Beginning of the Journey
A few hours later that morning, voices from by the water stir both Chris and Hawke awake. The partners look out towards by the water of Lake Verity, and can spot two kids around his age looking out towards the cave in the middle of the lake. One is a girl of darker hair, but Chris cannot make out the color from how far away they are. The other's hair color is much easier to make out. The boy's hair is blonde, and he has it standing straight up to where his neck is completely uncovered by his hair.
The thought to make himself out to be a crazy hermit so he can scare the two off dances around Chris's brain, but he decides to just keep his eyes on them. He doesn't remember seeing either of these two in Jublife City, but then again its not called Jublife *City* for no reason. His little Mudkip friend then scoots up to rest its chin on his arm as he observes the two young strangers, when suddenly the little Pokémon looks up towards the sky.
In an instant, the two young adults are beset upon by a group of three wild Starly. The small birds peck at the two defenseless teens heads, using strength in numbers to its fullest advantage. With no other options, one of the kids opens up a briefcase that had been left sitting by the lake, looking for some means to defend themselves. Witnessing all of this, Hawke starts to call out to the Starly to try to scare them off, but its cries fall on deaf ears. "Hawke, calm down." Chris suddenly chimes in, trying to comfort his only friend. "There's nothing we can do." The mud fish Pokémon doesn't listen, and eventually leaps away from his trainer to attack one of the wild Starlys. "Hawke! Dammit!" Chris emerges from his prone position, and runs after his Pokémon.
Right as Chris's Mudkip comes out to try to help the two youngsters, they both pull out Pokémon from the briefcase. The boy sends out a Piplup, and the girl sends out a Turtwig. Now with three Pokémon confronting the wild Starly, its an even fight. As reluctant as he is to help two complete strangers right now, Chris quickly composes himself to command his partner. Although Chris still has yet to learn all about his partner, he knows that it can use Water Gun, and Tackle. He also remembers enough about the basics of battling magazine he read seven years ago to suspect that Mudkip is a water-type, and that a water-type using Water Gun will do more damage.
With all that knowledge in mind, its enough for Chris to know just what to do as the Starly dives at his partner. "Hawke, use Water Gun!" He cries. On command, the little one spits a burst of water from its mouth, shooting the small bird down to the ground. It gets right back up however, and speedily slams into Hawke at full force. Hawke stays on its feet, but closes one eye tightly as it slides backwards and nearly loses its balance.
"Your okay, bud. Use Water Gun again!" Hawke does as Chris says, firing out another bullet shaped burst of water at the Starly. This time around, the flying-type cannot withstand the blast, and goes down for the count. Mudkip musters up a triumphant cry of victory, and Chris looks over to see that the two kids have defeated the Starlys they were battling as well. Now that it is just Chris, Hawke, and these two strangers, Hawke climbs swiftly up to Chris's shoulder, while the Piplup and Turtwig stand close by the boy and girl respectively. Chris can now see that the girl's hair color is dark blue.
Once the blonde boy catches his breath, he and Dawn take in the sight of the six foot tall, lean man of the same age as them. Once he has taken in the sight, Barry speaks to Chris. "Who are you?" He asks the young orphan.
Chris shakes his head. "You first," He starts. "Your at my home after all."
"Your home?" The dark blue haired girl speaks up, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "This isn't private property. We have just as much right to be here as you do."
Before she can continue, the boy puts his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Easy Dawn, we both heard that there was someone living here in Lake Verity." He then looks at Chris. "My name is Barry, and this is my friend Dawn. We came here looking for a red Gyarados we heard about on TV."
Chris tilts his head up briefly, the TV crew that was at Lake Verity for the past few days now making sense to him. "Can't help you there. I haven't seen any Gyarados at all here." Chris's stance finally relaxes. "My name is Chris. This little one here I call Hawke."
Immediately after introductions are made, a boy's voice can be heard entering Lake Verity. "Professor, I think we left the briefcase up ahead." The owner of the voice comes into view, a boy wearing a red beret-style hat, and looking about the same age as all three humans already on site. He is followed up behind by a much older gentleman, who's grey mustache covers a good portion of his cheeks. The two newcomers arrive, taking a moment to observe the scene. They find their brief case wide open, and their Piplup and Turtwig standing by the ankles of Barry and Dawn respectively. The older man then looks over towards Chris, who locks eyes with him in an instant.
The boy and the old man got the story of what exactly happened from Barry and Dawn. Chris stood off in the distance, still rubbing the sleepy feeling from his eyes. The thought to sneak away crossed his mind, and somehow it seemed as though the old man read his mind. He shot Chris a glare, and it stopped him dead in his tracks. The old man was determined to speak to Chris, and that gave him an unsettling feeling. He shakes his head as the old man goes back to speaking to Barry and Dawn, and then his partner on his shoulder speaks up. "Kip? Mudkip." The little Pokémon was clearly concerned that his only friend was angry with him.
Chris sighs, then rubs the back of the creature's head. "No buddy. I'm not mad at you." The little one relaxes, and rubs his head into Chris's cheek while the two of them await for the old man to come up to him. Once he comes up to him, Hawke crawls back a bit on Chris's shoulder to hide. "So," The old man starts as he approaches Chris. "given that you seem to be living here at Lake Verity, I take it that you are Chris Walker."
Chris sighs in anger, knowing that anyone who's ever used his name without him telling them has wanted to take him back to foster care. "Listen old man," He starts, the frustration plain as day in his voice. "I just turned eighteen just a few weeks ago. You can't make me go anywhere."
"That is correct." The old man responds, before putting his hand up in an effort to calm the young orphan down. "I only know your name because it had been mentioned to be me previously by someone who works for Child Protective Services. I however, do not work for CPS myself."
Chris calms himself down, but remains no less cautious. "Then what exactly do you want from me?"
"Forgive me. My name is Professor Rowan. I'm one of the foremost Pokémon researchers in the world, and all Pokémon Trainers that begin their careers here in the Sinnoh Region come to see me. Now that you are legally an adult, you are allowed to begin as a trainer yourself."
"And why do you care?"
"Call it a hunch, my boy. I think you may just have the drive to do something special as a Pokémon Trainer."
"I'd settle for a trip back to Kanto."
"Perhaps. But look at it this way: No one can take your Mudkip away from you if you are an official Trainer."
"Mudkip, Mud." The little blue Pokémon says in a scared tone, obviously never wanting to go anywhere.
Chris slowly nods his head, then speaks up. "Okay. What do I need to do?"
"We can discuss that tomorrow. I've been told that you've been living on your own for quite some time. Come with me, allow me to provide you with a meal, and a place to stay for a couple of days."
"Why a couple of days?" Chris asks as he is still distrustful of Professor Rowan.
"I'd like to have medical professionals give you health, dental, and vision tests. I doubt that you have had much in the way of any of those over the past few years."
Chris nods his head, and sighs. "Alright. Lead the way." Rowan leads the way, as Chris and Hawke follows him out of Lake Verity. Barry and Dawn seemed to have departed after speaking with the Professor, and his assistant. Chris meets Rowan's assistant Lucas right outside of the Lake, and the three men walk back through Route 201, continuing on to Sandgem Town. On the way through the route, one of the buckles holding the briefcase home pops open, and Lucas manages to catch it can fall to the floor.
Rowan then notices that despite Dawn and Barry taking two of the three Pokémon from the briefcase, there is two Poké Balls in the briefcase. "Lucas, are we carrying two Pokémon with us?"
"No professor." The young man responds. "It should be just Chimchar."
"Hold open the briefcase for me." Rowan's assistant opens the briefcase back up, and Rowan grabs both Poké Balls. He then turns to Chris while still holding both balls. "Your first lesson as a trainer is a rather simple one. A Poké Ball that is occupied will always have more weight to it, then an empty Poké Ball." He then hands Chris the empty Poké Ball, whilst looking at the Mudkip on Chris's shoulder. "This one is for your Mudkip."
Chris then takes the Poké Ball, and looks at his partner on his shoulder. He holds the Ball up to his face. "So that no one can separate us, buddy." After letting out a relaxed tone in his voice, the little Pokémon moves his head forward, then taps the button as Chris pushes the Ball towards his head. The Poké Ball opens up, and Hawke is absorbed inside the ball. It clicks three times, and then flashes as Chris has officially captured his Mudkip. He kisses the Poké Ball, before letting the little one back out so it can crawl back up his shoulder. "Thank you, Professor." He says, before putting the shrunken Poké Ball in his pocket for now.
Rowan nods, then the three men continue on down Route 201. There definitely seems to be strength in numbers in this situation, as the three men are never beset upon by more Starly, or any wild Pokémon for that matter. Once in Sandgem town, Rowan speaks up. "Here we are." He starts, before turning to Lucas. "Lucas my boy, I'd like for you to take the rest of the day off?"
Lucas is clearly shocked by this. "Are you sure Professor?"
"I am. Tend to your grandfather, give him my regards. But keep your phone charged. I will have something to discuss with you later."
Lucas quickly nods his head, before handing Rowan the briefcase. "If that's what you want Professor, I'll be on my way." He looks at Chris for a brief moment. "It was nice to meet you." Chris nods to him, before he heads off back to his house.
The professor looks back at Chris, and motions for him to continue following him. Rowan brings Chris back to his lab, and has one of the researchers in his lab meet them outside. He asks Chris, "Do you know off the top of your head what the size of your clothes are?"
"My shirt's a medium, and my pants still have a tag." Chris reaches down, and pulls the tag out from beneath the waistband. "But I can't really read what it says recently." The aide takes a look at the tag, which is dirty but not necessarily faded. "I don't want to wear glasses, Professor."
"The eye doctor can teach you to wear contact lenses if you truly need them. For now, my researcher here is going off to get you some new clothes." He hands his researcher his personal debit card, and the researcher heads down toward the closest department store as Rowan turns his attention back to Chris. "Tell me boy, do you want to eat, or get cleaned up first?"
Chris lets out a shaky breath as his stomach starts to rumble. "Eat. I'm hungry."
Rowan nods. "Come on in."
For the next two days, Professor Rowan treated young Chris Walker better than anyone had treated him in quite some time. Chris's next six meals- two breakfasts, two lunches, and two dinners- were more nutritious and filling then anything else he had had in he didn't even know how long. Chris spent thirty minutes in his first shower in Rowan's home, taking whatever body wash and shampoo that Rowan had to offer. The same people who check on Rowan's health came to check Chris's over the next couple days. Despite not being in the best physical condition, the doctor said that the boy wasn't actually malnourished. The optometrist recommended that Chris wear either glasses or contacts. The dentist had the most work to do, filling cavities, repairing tooth damage, etc. Still, he wasn't in need of false teeth at eighteen. Chris's Mudkip Hawke was also examined thoroughly, and the little guy was in perfect health, in no small part due to Chris's efforts.
Other than the rest of the day after the dentist worked on Chris, the young man spoke to the Professor often. Despite the fact that Professor Rowan was rather intimidating when you first see him, he is a rather kind and caring individual. Ever since Chris's parents passed away, no one had ever taken the time to hear his life story before, not even the parents of the girl he befriended in Jublife. Rowan remarked that it had been quite some time since he had heard from Professor Lund, but that he was told that Lund had managed to keep everyone alive to the best of his ability. He also didn't try to defend Lund when Chris spoke of his resentment for the man when he couldn't help to keep his parents alive, and made little effort to keep in contact with him after his parent's funeral.
That was on the first day that Chris stayed with Rowan. On the next day, Chris was brought into the lab while waiting on the dentist to learn the basics of being a trainer. He learned from Rowan about the basic type match up of the starters of every region, and then went into the other types and their match ups. Rowan teaches him how to operate the Pokédex, including how it can tell the gender of a Pokémon that Chris catches. He also goes further into his own specialty in Pokémon research: evolution.
The dentist actually arrives about the same time as Barry and Dawn. Rowan gives both of the new trainers a breakdown on their future, where he tells them that it is an unconventional way that they have begun their careers as trainers. Despite that, Rowan asks the two of them to aid him by traveling through Sinnoh, and learning as much about evolution as they can. He also tells them this while making sure that Chris can hear what he's saying. After they've left, Rowan approaches Chris to check up on him, as well as confirm that he will be asking the orphan to assist him, just as he asked Barry and Dawn. Later on that night as Chris is getting ready for bed, Rowan tells him that his aide Lucas will be waiting for Chris on Route 202.
Later on that night however, Chris and his Mudkip sleeping on his chest were both woken up by the sound of a Poké Ball letting out the Pokémon inside. They both laid still as they listened for any further commotion. Chris had some idea as to what exactly was going on, as Professor Rowan had mentioned that the Chimchar had some behavioral issues in the past. But he listened in to make certain. Surely enough, he could hear the sound of the Chimchar's cry, followed by the sound of broken glass as the little monkey Pokémon broke out of the lab. Unexpected was the fire that it set in the lab.
Chris was immediately worried about the Chimchar, so he got out of bed with Hawke climbing up his shoulder to take in the damages. The fire wasn't uncontrollable by any means, but the Chimchar was gone. Without even thinking, Chris grabbed the open Poké Ball, and ran after the Chimchar. The poor scared little thing had set some small fires as it ran off to Route 201. Chris and Hawke ran after it, but it started to become a bit harder to find when it seemed the fire-type got a hold of its flames. "Chimchar!" Chris finally starts to try to call out to the little one, but of course all of his call are to no avail.
Chris is very nearly about to give up, when suddenly he and his Hawke hear a gathering of Starly around one particular area. The memory of the three Starly attacking Barry and Dawn still fresh in his memory, Chris decides to investigate. Another three Starly have surrounded a scared Chimchar, about to attack. "Kip!" Chris's partner on his shoulder was ready to attack, and this time around Chris is ready to get in the fight.
"Hawke, use Water Gun!" Chris's Mudkip leaps off his shoulder and blasts at one of the Starly's with a bullet of water. The Chimchar realizes that it is no longer outnumbered three to one, the Chimchar Scratches at one of the Starly. These Starly were weaker then the ones that were at Lake Verity, and once Chimchar was able to spew its flames at the Starly, it and Hawke blast the small flock away.
The Chimchar is trying to catch its breath, and takes a step back from Chris as he approaches him. Rowan did also say that it was distrustful of humans. "Chim... Chimchar." The little one growls at Chris.
Chris's Mudkip hops down to stand beside the orange Pokémon, in an attempt to comfort it as Chris approached. The six foot tall young man kneels down in front of the Chimchar, doing his best to make it more comfortable as he towers over it. "It's okay little one. We won't hurt you." He slowly moves his hand in front of Chimchar's face, relaxing his hand nearly completely. "Professor Rowan is worried about you. He's a good man, and I think you know that." Chimchar sniffs Chris's hand for a moment, and something about the young man's scent is enough to relax the frantic Pokémon, even to the point where it rubs its head into his hand. "Yeah... you know I won't hurt you. Climb up on to my other shoulder, lets go back to the lab."
"Char." The little monkey's tone is a relaxed one, and it climbs up to the opposite shoulder as the one Hawke climbs onto. Chris rises back up to his feet, then walks back to Sandgem town. A single fire truck was outside of Rowan's lab, assessing the damages. Chimchar got nervous at the sight of all the people here, and did its best to crawl down and hide behind Chris.
This didn't go unnoticed by the novice trainer. He grabbed the Poké Ball he had taken with him right before leaving the lab, and pressed the button to activate it. "Do you wanna go back in your ball?" He asks the little fire-type, who let out an affirmative noise. a red beam of energy came out of the center of the ball, and Chimchar returned to its home for the time being.
As Chris walked over to the lab, he was spotted by Professor Rowan. The Professor comes up to him to check if he's alright. "Would I be correct in believing that you found the Chimchar?"
Chris nods his head. "I did. Crazy enough, it was getting attacked by three Starly. Hawke and I helped to ward them off."
"It returned to the ball for you?"
"Yeah." Chris took the shrunken ball out of his pocket, and placed it into Rowan's hand. "Poor thing was scared, and if I didn't have Hawke with me, I might not have been able to convince the little one to come with me."
"Mudkip, Mudkip!" Chris's partner happily chirps.
Rowan seems to contemplate something to himself as he goes quiet for a brief moment. Chris takes a moment to look at the fire trucks and police cars around the area, then looks over towards the open front door of the lab. "Did the fires cause any major damage?" He asks Rowan.
Rowan shakes his head no, then looks to the front door himself. "It is safe to go inside, and the commotion has died down enough that you should be able to get back to sleep. I have to talk with the emergency personnel a bit more."
Chris nods his head, then lets out a big yawn. "That sounds like a good idea to me." He says in the middle of his yawn. He walks over to the door, thankful that only the lights are on on the emergency vehicles, and not their sirens. "Goodnight, Professor."
"Goodnight Chris." He says as he pauses to take a brief glance down at Chimchar's Poké Ball, before returning to speak with the fire department. Chris lies back down with his Mudkip curling up on his chest, and the two quickly get back to sleep.
The next morning...
Today is the day. Before he had his dental appointment, Chris was told by Professor Rowan that he would have one final thing to teach the rookie Pokémon trainer, and then he'd send him on his way. After Chris was finished with his breakfast, the Professor brought him a belt, and a somewhat peculiar looking set of gloves. The belt wasn't exactly a normal one either, as it had three clips attached to both sides of it, which is what gave Chris some clue as to what it was for. "Professor Rowan," he starts. "Is that for holding Poké Balls?"
"That is correct my boy. The gloves are also in sync with any Poké Balls you may carry with you." The Professor holds the gloves in his hands, and begins to explain how they work. "As you are right-handed, there is a port on the right-handed glove that you can charge it with. There is a device built into the fabric of the glove that is activated the moment you activate a Poké Ball of any kind, and hold it in your hand. Once you throw the ball and your Pokémon emerges from the ball, you simply stretch out your hand, and the ball will be pulled back to you by the device's electronic emissions. Every trainer has said device in some way, shape, or form. However, all trainers start with these gloves." He hands the gloves and the belt to Chris. "The gloves and this belt are now yours."
Chris puts the gloves on, and then notices something about the belt. All but one of the six notches that he can use to carry his Pokémon with him are empty. He checks his pocket, and sure enough his Mudkip's Poké Ball is still in his pocket. "Uh Professor," He starts. "If you were gonna give me Poké Balls to capture more Pokémon with, then shouldn't you have given me five?"
"Chimchar is in that Poké Ball." The Professor states, making Chris look at him and raise an eyebrow in confusion. "I woke up this morning before you, and Chimchar was out of his Poké Ball. He was observing you, and a look on his face made me think that he'd like to come along with you." Chris takes a short second to take the ball of his belt, activate it, and send out the Chimchar onto the floor in front of him.
"Chimchar!" The little fire-type energetically exclaimed. He looks up at Chris sitting in a chair in front of him, and puts a hopeful expression on his face. Chris had to take a moment to ponder.
"If you want to take him with you, you are more than welcome to do so." Chris doesn't break eye contact with Chimchar as Professor Rowan speaks. After taking his moment to think, Chris cracks a half smile and reaches down with his hand out. The little one gets the idea, and reaches its hand out to grab onto Chris's. "It would seem as though you've made your decision?"
"I have Professor." Chris redirects its attention back to his new partner. "Do you like the name 'Caesar'?"
The little monkey smiles, and nods his head. Caesar then grabs on to Chris's arm, and climbs its way up to his left shoulder. Hawke also jumps up on Chris's right shoulder, and then Caesar and Hawke give each other a high five with Hawke using its tail.
Turning his attention back to the table, Chris looks at the Pokédex that Professor Rowan puts before him. "You have the equipment, you have the basics of Pokémon and battles that I've taught you over the last couple of days. You've also been told about all the functions of the Pokédex, and how to use them. Now the only thing you need to do before you're fully ready to go is to meet my assistant, Lucas on Route 202. He will teach you how to capture Pokémon."
Chris nods, then takes the dishes he ate breakfast on to the sink. He then takes a quick shower as he prepares himself to actually be setting out on his own. So many things that he wanted to do, but he knew that he'd need to build up money if he wanted to set after his goals. As much as he wanted to set sail for Kanto to try to find Danielle, but he knew that if something went wrong, he'd be more screwed then he ever had been before.
All of this, Chris relayed to Professor Rowan after getting dressed, and ready to go. Rowan commended him on being smart about chasing his goals, then told him to use what he had been taught well so that he can become successful. He also sets down a plan for how Chris can get from town to town for the time being, until Chris gets a driver's license. Chris thanks Professor Rowan, a man who has done more to help Chris then anyone else over the last twelve years, and shakes his hand before he exits the lab.
Now that it's time to go, Chris takes a deep breath as he looks around Sandgem Town. Hawke and Caesar hop up onto their trainer's shoulders, as they both question what the first move is. "Lets get moving, you two." Chris says, as he makes his way over to Route 202.