Chapter 2: The First Step
After seeing off Cheren and Bianca Aoi went back inside to say goodbye to his mother and finally start his journey. He walked back inside the house and saw his mother lounging in front of the TV.
"Hey mom I thought you said you were going to clean my room? But here I find you being a couch potato" Aoi said with a disapproving look. She slowly turned her head towards him and looked with at him with a smile.
"What are you talking about its being cleaned now by some of my Pokémon. There was some heavy stuff that fell over so I'm letting them take care of it." She said grinning. Aoi was a little surprised to hear this but it wasn't the first time he's caught his mother slacking off while her Pokemon did her chores. He ignored it because he knew if said anything about it he'd get put into one of her headlocks again. Aoi walked up to his mother and sat down next to her.
"Alright mom I'm going to leave now, I'm not sure when I'll see you again but I promise I'll give you and dad a call every once in a while when get to a new city." He said trying to reassure her.
"Oh that's right I almost forget!" She said popping up to her feet and clapping her hands together. "I have another gift for you before you leave, give me a minute okay" She dashed off towards the stairs ran up them almost tripping in the process. Aoi could hear the sound of drawers and cabinets opening and closing, and then the thunderous footsteps of his mother as she ran back to the living room. She walked up to him trying to compose herself.
"Here Aoi it's a gift from your father." She said as she handed him a crudely wrapped box. Aoi took the box from his mother with a worried look on his face. The wrapping paper was wrinkled, and a bit ripped. The bow was crumpled on one side and it seemed like there was more tape than actual wrapping paper. He reluctantly started tearing away the paper and found a box with the word Xtransceiver across it. He stared at it confused and before he could ask his mother chimed in
"It a cross-transceiver, you can use this to call any phone, or Xtransceiver, but the really cool thing is that you can have a video call with up to four people at the same time. Pretty neat right. So now you don't have to worry about being in a city to check up on us sweetie, and don't worry I won't call you all the time cuz I know that'll bother you" She giggled as she held up one of her own.
Aoi gave his mother a hug and thanked her for all she did and said his final goodbyes and took off. He headed to Professor Juniper's lab to see Cheren already there waiting for him. He wondered where Bianca was. Out of the three of them she lived the closest to the lab so he thought that she'd be the first one there.
"Hey Aoi could you go check on Bianca and see what's taking her so long. I knew she was ditzy but I don't know why she's goofing around now. She's the one who insisted we all start together and meet up at the lab" Cheren asked as he rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh.
Aoi didn't want to waste any more time and he knew if he asked Cheren to do it or come along it would just lead to argument so he decided to just go along with it and headed towards Bianca's house. Nuvema town wasn't that big of a town so it didn't take very long for Aoi to get to her house, as he approached he could hear yelling he started to get worried about what he would find on the other side of the door. He tried knocking a few times but he never got a reply. The yelling started to get louder and he could hear loud crashing noises. Aoi didn't know what was going on but he knew he had to help.
He opened the door to find Bianca cowering on the ground and her father screaming no over and over again. The living room looked like it was hit by a tornado, there was broken glass and furniture scattered about. Aoi had never dealt with a situation like this but he knew standing there thinking about it wouldn't help anyone, He saw her father start to raise his hand to hit Bianca and without even thinking he ran in and grabbed her father by the hand.
"What the hell are you doing get your hand of me you brat!" Bianca's father barked angrily as he struggled to get free from Aoi's grip
"What are you doing, a real man would never raise his hand to a woman especially his own daughter! You should be happy for Bianca right now, she's about to start her journey" Aoi said staring directly into the eyes of her father.
"You don't understand Bianca isn't right for a journey, she's weak, ditzy, and a scared little girl who doesn't know anything about the world and how it works, the only thing she's good for is staying at home and taking care of a man who can provide for her." Bianca's father stated looking at Bianca with disgust.
"You're wrong!" Aoi snapped as he threw her father back towards the wall "She's not some helpless damsel who needs to be rescued and provided for, she is strong enough to take care of herself. I may have not known Bianca for very long time but in the short time since I met her I've seen her change so much. She may still forget things sometimes and she may not be the most athletic, but she's got something most people don't. She's got guts, I've never seen her once give up no matter how many tries it took her." Aoi said. He let go her father and walked to Bianca and reached his hand out to her.
"Alright Bianca it's your turn I've done what I can the rest is up to you, but don't forget you're not alone you've got me, Cheren and Tep as well" Aoi said with a big grin. Bianca took his hand and got back up, she reached into her bag and grabbed the poke ball with Tep and held it close to her chest as if she was praying.
"Father…I'm going an adventure with Tep and my friends. I..I…I want to be a great trainer like Aoi and Cheren. I don't want to run away anymore I want to be able to stand up on my own two feet. Goodbye" Bianca said as tears started running down her face. She turned towards the door, grabbed Aoi's hand and ran out of the house and headed towards the professor's lab. They soon arrived at the lab where she took a minute to catch her breath and calm down.
"What took so long Bianca" Cheren questioned "Well her fath.." Bianca covered Aoi's mouth before he could explain what happened. "I'm sorry I couldn't decide on what to bring is all and then I forgot where I put my Xtranseceiver" Bianca chuckled nervously as she looked at Aoi. "Well at least you're here now let's go thank the professor." Cheren said as he started opening the door to the lab.
Aoi looked at Bianca confused to as why she didn't want to tell Cheren about what happened, but he didn't want to be like her father and get in the way of her decision. The three of them walked inside the lab and made their way to Professor Juniper's office. The lab was filled with a plethora of machines and people who all very busy, but all of them seemed to be having fun regardless of what they were doing. The three of them were in awe of how amazing the lab was and they were that much more excited to see the professor. They arrived at her office and to their surprise saw the professor sitting at her desk drinking some coffee.
"Ah there you three are! I've been waiting for you youngsters. Let me introduce myself again. My name is…"
"Professor Juniper? We know your name" Cheren said interrupting her.
"Come, come, Cheren! This is not a time to take things lightly. Today is a day to remember always so it's best to behave with some formality. That being so, once again my name is Professor Juniper, and I am researching when and how the creatures called Pokémon came into existence." Professor Juniper stated. She paced back and forth a couple of times looking at each of them individually.
"Oh that's unusual! You've already had a Pokémon battle! So maybe that's why…It feels as though your Pokémon have already begun to trust you! As for why I gave all of you Pokemon…"
"It's for the Pokedex, right?" Cheren said interrupting again.
"Pokedex?" What's that? Bianca asked looking to the Professor for the answer.
"The Pokedex is a high-tech device that automatically records the Pokémon you encounter." Aoi said with a smirk
"I'm astonished. Nice work Cheren and Aoi! You have already studied Pokémon extensively, haven't you? And I expect nothing less from one of my Aides Aoi. It's no wonder why you passed the exam so quickly. So I want you three to visit many places and meet all the Pokémon in the Unova region! This is my request. Aoi! Cheren! Bianca! Will you do this for me?" Professor Juniper asked.
"OK..I mean…Yes, professor!" Bianca said trying to be as serious as she could.
"Thanks professor now I can be the Pokémon trainer I've always wished." Cheren said pushing up his glasses.
"I won't let you down professor! There's something really important I need to do while I'm doing this so there's no way I can fail." Aoi said scratching the back of his head and laughing.
"Thank you all! You've given me the best possible answers! Next I need to teach you how to catch Pokémon so meet me at Route 1 ok?" She said as handed each of them a Pokedex.
The three went left the lab and were about to make their way to route 1. Aoi was the first one to exit and to his surprise he found his mother waiting for him out front. Bianca and Cheren pushed Aoi all the way through the door so they could see why he stopped.
"So there you three are! And…? What did the professor have to say?" May-Delle asked quizzically
"She wants us to complete the Pokedex" chimed Bianca.
"Wow! She wants you to complete the Pokedex?! I can't believe it! Well actually, I can I already knew she was going to ask" she giggled with her hand next to mouth "That reminds me Aoi your father and I were asked to complete the Pokedex when we were about your age but then again that was a long time ago and in different regions so I'm sure there are all kinds of new Pokémon for you to meet, and to help you with that I've brought you three these Town Maps. Take them with you! Here you are, Cheren and one for you too Bianca
"I'll take good care of it ma'am" Cheren said holding the map in his hands.
"Th-thank you so much!" Bianca said clapping her hands together in joy.
"And don't worry about what's left of your room Aoi I'll make sure it's nice and tidy for the next time you come by ok? Ah, Pokémon. They are so cute, but they have enough power to destroy all kinds of things! They are really something! With them by your side you'll be safe wherever you go. I hope that in addition to all the wonderful Pokémon you'll meet you find lots and lots of places that you like in the Unova region and you become wonderful adults! Have a great trip you three!" After giving Aoi one last big hug she headed back home.
"Let's go, let's go! Aoi, Cheren the professor is waiting for us! Last one there is a rotten egg" Bianca said excitedly as she started running of towards route 1. Cheren and Aoi looked at each other knew that they couldn't lose to her or else they'd never live it down. The first to arrive was Aoi and following closely behind him was Bianca and Cheren who tied.
"Haha looks like your both rotten eggs" Aoi said laughing. He was about to start walking when he felt a tug at his shirt.
"Wait Aoi. Since we're all starting this journey at the same time we should take our first steps on route 1 together don'tcha think?" Bianca said with a giggle. Aoi agreed and Cheren didn't care either way as long as they got to start they adventure finally. The three of them lined up and got ready to walk. Bianca gave a count of three and they all stepped out on route 1.
-Chapter 2 End-
