Warnings: Ursaring attack

Chapter One - Face Forward

Uraraka Ochako, fifteen years old, casual trainer, was now running for her life through the Eterna Forest, an angry ursaring at her heels.

About two weeks ago, her plan had been to take her time down the winding roads in Floraoma, head back to Canalave, and take the cheapest boat she could to Kalos. Foreign trainers were desperately needed in Kalos after the incident in Geosenge, which had been one of the biggest tourist traps since the Goldenrod Game Corner. Everyone had wanted to look at the mysterious stone statue carved into the middle of the town like a beautiful flower.

That flower was now revealed to have been a beautiful weapon, but that was beside the point. Why was Ochako fleeing an angry ursaring instead of making money in Kalos?

That would be because family tradition demanded it.

Uraraka Ochako of Floraoma knew all of three things, she had to raise a shaymin to be an Uraraka, she really wanted a turtwig, and that honey from the meadows tasted better than beehives from the forest.

She had spent her childhood summers without shoes and some of her winters the same. She had patchy sweaters until she was twelve years old and frayed pants that she sometimes tripped on. Her hair was meant for kitchen scissors and she had to practice the precision in every single syllable. Otherwise, people would laugh like they weren't the same.

The town of flowers was as cutthroat as vines and you fought very hard not to be poisoned.

The value of a poke was good everywhere, and every single one Ochako could snatch she took and hoarded. Her parents knew nothing! (They knew everything) And with the value of each she could only imagine the value of raising a pokemon.

Thank goodness Professor Aizawa handed them out for free every three months. Otherwise she'd be stuck with her sweet little cleffa, who while a good tank, was also a baby.

Unfortunately, three days before she was scheduled to get that boat ticket and get out of town, her mother had stopped her at the door and thrust what at first glance had looked like a wad of light clay and a very oddly colored leaf stone into her hands.

All Ochako had managed to say was "What?" before her mother had sat her down on their beaten up couch and handed her a green egg dotted in pink flowers. It was smaller than most pokemon eggs, and she had seen a lot from her uncle's construction breeding service.

"This is a Shaymin egg," she said, voice serious and firm.

Ochako, as anyone else would do when faced with the egg of a legendary, froze and meeped like a frightened mareep.

She was later glad that she hadn't dropped it.

"Yes I know." Her father at least looked amused. "Imagine my face when that popped out of yer mum's hair."

She could only imagine. A green hedgehog sitting as casually as can be in a random girl's hair. That just asked for some pain and suffering, if not some humiliation.

"It's a family tradition," her mother continued, her hands trembling a little. Ochako twitched to hold them down, to rub the knuckles with her thumb like her dad did. But the rest of her was so stuck on the idea of raising a shaymin, the guardian of Floraoma, with her bare hands. "To raise one and have it blessed on Mt. Coronet where Arceus once made covenant with the humans. Then they will bless the Shaymin and they'll be able to change forms at will. And you can release them."

Ochako could only stare at her mother, wide-eyed. After a few moments of her jaw dropped open, gaping like a fish. "But… what about Kalos? The Elite League is there! Pro-Professor Yagi asked for me!" She tried not to let the notes of accusation slip into her face. It wasn't really her mother's fault. This was tradition, after all and she had, in some sense, been aware she would have to go to Mt. Coronet eventually.

Her mother almost seemed to wring her hands. Almost. Her parents were too tough for that. "He's willing to compromise. Since you're not interested in the league here, as long as you complete the trial of getting Shaymin up the mountain before your visa expires, he's willing to meet you and take you to Kalos from there."

Ochako, thankfully, did not laugh. She didn't cry either. But she got very close to both.

Granted that little flashback didn't entirely explain why she was running from an angry ursaring, but did you really want to know the long and entertaining backstory of the many ways her cleffa irritated a teddiursa? Yes? No? Oh well.

Ochako had never been so proud of running errands for her parents as she was right now. Even holding the errant cleffa wasn't slowing her down.

Behind her came the telltale sound of a tree ripped down the middle. Ochako muffled a squeak as she bolted into another thicket.

Almost there, almost- there!

Triumph rang in her ears as she reached a boulder that nearly outdid her in height and definitely did in width. She reached into her pocket and pulled out another ball. Releasing them, she caught the pokemon in her arms and winced. Turtwig were pretty heavy. She lifted him up to rest his feet on the mossy top of the rock.

"Ok Trevor," she said, trying to hide the waver in her voice. "Get ready to use razor leaf."

"Turt," he said, yawning a little. But at the sound of the heavy footsteps trembled the leaves, he sobered and ducked his head. The tiny leaf on his head started to grow.

Eterna Forest had been Ochako's playground for years. She knew so many of the tree patterns, the pokemon habitats, the seasonal occurrences by heart, that she knew spring was the time of year that the native eevee pack left their eggs near her. This was the mossy rock known for blessing eevee with power.

It was also the one place no one dared to hunt a grass type, because the mossy rock tended to turn a fragile grass type into victreebel levels of deadly.

Ochako hoped it would work now.

"Trevor!" she called. "Razor Leaf!"

The leaves on the turtle's head grew at once, fueled to twice their size, then three times. Trevor rolled his head just so and the shining leaves flew off of his head and cut into the Ursaring's chest deep. They were a bit slow, but now was not the time to try and learn the ultra-strong, ultra fast single razor leaf some kid from Twinleaf had perfected. They still caused blood and the great monster to stumble back. And that was all she needed. Just a bit further!

"Two more, c'mon Trevor!"

The grass turtle let out a merping sound and obeyed two more times, sending the angry ursaring into a heavy oak. It wasn't enough to knock it out or bury the tree, but Ochako was already gone, around the rock with Trevor's ball and the opposite way she had ran for it. Past the Old Chateau, past the healing station, almost to the exit-

Then her foot gave out.

She toppled over and crashed into the ground. The egg bounced against her back, miraculously unharmed and her ears filled with the sound of roaring and thumping and crashes a short distance away. Ochako forced herself to try and stand up, her ankle dragging as she lifted it. She wobbled forward. Even a few centimeters and she would be closer to safety, to freedom. Most pokemon stayed in their habitats. Humans had made sure of tha- ow.

She toppled to the ground again and dragged herself forward by her arms. She was not going to die in this forest, oh god she might, by god she mi-

"Pinkie, poison jab!"

Her vision flooded with purple and then cleared again.

Well, somewhat. Now she was surrounded in pink, barring the bright amber eyes blinking down at her. "Are you okay?"

Her face is too close. She pulled herself up a little and grimaced. "I'm okay," Ochako managed to wheeze. "It's just my ankle."

The girl knelt and as she moved, Ochako's eyes widened further. Even her skin was pink. How was that possible? Her arms went to Ochako's armpits and heaved her up all at once, one arm over her shoulder. "Then you're not okay," she declared. Ochako felt the shaking in her arms and tried to help. Her good foot steadied. "Pinkie come on we've gotta go!"

The thing that had attacked floated over to her with a little snicker. It looked… well it looked like those storybook pictures of aliens.

"We gotta move fast, okay?" Ochako felt a tremble going all up and down her body. This person must be terrified.

Ochako grit her teeth. "Okay… together!"

They moved in quick unison, their faces red with effort. "Almost there," wheezed the girl.

Each step made Ochako's foot burn with pain. "Little more," she agreed.

And then they were out, slumping against the nearest tree furthest from the forest. "We did it," breathed the pink girl. "Nice going."

Ochako managed to grin, despite the near death of an ursarin just behind her. "You too… I'm Ochako."

Pink girl's lips widened to a smile as big as her head. "I'm Mina. Nice to meet you."

"Same… You saved my life."

"Just a little."

They laughed, and then it hurt to laugh. But that was okay.

That was the first meeting of Uraraka Ochako and Ashido Mina.

A/N: And this ends chapter one! For context, this takes place before Assortment of Pebbles, but in the same universe. It's roughly a year before. That said, please enjoy and give me tips for writing Mina! I'm not quite sure I'm getting her right!

For the poke no hero bb. And thanks go to nini for the cover art!