Greetings everyone! Happy New Year! In honor of our new year, 2010, I give you my newest fan fic, Pokémon Ember Saga. This is based more on the manga than the games or anime, as you will see in later chapters. It is set in Kanto, but several second generation Pokémon will be mentioned. And, if you care to keep track, I managed to mention all 151 first generation Pokémon at least once. Well, that's enough of my babbling, let's get this party started!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ember!

Pokémon Ember Saga Ch 1: The Decision

This is Lavender Town, a small town in the mountains of the Kanto region. People come here either to pass through or to bury a beloved Pokémon who has recently passed on. In spite of the gloomy atmosphere, the locals are friendly and good natured. The weather is good today. The sun is shining, the temperature is pleasant.

But all is not well.

At the Pokémon Center, a girl is waiting. She is about 12 years old, with piercing blue eyes. Her hair is spiky and flame-like, red, orange, and yellow pulled back in a high ponytail that looks like an explosion. She has a scar above her right eye, a memento from a nasty incident with an Ekans in her childhood. Her name is Ember.

She has been waiting in the hall for hours. The hall is lined with pictures of Pokémon, mostly the three so-called "Starters" and their evolutionary forms – Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur; Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard; Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise. Normally, Ember would have been very interested in these pictures, but right now she is far too nervous. She alternates between lounging listlessly in the chairs lined up against the wall and pacing restlessly up and down the hall. Her two Pokémon, a Vulpix named Nami and a Growlithe named Nagi, follow Ember when she paces and curl up beside her when she lies down.

Finally, when Ember is in a lounging mode, a doctor walks up to her. Ember leaps to her feet.

"What's going on?" she asks. "Is Mom okay? Why did she collapse like that?"

"Your mother has been stabilized," the doctor says, "but…."

"But what?" Ember asks, frightened.

"Ember, I'm sorry," the doctor says sympathetically, "but your mother is very sick."

"Sick," Ember says. "What's wrong with her?"

"It's called Acute Promyelotic Leukemia," the doctor says, "or APL."

"Leukemia?" Ember says. "That's bad right?"

"It's a type of cancer," the doctor says. "Treatment is chemotherapy along with a medication called ATRA. Unfortunately, it is an expensive course of treatment."

"And we don't have health insurance," Ember says.

"We won't turn away a patient as ill as your mother," the doctor says, "but you will have to find a way to pay."

"I understand," Ember says. "Can I see Mom now?"

"Right this way," the doctor says.

Ember follows the doctor into her mother's room. She walks quietly up to the bed.

"Hi mom," she says softly.

"Hi sweetheart," her mother says in a weak voice. "I'm sorry I scared you like this."

"It's all right, Mom," Ember says.

"I don't know how we're going to afford this," her mom says.

"Don't worry about that," Ember says. "I'll take care of it. You just concentrate on getting better."

"You are so much like your father," her mom says. "Always thinking of other before yourself. I wish he were here, to see what a good person you've… become…."

Ember's mother closed her eyes. Her breathing becomes deep and even; she has fallen asleep.

"I know you miss Dad," Ember says. "I wish I could remember him, so I could miss him too. But, don't worry; you'll see him again…"

A fiercely determined look appears on Ember's face.

"Because I'm going to find him."

And that's it for chapter one! I know it's a little short, but I promise they'll get longer. I will update next Friday, I promise! I hope you have a good New Year! Watch the Rose Bowl Parade! Dewa kore de!