Chapter 2
"I know all of you are excited to begin your Pokemon journey and that for some of you this will be the first time getting a Pokemon, but we still have to get through this orientation before you can do that so would you all mind quieting down," Professor Juniper called to the array of excited eighteen-year-olds freshly graduated from high school. The teenagers quickly settled into their chairs and respectfully looked at Professor Juniper but most of them still squirmed in their seats like toddlers out of anticipation for the new stage in their lives. Suddenly Professor Juniper threw a pokeball into the air releasing a Minccino causing any quiet whispers from the audience to completely stop. 'That got their attention,' Professor Juniper thought with a smile.
"As we all are well aware, we all live in a world inhabited by strange creatures that we call Pokemon. There is still much we do not know or understand about them, though we have already categorized and registered many Pokemon already, new ones seem to crop out of nowhere still to this day. The extent of an individual Pokemon's power, it's level of intelligence, and the very way they communicate with one another still remains a mystery to us. That is why you all are assigned a pokedex. This will help not only guide you through the region, it will give you tips on battling, insight into your own Pokemon, tips for care of Pokemon, and of course record the data of your interactions with them.
"Remember that when you are entrusted with the life of another creature. You should all consider your Pokemon to be your friends, your close companions, deserving of your love, time, and affection. Never consider them to be mere tools or objects when battling or even grooming them for a competition. Any abuse of your Pokemon, whether it be unnessarily pushing your Pokemon past its limits in battle or simple neglect, will result in your Pokemon Trainer license to be revoked along with the immediate removal of your Pokemon."
Professor Juniper gazed at the teens and saw the seriousness on their expressions. She smiled once more before continuing, "but Pokemon journeys are not all serious. Journeys are meant to make you grow as individuals, to become more fully aware of what it is you want out of life, and to become mature and responsible adults. You will all have wonderful experiences out there and hopefully meet and make many new friends. You'll find people with differing opinions, different fighting tactics, different goals, and different dreams. I hope that when you do, you'll first listen so that you may learn. You may find that others are not so different from yourself. I hope you all return having wonderful experiences and new insights which you can then share with your families and friends. Now, to the Pokemon!"
At this the whole crowd cheered and excitedly stood. Professor Juniper called: "You will get your Pokemon and pokedex depending on whether you already have a Pokemon and what type of journey you will be going on. Exploratory will stay right here with Professor Pine, Research will go to the left," Professor Juniper called as she went through the different types of journeys before finally saying, "and Master journey will follow me to the back."
After saying this, Professor Juniper left to the room further inside the lab where she waited for the new trainers to come. She pulled out her tablet to check how many would be going on this journey. 'Fourteen,' Professor Juniper read with a slight frown, 'all through out Unova there are only fourteen graduating students who want to go on a Masters journey.' She sighed to herself in disappointment. There were less and less teenagers signing up for it with each passing year. True, the Masters journey was difficult and potentially dangerous, but there hadn't been any accidents in a while now. 'Probably the influence of Team Plasma,' she thought bitterly. She never cared much for the Pokemon activist group. Not that she didn't support their involvement in stopping Pokemon abuse or the raids on the illegal selling of Pokemon by criminal organizations like Team Rocket, but she hated the fact that they acted like being a trainer was the equivalent of being a slave master and their push to dissolve institutes like the league tournament claiming it was 'an abomination to subject a Pokemon to such pain for the sake of mere sport.' Even though they hadn't made an actual move against the Pokemon League itself, which would have been seen more as treason than just an equal rights movement, it was no secret that Team Plasma also disapproved of them. Not to mention that Team Plasma hated Pokemon Researchers as well. The problem with Team Plasma was that so many people had started to side with them that it was almost impossible to not see its affect. Fewer Trainers than ever before, more protests on items such as pokeballs, and more boycotts on League sponsored events and products. The league had already begun to worry if they would be able to find people to replace their ranks since most league members, such as Gym Leaders, also had gone on a Masters journey before. With so few people signing up to go and the drop out rate being ridiculously high, she worried that the League may be right to be so concerned.
At that moment the door opened revealing several teenagers two of whom she recognized. She smiled at Hilbert and Cheren and they both cheerfully waved at her. She surveyed the other teens who had just walked in. Most looked confident and excited, others looked shy, but all appeared to be excited. Well that is except one of them. He looked confident like several of the others, but disapproval was etched all over his face. He stood apart and aloof from the other trainers, making him stand out. Well that and the fact that he had wild green hair that went down his back.
"I'm glad that you all have decided to go on the Masters Journey. I won't lie and tell you that the year or should I say years ahead of you will be easy. You will most likely spend days, weeks even away from civilization where you will train your Pokemon to be stronger and stronger. I hope that most of if not all of you will make it to the Elite Four and the Champion to try and defeat them, but that is no easy victory. On your journey you will learn much about Pokemon, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what type match ups really mean, and how to win even when the odds are against you. It will be difficult, but when you stand on Victory Road and stand at the doors of the Pokemon League, it will be worth it. Now without further ado, you may choose your Pokemon."
With that a screen appeared displaying an Oshawatt, a Snivy, and a Tepig with their information listed below. One by one the trainers came up and chose the Pokemon they wanted to start with, except for one. Professor Juniper approached the green haired boy and asked: "aren't you going to choose one."
"I don't need to," he said curtly, "I already have one."
"Oh? Which one?"
"Purrloin"
At this Professor Juniper sighed and thought 'Maybe another reason there are less trainers is because their becoming less and less competent.' Out loud she said "Well I'm glad that you have a Pokemon, but the reason these three are starters is one because they were bred and raised within the lab they are much easier to train and connect to and second because they are actually pretty powerful Pokemon and will serve you well while fighting the league. I'm sure your Purrloin is wonderful, but it will take you a long time to train it to stand up against even the first gym leaders."
"Well isn't that the whole point of believing in your Pokemon? I mean Pokemon are our friends right which is why of course they'll do great when we send them out to be attacked during a battle" the boy asked with a smirk.
'Is he mocking me,' Professor Juniper, 'or is this just some prank that he was pulling. From what he said he should be going to Team Plasma for recruitment not going on a Pokemon Masters journey.' "What's your name," she asked the boy.
"N"
"N? Just N? Well then N, mind if I ask why you're even going on a Pokemon journey to begin with?"
At this N just sighed and said, "In the society we live in, if we are to prove our merit and worth to others, we must first battle. According to the League, if we are to capture wild Pokemon we must first gain it's respect by first beating it down to a point that it can no longer escape the Pokeballs that we throw at it. If we are to gain respect from our peers, we must beat them at a Pokemon battle and take their money. If we want to join the League, we must earn a certain number of battles by again battling and fighting. It's how our society works unfortunately."
Professor Juniper pursed her lips in disapproval and help back a sharp and rather rude retort before simply saying "so you're looking for recognition? For respect and approval? Who do you have to prove yourself to?"
"Everyone," N replied, "now when do I get my pokedex so that I can leave this place."
Professor Juniper sighed and tried not to roll her eyes at him. "Well everyone else has already chosen a Pokemon so the last thing to do is register." Turning her back on N and facing the rest of the trainers who were excitedly holding their new Pokemon, she called "Okay, now you will all get your pokedexes. Guard them well, they are unreplaceable."
Hilbert than rushed forward to Professor Juniper and said "Au- I mean Professor Juniper- can I register my name as something other than Hilbert."
Professor Juniper laughed and said, "of course, many trainers do that. As you may already know, Skyla, the Gym Leader in Mistralton City, changed her name as did Grimsley of the Elite Four"
"And the Pokemon Masters Red and Blue did too," Hilbert added almost reverently.
Professor Juniper laughed and said: "Exactly. Now what would you like to name yourself?"
"Black," Hilbert smiled, "call me Black from now on!"
"Alright, Black," Professor Juniper said giving Black a wink, "That's what I'll call you from now on. Well, at least for as long as you're an official Pokemon trainer." Professor than addressed the group again: "Alright, now that you have your pokedex I want you all to open it to the Unova map section. I've already told you most of what a pokedex can do, but this is a feature that wasn't covered in the orientation. Do you see the different forests and routes?" The trainers nod "Now do you notice the different colors and shading around those areas?" Again, a nod "The dark red areas indicate where extremely powerful and dangerous Pokemon live while the lighter areas indicate where powerful but less dangerous Pokemon live. The blue areas indicate relatively safe areas and the light blue mean that there is almost no danger. You'll notice that route 1 is extremely light blue while the forest named Discordian Wood is one of the darkest red. It's ironic that we have two such extreme examples right here in Nuvema town, but there you have it. Route 1 is so safe the League doesn't even have anyone monitoring the route to make sure they have Pokemon strong enough to fight the Pokemon. On the other hand, you have Discordian Wood you can't even enter without a Pokemon Whisperer. Alright off you go. Oh also, remember to keep your Pokemon within their Pokeballs within the city limits at all times and if you get a bike to not ride around on it inappropriate areas."
With that, the group of new trainers eagerly left the lab, already challenging each other to a battle. Black and Cheren were about to leave as well when the Professor came up to them and said "Cheren, Hil-Black, wait. I invited both of your parents to come over before you officially went down Route 1 on your journey."
Cheren and Black looked at each other before Cheren said. "That's fine. As long as Hilbert… I mean Black and I get to battle each other."
"Oh your so on! Hey, Cheren what do you think of my new name!?" Isn't it so much better than Hilbert?"
"Hilbert is a perfectly good name… but I'll admit that Black does sound better. Just don't tell your parents that I said that. That goes for you too Professor!"
"No worries, Cheren. My lips are sealed."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! The story will move slowly at the beginning, but it does pick up later. Please R/R! I'd love to hear any thoughts or suggestions for my story!