CHAPTER ONE: The Genesis
His life was never ordinary. His mom was a critically acclaimed Rhyhorn racer, his dad an actor in the PokeStar studio in Unova. Of course, they moved a lot. Collin never really had any other family. The closest he got was his mom's Rhyhorn, Andrew, and the family pet, their annoying Fletchling, Fletcher.
Something was tapping on his head. Grumpily, Collin reached out to seat it away, and the tapping had stopped for a moment. But it returned only a few minutes later. He moaned, opening a eye.
Fletcher cocked it's head to the left, pure innocence written in its eyes.
Collin sighed. His own personal alarm clock was never late. It also meant his Mom wanted to get up. He stretched, yawning, opening his curtains.
Below his window stood two of the neighborhood girls. He scowled, closing his curtains. Them again, he thought angrily. Those two girls have been appearing at his house for the past three days. They haven't left yet, and it was annoying Collin.
Ignoring them, he got to his closely, and pulled out a simple outfit; his usual black t-shirt, a blue jacket, jeans, and his red cap. He even zipped up the entire collar of his jacket, only to stay warm. Making sure that he wouldn't forget, Collin put the hearing aids, which always laid on his nightstand, in, tuning it to the comfortable level.
He didn't like people to notice it, and was very grateful his Mom hasn't pestered him into getting a haircut. The hair that went down to his shoulders, covering his ears completely, was just right for him.
Overall, he thought he dressed himself nicely today. Collin ran down the stairs, jumping over the last three, and gave his Mom a smile. She didn't smile back.
"Collin, when are you going to go out and see the world?" She asked. "You can't stay inside forever."
"What if I want to?" He replied coldly.
His mom, used to his tone, sighed. "Well, fine, if you just want to lay on your butt the whole life, fine by me. But you need to go out eventually."
Collin ignored her, he was thinking of his life back in Kanto. The taunting voices of would-be friends haunted his life. The only person he trusted was his Dad, who was never home.
"Well, you're going outside today whether you want to or not." His mom stated. Collin looked up from the couch in alarm.
"What?!" He tried to protest, but his Mom was already pushing him out the door. With one last yell of, "have fun!", the door was locked behind him. Collin was about to turn around and slam on the door until she opened it again, but the other two girls were standing right behind him.
"Hey there, new neighbor!" The shorter and tanner girl cried happily, causing a reaction in his hearing aid. He winced before looking at her closer.
She had bright green eyes and her hair in pigtails, and wore a lot of little bows. The other girl had dirty blonde hair and grey eyes, and wore a simple red and black high waisted-dress, with a pink cap on. "I'm Shauna, and that's Serena. What's your name?"
"Collin..." He uttered, avoiding eye contact. They hadn't heard him. Annoyed, he spoke louder. "Collin."
"Collin?" Shauna repeated. "That's a cool name!"
Serena was rubbing the bridge of her nose, eyebrows twitching. "Shauna, I think you're scaring him."
Scaring him? She's freaking me out. He thought, watching Shauna nod, a giddy smile on her face, backing up.
"Well, what do you want?" He didn't care how rude he sounded, he just wanted to push them away.
Serena paused, pushing some of her musty blonde hair out of her face. "Oh, it's a-"
"Surprise!" Shauna happily said. "We'll meet you in Aquacorde Town, Collin!" She bolted off, just like a little Pichu full of ecstatic energy. Serena followed, yelling at her friend to stop.
"Hey, wait a minute-" Collin started to follow them, but lost the two girls. He didn't know his way around the whole darn town, how the check was he supposed to get to the next one?
Since his Mom wouldn't answer the door, he had to ask the locals how to get to Aquacorde Town, which he hated. An elderly man laughed, then pointed at the gate, explaining there was a small walkway that led to Aquacorde Town.
He thanked the man and left. The gate was already opened, and bit was only a short, five minute walk to the next town.
The plants were still covered in the morning dew, and Pokémon that could fly chattered above his head. He liked nature, sure, and found himself lost in his own thoughts before arriving at Aquacorde Town. Taking a glance back, he sighed and continued on.
Aquacorde Town was a simple little town, with a shopping district and an abundance of cafes. Every building was made of a beige stone, and there was only cobblestone streets, as if it had jumped out of the Renaissance Era...If Kalos even had one, he thought.
"Collin!" Shauna's perky voice called out to him. He looked up and found her, Serena, and two other boys sitting at one of the multiple tables at a cafe. He hesitantly followed the shrill voice.
One of the boys was a heavy-set guy with a Vanillite on his shirt. His dark, spiked hair matched his dark eyes. The other was a short boy with orange hair that covered most of his face. He had dark grey eyes hidden behind glasses, and a camera around his neck. In Collin's opinion, the smaller boy resembled an orange flower.
"Hi there Collin, I'm Tierno." The bigger boy said.
"I'm Trevor." The smaller boy also said.
Collin nodded, not really caring. He took the seat next to Serena, relaxing a bit, but still stiff as a building.
"I bet you're curious to why you're here..." Trevor quietly said. Collin almost had to turn his hearing aids up to hear him. But that would also mean noises like Shauna's screaming and even the noise of the world around him would be amplified.
"Yeah." He felt uncomfortable the moment he sat down with these kids, but he felt something different. Even if there was something different, he didn't care. It was, most of the time, the people who were different that hurt him the most. Once he was able to return to his house he'd be able to live out his entire life. He'd be a website designer, maybe. Something that involved no direct contact with people.
"Wait, before we begin, Collin needs a nickname!" His head snapped up and he glared at Shauna.
"What?" He asked, rather harshly, but it seemed as if nobody noticed it.
"Maybe Big 'C?"
"Lil' C sounds better."
We're these people honestly debating whether or not to give him a nickname, right in front of his face? "I dunno, what do you think, Collin?"
"I think my normal name is fine." He replied, crossing his arms.
"But where's the fun in that?" The tanner girl whined, making Serena stifle a smile. "Big 'S, what do you think?"
Big 'S, who was apparently Serena, shrugged. "We shouldn't force a nickname on him...yet."
Yet?! Collin held a moan back, but he turned to Trevor and said, "Why am I here?"
Trevor, who was frightened by his tone, flinched. "Oh, um, you guys are going to get a Pokémon."
A Pokémon? His own Pokémon? Maybe it was worth coming out, for this, he thought, watching Trevor bring out a box. Inside were three pokeballs, and he could see faint silhouettes of the Pokémon inside. "You go first, Collin." Serena said, patting him kindly on the back.
"You're just giving it to me?" Collin asked.
"If you want it, that is." Serena replied. "You don't have to have one if you don't want one."
Collin bit his lip and grabbed the one closest to him. The Pokémon seemed to cheer inside, but he played it off as his imagination. Serena grabbed for the middle, and Shauna grasped the last one. Tierno and Trevor, who already had theirs, joined in when all five of them threw the spheres into the air, watching a white light come out from each of them.
His Pokémon landed in front of him. It resembled a porcupine, with a tawny face and chest. It had green quills coming out of its back like little trees on a landscape, and looked up to Collin with bright eyes. "A Chespin," explained Trevor.
Shauna had a Froakie, a small blue frog with foam around its neck, Serena had a Fennekin, a small yellow fox with big ears, Tierno had a Corphish and Trevor had a Pikachu.
"Before you go," Tierno handed him a envelope and a small device, about the size of a tablet. "A letter from Professor Sycamore, and your very own Pokedex." Collin nodded, putting the stuff in his pocket. "Professor Sycamore has asked us to be his new students; the letter explains everything. Go home and get it to your Mom, and we'll all meet at Santalune Forest."
Collin wasn't sure how to handle the situation, but nodded and started to walk off back home, his Chespin close behind him, chattering quietly. The shrill voice of Shauna stopped him before he could even get out of town.
"Collin, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"