Chapter 1

The snow fell delicately, falling ever so slowly from the sky in tiny pearl colored flakes. It was daytime in Nuvema Town, but it did not seem like it. Clouds obscured the sunlight, in which was trying so desperately to peek through. In it's efforts, though, the only light that shown was the illumination of the clouds, making them less dull in color.
Touya liked these days. He liked it when sunlight did not shield your vision from what was around you. It seemed as if the clouds were trying to save everyone from the deadly and blinding rays of the sun, but it was pointless. Most people preferred the light to be overwhelming.
Touya rubbed his eyes as he awoke. It was nine in the morning. He was supposed to pick up his Pokemon at ten. The boy groaned wearily, staring at his clock for a few seconds with a sleepy gaze, before realizing he should get dressed.
He did so, and put on his signature blue jacket. Maybe his friends would be outside. Cheren sure wouldn't like staying out in the flurry, but Bianca would always find a way to drag him out. And then there was Touko. Let's just say, she would be out there in a heartbeat, having no Cheren to drag her down. Of course, she'd probably have him instead.
Almost on cue, the echo of a chime rang through the house, followed by the: "I'll get it" call from his mother. He could probably guess who that was. "Touya! Touko is here!" his mom called upstairs, as if he hadn't been sure of it. Touya put his hat on; a red hat with a white Pokeball print, and opened his door. He and his mother's room sat across from each other, and the stairs were only a little down the hall. The stairs led immediately to the door. As Touya half walked half jogged down the stairs, he was met with the grinning face of Touko. She was a pretty girl with brunette hair, put back in a signature fashion of hers. Today, though, it was not covered with her pink hat, which was like his almost completely, but with a woolen hat. She had a scarf on, as well as a jacket. It was unusual apparel for the girl, who would wear jean shorts in the middle of winter, but it relieved Touya that he didn't have to worry about her catching hypothermia due to her carelessness. It was one of her less great traits, but it made Touko, well...Touko.
Her turquoise eyes glowed with mischief. "I hit Cheren with a snowball straight across the face, and now he and Bianca want my head. Come on. You have to help me!" she urged. Touya couldn't help but smile as well. "Brilliant. Let's teach those hopeless people a lesson."
And with that, the two started accumulating snowballs behind Touya's house. During this, they heard the cries of Cheren and Bianca, who said things like: "Where aaaare you!" or "We'll find you!"
But, sure enough, such threats were empty. By the time the projectiles were ready, and the targets were lined up, they began throwing. Cheren and Bianca wailed as they were pelted. "I surrender!" shouted Cheren, before being hit in the face with a snowball. His glasses clinked off. Hissing in annoyance, the throwing ceased, and Cheren picked up the now icy spectacles, cleaning them on his shirt.
Suddenly, the door to Professor Juniper's Lab opened.
An adult woman with honey brown hair appeared. She wore a lab coat, and bore a suitcase on her right hand. She had a happy look on her face, and Touya had begun to guess what was in that case. He was a good guesser.
"Hey, there!" she called. You could tell she had stopped herself from saying "kids" as usual. They were fifteen, but she had kept calling them that. Finally, Cheren had spoken up, and the professor had been holding back on saying it ever since.
"Hi!" answered the teenagers, running from their hiding places and dropping their snowballs. Before five seconds passed, Touya, Touko, Cheren, and Bianca were lined up in front of Juniper. She blinked with surprise, but grinned. "Come on in, you four! It is the moment you have been waiting for."
Bianca squealed with happiness, followed by an embarrassed cough at such a reaction. Touko giggled.
Touya walked in after the others, looking around. He had not been in the lab too many times. It was a fairly big two roomed place with machines and mechanisms lining the walls. Some pulsated with multicolored lights, making them look foreign and odd. Scientists were operating some of these machines, absorbed in their work and not even turning to see who the newcomers were. Juniper opened the door to the second room. It was much smaller, and contained a table, followed by a few computers. No one else was in there but them, who filed into the room silently.
"Where are our Pokemon?" asked Touko impatiently. Bianca held an expression all the same, though Cheren seemed silent and patient, as if he could wait all day to begin his journey.
Juniper unlatched her suitcase, and brought it down on the table. The Pokeballs were all laying at the crease of the suitcase, and Juniper quickly set them up in their appropriate spots. "Alright, you four." she said, pressing the buttons on each of the capture devices.
The first Pokemon was a reptile of sorts. It looked like a snake, but had two arms and was bipedal. It crossed it's arms, looking quite arrogant. Touya didn't really want to pick that think, but Cheren and Touko both literally launched themselves forward at it. Though, Touko was closer to the Pokeball, and snatched it up with a triumphant "Hmph", holding it up with one hand, and putting her other hand on her hip, eyes closed. Cheren groaned in anger, but went for the next Pokemon, an orange and black pig who was snorting happily. The third Pokemon Touya had immediately gotten to, taking precautions and literally putting the Pokeball in his hat away from the remaining person, Bianca. It was a small blue otter. It looked anxious, glancing at each person with it's paws to it's face. Once Touya picked his Pokeball, the little guy ran over to him. "Osha! Osha!" it called happily, as if glad to have been picked. Bianca was gushing over a flying squirrel, the last Pokemon, which was white and yellow and utterly adorable. Juniper frowned. "Bianca. If you want me to wait until my assistants catch more starters, I'd love t-"
"No! This one is mine!"
"But it doesn't evolv-"
"Mine!"
It was rude of Bianca to keep cutting her off, but the girl did not notice, cuddling the squirrel.
Touya had taken Oshawott.
Touko had taken Snivy.
Cheren had taken Tepig.
Bianca had taken Emolga.
Touya frowned at his type disadvantage to Touko. He knew she'd love to crush him a thousand times with that. He'd have to get another type to even it out.
The group was about to explode out the door, but Juniper called: "Wait!"
In her hand were four devices; two were pink and two were red. "These are Pokedexes. They are encyclopedias of sort that store information about Pokemon as you catch them. Help me in my research, please, and take them."
They all nodded. One by one, the group got the devices, as well as Xtransceivers, and each forgot about exploding out of the door. They were too busy fiddling with the buttons and looking through them. Juniper giggled at the sight. "You guys can go now."
The four suddenly looked up, realizing what they were doing. They said their goodbyes, and walked out. Once there, they decided to say goodbye to their parents. Touya's feet crunched in the snowy ground and he walked home and said goodbye to his mom. She was excited, though you can see the sadness she was hiding in her eyes. After a few minutes of talking, she handed him a present.
"New shoes?" asked Touya, looking at the gift after he opened the lid. His mother smiled. "Your current ones are kind of old. You need running shoes like that to survive with all the walking you will be doing."
Touyo felt the corners of his mouth creep up. "Thank you, mom." he said with one final hug. After such, he put them on, and waved. Finally, he shut the door.
Now to meet the others in front of Route 1. Touya got a goodbye from everyone he passed in the sleepy town as he made his way to the route. All his friends were there. "God you are slow!" said Cheren.
"We could have beaten the Pokemon League by now." added Touko with a grin. Bianca didn't look as happy though. She actually looked quite sad.
Touya shook the thought out of his head, and frowned. "Shut up, you guys." he murmured. "Are we going to cross the route or not?"
Bianca's face grew happy again. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "Okay, guys. Hold hands, and we'll cross at the same time."
They each did so, lining up at the sign. They took a moment to sink in the fact that a journey was awaiting them.
Taking a deep breath, they walked forward.