Jubilife City

Sinnoh Region

Late Summer

Episode 3: A chance encounter!

Alex yawned and stretched before rising out of the soft bed on which he had spent the night. He pulled on his clothes before grabbing his Mudkips pokeball and heading out of his room. He made his way down the hall where he knocked on the door of the room where Tasha was staying.

After waiting a few minutes there was nothing. "She must've already gone downstairs." He thought before heading to the staircase at the end of the hall.

He trampled downstairs and released his Mudkip so it could walk around. The tiny Blue Pokémon looked around with happiness before jumping up onto Alex's back and sliding down into his backpack where only its head protruded.

"Kip!" he proclaimed before squirting the back of Alex's neck with cool water.

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed rubbing away the sudden wetness.

The small Pokémon made chirping sounds that Alex recognized as laughing, and he rolled his eyes.

Alex walked into the main lobby of the Pokémon center and found it deserted. He scrunched his eyes in confusion and walked over to where Nurse Joy was standing.

"Hi Nurse Joy! Have you seen the girl I walked in yesterday with this morning?" he asked.

"Oh yes! She headed out a while ago, she said she was going to the Trainers School for a bit." The pink-haired woman replied helpfully with a bright smile.

"Thanks!" Alex called as he turned to hurry out of the building.

Alex made his way through the complex labyrinth of streets that made up Jubilife city, heading towards the huge multi-story building that was the Trainer's School. Over the past few years it had become the regions foremost center of learning for all Pokémon professions. From what Alex had heard, there was even a Pokémon garden in the center of the building where one could catch a rare Pokémon from another region.

He turned a corner and saw the grand building directly in front of him. He rushed forwards in excitement and immediately collided with a hard object.

"Oof!" He exclaimed, falling hard on his backside.

After his eyes cleared from the stinging tears of pain that had suddenly cropped up he saw a girl in the same predicament as him.

"Hey! What was that for, jerk?" she exclaimed in pain. The girl had wavy auburn hair that cascaded around her shoulders in length and side swept bangs over a set of infuriated bright green eyes. Her small frame was clad in skinny jeans and a jade willowy shirt.

"Uh sorry, I was just.." Alex stammered, leaping to his feet and offering his hand to the fallen girl.

"Just what? Not watching where you were going at all?" She waved away the proffered hand and steamed up into his face.

"Well, I'm not gonna stand here and let you shove me around! Turtwig! Let's show this excuse for a trainer some manners!" She shouted, throwing a red and white sphere with her left hand.

A beam of red light escaped the capsule and a small green and brown Pokémon materialized in front of Alex.

"A Turtwig! That's so cool!" Alex exclaimed, excited to see a new Pokémon.

"Tackle!" The girl yelled.

The grass-type started to shine and it leaped forward before colliding with Alex, which sent him crashing to the ground again for the second time in as many minutes.

"Ugh.." Alex muttered incoherently, stars swimming in his blurry vision.

He shook his head and growled.

"If that's how you want to be, fine! Mudkip, go!" He shouted as he was getting to his feet.

Nothing happened, as the blue fishlike creature didn't appear.

Alex looked around in confusion and discovered that his bag had fallen off his shoulder and was lying in a heap on the ground some ways away. The rear end of Mudkip was twitching around as the small Pokémon tried to find his way out of its cloth prison.

Alex's face glowed with embarrassment and he ran over to his satchel and freed his partner. The girl stood on the opposite side of the small alley where they were standing and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Alright! We're good now. Mudkip, Tackle!" He yelled to his friend.

The Mud-fish Pokémon yipped and flew forwards, glowing brightly. It collided with the side of Turtwig and sent it flying.

"Steady yourself! Respond with Absorb!" the girl replied.

"Secret weapon time buddy! Ice beam!" Alex called, after the attack had reduced Mudkip to a staggering state.

The blue Pokémon opened its mouth and fired a thin beam of icy wind that blasted Turtwig.

"What?! A Mudkip that knows Ice beam?" The girl exclaimed, her eye wide in shock.

Alex grinned and shouted back, "Thanks to the Professors TMs!"

The girl shook her head and glanced at her Pokémon.

Turtwig was panting heavily and was grimacing in obvious pain.

"Alright, let's go Turtwig! Time to show them what were made of. Use tackle!" She said aggressively.

The green Pokémon sprinted forward and rammed into Mudkip, sending the water-type sprawling.

"Mudkip, Ice Beam!" Alex called.

"Turtwig absorb!" The girl shouted simultaneously.

Each Pokémon attempted to perform their respective moves, but failed. Green orbs started to form around Turtwigs mouth, but dissipated and the Pokémon collapsed. Mudkips face turned a sickly pale blue as it tried to spit out an Ice beam, but it fell to its knees in exhaustion.

Turtwig fell over and was unconscious.

Mudkip panted hard, but the small creature was still able to move.

"Good job buddy, great battle." Alex said tenderly as he picked up the Pokémon gently and cradled it in his arms.

"Awesome battle, I'm really sorry about running into you before.. I didn't see you because I wasn't watching where I was going." Alex said to the girl who was tending to her partner carefully, before returning it to its pokeball.

The trainer harrumphed, and bluntly stated, "Well next time, you need to be more careful."

Alex looked down in shame.

"But you did battle really well. I wasn't completely innocent either; I was preoccupied before we collided. Therefore, I must take some of the blame." She continued before sticking out a hand.

Alex grinned and emphatically shook it.

He then realized Mudkip was asleep and so he put it in the center of his satchel where it could get a comfortable rest.

"I'm Alex." He said to the girl.

"Isabella Petran. Do you live here Alex?" Isabella asked.

"Nope, I'm from Sandgem town to the south." Alex replied. "I'm actually here for the trainer school."

"I just came from there. Don't waste your time; the instructors don't help at all." Isabella said, frustrated, before crossing her arms.

"My friends in there, I need to go get her. Plus, that Pokémon garden sounds cool." Alex said, a little less excitedly.

Isabella rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine, I'm sure we'll meet again. Are you doing the gym challenge?" Isabella asked.

"Um, I'm not sure.." Alex mumbled.

"You should, you have some serious potential. Anyways, what I'm saying is, we will probably meet again in Oreburgh city. We can have a rematch after we both get our Coal badges, if you do the challenge that is." She said briskly.

"Oh, definitely, you're on!" Alex replied with a grin.

"Well, see you then. Nice meeting you Alex." With that she turned, and walked away, her Auburn hair swaying as she made her way towards the main street of Jubilife City.

Alex gazed at the tall school, before walking forwards and entering through the big glass doors.

Hope you enjoyed Isabela! I'm in a real predicament where I can't decide between three characters for the next spot on Alex's travelling team. She's one of them, so please let me know what you think! I've decided that since I'm writing this story for you guys, you should have some input on which I end up choosing! Therefore as soon as I introduce the next two characters, I'll set up a poll, and the character with the most votes will have that taken into serious account when I finally decide on their roles. The main rival will be introduced soon; I think you guys will really like him! I'm on such a great streak right now, so I think I might even update tonight or early tomorrow so stay tuned!