Platform 9 3/4 was the traditional way that first year Hogwarts students arrived to campus. Being 18, most students did not have their parents with them. Most parents also could not be asked to come to the train station. They were too busy what with their work and other personal matters. Normal parents trusted their children to get it right the first time. Of course Nick Baldwin's mom wasn't like most parents. She was convinced that she needed to be there when Nick went through the pillar to the platform. Nick's father had joined Nick in trying to dissuade his mom from coming with him. But she ignored both their pleas. She would make sure that Nick got onto the platform. She didn't trust that Nick could do it on his own. Especially after what he had brought home from Olivander's.
(Flashback)
Whitney Baldwin nearly had a heart attack when Nick came home with a ghost type Pokémon. She had gone through the stages of grief. She had tried to deny that her son was one of "them." That Olivander had lost it and had made a mistake. That there was no way her son would ever own a ghost Pokémon even if that Pokémon was a evolution of her beloved eevee. She wanted to take Hamlet back. Nick had tried to reason with her that Hamlet was more flying type than Ghost, but Whitney would not listen to reason. She had even tried to take the dusk ball away from her son.
That was when Trace Baldwin stepped in. He looked at his dear wife and stood up for his son. Even his beloved Jolteon had put his foot down and sided with Nick. Olivander never made a mistake. If this was the Pokémon Olivander had wanted Nick to have then they just had to go along with it. He trusted that Nick would train the Phereon well. He assured her that Nick would not all of a sudden join up with the death eaters and team illusion. Plus he knew a few ghost type Pokémon that weren't bad. Nick's mother finally acquiesced to the arguments, but she had wanted to see Nick off. Plus she wanted to make sure that none of the Wulf sisters would be there.
(End flashback)
Which is what she did. Nick had nearly died from embarrassment as his mother had openly cried as Nick secretly texted viola to meet him on the train. As they pulled away the pink hair woman sniffled. Nick just rolled his eyes as he watched other Hogwarts students pass by. Some snickered, especially the attractive females. Nick wanted to get far far away from his mother. Ten months seemed too short.
"My baby is so grown up. I can't believe it.", Whitney Baldwin bellowed. "It was just yesterday that my boy was in his father's gym. Playing with Jolteon and Espeon. Now he's off to Hogwarts." The sounds she made attracted some onlookers. Even some security guards had looked on from a distance. Whitney grabbed her boy again. Her hug would make even an Ursurang jealous. Nick turned crimson with both rage and embarrassment.
"Mum, it's ok. It's time for me to go.", he noticed that Alexa had been watching. She laughed and waved as she headed towards the section for the floo network. Nick shot her a bird. Still his mother held him for what felt like forever over his loud objections.
"What age did you stop breast feeding? 15? 16?", viola teased as she and Nick made their way through the Hogwarts express. They had to find their own compartment that apparently they had to share with two others. Viola held the tickets in her hand. "Have you seen compartment 12 yet?", Viola squinted trying time find out where they were supposed to be going.
"Fuck you", Nick said as he strolled behind her. He took everything in. He had of course been on trains before, but nothing like this. It was as if the old world met the new world. Each comprehend was huge and comfortable looking. There were even beds as the trip to Hogwarts would take 5 hours. There was even a compartment just for sweets. Apparently an old lady would bring a trolley of sweets out when the train got going. This made Nick excited. If he had one weakness, and he wouldn't even call it a weakness, it was his love of sweets. He would do some damage to that sweet cart.
"Hey momma's boy.", Nick snapped out of his trance as he saw Viola give a nod of her head to the compartment marked 12. "I found where we are staying." Viola gave a nod towards the door. Nick nodded as he slung his carry on over his shoulder and stood next to Viola.
"I just hope we don't get stuck with a bunch of losers or dweebs.", while she was his best friend, Viola had moments where she can be vain. This apparently was one of those times. Nick just shook his head and shot Viola a look. The blonde just shrugged her shoulders. "You should be used to me by now." Sadly she was right. Nick was used to her antics by now. Nick knocked on the door to the compartment to see if anyone was already in the room.
"Come on in", a rather deep voice said. Viola and Nick just looked at one another. The voice sounded like it belonged to a adult man rather than a student. Nick was a bit uncomfortable as he opened the door to the compartment.
Inside there were two males. One was dressed in what appeared to be a vest and jacket. The vest and jacket was merely a distraction from his bright green hair. The teens hair was puffed up. Quite fancy for a train ride. He had a wide smile on his face. A elephant shaped Pokémon sat in his lap. The elephant mon had, what appeared to be, a decent sized, blooming Douglas fir tree growing from the top of its head. A flower sprung from its trunk. The bottom half of the creature was brown while the top half was green. 'Well we know who the grass trainer in the room is', Nick mumbled internally. Nick wished he had a Pokédex with him, but apparently that didn't happen until they got to Hogwarts.
The other student in the compartment appeared to be made of pure muscle. Nick thought that he kept in good shape, but this newcomer put Nick to shame. He wore a tight dark blue Under Armor esque shirt that made his muscles pop out even more. A pair of orange sunglasses/goggles sat on top of his head. In his lap sat the strangest Pokémon Nick had ever seen. It was a round ball like creature. The creature wore a silver helmet with a huge blue spike that protruded our from the helmet. The helmet had a shield that covered every aspect of the Pokémon's face except for the blue eyes that stared out. Nick didn't know if this Pokémon was cool or creepy. Whatever it was, Nick was intrigued. The creature looked like an old school warrior from history. Being a history lover, Nick automatically loved that Pokémon.
Viola meanwhile was not interested in the Pokémon. She had her eyes set on one thing and one thing only. She brushed past Nick and jumped into the next next to the muscular stranger. She even leaned over showing some Cleve she as she faced the muscle head. "Down girl", Nick said as he sat down next to the green haired teen. Viola shot Nick a middle finger. "I was just being friendly", Nick just rolled his eyes. Then looked around at the other two males in the compartment. Nick blushed as a form of an apology for his and Viola's antics. Well especially Viola's antics.
"Sorry to be a bit rude. We forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Nick Baldwin. I'm from Accordia. And this", he pointed towards Viola was was practically planting herself in the mountain of muscle's lap. "Is a stage five clinger." Viola gave Nick a look that simply said "fuck you." Nick just shrugged and nodded to Viola. He had been her wing man on more than one occasion, but this was ridiculous. Viola must not have gotten any in some amount of time. She seemed desperate.
The blonde managed to compose herself as she still stared daggers at Nick. "You have to excuse jackass over here. He gets jealous whenever I give other males any attention." Nick rolled his eyes as everyone else in the compartment chuckled. Viola knew how to push his buttons better than anyone. "I'm Viola. I am also from Accordia. In fact I am neighbors with this jackass." Nick had noticed that Viola had not mentioned her last name. Nick understood why, the name Wulf was mud in Erseen. Viola and Alexa's mom had turned out to be an ardent supporter of Team Illusion even after the great Pokémon war had ended. Ms. Wulf had been one of the people trying to restore Team Illusion to glory." She had ended up in Azkaban. It had been a huge scandal in Accordia. Obviously Viola, and probably Alexa, had not disclosed their last names. Nick wouldn't push.
The green haired student would take the lead now. "Well that was an interesting introduction.", the blue haired student managed to chuckle as well. Nick and Viola meanwhile hung their heads in embarrassment. Viola even turned red in the cheeks. It was clear that people would not understand her and Nick's banter right away. But this was how they had always been. Ever since they were little kids. But if they had to tone it down then they had to do it. "I'm Cilan. I'm from Garshire."
Cilan would then hold up the half elephant and half plant Pokémon. "This is Bella. She's a Treunk.", Bella would let out a loud trill as she looked at Nick and Viola. In fact Bella jumped out of her trainers lap and rubbed against Viola. Viola smiled as she pet the elephant Pokémon. "So she's a grass type?", nick asked. He was intrigued. It would make sense since Garshire was known for being the place to get a grass Pokémon in Erseen.
"Actually she's grass and ground", Cilan corrected. Bella let out a roar in approval. This brought a smile to the face of everyone in the compartment. Everyone's attention then turned to the blue haired student in the compartment. He had been relatively quiet except the horrified face he had when Viola had tried to mount him. But now it was his turn to introduce himself to the group.
"I'm Brawley from Miverena.", he smiled. Viola had decided to use a different tact. Instead of trying to act desperate, she leaned in to seem extremely interested in what Brawley was going was saying. Nick was intrigued. Miverena was home to one of the largest dojos in Erseen. People from Miverena were known to be tranquil and spiritual, but you didn't want to mess with them. Even Team Illusion had not dared to attack Miverena during the Great Pokemon War. It also helped that the city of Miverena laid deep in the mountains which made it hard to attack.
Brawley nodded towards his Pokémon. "This is Charlemagne. My loyal Dimator." The warrior like Pokémon bowed to all the visitors. Nick raised his eyebrows. He was utterly confused by the cool looking Pokémon. He was also interested in the fact in how Brawley and others from Miverena got their Pokémon. Did Olivander travel to Miverena or did they travel days to Erseen City. Miverena was in the very north in Erseen and was at least 12 hours plus away from diagon alley. "So Brawley. Do the people from Miverena travel to diagon alley or how are your Pokémon selected?"
Brawley shook his head. "We go before our council of elders. There they determine what type of trainer we are destined to be. I was selected to be a fighting type trainer. That's what Charlemagne is. He's fighting and steel type."
Charlemagne nodded in agreement. Nick was still confused. He didn't grasp that. Even Viola had a confused look on her face. It seemed like a strange tradition. Cilan too was very confused. Brawley could sense the confusion within them.
"It's similar to what your Olivander does. Except our ceremony has been around for a longer period of time.", this claim raised the eyebrows of everyone else in the compartment. They had been told that Olivander had been the one to design the Pokémon selection process. Brawley just shrugged, "that's what I was told anyways. It's what everyone from Miverena believes. Olivander supposedly learned the trick from our elders." It might have seemed strange, but if this was what the people of Miverena believed then who were they to judge. Nick certainly wasn't going to argue with the mountain of muscle that was in the compartment with him.
"So what Pokémon do you two have?", Cilan asked.
Viola took out her red cherish ball. She tossed it and out came Blaze. Blaze looked around and let out a noise that sounded like an eep. Blaze would then crawl up Viola's leg and curl into its trainers hair. Everyone watched with curiosity. Viola petted Blaze who dug deeper into Viola's blonde hair.
"This is Blaze. Blaze is a little shy. But it's a Pyranche. A Bug and fire type.", Viola boasted. The eyes then fell towards Nick. He didn't know if he should show them Hamlet.
Ghost types had such a bad reputation. Sure Alexa had been receptive to it, but Nick still remembered the horror on his mother's face when he showed off Hamlet. If Nick showed off the ghost type would these other students be upset? Would they view him as a Team Illusion supporter? He didn't want to be the subject of gossip when he arrived in Hogwarts. His parents had often warned him that for such a large school, Hogwarts was "small" at times. The houses would gossip about various topics his parents told him. It was better to remain quiet and out of the spotlight. That was how he wanted to be. Just train and get better so he could beat his dad one day.
He felt a punch in his ribs. Viola had gotten up from her seat and punched Nick in the ribs rather hard. Everyone looked at him. "You're being rude, Nick. Come on show them." Nick looked at Viola who nodded at least Viola would back him up if need be.
Nick took out his dusk ball and pushed the button to open the ball. The red energy came out as Hamlet appeared in front of everyone. Blaze shook in Viola's hair. Bella started to shake a little as Cilan held her. His eyes were wide. Charlemagne moves closer to inspect the creature in front of him. Brawley faces seemed to make an "o" face as he stared at Hamlet. Nick sighed, "this is Hamlet a..."
"Phereon!", Hamlet cried as Nick could have sworn the permanent smile on its face seemed to widen.
"Phereon. A ghost and flying type", there was a awkward silence as Brawley and Cilan seemed to process the introduction of the new Pokémon. Nick braces for the worst. Would he now be ostracized. Had he just screwed himself? Alexa and Viola would be his only friends at Hogwarts. He would probably have to drop out after a few days. Hs dreams would be dead. Before anyone could answer, the train went through a tunnel. The only light that illuminated the room came from Hamlet. The punish/purple glow just added to Hamlet's aura.
"Dude your Pokémon glows in the dark?", Cilan asked. Nick nodded. He had made the mistake of keeping Hamlet out of his ball one night and discovered the newest feature. "That's awesome!", even Bella nodded. Nick was not expecting that.
He was stunned, "So you don't mind that Hamlet is a ghost type? You know with Team illusion using ghost Pokémon?" Cilan and Brawley shook their heads. Viola shot Nick a look of comfort.
"Team Illusion were pokemon abusers.", Brawley added. "I don't sense that in you. You have a kindness that they don't." Nick noticed a small wince from Viola. He knew about her mom and her Illusion ties. But Viola was going to hide it and Nick would support her.
For the next few hours the four compartment mates would enjoy talking to one another. They discussed their parents, Cilan too had overbearing parents, and what their goals were. Nick would buy them all sweets from the trolley which included "VoltorbHeads", allegedly the most sour candy in the world. Some people could not handle it, but Nick could. The others had went with some chocolate and sweeter offerings. Brawley had not partaken in the sweets. "It destroys the mind and body.", Nick didn't mind. There would be more candy for him.
Finally they felt the train stop. The conductor announced "Final stop: Hogwarts.", the four new friends looked at one another. There was a sense of nervousness that entered into all of them. They were no longer just talking about going to Hogwarts. They were actually there. Now their dream of becoming elite trainers was even more of a reality. The first years would then be offloaded from the train. Their Pokémon had to be returned to their balls, the conductor explained. Though Hamlet put up a fight going back into the dusk ball. A giant of a man named Hagrid would lead the group of about 40 to where they were supposed to be. In front of them were a wide variety of Pokémon ranging from Lapras' to a Wailords. Hagrid pointed at the creatures.
"Now you will go in groups of five and be taken to Hogwarts castle. There Professor McGonagall will tell you what to do next and give you your exes. ", the giant instructed. Nick and Viola made sure they were put into the same group. A sailors carried them towards the castle. At the sight of the castle, a tear streamed down Nick's face. Viola stared at him.
"Are you crying?"
"It's just so much more beautiful than mum and dad told me about. I never imagined this.", Nick waved his arms in front of the view in front of him.
"Alexa is so going to love this.", a smirk crossed Viola's face. Nick didn't care. He was finally at Hogwarts. Now he just had to prove that he was worth being at the school.
Author's notes: Just a heads up, the first 5 chapters will be setting things up. The foundation that the story will be built upon. Chapter 6 and beyond will be where things pick up. But the first 5 chapters I just wanted to introduce some of the central protagonists and some background on Team Illusion. That's why this is going a bit slow before we get to catching and Pokémon battles. Ideally those will happen in chapter 6 and beyond.
