Beep…beep…beep.
The alarm clock was going off by Kai's bed on the side table, it was a slow but loud beep that went off every so often. It was annoying, but that was the point, to annoy someone till they got up.
"Ugh, shut up clock," Kai groaned out, half awake as he grabs his glasses and put them on before shutting off the clock. After he got up, he stretched, his back popping as he did so.
"Kai, sweetheart, are you up yet?" His mom called up to him as he got dressed and ready for the day, putting on his hat and grabbing his Pokédex. It was one of the newer models since his mom could afford it as she made quite a bit of money.
"Yes, mom! I'll be down in a moment!" He called back down to her as he puts on socks, they were simple black socks, hard to stain, and if they did, it was easy to hide, perfect for his active lifestyle.
"You have five minutes because otherwise, you'll be late for getting your starter Pokémon!" His mother called back up after a few moments as she was doing something downstairs. He heads into the bathroom and brushes his teeth then washes his face and makes his bed, all in about 5 minutes, right before he had to go. He puts on his shoes, hugs his mom, then heads out the door. On his way to the lab, he saw some of his friends playing outside, so he waved to them happily, he was older than them by a few years and that was ok. They love his Ideas for games and they quickly became good friends. They knew, however, that he was getting his starter Pokémon today and were a little sad about it but also happy for him, so they just waved back with just as much happiness as Kai put into his wave and wished him luck. Kai smiled and wished them luck as well, after all, they were going to get their starters next year. Kai was a little old to start, but that was for a reason yet unknown.
When he arrived at the lab, he walked up to the door and hit the buzzer, then waited for someone to answer, playing on his Pokédex in the meantime. When the door opened, it was the pretty black-haired receptionist who answered the door. She had a soft smile on her face after seeing Kai, she knew who he was, he often helped the professor in the lab on hard projects, he was one of the brightest kids in town.
"Oh, right, hello Kai, you're here for your starter Pokémon!" She says happily, mostly to herself to remind her, as she waves him into the lab, leading him deeper than he's been before and through areas, he's never been.
"Yes miss Athena, I'm here for my starter," Kai says happily as they walked through the lab to where the professor was, when they got there he had good news and bad news for Kai.
"Unfortunately Kai, there are no starters left for you, the others came too early and since they were there I had to give them their starters. But you're in luck, I have one more Pokémon I saved just for you since I knew you would be right on time, not early nor late." The professor explained as he pulled out a Poke ball and opened it. What came out was definitely a rare sight and had Kai awed, it was a small riolu. As soon as it saw Kai, it ran over and asked to be picked up, all the while shouting its name over and over. Kai laughed and picked up the small Pokémon, holding it close while it started to purr softly as he pet it. "Seems riolu is excited to have a trainer," the professor said, laughing as he handed Kai the Pokeball that riolu was caught in.
"Thank you so much!" Kai said happy to have his Pokémon now and was surprised when riolu started purring softly when he started petting it, also loving how soft their fur was in his hand. "Am I allowed to name them?"
"Well, you are allowed to name your Pokémon, it does promote bonding and individualization. I also suggest it if you catch any common Pokémon, so you can call them back, and you don't end up with a wild Pokémon instead." Athena said as she watched Kai before grabbing a few files she had to deal with before leaving, knowing Kai would be able to find his way out, or would just follow her. Kai thanked the professor, then followed Athena out, figuring that was a good time to leave, getting his poke balls and a new translator for Pokémon the professor wanted him to field test. He was excited about that, but he had to wait till he left on his journey.
"Bye Miss Athena!" Kai called as he left, still holding riolu as it still wanted to be held and he didn't mind. When he left, he headed home to say goodbye to his mom. He waved to his friends and stopped to show them his Pokémon, it really enjoyed the attention his friends gave it as well as the pets. After a few minutes, he bid his friend goodbye and headed the rest of the way home. He opened the door and headed in happily, looking for his mom, who was currently cooking.
"Hey, mom, look who I got!" Kai exclaimed happily as he holds up the riolu to his mother and when she turned around she got a very surprised look on her face before smiling warmly and petting the riolu.
"Oh my, you got such a pretty Pokémon Kai, I didn't even know you could get riolu this far from their homeland," she says softly as she pets the Pokémon, not wanting to startle it. She then turns back to cooking breakfast, flipping some pancakes. "Go and sit at the table Kai, I'm almost done with breakfast," she said as she sets some bacon on plates, then a few pancakes. She made an extra plate for Kai's new Pokémon, while Kai and said Pokémon sat at the table together.
"Mom makes delicious food," Kai says while he waits for his mother to hand them their breakfast. Soon after he said that his mom came out from the kitchen with 3 plates, one for each of them, handing the first plate to riolu, she set Kai's down second and sat down to eat while she set down her plate. As they ate, Kai and his mom talked about what he was going to do on the travels he was going to have, they talked about different Pokémon, gyms, towns, and even different regions if he got that far. He settled on just having fun, finding places to visit for other travelers, and maybe a battle here and there. He needs to level up his Pokémon, after all, he was not going to be defenseless against stronger Pokémon. After he finished eating, he set riolu down and went upstairs to pack up, riolu however almost immediately climbed into the lap of Kai's mother to be pet more. Kai packed up the essentials, clothing, sleeping bag, and tent then went downstairs and packed up a few cans of food.
Riolu was currently getting belly rubs from Kai's mom, but after a moment another Pokémon hopped up onto the table, a rather slim floatzel, but it still had the slight chub they always have, it was his mother's Pokémon, the only one she kept after her travels, his name was Wipeout, a cheesy name but his mom and the floatzel didn't seem to care. The Pokémon nuzzled his mom and lets out a string of words in his natural language, and his mother seems to understand. "Yes Wipeout, you'll get your daily bath and grooming soon, I just have to say goodbye to my son." She said before she sets the riolu down, Kai then hugs his mother tightly.
"Love you mom, I'll call you once a week," he says slightly reluctant to let go, but the idea of being out on his own and having fun got to him, and he let go. He heads out the door with his new and yet to be named Pokémon at his side, running almost circles around him
Kai laughs and takes off running with riolu behind him, quickly catching up of course, but they had fun running through and out of town while waving goodbye to his friends as he did so. After they left town, Kai and his Pokémon played hide and seek, riolu won more often than not but every so often Kai did win, and they had a great time, riolu came running into Kai's arms, knocking him onto his back while he giggles as he tightly hugs his Pokémon.
" That was fun," Kai remarked and Riolu nodded their head purring softly, but then they heard a soft cry over the soft breeze, riolu's ears perked up while Kai sits up and sets riolu down before getting up and heading to where he heard the cry. It took him a bit to find exactly where it came from as what gave it out was a small Pokémon, it was a fenniken crying its eyes out, and it broke Kai's heart. "Oh, dear fenniken what's wrong?" he asked softly as he came over and sat near it as it looked over to Kai and buried her head into his chest as she sobbed, while Kai wrapped his arms around her.
." You didn't' t answer my question, sweetheart," Kai says quietly as he turns on the translator while he gently pets the poor fenniken. The small Pokémon wipes her eyes with her paws and sniffles softly. She then sits back and starts speaking.
"My master abandoned me because I was too weak," she says, tears still in her eyes bet were not falling. Kai seems rather surprised that someone could be so mean to abandon a Pokémon, especially in an area that wasn't' t her natural home, and that made up his mind.
"Well, then would you like to come with me, little one?" Kai asked the Pokémon as he holds out a poke ball in offering to her. The Pokémon seems to be completely caught off guard and starts crying again as she almost smashed her head against the ball, enveloping her into a 'beam of light and sucking her into the ball, the light dinged almost immediately as she was recaught by a hopefully nicer trainer.
Kai stood up smiling softly "that's two bud, and now I can take excellent care of her and pamper her as she deserves it after that," Kai says while he heads back to the trail and continues with riolu, sometimes holding them other times running and having them catch up, but at the end of the day when it started getting dark Kai found a clearing and built up a small unlit fire before getting out the small 2-person tent with help from his Pokémon that was currently out of their ball, once it was set up he pulled out fenniken's ball and let her out: "ok fenniken, you can sleep in my arms, but first I need you to go light the fire, so I can make dinner. "
'" Ok, master! " She says happily and uses an ember to light the campfire before adding another stick herself with her tail wagging. She then bounds over to Kai, and he crouches down, petting her gently, and she lets out a soft and happy yip. "Thank you, master," she says softly as she leans into the petting he gave her.
"You're welcome," Kai says happily, then turns back to the fire and starts making hot dogs and beans for dinner. Keeping it simple as the hot dogs cook faster than the beans, feeding fenniken one straight from the fire, and she gobbled it up hungrily but Riolu takes longer as they have to let it cool off a bit. After a few minutes, the beans were ready and Kai slices the dog's up onto it before spooning it out and serving his Pokémon before getting his. They ate, then riolu speaks up.
"Master, heard you were going to name us, will it be now?" she asked as her voice was feminine enough for an accurate guess. Kai takes a moment to think her question over as he eats.
"I guess I could name you now, be a good way to end the day I would think," Kai says after he swallowed, he was almost done with his meal. "After we finish eating and get ready for bed, ok?"
"Ok master," Riolu said and started eating a little faster
"Yay! I get a name!" The fenniken exclaimed
After the finished eating, he packed up the pot he used, cleaning it in a nearby stream before he got undressed and ready for bed, crawling into the tent. His Pokémon followed into the tent, he didn't kick them out as most trainers would, rather he pulled riolu close and let fenniken snuggle into the crook of his neck. "Ok, riolu, your name will be Azul," he says yawning ", and fenniken will be Kyoko." He snuggles close to them, the night was cold, and being in the sleeping bag was helping a lot. The Pokémon mumbled out half-awake good nights before passing out, Kai following soon after.