Chapter 2 - June's First Flame

June’s hair lashed her face as a sweat drop formed at the top of her head. She was riding her bike at top speed on a trail next to the forest that led to the Professor’s lab. Must…Get…To…Lab… Can’t…Stop…Peddling! June thought. The lab finally came into view, when suddenly… ”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! “ June screamed in duet with another voice. She screeched her bike to a halt, but to her and the victim’s dismay, the bike didn’t stop soon enough. The boy jumped to the side, but the handle hit his foot. He performed some sort of a (twisted) roll onto the grass. June on the other hand fell somewhat gracefully off her bike, landing softly on her side next to the boy. June recovered from her shock, and stared at the brown-haired boy, who appeared to be her age. ”Oh my god!“ she panted. ”Are you okay?“ ”Thankfully, yes.“ The boy smiled. ”You?“ he questioned. ”Me, what?“ June asked stupidly. ”Oh! Yea, I’m fine,“ she blushed. ”That was a little awkward,“ June said while getting up and dusting off dirt from her clothes. ”And I’m really sorry, I guess I lost control.“ ”No kidding, but it’s okay, I wasn’t watching where I was going when I stepped out onto the road. I was thinking about how to train my Poke’mon.“ ”You have Poke’mon?“ June asked excitedly. ”Yea“ the boy said, ”but only one. I got it yesterday,“ he said, holding up a Poke’ball. ”Speaking of which, I need to get to the lab! I’m receiving my first Poke’mon today! “ June exclaimed. ”So I’ve got to go,“ she said, picking up her bike, and swinging the backpack onto her shoulder for the second time in ten minutes. ”Oh yea, what’s your name?“ she wondered aloud. ”Daniel,“ he answered. ”What’s yours?“ he asked. ”June,“ she said. ”Well June, do you mind if I come to the lab with you? I need to ask the Professor a question,“ he asked. ”Sure,“ June replied, ”As long as you’re a fast runner,“ she joked. ”Ride slowly then,“ Daniel said. ”I was kidding,“ June laughed. ”You can pedal, and I’ll stand on these.“ She pointed to the silver shocks. ”Okay,“ Daniel agreed, ”but you better hold on tight.“ With that, June mounted the bike after Daniel, making him lean forward so that she could reach the handles too, and even then, June had to lean to the left of Daniel so that she could reach them. With some difficulty, Daniel started pedaling. He was surprisingly fast on the bike, and the wind whipped at their faces. June started laughing when she realized how stupid they must look. Soon, it infected Daniel, and they were both laughing their selves silly. When they got to the lab, the laughing fits were pretty much gone, but both Daniel and June were red in the face, and trying to hold back their childish smiles. After they caught their breath, they walked into the lab. A fair sized room with many computers greeted them, followed by a long hallway that had numbered doors spread evenly through out it. ”Oh no!“ June grumbled before they entered the main hallway. ”I don’t remember what room the Poke’mon are in!“ ”Well then your lucky I’m here,“ Daniel said, raising an eyebrow at June. ”You remember the room number!“ June exclaimed excitedly. ”Well, what is it?“ she asked impatiently; it had been almost 20 minutes since she left. ”It’s room 32, and it’s got a picture of the starting Poke’mon on it, so if I didn’t remember the room then we would find it anyways.“ Rather than replying or thanking Daniel, June sprinted down the hallway. “Hmm. I wonder if she’s excited?” Daniel sarcastically thought aloud, and ran off after her. June opened the door to room 32 slowly, and walked in as calmly as she could, though her legs were quivering with excitement. “Professor Willow?” she called into the seemingly empty room. When no one replied, she turned her head and asked Daniel, “Do you think she’s here?” “Yes, I’m here, don’t worry.” A feminine voice sounded from the room, and June turned around to see Professor Willow closing a door from the side of the room behind her. She was cradling at least ten Poke’balls, and more were in her pockets. “I was just setting up for this morning. I had to get the Poke’balls from the side room,” she said, smiling kindly. The professor was wearing a long jean skirt, a green shirt, and a clean white jacket with the words ‘Prof. Willow’ stitched neatly onto it with black thread. Two wisps of her light brown hair framed her face, while the rest was drawn up in a long ponytail. Her beautiful figure gave her a young appearance, and she was in fact in her mid 30’s. “Are you two here to receive your first Poke’mon?” Professor Willow asked. “She is, but I’m not,” replied Daniel. “I got my Poke’mon yesterday; I’m just here to ask you a question.” “Oh yes that’s right! I remember seeing you here yesterday. Your name is… Daniel, if I remember properly,” the Professor realized. “Yea, that’s right,” said Daniel. “So my question was what to feed Taikai. He doesn’t like the food that you suggested.” “Oh! I was afraid of that… Here, see if he likes this.” She then ran into the side room, and came out holding a bag of food. “Thanks!” Daniel exclaimed, as he took the bag of food. He then set it down, scooped some into his hand, grabbed his Poke’ball, and released a Poke’mon with a flash of red light. An average sized Squirtle, who was apparently Taikai, appeared. A dark, mahogany colored shell was set on the Poke’mon’s back, and light blue skin covered his body. Two cerulean orbs peered at June curiously, and a distinctive white marking on his forehead was what set him apart from others. The underside of his shell was a more of a light brownish gold color. Daniel then held out the food in his hand to the Squirtle. The young Poke’mon sniffed the food curiously, then grabbed a small piece with his mouth. Taikai chewed and swallowed quickly, then ate more. A smile spread across Daniel’s face as he said, ”Thanks Professor Willow, I think he likes it!” “How did you come up with your Squirtle’s name? I really like it!” June said honestly. “Well, my mom is bilingual because her best friend taught her how to speak Japanese. My mom taught it to me, so I know how to speak it. Wait, let me restate that; my mom taught me a lot of words, but I can’t say any sentences. I don’t know the correct grammar for it. Anyways, in Japanese, taikai means ocean.” “Cool,” June replied, and then she realized that no other to-be trainers were there! “Why aren’t their any other people here yet?” she asked Professor Willow. “Well, most don’t come until about eight o’clock; right now its only 7:20,” the professor replied with a smile. ”Then again, I was about to put the Poke’mon out, so you can go ahead and choose a Poke’mon. Just hang on for one more second.” Professor Willow then intentionally dropped all of the Poke’balls that were cradled in her arms, but before they hit the ground, a group of twelve Squirtles materialized. She then released all of the Poke’balls in her pockets, and two groups, one of seven Bulbasaurs, and another of six Charmanders, appeared. “We don’t favor Squirtles, incase you were wondering. They just have a higher population.” June nodded in reply. She already knew what breed she would choose as a starting Poke’mon; Charmander. June headed over to the group of fire lizards, when a new question popped into her mind. Which Charmander would she choose? June squatted down to get eye-level with the amber-eyed Poke’mon, and they all crowded around her. She stroked them all affectionately, when one caught her eye. It was a particularly young Charmander, and it was sitting apart from the others with its eyes closed gently. Its thin layer of silky fur was a distinctively light shade of orange, which meant it was girl. Still, June thought, Even for a girl, she has a pretty light coloration. Her chest and the underside of her tail were a creamy white, like all Charmanders, and as June got up and walked silently toward her, she opened her eyes. This is what June found amazing. Her eyes were a very soothing, light shade of yellow. June then immediately picked the Charmander up and asked, “Can I have her?”“Yes of course!” Professor Willow replied. “Would you like to put her in a Poke’ball?”“No thanks, but can I still have a Poke’ball for her? You know, in case anything happens,” June replied.“Sure! By the way, the government confirmed last night that all new poke’mon trainers are to be given five Poke’balls and a Poke’belt (the belt that trainers clip their poke’balls to) to start off with, so here are yours,” she said, reaching her hand into the same pocket in which the Charmanders had been in and pulling out a belt with five poke’balls attached to it. The belt was white, and had small magnetic ‘holders’ evenly spaced around it; five of the holders had poke’balls magnetically clipped to it. June put down her new Charmander, took the Poke’belt, and looped it around her pants. As soon as she fastened it around her waist, the magnetic dots that were holding the Poke’balls zoomed around to the left side of June’s waist, making them easier to grab the Poke’balls. June, who had studied the Poke’mon world her whole life, had heard of belts that did that, but they were supposed to be very expensive.Professor Willow saw June’s awe-struck face and said, “It is new technology, but it really doesn’t cost that much to manufacture them, so the government is able to supply them. Here Daniel, you can have one too.”The professor then handed Daniel a brown belt identical to June’s. Daniel put it on, and the same thing happened. He then took Taikai’s Poke’ball, clipped it to one of the circular magnets, and that magnet then zoomed to the left side of his waist to join the other Poke’balls.“Thanks!” he exclaimed, then squatted down to show his Squirtle his new belt.“Well June, what are you going to name your new Charmander?” Professor Willow asked.June looked down at her Charmander thoughtfully. The female Poke’mon then looked up at June with her gentle yellow eyes, and knew what she needed to name her.“Daniel?” she asked, “What’s the Japanese word for calm?”“Taira,” he replied.“Then Taira it is.”

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