SureenInk

Chapter 1

The Nihon Islands are a series of three large islands and several smaller ones. Of these islands, there are many regions, such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh to name only a few. My story comes from what is usually considered to be the most well-known of the regions - Kanto.

In the Kanto region there are many cities and towns. Though, the most well-known of those cities is likely Saffron, our largest. It spans a good half of the region, and it is where most major companies exist. For example, Silph Co., the biggest producer of pokeballs, has their main headquarters there.

Back in those days, we had only a few types of pokeballs. Ranging from regular balls to great balls and ultra balls, we did what we could with just a few types. There was some experimentation with other types in the Hoenn region by Devon Corp, but none of them had made their way into the Kanto region as of yet.

As for my story? It begins in a small town known as Pallet Town. It got its name from the sheer beauty one could see when looking around and how clean the air was. The reason there was so little pollution, if any, in the town was because we were all just a town of farmers. We had no major power plants, though we got our power from the major plants in other parts of the region. We had no factories, no tall buildings, nothing that could create pollution. About the only thing that could was the volcano to the south, and that was all the way down on Cinnabar Island.

Of course, I call the town Pallet Town as it is likely the name most of you know. However, to those of us in Nihon, the town had a native name. Of course, it's name didn't have a significantly different meaning, it was just more native. For us, we called it Masara Town. Still, as I know this will likely be read mostly by people outside of Nihon, as I no longer live there during my time of writing, I will use the names of Pokemon and places that people are most familiar with.

My name, if you didn't see on the cover of this book, is Kujiro Ayumi. Of course, once again, I come from Nihon, where we use our surname first. To those outside of Nihon, I'd be known as Ayumi Kujiro. Of course, you might also know me as the Kanto-Johto Champion from years ago, or you might not know me at all, as I haven't been the champion in quite some time. Regardless, I have a story to tell of my journey through Kanto and becoming the champion.

But, you can't follow my story unless you know who I am first. As such, I'll tell you a bit about my history. I was born in Pallet Town and lived there up until I turned 18. While growing up, my family was very close to the Tachibana family that lived right next door to us. They're son, Kakeru, was about the same age as I was, and so we got along together pretty well.

As the Tachibana's were researchers, specifically, they were archaeologists, there were times when they had go out for long periods of time. In those case, they would leave Kakeru at our house to take care of for a week or so. Such was the case when we were about ten years old. Kakeru's parents had gone off on an expedition to one of the southern continents. However, we had no idea that they wouldn't return. According to what we were told, they had been killed by wild pokemon while on the expedition.

My family took Kakeru in and raised him like a son. Still, Kakeru and I weren't siblings, and so no one complained when the two of us began dating in Junior High. Maybe the fact that I lived with my boyfriend for so long was why I was the way I was.

You see, I was an immodest person. When I say that, I mean I didn't wear a lot, nor did I care if people saw my body. When I was young, my family allowed me to start choosing what I wore, and I found I enjoyed wearing things like halter tops, strapless outfits, and things like that. As Kanto was a pretty warm place, though it did have it's cold times, I tended to wear such clothes often.

As Kakeru and I got older, we naturally went through puberty. We started seeing the other sex as attractive, and once Kakeru and I started dating, I wanted to be as attractive to him as I could be. I started wearing tighter and more revealing attire as it was what Kakeru enjoyed. Soon, this turned from simply revealing attire to wearing nothing at all around the house.

Now, I emphasize that. I didn't walk around town in the nude or anything. In fact, I wouldn't even say I walked around the house as a whole while naked. I mostly just spent my time in the bedroom, which I shared with Kakeru, the occasional walk through the hallways, and my time in the bathroom in the nude. If I had to go to any other part of the house, I usually put something on, be it a towel, a long shirt, a dress, anything like that.

Now, you might think the same thing that other people back then thought. If I'm naked so much at home, and I shared a room with Kakeru, then surely Kakeru and I had taken the plunge, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Kakeru was always just too concerned with the possibility of getting me pregnant to be willing to go that far. Simply put, his mother and father had had him while they were still very young and unwed, and Kakeru didn't want the same to happen to us.

Of course, I respected that. It didn't mean I didn't want to do it with him, but of all the things I did know, it was that forcing such an issue wasn't good. Sex should be something shared between two or more consenting individuals, not something forced upon either party. So, while I was willing, Kakeru was not, and so we simply did not.

Did we have our fights over it? Oh, absolutely! There were times when I would beg or plead with him to do it with me. There were times we'd argue about the fact that I wanted to do it and others thought we had. Still, Kakeru had stood adamant, and I came to realize that he wasn't going to shift on his resolve. And so, I left it there, we just didn't have sex.

And so, now we come to the present, or rather, when I was 18 years old. Kakeru and I were out in Pallet Town. I had climbed up a tree and was looking around. Not long before that, someone had reported seeing a wild pikachu nearby. Pikachu were extremely rare, usually only found inside of viridian Forest, so finding one as far south as Pallet Town was a huge find. If I could find it, I could probably catch it.

"See anything?" Kakeru called out.

"Nothing," I responded. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though. A little yellow mouse would be hard to see from this high up." I sighed and turned, sitting down on the branch I was on. It was a pretty thick and sturdy branch, otherwise I wouldn't have even stood on it.

"You know... you might want to consider wearing something other than a dress if you're going to climb trees."

"Why? You don't like the view?" I snickered. That particular day, I had been wearing nothing but a sleeveless black dress and a pair of brown sandals. You see, I hated underwear of any kind, whether it be a bra, panties, anything of the sort. Because of that, I usually didn't wear any. It made it easier to get naked once I was in my room anyway, so it was just a bonus in my mind.

Kakeru sighed. "It's not that I don't like it..."

"I know, it's the fact that anyone can see up my dress and see everything." I hopped down from the tree, which naturally gave Kakeru a good view of my body for a moment as my dress flew up. "But you know I also don't care if people see up my dress, or see my body at all."

"I know, you'd walk around naked all day long if you could."

I giggled and wrapped my arms around Kakeru's neck. "That's not a bad idea, you know? I could do it."

Kakeru put his arms around my waist. "And you'd get in trouble for public indecency."

I glared at him. "Well, who cares? If someone can't handle seeing me naked, it's not my problem."

Kakeru bonked me gently on the head. "It'd be problematic for me if you ended up in big trouble, though, cause then I wouldn't see you for a while."

"Eh, I suppose you're right." I pulled away from Kakeru. "Come on, I really want to find that pikachu." I tried to walk away, but Kakeru was holding onto my wrist. "Kakeru?" I asked as I looked back at him. He pulled me back, wrapping one of his arms around my stomach. He then lowered his head and began to gently kiss my neck.

I was like putty in his arms. Kakeru knew that out of all the places he could kiss me, my neck was my weak spot. I let out a light moan as he gently kissed me. Why all of a sudden, though? Don't get me wrong, I loved every bit of attention Kakeru gave me, but it was just so sudden. But, I didn't complain. His lips were on my neck and one of his hands was on my breast. I wanted to just strip down and let him have his way with me, but I couldn't even move to remove my clothes.

"Oh come on, get a room, you two," a voice spoke up and Kakeru quickly pulled away from me. So fast, in fact, I nearly stumbled.

"Hello, Shin," Kakeru responded. Shin was about our age, though he wasn't yet 18. He had brown hair, like me and Kakeru, but while mine was long and sat in a ponytail, both Kakeru and Shin had short hair. Kakeru had longer bangs than Shin did, though. He also had brown eyes, much like Kakeru, though my eyes are a solid green. Sometimes, Kakeru would say that my eyes shimmer like emeralds.

Shin always wore simple outfits and today was no different. While Kakeru was dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt with red pants and a red jacket, Shin simply wore a black short-sleeved shirt and green pants. All of us were wearing brown sandals, though all of us had different styles of sandals on.

"I understand you and Ayumi are... you know..." Shin made a gesture by making a circle with one hand, then jabbing his finger into and out of the circle.

"We're not!" I shouted. I knew what Shin was trying to imply, but it wasn't true.

"Still, shouldn't you two save your little displays of affection for... you know... private?"

"This wasn't really that public of a location," Kakeru responded. "You just happened to walk by at the time."

"And anyone could!" Shin raised his voice, but not in anger. "I mean, come on! What if your parents saw that?"

"My parents have seen us like this," I responded. "They've seen us do a lot more, in fact."

Shin turned his head and threw his hand up, as if to block my words. "Oh, come on, I didn't want to know that. That's gross."

"It's not what you think!" I shouted. I was definitely quite flustered and I could feel my face was burning hot. "And even if it was, I wouldn't care. I'll strip right now to prove it." I reached down to grab my dress and lift it up, but Kakeru stopped me.

"Shin is right in part, Ayumi," Kakeru spoke up. "It wasn't really a problem that I was kissing you, but that was more than that."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Fine, whatever."

"Anyway, Shin, have you seen a pikachu anywhere around here?"

"Eh?" Shin tilted his head in confusion. "A pikachu in these parts? There's no way, right?"

"I didn't think so either, but Ayumi said she had multiple people mention it."

"No way that many people were making up the same story," I spoke up. "It's got to be around here somewhere."

"I don't know, sounds fishy to me." Shin pulled out a small container from his pocket. Inside of it were a few berries. "I do know that I recently got a hold of these, though. They were growing just over-"

Shin was interrupted when a pikachu leapt out of the nearby bush and tackled the container in his hand. The container rolled across the ground and the pikachu quickly rushed after it. "AH!" Shin shouted.

"I knew it!" I shouted. I quickly pulled a pokeball off of the belt I was wearing. "I'm going to catch it!"

The pikachu turned towards me, its ears twitching a little. I pulled my right foot back and pulled my arm back. I tossed the pokeball forward, and much to my surprise, the pikachu leapt at the pokeball. When the two collided, the pikachu was absorbed into the ball, which then dropped to the ground. "Eh?" I stared in confusion.

"Did it just..." Kakeru began.

"...Go into the ball willingly?" Shin questioned.

I walked over to the pokeball and reached down to pick it up. Suddenly, the strangest thing happened, the ball rolled away all on its own. "EH?!" I shouted in confusion and began to chase the pokeball, but despite how fast I was running, the pokeball rolled away faster.

It's not like we were on a hill or anything either. In fact, most of Pallet Town is pretty flat. Yet, this pokeball was rolling away as if the pikachu inside of it was running at full speed inside of the ball. That wasn't possible, right? A pokemon couldn't control a pokeball from the inside. Sure, the pokemon became small when they were in the ball, so they could move around physically inside of it, but that shouldn't have been enough to control it.

The pokeball rolled all the way through town, up a hill, and right into the front door of Professor Oak's laboratory.

I bent over and panted to try to catch my breath as I reached the door of Professor Oak's laboratory. Kakeru and Shin had followed me close behind, but both were significantly more fit than I was, and so arrived at the door without issue. With my breath caught, I pushed open the door to the laboratory.

Professor Oak was an older man, in his late sixties. His hair was white, he had heavy lines on his face, but he was still physically fit. In fact, considering his age, I have to say I'm surprised that he was more fit than I was. He had few issues with allowing me, Kakeru, and Shin into his laboratory as he loved teaching us new things he had discovered. He also appreciated the help around the lab.

"Professor!" I called out. His laboratory wasn't the biggest place because most of his studies were done with Pokemon outside of their pokeballs. He owned several acres of land that were all dedicated to being a large free-roam field for his Pokemon. Observing Pokemon in their natural habitat was important, that's what he would say anyway.

"Oh, hello there, Ayumi," Oak spoke as he turned around to look at me. "I was just trying to figure out where this pokeball had come from. I was fairly certain it wasn't here a moment ago." Sitting up on one of his tables sat the pokeball that had run away from me. I quickly explained what had happened. "Marvelous. I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing before."

I stepped towards the pokeball, staring at it as I did. I thought, at any moment, the pokeball would jump up and rush off again. Much to my surprise, the ball sat on the table, unmoving. I slowly reached my hand out and touched the ball, again expecting it to run the moment I touched it, but it still didn't move. Was this really the pokeball I had thrown at the pikachu? Why was it sitting so calmly now?

As my hand touched the pokeball, the pokeball shook violently. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the pokeball flew across the room. In its place, standing on the table, was the pikachu I had caught moments before with my hand resting on the top of its head. "Pikachu!" it called out in its cute voice.

"Umm... h-hi." I was surprised at just how calm and happy it was. Wild pokemon were rarely open to being captured, and even once captured, they didn't just immediately bond with their trainer. Yet, this pikachu seemed excited to be caught.

"Pika pi." The pikachu smiled at me and nuzzled my hand.

"Well, seems that little one is quite fond of you," Professor Oak spoke up as he walked over to me. "You said you caught it yourself, right?"

"I did, yeah. Why?" I asked. Pikachu then scampered up my arm and sat on my head.

"I think this pikachu wants to travel with you." Professor Oak smiled as he closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, that's exactly it. I've always said 'it's not the trainer that picks their starter, it's the starter that picks their trainer'. In this case, it quite literally picked you to be its trainer. That's why it went so willingly into a pokeball."

"Really?" I looked up with my eyes and the pikachu giggled. "Well, I was thinking I wanted to go on an adventure."

"Hmm..." Professor Oak rubbed his chin for a moment. "Yes, I think this will do perfectly." Oak walked over to his desk and gathered up some small red objects than walked back to us. "For years now, it has been my dream to create an encyclopedia on all the pokemon in the world, or at least in Kanto." Oak handed the small objects to us. "These are what I call the Pokemon Encyclopedia Project, or 'Pokedex' for short. It automatically scans any Pokemon you catch and creates data from it."

"That's pretty neat!" Shin shouted.

"I'd like each of you to take these and go out into the world. You can choose whether to fill them or not, but I think you all have the potential to become great trainers."

"We don't have any pokemon, though, Professor," Kakeru responded.

"Ah, of course." Oak walked over to a small cylindrical container that was nearby. He opened the glass door and pulled out the three pokeballs that had previously sat inside. "Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander." Professor Oak said those words as he threw the pokeballs, releasing the pokemon inside. "You can each have one."

My pikachu squirmed as soon as it saw the other pokemon. I think it wanted to be my main pokemon. "I think I'll just keep Pikachu, Professor."

"Very well. How about you two?"

"Bulbasaur for certain," Kakeru responded and Professor Oak handed him the pokeball.

"Charmander in that case!" Shin responded with a smirk. He snatched the ball up from Oak's hands. "Alright, I'm going on a Pokemon Journey!"

We were actually about to do this, weren't we? We were about to leave Pallet Town and go on a journey. We had no idea when or if we'd ever come back. Not because it was particularly dangerous, mind you, but many trainers would leave their homes, journey from region to region, and sometimes even find a new home somewhere else. That's part of why I don't live in Kanto myself anymore.

"Can we go together?" I asked Kakeru.

Kakeru smiled. "Sure."

I wrapped my arms around Kakeru excitedly. "Yay! Where are we going to go first?"

"Well, might as well head north to Viridian City. It's got a gym and everything, so it's a good start and it's not far from here."

Professor Oak cleared his throat and the three of us turned to look at him. In his hands were three small boxes. "Here's some pokeballs to get you all started. Good luck, all three of you. Stay safe, call your parents often, and don't push yourselves too hard. Let yourselves grow as you need to. Remember-"

"'Pokemon are your friends, treat them with love and care'," all three of us recited. It was a regular thing that Professor Oak always told us, and while we knew it by heart and could repeat it to him, it didn't mean we wouldn't take it to heart. After all, this little Pikachu had chosen me, I couldn't stand the idea of hurting it or treating it poorly when it had so much faith in someone it didn't even know right from the start.

Professor Oak chuckled. "And most importantly, have fun."

"We will, Professor," Kakeru responded with a nod.

"Yeah, it's going to be a great adventure for all of us," Shin responded.

"I promise, we'll come back stronger than ever," I spoke up with determination.

With that, in a pretty unceremonious manner, we all turned and walked out of the lab and onto our journeys. Of course, we stopped to pack and say goodbye to our families before we headed on, but when we got to Route 1, the route that lead from Pallet to Viridian, we took the first step of the journey together.