Author's Note: Okay, so this is my first story here on FanFiction, so I hope this can be very good and well-liked. However, that doesn't mean I'm not open to constructive criticism. Please, if you see something wrong, don't be afraid to say something... Just don't be completely rude about it. So, with that said, I hope you like my story.

Disclaimer—I don't own Pokémon.

Standing in front of me were two roads. On the leftmost road stood the Gym Leaders and their signature Pokémon, giving me a certain look as if they wanted for me to challenge them. A little past them were the Elite Four, also with their signature Pokémon and the same smug looks on their faces. However, I wasn't worried about the twelve of them; I was more worried about the woman at the end of the road. With long blonde hair and a Garchomp by her side, it was impossible not to recognize the Champion of the Sinnoh League, Cynthia. She almost seemed to be inviting me in, though we both knew I'd have to get through the obstacles in front of her first.

On the rightmost road stood Top Coordinators and their Ribbons. Fantina was also on this line, as she was known for being a Gym Leader and a Top Coordinator. My mother was also on this line, standing beside her two signature Pokémon: her Ambipom, Ambi, and her Glameow, Mari. There were other Coordinators that I hadn't known, but ones that I saw in my mother's Coordinator magazines. I didn't know how I felt about seeing them all there, knowing that I could follow my mother's legacy if I took that road.

I glanced at my Ambipom, who shrugged at me, before sighing. What help she was, but that didn't matter now. I had to make a decision now. So, as I took a step towards one of the roads—

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Stupid alarm clock. Waking me up in the middle of my important dream.

I barely lifted my head off my pillow to check the time. It was eight-thirty in the morning, and I just wanted fifteen more minutes of sleep...

"Violet, wake up sleepyhead!" a voice called. That same person started shaking me, forcing me to wake up. I pushed them off and opened my eyes, only to find out that it was only Alex. Alexander McKnight, my best friend, smiled at me as he saw that I was now awoke.

"Don't tell me you forgot about today?" he questioned.

I groaned. "How could I? It's the first day of our Pokémon adventures." This was the day I wanted to avoid the most. I was probably excited about it when I was eight-years-old, but I have to worry about being a Pokémon Trainer and a Pokémon Coordinator more at age sixteen. Sure, I was a little old to be starting my adventure, but many of the ten-year-olds that set out didn't accomplish anything more than beating the Sinnoh Gym Leader. Giving myself six extra years would prepare me, just in case.

Alex frowned as he noticed the sad tone in my voice. "Violet, what's wrong? You don't seem... happy..."

"I don't know... It's just been a lot on my mind. I still haven't decided if I wanted to be a Trainer or a Coordinator. I've thought about trying to do both, but it would be to difficult to manage..."

I started to think more about it, before Alex put his hand on my shoulder. We stared at each other for about ten seconds before bursting into laughter. If anyone could cheer me up, it was definitely Alex.

"Well, you can decide on that after breakfast," he said. "Your mother already cooked a big one, and I'm getting hungry."

Alex raced downstairs and I followed behind him. In the living room, Ambi and Mari were on the couch. I greeted them before my mother's Raichu, Chu, jumped into my arms. He was certainly happy to see me. Lullaby, my mother's Kricketune, Blaze, my mother's Rapidash, and Mr. Grumpy (a nickname I gave my mother's Golduck when I was younger) were helping my mother cook. As I looked around the house, I wondered where my mother's Ursaring and Abomasnow were, since she usually lets all of her Pokémon out their Pokéballs. As I glanced outside, I saw the fur of Abomasnow and Ursaring. They must've slept outside...

"Violet, you could've at least gotten dressed," I heard my mother say. I glanced down at my pajamas (a long-sleeved black wool shirt, red pajama pants with white polka dots, and my black slippers) before giving her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I probably would've taken a shower if Alex didn't rush me downstairs," I responded.

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but his mother cut him off. I hadn't noticed her inside the house until she emerged from the living room. "Well, as a young lady, you should know these things. But there really isn't time for that. You can take your shower after you eat."

We all ate breakfast while talking the new journey Alex and I would be going on. We already decided on what Starter Pokémon we'd choose, and I made the choice of becoming a Pokémon Trainer. Surprisingly, my mother didn't get upset about my choice, which shocked Alex and I. But that subject was changed once Alex's mother brought up Courtney.

Courtney Snow was one of my good friends and my neighbor in Twinleaf Town, just like Alex, until her father started working for Professor Rowan and they had to move to Sandgem Town. Because it wasn't that far, Alex and I still wanted to hand with her, but she became so cold and distant towards us all of a sudden. I've tried to ignore her since it happened, but she's always been tormenting us.

"Violet!" my mother called. She snapped me out of my daze, and I looked towards her. "You've been picking at your plate for the last few minutes, even after you finished your food. Are you okay?"

"Huh?" I blinked before looking down at my plate. She was right; all of my food was gone. I hadn't noticed when I finished my food, and Alex and his mother were giving me worried glances. "Um... Yeah, I'm fine. Talking about Courtney just made me space out... I'll go take my shower now."

I left the table and headed back upstairs. Once I packed my backpack, I jumped into the shower. With the hot water pouring on my body, I started thinking about my adventure and what awaited me. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that could happen, the good and the bad, until the water grew freezing cold and I was shocked out of my state. I rushed out of then shower and into my room, almost hoping that I could stay home forever.

Keyword: Almost.

The excitement of being on my adventure was still inside of me, and it only grew more and more as I slipped on my clothes. A white skull T-shirt with my black and white striped arm warmers under it, black cargo pants, grey cargo boots, and my diamond heart necklace. I would never leave home without it, as it's the last gift my father gave me before he left six years ago. Once I brushed my black hair down into something decent enough, I was ready to leave.

Upon making it downstairs, I saw that Alex and his mother already left, but I found another Pokémon on the couch with Ambi and Mari. It was an Aipom with a distinctive scar on her stomach; it got there after a harsh battle with Courtney's Elekid, in which she was stabbed with a thick tree branch. That distinctive mark is how I tell my Aipom from other Aipoms, though unfortunate it is.

"Hey, Pom, let's go," I called out to my Pokémon. She glanced in my direction and bounced over to me with a smile on her face. I knew she was ready to head out, as she's been waiting just as long as I have. Though I have no physical memory of it, my mother told me that she gave me Pom as an Egg (Ambi's Egg) shortly after my birth, in which she hatched a few days later. As a result of Pom being with me for sixteen years, I completely trust her with anything, including my life, which is why I gave her a nickname. Pom is also friends with Alex's Pokémon, and she used to be close with Courtney's Pokémon until she moved. But Pom and I have always looked out for each other, and we've been waiting for the day we'd be able to go on our adventure.

"A—Aipom!" Pom jumped onto my shoulder and we headed out the door, but I was stopped by my mother. Ambi and Mari joined her side as she spoke to me.

"Violet, stay safe," she warned. "You never know what can happen to you, and I'm worried that you'll end up getting yourself into something you can't handle."

She was referring to my curiosity. It's something that I got from my father, my curious nature, and it's gotten me into plenty of terrible situations. However, that was when I was younger. I'm much older and much wiser now.

"Don't you worry about me, Mom," I reassured her. "I'm a big girl now; I can handle myself. Plus, Pom will take care of me if I can't." Just like I expected, I got a laugh out of my mother and her Pokémon, specifically my mother's Ambipom. We talked for a couple more minutes before I left the house and officially started on my adventure.

~.~.~.~

Alex was waiting for me at the town exit with his Riolu, Rio, and his Buizel, Zel. Just like me, he was wearing cargo pants, but he also had on a red and black long-sleeved plaid button-up shirt and matching sneakers. His chestnut brown hair was cut short to his ear, and it moved slightly in the Twinleaf wind. Once I joined his side with my Aipom, he gave me a huge grin. His green eyes twinkled with glee and child-like excitement.

"Well, this is it. Once we step past these boundaries, there's no turning back now. Are you ready?"

I swallowed down my inner fears and gave him a matching smile. "Yeah, completely."

We both took our first steps together, and it was a different feel. I was used to leaving the town with my mother for some errand or something, but I was without her this time. It was just Alex and I, without authority, without someone over our shoulders, and just with our Pokémon. My first taste of independence was pretty good.

Alex and I hadn't made five steps before running into someone. The force of the impact knocked me and Pom down, while Alex and his Pokémon were able to stay standing. I glanced up, ready to give a good selection of words to the person who didn't know how to walk, until I recognized who we ran into. Talk and old, he had a thick wad of grey hair sitting atop his head. He also wore a suit with a blue vest and a brown overcoat, and he looked paler than usual but that was probably because he was studying the Legendary Pokémon Regigigas in Snowpoint City for months now. It was then when I realized that we ran into Professor Rowan.

"Have you children no respect? Learn to walk straight and watch for people!" he barked. Alex and I flinched at his words, but I cringed at the voice I heard after his.

"Professor, what's the hold up?" a feminine voice asked. "The sooner we give these Pokémon away, the better."

I knew that voice like I knew the back of my hand. The voice belonged to the same person I befriended when I was five; it belonged to the same person whose family had to move to Sandgem Town to work for Professor Rowan; and it belonged to the same person who treated me and Alex as if we were inferior to her. That voice belonged to Courtney Snow.

She peeked over Professor Rowan and smirked at us as she saw us. Everything about her stayed the same, from her straight brown hair and sapphire blue eyes to her lithe body type and her fair skin color. Well, that got a little darker due to Sandgem Town not getting as much snow or being as cold as Twinleaf Town, but it was still fairly toned. She, just like Alex and I, dressed with long clothing to help shield ourselves against the cold; she was wearing a white T-shirt with a gray cardigan over it, light blue skinny jeans, and black fur boots. On her wrist was her favorite spiky bracelet, and she had a blue headband over her hair (probably to bring out the blue of her eyes).

"Well, well, well," she drawled. "When the professor said two Trainers were going to be joining me on my adventure today, I was expecting to be joined by some ten-year-olds... But, I guess I should've expected you two, since we did promise this to each other."

The promise she was referring to was the promise that we made when we were eight, which was about two years before Courtney's parents moved from Twinleaf Town. We promised each other that we'd start out adventures together and when we were sixteen. Sixteen because we figured that was a good age because the ten-year-olds didn't make anything of themselves. I thought she had forgotten about the promise, but apparently she didn't.

"Well, a promise is held even by those who are no longer friends," I replied. "And as you can see, I am a lady of my word."

Courtney smiled at me, but it was more of a mocking smile. "Same."

We all stood there in the silence before Alex cleared his throat. "Since we're all here, can we receive our Pokémon now?"

Professor Rowan chuckled. "Aren't you a hasty one? Well, since we're all here, I might as well give you your Starter Pokémon. Let's go back to Twinleaf Town, though. It isn't safe here."

Alex and I expressed out disappointment as we took the five steps back into Twinleaf Town, and then a few more to get to the center of the town. Once we made it there, he released the three Starter Pokémon from their Pokéballs.

The first one was a small quadruped green turtle-like Pokémon with what resembled a twig with a leaf on its head. It had yellows eyes, a yellow jaw, and yellow feet with a brown and black shell on its back. The Grass-type Pokémon Turtwig looked to be more docile than anything.

The second one was a small bipedal monkey-like Pokémon. It has brown/orange fur and and yellow/cream face, stomach, and hands. Its stomach had a swirl at the top, its eyes had red markings around it, and it had a small tail of fire. The Fire-type Pokémon Chimchar was certainly an energetic Pokémon.

The last one was a small bipedal penguin-like Pokémon. It had a yellow beak and feet and a dark blue head, and those feathers extended to look like a cape hanging off the Pokémon. There was also a light blue crown-like marking on its forehead, and it also has a white face and two while ovals on its chest. The Water-type Pokémon Piplup looked to have a lot of self pride.

I already knew which Pokémon I wanted, as it's been the same for the last ten years. Alex never told me which Pokémon he wanted, though I could only guess it was a certain Fire-type. Courtney, though, was the person I was unsure of. She could've wanted either Pokémon, just as long as it had the type advantage over mine. And I wasn't going to let her take the Pokémon Alex or I wanted just because of such.

So imagine my surprise when I get the first choice. I expected Courtney to be able to choose first, seeing as how she was his assistant, but the professor explained that she was being rude and intolerable the entire time. With my choice already in my head, I reached for Piplup's Pokéball. Alex let Courtney go next, and she chose Turtwig. I don't know if she did so to have the type advantage, like I said she would, or because she honestly wanted Turtwig. As I saw a genuine smile on her face upon introducing herself, I figured it was for both. That was fine because Alex was relieved in being able to get Chimchar. Chimchar seemed a little upset about being chose last, but Alex reassured him.

"Hmm... Due to your burning tail, I'll name you Inferno," he stated. Alex was always one to nickname his Pokémon as he got them, which was different from Courtney and I. Whereas Courtney didn't nickname her Pokémon at all, I only gave nicknames to Pokémon I could fully trust. I didn't know if I could trust Piplup yet, so I held off on giving her a name.

"You three should meet me in my lab as you cross by Sandgem Town. I have something else to give you there," Professor Rowan told us before leaving. I could only imagine what he planned to give us as he walked off. Courtney followed behind him after giving Alex and I our own set of insults. Alex soon went home himself, and I watched him go off as Rio and Zel welcomed their new teammate. I glanced down at my own Pokémon and saw how Piplup and Pom got along almost as if they were sisters. It made me happy to see my new Pokémon joining the team without conflict.

"Let's introduce you to my parents, Piplup."

"Pip! Piplup!"

"Pom!"

Both of my Pokémon seemed to be happy about that, so I headed back home. My mother was in the kitchen cooking something when I walked in. Ambi and Mari ran over to me as they saw me walk in, and they were interacting with my new Piplup. The commotion got my mother's attenton and she smiled.

"Of course it was you, Violet. Ambi and Mari only get so worked up for you," she joked.

I petted the fur of my mother's Pokémon before picking up Piplup. "Mom, this is Piplup, my Starter Pokémon. I'm sure she and I are going to get along well, as she's already befriending Pom and your Pokémon.

She chuckled. "Yeah, Piplup is very charming. Have you battled with her yet?"

"No, not yet." I already knew what she was implying. "Can I have a battle against you?"

Her smile grew wider. "I was just about to ask you."

My mother and I left out the backdoor into the backyard, and Ambi, Mari, Piplup, and Pom followed behind us. Ambi and Mari joined my mother at the far end of the yard, and Piplup and Pom joined my end near the house. Piplup glanced at the four of us, shocked at our sudden change in attitude. Where we were cheerful just a second ago, now we were serious.

Back in her day, my mother was the undefeated Top Coordinator. The Grand Festival hadn't been initiated yet, and Coordinators were awarded the title of Top Coordinator for defeating the previous Top Coordinator in a Contest. The system of the Grand Festival was a fairly new thing, being initiated only eight years ago. It made it so that a Coordinator would be awarded the title every year. Five Ribbons are needed to enter in it, however the number was reduced to three this year because of an incident in which Ribbons were stolen.

"Violet, you have the first attack," my mother announced.

I nodded and started my attack. "Pom, start us off with Swift. Piplup, use Growl!" The sound waves from Piplup's Growl attack mixed with the stars from Aipom's Swift attack to boost the speed of the stars. If it landed, it would've directly attacked my mother's Pokémon while lowering their Attack stat.

But, of course, my mother had other plans. "Ambi, stop that Swift with your own. Mari use Shadow Claw on Violet's Aipom."

My mother's Ambipom stopped by combination with her own Swift attack, while her Glameow raced over to Pom. As her paw became surrounded by the dark energy, I could only wonder what my mother was trying to do. She knew as well as I did that Shadow Claw didn't affect Pom at all...

Unless she was trying to distract me, which worked. I wasn't able to give a command due to my confusion, and her Glameow raced right by Pom, who just stood there. Once she was behind Pom and Piplup, my mother gave her final command.

"Mari, be a dear and use Shock Wave. Ambi, help her out and use Ice Punch."

Glameow's Shock Wave attack hit both Piplup and Pom, knocking Piplup out. It also his Ambi's frozen fist, electrocuting it to give it a freezing and shocking affect to any Pokémon hit by it. That Pokémon happened to be Pom. She tried to block it, but the electric paralyzed her and left her defenseless to the cold that engulfed her body. Now both of my Pokémon were defeated.

~.~.~.~

"Okay, thank you. I'll see you later, Mom!" I yelled as I walked out the door. After our battle, she gave me advice on giving out commands and timing before she healed my Pokémon. Then she gave me a map of the Sinnoh region, saying that I would need it should I ever got lost.

Now outside of my house, I took a deep breath. Pom and Piplup joined me, and I noticed a metal gate in the distance. That reminded me of what else I had to do before leaving Twinleaf Town.

"Pom, Piplup, we're going to go see my father." Like I expected, Pom's expression dropped. Piplup looked to her with confusion, but she'd soon be caught up. Pom jumped on my shoulder as I grabbed Piplup and headed towards the metal gate.

Down by the mini pond in Twinleaf Town was a cemetery for the Trainers the city lost. One of those Trainers happened to be my father when he left out six years ago. He didn't make it far, though, as a Pokémon Poacher attacked him and stole all his Pokémon. Before my father could return home or to the nearest city, the Pokémon Poacher went back for him and killed him. How do I know this? Because he sent a letter to our house saying that he did so. My mother and I were devastated, along with Pom, Ambi, Mari, and my mother's other Pokémon, and we mourned his death for many weeks.

But I was over it now. I've already cried all my tears for him, and I was ready to prove to him that I could be stronger than he was, just like we wanted for me to be. Seeing his grave still made me upset, though...

"Pip...?"

"Yeah, my father died six years ago," I told her. "It was very unfortunate and unfair, but life's isn't always fair to good people. That's why Pom and I learned to find our vulnerabilities and turn them into strengths..."

"Aipom." She was agreeing with me, but I could still see the hidden sadness in her eyes.

I didn't want to end up being here all day, so I stood up and walked away. Pom followed me, and Piplup followed us after lingering for a few more seconds. She must've been reflecting on the new information, just like the others did. And like my mother once did, I walked away from it. Not because I couldn't handle it or didn't want to handle it, but because I learned to accept it.

And I was going to show my father just how much his death affect me, after I won the Sinnoh League.

That's the end of the first chapter. I hope it isn't too long or too boring, and I hope that my characters are liked. However, they aren't the only original characters I have planned for this story, as one of them becomes Violet's traveling companion later on. But, enough spoilers for today. I wouldn't want to give too much information out.

Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to review and give constructive criticism!