Changing Times

[Oakbark]

Hey all, i'm so nervous! Here it is, my brand new fic, set in the continent of Revis. Hope you all enjoy, please, please reply and tell me what you think (good or bad).

Strangely enough, this beginning chapter took on a life of it's own, and is nothing like the start I envisaged. It's much better for it though, characters seemed to have emerged quicker and better than expected.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Cameras flashed and flickered as the gates of the mansion opened. A crowd was gathered on the cobbled outer courtyard, heads outstretched to catch a glimpse of the figures coming through the gates. Professor Contessa Beech strode in long bounds through the gates, her gravity-defying stilettos clip-clapping on the stones, her white leather tailcoat flapping gently in the early morning breeze. A group of aides in well-worn lab coats rushed up behind her, briefcases held tightly in their hands.

Contessa walked towards the waiting crowd, pausing momentarily for some media shots. She waved along her aides, who lined up beside her and unclipped the briefcases. Inside, pokeballs lay resting on mini-pedestals. The briefcases were lined with some kind of velvet-like cloth – one red, another blue, the other green.

“Please, no more flash photography,” said Contessa sharply, raising her oversized sunglasses and placing them on her head. Her bodyguard cracked his knuckles menacingly, to emphasise her words of caution. “Welcome one and all to my Reserve, and to the beginning of three young trainers’ pokemon journeys.”

The crowd gave a muted applause, while the younger members of the crowd held their breath anxiously. Professor Beech chose her three candidates on the basis of volunteer work in her Reserve. Although Bowrain Town was quite a small community, over ten kids from the ages of ten to twenty had volunteered all year, desperately hoping for one of Beech’s three starter pokemon. Cleaning stables, cutting hedgerows, landscaping, preening trees, painting fences, running errands for the Professor. No job had been too big or too small.

“First off, I’d like to give first choice to one of my best volunteers this year, my nephew Terence Beech,” said Contessa. “He really has made an outstanding contribution to the Reserve, and my research.”

Terence, or Terry to his friends, winked at his aunt as he walked past her towards the briefcases. Terry’s contribution had been minimal at best – in fact, he had spent the year mocking and teasing the other kids about how there were really only two starters up for grabs. Everyone had figured Beech would favour her own relative – it was the norm with most professors. There had been rumours about Gary Oak getting a specially bred starter when he began his pokemon journey.

Terry headed straight for the red-velvet briefcase. He grabbed the pokeball from the mini-pedestal and threw it at the ground to release the pokemon inside. A small red pokemon emerged, with little claw-hands and feet, and what looked like a 70’s hairstyle. Its mouth was almost duck-like, but there was no mistaking this fire type. It was a Magby, its hair shining brightly in the early morning sunshine, its eyes wide and alert. It shot a string of flame at the crowd, at which they all took a few steps backwards. It looked up at Terry and jumped for joy, waddling over to his side.

“Come on Mags, we’ve got some bugs to incinerate,” said Terry, ignoring Magby’s affectionate nuzzling and recalling him instantly. “We won’t win the League with that softie attitude. Later Auntie Tess.”

With that Terry ducked through the crowd towards Bowrain Forest, ignoring some of the younger kids’ requests to see his Magby. Contessa gave a hint of a smile as she watched him go, before continuing.

“Next up, I’m pleased to reveal that Cassie Philips will receive the next pokemon,” she said, as a raven-haired girl stepped forward to the front of the crowd. Like Terry, she was about fourteen years old, and she had struggled night and day to be one of the lucky chosen three.

“Thank you so much Professor!” she beamed, racing up to the briefcases. She looked to the green-lined case, and again to the blue-lined case. It was a tough decision! She began reaching for the blue-lined case. . .

“You know I really think you would prefer a grass-type,” interrupted Beech, stopping Cassie in her tracks. “I’ve been watching your progress lately, and I really think you’d be more suited to raising a pokemon such as the one I have here. Trust me.”

Cassie paused for a moment. “Well, if you really think so....”

“Oh, I know so!” replied Beech.

Cassie picked up the pokeball from the green-lined case and opened it to reveal . . . an acorn. Its hard upper shell looked like a hat, and it had big black panda-eyes. It had a little stem on its head, and little stubby feet. It was a Seedot, and it was known as a pokemon primarily owned by boys. The Seedot grimaced at its new owner and make a dash through the crowd under people’s legs. Cassie gasped and took chase after him down the road.

“Seedot!” she wailed, as the seedling took off with surprising speed into the dew-laden grass.

“Wonderful!” said Beech, shaking her head happily, “I think he’s learned Agility already darling. You two take care now!”

With only one pokemon up for grabs, the other eight volunteers watched eagerly as Professor Beech scanned the crowd. But wait, she wasn’t looking through the crowd – she was looking over it! A screech of brakes caused to crowd to split and look behind them at the metallic grey stretch limo that had arrived. The driver got out and opened the door to reveal a young teenage girl with overly-long blonde hair. She was wearing a short pink frilly dress and matching pink shoes. And earrings. And necklace. And hair clips. Diamonds glittered from every item of clothing or jewellery she wore.

“Looks like she collided with a truck full of glitter,” remarked one of the members of the crowd, smirking.

Her name was Tiffany Rockwell, the wealthy daughter of Samuel Rockwell, CEO of Rockwell Oil Ltd. The company was one of the biggest in the world, and the family were worth millions of dollars.

“Where’s my Azurill?” she barked, looking with contempt at Beech. Beech plucked the third pokeball from its blue-lined briefcase and handed it to the limo driver, who promptly gave it to Tiffany.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, our third pokemon recipient,” said Beech, as the remaining volunteers gasped in shock. Tiffany hadn’t been a volunteer at all. In fact, she wasn’t even a Bowrain resident.

“This isn’t fair!” shrieked one girl in the crowd, “You promised us our volunteer work would determine who would get the pokemon. That girl has never set foot in the Reserve!”

Tiffany got back into her limo and within seconds was speeding off down the road. She hadn’t even bothered to release her Azurill. The crowd began to disperse, kids and parents furious at the distribution of the starters. Beech smiled thinly.

“Well darling, life isn’t fair,” she replied, dismissing the young girl. “There’s always next year though. Volunteering starts tomorrow.”

And with that Beech turned on her heel and sped off towards her mansion, camera flashes peppering the ground around her. Beech was nothing if not controversial.

*

Dane Gregory was furious. He had put everything into his volunteer work over the last year. Truth be told, it had been a good distraction from his family situation. Two years previous, both his parents had been killed in a car accident. At the moment, there were five people in his family – his older twin siblings, Fred and Sally, both nineteen. His four year old brother Corey, and his three year old sister Annie. The twins had quit school to work full-time to pay the bills and mind the two youngsters. Dane himself had taken on a paper round between his schoolwork and volunteering. Being honest, he saw receiving a starter as a get-out card, a chance to take a year out, maybe earn some money from some battling. He’d put his heart and soul into getting one of those pokemon. And for what? So that Beech’s nephew and some wealthy Reserve Donor’s daughter could steal them from under his nose?

Without realising, Dane had walked to the outskirts of the town. He was now on a small pathway that led down to the lake. Between the trees, he could see a familiar car – a stretch limo to be precise. He crept along among the tree trunks to see what was going on. Tiffany was sitting on a chair outside the limo, sipping a cocktail and holding a sun reflector under her face. Dane couldn’t help but smile – she wasn’t going to get a tan in April. His eyes wandered over towards the lake, where a bodyguard was allowing Azurill to splash in the shallows.

“Are you battling with it yet?” screamed Tiffany, shaking her empty glass. The bodyguard left Azurill in the shallows and came back to the car to refill her glass. “Has it learned Bubblebeam?”

“Have patience, miss,” the bodyguard replied, pulling ice cubes from the ice box. “She needs to battle a lot more to learn that kind of attack, maybe even evolve first.”

“Well, ring my personal shopper and order a Water Stone or something. I need a powerhouse pokemon. The professor promised me that Azurill was tough.”

Dane’s teeth were clenched as he listened to the exchange. Water Stone? That girl had no idea what it meant to raise a pokemon – even her bodyguard had more of an idea. It wasn’t fair that she had that Azurill. She didn’t deserve her one little bit.

Dane was racing from the trees and towards the lakeshore before he knew what he was doing. He plucked Azurill from the shallows and began to race down the dirt track perimeter. He could hear the sounds of Tiffany shrieking behind him, the sounds of the bodyguard’s boots as they pounded in the soft mud. Azurill began squirming in his hands and started to wriggle from his grasp. What had he just done? Dane squeezed tighter on the water mouse as he ran, but Azurill was getting frightened. She looked up at Dane and shot a jet-stream of bubbles at his face. The bubbles exploded on impact and stung Dane hard, causing him to lose his footing and slip on the ground. Azurill wailed loudly and dashed away towards the bodyguard. Dane looked up and saw him advancing on him quickly. He was in serious trouble. . .

Suddenly a small fairy-like creature, green in colour, appeared in a flash of light before Dane. It flew quickly towards him and held onto him tightly with her arms. Everything began to glow brighter and brighter, until Dane couldn’t see anything anymore. When he opened his eyes, he stood shocked on the spot. He was standing between the trees by the lake, looking out towards the bodyguard and Tiffany’s Azurill. It was like déjà vu, like he’d gone back in time. This time, however, the green fairy was hovering by his side, and Dane began to make sense of what had just happened. It was a Celebi. She spun in the air happily and flew off through the trees. When she had gone a few metres away, she turned and beckoned to Dane. She wanted him to follow her. Dane took one last look at the Azurill and sighed, before chasing off through the trees after Celebi.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Dane aloud, trudging slowly through the trees.
Celebi had dragged him halfway around the lake, and showed no sign of stopping. Finally, the sprite came to a stop at the top of an embankment overlooking the lake. As Dane reached her, Celebi vanished in a whirl of pure white light. He cursed aloud, kicking the ground angrily. All this time and effort wasted, for nothing. He was about to turn around and walk home when he heard voices at the bottom of the embankment by the lake. He peered over the top of the ledge and saw a gang of young teens, around his age, standing in a group with their pokemon. They had a Volbeat tied to a piece of rope, and the rope attached to a wooden pole in the ground. The Volbeat was tugging furiously on the rope, trying to release itself.

“I heard that if a Volbeat is pumped with enough electricity, their tail-lights automatically light up,” said one of the youths, who was wearing a black leather jacket. He seemed to be the leader of the group, surrounded by three cronies.

One of the cronies sniggered, nodding in approval. “Yeah, yeah, too true Quent. I heard that they’re immune to fire attacks because they are fire-flies.”

The others sniggered and snorted loudly - clearly this burst of 'knowledge' was uncommon in their normal day-to-day conversations. Quentin smiled and tapped his Houndour on the head.

“Only one way to find out boys – Houndour, Ember attack!” he yelled, as the demon hound spat a slice of fire into the air. It met Volbeat with surprising precision, slapping painfully into his chest. One of his antennae was singed badly, and his furious wing-flapping got weaker.

“Stop!” screamed Dane, as he jumped over the top of the embankment and slid down the slope to the bottom. Quentin and the cronies jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. Dane grabbed the rope and began pulling on it with all his power, desperately trying to free the Volbeat.

One of the cronies clenched his fist angrily. “Want me to sort him out, Quent?” he said, beckoning his Elekid forwards. Quentin shook his head.

“I sort him out myself. Hey kid, you’ve no right to go messing with my pokemon. Move aside right now, or the next attack hits you!”

Dane ignored him and kept pulling on the rope, with the Volbeat looking on quizzically. Celebi had brought Dane here for a reason, he had stopped him making the mistake of stealing Azurill for a reason – he had to save this Volbeat at whatever cost.

“Alright then Houndour, Ember attack! Aim for that kid at the rope,” shouted Quentin, as Houndour leapt forward and shot another tongue of fire towards Dane. Dane crouched down and narrowly missed the attack, which hit into the rope and burnt it clean through. Volbeat twisted and turned in the air until he got out of the rope remnants, and flew down towards Dane.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” said Dane, dusting himself down and looking at Quentin in horror. “Why would you try to torch your own pokemon?”

“It’s just a dumb bug,” laughed Quentin, feeling along his belt for an empty pokeball. “If I want to capture it for training practice, then that’s what I’ll do. And you’re not going to stand in my way. Volbeat, return!”

Quentin raised the pokeball and a beam of red light shot out towards Volbeat, who flew instinctively behind Dane for protection. Dane raised his arms and shielded the firefly from the pokeball light.

“He doesn’t want to go back to you,” said Dane, taking a few steps backwards. “Why on earth would he?”

One of the cronies sent his Elekid forward, ordering a Thundershock attack. Two spears of zigzag electricity flickered through the air and straight into Dane, causing him to double over in pain. Quentin took advantage of Dane’s momentary weakness to shoot the pokeball at Volbeat again. Volbeat dived behind a rock for cover and avoided the order again. Elekid repeated his attack, this time cracking the rock in half with the mini-bolts. Dane ran back towards Volbeat, cradling him tightly in his arms. Elekid moved forward for another attack.

“Magby, Fire Punch!” came a voice from nearby. Terry came dashing through the nearby trees, Magby waddling quickly towards the Elekid with his claw clenched tight, flames rising and falling in a spiral around it. The punch landed hard, and Elekid was sent skimming along the surface of the lake. Arms flailing and thrashing, the crony recalled his pokemon.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Quentin, clearly annoyed at the level of difficulty he was encountering. “I’m just looking to get my pokemon back. This kid’s after taking it from me.”

Terry smiled, and with a click of his fingers Magby started charging another Fire Punch. “I saw exactly what you were doing, and I didn’t like it one bit,” he said, watching as Houndour began to snarl and growl at Quentin’s feet. “You wanna be a tough trainer – fine. But if there’s one thing I hate it’s an unfair battle. What’s wrong, afraid that bug would beat you if you hadn’t it tied down?”

“You take that back, you piece of scum,” yelled one of the cronies, a Machop by his side. “We can fight whatever way we want, and not even a little brat like you will get in our way.”

“Try me,” replied Terry.

Houndour leapt forward without warning, fangs bared and burning bright with flame. Terry instinctively held a hand to his face, with Magby chasing forward in defence. The dog sank his fangs deep into Magby’s arm, who let out a roar of pain and toppled over onto the ground.

“Now Houndour, attack that kid!” yelled Quentin. Houndour leapt forwards and jumped into the air towards Terry, but was met head on by Volbeat, who Tackled him backwards into the ground. Dane ran forwards towards Terry.

“You okay?” he asked, to which Terry nodded quickly. He turned towards Volbeat. “Volbeat, use another Tackle attack!”

Volbeat raced towards Houndour and hit him in the ribs, winding him badly. Shocked, and unsure of what to do, Quentin recalled his Houndour.

“Let’s go!” he yelled, as he turned around and headed towards the trees. Volbeat had retreated to Dane’s side, and Terry was tending to Magby’s arm, although a Fire Punch was still charging in his left claw.

“What about my Machop?” asked another of the cronies, looking to prove his mettle in front of Quentin. Quentin waved his arm towards him to hurry up.

“If Houndour can’t beat them, your piece of baby muscle hasn’t a chance. Come on!”

The crony recalled Machop, and within seconds the gang had vanished among the trees. Dane turned to Terry, who was spraying some kind of ointment on Magby.

“Is he ok?” asked Dane, walking over towards Terry.

“Nothing a Potion or two can’t solve.”

Dane kicked the ground awkwardly. “Listen, thanks for what you did just there. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to protect Volbeat - or myself - without your help. Magby’s a pretty tough pokemon.”

Magby gave a claws-up but winced as another spraying of Potion hit his wound. Terry looked like he was about to break into a smile, but stood up and recalled Magby instead.

“I’m not some kind of airy-fairy ranger, so don’t get too used to it,” said Terry, repacking his medicine case into his backpack. “I’ve incinerated plenty of Volbeats already today – I just didn’t think it was fair to tie one down to fight it. Where’s the fun in defeat if you cheat to win?”

Dane looked over at Volbeat, who was hovering in the air, hummingbird-style. For the first time he realised that he had just participated in his first pokemon battle, with a pokemon he didn’t even own. And he had won!

“What should I do with Volbeat?” asked Dane. “Should I bring him to a pokemon center to get checked out, or let him fend for himself?”

Terry hitched up his backpack and gave a quick glance at his compass. “He’ll be fine. Looks to me like you’ve found yourself a starter though. Might be a bit of a runt, but it’s a start. Here, take this, make it official.”

Terry handed Dane a pokeball. Dane had often recalled and released pokemon for the Professor at the Reserve, but there was something so amazing, so exciting about knowing the one he held right now was his very own. He looked up at Volbeat, whose tail-light was glowing dimly in the early evening twilight.

“Wanna tag along with me?” he asked, holding up the pokeball towards Volbeat. Volbeat flew down and bumped the button with his arm. At once, he was enveloped in a bright crimson light, which gradually got sucked into the pokeball. The ball snapped shut and the button flickered once, twice, three times.

“Looks like you caught your first pokemon,” said Terry, as he wandered off down along the lakeside. “Next time I see you Gregory, I’m expecting a battle. And don’t think hiding behind a rock will cut it when you’re up against me.”

Dane smiled, watching as he left. First impressions weren’t always right. He couldn’t believe what had just happened – his very own pokemon. He released Volbeat and the duo began walking through the trees.

“Come on buddy,” he said, Volbeat’s light illuminating the path through the trees. “I can’t wait to show you off to my family. I’ve got lots of repacking and planning to do. Tomorrow’s gonna be the start of our pokemon journey. You ready to challenge Gym Leaders and win the Revis League?”

“Volbeat, voll!”

Volbeat had no idea what a ‘gym’ or a ‘league’ was, but it sure sounded a lot better than being target practice. He had a feeling he was going to like being Dane’s new pokemon. And like it a lot.



-

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Finally read it, sorry for postponing it. Another trainer fic, great! I love trainer fics, a new region aswell, which kinda makes us partners in crime, with you already having expierence

I liked how the starters choices were corrupted as it kinda shows the way real life often works. Good for Dane to finally get a starter, eventhough it wasn't like he intended.

Ofcourse, it's just the beginning so I can't really say much about it, but I'm curious on where this is going.

Keep up the good work.

[Oakbark]

Hey!

Thanks for reading and replying, you've no idea how relieved I was that someone replied.

Yeah, Beech really turned from being a typical pokemon professor to being somewhat of an immoral woman (profit before people!). I figured not everyone can be as nice as Oak or Elm, and that people don't run Reserves out of the goodness of their hearts all the time.

My plan is to have the starter trainers flit in and out along the way. Revis will probably have about six gyms, midway between Orange Islands and the other regions. It'll all be revealed along the way.

Damien.

[Chris 2.1]

Hey Oaky! Just gave this a read, and I really like it. The description is fantastic, very visual and fluid - it was a good introductory chapter, and I anticipate seeing the other trainers in the near future.

When Dane grabbed Azurill my heart stopped - I thought he was going to claim the Pokemon as his own, maybe start his journey as a fugitive or something, but seeing Celebi was a cool twist, and the fact she's looking out for him is quite interesting.

Anticipating Chapter two!

[Oakbark]

Hey Chris, thanks for reading!

Yeah, I've lots of ideas popping into my head at the moment - so some of the twists and chapters are coming as surprises to me, too!

Since I've just gone back to college this week, I'm a bit tied up with unpacking/readjusting etc, but Chapter 2 will be up soon.

Stay tuned

Damien.