Hi all! This is a fanfiction story I've had in my head for a while now, so I decided to put it on paper. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything associated with it, but I do claim ownership of all my OC's.

April 30th of the year 49 a.w.* that's the day it all began.

"Hey Ari, wake up!" Someone yelled.

I began waking up, and, as I open my eyes, I see the smiling face of my 12-year-old sister staring at me.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked.

"7:00 am"

"7:00 am?! Why are you waking me up this early?" I answered.

"Have you forgotten already? Today is the day that I get to be an official trainer! I am heading to professor Oak's lab to get my starter!"

Ah, Leah, my beautiful younger sister. She is the most joyful, innocent, kind girl I have ever known. Many siblings spend their days fighting over anything and everything, but not us. I can never be mad at her for longer than 5 minutes. She is the best sister I could have ever hoped for.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" I said, smiling.

"Nope, I'm too excited! Come on, hurry up and get off the bed!" She said with a huge smile.

"Ok, ok, wait for me downstairs, I'm going to change." I replied.

As soon as she left, I closed the door and stripped off my pajamas. I opened the closet and chose what I love wearing most, my comfy jeans with a white t-shirt, blue sweatshirt, and my white and blue baseball cap. Then I grabbed my C-Gear and my wallet and headed off downstairs to meet up with Leah.

"Morning Ari!"

"Good morning mom, how are you?" I replied.

"I'm doing well; I cooked you guys some breakfast before heading off to Oak's lab."

"Ok, thanks!" I said.

It was a delicious omelet stuffed with cheese and spices. As I finished eating it, I could tell Leah couldn't contain herself anymore and just wanted to leave, so I hurried it up and left with her towards the lab. We live in the town of Viridian city, so the ride wouldn't be that long. We both grabbed our bicycles and headed our way.

"So, what starter are you thinking of picking, Leah?" I asked her as we both pedaled towards pallet town, avoiding any long grass to prevent being attacked.

"I think I'm gonna go with Squirtle, I love water-types and when he finishes evolving, he is going to be a powerful Blastoise!" She said, with a cheerful smile.

"That's a good choice. I definitely see you as a water-type trainer." I replied.

As we continued pedaling, I felt a certain uneasiness coming from Leah, knowing full well what was going to happen next. She was going to ask me that question again.

"Say, Ari?"

"Yes?"

"I know I have asked you this before, but you never really give me a straight answer, why don't you have any Pokémon, being that you are 18-years-old already?"

"Well, umm… I just… don't feel like I am ready yet to be a trainer…"

"But you are eighteen already! You should have gotten a…"

"Sorry Leah, but I really don't feel like talking about this, could we please change the subject?"

"Yeah, sure Ari…"

The rest of the way was spent pedaling in silence, as neither of us knew what to say next. What I had told Leah was the truth… but not completely. She never found out about what happened to me when I was thirteen.

While she was away at a summer camp for girls, I decided to go to Oak's lab in pallet and get my starter from him. He was very friendly towards me, and he gave me a Charmander that I asked him I wanted. He also gave me a Pokedex and told me to take good care of him. I told him I would, and I was officially a trainer.

But one day, everything changed…

As I was walking through route one, a person with a white t-shirt with a large red "R" on it walked up to me. He said that he was a part of an organization known as "Team Rocket" or something like that and said that he needed to confiscate my Charmander away from me, I told him to get lost, but he wouldn't leave. As I got fed up with him, I told Charmander to attack him with Ember. Just as he was about to, the person released a giant Gyarados with a large scar on its right eye and told him to attack my Charmander. The fight was clearly one-sided, and my Charmander was easily fainted with two Hydro Pumps to the face. I yelled at the guy and ran towards him, with the intention of giving him a punch to the face, but he grabbed me and threw me out of the way towards the hard, stony floor of route one, making my head hit a stone. The pain was excruciating, and I could feel blood flowing out of the cut in my head. Before I passed out from the pain and blood loss, I heard the guy say, "Team Rocket doesn't need weaklings like this Charmander. Gyarados, finish it." I tried yelling, but I had no strength left in me. The last thing I saw was a giant Hyper Beam connecting with the already fainted Charmander in the floor. That's when I passed out.

When I recovered consciousness, I was in a bed, with a bandage over my head recovering from my wound. As I looked around, I realized I was in someone's house, and that person probably saved my life.

"Hey, you're awake! I was really worried about you…" An unknown voice said to me.

I looked around the room, and saw a woman, probably in her mid-twenties, looking towards me from the door frame. She had a tray with food that she brought to the bed.

"Where am I, who are you?" I asked, scared.

"Shhh… Its ok, I'm not gonna hurt you. You passed out after you hit your head against a rock. I was traveling towards Viridian when I saw you hit a rock after a Team Rocket grunt threw you. I grabbed my Venusaur and attacked his Gyarados until it fainted. Unfortunately, the Rocket Grunt got away, but I was able to treat your wounds. My name is Daisy Oak by the way."

I suddenly remembered what happened. The fight, my Charmander getting hit… My Charmander!

"Oh no, I remember now! He took out my Charmander. Have you seen him? Is he ok?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"That Charmander, well, umm… I'm really sorry, but he didn't make it. When I got there, the flame in his tail was extinguished, so that meant he was dead. I'm really sorry." She replied, with a sad smile.

… And that's why I never wanted another Pokémon in my life.

So time passed, I got better from my wounds, I told my mom what happened, but made her promise to never tell Leah about what happened, fearing that she might get depressed, since she thinks I am the best at everything and nothing bad could ever happen to me. I really don't want her to lose her innocence.

Suddenly, I realized that we had arrived at Pallet town. It's a beautiful, serene town, were no more than 200 people live.

"Ready to start your journey?" I asked Leah.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" She replied cheerfully.

We both walked to Prof. Oak's lab and entered in. Upon entering, we were met with many machines buzzing, lights going on and off, people running here and there, and Oak sitting in his computer in the back.

"HI PROFFESSOR OAK!" Leah yelled, interrupting everyone's work, and making many (including me) temporarily deaf.

"Hi there, you must be Leah. Someone's excited to start their journey…" Prof. Oak said, laughing at Leah's excitement.

"Yep, and this is my brother Ari!" Leah said.

"Oh, Hi Ari, nice to see you again! How is your Charmander doing? Probably evolved into a Charizard by now I suppose."

My eye started twitching. I suddenly realized that not telling Oak about what happened was a bad idea.

"Huh? You know Ari already? What does he mean by the Charmander? You have a Charmander!?" Leah asked, puzzled.

This was getting bad.

"Leah, could you give us a minute please?" I asked.

"Uh, sure, but only a minute! And you better explain later!" Leah said, walking away from us.

"Professor, your granddaughter Daisy never told you what happened, did she?"

"No, what happened?" Oak asked, wondering what he could have missed.

I quickly tried to tell him in very small detail what happened to my Charmander and how Daisy rescued me from the rocket grunt. Oak was very sad about what happened to me and offered me another Pokémon, but I quickly refused.

"Team Rocket is the worst crime syndicate in the world. Their reach is beyond comprehension, and the Police are never able to fully disband them. Have you ever heard of a trainer called Ash Ketchum?"

"Hmmm… He sounds very familiar… Oh wait, isn't he the trainer who caught all known Pokémon in the world, except for the legendary ones?" I asked, suddenly remembering who he was.

"Yes, that's correct. Ash Ketchum became the first ever trainer to accomplish that feat, getting the title of 'Pokémon master' and became the new champion after defeating lance, the dragon master." Oak replied, remembering his old pupil.

"Yeah, I remember now, he was worshipped in the eyes of many, but why are you telling me this?" I asked, wondering the significance of the story.

"You see, Ash was my pupil. He actually lived in this town, twenty two years ago, and received a Pikachu from me when he first started. He was the best pupil I ever had. One day, however, he became tired of Team Rocket, ruining everyone's lives, and decided to take on the organization himself, with the help of his Pokémon. Years passed, and he took down the main leader, Giovanni, and sent him to justice, where he was later executed for his crimes against the world. But, as you can see, it didn't stop the organization from forming again, with a new mysterious leader. No one knows who he is, but he has made the Organization much stronger than it was before, getting rid of personnel that didn't meet his needs, and put in new, more competent ones. Now, Team Rocket is worse than it ever was, with new leaders, new goals, and new Pokémon. "Oak said, his eyes downcast, but burning with fury.

"I see… But, what happened to Ash, did he ever try to attack the organization again?" I asked, curious.

"No one ever knows. Once team Rocket was disbanded, he became the very best, like no one ever was, but after Team Rocket resurfaced, no one has seen him since." Oak said.

"Interesting…" I mused.

"Are you guys done chatting yet? I really want to get my Squirtle already!" Leah said, interrupting our conversation.

"Ah yes, Leah, A Squirtle you said? Very well, let me get it." Oak said, reaching for one of his drawers, and pulling out a small Pokeball. He then grabbed a Pokedex from another drawer and handed both to Leah.

"Allright, to release your Squirtle, grab your Pokeball, press the button on the Pokeball to make it larger, and throw it against the ground." Oak said.

Leah did just this, and out came a Squirtle as expected.

"Squirtle, Squirtle!" The Squirtle yelled.

"Pokémon can only speak in their languages, unless they are psychic and can communicate telepathically to their trainer. However, recent advancements in technology have developed a built-in translator in a Pokedex to understand what they are saying. To use it, remove the headset that's attached to the back of the Pokedex and put it in your ear. Then, navigate to the menu in your Pokedex and select 'Enable Translation'. Now you can understand your Squirtle."

"Squirtle! Squirt Squirtle!" Squirtle exclaimed.

"Aww, that's so cute! Thank you!" Leah said.

"Well, what did it say?" I asked, very curious, since I never heard a Pokémon's translated language.

"He said that I look like a really nice trainer and he wants to get stronger and be the best Pokémon ever!"

We all laughed at the comment merrily. My sister is going to be a great trainer someday, I know it.

"Well Mr. Oak, we better get going, it will take us a while to get back to our home." I said.

"Very well, take care you two; I hope to see you around again!" Oak said, waving at us as we left the lab.

Once we left the lab, we hopped into our bicycles and rode off towards pallet town.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, Ari, what's this about you having a Charmander, is there something you never told me?" Leah asked, worry and curiosity written in her face.

"Yeah, I had a Charmander once…" I said, remembering the sad time when I lost my Charmander.

"You did? How come you never told me? And what do you mean, 'had'? What happened to it?" Leah asked.

"I suppose there is no more hiding it away from you anymore…" I said, knowing I had to tell her sometime, and that sometime was now.

And so, we rode all the way back to Viridian, with me telling her my sad story about my dead Charmander. As expected, she became really sad, and it got to the point of tears, but thankfully, she was strong and only got teary eyed.

"Brother, I'm really sorry that happened to you, but I need you to promise me something." Leah said.

"Huh? What is it?" I asked.

"Promise me… This won't change who you are. Promise me you won't seek revenge against the person who did this to you…" Leah said, with tears about to fall off her eyes.

"I promise, Leah".

*a.w. = After the war. This is a great war that occurred before the events of the anime, manga, games, etc. The one that Lt. Surge was a part of.

And, that's it! My first chapter in the story! Please let me know what you thought, suggestions, comments, anything! Rate and review! And of course, if you like it, favorite it!