Fandom Pokemon: Adventures

[GojiBean]

(This is a 1x1 between myself and Fluff )​

The shifting of dirt beneath her wooden sandals coupled with the gentle whisper of the wind over her ears served as her only companion as she made her way to Pallet Town's outer reaches. The famous Professor Oak's lab lay on a small hill overlooking the Town proper, which was now behind her, and was now on the horizon up ahead.

According to the Pokemon League representative who'd issued her the directive of visiting the lab to receive her Starter Pokemon, she was also set to meet her human partner as well. Despite being 23 years old, apparently the League considered it too dangerous for new Trainers to make their way from the Professor's lab to the first major city on their route forward through the various League Challenges. For her part, she had her eyes set on the Gym Leader's Challenge. It had been her dream ever since she was a child to hold all 8 Kanto Gym badges, face the Elite Four, and stand atop the League as its Champion. After that? Who knew?

Even now she could see it all unfolding in her head. Bright lights. A huge battle stage. The shadow of Lance, the final member of the Elite Four with his infamous Dragonite staring her down. A Poke Ball in her hand, ready to summon her own to the battle that would decide her right to face the Champion. And-

SNAP!!

Her mind snapped back to reality as her eyes darted left to observe a young boy running along the road next to her chasing after a rubber Poke Ball he'd been kicking around. He'd stomped on a stick in his zeal to catch up to it. Hence the snap she heard. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took a deep breath, hands coming together over her stomach as her thumbs gently caressed each other as the breath was exhaled.

Just a twig. Nothing to worry about.

Her cheeks flushed lightly as she cleared her throat and continued walking down the road.

She was almost there. She'd already picked her starter in Charmander. A standard and supposedly "easy" Pokemon to raise. Other species of Pokemon could be special ordered if the usual Starter trio wasn't desired. But Charmander's big eyes, wide smile, and that little flame on its tail were so cute she couldn't help but want to have it as her Starter. Just the thought of getting to meet the little fire lizard had her giddy. And an unconscious chuckle escaped her lips as she imagined herself hugging and holding the adorable creature.

Finally. The moment she'd been waiting for. Walking up the brick laid steps, stopping only to momentarily smell a rose bush on the right, she came up to the door and took a deep breath.

"This is it, Miki. Just relax. We need our partner to arrive first. Then we can get our Starter Pokemon and head to Viridian City together."

She rocked forward and back from heels to the balls of her feet as she kept her hands folded in front of her stomach.

"I wonder what they're like?"

 

[Fluff]

[Visuals WIP! Will edit in the image as well when it's ready!]

“Chee, whiz! It were’n colder ‘en a witch’s bit in'e brass bra, yessir! Y’all League mailmen tougher thawn we thought, ye!” Mari grinned, rubbing her arms to warm up quickly under her thick winter coat. The unlikely travelling trio had landed heavily in a clearing just outside of Pallet, on the opposite side of the town to the Professor's lab. The girl still spoke rather loudly, probably struggling to adjust from the wind still ringing in her ears; unfortunately speaking right into the man's unwilling ear. “Yeah, yeah, no problem. So, um, let’s see, the Lab…” The man hurried to slide off the Staraptor, who even obligingly bent to let him escape the girl faster, but she held him in a vicegrip. The man had seen much in his years of experience and travel, but this girl holding him from the back scared him. “Aye, we 'ere? Swan, that wen' a hellava ride! Do ya do this awften?” Her accent was slipping further and further in her excitement, and he struggled to comprehend her words while his hands struggled to loosen the lithe little girl’s arms around his waist. Why was she so strong?! Why won’t she let go?! Staraptor crowed and puffed up, eliciting a giggle from the elated girl.

“Aye, what’m I sayin’, yer a mailmain, o’course you do this awften! Hehe, Pappy a'rways used ta say, ‘a dense one, she is. If she 'ad an idea, it'ould dye o' loneli'ess’ an’ then he’d laugh. I ken gots no clue whot 'e weren' on aboot, do ye know wot he mean'?” Mari rattled on and on, happily chattering and seemingly oblivious to the mailman’s vain tries to free himself from his self-inflicted prison. Why, oh why had he offered this accursed child a ride to the nearest hub?

“Ayn an’ this place sure’s 'uge, mister! What’s it colled? We’n neve' really gon’ any further’n the village at the foot’n o’ th’mounten, eh,” She seemed to slow down from her giddy rush of flying through the sky, taking a minute to survey her surroundings and finally letting the cold rush of the atmospheric journey get to her, clacking her teeth together in a low but audible chatter. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a great little town, could you let me go, please?” The man squeezed out in desperation, gripping on to Staraptor’s feathers a tad too tightly for the bird’s liking. “Aye, ooh, sorry sir, my hands’n jus kinda froze, aye!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms open and letting the man slither unceremoniously to the cobblestoned road. Staraptor ruffled itself once again and glanced disdainfully at its rider and the girl who continued to sit comfortably on him. The pack she was carrying was getting real heavy too.

"Er, yes, no problem. Well! This is our stop! You know how it is, busy busy. Gotta make other deliveries! You should hurry on ahead, your partner must be waiting for you." The mailman helpfully ushered the girl on, extending his hand to heave her pack off, but it seemed to have gone amiss on Mari, who hopped off effortlessly. Her backpack bulged with all manner of items, packed carefully for a long journey in foreign lands, and even more hung on her finely chiseled frame. The humid weather of the town was quickly rendering the coat useless, and it grew to be uncomfortable as the girl stood there, taking in the town's visage in a slow, calculated glance.

It was a large town, certainly far more industrious than her village back at home. People walked around busily, and while Mari hadn't paid too much attention to the direction they'd been flying, wherever they were was significantly warmer than what she was accustomed to. She watched as a woman walked past, groceries in one hand and the other gently clasping a child's hand, and her own moved to deftly comb through her crazed hair, deftly untangling any knots and burrs in the thick locks, but doing little in the way of actually making her any more presentable. The people here dressed differently, more vibrantly, more casually. And despite the buzz of conversation in the air, few stopped to do much more than greet each other before going about their day. Their day... she wondered what a townsperson would do in a regular old day. So noticeable, so densely packed… life was very different in an urban setting, and she would have much to learn.

Pappy and Jesse would have loved this place… Mari bit her lip, wistfully falling into silence. Pappy spoke of what little he knew of the outside world, and Jesse was always the more experimentative of the lot, with her appearance, her demeanour, the way she presented herself to the others, her small little world. She would have… enjoyed it. Fit right in, perhaps. Felt happy that there were others like her. Found new friends easily, like-minded friends… perhaps have had... more fun with them. Perhaps it was best she didn’t come after all…

“Um, the aides inside will probably get you ready up to meet your partner pokemon. Uh, I bet they’ll show you how to use the Rotom phone too,” The man hadn’t made eye contact yet, instead he was busily setting up the rider saddle on his Staraptor, who seemed relieved to finally move on from this terrible day. Mari stood there for just a little too long, stock still; the man finally mustered enough courage from his curiosity to look up at the wide-eyed girl. “Can I help y- er, er. I mean, what’s wrong?” Not making that mistake again!

“N- nothin’, nothin’. Just thinkin’ of home,” Home. Mari managed a watery smile, blinking innocently at the man, who didn’t seem convinced but neither did he seem keen on pursuing the matter. “Well, alright then. Be safe, and good luck on your journeys,” He gave a little tip of his hat, waved and mounted the Staraptor. Mari hurried up alongside to give the bird a few goodbye pets. “Aye, an’ thank yew mister! I ain’t forget this! You been real good an’ real nice to me today! You done me a real good turn, sir.” She solemnly said, eagerly looking up at the man. He was duly baffled for a second before bursting into laughter. “Yeah, no problem, kid. My pleasure. Now go on, git,” He waved kindly at the girl and watched her step away from the Staraptor. “Ah, well, despite everything, she’s a good kid,” He weakly offered to the Staraptor, who silently ruffled himself in response and with a few powerful flaps, was off in the air.

Mari watched them disappear into a speck in the distance before suddenly feeling very alone. The reality of being alone in a foreign land for the first time sunk in, and she shrunk in on herself, feeling very small and lost. She missed Pappy, and Maple, and she even missed Hunter, just a little bit. And… she wished they were here. She really did. Dern’ tootin’ if they have more fun in the city than they do with her. That’s what it’s there for, ain’t it?! Mari angrily ground a pebble under her heel, silently fuming by the side of the road.

The coat was first to go, as she gathered her bearings. Off it went, neatly folded and somehow stuffed into the bag that already threatened to tear at the seams. Holding on by a few threads, heh, there was something poetic about it. Despite her morbid musings, her backpack held strong - it was hand crafted by the finest seamstress in the village, and it would take a lot more than a few dozen pounds of supplies to tear it apart. The girl began slowly shedding her many accessories, the ones that screamed 'not a native, not from here'. The bracelets of shells, the necklaces of teeth, the hairclips of jadeite - the last one was unclipped with shaking hands. Jadeite was inexpensive but attractive, and she'd clawed this piece out herself with her bare hands, dirt under her nails and a giant smile on her little adolescent face. She drew her clothes a little higher, trying to cover as much of her tanned skin and many streaks of ink lining her body. Each one of those tattoos was hard earned, but here it felt like nothing but a brand, a mark - as though it didn't speak of victories and struggles, but screamed 'not one of us'.

Despite it being a town proper, neatly nestled with civilization, it wasn't too bad - Mari had come threatened with visions of towering skyscrapers and poison in the air, filth and grime around every corner and piercing judgement that no bandage could heal. But this was... kind of nice, actually. Glancing this way and that, Mari hoisted her bag back on, briskly walking down the direction she had been directed to. It shouldn't be hard to find the Lab, it would probably be the only official looking building in this vicinity. Like a hospital, or a... or a post office, she imagined. Her mind buzzed with questions, lips mouthing the questions and sentences she had practiced a thousand times. Her heartbeat quickly picked up, matching the staccato beat of her rapid footsteps.

‘Ayn, pull yerself together, bird!’ The day was full of a lot of firsts for Mari - her first day alone, her first day away from her clan, her first ride on a flying pokemon, her first visit to a town, and for once she felt herself wondering if she would ever be able to make it back home.

'Get it together! It ain’t about whether I c’n make it back or nawt! Issabout the journey ahead! C’mon Mari, you were so excited for this!' Her brow furrowed, and she slipped off one of her gloves to lightly run her fingers up the seam of the other glove. Well-sewed together, tightly bound and sturdy; the village had spared no effort in giving her the best of their resources. Everybody was rooting for her, and suddenly what drove her to start didn’t seem so far away after all. And while none would blame her if she were to chicken out and return, she had to atleast give it a real good try.

But… she never got to look back and see her home for the last time.

It ain’t matter now, she told herself, swallowing hard, wrestling against the thoughts and doubts, it ain’t matter now… it’s okay to fall. It’s okay to stumble. Jus’ gotta keep running. And somehow she didn't find herself believing that. A branch that reached out to the sun, reaching out with all its strength even as it runs dry. Even as the sun relentlessly beats down upon it, burning away the outstretched leaves. Mari clicked her tongue, fixed her gaze upon the cobbled road, and kept walking. It was a day of many firsts, and it wouldn't do to be late for her first meeting with her partner.

 

[GojiBean]

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Miki took a deep breath, gently rocking back and forth from heel to ball of the foot as she waited for her partner to arrive.

I wonder what they're like? She thought.

The only thing she'd been told was that her partner was a female, and that she might be a little bit younger than Miki. The minimum age for Pokemon Training was eighteen. Miki was twenty three. Hopefully the age gap, if there was one, wouldn't matter to her partner. But-

"You're too young to understand! You're ignorant! Which is a nice word for stupid! Stay in your lane, little girl! Or I'll-"

Miki gasped.

She felt her pulse on the underside of her throat with her left hand. Ba dum ba dum ba dum ba dum ba dum ba dum. Eight... Nine... Ten... One hundred and thirty beats per minute. Well above normal.

She closed her eyes and opened her hands, palms skyward, and touched the fingertips of her middle fingers together in front of her stomach. As she took a breath inwards she raised her hands up to her solar plexus, turned her palms downward as she held her breath for three seconds, and pushed her hands downward on the exhale until they stopped at the top of her hips.

Why did I have to remember that today, of all days? She thought.

Repeating the action twice more, she felt her pulse again. Ba dum. Ba dum. Ba dum. Eight... Nine... Ten... About seventy six beats per minute. Much better, and closer to a normal resting heart rate. Still a little ways to go. But better than before.

She folded her hands over her stomach and stopped rocking as she turned her head to look down the road back towards Pallet Town proper.

"Oh!"

She saw a young woman trotting down the road in her direction with a large pack on her back. Could that be her? She didn't look like she was from around here. Not that Miki could talk, wearing a purple Yukata with wooden sandals.

Turning towards the steps up to the lab she waited patiently to see if this was indeed her new partner.

Fluff

 

[Fluff]

"Ye prooba'ly weren' leeve our'n fairesi'e'n ye came, bleedin'ot, inn't" The girl grumbled, sweating profusely over the small distance from the town to the lab. The weather was doing her no favours, despite her thin clothes. Pushing her hair off her face, only to have it plaster against her neck, the girl squinted, eyes trailing down the road onto an odd figure on the path. The silhouette was dressed in all purple and stood nearly as tall as Mari, although it looked much frailer. Gee, purple. That was a rich colour right there, Mari didn't get to see it often. Colours were something that only the merchants could bring once a year, when summer arrived, and the kids usually had a choice between a new colourful dress or a bit of chocolate. It was no surprise which one they would pick, and the situation found Mari eyeing the girl up and down with awe and envy alike.

She vaguely recalled seeing some women dressed like this girl was, a few times - Mari contemplated, as her steps began drifting to the opposite side of the road from the girl - yes, once there was a big harvest festival in a town, and her parents had taken her there. Gosh, that was long ago, she must have been so young; she'd watched the shrine maidens with starry eyes nonetheless, enthralled in their slow, purposeful dance. Their movements were graceful and their songs, charming, and it was all Mari could talk about for days after the festival had ended. The children had tried to imitate a poor knockoff of the dance, based off of memory alone, back at home; and even now her friends would imitate the silly version, complete with jerky motions and offtune singing. The memories came back tumbling one after the other, and Mari averted her eyes from the woman-- oh, she remembered now.

Miko. They were called miko.

"'Ello, ma'm," Mari called out in a husky voice, before clearing her throat, having abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned to face the woman. "Er, ye- ye'r comin' frem'e sh- shr-, eh'r, 'ey tempel, r'ye?" She awkwardly squeezed out the words, accent getting thicker the more she struggled against it. "E- ehy-r, ey'mein', yeor'ey meekou, raigh't?" The fumbling continued, lab and partner pokemon temporarily forgotten as the girl struggled to start the conversation.

 

[GojiBean]

Miki watched with keen interest as a Staraptor had arrived and dropped off a young woman who made her way towards Miki and the lab.

Was this her?!

Was it her partner?!

"'Ello, ma'm."

So formal.

Her voice was a bit dry. Possibly from the flight? Or maybe she was dehydrated? Miki had a spare water canteen in her pack just in case. Perhaps this girl could-

"Er, ye- ye'r comin' frem'e sh- shr-, eh'r, 'ey tempel, r'ye? E- ehy-r, ey'mein', yeor'ey meekou, raigh't?"

. . .

Miki could hardly understand a syllable. Something about a temple? But, the rest...

"Um, hello there." She said with a light bow.

"My name's Miki. Are you by chance here to collect your starter Pokemon from Professor Oak?"

Miki could only pray the next words out of the girl's mouth were more intelligible. She was trying her best to understand the poor thing. But the accent was so thick she just couldn't make heads or tails of most of her previous questions.

Fluff (I'm so sorry for the wait!!)

 

[Fluff]

(No worries, since I ended up keeping you even longer! ><)

Mari blinked back at the girl, just as blank as though she wasn't the one who had just spoken to the priestess. Well, maybe she wasn't a priestess after all - she hadn't met anyone else dressed like this lady, but maybe she was just more old-fashioned than the inhabitants she had passed by. She settled into an embarrassed silence - you fool, Mari, you practiced before arriving here, you had one phrase to say--! - as she listened to the girl's smooth voice. She spoke levelly, and with a certain grace - priestess or not, she certainly had the air of sanctity, or perhaps even nobility. Her words were crisp, and rolled off her tongue effortlessly, causing Mari to quietly bite hers in renewed shame.

"Ay, aye, er, Miki, ey'h? Naice t'meet'cha," One hand awkwardly drifted to scratch at her scalp while the other one stuck straight out, extended as though to move for a handshake before quailing as she second-guessed herself. The weather suddenly seemed far hotter than it had about a minute ago, and Mari cleared her throat, scratching hand moving to now tug at the neck of her shirt, as though that was the cause of her profuse sweating and shortness of breath. "Aye, aye aye," stop saying Aye, "er, ye, ahm on mah'wae t'meet Prufesser Oak, aye," Again. "Ye ye for m'staarteh, ye, ai, ehm, receyved the letteh? A'wnhile back?" Mari abandoned the quest for a handshake altogether and began fumbling with her pockets, finding the letter, shoving it back in, recognizing it and pulling it back out before promptly dropping it from her nervous fingers. "Ehehe, weather's gyat'hese 'ands gawn slick," She laughed nervously, holding out the crumpled-and-now-smoothened-but-still-very-wrinkly piece of paper up and pointing to it.