Chapter 5: Gotta Catch em' All!

The sun is coming up once again. Two Pokémon trainers, Satoshi and Akai, are still in bed sleeping. It seemed like they were enjoying themselves because they're having dreams. Satoshi was dreaming of catching all the Pokémon he wanted and becoming the master of all trainers. On the other hand, his older brother Akai is dreaming of taking a vacation. Possibly a beach vacation in Alola or on the beautiful islands of Taiyo. Satoshi's Pikachu was sleeping on Satoshi's bed, only dreaming about his favorite food item, ketchup.

"Ring!"

Unexpectedly, the alarm clock sets off, interrupting their dreams. Akai woke up from his bed and got out of it. He yawned and walked over to his brother, Satoshi, and shook him to wake up. "Satoshi, get up. It's time."

Satoshi complained, "Ugh, just get up without me."

"Come on, we have to get my Pokémon soon."

"No, let me sleep a bit."

"Alright fine, but don't complain to me when there isn't any food left."

As soon as he heard Akai's statement, Satoshi quickly got up from the bed. "Okay, I'll wake up." He shakes Pikachu, who is still sleeping on the blankets. "Pikachu, wake up."

"Pi-ka?" Pikachu woke up and crawled out of Satoshi's bed. It rubbed its eyes and yawned.

"Wow, Pikachu seems to be tired," Akai said.

"Yeah, I guess it seems like it. Right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "Pika pika."

He leaves the room while Satoshi and Pikachu follow him. They walked downstairs, where their mother, Hanako, greeted them, "Good morning, boys."

"Good morning, okaa-san," Satoshi responded.

Both of them walked over to the table and sat down. Their mom grabbed the food from the counter and brought it to the table. The food being served was rice, grilled fish, and miso soup. She gave the dishes to Satoshi, Akai and Pikachu, and then sat down on one of the remaining chairs.

"Thank you for the food," both Satoshi and Akai said, clapping once. Afterwards, they grab the food from the front table.

"So are you guys ready to become Pokémon trainers?" she asked.

"Yeah! I'm extremely excited," Satoshi optimistically said while taking a bite of the rice with fish.

"Pika Pika!"

"It looks like Pikachu is excited too," Hanako responded and turned to her son, Akai, who was taking a sip of the miso soup. "How about you, Akai?"

"Eh, I guess."

"I'm just so proud of you for taking studies over Pokémon training."

"I know. And now that I'm finished, I can finally start becoming a Pokémon trainer." Akai took another sip of his miso soup. "I'm still thinking, though: which starter Pokémon should I choose?"

"Which Pokémon did you have in mind?" his mother asked.

"Hm… I'm looking for one that is extremely powerful, adorable, and seems more lively." Akai set aside his miso soup and grabbed the chopsticks next to him. He grabs the rice and uses his chopsticks to take a bite of it.

"Huh, that's a very odd choice to have."

"I forgot to mention this to you, aniki. I know a lot of Pokémon and helpful tips, so if you need any, just ask me, okay?" Satoshi responded.

Akai responded, smiling, "Thanks, Satoshi."

They continued to eat until they finished all of their food. As they were done with their food, Satoshi and Akai got up from the table and went back to their room. Hanako also got up from the table. But this time she took out the dishes from the table and placed them in the dishwasher.

While she was doing the dishes, Satoshi and Akai were getting ready. They grabbed their backpack from their closet and packed it up with their belongings. Akai was packing some clothes, a flashlight, and extra money. Satoshi had similar belongings, but had a video game console and Pikachu's belongings. He then went to the restroom and changed out of his old clothes to his new one. He wanted to look like a Pokémon trainer, which was why he took on that style. After he was finished, he let himself out of the restroom, letting Akai go inside and change into his clothes. Moments later, he also got out of the restroom. They were now finished preparing themselves. They both fix up their beds alongside the help of Satoshi's Pikachu and grab their phones from their desks.

When they're finished,Satoshi and Akai grabbed their backpacks and headed downstairs, where they saw their mother packing a snack bag for them.

"Oh, are you guys ready?" Hanako asked.

"Yup, we got everything packed up!" Satoshi declared. "Man, I can't wait for our adventure to start!"

"Pikachu!"

"Before you guys go, though, I packed some snacks for you guys in case you get hungry along the way,"

Akai nodded in approval. "Thank you so much, okaa-san,"

"Akai, look after your brother, okay?"

"I promise, okaa-san."

Hanako then turned to Pikachu and kneeled down. "Pikachu, please be kind to Satoshi."

Pikachu also nodded. "Pikachu!"

"Goodbye! I'll miss you, okaa-san." Satoshi expressed.

""I'll miss you too!" Hanako is smiling encouragingly to Satoshi, Pikachu, and Akai as the trio opens the door and leaves the house. Her waving goodbye is the last thing they see before the door closes.

Satoshi, Pikachu, and Akai are now out of the house. They started walking all the way to their destination, the lab. Satoshi and Pikachu were both thinking about what they're going to do in their adventure. Akai, who looked nothing but serious, was continuing to think about what type of Pokémon he wanted. Either a Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur, he knows for sure that his starter Pokémon will evolve into something more powerful.

They walked through many stop lights and passed cars. They got to the Pokémon Lab research.

"Alright, aniki, are you ready?" Satoshi asked.

"Yes," Akai responded after taking a deep-breath. "I'm ready."

They both entered the building and saw a girl at the front desk.

"Wow, you're also early?" the girl praised.

"Also?" Akai wondered.

"Yes, someone was here to pick up a Pokémon. Just like them, you're early. Usually, our times for choosing a starter Pokémon are from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM. And just like the trainer before you, I don't mind that you're all so early!"

"Well, is Professor Oak currently available?"

"Yes, he's available right now."

"Can we see him?"

"Sure, this way." The girl walked with Satoshi and Akai to the left side of the building. They walked up a few stairs where eventually they came across a lab room door. The girl knocks on it and it opens, revealing a middle-aged man with a lab coat.

"Professor Oak, these two boys are here to choose their starter!"

"Actually, just one person because I already have a Pokémon," Satoshi interrupted.

"Okay, you go ahead and I'll talk with these two," Professor Oak told her.

"Yes, sir." The woman walks away, leaving both Akai and Satoshi with Professor Oak.

"So, I assume that you're here for a starter?"

"Right," Akai responded.

"In that case, if I could see your identification card?"

Akai hands over his card to Professor Oak.

"Let's see here... Akai Isamu, age 19, living with 1 sibling and mother. Born August 8. Alright, you're all set." Professor Oak handed over the card to Akai and turned to Satoshi, who was petting his Pikachu. "Oh by the way, I would like to ask for your verification as well."

"Wait, really? I already have a Pokémon, though."

"Pika Pika?"

"Of course," Professor Oak smiled with understanding. "However, it's a policy we have in registering new trainers. Now then, verification please."

"Okay." Satoshi takes out his wallet and takes out a card. He then hands it over to Professor Oak.

"Now then... Satoshi Isamu, age 17, living with 1 sibling and mother. Born May 22. Okay then, Satoshi, here's your identification card back." He handed the card back to Satoshi. "Alright, let's proceed, shall we?"

The three of them walked over to the Pokeball stations. Professor Oak turned on the machine and it dispensed three pokeballs.

"Choose whichever Pokémon you want, but choose wisely as this Pokémon will become your partner, and you cannot change your mind later," Professor Oak warned.

"I guess I'll choose this one." Akai takes out the Pokeball from the slot and it releases itself, revealing a small lizard type Pokémon on the table.

"Char!" it spoke.

"I see you chose Charmander. That's an excellent choice. By the way, please test out the Pokedex app on your phone," Professor Oak instructed.

"Why?" Akai asked.

"If you ever want to know what sort of Pokémon you will have, the app is what you need."

Both Satoshi and Akai took out their phones and saw an app called the Pokedex app. It then asked for their cameras to turn on. Professor Oak spoke about how to use the app.

"First off, you point the camera at the Pokémon and it will scan it. Then, the app will tell you the information about this Pokémon."

"Seems simple enough." Akai pointed the camera at Charmander and it then scanned it. After that, it gave out information about it.

"Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. It has a preference for hot things. When it rains, steam spouts from the tip of its tail. Should its flame ever go out, its life will end."

"Wow, that's impressive!" Satoshi expressed with excitement.

"Pikachu!"

"Well, that's the nature of technology nowadays," Professor Oak responded.

He walked over to his desk and took out 16 Pokeballs from a container. Then, he turns back to Satoshi and Akai. "Alright you two, here are your pokeballs." Professor Oak handed over 8 pokeballs to both of them. "A trainer can only have a maximum number of eight Pokémon on hand. After 8, any Pokémon that either of you two capture will automatically be transferred to a PC. To retrieve those Pokémon, please visit a Pokémon Center."

Akai nodded. "Thank you for the help, Professor Oak."

"Anytime. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me. And if that's all, I wish you luck on your journey."

Akai turns to Satoshi and gives a sign that he is ready to head out. Satoshi nods and both of them leave the lab. As they headed downstairs, the girl at the front desk greeted them again.

"Thank you for coming!" she called out.

Satoshi and Akai also voiced their goodbyes to the girl as soon as they left the building. As they were outside, Akai felt relieved about his Pokémon.

"Wow, you've finally gotten your first Pokémon!" Satoshi congratulated his brother.

"Yeah, I'm kind of relieved that this is my first. I guess I'll release it now."

Akai takes out Charmander's pokeball and points it to the ground. It then spits out light and magically shows up as Charmander.

"Charmander!" it said after Akai released it.

Akai smiles until he feels himself getting pushed. He caught himself from falling and quickly turned behind him to see his childhood friend, Leaf. "Good morning, Akai-senpai!"

"Leaf-chan, seriously?! Why do you do that?!"

"Just a little greeting. Anyway, I saw you guys go to Professor Oak."

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I went there first!"

"Wait, really? You're the first one there?"

"Yup! And I got myself a Pokémon!"

"Oh, which Pokémon is it?"

"A Bulbasaur."

"That's cool."

Akai attempted to recompose himself after Leaf almost pushed him to the ground. On the other hand, Leaf turns to talk to Satoshi.

"Satoshi-kun, how are you today? I see that you've chosen Pikachu as your starter, Pokémon."

"Yup, Pikachu and I are still best buds! So it's an obvious choice," Satoshi chucked.

"Pika Pika Pikachu!"

"Aw, that's very sweet. I wish I could have that sort of bond with my Bulbasaur."

Akai finished recomposing himself and took out his pokeball to put Charmander back in. He then talked to both Leaf and Satoshi. "Okay guys, are youready to go?"

Both Satoshi and Leaf nodded and walked away with Akai to the city. As they walked out to the path of the city, however, a girl with blue-gray hair stalked them behind a tree, smiling at them, specifically at Satoshi. The thoughts of this girl were racing. She has known Satoshi for a long time, and he hasn't noticed her stalking him. She looked down to see both of her Pokémon looking at them, too.

"Why don't we follow him?" she asked her Pokémon

"Squirtle squirtle!"

"Pip-lup!"

Sneakily, she walked in the direction that Satoshi's group was going.

Back to Satoshi's group, they were continuing to walk straight towards the city.

"So, what city in Super Tokyo should we head to first?" Leaf asked.

"I'm not sure? Koni sounds like a good place to start. I heard they have more Pokémon and trainers there," Satoshi responded.

"I agree with your brother. I'm ready to go to Koni."

"By the way, aniki, have you heard of trainers randomly wanting to fight your Pokémon?"

Akai questions him. "No, I'm wondering now."

"Pokémon trainers can fight anytime against a person, either day or night. It's 24/7!"

"Wait a minute, so I can challenge anyone anytime I want?"

"Yeah, I have never had a Pokémon duel before though."

"Well, in that case." Akai stops and turns his hat to the other side. He reacts forcefully and points at his brother. "Satoshi, I challenge you to a match!"

Satoshi turns around. "Wait, what?" Leaf also turns around at Akai.

"You heard me, since I want to test out my Charmander in battle, I'll have you test out your Pikachu during battle too."

"Wait, so you really want to do this now. You know, we just started our journey an-"

Akai immediately interrupted. "Of course, unless you're a coward in doing so."

"Says the person just starting out in Pokémon training. There's no way you can fight on a small level."

"Yeah, but you never know how smart I can be, considering you never even went to college."

Satoshi gets frustrated. "Oh yeah, well, you're too weak to challenge my Pikachu. He can kick your ass easily."

"Pika Pika!"

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear?"

"Let me think, yes!"

Leaf then interrupted their conversation, "Um, are you guys okay?"

Akai ignored her. "Well then," with a finger, "let's battle!"

Satoshi turned to Leaf, who looked extremely confused about what's happening. "Leaf, I command you as our referee."

"Wait, me? Are you serious? Well, okay then."

Satoshi runs a few feet away from Akai. Leaf also walked a few steps back to not impede the fight. Satoshi then lets Pikachu go to the side of the battlefield while Akai takes out his pokeball.

"Aniki, you probably need to read that guide of yours to memorize the moves. "

Akai turns from serious to questionable, as he doesn't understand Satoshi.

"Wait, what did you say?"

Satoshi sighs, "Just look at your Pokedex for the moves."

"I don't know what that means, but okay." Akai took out his phone from his pocket and tapped on the Pokedex app. He once again tapped, but on Charmander's icon and skimmed all the information about it. "Okay, I got it now!"

The boys were now ready to fight. Leaf yelled out to the starting person, which was Satoshi. He points his fingers towards Charmander and commands Pikachu to attack.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu quickly runs up to Charmander. Akai looks in front of him to see Satoshi's incoming Pikachu. He quickly pointed his finger towards Pikachu and yelled, "Charmander, dodge it!"

Charmander swings backwards, completely avoiding the attack.

"Wait a minute, how did you do that?!" Satoshi said, surprised.

"Should've known better, little brother. I'm smarter than you. Well then, Charmander, use Scratch!"

"Pikachu! Iron Tail now!"

"Counter Attack!"

Charmander looks up at Pikachu, using his tail to hit it, but it counters it with a headbutt. Both Pikachu and Charmander land on the ground, both remaining focused. Satoshi, feeling a little frustrated, yelled to Pikachu. "Use Volt Tackle!"

"Inferno!"

Pikachu runs towards Charmander, but it quickly aims its head towards it and spits out fire at Pikachu. It dodges Charmander's attack and hits it in the chest. Charmander gets knocked back.

"Shit, Charmander, get up!"

"I thought you were smarter?"

"Oh god." Akai muttered to himself before looking up at Satoshi. "Nevermind, Charmander, Ember!"

"Pikachu, Thunder jolt!

Pikachu and Charmander use their energy to spawn a particle. It collided with it and exploded. Pikachu runs up to Charmander again, but both hit their head against each other which lead to them being knocked back.

"You really think you can beat me."

"I can!"

"You ready?"

"Hell yeah!"

Satoshi and Akai both point straight at each other.

"Well then, Pikachu, Free for All!" Satoshi shouted.

"Charmander, Free for All!" Akai said his piece.

Pikachu and Charmander run-up to each other. Pikachu is about to do a vicious, iron tail while Charmander faces down to the ground and forces himself onto Pikachu's tail. As soon as both came in contact, they were both knocked back to the ground.

"Pikachu!" Satoshi shouted again. He runs up to the almost knocked out Pikachu. He picks it up and cradles it.

Akai quickly rushed up to Charmander and cradled it, too.

"Oh, god. Charmander, I'm sorry."

"Char… man… der." It struggled to say.

"Shit, now what?" Satoshi asked.

"I don't know, I guess we just screwed over our Pokémon" Akai felt an immense sense of guilt as he looked back down on his Charmander who closed its eyes out of exhaustion.

Suddenly, Akai's phone automatically turned on and randomly started speaking. "Pokémon, who are exhausted from battle, can no longer continue on with their activities. The best way to have your Pokémon healthy is to let them rest in their pokeball for a minimum of 5 hours."

"Akai, your phone." Satoshi alerted.

"But there is a way to keep your Pokémon fully healed."

"Really, how?"

"To have the Pokémon regain its energy, they have to be taken to a Pokémon center."

"Well, where in the hell am I going to find this Pokémon Center."

"A Pokémon center is 1 mile away from your destination."

"Huh, at least it's not that far."

Satoshi stood up with Pikachu in his hands and walked over to Akai. "We shouldn't have done this."

"I'm sorry. It was my fault. Because of that, our Pokémon turned out like this."

"No worries, our phones told us that this Pokémon Center is close to here."

"Yeah."

Leaf runs up to them, clearly upset. "I'm so disappointed in you guys. It's one thing to battle, but why did you go that far?!"

"I mean… It's a Pokémon battle, so par for the course, you know?"

"You two are just starting out as trainers. You're not supposed to push your Pokémon to the point of exhaustion, you know!"

Suddenly, Satoshi felt some sense of creepiness as he turned around. But nothing met him on site. "Aniki, do you think we're being watched?"

"Why is that?" Akai asked.

"Well, I don't know."

Akai looked around until he saw a blue-haired girl standing behind a tree. "Um… Satoshi?"

Satoshi turned around to see the same girl Akai was staring at. "Who is that?"

"I don't know."

The blue-haired girl quickly hides herself behind the tree, clearly startled. However, it was already obvious that Satoshi and Akai saw the girl.

"Leaf, can you check this out?"

Leaf turns around to see the girl behind the tree attempting to hide herself. "Who is she?"

Akai yelled out, "We know we can see you!"

The girl moves away from the tree to see both Akai, Satoshi, and Leaf. Her face felt very bashful. "U-uh… h-hi."

"Um.. hello? Why were you stalking us?" Akai asked.

"I just… I'm sorry."

"Okay?" Leaf said, confused. "What's your name?"

"Uh… my name is… Hikari. Shirogane Hikari."

"Nice to meet you!" Satoshi called out. "My name is Satoshi!"

"Really Satoshi, you know what situation we're in?" Akai scolded.

"Yeah, but she seems nice."

Leaf ignores both of them and turns to Hikari. "Ignore those two idiots. Why don't you join us?"

"Really? But I…"

"Come on! We don't bite!" Leaf's smile was bright and welcoming.

Hikari, feeling hesitant at first, slowly walked over to them with shy thoughts.

"Now, can you please answer why you were following us?" Akai asked.

"Well, I'm new to being a Pokémon trainer so I followed you guys. I wanted to find a new travel buddy and thought of having your friend as one of them."

"Who, me?" Akai responded.

"No, S-Satoshi-kun."

As she mentions his name, Satoshi's eyes lit up. "Huh? M-me?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you ask then? I would've said yes."

"It's just that… I saw that you found a group to travel with, so… I didn't want to be a bother and all…"

"Don't worry!" he reassured her. "You wouldn't have been a bother at all!"

"Hello?" Akai chimed in. "You guys forget that we have to get to a Pokémon Center?"

"What's the rush? We should introduce ourselves to this new trainer." Leaf turns to Hikari. "My name is Leaf. This dummy with the red hat is Akai, a childhood friend of mine."

"D-dummy? Hey, I take offense to that!"

"That was the point! Anyways, Hikari, if you're still looking for a traveling buddy, then you join us."

"Really?! Thank you so much Leaf-chan!" Hikari bows in thanks. She turns her attention to Satoshi and bows to him. "I'm looking forward to journeying with you, Satoshi-kun!"

Satoshi asks himself about the phrase that Hikari said. "Satoshi-kun?" He quickly shrugged it off and turned to both Leaf and Akai, who were walking ahead of them.

"So you guys are going to the Pokémon Center?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, Akai and I had a pretty tough fight."

"Oh yeah, I saw you guys were fighting,"

"Really?"

Leaf could only roll her eyes, grumbling, "It was too much for a first battle, if you ask me…"

And so, the new Pokémon trainer along with their companion, Hikari, are heading to their next stop in the Koni prefecture. The journey begins!

Disclaimer: All characters presented in the series belong to their respective owners except the OCs created by UltraBlueKitsune.