Disclaimer: Note that Avalonkitten doesn't own Pokemon or anything about it. Even though she wishes, it isn't happening, and the right to Pokemon goes to Nintendo.

I know that in Pokemon XD there is a pair of magicians called something like Razzle and Bedazzle, but understand that this story is not about them at all, and the character names were actually thought up before that game even came out.

Chapter 1

Mipsy Bedazzlement looked back at the small array of sparkling trailers and made a face at the watching crowd lining up around to see her off. The brown-haired girl could not have looked less enthusiastic. It would be better if she hadn't been sentenced already to start as so many of her relatives had…

She'd already been given a full speech about her father and her father's father and every cousin and half-cousin had started the same way as she was about to. But not only did she not pay attention to that speech, she had rebelled at even starting her journey because of it.

The short girl had always been put into a spotlight that wasn't hers to start with. It was because of her father, Raymond Bedazzlement, the man that worked behind the scenes at one of the most popular magic shows in Hoenn, The Dancing Dragonite. Most girls envied her for no reason, she was the one that had gotten to know the fire-eater and talk to the other people of the show.

But, with the exception of the fire-eater, most of the people of The Dancing Dragonite looked down on her and her ambitions to become an actual trainer, not one that trained for show. Mipsy hated it, she hated every moment of those little looks she got when she doodled a Ninjask and a Crobat being engaged in tough aerial combat on a spare flyer, and most of all hated the fact that she'd be starting with what could most probably be the poorest Pokemon to use as a starter.

Sure, Wurmple could evolve well and learn pretty good attacks, but compared to a fiery Torchic or a swift Treecko, they left much to be desired. She just… didn't understand why her great grandfather had ever gotten the idea to start with one-and start the tradition of his children and grandchildren starting with one.

As she stared at the people with bright, happy faces looking on at her, Mipsy had to wonder how many of them were expecting her to come back with a Skitty and a Kadabra, without a badge, and totally failed as a trainer. The very though of what she'd heard one of the acrobats of The Dancing Dragonite say made her grit her teeth and want to step on the woman's foot 'accidentally' for being so cliché.

The girl was determined to succeed, even if she had to train a Wurmple first, there were more fish in the sea. She was already hoping to strike it lucky and find a Surskit on her way through Route 102, a bug that could float on water and strike at different Pokemon with the ease that it showed outside of battle just had to be strong.

Mipsy's musings were interrupted when a boy she recognized as Brendan tapped her on the shoulder and smiled crookedly. "So you're here for your first Pokemon." He said, as if he hadn't been kicked out of the lab by Professor Birch to go find her a suitable Wurmple and train it to the traditional level five. He smiled warmly and beckoned for her to follow him inside the laboratory.

Giving a wave at her parents and the people from The Dancing Dragonite that were pretending to look interested, Mipsy followed into the lab and was hit by a wave of white. Men and women dressed in white overcoats were bustling everywhere, either going out of the lab by a side entrance on business, perhaps checking up on beginning trainers that hadn't called in to the laboratory to say that they'd made it to Petalburg City, or ones that had one of their Pokemon fall ill to the series of contagious sicknesses that were rumored to do funny things, one tall tale was that one of them turned a Torchic bright red and she hadn't been able to evolve, even at the correct level. One of the workers even let out a passenger Pelipper; he would be heading out a long way…

A man stood in the middle of all the chaos and he was easily recognizable as Professor Birch himself. When Mipsy got close enough, the man cleared his throat politely and said, "So, everything you need Mipsy will be waiting for you, but now I must apologize that you don't have much of a choice as to what Pokemon you're getting. Why don't you introduce her to her new Wurmple, Brendan?"

He shifted his gaze to the boy, who nodded slowly as he dug in a back pocket before coming up with a plain red and white Pokeball and offering it to Mipsy. The little orb sat in her palm perfectly, and for a moment she just gazed down at it before gathering her nerve and tossing it to the ground with a feeble, "Go, Wurmple."

The normal white flash occurred, which was replaced a moment later by a crimson bug that immediately rose onto her back sets of legs and looked around curiously. Mipsy just held her gaze at the Pokemon's level and felt herself blush as she could think of nothing good to say to her new partner. All that came out was a small, "Hello." But the caterpillar hadn't heard her.

Finally, Brendan gave her a friendly nudge in the right direction and accidentally pushed her over. At least it was a good way for her to get really close to the Wurmple… "Wurm-ple!" The bug squeaked in her high-pitched voice and skittered away as fast as her suction-cupped feet would allow.

Mipsy glared at the white floor, silently cursing it for her bad luck. "Wait…" She groaned as she hauled herself up and followed the bug shakily. This time, when her Wurmple looked around, she dropped onto her knees softly and held out one hand. "It appears we got off on the wrong… feet. Hi, I'm Mipsy and your trainer." Again Mipsy made a face as her introduction fell flat on her tongue.

When the Wurmple just stared, dumbfounded, at her, Brendan began to lip something and pointing frantically at the caterpillar. "Ta…ssss…" Trying to mimic the word he was repeating over and over again made her stammer out the name of the Wurmple exceedingly slowly, "…ie… Tassie!"

Tassie cocked her head to one side and made a curious 'oou' sound as she slowly made her way to her trainers palm and slowly climbed her arm. The little feet tickled as they inched forward lightly. "I think I'm ready for my other things now, Professor." Mipsy said as she got to her feet again steadily with Tassie looking her up and down with her large yellow eyes.

It didn't take long for her bag to be stuffed full of the items that Professor Birch had for her. But when she asked about her Pokedex, which was among the missing, his cheery smile disappeared. It was as if he'd been hoping that she didn't notice that a chunky book had replaced it. "You didn't know?" He asked gently.

Marvin watched his friend pace back and forth with her hands tearing at the long strands of her hair. "…They actually went and got my Pokedex stolen." Mipsy was growling, "My beautiful, new Pokedex from Professor Oak in Kanto, and it's gone."

The chubby man with the dark brown hair and goatee listened to it all with an intense frown. When Mipsy had calmed down enough for him to speak, Marvin said, "At least you didn't have to pay for the handbook he gave you…"

"Yes, but it weights a ton!" She hissed, "And I'll have to wait a week if I want to get rid of it…"

"There's always passenger Pelipper if you get too far ahead." The fire-eater smiled as she stopped her rant completely and swallowed awkwardly, "That reminds me, you and your little Tassie had better get a move-on if you want some time to train today. Since it's your birthday and all, I suppose that you'd better have at least one gift before you go though…"

Out of nowhere, he produced a plastic bag and tossed it at her, "Present…?" She looked up from rubbing the side of Tassie's head to blink at him and the bag she was not holding in one hand. "When have you ever given me a present?"

"Since you became a full ten years old." Marvin replied with a mysterious smile, "Being a double-digit midget is somethin' to celebrate! My apologies for not finding you a nice little bag to put it in though…"

But Mipsy was already fishing in the bag and brought out a bright purple Pokeball that made her gasp in surprise. "A luxury ball." She said knowingly, gazing at it with awe. "You actually went out to a Pokemon contest to get me this…?"

"Ah, now, I'm not going to betray my sources." Marvin smiled crookedly again, "Now, shoo along now kiddo, you've got a long path ahead of you."

"Alright Marvin…" She had already stowed the plastic bag in her backpack, even though she was clueless to what it could be for. "And thanks." Mipsy nodded to him and stepped away, turning to face the opening in the woods that would lead to the first route, and start her adventure.

She'd already said her good-byes to her parents, who were exceedingly upset that the money they'd spent on getting a Pokedex delivered to her, had gone to waste for the start of her journey. But they had gotten over it far more quickly than she had.

Of course, Raymond, her father, had to mention that she had to call in every time she hit a major city or town; basically the ones with a contest center or gym. It had been a new rule issued on new Pokemon trainers, since the incident when Team Magma group had kidnapped a boy, they wanted just to know where a trainer was at all times. It had been a true pain for the people of Littleroot, more jobs opened at the laboratory and the town became just a little bit less sleepy.

But this wasn't the time to think of what could happen to her, it was a time to look into the future with a Pokemon by her side and a life ahead of her.

Route 101 was little more than a small strip of land that was sprawling with Pokemon life of all sorts. Tassie recognized this place immediately as her old home, before some strange human had plucked her off of a tree branch and stolen her away. Now as she looked over her trainer's shoulder, the Wurmple still couldn't believe that she was actually part of a fighting team.

Mipsy was looking jealously at a group of beginning trainers that were milling around, two were sporting shiny-finned Mudkip and the other had a Torchic that was setting fire to the surrounding grass. After a while, though, she was poked by an impatient Wurmple's horn and moved on. "We can't battle them yet." The girl said nervously as she set off in the opposite direction with Tassie squeaking protest. "If we find someone with a Treecko… then perhaps it'll be different."

But it turned out that only the three other trainers over to the side of the route were the only ones, and Tassie was forced to battle a wild Zigzagoon in the place of a trained one. The small raccoon was not something that Mipsy would try battling again anytime soon, he was just a bit too much for her Wurmple to take with his superior speed and high defense.

In the end it was down to Tassie with little health left and a poisoned Zigzagoon that fled at the sight of Mipsy taking out a Pokeball. "Aww…" She groaned and looked after the stirred up underbrush that had once been a Zigzagoon standing there. Her Wurmple made another protesting sound when she was picked up and carried away, her trainer heading for Oldale Town and its Pokemon Center. "It's alright Tassie, everyone has to lose sometime." Mipsy murmured, inside being torn at the first battle she and Tassie had fought turning into a loss.

Tassie's treatment turned out to become an hour setback that Mipsy waited out with a sour, impatient face. It was partly because the only thing to do at a time like that was to read her Pokemon Handbook, and she seriously began to hate the thing with a new passion on reading the description of Wurmple that it gave:

'A weak Pokemon that learns only three moves in its short time in this form. It's common as the first Pokemon a beginning trainer catches, but normally their evolved forms do not tend to be common in professional teams. They're common prey-food for semi-large birds such as Swellow and Wingull.'

"How anti-Wurmple can you get?" She growled at the book and slammed it shut moodily. The minute ticked by like they were going in slow motion, and slowly Mipsy got bored enough to open the handbook back up and flip to another page. After a bit of searching, she found the page on Surskit and her frown intensified when she read that the small bug-types tended to be overly shy and hated to battle.

By the end of the hour, Nurse Joy found the young girl sitting on a couch, glaring pointedly at her innocent-looking handbook on the floor under her. "Your Wurmple is fully restored. You be careful with her, now."

Mipsy accepted her Wurmple back, and Tassie let off a little 'oou' when she was hugged. "You'll be a good fighter yet." The girl told her Pokemon firmly.

A couple of minutes later they were back out into the wild of Route 102, the one that was supposedly holding Surskit in its lake. But as the duo passed it, not even a ripple went up on the water's surface, perhaps the bugs were hiding like the handbook had said they were good at.

At the thought of the Pokemon Handbook, Mipsy's mood soured once more, and she didn't even notice that something was watching her in the trees, a something that was thinking and reasoning with himself on what the sight of a trainer without on of the normal three starter Pokemon meant. Razzle the Ralts kept one eye on her as she and her Pokemon continued to walk on, about to run into a young boy with a Mudkip by his side and a Poochyena barking happily as he skipped ahead of his trainer.

She looked upset, as if this wasn't her best day ever, and it was plain to see that the way she stroked the side of her Wurmple's head was distracted. It took a while, but Razzle finally came to the conclusion that she was angry about something, and deep in thought at the same time, even her body language gave that hint. So he also decided he'd try his hand at cheering the beginning trainer up.

Tassie had begun to make strange sounds when they'd passed a certain point, and was beginning to sound half-hysterical when her trainer started to pay attention to her. "What is it?" Mipsy repeated for the second time as her Wurmple jerked her horn in one direction and kept repeating the frantic 'oou' sound.

Finally, a brushing of her jean leg got her attention focused in the correct direction. Down. Standing right in front of her was another of the more rare Pokemon that beginning trainers barely ever saw, a Ralts. Mipsy had to stare at the little, squat, human-shaped Pokemon for a while before recognizing what he was. "Wow, a Ralts." She breathed.

"Hello to you too."

The male voice was so unexpected that she jumped back and looked around suspiciously, "Who said that?"

"Me. Down here, the one you said 'Wow, a Ralts' to." Mipsy looked down at the Ralts suspiciously and Tassie let off one last 'oou' sound before falling silent completely.

"Pokemon can't talk. You're a figment of my imagination." She replied to him nervously.

"Oh then… I suppose this figment should leave…" When the Ralts turned around and looked about to leave, he pretended to start walking and then stop at the protesting whimper that Mipsy let off. "Yes?"

"Don't leave… how can you talk?"

"I'm a figment, remember?" The Ralts turned back around and smirked up at the trainer, "You don't know a psychic can make himself heard to anyone?"

"Oh."

"Oh." He mimicked her in a girly accent.

"You're quite a flippant figment, you know that?"

"Oh well, you can't please everyone." He was grinning widely, "I'm Razzle, by the by."

"Razzle's a nice name." Mipsy replied, "I'm Mipsy-"

"And you're a trainer." Razzle exclaimed over her brightly, "Where's your blue fin? Or did you get one of those orange chickens? Oooohhh, I know, you got a lizard! Admit it, it's the big gecko."

"Ummm… what?" She blinked blankly as Tassie squeaked something at the Ralts and his eyes widened.

"You don't have a gecko? Or a chicken, and not even a blue fin? Oh my gosh! You're actually different!" Razzle bobbled his head up and down as he though quickly and finally coughed, "Perhaps… you'd like my company? I could get you past the first gym thingy, before you'd have to let me back into the wild." He smiled serenely, "Wouldn't I be just the best partner?"

"I think I'll just catch you if you want to come along." Mipsy replied.

"What's the fun in that? I'm a professional Pokemon, you couldn't catch me anyway."

"Can't I try though?"

"When I would just come along with you without a fight?"

Mipsy let off a long sigh and finally gave in to his argument, the Ralts agreed to pretend to be one of her Pokemon for a while, until after the first gym battle, and then after that he'd be returning to Route 102. He called this 'borrowing' for some strange reason only known to him. Finally, Mipsy asked the final question of, "What attacks do you know?"

And then there was a long pause in which the Ralts made a face and swallowed awkwardly. "I'm incapable of using psychic attacks right now."

Mipsy put a hand to her forehead and groaned, "'Professional Pokemon,' eh?"