Chapter 1:

New Trainers in Nuvema

Location: Nuvema Town

My name is Hilbert Whittaker, and I am 14 years old. I am from the region of Unova in the Pokémon world.

Now, what are Pokémon? Magical beings that live alongside us as friends. It is the dream of many people to become the Champion of a League, and that means going around a region, catching Pokémon and winning Badges.

Anyway, the Unova region is a wonderful place. Lush forests, big cities, and LOTS of business. Many companies are set up here so trade with other regions is particularly important to keep the economy in tow.

Today was a big day; the first day of Autumn. I put on my blue jacket, red and white cap, black jeans, red shoes and black bag. "Hilbert, today is the day" I said looking in the mirror. In my reflection, I saw the purple present at the opposite end of my room, topped with a green bow. In the present, would be the start of destiny. That present had been delivered three days ago, but it hadn't been sitting there collecting dust. We had been waiting for the right moment to open it.

As I was wondering where my friends got to, one of them walked upstairs. He had black hair, clear glasses, a blue jacket, and a white and red top. "Well, here we are" Cheren reminded me. "The first day of what we have been waiting for. The day we choose our first Pokémon to start our journey!"

I couldn't hold in my excitement, but I didn't let it show too much. After all, we've been going on about this since we made the pact as kids. "Well, we can't exactly start yet can we. Bianca isn't here."

"We made a promise to each other" Cheren said. "Even Bianca wouldn't be super late with starting our journey, even against what her Father thinks."

As he said this, running up the stairs, came Bianca. She had short blonde hair and a green beret, complete with a white dress and orange overtop. "Sorry" she panicked. "Dad was being insistent again."

Cheren gave a small smile with delight, but also very slight embarrassment. "Bianca, never change please. Well, you could focus on being more organized."

"Well" I said, swiftly changing the subject. "Looks like we're all gathered, so I think it's time." We walked over to the present and I read the note on the box.


"I've brought three Pokémon, one for you and one for each of your friends. Please settle your choices politely. Enjoy your Pokémon!"

-Prof. Aurea Juniper


Inside the present was a box. Inside the box were three Pokéballs. "To think" Bianca said. "One of these will contain our first friend on our journey!"

So, the Pokéball. These are what hold Pokémon inside. I won't get into how just yet, but that's all you need to know.

"Let Hilbert pick first" Cheren said. "It's his house after all and plus, he is the one who helped us come together for this."

"Thanks Cheren!" I said, though I really was not sure who to pick.

My hand was hovered on the one to the far right, so I picked it up and sent out the Pokémon. It had a white round head, a brown nose and two small black ears. Its body was light blue and it had a yellow shell on its stomach.

"That's an Oshawott!" Cheren said. "Ah yes, a Water Type that uses it's shell, otherwise known as a Scalchop, as a weapon. It-"

"Thanks Cheren" I said. "We will learn more when we get our Pokédex's. Okay Bianca, ladies next. Who will you choose?"

Bianca picked up the Pokéball to the far left and sent out a long green smug Pokémon which looked like it had a leaf for a tail. "Snivy?" Cheren said. "Good choice, it suits you."

"What?" Bianca laughed. "Snivy isn't for me. THIS one is for you!" She picked up Snivy and gave it to Cheren.

"Hey!" I said. "You can't decide Cheren's starter, it's his choice!"

"It's fine" Cheren said. "After all, I wanted Snivy anyway. So, this leaves…"

Okay. First of all, we just looked at Cheren dumbfounded. We were to expect a lot of terrible puns like that on this journey.

Bianca took the remaining Pokéball and sent out an orange and black Pokémon. It had a curled tail with a ball on the end, complete with a small snout at the front. "Tepig!" she said. "The cutest one of the bunch!"

"Ah yes, the Fire Type" Cheren said, adjusting his glasses. "You know, it eats berries by-"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" we both shouted, before laughing it off.


"So" Bianca said. "You ready?"

"For what?" I asked.

"To battle of course!" Bianca cheerfully replied. "Let's do it now!"

"Woah woah woah! You do realise that this is my room? We'll trash the place; it'll look like a Tepigsty!"

"Berty, they're not exactly strong yet. If any damage is done, I'm sure it'll be minor."

First of all, Bianca knows how much I hate being called that. Secondly, I knew this was Bianca I was taking advice from, which wasn't always a good idea. But in the grand scheme of things, the only attacking move everyone knew was Tackle. How bad could it get?

"You're on Bianca!" I said, pointing at her which got us both pumped!

"Then let's get this party started!" she replied.


Hilbert Vs. Bianca

"Oshawott, go!" Oshawott ran into the centre of the room.

"I choose Tepig!" Bianca replied, as Tepig ran to face Oshawott.

"I'll make the first move. Oshawott, Tackle go!" Oshawott charged into Tepig. A direct hit, Tepig flew and landed on my bed. "At least it was a soft landing" I said, realizing that my room was not going to be as untouched as I thought, if at all.

"Tepig, Tackle back!" Tepig jumped off the bed and charged into Oshawott, who went flying into the potted plant. It almost fell, but Cheren caught it.

"Be careful Bianca" I said. "Oshawott, Tackle again!" Oshawott charged into Tepig. The impact made Tepig land into my TV. "Oh, come on, now Patratsonic is gonna have to repair it again!"

"Tepig, Tackle!" Tepig jumped off the wall and landed on Oshawott.

"One more Tackle!" With Tepig still on top, Oshawott tackled Tepig and it landed on the ceiling, narrowly missing the light. Tepig fell, fainting.


"Aw, my first loss" Bianca said, recalling Tepig back to its Pokéball. "But also my first battle! This is the first taste of what we will see on this journey!"

"Bianca, you do realize…"

"What?" she asked me.

"MY ROOM LOOKS LIKE A GARBODOR DUMP!" I answered, looking around to find something that WASN'T in its original place before battle. Posters were falling off the walls, my bed was unkempt and footprints littered the place. "Now I have to clean it up because you couldn't be patient enough for 2 minutes to go outside and battle."

"Well, we can still help you get stronger" Bianca said, remaining her usual optimistic self. "You're next Cheren!"

"I really don't think we should mess up his room anymore" he said. "Hilbert's is very upset."

"Well it can't really get any messier" I told him. "Might as well do it."

Cheren spun Snivy's Pokéball on his finger, even though Snivy was right next to him. "Tepig was strong and bulky, but Snivy is quick and agile. Let's see how you get around a different battling style!"


Hilbert Vs. Cheren

"Snivy, Tackle!" Snivy ran up the wall, then jumped off the wall into Oshawott. Oshawott was taken back a few steps.

"Oshawott, Tackle!" Oshawott ran into Snivy who rolled back from the impact.

"Snivy, Tackle!" Snivy reached the wall again and jumped off it into Oshawott. Oshawott hit my chest of drawers and shirts went everywhere.

"Another Tackle!" Oshawott charged into Snivy for a Critical Hit! Snivy was down!


"Impressive" Cheren told me. "Two different battling styles that you have practiced for this journey."

"Well my room is worse but not by much" I told Cheren. "But still, the state of it is awful. We all need to tell Mom about this."

"I'll do it" Bianca said. "I suggested we do this."


We all walked downstairs; heads bowed to meet Mom.

"Erm, Isabella?" Bianca started. "We kind of had a battle in Hilbert's room and, well, trashed it by accident. I was the one who suggested it, I should pay the price."

Mom smiled. "Don't worry, I'll clean it up."

"Really?!" I said, surprised. In any normal circumstances my room were to get this messy, she would ground me for a generation, probably two. However, she knew that big times were ahead of us so there would be no point in delaying it.

"It's fine, really. Remember, I use to be a Trainer myself. Don't pass up this opportunity. The Unova region is waiting!"

"We won't!" we all replied.

"BUT. Professor Juniper gave you those Pokémon. I think you should thank her for the gift."

"My goodness you're right!" Bianca said. "But my Father will…"

"We'll be there with you" Cheren said.

"One more thing Hilbert" Mom said. She gave me a watch with a screen on it.

"My Xtransciever, it's fixed!" I shouted.

"Remember, it's pronounced 'Cross' transceiver" Mom said. "I'll stop delaying you now. Say hi to Juniper for me."

"We will!" we all replied.


We walked out and saw multiple Pidove fly away. They were grey and feathery with black and white wings.

"I love Pidove" Cheren said. "Did you know that Pidove are the only Pokémon with a base state total of 264?"

"No and we didn't need to" I said. "Okay, to the Lab!"

The Juniper Lab was easy to spot. It was the biggest building in Nuvema and had a red roof as opposed to the blue roofs/

"You ready for this?" Bianca asked.

"Our dreams lie here" I said. With that, I opened the door into the Lab.


The Lab was everything you would imagine a lab to be. Beakers, graphs, and a bunch of other things I didn't understand, but the scientists working there clearly did. At the end of the Lab, there she was; Professor Aurea Juniper. She wore a green skirt, a white shirt and a white labcoat. She had two red earrings and light brown hair that was bunched up like an ice cream.

"Why hello kids" she said.

"Professor" I said. "We can't thank you enough for these Pokémon. I think we made the right choice. No, we DID make the right choice on each. They all suit our battle styles perfectly. Cheren's quick thinking is equivalent to Snivy's quick battle style. Bianca takes a bit of time, but when she's ready, she is strong like Tepig. Me? I'm somewhere in the middle like Oshawott."

"That's great to hear!"

"But there is something I want to ask" Cheren brought up. "Why us? There are many people in Nuvema Town, so why did you see potential in us three?"

"Because" Juniper replied. "You all work hard, you're all friendly and honestly, you deserve them. Plus, all the others might be a bit young to be Trainers."

Ah yes I should mention. In other regions such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, 10 years old is the minimum age required to be a Pokémon Trainer that can take on Gyms and such. However, in Unova, the age is bumped to 14 years old. Remember, business is big in Unova. Many can't go on adventures because they need to run said business.

Finally, Juniper got out three devices. They were grey and had two screens, one of which slid out from the back. Two were red and one was pink.

"Our Pokédexs!" Cheren shouted as we picked one up each. "These hold information of every Pokémon in the Unova region. All you need to do is-"

"Yeah show don't tell Cheren" I told him, as I scanned everyone.


Oshawott (ミジュマル)

007

Water Type

Sea Otter Pokémon

1'08" (0.5 m)

13 lbs (5.9 kg)

The scalchop on its stomach is made from the same elements as claws. It detaches the scalchop for use as a blade.


Tepig (ポカブ)

004

Fire Type

Fire Pig Pokémon

1'08" (0.5 m)

21.8 lbs (9.9 kg)

It can deftly dodge its foe's attacks while shooting fireballs from its nose. It roasts berries before it eats them.


Snivy (ツタージャ)

001

Grass Type

Grass Snake Pokémon

2'00" (0.6 m)

17.9 lbs (8.1 kg)

It is very intelligent and calm. Being exposed to lots of sunlight makes its movements swifter.


"Professor" I said. "We can't thank you enough for everything you've done."

"The best way to thank me is if you make me proud!" she said. "However, it would be the best idea for you to go tomorrow. It's starting to get pretty late."

"You're right" I said, looking out the window. The sky was starting to turn the beautiful gold as the sun was dipping below the mountains. "Tomorrow, we head out!"


We exit the lab and had a talk about tomorrow.

"We leave at 9" I said. "Bianca. You need to keep pleading. I know your Dad will need some convincing, but we will stand by you if needs necessary."

"Thanks" Bianca said. She was clearly concerned of what he would think.

"We should get some rest then" Cheren told us. "See you tomorrow."


That's the end of our first of many days as Pokémon Trainers. Many challenges await us, new friends to make, new enemies to face, Gym Badges to earn and, biggest of all, Pokémon to see. Look out Unova, we're coming!