The Vision: Part 1

There was darkness here, in this strange place where Taison now was. He looked around, then down at his hands, which he couldn't make out in the intense dark. He looked up and into the distance; hovering midair a good football field's distance away was a pink orb, glowing and transparent. It looked like it was roughly the size of a beachball, just floating aimlessly in this strange void. Taison stepped toward it, and instantly three other orbs flared to life; a green one, a red one and a blue one. They began to glow their respective colors and Taison was possessed with this need, this urge to run toward the pink orb. He did so, baffled but sure of his actions at the same time. The pink orb grew closer, and as it did, he saw a strange creature sitting within it. Then, all at once, three beams of light rocketed toward it; a yellow one, a red one, and a blue one. They collided with the pink orb and there was a monstrous explosion.
Taison sat up, cold sweat beading his face. The dream was so vivid, he had to assure himself he wasn't covered in soot and debris from the explosion. He put a hand up to his face, sweeping his long dark hair from his bright orange eyes and rubbing his forehead, thinking the dream over in his head. Unlike his usual dreams, this didn't fade with time he spent awake. It remained just as rough, just as vivid. He groaned and threw the covers off, his tone body pimpling with goosebumps as the cold air met his flesh. He glanced around his room at the not-so-typical contents. Sure, like every nineteen-year-old boy, he had his computer, his TV and video-games, his weight-lifting set, his posters of his various idols, a picture of his school crush on his desk, which was littered with papers and trinkets.
But over on one wall was where the strange stuff was. A grappling hook, several Katanas and other bladed weapons, a full-body stealth suit, and some mechanical gear which looked like it attached to his backpack, which sat open at the foot of his bed. Visible inside it was a thermos, a belt of some kind, and a black and white cap. He sighed and glanced to his TV, turning it on with the nearby remote and turning the volume down.
Professor Oak was on TV again. He was a little too tired to really hear what he was saying, but he looked like he was in his lab in Pallet Town, where he'd always been. Taison glanced over to one of two doors in this room, stood up, and approached it. If there had been anyone in the house with him, he might've been concerned about being seen in nothing but his boxers. As it was, he lived alone, so the concern didn't cross his tired brain as he entered his kitchen and turned on the faucet.
The image of the creature in the pink orb flashed in his head again as he filled a glass with water. What on Earth was it? Why was it in his dreams, and why did he constantly feel like he was in charge of protecting it? The creature's image was so fuzzy, and he only had a moment to see it…
The glass had begun to overflow as he thought. He blinked and turned the water off, gulping down the water anxiously, setting the glass in the sink and trudging back to bed. Thinking this early in the morning was dangerous if he wanted to get back to sleep. He curled up under the covers again and glanced at the TV, remote in hand. He froze when he saw what Professor Oak was drawing on a whiteboard.
"—of what appears to be the Ancient and Powerful Pokemon, Mew." Oak finished saying, pressing the cap back on his marker, glancing to his fresh-though-crude drawing of a small cat-like pokemon. "It's been sighted in the sky all over Johto, and though many trainers have attempted to capture it, including ranks among the infamous Team Rocket, all have failed. You see, from what we know, Mew has various ways of avoiding attention. Between transformation, Teleportation and the strange ability to turn invisible, the odds of sighting Mew are minimal, forget catching it." Taison listened intently, eyes fixed on Oak's drawing.
A newscast announcer then appeared on the screen, thanking Professor Oak for his presentation and continuing the bulletin. Taison turned the TV off and fidgeted in bed for a moment before drifting off into a dreamless sleep the rest of the night.

The next morning, with the sun piercing Taison's window, he got up and got dressed in his heavy black cargo pants, gray tanktop undershirt and big camouflage zip-up hoodie. He tugged his black and white cap on backwards, tufts of his dark hair poking through the hole. He pulled on his fingerless gloves, strapped on his backpack and the strange gear that accompanied it, grabbed the aforementioned belt and stepped outside.
The usual hustle and bustle of the shopping capital of Johto, Goldenrod City, met his ears. He smirked a little and headed out onto the street. Down the road was his father's place, where he intended to visit. His father'd asked him to pay a visit a couple of days ago, and Taison finally had a day off from his usual job as Cashier at the Department Store. His father's institute had become a famed place of research very quickly when it debunked the mystery of the Unown Pokemon, and it had soared to even greater heights since then. Recently, his father'd been working on something much more revolutionary, and apparently some sort of breakthrough had been made. The door to the Johto Institute of Pokemon Behavior swung open and Taison entered the lobby.
"Oh!" The secretary gave a startled jump. "Mr. Richardson! Are you here to see your father?" She looked him over. The lobby was lit by fluorescent lights, which did nothing to help how flustered the secretary looked.
"Yeah. Is he in?" Taison asked, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and looking around.
"I'll page him and let him know you're coming. Just head down the stairs, second room on the left." She gestured to a door, then pressed a button on a console and went back to filing her nails. Taison passed through the door and went down the long, poorly-lit hall and into the aforementioned room.
The walls of this small Eight-by-eleven-foot room were wallpapered with pictures of alleged Legendary Pokemon sightings. Machinery lined the base of three of the four walls, and in the corner, on a stool, sat a tall man. He had dark hair, just as Taison did, and when the man turned, it was apparent that Taison's orange eyes were hereditary. In front of Taison's father was an Alakazam, which had machinery hooked up to it's head.
"Come in! Listen! Look!" His father blurted, excitement brimming all the way up to his bald spot. Taison cleared some papers off of another stool and dragged it over, sitting down and putting his chin in his hands.
"What're you doing to this poor thing?" Taison asked, looking the Alakazam over with pity. His dad laughed out loud.
"Nothing! I'm merely monitoring it's brainwaves. Watch this. Chester, say 'Hello'." His father peered intently at the Alakazam, who looked from his father to Taison, then nodded.
"Hellakazam." The Pokemon said after a long moment. Taison stared dumbfounded whilst his father leapt from his stool and whooped in triumph.
"It…almost said hello…" Taison managed to mutter after a moment.
"Yes! My research of late has been about how Pokemon are able to form the syllables needed to pronounce their sometimes intricate names, but can't speak English! Apparently, they can!" He continued his excited dance as Taison ruffled Chester's head and patted him.
"What else have you got, Dad?" Taison asked, feeling excitement beginning to build inside him as well. His father paused and scooped up some papers, handing it to him. Taison flipped through it, reading headlines and important cliffnotes about how Pokemon such as Squirtle, Alakazam, and Blastoise, who are known to speak their names, are mentally capable of learning and utilizing the English language. Opposite research also shows that Pokemon such as Charizard and Dragonite, who are reported to be incapable of saying their names, are not capable of using the English language. The difference in mental capability or pronunciation equipment has yet to be discovered.
"Think of it as if they were infants, who learned one new word. Naturally, they repeat it constantly, and that's usually the most difficult step of getting a child to learn to speak." His father piped in, after having disconnected Chester from the equipment.
"Yeah, but dad… they're not dumb animals. They're intellig—…" He was cut off by his father.
"Oh, believe me, I know. But for some reason, it's in their instincts. Possibly developed in ancient times to identify brood members, or something similar, but they can't help it regardless. The fact that I've been able to get good old Chester here to attempt syllables he's never pronounced… It's breakthrough stuff!" His father took out his cellphone and began entering digits happily. Taison turned back to Chester, who was fiddling awkwardly with his spoons.
After Taison's father carried out an excited conversation with Professor Elm of New Bark Town, he turned to his son and beamed.
"Professor Elm is on his way over. He's got a surprise for you, and he's coming to visit Chester and look over my research." He announced. Taison quirked a brow and mulled this information over in his head. Professor Elm was a nutjob. What on earth could that fruitcake have for Taison? He shook his head and stood up, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Guess I'm stickin' around until the coot gets here then, huh? That's fine. I enjoy Chester's company." He pulled the stool over to Chester, who was preparing himself to meditate. Taison did the same, and as the Alakazam rose up into the air and entered a trance, Taison did the same, suspended in the air by the stool he'd taken. As his mind cleared, he saw, for the briefest and most fleeting of moments, those same four orbs; red, yellow, blue and pink. Something else became visible, like the quick frame transition of a movie; a dark, floating figure hovering over him, blurred by his bleary vision. A memory? It had to be; it had all the qualities of one. The sensation of nostalgia and Déjà vu; the subconscious assurance that he'd seen it before. It resembled the creature seen in the pink orb. What was it? Why was it haunting his sleep, and now his meditation? It had a small body and a disproportionately long, stringy tail, which bulged gently at the end. It's head resembled that of an Abra, with it's soft features and round quality. It just hovered there, watching him, it's features obscured by his groggy vision and some sort of haze, as though the creature were taking steps not to be recognized.
"Tai? Taison?" A new voice rang in his head. That sounded like the Fruitcake. Taison opened his eyes slowly to see, not inches from him, Professor Elm's goofy face looking him over.
"GAH!" Taison fell backward, smacking his head hard on the desk behind him and landing on his rear. The impact loosed his cap from his head, and amidst his dark, untidy hair a welt began to rise. He rubbed it wildly, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Wow. Maybe your coolness genes skipped a generation, Mr. Richardson." A young, female voice muttered from the doorway. Taison scratched vainly at the disfiguring welt on his head, then gingerly put his cap back on and stood up, brushing himself off. He glanced to the door and paused, taken aback.
Long, violet hair, adorned with midnight blue highlights, curtained piercing blue eyes; the same eyes which surveyed Taison like a rotten herring on a fish market. A girl, no older than Taison, stood leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. She wore a black strapless top which was tied down the front by red laces. Her skirt was not short but not revealingly so, as it fell down to her mid-thighs. Her boots came up to just beneath her knees, and between them and the skirt was fishnet, which also adorned both of her arms from the elbow down, coming into fingerless gloves at the hands.
"Dad, what's that in the doorway?" Taison asked, befuddled. The girl blinked.
"That? I'm no thing, you *******!" The girl exclaimed, a look of fury sweeping over her previously calm face.
"Hey now! Enough, both of you. Taison, this is Mika Zuki. She's Professor Elm's freshest new graduate from his academy. She had the most promising grades, and she's accompanying the Professor for the day as a bit of a graduation ceremony. Mika, this is Taison, my son and probably the biggest dropout lowlife in Goldenrod." Mr. Richardson explained. Before the smirk could creep up on Mika's face, Taison added his two cents.
"I'm also the most feared and respected street fighter in Johto, and I'm a three year student of Ninjitsu. Say the wrong thing to me and the last thing outta your mouth will be 'what smells like chloroform?'" Taison muttered. Mika, gave him an indignant look and turned to Professor Elm, who cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Yes, well. Mr. Richardson, Mika will accompany you down to your lower Laboratories. If I could have a word with Taison for a moment…" He announced. Mr. Richardson nodded and he and Mika turned and left, the door shutting quietly behind them. Taison sat down on his stool, petting Chester, who now snoozed pleasantly mid-levitation.
"What's up Doc?" Taison asked, rubbing his head absently. The bump he got still stung like crazy.
"Yes… Taison. You've never passed any tests, or anything like that, but I want you to have this." Elm said, then reached into his coat and produced a small, red and white ball. Taison blinked.
"Is that candy?" He asked, taking it slowly and looking it over. "No, this is a Pokeball." Taison looked it over carefully, then looked up to Elm.
"Take that Pokemon with you. It's a little rambunctious, but it's nothing you can't handle I think. Having something like that should only benefit you. Treat it well." Elm said, grinning. Taison looked it over, then pressed the middle button on it. The Pokeball expanded to fit in his hand. He took in a deep breath, then threw it, watching as blue light flooded the room, and from the Pokeball…