Hi. Jalen Kun here, back at it again with another update.
I just wanna thank Tyler and Kitty for Mavis and Shihong, respectively, and I also want to thank them for putting this idea in my head. Without them to push me, I probably wouldn't have even started this. :) So thanks, guys!
(but you guys aren't exempt from reviewing)
Pallet Town was a small place filled with big dreams.
Everyone in the Kanto Region knew of the little town, and even people from other regions were aware of the place that homed legendary Pokémon trainers such as Red — current Champion of the Kanto Region — and Blue Oak, who was also the Champion for a good twenty-four hours. And even if people didn't know about those two, Professor Oak was a world-renowned researcher that absolutely nobody could be ignorant of, and he also resided in the quaint Pallet Town.
It was a running gag around the Kanto Region that people coming from Pallet Town were bound to be successful. History tended to repeat itself, after all. Any Pokémon trainers that announced themselves as Pallet Town-borne were immediately put on everyone's radar.
But even still, there were a select few trainers that rose above the rest. Living in Pallet Town was only a prerequisite for them. They were the best of the best; the ones with the most potential to rise in the Pokémon industry, the ones that nobody could find fault in, the ones that were given an opportunity unlike any other.
Mavis Sullivan was one of those trainers.
Nothing less was expected of her, after all. The Sullivan family were a very prestigious group of people, and the only thing that they focused on were Pokémon. Battling, coordinating, breeding — no matter what it was, the Sullivan family did it, and they were masters at it. Mavis' parents were both ace trainers, with eight Kanto gym badges to their name, and her grandma was even the Champion of the Kanto Region once upon a time, as well as the Viridian City Gym Leader. With a family history of nothing but excellence, and four siblings already out adventuring in their miscellaneous regions, it was no surprise when the Sullivan household received a call from Professor Oak's office.
Mavis was to be one of the three Pokédex Holders.
For Mavis, it was expected, but that didn't stop the rolls of excitement from sliding down her spine. This is it! she thought, grinning to herself as she walked down the sidewalks of Pallet Town. This is the beginning of my new life!
Becoming a Pokémon trainer was the only thing that Mavis wanted to do in her life, was the only thing she felt that she could do. How could she be anything else when her entire family revolved around being aces? She couldn't; she wouldn't. And not only would she be a Pokémon trainer, but she'd be the best damn trainer in existence.
Mavis didn't want to stick to one type of Pokémon, because that was dumb. She wanted to be a master of all types; she wanted to be a jack-of-all-trades: she wanted to be the name on everyone's lips. Mavis wanted to prove herself, to the world — and she could do it, too. She was capable. She was more than capable, actually.
As Mavis opened the doors to Professor Oak's laboratory and stepped inside the cool, air-conditioned lobby, her mind latched onto that single thought. I am capable. I am more than capable. I am the most capable.
The sixteen-year-old female was bordering on arrogance, but she didn't care. She had the skills to back it up. She was accepted to become one of Professor Oak's valued Pokédex Holders, after all.
One of the aides, a fairly young lady with beautiful blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes, smiled at her as soon as she entered the building. "Welcome!" she chirped happily, rushing over to Mavis. "You must be Ms. Sullivan, correct?"
"The one and only," Mavis answered, smirking her signature smirk.
The female aide didn't seem to mind her cocky personality. Instead, her grin seemed to grow a thousand times bigger.
"Good, good! It is so good that you're here!" the aide said, a bundle of nerves and energy. She seemed a lot more excited than Mavis was, weirdly enough. "Professor Oak will be seeing you very, very shortly. Until then, please sit down at our waiting area. There's already one of you here, and I'm sure he's just as excited to meet you as you are to meet him!"
Mavis couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, but she did manage to keep her tongue from saying something extremely rude. She wasn't excited to meet the other Pokédex Holder. She didn't care enough about him, if she was to be frank. The only thing she cared about was gaining her beloved Starter Pokémon, her Pokédex, and her supplies.
The aide — Lydia, she soon figured out from the lady's name-tag — directed her to the waiting area, a very spacious and very comfortable-looking place. The chairs were plush, the tables made of the finest mahogany, and there was even a coffee-machine placed in the corner. A flat-screen television was placed on the wall — and currently sitting there, intently watching it, was a chocolate-skinned boy with short hair and deep brown eyes.
The second that they walked in, the boy's attention shifted from the TV to the pair of females at the door. Mavis and him locked eyes.
"Mavis, this is Liam," Lydia began, pointing to the boy as if they were three-years-old. "And Liam, this is Mavis. Be nice to each other, okay?"
Liam was the first to break eye-contact, his brows slightly furrowed. "Why is that old man not here yet? Is he taking a dump or something?"
Mavis rolled her eyes. What an idiot. She was rude, too, but she didn't go around saying stupid crap like that. Liam was already a nobody to her.
Lydia chuckled a bit, but Mavis could tell that she clearly wanted to chastise the boy. Instead, she opted for the more sensitive route. "Be a bit patient, okay? He'll be here when all of you are together."
"Ugh." Liam groaned, turning back towards the TV. He puffed his cheeks out, very childishly, and rolled his eyes. "Fine. That other guy needs to hurry up."
Lydia left the room soon after, giving Mavis an apologetic smile. The sixteen-year-old simply shrugged in response, taking a seat by the door. She didn't care about Liam enough to be annoyed by his childish impatience. Sure, he was selected to be a Pokédex Holder, so he couldn't have been too incompetent . . . but everyone was below Mavis in skill, according to her. She'd simply stick to herself, gain everything she needed to gain from Professor Oak, and begin her road to becoming a master.
It was only a matter of time now.
Liam Harris continued watching the television screen, bored out of his mind. There was nothing interesting on TV right now; it was twelve-o'clock in the morning, and all of the good cartoons came on later in the afternoon.
Not that he still watched cartoons. Absolutely not. The other guys would laugh at him if he did. He just . . . Well, since Professor Oak was taking a horribly long time, he needed to preoccupy himself somehow. He would talk to the girl that just walked in, but she was sitting far away from him and tapping away on her smartphone. He would've taken out his own smartphone, but the screen was cracked and it was terribly outdated. So he had to do nothing but sit down and wait.
Liam hated waiting — for anything. That's why he ran over to the laboratory as soon as he got the call. He couldn't wait to become a Pokémon trainer; he couldn't wait to choose his starter Pokemon; he couldn't wait to receive his very own Pokédex. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the world actually seemed to be on his side — and he could not wait to start.
Ever since Liam was a little kid, becoming famous was the only thing that he ever wanted. He hated the idea of living a mundane life, and he hated the fact that he was only one insignificant person in a world of billions. He wanted to be special, to be acknowledged, to be . . . a somebody.
But how could someone become famous living in simple Pallet Town? Making videos on Poké-Tube wasn't getting him the publicity that he wanted, and he didn't have any certain talents that garnered people's attention. His family wasn't world-renowned anything's, and he didn't have anyone that could help him achieve his goal of living life as a celebrity.
That's when it hit him. Everyone loved Pokémon trainers. Kanto News followed all of the major Pokémon battling events, and they tended to interview a lot of trainers when something went amiss. Not only that, but there were tons of tournaments that thousands of people attended, and millions of people watched from home. If there was any profession that had the most popularity, then it was becoming a Pokémon trainer.
There were risks, however. Traveling around the world, alone, was dangerous. And not only that, but it was hard to be recognized for your talents when there were so many others who had the exact same goal. Many wannabe-trainers ended up starving because of the lack of revenue, too, and many just couldn't handle the brutal lifestyle.
But Liam could. He knew, deep down inside, that he could handle anything and everything the Pokémon Universe threw at him. His goal was becoming the Champion of the Kanto Region, because there was no higher honor than that. Everyone would know him. Everyone would look up to him.
Liam craved that attention, craved that spotlight more than he craved anything else.
And now, he actually had the chance to achieve that dream.
Smiling to himself, Liam looked up and stared at the other Pokédex Holder, Mavis. She was pretty. Really pretty, actually, with her dark lipstick and black sunglasses. Her black hair was stylishly unkempt, and her body wasn't bad in the slightest. All in all, Liam would've rated her a solid 8.
If he could see her entire face behind those shades, then maybe that rating could raise higher . . .
"Hey," Liam called out, his brows widened in genuine confusion. Mavis looked up from her phone, her lips stuck in a permanent straight line. "Why are you wearing those sunglasses when we're in a building?"
Mavis didn't skip a beat. "Because I want to."
"Are you blind?"
". . . What?"
"That is so cool!" Liam jumped up from his seat, lips quirked into a giant grin. "I mean, being blind isn't cool, but being a blind Pokémon trainer must take a lot of skill! How did you take the written exam to be chosen for this? Did someone do it for you? And how do you know what Pokémon you'll be fighting against if you can't see them? Wait . . . How are you even using your phone?!"
Mavis stared at the boy in complete deadpan. Is this guy . . . Is this guy serious? Does he really believe that I'm blind just because I'm wearing shades?
Almost sardonically, the sixteen-year-old female opened her mouth to reply. "I'm telepathic, so I can do a lot of things that other people can't."
"Really?!"
She almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. To be that stupid was a sin — and he was considered good enough to become a Pokédex Holder? What kind of screwed up game was Professor Oak playing?
"No, dumbass. I'm not blind, and I'm not telepathic. The fact that you actually believed me . . ." Mavis shook her head, looking back down to the phone in her hands. "It really goes to show the level of intelligence it takes to pass Professor Oak's exam."
Liam blinked, his mouth opened in dumbfounded astonishment. That was . . . rude. Really rude, actually — and totally misguided at that. Liam might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but his memorization skills were top-notch. He passed that exam fair and square, hence the reason he was even there.
Forcing a chuckle, Liam awkwardly looked away, hands unconsciously digging inside of his pockets. "I was just kidding, sheesh."
He wasn't.
But Liam was a pro at getting people to believe things that weren't true. He constantly exaggerated his masculinity, constantly lied about his intense liking of cartoons and cooking, constantly acted however people wanted him to act. He wanted to be cool, to be accepted into society with open arms. And being himself . . . probably wasn't the right way to do that.
Liam put on so many façades that he barely knew who his real self was sometimes.
He was simply scared of rejection, and deathly afraid of being alone. That's why he acted like a testosterone-filled idiot around his friends; that's why he typically flirted with all of the girls, even if he didn't like them; that's why he was becoming a Pokémon trainer in the first place, because he refused to be some loser that nobody liked nor cared about.
It was insecurity at it's finest degree.
Before Mavis could respond to Liam's lie, Lydia's cheerful humming caught their attention. They both looked towards the door . . .
. . . And standing right beside Lydia, noticeably shorter than everyone in the room, was Shihong Zhang. The sixteen-year-old stared at them as they stared at her, her brown eyes unblinking and emotionless. In her hands was a small black notebook, and a red pen stuck out of her jeans.
Even Mavis had to acknowledge the fact that the girl was a beauty; with her Johto-like facial features and a hint of makeup on her lips, Shihong could've easily been the most beautiful girl in Pallet Town. And her beauty wasn't sexual either, like Liam thought of Mavis; the sixteen-year-old boy was almost afraid to look at her, in case his gaze shattered the mirage.
Lydia was the first to speak, as expected. "Liam, Mavis . . . this is Shihong. Shihong, this is Liam and Mavis. You three get to know each other a little, while I go fetch the professor!"
And with that, Lydia was gone, leaving Shihong alone with two complete strangers. It wasn't like she was acquainted with Lydia either, but there was something about people her age that made Shihong nervous. Actually, scratch that; Shihong was nervous around everyone. She wasn't a shy girl, not really, but she was extraordinarily quiet. And people tended to abuse the quiet ones.
Not that she wasn't already used to being abused. She was. That still didn't make it any less grating.
"So, Shihong," Mavis began, clicking off her phone and standing up. Her eyes had a domineering, almost competitive gleam to them — though nobody could see. "On a scale from 1 to 10, how good are you?"
"Hey, you didn't ask me that!" Liam exclaimed, his face scrunched up in indignation and confusion.
"That's because I already know what you are."
"Oh yeah, then what am I?"
"A negative 3."
Liam could feel his brain cracking in half as he glared at the female. She was turning out to be an extraordinary bitch.
"I'm definitely a 10," he said, crossing his arms. Suddenly, a thought came to his head, and he smirked a little. "In more ways than one, if you know what I mean . . ."
Mavis knew what he meant, but chose to ignore it. Instead, she continued staring at Shihong, waiting for an answer. The shorter girl didn't look like she could pose a serious challenge, but Mavis knew that looks could be deceiving. She was the best, definitely . . . but she just needed to make sure.
Shihong fidgeted a little under her cold gaze; even with those big sunglasses, the girl somehow still managed to look threatening. And while Shihong wasn't necessarily scared of Mavis, she still didn't want to say anything to piss her off. Angry people were just too much to deal with. So she bit her lip and racked her brain for a good response, one that wouldn't create any issues in the future.
Just like always. Shihong was constantly a people-pleaser.
It wasn't her fault; Shihong grew up in a household that verbally tore her down, emotionally abused her, and made her feel like . . . like she was less than human. It only got worse when her older brother, Jin Zhang, was tragically murdered by a group of Geodude. He was their parents' everything — and it was taken away from them so quickly, so unexpectedly. Shihong was irrelevant compared to him. With Jin's death, the spotlight actually turned towards her, but it wasn't for the better. Her parents disciplined her to unreasonable lengths, and they mentally bullied her into thinking that she was nothing more than a shit-stirrer.
So Shihong grew closed-off from her family, and she definitely shut herself away from her indifferent neighbors. They knew what was going on in her household; they didn't care.
"I . . . I'm . . ." She exhaled, patting down on her jeans. "I think I'm okay? Maybe not better than you, but . . . you know."
"Yeah, I think that I do."
Mavis smiled, satisfied. She was obviously better than Liam, and Shihong seemed too reserved to even look at a Pokémon. She was going to be the best Pokédex Holder. No, she was the best Pokédex Holder. Even though it was expected, she couldn't stop the proud grin from growing on her pale face.
Liam rolled his eyes, already fed-up with Mavis' bloated ego. She was going to be a problem, definitely. He was gunning for the Champion's spot, so people like her were going to have to be beaten by him, sooner-or-later. Liam was a friendly guy, and he could definitely deal with her cockiness . . . but his goal trumped everything in the grand scheme of things.
And Shihong just sighed, wondering how someone like her managed to get here. Unlike Liam and Mavis, she didn't have a great goal in mind. She didn't want to be a Pokémon master, nor did she want to become Champion of the Kanto Region. She just wanted an escape. An escape from her destabilizing home, an escape from the ghosts of her past.
This was just the most convenient route.
"Guys," Lydia called, walking back into the room. She smiled, her bright eyes sparkling. "Professor Oak would like for me to bring you all to his private lab! Follow me!"
Liam exhaled in relief. Finally. The three sixteen-year-olds followed Lydia out of the waiting area and through the lobby, down a bunch of winding hallways, and eventually to a steel door at the very back of the building. Liam talked the entire time, oohing and ahhing at the simplest of technologies. Mavis rolled her eyes and calmly told him to shut up, multiple times; he didn't. Shihong stayed silent, flipping through her notebook as she walked, reading through the pre-approved subjects that she figured Professor Oak would like to hear.
Lydia typed in a seemingly complex passcode and unlocked the door. The room was . . . unimpressive, to say the least. They all expected something from a movie scene, like Pokémon trapped in glass chambers, or at least fizzling test-tubes. There was none of that. There was a large machine in the corner of the room, unidentifiable to any of the sixteen-year-olds, and there was plenty of charts and notes scattered around the lab — but that's where the complexity ended and the simplicity began.
Professor Oak sat in a chair in a corner of the room, his back turned towards the four visitors. Placed on a table in the middle of the room were three shiny Pokéballs, a picture of the corresponding Pokémon underneath. Liam and Mavis couldn't tear their eyes away.
"Welcome," Professor Oak suddenly said, turning around to look at the three. He recognized them immediately; the boy who wouldn't stop talking about how he was going to one day be famous, the girl who practically radiated confidence, and the girl who could barely pass as a sixteen-year-old.
Mavis and Shihong responded immediately. "Thank you for having us, professor."
Liam just grinned, too excited to speak.
Professor Oak stood up from his seat, giving the three a grandfatherly smile. "Liam Harris, Mavis Sullivan, Shihong Zhang . . . As you three must already know, I — or rather, my assistant Lydia — have chosen you three to partake in a journey across the Kanto Region. But not only that; you will each be given a starter Pokémon of your choosing, as well as an upgraded, highly-functioning Pokédex."
Truthfully, anyone in the Kanto Region could buy a Pokédex, and they all knew that. The thing was, they were extremely expensive, and regular Pokémon trainers could barely afford to feed themselves, much less buy a Pokédex. And not only that, but the ones that Professor Oak was giving them were an upgraded version of the ones in stores. They were beta-testers, in a way. An extremely sought-out title.
"And I see that Ms. Sullivan already has her own bag of supplies," Professor Oak continued, causing Mavis to smile. "But I am also giving you all your own backpacks, filled to the brim with the most needed necessities. As you can tell, you three will be extremely prepared for practically anything."
"Thanks so much, professor!" Liam exclaimed, refraining himself from hugging the elderly man. No matter how much he wanted to, hugs just weren't cool. That's what his friends said, at least.
The old man laughed. "No, thank you. Without you three, I wouldn't have the best possible people here today to try out my new Pokédex and gain information for me. And anyone who aspires to become a Pokémon trainer, regardless of their own personal reasons, is a friend of mine."
. . . So amazing. Mavis didn't like looking up to many people, but she definitely looked up to Professor Oak. He was a master in his own league. She didn't question that he could possibly be the strongest trainer in the entire Kanto Region, even more powerful than the legendary Red.
"But anyway," the man said, walking over to the Pokéball table. Liam could barely keep himself from jumping atop and choosing his Pokémon. "Before we do all of that boring stuff, why don't you three choose your start—"
"I choose Charmander!" Liam screamed, running up and grabbing the shiny Pokéball before the old man could even finish speaking. He knew that he was being rude, sorta, but he couldn't bring himself to care much. This was his starter. If Mavis or Shihong had chosen this one before him, he'd be pissed.
Professor Oak simply laughed at his enthusiasm. He remembered when he was like Liam — energetic, tough, self-proclaimed king of the world. It was always nostalgic to see teenagers begin their quest for whatever they wanted to do in their lives.
Mavis shot a look at Shihong, daring her to choose the one she wanted. The quiet girl simply looked to the floor. In reality, Shihong didn't care what starter she got. She loved Pokémon of any kind; as long as it was nice to her, and could protect her from the wilderness of the world, then she was perfectly fine with anything.
"I'll be choosing Squirtle," Mavis said, walking over and grabbing the small Pokéball. Even though she radiated calmness, her muscles were tense, and she could practically hear her heart pounding. This was it.
This way the beginning of a lifetime.
Lydia gave Shihong a concerned look; she didn't want Liam or Mavis to bully the girl into submission. "So you want Bulbasaur?" she asked.
Shihong nodded, walking over and picking up the Pokéball. Bulbasaur. That was good, right? She thought so. And in the end, even though she was always walked over and disregarded, that was all that mattered. She liked Bulbasaur.
"Good! I'm glad that everyone is satisfied with their choices." Professor Oak walked over to his desk, picking up three rectangular objects. One in red, one in blue, and one in green. "These are Pokédexes. As you all must surely know, these rectangular devices are Pokémon encyclopedias. They can tell you a lot of different things about each and every discovered Pokémon in the world. This new update that I'm working on allows for the Pokedexes to be able to connect to the Internet, as well as allow video chats between them. This is so that you three will never truly be alone, even if you choose to go your separate ways."
There was a sad twinkle in his dark eyes as he said this, his smile looking a tad bit forced. His mind shifted to the three from last year — Tyson, Noah . . . and Victoria.
"Listen to me, you all," Professor Oak said, catching their attention. His eyes shined in intensity, his voice deadly serious. Liam frowned. "I know that I can't force you three to do anything, and I don't want to. I want you each to explore this world and follow your dreams without anything stifling you. But . . . I would also like for you three to travel with each other, at least until you all have your first gym badge. Alright? I know that you're each different individuals, but please understand that this world is a lot more gruesome and dangerous than the media lets you believe. So please just stick with each other for a while, alright?"
Mavis held back the grimace from showing on her face. She'd have to travel with these two until she got her first gym badge? What? She already disliked Liam, and Shihong was proving to be absolutely nothing. They were going to do absolutely nothing but hold her back.
Liam, however, completely understood the old man. He didn't really like it, but he understood it. And secretly, deep down inside of him, Liam was thankful; he put up such a confident front, but he was actually scared of traveling the Kanto Region by himself. He needed someone to be with him, to edge him closer to his goal. And if those people had to be Mavis and Shihong, then that was fine with him.
Shihong didn't care. People were always forced to work with her at school. She was used to this. And after they all got their first gym badge, then they could split, and she'd be absolutely okay with it. She was always alone, figuratively. Physically being alone couldn't be that much harder.
The short girl turned towards her two temporary companions, something hot and . . . cold swimming around in her chest. "I hope to see you both excel," Shihong said, a slight frown on her face. "You two don't cause me any trouble, and I won't cause you any trouble."
Everyone stared at the sixteen-year-old, silently shocked that she finally opened her mouth . . . and just to say something like that?
Liam chuckled, trying to dissipate the awkwardness. "Well, I'm trying to become the Champion, so as long as that's not your goal, then we're cool."
He placed his hand out. Shihong stared at it for a bit, a little stunned, before placing her own cool hand atop of hers. They both turned towards Mavis, who stared at them incredulously.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
Liam deadpanned. "Put your hand in the middle."
"And why should I do that?"
"Because!"
Mavis sighed, reluctantly placing her hand atop Shihong's. She didn't like this; she refused to like this; she was so much better than this.
Denial was so strong in her.
Liam grinned. "Okay, now 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . ." He rose his hand up, forcing the other two females to do the same. "Pokédex Holders, unite!"
He laughed. Mavis groaned. Shihong — for the first time in a very long time — gave them a genuine smile. Maybe, just maybe, she'd like being in their group. Maybe, just maybe, they'd all like being together.
Professor Oak and Lydia watched the trio from a short distance, both of them with warm smiles on their faces. Maybe this time, none of them would tragically lose their lives. Maybe this time, their little annual program could finally give birth to a champion — or champions.
They all desperately hoped so.
So, I'm going to try my absolute DAMN-DEST (or however you spell it . . .) to update at least once per week. And to make that easier for me, and less of a load on my back, every chapter should be under 5,000 words. My other stories had, like, 8k chapters and that's probably why I was feeling so exhausted writing them. Well, not anymore! This was fun, and I hope that you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing this!
And also, I've decided on this format to introduce the characters. 3 characters per chapter, and then the story will officially set sail and it'll be random characters shown each chapter. For the next one, the characters introduced will be . . . Tobi, Zion, and Selene. :)
WELL, that's enough from me. I'm literally being screamed at to update, so I'll just hope that I've said everything important. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW. They motivate me, and lord knows that I need a hell of a lot of motivating. I'm lazy as fuck LMFAO
Bai!