A/N: Hello and welcome to the story of my OC Trainer and her adveture through the storyline of Diamond Version. Much of the other characters' dialogue comes from the game itself and I claim no ownership. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy~!
My name is Adrastea. It means "who does not flee" or more importantly "the inescapable one." My mother always called me Adra for short, but I prefer to use the whole name…especially now that she's passed on. The only friends I have are my butler and a boy who lives nearby named Edgar. His name, I discovered, means "protector of the good." As for my butler's name, though it plays little role in my story, is Renu, "born of dust." I always wondered if his parents had known the meaning…
It was like any other day, really. I sat alone in my room, the only light coming from the television I sat before. A special was airing on Nationwide Net about the failed attempt of a scientific team to locate the rare red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage. I wasn't very surprised, I surely would have heard on the news before the special had they been successful. Tired of such depressing shows, I stood and brushed myself off.
Though I rarely went out, I made a point to always look my best. My hair was done up in pigtails, lavender ringlets spilling down my back and my eyes mostly hidden under my bangs. I wear only the finest tailored black dresses with matching shoes and tights. I don't wear makeup yet, but I keep my nails neat and painted a shiny black; some would say I was a morbid child…and they would likely say I still am. But I've never cared much for the opinion of others and I have never once heard dear Renu complain.
Quietly descending the stairs, I sighed. It always ruined my mood to see how the splendors of my mother's mansion had been greatly reduced in order to fit now in a simple two bedroom house in Twinleaf Town. The walls were a dark purple, the wooden floors almost black. Candles lit most of the house, a green fire crackling in the living room, lending us its warmth. As usual, I found Renu seated on a wingback chair before the television, watching one of his boring history programs.
"Miss Adrastea," he acknowledged me with a nod. "Master Edgar came calling for you a short time ago."
"What about?" I enquired.
"I do not know, but he did say it was an emergency."
"An emergency? I suppose not urgent enough to have bothered me with it earlier?"
"You were watching your shows and I do know how much you hate interruptions."
"I really do, thank you for respecting my personal space. Alas, I suppose I ought to track the boy down and find out what he wants lest he come calling again unwanted."
"Very wise, Miss." and he returned his attention to his program.
As I approached the door, he gave me his customary warning.
"Remember to stay away from the tall grass, young Miss. Wild Pokémon might attack you. It would be quite alright if you had your own, but as you do not…"
"Yes yes, I am well aware Renu, thank you."
Stepping out into the fading daylight, I squinted my eyes, it still brighter than my eyes were used to. I prefer to sleep away the light of day and keep my waking hours lit by the moon and stars. It was mother's favorite time and I was quick to adopt it, Renu as well. Even though she is gone for some years now, we still observe the same schedule in her honor.
Just next door is a simple home much like out own was…of course, we'd promptly painted it black and purple in my family's colors upon moving in and it is more a miniature version of our mansion now. Anyway, in the simple home beside our little piece of gothic splendor is where Edgar lived with his mother. The Poes are a good family and Edgar's mother Elizabeth bakes wonderful cookies; I recall she was once an actress and that his father left them. She and my father were friends in their travels and when my mother passed shortly after him, Mrs. Poe told us of a home for sale beside her own.
Rather than knock, since I knew Edgar to be expecting me, I intended to let myself in through the unlocked door; in such a small town, the old tradition of trusting your neighbors still persisted. Inside the comfortable, typical-suburban would be Mrs. Poe, likely fixing dinner for herself and her son…but I was abruptly halted as Edgar crashed into me.
"What was that about?" he blurted.
"I should ask the same…" I murmured, narrowing my eyes up at him.
"Oh, hey Adrastea!"
"Good evening, Edgar. Renu told me you stopped by. Something about an emergency?"
"I'm going to the lake! You come too! And be quick about it!"
"But…" I began to protest, I didn't enjoy the idea in the least.
"Okay, Adrastea? I'm fining you one-million Pokédollars if you're late!"
Before I could refuse, he had already darted off…only to turn on his heel and dashed back into his house.
"Oh jeez! Forgot something!"
Sighing, I followed after him; I do not know how someone can be so energetic, but I must praise his mother for being able to handle it for so long. Inside I found her standing at the base of the stairs, peering up to the second floor curiously, surely in regard to her son having just departed, only to suddenly barrel back inside and up to his room. Hearing the front door close, she turned and smiled warmly.
"Oh, hi Adrastea. Did you come calling on Edgar? He was gone for a second, but then he came running right back home."
"Good evening and I did, he just ran into me on your doorstep, Mrs. Poe."
She sighed a sigh only a mother can.
"He just can't still, that boy. I wonder who he takes after?"
Shrugging, I ascended the stairs and approached Edgar's room, his door wide open. I could see him inside rummaging under his desk and talking to himself.
"…I'd better take my bag and journal, too…"
"Edgar, I really don't think-" I began.
"Oh, hey Adrastea! We're going to the lake! I'll be waiting on the road!"
"But I don't want t-!"
Edgar pushed past and called back to me as he stampeded down the stairs.
"It's a ten-million Pokédollar fine if you're late!"
Not sure that I could afford his increased fine-the other was reasonable enough-I begrudgingly followed after him at a more socially-acceptable pace. Giving a curtsey to Mrs. Poe-she made a comment while shaking her head about how her son had rocketed off again-I departed into the growing darkness that was settling on the town. Following the road north, I made my way toward Route 201 where Edgar was waiting for me.
"Hey, you saw that news report that was on TV, right?" he began as I approached. "You know, 'Search for the Red Gyarados: The Mysterious Appearance of the Furious Pokémon in a Lake!'?"
"Yes…what of it?" I always hate how he over-exaggerates things, the title was hardly that long.
"That show got me to thinking."
A rare occurrence. I listened with morbid curiosity.
"I'll bet our local lake has a Pokémon like that in it, too! So, that's what we're gonna do. We'll go find a Pokémon like that!"
"You are…serious about this?" though his confident grin told me that already. "You will not leave this alone unless I agree to come along, will you? Fine…I will go."
"All right!" he cheered, fist flung into the air in triumph. "Let's move out! Hustle up!"
Heaving a sigh, I let Edgar lead the way toward the Verity Lakefront. Normally I enjoy visiting it with Renu, but being dragged there by my neighbor was new and admittedly unpleasant. I do not like being forced into his pea-brained adventures, but in a town so small, it was unavoidable if I valued what little peace he left me.
"All right!" Edgar blurted as we neared the path into the woods. "To the lake! Let's find us a red Gyarados!"
"I can hardly wait…"
Passing through the trees on a well-worn path, it was not long until moonlight greeted us as we emerged at the lakefront. It was a small body of water, nothing very remarkable and I was quite certain it did not contain anything as large or interesting as a red Gyarados. But on this particular night, there were two figures standing in the grass at the water's edge.
"What's going on..?" Edgar blurted, but I slapped a hand over his mouth and put a finger over my own in the universal sign for 'shh.'
"Professor, there's nothing out of the ordinary on the other side, either!" the shorter of the figures exclaimed.
"Hmm…I may have been mistaken…something appears to be different than it was before, but…" the supposed professor replied thoughtfully. "Fine! It's enough that we have seen the lake. Lucas, we're leaving."
"Professor, you've been gone for four years now. How are you enjoying being back in Sinnoh?" Lucas asked, I now able to put a name to him.
"…hm. There is one thing I can say. There are many rare kinds of Pokémon in Sinnoh. The region should serve us very well in regard to our studies."
Their conversation concluding for the moment, the professor and Lucas approached us where we still stood on the path.
"Excuse us," the professor addressed us. "Let us pass, please."
As he passed into the woods, Lucas paused to apologize before departing as well.
"What was that about?" Edgar grumbled, his mouth freed from my hand. "Those two…"
"Seems you are not the only one who wished to investigate the lake tonight," I sighed. "But did you hear, they did not find anything unusual."
"Huh?" he wasn't paying attention to me in the least, gaze locked on a thicket of tall grass at the lake's edge where the professor and Lucas had been speaking. "Adrastea! Let's go check this out!"
When I didn't budge, he turned to me again. He must have read something in my expression, I've been told my eyes are as sharp and expressive as my mother's were.
"What's that? Don't go into the tall grass?" he tilted his head before grinning. "No problem, no problem! We won't be in there long enough for a wild Pokémon to come out."
Though it was a horrible idea and Renu has specifically asked me not to, I followed after Edgar into the grass to seek whatever it was he had spotted.
"It's…a briefcase?" he sounded almost put out, likely having expected something more exciting.
Indeed it was. A fine piece, worn leather, well loved…
"Those people forgot it here. What are we supposed to do with it?"
"We cannot, in good faith, keep it," I offered to his thought-process.
"We can try to deliver it, but who are they? I heard them say professor…"
Before I could add that the boy our age was named Lucas, there came cries from the sky as two bird Pokémon descended upon us. It was almost to be expected, really.
"Waaah! Po-Pokémon?" Edgar backed up against my side, a bird facing each of us. "What's going on?"
"Well, what did you expect?" I snapped back at him, my foot knocking against the briefcase.
To our combined surprise, it fell open between us.
"Look!" Edgar cried out hopefully. "These are Poké Balls! Let's battle using these!"
"You cannot be serious! These birds are after our eyes and you want to steal that man's Pokémon to battle with?"
"Eh..?" he did not react well to the concept of the birds wanting out eyes. "Which one do you want, then?"
"Ugh, fine! I will pick…" I resigned myself to my crime, kneeling down to place my hand over the three Poké Balls.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated. Each ball contained a Pokémon generally reserved for children setting out on their coming-of-age journey. One would wield fire, another water, and the third grass. Of course, I would have much rather put at least a day's worth of thought into which I wanted, but I was not given such a luxury when an angry bird Pokémon was but a few feet away, beak sharp and my eyes vulnerable.
"I suppose…this will do," I concluded, snatching up the ball containing a Turtwig.
Though I had never participated in one previously, a Pokémon battle was not foreign to me and I carefully tossed the ball between myself and the bird that was after my eyes. With a loud POP, the ball broke open and deposited the Turtwig before returning to my hand. He looked confused, but I was quick to issue orders; having a butler gives one some practice in this field.
"Turtwig, use Tackle!"
With a slight nod, he leapt at the bird, a Starly now that I could make it out better in the moonlight.
"STAR!" it chirped angrily, fluttering out from beneath the Turtwig.
"Again! Tackle!"
Again he leapt and again it chirped its disapproval.
"Tackle!"
It took this third attack for the Starly to finally retaliate, diving into the Turtwig's side…but it bounced off with almost no effect. Once more would finish it off.
"End it! Tackle!"
So it came to pass that the Turtwig triumphed. The Starly gave a sad cry before collapsing to ground in a motionless heap, its mate meeting a similar fate at Edgar's hand.
"Fwaaah! Your Turtwig totally rocked!" Edgar cheered. "But my Chimchar was way tougher than yours!"
Somehow he had chosen the fire type, one who would be strong against the Turtwig if we had been fighting each other rather than the angered birds.
I wondered briefly if they had only been protecting their nest in a nearby tree…
"…they were other people's Pokémon, though…" Edgar seemed to realize, his enthusiasm dimming.
"Indeed." I returned the Turtwig to its ball.
"But we had to use them…" he reasoned, looking worried. "They won't mind, will they?"
Shrugging, I turned to go, hoping to escape the tall grass before we angered any more protective parents. Before I could, the boy named Lucas came sprinting over.
"Whew! You found the briefcase?" he panted. "The professor would've gone through the roof if he knew I forgot it here."
"Well, yes we did find it," I offered, looking at the ball in my hand a bit guiltily.
"Hunh? Whaaaat?" Lucas gasped, eyes wide with what I could assume to be panic as he noticed the Poké Balls we each held. "Did you guys….did you guys use these Pokémon?"
"Out of necessity, yes." I replied.
"Oh man…how am I gonna explain this to the professor?" Lucas moaned.
Hoping to escape this awkward confrontation for at least a moment, I knelt down to close the briefcase with the remaining Poké Ball inside, standing again and offered it toward him.
"…this briefcase is the professor's, so I'll take it, okay?"
Without another word, Lucas departed, leaving me alone with Edgar and our stolen Pokémon.
"What was that about?" Edgar asked, earning another shrug from me. "I don't know what's going on. Adrastea, let's get out of here. My Pokémon got hurt from that battle. If we get attacked by another Pokémon, we might be in trouble."
"That is the first intelligent decision you have made all night," I complimented as I followed him out of the grass, stepping over the fallen Starly with a slightly-wrinkled nose.
Such a distasteful thing, battling. At the time I hoped to never have to participate in another. How odd that sometimes our hopes go unheard.
"You go ahead…" Edgar said suddenly as we exited the path leading to the lake.
"Edgar, are you well?"
"…I know we have to go return these Pokémon. They're not ours. But I want to spend just a little more time with this little guy…"
How he could have become so attached to the Chimchar so quickly was beyond me. Taking up the lead, I headed for Route 201 and the road to town. But soon enough we stumbled upon Lucas and the professor blocking our way.
"Hey, it's those people!" Edgar exclaimed, but shrank back a bit. "Is that old guy staring at us?"
"Methinks we have been found out."
The professor approached us, eyes regarding us thoughtfully.
"Hm…I heard from Lucas that you used our Pokémon?" he inquired. "Let me see them, please."
We each held out our stolen Pokémon, Edgar more reluctant than I.
"Hmm…Turtwig and Chimchar…" he murmured more to himself than us. "Hmm…I see…that's how it is…Lucas! I'm going back to my lab!"
Brushing past the other boy, the three of us stood in awkward silence for a moment.
"Uh…yeah, of course!" Lucas called out after the old man. "Professor, wait for me!"
He then turned to address Edgar and I.
"You should visit us at our lab later, I think. We'll be seeing you!"
With a wave, he was off again. Edgar looked utterly bewildered; I did a better job of masking my perplexity over the situation.
"What was all that craziness about? I mean, if he was angry, he could've just yelled at us or whatever…"
"Very true."
"And didn't he want their Pokémon back..?"
"I suppose not, as we still have them." I looked down at the ball still in my hand.
"Adrastea…"
"Yes?"
"We should go home, too…"
Heading home, I debated telling Renu about the night's events…he surely would not believe me if I said I'd simply found the Pokémon. Deciding against it, I shoved the ball back into my pocket and returned home, for all intensive purposes unchanged by the battle at the lake. I would sleep soundly in my four-posted canopy bed, dreaming of delicate grey feathers strewn across a field of red grass…