(Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Duh. Why'd you even think that, you big dummy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm sure you're very intelligent and I never meant to insult you.)

Chapter 1

Leaving for a While

"Mom? Hey…Mom?" I said, standing in the doorway, letting just enough light into my parents' room to see what was inside. She was sitting on the bed, not moving. She had been like that for a while, just sitting. I'd have to bring her food, and even then, she refused to eat while I was around, and sometimes she refused to eat all together. I felt sorry for her, I kinda knew what she was going through, but at the same time I was angry. She should know that Dad's death hurt me too, and I really needed her…but I couldn't blame her. I had to take care of her, but I couldn't do that forever.

When I first heard the knock at the door, I didn't want to answer. My heart stopped, and my hands grew clammy. I steadied my breath, and opened the door, slowly. Two people, a boy and a girl, stood on the steps in green t-shirts with the Pokemon League symbol on the shoulder. Under it I saw small blue text reading, "Leader's Resort - Medical Staff". I tried to tell them to come in, but my throat shut, and I couldn't speak a word. So I gestured them in, trying to choke down the dozens of confusing emotions clouding my brain.

"Is she upstairs?" The boy asked. I still couldn't say anything, so I just nodded. He gave me a quick look of sympathy, and then ran up the stairs. I looked over at the girl, who had sat down on my couch, and was looking at me expectantly.

"Now, Carbon. I know that these past few weeks have been very hard for you and your mom, but - are you still with me sweetie?" She looked at me with concern. I nodded and realized I was crying. I wiped my eyes and looked at her. She was only a few years older than me, not old enough to be calling me sweetie. I appreciated it, though. Her dark brown eyes were a lot like my mom's but I hadn't seen that warmth they had ever since Dad got sick. She didn't look much like my mom at all; her skin was darker, she had black hair instead of brown, and she was at least a decade younger, but for some reason she reminded me a lot of Mom. The mom I had before all of this.

"Ok then, I know this is the last thing you want to be hearing right now, but your family cannot continue living in the Leader's Resort." She said quietly, as if by using a softer voice, she would somehow make this news better. It wasn't a surprise for me; I had known they had to kick us out sooner or later. This place was for retired gym leaders, and now the retired gym leader in our family passed away. Even though I had been bracing myself for such news, it still hit me like a hurricane.

"But what about Mom?" I asked before I had time to think. My eyes started to swell up, and this time I didn't try to stop myself.

"Since our last appointment, we have come to the conclusion that your mother is no longer a fit guardian for the time being. We're going to keep her in a hospital until the shock wears off."

"You mean if the shock wears off."

"Well…yes." She said, obviously not expecting my hostility. Normally, I'd apologize, but I decided not to care for once.

"…where will I go?" I asked, my eyes finally returning to normal. I had to stay strong. Or, at least, not crumble.

"Your mother has a sister, as you probably know. We are going to send you to live with her as long as your mother is in this state."

~3 months later~

"What about you, Carbon? What's your pokemon?" Mrs. Terwilliger said, startling me. I wasn't paying attention, and I hadn't noticed her come up behind me. She saw my drawing in my notebook and snatched it from my hands. "Gengar, huh? This can't be your pokemon, can it? Do you just have a Gastly?" Before I could say anything she turned to the class and asked, "Now, who can tell me what type, or types, Gastly is?"

This was really starting to annoy me, and it was gonna make telling the class about my situation even more awkward. A girl on the other side of the room, Chloe, raised her hand and said, "Gastly is a Ghost type pokemon, Mrs. Terwilliger. It evolves first into Haunter, then into Gengar." She fluffed her blonde-and-somehow-pink hair and waited for Terwilliger's usual praise.

"I'm sorry, Chloe, that's incorrect. Anyone else? Ink, how about you?"

My cousin Ink, sitting next to me, on the other side of the teacher looked up slowly. He was a total goofball everywhere except in the classroom. His mom was crazy about his grades, so he always took education very seriously. He gets way better grades than me, but she felt sorry for me, so she didn't bother me much about it.

"Ghost and Poison." Ink said quietly, talking just above a whisper.

"What was that now? Speak up, please." Terwilliger said. Ink and Chloe were her favorite students, but as Chloe adored her attention, Ink hated it.

"The Gastly family is a dual type. Both Ghost and Poison," Ink said louder, then he saw Chloe giving him the Evil Eye from the other side of the room, then he added, "so you weren't completely wrong, Chloe." She calmed down a bit.

"So, Carbon, how did you obtain a Gastly? I understand they are very rare in this part of the country." Mrs. Terwilliger said, turning back to me.

"Well, you see, I don't really have a pokemon." I heard gasps, and even some snickers from people around the class, so I continued, "my dad is, or, um, was Ace Dynasty, the former flying-type gym leader. He got me a Fletchling when I was 10, but my mom was against me training pokemon. My dad had been injured pretty badly after some guys who lost to him mugged him with their pokemon outside of his gym. That's why he had to retire, and then on top of that he got really sick and…yeah." The snickers had stopped, and I felt Mrs. Terwilliger's hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at her, and she gave me a look. The same look of I'm-sorry-but-I-can't-help-very-much that the boy from the League gave me when he picked up my mom. "Now, class," Mrs. Terwilliger said once she got up to the front of the classroom, "not having a pokemon is perfectly normal, not everyone receives a pokemon when they get their license. Some people can't afford them, some people don't want their kids training at that age, and some people just don't want one. Now, Carbon, I must ask, why did you draw this Gengar? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant drawing, but why particularly Gengar? They aren't indigenous to the area."

I heard some grumblings about me being able to get one only because I come from a League family. As if. I waited a second, then said, "I was watching the game last night, the one-on-one single elimination qualifiers for the sectional tournaments, and Kazzy was using a Gengar. Like, a really, really good Gengar." I was a complete competitive pokemon fanatic, and I had been a fan of Kazzy since I saw him beat my dad's gym when I was six. Now, seven years later, he had beaten the Pokemon League, was a champion for three years, and then stepped down to start a competitive career.

"That's very nice Carbon, but next time, try to pay attention to my lessons instead of daydreaming about those competitions." Terwilliger said, then she continued the lesson, and the day went along like usual. At least, until school ended.

"Carbon, Ink, Hey!" I heard Chloe's annoyingly melodic voice from behind us. She lived in the same building as us, but she usually left school much later, so we never really walked together. Once she caught up to us, she said, "Carbon, you know you can get a pokemon from the professor, right? I mean, you have to show him that you can handle it, but I've heard you talk about raising pokemon a ton at recess, so I think you'd be ready. Plus, you're a gym leader's son, so he'll probably give it to you on the spot!" I was surprised by her helpfulness. I had never really talked to her, but the way she always looked at Ink made me assume she was just a teacher's pet. When I first moved here, I asked Ink about her and he just said I should ignore her, so that's what I did I guess.

"Wait just one second," Ink said, stopping in his tracks. He then looked at Chloe strangely and asked, "You listen to our conversations during recess?" She was startled by this question, and then she started blushing.

"Umm, well…I didn't mean…shut up." She said to Ink, which he readily responded to with his trademark smirk. "Anyways," She continued, "you should really get a pokemon, Carbon, I think you'd really enjoy it, and you deserve it, too."

"How would you know if I enjoy or deserve it or not? You barely know me," I said, then I realized how mean that sounded, so I went on, "but you seem really cool, what pokemon do you have?"

She pulled out a pokeball from her pink jacket pocket and pressed the button to release the creature inside. The ball opened, a white light streaming from it, shooting onto the ground and revealing a small bear with a leaf in its mouth. "Pancham! Pancham!" It said.

"I'm guessing that's a Pancham." I said. Chloe laughed at my sarcasm, which, quite honestly, surprised me. I never really thought she had a sense of humor, like, at all. "I think I've seen one of those before on TV, but never in real life. What type is it?" I asked, kneeling down to pet its furry head.

"It's fighting type, like my Mankey." Ink said putting his key into the lock of our door. I hadn't realized it, but we had made it back to our apartment complex.

"Ya, except, no matter how many times I try I can't beat his Mankey for the life of me." Chloe said laughing, walking into our apartment, even though we hadn't formally invited her.

"You guys have battled?" I asked, trying to see if I had heard her correctly.

"Once a week, every week, ever since we've gotten our pokemon. I guess you could say she's my rival." Ink said casually, taking Chloe's jacket off and hanging it up on our coat rack.

"Oh, I didn't know you guys were so close." I said awkwardly. A short silence followed, then Chloe went to the bathroom, (I guess she already knew where it was) so Ink and I got some much-needed time alone.

"Hey, man, why haven't you ever told me about this?" I asked Ink in a hushed voice. He looked away and didn't answer for a while. I guess he was searching for the right thing to say.

"I guess it never really felt necessary to tell you. I don't know, it's kind of been a secret for a while, no one really knows about it. I think my mom still thinks me and her are going out." He said with a laugh. His calm attitude really put it all in perspective, and I realized that it wasn't really that big of a deal. Who cared if they battle? It didn't really affect my relationship with Ink, and it only brought me closer to Chloe, so it only really had positive consequences.

Chloe walked back into the room, tucking her phone into her back pocket. "I told my mom I'd be having dinner here, so you better not make me a liar, hint hint." She said, giving Ink a surprisingly flirtatious wink. Then we all sat down, and they tried to convince me to get a pokemon…and it worked.

~The next day, after school~

We were heading towards Professor Cedar's Lab, ready to get my first pokemon, and I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life. They kept telling me to calm down, but I just couldn't. Worried thoughts crowded my head like a flock of Pidove in the big cities of the Unova region. What if he didn't give me a pokemon? What if he did give me a pokemon and it didn't like me? I was so filled with dread that I didn't notice us finally arrive the intimidating white building of the professor.

As we walked in, I noticed Jagged, Ink's Mankey, and Rebel, Chloe's Pancham were out of their pokeballs, but still staying near their trainers. I wondered if that was to be expected, and if not, were we going to get thrown out because of their mistake?

"Randal! Hey, Randall!" Chloe yelled to a man across the lab, disturbing some of the scientists surrounding a Persian hooked up to several monitors. When the man didn't respond, Chloe sighed and said in a much more appropriate voice, "Professor Cedar, may we speak with you about getting this fine young man a pokemon?" She seemed to be mocking him, and now more than ever I was afraid that we were going to get thrown out. Then, the Professor turned around, revealing a surprisingly young face. What was more startling than his age was his resemblance to Chloe.

"Come on, sis. You can't just barge in here and ask for something like that. I thought we've been over this." The young man said, then he turned to me, and I saw a look of recognition in his eyes, then sorrow. "You're Ace's boy, aren't you, I'm so sorry for your loss. For the record, he was by far the most difficult gym leader to defeat, even though he was only the seventh." I was surprised by this. All of these things I'm learning in just two days! First, I learn that Ink and Chloe are not only friends, but rivals. Then I learn that apparently Chloe is the professor's sister. Now, I learn that he had defeated my father in battle! I looked him over a bit. He didn't seem old enough to have defeated seven, maybe even eight gyms, and he really didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be able to beat my dad in a gym battle. Cedar must've saw the subtle confusion on my face, because he then said, "All official pokemon professors must acquire the eight gym badges from their region, so…that's what I did. I'll tell ya, it wasn't easy though. But I saw what I wanted to do, and I went for it. Now, before this turns into an inspirational lecture, let's see about that pokemon, I think I know just the one for you." He turned to the computer behind him and started typing. Soon, a pokeball was dispensed from a tube next to us. I looked at him, and he nodded.

I reached my hand very slowly towards the ball, wrapping my fingers around it. It was surprisingly cold, but I grabbed it and held it up. The metal was smooth; I thought it might just slip out of my hand. I pressed the ball, and shielded my eyes as that bright white light blasted out of it. But, instead of the usual, when it hits the ground, it stayed mid-air and formed the shape of a bird. It was a black bird with intimidating red eyes and a long, yellow beak. The feathers on its head made it look like it was wearing a fedora, and as I was about to say what pokemon it was, it flapped over onto my head, and cawed out, "Murkrow! Murkrow, Murkrow, Murkrow!"

"Your dad always wanted a Honchkrow," Professor Cedar said, "I used one in my team when I faced him, and he said he always wanted one, but was never able to catch it. Mine is actually the mother of yours. Do you want to name it?"

"…what did you name yours?" I asked tentatively.

"Boss…because, Honchkrow is like, the Big Boss pokemon, and like…never mind." The professor said, obviously embarrassed by his choice of name.

"Hmm…I'll name mine Omen." I said. That was met with looks of surprise, then they all took a moment to think, and Ink nodded.

"I like it." He said, his smirk jutting out of the side of his face. For once I could tell that he wasn't being sarcastic.

"Ya, it really suits Murkrow, since it's all dark and spooky and stuff." Chloe added, her hands adding flare and panache to the word "spooky". Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Ink seemed to like her, and she wasn't nearly as much of a buzzkill as she had seemed.

"Ok then, Omen it is!" the professor said with a smile, then he continued, "Now, if that's all you wanted-"

"Actually, there's one more thing." Chloe interrupted, then she looked at Ink and he whipped out a formal-looking document and handed it to the professor.

"We need you to sign this; it gives us legal permission to go try to collect all of the gym badges. We're all of legal age, and we have parental, I mean, guardian consent, and our teacher signed it too, saying that we are all ready to go." Ink said.

"Wait, what?" I asked. This was all a complete surprise, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to go on this big of an adventure. "Mrs. Terwilliger even said I was ready? She doesn't even like me that much!"

"She said you don't get the best academic grades, but you have shown multiple times that you'd be a good trainer." Chloe said, with a giant grin stretching across her face.

We all looked to the professor, waiting intently, then, with he looked at each one of us, nodded then signed.

~The next day, before leaving~

I turned on my PC and called my mom on video chat. People like her are on 24-hour watch, so I knew someone would be there to answer my call. The screen flickered on, and the same girl who I talked to three months prior was there, smiling and waving. Her name was Ashley, I had learned, and she was the daughter of a former rock type gym leader. Her chocolate brown skin and black hair, which was now cut short, no longer resembling my mother's, covered the screen, not giving me much of a view of my mom. She smiled and waved, then backed off, letting me see the rest of the room. I immediately wish she hadn't.

My mom was sitting on the bed, her eyes staring straight forward at the camera, but glazed over. She wasn't really seeing me, she was just looking. Ashley turned to her and said, "Diane, it's your son, Carbon. Can you say hello? Can you say hello to Carbon?" My mom's lips moved, but no sound came out, or at least I didn't hear any. "Good, good! You responded, that's great!" Ashley turned to me and her overly positive attitude disappeared. "She's getting better, but not nearly at the rate we want. You may have to stay there a bit longer, kiddo"

"Ok," I said back solemnly, "Can I talk to her?" Ashley nodded silently, and moved away from the PC. "Mom, I'm leaving for a while. I'm going on a journey. I know you don't want me to train, but I think Dad would've loved it. I'm raising one of his favorite pokemon and I…I…" I choked up and couldn't finish, and my eyes filled with tears. I wiped them away and looked back up at the monitor, just to be met by that same lifeless stare. "I love you." I finished, and then turned the PC off.

(Like, comment, subscribe and all that jazz. But seriously, comment or something, even if it's just to correct a grammatical error I made. I just want to know that people are willing to stare at a screen for several minutes for me. Bye, thanks for reading you big dummies.)

Tune in next time when we meet three new Pokemon that will join our three young heroes as they begin their adventure into the great unknown! Will these new friends be a good fit for our trio or will all the new faces be too much for Carbon to handle? Find out next chapter, in "Mirror, Mirror"! Thank you for reading.