~ Author's Note ~

So, this is a very simple one-shot I wrote about my character, Zenith Brunel. I'm a member of Pokémon URPG, or Ultimate Role-playing Game. In Pokemon URPG, to get pokemon, you either write short stories involving them (like this), draw art of them, or in forum role-plays. I wrote this story for URPG in order to catch a Ralts, and I decided that I wanted to share it on here as well for others to read. Now, before you start reading, here is what you need to know:

This story is ONLY uploaded to:

1. FanFiction as: Shion Rasenka
2. Petalburg Woods Forums as: Shion Rasenka

If you happen to find this story ANYWHERE ELSE, it has been stolen and plagiarized. If that is the case, PLEASE inform me immediately, so that I can contact the proper people. There is one more site where I might upload it in the future and when/if I do, I will be sure to add it to the above list.

Now that that's out of the way, here's my one-shot/short story, Unexpected Events!

"You're a freak, Zenith!"

"You're a monster, Zenith!"

"Your powers are creepy!"

"You can't be our friend anymore!"

"Stay away from us!"

These were the reactions I got when I told my so-called 'friends' about my psychic powers. I learned that day that the world can be cruel, and that sometimes I had to fight back. My life turned from being one full of friends and happiness to one of seclusion and depression. Every day when I went to school, my former friends would torment me relentlessly. They would beat me up, steal my things, call me names, and all the other horrible things bullies did. I was only eight years old when it all started, and it went on for the next four years until I was twelve.

It wasn't until the last two years that my parents began to suspect something was wrong. By that time, it was getting harder to explain how my things would vanish without reason, or why I would come home with injuries. My parents eventually had enough, and one day after school, when I got home, they confronted me. I knew I couldn't keep it from them any longer, and I began to tell them everything. Naturally they were furious; at me for keeping the bullying a secret for so long, but more so at the bullies themselves, and the staff of the school for not doing anything or telling them what had been going on for the past four years.

After getting me to tell him the names of all the kids who had been bullying me, my father, Saul Brunel, called the school the next morning and demanded a meeting with their parents and the principal. My parents and I went to the meeting, and when the other parents were told what their children had been doing for the past four years, they were angry and shocked. They apologized profusely to me and my parents, and after agreeing to severely punish their children, the meeting was ended. Unfortunately, the damage had been done, and my parents withdrew me from the school and out of the public school system. From then on, I was homeschooled, which I didn't mind at all; one, because my parents were Pokémon Breeders who ran a daycare in the small settlement of Topaz Village where we lived; two, the pokémon daycare allowed me to play with the pokémon and be friends with them; and three, I was able to concentrate on developing my psychic powers. It was during this time that an event would change my life for the better.

One day, when I was twelve years old, I was helping my father feed some of the pokémon we were taking care of in the corral. I had finished putting some pokémon food in a few bowls and closed the bag. As I put the bag of food away in the wheelbarrow with the others, I heard a sound in the distance. It sounded like crying, and I could tell the pokémon could hear it too, as they were looking in a certain direction. Curious, I followed the sound out of the corral and over to a large rock. I carefully peeked around it, and my eyes widened in shock.

Lying on the ground curled into a ball was a creature with a white body, which looked like a dress. It had two red horns on its head; a large one in front, and a smaller one in the back. It had strange green 'hair' that looked more like a helmet, and had the shape of a bowl-cut hairstyle. I could barely make out its reddish-pink eyes below its hair.

"A Ralts…" I muttered softly in awe. I had seen them and their evolutions plenty of times in pictures, but never in real life.

It was then that I noticed the Ralts was covered in countless bruises and cuts, and that the cuts were bleeding. Someone or something had attacked the poor thing, and I knew it needed help.

"Dad, over here!" I shouted, waving an arm frantically. "There's a Ralts over here, and its hurt bad!"

My father immediately looked up in my direction, his eyes wide. "A Ralts?!" He immediately put down the bag of pokémon food he was holding and sprinted toward the fence of the corral, climbing over it and coming over to stand next to me. He looked down and immediately spotted the Ralts.

"Yeah, it's in a bad way alright…" my father said. He slowly walked around the rock over to the Ralts's side and knelt down beside it.

The Ralts slowly looked up at me and my father, its eyes widening in fear. "R-ralts!" it shrieked, attempting to scramble to its feet and run away. Unfortunately, it only collapsed back to the ground, grunting in pain.

"Zenith, go get your mother and tell her to get medical supplies ready," my father said. "I'll deal with the Ralts."

"Alright, Dad,"

I turned and sprinted for the house, bursting into the kitchen. "Mom!" I called.

My mother, Nira Brunel, nearly jumped out of her skin at my voice, dropping the colander of lettuce into the sink. She then turned to me with a stern look. "Zenith, what are you yelling for?" she admonished.

"Dad wants you to head to the clinic and get medical supplies ready," I said. "We found an injured Ralts, and he needs treatment, quick!"

My mother frowned. "A wild Ralts? But there are hardly any wild pokémon here in Orre, much less wild Ralts… Alright, I'll head over to the clinic. Can you dry the lettuce for me?"

"Sure," I replied.

My mother quickly dried her hands and hurried out of the house toward the small clinic we had as part of our daycare center.

I took a length of paper towels and spread it out on the counter. I then began to place the leaves of lettuce on the paper towels. Once they were all laid out, I covered them with another layer of paper towels, then gently patted them dry. I left the lettuce covered so that nothing would get on it.

"Zen, what's going on?" said a young voice behind me.

I turned around to see my six year-old brother, Ralen, standing at the kitchen entryway.

"Nothing to worry about, buddy," I said. "Dad and I found an injured wild Ralts, so he and Mom are taking care of it right now."

Ralen's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "A wild Ralts?! I wanna see!"

"Not yelling like that you won't," I said sternly. "This Ralts is hurt and scared, you can't act like that around it, Ralen, you'll scare it, and it could hurt you."

Ralen frowned and looked down. "But I wanna see it…"

"You can if you promise to be calm and talk to it in a calm way, Ralen," I said.

Ralen smiled and nodded. "Okay,"

"Good boy,"

I decided to give Ralts time to adjust to my parents before Ralen and I went to see it, so I finished making the salad for lunch, and put it away in the refrigerator. I cleaned the dirty dishes and utensils and put them on the dishrack to dry.

"You ready to go see the Ralts, Ralen?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Ralen said.

"Alright, c'mon,"

Ralen and I left out of the house and headed to the clinic. We went inside and into the back. I could hear my parents talking in one of the rooms, and headed to the doorway, looking inside.

The Ralts was sitting on the bed as my mother cleaned its wounds, wincing from the disinfectant she used.

"I know it stings, sweetie, but we don't want your cuts to get infected," my mother said soothingly.

"You'll be okay, Ralts, there's nothing to worry about," my father said.

"Wow, it really is a Ralts," Ralen said, an excited look on his face.

"Remember, Ralen, you need to be calm around it," I said. "He's still hurt and scared."

I then slowly walked over to where Ralts and my parents were, smiling down at Ralts. "Hey there, Ralts,"

Ralts then looked up at me, staring intently. I assumed that it could sense something about me, most likely my psychic powers. Ralts and its evolutions were known for being able to sense emotions, so being calm and friendly were the keys to getting it to calm down as well.

"See, we're all friendly here," my mother said, smiling at Ralts.

"We just want to help you, Ralts," my father added.

Ralen then walked up to Ralts's bed, and I picked him up, setting him down in Mom's lap. He slowly reached out a hand to the Ralts, gently patting its head.

"Ralts…" Ralts said, looking between the four of us.

I then slowly reached out to Ralts and put a hand on its large front horn. I closed my eyes and began to try and emanate a sense of calm. The Ralts must have realized what I was trying to do, because after several moments, I sensed him calm down. I opened my eyes and looked down at Ralts, who was looking up at me and smiling slightly. I smiled back and gently patted its head.

"See, you're safe here," I said.

"Ralts," Ralts said, nodding slightly.

"Ralts, do you have a trainer?" my mother asked.

Ralts nodded.

"I see…" Mom said. "Then we'd best get the word out to the Pokémon Centers so they can put up notices."

"I'll go and call Elaine in Phenac City," my father said. He then stood up and walked out of the room.

Mom smiled down at Ralts and gently patted its head. "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll get you back to your trainer. I'm sure they're worried sick and looking for you."

"Ralts," Ralts said, nodding.

"It's lucky I found you when I did," I said. "I don't think you would have made it much longer. Were you attacked by wild pokémon?"

"Ralts," Ralts said, shaking its head.

"Was it pokémon hunters?" I asked.

Ralts nodded.

"I see…"

"Typical," my mother said. "This region is still a paradise for their type,"

A few minutes later, my father came back into the room. "I talked with Elaine, and she was actually just talking with a trainer who lost her Ralts," he said. "She had been attacked by pokémon hunters, and they took her Ralts. This must be that same one. It must have escaped from them."

"Oh dear, she must be so upset," Mom said.

"Her name is Ophelia, and Elaine told her to come here," my father said. "She'll be here in about two hours by bus."

"Alright then," my mother said. She then looked down at Ralts and smiled. "See, Ralts? You're gonna be reunited with your trainer soon. Don't worry."

"Ralts!" Ralts said, smiling.

"Yay, it's smiling!" Ralen said.

We all laughed a little, and then headed back to the house, taking Ralts with us. We had lunch, and then there was nothing to do except wait for Ralts's trainer to come and get it.

Just as Dad said, about two hours later, the doorbell rang. He went to the door and opened it.

"Hello?" said a teenage female voice. "My name is Ophelia, and I was told you found my Ralts?"

Dad smiled and opened the door wider, moving to the side. "Yes, we did. They're right inside. Come on in."

A sixteen year-old girl—who I could only assume was Ophelia—then walked into the living room. She had long black hair and bright blue eyes. She was dressed in a form-fitting purple shirt and black skirt. She wore thigh-high purple and black-stripped leggings and a pair of black boots. A purple purse hung from her left shoulder. A Poke Ball belt hung loosely around her waist.

Ophelia's face lit up as she saw Ralts sitting on the floor. "Ralts!" she exclaimed happily.

The Ralts looked over and immediately beamed. "Ralts!" it said happily. It leaped to its feet and ran toward Ophelia.

Ophelia ran toward Ralts and scooped it up in her arms, hugging it. "I thought I'd never see you again… I'm so glad…" She then frowned as she noticed all the bandages and bruises. "Oh, Ralts, I'm so sorry…"

"Ralts will be just fine, don't worry," Dad said. "There's a Pokémon Center here in Topaz Village, so you can take it there to get healed and stay the night."

"Thank you all so much," Ophelia said.

"It's alright, we were happy to help," Mom said. "And it's really thanks to our daughter, Zenith, here, that we were able to help your Ralts and find you."

"Yes, she's the one who found it," Dad said.

Ophelia turned to me and smiled. "Thank you, Zenith. If it wasn't for you, I would never have been reunited with Ralts."

"You're welcome," I said. "I couldn't just let it stay there injured, so I got help from my dad. He's the one who patched Ralts up."

"Ralts," Ralts said, nodding.

"I see," Ophelia said. She then turned to me and stared.

I stared back at Ophelia with a confused look, and after several moments, both our eyes widened in realization: just as she could see the glow in my eyes, I could see the glow in hers. We were both psychics.

Ophelia smiled. "No wonder Ralts took a liking to you, Zenith; you're a psychic too."

I smiled back, nodding. "Yeah. My powers awoke when I was eight years old."

"Mine too," Ophelia confessed. "It was hard for me. My friends abandoned me, and I had to be taken out of public school and homeschooled. My only friends for several years were pokemon."

"It was the same for me," I said. "All my friends turned against me, too. I don't have any human friends; only pokemon."

A look of sympathy crossed Ophelia's face. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make friends someday, Zenith. I don't know you, but I do know that you're a nice person. So just have faith, alright?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. Hearing those words really did encourage me. She understood how it had been for me, and I felt a sort of friendship with Ophelia. I was glad to know another psychic besides my maternal grandmother, Raena. It made me feel less alone.

"Well, thank you all again," Ophelia said. "I'd better get Ralts to the Pokémon Center and have her healed. Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Ralen said. "Bye, Ralts!"

"Bye, Ralts," I said.

"Ralts, ralts!" Ralts said, waving goodbye.

With that, Ophelia and Ralts left. I was glad that I helped reunite a pokémon with their trainer. Here in Orre, wild pokémon are virtually non-existent. Trainers have to get their starter pokémon imported from other regions, and catch them on their journeys in other regions. Unfortunately, because Orre is such a small region, it's a paradise for criminals, especially pokémon hunters. Ralts was fortunate to have ended up at our daycare so we could help it.

I then began to imagine what it would be like to have a Ralts, and eventually, a beautiful Gardevoir. I had wanted one for a couple of years now, and hoped to catch one when I started my Pokémon Trainer's journey in Hoenn in a few years. I knew it would be the perfect pokémon for me. I smiled at the thought of owning such an amazing pokémon. I was also excited at the thought of possibly meeting Ophelia again in the future and battling her. I couldn't wait to become a Pokémon Trainer…

~ Author's Note ~

In case you were wondering, yes, Topaz Village is an original settlement that I created. This story takes place in the distant future, so there would of course be at least a couple of more settlements. The other place that I created is Sapphire Town. I'm planning to publish another pokémon story in the future that involves Zenith starting her trainer's journey, so please look forward to it if you enjoyed this story!

Also, I would appreciate any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism to help me improve my writing!