Jesse :) Usually... Cartoons aren't exactly fun. Actually, they're more like a colorful, exaggerated nightmare, only inescapable. And being forced to wander the globe catching dumb creatures is even worse. Usually. My name is Brianne. I'm a Pokémon trainer. I suck. My only Pokémon is Gengar, who is my lifelong companion. No mother, no father. Just a ghost gym in Lavender Town. I'm not even a gym leader, but it's the only place that I remotely like to be in. Sure, I battle the odd idiot who comes through this forlorn area, but no badge, and usually no glory. The gym leader is Spencer, who only has Haunters and Gastlys. He calls me special because my Haunter evolved into Gengar. I still don't know how or why. But he's a loyal Pokémon. Fresh? Sure. Rude? Yep. A practical joker? Uh-huh. But loyal. My life would have continued on this way forever, if not for the fight. One gloomy Monday, Spencer was reeling from his latest loss and decided to take his anger out on me. "Well, if it isn't the Gengar girl," he smirked at me. "Oh well. At least I am a gym leader, even though I only have the Haunters and Gastlys. Guess a Pokémon's evolution has nothing to do with the trainers experience." "You lousy jerk! Take it back! My Gengar can beat you into the mud!" I screamed, defensively jumping to my fee. At least, I hope he can... Having read my thoughts, Gengar materialized next to me, gave an impish grin, and turned to Spencer. To make a long story short, Gengar won. He beat all five of Spencer's ghosts, much to the leaders dismay. Unfortunately, my pride was short lived. Spencer ordered me out of his gym forever. I was alone. "Now what?" I muttered, kicking up dust and mournfully heading into the forest surrounding Lavender. "Gengar gen. Gengarrrr," my ghost sympathized. "Gengar gen gengar?" "Ok, if you want," I sighed. Fine. Gengar wanted me to head to Celadon, get some Pokéballs, and become a Pokémon trainer? Fine. I really didn't want to go hunting all over creation fir more Pokémon, but somehow I trusted Gengar's intuition. Good thing I did. Three days later, I made it to Celadon after a beastly trip. I was attacked by countless birds, and Gengar loved to grab onto their feet and soar away with one, only to return ten minutes later with a doleful look on his face. Ugh, sympathy. I actually had been feeling pretty sorry myself, until Celadon loomed up ahead. Once there, I barged into the Mart, bought five Pokéballs, and stormed out of the city. I was furious with myself. Furious that I beat Spencer. Furious that I was bruised, tired, and homeless. Furious that I has no idea what to do next. Using my fury as energy, I set a fast pace to nowhere. I walked and walked and walked until I crumpled down from exhaustion at the mouth of a yawning cave and slept. I woke up only to stare into the eyes of an inquisitive and extremely rare Pokémon. "Clefairy? Cle Clefair Clefairy!" asked a small, delicately white Clefairy. It stood on its head, its tiny wings flopping uselessly down by its arms. Not knowing what to do, I gently flipped him onto his feet, Clefairy gave an experimental jump, fell over, got up, and told me (in Pokéspeak) that he wanted to fly. I shrugged and turned to walk off, unable to help in the last. "Clefairy! cle Cle Clefairy Clefair fairy!" he desolately cried behind me. I whirled around and stared. "You want to come with me? You think I can make you fly?" I was answered with a nod and a shy grin. "Ok, sure. C'mon, you," I called. Clefairy ran to me and hugged my legs. "Uh, do you need to go into one of these?" I asked, pulling a Pokéball from m belt. Another nod. "Ok, go to it." Clefairy only stared at me. "What, what? What am I doing?" I yelled. Gengar chose just the right time to materialize. "Gengar gen genga gen." "You mean I need to throw the Pokéball at him and he'll go in?" I asked doubtfully. Wouldn't that hurt? "Gengar." "If you say so...all right then, Pokéball, go!" A flash of light, a snap, and whir, and Clefairy was mine. I bent down, picked up the slightly heavier Pokéball, dropped it accidentally. Unwhir, unsnap, flash, Clefairy was standing in front of me once more with a grin on his face the size of the moon. "Uh, sure, you can come out, I guess..." What was I getting myself into? Gengar apparently knew. PART 1