1The disc flew rapidly in the air. Twirling and whipping, it made a quick whooshing sound. These were quickly followed by fast footsteps. Tap tap tap! The frisbee was snatched up swiftly, the creature snapping it tight in its mouth. Landing on the ground with precision, making it's way back to the disk's origin. Dropping the frisbee on the ground, it looked up.
A hand reached out, patting its head.
"Good boy, Spark!"
He stood from his crouched position, disk in hand. His name was Cj. He was a young adult, at 18 years of age. His Jolteon tilted its head a bit, pondering at his hesitation. Reading the Pokemon's body language, Cj cracked a small smile.
"How about this time you use Thunder Wave to catch the disk?" Cj suggested to the Pokemon. Spark nodded, eager to play more.
Purposefully, Cj threw the disk a bit short so it didn't fly past his fence of his small backyard. Locking its gaze the object, Spark used the static within its fur to jolt forward, covering an astonishing distance in one leap. Using the fence as a platform, it bounced like a shot toward the frisbee, catching it once more. As it landed, Spark straightened its posture as if it was flashing a victory pose. Cj clapped briefly, congratulating it.
Just then, he heard a gentle tap behind him. Turning, he spotted his mother, Grace. She stood leaning in the doorway to the inside casually, quickly ruffling her messy brown bob cut hair. She had sea blue eyes like Cj himself, and her soft gaze reflected the gentleness in her personality.
Cj stood upright, looking to his mother. Though he was just about full grown, he and Grace were almost the same height.
"Eheh, hello mother!" Cj smiled, rubbing his neck. He had forgotten to get dressed, so he was in his pajamas while playing with Spark.
Grabbing something from her back, she presented something to Cj.
"I thought you might want this. It's from Professor Sycamore."
A neat envelope was in her hand.
"The professor?" Cj thought. "What could he want?"
As he grabbed the thing from Grace, she smiled.
"I think it's finally time, Calem."
Opening the letter, Cj's eyes widened. It read this:
Dear Cj,
I have selected you amongst four other aspiring trainers to serve under my lead. What I ask of you is simple: If you agree to serve under me, you will receive a Pokedex prototype to take with you. This device will automatically record data of any Pokemon you catch, like a regular one would. The only difference is that a few of the features are quite new. Now remember, you still have to register like every other trainer. Good luck!
- Professor Sycamore
Cj closed his eyes, a wide grin on his face. He's been waiting for this day his whole life, it seems like. Even as a kid, Cj loved to be with Pokemon. While his mother competed in the Rhyhorn Races, he'd be in his Junior Breeding program that taught him how to properly raise Pokemon. For a while, he wanted to be a breeder, but… Then his younger brother, Clemont became a trainer. Clemont was considered a genius, learning college material at the age of 10. Grace saw that he also had a passion to be a trainer, and this passion then inspired Cj.
Though he had gotten a few opportunities in the past, but his mother pushed him to finish his education first. He unfortunately wasn't as gifted as Clemont. But Cj understood, he was very close to finishing school anyway when he starting getting letters. Luckily, he had just graduated.
"So, I'm guessing it was what I thought it was?" Grace wondered.
Cj nodded eagerly, "Yes! The professor specifically asked for me to go out and test this Pokedex prototype."
"Well then, I suppose that's it! You're finally becoming a Trainer, hmm?"
Grace waved her son indoors, "Come on, Cj. You'd better get around."
Nodding, Cj walked indoors, Spark trotting close behind. The two made their way upstairs into his and Clemont's room. Cj grabbed the doorknob and entered. The room was a bit messy, but it was understandable, since two boys were living in there. Cj spotted Clemont in the corner of the room, his gaze glued to a book. It was apparently a science journal. He noticed his brother come in behind him, and he swiveled his chair to face Cj.
"Heya, Cj!" Clemont greeted. Cj briefly waved with his other hand in his pocket. Walking up, he tossed the letter onto the desk.
"Check it out Clem," Cj said while walking to his side of the room. As Clemont skimmed over the letter, Cj changed his clothes. He grabbed up a white T-shirt that had a Thunderstone design on the front, and slipped it on along with a brown pair of pants. Snatching the pair of black combat boots from under his bed, he tied them tightly to his feet. Standing in front of the mirror, he admired what was about to become a trainer. Something was missing… His glance noticed Spark holding his black beanie in its mouth.
"Aw, how kind of you, Spark!" he laughed, patting its head. It yipped in response, smiling.
Placing it carefully over his messy, medium length blond hair, he nodded. Perfect.
"Oh wow! So you are gonna become a Trainer then?" Clemont asked.
Cj nodded, "I even get a new Pokedex prototype!"
Clemont chuckled, "Ah, lucky! The regular ones are pricey, you are lucky to even have gotten one in the first place."
He stood from his desk, "Say, Cj. Could I come with you? I need to head to Lumiose City anyway, and I can help you out with the basics to battling."
"I don't see why not, I could certainly use the help."
The boys went down the stairs, being greeted with Grace at the bottom. She held out Cj's old school backpack, now practically exploding with contents. Cj rubbed his neck, blushing a little.
"Uh, Mother? Do I really need that much?"
She laughed, "I promise, I only packed the necessities!"
After a bit, the two started to head out the door. Cj noticed a tug on his pants. Spark was trying to hold him back!
He bent down, Spark giving him puppy eyes.
"Aww, don't worry buddy," Cj consoled, petting him, "I'll visit as much as I can."
Cj and Clemont made their way over to the Pokemon Center in their town. This Pokemon Center is relatively new in Vaniville, added to promote people in Vaniville and Aquacorde Town to become trainers. As they got close to the Center, Cj spotted a girl lounging outside it, occasionally checking her smartphone for the time. She wore a black top with a neatly folded collar, the bottom of it being covered by a crimson shirt that went past her hips. A purse was laying slump on her shoulder, looking a bit swollen with things inside it. Stockings covered most of her legs, black shoes covering up her feet. She adjusted her pink hat impatiently.
"Serena's here?" asked Clemont curiously.
At this point, she noticed the two of them. Happily, she made her way to Cj in a swift manner, embrace him in a hug. He hugged tightly back, swinging her around a bit. Serena slipped to the ground, beaming. Clemont scoffed with a grin, crossing his arms.
"I know you're dating, but you two act like you haven't seen each other in years."
Serena shrugged, "To be fair, I was working hard to find college opportunities. Haven't really gotten a chance to enjoy the summer so far. Or be with Cj, for that matter."
"Wish I could say the same," Cj chuckled, "I've just been enjoying the time off."
Clemont tapped his chin, "Say Serena, why were you hanging out at the Pokemon Center? Are you running an errand for your parents or something?"
She shook her head, pulling a paper out of her bag. Cj looked closely. It was a letter from Sycamore identical to his!
"So, you are one of the five, then?" Cj questioned, pulling out his own, "I am too."
Serena looked surprised, as she scanned the letter.
"I thought you wanted to go to an art college, Serena," Cj said, a bit confused.
As he found out quickly from dating her, Serena loved to paint. On the weekends when she wasn't studying hard or watching Pokemon tournaments, she'd paint. Her room was usually filled with canvases, blank or painted. She even got Cj into her hobby. They'd spend time together painting with soft music in the background. Though, it was more Cj attempting to paint while Serena watched him and gave him advice, occasionally adding strokes to her own canvas.
Her artistic prowess and academic achievements made Cj wonder why she'd drop everything just to be a trainer. Unlike himself, Cj thought, she had a future lined up for her. She'd get colleges from all over trying to recruit her into their place. So to Cj, it was puzzling.
She sighed, her vibrant eyes losing their sparkle. Ruffling her honey colored hair under her hat, she spoke.
"My parents… They're both star trainers, remember? My dad was even the Champion for a while."
Cj nodded sympathetically, his own eyes drifting downward.
"So they wanted you to follow their path then?"
"Exactly. They hardly gave me a choice."
A flash of anger came over Cj, forcing him to clench his fist. He just didn't understand why her parents wouldn't be supportive. Even though he knows them only briefly, he recognized that her parents always were upset when Serena painted, as she wasn't trying to sharpen her trainer skills. They didn't really like Cj well, as he influenced her to continue down the artistic path.
Noticing his anger, Serena gently held Cj's hand. In surprise, he looked into her eyes. She attempted to smile.
"Look, it's fine. My parents made a good point; Pokemon Training will give me good money, and it's difficult to make money from painting," Serena reasoned.
He nodded, realizing there wasn't much he could do. Serena placed a hand softly on his cheek.
"It's very kind of you to care, though."
At this point Clemont broke the two up, "Yeesh, I'm still here, y'know! Can you save the sappy stuff for when you're alone?"
The two of them blushed simultaneously. Cj rubbed his neck with an embarrassed smile.
"R-right, Clem! Sorry."
Glancing around quickly, Cj noticed that no other trainers were around.
"So where are the other five that the professor called," Cj wondered.
"They've already started their journey, I think. We are a bit late, y'know." As she said that, she flashed a sly smile to Cj, who chuckled a little in a sort of apologetic way.
They decided to go inside. The Center looked like how you'd expect: a hygienic white color on everything, a few potted plants, a small waiting area with a mini bookshelf and bright lights. A string of PCs were next to the right wall. A Trainer was video calling another, apparently discussing travel plans. To the left, a small changing room lay empty with seats outside it, as if expecting a line. Kalos does like it's fashion, however, Cj thought.
On the right, a couple of employees were running a mart, selling battle items and the like. Next to that were double doors with circular windows, probably leading into the back where more urgent matters were taken care of.
But what caught his eyes was the center of the place. The main reception desk was a bit cluttered with things were the office chair lay. A huge monitor above it displayed a cluster of news and headlines, weather, a map, and other miscellaneous info. Six slots for Pokemon were in the center of it, showing the status of any Pokemon that were placed in healing machine below. The healing machine looked to have slots for Pokeballs and also a place for a Pokemon outside it's ball.
A nurse stood as the receptionist for the place. They walked up to the desk, the nurse smiling brightly as she noticed them.
"Good afternoon, welcome to the Pokemon Center! My name is Nurse Francis. how may I assist you?" the nurse asked in a polite manner.
Cj started by pulling out the letter from his pack, "Hello, miss. Me and my girlfriend were told by Professor Sycamore to come here to register as Trainers and use his Pokedex prototype."
Nurse Francis nodded, ducking down and pulling out two Pokedexes from her desk. It looked like a red square with a circular pattern in the middle with two disjointed parts. The nurse demonstrated how to use them briefly, and then walked them over to a machine next to the desk.
"If you place your Pokedex in this machine, it will register it to you."
Placing it in there, the monitor above the desk lit up with a brilliant blue color. Cj took step back in surprise.
Thank you for using the Pokedex. This model is KLS-101213-VI, at
your service.
Please state your full name.
"Whoa, it speaks!" Cj gasped.
Name not recognized, please repeat.
"Uh… My name is Calem James Blanc."
Please state your gender and age.
"Male and… 18."
No registered trainer match found. Would you like to register for the
Official Pokemon League?
"Yes, please."
Contacting the League, please hold…
Congratulations, Mr. Blanc! Your Trainer ID is 514… BZZT!
Just then the machine sparked and the lights flickered along with anything else connected to the grid. A horrible zapping sound rang through the air, but then the machine kicked back on. The voice was a bit distorted, adding to the overall obscurity of the situation.
Congratulations, Mr. C- BZZT! Your Trainer ID is 00375. Thank you for
registering!
Nurse Francis pulled the Dex out without saying anything. She read the worried face of Cj and rubbed her neck.
"Heh, sorry! The machine has been seeing extensive use. And with all hands on deck to fix the Lumiose Blackout, it's hard to find a mechanic to come and fix it. Don't worry, the Pokedex should be undamaged."
The machine also generated a card for him, with all the appropriate information.
Serena also registered, but the machine worked perfectly for her. Of course, Cj thought, it was probably just his bad luck. After they were both registered, the nurse went under the desk. After a moment, she pulled out a capsule.
"What's that?" Serena asked her.
The lady smiled politely, "Well, you are Pokemon Trainers, aren't you? You are going to need Pokemon! Professor Sycamore requested I gave you these to accompany you."
The capsule lit up just then, showing three images holographically. One was of a rodent-like Pokemon, and the other of a fox-like Pokemon. The last was a blacked out image of what appeared to be a frog-like Pokemon.
The nurse explained, "These are three starter Pokemon that the Professor handpicked for the three Trainers in Vaniville. I'm afraid that a girl already claimed the Froakie here. So you have a choice between Chespin, a Grass type Pokemon or Fennekin, a Fire type Pokemon."
"You can go first, sweetie," Cj told Serena. She nodded, grabbing out the a Pokeball. It contained Fennekin!
Cj looked down at the remaining Pokeball. Looking into it, he could see his own reflection, warped by the curve of the ball.
"So, this is it," he thought, "My first Pokemon."
Slowly, he reached out and grabbed it. The metal was a bit cold, but once he held it for a moment, it suddenly pulsed with a warm heat. It was rhythmic pulses, almost like a heartbeat, reminding him what was inside.
"Good luck on your journey, make the Professor proud!" called Nurse Francis.
Just as the gang started to make their way out of the door, Clemont stopped and turned back to Nurse Francis.
"I'm sorry to bother you more," Clemont started, "But you mentioned a blackout in Lumiose?"
She nodded, "It happened just yesterday night."
Clemont yelled in frustration, "Ahh! Those idiots! Don't they know what precious equipment is in my gym? And the power still isn't on?! All of it could be fried!"
He quickly turned to Cj, "Brother, Serena, we must make haste to Lumiose City, or all might be lost!"
And without another word, Clemont dashed out, exclaiming out things like "Foolish mechanics!" or "Even with all this advancement, we still have idiots!"
Serena giggled, "He certainly had a boost in energy."
"Some things never change," Cj chuckled.
Nurse Francis waited for the two to leave the Pokemon Center. Picking up the phone at her desk, she dialed a strange number.
Someone picked up.
"Is it done?" they asked.
"Yes. He didn't suspect a thing," she said, cracking a small smile.
"Good work, I'll have your payment to you immediately."
