Park

The morning sun had shifted into a clear midday. Park, Nemona and their respective Pokemon headed down the dirt road of Poco Path on top of a ravine. It wasn't too far from the Torrez residence, just a walk away. The grass seemed just as green as it was in the mansion yard.

Beforehand, Park was given a set of ten common Pokeballs. They held an empty one in their hand and felt that it looked rather plain; just a red and gray pokeball. Nothing a fresh coat of paint couldn't fix, and they intended to do just that once they made it to Uva campus.

Along the path, bushes of long grass grew. Hoppips fluttered down from the small trees, and flocks of Fletchling sat on the ground flapping their wings. Park looked around thinking, I wonder what other Pokémon live here?

"Okay so, the Pokémon down here are super weak so they're perfect to catch!" Nemona instructed.

Park's mind spun with possibilities, "Do you guys have Blitzle in this region? I always wanted one, they're so cute! Ooh, what about Gligar or Venipede? Or how bout"

"Woah Park," the Champion cut in, "I'm glad to see you excited, but you have to understand you can't aim yourself on catching a particular Pokemon."

They couldn't tell what Nemona was saying.

Nemona explained, "It's recommended you can only catch one Pokemon per area. You can decide which Pokemon you can run into, but if one runs into you first, that's the one you're stuck catching."

"Oh," Park bashfully frowned, "sorry I forgot."

"No sweat, I was excited when I started too."

Even though Park just just begun as a trainer they didn't want to make themselves inexperienced. They had been told they tended to act like a child back at home, and now that they were in Paldea they wanted to reinvent themselves completely.

"In terms of Pokemon, there's nothing really exciting to brag about…," Nemona went on, "but I'll let you know which is the right one…"

While Nemona was scanning the area for "the right one", Park's eyes were focused on her red arm brace. Although the champion trainer was able-bodied, she was weak in her right hand. According to Nemona, she developed a carpal tunnel from years' worth of throwing Pokeballs. Though it wasn't a big deal, she had had difficulty holding things and had to spend a good time training herself to become ambidextrous. Park had something similar, tendonitis from drawing so much, but it was a hiccup compared to Nemona.

Nemona spoke up, "Ah, speak of the Impidimp!"

She pointed towards the grass, where a small, black hog with a pink nose padded out. Park identified them as a Lechonk, a common normal type in Paldea. The hog perked his ears at the two humans and ran towards them.

"Looks like we have a taker for you!" the black-haired trainer cheered.

Park furrowed their brow, "Are you sure Nemona?"

They noticed a nearby Scatterbug, hanging by a tree branch. I hear Vivillion is very pretty.

"Of course, I'm sure!" Nemona exclaimed, "Lechonks are huge tankers! They're perfect for you!"

"Nemona, we've talked about this, I haven't decided if I want to battle other trainers yet," Park's voice became softer.

There were many professions a trainer could take with their Pokemon, battling was the most universally shared. While it made for a profitable career, it was a hazardous risk. If trainers weren't careful enough when battling, their Pokémon could end up dead.

"Woink, woink!" The Lechonk impatiently squealed.

"Yet! If you make up your mind you'll want an ace member!" Nemona politely nudged.

Park, a little pressured, felt like they had no choice, "Well if you insist- GAH!"

Nemona practically pushed Park into the fray, Tamarind followed suit. Lechonk stamped his hoofs against the ground and began to charge, he threw his body against Tamarind. While Park could tell it wasn't doing much damage to their new Pokémon, they weren't going to risk taking more.

"Tamarind!" Park shouted anxiously, "Use, your ember!"

Tamarind pushed the wild Lechonk back with his arms, once it was farther away the fire croc spurted out a small flame from its mouth. Come on Tamarind! As the spit of flame burnt the hog's side, it began to stumble backward. Now's my chance!

At that moment Park threw a Pokeball that struck the Lechonk on its head, blue light released from the sphere seemly, absorbing the hog into particles of light. Once there was nothing left of the wild Pokemon, the Pokeball shut and continuously shook as it hit the ground. As soon as the ball stopped shaking, Park knew it was a successful capture.

"I-I did it, I did it!" they stuttered in amazement.

"Fue-co!" Tamarind cheered.

"Fuck yeah you did!" Nemona hollared.

A sense of confidence filled Park's beating heart, now that they'd caught their first Pokemon all of Paldea was their Cloyster. They walked over to claim their prize, and as they picked up the Pokeball they noticed that it carried a slight stench. It carried the smell of spoiled vegetables, I think I'll call you, Kombucha.

"Welcome to Team Park!" The new trainer announced shoving the Pokeball into their backpack.

Nemona headed towards them, "Seriously that's what you're calling your trainer team?"

"What do you call yours?"

"Nemona Sweep!"

Perhaps Nemona was on the same level of maturity Park would fall into at times. Despite their accomplishments, Park wondered how composed the champion was as a battle strategies professor.

Pierce stood by her trainer's side carrying the Sprigatito in her arms. Nemona chose to call him Fuerte, and Park could only imagine the beast that he could evolve into under a champion's care. The wolf handed Fuerte to Nemona, who held him by his backside.

"Anyway, now that you've caught something, I'm gonna take Fuerte out for some grinding," Nemona explained, "are you alright to be by yourself for a while?"

"Yeah I think so," they nodded.

With Tamarind in tow, Park strolled along the path, admiring nature. Even though they could tell Nemona was destroying whatever was in front of her, the novice trainer preferred not to act hastily. Unless they were in danger, Park was often taught to mind the wild back in Unova.

Hiding in the grass, more Lechonks scattered about. Unlike Kombucha, they seemed more in line with what was known about the hog Pokemon, that being they were skittish in the presence of a human. The trees began to tower the further Park went along, the sun's rays feeling more faint. But the serenity then came to a halt.

"Fue, fuey!" Tamarind suddenly warbled.

"What are you on a- AHHH!" Park drew themselves back as they were met with something that bounced right in front of them.

It had turned out to be a tarontula hanging from the treetops.

"Tara tara!" The little spider hissed as it produced string shots at the human.

Threads of silk were flung at them, one managed to get a hold of Park's hand. Pulling against it proved to be useless as the Pokémon's thread was as strong as wire. As they tried to shake off the webbing, another taronula crawled onto the the string like a tightrope. Why won't it come off?!

"Co!" Tamarind spat an ember by the center of the silk.

Upon being exposed to fire, the thread instantly incinerated into smaller fibers. While Park wasn't entirely free of the silk, they got up to command the situation.

"Ember at them both!" Park yelled.

In the presence of a fire type's power, the two little spiders burnt to a crisp and all that was left was ash. Though a little horrified, the trainer was surprised with how easily the wild pokemon were taken out.

Tamarind bit off the leftover seams that were still stuck to his trainer's hand, as it fully peeled off Park felt the pain of having ten bandages ripped off their skin. With their other hand they reached into their backpack and pulled out a potion then spritzed the irritation. Is it a bad sign that I need to heal myself after an encounter?

Their hand stung for a bit but the redness eventually faded away. Park felt back to normal, the wonders a potion could too. The new trainer hoped that Nemona didn't notice what just happened, it would only make themselves out to be helpless against two weak tarontulas.

Although they fell deep within their mind, the whistling of the Paldean winds caught their ear. Only the breeze didn't sound natural, it was more shrill and sharp. Then it became louder as if something was falling from the sky, and as Park peered out from the trees' shade, indeed something was.

What is that?! That can't be something normal! Park couldn't tell what was falling, it was obscured by a veil of bluish-violet light that was hurdling closer towards the ground. Shit! They instantly pulled Tamarind's Pokeball out but to their surprise the croc was at the edge of the ravine.

"Tamarind come on!" Park called out to him.

Tamarind didn't respond, he was too mesmerized by the falling light. With the comet moments away from hitting the earth, Park threw the pokeball at the crocodile to recall him. But it only fell and stayed shut. Fuck!

"Tamarind!" Park ran to him with lugging their bag on their shoulder.

Then Nemona called them from behind, "Park, stop, you'll both fall!"

Well aware of the danger, Park wasn't going to risk two lives but they weren't going to lose the new friend they just met either. The closer they neared towards the edge, the more steady their steps became. They grabbed their pokeball as it nearly fell, and pointed it at their crocodile. But it was too late became blinded by the impending purplish flash falling before them. As the light turned faint, a strong rupture of the land followed.

Before they knew it Park was thrown into the air, and fell off the ravine. So much was happening so fast, Park could barely keep up and could only struggle as gravity brought them down. Various items from the trainer's bag flew out They could see Nemona looking down on them.

"Nemona!" The falling trainer called out.

Nemona yelled from the edge, "Park! Take out your phone quick!"

Inches away from hitting the ground and vulnerable enough to live, Park grabbed their Roto-phone out of their pocket. They felt it vibrate in their hands as they braced for impact. Suddenly gravity came to a halt, What happened? Am I dead yet? The trainer opened their eyes and saw their feet dangling just a few inches away from touching the ground. I am I alive? They felt something strong in their hands.

"Park! You good?!" Nemona's voice boomed from afar.

Park turned their head up to see that their phone was hovering in the air. They could see Nemona along with Tamarind, Pierce, and Fuerte high above them from the edge of the ravine. Tamarind! You're safe!

"I'm okay, Nemona!" They responded.

"Thank Arceus!" The champion sighed, "okay so your phone is in fall detection mode, right now it's gonna ask you if you want to "restart from vantage point". Just tap yes and it will bring you back up."

Park pulled the lavender phone closer to their face, which deactivated its levitation. They abruptly fell but were cushioned by the sand. The phone was set on a white screen with red text: Fall Detected! But nothing about a restart from vantage point popped up. Park tried to unlock their home screen to see if it would open up then, still nothing came up. Fuck I forgot to update!

"Hey Nemona?" Park shamefully exclaimed, "I don't think I can get it to work!"

"Okay, hang tight!" Nemona shouted, "I'll see if I can get a flying type out of my boxes!"

For the time being Park gathered their things that were scattered about in the sand. Their sketchbook, their pencil case, their hat, their charger, extra potions, unused pokeballs, Kombucha's Pokeball. Now all they needed was Tamarind's Pokeball but it wasn't around with the other items.

Once they took a closer look around, their heart went back to racing. Standing before them was a giant trail of smoke bending towards the sky. Park held their bag close to their chest, That's what fell! It's humongous!

While fumes blocked whatever had fallen, the trainer's mind came up with various scenarios. Could it be a star?! It couldn't be, it would've come up in the news by now.

Park placed their hand on the embroidered Elgyem on their hat, One of those Pokemon from space?! I'm not sure they're native here. Although they were tempted to browse their Pokédex for answers, they saw a spot of red poking out of the cream-colored sand. Tamarind's Pokeball, it was right near the fumes!

Carefully the trainer lopped their backpack on one shoulder and tiptoed towards the Pokeball. Park knew that if the fallen object was a Pokemon they would need to approach it stealthily. When they got close enough to the crater of smoke, they nudged the pokeball toward them with their foot and then picked it up with their hands. They also noticed that their sandwich was lying a few inches away as well, but it wasn't as important to retrieve.

As the smoke cleared, a figure began to emerge in the crater. It looked to be a Pokémon, albeit a large one that Park did not recognize. Some kind of purple draconic Pokemon, with skin that shone like metal.