Chapter Text
“Go Salamance. Use Dragon Claw.” Hinata yelled out as he saw victory within his grasp.
Salamance, claws brightening, brought them down on the opposing Absol, dust rising from the fierce blow. As the dust settled, Hinata saw his Salamance standing over an unconscious Absol. Salamance raised it’s head in triumph and released a victorious roar while Hinata ran up to join it, jumping up and down in excitement.
“I won! I won! I’m the new Pokemon League Champion!” Hinata yelled as he hugged his Salamance around the neck.
“Good job Salamance! You did it!” Hinata yelled as he continued to jump up and down, arms still around Salamance’s neck.
As Salamance’s roar continued, it slowly began to morph into something more harsh and buzzing. As it continued the scenery around Hinata began to blur as the harsh roar continued to get louder and louder before Hinata felt something collide with his head.
Hinata blinked his eyes open, seeing his Salamance plushy far under his bed.
So that’s where that went Hinata thought before he realized he was not actually at the final battle of the Pokemon League. He was instead, in his room, half hanging off of his bed, with his Wailmer alarm clock blaring at him.
“Ugh, what?” Hinata slurred out, still blurry from his sudden awakening. “What’s going on? I’m the Pokemon League Champion?” Hinata questioned as he tried to right himself so he could turn off his alarm.
After a few minutes of being awake, in which he managed to climb back onto his bed and turn off his alarm, Hinata realized he wasn’t actually the Pokemon League Champion and it had all just been a dream. He was just Hinata Shouyou, a nobody 10 year old from Littleroot town.
As Hinata began to feel gloomy he remembered. I’m 10! That means I can start my Pokemon journey and become the greatest Pokemon trainer that has ever been!
Hinata, snapped out of his momentary gloom, sprang out of bed to get dressed for his meeting with Professor Ukai today. He picked out a black and orange t-shirt, a matching pair of shorts to go with it and a dark headband.
“I wonder what Pokemon I will get for my starter? I hope it’s something super cool and powerful and goes WOOSH and BAM and KAPOW!” Hinata said to himself as he got dressed and rushed downstairs.
“Hi Mom, bye Mom” Hinata yelled as he ran through the house, grabbing his backpack and a piece of toast as he headed towards the door.
“Now wait one second young man. Where do you think you’re going?” Hinata heard as he was almost out door. He froze and turned around, seeing his mother standing there, arms crossed, a stern expression on here face.
“I was just heading out to meet Professor Ukai to get my first Pokemon.” Hinata said, his face slightly to the side and not meeting her eyes, a nervous smile on his face.
“Not without a good breakfast you’re not. You won’t be home for a while so I’m going to send you off with one last homemade breakfast.” She said as her face instantly brightened with a big smile as she walked to the kitchen.
“Thanks Mom. You’re the best” Hinata said, copying her grin, as he walked back towards the kitchen and sat at the table.
As his mother began placing food down in front of him, Hinata began to shovel down his mouth, almost choking once or twice due to his speed. Shortly after he started eating, his mother started talking again.
“Now Hinata, I know you’re all excited to begin your big Pokemon adventure and all, but don’t forget to have fun along the way. Also, remember, I’m always here to support you and you can come home whenever you want. Your room is always open.” She said, seeming to both encourage and reprimand him before his journey started.
“Thanks Mom.” Hinata said as he finished his food and grabbed his backpack, double checking everything was in there, as he headed out the door.
As he raced out the door, heading towards the big Pokemon lab close by, he got more and more excited. He was finally going to get his first Pokemon!. The excitement dwindled though as he reached a darkened door with a sign reading “The Professor is out for Pokemon research. Please come again. Thank you.”
Hinata sighed, not sure how was he supposed to get his Pokemon if the professor was gone. As he slowly walked back towards his house, shoulders drooped in abject misery, he heard a scream come from the trail just up ahead.
A small girl, striking in similarity to Hinata, came running up to him.
“Big brother, come quick, a Pokemon is attacking somebody!” Hinata heard his little sister Natsu yell as she reached him and began pulling at his shirt.
“Where?”
“Just up the trail a little bit. It looks like he’s in danger.”
“I have to help him then.” Hinata said, face steeled, misery forgotten with this new crisis.
He rushed forward up the trail, standing across from a stranger. He was a young looking man, skinny, with short dark hair, and he wore a white lab coat with a green jacket underneath and had glasses. He currently appeared to be backed up to a tree and was being threatened by a Poochyena.
“He-Hello there young man. Can I please ask for your help right now? I’m in a bit of trouble.” The man called out.
“Sure. What do you need me to do?”
“If you would just grab one of the Pokeballs from my bag right near you, you can use the Pokemon inside to battle this Poochyena here so I can escape.” The man said, a hint of fear in his voice as he found he couldn’t step back any further from the approaching Poochyena.
“Got it.” Hinata responded, rushing to the bag.
He looked inside and saw three identical looking Pokeballs. Not knowing which one to pick he hesitated a second before he closed his eyes and stuck his hand in and randomly grabbed a ball and pulled it out.
Ok, here goes nothing Hinata though as he threw the ball in the direction of the Poochyena.
As the ball arced, it opened in a burst of light about halfway through the throw, dropping a Pokemon from it. After the light faded Hinata saw what appeared to be a small blue Pokemon with two fin looking things at the front and back and two orange gills on its cheeks. Hinata recognized the Pokemon almost immediately.
“It’s a Mudkip! I’ve seen this one in a book before!”
Without hesitation Hinata called out. “Ok Mudkip. Use tackle on that Poochyena”
Hinata saw the Mudkip responded immediately and rush forward. It slammed into the side of the Poochyena with the force of its whole body. The Poochyena, clearly startled by this surprise attack from an unknown Mudkip, turned around growling at both Hinata and the Mudkip.
“That’s good young man. Now do that again.” Hinata heard the cornered man shout out.
“Ok. You heard him Mudkip. Use tackle again.”
Mudkip rushed forward once more as it barreled into the side of the Poochyena. The Poochyena, now realizing what it was up against, decided to back off and retreat before it could get hurt more. As the Poochyena retreated the man came up to Hinata.
“Thank you very much young man. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along when you did.”
Hinata blushed slightly. “It was no problem. I couldn’t just let you be cornered by that Poochyena.”
“Regardless young man let me thank you again, but this time in a place much less dangerous. If you could follow me please.”
Hinata nodded as the man picked up his bag, returned the Mudkip to its Pokeball and walked back towards the town. Hinata followed him, not sure what to say after such an event. After a few minutes of silence Hinata saw that they were approaching the Pokemon lab. Hinata was curious as to why, since this person didn’t appear to be Professor Ukai. As they neared the front door the sign had been removed and light now shined through the door.
“Ah, I see he finally showed up. Where was he when I needed help this morning?” Hinata heard the man grumble as he opened the door to the lab and walked in.
As they walked in Hinata saw Professor Ukai. He was also young looking, similar in age to the man next to Hinata. He had short pulled back blond hair and wore a red jacket with a white undershirt, not wearing his traditional white lab coat hanging of the back of his chair. sitting at a desk at the end of the room, experimenting with some kind of handheld device on the table in front of him.
“There you are Takeda. Where were you? I saw the sign but didn’t know where you had gone. So i just stayed here until you came back.” Professor Ukai said as he looked up from what he was working on, closing what appeared to be a metal door on the device.
“I might not have come back at all if it weren’t for this brave young man here who saved me from a Poochyena attack.”
“Oh really. And who might this young man be?” Ukai asked as the man, Takeda, Hinata presumed, moved over to reveal Hinata standing behind him.
“Ahh, if it isn’t Hinata. Weren’t you supposed to come and meet me earlier for your first Pokemon?” Ukai asked him as he leaned back in his chair.
Hinata shuffled a bit, head down, before he began “Yes, Professor. But when I showed up their was a sign on the door and the door was closed and I wasn’t sure what to do so I left and then Natsu came up and…” Hinata’s words were coming faster and faster as Ukai held up a hand, signaling for him to stop.
“I understand. Thank you for saving my partner. That was very brave of you, going against a wild Pokemon like that.” Ukai said as Hinata smiled.
“Now back to the business at hand. Takeda, how was his first battle?”
Takeda smiled. “It was very good for his first battle. He shows excellent promise as a Pokemon trainer.”
“Really now? I’m glad to hear it. Do you think we should entrust him with this?” Ukai asked as he spread his hand, as if to emphasize the device in front of him.
Takeda, seeing the gesture smiled as he said. “Yes, I think he would do perfectly.”
“Well then, it’s settled. Hinata, how about I let you not only have that Pokemon you used, but also this.” As Ukai finished speaking he picked up the device in front of him and passed it over to Hinata. It was a red rectangular metal device, slightly heavy, that seemed to have a button on the side to flip open the front. As Hinata pushed the button, the front flipped open, revealing a small screen, a camera and various other buttons in a variety of colors.
“This” Ukai began “is a Pokedex. It’s a device used for recording information on Pokemon that you encounter on your journey. Now, me and Takeda here would love to fill it out ourselves but we can’t. We are too busy here with our own duties. But you, Hinata, you can fill it out for us. We are entrusting you with this and want you to fill it out as much as you can while you’re on you journey. Can you do that for us?”
Hinata, tears in his eyes, was barely able to respond. “Yes, of course. Thank you for entrusting me with this. I won’t let you two down.”
As he put the device in his bag, Takeda turned to him, Pokeball in hand.
“Here you go Hinata. Here’s the Mudkip you used previously. Good luck to you on journey.”
Hinata took the Pokeball and put that in his bag as well. As he was turning to leave Takeda spoke up again.
“Wait a second actually Hinata. Before you go, two things. First, it seems I forgot to introduce myself. I am Professor Ittetsu Takeda, a Pokemon Professor and this guys partner.” He said as he pointed at Ukai next to him. “Second, if we could make one more request of you? There is another boy, same age as you, by the name of Kageyama Tobio. He came by earlier to start his Pokemon journey so we gave him a Pokedex too. As he left he said he was going to explore a bit north of Oldale town. He seemed just as determined as you to be a great Pokemon trainer. Maybe you two could meet up and become friends? Could you do that for us?”
Hinata wiped at his eyes, clearing them.
“Of course Professors. I’ll do that right away. Should be easy with Mudkip at my side.”
“Alright. Thank you Hinata. You can be on your way now. Good luck on your journey.” Takeda said as he and Ukai waved him goodbye.
As Hinata walked away he heard Takeda start to speak “Just how long were you going to wait for me to show up?”
“I would have looked for you eventually” Was all Hinata heard as he shut the door to the lab.
Hinata beamed. He finally had a Pokemon! Now he could start his dream of becoming the greatest Pokemon trainer, like no one ever was. But first, he had to go see this Kageyama Tobio. Hinata wondered who he was as he walked by his house, surprised to see his mother coming out to meet him.
“Shouyou, if you could wait a second. I know you're all excited to go on your adventure, but I forgot to give you these before you left.”
As she said this she held something up. Upon further inspection they appeared to be a new pair of shoes. Running shoes to be exact.
“Your shoes are all worn down and filthy. I bought you some new ones to start your journey. Come on, put them on and give me those old ones.”
Hinata, taking the shoes from his mother, struggled to put on shoes while he was still standing. After a few minutes though, he managed. As he walked around in the his new shoes they felt great, like he could run forever.
“Thanks Mom” Hinata said as he started to run off.
“Bye Shouyou. Have fun. Be safe.”
Hinata barely heard her as he ran out of town, past the point where Professor Takeda had been attacked by that Poochyena. Hinata felt like he could fly he was so happy. He was beginning his Pokemon adventure!