Pure of Heart [ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

Chapter 6: New Beginnings

My legs wobbled as I stepped onto the solid ground of Olivine City. I could see why sailors always praised their sea legs. I rejoiced at being on the solid ground for the first time in a few days. I heard the captain and his crew complain behind me about the lack of wavering of the ground. The smell of the sea somehow refreshed itself in my nose, despite having been on the water for entirely too long. Salty and cold, with a heaping of fish mixed in. Above head soared Pidgeys exactly like those of my home region. I watched their graceful movements while pulling out my Pokédex. Observing them helped ease my tossing stomach. Sure enough, the device didn't beep at their presence. They were the familiar birds of my native land. It gave me a comfort that even though I was far from home, I wasn't too far away. The Pokédex did, however, beep the moment I walked another few steps forward.

The device displayed a picture of a quadruped creature with leaf green skin. It had a pink flower sprouting from its neck and antennas atop its head. I glanced up, spotting the very same Pokémon in front of me. "Meg!" it cried to its trainer when it saw me. It tugged on the girl's pink t-shirt--the same hue as the creature's flower--catching her attention from the rest of the faces in the crowd.

She held a sign with the words "Phoebe Kennet" on it. Her silky black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, keeping it out of her light tan face. It fell straight across her chest, almost coming down to touch her baby blue shorts. She flipped it behind her with a flick of the hand, and it swung to her back in one motion. As I approached her she straightened up, causing me to notice that she was about as short as my mother. Maybe only slightly taller.

She smiled as I walked toward her, dimples forming on her round cheeks. "Are you Phoebe Kennet?"

"Yeah, that's me," I replied.

"I'm Ohmae Akemi." She let the sign fall over to one hand, offering her now free one to me. I shook it. "You can call me Akemi."

"You can call me Phoebe." I looked from Akemi to her Pokémon, its form was almost towering over me now. "Who's this?"

The creature was about half a foot taller than me, but the foreignness of the creature caused it to feel like it loomed over me. Even my Charizard felt short compared to the new Pokémon.

She placed a hand on the Menganium--that's what the Pokédex told me its name was--stroking the creature's neck. "This girl here is Flora. She was my starter from Professor Elm's lab. I picked her when she was still only a Chikorita. The first of many Pokémon that I collected information on. How about you, who is your partner?"

I pulled a Poké Balloff of my belt and released it on the ground next to me. Charizard emerged in his magnificent form, flapping his powerful wings and letting out a rumbling growl. "This showoff here is Charizard. He was my starter from Oak. I didn't realize Pokémon took well to nicknames until I was far along in my journey, so I never gave him one. He's just Charizard, nothing fancy." Charizard blew out steam at my words, looking at me with an annoyed expression. "I mean your name is nothing fancy, you big baby. You're pretty special, and I won't ever forget it." The fire type nodded, deeming my response acceptable.

Akemi laughed, leaning on her Menganium with one slender leg casually crossed over the other. "My my, he's got quite the attitude."

"Yes, yes he does," I said as I glared at Charizard. He huffed and swung his head to face away from me. "Also, you mentioned that Flora was 'the first of many Pokémon.' Were you the one to complete the Johto Dex?"

Nodding, Akemi replied. "Yeah, kinda. Professor Elm thought it would have been too big of an undertaking for any one person, so he hired me and another guy named Ethan to complete it together. Turns out it wasn't that difficult of a task since you did it all by yourself." She gestured to me.