Knock, knock, knock.
Black groaned and rolled over, stuffing his face into his pillow.
Knock, knock, knock.
His mother's knuckles rapped at the door again. He pushed himself up, yawned loudly, and rolled over so that he sat upright.
"Yeah?" he asked with a raspy voice. Clearing his throat, he continued. "The door's open."
"Your friends are here, sweetie," his mother said as she came inside and pulled the curtains back, letting in the sun. Black smoothed his brown hair down and uncapped a water bottle on his nightstand.
"Why are they here?" he asked before taking a swig of water.
"They said it's a surprise. Come on, get up. It's seven o'clock."
Black swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching his arms and back. He yawned.
His mother stepped out of the room and closed the door behind herself. In private, Black changed into his signature blue jacket, black denim jeans, and red-and-white baseball cap.
With his bag held tightly against his side by a diagonal shoulder strap, Black hopped downstairs two steps at a time. His friends waited for him in the living room.
"Bianca! Cheren! It's summer vacation! No normal kid is up this earlier on break," Black said to the tiny blonde girl with a round green hat and the skinny boy in a casual blue suit.
Cheren picked up a small sack at his feet and placed it on the coffee table.
"This is worth the early wakeup call, Black," Cheren assured him, unzipping the case.
"What's in that?" Black asked. Cheren leaned the sack towards Black so he could see the three spherical capsules inside.
"Professor Juniper dropped them off at my house this morning. She said they are a gift for the three of us! Our very own Pokemon!" Cheren explained.
Black dug his hand in the bag and picked up one of the Pokeballs.
"What Pokemon are they?" he asked.
"They're all different. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawatt," Bianca said.
"But we'll have to decide who gets first pick," Cheren said.
"Rock-paper-scissors?" Bianca asked.
"Sounds fair," Black affirmed, placing the Pokeball back with the others.
"One, two, three, go!" Cheren counted off. Black and Bianca threw scissors, while Cheren chose rock.
"Yes! I get my favorite: Tepig." Cheren took one of the Pokeballs and went to the front door.
"I'll wait outside for you two. Thanks for letting us in, Mrs. Toya!" Cheren said.
"Don't mention it, dear," Black's mom responded from the kitchen.
"It's just you and me, Black," Bianca said.
"Yeah," Black replied shyly. They counted off and threw their hands.
"Haha! Paper covers rock! I win!" Bianca said as she picked up the two remaining Pokeballs. "But which to choose?"
She looked at one, then the other. A little green snake was printed on the button of the left Pokeball, and a blue otter marked the other one.
"I'll take Oshawott," she said, handing Snivy's Pokeball to Black. "I hope you don't mind."
"I'm happy with that. Snivy would have been my first pick."
"Cool," Bianca said with a toothy smile. "Let's go play with them outside!"
"Last one there is a smelly Trubbish!"
Black beat Bianca to the door and swung it open, stepping out into the clean, rural Nuvema air. His shoes squished in the dewy grass of his front lawn, decorated by pretty flowers and exotic bushes sitting in pots that themselves sat on the ground or hung from the awning. Bianca followed right behind him, shutting the door behind her.
Cheren rolled on the ground with a little fiery swine on his chest, laughing.
"Isn't Tepig awesome?" he asked, picking the pig up and getting to his feet.
"Not as awesome as Oshawott!" Bianca threw her Pokeball, releasing her new Water type.
"Come on, Black. Let yours out. We will have our first battle together!" Cheren urged. Black took the single Pokeball out of his pocket. He almost dropped it as he cautiously held it forward and pressed the button on the front, letting out his starter.
Snivy blended in with the trimmed grass. It flexed its back and took in sunlight, yawning lazily.
"Looks like you disturbed its beauty sleep. My lively little Oshawott will make short work of your Pokemon!" Bianca challenged playfully. Black eyed the hopping Water-type.
"We'll see about that," he said uncertainly.
"Oshawott, use Tackle!" Bianca called. Oshawott bounced forward and circled Snivy. The snake watched its hyper opponent, keeping its head still but moving its eyes so at least one followed Oshawott. Oshawott finally dove, and Snivy stepped calmly aside; Oshawott stumbled past and somersaulted in the moist grass.
"Tackle it while it's down!" Black ordered shakily. Worried about defeat, he almost looked away when his Pokemon closed in on the fallen Oshawott. Snivy tucked in its head and rammed forward from just seven inches away, forcing Oshawott to roll even further.
"Okay! Okay! You win," Bianca sighed. "Come back Oshawott."
She returned her Pokemon and Cheren let Tepig down from his hands.
"Wow, Black. Your Pokemon didn't even take a scratch. But I'll prove I still made the best choice. Go, Tepig! Use Tackle!"
Tepig charged on all fours at Snivy. Snivy dodged with an elegant swivel. Tepig turned around quickly and came back. Again, Snivy moved out of the way, this time just before Tepig made contact.
"Tackle, Snivy!" Black guided.
Snivy tried to brace itself for the move, but Tepig was turning around already and preparing to Tackle once more. Snivy avoided it with a nifty sidestep.
"You have to be faster," Black whimpered.
"You hear that, Tepig? You've got him beat! Don't give up!"
Tepig and Snivy continued their dance of attack-and-dodge. Tepig slammed into a flowerpot on one of the returns, clumsily knocking it over.
"Alright, you two!" Black's mom said. She had opened the door at some point and observed the fruitless battle from the doorway.
"You are ruining my garden! That's enough, now," she said while coming outside and attending to the fallen plants and scattered soil.
"Sorry, Mrs. Toya," Cheren apologized. "That was my fault."
"We'll stop now, Mom. Snivy, come back." Black and Cheren returned their Pokemon.
"That's alright. You need to learn to respect your surroundings even during battle. I've been there before. I was a trainer once, myself. Get this: I once put a whole in my neighbor's wall with a poorly-timed Rock Smash. Boy, did I get in trouble," she said as she scooped soil back into the flowerpot.
"Anyway," she continued. "You three need to go see Prof. Juniper. After that—well, I can only speak for Black here—but after that you are free to take off! It's time to go explore the world!"
"Ok, Mrs. Toya," Bianca said. "I'm going to go say bye to my parents."
"Me, too," Cheren said. They ran off to their houses, which neighbored Black's.
Black looked at his mother.
"I'm going to go catch up with them. I guess I'll see you later," he said, looking down at the ground. His mother wrapped her arms around him.
"Be safe," she said. "And quit being so nervous. You are going to do fine. I love you. Make sure to call me on your Xtransceiver if you need anything."
"I will, Mom. Love you, too."
Black kissed her on the cheek and ran down the dirt path to Cheren's house. He heard the front door close as he went.
Cheren was walking back up the road before Black reached his house.
"I already said goodbye to everyone earlier. This time I was just letting them know I'm actually leaving. Let's go see if Bianca's finished up yet," he said, and he turned around and went next door to Bianca's house. Black followed without objection.
"It just isn't safe out there. Fourteen-year-olds have no business running around in the wild with fire-breathing monsters!"
"I have a Water Pokemon, Daddy! Please let me go!" Bianca fought back.
"I don't care if you have the almighty Arceus. You aren't going."
"But Dad!"
"Stop whining, Bianca. This isn't open for discussion!"
Black and Cheren stopped short of Bianca's house and looked as she and her father argued in the front yard.
"Sounds like she can't go," Cheren said somberly, frowning at a rock before kicking it across the road.
"Uh huh," Black replied.
"Let's just go to Prof. Juniper without her. We can come check on her after we're done there."
They carried on silently to the northwestern part of town, where the red-roofed laboratory stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise calm, old-fashioned village.
Black and Cheren stopped outside the door.
"You go in first," Cheren said.
"What? No way! You go in first!" Black insisted.
"No, you."
"You!"
"I'll do it. Pick me!" Bianca yelled. She ran up from behind and caught up to them, out of breath.
"Your Dad actually let you go?" Cheren asked skeptically.
"Oh. You heard that?" Bianca blushed and looked away.
"We didn't mean to eavesdrop. We just wanted to go together to the lab," Black explained.
"That's okay. I'm going, so let's just it over with," Bianca said. She pushed them out of the way and nudged the swinging lab doors open.
"Bianca? Cheren? Black? I'm glad you're all here. And at such an early hour! Punctuality is important for any good trainer," a woman in a tank top at the back of the lab said. "Don't be shy, come on back here!"
"Thank you for the Pokemon, Prof. Juniper," Cheren said.
Prof. Juniper held several tablets. She handed one each to the three newbie trainers.
"These are your Pokedexes," she said. "Have you ever heard of the Pokedex?"
"It stores information about Pokemon, right?" Cheren said.
"That is exactly right. The information you unlock was discovered by trainers who explored the Unova region before you. You are to follow in their footsteps and report new information that you discover using your Pokedex so it is available for future trainers and researchers."
"Will we be discovering new Pokemon?" Bianca asked.
"You might. That is part of your job. We cannot know for sure what is out there, and while we believe to have found most Pokemon in Unova, there may be many others that have yet evaded us. Pay close attention to the information on your Pokedex. If you see a Pokemon that isn't in there, chances are you have just discovered a new Pokemon!"
The professor stopped talking and took three bags off of the counter behind her.
"These contain Pokeballs. This, along with your starter and your Pokedex, is everything that you need to start your journey," she said.
"So what if we don't find any new Pokemon?" Bianca asked.
"You probably won't. That is why your goal is to learn more about the Pokemon we have already discovered. You can do this by training your Pokemon, developing a bond with them, and battling the Gym Leaders. Once you have defeated all eight leaders, you are permitted to challenge the Pokemon League. Any questions?"
The rapid exchange of information flustered Black. He thought over his objective and the items he had just been given while Prof. Juniper kept talking. Suddenly, he was being ushered outside, and he, Cheren, and Bianca were alone again out front of the lab.
"Wow. So this is it. We can go," Cheren said, gazing at his Pokedex before pocketing it.
"Earth to Black, come in Black. You haven't said a word since we walked through the doors," Bianca said. "Are you sure you are ready for this?"
"Yeah. Absolutely," Black told her. "Let's go."
Black thought for a second.
"Wait. Don't you need to heal your Pokemon, Bianca?" he asked.
"Were you not paying attention at all, Black?" Bianca asked. "She healed all of our Pokemon for us."
"Sorry. I kind of spaced out."
"It's ok. I know you can't help it. But if you just hand over your Pokemon to anyone and don't even remember doing it you are going to end up in trouble."
Black decided to change the subject.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he said. He led Bianca and Cheren to the edge of Nuvema Town, where a sign marked the transition from Nuvema to Route 1.
