Chapter 1
Rain trickled down the window pane, giving the face that peered out through the rivulets, the effects of tears streaming down his face. In fact, the young eleven-year-old boy was not happy. Today they were supposed to choose their starter pokemon, and he did not know which one he wanted. To be more specific, he didn't want any of them. The amber eyes gazed out of the window pane, picturing himself with a growlithe, a houndour, even a poochyena would be do-able, preferable to the three starters. His brow furrowed as he tried to picture himself standing with one of the pokemon that were actually available. He knew he wouldn't fit with a piplup, a chimchar, nor the turtwig. A sigh escaped between his lips, creating a small patch of fog on the window, which he tried to erase with his bare arm, but it didn't work, just smudged other moisture drops across the glass. He grumbled as he stepped away from the window, rummaging around inside his backpack for a comb. Finding none he discarded the backpack onto the floor and decided to make his bed, not wanting to face the reflection in the mirror quite yet. As soon as the bed was finished his eyes roamed to the digital clock beside it, and staring at the bright red letters he realized he had way too little time.
With a grumble he stalked over to the mirror with his eyes averted, looking for the comb that was not to be found anywhere else. Without finding it his eyes finally directed themselves towards his reflection, on which he spent just a few moments examining his outfit. He wore long, dark blue baggy jeans, a gray t-shirt with a short-sleeved black jacket over it, and blue wristbands. The young boy shrugged, and tried to smooth back his red brown hair that never looked right. They tried everything to get it to lie right, but not even with layering, feathering, or chopping, it just looked shaggy, and spiky.
"DMITRI!" a voice shouted from downstairs, and he glanced at the clock by the bed, groaning aloud. School started in less than an hour, too little time, in his opinion. The annoyed voice came again, this time more insistent, so he grabbed his black backpack and shot down the stairs.
"Dmitri, aren't you excited, you get your first pokemon today! Any idea which one you want?" a man asked, clearly the boy's father. A raichu stood by the man's feet, grinning at the boy that had started preparing himself breakfast, the dad making the boy's lunch.
"Not really. I wish they had a growlithe though. . . I've always wanted an arcanine." Dmitri said, sitting down at the table with his cereal breakfast. A golden fox walked in through the hallway, nine tails dancing merrily behind it. It stopped when it noticed the silence, looking quizzically towards Dmitri as if questioning what was wrong.
"Dmitri, there's only three starter pokemon, you have to choose one of them. Why don't you go with a chimchar, I'm sure Jenga would love that. Wouldn't you?" the father asked, smiling down at the ninetails. It had previously belonged to the boy's mother, who had passed away when he was nine.
"Fine Dad. Could you drive me to school. . . the weather is really bad out there," Dmitri asked, bringing his bowl back up to the sink and rinsing it out.
"No problem, though you need to get home yourself. I'm heading towards the pokemon center to check out an egg they found. Pretty weird stuff. Could you stop by after school and show me your pokemon?" the dad asked, holding out the brown bag lunch for his son.
"Sure," the boy said, taking the lunch and walking towards the garage with his dad. He looked back over his shoulder, noticing that Jenga was looking at him, and waved, smiling. The ninetails had partially filled the gap in his heart where his mother used to be, and he stared out the window as his dad drove, thinking only of her.
"Dmitri."
The single word snapped him out of his daydream, and he turned towards his father, realizing they were at school. He smiled as he spotted his two friends, waiting under a dripping umbrella, and waved.
"If you're having a really hard time choosing, you can always ask for an extra day to think about it, you know." His dad said, and Dmitri looked back at his dad, and smiled.
"Thanks."
He jumped out of the car and rushed to his two friends standing under the umbrella, while his father looked out of the car window, and then drove off, completely confused as to why his son didn't want any of the starter pokemon the school provided.
"Hey Dmitri!" one boy who wore baggy black pants, a red and black jacket, and had dark brown hair exclaimed, waving.
"Thanks for waiting!"
"No problem," the other said, who was wearing yellow and black pants, a matching jacket, a gray shirt, and had light brown hair.
"Any idea what pokemon you want yet?" the one in the red and black asked, after the three boys had run under the covering at the front of the school.
"No clue Alex, I told my dad I wanted a growlithe, but he didn't catch on at all, just mentioned getting a chimchar." Dmitri said miserably.
"Everyone's going to want a chimchar, I swear, those guys are going to be gone before the choosing even starts." The one in yellow and black said.
"Talon, you want one too, don't be ragging on everyone else," Alex laughed, using his friend's nickname. "Of course I want a piplup, not so fond of the beginning form, but empoleon holds the most appeal for me."
The bell signaling the starting of class made Talon and Alex jump with glee, and they dragged their friend along to homeroom, where they took their spots; the three desks, two from the right, one row back.
"Good morning students!" the blonde teacher said, dark brown eyes shining down upon the students.
"Good morning Mrs. Cray," the class of twenty responded automatically. The teacher smiled at them, and stood at the front of the class, standing just in front of the whiteboard.
"As you know, today is the day that you will choose your starter pokemon."
At this the class erupted into cheers and whisperings, but the teacher only had to command them to be quiet once before everyone returned their undivided attention upon her, eagerly awaiting the news.
"That will be the period right after lunch, so you will still have gym, Pokemon 101, and silent reading time as normal classes. After you have received your pokemon, there is the once-yearly surprise half day, as your parents have already been informed! The teachers would like you to take the rest of the day to get to know your new partner, and return with them to school tomorrow. Any questions?" she asked, smiling as one hand timidly shot up into the air.
"Yes?"
"What if we don't know which pokemon we want yet. . . can we go home and come back tomorrow with our choices?" a young, blue-gray haired kid asked.
"Yes, Airo. If you wish, but you will have to choose from the pokemon that are left over. So, if there aren't any more questions, we will begin with Pokemon 101. Students, please take out your text books, a pencil, and a piece of paper."
For the next hour Mrs. Cray went over everything the sixth grade class needed to know about the beginner pokemon. She went over what type each was, what starter pokemon it was resistant to, and which one it would normally triumph over. Dmitri paid as much attention as possible, but even with all the extra gained knowledge, he had no clue which one he wanted. There were murmurings all over the classroom, and it seemed like most of the students already knew exactly which one they wanted. A bell rang shrilly, interrupting the chatter of the classroom, while all eyes locked onto the teacher. She waved and dismissed the class for gym, but one young boy stayed in his seat, flipping through pages of the textbook. Mrs. Cray walked over and looked at the pages of the textbook, they were on the three starting pokemon.
"Dmitri, you're supposed to be going to gym right now."
"I know. . . but I really am trying to figure out which pokemon I want. I just don't want to be stuck with a choice that I'll regret, and have that ruin my training career." he explained, but his teacher just smiled knowingly.
"Every year there's a student that doesn't know which pokemon he wants. You can skip gym today to try and figure it out. If you have any questions feel free to ask me," she responded earnestly. Dmitri rose his hand immediately, and she turned back around, an eyebrow raised.
"Mrs. Cray, is there any way that we can have a pokemon for our starter, that isn't one of the set starters?"
"I've never heard of that being done before, but I'm sure you could ask the professor, and he will give you the answer. Which pokemon were you thinking of?" At this the boy had to think for a moment, wondering whether he really did want a growlithe or not. He finally made the decision, and told her quietly that any canine pokemon would be his dream.
"I don't really know why I'm so attached to canine pokemon, though my mom did have Jenga, a ninetails, as her best friend for practically her whole life."
Both looked towards the clock, surprised to see that the hour had gone by extremely quickly, and the best was just moments from ringing.
"Dmitri, go ahead and run to the professor, and ask."