Next Generation
Quick note: While I have a vision of what my own character looks like, I'll leave her appearance up to the reader. Make of her what you will.
Enjoy!
Nothing could beat the excitement of going on a Pokémon journey.
For the first time, Megan was going to be on her own, though she would dearly miss her parents and her younger brother and sister. Her whole family had come to see her off, even her dad's Metagross, who was just as caring as her own parents.
Still, the evening before she left, she lay in bed, talking to her Beldum, Knight, late into the night. Her mother laughed the next morning, seeing the dark circles under her eyes, while her father said he had been the same way the night before his own Pokémon journey.
"Couldn't sleep a wink?" her grandmother asked, serving up a plate of Megan's favorite Oran Berry pancakes. Megan shook her head in response, unable to reply with a full mouth of pancakes.
"Bel bel beldum bel, dum," her Beldum added, bobbing in the air like it was nodding in agreement. It then zipped around its trainer's head, calming only when the thirteen-year-old fed it an Oran Berry from her pancake. "Bel!" it exclaimed happily.
"Don't encourage it," Megan's father teased. "You'll wind up with your entire berry stash gone and a very fat Beldum."
"Steel types can't get fat," Megan's mother told him. "You of all people should know that." Her father gave her mother a wry look, but then broke into laughter.
At that moment, Megan's siblings barreled down the stairs, calling out greetings to the rest of the family. Megan quietly finished her breakfast, cleared her plate, and gathered her backpack and went to sit on the front steps of her grandparents' house, checking and rechecking to make sure everything was there: Pokéballs, extra healing items (since Knight's only move was a rather self-destructive one), food, extra clothes, and much more.
"Dum?" Knight inquired as she zipped the last pocket closed. It settled on her lap, surprisingly warm for a metal Pokémon.
She glanced around the quiet town of Littleroot. It was a peaceful place, one far enough from the ocean to only hear the distant waves. Her home in Mossdeep was filled with the sound of crashing waves. It was a homey sound that she missed when she was away. But this peace was very welcome.
Or it would have been peaceful had the front door of the neighboring house not banged open, letting a boy her age sprint out of the house and down the steps. He saw her and ran over. It was only as he got closer that she saw the small Pokémon tailing behind him.
"Hiya, Megan!" he greeted, scooping the green, lizard-like Pokémon into his arms. "You ready?"
"Yup! Who's that?" She pointed to his Pokémon.
"Treecko. He and I are already good friends, and we only met last night!" He smirked. "Whaddya say? Let's have a battle before we set out!"
Megan nodded. She stood, letting Knight hover into the air. "Is this your first battle, Max?" she asked, taking her place opposite him.
"Yup. Ready?"
Megan nodded again, and began. "Knight, use Take Down!"
Max's eyes widened. Take Down was a more advanced move. That her small Pokémon knew it was a big surprise. "What?!" Quickly, he composed himself. "Trevy, dodge and use Absorb!" The Treecko flipped out of Knight's way and turned to attack its opponent. The attack connected, but Knight hardly flinched.
"Knight, Take Down again!" This time the attack hit, and Trevy went flying, but the Beldum also flinched.
Trevy staggered to its feet and scowled, clearly peeved. "Ok, Trevy, use Quick Attack!"
Trevy shot forward, faster than Megan expected. "Use Take Down once more, Knight!" she called as the Treecko's attack landed. The Beldum zipped toward the Treecko and rammed its head into the other Pokémon's stomach. Trevy went flying again, attempted to get to its feet, then flopped to the ground, down for the count.
"Wohoo! Way to go, Knight!" Megan cheered, hugging her Beldum. Max ran to Trevy's side, where his own father – a Pokémon Professor like his father before him – was already applying a healing spray. Trevy sprung up, looked wildly around, spotted Knight bobbing victoriously in the air, and shouted. "Ko!"
"Bel?" Knight replied, freezing in midair.
"Treecko! Tree, tree, treecko ko! Tree! Ko, ko tree!"
"Dum."
Trevy seemed to seethe. "Ko!"
Megan's father was laughing as he strode to his daughter's side. "That Treecko sure has spunk," he said. He held out a Potion to his daughter. She took it, and began healing her Pokémon. "Well done, Megan. And Knight, of course."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Beldum!"
It took a whole ten minutes before Max could calm Trevy, and another ten for the parents to say goodbye, but finally, the two new trainers and their Pokémon were heading off into the woods of Route 101 and beyond.
Megan took one last look back at Littleroot and waved at her family once more. They waved back, then were lost to the foliage of the forest.
"This is harder than it should be," Max said. "It's not like we'll never see our families again."
"Yeah, but it's the first time leaving home, to scratch out a living."
"You can't talk. Your family's rich."
"So?"
Max shrugged. "Anyway…" He sped up, racing toward a patch of tall grass. "Come on! Let's see if we can catch a Pokémon for the first time!"
Megan grinned, beckoned to Knight, who had been floating contentedly high above, and followed her friend.
Back in Littleroot, May watched her eldest disappear from sight. She sighed and rubbed at her face. Steven's comforting arm took its rightful place around her waist. "All grown up already, huh?" he asked softly and a little mournfully.
"Yes. It's a good thing we don't have to go through this for another three years."
Steven hummed in agreement. They stood for a long while in silence, staring at the place they last saw their daughter. "Well, we know we'll see her soon. After all, she has to come to Mossdeep to challenge Tate and Liza."
"After she gets six Gym badges. That's not so soon."
"Well, who knows? Maybe when she gets a Pokémon who can use fly, she'll be visiting us more often."
"Also after six Gym badges."
"And she has her PokéNav."
"That's true."
After another long moment, May sighed. "Come on. Let's start going home."