Chương 11: I Am Perfection
"Release!" In the house's backyard, Hilda and Rosa stood before Juniper, who threw four poke balls into the air. The blinding light winced my eyes, before revealing the caught starters.
Reenacting yesterday, the four Pokemon stood in a line a few meters from Rosa and Hilda.
The pokemon were Totodile, Tepig, Rowlet, and Snivy.
"They're so cute," Rosa immediately shouted, her eyes drawn to Snivy. Of the pokemon my eyes were also drawn to it; personally, the first evolution of Snivy was my favorite of the grass type's evolutions.
Hilda was much harder to read; however, in the small time I've known her, I would bet she'd pick Tepig or Totodile.
"Alright girls, I trust you know how to check the Pokémon's stats. Remember, you must not only choose a starter, the starter must choose you" they nodded to Juniper's words, before bringing out their pokedexes. They were similar in appearance to mine, a little bigger than an earth phone, with a red casing.
Juniper continued to vocalize directions to the two, and handed them small red viles. Watching each of them check the Pokemon's information, the waiting game had officially begun.
During all of this Ruby sat on my left shoulder, glancing toward the starters, she waved her paw giving an occasional squeak. Gible simply stood next to me, looking closer at her height, she was maybe a little less than a meter tall?
I would have to check her stats later; actually, I also wanted to find out if she was the Gible in my dream. Though it seemed obvious, the small risks like a ghost type Pokemon invading my mind was too great to ignore.
"I've decided, I'll choose you," Rosa's triumphant yell brought me back to reality. Following her finger, it pointed towards Snivy, who seemed less than joyous.
Compared to Rosa's high energy, the snake Pokemon gave a small chirp, slightly turning her head away. It seemed Rosa would have a tougher time picking a starter than she thought.
While Rosa was trying to win over the grass starter, Hilda casually watched the Pokemon with her hands on her hips. Finally, she walked up to the Totodile.
"Hey there little guy," Hilda squatted down to look at the alligator Pokemon.
I couldn't hear what she was telling him from my distance, but the starter began to jump around her, its blue snout releasing steam.
"Made your choice?" Juniper called out, noticing the change in the Pokemon.
Hilda turned towards Juniper and gave a simple thumbs up. Standing back up, she grabbed the Totodile and lifted it up. The small Pokemon chirped in excitement.
She walked the Pokemon over to the table, and grabbed his Pokeball, turning her attention to Rosa.
While Hilda easily chose her starter, Rosa was still struggling with Snivy. The grass starter despite Rosa's attempts maintained the same distant attitude towards her as it had before.
"You need more confidence Rosa," from the side, May yelled advice to her daughter.
Rosa continued to try and impress the starter, but like her mother said, she didn't have a strong enough character to entice her.
Hilda was watching with an amused smile, which quite shocked me since Hilda was so protective of her younger sister.
Also watching Rosa's attempts, I decided this had gone on for long enough. I turned my head toward Ruby.
"Ruby, can you go down to Snivy and try to convince her Rosa would be a good pokemon trainer. Tell her with the enclosure damaged she won't find another potential trainer for a long time."
With a code nod, Ruby hopped off my shoulder and moved toward the Snivy. Rosa noticed Ruby and turned her eyes to me. I just gave her a small nod, smiling.
I couldn't tell exactly what Ruby was telling the grass starter, but after a few moments Snivy looked over at Rosa, her eyes seemingly analyzing the Rosa.
"Snivy," Rosa gulped, she couldn't pass this opportunity up. Rosa took a small breath, before her face tightened. Rosa's serious expression slightly surprised me. "Snivy, will you be my Pokemon partner? We'll travel the world together and fight multiple strong trainers, before participating in the Unova Coronation Series to become the strongest in the region."
Snivy closed her eyes for a few moments, before walking towards Rosa and nodding. The speech was simple but effective. Rosa looked like she wanted to explode from joy. Seeing her fast change in attitude, I reminded myself despite her bubbly shy character, she had suffered a lot.
I looked to the side, where Juniper wore an amused expression, seemingly entertained by my Scorbunny's action.
"Perfect, almost 1 in 8 of all new trainers aren't accepted by any of their starter options on their first try. Now that you've found your starters, it's time to name them," Juniper walked up to Rosa, giving Snivy a small scratch under the chin. "The bond you develop with your Pokemon is extremely important; although this seems obvious, the amount of trainers later rejected by their Pokemon is not rare," one of the professor's hands snuck into a coat pocket.
"Atas, catch!"
"Hmm?" Like deja vu, my hands quickly stretched out to catch the flying projectile, it was a poke ball.
"Why don't you join Rosa and Hilda, surely you have a name in mind for your Gible?" Juniper asked.
A name…I looked down to the small dragon Pokemon, who was staring back at me. Garchomps were extremely strong Pokemon to the point they were called pseudo-legendaries, only weaker than the god Pokemon's themselves. Whatever name I would give, it needed to be strong.
Gods huh? I wanted each and every one of my Pikemon to be even stronger than the legendary Pokemon themselves, it was possible in the games. I would make it possible here as well. Finally settling on a name, I spoke it to Gible.
"Athena," I spoke out.
I noticed Juniper raise an eyebrow while Rosa and Hilda gave me confused looks. Though none of their expressions mattered at the moment, only Gible's did.
"Gible!" Athena gave a firm nod, nuzzling against my left leg. Her name was decided.
"Athena?" Hilda vocalized everyone else's confusion, even Cynthia who kept quiet the entire time perked her head at Hilda's question.
"Athena…she's a warrior in a story I once heard on the streets. She was born with extreme strength and intelligence, even as a toddler she was able to defeat Pokemon with her bare hands. Her greatest achievement was tracking down a Dragonite and beating it unconscious, only to capture it. She disappeared shortly after she caught the Pokemon" I decided lying would be the best answer.
Even if I wanted to tell them I wasn't from this world, I was just an orphan kid they met a few days ago, it was obvious how that conversation would go.
"Heh…a human beating up a Dragonite, now that's a spectacle I'd like to watch," For the first time since coming outside, Caitlin finally spoke. She was also leaning against the building lab wall next to the smoking blonde, her brunette hair swaying slightly in the wind.
After deciding on Athena's name, I brought the poke ball to her head, pressing it against her forehead. She disappeared into the ball.
After she disappeared I waited in anticipation, and sure enough, one of the two blood streams quivered a little. I still didn't understand what or how the river worked, but at least I knew it reacted to me catching Pokemon. I felt excitement overcome me, already I had two Pokemon, with one a pseudo legendary. Ignoring the adrenaline rush, I let the dragon type back out.
"Finally," Juniper began to speak, shaking me out of my daydreaming. She walked up to us one by one holding a tray with three thick green cards.
"These, as you may know are your trainer cards, it gives your name, descriptions of your appearance, your trainer level, and other information you can figure out by yourself."
"Trainer level? Is that like a metric of how strong our Pokemon are?" Memories of fantasy shows began to appear in my head, the benefits that also came with a high rating.
"Not quite, keeping track of so many trainers would be too complex. I'll actually let you read your trainer levels," Juniper's hand pointed where "Trainer Level" was located on Rosa's card. She walked to me and Hilda, proceeding with the same process.
Dratini was inscribed to the right of "Trainer Level," whatever that meant.
"Hilda," Juniper proceeded to look toward the bombshell brunette, "Explain to Atlas what trainer level means."
Hilda simply nodded, though I think I was irritating her with all my commonly known questions. "I'm surprised you didn't know this, but when a trainer participates in any competitions or gym battles, there's three levels: Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite. We are less than 14 years old, so we are classified as Dratini's."
Before I could elaborate, she cut me off, "Whatever, one of the easiest ways to answer your questions is to start your Pokemon journey. After that, I guarantee your questions will be answered "
"Correct Hilda," the brunette returned Rowlet and Tepig to their poke balls, "Which is why Caitlin will drop you three off at route 2 tomorrow. I suggest saying goodbyes and familiarizing yourself with your new Pokemon before then, " Juniper walked over to the table again and picked up three brown bags.
She handed each of us one, it contained Pokeballs with a few other items. Finally, an object to catch Pokemon.
Hilda and Rosa thanked Juniper, before running inside. I was about to follow suit, before Juniper stopped me.
"Atlas, why don't you take a walk with me."
And just like that, we found ourselves outside the house, taking a slow stroll.
…
Near my feet Athena walked with us, while Ruby sat on my shoulders. I stayed quiet, waiting until Juniper finally opened her mouth.
"How many Pokemon do you think died from the Team Plasma attack Atlas? 30, 60, more?" Juniper kept her eyes forward, keeping her expression hidden. The feat was quite impressive considering wind was blowing in our direction, irritating my eyes.
I kept silent, I couldn't bring myself to guess.
Juniper waited, and finally it happened, she began laughing.
"Hahahaha! I'm sorry Atlas, I just wanted to mess with you," Juniper clutched her knees, letting out another laugh. I would have been quite frustrated if I wasn't already confused.
"But the Poliwhirls that broke our fall into the lab, they were burnt to a crisp, there's no way they survived!" I retorted. The lack of knowledge I had of this world really began to show.
"What I'm going to tell you can be considered common knowledge, captured Pokemon can't be killed, because their souls reside in the poke ball they were caught in. Your Scorbunny's soul is in her poke ball, communicating with her body from inside."
What.
…
The Indigo Plateau, known as the capital of Kanto, was the home of the league's elite four and champion. For this reason, the area was the headquarters of many influential families. To distinguish oneself in the city, you needed to be the leader of a high ranking family, or a young prodigy of one.
In one household, a young man stood firmly. His broad back was straight, like an arrow, his feet tucked together, silver eyes forward. Not a wrinkle or speckle of dust touched his maroon tunic or gray pants. His chiseled face was adorned with a comforting smile, a smile he practiced in his room for hundreds of hours.
He was the ideal image of perfection.
"Jacob, now do you understand the gravity of the situation?" Before the youth sat an older man, who time had eaten away at. His hair was an ash gray, a thick cane leaned on his large desk.
"Yes, and I will handle it," the strong youth uttered. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Hmmm…I will send Jeremia to aid you," similarly, the old man calmly responded.
"What?" As quickly as it appeared, James' enraged face contorted back to his pleasing smile.
"Oh? So that's what got your attention. You're too predictable."
"Sorry sir, I was simply caught off—"
"Silence!" James' pleasant words did nothing to soothe the man, "We will not go any more off topic, the future success of our entire family is in your hands James. Do NOT disappoint us."
"…Yes father," and with a bow, the youth turned around with his left leg before marching out of the room. Gently, he pushed and pulled the door to minimize the creaking, only juxtaposing the room's silence with a large rumble. It occurred just after the young man had left.
"Groudon, protect my son and nephew, and let their strength be felt by all the great families," the man sat in his chair, his hands cupping to the ceiling.
Finally the old man stopped and sat with his pokedex in his arms.
Waiting.
— Chương tiếp theo sắp ra mắt — Viết đánh giá
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực