7 I Choose You

*Chirp* *chirp*

The sun was up, and the skies were blue… again. It signified that it was morning and that it was time to wake up.

But Raiden was already on the porch, breathing the cool and fresh air that blew gently through the still morning.

The front door opened and out came Max, fully dressed and ready like he was. Only, Raiden was wearing a cap, while Max wore a bonnet.

They only brought with them a small bag, but it contained enough supplies for two weeks.

"You ready, Max? Heh. You don't look too shabby." Raiden chuckled.

"You bet I am. Ha, don't die in a ditch." Max humphed.

"Who's gonna die? If you die, I'll kill you." Mom came out of the house dragging with her a body. Oh, no. It was Dad. He was dragged off the bed it seems.

"Take care, and don't forget to take a bath and wash your clothes. There are outposts in every wild area. If you're ever in trouble, press the emergency button on your Pokédex." Mom reminded once again.

"Yes, Mom." Raiden and Max obediently replied. If not, they may not be allowed to start their journey.

"So, Max." Raiden turned to his brother. He may not see him for a few months, and he already felt lonely just thinking about it.

"Smell ya later." He held out a fist and Max bumped it.

"Don't fall behind." Max laughed.

They then split their ways. Raiden went left while Max went right.

Even after they disappeared around the corner, Mom just stood still on the porch. The cool and fresh air suddenly felt a bit cold as silence fell around the house.

After a few minutes, Mom said suddenly to no one.

"Take care of them."

Three shadows appeared as two of them flew out, following at a distance the two young Trainers.

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Raiden rode west on a bus towards the outskirts of Lynier City, towards the West Lynier Forest.

Although Lynier Fort was 1,000+ square kilometers wide, it was one of the smallest Forts in the Azrel Region. Some forts had double the land area, and the Satire Fort, where the Azrel League was located, was almost four times in size.

The real city proper was only less than 80 sq. km, with over 500,000 in population. Lynier City was above average in terms of population density. The rest of the fort was the wild area.

It was said that when a fort was built, the people actively manipulated the Pokémon ecosystem and created a perfect balance. They drove away the stronger Pokémon, gathered weak Pokémon and slowly established the food chain. After that, they waited until most of the Pokémon's primal instincts toned down.

For centuries, this was how humans were able to stand firm in the world of Pokémon. With the establishment of the fort, most people would be able to live their lives not affected by the wars and conquests outside the wall.

The wild area was for young children to be able to experience what it was like to live together with Pokémon.

In the Lynier Fort there were almost 7,000 newly graduated students who would start their journeys as Junior Trainers. Some would get their Pokémon from the Pokémon Center, some would receive it as a gift from their parents, and the rest would rather catch one themselves.

It was very crowded in the bus Raiden was on, as there were almost 20 students of his age and five teens a year or two older than him. There were even some adults accompanying their children. Some were in groups as they chatted noisily throughout the ride. It seemed that the seniors would help their siblings and their friends to catch a Pokémon.

Raiden could have asked Mom and Dad to help him catch a Pokémon, but he wanted to draw the line clearly. How could he become the greatest Trainer if he had to ask for help at the start of his journey?

Just like those who were in Azrel League's Hall of Fame, he wanted to pave his own path to glory.

While waiting for the bus to arrive at the destination, he just studied and mulled over his Pokédex.

There was a group of students who were noisily chatting beside Raiden. He can't help but overhear them, as they were too loud. They didn't look like they were on a journey. They made it like they were on a field trip.

Actually, he was the odd one out. He was the only one who had brought supplies to last a fortnight. Other students would return home before dark, and those who wanted to stay would only stay for one or two nights. After all, there was almost no one who would try to catch a Pokémon without a Pokémon. It must be only him, Max, and a special few.

"Just leave it to me. I'll help you all catch any Pokémon you want." The senior in the group proudly claimed.

"Thanks, brother! You're the best!" A girl said as she praised her brother.

Her friends also thanked him. They were able to receive help from a senior. He would also teach them tips and tricks he learned as an experienced Trainer.

"Hey, is that guy alone? He should be the same age as us." The girl noticed him. He stood out because he was alone in this boisterous bus.

"If he's alone, he must be a senior. Maybe he just looks young." Another student replied. He was the close friend of the girl.

"His clothes look new and he's fiddling with his Pokédex like he isn't that familiar with it." She observed Raiden and made her points.

"Even if he isn't a senior, why would he come alone? He probably has friends or a helper. Either they went first or he wanted to come early." Her friend reasoned.

"But it's so early in the morning. And if he had a helper, why didn't they meet up at the station?" The girl pursued the thought.

Raiden overheard them talking about him as they weren't too far from where he sat. He wondered why he suddenly became the topic.

'Am I too handsome?' He was also surprised at how sharp the girl was.

"Girl, you should become a detective or a police officer. I'm sure you'll be great. And you are acting up again. Why are you so curious about him?" Her friend was exasperated.

She really was a curious girl, as she actually came up to Raiden and asked.

"Excuse me, are you a graduate?" The girl smiled.

"Yes, I am." Raiden smiled back.

"Aha! I knew it! Hi, I'm Emma." Emma introduced herself out of the blue.

"Uhh… I'm Ray." He was surprised by the sudden introduction, but he shook it off and only told her his nickname.

"Are you going to the forest alone? You don't seem to have any Pokémon. What will you do?" Emma continued to ask. She seemed really curious.

"Yes, I'm going alone. I want to catch a Pokémon by myself." Raiden say honestly.

"What? Really? But that's so hard to do. Then, I wish you good luck!" Emma was shocked, but still respected his decision. After all, who was she to judge?

Her brother, who was listening on in their chat, suddenly sneered.

"You want to catch a Pokémon without a Pokémon to battle it? You think you can do it? Keep dreaming."

Raiden was surprised. This scene was so cliché. It was the arrogant and dismissive, random person cliché. It was even a bit cringy.

"Brother! Don't be rude. I'm sorry, Ray. Do your best! I hope you can do it!" Emma quickly returned to her seat while pulling on her brother.

Raiden wasn't even a little bit angry. After all, he knew what he was trying to do was quite difficult to achieve and others may not necessarily like to hear something that sounded like a boast.

A few minutes passed until they arrived at the area between Lynier City and the West Lynier Forest.

The bus stopped in front of a Pokemon Center, one of the three only buildings in the vicinity, along with a Police outpost, and an Inn.

As soon as they got off the bus, they were greeted by the serenity of the forest, hiding behind it the liveliness of the Pokémon inhabiting it.

Raiden stood still and admired the forest. Hundreds and thousands of trees gathered together, their branches and leaves filtering out most of the sunlight, painting a calm and peaceful scenery. There were no Pokémon in sight, but he knew there were all kinds of Pokémon living there in harmony.

Without hesitation he followed the trail that leads into the forest.

"Pikachu, I choose you."

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Who was the most popular Pokémon of all time?

If you asked any of the people back on Earth, most of the time they would answer: Pikachu.

Starring in over 1,000 episodes and almost 300 hours of screen time, Pikachu was the most seen character of all time, more or less equal to the main character.

As a casual fan back on Earth, Raiden would definitely consider first a Pikachu as his partner.

Pikachu was the Pokémon he knew best, and Raiden liked how fast and agile it was. And most especially, it was cute!

As he was strolling through the forest, excitement filled his heart as it was beating like crazy.

To calm down, he checked once again the entry on the Pokédex.

[Pikachu – Electric Type]

[When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could build up and cause lightning storms. Forest dwellers, they are few in number and exceptionally rare. The pouches in their cheeks discharge electricity at their opponents. The Pikachu are believed to be highly intelligent.]

The Pokédex entries were synchronized with all the forts in the Azrel Region. Pikachu were only found in limited areas in a few forts. Thus, they were considerably rare.

But the West Lynier Forest was like the Viridian Forest, it was home to quite a number of Pikachu.

Heading towards the pin he placed on the map, Raiden saw many Pokémon along the way.

Caterpie and Sewaddle were crawling on the branches, Burmy and Seadot were hanging on to the trees, Joltik and Spinarak forming webs, Oddish and Bellsprout waddling slowly, and Diglett and Grubbin that occasionally surfaced.

Seeing these Pokémon, he was glad he put on a light Repel that wore off easily. After all he still needed to catch a Pikachu.

These Pokémon were the usual critters of the forest. They were plenty in number, but only a few would get the chance to evolve, and only one or two would reach its final evolution and give life to many new Pokémon of its kind.

But even if by chance they grew in population, the Pokémon League would do a clean-up to maintain the ecosystems of the wild areas.

New Trainers who came to the forest would not usually seek out these critters, but their evolved forms. These basic Pokémon took years to evolve each time and it was very hard to distinguish their age. So it was already basic knowledge to catch their first evolved forms like Swadloon, Nuzleaf, Gloom, Weepinbell and Charjabug.

But there were also good Pokémon that occasionally appeared like Nincada, Shroomish and Pineco that were a bit stronger than the critters and when they evolved, they would be great partners.

Anyway, Raiden was having a hard time to distinguish where he was on the map and only knew the general direction of where the Pikachu lived.

After more than an hour of walking, he finally arrived. The area up ahead was a wide clearing. There was a small pond in the middle of it, the source of water in this part of the forest.

Near the edge, Raiden saw many yellow figures huddled together in two groups.

He finally found the Pikachu!