Chapter One: Embarking

Today was seemingly a day just like any other. The sun was shining brightly through my bedroom window, right into my eyes as I lay in bed. I usually kept my blinds closed all the time to keep my room nice and dark so I can sleep in longer, but today was very different. I woke up bright and early because today was my fifteenth birthday, and it would be the day that I get my first Pokemon, officially making my a fully-fledged Pokemon Trainer. As much as it bugged me, Zatharian law says that a person can't get a Pokemon until they reach their mid-teens, but now I could kick that law to the curb along with the days of being an anxious fourteen year old. I jumped out of bed, pushing my messy brown hair out of my eyes while throwing on the clothes I had set out the night prior. I put on my amber orange t-shirt and jeans, and grabbed my lucky beanie. It was black with a yellow circle in the center, much like the pattern found on the head of an Umbreon. Despite my hurry, I apparently wasn't moving fast enough. My two best friends were standing outside knocking on the door and shouting for me from my front lawn, and the chaos inside built on that. My mom was at the door greeting my friends and telling them that I'd be just a minute, while my dad was shouting up to me from the first floor to quit being a slowpoke. I hurriedly groomed myself, threw on my boring white sneakers, and met my friends right at my front door. Cade, an average-sized guy with mid-length reddish-brown, somewhat wavy hair that hung right above his left eye, wearing a denim coat with pockets on the front and black shirt underneath, with jeans that bagged over his grey tennis shoes looked at me from my left, while Alyssa, a fairly skinny girl with short blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and winged out at the bottom, with bangs that swept across her forehead. She was wearing her sleeveless pink hoodie with a light green shirt underneath, skinny jeans and blue tennis shoes at my right. She wore an excited look that only looked a little more elevated than usual, while Cade's face wore an actual smile compared to his normally placid demeanor. They had been waiting much longer than this morning. They had turned fifteen months prior to me, but had waited on me out of the sake of starting our journey as a group, just like everything had been in the past.

"It's about time, Jude. I thought you said you'd wake up early this time." Cade said in a somewhat scolding tone, most likely being that he was anxious and ready to get his Pokemon from the professor, clearly bearing no patience.

"Sorry man, I thought I'd be able to get up sooner, with what today is and all, but I…" I began, but was was interrupted by being pulled the rest of the way outside by my arm by Alyssa.

"Yea, yea, it's alright! Let's get this train back on track!" She said to me in a fired up fashion while pulling me past them, causing me to stumble a little once she let go. My mom chuckled at our sloppy excitement as she waved me off and closed the door. The three of us gathered our composure and began to the professors lab, which felt like miles, but in reality it was literally a couple yards away from my home.

We entered the large white building to see a plethora of advanced technology and various scientists recording data and reading textbooks on the anatomy and behavior of Pokemon. In the back of the laboratory stood Professor Maple, her bright orange hair tied up in a large bun, wearing her usual white lab coat and black collared shirt and skirt combo, looking at us with a smile through her round glasses with piercing yellow eyes. We approached her, practically shaking at the thought that soon we'd hold the Pokeball of our own Pokemon in our hands. Behind her was a white table with three Pokeballs sitting on top of it.

"Hello, children. I can tell just by how you walked in that you don't exactly need me to explain this process." She said in a relaxed, but amused tone.

"Yes Ma'am." I responded almost rapidly. "I've been studying since I was little. I'm ready!"

Alyssa hypocritically laughed at my excitement while Cade simply stood there shaking his head in embarrassment, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Gee, congratulations bookworm. Want a ribbon?"

I shot him a glare that was promptly returned to me. I could practically feel lasers darting from each of our eyes. Even though we were friends, we've always been competitive with each other, while Alyssa just hung around for the show, more than likely thinking that we were both idiots for being so on-edge about being better than the other.

"Alright, settle down you three. These Pokemon are just as excited as you to see the world. You can't exactly keep them waiting now, can you?" We all caught ourselves and looked at the table as Professor Maple moved out of our way. On the edge of the table were little plaques under each Pokeball, telling us what they contained. On the far left, there was the water type, Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon. In the center was the fire type, Fennekin, the Fox Pokemon, and lastly, on the far right, was the grass type, Turtwig, the Tiny Leaf Pokemon. Alyssa and I jutted forward to grab ours while Cade stood, either contemplating his choice rather than submitting to impulse or just to watch us struggle to grab one. The professor, while finding this behavior hysterical for teenagers, intervened and split us up.

"Okay, okay" She began, still giggling. "How about you two go about this in a more controlled manner, like your friend?"

We backed up to stand next to Cade and stared once again at the Pokeballs and plaques, shining in the morning light coming through the window on the far left side of the room. We stood in silence for another few seconds before it was broken.

"You should go first, Jude." Cade said, not making any attempt at eye contact. "You've been doing your homework, pal. Take whichever." I looked over at him, as if to ask if he was sure with my eyes. He returned my look and gave me his implicit answer.

"Yea, Jude!" Alyssa broke in. "I don't mind which one I get either. A companion is a companion, no matter what type it is!"

I nodded at the two and stepped forward. I stood, gazing downwards at the three red and white spheres, milling over my choices one last time before reaching. I stretched my arm out to the center Pokeball, and pulled it back to me. "This one. I choose Fennekin."

I heard footsteps come from behind me, to my left. Cade picked up the Pokeball with Totodile within. "Then I'll take this one. Totodile's mine."

I slowly looked over to him with a twitch in my eye.

did he seriously just trick me? I know the advantage system with types, and Cade's no dummy to them either.

I felt like saying something, but I think that he read the look on my face well enough to know what I was thinking. He smirked at me as if to say "Gotcha'" with closed lips. We've always had this silent wavelength with each other since we were young, but why was I thinking about it so much now? In our staring match, Alyssa had practically skipped to the table and picked up the last Pokeball.

"Well, I guess that means that you're mine, right, little guy?"

The professor walked over to us with three small, red devices in her hands. I've looked through my books enough times to know that she was about to hand us our Pokedexes, the digital Pokemon encyclopedias that we would fill up as we go on with our journeys. They were somewhat bulky, but lightweight. She also handed each of us five empty Pokeballs so we could build on our team, whether we chose to go into Gym Battles or Pokemon Contests.

"You children give me a very strong feeling that you have great legacies ahead of you as trainers. Good luck to all three of you!" She said to us as we made our way out of the lab. I couldn't stop staring at my Pokeball. What would training a Fennekin be like? How well would it like me? I was too excited to get started, but I had to stop home to grab my backpack. Being that they were up much earlier than me, my friends had already prepared their backpacks and set them outside to pick up once they had their Pokemon.

"Hey, sorry to hold us up, but I need to get my bag ready. Wait for me?" I said in an excusing tone.

"Sure, I gotta say bye to my dad anyway." Cade said as he made his way back towards his house on the other side of the small town.

"I already said my goodbyes, so I'll wait for you two at the exit, m'kay?" Alyssa said as she tightened the strap on her satchel around her shoulder. I nodded and ran inside, immediately greeted by my parents, but more specifically, greeted by their bombardment of questions. I'm not sure whether they were unaware of taking turns or if they were just talking too fast for anyones good, because I couldn't understand anything they were asking me. Soon I broke the pattern, or lack there of, of their questions and told them I needed my bag.

"Oh, right! Sorry, sweetie. You can't forget that now!" My mom said as she ran upstairs to grab my bag. My dad stood next to me as we waited for my mom and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"You better go and become champ, kiddo. We expect nothing less from you."

I smiled at him as my mom came running back down the staircase with my bag gripped in her hand. "Here you go, Juddie!" she said as she practically tossed the bag into my arms. I gave off a subtle sigh of relief that she didn't call me that embarrassing nickname in front of Cade. That would have been a fate worse than death, as far as I was concerned.

"I packed your books so you could read on the road, along with plenty of clean clothes. Please, please stay safe. If you got hurt…"

My dad and I didn't understand, or really want to see, my mom get all emotional and worrying about me doing this, so we both jumped to comfort her right away. My dad put his hands on her shoulders from behind her while I did the talking.

"I'll be okay, mom. I'm not a little kid that'll trip over the curb anymore, and plus I have my Pokemon now to protect me if things get rough."

"Okay, dear. I know, it's just, you know how I am." She responded with a smile forming across her face and small tears forming in her eyes. "I know you'll be safe. Please, have fun on your trip."

I nodded at her and my dad, waved goodbye and left the house. I closed my door behind me to see Cade leaning on the side of his house, wearing his backpack with a map sticking out of the back with his new pokemon standing next to him, looking up to his head. I walked over to the two to tell him I was ready.

"About time, Jude. Figured since you were taking so long I'd see what my Totodile was all about." He looked down to the small blue gator and reached out to pat his head, only to be greeted by it chomping its sharp teeth on his arm. We both held completely still for a moment, processing what just happened. Cade stood up, Totodile still latched on to his arm and put him back in his Pokeball.

"He's a fighter, alright." He said as he slipped the ball into his backpack. "I think I can safely say that we'll be a good team."

In all the excitement, I couldn't believe that I hadn't taken a look at my Pokemon yet. I reached for my ball when Alyssa yelled to us from the front of town.

"C'mon, hurry up! We're burning daylight!"

We rushed over to meet up with her, only to see that she had released her Turtwig, and was carrying it in her bag. The small turtle-like Pokemon looked up at Cade and I.

"Isn't he just the coolest thing? Small enough that I can carry him around with me, like my own little bag-buddy!" She said giddily.

I had to see now. First to pick, but last to see my own Pokemon? That didn't make any sense, now that I was thinking about it. I pulled my Pokeball from my backpack and released my Fennekin. The small fox burst from the ball in a flash of white light, which then faded to reveal the fire type. It looked up to me with its large eyes, and sneezed, causing a small fire to briefly light from its nose. Alyssa stared at it with adoring eyes white Cade, on the opposite end of the spectrum, was analyzing it. I pulled out my Pokedex slowly so I wouldn't scare him, and I held it with the opened lid towards the Pokemon. I heard a small scanning sound and a picture of the Pokemon appeared on the top screen of the device.

Fennekin: The Fox Pokemon.

Eating a twig fills it with energy, and its roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 390 degrees Fahrenheit.

The machine said to me in a monotonous and obviously robotic voice.

"That's so awesome! Don't you think, Turtwig?" Alyssa said, looking her Pokemon in the eye.

"Tur!" the small pokemon responded.

I returned Fennekin to his Pokeball and we set forth to the next town over, where we would be able to battle the first gym, and truly see what we, as trainers, were made of.