Chapter One
This world is amazing. There are wonderful creatures that have the power to change the world, and there are people whose pokemon follow their lead without hesitation. The potential uses for pokemon are endless, from putting out deadly fires to helping move heavy objects to simply having fun. That's what I hear, anyway...
I've never understood pokemon. As far as I can see, they're just pets that could have a hissy fit and seriously injure their owners. Everyone at school says that I'm crazy for thinking that, but it's just what I see. Then again, I've never had any direct interactions with pokemon. I've only had brief confrontations with them when my classmates would show them off to me despite my expressed disinterest. Instead, I've always focused on school so that I don't bother my parents. Recently my parents have been pestering me not to lose momentum in my last semester of high school so that I don't get rejected from one of the prestigious schools that I don't really care about.
I've never really cared about school though. I've just absorbed everything and regurgitated it all on tests the whole way through and call me a genius. Some people recommend that I look for an internship with one of the various pokemon professors. Others say that my talents would really shine in the arena, despite my lack of experience with pokemon. However, I'm not particularly interested in either of those endeavors. I've been told repeatedly by my friends that they would kill to be in my position, but I just tell them that it's more of a hassle than a privilege.
That's what I was thinking on my way back to my house, as my childhood friend, a skinny, blond-haired, 5'6'' boy named Colin Irwin comes running and shouting my name at the top of his lungs.
"Shin! Hey, Shiiiin!" The boy shouts.
I turn around to face Colin, move a lock of my silver hair out of my face, and say, "Colin, pick up your feet when you run. You sound like you're trying to use Earthquake on me."
"Haha, sorry, I was just so excited that I couldn't be bothered with running form!" the boy says, looking embarrassed. "But!" he says seriously, quickly changing his mood from embarrassed to determined, "Now that we're done with our midterms, we can do whatever we want! The first thing we should do is go to the woods so I can catch a Skitty!"
I stare at him blankly. "In the middle of winter?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.
Colin nearly stumbles at my remark, immediately realizing that finding a wild Skitty in the middle of winter would be near impossible. "Uhh… well, yeah…" he mumbles, starting to reconsider his request.
"Why do you want to catch a Skitty, anyway?" I inquire. " I thought you said that you would never be caught alive training such a feminine pokemon."
"Yeah, but… it's not for me…it's for-" He starts.
"I get it. It's for a girl, isn't it?" I deduce.
"How did you know that?!" He exclaims.
"Well," I begin, "since even I know that Skitty is one of the most popular pokemon among girls and you'd never want a Skitty for yourself, I figured that you were trying to finally get a girlfriend before you graduate from highschool-"
"Hey, that's not true!" Colin interrupts.
"It isn't?" I ask.
"Actually, yeah, you're completely right…" says Colin in a defeated tone.
"Okay." I say assertively. He looks up at me with excitement in his eyes. "Did you bring anyone with you?"
"Yep!" Colin says, with a wide grin on his face. "I brought Lee to help!"