A/N: Well after a long time of not uploading something, I present to you the first chapter of my Pokémon fic. I was going to post this earlier but then the stupid spammer thing happened, and then my exams happened, but now I have the courage to post this. I want to continue writing this but it is mainly based on people's opinions about it, so I really do hope you like this.

I want to give special thanks to Chaos Githzerai, for reviving my love for Pokémon. Now, on with the show.

"I got my lunch, snacks…" Sophia did her final check, before heading out of her room and downstairs, flinging her grey rucksack over her shoulder. Her mother's Vulpix was lying in her usual position – on the sofa. Sophia wondered how on Earth her mother managed to win contests with that lazy Pokémon. But that didn't matter too much anymore.

"It's today, finally!" The young girl stretched her arms, feeling a surge of happiness that she hadn't felt in ages. "I get my own Pokémon today, isn't that exciting, Vulvi?" The Vulpix opened one eye, and looked annoyed that the thirteen-and-one-day year old had disturbed her sleep. The girl realised not to anger the Fox Pokémon and stepped away from her. "Mum, I'm going now; I don't want to be late for Professor Rowan!"

"Okay dear." Her mother called from the kitchen, "but Sophia…" she began as her daughter was about to step out the house, "be careful, and take this, it was the very first pokéball I got when I first started contests, and I'm sure you'll find it useful." It was a pearl white pokéball, a Premier Ball.

"Thanks mum." Sophia replied, putting the capsule into her backpack. She gave her mother a quick hug before finally starting her journey. Following her brother's footsteps. Stepping outside, Sophia took the all too familiar surroundings of Jubilife City. She was thankful that they lived in the Southern part of town, it was less busy there, and because it was in the south, it was closer to Sandgem Town. She just needed to head south, go past route 202, and she was there.

Letting out a deep breath, Sophia headed on. I can't believe this. I've been looking forward to this for years. Ever since Rob had left for his journey, Sophia had always wanted to follow him. She was meant to go yesterday, on her birthday, but the professor wasn't at his lab that day so she never got her Pokémon. But today was the day that her brother should start looking out for her. The journey to Sandgem Town took around two hours by foot, but Sophia didn't mind.

This must be the place. It was much bigger than any of the other places in Sandgem town, so it had to be it. There was a gate leading towards the large lab, and behind it was a windmill. That must make electricity for the place, she thought. Taking another breath, Sophia went past the gate and knocked on the door and went in.

"Hi there, you must be the new trainer!" An enthusiastic researcher greeted her, "but unfortunately, Professor Rowan isn't here…"

"What!?" Sophia had been promised that she was going to get her starter today. If she didn't get one soon, she would miss out on the contests and the gym battles. "Where is he?"

"One of his young assistants has found something that the professor found really interesting. But that doesn't mean that you can't get your starter."

Thank Arceus. She had already seen Rowan before, once with her dad and the other time with her brother, so she wouldn't miss out his speech or anything.

"So now's the time of suspense right? Follow me, please."

Sophia followed him towards a lab where three Pokémon were on the table, and one would be her partner for life.

"Which one would you like? Chimchar, the fire type? Piplup, the water type? Or Turtwig, the grass type?" The Pokémon and the researcher all looked at her expectantly.

"Erm…" Sophia managed to get out. She looked at the one closest to her, the Chimchar, and saw a big grin come on its face. She knew then which she would choose. "The Chimchar, please."

"Excellent choice!" The enthusiastic researcher exclaimed as the Chimchar jumped and hugged Sophia, making her giggle. "I can see you two bonding already. And you're quite lucky you know, that Chimchar is a female, fairly rare for the species. Have you thought what you're going to call her?"

"Chi." Was that first thing that came to Sophia's mind. It sounded good, and obviously Chi liked it too.

"And here is your pokédex and pokéballs." The researcher showed Sophia a tray with a red square-like thing and six small spheres which were red on the top and white on the bottom. "These are very useful devices, they let you store Pokémon no matter how big or small they are. And this one here is Chi's pokéball."

Sophia put Chi's ball and the pokédex into her pocket while the other pokéballs into her rucksack's side pocket.

"Thank you so much!" Sophia and Chi waved goodbye as they went out of the lab and on their way back to Jubilife City. "Say, Chi, how about some little practice?" The beach wasn't far away and there must be other trainers willing to battle there. And if not, they could always fight a wild Pokémon.

When they arrived at the sandy beach, just past a few houses, Sophia saw something in the distance, "Hey, look, is that an Azurill?" Sure enough, there was a Blue 'mon that from a far would look like two tiny dots. "You ready Chi?"

Chi happily replied by saying her name.

"Okay then, use Scratch!"

The Azurill saw the move coming and quickly jumped out the way.

"Chi, look out!"

But it was too late; the Azurill conjured bubbles from its mouth and fired them quickly at the female Chimchar, and because of the weakness, tossing her backwards into the sand.

"Are you okay?" A worried face came on Sophia but Chi stood up, not wanting to fail her new trainer in her first battle. Growling at the Polka Dot Pokémon, Chi ran towards it, jumping past another bubble attack and scratching it, making the Azurill fly backwards.

"Wow, well done!" Sophia ran over to Chi, giving her a hug and putting her on Sophia's shoulders.

"I should capture it." The idea just occurred to her. Sophia got out the pokéball that her mum had given her, today was looking up. First a great partner and now a cute one, which would be great for contests. But I need to focus; I can't use her in a contest unless I capture her. Sophia threw the pearl white pokéball; it went towards the Azurill… and straight past it, into the ocean. "No, no, no, no, no!" Sophia screamed: she had lost her mother's pokéball.

Maybe if she got in the ocean, found the ball then everything would go right again. The girl ran to the tide, frustrated that she had already failed. But wait: something was tugging at her leg.

It was the Azurill. "Do you want to join us?"

Sophia turned her head to Chi, "what do you think?"

Chi replied with a nod.

"Okay, let me just get a pokéball and…" capture you didn't seem to make out. The Azurill had bounced up and used water gun, completely soaking Sophia and Chi. "But I thought!" What an annoying and mischievous Pokémon. It just showed how many different personalities Pokémon had. And as it bounced away, giggling to a sound of 'Azuzuzu', it was joined by another laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sophia turned to see a boy, not much older than her, laughing away at what must have been a pathetic scene. Trying to straighten her short blond hair, she stood up and waited for a reply.

"Oh, just the way that you show such inexperience." How rude. Sophia was obviously inexperienced; she had only had Chi for less than an hour.

"Well it was my first battle."

"Oh, you look a bit old for a new beginner." True, most trainers did start their journeys at a young age, but there wasn't a law requiring that they had to be ten to start. "Though I only started out a few weeks ago, so I'll let you off."

Sophia took a good look at whoever-he-was and noticed he didn't have many Pokémon, well at least not on show. He wore a sleeveless red jacket, a black backpack, a brown belt that showed three pokéballs and black baggy trousers. It was quite different to her own style; blue jeans, black top, white jacket and grey rucksack "My name's Sophia, what's yours?" She said, wanting to be nice.

"Matt." 'Matt' brushed his brown hair back, "So, Sophia, do you want a battle?"

"But…" She had only just started, and Chi had suffered from the attack from that Azurill too, "what do you think, Chi?" A smile came upon the Chimchar's face; she was ready for a battle anytime. "Okay, get ready!"

"Don't think I'll hold back because you're new to this," Matt called back, getting into position for the battle, he pulled out one of his pokéballs, making it grow larger and throwing it in the air, and a red light seemed to make a Shinx materialize.

"Wow, a Shinx! My brother has one of those." Sophia noticed a glare come from Matt, and quickly asked Chi to get ready. She paused, not sure who was going to attack first, and she decided to break the silence by shouting, "Chi, use scratch!" Chi began running towards the Flash Pokémon, her hand outstretched.

"Dodge it, Shinx!" The Pokémon obeyed and quickly jumped over the attacking Pokémon. "And counter with tackle!" Once again, he obeyed and hit the chimp Pokémon. Chi managed to embrace the attack, but still got knocked back a few steps.

The Shinx's eyes seemed to glow red for a second, and then it was glaring at Chi. Sophia could tell that Chi didn't like it – it put her off somehow. And then because of the leer, Chi let her defence down, she was scared of the electric Pokémon. "Tackle!" Matt shouted behind, and Shinx hit Chi full-on, making her fly backwards and hitting the sand, laying still.

"Oh no, Chi!" Sophia ran to her only 'mon, annoyed with her stupidity of allowing Chi to battle even though she had been injured by the Azurill. "Please be okay!" Thankfully, Chi stood up, clutching her arm, "What are you doing? Don't you want to rest?" Chi shook her head; it seemed her new partner was very persistent.

"You seem to have developed a bond with her," Matt said, seemingly amazed that Chi was still going, "pretty good for a trainer who doesn't know how to battle." A smirk crawled upon his face.

And what did he mean by that comment anyway? Sophia thought of herself as an alright battler, at least for a beginner.

Chi began to growl; she must have noticed the insult Matt had given Sophia. "Alright Shinx, finish this off with a bite." As the enemy Pokémon grew closer, Sophia wasn't sure what to say. Scratch never seemed to work, but that was the only move Chi knew. She had to say something, she couldn't let Chi down, after all the effort she put in. The Shinx must have been only half a metre away before Sophia managed to shout "Jump!"

The female Chimp jumped in the air, dodging the bite attack.

"And now, scratch!"

Chi's nails seemed to flash a bright white colour, and then they seemed to grow longer. Sophia felt excitement grow inside her, this was Chi's best attack yet, and it might mean her first winning battle!

"Shinx, behind you!" It was obvious that it was too late to try to doge the attack, so what would Matt do? Sophia felt for sure that she would win now. "Use bite!" Shinx's teeth gained the same bright light that Chi's claws had done, and the sureness in Sophia nearly died out. I gotta remain positive, for Chi's sake if not my own.

Claw and teeth met, and Sophia couldn't watch. She heard bodies meeting the sand and turned. Both Chi and the Shinx were past a trail of moved sand. "Chi!" Once again Sophia ran to her partner, hating herself even more. Why did she let her continue? This was a horrible start to her career as a trainer. "Take a good long rest, you really deserve it." She pulled Chi's pokéball from her coat pocket, pressed the button to make it large and aimed it at Chi, "return." The red light that she had seen Shinx come from erupted from the capsule, along with a high pitched sound and formed a straight line towards Chi, enveloping her small frame before the light returned in and ended.

Sophia saw that Matt's Shinx was also badly hurt, and that he had called him back too.

"I take back what I said before," Matt turned and approached Sophia, "you're a determined battler, same with Chi as well."

"Thank you." She stood up and shook Matt's outstretched hand, "though it was really Chi doing the work."

"No, it wasn't."

It was weird, it seemed Matt had changed his personality. Sophia thought he was a jerk at first but now, he seemed nice.

"But there are some improvements you could make."

"Fair enough, but just because I'm a new trainer doesn't mean I'm a bad one." She may not have won her first battle, but at least she didn't lose it. "Well, I guess I might see you later. Good bye Matt." Sophia turned and started to walk north, if she wanted to get home, she would have to go soon. The two hour walk could take longer if she met with any other trainers or Pokémon.

"Hey wait!" Matt's running footsteps sounded, "Are you going to Jubilife City?"

"Yeah, I live there, why?"

"I'm going that way too." Matt paused, was he nervous? "And look – if we travel together, maybe I can help you catch a Pokémon."

"Sure, I would like that." Travelling alone with an injured 'mon wasn't the most appealing route to take anyway.

"Hey look at that!"

An hour and a half through the youth's journey to Jubilife City, Sophia had spotted a Pokémon she hadn't seen before.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you check your pokédex?" Matt replied, at first he didn't recognise it, instead of its usually green head and red horn, it was black and purple. It still retained its silvery body, and the looks gave it away but it would be better if Sophia checked anyway. It wasn't that normal for one of its kind to be out here though.

Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts uses the horns on its head to sense human emotions. It is said to appear in front of cheerful people.

Matt noticed Sophia taking in all the information, eyes sparkling at what must be her first entry to her pokédex. And if the entry was true, did that mean they were cheerful? Hardly. Despite both of them being glad to have company, they didn't really say a word to each other. Matt wasn't used to having company while he was travelling, so that must be the reason.

"It says this one is a female." Why was there disappointment in her voice? All these questions started to make Matt's head hurt. "But I don't want to make Chi face her; she's injured enough as it is."

"I'll capture her then," Matt didn't realise what he was saying. He didn't really want a Ralts on his team. And if he did, he would want it to be male so it could become a Gallade later. He did say to Sophia that he would teach her how to catch a Pokémon. "You should watch - learn how a master does it." A smirk came on his face. He was becoming his old self again.

His Shinx was still hurt after the battle with Chi, so now it was time for his partner to shine. "Show Sophia what you got Turtwig!" Matt threw the red and white sphere into the air, it opened and Turtwig materialized into the world. "Now, razor leaf!" Even though Turtwig had just realised where he was, he quickly complied. Its tiny leafs turned a bright green colour and Turtwig nudged its head in the direction of the attack and two leafs were sent spiralling towards the little Pokémon.

But then they stopped mid flight. A purplish aura type thing surrounded the leaves, and behind it, the Ralts concentrating hard. "Another razor leaf, quickly!" The original razor leaf had been sent back at Turtwig, but thankfully the new one stopped any damage.

Matt needed a strategy; if he failed in front of Sophia… that would be humiliating. An idea appeared in his head, it might not work but it was better than just standing there. "Turtwig, run towards Ralts." Once again, Turtwig complied. He was slow but sometimes that could be put to his advantage. "And now, withdraw!" The Tiny Leaf Pokémon, in mid run, withdrew into its soil-like shell, and the shell slid across the ground, going faster than he would have done before.

"Amazing!" Sophia shouted. She wouldn't have thought of using withdraw as a speed-increasing move. Turtwig hit the dark Ralts, making her move backwards slightly. Obviously she couldn't concentrate stopping a heavy object. Matt shouted for Turtwig to use razor leaf again, and this time hitting the Ralts, making it time to capture.

Matt hastily got a pokéball from his backpack, aimed, and threw the ball at the lying creature. It hit and was withdrawn into the capsule by the red light. It rocked to its side once, and again… before finally giving a click sound, suggesting a successful capture. "Yes!"

"What are you going to name her?" Sophia asked, she noticed that both Shinx and Turtwig were unnamed; it would be nice if the little Ralts got one.

"I don't know… Ralts?"

"But me and my brother always name our Pokémon. It makes them slightly more unique, you know."

Matt still had an unsure look upon his face. Did he have any imagination at all?

"How about… Serene?" Serene meant peace and Sophia doubted that she meant to hurt Turtwig when she redirected his attack.

"Umm, sure. Serene it is then." Matt put the pokéball onto his belt, "We better get going then."

"Wait!"

"What now?" There was something bouncing along. Something that looked like two blue balls, attached by a black zigzagged line. "Is that the Azurill?"

"Yes, it must be."

It looked at Sophia, and gave the giggle it gave before. Azuzuzu. Now it was pay back for hurting Chi. But then Sophia almost screamed from anger, Chi was still hurt and in no condition to battle. She wanted to capture Azurill though, but would… "Matt, please can I burrow Turtwig for two secs?"

"Wha?" Matt looked surprised with the question. It was the only solution though, and Turtwig was unhurt from the previous battle. "Okay, you up for it, Turtwig?" He nodded and Sophia said her thanks. Turtwig was strong, so this should be an easy battle. Turtwig jumped in front of Sophia, ready for action.

"Okay, Turtwig, use Tackle!" But he just stood there. Sophia turned to Matt for advice, but he seemed as clueless as her. "But if you don't want to, use Razor Leaf." And Turtwig went into his shell. Was that a weird sense of humour? He had acted as soon as Matt told him to do something, but now…

"It's been 'two secs'"

Sophia turned her head to see Matt nearly bursting in laughter again. At least he was trying to hold it in now. Sighing out the anger, Sophia tried once again, "Turtwig, could you use any offensive move against that Azurill, please." Finally he obeyed her order. Sophia didn't really need to say anything afterwards; he conjured up three sets of razor leaves, before finishing the polka dot Pokémon with a hard tackle.

With the 'mon on the floor, she could capture it at last. But she couldn't if she couldn't find her pokéballs. She searched in her bag, but couldn't find any. She knew she took them from that scientist, and it wasn't as if she had used them all. She didn't even have that much in her bag, where could they be? On the bright side, this couldn't get any worse.

"Here." Matt sighed, tossing one of his. Sophia caught it, and felt her face go red. Not only did she have to burrow his Pokémon, she had to borrow his pokéball too. Tossing the ball, Sophia prayed that it would hit – and her prayer came true. After what seemed forever, the click sound finally came.

"I've captured my first Pokémon!" Sophia jumped into the air with excitement. Picking up the ball and deflating it, Sophia turned to Matt and Turtwig. "Thank you so much, you two!" Sophia smiled at Turtwig and turned her attention to Matt. Even though they had gotten off on a bad foot, they seemed to be friends now.

"So what's the name for the Azurill?"

It didn't take long to think, the little giggle seemed to remain in her head. "Azuzu." It seemed to come out more as a yawn, and Sophia looked at her pokétch. It was getting late, surprising how fast the time went by. "C'mon let's get going."

It wasn't long before they reached the suburban part of Jubilife City; the huge buildings were almost a sudden change from the trees that they were going through. "I guess this really is goodbye." Sophia gave a half-hearted smile as Matt waved back to her, while his silhouette disappeared into the distance. Was it the last time Sophia would see him? She sure hoped not.

Today had been a good day, even though it didn't turn out just as she suspected. She had got a great partner, Chi, as well as her first caught Pokémon. Then why was she feeling down? She clutched her necklace and looked up at the darkening sky. There was something moving up there, something pink and blue and yellow. Sophia looked at her necklace again; it was the same shape, a crescent moon. Maybe this was a good sign.

Well, whatever it meant, Sophia knew one fact – she was tired. And maybe the new day would share all the Pokémon secrets.