Hello everybody, and welcome to the very first chapter of Going Platinum! So, to start with, a few things about me. I'm Zerojackson, either Zero or Jackson for short, whatever you prefer. I'm fifteen years of age, English, and home-schooled. I have a major passion for writing and fanfiction.

A little bit of background with myself and the Pokemon Fandom. I first got into Pokemon when I was about four or five, watching the anime on TV. Honestly, the theme tune makes me tear up a little inside. I'm man enough to admit that. I then got onto the games, and absolutely loved them. I played all the way up to Platinum, dabbling in Heartgold/SoulSilver but never finishing them. I didn't really get into Black and White either. I don't want to say I 'grew out of it' because I don't think you can grow out of Pokemon, but I guess I just didn't really like it as much. And I'm not a huge fan of any gens past Platinum, honestly. I've got nothing against people that like them, fair enough. I'm just someone who prefers the Pokemon in the other gens. So, after I dabbled in HG/SS, I sort of fell out of Pokemon, and dropped it for a few years. However, I've slowly started showing my little sister Pokemon things, and she's slowly but surely started to get me into it again. If I'm being honest though, I think I needed a bit of a different fandom. I'm mainly a Naruto writer, but I decided to go back to my nostalgic roots to get the try and get over some writers block.

Anyway, some information about the fanfiction itself. In case you couldn't tell, it's set in the Sinnoh Region. And it's a collab with my good friend DownsofFire, who is far more adept and knows far more about Pokemon than myself. This story also includes OC's, in case you couldn't tell from the summary.

How it will work, from what DownsofFire and I have discussed, is that we'll take turns writing each characters scenes, or each chapter. So, for instance, the first part of this chapter will contain the stuff I've written, involving my OC Sam. The next part of this chapter will involve DownsofFire's OC, Thaddeus, and he shall be writing that. Eventually they will meet up, and we will most likely alternate chapters between each other.

Also, for the sake of 'realism', in this fanfiction we do have things like crabs, seagulls, squirrells, cows ect, that aren't Pokemon, just normal animals. We want to try and portray this as a bit more serious than your average Pokemon fanfiction, with certain dangers. So, that means that there will be mentions of perhaps hunting, and eating animals.

And that's about it, really. I now present you over to DownsofFire, for his authors note. I hope you enjoy the fanfic!

DownsofFire: Alright, for those of you who do not know me (most of you I'm sure) I'm DownsofFire. That's it. Yes, I know I'm boring. Anyway, you might be wondering "What's this Canadian clown doing writing a Pokemon story?" Well here's the thing: I've been playing Pokemon since I got Gen II in its entirety when I was 6. I never played Gen I (Don't want to either, Fire Red/Leaf Green are better anyway) but I'm still knowledgeable about most of the Pokemon universe. And if you give a good Arceus damn, you'll notice my own Pokemon lemon, "Emerald Shades" on my profile. It's going great so far. (Pst, check out my other stories because they need a review or two. This is what we authors like to call self-plugging, and not in a asexual way.) So while this makes me balance FOUR stories at once, I think I'm going to enjoy it as it will be an interesting experience. Anyway, enjoy.

It was very blue today, Sam decided. In fairness, he was sitting on the beach, which added to the blueness by about five hundred percent. The sea slowly lapped against the warm sand, the cloudless sky looking as though it was a painted canvas of pure blue.

The sand felt good against Sam's toes, and he placed a note in the back of his mind that he must come back here more often. After all, it got him away from that Arceus damned colour green. He checked his watch, forest green eyes examining as the little hand slowly ticked away. Eleven AM. Hm, he probably had things to do. Although, it was rather nice here, he could stay for a while.

With a relaxed sigh, he lay backwards, his dark black hair falling over his face. He listened to the sounds of the waves, going in and out, the sounds of the seagulls chirping loudly overhead. It was rather blissful, he had to admit.

He cracked one eye open when he heard the scuttling of a small critter near his face. A crab looked back at him, it's pincers snapping in curiosity and confusion. Eventually, after the briefest of staredowns, the crab shuffled away. Sam closed his eye again. He did find it odd that simple creatures with no unique abilities such as the crab or seagull could have survived in a world full of exotic creatures. Especially considering the 'exotic' part of the creature included breathing fire. Still, he did not dally on this for long, and soon fell into the relaxed state where you think about nothing in particular.

That is, until a rather young man yelled,"Go Chimchar!"

Sam swiveled his head around with an annoyed sigh, just in time to see a flash of light as a small, orange monkey appeared. "Chimchar!" It cried happily, jumping up and down on the sand.

"Alright Chimchar," it's trainer said, beaming, "Let's practice!"

"Chim, Chimchar!"

Sam watched idly as the trainer commanded his Chimchar. The little Fire Pokemon took a deep breath, and blew out a barrage of tiny embers. "Great job buddy!"

Sam stood up, dusting all the sand off his 5'4 form. He really wasn't in the mood to watch a trainer train his Pokemon. They had never really interested him. He turned, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he strolled away. He was something of an oddity in his town, being one of the only teens to not like Pokemon. Well, he did like them. He just had little to no interest in training them. It took a skilled person to train a Pokemon, and he wasn't skilled. He was average. And, quite frankly, that was the way he liked it.

Eventually Sam had moved away from the beachfront, now winding through the town's streets. He idly greeted some people he knew, whether they be friends of the family, an occasional school teacher, or perhaps even his classmates. Not that he truly knew any of them, considering they all lived in Jubilife. He had no idea why people would come to Sandgem Town for their weekend, when they could stay in Jubilife one of the most bustling cities in the Sinnoh region.

After making his way through the streets, Sam exited the town, and sighed softly. There it was. The green. The green trees, the green grass. Eugh.

He still hated the colour, and most likely would as long as he lived. With an annoyed sigh, he made his way up the path.

Sam's house wasn't anything special. At least from the front. It was a quaint, two storey house, kept in decent condition. And it wasn't green. Thank Arceus for that.

Sam fumbled for the keys to the front door for a moment, casually opening the front gate and strolling forward.

The teen barely inclined his head when a Poochyena, the family 'pet', poked his head out from within his kennel. He felt red eyes following his back as he unlocked the front door.

"Anybody home!?" Sam called, stuffing the keys back into his pocket. The small kitchenette was a sunny yellow colour, although the paint was chipping slightly. After he received no response, Sam bent down and opened one of the many cupboards. Pulling out a tin, he took off the lid, and quickly scoffed down a berry. Arceus, he loved berries. They tasted sooo delicious and sweet and-Just, wow!

Eventually Sam stopped stuffing his face, and made his way through the house.

He soon began to grimace as the walls changed colour, from a pleasant white to a dark green. Eventually, he reached a wooden door. Sam knocked loudly.

There was a buzz from the other side, before someone yelled "Come in!"

Sam opened the door, and stepped inside, before he was immediately assaulted by a dozen different sensations. The first was the smell of berries and plants, mixing together to create a sickly sweet odour. The second was the feeling of something crawling up his trouser leg. The third, and final sensation, was the loud buzzing creature in front of his face.

"Yanma!" It cried, buzzing around Sam's head excitedly. The teen swatted the Bug Pokemon away, before fixing the worm like creature on his leg with a fierce stare. Weedle, get off me.

"Weedle?" The little brown creature's nose twitched, but it slowly began its descent down Sam's leg.

"Hello son!"

Sam's father was not the tallest of fellows. In fact, he stood at a massive... 4'10. He had little beady eyes, which Sam hastened to compare to an insects. His father was also rather chubby, with short, stumpy arms and legs.

"Hey dad. You said you wanted me this morning? Around this time, right?"

Sam's father stood in deep thought for a few moments, before he clicked his fingers. "Of course! Follow me, I was just feeding the Pokemon."

Sam let out a grunt of annoyance, being forced to wade through the miniature forest that his father had built to house all the Bug Pokemon. In fact, there were so many Bug Pokemon, it was rather daunting. From Beedrill to Yanmega to Pinsir, they were all here. Kakuna were attached to trees, Caterpie slowly climbing up trunks, Scyther sleeping peacefully. It was a lush green forest, all within the confines of a dome. It took up about six acres of land.

Sam had always wondered why his father had such an intense fascination of Bug Pokemon. Whenever he would ask, his dad would get an intense look in his eye, and fondly recall all of his adventure. And, by adventure, he meant his time as a Pokemon Trainer, collecting almost all the Bug Type Pokemon in the known world. It took him years, and he eventually became known as 'Brian The Brave Bug-Hunter'.

Eventually, they reached a little hut tucked away in some thick undergrowth. "You ever thought about cutting this way. You know, to make it easier to get into?" Sam asked. Brian just shook his head, opening the door with a rather forceful tug.

They both entered, and Brian walked over to a desk covered in papers and some rather bizarre green substance that Sam, quite frankly, had no interest in knowing what it was.

"Here we go!"

Brian picked up a small package about the size of his pudgy head, and handed it to Sam. "This needs to be taken to Professor Rowan."

"Ah, okay, I'll get right on it."

"Are you sure?" Brian sat on his desk. "You could stick around, help me with the Pokemon-"

Sam held up his hand, forcing a smile. "Thanks Dad, but, I'm not the hugest fan of- You know what, never mind. Thanks, but I'll go deliver it now."

The teen could have sworn a sad look crossed his Dad's face, but it was soon replaced by a big smile. "Fair enough. How're your grades, by the way?"

"Average."

"That's all they ever are."

Sam unconsciously flinched, but didn't say anything. He merely walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Brian sighed, running a hand through his thinning grey hair, before he stood up. And promptly groaned as he felt the sticky green stuff covering his trousers.

Sam grimaced as Professor Rowan's Pokemon Lab came into view. He really wasn't a fan of the old man, if he was honest. He saw him enough, considering he and his father were great friends. It was rather annoying how he kept insisting he would make a great Pokemon Trainer. Dammit, he didn't want to train Pokemon!

He loudly knocked on the door, shuffling around awkwardly as he held the package in his hands. There was something niggling in the back of his mind; like something seemed amiss. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the door opening.

"Are you just going to stand there boy?" Professor Rowan questioned gruffly.

Sam's head snapped up, and he grinned sheepishly. "S-sorry professor."

"Come on in."

Sam followed the Professor, narrowly dodging one of his assistants. It seemed to be rather busy around here. "It's time for people to collect their starter Pokemon today." Rowan stated. Sam nodded in acknowledgement.

Eventually they reached the back of the lab, where a large table with three Pokeballs sat. Rowan made his way past the table, sitting down at his desk, covered in paperwork. "What can I do for you Sam?"

"I've got a package for you." Sam stated, plonking it down on his desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just be-"

The teen had begun to walk away, but a stern "Hold on a moment," from the Professor caused him to freeze in his tracks. He cursed under his breath.

"Yes Professor, is there something you want?"

Rowan seemed to smile. "I have three nice pokeballs here."

Sam blinked. "Good for you? Is that all?"

"No, not quite. These pokeballs contain the three starter Pokemon commonly associated with the Sinnoh region. Do you know what they are?"

"Uh... Bulbasaur, Torchic and Totodile?"

Rowan frowned. "No. Perhaps this was a bad idea..." He muttered under his breath. After a moment of silent thought, he shook his head. "That is incorrect. These pokeballs contain Chimchar, a fire type, Piplup, a water type, and Turtwig, a grass type."

"Green..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Anyway, what's this got to do with me? I really need to get going-"

"Come and take a look at them."

Sam blinked. "...Why?"

"I'd just like you to. Here, take a look at this too." The Professor reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small leaflet. "This is a leaflet describing these three Pokemon. Take a look."

Sam raised an eyebrow quizzically, but stepped forward and took the leaflet. He gave it the once over.

"Right, yeah, I've looked it over."

"Which do you think is the best starter, then?"

"Uh, Piplup? It says here it's a very prideful Pokemon. Pride and self-worth is good. You don't want a cowardly Pokemon, I guess."

"Fair enough. Say, why don't you let her out of the pokeball?"

"Okay..."

Sam stepped forward, and after receiving acknowledgement from Rowan that this was the Piplup's pokeball, he pressed the button on the front.

There was a flash of white light as the pokeball opened, followed by the cry of "Piplup!".

A small light blue penguin looked around with wide eyes at her surroundings. Soon, her eyes fell on Sam, and she cocked her head to the side questioningly. "Piplup?"

"Yo?"

Rowan smiled. "I'm going to go and grab some things quickly. You two keep talking."

"Alright, I guess."

Sam and the Piplup stared at each other for a long while. Finally, Piplup pecked at Sam's stomach. "Stop that."

"Piplup?" The female penguin did it again.

"I said stop that."

Piplup cocked her head to the side, and pecked at Sam again.

He growled under his breath. "Please stop that."

Piplup did not comply.

With a loud sigh, Sam said, "Fine, but I wouldn't do it again if I were you."

Of course, Piplup leaned forward to peck Sam once more. However, Sam took a step back. Which ended in Piplup tumbling off the table and onto her face.

Sam laughed lightly, "You alright?" He reached down a hand to help the little penguin up.

"Piplup!" A cry of indignation arose from the Water Pokemon's throat as it stood up shakily, pecking at Sam's hand. "Piplup, pip!"

"Aren't you just a prideful little-Oh, Professor!"

Professor Rowan had indeed returned with an armful of pokeballs and a pokedex. Sam froze.

"Wait, what? No. No no no no no!"

"Your father can fill you in on the rest, don't worry, I have faith in you."

Rowan quickly began pushing Sam towards the door, Piplup following after them. Sam was in such a shock, his body refused to move, much to his chagrin. Eventually they reached the front door, where Rowan unceremoniously pushed him out. "Here." He chucked the befuddled teen six pokeballs and a pokedex. "Talk to your father, he'll explain. Have fun on your journey!"

"I'm not going on a journey you crazy old bastard!"

Professor Rowan simply shut the door, the click of the lock signaling that the old man was having none of it.

"What is this!?" Sam cried. He didn't want to be a Pokemon Trainer Arceus be damned, he had better things to do. He was going to tear his father to shreds when he got home! He just wanted to be average, and have an average job. Was that so hard to understand-

Sam froze, turning his head to the side slightly.

The female Piplup was quickly running off in the opposite direction. Heading to Route 21. With a loud curse, Sam began to run after the water type. And, much to his utter horror and chagrin, that was how his story began.

The day was quite blue. A happy tune being whistled could be heard if you were in the vicinity. That tune was being whistled while said whistler was walking away from another person. Tall, thin, brown hair, and eyes as blue as the sky, this person walked away from the poor schmuck who tried to challenge his Pokemon knowledge.

"C'mon Thaddeus! I thought you said this was a joke!" Sneering, Thaddeus turned around.

"You should know better than to question me. Especially when you're cocky about it." With the kid sputtering incoherently, Thaddeus kept whistling and walked away, carelessly tossing a small bag of the kid's meager funds. He shouldn't have made such a hasty bet, obviously. Thaddeus whistled a little shanty that he remembered from his childhood as he walked to his large house. He unlocked the door and strolled in, making his way upstairs to where his room was. Opening the door, he saw his favourite colour dominating the room: green.

"Oh I can NOT wait until I get my first Pokemon." Thaddeus sat down in his office chair and spun himself about for a bit while still whistling. He eventually stopped and set the bag beside his computer. He would thank Arceus for the fact that his family was above the middle class, but he knew that he had the intelligence to get out of a hole like that. His grandfather did it, so why couldn't he? Thaddeus pulled his email up on his computer and sifted through some things. Spam, spam, random Delibird, unimportant girl stalking him, and finally…. An email from Professor Rowan!

"About damn time Professor." Thaddeus already had his choice starter picked out. It took a skilled trainer who planned ahead from the get-go to take the championship. And what a Champion the Sinnoh region had. Thaddeus felt his face go warm when he exited the window and it showed his wallpaper: a picture of Cynthia during her most recent battle at the Pokemon League. Arceus, she was amazing, always two steps ahead of her opponent. Thaddeus admired her like no other. He hoped to justify that admiration by beating her in a Pokemon battle. Thaddeus then shook his head of thoughts regarding Cynthia and reopened his email to check from Professor Rowan. It read

Thaddeus,

I'm glad to say that I have got three new starter Pokemon here at my lab. If you have the time, I'm sure you'll find your way to my lab to pick yours out. However, I will not reserve it especially for you like you asked in your last email since they are fair game for those who wish to become Pokemon trainers. So, if you want your choice Pokemon, come to my lab as soon as possible.

- Prof. Rowan

"Excellent." Thaddeus checked the time the email was sent, and the time it was now. Only 10 minutes since it was sent. Prodigious. Thaddeus rose from his chair and made his way down the stairs in a moderate, but hurried manner, giving his mother a quick goodbye before exiting his house. He made his way to Professor Rowan's lab, a route he burned into his memory for this day. Thaddeus opened the door just as another new trainer left the lab, holding a Pokeball in his hands. How pathetic. Thaddeus made his way to the professor, who had a slight look of irritant on his face.

"Ah, Thaddeus, glad you could make it." Thaddeus slowed his pace to a casual stroll.

"Of course Professor, how could I not? After all, this is a milestone in any hopeful trainer's life." Thaddeus put on a smile that generally got people to either give him things, or made them give up on trying to get rid of him.

"Hm, yes." Rowan gestured to the stand with two Pokeballs on it. "Well the last trainer here took the Chimchar as his partner so your choice is still here." Thaddeus glared hungrily at the Pokeball he knew housed his choice Pokemon.

"Alright then, he's mine for the taking." Thaddeus picked up the Pokeball and opened it. Out of it came a Turtwig.

"Turtwig!" The little grass tortoise smiled at his new trainer. Thaddeus smiled at his first Pokemon. He knelt down and patted him on the head.

"We're going to make a great team, alright? You give me your best effort, and I give you mine. Together, we'll be unstoppable. Sound fair?" Turtwig nodded. Professor Rowan raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect Thaddeus to actually care. However, when Thaddeus stood, he put that smirk back on his face as he returned Turtwig to his Pokeball.

"Well Thaddeus, is everything in order?" Rowan had to ask. Thaddeus simply swished his head to the side to get his hair out of his eyes.

"Of course Professor. No one else could be more prepared than I."

Rowan sighed, but Thaddeus couldn't have cared less. If people didn't respect him, then let them fall behind.

"Alright Thaddeus, you have your Pokemon. I'd suggest going to get some supplies before you go out to Jubilife city." He looked up to see Thaddeus strolling out of his lab at a casual pace.

"Don't worry Professor, I've got several potions, Pokeballs, and other needed supplies ready for traveling. However, I've got another goal before I go out adventuring. Don't worry about me Professor, I'll be perfectly fine!" And with that, Thaddeus made his leisurely way to his house to get his bag. It was packed and ready in the corner of his room. It was a dark evergreen colour, with a navy blue sleeping bag rolled up on top. Hefting it onto his thin frame, Thaddeus remembered that he needed to try and get a bit more muscular on this trip. Making his way downstairs again, he stopped to bid his mother farewell. She was legitimately happy that he was finally going out and doing something that was at least half decent.

"Just make sure that you come home safely, okay? Champion status or no." Thaddeus nodded. Even he had to admit that it was hard to be snarky with his mother. He bid her a good enough farewell and left his house. However, instead of turning right to leave Sandgem town for Jubilife, he turned left to head to Twinleaf town.

DownsofFire here. I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope Zerojackson and I can take this as far as we can. Make sure to leave a review, it really helps us out, makes us better writers.

Zerojackson here, and there we go! First chapter done! I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review to tell us what you think, what we can improve on ect. I apologize for any grammar mistakes in advance from myself, I generally work late at night. Not an excuse, and I will fix them shortly. Have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night!