- Disclaimer -

I do not own Pokémon; nor I am in any way affiliated with Game Freak, Nintendo, or any other entity that happens to own the rights to the Pokémon franchise.

- Waiver -

This is a work of fan-fiction loosely based on the events of Heart Gold / Soul Silver, and heavy in the usage of OCs.

Chapter 1, Beginnings Are Never Easy

At day's end, just as the sun began to set—lighting the sky ablaze in hues of red and yellow—Alex ran off from home towards the sandy seashore, where she sat looking out to sea. Two krabby caught her eye; one, it seemed, had just emerged from its burrow. The other, much larger, had been washed in by the tide. They snapped their pincers, each trying to intimidate the other; walking from side to side, spewing foam to make themselves appear bigger.

She picked up her sketchbook, and began to draw.

I found her there, just after sunset: the fire in the skies having been put out by shades of blue. Sitting next to her, I watched as she drew the finishing touches on her sketch. "Hey," I said, speaking up the moment she set her drawing down.

"Hey," she said in turn, attempting a smile and failing. She leaned against me, pressing her forehead on my shoulder. "It's not fair," she sobbed, tears running down her face. "I want to go and be a trainer like you," she cried.

"But…," I mumbled, taking a deep breath and sighing. "You're twelve," I reasoned, as if that meant anything to her. "You know," I said, running a hand through my short and messy black hair. "Five years isn't that much." Instantly regretting my words, as that only made her cry harder.

"I don't want to wait," she sobbed.

"Look, everyone has to," I explained, though my words fell on deaf ears. "I had to," I told her, though still she cried. Realizing I had gotten nowhere with her, I decided on a different approach. "You know," I said, my words soft and soothing. "I could probably get you whatever pokémon you want," I told her, not without some doubt to my claim.

That did the trick.

"Really…?" She said, looking up at me with her large, brown eyes. I nodded. "I want a teddiursa," she exclaimed as a matter-of-factly, no hesitation on her part.

"Alright, a teddiursa it is," I said, not having the slightest clue of where to find one.

"You promise?" she asked, having caught on to my self-doubt. I nodded. "Pinky-swear," she said, her hand outstretched to mine.

I could not help but smile at her gesture, grabbing her pinky finger with my own. "Promise," I said. "Now, why don't we go back home," I said hopeful. "Mom's probably worried sick about you," I told her. With a light nod she got up and led the way, a bright smile on her face.

The following morning I woke up with a start, realizing I had overslept. The clock that hung on my bedroom wall read a quarter past nine, when I had intended to be up by seven. I quickly made a dash for the bathroom; and, after a warm shower and getting dressed—in jeans and a black t-shirt— I went down for breakfast.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee hit me as I came downstairs—a tale-tell sign that everyone else had already gotten up and probably left for work or, in the case of Alex, school.

Sure enough I found everyone gone as I helped myself to some breakfast: a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. Only after sitting down did I notice a note on the fridge, which read:

Good luck on your journey, honey, we're rooting for you. Sorry we couldn't be there to wish you luck when you left, but we didn't want to wake you. We know you'll do great, so go for it. Don't forget to phone home every once in a while.

Love, mom

A p.s. followed, which I could tell my sister had written.

P.S. Don't forget your promise, ok?

On that note—no pun intended—I ate my breakfast and, after clearing away the table and doing the dishes, I went back upstairs to my room.

I took my trainer belt which I had left on the nightstand next to the bed—a lone poke ball strapped to it—and wore it, not minding that it hung crookedly around my waist. On my way out I made a grab for my backpack, which lay carelessly on the floor, having had packed the night before. With it in hand, I went back downstairs and headed out the door.

After some walking, I made my way through the streets of Cherrygrove and found myself out on route 30—a conveniently place sign marking it. I could not help but stand there for a moment or two, looking out as far as I could down the road, excited at the prospect of my journey.

Though, for all my excitement, a couple of hours into the route I found myself drained; not only tired but bored too. So far I had yet to run into anyone, and the wild pokémon seemed to be avoiding me like the plague—even after having abandoned the well-traveled path. That quickly changed when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a tiny bird pokémon perched on a tree. A pidgey, I surmised.

With no hesitation on my part I went for the poke ball strapped to my belt, tossing it out in front of me. "Nina," I said, releasing my vulpix in a flash of light. "Confuse ray," I instructed.

The fox pokémon, on command stood her ground; her eyes glowing an eerie shade of purple as she stared at the, as of yet, oblivious flying type. It didn't take long for the confusion to kick in, and in frenzy the bird pokémon took flight only to crash right into a tree.

"Now, use a quick—" I began to say, only to have my command die down in my throat as I witnessed a stream of water soak my fire pokémon. Caught entirely off guard, I turned in the direction of the assailant. There, I saw a girl, more or less my age, with a blue reptilian pokémon at her side. "What was that for?" I exclaimed, not in the friendliest of ways.

"I want that pidgey," she shrugged, as if that excused the unwarranted attack. "So, why don't you just stay out of my way," she said, giving me a cocky smile as she and her water pokémon walked past me.

"Tch," I spat, going over to where Nina stood, looking worse for the wear, shaking her golden pelt dry and spraying me with water as I neared. "You ok?" I asked her, to which she replied with high-pitched yip. "Good," I said, petting her. "Now, why don't you use a confuse ray on that girl's pokémon."

As before, taking a few steps forth, Nina stood her ground, her eyes taking on that eerie shade of purple as she starred at both the water pokémon and its trainer; the effects of the attack quickly setting in.

The girl looked over her shoulder, a hand pressed against her temple. "Water gun," she called out, pointing at us; and, turning away from the pidgey, her pokémon let out a stream of water missing its mark completely and instead soaking her.

"Good luck catching that pidgey," I said mockingly, watching as the bird pokémon took flight and fled. "Nina, return," I said to my vulpix, her poke ball in hand.

With a grin on my face I walked past the girl and her pokémon, both making their best efforts to keep upright despite the confusion. "I'm not forgetting this," she called out after me, though didn't—or rather, couldn't—follow.

The rest of the day went on without incident.

By the time night fell I had already set up camp and, with Nina's help, had gotten a fire going. For a short while I sat by the flames, Nina sound asleep next to me. While not my first time camping outdoors, it certainly felt odd to be out by myself with only my pokémon for company. Eventually, dragging myself away from my thoughts, I went to sleep. Morning, however, came all too soon.

At daybreak, I woke up to the sound of rain: a light drizzle that quickly picked up into a heavy downpour. In the time it took me to gather my belongings, I ended up drenched. Regardless, I decided to brave the storm; taking me the better part of the day to get through route 30 and reach route 31—just a day or so from Violet city—I took refuge on a nearby cave. Though dark, I appreciated the fact that it kept the rain out.

Getting a fire going with whatever I could find in the old cavern—sticks and dried-up leaves—I sat by the flames in nothing more than boxers, having stripped, to lay out my clothes by the fire to dry. The warmth of the flames licked at my skin, the roaring fire lulling me to sleep; tired from the day's travel, I eventually did succumb to it.

I must have slept for a few hours, since by the time I woke up the fire had died down and darkness prevailed even outside the cave. A chill ran down my spine, and I quickly poked the dying embers with a stick trying to get the fire going once more. Failing that, I went for Nina's poke ball which lay atop my clothes, which thankfully had dried.

"Nina," I said, releasing my pokémon in a flash of white light. "Use—" Just then I heard a sound which made me stand still and hold my breath. I threw a glance at Nina, though not quite seeing her in the dark her presence reassured me nonetheless.

The sound came once more, louder this time. Forcing myself to breathe, I backed up a few steps. "Nina," I murmured, "Try an ember."

Showing no more bravery than her trainer, the fox pokémon spat a tiny flame into the darkness ahead—hiding behind me soon after.

The light of the fire, though momentary, didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary. Then it hit me, literally as a rock to the stomach made me double-over out of breath. Pain brought tears to my eyes; and whilst I recovered, Nina protected me as best she could by spitting embers blindly into the darkness.

Catching my breath, I made a run for the exit; Nina following. To my luck, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared; the moon and stars lighting up the night sky. "The hell was that?" I spat, my breath coming out ragged. To which Nina replied with a concerned yip and running circles around me.

Another rock flew in our general direction, barely missing us.

"Ember," I shouted, sounding somewhat frightened. Nina, to her credit, stood her ground and spat balls of fire towards the mouth of the cave. Dispelling the darkness for a moment, I caught a glimpse of our attacker; a graveler.

The rock pokémon showed no signs of backing down, going so far as to pursuit us out of the cave. Raising its arms in the air—all four of them—rocks ripped out of the ground, floating lazily above its body. Then, with a flick of its wrists sent them crashing in our direction.

I managed to avoid them by jumping out of the way, though my body complained from the earlier blow. As for Nina, a quick-attack on her part helped her get out of harm's way.

Getting to my feet as fast as I could, I shouted out a command: "Confuse ray," I said.

Then, just as Nina let loose her attack, a stream of water hit the rock pokémon dead-center.

"Don't let up," I heard a familiar voice say, and looking over my shoulder I confirmed the face that had come to mind. She stood just a couple of feet from me, her blue reptilian pokémon out in front of her.

The graveler, under the constant stream of water soon collapsed under its own weight—curling up to try and defend itself. Taking this as an opportunity, the female trainer threw a poke ball which immediately drew the beastly creature in with a flash of red.

After a few tense moments, the red and white sphere chimed indicating a successful capture.

"Thanks," I grumbled, watching her claim her newly caught graveler.

She spared me a glance as she strapped the poke ball to her belt. "Thanks?" she said, sounding somewhat miffed. "I just saved your scrawny ass and all I get is a 'thanks'?"

I stared at her with a blank expression, not quite sure what to say. "Look," I began, running a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry for back there, ok?"

"Whatever," she sighed, not quite taking my apology. "By the way," she added, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You might want to consider putting some clothes on."

- Authors Note -

I do hope you find my story to be enjoyable and stick with it during its run. Updates may be spare due to my obligations outside of writing; however, I am aiming to post one chapter every week or so. Also, I ask that you leave a comment if you have the time—I appreciate every single one of them.

A little back story: This is a revamp of a story I started a while back, but never finished. While the core concept has remained the same, the execution has gone through some drastic changes. This time around, I do intend to finish it, however long it takes me.

The title comes from the fact that I've always found beginnings to be difficult to write, and given that our protagonist didn't get off to a good start on his journey I though it fitting.

Comment, Favorite, and stay tune for the next update. Hope you'll join us on the next chapter of,

At Day's End