Black Star Imagines is proud (sort of) to present,

Pokemon,

Our Quest for Freedom

(my first Poke-fiction)

Chapter One, Run-away

Lynn packed her back pack and sports bag full of supplies. Tomorrow before dawn…they wouldn't know what hit them. She looked at the note on her computer again. Brief and mysterious, just how she'd wanted it. She looked at the checklist in her notebook again. She was only taking the bare essentials. She didn't plan on coming back for a long time. She had broken open her bank and it had come to enough to last her well into the month. Everything was coming together.

Professor Woods had offered the idea. She knew how hard Lynn had worked for most of her life for this chance. They were trying to take it away, though. They didn't want her to be free. She was too obedient, too hard working, too controllable to let go of. She was finally going to break her bonds and fly away. She was only sorry she had to leave the other two behind, for now. Clay and Sandy had a few more years to go before they could join her, but she would come back as soon as the time was right.

She glanced at the list again. All the canned goods and easy-to-preserve food she could carry was in the sports bag, that had wheels, along with some bottled water, a plate, spork, and pan. It was all the smallest she could find so she could bring more. In the other bag was a change of clothes, a pair of socks, bathing items, first aid, a travel guide and a small hand-held that would help her find info on anything important in the world. It would also help in some emergencies. The note explained why she had stolen it from Them. She was almost ready. She looked at the bunk bed again. They were sound asleep. Curled up like puppies in a basket. She shook Clay and put a hand over his mouth. When she was sure he was awake, she whispered, "It's time." He glanced at the clock on the computer screen. It was 12:01.

"Why now? It's barely tomorrow. Please stay a little longer?"

"We've been through this, Clay. If I stay much longer, They could easily find me. The longer I have until they miss me, the better my chances are at getting away. I promise I'll come back for you." He gave her a hug and buried his face in her shirt for a moment, taking her in and remembering all he could. He did that when ever he liked something, so he would always remember when things got bad.

"Wake up, Sandy," Clay murmured, "Lynn has to go. Aren't you going to say bye?" Her chocolate brown eyes fluttered open.

"Now? Lynn? I'm going too! I won't stay without you! I won't last a day here!" Clay put his hand over her mouth. Lynn pulled her close and hugged her.

"It's okay. Don't worry. It won't be long and I'll come back to take you to the place we said we were gonna get. Do you remember, Sandy?" She nodded. "With the ocean view and a fireplace and woods and mountains nearby and a little spring and a pond. We won't have to work except for what we need and no one will tell us what to do. Clay'll have his tunnels to explore and you'll have.."

"A garden full of flowers and grass and bug type Pokemon. I remember. And you'll get to be one of the best known people in the field of Pokemon. Researcher, gym leader, trainer, breeder, nurse and you'll talk to them one day too! I bet one day you'll even.." she pulled Lynn down so she could whisper, "you'll even fall in love and get married like the princesses in the story books. Life will be good and we will have each other." She was all out smiling now.

"We can get some work done now so that it'll look like you did your chores before you left. We'll be really quiet and if the most of it is clean, we won't have to work as hard tomorrow." Clay knew they'd have to work just as hard, just serving any investigators that came by, but it was worth a shot. "We can get the house work done real fast and go out to the barn and feed and water the Pokemon and shovel out the old hay. Sandy can bring in some fruit for the table too. The stuff on it is getting rotten so we can burry it in the garden. She can also wash rags and napkins and small stuff like socks, and the dishes are already all clean so I can go milk early and put it in the ice box."

"Good. If you guys work like that from now on, they won't be too hard on you and I'll be back as soon as I possibly can. I love you both. Don't loose hope." With that, she opened the door to the room and walked out, carrying her shoes so she didn't make much noise. Clay and Sandy watched her from the door until she was at the front door and had her hand on the knob. They shut their door and headed down the hall as she closed the outside door and locked it again.

She ran down the road until she was at the walkway to the Research Center that Professor Woods worked at. She knocked quickly and ran in and locked the door behind her. She listened for a minute. No one came after her. She'd done it. She turned from the door to the middle of the room to see Professor Michelle Woods and her younger brother, Kyle Woods, in the chairs looking at her with question on their faces. "No, they didn't follow me."

She stood up and motioned for her to follow. Kyle followed behind both of them. "Have you decided on a beginner yet?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. A Chicarita. Am I the first one here?"

"Lynn, it's 12:45 in the morning. No one in their right mind gets here this early," Kyle stated. "I am going after you. Ladies first and all that," he added absently.

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me, Kyle Woods! I have done just fine all on my own, thank you!"

"No one said I felt sorry for you," he muttered. Professor Woods was smiling ahead of them. Kyle likes Lynn so much, he forgets how defensive she is, she thought, chuckling at their small dispute. 'If Lynn thinks he pities her, she should have seen him when he found out what those adoptive parents were doing to her. He nearly blew a gasket!'

She opened a door and Kyle waited outside. "Lynn, I know that this is trying, but you have to understand, so keep an open mind, alright? Kyle is going to travel with you. Not out of any pity. He's doing it to make sure you will be safe and because we both care about what happens to you!" She picked a Pokeball off of the table and handed it to Lynn. "Will he have a name, or just Chicarita?"

"I'm calling him…Basil."

"That's a good name. You also get a Pokegear and Pokedex. Stay safe, okay? A lot of hopes are riding on you."

Lynn walked out of the room, passing Kyle, and went into the room they had been sitting in. She noticed the tea and food on the coffee table and helped herself. She put some extra teabags in her bag for later. They may come in handy, she thought. Kyle came back in without Professor Woods. "She said she's going back to bed. She needs her sleep for tomorrow's trainers. She still has a job to do here."

"I know. I just thought she'd wish us luck when we left." She noticed the clock said 1:20. Had it really been that long?

Kyle was looking at her bags. "Don't you have a sleeping bag?" She shook her head, blushing slightly.

"I only have my rain poncho for protection from the wind."

"Well, we still have my sister's old bag from when she went on her journey about 10 years ago. It's old, but it's in good condition." While they were in the closet, they found some belts that held Poke balls, gear, and dex and a belt pouch for medicines and other small items.

Lynn looked at her Poke gear's clock when they reached the town sign. She made a mental note, 'Left Belton at 2:03am'

"We need to make it to Elquadon by sun up. We will only stop for some food and keep going." She looked at him with wide eyes, "Unless, of course, you want to get caught. My sister has made several changes to your info in the Pokedex and she has several friends in the cities around here, but if you're not careful we could get her and us in some serious trouble. She has given me a list of contacts that are safe to tell your secret to, but other than that, we must be careful."

"Where do we have to be by tonight?"

"Valley Grove, at the foot of the Velvet Mountains."

Lynn was boggled at this. They had to go about 25 miles by sun-up and nearly 50 miles more by sun down. "Hey, Kyle? Why didn't you go on your journey before now? You're 15, right? Most start when they are 10."

Silence. She was starting to think she'd gone out of bounds when he answered, "I didn't expect to ever go on a journey. I really wanted to be a Professor slash Breeder when I grew up."

"So you stayed home to study with your sister?"

"Yes. That was mostly it. I learned to be a Watcher, Breeder and Trainer while I was with her. She finally decided that I had learned all I could from her and needed to get away from a lab for a while. So, here I am."

"Well, this definitely isn't a lab!"\

~*~

B.S.-That's the first chapter to my first fic in Pokemon.

Lynn- 0_0()

B.S.- yes, I know. It was, like, a girl Seto in a bad fic. V_V() I might continue it, or I might delete it. It depends on how many responses I get. ^_^ Well? What are you waiting for? REVIEW!