//------------------------------// // Big-Time Beginnings // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Canterlot. Day. Right now, BigTime Ben is being interviewed at Canterlot. His inclusion in this world has given him huge traction here. Helping with the Pokemon House, the Pokemon League, the soon to be built Pokemon Lab in Equestria and the incoming Pokemon Festival. All of it has drastically changed Equestria. A news pony from Manehattan had zipped on over to him with a camera crew and everything. "We're here live at Canterlot! I'm Hearsay Hoof, currently interviewing the human who's helped Equestria a lot recently once the worlds crossed. BigTime Ben!" "Hehe. That's me." Ben chuckled with his Gothitelle standing by his side as always. "So Ben. Everypony's wondering. What is it that led you to your massive success? I mean you're capable of doing all of this with a fat load of currency. Even by our world's standards!" "Hm? Good question. Well... I believe for that... we'll have to start at the very beginning. To when I was just a little rascal." Flashback Sequence. "Goldenrod City in the Johto region. Where I was born and raised from the very beginning. You see, Johto's a traditional region. It ain't as advanced as them fancy regions like Unova, Kalos... even Alola has much more going for them than us Johtonians." Ben sat in his home. It was fairly small, but that was the standard for houses in Johto in anyways. He was sitting on his bed, casually watching the walls as he waited for time to pass by. "See, I wanted to go big in my life. I wanted to accomplish many things. Create, innovate and all that smart stuff. But my dear mother didn't want to. She feared innovation due to the accident that happened a while ago involving my brother." Ben hopped off his bed, walking over to her tired mom. "Mom. When is dad coming back?" He asked her. "Your father's still working overseas at the Kalos mines, Benjamin. It might be another 6 years before he can return." She explained. "Well. I hope it's soon. I don't like it when dad's gone for a long time." Ben huddled up, sitting on the floor. "Benjamin. Why don't you just watch some TV or entertain yourself in the meantime? I bought this comic for you. It's about the Lucario that saves the universe. I bet you might love it." She handed him a comic book. "I guess so." He took the book, heading to his room to read it. "Life was pretty standard back at my home. Nothing interesting ever went down. But that all changed when my father finally returned. But not in the best condition." Ben ran out of his room, seeing his father finally return. He teared up as he was about to hug him, but saw him all injured and tattered. "Oh, dear!" His mother stood up. "Aloysius. What happened to you, darling. You're a wreck." "Hey. I'm back. Sorry about the way I look. Almost lost my life." He laughed casually. "How can you laugh so casually!" The mother puffed her cheeks. "Sorry about that. But I was saved by this little helper right here. Come on out." Aloysius turned around, revealing a Gothita. "It was that first day I met Gothita. My soon to be partner Pokemon. And my best friend through and through." "This Gothita saved me from being crushed by the rocks. Used psychic at the best time. I figured that a Pokemon like this would be good for you son. You did want a partner Pokemon after all." Aloysius bent down to Ben. "I mean... yeah I did. I did want one. But are you sure this is the one for me?" "Of course. I figured that the best partner for you would be one who would protect you. Even if they don't know who you are, it's the good in their heart that makes them do it." "Gothi...?" Gothita looked up at Ben. They were both a bit unsure of the other. "I guess... I'll take it. It saved your life after all dad." Ben smiled. "Great. Now I'm starving. Coming from Kalos to Johto works up an appetite. Especially when your knees are all sprained." Aloysius chuckled. Ben and his family sat down to eat some delicious food that was cooked up. While eating, Ben felt like he had to tel his parents what he wanted to do in the future. "Mom. Dad." "Yes Benjamin?" His mother replied. "I think I know what I wanna do in the future!" "Oh? What is it? Will you be a miner like your father or..." "I wanna be a guy who runs a huge company! Helping everyone make it big!" He exclaimed as he ran off to grab his comic book. "See. In this page right here! The hero Lucario is facing off against the company owned by Malamar. Obviously he's evil... but it's so awesome! It's got all kinds of stuff that can make anyone make it big! At least... when the villain isn't planning to destroy the hero, but it's something I want to own one day!" "A company?! Oh, dear. Benjamin. Isn't that a bit of a tall order?" "Yeah, son. Compared to my job as a miner, that's a grand step up. Owning a company is... well it's huge! Not just in size. You gotta know what to do to run one. You're gonna have tons of people working for you. Tons." "I know. That's why I'm gonna work very hard! I'll have an awesome company! I'll help everyone get big. I'll go big-time!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, dedicated to this goal. "Well. At least he has a goal. Why don't you go and get some sleep, Benjamin? I can get you some books about companies tomorrow." "Okay, mom!" Ben ran back to his room with Gothita slowly following him. "Owning a company? Aloysius, I don't think our son is ready for something of that scale." "Maybe. But with enough learning, he might make it somewhere. Small business can grow into something large after all. Besides, look how determined he looked." "I know. I just don't want him to end up like his brother." "So then, my mother got me as many books as she could. I started looking into other big company names like Silph. Co., Macro Cosmos and the Devon Corporation. I read so much that I never left my home for a long time. Haha! Though, every time I kept reading in my room, I missed out on other things happening outside. I never got to participate with other children my age. It did knock me down. But I had Gothita by my side, so I didn't mind it. And years passed. 14 to be exact. I was ready to start a small business and build it up from there." Ben, now a fully grown adult exited out of his house with Gothita by his side. Gothita had been following Ben for years now, but she didn't know if she was worthy for him. She had just been sitting around, watching him and not contributing that much. But she wanted to help him achieve his dream. His first destination, Unova "I've given you all the equipment that you need, Benjamin." His mother piled up tons of gear on him. "Unova is a big region. I don't want you to end up like your brother. Hiding away in embarrassment after a large failure." "I'll be fine mom. I won't make the same mistake Caiden did. I'll make sure to have a giga-business and lend a lot of money to you and dad. Promise." "I'd take his word for it, honey." Aloysius placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Just don't get into any accidents like I did years back. And if you do, you've got Gothita by your side." "Alright. Now hurry along. The S.S Aqua won't wait for you, Benjamin." "Right! Bye!" Ben ran off with Gothita on his shoulder. His journey started today. He made off to the S.S Aqua as it was setting off to Unova. On the S.S Aqua, Ben had grabbed a huge book where he drew all the ideas for his company. All of it was made when he was a kid to a teenager. He even gave it it's own name. BigTime Business. "I can't wait till we get to Unova, Gothita. I wonder where we'll start? Maybe Driftveil? Or Castelia? I hear companies start off small in Castelia City." "Gothita!" "Yes. My dream was coming to me. But I knew that on my own, it would take a long time. Even with a Psychic-Type on my side. That's when I met someone who would lend advice to help me." A woman walked up to Ben, looking at his drawings and ideas. "These look nice. Are you going to an art academy or something?" The redhead asked. "Oh. Thanks. No no, these are just ideas for my company I'm gonna be starting. All the way over at Castelia City, maybe." "A company you say?" She sat next to him. "All by yourself?" "Well, I Have Gothita on my side. She's a Psychic-Type so that means they can do a lot things quickly with their psychic powers, right?" "True. They can. But they can only get you so far. You're gonna need some more Man-Power and Pokemon-Power to boot. So what's your company gonna do? Are you gonna build or invest?" "Actually... I wanna do everything!" Ben exclaimed. "Everything?!" She pulled back. "Oh yeah. I wanna make competitions for Pokemon, help trainers, I wanna create events that'll really shake up everything! I wanna have a ton of Pokemon that help me and everyone else!" "Woah. That's a tall order. You sure you can do all of that?" "Well... I'm gonna give it my best. Right Gothita?" "Gothi!" "At least you're determined. How about I give you some advice that might help you?" "Oh? Sure." "Right. Well, the last thing you said about having a ton of Pokemon can benefit you. After all, Pokemon can help businesses grow. And secondly, if you're going to Castelia City, they'd be glad to help you start a tiny business over there." "Ah, I get what you mean! Thanks! I'll be sure to remember that!" Ben started to write down that valuable information right in his idea book. Flashback Sequence over. "Yes. My beginnings were on the longer side. Took me that many years to even startup." Ben explained. "Oooh. So once you finally got to Castelia City? What next? How'd it all go?" Hearsay asked. Other ponies had gathered up to listen, even Celestia and Luna came by to hear this. "Hm. Well, when I got to Castelia City. They did end up giving me a small business. In the form of the smallest tacky building, you'll ever come across. It was... pretty bad. But I made the most of it." "Sounds like you had it rough in the beginning, huh?" "Rough? Hah! Rough can't even describe how bad it was!" Ben was laughing at himself. Despite how atrocious it was in the beginning, he couldn't help but chuckle at all the shenanigans and mishaps that occurred. "But we managed. Eventually, me and Gothita decided to expand our small business. By catching tons of Pokemon. And boy did we catch them." Flashback Sequence Over at Unova, Ben was out with Gothita, searching for some Pokemon to catch. "Alright. We've got all these Pokeballs, let's make em count. Lostlorn Forest is a good place to start." "Gothita!" Ben spotted some Pokemon to start catching. Some who weren't even originally native to Unova. "Ooh. I see myself a Buizel!" Ben shouted out, drawing Buizel's attention. The Sea Weasel popped its head out of the water, looking at Ben. "Bui?" "All we have to do is battle it right? And then we catch it. Gothita. Think you can do it?" "Gothita." Gothita stepped forward, ready to play her part. "Awesome. Now uhh... I've never battled with you... so... use Psywave maybe? Do you know that?" Ben wasn't really much of a battler. At all. So Gothita used the one move it knew. Confusion. A swirling purple wave went towards Buizel but it was moving so slow. Buizel took its sweet time as it shot Gothita in the face with a Water Gun, knocking Gothita out. "Ah! Gothita!" Ben ran over to his Pokemon, picking her up. "Aw. Talk about a wipeout." He lowered his head. "Let's get you to a center." "Gothi..." Ben took his Pokemon all the way to the nearest Pokemon Center to get her healed up. He sat down waiting as he realised that the first day wasn't going as planned. "So much for humble beginnings." He sighed, placing his hand on his cheek. And old man saw the sulking Benjamin, walking over to his seat. "What's got you so down in the dumps, my boy." He asked. "Oh. I'm just bummed out on how today's going." "How so?" He sat next to him. "I finally got my own business, even if its small but... I wanted to catch some Pokemon to help me improve the place, but it ain't going so well. My Gothita got beaten in one hit. I'm not much of a battler anyways..." "Sounds to me like it's just a small case of bad luck. Nothing too severe." "Yeah, I know. But I don't know how I'm going to get anywhere at this rate?" He laid back on the chair, slumping down. "It takes time, my boy. Rushing isn't always the best option. Unless there's a Pokemon that helps with that, I don't know." "Yeah. I shouldn't rush. I should've known that in the beginning." Just then, Nurse Joy came out with Gothita. "Thank you for waiting. Your Gothita is back to full health." Nurse Joy said as she handed over Gothita back to Ben. "Thanks. Sorry about what happened Gothita. I'm not any good at Pokemon battling, so maybe I shouldn't pick fights with other Pokemon." "Gothita." "You know... if you want to catch some Pokemon without having to go through the battling phase. There's always the Safari Zone." The old man explained. "The Safari Zone?" Ben tilted his head. "Mhm. It's something that can be found in other regions, although regions like Unova, Alola and Galar don't really have their own. But they do have something similar to it. I just call it that because it reminds me of the Safari Zone back in my home Hoenn." "Where can I find this Safari Zone?!" Ben wanted to know. "Over at Astilbe Town. Not too far away from here actually." "Thank you so much sir! But... what do you even do there?" "Well. You can have a go at catching Pokemon. Whatever you want. But there is some luck involved so remember that." "I will! Thank you!" Ben rushed out of the Pokemon Center, ready to catch himself a ton of Pokemon. "I was so dedicated to catching Pokemon it was insane, to be honest. I believe that if you have Pokemon by your side, you can accomplish anything with them. It's why I own so many of them. Haha!" Ben finally reached Astilbe Town, a bit far away from his Castelia now. He entered a building that said 'Pokemon Amass.' "Okay. This is it." He entered the building as he saw many trainers exiting out with a smile on their face. They had caught tons of Pokemon and wasted a lot of their day doing so. "Greetings. Welcome to Pokemon Amass. Are you here to catch some Pokemon?" An employee asked him. "Uh, yeah. As many as I can. How many can I actually catch?" He asked. "As much as you want. As long as you have enough Pokeballs." "Amazing. I'll take as many as you have!" "Splendid. You'll need 500 Poke-dollars to purchase some Pokeballs." "500? I can pay for that. Mom and dad gave me 2100 when I left." "That'll get you quite a handful. This way please." "So I got myself some Pokeballs. And I was ready to catch the ones that I wanted to help me the most. I may have been poor at battling, but I knew my Pokemon and what some of them could do. So I chose carefully." Ben's first Pokemon he went for was a Rapidash that was moving along a grassy area contained in the building. "Rapidash, huh? I can use that Pokemon for when I want to have a race! Okay. Let's get this started." Ben held the first Pokeball right in his hands. "Go! Pokeball!" Ben tossed the Pokeball forward, catching the attention of Rapidash. The Fire Horse Pokemon responded by kicking the ball back at Ben as it struck him in the face, making him fall down on the grass. "Ow..." Rapidash had then fleed. Ben got up, holding his face he grabbed the Pokeball. "That was just one Pokemon. I can still get others and maybe come back for it." "I went for many Pokemon. Every single one of them ended in failure. I couldn't catch them for the life of me. Eventually, it got late so it was time for it to close for the day. As you can tell by my story, It was not easy once I got to Unova." Flashback Sequence over. "How sad. It must've been horrible having to go through so many struggles." Hearsay commented. "It was tough. Very tough. So tough that I ended up staying at an apartment for a few days, wondering how I'm gonna make it if I keep hitting a brick wall. I knew that everyone ends up struggling but for me, it seemed like there was no good luck coming my way. That's what I thought until something changed my life around." "What? What happened?" Everypony leaned in. "It went back to the Pokemon Amass building to try again. But that day, a bit of a predicament went down. All the Pokemon had been stolen, right in front of all our eyes." Flashback Sequence. Ben came back to Pokemon Amass and saw what was happening. It was Team Rocket. They had infiltrated the building via the ceiling as they were snatching all the Pokemon available. "The Pokemon!" A worker shouted. Everyone started to panic as Team Rocket were making a safe getaway. They had intimidated everyone, stopping them from moving by having Poison-Types stand near them all. "What in the?" Ben looked up, seeing all the Pokemon being taken. Even the trainers were losing their Pokemon. "I did not expect this today." The Poison-Types had made sure that none of the trainers were making any sudden movements. Ben had just entered so he was a bit far from them. He had to do something quickly. Then he had an idea that struck in his head. He ran past the Poison-Types but Drapion had grabbed him with its tail. Ben decided to do something by letting out a loud shout towards Rapidash. "Rapidash! Use your mane to burn away the net!" He bellowed towards the Rapidash from before. Rapidash heard his call as he shuffled through the cramped space of all the Pokemon. It's mane set the entire net on fire, incinerating it into nothing. All the Pokemon fell back down to the ground as Team Rocket gasped. "Yes!" Drapion began to squeeze Ben, endangering his life. Gothita saw her trainer being harmed by Drapion's tail, fearing that he might get poison in the process as he screamed in pain with the sharp part of Drapion's tail digging into his skin. Gothita stepped forward and unleashed a Psywave out of anger, sending Drapion flying. Gothita's attacks improve when it feels emotion. Much like the Ralts line. All the Poison-Types turned to Gothita as the people started to run with them being free. Team Rocket and the Pokemon had closed in on Ben, obviously mad at him for ruining their plan. "Think you're some sort of a hero eh?" "Ehehehe." Ben chuckled nervously. Gothita stood in front of Ben, ready to protect her trainer, no matter what. "Gothita?" Just then, right behind Team Rocket were the rest of the Pokemon who they tried to capture. Rightfully, they're not too happy about it. So in response, they all attacked Team Rocket from afar with their own ranged moves, sending them packing and scaring them off. Team Rocket scurried out of the place in a hurry, not wanting to feel the wrath of hundreds of Pokemon considering the low amount of grunts that came here with only 12 Pokemon. "Phew. Finally." Ben held his chest where the Drapion's tail hurt him. Gothita went up to his trainer, giving him a hug and glad that he was alright. "Thank you so much! How can we ever thank you?" The owner said, thanking Ben for saving the Pokemon. "Can I at least get some medical attention. This stuff stings." Rapidash and the Pokemon had gone up to Ben all of a sudden. They had taken a liking to him. A Happiny had healed his wound with heal pulse as thanks. "Oh. Thank you." "Happiny!" Rapidash had taken one of the Pokeballs, sending it over to Ben. Benjamin looked down at the Pokeball, then up at the Fire Horse, realising what it was trying to say. "You want me.. to catch you?" Rapidash looked over to all the other Pokemon that stood by it. "All of you?" The Fire Horse Pokemon and the rest nodded their heads and bodies. Ben got his catches, but in a much different way than he anticipated. "Alright! It's a deal!" Ben stood back up with his confidence rising up once more. Flashback Sequence over "So yeah. I managed to score myself so many Pokemon that day. We all returned back to Castelia to help make my dream happen. Obviously it was a bit of chaos due to how many there were and how destructive a lot of them can be. But we managed. Eventually, after so much hard work, I managed to make my dream reality. By finally having my Big-Time Business." "Amazing! What a story! So, can you tell us more about how it went?" Hearsay asked. "I would but... it's getting a bit late. I have places to be now. I'll fill you in on my story another time." Ben said. "Aww... I wanted to know more." Sunrise groaned. "Well... that ends that interview. But who knew the successful BigTime Ben had so many troubles in his earlier days. I can't wait to know more once we interview him again. This has been Hearsay Hoof. Bye!" Ben had returned to his world, but he went over to Johto this time. Being interviewed and telling some of his story had made him want to talk to his parents again. However, his parents sadly passed away. He went over to their graves at the House of Memories, speaking to them. "Evening mom, dad. Today, I ended up rambling about my past. Much longer than I should've. Hope you're all doing great on the other side. And I still haven't forgotten my promise. I'll make sure to find my brother, where he's hiding. That way he'll be back home. Well, goodnight." Ben walked away, planning to return to Unova, but before that, he made one final visit. He went over to his old home, seeing how it has barely changed over the years. He picked up the family photo and a piece of paper that fell out of his idea book long ago. He saw the drawing of him and his parents standing beside him at his company. He then looked over at his family portrait, seeing how far he's come. And he'll continue to grow his business, help others, and make them reach the Big-Time. Chapter 81 End.