Chapter Text
- CHEREN -
Bianca is bursting with excitement as they enter the lab together, side-by-side. Cheren can feel her talon-like grip digging into his arm through his jacket, but he doesn’t have the heart to shake her off today of all days.
They had to leave early to dodge Bianca’s overbearing father, so they prepared everything the night before. Not that he thinks her father suspects anything, considering they’re even setting off a year early compared to the average rookie trainer in Unova. Thanks to Cheren’s meticulous planning, all the two of them had to do this morning was toss on their pre-prepared clothes and grab their bags. Cheren had been waiting outside of her house, positioned just behind the mailbox as Bianca skidded to a stop right beside him. They’re giddy, giggling in mild hysteria, as they speed-walk the whole way to Professor Juniper’s lab. Cheren blames Bianca for the way his limbs feel too tense and too loose at the same time. Her energy is, as always, infectious, but the morning air seems to amplify its effect on him.
As they make their way inside, Professor Juniper is busy talking to an unfamiliar boy at the receptionist’s desk. She spots the two of them and waves them inside. “Bianca! Cheren! Come in, come in! Today’s the day, huh?”
“Good morning, Professor Juniper. We’re not too early are we?” Cheren politely asks, eyeing the other boy. Another newbie trainer, like them?
“No, no, you’re right on time! This is Ash, he’s from Pallet Town, all the way in the Kanto region. He accompanied a colleague of mine to the lab today.” Professor Juniper introduces them to the boy in the cap next to her.
“The Kanto region? How far!” Bianca gasps.
Cheren focuses on something more important. “The Kanto region? A colleague… could it be?” He glances up at Professor Juniper, whose smile widens.
“Yes, Ash accompanied Professor Oak. I forgot how familiar you are with Pokemon academia, Cheren,” she says, eyes twinkling in amusement.
Cheren has to swallow down his excitement. The Professor Oak is here! In the flesh! Which means that this trainer must be pretty impressive for Professor Oak to ask him to accompany him all the way to Unova. But… looking at Ash, he can’t help but feel a little disappointed. He looks so ordinary, not at all like an experienced trainer, like a gym leader or a member of the Elite Four. In fact, he looks too young to be traveling on his own, even younger than him and Bianca. Cheren knows that Unova’s starting trainer age is older than most other regions, but still.
Cheren watches him while Bianca is picking out her Pokemon. Ash acts like a little kid, showering each of the Pokemon with compliments. He certainly doesn’t seem serious enough to do gym runs competitively.
“Are you two going to be rivals?” Ash asks, snapping Cheren out of his internal analysis.
“Huh? Do we have to be?” Bianca looks over at Cheren then looks back at Ash dubiously.
Ash scratches his cheek. “Well, no, I guess not. But it’s more fun to call each other that, right? Since you’re starting your journeys at the same time and all.”
Cheren pushes up his glasses as he thinks it over. “I don’t mind. It’ll be easier to check if we’ve fallen behind if we test each other throughout our journey.”
“In that case, then I guess that makes us rivals!” Bianca holds out a hand for Cheren to shake. But Cheren doesn’t take it.
Instead he smirks. “Bianca, real rivals only shake hands after their battles, you know.”
“Oooh you! I’ll show you a real rival mister! Let’s go right now!” Bianca rolls her shoulders back, ready to throw out her newly chosen Tepig, but Professor Juniper steps in.
“Not in the lab! We have a battlefield in the back for that. Ash, why don’t you referee for them?”
Ash cheers and runs for the doors, but is stopped by a Pokemon cry. A yellow creature zips by them and tackles Ash as he turns around. “Pikachu! You’re good to go, buddy?”
The Pikachu must be Ash’s partner, then. It scampers up his shoulder and curls up around him like a neck pillow. “Let’s go!” Ash dashes off, and Bianca rushes after him in a hurry.
“Is something wrong, Cheren?” Professor Juniper asks him when he doesn’t immediately follow.
Cheren doesn’t know how to put this without seeming rude, but he asks it anyway. “Is… Ash a strong trainer?”
Juniper blinks, then throws her head back and laughs. “Don’t worry. From what Professor Oak has told me, he’s a very experienced trainer, if a bit unorthodox. As for strength—well, if it’s strictly his current team’s strength you’re after, I’ve been told it varies from region to region; he likes building regional teams, with Pikachu as his exception. But you can find all that out by just asking him too.” She pats his shoulder. “Now, don’t you have your very first battle waiting for you?”
“Right, thanks Professor.” Cheren heads outside, where Bianca and Ash are excitedly talking about something on Bianca’s end of the field. As he waits for them to finish, he stares at the Pikachu on Ash’s shoulder. If all he has on him right now is that Pikachu, doesn’t that put Ash at the same level as Cheren and Bianca?
“—And then you go wooooosh and then wham! And then it’s like woah!” Ash gesticulates wildly as Bianca follows his movements with wide eyes.
“What are you two talking about?” Cheren crosses his arms, feeling impatience creeping up on him. “Are we fighting or not?”
Ash gives him a big smile and a thumbs-up, before running over to the middle of the field. “Alright! This is Bianca and Cheren’s first ever battle! They’ll both use their starters, Tepig and Snivy! The first one to knock the other Pokemon out will be the winner! Let’s go!” Ash shouts, with Pikachu at his side copying his enthusiastic posing.
“Tepig! Use… uh… huh? What moves does Tepig know?” Bianca falters after tossing her pokeball, leaving her Tepig confused in the middle of the field.
Ash helpfully calls out, “Use your Pokedex!” He seems more excited than either of them about this. Cheren trades excitement for concentration as he listens intently to Bianca’s Pokedex. Cheren smirks as it finishes its analysis. “Snivy! Leer!” He calls out as soon as the Pokedex finishes its spiel.
“What! That’s so unfair!” Bianca pouts as Tepig cowers from Snivy.
Cheren shrugs, feeling a little smug at the advantage. “It helps to study in advance.”
“Ugh, you—! Tepig! Tackle!”
Tepig Tackles Snivy, but Snivy manages to get a good Tackle in afterwards. Just as Cheren is ready to defend against Bianca’s obvious counter Tackle, he notices how dry the air seems, and how dark the battlefield has become. A glance upwards reveals a heavy concentration of dark storm clouds, blotting out the blue sky.
“Wait, Bi—!” Cheren calls out, but Tepig has Tackled Snivy once again and Bianca immediately begins calling for another Tackle before he can stop her.
Off to the side, Ash seems to have noticed the storm as well. He’s muttering something to Pikachu before waving his arms to catch their attention. “Let’s stop for now Bianca! A storm’s rolling in fast!”
“Everyone, come inside, quickly!” Professor Juniper calls from the entrance to the lab.
“Oh… and just when I was winning!” Bianca pouts.
They recall their Pokemon but the unusually dark storm clouds move much faster than a normal storm should. Cheren shields his eyes from the blistering wind and follows the flickering lights of the lab and manages to find his way to the door. Bianca is already inside, helping Professor Juniper keep the door from flying off the hinges. They scan the now completely obscured field for Ash.
“Pikachu! Where are you going!” Cheren can hear Ash moving further into the storm, his voice growing distant.
“This way Ash!” Cheren calls out, but it’s futile with how the wind screeches as it whirls around the battlefield. He’s never seen such thick clouds so close to the ground, and he’s never seen them move so quickly.
“Ash, hurry!” Bianca calls out, before flinching and ducking behind Cheren as a branch hits the doorframe.
“Close the door!” a researcher from inside screams.
“But Ash is still outside!” Cheren keeps Bianca behind him as more lab assistants arrive and tug them further inside. Cheren stubbornly holds the door frame and the door knob, not wanting to abandon Ash. If he can see the flickering lights from inside, he’ll know where to go.
The hairs on the back of Cheren’s neck rise in warning as static rushes through the air, riding just under the bitter chill of the harsh winds. He shudders as the static crawls up his neck and through his ears like a persistent itch. Cheren can only shield his eyes as a flash of lightning blinds them. Bianca’s nails dig into his arm—this time in fear, rather than giddy excitement. He can hear Bianca screaming in his ear, as well as distant shouts of Ash’s name, but he can’t do anything but hold tight to the doorframe and hope Ash is alright. He doesn’t even risk reaching up to readjust his glasses, despite how uncomfortably they sit under his nose after being pushed askew.
And then, as quickly as it comes, the storm withdraws with a theatric flourish, like a flock of Pidove abandoning a utility pole in unison as the repairman climbs up. The black clouds lift and swirl away, as if unbothered by the chaos they brought with them. Ash stands alone with Pikachu, untouched by the eye of the storm on the battlefield, watching the clouds pull away from him. Cheren holds his breath, afraid that breaking the newfound silence would result in the storm returning for round two.
“Ash!” A woman’s voice breaks the silence. Cheren lets go of the door frame and a woman runs past him towards Ash. An old man in a lab coat—Professor Oak?!—goes after her. Seeing the Pokemon Professor in the flesh is enough to snap Cheren out of his daze and he chases after them as well.
Ash looks unharmed but Pikachu’s cheeks are sparking from where he’s now being held in Ash’s arms.
“Ash, dear, are you alright?” The woman—Ash’s mother?—cradles his face, squishing his cheeks together. “What in the world happened?”
“Ash, my boy, are you and Pikachu injured?” Professor Oak asks, pulling a Cheri Berry from his pockets—why does he just have that on him?—and handing it to Ash. Cheren feels winded, from both the storm and this bizarre fever dream of interactions. He feels as though they should be making a bigger deal out of the freak weather event, but at the same time it’s also good that Ash seems fine despite it.
Ash and Pikachu wiggle out of their respective holds. “We’re fine! Thanks Mom; Professor!” Ash nibbles on the Cheri Berry as the rest of them watch the remaining storm clouds disappear, like they were never there at all. “That was the same Pokemon me and Pikachu met earlier! It wanted to apologize for messing with Pikachu’s electricity. We were just a little… shocked?” Ash sheepishly rubs the back of his neck as his mother sighs, taking off his hat to smooth out his hair.
Cheren feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Professor Juniper staring up at the clouds. “That must have been Zekrom!” she exclaims, looking more excited than Cheren’s ever seen her. “I can’t believe you met Zekrom!”
Ash tilts his head curiously, looking as unphased as a Lillipup that doesn’t quite understand the command for ’sit.’ Professor Oak looks pensive as he asks, “Zekrom, a Legendary Pokemon of Unova I assume?”
“The Deep Black Dragon of Ideals. It’s said to move through lightning clouds, with the ability to scorch the earth with every strike of lighting in order to build an ideal world. I never expected that part of the legend to be quite so accurate.” Professor Juniper wipes a cold sweat off her forehead. Cheren stares at the large scorch marks left on the ground. Lashes of black soot mar the field, though, thankfully, nothing is actually on fire. “Are you sure you’re alright, Ash? A Legendary Pokemon is nothing to shake a stick at. We can check on you and Pikachu in the lab when my assistants get the power back up.”
Everyone is quickly ushered inside and Ash and Pikachu are hooked up to machines. Now that the storm is over, everyone looks significantly more tired, except for Ash and Pikachu, who both look as peppy as before.
No, that’s not right. While everyone listens to Professor Juniper’s explanation about the Zekrom and the machines, Cheren sneaks a glance at Ash. His hat casts a shadow over his face, and his smile dims for a brief second. But then Ash catches Cheren’s eye and sends him a bright grin. Cheren frowns, but quickly looks away from that unbothered expression. Ash is a trainer that Professor Oak regards highly. There’s a good amount of confidence and boldness that must be required to start fresh on multiple journeys through new regions. At first glance, Ash seemed kind of naive and empty-headed. Now, Cheren can’t help but think that Ash acted that way to reassure them, to encourage them while they were making their first big step in becoming a Pokemon trainer. Even now, he’s putting on a smile for them.
But it’s impossible to actually confirm his theory without asking, and Cheren doesn’t think Ash would appreciate the question right now either. Plus, Ash’s mother, Delia Ketchum, is casually handing out hot chocolate to everyone. Cheren figures that if she’s not worrying over her son, there’s no reason for him to be worrying either.
After they finish Ash’s check-up, Mrs. Ketchum makes a full-course meal for them. Bianca and Cheren help out, not having anything better to do now that everything has settled.
“You two are just starting your Pokemon journey, yes?” Mrs. Ketchum asks, making idle conversation.
“Yup, we’re rivals now!” Bianca tells her.
“Rivals, that’s good. It’s not good to be alone on a journey, you know. Ash has made so many friends over the years like that. He has a good eye for that sort of thing.” She turns to smile at them. “I hope you two make plenty of friends on your journeys too.”
As Bianca is the better socialite, she and Mrs. Ketchum get along like a house on fire, but Cheren spends his time contemplating his next steps over the peeled potatoes. The idea of making rivals as another way to make friends with fellow trainers… to promise to finish your journeys together, to gauge your progress as you compete for Championship… maybe Cheren should take the idea more seriously. It would also be nice to have someone more experienced to compare to himself and Bianca, who are on their first ever gym run.
“I’ve decided,” Ash announces as dinner wraps up, “I’m gonna travel around Unova. I wanna try the gym challenge here, and meet new Pokemon too!”
Ash’s mother and Professor Oak tease him knowingly, but Cheren thinks this is the perfect opportunity. “So that means we’ll be rivals too, right?” Cheren asks.
“Two rivals already?” Bianca’s eyebrows rise in faux surprise as she grins. “Well, I better not fall behind!”
Bianca leaves early in the morning, still paranoid about her father chasing after her. Knowing the man’s usual antics, Cheren can’t blame her. Bianca’s mother is covering for them by claiming that Bianca and Cheren are having a weekend sleepover so they still have about a day before her father suspects anything. Cheren follows a little later, chasing after a flock of Pidove that looks promising. Ash decides to stay behind a little longer, since he only came on vacation and isn’t prepared for a new journey yet.
On the hill outside of Nuvema Town, Cheren turns to shout back at the boy seeing him off, “Ash! The next time we meet, we’ll be proper rivals!”
The echoes of Ash’s boisterous laugh reach up towards him, at the top of the hill. “Of course! We’ll be looking forward to it, Cheren!” Pikachu echoes his sentiment as they wave in tandem.
He’ll find out what kind of trainer Ash is with his own two eyes, rather than relying on his previous assumptions. In the meantime, he needs to build his own strength too.