A few days later, the grandchildren's relatives returned to their respective homes after claiming what was left to them from the late head of the family. Touko, however, had not received those Pokemon promised to her, but the excitement continued to grow inside of her head. She often found herself staring out of windows, waiting for something to arrive—some Pokemon of all shapes and sizes—but nothing came from sunrise to sunset. Touya already received his intelligent Snivy and named him Merric while brimming with an eagerness to begin his long awaited journey to the Pokemon League. However, he stayed within Nuvema Town and waited along with Touko for the awaited Pokemon for the first few days before training Merric against Cheren's Ganon, but he had many difficult challenges in defeating his zealous rival.
Touko attended to her desk within her shared room and looked through a digital camera filled with memories of her grandfather. It showed none of his Pokemon, however. She quickly skipped through photos of herself, Touya, Bel, Cheren, and her mother to spend more time upon the images of the former Unova Champion. He looked so peaceful back then, as he always did. He absolutely adored Pokemon as his friends and enjoyed spending all the time he had to play with them. He even taught his Shinx to roll over by example, earning a few purrs and chirps from the eager, young hatchling. He treated his Pokemon as if they were his own children and often let Touko and Touya play with the gentle ones a bit.
A knock came to the door, and the memories vanished almost immediately once Touko looked up to Touya, who entered from the door with a small smile upon his face. "You have a package downstairs. I put it on the dining room table for you. I was told not to open it until you came. It has your name on it and everything. It was kind of heavy, though."
"They're here? The Pokemon are here? Let's go see them!" Touko instantly ran down the stairs, with Touya hot on her heels and matched her excitement. They swiftly dashed through the house and arrived in the quiet dining room. Cheren and Bel waited in their seats for their friends, each very curious, but Bel naturally showed it with a large smile and giddy eyes.
"Oh, and I invited Bel and Cheren here. Well, Bel kind of invited herself over."
"Touko! Touya! I can't believe it!" She loudly chirped, and she dashed over to Touko, and she tightly hugged her out of excitement. She found it hard to contain herself as she released Touko and yanked her to the table. "I really can't believe it! We finally got our Pokemon! And you inherited your grandpa's team! Hurry! Open it! I can't wait to see them!" She claimed her seat again and giggled at Cheren who simply smiled in return, but he rolled his eyes when she looked away. Unable to wait much longer, Touko took her place before the large package as Touya rested himself upon a seat and eagerly watched her fondle with the taping. However, she paused for a few moments, causing her friends to shift their eyes from the package to her face with concern.
"Wait. Should we really be doing this? Shouldn't we wait until Mom's home from work? What if these Pokemon make a mess of the house? Or if they run away? Should we call the pound if they do that?" Within seconds, the other junior Trainers laughed at her questions, forcing her to smile as well fiddle with the tape once more.
"No, I got the okay from Mom to open the package. We just have to be careful if we let them out of their Pokeballs."
"And maybe we can test them out by battling." Cheren added while pushing his glasses further up upon his nose, but he caught himself leaning up upon his elbows just as Touko removed the longest snake of tape from the top flaps. He peered over Bel's shoulder while his eager and ambitious twin opened the package and removed multiple layers of bubble wrap until she reached a small yet ancient chest.
It was the same chest that Alder found buried deep within the Relic Castle, hidden underneath thick blankets of sand in the middle of the Desert Resort. He found that it was filled with ancient coins and relics from Barbaric Unova thousands of years ago. However, he gave the relics away to Lenora's museum in Nacrene City before keeping the actual chest, cleaning it out with hard soap and restoring polish and using it as a keepsake guardian. The day before he died, he recalled all of his Pokemon for the last time and placed the twelve Pokeballs within the confines of the chest. He never touched them again.
Touko, as if it was a bomb, carefully removed the chest from the package. Touya and Cheren quickly removed everything that was blocking her way until she carefully set it down upon the oak table. She traced the golden contours of the container with eyes in awe at its antiquity while her nimble fingers encountered a sort of lock. She frowned; the chest refused to open without this key, dropping the hopes of all but mostly Bel for she became mesmerized by its very appearance. "Ah, it needs a key. Grandpop didn't say anything about a key, did he?" She turned to Touya who slowly shook his head and looked towards Cheren just as the raven-haired Trainer leaned back in disappointment.
"Damn. I was hoping to see some seriously powerful Pokemon. There's got to be a way to open it. Maybe we can get a hammer and some kind of a wedge?" He spoke in a casual tone while he straightened his wrist collars.
"Oh, my dad has a crowbar at home!" Bel chirped and quickly stood to her feet; her chair stumbled backwards and broke the stressed silence. "If I can go get it, maybe we can open the thing? I'll be right back!" Before she could leave the room, Touya blocked her off, satisfying everyone's needs for safety. He looked to his shared room with a small and hopeful smile upon his lips as he remembered his grandfather's generosity and tactful planning.
"Wait, I remember something! Grandpop gave me a weird-looking key as a birthday present one year. He never told me what it opens, but it looked as old as that chest. My mom kept it in the curio for safe-keeping. I bet it's still there. I'll go get it!" He raced upstairs as Bel returned to the table, but none of the teenagers could sit still for any given moment. Touko tapped her fingers against the chest's roof in anticipation until Touya returned from the hallway with a burnished key in his hand and hope in his smile. "All right, I found it! Now, let's get this chest opened." He impatiently inserted the aged key into the lock and turned it clockwise so that a click was heard then he removed it. Cheren was now on his feet, eager to see what awaited them within the chest as Touko's excited palms gripped the sides and slowly opened the lid. The light finally hit the contents for the first time in weeks, and the fresh air of the house swept through the volume of the chest, dampening the soft, silk pillows gently cradling twelve up-kept Pokeballs, each with their own design.
The first to catch everyone's eyes was the radiant Crystal Pokeball reflecting the light in the forms of multiple rainbows. It glittered in many particles of white and multicolored specs, twinkling in the eyes of Bel, who quickly snatched it before the others could respond. "It's so beautiful! I wonder what kind of Pokemon is in here. It's probably a beautiful one, like a Milotic!"
"Calm down, Bel." Touko responded in a steady voice laced with matching excitement. "There are others to see. Put that one back. I'll open them up later. Besides, I think he left me a manual, too." Bel returned the Crystal Pokeball, and the teenagers resumed looking once more.
There were eleven others they noticed, but none were as shiny as the first, yet they were still intriguing. Touko and Bel became glued to a Heal Ball resting in the corner and wondered what cute Pokemon hid inside. A Clefairy? A Chansey?
Touya became fascinated with the Safari Ball resting just beside the Fast Ball Cheren currently inspected. They traded ideas of the Pokemon between themselves, often suggesting powerful and swift ones that could knock the wind out of any opponent.
Next, Cheren noticed a Heavy Ball resting as if it was exhausted from continuous use. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it was the exact same Heavy Ball used during Alder's last match against Ghetsis.
Touko quietly gasped when she spotted a Cherish Ball leaning against the Heavy Ball. She assumed it must have been a particularly precious Pokémon to her grandfather.
Cheren grew astonished once he found a Premier Ball sitting proudly among the others. Only an extremely rare Pokemon could be caught with such ease in that type of Pokeball.
Bel became fascinated with the Ultra Ball and the Nest Ball resting just beside it. There must be a very vulnerable Pokémon inside of that Nest Ball, but a pretty formidable one must rest in that Ultra Ball.
However, she gasped once she spotted a charming Friend Ball resting slightly away from the others. The colors of green and white matched her hat and dress skirt perfectly that she was tempted to snatch that Pokeball for herself.
All that remained was a Lake Ball and a Quick Ball. Touko rather liked the idea of a water-type inside of the Lake Ball, but the Quick Ball must have been intended for a rather quick capture, so none had an idea of what rested inside.
Touko smiled at this collection of her grandfather's, but Bel quickly snatched the Friend Ball. "Look at this! It matches my outfit so well! Can we see what's in them now? Please?"
"Okay, okay! Just hold on." She retrieved a typed manual booklet that was actually a few pages long before taking a random Pokeball, but her companions refused to wait. Cheren claimed the Heavy Ball with an extreme interest in the Pokémon within, while Touya took the Nest Ball and cradled it delicately in the palm of his hand. "He included this manual, too. I don't know why. It can't be that hard to raise a few Pokemon." She flipped past the cover page and quickly read through the pages while her friends admired the collection and shook with excitement. "Um, it says here that these Pokemon have names. All of them, in fact."
"What's this one's name?" Bel offered the Friend Ball and Touko scanned through the pages.
"That one would be…Hey, that one's Ike! You remember Ike, right, Touya?"
"What, that little Quilava? You see, he did survive that battle! I told you, Touko!"
"I know, I know. Oh, look! It even has his likes and dislikes. It says that Ike likes explosions, intense heat, and training the most. And he also likes to be scratched behind the ears every so often. But he hates earthquakes, water, and baths."
"Well, it's a good thing we don't get earthquakes around here, anyway. What else does it say? What does he eat?" Touya could barely contain himself as he gently stroked the Nest Ball curiously staring back at him.
"Uh, he eats mainly meat and berries. We better convince Mom to start planting a garden. And look, it even comes with his move set. He knows Inferno, Eruption, Giga Impact, and Focus Blast. He must be a really strong Pokemon."
"Should we let him out?" Bel asked with a hopeful cheer in her tone.
"No, not yet. Let me finish going through all of them."
"Well, what about this one? I don't remember seeing a Nest Ball in Grandpa's house."
"That one," She flipped through a page or two and scanned the words. "His name is Rolf, and he's a Shinx. Wow, he hatched not too long ago, about a month before Grandpop died. He's still a baby."
"Oh, let him out! Let him out, Touya! Let him play!" Bel managed to restrain herself from bouncing off the walls and ceiling while squealing and catching the Friend Ball, which slipped out of her grip, before it hit the ground.
"Wait, not yet, Bel. We'll let everyone out after. Calm down. It says that Rolf likes people, games, and small Pokemon, but he hates injuries, battling, and darkness. Aw, poor guy. I guess Grandpop didn't want him to battle and get hurt. He still has a move set: Thunder Fang, Discharge, Return, and Flash. He seems a bit easier to train. We'll let him out first," She stopped Bel from reaching to Touya's hands. "But when we're finished."
"But how can we help nourish him? A baby's gotta eat!"
"He prefers meat and berries—the same as Ike. It also gives certain types of berries he only eats. We better give this to Mom when she gets back."
"And, this one?" Cheren held out the Heavy Ball with a stern interest in his eyes that commanded Touko to resume her readings.
"That one is a Steelix named Greil. He was Grandpa's second starter. He must've been the dearest to his heart. Touya, Greil was the Steelix Grandpop used against Ghetsis on the video. It says here he likes dark and deep tunnels, mountain areas, and intense pressure, but he hates water, intense heat, and mudslides. Wait, listen to what he eats. His diet is mainly rocks, boulders, steel girders…and the occasional automobile." Bel sharply gasped as the others became confused.
"A Pokemon that eats cars? That's so weird!"
"I think my grandpop was just joking with that one. He used to come up with some ridiculous, random stories every once in a while. But there's still more. Let me read through it." She continued to read through the rest of the manual, introducing the rest of the inhabitants of the Pokeballs and their proper names then mentioning various pleasures and diets of each. Soon after, each grabbed their own Pokeball and impatiently waited for the initial trigger to release the captives inside. Bel still held onto the Friend Ball and persisted in staring towards the core; Cheren decided to keep the Heavy Ball with extreme excitement and awe for the powerful Pokemon sleeping within; to stop Bel's constant squealing, Touya chose to open the Nest Ball but longed for the Fast or Heavy Balls; after finishing the manual, Touko finally gave in to her excitement and gladly picked the Cherish Ball.