The City of Yesterday

Even though Kanto has drastically changed in the past few years due to the state-sponsored development in which many of her cities have become powerhouses for the almighty Kanto machine, many of those cities have changed from what they used to be, from the old houses and towers to skyscrapers and western-style architecture. However, there is one city that kept to its roots, even though the world around them had changed. This stayed true to its core. This city is none other than Fuschia City, and it is labeled as the City of Yesterday as it represents the origins of Kanto and yesterday.

The bullet train made a full stop in the station, its doors opened and a lot of people began to walk out of it as they were heading to work or to visit some relatives.

"Right, we're here. Fuschia City. " Yoake uttered as he walked out of the train and looked at the city from the open wall in front of them. Gardevoir followed him and she was mesmerized by the beauty of Fuschia city. Many pagodas stood tall in the cities instead of the skyscrapers that are common in most cities.

"First time visiting here?" A voice asked him. They turned around and saw Brock. He was assigned by Erika to take care of the two as they ventured out into Fuschia City.

"Yeah," Yoake answered Brock's question. The Rock expert got off the train and approached the two.

"So, how was Erika?" Brock asked with a concerned tone as they began to walk to the exit of the station.

"Well, she was tired from battling Ren last night. She told me her Dodrio and Gengar put up a better fight than Fear and Garde did…" Yoake answered the specialist's question. While he wasn't admitting it, Ren is better than him and it is undoubtedly since she has a stronger team than he does.

He begins to think about what he'll do just so he can become stronger than Ren. Training is his biggest option, since his three Pokemon are willing to train, and add the fact that Fear might hit harder than Dodrio if there was an effort to boost his damage. His second option was to get another Pokemon that could be set as the "All-Rounder" of the group, and he already knew what Pokemon he'd capture.

"I was wondering, why did you take Fuschia city first before Saffron? since Saffron is a lot closer to Celadon." As they continued to walk through the beautiful streets of Fuchsia City, Brock pondered over the trainer's words. While walking, they saw red lavenders standing firm as if they were in a straight line, the fresh and crystal clear waters that passed through the houses of Fuschia City, and from those waters, there were small goldeens swimming through.

"Simple, I'm heading to the Safari Zone first. "I'm getting a Nidoking," Yoake said as he took a pause and looked at a poster near them. The poster has pictures of the Nidoran line, both male and female, a Scyther, and a Rhyhorn. These are the Pokemon that are commonly found in the Safari Zone. They are stronger than their wild counterparts due to the limited space and the perpetual turf wars between the Nidoran line and the Rhyhorn line.

'The Safari Zone is up ahead!' Yoake read the few words on the poster.

"Nidoking? Damn... that's a beast. Nice choice. " Brock complimented the trainer after hearing the name of Nidoking. He is fully aware of the diverse moves that Nidoking can learn and that being a hard hitter would make him useful for the Indigo League.

Yoake confessed to the specialist as he began to remember the day when he began to put the Nidoking line as his favorite Pokemon.

"How so?" Brock asked in curiosity.

"Well, let me explain," Yoake said as they continued to walk.

-

"Hey, don't you think that's too dangerous?"

Yoake asked the girl as she continued to climb the tree. Since he was very worried about her, since he felt that the risk was higher than the reward. He had argued to her earlier that they'd just find a different tree than this one.

Trust me, I've been climbing trees for a long time. You don't have to worry about me. The girl replied as if she was assuring him that she'd be alright.

Yoake's tummy rumbled as he was getting hungry. The girl became unbalanced just as she was about to pick the fruits from the tree.She tried to grab the fruit, but the tree was beginning to shake as if a Pokemon was coming nearby.

"Quick, I think something is coming," Yoake told the girl.

"Almost got it…" As she was about to grab the fruit, the tree shook once more, and she fell. Luckily, Yoake managed to catch her, and if he didn't, she could have been injured.

"Sorry." The girl apologized.

"It's okay." Yoake insisted. The two's stomachs rumbled as they were getting hungry. It had been a while since the last time they ate.

The trees began to shake once more. The leaves shivered, the branches twitched, and a few bird Pokemon began to fly away, as if a powerful and big Pokemon was coming.

"We have to hide." Yoake told her, as he was getting afraid of the sudden twitches of the trees.

She looked around and saw a bush nearby and said, "Come on, let's hide."

They quickly hid in the bush and waited for the Pokemon to show up. It didn't take long enough for a group of Pokemon to show up. It was a group of Nidokings with Nidorinos and Nidorans. They quickly noticed the fruits on the tree, and one of them slammed their bodies toward it. The fruits began to fall to the ground. Many of the Nidorinos and Nidorans began to feast on the fallen fruits.

One of the Nidorans saw them as they ate their fruit. When it began to hop toward them, Yoake, who was very afraid of Pokemon, began to panic. The girl quickly tries to calm him down as she knows that if he makes a sudden noise, they might get into trouble.

The Nidoran hopped a few inches away from the bush and stared at Yoake in the eye. He began to calm down as he felt a weird connection to the Nidoran, as if it was trying to understand him. The two were locked in a staring contest and the girl was quiet as she observed the two. This was quickly interrupted as Yoake's stomach rumbled once more. The Nidoran quickly noticed it, and gave him a concerning look. It began to hop away, and this gave the two a breath of fresh air as they were worried about whether the Nidoran wanted a fight or not.

The Nidoran hopped over to a Nidoking, the one that slammed the tree, and began to talk to it. The Nidoking nodded and slammed the tree once more, and this time, five fruits fell to the ground, and the Nidoking caught them. The Nidoran led the Nidoking to the bush and offered the fruit to the two kids.

"Eh?" The girl was confused as the Nidoking gave them fruits.

"Thanks..." Yoake thanked the two as he slowly grabbed the fruits and shared them with the girl. The two Nidos were pleased and walked away as they continued their feast alongside the other Nidos.

As the two ate their fruits, they heard a faint buzz in the distance. The two heard it, and so did the other Nidos. They began to investigate their surroundings, and the buzzes were getting louder and louder, and it didn't take long until a swarm of Beedrills showed up.

The two gulped in fear as they knew that if a beedrill spotted them, they'd get poisoned and possibly, a cause of death. The Beedrills were focused on the tree. Its abundance of fruits would be a goal for the swarm. The Nidokings quickly formed a circle to defend the small Nidos. The Nidoran saw the two kids and quickly told the other Nidorinos to protect them as well.

Yoake's fear began to kick in. He was sweating and the girl tried to calm him down. She decided to cover his mouth with her hand, but it was no use. His panicking moans were heard and the Beedrills heard it. Many Beedrills charged the Nidokings with their needles first, but some decided to charge the two kids. The Nidoran quickly went to the two to protect them. As the Beedrill was about to charge, the Nidoran jumped and gave the Beedrill a powerful kick, nearly tumbling it in the process. The other Beedrills quickly noticed it and decided to charge the Nidoran. The two gulped as they knew that they might not be able to get out alive.

Yoake felt something was pressing on him. He looked to his left and saw the girl was hugging him. The girl that he knows isn't afraid of anything, was scared. He saw the Nidokings fighting the Beedrills from a distance, and he saw the struggling Nidoran trying to protect them from the swarm.

He began to work up the courage and told the girl. "I'll handle this."

The girl was very confused and worried as Yoake slowly ended their hug and walked out of the bush to help the Nidoran.

'It used to kick earlier, right, so it knows how to double kick and possibly peck. ' Yoake thought.

"Nidoran, I hope that you're going to listen to me, use Peck!" Yoake hoped the Nidoran would follow, and it quickly jumped to a beedrill and pecked it with its sharp teeth. The Beedrill quickly fainted, and the girl saw it. She was beginning to admire his new-found courage. He was afraid, but he knew that he had to stand up to protect him and her.

"Use Peck one more time!" Yoake told the Nidoran. It followed his words and began to fight off the charging Beedrills. The Nidokings began to use their tail to hit the beedrills and it was a success.

The Beedrills quickly realized that fighting for this tree was no longer worth it. They began to call out their colleagues and left.

It was a sigh of relief for the two as the looming danger was finally gone. Yoake and the Nidoran stare at each other once more. There was a weird connection between the two, but it felt like hey were destined to meet one day, but for now, it's better to wait for the time being.

The girl quickly noticed Yoake's potential to be a great Pokemon trainer. He could lead and make a connection with a Pokemon. Later on, the Nidokings helped them find a road that would take them back to Professor Oakido's laboratory. The road was between a wall of trees and a large grassfield. Yoake waved one last goodbye to the Nidoran and left. That was the day when Yoake promised the girl that he'd become the very best once they grew older, and that scarf later symbolized the promise and his potential.

-

"So you're telling me that Nidoran is your first Pokemon? Long before Gardevoir?" Brock asked the trainer, and he nodded as an answer.

"And it was the same day you made a promise to a girl?" Brock continued, and Yoake nodded once more.

"Wow." "Brock uttered" Gardevoir was quiet for the entire time as she was listening to her trainer's story. She was curious about her trainer's backstory, and this caused her to want to see Yoake a lot more.

"Welp, we're here, The Safari Zone." Yoake said as he looked at the building in front of them.

"Time to get myself a Nidoking."

-

Meanwhile, on the far end of the Safari Zone lies a big tree that was carved as a house, complete with doors, windows, furniture, running and clean water, electricity and air conditioning. A smooth and romantic jazz music echoed throughout the room, it was that kind of music where old people walk to the dance floor and dance with the people they hold dear. As the music soothes out the environment of the house, someone is preparing himself some snacks. They placed 5 pieces of bread on a plate, then they added mayonnaise on each bread, then they added ham, lettuce, cheese, and finally, another bread to finally make a sandwich.

After preparing their snacks, they grabbed the plate with their big purple arms and walked to the living room as they placed the plate on a stool that is near to a couch. They close the windows, turn off most lights as they open the light shade beside them, grab a book from their nearby bookshelf, wear their glasses, sit on the couch and begin to read their book. This was the best time of the day for Nidoking. Taking a break from the harsh world outside by enjoying manmade songs while reading some books for their leisure.

They were enjoying every bit of second reading, however, this calm and relaxing hour was cut off as someone knocked on their door. At first, they ignored it as they thought they were just hearing things but as soon as it knocked at the second time, they sighed, placed the book on the couch, opened the lights and walked up to the door to see who knocked on their front door. They opened it and saw none other than the Safari ranger, the one that is assigned to keep an eye on them. Even though Nidoking doesn't speak any human languages, they can, however, use Sign Language to communicate with the Safari ranger.

"Hey, so I was told by my supervisor that there's a trainer that is currently finding a Nidoking, and since most of the Nidokings here are, you know… too wild, I was thinking if you could be their Pokemon?" The Safari Ranger said as they described what their boss said. The Nidoking raises his eyebrow and begins to communicate with the Safari Ranger.

"I know I know, you're not into Pokemon battles but the trainer promised that he'll only use you on dire events." The Safari ranger continues to persuade the Nidoking but it seems that they're not interested. Nidoking looked at a distance and saw a golf cart, and on that go cart, there were two people and one Gardevoir, it was the trainer and the specialist. The three were laughing as the specialist joked about something but they gave Gardevoir a sure look. It didn't take long enough as they agreed as long as there are boundaries.

"Okay, I'll be telling them." The Ranger said as he quickly ran to the three to tell them about the guidelines, they also followed them to the cart and left the comforts of their home.

"Well, it seems that you have more failed attempts at getting a girlfriend than me getting badges." Yoake joked to the specialist.

"Yeah." Brock scratches his head after hearing the words from the trainer. The ranger scoffed for a moment as he tried to grab everyone's attention.

"They said they are willing to come along as long as they are able to read their books and not be interrupted during 10 to 2 pm since that's their leisure hour." The ranger stated. Yoake nodded and looked at Nidoking.

"Fine by me." He said as he walked out from the cart, walked up to Nidoking and opened him with a handshake.

"Hi, my name is Yoake Katsuragi from Pallet City, nice to meet you. I can assure you, you'll be able to read your books on our journey." Yoake introduced himself to the Nidoking, they shook hands as Yoake took out the Safari Ball and prepared himself. Gardevoir walked out from the cart and also gave them a handshake.

"This is my partner Gardevoir, and we're on a road to become a World Champion." Yoake said as he also introduced Gardevoir to them. The Nidoking were pleased with their introduction, they looked at the safari ball and stood tall.

"Shall we?" Yoake asked the Nidoking as he pointed the Safari Ball at them, they nodded and pressed the button of the Pokeball. They slowly became energetic and entered the Safari Ball with no hassle. They were now officially caught and Yoake is now their trainer, he promised to the Nidoking that they'll be able to take some breaks from time to time.

"Yes, I got myself a Nidoking!" Yoake said as he jumped with excitement, Gardevoir was also excited as well since their team got a new member and it's quite intelligent enough for them to communicate properly.

They were escorted out from the Safari Zone with a new friend on hand, and they prepared themself for the Fuschia city specialist, Anzu.

A/N: Hello everyone, this will be the last update for this chapter. Sorry for the update spam but here it is. Like I said, a few updates before, that the next chapter might have some delays so expect the next chapter might be on Friday. Anyway, thank you for reading, put it in your collection if you like the fanfic, vote it if you like to, and comment on the algorithm. See you all in the next chapter "Her name is Janine".