Chapter 4- Starters

Franky can never forget how he met Volkner.

He and his kind live at Route 222, a stretch of road near to the sea that leads to Sunyshore. Before Franky became Franky, he was an elekid living with his pack. There was nothing much to do there other than disturbing the fishermen there for the fun of it or escaping from trainers who tried to contain them in the contraption known as pokeball.

Life wasn't boring, but it wasn't exactly exciting either.

Franky don't know how long it had been since he was first born before he met Volkner.

It was just another ordinary day. Franky just strolled to the tree where he loves to rest under its shade. It is his favourite tree and close to no one will be there. It is the perfect spot for him to rest undisturbed.

But that day, someone was there. A human was there and snoozing at his favourite spot under the shade of his favourite tree.

The human is just a youngling with bright yellow hair. Franky wasn't scared of this human. He knows just how weak and frail humans can be. So, he gave a loud whirr by rotating his arms at high speed, hoping to scare the human youngling off.

The weird human just opened his eyes, spotted him, and then patted on the ground next to him.

"This spot is pretty nice to nap at. Come on, you should try it out."

And then proceeded to go back to sleep.

What?

That was how Franky first met Volkner.

Volkner came back to visit every now and then. It soon became a daily occurrence for the both of them. Volkner will sometimes bring some food along if he can do so. From what Franky knew back then, Volkner is mostly left to fend for himself and he doesn't have a lot of food to share. He is barely managing to feed himself as it is. It still didn't stop him from trying to see if there is good food to share with Franky and Franky will return the favour by sharing some of the nice berries he found in the harsh wilderness.

The two of them will just laze about under his favourite tree. Sometimes Volkner will just nap, sometimes he will bring a book along to read with Franky providing some silent company or practising some of the difficult moves he saw the older members of his species is capable of doing.

Volkner soon told him of his dream to be a trainer and extended an invitation to Franky. He wants Franky to join him.

That was how Franky became Volkner's Franky.

Volkner managed to find himself a pokeball from somewhere to claim Franky as his own. Volkner brought Franky back to his hometown. It was where Franky met Flint and Burner. It was where Franky found a friend and rival in the form of Burner.

Flint and Volkner are inseparable. The two of them have no fear towards anyone and anything. The two humans will challenge any trainers on sight with just him and Burner. They lose more than they win initially, but they soon found themselves improving by leaps and bounds. Volkner also did his best to train him and help him amass power, power that he will one day accumulate and grow strong enough to evolve into an electivire, the final stage of his evolution that most member of his species will not reach if they remain in the wild.

When Volkner is finally old enough to venture out of Sunyshore, Franky is almost strong enough to evolve into an electabuzz. Flint had also started his travel, but the two human friends went on their separate ways to experience their own journey. Volkner and Franky soon met many other humans and pokemon. Their team grew bigger too. Simba, Jo, ISpy, Myst, Tec, North, and Puddle were the first few to join Volkner and him on their quest to grow stronger. They also found Squeaky and Scrat along the way, although the physical limitations that their species face didn't allow them to grow into battlers as strong as the rest of them could. There is a limit to how strong they can grow into. Volkner didn't really care about that. He still treats every single one of them as his equal and gave them the care and love that they all need. He also gave them the training that all of them are so eager to take part in. It wasn't long before the entire team grew strong.

They became so strong that they found Flint as their final opponent in the finals of their very first conference.

Their epic battle with Flint was the hardest one their team was put through at that point in time. Towards the end of the match, Franky was the only one left to fight for Volkner and Burner for Flint. It was just like old times when they would spar and practice their techniques against each other.

They had a draw.

Volkner and Flint were a little disappointed that there is still no clear winner between the two of them, but they took it with grace. Flint decided to stay in Sinnoh to train while Volkner chose to explore the vast world. The team was excited. They too want to see what this world could offer beyond their own region.

It was on this journey that their little family grew bigger and bigger. Franky now has more friends and comrades that share the same dream as him, to be the strongest electric type of their species.

For those who are electric type, that is. The rest of them who aren't electric type all have their own goals and dreams although it can basically be summarised into 'growing as strong as possible'.

In Franky's opinion, they had all reached their dream. But what about their beloved trainer?

Volkner's dream is to just live a carefree and peaceful life, but somehow what he is doing seems to be steering him in the opposite direction. His trainer is just too talented and bright. There's no way he can live a normal peaceful life with what he is capable of. He is just too talented and because of that, he is always so busy. People always look to him to help solve their problems. It got to the point that he is so busy that he didn't even have the time to find a mate for himself.

If there's one thing Franky really cannot understand, it is how human courtship works. His trainer and the other female human are obviously attracted to each other. Volkner should just claim her as his own already! Just mark her as his and then get down to it and have a human egg! Before he knows it the egg will hatch and a human baby will pop out of there! It is that simple!

Uh… come to think about it, do human lay eggs? He will have to check with Myst or Jarvis later. They are the more knowledgeable ones on their team.

Franky do have to applaud Volkner's ability to attract strong humans to him. Volkner's future mate is an extremely strong trainer as well. They sparred against each other a few times and although the female and her team never won, it was close. The team that belongs to the female trainer is so absurdly hard to take down it is not even funny. Even Franky himself is a little wary of using his fists in combat against them. The last punch he delivered to one of the pokemon on her team had his fists aching and sore for days.

The only one on their team that can boast such defensive powers is probably North, but even North didn't have such solid defences. The female human is something else.

From what he can remember, Volkner's future mate should be coming over for a visit soon. Volkner also went to visit her in Johto a few times in the past although usually it is his mate doing the visiting. Volkner is just too busy trying to ensure Sunyshore can grow strong enough to defend itself even without him around. Volkner wants to quit being Sunyshore's Gym Leader as soon as possible and before he can do that, he has to make sure Sunyshore can continue to grow strong with or without him around.

That will take some time, but Franky has faith in his trainer and best friend. If anyone can do it, it will be Volkner.

Fluffy is especially excited at meeting Volkner's mate again. The female trainer is the one who gave Fluffy to Volkner and Fluffy had flourished under Volkner's teachings. They all had. Franky is excited too. It is a long while since he had a good battle with someone that can make their entire team go all out.

If only Volkner can find the motivation to finally work the laziness out of his bones and claim the female as his own, then they could have exciting battles all day long.

Hopefully that day isn't too far away.

"Kayla, we need more pokemon!"

"What?!" Kayla nearly screeched out as she barely had the time to type furiously on the keyboard to update the League's database on which pokemon they had just given out. "Didn't we JUST sent a box over?!"

"Can't be help! There are a lot of novice trainers getting their starters today! We need more!" Marco shouted back from where he is moving crates of pokeballs.

"Argh! Get Vicky to help out! Where's Volkner?!"

"He is at the arena helping these novice trainers choose their starters!"

If there's one single day every year that Volkner will definitely never sleep in or slack about, it is this day. The day when novice trainers in their city starting on their pokemon journey for the very first time comes to their gym to pick a pokemon as their starter.

There are many ways one can get their hands on their very first pokemon. They could befriend one in the wild, although that is highly discouraged due to the danger involved. The only one she knew that did that and came back alive in one piece is Volkner, who somehow befriended Franky as a wild elekid. People can also buy one from a pokemon breeding farm or receive one from their family or friends.

But for those without the same luck or connections, they would have to receive their starters from the League one way or another.

Their regional pokemon professor, Professor Rowan, gives out certain pokemon every year. It is a set of pokemon that people refer to as the 'regional starters', a unique set of fire, water, and grass type pokemon that every region has. These pokemon have the Blaze, Torrent, and Overgrow ability respectively. However, these species of pokemon are rare as they are strong, and not many can get their hands on them as a novice trainer. If a trainer starting out on their journey wants to receive one, they have to apply for it and sit through a series of tests before they can be considered as an applicant. For Sinnoh, their regional starters are the chimchar, piplup, and the turtwig line. Having even just one of the above three in a trainer's team can boost their firepower significantly.

However, only a select few every year will have the fortunate luck to receive a regional starter as their first pokemon. For any other normal trainer starting out on their very first journey, most of them receive their starters from the closest pokemon gym to where they live.

The pokemon that Sunyshore Gym is giving out now to novice trainers are all provided by the League. These are pokemon who are accustomed to living with humans and will not pose a danger even if someone as inexperienced as novice trainers are the ones handling them. They come in different typings, not just electric type. Still, most of these pokemon are electric types since Volkner is their Gym Leader. Electric types are his specialty and many of these novice trainers are inspired by him. He is the reason why many of them decided to be a pokemon trainer and Kayla knows that most of them are aiming to be Electric Specialist themselves.

She was once one of these kids. She still remembers the day when Volkner had helped her picked Woofy as her starter when she mentioned that she wants to be an Electric Specialist. Woofy is now her most loyal companion and the strongest pokemon on her team. Volkner does have a good eye when it comes to pokemon.

Right now, Volkner is doing the same thing by helping these novice trainers who will be starting on their journey today. Who knows? Maybe one of them here will grow strong enough to give Volkner a run for his money and maybe help him with his retirement plan? That will be fun to watch.

Although that probably won't happen until about a decade or two later. Volkner is just too strong to beat. Come to think of it, who is capable of beating him in a battle? Volkner is on the level of an Elite Four member. Did he ever challenge their Regional Champion, Cynthia? If so, what was the outcome?

She will have to remember to bug Volkner about that later.

Zap, her zebstrika, helped to pull the crates along into the arena where a long queue of novice trainers are waiting for their turn to pick their starters and meet the legendary Volkner face-to-face. She can understand their excitement. Choosing a pokemon to be a part of your team is a sacred process for any trainer. To top it off, their city's Gym Leader is helping them with the process.

Volkner is talking to a boy now. Given the type of pokemon that they are looking at, this boy is probably aspiring to be a Ground Specialist.

"-if you want something that has better defence, I say go for something like a rhyhorn." Volkner pointed to a stoic looking rhyhorn nearby with a finger. "There are only a few species of ground types in Sinnoh and the number of ground types we have in our region that is suitable for a novice trainer to handle are just a small handful. If you want something more unique, you can try picking the hippopotas over there. Their kind can grow to be extremely strong in battle too, just look at Bertha and her hippowdon."

"But I really want a gible…"

"Trust me, you should only try to handle a gible only when you are at least an intermediate level trainer in strength. They are Dragons first and ground type second, not the other way around. There's a good reason why there are so few Dragon Specialists around and why they tend to go so far in their trainer career. Dragons are strong, but they are also extremely hard to handle with ghosts as a close second. Put off these ambitious plans until you grow stronger as a trainer."

"Okay." The boy nodded his head once to show that he is listening and that he is convinced by Volkner's logic.

"So, your choice?"

"Erm, what about that gligar over there?" The boy pointed to a gligar that is clinging on to a nearby handrail using its tail while swaying in its upside down position.

"Huh, that one? You can try, but their kind can be a little hard to handle and they love to cause trouble for humans. Mostly harmless ones, but you will definitely have your hands full in trying to handle this little guy as your first pokemon. Expect to receive a lot of complaints from other people about the gligar on your journey if you really choose it as your starter."

"I still want to try having that gligar as my starter. I think I can do it."

"And I have faith that you will, kid." Volkner ruffled the boy's hair with a hand as the gligar finally noticed that it is their topic of discussion and peered at the boy curiously.

Kayla can't help but let a smile appear on her face. It is times like these that she feels that her job as a gym trainer, no matter how hectic and unthankful the job is, is worth it. Seeing how people meet their starters for the first time and the expression of joy that they display just makes her day.

Volkner probably feels the same way too.

"Finally!"

The group of gym trainers lay their backs on the floor in their lounge and let the exhaustion wash over them. The day is finally over. It is finally over.

"Can't believe we have so many trainers coming to our gym this year to receive their starter." Vicky groaned out as the rest of them nodded in agreement. "Why the sudden increase in the crowd? Last year wasn't so hectic."

"The kids absolutely love Volkner. You think?" Marco quipped from where he is. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

The door to their lounge opens just right at that very instance.

"Oh, so this is where you guys are." Volkner made his appearance with Squeaky and Scrat following behind. Volkner looked at the sight displayed in front of him.

"Your stamina sucks. How can you guys get so tired easily?"

"You aren't the one trying to update the database at the speed of light." Kayla shot back.

"You aren't the one moving crates of pokeballs every five minutes." Marco added.

"You guys aren't the one helping trainers to pick their starters from dawn to dusk." Volkner retorted. "I have been there helping trainers choose their starters since early morning and I only had a sandwich in the afternoon as my only meal. I did everything without rest, a one-man show to boot. You guys at least have enough manpower to take short breaks in between. Do you see me complaining?"

The rest of the gym trainers clamped their mouths shut. They were all so absorbed in recounting the sufferings they experienced today that they forgot that Volkner had it the hardest.

"As for updating the database." Volkner's next words got Kayla's attention immediately. Did she do something wrongly? "Well, I had Jarvis find some time to go through it on top of his usual duties in protecting the city and he found some mistakes. He had already rectified it though, so there's nothing else to follow up on other than wait for the League's confirmation from the HQ's side. That will be your job, Kayla. Good job, everyone. I know it has been a hectic day for everybody. Thanks for helping out."

"So, are you treating us to a meal?" Marco asked hopefully.

"The eatery near the east side of town? The Sunyshore seafood double combo meal?" Chris, another gym trainer of Sunyshore, asked with equal amount of anticipation as he started to drool at the thought of food.

"Please?" Kayla asked with wide pleading eyes.

"Sure, why not?" Volkner answered with a shrug. "Last one out of this room walks there by himself or herself. The rest can hitch a ride with Myst's Teleport."

The lounge immediately exploded into a stampede. Kayla never felt her neurons firing at such a rapid speed before as she dashed for the door that Volkner just walked out of.

Only for her to bump into something invisible and fall on her back. This brief delay was enough to allow the rest of her fellow gym trainers to get out of the room before her.

"Guess it's Kayla's turn to walk. Everyone, say your thanks to our beloved head gym trainer."

"Thanks, Kayla! Your sacrifice won't be forgotten!" Vicky waved happily as the rest of the gym trainers followed her example. Scrat put a tiny paw over his mouth as he snickered from his position on the floor and Kayla's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

It must be Scrat. It has to be him. She doesn't know how he did it but Scrat is a certified troublemaker and prankster. He must have done something to make her fall earlier.

"Well, see you later, Kayla. Don't be too late! Remember to lock up the gym before leaving!"

"W-Wait!"

Volkner gave a cheery wave at her as Myst appeared in a Teleport and took the entire group with him a split second later, leaving Kayla at her spot with her mouth hanging and her hand still stretched out in the direction where the group had just disappeared.

Kayla can feel her body shaking uncontrollably in annoyance. There's no way this wasn't planned somehow. Knowing them, Scrat and Volkner are doing this on purpose to get on her nerves.

The two little shits.

"VOLKNER!"

AN: This story is surprisingly easy to write so far, but it may be because it is in the beginning phase and I don't have to think too hard about the plot yet.

In any case, I hope you guys enjoy this story.

Pokemon and trainer list:

Volkner Tide: Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist

Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Sinnoh, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash

Main team:

1) Electivire (Franky), male

2) Luxray (Simba), male

3) Jolteon (Jo), female

4) Magnezone (ISpy), genderless

5) Gallade (Myst), male

6) Rhyperior (Tec), male

7) Probopass (North), female

8) Gyarados (Puddle), male

Pokemon used for Gym challenges

9) Raichu (Squeaky), female

10) Pachirisu (Scrat), male

11) Heliolisk (Bask), male

12) Ampharos (Fluffy), female

13) Vikavolt (Vik), female

14) Eelektross (Whirr), male

15) Lanturn (Glowy), female

Pokemon used for Sunyshore's security

16) Rotom (Prime), genderless

17) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless

Flint Cinders: Sinnoh Elite Four, Fire Specialist

Titles, Accolades and Achievement: Tie for First Place with Volkner in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Fire Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Sinnoh, Sinnoh's Raging Inferno

Pokemon team:

1) Magmortar (Burner), male

2) Infernape (Might), male

3) Houndoom (Bel), female

4) Flareon (Flare), male

5) Rapidash (Flamel), male

6) Talonflame (Soar), female

7) Volcarona (Buzz), male

8) Chandelure (Wick), female

9) Turtonator (Fuse), female