The sudden noise of his alarm blaring woke Cain Raynor from a very excited, restless sleep. Today was the day. His 18th birthday. The day he was finally allowed to start his Pokemon journey. After years of waiting since the age rule changed, he was finally going to get to see the world. Excitedly, he threw the covers back and jumped out of bed. It took a moment to realize that something was missing, but the grumbling sounds under the covers told him what it was. With a joyful laugh, he turned around and moved the covers, revealing a very sleepy looking Pikachu at the foot of his bed. "Sparky, wake up boy. Today is the day! We finally go adventuring today!"

"Pikaaa~aaa" The yellow mouse said with a yawn, sitting up and looking at it's owner, with a smile. The two of them had been together for years, since Sparky was given to Cain as a Pichu by his father before his sudden disappearance. By love and friendship, the electric Pokemon eventually evolved into Pikachu. Though they had never gotten to go out and train, the two were still as close as could be.

"C'mon, let's not miss breakfast. Mom is going to be upset enough that I'm leaving today." Cain told his small friend as he set off to the kitchen. Sparky jumped off the bed and ran after him after a good shake. We the two got in there, Jennifer Raynor, Cain's mom, was just sitting breakfast on the table. "Morning mom!" The young man said happily, taking his spot and laughing as Sparky jumped into the chair beside him.

"Good morning, Cain. Be sure to eat good. Today is your big day." The woman answered, smiling at her only son. Ever since her husband, Adam, had disappeared when Cain was only 6, it had just been her and her son. Now, he was leaving too. As she sat at the table, thinking about it, tears came to her eyes. Her baby was all grown up and there was nothing she could do about. Cain obviously noticed her sadness, because he immediately stopped eating and looked over at his mom, clearly worried.

"Mom…" was all he could say. This situation didn't need words. Everything was just understood. Finally after a bit of silence, he cracked a small smile. "Don't worry mom. I'll come back to visit. And I'll call everyday." He was relieved when he saw the woman smile. The two finished eating in silence and when they were done, just like always, he helped his mother clean everything up. Now came the hard part. Leaving. With a sigh, he grabbed his backpack and walked over to the door, stopping to turn back to his mom.

"Please be careful out there, Cain… I don't want to loose you too." his mother said, walking over and fixing his hair. She gave a sad smile and shook her head. "It seems only yesterday that you were just an adorable little boy, playing with Lego blocks and toy cars. Now you've grown up in to a handsome young man, about to set off on a huge journey… It's going to be so lonely without you…"

"Aw, mom…" Cain said with a small chuckle as he gave his mom a nice, tight hug. "I'll miss you a lot. As I said, I'll call everyday and come back to visit when I can. And you don't have to worry! Sparky is going to take care of me and I'm going to take care of him!" His mom gave a laugh and looked at the Pikachu that was tugging on her pants leg.

"Pi! Pikachu!" It said happily, making a peace sign. Jennifer laughed once again and picked the yellow mouse up.

"You've got a lot of work ahead of you Sparky." She joked.

"Mom!" Cain said, laughing and taking his small friend. The Pikachu licked him in the face before jumping back down and standing at his feet. Finally the young man opened the door and smiled. "Well. Here I go! Take care, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Cain." She answered, watching as her only son and his Pikachu ran out the door excitedly. She sighed as she walked over to the open and forgotten door and watched as he ran off toward the Professor's lab. "Take care…" She said quietly before closing the door.

"Terra! Terra!" Cain called to his blond headed best friend as he walked out of Professor Kerragan's lab. The blonde looked up, a big goofy grin spreading across his face as he started to run toward Cain, almost forgetting to shut the door.

"Hey Cain!" Terra said as he ran up and gave his friend a manly-ish hug. "Ready to start your adventure I'm guessing?"

"So excited. So is Sparky. That's why I headed over here as soon as I could to get a new Pokemon." Cain answered, smiling as he stepped away from Terra a bit.

"Hate to break it to you, but I just grabbed the last one. Looks like you are stuck with just Sparky for now. Oh! Professor Kerragan did tell me to give you these though." The blonde said, handing Cain his Pokedex and some Pokeballs. The brunette stared at them for a moment before putting them into his bag. When he looked back up, he was smiling once more.

"That's ok, Sparky has been good to me for years. I know he wont fail me now." He said, kneeling down and scratching his Pikachu's ears. It made a noise of contentment and closed it's eyes. Cain and Terra laughed at it's reaction, but suddenly something caught their attention. A young woman, barely older than them was walking out of a house, turning back to speak to someone inside and swatting at the Eevee on her shoulder for trying to take the cheese in her hand. "Wow… Who is that?"

"That's Sarah Frost. She moved here a couple years ago. Apparently it's been her and her mom since Sarah was born and she has been having to let her mother get used to her being gone slowly. Today is her last trip back for a good while." Terra said, pausing so they could both stare at the gorgeous woman as she closed the door and finally gave up the cheese that her Eevee was wanting so badly. Then, a brilliant idea popped into the blonde's head. "Dude! You should go battle her!"

"What? No!" Cain said, shocked that Terra would even suggest such a thing. "She has been at it longer, she has gotta be waaay stronger!"

"No! Because she had to keep coming home, she hasn't gotten very far. She only has her first badge, and she got that right before coming back this time. Come on man, it'll be good exercise for Sparky AND you!"

" Welll…" Cain started, looking down at his Pikachu. It was intently watching the Eevee on Sarah's shoulder, and it was watching Sparky. "Do you want to Sparky?" He didn't even get an answer, the electric mouse just took off running toward the woman. "Sparky!" Cain yelled as he chased after his Pokemon. As the Pikachu drew closer, the Eevee jumped off it's owner shoulder and stood in an offensive position, growling.

"Frisk! What are you -" Sarah started as she turned around, looking at the young man in front of her. The two just stared at each other for a moment before a small cough escaped Cain's throat.

"I, uh… Sorry about that. I don't know what got into him…" He said nervously as he walked up beside Sparky. Looking down at his pet, he gave a small glare and whispered. "What is your problem?"

"It's quite alright." She said, pushing her hair behind her ears and smiling at him. Clearly she was a kind-hearted person, considering she didn't get angry about his Pokemon trying to start a fight by itself. "I'm Sarah Frost. For all intents and proposes, I'm a new trainer. Even if I have been at this for a couple of years. What's your name?"

"Cain…. Raynor! Cain Raynor…" He said, embarrassed that he had forgotten his last name for a moment. "I'm uh. I'm a new trainer. Just left my house in fact."

"That's awesome! It's nice to meet you Cain."

"Same to you, Sarah."

"Well, how about we have a battle, we are both new, so this should be fun!" She suggested. Frisk looked at her with an almost devilish look, as if to say that she read his mind. Sparky looked toward Cain, an almost pleading look in his eyes. The young man had no choice. If Sparky wanted to, it was battle time.

"Sure. It seems like Sparky thinks he has found a worthy first opponent." He joked, scratching the back of his head. "Sparky, no holding back!"

"Great! Alright Frisk, show them who's boss." Sarah said happily. "Since you are newest, you can have the first move. May the best trainer win." Cain simply gave a nod, quickly going through his brain to decide on a first move. That Eevee had to be quick, so a contact attack would really help. Finally he decided to go with a same type attack.

"Thundershock!" He called. Sparky nodded and electricity started arcing from it's cheeks. Frisk stood still, waiting until the attack was about to strike before running toward the Pikachu, narrowly dodging the small bolt.

"Frisk, Take Down." Sarah said calmly, though the Eevee was already doing so. It was clear that these two has a strong bond. Sparky tried to mimic what Frisk had done, but he wasn't able to get away in time. The Eevee slammed into him hard, knocking him over. "Now, bite!" Everything seemed to slow down as Frisk's sharp teeth neared his beloved friend. Suddenly he realized something. Due to how he was bred, Sparky actually knew a move he wasn't suppose to learn until later. Thank goodness for genetics.

"Thunderpunch, Sparky! Followed by Tackle!" Cain said quickly, hoping that Sparky's reaction time was as good as he thought. The Pikachu didn't hesitate. It charged a whole lot of electricity into it's paw before driving a hard punch to it's assailant's ribs. With a yelp, Frisk was knocked off, hitting the ground a few feet away. Sparky jumped up and ran toward the Eevee, knocking it back over with a tackle. Frisk took a sharp inhale and got back up after it's opponent had backed away. Both Pokemon were panting hard as they stared each other down, awaiting orders. However, as weak as they were, the next attack could very well be the last. Finally, both trainers called out their attack at the same time.

"Frisk, Take Down!"

"Sparky! Thunderpunch!" The two Pokemon lunged at each other, ready to end this match with a bang. At first, It looked as if Sparky's attack was going to land, but at the last minute, Frisk rolled away. Before Sparky had time to think, the Eevee slammed into him, sending him flying and rolling across the ground. It was over. Cain ran over to his fallen friend, picking him up gently and cradling him in his arms.

"It's ok, you fought well. You deserve some rest little buddy." He said kindly, knowing he'd get no response. Sarah watched with a smile as he cradled the yellow mouse.

"You have a strong, kind heart, Cain." She said as she walked over to him, holding out a Revive. "That's why you were able to get so close to beating me. Train hard, and I'm sure next time we meet, I'll be on the losing end of this." Frisk walked over, standing at her feet for a moment, before jumping up into her arms, then on to her shoulder. She petted the fox like creature before turning to leave. After a few steps she stopped, looking at Cain over her other shoulder. "Until next time."

"I look forward to it and uh... thanks for the revive." Cain answered, looking back up to realize that she was gone. Sparky came to with a weak grunt, which made his young trainer's attention return to him. "Hey buddy. What do you say we go rest a little while before leaving?" The Pikachu gave a nod of approval before falling asleep in the arms of his best friend. With a smile, Cain stood up and heading back toward his house. Leaving would just have to wait until tomorrow.