((Sorry for the long wait! Have an extra-long plot-heavy update to make up for it.))
Part I: First Steps
Despite my initial reaction, I found myself drawn to the candle-like monster. Yes, I could have picked the pig or the egg; they at least didn't terrify me on sight. But...wouldn't that have been the easy way? If Mrs Brady were here, she'd tell me that the best way to conquer my fears is to face them head-on. And if that's true, doesn't that mean picking the scariest of them all to be my first?
Maybe I'm not destined to be a trainer. I'm sure as hell never going to be a Champion or Gym Leader. But if I can at least learn to be around pokemon again, my life can only improve from the experience.
I reached out and - with a trembling hand that had nothing (well, maybe a little) to do with excitement - took the pokeball marked "Litwick". Bianca quickly darted in, taking a second ball so quickly that I didn't catch what the label said, leaving Cheren to take the sole remaining pokemon with a roll of his eyes. "Luckily I wanted this one anyway" he said, though I'm not sure he meant it.
Congratulations! You have chosen Litwick!((This one is hard to draw despite being a blob D:))
A short time later, after we all (well, Cheren and Bianca anyway) reveled in the feeling of having pokemon of our own, Bianca faced me with a grin. "Everyone has chosen a pokemon, so that's that! Blanc...let's have a pokemon battle!"
Cheren looked concerned. "Honestly, Bianca...you're being too pushy with Blanc. Besides, even though these pokemon are weak we still shouldn't be having them battle in her room."
Bianca looked exactly the opposite of Cheren. "Don't be a worrywart! They're weak like you said, so it shouldn't cause any problems and they need to get stronger. Besides, Blanc can handle it."
I...wasn't so sure about that.
Still, seeing as how Bianca didn't want to take "no" for an answer, I did my best to act confident. I think I did okay?
Seeing the pokemon right in front of me was...something. They were
much scarier in person!
I don't remember much of the battle, to be honest; I mostly just stood there in a daze while Litwick did its own thing. It...she?...looked a bit stronger afterwards. Maybe it was just my imagination.
"Wow..."
Wow.
Bianca looked positively giddy with excitement. "Blanc, you're gonna be an awesome trainer someday! No doubt!"
Hmm...nahhhh.
"Um." Charen spoke up, looking somewhat annoyed. "Bianca, would you mind looking around?"
Aw, crap. Mom's gonna kill me.
"Wow, pokemon are amaaaaaazing!" Bianca gushed. "Can't believe such little things could be so strong!" She calmed down eventually, apologizing for wrecking the room (though to be fair, I'm guessing Litwick did its fair share) while Cheren healed her pokemon, chastising her the whole time. He offered to heal mine as well, only to realize that it hadn't been hurt at all.
It was at this point that Bianca, caught up in the excitement of it all, suggested that I battle Cheren as well. I made a few half-hearted protests, but once I saw the spark of interest in his eyes I couldn't exactly say no.
This time, I did my best to pay attention to the battle at hand. One thing I noticed was that the "Togepi" didn't scare easily. Or at all. It's a sad thing to realize that an egg is braver than you :C
THE HELL?!
Anomalous tornado aside, Togepi wasn't too much of a challenge for Litwick. It looked even stronger after the battle, too. Do all pokemon grow this quickly?
Cheren, thankfully, looked quite pleased even after losing. He healed our pokemon while chatting about the mistakes he made in the fight (I dunno, I didn't see any), then suggested that we all head downstairs to apologize to Mom about the mess.
Oh right. The mess. I winced as I surveyed the damage. At least it didn't look like anything too expensive had been broken.
I let my friends go on ahead while I examined my pokemon (now there's something I never expected to say; "my pokemon") a bit more closely. It's...kinda a wasted effort. I don't remember much about them other than some of the basic type interactions :/
Taking a last look at my destroyed room, I headed downstairs.
Cheren was the epitome of politeness, as per usual, while Bianca offered to clean up the mess. I fully expected Mom to take her up on that offer, but...
"By the way, Professor Juniper wanted to speak to the three of you. You should head over to her lab pretty soon."
My friends agreed with this, and departed quickly. Once we were alone, Mom came up to me with a strange little smile on her face. "My my, Blanc. I hear from your friends that you fought two battles already? Ah, it makes me remember my first pokemon battle...Oh, I'm rambling again. Make sure to take your cross-transceiver with you when you go out."
I nodded and strapped the powerful communications device to my wrist before stepping outside.
I got outside just in time to see Bianca dash through a flock of birds, and ducked back inside until they had all flown away. After they were gone, I went over to Juniper's lab as requested but only Cheren was there.
"I'll bet she went home to show off her new pokemon. I don't know what she was thinking." I reluctantly agree to go fetch her.
Before I can knock on the door, I hear shouting coming from inside.
"NO, NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!" a man bellows, before the sound of a slap reaches my ears.
Another voice responds, this one more familiar and with a note of indignation. "I'm a good trainer who's got a pokemon and everything! I can totally go on an adventure!" The male voice shouts some more, but before I can work up the courage to intervene Bianca charges out the door...straight into me and knocking me over. She immediately helps me up, once again apologizing. When I tried to ask her about the red mark on her cheek, she shrugged it off with a simple "It's okay."
We went off to the lab together. Her dad didn't follow, thank goodness. Bianca said nothing, other than asking me to keep the whole thing a secret.
We met up with Cheren, who quickly ushered us inside where Professor Juniper greeted us warmly.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is--"
Cheren quickly interrupted. "We know your name, Professor Juniper. We've lived here for years..."
I expected her to be angry, but she merely smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "Come now, Cheren. This is no time to take things lightly! Today is a day that you'll remember for the rest of your lives, so it's best to behave with some formality." Her expression became serious again as she started over. "In any case, my name is Professor Juniper. I study the creatures we call 'pokemon', specifically when and how they first came into existence."
As she spoke, Juniper paced back in forth in front of us, looking us each in the eye with a steely gaze. "Oh ho? I can tell that all three of you have already had your first battle. I must say, I'm surprised. I've never seen starting pokemon begin to trust their trainers so quickly. Perhaps...you'd like to give your pokemon a name?"
Hmm. I'll think about it.
Cheren seemed to know instantly what the Professor was leading to, which wasn't surprising. "The Pokedex project, right?" Bianca and I were lost, so Juniper explained.
"you encounter! So, I want you three to visit-"
Oh no.
"-many places-"
This goes
way beyond anything Mrs Brady talked about!
"-and meet all of the pokemon-"
isn't one enough?
"-in the Unova region! This is my request."
whyyyyyyy
"You'll go on an adventure to complete the Pokedex, will you not?"
How about
NO
"What I want to hear are the courageous words of people who will blaze new paths around the world!"
:c
With Bianca and Cheren looking at me, eagerness plainly visible on their faces, I gave in and nodded.
"You have given me the best possible answer!"
grumble grumble
Juniper handed each of us a small folding computer, beaming as she did so. "Next, I need to teach you how to meet and catch pokemon. Meet me at Route 1, okay?" She quickly gathered up several packages and left the three of us experimenting with our new toys.
...Hmm.
While shining a light and pretending to be a guide, it leeches off the life force of any who follow it.
Well, never gonna trust this thing. I mean, it's a pokemon and I shouldn't trust it to begin with, but
yikes
I stepped outside to discover two things: night had fallen, and my Mom was waiting. As my friends crowded out after me, Mom pretended to not know how our meeting with the Professor had gone. Apparently realizing that I hadn't been fooled at all, Mom dropped the facade and gave each of us a Town Map for our journey. I tried to explain that it was a waste of money in my case, that I wouldn't be going very far, but Mom insisted. With a twinkle in her eye, she then told me that I could come back and sleep in my room ("or what's left of it", as she put it) any time. With a final speech about how we'd all grow as people by taking this journey, Mom gave me a hug and a kiss and wished us all luck.
The three of us hiked over to the entrance to Route 1, and stood just before the town border. After some brief discussion, we decided to take our first steps on our respective pokemon journeys together.
Well...we did it. That wasn't so bad. Taking the first step is the hardest part, right? Everything else should be smooth sailing.
I don't think I could have done it alone, though.
Thankfully the Professor wasn't bothered at all. She gave us a brief introduction to finding pokemon (they tend to lurk in high grass) and catching them (weaken them somewhat, then throw a pokeball). She also made sure to emphasize the Unovan Catching Regulations, which stress the need for wild population control and thus place strict limits on how many pokemon we can each catch. Fine by me.
Juniper finished her lesson by giving each of us a pack of five pokeballs to get us started, then turned us loose before heading on to Accumula Town, where she told us to meet up. Bianca and Cheren tore off ahead, leaving me alone.
...being alone with Meurtre sounds like a terrible idea. I should probably catch something that's a little less bloodthirsty. Here goes...
AGH IT'S A BIG...HELMETED...DINOSAUR...THING
It kept rampaging about, roaring and vainly trying to smash Meurtre to bits. Being a bit of a ghost however, she didn't mind at all.
It took two pokeballs to capture this thing. Professor Juniper made it look so easy and only used a single ball. I must be terrible at this sort of thing.
Dreaming of one day flying, it practices by leaping off cliffs every day.
I...actually caught a pokemon. Willingly. Too bad it appears to be as smart as a bag of rocks :C
What should I name it...?
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Topic: Let's Play Pokemon: White! (Ranlocke!) - Blatant Kirby References (Read 14225 times)