"I'm going to the forest mommy!" screamed a small boy with white hair and dark eyes, running away with his backpack.
This is Harden, our little protagonist.
At the age of eight, Harden dreams of someday traveling around the world and meeting the various pokémon it has to offer.
Now, the small boy is entering a forest north of his house.
As I ran through the forest, I saw several pokémon playing, some eating berries, some playing or simply spending time with one another.
Some pokémon saw me and waved. I waved back and kept walking until I reached a place very familiar to me, a secluded clearing in the middle of the forest.
I discovered this place a few years ago, and since then, it has been my special spot to come to whenever I want to think about pokémon.
I approached and sat down in front of a tree and took off my backpack, making myself comfortable. As I took my notebook out, I started to think about the biggest question on my mind.
"Which starter should I choose?" I wondered as I opened my notebook and started reading my notes.
"Charmander: A Fire-type pokémon and the most popular option. Strong against grass types, but its attacks are weak against other Fire-types and Water-types.
"Bulbasaur: A Grass-type pokémon and not often picked. Not weak, though they are at an disadvantage against Fire-types. On the other hand, they are strong against Grass-type attacks.
"Squirtle: A Water-type pokémon, and somewhere in between regarding popularity. They are strong against Fire-types, but weak to Grass-types," I finished reading.
"Sometimes, I wish it wasn't such a hard choice," I sighed, putting away my notebook.
Just as I finished speaking though, a strong flash of yellow light came from behind the tree where I was. Looking around in panic, I saw a large group of pokémon running in my direction, away from that yellow light.
Scrambling to my feet, I got ready to run as fast as I could. Just before my feet could carry me to safety though, I heard another scream. Was that a... pokémon? It definitely needs help!
"Maybe I should... but what if it's a really dangerous pokémon?" I said, looking back.
"Ah! Screw it!" I nearly screamed and started running towards the source of the flash and the pained scream
As I ran, the screams got louder, adding to the booming sound of thunder and screaming reaching my ears.
After a few seconds, I ran into a tall bush full of thorny roses. Pushing the vines away in an attempt to look through the bush, I barely managed to see two distinct shapes before accidentally pricking my fingers and pulling back in pain.
For a second I looked at my bleeding finger, and then back at the bush. Feeling a surge of courage, I pushed myself through the bush, covering my face with my hands as best as I could.
After a few seconds and some deep cuts, I landed on the other side. Slowly getting up and looking straight ahead, I saw the same figures as before, but this time, I could actually recognize them.
The first one turned out to be a yellow mouse with red dots on its cheeks, clearly a Pikachu.
However, the second one was a pokémon I had never seen before. It seemed to be levitating and had yellowish fur, two little wings on its lower back, two large pointed orange ears and small orange paws.
The pikachu in question was electrocuting the other pokémon, which now only let out small, shaky whimpers.
"Hey! Stop it!" I tried screaming, but the pikachu seemed to just ignore me.
I couldn't just watch while this Pikachu hurts this innocent pokémon! I-I have to do something! Without much thinking, I ran towards the levitating pokémon, grabbing and clutching it against my chest as soon as I made it.
However, just as I was about to make off, I felt a strong shock course through my body, making me fall to my knees in pain.
I slowly tried to get up, just to stumble and fall down once again, painfully scraping my knee.
For a second, I felt like I was about to pass out because of all the pain, until I suddenly experienced a rush of energy I never felt before. Before I knew it, I was running what felt like several miles per second.
That is until I hit a tree.
Besides the pain on my shoulder for hitting a tree, I felt tired, more exhausted than I ever had. I fell on my butt on the floor while trying to catch my breath.
After a few seconds, I looked at the small pokémon in my arms, immediately noticing its big blue eyes being open, looking back at me.
It looked at me for a second, with a little smile on its face. However, that didn't last long though, as its eyes fell shut and its body went limp.
"Great... Exhausted, lost, and a unconscious and hurt pokémon... Now what?" As if it heard my thoughts, a booming noise reached my ears. Looking up, I noticed the sky turning gray.
I slowly got up and started looking around, trying to find cover, shelter against the incoming rain.
It took a few minutes but luckily, I found a small cave nearby. I entered the cave as the first raindrops began to fall, barely staying dry.
I couldn't keep myself up for long and soon after I entered the cave I collapsed near the cave wall.
Slowly, the rain started falling harder and harder, and the crash of thunder got way louder too.
After some time, the little pokémon in my arms started shivering, probably suffering from the cold.
I took my coat from my backpack, put it on, held the little pokémon in my arms and closed the zipper. Only the pokémon's head remained peeking out of the coat.
After that, I laid back on a wall and slowly the fatigue from the previous events caught up with me, taking me to the dream realm.
I slowly opened my eyes, only to close them immediately after being blinded by the harsh sunlight.
Slowly, I righted myself and remembered the prior events. Almost mistaking them for some sort of dream, the little pokémon buried in my coat proved that it had, in fact, not been a dream.
It was sleeping against my chest.
I slowly got up, noticing that my fatigue is gone.
I got out of the cave and started walking through the forest, making my way back. After a few minutes, I finally saw the forest's border.
Without thinking twice, I ran in the direction of the pokémon center.
With my legs carrying me as fast as they could, I took the pokémon out of my coat and shortly after reached the pokécenter.
As soon as I entered, I ran to the counter, taking the pokémon out of my coat. "Nurse Joy!" I called.
She turned around, looking at me, though her gaze quickly shifted to the pokémon in my arms. "Oh God! What happened?" she asked.
"I found it being attacked by a wild pokémon, please help!" I said. As soon as the last word left my mouth, a chansey came, pushing a stretcher.
I laid the pokémon on the stretcher and they both took it deeper into the pokémon center. Without anything left to do, I sat in the waiting area, still concerned for the pokémon's wellbeing.
Some time passed, maybe an hour, maybe even two, and I was still waiting, thinking the worst by now.
Just as I gave up hope though, I heard someone come closer. Looking up, I saw Nurse Joy right in front of me.
"Can you come with me?" she asked. I immediately got up and followed her, as she took me deeper into the building.
"So, how is it?" I asked, feeling anxious and worried.
"Well, she is doing better, but... you also need some attention, you know?" she said while pointing at my arms. which were covered in scratches and deep cuts. Despite those, my mind was hung up on the first part of what she said though.
"She? Of course, she's a nurse, why am I surprised she knows the pokémon's gender?" I thought.
Suddenly noticing her expectant gaze on me again, I scrambled to answer.
"I, uh, ended up walking through a tall bush of thorny roses in the forest," I said, and she nodded in understanding.
She took me to a separate room, which looked like a doctor's office and started treating my arms, occasionally removing some thorns and bandaging the cuts.
After a few minutes, she was done. "Ok! Remove the bandages in a week and it will be good as new!" she said and got up.
"Now, what about we go see the pokémon you brought with you?" She turned around and I followed her.
We walked into another white room and the first thing I noticed was a stretcher in the center of the room, and the little pokémon sitting on it.
"You woke up!" I almost shouted and got close to the stretcher. I tried to pet the little pokémon, but, as soon as my hand got close, she flinched, probably out of fright.
"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. As I once again reached out, she seemed nervous, but as as soon I touched her, she started purring.
"See?" I said and gave a little laugh, not noticing Nurse Joy coming closer.
"Quite a cute pokémon, isn't she? But, to be honest, I never saw a pokémon like this," she said, probably as curious as me.
"I found her in a forest, where I saw her for the first time... I've also never seen any pokémon like her," I said, mostly trying to explain how I found a pokémon that not even she as a experienced nurse had seen before.
"Well, normally I would send you to Professor Oak's lab to see if he knows anything, but she won't be able to leave for a little while. So, here, try using my pokedex in the meantime," she said, handing me a small orange device.
I opened it and pointed the camera at the pokémon. Not a second later, a message popped up on its screen.
"No Data Found," it simply read.
"Thanks Nurse Joy, I'll try to talk to Professor Oak later." I sighed and gave her the pokédex back.
"Well, if you want, you can stay here with her. I'll be back in an hour for some final check-ups, and then you can take her with you," she explained.
"Ok. Thanks, Nurse Joy," she smiled and then left, I turned my focus to the pokémon, petting her.
"Pretty blue eyes and cute little wings, such a cute pokemon!" I thought.
"So... why did that pikachu attack you?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.
However, to my surprise, she suddenly took my finger in her little paws. Out of nowhere, images came into my entered. First, she was flying through the forest, then she bumped into something, a Pikachu, then all I saw was a thunderbolt coming in my direction, and then it stopped.
"D-did you do that?" I asked, and she nodded at me.
"I-I see." I started to scratch her under her chin, making her purr again. Some time later, I heard a noise coming from her. At first confused, I smiled when I noticed her turning away and holding her stomach.
"Hungry?" I asked.
She slowly nodded, her cheeks turning red. I took off my backpack, opened it and took a small basket and put it on the stretcher. When I opened it, I could swear her eyes got brighter as she saw it was full of poké puffs.
"Have your fill," I said and she took one of the small candies, scarfing it down quite fast, burping right after.
I laughed seeing this, she's just too cute.
She kept eating, until she laid down on the stretcher, apparently full. We continued to play for some time, until Nurse Joy came back. She did some tests on her, and soon after said that we could go.
We exited the pokécenter and almost immediately, I noticed some trainers staring at us, or better, at her. This gave me an idea.
"Hey," I said, and she turned to me. "You know, in the future, I'm planning to go on a journey to become a pokémon trainer, and... I could feel your frustration because of that pikachu. So, why don't you come with me? We both could become way stronger!" I said, trying to sound as determined as possible.
She responded with a V sign and a big smile. "Really?!" She nodded. In my excitement, I hugged her and felt her nuzzle my cheek.
"Ok, but first we need to go to Professor Oak's lab," I said, and she once again nodded. I started running in the direction of the laboratory while she was following me. After a few minutes, we arrived in the laboratory and entered it.
"Professor?" I called.
"I'm coming!", a voice shouted back. Shortly after, I heard someone walking on the second floor, then climbing down the stairs.
"Harden, my boy, to what do I owe this visit?" He asked with his usual gentle smile.
"You see professor, I found a pokémon in the wild being attacked by a Pikachu, and brought her to a pokémon center, and asked if she wanted to come with me on my journey, and she accepted," I explained.
He looked at me a bit strangely at first but quickly shook it off and then asked, "Ok, and where is this pokémon?"
"Well, she-"
Just then I noticed that she had hidden behind me. Taking a step to the side, she almost 'fell' forward, regaining balance soon after. Professor Oak looked stunned at the pokémon as she hid behind me again.
"Don't worry, he won't hurt you" I said, looking at her. She stared at me for a second, and then floated up, sitting on my shoulder. "Um, professor?"
He shook his head, and then looked at me. "E-Excuse me Harden, it's just that I've never seen a pokémon like this before." He motioned for me to follow him. He approached his desk and started typing on his computer.
"I tried using Nurse Joy's pokedex, but it just said 'no data available'," I explained, and he nodded. "This pokémon is probably from another region, which is likely why it didn't have any data about it." He kept typing until a number appeared on his screen.
"Here it is, number 494, Victini." He clicked on a small image and a voice started reading.
"Victini, the pokémon of Victory. This Pokémon brings victory. It is said that Trainers with Victini always win, regardless of the type of encounter. When it shares the infinite energy it creates, that being's entire body will be overflowing with power."
"It doesn't have that much information on her, she's a mythical pokémon after all," he said. I looked at her with surprise.
"A mythical pokémon!?" I thought, surprised, even though it explained quite a lot.
"W-what does it mean, 'when it shares the infinite energy it creates'? In the forest, that was you?" I asked, receiving a nod in response..
"Harden, I hope you understand the responsibility ahead of you. You have to take care of her, she is a very special pokémon after all." I could easily feel the seriousness in his voice.
"Leave it to me!" I said with as much determination as possible. Victini again sat on my shoulder, making her V sign.
"Good, now with all that said, you'll need a pokéball. After all, if you don't capture her, others may try to." He got up and walked away, entering another door that probably led to the lab's storage.
After a few minutes, he came back with his hand behind his back, clearly holding something.
"Well, normally we let trainers choose between three pokémon as their starters. However, as you already got yours, what about choosing between those three pokéballs?" He placed three pokéballs on the table, each with a different design.
The first one was orange in the middle, while the rest was green and had black accents.
The second had its colors reversed, being all-white on top except for the red stripe in the middle.
The last one's middle was black. The bottom was white, and the top was coloured pink, and also featured a heart.
"I've never seen pokéballs like that... Are they customized or something?" I asked the professor, while victini looked at the pokéballs closely.
"Actually, these pokéballs were invented recently. Each one has different effects depending on its use - they are a dusk, premier and loveball respectively, but as victini has already agreed to accompany you, any of the three will work flawlessly," he explained.
"I see, so what do you think victini?" She looked at me, a surprised look in her eyes. "You can choose the one you like the most."
She went back to looking at the pokéballs, placing one of her paws on her chin. After a few seconds, she took the loveball from the table and brought it to me.
"Loveball it is, then." I took the Pokeball from her paws and pointed at her. "Ready?"
She touched the loveball's button and then was sucked into a blue light. Almost immediately afterwards, the button blinks, indicating a successful capture.
Soon after, I pressed the button, and in the same blue light she reappeared in front of us, shaking a bit.
"Didn't like being inside, did you?" She shook her head, saying no. "Don't worry, you can stay outside."
She smiled and sat on my shoulder. "This is really touching. It is already a rare occasion when trainers actually capture their first pokemon, but even rarer are the times when they gain the trust of such a pokemon before catching them," Professor Oak said as he slowly clapped his hands.
"Now, you guys should go home, shouldn't you? Your mother must be worried, Harden," he said, and with a click in my head, I realized the extent of the scolding I would get when I got home.
"Oh my god!" I ran towards the door. "Thanks Professor I have to go!" I said and ran away, victini following just behind me.