Chapter 3: The Other Side
Blackthorn City, Johto. 10:45 pm Sunday, July 8
"They said they would meet me here, yet I'm the first one here." A man in a white lab coat mused to himself.
The man had been on a video call a few days prior with a sixteen-year-old boy who was interested in getting starter Pokemon. Trainers normally get their starter Pokemon at 10 years old, but this boy explained that he had only became interested in Pokemon training just now. They had arranged to meet up at around 9:00 AM near the Blackthorn city gym, and the boy was late.
The man continued to scan the brick roads for any signs of
Another 5 minutes passed and the man was getting impatient, "Where are they?" he asked to no one in particular.
Then he heard a male voice behind him, "Professor Elm!"
The professor turned around and saw two males. One was a short boy with brown hair, he was wearing a red striped shirt and blue shorts. He also had a camera in his right hand. The other boy, who was noticeably taller and older, was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a grey vest, he had auburn hair. Their names were Todd Snap and Rudy, respectively.
Professor Elm looked at the two boys, trying to hide his annoyance, "Ah, you're finally here boys."
"Sorry for being late professor, my companion here had to pack his
Rudy smiled sheepishly, "Come on Todd, it's not THAT big of a deal."
"Tell that to the professor"
"…"
Professor Elm got between the two of them, "Now, now boys, it's not the time to argue, especially you Todd since you are getting your first Pokémon."
"Sorry professor." Todd apologized
"It's fine." the professor told him.
The two boys followed the professor to a small building he would sometimes conduct research in, he wasn't normally at this place in particular in comparison to his lab in New Bark Town so the place was kind of musty inside. Professor Elm the brought three Pokeballs out of a container and opened them, revealing a Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and a Totodile.
"Alright Todd, these are the three Pokémon you may choose from, and before I forget, I'll give you your Pokedex so that you can scan them.
Professor Elm handed him a red colored device and Todd opened it up. The brown-haired boy held it up in front of Cyndaquil.
"Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon, a fire type. It usually stays hunched over. If it is angry or surprised, it shoots flames out of its back."
Todd then held the device in front of Chikorita.
"Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon, a grass type. Its pleasantly aromatic leaf has the ability to check humidity and temperature."
Finally, he scanned Totodile.
"Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon, a water type. It is small but rough and tough. It won't hesitate to take a bite out of anything that moves."
Todd noticed a camera icon on the top left corner of the Pokedex, his eyes lighting up when he saw it. Todd liked taking pictures of Pokémon, so it would definitely help due to a Pokedex being able to fit in his pocket while he had to carry an actual camera. After quickly snapping a picture of each starter, he walked over to the Big Jaw Pokémon.
"I'll go with Totodile professor." Todd stated.
"A fine choice young man, I'm sure the two will get along just fine."
Todd then turned his attention to the water-type, "What do you say Totodile? Do you want to be my first Pokémon?"
Totodile took a moment to examine the boy before happily jumping into his arms.
"Totodile!" It exclaimed.
"Haha, I suppose that's a yes then." Todd said, slightly surprised by the sudden affection he was getting.
Professor Elm handed Totodile's Pokeball and 5 empty Pokeballs to the brunette boy: "Glad to see you two are getting along, here are your other Pokeballs so that you can catch Pokémon in the wild."
"Thank you professor."
The man then turned to the older boy, "I'm assuming that you will be teaching Todd here about being a trainer right Rudy?"
"Absolutely."
"Is there any particular reason why you've chosen him, I'm sure other trainers would have loved for you to tutor them, considering your battling skill." The professor asked.
"Todd's been my friend for a while, I feel like the both of us would have a better experience since we know each other. I don't want to tutor someone I don't know." Rudy explained.
"That's understandable. I wish you two good luck!" The professor said to them.
The boys said their goodbyes to the professor and started to walk off towards route 44. Rudy had taught Todd about being a trainer weeks ago, but just to make sure he didn't forget any of it, Rudy summarized his previous lessons to him again. He and Todd did a few training sessions to help Totodile improve its battling skill with Rudy's Pokémon using attacks for the water-type to dodge. When their training was finished, a few beginner trainers challenged Todd to battle them.
Todd told Rudy not to help him out during any of his battles so that he could put the skills he learned to the test. The sixteen year-old managed to win most of the battles, but still lost to trainers with more experience. Todd never let any loss deter him however, and he took all of his losses as a learning experience so that he could improve his skill.
Todd and Rudy would talk to one another in between battles. Most of the time they were talking about battling and memes; but eventually, Todd brought up Rudy's gym in their conversations.
"Hey Rudy? Who is going to run your gym while your training me?" Todd asked the older boy.
"Mahri's in charge right now." Rudy answered
"Ah okay."
Mahri is Rudy's little sister by about three years, she is only a month younger than Todd is. Todd met her not long after he first met her older brother. She has aurburn hair like her brother, and deep blue eyes. She could often be described as kind, caring, and sometimes reckless; she would put her own life in danger if it meant someone got to live another day, which is something that Todd always admired. Since they were in the same age group, Rudy would always tease them about liking each other more than just friends, which both of them would quickly deny, but they both knew that Rudy was just teasing them.
Along with being a good person in general, she could also be a formidable foe in a Pokémon battle. Though, she was no where near the strength of her brother, who very few people have managed to defeat in his current state.
"Do you think she is capable of running it?" Todd asked.
"I wouldn't have put her in charge if she wasn't. Why do you ask? Don't you idolize her or something?" Rudy answered.
Todd's face turned bright pink for half a second, then it went away; "Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? I DON'T LIKE HER IN THAT WAY!"
"Sure, just keep telling yourself that." Rudy said, engaging his smart aleck attitude.
Todd was about to yell again, but he restrained himself. Rudy was just messing around, getting angry would be giving him what he wanted.
Ignoring the previous conversation they just had, Rudy asked his younger friend; "How are you liking your first day as a trainer?"
Todd thought back to how the day went: he had got to know his new Pokémon friend, battled trainers, and more. He truly enjoyed the day, and if everyday was going to like this one, then he was glad that he decided to become a trainer; "Today was awesome! I had a lot of fun!"
Rudy smiled at the younger boy, "Glad to hear that I'm not failing as a mentor."
"You definitely aren't, your advice has been super helpful! I'm glad you decided to tutor me" Todd said.
Rudy smiled to Todd again then the younger boy turned to another direction, possibly another trainer wanting to battle him. Rudy collected his thoughts together and frowned to himself; He wished that what Todd had told him was true, but he was actually told that a dangerous threat was in the Johto region and he was sent to eradicate it along with other Pokémon league members. He didn't know how to break the truth to Todd that training him was just a cover story so that nobody would get suspicious. Frankly, Rudy wasn't lying to Todd though, he was tutoring him but without the knowledge that Rudy came to the region with more important goals in mind.
"Hey Rudy I won another battle!" Todd called out.
Rudy snapped away from his thoughts, was he really thinking for that long?
"Uhm, great job Todd! I'll be right there!"
"I guess until I discover what this threat is, I can have fun with my friend." Rudy thought to himself.
The two boys continued their journey for the rest of the day before setting up camp and sleeping the night away.
Trainer Card: Todd Snap
Age: 16
Hometown: Saffron city, Kanto
Birthday: April 29th
Height: 5'4
Blood type: O
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Brown
Trainer class: Pokémon Trainer
Secondary class: Undecided
Other hobbies: Photography, Jogging, Constantly asking people for opinions on the pictures he took.
Notable achievements: n/a
Special conditions: n/a
Titles: n/a
Pokémon (On hand)
-Totodile(F)
-n/a
-n/a
-n/a
-n/a
-n/a