Before we jump into the story, I'd like to mention first that my upload schedule... well, has no proper schedule, it just kinda depends on when I wanna write, so... yeah. Anyway, here is the proper first chapter, "Natu-rally Buddies", enjoy!
Natu's eyes shot open and darted around the dim room lit by what sunlight could seep into the room from the window, before landing on Riley's face. The Tiny Bird Pokémon hopped off of Riley's desk and onto their face. Riley moved around in their sleep but didn't wake up, so Natu hopped again for a while in an attempt to wake them up.
"Alright I get it, I'm up." Riley said with tiredness in their voice. After they said that, Natu hopped onto their desk with the lamp on it. Riley walked out of the room and into the bathroom to get ready for the day, combing their unkempt hair and failing to smooth it out.
After Riley finished brushing their teeth, back to the room they went where they got dressed (after kicking out Natu briefly). Their outfit consisted of a light red and purplish blue horizontally-striped shirt, a dark orange jacket with two large white spots on the sides, blue jeans and a pair of red and white sneakers with a distinct Poké Ball pattern, including a baseball cap with a Poké Ball pattern.
Riley kneeled on the ground so Natu could hop on their shoulder, and then rushed out of the room to go to the kitchen.
"Good mornin' sweetheart, yer food is done!" Riley's mom, Shellie, said, with a bit of an accent.
"G'morning my son, hope you rested well, that was some birthday party yesterday huh?" Riley's dad, Harold, said, trying to kick up conversation. Their mom lightly slapped his shoulder and gave him a stern look. "Oh right, sorry hun', it's gonna take a bit of time to get used to that." Riley's dad apologized.
"It's not me you should be apologizin' to." She replied.
"Mom, it's okay, it's not the end of the world or anything, I just, for now, feel a little unsure about a part of me I guess."
"Well, if you say so, but just know that we're here fer you, got it?" Riley's mom said, giving them a hug. "Now, eat up yer pancakes, they'll get cold."
Riley darted back up to their room after eating breakfast, taking a backpack and packing some things before they make an announcement to their parents.
"Good luck charm? Check. Potions? Check. Living essentials?" Riley peered into the bag as they packed, to see that there was a purplish-blue five-tipped star charm inside, three small purple spray medicine for Pokémon, and a handheld video game console. "Check. With almost everything set, let's go Natu." Riley said to Natu, who hopped twice in place on their shoulder. Riley then zipped up the bag and wore it, before leaving their room and going back downstairs to the living room.
"Dad, Mom, there's something I wanna say." Riley said upon entering the living room, hands on their backpack's straps with an attempt at putting on a determined face.
"Oh no, I know that look, today's the day huh." Harold said, looking at Shellie with a hint of worry. Shellie looked back at him with a bright grin.
"Oh say it ain't so. Riley, hun', I, a hundred percent, am behind this decision! I have loved travellin' during my old days as a trainer of Pokémon, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too! 'Course, I never was all that good at actually battlin', so make yer momma proud on that front." Riley's mom said with a hint of pride near the beginning of the statement.
Riley's dad on the other hand wasn't so keen on the idea. "Now, let's not be rash here, how much about Pokémon do you know, Riley?" He inquired. Riley smiled and was about to open their mouth to speak, but then...
"Don't answer, I already know what's gonna come out of that mouth of yours, but despite my looks I used to be a great trainer in my day, so let me spend a bit of my day teaching you some basic stuff every trainer should know before you make this big decision." Riley's dad offered. Riley nodded, their smile gone.
"Right, so let's head to the backyard for a while."
Late into the afternoon, Riley, Natu and Riley's dad were standing in the backyard of their house. The sun shone down on the two as Riley's dad spoke up again.
"Moving along, the most important part of training a Pokémon is knowing what attacks it can use and working on them diligently. This Natu of yours doesn't seem terribly strong, no offense to Natu of course." Natu stared up at him briefly and then rested its gaze back at Riley.
"From what I can remember, some moves Natu should know early on are... Peck, Leer, and Stored Power. That being said, before we can continue we need some sort of target..." Riley's dad's voice trailed off as he scanned the area for something to have Natu practice Peck on. Natu hopped ahead and also scanned the area, before its eyes landed on Riley's dad.
"Hey Natu, that isn't very funny y'know." Riley said, noticing what it was fixated on.
"No worries, I'm sure I can take a simple Peck attac-" before Riley's dad could finish, Natu made a big hop into the air and darted to Riley's dad's big belly and pecked hard with its beak, cutting his sentence short in the process, while Riley winced from the action. Riley's dad stumbled back a bit. "S-see? No problem here!" He assured.
"By the way, it may be important to know the following: Natu's type matchups. Natu is a Psychic and Flying type Pokémon, so already it has around 4 weaknesses I think, can you guess what they are, Riley?" Riley's dad asked.
Riley's face lit up a bit and they cleared their throat. "Well, Psychic types are weak to Dark type moves, and Flying is weak to Rock, Electric and Ice type moves." Riley's dad opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short as Riley continued. "Also, Psychic types are weak to Bug type moves, but Flying types actually resist it, so Flying covers for one of Psychic's weaknesses." Riley said, proud of their knowledge.
"Wow, that is... that's very good, I wasn't sure if you did your homework on this sort of thing, but it seems like you've got the hang of it quicker than I ever did, I'm proud of you." Harold said, astonished.
"Thanks, dad." Riley said, giving him a hug, which Riley's dad returned. Natu hopped onto Riley's dad's head, and then onto Riley's shoulder.
After the hug ended, Shellie happened to walk out on the porch with a tray of glasses of Berry Juice. "Boys, I got some juice here if yer thirsty!" Shellie yelled to them.
"Thanks mom!" Riley thanked her, running back inside with their backpack, taking the Berry Juice and downing it, before putting it on the table and running to their room.
Riley decided to pack an extended map of the Kanto and Johto regions, and certain items for hygienic purposes., as well as a single sleeping bag.
"Alright Natu, our town is connected to Pallet Town via Route 49, there may be certain dangerous Pokémon on the way to Professor Oak's lab'ratory, but with you by my side I feel safer already." Riley said with a smile, with Natu hopping onto their head and resting with its eyes closed.
Riley stood at their room's doorway and stared at the inside of the room for a bit, looking at the poster with the silhouettes of the Johto starting Pokémon, and then looking at the simple light blue curtains of the window while remembering how they met Natu, and knowing that this would be the last time they'd see that stuff for a long while. After they stood for nearly half a minute, Riley closed the door and went downstairs.
"Mom, Dad, I'm just about to head off to Route 49 with Natu, the plan is I will meet Professor Oak, officially become a trainer, see if it's possible for me t' get a proper starting Pokémon if Natu doesn't qualify, and finally, properly begin my journey as a Pokémon trainer, battling other trainers, winning gym battles and becoming the best."
Harold and Shellie stood by the doorway in the living room, both of them smiling. Harold gave him a thumbs up, showing his approval, and Shellie held out her arms awaiting a hug.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys while I'm out fulfilling my dream as a Pokémon trainer." Riley said with a smile, walking towards their mom to accept the hug.
Shellie wrapped her arms around Riley, and Harold joined the hug, before she spoke. "Honey I know you'll definitely do us proud out there, just remember to treat yer partners well and encourage them t' do the best they can, and you'll be just fine.". Harold cleared his throat and broke away from the hug first, with Shellie pulling her arms back to herself.
"Your mother is right Riley, you and Natu will do exceedingly well if you just keep your head held high and aim for the top. Just try to call us every once in a while, we'd love to know how you're holding up." Harold said.
Riley nodded, "I'll do my best." Natu stared at Riley and hopped once.
Riley left the house, standing outside of it and taking steps out onto the dirt path to take a good look at it one last time.
"Y'know Natu, I'm gonna miss this big blue house, and mom's cooking, and some of dad's stories." Riley said to Natu, who looked back at them. Just then, he heard a female voice calling out to him.
"Riiiiley!" Sonny, their neighbour, called them. Riley looked her way to see her and a Growlithe running their way, they waved at the pair.
"Hey Sonny, didn't I say yesterday that I was gonna leave for a journey on this very day?" Riley reminded her. As they finished the sentence, she finally stopped in front of them.
"Yeah that's right, sorry I forgot, that was one heck of a birthday party. So, just what Pokémon will you choose anyway?" She asked, wiping her sweat from her forehead and pushing away strands of her bright blonde hair out of the way.
"I don't know yet, I don't even know if Natu qualifies as a starter in Kanto, it at least kinda works for Johto, but it wasn't until a few years ago certain species like Sentret and Hoothoot started popping up in Kanto." They said.
"Well hey, if Growls here can be my starter, perhaps Natu can fill in for that role for you as well." Growls, apparently, barked in agreement.
"I guess so." Riley begun to rub the back of their neck. "Err... You know, although you've been a trainer for quite a few months, I think it would be more fun to have someone else accompany me." Riley started, Sonny grinning as they spoke.
"So, do you wanna travel with me through Kanto? I aim to be a good trainer, and I'm sure you could teach me a thing or two about travelling and whatnot." Riley continued, still exhibiting bashful behaviour. Sonny's grin was still wide as she begun to speak.
"Well, I guess I could join you, it's not like I have anything better to do here in Canvas Town." She said, accepting his offer.
"Awesome! Let's head to your house for a while, it looks like you may need to get ready for the trip." Riley suggested.
"Yep, you remember where it is right? Just down the road near the exit of the town, which seems pretty convenient right now." She said, chuckling lightly at the end.
After Riley and Sonny went to the latter's house for further preparations, they finally left their hometown Canvas Town to Route 49. The pair walked along the grassy route for several minutes, slowly strolling along the dirt path with Natu seated on Sonny's shoulder.
"Although it's late into the afternoon, it's still pretty bright out, so this walk has been peaceful, eh Riley?" Sonny asked, to spark a conversation.
"Sure is, though hopefully the path to Pallet Town isn't too long, wouldn't want to end up there by nightfall." Riley said in response, Sonny nodding. Natu hopped onto Riley's shoulder now, but something felt off, so it hopped down to the ground and ahead of the pair.
"What's the matter, Natu?" Riley asked. Natu simply glanced at them, and looked around, sensing something. As if on que, a duo of Houndour were dashing towards the pair.
"Uh oh, we'd better run!" Shouted Riley, who knelt down to Natu and perched it on their shoulder, and promptly grasped Sonny's hand and ran away from the angry Houndour. Although Sonny blushed very lightly, she focused on the situation too much to be flustered by the sudden action and instead kept up with Riley's pace. The two ran for a solid 3 minutes, but the Houndour didn't seem to be slowing down, so in an act of desperation Natu hopped off of Riley's shoulder and faced the Houndour.
"Natu, what do you think you're doing!?" Riley shouted, skidding to a stop.
Natu simply stared up at the Houndour, the larger one stepping up to Leer at Natu. Natu felt its Defense drop as the larger Houndour stared it down with a scary look, but it was undeterred and shot back with its own Leer. The smaller Houndour went ahead and attacked first, opening its mouth to unleash an Ember attack. Natu seemed to anticipate the move, and hopped up to dodge, landing on the smaller Houndour. The other Houndour dashed at the Natu with its right front paw glowing purple, in an attempt to use Punishment, so the Natu decides to hop up again causing the bigger Houndour to hurt its friend instead.
"Wow, Natu seems to have a knack for battle, huh Riley?" Sonny spoke up, astonished by how well the Psychic and Flying type seemed to be doing against its larger foes.
"Yeah, especially since it should definitely be in a tough spot due to the type disadvantage." Riley commented.
The smaller Houndour shook off the pain it felt from the Punishment attack and opened its mouth again to try to unleash a Smog attack at Natu, who couldn't dodge in time and got hit by the attack. Luck seemed to be on its side, as it didn't get poisoned, however it still felt a little weak from the attack. The larger Houndour, seeing this as an opportunity, dashed at Natu and readied a Fire Fang. Although Natu was feeling tired, it wasn't ready to call it quits, so it managed to hop with its remaining strength, dodging the Fire Fang which landed on the other Houndour instead, and fell back to the ground on top of the larger Houndour. Natu just about needed to rest, but it managed to sneak in a Peck attack, causing the larger Houndour to faint. The smaller Houndour ran away in fear, with its ally downed.
"Wow, that was amazing Natu!" Riley praised Natu, who looked up at them with half-closed eyes. "Gosh, that battle must've taken a lot out of you huh... Don't worry, we'll run the rest of the way to Pallet Town, maybe Professor Oak can let you rest at his lab'ratory." Natu closed its eyes, taking a bit of a rest from the battle it just had.
Some time has passed since Natu successfully protected Riley and Sonny from the pair of Houndour, now the pair was able to reach Pallet Town and see Professor Oak. The sun was just about setting, as dusk approached slowly, having had a long run the pair slumped to the dirt nearby the laboratory.
"That run was...huff-huff... longer than I would have liked..." Riley said between breaths, Sonny nodding. After a few minutes to catch their breath, the pair entered Prof. Oak's lab with a knock on the door.
"Hello? Professor Oak? My name is Riley, and I want to become a Pokémon trainer." Riley shouted. Just then, an old man walked in from a room, clearing his throat.
"Why hello there, it's very nice to meet you! Oh my, you seem to have a Natu in your arms, is it hurt?" Professor Oak asked with concern.
"Well, Not quite, it's just tired from fending off a pair of Houndour to protect my friend and I, it got hit with a single Smog attack but didn't seem to get poisoned thank goodness." Natu opened its eyes slowly, hopping up on Riley's arms.
"Happy to hear it isn't hurt or anything. Anyway, if you'd like to receive a starter I'm afraid I have bad news, a different trainer came by earlier today and got a hold of the last Pokémon I've got, taking a Squirtle." The professor said. Riley looked dejected, but then the professor spoke up again. "...However, as it so happens, that Natu qualifies as an official starter Pokémon, so you can register as a trainer here with it. First things first, it's going to need a rest, and so will both of you, also as it so happens, you're free to stay at my lab for the night." Professor Oak offered. At the suggestion, Riley took a peek outside, seeing that the sun has fully set.
"Ah, well, it would be pretty convenient I think." Riley admitted.
"Right, so first thing in the morning I'll have you registered as a trainer, your official starter will be your Natu, and you'll take your first steps as a Pokémon Trainer!"
Riley nodded, and both them and Sonny took off their shoes and entered the lab proper. Professor Oak happened to have a guess room, and led the two to it. As they walked, the professor spoke up.
"I hope you two don't mind sharing a room, though there are two beds." Sonny looked flustered, while Riley looked away with their ear visibly red, to which the old man chuckled.
Minutes later, the two got ready to sleep, with Natu already dozing off on Riley's chest.
"So Riley, tomorrow's the big day huh? Pretty soon you'll officially become a Pokémon trainer and you will enter the Indigo League or something, right?" Sonny spoke up.
"Well, that's kind of the idea, but there was something else I heard of, the Periwinkle League. It's quite smaller than the Indigo League, but that's kind of the best part, and apparently all it takes is four special badges, kinda like the Orange Island's own league." Riley responded.
"Ah, well hope that works out for ya, of course I'll be rooting for you ol' pal." Sonny chuckled, turning over to face Riley. They looked back at Sonny with a small smile and held out their fist, to which Sonny held out her fist and met theirs, doing a fist bump.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Riley said, with a confident grin. "Oh, I forgot to ask, but... why didn't Growls help out Natu?" Sonny chuckled lightly and responded with "That's a good question, maybe she wanted to see if Natu was strong enough? Well whatever the case, it's late and we should sleep.", to which Riley nodded along, as they both drifted to sleep after a while.
The next day, in the afternoon, it was about time for Riley to become an official Pokémon trainer.
"Right, so you're Riley Goshman, and today you're officially a Pokémon trainer!" Professor Oak said with a smile, with Sonny clapping. "So, are you going to nickname Natu?"
"Uh... A nickname huh..." Riley pondered for a moment, before deciding. "How about "Hoppy", since it likes to hop to express its emotions." Riley chose.
"That's a good nickname! Now, here is a Pokémon Index, or Pokédex, it's an extensive encyclopedia on Pokémon that registers ones you capture. Scan your "Hoppy" with it." Oak instructed. Riley took the red device, flipping it open and seeing the screen light up. They held it up to Natu and it spoke up all of a sudden,.
"Natu, the Tiny Bird Pokémon, a Psychic and Flying type. This Pokémon's tiny wings are not fully developed, so it spends a lot of time strengthening its hopping capabilities." After finishing, the screen showed a picture of a Natu.
"Wow! So, if I try to look up a Pokemon I've never caught before, it lacks a description?" Riley asked, to which Oak nodded.
"With all of that sorted, I hope you two have a fine journey." The old man said. They both nodded and left the lab.
"I assume we'll be heading to Viridian City now?" Sonny asked. Riley pulled out their map and looked over the routes and cities.
"That's right, and once we're there we'll go to the Pokémon Center so I can register for the Periwinkle League."
Having become a Pokémon trainer, Riley finally took the first and most important step to becoming a strong Pokémon trainer, now Riley and Sonny set off through Route 1 to Viridian City.
Unbeknownst to Riley, someone else had a similar idea...
"C'mon Squirt, don't give in!" A female voice shouted at a Squirtle, who was struggling to go up against another trainer's Bulbasaur.
"Give it up girl, it clearly isn't winning, not against my Bulby's Vine Whip!" A snobby male trainer said mockingly, as their equally snobby Bulbasaur readied another Vine Whip.
"Not so fast! Squirtle, use Water Gun below you!" Squirtle was feeling really tired, but once Torrent activated it all of a sudden felt rejuvenated as it unleashed a large blast of water below it to propel itself out of harms way.
"N-no way! Keep it up Bulby!" Bulby used another Vine Whip, but the Squirtle was faster, quickly entering its shell and shooting water away from the plant-like Pokémon, gaining speed to ram into it.
"That's right Squirt, Tackle it!" Squirt the Squirtle kept going with the momentum built up from unleashing a large blast of water, ramming into the Bulbasaur and causing it to faint.
"Unbelievable... That's some power, man, I'm sorry Bulby." The once snobby trainer held up their Poké Ball and pressed the button on it, returning Bulby.
"That was a fun battle, we sure turned it around didn't we Squirt!" The female trainer said happily, Squirt raising its tiny fist in the air triumphantly. "My name is Charlie, and I aim to become the greatest Pokémon trainer ever, so the win came naturally." Charlie boasted.
"Yeah yeah whatever..." The male trainer walked away.
Charlie had been on a bit of a winning streak since becoming a trainer just the other day, believing she had raw talent, she quickly became a little arrogant. After walking along a dirt path for several minutes, she finally reached her destination: Viridian City.
"Periwinkle League championship, here I come!" She shouted, dashing towards the large city.
Riley became a Pokémon trainer, achieving the first step to their dream, and another trainer had a similar idea. Both aimed for the top, but perhaps soon their paths will intertwine? Only time will tell, as the journey begins!
I really hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did writing it! I hope I don't drop this story at some point, I'd like for at least one project to takeoff. That being said, please rate and review, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Up next: "Natu-rally Rivals!"