Woo, I'm almost finished with my freshman year of college~! Look how much I've grown, compared to my first fics on this site...such a huge difference. Anyway.
I wrote a story called Tides of Change a few years back, and, well, it sucked. But that happens. But I was reading it again, and, as it is one of my most-reviewed stories, I felt like it was a good start and wanted to fix a few things. A lot, actually. So that's what I did...to procrastinate writing my other papers and studying for finals....
Anyway, I hope you all like this. I feel that I had a good start and didn't know where I was going with it but can plan out better this time. However, I do still need comments and criticism to keep it going! Any such help would be appreciated. :)
Episode One: Unwelcome Surprises
"Mother, it's my birthday. You know what I'm asking for, don't you?" I poked at the macadamia nut pancakes my mother had made—my favorite, for my birthday. Another year older and I was still lacking the one thing that would make me, as so many described it, an adult. (I had my doubts about that last bit, but having my own Pokemon would certainly mean they recognized me as an older, mature person. At least I hoped they would.)
"Kita…" My father, Aji, gave me a stern look from over the top of his newspaper, a look I'd grown accustomed to after eighteen years of it.
"You promised!" I said in frustration, letting my fork fall, clattering on the smooth stone surface, all the while not bothering to hold my anger back this time. I had a right to a Pokemon, and I was going to get it no matter what.
"Kita, dear, I..." Mother's voice faltered as she shot a pleading glance at my father, who merely shrugged.
"I'm not in this anymore." Just like my father to just completely ignore us, running away when the fight got too much for him to handle. Coward.
My mother sighed. "Kita, Aunt Adiane sent me a message last week…She said that if your father and I thought you were ready this time then she would find you a Pokemon suitable for your personality." My eyes lit up at the mere mention of my favorite aunt.
Aunt Adiane was all about inner meaning. She had always believed in matching trainers to Pokemon that fit their personality, or something like that. Cute Pokemon like Skitty and Igglybuff needed to match cute trainers; Staryu and Corsola were matched with swimmers; rock-types were often paired with "manly, buff men" as Aunt Adiane likes to call them. (Hehe. That last one always made me giggle.) Of course, this wasn't always the case. But when she had a say in it, things were her way or not at all.
"Did she tell you what she'd send—?"
Holding up her hand, my mother cut me off before I exploded into questions. "She's been keeping an extra for you down at the labs—you remember Professor Ivy, don't you?—and says that ever since she found it she's been dying to send it to you."
"But we wanted you to wait, Kita. You're old enough now, but I don't think you could've handled it before this. Especially with how you struggle in school…" My dad spoke from behind the newspaper, interjecting his own comments when he saw fit.
"Oh, Dad, you know I don't like school…I don't do well because I don't try." Though I was irritated every time my father brought my grades up, I couldn't get mad now. I was finally going to get to go out and see the world! No longer would I have to stay trapped in this dull little town of Twinleaf. Sure, it had come to a small bit of fame from Hikari and Koki's adventures and discoveries recently, as well as their struggles against the villainous Team Galactic. But the trends of past Teams led me to believe that this one was no different and would soon be nothing but pages in a textbook, just like Team Rocket of Kanto and Johto.
"Adiane says that she will be in the Center in Hearthome City for a while this morning if we decided to let you go," my father added. "You may go to Sandgem town and ask Rowan to borrow his computer. I don't trust the Center we have here."
I rolled my eyes. My father had always been the paranoid one, holding opposite beliefs in Team Galactic's future fate. Ever since they showed up in the news he's been careful about interceptions. Of course, with a father who works for a prestigious Pokemon lab under one by the name of Professor Rowan, who wouldn't be concerned about security breaches?
I hurriedly shoved the pancakes' remains from my plate into my mouth, hugging my mother, being careful not to burn myself on the stove as she made more pancakes for my siblings, and then my father, whose coffee I nearly overturned as I sprinted toward the door, making sure to grab my styler as I slid into my new rain boots and headed east.
I didn't make it very far on my own before I was intercepted by an unwanted presence.
"Looks like someone's in a good mood this morning."
Typical Chase to ruin the moment.
"What do you want, Chase?" I said lackadaisically, pretending not to care. I didn't want him to bother me, since he'd inevitably want to tag along and give me a hard time for whatever choice my aunt had made for me.
"Oh, I just wanted to show you what my grandfather gave me yesterday—it's taking a liking to me, I think." Chase's face wore an ever-present smirk I had always wanted to smack right off, but this time he was accompanied by a small, orange chick-like Pokemon that I knew by the name of Torchic.
"Congratulations," I said flatly, attempting to feign sincerity. "I happen to be on my way to pick up my own birthday present this morning." Don't say anything else, don't mention it being a Pokemon…
"A Pokemon?"
Damn, how did he know?
"So cliché…I'd be willing to bet that it's something like a Bidoof. You've always loved those things." Chase gave a laugh, a sound just as infuriating as his smirk.
"I like Bidoof just as much as I like you, Chase," I replied icily, crossing my arms in apparent victory as his smirk slipped momentarily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with my present." I gave a curt mock-curtsy as I crossed the border between Twinleaf and the forest just outside Sandgem.
Though it had been a while since I'd traveled the well-worn route blandly named 201—my training as a Ranger had required me to spend most of my days in the Fiore region—I still knew my way to the center's brightly-colored building that I could see from quite a distance away. I broke into a sprint, running past the center's entrance, the doors sliding open in welcome, a cool blast of air bathing my now-sweat-covered body as I continued on to the lab where I would finally receive that which I had waited so long for.
"Professor Rowan?" I called out as I cracked the door open. It was always unlocked, but he liked it if we at least made ourselves known when we entered. (I, along with Koki, Hikari, and several other kids in the area, were frequents at the Professor's lab—it was always such an interesting place to be.) "It's Kita!"
"Ah, Kita, I've been expecting you," Professor Rowan greeted me warmly as he slowly descended the steps leading to the second story of the lab where he and his family resided. His age was catching up to him and I sometimes worried about his continuing to do research and if it was good for his health. "There's a package for you on the desk downstairs."
I gave a small squeak of excitement and rushed toward the desk beside the large, flat-screen machine which was used for many different aspects of the Professor's research, a giant compilation of all Koki and Hikari's predecessors who also held Pokedexes. (They were so lucky…)
A small package lay on the wooden surface, face bare save for a label of my full given name: "Kita Aysel Rosencrantz". I grasped the parcel in both hands, material wrinkling in my grip only a minute before I ripped it open.
Inside lay a strangely-colored Pokeball I'd never seen before. While regular Pokeballs were of a red and white color scheme, this one had a teal-colored top and a white underside, the top crisscrossed with a net-like pattern. My eyebrows furrowed in thought as I tried to remember what kind it was.
"It's a Net Ball," Professor Rowan said, coming up behind me.
"Right! It has a better catch rate with Bug and Water Pokemon, right?" Well, if Aunt Adiane had used it correctly, which I assumed she had, then I was looking at a Ball that held a Pokemon of one of two types…that sure narrowed it down.
Professor Rowan nodded. "Go on, open it," he encouraged. "I want to see what's inside as much as you do, I think. You've been waiting long enough for this. You've been in need of a partner Pokemon for some time, have you not?"
"You have no idea," I muttered, pressing the button on the surface to release whatever Pokemon I was destined to receive before setting it back on the table to wait.
There was a click and a flash of pale blue light as a glowing sphere exited the container and materialized before us.
My excitement quickly disappated, however, when I discovered what my favorite aunt had sent me.
"It's worthless," I wailed. "How will I ever be a Ranger with this thing?"
Kita's name is subject to change. I was rolling a few around before choosing hers, and I was thinking of Dusk as well...first I was going to use Adiane but that just sounds too serious for this fic. :/ Also for her last name I was torn between Ganymede, Lancaster, and Rosencrantz...
