Unlike Any Other: Chapter 2 – Preparations
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The boat made stops at Four Island and Five Island before they finally arrived at Six Island. Carlos didn't mind that it had taken twenty minutes to get to his home island; that meant he had plenty of time to let his thoughts wander and body relax with the peaceful sight of the sea.
He got off the boat, with Isaac a few steps behind him.
"So Carlos, what time should I head over to your house? Or do you want to come over and study at my place?" Isaac asked as he caught up with Carlos and walked alongside him.
"Let's study at my house right now. My parents don't get home from work until about three hours. We won't need more time than that." Isaac nodded and the two walked in silence. Six Island was one of the peaceful Islands. It didn't have any large malls like One Island and Three Island did, or any kind of tourist attractions like Seven Island with its Trainer Tower.
They walked towards the south end of the island. Carlos's home was on the farthest end of town, barely considered part of it. Isaac's home was more near the center of the town. Carlos enjoyed isolation from being far from town; it gave him a comfortable thinking environment.
They finally spotted Carlos's humble home. A two story, three room house painted a light shade of blue. It was kept as nice as any modern home located on the main lands: It was well maintained, had plumbing, electricity, his mom's vegetable garden (which Carlos helped tend to) and his dad's work shed, referred to as 'the man cave' by his mother.
Carlos opened the fence enclosing his house and unlocked the front door. They stepped into the empty house, which at the moment, smelled slightly of Tomato berries.
"Let's go to my room," Carlos said before leading the way. Isaac had been to his house before, so it wasn't a mystery to him when they walked across the hall into the bedroom on the first floor, right across the guest bedroom, where Isaac slept on his late night stays. Carlos's parent's room was on the second floor.
"Still as boring as ever," Isaac commented before receiving a slight sock to the shoulder. Carlos's room had a neatly made bed, a television in one corner, a bookshelf, full of books, next to his closet, and a desk by the window.
"It's better than your messy room."
"Hey, my room is a man's room. Men don't spend more time cleaning than working out," Isaac replied, "and they don't alphabetize their books either."
"I do that because... oh, shut up." Carlos couldn't think of a comeback, and instead proceeded to drop his backpack by the wall.
"Let's go eat something before we start." Carlos changed the subject and walked to the kitchen. Nothing in the pantry, but Carlos smiled when he found a large plastic container full of spaghetti in the fridge.
"Looks like my mom left me some spaghetti to eat." He turned to Isaac, who was already sitting at the table, grinning.
"Don't you mean 'us'?" Carlos sighed and heated up the food.
...
Carlos watched Isaac disappear in the distance. He was feeling really confident at the moment. They had a successful study session, interrupted near the end with the arrival of Carlos's parents. Nonetheless, important material that they were most likely to forget was reviewed. Carlos had also shared his list of supplies with Isaac, since he had lost his at school. The list contained items that were allowed to be taken on the Mt. Ember Challenge, although there was a limit of how much a trainer could bring. Both teens coordinated on the items they would take, to avoid bringing an excess of one thing or lack of another. Final preparations for the day would include looking for his assigned items.
A clattering from his dad's shed drew Carlos's attention. He opened the door to find a hand reaching out from under a pile of random junk. Faint protests and grunts could be heard underneath. Carlos proceeded to dig his father out.
"Thanks kiddo." His dad greeted before handing the teen a large bag. "I found the tent you needed."
"Thanks dad." He nodded and Carlos helped put away the mess.
Back inside the house, Carlos assembled all his supplies in a large waterproof backpack. He went over the list again to make sure he had everything. Once finished, he got ready for bed.
...
Carlos sat at a bench by the docks on Six Island, waiting for Isaac to show up. His backpack lied on the ground next to him, holding the items he would need for the challenge.
His foot wouldn't stop it's tapping, or his mouth from grinning. Today was the day he had been waiting for ever since he was young, when he had first learned about Pokémon. Finally he would be getting his own, and his anticipation only made time seem to pass by slowly.
He heard a clatter behind him. Carlos turned towards Isaac, currently on the ground picking up some of his dropped supplies. The teen sighed before getting up to help his friend. It was a good thing he had slept early; today would be a handful, with the challenge and, probably, having to watch after Isaac.
The boat arrived on schedule and the two boys went aboard. The ride to One Island would take longer than what a normal school ride would take. On one hand, that would give him some thinking space and ocean staring, both of which he enjoyed doing.
On the other hand, nothing to do would allow doubts to surface in his mind. Doubts about whether he was really prepared for survival on his own. That would add to the nervousness he already felt about the Challenge. He briefly remembered a rumor about a pair of boys who had died on Mt. Ember. Then again, it was only a rumor.
Unlike the usual quiet rides, he decided talking with Isaac would help him relax. Surprisingly enough, their discussion lead to an interesting conversation about chairs. By that time, the boat docked on One Island.
The Pokémon Center was visible from where they got off. It was a red roofed building with a Pokeball logo as a sign. All centers had at least two floors. The main floor served as a reception center and lobby. The underground floor served as the technology center with phones, computers and other communication equipment.
Since the invention of the centers, new innovations have been thought of to cater to the needs of the hospital and trainers. This included having all the Pokémon Centers have two wings interconnected along with the main building. One wing would include room and board for traveling Pokémon trainers. The other wing was a larger expansion of the hospital, where appropriate and effective medical care could be administered.
Overall, it was a working design that kept the trainers, nurses and Pokémon satisfied.
According to the Professor, they would meet up in the Center's lobby. No one was in the lobby at the moment, except the receptionist that glanced at them before resuming her computer work. They didn't wait long, as the other students and eventually Professor Redwood arrived shortly after. The hunky adult looked around and spotted Carlos.
"Hello you two. How are you this morning?" John greeted when he approached the teens. Carlos smiled politely and Isaac only nodded.
"I'm doing well. I'm especially excited about getting my Pokémon," Carlos replied, but Isaac said nothing. He left the two and took a seat at the lobby chairs farthest from them.
"Good news Carlos," John continued, almost as if Isaac hadn't been there, "I managed to communicate with Professor Oak yesterday."
"What'd he say?"
"He's really excited that you are considering it. When I talked about your credentials, he was more than impressed and thought it would be good for you to not only travel with a Pokedex, but compete in the Pokémon League as well."
"That means I have to gather all the badges from the gym leaders of a region. Did he specify which region I am going to explore?"
"Ultimately, that choice is up to you," John replied. "But if you hadn't set your mind to a region yet, he strongly recommended traveling around Kanto. It has a lot of historical remnants scattered around towns and routes, along with new innovations in the cities. I think you'd enjoy Kanto."
"Actually, that does sound like a good region for me to begin at." John nodded in agreement.
"Other than that, Oak told me that all you have to do is carry around the Pokedex. It'll automatically take records and data of Pokémon you encounter. It's a lot more advanced than the first Pokedex that was invented. It will do a full scan of the Pokémon's DNA, along with other details that I can't remember. It'll really help with the research. Plus you'll get paid for it! " John paused to look at his wristwatch.
"Anyway, that's all that you really need to know. Since Oak may be busy most of the time, you are to report anything new to me, usually one or two reports a month will do. If any questions come to mind, feel free to ask me after the Challenge."
John walked off towards the reception counter, while Carlos took a seat next to Isaac.
"So, what did Redwood want with you? Seems like something special is going on between the two of you," Isaac inquired, causing Carlos to blush.
"No, it's nothing! He's just helping me with some journey preparations. That's all."
"What kind of preparations?" Isaac pushed a bit, leaning into Carlos.
"Fine, I'll tell you," Isaac loosened a bit on him. "He's helping me get a Pokedex to take on my journey."
"Really?" Isaac exclaimed excitedly. "That's awesome! Those things are hard to get a hold of, I heard."
"I don't think researchers are too fond of the idea of giving high tech encyclopedias to just any teenager."
Looking around the lobby, they could see why the researchers had trouble trusting teens. Some guys in a corner were shoving each other and laughing. A group of girls sat in a uniform line adjusting their make-up.
As often was the case, new teenage trainers ended up settling down sooner and quitting training if their hearts weren't seriously set on Pokémon from the get-go. That wasn't to say there weren't plenty of serious trainers coming into the scene, but failures were still possible.
"Excuse me everyone, could I have your attention?" Redwood got ahold of the PA system built in the center. Everyone looked towards the counters, but it wasn't the professor or other assistants that attracted their attention. It was the polished, power-radiating Pokeballs neatly aligned atop the counter. The talking immediately died down.
"First off, I want all of you to refrain from letting your excitement take the best of you. Everyone will get a fair chance to choose between three starters. I advise that you not bring your hopes up on any specific starter you had in mind; chances are it won't be among your options."
A few groans came from the students. They had formed a group in front of the reception counter, with Carlos and Isaac far in the back.
"We will begin with the explanation of the Challenge,"
It was a good thing Carlos was in the back of the crowd. John wouldn't be able to see his bored face that would eventually settle from hearing the story about tradition and adulthood. The important parts of the speech included the bonfire graduation ceremony that would occur at the end of the second day, where all the trainers who completed the challenge would receive their diplomas and trainer ID. Trainer ID is required for Pokémon Center facility usage.
"And that concludes the traditional Mt. Ember Challenge speech," John finished with a look of pride. Anyone would be proud if they managed to memorize that entire speech. "Please form lines at the tables that indicate the first letter of your last name."
Despite the warning to stay calm, most of the trainers rushed to their appropriate line. Carlos failed to make it in the front half of his line. There were about seventeen others in front of him. God only knew how long it would take for them to choose their starter before he had the chance to choose.
Then came John.
"Hey Carlos, I have…another special request." Carlos sighed inwardly, faked a smile and followed him towards a quiet corner.
Once the two sat down, John began searching through the pockets of his lab coat. Once again, thoughts of marriage proposals and engagement rings surfaced in his mind. To Carlos's surprise, John pulled out a Pokeball. Unlike the traditional red and white Pokeballs, this one had ocean wave stripes of blue, starting with a blue circle in the white on the top, light blue in the middle and dark blue underneath - a Dive Ball if Carlos remembered correctly.
"Carlos, inside this Pokeball is a…unique Pokémon." He gently handed the ball over to Carlos. The teen cradled the ball in his palm, curiosity urging him to open it.
"I might be asking a lot from you to consider taking this Pokémon as your starter. It's a Totodile, but not a common one like you'd expect." Carlos looked up from the ball.
"What do you mean? What makes it uncommon?" John seemed hesitant to reply, almost as if the answer would scare Carlos from accepting the Totodile.
"This Totodile…it seems to have a severe case of hormone imbalances." John watched for a negative reaction, and receiving a neutral expression, continued. "These hormones are produced spontaneously at times, or may be provoked by its environment. They cause Totodile to have mood swings, ranging from mild to extreme. He may suddenly get depressed, furious or hyper when these hormones play out. Again, the severity and length are unpredictable."
Carlos processed the information. A crazy Totodile: it sounded like too much work would go into the Pokémon, but it wasn't his fault either.
"I'm…not sure. I can't promise that I'll know what to do." John reached to take the ball, but Carlos pulled it out of reach. "I still want to try to raise it." John smiled.
"That's a relief to hear. Totodile has been passed up so often before, I started to think it wouldn't get a trainer. I think he was starting to lose hope as well."
"That's not a problem anymore."
"You're right. And all the time Totodile spent in the lab gave us some hope for recovery: I've noticed that these hormone imbalances have slowly receded over time. Totodile's body is fixing the problem, and I'm sure a journey with a kind trainer will speed up the process."
"I don't doubt that." Carlos stood up and attached the ball to a ball strap on his belt. He couldn't help but smile. His first partner, right at his side, gave him a sense of companionship and safety. The other five empty straps made him even more eager to begin his journey.
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Again, all constructive comments are welcome!
