Notice: This chapter has been edited so that it is two chapters combined. By that I mean, I basically made the original chapters one and two into a single chapter. They were both pretty short respectively, so I thought combining them would be a shrewd thing to do. Anyway, none of this affects the story itself, for the plot is still the same. So yeah. Enjoy!
Hello, Pokemon fandom. I am enthusiastic about writing my first story for one my favorite fandoms, albeit I have been reading Pokemon fanfiction stories ever since I started out here in general. With that said, this is a story with an OC as its protagonist. There's also Sinnoh gym leader Byron!
To that point, in the anime and games, I've always really liked the Byron-Roark father/son duo. It's mentioned how Roark has an unnamed mother and Byron an unnamed wife; so then I go on FF - Pokémon section of course - and search for any stories depicting this unknown woman. The results are disappointing, because there are none! So I have taken it upon myself to write such a story.
This chapter, however, provides mostly information on my OC (Aine), so that you can get acquainted with her. I've seen some other OC fics (in several fandoms) where it basically rushes right into the plot, and that's not right, I think.
Therefore, the first chapter of this story is brought to you as:
We Need Intros, Don't We?
Aine, a young woman of twenty, was a native of the Sinnoh region's Celestic Town, came from an average family, and was nine years delayed in starting her pokémon adventure; she had only started one year ago as she had wanted to continue and complete secondary school. She had no problem with it whatsoever—it was a conscious choice on her part—although being more educated than most kids and teenagers did give her some sense of superiority. She was not a boaster, however. She was not of that type. In fact, she had always been quite a reserved person, and only spoke when necessary.
Even though she had started her pokémon adventure a mere year ago, she had been reading extensively about pokémon-related subjects for a while to get her feet wet. She had recently finished reading a few books about the fossils of prehistoric pokémon, a topic that captivated her more than she originally thought going into it. In Sinnoh, the one place where she might be able to actually dabble in fossils was the mining hub of Oreburgh City—a fairly large city for a small-town girl like her, but hey, she thought, this is all a part of the journey.
As for the gym badges she was collecting, she had so far three; and while on her trip to Oreburgh she was planning to face that city's gym leader as well, so things were looking quite solid for her.
She had three pokémon on her team at the present moment (she had more in her hometown's Pokémon Center): a charismatic and amusing Prinplup; a reflective, reserved, sometimes judgmental Bronzor; and the physical presence of her team, a protective Scyther.
One night, on their way to Oreburgh, Aine and her pokémon stopped in grasslands for the night, as they needed rest and there was no Pokémon Center nearby. Scyther quickly slashed some grass with her blade wings, assembling two makeshift grass beds for herself and her trainer. Prinplup and Bronzor preferred to sleep in their pokeballs. Shortly thereafter, human and pokémon offered each other their goodnights.
The red-headed trainer plopped down absentmindedly, recalling a chat with her mother two months ago that went more or less like this:
"Ma! I'm just twenty years old and it's only been a year since I've started. Believe me when I say that I do want to continue traveling, catching pokémon and getting gym badges."
"Yes, honey, I understand, but pokémon training is not a profession. Sure, you can earn an extra buck by winning your battles, but the whole journey is bound to get more difficult. Realistically, do you think that you're going to be able to beat eight gym leaders, the Elite Four, and the Champion? That isn't a reasona—"
"I'm a realistic person, Momma. I'm not going to be a nomadic pokémon trainer all my life. In no way am I going to waste my time thinking that I have the slightest chance of doing all of those things successfully. Sure, I don't know what I want to do professionally yet, but I will at some—"
"Well, you'd at least better start considering some options. Being a pokémon or human doctor, for instance, will earn you those dollar signs! I only want you to be rich and successful, OK?"
"And... wealth and success don't equate to happiness, Momma. I think you know that. I couldn't be happy doing something I have no passion for, and being a doctor—for pokémon or humans—is such a time- and energy-consuming job I'm not fit for. I'm not saying I can't do it, because I probably can, but I'll have no real desire for it. Give me time."
"Whatever your passion may be, can it be six figures?"
And thus ended her recollection. She could not stop thinking about this lately, because it was true that at some point she needed to settle down as some sort of professional, but she had no clue what yet.
You have time enough to decide on your future, Aine, so stop this, and go to sleep. You are only wearying yourself out more with this kind of rumination.
Aine was startled momentarily, but then remembered it was only her Bronzor talking to her in her mind...
Which was a nuisance sometimes.
And you oughta stop getting into my head so much, Bronzor. Go to sleep yourself.
Knowing that they were soon to arrive in Oreburgh gave Aine solace; and her Bronzor could tell, despite being in a pokeball, that she willingly went to sleep awaiting the next day to continue their travels.
Upon their arrival to the city of Oreburgh, Aine and her pokémon were a little more ecstatic than usual, especially the young red-haired lady. A new city meant new souvenirs, a new gym badge, perhaps a few acquaintances, but generally staying away from the company of others, which was all the case for Aine.
What made this city a little more special than the ones she visited previously was that she came here looking for something beyond a gym badge and some souvenirs; she came here to explore the world of fossils. Could this be her meant-to-be fulfillment?
Most likely not, she thought, I'm only a year into this. Even though I've taken a liking to fossils, I'll probably move on to something bigger and better, something that my mother would feel is good enough for her darling, intelligent daughter. I doubt this is it.
Aine, in her dainty white-blue sundress, would not have made anybody think that she was there mostly for the fossils. What would a twenty-year old girl with no real skill or experience in mining be capable of?
But that didn't matter. She was committed to relying heavily on her book knowledge to get by.
According to one of her books and her map, the Oreburgh Museum was located in the northeastern part of the city, and the Oreburgh Mine all the way in the south. She asked her pokémon if they held any preference.
They, who were all out of their pokeballs to enjoy a stroll in the city, all readily agreed that the Oreburgh Museum was the more rational choice, given Aine's lack of experience in an environment such as the mine.
"I definitely want to go to both, but I'm actually more inclined toward the mine right now."
Her Prinlup said that she wouldn't be safe.
"Unless you all are planning not to accompany me to the mine, then I don't see much danger."
She had a point, she had her pokémon, who never gave second thoughts about protecting their trainer.
And so they went. Aine would have stopped by some other places on the way there, but she decided that she could always delay those visits. She was eager to get to the mine already. The fossils she would see!
She was willing to burst out of her shell to see them.
The sight of it was glorious; vast, well-operated, and not as filthy as one would originally think. Miners and surveyors and other engineers with their pokémon were scattered all over the place, working here and there; most of whom were men, which disappointed Aine, but her eagerness was nevertheless intact. She approached a person, probably one of many miners, and enquired:
"Sir? May I... are trainers allowed in the mine?"
The man's attention focused on her, and he replied: "Oh, yeah, certainly, young lady! But only to train and look around a bit. Don't catch any pokémon, and unless you absolutely have to, don't KO any pokémon. Also, there are some signs down there that specifically tell you not to go in certain places. Follow all those rules, and you're good to go."
She muttered a "thank you" and was off to make her way there, but the man called her back.
"Oh, miss! And you can't have more than one pokémon walking by you. Sorry about that."
She flipped around to her pokémon. "You heard what he said..."
Scyther immediately stepped up, thinking that she was the best at protecting her trainer.
Aine seemed hesitant. "I appreciate it, Scyther, but allow someone else this time. Fairness, yes?"
Bronzor then suggested that it was not the best protector.
Prinplup, eager for his chance, was therefore the pokémon who would stay out of his pokeball. The other two went back in theirs.
Aine and her Prinplup stepped further into the mine, marveling at the new sights.
The mine, in all its rugged glory, seemed like the quintessential place to train.
They saw many a mine worker and plenty of other trainers. A conveyor belt extended through the length of the mine, in addition to other sorts of complicated machinery that Aine could not comprehend. She chuckled though, thinking of what her mother would say of this. Complicated machinery? Engineering, you mean? Absolutely! Large money.
"Now that we're in here, where are the fossils? We're not going to be stuck here wandering about aimlessly. I'm no idiot."
Perhaps you should wander about aimlessly, see where it takes you. You never know. But don't act unwisely.
"Sometimes I wish you'd stay silent," Aine said, although she was appreciative of the advice her psychic-type pokémon offered her.
Thus commenced the 'wandering around aimlessly' by Aine and Prinplup, the former ambitious to get what she wanted; the latter and his peers hoping the quest came out successful.
Perhaps only Arceus knew of what would soon come.
OK! There is the first chapter! How do you like, or dislike Aine? How was this chapter as a whole? As a sidenote, let me tell you that Roark has not been born in this story, obviously. Thus, he is not the Oreburgh Gym Leader; and apparently, according to the anime, Byron was the Oreburgh GL before he was the Canalave GL, so that's how it is in this story.
Like any other FF author would say, review!