Hey again, More low quality slop for the piggies. Any of you get art bot spammed too? is this a new thing or is it just because my story passed a certain threshold?
Chapter 3- East Bound and Down
Alex awoke with a start "shit! Am I late for… school? Wha…" Alex's mumbling is interrupted by the mental flashbang that bring him back to his new reality. He's in a Pokemon center, in Vaniville town, in a completely different fucking world.
Alex sits still for a minute, staring down at the foot of the bed, he clenches his bed sheets and throws then to the side. Trying to ignore his feelings he starts to get ready for the day. He gets up and notices a spare set of clothes, most likely left there by Nurse Joy, the outfit is similar to the average clothes you'd expect a trainer to wear… 'a trainer… is that what I want to be?' Alex grabs the outfit and unfolds it, a sweater with cut off sleaves and a couple extra pockets to make it more useful for outdoors use, the coloring is all black with red and white highlights along the underarms and seams, the pants aren't as flashy, just a pair of grey cargo pants.
'Well… I guess it helps make me look like I'm from around here, that's a start at least… I guess' he throws the clothes over his shoulder and drags himself into the bathroom for a morning shower. 'I don't usually like this but… today feels like a cold shower kinda day' Alex shivers as the cold-water washes over him it's a sobering feeling after the numbness he's felt for the past day, it helps him feel grounded 'I can't give up… all things considered this is probably the best outcome of being teleported, I mean I could've ended up in places way worth than this, plus, there are literal gods here! So, if I play my cards right I can maybe… possibly go back!' Alex thinks, hyping himself up as he washes down this a bar of soap shaped like a Pokeball.
Shower complete and his "trainer" clothes now firmly on his person, Alex heads down to the main lobby of the center to talk with Nurse Joy about those supplies she offered.
Entering the lobby, Alex turns to see Nurse Joy standing vigilant waiting for any trainer who might need her help, there are a couple trainers lazing about with their Pokemon, A girl sitting with her Pidgy, a boy feeding his Caterpie a leaf, normal trainer things that Alex is… barely starting to get used to.
"Ah! There you are! How was your sleep? I… never did get your name, did I?" Alex turns back to Nurse Joy who was addressing him, he replies "Ah, no sorry! My name is Alex Sturges, its nice to meet you when I'm not… you know, half dead haha" the nurse chuckles along with him, "while I don't quite agree with your wording of it, I'm glad you're feeling better Alex, now, you're probably here for those supplies aren't you?" Alex nods "yeah, well, I'm not really sure…" he puts his hand on his chin and voices his thoughts to her "I'm… not really a trainer, or at least an official one, I haven't gone to school for anything and I don't really have a trainer card… do you know where I can get one… or if there's a course I can take? I just don't want to step on any toes here and go about this the right way you get me?"
Nurse Joy takes a second and looks at him with a confused look "Well… your trainer ID is your Pokedex… and I can't really think of any regions that require a class or training of any kind to become a trainer, I know there are some private schools if that's what you're thinking of but I think that's more for worried parents who don't think their kids are ready to become a trainer…" Alex thinks to himself about the nurse's response 'wait… so they really do just throw kids into the woods?! That's messed up man…'
"So anyways, the long and the short of it is, you must've gotten bad information, these supplies are for anyone who aspires to be or are a Pokemon trainer." Nurse Joy finishes as she places a bag on the table, it's… rather small and unassuming, she then proceeds to pull increasingly larger objects out of the bag like a magic hat.
"Map… water… food… and… ah ha! Pokeballs, there we are, this should be enough to get you to Lumiose. Now then, the league starts in about a month so that should give you enough time to prepare before the gyms open up again, I wish you the best Alex." Taking the backpack Alex looks inside to see that its much larger than the outside, its also surprisingly light…
'Must be that futuristic tech BS…' Alex thinks to himself before closing the bag, focusing back on the nurse "thanks for everything Nurse Joy, I'll do my best" he says before making his way to the door.
"Take care, we hope to see you again!" she says as the automatic doors close behind him, he continues down the road looking around at the buildings lining the street, 'I can't read any of this huh? Guess I'm going back to school…'
Alex sunk his hands into his pants pockets and… 'wait a minute… what?' his hand kept going far beyond it reasonable should, he looks down incredulously as his arm is engulfed by his pocket.
He just shakes his head and keeps walking 'don't think about it man, its not worth it... now which way am I going, shit I should've asked nurse joy'
After asking around Alex finds the route leading to Lumiose city, standing before the route now he looks out towards the end of the town where the forest abruptly starts the path turning from stone to dirt, turning and winding out of view up ahead.
'Alright it's make or break time, I'll get to Lumiose and make my move from there, should I be a trainer? Should I try to get a job? Oh god its like, the capital of the region is rent stupid expensive? I don't wanna live in the pocket monster New York…' the path crunches on Alex's feet as he continues his walk, Pokemon spy him from the bushes trying their best to avoid being caught.
Lost in his thoughts Alex continued 'speaking of which, Arceus is real right? So, there is a literal god… should I be saying oh Arceus? Is that a thing people do here? Is Arceus even known world wide? I really need to learn to read so I can get my hand on some history books or something…'
Alex was so engrossed in his thinking he couldn't hear the foot steps running up behind him until the person running at him was right beside him. They ran past him skidding to a stop right in front of him, blocking him path.
"woah wha-"Alex is barely able to stutter out before he gets cut off.
"You're the trainer Nurse Joy told me about, right?! Well, I challenge you to a battle!" the trainer is a young woman no older than Alex, she was wearing a bright magenta t-shirt lined with pictures of bow ties and blue jean shorts, a bag with a graphic that matched her shirt hung by her side, her skin was tanned and her brown hair was styled in a… very Pokemon trainer looking way, two pony tails that were overlapped by two curls of hair that reminded Alex of rabbit ears. She plucked a Pokeball for her and pointed it at him, making it grow to full size in her hand. She looked at him, her bright green eye gleamed with determination, her smile confident she'll win.
Alex stares dumbfounded 'that was… kinda cool I guess? Everyone here has a bad case of main character syndrome… she does kinda look familiar though where did I see her before? Gahhh I only watched the XY anime… c'mon! Think!' While Alex was thinking, the girl stared to get a bit self conscious from him just staring at her.
"uhh… you alright there?" she asks a little worried Alex snaps out of his stupor with a shake of his head.
Twiddling his thumbs he fails to meet the trainers eyes as he replies "uh yeah sorry… I don't really have any… Pokemon, yeah sorry again…"
The trainer visibly deflates a bit, "oh… well, sorry for bothering you I guess… you ARE the trainer that Nurse Joy was talking about though, right?" Alex nods his head "yep that's me haha… to be honest I have no idea if I'm even going to be a trainer… I'm just trying to get by right now"
"What?! But like, being a trainer is like the coolest thing ever how can you even think twice about that?!" she yells, getting a little too close for Alex's comfort.
"Well, I get what you're saying but I just wanna explore my options, ya know?" Alex says backing up a bit to gain a bit of personal space
She huffs, calming down, "well I guess I can understand that, so you plan on being a researcher or something?"
"Well, I wouldn't say no but… that's not really my first thought or anything, I have more experience in like, construction and stuff like that… it's a big city, right? Always someone looking for surveyors…" as much as it annoys him that he'd have to get a job in the field he hated, he wasn't bad at it.
"Huh? What's a surveyor? Do you like… go around asking people questions?" she asks with genuine confusion "oh I just check and make sure that buildings are being built in the right place… things like that…" Alex scratches the back of his head.
"Oh uh… that's cool I guess…" she says obviously not very impressed with that answer "you know you're a strange one, not too many people our age would choose that over Pokemon training ya know?"
"I get that, I'm just… trying to think ahead for once heh…" Alex scoffs to himself 'great time for me to start now…'
"Well, I hope you change your mind, I would mind having a traveling partner… or a rival! That would be super fun don'tcha think!" The girl says excitedly
Alex nods along with her "yeah that does sound like fun, I'm Alex by the way, and you are…" the girl smiles and holds out her hand "I'm Shauna, its super good to meet you!" Alex grabs her hand and gives it a shake.
"So, Shauna, and you going to Lumiose too?" Alex asks, Shauna nods her head "that's right! I'm headed to Professor Sycamore's lab to become a licensed trainer!"
Alex smiles "that's cool… you know what Shauna, screw it, I'm gonna apply for a trainer license. Even if don't do anything with it I'd like the option ya know?"
Shauna's resting smile grew even wider "Really?! Awesome! I call dibs on your first battle!"
"You can count on it Shauna, anyway I'm gonna keep moving I wanna make some good ground before nightfall. See you in Lumiose" Alex started to walk away, leaving Shauna confused.
Alex starts thinking again 'aw damn that's where I saw her, she was like… serena's rival or something right? So, she has side character plot armor… do I wanna get twisted up in this? What's even gonna happen? The anime and the games are so different from what I remember…'
"Hey wait!" Alex looks back to see Shauna running up to him "aren't we going to travel together?! Isn't that what Trainers do? At least until we get to Lumiose!"
Alex gives her a small smile "uh, sure we can travel together. Sorry about that, I guess I don't really know trainer stuff all that much"
The girl lights up like a Christmas tree, "yeah! I got a travel companion! C'mon let's get moving!" with that Shauna ran off past Alex.
'Ohhh this is going to be a trip alright…' is Alex's last thought before he ran off desperately trying to keep up with the girl, both of them barreling through the wood, Lumiose in their sights.
I needed a good drink of whiskey to finish this one.