6 Rise of a New Friendship

"Professor…" Yoake uttered as soon as the professor greeted him. He then looked at him and focused his eye contact on the trainer as it's been 2 years since the two met.

"Well, you are two years late from being a trainer young man and I guess it is your time to become one, now." The professor stated. It is common for 10-year-olds to become trainers but for Yoake's case, it was an exemption as there was an event that halted his path of being a trainer.

"It's never too late, I guess," Yoake chuckled.

"Now, let's get down to business. Your uncle from Hoenn heard that you actually opened a registry on joining the league, and so he sent me this Pokémon to accompany you in your journey." The professor stated as he takes out a Pokéball from a computer and hands it over to the trainer.

"My uncle… he didn't message me about that earlier." He said in a confused tone as he didn't receive any messages about that. The professor giggled and decided to give his guess about it.

"I guess he wanted to surprise you." He hypothesized. Yoake looked at the Pokéball and hoped that the Pokémon in it would be useful in his journey. He pressed the button in the Pokéball, and a trace of light appeared from the mechanical ball. The light then touches the ground, and it suddenly forms recognizable shapes. The light slowly disappeared, and small Pokémon appeared. It has a green helmet-like hat with red sharp horns on the center front and back, a white gown, and a pair of sloped hands, it was a Ralts.

"A Ralts…" Yoake said in a blunt tone. He wasn't excited about the Pokémon but disappointed for sure. Even though the end stage of the Ralts is a Gardevoir or a Gallade, he couldn't find any use for it even on a competitive scale. Nevertheless, he decided to accept the gifted Pokémon and use it since he doesn't want to upset his uncle, and being a Psychic-type might be helpful against the Poison gym.

"Yup. Small yet intelligent Pokémon. You do know how powerful they can be once evolved." The professor remarked. Yoake agreed with his statement but for him, its power isn't enough to help him get through upcoming challenges along the way.

"Is it a male or a female?" Yoake asked the professor.

"A female." The professor answered. Yoake's disappointment can be seen in his face as he knows a Gardevoir isn't good even though it's a dual-type. He decided to stop his complaint and accepted Ralts.

The Pokémon noticed that the trainer was disappointed as his face and expressions within are enough to prove it, she hoped that one day, this trainer would recognize that every typing advantage wouldn't always work.

"Now, here is your Pokedex that contains information of the 504 Pokémon species, for now." The professor said as he handed out a red box to the trainer. Yoake was confused by this and decided to ask the professor.

"504? I know that it's around 800." Yoake remarked.

"Well, for this official one, it only got updated a few days ago after Professor Rowan sent me the new records from his assistant but for now, I guess you just need to use the Internet to have better information." Professor Oakido sighed after explaining the reasons for the current data of the Pokedex.

"I see, so where do I get my starter?" Yoake asked him immediately. The Professor then scratched his neck and gave a short chuckle.

"Yeah... The Kanto starters are in Kalos because they're currently being tested for Mega Evolution, so for now, there aren't any." Professor Oakido explained. Yoake raised his eyebrows as he was about to state his question but the professor decided to do an alternative solution. He went to his desk and took five shiny red Pokéballs, and handed it to the young trainer.

"I guess these are your alternatives." The Professor said as he gave the five Pokéballs to the trainer. He then looked at the sanctuary and noticed the diversity of Pokémon in it, and so he got what the professor was talking about.

"Thanks, professor." Yoake thanked him as he grabbed the Pokéballs and put them in his pocket. Ralts then looked at him with utter shyness, and Yoake noticed her quickly. Since she is very small, he decided to give her a lift from his shoulders.

"Here, you can cling on to my shoulders," Yoake said as he offered his hand as a boost to the small Pokémon. She then hops on to it, and Yoake slowly places his hand near to his shoulder, Ralts then walks to his shoulder and grabs his neck, hard enough to keep hold but soft enough for him not to choke.

"Don't get lost okay?" The Professor chuckled.

"Will do."

They went downstairs and headed to the sanctuary so they could get their alternative starter. As they opened the door, they were greeted with the shining sun on the horizon and a huge forest that stood tall.

"Come on. Let's find some new friends."

As they walk through the brown pathway, Yoake looks around to see if there are any nearby Pokemon. It didn't take long as they hear a rustle of a nearby tree. They quickly turned around and saw a Bellsprout swinging from one tree to another. The two were mesmerized by it and Yoake quickly followed it and watches it swing from tall trees.

"I think we've just found one," Yoake uttered to Ralts as he continues to chase the Bellsprout.

Bellsprout continues to swing and feel the breeze from the air. It uses its vine-y hands to grab one tree and lunges itself to another until it finally reaches the tree it was looking for. It uses its right hand to use a Vine whip once more to grab a tree branch, it takes the opportunity to do a swing until it releases its hand from the branch and flew itself to the sky.

It closes its eyes and felt the heavenly feel as it barely sense anything else than the serenity of the sky. Its dream of being able to fly was in arms reach but sadly, he can only fly for a short amount of time as it feels the gravity and slowly falls back to the ground. As it feels the blowing wind that is sliding through its thin body.

It spread its legs one more time and prepares its fall. It elongated one of its arms and grabbed a branch, spin for a quick second, and fell to the ground safely. Bellsprout panted for breathing after doing a stunt.

While panting, it heard some claps nearby. It opened its eyes and saw a human and a Ralts that is clinging to their shoulder. They were impressed with Bellsprout and the human saw a potential for it.

-

"Mister Katsuragi, about your entire loneliness journey as a trainer, there is another trainer." The lady at the desk stated. Yoake raised his eyebrows with suspicion and asked her about it.

"Another trainer? Where are they?" Yoake asked her, "Well, you might meet her later since she just recently got accepted."

"She?" Yoake asked her with a curious tone. The lady nodded about his confusing question. The trainer left with thoughts of having a rival even though he has no plans of having one, but since having a rival can help him pursue to be better, he just got neutral about it and went home alongside Ralts, and his alternative starter.

He got home, and directly walked to his room, and began to prepare his items for the journey ahead. While preparing, Ralts was observing his room and noticed how clean it was despite not knowing that he used to be a shut-in.

"If we do this properly, we can get to the league for two weeks or less." Yoake guessed as he put his clothes in his bag. He was excited for this day, and he doesn't want to waste his time, he has to reach the league within two weeks, training his Pokémon to the best they can and giving them a room for recreation.

"I'll make it, someday." Yoake softly said as he whispered these words to the scarf. After the preparation, he looked at Ralts to ensure that she was ready for the journey.

"Well, are you ready Ralts?" He asked her, on which she nodded. She hops onto his shoulders, and he looks around at his room one more time before he closes it. He turned around and walked slowly to the stairs and he began to hear voices between two people. Yoake reached the living room and noticed a familiar lady talking to his mother. She wears a white hat that had a red iconic Pokéball in it, a cyan turtleneck shirt, a red skirt, and a yellow satchel beside her.

"Ahh Yoake, it's about time." His mother greeted him. She didn't waste any time and decided to introduce this familiar lady to the trainer.

"Long time no see, Yoake." The lady greeted him. Yoake sighed with utter disappointment, and a mild angered face as he looked at her.

"Yeah…. Long time no see, Leaf."