Chapter Text
The following morning, Kei was woken up by the bell in the clock tower the town was famous for. He went to the main room, took his Pokémon back from the nurse, and then had breakfast with them, before saying goodbye to the nurse and heading outside. As they left, he looked at the Starly and said, “I’ve still gotta give you a name, huh?” He had been thinking about it all night before he fell asleep, as well as all morning while he ate. He had finally settled on a name: “How do you feel about being called Ila?” The Starly squawked in apparent approval and flew onto his shoulder. He smiled at Ila, then figured he should check in with his parents.
The Xtransceiver rang only once before Kei’s parent’s faces showed up on the screen. “Got any big news for us, Kei?” his mom asked.
“Nothing major, but I did decide on a name for my Starly!” he replied excitedly.
“What did you name her?” asked his dad.
“I named her Ila. Just thought it sounded cool.”
“So do we, son,” his mom replied. “Do you know what you’re going to do next?”
“I was thinking I’d do some training on Route 20. It’s just northeast of here, and according to my map, it also leads to Virbank City.”
“Oh! Virbank is home to Pokéstar Studios, as well as the next Gym,” his mom chimed in.
“Awesome! I’ll talk to you guys later. I’m burning daylight by not being out there already.”
“Alright, son,” his dad said. “Just remember not to push yourself too hard; we don’t want you getting hurt, you know?”
“I know, Dad. Love you guys!”
“We love you, too, Kei,” his parents said in unison. With that, they waved each other goodbye, and then ended the call. Kei grabbed his hat, returned Ila and Orwen to their Poké Balls, and headed towards Route 20. He was pleasantly surprised by how it looked: a small river ran down from the north and split off into a couple of different paths; there were a couple of small bridges, and he saw a cliff that led to a later part of the Route. He also saw a few kids training their Pokémon as well.
However, what really grabbed his attention was a person dressed head to toe in black chasing after a small Pokémon that Kei recognized from his study; the person was chasing a Ralts. He also noted that it had a blue cap, rather than the green most Ralts had.
“GET BACK HERE!” the person shouted. This caused the Ralts to run faster, as well as attack its chaser. After watching this for a little longer, Kei shouted, “Hey! Didn’t anyone tell you it’s not nice to pick on helpless Pokémon? Besides, I don’t think it belongs to you. It looks really scared.”
The Ralts ducked behind Kei as the chaser finally recovered from the attack. “Oh, so we got some kid here who thinks they know everything, huh? Well, let’s see if you understand this! Have you ever heard of Team Plasma?”
“You mean the terrorist organization from 10 years ago? The ones that were disbanded thanks to the efforts of our champion and his friends?” Kei asked.
“That’s them! They left a real big mark on how people see Pokémon trainers, ya know. People like me who now know that Pokémon are better off in the hands of the true rulers of this world!”
“Uh… huh. If that’s the case, do you have any Pokémon of your own?”
“No, but I’m willing to take yours for the cause!” With that, the person lunged at Kei, but he had already been working on bringing out Orwen and Ila. “I really didn’t wanna have to fight someone without Pokémon, but… Orwen, use Tail Whip! Ila, follow up with Tackle!” The two followed the commands immediately, which caused Kei’s attacker to fall backwards. His attacker then tried to play the victim card: “HELP! This kid attacked me without warning!”
Some of the others who had been in the vicinity saw the entire thing, and merely scoffed before going back to what they were doing. The Plasma sympathizer, realizing that no-one was buying it, got up and ran away while saying, “They will be back! GHETSIS WILL REIGN AGAIN! ”
Kei watched as the man ran away, then turned to the Ralts and told it, “Hey, it’s okay now. Were you stolen from someone?”
Using its psychic powers, the Ralts spoke to Kei in his mind: “ Yes, but my former trainer wasn’t much nicer. They would force me to fight Dark-type Pokémon, but I can’t fight those kinds yet.”
Kei looked softly at the Ralts, then extended his hand. “Would you like to come with us? I’m working to become a Gym Leader, and I promise to take good care of you.” The Ralts hesitated, and then took his hand. “ Thank you. As you have shown me kindness, I will do my best to protect you as I grow.”
“Thanks,” Kei said. “Do you have a name? If not, may I give you one?”
The Ralts replied, “I do not have a name, no.”
“Cool. How do you feel about Choreftria? I think it means ‘dancer’ in an ancient language.”
“I like that very much,” Choreftria replied. “What is our next destination?”
“I was planning on heading towards Virbank City next; it's just East of here.”
Choreftria started, "I shall do my best to protect you, " and then saw Ila and Orwen smiling at her, before continuing, "and them as well."
"Glad to hear it!" Kei beamed. With that, the group headed east, on to their next destination.