“Alright, listen up! Cause I don’t like repeating myself.”

Masayuki was currently giving the group a rundown on the rules of the Safari Zone. First off, there were no personal pokemon allowed to avoid inflicting harm on the Safari’s pokemon. After all, abandoning a fainted pokemon in the wild was very dangerous.

It was an unfortunate fact that not all visitors were responsible enough to call in a Ranger when they faint a pokemon. Nor are there enough Rangers on staff to run around as field medics either.

However, berries and rocks are allowed. Berries to attract pokemon who are friendly and willing enough to engage humans, and rocks as a distraction to make a quick getaway if you accidentally piss off a pokemon. It might seem cruel to throw rocks at pokemon, but it’s important to note that these are sturdy beings that can take a full on laser beam to the face if it comes down to it.

Then there were rules regarding capture. Only Safari Balls were allowed within the confines of the Safari Zone. These were specially designed pokeballs that allow for a pokemon to easily break out should they wish. Again, this was to protect any pokemon from being captured against their will.

Visitors would be able to swap out the Safari Balls for normal Pokeballs upon their departure. In fact, it was encouraged that they do, since Safari Balls aren’t rated for day to day use. They’re fundamentally flimsier than the norm. However, it was also fine to keep the Safari Balls as souvenirs which people often do.

“Another thing, since we’ve got underaged children with us. Any Pokemon that they catch will need to be registered with the adults. League rules and all that,” added Masayuki.

He began distributing maps to each of his guests. Then with a swoosh, pulled down a larger version of the Safari map that they were given.

The next part of the lecture was about the different areas of the nature preserve. He didn’t elaborate much on what pokemon they can expect to see as “exploring is half the fun,” he said. Mostly, the old Ranger spoke about certain danger zones that they were strongly discouraged from approaching.

“We’ve had a number of Alpha Pokemon emerge over the years. We have specialists that observe them and keep them in check, but well… it’s impossible to predict everything in life. So just be on guard if you find yourself anywhere near these red zones.”

Everyone gave a grave nod in response, but Nina’s eyes couldn’t help twinkling at the mention of Alpha Pokemon. She had thought that it was purely a video game concept, or at the very least, something specific to the Sinnoh region. She wrote a reminder down in her notebook to do some research on the subject.

“You’ll also be allowed to rent Pidgeots with Fly Baskets before entering the Safari proper. In fact, I highly recommend you do, if you want to make the most of your time here with us. Just make sure to return them by the end of the day. We’ll provide the feed necessary to sustain them. And don’t worry about going out of bounds or getting lost, the pokemon are well trained.”

Masayuki then turned towards Nina. “I know you love feeding pokemon, little miss. But I must stress that you limit your feeding to only berries when it comes to the Pidgeot. We don’t want our birds getting sick.”

Nina nodded in understanding. It made sense, every pokemon’s constitution is different. And something that she learned after awakening in this world was that pokemon can have allergies too, as rare as they may be. So no point taking any risks.

“And I think that pretty much covers it. Stephen, Kumiko, I’m personally vouching for the two of you, so make sure not to cause any trouble. And keep the little’ uns in check.”

“Thanks Masa, will do,” assured Stephen, as he and Kumiko took over at the front of their little conference room.

“Alright, before we set off on our grand adventure, there’s some stuff we wanted to say as well.” The pair then focused their attention on Charlie. “First off, Charlie, congratulations on getting accepted into the Vermillion Flame. You mother and I are extremely proud of you.”

Charlie blushed and lowered his head in embarrassment at his parents’ praise.

Stephen continued. “Now I know we’ve been very coy about the topic of your starter pokemon…” Charlie immediately sat up straight at the mention of the topic. “Miki and I talked, and we decided that it might be a worthwhile experience for you to capture your first pokemon on your own.”

This was when Kumiko moved in front of Charlie and set down a pouch full of Safari Balls before him. By this point, Charlie’s eyes were wide enough to compete with a Magikarp.

“I agreed with the idea of letting you catch your own starter. My Staryu was given to me when I came of age, but I still vividly remember the moment when I managed to capture a pokemon on my own — a Caterpie, which I have since released back into the wild as a Butterfree,” added Kumiko.

“Now I don’t expect you to run off to Mount Moon on your own like a certain idiot did.”

“Hey!” Yelled the idiot in question.

“But here in the Safari Zone, you’ll be able to safely interact with pokemon under the company of your friends and our supervision. So feel free to explore and find a partner that you know for certain will stick with you throughout your long journey ahead.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Charlie looked up at his mother, eyes glistening. He then looked towards his father, who gave him a cheeky smile in return, and took in a shaky breath, closing his eyes to compose himself. “Mom. Dad. I won’t disappoint you.” He declared, with eyes full of resolution.

“Attaboy!” Exclaimed Stephen, while Nina and the rest of Charlie’s friends congratulated him.

“Man, Stephen and Kumiko really came up with quite a creative coming of age gift,” thought Nina. She was almost jealous at how amazingly thoughtful Charlie’s parents were.

As someone who grew up playing the Pokemon games, Nina had always thought of starters as pokemon that kids were just given, either through a sponsor or their own parents. It was another reminder that this was the real world, and that other approaches also exist. Like Stephen stupidly running off on his own to Mount Moon.

Nina started thinking about her own starter and if she could maybe find a partner in the Safari Zone as well, until her thoughts were interrupted by Stephen clapping his hands once again.

“Now then, for the rest of you kids…” Stephen looked intently at his son’s friends.

“Bobby, we talked with your mother beforehand. And she mentioned that she already has a starter in mind for you. So unfortunately, any pokemon you end up catching will either have to be released back into the wild, or we’ll transfer them over to your family, depending on said pokemon’s wishes.” Said the muscular man, much to Bobby’s disappointment.

“Nobita… Well, your dad’s quite an interesting character, isn’t he?” Stephen gave Nobita an almost bewildered look, which he simply shrugged off.

“Anyways,” Stephen placed a singular Safari Ball in front of the boy in glasses. “Your dad said you have one shot to try your luck, and that’s all you’re getting. That said, we’re not unreasonable, so feel free to ask us for more balls, I’m sure none of us will snitch on you.”

Everyone nodded in affirmation at Stephen’s assurance.

“It’s fine. I’ll try my luck, as that man said.” There was a coldness to Nobita’s tone as he picked up the Safari Ball.

“And Nina…” The girl’s eyes were gleaming, Nina’s hopeful gaze was so bright that she might as well be a pokemon using Flash. In the face of Nina’s assault, Stephen gave a helpless look to his wife.

Kumiko knelt down to face Nina. “Look, sweetie…” Nina practically wilted at their pessimistic treatment. "It's not what you think!" Said Kumiko, trying to correct herself in a fluster.

"The thing is, your dad wasn't very specific on his wishes for you. He just said that 'Nina's mature enough to make her own decisions.'" The girl in question looked up at the woman in confusion.

"Nina, you need to consider the fact that you're just six years old. You're very smart of course, more than any kid your age has any right to be. But it'll still be another four years until you can legally register your starter."

Nina understood what Kumiko was getting at. It would be irresponsible of her to catch a pokemon who is battle ready and eager to explore the wider world, only for them to languish and have to wait another four years for their trainer to come of age.

"And I know that your family's had it rough recently. So consider who will need to take care of any Pokemon you capture in the meanwhile. I'm sure you're a very responsible girl, Nina. However, there'll be times where you need Patrick's help but he'll be busy at work, or dealing with… issues."

It seems that the Rockfords were well aware of Nina's family circumstances, which was surprising because she did not expect her father to share such a sensitive matter with outsiders. Friends or otherwise.

Tiffany, Charlie's sister and Nina's self-proclaimed love rival, looked like she was about to say something rude, but one look from her mother was enough to shut her up. Just to note, the youngest Rockford was a year younger than Nina, and her parents had already made it clear she wasn't allowed to capture anything.

Nina nodded. "I get it, I'll think about this some more. In the meantime, may I help Charlie with his starter? I did a whole bunch of research on the Pokemons one can reasonably find here in the Safari Zone," said Nina, as she flipped through her notebook, pretending like she wasn't bothered. When in fact, her mind was in turmoil.

"Of course, sweetie…" Agreed Kumiko, but Nina did not miss the sad look she gave her husband.

"Alright, Charlie. Come over here," beckoned Nina. Charlie was reluctant, feeling guilty at her misfortune. But a single glare from his crush was all it took to make him compliant.

Nina spread out her own map and began writing. "Alright, so… Beware that what I'm about to say is purely based on my research of publicly available information online. It may or may not be accurate, but given how vague Mr Masayuki was earlier, it's better than nothing."

The six year old girl then began listing out some of the common Kantonian species of pokemon that can be found in each biome; Kangaskhan and Growlithes in the plains, Butterfrees and Beedrills in the forests, etcetera.

"But what is most interesting," continued Nina. "Is that in recent years, the League had started introducing some Johtan pokemon in the Safari as well." This new fact garnered the attention of everyone in the room.

This was actually one of the Pokemon League's plans to foster long-lasting peace between the two regions. They were using the Safari Zone as a sandbox to observe the ecological effects that introducing large numbers of foreign pokemon may have before releasing them out into the wider region.

By cross integrating the Kanto-Johto exclusive species, the League hopes to remove any friction that may occur due to pokemon envy. Further removing a potential seed of conflict.

Nina pointed to the plains. "For example, Mareep. Which as you all know, evolves into Amphoros—an Electric Dragon Type." The mention of dragons got all the boys excited.

"If you're looking for something more conventional, there's Houndour as well. They've also recently introduced a herd of Phanpy and Donphan in the forests. And, there should also be Heracross around if you're interested in bug types." Stephen got really excited about Donphan for some reason.

“Now as far as Water pokemon goes…” Nina pointed a decisive finger at the image of a lake. It was the one of the locations that Nina spent the most time in during her past life playing the games. And while it looked very different, Nina just knew that this was the right spot.

“Kanto and Johto share most of the same Water Type species. And whatever exclusives Johto has aren’t particularly worth it in my opinion.”

Nina’s assessment seemed to have gotten a nod of approval from Kumiko, their resident Water Type specialist. “She’s right. Also most of Johto’s rare Water Types are primarily based in salt water environments. I doubt we’d find any here in the Safari.”

“However,” continued Nina. “I have reason to believe that we might be able to find Dratini here.”

An awkward silence descended upon the room as everyone gaped at the girl’s claim.

Nina recalled her past life as Miles and how his initial encounter with Pokemon was actually an emulator loaded with the original Pokemon Yellow on his cousin’s PC, the one where the cover for the game was a deformed Pikachu.

It was the one thing Miles looked forward to the most whenever they visited that relative. And when Miles got his first PC at twelve years old, he immediately went and figured out how to install an emulator of his own.

One of the things he would often do during his many playthroughs of Pokemon Yellow was spend hours in that single pond in the Safari Zone, trying to fish for Dratini. It was his favorite pokemon, and he was very obsessive as a kid. It also did not help that the encounter rate for Dratinis were super low, and their tendency to escape only after a few turns. Relying only on Safari Balls and berries to catch the elusive baby wyrm was an exercise in patience.

“Are you sure, sweetie? Wild Dratinis have not been sighted in years.”

Kumiko was right, the Dragonite line wasn’t a protected species for nothing. Being some of the friendliest and most aesthetic Dragon Types around, they were naturally heavily exploited by bad actors, leading to a very precarious situation.

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but it’s worth looking around. I mean, I assume we’ll visit all the major landmarks in the Safari at some point, right?” Replied Nina.

There was still some lingering skepticism, but everyone accepted Nina’s reasoning and moved on. She was right in that there was no harm in doing a thorough check. After all, they had four whole days of Safari Zone ahead of them.

After a brief discussion, Charlie decided that he wanted to see the pokemon in action before making any decisions that might affect the rest of his life. In many ways, the choice of a starter was equally as important as a lifelong marriage or the birth of one’s child in the Pokemon world. It was not something to be taken lightly.

So after wrapping everything up, the group finally set out on their grand Safari adventure.