Hikari's Sinnoh Adventures
Author's Note: Heh, well…what can I say? Except, I sincerely apologize for my lack of updating for like…a year. With my senior year of high school and all, life got pretty complicated. And I've wanted to come back to this for a little while now, and I finally got myself to do it, haha. So, if there are any readers left, or new ones to come in, they're more than welcome here!
And wow! I can't believe I have 4 chapters up. I thought I only had 2; I stuck to this longer than I expected I would have, lol.
Also, as far as previous chapters go, I went back and changed the name of Hikari's mother to the Japanese one, as once was suggested. I do like Ayako better than Johanna anyways. I'll repost those chapters once I figure out how to though, haha.
Disclaimer: I still own nothing!
Chapter 5: A Side Trip in the Journey
As soon as I went out the door, I saw Lucas waiting for me. "Hey, Hikari! I want to show you a few things. So, follow me!" He said with a grin on his face. Apparently he got a kick out of helping new Trainers. So, I decided to encourage him and go along with it. "This building, with the red roof, is the Pokémon Center. You can get your Pokémon healed if it's been hurt in battle. You'll find a Pokémon Center in most towns."
"That's good to hear. I do need to get my Piplup healed now, too, come to think of it. Piplup sustained quite a bit of damage from battling earlier," I replied, thinking it was a good time to do so. But I didn't get the chance, for Lucas continued on, forcing me to follow.
"Over here, the building with the blue roof is the Poké Mart. It's a shop where you can buy and sell all sorts of items."
"Yeah, I remember a guy saying something about it on my way up here." Even though I was attempting to communicate with him, he didn't really seem to be listening. He was caught up in his tour.
"Hikari, since you're a rookie Trainer, you won't be able to buy very much stuff. Don't worry about it, okay?"
"Okay…" How was I not supposed to worry about it? It seemed to me that the Rookie Trainers should have more of an option than the more experienced ones. They would need more help.
"Oh, yeah, right! Hikari…"
He took an unnecessarily long pause, so confusedly I asked, "…Yes?"
"You should let your family know you're helping Prof. Rowan put together his Pokédex. Sometimes, you have to go far away, so you should let someone know." And by this point of the conversation, I had come to think that he talked just as much as Professor Rowan.
"Yeah, well, I was planning on it." Chuckling, I continued, "I wasn't just going to leave my mom wondering what happened to me by disappearing for –"
"Oh, but first, go heal up your Pokémon at the Poké Center. You'll be safe then."
"Yeah, I was gonna do that before when we were –"
"Okay, be seeing you!" And with that, he walked briskly around the corner and up north of town. And I realized then that I was wrong about him talking as much as Professor Rowan.
He was worse.
Glad that he finally left, I made my way back to the Pokémon Center. He seemed like a good enough guy, but he had that something that reminded me of Kenji.
Inside the Pokémon Center, there were a few people lingering about. The woman near the door told me about a Pokémon Communication Club upstairs, whatever that was. Another woman was blocking the stairway leading downstairs. I assumed she was a worker at the Center.
When I asked her what was downstairs, she only said that they were working underground and that it was off-limits to the public. So it was still a mystery to me what was down there.
Making my way to the counter, yet another woman (at least I think it was a woman…) spoke to me. "Talk to that nice lady at the counter and hand her your Pokémon. She'll heal your Pokémon to perfect health in no time at all!"
"Okay, thank you, ma'am." That was what I was planning on doing. And now this woman had my hopes up. The nurse had better have been a nice lady and heal my Piplup to perfect health; otherwise, I would have been thoroughly disappointed due to that woman.
The nurse behind the counter greeted me, "Hello," and introduced herself as Nurse Joy. I would soon come to find – after I saw a family photograph on the counter – that all of the nurses who worked at the Pokémon Center were curiously named Joy, and they all looked exactly alike (as far as I could tell, at least).
"And welcome to the Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health."
'Yeah, that's what that woman said to me, too, so you better be good!'
"Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" She had such a cheery disposition that no one could help but be in good spirits around her.
"Yes, ma'am, my Piplup got a little hurt while battling today."
"Okay, I'll take your Pokémon for a few minutes." she replied with a giggle and took Piplup in its Pokéball.
While I waited, I saw an old man nearby, standing calmly with his cane, humming to himself. When he saw me looking at him, he instantly perked up and started speaking. His voice was high, yet rough, and he seemed excited to have company.
"Do you see that PC over there? That fancy blue one?" There was only one computer anywhere around, so I did, indeed, see the fancy blue one. "If you've got Pokémon with you, it's free to use," he finished, chuckling lightly (although it sounded a little more like a cackle).
"Oh, thank you, sir." I was still a little confused about what to do with it. Why could I only use it I had Pokémon with me? Thinking back to any knowledge I had on Pokémon training, I seemed to recall that it was a Pokémon storage system. Just to be sure, I walked over to check it out. But then I realized that I didn't have any Pokémon at the moment, so it wouldn't have worked.
Turning around, disappointed, I saw Nurse Joy reenter and beckon me over. Handing me my Pokéball, she cheerily exclaimed, "Your Piplup is as good as new!" Which I thought was sort of weird to say about a Pokémon, but I went with it.
"Thank you for taking care of Piplup for me, Nurse Joy," I replied, with a slight head bow.
"No problem! We hope to see you again!" I wondered who the 'we' she was referring to was, considering she was the only worker around. I assumed she must have had a Chansey to aid her somewhere in the Center. I had heard from Kenji that Chansey were well known for helping the nurses.
But before I had the chance to ask Nurse Joy about it myself, she went to tend to another Trainer who had entered. So, instead, I decided to go back to the PC and see how it worked.
Turning it on, various choices popped up. There were three different PC accounts within the blue PC from which to choose. The first choice said Someone's PC. I didn't know whose it was, and apparently the computer didn't know who it was, either. But I realized that it must be partly mine, for it seemed that was where I was to place my Pokémon when I wanted to store them. I had the urge to put Piplup in it, just to see how it worked, but the PC wouldn't let me, since it was the only Pokémon I had.
With a sigh, I exited out of Someone's PC and went on to the next, which happened to be my own. "Excellent!" I thought. Hikari's PC. For some reason, having my own account in this PC world intrigued me. Entering into it, I found that I had a Mailbox and Ball Capsules directories. I had no idea how to use them, and didn't know anyone who would mail me anything, but I was disappointed to find that my Mailbox was empty, nonetheless. The Ball Capsules thing went way over my head as well, especially considering it said I couldn't use them because I didn't have any Seals. Whatever that was.
The last PC account was Rowan's PC. I assumed it to be the Professor who had sent me on this journey of mine-to be. Apparently anyone was permitted on the account though, since I was free to access it. Then on the screen, there appeared, "Hmm… You've spotted 3 Pokémon in Sinnoh… Look harder for wild Pokémon. Don't be afraid of going into tall grass."
"Well!" I thought while signing off, rather distressed that it was practically insulting me. "I haven't really even started working on the Pokédex yet! I saw those Pokémon before I got the Pokédex, too." After taking a moment to cool down, I realized I was upset at an inanimate object. Looking around, hoping no one noticed my silent tantrum next to the PC, I quickly made my escape.
But instead of exiting, I went upstairs to the second floor, out of pure curiosity. After talking to the three women at the counters, I learned that there was Pokémon Wireless Club Union Room, a Pokémon Communication Club Colosseum, and a place to sign my Trainer Card. Since I had no idea what the first two were, I left without saying much to them. But I did sign my Trainer Card before I went back downstairs. It took me a couple tries, though, because I didn't like how my handwriting looked with the pen that they made me use to sign it.
I decided it was time to go back home and check in with my mom, to let her know that I was finally going out on my big journey. But because I hadn't had the chance to look inside the Poké Mart when Lucas was showing me around, I decided to check it out before I returned home.
Once inside, I noticed that the shelves were jammed with colorful Pokémon goods. There was a guy standing beside me as I looked at the various Pokémon supplies. He had brown hair and dorky, vibrant, blue glasses. It was hard to look away from them, just as it had been with Lucas' unusual hat. The guy must have noticed me staring at him, because he started talking to me. Expecting him to scold me for staring at him, I was surprised when he started spewing out facts and suggestions. "If you come across a Pokémon you've just gotta have, toss a Poké Ball!" It seemed to make enough sense to me. "Never leave home without one!"
"Woops, too late. I already did that. We don't happen to carry a supply of Pokéballs at home." Besides, my mom would get upset with a pile of unused Pokémon goods taking up space. "That's very true!" Never wanting to instigate a conflict with people, I learned to just roll with them.
Walking around the store, I saw another boy with sandy hair. He was holding several weird-looking bottles. They looked familiar, and I realized it was the same thing that weird guy on the road had given me earlier that day. He seemed excitable, intent on choosing the right bottles. But he seemed friendly enough, too, so I decided to make conversation with him. Jokingly, I asked, "Do you think you could save some Potions for me?"
"If a Pokémon loses all its HP, it can't battle anymore. I'm buying lots of Potions to avoid having that happen!" Apparently the answer was no, because he continued to stock up on the Potions. Luckily, the entire store was filled with tons of supplies, so I wasn't worried about his big spending.
Following the boy's lead, I grabbed a few Potions – at which I could have sworn he scowled a little at me; I guess I took some of his bottles – and then went to find the aisle with Poké Balls. I also had a feeling that the guy with the blue glasses would be keeping an eye on Trainers who did and didn't purchase Poké Balls. And I didn't want to take any chances with him, so I grabbed a few. Only carrying $3,000 with me, I didn't want to spend it all right off the bat, so it limited me to buying anything more.
The woman at the counter was very friendly, and I was sad that I didn't catch her name. I wondered if she was like the Nurse Joys, and there were more of her in other Pokémon Marts. Putting my newly purchased supplies in my bag, I realized I was leaving with half as much money as I had come in with, so I hoped that I would make more money in the future.
Stepping out through the door, I noticed the sun starting to set. It would probably be dark before I got home. I decided I'd probably spend one more night at home and then head off. But on my way back, I went down the wrong path from town and ended up at Sandgem Beach, whereupon I found an Antidote. "Lucky day! Things seem to be going pretty well for me today." Finally getting on the right path back home, the rest of the trip was quick and normal.
It was dark when I reached Twinleaf Town, and I was glad to be back home. The day's events had worn me out. "Mailbox empty." It was an instinctive routine to check the mail whenever I came back home. And it was usually empty, or filled with junk mail.
"Mom! I'm home!" I shouted as I walked through the door. It wasn't necessary, because my mother was sitting peacefully in the living room, watching TV. Still, she didn't notice me at first, because she was too caught up in the television program.
It was the end of a Pokémon Contest, with the MC concluding the show. "Here we are! It's the Contest Digest! The winner of today's Normal Rank Tough Contest is… Dominic, who overwhelmed with his awesomely, buffed Pokémon! That's all the time we have today! Let's meet again!" Then it went to a commercial about giant Poffins.
My mom finally noticed my arrival, so she turned to me and excitedly said, "Welcome home, Hikari. Are you and your Pokémon healthy? I just made dinner. Take a quick rest dear and eat." She didn't even give me any time to reply before she got up and set out the meal at the table. I was starving because I hadn't eaten much at all that day, so I wasn't objecting. I knew Piplup must have been hungry, too, so I let her out. To my surprise, my mom had made Pokémon food as well, at which Piplup happily chowed down. I didn't even know she knew how to make Pokémon food.
When I sat down to eat, she asked me the question I had been waiting for. The vague, "What's up, Hikari?" I had prepared my explanation on my way home. So while we ate, I relayed the rest of my day to her.
We were ready for dessert by the time I had finished. Because Professor Rowan, Lucas, and various other people I had spoken to were so loquacious, it took longer than I had expected to explain everything. "Wow. Professor Rowan asked you to do something that big." At first, I thought I saw a look of doubt flash across her face, but I retracted that thought when she continued on. "Okay, dear, go for it! Your mom's got your back!"
Now, that was the mother I knew and loved, always supportive. "Heh, thanks, Mom. I knew I could count on you."
"Oh, I know! Hikari, I've got something that you'll find useful." She scurried from the table to the kitchen counter, picked something up, and dashed back over. She handed me a little book of some sort. "That's a Journal. It keeps a record of your daily events."
"Yes, Mom, that is what a journal is for…" Moms, what can you do about them?
"Check it, and you'll be able to remember what you did last. Gee, a journey full of adventure… I envy you, kiddo. Plus, you're not alone. You have your Pokémon with you. I wish I could go instead!" She chuckled and took a sip of her coffee.
"Well, you're kind of old now, though," I replied slowly.
"But I'm young at heart!" She laughed again. "I'm just joking, dear! Yup, Hikari! I'll be all right by myself, so you go and enjoy your adventure! When you're exposed to new things, and experience new sensations, it makes your mother happy, too. …But come back sometimes. I would like to see the kinds of Pokémon you've caught, dear."
She turned to Piplup with a smile spread across her face. Piplup, who was still casually munching on Pokémon food, just cocked its head to the side and chirped, "Pip?"
After dinner, Piplup and I went up to my room. I stuck with my plan to spend one last night at home and then set off on my journey. There was no sense in going now, for everyone else would be asleep at this hour, anyways. Looking down at the foot of my bed, I whispered, "Good night, Piplup!"
"Piplup!"
Author's Note:
Okay, sorry if that wasn't very good. It's going to take me a while to get back into the groove of things, haha. Following along with the game storyline may not be the most exciting thing, either, I realized. But I already started it, so I'm going to stick with it! And I'll try my best to involve more things within the game's storyline, too. Mostly with this chapter, I made it a lot about Hikari's thoughts on everything, which is what my main point was in doing this story anyway.Also, the money is just going to be dollars, since finding the symbol of the Pokémon money and pasting it isn't easy, at least not worth the time in doing all the work (I'm lazy).
And I really did get lost trying to find my way back to Twinleaf Town. I was mad that I didn't have a map yet either, lol.
