Konnichiwa, minna! Look! This is my small outcry against all the "other" pokemon fics out there. I mean, don't those "random person #14327 goes on a pokemon quest and does the exact same thing as Ash" fics get on your nerves? Well, they get on mine...so I decided to write a fic with an actual plot. And here it is!

Avi: what happened to the disclaimers?

Windsong: Oh, yeah, that…Don't own Pokèmon, never will. It's owned by Satoshi Tajiri (I think that's how you spell his name), who invented it, and Game Freak Inc., Creatures Inc., 4Kids entertainment, and (for the moment) Kids WB. Oh, and Nintendo as well. sigh so many people…HOWEVER! Jacine, Azulan, Alex, and any other people that come up in this fic that weren't in the original story line of Pokèmon are property of me! They're MINE, ya hear? looks around menacingly Okay, glad you understand. -Avirilli sweatdrops-

Oh...did I mention that this fic is set 100 years before Ash (Satoshi) and the other people are born? I didn't? Oops...Well, it is. So I'm changing the rules a bit...they can travel to Jhoto, they know about it, however none of the new pokemon OR new moves from Silver/Gold/Crystal apply, because...well...they haven't been discovered yet. -sweatdrop- The fact that this is set in the past is important—keep it in mind, okay?

By the way—Agate blue is a blue-grey color. A surcoat is basically a duster.

Enjoy!

Stuff in ( ) are author's notes.

Jacine
By Windsong
Chapter One

A tall, athletic-looking girl sat with a regal air on the back of a Rapidash. From the cliff where she stood, the young woman's agate blue eyes calmly watched the ever-changing sea below her that sparkled in the rising sun. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, but her eyes gave off a sense of experience. Her hair, black as night and shiny as a raven's wing, had four golden streaks running through it. Though at times she tied it into a braid or pulled it into a high ponytail, for the moment her hair was was loose, flowing down to reach her waist, with a kerchief covering her head and keeping most of it back. The wind whipped around her, making her hair flutter and setting her Rapidash's flaming mane and tail to dancing.

The girl wore a loose white, collared, cuffed shirt with long, billowy sleeves. On the collar of her blouse was a pin shaped like an eight-pointed star made of clear, faultless crystal. Over the shirt was a shimmering, sleeveless golden surcoat. It was fitted to her upper body, looking like a vest and tied on the left. It was tied closed at her left breast with thin ribbons attached to the surcoat, twisted up into a large, drooping bow, looking rather similar to a corsage. The surcoat was again secured with a large golden sash which was secured to the edges of the surcoat, and then wrapped around her several times, keeping the "vest" from slipping. When she stood, her surcoat would reach to her mid-calf in front, ending slightly lower in the back, giving a relatively passable imitation of a dress with an empire waist when she stood still. Underneath the "dress," she wore tight navy blue riding breeches and knee-high light brown leather riding boots. When she walked or moved, her surcoat parted above her left thigh, revealing her riding pants in quick flashes. In her hand was a beautiful glaive, which glittered coldly in the dawn light.

Her glaive, along with her Pokèmon, were her most treasured possessions. The handle of the glaive was made of rosewood, and had a design that looked like two ribbons spiraling down the hilt carved into it for better grip. The blade was razor-sharp and made of stainless steel, with an eight-pointed star etched on one side and a blooming rose engraved on the other. Where the handle met the blade were tied four long ribbons which were white except for the last six inches, which were dyed with the colors of the sunrise. On the island where the woman lived, Aspenleaf island, the glaive was not carried for protection anymore as much as ceremony. Every year, all the towns and cities on the island met to have ceremonial battles using their glaives, and the coloration of the ribbons was a way to tell how skilled the person was—white showed that she was two levels away from Master status. Also, the etchings on the blade depicted which city/town the person came from. The blooming rose engraved on her glaive showed that she was from Sunrose City. The eight-pointed star showed that she was a member of the Sunrose City Gym.

Suddenly, a voice broke through the silence of the dawn. "Jacine!"

The woman turned her mount around quickly, her face pensive. Her face quickly lost their wary look and her eyes lit with a kind smile as she caught sight of the young man who was carefully climbing up the rocky incline towards her. "Good morning, Azulan!" she called. "What brings you here so early?"

Azulan winced. "A challenging trainer. He totally creamed us, so now he wants to battle you, O mighty gym leader." He finally climbed the hill and bowed to her, grinning.

Jacine smiled at his antics, and then grew somber once more. "I didn't expect any trainers so early in the morning—and I also didn't expect you to be up."

"I wasn't," came the bright reply. "None of us were. He banged on the door of the gym and yelled until we all woke up. We were still half-asleep when we battled him—that's half the reason we lost."

Jacine's eyes grew hard, and she looked back out over the water. "Yet another trainer with no manners." she sighed.

The gym leader's second-in-command and stubbornly best friend followed her gaze out over the waters. "Why is it that you come here every morning and look over at the mainland? Aspenleaf's your home now."

"Still, I was born in Kanto. I have ties there." Her voice was dreamy, lost in her own thoughts.

Azulan blinked and abruptly turned towards her, smiling again. "Anyway, you've got a battle to fight, so come on!"

When Jacine looked at Azulan again, there was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn't been there before. It was the light of a wolf not just ready for, but eager for an impending battle, both bloodthirsty and nervous, headlong and cautious. "Right!" She wheeled her Rapidash around and was about to urge her into a trot before she realized something. "Want to come?" she asked Azulan.

"Um...no."

"Azulan," she groaned, as the Rapidash stamped impatiently, eager to be off and running, "For the millionth time—Windflame is not going to eat you!"

"Hah! That's what you think. Have you seen how big her teeth are?!"

"And who's trained her from birth?"

"You..."

"And who knows her best?"

"You..."

"Andwho is telling you that Windflame is NOT going to harm you in any way?"

Azulan threw his hands into the air, laughing. "Fine! I give up! But only because you're my superior, and if I don't she'll begin terrorizing the others!"

Hurt flashed in her eyes for the quickest moment. "Azulan...I'm your superior in title only, you know that."

Azulan swiftly mounted up behind her and tugged on her hair. "Gods, now you're going to be gloomy. Stop being so damned mercurial, or I'll have to teach you how to keep your mind on a battle!"

That wild grin was back on Jacine's face. "Hold on tight, now. She may not eat you, but she might throw you—just for that!"

With that quick warning, the rapidash leaped, making Azulan yell in surprise and instinctively throw his arms around Jacine's waist as she laughed. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, he blushed furiously and snatched his hands back; nearly falling off again, he yelped and clutched onto the ribbon on her waist, deciding it was the most polite solution.

"Jacine...stop laughing!" Azulan complained. Jacine wordlessly shook her head as she laughed harder. The boy pouted, trying to stop blushing as he looked away. "Well, it's a good thing Windflame knows the way," he muttered.

The Sunrose City Gym was a small distance away from the city's heart. However, since the city was surrounded by an ancient forest, the Gym was impossible to see from inside the city itself, and only visible either from the air or from Ceylon Mountain, a inactive volcano that loomed over the city. The path leading to the gym was neat and well-kept, but narrow and hidden by brush, making it easy to overlook. This made sure that if any trainers wanted to challenge Jacine and her band of 15 followers, they would have to search for it first, making sure that only the most determined—or the most hardheaded, according to Azulan—challenged the gym. The Crystal Star Badge, which Jacine gave to those who defeated her, wasn't needed to reach Indigo Plateau, so none but the determined ones usually came anyway. Of course, the challengers tried to ask the townspeople, but Jacine had given explicit instructions that the townspeople were not to tell any challengers where the gym was, only to confirm that the Gym existed.

It was seven thirty AM when Jacine got off Windflame outside the Gym's gates, helped Azulan off, and led her rapidash inside the training hall. Large and spacious, the room had an immensely high ceiling and Victorian-style design. Along with the training hall were nine bedrooms where nine members of the gym always stayed around the clock (out of the fifteen members, at least nine of those Gym members (excluding Jacine) had to be present at the Gym at any given time), with living quarters that the nine in-residence members shared, and a storage room where the badges and necessities for Pokèmon were kept.

Azulan moved ahead of her, throwing both doors open before Jacine walked confidently inside. Once she passed him, Azulan fell into step slightly behind her and to her left. As Jacine entered, the nine gym members that were living there at the moment stood up and bowed deeply. One of them grabbed the challenger's arm and dragged him to his feet. The trainer yelped, unused to such rough treatment.

Jacine bowed back to her understudies, and walked to stand in front of the scowling challenging trainer, holding her glaive and still leading her rapidash. "Welcome to the Sunrose City Gym."

"Yeah, whatever. You're the Leader, right? I want your badge."

Azulan growled softly in the back of his throat. "Jeez, where'd he learn his manners?" he whispered in her ear. "Bluebell would have a cat if she heard him!" In agreement, Windflame snorted. Jacine shot Azulan a disapproving look, making him cringe as she leaned on her Rapidash, silently telling her to be quiet.

"I see," she continued as politely as she could. "What's your name, and where're you from?"

"I'm Alex Akame, from Violet City."

Jacine raised one eyebrow. "Johto-born, are you?"

He nodded.

"Well, let me give you a warning." She twirled her glaive casually, her face settling into a look of cool disdain. The members of the Gym grinned and silently began placing bets on how badly she was going to rip the poor kid apart. "First off, I'm not a pushover gym leader like you might be used to from the Jhoto league." Alex flushed in anger at the insult. "Only eight of the last sixty challengers have defeated me. So if you're here on some stupid dare from your friends or whatever, you can leave now."

Alex folded his arms, the cocky look back on his face. "Eight times, huh?"

Jacine raised her chin and gave the boy a little smile. "And how would you do, Master Akane?" He fell uncomfortably silent.

After pausing long enough to make the challenger squirm a little, she continued. "Here's the second thing. I don't like rude trainers. I usually come down harder on them. And you most definitely qualify as a rude trainer. Banging on a gym's doors at six in the morning? Come on now. Surely you have more common sense than that? Well, actually, probably not, considering." She examined the edge of her blade calmly, ignoring his indignant spluttering. "But, even though you've given me ample reason to just send you back to Johto without taking your challenge-"

Alex couldn't remain quiet any longer. "You can't! The rules clearly state that because I defeated all the members of your gym, you have to battle me! And if you don't, then your gym will be disqualified!" You could just hear the unspoken "so there!"

The corners of Jacine's mouth quirked up slightly in a condescending smile. "As I said—Johto-born. That is how the rules work over there. But not in Kanto, Alex. In Kanto the rules state that the leader must battle a challenging trainer only if the trainer defeats all of her trainers in a row, using no items. And even then, the gym leader may not accept the trainer's challenge in special cases."

"But I did defeat all your trainers! And I didn't use any items!"

Jacine raised her eyes to the ceiling. 'Great. Now he's whining.'

"Fine. But you haven't defeated all of my trainers in a row—you only defeated four, I think. Right?" Jacine looked at one of the members of the gym, named Circalie, for confirmation. She nodded.

"Yeah, the rest of us haven't woken up yet—I think. Or they're out doing chores."

"But-"

"-And EVEN if you had defeated all nine in-residence trainers, there are fifteen members of this gym, excluding me—not nine. So either way I could refuse you.Nevertheless!" she continued over his shout of anger, raising a hand to silence him, "I, Jacine Kachira, leader of the Starpoint Gym, accept your challenge." She paused for a moment, '"Unless you want to back out?"

"Of course not!" Was Alex's quick, angry reply.

"Then follow me, please." 'You know not what you do,' Jacine thought, quoting her father. Her father...she quickly pushed the painful memory away; now was not the time to be thinking about him. Jacine turned on her heel and walked towards a small door in the back of the gym. Alex and the other gym members followed. Opening the door, she walked onto a well worn dirt pathway that had once been gravel, but over years of use the gravel had disappeared and been replaced by soft pine needles. Suddenly, the path opened into a clearing in the forest, also well beaten-down, except this one was swept clean of all debris and had the lines of a Pokèmon battle area on it. Jacine stopped, and pointed to a low platform to Alex's right. "You will stand there." As Alex walked up to the platform, Jacine walked to the platform on the left and stood on top of it.

"There will be three rounds," she informed him. "Two out of three wins."

"Okay!" Alex yelled back. "Come on! Hitmonchan, go!"

'Hitmonchan, hmm? Those were only discovered a few months ago...guess I'll have to go on instinct!' "Lightstorm, go!" Jacine yelled, grabbing the pokeball that was clipped onto her sash and holding it before her. A reddish-gold beam of light shot from the ball to the ground and solidified into a Jolteon.

"Hitmonchan, comet punch, now!"

"Lightstorm, quick attack!"

The Jolteon dodged Hitmonchan's super-fast attack, but just barely, and was off balance for a moment before he stabilized and tackled the Hitmonchan, knocking it to the ground then leaping away. Hitmonchan quickly got up, however. "Hitmonchan, use comet punch!" Alex ordered his Pokèmon.

"Light, Thunder wave!" Jacine urged. Lightstorm jumped over Hitmonchan's head, both dodging his attack and disorienting him. Then from Lightstorm's spikes small lightning bolts wrapped around the Hitmonchan, forcing Alex's Pokèmon to keep still.

"Now use thunderbolt and finish it off!"

Lightning leaped from one spike to another until it looked like its namesake, a fiery storm of lightning. The Jolteon leaped high into the air and with a loud "JOLTEON!" All the electricity stored in his spikes suddenly streaked towards the paralyzed hitmonchan, making it light up like a light bulb. The Hitmonchan flew backwards from the force of the blast and fainted. Jacine said nothing and kept a serene expression on her face, with only her eyes giving away her amusement. Lightstorm landed and screeched his victory to the morning sky. Alex stomped his foot in disappointment, and both called back their Pokèmon.

"Next round," she called. "Bladedancer, go!" A scyther hovered for a minute, its wings flapping so fast they were a blur, before he landed.

"Kadabra, let's get 'em!" Alex yelled.

'Kadabra? That was discovered really recently! He's certainly putting me through my paces...' Both Pokèmon circled each other warily. Well, let's get to it-' "Bladedancer, double team!" Jacine yelled.

The scyther took to the air again, hovering a few inches off the ground, when a green glow surrounded its body and three scythers appeared where there had only been one before, hovering menacingly.

"What?! You can't throw in extra Pokèmon! That's illegal!" Alex yelled.

"Who ever said I added extra Pokèmon?" she asked contemptuously. "Learn Pokèmon moves, or you'll never survive. Blade, slash!" She called to her scyther.

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Keep whining and your Kadabra's going to be knocked out faster then you can blink!" The annoyed Gym Leader snapped back. "Now PAY ATTENTION TO THE MATCH!"

Alex did—and saw that his Kadabra was cowering as the three scythers dived down and sliced at his head. But then he looked closer, and saw that instead of trying to watch all three scythers, the kadabra was focusing on only one... Wait a minute! Alex suddenly realized. Two of the Scythers are illusion! "Kadabra! Use psybeam on...that one!" He pointed to the scyther that his Kadabra was watching so intently.

Kadabra's eyes glowed a bright blue, and from the star on his forehead a powerful blast of light shot forward and engulfed the scyther, making the other two vanish. When the scyther was released from his hold, it fell to the ground, knocked out. "Blade!" Jacine called, her voice a high cry, before she called her scyther back into its pokeball. "Well fought. Thank you," she whispered to the pokeball.

Then she turned to Alex. "You won that round, so you toss your Pokèmon out first."

Alex grinned triumphantly at her, and threw out his last Pokèmon. "Go, Spearow!"

Azulan's mouth gaped from where he was watching from the sidelines. "Spearow? That's IT?! What the hell is he thinking?! Either he's being amazingly stupid, or he's trying to insult her..."

Circalie smirked, her eyes riveted to the match. "I think a little of both. He's trying to insult her—and he's stupid enough, and angry enough, to try it even though it may cost him the match." She shrugged. "Whatever. His loss."

Ignoring both of them, Jacine grinned inwardly. 'Hah! Something I recognize!' She called, "Let's do it, Oceanine!" Her Pokèmon solidified into a sea lion. "Dew-gong-gong!" it called.

"Spearow, Growl!"

"Oceanine, don't listen to that featherhead!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, FEATHERHEAD?!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs. Jacine didn't even bother answering.

The Spearow growled menacingly at the Dewgong. However, Oceanine just smiled at it. Spearow stopped for a moment, confused at why its attack didn't work, and Alex sweatdropped.

"Ocean, headbutt it!" The dewgong jumped towards the Spearow. It just barely dived out of the way.

"What good did that do? Spearow, fly!"

Spearow, however, hadn't waited for Alex to give the next order. It was already using fury attack on the Dewgong, missing sometimes and hitting others. The Dewgong yelped whenever it was hit by the sharp beak.

"SPEAROOOW!" Alex yelled/whined. "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!"

"Seems I was right," Jacine called tauntingly. "It is a featherhead. Ocean! roll!" she commanded.

The dewgong rolled over the spearow, flattening it for a moment and cutting off the attack.

Jacine shook her head sadly. "You really need to train your Pokemon better," she sighed. "Now Oceanine, use Ice Beam!" she called, her voice snapping like a whip.

"Noooo!" Alex cried. "Spearow, get out OF THE WAY!" But too late; the icy blast hit Spearow, nearly knocking it out and freezing it.

"Now use Aurora beam and finish it off!"

"Dew-gong-gong!" it cried, sensing victory. Its eyes sparkled, and it was encircled by a miniature version of the Northern Lights. The aurora turned into a concentrated ball of rainbow light which streaked towards the helpless Spearow. The bird was thrown back into Alex's platform, and when the light faded the bird was out cold (ack! Bad pun!). Alex stomped in anger and called back his fallen Pokèmon.

The challenger from Violet City looked up to see Jacine waiting for him in the center of the battle grounds. One of her understudies had gone into the building and was approaching her with a bouquet of flowers. 'Humph. Probably to award her for defeating another trainer,' Alex thought sulkily. He stepped off the platform and walked towards Jacine, shuffling his feet, head down, pulled out his purse, and shoved half of his yen into her hand. Jacine quickly pocketed the money and abruptly stuck her hand underneath his nose. Alex looked up and saw kindness and slight amusement on her face instead of the haughtiness he expected to see. Alex shook her outstretched hand warily.

"Thank you," Jacine said warmly to the crestfallen trainer, shaking his hand quickly. "That was a good battle, and in the custom of Aspenleaf Island, I've never let anyone leave my Gym empty-handed." Alex still looked suspicious, and Jacine sighed. "Here." She handed him the bouquet of flowers. Examining the flowers more closely, he saw that they were roses—but instead of being red they were colored with the pallet of the sunrise. "Those are Sun Roses, the pride and joy of Sunrose City," The Gym Leader explained. "Sunrose City is the only place in the world where you can find these roses. Take these as a parting gift from me."

"Thanks," he said, surprised.

As she escorted Alex to the front of the gym, she asked, "Where are you staying?"

"With my grandparents. Have you heard of them, Xiao Li and Yuji Akame?"

"Oh, yes! Such a nice couple. They have the most beautiful gardens..."

After trading small talk for a while, they eventually stopped when they reached the Gym's doors. "So, Master Akame," Jacine asked, "are you going to come back and challenge me again?"

Alex thought for a few moments. "I'm not sure yet," he honestly answered.

"Have you at least learned from your experiences here?" Alex thought for a moment before he nodded hesitantly. "You have the potential to become a great trainer," Jacine told him. "But you have a long way to go—you have to learn each pokemon's strengths and weaknesses, and especially their moves!" she teased him gently. "Also, remember that courtesy and etiquette will get you much farther in life than abruptness and arrogance—and don't let your self-confidence run off with you! It's good to be sure of yourself, but that doesn't mean you should look down on everyone, either!"

"Um...thanks, I think," Alex said. "But—why are you being so nice now?"

Jacine smiled. "That's another thing you have to learn, but I'm not going to tell you. That's something you'll have to figure out on your own."

In her head, she could hear her mother saying, 'Fully half the battle is mindset. The heat of anger will blind you. Keep your mind cold and impartial, and you will see more. Make your opponents blinded by anger—and they will be too angry to see.'

Then she heard Azulan chirping in the back of her brain, 'it's all psychology, I tell you! PSYCHOLOGY!' And she barely contained a grin.

"And besides..." her smile was ever-so-slightly apologetic. "You really did annoy me. I really do dislike rude people, especially trainers. But now that you hopefully know better, I don't have to be so mean to you.

"Well, may fortune follow you, Alex Akame," she said, following Gym tradition.

Alex bowed to the Gym Leader. "Goodbye, Miss Jacine."

Jacine nodded in return. "Safe travels, Alex." She watched Alex until the twisted, narrow path led him out of her sight, and then she turned and vanished inside.

--

Khyris watched the Gym Leader intently, his entire being wrapped up in the vision he was receiving. 'What is it about her? Something...there's something strange about this girl, but I can't tell what. Something...she's dangerous.'

No one really knows where Khyris came from. It just—appeared, one day. Some said that it was a magical construct; some said it was a demigod cast from the heavens because of its evil nature; some just shrugged and shook their heads. And people didn't know because Khyris was the only one of its kind. It almost looked like a Ninetales-changeling, if such a thing were possible; a weird mix of Pokèmon and human. It had long silver hair that reached its lower back, and its pointed ears were long, with two feathers behind each one. It stood on two legs; its body was covered with silky, silvery-black fur, and its face was slightly pointed, enough to hint at being a muzzle while remaining humanlike. It had two silver fang-like marks on its face, one under each eye and three long furred tails, the same shade of silvery-black as its fur. Its fingers were long with silver clawlike nails. Its almond-shaped, light grey eyes had an unmistakably human gaze, and they seemed to know everything about you—because it was most likely true; its psychic powers were unmatched by any being, be it Pokèmon or human. In truth, Khyris was genderless—which is why people agreed with "him" when he said that he wasn't natural.

As he watched Jacine dissappear into the Gym, a small, sinister smile quirked the corners of his mouth. He gently flicked a hint into her mind, which would surface in a few minutes.'There. When she decides to take my hint and journey to my domain, then I can find out more about her.'

Master: When a boy is not yet old enough to be called "sir," he is called "Master."

Well, what do you think? You like? You hate? Please review!

-Windsong windsong 137 at gmail dot com