xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Aspertia City, 10:15 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As a small cruise ship entered into the port at the Unova region city of Aspertia, the myriad of different people ranging from men, women and children proceeded to casually walk off the ramp to set foot onto the solid ground. Within the crowd was a familiar husky framed chin bearded man, dressed in a rolled up sleeve button up shirt with a green camo design over a long sleeve puke green shirt with two buttons down the collar with an image of a Haunter on it, light brown cargo pants and black sneakers.
"Finally!" Keats screamed as he stood on the docks of Aspertia City with an annoyed expression. "I am never getting on a boat ever again! All the rocking and waving and... Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick..." He thought as his face started to turn sickly from the thought of being on a ship once more and proceeded to rush over to a garbage can. "Blegh!" Keats exclaimed as he threw up behind the garbage can, causing some of the nearby people to wince in disgust at the sight before walking away from him.
"Okay, okay..." Keats said to himself as he wiped the puke from his face. "I'm officially in the Unova region..." He continued to talk out loud to himself as he looked at the architecture of the city.
Enamored by the sights of the large variety of colorful buildings of various shapes and sizes, a sharp contrast to what Keats was used to, being from Ecruteak City, where all of the structures were much older visually. Walking around aimlessly, Keats continued to just stare at all of the buildings as he just enjoyed the sights.
"I haven't been to a small city like this since I was a child and lived in Kanto... Ecruteaks old rundown buildings really have left an impression..." Keats thought as he walked down a random street in the city. Turning a corner, he looked forward and noticed a small crowd of people watching a group of blue Darmanitans, sitting in front of a building in their Zen Mode.
"Wow so cool!" A small boy said as a group of children got close to the Darmanitans as they just sat around like rocks, barely moving.
"I haven't seen a Darmanitan in person before!" Another child said as they all poked and played around one of the large Pokémon.
"Huh... Must be a weird Unova Pokémon. With that blue color, it's probably an Ice type or something..." Keats thought as he walked past the crowd after looking at the stationary circular Pokémon. As he continued to walk down the street in the big city, Keats looked up as he noticed a flock of bird Pokémon fly overheard.
With their gray-ish white feathers and dark wings, a group of Pidoves flew through the air in a tight symmetrical V-like formation and headed towards the woods outside of Aspertia City as Keats looked on.
"Back home, I'm used to seeing Pidgey or Spearow flying like that..." Keats said to himself as he looked over at a garbage can as a duo of Patrats and a Watchog were rummaging for food before locking eyes with Keats and running away. "And those would probably be Rattata or Sentrets..." He thought as he scratched the back of his neck. "Man I really am in a different place..." Keats muttered to himself as he walked over the trash the small Normal type Pokémon were digging through and left on the ground.
Reaching into his pocket, Keats pulled out a wallet and dug into one of the flaps, pulling out a small sticky note. Written on the note was a message from his sister; "As soon as you get to Unova, go immediately to the Pokémon Center and ask Nurse Joy for a package addressed to you! -Marie."
"Treating me like a baby..." Keats thought with annoyance as he looked at his sisters handwriting. "Well she must have sent me something to help me out with hunting down those Poké-thieves... What it is, I don't know." He said, continuing to talk to himself before looking over and seeing a small girl holding hands with her father, pointing at him as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Hey dad! Look, there's a fat guy talking to himself!" The little girl said to her dad as Keats' eye twitched in anger.
"Who you calling "fat," you half-pint!?" Keats exclaimed loudly as the little girl and her dad was shocked by his suddenly infuriated response.
"Ahhh! Daddy!" The little girl said in fear as she hid behind her father.
"Sorry sir! She didn't mean anything by it." The father said with a sweat drop of embarrassment dripping down his face as Keats just looked at them with his eye twitching.
"Oh forget it, I'm yelling at a preschooler..." Keats said as he put his hand on his forehead and walked away. "Barely been here an hour and all I've done is look at random Pokémon I've never seen before and scream at a child... I'm off to a great start..." He said to himself with a bothered expression as he continued to walk down the street before reaching a large building with a massive Pokéball statue on top of it. "Guess this is the Center?" Keats thought as he walked up the steps to the automatically opening doors.
Inside the center was multitudes of trainers, ranging from young to adult, conversing with one another as groups of pink and white Pokémon that were unfamiliar to Keats roamed around. Standing at the front desk was a young woman with pink hair in two loops and dressed in a pink and white nurse outfit but visually different in appearance then what Keats was expecting to see.
"Even the Nurse Joy looks different... And they don't use Chansays or Blisseys either..." Keats thought with a raised eyebrow, still struggling to adjust to the new environment.
"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center." Nurse Joy said as she caught Keats' attention.
"Oh, uh hello." Keats said with a calm surprise as he walked forward to the counter. "Have you received any kind of package for a person named "Keats" recently?" He asked.
"I'm sorry but we haven't received any packages yet. We haven't received our mail from the usual Delibird delivery today yet though, so if you want to wait here, you're welcome to and I can send one of the Audino to grab your attention." Nurse Joy said as Keats nodded in response and walked over to a nearby booth to wait.
Looking over at a pair of kids with a Tepig and a Snivy in their arms, Keats then turned his attention to a tall woman with a Heatmor behind her as they approached the desk to talk to Nurse Joy. Taking a deep breath and then biting his lip, Keats proceeded to lay back as he begun to impatiently tap his fingers on the table.
"I am so out of place here..." Keats thought as he realized he might very well be the only person in the Pokémon Center without a Pokémon. "I mean... Normally I wouldn't care because I've never owned one but... Stuck in a place with nothing but trainers..." He continued to think negatively.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Aspertia Pokemon Center, 1:07 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Napping from the sheer boredom of waiting for the package from his sister, Keats had his head down on the table with drool dripping out of his mouth onto it as Nurse Joy was chatting to one of the Audino as a small red and white bird-like Pokémon had flew over to the window. Knocking on the window to grab her attention, Nurse Joy walked over and opened the window.
"Hello Delibird, anything for us today?" Nurse Joy said as the Delibird nodded and pulled out from its sack-like tail a pair of envelopes and a small box. "Oh this must be for that man." She said to herself as she motioned for one of the Audino to wake up Keats.
"Auuudd." One of Nurse Joy's Audino said to wake up Keats as he continued to drool over the table.
"Mmmmm... Mac and cheese..." Keats mumbled in his sleep, thinking about food.
"Audino?" The Audino said as it put its small arms up and tried to nudge Keats awake but to no avail.
"Riiiice and beaaannns... Yuummmy..." Keats continued, still dreaming about food as the Audino started to get frustrated.
"Audino!" The Audino angrily exclaimed as its arms begun to glow as it jumped on the table and proceeded to use "Double Slap" on Keats, waking him up by repeatedly beating him in the face.
"Huh- Plfff! Hey!?- Blargh!" Keats said in surprise as he was continually hit. "Stop! I'm awake!" He exclaimed in pain as he landed on the floor, putting his hands up to stop the Audino.
"Mr. Keats, your package has arrived." Nurse Joy said from the counter as Keats stood up, rubbing his now red cheeks.
"Th-thanks..." Keats said in pain. "Stupid "not" Chansay..." He thought, mentally condemning Audino.
Grabbing the package from Nurse Joy, Keats walked over with the box back to the booth he was sleeping on. Ripping off the tape and opening it up, Keats looked inside with confusion as he saw two small objects: a small orange rectangle with a screen and a single regular Pokéball.
"Huh?" Keats muttered as he picked up the rectangle as it turned on. "What is- Ahh!" He said out loud until he noticed the rectangle suddenly floated into the air with a pair of lightning bolts sticking out from the top and bottom as the screen became blue with a face forming on it.
"Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! Finally awake!" The rectangle exclaimed loudly as Keats jumped out of the booth in surprise. "Finally made it to Unova Keatzzzz?" It continued as Keats' face turned blue.
"Fl-flo-floating... Rectangle... With a face... And it knows my name..." Keats thought, terrified.
"You okay?" The floating talking screen with a face asked as it got close to Keats' face.
"...Are you trying to suck out my soul?" Keats asked in fear as he stood completely petrified.
"Huh? No? Why would I do that? I'm the Rotom Pokédex, zzzzt!" The floating screen said, revealing what it was.
"Wait... What?" Keats said as he calmed down slightly.
"My name is Rotom and I am a Pokémon inhabiting thizzzz cellular device, zzzzt. I was zzzzpeciality ordered by one Marie Dibiazzzze to assist you while you were overseas." The Rotom Dex explained as it backed away slightly from Keats, giving him breathing room.
"She sent me a Pokémon to watch over me?" Keats said with a raised eyebrow. "She does think I'm a child!" He thought negatively.
"Not only do I have the ability to speak, I alzzzzo contain useful functionzzzz such as a Pokédex function to monitor whatever you catch or come acrozzzz and an Xtransceiver to allow you to contact home or other individuals, zzzzt." The Rotom Dex said as Keats scratched his face.
"Wow, that actually is useful. She sent me a Pokémon to use in battle and a high tech walkie-talkie!" Keats said with an enthusiastic smile.
"Nope!" The Rotom Dex said as Keats looked at the floating screen confused once again.
"Huh?" Keats muttered.
"I may be able to help with communication and examination but in termzzzz of battle, I am completely useless, zzzzt!" The Rotom Dex said as Keats annoyingly took a swing at it but it ducked out of the way.
"Oh come on!" Keats said as Rotom flew around him as he continued to try and grab at the floating Pokémon inhabiting the touchscreen device. "You're a Pokemon sent to help me and yet you won't even battle for me?!" He questioned as the Rotom Dex floated high above Keats.
"That's what the Pokemon in the ball over there is for, zzzzt." The Rotom Dex said as Keats stopped attempting to grab Rotom and looked back at the box with the Pokéball still left in it.
"Huh? I thought this was your ball?" Keats questioned as he picked up the Pokéball from the box.
"No, your sister caught this Pokémon for you to uzzzze over here in Unova so you would have a companion to raise and train." The Rotom Dex said as it flew over to Keats' side.
"Wow really? Awesome! I knew she cared about what I was doing!" Keats said as he raised the Pokéball in the air before bringing it back down and looking at the Pokéball. "Now..." He said as the Rotom Dex looked at him. "How do I open this?" Keats questioned, dumbfounding the Rotom Dex.
"You... You mean you don't even know how to open the ball, zzzzt?" The Rotom Dex said, astounded at Keats' lack of knowledge.
"I don't ever touch these things, not even back home at my sisters ranch." Keats replied in his defense.
"Yeah but you came here to fight in the Battle Club right? How were you zzzzupposed to compete with no idea how to get the Pokémon out?" The Rotom Dex said.
"I was gonna hope for the best..." Keats said embarrassed.
"That's not helpful!" The Rotom Dex exclaimed.
"Oh shut up! I'm new to this stuff, don't be a jerk!" Keats shouted at the floating high tech screen. "...So if I were to open this, how would I go about it?" He asked of the disappointed floating Pokémon.
"This guy..." The Rotom Dex thought as it looked at Keats. "Press down on the ball once and then it will expand then throw it, zzzzt." It explained.
After giving the instructions, Keats' Pokéball expanded and he lightly tossed it above the ground in the Pokémon Center. As it opened up and a ray of light came out of it, Keats looked on with excitement as he looked at what was coming out but as the light dimmed and revealed what was in the ball, his face turned into one of disappointment and annoyance as he turned towards the Rotom Dex.
"Rotom... Get my sister on the line..." Keats said in slowly rising anger.
"Calling..." The Rotom Dex said as an image of a phone ringing appeared on its screen as his sister appeared on the screen, holding a phone and sitting in front of a screen of her own.
"Oh good, you got Rotom. How's the little guy?" Marie said as Rotom appeared on the screen again.
"I'm doing well!" The Rotom Dex said in a happy tone.
"Shut up, you obnoxious piece of static!" Keats shouted as Marie returned back on the screen.
"Don't be rude." Marie said with a smug look on her face.
"Says the person who said she was trying to help and she gave me this for a starter!" Keats said as he reached down.
Lifting it up so Marie on the floating screen could see, Keats held up a Pineco in both of his hands.
"Heya Pineco." Marie said with the same smug look, waving her hand.
"Pineco." Pineco said casually as Keats held the small Bug type in his hands.
"Why did you give me this?!" Keats asked in a frustrated tone. "Why couldn't you send me something a bit more powerful or useful like a Houndour or an Onix?! I'll even take a Dunsparce!" He ranted as Pineco shifted its eyes towards him.
"Because I figured it be a good fit for you." Marie said casually.
"How is a Pineco a good fit for me?!" Keats shouted.
"Pineco eat very little, they're easy to track as well and they aren't that hard to get along with." Marie said as she looked at Keats. "Considering you have no idea what you're doing... The easier to raise, the better." She thought as she looked at her brothers eyes twitching.
"Really? But they normally explode and-" Keats said until Marie cut him off.
"Keats... I know you're there because you feel guilty over what happened with my Pokémon but if you seriously think you can find them out there in Unova, you have to learn from the ground up how to be a trainer." Marie said with a serious tone.
"I..." Keats mumbled, unsure of what to say.
"Train the Pineco, find more Pokémon, raise them too. Camp out, learn to make some food for yourself and your Pokémon and enjoy the adventure... Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm very patient..." Marie said as she hung up the phone as Rotom appeared.
"Well that was tenzzzze." The Rotom Dex said as Keats lifted up to meet the Pineco at eye level.
"...Guess it's you, me and the living Pokédex..." Keats said to the Pineco.
"Pineco." Pineco said casually once again.
"...What can you do that could help me?" Keats said with squinted eyes to the Pineco.
As he finished talking, the Pineco proceeded to glow a bright yellow light as Keats' eyes opened wide in remembrance of what it signified.
"Huh?! No wait Pineco, don't use "Self-Destruct!" Keats exclaimed as Rotom flew away to avoid being in the proximity as Pineco exploded, a dust cloud covering over it and Keats and a portion of the Pokémon Center as Nurse Joy, the Audino and the random trainers and their Pokémon looked over at the sudden blast.
"Oh my!" Nurse Joy said as the Audino looked over at the sight of Keats and Pineco on the floor, covered in scorch marks and smoke radiating off their bodies with swirls in their eyes.
"Aaahhh..." Keats groaned in pain as Rotom floated back over.
"This journey is off to a great start..." The Rotom Dex said with an exasperated expression on its screen.
Looks like the last time Keats hopes to be on a cruise ship but now he seems to have more pressing issues. Surrounded by the new environment and seeing unfamiliar Pokémon, our inexperienced hero attempts to try and begin his search for the missing championship class Pokémon but after reaching the Pokémon Center and receiving a gift from his sister, his quest is starting off on the wrong foot. Now with assistance from a sentient Pokédex, Rotom, and his first actual Pokemon at his disposal; Pineco. Explosions galore but the journey is just beginning! What will happen next on Wannabe!?
To Be Continued...