Chapter 1: The Day

It was an old house. It looked like a haunted house, with its broken windows and vines and moss growing by its sides. He started approaching it. He could hear only his own feet stepping on the mud. Suddenly, a Pokémon started barking somewhere and he stopped. He resumed his walk, as the barking continued, but he tripped over and fell to the mud hard. Hard? He felt dizzy, and he could hear his father calling him: "C'mon Tom! Wake up already, kid!"

Tom woke up. He was on the floor, lying on his back, with his left arm and leg still on bed and with his pet Pokémon, Freya, sat over his chest. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining bright and birds chirping around. Tom realized then, that he was dreaming, that when he tripped over was when he fell down of bed and that the barking Pokémon was Freya, but he couldn't think of anything for the old house. After all, it was just a dream.

Who was Freya? Freya was a Furfrou, a very special Furfrou. What did she have in special? She was a black Furfrou. While all the other Furfrou where white, this one was black. She was smaller than regular Furfrou too, which made her look very cute. Tom's family adopted her when she got to their house on a rainy day and named it Freya, after the God of love, fertility and beauty, as she proved to be a very kind being. They never knew if Freya had been abandoned or if she got away, but a very strong bond soon began growing between the family and the Poodle Pokémon.

"Morning, Freya" said the teen to his pet, as he scratched Freya on her back. "Did you sleep well?" asked her Tom.

"Yes Tom, thanks. Now get up quickly, you must get going" Freya answered.

"Well, it looks like I already got down, huh?" the teen replied, as he took a big breath and stood up.

As you may have noticed already, Tom had a very rare quality. He could understand Pokémon. Not just any Pokémon, though. He had to develop a close bond with them in order to understand what they said, and Tom had lived with Freya since he was a little toddler. It was at his seven years when he first communicated directly with a Pokémon, but he had never told his parents.

Tom walked to the mirror and looked himself in it. Black, messy hair covered his head, and his swarthy skin shined bright under the sun rays that came down through the window. "This is it" he thought, looking into his brown eyes, shining with excitement. "I'll finally become a Pokémon Trainer." The teen was very excited about this day. He walked down the stairs as he smelt the nice aroma of the breakfast his mother was cooking.

"Hello there, mom. Dad." said Tom as he walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, sleepy beauty" his dad replied. "Hope you slept well" and he left to the living room.

"Good morning, son" his mother greeted him. "I made some pancakes for you. You'll need energy this day, hon" she said when giving him a plate with some hot pancakes.

"Thanks, mom" the boy replied, and he started eating right there, without taking a seat, as always.

"My lord, when are you ever going to sit down to eat?" his mom scolded him. Tom grabbed the closest seat and sat down still chewing the pancake.

Tom's parents were Pokémon Trainers too, and were excellent battlers at their younger age.

"So, how were the pancakes?" asked Tom's mother when he finished his breakfast. Tom was now drinking milk right from the carton, as usual.

"Delicious" he answered as soon as he finished the whole container. His mom shook her head in disapproval. There were two things Tom always did that his parents didn't like. One, he always drunk milk right from the carton, without using a glass, and two, he usually ate without seating. Tom always replied:

"It's useless to waste time doing that" and his parents didn't argue as it wasn't something that bad.

"Well, I'll get dressed now, mom. Thanks for the meal" said Tom. He stood up, and headed to the stairs.

Once in his room he thought he could first take a shower. After his shower, he opened his closet and grabbed the first thing he saw. He took a white plain T-shirt, some old grey jeans, a blue hoodie with a Poké Ball design on it and his black sneakers.

"Not like I'm going to a fashion show…" he said. He liked those clothes anyways. He took his bag and put it on, just in case. He headed to his PC and turned it off and then rushed downstairs almost falling down.

When Tom finally made it to the lower floor, Freya was waiting him in front of the door, sat down on the floor. When he approached her, she stood up and playfully began biting his hand, as Tom scratched Freya behind her long ears with his free hand.

"Don't worry, Freya. It's just a short trip to Aquacorde Town. I'm not leaving forever" Tom said. Freya then stood up on her hind legs and opened the door.

"Wow, you finally learnt how to do it" said Tom patting his pet. "Good job, Freya."

"Heh, thanks Tom." barked Freya back.

"Bye mom. Dad" Tom said after pushing the door open. "Be right back."

"Goodbye Tom!" his mom shouted from the living room. "Good luck!"

When Tom was stepping outside of the house, his mother called him again:

"Wait, Tom!"

Tom turned around and looked at her.

"Why don't you stop by our new neighbor's place? They just arrived yesterday" his mother suggested him.

"Oh, they were moving? Didn't think 'bout that. OK, I'll do that then. Bye!" and Tom headed out and looked up to the shining sun. It was a perfect day. THE perfect day.