Hey guys! I'm doing a collaboration story with my friend Darkpetal16! This one is Hilbert's P.O.V.
Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
"Hey you two! Get inside!" Professor Elm waved, motioning us to come in his lab.
I could only stare as I saw the actual Professor Elm waving at us. Lyra was doing the same thing. It was as if a Haunter used Mean Look on us.
"Hilbert! Lyra! I don't have all day! Please get over here!" The Professor called again.
That snapped us out of our state of shock and we hurried to the Professor. Professor Elm looked just like he looked in the games. He motioned for us to follow him as he went in his lab. Lyra looked at me, with her cheery expression.
"Ready to do this?" She asked, though I sensed she was a bit disturbed by what was happening.
"Yeah," I responded, kinda disturbed as well.
We both stepped inside the lab and couldn't believe what we saw. Inside, we saw the Professor waiting for us and next to him were three Pokéballs. Real Pokéballs, not those fake ones you find at a toy store. We walked over to him, still surprised as to what was going on. The Professor took no notice of our reactions and smiled.
"Do you two know anything about my research?" Professor Elm asked.
Of course, we both shook our heads.
"As you two may know. Pokémon are carried in Pokéballs these days. But before Pokéballs were invented, people used to walk with Pokémon. Pokéballs are great because you can carry many Pokemon. But walking with Pokémon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how Pokemon grow or evolve," Professor Elm explained.
"Wait does this mean...?" Lyra asked as her eyes widened.
"That's right! I'm going to give you both a Pokémon," Professor Elm said with a smile.
Lyra looked at me with an a happy grin. I could see she was excited, even her eyes told me so. I was excited too. After all, we did wondered what it was like to have Pokémon. And now, we were going to experience it.
"However, they will only accompany you for a short time," Professor Elm said.
Lyra and I stared at him in shock. Weren't we supposed to keep the Pokémon?
"I'm giving you two Pokémon so that you can complete an errand for me," Professor Elm explained, not noticing our disappointed faces.
"What's the errand?" Lyra asked, a sigh in her voice.
"I need you two to go to Mr. Pokémon's house. He says he has made a great discovery, though I think it is just another Pokémon egg. Anyway, I'm a bit too busy too check it out so I need you two to do it for me," Professor Elm answered.
"Fine," I replied for us. Lyra nodded mutely, still disappointed.
"Alright! Now it's time to choose your temporary Pokémon," Professor Elm said.
I looked at Lyra and noticed her eyes were already filled excitement again. True it was a shame we could only keep them for a bit, but at least we would know what it would feel like to get a starter for the first time.
"I'll go first," Lyra exclaimed as she took a Pokéball. She pressed the button to make it wider and then threw it. The Pokéball opened and a Pokémon came out.
"Cynda! Cynadquil!" the Pokémon said.
"Aw! He's so cute!" Lyra squealed as she grabbed hold of the firetype and hugged it tightly against her.
The Cynadquil struggled to get free from Lyra's hug. He tried to wiggle out but after a while, he realized that there was no way to get out of Lyra's grasp. The Pokémon then just sort of sagged in her arms, resigning itself to its fate.
I had to smile. It was kinda cute. I then turned my focus to the table and decided between the two Pokéballs which one I would take. I decided to take the one that was on the far left. I held the Pokéball and threw it like Lyra did. I watched as the Pokémon emerged from its ball.
"Chikorita!" the Pokémon cried out happily.
The Chikorita playfully began to play with Lyra's Cyndaquil.
"She's a playful one," Professor Elm told me cheerfully.
I looked at Lyra as she looked at me. Both of us exchanged an excited look before staring back down at our Pokémon. We were both happy to have our Pokémon, even if it would be a short period of time.
"Oh Lyra? Be sure to tell your mom before going. It would be best for her to be informed so she wouldn't worry about you," Professor Elm said.
Lyra nodded and motioned me to come with her. Lyra, Chikorita, Cynadquil and me went to Lyra's house and met her mom. I was disturbed when we went inside. Everything looked exactly like it was in the game, including Lyra's "mom". Lyra went to her mother and told her all that happened at Professor Elm's lab. Her mother nodded and said that she could go. We both smiled at each other when we stepped outside, with our Pokémon by our side. We then began the walk to Mr. Pokémon's house.
We both walked across some tall grass and saw a town coming into view. When we got there, we noticed a sign that said Cherrygrove City. An old man saw us and quickly ran up to us.
"Hey you two are rookies right? That's okay! Everyone is a rookie at some point. If you would like, I could show you two a few things," the old man said.
Lyra was about to say no when I cut her off.
"Sure," I said, ignoring the questioning look Lyra was gave me.
The old man smiled and told us to follow him. He ran to the Pokémon center with such speed, that both me and Lyra stared, not believing what had happened. Even Chikorita and Cynadquil were surprised. The old man turned around and noticed we were all staring at him. He chuckled and ran back toward us.
"I forgot you two weren't wearing Running Shoes. That's okay. I will try to go as slow as possible," the old man told us.
Even though he tried to go slow, he was still pretty quick and had already made it to a building with a red rooftop.
"There is the Pokémon Center. You go there to heal your Pokémon," the old man said, pointing to a building with a red rooftop.
He then ran to a building with a blue rooftop. Lyra and I tried to pick up our pace to follow behind him.
"This is the Pokémart. It is the place you buy Pokéballs and other items you may need on your journey. And next to the Pokémart is the way to Route 30. That is the direction to where most people go to see Mr. Pokemon," The old man said.
He also told us about the sea and where his house was.
"You know what? Since you two had kept up with me, I am going to give you both Running Shoes! Don't worry they are brand new! Also allow me to give you both the Map Card on your Pokégears!" The old man said.
"Thank you," I said as both me and Lyra received the new Runinng Shoes and the new map on our Pokégear.
"Don't mention it. My name is Gent by the way," The old man said.
"Well Gent. Thanks for everything," Lyra said after a heartbeat of awkward silence fell between us.
"No problem. Take care!" Gent said as he waved goodbye.
We waved goodbye back in return and continued on to Route 30.
We walked up the path to get to Mr. Pokemon's lab. While we were walking, we noticed a two trainers battling, blocking our path.
"I guess we are going to have to take the path with the tall grass," Lyra sighed with mild annoyance. I only nodded my head in agreement.
We went up the path and noticed a building. That was in front of a few trees. The path continued north but I decided we should pay a little visit. We went inside and noticed a man looking depressed. When he noticed us, he looked even worse.
"Let me guess. You thought this was where you could meet Mr. Pokemon?" the man sighed.
"No," I said after it was clear Lyra wasn't going to say anything. Normally I was a quiet one, but for one reason or another I had to be the talkative one today. That's just not me... I prefer my silence over talking or even laughing.
The man's eyes widened and his depressive state vanished in an instant. Suddenly cheerful and overcome with emotion he leaped up from his spot on the couch and rushed over to us.
"You two came and visited me? Oh thank you! I know! I will give you both an Apricorn Box! Don't be shy! I have plenty of them!" The man exclaimed.
The man both gave us the boxes and also gave us a Grn Appricorn. He thanked us one more time for visiting him. We both said farewell after having a short conversation with him on appricorns.
We continued up the path to Mr. Pokémon, when we were suddenly attacked by wild Pokémon. The two Pokémon that attacked us were Rattatas. Only inside of a purple coat, for whatever reason they had a yellow one. They both hissed at us, bunching up in preparing to attack us.
"Go Cyndaquil!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Go Chikorita!" I said.
Both of our Pokemon went on the field, eager to battle.
The Rattatas started to use Thunder Fang. Wait...Thunder Fang? Lyra and I gaped as we saw the two Ratattas charge up electricity on their teeth and started to charge toward Chikorita and Cyndaquil.
"Dodge!" We shouted in synch.
Our two Pokémon quickly jumped out of the way of the two Rattatas. Cyndaquil then used a Tackle attack and Chikorita used Vine Whip. The attacks instantly knocked out the Wild Rattata. Then something weird happened. Instead of escaping when fainted, they started to change into what looked like data and then disappeared. Lyra and I exchanged curious looks. Last I remembered most Pokemon didn't do that. But perhaps because this was a game... I don't know. But right now we had an errand to finish. We can worry about the strange Pokémon later.
We then continued up the path and noticed Mr. Pokémon's house. We went inside and found Mr. Pokémon talking with another man. He then turned his attention toward us.
"You two must be the kids Mr. Elm sent. Hello, I am Mr. Pokémon, " Mr. Pokemon greeted.
"Hi! This is Hilbert and I'm Lyra," Lyra chirped.
"Nice to meet you both of you! I want you to give this to Professor Elm for me," Mr. Pokemon said as he handed the egg to Lyra.
Cynadquil and Chikorita looked up at the egg with question gazes. Lyra eyed it for a heartbeat before shrugging and placing it carefully in her messenger bag. The other man in the room that was having a conversation with Mr. Pokemon stood up from his spot and moved to Chikorita and Cyndaquil. He squatted down before them, his eyes seeming to study them. The two didn't seem to mind, in fact they virtually ignored him, choosing instead to play with each other.
"Lyra and Hilbert, you two seemed to have raise these pokemon very well." the man said.
"Thank you... but we've only had them for a short time... Um...who are you?" Lyra inquired hesitantly.
"I haven't introduced myself! Forgive me. My name is Professor Oak," said the elderly man.
"Well Professor Oak, we can't really keep them for long because Professor Elm told us to return them to him after completing the errand," Lyra said, a slight grimace on her face.
"What? I will speak with him about this. You two should keep them, it's clear a bond has already been form between you and them," Professor Oak said, his brow furrowed.
"Thank you!" Lyra beamed.
"Ah, but before I forget... it's such a rare thing to come across such potential in trainers these days..." Professor Oak mumbled, rummaging through his lab pockets for a moment. A minute passed before he pulled out two sleek devices, one pink and blue. He handed the pink one to Lyra and the blue to me. He smiled at us. "Here. I want you two to have these Pokédexes. I think they will do quite well in your hands."
"Oh," Lyra said, clearly not expecting such a turn of events. "Alright. I mean, sorry. Thank, thank you very much."
"You're quite welcome. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we will meet so let's trade numbers on our Pokégears just in case," Professor Oak suggested with a smile.
Lyra seemed a bit hesitant in giving out her number so freely but after I handed my own Pokégear to him, she followed suit. Professor Oak programmed his numbers into each of our Pokégears before handing them back. Lyra shifted, clearly unsure of where to go next. In the end she informed Mr. Pokémon and Professor Oak that we should be heading back. With a farewell, the two of us left the house.
But just as we walked outside, Lyra's Pokégear rang. Lyra fumbled for a bit with her device before figuring out how to answer it. She placed it on speaker and immediately we heard Professor Elm's voice.
"H-hello? Lyra and Hilbert? It's a disaster! Uh, um, just terrible! What should I do? It... Oh, no... Please get back here now!" Professor Elm's voice was drenched in panic.
We each exchanged horrified looks, both fearful of what might have happened before Lyra scooped down and grabbed Cyndaquil. I followed suit with Chikorita and without a single world exchanged we broke out into a dead sprint. We sprinted all the way back to Cherrygrove City and just as we were about to leave-Lyra slammed into a familiar figure.
Startled, she fell back on her bum, staring up dizzily at the figure. Cyndaquil wiggled in her arms, chirping worriedly at how she might have hurt herself.
"You two got Pokemon? What a waste."
At the figure's words, Lyra's eyes narrowed into furious slits and I stared at him for another heartbeat, trying to remember where I had seen him before. He paid no heed to me, staring scornfully down at Lyra before finally... I recognized him
A kid with stark red hair, and a name forever meaning second place.
Silver.