Prologue: To Build Courage
Karin Marker had always been the odd one in her family, which contained her grandmother Elda, her grandfather James, her mother Caldera, her father Henry, her younger sister Anju, and her older brother Ren. Her family, along with a few others, had a special connection with Dark, Ghost, and bat-like Pokemon. All of which Karin was afraid of to some degree. She couldn't even count the number of times that she fell down because a ghost type or Zubat flew too close to her face for her comfort.
Anyway, the connection awarded them with a few gifts, such as her sister's ability to give Ghost Pokemon the ability of speech when they possessed her dolls. Unfortunately, it also came with a downside. Strong sunlight made her family feel weak. This wasn't true for Karin. Sunlight never made her feel weak.
Her differences, however, sometimes hurt her. Recently, her brother's words had hurt her deeply.
Her parents had wanted to giver Karin her first Pokemon, but she'd been trying to get a normal Hoenn starter. Her friends Naitou and Maki had gotten the last two, so the professor gave her Bulb, her Bulbasaur. Over the next two weeks, she 'caught' two more Pokemon, only one of which her family knew about. That would be Sugar the Ralts, who had gotten itself caught by playing with one of Karin's empty Pokeballs.
The other was one that only she, Anju, Boogie-kun the Duskull, and James knew about. This was Spice, the Shiny Feebas. Karin had actually found her egg about a month before she became a trainer and had been secretly raising her ever since. Her sister, her Pokemon, and her grandfather had discovered Spice a few days ago when Karin had run out of the house because of Ren's verbal bullying. Boogie learned to stay away from and stay as quiet around Spice as possible. Unlike Bulb who ignored him and Sugar who didn't really understand what he was saying, Spice would shoot a Dragon Breath at him and, what the humans could only assume was, yell at him.
The group had decided that it would be best for Karin to go someplace else until her confidence as a trainer improved. James had talked to an old friend who said his young grandniece living in Agate City would be happy to have a room mate. It would take a month or two to set everything up, though.
Karin decided to travel through part of Kanto and Johto a bit to strengthen her team and calm her nerves before heading Orre. So after planning, packing, saying her goodbyes, (James had offered to tell her parents she was leaving for her) and boarding the boat, Karin nervously began her journey.
Her time on the boat was uneventful apart of Spice's evolution. (She apparently had a love for Beauty Pokeblocks.) Her other Pokemon had also leveled up a bit.
However, her adventure started to pick up speed soon after leaving the boat behind.
…Skip…
How embarrassing! Karin thought. She had been running around the city, trying to find the Pokemart, when she had crashed into another trainer with scary eyes. And because of the way they fell, he'd seen her underwear when her skirt flew up. She had been a little comforted when she saw that he was just as embarrassed as she was.
"I'm so, so sorry! I was rushing around, trying to find a Pokemart, and didn't look where I was going!" Karin cried.
The scary-eyed trainer raised his palms to the sky. "It's fine. Embarrassing, but fine. You really should wear shorts under your skirt though, so that doesn't happen again."
"Ye-Yeah. I'm Karin Marker," she said, holding out her hand.
"Kenta Usui. You challenging Lt. Surge?"
"N-No! My Pokemon aren't up for that yet. I'm making my way to Orre. I just want to travel and build my team up first."
"Ah. I've heard that Orre has really started to develop into a good Pokemon region over the years thanks to rangers taking Pokemon from areas of overpopulation there. Even though very few trainers go to Orre. I've heard their trying to make their own version of the Gym system."
"Really? Wow, you know a lot!"
"I guess," Kenta said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyway, you want me to show you the way to the Pokemart?"
"Y-yes! Thank you!"
Kenta gave the nervous girl a smile and lead Karin to the Pokemart… which was in the opposite direction of the way she had been going when she'd crashed into him.
It was a quick trip, and as a thank you Karin had invited Kenta to have dinner with her.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, looking at the meal in front of him. Now Kenta wasn't poor, but he and his mother didn't exactly eat food that looked to be of the quality of the meal Karin had put in front of him. "This looks good!"
"Thanks, I'm glad you like it. One of the few things I'm really good at is cooking. I'm glad Nurse Joy let me use the stove. Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I just used a recipe for general Pokemon food since I didn't know your Pokemon's types," she said as she put out the bowls of Pokemon food.
"That's fine; they're not picky," replied Kenta, letting his four Pokemon out of their Pokeballs. Out came a Charmeleon, Kadabra, Parasect, and Diglett. Karin followed his lead and released Bulb, Sugar, and Spice.
Kenta blinked at the Shiny Milotic before his stomach demanded he eat. He turned and sat at the table before digging in. "This tastes as good as it smells!"
After they'd eaten and the dishes were cleaned, Kenta started up their conversation again. "So you're traveling to Orre. How do you plan to get there, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Oh, not at all. I plan to go to Saffron, then Cerulean, then Pewter, and then I'll take the train from Viridian to Goldrod City. I'm thinking about entering the Johto National Park Bug Catching Contest, too. In Olivine City, I have to take a boat to Gateon Port… Oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?" Karin self-consciously scratched her cheek.
"That's fine. I'm the one who asked. So, any idea what you plan to do once you get settled in Orre?"
"Um, not really… I want to train my Pokemon, that's for sure, but as for what else…"
"Alright then, why don't you try and apply to be a Gym Leader?"
"…Ehh?!"
Kenta threw his arms up in defense. "Relax, okay. As I said, they're trying to set up a Gym system. So what if you don't really have a one-type Pokemon team. By the looks of it they have potential, and Gyms can also work as other types of businesses, too. So you could open a restaurant that is also a Gym or something. Just… give it some thought… okay?"
"…Okay," Karin said marsheepishly.
Kenta chuckled and patted Karin on the head. "If you do make it to be a Gym Leader, I'll have to go see it once I'm done with the Indigo League or something."
…Skip…
That night when Kenta went to his room to sleep, Karin dialed her grandparents' house on the video-phone.
"Marker House, who is it?" a playful voice sang.
"It's Karin, Grandma," she said to the woman who looked way too young to be anyone's grandmother. The screen came to life to show Elda's face.
"Karin! Sweetie! How are you doing?"
"Fine. Is Grandfather or Anju there right now?"
"Nope, they're trying to calm down little Henry.
"Sol! Umbrr! Sylv!" An Absol's, Umbreon's, and Sylveon's faces suddenly took over the screen.
Karin blinked before smiling. Her grandfather's Umbreon and her grandmother's Absol were two of her family's Dark-types that she actually got along with. Along with her grandmother's Fairy-type, (no one was brave enough to make fun of or criticize Elda for having a Fairy-type, because Elda was scary) Eeveelution. They were the three who had helped Karin to bond with Pokemon the most.
"Hi, guys, being good?" She got three happy responses.
"Alright, alright, down, you three," Elda said as the three Pokemon left their screen. "Karin, you okay? You seem a little distracted."
"I'm fine, I'm fine! It's just… Grandma, do you think that… there's a chance that I could possibly handle being a Gym Leader in the future?"
"Eee!" Elda cried in happiness, startling Karin a bit. "Karin! Sweetie, of course you can! All you have to do is train and believe in yourself to give it a try. My granddaughter, thinking big! The last child in one of our kin clans that became a Gym Leader was little Morty, the current Ecruteak City Gym Leader. You could probably talk to him. I'm proud of you, sweetie. You travel and grow stronger."
"O-Okay, Grandma. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetie."
Karin sighed as she hung up the phone. Really, her grandmother had way too much energy. It made her feel tired. Going off to bed was the next thing on her to-do list, which she did gladly.
…Four Days Later…
"Oh man!" Karin exclaimed as the Pidgey she wanted to catch flew away. Really, it wasn't her fault the Pokemon always escaped before she could catch them. Sometimes, things would just happen. Like a different trainer would spot her just as she was about to catch it, or the Pokemon would recover too quickly, etc.
"I'm sorry, Bulb. You, Sugar, and Spice must be really frustrated with me right now," Karin said to the Grass-type, who gave her an 'it's okay' type of grin. In truth, it hadn't been a bad couple of days for the Pokemon. They had gained some experience, won a few battles against other trainers, (even though many were close calls due to Karin's nerves) and Karin had even gained a bit of confidence when they'd learned some new moves.
"Look out, miss!" a male voice called. Karin barely dodged the orange, black, and tan blur that flew past her head. She landed on her butt, but she managed to get a good look at the Pokemon. It was a smug-looking Growlithe.
"I'm sorry about that, miss. That Growlithe came from the route between Celadon City and Saffron City and has been running amok in the Saffron City Gym."
"Can I try to catch it?" Karin asked. "I've been trying to catch a new Pokemon for four days."
"Well, it's a wild Pokemon, so I don't see why you can't try." The male said doubtfully after a brief pause.
"Alright! It's time for battle, Spice!" Karin said, summoning up as much self-confidence as she could.
"Milotic!"
"Water Pulse!" Karin ordered. The Water-type's attack soaked the ground as the Growlithe dodged it. The Puppy Pokemon ran up to Spice and tried to bite her tail fin. "Splash, quickly!"
Spice used Splash as a way to dodge the Bite, and it gave her a small boost in speed for a few seconds. Growlithe was not pleased with the missed attack.
Spice fired a Dragon Breath at the puppy in a fit of annoyance.
"Gro!" the puppy cried in pain, and it slid on the wet ground as it jumped back.
"Water Pulse!"
This time the Water attack found its mark. Spice may be a young Milotic, but it did not stop her from doing her all in a battle. Seeing how close the wild Pokemon was to passing out, Karin grabbed a Friend Ball and threw it. She held her breath as the ball shook.
Ping
"Yes!" she cried happily. Karin ran to the Friend Ball… and slid in the mud. "Oof." she was grinning even though she was muddy. She was glad to have a new friend… and the fact that she was wearing shorts. She felt a vine wrap around her waist and hoist her to her feet. She smiled, seeing both Bulb and Spice grinning back at her.
She turned to talk to the male that she had heard earlier only to freeze. There, directly in front of her face was a grinning purple figure she recognized way too well. It tilted its head in confusion. "Gengar?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Gengar!"
End of Chapter
Disclaimer: My cousin(my beta, kind of) and I own nothing.