I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT ANY OCs
Chapter 1
Pewter city is just like any other city in Kanto.
Surrounded by rocky plains and wide patches of grassy terrain, its main attractions are the Pewter Museum of Science and its gym. One of the big 8 gyms in Kanto, the gym specialised in rock type pokemon which were common around Pewter. More importantly for its residents, Pewter's main industry, beyond the large number of travellers and trainers stopping by due to its gym and close geographical distance to the Indigo Plateau, is mining.
Pewter city is located in an area surrounded by coal and metal veins like iron and aluminium. When the area was first discovered by geologists working for Geocore, a mining company, the Kanto government and a consortium of companies built Pewter city to take advantage of its proximity to these mineral veins. This led to Pewter city being one of the major providers for metals in Kanto and Johto.
To Jason Blunt however, such information was relegated to the back of his mind as he stared out of the window of his classroom. This is the last day of classes he had to sit through before the holidays. The next year, he and his peers will begin having practical pokemon classes as all of them will be over the legally required age of 12 to have a pokemon. The pokemon theory classes they had previously were important and even interesting at times, but it paled to having a real life pokemon in class.
He had seen many pokemon before, and even played with and taken care of his parents' pokemon as well, but having your own pokemon is the dream of every child in Kanto and he was no different. His parents had promised him a child of one of their own pokemon for his birthday so he had an idea of the possible pokemon he might receive. They had battled in the Indigo League in the past before settling down in Pewter so his future starter would be full of potential.
His ruminations were rudely interrupted when his chair was lightly kicked from the back, "Oi, Jay, class is over. Who are you dreaming about?"
Turning around, he saw Brock smirking at him. "Nah, I'm not a perv like you man." Jason snorted, "Let's go to Dingo's for lunch. I feel like having a burger."
"Sure, I need to fuel up before heading to the gym anyway."
***BREAK***
Biting into the burger, Jason leaned forward to make sure the juices landed on the plate rather than on his lap. Swallowing the piece of greasy heaven, he asked, "So how's your onix? I can't believe your father gave you that as a starter. Isn't it too huge for a starting pokemon?"
"Nah, he made sure I know to only let her out in the gym. Besides she's still young and isn't that big yet for an onix. Onix are remarkably low maintenance as well – they burrow into the ground and eat rocks and dirt, so I don't really need to do much." Brock answered while chomping down on some fries, "So do you know what pokemon your parents are going to get you? It's less then a week away, are they still keeping it a secret?"
"Yeah but considering the only pokemon I haven't seen around the house lately is Slowbro, Machamp and Arcanine, its probably the child of one of them."
"Which one would you prefer?"
"I'm honestly fine with any. I just really want a pokemon already." Jason groaned. "Even though slowpokes have a bad rep, my mom's slowbro is a monster. Trust me, I've seen some of her battle videos."
"Well, anyway, I have some good news." Jason looked up as Brock continued, "I've already asked my father for you. He said since you managed to get an A for your pokemon theory class, you can come and help at the gym over the holidays."
"Sweet! Oh my god, thanks man!"
"Hey, don't thank me when you're scrapping up rhyhorn dung later." He smirked, "At least now I have someone to help with the chores."
***BREAK***
"Calm down sweetie, your father is on his way back already." Sally Blunt looked at her son with amusement shining in her eyes. She came home early from the farm today, leaving the closing up to her employees and her trusty Meganium, to bake a cake for her son. Yet, the only thing he cared about was his father's arrival, or rather, that of his coming pokemon.
She understood though. She was just the same back when she was young and was about to receive chikorita from her parents. It was a rite of passage that signified her transition from child to teenager – showing that she was trusted with being responsible for another's life and wellbeing.
The period from 12 to 16 years of age which showed your ability to care for your pokemon would allow one's guardians or parents to be reassured that they are mature enough to undergo a pokemon journey.
While reminiscing on her own pokemon journey, Sally heard the door open and looked up.
Jason was trembling in excitement (and a little nervousness) as he watched his father walk in while grabbing a pokeball from his belt.
"Here, catch." Joseph's deep voice sounded out as he gently tossed the pokeball to his son. "Happy birthday ya little brat."
Fumbling a bit with the ball, he could only mumble a soft thanks before activating the pokeball.
In a flash of bright crimson, a small humanoid shape appeared.
"Ma-chop!"
The whole point of this story is for me to try and explore the Pokemon world through a more realistic lens. This means that most pokemon can be found in every region, except that those that are commonly called "Kanto Pokemon" for example, will simply be far more common in Kanto than anywhere else. It simply makes more sense to me that pokemon are integrated due to the effects of globalisation and migration - especially for flying and water pokemon that can cross oceans. Trainers that move from one region to another may also contribute to the presence of other region's pokemon appearing in the wild.
There will be other changes and I will not be following the game, anime or comic. I do not know where I am going with this and this will be just as much my adventure as it is Jason's.
Ultimately, I will simply be using this character to explore how a world with Pokemon would work so he may not even get into contact with any of the villains like Team Rocket. Note that my knowledge of Pokemon really only lasts till Pokemon Emerald so expect Pokemon from regions beyond Kanto, Johto and Hoenn to be less common.
Finally, I wish everyone all the best during the current covid situation, and I hope this story will at least make the lock down just a bit more bearable.