Author's Notes:
I managed to tear myself away from X and Y long enough to write this little chapter. I'll only spend a few chapters in Pallet Town before heading to Lavender.
Homecoming
Jet waited impatiently for one of the office ladies from his old high school to call his younger siblings from their classes. His mom had given him permission to pick them up from school an hour and a half early to take them to Oak's research center. It was Jet's first day back in Pallet Town and already he had a busy morning. After arriving he decided to rent a car so he didn't have to sit on his bike all week, (which, after a two hour ride from Cerulean to his home town, was beginning to make his lower back sore).
He then visited his mother at her job, (a local thrift shop that she managed), and now he was picking up the twins so they could get their very own trainer's licenses. In truth the licenses could have waited, but Jet was seeing Oak that day anyway, so he figured why not just kill two birds with one stone?
Kenny and Anna were both surprised to see Jet waiting for them in the office. He hugged them both and said, "C'mon, I'm taking you both to take the test for your Class C today."
Kenny's face split into a huge grin, "Really? Mom said you could?"
Anna, however, said, "Oh no! I haven't studied in weeks for that test!"
Jet shrugged, "Neither did I, and I passed the test on my first try. Besides, if you fail I'll just take you back tomorrow to take it again. Most people end up getting it after their second or third try. I got the rental parked out front, let's go."
Along the way to the research center, Jet quizzed his little brother and sister to prepare them for the test. He tried to cover all of the basics. What stats were, what type was weak to what, laws that all trainer's needed to know, etc. After ten minutes of this, Anna asked about Misty, "You guys didn't break up again, did you?" Misty had promised Anna a water Pokémon of her own when she got her license.
"We never got back together after the last break up," Jet said while turning into the parking lot of the research center. "Why do you ask?"
"I really liked her," Anna whined, "she was awesome!"
"And the fact that she promised you a Pokémon has nothing to do with that?" Kenny smirked.
"Of course it does!" Anna retorted, "That's one of the things that made her so awesome!"
Jet had visited Misty one last time before leaving Cerulean. They spent the day washing their Pokémon at her Gym and talking. Misty made it clear that she was ready to move on and, though she was sorry to see Jet leave the city, she thought it was all for the best. Not wanting to talk about Misty, Jet changed the subject.
"Now when you guys use the battle simulator, remember to just use attacking moves. Status moves are smart for real battles, but the simulator plays out like a child's video game."
Jet and the twins made their way to the front entrance. They were surprised to see a couple of uniformed cops standing at the front door, one of which was their dad. He looked surprised to see them there as well, "Aren't you two supposed to be getting out of school in an hour? What are you guys doing here so early? Jethro, what the fuck?"
"Mom said I could take them out early since they stop testing at four." Jet replied, unabashed.
Officer Brown shook his head, "Woman doesn't tell me anything." Frank, his partner, reached out and shook Jet's hand, "Good to see you back in town! Hope you stay for more than a couple days this time?"
Jet smiled at his dad's friend and replied, "Might be a couple of weeks. I'm not sure yet. By the way, what are you guys doing here anyway? One of the strays attack somebody or something?"
Frank rolled his eyes and said, "It's that damn bird everyone's going on about. Apparently people have been sneaking into the lab to get a peak so they got us running security. As if we don't have better things to do."
Jet's dad raised his eyebrows, "Better things to do? In Pallet Town?"
Frank thought about it and laughed, "Good point!"
Jet's dad turned to his younger kids and said, "Good luck on that test. You two pass and we'll eat out tonight."
"You don't want to stay and see if we pass, dad?" Anna asked.
The two cops exchanged amused looks, and Officer Brown shook his head, "Can't. I'm working, baby girl."
XXX
Jet and the twins headed inside so Jet could sign them up for their tests. After which point Jet wished them good luck and headed up to see Professor Oak. Oak was in his office talking to a young boy of about sixteen with a Pikachu sitting on his left shoulder. When Jet entered Oak welcomed him in, "Ah, I was wondering when you were stopping by. Come on in."
The young boy Oak had been talking to asked, "So, can I have off Thursday night, Professor?"
Oak scratched his chin and replied, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Although, in the future you may want to ask me with a little more notice."
The boy looked down and said, "Oh, sorry, won't happen again."
"That's quite alright, Ash. Now if you will excuse us?"
The boy looked over at Jet and said, "Oh! Right- sorry!" And then he exited the room. Oak shook his head, "Not the brightest young man under my employ. Certainly very enthusiastic, though." He looked at Jet and said, "You may recognize that Pikachu? It's the same one that was in here the first time you visited my office."
Jet raised his eyebrows, "That thing is still around?"
Oak chuckled, "Yes well, he doesn't get along with many humans. He took a real shine to that young man, so I let him keep it as his first Pokémon. To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't been electrocuted yet."
Jet smirked, "I remember when I was training my Pikachu. He had to make a conscious effort to hold back his static ability every time I touched him. He's loyal as hell though. And has amazing agility."
Oak sat behind his desk and said, "Yes, I often question whether such a Pokémon is underestimated. So often young trainers end up accidently electrocuted from Pikachu, perhaps the league should rethink allowing Class C trainers to use them?"
"Then why did you give him a Pikachu?"
Oak shrugged, "It has an affinity for the boy. Most Pokémon around here do. Something tells me he will end up being an excellent trainer when he gets older."
Jet shrugged and asked, "So did you analyze the contents of Zapdos' stomach? I saw it eat a Pikachu, what else does it eat?"
Oak sighed, "Emolga, Dedenne, basically electric rodents from multiple regions. You were right; it migrates from region to region."
Jet frowned, "So there's no way to trace its origin? Do we know how old it is?"
"Twenty five years, give or take." Oak replied. "Unfortunately, that's about all we know. It's hard to get a measure of how powerful it was since it's no longer living."
Jet asked, "You keep saying 'it;' were you able to determine a gender?"
Oak shook his head, "It's Asexual. Our lab isn't really equipped for this kind of thing. That's why we are sending it to Professor Juniper's Lab in the Unova Region. They specialize in studying Pokémon Origin's down there. If they find anything, I'll be sure to let you know."
XXX
By the time Jet returned from Oak's lab, Anna was already done her test. "I passed!" She exclaimed excitedly, "I'm officially a Pokémon Trainer!"
Jet smiled, "Great job, Anna! Where's Kenny?"
Before Anna could answer, her brother emerged looking sullen faced. "I missed it by three points!" He said in an annoyed voice. "This is bullshit!"
Anna held up her license and said, "Not for me!"
Kenny groaned. Jet however, said, "We'll just come back tomorrow bright and early to take the test again. It's a Saturday, so the place might be packed. Let's make an appointment just in case."
Jet took Kenny to the reception desk to schedule a make-up exam for the following day, and then took the twins home so Anna could tell their mom the good news. Because only one of the twins passed their exam, their dad ordered pizza instead of taking them all out to eat. Jet preferred this anyway, as it has been a few months since he actually ordered out.
After they were done with their food, jet had a little announcement to make. "Hey Kenny, turn the TV down for a second? Thanks." He began, "A few months ago, I asked you guys to look after a couple newborn Fairy Pokémon with the promise that I'd catch you something good if you did a good job at raising them."
Jet's mom cut in, "You caught them something? Nothing dangerous, I hope?"
Jet shook his head and pulled two Luxury Balls from his belt. "Actually, I didn't catch these. They were bred for me."
Anna sat up excitedly and asked, "What did you get me? Is it a Water Type? Please let it be a Water Pokémon!"
Jet smiled, "If you train him right, he could be." Anna frowned, confused. Jet tossed her one of the luxury balls and tossed the other one to his brother. "Open them up, see for yourselves."
In a flash of light, two baby Eevee were sent out to greet their new trainers. Anna squealed and picked up her puppy, "Oh my god, I love it!"
Kenny picked his up as well and said, "Where did you find these? Thanks, Jet!"
Jet smiled as his little brother and sister were introduced to their first partners. It reminded him a lot of when he found out he could keep his Charmander. Jet cleared his throat, "Both of these Pokémon are at level one. Neither are house broken, so you have to work on that before you can leave them out of their pokeballs. You might want to wait a while before they're old enough to battle, too. If you run with them every day for a week, they'll be strong enough to start battling. You have to practice their attacks first, though. Just because they know how to tackle, doesn't mean they have any experience doing so. Also, you want to make sure they stay hydrated at all times. We'll pick up some food for them tomorrow."
Samson, the family Growlithe, trotted over to sniff the young Eevee. Kenny's Eevee hid behind his trainer, while Anna's Eevee sniffed Samson's nose, curiously. Anna asked, "What are their names?"
"They're your Pokémon, you name them."
Anna petted her Eevee's head and said, "I'm going to name you Jaime!" Eevee turned to look at Anna for a second, and then commenced sniffing Samson.
Jet asked Kenny, "What about you?"
Kenny picked up his Eevee and gave it an appraising look, "I don't really want to name him. Most kids I know don't name their Pokémon, anyway."
Jet frowned, "You wouldn't like it if people just called you human all the time, would you?"
Kenny retorted, "The only time you should name a Pokémon is if you have more than one of the same Pokémon. Anna already named her Eevee, so I don't have to name mine."
Jet strongly disagreed with his brother, but decided not to argue. If that was the kind of relationship he wanted for his Pokémon, that was on him. Still, he couldn't see how a Pokémon could grow close to a trainer who just called it by the name of its species. Jet had long wondered why people called Pokémon by the name of their species instead of naming them individually. It was a practice that perplexed him even as a child.
"So," Kenny interrupted Jet's thoughts, "we can't have a battle yet?"
"They aren't strong enough to fight yet," Jet repeated, "You'll have to wait a while."
Their mom said, "You two better potty train them before you even think about battling with them! Teach them to go outside first, and then you can battle your friends."
Anna asked, "You'll show us how to train them, right?"
Jet nodded, "Yeah. Besides, I got my own Eevee to train. If you guys can get your Pokémon in fighting shape by next week, I'll even take you out to teach you how to catch Pokémon."
In truth, it wasn't just his Eevee he needed to train. He also had to work with his Elekid and Spinarak. Both Pokémon he had taught some new attacks and leveled up a little, but there was still much work that needed to be done before he headed out.
"We can head to the woods just east of town next weekend. The Pokémon there aren't overly strong, so you shouldn't have too much trouble training there. But for tonight, you might want to keep your Pokémon in their pokeballs."
Both Anna and Kenny recalled their Pokémon. Their mom turned to Kenny and told him, "Go upstairs and study! If you want to keep that Eevee of yours, I suggest you get to work earning that trainer's license!"
Author's Notes:
Next chapter Jet starts training his newbies, as well as his younger siblings. Soon we'll head out to Lavender Town, but I do have some surprises waiting until then!
