Reinterpretation of Pokemon White

I recently finished the main quest of Pokemon White, and I thought the storyline was actually pretty good. The more I thought about it, the more I felt inspired to write a self-styled retelling of it. This is a reinterpretation of Pokemon White, which is to say that it follows its events, but some things will be changed up a bit. Still, this will have spoilers, so if you are still on the main game of White/Black, or are planning on picking it up, I suggest pressing the "back" button. As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy my story!

Draped in a white cloak, the young man enters the chamber, followed closely by seven aging men. The room is dimly lit, and crowded inside, parted down the middle of the room, forming a path for the man and his followers, are several people, dressed in white armor. The armor doesn't serve for any real combative purposes, but rather, as a reminder of a time several millenia ago... a time that will return soon.

While the chamber is silent, the feeling of joy can easily be sensed. Despite the happy time that he is at the center of, however, the young man feels at unease. Life had been simple for him. Unusual, perhaps, but simple, where it was just him and his friends. However, it is those same friends that drove him to accept where he is now. If not for his own sake, it's for theirs, and the millions of others like them. It's this reminder that allows him to stand firm before those that look upon him as their ruler, and as a visionary that will see the world returned to the way it should be.

I must be strong, thinks the young man. All the eyes trained on him belong to good people who revere him, believe in him, share his dream, and would even lay down their lives for his sake. The least he can do in return is keep his head held high and let them believe that he is unflinching in carrying out the duty at hand.

At the back of the room, there is a large chair, and he knows that starting here, it's something he is going to have to get used to sitting in.

The walk across the chamber is slow, and feels longer with every thought running through his mind. This is what his life had been leading up to, and nothing will be the same. It's only natural to have doubts... but he cannot allow that to make him turn back. The world, since time immemorial, had been walking down a dark path. Its inhabitants are not bad people, not all of them anyway, but they have been horribly misguided, and it's his job to see that it put back on its correct path before the problem plaguing it becomes irreversible... If it hasn't already. He internally chastises himself for those thoughts. He mustn't be pessimistic. No one else can do this. For the millions that are suffering and being hurt, even as he ponders it, he must accept his destiny and put an end to it.

After what feels close to an eternity, he reaches and stands before the chair, and turns to face his followers. His gaze lingers on two young women at the back of the room, who he has a particular fondness for, as they have been like sisters to him, and they probably understand him better than anyone else present. Just the sight of them eases him for what the next few seconds will bring.

Six of the men following him step to the side, in two rows of three, while the remaining one walks up to the young man, holding a golden crown. He raises it up high and gently places it on the young man's head.

Knowing that from here on, the only way is forward, the young man raises his arm. In response, all before him kneel before their new king.

The dawn of a new era...

---

I let out a deep yawn, and not for the first time today. Never, in my sixteen, now going on seventeen, years have I been awake for more than thirty hours. The thought of just collapsing on my desk and calling it a night has occurred to me, but I know I must stay awake, as I'm in the middle of something very important; something that could determine how the rest of my life is spent.

I'm inside a simple room with a white ceiling, blue wallpaper, and a black and sky-blue tiled floor. Around me, there are mostly other desks, and some shelves filled with equipment with use I can only guess. Beyond the door outside, there is some light commotion. I'm in a small side room in what is a very active laboratory. There are three other people in the room. Six feet, to either side of me, are my two best friends in the world, and at a large desk across the room from us is a young woman who we had come to look at as our mentor over the last three years.

At a desk to my left is a girl in a white and orange dress and green hat, with short blonde hair, and short figure. Her name is Bianca, and she had been my best friends since third grade.

To my right, in a blue jacket over a white shirt, dark pants, and a pairs of spectacles, with dark hair and a tall figure contrasting Bianca's lacking height, is Cheren. He'd been friends with me and Bianca since the sixth grade, but after recent events, that status might... just might, be subject to change.

Right now, Bianca, Cheren, and I are taking a test, and by test, I mean a written one, and it's probably the most important test of my life up to this point. At least it's multiple choice, so thank goodness for small mercies. As for what the test is about, let me start from the beginning: I live in a region called Unova, which is a small part of a world much different than yours. Now, I don't know what kinda place you come from, but I bet you'll be all kinds of jealous when you hear about what we humans share this world with.

Normally, one of the worlds many researchers would be explaining this, but since I'm the narrator and all, I guess it's up to me. This world is widely inhabited by creatures called Pokemon (and I think I just said something a professor would say. Yikes). They come in many different shapes and sizes, with all kinds of abilities, but what sets them apart from other animals is their relationship with humans. Sure, a lot of them are kept as pets, but others catch, train, and battle them to become closer. These people are called Pokemon Trainers.

Of course, when you're going to be in charge of creatures that can breathe fire, shoot lightning, and do all kinds of other crazy stuff, people need to know that you can use that power responsibly... and that brings me to where I am now, and the process of getting there is not easy: it requires buckling down, hitting the books very hard, and passing a one-hundred question written exam, and believe me, being someone who catches, trains, and battles Pokemon is a lot harder than it sounds, and to make it harder, in Unova, aspiring trainers have to study as a group of three. I know, that doesn't sound bad at all, but all three also have to pass the exam. Supposedly, this is supposed to promote the concept of unity, which I hear is essential between trainers and their Pokemon. If even one fails, all three fail, and have to wait a year to take the exam again... so yeah, no pressure there, especially when you're the lowest achiever of the trio.

This isn't to say I get bad grades, at least not all the time. I'm a C-average, with a couple B's. The subject that I consistently get A's in is Unovian. What can I say? How hard can it be to speak your own language? But, overall, I'm an average achiever with a decent vocabulary.

Cheren, on the other hand, is an honor student. Straight A's, all across the report card, and while Bianca doesn't really let it on much, she's a pretty good student too. Not honor student, or even top twenty material, but she does well enough, with mostly B's.

Pokemon is a subject that is covered in school every now and then, but it's mostly something to be studied on one's own time, usually with the help of a professor, which brings me to the forth person in the room, wearing a long white lab coat over a white shirt and green skirt, with her brown hair done up in a somewhat out-of-fashion hairstyle, sitting at a desk at the far end of the room, eying Cheren, Bianca, and me with her seemingly permanent smile.

Despite being in her early thirties, though she occasionally acts more like a teenager, probably to better relate to me and my friends, or something,  Professor Juniper had already made a name for herself as a world-class Pokemon researcher, a status I originally thought was only reserved for old dudes. Still, she took it upon herself to teach the three of us the ins and outs of Pokemon, and I actually remember some of what she taught. It's nice when you can have a teacher who is patient with you and doesn't expect you to remember everything the first time through. I like her, and had never fell asleep during one of her seminars, though the fact that they took place over the weekends did kinda rub me the wrong way, but whatever. With me and my friends at least attempting to make the cut as Pokemon trainers, Professor Juniper is the one who is making it all possible for us, so we a basically in her debt.

I let out another yawn as I stare at my test paper. To prepare, Cheren made Bianca and I pull an all-nighter, hence the reason I hadn't slept for so long. Before the exam, Cheren, who long before now, made it no secret that he wants to be a great trainer, said that if Bianca or I fail the exam, and keep him from getting his trainer's license, he would strangle us. He meant that as a figure of speech... or so I try to remind myself, but he said that in such a cold and measured tone, I'm not exactly sure, not to mention, even though he said “Bianca and me,” he was eying just me. He knows I'm the weakest link, and now, I feel the stapled together packet of papers lying before me does not just determine whether or not I get my trainer's license, but also whether I live or die. Once again, no pressure.

Across the room, Professor Juniper says to me, “Ria, are you doing okay?” I realize I hadn't touched my test for several minutes. Good thing this isn't timed.

“Um... Yeah. I'm good,” I half-lie.

I glance at Cheren. He's marking off answers without hesitation. I know I don't have to worry about how he's doing, even though I kinda hate him at the moment. I look over at Bianca. One of her hands is holding her pencil, while the other is scratching the back of her head. She's not going as fast as Cheren, but still at a good clip. I'm the only one who's stalling here.

I try to reassure myself. Alright Ria, this is the moment you've spent the past three years preparing for. You were up all night getting ready. You did not go through all this, just to fail now. Just calm down and you'll do fine... but just in case, I should pray.

Um... Arceus? Um... Could you... y'know, help me pass this test, so I can get my license, become a trainer, and so Cheren won't kill me? Please? Thanks!

After making my life's first and only prayer, I stare back down at my test paper... Yeah, as if I were expecting all the right answers to magically appear. Thanks, Arceus, you've been a great pal... Sigh...

Of course, this is all me. I look at the question I left off on:

Question #39: Which of the following Pokemon types has the best advantage against a bug-type?
A) Dark-types
B) Flying-types
C)Fighting-types
D)Water-types
E) None of the above

Maybe this isn't so bad after all. This has got to be the easiest question yet! The answer is C, of course: Fighting-types! I've been watching Fighting Pokemon movies my whole life, and I know they are too hardcore to lose to some cricket!

I glance at Bianca as she lets out a yawn of her own. She was awake through the night too, studying for this test. At least I'm not alone. I look at Cheren, and if he's tired, he isn't showing it. I guess it's understandable, though. He had been preparing for years, just for this moment. It's not that Bianca and I don't want to be trainers. We've admired them for years, but while Cheren has a goal, we're taking it one step at a time and maybe or maybe not find a goal.

Every single person is required to own a Pokemon when they come of age, as wild Pokemon are very dangerous, and the best thing to protect them from Pokemon are Pokemon of their own. My mom owns a cute white critter called Minccino, which does a decent job of fending off wild Pokemon whenever we go for walks near the wilderness, but when I was vacationing in Sinnoh back when I was eleven years old, I saw one of its Elite Four (a small group of a region's top trainers) members, Flint, competing in an exhibition match. One of his Pokemon was a dragon-like fire thing called Charizard. Back then, and maybe even a little now, it scared me a lot, but what really caught my eye was how Flint could just stand there, completely unfazed by his own Pokemon. He wasn't afraid at all, and I wondered if I became a trainer, if I could command something so terrifying, yet so powerful. It made me realize just how amazing Pokemon trainers are.

That flashback is enough to get me thinking more deeply about questions ahead. I mark off a few answers, fairly confident. I briefly give Cheren another glance, only to see he's no longer at his desk. Instead, he's walking up to Professor Juniper with his test packet, handing it to her, “I'm finished.”

“Very good,” says the Professor, “Return to your seat and I will grade it right away.”

Doing as instructed, Cheren returns to his desk. I'm not even halfway through my questions, so I guess he'll just have to sit there, bored stupid, while he waits for me and Bianca to finish. I guess I'll look at it as a small form of revenge for that all-nighter he forced us into.

I look at my next question.

Question #47: Which of the following is not a fighting-type?
A) Ursaring
B) Hitmonchan
C)Throh
D)Meditite

Another fighting-type question? No prob! The one that isn't is A: Ursaring. I don't know what an Ursaring is, but I know all the others are Fighters, and that's good enough, I think. I let the confidence I'd gained from that question carry me past the test's halfway point. I'm almost to the sixtieth question when Bianca hands in her completed test to the Professor. I'm the only one left.

By the time I'm at question seventy-three, Professor Juniper announced, “Cheren, I have finished grading your exam. You have gotten ninety-three of the one-hundred questions right. Congratulations! You've passed!”

Cheren looks a little surprised, probably because he was expecting a higher score, but he ultimately decides to count his blessings, “Thank you, Professor.”

With a smile, she says, “Now, on to Bianca's test. Ria, you're the only one who is not finished. How far are you?”

“I'm getting there,” I say, “Just forty or so questions left.” I chance a quick glance at my friends. Both of them are staring at me. Bianca's expression says, “Good luck, Ria,” while Cheren's says, “Don't you dare screw this up!”

The trial of my trainer-ship (and possibly even my life) continues. Just as I'm at question ninety-nine, Professor Juniper announces, “Bianca, I have finished grading your exam.”

Nervously, Bianca responds, “Y-yes... um... How did I do, um, Professor?”

Professor Juniper beams, “Eighty-one questions right. You've also passed.”

Bianca lets out a relieved sigh, “Oh... good...” I can practically hear her heartbeat from where I'm sitting.

The professor glances at me, “Ria? Are you just about--?”

“Finished!” I announce loudly as I mark off the last question, get up so fast, I knock my chair over, and run my exam over to Professor Juniper.

“Perfect timing!” says the Professor, “I will get started on grading yours. How did you think you did?”

Instead of a straight answer, I let out a nervous laugh instead.

I watch Professor Juniper as she looks over my test. The next few minutes are the epitome of tension. Every time the Professor marks the paper with her pen, presumably to mark something wrong, more sweat drips from my pores.

Finally, the Professor looks up from my paper, and I'm so nervous, I wonder if what I'm feeling is what it's like to go into cardiac arrest. Here it is! The moment of truth! I glance at Bianca and Cheren. They seem almost as nervous as me, not that I blame them. I'm sure it would suck a lot to get good scores on the exam, only to fail anyway because of me. I feel a little less bitter toward Cheren. If I fail, I'd probably wanna kill me too.

Professor Juniper looks at us sternly. Oh crap... … ... Suddenly, however, her facial expression eases into a smile. Is she toying with us? Just gimme the stupid score already! “Ria... Out of the one-hundred questions...” Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, “... you got exactly seventy correct! Congratulations! You pass! You all pass!”

Bianca, Cheren, and I exchange silent glances with stunned euphoria. I passed the test... heck, with a decent score, no less! We're gonna become Pokemon trainers? This... pardon the cliché, feels too good to be true!

The Professor claps her hands together as she rises from her seats, “Very well done! It's always such a joy to see my students succeed.”

“We never could have done it without you, Professor,” says Bianca gratefully. Cheren nods in agreement, and I follow suit. It's times like this that remind me how important the Professor is to all of us.

Professor Juniper says, “I'll hand in your scores and get started creating your licenses. By noon tomorrow, you'll have them, your first Pokemon, and whatever else you need to be certified Pokemon trainers.”

“Thank you, Professor,” say me and my friends in unison.

As we turn to leave the room, the Professor calls out, “Oh, Ria?”

I glance back, “What is it, Professor?”

Professor Juniper beams, “Tomorrow is your birthday, isn't it?”

“It is.”

“Wonderful! I'll have to find you the perfect present!”

“Yeah, thanks...” There was some mischievous edge in the Professor's voice. She's probably up to something...

---

Bianca, Cheren, and I leave the lab, and none of us are able to conceal our excitement, not that we want to. All those Saturday classes, all of Cheren's brutal study sessions, that test. In the end, it all payed off!

Outside the lab, the sun had already set behind the distant hills, and nightfall isn't far off. Today was a hot day, but the temperature had lowered, and is now accompanied by a calm breeze. It's nice, and if weather had a way on conveying the feeling of victory, the feeling of joy and relief after extreme hardship, this is totally it!

The lab is located in a place called Accumula Town, a village located toward Unova's southeastern area. My friends and I walk due south in the direction of Route 1, a pathway that leads to our homes in Nuvema Town, though that place is really a 'town' in name only. It's more like the residential district of Accumula Town. I slow my pace so that it matches that of Cheren and Bianca. I may not be the the biggest intellectual out of our trio, but I am the most athletic, having played sports for most of my life, and even though I'm tired, and could still easily outdistance them if I walk at my normal pace.

“I was so nervous,” says Bianca, “I thought I was gonna fail for sure!”

“You were nervous?” I ask, “You should have been me when the Professor was about to announce my score. I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.”

“I had a lot of trouble on one question,” says Bianca, “I think it was the one which asked which of the Pokemon types is best against bug-types.”

“You had trouble with that one?” I ask, “That was the easiest one! The answer was fighting-types, obviously! They're too hardcore to lose to some bug.”

Cheren half-chuckles, half-sighs, “Honestly, Ria. Was it a miracle that allowed you to pass the test?”

Or divine intervention? I think to myself, recalling my prayer.

Cheren continues, “I will tell you for a fact that the answer to that question was flying-types. Bug-type exoskeletons are resistant to fighting-type energy, making their effectiveness limited. I know how much you adore Fighters, Ria, but they have weaknesses, just like all Pokemon.

Good old Cheren, our walking, talking Pokemon encyclopedia. I want to argue, but he keeps such a calm and measured composure, it's hard to deny that he's right. Everyday, it gets harder to believe that there was once a time when he was nervous around Bianca and me, primarily because we're both girls. I knew him during most of my time going through school, but we didn't become friends, or really, even talk, until sixth grade. Before then, he was this quiet kid who always had his nose in a book. Bianca and I used to remark to each other how he could possibly stand reading 24/7, and that he's probably the weirdest kid in school. As time went on though, and we got a little more mature, our read on him changed from 'weird' to 'lonely,' as he never had anyone close by and we figured that maybe he could use a friend. So, we came up to him one day and asked if he wanted to hang out with us. Since I guess he thought he had to act a certain way around girls, he was pretty quiet and insecure around Bianca and I at first, but after a couple months, he got used to us, and we'd been friends since.

Knowing I don't stand a chance of winning an argument about Pokemon know-how with Cheren, I decide to change the subject, “Um... anyway... What was with failing us if even one of us fails? I mean, I know we're grouped up, and all, but seriously, one fails and everyone fails? That isn't fair at all. That's gotta be the stupidest rule I'd ever heard.” Actually, it's Unovian law that requires this of would-be trainers, which is to say it's not some clever scheme Professor Juniper cooked up, if that's what you're thinking, because I would never say something to badmouth her after all she did to help us. Still, I don't get that law at all.

As usual, Cheren has an answer, “It's a part of our preparation as trainers. Humans and Pokemon need to work hard together, and bring out perfection in one another. That law mirrors that concept, as we need to help each other achieve perfection. One weak link means failure.”

“I still don't buy that,” I say, “But whatever. It's a law. Complaining about it won't help... though I am still kinda sore about you keeping Bianca and I up all night.”

Cheren smiles wryly, “I might not yet be a trainer, but I have a philosophy, which I extended into our studying session: I believe that working rigorously hard and pushing the limits is the key to success... and seeing as you passed the test, Ria, if you have any leverage to prove my methods wrong, I fail to see where it's coming from.” Sigh... Typical Cheren. He's my best friend, next to Bianca, but he can be difficult sometimes...

Not one to see anyone argue, especially her friends, Bianca sees this as the perfect moment to cut in, “Um... so... we passed! Yay! We should celebrate! Maybe we should have a we're-now-trainers party!”

Still smiling, Cheren asks Bianca, “You do know that tonight is a school night, right?”

Bianca's body jolts slightly, “Oh yeah! I can't believe I forgot!”

“But it's only a part-day,” I add, “Last day of school before summer vacation, our last day as juniors, and senior graduation day.” I let out a yawn, “Besides, after being up for two straight days, I don't think I have the energy to party...”

My yawn must be contagious, because soon after me, Bianca yawns too, “Oh yeah... Good point, Ria...”

… and Cheren makes three, as he adds a note of his own to our chorus of fatigue. He blushes, like he always does when he loses his composure, even a little.

It's dark by the time we reach Route 1. Standing before the gateway is a man with a trimmed beard. Around his waist is a belt, and attached to his belt are two red and white balls, which are small enough to comfortably fit into the palm of a person's hand: Pokeballs, capsules Pokemon trainers use to store their Pokemon whenever they aren't needed for something. Pokemon trainers can be hired for many different tasks. In this case, he's waiting for non-trainers who are planning to head down Route 1 from Accumula Town to Nuvema Town, so he can escort them there. Night has fallen, and that's when particularly dangerous wild Pokemon are known to come out, so to defend those who don't have Pokemon to defend them, Pokemon trainers are hired to play bodyguard.

Cheren, Bianca, and I had walked with this trainer several times, but he always keeps to himself, so I don't even know his name. All I know is that the two Pokemon he always has with him are just awesome.

He grabs the two capsules from his belt, and two flashes of light later, his Pokemon appear. One is human-shaped... we kinda, except that it has four arms instead of two. It's gray and has muscles rippling from every last corner of its body. The other is an eight-foot-long red bug-thing. Cheren once told me they are called Machamp and Scolipede. Both of these Pokemon look downright dangerous, and whatever's lurking in the woods would be crazy to pick a fight with them.

Route 1 is a road with the ocean on one side, and dense wilderness on the other, and that's where wild Pokemon lurk. It's a short walk. Heck, during the day, you can even see Nuvema Town from Accumula Town across the way, but it's best not to take any chances making this trek alone. It occurs to me that this is the last day we'll actually need the trainer that's escorting us. Well, thanks for the help, whatever your name is...

As soon as we reach Nuvema Town, Bianca, Cheren, and I go our separate ways and head to our respective houses.

---

As soon as I enter my home, a two-floor white building with blue shutters around the windows, mom is there in the kitchen, hard at work making dinner. By her feet is a small Pokemon with round ears, large dark eyes, and a bushy tail: our pet, Minccino, a gift from dad, and mom's partner in housekeeping and battles in her free time.

As soon as mom spots me, she says hopefully, “Welcome home, Ria! How did it go?”

I try to answer, but another yawn cuts me off. Instead, I give a V for victory.

Mom's face lights up, “Oh, congratulations, Ria! I knew you could do it, especially after all those hours you, Bianca, and Cheren put in last night...”

I groan at the memory, not needing to be reminded of it again.

Mom announces, “Well, I'm almost done preparing a victory feast for you. It will be ready in a half-hour!”

Even if I failed the exam, I know the 'failure feast' would have been equally grand. That's because mom always cooks a massive dinner, mostly for herself, just so she'll be occupied. My dad works abroad in Kanto, another region of the world, far from Unova, as a Pokemon trainer, doing work as an escort, a lot like that man that walked Bianca, Cheren, and I back to Nuvema Town, though Kanto has longer Routes and much more dangerous wild Pokemon, thus, his work pays a lot of money; more than enough, in fact, that mom doesn't even have to work. Therefore, she keeps looking for ways to keep herself occupied, from cooking big meals, to doing over-the-top housekeeping projects. Whenever there's nothing to do, she usually takes Minccino out for some recreational battles with her friends.

I want to object that I'm really not all that hungry, and that I just want to eat a light meal and go to bed, but after all the effort mom put into making dinner, I can't bring myself to just turn her down. Instead, I say, “Alright. Thank you,” and head upstairs.

As I pass the bathroom, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and it's not a pretty sight. My brown hair, which I usually keep in a ponytail is all messy and tousled. I usually don't care much about the condition my hair is in, since, as a sports player (even being the only girl on Accumula High's football team once, as a freshman), I'm used to things like sweating a lot and my hair getting messed up, and the like, but it looks worse than normal. I wonder if I had been messing up my hair as a nervous reaction to the exam, without even noticing it. My eyes are half-open and I'm partially hunched over. Simply put, I'm a wreck.

Since mom said dinner will be in a half-hour, I decide to take that chance to take a quick shower. I head to my room, removing the two pieces of clothing I wear everyday: a black vest and a white baseball cap with a pink visor. I head to my dresser and go through my clothes to decide what I will wear tomorrow. I decide on a sleeveless white shirt and a cut-off pair of jeans-shorts. Mom has occasionally said I should try to dress more lady-like, but I've never listened, although I do compare myself to Bianca every now and then, and feel a tad envious, since, compared to me, she's so pretty and feminine.

The shower is nice and it manages to wake me up, even just a little. I change into the clothes I plan to wear tomorrow, and yes, I even wear them to bed, instead of wearing PJs. When it comes to clothes, I tend to be extremely lazy.

I go downstairs, where dinner is waiting, and as usual, there's enough for a gathering. After dinner, I brush my teeth and head to my room.

Needless to say, my body tells me that I should head straight to bed and sleep like a Snorlax, but I catch a glimpse of my DVD wallet next to the flat-screen TV across from my bed, and my mind wanders to one item inside it; something that had made me interested in Pokemon training in the first place, and with the fact that I'm becoming a trainer tomorrow, I just can't help myself. I open the wallet and find a DVD labeled, “Sawk's Revenge.” I slip it into my DVD player, dim the lights, and recline into my bed as the movie begins.

Sawk's Revenge is a “Pokeflick,” a type of movie that stars Pokemon, and is a fine part of Unovian culture, filmed in Nimbasa City. They are all action films, with several Pokemon battles throughout. The Pokemon talk like they always do, saying their names over and over, but the subtitles translate what they are saying, or at least what they are supposedly saying as the story dictates. The film begins with the main character, Sawk, living in peace and training with his older brother, Throh, and their master, Mienshao. However, that lifestyle is brought to an abrupt change when the evil Emboar of the Hellfire Fist comes along and murders Throh and Mienshao (or really just KO's them, but the movie used special gore effects to suggest otherwise). Sawk was assumed to have been killed to, but he really is just left for dead. With some help, Sawk recovers and embarks on a journey to exact a bloody revenge.

Okay, the story is pretty lame, I'll admit, but the fights are top class, and since they are Pokemon battles (the trainers' commands are edited out of the footage, though), the violence is 100% authentic, though some special effects may be used to make some injuries look more brutal than they really were. According to the credits, Sawk's trainer was Marshal of the Unova Elite Four and Emboar's trainer was Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four, both of whom are pretty high on my idol list.

The movie arrives at its climax, where Sawk and Emboar are about to have their final battle in front of a large temple. At this point, however, my eyelids have grown too heavy and it's beyond my limited power as a mere mortal to keep them lifted. I just let my eyes close and let the battle that's raging on the TV fuel my fantasy.

I imagine myself as Emboar's trainer. Yeah, Sawk's the good guy in the movie, and of course, he wins the fight, but I think Emboar is way more cool. Fighting-types are my favorites, with fire-types as a close second, and Emboar is both. How badass is that? Is there any Pokemon more perfect?

Instead of a temple, I picture myself at a huge grassy field, with many excited onlookers in the bleachers chanting my name, “Ri~a! Ri~a! Ri~a!” as they anticipate an exciting battle.

It makes me wonder what lies ahead of me as a trainer.

I'm about to walk a new road... and the destination is unknown, but finding out is part of the challenge. My life's next chapter begins!

POKEMON!
GENERATION V
POKEMON WHITE: A Reinterpretation

... and that's the prologue. Sorry if there seemed to be anything off about the writing at the start, as I was still trying to adjust to this. At any rate, I hope you found it enjoyable. Actually, I have about thirty pages of this written as right now, but I'll space out the installments for your benefit. I hope you're looking forward to what's next! (sorry if there's any typos I'd missed)

Last edited by Valin on Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:55 am, edited 8 times in total.

Now this is funny. It breathes life and more personality into the relatively blank characters of Cheren and Bianca. However, in the game, Bianca seems to be the below-average one, while the player character is the average one. Nevertheless, I am sure you will pull off your story well.

Darn it, Secad beat me posting lol

I must apologize for not commenting sooner on any of your works so far. You're definitely one of the best writer's on 'Charms and this only proves it further. I really liked the plot of Black and White so it was awesome to see it fleshed out like this. The descriptions and details were great and I really got a sense of the characters because I was able to get into Ria's head. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff that inspires me to be a better writer myself. It's so cool seeing your take on the Pokemon World (i.e. seeing the trainers actually take a test). I can't wait to see more of this and I'm continuing to work my way through The Superior Beings.

Thank you for the comments everyone! It makes me happy knowing that people enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing it.

The thing about anticipating something is that the closer the time you're waiting for gets, the slower time feels. Even though I feel asleep pretty quickly, I felt as if I had been sleeping for days when I woke up.

Noontime is when Bianca, Cheren, and I are due to head to Professor Juniper's lab, but there is one thing we need to get through first: the last day of the semester at Accumula High School before summer vacation. Luckily, it's not a full school day, or even extending into the afternoon. It mostly consists of going around the school, reminiscing the past year, saying goodbye, taking some last-minute tests (none of which made me half of nervous as the Professor's), and all that jazz. The event concludes with the senior graduation ceremony. However, since I'm not required to watch that, I head home instead. Maybe watching it might have been a good idea, seeing as next year, Bianca, Cheren, and I will be seniors, and it would be us graduating, but it's not like missing it will keep that from happening, and besides, it's not like we have any friends in the senior graduating class... actually, there isn't much to say about friends, period. It's not like the three of us are unpopular, we all have a fair share of friends, just not good friends, no one we hang out with outside of school, or anything. For the most part, Bianca, me, and Cheren are one another's best pal.

It's eleven o' clock when I arrive home, so I can unload my bag of books for the summer so I can load it with other things like Pokeballs and other stuff Pokemon trainers need. I pass the kitchen on the way to the stairs when mom calls out to me, “Ria! Professor Juniper came by earlier!”

I stop in my tracks, “The Professor? What's up?”

“Well, today is your seventeenth birthday...”

“Yup... my birthday, last day of school, first day as a Pokemon trainer... the fortunes are just piling on today.”

“Anyway, Miss Juniper delivered a large gift box. I brought it up to your room.”

“Alright. Thanks. I'll check it out.”

I head upstairs. Professor Juniper did mention my birthday yesterday, saying something about getting me the 'perfect present.' Whatever it is, I doubt it's that new pair of socks I so desperately need...

I enter my bedroom, and, sure enough, there is a blue box, tied with a decorative red ribbon, waiting for me on top of my bed. It's about three feet tall and three feet wide, so it's a pretty big box. I notice a note on the side. I walk to the box to get a closer look. It says, “To: My dear students, Ria, Cheren, and Bianca, From: Your loving professor.”

I let out a slight chuckle. When the professor said, “I'll have to find you the perfect present,” I thought she meant just me when she said “you.” Heh... Oh, that silly professor. Sigh...

Since whatever's inside the box is meant for Bianca and Cheren, as well as me, I might as well call them over. I reach into my left back pocket and pull out small gray gadget, folded shut. I open it to see a large screen, or rather, three separate tiny screens bunched together on the top half, and number buttons on the lower part. It's a Xtransceiver, a fairly new communications tool, which allows people to contact up to three other people at once, allowing for four-way remote conversations.

I punch in the frequencies of Bianca and Cheren's Xtransceivers, and wait for them to answer. We are hardly ever apart from our phones, and almost always answer a call, unless we're either asleep or in the shower.

After three rings, Cheren picks up, immediately followed by Bianca, their faces illuminating two of the three small screens. “Hello?” say the two of them at the same time.

I explain the situation, “Hey, guys. The Professor gave me a present, but your names are on it as well.”

“That's... unexpected,” says Cheren, “I thought we were supposed to get all our Pokemon training equipment at the lab.”

“I never said anything about Pokemon training equipment,” I say, “just that the Prof sent me a package meant for all of us.”

Bianca says, “If... it's from the Professor, what else could it be?”

“Whatever it is,” I say, “it's meant for the three of us, so could you come to my house so we can open it and find out what's inside? I'm dying to find out.”

“Alright,” says Cheren, “I'll head over to your house right away.”

“Me too,” says Bianca, and both of my friends end their communiques.

Within the next fifteen minutes, Cheren arrives at my house. It's another five until Bianca arrives.

“Sorry I'm late,” calls Bianca as she rushes up the stairs and into my room. She stares at the box for a few seconds, “It's... pretty big...”

“Alright,” I say, “Let's see what's inside...” I tug on the ribbon, undoing the knot, and it slides off. I remove the box's lid. Inside is a tub of shipping styrofoam. I dig into it and it isn't long before I find something. I pull it out and see that it's a smaller box, the lid on this one fastened by three leather belts. The box-inside-a-box trick. How old is the Professor again? Bianca chuckles a little at Professor Juniper's attempt at humor, while Cheren remains with his usual composure.

It doesn't take me long to notice that the belts have six small magnet things on them, three to either side of the buckle. It's the kind of belt Pokemon trainers wear, which they fasten their occupied Pokeballs to. All they need to do is reach down, grab a Pokeball from the belt, and they can send out their creature at a second's notice. It also lets people see how many Pokemon a trainer has with them (they can only have up to six with them at a time. Any excess are instantly teleported to Pokemon ranches across the world).

I unlatch the three belts, obviously meant for each of us, keeping on for myself, and throwing the other two to Bianca and Cheren.

“Alright!” says Bianca, admiring her gift dreamily, “A trainer's belt!” Wow, she's excited already, and we hadn't even opened the box yet. Still, we take this chance to fasten the belts around out waists, even though we don't have any Pokemon yet. It's something we're gonna have to get used to wearing.

There is a large envelope taped to the top of the box. Cheren removes it, opens it, and pulls out a folded note. Inside the fold, there are three cards, each with our photos, names, ages, birth dates, and other stuff like that, all under the heading, reading: POKEMON TRAINER.

These are our licenses! With these, we can be given the privileges Pokemon trainers get. Alright! This is what we've been waiting for! Bianca, Cheren, and I each take our respective licence cards, and put them in our pockets, each of us now officially sanctioned trainers. It's amazing what a little piece of plastic can do.

With the note and the box's contents being the remaining mysteries, Cheren reads the note aloud,
“Ria, Bianca, and Cheren,
Congratulations of your acceptance as Pokemon trainers. It makes me happy to see three of my favorite students succeed.
By now, I imagine you have gotten your Pokeball belts and your trainer cards. Never, ever lose the cards, as they are the things the allow you to legally capture Pokemon, compete in Pokemon League events, use most of a Pokemon Center's utilities, free of charge, and generally be given the recognition and privileges of being a trainer.
Now for the last of my gift's contents: Inside the box are three Pokeballs, each containing Pokemon that have been bred specifically to be yours. They have already been given basic training, and can hold their own against lesser wild Pokemon, but there is still a lot of room for them to become stronger. They have also been trained to recognize whoever first releases them from their Pokeballs as their trainer, and will follow you faithfully.
The three Pokemon are Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokemon, a grass-type, Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon, a fire-type, and Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokemon, a water-type. Each of you may have only one of these Pokemon, so please come to an agreement as to who gets what before releasing them. You can tell which Pokemon is in which ball by the color on its center: green for Snivy, red for Tepig, and blue for Oshawott.
Again, I am very proud of all three of you for making the cut as trainers, and I wish you luck in your future endeavors. Please come to my lab as soon as possible, so you may get the rest of your equipment.

Professor Juniper

PS: Happy seventeenth birthday, Ria!”

Bianca opens the box. Sure enough, there are three Pokeballs inside, each with a different color on its center.

My mind is also occupied on one part of the note: Tepig is the fire-type? No way! I may not be as much for research as Cheren is, but as a fan of Emboar in my movie, I made an exception, and found out that Emboar evolves, a process in which a Pokemon changes form and becomes more powerful as they get stronger, from Tepig, after a brief stint as a third Pokemon called Pignite. Oh man! The fortunes really are piling on today!

Most new trainers are given a fire-type, a water-type, and a grass-type to choose from, and I've seen a lot of them self-debate on which they should choose. To me, it's always been a no-brainer. Fire-type, all the way! Even if I didn't idolize Flint, who is famous for being a region-class fire-type expert, that probably still wouldn't change my way of thinking. When I think of water-types, I think of a calm lake; when I think of grass-types (which manipulate plants, besides grass. Why they're called 'grass-types' instead of 'plant-types' is something I never got), I think of flowers; now, when I think of fire-types, I think of forest fires, the agony I felt when I touched an active stove as a little girl, an all-consuming force of destruction! What could be more appealing for Pokemon battles?

As Bianca, Cheren, and I stare inside the box, I blurt out, “As the birthday girl, I claim Embo-- er, Tepig! The fire-type!”

Cheren glances at me and says in a measured voice, “Ria, we need to come to a mutual agreement on which of us will get what Pokemon. I know you are partial to fire-types, but that may be a hindrance to you as a trainer. Good trainers recognize the potential in all Pokemon, regardless of type. To that end, it may be better for you to choose Snivy or Oshawott. I'm saying this for your own good.”

“But... I'm the birthday girl...” As soon as those words leave my mouth, I realize how stupid I sound.

“And you will get a present, no matter what. Plus, as you are a Pokemon trainer now, this will not be the last chance you'll have to obtain a fire-type. Count your blessings, Ria.”

I glare at Cheren accusingly, “As if! You just want Tepig for yourself, don't you?”

Cheren blushes and he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “I... won't deny that there is an element of truth in that claim...”

Bianca hesitantly speaks up, “Um... I don't want to start an argument, but I was kinda hoping for the fire-type too...”

A long silence passes between us, as we stare off. Oh gee, the “coming to an agreement” part of the Professor's letter is coming along just swimmingly...

Finally, Cheren breaks the silence, “If we cannot come to a civil agreement, perhaps we can settle this with the element of chance...”

“What the heck's that supposed to mean?” I ask.

Cheren explains, “Here's my idea: We will all close our eyes, and take turns blindly taking a Pokeball out of the box. Then, with our eyes still shut, we will drop the Pokeballs and release the Pokemon inside. Once they are released, the decision will be irreversible. We will have chosen which Pokemon is ours.”

With an edge in my voice, I say to Cheren, “And what guarantee is there that you won't pull some cheap trick to take Tepig for yourself?”

Cheren answers, “If you really trust me that little, then I will be the last to take a Pokeball. Also, I'll tell you what, Ria: since it is your birthday, you can be the first to pick out a Pokemon. You will have an equal chance at any of the three. The advantage will be yours.”

I nod, “Okay, I guess that's about as close to an agreement as we'll get. I accept.”

“Me too,” says Bianca.

“Very well,” says Cheren, “Let us begin...” Cheren lifts the box up high, and lightly shakes it, shifting the position of the Pokeballs around. “Close your eyes,” he instructs. We do so, though, I close mind a little later than the others, just to make sure Cheren is following his own rules. He is. “You're first, Ria. Make your pick.”

With my vision blacked over, I reach down to the box, touching what I assume is the edge at first, and then into the box. I soon feel the smooth, half-plastic, half-metal surface of a Pokeball. It occurs to me to cheat and squint my eyes open to see what I'm touching, but Cheren put his preferences aside so we could have a fair selection, and even if it did get me Tepig in the end, I couldn't live with the shame of  spitting on my friend's generosity. I will do this with honor.

Is Tepig in the ball I'm touching? My intuition, whatever it's worth, says no. I feel around some more and it doesn't take long for me to find another Pokeball. Tepig, Snivy, or Oshawott... It could be any of them. Wondering isn't gonna do me any good. I decide to take this one, and hope for the best. I blindly step away from the box, saying, “Got one.”

“Okay,” says Cheren, “Bianca, it's your turn.”

“Okay...” A few seconds pass, and Bianca says, “I have one.”

“Now it's my turn,” says Cheren. Presumably, he reaches into the box and feels around until he finds the last Pokeball, “I have mine,” he finally says, “Let us release them.”

I hold my Pokeball out above my head, and drop it. Professor Juniper gave us at least three sessions on how to operate Pokeballs, because it's such a common part of a trainer's career. We learned that if an occupied Pokeball drops from a distance of four feet or more, it will open, and release the Pokemon inside. As I release my grip, I open my eyes. We're now past the threshold.

However, as soon as I open my eyes, I'm blinded again, this time by three bright flashes of white light, which is what happens with a Pokemon is released.

When my vision clears, I look at Cheren. At his feet, there is a small, slender, almost serpentine, green and yellow Pokemon with short legs and arms, and a couple leaves at the tip of its tail. I don't know what Oshawott and Snivy are supposed to look like, but seeing as it's definitely not Tepig, and seeing as it's plant-ish, I'm guessing it's Snivy, the grass-type. Well, at least Cheren didn't get Tepig... … … Instead, that honor went to Bianca. At her feet is a red and brown piglet with a curly tail. For some reason, this feels appropriate. Who said the least wins the dispute; It's like a classic western movie...

I look down at my Pokemon: It's a white and blue Pokemon, standing a little under two feet tall, with a flat black tail, standing on its hind legs. It has large black eyes and on its chest, there is a little yellow scallop.

“... Oshawott?” I guess. It sure looks water-type-ish.

The Pokemon smiles cheerfully and energetically wags its tail, “Osha!”

Oshawott is looking at me like I'm his (or at least I'm assuming it's a guy) best friend in the world, and in his eyes, I probably am. According to the letter, these three Pokemon were bred and trained to be ours, so I'm probably the one he's been waiting his whole life (which I'm guessing wasn't very long thus far) for.

Oshawott leaps several feet off the ground and into my chest. I reflexively wrap my arms around him, and we share a sweet, but awkward, embrace. Meanwhile, Bianca, and even the normally straight-faced Cheren seem to be sharing similarly tender moments.

Oshawott is so adorable... and it's... my Pokemon... my partner... my friend. A wave of shame crashes through me. I feel bad... no, actually, I feel like a devil. At first, I didn't even want him, but now, even during this first meeting, I feel like I can't be without him.

I put Oshawott down, and say, “I'm Ria. I'm... your friend.”

Oshawott smiles again, “Sha...”

I can't help but smile, “No, it's Ria. Ree-ah...”

“Sh-sha.”

I notice both Bianca and Cheren staring at me, and I have a good idea why. I probably look like I'm playing with a baby doll! Still, I decide to feign ignorance, “... What?”

Instead of an answer, Bianca starts laughing. Even Cheren smiles and suppresses a chuckle.

“What was that about wanting Tepig, Ria?” asks Cheren.

“Tepoink?” Tepig looks at Cheren quizzically.

“Wott?” Oshawatt looks at me in confusion.

“I have no clue what you're talking about,” I lie.

Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy separate away from us and meet each other in the middle of the room.

“What are they doing?” I ask.

“Their greeting each other!” says Bianca, “They look so adorable together, don't they?”

For a few seconds, it looks like Bianca is right, with our Pokemon smiling and chatting it up in their own unique languages.

“Wott oshawott.”

Ssssnivy sni...”

“Poink!”

Suddenly, however, their expressions change from smiling to... something else. Something intense, but confident. Something that says, “Let's do this!”

Suddenly, Snivy body checks Tepig so hard, it flies across the room and into the wall, denting it.

“Wh-what?” exclaims Bianca.

“Ah! Some greeting!” I say.

Oshawott grabs Snivy by its tail and swings it around faster and faster until he finally releases Cheren's Pokemon, which flies upward across the room, into a wall, and crashing onto the top of my dresser. In retaliation, Snivy whirls around, with its tail extending by about twelve feet, which it then lashes in Oshawott's direction. It wraps around my Pokemon, lifts him, and slams him into my TV, cracking it.

“Oh crap,” I mutter.

Snivy is about slam Oshawott again, but this time, my Sea Otter Pokemon counters by spraying a stream of water at the Grass Snake. It slams into the grass-type, causing its grip on Oshawott to loosen enough so my Pokemon can break free. Snivy's tail quickly shrinks back to its normal length. Tepig spews a cloud of sparks out of its mouth and across the room toward Snivy, who dashes out of the way of them. They keep going and ignite the wallpaper.

I'm usually not one to repeat myself, but that's exactly what I do, “Oh crap!”

Snivy leaps from my dresser to my bed. Tepig spews more sparks. Again, Snivy dodges and the bedsheets catch fire.

I jump onto the bed to stamp out the flames before they can spread, and then tear it off so I can use it to bat out the fire on the wall.

“Bianca!” I yell, “Tell Tepig to knock it off before he burns the house down!”

“Y-yes...” says Bianca, “Um... Tepig! Please stop!”

Tepig doesn't listen and charges at Oshawott. The two of them grapple.

Knowing that this is starting to get out of hand, Cheren yells, “That's enough, Snivy!” It's not often he raises his voice. I guess I'd better get used to it, with him being a trainer now. However, Snivy doesn't stop.

I try to talk some sense back into Oshawott, but seeing how successful Bianca and Cheren were, I'm not optimistic, “Hey, Oshawott! Chill out, alright?”

Our words fail, and the Pokemon free-for-all rages on.

Snivy returns to its perch on my dresser, only for both Oshawott and Tepig, who had apparently decided to form a temporary alliance against the Grass Snake, to body slam it, and send it tumbling to the floor, along with a lamp, which shatters on impact.

“No good,” says Cheren, “They're not listening. We need to intervene by force!”

Oshawott stomps on top of the downed Snivy, and sends a spray of water toward Tepig, who narrowly evades. Oshawott is about to stomp Snivy again, but as it turns out, the grass-type can slither, as well as walk. It slides out from under Oshawott and rapidly approaches Tepig. The two Pokemon clash and try to overpower each other.

I dash in around the back and pick up Oshawott. Bianca and Cheren pick up their respective Pokemon while they are struggling.

“We need to get them outside!” yells Cheren, “Now!”

The three of us dash our Pokemon through the house, to the front door. Along the way, mom approaches me, “Ria, what was that commotion upstairs?” She look at Oshawott, “What's this?”

I quickly sum up the situation, “Mom, meet Oshawott, my Pokemon, isn't he cute? Our Pokemon got a little out of hand and they got into a fight. My room looks like a war zone. You'll love it.”

Mom's face lights up at the idea that she has a new housekeeping project, “Really? I can't wait to see it!”

“Have fun, I say, carrying Oshawott out the door.

Needless to say, we spend the next several minutes in my front yard, restraining our Pokemon. Finally, they calm down. The next thing we do, of course, is give them our reprimands.

“Oshawott!” I say firmly, “That was very bad! Bad, bad, bad! From now on, you don't fight unless I tell you to fight! Do you understand me?”

“O... sha...” I thought I was pretty lenient, all things considered, but apparently, Oshawott doesn't think so. He looks like he's about to cry.

Yeah, Oshawott is my Pokemon partner, and we need to keep getting along. I decide to deliver a follow-up statement to cheer him up and hopefully get us back on the right foot, “Hey, Oshawott... I'm not angry. Let's just... just try to be more careful from now on, alright?”

“Sha!” This seems to do the trick. Oshawott dries his eyes, nods, and forces a smile. At the same time, Bianca and Cheren seem to get things back on track with Tepig and Snivy.

We return our Pokemon to their Pokeballs (all that needs to be done is to direct a Pokeball toward its corresponding Pokemon and say, “Return,” “Come back,” or whatever else to that effect. Responding to that voice-activated command, a Pokemon vanishes with a flash of light.) On the back of each one, there is a small magnet which easily attaches to the ones on our belts, and the hold is very strong. It would take quite a bit of tumbling and shaking to force them loose.

“Well, that was fun,” Cheren half-jests.

I roll my eyes, “At least mom won't be bored anytime soon...”

“That was pretty cool, though,” says Bianca, “Um... besides the house almost burning down, that is. They're so small, but so strong. I can't believe they actually belong to us.”

Well, the girl has a point. Our unofficial Pokemon battle was a pretty fun sight. It makes me more excited about what awaits Oshawott and me.

“We're not done yet,” says Cheren, “The letter told us to go to Professor Juniper's lab to get the rest of the equipment we need.”

“Alright,” I say, “Let's go!”

We head to Route 1. There is another trainer waiting there, but since he sees that the three of us are wearing trainer belts with a Pokeball attached to each, he lets us by without offering to escort us. Wow, I might have to get used to this...

We walk up the short road. No wild Pokemon try to ambush us, which is not surprising, as the dark-types usually come out at night, though there have been some times when a dark-type Pokemon called Purrloin, or even its evolved form, Liepard, had appeared during the day, but it's rare.

We enter Accumula Town for the second time today (first being to school) and go to Professor Juniper's lab. At the entryway, where she was waiting for us to arrive, we tell her the story about what happened with our Pokemon. She gets a good laugh out of it, and I point out that she's lucky it happened at my house and that mom would have considered it a blessing if it burned down, since any other parent might have sued.

“Why did you send us our Pokemon and that other stuff in a gift box?” I ask, “We were expecting to get everything here.”

“Because it's your birthday, and I just wanted to show you that I cared,” answers the Professor, with a smile like what a movie star would have.

“Um... thanks?”

“I imagine we'll be getting some empty Pokeballs here,” says Cheren, “Anything else?”

“Follow me,” says Professor Juniper with a motion of her hand as she turns and walks deeper into the building. We follow her to the bustling main area, where other researchers are hard at work at Arceus-knows-what.

Finally, we're brought to a small table in the back. Lined up on it are three red devices with white highlights, folded. On the middle of one of the halves, there is something resembling a camera lens that a cell phone with that function may have, albeit bigger.

The Professor picks up one of the devices and opens it. Besides having a camera lens, it has two screens on each of its halves, kinda like one of those recent handheld video game consoles. To the left of the lower screen, there is a direction pad, and two buttons to its right, one red, one blue. The camera lens are on the other end of the upper screen. Interesting device, overall, though what this has to do with being a Pokemon trainer, I don't know.

The Professor explains, “This is a Pokedex, and I guess you could think of these as a digital 'me.' As you can see, it has a camera function, and it takes perfect shots of whatever you see through it.”

Bianca raises her hand, “How is a camera a... um... 'digital you?'”

Cheren speaks up, “I've heard about the Pokedex, and I believe it offers information about Pokemon, but I never learned how one works.”

“Very good, Cheren,” says Professor Juniper, “Yes, that is what it does, but it can't do much without knowing what you need information on, and that's where the camera part comes in. Whenever you see a Pokemon you don't recognize, or if you see one doing something out of the ordinary, take a picture. Its data will be transferred via satellite to our archives, and whatever you might need to know about it will be sent back to your Pokedex in seconds. You can read the information on the lower screen, and if there is more than one thing to be seen in a picture, you can select it with the directional pad. The red button takes pictures, and the blue one confirms selections. That's about all you need to know.” The Professor hands me the Pokedex, while Bianca and Cheren pick the other two off the table.

“A Pokedex...” says Bianca, looking at her knew device, “This is good. I don't know much about Pokemon...”

“Neither do I,” I admit, “I'm sure it'll come in handy.”

Cheren says, “I don't think I'll need mine quite as much, but there is still much left to learn. You have my gratitude, Professor.”

“Yeah, thanks!” says Bianca and I at the same time.

“Now, for the last thing,” says Professor Juniper. She kneels down and pulls three shoebox-sized containers out from under the table. Since they are made of clear plastic, we can see what's inside them: Pokeballs. Most of them are the standard red-and-white variety, but among them, there are a few blue-and-white Great Balls, and yellow-and-white Ultra Balls, the latter two being more effective at capturing Pokemon than the standard.

We each take a container and load their contents into our respective bags. Each container has five Pokeballs, three Great Balls, and one Ultra Ball.

“This is so great!” says Bianca, “I'm gonna catch every new Pokemon I see!”

Professor Juniper frowns, “I rather you didn't, Bianca.”

Bianca looks surprised at that statement, “What? Why? We're Pokemon trainers! Catching Pokemon is what we do, isn't it?”

“I gave a lecture on this,” says the Professor, “Weren't you here when I did?”

Bianca takes several seconds to search her memory, “I... don't. Maybe I was sick that day?”

The Professor's eyes widen slightly, “Oh wait! You were. Okay, Bianca, I want you to listen carefully. There are three things that humans need Pokemon for. It's the two C's and the R. Say it together, now!”

Throughout our lectures with the professor over the last three years, the Professor constantly reminded us what humans need Pokemon for, and gave it to us, practically as a mantra, which we repeated so many times, we easily know it by heart. Bianca, Cheren, and I recite it in unison: “Companionship! Competition! Research!”

Professor Juniper claps her hands together, “Exactly! Now, capturing several different Pokemon is considered a sign of a trainer's success, but let's look at this from a Pokemon's point-of-view. A Pokemon fights for its own freedom in the wild, but when you do capture one, it sees the potential you represent, and will follow you, as all Pokemon desire strength. However, if you're only capturing Pokemon as status symbols, one becomes nothing more than a creature you took from its home. That said, I want you only to capture Pokemon you need; Pokemon that you know you can't be without, whether it be for companionship or battle, or Pokemon I request for you to capture for my research. You're Pokemon trainers, not Pokemon catchers, and the Pokemon you catch expect you to bring out their power. Don't disappoint them. If you do, you'd best do it a favor and release it. Am I getting through to you, Bianca?”

Bianca looks at the floor and nods, “Yes, Professor. I understand.”

Professor Juniper smiles, “Good. This goes for all three of you. Also, don't be too hasty to start capturing Pokemon. Make sure Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott are well-trained before you add another Pokemon to train. Take everything a step at a time.”

I nod, “Will do, Professor!”

“Understood,” says Cheren.

“Got it!” says Bianca.

“Good!” says Professor Juniper, “The three of you are now certified Pokemon trainers! Make me proud!”


TEAM UPDATE


Okay, I'm sure the "Don't Catch 'em All" part might have been shocking to some, but just seems to make a tad more sense to me, realistically, at least. I mean, if you go for catching all the Pokemon, I'm sure in a lot of cases, that would mean just catching something for its Pokedex description, and then leaving it to rot in a PC box, though I think it's somewhat justified in the games' case, because all Pokemon are capture requests from Professor Oak/Elm/Birch/Rowan/Juniper. Maybe I'm just over-analyzing it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this!

Last edited by Valin on Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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I... I am allowed to add this story to my stalking list? Because it is epic (not to mention Ria has Oshawott <3). I really like your writing style and how you just make images pop up inside my head~ I can't wait for more~ Keep up the epicness~

Now this was quite funny. Making it a chance selection made it more fair and realistic than the whole 'player character chooses first' thing. Oshawott in this was made cute instead of irritating, thank goodness. I hated its cry in the game.

Now, I have to agree with the professor. Pokemon are shown to have emotions and intelligence like smarter animals, meaning it would hurt them if they spent a lot of time in digital form. This is quite unlike the games in which we just catch away.

Ha! I think your opposition to the Gotta Catch 'em all is perfectly rational. Fan-fiction isn't exactly like the games after all: Pokemon are flesh and blood creatures and can't just be shoved into a PC box and forgotten about. I totally agree with you and Secad there. I must say that I'm a little sad that Ria didn't get Tepig as I'm very partial to Emboar, but Samurott is awesome too. Either way, another great chapter <3

This fic is amazing! You pull of present tense so well and I love the minor breaking of the fourth wall in the Prologue. Ria's personality is so amusing to read and I like how she accepted Oshawott right away even though he wasn't her fist choice. Honestly, I thought she was going to end up with Tepig, so that made for a good early twist. 

I agree with Secad and Carmen about the "Gotta Catch 'em all" bit on how it is unrealistic to have all 156 Pokemon (at least in Unova) because of how much maintenance even one is. I noticed some typos here and there such as missing quotations or "on" instead of "one" but those things happen to all of us writers and yours did nothing to detract from the over all story. I will definitely be back for future chapters.

Two days pass.

Since my room is trashed, I decided to put my new privileges as a Pokemon trainer to good use and sleep at Accumula Town's Pokemon Center. A Pokemon Center is a place where trainers take their Pokemon to be healed from battle. Thanks to the technology used by these places, a Pokemon can be completely relieved of whatever pain and wounds it sustained while inside its Pokeball, and come out as good as if there weren't any injuries to begin with. Besides medical treatment for Pokemon, there is some medical service provided for humans as well. Besides that, lodging is provided for trainers, which is what I'm taking advantage of, as well as food and supplies. In other words, it's a trainer's safe haven, and as long as someone has a trainer's card, all the services, except for purchasing supplies, are free. How's that for being spoiled...? Or so I'd say if not for the fact that the lodging is one room filled with small beds, and it's hard to sleep through other people's snoring.

During the days, and well into the evenings, Cheren, Bianca, and I head to Route 1 and head a little ways into the wilderness. The deeper in we go, the more wild Pokemon seem to be willing to attack us, which is just fine, because battle is the best way for Pokemon to become stronger, and every time Oshawott, Tepig, or Snivy steps in to protect us, they seem to fight better and better. The rest of the time, we have our Pokemon spar. It's amazing how rapidly our Pokemon are improving such a short time.

We leave the forest, and get back onto the road between Nuvema and Accumula, with the sun setting behind the horizon.

“Another successful day of training,” I say, “I dunno about you guys, but I'd say Oshawott is just about ready for something real.”

Looking off to the side, Bianca says, “If you think so, Ria, your chance may be on its way...”

“Hm?” Headed down the from Accumula Town road is a person. It's a little hard to tell his or her features, due to the distance between us, but s/he is alone, on Route 1, without an escort, which is proof enough that whoever it is, s/he is a Pokemon trainer.

I smile, “Maybe, Bianca.”

The trainer finally comes into view: a fairly plain-looking brown haired boy, probably around our ages, in a blue shirt, orange vest, and gray jeans. Attached to his belt are six Pokeballs. Okay, I think, So he caught a lot of Pokemon. No big deal.

I step forward with Cheren and Bianca looking on, “Hey. I recently became a trainer, and I'm looking for a battle. Care for a match?”

The trainer pauses, and then answers with a shake of his head, “No.”

“What's the matter?” I ask, “Are you afraid of you losing to me?”

The guy grins, “No, I'm afraid of you losing to me!” He tosses one of his Pokeballs toward the water nearby, looking out at Unova proper, and a giant blue jellyfish-like Pokemon appears. He jumps on the Pokemon's head and rides it away.

Cheren steps forward, “I imagine he was right, Ria. You probably would have lost.”

I almost gasp. Shouldn't friends be supportive at times like there? “Just whose side are you on, Cheren?”

“Did you look closely at his vest?” asks Cheren.

“His vest?” I ask.

“There were nine pins attached to it.”

“Ah!” I stop short, since I have a pretty good idea of what Cheren is getting at. How could I make a mistake like that?

“Gym Badges... and the Pokemon League badge.”

“I know what Gym Badges are,” says Bianca, “But... the Pokemon League badge?” It makes sense that she hadn't studied too much into the structure of the Pokemon League, an organization which oversees all the Pokemon trainer-related activity in a region, as well as consisting of its strongest trainers. She never really discussed, at least with me, what she plans to do with her status as a trainer. As far as I could tell, she wanted to become a trainer to help Cheren and I become trainers, since a study group of three is required, and maybe use that benefit to capture some cute Pokemon.

Cheren pauses, probably trying to decide where to begin his obligatory explanation to Bianca. Even among non-trainers, the fact that Pokemon trainers challenge Pokemon gyms and win badges to test their expertise is a well-known concept, but the path that lies beyond that gets a tad more complicated, and really, I don't fully understand it myself. I decided to take things a step at a time, and deal with it if the time comes, but I am still interested in what he has to say.

Finally, Cheren begins his lecture, “Bianca, after a trainer wins at least eight badges, they can challenge the Pokemon League. However, the way in which it can be challenged differs in two different ways. The ultimate goal in either scenario is to defeat the Champion and claim the title for oneself. Now, there is the first way, which is considered the 'longer, but easier, way,” where a challenger battles a member of the Elite Four. Supposedly, the Elite Four member holds back for the challenger's sake, like the Gym Leaders, but still provides a very harsh challenge. However, if the challenger loses, he can just train, and challenge him or her again until winning. When that happens, the trainer is granted the Pokemon League badge, which makes him or her eligible to compete in the Unova Championship Tournament, which happens at the turn of a decade, where the Champion, the Elite Four, Gym Leaders, if they so choose, and all the eligible trainers, compete, and the winner is crowned the new Champion.”

I roll my eyes, “It's hard to believe that guy who just came by managed to defeat Marshal...”

Cheren pushes his glasses closer to his face, “Marshal isn't the only member of the Elite Four, Ria... but you may possibly be right.”

“What's the other way?” asks Bianca.

Cheren resumes his explanation, “That would be the 'shorter, but harsher, way.' In that scenario, a trainer challenges the entire upper echelon of the Pokemon League. He or she would have to challenge all the members of the Elite Four, none of whom will hold back for the trainer's benefit, and then challenge the Champion. If the challenger loses at any part of that process, he or she is forbidden from ever challenging the Pokemon League again until after the next Tournament. If the challenger wins, unlikely as it is, however, he or she will become the new Champion. The former Champion is still able to compete in the next Tournament to regain the title, however.”

Judging by how much more bitter Cheren sounded when describing the 'shorter, but harsher, way,' I have a pretty good guess on which path he plans to take if he gets that far, and I can't really blame him. Compared to path A, path B sounds downright unfair, even if it is the faster way of claiming the title of Champion.

“I see,” says Bianca.

Cheren turns back to me, “That said, Ria, do you still think you would have won a battle with him?”

I can't help but feel Cheren is rubbing that fact in my face, but he's right, as usual. I doubt I would've beaten a guy who managed to beat Marshal, or whoever, though it makes me wonder how many more trainers out there are like him...

I say, “I guess I'd better pay more attention to how many badges people are wearing...”

Cheren smiles slightly, “Good plan. However, if you happen to be looking for an opponent, Ria, how about me?”

I stare at Cheren, “Cheren?”

“Snivy has trained hard, and I think it's time to see if it has paid off, plus, I wish to test my wits against another human.”

I offer a smile of my own, “Likewise, for me, replacing the 'Snivy' part with 'Oshawott.' Okay, Cheren. Let's do this!”

To stay out of the way of passersby, Cheren, Bianca, and I head back into the now-dimly lit forest. We head to an area not far off from the road, where the trees aren't as dense.

Cheren and I stand about thirty feet apart, while Bianca watches on. We release Oshawott and Snivy from their Pokeballs.”

“Alright, Oshawott,” I say, “We've trained and trained, and now it's time to see if it's paid off. This is our first real battle!”

“Osha!” responds the Sea Otter, glancing back at me.

“This isn't a sparring match this time,” Cheren tells Snivy, “This is a battle, the first of many to come.”

“Sssni.”

“Remember, Snivy... Oshawott is a water-type, and grass-types have the advantage.”

I flinch. Oh crap! Grass-types do have an advantage over water-types, don't they?

Oshawott glances back at me, looking worried, “Sha...”

I shut down my worries over the type disadvantage hard. This is our first real battle, and I can't let myself be pessimistic. I should also try to reassure Oshawott that everything will be fine, “Meh. Advantage, schmadvantage. That doesn't mean we're gonna lose this battle. It just means we gotta work harder to win, right?”

Oshawott smiles, “Oshawott!”

“If you two are ready,” says Cheren, “let us begin.”

“Good luck!” calls out Bianca.

Cheren extends his arm, “Snivy! Attack!”

“Let's do this, Oshawott!” I shout.

The Sea Otter and Grass Snake charge at one another. They then perform a series of dodges and attempts to body slam the other, though neither side gets a hit in. In a Pokemon battle, the Pokemon typically act on their own, unless their trainers want them to do otherwise. The trainers play the roles of adviser, strategist, and... well, cheerleader, as they give specific commands or simply try to encourage their Pokemon.

After several seconds of Tackle attacks not getting anywhere, Cheren is the first who decides to up the ante, “End this quickly, Snivy! Vine Whip!”

Like in the bedroom brawl, Snivy's tail extends by about fifteen feet, and it lashes it in Oshawott's direction. The water-type just barely ducks under a horizontal swing of the tail.

Snivy is starting to use its power as a grass-type, and if that tail connects, Oshawott will get hurt badly. “Oshawott!” I call out, “Focus on defense! Watch the tail and dodge accordingly!”

“Sha!” calls out Oshawott as it narrowly retreats out of the range of a vertical lash from Snivy.

Snivy attacks two more times, with Oshawott acrobatically leaping over one attack and sidestepping the other.

No good. If we don't fight back, it's only a matter of time until Snivy gets in a lucky shot.

“Oshawott!” I call out, “Keep your eye on the tail, but counterattack with Water Gun when you can!”

Snivy delivers another horizontal swing, which Oshawott dives under. As the Sea Otter gets up, he spits a mouthful of water at Snivy. The attack hits, but Snivy seems barely affected by it.

“That won't do you much good,” says Cheren, “A weak weak water-type attack like that won't do much to a grass-type... Still... Snivy, keep your distance. Don't let Oshawott wear you down!”

“Ssni!” Snivy leaps back several feet, outside of the range of Oshawott's Water Gun attack, which is about thirteen feet.

With Oshawott no longer able to counterattack, we're on the defensive again. However, Oshawott seems to catch on to Snivy's pattern as it keeps the momentum going with its Vine Whip attacks by alternating between horizontal and vertical lashes. Oshawott leaps over a horizontal attack, and then sidesteps a vertical attack. Just as the tail hits the ground, however, Oshawott jumps on Snivy's tail, immobilizing it.

“What?” exclaims Cheren.

I grin, “All right, Oshawott! Keep the tail weighed down and use Tackle!”

“Shaaaaaaa!” Oshawott, dashing along the bridge of Snivy's elongated tail, charges straight at the grass-type.

“Snivy!” yells Cheren, “Disengage Vine Whip and counter with Tackle!”

Snivy's tail begins to shorten back to its original length, slipping out from under Oshawott, though not slowing him down, and Snivy charges. However, the Sea Otter had gathered much more momentum, and his Tackle attack easily overpowers Snivy's when they clash. Snivy is sent reeling back against the trunk of a tree.

“Awesome work, Oshawott!” I say, “Now, attack!”

Oshawott does something I had never seen him do. He pulls the scallop from his chest, and holds it out. A blue aura envelops it, and he charges at Snivy, like he's poised to strike with the shell.

I pull out my Pokedex and take a picture of Oshawott. A second later, the data from the picture gives two results on the lower screen: “Pokemon: Oshawott,” of course, because it's a picture of Oshawott, and “Technique: Razor Shell.” Razor Shell? That's the attack Oshawott is performing? I select “Technique: Razor Shell,” to get more info on it, and just read the first line of the explanation, saying it's a water-type attack. Well, we'll see how this goes, at least...

With Snivy stunned, it's wide open when Oshawott delivers a slash with its shell.

“Sniiii!” Snivy cries out. Well, it may have been a water-type attack, but it seemed powerful enough on Snivy. I tuck the name, Razor Shell, into my mind for future use, because it looks like a pretty good move.

“Good, Oshawott!” I call out, “Slash it again!”

“Snivy! Take evasive action!” commands Cheren.

Snivy ducks under Oshawott's attack, coils its body around the tree, and rapidly spirals up it, finally stopping and taking a perch on a branch, about sixteen feet off the ground, which is out of the range anything I know Oshawott can perform, but also out of the range of Snivy's Vine Whip.

“Don't worry,” I tell Oshawott, “It's too high up to get you with Vine Whip. We've got him trapped!”

“Gr...” Cheren lets out a frustrated sound. I'm sure he didn't think the battle would come to this.

However, Snivy suddenly does something I'd never seen it do in sparring. The leaves at the tip of its tail detach, more grow in their place instantly, and then detach too, and more and more until there are whirling around it like a miniature tornado. The leaves, one by one, shoot down in Oshawott's direction. They're just leaves, from what I'm seeing, but Snivy obviously means this as an attack, so I don't write it off as some dumb trick, “Watch out, Oshawott!”

Oshawott retreats back several feet, narrowly dodging the leaves, which wedge themselves in the ground. I ready my Pokedex again, and take a shot of Snivy doing its attack, as is Cheren, who, needless to say, looks a lot more thrilled about this new move than I am.

Two selections pop up: “Pokemon: Snivy,” obviously, and “Technique: Leaf Tornado.” I access “Technique: Leaf Tornado.” The brief description that appears says that it's a grass-type attack where a Pokemon attacks its opponent with a flurry of stiff leaves with acute edges, which can be used for both defensive and offensive purposes.

Meanwhile, Oshawott is on the run, as the onslaught of leaves becomes more relentless. I can tell he can't just keep running before the attack gets him.

“Oshawott!” I call out, “If you have to, defend yourself with Razor Shell!” Razor Shell is a weapon, separate from Oshawott's body, so hopefully it can be used for defense too.

Oshawott manages to deflect a leaf with its shell, but there's no way he can guard against all of them. He manages to deflect a couple more, until one leaf finally cuts through him, and then a couple more.

“Oshaaaaa!” cries Oshawott. Steam rises from the places where he was cut. I utilize my Pokedex, which comes up with the obvious results of Oshawott and Razor Shell, which is still drawn, but also  “Misc.: Weakness.” It says that when a Pokemon takes damage from an attack which they are weak again, there is a burning effect.

“Oshawott!” I call out.

Ohsawott glances back at me, looking determined. He's still standing, but not looking too good...

“Good work, Snivy,” says Cheren with a reassured smirk, “Finish it with another Leaf Tornado attack!”

“Sssnivy!” Snivy starts up its attack again. At the same time, however, the blue aura around Oshawott's shell begins to take some sort of shape. It extends outward, and then takes on a solid, flat, crystalline, triangular shape, making it look like... a sword?

I take a forth picture with my Pokedex, which comes up with Oshawott, Razor Shell, and “Ability: Torrent.” Apparently, Torrent is an ability some water-types have, where, after they are severely weakened, with sheer determination to win a battle, they use their willpower to bring their water-type techniques past their normal limits.

The swords Oshawott is holding is almost four feet long, larger than its own wielder, and even though it being used by a cute little otter Pokemon, it still looks very dangerous. I have a feeling we still might be able to pull this one off!

“Alright, Oshawott,” I say, “Get Snivy down here and finish this!”

“End this now, Snivy!” commands Cheren, whose smirk had just disappeared.

Snivy's leaves fly, but this time, instead of running away, Oshawott charges straight into the storm, cutting through the leaves with his blade, finally reaching the tree, and slicing through the trunk with a single slice. What else to say from there except 'Timber!'

The tree goes down, with Snivy tumbling from its perch.

Snivy gets back to its feet, and the two Pokemon face off. I can tell that it's come down to the finale.

Oshawott prepares to charge, while Snivy encircles more leaves around it, probably to defend itself from whatever the Sea Otter will try.

Since I'm a lot taller than Snivy, I manage to see an opening in its barrier, that something of  Oshawott's height probably can't, “Oshawott! Get above it! The leaves are only protecting its sides!”

Oshawott charges, but then leaps several feet into the air. Snivy attempts to counter by launching the leaves, which Oshawott manages to cut through. He comes down into the center of the tornado surrounding Snivy. From there, it's hard to tell what's going on, as the leaves converge on both of them. Oshawott probably got in a good hit, but so did Snivy.

Finally, the leaves flutter to the ground, and speaking of the ground, both Oshawott and Snivy are down on it. Both attempt to get back to their feet, but their strength gives out, and they collapse.

“Oshawott!” I yell. The Sea Otter is covered all over by steaming gashes.

“Snivy!” exclaims Cheren. Snivy has a large cut, oozing water, across its back.

“It's a draw?” says Bianca.

“Sha...” groans Oshawott.

“Don't worry,” I try to reassure Oshawott, “You knocked out Snivy, and that's 'win' enough for me.”

Oshawott manages a weak smile in response.

“Take a good rest, and I'll get you to the Center where you'll be back to 100% before you know it...” I hold out Oshawott's Pokeball, “Return.” With a flash of light, Oshawott vanishes, returning to his capsule.

Cheren pauses for several seconds, seemingly in thought, before saying, “Excellent work, Snivy. I will get you fixed up soon. Return.” He holds out his Pokeball and Snivy vanishes.

---

We take Oshawott and Snivy to the Pokemon Center, so they can be restored back to full health. It's actually a very quick process, but there are only so many machines, and trainers constantly come in after battles to get their Pokemon recovered, so its usually a long wait until it's our Pokemon's turn. We were given an estimation of one hour before Oshawott and Snivy are recovered, so all there is to do now is wait.

Cheren tells me that he wants to talk to me about something, but wants to do it at Route 1, and also asks Bianca to come along as an escort, since she's the only one among us who has a Pokemon that is in fighting condition, in case some dark-types decide to come out.

We head back to Route 1, and head to the waterside. Nighttime is in full swing right now, and its actually a really beautiful sight, as it looks out to the Unova mainland (Accumula Town, and the nearby places are located on a peninsula in a fairly remote corner of the region, separated from the rest by a mountain range to the north and a river to the west) where we have a great sight of Castelia City, a port city, which is the capital of Unova, as well as it's largest city. The city, as well as the bridge that connects the peninsula and mainland nearby, and some cruise ships on the water, are lit up by lights. The fact that it's a full moon night also helps.

We aren't the only ones here, as there are some couples around us looking out at the big city too. I'll admit that it's pretty romantic. If I didn't know Cheren as well as I do, and if Bianca wasn't with us, I'd say he'd pick this location to confess his love, or something, but I know for a fact that is not his intention, because he's not that kinda guy, and even if he were, he'd probably pick someone more Bianca's type, since sporty girls like me aren't exactly Miss Unova material...

“So, what do you wanna talk about?” I ask, then jokingly add, “Finally saw me as a stunningly beautiful young woman and wanted to tell me something?”

“Of course not,” says Cheren, without even a laugh or stutter. Ouch. So much for my self-esteem as a woman, “Ria... now that you are a Pokemon trainer, what are your plans? Your ambitions?”

I take a moment to think about that, “... I dunno. I want to at least become a decent trainer, so I was thinking of hanging out for the summer with you two, strengthening up Oshawott and maybe catching a couple Pokemon, train them too, and then, after we graduate, test how good I am by traveling and taking on Gyms, and stuff. Maybe get a job as an escort somewhere, making some extra cash with recreational battles.”

“Have you ever thought of challenging the Pokemon League?” asks Cheren, looking out at Castelia City, “I have a feeling you may have a shot.”

This brings me up short, “The... Pokemon League? Are you serious, Cheren? IIRC, that's your goal as a trainer.”

“That doesn't mean you can't try too. Has the thought even crossed your mind, Ria?”

I wonder about that. Has it? I don't think my ambitions have never gotten that high... or maybe, I never let them get that high. Cheren had been studying to be a powerful trainer ever since I'd known him, and I'd felt that if anyone deserved to be a Pokemon League-level trainer, it's him, so now that he's talking me up, I wonder if there's some truth in what he's saying...

“Thanks for the thought,” I say humbly, “but unlike you, my nose hasn't been in a book my whole life.”

Cheren glances back at me, “You're right, Ria. I have been studying to be a great trainer, but not all great trainers have been... 'bookworms,' you know? Some just have natural talent, and after our battle, I think you might too.”

“I didn't win,” I say.

“You didn't lose, either,” says Cheren, “To be honest, I thought I was going to win that battle by much more. I had the knowledge that Oshawott had a disadvantage against grass-types and I am well-versed in battle tactics, and yet, our battle ended in a draw. Why do you think that is?”

I shrug, “You got me there. Are you saying I have that 'natural talent' thing? Is that where you're going with this? I just told Oshawott to do what I thought was best. Nothing special about that.”

“I don't know,” responds Cheren, “but we won't know unless you test your skills.”

“So, what are you thinking?” I ask.

“I was intending to travel Unova over the summer, train Snivy, catch more Pokemon, challenge Gyms, and maybe even the Pokemon League. I think you should too. You didn't have any other plans, did you?”

“Well, no...” I answer, “and if you're going, I guess I'm down a training partner, huh?”

“Will you, then?” asks Cheren hopefully.

I shrug, “Sure. What the heck? If you think I'm such a prodigy, or whatever, I guess there's only one way to find out.”

“Good,” says Cheren, “but I'm far from calling you a prodigy, Ria. I just think you might have what it takes to make it reasonably far as a trainer.”

“But are you sure?” I ask, “I mean, you wanna be Champion, right? If you think I have so much potential, wouldn't I kinda be an obstacle?”

“That's what I'm hoping,” says Cheren, with a glint in his eye, “I can't rightly be a Champion, unless I can overcome the best. I was hoping to find a rival to keep me motivated to train as hard as possible... I just didn't think I'd find one so soon.”

I roll my eyes, “So, I'm your motivational tool, then? Whatever. I'll make you my motivation tool in return, and beat you so bad, you'll cry. How does that sound?”

“So you're leaving?” says Bianca for the first time since we got to the waterside, “I'll miss you.”

“Nothing's keeping you from coming too,” says Cheren, “You've trained just as hard as us. Who knows? You may be great trainer material too.”

“Don't know unless you try,” I add.

Bianca pause, then says, “I... I'd like to, but... my dad...”

I can see what Bianca is trying to say. Her dad's a good man, but he's really protective of her. He actually opposed Bianca from taking the trainer's test with Cheren and I, since trainers get exposed to the danger wild Pokemon present on a regular basis. He finally relented when Professor Juniper explained to him  that no harm would automatically come of Bianca being a trainer, and having a Pokemon would be beneficial if a wild Pokemon were to attack he if there were no escort around (the fact that he has a bit of a weakness around beautiful women, or so I'd observed, might have also been a factor.) However, the wild Pokemon on Unova peninsula are very tame, aside from the occasional Purrloin or Liepard, but on Unova proper, it's a different story, and I know for a fact he wouldn't want Bianca going anywhere near there. How he can be talked out of that one, I dunno.

“That could be a problem,” agrees Cheren, “Well, just talk to him, and try to reason with him. That's all I can say...”

Bianca takes a sudden interest in the grass, “I guess...”

Cheren explains, “I am going to gather supplies for my journey tomorrow, and set out the day after. Ria, you should do the same.”

“Will do,” I respond.

We return to the Pokemon Center, picking up the newly revitalized Oshawott and Snivy, and Bianca and Cheren leave for Nuvema Town, while I use the lodging at the Center, since my room is probably still uninhabitable.

Well, I hope you found this to be as enjoyable as the previous installments. Yeah, in this story, trainers don't dictate their Pokemon's every last move (like with not capturing all Pokemon, it makes more sense to me, since I imagine the other side can also hear a trainer's commands, and I don't think anyone could possibly look cool saying, "Charmander! Leer at the opponent until he drops his guard a little!"). I also hope the explanation of the Pokemon League was also acceptable. At any rate, I hope you liked this.

Last edited by Valin on Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

Lol, Smugleaf.

W00t, I get to post before everyone else again. I really liked reading the battle between Ria and Cheren. I thought it was the perfect balance with not having too much description (which slows the pace) and not having enough, so very well done. Your explanation of the Pokemon League was also great and now I'm curious as to how Ria will make her next decision. Another excellent chapter <3

And just because I'm curious, how long have you been writing?

I love this! The way you imagine Pokemon is amazing, and the way you write about it is awesome!

I really like the way you described the Pokemon League, I never thought of it that way. I agree with you on the capturing every Pokemon you see, they are living creatures after all.

You are an amazing writer and I'm looking forward to reading more of this

I have a quick confession. I thought you were writing Smugleaf on purpose before I realized the forums where changing every instance of Sniv.y into Smugleaf as a part of the April Fools joke. I thought Cheren had nicknamed his Sniv.y and wondered why no one in the story commented lol.

And just because I'm curious, how long have you been writing?

Good question.
I guess it would have to be a year or two after Pokemon was introduced to the US, which is to say, about 8 or 9 years. The reason I'm using that as a measurement for my time as a writer was because my first attempt at writing was a Pokemon story (though the term, "fanfiction" wasn't in my vocabulary at the time). It was about these three trainers, who each started with an Eevee, soon evolving them into each of their evolutions (when there were only three of them), and they went around collecting badges, later finding out they were estranged brothers, and so on. It was pretty terrible in hindsight. I eventually got bored of it and stopped.

From there, I wrote a bunch of original fiction. Now, before I continue, I must say I wasn't much of a reader for most of my life, so the progress of my writing skills were mostly trial and error.

For a long time, I wrote stuff in "play form," but when I took a creative writing class in college, that changed.

Since my job allows me to listen to my MP3 player while I work, I listened to audiobooks, and got a better handle on writing.

I got into fanfiction back when I was really big into the Touhou Project series of games, where I actually did a few plot reinterpretations for those (actually, you can find some of them here: http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Fiction_by_Valesta).

Right now, I'm working on two stories: this, and an original story called Vampiric Crusade. Actually, first-person stories, told from a somewhat sarcastic and personal viewpoint have kinda been my trademark nowadays.

Last edited by Valin on Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

You continue to amaze me Valin. I'm enjoying how your fanfic follows the game's story line, but so loosely and with your own original rules for the world that it still feels like a 100% original work. It's pretty obvious you've been at the writing hobby at a while because this flows so well. There is almost a professional feeling to it.

I have a quick confession. I thought you were writing Smugleaf on purpose before I realized the forums where changing every instance of Sniv.y into Smugleaf as a part of the April Fools joke. I thought Cheren had nicknamed his Sniv.y and wondered why no one in the story commented lol.

I know, that threw me off too. I thought Smugleaf was intentional but contrary to Cheren's personality since he doesn't seem like the nicknaming type to me. Then when Smugleaf became so overused I figured it out.

Yes! Finally, this stereotypical 'loves-to-clean' mother isn't the one to sort out the destruction. As for the lodging, I expected that. XD What's the cheapest, easiest way to give everyone a place to sleep that is easy to clean? Shove them all in one room!

The next day, first thing in the morning, I head down to Nuvema. I need to talk to mom about my newly-crafted summer plans.

I enter my house and, upon seeing that mom's not in the kitchen, or anywhere on the first floor, I head upstairs, and to my room. I enter it, expecting to see it look better than it was when I left it, and instead... it looks worse. Much worse. The bed, walls, and other furniture are scratched up, charred, and so on. I'm kicking myself over calling the place a war zone before, because after seeing this, I now know I had no idea what I was talking about. Mom and Minccino are hard at work dusting the place when I come in, as if the dust is the biggest concern at the moment.

“What the heck happened?” I ask, aghast.

Mom smiles sweetly, “Oh! Ria! The old mess was too easy to clean, so me and the girls had a little Pokemon battle in here, and now, it looks like a challenge. Minccino and I are having a lot of fun cleaning it, aren't we Minccino?”

“Min!”

I cover my face with my hand. Why didn't you just burn the place down while you were at it, mom?

I finally manage to form words, “Um... well, it's a good thing I won't have to, y'know, sleep in here anytime soon. Tomorrow, I'm heading out for the summer on a Pokemon journey with Cheren, and maybe Bianca, so you can take your time, alright?”

Mom puts down her feather duster and approaches me, “A Pokemon journey? I see. Going to see how far you and Oshawott can go?”

I nod, “You know it.”

“I 'm glad you're looking for something to do with your life,” says mom, “but remember that wild Pokemon on Unova proper are very dangerous. Please be very careful.”

“No worries,” I reassure mom, “Oshawott is really tough, and we won't lose easily, plus we'll train hard everyday and I will catch more Pokemon to protect me. Nothing to worry about.”

Mom nods, “Okay. I'm sure your father will be happy to know about this...” She pauses, “Speaking of your father, since he's been making a lot of money from his escort job in Kanto, I'd been saving up what we don't need for an emergency. I want you to have it.”

“Really?” Sweet deal!

We head downstairs, and mom goes to her work desk and pulls a red and white slip of paper from one of the drawers. It's marked with the words, “Region of Unova: 5,000 credits.”

My eyes widen at the five and all those zeroes, “5,000 credits? Are you sure about this, mom?”

Mom nods, “Yes. I'm sure it will last you for most of the summer. You need food and healing supplies for the road. It should help.”

I take the slip, “Thank you, mom. Thank you so much.”

Mom smiles, “Good luck out there, and remember that you always have a home here.”

A home, maybe, but not a place to sleep, I think, but wisely keep it to myself. I give mom a hug, and say, “Thanks again, mom. Well, I'm heading out. Take care, alright?”

“You too, Ria. You'll have your Xtransceiver with you, right? We'll keep in touch.”

“Totally!” I say as I head to the door, probably not to go through it again for the next several months.

---

As I head to Route 1, I see Cheren heading that way as well, “Hey! Cheren!”

“Hello, Ria.”

I explain to Cheren about the money I got from mom. I then tell him that I need supplies, but I'm not sure what to get.

“I'm well aware of what we need,” says Cheren, “Let's go to the Pokemon Center and stock up.”

We head up Route 1 to Accumula Town. As we approach the Pokemon Center, however, we notice a large group gathered in front of it. Something's going on.

Curious to see what's up, Cheren and I maneuver our way around the crowd until we can see what everyone is focused on: a man, probably in his late fifties, with long green hair, and dressed in an ornate blue and gold robe and wearing a red-lensed monocle. Not ordinary attire, but it's nothing compared to the eight guys lined up in a row behind him. They, on the other hand, have clothes that makes me question my grip on reality. They are dressed up as... knights? Maybe crusaders (Templar? Paladins? I dunno): a warrior class that existed thousands and thousands, and even more thousands of years ago, when humans and Pokemon lived separately, humans had a whole bunch of wars over crap that didn't really matter, like invisible lines between regions, and the world was generally a big mess, or so I managed to summarize from history class. They are the whole package: chainmail, gauntlets, greaves, and white armor. Seeing as it's the summertime and almost 80 degrees out, aren't they sweating in that stuff? Two of the “knights,” the ones on the ends of the row behind the man, are holding blue and black banners with a zigzag pattern and the letter “P” on them. Just what the heck am I looking at?

Apparently, Cheren agrees with me, “Strange choice of clothes, though I'll admit that it grabs a crowd's attention...”

The old guy at the head of the squad of “knights” starts to speak, “Greetings everyone. My name is Ghetsis, and I am here representing Team Plasma,” He gestures to the armored fellas behind him. 'Team Plasma,' huh? At least I now know what the 'P' on those banners stands for... “Today, I am going to talk about the connection between human and Pokemon...”

So, he's going to lecture us about the bond that humans and Pokemon have? Still, that doesn't really explain the armor getups, and no, I'm not gonna get over that!

Ghetsis speaks, “Since time immemorial, humans and Pokemon have lived side-by-side. We believe Pokemon are our friends and partners; that we need one another, and cannot be without them. However, belief and truth are two vastly different concepts. We believe Pokemon are our special and important partners, but is that the truth? Is it true that we, as humans, need Pokemon?”

Several people in the crowd gasp, or frantically chat amongst themselves, and it isn't hard to see why. From how this 'Ghetsis' dude started the speech, I thought it was going to be one of those things we've been told at least a hundred-million times about how Pokemon and humans need each other. This is shaping up to be the exact opposite.

Ghetsis continues his speech, “We have grown up with Pokemon being subject to the desires of mankind, and we feel that is the way the world works, but Pokemon are intelligent creatures, who, like humans, have emotions, and have any of us wondered how they feel about the current order of things? We command them to do work for us; we have them battle for our sakes, whether it be for money or glory. Can any of you say with certainty that humans and Pokemon are equals? One cannot deny that many Pokemon are denied their personal rights, and live life under the whims of their human masters. Pokemon are creatures with potential, which they will never reach, having to rely on humans, and what about humans? Do you think we're living up to our own potential relying on Pokemon to do our work?”

More commotion. I hate hearing this and I want to walk away and block it out, but at the same time, I can't.

Ghetsis spreads his arms, “With civilization only becoming greater and greater, and a long-time absence of human conflict, we may believe this world is near perfection, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Only when there is equality among all creatures can such a belief even be considered. What I am proposing to all of you, and even the world as a whole, is Pokemon Liberation: the release of Pokemon and the return to the world's natural order. I know my words may be difficult to take. After all, the current order has been around for a long time, and is so monolithic, we believe it's the way things should be, but don't deceive yourselves any longer...”

The commotion continues, and I don't know how much more of this I can stand. I have a feeling this is going to stick with me well past today.

“Pokemon have potential and we humans can learn from them, but only when there is equality among us all...” Ghetsis gestures toward the knights behind him, and they assume a sideways position, away from the crowd and facing out toward the road beyond. He gives an expression that resembles a sad smile, which almost makes me feel bad, as if what we're doing with Pokemon somehow hurts him personally, “I will leave you to return to your daily lives, but I have a request for you all: consider my words, our relationship with the Pokemon, and what you believe what humanity's responsibility is toward them, as well as itself. I thank you all for your time.” With that, Ghetsis walks away, followed by the white knights. Well, that turned out different than what it seemed to be leading up to, and those guys had a lot of brass for preaching that in front of a Pokemon Center, where there are mostly trainers.

What follows is almost eerie. Several trainers in the crowd take a Pokeball from their belt, and stare at them contemplatively, as if to say, “... Should I? I don't want to, but...”

“Cheren?” I say, wondering what his take on the whole lecture was.

Cheren responds after some pause, “I'll admit that what that man said may be troubling, and it may even be something worth thinking about, but it will change nothing. This 'Team Plasma' is challenging several millennia worth of tradition. Mere words will not change the world.”

“... You may be right,” says a voice nearby with a touch of reservation. We turn to see its owner: a tall young man, probably about 19, with long green hair, and wearing clothes, such as a baseball cap, and a loose t-shirt over a tighter shirt. His attire's color scheme is completely monochrome, with the looser shirt being white, while the one underneath is black, the hat is black, with a gray visor, and his pants are also gray.

Next to the guy is a cat-like Pokemon with purple fur with white highlights, and neon-green eyes. I don't need my Pokedex to know what it is, since I'd seen escorts fend them off for years: It's a Purrloin, a dark-type Pokemon, that usually comes out at night and tries to attack people who don't have Pokemon to protect them. Of course, since this one is with a trainer, it's pretty much harmless, at least until instructed otherwise... or so I think the green-haired guy's a trainer...

The guy continues, “Pokemon have been used by humans for too long. Talking cannot change that.”

“Whoa, slow down there,” I say, “You're talking a little too fast.”

The stranger take a moment to collect himself. I guess he doesn't talk with people too often. I knew a few people like that from school, who get along well with Pokemon, but have a much harder time associating with other human beings. They can be a little weird sometimes, but they're not bad.

“Sorry,” says the guy, “I haven't introduced myself. My name is N.”

“N?” Oh yeah, like that's not a weird name, but with someone telling me and everyone else that the social order we'd grown up being corrupt and wrong, today is shaping up to be weird in general, so whatever.

Cheren introduces himself, “My name is Cheren.”

“Ria,” I say.

“Cheren... Ria...” confirms N, “Are you two Pokemon trainers?”

I pat Oshawott's Pokeball on my belt, “Do you have to ask?”

“We'd recently became trainers,” explains Cheren.

“I too have recently become a Pokemon trainer,” says N with a measured voice, “I am planning to win my first badge at Striaton Gym...”

Cheren looks surprised, “There's a Pokemon Gym in Striaton City?”

N nods, “Yes, it had just recently opened. As I was saying, however, even though I am a trainer, I wonder if Pokemon are truly happy with the way things are right now. Tell me, what are your goals as trainers.”

“I'm aiming to become Champion,” says Cheren.

“Likewise,” I say, “... or something like that. It seems as good a goal as any...”

“I see,” says N, “so, you will take Pokemon from their homes in the wilderness, and keep them inside those tiny balls to that end?”

“That's an ugly way of putting it,” I say, “But yeah. That's kinda what Pokemon trainers do. I mean, Pokemon willingly follow trainers after being captured, so I don't see what the problem is.”

N pauses for a few seconds, “Ria, was it? If you don't mind, I would like to have a Pokemon battle with you.”

“What?” I say, “Um... That came outta nowhere. Care to explain?”

N smiles, and there's something about that smile I can't put my finger on. It's like there's something... missing. It feels... blank, for lack of a better term, “Pokemon trainers tend to test their Pokemon against one another, am I not correct? I thought it was something you would know full well.”

I sigh. Yeah, he's right. Why the heck did I even bother to ask? “Alright, 'N,' or whatever your name is. You got yourself a battle!”

N holds that weird smile of his, and I want it to stop, “Very good. However, I need to know if my friend is willing to accept the challenge. May I ask for a second of your time?” He kneels down to Purrloin's level, “Purrloin... I have a favor to ask of you. Would you mind having a quick struggle with whichever Pokemon this girl has?”

Cheren whispers, “He's asking his Pokemon for permission to battle? There is something off about this guy...”

I whisper back, “There was something off about him from the start.”

“Pur!” responds Purrloin to N's question.

N stands up, “Purrloin accepts.” Something else weird had happened: Humans don't understand Pokemon words, but they usually give some sort of body language to illustrate what they're saying. However, Purrloin didn't nod, or anything, and N seemed to understand it. Just what the heck is this guy?

The crowd is starting to disperse. I grab Oshawott's Pokeball from my belt and walk a few paces away from N. The fact that I'm holding a Pokeball in a public place is a clear sign to most that as battle is about to start, so anyone nearby should keep their distance, or leave altogether if they don't want to watch.

“Go! Oshawott!” Normally, trainers toss their Pokeballs in the field at the same time at the start of a battle, but in this case, I'm the only one tossing a Pokeball, while Purrloin steps into the area designated for the battle, with Cheren and a bunch of passersby watching on.

Oshawott and Purrloin slowly circle each other, facing off. Finally, Oshawott is the one to launch the first move, leading with a Tackle attack. While Oshawott is pretty quick, however, Purrloin is a lot faster, and is onto the Sea Otter in less than a second and delivers a Scratch attack, then retreats before Oshawott can counterattack.

That cat's speed can be a problem, but Oshawott doesn't seem to be hurting too much from that attack, and seems good to go for a few more rounds.

“Razor Shell!” I command. Oshawott draws its scallop.

Purrloin leaps toward Oshawott again, this time delivering a quick succession of scratches. My Pokedex tells me that attack is called Fury Swipes. However, Oshawott, whose reflexes had already gotten adjusted to Purrloin's agility, manages to swiftly evade most of the attacks, and delivers a powerful and direct counterattack with Razor Shell.

Purrloin staggers back, and it must be pretty fragile, as it seems to be wearing down already.

“Awesome work, Oshawott!” I say.

“Wott osha oshawott!” exclaims Oshawott.

N raises an quizzical eyebrow, “What? That cannot be right.” I realize it's the first time he'd spoken since the battle began.

“Er... What's not right?” I ask.

“You don't know?” asks N.

“Um... Is there something I'm supposed to know?”

“Can't you hear your Pokemon's words?”

I shrug, “Yeah. I did. He said,” I mimic Oshawott's voice the best I can, “'Wott osha oshawott.'”

N shakes his head, “I see. So you can't hear your Pokemon either. How unfortunate...”

I stare at N, not knowing what to make of this guy, “Dude, 'wott,' er, what are you talking about?”

N takes a deep breath, “I've seen enough for now. I forfeit this battle.”

“What? We're not done yet.”

“This duel is clearly yours,” says N in another one of his measured tones, “Any further battle will only cause undue harm to Purrloin. I do not with for that to happen.”

I shrug, “Okay... if that's really what you want...” With that, the onlookers, who I imagine wanted a decisive finish to the battle walk away, some of them not looking content, not that I blame them. Most trainers keep a battle going until it's clear that one side cannot fight anymore. I'd seen many battles on TV where a Pokemon gets at a disadvantage, only to make a comeback. Heck, I'd even experienced it myself when I fought Cheren yesterday.

N tosses me a 75 credit coin as my winnings, and pulls a bottle out of a pocket on his shirt. It's a purple spray bottle, and I know what it is right away: a potion, something trainers use on their Pokemon to heal them if a Pokemon Center isn't readily available... though in this case, one definitely is, as in right behind N.

I point out the obvious, or at least what should be obvious, “Um... There's a Pokemon Center right behind you, y'know. Just return Purrloin to its Pokeball and...”

N glances at me, and his normally calm demeanor turns somewhat... melancholy... angry, even, “I will not confine Purrloin to one of those...  those prisons!” Geez, what the heck did I do? I was only trying to help...

N sprays the cut that Razor Shell inflicted, and it instantly stops bleeding, “You're all better now. Thank you, Purrloin.”

“Purr...” purrs Purrloin (try saying that seven times fast...)

With a shrug, I direct my Pokeball toward Oshawott, “Awesome work, as always, Oshawott. Take a nice rest.”

“Sha!”

“Return!” Oshawott disappears into his Pokeball, and I return it to my belt.

N stands there for several seconds afterward. I wonder what's going through this guy's head. Finally, he looks at me and forces a smile, “Thank you, Ria. That was very interesting.”

“'Interesting?'” I say. We just had a Pokemon battle, and a short, anticlimactic one at that. 'Interesting' is not a word that comes to mind...

“Yes,” says N, “Interesting. As we are both trainers, maybe our travels will cause us to cross paths again. Until then, good day.” With that, N walks away, muttering something under his breath. Something about changing and friends, as those were the only two words I could pick up.

“Oh... kay,” I say, “Goodbye, N...” And hello, N, to my list of weirdest people I'd ever met, I think to myself...

“Strange guy,” says Cheren.

“Gee, you think?” I say sarcastically.

Cheren adds, “He's a Pokemon trainer, but at the same time, he appears to detest a lot of the things trainers do. He didn't keep his Purrloin in a Pokeball, even when it would have been to its benefit, he didn't give it any orders at all during your battle, and he seemed to object to the idea of us capturing Pokemon.”

“I wonder what's going on in his head,” I say.

Cheren sighs, “No use thinking about it. Let's just gather the supplies we need so we can get ready to set out tomorrow.”

Cheren and I head to the Pokemon Center. He walks me through the essentials like potions. According to him, the spots of civilization on the Unova peninsula are not a great distance apart, and can be walked to in less than a day, but Unova proper is much more spread out, and requires days of travel, hence the need for things like a tent and rations, for both human and Pokemon. There are bus and subways services that can take people from town to town, but that would mean skipping the potential places where wild Pokemon can be captured or fought against as training. I guess that means we have a lot of hiking ahead of us, and frankly, I'm surprised Cheren is so willing to do this, seeing as he's my polar opposite: scholastically accomplished, but sorely lacking in the athleticism department.

However, more often than not, my mind is elsewhere. I can't stop thinking about the lecture that Ghetsis guy gave. It brought up a bunch of things I hadn't ever considered, and he was right about Pokemon training being such a monolithic concept that we never consider the alternatives. I feel like I'm getting a migraine each time it goes through my head, but I can't stop thinking about it, no matter how hard I try!

Also, I can't get N out of my head. He's a strange guy who said strange stuff, but there was some sense to his actions, in some weird, twisted way. He was a trainer, but unlike all other trainers, he treated his Purrloin like... an equal. He didn't keep it inside a Pokeball, he asked its permission to battle... Other trainers, myself included, seem downright tyrannical by comparison... and I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me...

---

Darkness...

No matter where I look, there is nothing but blackness. From what I can feel, the ground isn't completely flat, and feeling around, whatever I'm in feels... spherical. However, I can't find a way out of wherever I am, and without both sight or escape, I'm starting to question my own sanity. Someone... help me...

Suddenly, my eyes sting with a sudden explosion of light. When my vision clears, I find that I'm standing on asphalt. To my front, towering over me, is an orange reptilian thing, with blue wings, and a flame blazing on the tip of it tail. It's a Charizard!

“Attack!” yells a voice behind me. I want to say no, but I feel that something bad will happen if I disobey the voice, but I don't want to anger the fearsome beast in front of me either.

'I don't want to! I'm scared!' I try to say, but my voice comes out as, “Minccino min!”

What? That wasn't right. I realize that I'm closer to the ground than what I'm used to. Fearfully, I look at my hands... and find that they're gray paws. I feel my body, and find that it's very soft... comfortably so... covered by fur. I feel an extra joint out of my back end... a tail? My hearing is also a lot more acute, my ears are much bigger and rounder. I'm... a Pokemon? A... Minccino?

“Fight!” screams the voice behind me, angrily.

'No!' “Min!”

“Fight! Fight! Fight, damn you! Fight!”

I look back at the owner of the voice: a girl with curly brown hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a white and pink hat, a black vest over a white shirt, and jeans-shorts. It's Ria, my trainer, though I wish she weren't...

Wait! What am I saying? I'm Ria, but who am I looking at?

Suddenly, two clawed hands wrap around my body. I look back at the Charizard. It seemed to have gotten bigger, and now, the thing had gone from being just over five feet tall to a giant!

I look back at Ria, or whoever, 'Help...' “Mincci...”

Ria scowls, “You're worthless! Maybe the pain you're about to feel will teach you to train harder and actually be useful! You brought this on yourself! Remember that!”

The Charizard holds me up to its head. It opens its mouth wide and suddenly my world becomes a mix of orange, red, and yellow.

FWOOOOOOSH!

---

I jolt awake in the Pokemon Center's sleeping quarters.

My heart is beating unbelievably fast, and so is the rate of my breathing. I am covered in a cold sweat... actually, make that a warm sweat, as I can still feel the heat of those dream-flames.

I sit bolt upright in bed, waiting for my heartbeat and breathing to return to normal, all the while reminiscing over the nightmare I had. I was a Pokemon oppressed by a cruel trainer... that just happened to be me... but I wouldn't treat Oshawott, or any other Pokemon I come to own like that... would I?

It doesn't take much to guess where such a horrible dream came from, and I go from scared to frustrated. The stuff those Ghetsis and N guys did and said are actually getting to me!

After a nightmare like that, I'd rather not go back to sleep. I check a glowing digital clock on the  nearby wall: 5:42AM. Well, now's as good a time to wake up as any...

Still, if I really am starting to question the ethics of being a Pokemon trainer, I should talk to someone about it. The first idea I have is Professor Juniper. I mean, she helps people become Pokemon trainers, so maybe she can help me with my current crisis. I can't just pretend that I'm not conflicted right now, because there's no denying it. I am.

I grab my pink supply bag (formerly my book bag) from the foot of the bed, put on my hat and vest, leave the sleeping quarters, and head to the Pokemon Center lobby, which is empty at that time, aside from some late-night personnel. I pull out my Xtransceiver and enter the Professor's frequency. It's almost six o' clock. She's probably still asleep right now, but in my current state of mind, I don't care. I am desperate to talk to her! I'll apologize later.

Despite my expectations, however, the Professor picks up surprisingly fast, after just one ring. Her face appears on the screen. She looks weary, but not like someone who was just rudely awakened from her sleep. Also, he face is well lit, so wherever she is, it's not dark, “... Ria?”

“Um... Good morning, Professor. Did I... wake you?”

Professor Juniper shakes her head, “No. I got a bunch of data about Pokemon in Kanto that might also inhabit Unova, and I'd been up all night reading it. Still, if you're contacting me at this hour, I'm sure it's something important. What is it, Ria?”

I look at what little background I can see on Professor Juniper's screen. It's not clear, but it's certainly not homey. Is she still at the lab?

“You're at the lab right now?” I ask.

“Yes...”

I was expecting to just talk over the Xtranciever, but if the Professor is at the lab right now, just a few blocks away, I can probably just talk to her in person, “Actually, I'll talk to you at the lab.”

“Okay...”

“See you in a few minutes.”

I end the transmission and leave the Pokemon Center.

---

True to my word, it really only takes me minutes to reach the Professor's laboratory, like six or seven. When I get there, Professor Juniper is standing at the entrance in wait. I guess she decided to take this chance to get some fresh air.

“Hey, Professor,” I greet wearily.

“Hello, Ria,” says Professor Juniper with a slight smile, “How is Oshawott's training coming along?”

“Pretty good,” I say, “At least a battle with Cheren's Snivy ended in a draw, so I guess that's progress...”

The Professor smiles mischievously, and I know she's about to surprise me with something. She always does, “Did Oshawott perform Razor Shell during that battle, as well as its Torrent ability? Did Snivy perform Leaf Tornado? Did the battle take place in a forest?”

Despite my conflicted state, I'm taken completely aback. This is typical Professor Juniper behavior, “What? How did you...?”

The Professor's smile widens, “I'm everywhere, Ria. I have eyes where you can't see them.”

I shrug, “Alright, I give up. Tell me your secret before I start believing you're Arceus in human form, or something.”

The Professor laughs at my half-baked attempt at humor, “It's your Pokedex. Whatever pictures you take are sent to the lab's database. They come in handy for reports and as presentation material. You took good pictures, by the way. Very dynamic. Maybe a little off-center, but there's nothing a little cropping can't fix. If the whole trainer thing doesn't work out, you just might make the cut as a photographer.”

I look at the ground, “Thanks, professor. That might end up being the case...”

Professor Juniper stares at me disapprovingly, “What? Don't be like that, Ria. You wanted to be a trainer, right? I didn't give you all those lessons, just so you can give the whole thing up.”

I sigh, “That's... actually what I wanted to talk to you about...”

I explain everything to the Professor, about Ghetsis and N, and how they might have had a point all along.

“I see your point...” says the Professor.

“So, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Is this right? Pokemon training, I mean?”

Professor Juniper considers what I told her for a moment, “There may not be a definite answer to that question, Ria, but it would seem that 'Ghetsis' man didn't point out the facts, and just said what would strengthen his case.”

“'Facts?'”

“Ria, humans need Pokemon trainers. While there are some docile wild Pokemon in this world, others are immensely vicious. A very long time ago, between powerful wild Pokemon and the wars humans fought, the entire human race almost became extinct. It was the advent of Pokemon training and catching that saved us. Human-trained Pokemon could protect us against wild Pokemon that human swords were useless against. Human differences were settled with competitions between trained Pokemon. They were our key to both survival and peace.”

Those words make me feel better. At least, I don't feel so much like the tyrant that was me in my nightmare, but there is still a doubt in my mind, “Sure, Professor, but... what about the Pokemon? The human-trained ones, I mean.”

“I don't think I'm the one you should be asking, Ria. Instead, ask the third person here.”

'Third person?' What is she...? As I think it, I look at the direction the Professor's eyes are cast: toward my waist, and I get it. She means Oshawott.

I have an idea of what I could do, but can I? Sure, I have a card that declares me as a Pokemon trainer, but the thing I really need to be one is a Pokemon. Still, if Oshawott and I are really the friends I believe we are, I need to do this...

I release Oshawott from his Pokeball.

“Osha!” says the Sea Otter, smiling at me as cheerily as ever.

I kneel down, bringing myself as close to Oshawott's level as possible, “Hey, buddy,” I say, “In a few hours, we're gonna be heading out on what's called a Pokemon Journey. It's a big adventure across the region, where trainers, like me, test to see how skilled they and their Pokemon, like you, are...”

“Wott osha,” says Oshawott with an attentive nod.

I continue, “That means we're gonna be away from home for a while, out training like we've never trained before, and fighting many powerful opponents. It's going to be rough, but I think we've trained hard enough to give it a go...”

Oshawott nods again in response, and I wonder if he's wondering where I'm going with this.

I decide to get to the point, “But... I was thinking, Oshawott... How do you feel about it?”

Oshawott tilts his head to the side, “Wott?”

“Do you want to do this, Oshawott? I really, really wanna go on that journey, and just thinking about it makes me very excited, but I was wondering what you think. You're my Pokemon, but I also consider you my friend, and I don't want you to feel forced into something you don't want... so what do you want to do, Oshawott? Do you like this? Do you like me as your trainer? Do you like battling? Do you like training? Do you like any of this?”

Oshawott stares at me quizzically, “Shawott...”

I gulp, “I want you to make your own choice. I want to know how you really feel about all this. Please, don't feel pressured into giving an answer I'll like... And just to show you I mean it...” I toss Oshawott's Pokeball several feet away to the side.

“Ria!” calls out Professor Juniper in surprise.

With my hands shaking, I say, “If you want to go on that journey or if you want to stay, just give me a sign. If you don't like any of this, and want out, this is your chance. No hard feelings if you do, alright? I just... I just want to know how you feel...”

“Osha...” Oshawott pauses, and then walks away... or so I think, until I notice he's not walking away, but rather, in the direction of the Pokeball. He picks it up and brings it back to me. Holding out the capsule, Oshawott gives me a determined expression.

“Oshawott,” I say, suppressing a sob, “Thank you.” I take the Pokeball from my Pokemon, and stand up.

“Wott oshawott!”

I gulp hard and say, “Alright! Well, we'll be heading out in a few hours. I hope you're ready!”

“Oshawott!”

“Return!” I recall Oshawott and return its capsule to my belt.

Professor Juniper smiles, “Satisfied?”

I nod, “Yes. I see how Oshawott feels now, and I won't question being a trainer again. Thank you, Professor!”

“So, you're leaving?” asks Professor Juniper, “Good luck out there... and keep taking many great pictures with your Pokedex, okay?”

I smile back, “Will do!”

---

The reassurance that Oshawott wants to travel and train with me, and that being a trainer is a justified course of action gives me a rush of euphoria, which gives me enough stamina to take on the day, even if I'd not gotten all that much sleep the night before.

Oshawott and I head to the forest off Route 1 to get in some light early morning training against the wild Pokemon there, because I know that from here on, we are gonna need all we can get for the Gyms and rival trainers.

When eight o' clock comes around, I head through Accumula town, past the places I'd frequented, like the school, Professor Juniper's lab, the Pokemon Center... I walk past a bus stop, and it's a weird feeling. If I want to go to the next town along the way of Unova peninsula, Striaton City, I usually wait there, and ride over. I'd never actually walked along the path connecting Accumula and Striaton, Route 2, but starting there, I will have to, and every Route beyond.

I wait for about a half-hour, with Oshawott out of its Pokeball, on lookout. This is where Cheren and I, and Bianca, if her dad would let her, agreed to meet at 8:30AM. From there, we will take the first steps of our journey across Unova.

I check my watch: 8:29, and I'm still the only one here. However, as if on cue, when the time changes to 8:30, I hear a voice, “So, I take it you're ready, Ria?” Cheren approaches with Snivy close by.

“Yup, I sure am,” I say, deciding not to talk about my previous reservations from earlier this morning with Cheren.

Cheren glances around, “I see Bianca isn't here yet. I suppose she couldn't convince her dad, after all.”

“Let's not be too hasty,” I say, “I'll give her a call and find out.”

I pull out my Xtransceiver. However, just as I'm halfway through punching in Bianca's frequency, I hear two voices, “Hey! Wait up! Don't leave yet!”

“Tepoink!”

Bianca and Tepig come running in our direction. They reach us, Bianca out of breath.

“We weren't trying to leave you behind,” says Cheren flatly.

“I know,” says Bianca, wheezing for air, “but I thought you'd figure dad would forbid me from going with you for sure, and leave without me...”

“He let you?” I ask. I have to admit, I thought it would play out exactly as Bianca had described. Her dad's an absolute tyrant when it comes to her safety.

Bianca pauses, “Um... Yes. Yes he did. It wasn't easy, but I managed to convince him that going on this trip would be a very beneficial experience for me.”

I nod, “Well, if he's letting you, then welcome aboard.”

“Thanks,” says Bianca, “Well, let's get going! This is gonna be a lot of fun!” Wow, she seems more eager than ever to do something. This isn't like her, but the enthusiasm is contagious.

Cheren summarizes our first course of action, “That 'N' character from yesterday said that a Pokemon Gym had recently opened in Striaton City. Challenging that Gym should be our first objective.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I say, “Let's do this!” With that, we take our first steps beyond the place we call home.

EDITED!
After being made aware of the flaws of the previous version of this installment, I went back and made some tweaks.
What I was the most worried about was the scene with Ghetsis. Originally, he started his speech by mocking a little girl for her relationship with her pet Sandshrew. Now, my first impressions of Ghetsis in the game were rather biased. Thanks to some over-research I did, I knew from the start that he was evil, and he threw in some harsh words during the speech, so I didn't think the game was doing much to hide that fact. I didn't think there was anything wrong with making him out to be a jerk, but really, he's supposed to initially come off as a silver-tongued wise man, and I made him look more like a bully, and really, if he's going to push children around, who would listen to him? I felt like everyone's troubled reaction to his speech came off as forced in that case. I downplayed the scene, removing the girl entirely, and had his speech include more references from the game's speech. This was the main reason I wanted to do this revision, as I felt like I might have ruined Ghetsis for the rest of the story if I let things stand.
The scene with N was left mostly alone, but expanded a bit, once again to include more things from the game.
If I left the Oshawott scene alone, I doubt much bad would have come from it, but since I was editing the other stuff, I felt that I'd might as well do it for that too. While it's conceptually unchanged, I downplayed it a bit, so it wasn't as over-dramatic as it was before.
I hope everyone likes the changes I made, and I'm sorry if the previous version of this installment wasn't up to everyone's standards. I'm going to get back to working on the newer parts, and I hope not to make such a mistake again.

Last edited by Valin on Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, Ria giving the stay or go choice to Oshawott was a bit over the top, but it still worked. With Ria questioning herself like she was, it didn't exactly come out of nowhere plus she has shown to be the act first, think later type of person. Over the top, but not over done.

As for your portrayal of Ghetsis and N, I felt that they were a bit bland compared to their game counterparts. Their appearances didn't hurt the story, but there could have been more to the scene than you had. N, for example, could have shown a tiny bit more emotion such as anger at Ria and Cheren for being unable to hear their Pokemon's voices. I like how you had N ask Purrloin's permission to fight though. That was a nice touch.

Overall, I liked this chapter. I have a sneaking suspicion though that Bianca's father didn't give her permission to leave and that she's really just running away from home. >;]

Yes, Ria giving the stay or go choice to Oshawott was a bit over the top, but it still worked. With Ria questioning herself like she was, it didn't exactly come out of nowhere plus she has shown to be the act first, think later type of person. Over the top, but not over done.

As for your portrayal of Ghetsis and N, I felt that they were a bit bland compared to their game counterparts. Their appearances didn't hurt the story, but there could have been more to the scene than you had. N, for example, could have shown a tiny bit more emotion such as anger at Ria and Cheren for being unable to hear their Pokemon's voices. I like how you had N ask Purrloin's permission to fight though. That was a nice touch.

Overall, I liked this chapter. I have a sneaking suspicion though that Bianca's father didn't give her permission to leave and that she's really just running away from home. >;]

Thank you, Psycho Monkey for the comment, and you're absolutely right. To tell you the truth, I was a tad hesitant about the recent installment, as I felt as if it needed a little tweaking, but I just figured I was nervous and that it would be fine. I now know that my first instinct was right all along.

Right now, I'm giving the Ghetsis, N, and Oshawott scenes some serious rethinking, and plan to revise them, so when it's ready, I'll edit the old installment with the new and hopefully improved version.

My apologies to everyone I let down, and I hope you'll allow me a second chance.

Hey Valin. I've been stalking this thread ever since it started, and so far... you are probably one of the best writers on Pokecharms! I first started reading this story after you stopped writing The Superior Beings, as that was awesome! It seems I am the only person that likes the Osshawott releasing bit. It seems dramatic and gives off a really sad effect! (In a good way, of course.) Keep up the good work!

Last edited by Anonymous on Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

Eh, I wasn't fond of the bushed Pokeball scene, but the intention was clear. Overall, the chapter was fine, but I liked the portrayals of Ghetsis and N. If N is a trainer who doesn't use Pokeballs, does he use his Pokemon-talking to convince Pokemon to join him? In addition, how is the number limit kept up? If he has caught a seventh, what would he do?