A/N: Hello everyone! It's ya boi- I should stop before I get hate reviews...
ANYWAY, welcome back. Thank you Pinkie Avenger for reviewing, by the way. Yes, I had that in mind when naming U Dick- I MEAN Uldrick. And thank you for the idea of creating a map, though I'll have to merge some modern countries together. I don't want 300 different regions to keep track of on the map. Waste of time. Now, without further ado, let's get the ball rolling.
"Welcome to Lumiose Airport, and the Kalos Region!" the automated voice blared over the intercom as Lukas and Teresa stepped out of the boarding tunnel. Lukas was already seeing and feeling an immense difference. First, there was a lot of green. And it wasn't just the occasional evergreen tree. It was EVERYWHERE. Grass, pines, oaks, bushes, it was incredible! Second, the sky was as blue as the ocean, with just about no clouds. This was the first time Lukas had seen the sun in months. And third: warmth. Gracious, glorious WARMTH! It was already hotter than the hottest summer back in Sverrind! And Lukas was LOVING IT. He took a deep breath. It wasn't cold and didn't nip your nose.
"Lukas, pinch me." Teresa said beside him. She was clearly in a similar trance. He quickly pinched her arm, with no result beside a slight flinch. "Nope, definitely real!" Her eyes almost glittered as she said that. Lukas rolled his eyes, but he was grinning nonetheless. He couldn't wait to do things that were almost impossible back in Sverin. Here, you had to be only ELEVEN to get your first Pokémon, compared to Sverrind's twenty. (A/N: Because of it's harsh nature, and even harsher Pokémon that inhabit it, it's a safety precaution that only when a person turns twenty can they receive their first Pokémon.)
As they progressed to the Airport exit, Lukas continued to think of the possibilities. "So, if I remember correctly, there are eighteen types in total. Sverrind only received five of those. Any others are rare. So I could get to capture the remaining types, and when I go back home one day, I could really surprise Mom and Dad! " he excitedly thought. As he continued his internal scheming, he was jolted from his thoughts by unexpected physical contact with a man in a business suit. "Watch it, kid." he grumbled, and continued on his way.
Lukas, returning to reality, realized he had fallen behind Teresa, who was tapping her foot impatiently with a small frown on her face. As he sheepishly walked over, she sighed exasperatedly. "Look, we should at least try to stick together." she began. "This is a much bigger city than anything you've seen back in Sverrind. You could get lost, hurt, or worse. Now come on, we need to find a map of this city." she walked off, with Lukas not intimidated at all at her attempt to be serious because it just seemed like something a tsundere would do instead. She did have good advice, though, so he quickly ran to catch up.
Lumiose City was incredible. The buildings were only two-to-three stories tall, but they had old forms of architecture combined with modern architecture to create a very cultural and unique feel. The city also included a lot of natural beauty, with trees, shaded plazas full of wild and caught Pokémon with their trainers, and the majestic white tower that Lukas had yet to learn the name of.
"So where are we going?" asked Lukas curiously, as Teresa glanced around, looking for something. "I'm looking for the tourist bureau." she said. "The place should tell us everything we need to know about the region. Cities, events, shops, locations, etc." She thought for a moment, then added, "Plus, it should help us find wherever we can sign up as a trainer and get our first Pokémon." At that, the boy's eyes sparkled. "Now you've got my interest!" he said with a cheeky smirk. Teresa sweat-dropped rather comically.
As they continued down the sidewalk, the girl was curious about something. "Hey…" she began, receiving a questioning look. "You were pretty hostile when we first met. No offense or anything," she quickly said, noticing the annoyed face returning. "But now you seem so happy, accepting, and outgoing…" she said, letting the sentence hang. She didn't really want to ask the full question, seeing as there was no way to do it without offending him.
Lukas thought to himself quietly for a minute. "Maybe it's because I can do my own thing now, and I'm not as distrusting of the people around me." he said. Teresa nodded, as though accepting that answer.
Eventually, they arrived at a lime green place encompassing the ground floor of a building. There were several people milling in and out, which made it hard to get in without bumping into anybody. The interior was neat and organized, with a variety of people, magazines, pamphlets, and a corridor leading to several different rooms. Upon closer inspection, they each said different things above the door frame, similar to a classroom. There were about 15 in all, ranging from History to Zoology to Culture.
One room caught Lukas' eye, though. The sign above the door read, "Travelling Trainer Info." Teresa happened to glance at it at the same time he did, so they both had an agreement to check it out.
The room was actually quite full. There was a large holoboard in the back, with a woman standing next to it, while talking to a girl. There was a table to the left of the holoboard, which contained several bags. The table overall was labeled "FREE TRAINER BAGS," and Lukas noticed that the table had clearly been a lot more full before. As he was wondering why, the woman by the holoboard clapped her hands loudly. "Hello! Can everyone who wishes to see the presentation please pay attention!"
Once everyone was watching, the woman brought out a small remote. She pressed a button on it, and the holoboard clicked to life. There appeared to be the first page of a presentation on it, titled "Travelling Trainer Basics: Kalos Edition" with a smaller piece of text underneath that read "Created and Supported by The Pokemon League Association."
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the Tourist Bureau!" the woman began. "If you're here, in this room I mean, you're either a new trainer or a trainer getting ready to travel the region. This here is a presentation given to us by the League to help set you off on your journeys!
The woman quickly changed the slide to a picture of the continent Kalos was on. "Kalos is one of the most popular regions, for its unique history and culture. What makes it special, was how diverse it is. The reason was the ancient Aeturnum Empire, that lived in the Latissme Region just south of Kalos. There was a saying long ago, that all roads lead to Latissme. This was true back in the day, as it was the center of commerce and trade. Therefore, thousands of cultures, religions, and Pokémon came here before they travelled to the region. However, some decided to stay, spreading cultures, religions, stories, history, and Pokemon. Some people and Pokemon even moved from the region here!"
Lukas was listening intently to the story. History had always interested him, and this was helping to satisfy his curiosity. "Now that that's over with, here's the basic run through." The woman said, clicking the remote. The slide changed to a detailed map of Kalos, with roads, cities, and towns scattered all across it. "Kalos is divided into three sections. The Coastal Region," she said as the western seaboard turned blue. "The Central Region," as the central part turned white. "and the Mountain Region," as the eastern area turned red. "Each has unique Pokémon, environments, cultures, holidays, etc. For example, Geosenge Town has an Annual 'Stone Treasures Convention,' due to the high amount of rare stones in the area, while Anistar City has a Festival of Lights, celebrating the Anistar Sundial, a massive impenetrable crystal which gives quite the light show every time a Mega Evolution occurs near it."
Lukas became puzzled at that. What was Mega Evolution? And why did this strange crystal connect to it? He had no idea. He would have to ask if he ever went to Anistar City.
"Now, some of you may not know this, but this year is the 100th anniversary of the Pokemon League! So, to celebrate, the League is holding a special event to all those planning to compete! Not only does every trainer get an exclusive Silph Co. produced Trainer Bag, which has a pocket dimension that is used for storing just about anything, but for every fourth Gym Badge gained, the League will provide you with a randomized Pokemon not found in the region!"
Lukas found it was hard to hear over the large shouts of glee and happiness. He himself was having a hard time controlling himself. If Kalos was already extremely diverse, this just made the region a new Latissme. And that meant he could have Pokemon that were incredibly hard to find, seeing as they were random.
"This concludes our basic briefing. Make sure to take a trainer bag on the way out, and good luck with your adventures!" the woman finished. Immediately the crowd rushed to get a bag, with only a few trainers waiting patiently, including him and Teresa. Eventually, the line fizzled out as trainers exited the room, and the duo could grab their bags.
After careful examination with quite literally anything on the street, Lukas could positively say without a doubt… the backpack was actually endless. He could literally fit anything in here that could fit through the zipper. Which still made no sense to his brain, despite knowing the answer why it did this. Teresa was equally confused. "This defies modern physics…" she said. Lukas raised an eyebrow. "Like how the Pokeball does?" he asked. Teresa opened her mouth for a snarky comeback, but realized she had no idea, and promptly closed it, grumbling to herself.
They decided to head towards the center of the city, because that was most likely where everything big was. "Hopefully, that includes the Professor's lab." Lukas thought. Professors, even in a remote region like Sverind, were widely renowned. He happened to know that in most big and prestigious regions, there was a Pokemon Professor doing research. Kalos was no exception.
The duo did some asking around, and they found out the lab was only a couple blocks away, and it stands out against other buildings, so they should have no problem seeing it. A quick jog down the street revealed a large citrus green building. It had a quite small garden consisting of just bushes, encircled by a fence. The posts had large Pokeballs on them, clearly identifying this as the lab. Lukas and Teresa looked at each other excitedly, before entering the building through large oak doors.
The interior had a small reception desk just inside the door. There was a staircase behind the desk, and two adjacent corridors leading off to the left and right. There was also a woman at the desk, who was smiling warmly at them. "Welcome to the Kalos Pokemon Research Laboratory! How can I help you two today?" she asked. "We'd like to get our starter Pokemon please." Teresa responded before he could, which slightly annoyed the boy but he kept it to himself. The woman nodded, and tapped a button on her desk. "The Professor should be arriving momentarily. In the meantime, please relax and make yourself at home." she said with a smile.
A few minutes later, a tall black-haired man walked in. Said hair was raggedy and all over the place, yet had some style to it. He wore an open lab coat, with a blue button-up shirt underneath. To finish off his look, he had black pants reaching down to just above his ankles, exposing socks and a pair of brown leather shoes. Upon seeing the duo, he smiled widely. "Greetings! I'm the Professor, Professor Sycamore. I heard you two wanted some starter Pokemon?" he asked with a grin. Lukas jumped up from the chair he rested in, nodding quickly. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. Of course I wanted one!" Teresa glanced at Lukas with a sigh. "I suppose he summarized my feelings as well…" Sycamore chuckled. "Well then you came to the right place. Come on back, I'll show you to your future partners."
The hall led to a large walk-in terrarium, with an astounding amount of Pokemon playing happily. They swam in the pond, ran in the grasses, leaped from tree to tree. It stunned Lukas, mainly because of the amount of Pokemon he'd never seen before. For example, a strange thin-legged blue Pokemon was sliding on the water with others of it's kind, while some yellow duck Pokemon were chasing after them, like a game of tag. A small flock of reddish-orange bird Pokemon were flying around the terrarium in mystical and beautiful patterns. There was also a massive blue-purple walking shark was having a chat with some of the smaller Pokemon.
Upon Sycamore's entry, all of the Pokemon immediately started cascading like a wave towards the man, and with a soft 'oomf' he was on the ground, tackled by the very affectionate Pokemon. (Especially the walking shark.) He laughed merrily, as they allowed him to get up. "It's nice to see you too, everyone! Now, we have a couple trainers looking for a starter, so can we please have Chespin and Fennekin please?" The Pokemon parted to make way for two small Pokemon, one green and brown, the other yellow and red, who rushed forward eagerly with smiles. "These little guys are Chespin and Fennekin, two of the three starters of Kalos." Sycamore said. "The third, Froakie, was taken earlier today by another trainer. So you'll have to do with these two. Oh, and take these."
The Professor reached into his pocket and retrieved two red rectangular devices, and handed a tape to each of them. "These are Pokedexes, which are electronic Pokemon encyclopedias. Just aim them at a Pokemon, and they can give you all the information you'll ever need to know. Go ahead and point them at Chespin and Fennekin here, then you can make your decision.
Lukas raised the lens of the Dex towards the Chespin, and it slid open, revealing a transparent screen and an image of Chespin on it. It beeped, and started speaking in a monotone voice. "Chespin, the Spiny Nut Pokemon. A Grass Type, and a Kalos Region Starter Pokemon. Chespin's head is protected by a hard shell of wood. It is so strong, even a hit from a several ton truck won't faze it. On the shell are large quills, which when they are flexed, the points become so hard and sharp they can peirce rock. This Chespin is male, knows the moves Tackle, Growl, and Vine Whip, and it's ability is Overgrow."
Lukas whistled, impressed. This thing really did give everything. He proceeded to point it at Fennekin. "Fennekin, the Fox Pokemon. A Fire Type, and a Kalos Starter Pokemon. As it walks, it munches on a twig in place of a snack. This twig fills it with energy. It's roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 390 degrees Fahrenheit. This Fennekin is female, knows the moves Scratch, Tail Whip, and Ember, and has the ability Blaze."
The duo put their Pokedexes away, and Lukas began to evaluate the Pokemon. Chespin was obviously built for armor, stamina, and defensive tactics. If trained right, Chespin could be a walking tank, absorbing the bigger hits so the rest of the team wouldn't have to. However, if the opponent had an extremely fast Pokemon, Chespin would be at a disadvantage, as it would be quite hard to land a hit. Meanwhile, Fennekin seemed to be built for attacking, by letting off consecutive hits so the enemy couldn't attack back. If raised to be speedy yet having a large attack power, it could crush even the most well-defended Pokemon. That settled it for Lukas.
"Hey Teresa, I'm thinking about taking the Fennekin. Is that alright with you?" he asked. She flashed him a good-hearted thumbs up. "I was planning on taking little Chespin here anyway. Come here little guy!" The delighted Chespin quickly jumped into the girl's awaiting arms, while Lukas walked over and picked up the Fennekin, much to the Fox Pokemon's delight. "I should give you a name…" he said to her. She tilted her head, slightly confused. Did she not know what a name was? "Oh, a name is a title you give someone to help recognize them. For example, my name is Lukas, and my friend over there is Teresa." The small Pokemon thought for a moment, before nodding.
As the boy thought, and suggested names, the Pokemon was set down on Lukas's bushy head, where she immediately got comfortable. "Hm… Shannon?" The Pokemon shook its head. "...how about Garnet?" Once again, a no. "What about… Maya?"
Silence.
"...you okay?"
"Fenn!"
The Pokemon started prancing happily atop Lukas' head, eliciting a laugh from him. Maya it was. At that moment, Teresa hopped over. "You ready to go? Little Shamrock here is getting very eager." she said. "Chespin ches!" agreed the Spiny Nut Pokemon. Lukas sighed happily. "Yep. Also, Maya seems to like my hair." he commented, feeling her laying down in it. The girl giggled at the sight. Sycamore smiled at the sight. "Well, now that you've chosen your starters, it is within my duty as the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region to welcome you as Pokemon Trai-"
A loud explosion rocked the Terrarium, sending glass, smoke and dust flying across the room, which Lukas attempted to shield himself from. The smaller Pokemon scrambled away, while the shark Pokemon got to its feet and roared loudly at the hole in the wall. Several human and Pokemon shapes emerged from the cloud, wearing intimidating scowls. They were wearing black and red outfits, while also wearing bandanas that obscured their faces. The leader of the group, a woman with short blonde hair, glanced around until she made eye contact with Lukas. Her frown deepened instantly. "Alright," the gist is up. Come with us or else." Lukas was confused. "Who the hell even are you people?" he asked, bringing his own cold and intimidating face to the surface. He was used to using it, so it wasn't all that hard. The woman gritted her teeth. "Don't play dumb. I'm giving you five seconds." When no one moved, she just shrugged. "Welp, you did this to yourself. Serperior, Wrap!"
A massive green snake-like Pokemon slithered forward at an incredible speed, and wrapped up Lukas in its tail. A distraught Maya fell off his head, and landed on the ground. At that point, the Professor snapped out of his stupor. "Garchomp, use Dragon Pulse!" The shark Pokemon quickly blasted a purple zig-zagging beam of energy towards Serperior, which it dodged just before it hit, instead impacting the wall behind it.
The group, with Serperior and Lukas in tow, charged out of the building while screams of fear and anger of both man and Pokemon sounded from the hole. Lukas wanted to shout, to scream, but all he could do was struggle, as the tail of the snake Pokemon was wrapped around the boy so hard he could barely breathe. It was some time before the crusade finally stopped in a cramped, shadow-covered alley. The boy was released, and he gasped for air on his knees.
The alley was covered in garbage, old posters, and padlocked doors leading inside buildings. There also happened to be a colony of feral cat Pokemon, who paid no heed to the new arrivals.
The woman approached Lukas' form on the ground. She sneered with pure malice, like she really did know him. "Now it's just you and me, Seamus. You thought you could get away from us? You should have left the Region." He tilted his head confused. "Look, I think you've got the wrong person. My name is Lukas. I'm fifteen, and I literally just arrived on this region today." The woman leaned in closely, observing his facial features. Brief shock passed through her eyes, and she cursed quietly. "He ain't the one. Just steal his shit and let's get moving. We have bigger business than this stupid Dharmian kid." The grunts nodded, and formed a circle around him menacingly.
Lukas tried and failed to hide the terror on his face.
The orange setting sun was shining into and illuminating the alley. To most people, it was a beautiful Kalosian sunset. To Lukas… it just made the pain worse. He was bleeding profusely, most likely having several broken bones and internal damage. Even though he gave them his backpack, the grunts still ordered one of their Pokemon to attack… he thought they called it a "Mightyena." It was just too strong to defend against. He laid down against the wall, propping himself up slightly. God, if only he had just stayed home. He could have survived a few more years up there. But he was on his own now. No one to help him, no one to bail him out. And he no longer had any money either.
He had never felt this alone.
Lukas cried himself to sleep that night with the sounds of the city as background noise.
Unbeknownst to him, one of the cats in the alley was not like the others. And unlike the others, it watched him with sadness and pity. An idea formed in it's head, and with a plan in mind, scampered off into the night.
A/N: And that's Chapter 2. I probably could have made this darker if I wanted, but it would have been a bit much for only the second chapter. And don't worry, you'll learn more about these guys next time. Along with a possible appearance for one of the OCs any of you guys have or will enter. Now, school is taking up a LOT of my time, so I don't know when the next update will be. Hopefully, within a few weeks. Thank you for reading.
-TRN