Chapter 3
"I'm so sorry about the room!" Bianca apologized repeatedly.
"Oh, don't worry about that! I'll take care of it!" said Heather, "In the meantime, you three have to go to Professor Juniper's lab, don't you?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot!"
Shizuka immediately had a message written for them. "What do you mean "three"?"
"The professor gave us these Pokemon so that we could collect data for her with the Pokedex," said Cheren, "Not just for us to start our journey."
"I never agreed to that. I didn't even plan on leaving." Shizuka wrote.
"She's got a point," Bianca pointed out.
"Yeah," Cheren agreed with a sigh, "Oh well, I guess it's her choice."
Shizuka stood there silently, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. After a few minutes, she held up another message.
"Gimme a sec."
And with that, Shizuka went back inside, Oshawott following closely behind her.
So, you're not going? he asked. Shizuka didn't answer.
I guess we aren't, Oshawott thought in dismay.
The pair soon reached Shizuka's trainwreck of a bedroom. Oshawott watched as Shizuka went to one of the drawers of her dresser that had fallen onto the ground. From it, she picked up an army green jacket with a large hood and slipped it on. Then she went to her bed and pulled a pair of black sneakers out from under it.
You mean... you'll travel with me? Oshawott asked excitedly.
Why else would I be grabbing this stuff? Shizuka answered matter-of-factly. She had now grabbed a gray messenger bag and begun shoving some random things into it. Then she headed down the stairs and out the door. Cheren, Bianca, and Heather were waiting for her.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to agree," Cheren commented in surprise.
"Yay! Now we can go to the lab!" Bianca rushed off down the road.
"Hey, slow down!" shouted Cheren as he ran after her. Shizuka started to follow them, but a cry of "Wait!" made her jog back to her house. Upon returning to Heather's side, she was given a big hug.
"Be careful out there," Heather said softly after a short pause. Then she let go and stepped back. "You two take care of each other, okay?" Oshawott vigorously bobbed his head up and down in response while Shizuka gave a curt nod. Heather smiled. "Well then, good luck you two! Oh, and Shizuka, if you ever travel to Icirrus City, make sure you stop to visit Harvey!" Shizuka nodded again, then gave a quick wave and began walking to the lab. Oshawott followed close behind her.
Hey, who's Harvey? he asked.
Heather's older brother, Shizuka replied.
So he's your uncle?
Heather isn't my biological mother and I'm not an adopted member of her family, so no.
Oh.Oshawott remained silent for a few seconds, then turned to Shizuka to ask, What happened to your real parents?
I didn't realize it was raining, said Shizuka. Oshawott looked up as a tiny droplet of water landed on his nose.
Me neither,he commented, but you didn't answer-
Oh look, we're here, Shizuka interrupted as they reached Professor Juniper's lab. Bianca and Cheren stood in front outside the door, the latter looking rather cross.
"About time you got here!" shouted Cheren, "Come on, let's go in already!" As Shizuka followed the other two trainers inside, Oshawott reminded himself that the topic of Shizuka's parents was most likely a touchy one that he better try not to bring up again.
"Oh, so Shizuka agreed! Wonderful!" Professor Juniper remarked as the three teens walked inside, "You're just in time; I just finished getting this third Pokedex ready!" She moved to the desk behind her and picked up three small rectangular devices. The first was red, the second was pink, and the third was light green. The professor then proceeded to hand Cheren the red one, Bianca the pink one, and Shizuka the green one.
"Here they are! Now, I guess I should fill you in on what exactly I'd like you to do..."
~one long boring explanation (that I'm not writing cuz I wanna get this chapter done already and you probably know exactly how its gonna go anyway) later~
Man, I thought she'd NEVER shut up... thought Shizuka.
"Alright, now that that's out of the way, would you like to give your Pokemon a nickname?" asked the professor.
"Hmm..." Bianca thought for a bit, then turned to her Tepig and asked, "What do you think of the name Tonton?" The Fire Pig Pokemon happily wiggled his tail and snorted fire in response. "Alright then, Tonton it is!"
"I think I'll call you Zelen," Cheren told his partner, "That okay with you?" Snivy nodded in approval.
"Are you gonna give Oshawott a nickname?" Bianca turned to Shizuka, who stood next to her deep in thought.
You better not call me something stupid, like "Roast Beef" or something! Oshawott told her.
Why the hell would I do that?! Shizuka yelled back. As she pondered what the perfect name for the Sea Otter Pokemon would be, she casually glanced out the window. The rain had now become a light drizzle, softly tapping at the glass.
Drizzling... and it's late autumn... That's it! Shizuka quickly scribbled down the name she'd come up with as she shared the idea with Oshawott, who immediately approved. She then held up her notepad to show the professor, Cheren, and Bianca.
"That's a wonderful name!" said Professor Juniper, "Oh, and before I forget, here's his Pokeball!" Shizuka reached out and took the red and white ball from the professor. "Now you're officially his trainer!"
Officially obtained Shigure (Oshawott)
Ability: Torrent
Careful Nature
Likes to thrash about.
"Alright, now that we've settled everything, it's time for you all to begin your journey! Come with me out to Route 1; there's something important I need to teach you." The professor grabbed a small bag from her desk and walked out the door. She was quickly followed by Cheren, Bianca, and Shizuka.
When they got outside, they found that the rain had just stopped and the sun was breaking through the clouds. As they splashed through the muddy puddles on the small dirt path to join Juniper on Route 1, Shigure had another question for his trainer.
Hey, Shizuka? he asked, Why'd you choose to travel with me?
Why do you ask? Shizuka asked back.
I heard Cheren and Bianca say you wanted nothing to do with Pokemon and I got curious.
Shizuka's jog slowed to a halt. She looked down at her feet as Shigure noticed her expression darkening.
They're right; I haven't wanted to get involved in training Pokemon for a few years now, she said grimly, But...
But what?
It's just... Shizuka's hand rose up to finger her octagonal pendant and the chain it was attached to. Well, you remind me of an old friend. That's all.The two stood in silence for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say next.
"Hey slowpokes!" Bianca called playfully, "Hurry up or we're leaving you behind!"
Shizuka blinked, then looked up to see Bianca waving at her next to the Route 1 entrance.
C'mon, let's hurry! said Shigure.
Yeah yeah, you don't have to tell me. Shizuka quickly broke into a run and dashed towards the grassy road ahead.
Hey, wait for me!
Author's Note
OMFG I procrastinated on this FOREVER! I just got so bored writing it! Hopefully the next few chapters will come out quicker.
BTW when a new Pokemon is obtained, the format to announce that will be as follows:
Nickname (Species)
Ability
Nature
Characteristic
Also, some of you who started reading this story when I first uploaded it may have noticed that I changed 'Mrs. Heather' to just 'Heather'. It's still the same person; I just thought Heather sounded more like a first name than a last name (and I couldn't think of any other first names). Plus, she's supposed to be single and the title 'Mrs.' implies that you're married.
Explanation of the Pokemon nicknames:
Tonton is the name of a pig in the Naruto series. I've never seen Naruto nor do I plan to, but I found out about the pig while surfing YouTube and thought the name was cute.
Zelen means 'green' in Bulgarian. (according to Google Translate lol) Since Cheren is Bulgarian for 'black', I randomly decided his Pokemon should have a nickname in the same language for some reason.
Shigure means 'drizzle' in Japanese, but can also mean 'shower in late autumn'. It was on a list of names I'd come up with ahead of time, but it actually was raining on the day I started the Nuzlocke and it was late Autumn ingame, so it was perfect.
Fun fact: I actually did nickname my starter in the very first Pokemon game I ever played 'Roast Beef'...
Thanks again for reading!
-ShadowPen448
