The Journey

"Yawn…god I overslept. I need more sleep next night." A boy said as he walked out of bed. He got out of his pajamas and threw on his normal outfit. It was a black shirt with a gold necklace, and torn jeans to match. He put on his black combat boots and started to walk out of the door, but suddenly remembered something. "Oops! Almost forgot!" He ran over to his dresser and pulled out a grey and black skull cap. He put it on, covering his abnormal silver hair. This hair was how he got his name. This boy was Chrome. And this is his story.

Chrome ran downstairs and greeted his mother and father. His father was watching the morning news just like he always did, and his mother was reading the paper cutting out coupons. Chrome sighed. Today was the day he was getting his Trainer's License, and this is how they celebrate. He grabbed his backpack and started to head out of the door before his mother stopped him. "Son, don't forget this." She said before handing him a brand new Poketch. "Son, please be save. We don't want to have to hear your name on the news unless it's for becoming champ, ok?"

Chrome nodded and ran out. He was going to regret not saying good bye to them later, but for now, he had to get out of that house before his mom started crying again. Last night she had basically filled half the house with water.

He sprinted as fast as he could, trying to get out of his hometown of Twinleaf Town. He hated the place. The way that everyone stared at him, just because of whom his father was. It made him sick. He couldn't wait to leave. Then, suddenly, someone ran into him. Chrome went flying and fell into a bush. He got up and stared at the person who had tripped him. "Oh, it's just you again." He said with obvious disgust.

"What do you mean, just me again? You ungrateful little punk! You know you're supposed to take me to Sandgem today!" The girl, Iris, said. She was wearing a red blouse with khaki shorts, and had a pink purse slung over her shoulder. On her belt were 3 pokeballs. She grabbed one of them and waved it in Chrome's face. "And you left Ralts at my house again, stupid!"

Chrome grabbed the ball and clipped it onto his own belt. "Wow, thanks you saved my life there. Ralts woulda killed me if I had lost him again. So, remind me why I'm supposed to take you to Professor Rowan's again?"

Iris huffed. "Stupid! You promised my mom that you'd help me get a starter Pokémon. And since you already have two, I don't think there will be a problem, will there?" Chrome shook his head in anger. Iris was really annoying, but she had a point. He had promised Iris' mom. "Ok, fine. Come on, let's go this way, away from Verity." Iris shook her head no. "No way! I wanna see if I can see the Pokémon of the lake!"

Chrome sighed and relented. It was better to agree with Iris than to just argue pointlessly. They walked into the dense forest surrounding the lake and walked around for about half an hour before coming to the lake. Chrome walked towards the lake while Iris dashed into a full on sprint. "I wanna see! I wanna see!" She screamed as she ran towards the lake. Chrome sighed. "You'll never see it with that loud noise coming outta your mouth."

Suddenly, a huge head roared out of the water. Chrome and Iris jumped back in shock. Staring them in the face was a huge Gyarados. Iris shrunk back, terrified. "A Gyarados! I've never seen one so big! Well, actually, I've never seen one at all…"

Chrome, however, was already jumping into action. "Ralts! Roselia! Let's go!" He threw two pokeballs, and out came his two Pokémon. Ralts turned around and smacked Chrome with his hand on the shin. Chrome sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry I lost you. Now, use Confusion on that Gyarados!" Ralts nodded and focused its mind on Gyarados. Gyarados suddenly stopped roaring and started swaying back and forth, confused. "Allright! Roselia! Finish it with a Magical Leaf!" Chrome shouted as he returned Ralts to its pokeball. Roselia chirped once, then threw a flurry of multi colored leaves at the stunned Gyarados, who promptly fainted back into the water.

Iris was in shock. "Where did you learn to battle like that?" She asked. Chrome sighed. "My dad used to be Champion of Hoenn. So I learned most of my skills from him. Maybe you heard of him. Brendan?" Iris gasped. "You're Brendan's kid?! He's my idol! He was good at it all…Contests, Gym Battles…why'd he quit?"

Chrome shook his head. "He had a family. He had to take care of them. So he quit being Champ and just came home one day. Mom basically threw a fit." He returned Roselia to its ball and stuck it on his belt. Suddenly, he heard a rustling. "Hey! Who's out there!?"

A boy with a red cap and yellow backpack came out of the woods, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry, I couldn't help but be captivated by your battle. My name's Lucas, Lucas Greenhorn. And you?" Iris held out her hand. "Iris Williams, nice to meetcha. This here is Chrome Birch. Brendan's son." Lucas whistled as he shook Iris' hand. "That's a name to live up to. Anyways, I gotta say, you've got skills, Chrome. Listen; do you think you could help me out with something? It seems like I've lost the Pokémon that I was supposed to deliver to Professor Rowan, do you think you could help me out?"

Chrome sighed. "Whatever. What are they?" Lucas smiled. "A Chimchar, a Piplup, and a Turtwig. Please, it's real important that we find them. If I get them back to Professor Rowan, he says I can keep one." Iris smiled and nodded. "Well of course we'll help! In fact, I have someone who can help us already!" She took a pokeball off of her belt and threw it up. "Phanpy! Use your Odor Sleuth! Sniff out the Pokémon!" "Phan!" The small elephant Pokémon said as it sniffed out the scent of the three Pokémon. Suddenly, it stopped, and pointed one way. "Phan!" It said, as if to say, "One's over there!"

"I'll get it!" Chrome yelled as he ran towards the missing Pokémon's scent. "You two go find the other ones!" He ran through the brush and the leaves until eventually he found a burn mark on a tree. "Chimchar…poor guy's probably frightened to death." He thought to himself. Suddenly, an Ember came hurtling through the bushes, and Chrome had to jump back to avoid being burned. He peered through the new hole and saw the Chimchar blasting back wave after wave of wild Kricketunes. "That isn't gonna end well! I gotta help it!" Chrome said to himself. He jumped out, throwing Roselia's pokeball up into the air. "Roselia! Use your Poison Sting!"

"Rose!" His Pokémon said as it shot stingers from its red rose hand. The Kricketunes quickly retreated in the face of such power. "Phew…and now for you, little guy." He kneeled down to Chimchar's level, who huffed and crossed his arms. "Chim!" Chrome laughed. "What, you think you coulda taken all of them, short stuff? I bet you couldn't beat my Roselia here." Chimchar growled and suddenly lunged at Roselia, Scratching away and firing Embers randomly.

"Roselia! Watch out, it's using Blaze!" Chrome warned. "It must really have hurt itself earlier." He thought to himself. "Ok, Roselia! Use your Mega Drain!" Roselia bristled it's arms, and then thick vines shot out and ensnared Chimchar. "Char?" Chimchar tried escaping, but to no avail. "Ok, now! Begin Mega Drain!" Chrome shouted. Suddenly, Chimchar started feeling weak. Roselia, on the other hand, was feeling just fine. "Finish this with Poison Sting!" Chrome shouted. Roselia shot out the stingers again, and Chimchar was too tired to dodge them. "Allright! And now, for the pokeball!" Chrome yelled as he threw his third pokeball. "Oh, wait! Crap!" He said right after he threw the ball. He had forgotten that it wasn't a wild Pokémon! It belonged to Rowan, and he was about to catch it! "Dodge it, Chimchar!" Unfortunately, Chimchar had already fallen, and didn't have the energy to dodge or escape the pokeball. Chrome cringed as he watched Chimchar get sucked into the device. He walked over and picked it up. "Well…maybe he won't be too mad…"

"So, did you guys find them?" Lucas said when all three trainers had met back up. Iris nodded. "Yup! Piplup's a darling, by the way. Just walked over to me and into my arms." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You didn't catch it, did you?" Iris shook her head. "No! Not at all!" Lucas smiled. "Good! Now then, Chrome, did you find Chimchar?" Chrome shuffled his feet. "Umm…bout that….i kinda…caught it." Chrome looked up and saw two pairs of bewildered eyes. "You caught it?!" Do you know what's going to happen to me when Professor Rowan finds out that you caught the Chimchar I was supposed to return to him? He might kill me! Release it now!"

Chrome grabbed Chimchar's pokeball and held it away from Luca's outstretched hand. "No way! I don't care if he kills you, but I caught this Chimchar fair and square! I deserve to keep it!" And with that, he ran off, sprinting as fast as he could towards Sandgem to try and explain to Rowan what he had done.

Soon, Chrome reached Sandgem, but was shocked to find that Lucas and Iris had already beaten him to it. "How…did you…get here…before me?" Chrome asked, breathing heavily from all the running. "Lucas has a two seated bike. Now will you please return that Chimchar?" Iris said impatiently.

Suddenly, an old man walked out of the Pokemon Laboratory. This was Professor Rowan. "That's quite enough!" Rowan said, his voice booming. He walked over to Chrome. "Chrome, was it? Do you have what it takes to raise this Chimchar?" Chrome nodded. "I'd stake my bloodline on it, sir." Rowan seemed to smile for a moment, then turned and started to walk into his lab again. Right before he walked in, he stopped and looked back towards Chrome. "Well then, since you are a new trainer, I give you Chimchar as a starter. I'd hurry if I were you. The Oreburgh Gym Leader is not known for always being in his gym, and he's rarely in it this time of year." With that, Rowan walked back into the lab, leaving a bewildered Chrome holding Chimchar's pokeball.

Lucas stepped up and pointed his finger into Chrome's chest. "Look, buddy, I'm not cool with this, you hear me? The next time I see you, I'll take Chimchar back myself. Got it?"