- 33
- Posts
- 7
- Years
- Veilstone City
- Seen Aug 1, 2021
Summary: [soft reboot] Two years after the conclusion of his bitter rivalry, Paul heads to the Unova region to become stronger and compete in the Unova League. Little does he know how much his worldview will change...
It was a cold Saturday morning and it was beginning to snow. The cold air circulated through the night as the streets of Castelia City were hustling with joy. People left and right, bundled up in puffy jackets, carrying items that they bought from the various stores dotted around the city. However, deep inside a dark alleyway, a shadow of a tall man with long flowing hair could be seen...
"Is it ready?" The figure asked in a low toned voice as he raised his wrist.
….
….
"Perfect!"
The sound of a loud evil laugh bounces off the walls of the alleyway.
"This time, I shall not fail!"
—-
"We are clear for landing," a male voice said over the intercom as the plane was beginning to slowly descend.
It was during the afternoon as there were many people on board the flight, all going to the Unova region for various reasons. Some for vacation reasons, some to visit their families, some to move and some people were there to discover new Pokémon and go on their own adventure. Many trainers often come from different regions to strengthen their skills and become better well-rounded trainers.
This was especially true for one trainer named Paul. He sat in the front of the plane with a grey slingback, looking out of the window. The young man ran his fingers through his short purple hair as he smirked at the city landscape outside the window.
"Let's see if I could win this region's league," Paul mumbled to himself as he unbuckled his seatbelt and began to stand up to stretch. "Let's not have a repeat of last time…"
As he stretched his body from sitting for five hours, the young man kept thinking about his Sinnoh league battle and how intense it was. The battle against his greatest rival was his most personal battle to date, however, that battle took place two years ago. Paul then shook his head sideways to chase all thoughts of that day out of his head as he sat back down. He still had respect for his former rival, however, he did not want to think about him anymore.
A vibration could be felt underneath the seats as the plane's wheels were scraping against the runway, while all the while, slowing down. As the jet's speed was slowly decreasing, the airline slowly made its way through the runway towards the pier. The passengers all tightened their seatbelts and held on to any small Pokémon or loose items they had on their laps.
"Alright everyone," the same male voice as before said over the intercom as the plane stopped at the pier. "This is your pilot speaking. Welcome to Nuvema Town! Please exit deplane in an orderly fashion."
'Nuvema Town eh?' Paul thought as he stepped off the plane and onto the pier. The sky was clear and the chilly air turned warmer. The heat from the sun was beating down harshly as the citizens shielded themselves with umbrellas and held up misting fans. There were many people crowding the pier as people were bumping into each other by accident. As the young man walked forward into the crowd of people, he started to look around. There were also huge buildings and small businesses that dotted the pier as well. 'This must be a huge town' he thought as he was surprised.
"Hey, Paul!" A girl's voice yelled out from behind. "Come on, Marnie, say hello!"
"Hm?" Paul briefly turned around to see a girl with long dark blonde hair running towards him. This girl was sporting a black cap with a red pokeball on the front, a plain white tank top and a green mini skirt. She was with another girl who was shorter than her with light red hair worn in two pigtails. Her friend was struggling to keep up with her as she ran towards the young man.
"Oh great!" Paul said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "It's my old pal Jen!"
"Talk about shocking, I never thought you would be in Unova at the same time as me!" Jen exclaimed. "What did you do? Run here?"
"Um… Jen, who is he?" Marnie asked as she lowered one eyebrow in confusion.
"Paul? We go way back. He and I went to trainers school together when we were younger," Jen explained. "Well, it used to be a school but now it is an arcade."
Paul looked at both girls in silence. He slightly turned his body as a signal to try to step away from them. Even though she was his friend in trainer's school, it was still a very long time ago. Things have changed since then, thus, Paul didn't really care about making friends or having any sort of conversation.
Paul stared at her for a few minutes before turning his back to the duo. "So we have," he said gruffly as he folded his arms. "Pardon me for being short, however, my conversation skills aren't that great."
With that, the young man started to walk towards the crowd with both hands in his pockets. However, as he was approaching the main road, in the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash a white light and the clicking sound of a Pokéball opening. That was enough to startle Paul; he jumped back and froze in his tracks. When he turned to his left, he noticed that one of his Pokémon had burst out of their Pokéball on their own. It was a humanoid Pokémon covered in bright yellow fur and black stripes. The pattern located in the back resembled a power outlet and the two short antennas on its head were sparking a gold electrical current.
"Electivire! Who gave you permission to be out of your Pokéball?!" Paul asked in a frustrated tone.
Electivire did not acknowledge its trainer as it just stood there, looking towards the palm trees that were dotting the side of the pier. Paul became even more agitated as he began to walk towards his Pokémon while lowering his eyebrows.
"Do you hear me?!" the young man mumbled loudly as he looked up at his dazed Pokémon in frustration. "Get back in your Pokeball or else there will be problems!"
"Um, Paul… I think you may want to try putting him in his Pokeball," Jen's voice said in a concerned tone as she moved alongside Paul. "He's interested in her…"
The girl proceeded to point towards what appeared to be an electabuzz standing in the shade from one of the trees. Like Paul's electivire, it too was a humanoid Pokémon covered in yellow fur in black stripes. However, the fur color on this one was a dark gold instead of a bright yellow. It was also shorter and wasn't as furry. The fur pallet was smoother and had fangs. Also, this electabuzz had a blue bow tied to both antennas and another blue bow tied to a tuft of fur sticking out from the middle of the head, marking this Pokémon to be female.
She stood there with a touchpad in her hands, watching a show. She also had a small pikachu doll at her side and an empty box of what used to be filled with chocolate bars.
"Alright, return!" Paul projected as he held out the Pokeball in front of him. A flash of red light came from the ball as it surrounded his Pokemon. However, as soon as the light reached him, Electivire swiftly moved to the right, avoiding capture.
"You… like that electabuzz do you?" Paul asked in a sarcastic tone as he attempted to put Electivire in his Pokeball several times. However, he still failed. "We are not doing this again."
"Hey wait!" a low pitched voice shouted out from behind.
'Hm?' Paul thought to himself as he and the girls turned around to see where the voice was coming from. Coming towards them was another girl, however, this girl had short dark brown hair shaped in a bob cut and was wearing a white baggy shirt and black sweatpants that both read "varsity battle tower squad". She came up to the group, with an unreadable smirk on her face while playing around with her watch buttons.
"Stop what you're doing," the girl said worriedly as her eyes widened. "You'll only make things worse. From the looks of it, it seems that your Pokemon just wants to play with Ellie."
"Thanks for your concern, but you don't know my Pokemon," Paul retorted. "He's been doing this kind of behavior for the past six months. He likes to go after other trainers' Pokemon, especially if they have an electabuzz."
The group looked on as Electivire, with two chocolate bars in hand, slowly started to approach Ellie. As he zeroed in on the chocolate bars, Paul quickly brought his grey slingback to the front and sure enough, he saw that the side zipper was unzipped. He took off his bag and threw it on the ground in anger. He walked up to the pair with a scowl.
"Why did you take those?" Paul asked Electivire in a loud stern voice. "They were supposed to be for my journey you know! Now what am I going to eat?!"
Ellie's eyes grew in terror as her eyes met with Paul's. Leaving her stuff behind, she quickly got up and ran towards her trainer, hiding behind her. She shook like a leaf, afraid that the young man was going to hurt her. Paul didn't care that she was afraid as he kept glaring at her from afar.
"I'm sorry," the young woman said apologetically as she picked up the frightened electabuzz. "Ellie is…. kinda a nervous Pokemon, per say. I need to take her back home in a bit anyway. Maybe next time, Electivire."
"Ellie, return!" The girl took out a pink heal ball and pressed it against the electabuzz's head. She was then engulfed by a red light as she returned back to her Pokéball safe and sound.
"Electivire, return!" Paul shouted as he once again took out his Pokeball. However, this time, the red light surrounded his Pokemon and he was finally back in the ball. The young man wiped the sweat off his forehead in relief.
"So...is that electabuzz yours?" Jen asked.
"No, she isn't mine," the girl answered in a surprised tone. "She belongs to my aunt and lives as a house Pokémon. I'm babysitting her for today. I realized that I didn't introduce myself, my name's Miki and I live in Black City! What about you guys? Where are you from?"
"Well, I'm Jen and the guy wearing purple is Paul," Jen said as she pointed to Paul. "We are both from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh region. The girl with the red hair is Marnie, she's from Eterna City; also in the Sinnoh region."
"Sinnoh region? Veilstone City?" Miki asked as she tilted her head to the left. "Hm, is that the boonies? But anyway, are you guys here to compete in the Unova league?"
The group shook their heads yes as they wiped off the sweat from their foreheads in nervousness. "Where do we start?" Paul asked.
"Follow me and I'll bring you all to Professor Jupiter's lab!" Miki said excitedly. "She'll lead the way!"
Upon hearing that, Marnie raised her eyebrow in confusion As she pulled out her guide map. "Uh, do you mean Professor Juniper?"
Miki looked back at the shorter girl with an unreadable expression before turning back around gruffly. "Kid, you say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe. Same thing."
~!~
"Is Professor Jupiter here?" Miki asked in excitement as she forced her way into the building's double doors. "We have new trainers that need Pokedexes, pronto!"
The sound of the doors being forced open and slamming into the walls vibrated through the almost empty laboratory. Even though the front of the lab looked like a miniature hut from the outside, fitting into the scenery of the town, the inside of the lab was very spacious even with the various equipment that dotted certain areas. There was a row of computers sitting on an elongated desk on each side of the room. Pokemon books were scattered both desks and papers flew in different directions due to the slight wind coming in from the outside.
"I think you might have scared her off," a male voice said from behind. "I mean, I could hear you from far away…"
The group turned around to see a young man, who looked to be in his mid-teens, standing in the doorway. He had dark blonde hair, pale grey eyes and was wearing an orange jacket over a blue sweatshirt. He shook his head sideways as he chuckled at the group.
"Let me guess, another new trainer?" Paul asked in a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.
"Tristan? No, he's not new at all," Miki said as she walked over to the blonde-haired young man and put one hand on his shoulder. "He's crazy strong. I know, I met him during my travels and we became friends."
"As I told you many times before, the name's Trip…" Trip replied hesitantly. "But that's ok. What are you guys doing in Professor Juniper's lab anyway?"
Miki proceeded to walk towards the group, placing herself between Jen and Paul while putting her hand on both their shoulders. "These three trainers need a Pokedex right away. Is Professor Jupiter coming back soon?"
"...Professor Juniper is currently at Chargestone Cave…" Trip said with an edge. "Why don't YOU give out the 'dexes? They're in the box on the grey moving cart behind you…"
Miki turned around and looked at the grey cart with a large box on the bottom shelf. With a smirk, she ran over to the cart, taking out the heavy box from underneath and setting it on the floor. She grabbed three separate boxes, each containing a medium-sized grey device and five poke balls.
"I guess Professor Jupiter won't mind…." Miki said as she got up and began to pass the boxes out to the group of trainers. One by one, she passed out the boxes. "one for you, one for you... "
"...and one for you, Your Majesty. It's a pokedex," the girl said in a sarcastic tone as she gave Paul his pokedex.
"Yeah, whatever," Paul said gruffly under his breath as he grabbed the pokeballs and pokedex from the box and slowly started to walk towards the door. "I'm out of here."
"Hey" Miki exclaimed as she grabbed onto Paul's sleeve. "I was just kidding! Sometimes I make bad jokes and stuff. But I do hope this Pokedex will be useful."
Trip walked over to stand near his friend. "You see, this is why we don't like people from the boonies..."
Paul stopped dead in his tracks as he crossed his arms. 'Is that all he's got?' he thought to himself as a smirk appeared on his face. He was unbothered by the insults as he knew that even though he lived in a rural area, it had no effect on him as a trainer. All he wanted was to set off on his journey, however, he didn't want to stick around and listen to a useless tutorial he's heard many times before.
"Your point?" Paul asked in an annoyed tone.
"You're not very smart, aren't you?" Trip asked rhetorically as he gave a condescending smirk. "You don't seem like a very experienced trainer, just someone who talks too much."
"Oh really?" Paul said as he raised his voice. "I can say the same about you…"
"Typical," Trip chucked. "But hey, instead of interjecting your own insecurities onto me, how about we have a Pokemon battle, one on one…. what do you say?"
Paul took a minute to process everything as he uncrossed his arms. 'Hm, if I battle this guy and I win, maybe I can show him just how serious I am. However, why do I need to prove myself to him? I'm past that. I'll just battle him just to have him make a fool of himself!' He chuckled as he turned around.
"Alright, I will take on your request," Paul said with confidence. "I'm here to win the Pokemon league and the way to do that is to beat trainers like yourself."
"Then it's off to the backyard, let's go!" Miki exclaimed as she led the group to the back of the small laboratory and out the back door.
.~~~~
The battle was about to begin as there was a strong sense of tension in the air. The two young men stared each other down, locked in battle mode. Trip smiled confidently while Paul scowled and clenched his fists tightly. Light chattering amongst the few onlookers can be heard as the battle was about to begin. The battlefield itself was a plain dirt field with a pokeball symbol in the middle and a small set of bleachers on the right side.
"I'm going to be the referee!" Marnie said as she ran off the bleachers and onto the side of the field. "I'm on my journey to become an official Pokemon referee so I need practice."
Upon standing on the referee podium, she pulled out a pokeball from her white tote bag and proceeded to throw it in the air. A burst of light came from the pokeball as the figure of a bipedal Pokemon emerged. By her side was a dark yellow mouse Pokemon with a white underbelly and a small lightning bolt tail. Marnie then knelt down to pick up her Pokemon and place it on her shoulder as it was waving a red flag.
Upon seeing the mouse Pokemon, Paul reached for his pokedex that was located in the left pocket of his jacket and began to point it at Marnie's Pokemon. A green screen then proceeded to pop with the pokemon's picture while a male robotic voice began to explain the Pokemon's info.
"Raichu, the mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Pikachu," the pokedex explained. "Its tail discharges electricity into the ground, protecting it from getting shocked."
"Now, Electivire, standby for battle!" Paul said with authority.
Paul threw his pokeball high into the air with confidence. A burst of light came from the ball as Electivire emerged in a combative stance. The thunderbolt Pokemon let out a confident battle cry as he waved his fists.
"Go, Serperior!" Trip yelled as he also threw his pokeball in the air.
That same beam of light came bursting through the ball as the huge snake appeared from the light and coiled itself onto the battlefield. It was a pale green, serpentine Pokémon with narrow red eyes and grass like patterns on the sides. Paul quickly reached for his pokedex and pointed it at Trip's Serperior.
"Serperior, the regal Pokemon and the evolved form of Servine," the pokedex explained. "It can stop its opponents' movements with just a glare. It takes in solar energy and boosts it internally."
"Isn't that nice?" Trip asked with a mocking tone. "You got your 'serperior' lesson for today."
"It has been determined that Mr. Paul gets the first move," Marnie announced as her raichu waved the red flag, signaling Paul to make his move. "Now begin!"
"Electivire, use thunder on the battlefield," Paul commanded in an authoritative voice.
Electivire proceeded to shove both of his long tails deep into the ground while mustering all the electrical energy he could. After being shrouded in electricity, he released a massive thunder attack into the ground. The ground began to rumble underneath the competitor's feet as large pieces of rock began to fly from up into the air and fell quickly onto the ground.
"Serperior, dodge those!" Trip commanded with confidence.
With style and speed, the regal Pokemon slithered left and right to dodge every rock that made contact with the ground. However, right as the serperior was on the right track, Trip spotted a huge rock that was almost inches above his Pokemon's head. He then smirked at a perfect opportunity to turn this into a counter strike.
"Now Serperior, use dragon tail on that rock!" Trip commanded with a smirk.
Mustering all the energy he could, Serperior's tail began to glow a light blue color. When the time was right, he swung his blue colored tail up above and made contact with the falling rock. The boulder was too tough to break, however, the dragon tail's force allowed the rock to fly straight into the opponent's path. Paul quickly registered the attack as he began to scowl and clench his fists.
"Electivire, protect!" Paul demanded in desperation.
However, before Electivire can muster up his energy to make a shield to protect himself from the projectile object, the rock hits him in the middle. The force from the rock was so powerful, that it sent Electivire almost flying backward and smacked into his trainer. Paul's reaction time was too slow as he could not run away and he and his Pokemon began to fall onto the ground, sliding a few feet. Luckily for him, it was only his left foot that was trapped under Electivire's weight as he was able to wiggle himself out and stand up.
"Electivire, don't give up!" Paul said sternly. "Use brick break now!"
After shaking off the shock from the rock attack, Electivire quickly got on to his feet and began to charge toward his opponent. Narrowing his red eyes, he turned his right-hand side ways as if he was about to execute a swift chop.
"Grab it Serperior!" Trip commanded. "Use wrap!"
The regal Pokemon proceeded to quickly move his body away from the oncoming brick break that was about to happen. Using his tail, he proceeded to grab his opponent and held on tightly. The grip was so tight that Electivire could hardly breathe as his face began to turn purple from the suffocation. Though Paul was surprised, he remained calm as he tried to think of a way to get himself out of this situation.
"Use thunderpunch!" he commanded.
Electivire tried his hardest to squeeze his arm from the snake's grip, however, it failed.
"Now, let's give it the old slam, back to back!" Trip exclaimed confidently as he pumped one fist in the air.
With the suffocated Electivire in his grasp, the grass snake began to raise his tail and then with speed and force, slammed his opponent into the hard ground. He did this repeatedly while the thunderbolt Pokemon was trying his best to break out of wrap's grasp. However, with the repeated slams to the head, it was unsuccessful. Paul's fists were clenched tightly as he was very shocked at what was going on. He kept calling out more attacks, however at this time, Electivire grew to be unconscious from the attacks.
"Alright, that's enough!" Trip said with an edge. "I think we got the message through. Now throw it back!"
Serperior raised his tail and with all his might, he threw the unconscious Electivire against a tree with such force. The force was great enough to almost snap the tree in half. After hitting the tree, Electivire fell face-first onto the ground. The silence was lingering as Marnie's raichu went over to the unconscious Pokemon. Raichu tilted it's head sideways while placing a hand on Electivire's head.
"Electivire is unable to battle, Serperior wins," Marnie said with a monotone. "Which means the match goes to .
"Great job, Serperior!" Trip praised as he returned his Pokemon back to his pokeball.
Nodding his head in defeat, Paul took out his pokeball and returned his Pokemon back at once. After that, he then looked at the pokeball itself and said "Great battle, Electivire. We just have to do better."
"I guess your Electivire was ok," Trip said sympathetically while crossing his arms. "However, his trainer was awful..."
"You be quiet!" Paul growled as he put his Pokeball in his pocket.
"That was a great battle, you guys!" Miki said excitedly as she took off her soundproof headphones.
As Trip began to walk back into the laboratory, he turned around at the group one more time and smiled.
"Miki, I'll see you at the black tower!" he said with determination as he waved and left.
"Sure thing!" Miki replied. "I look forward to seeing you there!".
"Hmph", Paul began to run through the laboratory's back door and onto the road that starts Route One. His eyes were closed, not caring to open them as he kept on running through the shortened route. 'I can't believe I lost to HIM. How could I? Am I strong enough?' he thought as he continued to be on his way until a familiar voice called out to him.
"Paul, wait up!" a familiar voice called out to him followed by the blabbering of what sounded like an electabuzz.
Paul stopped and turned his head slightly to the left, just enough to see who was coming after him. It was Miki and Ellie, the electabuzz, was clinging to her shoulder. However, this time, she had a dark blue rock she was carrying with her left hand. She was trying her hardest to catch up with him. Paul stood there as he allowed the girl to catch up to him. He was not at all interested in conversing with her, however he wanted to allow her to say what she wanted to say before he left.
"If you got something to say to me, say it!" he snapped.
"Paul, I just wanted to apologize," she started to say. "I know that I can be a bit of a smart aleck but I didn't mean to give you a hard time. I came here to give you this."
She took the blue rock and began to present it to Paul. He turned around and stared at the rock. This rock was different. It was roundly shaped but it also had a dark blue leaf on the top of it. He took the rock from her hands and further inspected it.
"That's a fossil. A plume fossil to be exact," Miki explained. "it was burning a hole in my bag and when I saw how determined you are, I figured that you could make use out of it."
"So… what is so special about this fossil?" Paul asked as he began to put the fossil in his grey slingback.
"If you take it to this one guy in Accumula Town, he can resurrect it for you," she happily explained. "There used to be someone who does this in Nacrene City, the gym leader's assistant or whatnot? Yeah, but they have been gone for some time. They can resurrect your fossil into a Pokemon."
'So this turns into a Pokemon eh?' Paul thought to himself as he turned his head and looked straight ahead. The warm wind started to pick up as he felt it blowing on his neck. He wiped a little bit of the sweat that was building up on his forehead while bringing the front of his purple hair back. 'Even though she was very annoying and she isn't really worth my time, I am in a new region and I don't know where this Accumula Town is. I'll just have her guide me there.'
"I hate having to ask for help, especially from someone like you," Paul started to say. "However, I have no choice. Bring me to this Accumula Town."
"Well… even though I have to get back to the black tower, I have time for a little side trip," the trainer said with excitement. "First the Pokemon center, then the fossil."
It was a cold Saturday morning and it was beginning to snow. The cold air circulated through the night as the streets of Castelia City were hustling with joy. People left and right, bundled up in puffy jackets, carrying items that they bought from the various stores dotted around the city. However, deep inside a dark alleyway, a shadow of a tall man with long flowing hair could be seen...
"Is it ready?" The figure asked in a low toned voice as he raised his wrist.
….
….
"Perfect!"
The sound of a loud evil laugh bounces off the walls of the alleyway.
"This time, I shall not fail!"
—-
"We are clear for landing," a male voice said over the intercom as the plane was beginning to slowly descend.
It was during the afternoon as there were many people on board the flight, all going to the Unova region for various reasons. Some for vacation reasons, some to visit their families, some to move and some people were there to discover new Pokémon and go on their own adventure. Many trainers often come from different regions to strengthen their skills and become better well-rounded trainers.
This was especially true for one trainer named Paul. He sat in the front of the plane with a grey slingback, looking out of the window. The young man ran his fingers through his short purple hair as he smirked at the city landscape outside the window.
"Let's see if I could win this region's league," Paul mumbled to himself as he unbuckled his seatbelt and began to stand up to stretch. "Let's not have a repeat of last time…"
As he stretched his body from sitting for five hours, the young man kept thinking about his Sinnoh league battle and how intense it was. The battle against his greatest rival was his most personal battle to date, however, that battle took place two years ago. Paul then shook his head sideways to chase all thoughts of that day out of his head as he sat back down. He still had respect for his former rival, however, he did not want to think about him anymore.
A vibration could be felt underneath the seats as the plane's wheels were scraping against the runway, while all the while, slowing down. As the jet's speed was slowly decreasing, the airline slowly made its way through the runway towards the pier. The passengers all tightened their seatbelts and held on to any small Pokémon or loose items they had on their laps.
"Alright everyone," the same male voice as before said over the intercom as the plane stopped at the pier. "This is your pilot speaking. Welcome to Nuvema Town! Please exit deplane in an orderly fashion."
'Nuvema Town eh?' Paul thought as he stepped off the plane and onto the pier. The sky was clear and the chilly air turned warmer. The heat from the sun was beating down harshly as the citizens shielded themselves with umbrellas and held up misting fans. There were many people crowding the pier as people were bumping into each other by accident. As the young man walked forward into the crowd of people, he started to look around. There were also huge buildings and small businesses that dotted the pier as well. 'This must be a huge town' he thought as he was surprised.
"Hey, Paul!" A girl's voice yelled out from behind. "Come on, Marnie, say hello!"
"Hm?" Paul briefly turned around to see a girl with long dark blonde hair running towards him. This girl was sporting a black cap with a red pokeball on the front, a plain white tank top and a green mini skirt. She was with another girl who was shorter than her with light red hair worn in two pigtails. Her friend was struggling to keep up with her as she ran towards the young man.
"Oh great!" Paul said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "It's my old pal Jen!"
"Talk about shocking, I never thought you would be in Unova at the same time as me!" Jen exclaimed. "What did you do? Run here?"
"Um… Jen, who is he?" Marnie asked as she lowered one eyebrow in confusion.
"Paul? We go way back. He and I went to trainers school together when we were younger," Jen explained. "Well, it used to be a school but now it is an arcade."
Paul looked at both girls in silence. He slightly turned his body as a signal to try to step away from them. Even though she was his friend in trainer's school, it was still a very long time ago. Things have changed since then, thus, Paul didn't really care about making friends or having any sort of conversation.
Paul stared at her for a few minutes before turning his back to the duo. "So we have," he said gruffly as he folded his arms. "Pardon me for being short, however, my conversation skills aren't that great."
With that, the young man started to walk towards the crowd with both hands in his pockets. However, as he was approaching the main road, in the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash a white light and the clicking sound of a Pokéball opening. That was enough to startle Paul; he jumped back and froze in his tracks. When he turned to his left, he noticed that one of his Pokémon had burst out of their Pokéball on their own. It was a humanoid Pokémon covered in bright yellow fur and black stripes. The pattern located in the back resembled a power outlet and the two short antennas on its head were sparking a gold electrical current.
"Electivire! Who gave you permission to be out of your Pokéball?!" Paul asked in a frustrated tone.
Electivire did not acknowledge its trainer as it just stood there, looking towards the palm trees that were dotting the side of the pier. Paul became even more agitated as he began to walk towards his Pokémon while lowering his eyebrows.
"Do you hear me?!" the young man mumbled loudly as he looked up at his dazed Pokémon in frustration. "Get back in your Pokeball or else there will be problems!"
"Um, Paul… I think you may want to try putting him in his Pokeball," Jen's voice said in a concerned tone as she moved alongside Paul. "He's interested in her…"
The girl proceeded to point towards what appeared to be an electabuzz standing in the shade from one of the trees. Like Paul's electivire, it too was a humanoid Pokémon covered in yellow fur in black stripes. However, the fur color on this one was a dark gold instead of a bright yellow. It was also shorter and wasn't as furry. The fur pallet was smoother and had fangs. Also, this electabuzz had a blue bow tied to both antennas and another blue bow tied to a tuft of fur sticking out from the middle of the head, marking this Pokémon to be female.
She stood there with a touchpad in her hands, watching a show. She also had a small pikachu doll at her side and an empty box of what used to be filled with chocolate bars.
"Alright, return!" Paul projected as he held out the Pokeball in front of him. A flash of red light came from the ball as it surrounded his Pokemon. However, as soon as the light reached him, Electivire swiftly moved to the right, avoiding capture.
"You… like that electabuzz do you?" Paul asked in a sarcastic tone as he attempted to put Electivire in his Pokeball several times. However, he still failed. "We are not doing this again."
"Hey wait!" a low pitched voice shouted out from behind.
'Hm?' Paul thought to himself as he and the girls turned around to see where the voice was coming from. Coming towards them was another girl, however, this girl had short dark brown hair shaped in a bob cut and was wearing a white baggy shirt and black sweatpants that both read "varsity battle tower squad". She came up to the group, with an unreadable smirk on her face while playing around with her watch buttons.
"Stop what you're doing," the girl said worriedly as her eyes widened. "You'll only make things worse. From the looks of it, it seems that your Pokemon just wants to play with Ellie."
"Thanks for your concern, but you don't know my Pokemon," Paul retorted. "He's been doing this kind of behavior for the past six months. He likes to go after other trainers' Pokemon, especially if they have an electabuzz."
The group looked on as Electivire, with two chocolate bars in hand, slowly started to approach Ellie. As he zeroed in on the chocolate bars, Paul quickly brought his grey slingback to the front and sure enough, he saw that the side zipper was unzipped. He took off his bag and threw it on the ground in anger. He walked up to the pair with a scowl.
"Why did you take those?" Paul asked Electivire in a loud stern voice. "They were supposed to be for my journey you know! Now what am I going to eat?!"
Ellie's eyes grew in terror as her eyes met with Paul's. Leaving her stuff behind, she quickly got up and ran towards her trainer, hiding behind her. She shook like a leaf, afraid that the young man was going to hurt her. Paul didn't care that she was afraid as he kept glaring at her from afar.
"I'm sorry," the young woman said apologetically as she picked up the frightened electabuzz. "Ellie is…. kinda a nervous Pokemon, per say. I need to take her back home in a bit anyway. Maybe next time, Electivire."
"Ellie, return!" The girl took out a pink heal ball and pressed it against the electabuzz's head. She was then engulfed by a red light as she returned back to her Pokéball safe and sound.
"Electivire, return!" Paul shouted as he once again took out his Pokeball. However, this time, the red light surrounded his Pokemon and he was finally back in the ball. The young man wiped the sweat off his forehead in relief.
"So...is that electabuzz yours?" Jen asked.
"No, she isn't mine," the girl answered in a surprised tone. "She belongs to my aunt and lives as a house Pokémon. I'm babysitting her for today. I realized that I didn't introduce myself, my name's Miki and I live in Black City! What about you guys? Where are you from?"
"Well, I'm Jen and the guy wearing purple is Paul," Jen said as she pointed to Paul. "We are both from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh region. The girl with the red hair is Marnie, she's from Eterna City; also in the Sinnoh region."
"Sinnoh region? Veilstone City?" Miki asked as she tilted her head to the left. "Hm, is that the boonies? But anyway, are you guys here to compete in the Unova league?"
The group shook their heads yes as they wiped off the sweat from their foreheads in nervousness. "Where do we start?" Paul asked.
"Follow me and I'll bring you all to Professor Jupiter's lab!" Miki said excitedly. "She'll lead the way!"
Upon hearing that, Marnie raised her eyebrow in confusion As she pulled out her guide map. "Uh, do you mean Professor Juniper?"
Miki looked back at the shorter girl with an unreadable expression before turning back around gruffly. "Kid, you say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe. Same thing."
~!~
"Is Professor Jupiter here?" Miki asked in excitement as she forced her way into the building's double doors. "We have new trainers that need Pokedexes, pronto!"
The sound of the doors being forced open and slamming into the walls vibrated through the almost empty laboratory. Even though the front of the lab looked like a miniature hut from the outside, fitting into the scenery of the town, the inside of the lab was very spacious even with the various equipment that dotted certain areas. There was a row of computers sitting on an elongated desk on each side of the room. Pokemon books were scattered both desks and papers flew in different directions due to the slight wind coming in from the outside.
"I think you might have scared her off," a male voice said from behind. "I mean, I could hear you from far away…"
The group turned around to see a young man, who looked to be in his mid-teens, standing in the doorway. He had dark blonde hair, pale grey eyes and was wearing an orange jacket over a blue sweatshirt. He shook his head sideways as he chuckled at the group.
"Let me guess, another new trainer?" Paul asked in a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.
"Tristan? No, he's not new at all," Miki said as she walked over to the blonde-haired young man and put one hand on his shoulder. "He's crazy strong. I know, I met him during my travels and we became friends."
"As I told you many times before, the name's Trip…" Trip replied hesitantly. "But that's ok. What are you guys doing in Professor Juniper's lab anyway?"
Miki proceeded to walk towards the group, placing herself between Jen and Paul while putting her hand on both their shoulders. "These three trainers need a Pokedex right away. Is Professor Jupiter coming back soon?"
"...Professor Juniper is currently at Chargestone Cave…" Trip said with an edge. "Why don't YOU give out the 'dexes? They're in the box on the grey moving cart behind you…"
Miki turned around and looked at the grey cart with a large box on the bottom shelf. With a smirk, she ran over to the cart, taking out the heavy box from underneath and setting it on the floor. She grabbed three separate boxes, each containing a medium-sized grey device and five poke balls.
"I guess Professor Jupiter won't mind…." Miki said as she got up and began to pass the boxes out to the group of trainers. One by one, she passed out the boxes. "one for you, one for you... "
"...and one for you, Your Majesty. It's a pokedex," the girl said in a sarcastic tone as she gave Paul his pokedex.
"Yeah, whatever," Paul said gruffly under his breath as he grabbed the pokeballs and pokedex from the box and slowly started to walk towards the door. "I'm out of here."
"Hey" Miki exclaimed as she grabbed onto Paul's sleeve. "I was just kidding! Sometimes I make bad jokes and stuff. But I do hope this Pokedex will be useful."
Trip walked over to stand near his friend. "You see, this is why we don't like people from the boonies..."
Paul stopped dead in his tracks as he crossed his arms. 'Is that all he's got?' he thought to himself as a smirk appeared on his face. He was unbothered by the insults as he knew that even though he lived in a rural area, it had no effect on him as a trainer. All he wanted was to set off on his journey, however, he didn't want to stick around and listen to a useless tutorial he's heard many times before.
"Your point?" Paul asked in an annoyed tone.
"You're not very smart, aren't you?" Trip asked rhetorically as he gave a condescending smirk. "You don't seem like a very experienced trainer, just someone who talks too much."
"Oh really?" Paul said as he raised his voice. "I can say the same about you…"
"Typical," Trip chucked. "But hey, instead of interjecting your own insecurities onto me, how about we have a Pokemon battle, one on one…. what do you say?"
Paul took a minute to process everything as he uncrossed his arms. 'Hm, if I battle this guy and I win, maybe I can show him just how serious I am. However, why do I need to prove myself to him? I'm past that. I'll just battle him just to have him make a fool of himself!' He chuckled as he turned around.
"Alright, I will take on your request," Paul said with confidence. "I'm here to win the Pokemon league and the way to do that is to beat trainers like yourself."
"Then it's off to the backyard, let's go!" Miki exclaimed as she led the group to the back of the small laboratory and out the back door.
.~~~~
The battle was about to begin as there was a strong sense of tension in the air. The two young men stared each other down, locked in battle mode. Trip smiled confidently while Paul scowled and clenched his fists tightly. Light chattering amongst the few onlookers can be heard as the battle was about to begin. The battlefield itself was a plain dirt field with a pokeball symbol in the middle and a small set of bleachers on the right side.
"I'm going to be the referee!" Marnie said as she ran off the bleachers and onto the side of the field. "I'm on my journey to become an official Pokemon referee so I need practice."
Upon standing on the referee podium, she pulled out a pokeball from her white tote bag and proceeded to throw it in the air. A burst of light came from the pokeball as the figure of a bipedal Pokemon emerged. By her side was a dark yellow mouse Pokemon with a white underbelly and a small lightning bolt tail. Marnie then knelt down to pick up her Pokemon and place it on her shoulder as it was waving a red flag.
Upon seeing the mouse Pokemon, Paul reached for his pokedex that was located in the left pocket of his jacket and began to point it at Marnie's Pokemon. A green screen then proceeded to pop with the pokemon's picture while a male robotic voice began to explain the Pokemon's info.
"Raichu, the mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Pikachu," the pokedex explained. "Its tail discharges electricity into the ground, protecting it from getting shocked."
"Now, Electivire, standby for battle!" Paul said with authority.
Paul threw his pokeball high into the air with confidence. A burst of light came from the ball as Electivire emerged in a combative stance. The thunderbolt Pokemon let out a confident battle cry as he waved his fists.
"Go, Serperior!" Trip yelled as he also threw his pokeball in the air.
That same beam of light came bursting through the ball as the huge snake appeared from the light and coiled itself onto the battlefield. It was a pale green, serpentine Pokémon with narrow red eyes and grass like patterns on the sides. Paul quickly reached for his pokedex and pointed it at Trip's Serperior.
"Serperior, the regal Pokemon and the evolved form of Servine," the pokedex explained. "It can stop its opponents' movements with just a glare. It takes in solar energy and boosts it internally."
"Isn't that nice?" Trip asked with a mocking tone. "You got your 'serperior' lesson for today."
"It has been determined that Mr. Paul gets the first move," Marnie announced as her raichu waved the red flag, signaling Paul to make his move. "Now begin!"
"Electivire, use thunder on the battlefield," Paul commanded in an authoritative voice.
Electivire proceeded to shove both of his long tails deep into the ground while mustering all the electrical energy he could. After being shrouded in electricity, he released a massive thunder attack into the ground. The ground began to rumble underneath the competitor's feet as large pieces of rock began to fly from up into the air and fell quickly onto the ground.
"Serperior, dodge those!" Trip commanded with confidence.
With style and speed, the regal Pokemon slithered left and right to dodge every rock that made contact with the ground. However, right as the serperior was on the right track, Trip spotted a huge rock that was almost inches above his Pokemon's head. He then smirked at a perfect opportunity to turn this into a counter strike.
"Now Serperior, use dragon tail on that rock!" Trip commanded with a smirk.
Mustering all the energy he could, Serperior's tail began to glow a light blue color. When the time was right, he swung his blue colored tail up above and made contact with the falling rock. The boulder was too tough to break, however, the dragon tail's force allowed the rock to fly straight into the opponent's path. Paul quickly registered the attack as he began to scowl and clench his fists.
"Electivire, protect!" Paul demanded in desperation.
However, before Electivire can muster up his energy to make a shield to protect himself from the projectile object, the rock hits him in the middle. The force from the rock was so powerful, that it sent Electivire almost flying backward and smacked into his trainer. Paul's reaction time was too slow as he could not run away and he and his Pokemon began to fall onto the ground, sliding a few feet. Luckily for him, it was only his left foot that was trapped under Electivire's weight as he was able to wiggle himself out and stand up.
"Electivire, don't give up!" Paul said sternly. "Use brick break now!"
After shaking off the shock from the rock attack, Electivire quickly got on to his feet and began to charge toward his opponent. Narrowing his red eyes, he turned his right-hand side ways as if he was about to execute a swift chop.
"Grab it Serperior!" Trip commanded. "Use wrap!"
The regal Pokemon proceeded to quickly move his body away from the oncoming brick break that was about to happen. Using his tail, he proceeded to grab his opponent and held on tightly. The grip was so tight that Electivire could hardly breathe as his face began to turn purple from the suffocation. Though Paul was surprised, he remained calm as he tried to think of a way to get himself out of this situation.
"Use thunderpunch!" he commanded.
Electivire tried his hardest to squeeze his arm from the snake's grip, however, it failed.
"Now, let's give it the old slam, back to back!" Trip exclaimed confidently as he pumped one fist in the air.
With the suffocated Electivire in his grasp, the grass snake began to raise his tail and then with speed and force, slammed his opponent into the hard ground. He did this repeatedly while the thunderbolt Pokemon was trying his best to break out of wrap's grasp. However, with the repeated slams to the head, it was unsuccessful. Paul's fists were clenched tightly as he was very shocked at what was going on. He kept calling out more attacks, however at this time, Electivire grew to be unconscious from the attacks.
"Alright, that's enough!" Trip said with an edge. "I think we got the message through. Now throw it back!"
Serperior raised his tail and with all his might, he threw the unconscious Electivire against a tree with such force. The force was great enough to almost snap the tree in half. After hitting the tree, Electivire fell face-first onto the ground. The silence was lingering as Marnie's raichu went over to the unconscious Pokemon. Raichu tilted it's head sideways while placing a hand on Electivire's head.
"Electivire is unable to battle, Serperior wins," Marnie said with a monotone. "Which means the match goes to .
"Great job, Serperior!" Trip praised as he returned his Pokemon back to his pokeball.
Nodding his head in defeat, Paul took out his pokeball and returned his Pokemon back at once. After that, he then looked at the pokeball itself and said "Great battle, Electivire. We just have to do better."
"I guess your Electivire was ok," Trip said sympathetically while crossing his arms. "However, his trainer was awful..."
"You be quiet!" Paul growled as he put his Pokeball in his pocket.
"That was a great battle, you guys!" Miki said excitedly as she took off her soundproof headphones.
As Trip began to walk back into the laboratory, he turned around at the group one more time and smiled.
"Miki, I'll see you at the black tower!" he said with determination as he waved and left.
"Sure thing!" Miki replied. "I look forward to seeing you there!".
"Hmph", Paul began to run through the laboratory's back door and onto the road that starts Route One. His eyes were closed, not caring to open them as he kept on running through the shortened route. 'I can't believe I lost to HIM. How could I? Am I strong enough?' he thought as he continued to be on his way until a familiar voice called out to him.
"Paul, wait up!" a familiar voice called out to him followed by the blabbering of what sounded like an electabuzz.
Paul stopped and turned his head slightly to the left, just enough to see who was coming after him. It was Miki and Ellie, the electabuzz, was clinging to her shoulder. However, this time, she had a dark blue rock she was carrying with her left hand. She was trying her hardest to catch up with him. Paul stood there as he allowed the girl to catch up to him. He was not at all interested in conversing with her, however he wanted to allow her to say what she wanted to say before he left.
"If you got something to say to me, say it!" he snapped.
"Paul, I just wanted to apologize," she started to say. "I know that I can be a bit of a smart aleck but I didn't mean to give you a hard time. I came here to give you this."
She took the blue rock and began to present it to Paul. He turned around and stared at the rock. This rock was different. It was roundly shaped but it also had a dark blue leaf on the top of it. He took the rock from her hands and further inspected it.
"That's a fossil. A plume fossil to be exact," Miki explained. "it was burning a hole in my bag and when I saw how determined you are, I figured that you could make use out of it."
"So… what is so special about this fossil?" Paul asked as he began to put the fossil in his grey slingback.
"If you take it to this one guy in Accumula Town, he can resurrect it for you," she happily explained. "There used to be someone who does this in Nacrene City, the gym leader's assistant or whatnot? Yeah, but they have been gone for some time. They can resurrect your fossil into a Pokemon."
'So this turns into a Pokemon eh?' Paul thought to himself as he turned his head and looked straight ahead. The warm wind started to pick up as he felt it blowing on his neck. He wiped a little bit of the sweat that was building up on his forehead while bringing the front of his purple hair back. 'Even though she was very annoying and she isn't really worth my time, I am in a new region and I don't know where this Accumula Town is. I'll just have her guide me there.'
"I hate having to ask for help, especially from someone like you," Paul started to say. "However, I have no choice. Bring me to this Accumula Town."
"Well… even though I have to get back to the black tower, I have time for a little side trip," the trainer said with excitement. "First the Pokemon center, then the fossil."
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