David blinked his eyes open. He was cold. And cramped. Through fuzzy eyes he could see only orange. Groaning, he reached for a zip above his head. He couldn't remember deciding to go camping. The orange fell back revealing the woods behind. The woods. Route 7. The Pokemon.

"Oh Christ."

It was a cold morning and he could see his breath in the air. "Deep breaths." David pushed himself upright out of the mouth of the tent. It was morning on a.. on a what?. Did this world have days of the week? Everything was gone. No more home. His family. His friends. All gone.

David exhaled in a shudder. This couldn't be real. Why him? He sank back down into the tent.

Eventually the realisation he would be getting a Pokemon killed his stupor. His clothes were a little damp from being washed and morning dew but he didn't complain as the alternative was walking around in thermals. He wasn't hungry but he wasn't sure if he would be able to get food in town. As a compromise, he took bites out of an Oran berry while collecting things up.

Rolling the tent back up tight enough was a bit of a nightmare. When he had opened it the day before, the rope that secured it had been flung somewhere. A minute searching the ground caused it to reappear and he was able to fasten it around the cylinder even if he needed to kneel on the rolled up tent to do so.

Everything packed up, David was able to fit the remaining two Oran berries and one touga into the top of the bag without squashing them but it was close. Soon he was standing on the path at the entrance to the clearing, making one last check to see he had left nothing behind. He felt a little washed out from this morning. David would be coming back here tonight if nothing changed but it always paid to leave campgrounds like you found them or better.

The walk back to Saffron was as pleasant as the walk away from it the day before. David had a funny realisation that with the large backpack and tent he must look just like the Hiker trainers in the games. He just needed a hat to complete the look. A hat would also help keep the sun out of his eyes. The sun was a little to the right of the city as he walked towards it. Another item added to his shopping list.

Beth had said he could pick up the Pokemon after lunch but he planned on arriving a little earlier than that. They might get the Pokemon there sooner than expected and David could always hang around waiting. Either way he had several hours to burn. He didn't have a trainers licence yet so he wasn't allowed into the library or pokecenter. The clerk in the pokemart had mentioned a market. While he didn't know where it was, it would be easier to ask someone now he didn't look quite so homeless.

Several people were out jogging in the morning, many accompanied by Pokemon. It would make sense for people to keep a lot fitter with all the Pokemon around. He was able to get directions to the market from one such jogger who had stopped to stretch while his Doduo paced around him.

The market was in the South east of Saffron, close to the south of the city and the route to Vermillion. It was a bit of a wander and David decided not to go via the city centre/ pokecenter. He had time to kill and a wander might help to get his bearings.

The city was slowly awakening. Wild Pokemon were out in force like at lunch the day before, scurrying around before people reclaimed the city. While he still took a step back when specific varieties? families? of Pokemon came close, it was much easier to enjoy their presence now. He couldn't quite describe why. It was that feeling when a dog would come barking for attention, tail wagging or when ducks would investigate your presence at the pond. There was a vibrancy in it.

Along the way he passed signs for the library and, not having a path planned, followed them. The library was small, similar in size to a town's library back home. More along the lines of the League Office compared to the expansive pokemart or pokecenter. He was eager to go in but as Beth said, he didn't have access yet. David could only turn and follow signs for route 6 and the market.

The market was in a plaza. The stalls were semi permanent, with large awnings covering paths between them. The only people around were stall owners who were in the middle of setting up. David had no need to squeeze past people as he walked through the narrow paths.

A little bit of everything seemed to be on sale, from second hand electronics - some of which looked like they had been found out in the wild - to Pokemon energy items. He wasn't quite sure what an energy item was but it might be like the held items in game.

A few stalls sold food and he stopped to try and sell the ones he had on hand when he passed a stall where the owner was setting out boxes of berries.

"Excuse me, any chance you'd be interested in buying fresh berries?" David asked, holding out an Oran berry and the Touga. The seller paused and turned to examine the berries before replying.

"Sorry, I don't stock the Touga and I have enough Orans." The seller turned back to stocking the stall and David could only carry on, dismissed.

David was glad that he hadn't gotten a yes from the seller when he realised he didn't know the price of berries. After scoping out the stalls, Oran berries seemed to sell for about 30P each and while he didn't find any Touga, the less common berries were about 60P. With this in mind he approached some more sellers but got rejections or low ball offers for a quarter of the price. David was disheartened but he had no choice but to continue. He struck lucky with an older seller towards the northerly section of the market.

"I can give you 15P for that Oran berry. The other Oran is too bruised I'm afraid. The Touga I can pay 40P for. No higher than that. If I wasn't low on stock from the tournament I wouldn't even offer that." While it wasn't great, it would be the first Poke David had ever held. He nodded an agreement and passed over the berries.

"Deal. If I find more berries would you be interested?" David asked, his heart bled a little thinking of the Touga he ate last night. In the future he would stick to Orans.

"Sure. The rarer the better of course and they'll need to be fresh. I'll be getting more stock of Orans and the like soon." The stall owner replied, taking the berries. With money in his hands David thanked the stall owner and walked back through the market. He couldn't buy anything yet but he could add to his growing list.

The market had a wide variety of trainer tools which surprised him. The stall owners promised these tools did everything from increasing Pokemon's strength to helping Pokemon learn hyper beam. He didn't believe the hyper beam story but that did allow him to realise that he had to actually train Pokemon. No levelling up and discovering moves. Maybe. David would need to check this out himself. Training tools could be an alternative to HMs/TMs. Would HMs be needed in this world? He could walk between trees and rocks. He hoped swimming was not something water Pokemon needed to be taught.

'Ugh. I need to get to a library.' David had so many questions and they were all weird. If only they had google here. He could spend days browsing forums and wikis while camping.

His first priority was going to be finding out basic things about battling and gyms. When he gets his Pidgey will he be challenged by everyone he meets? He hadn't seen many battles in the street. How do people figure out that someone else wants a battle? What about prize money?

David could barely contain himself as he left the market and walked to the league office. He was in a shitty spot in this new world but Pokemon - He was going to get a Pokemon. He was going to be a Trainer.

The office was still when he walked in. Beth was alone on the far side of the booths again but had someone in front of her. Fuzzy was sitting in his paper nest, still and his paper dance was absent. Geodude was plonked in front of Fuzzy, still as well. Opposite them, where David had taken his test a man sat with his feet up on the desk. He wore a red jacket with the league symbol on the front. As the entrance bell rang, the man's eye flickered to David before dismissing him and returning to slouching in the chair. Beth looked up and gave David a small shake of her head before returning to the man in her booth. David sat and waited at the desk beside the slouching man. The oppressive mood remained until the man left Beth's booth and hurried out.

"Finally." Red jacket exclaimed before pointing his thumb at David. "Bethany, is this the bozo?"

"Warren!" Beth hissed. "This is David who is here for his Trainer's licence and league Pokemon. David, would you come over here?" David stood and walked over, frowning at Warren. As he sat Beth mouthed sorry.

"You could have just said yes." Warren said. Warren had followed David and now stood behind him as he sat.

"And you can wait by the desks." Beth snapped back.

"I'm quite alright here. Now hurry up. I've actually important things I need to do." Warren said, punctuating his statement by making a ticking noise. Beth bristled but turned to David. David was feeling a bit uncomfortable sitting between the two, especially with Warren at his back.

"Thank you David for arriving early." Beth said and shot Warren a nasty look. "In order to get your Trainer's licence we will need a sample of your DNA. Would you put your finger into the slot here?" She hefted an advanced looking machine onto the counter. This was a little weird but he didn't have any issue giving up DNA. Warren had stopped his ticking noise and was now drumming his fingers on something metal. David felt a prick after he put his finger into the device and realised it was a blood test. Beth handed him a bandage pad for his finger as he withdrew it.

"You'll have to wait five minutes now as the licence is printed." The five minutes were awkward with Warren standing behind him the whole time and Beth burying herself in the clunky computer. Warren made sure to fill the time making one ticking noise or another. Eventually the machine dinged and Beth withdrew a card from it.

"All clear Warren. You can leave now." Beth said stoney faced. The man came forward and squeezed David's shoulder before replying.

"Too bad. I was looking forward to some entertainment. I guess you should keep behaving so I don't have to deal with you." With that he left. Beth let out a scream as the door closed.

"That Asshole! Every time. Why he is allowed this assignment I don't know."

David just nodded, pissed off at Warren but knowing he was out of the loop here.

"What just happened?" He asked. Beth stopped her tirade and her shoulders fell.

"The DNA test checks if you have a record. If you had, Warren would have arrested you. I'm sorry but I couldn't tell you about it. It's procedure. I've been trying to get them to use the local police but as the check was initially to deal with War criminals, Ace trainers are the minimum requirement." Beth said as she removed the machine from the desk and replaced it with a box from the floor. "And it's usually Tach, not Warren. Tach came through the program and is always helpful. Warren is just an offensive prick. I'm so sorry about his behaviour."

Beth opened the box and what was inside removed Warren from David's mind. A pokeball. His pokeball. It looked exactly as he remembered, red and white with a black dividing line. He reached out and - Beth drew the box back.

"Ah ah a" She tutted, smiling now. "I'm going to confirm a few things first. If I give this to you now you won't concentrate on anything. Firstly this trainer's licence is valid until two months after the season starts. That gives you from the 27th of February until the 27th of April to win two gym badges if you want to extend it. If you don't achieve that, you will need to apply to keep your Pidgey."

Beth slid a shiny metallic card across to David but he was staring at her aghast. Both because of keeping the pokeball away and her lack of faith in him taking two gyms down.

"Now, as you have no badges, you have the usual restrictions on pokemart purchases. However you now have access to the library. In the pokecenter you can receive one free treatment a week and 8 nights in basic centre accommodation a month. For more details you can ask inside a centre. Before we get to the Pokemon part, do you have any questions?" David wanted nothing more than to skip to the Pokemon but he had goals.

"I'm camping out on Route 7 but is there anywhere I could have a shower in Saffron?"

"The pokecenters have toilet and shower facilities. With the trainers licence I just handed you you should have access. Just go up to the facilities/accomodation counter and ask."

"I've no other questions then." David replied. 'That I can ask without seeming insane.' he continued in his mind.

"Alright then, just some advice first. This Pidgey has been transported from the other side of Kanto. She will be disorientated when you release her. Do not release her in my office or the city. I recommend you wait until you get back to your campsite." Beth glared at him before turning to look at the ball. "Now some practical things. Pidgey are small and don't eat huge amounts. They are also great at finding food so use that to your advantage. When training them, be careful of impact on their wings. Until they grow more their bones are not strong compared to most Pokemon. As Pidgey are one of the common 11 the library should have lots of information that you can access." With that she pushed the box to him. David reached in and grasped the pokeball. The first pokeball he had ever touched.

It was, well, a little cool.

There was no rush of air or thunder but it was a moment. Beth smiled at him and shooed him away. Other people had arrived as they talked and a queue had formed behind him.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this." David hefted his bag, still holding his pokeball and walked out.

Endnote:

Hope everyone is set for the holidays. Unfortunately expect updates to be sporadic.

frankeiu - The wilds/ routes are something I find incredible in Pokemon. Expect more...