"The simple fact is that we live among giants, giants known as Pokémon. They live in the sky, in the sea, in the forests and underground. The earth shakes as they walk, and the buildings we humans have built crumble when they fight. But, despite the damage and harm they are capable of, I and many others across the world believe that us humans must live with the Pokémon, not destroy them or drive them out as the fallen empires of the past have. Not only are Pokémon a vital part of the natural world, but by working with Pokémon and training them, they can help us protect ourselves from the wild ones that would destroy us without ever realizing we were there.
Furthermore, that is why I choose to dedicate my life to studying Pokémon, so that we can learn how to live with and defend ourselves from them and their amazing power. So that we as humans can learn how to co-exist with this world, instead of merely conquering it." -Prof. Abraham Rowan, from the National Pokédex, first edition.
It was a pleasant late-summer afternoon, and Jessica was basking in the warm sunlight through her window, while she half-napped, half-watched TV. It was a special report on a supposed Red Gyarados that was found in Johto. While the unusual color was cool and she'd probably get or make a custom figure or something of it in the future, it seemed like it was otherwise a very normal Gyarados. It was the same size, about 210 feet long, it behaved violently and erratically, as Gyarados are generally known for, lake dwelling specimens especially. Though, given the report mentioned rumors of seeing the Indigo League Champion at the lake before people stopped seeing the Gyarados, and that of course leads to a whole host of rumors and conspiracy theories.
At the end of the day, she suspected the truth would turn out to be fairly mundane. But, she knew someone who would keep her up to date on all those theories, whether she asked or not. In fact, just a couple minutes after that report ended, she heard someone knocking on her door.
"Jessica, Matt's-" Her mom started to call out, only to be cut off as Matt, her best friend and certifiable ball of manic energy rushed up the stairs into her room.
"Jess! Did you see that report on the Red Gyarados!?" he shouted excitedly.
"Yeah?" Jessica responded, having an idea where he was going with this.
"Well, I figured that our lake might have something like that, so meet me there, and if you're late I'll fine you a million bucks!" He then turned and ran back down the stairs before the stunned Jessica could form a response.
Jessica let out a sigh, he was kidding about fining her, but she knew he wasn't kidding about heading out to the lake, no matter how dangerous it was. Neither of them had any Pokémon so going outside the town walls was very dangerous. So she got up, straightened out her clothes and rushed downstairs.
"Jessica, what was that all about? Matt just charged out of the house muttering something about becoming famous." Her mother asked as Jessica scrambled to put on her coat and shoes.
"Sorry mom, I'll tell you later but right now I've got to try and keep him from doing something really stupid." Jessica said before leaving out the door.
"Of course," Jessica's mom let out a sigh. "That Matt boy sure does take after his father," she muttered worriedly.
A short time later, Jessica passed through the gate to the large wooden walls around town. The lookouts didn't say anything as she left, that was one of the first things you learned growing up in Twinleaf Town, that once you leave the walls, you're on your own. The small force of guards they had were only concerned about protecting the town from Pokémon, not protecting anyone who went outside.
Larger cities and towns could afford to have a dedicated force for that, and the Sinnoh Pokémon Guard's rangers covered the region as a whole, but out here in the sticks, if you were outside of town, you were on your own.
Fortunately she ran into Matt pretty soon at the crossroads, from there you could go east towards Sandgem Town, or you could go west towards Lake Verity, where the legends said an ancient deity was said to live. Of course both paths were risky so Jessica would've preferred to take the south path back to Twinleaf Town. Though a small voice in the back of her head did admit that this was pretty exciting.
Once she arrived, Matt of course didn't give her the chance to say anything before speaking himself, as usual. "So, if we want to find the secret Pokémon of the lake, it'll probably be on the little island in the center. So you're going to swim out to it, because you know, I can't swim whatsoever." Jessica wanted to tell him that she wasn't a very strong swimmer either, that she'd sink before she even made it halfway, but she knew that wouldn't be enough to get through to him, when he got this excited, the only thing that would stop him was failure.
"Then you should've brought a boat." Jessica responded, seeming to stun Matt, for about a second.
"Ah well, we can just look around from the shore, and then come back with a boat if we don't see it." He said with a smile, before dashing off towards the lake. Jessica of course ran after him, not even for wanting to stop him anymore, but simply because she was scared, she knew how dangerous it was out here, and a moment earlier she heard the distinct sound of a Pokémon knocking down a dozen trees at once.
A few minutes later they reached the lake, it had everything you'd expect from a supposedly magical lake hidden away in the woods, beautiful clean water, a pleasant breeze, and a general sense of serenity and calmness. More interesting were the two people standing at the shore looking out at the lake. It was hard to tell with their backs turned, but one seemed to be a young adult and the other was probably older.
"Well, it seems we were wrong," one of them, who was wearing a heavy coat, and sounded like an older man based on his voice "Well, I think we've seen all we need to, Dawn, we should return soon."
"Okay Professor," the younger one responded, "But before we go, I want to ask, how do you feel being back in the Sinnoh Region?"
The older man took a deep breath, "It feels good to be back, not just because it's pleasant to be home again, but more than that, the Sinnoh region has many rare and special Pokémon that are useful for my research, now come along." The two turned around and headed towards the road. Getting a closer look at them, Jessica could see that the older one was a white haired man with an impressive mustache that seemed familiar but Jessica couldn't place from where, and the younger one was a dark haired girl about Jessica and Matt's age (19, for the record), she was wearing a long, red scarf and a white beanie that had a pink poké ball pattern, along with a black tank top, with a white undershirt and a pink miniskirt, as well as pink boots accented by black stockings, and Jessica didn't know why she was paying this much attention to her very cute outfit and her very cute face and her beautiful gray eyes and- and Jessica cut herself off right there.
"Excuse us, could you let us through?" he asked while nodding his head towards the two of them, who stepped to the side and allowed him to pass, followed by the cute girl. She looked at both of them and gave a small bow before leaving as well.
"Hm, did that old guy seem familiar to you, or was it just me?" Matt asked.
"Uh, maybe?" Jessica squinted "I wasn't exactly paying attention."
Matt looked at her funny before remembering that Jessica is a lesbian. "Oh, yeah." He then turned his attention to the lake, where he noticed something and ran over to it, followed shortly by Jessica. "It's a briefcase, I think those two earlier left it behind."
"We should get it back to them." Jessica said, before reaching for the briefcase and lifting it up.
"Yeah, but who are they?" Matt questioned, which gave Jessica pause and made her realize she should've asked the cute girl's name. The thought soon disappeared however as their luck ran out. First came the sound of trees straining to stay upright in the forest, followed by an immense burst of wind that nearly threatened to knock Jessica off her feet, then came the source.
Two Starly, the Starling Pokémon, while small for bird Pokémon, with a wingspan of only about 25 feet, were dangerous because they flocked together, and attacked together. Jessica dropped the briefcase, as much in shock as in terror. Surprisingly the fear that dominated her mind was accompanied by a sense of wonder and excitement. The truth was that she had always loved the giant creatures they shared their world with, but over time it had been buried by fear that many of the adults in her life had taught her to feel. Pokémon are dangerous they said, Pokémon destroy mindlessly they said, Pokémon cannot coexist with humans they said.
But standing here, staring them in the face, she refused to believe that. These creatures, large and menacing as they were, with their very wing beats threatening to blow her away. And then the fear gained a hold of her once more when she realized the Starly were looking at her, and they looked, either upset or hungry, she wasn't sure.
"Hey!" Matt yelled, his voice muffled by the loud winds, "Look at the briefcase!" Jessica looked down and realized that the case had popped open when she dropped it, revealing that inside were three Poké balls, Jessica couldn't even pretend to understand how they worked, but with them, working alongside Pokémon was no longer reserved for legendary heroes and ancient wisemen, now anyone could do it. Working fast, Matt and Jessica both reached down and grabbed a Poké ball, just from contact alone, not only could Jessica tell that it was occupied, but she felt revitalized just touching it.
Closing her eyes, she tossed it, and it opened. The earth around Jessica was torn apart and thrown into the air. The wind from the Starly's wings stopped or rather was blocked. She opened her eyes to see the Pokémon she called out. Turtwig, the Tiny Tree Pokémon. It stood at over 13 ft tall and weighed over 100 tons. It stood on four thick and sturdy legs, covered in a tough green hide, It had a tough earthy shell on its back, and its most famous feature, a small sapling growing from its head.
The Turtwig and the Starly stared at each other, almost as they were having a silent conversation. Whatever was said, the Starly rushed forward to attack the Turtwig. "Watch out!" Jessica yelled instinctively, unsure of whether the Turtwig knew or cared what she was saying, but nonetheless with surprising speed the Turtwig pulled back into its shell somewhat, causing the Starly to sail past its head and strike's shell. The Starly's large, powerful talons, chipped on contact, causing the Starly to lurch back in front of the Turtwig's head.
The Turtwig suddenly extended its limbs as far as it could, using the force to propel it forward to slam into the Starly and send it flying back, it fell to the ground for a moment before it began to beat its wings again. The Starly unsteadily rose back into the air and the two Pokémon rushed each other. Jessica had to drop on the ground or else be knocked over by the shaking caused by Turtwig's running. The two Pokémon met each other, and Starly was thrown back once, slamming it into the treeline, knocking a number of them down in the process, this time the Starly did not rise again.
As the adrenaline died down, it started to really dawn on Jessica what just happened. They had nearly died, but at the same time, they were saved. She looked up at the Turtwig, who was now laying down basking in the sun. It seemed content, peaceful, she walked over to its head and gave it a pat. It made a kind of chirping noise. All her life adults had been telling her that Pokémon were dangerous, that she shouldn't be anywhere near them, but being next to Turtwig, who fought so hard to protect her and was now totally calm. But then she took a deep breath and remembered why all that happened in the first place.
She gave Turtwig one more pat on the nose, which she had to stand on her toes just to reach even when it was laying down. "Alright buddy, I guess it's time to get you home." She then returned it to the Poké ball, it was subsumed by red light and disappeared into the small container. From the corner of her eye she could see Matt doing the same.
"That Turtwig did pretty good, but my Chimchar was even better." He winced as he realized what he said, "But they aren't our Pokémon, we just grabbed their Poké balls. But it was an emergency right? It'll be okay if we just explain what happened right?" He looked forlornly at the Poké ball in his hand without his usual enthusiasm. And Jessica thought she could understand where he was coming from.
Matt's father was a member of the Sinnoh Pokémon Guard, SP Guard for short. That meant he was often away from home, one time for more than a year. But more than that, whenever he did come home, Matt's Dad always brought stories. Stories that inspired the two of them, Matt had always wanted to join the SP Guard, and Jessica had wanted to work with Pokémon, no matter what field it was in. The thing is, both of those goals are much easier said than done. For one, they lived in Twinleaf Town, which made going anywhere dangerous, not to mention the entry process itself was apparently very difficult. As for Jessica, the biggest obstacle was that the only ways to work with Pokémon outside of the SP Guard required years of additional education that she and her mom wouldn't be able to maintain financially.
And what just happened, fighting alongside Turtwig, felt like she was getting closer to her life's dream and now that chance was going to pass her by. Because no matter what she wanted, returning that briefcase and the Pokémon it had contained was the right thing to do.
And it seemed like it was right on time as the cute girl suddenly came running back to the shoreline. She didn't seem to pay much attention to them until she spotted the briefcase on the ground. "Oh thank goodness, you found it! I don't know what I would've told the professor if I lost it." She said with relief before noticing what was missing."Wait, did you use the Pokémon that were inside!?"
Somewhat sheepishly, Jessica bowed her head, "Sorry, it was an emergency and we had to."
The girl frowned, "W-Well, those are the professor's Briefcase and Pokémon, so if you would kindly hand those to me so I can give them back to the professor." The girl reached over to take the Poké ball from Jessica, who gripped it tighter.
"We'll take them back with you, I'd like to explain what happened, and either way, if anyone deserves to get in trouble for this, it's the two of us." Jessica glanced over at Matt who threw her an annoyed glare.
The girl took a second to think before responding. "Alright, if you insist. By the way, my name is Dawn."
"I'm Matt, and this is my best friend Jessica" Matt responded quickly. Jessica gave a little bow.
"Well it's nice to meet you both, now if you would please follow me." Dawn said before leading the duo away from the lake. They followed her past Twinleaf town along Route 201. As they traveled, Jessica occasionally heard the sounds of Pokémon moving through the woods nearby, but none approached them.
Before too long they were in Sandgem Town. It was a quaint place on the coast, its walls were made of the same wood as Twinleaf Town's, but Jessica could tell they were better staffed, for a reason that soon became clear as Dawn led them to a large laboratory that stuck out compared to the rest of the rural environment. Stepping inside Jessica was met by sterile white walls and the sounds of a dozen researchers all milling about in other rooms. In the center of the room, surrounded by very sophisticated equipment was the older man from before, who Jessica now recognized. He was Professor Abraham Rowan, one of the top Pokémon researchers in the world and head of the SP Guard's research division.
"Ah, Dawn, I see you've brought those two youngsters from the lake, does that perhaps have something to do with how you doubled back when you noticed you'd forgotten my case?" He inquired in a somewhat amused tone, while Dawn seemed to shrink back from a mix of shame and embarrassment.
"Y-yes, Professor, you s-see-" Dawn started nervously before Jessica stepped forward.
"It's fine, I think we can explain what happened better anyhow. Hello, my name is Jessica and this is Matt, and what happened is…" The duo from Twinleaf explained what they had been through that day, with Jessica trying to tell it in as neutral a way as possible while Matt couldn't help but emphasize and draw attention to how amazing Chimchar was.
When they were done, Professor Rowan remained silent for a moment, and then spoke. "Thank you for your honesty, while I am disappointed both in Dawn for making such a simple mistake and in the two of you for putting yourself in danger. However, in the end there was no harm intended and no harm done, and if what you've said is true, then you two might have the sort of potential I'm looking for." Jessica and Matt glanced at each other. Rowan then looked at the Poké balls that they were still clinging onto. "I would like to make a deal with you, but I think that discussion would be best saved for another day, when today's fear and excitement have had time to settle. And as such, I would like you two to keep those Pokémon for now, but I would like you to return tomorrow so that we can have a proper full discussion on the matter."
Matt, Jessica, and even Dawn were stunned. "You, you really mean that?" Jessica asked.
"Yes, in fact, while we're here I should think to ask you whether or not you would like to name your Pokémon?" Professor Rowan said casually as he took a seat as one of his assistants handed him a cup of coffee.
Jessica looked down at the Poké ball clutched tightly in her hand, she remembered a story her grandmother had told her, that their family had come to what would one day be Twinleaf while living in a village built on the back of a Torterra, giant even compared to other Torterra. She knew the name for her new partner, "I'll call you… Dorgo."