Today is the day I venture into a new fandom. The Pokemon Fandom. WOOT. YEAH. FANFARE. EXCITEMENT. I've always wanted to write my ow adventure story and since I'm going through withdrawl from NOT HAVING POKEMON X YET UGGGGGH, I'm going to pour all my Pokemon feels into this fanfic. I'm not sure how long it's going to be yet-probs pretty long but hey, a good journey is never a short journey-and it'll be fun. Because fun time is the best time.

Warnings: There will be angst, drama, SOME ROMANCE I SAY SOME, misunderstandings, curse words, emotional moments, and crappy humor. Unless you find me funny somewhere along the lines, then I guess it's not so crappy after all.

Disclaimer: I surely don't own Pokemon or else I'd be making mad bank. But I do own my lovely OCs (:

I hope you all enjoy The Misadventures of Aspen Campione!

Castelia City — Spring

You'd think the first day of starting your Pokemon journey would be one hell of a hoot. You'd wake up and get doused with confetti and fanfare. Professor Juniper would be standing at the foot of your bed with three starter Pokemon for you to choose, and a batch of waffles because who doesn't like waffles? You pick your pokemon, a cool Snivy, a fiery Tepig, or a bubbly Oshawott, and from that moment on you're running through the streets with the entire city cheering your name, wishing you good luck.

Yeah, it's nice to have dreams—even if they are delusional.

For Aspen Campione, her first day as a Pokemon trainer wasn't all that exciting.

Hell, she almost missed the morning train that would take her to Nuvema Town because she, get this, overslept.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck!"

"Morning to you too," Zane Himuro, the next door neighbor, was currently sitting at the dining table eating pancakes.

Aspen's pancakes, by the way. But she's not allowed to have any considering she's an underachiever.

"You!" Aspen shot an accusatory finger to the brunet chomping away on her breakfast.

"Me."

"Dammit!"

"Not at the breakfast table, love." Aspen's father walked in, an apron wrapped around his slender waist and a smile on his face. He had an extra plate of pancakes piping hot and ready to go. "If your brother was here I'd slap you with the paddle."

"First of all that's borderline child abuse," Aspen argued. "Secondly why is he eating my pancakes? You don't live here, Zane! Go eat out of your own fridge!"

Zane flashed Aspen a mock pout. "And miss family bonding with the Campiones? Never! My fridge is practically a skeleton! A boy my age can only survive on ramen noodles for so long..."

"Zane don't listen to Aspen. She was never a morning person." Mr. Campione smiled that warm, friendly smile that could honestly melt the tip of an iceberg and ruffled Zane's hair. "You're welcome to eat my food anytime. And Aspen, your train leaves in fifteen minutes. Shouldn't you be getting ready...?"

Amber eyes quickly shot over to the Psyduck clock hanging above the fridge. It was a tacky clock, by the way, but it flashed the undeniable, horrible truth: Aspen was going to miss the damn train if she didn't haul ass.

"I'M SO SCREWED!" Aspen booked up the stairs with the speed of an Olympic Sprinter.

Though she tripped over Absol laying on the bottom stairs on the first try. So the second attempt showed off her elegant speed.

In record time Aspen was showered, dressed, and tamed her hair so it was at least someone respectable.

"I can see your stomach, Honey."

"That's the point dad!" Aspen shouted as she stacked her plates with pancakes upon pancakes.

"Please don't tell me you're taking that on the train. Wait, no," Zane held up his hand, a frown on his face. "Don't answer that—I can only guess as much."

"There is nothing wrong with eating on the go! Right, Absol?"

Absol only snorted. Aspen's antics were commonplace by now. He really wasn't surprised by anything anymore.

With half a pancake in her mouth, Aspen gave her dad a two finger salute. "Keep the house clean while I'm gone! No partying after seven P.M. and don't you dare get Tyler hooked on Supernatural: Pokemon Edition."

"No promises~" Aspen rolled her eyes. Honestly she shouldn't have expected anything less.

"See you, Mr. Campione." Zane threw a wave over his shoulder before he and Aspen left the apartment.

"Aspen, before you go!" Mr. Campione pulled a necklace out of his pocket and placed it around Aspen's neck. "It was your mother's... I know she would have wanted you to wear it. I'm sure if she were here today she would be so proud of her baby girl growing up." Mr. Campione leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Aspen's forehead. "Go out there and make a name for yourself."

You know, Aspen wasn't planning on crying. She was hoping for something more festive like a DDR smackdown where the loser had to carry Aspen on their back to the trainstation. Tears, tears were not apart of the equation but dear Lord if they weren't trying their hardest to exceed expectations. Aspen sniffled. She was such an ugly crier and really she didn't want to cry.

"You're so mushy, Pops..."

"Only for my little girl."

Now Aspen was ready to leave. She scarfed down her last pancake, placed the plate in the sink, and exited the apartment with Absol by her side and Zane in tow. It didn't hit her that she was actually leaving to start her very long, very unpredictable journey, until she stood on at the gate connecting her to Route 4. They would have to board the train in Nimbasa City in order to get to Nuvema Town.

"Holy shit... this is it. This is actually happening, Zane." Aspen whirled around and slapped her hands on Zane's shoulders. "I'm actually a Pokemon trainer starting today and holy shit, is it too early to pee myself?"

"Uh, please don't do that." Zane awkwardly patted Aspen's hand. "But you're not officially a trainer yet. You may have Absol but you still need to get a Pokedex and Trainer Card from Professor Juniper before you can get anywhere."

"You know what you are? You are the metaphorical and literal wet blanket. No. You're even worst than being wet—you're moist."

"Can you never use that word again? I think a part of my brain corroded a bit."

Aspen was about to respond with one of her world-renowned comebacks when a very obnoxious, high-pitched screech broke through.

"Well lookie what the Liepard dragged in! If it isn't Little A-Cup Aspen." May everyone turn their attention to Queen Diva of all things Bitch (with a capital B), Gabriella Star. Tall, curvy, and definitely not small chested—she was very proud of her C-Cups—Gabriella strided right in-between Aspen and Zane.

"You know, Gabby, 15 years and that joke still isn't funny." Aspen scowled. Gabriella was her rival in all things that could be challenged. It didn't help that Aspen was competitive and hated to lose by nature, Gabby absolutely loved trying to one-up Aspen. Whether it came to sports, academics, or even Pokemon.

Considering Aspen was as hot-blooded as a Bouffalant, she normally fell for Gabby's taunts hook, line, and sinker.

Gabby huffed, flipping a lock of her pink hair over her shoulder. "I still get a chuckle out of it! So someone here must have the deluded sense of humor and that someone certainly is not me." In a flash, she bumped Aspen out of the way with her hips and batted her eyelashes towards Zane. "Morning, Zane! Can you believe that we finally start our journeys today? I mean, just yesterday we were in Trainer's School learning about type disadvantages and how to work around them."

Zane cocked an eyebrow, peering over Gabby's head to Aspen who had fallen on her butt. Absol, as usual, was by Aspen's side helping her up. "Yeah. I got the whole spiel from Aspen earlier. It was bound to happen eventually. I don't know what the big deal is."

If one thing could be said about Gabby—something positive since we can't always rag on her—was that she was persistent. 'Giving up' was a word Gabriella Star did not associate herself with. "Right. You're so totally right. I mean, why go to Trainer's School if you're not planning on becoming a Pokemon Trainer?"

Aspen wormed her way up, rubbing her abused butt. There was most definitely going to be a bruise there. "That's hilarious coming from Ms. DSL over there," she muttered as she brushed the dirt off her pants.

Do you hear that? That's the sound of Pandora's Box opening.

Gabby had a terrible temper, one that Aspen ignited without even trying. The pinkette whipped her head around, her perfectly trimmed eyebrows narrowed and her glossed lips upturned in a snarl. "Excuse me. What was that Tiny Tits?"

"You heard me, Cock Sucker! I'm surprised you passed any of your classes considering how many times you skipped to make out with your boyfriends in the hallway!"

"Unlike some people I'm actually intelligent and it doesn't matter if I skip class! Who's the girl who flunked out of Potions 101?"

"Hey! That teacher had a vendetta against me and we all know it!" Aspen rebuttled.

Gabby gave a smug smile in response. "It's Potions 101, Aspen. Even Kindergarteners can pass that class. But, hey, not all of us can be smart."

"Oh. Oh you have crossed the line and you are now eligible for an ass whooping!" Aspen rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, ready to deck the halls with Gabby when Absol promptly tripped her with his foot. "D'OW!"

"Thank you, Absol." Zane sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. By now they were already pushing it. The train would leave in ten minutes and it took at least eight minutes to cross Route 4 to Nimbasa if you... Oh, you know, biked it. They didn't have that luxury. "Alright, ladies. Are we about done here?"

"Course not! This girl is asking for me to kick her butt!" Aspen yelled with her face pressed up close and personal to the ground.

Gabby scoffed. "Yeah right. You can never beat me, Aspen. Not with your second-rate skills."

"Oh yeah?" Aspen popped right up, determination gleaming in her eyes. "Last one to the train station buys the winner ten extra Pokeballs."

"Last time I checked, Aspen, you're not really rolling in the Benjamins."

"And last time I checked you have enough money to put it where your mouth is. I hope you're not saving up for anything pretty because this competition is mine."

Before Zane—or Absol—to get a word in edgewise, the girls were already racing down the road with a cloud of smoke in their wake.

"They never change, do they...?" Zane asked Absol, who rolled his eyes in response. "We should probably go after them. Make sure they don't break anything. Or kill each other..." A pause, before Zane came up with a wonderfully stupid idea: "Hey, wanna take bets on who'll win?"

Absol was surrounded by idiots. To emphasize his feelings, Absol swatted Zane in the back of the thigh with his tail.

"Okay, ow! Ouch! I was kidding—it'll never happen again!"

Humans... honestly.

{The Misadventures}

Nuvema Town

Blair Frey twiddled with his thumbs as he sat outside the research lab, eyes flickering back and forth from his watch to the clouds. "Where are they...? They're so late! Did they get lost? No. No. The train was a straight ride here. Even Aspen couldn't get lost on such a simple route—especially if Zane and Absol are with her. Wait, no. This is Aspen that we're talking about. She gets lost in her own house!" Blair let out a groan of frustration as he tugged at the ends of his blond hair.

Aspen, Zane, and Gabby were due to Professor Juniper forty-five minutes ago! Where were they?!

"BLAAAAAAAAAAIR!"

Blair whipped his head around just in time to be tackled by an over exuberant Aspen.

"Aspen, I-I bruise easily! Please let go of me!" Blair's face was cherry red as Aspen nuzzled and loved upon him. Embarrassing, honestly, but Aspen had always latched onto him like a teddy bear just because he was the youngest of their group.

And if Blair wasn't mistaken... was Zane giving him the death glare?

Nah. Must have been the sun.

"Sorry, Blair! You're just so damn cuddly!" Aspen rolled off and struck a pose. "Alright. I'm here. Everyone calm down I'm not a celebrity yet so you can't go bat shit and take my picture. Where's June Bug?"

Blair sighed, pushing up his glasses. "I see you still insist on making nicknames for your elders..."

"But of course Blair Bear!" Aspen thumbed her nose and stuck her tongue out. "The old ain't getting any younger. They need a nickname to spice up their life! Now enough dilly dallying, take me to my destiny!"

Zane rolled his eyes and headed for the lab. "This is why we never take you out in public."

"Three words, Aspen: You, are, embarrassing." Gabby made a face before skipping off after Zane.

"Yeah, well, so is your mom!" Aspen shouted after her.

Blair sighed. They would never change. "Hey there, Absol. Long time no see." He bent down to pet Absol's hair.

Absol rather adored Blair. He was calm, cool, and collected. Though he was significantly younger than the others, 13 while Aspen and Gabby were 15, and Zane was 16, he could still hold his own intelligence wise. A really smart cookie, the cream of the crop when it came to battle strategies. His immense talent and precocious skill was the main reason for his early graduation from Trainer's School.

"You can pet Absol later. Gabby's probably kissing up to June Bug right now!"

Inside the Pokemon Lab Professor Juniper was giving Zane and Gabby the normal spiel. Welcome to the world of Pokemon! Are you a boy or a girl? You know, the regular deal. Aspen and Blair joined in a few minutes later to get the speech. After Professor Juniper was done she let Zane, Gabby, and Blair pick their starters. Blair went with Tepig who was just as timid as his trainer. Gabby chose Snivy who was, shocker, the perfect copy of Gabby. Finally, Zane chose Oshawott. Not like he had much of a choice considering Blair and Gabby grabbed the first two.

Oshawott had character to him, though. A certain kind of spunk that Zane could really set his heart on. So it wasn't much of a loss at all.

"Oh my wittle Hermes! We're going to have a blast traveling together!" Gabby cooed, rubbing her face against Snivy's.

"Sni! Sni!"

"Oh barf," Aspen gagged behind Gabby's back before turning to the professor. "Yo, June Bug! It's alright that I already have my partner in crime, right?" She bent down and wrapped her arms around Absol's neck.

"June Bug...?" Juniper cocked an eyebrow, but didn't question on it any further. Blair had warned her about Aspen's uh... unorthodox mannerisms. They were pretty endearing. "You can use whatever Pokemon you'd like as your starter. It's actually really beneficial that you already have a close bond with your Absol."

Aspen beamed with pride, nuzzling her face into Absol's fur. "Hear that, buddy? We're beneficial."

Professor Juniper clapped her hands together, "Alrighty. Since you're all squared away with your Pokemon, the next things you need are your Trainer Card and Pokedex. The photo for your Trainer Card can be taken over at that station by the corner. And this," Juniper reached into her pocket and pulled a sleek, gray and pink Pokedex, "is your new best friend."

They each got their own personalized Pokedex. Aspen's was purple. Zane's was a midnight blue. Blair took green and Gabby took pink. After that they all went to take their photos. Everyone had various facial expressions, but Aspen's was the funniest of all.

"Can't you do anything normally?" Gabby sneered, revolted at how childish Aspen's picture turned out.

"Normal gets you nowhere, Flabby. Ha! Flabby! I just thought of that on the spot." Aspen held her Trainer Card up high. Gabby may not have liked her picture, but Aspen thought it held character. A simple smile was so boring! What was wrong with scrunching up her face and throwing the camera guy a peace sign?

Aspen and normal were never meant to fit into the same sentence.

Of course, with any new Pokemon a budding trainer receives, it's nice to have a Pokemon battle. More like, Aspen jumped down everyone's throat until they agreed to battle her.

"No way am I putting my adorable little Hermes against your mongrel!" Gabby held onto Snivy protectively, the serpent nodded vigorously and shot Absol a glare.

"Sol!" Absol growled, baring his fangs.

"Hey! We take offense to that! You're only saying that cause you know we'd mop the floor with ya in a Pokemon battle!"

"Yeah with an unfair advantage! You two have obviously been together longer!" Gabby argued. "Fighting against you would be suicide! Wait till Hermes and I get stronger and then we'll have a proper battle."

"What? Flabby? Did you say something? All I heard was 'Bawk, bawk, bawk—I'M A BIG FAT CHICKEN!"

"OH YOU WANNA GO?!" Goodbye common sense.

Professor Juniper stepped in before any blood could be shed. "Girls, please. If you're going to battle then take it outside. I finally got the lab cleaned and I will not have it destroyed by hot tempers, got it?"

"Yes Professor Juniper," Gabby said at the same time Aspen said, "Got it, June Bug."

"Good," Juniper sighed. One more catastrophe averted. She dropped into a chair and turned around until she was facing the computer. "Since you guys are fledglings I suggest your first stop be Striaton City to the Northwest." She pulled up a map on the larger screen behind her. On the screen was a map of the Unova region, and in red was Striaton City. "The Striaton City Gym is there, along with the Dreamyard that holds some really unique Pokemon. Of course, I can't dictate how you go about your journey. Let your feet take you as far or as little as you want to go."

Everyone took Juniper's words to heart. Once they stepped out that door their paths were all going to swerve in different directions. They could never see each other again, or they could constantly bump into one another. That was the beauty of going on your journey. You could carve out your own destiny or, if you liked to sit back and watch things fall into place, let destiny steer your footsteps.

Aspen was incredibly excited to go for her first gym badge. It would be so shiny! Er... a great testament to her growing strength as a trainer. Being shiny was a very nice, added bonus. The four teens exited the lab and stood at the mouth of Route 1. The first route. The start of their miraculous journey...

It was going to be an uphill battle. A lot of tears will be shed, a lot of friends will come and go. All four will grow up and find their niche in the perfectly fabricated tapestry life has made for them. Though they're all going separate ways, with separate directions and varying dreams, their destinies are intermingled...

This wouldn't be the last time Aspen saw Zane, Blair, and Gabby. Not for a long shot.

I'd love to hear what you think so far! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Now I'm off to Target simply for the hell of it.