It's been a year since I've written anything. A lot of things have happened, and I find myself with a lot of free time on my hands. Unfortunately, my passion for writing has also flamed out over the past few months. I actually wrote this after I stumbled upon a photo on my friend's USB drive. I've never been a fan of "chessshipping," (or any types of shipping for the matter) but there was something about the photo that compelled me to write this despite not having the inspiration to write anything in over a year. I'm rusty, and I've never been the best writer. But I'm damn proud of what I have right here.

I did not have anyone beta this, so expect grammar errors here and there (and probably everywhere). Feel free to comment/criticize me.

Thank you.

~Goojila

Goojila does not own Pokemon

Mirror of Dreams

Chapter One

Touya Black was a dreamer. While it was rare for someone from the slums of Castelia City to possess such vision and hope, Touya still somehow managed to retain these qualities despite the harsh environment he lived in. Some people praised his optimism while others scoffed at his naiveté.

Either way, Touya didn't care.

Interestingly, the young adolescent never dreamt "big." Most children his age dreamt aof becoming a gym leader or even the Champion. Touya was satisfied with something as simple as visiting the famous museum of Nacrene City or exploring Chargestone Cave.

In this world, such activities required one to have pokemon.

Unfortunately, possessing pokemon was a luxury that the poor did not have. Having a pokemon required you to have enough money and time to feed and care for said pokemon.

It's hard caring about the wellbeing of others when you're focused on coming up with a way to earn you enough money for dinner.

Despite the many obstacles that that plagued the young teenager, Touya still envisioned himself owning a pokemon team he could care for and explore the world with.

At one point, Touya did have a pokemon. He was a small Rufflet that had stumbled upon the outskirts of the city. Judging by its exhausted and hungry look, the Rufflet had probably fallen out of its pack and was lost. After feeding the starving pokemon, Touya had managed to successfully befriend and catch the small avian pokemon with a pokeball he had found in one of the piers of the city. The two became extremely close, and Touya promised Rufflet that they would be together forever.

Fate seemed to have disagreed.

A month after Touya had met his newly found companion, Touya had realized that his funds were growing extremely short. Despite finding job as a grocer at a local market, Touya found it hard acquiring food for both himself and Rufflet. Losing his job didn't exactly help either. It took only a week after being fired for his funds to be completely exhausted. Out of money, options, and ideas, Touya had no choice but to release his Rufflet. At first, Rufflet had protested violently, but Touya eventually managed to convince the pokemon that it was for the best.

The bird pokemon never looked back, and Touya tasted true failure for the first time in his life.

That was when the dreams stopped.

Touko White was perfect. No, rather, Touko White was destined to be perfect. Pokemon were naturally attracted to her, and Touko seemed to bring out the full potential of every pokemon she came into contact with. Her mother, perhaps sensing the greatness in her daughter's future, sheltered Touko for most of her life. From the moment Touko was old enough to comprehend basic human language, the idea of perfection was drilled into her mind: that Touko possessed a rare gift that came once every generation. She was special. She was a future champion. Failure was not an option.

Her training began when she was five. Her mother had flown in tutors from all over the world in order to be certain that her daughter was given the tools to properly reach her full potential. While Touko never figured out why a pokemon trainer would ever need to know history and algebra, the girl never questioned her mother. Besides, her classes were always interesting (except for chemistry. Arceus bless the poor souls who decide to go into the field of pokemon pharmacology).

Everyday became a routine for her. Wake up. Breakfast. Attend her classes. Lunch. Learn battle theory. Spend time with her pokemon. Dinner. Study. Sleep.

Rinse, rather, and repeat. Quite the dreary process, but it was necessary if one wanted to have a good chance in winning in this highly competitive world.

But winning was her mother's dream. Not hers.

Touko didn't mind, however. After all, who wouldn't want to become the champion of Unova? It was practically the dream of every child that lived in the region. The benefits of being the very best were also extremely appealing. Fame. Glory. Pokemon battles. What's not to like?

Still, the idea of living a life that didn't involve such ambition sometimes crossed her mind. Occasionally, Touko daydreamed about chatting with the customers at a small restaurant she worked at or simply relaxing at a beach with her pokemon. Touko quickly squashed these thoughts as quickly as they appeared in her mind. Her? Living a life as mundane as that? Touko scoffed at such nonsense. Why waste time thinking daydreaming when she could be doing something far more productive. She was an upcoming elite trainer that was supposed to fulfill that hopes and dreams of her family and friends.

That's right. The dreams of others. Not hers.

Sometimes, Touko wished she had a dream.

By a stroke of luck, Touya managed to find himself with another pokemon. After releasing his Rufflet, Touya acquired a job as waiter at a small café. The manager of Café Sonata had taken pity on the poor boy and decided to give him a shift that worked late into the night. Despite the rowdy, drunk customers and long shifts, Touya couldn't complain. Money was money.

It had been a particular long night when it happened.

"Hey, kid."

Touya spun around and began searching for the source of the voice.

"Over here."

As it turned out, the owner of the voice was a large, burly man with wild red hair. Draped in an odd white article of clothing that Touya had never seen before, the man possessed the rough, yet kind face a grandfather would have. Slightly startled by the man, Touya slowly made his way to his customer.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

The man gave Touya a calculating look before breaking out into a big, grandfatherly smile. "Why are you here? Isn't it way past your bedtime, kid?"

Touya sighed. This wouldn't be the first time a customer had given trouble. Putting on his best fake smile, the boy cheerfully responded. "My shift isn't over yet, sir."

The man let out a hearty laugh. "Ah, youth. Pushing their body to the brink of exhaustion…. Must be nice being young, eh?"

"Yes, it quite is. Now if you'd excuse me, I believe another customer needs me…" Touya gave a small bow and turned around, glad to separate from the eccentric man. As he walked away, however, Touya felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

"Not so fast. I'm done with you."

"Yes, what is it?" Touya asked, teeth gritted. The man was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Come with me."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me the first time. Come with me. Hey, manager! I'm taking the brat out with me for a little while. You don't mind, right?" the man called out as his grip on the teenager tightened.

Touya felt a sense of dread and horror creep into his stomach as he saw his manager flash a thumbs-up to the man.

"B-B-B-But…"

"No 'buts!' You're coming with me!"

It was almost comical seeing an adult man dragging a pouting Touya Black out the doors of Café Sonata.

"So? Why did you drag me out here?"

After walking in silence for several minutes, the duo stood quietly in the middle of the plaza. Despite it being very late, the plaza was still buzzing with people.

The man took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky. A ghost of a smile danced on his lips as the adult male turned around to face Touya. "Nice night, huh?"

Instantly, Touya could feel a headache coming. Just who the hell was this guy? Instead of responding, Touya remained rooted in his spot, silent.

"I'm glad you agree," the man muttered sarcastically, easing himself into a nearby bench. He motioned Touya to take a seat next to him. "Hey, kid."

"Yes…?" Touya responded, not taking the seat that was offered to him. He much preferred to stand rather than be seated next to him.

"Do you have a dream?"

Touya was thrown off by the seemingly random question. Him? Dream? Touya shook his head; he didn't have the time to dream like he did in the past.

"No. I haven't had one in a while."

"Ah, that's a pity." The man gave another sigh. "You look a dreamer to me -the people who have their heads stuck in the clouds all the time. I should know: I used to be quite the dreamer myself. "

The teenager blinked. The old man was quite perceptive despite his looks and demeanor. Either that, or he was crazy. It wouldn't be surprising if it were the latter.

"Anyways, I brought you out here to tell you that I don't like the look in your eyes. You look too mature for your age. How old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

The young teenager, for the first time that night, gave a small smile, albeit a sad one. "Circumstances… forced me to adapt."

"I see. That's no good," the man said. "Boys your age should be running wild with their pokemon without a care in this world wearing caps."

"Caps?" Touya couldn't help but inquire at the random statement. Running wild? Sure. Caps…?

"Yeah. All good trainers wear caps. It's sort of an unspoken rule. I used to wear one myself in my younger days. I bet one would look pretty good on you."

"I see…" Touya muttered, staring in utter disbelief at the man. Yep, it was official. The man was a lunatic.

"Anyways, you should get out of this city. Explore. Make friends. Catch pokemon. Anything but this."

Touya gave a dark chuckle. "Unfortunately, I don't have the ability nor time to enjoy that kind of luxury."

Silence enveloped the two after Touya's comment. The man had a thoughtful look on his face while Touya squirmed uncomfortably in his place. Excuses began flying through his head as Touya mentally began picking out the most plausible excuses to use in order to get out of the awkward situation. After a couple of more seconds, Touya finally picked one.

"While I appreciate the talk, mister, it's almost closing time. My manager won't be happy if I don't help close the store. If you'd excuse me..." Touya said. Seeing that the man had no objection, the young boy spun around and began making his way bake to the café.

"How would you like to be able to have that luxury?"

Touya froze.

Slowly, he turned back around.

In the man's hand was a bag. It was a blue and black bag that was to be worn over your shoulders –obviously a traveling one. What interested Touya the most, however, was the contents that potentially rested within the bag. Was it possible? For him to have a luxury in which he could only dream about? He felt his throat go dry.

"W-Why?"

"Because it looked like you need it," the man replied, a smile on his face. He held the bag out further, urging the younger boy to take it.

Hesitantly, Touya reached out to grab the bag. What he found inside made him draw his breath. Cash. Plenty of it. Not a stupendous amount, but it was enough for Touya to start the journey he had always wanted. But it wasn't the money that shocked Touya the most. Nested on top of the money was a red pokeball that looked exactly liked the one he used to own. A pokeball that contained a pokemon that could now be his.

The boy stood in shock silence for several minutes before he found himself able to properly form a coherent thought. Millions of questions buzzed through his mind as he resisted the urge to break out into tears.

The man had given him a chance –a chance to finally experience the feelings of living. How could he find the words to properly express the gratitude Touya was having? No amount of words could ever do that. Deciding to start with a simple, "thank you," Touya looked up, expecting to be greeted with the eyes of the kind man.

He was gone.

Touya began to wildly look around, desperate to find the strange man who had essentially restored hope into his life. Several minutes passed before the boy gave up. The man was nowhere to be seen.

It was on his way home when Touya found another pocket in the bag. Within it was a red and white cap that had a black pokeball logo in the middle. Touya found himself staring at the cap for a long time before he started laughing uncontrollably. The other residents of the city began to stare and whisper at him, but Touya didn't care.

He could dream again.

Pansear is unable to battle! Victory goes to Touko White of Nuvema Town!

Watchog is unable to battle! Victory goes to Touko White of Nuvema Town!

Leavanny is unable to battle! Victory goes to Touko White of Nuvema Town!

Just like how it was predicted, Touko was a prodigy. By the time she had received her third gym badge, Touko had lost count of the number of battles she had won. More impressively, Touko could count the number of losses with only one hand.

As she walked out of Castelia gym, Touko let out a long sigh. She had expected this battle to be a tough and challenging one, as stated by rumors. Unfortunately, the rumors had proven to be false as the young girl's Servine easily swept Burgh's team with ease.

After the battle, Burgh had approached Touko with her spoils of victory: the Insect Badge.

Here. You've earned it.

Thanks!

Touko… was it?

Yes, that's my name.

Hmm… You have an interesting way of battling.

Really? Haha, I didn't know that. Thank you. It's a huge honor to receive a compliment from a Gym Leader.

Did you enjoy the battle?

Huh?

Did you enjoy the battle?

O-Of course!

Is that so…? Well, if you say so. Good luck on the rest of your journey.

Did she enjoy the battle? The question haunted Touko the rest of the night.

Touko tossed and turned in her sleeping bag as she began to reflect on the words of the artist/gym leader. Unfortunately, Touko often found it difficult falling asleep whenever something bothered her. Until said problem was resolved, the girl could only stare up into the night sky as pondered the man's question.

She was feeling happy, right? She won the Insect Badge with relative ease and earned the respect of a gym leader. How could she not feel happy from the battle? She needed another opinion. Determined to answer the question, the girl released her Servine from her pokeball.

"Hey, Servine, sorry for waking you up, but I have a quick question for you. Did you… enjoy the battle?"

Her Servine, obviously just waking up, needed several minutes to get the sleep out of her system. Yawning, the pokemon cocked her head towards her trainer, as if asking the trainer to repeat the question.

Touko repeated her question.

This time the Grass Snake pokemon gave a curious look at her owner. After a long moment of silence, the pokemon shook her head.

"I see. Thanks, Servine, and sorry for waking you up." The girl recalled her pokemon into her pokeball.

So Servine didn't enjoy the battle. Interesting. Well, Servine DID knock out the entire opposition with ease despite having a type disadvantage… Perhaps a more challenging battle would satisfy her?

Touko shrugged. She could easily go into the city and look for more challenges later.

"Alright then… I'll stay in the city for a week and find some more challenges… Besides, this IS Castelia City. I'm pretty sure I won't get bored of it in just one week," Touko muttered to herself as she found a comfortable position to sleep in. "I'll just go to bed for now and find my answer tomorrow." Touko closed her eyes, confident that her worries and problems were resolved.

Five hours later and Touko was still wide awake.

"Use Vine Whip to finish it off!"

Touya could only wince as he saw his Oshawott get slashed in the face. The force of the attack blasted the water pokemon into a nearby tree, effectively knocking the poor pokemon out.

"You did a good job, Oshawott. Return," Touya called. Walking over to the victorious trainer, Touya gave a sigh and handed the trainer his winnings from the battle. "Good battle."

"You too," the trainer absentmindedly replied, more focused on counting the money he had just won in the battle.

Touya couldn't exactly call the start of his pokemon career a major success: he had long lost track of the number of losses he accumulated under his belt. Still, the losses didn't deter nor discourage the young teenager. Why get depressed when he had tomorrow to look forward to? Victories will start coming as he gathered more experience. For now, Touya was content on simply traveling Unova and spending time with his pokemon.

The Oshawott he had received from the man was rash and immature. He often ignored orders from his trainers and preferred to do things his own way. Still, Touya knew that the small pokemon respected his trainer despite his inexperience. With time, the issue could easily be solved.

For now, Touya wanted to focus on enjoying the journey and exploring the world that was now open to him. The boy smiled in anticipation as he pulled out a map and began tracing a route to his new destination.

"Let's see… After this, I have to head to Nacrene City… Looks like I can finally see that museum. After that, my third gym badge is in Castelia City… I'm returning home in about a week, huh?" Touya muttered, rolling the map back up and placing the map back into his bag. While putting the map away, the boy also pulled out a yellow, diamond looking item.

"Oshawott, come on out!"

The pokemon was still unconscious when he came out of his pokeball. Shaking his head, Touya began rubbing the yellow item over his pokemon's wounds. Instantly, Oshawott woke up. The moment it laid eyes on his trainers, the water pokemon began furiously attacking his trainer.

"Ow! Ow! OW! Oshawott, look I'm sorry!" Touya cried out to no avail as the otter pokemon continued his furious onslaught.

Thankfully, the pokemon decided to stop and instead settled for giving his trainer the silent treatment. Touya smiled, knowing that Oshawott wasn't as mad as he let on.

Reaching into his bag, the young trainer pulled out a small pokemon treat he had purchased earlier that day. Without saying a word, Touya bent down and offered it to his pouting pokemon. Grudgingly, the otter pokemon gave in, accepting the small token of peace offered by his trainer.

The journey was going to be a long and arduous one. He was inexperienced, uninformed about the world, and had absolutely no clue on what he was doing. More than likely, the ultimate goal of every trainer, becoming champion, was something out of reach for him.

Watching his Oshawott happily nibble on the treat, Touya knew that he didn't mind.

Touko met Touya in a small shop called Café Sonata late in the afternoon. No. It was more like Touko crashed into Touya in a small shop called Café Sonata late in the afternoon: a consequence of being more focused on the book she was reading. The coffee that she had in her other hand spilled all over white tank top.

"TOUYA! IS THAT HOW YOU TREAT A CUSTOMER! THAT'S COMING RIGHT OUT YOUR PAYCHECK!"

The boy, presumably named Touya, smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Manager! But I don't work here anymore, remember?" he called out before turning his attention the girl. "Sorry about that though. Are you alright?"

Touko carefully studied the boy who she had crashed into. The black cargo pants and comfortable blue jacket he wore indicated that he was a trainer or, at the very least, a traveler of some sorts. As cliché as it may sound, Touya had gorgeous eyes that could draw anyone in. The deep, chocolate brown eyes shined with a warmth that could easily turn into girl into putty. Most of all, Touya exuded an aura of confidence and serenity that she had never seen before. Something was special about this boy.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Touya's voice snapped Touko out of her thoughts. No longer interested in her book or the fact that her tank top was now a pleasant shade a brown, the girl grabbed the boy's shoulders and peered intently into his eyes.

"Battle me."

Like I said before, feel free to leave me a comment. Criticism is always welcomed. Part two will come out after I feel that I've written a satisfactory piece.

Thank you.

~Goojila