Throughout the universe, there are many worlds, worlds where humans live side by side with mysterious, fantastical creatures known as Pokemon. They live, train, and battle together, strengthening their bond through their friendship. However, there is one world in particular where trainers and pokemon can bond with each other in a way humans could only dream to understand.
In many of these worlds, Pokemon are the only kind of animal-like creature, but in a world known as Aeternium, things are a bit different. Rather than humans, the dominant race of this world consists of anthro versions of non-pokemon species. While pokemon are known for their evolution, the people of Aeternium instead followed another type of evolution entirely.
The people are still distantly related to the pokemon of Aeternium as well, so they can understand each other perfectly and directly communicate with each other. Because of this, many people of Aeternium can build a strong bond of friendship almost unheard of in other worlds.
Of course, not everything in Aeternium is ideal. There are still plenty of people who use their pokemon for more nefarious purposes in order to try and become more powerful. Fortunately, there are many kind-hearted trainers whose bond with their pokemon can help them overcome almost any hardship.
We turn now to one such trainer on her way to begin a pokemon journey of her very own...
Chapter One:
Mira Ravinn sighed, resting her forehead against the cool glass of the train compartment, watching the lights of the city speed past. Being a fennec, she was quite short for her age, standing at around five feet two inches with light brown fur and chocolate-colored fur around her hands and feet. Her long dark brown hair was tied back into a pony tail tucked through the back of the backwards baseball cap she wore.
"Am I really going through with this?" she asked herself as she fiddled with the device she wore around her left wrist, which resembled a pokeball with a red jewel set in the middle. This had been a "parting gift" she'd taken from her father before she'd took off on her own. It was the latest version of the pokedex to come out in Aeternium, the Holo-Dex which was capable of rendering pokemon models and information in full holographic detail.
She brought up one entry in particular as a 3D model of a fennekin sprang to life projected from the jewel. This was the current object of her excursion to Prisma City as she'd been able to find a seller who had one for relatively cheap. It would still take most of the money she had on hand for the purchase, but she was hoping she could make enough money off of trainer battles to support the two of them for a while. Her ultimate hope was to be able to win a gym challenge to kickstart her journey and hopefully make enough prize money to afford the proper equipment to be able to survive in the wild between destinations.
She'd likely have to find and catch at least one more pokemon nearby before that, mainly because the gym leader of the city happened to be a water-type trainer. Still, Mira had her own reasons for wanting a fire-type starter as well as why she specifically wanted a fennekin, so that was just a hurdle the two of them were going to have to confront together.
Soon enough, the magnet train came to a smooth stop at the station as Mina straightened up and stepped off into the nearly abandoned platform. A fifteen-year-old fennec in a pair of nondescript black sweatpants and a matching black sweater wasn't of particular interest to the few people on the platform despite late night hour, but Mira still couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
It wasn't like it was illegal to meet someone to purchase a pokemon, but the whole situation still seemed a bit sketchy considering the seller wanted to meet so late at night. She constantly looked over her shoulder as she made her way down the street before she finally made her way down a side alley. She leaned against the wall, keeping an eye out.
She didn't have to wait long before a tall, lanky black cat joined her. He was clearly not trying to be too distinguishable himself as he wore simple black track pants with white stripes down the sides and a long black turtleneck, much of his upper face obscured by a huge pair of wraparound sunglasses.
"You here for the fen?" the cat asked, looking away as he ran a hand through his short, spiky bleached hair. Mira nodded, but didn't turn to look at him, keeping her eyes down as she acknowledged him so it wasn't obvious the two of them were involved in the transaction.
"Fifteen thousand poke, as agreed upon," the cat told her as she nodded, discreetly pulling out her wallet as she pulled out a wrinkled wad of bills. She carefully tucked the bills into his right hand behind his back as he turned away and quickly flicked through the stack to be sure it was all there.
After a moment, he leaned back against the wall as he stuffed the bills into his back pocket, seemingly satisfied. He then reached into his right pocket, pulling his arm behind his back again and dropped a minituarized pokeball into Mira's hand as she held it out, closing her hand securely around it.
"Pleasure doing business with you," the cat told her as Mira nodded, quickly turning as she started to head back towards the alley entrance. The cat then cut her off as his stepped in front of her, his lanky arm reaching out to lean against the opposite wall to further cut her off.
"Hey now, what's the rush? That little 'mon wasn't exactly easy to come by, and I went through a lot of trouble getting it here tonight," he commented as Mira sighed.
"What do you want? I already gave you the money we agreed on, and it wasn't exactly easy to get together, either!" the young fennec growled. She had more money, but not a lot, and if she paid him any more, she wouldn't have enough to get a room at the pokemon center for the night and have to find somewhere on the streets.
"Hey now, simmer down there, Hotshot...I'm not asking for much, all I want is a battle," he commented, pulling out another pokeball as he hit the button to enlarge it in his hand.
"A battle...Right here in the middle of the alley...After all the hush-hush bullshit we just went through?" Mira asked as the cat laughed.
"That was mostly for show, it's not like we're really doing anything wrong here...Besides, the streets around here are pretty deserted this late at night, I doubt anyone's going to bother us," he commented as Mira sighed.
"All right, but don't expect much in the way of prize money if I lose," Mira commented as the cat shook his head.
"Oh no, of course not...Just consider this my special way of introducing you to the real world of pokemon!" he commented as he tossed his pokeball. It burst open as a large obstagoon took form from the red light, and Mira's eyes widened as she brought up her Holo-Dex to scan the large pokemon.
"Holy...This thing's level fifty, are you seriously going to fight a level five fennekin with that?!" Mira demanded.
"What's the matter, I though you wanted to be a trainer?" the cat asked mockingly. "Well, maybe if you're not up to a trainer challenging you to a battle, I should just take back that little fennekin of yours," he commented as his obstagoon chuckled, crossing his arms and sticking out his long tongue in his species' trademark mocking pose. Mira stared at the two of them as she sighed, pressing the button on the pokeball in her own hand to enlarge it.
"Fine, you can have your stupid battle," Mira sighed as she lightly tossed the ball at her feet as a small, scared-looking fennekin materialized at her feet. The small fox's eyes darted around as she took in her former captor and the large obstagoon as they took in their surroundings.
"W-Wha...Where am I?! What..." the small fox asked in a meek female voice before Mira quickly knelt down beside her and put a reassuring hand on her back.
"Hey, it's all right, everything's going to be all right," she assured her. "My name is Mira, and I'm going to be your trainer from now on, all right?"
"Trainer...?" the fennekin looked from Mira and then back over her shoulder towards the tall cat.
"Yes, he caught you, but you belong to me now, my pokedex has already re-registered your ID with me as your trainer...And I'm sorry to say, but it looks like it's time for your first real battle," Mira explained as the fennekin's eyes widened.
"B-Battle? Against...HIM?!" she asked, panic growing in her voice.
"Hey, hey, listen to me, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?" Mira told her, stroking a hand through her fur reassuringly.
"We're obviously not going to win, but we can still put on a good show together, and I won't let him hurt you too bad," Mira continued.
"I...You...O-Okay..." the small pokemon still seemed unsure, but Mira smiled down at her confidently.
"You're going to do great, you'll see...Just follow my lead, and when I give the signal, I want you to pull up short and wait for my next command," Mira told her as she already had a good idea what this cat's game was going to be in this battle. She stood up as her fennekin slowly stepped into the alley to meet the cat's obstagoon.
"All right, let's start things off with a scratch attack!" Mira called out, pointing to the obstagoon as her fennekin hesitated but then ran forward to carry out the attack. The cat laughed as he gave out his own order.
"You're still wet behind the ears if you think a sloppy approach like that is going to get you anywhere! Crusher, use Obstruct!" he commanded as his obstagoon crossed his arms over each other as a large white X materialized on them.
"Now, pull back!" Mira then suddenly called out before her pokemon's attack could hit their opponent, causing the obstagoon's move to be wasted as the X soon faded.
"Now, quickly, hit him hard with an ember!" Mira called out as her fenneking opened her mouth, releasing a small blast of flame that hit the obstagoon in the face, but otherwise didn't do much.
"Not bad, kid, but you're going to have to do better than that! Crusher, hit her with a Double-Edge!" the cat called out as his obstagoon crouched down, recklessly launching his large body towards the much smaller pokemon.
"Quick, dodge it!" Mira called out, and her fennekin tried in vain to jump out of the way, but the large pokemon still grazed her, sending her tumbling a few feet away.
"Nice one, Crusher! Now, finish it off with a Night Slash!" the cat called out as the obstagoon started to run towards the fennekin, the claws on his right hand turning black. Mira had had enough, however, as she then threw herself in front of the obstagoon, throwing her arms wide as she physically blocked her opponent's pokemon.
"That's quite enough, I think you've proven your point," Mira told the cat firmly, staring down him and his pokemon. The cat regarded her coolly for a moment before he shrugged, raising his pokeball.
"Heh, fair enough...Come back, Crusher, I guess we're done here," the cat commented as he recalled his Obstagoon and turned to leave the alley.
"You've got some spunk, kid, I'll give you that...Who knows, maybe you'll turn out to be some kind of trainer after all," he commented as he made his way out of the alley. Mira watched him go, still a bit shaken from the whole ordeal.
"Prick," she muttered under her breath as she carefully gathered her fennekin in her arms. "You okay?" she asked her pokemon, concerned.
"I...I think so," the fennekin told her a little shakily. She still seemed a bit stunned from the more powerful pokemon's attack, but otherwise didn't seem to be too hurt.
"Come on, let's get you to the pokemon center so they can look you over," Mira told her as she carried her out of the alley and started heading towards the center. She then paused a moment, looking down at the small fox thoughtfully.
"I just realized, since this is the first time meeting you as your trainer, I should give you a name," she commented as she thought for a moment. "How does the name Wisp sound?"
"Wisp..." the fennekin said thoughtfully, trying the name out herself. "I...I think I like it!" she told her, smiling a little as her tail swished a bit.
"Wisp it is, then," Mira told her with finality, smiling back down at her before continuing to make her way towards the city's pokemon center.