I have rather unfortunate news: my old OC story, 'On a Quest to Become. Champion', which I had fans on, has gone corrupt. I can't edit it, nor can I take it down.

I am forced to go back to square one, but for those of you who just found the story, welcome! For those of you returning, glad to have you back! The good part about it getting corrupted is that I can now restart; I can fix what went wrong and work on it harder. I will love your reviews! I take EACH and EVERY one to heart!

I was snoozing happily and peacefully due to the fact that I was able to get a full nights rest - that was, until my mother decided it was time for me to awaken.

"Ryan, wake up! You're going to be late!" She yelled, her words like daggers that pierced my wonderful dreams, yet her tone was like a thousand angels singing in harmony.

I answered with a small groan as I rolled over in my extremely comfortable bed. My mother walked away for a moment to go and do whatever she had to do, and eventually came back, flicking the light switch on, "Ryan, get up already!"

Once again, I groaned, grabbing my pillow, throwing it over my face and turned once more.

"You don't want to be late to Professor Maple's lab!" She mentioned, irritably.

I immediately sat up, staring at the clock, '7:25.' My mother was right; I had to be there by 7:35! Luckily, the lab was only a few yards away, so I breathed a sigh of relief before stating, "I'm up, mom."

She smiled, ruffling my already messed-up bed-head. Her blue eyes sparkled in the light with happiness, "You're fourteen, happy birthday! Make sure that you don't mess up the most important day of your life by sleeping to late!"

A small grin tugged at the corners of my lips - she was right once more. This was the most important day of my life. In the Raylin region, the day you turn fourteen is the day you get to pick a perfect partner that will help you make a journey around the breathtaking region that we call our home.

I swung my closet door open as wide as it could get - the outfits that were already inside, ready to be picked. Everything from tuxedos to t-shirts; from tank tops to turtle-necks.

I grabbed a white t-shirt which hung perfectly on the left side of the wardrobe, and slipped a black leather jacket on over it. I popped the cooler up, taking a moment to admire myself in the mirror. Afterwards, I slid on a pair of black skinny jeans before I raced down the stairs. Quickly grabbing the milk, taking a swig, and stuffed some pop tarts in my pocket.

I shoved my feet in my shoes after putting on some socks, not brothering to tie them - they were Velcro, so I didn't have to. I ran out the door, surprised to see that neither Peter nor Emily were at the spot they said we would meet at.

I sighed, looking at my watch, '7:31.' They were going to be late if they didn't hurry up! As if right on cue, Emily ran towards me, her long, pulchritude, blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders behind her.

"I can't believe I almost slept right past this morning! I mean, I woke up ten minutes ago, and was totally freaking out!"

I chuckled, knowing how she must have felt., "I know what you mean." I commented, "I got up within the last ten minutes too."

I took a moment to fix my collar. She wore a long-sleeve white shirt with an Arcanine imprint on it along with blue skinny jeans. Yet here I was, worrying about how I looked. Oh well.

We both laughed for a moment before we both stood around for a minute, discussing who we were going to choose for our journey, awaiting for Peter to show up. Right on cue, wearing his iconic black hoodie and some cargo pants, Peter showed up, 'finally,' I thought.

He gave an normal salute as he greeted us, "Yo! I almost slept through today! You guys should have seen me shoving pop tarts down my throat a few minutes ago! If I never have to see another pop tart, it will be too soon..."

I grinned awkwardly at his comment, pulling out the pop tarts that had been stuffed inside of my pockets, "I'm guessing that means you don't want one? Oh well. It's even fudge sundae..."

Emily giggled, knowing exactly what Peter was going to do.

"Oh, on second thought, I might still have a little but left in me for just one more pop tart..."

We all laughed, and I gave a pop tart to both Emily and Peter before we made our way to the lab. We strolled into the small building when we were immediately met by a stack of papers falling all over the ground.

"Oh, that wasn't supposed to happen..."

The lab looked like a college dorm; papers were everywhere and various pokéballs we're strewn across the floor as they littered the counter tops. Professor Maple's head popped around the remaining papers in her hand that had not fallen, her brown eyes shimmering with happiness, "Ah! There you all are!" The lady said in joy before her tone changed to a slightly apologetic one as she continued, "Sorry about the mess, I had to re-organize the entire collection of berry listings when my Esspur decided to go wild..."

I shrugged, "Uh, not like we are honestly one to judge," I said, my hand rubbing the back of my head and I smiled as if I were caught red-handed, "I don't think you could get out of my room if I put you near my doorway..." This incited a small chorus of laughter.

After everybody settled down, Professor Maple came back from setting her stack of papers down somewhere out of reach of her Espurr, "Now, we just have to wait on the fourth addition to your group..."

"What?!" All three of us asked in unison.

"Did I forget to mention that to you guys? It's not just going to be you three!" In all actuality, it really wasn't all that big of a deal. There were thousands of trainers in the world - what would be the difference if instead of them just being random trainers, we actually knew the person.

The door opened, and a girl walked in. She was wearing a black sweat jacket, black skinny jeans, and - yeah you guessed it - black shoes. She had her blonde hair covering her left eye, and she looked almost...depressed.

Professor Maple clapped her hands together, "Well, what are we waiting for? Your names, your names, go ahead, tell us your names!" She was acting like a kid would inside of a candy store. Which, in this case, was the same exact way most of us were feeling.

"Ryan! Nice to meet you guys. Well, not you Emily. Or you Peter."

Emi stifled a small giggle out of awkwardness and shyness, "I'm Emily, spelled properly, yet annoying like Emilliae, but call me Emily or Emi. Hey!" She gave a small wave to our group of people.

"Yo, I'm Peter," he said, raising his hand as if to give a short, 'hi,' everyone shifted their vision towards the new girl, whom none of us knew.

She answered, her voice quiet, "Anna..."

So that was the fourth addition to our group. She wasn't from around our small town of Erival, that was for sure. It was odd to suddenly thrust someone into our group, when we had known each other since birth.

Though before I could ponder the question any longer, Professor Maple had already brought out a cart with many of pokéballs, "Now, as you know, our region is special. We are the habitat to virtually every Pokémon ever discovered, including the elusive starters. As a result, each of you can choose any starter from any region!"

Before she had even finished, Emily was clutching a pokéball as if her life depended on it. Professor Maple sighed, "Well, I guess you guys already knew that. So what's the point of giving a speech that you already know? Go ahead, choose your first Pokémon!"

Emily threw the pokéball up in the air and out came a Pokémon, a fiery-orange, small lizard whose tail was ablaze, appeared in a flash of light. It turned around, and after gazing upon its Owner, Emily, for a moment decided that it was going to hug her leg. Char! Char, Charmander! It spoke with excitement.

Professor Maple gave a small chuckle with delight, "it seems to have already taken a liking to you. Great! The stronger the bond between human and companion, the better. Make sure to take good care of it!"

Emily squealed in admiration and hugged the adorable, small lizard tightly. Peter and Anna both grabbed for pokéballs, and as Professor Maple explained about Torchic to Peter and Bulbasaur to Anna whilst I searched for the starter I wanted.

It had always been between Piplup and Mudkip. Piplup would end up as an amazing Empoleon, while Swampart would end up as the ground and water combo powerhouse. I had stayed up many nights trying to decide which starter I would choose. Whichever I did, I would no doubt try to catch the other, but there was no guarantee. The only Pokémon you were actually sure you would have is the starter.

I eventually just picked a random pokéball between the two mentioned, as either were equally going to be a help on my journey. The light faded down, and a Mudkip stood at my feet, "Kip? Kip...Mudkip!"

I smiled. A Mudkip. I would just have to try extremely hard to go and get a Piplup later on in my journey. I squatted down, and patted the small Pokémon's head.

"Ya' hear that buddy?" The Mudkip looked around then stared at me, shaking its head.

"It's an adventure. You're going to become super strong. Sound good?" The small Pokémon leapt at me, licking my face, "Oh? Someone has finally chosen Mudkip! He has been with me for a long time - for some reason, no one chose him..." She smiled, bending over to pat the Mudkip's head, "It looks like you finally get to go out and see the world!"

"I'll name you Kip. Sound good little buddy?"

Kip! Kip, Kip, Mudkip! I smiled.

"Alright! Now, to the Pokedexes!" She dug around a small pouch on the table and pulled out four red rectangles about the size of a credit card, maybe even smaller. The Professor handed them to us. I immediately opened mine, looking for Mudkip's data.

Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon.

Mudkip uses the sensitive radar receptors on its head-fin to determine what's going on around it. In a pinch, it can brandish enough power to crush rocks.

There was also a small button and after pressing it, revealed that the Mudkip I had chosen was male. It didn't really matter to me, but to some people, they choose to collect specific gender Pokémon.

I flipped through it for a few moments longer, and then stuck it in my back pocket. I'll have to mess around with it later. We were also handed six pokéballs each. Just then, phone began to ring and Professor Maple quickly finished so she could take the call.

"By heading north through Route one, you should be able to get to Russet city, where the first gym is located. Good luck!" She rushed into another room, leaving all of us alone.

"Sir, the machine has been perfected. We are going to find test subjects on your request," a mysteriously sinister voice mentioned as shady silhouettes gathered around.

"Good, good. Make sure that you are not resisted," another one said.

"Sir, we are going to Route one to find weaker Pokémon for the projects."

"OK, just make sure to come back with enough Pokémon. Dismissed!"

Hey guys! I just want to say thank you to EmiEmi96 for being my beta tester for this story!

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