Pokémon RWBY

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own neither series.

The street outside the Hawthorn Pokémon Lab was quiet under the moonlit night sky. That is, until a bright light appeared outside the doors, depositing the members of Team RWBY, Alex, and Professor Diece on the pavement, though the landing was a bit rougher for the girls from Remnant.

"Owww," groaned Ruby as she picked herself up from where she had landed on her rump.

"What was that for?" asked Weiss as she dusted her combat skirt off as she got to her feet.

"Sorry about that," apologized Alex as he and Professor Marval helped the girls up, "teleporting can be a bit jarring to the uninitiated."

"Can we please not do that again?" groaned Blake as she shakily regained her bearings.

Marval chuckled and suggested, "I recommend keeping an open mind. Sometimes a quick Teleport can be a lifesaver."

"Wait a minute," protested Yang indignantly as she glared suspiciously at the two natives to this dimension. "Are you saying that we could have skipped that hike where Ruby got hurt by just teleporting, and you didn't tell us?!"

"Calm down Yang," said Weiss with a sigh, causing the Blonde to deactivate her Semblance and simmer down a bit. "Though I would like an answer myself."

"Same here," muttered Blake.

"While several Pokémon can use the move, Teleport," said Alex with a chuckle, "unfortunately, none of my Pokémon know how to use it, so we had to walk. Luckily, Professor Deice's Natu does."

"Natu," agreed the Tiny-Bird Pokémon from atop the Professor's shoulder.

"…ok then," said Yang flatly, not sure what to make of that.

"In any case," said Weiss, "you said something about Professor Hawthorn being able to help us with Starter Pokémon?"

"Indeed," said Diece, "Professor Hawthorn, like many other Professors across the regions, collects young Pokémon to offer as Starters for trainers that are beginning their journey. I'm sure she'd be more than willing to let you choose some."

"Huh," said Yang, "that's pretty convenient. Let's go see what he has to offer."

With that, the blond brawler headed inside to where Professor Hawthorn was sitting, reading from a book.

"Oh," she said in surprise as he looked up from what he was doing, "you're back already? I'd have thought you'd stay the night at the Pokémon Center."

"There was some trouble at the Center," said Diece as he returned his Natu. "I felt it would be best if we put some distance between us and them."

"Trouble?" inquired Hawthorn. "What kind of trouble?"

"Just some Pokémon thieves hitting the Pokémon Center," said Alex. "Turns out these girls are quite capable at defending themselves, even against enemy Pokémon."

"Really now?" asked Hawthorn curiously as she glanced at Team RWBY.

"It wasn't anything special," said Blake as she looked away brushing off the incident.

"I wouldn't say that," said Alex, not missing a beat. "Pokémon can be quite dangerous, even more so if directed by the wrong Trainer. The fact that you girls could hold off several of them without serious injury is impressive in and of itself."

"Well, those Pokémon weren't as scary as the Grimm back home," said Yang with a shrug. "Not a problem for Huntresses in training from Beacon Academy."

"Indeed," said Hawthorn. "Though something tells me that you didn't come all the way back here to tell me of your first battle."

"That's correct," Weiss answered. "We figured that, since we're stuck here anyway, we might as well travel around and look for more leads on getting back."

"And since we're gonna need money," added Yang, "we decided to take the Gym Challenge!"

"You decided to take the Gym Challenge," said Blake dryly. "I'd rather not force sentient creatures to fight for our money and/or amusement."

"Even still," said Alex, "the four of you would be a lot safer with Pokémon of your own to act in your defense. Plus, fighting Pokémon with your bare hands is not only somewhat frowned upon, but would raise a lot of eyebrows."

"Well, you're in luck," said Hawthorn. "I happen to have several starter Pokémon from across the world for you to meet. How about we all get some rest and I can introduce you in the morning?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Alex and he led the girls to a room they could bunk in for the night.

xXsceneXx

The next morning, Team RWBY found themselves standing in a small greenhouse enclosure that was built in a large field situated behind the main lab. Professor Marval had left earlier, wanting to get a head start towards his next research location, leaving Hawthorn and Alex to introduce the girls to the varied Pokémon offered as Starters.

"Well," said Hawthorn, "now that we're all rested, I'd say it's a good time to select your Starter Pokémon."

"So, how are we going to do this exactly?" asked Weiss. "Do we just line them up and pick the one we want?"

"You're partially correct," the Professor stated. "While it's important to pick a Pokémon you think will work well, what's also important is finding one willing to work with you. Therefore, Alex here will be bringing out our available Starters and you can see which ones you make a connection with."

"Sounds like a plan," said Ruby, with Riolu nodding next to her.

"Right then," said the Professor, "Alex? If you would?"

"Of course, Professor," said Alex as he walked up with an armful of Pokéballs. "Here we go!"

Alex threw the various Pokéballs into the air, causing them to open and release their contents in bursts of light, and soon enough, there was an assortment of Pokémon walking around the lab.

"Thank you, Alex," said Hawthorn as she pinched the bridge of his nose, "But next time, please wait until you are outside before releasing this many Pokémon."

"Right," said Alex sheepishly, "sorry."

Team RWBY paid little attention to their conversation, their focus instead being on the menagerie of creatures scampering about in front of them. The assortment was quite varied, ranging from a normal-ish blue turtle, to a green lizard standing on two legs with a red belly and a twig in its mouth, to even a yellow fox with red tufts of fur sticking out of its ears.

"So," said Yang awkwardly, "how are we gonna do this?"

"Well," explained the Professor, "usually, we show the prospective Trainers our selection and let them pick the Pokémon they want, but considering your lack of experience with the creatures we share the world with, maybe we see which ones you connect with the most and go from there? It seems to have worked with Miss Rose and her Riolu."

"Ok then," said Yang before addressing the various gathered Pokémon, "alright, who wants to team up with the badass brawler of Team RWBY?"

Unfortunately, Yang's enthusiasm had somewhat the opposite effect as the young Starter Pokémon, causing several of them to shrink back from the blonde.

"Looks like even these Pokémon can see through your boasts," quipped Weiss.

"Oh yeah?" countered Yang. "I'd like to see you do any better."

"Very well," said Weiss as she dusted off her combat skirt and knelt down in front of the gathered Pokémon. "Hello, my name is Weiss Schnee, and I was hoping to get to know some of you."

The Starter Pokémon looked at Weiss nervously but one of them felt brave and shimmied forward tentatively, this one resembling a blue seal with a long white muzzle that was tipped with a pink ball. To top it off, it also had a sort of frill around its neck that resembled a lace collar.

"Aww!" cooed Weiss, instantly smitten with the cuteness of the Pokémon. "Aren't you the cutest little thing?"

"Popplio!" said the blue Pokémon happily as it glomped Weiss, prompting the white clad heiress to giggle and stroke the creature affectionately, "Pop-pop!"

"Well," said Alex with a chuckle, "it looks like she's found her partner in Popplio there."

"I guess that leaves the rest of us," said Blake, "still, there are a lot to choose from."

Suddenly, one of the Pokémon, a round, brown owl that had two leaves on its chest that resembled a bowtie, flew up from where it had been perched and landed on the Faunus's head, right between her feline ears.

"Um, ok?" said Blake as she raised an eyebrow at the Pokémon's actions.

"Looks like that Rowlet wants to be your partner," said the Professor with a smile.

"Aren't you supposed to be part cat?" asked Yang.

Her partner simply leveled an extremely flat glare in her direction as the Pokémon on her head made itself comfortable between her Faunus ears with a contented chirp, "Not. One. Word."

"Well," said Yang, foregoing her teammates' veiled threat, "I guess that just leaves me. I need to find a partner as spirited and awesome as myself."

Suddenly, an orange blur shot forward, forcing Yang to act on reflex and block with her forearms, causing the orange Pokémon to flip backwards and land on the ground, revealing it to be an orange monkey Pokémon with a small flame burning where a tail would be.

"Chimchar!" exclaimed Alex before turning to Yang to apologize, "Sorry about that. This one's been a bit of trouble. His attitude has made it hard for him to find a good trainer."

"Really, huh?" mused Yang before breaking out into a grin. "Well, I like his spunk! I think we'll get along fine."

"What do you say, little guy?" she asked the Pokémon as she offered the Fire-type her fist. "Want to team up?"

Chimchar glanced at Yang's fist and the smile on the blonde brawler's face before smirking in kind and bumping his tiny fist against hers, crying, "Chimchar!"

"Aw yeah!" said Yang as she pumped her fist.

"Chim-Chimchar!" cheered her new Pokémon as it mirrored her movements.

"Great," said Weiss with a sigh and a facepalm. "Now there are two of them."

"Pop," said Popplio as it brought a flipper to its face as well.

"Looks like you're one to talk," said Blake with a slight smirk, with Rowlet taking a snooze between her ears.

"Well then," said Hawthorn, "now that you've found your partners, I have a few more things for you."

"First of all," said the Professor as she handed the girls several miniaturized Pokéballs, "the Pokéballs of your new partners along with some unassigned ones for your journey. As you travel, you might want to catch a few Pokémon that you encounter. Having a full team can keep you out of trouble and prove advantageous during the Gym Challenge."

Once the girls had taken the Pokéballs, Hawthorn produced several wrist-devices that resembled bracelets with a small, blank computer screen attached. "These are Xtransceivers. They will serve as a means to keep in contact through their videophone setting, with a few more handy features added in."

Finally, she handed to them an item that they instantly recognized.

"Our Scrolls!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise.

"I apologize for holding onto these," said the Professor, "but we made some modifications that I think you'll find useful."

"What kind of modifications?" asked Weiss with suspicion.

"For one, we added a feature that allows them to pull up a map of the region to help you on your travels," Hawthorn informed. "In addition, we've added a Pokédex feature."

"What's a Pokédex?" asked Ruby.

"Think of it like a large encyclopedia that has information on all known Pokémon," Alex explained. "All you have to do is scan a Pokémon with the built-in camera and the app will access the relevant data and display it on the screen. It's a useful tool for any Trainer."

"I suggest you four get some rest tonight," said Hawthorn. "Because tomorrow, your journey through the world of Pokémon will begin."

To be continued…