Chapter 1: Stormy Start
The black clouds that surrounded Aspertia City seemed unusually black that day. In a certain house at the far edge of the city, was a small and simple, yet elegant house. Inside the house, a boy of 15 years sat in his room, packing his backpack. His name was Nate, and just about the best thing had happened to him.
His mother had recently informed him that Aurea Juniper, the Pokemon professor of that region as well as a good old friend of his mother had given him the opportunity to choose from one of the three starter's Pokemon of the region. His mother was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, perhaps the last homemade breakfast that Nate would be having in a long time.
After stocking his backpack with several super potions, full heals and revives, he went and stood in front of the mirror, and checked his reflection. He was tall, with brown hair that he'd recently got cut so that they were much shorter, but still all messed up. His brown eyes sparkled with excitement. He had also done a change of clothes. He now wore a maroon sweatshirt over a black sleeveless tee, and black jeans, along with red and black sneakers. He had thrown away his visor, as it was only for restraining his long hair, that he'd cut short.
After examining himself, he took one last look at his old house, and went towards the kitchen.
Upon arriving in the kitchen, he saw his mother, who was standing with her hands behind her back, obviously hiding something. As he approached, she handed him his breakfast plate, with sunny side-up with toast in it.
He put it onto the kitchen counter and started wolfing it down. As he did, his mother approached him.
"Nate? I have a farewell present for you", she said. Nate turned his head and saw what his mother was hiding from him earlier. It was the latest version of the X-Transceiver, a device that allowed him to communicate to with other people face to face. "Thanks mom!" Nate said, happily. His mother just smiled, and then, Nate finished his breakfast. He put his plate in the kitchen sink, and started to head towards the front door. As he did, his mother called out from behind, "Have a good journey, Nate. And do not take unnecessary risks, Ok?"
"Yeah, Mom" Nate replied. He stopped for a moment, then took a deep breath, and headed out.
As Nate approached the street corner, he heard a familiar voice. "Nate!"
Nate turned his head, and saw his best friend and childhood rival, Hugh. He was as tall as Nate, with violet hair that stood up, in a savvy way. He wore a large, red jacket and navy blue Bermudas. He had deep red eyes, and looked calm, yet his posture stated that he was ready to spring into action in a moment.
As Hugh approached, Nate also saw that high's little sister was also with him.
"Dude, you ready to get your Pokemon?" asked Hugh, excited as though he was getting the Pokemon.
"Yeah, anyways, you have to help me search for this girl called Bianca. She's wearing an orange jacket, a big green hat and red, inverted framed lens." Nate described the unfamiliar person who was supposed to give him his first Pokemon.
"Do you think she might be up at the lookout ridge, which is the most famous spot of Aspertia City?" Hugh asked.
"It wouldn't hurt to try, you know." Nate muttered. Then Hugh and he made a dash towards the ridge, leaving Hugh's little sister behind.
As they approached the lookout, they spotted Bianca, leaning on the railing, watching the black clouds that spread over the city. She looked just like she was described.
"Hey, are you Bianca?" Hugh asked. Bianca turned, and smiled. "Yeah, and I have been waiting a long time to meet you, Nate" She happily smiled.
"Uh," Hugh said, "I am not Nate," And then pointing towards Nate, "he is."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Anyways, Nate. Are you ready to meet your very first Pokemon?" She asked, keeping up that smile of hers. "Yes" was the only reply that came from Nate. He was very excited. Who should he choose? The water otter, Oshawott? The fire pig, Tepig? Or grass serpent, Snivy?
As all this was going through his mind, Bianca pulled out from her bag a cylindrical glass container, which contained three Pokeballs. She opened the glass covering, and offered them to Nate. One had a sticker of a water droplet, the other had a flame sticker, and the last had the sticker of a leaf.
'Water, Fire and Grass' Nate thought. Oshawott, Tepig and Snivy.
He took the Pokeball with the water sticker, and sent out the Pokemon. Oshawott came out.
It had a spherical white head with small, triangular dark-blue ears on the sides. Oshawott's eyes were dark and its dark orange nose was shaped like a horizontal oval. Several freckles covered its cheeks, and two pointed teeth could be seen when it opened its mouth. The light blue fur on its body formed bubble shapes around its neck. Its arms were white and rounded; while its feet were dark blue with three toes each. It also possessed a rudder-like dark blue tail. It carried a pale yellow seashell called a "scalchop" on its belly.
"Osha-Osha!" It cried happily.
"I choose Oshawott!" Nate said, grinning. Bianca simply smiled, and Oshawott jumped onto Nate's shoulders, shouting "Osha-Oshawott" happily. Bianca pulled out a Pokedex and five Pokeballs, and handed them to Nate.
"A Pokedex can be used to scan and then identify the Pokemon in front of you. If you have just seen the Pokemon, it will only show the name, image and Pokedex number, but if you capture it, then it displays proper data, like location, cry, height-weight, etcetera. It can also show you the move set of the captured Pokemon. As for the Pokeballs, they can be used to capture wild Pokemon. You DO know how to capture Pokemon, don't you?" Bianca asked.
"Yup!" Nate replied.
"Bianca!" Hugh said, "Can I have a Pokedex too?" He asked.
"Sure, why not? I always keep a spare one with me" and saying this, Bianca tossed Hugh another Pokedex.
"Thanks!" He said, and then, out of nowhere, he shouted, "Nate, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
"Uh… Okay! I accept." Nate shouted the last part. Before starting though, he took out his Pokedex and scanned Oshawott. "Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokémon," the Pokedex said, "Oshawott attacks and defends using the scalchop that can be removed from its stomach. It knows the moves Tackle, Water Gun, Growl and Fury Cutter"
Hugh then sent out his Pokemon, which was a Snivy. Both of them scanned each other's Pokemon through their Pokedexes.
"Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon. Cool, calm, and collected, Snivy uses photosynthesis to collect energy with the leaf on its tail." Nate's Pokedex said, while Hugh's Pokedex told him about Oshawott.
"Okay, let's start the battle!" Bianca said, acting as the referee.
"Oshawott, use tackle!" Nate ordered. Oshawott rushed towards Snivy, and slammed into it, sending Snivy several meters back, before it regained its footing.
"Snivy, use razor leaf!" Hugh shouted. Snivy released a volley of leaves, which rushed towards Oshawott, but Oshawott managed to dodge them.
"Oshawott, use Fury Cutter!" Nate said, not knowing what the move was. Oshawott unleashed the bug-type move on Snivy, and since the attack was super effective, Snivy crumple to the ground, but it was not defeated.
"Snivy, get back on your feet" Hugh said, now very uneasy. Despite the type-disadvantage, Oshawott had landed a successful blow to Snivy, and Hugh hadn't even anticipated the move. Just then, Snivy recovered, and sent an unexpected Razor Leaf attack, which couldn't be avoided by Oshawott. Oshawott fell to the ground, but it must've had a lot of guts, because Oshawott stood up just as quickly, and puffed out its chest proudly.
"Oshawott, Water Gun!" Oshawott released a stream of water from its mouth, that went and connected to Snivy, but it had little effect, other than pushing Snivy backwards.
"Water isn't much effective over grass, Nate" Hugh said.
"Oh yeah! Then how about a bug-type move? Oshawott, ride the water stream and use Fury Cutter!" Oshawott quickly increased the power in the Water Gun, and then, as fast as lightning, jumped into it, riding it towards Snivy with an incredible speed, and just as the stream vanished, Oshawott jumped out, and landed a successful hit on Snivy. Snivy fainted, as it had received two super-effective attacks from Oshawott.
"Snivy has fainted. Oshawott wins the match!" Bianca shouted.
"Yes!" Nate shouted, "My first match, and that too, a win!" But Nate celebrated too soon, as it started raining, and not raining, but pouring down on them. As fast as possible, Nate, Hugh and Bianca rushed into the Pokemon Center.
After half-an-hour, the raining subsided thought the sky was still full of rainclouds and thunderclouds that crackled with huge amounts of lighting and thunder being unleashed.
As they headed out, Bianca and Hugh went ahead, wishing Nate good luck. "I'll keep meeting you during our journey, okay? We'll have to battle to strengthen up!" Hugh said before rushing forward, running fast until he was out of sight.
As Nate exited the town-exit-terminal (TET), Nate felt an increase in his excitement level. Suddenly, there was a huge lighting flash in the sky.
He glanced upwards, and saw a huge, black Pokemon fly far above, and then it was gone, lost in the clouds, leaving Nate to wonder if he had imagined the Pokemon.