*I do not own the pokemon franchise nor any of its characters/locations.
Platinum: Melody of Ruin
Chapter 1 – The 3 Beginnings
The day began just like all of the others in the last week, annoying. The main issue, he woke up. Zeke hated waking up, especially early in the morning. Zeke slowly scanned his messy room, from the traveling backpack nearly stuffed full of necessities to the numerous notebooks and pens that were somehow supposed to fit in the backpack as well. Unable to fall back asleep, he got up and began reorganizing his bag to make room for the notebooks and pens. Once finished, he got dressed and headed downstairs where he could smell the sweet aroma of bacon and freshly brewed coffee.
He quickly grabbed himself a few pieces of bacon and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding a couple lumps of sugar to sweeten the bitter taste. As he was about to take a sip, however, someone bumped into his shoulder from behind, causing him to spill some of the hot liquid on the floor.
"Oops, my bad," Zeke's older brother, Roland, admitted sarcastically.
"Jerk," Zeke replied, setting his mug down and grabbing a napkin to clean the mess up. Thankfully none of the coffee had spilled onto him. "Why do you have to be such an ass?"
"Why do the both of you have to constantly fight," asked their mother as she returned to the kitchen. "And watch your mouth Zeke. I will not have any foul language in my house."
"Yes ma'am," Zeke replied, glaring at Roland who was snickering at Zeke's scolding.
"And don't think you're not in trouble either, Roland," his mother added. Roland instantly snapped to attention as if whipped.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now the both of you are finally going to become official Pokémon trainers today, so be on your best behavior both of you," she ordered, eying both of them as if daring them to go against her orders. "Professor Rowan sent a letter over stating that his aid will be along around ten or so. That gives you about an hour to finish packing and preparing. But before you both leave for your journeys, please come back home so I can give the both of you going-away presents."
"Why not just give them to us right now," Roland asked.
"Because I want to see my babies off properly. Just do this for me, please?
"Yes ma'am," both Roland and Zeke replied.
After breakfast was over, Zeke went back upstairs to gather his things. Tossing his backpack by the door, he gave his room one last look. A big bed for his lengthy body, a desk in the corner with more pens and notebooks as well as several pictures of him and his family, and hanging on the wall was another picture of his father with two much younger Roland and Zeke. His dad was also tall with slim but strong muscles and his team of Pokémon surrounding the three. Zeke couldn't help but smile at the picture. His dad came and went every now and then due to his job in another region's Elite Four, but every time he came home he'd have tons of stories to tell about all of the strong trainer he had beaten or who had beaten him. Zeke wanted to be like him some day; strong, happy, so full of life. That's what the journey meant to Zeke. It was a way to be just like his old man.
Done reminiscing, Zeke grabbed his backpack just as Roland yelled at him from downstairs.
"Hurry up, you idiot. Professor Rowan's assistant just arrived to take us to the laboratory."
Zeke closed his door behind him and descended the stairs. Standing in the entranceway waiting for him was his brother, mother, and the professor's aid. She was about Zeke's age with blond hair.
"About time, idiot," Roland scolded Zeke. Turning to the girl he added, "You can take us whenever you're ready, but the sooner the better."
"Roland!" Zeke's mom snapped. "That's no way to speak to a girl, especially one who is going to become a fellow trainer with you."
"It's alright ma'am," the girl claimed. "I'm Lily by the way. If you two would please follow me, we'll head over to Professor Rowan's lab where we can obtain our starting Pokémon."
"You two make sure to come back here before you leave," their mom told Zeke and Roland, "because I've got a couple of presents to celebrate today."
The two boys nodded and followed Lily outside. Like almost every other day, it was nice and warm in Sandgem Town. Lily took them to the northwest part of town to a large building. She walked them up to the front door, holding it open for both Roland and Zeke before entering herself. Inside she led them straight to the back where an aged man awaited. He looked amused, almost like he had been in this situation several times before hand.
"Greetings, I'm Professor Rowan." Turning to Roland, Professor Rowan added, "You must be Roland if I'm not mistaken."
"That's right old man."
"Ass," Zeke coughed at his brother.
As if he had never heard Roland's remark, Professor Rowan added, "Behind me here are the three starter Pokémon I selected for today. To make it fair in the choosing, I've randomized which Pokémon is which and ask that you wait until all three of you have selected a your starter before seeing which Pokémon you'll be starting with. First up to choose is Zeke."
Zeke took a step forward and scanned the three poke balls, trying to find any clue as to which one was which. Not finding any clues, he decided to give up and let fate decide it. He reached his hand out, aiming to grab the forward most ball when Roland shoved him from behind. Zeke stumbled forward and his hand landed on the right most ball instead.
"Sorry," Roland laughed. "My leg gave out. Now get out of the way, I'm next."
Roland shoved Zeke off to the side and grabbed the forward most ball for himself before grinning at Zeke, mocking him. Roland then moved aside for Lily to choose the last remaining ball. When she had plucked it from its spot, she moved over next to Professor Rowan who nodded.
"Well," Rowan stated, "let's see who you have chosen to be your very first partner."
Roland opened his poke ball first and in a flash of red light released his Pokémon.
"Chimchar," the small monkey Pokémon squealed with delight at being let out of its ball. Zeke went next. With the same flash of light, his Pokémon was released.
"Turtwig," his Pokémon shook its head and stretched. Finally, Lily released her Pokémon.
"Piplup," her Pokémon squeaked at her.
"It's so cute," Lily squealed with delight. She caught Roland, Zeke, and Professor Rowan all looking at her and she instantly turned red with embarrassment.
"Congratulations you three, you are now official Pokémon trainers."
Zeke grinned so big that it almost hurt. His dream was finally becoming a reality. All he had to do was become as good as his dad. Easier said than done he thought to himself.
"Hey, Zeke, let's have a battle. I bet I can beat you without even trying," Roland challenged.
"Bring it," Zeke replied.
The two of them quickly left the building with Lily and Professor Rowan in tow. Finally outside, they put enough distance between them to allow their Pokémon to effectively battle. As soon as their Pokémon entered the battlefield, Roland started the battle.
"Chimchar, use scratch attack."
The small monkey Pokémon moved quickly, leaping right for Turtwig and swinging its sharp claws. Turtwig pulled its head back just in time to barely dodge, but Chimchar attacked again, this time scoring a hit on Turtwig.
"You ok, Turtwig?" Zeke asked. Turtwig nodded and got into a ready stance. "Good, use tackle."
Turtwig launched forward, surprisingly quick for a turtle-like Pokémon, catching Chimchar square in the chest and sending it sprawling back. Turtwig didn't let up there, though, and charged forward again. Just as Chimchar regained its feet, Turtwig slammed into it again. This time, however, Chimchar landed on its feet.
"Damn it, Chimchar," Roland cursed. "You'd better not lose if you know what's good for you. Now use scratch again and don't let up until that Turtwig stops fighting back!"
Chimchar nodded and leapt forward so fast that Turtwig had no time to react. Chimchar's claws slashed and hacked in a blur of motion. Within a matter of seconds, Turtwig was pushed back, cut up, and on the verge of collapsing.
"No, Turtwig," Zeke called out. "Counter with tackle!"
Turtwig lunged forward between Chimchar's attacks, catching Chimchar again in the chest, but the impact caused Chimchar's arm to snap forward and slash Turtwig one last time. Chimchar landed hard a few feet away but managed to stand back up just barely. Turtwig on the other hand was out cold.
"Yeah, I won," cheered Roland. "Your Pokémon was so lame, it never stood a chance."
"Don't be such an ass," Zeke chided as he inspected Turtwig's wounds. Thankfully, none of the cuts were bad. "Thanks Turtwig, rest up for now."
"Get back in your ball," Roland ordered Chimchar. Once Chimchar had disappeared back into its ball Roland added, "I'm out of here. Tell Mom I said 'bye'."
"What about Mom asking us to go back home afterwards?"
"I don't care. I'm leaving. See you later, loser."
Zeke watched him walk off, glaring at him until Roland was out of site.
"I'm heading back home before I leave on my journey," Zeke informed Lily before turning around and walking off in the other direction, towards his house.
Back at the house, Zeke told his mother what happened, from the three of them obtaining their starter Pokémon to his and Roland's battle and then about Roland leaving without coming home first. His mom simply nodded as if she had expected this to happen.
"Too bad for him," Zeke's mom said. "If he would have come back home, I was going to give him this."
She pulled out an old red, beaten up object, and Zeke's eyes got huge.
"Is that Dad's old Pokedex?" He asked, unbelieving.
"Yup," his mom replied proudly. "I found it just yesterday while going through your dad's stuff. I thought Roland would like to have it, but since he didn't come home like I asked, you can have it. I know your father would want at least one of you to have it. Also, since this was supposed to be Roland's gift, I have your present here as well."
She set the old Pokedex down in front of Zeke as she grabbed another object from a bag under the table. From the bag, she pulled out a small object that was blue in color. It had several holes all lined up with a bigger hole meant to be blown into. Other than the holes, it wasn't decorated, yet Zeke had the distinct feeling that the object had some deep and meaningful purpose.
"This flute has been passed down through my side of the family for generations. It was used in many celebrations from way back when in which God was worshiped."
"'God' as in the one who created every Pokémon and every human?" Zeke clarified.
"Including the land as well," his mom answered. "I know that you still practice the religion, even with the major decrease in believers in recent years. I hope you'll keep this safe."
Zeke gingerly took the blue flute from his mother and looked it over even more closely. He knew that it was old yet it looked absolutely new, and it also felt amazingly strong for something that should be very fragile. "I'll keep it safe, Mom. I promise."