章 4: Meetings
"Are you okay Dawn?" Shuichi asked as he helped her up. Dawn had grown up the same as him and was dressed in her trademarked black and pink dress, pink scarf and black socks with pink boots along with a white beanie.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," Dawn thanked Shuichi as he helped her up.
Eevee was a little annoyed at being rammed this early in the morning. "Sorry, Eevee, sorry, Shuichi!" She apologised to both of them for not paying attention.
"We're okay. What are you doing here, though?" Shuichi was more interested in why she was here in the first place.
"I got the postcard from Professor Rowan! But I, uhh, got a little lost," Dawn was completely lost as a first-timer in Sandgem Town.
She did visit Shuichi in the past however that was always when her mother drove her there. "Need me to show you the way?" Shuichi was happy to help Dawn, and Dawn quickly accepted the offer.
"Have fun on your journey you two!" Umeko watched the entire interaction from the first row and quickly waved them both off.
"Bye mom!" "Bye Ms. Tsuki!" Shuichi and Dawn both waved her off as they walked ahead to Professor Rowan's lab. Shuichi knew where the lab was because he had actually met the Professor once before.
"You know which starter you're picking?" Although Shuichi knew which starter she was eventually going to pick up, he had to act like he didn't know.
"Honestly I don't know which one to pick, they're all so adorable!" Dawn was at a loss for which starter.
"Maybe one will jump out when you get there," Shuichi said, not trying to influence her pick.
"Oh that reminds me, why didn't you get a postcard? You were top of the class after all." Dawn studied her butt off however Shuichi was always one step ahead of her.
"Because I already have Eevee, and I happened to know someone who always wanted her own starter." Shuichi explained about the postcard, it was originally his and he wasn't greedy for another starter.
"Oh, I see." Dawn said before the words sunk in. "Wait a second! You mean me!?" Dawn was surprised as she realised who he was talking about.
"Yep! Happy belated birthday?" Shuichi laughed at Dawn's reaction and was happy to surprise her. Dawn suddenly flew at Shuichi and hugged him.
Shuichi could barely breathe under the force she was producing. "Thank you so much Shuichi!" Dawn nearly crushed his spine.
"D-Dawn… can't… breathe" Shuichi barely squeaked out while tapping her back, "Ev…" Eevee was also caught up in the bear hug.
She quickly released them both and went back to talking, "Say Shuichi, how about we go together on our journey?" She offered to go together however Shuichi had other plans.
"Well, I actually need to go to the beach down south first." he explained his travel plan, surprising Dawn.
"Why go down south first? Isn't that a dead end?" She knew the map of Sinnoh and there was only the ocean down south of Sandgem Town.
"Correct, however I'm looking to catch a water-type down south for the Oreburgh City rock-type gym." Shuichi knew he couldn't win with only Eevee which was a normal-type, and a good water-type was always nice.
"That makes sense! Knowing you, you already know what Pokémon you're looking for." Dawn said, Shuichi's prepared mindset was no secret really.
"Correct! I know exactly what Pokémon I'm looking for; it's a Clamperl!" Shuichi told Dawn what Pokémon he was looking for.
"Why a Clamperl?" Dawn was confused about the Pokémon, weren't some other water types stronger?
"That's a surprise for the future!" Shuichi teased Dawn a little and wasn't about to tell her why, Shuichi didn't do nothing for 8 years and learned what Pokémon he wanted and why.
"Humph, cheapskate" Dawn wasn't too annoyed at Shuichi not telling her, she had known him for 8 years after all.
"So you're off on your own unless you're willing to go Clamperl hunting with me." Shuichi said he doubted she would accept.
"No thanks, looks like I'm going on ahead between all of us." Dawn said as she would go ahead.
"Speaking of the rest, you know what Kenny and Leona are up to?" Shuichi asked, they both remained silent about it. Maybe Dawn heard differently.
"Leona was helping her parent's hot springs near Route 210. As for Kenny, I have no clue," Dawn revealed where Leona was but also didn't know Kenny's whereabouts.
"Maybe he'll pop up somewhere unexpected," Shuichi said. He couldn't quite recall where he had seen Kenny, but he knew he appeared more than once.
As they were talking they soon came to Professor Rowan's lab. There was an old man dressed in a brown coat and a suitcase in front of the building looking at the building. "Hello Professor Rowan!" Shuichi called out to get the old man's attention.
"Ah Shuichi wasn't it, it's been a while, have you changed your mind for a starter?" Professor Rowan remembered Shuichi and thought he changed his mind.
"Nope! I instead brought my friend here who I told you about." Shuichi declined the offer and pushed Dawn forwards.
"Greeting Professor Rowan, I'm Dawn, nice to meet you!" She introduced herself curtly.
"Nice to meet you too, you must be here for your starter however there has been a small accident." Professor Rowan told them.
"An accident?" Shuichi and Dawn were both curious "Yes, while I was gone for a minute two of the starters, one Starly and one Staraptor, decided to run outside, I was just about to chase them." Professor Rowan explained the situation.
"Sir, I'd like to look for them!" Dawn said hearing those words.
"You would?" Professor Rowan was a bit surprised hearing Dawn's words "Of course! These are Pokémon that could be my future partner!"Dawn was passionate.
Professor Rowan looked at Dawn's eyes for a minute, he then smiled. "All right then, if you find them just crouch down to eye level and talk to them to calm them down." He gave his seal of approval to Dawn.
"I'll go help as well, I've got Eevee here to back me up if they get violent." Shuichi interjected and Eevee also agreed to those words.
Professor Rowan nodded and said "Now I can see why you gave your postcard to her" Dawn blushed a little at the unexpected praise and quickly ran off.
"Didn't I say so?" Shuichi said as he smiled and ran after Dawn. Once he was caught up to Dawn they both quickly went to the forest behind Rowan's lab.
"Chimchar!" A voice was heard from the trees, looking up Shuichi could see a small orange monkey-like Pokémon with a flame on its tail.
"It's Chimchar!" Dawn quickly realised however before she got close another voice interrupted her, "Piplup!" a blue penguin-like Pokémon suddenly waddled over and looked angrily at Chimchar.
"Looks like Piplup is here as well." Shuichi said as he could feel the emotions of the Pokémon, Piplup was angry, really angry while Chimchar was happy.
"Piplup!" Piplup yelled once more and fired off bubbles from its mouth at Chimchar, who easily evaded using the trees.
"Stop that Piplup!" Dawn scolded Piplup who noticed Dawn, Shuichi could feel its aggression rising again and quickly warned Dawn.
"Dawn watch out, it's going to attack again!" "Piplup!" Piplup said as it shot bubbles at Dawn. "Woah!" Dawn quickly jumped back evading the attack
"Thanks for the heads up Shuichi." Shuichi was incredibly sharp at reading Pokémon's intentions so she trusted his warning.
Eevee quickly jumped down from Shuichi's shoulders and got ready for combat "No problem, however Piplup is clearly too angry to listen." Shuichi noted as Chimchar retreated deeper in the forest and Piplup chased after it.
"Get back here, you two!" Dawn was about to chase them when Shuichi suddenly stopped her. "Shuichi!? What are you-?" Dawn was about to get angry at Shuichi when he pointed out something in the corner of the forest.
There were cobwebs in the forest, a lot of cobwebs, a clear sign of an Ariados nest.
"There's an Ariados nest here, always be careful of your surroundings Dawn and never jump in blindly." Shuichi advised Dawn on the surroundings.
"R-Right, let's go" She calmed down quickly and watched her surroundings. Even with Eevee here battling a nest of Ariados was suicide at their current level.
As they walked around looking for Piplup and Chimchar a cry was suddenly heard from afar; "Pii!" Shuichi and Dawn both turned and looked, "That sounded like Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed as she ran off with Shuichi quickly chasing her.
Coming to where the sound came from revealed quite the mess, a giant cobweb with Piplup and multiple other Pokémon trapped in.
Dawn, remembering Shuichi's advice, looked around and spotted a red and black striped arachnid-looking Pokémon with sharp mandibles and a horn.
It was an Ariados that was looking at her from the top of the cobweb, if she charged in blindly again she would've gotten shot at.
"Ariados! You leave them be!" Dawn tried to get Ariados to leave; however, Ariados wasn't going to and poised to make an attack. "Sand-Attack Eevee!" Shuichi felt Ariados's aggression rise quickly and made the first move.
Eevee responded and shot some sand with its hindlegs straight at Ariados's face. *Hiss* sand hit Ariados's face and it hissed, it completely missed the poison sting it was preparing at Dawn and focused its attention on Eevee and Shuichi.
"Leave Ariados to us Dawn and get Piplup and destroy the cobweb to free the Pokémon!" Shuichi said as he didn't take his eyes off the Ariados, it was his and Eevee's first official battle. "Right!" Dawn nodded and tried to get closer to the cobweb.
Ariados wasn't allowing Dawn to get closer and was about to attack Dawn again when another sand-attack hit it. "Follow up with Tackle!" Shuichi said as Ariados was still struggling with the sand.
Eevee jumped on the tree branches and jumped at Ariados tackling it to the ground, Ariados hit the ground hard and Eevee landed on his feet.
Taking a quick glance at Dawn showed Shuichi that she had found a sharp stick and was busy ripping open the net freeing the Pokémon.
Ariados was angry at these two for a multitude of reasons however it still focused on Eevee as it shot a poison sting at it, its aim still messed up from the sand causing Eevee to dodge it easily.
"Go for another Tackle while running in a zigzag pattern" It was a tiring manoeuvre however with the sand still in Ariados's eyes and it not thinking clear it really was the best way to attack, Eevee didn't know any ranged moves so only tackle was their best bet.
Eevee nodded and did as Shuichi said bobbing and weaving between poison stings, it was taxing mentally and physically however their plan paid off as Eevee got in another tackle. Eevee was breathing a little hard as Ariados was also stumbling a little.
"Shuichi I've freed them all!" Dawn suddenly yelled, breaking the tension "Eevee return!" Shuichi quickly pulled out the white Pokéball and returned Eevee, Eevee didn't have any qualms as it was pretty tired from the manoeuvre.
Shuichi quickly turned to Dawn who held Piplup in her arms and ran "Let's go!" Shuichi yelled as he ran past her. Dawn quickly nodded and ran after Shuichi, Ariados wanted to chase but was too damaged from the fight and couldn't chase.
After running for a bit they stopped to catch their breath. "Looks like we're safe now, my name's Dawn! And I'm a brand new trainer! How are you?" Dawn introduced herself to Piplup who didn't even say thanks and pecked Dawn in her face only for her to let it go.
"What's the big deal! You chased after Chimchar only to get caught and we even helped you!" Dawn was getting tired of dealing with the thankless Piplup.
"Piplup!" It said angrily before its stomach suddenly growled "Now I see why you're so grumpy, looks like someone is hungry." Dawn said with a mischievous smile.
"From what I guess is that Chimchar stole its food and Piplup chased after it trying to reclaim it" Shuichi said interpreting Piplup's emotions.
"Pip!" It quickly nodded at Shuichi before its stomach growled once more causing it to feel embarrassed.
"Well luckily for you I have some Pokémon food here." Dawn said as she got out a can of food from her bag and put some on her hand.
Piplup looked at it only to show disdain towards the food. "Wha-!? Not good enough for you!?"
Piplup was really getting on Dawn's nerves as it stuck its tongue at Dawn. Shuichi was about to help Dawn as movement in the trees caught his attention.
"We've got company and they're not happy!" Shuichi looked nervous as he spotted multiple Ariados climbing towards them.
String shot was suddenly shot everywhere blocking all of their paths "This is too much for Eevee to handle!" Shuichi's expression was grim as the situation looked bad.
"Wait, I have an idea!" Dawn said as she looked at the Pokémon food in her hand. "We'll distract them with this, then Piplup will use a bubble beam to break the strings!" Dawn proposed her idea as the Ariados fired off a few shots causing everyone to dodge frantically.
"Good idea Dawn!" Shuichi said and Piplup agreed. Dawn quickly threw a handful of food at the Ariados causing them all to eat it and Piplup broke the strings with a bubble beam.
Just before they could all escape, Dawn was quickly caught by a random string shot. Shuichi and Piplup tried to help her however she was stuck tight.
"Just leave me and go!" Dawn tried to at least let Shuichi and Piplup go, Shuichi on the other hand froze for a moment hearing that line.
Voices started appearing in his head when he heard Dawn say those words, ('Just let me die…, leave me…, save yourself…')
Hearing these words gave Shuichi the chills, in his past life he didn't have emotions so he never felt this way, however this wasn't his past life anymore. He had regained his emotions but the memories would still be there
Shuichi shook his head and calmed himself down. He wasn't there anymore, he was here now and now wasn't the time to think about these things.
Shuichi rushed to Dawn. "Don't say that!" Shuichi wasn't having that line, the amount of times he's heard that line in his previous life still haunts him to this day.
The Ariados weren't going to let this chance go by as they fired off shots, just when Dawn thought it was over Piplup jumped in front and tanked all the shots while glowing white.
"Is that-" Dawn was speechless and Shuichi finished her sentence "It's using Bide!" Shuichi was surprised that it could even use the move already, this meant it was a pretty talented Piplup.
Piplup endured all the shots and suddenly shot out a burst of light towards the Ariados shooting them all far away, Piplup wobbled a little on its feet.
"Bide's one of the coolest moves! Piplup, thank you so much!" Dawn was amazed as Piplup suddenly fainted and she caught it.
"Looks like Piplup is exhausted, Bide does double damage in return for taking damage, however damage is still taken and not healed after usage." Shuichi pointed out bide's biggest weakness.
"Oh, Piplup." Dawn said affectionately as she looked at the fainted penguin in her arms.
"We still have to find Chimchar and I don't think those Ariados are going to be much of a problem anymore." Shuichi said as they both continued searching for Chimchar, coincidentally they both stumbled upon Lake Verity.
"Oh wow Lake Verity." Dawn looked around as Piplup awoke who was also looking around, still a little tired from Bide.
"Looks like we've ventured pretty deep in the forest." Shuichi also looked around, he was actually looking to see if Mesprit was watching only to see nothing.
"Piplup." Piplup was hungry again as its stomach growled again, Dawn offered it the food again only this time it accepted the food.
"Staraptor!" Another cry was suddenly heard as a large grey and white feathered avian-like Pokémon with a red coloured comb flew by with the fire monkey Chimchar in its claws.
It was a Staraptor that was heading for the lab. Behind it was a much smaller grey and white feathered avian-like Pokémon which was a Starly.
"Looks like we can head back." Shuichi was relieved, however suddenly the wind picked up and a sound was heard from the lake. It sounded like ringing and a blue and pink Pokémon could be seen floating above the lake.
"What is-" Dawn asked as Shuichi cut her off "Mesprit!" Shuichi didn't expect to see Mesprit again. Mesprit looked at Shuichi and nodded at him once before looking at Dawn, it waved with its tails at Dawn before disappearing again.
"Mesprit? Like the one from the stories?" Dawn was a little confused before picking up something else.
"Wait! It just nodded at you! Do you know Mesprit Shuichi?" Dawn was surprised and asked the boy standing next to her.
"W-Well uh, kinda." He really didn't want to elaborate on it however it doesn't look like Dawn was going to let him off easy. "Just promise me you'll never tell anyone." He asked Dawn who quickly nodded.
"Sigh, it's like this, I wasn't exactly the healthiest before I came to Sinnoh, and Mesprit helped me with my problem." Shuichi tried to explain it while skimming over the details.
"What do you mean by 'not the healthiest'?" Dawn pressed for the details while expressing concern for Shuichi's health.
"I-I really don't like talking about that Dawn, sorry." Shuichi was clearly uncomfortable. It was a touchy and difficult subject for Shuichi as it involved a heavy time with his past life.
Dawn was even more surprised now than seeing Mesprit, she's known Shuichi for 8 years and rarely if ever had she seen him this uncomfortable about a subject.
Realising she was hitting a sensitive nerve she backed off "Sorry for pressing, as long as you're fine then I won't ask." Dawn was clearly worried about Shuichi.
Shuichi thanked her and warned her. "Also don't tell anyone about seeing Mesprit here, it is a legendary Pokémon and a lot of people are looking for it for bad reasons."
Legendary Pokémon were sought out daily and knowing one's location was prime for criminals.
"Of course not! I'm not that stupid." Dawn quickly defended herself as she knew the consequences of legendary Pokémon being spotted.
There was a huge news story about the Hoenn region, she remembered last year where legendary Pokémon were discovered and fought each other, nearly destroying a part of Hoenn.
After that fiasco they were quickly taught that if they ever found a legendary Pokémon to forget about fame and fortune because the legends were not to be trifled with.
The walk back to the lab was a little tense and awkward, having just seen a legendary Pokémon and also the fact that Shuichi was a little off. "How's Eevee? Is he hurt?" Dawn decided to try some small talk to ease the tension.
"He's fine, just a little tired. How's Piplup?" Shuichi asked Dawn. "Piplup!" Piplup seemed to say it's fine; however, Shuichi could feel it trying to act tough.
Dawn also cut right through its bold faced lie. "Oh, you're fine all of a sudden? Well I guess you can walk on your own right?"
"Pi." Piplup's act backfired harshly as its actions lightened the tension between them.
Back at the lab Shuichi and Dawn gave Piplup back and now all three starters were lined up at the table, they filled in what happened between the Ariados and Piplup while excluding Mesprit.
"It seems you've had quite the day, Eevee should be good after some rest." Professor Rowan commented on the day. Two assistants took out a tray each and brought them over to Shuichi and Dawn.
"Here are your Pokédexes and some Pokéballs, the Pokédex holds all sorts of information on the Pokémon you encounter and catch." Professor Rowan explained.
There was a pink and blue Pokédex along with five normal red Pokéballs on each tray. The blue Pokédex gave some nostalgia to Shuichi because it looked a lot like his old Nintendo DS.
"Is it okay for me? I don't have a postcard." Shuichi asked, the postcard was usually the way one got a Pokédex or one could buy one from the official channels, however those were expensive.
Professor Rowan just smiled and said "See it as a thank you gift for helping Dawn here with Piplup." Shuichi just accepted it and didn't think too much of it and took the Pokédex and Pokéballs. Dawn picked up the pink Pokédex and Pokéballs.
"Now onto the starter, you can choose one of the three Pokémon you see here" Professor Rowan shifted his attention to the Pokémon on the table.
"The fire-type Chimchar." Chimchar responded with a "Chim!" clearly pumped up.
"The water-type Piplup." Piplup responded by pumping its chest in bravado.
"And the grass-type Turtwig." A green-ish turtle-like Pokémon with a small twig on its head responded a little lazily with a "Turtwig."
Turning back to Dawn, Professor Rowan asked "So which one will you pick?"
Dawn smiled and quickly said "I choose Piplup!" Disappointment was clear with the other two starters while Piplup was happy.
And with that, Dawn still picked Piplup, even though Shuichi helped her this time around. Shuichi remembered that Dawn picked Piplup in the anime however he was unsure if his involvement would change her pick.
Had he given his opinions on the starters when she asked, that choice would've probably changed. Fire-type Pokémon were infamously scarce in Sinnoh so he probably would've advised Chimchar, however this was Dawn's choice not his.
Dawn received Piplup's Pokéball and she and Shuichi went outside the lab. "If there's anything you need just give me a call." Professor Rowan said as he saw off Shuichi and Dawn. Dawn hopped on her bike and looked at Shuichi.
"Well I guess this is where we part ways for now." Dawn was a little sad, she would be lying if she said she didn't like Shuichi's company or help.
"Don't worry Dawn, I'll be sure to cheer you on during your contests! Who knows, maybe you'll even spot me in the audience." Shuichi said, trying to shift her attention back to contests. "Yeah! And you good luck in the gyms!" She said in response.
As Dawn rode off and waved Shuichi and Professor Rowan waved back, once Dawn was out of vision Shuichi was heading for the beach as Professor Rowan suddenly piped up
"Where will you be going? Isn't route 202 that way?" He was a little confused by why Shuichi was going the wrong way.
"I know Professor, however I'm looking for a Clamperl to add to my team. A water-type will do me good and I have some future ideas for Clamperl." Shuichi explained.
"A Clamperl huh? Well, you're in luck, as usually those reside at the bottom of the ocean. However some have washed up on the beach during breeding season. In fact, my errand earlier today was to check up on them." Professor Rowan explained his side of the story
"Thank you Professor!" Shuichi said as he started to jog to the beach. Clamperl would wash ashore during the breeding season, it was both an exciting and dangerous time for them. The danger lay in wild Drifblim which were the natural predators of Clamperl.
Drifblim were purple balloon-like Pokémon, however the main point of them was their ghost-type. Ghost-types had some pure immunities and Eevee's normal-type was one of them.
From what Shuichi could tell Professor Rowan checked up on them to make sure they weren't attacked by wild Drifblim and to maybe even help them during these times. Shuichi hoped to not encounter a Drifblim, having no counters to ghosts was not good.
Eevee had recovered most of its stamina which reminded Shuichi to use the Pokédex on its Pokéball which in turn would scan Eevee's current stats to him. Not the same stats from the games, these were their gender, height, weight, age, ability and what moves it currently knew.
Eevee - Male
Age: 6 months
Ability: Adaptability
Height: 0'70" / 0,2m
Weight: 10 lbs / 4,6 kg
Moves: Covet, Helping Hand, Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack
The dex rattled off Eevee's stats and compared them to regular Eevee's, Shuichi's Eevee was actually a little underdeveloped compared to normal Eevee but it made sense because Eevee was still growing.
The moves were more interesting, moves were actually all remembered, however the rule of four moves from the games came from trainers usually preferring to train four moves and saving the rest for the rare occasion.
Covet also worked differently than in the games, Covet was a pure stealing move and didn't do any damage. The Pokémon would act cutely and try and 'procure' an item if the opponent had one.
Eevee didn't have any special breeding moves, although it was bred from his mother's Leafeon the other counterpart was actually his dad's Ditto. Shuichi definitely had some questions for Leafeon and Ditto, however even imagining the scene would cause chills on his back.
On his way to the beach Shuichi encountered a familiar face, on a motorcycle a green haired female police officer was driving towards him. It was the Officer Jenny of Sandgem Town.
"Oh! Hey Shuichi, Isn't today the day you start on your journey?" Officer Jenny asked, Shuichi was familiar with Jenny due to his father working on the police force and having requested his father's help many times.
"That's correct Officer Jenny! In fact I was just about to head to the beach to catch a Clamperl, it is their breeding season right now." Shuichi replied to Officer Jenny's question.
The Jenny and Joy clans were famous for all being identical sisters and family members. Shuichi had often wondered how they did it, however he wasn't insensitive enough to ask.
"You're correct, In fact I was just checking the beach out and it seemed to be all good with no Drifblim in sight. Want me to take you there?" Officer Jenny eased some of Shuichi's fears of no sighted Drifblim and offered to give a ride to the beach.
"No thanks Officer, this little distance is nothing for me!" Shuichi politely declined the ride to the beach, the walk would help Eevee recover some stamina and the quicker he was at the beach the less recovered Eevee was.
"Alright suit yourself, I'm off on patrol. Give your father my regards!" Officer Jenny said and rode off in the distance. Shuichi would have to give his parents a call once he was in Jubilife so he would give him her regards then.
As he was thinking about the future Clamperl, Shuichi saw a familiar floating balloon in the sky. The balloon's face was that of a cat-like Pokémon with a green basket; he had remembered seeing the balloon quite often in the anime.
While trying to recall the details the balloon suddenly blew up throwing multiple figures into the distance, Shuichi also saw something yellow being thrown into the woods of route 202.
"Pikachu!" A boy in a blue vest, black shirt, a red cap, denim pants, blue shoes and a green backpack ran past him along with a purple monkey-like Pokémon with a fist for a tail "Aipom!" it yelled as they ran past Shuichi. Shuichi could feel its panic as it ran past him.
Upon seeing this person Shuichi instantly recalled everything, that just now was Ash Ketchum and the balloon was Team Rocket! And from the sounds of it they got Pikachu again.
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