Chapter 2 - Pokemon (1)

"Are you sure you won't feel too lonely here, Mom?" Lex asked his mother for the umpteenth time today, to which she once more replied.

"Yes, sugar. Gardevoir will keep me company and when I won't be working, I could hang out with some of my friends... I heard that Delia's son also leave for his Pokemon adventure today.

What was his name already..." Martha tried to remember, a finger on her chin.

"Her son? Was it something like John? Bob perhaps?" Lex proposed, putting as he walked toward the door, his mother following behind to accompany him.

"Yes, Bob probably. Anyway, don't forget to call me from time to time sugar. Mom love you."

Both of them hugged as the young boy replied, the same emotion in his voice.

"I will, Mom. Love you too."

After that warm scene, Alexander Light officially left his house, starting one of the most legendary Pokemon adventures that will ever be.

-*-*-*-

Walking for a few minutes along the main road of the small town, Lex's hiking shoes served their purpose as the dirt failed to sully him.

The sun shone brightly but failed to disturb his vision thanks to his bucket hat. A pleasant breeze gently caressed his skin while the surrounding nature let out the noise of the different kinds of Pokemon living inside. Mainly flying-type Pokemons and bug-type Pokemon.

The chirps of Pidgey flying above accompanied him as he finally arrived at the base of the stairs toward Professor Oak's Laboratory.

"A crowd? Oh right, Prof. Oak is giving [Starters] today." Lex spoke to himself as he walked up the stairs.

A small crowd of citizens was agglutinated in front of the building, all praising and gawking at an unseen Pokemon and trainer.

Seeing the cheerleaders and the familiar red car not too far from the crowd, Lex could only hope that the person present there is not who he believe he is.

"Ah! Speaking about the Growtlithe!" A familiar voice echoed, making most of the onlookers turn their heads at the man.

"I'm happy to see that Martha did not forget about informing you of my message, Alexander." Samuel Oak, commonly known as Professor Oak walked through the crowd from his laboratory to meet with the promising young man.

"I'm happy to see you too, Professor." Lex replied, still in an excellent mood after seeing Beldum's potential.

Seeing the young man smiling from ear to ear, Oak did not waste more time, aware that he received the gift Martha spoke about a few days ago.

"Come with me, I too have a gift for you!"

True to himself, the older man grabbed the young man's shoulders, dragging him inside the laboratory.

The both of them entered the laboratory, the Pokeball display at the center of the room was empty.

"A lot of people came today to receive their first Pokemons." Lex observed as he followed the Professor toward the empty display.

"Indeed. But fortunately, I've seen it coming and reserved you a Pokemon too.

Albeit it is one from a different region than ours." The professor said as he stopped in front of the display.

"What? I thought that Professor Burnett was supposed to send me one later." Alexander asked as he was not informed of this change by his previous designated professor.

Even though he technically moved out of Burnett's jurisdiction, he was still registered under her although it should have changed when he arrived in Kanto.

"Well... The reserved [Starter] is from her, to be truthful. She simply couldn't give it to you, as she is pretty occupied for now. And you know, respecting the tradition." Oak confessed before pushing a button below the display.

Lex nodded, less concerned about the Pokemon now that it came from the Professor that knew him the most.

In a flashy show of light, the middle of the display opened and a single Luxury Ball rose from within.

"She insisted that the Pokemon be placed within a Luxury ball though."

Alexander walked forward, taking the Pokeball in his hand.

As it was chosen directly by his old Professor, Professor Burnett she had full trust in her choice. It is not against Oak but he simply did not teach him everything he knew about Pokemon unlike the woman living in Alola or his mother.

"Why don't you let him out, he has been dying to meet you." Oak proposed, making the young man nod once more.

"Good idea... Join us, little guy." Letting the Pokemon within free, an energetic chirp accompanied an even more energetic red feathery Pokemon.

"Chic! Chic!" The small Torchic exclaimed before turning to look at the trainer that released him.

"Tor!" It happily chirped, running around Alexander as if to show him his eagerness.

Crouching to his level, Alexander held out his hand for the Chick Pokemon to climb on, which it happily did.

"Wanna travel the world together, Torchic?" Alexander asked the Pokemon once more, the same way he did with his first Pokemon.

Not betraying his previous actions, Torchic immediately accepted, letting out a loud chirp.

"Tor! Chiiiic!"

"Haha! It is unsurprisingly a Torchic full of energy! Though I wonder why Professor Burnett did not send an Alolan starter...

Oh well, it does not matter, why don't you scan him with your Pokedex, I'm certain that my grandson is waiting for you outside to ask for a battle." Oak advised, making Lex groan in annoyance.

The boy while being from time to time, a good friend, was certainly an insufferable bore that when learning that Alexander is this year's number 1 student in Alola, took him as his rival.

Albeit Gary Oak was undoubtedly a talented young man, reaching third place among Kanto's Pokemon League students. He still lacked the type of talent that separates geniuses from monsters.

"Rotom." Alexander called, making the Rotom-shaped Pokedex emerge from his bag. Wasting no time, it scanned the very active Torchic within Alexander's arms before enlarging itself to display the Pokemon's information.

[Torchic #0255

Chick Pokemon

Gender: Male

Type: Fire

Ability: Speed Boost

Height: 0.4 m / Weight: 2.5 kg

Description: If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A Torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings.

Moves: Scratch (B) / Growl (B) / Ember (B) / Peck (B) / Night Slash (-) / Agility (B) / Counter (-) / Sand Attack (B)

Evolution Line: Torchic -> Combusken -> Blaziken]

Though not as impressed as with his first Pokemon, Beldum, Alexander was quite surprised at the high-potential Torchic.

The fire starter's overly excited behavior can also be understood by his ability which is insanely rare for the Torchic line.

Putting back Torchic into his embrace, Alexander watched the Pokemon figuratively melt in his arms, more than happy at the physical touch.

"Oh! Oh! She went all out with this Torchic, didn't she?" Oak happily exclaimed, knowing that the Pokemon would surely reach his full potential with a trainer as talented as Alexander Light.

"Yes, I will give her a call later to thank her." The young man affirmed, turning toward the professor.

"Let's meet your rival now, I don't have anything else to give you since you already received a Rotom Pokedex from your mother."

Sighing at his words, Lex nodded.

"... Let's."

The both of them walked outside as almost immediately the expected guy shouted to gain Lex's attention.

"I challenge you to a duel, Alexander!" The brown-haired young man exclaimed, holding out his Pokeball toward the hat-wearing boy.

The other trainers around gave both of them some space as they knew that it would happen.

Before Alexander's arrival, Gary was the most promising trainer but that quickly changed when the other boy arrived, showing more promise than Gary ever did.

Though both of them never truly butted heads, it was not surprising to see Gary announce the start of their rivalry now that they each have a starter.

"... Fine." Alexander replied, letting Torchic jump out of his arms to position himself in front of him.

"Chic!" The fire Pokemon loudly exclaimed, letting the world know about the trust he has in both himself and his trainer.

"A Torchic? Must be a perk of being number one in your region... Unfortunately for you, I have the type advantage!

Let's beat them, Squirtle!" He called, throwing up the Pokeball of his starter from which a blue Pokemon emerged.

"Squirtle!" It exclaimed too, aware of what was happening outside the Pokeball as most Pokemon do unless they are sleeping.

The two starters locked eyes, their will to fight and win practically exuding out of them.

The stare-down was broken when Gary's cheerleaders began to spell his name.

"Give us a G! Give us an A! Give us a-" Gary and Alexander both ignored them as the former spoke to his grandfather.

"Grandpa! Be the referee!"

"Must be good to be so young..." Oak shook his head before walking to the spot one would expect a referee to stand during a Pokemon battle.

"I expect a fair match, both of you! You don't have your license yet so whenever you win or lose won't be recorded on your battle history...

Are you ready?" The Professor explained, making the two trainers nod in understanding.

"As if I would lose against him!" Gary arrogantly said, to which his Squirtle seems to confirm with an assured nod.

"Show me what you got, Gary." Alexander said, adopting a more relaxed position compared to the battle-ready opponent.

Torchic was jumping on himself, more than ready to show his trainer what he could do.

"Start!" Samuel Oak shouted, prompting his grandson to immediately throw his hand out.

"Squirtle! Use [Water Gun], let's drown them!" He ordered, making the tiny turtle Pokemon gather a bunch of water energy in his mouth.

Unlike most high-level battles, low-level Pokemons usually take some time before having an attack ready since they don't have much mastery over them.

This is something as Lex immediately orders something else for his Pokemon.

"Torchic, use [Agility] until I tell you to dodge."

Perfectly following the order, Torchic began to jump from side to side, pinkish energy surrounding him.

Seeing his opponent setting up, Gary gritted his teeth as he realized his mistake.

It was Squirtle's very first battle and the time he took to ready an attack such as [Water Gun] would take much more time than [Tackle] would.

Besides, it seems like the Torchic doesn't have much trouble executing [Agility] giving it an even bigger speed advantage than it previously had.

Fortunately, Torchic only could make one [Agility] before Squirtle's attack was ready.

"Squir... tle!" The blue Pokemon exclaimed, letting out a powerful water bullet from his mouth.

"Torchic, dodge to the side and run up to Squirtle."

With increased speed, thanks to his ability [Speed Boost] and the [Agility], Torchic dodged the attack with surprising ease before fearlessly rushing to the water-type Pokemon, a faint white glow only his trainer and Professor Oak noticed surrounding it.

Awaiting an [Ember], Gary gave the next order to his Pokemon at the same time as Alexander did.

"[Mirror Coat], Squirtle!" "[Sand Attack], Torchic."

The moment Torchic reached the Squirtle, a thin pinkish mirror appears in front of him, ready to send any special attack back to the sender.

Unfortunately, Gary mistook Lex's intentions as the only thing the blue Pokemon received is a handful of sand in his eyes, temporarily blinding and certainly lowering his precision overall.

"Squirt!" The Pokemon exclaimed in surprise and annoyance, shutting his eyes close.

Thinking fast, Gary gave another order, one that could his Pokemon some time to recover, and even increase his defense.

"[Withdraw]! Stay in your shell until I give you another order!" The Squirtle did just that, a bluish glow enveloping him as he retreated within his shell.

"You can't hide forever. Torchic, train your [Night Slash] on him until he decides to come out."

Gary gritted his teeth as he observed a black glow envelop Torchic's paw and claw.

It didn't take him much longer to gather enough energy to strike at the shell.

"Now! [Rapid Spin], Squirtle!"

The dark-type attack met the spinning shell infused with normal-type energy, pushing back both Pokemon.

"Well done." Alexander congratulated his opponent for his quick thinking.

The cheerleaders as if remembering their roles began to cheer even harder on Gary as the onlookers were appreciative of the low-level fight of the talented trainers. Some even had their phones out to record the battle.

"Tsk. We are not done yet, right Squirtle?!" Gary exclaimed, making his Pokemon cry in agreement, though it was weaker than it echoed earlier.

From the earlier confrontation, Squirtle was the most hurt one with a deep cut on his shell and several minor ones on his limbs.

In front of him, Torchic was excitedly jumping from side to side, his speed has increased two times since he first rushed in.

Besides some scratches on his legs, Torchic did not seem even remotely tired.

"Good. It's our turn then! Torchic use your newly learned [Quick Attack]." Understanding the attack he was talking about, Torchic let out a small cry before normal-type energy surrounded him.

"True to the talent he kept exhibiting, Torchic wasted no time to rush back toward his opponent, leaving several after-images behind him.

"Quick! [Withdrawal]!" Gary shouted, but unfortunately, his Squirtle failed to react in time.

Impacted by the speeding Chick Pokemon whose speed has been enhanced several times thanks to the [Agility] and his ability [Speed Boost], Squirtle was sent rolling onto the ground, air knocked out of its lungs.

"Don't give him any time to recover Torchic, [Quick Attack] to rush to him and put all your weight and momentum into a full power [Peck]!" Alexander ordered, making his Pokemon surround himself into a faint white glow once more as his beak emitted a cyan glow.

"Come on Squirtle, [Withdraw], and [Rapid Spin]!" Gary tried to order his Pokemon.

Even though he was struggling with the hit from earlier, he did his best to obey the order.

Withdrawing himself within his shell, he however failed to execute the [Rapid Spin] before an even more powerful impact send him flying at his trainer's feet.

"Squirtle!" Gary exclaimed, kneeling to observe his fainted Pokemon.

"Squirtle has fainted, and Gary Oak is unable to continue the battle.

The winner is Alexander Light!"