Three days passed by in a flash since the Ursaring incident. Alexis had not been allowed to leave his house for anything but visiting Eevee, who had mellowed out a lot around him. Whenever Alexis appeared in the Pokémon Center, it walked towards him and lay at his feet until Alexis picked it up and put it on his lap, where the Eevee shyly hid its head against his torso. Compared to the wild Eevee he had met, the one he was seeing now seemed to have been domesticated since birth.
And they were the same Pokémon.
As he pat Eevee on his lap, Alexis thought of the future. The following day he was bound to start his Pokémon Journey, officially becoming a Pokémon Trainer. In order to officialise his status as a Trainer, his parents would take him to Bariloche City, where Professor Ñire's lab was.
(A/N: Pronounced /njire/ in IPA Phonetics as in /nj/ from new [/nju:/], hope it helps.)
The Professor would grant him his Trainer License as well as his first set of Pokéballs. While extremely excited, Alexis couldn't help but look at the small one in his lap and smile. He wanted to be the best, yes. He wanted to climb the ranks, face strong trainers and reach the top. But... he couldn't care less about that at the moment. He realised that while his final goal would always be that... he would prioritise the bonds he forged along the way. Like the one he shared with that small Eevee.
"Hey, Eevee, do you want to go on a journey with me?"
"Eevee!"
*
The following day arrived, and Alexis's hand had now fully healed, almost no trace of Eevee's bite left in it besides two small scars where its fangs had pierced through. As if to show their bond, Eevee's health had recovered fully under the intensive care of Nurse Joy and Chansey, and it was now free to leave the Pokémon Center. As soon as Alexis entered the building, the cute and energetic ball of fur dashed towards him, licking his face with its small, rough tongue.
Nurse Joy, Chansey, and even Alexis's parents couldn't help but smile seeing this. It was obvious to anyone with a good pair of eyes that those two had already become inseparable, Eevee being completely enamoured with Alexis.
Hopping on the car, his father started the short drive towards Bariloche, his mother riding shotgun and him sitting on the back. Eevee sat on his lap, looking with marvel through the window of the car as they entered the city. Clearly, the small one had not seen human civilisation until that moment.
After a short ten minutes of driving through the city and finding a good parking spot, Alexis and his parents left the car, walking a few blocks until they reached a building that seemed to mix in with the almost medieval architecture of the place, as if it was part of its history. With Eevee in his arms, Alexis stepped in, his parents choosing to stay behind and allow their son to have his first taste of independence.
Once inside, he was greeted by a girl around his age, one head shorter than him. She had straight ginger hair reaching below her shoulders, green eyes, and freckles. Her figure was on the smaller side, and she was wearing a white t-shirt under a pale pink cardigan, brown trousers, white shoes, and carried a brown backpack. On her head rested a white summer hat. She was, in Alexis's eyes, very cute.
"Hey, hey! Any intelligent life in there?" She asked with a small smirk, waving her hand in front of Alexis's eyes, trying to catch his attention.
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to stare!" He quickly apologised, eliciting a small huff from Eevee, who was jealous of the human that captured its trainer's attention so easily. Calming down quickly, Alexis introduced himself. "The name's Alexis Becker, here to officially become a Trainer."
He said as he offered her his scarred hand, not really thinking much about it, while holding Eevee on the other.
"I'm Alicia Moreau, also here to officially become a Trainer," she answered confidently, shaking his hand. "How'd you get those scars?"
Alicia asked, attempting to make some small conversation while they waited to be called in by Professor Ñire.
"Oh, Eevee bit me when I found it..." Alexis began retelling the story of how it met Eevee and how they bonded, the entire time smiling, not even realising how outrageous the act of jumping in front of an angry Ursaring and hip throwing it was. By the end of his story, Alicia was absolutely marvelled by the young boy in front of her. Not by his handsomeness, not by his body... but by how much he loved Pokémon. She could feel it from the way he talked about Eevee.
"You're an amazing person, Alexis." Alicia said honestly, no intentions behind her compliment. As Alexis was about to answer, they were interrupted.
"Alicia Moreau, Alexis Becker, Professor Ñire is waiting for you both, please come in." A woman in her late twenties said after opening the door that lead from the waiting room to the laboratory, introducing herself as the soon-to-be Trainers followed her. She had a wild afro, her black curly hair defying gravity, while her caramel skin shone with health. Her curvaceous body was tightly hugged by her simple clothes and her pristine white lab coat. "I'm Sayen Morales, the professor's assistant. Unless the prof. really needs to talk to you, you'll usually talk to me."
Sayen explained to the two young adults who, barely out of their teens, were marvelled by the decoration of Professor Ñire's laboratory, which held many murals, plates, and other ancient regalia, all from the Alerma Region. Some things were even recognised by Alexis as representations of Arceus being worshipped by the locals.
"Is that vase from the north?" He asked while looking at a piece of well-kept pottery with tribal designs and Arceus imagery.
"Indeed, I brought it from an excavation site in the northern regions," a much older, robust voice answered. Standing there in front of a screen, as if reading data, stood an old man in his early sixties, wearing formal dark blue trousers, brown shoes, a white shirt and a blue sweater, his stout body not taking away in the least from his old-money vibe. His white hair was perfectly combed, and his beard trimmed to the same degree of perfection. Clearly, Professor Ñire cared about his appearance. "It's good to see young people interested in ancient history."
"Alexis, Alicia, I officially introduce you to Professor Ñire, head researcher on Pokémon in the Alerma Region, and an expert in Pokémon Mythology." Sayen introduced Professor Ñire to the pair, who stared at the old man with reverence. To become a Pokémon Professor was the ultimate goal of many people, and it was as hard if not harder than becoming Champion of a region. In fact, most Pokémon Professors were incredibly skilled Trainers themselves.
"No need for formalities," Professor Ñire said with a warm smile as he looked at the young Trainers in front of him, his eyes immediately drawn to the young Eevee in Alexis's arms. "Hm? How curious, your bond with this one is already as strong as those I've seen between veterans and their aces."
Then he looked at Alicia's eyes, which hid an intelligence belied by her cuteness and youth. Professor Ñire could not help but smile, thinking that the prospects of the year were extremely good. He thought of his colleague, Samuel Oak, and his own proteges.
'Old Oak, you'll soon get new blood,' he thought, knowing very well that special trainers had a way of finding their way to Oak.
"Well, I think I must give you both this," Professor Ñire spoke after a few moments of silence, grabbing two IDs from a cabinet under his desk and offering them to Alexis and Alicia. "With this, you're both officially trainers."
The IDs were similar to other documentation they had, showing their photo, the age at which they received it, the date it was issued, and a unique code which functioned as their Trainer ID.
"Sayen, please bring the gift we prepared for them," the Professor told his assistant, who quickly left the room through a back door and came back with two trays, which held various items.
"The Professor and I prepared this for this new batch of Trainers from the southern region," Sayen explained as she placed the trays on a desk, showing them to the pair. "Five Pokéballs for each, two potions for each, and 10,000P."
(A/N: P = Pokédollars)
"That should cover your expenses for the early part of your journey, but you will have to find ways to earn your own money later on." The Professor explained, his smile never leaving his face, and becoming even wider the moment he saw Alexis's actions upon seeing the Pokéballs.
Alexis walked up to the tray, packing the two potions in his backpack and four Pokéballs on their small form in one of his trouser's side pockets. After putting away the 10,000P, he grabbed the remaining Pokéball and knelt, putting Eevee on the floor.
"I asked you yesterday if you wanted to go on a journey with me," Alexis spoke, looking at Eevee with care, warmth, and love—like one would a family member. Presenting the Pokéball to the small one, Alexis finished his sentence. "Do you want to be my Pokémon?"
Eevee tilted it's head cutely, looking at Alexis confused, as if the question itself was stupid and unnecessary. Then it walked up to him and booped the Pokéball with its small nose, turning into a beam of red light and going into the sphere. Without tumbling even once, the capture was over, and Eevee was officially his Pokémon. Smiling brightly, Alexis quickly released it from the Pokéball and picked it back up in his arms. Surely, he didn't like keeping his Pokémon trapped in the metallic objects.
Then something happened that shocked Alexis to his core.
[Trainer status detected in Host...]
[Host has officially captured his first Pokémon!]
[Activating the Expert Trainer System...]