A/N: I've wanted to make a story for Pokémon for a while, so I made my own characters for it. I hope you like it!
"Are you ready, Meg?"
"Yep." Meg said as she came out of the kitchen. Kristin was waiting for her by the door. Her foot was tapping impatiently, and her chestnut-brown hair was put back in a casual ponytail.
Kristin smiled at her friend as she arrived next to her and threw on her coat. "Can you believe that it's finally time to start our journeys?"
Meg just smiled and walked past her out the door. "Let's go. I don't want to be late and have our Pokémon already taken."
The two girls walked the rest of the way to the lab in silence, the realization of the important day finally dawning on them. When they got to the front door, Professor Elm was waiting for them.
"Hi girls." He said. "You're just in time. Right this way." He led them through the door to the back of the lab. A table was set up, and on it were two Pokedex's, two piles of five poke balls each, and three Pokémon. Totodile was on the right, Chikorita in the middle, and Cyndaquil on the left.
"Oh." Kristin gasped as they went to the table. She looked over at Meg nervously, and the girls smiled reassuringly at each other. "They're all so cute!"
Professor Elm looked down at her seriously. "Remember that 'cuteness' is not the reason you choose a Pokémon."
Kristin looked back at him with confidence. "I know. You really want to find one that would make a good partner for you and has a similar personality."
He smiled. "There you go. Now, choose a Pokémon and your journey can truly begin. Who's going first?"
Meg stepped forward. "I am." She looked carefully at the creatures on the table. The Totodile was fidgeting restlessly, and looked a bit intimidating. As she was looking at the Chikorita, the Cyndaquil stepped forward and made a sound.
"It appears that Cyndaquil likes you." Professor Elm said.
Meg held out her arms and picked up the small creature, which sighed and nestled into her arms. "It's perfect." She said quietly. A new note of emotion crept into her voice, which shook as she said, "Thank you." She stepped back, cradling the tiny bundle in her arms as Kristin went up to the table.
Kristin usually walked with an air of confidence, but now moved with light nervousness. She walked right to the Chikorita and held out her hand. It looked into her eyes and blinked a few times. Then it stepped forward and nuzzled her hand, eyes closed. Kristin smiled and picked up the Pokémon. "I'll take this one." She said.
"Perfect. Now this is a Pokedex, which will give you any information you need on Pokémon you may encounter in your travels." He gestured to the small tablet-like devices on the table. "And here are five empty poke balls to use for capturing wild Pokémon. Have fun, girls!"
The girls thanked him and walked out. Kristin put Chikorita on the ground and grabbed Meg in a hug after she did the same with Cyndaquil. "Thank you for going first."
"Always." Meg said as they separated. "Now let's go explore."
Some time later…
The meadow was empty when the girls arrived, the flowers in full bloom. Their Pokémon ran behind them, playing with each other. As Meg and Kristin sat down on the grass, their Pokémon ran to the edge of the field, paying close attention to the woods. The reason was made clear a moment later when a Furret came out, followed by a Hoothoot.
"Wow." Meg said. She brought out her Pokedex and listened with a curious smile as it explained what the wild Pokémon were. "I'm going to try to catch that Furret. Do you want to get the other one?"
Kristin shook her head. "No thanks. I'll just watch what you do this time."
"Suit yourself." She stood up and walked towards the group of Pokémon. "Alright Cyndaquil. Use tackle on that Furret!"
The tiny Pokémon ran at the Furret and caught it by surprise. It fell a few feet away. "Good job! Now do it one more time!" Cyndaquil did this, and the wild Pokémon sat up slowly, dazed. Meg grabbed a poke ball and threw it. It blinked a few times, then clicked and was still.
Meg ran to it and picked it up. "That was great!" She turned to look at Cyndaquil and saw the Pokémon right behind her. She picked it up and held it close. "Thank you for that, buddy. We're a real team now."
"That was awesome!" Kristin said as she ran up to her.
"Let's see what my first captured Pokémon is like." Meg released the Furret from the poke ball. The little brown creature was long and furry, with short pointed ears. They were pricked towards Meg as she knelt next to it. "Hi Furret."
The Pokémon looked at her and made a sound of content. Kristin smiled at her friend and touched the top of its head. It closed its eyes and relaxed more.
"I think this is the start of something great." She said to the girl next to her. Meg's crystal blue eyes were shining with wonder and amazement at the two Pokémon in front of her. "We'll make it great."
Dusk that same day…
Kristin opened her eyes and was met with the sight of a mostly clear sky streaked with red and orange. She sat up and looked to her right. Meg was still over where she had caught the Furret. Her head was bent over her lap, where she was reading a small book. Furret and Cyndaquil were playing quietly near her. She looked up as Kristin sat up and smiled at her. "Did you have a good nap?"
Kristin laughed and stood up, stretching. "It was definitely relaxing. How long was I asleep?"
Meg put away her book and stood up as well. "It wasn't very long. Probably only about half an hour. I think we might have found the perfect spot to train."
"I think you're right." Kristin said as she walked over to her. "Do you want to set up camp and spend the night here, or should we go home and come back in the morning?"
"I say we spend the night out here. If we don't we'll never know if we're prepared enough to travel greater distances alone."
Kristin nodded. She stared at Meg for a moment, and then released Chikorita from its poke ball. It ran happily to Furret and Cyndaquil and joined their game of tag. "Let's do this. One of the best parts of staying here is that we can practice battling without the pressure of earning gym badges right away. It's the perfect way to settle into our travels."
Meg smiled. "Let's make camp."
Three days later…
"Chikorita, use razor leaf!"
"Furret, dodge it and use dig!" The brown Pokémon jumped to avoid the attack, but was hit by one of the leaves. "Furret!"
Meg looked worriedly at it, but was relieved when it stood up a moment later. "Good job Kristin." She called to her friend.
Kristin walked over to Chikorita and rubbed its head. Furret ran back to Meg and she knelt to smooth its fur and check for any injuries. Finding none, she called it back to its poke ball and stood up. Chikorita stopped playing with Kristin and looked towards the road that led back to town. A deep rumbling could be heard from that direction. A few minutes later, a group of men dressed all in black appeared on the crest of the hill. Meg ran over to Kristin. "Let's see if they're friendly." She said.
The men had started walking towards them while they were talking, and reached them before the girls could say any more. "Hand over your Pokémon." One of the group members said.
"Who are you?" Kristin asked.
"We're Team Rocket, kid. Now give us your Pokémon or we'll take them from you."
Meg started to object, but was spoken over by another grunt. "Didn't the boss say that…"the rest of his sentence was mumbled too quietly for the girls to hear.
"Yeah." The leader said. "I think you're right." He smiled cruelly at the girls. "Looks like you two will be coming with us." Suddenly he lunged at them.
"Run!" Meg screamed. The girls turned and fled towards the woods, narrowly avoiding the man's reaching grasp. They stopped after running for about five minutes straight, hiding behind a large tree. The leaves that came with summer were full and thick, offering a nice cover. "Kristin." Meg said. "We might not get out of this."
"But-"
"We don't have time to argue. If they have to catch us, one of us has to be able to get away."
"I understand." Kristin said. "If one of us gets caught, the other has to stay hidden."
"Exactly."
A stampede of steps could be heard approaching, rustling through the foliage. "Remember how you like me to go first?" Meg asked seriously. "I told you I always will. This isn't an exception. If it has to be one of us, you run out after I go and distract them. We'll meet in the next town over."
"What if you can't get away?"
Meg looked into her friend's worried brown eyes. "I will. Don't worry." She hugged Kristin and knelt lower to the ground as the men approached. One of them looked towards their hiding spot and moved closer. Kristin gasped quietly, but not quietly enough. The man smiled and called to the others, "They're over here!"
The girls sprang up. "Go!" Meg said. She ran into the middle of the group and raced away, the group of men chasing after her.
Kristin started to run in the opposite direction when one of the grunts grabbed her wrist. He had stayed behind and hidden to wait for her to move. "Oh!" she said. "Chikorita, use tackle!" the Pokémon ran out from behind her and hit the man, who grunted and released her. "Return." She said. Chikorita was sent back into the poke ball. Then she ran.
The wind whistled through her ears as Meg dashed through the trees. She looked behind her and saw the group only a little bit behind, and sped up. The group gradually thinned out as she kept up the pace. When she couldn't see any more of them, she stopped and clutched a stitch in her chest, completely out of breath.
When she regained her breath, a rough voice said, "Nowhere to run now, kid."
Meg gasped as the leader of the Team Rocket group stepped out from behind her.
"Time to say goodnight. Butterfree, use sleep powder!"
"NO!" Meg cried. A green powder fell on her as the Pokémon flew over her, and she crumpled to the ground. The man bent and scooped her into his arms, her auburn hair spilling over his arm in a wave. Then he started walking back the way he had come, picking up a radio and telling the others, "I've got her. Let's go back to the base."
As he walked to rejoin his teammates, no one could have known that Kristin had just watched the whole thing.