So You Want to Be A Master?

Authors Notes: This is joint project between me and my brother. And also our first fic. The idea for this story came after I read A New Master's Quest by HandsOfFate and I thank him for the inspiration.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. There, I said it.

Chapter 1

My name is Bryon McKeehan and this story about my quest to become a pokemon master. It had been a few weeks since I had graduated high school and that meant that the Pokémon league was coming into its semi-finals. As such I was heading over to Dexter Perry's house to catch today's battles. He had the bigger, high-def television so it seemed like a no brainer. He was a year older than me but we had been best friends for over decade now thanks to the mishap of us both getting lost on a school field trip. That day the teachers learned that the buddy system, doesn't really work when both buddies don't have clue where they are going.

I looked at myself in the mirror and comb back my short blonde hair one more time. Then I traced my finger across the scar on my right eye and looked down at Duke remembering the day that this growlithe had saved my life. "Let's go," I told him, "Mrs. Perry is baking apple pie today. We wouldn't want to those jerks to eat it all, would we?" Duke barks at me and we head out the door.

When we entered his house I yelled for my friend. "Noodle! Where are ya?"

"Yo Bryon. I'm in my room." He responded from his room.

I navigate the narrow hallways to where he is sprawled out on his bed in watching the TV. "Dude are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?"

"They're clean," he said.

"Ish, the word you're looking for is cleanish."

"That still has the word clean in it."

"You're hopeless," I sighed.

"So are you," he remarked.

"Anyway… where is Steak?"

"He should be helping mom in the kitchen." He says and, as if he knew I was asking, I feel Steak's flaming tail pushing me aside as he came in with a few bags of chips. I sit down on the couch next to Noodle's bed and Duke made himself comfortable next to me. "He looks excited. What's up?" Noodle asks as he looks over the bed at us.

"Duke is just really into the new trainer Zevon. His Arcanine has swept two of his opponents this year." I tell him.

"Dude! He's…" Noodle started but was quickly hushed by a stern "Der." From Steak.

At the start of the first break we had begun playing a game of life. It was Duke's turn and an idea struck me. "We should go on a Pokémon journey." I blurted out before processing the thought. "Char!" Steak yelled as it flipped the board in excitement.

Noodle, however, just looked at me with a puzzled face. "Ok… Why?" he inquired.

"Think about it. I have enough money saved up to do about a year's worth of travelling. Also, we wouldn't be the first people to take a year off of college to do something crazy. But, most importantly we can go the distance." My voice got louder with every word.

"What makes you so sure we will be any good?" Noodle questioned.

"C'mon bro, we have predicted the outcomes and line-ups for every match so far today and several last year."

"Fine, I can tell you won't let this go." He reached behind him for something. "Let's put it in God's hands. If this coin comes up heads I'll go ahead and support you on this adventure. But if it's tails, you drop the subject and we just go back to our lives."

Noodle threw the coin up in the air and I waited in anticipation. Noodle caught the coin, lifted his hand slightly, and then threw his head back in disappointment. "Dangit!" He said sounding a little depressed.

"I take it we are going?" I asked, shaking in excitement.

"I guess I could use the road trip." Noodle muttered under his breath. Then we finally noticed our Pokémon fighting because Steak had thrown the board in Duke's face.

"Duke, get his head out of your mouth." I said as I tried to pull my furry friend away from the fire lizard.

We spent the next week preparing for what we assumed to be a yearlong trip. Convincing my mother to let me go was probably the hardest part. Luckily Noodle was with me. After he conversed with her she became very accepting of the situation. For some reason Mom always trusted his judgment more than mine. My sister Angie didn't care what I was doing as long as it got me out of the house sooner. Dad was away on one of his breeding trips but Mom told me that I had to be the one to explain the trip to him when he got home Wednesday. As for Noodle, I may never know what he told his parents about the trip that week.

I took the next couple of days to limit the amount of money on my debit card and put most of it in savings. I told my boss at the restaurant that I was quitting my last summer early and working only until the end of the week and that I hoped he could have a position open for me next summer when I came back. When shopping I bought some belt clips to keep pokeballs on, along with twelve pokeballs and two TMs I found in a buy one get one free deal. I Looked at the pokedexes and concluded that they were to expensive. So instead I installed a pokemon archive onto my laptop that could tell about a Pokémon through pictures I took on my phone. I decided to wait until after my dad got home to buy a new tent and traveling equipment since he was experienced in these ways.

When Wednesday afternoon finally came I was going crazy waiting for the old man to finally get home. Around seven o'clock when we saw the car pull in the driveway. The parents walked in the door and he got a hug from me and Sis.

During dinner the bulky man told us stories of his trip. Like how he had to wrestle an Ursaring to the ground or that he swore he saw a Suicune, but it was gone before he could get his camera. Once dinner ended Mom gave me a look that told me that I had to tell Dad about the trip now.

Quickly, I grabbed Dad's shoulder before he could shift himself into the living room. "Dad," I said as I turned him towards me, "we need to talk."

Being eye level with me at 5' 9" he shouldn't be a very intimidating man. He shouldn't be but, 20 years of a physically demanding job gave him much more bulk than a man his age should have. Also, I didn't know what he would do when I said told him that I wanted to drop school and work for a year filled me with the fear of his disappointment as I sat him down across the table from me.

As I looked him in the eyes I took a deep breath and started my presentation. "Last week as we were watching the league Dexter and I decided that we should go on a journey this year." He looked at me with a blank face. "Mom has already given the go ahead with the condition that successful or not I will go to college next year. I know that the idea is sudden and crazy but I think I can make it. But, if I don't try I will always wonder." I kept looking at him hoping for at least a reaction.

Finally, he looks down and starts talking, "Yeah, I already knew all this." "What?" I ask. "News travels fast." He replied with a smile. "One of your friends told their parents and called me about it. And who am I to stand in the way of a child's dream? So I decided to get you this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball. "Duke is good, but he can't win all your fights." The fire dog growled in disagreement as he lay at my feet.

I looked down at him, "C'mon boy, let's meet our new friend." Everyone went out into the front yard so I could throw the ball without fear of breaking anything. The opened up and out of the white light came a cat that blue fur on its front half and black fur on its back half as well as around its neck. On the end of its tail was a four pointed star and above the front paws there was bright, yellow fur that I could see electricity coming out of. It saw all the people staring and must've gotten scared because the next thing we knew it had sprinted into the garage.

Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "That Shinx is a little shy but Rudy thought that she would make a good addition to your team."

"That's more than a little shy." I laughed.

"If you think it's scared now you should have seen it when I caught the little thing," my dad laughed, "Completely paralyzed with fear at the sight of my dragonite."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

"It is, overcoming that shinx's shyness is going to be a great challenge and test of your skills as a trainer."

"I always did like challenges," I said ready and determined to make my pokémon two of the greatest ever.

Well that was our first chapter I hope it was interesting enough for a exposition. There will be a battle in the next chapter!