A/N: So while I've been writing stories for a while, this is the first one I've posted here. It'll be interesting to see where this goes, so let me know your thoughts on it with a review or two.
Pokémon doesn't belong to me. This particular idea does, though.
Chapter 1 - Only In Your Dreams
It all starts with a dream.
In my dream, I've just defeated Champion Alder with my prized starter, Emboar. He recalls his last defeated Pokémon and says to me,
"Very well done, Black! You have surely proven the strength of both yourself and your Pokémon!" I can see it very clearly: Emboar's panting heavily from having battled so hard, but his grin tells me that he's just as ecstatic to be victorious as I am. I return his grin and say to him,
"You were awesome, Emboar. Thanks for pulling through for me all this time! Now have some down time – you deserve it." I return him to his Poké Ball and follow Alder up a huge staircase to a set of golden double doors at least ten feet high. From his necklace he retrieves a tiny key, golden and sparkling just like the doors to the Hall of Fame.
"It's been a long time since I've been in here. Even so, I still have this feeling of awe. Come with me, Black. Come with me and inscribe the names of you and your Pokémon into everlasting history!" He swings open the golden doors, huge as they are, and walks into a long, torch-lit hallway. I begin to follow him, but as soon as I pass through the doors, they shut. On instinct, I turn around and see that they really did just abruptly close behind us. Were they supposed to do that?
"Black…" A voice calls out to me, but it doesn't sound like Alder's. Heck, it doesn't even sound like a man's. I start running down the hallway, which doesn't seem to end despite me running for what feels like an hour.
"Black, come on…" The voice says again. It sounds familiar – who the heck is that? It sounds like a teenage girl's voice. I sigh and reach for Emboar's Poké Ball, but it isn't there. Heck, none of my team is there! What's going on?
"Black, seriously! Come on! Wake up!" The room starts shaking, and then I'm suddenly thrust back into the real world. First thing I see? The peering blue eyes of my sister, White. I groan and then roll over on my bed, turning the pillow over my head. Why is she all dressed up like she's ready to go traveling somewhere?
"Go away, White. I was just having a great dream that you spoiled." She groans and then pries the pillow off of me, throwing it to some corner of the bedroom. She pulls off the covers and then shouts,
"Did you forget today was our birthday, or what? Our sixteenth birthday? You know, the day we get to become licensed Pokémon trainers? Cheren and Bianca are going to be here any minute with our starter Pokémon, and here you are just snoozing away!" Oh, Foongus. She's right. Today's March 30th, otherwise known as the day Hilbert and Hilda Grayson were born into this world. According to our mom, White came out first, so she's technically the older one. It's a fact that she's been lording over me ever since she found out about it.
"Not anymore. Guess that's why you're all dressed up and ready to go. Alright. Lemme hop in the shower and change. Don't open the box until I get back!" I promptly get out of bed, yawn, and walked over to the closet to pull the clothes I was going to wear for my Pokémon journey. It was a rite of passage, a coming-of-age deal that just about everybody went through: you got your first Pokémon and you traveled around the world, battling countless others and maturing into a respectable adult.
I'd heard that the various regions of the world once let kids go on their journeys as early as ten years old. I was only seven when the International Pokémon League decided to bump up the official license age all the way to sixteen. That put a damper on my week, for sure. I remember that the official statement behind the decision was that too many youngsters were getting in trouble, that Pokémon trainers ought to have a higher degree of maturity before venturing out into the world all on their own. Like I cared about their reasons, though. I was seven and ticked off like an Oshawott that had its scalchop stolen. That meant I had to wait an extra six years in order to be able to challenge Gyms and participate in official Pokémon League competitions.
But hey, it's all behind me now. The Pokémon League would now have to contend with my skills, and there wasn't anything they were going to be able to do about it.
I emerge from the bathroom in my traveling outfit, complete with a cap I ordered straight from the Pokémon League. White also has one. People always wonder how she's able to get all of her hair through the little opening in the back of a cap and still make it look good. Apparently, it was something our mom used to do back when she was a Pokémon trainer, so she taught White how to do it early on. It's like a trademark of our family, or something.
"Black, are you ready yet? Cheren and Bianca are already here!" White's voice carries all the way up to the second floor. I go down the stairs and see my four favorite people in the world, standing in front of a cake and a metal suitcase.
"Happy Birthday, Black!" Bianca immediately comes to me and gives me a big hug. Her off-the-wall fashion sense is still alive, I see. Most girls would go for a more functional setup, like White's. Yet here's B, wearing orange tights and a flowery-looking orange vest, complete with a long white skirt and a big ol' green beret. She's always liked berets, but man, that has got to be the biggest one yet.
"I've been waiting for this day ever since we were kids," Cheren said. Although his outfit isn't nearly as… unique, as Bianca's, it kinda looks like he's dressed more for school than for journeying all over Unova. But hey, it's their party, not mine. Oh, wait. Today it is my party. Uh, just forget it.
My mom takes a lighter from the counter and lights the sixteen candles on the cake, which has the words "Happy Birthday Black & White" written on it in red frosting, along with a few Poké Balls on the corners. We got those nicknames because those have always been our favorite colors. Not to mention, our real names aren't exactly that flattering. What can you expect from parents whose names are Helga and Heinrich? At least our mom respects our nicknames.
"Ooh, it looks so good! Let's sing the song and eat it already!" Bianca chirps. Cheren chuckles, and goes to turn off the lights in the kitchen so that the candles are the only things lighting the room. I look at White and ask her,
"What are you wishing for?" She sticks her tongue out at me and responds,
"I'm not telling you. You know it doesn't come true if you tell somebody!"
"Alright, here we go! One, two, three…" My mom starts off the song and Cheren and Bianca join in. They're actually not that bad at singing, believe it or not. After they're done, White and I blow out all the candles on the cake at the same time, and then Bianca says,
"Sweet! We can eat the cake and then open your presents!" Cheren turns the lights back on and helps my mom take the candles out of the cake. He turns to B and says,
"Bianca, you didn't even bother with the cake at your birthday. You went straight for the presents, remember?" I remember that. The moment she blew out those candles, she bolted from her seat and started ripping open the first present within her reach. I swear, her dad literally facepalmed himself when that happened. It was funny as two Emolga accidentally getting their tails tied together. I'm glad she decided to wait until our birthday to get her starter Pokémon, otherwise her house would've been in even more of a mess than it already had been.
"Hey! I learned my lesson! Besides, it's their party, not mine. I know how to behave myself." My mom laughed as she cut the first piece of cake and gave it to White. This is a pretty good deal. Celebrating my birthday with all the people I know and love. The best part hasn't even come yet: my first meeting with my first Pokémon. I already know which one I want. It's going to be utterly awesome. And the wish that I made on the candles? Well, if I said it, it wouldn't come true, right? Guess I'll just have to wait and see if it really happens.