Some of you may have seen my first attempt at this story nearly a year ago. Unfortunately, I don't think it was very good even to start with the first two chapters. However, I feel that I am ready to attempt this feat once more, and it appears to be working out. It's amazing how much my writing has changed in that time with only one short fiction in between. In a way, it is based on the game, but that basing is very loose, as the first chapter should indicate. Please try to leave constructive comments if you read it.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Arrival
Ding. “The ferry has arrived at Sandgem. Please be prepared to exit the ferry.”
The figure of a boy of about sixteen with dark brown hair stirred in his bed at the sound of the bell then lay, unmoving. Suddenly, the covers were thrown off the bed and he frantically grabbed his alarm clock. “Great! I forgot to adjust for the time!” The boy jumped out of the bed, wearing only his boxers and tossing the alarm clock onto the bed, which bore the name “Luke” in black ink on a dirty, torn piece of masking tape. As fast as he could, Luke threw on some dark tan cargo pants and a dark blue shirt with a Quilava using Flamewheel on it. He rushed into the small washroom and brushed his teeth with no attention to detail, shoving the toothbrush and paste into his pack when he was done. After those two items had been put in, he grabbed all of the stuff that littered the room into the pack as well, struggling to close the zipper when it was all in.
Luke grabbed his alarm clock off the bed and then fell backwards onto the bed after noticing it had only taken him three minutes. He started to close his eyes, but he stopped himself, not wanting to fall asleep and be even later. He tilted his head to the left and stared at two minimized, half-red, half-white Pokéballs, which contained the two Pokémon he already had. Looking back at the small, black alarm clock, he decided he should get up and go. He grabbed the two Pokéballs with his right hand and connected them to his trainer’s belt, which also had a red Pokédex, which was a hand-held computer index of all the Pokémon of his native region: Johto. After he made sure the two most important things he had were secure, he put on his pack and exited his temporary room.
Walking amongst the crowd, which contained people trying to exit the ferry as well, Luke wiped his slightly damp brow. Looking through the windows of the ferry’s shops, he noticed his disheveled hair and let out a loud sigh. He didn’t want to go out in public, or at least more public than now, with his hair looking like it did. He stopped for a couple seconds as he tried to quickly fix it with a comb as people brushed past and occasionally bumped him. Somewhat satisfied with his hair, which hovered half an inch over his bushy eyebrows, he pocketed his comb and continued with the crowd again.
After a few minutes of stop-and-go crowd traffic, Luke was finally able to taste the crisp, salty air of the ocean, which brought a slight breeze to his face, cooling him off. He quickly passed through the security checkpoint, which was much lighter than the security checkpoints he had gone through in his travels through Johto and Kanto with his parents. He continued walking at a light pace northward to the fairly small town of Sandgem while thoughts of the recent past brewed in his mind.
The first thing to hit his thoughts was his first capture as a trainer: a Mareep. After training it with his starting Pokémon, a Cyndaquil, he had challenged Falkner of the Violet City Gym and, after a difficult battle even with an advantage, won, earning his first badge. However, the happiness was short-lived, as his dad had made him come back home once Luke had gotten to the Pokécenter to heal his two Pokémon. His dad had told him that Team Rocket, which had been disbanded many years prior, was regrouping and that it wasn’t safe for him to travel by himself.
Halting his thoughts as well as his motion, Luke noticed he had entered Sandgem, so he looked around for a sign that would lead him to the Pokécenter and followed it, allowing his thoughts to continue once more.
Luke had tried to convince his parents that he would be fine by himself, but his parents wouldn’t budge, so he finally decided to ask if he could travel in another region. After pleading his case multiple times, his parents finally caved. They allowed him to travel to Sinnoh and compete there, since reports of two groups of criminals in Hoenn had been surfacing as well. A week later, he had boarded a ferry, and here he was in Sandgem, looking for the Pokécenter, which was supposed to be near the Pokémon Lab.
Eventually, he saw the red roof of a Pokécenter and continued towards it, entering through the sliding doors. Luke looked around, taking in all of the things in the Pokécenter. There weren’t many people or Pokémon, but Luke had never seen any of the Pokémon there previously. There were a couple brown, buck-toothed Pokémon that made him think of a chubby Rattata, and they probably weren’t much better than Rattata either. However, one Pokémon that caught his attention was a small, green, timid, bud-like Pokémon, which was probably a grass type. It didn’t look too strong, but that didn’t mean whatever it evolved into couldn’t be strong.
Luke shook these thoughts out of his head, since he was supposed to be at the lab fairly soon. He proceeded to the front desk and asked the Nurse Joy, who looked very similar to the ones in Johto, where the Pokémon Lab was. “Just take a right after you exit the center and continue a little ways and you’ll be there.” He thanked her and went through the automatic doors once more, letting him taste the crisp air, which didn’t taste quite as salty as when he exited the ferry. He turned right as the Nurse had suggested and continued walking.
As the Nurse had said, the lab wasn’t very far at all. It was larger than most of the buildings in the town, but the town never was that large to begin with. Like many of the buildings, it kept with the theme of the brown, wood style, topped with a large cyan roof. It looked like there were two sections: the lab, which was two-stories tall, and an additional section that seemed to have been added later, possibly for storage of some sort. Luke, after having surveyed the lab and how it was different from the one back in New Bark Town, where he had received his Cyndaquil, entered the lab.
Upon entering the lab, Luke immediately saw three people at the far end of the lab. The tallest was an old, large man with white hair and a white lab coat. Listening to him was a girl and a boy about the same age as Luke with their backs turned to him. At the sound of the door, the old man lifted his head and said, “Ah, you must be Lucas. Come on over here and meet these two. They’re about to choose their first Pokémon.” The two had turned around to see whom the older man in the lab coat, who Luke assumed to be Professor Rowan, was talking to.
“Yeah, I’m Luke,” he replied, subtly hinting at how he preferred to be called while walking to the trio. As he neared, he got a better look at the two starting trainers. He first looked to the right at the boy, who had dark, blonde hair and was taller and had a larger build than Luke. He seemed to be slightly annoyed at having been interrupted, but he didn’t show it much. Next, Luke glanced back to the left at the girl. She, like Luke, had dark brown hair, but it was a little lighter than his. She was a couple inches shorter and lean. She vaguely reminded him of a girl he used to like back in Johto. Luke continued to look at her until he reached the trio.
“Ahem,” Professor Rowan began, “as you may have guessed, I am Professor Rowan. This,” he motioned to the boy, “is Sean, and this,” he nodded towards the girl as Luke shook Sean’s hand, “is Lauren.” Luke shook Lauren’s hand as well, his eyes locking onto her emerald eyes for a second. “They are here to receive their starter Pokémon before they begin on their journey. I am aware that you already have one of the starters from Johto. What was your choice?”
At the mention of a foreign region, both Lauren and Sean became more attentive. “I chose a Cyndaquil, the fire starter,” replied Luke. “I also caught a Mareep before coming to Sinnoh as well,” he finished.
“I see,” nodded the Professor, “would you mind showing Sean and Lauren your two Pokémon? Neither is native to Sinnoh, so I think both would interest them.”
“Uh, sure,” Luke nodded as he grabbed both Pokéballs from his trainer’s belt, one in each hand. After maximizing each of the balls, he let both out at once.
“Mahhh,” bahed the sheep Pokémon as it was released from its ball for the first time in the Sinnoh region. It shook its fur, sending off small sparks of electricity.
Meanwhile, Cyndaquil let out a delightful, “Cynda,” after it got out of its Pokéball and saw Lauren looking at it.
“Oh, wow, they’re so cute!” exclaimed Lauren, which initiated an ever-so-slight wince from Luke. Lauren kneeled down and scratched under Cyndaquil’s chin with one hand while she petted Mareep’s soft, static fur with the other, both of which gave enjoyment to the recipients. “Is Mareep an electric Pokémon?” inquired Lauren, “I think I can feel a little bit of static coming from its fur.”
“Yeah,” replied Luke as he noted the sweetness of Lauren’s voice, “he uses the static generated by his fur to store up electricity for electric attacks.”
“That’s odd,” said a puzzled Lauren while was holding what looked like a pink device similar to a Pokédex, “my Pokédex isn’t finding any information on neither the Cyndaquil nor the Mareep.”
“That’s because your Pokédex is only set up to recognize Pokémon from Sinnoh, while, conversely, Luke’s is set up to recognize Pokémon from Johto,” clarified Professor Rowan. “Anyways,” continued Professor Rowan, “now that you have met and seen Luke’s Pokémon, I think it’s time that you both choose your own starter Pokémon.” At this, all three of the adolescents diverted their attention to the three Pokéballs on the table behind Professor Rowan. One by one, he released each Pokémon. The first to be released in a flash of red light was a green and yellow turtle, which announced, “Tur,” to all the onlookers. Next, a blue and white penguin appeared from the red beam, giving a timid, “Pi…” as it looked away from the three. Finally, an orange and yellow chimp was released from the final Pokéball. After examining the three new people, it let out a joyous, “Char, chim,” as a greeting.
“The first one,” began the Professor, indicating the turtle, “is the grass starter Turtwig. The second,” he lightly touched the penguin, which startled it, “is the water starter Piplup. The final one, the chimp, is the fire starter Chimchar. Sean, since you’re slightly older, you can choose first,” decided the Professor.
“Alright,” began Sean, speaking for the first time since Luke had entered. He glanced at each of the Pokémon one more time, taking them in. “I choose the Turtwig,” stated Sean, prompting a response of approval from the turtle Pokémon.”
“Good choice,” responded the Professor as he handed Sean one of the Pokéballs, “this is Turtwig’s Pokéball. Now, Lauren, it is your turn. You may choose between Piplup and Chimchar.”
Lauren took a little more time than Sean did. She lowered her height slightly so that she could get a better look at her two choices. When she looked at the Piplup, it lowered its eyes and seemed slightly frightened. However, once she directed her gaze to the Chimchar, the chimp Pokémon had a sparkle in its eyes and smiled. “I choose the Chimchar as my partner,” Lauren told the Professor, which prompted Chimchar to jump up into her arms with joy. Luke couldn’t help but notice that the two of them had chosen a fire starter.
“A good choice as well,” he stated again, handing her Chimchar’s Pokéball. “Better luck next time, Piplup,” he told the penguin Pokémon as he returned it to its Pokéball. “In addition to the Pokéball for your starter, you may each have five Pokéballs,” continued the Professor, handing both Sean and Lauren five minimized Pokéballs. “Now that you and Sean have chosen your starter Pokémon, you may leave. I need to talk to Luke about some of the things he wasn’t here for.”
At the Professor’s bidding, Sean returned his Turtwig to its Pokéball and quickly exited the lab. “See you around, Luke,” she said to Luke as a farewell, as she too left, though she kept Chimchar in her arms.
“See ya later,” replied Luke, watching her as she left the lab.
“Now then,” began the Professor, bringing Luke’s attention back, “first thing’s first. We need to update your Pokédex so that you can obtain information on the Sinnoh Pokémon. You will still keep your information on Johto Pokémon as well, so you don’t have to worry about memorizing the information on your two current Pokémon. Please hand me your Pokédex.” Luke complied, disconnecting the Pokédex from his belt and handing it to the Professor, who put it in the slot of a nearby computer. “This can take a little while, so I’ll continue.
“Since you’re not a native to Sinnoh, you probably don’t know much about the locations of gyms and other attractions here.” Luke nodded. “I’ll give you directions to the first gym, but after that you’re on your own. First, head north towards Jubilife. Once you’re there, just head east through a small portion of the mountains and you’ll arrive at Oreburgh. There you will find the first gym. You can use this as a guide,” said the Professor, handing Luke a map. “Furthermore,” he continued, “I’d suggest that you try to get a Pokémon that can do well against rock-type Pokémon.”
Beep. “The Sinnoh Pokémon information has been transferred,” sounded an electronic, female voice.
Professor Rowan walked over to the computer with Luke’s Pokédex again and pulled it out of the slot, “Here is your updated Pokédex. You are now registered for the Sinnoh League and have all the information you need on Sinnoh Pokémon. I’ve told you everything you need to know so far, so you may start your journey.”
“Alright, thanks, Professor,” Luke replied, starting his journey for the second time. He took the newly updated Pokédex from the Professor and re-attached it to his trainer’s belt. He walked towards the exit, taking one last look at the lab as he opened the door to his new journey.
Well? What did you think? Please leave feedback. I'm also thinking of combining this chapter with the next, so tell me what you think of the length as well.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Arrival
Ding. “The ferry has arrived at Sandgem. Please be prepared to exit the ferry.”
The figure of a boy of about sixteen with dark brown hair stirred in his bed at the sound of the bell then lay, unmoving. Suddenly, the covers were thrown off the bed and he frantically grabbed his alarm clock. “Great! I forgot to adjust for the time!” The boy jumped out of the bed, wearing only his boxers and tossing the alarm clock onto the bed, which bore the name “Luke” in black ink on a dirty, torn piece of masking tape. As fast as he could, Luke threw on some dark tan cargo pants and a dark blue shirt with a Quilava using Flamewheel on it. He rushed into the small washroom and brushed his teeth with no attention to detail, shoving the toothbrush and paste into his pack when he was done. After those two items had been put in, he grabbed all of the stuff that littered the room into the pack as well, struggling to close the zipper when it was all in.
Luke grabbed his alarm clock off the bed and then fell backwards onto the bed after noticing it had only taken him three minutes. He started to close his eyes, but he stopped himself, not wanting to fall asleep and be even later. He tilted his head to the left and stared at two minimized, half-red, half-white Pokéballs, which contained the two Pokémon he already had. Looking back at the small, black alarm clock, he decided he should get up and go. He grabbed the two Pokéballs with his right hand and connected them to his trainer’s belt, which also had a red Pokédex, which was a hand-held computer index of all the Pokémon of his native region: Johto. After he made sure the two most important things he had were secure, he put on his pack and exited his temporary room.
Walking amongst the crowd, which contained people trying to exit the ferry as well, Luke wiped his slightly damp brow. Looking through the windows of the ferry’s shops, he noticed his disheveled hair and let out a loud sigh. He didn’t want to go out in public, or at least more public than now, with his hair looking like it did. He stopped for a couple seconds as he tried to quickly fix it with a comb as people brushed past and occasionally bumped him. Somewhat satisfied with his hair, which hovered half an inch over his bushy eyebrows, he pocketed his comb and continued with the crowd again.
After a few minutes of stop-and-go crowd traffic, Luke was finally able to taste the crisp, salty air of the ocean, which brought a slight breeze to his face, cooling him off. He quickly passed through the security checkpoint, which was much lighter than the security checkpoints he had gone through in his travels through Johto and Kanto with his parents. He continued walking at a light pace northward to the fairly small town of Sandgem while thoughts of the recent past brewed in his mind.
The first thing to hit his thoughts was his first capture as a trainer: a Mareep. After training it with his starting Pokémon, a Cyndaquil, he had challenged Falkner of the Violet City Gym and, after a difficult battle even with an advantage, won, earning his first badge. However, the happiness was short-lived, as his dad had made him come back home once Luke had gotten to the Pokécenter to heal his two Pokémon. His dad had told him that Team Rocket, which had been disbanded many years prior, was regrouping and that it wasn’t safe for him to travel by himself.
Halting his thoughts as well as his motion, Luke noticed he had entered Sandgem, so he looked around for a sign that would lead him to the Pokécenter and followed it, allowing his thoughts to continue once more.
Luke had tried to convince his parents that he would be fine by himself, but his parents wouldn’t budge, so he finally decided to ask if he could travel in another region. After pleading his case multiple times, his parents finally caved. They allowed him to travel to Sinnoh and compete there, since reports of two groups of criminals in Hoenn had been surfacing as well. A week later, he had boarded a ferry, and here he was in Sandgem, looking for the Pokécenter, which was supposed to be near the Pokémon Lab.
Eventually, he saw the red roof of a Pokécenter and continued towards it, entering through the sliding doors. Luke looked around, taking in all of the things in the Pokécenter. There weren’t many people or Pokémon, but Luke had never seen any of the Pokémon there previously. There were a couple brown, buck-toothed Pokémon that made him think of a chubby Rattata, and they probably weren’t much better than Rattata either. However, one Pokémon that caught his attention was a small, green, timid, bud-like Pokémon, which was probably a grass type. It didn’t look too strong, but that didn’t mean whatever it evolved into couldn’t be strong.
Luke shook these thoughts out of his head, since he was supposed to be at the lab fairly soon. He proceeded to the front desk and asked the Nurse Joy, who looked very similar to the ones in Johto, where the Pokémon Lab was. “Just take a right after you exit the center and continue a little ways and you’ll be there.” He thanked her and went through the automatic doors once more, letting him taste the crisp air, which didn’t taste quite as salty as when he exited the ferry. He turned right as the Nurse had suggested and continued walking.
As the Nurse had said, the lab wasn’t very far at all. It was larger than most of the buildings in the town, but the town never was that large to begin with. Like many of the buildings, it kept with the theme of the brown, wood style, topped with a large cyan roof. It looked like there were two sections: the lab, which was two-stories tall, and an additional section that seemed to have been added later, possibly for storage of some sort. Luke, after having surveyed the lab and how it was different from the one back in New Bark Town, where he had received his Cyndaquil, entered the lab.
Upon entering the lab, Luke immediately saw three people at the far end of the lab. The tallest was an old, large man with white hair and a white lab coat. Listening to him was a girl and a boy about the same age as Luke with their backs turned to him. At the sound of the door, the old man lifted his head and said, “Ah, you must be Lucas. Come on over here and meet these two. They’re about to choose their first Pokémon.” The two had turned around to see whom the older man in the lab coat, who Luke assumed to be Professor Rowan, was talking to.
“Yeah, I’m Luke,” he replied, subtly hinting at how he preferred to be called while walking to the trio. As he neared, he got a better look at the two starting trainers. He first looked to the right at the boy, who had dark, blonde hair and was taller and had a larger build than Luke. He seemed to be slightly annoyed at having been interrupted, but he didn’t show it much. Next, Luke glanced back to the left at the girl. She, like Luke, had dark brown hair, but it was a little lighter than his. She was a couple inches shorter and lean. She vaguely reminded him of a girl he used to like back in Johto. Luke continued to look at her until he reached the trio.
“Ahem,” Professor Rowan began, “as you may have guessed, I am Professor Rowan. This,” he motioned to the boy, “is Sean, and this,” he nodded towards the girl as Luke shook Sean’s hand, “is Lauren.” Luke shook Lauren’s hand as well, his eyes locking onto her emerald eyes for a second. “They are here to receive their starter Pokémon before they begin on their journey. I am aware that you already have one of the starters from Johto. What was your choice?”
At the mention of a foreign region, both Lauren and Sean became more attentive. “I chose a Cyndaquil, the fire starter,” replied Luke. “I also caught a Mareep before coming to Sinnoh as well,” he finished.
“I see,” nodded the Professor, “would you mind showing Sean and Lauren your two Pokémon? Neither is native to Sinnoh, so I think both would interest them.”
“Uh, sure,” Luke nodded as he grabbed both Pokéballs from his trainer’s belt, one in each hand. After maximizing each of the balls, he let both out at once.
“Mahhh,” bahed the sheep Pokémon as it was released from its ball for the first time in the Sinnoh region. It shook its fur, sending off small sparks of electricity.
Meanwhile, Cyndaquil let out a delightful, “Cynda,” after it got out of its Pokéball and saw Lauren looking at it.
“Oh, wow, they’re so cute!” exclaimed Lauren, which initiated an ever-so-slight wince from Luke. Lauren kneeled down and scratched under Cyndaquil’s chin with one hand while she petted Mareep’s soft, static fur with the other, both of which gave enjoyment to the recipients. “Is Mareep an electric Pokémon?” inquired Lauren, “I think I can feel a little bit of static coming from its fur.”
“Yeah,” replied Luke as he noted the sweetness of Lauren’s voice, “he uses the static generated by his fur to store up electricity for electric attacks.”
“That’s odd,” said a puzzled Lauren while was holding what looked like a pink device similar to a Pokédex, “my Pokédex isn’t finding any information on neither the Cyndaquil nor the Mareep.”
“That’s because your Pokédex is only set up to recognize Pokémon from Sinnoh, while, conversely, Luke’s is set up to recognize Pokémon from Johto,” clarified Professor Rowan. “Anyways,” continued Professor Rowan, “now that you have met and seen Luke’s Pokémon, I think it’s time that you both choose your own starter Pokémon.” At this, all three of the adolescents diverted their attention to the three Pokéballs on the table behind Professor Rowan. One by one, he released each Pokémon. The first to be released in a flash of red light was a green and yellow turtle, which announced, “Tur,” to all the onlookers. Next, a blue and white penguin appeared from the red beam, giving a timid, “Pi…” as it looked away from the three. Finally, an orange and yellow chimp was released from the final Pokéball. After examining the three new people, it let out a joyous, “Char, chim,” as a greeting.
“The first one,” began the Professor, indicating the turtle, “is the grass starter Turtwig. The second,” he lightly touched the penguin, which startled it, “is the water starter Piplup. The final one, the chimp, is the fire starter Chimchar. Sean, since you’re slightly older, you can choose first,” decided the Professor.
“Alright,” began Sean, speaking for the first time since Luke had entered. He glanced at each of the Pokémon one more time, taking them in. “I choose the Turtwig,” stated Sean, prompting a response of approval from the turtle Pokémon.”
“Good choice,” responded the Professor as he handed Sean one of the Pokéballs, “this is Turtwig’s Pokéball. Now, Lauren, it is your turn. You may choose between Piplup and Chimchar.”
Lauren took a little more time than Sean did. She lowered her height slightly so that she could get a better look at her two choices. When she looked at the Piplup, it lowered its eyes and seemed slightly frightened. However, once she directed her gaze to the Chimchar, the chimp Pokémon had a sparkle in its eyes and smiled. “I choose the Chimchar as my partner,” Lauren told the Professor, which prompted Chimchar to jump up into her arms with joy. Luke couldn’t help but notice that the two of them had chosen a fire starter.
“A good choice as well,” he stated again, handing her Chimchar’s Pokéball. “Better luck next time, Piplup,” he told the penguin Pokémon as he returned it to its Pokéball. “In addition to the Pokéball for your starter, you may each have five Pokéballs,” continued the Professor, handing both Sean and Lauren five minimized Pokéballs. “Now that you and Sean have chosen your starter Pokémon, you may leave. I need to talk to Luke about some of the things he wasn’t here for.”
At the Professor’s bidding, Sean returned his Turtwig to its Pokéball and quickly exited the lab. “See you around, Luke,” she said to Luke as a farewell, as she too left, though she kept Chimchar in her arms.
“See ya later,” replied Luke, watching her as she left the lab.
“Now then,” began the Professor, bringing Luke’s attention back, “first thing’s first. We need to update your Pokédex so that you can obtain information on the Sinnoh Pokémon. You will still keep your information on Johto Pokémon as well, so you don’t have to worry about memorizing the information on your two current Pokémon. Please hand me your Pokédex.” Luke complied, disconnecting the Pokédex from his belt and handing it to the Professor, who put it in the slot of a nearby computer. “This can take a little while, so I’ll continue.
“Since you’re not a native to Sinnoh, you probably don’t know much about the locations of gyms and other attractions here.” Luke nodded. “I’ll give you directions to the first gym, but after that you’re on your own. First, head north towards Jubilife. Once you’re there, just head east through a small portion of the mountains and you’ll arrive at Oreburgh. There you will find the first gym. You can use this as a guide,” said the Professor, handing Luke a map. “Furthermore,” he continued, “I’d suggest that you try to get a Pokémon that can do well against rock-type Pokémon.”
Beep. “The Sinnoh Pokémon information has been transferred,” sounded an electronic, female voice.
Professor Rowan walked over to the computer with Luke’s Pokédex again and pulled it out of the slot, “Here is your updated Pokédex. You are now registered for the Sinnoh League and have all the information you need on Sinnoh Pokémon. I’ve told you everything you need to know so far, so you may start your journey.”
“Alright, thanks, Professor,” Luke replied, starting his journey for the second time. He took the newly updated Pokédex from the Professor and re-attached it to his trainer’s belt. He walked towards the exit, taking one last look at the lab as he opened the door to his new journey.
Well? What did you think? Please leave feedback. I'm also thinking of combining this chapter with the next, so tell me what you think of the length as well.