Joanne was getting mad. Her and her younger brother Alex had been told to meet some guy in Aquacorde Town at 8:30 this morning and it was now almost Noon. Had she known this guy was going to blow them off she would have asked her Mom to give them some money for lunch considering all she had was her Espurr, Nickle, and she wasn't ready to battle trainers just yet. Normally she used her Dad's Noivern or Bisharp for casual battles back in Snowpoint City. She had often battled with her childhood friend Candice and they still met up sometimes.
Alex had only ever battled in trainer school and he had done very well. His sister relied on natural talent mixed with strategy ,but Alex was a natural born battler. He always knew when to go all out and when to hold back. He was normally a cheerful 12 year old but when he battled he became a serious, almost unrecognizable trainer. And now that he was going to get his first pokemon, he could barely contain himself. He kept scanning the people who passed them, waiting for one of them to bring him his first partner.
After another thirty minutes of waiting, Joanne was willing to give up on the guy, but just as she was about to tell Alex they were heading home, a teen about her age walked into the plaza where they were waiting. After scanning the small crowd for a moment, he spotted the siblings and waved to them. He was average height, with short black hair that came down almost to his shoulders. He was wearing a gray zip-up hoodie unzipped, a white t-shirt with a Growlithe on it and jeans. On his belt were six luxury balls and he had a black messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. As he got closer, she got a better look at his face. It was fairly plain with no distinguishing features save his eyes which were a stunning light green.
"Are you Joanne and Alex?" he asked, hesitating a few steps away from them.
"Yep, I'm Alex and this is my big sis Joanne. She's gonna help me get really strong like her friend. She's a gym leader back where we come from and I wanna beat her in a battle when I go back home!" Alex rambled on excitedly. "So are you the guy my Mommy asked to come with us. She said you'd be about my sis's age and you look like you're about her age, so it is you right?"
"Yeah and I'm supposed to give you your first pokemon right?" The stranger leaned down so he could talk to Alex face to face. "Now you need to remember that pokemon are living creatures just like you and I. It takes a really dependable person to care for one. Are you sure you're ready for that responsibility?" Alex nodded, a determined look on his face. But it didn't last long, because as soon as the stranger reached into his bag the young boy broke out in a massive grin and his eyes shone with excitement.
Marcus reached into his bag, grabbing the case that last night had held the Prof. private experiments, and which now held the three usual Kalos starting pokemon which Captain Felix had deposited into his PC bank this morning. He took the case out and displayed the three standard issue red and white pokeballs before the exited little boy before him. The kid was about 11 with curly brown hair that framed his freckled face. Dark brown eyes with a surprising light of fierce intelligence shone at the sight. He was dressed in jeans and a red windbreaker. He stood at about Marcus's elbow.
His sister had long straight brown hair and had the same sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were almost black but they were also warm and cheerful. She wore black denim shorts and a white t-shirt with the words Snowpoint City Gym written on it in blue. She was about the same height as him, maybe a little taller, but then most people were. He knew people often missed other people who were even only slightly smaller than average.
He pulled the leftmost pokeball out of the case and handed it to Alex. It had a small blue raindrop on it to signify that it was the water type, "This is Froakie, its the water pokemon that evolves into Greninja." He pointed to the middle one which had a small red fire mark on it. "This is Fennekin, a fire pokemon who evolves into Delphox." He gestured to the third pokeball, this one had a leaf design, "And this is Chespin, a grass type that evolves into Chesnaught. I also have a Chespin so i know a little about them."
"Wow! They all sound so cool!" Alex looked over the three carefully then looked at his sister. "Which do you think i would do best with?"
Joanne thought carefully for a second, "Well during your final exam in school, you did best with the Carvanha and Baltoy. So I'd say you should pick between Froakie and Fennekin, because Fennekin evolves into a fire/psychic and Froakie evolves into a water/dark type."
"Then, I'll pick Froakie. Cause i really liked how strong and fast that Carvanna was!" He pressed the release switch on Froakie's pokeball. A small blue frog appeared. Its neck was covered in a layer of white, foamy bubbles. It opened its eyes and blinked as it regarded its new trainer. Alex knew enough to avoid trying to pick it up right after releasing it, but he did kneel down and motion it forward. It hopped up to him and stared into his face. Then it croaked happily and jumped onto his shoulder.
"Are you going to give him a nickname?" Marcus asked smiling despite himself. It reminded him so much of how he was when he met Adonis. Now hey had been partners for years.
"Yeah. I'll name him... Rain! Because he's a water type and they love rain!" He grabbed the small blue pokemon and held it above his head. "Hi'ya Rain. I'm Alex, Lets be great partners okay?"
While Alex and his new pokemon gave their introductions to each other Joanne and Marcus talked about what to do next. "So Mom said your job is to give us a tour all the way to Laverre City right? By the way, I don't think mom told me your name before we left."
"My name is Marcus and i got the payment for the trip so you guys don't need to spend any money on food or places to sleep. By the way do you have any pokemon with you?" Marcus replied patting his bag.
"Yea I have my Meowstic, Minnie. But she isn't a very good battler yet so i'm hoping to train her as we go along." Joanne patted a greatball attached to her belt. "I also want to see what other pokemon i can catch on the way."
Alex came running over and tapped Marcus on the shoulder "Hey mister can you have a battle with me and Rain, please?" He looked determined and Froakie looked fairly comfortable around him.
"Well, i don't know. I have a a lot more battle experience. But since you asked so nice how could i say no?" He turned to Joanne, "Do you mind being the ref?"
"Sure. There's a great place for battles just outside town." The small group walked out into a large grassy field. Off in the distance they could see other trainers having battles or just talking while cooling off from a heated match. They found a large, empty stretch of land and Marcus and Alex took their positions opposite each other. Max had Rain waiting by his feet while Marcus picked his pokemon.
"Alright. This will be a one on one match that will end when either one trainer forfeits, a pokemon is left unable to battle or when overwhelming victory is assured. Are you ready?" Joanne glanced at both the young men, and saw the determination in both of their stances. "BEGIN!"
"Rain, Lets go!" Max called as the Froakie charged forward.
"Alright, Silver. Time to get started!" Marcus threw one of the luxury balls attached to his belt. A purple pokemon appeared in a dull flash. It stood well over twice Froakie's height, but it was lean and muscular. It's had large feet, Small paws and it's tail ended in a large hand. It had large ears and it smile at it's trainer before settling into a serious face. "Meet my Aipom, Silver."
"Alright, Rain use Bubble!" Froakie fired a stream of bubbles from its mouth and the rapidly filled the distance between it and Silver.
"Silver use Swift. Then follow it up with Scratch." Silver fired a stream of small sharp star-like rays that cut through the bubbles. Once he had a clear path, Silver rushed forward and slashed Rain with the small claws on his paws.
"Rain counter with Pound" Rain immediately rammed its fist into Silver's stomach. "Now use Quick Attack!" Rain dashed forward trying to slam into Silver.
"Use Astonish." Silver turned and slapped Rain aside. The small frog slid several feet before it stopped. "Now finish up with another Scratch." The monkey pokemon rushed forward just as Rain was getting up and slashed it again with its small claws. Rain fell backward exhausted.
"Silver and Marcus are the winners." Joanne announced, "but great job Alex. You did amazing!"