Hello! My name is Izzy and this is my first attempt at a FF for Pokemon (I seriously hope that the accent mark is not a square on this!). This story has been brewing a long time since I had a dream a while ago about this. I am having alot of fun writing this and, just to get it out of the way now, Reviews would be AMAZING and would help me further this faster and farther. Since it is Summer Vacation here, and I have to be at the computer a good amount of the time this Summer, I also have the ability to do so :)

I put up chapters one through three here because, well, they kinda needed to be together. I mean, the information and then the first little bit of the plot all together. Just don't expect too many chapters to be paired up (I mean that would be AWESOME if I could do that, but I have little faith in myself that I could do that haha).

Should there be any questions, comments, and/or concerns, review or PM me too. If I have made mistakes it woould also be very helpful to tell me so I can fix that.

Thanks and, here it is :)

Birth Gift

Book One

Chapter One:: Background Check

My life is far from normal, even for our world. For one, I was born into one of the most powerful and influential families in our world. My branch is composed of the two of the most skilled lines in the entire world. My mother's side, Hearthsworth-River, have the best Coordinators and Breeders, respectively, in our world. My mother, Ameya Goldstone, is the first born of the two's engagement and is the best Coordinator in the world. And no, I am not just saying that, she really is and has the awards to prove it. She is not half bad at Breeding either. Her Pokémon of choice is a Leafeon named Ivy who she has had ever since she was a child and Ivy was an Eevee. My mother, with her thick, dark mid-back length brown-red hair; pale, freckle covered skin; ivy eyes; and kind, soft features, was born in the Sinnoh Region and trained her Eevee in the Eterna Forrest where she evolved into the Ivy we know and love today. Of course Ivy has only liked two people her entire life-one being my mother and the other myself-she just tolerates everyone else or openly hates them. Ivy isn't even fond of my little sister, Paige, who got most of her babies; and I don't blame her a single bit, for Paige can be a very spoiled and rotten child at times.

Paige is almost four years my junior and is a tall, thin, leggy, tan, dark blonde, green-blue eyed, glasses wearing, thin lipped girl who specializes in the Coordination of 'cute' Pokémon and is considered as cute as the Pokémon she trains. Ivy and Mom, though, have been the best in show since Mom was just fifteen years old. What makes it strange is that despite Paige's looks, her personality is like my Grandmother River, my mom's mom, who I shall divulge into at a later date for I have still not told you of my other side.

My mom's side has always detested how much attention my dad's side got. For, you see, Dad's side of the family is full of many of the best trainers there are. My father, Alem Goldstone of the Goldstone Family, is actually the Elite Four Champion of the Hoenn Region, despite being the youngest in his family, and became it at the age of twenty-two, he beat the old Elite Four Champion of the Hoenn Region, his childhood and our family friend, Erik Knight.

Knight-Sama, the name I have come to know him by, has been a really loyal and great friend to our family since he and my father were both little boys, and their dads were friends, and their dads were friends, and, well I hope you get the idea now. Knight-Sama has been like an Uncle to me and helped raise me. I owe him a lot. He taught me about the world, people, and Pokémon. He is an older gentleman, currently forty-seven, with short jet colored hair peppered with specks of silver from stress and age. His build is strong, tall, and covered with a pale tan with a face, marred with laugh and worry lines that have sharp eyes the color of shined copper which always seem as penetrating as knives no matter how tired he gets. His wife, Lilly, had died about three and a half years before I was born while giving birth to his only child and son, who, like me, shall be described and introduced later.

Knight-Sama never remarried after the death of his Lilly-flower and because of the trauma brought on from realizing how delicate the female of our species seemed to be, he was always sure to be extra careful and respectful to girls and made an avid point to teach his son to be respectful and a full-fledged gentleman with other girls. To balance this out, he is harsher to guys and those he thinks deserves to be pushed. There is only one exception to this rule of his and that is me. As to why that is he explained it to me one day after I asked him about it:

He said that it happened on one late spring day, a week or two after I turned five, a little over ten years ago, after battling and defeating a sore trainer, the trainer called Knight-Sama's Aggron a "weak, stupid, beast" and that got to Aggron. In a ragging fit trying to prove he was not what that punk said he was, Aggron started going on a rampage. As I usually did, I was sitting on the bleachers of Knight-Sama's gym watching the battle with his son. I remember feeling the hurt pride that Aggron had, his embarrassment and his need to get back his wounded ego. Feeling sympathetic to the enraged Pokémon, I had walked off the bleachers to try and calm him while everyone else was trying to do the same thing, abet not successfully. His son followed after me asking me what I was doing and ran to make sure I didn't get hurt. When I made it to the center of the gym all eyes were on me, many voices yelling at me to get out of the way but I was seemingly deaf to them. Instead of moving I stood there, right in Aggron's eyesight and starred him down. Aggron, who had a soft spot for me anyways, paused in his rage as I walked up to him. He stood there, breath heaving, his eyes now locked with the twerp who insulted him, but, before he could trample that poor sap, I had set a hand on his leg and whispered words to calm him, something along the lines of telling him how wonderful he was and that all he was doing was proving that idiot right. Aggron calmed and listened to me long enough for Knight-Sama to put him back in his ball. Knight-Sama said after that day he and my dad decided that it was time for me to become the best damn trainer to ever grace the planet and everyone then acknowledged me as a trainer, despite my lack of Pokémon. I then became a part of a very small elite group of people who Knight-Sama respects, cares deeply for, and pushes as hard as possible that only have his son, my father, my brother, and me in it. Because I am the only girl that he does not treat as if he touched it in the wrong way, it would crumple I became like the daughter he never had and I earned the title of his 'most precious girl', after his precious "Lilly Flower" of course.

My father is actually a lot like Knight-Sama, personality wise at least. With looks, it varies, but not enough to discourage people from always calling them brothers like in the stories they always told us. Dad has dark brown, nearly black hair with eyes that shine and match. His skin also has the laugh lines and is as tan as leather. He is a large guy, muscle, belly, and height wise and is one of the best people I have ever known. Again, not just saying that.

My elder brother of nearly two years, Edmund, is the tallest person I know at 6"7 and has long-ish curly dark blond, nearly brown hair, pale skin, wide electric blue eyes, and is super strong. Despite his intimidating size and stature, he is one of the softest people I know and is really good at making people laugh. He is a mix between our mom and dad, looks and personality wise and Edmund, like my sister, Dad, myself, and the rest of our family have something called a Birth Gift, which shall be explained later when it is more convenient.

I know there are people and things I have mentioned but have not introduced yet, but I need a story to talk about them, so patience. And even though this may not be very exciting at first, please work with this for a bit, I swear it gets better after a while.

The purpose of this book anyways is so that I may preserve the memory of what it was like before my Exile and when I realized what my life is for and about.

Book One

Chapter Two:: Gift or Curse?

As it was told to me, my birth had been highly anticipated and had been ever since just a little after Edmund was born on September 1st , two years before I was even born. My whole family, extended and what-not, and the Knights were there for the occasion. Why was mine so large and important, you may ask.

Well, as I have said before, my father's side of the family has something called a Birth Gift, which is basically a very special talent or ability in one area of our world, be it training, breeding, coordinating, or whatever, that surpasses everyone else in whatever field you were blessed in. Here's the catch though, for each person, the Birth Gift will change and as long as someone alive has that Gift then no one else can get it. Also, when someone dies, it is extremely likely that the next born will receive that Gift, one that is an advanced form of that Gift, or a completely different ability. In order to tell what ability the person born has there is someone called The Prophet who actually sees and knows what it is, just by a vision. He and his Grumpig are ancient, they seem to never actually die and have been with us for generations. Right as a child is born into our family, he announces what he saw about the child.

For my brother, The Prophet said that he saw someone who would be a mighty trainer skilled with the training of Fire and Psychic Pokémon. As per tradition, once it is heard what the gift was to be, one member of the family, traditionally the parents or the head of the family, goes and gets a Pokémon of whatever type the baby is skilled with. And so, Edmund was graced with the gift of a baby Charmander, skillfully named Char, from our Grandmother and Grandfather Goldstone, the heads of our family. Immediately there was a bond between them and they were happy.

Months later when my mother and father conceived me The Prophet came by and told them of a vision that he saw of the next born child in our family. Of course at that time my Aunt Manda, my Uncle Rupert's (one of Dad's elder brothers) wife, was also pregnant with a child and was with my mother celebrating and planning the upcoming children when he came by with the news. The Prophet said in his rather eerie voice this prophecy concerning me and my cousin:

"The next born children of the Goldstone Clan will be one like one side of the same coin in which they will be simultaneously alike and different. They will both be born with in the same month, May 25th to June 25th.

"The first born of the two will have an innate gift of just "Pokémon". I see many long, good years of prospering, peace, and happiness for any and all family members should this child be the next Head of the Clan.

"The next born will be extremely intelligent, just like the First one, and can pursue many paths at once, again, just like the First of the Two, but only the Back may never truly master anything, unlike the First on who may master a subject. This one's gift will be "Adaptability".

"If this child is to be the next Head of the clan then things will be equally as prosperous, peaceful, and happy, for both children will be loved and liked well by everyone and everything, well, almost everyone."

The Prophet said no more and would not. So the first of the two was born on May 28th, in the month that The Prophet said. This child was a girl with small wisps of auburn curls, large strange, silvery-blue eyes, very pale skin with sprinkles of freckles already there, and was a tiny thing who just stared at the people who were all there. There was no real crying like a normal child would have, more of the observers being stared at with wise, strange eyes. Because this child's gift was so unspecific no one brought the usual gift. There was no celebration at first, just silence as people tried to place what The Prophet said with this tiny girl.

The person who broke the silence was actually Knight-Sama's son who was an extremely wise boy of about three and a half years with wide, molten gold eyes that just looked right into the girl's silvery-blue ones. He walked up to the baby girl from his father's side and took hold of the girl's tiny, wrinkly right hand, then said with all the severity a three and a half year old kid could have, "She's Beautiful". Ameya Goldstone, the mother of the child, who yes, was actually me, said that is how I received my first name. The girl, me, was then named Isabelle "Belle" Elizabeth Goldstone. It was only after Knight-Sama's son said what he did that everyone started to congratulate my mother and father, cooing over me, saying how cute I was and how they could all see me doing amazing and great things with my life and gift. I had become everyone's temporary idol and throughout the entire time that boy never once let go of my hand and never lost eye contact. I think it was then that we started to always be together.

On June 22nd my cousin, Holden Goldstone, was born. This time people brought gifts and he received a Pidgy and was coddled as well. He has light blond hair, bright cerulean eyes, pale skin with a naturally wide grin that invites everyone in and is like the twin I never had. We do almost everything together as long as we are near the other.

Things were wonderful until my mother's mom, Grandmother River, who did not like our prophecy a single bit because of her want to be the head of such a powerful family, decided to do something about us. The current Heads, Grandma and Grandpa Goldstone, decided to retire shortly after our prophecy was given and had named either Holden or Me the heirs to be, only to become the Head(s) when at an acceptable age and married. Of course that would be many years from our birth so they handed it over to who they thought would be the best choice at the time, Grandmother River. She was the oldest besides them and the only reason Mom and Dad didn't get it was because they were so busy with their kids and their jobs. Everyone accepted this temporary Head out of respect for Grandma and Grandpa and those two went to go live a happily retired life.

Holden was the easy one to get rid of in my Grandmother's eyes; he never wanted to be the leader, too much pressure he said once as we played with Dawn, his Pidgy. Besides, the best combination blood, from what Grandma and Grandpa said was with me so I was Grandmother River's target. The only things in her way for a long time were the prophecy, my supporters, and me so she decided to wait and plan.

You see, Grandmother River is the world's best "Cool" Coordinator and her prize Pokémon is a poison snake Pokémon called Seviper. They are very clever, convincing, and patient which is something that I think helped them get their goal, at least for some time.

Book One

Chapter Three::Incoming Rock and Steel

For the first four years of my life, things were amazing. My best friends in the entire world were easily Edmund, Holden, and Knight-Sama's son, Alexander Knight. I helped train Edmund's Pokémon, Char and his new addition at age five, Abra. Char liked to scare Abra, who would then teleport away and usually to wherever the heck I happened to be because of the closeness the two of us had through our bond created by my helping Edmund train his two Pokémon. These people were my rocks through all the change that started with the birth of Paige about four years after I was born on September 25th.

As the Prophet said, she was skilled with the Coordination of 'Cute' Pokémon and was rather cute, just like the ones she trained. I remember when she was born how everyone was just so entranced with the sweet blonde baby. I remember how Grandmother River was the one to give her the gift of a Skitty, a Pokémon native to our home region of the Hoenn, who was then dubbed Kitt. I can still recall how, just like everyone else, I was also enthralled with my little sister; but after she was born, Grandmother River decided that it was time to start her plan of getting rid of me from the family.

I have to hand it to her, it was honestly the perfect time to start her plan. Edmund was starting school when he had turned six just weeks before Paige was born with Char and Abra so he was home less often than before and by his amazing class accomplishments he was vaulted up to a very high status amongst the family as everyone praised him for his skills and intelligence. Paige was a baby so everyone adored her and loved to pay attention to her so that's what vaulted her up on the family's pride chain. I was the middle child who was without a pokémon and usually stayed close to Holden and Alexander so it was easy to forget about me. Besides, I somehow ended up getting into mischief that winded up with me being in some sort of trouble far too often because of the lack of attention from the family so that only propelled the other two forward more easily.

I didn't mind that solitude all too much because I still got to be with Alexander and his Eevee, Sol. But, seeing as Holden and Dawn usually had to take care of his younger brother Dwight and his Sandshrew, Acai, I had lost two of my rocks so I remember that being pretty harsh. But, through it all, Alexander just came closer to me and me to him. Sol soon became not just his Eevee, but OUR Eevee because the time we both put into training him when we were not watching Knight-Sama and Daddy train and battle each other and other trainers who had made it up to their levels.

The year after Julia was born on a lazy week in August another kid had come to join the duo Alexander and I had fashioned. It was about a fortnight after the Aggron incident and by then Daddy and Knight-Sama had decided that they would accept those who wished to learn how to be a better trainer in order to create more challenges for Sol, Alexander, and me to handle. No one had yet been deemed worthy to be trained until that day when he had walked in the door of their gym. He looked to be Alex's age, almost nine, with a tiny Aron followed him loyally as the kid, Tarin, walked up to our dads and got on his knees to ask them to help train him and his Aron, Ferrol. Our dads, who had stopped their training to observe the kid as he did this, like Alex and I did, looked at Tarin and asked him to let them discuss this and walked to their office after Tarin had nodded. He had then lifted his head to where the two of us sat on the bleachers with our Sol and stared at us with piercing eyes.

I believe that this is the point in our lives where Alexander and Tarin had started their intense rivalry. Tarin then stood up and started off in our direction so I had a good view of him. He was tall for his age, an inch or so shorter than Alexander, with straight, medium length moss green hair that fell into his slate-grey and violet flecked eyes. He was tan and had a stance that proclaimed his very competitive nature from the get-go. Ferrol, an Aron with unusually icy-blue eyes, had followed suit, and like his trainer, stared down Sol and his Trainer.

Previously sitting beside me, both stood up as they sensed the challenge that the two of them offered, glaring them down from the stands where we sat side-by-side. Alexander's features have always been, besides his very pale-though not as pale as mine-skin, darker than Tarin's. His hair was about the same length, but unruly where Tarin's was perfectly combed and the color of shined jet. His eyes swirled like molten, dark gold and always had a shine to them, hardening and softening depending on his emotions-although they have always been soft with me-and are what defined his popular trait: the silent severity that he had inherited from his father that was aimed at those he deemed unworthy of his time, kindness, or were just plain stupid. And, if his eyes were anything to judge with, I believe he had found Tarin to be all three. Tarin, apparently deemed as a threat, was blocked from my view as, in his overly-protective manner, Alexander moved to stand before me with Sol. His voice was cold enough to make me shiver when he spoke to Tarin,

"Is there something you want?" His both endearing and frustrating protective stance prevented me from seeing much of Tarin, who had fascinated me like all strangers did and who it seemed like he was going to just pounce and kill right then and there. Judging from the ice I felt from Tarin right then, he might have just pounced on Alexander right then as well. There was a moment before Tarin responded.

"You're Alexander Knight, aren't you?" Alexander's stony expression seemed to confirm his suspicion and so he moved on, "So that would make you," he had moved so that I was finally back in his line of sight and his words dried for a moment. The open roof of the gym allowed for the sunlight and a light breeze to enter the gym, a warm wind kicking in at that moment, stirring my waist-length dark auburn curls and white and blue flower embroidered sundress Mom had put me in for the day. My bright blue and silver eyes flashed as I stood and moved from behind Alexander,

"Yes, so who am I?" I asked him, slightly agitated. I hated it when people would say who I was like I just didn't happen to know who I was for whatever reason or that I had a disease where I forgot who I was every five seconds. It made me feel like I was incompetent and powerless, a feeling I was sick and tired of. Alexander had always told me that it was just something that we would have to get used to because of who we were, but I still didn't like it. Tarin had gulped down his next sentence. Good, I had thought, he is learning. Alexander stood straighter, protective more still and jealous of the attention I had decided to give Tarin. Of course, as he figured out from the way I marched myself down the steps of the stands, maybe not attention one would want to receive from me. I was known to be a little spit fire and a mouthy kid when provoked, words sharp like knives and my empathy limited when irritated at others. I made my way to him and stared deeply into his slate-and-violet eyes, judging his character to see if Alexander's behaviour was just or not. It was a skill I had always had and used to get closer to pokémon by reading how they were feeling, something I had learned how to apply to people at a young age. I made my little five and a half year old self seem authoritative as I judged him. From what I could see, he was harmless, just another kid Alexander's age that wanted to learn form the best and came from money, a blue blood like the two of us, that he had defiantly liked to use. I looked at Alexander to convey that he was okay and to relax, our eyes easily being able to communicate because of the closeness that our bond had given us.

Begrudgingly, Alexander had gotten my message and obeyed my command for him to relax some. He then made his way down to where I was with Sol and decided to finish what Tarin was saying.

"She," he said once he reached me, "Is Isabelle Goldstone, and yes, I am Alexander Knight. This," he said, gesturing to Sol who stood between us proudly, "is OUR Eevee, Sol. Welcome to our fathers' Gym," I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face when he said "our Eevee".

"'Our'?" Tarin questioned as he eyed us, mainly Alexander's don't-you-dare-try-to-mess-with-me-or-I'll-whoop-your-butt aura had taken up.

"I don't believe in catching pokémon. I think that if the two are meant to be partners, the pokémon will choose to stand by the trainer. This method makes sure that there is a natural strong bond between both of them, and so a stronger pokémon. Who wants to fight for someone they don't know or like anyways?" I said as I moved to pet Sol, who then hummed contently. Tarin then decided to compose himself after my speech and once my eyes moved off of him and onto Sol. He had cleared his throat and started his introduction,

"I am Tarin Avion, son of Charles Avion, and the next Hoenn Region's Elite Four Champion," He had stated the last part with a confidence and tone of finality that made Alexander and I look at him, then each other, and smirked.

"Well, you have a looong way to go before you can even try to get to that!" Alexander said with equal gusto.

"Don't worry, I ALWAYS get what I want," Tarin said, glancing my way as I had bent down to start petting Ferrol along with Sol, both humming happily at the attention I was giving them. Alexander went ridged.

"We will see about that," and thus their stare-off started.

Five minutes later, that was the scene that our dads walked into and with a smile on both faces, gave their verdict, I think it being heavily influenced by that image of two nearly nine year old kids being so serious having a glare-off with each other and a five and a half year old girl petting an Aron and Eevee between them, completely oblivious to the competition above her head. They called our attention, they declared that Tarin could come and train every Monday and Wednesday after school, where he actually went with Alexander as we found out the next Monday afternoon when Alexander and Tarin both burst through the doors yelling at each other about something they did in class to make them get in trouble, and Saturday for the a few hours in the morning and afternoon until he would leave for his journey. Alexander hated the prospect of having to spend any time at all with Tarin and went to grab my hand directly after it was said then promptly stormed out of the gym with me calling apologies and wishes to see Tarin and Ferrol later as we left, Sol at heel.

Thus their rivalry had kicked off in both in pokémon training and for my affections-a fact I would learn the summer after their graduation from school four years from then at nearly fourteen with me just turning ten-only to heat up as the years would pass. And as how I would figure out that summer four years from then, their eventual real goal changing, the being the Region's Champion becoming the supposed best way to win my heart.