Shock is a funny thing. It sort of turns off your mind. You still think, you still act, you still consider. But it makes you overlook things. For example, I'm just now realising how insanely sore my chest is. I have the feeling I'm going to have a bruise shaped like a Dratini's head for quite some time. As well as that, I'm just now realising something far greater. I got headbutted in the chest by a Dratini. Emphasis on the Dratini part. Dratini's do not APPEAR in Gradifal. Taking the pokémon population as a whole, Dragon types make up less than one percent. And they're located entirely in and around Mt. Amarth, which is in the centre of the region. This doesn't make sense. I'm not complaining. The contrary. I'm bragging.
Lyra points at the Dratini lying on the bed in front of us. "...That's a Dratini." I stare at it, as I already was. I pretty much haven't taken my eyes off it. I'm not even fully confident that I've remembered to blink. "Yes Lyra. That is, indeed, a Dratini." Lyra turns to face me, at least I think she does, I just hear her. "How are you so calm?" I chuckle softly. "There has never been a better question in the history of existence." Lyra waves her hand in front of my face. "Hey. Hey. Look at me when I'm talking to you." With every ounce of my being, I strain to pull my gaze from the glorious dragon lying in front of me. I see Lyra holding a pokéball and smiling. Her smile is almost worth the Dratini. Almost. "Do you think I could let her out? What to you think would happen?" I grin, as the mischievous side of me takes over. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" I grab the ball from her and press the release.
The laser-like red beam of light hits the floor, and a small Horsea materialises at the bottom of it. It sits there, confused for a moment, until Lyra walks over to it. It looks up at her, scared. "Seaaaaa..." It says pitifully. I think I actually see Lyra's heart break a little at the sad Horsea. She immediately bends down and picks it up, holding it close to her chest, but not too tight. "Hey there. I'm Lyra. I'm the one who caught you." I cough rather loudly on purpose. "...Okay, Kai over there caught you, but only because I missed. You're my first pokémon ever, and you're also my favourite type of pokémon. I'm sorry for pulling you from the wild, but you looked like you were all alone, and I promise to take care of you. I'm a nice person, I promise." I smile softly and chip in. "It's true, she is." She smiles at my support. "That's my brother, Kasai. You can call him Kai though. He's a nice person too. He's the one who spotted you." The horsea looks over at me and seems to remember me. "I'm going to name you Bubbles. Do you like that name? Bubbles?" The Horsea looks at Lyra for a moment. "...Hoooooor-sea!" It says happily. Lyra leaps into the air in joy. I've never seen her so happy. It's brilliant.
But, then again, there is a Dratini I could be looking at. I turn around and look down at him again. He's awake now, and aware of my presence. Nurse Joy is standing over him, monitoring his status. I pull on her sleeve gently to ask her a few questions. "Um, excuse me Nurse, but...any idea why a Dratini might be here? I mean, this is miles away from Mt. Amarth." Joy turns to look at me. "Well, I don't really know, but it's been living in an environment like this for a while. See it's tail?" She points to the Dratini's tail. It's got a small, almost transparent fin with a light blue tint on it, similar to a Magikarp's, but a lot less noticeable. "I didn't know Dratini's have fins..." I reply. Nurse Joy smiles. "They don't, usually. But pokémon are very good at adapting. Many pokémon that have moved to new environments often evolve slightly after just a few generations, Houndooms, for example. Normally, they're coal black with very thin fun. But here in Gradifal, they have a slight white tinge over the top of them, like they've been sprinkled with snow, and they have slightly shaggier fur. So, from the tail, I would guess that this Dratini has lived in water for most of it's life, and it has done so for a few generations at the least." "Do you mean that Dratini's have lived in that cave for years?" I say with shock. She shrugs. "Maybe not that cave specifically, but definitely in the river connected to it. My guess is that it connects to Mt. Amarth somehow. You can ask Professor Hawthorne later, he'll want to see your Dratini." She says with a smile.
It hits me like a Snorlax from a balcony. MY Dratini. This is MY Dratini. I saved it. I found it. It's mine. I turn to Lyra. "Lyra...it's my first Pokémon..." Lyra just grins and holds up Bubbles. "You're a little late to the party there, Kai." She returns Bubbles to her chest and she snuggles up to her happily. "Yeah, but, Lyra, it's a Dratini! My first pokémon is a Dratini! Does that even happen?" It's my turn to be excited now. I adore dragon pokémon. I never expected to have one though. I kneel down beside the bed so that I'm eye level with the Dratini. "Hey there. I'm Kai. You probably remember headbutting me in the chest. I think I saved you from some rocks. I hope you weren't in there for long." He looks up at me and seems to understand what I'm saying. "...You're my first pokémon. Well, I suppose that's not for me to decide. I mean, I didn't actually catch you. But, if you want, you can be my pokémon. I'll treat you really well, I promise. So...what do you say? How about a bubble for yes, and a whine for no?" He looks up at me and doesn't make a sound. "...Want some time to think about it?" He bubbles.
I nod quietly. "That's okay, you take your time. I don't want to take you with me unless you want to come, so have a think about it." Just as I finish saying that, the door to the room burst open, and in walks an old man. Professor Hawthorne. "So, what's this I hear of a Dratini?" The nurse directs him to the bed. He walks over and stands above the Dratini, examining him with a sense of cold curiosity. I don't like it. He's looking at him like he's a specimen and not a living creature. "Oooh, yes. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed." "What's so interesting?" I inquire. The professor looks at me with a look of smugness and condescension. "Oh, simply it's tail. You wouldn't understand." I can't stand condescension. "Oh, you mean the fact that it's got a small fin as opposed to the usual serpentine tail, which is most likely the result of it living mostly in water all of it's life and having done so for at least a few generations, causing it to develop the fin for assisting in mobility whilst underwater?" The professor looks at me with an odd mix of being disgusted and being impressed on his face. "...Yes, quite."
"So, where did you find this?" The professor asks. I dislike the detachment he displays towards the Dratini. "I found HIM at the waterfall. He was trapped under a pile of rocks, which I dug him out of. He headbutted me in the chest and then I brought him here." Hawthorne looks at me, as if trying to detect a lie, and then does something unexpected. He smiles, softly. "Well well, it appears we have a very lucky trainer in the room. Not only catching a dragon type, which in itself is a feat to be impressed by, but catching one as his FIRST pokémon? Very impressive. Good show, Kasai." I start to wonder how he knows my name considering we've never met, but then I remember that he works with Yuki. She probably tells him about us. "Thank you professor, but he's not really mines yet. He hasn't decided if he wants to come with me." The professor raises and eyebrow. "Decided? You're letting the Dratini choose for itself?" "...Well...yeah. Why wouldn't I? It wouldn't be fair to force it to come with me. I didn't catch it with a pokéball, so it wouldn't be fair to claim it." The professor looks at me in disbelief and mutters something to himself. "...Mrmmbrrm...all coming true..." is all I can make out.
Suddenly, the Dratini starts making a bubbling noise, seemingly to get my attention. I turn to him and look down. He's wriggling slightly, and appears to be happy about something. "What is it?" I ask, knowing I won't get a real response. He bubbles at me. "...Have you decided to come with me?" I ask hopefully. The Dratini pauses for a moment, before closing it's eyes happily and bubbling. A smile creeps over my face, and I can feel myself beaming. "You can pick him up, he's pretty much okay now." Says Nurse Joy, seemingly reading my mind. I smile at her and reach down towards the Dratini. I pick him up and give him a little hug. He slithers up my arm and rests himself on my shoulders, semi-wrapped around the back of my neck. He sits there quite happily, gently nuzzling me with his little head. I feel like I'm about to cry from happiness, when I hear Lyra talking."He must have liked that you put so much thought into his opinion and wishes. You need to name him now." She says with a smile. "Now that he's yours, you have to name him." I gently hold the end of his tail with my thumb and my index finger and think for a moment. "I think I'll name him Blue, because he's blue. It's short and simple." Blue tightens around me slightly affectionately. "You like that name?" He bubbles at me. Lyra giggles. "You two are as uncreative as each other. It's perfect." And she's right. It is perfect.
"So, I guess you DID catch a dragon for your first pokémon, hmm?" says Professor Hawthorne "So, am I allowed to be impressed yet?" Something about his voice has changed. He seems much more friendly now. "I guess you are, Professor." I say with a brief smile. He reaches into his coat and pulls out an ultraball. "Here. You take this. He's a rare pokémon, so it's only fair he gets a higher standard of pokéball." He hands me the ultraball and I look at it in my hands. "Oh, thank you professor! I don't know what to say..." I hold it up to Blue. "What do you think, Blue?" Blue just sort of sniffs it and then leaves it alone. Hawthorne and I chuckle simultaneously. "That's common with Dragon types. The don't like the captivity of a pokéball, because they enjoy the independence and power of being out in the world. But, you'll need to use it on him sometimes. Not everywhere allows you to have a pokémon out of their pokéball."
The Professor turns to Nurse Joy. "Is little Blue here alright to leave the Pokémon centre, Nurse?" Joy smiles pleasantly. "I think he is, Professor." He turns to me and grins. "Excellent. That means you two shall be following me now. Come come, we have things to do now that you're trainers." He suddenly turns around and walks briskly out of the room, taking Lyra and I by surprise. We quickly follow him out of the room. The corridors pass us, followed by the centre doors, followed by the area surrounding it. After just a few minutes, we arrive at the pokémon research lab. I look up at it's large doors. They seem daunting. Large glass panel doors. As we approach them, they open automatically. They slide silently into the walls to the side of them, and we walk into the lab. We pass several people in white coats sitting at desks, working on all manner of pokémon related work. I catch a glimpse of an equation on a large white board in black marker. I don't see the full thing, but it was a statistical one, and the answer was 1 in 8192. I see a few rocks on display with something buried partially in each of them. A weird dome, some kind of spiral shell, some shiny orange stuff, some kind of root, a claw, a hard looking cap, what looks like a shield, a rock-like shell, and a feather. I can't make any sense of them, but they look really interesting. I might ask Hawthorne about them after all this. I like the orange stuff. We pass some scientists looking at a picture of an orange washing machine with a weird blue hue around it. I find it a little odd that pokémon scientists are looking at a washing machine. We pass a table with one of every type of evolution stone on it, and I stop for a moment and look at them. Gradifal is the leading region for Evolutionary stones, and is one of our main exports, but some of these are still difficult to find here. The Thunder stone and Moon stone, for example. "You can take a couple, you know. Our job here is to make pokémon trainer's lives easier, and we've got plenty of these. Just don't take a fire stone or a shiny stone, because we're short on those." I silently reach out and grab a Thunder stone and the Moon stone, not wanting to take any more. I look up at Hawthorne for approval. He just smiles. "That all you want? How unselfish of you. Well, let's move on."
We follow the professor into his main laboratory, in which we find Yuki. She squeals when she sees us and runs right at us. She's running in heels. How the hell does she do that? She reaches us and gives both me and Lyra a huge hug. "Oh! My baby brother and sister, catching their first pokémon! And at the same time, too! Now you can stick together! Oh, this is simply fabulous, darlings! I'm so proud of you both!" I guess the professor must have told her. She notices Blue. "Oh my! Is that...is that a Dratini?" I nod proudly. "Yep. His name is Blue." Yuki smiles in disbelief. "Oh, he's simply adorable! He's so darling! Isn't that right sweetie?" She pinches his cheek gently. He seems to actually enjoy it. She turns to Lyra. "And who is this adorable little Horsea, hmm?" Lyra beams, enjoying the attention her Horsea is getting. "Her name is Bubbles! Isn't she perfect?" Yuki bends down slightly to look at Bubbles. "Oh, she really is, sweetheart. She's precious." We hear the Professor clear his throat. "As much as I'm enjoying this cute little session, we have business to attend to. Yuki, as my newest employee in my very elite team of Scientists, could you please prepare the items?" Yuki beams, jumps back upright, and runs off behind some machines. "Follow me, children." The Professor says whilst walking to a small table to the right of the lab. It's covered with a cloth, and there's a few items on it. "Now, while we wait for your sister to get back, let me give you a little information. You are now pokémon trainers. Now, most trainers have to wait a few weeks after catching their first pokémon to receive their trainer licenses, but Yuki insisted I had these at the ready for when you caught your first." The professor hands us two laminated navy cards with a red header at the top, and slightly around the sides. On each of ours, it had our names and our trainer numbers. 01158 is mines. I look over at Yuki's card. 42685. We both smile at each other. "So, be thankful for that. Again, because you are Yuki's siblings, and Yuki is one of my best workers, I'm giving you a lot of special treatment, such as these." He hands us each six Ultraballs. "I give most trainers ONE Pokéball to start off, so again, be thankful. Now, these are to store the badges that I have no doubt you two will win." He hands us each a beautiful case with a cloth-like indented lining on the inside to hold each badge we earn. It's much better quality than any others I've seen. "And the last, but not least, gift I'm giving you before your sister returns is this." The professor holds out his hands. In each one is a lovely handcrafted flute. One is mostly black with a little white, and the other is the opposite. I reach out and take the predominantly white one. "These will provide amusement and music to your journey, and they may just come in useful. Yuki actually made both of those. Under my instruction, of course."
Yuki suddenly returns holding two black boxes. "I got them, professor. Here they are!" She hands them to the professor, who then opens them. Out of each, he pulls a glove. A left handed and right handed one, the left being white and the right being black. They each have a small screen on them. "These," the professor says, "are my latest invention. It's called a Pokéglove. The name needs work, I know, but you two can work on that yourselves." He hands the left on to Lyra, because she's left handed. Yuki must have told him. He hands the right handed one to me. "You are the only two people in the world to posses one of these. It's a multi-functional glove. Is senses things like your pulse, your breathing rate, and basically your general health. As well as that, it wirelessly links to any pokéballs on your person and tells you the condition of the pokémon inside them, or in the case of Blue and Bubbles, any pokémon held on your person, or walking directly beside you. All this is displayed on the touchscreen on the glove. As well as all these features, it also has a pokédex of all Pokémon known to appear in Gradifal installed too. All you have to do is press the button labeled "DEX" and hold the glove up to whatever pokémon you need to identify, or just scroll if you just want information. The final feature, for now, there will be upgrades, is one that your sister insisted I install. The outside of the glove is fused with a substance comprised of the DNA of several different types of rock and steel pokémon mixed with that of a Ditto, which allows it to change on command. Simply press the red button on the side of the glove, and it will harden to become exceedingly strong. This can be used, and we HAVE tested this, to punch through solid rock, and most man made substances. Your sister was concerned you might become trapped or be in danger, and so insisted on this feature."
Lyra and I stand in front of Professor Hawthorne and Yuki, speechless. I have no idea to react to all these amazing items. "Professor...and Yuki...I really don't know what to say." Professor Hawthore simply grins, casually pats Blue's head, followed by Bubbles'. He walks slowly to the table behind the one we're at, with the cloth over it, gesturing for us to follow. We do, and he stands behind the table. "Oh, you only need to do one thing for me, Kasai." He whips the tablecloth away, revealing three small red and white orbs lined side by side on the table. I can't believe what I'm seeing. "Oh yes Kasai. See, there's only one thing I want you to do for me."
"Choose your next pokémon!"