Journey of the Chosen
Disclaimer: Don't own pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea of the story is mine along with Evin the main character and other invented original characters. All rights are reserved to Pokemon and their respectful owners.
Chapter two
The New World
Light had already taken to the sky when Evin woke the next morning. Except what he woke to wasn’t the light of the new day, but cold drool spot left behind by the little blue and black furred riolu that lay on his chest. Sitting up, he could feel the wet fabric against his skin as it squish against his chest, giving him the thought of, (Well nothing could feel more real than that.) He shivered with slight discomfort and disgust, and then started trying to gently move the small pup off him, but in doing so the young riolu woke and gave him a weird look as he sat her on the ground before looking down at the darkened fabric.
Noticing her own trail of drool, the riolu put her paws up to her mouth and blushed as she saw the embarrassing mess she had made on his shirt. She gave him what he thought sounded like a sorry whine in her kind’s way of talking and then she started cleaning herself and sticking her tongue out every time she found some of the old dry salve in her fur.
Evin was still in awe at seeing a real live pokemon, but it wasn’t Riolu’s or Zoroark’s forms that necessarily offset him; it was their eyes; piercing, intelligent and above all predatory, which somewhat reminded him of what it was like to look into the eyes of the cougar that had cornered him. Though Riolu’s eyes were nothing of the sort, she didn’t have the predatory stocking look about her like Zoroark had, but more of a happy gentle look like some people have when life had been good to them.
The look on her face as she kept trying to clean herself was also priceless; causing him to smile at her each time her little face scrunched up from licking at her wounds and getting a bitter tongue full of salve. After a small while of just watching her trying to groom herself Evin said, “Would you like to go get cleaned up at the pokemon center? I’m sure the nurse can fix you up there real nice.”
She gave a happy bark to this, which was because she was indeed extremely tired of having her tongue stung by the nasty tasting salve and also felt bad from her wounds. She knew the Nurse Joy of this area and was comfortable with going to see her when she needed to; so she gave another bark to let Evin know that it was okay to pick her up and carry her. Evin jogged for a while with Riolu in his arms before they reached the road, and once on this road he made it a point to avoid all the other people that were there so he could be sure nothing could happen.
Evin knew that a lot of them were just average trainers, but he was still worried about what actual life was like in this world, since he had already found that many things were much different from the game or shows on TV.
Nothing was exactly as it had looked in the cartoons or in the game either, but was to a more realistic level, where everyone and thing looked real and acted in real ways as they went about their own agendas. Though he still wondered what an actual energy attack of a pokemon would look like as he looked down at the little Riolu in his arms for a moment with slight curiosity as a small thrill of excitement crossed his mind while still running.
Throughout the day as he ran, his mind drifted back to home a few dozen times, which made him wonder what everyone must have been doing back at home right then. He knew his mother would be the worst worrywart of them all at this point, for after he had turned thirteen and was allowed to go into the forest alone, she always seemed to be a worry head when he was out. It had only been after his thirteenth birthday that Jordan had deemed Evin was sufficient enough to explore the forest some on his own, which was only after so many years of instruction, but back then he was also supposed to stay close to the house.
His family had always lived in the redwood forest for as long as Evin could remember because of his mother’s job as a park ranger; which was fortunate since she often had to take watch duty at the watchtower that was only a few miles away. Whenever someone at the station called in sick or they needed more eyes for potential poacher threats she was the one that was called in to keep order, and Jordan was her backup in extreme situations.
Still, Tracy was often afraid of letting the children wander far from the house with knowing what kind of animals inhabited the forest, but as Jordan had pointed out, most of the animals stayed away from their house in that part of the woods not only because of the fences further in, but also because of the supersonic speakers they had attached to the house to ward them away. The supersonic sounds that the speakers made performed well in most cases, but even Tracy had seen a hungry animal ignore them before and had argued her concern of the matter, but had eventually given into her husband’s persistence on the subject of letting their son explore.
Evin continued to remember those arguments for a long while as he pounded out the slow mind numbering miles. His dad had always told him to keep moving when in bad situations, saying crying would never help solve anything. Jordan had also told him that if there were people who could help, all he had to do was ask and his thoughts turned to who would be the most helpful to him in his predicament.
An officer didn’t seem to be a very good choice to him, and neither did a nurse, or even a city representative. But then he started thinking about the pokemon in his arms again and remembered what a pokedex was good for as he remembered one of the first shows of pokemon he ever watched; the episode when Ash first got his pokedex.
He wondered at how much a pokedex could really do with everything being so real now, though he knew in the very least it provided an ID for him to go by, sort of like his mother’s driver’s license, which would enable him to travel places. His stomach suddenly growled for food just then as he was still running; which was a sound that made Riolu look up at him with a rather shocked look. Evin laughed at the look she gave him and said, “I haven’t eaten in two days, give me a break.” Riolu giggled in his arms now and then after that as she listened to more roaring sounds come from his gut as every so often happened while he continued running.
Evin’s thoughts then turned to what he would do for money to get food and also for that matter any kind of shelter. He reasoned that getting a regular job was out of the question, even if they did hire someone his age it would tie him down to one spot. These thoughts made him wonder more about how much money trainers got for winning battles if any or if a pokedex would let him stay and eat for free at a pokemon center. His thoughts continued to drumroll through the possibilities just as his feet did for many more hours that day as he contemplated many things, which soon became obvious that chief among his thoughts right then were still centered on how to get home.
It was almost dusk by the time they saw Nibassa City with the big Ferris wheel in the center. Being that he had been running since that morning, Evin was now completely exhausted and felt sore allover as his run degraded into a walk. He then began thinking of how long it would take to get to the lab in Nuvema Town. The thought nearly caused him to collapse as he came to the conclusion that it would take a god awful long time to ever do on foot.
Once inside the city he was once again amazed at how much bigger everything was than he had ever thought, and the pokemon center was still a half-mile away. So with his direction set, he started running again, using what little energy he had left before finally arriving at the automatic double doors. The doors opened smoothly when he stepped onto the large door mat and then closed behind him with nearly no sound at all after entering.
The nurse behind the counter was nearly exactly how Evin would have imagined a nurse Joy from the series would look like in real life, except instead of pink hair and extravagant hair loops she was a red head with what he would have thought to be a normal down to earth relaxed hair style. His awe of meeting his first real life Nurse Joy was short lived however; since right after entering the nurse spotted the injured riolu in his arms strait away and rushed to meet Evin where he stood. Nurse Joy didn’t even bother with words as she quickly took the tired little pup right out of Evin’s arms and dashed to the backroom before Evin could even come to the decision of what just happened.
After coming back to the desk with a rather displeased look, Nurs Joy stated how injured the riolu was rather accusingly before Evin then cut her off and said that she was a wild pokemon and that he had just found her that way yesterday. Joy was slightly caught off guard, but then begged Evin to pardon her jumping to that conclusion. Evin waved it off as if nothing were wrong, but then asked if he could use the phone. Joy pointed him to the communications computers before he then asked for Professor Juniper’s number. Joy was no doubt curious about why a trainer would ever need to be given the Professor’s number, but kept it to herself as she went through a small phonebook and gave it.
The call took a few minutes to go through before the Professor picked up, and when she saw Evin, she asked if she could help him, Evin then said, “I hope so, I need to talk to you about something big that has recently happened. I believe you are the only person who can help me at this time, though it has to be in person and private. The circumstances demand caution.”
Professor Juniper gave him a weird unhappy look and said, “Stay where you are, I’ll be there in a car in the morning because I have a few things to pick up that direction tomorrow anyway and then I will decide whether or not your actions were warranted. Nurse Joy?” the nurse came around her desk and poked her head closer to the monitor as she said, “Yes?” then Juniper, “Give this boy a place to stay for the night and see to it that he stays there until I get there tomorrow.” Then the nurse, “Yes Professor.” and then the screen went blank as the call ended.
Nurse joy said, “Well that didn’t sound too good; should I prepare a room for you and the riolu then?” Evin shrugged and said, “Now that she is here, I’m not sure she even wants to be with me. When she first woke yesterday, she tried to attack me, but was too weak to even strike me before I caught her paw. It was only after a bit of talking and waiting that she let me near her after setting her down.”
Nurse Joy nodded and said, “That one is a feisty customer, but she does seem to like you now. You are fortunate to have met each other; riolu usually bond with people or others of their kind at very young ages, because for them it is a needed companion ship that helps them grow as individuals and become more complete. I saw that little one some months ago back before she had yet separated from her parents, and I believe you might be the perfect person for her to get to know.”
Evin shrugged his shoulders again and said, “Ok, but ask her first, I don’t want her mad at me for any reason.” The nurse nodded and left for a short while and when she returned she said, “Riolu is sleeping soundly in room 18, which is the room I’ve prepared for you. Sleep well and be sure she doesn’t try to leave the center right away, she’s still not in good shape yet.” Evin nodded and thanked her before he stood from his chair and staggered his way up the stairs to the room the nurse had given him the key for.
Evin found that the pokemon center was surprisingly roomy as there were a number of rooms like a motel and found the specified room after a small bit of exploring the hallways. When he entered the room, he first dove for the fruit basket. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in a week and was ravenous as he ate the apples and oranges and even looked in the small fridge that had some milk inside. The milk tasted strange to him, but was still doable with how hungry he was, and at the foot of the bed, the small riolu slept with her white bandages wrapped around a large portion of her body, arms, and legs.
Once he was done eating, his tiredness and soreness about knocked him over as he glanced at his watch which read seven thirty PM; his legs felt like jelly and everything else just throbbed. So since there was nothing left to hold him up, he took his shoes off and then tried to slip under the sheets of the bed without waking the little pup, but he failed at his attempt and the riolu looked up at him with her round red eyes and gave a mellow sounding bark before going back to her earlier position to snooze some more. Evin then thought, (Well I suppose she does like me after all, she sure warmed up to me fast for trying to kick my ass just after waking up the other day.) Then before he could elaborate on those thoughts, he was fast asleep.
****
In the morning Evin woke with slightly damp toes from Riolu’s sleepy drool seeping into the sheets where her mouth soaked the blankets and for the first time since he got to this world he though she actually looked cute sleeping so soundly and drooling on the bed. He looked at his watch and found it was about Ten AM and thought to himself, (Wow, I must have been tired! I haven’t slept this late in ages. Dad would have killed me if it tried.)
He once again thought about his parents and how worried they must be at that very moment. He knew his dad was probably tearing up the forest looking for him, and killing whatever dangerous animals that were dumb enough to cross his path as he did, knowing that his father could be very mean when in a bad mood, which caused him to shudder at the thought. But then his mother and sister he also knew would be worrying about him as well, which made him yearn to at least in some way let them know he was ok, even if he could never leave this world, all he wanted was to rid them of those kind of worries he was sure they were having.
Riolu sensed his distress and woke just then and gave him a questioning look accompanied by a small bark as she turned her head. Evin got the meaning and said, “My family, I’m sure they must think I’m lost or possibly dead about now. I just disappeared in a forest.” Riolu got what he meant, and it astounded Evin that even without touching he could still sense her basic feelings now, which was at the moment sadness for him before she stood up and hobbled over to where he was sitting up in the bed. Evin watched her limp over to him before she then turned around and let herself fall into his lap before then hugging his arm to comfort him. He could feel the pity she felt for him through the strange link they shared, along with some other feelings that he still wasn’t good at interpreting.
She slept that way for a little while before Evin got up from feeling restless, leaving Riolu to just lay on the bed. His body was stiff and sore as Riolu watched him put his shoes on, but even then Evin was determined to keep himself moving so his ill-favored thoughts wouldn’t catch up to him. Then Evin looked around the room some more and spotted the bathroom. He needed to pee bad, so he hurriedly went into the room, but forgot to shut the door all the way behind him.
Inside he noticed that the room had large showers for all kinds of pokemon, big and small with a large bathtub next to them, a restroom stall and a dressing area with a big mirror. First he relieved himself and then seeing that he actually had a shower available to him, he went for it since he was still covered in filth. From there he turned the hot water on and started to strip, but as he had forgotten earlier, the door to the bathroom was still cracked open and he hadn’t even stopped to think of the small pokemon in the other room as another person, as of yet.
While he striped to take his shower, he was completely oblivious of the curious riolu getting up from the bed to investigate where the sound of running water was coming from. When her small furry face peaked around the corner, if it wasn’t for the blue and black color of her fur her face would have been nice and rosy colored from the sight of Evin completely nude in the shower with his eyes closed.
At that moment Evin was busy rinsing the foamed shampoo from his brown hair and using his hands to scrub it off the rest of his body, while being obliviously unaware of his audience. Riolu stared at him for a long while as he washed himself before Evin finally opened his eyes and noticed the furry face looking right at him from the door and dove for a towel and said with a red face, “You mind!? I’m sorry for leaving the door open, but do you really need to stare like that!?”
Riolu sensed his embarrassment and gigged as she moved back to the bed with the image of him in the shower fresh on her mind. She happily rocked back and forth on the bed thinking of the things that have happened to her since she left her parents behind and once again felt a little sorry for Evin as she then thought about what it would have been like if she had just disappeared from her parents sight without a word.
She gave Evin a happy bark when he came back into the bedroom after his shower and at first Evin wasn’t sure how he should interpret this one. He was still immensely embarrassed at what had just happened minutes before, feeling that it was almost worst then when he caught his sister spying on him when he took baths or showers. But then he decided that it was best just to let it go as he thought about it for a few seconds and came to the conclusion that she is a pokemon and that if she did stay with him he would probably have to groom her sooner or later.
So he let it slide this time as he let his frustration go and then got ready to leave the room. Once he was ready Riolu came closer to him and lifted her paws so he could to carry her. He picked her up without thinking another thought and carried her down stairs to the main lobby, where the nurse greeted them and gave them both breakfast at a booth and said, “The professor should be here within the hour, please don’t go anywhere until then, ok?” Evin nodded and thanked her for the food and Riolu barked happily and dug into her tray of mixed berries and pokemon food.
As the nurse had said, Juniper showed up a short while after the two finished eating and she got her first good look at the reason she had gotten up so early to be there. She then said, “Ok I’m here where do you want to go to talk?” Evin shrugged and said, “Might as well go back to the room I stayed the night in.” the Professor nodded and he led her to the room.
Once the door was shut and locked, Evin began a narration of where he came from and how he got there, along with what the Zoroark had told him and he even relayed his unusual new found ability to sense others feelings. Saying that at first it was by touch, but was now by only being close to them, which he relayed that he could tell she didn’t believe a large part of what he had just said.
Him confirming this, didn’t really prove anything, but seemed to help her accept that something wasn’t right about him. She wondered if he was really possibly different from most people, or if he was just an arrogant boy just saying that he was special. Then she questioned herself if his tails were even possible and if he could really and truly now be in a strange world that he was having a little trouble understanding.
Still not very convinced Juniper then said, “So let me get this straight, you said that in your world that this world was all a game or show invented for kids, which is how you know so much, and that you’ve been somehow transported through dimensions?” Evin nodded then said, “Yes to a degree, I believe that is what has happened; being that this seems to be its own world though, it would also seem this world has some reality tweaks that the game or show didn’t have. Everything here is as realistic as things were in my world, though getting used to pokemon looking real is taking a bit of work to adjust to.”
Juniper contemplated some more about the theories of such things happening and then finally said, “Ok, let’s say I believe you well enough, but what dose me believing you have to do with all of this, like why would you contact me?”
Evin then said, “Well number one; you were the first person suggested for me to go to from the first sentient life I came in contact with. Number two; a pokedex is needed to do a lot of traveling, which I’m sure I will need to do. Number three; I need more advice on what to look for so I can one day either go home or get a message to my parents so they don’t worry themselves to death in a year or so. Number four; being a pokemon trainer is about the only thing I know about in this world, and lastly number five; I’m not sure what I will need to have to survive on my own in these regions; I have a big knife and the cloths on my back and that’s it.”
At hearing he had a knife she asked to see it for a moment; he shrugged and handed it over after removing it from the sheath that was strapped sideways to his belt behind him, where the handle normally stuck out just past his right hip. She studied it for a few moments then tapped the metal with a coin. Though she thought the metal itself was unremarkable, it was very sturdy and the design of the knife she was looking at was for sure not a region or even military made piece that she was familiar with and she knew that none of the companies in any of the regions made this design.
Also the engraved stamp of US Army on the blade was a good indication that it wasn’t from her world. This almost all unto itself told her his story was quite possibly real enough to go on a little faith and believe him. So with her doubts swept aside for the moment she handed his knife back to him and said, “Okay, I think I believe you now, but we need to go back to my lab, but I want your oath that you won’t be a slacker if I give you the things you will need to do what you Need to do. Will you require a starter pokemon?” Evin looked at Riolu, who had been paying close attention to Evin’s story and said, “That depends on if she wants to join me I guess.”
Riolu was silent for a second before giving a nod and happily barked and Juniper then said, “I think she will, but just in case I’ll still give you one anyway. Come, we don’t have a moment to loose. I have other trainers coming later on tonight and I want to run a few tests on you and your blue friend here before they arrive and you feel like taking off.”
So without further ado the Professor thanked the nurse downstairs and took Evin and the riolu to her car where they booked it all the way to Nuvema Town and stopped in a few cities on the way to pick up the items she required. Evin could feel the stressful anxiety building up within him as they got closer to the lab with not knowing what his future held in store for him. Even Riolu gave a whine from feeling the pressure of his feelings and looked at him with worried eyes. He didn’t even want to try and imagine what kind of machine he might be stuck inside at this point and only hoped that the good Professor’s personality was at least somewhat like what he knew her to be from the game or show.
Before this he hadn’t stopped to think about it until now, but now he saw the danger in letting the wrong people know about his predicament, which made his nerves suffer gut wrenching anxiety. But now here he was and it was far too late for second thoughts as they now pulled up in front of the lab building. As Evin already somewhat expected, the lab looked bigger than he had imagined it would, but the professor didn’t let him contemplate that for long before she led them into the building right after getting her stuff out of the car.
Inside was a variety of gizmos and gadgets with a ton of books littering tables and shelves along with a few intimidating looking machines taking up two of the room’s corners. But the professor seemed to walk by those and took them to five separate capsule like tubes with platforms in the center of each, where she then had Evin stand in the one more his size, while having Riolu stand in a smaller one. Juniper then went to the computer, where she then initiated the process and asked them to remain still while the machine scanned them.
Riolu was done in just under a half hour, after which she stood in front of Evin’s capsule while it kept scanning him. When the first hour finally passed with him standing perfectly still, Evin started becoming more and more frustrated with this process, while his feet throbbed from standing perfectly still for so darn long. Then he finally asked “Is it done yet?” The Professor replied, “No not yet, but it’s getting close, please don’t move.” And by the time an hour and a half came, Evin was about to just walk out of the infernal contraption and say forget it altogether, but then it finally signaled it was done. Riolu had been amusing herself the entire time by watching the way Evin’s feelings kept changing during all the scanning and felt his relief when it was done and yipped happily as he exited the capsule.
The Professor studied the analysis on him for a long time before coming over to them and saying, “Your riolu checks out just fine, nothing too extra ordinary, and while her readings were above average they were still within normal range. But you however; you are a scientist’s wildest fantasy. Your body is continuously changing; in a way, it is somewhat like a pokemon’s evolution stage, so to speak.
But it’s only doing these changes much slower. It’s possible you may even experience healing effects such as cuts that only last a day or possibly other things. Your body is a complete mystery and I doubt anyone will ever be able to tell you what to expect, because whatever kind of power it is that is inside you is unprecedented, making it very unpredictable.”
Evin had suspected things would be different about himself after having that silver liquid in him, but now having heard her personally tell him there was an unpredictable power within him confirmed it, which in turn made him feel a little sick. He then kind of scoffed at the idea about an unpredictable power being inside him and said, “Well, that’s a lot to take in. I just hope I don’t explode or anything.”
The professor finally chuckled a little at his last comment and then asked him to take a seat over in the lounge on a long couch so she could take some blood for study. While Juniper extracted Evin’s blood into a large sealed sac, she began telling him her theories about his dimensional venture. Juniper told him that while she hadn’t done much research into the subject itself, she did know of two pokemon said to deal the dimensions of other worlds. One was Giratina, which Evin knew was more of a world stabilizer then dimension traveler, but the other was Palkia and this one Evin believed might be his best chance if any existed to find a way back home or to send a message.
Once she was done she stored the blood for later in the proper place while Evin thought it looked like she had nearly drained him dry by how expanded the blood bag had become and even felt a bit dizzy. They discussed a few more things after that about what he knew of the legendries with him telling her his theories from what he knew of the game or show and she enlightened him on what was not as he thought things to be.
Soon after all the discussions were brought to a close, Juniper then asked Evin to follow her and took him over to the computer where she picked up a device and opened a drawer that had a number of blank pokedexes inside. She inserted the device into the pokedex, which seemed to fit across the bottom of it and somehow complete it before she inserted the pokedex into the computer and had him enter his information.
When he asked what he should put when it asked him where he was from, she said, “Oh just put Lostlorn Forest, its true enough anyway considering that was where you appeared.” After he was finished, she removed the dex and a microchip from the computer and inserted the chip she took out into the device and said, “The chip that I just put into you pokedex will not only help you with more detailed maps and readings, but I’ve also programmed it with the information I obtained while scanning you, which should make it able to read the changes in your body as if it where scanning a pokemon.
It should be able to tell you what is currently happening to your body along with some other possible theories, so take good care of this device and never lose it. For as you know, it also counts as your ID, as well as your guide throughout this world and is also your ticket to stay at a pokemon center and eat there for free among many other things. It has functions that can tell you what other things it can do in the help tab…” she went on explaining the device for a while longer before she handed it to him with mild reverence.
Juniper then led them to the room where she kept the starter pokemon and told Evin to pick one, though she then made the suggestion that he should take the water type, being that it would most likely cover for Riolu’s evolved form of Lucario’s type disadvantage later on. Evin was pretty confident he would like this choice anyway, being that he also liked the way the water type starter pokemon looked over the other two starters of this region and also thought this would give him two pokemon of his favorite color, which was blue.
He took the oshawott’s ball and felt very excited to be holding a real pokeball for the first time ever, and copying Ash’s lines from the show for fun, he said, “I choose you!” and threw the ball. As expected, a bright flash of red light filled the room and the little otter pokemon appeared as the light faded while the ball came back to his hand.
Oshawott had a cool calm look as she stood there and looked at her new trainer and gave a cute “Osha!” as she said part of her racial name. Riolu gave her a happy bark and the two conversed for a moment, before Oshawott turned back to Evin and touched the ball he had just called her from, and with a smile, she put herself back in it.
Juniper then stepped forward and said, “She seems to like you, now here are your other pokeballs for capturing more pokemon along your journey.” She held out her hand with six mini compressed balls and dropped them in his hands and she continued after he put them in his pocket, “As you know, you may only have six pokemon with you at once per league regulations and you should also look for more equipment in other cities along the way that may help make your travels easier.”
After reaching into one of her own pockets, Juniper handed him a small amount of money and a list before saying, “And here’s some coin to buy a pack and the other supplies you will need. Now before you go any further you might want to catch your little riolu before some other trainer gets any funny ideas.” Evin then looked at Riolu and said while holding an expanded ball in front of her, “Well now’s your chance to decide what you want.” She hesitated for a moment as she thought about it some more, wondering if she really wanted to share her life with him. To become his soul bound partner even though his ultimate goal was to actually find a way to either return to his own world or to only send a message.
Minutes began to drag by as she contemplated these many things after learning so much about what was going on in his life. Then she thought about how sad his feelings had felt that very morning and this above all others made her want to help him achieve his goals. She gave her acceptance with a bark and nudged the ball with her nose. The ball popped open as her body turned into red light and was sucked inside the man-made contraption as it began to wiggle and wobble in Evin’s palm.
The ball wiggled for almost a minute, which made Evin wonder if the capture would fail or if something had gone wrong before it finally clicked when it came to a stop; a sound that Evin knew meant that the pokemon inside had been successfully captured. Evin then inspected the ball closer before letting the riolu back out, but when he did the small pup immediately grappled his leg in fright and was shaking from the tail up.
Seeing what was happening, Juniper ran to one of her nearby cabinets and pulled out a small jar and proceeded to uncap it before bringing it to Evin where she instructed, “The capture has thrown her into shock, dip two fingers in and then get her to take it. The honey will give her the sugar she needs to recover and the taste will sooth her mind. Go on hurry up.. Yes like that, good.” Evin had to crouch down with the honey slathered on his fingers while trying to get them past the riolu’s lips and teeth.
Through his mental link with the small shaking pup he could feel the terror she had just experienced still lingering within her soul, as the thought of going back in terrified her beyond measure. After forcing his fingers into her mouth, Riolu’s violent shaking began to subside as she then began to slowly licking the honey from the two foreign digits. Slowly she began to realize that Evin was talking to her and promising that she didn’t have to go back into the ball if she didn’t want to, to which the reassurance in itself calmed her down immensely.
Professor Juniper nodded and said, “You handled that well. Unfortunately, pokeball technology isn’t perfect yet; though it is uncommon, this is one of the possible side effects that can occur after a successful capture. It is just one of the things that I usually prepare trainers for before they leave town, but seeing as you now have some firsthand experience, that lecture no longer matters. For instances like this, honey works best to quickly stabilize a subject that has succumbed to shock; you will need to keep a small amount with you at all times.”
Juniper checked her computer for Evin’s registration and saw Riolu as his latest addition before saying, “Fantastic, you now have two pokemon right from the get go, so you now have a good head start on the other new trainers; mind you though, you will need to build up your team so that you may take on any challenge that comes your way.
It is also your duty as a trainer to be careful to not let any of your pokemon or other pokemon that are not yours get seriously injured, sick, or killed. These last few years have been chaotic for good pokemon trainers with all the villainous teams of thieves and hunters running around. Somehow their kinds have skyrocketed in numbers and aggression this last year and they are more dangerous than ever before as they seem to be massing their numbers to fight each other for control.
I’ve even been handed a few police reports of some of my trainers having their pokemon stolen and have even had some cases where trainers and their pokemon have been killed in action. I do not want to have to deal with those kinds of losses ever again, so I want you to be careful. And before you go leaving town, tonight you can stay here and read some of the books that I will have ready for you to look over. You will need some extra knowledge of this world so you will know how to take care of your pokemon and survive in our wilderness. I don’t expect you will be able to read it all before tomorrow, but I want you to at least read as much as you can.”
Evin thanked her for all she had done for him and said he would be back later after he had the items of the list she had given him. Then just as he was getting close to opening the door to leave, in walked the new trainers and among them was a near familiar face. A girl that he could hardly mistake for another, that had dark midnight blue hair, a pink and black short skirt dress complete with pink boots.
On the show, Evin didn’t think that blue hair would have been all that attractive, but in person, she seemed to be the prettiest girl that he had ever seen and even looked about his own age of fourteen even though she was slightly taller than he was.
Though unlike the show, her attire seemed to have changed a little bit with her age; her skirt now had purple trim where it used to be pink and she now wore a pink backpack and had some new looking pokegear with her. He stopped her for a moment and introduced himself and asked, “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Dawn would it?” Dawn blushed for a moment, but then said, “Yes, I am, but how do you know me?” and Evin just said, “Oh just a fan of yours, nothing special.” and smiled.
The other two trainers by this time were jumping up and down about the Riolu at Evin’s side and even Dawn made the comment, “How did you get such a rare pokemon?” Evin almost laughed and said, “You might say she was just thrust into my arms. She was found injured and needed care, so the person who found her and me unconscious, just gave her to me to take to a pokemon center and sent me on my way, and now it seems she has decided to join me.”
Dawn was interested in his story since it raised more questions in her mind, but she restrained herself. Then her trusty piplup popped out of his pokeball to see what the commotion was about. This set the other two trainers off even more, for they still hadn’t even gotten their first pokemon yet and they were also around that extremely excitable young age. Seeing that the commotion was getting to an uncomfortable level; Evin bowed and said, “I think it best if I take my leave now; it’s getting a bit too loud and rowdy in here for my tastes. I hope to see you again.” and with that he waved goodbye as he turned and left.
From the lab Evin jogged over to the pokemart, but found that his reactions and even his thoughts were terribly sluggish. His arms and legs were also a bit heavier than before and not just sore. But once he finally took a moment to put his mind on the problem however, he quickly figured out what it was wrong. He was like this because he had just given the professor a large amount of his blood and thought to himself as the store came into view, “Great that’s just how I wanted to begin a long trip; by being so dizzy that I end up falling on my face at every corner.”
Riolu was also hindered in her own way because of her bandage wrapped legs and arms as she stumbled and staggered a few time while doing her best to keep up with Evin. Once at the mart, Evin bought the items needed for the journey ahead from the store clerk, along with a pokenav that replaced his watch. After checking out, he had another unexpected encounter with Dawn as they ran into each other at the door, spilling all the stuff Evin had just gotten all over the place before he had yet had the chance to put things away. Both apologized to each other and both began picking stuff up, bumping hands and heads a few times.
Riolu just sighed at what happened and was watching until she saw that a few things had rolled off to the side. But then as she went to pick them up, a man in a pitch-black cloak and hood came over seemingly from nowhere and said to her in an almost familiar sounding voice, “Let me help.”
His voice was that of a grown man, but had a mysteriousness familiarity to it that made Riolu’s sides crawl with wonder. Though she found it stranger still when all she could see of the man was his mouth below his black hood, while the rest of him including his feelings was shrouded in darkness.
The man handed Evin the items, which Evin had put his hands out to accept, but the moment their hands came in contact Evin felt that something was exceedingly out of place about the man when just that simple touch felt almost familiar, yet still different than anything he had ever known. Then the man murmured something in an undertone so low that Evin had to ask him to repeat what he said because he had missed it. But the man in black just smiled and said goodbye and put his hand up as he walked away.
Evin was more than just a little perplexed about what just happened as he began to get up to stop him, but before he could stand to asked him his name to try to get the chance to find out why the man seem so strange, he vanished as if he had never existed. Bemused over the sudden disappearance of the man, Evin and Riolu took quick glances at each other before looking all around them with quick swivels of their heads trying to locate where the man went.
But he was without a doubt gone without a trace. It was just then Evin seemed to notice that Dawn had failed to even perceive that the man had been there at all, as then she asked what they were looking around for. With everything off the ground, Evin was still feeling off set and puzzled from the confrontation they just had with the mysterious man and likewise Riolu was in the same state, but both still couldn’t make sense of anything that just happened.
So in an effort to distract his bewildered thoughts, Evin asked Dawn how her screening went with the Professor. Dawn said with a half frown, “I passed of course, mostly because I am a seasoned coordinator and have one pokemon with me already, but the others weren’t so lucky. I just got here from my home region so I didn’t know what’s going on around here just yet with all the pokemon thieves running around. The professor didn’t say much, but told me I should find a travel companion because of the dangers that girls have been facing lately while traveling alone, though she didn’t say much more on the matter.”
Evin shrugged and said, “I heard pretty much the same thing. So it’s probably just too dangerous for new trainers right now is why the others didn’t pass. But as for you, it might be just that girls are considered easy or better targets then guys are by the pokemon thieves.” Dawn puffed her cheeks out to the last part of his sentence and said, “I can do anything you can.” And his sly reply was, “Of course you can, that was just a theory.” She somewhat forgave him for the comment and then asked, “Is this your first journey? I’m asking because I noticed you just got a lot of stuff.” Evin just said, “Yep, first time venturing out, though I’m no push over either. So what pokemon did the professor give you?”
Dawn quickly released her Snivy who was also a girl and picked the little grass snake up to hold. But Snivy wasn’t thrilled with being handled and whipped her in the butt good and hard with vine whip a few times before returning to her ball. Dawn gasped as she rubbed her sore backside for a few moments before saying, “She’s going to take some getting used to. She likes me just fine, but doesn’t like to be touched I guess.” Evin just struggled not to laugh and smiled as he pinched his cheek and began putting stuff away in his pack right after, while Dawn went inside the market and picked up a few potions for her own pack.
After he had everything in his bag, Dawn then asked, “Well since the professor doesn’t want me out there alone, would you care to join me?” Evin thought for a moment, not sure if it was a good idea or not, but after a short minute to think he said, “Sure, why not, though the Professor wants me to spend the night at the lab reading books tonight before I head off in the morning and then I do have my own objectives and may not stay with you if our paths diverge.” Dawn nodded and said, “That’s fine, I don’t expect you to follow me like a lost puppy.” Riolu growled at her for that comment and Dawn had to apologize for the figure of speech before Riolu finally turned away from her with a huff.
They returned to the lab soon after and Dawn let the Professor know that she would be traveling with Evin in the morning. Juniper gave a sigh of relief at this, but took Evin to the side out of earshot of the others to warn him that letting others know of his situation would not be wise. To which case he confirmed to her that he didn’t intend to let anyone know unless it couldn’t be helped.
Satisfied with his answer, she pointed him over to the three books on a table next to the couch he had been sitting on earlier and told Dawn she could sleep on the other couch for the night and told them where the restroom was if they needed it. Then she returned to her lab on the other side, where she secretly kept analyzing Evin’s data and a small bit of his blood. A few hours passed before everyone got ready for bed and Juniper bid them goodnight as she went to her room off the side of the lounge and closed her door.
Dawn yawned as she came out of the restroom with her night pajamas on with a nightcap covering her hair. Evin was just stuck with what he had on and laid down, but was mildly uncomfortable because of the rough worn cloths that he had been wearing for the last three or four days. Riolu settled down at the foot of the couch he was on, where Evin only hoped she could keep her drooling under control for once as she used his feet as pillows that were under the blanket.
Nightmares rolled around in Evin’s mind this night; as he began to toss and turn, he dreamt about all that had happened around him and about never seeing home again. One of the visions showed him a memory of him nearing his house with his parents and sister on the front porch waving at him as he was running to them.
But before he could join them on the porch, he felt himself being pulled away and even felt the loose leaves sliding under him as the pull suddenly became being dragged, and as the dream continued he saw himself getting further and further away from his family by the second. He called out to them as he saw the house getting smaller from the growing distance, but there was no reply. There was nothing he could do as he struggled could stop the force that had him, but before long he saw the dark forest he had once been in and the clearing of stones.
He yelled for it to release him as it dragged him into the air and held him floating over the pillar with the ritual stones surrounding it as all the runes, glyphs and hieroglyphs began to shine bright silver again. The silver liquid once again exploded from the middle of the pillar and everything went black as he was pulled in again and felt terribly alone.
Then as if he were standing on a TV screen the size of a football field, everything beneath him lit up as the scenes of battles and war broke out beneath him. it was as if he were watching the pokemon world he had been sent to from above. The battles were epic, he couldn’t see any distinctions between the two factions as both used powerful pokemon to destroy each other and many things along with them; cities, monuments, people. They killed each other with no remorse or pity even as both sides still somehow kept growing in size, and at the peak of the fighting, everything vanished and went dark.
Evin woke with a start as he found himself face down on the floor with Riolu panicking above him on the couch. She had been trying to wake him for a while now, but when he had started thrashing in his sleep she began panicking and in one of her attempts to wake him, she accidentally rolled him off the couch. Evin gasped as the shock of being woke like this still burned his body and in a small way reminded him of what it felt like after the silver liquid had seared his body with raw power.
It was just after midnight when he got up and calmed Riolu so she didn’t wake the others. Then he began to wonder what the dream was really about as it began to quickly fade from his mind. It unsettled him at how alone he still felt even though he could sense the worry pouring from Riolu in potent waves as he got up.
He went to the restroom sink and splashed some water on his face before getting a small drink and sitting back down on the couch again. His body still shook from the shock his mind had just had and he wished the burning sensation would just go away so he could calm down. He stiffened a little when he felt something touch his shoulder and looked to see Riolu hugging him again, trying to comfort him and heal his crushed peace of mind. He rubbed the top of her head and said in a low tone, “I think I’m okay now, I just had a really bad dream was all.” she hugged his arm a bit tighter as he said this and gave him a lick on the cheek as she released him and began to settle back down where she was before he woke her.
To Evin the small lick was a strange sensation, kind of like getting licked by a cat or dog, but then it also possessed an affection that he wasn’t accustomed to from such creatures. He thanked her for trying to comfort him as he told her goodnight, but at this point he was already too disturbed to sleep anymore; so he pondered on what he had seen for the rest of the night until he finally nodded off in the extreme early hours of the morning.
****
