**Originally Chapters 1-3, but I decided to go back and edit some things, as well as make each chapter a bit longer. Thanks for the reviews! (if somebody would actually give me some...)**
I pushed the hat further down on my brow. Thick brown hair fell in front of my eyes, and I pushed it away. I think I'm going to shave it off. However, there was no time for that. She was going to be here any second.
"She's late," Cheren noted, breaking me out of my thoughts. I would often lapse into deep thinking. My mom called it daydreaming, but that's beside the point.
"I know," I replied, irritated. He was my best friend, but I didn't want to compete with him. I wanted her to-
"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late." She stumbled on the last step, but regained her balance. A small lock of blonde hair blocked her left eye, but she brushed it away. She smiled at me. Her face was like a ray of sunshine, her smile like the warm glow of a sunset. I could feel my insides squirming, as my mind struggled to find a response.
"Oh hey, Bianca. It's about time." Cheren was always the snarky type.
"You ready?" I looked at the both of them, before reaching underneath my bed. I grabbed a small box, which contained our new friends.
"Wait, they were already delivered? I thought we had to go meet Professor Juniper!" Bianca's hands couldn't sit still by her sides.
"That was my plan." I smiled widely at her, before tossing the package at Cheren. It slammed into his chest; he almost dropped it.
"Really? You're just going to throw around the Pokèmon?" Cheren glared.
"You throw them on the ground when you want them to fight, Cheren. I'm sure they're fine." Bianca didn't seem too happy with my decision either. I sighed, and asked Cheren to open it. He pulled out three shiny Pokèballs, and handed one to each of us.
"It's smaller than I thought..." Bianca said in awe. I held back a that's what she said and turned mine in my hands. I had no idea what today had in store for me.
"How do we get to pick?" Cheren asked. He never wanted to make a wrong decision.
"We could just stick with the ones in here, I'm sure they're all good." My two friends seemed to agree.
"On the count of three..." Cheren said.
"One..." Bianca started.
"Two..." Cheren continued.
"Three!" I finished. We pressed the buttons, and were greeted with a flash. Three small creatures stood before us, happy to be out in the open.
A small blue animal stood in front of me. I wasn't quite sure what he was. I could tell Bianca's was a pig, and Cheren's was a snake... thing. But mine? It was a little pile of fur.
"What are you?" I asked, mostly to myself. I poked its belly, like the Pillsbury dough boy. It was soft, but it felt like it had a pouch. It pushed my finger away with a slight chuckle under its breath.
"I'm Martin, who are you?" It asked me. I drew my breath in sharply. Had it talked? Can Pokèmon talk? I was confused. I looked at Bianca and Cheren, but they were occupied with their own Pokèmon. Their normal, non-talking Pokèmon.
"How are you talking right now?" I whispered, for fear of looking crazy. Martin looked confused. He opened his mouth, and I saw two nubs for fangs. He closed it again, to think, and then began again.
"Oh my God! You can't just ask somebody why they can talk." Great. Martin had seen Mean Girls.
"Never mind. Have you fought anybody before?" I said, changing the subject. Martin's face contorted into a sick smirk. He pounded his tiny appendages together like fists.
"You bet I have," he replied. I smiled back.
"Alright, let's fight these fools." Martin and I were going to get along swimmingly.
"Martin, use Tackle!" I said.
"Karen, use Tackle!" Bianca repeated. Our two pets collided in a tangle of fur and teeth. It seemed like Martin was okay with hitting women. As the dust settled, he walked toward me, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. Karen limped back to Bianca, who seemed proud of her little warrior. Karen blew out a puff of smoke through her nostrils, frustrated at her loss.
"Martin, use Tackle!" I said.
"Sven, use Tackle!" Cheren repeated. Martin head-butted the grass snake, slamming it to the floor. Sven didn't want to climb to his feet, so Martin posed triumphantly by him. He bowed sarcastically, before Sven swiped his legs out from underneath him with a leafy tail. Martin scrambled back, the snake now slithering toward him. Sven flicked his tongue in and out of his smirking mouth. Martin managed to pull his legs underneath his body and spring toward his aggressor. He wrestled Sven to the ground again, pinning his torso to the floor. Martin was 2-0 for now. He stumbled back toward me, a limp in his step.
"Well, after those brutal losses, are you guys still ready to be trainers?" I mocked.
"Stuff it," Bianca replied, before trying to hip-check me into a wall. I nudged her back, but not too hard. Cheren and Sven seemed to hiss in unison at us. I led the six of us downstairs, where my mother was waiting for us.
Martin plodded alongside me. He seemed a little better, although his limp was still apparent. My mom was stirring up something on the stove, but smiled at us as we came down the stairs.
"I guess you guys aren't going to be home for dinner, huh?" She asked.
"Nope! Got to stay busy, you know being Pokèmon trainers... and... stuff..." I trailed off. My mom chuckled at me.
"I'll see you two later, right?" She pointed the question at Cheren and Bianca.
"Yep! We're only headed for the lab. Leaving tomorrow. Have a good day!" Bianca said as she opened the front door. Cheren and I followed suit, as I grabbed my bag from the rack by the door. I closed the door gently behind me. Excitement was bubbling up out of my body, I wanted to sprint to the lab. Unfortunately, I only had to walk, because I had forgotten how close Professor Juniper's lab was. It hadn't even been a minute, and we were there. Martin, however, still had words to say.
"Hey, do you think we'll meet a lot of Pokèmon? Can I have a girlfriend? I really haven't met any good girls out there. I guess that Tepig was pretty hot..." He chuckled at his pun, before realizing that I wasn't. "You didn't think that was funny?" I looked at him, before cracking a small smile. Martin seemed happy to be accepted. I was glad to have another friend. I looked forward to my journey with him.
Juniper seemed welcoming enough, but she lectured too much. I stopped focusing for a while, I was too busy watching Martin toddle around like a child. He had a wild sense of curiosity. He was playing with an outlet when I snapped back to the task at hand. Juniper moved past me, and began to gesture to us, the three newest trainers in Unova. She wanted to teach us how to catch a Pokèmon. I caught Bianca looking toward me, and smiled at her. She seemed too excited to pay attention either. I called Martin to follow us, and he scampered behind. We made our way to Route 1, where Juniper pointed at a small rodent in the grass.
"Alright, you see that one? That's a Patrat." I was bored again. Juniper was really catching this lame rodent Pokèmon. She had given us a Pokedex earlier. I wanted to find a Pokèmon that wasn't Normal-type. I was already imagining what it would be like to catch a cool Ice-type, or a sturdy Steel-type. I didn't know what I wanted. All of a sudden, Juniper was gone, and Cheren was shaking me out of my thoughts. That didn't happen often.
"Yo, you ready? We're gonna see who can catch the most Pokèmon!" Cheren was so happy. It made me glad to be friends with him. He was almost always sarcastic, and serious. He would be a cold and calculating detective in another world, the way he analyzed things and thought of situations from many different perspectives. He was always able to teach me something.
"Let's go!" Bianca cheered. I wanted to battle her again, to show her how talented I was. I pushed aside my selfish thoughts and pressed on. Martin and I had a competition to win. I looked down at him, and he looked like he was ready to trample through the tall grass. Our Pokèmon journey was finally beginning.
Martin and I stood still, so we didn't startle the creature. It was a lizard, about Martin's size, sunning itself on a rock. Its golden scales reflected the sunlight, and its whole body seemed to glimmer. A small flame flickered on the tip of its tail. I held up my Pokedex, and it began to speak about the Pokèmon I pointed it at.
"Charmander. The Lizard Pokèmon. The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, its tail burns intensely." The picture on the tablet was wrong though. The Charmander on the screen was orange-red, whereas the one on the rock was golden. I looked at Martin, and he shrugged his shoulders in confusion. It was a Fire-type however, and that would balance out Martin's weakness to Grass. I told Martin to get the jump on it. He began to crouch, and shuffled toward his target. He pounced like he was a cat, despite being a rotund blue otter. The Charmander was startled, but couldn't move out of the increasingly large otter shadow bearing down upon it. As Martin drew away, so I could throw a pokèball, tears were in his eyes.
"I swear I didn't mean to!" Martin wailed. The lizard he "battled" was dead. I don't know how it happened, but he had somehow killed it. I couldn't tell if the liquid on its chest was blood, but it was thick, coursing out of the space between its scales. I hushed Martin, before pressing my hand against it. It was cold, which wasn't right. I looked at Martin before patting his head.
"It's alright bud, I know you didn't mean to." Martin's mouth made a line, like a half-grimace. He felt bad, and I felt bad for him. He was pretty new to the battling scene, and that was going to be tough for him to chew on. I picked him up in my arms and walked away. Who knows what would happen to the Charmander? I turned and watched the flame on its tail go out.
Bianca and Cheren were waiting for us. They were standing next to their starter Pokèmon, as well as a new addition to their teams. Cheren was cradling a catlike Pokèmon, and Bianca had a puppy Pokèmon sitting by her side. Cheren looked like a creepy James Bond villain, stroking the small cat while it purred.
"Where is your other Pokèmon? Won't your Oshawott get lonely?" Bianca's eyes were full of pity for Martin. I looked at him, and he looked crestfallen. I waved it away with my hand.
"Martin's so powerful, he's all I need!" I said, full of vigor. Cheren chuckled, but bent down and poked Martin in the belly.
"Man, I should have chosen you, huh?" Cheren smiled at him. Martin sheepishly grinned back. All at once, our cross transceivers began to ring. I picked up mine and put it on speaker. Great, it was Professor Juniper. She said some extra words about our quest for Pokèmon mastery, and then told us to meet her in Accumula Town. I looked up and behind my friends. I could see Juniper waiting outside the Pokèmon Center. I sighed, and hung up. Bianca led the way to the red-roofed building, while Cheren and I lazily followed. A demonstration in the plaza seemed to be just starting. Juniper squealed childishly, before ushering us through the Pokémon Center. After a brief lecture from Professor Juniper, Martin and I walked outside once again. The exhibit in the plaza was now gathering more onlookers. I didn't want to bother with it.
"Do you want to train some more? We might not be ready to face Cheren and Bianca yet." I was trying to be sensitive to Martin's feelings, even though he had ruined my chance of catching a Pokèmon. That second Pokémon, especially a fire type, would have helped round out our team. He nodded in approval, ready to show that he was capable of fighting. We walked back into the meadow to find some new Pokèmon to fight.
"Look what I can do!" Martin pressed his flippers together, and it wasn't long before a flow of water poured between the cracks. He opened them slightly, and a jet of water shot out like a fire hose. I was impressed, he had learned really quickly. I logged his new move, Water Gun, into my Pokedex to remember later. While Martin battled other Pokèmon, I watched storm clouds converge on our location. They moved quicker than I had ever seen before. I wanted to call out to Martin, to warn him, but I felt frozen in place. Lightning flashed behind the clouds, revealing a dark shadow. It was a massive Pokèmon, I was sure of that. Before long, the field was covered in darkness. All the other trainers were gone, and I was alone. I twisted to find Martin, but he was missing as well. A thunderclap resounded behind me, and I turned. I scrambled backward, as the huge form had landed next to me. A little more than 9 feet tall, the dark Pokèmon seemed to absorb all light. It breathed heavily through its reptilian nostrils, before I heard its voice in my head.
"You have called me, and I am here." It knelt to the ground, and lowered its eyes. I didn't call it. Why did it think I called it. What the hell was going on right now. Holy shit.
"Speak not. I am listening to your mind and body. You are afraid. Why are you afraid?" It continued to speak into my mind, and its red eyes peered directly into mine. My heart continued to pound in my chest, as if it wanted to escape. I pushed onto my feet, and stood. I cleared my throat.
"I don't believe I am the person you're looking for."
"I know you are the person I'm looking for."
"I'm sorry, but I didn't call you. I was just training with my Pokèmon."
"Very well, human. I did not want to disturb you. However, we must speak, now that I have acknowledged your presence, and you have mine." I stayed silent, waiting for it to kill me. I didn't know what it was, or why it was here. I had half a mind to run. "You cannot run, child. I have much to say."
"Continue." My voice seemed frail in comparison to the monster in front of me. I noticed electricity running over its plated scales. Its aura was terrifying, yet utterly entrancing. I wanted to touch it, and feel the power coursing under its skin.
"I am Zekrom. I wish to serve you, although that time has not come yet. I fear that you will face great struggle and pain. I will aid you in any way I can. I have already given you the blessing of encountering rare and powerful Pokèmon. Your small otter friend did not seem to appreciate my gift."
"No! Martin didn't mean it. It was an accident. I'm sorry if we offended you." Zekrom grunted, before nodding slowly.
"Keep your heart closed to the feelings of your Pokèmon. The loss will be easier if you do not sympathize with them. I sense the death of your companions, but you must continue to defeat the League. There is more corruption in this world than you are aware of." I was filled with anger. He couldn't tell me to stop caring about my friends.
"Do you mean Cheren and Bianca will die? Will my Pokèmon die? Why can't you tell me? I want answers, Zekrom!" I yelled, forgetting his strength. He roared, shattering the air around me. The ground shook, and began to tear at the seams. Deep cracks appeared in the earth, surrounding us. His body glowed a deep blue, and bolts of lightning arced off of his shoulders and chest. He leaned in closer to my face, his eyes an even deeper shade of scarlet than before.
"Do not anger me, child! Have you forgotten your place?" His voice boomed inside of my head. I clutched at my temples, hoping to ease the pain. It subsided quickly, as Zekrom backed away from me. "I wish to help you, not anger you. I will not give you second chances."
"You can't ask me to forget my friends. My friends are everything to me. I love them." I fell to my knees, to win Zekrom's favor.
"Do not try to act. You do not need to forget them, but that will only make the journey easier."
"I don't know what to say. I will try my best. I will not lose my friends."
"Try with all your might. However, I will not give you false hope. You must endure through more tribulations than others. I chose you for this reason, because you will grow stronger through your struggles." His voice softened as he finished. It was as if he was talking to his son. I looked up, before standing again.
"Thank you. Will we meet again?"
"Eventually. We will see." Zekrom nodded solemnly. He closed his eyes, and paused. Before he opened them, I reached out and put my palm against the center of his head. A small ridge sat in the center of his forehead, and I felt the power running through it. He began to grumble, and opened his eyes. They were not as sharp as before.
I would really appreciate it if you left a review on my work :) I want to know if my writing is crap or decent.