My year has been... bizarre, to say the least. I've done everything from taking down a terrorist organization, battling God, literally being murdered, making friends with my murderer, learning the difference between shenanigans and "real" magic, and becoming a fugitive of the law over a crime I didn't... actually, I shouldn't say that. I kinda did commit the crime I'm accused of. But it's hardly a crime worth bothering over, really, especially when I'm literally right next to a serial murderer. But... I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

My name is Marcus Lyre. I'm 15 at the time I've started writing this journal, but the story itself starts about a year ago, on my 14th birthday. The day kids receive their first Pokemon from their region's professor and begin their journey as Pokemon Trainers. I practically shot out of bed that morning, five minutes before my alarm was set to go off. (That put me at 6:55 AM, for those of you curious.) I was practically generating a windstorm in my room getting ready. I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth, back to my dresser to grab my glasses, and then to my closet to start getting my clothes on. This whole segment alone would have taken me barely two minutes, but on my way to my closet, in my haste, I tripped over my sleeping sister.

Now this part may call for an explanation. The reason my sister was sleeping on the ground, where I could trip over her, is because my sister's a Zorua - shiny, I should mention - named Marie. The reason I call a Zorua my sister is because I've been taking care of her for the past three years, ever since her old trainer - my brother - died, and she and I have bonded quite a bit in that time. And for those of you with a certain mindset, she and I are siblings. That's it. Don't get any ideas.

"Oops, sorry Marie," I called as I stumbled back to my feet, not missing a beat as I continued to my closet and started picking out my outfit. Bluejeans, a black T-shirt with a design depicting a Zoroark charging, but only its hair and claws were visible in crimson, a light casual jacket the bottom half of which was white, and the top half primarily yellow, with a black border, overall evoking the image of an Ultra Ball, and a cap that was a simple beige, with the exception of a leaf design over the top that's supposed to resemble the leaf on the head of a Bayleef, but it really didn't look that good in my opinion. (Still I wore it...)

"Zor..." Marie grumbled groggily as she got back to her feet, returned her bed to where it was before I messed it up, and turned to me. She then did that signature leap into a backflip Zorua do before they "transform" themselves with an illusion. When Marie landed, she had transformed into her preferred human form, a girl about my age wearing a somewhat outlandish black and purple outfit, with what I can only assume was a hat, though it looked more like a sponge one would use to wash a car. Not quite her normal color scheme - a sharp contrast to her regular blue highlights, in fact - though it was the color scheme she'd have once she evolved into a Zoroark. Her hair was long, bunched into two rows hanging about halfway down her back, and with purple highlights among a somewhat natural black, once again similar to how she'd look as a Zoroark. She, too, wore glasses, like I did. Marie claims that her form is based on a pop star my brother used to like, but I'd never seen nor heard of a pop star that looked like she did now.

"What the hell is you're rush this morning, Marcus?" Marie asked as she rubbed her eyes. "You don't usually kick me that hard in the morning."

I couldn't help but chuckle. The truth was I had a tendency to accidentally bump her with my foot some mornings, but don't get the wrong idea. This was the first time I'd actually tripped over her like that. "Good morning to you too, sis," I replied as I finished getting my jacket on. I adjusted it so the front remained open, that way the Zoroark design on my shirt remained visible. "Sorry, I wanted to get ready quickly to-" I suddenly bit my tongue, only at that instant remembering that I hadn't told Marie what I was doing today, and that I wasn't going to tell her. She had a tendency to get jealous at times. If she found out I was going out to get a starter Pokemon today, she probably wouldn't have taken the news very well, and I'd most likely arrive at Professor Rowan's lab with claw marks all over my face. "I was, um... my mom wanted to take me out shopping for my birthday, but she wanted to get an early start, so I had to rush to get ready. Yeah, that's it..."

Marie eyed me strangely for a moment. It was here that I realized that I said that last bit out loud, but I had to keep my cool. She was about to say something, but it was at this moment that my alarm went off, startling us both, and I guess derailing Marie's train of thought. I quickly ran around Marie and turned the alarm off before turning back to her so she could speak her piece. "Shopping, huh?" the Zorua-girl asked. "Well, if you say so. But please leave me out of it, because I still need another two hours of sleep to get my full 14 for the night." She then turned around back to her bed. It was at this point that I took note of the flaw in Marie's illusion that all Zorua had: a fluffy black tail protruding from just above her backside, strangely enough appearing through where her shirt covers her belt line. Literally through her clothes. It was at that moment I had to remind myself that those clothes weren't real, just as the body I saw wasn't. (Okay, yeah, I'm starting to see how my words can be seen as creepy...)

Deciding that I'd fooled Marie to an adequate degree for now, I finished getting ready, not that I had much more to put on. My cap, a digital watch with a Sunflora pattern worn on my left wrist, mostly hidden by the cuff of my jacket, and on my right ring finger, a ring that contained a ruby with an orange flame pattern inside it. My father had left that for me before he left to join the Braviary Force, but that's a story for another time. I was just about to walk out the door when I heard Marie clear her throat. I turned around to see that Marie was still in her human form, but now she was holding out what I could only assume to be a cupcake with a candle in it. Honestly, it looked like a sad pile of frosting with sprinkles on it. I was, however, impressed that it at least looked like it was free of salmonella or anything of the sort.

"Happy birthday, Marcus," Marie said as she held the cupcake out. I walked over and took the cupcake from her hands. "I'm not that good at baking, but I wanted to do something for you this year." As I eyed the cupcake closely, Marie added, "It's vanilla, and I mixed a Ghastly Pepper in the batter as well. I know those are both your favorite."

Now that was something that impressed me. Very few people knew that I liked spicy foods, and I'd never even told Marie about this. "Wow, really?" I asked, doing a poor job of hiding my enthusiasm. Marie nodded, and I blew out the candle. I wouldn't tell anyone, and I'm aware this sounds childish, but when I blew out the candle, I wished for an exciting journey as a Pokemon Trainer, one in which I'd learn more about myself, and hopefully meet a family I'd have a long life's worth of adventures alongside.

Marie, of course, being part of that family.

The rest of that morning was somewhat uneventful, sans me wolfing Marie's cupcake down and proceeding to learn Flamethrower. I drank a lot of milk before I left my house... Marie went back to bed, and I left with my mom to Professor Rowan's lab. Not too long a trip, since I lived in Jubilife City, thus making the trip less than a kilometer to the south, but we left by car anyway. Mom wasn't much of a trainer, so if we ran into any wild Pokemon walking, we'd have been in trouble. (I also didn't want to get Marie into a battle until my journey officially started.)

Almost in the blink of an eye, we had arrived. I saw some aspiring new trainers walking out as we walked up. I saw one with a Turtwig, one with a Piplup, and one with... an Espeon? I found that rather strange, but I didn't have time to think about that. I was there for one reason and one reason only: to get my own starter Pokemon.

Most of what happened next was a blur because of how excited I was. I met Professor Rowan, shook his hand, he gave a little speech, I was greeted by a few lab assistants, I think I said hi back, and before I knew it, I was at that fateful table that all new trainers stand before. The one upon which the three starter Pokemon stood. To my left was Turtwig, the Grass starter. He looked really shy and almost scared to be there. My eyes met his, and the poor thing started to shake. If I was the kind of guy who acted out of pity, I probably would have picked him then and there. You know, so I could help him grow up a little. Unfortunately, that was the next poor sap's problem. I moved on to the Pokemon in the middle, Chimchar, the Fire starter. In almost direct contrast to Turtwig, Chimchar looked rather excited to be there. A smile was plastered on his face, and he looked like he'd been told repeatedly to sit still while trainers were here. That last thing, I could only discern because he was bouncing a bit as he was standing there. Yeah... also not a problem I was willing to handle. Finally, to my right, the Water starter, Piplup. Now this one here, I could tell she was much different. She had her flippers crossed, and her beak turned up and away from her companions. Almost as though she couldn't have cared less about being there. Rather, she had somewhere to be, and me being here was a detriment to her time.

I'd made my decision well before I even woke up this morning, but it was in this moment here that I knew in my heart that my decision was the right one. My starter, the one with whom I'd begin my journey to becoming a Pokemon Master...