Chapter 5 – Becoming A Pokemon Trainer

"Are you ready Shu?" Shiori asked her son as he got ready.

"Yes mom." Shu said as he put on his red backpack.

"Oh I can't believe you're going on your own journey now." Shiori said as she hugged him.

"Mom, I'm not going to leave our home for good. Besides, I can call you whenever I get the chance." Shu said to her with a smile.

"I know, and I know Nidoran will protect you. Right Nidoran?" Shiori said as she smiled at Nidoran standing beside Shu.

"Nido!" Nidoran cried in response.

In a week Nidoran has integrated quite nicely into the family and has grown quite close to them. He has also become great friends with Growlithe.

"Well, I'll be going to Professor's lab now. I do need to get my license." Shu said to her as he opened the door.

"Yes, I'll come to the lab after getting ready and see you off." Shiori said to him with a smile.

"Thanks mom." Shu said as he exited the house.

He smelled the air of his town and gripped the strap of his bag. Then he looked at Nidoran at his side as the Pokemon looked at him.

"Ready Nidoran." Shu asked with a smile.

"Nido!" Nidoran said in response.

"Great let's go." Shu said as he walked with Nidoran following behind.

They walked and after sometime Shu picked Nidoran up as he walked to the lab carrying the small Pokemon. Due to its small legs the Pokemon was getting tired so he decided to carry it. When he reached the lab he saw that Gary is already there, there is also a lot of people there.

"Heh, always the showoff. And those two must be the two trainer's." Shu said with a smile before he looked at the two trainer's.

The first is a boy wearing blue and white shirt, black jeans, a backpack and travel shoes. He has black hair and blue eyes as he was looking at Gary. Said boy is currently surrounded by his fans, which is the cheerleading girls who are praising him.

Next to him is a brown haired girl with fair skin and brown eyes. Her hair almost reached her shoulders. She is wearing a sleeveless green shirt and white skirt with a round hat on top of her head. She is also wearing knee length socks and travel shoes as well. She also has a blue backpack on her back as she is also looking at Gary. (Green/Leaf from Pokemon)

Shu walked to them and the two trainer's noticed him. Their eyes widened when they saw the blue Nidoran in his arms. The girl walked to him as she looked at the Nidoran in his arms with fascination.

"Is this Nidoran your Pokemon?" She asked him.

"Yes, he's mine." Shu said to her.

"Wow, I have heard about Pokemon having a different colour but this is the first time I'm seeing one in person." The girl said with fascination.

"I see. So I guess you're a new trainer who has come to get a Pokemon from the professor." Shu said to her.

"Yes, my name is Leaf. I'm about to become a Pokemon trainer. It's nice to meet you." The girl, now revealed as Leaf said with a smile.

'I knew I recognised her from somewhere.' Shu thought to himself when he heard her name.

"Hello Leaf, my name is Shu. I'm about to become a Pokemon trainer as well. And this is Nidoran." Shu introduced himself before presenting Nidoran who greeted her in his pokespeech.

"It's nice to meet you Shu and Nidoran." Leaf said with a smile.

"So, who's he?" Shu asked her as he looked at the boy standing beside the gate.

He seems to have lost interest in him as he just looked at Gary, though he did see him looking at him from time to time.

"I don't know much but his name is Nathan. He has come here to become a Pokemon trainer as well. He doesn't talk much." Leaf said to him.

'He seems like the edgy type.' Shu thought to himself as he looked at the boy.

It was at this time that Gary noticed Shu. He then walked to him with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey Shu, glad you could make it. And it seems Nidoran is in good shape as well." Gary greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah, he is. And I see that you haven't lost your taste for dramatic's." I said to him as I looked at the people.

"Hey, I didn't bring them with me. They came to see me off. But then again, seeing me, the grandson of Professor Oak leaving on his journey is an opportunity that they don't wanna miss." Gary said with a proud tone.

"Yeah yeah, so why are you standing here instead of going inside the lab?" Shu aske him.

"Grandpa hasn't called us in so we are standing here. Oh, Daisy has given her regards to the three of us as well." Gary said to him.

"I know, she called me five days ago, well after I got to the lab and she gave me her regards." Shu said to him.

"Yeah, it's a pity that she is in a mountain area in Johto so she can't come to see us. But hey, at least she called right." Gary said to him with a smile.

"Yeah." Shu said with a smile.

Leaf meanwhile was looking at their exchange with wide eyes. She was surprised to see Gary Oak talking with him so freely since she has only seen him talk with arrogance.

"Um, do you two know each other?" Leaf asked them.

This causes the two boys to look at her.

"Yeah, we're childhood friends. He is the only one that I, the great Gary Oak will ever acknowledge as my rival and equal." Gary said with a proud smirk.

"Thanks Gary, but I don't think you need to advertise it." Shu said with a sweat drop.

'This is too much.' Leaf thought to herself when she saw the interaction between them.

As someone who doesn't have any special relationships and being from a normal family, meeting the grandson of Professor Oak was quiet overbearing for her. And his personality didn't help much, so knowing that Shu is respected and seen as a rival and equal has unconsciously put Shu in a higher position in her mind.

As she was thinking that the door to the lab opened and Professor Oak came out as he looked at the people gathered. Shu and the others noticed him as they looked at him.

"All of you who've come to become trainer's come here." Professor Oak said to them.

"I guess that's our queue." Shu said as he walked to the lab.

"Right behind you." Gary said walking after him.

"I'm coming as well." Leaf said as she walked behind them.

"Finally." Nathan said with a sigh as he walked on the path to the lab.

The four of them entered the lab and then followed Professor Oak to the upper floor. The floor has various machinery and in the middle is a small chamber containing three Pokeball's. Professor Oak stood beside the chamber while the four soon-to-be trainers stood in a line.

"Good, as you know today you will become official trainer's. And as official trainer's you will need to have a Pokemon of your own. In these Pokeball's are the standard starters of our region, Squirtle the Water type, Charmander the Fire type and Bulbasaur the Grass type. You can pick one of these three Pokemon's as your first and then you will be an official trainer and can start on your own journeys." Professor Oak said to them.

"Well, then I'll go first." Gary said with a smirk as he walked forward.

Leaf and Nathan stood in their place as Shu watched him walke to the capsule. Professor Oak opened the capsule as Gary looked at the Pokeball's with a smirk.

"I already know what Pokemon I'm taking." Gary said as he took a Pokeball.

He then opened the Pokeball as light appeared from and began taking shape in front of him. Leaf watched with interest as the light took shape and it was revealed to be a Squirtle. The Pokemon opened its eyes and then looked at Gary.

"Hello Squirtle, I'm your trainer, Gary Oak." Gary introduced himself to the Pokemon.

"Squirtle!" The Squirtle said before it jumped up and down in happiness.

"It looks like Squirtle is quite happy to have a trainer." Shu said with a smile.

"Well, it is me who is his trainer so it's no surprise. Alright Squirtle, go back into the Pokeball, we'll have a long talk along the way." Gary said as he pointed the Pokeball at the Pokemon.

The Squirtle said it's name once and then it's body was touched by the red light from the Pokeball as the Pokemon was sucked into the ball.

"Good, now the two of you can choose your Pokemon." Professor Oak said to the other two trainer's.

Leaf and Nathan nodded and walked forward. They then took one Pokeball and opened it. From Nathan's Pokeball a Charmander appeared while a Bulbasaur appeared from Leaf's. Both Pokemon's greeted their trainer's.

"Hey Bulbasaur, nice to meet you. My name is Leaf, I hope we will have a good adventure together." Leaf said to the Pokemon with a smile.

Bulbasaur smiled happily as it made noises as Leaf smiled as well. As for Nathan, he looked at his Charmander as the Pokemon looked at him.

"Hmm, you're fine. The names Nathan and I'm your Pokemon trainer. Get back inside the Pokeball, we can talk after this." Nathan said to the Pokemon as he pointed his Pokeball at it as it's red light touched it.

The Charmander returned to its Pokeball and then Leaf also returned her Bulbasaur into her Pokeball as well. Then the four trainer's stood beside each other as Professor Oak regarded them with a smile.

"Good, now that you all have your Pokemon. I have another thing to ask of you." Professor Oak said to them.

"What is it Professor?" Leaf asked him.

"As you know, our world is filled with Pokemon and there are many Pokemon's that are so rare that it is hard for many of us researchers to actually document them and get their information. Some Pokemon have only been seen by people and so no visual data exists to prove it. That is why I am asking for your help in this." Professor Oak said to them.

'Wait. Is he asking us to do what I think he's asking us to do.' Shu thought to himself.

"And how do we help you grandfather?" Gary asked him.

"I'm glad you asked Gary, to help you with this I'm giving you this." Professor Oak said before he went to a table.

He opened the drawer of the table and took out four red devices and showed them to the trainer's. Shu and Gary's eyes widened when they saw it while Leaf and Nathan looked intrigued.

"This my kids is a pokedex, a device which lets you record the information of the Pokemon you see. It will give me basic information like their names, habitat, height and other basic information. But if you want a detailed information about that Pokemon then you will have to catch them." Professor Oak explained to them.

"Wow, that's a very handy thing." Leaf said amazed by it.

"It is, this also doubles as your ID after you enter your information in it. It is very durable as well, you can also search information about Pokemon's in it and it will show the information it has. I want you to gather information about the Pokemon's in our region using this and help me in my research." Professor Oak said to them.

"I see, that makes sense. Since we are trainer's we will travel all around the region. The pokedex will help us learn about the Pokemon we encounter and also helps you by giving you information about the ones we capture. That information will in turn he used for your research." Gary said to him.

"Precisely, so I hope you don't lose it and take good care of it." Professor Oak said as he handed each of them a Pokedex.

After that the four put their information in it and the device's were registered to them. Professor Oak smiled at this as he stood in front of them.

"Ahem, From this moment on you all are trainer's, you will be able to traverse our vast world containing various Pokemon and different people. You will be able to experience our world in all of its wonderful colours. As the Professor who is in charge of making you into trainer's I hope that you will have a great journey. May you meet many Pokemon's and make great friends throughout your travels as you journey through the world. I wish all of you great success." Professor Oak said with a smile.

"Thank you Professor." The four said in unison though Nathan's voice was lower than the other three.

"Good luck children." Professor Oak said with a smile.

'I have a feeling that they will be able to achieve great things in the future. Always keep your spirits up and never fail kid's. As long as you believe in your Pokemon and they believe in you nothing can stop you.' Professor Oak thought with a resolute and proud look as he looked at them.