Shane screams, and rapidly sits up in his bed at the second floor of the pokemon center. Sweat is pouring down his face, himself still being caught in the vision of buildings being crushed by massive amounts of water.


    He looks at the clock, 2AM. The third day in this new land.


    No point in trying to sleep now, might as well explore the city for a bit.


    Shane proceeds down the stairs to ask for a town map. To his surprise, it is not a human standing in the reception. The big, pink, egg-shaped pokemon behind the desks gives him a happy smile, saying "chansey".


    "Hi…" Shane replies. "Do you… understand english?".


    "Chansey", the pokemon replies with a nod.


    "Aha… do you have a map I could get?"


    "Chan" it happily replies again, proceeding to scavenge under the desk for a bit. The big colorful ball puts the map on the desk, followed by a chiming "chansey".


    "Thank you very much".


    Shane turns around to walk out and into the street when he suddenly realizes.


    "Oh, where am I, by the way?"


    "Chansey" the pokemon, which Shane now assumed to be named Chansey, says, and points at a red building in the northern part of town, close to the dock. Then it gestures for Shane to turn the map around, and points at a small Island in the southwest corner, where the name "Dewford" is in place next to the Island.


    "Thank you again Chansey".


    Chansey nods, and waves goodbye.


    Out in the street, Shane decides to look up the pokemon Gym. Seems to be just a few minutes away.


    He starts walking, and takes in the scenery. On one side, he has the docks, somewhat similar to that he had at home. On the other side, a quiet town spread out, with enough light to safely wander the streets. There was so much light compared to Osmer, where lights were mostly used in the evening, until around midnight. And the amount wasn''t even close to this.


    After a few minutes of walking, he finds the gym. It seems to be on the older side, compared to many other buildings around, but it was well kept.


    On a bench outside, a young girl was sitting, tiredly rubbing her eyes, next to a small pokemon.


    It was around and green, a bit smaller than a football. The small wings, yellow at the root and striped with red and black, along with the yellow beak and red talons showed it to be some form of bird pokemon.


    When seeing Shane approaching, the little pokemon jumped up and down, prodding the girl with a wing.


    "What is it Natu, did you wake me up just to sit here and look at people?" the girl said with an annoyed voice and yawned.


    Shane walked closer.


    "Hi, is this the gym?"


    "Yes, but it''s closed until morning. Are you taking the challenge?".


    "No, not now I think" Shane replies. The evening before, he had read the booklet, which stated that pokemon trainers may take on 8 different gym challenges in the region to qualify for some sort of competition at the end of the year.


    "I just wanted to check out where it was. I''m getting my ID in a few days and am supposed to come here then."


    The pokemon at her side hasn''t been taking its eyes off Shane for the whole time.


    It approaches him, making small jumps over the ground.


    "Natu?" it asks, sounding just like a small bird.


    "Hey Natu. I''m Shane. Did you really wake her up just to watch people pass by".


    Natu shakes its head.


    "Okay… were you waiting for me?" Shane jokingly asks.


    Natu nods.


    This is odd, Shane thinks. Is it just messing with him?


    Natu proceeds to jump closer a few steps.


    "Na?" it says with a questioning face.


    Shane looks at Natu. Then at the girl.


    "Do you know what he means?" he asks.


    "No idea, we caught him just the other day. Or rather, he started hanging around here, seeming like he almost asked to be catched. Natu aren''t native to Hoenn, and the staff at the safari zone says that they aren''t missing any Natu".


    Natu just sways up and down happily on his feet, saying nothing, but still looking at Shane, with occasional glances at the girl.


    "Do you work for the gym?" Shane asks.


    "Yeah, I''m a gym trainer. Lizz, by the way."


    "Shane, pleased to meet you. What does a gym trainer do?"This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "We have our primary duties in training and maintaining the extra pokemon the gym has, outside of the gym leader''s personal team. But we maintain the gym itself too, cleaning, minor repairs and such."


    "Okay. That''s nice to know. I''m kind of new here, so i''m just happy to know how things work out."


    "No problem." Lizz says, and turns to Natu. "Hey, are you happy with this piece of fresh air we got now? Can we go back?"


    "Natu!" Natu happily exclaims, and jumps a lap around Shane, then to Lizz.


    "Finally…" she mutters. "See ya anyway!".


    "See ya".


    "Natu, Natu!", the bird again exclaims happily.


    "Bye, Natu!" Shane replies, feeling slightly confused and worried.


    Why is this bird saying it was waiting for him?


    Overcome by a sudden surge of drowsiness, Shane decides to head back for the center to get some more rest.


    After waking up at the more reasonable time of 11 AM, Shane grabs some lunch and decides to sit in the lobby to watch some TV.


    The meat reminds of seafood, but something is different from what he had back home. Do they cook pokemon here?


    If pokemon have superpowers, do cooks need even stronger pokemon to be able to kill their meals every day?


    Shane shudders at the thought, and decides to continue eating instead.


    The TV mentions something about the Evergrande Conference coming in a week. Is it some sort of tournament between the best trainers?


    Ah right, it''s that finalist tournament between trainers who completed the gym circuit, that was mentioned in the booklet, Shane recalls.


    He turns to one of the teenagers sitting in the lobby: "Hey, quick question, how long can you use a completed gym challenge to compete in the conference?"


    "Two years" he replies. "Then you have to do it again, and they always bring their personal team after the first completion".


    "Don''t they always do?" Shane asks.


    "Nah, the gym trainers are responsible for keeping a team of lower levels, and depending on how new you are in the circuit, they may bring a composition of those pokemon instead of their personal team. Most gym leaders have at one point competed in the conference themselves, or placed well in other tournaments, so their personal team is always stronger than the intros" the teenager continues.


    "Intros?"


    "Yeah, introductory pokemon."


    "I see. Thanks for the info".


    "No problem" says the teenager, before quickly turning to the TV again, showing highlights from last year''s conference. A young man with a black and yellow vest, paired with a cap with a pokeball logo yells commands to what resembles a big, floating, angry ice boulder with black ears.


    Ash Ketchum seems to be his name, from the text bar appearing in the corner.


    "Shane Thomson? " a voice asks from the reception desk.


    "Coming!" says Shane as he bounces out of the couch.


    "Your trainer ID has arrived"


    "What, already?"


    "Seems so. Maybe it''s because the season is about to end, most new applications arrive during or after the conference, due to many aspiring trainers getting inspired." she says, as she hands over an envelope.


    "Wow, thanks. Feels great with such service."


    "You''re welcome," smiles nurse Joy.


    Shane walks back to the couch as he opens the letter.


    It contains a small plastic card with his photo and personal details.


    Together with it is also another plastic card, saying "Bank of Hoenn" and a letter, containing details about his current migratory status, bank details and other formalities.


    Shane looks at the cards, and feels happy. Yet, there is an emptiness tugging at him.


    The loss of his home feels… Unbearable.


    Is he supposed to just let go of all of that and start a new life, just like that?


    Shane turns to the TV. After seeing some actual pokemon battles, he can''t help but think that the people of Osmer were partly right. It can be really brutal.


    Although, pokemon seems way more hardy than humans, being able to take hits that would shatter the bones of any normal person.


    "No point in sitting here pitying myself," he thinks, and decides to go straight to the gym.


    Again, the view is beautiful. The hot climate is similar to Osmer, but the difference is that you can see a large mainland a bit away on the horizon, although that too being an Island. Just a large one.


    Arriving at the gym, Shane was greeted by Lizz once again. "You''re back already," she said, a hint of surprise in her tone. "Ready for your first challenge?"


    "I... I guess," Shane replied, a jumble of nerves. "I haven''t got a Pokemon yet, though."


    Lizz raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Really? Most trainers usually have at least one Pokemon before they decide to take on a gym challenge."


    Shane shrugged, unsure of what to say. He was all new to this world of Pokemon, and didn''t have a clear idea about how things worked here.


    “Before we go straight to battling, there''s something you should see," Lizz announced.


    "What''s that?" Shane asked, intrigued by her sudden shift in tone.


    "Come with me," Lizz responded, leading Shane towards the back of the gym where a separate training room was located. The gym was filled with the familiar sounds of Pokemon calls and trainer commands. As they approached the room, the specific chirp of a Natu became discernible.


    Entering the room, Shane observed a few gym trainers lined up in a makeshift arena. One trainer in particular had released their Pokemon - a small, round bird Pokemon with a yellow beak and red talons. It was Natu.


    "Natu? What''s going on?" Shane asked, surprised to see the familiar Pokemon.


    "I thought you might like to observe one of our training battles. The participants change each time, and today Natu is up." Lizz explained, gesturing to the ongoing match.


    As Shane watched, he was amazed by the abilities demonstrated by Natu. The Pokemon''s sharp movements and quick reflexes revealed a depth of training and skill that was impressive. In particular, Shane noticed how Natu kept darting glances towards him during the match.


    Once the battle was over, the trainers began to recall their Pokemon. But, Natu, instead of returning to its Poke Ball, fluttered towards Shane and landed on his shoulder.


    Shane looked at Lizz in surprise. "Natu... he''s..."


    Lizz smiled at his reaction. "He’s quite taken with you, it seems. Natu''s always had a keen sense for people. They have the ability to see into the future, after all. Maybe he sees something in you."


    "But I''m just... an average person," Shane stammered, still taken aback by Natu''s fondness towards him.


    "Well, whatever it is, Natu seems to have made his decision," Lizz stated with a knowing grin. "I assume you too want him as your first companion? But remember, Pokemon are not tools, they are partners and friends."


    "I understand, and yes, of course I want!" Shane happily responded, patting Natu gently on its head.


    Natu chirped in response, looking up at Shane with what he could only describe as trust. The unexpected turn of events left Shane baffled, but deep down, he felt a connection forming with the small bird-like Pokemon.


    As Shane watched Natu flutter around him excitedly, he realized his journey in the world of Pokemon was becoming more intriguing than he had ever imagined.