"So as we can see, the pest population of the rivers is controlled or even removed by the Basculin, who are in turn hunted by- Oh, we're out of time! Remember, your report on the ecosystem of Route 10 is due on Tuesday!"
I'm so glad I'm leaving this stupid school. Half of the teachers here are totally useless. I mean, I really like biology and stuff, but this damn teacher doesn't know half of what he's talking about, and when he gets the information right he makes it so boring I want to throw up. There is one good teacher in this entire building. ...hmm. I should probably pause for a moment. My name is Arctic. I'm a sixteen year old student from Nuvema Town who is dropping out of school to train Pokemon with my two neighbors. Sounds ugly, but I've been in school longer than 99% of the people I went to elementary school with. Anyway, school just ended and I feel great.
I managed to meet up with my neighbors, Cheren and Bianca, out front before we went home. My mom told me earlier that Professor Juniper - the one nice teacher - had dropped off the Pokemon we were to take at my house. And so we left school, never to return. Hopefully. Inside my room was this huge blue box with three PokeBalls inside - Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. Bianca kept up with her "Oh my God oh my God!" constantly while Cheren just shook his head. I decided I might as well take the initiative and grab a Pokemon. I reached into the box and pulled out the PokeBall on the right. I threw it up into the air and out came a flash of white. The light materalized into an Oshawott. I soon realized that this this sleek and somewhat plushy otter was mine. My first Pokemon!
I should take yet another moment to explain. Recently, scientists in Hoenn developed an earpiece that deciphers the cries of various Pokemon and translates them into speech that we can understand. While this is a great device, the database isn't complete. That's why it's supposed to plug into a Pokedex (which we haven't received yet). It can read the Pokedex data and download a file to this device, which opens it and can now translate the new Pokemon's cry.
Back to my room. Apparently Cheren and Bianca were in a bit of a disagreement.
"I want this one! It's so cute!"
"You guys always leave me out and I get last pick. Let me pick for once." At this point, Bianca released her new pudgy Tepig into the air.
"Here, Cheren, take this one!"
"God dammit Bianca... Whatever, I totally wanted Snivy anyway." Cheren released his long, green Snivy. At this point, my Oshawott asked me a question.
"Do those two ever stop arguing?"
My reply: "No, they don't stop, ...uhh... do you have a name?"
"Well, uhh... I do and whatever..."
"What would it be?"
"Umm..."
"So I'll call you Whatever then." Whatever sighed. Perhaps this wasn't such a great name choice, but he was practically asking for it.
Then Bianca started talking about battling. "How about we have a battle?"
"Bianca, are you sure? We don't want to kill the Pokemon we just got... Arctic, do you agree?" He had a good point - if our Pokemon were injured badly enough, they might die before we could get to Juniper. Still, I had my opinion.
"Oh, lighten up, Cheren. We can all understand our Pokemon, we'll just stop when they get hurt or worn out." Bianca sort of yelped in agreement. She does that sometimes. And so the battles began. To make a long story short, Whatever can't really be classified as... "whatever." He's actually pretty good - beat Tepig and Snivy handily. My room was a mess at this point, but none of us cared. We'd just had our first battles! Cheren and Bianca didn't battle each other yet. They'll probably do that later. But for now, it was off to Juniper's lab with our enthusiastic but somewhat worse for wear Pokemon... after a quick explanation to Mom. Thankfully she understood the situation. A short walk led us to Juniper's lab, where she greeted us warmly.
"Oh! Your Pokemon have already been in a battle!"
Cheren's response was somewhat harsh. "Yeah, so?"
"You could have killed them! What were you thinking! ...and where is your Oshawott going?" I looked around. Whatever was using the shell on his body to carve something in a tree.
"Get over here, Whatever. That's not your tree." This led to a quick argument ending in me bringing him back into his PokeBall.
"Well now, children, shall we get started?"
An enthusiastic "Sure!" from Bianca and a head nod from Cheren prompted her to go on. "You know why I offered you this opportunity. I need help with the Pokedex. I can't go everywhere, as you know. I have things to do on my own. That's why you have these Pokemon. Your mission is to ferret out some Pokemon and add them to the Pokedex. Of course, if you can enter the Pokemon League, that would be fantastic too!" Cheren seemed genuinely excited for once - that had always been his dream. Juniper continued to speak. "Travel around Unova collecting data on the species you find. Maybe you'll find something new! I assume you remember the Trainer basics?"
"Yes, Professor, we all do."
"Well then, kids, get out there!"
Absolutely overjoyed at the prospect of high adventure, we set out for Route 1 together. Bianca suggested we take our first steps there together. I laughed, but she seemed really into it, so the three of us went simultaneously onto the route. At this point, we agreed to meet at Accumula Town after catching a Pokemon or two. I had my mind set on a Lillipup. Whatever just told me his name. You know what I mean... he just doesn't seem to care.
"Arctic, why can't we just catch a Patrat and be done with it? I'm sick and ti-HOLY SHIT GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!" A Lillipup had attacked us from behind! Clamping down on Whatever's leg, it just wouldn't let go. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch it. Whatever was getting dangerously weak and my PokeBall failed. So we had no choice but to kill it and move on. I didn't like having to give that order. Even the wild Patrat we just knocked out cold. But killing... it hurts. Watching something die is awful. Silently, I vowed to never just let my Pokemon die. After returning to Nuvema and tending to Whatever's wounds, we set out yet again - and this time we were successful. Lily the Lillipup was caught! Our first conversation went something like this.
"I guess I'm yours now... You even named me... Thank you..."
"Yeah, you're with us now. I'm Arctic and this is Whatever."
"That's... great... I am forever at your service..."
"Uhh... is something wrong, Lily?"
"No, not at all..."
"I'm bringing you back to your PokeBall. You're hurt." At this point, I did just that. Whatever asked me what the hell was wrong with her. I ignored the question.
After a bit of training for both of my Pokemon, I met up with Cheren at Accumula. Apparently Bianca had gone shopping or something. We walked around for a while and came across a park. A bunch of people dressed in weird gray and white uniforms were standing in a line behind an old man wearing the weirdest clothes I've ever seen. He was saying something. I managed to find it somewhere later, don't ask where.
"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation. I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans... only assume that this is the truth? Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of Trainers... They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work... Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying? Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon? That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon... and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention." At these words, the weird men packed up their flags and left with this Ghetsis man in the middle.
Cheren and I looked at each other. I'm not sure who said "The fuck?" but one of us said it. The crowd started to clear and we were about to leave, still confused. Then we were approached by a strange kid, no older than 15, walked up to us and started talking so fast that I could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.
"Uh... dude... slow down."
"Fine." He slowed down very little.
"Your Pokemon... it was saying something." I hadn't noticed, I took the earpiece off a while ago. I stuck it back in. Didn't really hear anything.
"My name is N. You two appear to be Trainers. You probably have Pokedexes and are going to catch a lot of Pokemon. But are Pokemon really happy in PokeBalls? Are they?"
"Well, uhh..."
"Let's see what your Pokemon has to say!" Here he sent out a Purrloin. From a PokeBall. I chuckled internally and sent out Lily. The two exchanged blows, and Purrloin was unconscious in moments, still but with a pulse. This N guy was apparently unfazed.
"I want to change the world for my friends. The Pokemon."
"That's great, kid. Why don't you-" And he was already walking away. Weirdo.
Cheren and I split up here and started towards Striaton City separately. My mom called and said she had my new shoes shipped to the Pokemon Center. Man, my mom might be weird but she's helpful. Anyway, I ran out onto Route 2, only stopping to scare away a few passing wild Pokemon. Then it happened. A random trainer battle. This young-looking kid, who can't be more than ten, decided that his Patrat was the greatest thing in the world. And so we had an embarassingly quick battle for him. In the end, his Patrat couldn't really move, but it would live. I decided to camp out on Route 2 for the night. It's a nice little place.