Chapter Text
“I get he oversleeps every day, but he couldn’t come on time just this once?!” Headphones griped.
Three members of Blue Team waited restlessly outside the Inkopolis Plaza train station. The spring air was perfectly warm, and it was clear skies as far as the eye could see. Specs tapped his foot impatiently.
He huffed, “Seriously, we could completely miss our chance to get first pick at this rate!”
“We don’t need first pick! I think all the starters are cute…” mentioned Bobble as she sat atop a rail.
“There’s more important things than cuteness.” Specs countered.
“None of that’s gonna matter if we don’t get our Pokemon at all!” Headphones added hastily.
“Heyyyy guys!”
As Goggles ran up to meet them, still rubbing his eyes, he was met by a vicious scowl from two of his three friends.
“Took you long enough!” Specs grabbed Goggles by the hand and began to pull him along, growling, “C’mon, we gotta hurry!”
Goggles laughed, “Sorry, sorry!”
Once they reached the lab, Goggles practically broke down the doors.
“Professor Sheldon!” He announced, “We’re here for our starters!”
“Inside voice…” Headphones quietly reminded him.
The horseshoe crab peeked around the doorway to the backroom. He adjusted his goggles, and upon noticing what was at his door, clasped his hands together delightedly.
“How convenient! One, two, three, four of you… the perfect amount!” Sheldon remarked.
As the professor came out to greet them, Bobble glanced around the lab. The four of them walked past the building nearly every day, but had never gone inside before now.
The front room wasn’t nearly as sterile as she would’ve expected. In fact, it seemed like a one-stop-shop for everything Pokemon! TMs and HMs were lined up by the dozen as if it were a record shop, and all kinds of Poke Balls lay in boxes organized by type. A poster hung on the wall explaining in excessive detail how the Poke Balls were structured, but Bobble didn’t have time to read the entire thing.
Sheldon called into the backroom, “Rider, do you still have those four Pokemon?”
“Uh-huh.” A dry voice confirmed.
Goggles was taken by surprise when he saw the inkling trudging out of the backroom, carrying a large tray containing several slots for Poke Balls. The boy’s hair was yellowish-green and tied into a ponytail, similarly to his own, and he was wearing the typical apron uniform that most assistants at Sheldon’s lab would wear. What shocked Goggles is that he looked around the same age as the rest of them. He didn’t expect anyone his age to be working at a lab. Shouldn’t he be getting his starter today, like the rest of them?
The boy, apparently called Rider, set the tray down on the front desk, and retreated to lean against the wall with his arms crossed. He glanced down at Sheldon without a word. However, that wasn’t enough to distract Goggles from his own excitement.
Sheldon began, “So, you’ve decided you want to be Pokemon trainers? Before I let you any closer, let me tell you, it’s quite the responsibility! Pokemon require special care and understanding. These starter Pokemon should be relatively easy to train, but some Pokemon take a lot of patience to…”
As soon as Sheldon mentioned “patience,” Goggles’s mind began to wander elsewhere. He hoped the starter Pokemon were strong. What would they look like? What would they evolve into? What moves could they learn? Would they look cool? He could only imagine.
Headphones yanked on Goggles’s sleeve as she noticed him zoning out, dragging him back to reality.
“…The fire-type is weak to water-type moves, and so on! Keep this in mind as you choose.”
Specs raised his hand, as if he was in the middle of class. “Are we allowed to take a look at them outside of their balls first?”
“Go ahead!” Sheldon answered.
This warranted a smile from all four of them. They each rushed excitedly to the counter, leaning over to look at what laid upon the tray. Exactly four Poke Balls rested in it among empty slots. Just enough!
Once the Pokemon were freed from their Poke Balls, the four were finally free to examine them. Snivy, the grass-type Grass Snake Pokemon—Torchic, the fire-type Chick Pokemon—Pikachu, the electric-type Mouse Pokemon—and finally, Totodile, the water-type Big Jaw Pokemon.
Goggles blurted, “They’re all so cool!”
Now that the Pokemon were out, Goggles couldn’t tear his eyes away. Snivy explored the room curiously, while Pikachu sniffed Totodile’s tail. Headphones sat on her knees and held her hand out, waiting for one to approach her.
Bobble became attached to one almost instantly. Just as Torchic began to look around on his own, she scooped him up in her hands with a smile even bigger than usual. Torchic puffed up his feather coat in shock and let out a loud chirp.
“Tor—?!”
“You’re so cute!” Bobble cooed, “Your feet are too big for your body~ and you’re so soft and warm!”
“Bobble, be careful!” Headphones gasped.
Bobble announced to everyone, “I want this one!”
“Yes, Torchic is a strong option! Though, most are afraid of the dark.” Sheldon agreed, “This one in particular is a male, you can tell by the small black marking on its rear.”
Bobble didn’t seem to be listening anymore, as she was occupied baby-talking to Torchic. Once he gradually recovered from his surprise, he began to conversationally chirp back at her. Headphones giggled.
Eventually, once Pikachu was done with Totodile, he slowly creeped over to sniff Headphones’s hand. As she drew her attention back to the Pokemon, he stared at her with wide, cautious eyes.
“Snivy, right? I’ve heard it learns a lot of good moves.” Specs mentioned, diligently watching Snivy as she began to scale one of the shelves, knocking things off as she pleased.
“Oh, no, no!” Sheldon shouted, rushing to stop Snivy from damaging anything too valuable.
The final Pokemon, Totodile, looked Goggles up and down in curiosity, then ran towards him.
“Toto!” The Pokemon barked.
Goggles’s expression lit up immediately. “Cool!”
He crouched closer to the ground, as Totodile shot him a wide, sharp grin. Goggles rubbed Totodile’s head, beaming all the while. He’d never pet a reptile before. Totodile had rough, bumpy skin, which to Goggles, felt pretty neat to touch. He was small, but with a mouth that big and toothy, he probably could’ve bitten Goggles’s hand clean off if he wanted to. For Goggles, that was probably the coolest part.
“Woah, you’re awesome!”
“Totodiiii~!”
Goggles chuckled. Until he realized someone was burning a hole through the back of his head. Instinctively, he shielded the back of his neck with his hand, and slowly turned to look over his shoulder. Rider, Sheldon’s assistant, glared at him. Head tilted slightly downward, his arms still folded, glowering like he had killed his parents. Considering they were still strangers to one another, Goggles tried to think of what he had done to aggravate him, but he hadn’t even done anything wrong this time.
Still smiling ear to ear, Goggles acknowledged him. “Totodile’s gotta be pretty strong, huh?”
Rider rolled his eyes, and refused to regain eye contact. Weird. Maybe he was just jealous.
“You think so?” Specs butted in, squatting down next to Goggles, “He looks a little small.”
“Good eye!” Sheldon panted, holding a grumpy Snivy under his arm, “Indeed, he’s smaller than average! In fact, it’s unfortunate, but he may be one of the smallest Totodile I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s just like you, Goggles!” Specs couldn’t resist jeering.
Goggles scoffed, “No way!”
“Right, please don’t let that affect your choice, though! Once he evolves, he may even be bigger than you.” Sheldon interjected, returning Snivy to the ground.
Goggles gazed down at Totodile, who was still staring right back at him with hopeful eyes. He tried to imagine something like him slowly growing, day by day, to be a dragon the size of a building. The thought filled him with awe.
“Excuse me, Professor, I think I’ll go with Pikachu!” decided Headphones.
The shy Pikachu looked to have taken a liking to her calm approach. He was now curled up in her lap like a house cat, keeping away from the chaos of the other Pokemon.
“In that case, out of the two left… I’m choosing Snivy!” Specs put in.
Snivy halted her attempt to run away as she heard her name called. She turned to glance suspiciously at Specs.
Sheldon warned, “Snivy is a strong pick, but Pokemon of her evolution line tend to be very proud, so she might not take well to criticism…”
“I doubt I’ll have to give her any.” Specs confidently refuted, as if Snivy didn’t get straight to trying to cause trouble the second that her feet touched the ground.
“I guess that leaves me and Totodile.” Goggles concluded.
Totodile waved his arms at his side contently. It was decided!
“Good, the four of you are planning on challenging the eight gyms, aren’t you?” Sheldon inquired.
Each of them nodded.
“Well then, I’d like to introduce you to the Pokedex!” he went on, revealing a red device, about the size of a smartphone, “With one of these, you can learn about and keep track of all the Pokemon you see on your journey. Try and register as many as you can!”
Sheldon handed one to Goggles first, who examined the device in his hands. It folded open like a NDS, with a screen on either half of the inside, navigable using a lone D-pad. A camera was embedded in the back, for scanning Pokemon.
“Wow, neat!” Goggles exclaimed.
Specs excitedly added, “Seriously neat! This is perfect! I’ll make great use out of this.”
“Pretty useful, right Bobble?” Headphones wondered aloud.
“Yeah, this is cool~!” Bobble agreed, holding hers out to look at it from afar. “Torchic, c’mere!”
Torchic scrambled over to her as Bobble held the back camera up to Torchic, who tilted his head like he was having his picture taken. The four of them waited with bated breath as the Pokedex read Torchic. After a few seconds, it came up with results. The screen displayed several points of data, including a photo of the Pokemon, average height and weight, footprints, natural habitat range, unique calls, and more.
Bobble read out, “A fire burns inside it, so it feels very warm to hug… It launches fireballs of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit!”
“Really? I wanna see that! C’mon, let’s all battle!” Goggles cheered, with Totodile letting out an excited cry.
Bobble laughed, “Yeah! Torchic, let’s go show everyone!”
Goggles and Bobble immediately made for the door, but Sheldon rushed ahead of them and blocked their path.
“Ah— Wait! Don’t forget to grab their Poke Balls first! And be careful!” he insisted.
Once Sheldon finally let the team go, reality finally began to sink in. These Pokemon would be some of their closest friends, possibly for the rest of their lives. Not only that, but they’d finally be able to battle! Goggles gazed down at Totodile warmly as they walked out into the plaza.
The future holds infinite possibilities, doesn’t it?