaving me and Percy alone.
"Trainer, what's liberation?" Percy asked me.
"Why did you just call me trainer?" I asked in return.
"Because I don't know your name and I like it better than 'mommy'" Percy said.
"My name is Touko…" I said.
"I prefer Trainer… Trainer what's liberation?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.
"It's where they take you away from me and release you forever to fend for yourself," I told him. Snivy's eyes widened and it clung onto my leg for dear life.
"I don't want to be liberated…I want to stay with you trainer!" Percy said. Suddenly a boy with the same tea green hair as the man from earlier, wearing a black and white baseball cap, white over-shirt, black turtle neck and tan pants walked over to me.
"Your pokemon... just now it was saying…" the boy said, examining my Snivy.
"Whoa dude, you talk too fast!" I said. "And yes I know he was talking. I was explaining to him what liberation was."
"Oh? You can hear it too then?" he asked. "I'm impressed… My name is N."
"Just N? Is it short for something?" I asked.
"No, it's just N," he replied.
"I'm Touko White, and this is my Snivy, Percy," I said in introduction. "I was asked to complete the pokedex and I just left on my journey today!"
"The pokedex, eh?" N questioned. "So you're going to confine many, many pokemon in pokeballs for that, then… I may be a trainer as well, but I can't help wondering…are they really happy that way?"
"I suppose it depends on how caring the trainer is…" I replied.
"Thoughtful answer. Well, Touko is it? Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!" he said, sending out a Purrloin.
"Wait what? You want to battle?" I asked. N simply nodded.
"Okay… go Percy, let's take him down!" I called out.
The real battle had only just begun.
Update Schedule is very simple. I write as I play, unfortunately I have finals this week, so it'll be somewhat limited. Sorry if it was sooooo long, but I wanted to introduce N, because he is going to play an enormous part in this story! Please Review! Thanks!