Chapter 2: A meeting.
(Because... What else do you call something where two young people of opposite temperaments get together and going on a journey?)
Elm's eyes lit up as soon as he saw the new Pokémon at Ray's side, and a gasp came forth from his throat before he pushed Ion to the side (perhaps a bit rougher than he intended, knocking the young man on his butt) and raced up to the new young man, bending down to inspect the strange looking Eevee that was with him (that is, the one looking like a botany science project gone wrong), and pretty much ignored the uncomfortable expression that screwed up its face, and the warning growl coming from its throat.
"This... This is the Eevee? The one your father said he found, Ray?" He asked, looking like he wanted to reach out and touch it, to see if it was real... "The one he said that he wanted me to see? The one Rowan was all smug about?"
"Yeah, that'd be the one." Ray responded, looking down at the professor. "Its name is Leafeon, courtesy of professor Rowan's naming sense. Oh and before you try to touch her..."
His warning came a little late, as Elm had reached out excitedly to the new Pokémon, his geek mode (or professor mode, if you could call it that) taking over. In response, the Leafeon bit Elm's hand with impressive force. "She bites." Ray finished, as Elm's eyes began to water with tears.
"Ah, so I have discovered..." Elm said.
"No, Professor Rowan found that out before you did, too."
Meanwhile, Ion had stood up, rubbing his bottom, and looking at what was going on in confusion, before his face screwed up slightly in annoyance. As he lived in New Bark Town pretty much all his life, he also knew Professor Elm's mannerisms quite well. If something new was placed right in front of him, something he'd only dreamt of, he'd get quite distracted with it and drop everything else.
And today was his day to begin being a trainer, too. He felt it was best to get the Professor back on track, he could study the new Pokémon later.
"Mr. Elm, sir," Ion began to whine, and Elm once more felt a cold feeling run down his spine, "What did you mean about picking my starter? I have my starters already!"
Sudowoodo had gone to fetch a first aid kit to bandage and disinfect his master's hand, and Elm gave him a small thanks and began to wrap his hand, sighing softly.
"Alright, sorry Ion. This isn't the time to be studying, not on someone else's time. Especially not this... Amazing, new discovery." The professor sighed again, going back to the trio of Poké Balls he'd summoned before, muttering something under his breath.
After he was next to his storage table, he motioned the boy over to him. "Anyway, Ion, I'm sorry, but to be a legalized trainer I'm going to have to ask you to pick one of these three on the table. And it's not negotiable," He added that last bit when he saw the dark haired boy about to protest, "It's part of the rules. All trainers have to pick an official starter to go with their trainer's ID."
"But that doesn't make sense! And I already have my starters! I don't need another, even if it's an easy third Pokémon!" The young man protested anyway, his expression annoyed and stubborn.
"Just do it." Came Ray's calm voice. "I myself have a Chimchar, though I left it back in Sinnoh at the Day Care to help out my grandparents. It is a rule, so there's no use in arguing."
Ion immediately whirled on him, his face screwed up in annoyance. "But it just doesn't make sense! Why do they force somebody to do something they don't want to do if they just want to be a trainer? Doesn't that lead to people not wanting to do that and going on to be illegal trainers and form gangs and stuff? Being constrained by unfair rules like this?"
Ray sighed. "No, most of the time they just take the Pokémon offered them. If they don't want to use the Pokémon, they trade it or leave it at home. And only a stupid person joins a gang because they don't like receiving a Pokémon from a professor."
Before the argument could go on (And perhaps escalate further, like into a Pokémon Battle), an obnoxious voice spoke from Elm's computer speakers, "YOU'VE GOT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL~!"
The boys were stunned silent, watching Elm, who had been about to interrupt anyway, walk to his computer, and open up his mailbox. After reading his e-mail under his breath, he recoiled from the computer, blinking. "Hm," He intoned, looking interestedly at the words on his computer screen.
Ray, curiosity getting the better of him, also approached the computer. Looking over Elm's shoulder, he also read the e-mail, but this time out loud.
"Dear Elmboy,
You ain't gonna believe this awesome thing that I found near my crib the other day! It's like, totally a Pokémon egg I've never seen before! Come get it right away, dude!
Your homeboy Mr. Pokémon"
Ray finished reading, and his eye twitched again. What the hell was this guy anyway?
Ion's interest had long since faded in this, and he began to check out the three Pokémon that Elm was going to force him to pick anyway, popping them out of their Poké Balls and letting them interact with Mortimer and Nabel, watching with a slight frown.
Elm was once again disregarding the thing he was doing for something new that held his interest, and clicked on the attachment that had been sent to him.
Ray quickly turned away. The picture showed Mr. Pokémon holding up the egg in one hand, and the other making some obscene gesture that Ray knew looked utterly stupid.
Elm however sucked in a breath when he saw the picture, ignoring what his long time colleague was doing in favor of the white egg, the one in Mr. Pokémon's hand, which had blue and red markings, and immediately knew he must study it, if it was, indeed, a Pokémon egg. But he also had to give Ion his first Pokémon...
An idea sparked in his head, and he turned to see Ion inspecting his sanctioned starters, a Totodile, a Cyndaquil and a Chikorita, and, quite eager to get another thing to study, Elm asked, "So, which one do you like best?"
"I don't like any of them," Ion stated bluntly. And the entire lab descended into silence.
"Don't you usually have more than three choices on hand, professor?" Ray asked curiously, in an effort to break the awkwardness. In Sinnoh, there were five officially sanctioned Pokémon to start with, same in Kanto. He didn't know about Hoenn, but he had assumed it was the same everywhere.
Elm shrugged. "If the boy had gotten an earlier appointment this week he would've had more choices, but these three are the only ones left now."
"So basically, he needs to choose one of those three. So choose one." He said to Ion, looking at the three Pokémon, each of which had their own strategic advantages.
"I don't like any of them," Ion repeated, sticking his nose up in the air. The Cyndaquil and Chikorita heard him this time, and both seemed disappointed, but the Totodile narrowed its eyes at him, licking its suddenly gleaming chops.
"You know, you should think about the Pokémon a bit more." Ray commented. "Talk to them like that and they'll hit you. Or scratch you. Or bite you."
As if right on cue, the Totodile chomped Ion's leg. After a moment of silence, Ion began to jump around while screaming like a ninny and trying to get the Totodile off of his leg.
"Looks like he chose to bite." Ray remarked calmly.
Ion was quite a bit less calm about it. "AND THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE THEM!" The boy shouted, finally just smacking the Totodile's snout right into a bookcase, and it instantly let go to nurse its injured nose.
Elm sighed, allowing Sudowoodo to tend to the boy's injured leg. "Well then, if you're having trouble deciding now, I'd like you to run an errand for me, Ion. It'll give you time to choose which one you want."
"But I don't like any of them." The boy replied, though he sounded interested in the errand deal. If he had to pick one, as he was being forced to, he'd at least have a bit more time to think about which of the three he'd like to have best.
Although it probably wouldn't be that Totodile. Little jerkgator.
"Professor, are you sure you want this little kid doing an errand for you?" Ray asked.
"I believe he can handle it." Elm replied.
"I'm not a little kid, I'm sixteen years old!" Ion protested grumpily, eyes narrowed at Will. Just because he was short didn't mean he was a little kid. People always got that screwed up!
"Alright, sorry. I meant no offense." Ray said, raising up his arms as though in a hold up. "I know you have to be at least sixteen, otherwise you wouldn't be getting a trainer card."
"Then why'd you call me a kid?" Ion practically demanded, the boy crossing his arms at the taller teen and pouting.
"Because you're short." Ray responded simply.
Ion's face froze, before it screwed up in anger and not even trying to stop himself, he kicked Ray in the shin, who looked surprised and somewhat pained, and then grumped away, his Cubone and Kangaskhan sharing a worried glance after this before chasing after him.
"Ow." Ray remarked, rubbing his shin, which hurt quite a bit after that kick. "Well I suppose I deserved that. So professor, I'm guessing kid there doesn't want to do your errand after all?"
"It's only because you called him short." Elm returned. "His name is Ion, and believe it or not I think he may be a promising new trainer."
"Ah, so you noticed I didn't know his name yet." Ray said, smiling lightly.
"Of course. Anyone would notice after you called him kid when you're the same age." Elm replied, making Ray chuckled in embarrassment.
And then Ion chose that moment to stomp back into the lab, that grumpy look still on his face, and rather shortly asked, "Where does Mr. Pokémon live again?" He knew it had to do with Mr. Pokemon, but he had always had Ethan or Lyra to guide him there before, and Ion had forgotten where exactly the other researcher lived as it had been a while since his last visit, and the path there may have overgrown again.
"Near Cherrygrove, kiddo, just a little ways north, near the route to Violet City." Elm answered, and Ion nodded, turning back toward the door and leaving the lab entirely.
Ray sighed. "Should I follow him?"
Elm nodded. "That might be for the best."
"Alright then." Ray answered, and rushed out the door with Leafeon in tow.
"And I really wanted to examine it..." Elm sighed sadly.
"Yo, Ion! Wait up!" Ray shouted at his quarry, though he would've caught up soon enough, seeing as how he was jogging and Ion was still stomping around.
The boy was really tempted to just ignore the taller teen, he really, really was, but he realized that he would never be able to outrun him with his very childish (even to him) stomping, so he sighed and waited for Ray to catch up with him.
"Elm rope you into coming along with me?" He asked, almost sounding subdued. Rather different from the high-strung boy from before.
"Yeah, he did. Name's Ray. Sorry about earlier, but I didn't know your name, so I said the first thing that came to mind." Ray held out his hand.
"Also, you don't really need my help, but do you have a PokéGear? I hear those are in around here, what with the maps and phones and all. In Sinnoh we use the Pokéwatch, which I guess is actually very similar." Ray held up his other wrist, showing a device that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a smaller more portable version of a PokéGear.
Ion stared at the taller teen for a few moments, before he began to search his pockets and bag, trying to find where he put his PokéGear before he realized it wasn't on his person, and he proceeded to freak out; after all, PokéGears were useful, expensive pieces of equipment, and to lose one, just like that... Well, his parents would kill him.
"ION!" A familiar voice to the boy called out from the other side of the town, one that made Mortimer and Nabel perk up, and Ion himself freeze up slightly. "YOU FORGOT YOUR POKÉGEAR!"
The boy's cheeks burned a bright pink, and he gave an embarrassed smile for a second before dashing off, his Pokémon trailing after him for a bit before just deciding to take a nap in the shade of a tree.
Ray shook his head. "A bit high strung, isn't he." He said to Leafeon, who gave a small cry of agreement. "I suppose we can just wait here then, seeing as his pokemon are taking a nap and all."
A few minutes later, the boy ran back, somewhat out of breath, and noticed his Pokémon napping under a tree and that the new kid was just relaxing with his strange Eevee. He gave a bit of a huff at that, going over to poke his best friends awake.
"You guys have fun without me?" He asked the two dryly, shaking his head at them.
"Did you get your PokéGear?" Ray asked from where he relaxed.
"Yeah, I got it, Mr. Lazybutt," Ion sassed back at him, rolling his eyes at the taller teen. "What were you asking about it for again earlier?
"Well, if you have the map, you won't get lost on the way to Cherrygrove, is what I assumed." Ray said with a shrug. "And if not, then I have much to learn of the Johto region."
"I can get to Cherrygrove in my sleep." Ion rolled his eyes at the taller teen. "It's where all the shops are, and my Pokémon can protect me from any of the wild ones living out there."
"Oh? So it's a straight shot then? Good." Ray stood up and stretched. "Then let's get going."
A few minutes into the walk, Ion (who had been walking ahead) suddenly stopped, and excitedly turned around and began yelling, "Hey! Ray! Ray! Ray! Guess what! RAY!"
Ray could already feel a slight twitch in his brow beginning. "What is it?" He asked, hoping the boy would stop shouting his name.
"THERE'S A PIDGEY!" The boy shouted back, turning around to dramatically point at a golden colored Pidgey sitting on a large rock ahead of them, one that was currently staring at him thanks to the young man spazzing out.
And after a few seconds of silence, the boy cheerfully said, "It's pretty."
"Yes, it's very pretty." Ray said, waving his hand. Then upon closer inspection, he noticed something odd. "Hang on... that's a shiny Pidgey. Quite a rare find, I must say. You are... oddly lucky, Ion."
"Really?" The boy asked excitedly, his face lighting up considerably. Shiny, or color changed Pokémon as they were sometimes called, were incredibly rare individuals, and were highly sought out. 'If you saw a shiny, then you catch it,' was the usual saying about them. But...
"I don't have any Poké Balls." The boy admitted suddenly, his bright expression fading into a gloomy one. That is, until he looked at Ray with big puppy dog eyes. "Can you catch it for me? So I know what to do for later."
Ray somehow very much doubted that Ion didn't know how to catch Pokémon. Every aspiring trainer knew. Then again, it was always good to have an example. "Very well then. Umbreon, come on." As Leafeon returned to its Poké Ball, Umbreon was released, and stepped forward, as though issuing a challenge to the Pidgey.
The Pidgey saw the challenge, and instantly it returned the challenge; it spread its wings wide and crowed loudly, before taking off into the air and flying high, circling over head for a bit, watching Umbreon with a careful eye.
Umbreon kept a careful eye on the circling Pidgey, obviously trying to figure out how to make its attack hit a moving, flying object. Ray also seemed in thought. He hadn't caught a flying pokemon as of yet, so this was a new experience for him. He had also heard that different colored Pokémon were slightly stronger than their normal counterparts. He looked up, and held up three fingers, which Umbreon saw, and gave a small nod in return. It seemed like they had a strategy in mind.
The Pidgey saw the planning between the two, and knew it had to be careful. After all, while any Pokémon by itself was dangerous, one commanded by a trainer could be even more so. They had an element of strategy to them that a wild Pokémon just didn't have.
Ion watched with bated breath, having never really seen a straight up battle, just little mock battles he'd have with his sister and their friends back home with their little Pokémon. To see one so close to him... He could feel his anticipation almost overwhelm him.
And then with a loud caw, the Pidgey suddenly dove down toward Umbreon at insane speeds, going far too fast for the human eye to detect, giving the dark canine a full body tackle.
And this is what Umbreon had been waiting for. He charged forward and took the hit, only to counter quickly with his confuse ray, which hopefully the Pidgey, now at close range, would be unable to dodge.
The Pidgey gave a loud caw, suddenly feeling a sense of vertigo and flailing to the ground, not knowing which way was up, down or even what his enemy was.
"Bite!" Came the call from Ray, which Umbreon quickly followed, attempting a bite on the Pidgey's wing while it was confused.
Another loud caw, this time of pain, came from the Pidgey, but it was far from over. Thanks to the bite attack, the Pidgey was no longer confused. It was in pain, but not confused. And it decided to repay that pain with more pain, giving a set of sharp peck attacks to the end of Umbreon's snout, right on his nose.
Umbreon quickly pulled back under the assault of the Pidgey. "Strategy four!" Ray shouted, and Umbreon quickly turned and threw up sand from its back paws at the Pidgey, and then charged through the sand with a tackle.
The Pidgey hadn't expected sand to be thrown at it, nor did it expect Umbreon to tackle it through the cloud of sand, and it felt itself vaulted through the air not under its own power, but it managed to catch and right itself in the air, turned to face Umbreon and began to flap its wings hard and fast, ignoring the pain in the wing Umbreon had locked in its bite as it did so, and summoned up a small tornado of air to fly at the dark canine.
Umbreon reacted more with the skill of a trained Pokémon than from a command Ray gave him. He ran out of the way and seemed to be thinking how to get the Pidgey out of the air. Without that, there was no way to catch it.
Pidgey kept on summoning one mini-tornado after another, not giving Umbreon an inch, knowing how dangerous it was now, especially under the command of that human, but it knew its time in the air was limited; its hurt wing was getting hard to ignore, especially after it was pushing it so much. It'd have to land soon, but knew it would be easy prey once it was on the ground... And it was sure that the human had more Pokémon to command, even if it did somehow manage to win.
But even now, it felt its injured wing grow tired and harder to flap, so it decided to bite the bullet; it would do one more attack and then it would be grounded. It would hopefully still stand a chance after that.
And once more, it sped at Umbreon at speeds the human eye couldn't follow, aiming to zip around and strike the dark canine from behind.
Umbreon managed to avoid most of the gusts, only being hit by one, but that one was followed by the Pidgey charging at him again. Instead of waiting for a command, Umbreon unleashed one of its newest moves, one it had practiced on its own, Assurance. Umbreon turned, and kicked out with its hind legs, attempting to hit the Pidgey before it hit him.
And hit Pidgey it did, knocking it silly and making it flip flop through the air. It had been going too fast to avoid that attack, and thanks to that it hadn't been able to dodge, and the combined force of both of their attacks knocked it unconscious for a few short moments as it flopped to the ground and lay unmoving except for its breathing.
And all throughout this, Ion had watched in awe. Even if this fight had been quite a bit more... savage than he'd thought it'd be like (And had been from the trainer battles he'd seen on TV), Umbreon and Ray had both handled themselves expertly. And even if Ion was entirely new to this, even he knew this was the moment to capture a Pokémon.
Ray immediately took out a Poké Ball, and threw it at the Pidgey, as though right on cue.
And the ball tapped the Pidgey, and instantly the ball opened as Pidgey was covered with red light, turned into energy and then flew into the ball, which closed firmly. The ball plopped onto the ground, and slowly began to shake from side to side, making a soft pinging sound with every shake.
Ray, despite the fact he only trained Eevees, was hoping he could catch this Pokémon for study and so as not get the evil eye from Ion for failing to catch a Pidgey.
Both trainers watched with baited breath as it shook once, twice...
Tatsu55 says: Well, I managed to pull myself together after last chapter's incident (do not speak of it, so no one gets destroyed) and here we come again! We're currently already written up to Violet City, but since there's a few side chapters that will happen there, we decided to upload some chapters in quick succession. So, after the events of chapters one and two, I'm sure you know who the main characters are, and if you don't then you didn't read the first chapter or this one, and thus you fail at life.
One sez: You tell 'em, Tats. :P Anyway, now that he's gotten the important stuff out of the way, here's something I should have clarified on in the first chapter. If anyone decides to send in a character, please tell me what they look like. ^_^; It's, uh, hard for me to envision a character unless you do. Even simple things like 'they have brown hair and wear a t-shirt' would help me out a lot. Also some of their motivations. I've gotten two submitted already, and one already has done that, while the other… Well, while I know who they are, what they want to catch, and their motivations, I don't know what they look like.
You know who you are.
Anyway, see ya'll later. I hope you had as much fun as I did. :D