Authors Note: I do not own Pokémon, or the characters in the Pokémon series. I do claim ownership of my own character Aurora Shinji, and all future characters who are not in the anime.

Chapter 1; A Horrible Start

POV: Aurora

"He's not coming, is he?" I asked my mum, tears welling in my dark blue eyes.

"No need to worry," My mum tried to comfort me. The words gave the opposite effect. It was when she told me not to worry that I worried the most. "He said he would be here before you leave. Maybe you should grab your starter Pokémon from the Lab and then come back here? I'm sure he will be here when you get back,"

I sighed, knowing I probably wouldn't see him before I left to start my journey. "Fine," I muttered.

I grabbed my black trainers backpack and exited the house, slamming the door behind me. I knew it was wrong, taking my anger out on my mum. But I couldn't understand how she, a world famous, extremely caring Pokémon coordinator, could have fallen for such an unemotional, self-centered jerk of a Pokémon Champion. Paul Shinji was known for his Pokémon training methods, and not in a good way.

I just knew him as the dad who was never there when I needed him.

xOxOx

"I'm sorry Aurora, there are no starter Pokémon left," The Professor told me sympathetically. I was surprised by how old he looked, and I was fairly certain he was the same Professor who gave my mum her starter Pokémon. "You were supposed to be here hours ago,"

I silently cursed my father again, for making me late. "Isn't there anything at all?"

"Not for a few more weeks, I'm afraid," The professor replied.

His assistant looked at him nervously, before saying "Professor… there is that one Pokémon,"

"Absolutely not, we only caught that yesterday, and it hasn't even been tested!" He exclaimed.

"Please sir," I said, flinching at the sound of desperation in my voice. "I'm sure it will end out okay,"

"It could be dangerous, Aurora," The professor warned me.

"I don't mind, at least let me meet the Pokémon," I pleaded.

He sighed, wiping his hand over his face. "Fine, you can meet it,"

His assistant gave me a hopeful smile, before hurrying away to grab it. He returned moments later with a pokeball, handing it to me.

I pushed the middle button, releasing the Pokémon inside.

I was surprised to see such hatred in the tiny Pokémon's eyes. "Eevee, eev," It cried, running away from me and smashing into the desk, causing it to fall over. It ran all over the room, breaking beakers and equipment, before heading towards an open window.

"Oh no," I cried, running after it. It turned to me briefly, swishing its tail and grinning, before jumping out of the window and running into the forest.

"Well, that went well," The Professor said sarcastically.

"I'll get it back, I'm so sorry," I told him, hurrying towards the door.

I ran into the forest, following a trail of broken twigs and scratch marks. The trail ended abruptly at the edge of a cliff. I wondered whether the Eevee had jumped over the edge. It seemed a bit too steep for such a small Pokémon. There was no way I could make it if I jumped down. I looked around, seeing if there was an easier way to get down.

A sharp screech took away my attention, and I turned slightly to find Eevee running frantically at the bottom of the cliff, while being attacked by two Starly from above.

I aimed my poketch at Eevee, pushed the pokedex option, and checked out its moves. I was surprised to find out that Eevee was female.

She wasn't overly powerful, her attacks were tackle, quick attack, tail whip and swift.

"Eevee," I called "You can beat them, if you follow my lead. Use swift on both of them,"

She stopped to glare at me, and one of the Starly swooped down on her using Aerial Ace. It crashed into her, and pushed her into the rocky cliff wall. She whimpered in pain.

I forced myself to look away from Eevee, and eventually found a part of the cliff that had a path leading to the bottom. I ran all the way down and towards Eevee, who looked like she was about to collapse. She dodged the Stary's attacks, while trying to tackle them in the air. It wasn't going well for her. Both of the Starly dodged easily, swooping high up into the sky. I watched as they both flew around again, before heading towards Eevee in a double Aerial Ace attack.

"No!" I cried, scooping her into my arms, much to her dismay, and headed back for the cliff path as fast as I could. The Starly crashed into me, and I instinctively curled in on myself to protect Eevee from the fall. "You really should have used swift," I told her.

She made a huffing sound, before jumping from my arms and aiming a powerful swift attack at the Starly, hitting them head on. They screeched in pain, before flying away.

"See," I told her.

She made a huffing sound again, before collapsing to the ground. She looked exhausted. I picked her up again, and carried her back to the Pokémon Lab.

The Professor's assistant answered the door, looking relieved.

"You found her!" He exclaimed "You were gone for so long, we weren't sure what had happened,"

"She's a bit hurt," I told him "So she will need to be put onto a healing machine,"

He nodded, and reached out to grab Eevee from me. She hissed at him, and bit one of his fingers. "Ouch, ouch, ouch," He cried, shaking his hand. "It looks like she has taken quite a liking to you,"

Eevee wrinkled her nose and frowned up at me, as if to say that wasn't the case at all.

The assistant grabbed Eevee's poke ball and handed it to me. "I'll let you do the honors," He said.

I returned Eevee to her poke ball and placed it onto the healing machine. It beeped a few times, before I grabbed it back.

"I guess you can keep her," A voice said from behind me, and I turned to see Professor Rowan leaning against the wall.

"Thanks Professor," I said with a grin.

"Now, I see you already have your trainers backpack. I also have for you five poke balls, and a few healing potions. And here is my phone number, if you ever need any assistance with anything, please don't hesitate to phone me," The Professor continued "Don't forget to treat your Pokémon with kindness, or you probably won't get anywhere,"

I wondered if he said that last bit to everyone, or if he had added it knowing who my father was.

I nodded "Of course Professor,"

The Professor turned around and headed back out of the door without saying goodbye.

"Don't worry about him," The assistant told me with a grin "He does that all the time. I wish you luck on your journey," He hurried after the professor. I sighed again, wondering whether my father would actually show up before I got home. Of course, he didn't.

xOxOx

I pushed open the door, to the sound of sobs.

"Mum?" I called.

The sound stopped abruptly, and I wondered if I had imagined it. I entered the lounge room to find my mum sitting on the couch, her eyes red and blotchy, and a crumpled piece of paper in her hands.

"Hi sweetie, how did it go?" She asked me, her voice cracking slightly.

"Oh no, you don't get to ask me that until you tell me what's going on," I told her, placing my hands on my hips.

She sucked in a deep breath. "It's not important, no need to worry," She told me, jumping off the couch. "It just so happens you're not the only one going on a journey. I will be too," She grinned at me.

I hurried over to her and snatched the paper from her hands, reading it quickly.

Dear Dawn,

We regret to inform you that late last night the Elite Four Headquarters were broken into.

All of the Elite Pokémon have been stolen, and the members of the Elite Four, including the Champion, are nowhere to be found.

The kidnapper left behind no note as to what occurred here last night, other than a golden hoof. We unsure of meaning behind this at this point in time.

We will keep you informed of any further findings into our investigation.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Lucas

I reread the note again, my own eyes filling with tears.

"Dad was kidnapped?" I said out loud "And you're going on a journey to what, find him?"

My mother didn't say anything.

"You haven't battled with Pokémon for over fifteen years," I told her "You can't do this on your own,"

"Rory, this is not open for discussion," My mother told me, her eyes flashing. "You will go on your Pokémon journey, report in to me every night, and leave finding your father to me,"

I bit back on my retort. I only had one Pokémon, my very first at that. She was right, there was no way I could help her – yet. I would get as strong as I could, and then I would help her rescue my father.

"Fine," I told her "But if you don't answer, I will go after you," I pulled out my poke ball, releasing Eevee, who scowled at me. "Mum, meet Eevee. Eevee, meet my mum,"

Eevee turned towards my mum and glared at her too.

"She's cute," My mum told me, making Eevee's glare deepen. My mum reached out her hand to pat Eevee's head. I didn't have enough time to warn her before Eevee clamped her teeth around my mother's finger.

"Ouch!" She cried, shaking her hand.

"She's a little bit… grouchy," I told her. Eevee huffed at me.

"She needs a name," My mum told me.

"I was thinking of Grumpy. Or Irritable. Or Snappy," I said, listing off a few.

Eevee wrinkled her nose at me, telling me she hated them all.

"How about Prideth? She does seem to be quite proud," My mum suggested.

Eevee huffed again, though it didn't seem as annoyed as the one before.

"Okay, Prideth it is," I agreed with a nod.

"Do you have everything you need?" My mum asked me.

"Yes, I better get going now," I replied.

"I will call you every day, at 6pm on the dot," She told me, pulling me in for a tight hug "If I don't call, do not come looking for me. Go see Ash and tell him what has happened. Or May and Drew,"

I didn't say anything, just nodded my head. This was a family matter, and if the Elite Four had gone missing in this region, did that also mean they had in the other regions? And if they hadn't, why weren't they here helping out? Could they be trusted?

"Now get going before it gets dark," She told me "And remember hun, there is no need to worry,"

I sighed, hearing those words again made me want to pull my hair out.

I returned Prideth to her pokeball and went off to start my journey. I needed to get strong as fast as possible if I was going to be any help to my mum. My journey would not be easy.