(Please help me out with any criticism you have. Anything and everything is helpful is is 100% appreciated. Remember, helping me just makes the story better. Thanks, and enjoy my brand new series!)

Rusted

Chapter One:

"Hydreigon, let's finish this! Use Draco Meteor!"

Hydreigon only took a moment to charge up his ultimate attack. It was their trump card. This move was going to drain all of his energy, but it was necessary to defeat Drasna's Noivern. And with him being the last conscious member of Sam's team, he knew he had to make this move count if they were to go and face off against the champion.

Hydreigon shot the ball of energy into the air and chunks of debris fell from the sky. Drasna's Noivern did everything she could to avoid the attack, but she was too large to maneuver through the attack. Her Noivern ended up taking hits from multiple chunks of Hydreigon's attack and soon became enveloped in a large cloud of dirt and dust. As soon as it had dissipated, her Noivern was lying motionless on the ground.

"Noivern is unable to continue! This means the battle is over with the challenger Sam being the victor!"

Sam collapsed onto her knees, tears streaming down her face. Her Hydreigon huddled up next to her and they both wept tears of joy. Their goal was within reach. They were so close to achieving their dream of defeating the champion and proving them all wrong. They were so close.

"Congratulations Sam, you too Hydreigon. You've proven to be an exceptional duo."

They both looked up to the elite four member that was congratulating them. Her words were echoing through both of their heads. Words of praise and kindness. Words they'd both been longing to hear.

"You're both now just one step away from becoming the new Kalos league champions. But I can promise you Diantha won't go down easy. Trust in each other and together, you might have a chance at winning."

They both stood, got up and stared at the woman in front of them.

"Don't worry about us. We can take care ourselves!"

Drasna nodded and pointed to a door that was opening behind her.

"Back there is the entrance to Diantha's quarters. Do not falter. Stay strong and stay positive. Very few have defeated her on their first try."

Sam and Hydreigon nodded and proceeded to the door behind her.

"And one more thing," She called out catching Sam and Hydreigon's attention, "wake up Samantha!"

Sam jolted up and quickly looked around the room. All of her classmates were snickering and giving her funny looks. Mrs. Wattman was staring her down and was definitely angry.

"I umm,"

"See me after class Samantha."

The entire class burst out into laughter. Sam's cheeks flustered with embarrassment and she avoided everybody's looks. Of course this happened to her. Why wouldn't it.

"Samantha, that's the third time this semester you've fallen asleep in my class."

Sam just nodded. This wasn't the first time she'd gotten this lecture. This was a speech she got handed to her at least once a week. She was the rock bottom student of every teacher in her school. It wasn't that her grades were all terrible, it was that she just made it blatantly clear that she didn't give two shits about any of their classes.

"Sammantha if this happens again I'm going to have to give you a failing grade."

Sam sat unmoving. She didn't really care. This wasn't news that particularly shocking to her. She'd gotten the same warnings and empty threats before. Only one had ever kept true to that promise and that was her freshman year, two years ago.

"Samantha if you don't take your work seriously you'll never get anywhere in your life."

"I'm sure I'll be fine Mrs. Wattman. I just need to go to bed earlier is all."

"Well then I'll inform your parents to help enforce that."

"No!"

Mrs. Wattman glared back at Sam, clearly angered by the attitude Sam was giving her.

"I will be contacting your parents Samantha. I can not trust you to do it on your own. This is for your own good."

"Please don't call them. It will just make things at home worse than they are now!"

"What happens at your home is none of my business. What is my business however, is how you perform in my class, and if you're constantly falling asleep then not only is it an insult to me, it makes you a failure as a student."

"I'm not a failure!"

"You're grades in my class say otherwise!"

That was the final straw. Sam got out of her desk and walked towards the door.

"Samantha sit back down now or I will fail you for this semester."

"I guess I'll see you next semester then!"

With that Sam slammed her teacher's door and walked out of the school. She still had one class left for the day but she didn't care. She was done with school. Done with this crap. Done with all the shit everyone gave her. None of this mattered to her. It wasn't like she was ever going to know how to correctly measure an isometric triangle with blah blah blah. None of this crap mattered.

Sam opened the door to her home. Her parent's cars were in the driveway so it obviously meant that another lecture was coming her way. She dropped her bag in their mudroom and walked through the kitchen where she got a worried look from her mother.

"Why are you-"

"I feel sick," Sam spat out as she trudged to her room.

"Do you need any-"

"No."

Sam slammed the door of her room shut and collapsed onto her bed. She knew any second now her dad was going to come into her room and yell at her for being home again instead of at school.

Almost on cue there were two knocks on her door, and then it was forced open as her father stormed into her room.

"Why are you not at school?!"

"Why do you bother knocking if you're just going to barge in anyways?" Sam asked with obvious sarcasm as she buried her head into her blanket.

"I-I'm your father, I'll do whatever I goddamn please in my own home! Now tell me why the hell you aren't in school?!"

"Because I'm done with it," Sam replied still buried in her sheets.

Her father scowled and slowly paced around her room. The tension built up further with the sound of every clack of her dad's boots on the hardwood floor of her room.

"You're done?"

"Yup."

Her father took in a deep breath and continued to pace around her room.

"You never cease to amaze me," he chuckled.

Now that was the most unsettling thing about her dad. Right before he'd go off on her, he'd let off a short chuckle or a laugh. It was like he was insane or something.

"Well then, if you're done with school, I see no more reason for you to live here."

Sam jolted up from her covers, panicked. She took a look into her father's eyes and saw nothing but rage and disappointment.

"Wait, I-"

"NO!"

Sam shuttered, caught off guard by her father's sudden outburst. She heard footsteps running towards her room and her mother peaked through the door. It was clear she knew her dad was angry, though it seemed she didn't know why.

"What's wrong Wayne?! What are you fighting about now?!"

"Well Sam here is done with school."

"Wha-"

"She's done. She's quit. Not going. Cut all ties. Done."

"Sam what happened? What's this about?"

God why did her mom have to be so caring. It just made it that much harder to talk about things with a caring parent and a completely psychotic one.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh you're going to talk about it," Her father boomed as he paced around her room more. "Cause if you don't I'm taking away your phone and all your other-"

Sam got up, took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her father. He snatched it and clutched it in his fist.

"So that's how it's going to be then huh?!" He roared.

He took her phone and threw it against the wall. Her phone shattered and it left a visible crack in the drywall.

"Wayne what's wrong with you!"

"She's done, so I'm done."

"That's no reason to-"

"Sam look at me," Her father yelled and she glared back at him, "What's your plan?"

"My wha-"

"You're done with school, so what's your plan? You don't have a job so what are you going to do to make money? You can't live here forever, so where are you going to live?"

"I can-"

"You can't live off minimum wage, so what job are you going to get that can pay more than minimum wage to a high school dropout?"

"I can-"

"And don't you dare say train pokemon."

Sam stood up and glared into her dad's eyes.

"And why not?!"

"Because you're not cut out for it. You'd die."

"I wouldn't die!"

"OH pumpkin you wouldn't last a week!"

"You think?!"

"I know! It's nothing like the league says it is. All these trainers just wander around and provide nothing to society. You're not becoming some beast taming hobo. Give up on that ridiculous dream. It's not happening."

"Like you would know anything about it. Tell me, what's the difference between an actor and a trainer? They both wander around doing shows. Are actors hobos?"

"No, because they actually get paid on a regular basis."

Sam blanked. He was right on that. She couldn't deny that fact, but this whole conversation was getting out of hand. She needed to do something to calm down the situation.

"I'm right aren't I?" Her dad asked and she begrudgingly nodded her head.

"Alright. So it's clear you don't have a plan. That means you're going back to school tomorrow. And If I hear one more complaint from you, or your from teachers too, then...well I don't even know. You're out of this house."

There he went with his threats again. He tossed crap like that around so much it made her sick. It wasn't like her mother was going to help her out either. She never stood up for her in front of her dad. It was pathetic really. She was done with this family. Well, more or less with her dad. She could bare with a pathetic mom, but she couldn't take her dad's crap anymore. She had to come up with something.

"Stay in your room tonight," Her father said as he lead her mom out of her room. "I don't want to see you at dinner either."

"Wayne that's-"

"Theresa, I've made up my mind."

With that they both left Sam's room, closing the door behind them. Sam let out a breath of relief and fell back onto her bed. Yeah, she was done with this. It was time to leave. She got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser and pulled out a drawer. Digging under a pile of socks and underwear, she found her lock box. She took it to her bed and opened it revealing a mound of cash that she'd been saving for two years now. It took a little bit to count up how much money she had. After a couple minutes she'd counted a little more than two thousand dollars. It was enough to get her a pokemon license, a starter, and just have enough for basic supplies until she made more.

"I-I can really do this. I can leave. I can actually become a trainer."

Sam looked at her alarm clock. It was a bit past three now. If she wanted, she could be out of the house and on the road tonight. She couldn't leave through her door, that was out of the question. That just left her window. The problem with that being that it was probably fifteen feet off the ground with rocks below too. It'd be a rough landing for sure. The only thing holding her back now was, if she could do it. She wasn't concerned about her father's approval or anything like that, it was more or less the question of if this was the life she wanted to live. Well, giving a second to think about it, any life over this one was basically going to be better in general.

So that just left packing. She had clothes to bring, so that just left stuff like a sleeping bag and a tent. She didn't have those things so that meant she'd have to buy them. That'd probably cost one hundred dollars for both. Whatever. She'd worry about money stuff when it came to that point in time.

So with that, she dumped her books and papers from her school backpack, and started stuffing it with clothes. Shorts, socks, shirts, and probably more underwear than what was needed for this kind of thing. She also managed to fit a wool blanket and a pillow in her bag, but that was actually close to all that would fit in it.

She paused. She thought she'd heard a voice, and sure enough, she could hear her dad yelling again. It was probably directed at her mom, since she was probably saying something stupid and trying to defend her. She never understood why her mom never learned to just shut up and bottle it like she did. Sure Sam would argue, but if it was clear he wouldn't budge from a position, then there was no point in going on.

Sam looked over her room one more time, seeing if there was anything aside from her money and clothes that she'd need to pack. She didn't care for any pictures, she couldn't fit her grandma's quilt inside her pack, and nothing else really made sense to take with her on a journey. It looked like this was it.

It was then she remembered something. She opened her closet and dug behind a wall of old, worn clothes and pulled out a raggedy deino plush. It was the one thing that'd given her hope as a child, why leave it here in this hopeless place? She packed it in with her clothes and figured that this was all of her stuff. She took one last look around her room and took a deep breath as she opened her window.

Sam approached the pokecenter with her backpack strapped and her head held high. This was it. This was the start of her new beginning. She stepped through the automatic doors and walked towards the woman behind the main counter. As she walked forward, she noticed there were quite a few people around her. It was quite odd seeing as how Vaniville didn't have that many people living around to start with. Some had their pokemon out with them. Most were just basic pokemon and starters. The only pokemon that really stood out to her was somebody's Braixen. She'd never really been a fan of the whole Fennekin lineup though.

"How can I assist you today?" The woman behind the counter smiled as Sam approached her.

"Hi, umm… I'd like to register for my trainer's permit," Sam cautiously spoke towards the woman.

"Certainly. I'll just need to see some form of identification and we can get you started."

"Is my school I.D. okay?" Sam asked and the woman nodded taking the I.D.

She scanned it and typed in her computer for a few minutes. Finally she looked up from her computer, and handed Sam a form to fill out.

"Simply fill this form out so we can put this information on your trainer I.D. please."

Sam nodded and took the paper along with a pen and walked back towards the entrance and sat down next to a couple of the others that were also sitting by the entrance. The form just asked for basic information really. Well, let's just get it over with.

Date of birth: May 5th, 2000. Eye color: Blue. Hair color: Blonde. Height: 5' 8''. Weight: 130lbs. The list just went on with more and more of this stuff.

"Kind of annoying huh?"

Sam looked up, realising somebody was talking to her. She made eye contact with the guy who was sitting next to her. He seemed to be around her age. He was also filling out one of the forms too.

"Are you just signing up to be a trainer too?" Sam asked the guy and he nodded.

"Yeah, I just turned sixteen today and I'm headed off on my journey. Name's Jay, nice to meet ya."

"Oh cool. I'm Sam," She said as she extended a hand and they both shook.

"So are you going to do the gym circuit then? Or are you planning to do the whole Kalos Queen thing?"

"Ew, no don't group me with those wannabe models," Sam blurted, disgusted with the thought of doing anything contest related. No, she was not about to dress up for the viewing pleasure of others. That was just weird.

"Well I can guess what you are doing then," He laughed as he stood up. "Well then Sam, since we both are starting today, you are now my rival!" He laughed victoriously, as if Sam had agreed to his demands already.

"I guess so," Sam deadpanned as she went back to filling out her sheet.

"Well, I'm off to get my first pokemon from the local professor! I'm not telling ya who my starter is so you don't have an advantage!" He laughed as he started to walk off. "See ya round Sam!"

Sam forced a smile and waved back as Jay dropped off his form, got his license and gear and finally left the building.

Letting off a sigh of relief, Sam finished her form and took it to the main desk. The lady behind the counter took it and went back to typing on her computer.

"Alright Sam," The woman said as she handed her a small device, "This is your license. It has all your information stored in it and also functions as an emergency beacon in case you ever get lost or are in need of emergency services alright? Don't lose this."

Sam nodded and took the device from the woman.

"Also, here is your standard Kalos pokedex. It contains a detailed description of any pokemon you may encounter here in the Kalos region. It only contains native Kalos pokemon, so if you'd like the national dex please talk to the local professor for the upgrade."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Alright then," The woman started as she printed out a receipt, "Your total comes out to one thousand-four hundred and ninety-nine dollars."

Sam dug the cash out of her pack and handed a large wad to the woman who started counting the bills until it reached the cost of the bill.

"Alright, give me one more moment to register you and then you'll be a licensed trainer!"

After another minute of typing the woman smiled back with a "congratulations" look which Sam took as the sign that she was free to leave. Which she did. She wasted no time running out the door with a wide smile on her face. This was the beginning of her new adventure. This was where her life would start.

Actually, there were two things left. She still needed some gear and her starter as well. The professor's lab was all the way across town, so she figured she might as well get her gear first.

Sam went walked about a mile to the local outdoorsy shop and picked up her new gear. First was obviously a new backpack, then came an orange, medium sized waterproof tent big enough to shelter two people, a winter proof sleeping bag, a thermos able to carry half a gallon of water, and a rain jacket. She also got some bells and whistles like, well an emergency whistle, flint and steel, and a fair amount of dry sealed meals ready to eat on the fly. Not to mention some other utility things. All that stuff, including her clothes even managed to fit in her new bag with a decent amount of space left.

The total for all that stuff came out to be three hundred and fifty dollars. She was really cutting it close when it came to how much money she had left. She'd have liked to have had some backup money, but with the cost of her starter, it wasn't looking to sort out that way. But nonetheless, she marched on.

After crossing town, she'd finally managed to make her way to the local professor's lab. She finally made it to the entrance and barged in, somewhat losing her composure due to sheer excitement.

"Well somebody's ready to get going on their journey," an older man laughed as he walked over to Sam.

She assumed that this was the local professor, Professor Hawthorne.

"Are you here to pick up a starter pokemon?" The professor asked.

Sam eagerly nodded.

"Err, well see there's a slight problem with that," He stated and Sam's heart dropped. "We actually just gave our last starter to a young man who just recently left.

"Wait, you don't mean...Jay…"

"Ah yes that was the boy's name. Are you two friends by any chance?"

"I made his acquaintance…" Sam grit through her teeth. "So when are you getting your next shipment of starters?"

"I've no idea," The professor went on and Sam's heart dropped even lower. "We're pretty far down on the priority list since Vaniville is one of the smaller places in Kalos."

"Oh," Sam groaned as she slouched over.

"Well, there is one option if you're itchin' to go now."

Sam's eyes darted back to meet the professor's.

"Whatever it is, I'll take it!"

"Well alrighty then, are you sure you want him though?"

"Yes, please I can't wait! I'll take him!" Sam begged as the professor chuckled.

"Alright, well no turning back now young lady," He laughed as he opened a nearby door. "Ahsia! Come down won't you! Somebody's going to be your new trainer!"

Sam waited in suspense. Her starter, the pokemon that was going to lead her to victory and help solidify her as a legend throughout Kalos. She was overflowing with excitement as she heard a woosh, and suddenly a small pokemon was floating in front of her. Studying her.

"Ki?"

AN: Yup, a new story. Hey, worked fairly hard on this one and I'm quite proud of how this story is going to turn out. So don't be mad that I'm canceling my other series indefinitely. AJOH Chapter 10 is nearly done but it's a buggy mess so don't expect it soon. As for my other ones, well, they were old and running on fumes. I couldn't keep up with all the plot points I tried to make and it just felt too edgy to keep going on. Can't hate on SAO if I do the same stuff right, haha. So I hope you guys enjoy Rusted. I'm going to be putting everything that's happened to me into this character. Experiences, relationships, heart breaks, all of these are going to have some impact derived from my life growing up. This is me, and I hope you all learn to love Sam like I'm starting to. Anyways, thanks for reading. I think I'll start posting this regularly, so keep an eye out, and leave a comment if you enjoyed. By the way, thanks for the support over the past two years guys, it means a lot. See you in the next one,

~Treecko Man.