"Welcome, all of you, to the starter ceremony~"
Everyone stopped and turned their attention to a pink-haired lady in a lab coat, hiding a cardigan underneath, 'the professor' they thought.
"Thank you all for joining me today, for today, marks the beginning of your journey as Pokemon trainers."
The woman widened her stance, the flairs of her white leggings flowing mystically in the wind. She twirled her white parasol over her shoulder, cherry blossoms spinning out and into the air almost magically.
"Today, each of you will find a companion, that you will establish an everlasting bond with, for the rest of your life. Take on the Valor region across our mountains and our coastline, our forests and our deserts, our caves, and our cliffs. All with the help of your Pokemon."
Everyone looked at the Mary Poppins-esque lady differently; some with concern, others with curiosity, some with bitterness, and some with awe. She closed her parasol, standing directly under the midday sun, her skin seemed to glitter.
"To these, I bestow upon, a worthy companion to each, and to each the best of luck! May your travels be safe, may your encounters be adventurous, and may your Pokemon make you as happy as you make them! Now! Let us begin!"
The wind roared as Professor Cherry Blossom's words bellowed out like an inspiring battle song. Different Pokemon of all kinds moving past and around her, almost as to add dramatic effect, it seemed... choreographed even. She cleared her throat as the exaggerated breeze came to an end within the air-sealed glass dome, walking up to the protocol, and aligning herself with KAY/0.
"Ahh... I remember you~"
"... I don't"
KAY/0 didn't entertain the theatric woman's introduction, she put her finger to her chin and closed her eyes, laughing subtly.
"Your free roam capabilities astound me, not to mention the other assets; titanium chest, durable limbs, infinite energy~"
KAY/0 sat still unamused as she almost flirtingly brushed her hands across his circuitry. Killjoy, stepped in front of her, breaking her contact.
"Okay, lady, what are we here for?"
"Haven't you been dreaming about this your whole life? This is your starter ceremony!"
Professor Cherry Blossom extended her hand out to the surrounding Pokemon
"In this garden, are dozens of Pokemon; different types, different species, different breeds, different names. And each of you will find one to bond with, no matter how undeserving you might think you are"
The professor smiled straight at Killjoy during that last line, the smug but sly insult, a well-versed woman she was - as if the inner conflict wasn't enough for them.
"Okay Pocahontas, tell us what is all this."
Brimstone was straightforward, cutting the bullcrap, but with this woman, he honestly didn't expect anything to snap her out of it.
"Shh... listen... The Pokemon, they're waiting to bond with each and every one of you. I want all of you to find one Pokemon, you truly bond with, and leave with them through the gate, I'll be waiting there. The gate only opens when it senses a certain spark between you and the Pokemon, so you'll know once you find the right one."
She pointed over to a gate on the other end of the garden.
"I wish you all the best of luck, and may the odds... be ever in your favor"
She opened her parasol, letting out a gust of cherry blossoms, vanishing just as soon as the petals appeared. Leaving behind a fairytale scent, and a surprising amount of glitter. Everyone looked around in confusion until Iso pointed at her already outside waiting by the gate, everyone stood dumbfounded. Until... one by one, they all split, looking for a tolerable creature amongst the masses, a friend among the wild.
"Yo! Can we look with you?"
Gekko turned around, he had just started heading off into the trees when Neon approached him with Astra trailing not so far behind.
"Sure thing, stick together yeah?"
As they left the main group and headed into the forest, Gekko couldn't help but feel worried. Wingman was still missing, he wanted to ask the Professor, but to do that he first needed to find a Pokemon he supposedly bonded with. He wondered what was stopping him from finding any electric type and mimicking the spark needed to open the gate.
The three of them traveled through the forest, eyeing the different bug and grass types; Caterpies, Weedles, Sewaddles, and Chespins. The trees held various birds; Pidgeys, Sparrows, Murkrows - and the lake brimmed with aquatic life; Sirskuits, Wishiwashi, and Barboaches. Nothing really caught any of their eyes-
"See anything you like?"
"Nope, nothing yet, I need something lightning"
"Electric"
"Huh?"
"Electric type, not- lightning type- is what they're called"
"Okay- How do you know so much about this stuff?"
"How do you not?"
Gekko looked at Neon, puzzled at her lack of knowledge, I mean- Pokemon had to be one of the world's best franchises across the globe. Videogames, TV, toys, social media, he was honestly astounded at how little she knew.
"I know because- I play video games. And all this stuff, all these lil' buddies, they're from a series of games called Pokemon"
"Uh-huh..."
Neon looked at Gekko like he was a crazy person, despite being stuck in a literal alternate dimension filled with potentially dangerous yet cute creatures.
"So... these animals-"
"Pokemon"
Neon side-eyed him, not even noticing Astra had started to split off from them.
"These... Pokemon... they have different types right?"
"Yeah, like fire, water, electric-"
"Air? Earth- I'm guessing?"
"No- no air types- oh! But there are flying types! And- And rock types"
"What's the difference? That a Pokemon can't be Avatar?"
"No- and also- Pokemon can only have two types- but the moves they can learn are like- wayyy more. Oh and- moves are how your Pokemon fight during Pokemon battles, but they-"
Neon was responding half-heartedly until she had heard the word fight, her sarcasm shifted into a form of excited concern.
"These things fight?"
Neon held up a Metapod, it sat on her hands, rocking back and forth in the nonexistent breeze, it looked still, lifeless, maybe it was dead
"Well... yeah- That's the main thing you do with your Pokemon, that's why they called us trainers. We train these things so they can fight and then we fight gyms and do tournaments."
Gekko took the Metapod from Neon's hands, brushing its shell with his finger, he looked at the helpless Pokemon compassionately- until Thrash started growling and he put it down.
"Is that not like- massive animal cruelty? And what happens when they battle- do people like... die? Do the Pokemon die? Do people fight alongside their Pokemon like a 2-on-2 fist figh-"
Gekko covered her mouth with one hand and used the other to facepalm. Her genuine concern almost scared him-
"No, no... the Pokemon only fight each other, we just tell them what to do- like D&D"
"What's D&D?"
Neon had uncovered her mouth only to further disappoint Gekko, at least his other hand was now free to double facepalm.
"No like- think of it like we're dog trainers, but the dogs are in a cage fight and have superpowers-"
Neon just narrowed her eyes at him, now he definitely sounded like a crazy person.
"Okay- my bad- bad example. But just- *sigh* it's like you say, 'Pikachu use Thunderbolt!' Or 'Charizard use Aerial Ace!' Or 'Eevee-"
"Eevee spin for me girl! Ya, spin! Good! Very Well!"
Neon and Gekko heard Astra to their left, pushing through a mass of shrubs and branches, they found Astra in a small glade within the forest where the trees seemed to part for the sun to shine through. She was sitting with her legs crossed, twirling the fingers of her gauntlet.
They looked to the ground in front of her, an Eevee followed the mystical lights Astra projected, running in circles. It eventually ended up tripping and diving into her lap, surrendering and comforting itself in her legs. Gekko kneeled in front of her, with Neon leaning on his back. Astra just stared at the Eevee, her eyes shimmering like the white of its fur. Gekko knew something was special about it.
"Chales look, it likes me. She told me her name even! Eevee~"
The shiny Eevee clawed at its face, cutely brushing away its ears, crystal as quartz in the sunlight. Astra turned her hood around to be in front of her face before getting up and gently placing the now-sleeping Eevee inside. She walked past Gekko and Neon, heading back into the trees
"I think I found my partner. I will ah- head to the gate and you both catch up yeah?"
Astra didn't even bother to look up from her fluffy friend while talking to Gekko and Neon, the two of them shared a competitive smile as they watched their friend find a companion before them.
"Go ahead, we won't be long!"
"Yeah! Don't wait up!"
Gekko and Neon smirked at each other, now, it was a race for 2nd.
"Ay dios mio... why must we do this?"
"So that we can get a free pet! I mean- look around- these things are awesome!"
Reyna sat on a stump as Raze went around in circles, trying to hug everything she saw. So far Raze had been slapped by a purple monkey, a group of eggs, a red and white ball, and a somewhat creepy-looking family of mice. Still- she persisted.
"Hey! What's up!" *KABOOM*
"Hey there!" *SPLASH*
Reyna watched her friend go wild, wet, and burned, she wondered how Raze wasn't killed by one of these things yet. She just sat on a stump, stumped, drawing shapes in the dirt.
*CHNG*
A razor-sharp leaf had soared out of the forest and cut her twig in half, she got up from her stump, turning her attention to the movement in the brushes. She walked toward the brushes, parting them aside to find a small serpent-looking Pokemon, it was green with a white underbelly, with short legs and arms, and an extravagant tail fixed onto the end of its seemingly curved body.
"Aie, un pequeno monstruo, I wonder what more power you hold~"
"Phoenix! Look!"
Jett pointed at a small pond from the brushes she and Phoenix were hiding in; a small Froakie played alone, or more so, trained alone. It dashed from lilypad to lilypad, not even rippling the water underneath, it leaped into the air, almost past the treeline, throwing precise amounts of its frubbles into a nearby tree before landing on one last lilypad to leverage a leaping kick onto the tree. The Froakie landed like a ninja near the tree, its Spiderman-esque pose was almost cool enough to distract from the fact it did little to no damage to the tree. Jett didn't notice it though, all she saw was her protege, her partner in crime.
"Hold up now! What about me? You can't just go runnin' off while I'm empty mate!"
Phoenix grabbed her before she could run off-
"You'll be fine, just light yourself on fire and maybe some fire type will entertain that pretty little face of yours~ See ya!"
"Jett! No- wait!"
Jett dashed out from the bushes and grabbed the Froakie, sprinting for the gate with the wind tailing behind her, the Froakie looked up at her, annoyed, disturbed, not entertained. Jett kept running for the door, panting as she reached the gate, looking up at the scanner above, it scanned her full body, before turning red and playing a message-
"No Pokemon detected"
Jett narrowed its eyes up at the scanner, she thought it was broken. She knew there was a Pokemon, it was right in her arms- hell, she could feel it! She was holding it! She was holding... a log...
"What?!"
She dropped the log, realizing her supposed protege had already outwitted her, she spotted it darting back into the forest. Jett stretched her arms and cracked her neck, focusing her energy and taking to the skies, ready to forcibly bond and take that ninja frog.
Astra looked at Jett as she raced through the air, covering the sun with her hand. She walked up to the gate; it scanned her too, although this time, it blinked green.
"Bond detected. You may now exit"
Astra held her Eevee endearingly, still asleep, tossing and turning in the hammock that was Astra's hood. Astra smiled as she approached the professor, brimming with pride as always.
"So my first place queen~ tell me how hard it was to find this cute -shiny!- little princess~"
Astra and Professor Cherry Blossom stared at the shiny Eevee, just waking up now, its doll eyes blinking at Astra in a newfound sense of trust, its white fur as delicate with snow, entrusting its figure to her.
"It wasn't~"