-The Spark-

"Take Down!"

"Counter around it, Serperior! Wrap then use Slam!"

Before Herdier could close into the snake, Serperior slithered away like a bullet and wrapped itself around the dog's body, effectively shutting out its attack.

Professor Juniper smiled. "Oh, no you won't! Crunch!"

Herdier opened its mouth as its teeth became sharper and bit down to Serperior's body. Immediately, the snake cried and its grip upon the dog lost, giving it a chance to flee and that it did. Herdier scurried back to Juniper's side and so did Serperior to Dad.

"So cool…" Biana said beside me. Me and Cheren nodded as we bit into another skew of barbecue.

Herdier started going again but its body started to multiply around the field. Cheren said, "It used Double Team!" Serperior glanced around the Herdiers but then one after another, they started to dig underground.

Dad looks around battle field. "Stay sharp, Serperior," Serperior nodded.

Juniper grinned and said, "Now!" Behind Serperior, Herdier popped out and readied a yellow orb in its mouth before blasting it head-on.

Serperior cried as it was knocked back across the field. After the smoke was fanned away, Serperior was there looking tired. "You go Professor!" Bianca said.

I pouted and decided to cheer. "C'mon Dad! Serperior! You can do it!" Dad glanced at me and nodded.

"You heard 'er, Serperior! Let's give it our all!" Dad said and Serperior sat up from its place. Herdier looked exhausted.

"Hey, Cheren," Bianca called and we turned to her. "What move did Herdier just use?"

"It was Hyper Beam," he said a matter-of-factly, pushing up his glasses. "It's a really powerful move that uses up a Pokemon's energy. After firing it, it could be devastating," he smiled at pronouncing it right. "but the turn after that, they need to recharge a bit."

"Ahhh," Biana and I whispered and we turned back to the battle.

Serperior started to go around Herdier and its tail became greener than before. I knew that move. Smiling, I stood up from my spot and said, "Go, Serperior! Leaf Blade!"

Serperior smiled and slammed the Leaf Blade against Herdier and he was knocked back against a tree. "Oh!" Juniper gasped at the direction where Herdier was thrown. Once the smoke was away, Herdier laid there motionless.

I raised a fist in the air. "Yeah! Go Dad!" He started to laugh and came over to our direction with Serperior. He ruffled my hair.

"Hehe, thanks Sweetie," he lifted me up and looked down at my friends. "Now you two, was the fight good?"

"It was great!" Bianca said with her arms up. Cheren smiles but not as big as Bianca's. "Good but I wanted to see your Haxorus in action, Hilbert."

Dad just laughed and again and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Soon enough, Cheren," Dad paused for moment and then pulled Cheren closer to him. "Tell you what… Once you get your Pokemon… Once you become stronger… I'll promise you, you and me are going to have a spectacular battle. I promise I'll let you have a chance with Haxorus."

Cheren looks up with wide eyes. "You mean it?"

Dad nods and I nudged him. "What about me?" I asked.

He laughs again and ruffles my hair. I growled because it was already dirty enough! "Of course, White," he said. "And me?" Bianca asks. Dad just grinned pulled Cheren and Bianca closer to him. "And of course you too, big green. All three of you are going to have to face me before either of you become champion."

Bianca jumps up and down. "Yay! I'll be stronger than you someday, Hillbert! I promise!" Cheren perks up and says, "Me too. And I'll beat you in that battle."

I clung to Dad. "Not before I do," I smiled at them and Cheren pushed up his glasses. "Alright, that's a challenge then!" he said.

"Alright you kids, stop buffing yourselves up," Juniper suddenly said, holding Herdier's Pokeball. "You three are still seven and it's best not to think ahead of your lives."

Dad lowered me down with Cheren and Bianca and together we said, "Alright, Juniper."

"Professor Juniper," she pouts. "Come now, this celebration is to congratulate me for passing the PPLE, the best you three could do is call me officially a professor."

Bianca glanced at me. I glanced at Cheren. Cheren glanced at Bianca. And together, we started to laugh. Because even then, after all the time we spent in the lab, we really can't give Juniper the respect, after all the blunders and situations she did during her junior years.

"Hey!" Juniper said and Cedric, the real professor, came up from behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, Aurea, it's fine. They're still kids, sooner or later they'll start to respect you." He said calmly. Suddenly, there was a chime from the lab's veranda.

"Everybody! Lunch is ready and the tournament is about to start," Bianca's mom shouted, holding a dinner bell.

I flinched. "It is?" I turned to my friends and took them by the hands. "Bianca, Cheren, c'mon! We're about to miss it!"

They nodded and we ran for the lab. Dad, Juniper and Professor Cedric following us. As we entered the living room, the massive screen showed the emblem of the International Liberi Tournament before fading away and showed the famous Kanto stadium of the Indigo Plateau.

Champion Lance was standing on a blue trainer's box with his black cape. Me, Bianca and Cheren scooted closer to the TV screen. Lance started to introduce and welcome the opening of the 24th International Liberi Tournament and Bianca sniffed and said, "I think the mash potatoes are done."

Cheren pats her arm. "Shh! It's time for the representatives to appear." I nodded in agreement. We weren't hungry now… Okay, maybe a little but we won't be seeing another Liberi tournament in four years so even if Mom's cooking was making me salivate, we were still watching the screen.

I looked to the screen and Lance said, "And without a further ado, let our young representatives' rise and let's see who will be our Liberi champion!"

His dragonite swooped down and he jumped on it. The entire field shook and cracks appeared before opening and seven platforms started to rise, each with four trainers standing on it. The first that the camera zoomed into were the Kanto representatives, all fierce dudes with battle-hungry eyes. Jhoto representatives were a mixture of different trainers, a bulky girl with tanned skin and a frail boy with glasses to name a few but the look on their faces said they were just as determined as the Kanto representatives.

Hoenn looked more fashionable but strong also. The camera zoomed into one boy and I noticed a scar on his cheek. I tilted my head. What made him have that scar? I don't know but somehow I want one. It looks unbelievably cool.

The Sinnoh looks like the opposite from every other representatives. They didn't have anything that made them look stylish but normally, the Sinnoh team always had the strongest representatives and usually the winners were from that team.

I heard Mom from behind me. "Huh, the Sinnoh team looks very normal this year," she said. Dad replies, "It's the technique of 'looking-weak-but-actually-strong', honey. Like Gregory, one of my old colleagues. You remember him?"

I rolled my eyes and focused back on the screen because the Unova team was finally on stage. We scooted closer to the screen. We don't really know them since they looked like they lived in the north and we didn't really see their interviews the night before, maybe Cheren did, but they definitely looked strong.

They were… all different. The Unovian representatives consisted with a girl with dark hair, wearing a leather jacket and spikey bracelets, a guy with sandy hair wearing a silver suit, another girl with square glasses and pig tails, and finally, a guy with unusual blue hair and eyes with dark skin.

"Oh, him, him!" Cheren said, pointing at the dude with blue hair. "His name is Marlon Wai. He's a powerful water-type trainer from a town called Humillau, near Undella. I read from the internet that PokeTrain's voted him to enter the tournament since his win-streak at Nimbasa's Battle Subway wasn't yet defeated."

"Awesome!" I said and turned back to the guy. A straight win-streak at the Battle Subway! That's unreal. I balled my hands. "I want to battle him!"

From behind, I felt Mom grabbing my waist and lifting me up, away from the TV where they showed the cool-looking Kalos representatives. I jumped and thrashed in her grasp but she didn't drop me. "I'm sure you will, White, but right now, why don't we have lunch first?" she said and turned to Cheren and Bianca. "Future trainers like you won't have any energy to train your Pokemon if you don't eat. Now come, we're taking out the cakes."

I stopped thrashing. "Cakes?" Dad nods. "Cakes!"

Bianca followed my cheer and Mom dropped me. "Cakes! Cakes! Cakes!" We chanted together and Cheren looked annoyed. Dad chuckled and pushed us into the kitchen.

-The Promise-

I looked out of my window and saw the sky. Clear and free, and I saw a flock of Swannas flying east. Today might be a good day for Cheren and Bianca to head out and start their journeys now. I wonder which starter they chose.

Cheren wouldn't mind getting a Snivy. After all, he admired Dad in a way he once said he would get the same Pokemon as him on his roster. Maybe. He's long grown now. Maybe a Tepig will suit him better. Its evolution line is a fantastic one, despite looking ugly.

Bianca's always loved cute Pokemon so either an Oshawott or Tepig will be on her eyes. And then she would give them silly nicknames and go catch some more Pokemon. She always said that when she receives her first friend, she'll make a ton more, meaning she'll catch more.

I chuckled at the thought. Dad would've laughed with me, too. I sighed and covered my head.

It's been three years since the blast at Black City. Scouting for trainers for the league at the Black Tower, sometimes the White Treehollow, you know, wherever he could sniff out the best talent. My dad wasn't the official scout but he rather liked reaching out and offering trainers a brighter future at the league. But then there was a bomb, the news said, a bomb planted somewhere at the top area, where trainers were just battling against each other for fun, and Dad looking out for them, and then kaplow!

The explosion was so strong, they were blasted away.

The Treehollow suffered a similar fate. Its leaves burnt but fortunately they didn't catch fire. Black city and White Forest's famous battles areas were now at a standby and had been reconstructed since. It was fixed about a year ago but the Pokemon League still won't let anybody battle inside until they would find the culprit.

For me, I think it's both sad and convenient. Mom and Dad, Touko and Hilbert Navarro, had so many battles there so obviously, Mom misses it. They've always competed there when they had the chance, right next to the Battle Subway. The convenient part? When they told me how it was filled with great and strong trainers, I put it on my bucket list of places to go and win but now…

Well. At least I don't have to look at the place where Dad died. At least his ashes are now resting peacefully at the Nuvema cemetery.

I laughed at myself. I knew I couldn't have protected him. He was ten cities, four thousand miles of tall grass and hundreds of trainers away. I was just at home completing a homework Professor Juniper (yes, we call her with the 'professor' now) assigned to Cheren, Bianca and I, and suddenly, a knock at the door alerted us and Cheren's Dad came in with his tablet showing a live footage of the Black Tower, burning, with smoke billowing across the skies. Not far from it, another large smoke erupted.

Since then, after the accident…

Well, thing's were a standstill.

Mom does her best to cheer me up, often saying she'll challenge me once I had my Pokemon with Cheren and Bianca but I knew it was hard for her just to make me smile. She's devastated from Dad's passing.

Since his death, money has been a problem. I mean, not like the 'so-broke-we're-woke' kind of problem, it's the kind that sometimes extra cash is just hard to come by since it all goes to our bills and raising a kid alone wasn't exactly easy. Mom got herself ragged so many times, working harder on research papers, looking for more work at the League, keeping in check of so many trainers and tending the Pokemon at the lab. She was home most of the time to check on me but there were weeks, months even, that she couldn't come home.

It was at eight that I knew it was time for me to work by myself.

Professor Juniper tries to be modest with Mom's workload, and truthfully, she said to me one day, Mom's research had been amazing. Considering she kept on travelling to Route 18, she studied and found far more specimens and evidence on some Pokemon that Professor Juniper had a hard time cracking their origins. Like the Jellicent lines and Crustle lines.

So of course she deserved more. But when she entered, Mom was adamant, and told Juniper that she was being too kind. I left the room before they continued because back and forth compliments just weren't my thing.

And as for me, I studied hard along with Cheren and Bianca. I wasn't as much of an overachiever as Cheren but me and Bianca were pretty close in terms of academic achievements. We often had ties but when it comes to socializing with Pokemon and people, I ate her dust. Literally, like that one time when a woman named Fennel came from Accumula town for a visit at the lab. Bianca bolted so fast, dust clouds were left in her wake.

Cheren was much more reserved but nonetheless, he's cool and collected as always. Oh, he could talk. He's a nerd. He can talk for hours about trainers and facts and whatnot but lately, he's catching himself and stops talking. And he's been good at it too. He says that in order to go to a journey, you must have less words and more action, as actions will only truly show your growth with your Pokemon.

I often chuckle at that. How idealistic, I would think.

But now…

"They must be having so much fun right now," I muttered.

The age of ten, that was when any person would be ready to get a Pokemon their own and start a journey without a supervisor. Everyone knew that. And at the age of three, Cheren, Bianca, and I, we would get our Pokemon together on the same day. Period. We swore on pinkies and crossed over our hearts and everything.

But now I think I just broke that.

Professor Juniper told us that when May comes, we would finally have our licenses on time with battles and have our Pokemon. Today was May 19th. Any day, anytime, Cheren and Bianca would go inside the lab and take the three starter Pokemon that Professor Juniper has been offering to fresh trainers; Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott.

And me… I'm…

I just don't think I'm ready yet. With Dad being gone… I don't think I can step into Route one with pride. I just…

"Can't." I muttered.

"Can't do what?"

OH ARCEUS FU—

I fell from my chair, backwards and landed on the wood with my head. "Ow sh-!" I turned to the voice and found Cheren standing on my doorway. "What the-!? Cheren?" He gives me a nod. I look around and found no klutz of a blonde. Slowly, I turned to him with squinted eyes. "How long have you been there?"

He gives an unimpressed shrug of his shoulder. "Long enough. You were really staring at that window for a long time."

"Okay, then…" I muttered but didn't drop my gaze from him. Shakily, I stood up and touched the spot where my head got banged up against. "Owowow… W-What're you doing here? Shouldn't you and Bianca…"

Cheren rolls his eyes. "Ugh, not this, White," he told me and reached over the grab my arm. "C'mon, Professor Juniper asked me to get you."

He pulled me out the door. What the hell? "What for?" I asked.

"For your Pokemon," he told me. I pulled away. He looks at me levelly. I stare at him with an equal gaze. "I'm not starting this year." I told him.

His pushes up his glasses with a sigh. "And why's that?"

I look down a bit and finally, I say, "'Cause I'm not ready," I could feel him studying me so I put my hands inside my shorts. "I can't be ready."

After a moment, he said, "Well you could at least join us at the lab. We may have graduated and passed the exams but it doesn't mean we're not allowed inside anymore." I glanced at him and he blinks at me.

We stared at each other down for a moment before I realized he wasn't going anywhere until I relent. Cheren works that way. Sighing, I ruffled my brown hair and started for the stairs. "Alright, fine. But don't flaunt your new Pokemon on my face."

"Oh we won't," From that tone alone, I could already feel his smirk from behind me.

The walk to the lab was a quick one. Obviously, since Nuvema town was a really small community. There were only 200 people that lived here, with more than forty houses and exactly fifteen important buildings. The only thing that people ever really come here for were the Junipers and their researches. And very rarely, there are the travelers that just came from Route 18 to visit though they usually went to Accumula town the next day.

So yeah, here's my house, in the first corner, and there's the lab on the next block. Nobody would get lost here in Nuvema.

We went through the porch and down into the lab and saw Bianca standing in front of a window. "Bianca?" I called and she turned. "Oh, White!" she marches over to me and grabs my hands. "How are you doing?"

I shrug. "Good enough. You?" Bianca studies me for a bit before forcing a smile. "Me, too," she drops her touch when we hear a click inside the lab and Professor Juniper comes out.

"So you finally came, White," she greeted me and sighs in a satisfaction at the sight of us three. "So I'm taking you're still not starting an adventure?"

With her tone of voice, I knew she was still talking to me. I shrugged. "Renewing my license every six months would be a pain but the trip to the legislation office is just some blocks down the town, Professor Juniper. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Now, what about your Pokemon? The little ones I have under my care right now are aching for a trainer to take them in," I give Professor Juniper a pained look. She presses her lips together. "I suppose that's a 'no'."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Cheren and Bianca glancing at me then at each other. Professor Juniper smiles at them. "And you two are actually here for the Pokemon, yes?"

Bianca fidgets a bit and glances at Cheren but he just shrugs. "Y… Yes, we are, Professor…" she says and I knew when Bianca glanced at me, it was my presence that made them hesitate saying yes to their starters.

Professor forces a smile and stalks away. "Come on then. White, you're coming too," I squint at Juniper's leaving figure but when Bianca pushes me by the shoulders, I went with it.

Since Nuvema had a lot of land, the Junipers obviously utilized most of it for Pokemon and turned it into a coral. That's what the Oaks did at their labs back in Kanto, said Cedric one time. And boy, were there a lot of Pokemon staying there.

There were Pokemon obviously from trainers, and they're usually the rare ones that can't be found somewhere in either Route 1 or 18, but sometimes you do get to see some wild Pokemon. Patrats, Lillipups, Purrloins, Pidoves, the usuals, and then there's the occasional visits from their evolutions. Sometimes the townspeople leave their Pokemon at the coral if they're going to rotate their party while they're on a journey. Like what my parents did, along with Cheren and Bianca's.

So yeah, here's the lab, just at an edge of a wide meadow terrain and a lake with a forest surrounding it and about tens of dozens of different Pokemon species walking around it. We went towards the next house, a low-but-long one where the professors house all the young and baby Pokemon, along with the eggs. Professor Juniper opened the door to the nursery and led us to a table in front of a wall of windows.

Bianca looks around excitedly. "So, where are they?" Professor Juniper whistled and called, "Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott? They're here, you three!"

Somewhere inside the room, we heard a bit of bustling before the door burst open and a Tepig came trotting in, crying its name and following it were the other two starter pokemon, Oshawott and Snivy.

"Tepig! Tepig!" the fire-type cried and oshawott looked pained following it. Snivy looked smug as all its species did, as usual.

Bianca kneels down as Oshawott and Tepig came trotting over and she pets them by the head with her hands. "Aww, they're so adorable!"

"Indeed they are. Now, which one of you two are going to pick a Pokemon first?" asks Professor Juniper. I leaned back to a wall and waited.

Bianca looks surprised being asked such a question but then glances at me. "Ummm…" She looks at Cheren but he blinks and shrugs a shoulder. Bianca makes a sound in her throat before standing up. "I think… I'll be going first."

Professor nodded. "Okay then. You three, on the table now," she gestures them to the table and they hop on it obediently and waited for Bianca.

She studies them, biting on her nail and thumb as she did. Weird. Usually Bianca never hesitates on her decision. Me and Cheren stared expectantly at her, wondering which starter Bianca would choose. First, she turned to the Snivy and then the grass snake leered at her. She flinches and turns to the next. Tepig looks excited and Bianca lowers her shoulders. She glances at the Oshawott but it looked a little distracted by something on Professor Juniper's pockets. Treats?

Bianca glanced at me and I shrug, along with Cheren. She grumbles a bit and turns back to the Tepig. She reached out a hand and I raised a brow. A tepig? Well, it's not that unexpected, I mean, they are pretty good starters when you start out somewhere remote like Nuvema—

"Arghh!" The tepig flinched. We all flinched. I stared at Bianca incredulously who was ruffling her blonde hair. I step forward. "Uh, is everything okay, Bian—"

"No! Not everything is okay! This is just unfair, White!" she told me and turned. "I can't just pick out a starter here with you looking like… like that!" she motions my entire self.

I suddenly felt bad and grabbed the spot behind my head. I went for the door. "O-Okay, if that's the problem then I'll—"

"Nonononono! Don't leave! It's not like that!" She sighs a bit and calms down. "Look, White. Maybe you've forgotten about it but we've promised each other we would get our Pokemon on the same day you do. And I don't know for sure why, but you agreed. So I'm going to stick to my word and wait you out."

I raised a brow at her and shook my head. "Does it matter anymore?"

"Yes, it does!" I widened my eyes and Bianca marches over to plant herself on the spot next to me. "And whether you'll like it or not, I won't pick my starter until you do."

I heard a sigh from Cheren in front of me. "Ughh… you two are a pain to handle. But I think I'm going to side on Bianca on this one, White," I glared at him. "I'd rather not risk the guilt-trip in my journey. And besides, by the time you do start, it would already be impossible for you to catch up."

I glared at him and Bianca giggled. "So that's it? You two are going to postpone your Pokemon journeys until I start my own?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air at the ridiculous decisions.

Bianca said, "Better than leaving you out, White. Besides, even if we go our separate ways, it's better knowing you're out than stuck there in your house."

"Plus, if I get busy, I need someone to babysit Bianca."

"Hey!"

I stared at them, back and forth, wondering if what they just said is true. Would… Would they really wait for me? "Is… that okay for you two?"

"Oh, for sure. Besides, I'm not sure if I'm ready for a Pokemon journey myself," Bianca said and she looks at the starters who stared at us. "Being a Pokemon trainer is a lot of hard work. And a lot of responsibility, too." She told us. "And then there's the thing with my Dad…"

I made a silent 'oh' sound. Right. I'm not the only one with daddy-issues. I nodded. "Okay. Cheren?"

He shrugged and pushed up his glasses. "It's the same thing. While I was supposedly excited, you make things unnecessarily harder," He presses my forehead and I swat his hand away. "But… I know losing your Dad, though three years ago, had a massive impact on you. And it's not my right to comment anything against it." By the way he looks down, his downcast eyes searching the soles of his sneakers, I knew, he missed Dad too.

He draws a shaky breath. "So I won't mind waiting for you a little longer. And if I surely leave now, it would be kind of lonely without you two girls pulling my jacket."

Bianca looks hurt. "C'mon, we're not that bad."

"I'm not but you are," I press her forehead and she said, "Hey!"

We both share a short and small laugh and Professor Juniper says, "Hahhh… Youth these days. Then I suppose these three will have to wait as well?" she motions to the starters. "Starter sets like these won't appear for another six months until the League would supply us, you know."

I looked at the starters and immediately felt guilty. What was supposed to be their first day under a trainer, crushed away all because my two friends would wait a sucker of a brunette out. I walked over to them and they look up to me.

"Hey, I'm uh…" they peered up their eyes at me curiously. Clearing my throat, I said, "Sorry for letting your hopes up. But hey, at least you won't have to deal with these guys," I threw my thumb behind me to gesture at Cheren and Bianca. "They're pretty stubborn, if you guys haven't already seen."

"Hey!" Bianca cried.

"But I'm sure some other trainers are going to come here in the lab and take you guys in," I tried a smile. "And maybe one day…" I reached up and stroked the Oshawott's head. "Maybe if one of you are still here, I can pick you up in my journey."

"Hey, why do you get to say those things to them?" I felt a weight behind me and Bianca leans over my shoulder and smiles at the Tepig. "I'm so sorry Tepig but I just can't choose you," Tepig gives Bianca a sad look and a weak cry. "But, but! Until you three are picked up by other trainers, I'll be sure to visit you guys often! I swear!"

"If you can manage it, Bianca," said Cheren as he walks over to the table. He starts to rub on Snivy's chin affectionately. Snivy coos and leans into his touch. "And if I can manage it as well. I'll try visiting you three every day, if my schedule allows it."

I glanced at Professor Juniper and saw her giving us a weak smile. "Alright-y then. Cheren, Bianca, if neither of you aren't going to do anymore business here then I suggest you to go home and tell your parents as soon as possible. They'd be happy to know their kids are going to stay here at Nuvema for a little longer."

We all agreed and left the nursery after saying goodbye to the starters. And the walk back to my house wasn't as quick as I had thought. Maybe it's because on the way, we walked the long way home and stopped at the small ice cream store two blocks down the lab. Maybe it's because we talked for a long time on what we should do before starting our journeys before going back to our houses. But either way, it's… nice to know I've got my backs on them.

-The Partner-

It took me two whole years to prepare myself for my journey. It was a long wait but it let me organize a little more. Study more. Prepare more. Of course, there was the constant renewing of my license so that it wouldn't be considered expired therefore unusable so I'm kind of glad I don't have to walk down the legislation office every half year. And even then, the two years weren't really useless.

I took up a job underneath Professor Juniper and researched on the Pokemon in the ranch, usually their eating habits, natures, and styles of battling. Though disengaging the fights… It was kind of a miracle Professor Juniper hasn't scolded me yet. I was one of her assistants, which was quite a chore but at least it's not as much of a chore as Bianca's job. She's the kind of assistant that makes coffees and brings in the forgotten papers to Juniper.

I asked her why she's tolerating this and she told me it was 'fun'. And then said it was better than going to cram school like Cheren and yeah, I don't envy him and his school of nerds.

But the assistant-job did give me something to do during the two years. It actually gave me something to look into and be part of some researches though most of the time it's boring. Looking at screens and papers weren't really on the list of 'exciting-things-to-do' from a twelve-year-old.

But it towed in some cash at least, even if it was the barest amount. Then, surprisingly, it slowly piled up and I actually managed to buy a bag from the famous brand that had always been a trainer's favorite; Gracidea. They were usually famous for their set of clothes released and they're usually shipped from the Alola region so it is pricey but every trainer could agree that the training equipments they sell is pretty cool.

Made from the fur of Wooloos, they also had the same function of Pokeballs and had the same stuff made into it, and can contain almost hundreds of items and containers inside it, despite not really looking durable from the outside. And they're really not bad though, the bag I bought looks pretty fashionable.

It kind of makes the price worth it buuuut now it left me with barely 3000 Pokedollars for my journey. "I'm broke," I said to myself as I ate a bowl of Cheerios with my mom.

She looks up from her phone and smiles at me. "Don't worry about that, White. If you fight a lot trainers then the money won't be much of an issue by then. If you need extra, don't hesitate to come to me. Meals at Pokemon Centers are usually free if you book in a room so the expenses you make the most are the extra food for your Pokemon," She hums and picks up her mug of coffee. "Let's see, back when I was your age, I usually fought ten battles a day and if you do the same, I'm sure the money you spent on your equipments would come back in no time."

As expected, a nice tip from the veteran herself. I actually smiled. "Alright then, I can do that."

"But," Mom looks at me seriously and I dropped my smirk. "Your Pokemon is still rather new, White. So ten battles a day would surely tire it out, and younglings like that shouldn't take that much strain. Maybe just send it out for four to six battles a day. I'd rather not risk your Pokemon's health for a few bucks."

I tried to roll my eyes but it was kind of hard when she's right. So instead I just said, "Yeah, yeah…"

I finished my bowl of Cheerios and Mom stands up as she begins to collect them. I stopped her. "Oh, it's—it's okay, Mom, I'll do the dishes,"

She raises her brows at me. "Oh? Why okay then," Then she sits back and I let myself work.

Five minutes later, I was around up in my room pacing about. I felt the same nervous energy as I had the day previously. It was yet again another month of May. I kept on rearranging my hair, pulling it in and out of its tie. And even if it was tied, it still looked messy. I smoothed out my white shirt and kept putting on my satchel and five seconds later, I would put the satchel back on the bed and five seconds later I would wear it again.

Does it matter? I asked myself. I'm going to be dirty anyways by the time I hit the road so why be so careful and prickly in this room? Because this was where I was going to get my Pokemon.

My first Pokemon for that matter. And I was anxious of meeting them. Of course, they weren't going to be any more special than the first Pokemon a person will ever have, they were going be just the Unova starter set given by the league.

But after seeing more than 3 sets of them being given away by Professor Juniper at the lab, I've always had that 'wanting' sort of feeling that I never understood until I realized that I wanted my own since the last starter of the starter set was given to a boy who travelled all the way from Striation city just to get a Pokemon.

So now, after telling Mom and Professor Juniper that I was about to start, I knew that there would be no turning back. Cheren and Bianca were glad to hear and it seemed to be a silent agreement that we would have our starters together, whether or not is it training season yet.

Since the month of December, Bianca's mom along with mine started to work overtime, which was a relief because both of us needed some place to plan on our journeys together alone, and Bianca's house didn't cut because of her dad so my room was the only place we would have plenty of space. Cheren had also resigned from his cram school in order to start preparing for his journey and despite being the busiest one of the three; he was the best-rounded one already.

And without further comment, Professor Juniper told us that our Pokemon were going to be ready by May and we would meet them in the Navarro household.

I heard a knock on my door and I said, "Come in," and Mom does. She's wearing a small smile and catches me dead fidgeting. I stopped my hands from touching anything and left them limp on my sides.

She leans on the doorframe. "Nervous?" I bit the inside my cheek and slowly nodded. She sighs and I could see the crinkles from her tired eyes disappearing. "Alright dear, before you get too crazy in your room, you go outside and take a walk. I'll clean up a bit here,"

I look around my room. "But it's already clean?" I asked.

"Not to me! Now shoo, you wouldn't want the Pokemon's first impression of your room to be a dump!"

I pout a bit at Mom but just grins and calmly pushes me out of the door. I just roll my eyes and got out of the house. As if I needed any more walks. I've been exercising since fall. But I did a few laps around the block anyway, and half the way back to the house, I saw Cheren walking towards my direction.

"Hey, White!" He called and jogged up to me, dressed in what may be his travelling wear, a white and orange shirt with a green jacket, some jeans with a utility belt, running shoes, and a small pack slung over his shoulder.

"What's up?" I asked and we walk side by side. We converse on the way back and when we entered, Mom greets us with a big grin. I raised a brow and Cheren let's his bag touch down the sofa. "Mom?"

"The Pokemon are here, you two," she says and we glanced at each other. Cheren had the widest eyes in his life and I felt my face slowly break into a grin.

Cheren turns back to Mom. "Where are they now?" he asks and Mom points to the staircase.

"In White's room," she told us. "Professor Juniper just brought them in a few minutes ago. She's back at the lab tending something but you guys should meet her afterwards." She explained and the two of us ran up to my room.

And there, sitting at the table next to my desk, was a big green box with a blue ribbon tied around it. Cheren grins big and we step inside, our eyes not tearing away from the box where clearly three Pokeballs were placed inside.

I glanced back at him. "Should we open it now?"

Cheren hums and crosses his arms before glancing back at the door, tapping his shoe against the floor. "We should probably wait for Bianca first. What's keeping her, anyway?" He checks his Xtransceiver. "It's way past our designated meeting time."

"Try calling her?" I suggested. He nods but when his Xtranceiver rang once, the door burst open and we both flinched at the loud bang.

"I'm heeeree!" Bianca shouted, dressed in a white dress with an orange top and of course, you wouldn't miss her big green hat. Her blonde hair was sticking out of some places. "Oh… My Arceus…" she breathes and after a while, she stands up. "Am I late again? Sooooo-ooo-oorry…"

I sat on my desk, grinning a bit, but Cheren was looking at her critically. "Bianca… I've known for ten years that you have no sense of time but…" Cheren says. "Seriously, today's the day we're going to get our own Pokemon!"

Bianca looks down a bit. "I know, I know… Sorry, White, sorry Cheren." She apologizes. I shrug and he just nods. She joins us on the center of the room and looks around. "So where are the Pokemon?"

I step down from my desk and pointed at the massive box. "In there."

She gasps and steps forward. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's open it right now!" She was about to advance but stops and turns to me. "No, wait, White, this is your house! You should get first pick!"

Whattt? I bugged out my eyes staring at her but Cheren pushes me by my back. "Naturally," he says. "The Pokemon are waiting inside the gift box. Go on, White, you take a peek. I'm excited to see them myself!"

"Alright, alright!" I groaned and stepped in front of the box. "But don't you guys go crying when I pick the one you like, 'kay?"

Bianca smiles and says, "It's fine!" and Cheren rolls his eyes and says, "Get a move on, already."

I grin a bit and turned back to the box. Before pulling the ribbon, I saw a small note attached to it.

'I've bought all three of you your Pokemon. One for White, one for Cheren, and one for Bianca. Please settle your choices politely and with manners! Enjoy your Pokemon! Sincerely, Professor Aurea Juniper'

Neat, I thought and placed the note on my desk. I pulled the ribbon back and slowly opened the box. Inside were three simple Pokeballs but beyond their red spheres, I could see a bit of their silhouettes. The middle Pokemon was obviously Tepig. The left Pokeball was probably Snivy. And the right was Oshawott.

The Unova starter set. I grinned big and started to go for the middle Pokeball when all of the sudden—

Three lights burst from the box and I was pushed back and landed neatly on my butt, Cheren and Bianca gasping. "Gah!" I suddenly felt a pressure on my chest and after a second, I looked up to see the three on me.

The first thing that I saw was a big, furry white head with cold beady eyes, when I realized I was staring right into Oshawott's eyes.

Oshawott looks at me critically before looking away and jumping off. I stared at it, thinking 'What's this guy's problem?' before Tepig started to jump away and went straight back into the box, hiding. Snivy looks more or less unimpressed and waddled away. After taking a glance at Bianca and me, Snivy had a look of distaste before looking at Cheren and continued to stare at him, as if it was scrutinizing him.

We all stared owlishly at the Pokemon, wondering how on earth they could've popped out from their Pokeballs so easily. But at least we saw how they think of us. Snivy obviously didn't want either me or Bianca, and Tepig looks more or less frightened, if his little glance from the box gave us any indication. But Oshawott was straight up glaring at me.

I stared at him back and slowly stood up from the spot, where Bianca started to help me up. "A-Are you okay?"

I nod and stared at the Oshawott. "I'm still going to pick first," I say and he continued to glare at me. This one… I think and after a moment, I pointed at him. "And I choose Oshawott."

Because really, if I didn't, he would've cut my throat with the shell he was brandishing. But he paused and stared at me when I said so. I grin and kneeled down at his level. "So? What do you say?" I asked, holding out my hand and after moment, Oshawott makes a tiny nod and placed his shell back on his belly.

"Right!" Bianca says and steps over me to approach the box. She stares into the Tepig's eyes, which started to glance up. "Then I choose this one. Cheren, you can have the Snivy!"

"What? Why do you get to pick my starter?" Cheren groans but when he glances back at Snivy, the grass snake gives him a small smile. He pauses a bit, as if considering the Snivy. "Well, I guess… I wouldn't mind," he says and kneels down to Snivy's level, who begins to climb up his arm and sits on his shoulder, surprising him.

Sadly, Oshawott didn't do the same. But I made my introduction, anyways. "So, uh… hi there, I guess?" Oshawott blinks at me. I cleared my throat. "My name's White. And you're here in my room at the moment but don't worry. Once we get out of Nuvema Town, we'll see much more than this old sod," He perks up a bit and I smile. "I'm planning on a journey around Unova. And I plan on becoming stronger, stronger than the Champion's region. Will you help me achieve that?"

Oshawott suddenly grins and nods. I guess that's it? I turned back to my friends and found Bianca cradling Tepig, who was resting in her arms calmly, with Snivy clinging to Cheren's shoulder.

"So that's that. Everyone has a Pokemon now?" Bianca asks, checking at us. "Now what do we do…" She suddenly gasps, as we all thought what she was thinking.

"A Pokemon battle!"

-The Pokedex-

I clipped back Oshawott's pokeball on my belt after Mom assured me that my busted room would be cleaned up. Of course, despite being weak, we battled with our Pokemon inside anyway, and surprisingly, I bested against Bianca and Cheren. But my room was a mess so Life gives and takes.

As I closed the door behind me, I saw a flock of Pidoves starting to fly across the yard. As I went past the fence, I saw Bianca's back and found her clutching Tepig's pokeball tightly before running towards her house.

Not an odd sight so I went off towards the direction of Route 1. But as I was about to make a step forward, I heard somewhere off my left shouting, "White!" and I saw Cheren running up to me. He taps my shoulder. "Don't go yet, Professor Juniper wants us at her lab after picking our Pokemon, remember?"

Oh, right… That slipped my mind. I nod and stepped back from the road towards Route 1. "Okay then. Does Bianca know?" When he shakes his head, I just shrug ad turned back. "Right, I'll go pick her up."

The walk to the Bel household wasn't a long one, just only a few blocks to the left of Cheren's, so it was pretty easy to spot the house with a lot of flowers. But as I passed their fence, I flinched at the sound coming from the house.

"No, no, no! A thousand times, NO!" Obviously, that was Bianca's dad.

After knowing this was one of their family 'moments' together, being the awkward girl I was, I was about to bolt before the door opened and Bianca came out stomping rather angrily. Which… was kind of weird because you don't really see Bianca angry.

After closing the door behind her, she clutches her big green bag and sighs, before noticing me lurking around the corner of the yard. "Oh, White!" She gasps and looks around. "H-How long-?"

"Eh, just a few seconds ago." I say and she looks relieved. "Listen, we have to get to Professor Juniper's lab. She wants us there for a bit before going."

"Oh, really? Yikes, we better get going then!"

After reaching Cheren who was sitting on the veranda of the lab, he motions us to get inside and that we did. Past all the computers and desks and research papers, we made it to Professor Juniper's office, where after knocking, she told us to come in.

Like the dweeb that she was, she was facing the window where the sun was shining, making a silhouette and when Bianca peeped, "Professor Juniper…?" she turns around, a proud smirk on her face.

"Hi there! I've been waiting for you, young people!" Professor Juniper said with flare. Mincinno, who sat on her desk, posed in the same way as she did. I rolled my eyes and I'm pretty sure Cheren did too. "Let me introduce myself again, my name is—"

"Professor Aurea Juniper, daughter of the great Cedric Juniper and the heir to the Juniper labs and sanctuary. Yes, yes, we know all about you, Professor," Cheren cuts in, relieving us from her ridiculous intros.

"Apparently have been since the day we were born," I agreed, putting my hands inside my shorts, knowing at this point in our lives, Professor Juniper was practically like an aunt to us.

Professor Juniper chuckles and Mincinno proceeds to close the blinds, rejecting the blinding light with a sigh. "Come, come, Cheren!" she says and steps out of her desk. "Now's not the time to take things lightly. Today's the day we will remember always, so it's best to behave with formality!

"Now, starting again, my name is Professor Juniper. And I'm researching when and how Pokemon came into existence. And I obviously know you three, so your introductions are not needed," she says bluntly and then catches Oshawott's ball on my belt. "But your Pokemon on the other hand… Would you three kindly go to the living room for the moment and send them out there?"

We glanced at one another and Bianca struts away first with us following. When we approached the living room table, Bianca brings out Tepig first, and then Cheren's Snivy and finally, Oshawott came in last. As they sat on the table, they look around the room, wondering where they were.

"Relax," I told Oshawott as he begins to glare at Professor's Mincinno, who apparently followed us. He turns to me and I said, "We're at the Juniper's laboratory at the moment. The professor here shouldn't take long."

And that she didn't. From somewhere in the lab, we heard a door clicking shut and Professor Juniper comes out of the hallway with something in her hands but she quickly hid them in her lab coat. She looks up at the starters.

"Ah, there they are!" Professor Juniper says and the Pokemon obviously knew her because Oshawott didn't glare at her. Wait, no, he's glaring again. "So, who picked who?" Juniper asks.

"Bianca went with Tepig and I picked Snivy. Well, Snivy picked me," Cheren explained and Snivy accented his words by climbing up Cheren's back. "And White's with Oshawott."

"Oh?" Professor looks surprised and she eyes me and my starter. "Not that I have anything against it but I was sort of expecting you to pick the Tepig or the Snivy, White."

I raised the brow. "And why's that?"

She just smiles and waves me off. "Oh, nothing. All three of you look comfortable with your starters, anyhow! And they looked like they've already battled," She smiles at them and then her eyes lit up again. "Oh, that's right, did the three of your nickname your Pokemon already?"

Nicknames? "Nicknames?" I whispered and Bianca raises her hand. "Already did!" She picks up Tepig who eased into her hold. "I've named him 'Tempro'!"

Leave it to Bianca with witty names. But Oshawott… I turned to my starter. "Would you like a nickname?" He blinks at me and I didn't see if that was a yes or no. "Eh, I'll give you a nickname anyway," I said and he just shrugs. So that wasn't a 'no'. I placed a hand on my chin. How about… "Tide?"

Bianca snorts and I glare at her. Tepig snickers with her. "Like, the laundry company?" she asked.

"Shut up, I said 'Tide', like the high tide and low tides. You know, because he's a water-type," I say but when I glanced at Oshawott, he stuck out his tongue, like he ate laundry soap just by the name. "Okay, Tide's crossed out." I sigh.

"I'll think up of a name for Snivy on the way," Cheren says and I saw him giving Snivy a scratch under his chin.

"Well, don't worry you two," Professor Juniper says. "I'm sure you can come up with a name. But for now, sit down, I'd like to discuss you three with something."

Bianca turns to me but I was just as clueless as her. Whenever all three of us had talks with her, it was always about unusual topics. But eh, it was Juniper. It wasn't like she was going to ask to catch every Pokemon in existence or something.

Shrugging, I sat down on the right side of the sofa bed with Bianca following. Cheren already had his thinking face on and if you knew Cheren, you know he already knows what the professor was going to talk about.

"Now, I know you three are going out on a journey today because it's almost every child's dream to go on a journey with Pokemon," she says. "And you three have been preparing for the past two years for this journey as we all know it. And it's only then that when White asked for a Pokemon that your journeys were finally sealed so I ought to do my best to provide you three the best Pokemon. But how will you know that I did, in fact, provide you with the three best Pokemon?"

I tilted my head with confusion. From the corner of my eye, I saw Snivy and Tepig holding their chins high and I decided to bite. "So uh… how?"

"Easy. By the Pokedex," Cheren says. Bianca and I turned to him. "That's what those are, right?" he asks, pointing at Juniper's pockets.

"Onto the point as ever, Cheren!" Juniper compliments. Cheren smirks. Professor Juniper fishes out three rectangular devices out of her pockets and shows them to us. They all had the design of a pokeball underneath its screen but each had different colors.

"Now, you three already know what Pokedexes are," she says and hands us each one. Bianca received the red-hued one, Cheren had the green and I had the blue one.

"Obviously," I whispered and stared at the cobalt blue device. "Looks pretty neat," I said and lowered the pokedex. "So, uh, we just scan this thing in front of our Pokemon like so?"

"Yep! Cheren will demonstrate, as he probably knows what to do already," Professor Juniper said and without missing a beat, Cheren presses the center button of the Pokedex and it beeps into life.

He points it Snivy, who sat on his lap. "Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokemon," a robotic voice from the dex said. "They photosynthesize by bathing their tails in the sunlight. When they are not feeling well, their tails droop. This Snivy is male and knows the moves Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Power Whip, and Iron Tail."

I dropped my jaw. "Your Snivy knows Power Whip!?" I asked, eyeing that Snivy incredulously, who lifted his chin high in arrogance.

Cheren looks just as surprised. "A… Apparently so. Is it an egg move?"

We turned to the professor and she grins. "Indeed! Now, Bianca, Tempro?"

"R-Right!" Bianca fumbles with her Pokedex and pointed it at her Tepig. Immediately, a feminine robotic voice came out as it beeped alive.

"Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon," it said. "It blows fire through its nose. When it becomes cold, the fire becomes pitch-black smoke. This Tepig is male and knows the move Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember, Heavy Slam, and Heat Wave."

Again, I was dropping my jaw at the information scattered on the screen from Tempro. No way. This fire-type was going to be a tough foe if Bianca trains it diligently.

"Professor Juniper, Tempro is amazing!" Bianca squeals and she hugs her Tepig. "Oh, I wish I knew your moves beforehand! Then we could've beaten White together!" she said.

Thank Arceus she didn't, I thought. Otherwise, Mom'll strangle me for burning the house down. But when I glanced at their Pokemon, I suddenly wondered…

Picking up my pokedex, I told Oshawott, "Stay still," and pressed the button in the middle of the dex.

"Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokemon," Like Bianca's dex, mine had the feminine voice. "The scallop on its stomach is made from the same material as its claws. Oshawotts can detach their scallops and use it as a blade. This Oshawott is male and knows the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun and, Night Slash."

"That's it?" I asked and eyed Oshawott. He glares at me but when he glanced at Snivy and Tempro, he looks down, and I realized it was out of line of me to say 'that's it' to my starter. I placed down the Pokedex on my lap, turning it off. "I-I'm sorry, Oshawott, I… didn't mean it," I kneeled down to the table where he was standing and he slumps down.

Oh Arceus, I feel bad.

"Now before any of you get too confident about your Pokemon, I suggest you three don't let them use it until later on. They're still awfully young and making them use those advance moves will really hurt in them process. In this case, should Tempro use Heat Wave now, it will be no better than a Gust version of Ember. Perhaps they can use it when they're stronger and have more experience. The time will come.

"And moving on. Let me explain your starter's odd move set," Professor Juniper said quickly. "Bianca, White, have you two realized how both of your mothers have been frequenting here to the lab?"

I looked up and shared glances at Bianca. "No…?" I said. Bianca shakes her head.

"Well, the thing is, along with Cheren's father, Robert, they've been ah, per say, preparing for your journeys. Your Pokemon aren't just the same Unova starters from the league, kids," I widened my eyes. Professor Juniper grins. "They're specially bred here in the lab, all right under your noses."

"When did you guys do this?" asked Cheren, his voice full of disbelief.

"And what Pokemon did you guys use for them?" I asked and all of the sudden, it hit me. "Don't tell me… Dad's Serperior and Emboar!?"

Professor snaps her fingers. "Bingo! Yes, we used Hilbert's old Pokemon, White. Your mother insisted on finding them and breeding them with the Pokemon on the ranch, because, really," she snorts. "Hilbert wouldn't stand for you three to just settle for some mediocre starters from the league. And they've been at it since last winter in order for them to hatch in time. To tell you the truth, they hatched nearly four months ago and in order to keep the surprise, I let them stay in a friend's care for some time. It was just yesterday that they were delivered back here."

Okay, that makes sense. I mean, I remember Dad and Mom's Emboars having a thing and Serperior was more or less interested in the concept of romance. But there was another thing bugging me…

"What about Oshawott though?" I asked. "I don't remember anyone in Nuvema town having a Samurott on their rosters."

"Ah, yes…" Professor Juniper says. "Oshawott wasn't actually… Er, bred exclusively here. He came from the league, in fact. Of course, there were some strings pulled to get him but fortunately, he didn't really like it there and agreed to fill up the water-slot for you three."

I blinked at Professor Juniper then at Oshawott. So unlike Tepig and Snivy, this one was just one of your ordinary tykes from the Pokemon League… Pfft, who cares? A move set like that wouldn't be half useful in a fight if a trainer doesn't know how to use them. But then again, these are Cheren and Bianca… I bit my lip. No. This was the Pokemon I chose, and I'll stick with him on and forwards.

I stood up. "Okay then. Thanks for the explanation, Professor Juniper," I said and turned to Cheren and Bianca. "And you two. Your Pokemon's moves are dope. When we fight again, I hope neither of you two ditch those cause I'll know and beat both Tempro and Snivy easily."

Of course, that was me trying to sound threatening, but Cheren only grins and says, "You should count on it. Next time we battle, I'll win."

"Me too!" Bianca stands up. "Tempro and I will wipe the floor with you two dunderheads!"

"Okay, okay, sit back down you two," Professor Juniper tells Bianca and I. "We're still not finished yet. We have covered your Pokemon, but now I'll be talking about your dexes."

"Why?" I asked. "Aren't these things just the same Pokedexes you hand out to trainers?"

"Well, yes, but actually, no." Professor grins, as if she just made a joke and then seeing our blank looks, she continues. "Yes, as in they're still the pokedexes that distributes information on Pokemon and carry your licenses, your ticket to leagues and whatnot, but what makes your pokedexes special is that they have a bit more empty spaces," she pauses and we wait for her to continue.

"What I mean is that I'm asking you three to fill up some pages on that Pokedex," she says and we all widened our eyes. "You three will be acting as my researchers for the moment."

As if my eyes couldn't get wide enough. Researchers? Filling up some pages in the Pokedexes? She doesn't mean that we will be… providing information for the dex, does she?

"B-But—" Cheren tries to say but Professor cuts him off.

"Now before you ask questions," she says. "You three have done surprisingly well in the past two years. Cheren, you graduated with the highest grades at your cram school and the valedictorian at the trainer's school here in Nuvema. That alone and your extensive knowledge for Pokemon is enough of a reason why I want you as a Pokedex holder and researcher." Cheren flushes at her compliments and she turns to Bianca.

"Bianca, since you've been hanging the closest to me, your curiosity and passion for Pokemon made me have faith that you becoming a researcher will only further your person. And perhaps, you would finally know what you actually want to do while you're on this journey." Professor Juniper says and Bianca widens her eyes, her cheeks obviously flushing red.

After opening and closing her mouth, Bianca swallowed her shock and nodded. "I won't let you down, Professor!"

Professor Juniper smiles and turns to me. I shrugged. "I'm not an overachiever like Cheren nor am I passionate like Bianca," I say. "So… I'm not in this, am I?"

Professor chuckles. "You're… a bit of both, White. You're not exactly as fulfilling in your studies as Cheren does but if your help in the lab said anything, your researches and added supervisions from the pokemon at the ranch was nothing I had expected when you took up the assistant job. You don't send in the papers in time but they're constantly there, and you insistence on studying Pokemon, though not as serious as Bianca's, was promising. Your essays and you going the trouble to study them… I didn't think you would last a whole year and a half in this lab with all the works but you've pulled through.

"Now, this is what I ask of you, White." She looks at me straight in the eyes. "Will you accept this job and become the holder of this Pokedex?"

I paused and stared at Professor Juniper's green eyes. I shifted in my seat and saw Cheren and Bianca staring at me expectantly. Oshawott was also staring. My gaze went from the dex and to Oshawott then at Professor Juniper.

I clenched the Pokedex. "Alright," I said. "I will."

-The Name-

"Bianca wants all three of us to have our first step together through Route 1."

"Sounds stupid,"

"It's not!"

Bianca pouts and pulls at my jacket. I stared at her, unimpressed, and on the ground, Tempro was nudging Oshawott, who was trying to not take off his shell and slash it at the pig. "Why though?" I asked. "It's just the first route. Beyond here is just a small straightaway path to Accumula town. Now, if we were living in Castellia City on the other hand, joining hands on Route 4 would've been reasonable."

"But still!" Bianca argued. "It's not every day that we get to have our first day together on our first Pokemon journey! I want it to be as memorable as it is! Now both of you stop whining!" She grabs us by the arms and pulls us closer to where the sign that said Route 1 was.

It was a small downhill slope from here to Accumula Town. Not at all dangerous, but when your arm is vice locked by a blonde ditz, you're half-bound to roll down this hill along with two other poor saps. And it's not on my agenda to be dirty the first few minutes of my journey but when Cheren gave me the 'don't-fight-it' glance, I just shook my head and went with it.

"Alright," Cheren says, our starters huddled by our feet. "Here we go."

"One…" First step. "Two…" Second step. "Three!" Bianca jumps, which mean we jumped too.

And naturally, when we let go of each other, we made our own shows. Cheren lands on his feat at the base of the slop cleanly, with me follow by regaining my balance quickly and sliding down the hill and Bianca eats the grass and rolls down the slope. And it seems our starters were on the same page respectively.

After her small tumble, we quickly helped Bianca up and dusted her off of any grass and dirt on her dress but fortunately, she didn't get any much dirt or bruises. We saw Professor Juniper in the distance and as we approached her, she was smiling at us.

"Lively first step on Route 1," she told us and takes out a small pack of wet wipes. "Just be careful next time, alright Bianca?" She pulls one napkin out begins to wipe Bianca's face.

"Yes, Professor! Now please stop, I can clean myself!" Bianca says and Professor Juniper gives her the napkin.

As Bianca was cleaning herself, Cheren says, "We're all fine, Professor Juniper. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh it's fine," Professor says. "Now that everyone's here, I'll explain about the pokedex a bit more. Naturally, your pages will update every time you meet a new Pokemon. And it shows even more pages and information when it's a Pokemon you caught. However, the Pokedexes you three are holding will have a feature that allows you to record your researches and it'll be sent to my lab instantly. I think it's better for me to demonstrate instead of explaining it. Come, follow me."

Professor Juniper leads us into a meadow where tall grasses were compacted around, an ideal spot for catching Pokemon. She goes into the grass mindlessly, looking for a Pokemon, until we see a grass rustling and a Patrat comes out and lands in front of her, obviously asking for a fight.

"Oh!" she whispers and takes out Mincinno's pokeball. Her little assistant lands in front of her and she points at Patrat. "Let's go, Minnie!" she says and Mincinno cries an affirmative back. "Use Pound!"

Mincinno leaps towards the Patrat with ease and used her tail which glowed white to smack it down on its head. "Praa!" Patrat cries and then scratches at Mincinno, causing her to leap away and Patrat's eyes dilate, making them eerier. Mincinno cringes but Professor says, "Stay strong Mincinno! Use Growl follow up with another Pound attack!"

Mincinno arcs back and unleash a loud cry which made the Patrat cover its ears. Without missing a beat, Mincinno charges again, her tail glowing white for another pound and attacked the Patrat once more. The Patrat was further into Professor's range and she takes out a Pokeball. She throws it and the Patrat was locked inside it in a blink of an eye.

We clapped as Professor Juniper shows us her successfully caught Patrat. "Now," she pulls out her Pokedex and presses it in the direction of the Patrat, which began to explain it.

"Patrat, the Scout Pokemon,"it said. "Extremely cautious, they take shifts to maintain a constant watch of their forest. This Patrat is female and knows the moves Tackle and Leer." She shows us the screen that showed pretty much whatever there is to know about the Patrat species in the similar fashion of how we saw the Pokedex introduce our starters.

"The feature?" I ask and Cheren answers, "It's the icon with the pencil, isn't it, Professor?"

"Correct," she says and taps it. The screen changed and a layout not unlike a sheet of paper appears. "Now, I'm going to expect a constant report from you three. Well, not constant, I wouldn't want the research to take up most of your journey, but at least a two-page research per month will do," she told us.

"What I want for you guys to do is," she continued. "To visit a lot of places and meet a lot Pokemon. Explore the world, do the unexpected, be the first to do whatever it is available! And most of all grow as a person. Can you three handle that?" We glanced at one another. A silent agreement. We nodded to her. She smiles. "Okay, that was definitely not the most reassuring nod but nonetheless, I hope you take my quote to heart. Oh, and here," She hands us five Pokeballs each. "If one of you is planning to catch a Pokemon later on."

Bianca smiled from ear to ear, no doubt already thinking about catching new Pokemon today. Cheren and I took them more or less reluctantly. Cheren looks up at Juniper. "So, just two pages worth of research per month? Of anything?" he asks.

Professor shrugs. "Anything you want. But, I won't be pinning up your works if I deem them not to be suitable for the Pokedex. You can submit as much as you want with any given topic, given that they're not redundant. And don't worry about not meeting the month's deadline. It's not as if this journey was for the Pokedex, anyway," she grins and we all smile back. "Now I'm going on ahead, I'll meet you three at Accumula Town! Hopefully, by… Sun down, if you can catch up there."

She picks out a Pokeball from her pocket and with a pop, her Braviary comes out and she climbs on him and they fly away with a gust of wind, leaving us with our three starters, pokedexes, with five pokeballs each.

I placed my hands inside my shorts again. "So both of you are going to follow her at Accumula Town?" I asked and checked my Xtransceiver. It usually gets about a two hour walk from Nuvema to Accumula by Route 1 if get by the straight road path. "It's ten in the morning. Wanna race?"

Bianca grumbles. "After a tumble like that, I don't wanna,"

"Me neither," Cheren says.

Boo. Bianca perks up next to me. "Oh! Hey, White, Cheren, I thought of something fun!" she says and we turn to her.

Cheren sighs and went ahead to the tall grass. "But we need to get going, Professor Juniper says she'll only be in Accumula Town until sun down," but as he was going further, Bianca stops in front of him.

"Would you just listen for sec?" she pouts and we both roll our eyes. "Seriously! Why don't we see who catches the most Pokemon?" Now she has our attention. She bares her teeth and says, "The one who's carrying the most Pokemon along with the one we received from the professor is the winner!"

Cheren actually looks like he was considering this for a moment. "Huh. That actually sounds interesting."

"Really?" I asked and Cheren shrugs.

"Yeah. I'm sure we could fill up the pokedex pages and it'll please Professor, too," he said. Okay, he's got a point there. "Alright you two, I'm heading to Accumula first. You guys should take care of healing your own Pokemon until then. Got stacked with potions?"

Bianca pulls out her bag, which rattled with stuff. "Check!"

"Full Heals?"

I tapped my bag mindlessly. "Check."

"Escape Ropes? Emergency potions? Bandages? Repels?"

"Good Arceus Cheren, this Route 1!" I say. "There's literally nothing here our Pokemon can't take! Both of your Pokemon has egg moves powerful enough to send a wild Pokemon to next week. And do you think there's anything dangerous here than some Lillipups and Patrats?" I motion all around us, which was just some tall grass and a sign pointing at Nuvema and Accumula.

Cheren rubs his head. "Yeesh, sorry… alright, since I have nothing to worry about, I'm going now," and with that, after a twist of a heel, Cheren walks over the tall grass with Snivy confidently.

Bianca turns to me. "Me and Tempro will do our best together! For sure!" and off she goes, following Cheren, with Tepig trotting behind her.

Naturally, in the next two hours, I haven't gone very far in Route 1. It was an empty straight road with loads of tall grass to step into and naturally, Oshawott wanted to fight every Pokemon we encounter, which was… a lot.

As I began to run from the grass, the spot next to me rattled again and another Lillipup appears for a battle. What gives!? Oshawott growls next to me and he lands in front of the Lillipup, who barks a challenge. Ugh. I didn't want to catch any Pokemon yet. The first thing I needed to do is assess Oshawott first and I haven't even decided on his nickname yet.

So after beating the Lillipup, we both finally got safely out of the grass. Good thing he listens to me. Otherwise we would've been nowhere across Route 1. We both sighed in relief as we stalked over under a shade of a tree and I plop down on its trunk.

"Hahhh… It's still spring but it's ungodly hot!" I moaned. "I need water."

I pulled out my bag and started to take out my tumbl—

BLAHRGH!?

I spat out the water on face and stood up from my spot under the tree with my shirt nearly half drenched. "What the—" I started to say then it slowly hit me as Oshawott looks at me innocently. I leer at it. "Oh you little shit." I whispered and Oshawott gives me toothy grin.

Grumbling, I remembered I had to assess him first and I pulled out a potion from my satchel. "Come on, Oshawott. You need to get healed," He obeys with a lift of his chin and for the first time, I touched my starter.

Like all Oshawotts do, they had short but soft fur, and when I tried to touch his shell, he backs up and covers it immediately. I pause and hold my hands back away from it. "S-Sorry. No touching the shell?" Oshawott shakes his head. I lowered the potion and smiled. "Got it," Very slowly, I approached him and started to stroke his head. "Thanks for telling me, bud."

I continued to heal him with the potion and he starts to come near me. We rested for a moment under the shade of the tree and I opened up the Pokedex to see Oshawott's info again. Before remembering something else. "That's right, I need to give you a nickname," I whispered and sat up. Oshawott blinks from his spot and sits down in front of me.

"Alright, you shake your head when you don't like it and nod if you do. Understand?" He nods. "Alrighty-then…" Time to brainstorm up some witty names.

I'm not as creative as Bianca but I wanted a cool sort of nickname for Oshawott anyway.

"Riptide?" He gives me an unimpressed look and shakes his head. "Err, Vapor?" He shakes his head again. "Otty?" He cringes. Alright, so none of those cutie-patootie names. I tapped my chin. "Umm, Caribbean?" Heh… Oh, that's a no. "Snow?" He gives me a look that said 'but why', and I honestly can't blame him. "Scallop?" He looks like he was about to cut me.

Groaning, I scratched my head. "Look, I'm not the most creative person, alright?" Okay, he said 'yes'. I give him an offended look but Oshawott just gave a nonchalant shrug. After a moment of thinking any more names, which all he rejected, I slopped down the grass and spread my arms apart.

"Fine," I said. "I'll roll off whatever cool things there are on my tongue. Make a sound when you don't like it," Slowly, I felt Oshawott climb up to my lap and he looks up at me with his big blue eyes. Very slowly, I rubbed his head and he pushes his head further into my palm.

I smiled a bit. Cute. I shift my hat so that it covers my eyes and began rolling off sounds on my tongue. "Whirl?" A sound. "Pool?" A grumbling. "Err, Falls?" A mild grumble but it was a sound nonetheless so no. "Altum?"

… No sound this time. I shifted on my spot and found Oshawott looking at me expectantly. He likes that name? "You like 'Altum'?" I ask. He shrugs. But he didn't complain. "Altum." I repeated and nodded a bit. "Alright, Altum. I'll call you that."

My XTransceiver beeped and I checked at the time, which was roughly 12: 04. I nodded at Altum and he shrugs off me and I stood up. "Well, time for lunch," I said and pulled out a small berry from my bag. The oran berry Mom gave me before the three of us got out to Route 1. "Here, we'll eat at the Pokemon Center once we get there, okay, Altum?"

Altum nods and begins to chomp on the berry. I smile a bit, thinking this was the beginning I could only ever hope for.

B's notes:

A small ficlet I wanted to get out after playing my Pokemon Black again. Again, this wasn't edited or beta-read. But I'd like to continue this.