Having arrived in Centros, Davis already met with Professor Maple and met a young trainer named Tetsu. He registered for the Centros League and was getting ready to go.
"There we are." Professor Maple said as she took a look at Tetsu's Tentacool and Kingler. "Tetsu, both of your pokemon are going to be just fine."
"That's good to hear." Tetsu said as he took his pokeballs back.
"Davis, Imperialdramon is going to be just fine as well." Professor Maple said as she had a look at him as well.
"Of course I am." Imperialdramon said.
"I must say that you certainly are an incredible pokemon, Imperialdramon. I've never really found any like you before." Professor Maple said.
"You better believe he is. That's what's going to help us win the Centros League." Davis said as he was getting pumped.
It's a big big world, but you know where to find me
We'll be together and we're gonna do it our way
We'll discover we believe in each other
On adventures with my friends like every day
And we're already on our way
The journey stars today
OHHHHHHH Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
OHHHHHHH Oh Oh Oh OH OH Oh
The journey starts today
OHHHHHHH Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
OHHHHHHH Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
The journey starts today
(Davis's voice) Sweet Bitterness
What none of them knew was that there was something going on in a different part of the lab. In one of the lab's storage units, someone left the door unlocked. That allowed a small pokemon to push the door open. When that happened, the pokemon made it's way inside and managed to get a box open, a box filled with food. Once that box got open, the pokemon just ate away at what it could.
...
Davis
Davis was ready to get his journey started again, so he was ready to leave. He and Imperialdramon were ready to part ways with Professor Maple with Tetsu hanging back.
"If you're going to enter the Centros League, you need a total of eight badges." Professor Maple said. "The nearest gym from here would be at Pennsila City."
"Pennsila City. Sounds like a good place as any to start." Davis said.
"Good luck out there. With a trainer as reckless as you seem to be, you're going to need it." Tetsu said.
"Reckless?! Don't tell me you're still sore about earlier. I said I was sorry and we had a battle to try and make things right." Davis said, but Tetsu was still being sour about the whole thing.
"Professor Maple!" One of her assistants called for her as he came running out of the door. "We have a bit of a situation! Someone broke into our storage unit!"
"What?!" Professor Maple said as she and the others were surprised to hear about this. Needing to investigate, Professor Maple hurried back inside with the others following. They went to one of her computers and tried bringing up security footage.
"I was on my way to grab something when I saw the door was open and there was something inside, but it ran off as soon as it became alert of my presence." The assistant said. "It looked like all it did was eat some of the food we had in there."
"Let's take a look at what it was." Maple said as she put up the footage. They all took a look at what it was and saw something run out of there. It was small, but blurry and shadowy. They couldn't quite tell what it is. "It looks like some sort of pokemon."
"But it's too blurry to tell what it was. That thing moved fast." Tetsu said.
"Well, let's go take a closer look at the crime scene." Davis said as he and Imperialdramon hurried out there. Davis took a look at where that small pokemon was seen. They took a look to try and find something.
"What are you looking for?" Tetsu asked.
"Something that tells us where that pokemon went." Davis said.
"Got it! I found tracks!" Imperialdramon said as he found tracks in the ground that looked like paw prints. "It looks like those tracks are heading back into town."
"That's where we're going." Davis said.
"Hold on. What are you going to do? All that little pokemon did was take some food." Tetsu said. "It's not like you can get it back."
"Maybe not, but that pokemon still took some food. Plus, I want to know what that pokemon is." Davis said as he liked to get the chance to solve a mystery. "Let's go, Imperialdramon!"
"Yeah!" Imperialdramon said as both of them got going.
"Wait! You don't know you're away around town!" Tetsu called, but the two of them just kept going. "Just as I thought, this guy's reckless. I may not like babysitting, but I can't let this guy just do what he wants." Unable to just ignore Davis and Imperialdramon, he went after the two of them.
...
Columba Town
The three of them followed the tracks into town, but they soon lost them when they hit the streets of Columba Town.
"Looks like the tracks end here." Davis said.
"So the pokemon has to be somewhere in town." Tetsu said. "How are we going to find one small pokemon in this large town?"
"Hold on for a minute, Davis. Take a look over there." Imperialdramon said. He pointed down the road and saw store owner trying to fix a mess. There was spilled food from a box everywhere and some of it had a bite taken out of it. Seeing he might need help, the boys hurried over to him.
"Hey. Do you need some help?" Tetsu asked.
"Thanks, but I just about got it." The store owner said.
"What happened?" Davis asked.
"I just had this food delivered and was loading some of it in my store when I heard something." The store owner said. "When I came back to look at it, I saw some of it was already eaten by some pokemon. I can't believe this happened again."
"Again? This happened before?" Davis questioned.
"I'm afraid so." The store owner said. "I'm not the only one. Others have had a pokemon get into their food and ate or stole some of it. It looks like it's the work of just one pokemon, but it is becoming a bit of a problem."
"It must be the same pokemon we're looking for." Tetsu said. "I'm starting to think this is a problem. Why would a pokemon need to constantly steal food?"
"I don't know, but this can't go on. We've got to find the pokemon." Davis said. "The problem is that none of them know what pokemon it is. This one is sneaky. How are we going to catch it?" They thought it over on what they were going to do, but Tetsu soon got an idea.
"I've got it!" Tetsu said.
...
Later
Tetsu came up with an idea to catch this little thief. He took a bowl of food and placed it out on a street. Once they set that, all they did was wait for it to show as they kept hidden behind some bushes.
"Since this little thief is only after food, it makes the perfect bait." Tetsu said.
"I get it. We wait for it to take the bait, then we've got it." Davis said. All they had to do was wait for this little thief to show. They didn't have to wait long because something already showed. They all watched closely and got a good look at the pokemon. They were a little surprised to see it was a Poochyena the whole time.
"It's a Poochyena!" Tetsu said.
"Poochyena?" Davis questioned as he took out his new pokedex.
"Poochyena, the Bite Pokemon. A dark-type. Poochyena can be quite persistent and will cause the hair on their bodies to stand in order to make themselves look more intimidating."
"It's small and it's fur is dark. That must be the same pokemon. It's paws even match the tracks we found." Tetsu said.
"But why would it be trying to steal food?" Imperialdramon questioned.
"Hey!" Davis called to Poochyena.
"Pooch!" Poochyena spotted them an ran off, but Davis went after it.
"Hey! Wait up!" Tetsu said as he and Imperialdramon went after it. Davis chased after Poochyena as it wanted to know more about why Poochyena is acting this way. Poochyena went down an alleyway, but Davis was careful. As he placed his back to the wall, he took a look and saw it was a deadend with some trash around, but Poochyena was making itself comfortable there. It looked like Poochyena was trying to live there as it ducked inside a box and tried to rest, but Poochyena didn't look happy.
"I see..." Davis said as he was beginning to understand.
"Hey!" Tetsu said as he and Imperialdramon caught up to him. "What was that? You just took off and scared Poochyena away."
"No I didn't. Look." Davis said as he pointed inside. They both had a look and saw what was going on.
"What's Poochyena doing in a place like this?" Tetsu said.
"I think... I think this is where Poochyena lives." Davis said. When he did, Imperialdramon and Tetsu were a little shocked.
"Here?" Imperialdramon said as he looked at the filthy place. "This is a little depressing."
"I bet that's why Poochyena is taking food. It must be trying to survive." Davis said. Seeing such a little thing like Poochyena trying to live in a place like this was so sad.
"The poor thing. It must be all alone." Tetsu said. Davis couldn't just ignore this. He went on inside and went straight to Poochyena. When Poochyena became alerted about Davis, it got its guard up and started growling at him. "Davis, be careful. Poochyena might be small, but they can be aggressive."
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, so calm down." Davis assured Poochyena as bent down on his knees. "I want to help you. You shouldn't be in a place like this." Poochyena still just growled at him like it was getting ready to attack. "It's okay." He reached out for Poochyena, but Poochyena felt threatened and bit his arm. "Ow!"
"Davis!" Imperialdramon called, but Davis held out his other arm to keep them back. He just tried his best to endure the pain.
"That's a set of jaws you got on you." Davis said. "You really are a tough little guy, but can you fight this off." Davis took his spare hand and tickled against Poochyena. Poochyena couldn't resist as it started laughing and freed Davis. "There's a nice smile. Come here!" Davis grabbed Poochyena and lifted it off the ground, keeping gentle but firm hold on it. "I've got you now. Everything thing is okay." Poochyena seemed confused, but it didn't really feel threatened anymore. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I do think you need to apologize to some people for stealing. I'm sure they'll forgive you, but you shouldn't be alone."
"Po..."
"You know, I have a few pokemon that were on their own when I first met them, like my Gastrodon or my Salamence." Davis said. "Still, they didn't stay that way and became good friends of mine. Especially because I couldn't ignore them and tried to help them. That's what I want to do for you." Poochyena was amazed that Davis was doing this for it.
"Look at that. I think it's starting to calm down." Imperialdramon said.
"Amazing. I can't believe he got it to calm down." Tetsu said as he never saw a trainer like Davis before. He managed to connect with Poochyena after just meeting it. He's never seen a trainer do that before.
...
The Lab
Professor Maple waited for Davis and Tetsu to come back to see if they found anything. She waited around until she spotted both of them coming back and Davis had Poochyena in his hands.
"You're back." Professor Maple said with Poochyena in Davis' arms. "Where did this Poochyena came from?"
"Professor Maple, this here is your little thief." Tetsu said.
"Excuse me?" Professor Maple questioned.
"The pokemon we saw in the video was this Poochyena, and you're not the only one." Davis explained. "Poochyena here has been stealing food because it was trying to survive. We found it sleeping in a box in an alleyway."
"The poor thing all on it's own. It only did what did because it was just trying to survive." Imperialdramon claimed.
"I see... The poor thing indeed." Maple said as she petted Poochyena. "I understand what it's doing, but it can't just keep stealing food. I'm sure the Pokemon Center will gladly take Poochyena in and take care of it." That did seem reasonable, but Davis wasn't so sure about that. He looked down and saw that Poochyena was so sad because it was all alone. It's not easy surviving in this world when you don't really have anyone. Davis couldn't just ignore this. Seeing something that looks so sweet like Poochyena leaves such a bitter taste when they found Poochyena the way it was.
"Poochyena, you're really on your own, aren't you? No friends or family to help." Davis said and it seemed like it was true as Poochyena whined in his arms. "Well, it doesn't have to be that way. How about you come with me?"
"Pooch!" Poochyena and the others were surprised that Davis would make an offer like that.
"You won't be alone anymore. You won't have to worry about finding food or anything. You'll have me and Imperialdramon." Davis said. "You'll even have the honor of being the first pokemon I caught in Centros. All I'm really saying is that you won't have to be alone anymore. That's something no one should really go through."
"Yeah. He's right, Poochyena. Come with us." Imperialdramon said. Poochyena was surprised at what Davis was offering, but it barked at the idea. It sounded like just what Poochyena did. "I'm hearing a yes." Davis placed Poochyena down and reached for a pokeball.
"We'll have lots of fun." Davis said as he tossed it. Poochyena tapped itself against it and went inside. It shook around a little until the ball dinged and Poochyena officially belonged to Davis.
"Yeah! I got Poochyena, my first pokemon from Centros!" Davis cheered.
"Unreal! I've never seen a trainer catch a pokemon without battling it first!" Tetsu said as he was quite shocked at what he saw.
"That was a really sweet thing you just did, Davis." Maple said. "I'm sure you'll take great care of that Poochyena."
"You bet I will. We're going to be great friends." Davis said. "Well, I suppose it's time we head to Pennsila City. It was great to meet you, Tetsu." He said as he was ready to go.
"Uh... Davis, do you even know which way we should go?" Imperialdramon asked. That one questioned got Davis stumped.
"Figures." Tetsu said with him sighing with annoyance. "I feel sorry for Poochyena having you as a trainer. Well, you're lucky that I was planning on heading that way as well. I'll show you where Pennsila City is."
"That sounds like a great idea. You can travel together." Professor Maple said.
"The more the merrier." Davis said. "Come on. Let's get going." He said as they were all hitting the road, taking Poochyena along for the ride.
And so, Davis managed to catch his first pokemon in Centros: Poochyena. With Tetsu coming along, Davis now heads to Pennsila City so that he can have his first gym battle. There's a lot more fun, and a lot more friends to make, as the journey continues.
To Be Continued...