"Scraggy let's-"As I was beginning to give a speech to Scraggy about the adventure we were about to embark on, something ran into me and knocked me down from behind.
"Watch it." I said into the air. I looked up and I could see a strange Pokémon in black fur with a red tipped tail. As I got up and tried to talk to it, it transformed into me. It had my face, clothes, and height. It was me. As I was dazed and confused as to how and why something could transform into me it ran away. I tried to chase it, but as I was running I tripped on my untied shoelace and fell face-first into a patch of grass. Scraggy ran after me as fast as it could, but he ended up tripping over his loose skin and falling face-first into the grass right next to me. I got up and helped Scraggy up and then sat on the grass for a moment, laughing at how funny it was to see Scraggy fall down on his face.
"S-Scraggy," I said between breaths of laughter, "we need to be more careful."
"Scraggy!" He cried out nodding at me and throwing a fist into the air. Then we went on our way.
I had no idea where to go or what to do so I headed to the pokémon center where I could ask Nurse Joy for any tips or advice on how to begin a journey.
"Well," she said, "what do you want to do? Do you want to earn badges and compete in the Unova League when it rolls around next year or do you want to be a world-class connoisseur, or do you want to do contests? There are many paths people can take while on their journey."
"I want to be the Unova League Champion, for Professor Eucalyptus. He was never able to do it, so I want to do it for him." I replied.
"Just give me your pokedéx for a moment and I will record all the necessary information to start you on your quest for badges." I gave it to her and a few minutes later she said everything was all set, and a moment later a pokémon I have never seen before came over to me and handed me a badge case.
"Audino!" It cried out as I took the case.
"Nurse Joy, who is this Pokémon?" I asked.
"That's Audino. They are the helper pokémon at every Pokémon center here in Unova." I then pulled out my pokédex and learned information about Audino.
Audino, the hearing pokémon. Its auditory sense is astounding. It has a radar-like ability to understand its surrounding through slight sounds. I put my pokédex away and went to exit the Pokémon center, but Nurse Joy stopped me.
"Where will you go now?" She asked.
"There is a gym here in Castelia City. I'll go challenge it." I replied.
"You just started your journey, though. Wouldn't it be good for you to learn a thing or two about pokémon battles before you partake in them correct? If you wish to learn, there is a trainer school in Striaton City not too far from here. Just head out of the pokémon center and exit this city to the east. The Nurse Joy in the next city, Nacrene City, can tell you how to get to Striaton city from there. Be warned however, across the Sky Arrow Bridge is the Pinwheel Forest where many poison type pokémon live. If your Pokémon get hurt don't hesitate to come back here. I will be more than happy to heal your pokémon."
"I will. Thank you for the help Nurse Joy." So I headed off across the Sky Arrow Bridge for the Pinwheel Forest.
The Sky Arrow Bridge is really long and narrow. I walked along it taking a break every few minutes to look at the surrounding areas; mountains, oceans, and grasslands. It took me forever to make my way across it, but after twenty minutes or so of walking and stopping to look at the scenery, I finally made it across without much trouble.
Not a moment later I was inside the Pinwheel Forest. I was amazed that such a large forest was just outside Castelia City, and I was amazed to see all the new pokémon I had never seen before. I pointed my pokédex at one pokémon that looked like it was wearing a leaf for a hat. Sewaddle the sewing pokémon. Thispokémonmakes clothes for itself. It chews up leaves and sews them with sticky thread extruded from its mouth. Just then I saw another pokémon that looked like it was a cloud; white and fluffy. I pointed the pokédex at it and it said: Cottonee the cotton puff pokémon. They go wherever the winds take them. On rainy days, their bodies are heavier, so they take shelter beneath big trees.
"Only chumps learn about pokémon through the pokédex." Someone said, emerging from behind a tree.
"Why's that?" I snorted back.
"Pokémon are best studied up close in nature. No pokédex will ever show you how awesome the real pokémon are." He said.
"Sam! Where are you, Sam?" A faint voice rang from somewhere in the forest. I ran over to it.
"You forgot Scraggy." Nurse Joy said, panting.
"That's twice today I forgot Scraggy." I replied.
"Be more careful. I don't want your pokémon to get stolen and make you quit your journey because you lost your pokémon." She scolded at me.
"I will, I promise. Please don't be mad at me Nurse Joy." I said, my eyes filling with tears.
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Scraggy."
I bent down to apologize to Scraggy, but as soon as I made eye contact with Scraggy he kicked me hard. I fell on my butt and was rubbing the spot on my forehead where Scraggy hit me.
"Just be more careful from now on." She said.
"I'll try." I said. I then hugged Scraggy and called him back to his pokéball after profusely apologizing to him. Nurse Joy left quickly, and right as she turned away Scraggy popped out of his pokéball.
"Scraggy, return." I called out to him, but as soon as he entered in the ball he popped right back out.
"Scraggy, why won't you stay in your pokéball?" I asked.
"Maybe it doesn't like the pokéball. What a lousy trainer who can't get their pokémon to stay in its pokéball." A voice scoffed at me. A moment later the person stood in front of me and it was the trainer from before.
"What's it to you? If Scraggy doesn't like its pokéball then it doesn't have to stay in it." I retorted.
"Scraggy?" Said Scraggy. He then ran up to the trainer and kicked his leg hard. The trainer winced in pain and kicked Scraggy hard in the face.
"You little piece of shit." The trainer said and kicked Scraggy again.
"Stop!" I screamed. I ran up to Scraggy to pull him away from the trainer and tried to run out of the forest as fast as possible. The trainer followed me as I made my way back to Castelia City.
"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. A random person came over to me as the trainer grabbed the collar of my shirt and began punching my face hard, making my nose bleed like a faucet. Just then a crowd surrounded us and a few people were pulling the trainer off of me. He managed to steal Scraggy from my arms just before he was pulled off of me by two big bodybuilders.
"He has my Scraggy. I want it back." I yelled. He managed to break free from the grasp of the two men and ran north past the pokémon gym. He ran past Central Fountain and made his way to the gate. Suddenly the other me got in his way and knocked him down. Then it transformed back into the pokémon with the red tipped tail. Its hand grew black as if it had a shadow on it and punched the thief square in the stomach. The strange pokémon then scooped up Scraggy and ran over to me and gently placed Scraggy on the ground at my feet.
"Scraggy?" Said Scraggy. He then began to cry and seeing him cry made me cry as well.
Just then my dad came out from somewhere in the crowd and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up but did not say a word to him and I kept crying. He then lifted me up, beckoned for Scraggy to follow us, and went home where I promptly went to my room and locked myself and Scraggy in and wept for a long time. My dad was trying to get me to come out but I would not talk to him. My day was rough and I don't want to go on my journey if this is how bad it is going to be right out of the gate.
"If you won't come out or let me in, then I'll just talk to you through the door. I want you to know that the trainer who beat you and Scraggy up is now in prison, and I'm sure he'll be going there for a long time. I also want you to know that something similar happened to me while I went on my short-lived journey; I was in Striaton City and a random person that I've never met punched me in the stomach as hard as he could and caused internal bleeding in me. He then stole my Herdier, my most invaluable partner, and I have never seen him, or my Herdier since. As far as I am aware, he still has Herdier and is using it for evil deeds. I am jovial that Scraggy is alright and in your capable hands. No one can for sure say what truly happened in the forest except you, but as far as I know, if you hadn't run back here then he would have gotten away with Scraggy." He said.
I had slowly walked over to the door and opened it. As soon as I saw my dad I hugged him as tightly as I could for as long as I could. I only let go when Scraggy tapped my waist and threw up a fist, nodded, and cried out to the sky. I stopped crying because I knew Scraggy was looking out for me and just wanted to see me happy. He knew we were both fine so I tried to cheer up as best I could. I went over to the cupboard and grabbed a mug, filled it with hot water, and began to make some green tea. "Dad, I feel better and am not as sad as I was before, but I am still scared about going on my journey. I don't want to meet anyone else like that guy from before."
"I am sure that somewhere in this world there might be someone willing to join you on your journey, and if you check with Professor Eucalyptus tomorrow I am sure someone else who might be starting a journey will come by looking to get a pokémon from him who would join you." Dad said.
"It's only five in the afternoon, so I will go and ask if I can hang around tomorrow." I said.
"That's fine by me. Just go down near the central fountain and you will find his lab. You won't miss it. It has a green roof."
I finished my tea and headed off to Professor Eucalyptus' lab. It indeed was near the central fountain like dad said, so I went up to the door and knocked on it.
"Who are you? Starting a journey I presume?" Some science guy said to me.
"No, I already have a Scraggy, but it is at home with my dad. I was just hoping to speak with Professor Eucalyptus about something." I replied.
"Sure, just give me a minute." I went and sat on a nearby bench right by the fountain and watched all the people walk by talking on their cell phones, undoubtedly about business type things I would not understand.
"Samantha, what are you doing here? I thought you would be on your journey." Professor Eucalyptus asked.
"Something happened and I wanted to come over to your lab and ask you a question. So, I was attacked earlier today, and since I was attacked I've been feeling very scared about being alone. I wanted to know if I could wait at your lab tomorrow for a trainer to come to your lab and get their first pokémon to start their journey." I responded.
"I don't see why not. A new trainer is coming to the lab tomorrow, and I we can see if they will join you. I am truly sorry to hear you got attacked and would love to know you are going on a journey with someone rather than alone. Come by my lab tomorrow at eight in the morning."
"That's doable." I said cheerfully.
I then went home, and I had dinner with Dad, and Scraggy ate as well, and we all swiftly went off to bed even thought it was only eight-thirty in the evening. Scraggy must've stayed up later than me because when he kicked me awake again, my room was a mess.
I looked at my alarm clock and was surprised to see that it was already seven-thirty. I changed out of my pajamas, grabbed a piece of toast, and left the house swiftly, beckoning for Scraggy to follow me.