Chapter 1
beep beep beep beep beep
My hand slowly crept out of my sheets do the bedside table and felt around, ultimately finding my way to the phone and pressing the snooze button. "Five more minutes," I grumbled, rolling over and pretending it never went off.
The moment passed very quickly, however, when I realized what today was. I sprang up, nearly floating out of my bed and ran out of the room, stumbling into the foyer as I began getting dressed. Today is the day I thought, almost tripping in the doorway as I tugged my shirt over my head.
My family runs a generations-old private investigative service for the wealthier cliental in the Kalos region. And many of us, including, begin training at a very young age in the art of ninjutsu, staving off Pokémon training until we turn twelve, rather than the traditional age of ten. But today was my twelfth birthday, and I could not have been more excited to begin my journey, especially because my father was also a Gym Trainer for the Anistar City Pokémon Gym.
I found my parents in the backyard, watching them perform their usual Saturday morning routine of sparring. Our whole family specializes in Psychic Pokémon, and my parents were no exception. I guess it was because of how useful they were in our line of work, but I never really thought too much about it.
My father's Gallade was exchanging hits with my mother's Medicham, gracefully sparring in a hypnotic dance of blows. I have always loved how beautiful Psychic Pokémon looked when they battled, especially when they were part Fighting type, like my parents'.
My father glanced over at me, sensing my arrival. He silently called off the Pokémon and ran to me, picking me up and hoisting me onto his shoulders. I loved when he did this, even though it reminded of just how short I was for my age. He looked up at me, smiling.
"Happy birthday, son," my mom told me, gently pulling my head down and kissing me on the forehead. "Are you excited to begin your journey today?"
"Definitely," I yelled out, swinging my legs back and jumping off of my dad. I could hardly contain my excitement. "What kind of Pokémon did you get me?"
My dad chuckled, pulling out a minimized Dusk Ball and tossing it to me. I looked at it more closely, admiring the green circles painted around it. I looked back up at my dad, and seeing his nod of approval, tossed the ball into the air. As the ball opened and released an orb of blue light, I suddenly realized that I hadn't been breathing. Finally, my very own Psychic Pokémon. I was finally going to follow in my family's footsteps.
I'm pretty sure that was the last thought I had in my head before I made eye contact with a very vicious looking weasel.
._._.
"But a Sneasel, mom? Why a Sneasel? It's a Dark type!" I didn't understand why they would give me such a thing. They are notoriously difficult Pokémon to train.
"Sweetie, we told you. We think it would benefit you a lot to begin with a Pokémon that will challenge you." I shook my head in defiance. "But why wouldn't you give me a Psychic Pokémon? Don't you want me to ?"
My mom sat on the edge of my bed, pulling me towards her and I rested my head on her chest. "Sweetie… Sometimes, you have to discover your own path in life. Your father and I, we see how talented you are in your training. We just don't want you to think that this is the only life you are destined for."
I guess I understood that, but... "Why a Sneasel?" I couldn't wrap my head around their choice in Pokémon. My father chuckled in the doorway in response. "Honestly son," he said, sitting down on my other side, "because Mr. Wulfric was adamant in you starting with an Ice type. And he said he would give us the perfect Sneasel for you."
Wulfric was my father's best friend and the Ice Gym Leader in Kalos. He lived in the next city down, and we go visit him on occasion. "I forgot Sneasel was part Ice," I said, holding its ball in my hand.
After a few moments, I shrugged off, standing up and holding my ball in the air. "Alright then, Sneasel it is! I'll be sure to make you both proud." My mother clapped her hands together and my father got up and hugged me before sending me out into the world.
._._.
The world sucked. Making our way to Lumiose City was a lot harder than what I had originally thought it would be. It took me two days to make it to the Mamoswine Road, only to find out that they were temporarily out of service, so I had to trek across the snow in Route 17 by foot. And to make matters worse, I had to run from every single wild Pokémon.
Because my Sneasel refused to battle.
Luckily, the trainers in the area took pity on me and didn't force me to battle them, because then I would just have to surrender each time. But the snowy path was not an easy thing to cross, especially when my Sneasel also refused to go in its ball, opting instead to stop every couple of minutes to dig around in the snow.
Finally, after a week of blistering cold and multiple bruises now decorating my body, we made it through the route. Walking towards the entrance of Dendemille town, I was relieved to be near civilization once again. "Well buddy, we're almost at our first town. Maybe we can try battling someone." I glanced back at my Sneasel, only to see him combing through his fur, completely ignoring me.
I stopped right outside of the town's entrance and stared at him. "You're going to have to start listening to me, Sneasel. I'm your trainer and sooner or later you will have to start acting like my Pokémon!" My voice got louder, but before I could continue, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around, now facing a very intimidating man. Well, not man; he looked about seventeen. He leered down at me, his hands now crossed over his body. "That's no way to talk to your Pokémon. If your Sneasel doesn't listen to you, it's probably because you haven't been treating it right."
I just stared at the guy silently, too shocked to say anything. After a few beats, the guy walked past me, kneeling down in front of my Sneasel. He whispered something to it, and the two seemed to have a conversation. The guy pulled out a little pink cube, and Sneasel snatched it out of his hand and ate it, smiling. He got back up, facing me once again.
"So, what's your Sneasel's name?"
"Uhm… name?" He put his head into his hands in obvious disappointment, "You didn't even bother to give him a name? No wonder he doesn't get along with you." I knew most trainers named their Pokémon, but I didn't really give it much thought.
I immediately felt bad for not treating my Sneasel like I should have, and it was then I decided that I would appreciate the Pokémon I had. "Hey buddy, would you like me to give you a name," I asked my Sneasel, squatting down next to it. It began grooming itself and pretended not to hear me. I sighed.
"Hmmm. What about… Tachi. You like that name?" The little weasel looked up, its pink ear twitching in excitement. A grin spread wide across its face and its little eyes closed. "Snea!" I smiled back and pet it, realizing it was the first time since getting it that I actually touched it. The trainer chuckled lightly and turned around, walking towards Mamoswine Road.
"Hey wait," I called out, stopping him. "What's your name?" He chuckled again and kept walking. After a few seconds, I heard him yell out, "Its Xander."
I smiled and looked down at Tachi. I now had a goal. Next time I met Xander, I was going to battle him. And I was going to win. With that decided, I entered Dendemille town, Tachi's soft footsteps trailing closely behind.
