This was my first Pokémon OC fic. I started writing it last summer but it kinda sucked, so I'm rewriting it.

Few quick notices:

First, if you absolutely love the Pokémon anime, do not read this. There is a lot of anime bashing (mostly indirect)

Second, this is an OC fic. So naturally, there are quite a few OCs. Some of the ones that appear in this chapter fall into the void forever and you can forget about them. But some are major. Just a heads up.

Major game characters – gym leaders, champions, professors – will appear, but I created most of the major characters.

Third, there will be attempts to load this fic with geeky jokes.

Fourth, this is set several months after Platinum. And it's game canon, though I might make a few things up.

Fifth, this is told in first person of an OC. Warning. So don't be confused. There might be a few places in third person because the fic was originally in third person, but I changed that.

Sixth, I am not Nintendo.

Finally, special thanks to 'Lily' and 'Evan', my beta readers. You guys rock!

Chapter one: Droplet

"Cyndi Ebon, age ten. Birthday: December 12th. Cyndi plans to travel across Sinnoh and collect gym badges if she can. She enjoys fishing, coffee and rare and unusual Pokémon. I didn't know you liked coffee, Cynd!"

I looked at my little brother, Lee, who was holding a piece of paper. "I do like coffee, as a matter of fact," I snapped. "What are you reading?"

Lee held up the paper. "The thingy they make about the new trainers at school. Mrs. Jade handed them out just before we left."

I'd forgotten that every year, Jubilife City Trainers School printed mini-articles about the trainers graduating from it. I'd also forgotten that the students who had siblings who were graduating received copies, and that Lee qualified.

"Let me see that." I took the paper from him and searched through the names of classmates until I found one:

Patsy Rose, age ten. Birthday: May 25th. Patsy plans to go on a great adventure with her friends, both human and Pokémon. She loves music, dance and other fun things!

I snickered. Patsy Rose had really good grades in school, lots of friends and the admiration of adults. However, she's not flawless – as far as I knew then, Lee was much more prepared to be a trainer than she was.

"Is Patsy Rose Candy Rose's sister?" Lee asked, looking over my shoulder.

"I guess." I passed the paper back to him. "Who's Candy Rose?"

"She's an annoying girl in my class."

I leaned back against the back of the bench. "Then she must be Patsy's sister."

The two of us sat silently for a moment, enjoying the late spring evening. Lee broke the silence by asking, "Didn't you get your starter today?"

"Yeah…" today, being the final day of school for my class at the Jubilife City Trainer's School, had been the day we'd received our starters.

"What is it?" Lee prompted.

"Well...the Poké balls were color-coded and there was this riddle…here." I removed the crumpled piece of paper from my jean pocket and passed it to my little brother. He read it out loud, pronouncing the large words slowly and carefully.

"In the third ball in the first column is a computer quite swell

Just above it is an egg still with shell

Seek in two corners for sparklets so bright

In the others is fire that sets grass alight

Find this grass next together; one yellow one blue

Red hides the chivalrous and those who change too

Over three, two down was born of the stone

Yellow in last row will become hero unknown

In bottom next to a sparklet is the naughty mime

Five balls away will grow as hardened as time.

Lee tossed it back to me. "Uh, what? I don't get it. What did you get?"

Before I could answer, a very familiar voice caught my attention. "Hi! Cinders! Over here!"

It was Terrence Walker, a fellow new trainer, ex-student at Jubilife City Trainer's School and my close friend. Okay, best friend. He approached us, grinning. I stood, feeling a little more confident. Terrence's a nice guy. He wouldn't care about my starter…right?

"Hey, Cinders." He clapped me on the shoulder, grinning. "What's up?"

I playfully pulled away from him and folded my arms. "I dunno. They sky, maybe?"
"Heh, you're funny."

"What did you get for your starter?"

Terrence gave me his 'innocent' face and quoted the riddle. "Red hides the chivalrous and those who change too."

I got the feeling I wasn't the only person mincing words that evening. "And that would be…?" I prompted, feeling a little ticked.

"It's a surprise. What about you?"

I decided to play his game. "Five balls away will grow as hardened as time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I smirked. "It's a surprise."

"Hey, Cinders."

"Yeah?"

"We're trainers now."

"Yeah?" I noticed that Terrence was casually tossing the Poké ball he'd received earlier that day into the air.

"We've made eye contact."

"Oh." I removed the Poké ball I'd received earlier that day from my pocket and followed Terrence to a small park near the Trainers' School. Once we'd reached the park, Terrence and I assumed positions, leaving an open space for the Pokémon to battle in.

Beautiflies were beginning to appear in my stomach. There was a reason I hadn't told Lee and Terrence what my starter was: I didn't know at all. All I knew that, if I'd selected the correct Pokémon (and I wasn't entirely sure I had), it was supposed to grow to be 'as hardened as time'. I had no idea what that meant, but I figured the Pokémon would grow to be strong and powerful.

But no time to fret about that. The battle had started.

There was a flash of blue light, and a brown, mammalian creature appeared in front of Terrence – an Eevee.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

I was surprised. "It's female?"

Terrence reached down and briefly patted his starter on the back. "Yeah, it's a she. C'mon, what's that surprise you've got?"

Hands shaking, I released my starter. When I saw it, my heart leapt into my throat before dropping. How in the name of the legendaries…?

"Nice one, Cyndi."

"Nice?" I shouted, flustered. A common weakling! How'd I wind up with that? "If I wanted one of these, I could've just gone to Sandgem! Besides, how-?"

"Is it as hardened as time? You tell me. C'mon, stop sulking. We've got a battle to fight. Use Tackle!"

The Eevee sprang forward and hit my starter.

"Use Pound," I commanded dejectedly. It enthusiastically slammed into the Eevee.

"C'mon, Cinders, where's your fighting spirit?" Terrence teased. "You were so excited earlier…"
"On top of Mount Coronet, I 'spose. What's her name?"

"Oh, my Eevee? Flinch. Yours?"

"Uh…" my mind felt blank. I hadn't been trying to think of names at all. "HEY, LEE? WHAT'S A GOOD NAME FOR A PIPLUP?"

Lee thought for a moment. "Droplet!" he announced.

Terrence grinned as he ordered his starter to use Tackle once again. "You really haven't trained with your Piplup, have you?"

"This is the first time I've had him out," I admitted. "Keep using Pound," I added to Droplet, who energetically continued hitting Flinch with his head.

"Still, you could've checked it with your Pokédex," Terrence ribbed.

"What Dex?"

"Oh, you didn't get a Dex? I thought you went to Sandgem to get your precious starter! The professor didn't give you a Dex to help you?"

My face burned. "Shut up, Terrence, that's not fu – yaaaah!"

I felt myself slam into the grass, inches away from hitting the Piplup, who wailed and fled. The girl who'd tackled me climbed off of me and stood up.

"Hello, Patsy." I pulled myself up and put my hat, which had fallen off, back on. "That wasn't your usual style."

Patsy Rose was slightly smaller than all the other ten-year-olds at Jubilife City Trainer's School, perhaps because she was the youngest. She was wearing her usual blouse and plaid skirt; today's color was Jigglypuff pink. She's got rich, strawberry blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a face that was normally smiling. Right now, however, it looked cross – the way it looked whenever Patsy confronted someone she believed was breaking the rules. Patsy's a bit of a nut 'bout rules, really.

"I tackled you because you were fighting. I don't recall either of you being so violent in school. What changed?"

"What changed?" Terrence laughed. "I dunno – maybe we got Pokémon or something?"

"I have a Pokémon," Patsy reminded us. "But he's my friend. I'm not going to make him get hurt!"

For the first time, I noticed a Pichu hiding behind Patsy's curtain of hair. Patsy picked him off of her shoulder and held him out for us to see.

"This is Perry the Pichu. I was hoping I'd get a girl Pokémon, but he's still going to be my friend." She set the Tiny Mouse Pokémon on her shoulder and walked off, heading in the direction of Jubilife Condominiums. "Come, Perry. I'll make you some nice hot chocolate. I'm not gonna make you get hurt!"

After she was out of hearing range, Terrence snorted and pulled me to my feet. "Well, at least one thing hasn't changed – Patsy's still Patsy. Still mad at me?"

"Maaaybe. In fact, I think I'll just beat you over the head with my Dex!"

Terrence doubled over laughing. Really, it doesn't take much to amuse him. "Anyway, I've heard some of the other kids are meeting by the GTS. Should we go join them?"

"Yeah, whatever, just give me a moment to – yaaaah!"

Droplet had jumped into the fountain and sent a torrent of water everywhere, soaking Terrence and I. I winced as the chilled water hit me, soaking my clothes.

"Note – to – self," I growled, pulling out the Poke ball and returning Droplet to it. "Get – a – new – Pokémon – as – soon – as – possible."

Laughing slightly, Terrence wrung out the hem of his sweater and picked up Flinch, who snuggled against his chest. The two of them had barely known each other for a day and they already trusted each other. I glowered at them, grumpy that they went so well together. Don't get me wrong – I'm not one of those people who insist that friendship's the only thing trainers need. However, I do know that dysfunctional teams do not work, and it didn't take a genius to tell that I would be incompatible with a psychotic, weakling Piplup.

The three of us headed towards the towering Global Trade Station. Outside of the building, a crowd of new trainers mingled.

"Hey, Cinders! Hey, Terrence!" one of them called. His name's Evan Trueshot and he also had an Eevee, though his is male. He's a nice guy, but I've never really hung out around him. Also, he's a huge computer geek. Just thought you'd like to know. "What happened to you?"

I stared at the running shoes I'd gotten for my birthday nearly six months ago while Terrence explained, "We were down by the park near school. Cyndi's Piplup jumped in the fountain, see."

Some kids laughed. I scowled at them. Jerks. I wanted to challenge them to handling a Piplup as crazy as Droplet. They probably thought he was all fun and special.

"Does anyone want to battle?" A boy named Warren Bay asked.

"Be careful," Terrence warned. "Cinders and I were battling and Patsy showed up and jumped Cyndi." More kids laughed. I shot several of the worst offenders nasty looks before shrinking into the building-cast shadows.

"Who won?" Tim Branite, the ground-and-rock-type-lover, asked.

Terrence winked at me. "It was a draw. Now, who's going to battle Warren?"

"I will." A girl with long, dark hair stepped forward.

"Marian?" Evan whispered. "The shyest girl in Jubilife City? Challenging someone? Especially Warren, one of the best battlers in the class?"

Warren shrugged, and he and Marian took positions facing each other. Knowing him, he was probably desperate to finally fight someone. The others formed a ring around them as they removed their Poké balls.

"What about Patsy?" a girl, Jess, asked.

"Lee, go keep a lookout for Patsy, or for any other obnoxious people for that matter," I instructed my little brother. Nodding enthusiastically, he ran over to a bench, climbed up on it, and scanned the area eagerly.

I watched him for a moment before Warren's and Marian's voices snapped me back to the battle.

"Go, Sapphira!
"Take 'em out, Hoppy!"

I spun around to see a Gible and a Togepi collide in midair.

"Use Dragon Claw!" Warren shouted.

"Hit 'em with Grass Knot!" Marian yelled.

The Gible swung its stubby arms at the Togepi, slashing it. The Spike Ball Pokémon screamed its not-very-threatening scream and retaliated. Several long blades of grass whipped out of the ground and wrapped around the Gible, yanking it down. The Togepi dodged a second swipe and caused more grass to attack the Land Shark Pokémon. The Gible screeched and clawed the Togepi, sending it flying.

"Looks like you've lost," Warren smirked, watching as Marian recalled the unconscious Pokémon. "You won't have to pay up – this time…"

"Sorry, Warren," Marian whispered, "But I'm one step ahead of you. Go, Winger!" She shouted and threw out a second Poké ball, which released a Starly.

The tide of the battle turned in an instant. It was clear the Gible was Warren's only Pokémon, and its health was low from the fight with Marian's Togepi. I could tell from his colorless eyes growing big that Warren was panicking.

"Use Tackle!" Marian and Warren commanded together. The two Pokémon hit each other with enough force to send them crashing onto the pavement. The Starly hopped up, only slightly dazed, but the Gible remained mostly still.

"Looks like you've lost," Marian taunted as she picked up her Starly and put it on her shoulder. "You won't have to pay up – this time…" She turned and strode out the ring. Furious, Warren recalled his Gible and stalked off, headed for the Pokémon Center.

There was an awkward pause, and then Tim spoke. "Whoa."

"She's a really good battler," Jess said quickly. "I was grading our tests on battling for Mrs. Ray and she only missed one question, and that was more of a personal strategy that could be useful…"

Bob, who was generally considered a moron, broke out of the ring and started heading north. "I'm going to Jubilife TV," he announced, "And I'm gonna win the lottery. And then I'm going to be on TV, and I'm gonna be famous, and have a million Pokéyen. You'll see…"

"Bob's crazy," Jess commented, wagging her head. "I bet he'll be famous – for being the first person to fill their PC account entirely with Magikarp…" everybody laughed.

By now, the lights were beginning to come on at the Global Trade Station, transforming it into a glittering tower. As if in response, other lights began to come on in the buildings and streetlamps, their warm glow standing out against the steadily darkening Jubilife City.

A friendly flow of conversation spread among the new trainers as they talked. Luckily, most everyone had forgotten the Patsy-attack incident and left me alone.

"Too bad Fly's the fourth TM and not the first," Tim sighed wistfully. "That would make travel so much easier…"

"Yeah, but you could still only fly to places you'd been," Jess reminded him.

"Still…"

"How much do bikes cost, d'you suppose?" Evan asked another kid, Sue.

Sue let out a low whistle. "Lots, I bet. Either that or you can save the bike owner from Galactic Goons. Did ya hear 'bout that?"

"'Crazy Technicolor Spacemen Kidnap Bike Salesmen, Kid Saves Store Manager'. How could I ever forget that?" a boy chuckled.

Sue rolled her eyes. "I don't think it said that, Ken."

I decided to join into the babble, despite my mood. Turning to Terrence, I asked him, "So…gotten your Pokétch yet?"

Terrence had been, for a while, talking about getting a Pokétch once he became a trainer. He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah – I got it after school. Here!" he pulled back his sweater sleeve to show off a black Pokétch. The numbers on the green LCD screen read 19:57.

"Oh, Magikarp," I cursed.

"What?" Terrence asked, alarmed. "D'you not like it?"

"No – it's just – I forgot – I'm supposed to be back at my apartment in three minutes! Hey, Lee! We gotta go!"

Lee, who'd been chatting with two other kids despite them being three years his senior, looked disappointed. He followed me as I jogged down a side street.

"We're meeting at midnight in the Pokémon Center Plaza!" Evan shouted after me.

My family lives an apartment building in the southwestern corner of Jubilife. As I ducked into the building, breathless, I found myself face-to-face with my father.

"Kuroma! There you are!"

Kuroma is Dad's nickname for me. Everyone else calls me either Cyndi or, if they went to school with me, Cinders.

"Am I late?" I asked breathlessly, clutching a stitch in my side.

"No, you're just in time."

The three of us headed for the apartment, which was on the second floor.

"Kuroma, you never told me and your mother what you got for your starter today," Dad pointed out as we climbed the stairs. "What is it?"

My face flushed. Honestly, I felt kind of embarrassed about having Droplet. "Why does everyone want to know this?"

"It's a Piplup named Droplet," Lee informed his father. "I helped named him," he added proudly.

"A Piplup?" Dad smiled. "Nice one, Kuroma. My first Pokémon was a Squirtle named Jet."

Yes, that's right, guys. My dad, when he was a kid, was special enough to have a starter from a professor. Before he'd moved to Sinnoh, Dad had lived in Kanto.

"Yeah, well, I don't suppose Jet ever jumped in a fountain while you were standing near it, did he?"

Dad laughed slightly. "That would explain why you're kinda wet. You should change before you catch a cold."

I followed my brother and father into our apartment, feeling that my career as a trainer was off to a very rough start.

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