Picking a starter Pokemon is one of the most important decisions any young trainer could be faced with. Typically, most don’t get to start with one of the professors three, but thankfully since my moms kept close contact with professor Juniper, and I’ve scored highly in all of the proficiency tests needed before going on a journey, I get to pick any of the three.
I looked down at the bag, looking at the different type stickers on each ball, before finally reaching down and picking one up. I glance up to Bianca, and give a nod. “Very well, Barry! So you chose Snivy? A wonderful pick, make sure you treat them with love, they are very temperamental as they grow. Just so you know, this Snivy is a male. Do you have a nickname for them?”
“Oh trust me, I know just how much trouble they can cause. Mom always said that her Serperior was the hardest Pokemon she raised, even though they were together the longest. I think I’ll wait on giving Snivy a nickname for now, I want them to be able to choose with me!”
“Well that's not a problem, just remember to register their nickname with Nurse Joy at any Pokemon center when you finally do, as some Pokemon will stop responding to their species name after hearing their nickname for a long time.”
“Sure can Bianca.” I agree, before turning as I hear steps coming up the stairs, I see Hugh making a mad dash up, a wild grin on his face.
“Alright Barry, now that you have your Pokemon, let's battle!” He shouts in clear excitement, visibly vibrating.
“Just hold on Hugh, I haven’t even had a chance to meet Snivy yet, it wouldn’t be a very fair battle, you know that. Just give us a minute please, ok?” I ask kindly, knowing that Hugh could get caught up in excitement. He nods, before turning to Bianca and walking over to her side. I hold my hand up and release Snivy, who comes out in a bright red flash.
“Snivy? Vy, Snivy?” Snivy looks at me with a blank face before turning to Bianca, almost like they were asking if I was going to be their trainer.
“Hi Snivy, my name is Barry and I’m going to be your trainer and partner! Those two over there are Hugh, my best friend, and Bianca, she’s the one who brought you here to me. Are you ready for a grand adventure?”
“Snivy. Sniiiivvvyyyy.” Snivy looks almost bored, before a smile almost escapes on his face. “Sni VYY!”
“Alright Snivy, that’s the right attitude! Hugh here asked us to battle, is that ok with you?” I ask, receiving a sharp nod in response. I smile and click the pokeball to return Snivy.
Feeling energy rush into me like a wild hurricane, I grin, grabbing my pokeball and raising it in the air “I agree to your challenge Hugh! Are you ready?”
“OHHH BOY I WAS BORN READY BARRY!”
“Then let’s get started!” Two flashes of light burst out from the pokeballs as our Pokemon get ready for battle. Curious, I look over to Hugh’s side of the balcony. “No way! A Tepig? That’s great Hugh, they look so strong!”
“Yeah well, your pokemons no surprise is it? You sure take after your mom a lot already, and now you both started with a Snivy! I should’ve guessed.” I chuckled, knowing he was right. I grew up with Serperior at my side almost every minute when I was a kid, and I’ve known for a while now that given the chance, I would have one too.
“You bet! Now get ready, Snivy and I are going to rock your socks off, isn’t that right?” “Sniv, Snivy!” “Alright! Well then, I guess we might as well go first. Snivy, use wrap!” I command, knowing that Snivy can’t do much damage with its lone grass type ability.
“Tepig, back up and use Tail Whip! Don’t let them get close to you!” Snivy is noticeably rattled after the effects of the tail whip, but soon he closes in on Tepig and manages to begin wrapping around Tepig. “Alright Snivy, use Leer on Tepig and keep them nicely wrapped up!” Snivy gives Tepig a look that seems to make the small pig shudder, before Hugh gets it together and yells “Tepig! Use Embers on their tail and then use Smokescreen! You need to get yourself unwrapped!”
Tepig’s ember hits Snivy in the center of the tail, causing him to let out a shriek of pain, before a smokescreen begins to spill out from Tepig’s nostrils. “No, Snivy!” I cry out, hearing the Tepig’s ember sizzle against Snivy’s sensitive scales, I see Snivy come back to my side of the battlefield. Damn it, Tepig got out. “Snivy, hit him with another Leer and Vine Whip through the Smokescreen!”
“Not gonna happen so easily this time Barry, Tepig blow the Smokescreen away and use Ember on Snivy, then run at her full force with a tackle!” The Smokescreen comes apart as Snivy uses leer, trying to bait Tepig into losing concentration, as their vine whips begin to come out.
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“Don’t falter Tepig, You can do this!” Hugh’s Tepig snorts before a blast of fire comes towards Snivy, immediately putting us in danger of a burn.
“Snivy slither under the Ember and wrap Tepig again!” Snivy maneuvers under ember, just as Tepig appears again, throwing its body at Snivy. “Snivy, look out! You can’t take this head on anymore!” I yell, a moment too late as Tepig hits Snivy, causing him to fly backwards, landing at my feet.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough, I’m putting an end to it. This is Hugh’s Victory!” Chants Bianca, not before having handed me and Hugh Potions. “You guys really battled your heart out, I couldn’t believe I was watching two newbies!”
Hugh looks embarrassed at the praise from such a pretty woman, and starts scratching the back of his head before responding “Thank you very much Bianca, you did great too! Wait uh, I mean, just, you know, thank you for bringing Barry his first partner! Now we get to start our journey at the same time!” Bianca immediately burst out into laughter, as I put a hand in front of my face to try and cover my eyes from the scene Hugh was making.
“Well that’s ok Hugh, I’m just doing my job like the professor asked. Oh, speaking of the professor, Barry, Professor Juniper gave me one of these to give you, she would like you to use it to learn as much as you can from the Pokemon around you. Please, take it.” My eyes widen, before I reach over to grab the device from Bianca’s hand. “Now I'm sure you know what that is in your hands, but I’ll explain anyway. This is the Pokedex V Unova, worked on by both Professor Juniper and the vaunted Professor Oak. Together, they have compiled the biggest known encyclopedia for everything about Unovan Pokemon! I hope you take care of it well Barry, It is quite important to our research at the lab.”
“Of course I will, this is amazing. I've wanted one of these ever since I can imagine! Thank you!” I gush, trying to make it sound like I’m not squealing inside of my head. Am I doing a good job? I hope so…
“Say Bianca, you wouldn’t happen to have an extra Pokedex would you? You see, I’m also going on a journey with Barry, and I would love to have one of my own as well, you know?”
Bianca smiles at him, before reaching back into her bag, “Well, thankfully Hugh, I do have a second Pokedex that I wouldn’t mind giving away. Here, take this.”
Hugh’s eyes are as wide as saucers as she hands him the Pokedex. “Really? Seriously? AMAZING I can’t believe it Barry! Now our journey is really getting started!”
I smile at Hugh, knowing just how much my best friend loves all things Pokemon, this is pretty on script. “Well, I’ll need to be going, I still have a few deliveries to finish for the Professor. I wish you both luck on your journey, though I doubt you need it, goodbye!”
“BYE BIANCA, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!” Hugh and I sing together, nearly at the top of our lungs. As Bianca disappears, we turn to each other with wild grins. “First one to the bottom of the stairs wins!” “Jinx” “JINX” “JINX!” We yell out, laughing as we run to the base.
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We reach the Pokemon center by the outlook, seeing that my mother and Riley have already arrived. I hug my mom, and we walk into the Pokemon center to treat our starter’s scrapes. “Hi Nurse Joy, my name is Barry and this is Hugh! We would like to heal our Pokemon and get signed up to participate in this year's Pokemon league, would that be ok?”
“Absolutely young man, could I see your trainers license and any league sanctioned device you have that may be used on your journey to make calls?” I nod, handing over my license and pokedex before turning to Hugh. “What’s your first stop going to be? I’m not sure where we should go first.”
“I’m thinking we head down to Floccesy ranch, I hear there are some amazing wild Pokemon we can find there, and we can train for a while before battling Cheren as well, what do you think?”
Before I can get a word out, my mom interrupts “I think that's an amazing idea, I actually have a friend in Floccesy who just might be agreeable to helping you all train, she has an Audino and they both specialize in training young pokemon. I'll put a word in, just keep an eye out, ok?”
I blinked. “Seriously mom? I thought we talked about how much help you would be giving me? It’s my journey, I want to get strong just like you did!” I couldn’t help but be upset, mom has always been all over me since I was a kid, always making sure I’m not getting into trouble, she even tried talking to our teachers about putting me ahead in certain classes. Talk about embarrassing.
“Oh come on Barry, that actually sounds really nice to get some training with a specialist before we hit the gym. Say, if Barry doesn’t want to take you up on the offer do you think I can talk with her anyways?”
Mom smiles at that, “Of course you can Hugh. Maybe you can drag Barry over to train with you, since he is so incapable of accepting his poor mothers last gift to her wayward son, how about it?”
That one got a laugh from Hugh and Riley. I sighed, and agreed that I would take the time to meet the trainer. It’s not like it could be that bad anyways… right? Nurse Joy brought us back our Pokemon, before finally handing Hugh and I our Licenses and Pokedexes back.
“Here you are boys, your Pokemon are in amazing health, and you are all good to start your circuit. I wish you luck, please come again soon!”
“Thank you so much Nurse Joy!” Hugh and I say together, before finally walking out of the Pokemon Center and beginning to say our goodbyes. My mom looks teary eyed, switching between looking at me and the sky, before finally crushing me in a hug and whispering “You are going to do amazing things Barry, I know it. It’s your turn to rock the boat.”
Riley handed both of us a map, not saying a word to either of us. Hugh turns to me, smiles, and we begin to walk towards the tunnel between our home town, and our great adventure.