Spike had just woken from his sleep, thanks to another one of Acaria's earthquakes. These quakes had been getting worse and worse lately, but nobody knew what was causing them. Spike dusted himself off after he got up off the floor. "Geez, these earthquakes are annoying... Well, whatever. Today's the day I pick my starter Pokémon!" before running downstairs to see his older sister Twilight, along with his sister in-law and niece. He asked, "Hey sis, shouldn't you be back in Dramos Town?"
Dramos Town was a small town to the east of Spike's hometown, Carcira Town, and Twilight was the Gym Leader there. She told Spike, "You didn't think I'd miss my little brother's big day as becoming a Trainer, did you? Besides, I've been meaning to see Professor Cottonwood. I've got a theory on the earthquakes we've been having."
Spike smiled, "Thanks sis, you're the best." It had been three years since their mom went missing, and their dad, a Pokémon Ranger, had gone on an obsessive quest to find her. That was around the time the earthquakes started, and Twilight knew it. Their brother Shining Armor had become one of the Acaria Region's Elite 4, so he didn't have the time to look into their mother's disappearance, so Cadence had been taking care of Twilight, Flurry Heart, and Spike for the last three years.
As Spike and Twilight finished their breakfast, they headed over to Professor Cottonwood's lab, and she greeted them, "Twilight, Spike! It's good to see you."
A girl twirled around on her feet and smiled, "Good to see you Spike. It looks like we'll be helping the professor together." The girl was Spike's childhood friend Smolder, who was also getting her first Pokémon today.
Spike smiled back, "Hey Smolder, good to see you too."
The professor cleared her throat saying, "Well, today is the big day where the two of you start your Pokémon journey. Now, normally I give new trainers an Eevee, but an old colleague of mine had some Pokémon that he was going to release if I didn't take them. Twilight, I assume you know about Delta Pokémon?"
Twilight nodded, "Yes, but I don't know a lot about them, just that their typing, abilities, and moves are different from other Pokémon, sort of like the regional variants you'd see in Alola or Galar, but they're not confined to a single region. Are you saying you're going to give Spike and Smolder Delta Pokémon as their starters? I'm not sure if that's really a good idea."
Professor Cottonwood sighed, "Yes, I was hesitant on the idea, but I do want to research Delta Pokémon, so I decided to give Smolder and Spike one of them, and I'll research the last one myself. I don't know what their typing is, but these are Delta Bulbasaur, Delta Charmander, and Delta Squirtle. Pick whichever one you want."
Smolder looked at Spike and told him, "You can pick yours first Spike."
Spike rolled his eyes, he knew Smolder was doing this so she could pick the starter with a type advantage, but since they didn't know what types the Pokémon were, there was a chance her choice wouldn't have one. He walked up to the Poké Ball that Professor Cottonwood said held a Charmander and picked it up, "I'll go with Charmander."
Smolder walked over to the table, "In that case, I'm going with Squirtle."
The Professor said, "Now, before you leave, take these, you'll need them." before handing the two of them a Pokédex and ten Poké Balls. "The Pokédex will record data from any Pokémon you catch. And those Poké Balls will allow you to capture more Pokémon. If you intend on challenging the Pokémon League, you'll need to go to Asarath City, just north of Dramos Town. That's where the first Gym is. Twilight's Gym may be in Dramos Town, but you're not ready to face her yet."
Twilight cleared her throat, "I'm still right here professor, you don't need to speak for me." before looking to Spike and Smolder, "But she's right, to challenge my Gym, you'll need to acquire four badges first."
Spike nodded "Ok sis, but I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're my sister!"
Twilight smiled, "Music to my ears."
As Spike and Smolder left the lab, Ember asked Spike, "So, should we go on our adventure together?"
Spike thought for a moment and nodded, "I think we should, we've been friends since we were kids, so I wouldn't want it any other way."
Suddenly, Professor Cottonwood yelled out, "Wait, I forgot one last thing. Register me in your PokéGear, just in case I need to call you." before registering her number in Spike and Smolder's PokéGear. "Good luck out there you two." and heading back into her lab.
After registering the Professor, the two new trainers headed out towards Shade Forest, which was the midway point between Carcira Town and Dramos Town. They would need to get through the forest to get to Dramos Town, and then they would head north to Asaratch City for their first Gym Battle.
As they walked through the forest, they didn't see any wild Pokémon, and Spike said, "Something's not right. Twilight told me this place was filled with wild Pokémon, but I can't seem to see or hear any."
Smolder shrugged, "Maybe they got scared by that earthquake this morning."
Spike sighed, "Yeah, probably. It's getting dark, and when our dad was around, he told us never to go through Shade Forest at night. Should we keep going or set up camp?"
"I think we should set up camp at the clearing, that place seems unaffected by the earthquakes," Smolder replied before heading a little further with Spike. She thought to herself, "Spike's always wanted to be a Pokémon master... I don't know how I could tell him I'm more interested in being a Pokémon Coordinator. We're best friends, but if I told him the truth, how could we still be rivals? When we were little, he always wanted to be up against me in the finals of the Pokémon League Tournament... I don't want to ruin that dream, but... well, worrying about it won't help. Maybe a good night's sleep will help." before setting up her tent and falling asleep in her sleeping bag.
And so Spike and Smolder have started their journeys as Pokémon trainers. As trainers, they also will be helping Professor Cottonwood with her research, as well as forging their path as trainers. Spike is aiming for the Pokémon League, but Smolder seems to have a different path in mind. Now their story unfolds.
Spike woke up as the dewdrops fell on his face. For once he'd had a nice, peaceful sleep without an earthquake waking him up. As he packed his stuff, he saw that Smolder had been cooking breakfast on a campfire. She looked up to Spike and said, "You're just in time, I just finished the pancakes."
Spike sat down next to the fire and ate some pancakes that Smolder gave him. He was shocked at how they seemed to melt in his mouth, "I never knew you were this good of a cook Smolder."
Smolder smiled, "Yeah, my mom used to be the head chef at the Shania Beachside Resort and Spa. She taught me everything I know about cooking, even how to make Pokémon food."
Spike smiled, "You learn something new every day I guess."
As the two of them finished their breakfast, Spike and Smolder packed up their stuff and started heading towards Dramos Town. They still had a ways to go to get out of the Shade Forest. Suddenly, their Pokédex started beeping, it was the scouting feature, alerting them when wild Pokémon were nearby. Spike looked at Smolder and said, "You want to look for some wild Pokémon?"
Smolder smiled, "Of course, we can't be true trainers with only one Pokémon." before heading off into the forest to look for Pokémon.
As Spike looked through the shrubs and trees, he heard a screech from the nearby river and ran over to see a Totodile being harassed by a Mandibuzz. The Totodile looked scared for its life, and Spike wasn't going to stand there and let it continue. He sent out his Charmander and commanded, "Charmander, Shadow Ball!" His Charmander formed a ball of darkness in front of its mouth and fired it at the Mandibuzz.
The Mandibuzz was already angry, and the Shadow Ball made it even angrier. It swooped towards Spike's Charmander, only to be caught off guard by an Ice Fang from the Totodile it was harassing. Spike reached into his bag and pulled out a Poké Ball. He knew this wouldn't end well if he didn't catch this Mandibuzz, but it was a longshot. He got ready to throw it and said, "Go, Poké Ball!" before throwing it at the Mandibuzz, and it got sucked in.
The Poké Ball shook, before the Mandibuzz broke out, but something strange happened, Spike could have sworn he heard someone snapping their fingers, and the Mandibuzz was sucked into the Poké Ball again and it clicked shut. Spike sighed in relief, but as he picked up the Poké Ball, he wondered, "I've never seen a Pokémon get sucked back in after escaping a Poké Ball... Oh, right!" before running over to the Totodile who was still scared, and snapped at Spike.
Spike held out his hand, with an Oran Berry, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." The Totodile walked up and took the Oran Berry and ate it. Spike smiled, "You seem full of energy now. Would you like to join my team?" Totodile nodded, and as Spike pulled out a Poké Ball, it jumped and clicked the button on it, letting itself get sucked in.
As Spike picked up his second new Pokémon, he heard a voice, "Not bad, for a child." behind him was a person dressed in a black robe with a white hood and red collar. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking that Mandibuzz off your hands. Such a Pokémon is too powerful for the likes of you."
Spike growled, "Who the hell are you? I caught this Mandibuzz fair and square!"
The person in the robe sighed, "Seems we have to do this the-" before he could reach for his Poké Balls, an Arcanine tackled him to the ground, growling.
A police officer ran over to the Arcanine and said, "Good catch! You're one of those cultists! You're under arrest!"
Spike was surprised to hear this person was a cultist, but looking closer at what he wore, it made sense, he must have been a member of the Cult of Darkrai. He said to the officer, "Thanks for saving me officer."
The officer tipped his hat, "No problem kid. I'll take care of this scum myself, you should get going." before calling in for a squad car to his location.
Spike went back to where he and Smolder split up, and Smolder smiled, "Check this out, I caught a Combee! What did you catch?" before letting out her Combee, who snuggled up to her. "She's such a cutie isn't she?"
Spike nodded, saying, "I caught a Mandibuzz and a Totodile." He let out his new Pokémon, the Mandibuzz turned away from both trainers, while Totodile jumped up and down happily.
Smolder's eyes widened as she saw Spike had caught a Mandibuzz, "How'd you catch that!?"
Spike rubbed the back of his neck laughing, "Dumb luck, this Totodile was being bullied, so I decided to help, and I ended up catching the Mandibuzz. Doesn't look like she likes me though."
Smolder nodded, "I've heard it takes a while for Mandibuzz to bond with their trainers, but you sure are lucky!"
As they returned their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, they continued heading to Dramos Town. As they exited the forest, they saw police and Pokémon Rangers near the forest's outskirts. Spike told Ember, "They must be looking for cultists, a Darkrai cultist tried to take away Mandibuzz when I caught her and Totodile."
Smolder shivered, "Those cultists give me the creeps, I'm glad I didn't run into any in there."
Spike shrugged, "I can't say I disagree, I had a bad feeling until a cop's Arcanine pounced on the cultist. Come on, we should just stay out of their way and let them do their jobs. We're ten year old's, it's not our job to stop crime."
Smolder nodded, "Yeah, you're right, Dramos Town isn't much further, let's go."
And with that, Spike has captured two new Pokémon, and had an encounter with a cultist from the Cult of Darkrai. The cultists' goals are unknown, but everyone knows they're bad news. Will Spike and Smolder be able to avoid getting involved with cults, or will they find themselves in the middle of the fire?
