When morning came, Alex quickly changed and ate breakfast before rushing off towards the lab. She didn't want to be late for something this important!

The moment she arrived, she immediately opened the door and walked in, almost jumping when a young man was suddenly there.

He was pretty average with auburn hair and dark eyes behind his glasses. He had a somewhat pale complexation, but not unhealthy from what she could tell. He was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and jeans. He didn't wear a lab coat, not that she blamed him given the weather.

Sitting on his shoulders was a pair of strange creatures. They were the same species, yet different based on the color of their fur. She wondered if it was related to the weird colored Pokémon Azure told her about yesterday.

"You must be Alex?" he asked with a friendly grin. "My name's Nicolas Elm."

"I am," she nodded. "Azure mentioned you were here to work for Professor Oak."

"That's right," he beamed. "It's a real honor to work someone as famous as him. I hope I can do him proud."

"I'm sure you will," Alex smiled as she followed him inside.

"I was told you're here to pick your first Pokémon. You must be really excited."

"I am, but I'm nervous too. I just hope whichever I pick will like me."

"I'm sure they will. They might not at first, but it's often because they're nervous. Once you show you're a friend, they'll quickly warm up."

"I really hope so. By the way, what kind of Pokémon are they? I've never seen anything like them before."

"Oh, they're called Sentret. They're pretty common in Johto, so I'm not surprised you haven't seen them prior," Elm explained. "The difference of climate makes it harder for some species to thrive. Any that do are ones that had been bred in captivity."

"That's so cool!" Alex awed. "But why does one look so different from the other?"

"It's a rare mutation in their genes where they look drastically different. In Johto, they've been classed as shinies due to the pigmentation and unique sheen they bear."

"So they can sparkle?"

"Sometimes, usually when coming out of a pokéball."

"Are there any other differences?"

"Besides their appearance? Nothing really. From what had been studied, they're pretty much the same Pokémon."

"Are they common in Johto?"

"No, I just happened to get really lucky getting him. I've gotten a lot of trainers wanting to trade for this one. Some even try to pay me."

"Are they that special?"

"I guess you could say that. A shiny Pokémon is more valuable than certain species of Pokémon. Maybe even more valuable than a legendary Pokémon."

"You think so?"

"At least with collectors. Not too sure about Pokémon trainers if they were to encounter one," Elm mused. "Given how rare shiny Pokémon are though, you can imagine how valuable certain ones could be like Dratini compared to a Caterpie or Sentret."

"That's really impressive. But I'm glad Sentret has you, you seem really nice."

"Thank you," Elm smiled as he scratched the pink tinted one's ear before going to the other.

"How did you meet them?"

"It was a couple of years ago. I graduated college and was doing some fieldwork to build up my reputation so I could become a proper apprentice. My brother helped me out since he was a far better trainer than myself. Since I hadn't trained my Pokémon as much as I should have, they weren't strong enough to protect me in some areas."

Elm paused at a desk that likely belonged to him. He opened a drawer, pulling an album out to show her different Pokémon he and his brother encountered.

At one point he pointed out a photo of him sitting with a large fluffy creature he said was called a Furret, a couple of brown eggs sitting on soft pillows.

"It was accidental, but I found this Furret pregnant and when I took her in, she later had eggs. I don't really know how or why given Sentret and Furret are mammals. I can understand if they were reptilian, amphibian, avian even."

"I never heard of that."

"I don't think anyone really knows. So I'm planning on furthering my research to study how Pokémon reproduce. I know some breeding centers explained some species would have live births, others having eggs. It would be interesting to find out why."

"I bet you'll figure it out," Alex reassured. "So both Sentret hatched from those eggs?"

"This one did," Elm grinned, gesturing the normal colored one. "This fella showed up in a different egg I found elsewhere."

"That's so cool!"

"Thanks," he laughed, the Pokémon chirping happily in response. "By the way, Alex, what do you plan on doing once you get your Pokémon?"

"I was thinking of signing up for the League Challenge."

"That's impressive. My brother's actually training to take on the gym leaders and the Silver Conference in Johto."

"That's great for him."

"He'd be taking on the gyms now, but he's dating a girl, so he wants to get to know her. She seems nice and really loves Pokémon."

"That's kind of how my parents met, but they were both trainers."

"Just another example of how great Pokémon are," Elm joked.

He put the album away, they decided to sit and chat some more, neither hearing the door open behind them. It was only until a body dropped in a chair near them that they looked up, seeing a concerned Azure.

"Are you okay, Azure?" Alex asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good," he sighed, crossing his arms. "But we may have to wait a while."

"Did something happen?"

"We were getting ready to head here when the phone rang. Dad answered it and was almost immediately out the door. He said there was a sick or injured Pokémon that needed his help. He told me to just head over to wait and let you know when you showed up."

"I hope the Pokémon's okay."

"Same." Azure let his gaze turn towards the other occupants, noticing the unfamiliar Pokémon. "I never saw Pokémon like those before."

Using this as a good distraction, Elm explained what he shared with Alex, not bothered hearing it again. She held back a giggle when seeing how wide her friend's eyes got hearing about it, asking questions periodically.

"That's so awesome!" Azure nearly yipped with joy. "I hope I can meet one of my own someday."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. They aren't easy to find. You would have to be extremely determined and lucky to find one, especially a wild one," Elm explained.

"I guess that's true, it wouldn't be a lot of fun trying to find something that may not exist in an area," Azure sighed. "Sucks that the law had to be in place now after learning about shiny Pokémon. It would be anyone's luck to find one and not be able to catch it."

"I know how you feel," Elm said, "I've actually been doing some research on shiny Pokémon to see if a loophole could be made regarding them."

"What do you mean?"

"After I got Sentret, I got curious and did further research on shiny Pokémon."

"What did you find?" Alex asked.

"Given the difference in their pigmentation, some don't get to live for very long as they would stand out to predators. The ones that do live longer are often ones that had been raised by humans, whether they were captured in a ball or simply tamed."

"That makes sense to protect them if they were at risk," Azure commented.

"There's more than that though. There are some cultures that may find them an omen, thus will try to chase them off or kill them as some kind of sacrifice. They may even feel they could be of good luck, but instead of keeping them as a partner, kill them for their parts to use as charms and such."

"That's awful," Alex gasped in horror.

"I know. Thankfully a lot of such practices are outlawed the more humanity has grown. But that doesn't mean they're all gone. We actually had recently dealt with such a problem a few years back with a species of Pokémon called Togetic. Any that were saved were transferred to a nature reserve in another region called Sinnoh."

"They sound cute."

"They are, before the poaching, Togetic and their pre-evolved form, Togepie were super popular with beginning trainers. They were often handed out as pets because of their cute appearance."

"I hope I can see one someday," Alex said.

"I'm sure you will if you decided to travel outside Kanto. I've heard from a few friends that Sinnoh's a beautiful place, so it might be worth checking out."

"Maybe," Alex laughed nervously.

The three talked some more, switching to different topics. It mostly consisted of them asking Elm about Johto, namely what kinds of Pokémon were on the album.

Periodically they would glance at the clock, finding it was getting later and later, knowing noon will have come and gone soon.

"What could be taking so long?" Azure muttered quietly, trying to hide his worry.

"I'm sure that he's on his way," Elm tried to reassure.

"Maybe one of us could look around to find him?" Alex offered. After taking a minute to think, she decided to stand up, starting to head for the door.

"Are you sure you want to go?" the older of the three asked.

"I don't mind," she smiled. "If the professor comes back before I do, could you let him know where I went?"

"Sure…" Elm started before Azure got up to join her.

"I'll come with you. I know a few spots he likes to go when he gets distracted with his poetry writing," the younger boy said.

"Thanks, Azure."

"Stay safe you two!" Elm called out, the two nodding as they left the building.

Once outside, Azure led to the first place he thought of, where his father had gone originally. It led them cutting through town, keeping their eyes peeled in case the professor was at one of the shops or talking with someone.

Reaching near the where Azure believes his father had gone, they found no signs, leaving him to think.

"So where next?" Alex asked as she wracked her brain as well.

"Give me a second," Azure muttered before a thought popped. "I think I have an idea."

Going to another part of town, they asked a few people, getting confirmation they saw the professor come through.

Reaching a line of trees, they began looking around, Azure the first to spot his father's coat, the man leaning against a tree.

"Dad!"

"Azure? Alex?" Oak blinked in surprise. "What are you two doing out here?"

Walking over to the pair, he was putting a small notebook into the pockets of his lab coat.

"You hadn't shown up and it's getting close to noon," Alex explained, the man looking bewildered as he looked at his watch.

"I'm so sorry, you two, I completely lost track of time," Oak apologized. "After we calmed the Pidgeot down and loaded it into the ambulance, I thought to take a stroll to destress. Then I sort of got a little distracted."

"Let me guess, poetry?" Azure teased.

His father immediately turned red in the face at getting caught, going redder when the boy started poking fun at him, leaving him unable to defend himself.

Laughing, Alex looked at the professor, "I'm glad to know you're okay and the Pidgeot will be okay too."

"Yeah, but I'm surprised you were distracted for so long writing poetry," Azure added as they started to make their way to the lab.

"To be honest, it wasn't just poetry to distract me," Oak admitted with a smile. "You know how a letter arrived from that carrier Pidgey?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I never got to open it because of the call. Once it was over though, I thought I'd take time to read it."

"So what was in it?"

At this, a large grin broke out, almost making him look like he was the one getting a Pokémon, not them. "I finally got approved."

"You…you did? It actually went through? That's great! You'll finally get to have a ranch!" Azure cried out excitedly.

"That's right," Oak beamed, "now I can truly delve into my research studying Pokémon properly. I plan on asking some friends to help set things up so the Pokémon I'm studying and those belonging to trainers will get transferred."

"Where are you going to set up?"

"Right here in town. There's this nice old farm with a windmill at the top of a hill. I'm sure you remember it."

"Of course I do, it looks so cool. So you'll have your work done there?"

"Yes, while it's a bit further out from town, it has all this untouchable land. It'll be perfect for Pokémon to roam freely than kept in pokéballs constantly. However the place needs work, so I plan on hiring some contractors to come out to help spruce it up. Afterward, it'll be ready for moving in."

"Moving in? Wait, do you mean you're going to live there?" Azure asked, torn between being happy and distraught.

"It would make sense to stay close to my work, but I don't plan on living up there alone. I intend to have your mother move in with me. And I would make sure there's a room for you whenever you chose to drop in for a visit."

"Does Mom know about this?"

"Of course she does, we've talked about this while I was getting approval."

"This is so cool!"

"Congratulations, Professor!"

"Thank you, you two."

They continued to talk, soon arriving at the lab, greeted by Elm and his Sentret.

The Johto Pokémon were thrilled to see the kids, jumping off their trainer's shoulders to greet them.

"So cute," Alex giggled. She held the normal Sentret, letting it snuggle into her. The shiny was running around Azure before climbing up to his shoulder to nuzzle into his face.

Chuckling softly at the scene, Oak turned to his protégé, "Nicholas, think you could get the Pokémon? I think they've waited long enough."

"Sure thing," the younger man nodded.

He got up, going to a separate room, coming out with a box, opening it to reveal three polished pokéballs. Each ball had the names of each Pokémon engraved; Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.

"Thank you," Oak smiled as he took them. He raised each one, calling all three Pokémon out for the kids to see and vice versa. "These are your choices, take your time picking."

Both stared at the Pokémon, going over to pet and check them out, letting the Pokémon sniff and explore.

"Hey, Dad, I've always wondered, why do most trainers start out with these guys? Why not use other Pokémon that share the same typing?" Azure asked as he gently patted Bulbasaur.

"Besides being more unique, they're raised specifically for young trainers. They're relatively young and easy to tame as you can see, but it takes a great deal of effort to raise them to their full potential."

"Knowing these guys were raised for us is really great to hear," Alex laughed as she joined Azure, looking at her choices. "But I still can't really pick which one I want though. I like Bulbasaur, but I like Charmander a lot too…"

"Chaar," the fire type yawned, blinking sleep out of its eyes. The other two followed suit, letting out yawns of their own.

"You must have just woken up, huh?"

"Appears so," Azure chuckled before finally making his choice. "I'll take Squirtle. What do you say, wanna team up?"

"Squir?" the turtle cocked its head before smiling widely. "Squirtle!"

It leaped into the boy's arms, nuzzling into the brunette as he fell to his butt laughing, hugging the affectionate Pokémon.

"Have you decided, Alex?" Oak asked, hoping he isn't pressuring her.

Looking at the two, Alex finally nodded, "Yeah, I'll take Charmander."

"I'm sure she'll be great with you," the older man smiled.

"Charmander's a girl?"

"Yes, I noticed when I was giving them their physical."

"What's Squirtle's sex then?" Azure asked.

"Squirtle's male," his father chuckled.

"Not every day you see a female starter," Elm laughed, "you're pretty lucky, Alex."

"She certainly is," Oak smiled as he handed the pokéballs over to their respective trainer. "Do either of you want to register a name to your Pokémon?"

"I'm good," Azure grinned.

"I'd like to name her Sienna, what do you think?" Alex asked, looking at the fire type with a smile.

"Char? Charmander! Char!" the fire lizard cried out excitedly.

She started dancing around, appearing to like the name given to her. The others couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Bulba?" the grass type looked around puzzled.

Oak knelt down to pat the Pokémon on the head, "Don't worry little guy. I know a few kids who might be interested taking you. You'll get your own adventure soon enough."

"Bulba!" it cried out happily.

"That's great to know Bulbasaur will get a home," Alex beamed, her new Pokémon chattering as well.

"Hey, Alex, you planning on taking on the League Challenge?" Azure asked as their Pokémon played.

The black haired girl nodded, "I thought it might be fun to try. And it'll be a great way to explore if I have to challenge gyms."

"Nice, I'm planning on signing up too," Azure grinned impishly. "Guess that means we'll be official rivals."

"Guess so," Alex laughed.

"That's wonderful to hear, you two," Oak congratulated. "You two are reminding me of when I first set out as a trainer."

"Me too," Elm laughed as his Pokémon joined the playful Pokémon. "It was a ton of fun when my brother and I first left home."

"What kind of Pokémon did you start with?" Azure asked.

"I started off with a Sentret like these two. Parker started with a Pokémon called Hoothoot. They lived in our backyard and we befriended them and decided to use them as our first Pokémon than picking a traditional starter."

"Did you challenge any gyms?"

"Yeah, but I ended up stopping," Elm said, his smiling falling. "Let's just say I had a bad experience when I was aiming for my seventh badge. Afterward, I just lost motivation and decided to stick to books than going again."

"I'm sorry that happened," Alex said, placing her hand over his.

"It's fine, I was still planning on becoming a researcher. I was using the League Challenge as an excuse to explore and study Pokémon, so I didn't really give up my dreams," Elm reassured with a small smile.

"What about your brother? Did he ever try going for the gyms?" Azure asked.

"He's taking his time and like I told Alex, he's got a girlfriend now, so he's taking it slow so he can hang out with her."

"That's cool," Azure smiled before turning towards his newly appointed rival. "Hey, Alex, wanna start our first day as trainers with a battle?"

"Wait, a battle? Here?" Alex blinked.

"Yeah, it'll give us a chance to see what Sienna and Squirtle are capable of and get comfortable giving orders."

"Shouldn't we go outside though? What if we break…"

"Then let's go!" Azure laughed as he grabbed her hand, dragging her out.

As they ran outside, their Pokémon hot on their heels, Oak and Elm were nearly doubled over laughing.

"You'd think he has a crush on her," Elm joked as he wiped a tear away.

"I really wouldn't put it past him. Azure's known Alex for a long time," Oak chuckled as they followed the kids.

He quickly recalled Bulbasaur into its pokéball so it doesn't get adventurous.

"So they're really good friends?"

"Pretty much best friends. Alex may be a couple years older, but she hasn't let it stop her from being his friend and vice versa."

"She's older than him? Did she somehow fail the trainer exam the first time around?"

"No, it was her choice to hold off for a couple of years. I think she did it, so she and Azure could start together. There aren't a lot of kids their age around here, let alone kids who've graduated this year."

"I think I understand how they feel. If Parker and I weren't so close in age, it would have been lonely for either of us going off on our own. She's a really sweet kid to hold off her journey like that."

"That she is."

They caught up with the newbie trainers, watching as they were already engaged in battle. Both could see they were studying one another for moves or signs to attack as well as studying the Pokémon.

However, the boy was brasher as was his Squirtle, the girls taking a more defensive stance to dodge blows. Any time the fire Pokémon got hit though, she'd retaliate with a fierce scratch or crashing their heads together.

"Keep growling, Sienna!" Alex called out, the fire type listening.

"Keep charging at her!" Azure ordered before noticing something, "Squirtle?"

While the turtle kept up his attacks, they were getting slower, exhaustion starting to set in after chasing the fire type around so much. It didn't help whenever struck with claws or tripped up with her tail.

"Mander!" the lizard cried out.

Sienna landed a strong blow on Squirtle, her attack looking more like a punch than an actual scratch. Regardless, it was enough to knock the water Pokémon out cold.

"Aww man, we lost," Azure groaned as he picked the Pokémon up. "I would have thought having type advantage would have helped even without water attacks."

"Take this as a learning experience," Oak started as he walked over to the two. "Type advantage isn't always the answer. While it helps, it doesn't guarantee a win. Think back to how the battle went. You went for a full assault, having Squirtle charge Sienna wildly to try and weaken her. However, Alex used Sienna's natural lithe and agility to her advantage to dodge most of the attacks, having her use Growl to lower Squirtle's attack."

"I see, that makes sense actually," Azure said, starting to feel better. "Then if I want to avoid making the same mistake, I'll need to strategize better!"

"You'll need it if you're planning on taking on the gyms," his father chuckled, patting the boy on the shoulder.

"Alright," Azure nodded before turning to Alex. "That was a good battle. Next time though, I promise you we'll be tougher. We won't lose so easily."

"Alright, then I'll make sure I get stronger too," Alex laughed as they shook hands, both grinning at each other.

"Before either of you head out, why not let your Pokémon rest for a moment? I have a machine set up so they can heal. We could even have ourselves some lunch while we wait."

"That's a great idea, I'm starving," Azure proclaimed.

"Thank you, Professor," Alex smiled.


Alex - Pokémon 1 - Badges 0 - Deaths 0

Team:
Sienna - Charmander


I wanted to create an interesting description of shinies even though they don't appear in the original games.

Why I made this info was my own view based on Johto. It seems to be far more spiritual than Kanto and some of the other regions save for Alola, possibly Kalos as well.

Then I looked at what species were present and rare and Togepi stood out based on what it is and how rare it is to find one in Johto without breeding. It may also have an explanation why wild Togepi can be found in the Battle Frontier in Sinnoh if memory serves correctly.

This is also the same regarding shiny Pokémon if they're to be compared to albinism in our world, positively and negatively.

Some parts of the world actually practice this where their view on albinos vary. If they're viewed as omens, they're likely chased away or often killed in gruesome manners. Other times, if they're viewed as forms of good luck, it's worse. There have been albino Africans who were attacked and had their limbs essentially cut off so the arms or legs could be used as aphrodisiacs or charms to ward off evil.

The reason I'm aware of this is actually from a project I had to do in college where I had to study a specific subject in culture, so I picked studying the views on good luck/bad luck.

Sorry for getting a little grim there, but figured an explanation would explain where I came up with this.


For Professor Elm, I decided to give him a first name since I haven't seen any info revealing it. I could have used his Japanese name, but I didn't think it would fit. The other reason I picked it was due to the fact that if this is set before he becomes a professor, then he would either have a different title like doctor or something, but he would probably prefer being called by his first name at that time.

I also wanted to give Elm a family, again being much younger, he wouldn't have started a family yet or at least not have a child yet. But if he had been mentored by Professor Oak, then he likely was still single, that is if he's married. It was never shown in the anime, only the manga, and games.

I made him a trainer since it seems to be something most people do. Whether he was actually aiming to be competitive or not, who knows. Far as I know, nothing has been said about his younger days. The closest is maybe based on some of the Pokémon he's seen owning in the anime.

Cookies for anyone who might realize the little easter egg I put in regarding the family bit though.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a review and any helpful critique that may better improve the writing.