“Stephen, get out of bed and make me breakfast!”
My mom always woke me up like this, my mother doesn’t cook so she relies on me to do it. It usually bugs me how much she relies on me. I mean, aren't I the child, isn’t she supposed to take care of me? But today, I didn’t mind the rude awakening. Today is the day. I turned 16 years old; I will finally be able to set out on a journey. In all of the other regions Pokémon trainers could set out on their journey as soon as they turned 13, but I was told that Unova is much more dangerous than the other regions. I didn’t believe that for one second.
After putting on a new set of clothes I ran down the staircase, almost tripping over the railing. I desperately wanted to get out of this hellhole that is called Nuvema Town. I quickly made breakfast for my mother, I didn’t want to waste time eating. I tried to go back upstairs but my mom stopped me.
“Stephen, why don’t you sit down and eat, what’s the rush?”
I let out a moan of discontent and made myself a piece of toast, I should be able to scarf that down quick and be able to continue on with my day.
“So your father is doing well in Kanto, he says he and his company are close to capturing Giovanni.”
My father is a 2nd Lieutenant in the Unova Army and he was sent to assist the Kanto Army in capturing a well known mad man about 2 years ago. I don’t understand how Unova is considered more dangerous than Kanto when Giovanni and his group Team Rocket, who stole and exploited Pokémon, was still at large. Unova doesn’t have a group like that, so how could it possibly be more dangerous?
After I finished eating, I went back upstairs and began packing my things. I stuffed 3 sets of clothes into my backpack. I figured that it would only take a few days to go from town to town, so I would be able to visit a Laundromat frequently. I also put my MP3 player, my phone, some non-perishable food, and some money into the bag. Now, all I had to do was wait for Professor Juniper to call me. Professor Juniper was the local Pokémon expert, she gave trainers their first Pokémon when they turned 16 in Nuvema Town. Out of all of the people in town, she was the only person that I admired.
While I was waiting to be called, I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels and stopped once I reached the Pokémon battle channel. I loved watching 2 Pokémon combatants duel, I was also in awe about how much they trusted and cared for their trainers. I was watching a Minor-League tournament. There are three leagues, the Minor-League in which low-tiered trainers battled it out, and the Major-League in which high-tiered trainers battled it out. To determine the tiers, there is a qualification tournament at the beginning of the year. Bad trainers are sent to continue their training instead battling in a league, good trainers are put in the low-tiers, and amazing trainers are put in the high-tiers. The last league is the Unova League. This league is very unique. Trainers have to defeat 8 different Gym Leaders, who are immensely powerful trainers that specialize in a certain type of Pokémon, after that, trainers are sent to battle the Elite 4. These 4 trainers are similar to Gym Leaders because they specialize in certain types of Pokémon as well. However, they are much more powerful than Gym Leaders, and in addition to that, a trainer is given no breaks in between the battles, meaning that Pokémon can only be healed with potions and medicine that are brought in with them. After defeating those 4 trainers, which is a rare occurrence, a trainer is sent to the Champion; a trainer does not get a break between the Elite 4 and the Champion. The Champion also specializes in a type of Pokémon, but he or she is rarely beaten. I plan on taking the Unova League Challenge.
While I was trying to learn from the battle styles of the trainers in the Minor-League, an urgent news message popped up. It was the President of Unova speaking.
“Attention citizens of Unova, we regret to inform you, but a large criminal organization is rising up. We, the government of Unova, are incredibly sorry for keeping this group of criminals a secret from you. However, we thought that we would be able to crush them in a matter of months. This is not the case. They are rising up and gaining power fast. Team Plasma, as they are called, trick trainers into liberating their Pokémon. After the Pokémon are set free, Team Plasma recaptures the Pokémon and is using them to commit crimes. So please beware of anybody telling you liberate your Pokémon. Despite them being low in numbers, we cannot thwart them because a majority of the Unova Army is in Kanto trying to capture Giovanni and stop Team Rocket. They are gaining followers, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to stop them. So please be careful. ”
The president then took out a picture.
“Also, stay away from anybody who is wearing or displaying this logo:
As I said before, we are sorry for the delay in informing you. Have a nice day.”
Damn it. This must be why Unova is considered more dangerous than the other regions. I’ll just have to be more careful on my journey.
After sitting in my room for awhile, my two “friends” burst in, holding what seemed to be a tool belt and a box. One of my friends, Cheren, pretends that he is smart, but really he is just an arrogant little ass. The other one is Bianca, who has a good heart, but she has diarrhea of the mouth and will never stop talking.
“Happy birthday!” Bianca said, she continued on, but I ignored what she was saying. I have trained myself to tune out what she was saying. Thank Arceus I did.
“Juniper told us to bring this to you. It contained 3 Pokémon, you were supposed to have first pick because it is your birthday, and then me and Bianca would pick, and this belt is to hold your Pokeballs.” Cheren said.
“Wait, it
contained three Pokémon?”
“Well yeah, Bianca and I already chose our Pokémon.”
I hated that guy, if I had a chance, I would push him off of a cliff into a pool of Carvahna. But I couldn’t believe that Bianca took a Pokémon. I grabbed the last Pokeball and pressed the little button on it, releasing a cute little Tepig. I thought to myself,
this isn’t too bad, Tepig is actually a pretty cool Pokémon. But something was wrong with it, as soon as it saw us, it scurried underneath the bed.
“Is it supposed to do that?” I asked.
“Ha! Why do you think we picked before you, we didn’t want a coward Pokémon like that.”
“Whatever, a good trainer can win with any Pokémon, but I understand why you couldn’t take a challenging Pokémon.” I immediately saw that this fired up Cheren.
He then sent out his Pokémon, Oshawott. I went under the bed and grabbed the Tepig. I decided to name my Tepig. I will call him Blaise, since he is a Fire-Type.
“Oshawott, use Tackle!” Cheren called out to his Pokemon.
Wait what? I never agreed to a battle, Cheren was just taking advantage of the situation to beat me in a battle. While Oshawott charged, Blaise just stood there, like he was paralyzed by fear.
Oshawott repeatedly bashed its head into Blaise, until Blaise was cornered. I could see that Blaise was terrified and was in pain, I knew what I had to do.
“Finish him off with a Tackle, Oshawott!” Cheren screamed.
Time went much slower than it normally did and I stood, with my arms outstretched, protecting Blaise. Oshawott’s head hit my stomach and I fell to my hands and knees, gasping for air.
“Well, it looks like that battle is over.” Cheren said confidently.
I felt disappointed in myself as Cheren began to pick up Oshawott.
“Wait, look at Blaise!” Bianca shouted.
I swiveled my head 90˚ to left, and to my surprise, Blaise stood there. This is one of the sights that I will never forget. Blaise’s eyes were filled with determination, and he scuffed his front right hoof against the floorboard, like he was ready to charge. Now Blaise was protecting me, the opposite of before. Blaise charged forward and bashed Oshawott around the room until Oshawott was knocked unconscious.
“That shouldn’t have been your win; you stopped Oshawott from delivering the finishing blow.” Cheren said.
“What do you mean? You attacked Blaise without telling me that we were going to battle.” I said in return. That seemed to shut Cheren up. He returned Oshawott to its Pokeball and left.
“Stephen, battle with me now.” Bianca said as she sent out her Snivy.
“Alright Bianca, let’s battle.”
“Snivy, use Tackle!” Her Snivy slithered forward, lunging at Blaise, but Blaise stepped to the side.
“Blaise, now it’s your turn to use Tackle.” He rammed Snivy, doing heavy damage, and then one more Tackle finished it off.
“Aww man, I thought I would for sure win this battle. Anyway, Professor Juniper wanted to talk whoever took that Tepig, and that’s you. Cya later!”
I grabbed my backpack. Blaise and I walked over to Professor Juniper’s lab and were warmly welcomed. Her assistants took Blaise and were healing its wounds from the battle.
“Stephen, that Tepig has major issues. I found him all alone on the plains awhile ago. He was next to 2 Emboar corpses, I assume they were his parents. They must’ve been killed by poachers.” Professor Juniper exclaimed.
“That’s terrible, poor little fella.” I was in shock and couldn’t think of a better response.
“Yes, it is terrible. Due to this, your Tepig is extremely careful and is afraid of many things. He cannot battle any Pokémon that are Incredibly-Effective against him. He cannot battle any Pokémon that can learn Self-Destruct or Explosion. He cannot battle any Gym-Leaders or Elite-4 members who have a type advantage. And finally, since his parents have passed, he has not been taught how to summon immense amounts of fire. So he cannot use powerful Fire-Type attacks. I think he will be a great companion for a willing trainer like you. Good luck raising him.” She said.
The assistants gave Blaise back, all healed from the battle. I figured that it would be a good idea to say goodbye to my mother, even if I didn’t like her. So I went home to say goodbye.
“Mom, I’m going on my Pokémon journey.” I said flat out. I wanted to make it clear that I was going, no matter what.
“No, you are not. You have to stay here, there is no way I’m letting you go.” This was a surprise to me. She has showed signs of not wanting me to go before, but never just said no. I almost burst into tears.
“Yes mother. “ I said weakly. If I had said anymore, I would have broken down.
I ran upstairs. It was 10:00, I should get some rest anyway.
…
2 hours went by, I couldn’t get any sleep, but Blaise was curled up so peacefully next to me. It was obvious that Blaise trusted me, and was willing to battle. I looked at Blaise, he had now woken up and was drowsily observing the room. I thought about how I would convince my mother of letting me go on my journey.
No. I won’t convince her to leave. I looked at the window across the room. I put on my backpack and my belt.
“C’mon Blaise.” I whispered.
Blaise’s ears perked up and he immediately snapped out of his drowsy state. I opened the window, grabbed a hold of Blaise, and plunged into the darkness.