Hey, everyone! First, I'm sorry to all of you who were following my BtAS story, Nights With A Wolf. I've temporarily run out of ideas for it, but I'll hopefully have the next chapter up sometime next week. In the meantime, I'd like to welcome all of you to my 1st Pokemon fanfic! I hope all of you will support this story, and review. Now, on with the 1st chapter! Disclaimer: I only own Laurie and Sierra!
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, lived a beautiful little girl and her widowed father. Okay, so it wasn't really a faraway kingdom. It was Sinnoh's LaRousse City-a totally unmagical city in a totally unmagical region-and it only looked faraway because you could barely see it through all the smog.
But for Lauren Hamato, it was all the kingdom she needed-it was home. Sure, sometimes Laurie missed having a mom, but her father made sure she never missed out on anything. They were best friends, and they did everything together. Being raised by a guy might have put her behind in the makeup and fashion departments, but Laurie didn't care about any of that stuff. She didn't want to play with dolls or have tea parties; she wanted to climb trees and ride bikes and play softball-and that's exactly what she did, with her dad right by her side. As Laurie saw it, she was pretty much the luckiest girl in the world.
Life was perfect. Her dad owned Mikey's Diner, the coziest, tastiest restaurant in the city, and for Laurie, it was a home away from home. Everything about the place reminded her of her dad, especially the quote hanging over the front door. It read, "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game," and even at seven years old, Laurie knew what it meant. It meant that she should be fearless, that she should try her best, that she could be anything she wanted to be-and she knew she could do it, because her father would be right there beside her the whole way.
And then, just when life seemed most perfect, everything changed. It was Laurie's eighth birthday, and it started out as the best day of her life. Mikey's Diner was a place where everybody felt like family, and a birthday-especially an eighth birthday-was a big deal. Everyone was there: May and Sierra, the waitresses; Brock, the cook; Laurie's best friend, James; and of course, her dad. They all squeezed around a table in the diner, and when Brock brought out the cake and set it down in front of her, Laurie was so happy, she thought her heart might explode.
"Make a wish, little Princess," Sierra told her with a wink. But Laurie didn't know what to wish for-after all, it's hard to think of a good wish when you have everything you ever wanted. So she closed her eyes, because that's what you do when you're eight years old and you need to think really hard. And since her eyes were closed, she never saw it coming. It, of course, meant her. Fiona. Fiona, tall, thin, and beautiful-that is, if you like that disgustingly well manicured, every hair in its place and every eyebrow tweezed to perfection kind of look. Fiona, perfectly composed-and perfectly horrible. Fiona, who never made a false move in her life, walked past the birthday party, tripped over her own two feet, and fell into Laurie's father's arms-and into his life. As Laurie blew out the candles, wishing only that her life would stay exactly as it was at that moment, opened her eyes to grin up at her father, the one who'd made all this perfection possible. But her father wasn't looking at her, not anymore. He was looking at Fiona-gazing at Fiona. And that was that.
You can guess the rest. Love at first sight. Dinner. Dancing. Moonlit walks along the beach. Blah, blah, blah. And before you knew it-the storybook wedding. All it took was a few vows, two "I do's," a giant diamond ring-and Fiona was officially part of the family. For richer, for poorer, 'till death do us part, and all the rest. It was enough to make you sick. And believe it or not, that wasn't even the worst part. Laurie's new stepmother had been married five times before. Husband number two resulted in the birth of twins, Brianna and Gabriella. . .Laurie's new stepsisters. This was a family picture Laurie did not want to be a part of. But no one asked her. And now they were one big, happy family. . .not. Even so, years later when Laurie looked back on those days, she realized that things weren't quite as bad as they seemed. Sure, Fiona was a hideous excuse for a stepmother, and Brianna and Gabriella, well, they barely qualified as human, much less as sisters. They certainly weren't anyone that Laurie wanted to share her house with. But at least she still had her house, and it was still-despite the unwelcome permanent guests-perfect. She still had her perfect room, her perfect diner, and, of course, her perfect dad. She still had her fairy tale. If only it had lasted just a little longer.
When she was older, Laurie always thought it was strange that she didn't remember much about that day, the day it happened. She didn't remember what she'd had for dinner, or what she was wearing, or who had won the softball game that afternoon. But that night-that she remembered perfectly. Too perfectly. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, she could still see him sitting next to her bed, reading out of her favorite book of fairy tales.
"And the beautiful Princess and her handsome Prince rode off to his castle and lived happily ever after," he'd read. Then he closed the book and leaned over to kiss her goodnight.
"Do fairy tales come true, Dad?" Laurie had asked. Her father smiled.
"No, but dreams come true," he told her. "If there's something you really want, if it's your dream, you can make it happen."
"Do you have a dream?" she asked.
"My dream is that you'll grow up, go to college, and maybe someday build your own castle," he said.
But Laurie wasn't ready to go to bed, so she came up with another very important question.
"Where do princesses go to college?" She'd almost stumped him with that one, Laurie remembered. He paused for a long moment, then began,
"Why, they go to. . .they go to this place where there's a. . ." He paused again, then grinned.
"A place where there's a ton of princes. Princeton."
"Should I go to Princeton?" Laurie asked. She didn't actually know what Princeton was, but if her dad wanted her to go there, it sounded like a good idea. Plus, what princess wouldn't want to go to a place full of princes?
"Nothing would make me happier," her father said. "But Laurie, fairy tales aren't just about meeting handsome princes." He gestured toward the fairy tale book, from which they read a story every night.
"They're about fulfilling dreams and standing up for what you believe in." Laurie look confused(she was, after all, only eight years old).
"It's like I always say," her father continued, trying to help her understand. "Never let the fear of striking out. . ."
". . .keep you from playing the game!" Laurie finished for him. She'd heard it a million times, but it never got old. Her father handed her the book of fairy tales.
"Just remember," he told her, "if you look carefully, this book contains important things you may need to know later in life."
Laurie nodded-he didn't need to tell her. She already knew that life was a fairy tale and that her favorite book had all the information she needed to get by in the world. And then, before her father could tuck her in, her world began to fall apart. Literally. Her bed, her nightstand, her book, her entire house felt like it was shaking itself to pieces. And any citizen of LaRousse, even and eight-year-old, knew what that meant. Earthquake!
"Quick, under the doorway!" Laurie cried, knowing that was the safest place to be until the quake ended. She grabbed her father's hand and they ran to the doorway, for safety. Then they heard it. Fiona's voice.
"Help!" she shrieked. "My dog! My dog!" Laurie's father moved toward the hallway, but Laurie clung to his hand.
"Don't go," she pleaded, pulling him toward her. But although she was holding him as tightly as she could, he pulled away, racing down the hall to rescue Fiona's darling pet.
"I'll be back," he promised Laurie, who was hugging the doorway, tears streaming down her face. And he disappeared down the hall. Just like that, he was gone.
"I'll be back," he'd said. It was the first time he'd broken a promise.
Well, that's all for chapter 1. Hope to see you all back here for chapter 2! In the meantime, please R+R, and no flames, please!