Episode 4: Niko and Snivy

"There it is, Niko." Warren said the following morning. "Nuvema Town."

"Indeed. Hey, snivy." Niko said, looking down at the Grass Snake, who was standing at his feet. "This is your home, right?" Snivy nodded. "Then let's get going."

Nuvema Town looked akin to Pallet Town in Niko's mind. It was a small town with a harbor and airport tower to the south. The only notable building was a massive laboratory to the west. The two walked through the town, looking around for what could be snivy's home. The entire time, the Grass Snake was looking around eagerly, trying to find his way around the town. Ultimately, they found themselves in front of the laboratory, which snivy seemed to recognize.

"I guess this is where snivy is from…" Niko said.

"Makes sense. Snivy is a starter pokémon, so this must be the place trainer's go to get their new pokémon." Warren added. Niko was about to walk up to the door when a short blonde woman with a green and white-striped cap ran out, nearly colliding with him.

"Oh! Oh I'm so sorry!" She said, eying Niko apologetically.

"No worries." Niko said. The woman then looked down at snivy, and her eyes widened.

"You—Professor Juniper is looking for you!" She said, immediately recognizing the grass type.

"You know this pokémon?" Niko asked.

"Of course I do! I'm the assistant to Professor Juniper. It's part of my job to help her obtain the starter pokémon that she gives out to new trainers. This one ran away a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, I found it in a dumpster in Castelia City." Niko added, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Niko, by the way."

"Bianca. And did you say Castelia City?" Niko nodded. "Wow! Snivy! What were you doing so far away!? Professor Juniper was worried about you!"

Snivy lowered her head in shame, and Niko kneeled down to pat her head. "Whatever reason snivy had for leaving, it probably wasn't ill-intended. I've been travelling with her for a few days now, and she seems like a kind little pokémon."

"She is…" Bianca said, looking more sympathetic. "We were just worried. I'm sorry if I overreacted. Snivy, I've got to go run an errand, but the professor is inside. I think you should go see her." Snivy nodded, and walked into the lab. As Niko and Warren were about to follow her, Bianca held the former back. "And thank you for finding snivy. We appreciate the help."

"No problem. It was actually my roommate—Warren—that convinced me to take her home. He deserves more of the credit than I do."

Bianca nodded. "Either way, it's appreciated."

The inside of the lab was similar to Professor Oak's—there was machines scattered around the room; shelves lined the walls, all filled with hundreds of books relating to pokémon. In the back of the room sat a tall woman with light brown hair pulled up in a bun towards the back of her head. After hearing Niko and Warren's footsteps, she spun around in her chair to face them. Upon seeing the group, her eyes widened and mouth turned into a smile.

"Snivy!" She shouted, holding her arms out as snivy ran up to her. "Bianca and I have been worried sick about you. Where have you been?"

"I found her in a dumpster in Castelia City." Niko said. "She was hungry, so I fed her. Then my roommate, Warren here, suggested we take her back to her home, which we figured might be here."

"Well, you were both correct. I truly appreciate it. Castelia City is a long way from here. Did you travel by boat?"

"Err…no. We walked."

"Oh my! Well, then I don't know what to say. This was very kind of you. You see, it's my job here to help new trainers get started on their journey by offering them one of three pokémon. Snivy is one of them, and as of late they've been hard to find. And so trainers that have shown up here have only had a choice between two pokémon: the fire type Tepig and water type Oshawott. Oh, also…silly me. I'm Professor Aurea Juniper. And you are…?"

"My name's Niko. As I said, this is my roommate Warren."

"Pleasure to meet both of you. Please, allow me to take you to get some food. You both must be hungry."

"We are." Warren said, eliciting a glare from Niko. "What!? I am!"

"Yeah…so am I, actually." Niko admitted.

Juniper took them to a small café near the laboratory where Niko Warren described their journey over the past several days. Juniper seemed particularly interested in Niko's battle against Cress in Striaton City.

"Your assessment of snivy is correct—she is ambitious. But it isn't a surprise that she lost to Cress, as him and his brothers are tough gym leaders. Or, they used to be."

"What happened to that gym?" Warren asked.

"Nothing really. A new gym opened up in Aspertia City, and they wanted to focus less on battling and more on their restaurant. Plus with Cilan less interested in being a gym leader, the other two lost interest as well. The three of them, as you can imagine, are quite close." She looked down at snivy, who was eating a carrot. "Snivy loves carrots, as I'm sure you've noticed.

"I have. Someone told me that grass types prefer vegetables over most foods, which I didn't really think much about before."

"This is true for most grass types. There are some, I've noticed, that don't. But that's neither here nor there. I'm interested in hearing about you two. Where are you both originally from, if not Castelia City?"

"I'm from Castelia, actually. Graduated from the university there." Warren replied.

"Ah, excellent school. I have friends that went there. And you, Niko?"

"I'm from Pallet Town in Kanto."

"That's quite far. What brings you to Unova?"

"I just wanted to start fresh here. I'm currently working as a dishwasher for a restaurant in Castelia until I find something that I'm really interested in."

"What might that be, then?" Juniper asked. Her head was resting on her hands, and her elbows resting on the table. She gazed at him with interest.

"I—I haven't figured that out yet."

"Are you interested in being a pokémon trainer?"

"Not really…why do you ask?"

"Just curious. It's part of my job to ask young people that question. I rarely find myself doing so, since trainers generally come to me first. But I figured I'd at least ask."

"Niko's not a bad battler, especially since he hasn't really done it before." Warren added. "you should have seen him and snivy in that battle, it was really cool."

"It was mostly snivy, though." Niko said. "Plus, we lost with a type advantage. How's that impressive."

"Sometimes, Niko, type advantages don't matter as much. They help, and can certainly make or break a battle, but the bond between a trainer and pokémon can help to overcome that disadvantage." Juniper commented. "I've seen a lot of battles, and been in some of my own. I've seen some incredible feats that wouldn't normally be possible if you consider type advantages.

"Anyways, I should get going with snivy. If you both want, I can take you to the port so you can get back on your way to Castelia City."

"That would be nice, thanks." Niko replied.

"Of course. I need to go back to the lab for a bit, but I can meet you in an hour or so, if that works with you both."

"Certainly." Niko said, and Juniper then stood up and walked out of the café with snivy, leaving Niko and Warren alone. As soon as she left, Warren leaned over and looked at Niko. "What?" He demanded to know.

"What did you think of that conversation?" Warren asked with a curious look.

"I thought it was fine…why? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, but I really think you should be a trainer." Warren stated. When Niko shot him a glare, he continued. "You seemed at peace in battling with snivy. I think you'd be good at it if you gave it a try. Plus, snivy likes you. It's pretty obvious."

Niko turned to realize snivy was gone. Professor Juniper must have taken her. He then thought more about what Warren had said. He was kind of right—Niko did feel at peace in that one battle. But that battle wasn't representative of other battles he's had. He had a feeling that snivy enjoyed his company, but he didn't understand why. He had never been completely kind to the Grass Snake pokémon. Whether or not he was a good battler was a completely different reason.

But, Niko figured, there was a third way. He didn't need to compete in gyms to be a trainer. And he certainly didn't need to battle. Warren was a trainer, too! And he never battles. Niko smirked at the discovery of this option.

"You're right, Warren." He finally said. "I'll talk with Professor Juniper and become a trainer. But I won't battle. How does that sound?"

"But, isn't battling…"

"Part of the deal? Not always. You don't battle, but aren't you a trainer?" Warren couldn't argue with this, and instead nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Anyways, let's head back to the lab. We don't exactly have a lot of time before we should be leaving."

"Yeah, let's go." Warren said, and the two got up and left the café.

"So, you want to become a pokémon trainer?" Professor Juniper said with slight surprise.

"Yes. And I'd like to train snivy." Niko said with more decisiveness than he has ever had. At this suggestion, Juniper raised an eyebrow. And the snivy at her ankles looked up in awe. Niko turned to snivy now. "We battle well together. If that's part of being a pokémon trainer, then I'll train you. But keep this in mind—I don't like battling anymore. But you'd be living with me, Warren, and his pokémon in Castelia City. Does that appeal to you at all?"

Snivy turned to the floor and looked at it for a moment, processing the offer Niko placed before her. Eventually, after a minute, she looked back up at Niko and nodded.

"Well, looks like you're a trainer now, Niko!" Professor Juniper said, turning to her desk and pulling out a pokéball from a drawer. "This is snivy's pokéball." Niko took the pokéball and pocketed it, thanking the professor. "Also, I have for you a pokédex, in the event that you ever journey outside of Castelia City. It has data updated for all Unova pokémon, as well as for pokémon in other regions as well." She handed Warren and Niko a pokédex each. "Am I missing anything? I don't think so! But…Niko, if either you or Warren want to challenge Unova's gyms, I would recommend the one in Aspertia City. The leader there, Cheren, is an old student of mine. He's tough, to be sure, but he will provide an ample first challenge for either of you."

"Thanks for the advice, Professor." Warren said.

"No problem. Now, allow me to take you both to the port. There's a boat that takes you to Castelia City in half an hour."

As Niko was turning to leave the lab, he saw snivy run up to take a spot by his side. He looked down and smirked at the little grass type. It felt nice to have a pokémon again, even if it was just as a friend, and not as a battling partner. Even though he was going back to his life as a dishwasher in Castelia City, he felt better about his life moving forward. It might be because of snivy. But it might be because having a pokémon took a step towards bringing him back to the person he used to be. Niko didn't realize this until later, though.

The three—and their pokémon—made it to the port in only a few minutes, thanks to catching a ride in Juniper's car. As they approached the ticket station, the Professor pulled out two tickets.

"Here you go, boys. Even though you're leaving again with snivy, I really appreciate the thought in bringing her back. But I have a good feeling that she'll be happier with you, Niko." Juniper said with a smile. "I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do, and hope that you will be happy with the choices you've made on this journey." She looked down at snivy. "You're in good hands, I believe. I hope to see you again one day, snivy."

Snivy nodded happily before watching Niko and Warren shake the Professor's hand and continue on to the boat. As soon as the boat left the port, snivy was picked up by Niko, and she could see Juniper waving to them. Snivy waved back as well, leaving the only home she'd ever truly known. She then looked up at Niko, who reciprocated the look.

"Hopefully you don't get sea sickness like I do." Niko said with a smile.