My eyes shot opened and bright yellow light took over the entirety of my vision. The sun was up and my window was open... I looked over to the large cat right next to the paned glass and groaned before rolling over my bed and turning my head to the side where the light of the sun didn't directly hit my face. "Persian?" I heard the Pokemon say and I didn't bother to answer.

When the second 'Persian?' came, I resisted the urge to throw my pillow toward the cat and blearily stood up. "you know, whatever it is that Dad tells you to do, you can just not do it right?" I said, wiping one of my eyes. He purred, smiling, "screw off, I'm pretty sure Dad's badges are no longer viable anyways."

I stood up and ignored Persian's pur in reply, I grabbed all of my notebooks from my desk and stuffed them in the bag right next to my bed. That done, my head jerked towards Persian before I gestured towards the door, "please leave, I'm about to change." I heard a pur and groaned, "so what! I was young and I don't have memories of it anyways!" I actually did have memories of seeing him standing on the bathroom door as Dad bathed me but I wouldn't let him know even if someone tries to torture it out of me.

When Persian left, the door closed on its own and I was left alone. I slumped on my bed, glared at the sunlit window, put a palm on my face, and then sighed, why is it always him that wakes me up? "Arceus, why do I even bother?" I asked the God of this world and got no answer.

I stood up and pulled out my clothes for the day from my closet. Thankfully, a trainer's school just didn't ask for uniforms and just needed me to wear something simple and presentable so I got myself a plain black T-shirt and a pair of brown pants that reached just below my knee.

Half an hour later and I was standing in front of a mirror with a comb in my hand fixing my wet hair, it took even less time for me to fix the rest of my stuff, and an hour exactly after Persian woke me up, I was already on the living room waiting for my breakfast.

The TV was on but the sound of sizzling meat from the kitchen was louder than the guy on the news. Regardless, I listened in, "-nd so, the now named "Wooper" have been identified to be the Pokemon that has washed up on both Olivine city's and Route 35's beaches. Investigations are currently underway as to how they ended up here and the rangers have sent in their best water-type Pokemon to check the transport ship wreckage on the coast of Olivine city." the reporter smiled and paused for a few seconds before continuing,

"in other news, the whirlpools off the coast of Cianwood city have been becoming harsher and harsher ever since the storm subsided and people have reported that some parts of mount silver have been disappearing and reappearing." his words got my eyebrows to rise, "those who have witnessed the phenomenon have described it as-" an audio clip played, "-"like someone was cooking right? and what you see on top of the grill doesn't make sense but then it suddenly stops and then, you know, the mountain is gone!"."

"weird," I said out loud. Is... Palkia influencing this Region? If so, why? There's only one Pokemon that I know of that's capable of spacial distortions while simultaneously having the strength to toss around parts of Mt. Silver...

"what's weird?" Dad plopped out of the kitchen carrying two full plates in hand, he dropped one in front of me and I took the provided fork and bit down on the fried bacon. Dad sat down next to me and listened in on the news and before I finished chewing, he already got his answer and loudmouthed an 'Ohhhhhhh'. Then he started to eat, no longer caring.

"who do you think is capable of doing that?" I asked and Dad shrugged,

"don't know."

I was suspicious of the storm a few weeks back but now? Seeing literal parts of Mt. Silver disappear has slightly convinced me that for some reason, Legendaries were starting to make their moves and the storm was definitely from a Lugia. But that asks the question, why?

"aren't you worried?" I turned to him and he shrugged again,

"not really, the champion is more than enough to take care of that, and besides, if anyone tries to mess with us then I'll gladly face them without complaint." he answered, biting down on bread and humming in delight.

"okay, if you say so," I replied and continued with my breakfast.

After eating, I prepared Grimer's meal: a loose blend of poison-type pokechow for both Grimer's growth and so that the bacteria inside of him has something to multiply on, poisonous herbs and meat, and finally a few crushed vitamins meant to bolster a Pokemon's defense.

Grimer happily mowed down the food I had given him and I kept an eye on him from the corner of my eye as I cleaned the dishes. Just as I told him to, when he was done, he went over to his Pokeball, pressed the button, then went inside without complaints. I quickly finished my chore and then picked said Pokeball up before preparing to leave.

I strapped my bag across my back, I looked at Persian, "take good care of the place," he nodded lazily from where he was sleeping, and then I was off.

...

When I arrived at our classroom, I noticed a few of my classmates' gaze linger over my belt, specifically, the spot where I hooked Grimer's Pokeball but being kids, their interest quickly moved on when they saw that I didn't say anything about it. Before long, my Pokemon was already out of their heads as chatter started to build up across the classroom and I took my seat silently and waited for the teacher to arrive, Espeon wasn't in her usual spot and I assumed that she was probably roaming around the school grounds but if not then that means Miss Chrome still hasn't arrived yet.

"Lionel?" I turned around and saw a girl (Vhira, I think?), the same one that had asked about poison types yesterday, silently staring at the Pokeball on my hip. She met my eyes and I saw something inside of her own, distress? "you have a Pokemon now?" she looked dejected, offering a face that only a kid her age can muster. I nodded and she smiled weakly, "what kind of Pokemon is it?"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I scratched my head and my eye lingered over Grimer's Pokeball for a small moment before I answered, "a, uh, Grimer?" I forced a smile,

"where did you catch him?" at my answer, her voice gained some confidence and she took the seat behind mine, "I want one as well."

"I found him on the beach," I said and she frowned, "b-but don't get your hopes up okay? Grimers don't usually stay in places like Goldenrod because it's too clean."

"too clean?" she asked,

"yep, it's too clean." I repeated, "usually, Grimer and Muk have bacteria inside of their bodies that help them live and those bacteria die when they're in sterile places."

I noticed that she was listening aptly when I spoke, "so... do you... know a lot about Grimer?" she twirled her hair and I saw the barest hint of a hopeful grin form on the tip of her lips before she spoke again, "can you help me find places where they can be found?"

I scratched the back of my head, 'did Johto have a place where Muk and Weezing were found?' I remembered back in Fire-red that you can fish for them in Celadon and Goldenrod should roughly be the same but... "do you know any dirty, open places here?" I asked, there should be a spot in this city somewhere where the moon openly shines on trash right?

The girl frowned, "I don't know?" she sheepishly smiled, "why?"

"it's where you can find Grimers," I replied,

"oh." she fell deep into thought and then her eyes beamed, "I'll see if I can find one!"

"good luck," I encouraged.

She stopped me when I was about to turn around, placing a hand on my shoulder before tightening her grip. "can I see?" it wasn't a question.

I nodded, "of course," and let Grimer out,

Vhira's head tilted, "oh, is he a Shiny?"

"uh... yes?" I answered, and from the corner of my eye, I saw that some of my classmates looked interested in the weirdly colored pokemon but when they saw that it was a Grimer, that interest quickly faded.

"aren't you scared that other people would steal him?" she bent down and gave Grimer a small pat on the head and the sludge happily nuzzled against her palm.

"well no," I replied, "I already went to the Pokemon center yesterday and registered him-" - so I don't have to worry about the league finding out about his existence - was a part that I left out, "-and besides, it's not like he can't protect himself." I met Grimer's eyes and nodded, he nodded back.

"yeah, I guess." Vhira replied as she sniffed her hand. "huh, he doesn't smell that bad?"

I shrugged, "I don't know why he's like that either."

"well, thank you anyways, Lionel, I'd see if I can find those places that you said Grimers live." after giving the sludge one more pet, Vhira left and went back to her seat. Grimer, meanwhile, gladly went back to his Pokeball after she left.

It was when I looked back to the front of the class that someone else decided to mention my Pokemon, "so, you have a Grimer?" says a chippy yet paradoxically masculine voice that already made me tired just from hearing it.

My head turned and I was face to face with a smirking boy, right next to him was a Hoothoot with the same smile as his trainer. I frowned, "I don't think he's ready for a challenge yet Klaus." I said honestly, predicting what the boy was already going to say.

He scoffed, "please, you're just scared that you won't be able to beat me in a battle so-"

"yep, I am," I said simply before turning my head away from him.

"hey! don't be rude! I was talking!" I faced him again, "so, as I was saying, you're just scared!"

"ooooohhhh Lionel's scared!"

"Klaus is challenging someone again?"

"a battle's about to happen!"

"Lionel's afraid to battle!"

Were the few that I could make out from the stream of noise that followed after Klaus' declaration. Unsurprisingly, one that was loud enough to cut through the chatter of children.

"like I said, I am very much afraid of you so how about we go ahead and mov-"

I was cut off once again as Klaus gave out another declaration, "hey everyone! I bet Miss Chrome is gonna make us battle later again! Don't take my spot against Lionel okay?!" he gave me a shit-eating grin when the chorus of agreements rang out.

I sighed, "fine, if she makes us battle later, I'll fight you okay?" I said and he nodded, "then after that, let me be in peace."

"of course," he said.

I nodded, "okay,"

Klaus stayed quiet after that, a smug grin still present on his face. It was annoying sure but nothing else came from the boy other than suggesting Miss Chrome that we, her students, should battle later on when the school day was about to finish to which she happily agreed when the rest of the class encouraged her.

I shook my head and smirked, someone, 's gonna be surprised this afternoon to see that their psychic-type attacks aren't going to scratch Grimer in the slightest.

Classes passed by like a blur and I was surprised to see that Klaus didn't just straight up ask me to battle when the recess bell rang instead, the kid ran over to the classroom door as fast as he could. I eyed him silently when he did so and possibilities as for why he was so excited to go out popped up in my head. I ignored them all and proceeded to the cafeteria.

I quickly went up the first floor stair and as I made my way halfway through, I saw a girl panting on the walls of the staircase. We both made eye contact and she raised her eyebrow, "what?" I waved my hand in front of my face defensively and continued walking to pass her by, I felt a hand grasp my arm when I was about to cross her, stopping me from moving.

"hi?" I said, I expected that small exchange earlier was the end of all this but not. She stayed silent and eyed me up and down. I did the same to her- she was wearing a white blouse with visible shorts underneath her white skirt that stopped at her knees, her red hair was tied into a haphazard ponytail and on her hip were two pokeballs,

"aren't you tired?" she asked,

I shook my head, "of course not, I've been climbing these stairs ever since I started here, I got used to them by now." I replied, "are you new here or...?"

"no, of course not!" she fanned her neck, "it's just that I'm tired, that's all."

I looked down the rather long set of stairs and then back at her, my eyes went over to the Pokeballs hanging from her hips, "what were you doing that got you this tired this early anyways?" I asked,

"training?" she pressed a hand on her chin before gesturing to the pokeballs on her hip, "with both of these guys,"

"ah, I guess I can understand." I nodded at her before I jerked my head to the top of the stairs, "I kind of need to go though, recess isn't forever."

She let me go, "w-wait for me for a bit yeah?"

A little while later and the girl was no longer breathing heavily, she stood up from where she was leaning and smiled, "thank you!" her voice was no longer ragged.

"you're welcome," I returned her smile, "you should probably tone down your training though," I said as I helped her up the last stair,

She scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "yeah I probably should." she said simply, "I've been running with my pokemon for some time now to prepare for my journey and-" she scratched her cheek, "-uh, it was just yesterday that I exerted my body to their actual limits." she grinned, "it was worth it though."

My eyes went back to the staircase behind her, "if you think about it, these things are probably there so that the students here can gain a bit of leg muscle before their journey huh?" I mused,

She looked back and nodded, smiling lightly, "probably." she met my eyes, "what's your name by the way?"

"Lionel," I answered simply,

She held her hand out, I took it. "Whitney." she introduced.