Naranja Academy Schoolyard (Day)
It had been two days since Taylor enrolled at the academy. In that time, she learned quite a bit about the world she found herself in. Curious about something she heard in class, she made her way to the schoolyard to find Dominic and Nemona. Knowing them, they'd probably be here, battling. And if the explosions of lighting and fire were anything to go off, she was right.
"Use Double Shock!" Nemona said, prompting Pawmot to discharge all of its electricity into its hands, then rushing toward Charizard with all the speed of a bolt of lightning.
"Fly up!" Dominic commanded. Just before Double Shock landed, the Flame Pokemon leapt into the air. "Now, Air Slash!" Charizard's wings started to glow as it flapped them relentlessly, firing blades of energy that struck Pawmot's body. The Hands-On Pokemon fell over, knocked out. "There we go!" Dominic cheered.
"Good game, Dominic, Charizard." Nemona congratulated, walking to her partner and giving it a Max Revive.
"Hey!" Taylor said, getting the attention of her classmates and their Pokemon. "Nice work with that reaction time, Charizard." The reptilian Pokemon seemed to enjoy the compliment.
"Yeah, we worked hard to get that quick, didn't we?" Dominic said to his partner, proud of the results Sgt. Burly's training regimen reaped. "So, what are you up to?" he asked Taylor.
"Well, I was in Professor Ga-" The girl was cut off by Dominic.
"Doctor. He didn't earn 17 PhDs for the thrill of it." the blonde said. "Anyways, you were saying?"
"Before I was interrupted, I was going to say how he talked about Pokemon partners." Taylor said. "And it got me thinking, how exactly did you get your partners?" The girl had never heard of a Trainer and their Pokemon and how they met, only that their bond was unbreakable.
"Huh, I could've sworn I already told you..." Dominic said, thinking. "But, the way to catch a Pokemon is easy. Watch as I demonstrate with Charizard." Nodding to his partner, Dominic stepped foward until he was exactly two meters from his Pokemon. After making sure Taylor was paying attention, he began the demonstration. "First, you'll need to encounter a wild Pokemon. Then, you take out an empty Poke Ball." Dominic got out Charizard's Poke Ball from his pocket. "Then, you throw it at your intended target." The boy gave a light toss, and the ball struck Charizard's head. In a flash of light, the Pokemon was compressed into data and encapsulated inside. "And, boom! New Pokemon."
"Isn't that basically poaching?" Taylor asked.
"Nope." Dominic said. "Thing is, people and Pokemon have been coexisting this way since before written history. There's an old myth in Sinnoh about why they do this, but that's not scientifically proven." Seeing his new friend's expression, he asked another question. "Why do you want to know so much about catching Pokemon, anyway?"
"Well, I was thinking." Taylor said. "Would you mind helping me catch a Pokemon?"
Nemona and Dominic looked at eachother, engaged in a non-verbal conversation. After a while, they both turned back to Taylor. "We'd be delighted!" they both said.
South Province (Area Three) (Day)
"Welcome to the South Province. It's a good place for beginners to catch Pokemon." Dominic said as the trio traversed the rocky terrain. "So, what kind of Pokemon are you looking for?"
"I don't really know. I was hoping it would just... come to me." Taylor admitted. "Maybe something small. Something that's easy to care for."
"Okay, that narrows it down." Nemona said. "Maybe a Pawmi?"
"Or a Fuecoco?" Dominic suggested, knowing that Fuecoco could not be encountered in this area. Actually, come to think of it, he'd never seen another Fuecoco after Clavell gave him his Starter Pokemon. Odd, since he'd known beforehand that Fuecoco was common enough to be on the postcard he sent back home. So how had he never encountered one? 'I'm going to have to ask Doctor Ga-' His thoughts were cut off when the sound of rustling grass hit his ears. He gave the universal hand signal for 'shut up', then pointed to the patch of grass where the noise originated.
Taylor and Nemona watched as a small grasshopper Pokemon jumped out of the grass, seemingly unaware of the humans behind it. Without making a sound, Dominic handed Charizard's Poke Ball to Taylor, then motioned for her to throw it. She did, and the capsule struck the Bug Pokemon's back, stunning it.
"What do I do now?" the girl asked as Charizard appeared.
"To catch a Pokemon, you must first weaken it." Dominic explained. "You know all of Charizard's Moves. Choose whichever one you think will help."
After a bit of thinking, Taylor had decided. "Use Dragon Claw!" she said. Arcane energy surged into Charizard's claws as it slashed at its opponent, sending it flying into a stone wall.
"Now, throw a Poke Ball!" Nemona said, excited.
Taylor reached into her pocket and retrieved the item she needed. With a deep breath, she threw the capsule. It hit the Bug Pokemon before opening and sucking it in. After the Poke Ball wiggled around a bit, a green light flashed from the center.
Taylor had just caught her first Pokemon.
"Congrats! We should celebrate immediately!" Dominic cheered as his partner laid down, a smile on its face. "I'm thinking something involving fire."
"Can't we just have cake?" Nemona asked, knowing it was futile.
"So, what Pokemon did I catch?" Taylor asked, curious about her new partner.
"Oh, that's a Nymble." Dominic said. "It's a species that's pretty abundant in Paldea. Though, they're hard to spot because of how small they are."
'Nymble.' Taylor thought to herself as she looked down at the Poke Ball in her hands.
AN: Taylor's first Pokemon is a Bug Type! Sometimes, the jokes write themselves.