The walls of my room were a slight grey, the room barren. The still air juxtaposed my chaotic mind.
My body winced at the headache I was experiencing, trying to sort through some of my past experiences. Unlike Max's memories that were easily accesible in a corner of my mind, remembering my own past memories was slow. They weren't just hiding in my mind, they felt like they were in a different plane of existence. It was frustrating.
With my experiences as a person, I was familiar with the feeling of embarrassment or surge of emotions that took over a persons mind when remembering old memories. However, I couldn't remember any of those memories or feel any strong emotions, any small fragments of my past I could remember felt foreign—disconnected.
There was one memory that did call out to me.
"Sh-She's gone! What did you do to her! You monster!"
"You monster! You monster! You monster!"
This phrase echoed from a particular memory—it chilled me—but in the void of my mind was a large river that eased my discomfort, a soothing melody quelling the memory's rage. The liquid appeared after the memory started calling out, and if I looked closely, droplets of liquid slowly fell from it.
But despite its sound, the river had a ghoulish red tint, like it was made of blood.
I stared in awe, how many bodies must have been sacrificed to create such a sight? It couldn't help but make me think, what did I do in my past life? What was worthy enough about me to be reincarnated?
"Heh…Ha, Hahaahha…" I couldn't help but laugh, my voice escaping my lips.
I don't know what my past contains, but whatever it is, I won't let it control this life. I am the writer of my own destiny, and whatever heinous actions my memory contains, I will not allow it to change my character or belief in the good of others.
If I did truly commit evil in my past life, then maybe it's good my memories are sealed. Maybe I was reincarnated to atone for past sins? Or maybe I was reincarnated for sins committed on me? Whatever the reason, I will live this life by my desires.
I thought back to some of the battles, images and news I searched up about Pokemon: Lopunnys, Gardevoirs, Blazikens. Pokemon unlike in the anime were a lot more similar to humans in this world having higher intelligence and independence, especially humanoid pokemon who commonly wore clothes and on rare occasions could even take jobs as chefs or shop owners. There were even instances of Pokemon running away from unworthy trainers, stealing the trainers' Pokemon with them.
Pokemon were integrated into society, and whether it was obsession, desire, or something else, I wanted to bond with them. But not just befriend them, I wanted to build my own Pokemon harem. I wanted to travel the world with them and have them by me when I become the greatest Pokemon trainer ever.
…
"Go ahead and use your pokédex on them. Remember what I told you?"
Breaking out of my daydreaming, I remembered back a few hours earlier today.
"The pokédex will only show me information stored about a Pokemon, like their name and type. I need to point my camera at the Pokemon to record their height or gender. Finally if I want to know even more about them, I need to insert its blood or DNA into the pokédex to record their stats and abilities.
Juniper gave a supporting nod and walked a little closure to hand me four labeled blood files.
"Good job Atlas, these capsules contain the blood of the Pokemon's you will choose between. Picking your first Pokemon is important, so feel free to take some time with deciding."
I gave a nod to Juniper and approached the Pokemon, I didn't want to stall any longer.
I turned my pokédex to the far left where Totodile stood:
—————————————————————————————————
Totodile the Big Jaw Pokemon #158
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Evolution: Croconaw
Height: 0.57 m
Item: None
[Collapse Chosen, DNA Found]
_____________________________________________________
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Modest
Stats
HP: 50
Atk: 60
Def: 64
Sp. Atk: 48
Sp. Def: 48
Spd: 43
_____________________________________________________
—————————————————————————————————
After scanning the Totodile, I repeated my actions for the other three starters as Juniper patiently watched. However, I already knew which starter I wanted, who was also the only female of the four starters.
—————————————————————————————————
Scorbunny the Rabbit Pokemon #813
Type: Fire
Gender: Female
Evolution: Raboot
Height: 0.42 m
Item: None
[Collapse Chosen, DNA Found]
_____________________________________________________
Ability: Libero
Nature: Jolly
Stats
HP: 50
Atk: 71
Def: 40
Sp. Atk: 38
Sp. Def: 40
Spd: 74
_____________________________________________________
—————————————————————————————————
Wordlessly, I exchanged glances with the small rabbit Pokemon, who nodded at me in acknowledgment. She had big red eyes that glistened under the enclosures light, similar to uncovered jewels.
Slowly, I walked up and kneeled on one leg before the Pokemon.
"My names Atlas, and as you probably know, I want to pick one of you to start my pokemon journey."
"Scor-Scorbunny!" The fire starter shouted, she pumped her hands in front of her chest, signaling her desire to go with me.
I couldn't help but smile. Me, a pokemon trainer?
"If you accept me as your trainer, we will never stop climbing. We will train, travel, and meet new friends in order to become the strongest trainer and Pokemon in history."
I was surprised by the confidence in my voice, my passion for Pokemon spilled into my words. I reached out my arms to the Pokemon, palms up.
"Scorbunny!" The Pokemon smiled widely at me and jumped into my hands, giving me a small hug before nuzzling into my chest.
She was truly the most adorable thing I ever saw, her ears were small and red, and she had small claws on the ends of her paws. White fur adorning her body.
I couldn't help but laugh, I looked over to Juniper, who gave me an equally big smile.
"Atlas, catch," Juniper through me a poke ball, which I clumsily caught. It was Scorbunny's.
"Let's go back, It's getting a little late and you probably want to spend some time with your Scorbunny."
"Yeah."
After some final goodbyes, I carried Scorbunny in my arms to the exit.
"Also, do you have a name for your Scorbunny. If Caitlin sees her and figures out she has no name, she'll try and name her herself."
I did think of a name while in the Pokemon enclosure, pondering a good title for my new companion.
"I'll name her Ruby because of her large red eyes."
"Scorbunny!" Scorbunny happily exclaimed in confirmation.
Juniper nodded and continued leading me to the living room. Suddenly…
**BOOOOOOOMMMM**
The building shook, the lights flickered as dust fell from the ceiling.
I instinctively ducked down and held Ruby closer to me, protecting her from any potential harm.
From the corner of another hallway connected to the living room, Caitilin frantically appeared, three unknown people in tow.
"Juniper, Atlas, there you are!" She ran up and grabbed our hands.
"Outside! Those two Pokemon trainers appeared again. The trainer's Garchamp is fighting a Dragonite just outside the building."
"What!?"
(Hey, Author here. I'm still fleshing him out, but what do you think of the main character. Does he seem interesting, evil, kind, boring? Finally in a few chapters the MCs next pokemon will be a Gibble. I want her name to be Athena, but I can be persuaded.)