A Platinum Smile - Chapter 1 Part 1

I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for Kyoji to arrive. The dude was 2 minutes late! As I fumed to myself, I heard footsteps down the path to Twinleaf, our hometown. I glanced up to see Kyoji, out of breath from running here.

“Too slow Kyoji! Hahaha!” I laughed, poking him in the ribs and making him wince. He was quiet as usual, with that big smile of his that made me want to charge him a billion yen for looking so dumb.

“Ok here’s the plan. We’re gonna go over to Sandgem, and get ourselves some Pokémon. It’s right over there, so we can get our Pokémon in no time flat!” I pounded my fist into my hand and pointed in the direction of Sandgem. Kyoji’s eyes widened, and he shook his head and pointed at the grass.

“Aw you’re worried about some tall grass? Psh, don’t sweat it! If we run as fast as we can, there’s no way we can be attacked!” I grabbed his wrist, and backed up to give myself room for a running start. He shook his head, and tried to pull away.

“Don’t be scared! Let’s go on 3. One….two…thre-“ I stepped forward, and a loud shout interrupted me.

“Hold it! Hold it right there!” I paused our dash, and turned around to see an old guy with a strange moustache jog up. He seemed a bit too old to jog, which made me laugh in my head. “Were you two about to run into tall grass? It doesn’t seem to me that you have any Pokémon, what on earth were you two thinking?”

I reconsidered my plan, and fell silent. Kyoji quietly explained the situation to the old man, and I suddenly recognized him. “Kyoji, isn’t that Prof. Rowan? He’s the one we needed to talk to!” I whispered to him. He nodded, but kept quiet.

“So you planned to go to Sandgem to get Pokémon of your own? Meeting a Pokémon would definitely change their lives… Hm… should I really be setting these youngsters on such a difficult path in life…” Professor Rowan mumbled to himself, walking a few steps away. He then turned around to us and stared at us.

“You two. You truly love Pokémon, do you?” He asked. It took me a moment to register what he said, then I nodded furiously.

“Of course we love Pokémon! Don’t we Kyoji?” I looked at my best friend, who replied with a soft “Yes” and looked back at Rowan.

He walked back over to us, and spoke again. “I’ll ask you once more, do you love Pokémon?” I stared defiantly back at him.

“Of course! No matter how many times you ask us, we’ll reply with the same answer! We love Pokémon, right Kyoji?” Again Kyoji replied with his soft “Yes” which boosted my determination. Was he testing us or something?

“Hm… Running so recklessly into the tall grass… I wonder how two reckless boys like that would handle Pokémon… Hmmm…” Professor Rowan muttered loudly. A pang of guilt hit me, and I looked down at my feet. Yeah, it was wrong for us to be so foolish… but…

“Uh… Well I… Forget me then! But give my friend here a Pokémon! I dragged him along, it was my plan in the first place!” I pleaded, grabbing Kyoji’s shoulder. Kyoji’s eyes widened, his mouth became a thin line of concern and awe for a second, then was replaced with his trademark wide loopy smile. Professor Rowan glanced over at me, a twinkle in his eye.

“How bold… and very honest. Very well!” He boomed, catching us off-guard. I felt Kyoji jump a little, and bit back a laugh. “I will give you two your first Pokémon! Now where did I set that darned…”

“Professor! Honest to Arceus, you nearly gave me a heart attack running off like that!” I heard a familiar voice approaching from the direction of Lake Verity. I glanced over to see Kyoji’s face pale a little.

“Ah Dawn, it’s good to see you managed to catch up. Hand me my briefcase if you will.” Professor Rowan extended his hand to his assistant, who gave him the briefcase before glancing at us.

“Is that… Oh great, it’s little Kyu-Kyu and his friend… what was it? Barry? Pearl? Something stupid…” Dawn glared at her younger brother, their nearly identical features reflecting each other’s personalities. I clenched my fists and glared at her. She had left a few years earlier to accompany the Professor as her dad’s successor as his top assistant. She hadn’t changed in all that time, still as mean to us as ever.

“It’s Archer. Completely wrong, as usual.” I growled. I saw the big smile on Kyoji’s face twitch, but it still was there. He was ticked.

“Alright Dawn, enough. Here boys, in this briefcase are three Pokémon. Choose one to be your partner, and choose wisely. You should pick the Pokémon that you think fits you better, and one that you will cherish for the rest of your lives.” Professor Rowan set the briefcase down in front of us, I felt my eyes widen in surprise. He was serious?

“Kyoji, you take first pick! I’ll pick afterwards…Don’t give me that, I’m not just doing this for the type advantage. I’m practically an adult, I gotta show some class sometime.” I laughed, nudging Kyoji towards the briefcase. His smile grew bigger, and he crouched down and opened the case and began to study the pokéballs inside.

“But Professor, those Pokémon are crucial to our work. It’ll be hard to replace them…” Dawn put in, but Professor Rowan cut her off.

“Dawn this isn’t the time. We exist side by side with Pokémon. There will come a time when human will meet Pokémon. This world should be explored not alone, but together.” He looked at us sternly. “But boys, you must promise me one thing. You must promise that you will never endanger yourselves, nor your Pokémon recklessly ever again.”

Kyoji glanced up from deep thought, his smile disappearing for a moment to be replaced by a serious frown. He nodded vigorously, and whispered “Yes, of course. Pokémon are our friends.” He then resumed smiling and picked up a pokéball with a green leaf symbol on it. Of course he’d pick the grass type, he had always enjoyed exploring the forest that surrounded Twinleaf.

“Yes Professor.” I swore solemnly. He smiled at us, and I felt giddy as it was my turn to pick my Pokémon. No doubt Kyoji felt the same way, his smile was widening with every second he held that pokéball. I grabbed the fire type, knowing a feisty little Chimchar was inside just raring to get out.

“I… I can’t believe it Kyoji! I’m so happy now… I can barely keep a straight face!” I laughed, jumping up and down. Professor Rowan gave us a grandfatherly smile.

“Now remember boys, these Pokémon are unfamiliar with the world, as you are as well. Treat them with kindness, and don’t be afraid to mess up. If you can’t handle a fight, run away. And always move forward. If you ever have any questions, come visit me in Sandgem.” He clapped his hands on our shoulders reassuringly, and I felt the weight of our future in that gesture. “Alright Dawn, I’m returning to Sandgem. Catch up once you take your Pokémon as well.” The old man winked, and walked briskly towards the tall grass and the way to Sandgem. Dawn’s jaw dropped, and she glanced down at the open briefcase with the lone pokéball left in it.

“How about that… Professor Rowan is a nice guy. Lucky for you Dawn!” I laughed, bouncing up and down with my Pokémon. Kyoji was standing there, looking at the pokéball that contained his Turtwig, his eyes filled with excitement and the stupid grin permanently etched on his face.

“I…wow…” Dawn stooped down to take the pokéball out of the briefcase, closed the lid to the case, and stood up. She brushed off her pink winter jacket that nearly hid the fact that she was wearing a red skirt. “My own Pokémon… Piplup…”

She snapped out of her daze, and frowned. “Aw crap, Professor! ‘Scuse me boys, important assistant business to attend to. I’ll smell you guys later.” She glared at us, then ran the way the Professor went.

I felt antsy, and grinned at Kyoji, who smiled at me with the same happy smile. “You know what this means, don’t you?” I asked him, and he nodded with a  soft “Yes.”

I jabbed my finger towards him, and shouted in a dramatic tone “There’s only one thing to do, right? I’ve always wanted to say this… The time has finally come! Kyoji, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!”

The placid smile turned to a serious frown, as he clicked the button on his pokéball. I did the same, letting out in a flash of red light a small monkey Pokémon with a flame for a stubby tail. It chattered in delight, and looked up at me. I felt my heart beat faster with excitement and looked over. Kyoji looked odd, as if he was excited but pained. It passed, and he squatted down to pat his small leafy turtle. It chirped at him, and pounded it’s dense hoof-like feet into the dirt.

“Ok let’s start this thing! Chimchar, use Scratch on Turtwig!” I pointed at Kyoji’s Turtwig, and Chimchar leaped forward with tiny claws. Kyoji murmured something, and the small Turtwig jumped sideways out of the range of my Chimchar’s Scratch attack. It rolled forward and tackled Chimchar, knocking him backwards towards me.

“Hey, that hurt him!” I growled, “Chimchar use Leer a lot!” Chimchar glared and stalked towards Turtwig. Kyoji muttered something again, and Turtwig curled up into it’s shell. I ordered Chimchar to keep glaring until Turtwig came out of it’s shell. At that moment, Turtwig shot out of it’s shell and tackled Chimchar. Chimchar managed to get a good hit in, but Turtwig was just too strong. He threw Chimchar off, and Chimchar landed on his feet. Chimchar fell to one knee, and whimpered.

“Chimchar return! C’mere buddy…” I called out to him. Chimchar chattered at me, he wanted to keep fighting. But he was beat up. I clicked the button on his pokéball, and looked over at Kyoji. He had his usual idiotic grin, but his eyes were filled with that weird look again. He was happy and sad? As he returned his Pokémon, I strolled back up to him.

“We ended up losing?! My type and speed advantage?! Ah well, here’s a couple bucks from a pal to another. Good battle, looks like you’ve got training in your blood pal!” I slapped Kyoji on the back, and gave him a couple hundred yen I had stuffed in my back pocket. He shook his head, but I stuck the money in his bag before he could protest.

“Whew! That was fun! Let’s go home. Your mom is probably worried sick about you bud, it’s nearly dark! And besides, our Pokémon are pretty tired. I’ll see you tomorrow Kyoji!” I laughed, running towards town. As I glanced back, I saw Kyoji jogging not too far behind me, his eyes at his feet. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head. The events from today… were almost unreal.