Hey guys! So this is the first chapter and first part of the prologue to our story. If you haven't read our author profile, then let me just explain a few quick things. This is a joint account between Skyfire146 and Hawkstorm14. This is a story we came up with together and we each made a main character that the story's point of view will switch between each chapter. For a better explanation you can just read our short bio. Ta ta for now and see ya at the bottom!
Disclaimer: We do not own pokemon but the characters here we do own. Enjoy!
Summary: From the first day they met, Cherrygrove natives Lydia Walker and Ray Brooks had always been childhood rivals. But rivalries are not quite as simple as they seem and loyalty can be a strange concept. When a simple tournament turns sour and Ray disappears, Lydia is dragged into a mess of rather epic proportions and begins to see that this journey through Johto will not quite be as she planned. Original journey type fic with immediate plot
Prologue Part One
It was the first time they had ever met. He had gone outside to explore a bit and came across a small lake just behind the Pokecenter in Cherrygrove. It was a peaceful little town, not too big, but not too small either. Right on the water. The lake was nestled behind a span of thick woods and couldn't be seen from within the main town limits. It was the perfect get away spot to just unravel and melt away under the sun.
This was what Ray had planned on doing until he was interrupted by her.
"You're in my spot." Was all she had said.
Ray turned around, his hands planted behind him and his shoulders shrugged up so that his long, unruly hair barely skimmed the top of his shirt. There she stood, arms crossed and all. Her straw blonde hair hung down straight next to her face and her thick bangs stuck out from beneath a backwards blue baseball cap. She couldn't of been older than seven, the same age as him.
It wasn't that Ray wasn't good at making friends, it was more along the lines that he preferred to keep to himself and was a bit of a loner. At least that's what his dad kept telling his mom.
He turned back around so that he was facing the lake again. "Well I got here first, so finders keepers, losers weepers."
The little girl stood her ground. "I'll say it one more time. You're in my spot."
"Just go find another spot." Ray turned again slightly and squinted his eyes at her while sticking out his tongue in defiance.
"This has been my spot for a while and if you lived around here you would've known that." She had walked over to the side of the lake and was now towering over him, her arms still crossed.
Ray looked up at her light blue eyes that were glaring menacingly down at him. He reverted his gaze back down at the small waves that inched up closer to him with each passing second, threatening to engulf his tanned feet in their depths. "Well my family and I just moved into town from Cerulean, so it looks like this is my spot now." He tilted his head up to her and gave a big grin.
She took the bait. "You can't just come here and take my spot!" A stomp of her foot was added in to emphasize her point. "If my brother was home, he would totally kick your butt!"
"Sure he would. He probably doesn't even exist and you're just trying to scare me."
"No, he's just in ranger school right now so that he can become a ranger. He's going to be the best ranger ever and when he becomes one he'll definitely teach you a lesson!"
"Well my dad's a pokemon researcher and he came here to work with Professor Elm. He's basically the smartest person in the whole world and he could beat your brother any day." Their eyes locked for a moment, his bright green eyes meeting her lighter blue ones.
She lowered her gaze and smirked. "Well at least my brother, Jackie, is doing something useful. He's actually going to be saving pokemon, not just researching them for the fun of it."
"Oh yeah, well my dad is also saving pokemon through his research."
"And how's that save pokemon?"
Ray stared up at her and sighed to himself. "You know what, forget it. You wouldn't understand anyway." He leaned back and laid down in the grass. "Now just leave me alone so I can lie here in peace." He took his cap off and laid it over his face to shield his eyes from the sun, lacing his fingers together to cup behind his head.
The girl continued to stand beside him for a few more moments before she reached down and swiped his green and black hat from over his eyes.
"Hey!" Ray tried to grab at the hat but the little girl pulled it into the air and held it out of his reach. "Give that back!" The little boy jumped up and was now facing her.
She grinned at him and held the cap out to the side. "Oh, this?" She waved the cap in front of him, careful to keep it just out of reach. "I don't know why you'd want this old thing back, it really is pretty ugly."
"Not as ugly as yours!" Ray pointed at the blue hat that she wore backwards on her head.
She placed her free hand over her hat for security and glared at him. "Mine is way better than yours. My brother gave it to me for my birthday!"
"Well my dad gave me mine for Christmas!" His messy light brown hair flopped around his head in small wavy curls. "Now give it back!" He reached around her and tried desperately to snag the cap back.
Every time he lunged for it, she would simply pull it back and switch it to her opposite hand, keeping it out of reach. "Just give up, you can't get it from me."
The boy huffed out and and balled his hands into fists. "No! Giving up is for pansies who don't know what a good challenge is when they see one."
The blonde girl twirled the green baseball cap around her finger and cocked her head to the side, giving him a triumphant grin. Ray gritted his teeth and lunged again for his hat. She reacted the same way as before and pulled it out to the side away from him. While she was distracted by his left hand reaching for the cap, his right hand went to her head and snatched the blue hat from her head. Ray quickly jumped away from her and stood proudly with his newly won prize in hand.
"Hey! That's not fair, you tricked me!" She stood across from him and stomped her foot in frustration.
Imitating her from previously, Ray began to twirl her hat around his finger and gave her a big grin. "And now we're even."
Her hair was frazzled and thin strands stuck up every which way in a disoriented manner around the top of her head. "Just give me back my hat." She held out her hand and made little gimmie gestures, grasping at the air.
"Not until you give me back mine," Ray retorted. With the absence of his hat, his brown locks weren't looking in the best shape either.
She dropped her hands to her side in defeat and glared at him. "Fine, how about we trade at the same time then, that way one of us can't try and pull a fast one."
Ray crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her curiously. "How do I know you still won't try something?"
"Because I said I wouldn't."
Still unconvinced, Ray walked a little closer to her and stuck out his right pinkie. "Swear on it."
Not wanting to step down from her promise, and because she really wanted her hat back, the girl reluctantly met his hand and hooked her pinkie around his. "Fine, I promise."
"Promise what?" Ray looked at her expectantly.
Her face turned a light shade of red from anger but she continued anyway. "I promise I won't try and keep your hat during the switch." She stopped for a minute then looked back at Ray. "Your turn."
"I also promise I won't try and keep your hat during the switch." He quickly released her pinkie and dropped his hand to his side. "Okay, now on the count of three we switch."
She nodded in agreement and slowly raised her hand that was clutching his hat. "One."
He followed suit and also raised his arm so that her hat was about a foot away from him. "Two."
Their hats were both now in grabbing range and their eyes locked before they both finished the count. "Three!" The girl and Ray both snagged their hats back and immediately shoved them back safely on their own heads. The caps were now both securely back in place, backwards on their heads.
The two kids continued to stare each other down. Ray stuffed his dark tan hands in his shorts pockets and evened his bright green gaze at the opposing girl. She had a similar composure and also had her hands hidden away in her overalls pockets. Neither one wanted to be the first to break the silence that stretched over them.
After a few minutes of the silent stare down, Ray spoke up. "I should probably be getting home now. I need to help my parents unpack some things." He stated as a matter of fact. "Have fun in my spot." The brown-haired boy turned on his barefooted heel and began to walk off into the woods.
A heavy thudding of footsteps and the crunching of dead leaves alerted Ray that he had a follower. The girl strode up next to him and smirked to herself. "I can't possibly have fun in your spot seeing as I don't know where it is, I only know where my spot is and that's next to the lake." She quickened her pace a little until she was a few steps ahead of Ray. "Besides, I need to get home too and help my parents out."
"Well I really need to get home soon, so it's a good thing I'm super fast and can get there quickly." He picked up his speed and gained a few yards on the girl, pumping his arms by his sides as he briskly walked.
Not wanting to lose the obvious challenge, the girl too picked up her speed and was almost at a light jog when she passed him. "Well I'm like the fastest kid ever and I've won all the races anyone's ever challenged me to." She threw the statement over her shoulder as if it was no big deal and continued to walk/jog ahead of Ray.
This act really rubbed Ray the wrong way. He was not going to lose to some stubborn, bossy, unbelievably annoying girl. Ray never backed down from a challenge, and this was no exception. He started jogging until he caught up to the blonde girl. "Well back in my old town I was the fastest kid and kids were traveling from all over just to challenge me to a race." With that, he kicked his feet out and broke into a full sprint.
It only took a few moments for her to catch up to him and they ran side by side, shoving each other back with their elbows. The forest thinned out and they burst out of the trees at full speed. They ran past the Pokecenter and their houses soon came into view. Ray lunged forward and tried to get in front of the girl, his house only a bit ahead of them. The two arrived and ran straight to the side of the house, slapping the side with their palms.
"I win!" They both yelled simultaneously.
Ray shot her an evil glare. "What are you talking about, I clearly hit the house first."
The girl huffed for air and matched his glare with one of her own. "No, anyone watching could definitely tell that I hit the house before you did."
"Lydia!" The girl turned towards the noise and saw her mom outside of the adjacent house waving her over.
She turned back to Ray and hardened her gaze. "I have to go, but don't you think for a second that this is over." Lydia turned on her sneakered heel and stomped off to her house.
"Ray?" Ray lifted his head up and saw his mom standing on their front porch with a worried expression. "Is everything okay?"
He reached behind his head and straightened his hat. "Yeah every things fine." He stated blandly.
His mom rearranged the pie she held in her arms so that it rested easily in one hand. "Oh, that's good. Look at this pie the neighbors gave us!" She held the pie out a little as if to show him how beautiful it was. "The Walkers seem like such nice people. I think Mrs. Walker mentioned she had a daughter around your age." She tapped a slender finger to her chin and looked up to the roof of the porch. "Oh yeah, I think she said her name was Lydia. Yeah that's right, Lydia Walker. Maybe you can go over and introduce yourself, I'm sure you guys would make great friends." His mom gave him a big, genuine smile before returning back into the house with the pie.
Ray looked back over to the Walker's house where the girl Lydia had gone off to. He gave an annoyed little huff and made his way into his own house.
It was the first time they had ever met and already they had made an unspoken vow to be eternal rivals.
Thanks for reading! So next chapter will be from another character's point of view and will be written by the other author and not me. Who is this character that will tell the story next chapter you ask? Well I guess you're going to have to come back and find out!
Also before you go don't forget to leave a quick review! Thanks!