The sun was high, high up in the middle of the sky. Pidove chirped and sang their songs high in the trees while Patrat foraged in the tall grass for food. The whole thing seemed surreal to Wade, who had finally put Houndour on the ground, scanning the new world around him with a child-like wonder. He simply couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming, he had a demon dog walking beside him, and a Pidove nearly dropped a turd on his head.
He could've sworn that the Pidove was snickering after it dropped its 'present' inches away from his head. "god damned, stupid birds," Wade mumbled. He assumed that the bird wouldn't have been able to hear him, but he was sorely mistaken when he felt something slam into his back. "Gah!" Wade groaned as he stayed on his feet. He panted as he hunched over.
Houndour immediately started snarling at the bird in front of him. This stupid pidgeon had just attacked his human, his damned human! Only he was allowed to snap at that human, his human! And Houndour needed this human to last a while since Wade gave good back massages. "Hey! Watch where you're dive bombing! You could've killed my trainer, you know," Houndour growled.
"You're a weird looking Lilipup," Pidove commented as she wasn't taking the mutt in front of her seriously. It was a Lilipup, it probably couldn't even reach the perch she was sitting on. She giggled as the human, she had just struck, finally sit up straight, rubbing his back. That was going to bruise, which is what the human deserved for calling her dumb. Houndour began to laugh like a maniac.
"I'm not a Lilipup! I'm a mighty Houndour, and if you even attempt to swipe at Wade again, this'll be your last hour alive. That's if I'm feeling dangerous, by the way," Houndour threatened. To his surprise, Houndour, and by extension, Houndoom's notoriety carried across regions, and Pidove froze up and began to shiver in fear. Houndour once more broke into maniacal laughter.
"Y-you wouldn't hit me with an Ember, right? L-look, I was just messing around when I hit your trainer! I'll come down and apologize if I hurt him too badly," Pidove began to shiver. She knew what it would mean if a Houndour was angry, especially if they were burning with rage(a/n: pun intended). Pain, un-ending, agonizing pain that could last a lifetime. The only pokemon more feared would be an angry Ninetales, who could curse you and your descendants for thousands of years.
"Look, I'm feeling a bit generous today… so turn your stupid, feathery ass around, and get out of my sight. If I see you use Wing Attack of my trainer again, I'll burn you, find your stupid chicks, and eat them in front of you, understood?" Houndour asked. Pidove quickly nodded and turned tail. She had zero intentions of figuring out what a Houndour could truly do when angered.
Now that the threat was gone, Houndour turned around to face his trainer, his stubby tail wagged until he saw his trainer. Wade was just staring at him, with what looked like fear filled eyes. He was supposed to make his trainer love him, not scare the living daylights out of them Houndour's ears instinctively pinned to his head, and he lowered himself to appear smaller. Wade simply walked forward and knelt down before his pokemon.
"I didn't know you could laugh… especially with how… human that laugh was," Wade broke the silence. "I gotta say, you laugh like a guy from a movie, who's about to murder somebody… Now that I think about it, that does make sense, huh bud?" Wade asked as he patted Houndour on the head a couple times. "You and Houndoom aren't labelled the 'Dark Pokemon' for nothing, right?" Wade sat down next to Houndour, and wrapped an arm around him.
"I'm… surprised that you actually stood up for me. I know a few 'friends' who'd be more than willing to abandon me if I got jumped. Heck, I could probably get killed one day and my friends wouldn't notice…" Wade rubbed his chin as he began to take in the reason for why he was in this world. "Oh god! I died!" Wade yelped in realization. Houndour tilted his head in confusion… Wade was still alive, so why was he saying he died?
"I got hit by a damn car in the middle of the night!" Wade looked down at his clothes for the first time in a while. His white shirt was marked with black markings, similar to what tires would make on a white tiled floor. His black pants didn't look too bad, but that was because the tire tracks blended into them. "God fucking dammit! I'm such a damned loser. I couldn't even hold a job before… it. Hell, I could barely live on my own," Wade began to weep.
Houndour, immediately noticing his trainer's despair, which seemingly came out of nowhere, rubbed deeper into his trainer's side. Almost immediately, Wade snatched Houndour up into a hug and cried into the canine's coat. While Houndour would usually complain about how his coat would be ruined, but he didn't. His trainer needed to be comforted and…
Why should he care? This was just some human… in fact, why did he stand up for Wade when Pidove started to attack him? Houndour knew he was already getting attached to Wade, but to defend him, and then comfort him within a a day of meeting him? Houndour shook off those thoughts as he noticed his trainer stopped crying. He nudged his trainer with his snout a couple times, and Wade finally raised his head.
"Sorry about crying on ya, Houndour… god, I'm a grown man and I'm crying," Wade wiped his face and patted the dog on the head. "Thank you… for just letting me cry on you. Sometimes just having somebody to vent to… or to cry on just feels nice, y'know?" Wade asked. Houndour nodded before thinking back to a time he had somebody to cry on… only to come up blank.
In fact, until he came out of that Pokeball, he couldn't remember a thing. Before he first laid eyes on his soon to be trainer, he couldn't remember anything at all. That didn't matter right now, as he needed to focus on what was happening right now, even if his lack of memory was a bit concerning. "Hey, you're a part of my pack now, Wade. It's what we do, love, comfort, and care for each other…" Houndour said, knowing Wade couldn't understand a word.
"Y'know… if you want to leave, you can. You can even take your Pokeball and crush it in your jaws, give it to a more deserving trainer, anything really. I'm kinda useless as a person, so how the heck am I gonna be able to raise you?" Wade asked. He chuckled. "I probably wouldn't even know what to feed you, like I could cook to begin with. You'd be better off without me, since you can probably hunt."
Houndour nipped Wade on the ear before he could continue degrading himself. He glared at his trainer, he had just declared Wade as a part of his pack, and his human was telling him he should leave? That's not what pack members did! They stick together, through thick and thin; a pack is family. Wade, while almost being a stranger, was his family. Wade's shoulders slumped and he nodded. "Alright Houndour, I got the message… just know that the option is there in case you change your mind about me.
This elicited another nip from Houndour. "Stupid human, just let me love you," Houndour grumbled as he curled up into his trainer's arms. "Now carry me, I like being held," he demanded. Despite Wade not knowing what Houndour was saying, he got the message and stood up, pokemon in arms. Albeit wobbly, the two continued to trudge through the woods.
An hour had passed since the Houndour and Wade had started moving again. They managed to find a path, after a quick question to Houndour as to which direction was south, they started walking down said path. Surprisingly, it led north and south, and Houndour knew exactly which direction was left; he just simply knew by instinct. When in doubt, trust your instincts, Houndour decided.
Wade was entirely following a hunch, if he was where he thought he was, then he was heading towards a town where he could begin to get some sort of help. Especially given that he probably didn't have the currency he was thinking of(he checked his wallet, all that was in it was his debit card). He also wanted to get registered into… this country's database, to register that he did, in fact, exist and was sentient.
After a half an hour, Wade saw a sign that he was expecting. 'Welcome to: Nuvema Town.' "Well, that was a good hunch… it looks nothing like the games..." Wade mumbled. Houndour, who literally couldn't ignore his trainer, tilted his head before ignoring that question. He figured that is trainer was just insane… as well as depressed. Houndour noted that last thought and decided to store it for later; he needed to find out a way to properly communicate before he jumped down that Buneary Hole.
Wade stopped a couple people, asking for directions, and following them to the best of his abilities. Luckily most of the town's residents spoke English… Unovan? Whatever it was, it didn't matter, since Wade could at least get by just fine. Apparently he had an accent compared to the people he spoke to. Of course he'd somehow manage to screw up speaking his native language.
Unlike in the games, where Nuvema town, and most starting towns for that matter, consisted of approximately five buildings, this Nuvema town was more like the anime's take on the small town. For starters, it had actual roads and sidewalks and not just the dirt paths like the e games, it also very clearly had more than five buildings in it. Luckily, the place he was looking for stood out like a sore thumb.
Wade opened the door to see five trainers instead of the two he was expecting. Ash and Trip he immediately recognized. The other three he also immediately recognized. One, dressed in a sleeveless, jean jacket and short jeans, a young girl. She also had waist length hair, which was styled in a pony tail. This was clearly White, the female protagonist in Pokemon Black and White. She also wore a red fanny pack, which was on her reer.
Beside her was another girl, who was dressed in… well, a tight fitting dress with an orange, which made it seem like she had wider hips than she actually did. She also donned a green beret on her short, blond haired head. Strapped over her shoulder was a small bag, which was more like a purse than anything. It was Bianca.
Beside her was a boy, with a blue jacket, a tie, and a dress shirt underneath it. He had no noticeable backpack. The boy also had short, black hair with a couple strands standing straight up… it kinda looked like the horn of an Absol. He also donned a pair of glasses. It was Cheren.
Ash was wearing the same outfit he wore in the Unova Anime, which was really a modified, short sleeved version of what Black, the male protagonist in the games, wore. His shoes were different, they were surprisingly the same shoes he worn throughout Kanto, even though he could've sworn Ash had a different pair of shoes with each incarnation of him. He did look slightly older than the others in the room, which made Wade chuckle; Ash was supposed to be immortal.
Standing before all of them, stood none other than Professor Juniper. Unlike the anime and games, which were for kids, Juniper looked a lot less slim, and more like a woman. In fact, if Wade had any self confidence, he would've walked right up to the professor and asked her out. She had a slender waist, wide hips(which her unbuttoned lab coat incentuatated), lovely, golden brown hair. She was really pretty.
The Professor seemed to be in the middle of explaining what a Pokedex was to the five of them, and turned her attention to him, as with the kids in the room.
All six of them had noticed Wade walking in the door, and he wasn't liking the sudden attention.
"Odd, when I was told five trainers were coming today, I didn't think I'd get a sixth coming in today… especially not one so… old? Clearly you're not a beginner if you've managed to get a Houndour to let you carry it," Juniper said flatly. Wade scratched the back of his head and chuckled.
"I uh… just got off the… plane. I travelled from a region far from here to speak with you. I was hoping to… discuss some stuff with you, Professor Juniper," Wade said. Houndour simply remained quiet, whe being amused at how nervous his trainer was. Juniper put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"You're here to tell me something, likely very professional, while dressed like that? It looks like you got hit by a car!" She exclaimed. Cheren stepped forward, clearly intrigued by the Houndour in Wade's arms. Wade simply laughed.
"Ah… you're pretty accurate with that description of me, eh? I guess I shoulda showed up with nicer clothes if I was coming to speak with The Unovan Professor," Wade sighed as Cheren tried to poke at Houndour.
"How did you get such a weird looking Houndour," Cheren asked.
"He's Shiny Pokemon… meaning he has a different fur color to other Houndour. His fur also glimmers in low light, which looks really amazing I might add, and it has no effects other than that. If I remember middle school science class correctly, it's just a recessive gene that is usually overridden…" Wade shrugged. "Said gene doesn't do anything other than change Houndour's colors though, but it does also make him look like a pretty boy," Wade said teasingly. That last bit was more aimed towards his pokemon.
Houndour simply smiled and happily took in the praise, only to nip the finger that was stuck in his face. Cheren yelped and pulled his hand away, rubbing his finger, even though there were no visible teeth marks on it, and Houndour hadn't even bit that hard. Cheren had paper for skin apparently.
"Well, I'll tell you this, your description of what makes Shiny Pokemon... well, shiny, is quite accurate, albeit it was a pretty simple explanation. So you probably have something to discuss with me that isn't a scam. Just let me get these trainers settled for the night… they're about to start journeying through the region in a few weeks, well, White, Cheren, and Bianca are, they're waiting for White to turn 10 so they can travel together. Ash and Trip here, are already old enough to start. So I want to get where they'll be sleeping."
'So they don't live in Nuvema town.' Wade thought. "Thank you, professor, just some time alone to discuss my offer is all I need," Wade nodded towards the other five in the room. "Good luck on your journey, since the Gym Challenge is pretty rough," Wade said. Each of them thanked him and talked about how some trainers didn't even make it past the first gym.
'Jeez, I pulled that out of my ass. I didn't know the first gym was that much of a problem for trainers… good thing I won't be taking part in that' Wade thought as White stepped forward.
"You know a lot about Pokemon, don't you? I mean… it's kind of hard to get a Houndour of all Pokemon to like you. I heard they can be pretty stubborn, violent and can turn on their trainers in a heartbeat," White asked. She had a child like wonder in her eyes that Wade found simply adorable.
"Well, I suppose I do… even though all I did was give him a back massage," Wade chuckled; he literally just met Houndour, and apparently that was an accomplishment. At least he was doing something right for once…
"Cheren, can we bring him along? I'm sure we could use some extra protection from a skilled trainer," White asked. Cheren shrugged. "Why not? It'd be awesome to learn a thing or two from a more experienced trainer," he reasoned. Wade raised his hands defensively, after putting Houndour down of course, and shook his head.
"Hehehe… I um… I'm not that good at battling. You see, I'm more of a researcher than a fighter…" Wade argued.
Trip didn't look so convinced so he stepped forward. "I was gonna beat up Ash for my first battle… but now I want to see what I can do against you. Surely that Houndour has got to be pretty strong," Trip didn't seem to be taking no for an answer. No matter how hard Wade declined.
"We're so screwed," Wade said under his breath as he and Trip were followed outside by the other five people in the room.