Raziel woke up without a sound, turned to the alarm clock, shaped like a skull, and turned it off. Then he pondered why he had to wake up at 6 AM, over four hours before his usual in a non-working day. Then he remembered.
"Oh shit, the Pokédex ceremony." He realized. He stood up, quickly dressed in his usual attire, mostly consisting of shades of black – no, he refused the label of goth, he just liked the color – with a Marowak skull on the shirt – no, not a punk either – and slowly walked into the kitchen. His father looked at him over the newspaper. "Didn't know Romero's zombies were in my house."
"Very funny." Raziel muttered, following the words with a long yawn, followed by a quick breakfast.
"I am about to leave." He realized "An official trainer, and one of those chosen to use the new invention of Professor Oak at that." He had subscribed to the selection on a whim, after reading the announcement. He had asked his teacher to write his recommendations and then had waited, without much hope, until a week before, when he had been awoken by a surprisingly cheerful father. "Well Raziel, you should tell your uncle there's one more researcher in the family." He had simply said.
Raziel had been overjoyed, but also surprised. Professor Oak had seriously picked him over at least a hundred other candidates. He knew he had done very well in the practical exam, but his written exams were far from the best in Lavender or Saffron, let alone the best in Kanto.
He looked around the house one last time before leaving. His younger brother was still asleep, the tank with his Dratini next to him. He wondered if he should have woke him up to say goodbye, but decided against it. It wasn't the last time he was going to visit Lavender after all. His brother had been weird the last year or so anyway, growing colder with Raziel. Waking him up was NOT a good idea to make the situation between the two any better. He said goodbye to his mom, grabbed his backpack and left the house, entering the car waiting for him outside. In four hours he would be in Pallet, and in 5 he would be a trainer with a starter and a Pokémon.
"Hellooooo, Giuls!" The boy with brown hair exclaimed, cheerfully saluting his closest friend.
"Good morning Draconix. I see you are excited." The girl replied, her short blonde hair stopping before her shoulder.
"Why wouldn't I be? We are becoming trainers Giuls! We are getting a Pokédex! AND. WE. WILL. TAKE. THE. LEAGUE." Draconix said, his tone growing louder.
"You losers will have to walk over my dead body before that." Said a familiar voice. They both audibly sighed and turned to find Blue Oak, the biggest douchebag on the western side of Kanto.
"Hello Blue." Draconix said, markedly less cheerfully than he had done with Giuls. Giuls just nodded towards him.
"Hello losers. How are you silver medals doing?" He asked. Giuls and Draconix both scoffed. They had both made the same point results in the final exams, just ten under Blue, and the guy was more than happy to remind them.
The three walked to Oak's Lab together. Not that they wanted to walk with Blue, or Blue wanted to walk with them, but there was only one way there that wouldn't make it clear they wanted to avoid that bag of arrogance Blue Oak was. Despite everything, Giuls and Draconix still remembered they used to be far closer to him when they were younger.
The Lab was surrounded by a small group of onlookers. Some journalists from smaller newspapers were going to take pictures of the ceremony that would celebrate this "unprecedented experiment", and the rest were there just to see who the Professor had picked. When they walked in and entered the door, most people cheered: in a town like Pallet, the top grades of the Trainer Academy were quite well known.
"Welcome, welcome!" Oak said cheerfully "Blue, Draconix… Juliet…"
"Giuls."
"Yes indeed, just as I said." Oak replied "We just need to wait about ten more minutes. Take a seat, I have some tea while we wait."
The three looked around the room. Most of the chairs had been put to the side, behind the biggest bookcases, and were covered with piles of paper. The professor was probably trying to make the Lab look better for the press.
Beside them, in the room was only an elderly Nidoking, sleeping vigorously in a corner, drooling what looked like poison. Giuls remembered in his youth the Pokémon had been Oak's Starter and main fighter, beating Agatha's Gengar during his League challenge as a Nidorino. It was weird to think that the man that now was an humble – well, somewhat humble – researcher had been the Champion of Kanto for ten consecutive years, and had only left on his own rather than stepping down after a defeat.
After about ten minutes, just as the professor had said, the door opened and a fourth young man entered the room. Pale, thin, long black hair – long for a man at least – and mostly dressed in black and skulls. Giuls tried to figure out if he was purposefully going for the style of the lovechild of a goth and a punk, or if he just had a somewhat questionable fashion sense. "And he seriously needs some sun." She added.
Draconix had a similar impression, from what she could tell, though he was polite enough to not say anything. Blue was not. "So did you rise from a tomb or did you just come back from a concert?"
Raziel looked at him, puzzled. "Definitely a questionable fashion sense." Decided Giuls. No big deal anyway, the fact she liked to dress like a tomboy had been the main source of gossip on her for years, she could sympathize. A bit.
Raziel looked at the four people in the room. The Professor seemed busy with something, back at his desk, so he focused on the three people of his same age. The girl was, he had to admit, one of the cutest girl he had seen, something surprising in someone sporting such a tomboyish look. Short hair, long baggy trousers and jacket, both made of jeans, and a green t-shirt.
The two boys were dressed normally, and both sported similar longish hair kept purposefully unkempt. They all seemed very focused on his clothes. Raziel smiled. He liked his style a lot, and was sure it had made quite the impression.
So the question of one of the three, the teenager in blue, surprised him. He just looked at him puzzled for a second, then snickered "The first?" He said. He did like cemeteries, there were a lot of interesting Pokémon to find there.
Draconix laughed "I like this guy." He said, getting closer "Draconix.".
"Raziel." Replied the black clad teenager after a second, shaking his hand.
"NORA!" Exclaimed the girl, jumping between them. "No but seriously, I am Giuls. Welcome to Pallet."
"Very moving." The last teen said, "The birth of a beautiful friendship and all the jazz. But can we get to the whole Dex thing now?"
The professor raised his head from the desk in that very moment, turning to the new arrival.
"Ah, Raziel, you are here too." He said "I figured I'd add a finishing touch, sorry. But here they are, ready for you all.
The teenagers looked amazed at the four Dex on the table. Along with them were four Poké Ball, one per person.
"So, I asked your parents what kind of Pokémon you'd like, and they were kind enough to give me some guidelines." He looked at Raziel "Very specific ones, sometimes." Raziel blushed in return. He knew what he meant.
Oak moved outside a moment, and came back followed by the crowd. The few journalist took some pictures of the four of them and Professor Oak together, then the main event started.
"Welcome, everyone, to a new step for the future of Pokémon research. For decades, I have tracked down informations on every Pokémon from the region of Kanto, as my fellow Professors have done and are doing around the world. And today, I am proud to announce the result of these research, a door to the future! Here is the Pokédex!" He said, raising the small object. It looked like a digital guide, with a touch screen to easily move through the various functions. "This beautiful item is both an encyclopedia and, thanks to it's connection to the trainer's Poké Balls, a functional computer. It will allow trainers to monitor their Pokémon condition, thus further analyzing the growth of any they might choose to bring with them. As many know, it is my belief that a shared bond between Pokémon and Trainer is what makes both stronger. Now I seek to prove this." He handed each of them a Dex. Black to Raziel, blue to Blue, red to Draconix, green to Giuls. "Moreover, the Dex will also help those trainers in their journey. They will be given informations on any Pokémon they might encounter. Informations that, should it prove false or even slightly incorrect, they will be able to report directly to me for review. Imagine how much faster research will progress once more people are tasked with this Pokédex!"
The crowd seemed mostly unfazed by the long explanation, Raziel noticed. Some people were listening, scientists if he had to bet, and the journalists were taking notes, but everyone else showed at best mild curiosity. He found himself wondering why they were even there. Maybe they just hoped to end up in a photo on the news. Or maybe it was out of respect for the old professor. He was still somewhat of a celebrity after all.
Oak smiled, and then pointed the four youths to the table. "Your Starter awaits." He said.
The four new trainers walked to the table and touched the respective Poké Balls. There was a small beeping sound, and the Pokédex showed them what Pokémon was inside. Oak was clearly VERY excited.
Raziel smiled and opened his to reveal a Gastly. The Pokémon turned towards him and smiled… then proceeded to lick his hand. There was an unpleasant tingly feeling and Raziel's hand went limp, paralyzed. Gastly had a laugh, and Oak rushed in with an Antiparalysis. Raziel was pretty happy though. He wanted to become a Ghost specialist, like Agatha of the Elite Four or Angelo from Johto. Now he was taking his first step.
The other three showed their Pokémon almost together. Giuls was trying to keep hold on a Bulbasaur that clearly had no interest in anything but leaving her grasp, Draconix was watching a Charmander, but the two seemed to be getting along, and Blue was just looking clinically at his Squirtle.
"I guess there is always something to find out about a new Pokémon." He thought, looking back at Gastly, who seemed curious more than dangerous. He called him back into his Poké Ball and turned to the Professor.
"Thank you, sir." He said, bowing his head "I'll make sure to treat him well and will do my best to help in your research."
Oak smiled "Well… Richard…"
"Raziel."
Oak ignored him "As I said, the core of this research is the bond between Trainer and Pokémon. In understand you plan to try and take on the League with just that Gastly, correct?"
"Unless I stumble upon another Ghost here in Kanto… Yes."
Oak smiled "Well then, I am counting on some great discoveries on how the bond between you two will influence your growth."
Raziel was… surprised. Usually, people called his dream of winning the League using only Ghosts ridiculous, especially when they realized he meant to try with only a single one. But Raziel was convinced it was possible. There was a precedent of a League winner that only used two Pokémon, so maybe there was a chance.
Blue stared at the black clad teenager as he thanked the Professor. Winning the League with one Pokémon? Nonsense! If that was possible, it would mean the Elite Four and the Champion were worse than useless. Training was a complex exercise of strategic thinking, not just a stupid attempt at rushing in and hoping to win with a Pokémon.
"Ohi, Raziel!" He called "Would you like a challenge? One v One, for sportsmanship." He said.
"Since when do you care about sportsmanship?" Giuls asked, her Bulbasaur back in the Poké Ball.
"Yeah, why are you that interested in challenging Raziel?"
"Oh come on, I just want to try out our new Pokémon in a friendly spar." Blue said. "And prove him immediately there are bigger fishes in this sea."
Raziel meanwhile nodded and moved away "Can we use the room, professor?"
The man nodded "Sure, you are likely not making it worse than it usually is."
Raziel nodded and sent out Gastly. Blue did the same with Squirtle. The two Pokémon stared at each other for a while.
Squirtle attacked first with Bubble, as instructed. A stream of bubbles flew from his mouth towards Gastly, who was hit.
Raziel simply said "Lick him." And Gastly obliged, moving closer and licking Squirtle's face. Squirtle immediately stiffened, his face paralyzed. The Pokémon jumped back and used Bubble again, but Gastly simply hovered away, out of the line of fire, and laughed.
"He is laughing at me?!" Blue asked, furious "Come on Squirtle, get your shit together and Bubble him into oblivion!"
"How can you Bubble into oblivion a creature that came back from it?" Giuls asked.
"Shut up!" Blue replied. Meanwhile, Squirtle was trying to muster one more Bubble, but his paralyzed face was making it pretty hard. To make things worse, Gastly came back to lick him once more, this time forcing his hand in place.
"This is getting annoying…" Blue thought. Now it almost looked like he was about to lose. Him, the strongest trainer in Pallet Town, losing against a ball of gas?
"Come on Squirtle, do something!" He shouted. And something Squirtle did, jumping forward… with a Tackle. His body simply fazed through Gastly's own body, and then the Ghost licked again. Squirtle's right paw went limp.
Blue looked around. Now he noticed a lot of people were snickering at the scene. He was really not doing himself any favor by getting angry. That last order had been the stupidest he could have given to an untrained Pokémon. Of course it's first reaction was going to be to Tackle an enemy. So he ordered the Pokémon to use Bubble. Squirtle didn't move.
Because he had been defeated by that last Lick.
Blue was not having a good day after all.
Raziel smiled, victorious. Excellent start for his training carrier. He patted himself on the back for the fight, though of course most of the merit went to Gastly. A low level fight like that was usually solved by which Pokémon had the strongest resistance. Apparently, a ball of gas was stronger than a turtle.
Blue simply recalled Squirtle and walked off, angry. Raziel wondered why, as the teen disappeared out of the Lab. It has been his idea to challenge him.
"Let him go." Giuls said, moving closer "He hasn't lost in a few years, I guess it will take him some time to process."
"Yeah, usually he wins most spars. I guess losing one threw off his cool act for once." Added Draconix.
The three talked a while more, as the public slowly left the room, realizing the interesting stuff had already been said and done. Once the room was empty, the professor turned.
"Well, I suppose you are all eager to start." He said "Viridian City is right north of here, but I am not sure the Gym is open. The Gym Leader seems to be slacking off in recent years. I think you are better off moving to Pewter." He then pointed to the dex "There is a map function in it, and I am sure you all can use smartphones far better than me, so I doubt you need a map."
The three nodded "Well, good luck then." He said.
"Thank you, professor." Said Giuls "For both Bulbasaur and the Pokédex."
"Same here." Added Draconix "Charmander is the best, I can already tell!"
The Professor smiled. No matter how many time he saw this scene, the beauty of the beginning of a Trainer's journey was always the greatest sight. He just hoped all of them could deliver on such promising futures.
He watched the teens walk out of his Lab and divide, one marching north, the other going back to their houses to prepare for their own trip. Soon, all three… no, four, his nephew too, were going to experience what being a trainer truly meant. Oak had to admit, he was kind of envious.
A/N Yeah I had to edit the chapter for some encoding issue. Hope it's the only time