This is my first pokemon fanfiction so please, any advice?
It was a peaceful morning. The pidgey were singing, the spearow were screeching, the neighborhood kids were playing. Her mother was screeching her name. Her bed wa- Wait, mother screeching her name? She bolted straight up, startling the slumbering Arcanine lying on the foot of her bed. It glared at her as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before going back to sleep.
"Lorraine Isabelle Cross!" screeched the banshee from the bottom of the stairs. She fell back against the pillows. Great, her mother was already pissed at her. What a fantastic way to start the first day of her pokemon journey.
She painfully slipped out of her comfy bed and slipped her feet into her umbreon slippers. She reached down and scratched the pokemon behind the ear and shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Well good morning Lorraine." she glanced in the general direction of the greeting and huffed. She hated morning people. Too smiley and cheery for her tastes. Her father continued on anyways, "You ready for your journey? I remember my first day just like it was yesterday. I got my trusty Venusaur, Bulbasaur at the time." Great, he's gonna tell us the story all over again.
"Pops, we love you any everything, but please. Do not tell us that story again. I have it memorized." said her always blunt older brother Henrik Cross, an aspiring pokemon researcher, as he sat with his Delphox next to him snacking on a puffin sprinkled with spices. He had received her when they lived in Kalos a while back. Turning to her, Henrik quickly changed the subject. "So Little Sister, excited?" She gave him an unimpressed look. He laughed and slung an arm over her shoulder. "Oh, don't be like that. You're gonna have so much fun! I know I did, traveling with Ivan, Thomas, Edmund and Erica was one of the most exciting experiences of my life."
She gave him another unimpressed look. "You're only saying that because you're whipped and don't want your boyfriend to ground you for another week after your last prank with Erica." He gaped at her. It was perfect timing too; Thomas, Edmund, Ivan and Erica walked through the front door. Edmund and Ivan had matching grins and were making whip noises while Erica smirked at the shocked teenager who quickly jumped out of his funk when Thomas sat in his lap.
"Hey babe!" He said with a cheshire grin on his face. Thomas gave him an almost identical look to Lorraine making Henrik scowl and turn to her. "You need to stop corrupting my boyfriend. Go get your own." This made her glare and shuffled back upstairs after putting her dishes in the sink and ruffling her little sister's' hair, making them squawk at her.
She moaned as she fell back on her bed. Why did her family have to be so annoying?! A grunting noise made her turn her head and look over at the end of her bed. Her father's Arcanine was staring at her from the foot of the bed. She gave a soft smile and quickly reached over, flopping on to her stomach and running a hand through his fur. "You are just so soft Godric."
"Arc."
She flopped her hands at her side with a heavy sigh. Was she ready? No idea. Was she excited? Of course! She was finally going on her own adventure. An adventure across multiple regions! With so many exciting pokemon and battles. She couldn't wait.
"You know you look insane with the grin right?" A smile grew on her face. There were very few people she allowed unrequited access to her sanctuary. Sarah Harrison and Michelle Oak were just two of them.
She sat up to greet her sisters in all but blood. "I am insane." They shook their heads in unison. Sarah's pink hair and tan skin could be a bad combination for her, but she made it work and she rocked it. She stood there with her hand on her cocked hip with a mischievous smirk resting on her lips while her pink purse rested on her other hip. With no doubt, she was ready for the pending journey. Michelle Oak was the contrast of Sarah, preferring to go by Mick or Mickey, she was epitome of tom-boy. Wearing cargo pants, tank tops, baseball caps, hoodies and playing with the boys, Michelle was an interesting character. She stood next to Sarah with a wide grin, showing off her slightly crooked teeth and the fact that she was chewing a piece of grape gum. Something that, in their circle of friends, was considered a topic that they never questioned as they had heard one kid ask why grape and was tortured with an hour long rant about the flavors of gum and the pros and cons.
"You guys ready? We gotta go get the lazy beast out of bed." said Michelle in her usual drawl. Sarah and Lorraine shared a look. Lazy Beast indeed. The fourth and final member of their troop was by far the laziest. Preferring to sleep if he wasn't battling, working out or eating, Rogue Ketchum was an interesting boy that drove his parents nuts with his ability to fall asleep anywhere at anytime.
"Yeah, let me just get dressed and double check my bag. I'll meet you guys downstairs and we'll all go wake the beast." They took great humor in teasing Rogue on his sleeping habits. Sarah and Michelle nodded and left. Lorraine shook her head and walked over to her dresser to grab the clothes she set out the night before and put them on and grabbed the bag leaning against the foot of her bed. Clothes? Check. Money? Check. Snacks? Check. Photo Album? Check. Camera? Check. Journal? Check. Sketchbook? Check. Pens? Check. Pencils? Check. Awesome. She scratched the snoozing Arcanine and headed downstairs.
The Ketchum house was known for its active nature. With Ash Ketchum as the patriarch of the house and Serena Ketchum as the matriarch, plus 4 boys and 1 girl all under 10 years of age and tons of pokemon, it could get quite hectic. How Rogue could sleep through it all, stumped many.
"ASH KETCHUM!" screeched an annoyed voice as they approached the lively house, it was quickly followed by multiple laughs. The three of them shared a look before knocking on the red door. The sound of multiple feet pattering across the floor made them smile. Rogue's younger siblings were adorable.
"Ceecee!" "Meemee!" "Lowee!" chorused the quartet as they all battled over who got to exit the door first. Thankfully Serena had caught up with them and the three girls could finally see why they were all laughing. Serena had been caught in another prank. She was covered from head to toe in pink paint and rainbow sparkles and feathers.
"Hello girls, why don't you come on in. Rogue still isn't up." she said as she ushered the five mischievous children into the backyard with her Delphox and Pangoro following close behind to make sure they didn't get into any more trouble. "I swear, that boy could sleep through the end of the world and not even know it!" She shook her head in amusement.
Lorraine smiled, Rogue was one of the most amusing people she knew. "Hey Mrs. Ketchum, mind if I go and wake him up? We want to get going as soon as possible, Professor Oak might not have any pokemon left for us by the time we get there." Serena smiled and nodded.
"Of course dear, go right ahead. And how many times do I have to tell you, you can call me Serena you know. And I get you four wanting to get there on time. Ash was late the first time and missed out on the standard kanto starters." Lorraine, Sarah and Michelle smiled. Pikachu was one of the most quirkiest Pikachu's they had ever met.
Lorraine smiled and headed for the stairs and to Rogue's bedroom. She smiled as she gazed at all the framed photos on the walls. It was a timeline of Serena and Ash's life throughout their lives. It was quite amusing. Once she reached the end of the hall and Rogue's bedroom, she softly opened the door and stepped into the room. Gazing at the dark room, not having to turn on the lights as she had the room memorized. Pokemon League posters littered the walls, Bookshelves with training and pokemon books, a circular rug, a large bed tucked into the corner. She calmly walked over to the bed and stared down at the sleeping boy. He always looked so peaceful sleeping. She almost didn't want to wake him but she knew that she had to if they wanted to get to Professor Oak's lab on time. She reached out and shook his shoulder. "Rogue." No answer. She shook harder, "Rogue wake up." No answer. Sighing, she looked down at his arms and at the pokemon plushie snuggled there. Rogue had a tendency to latch onto things in his sleep and became very protective of those things as well so if you wanted to wake him up, just take the thing away from him. So she quickly reached over and snatched the Charizard plushie from his iron grip. He popped up and tackled her to his bed. She grinned up at him. "Morning Rogue." He grunted and just flopped down face first into her making her groan. "Rogue get up. We're gonna be late!" He grunted and rolled off her.
"Tch." He clicked. Lorraine gave him a look. He grunted and shuffled to the edge of the bed before slipping into the bathroom. Yeah, he wasn't much of a talker. Or a people person really. She smiled up at his ceiling, they had worked together to get a perfect replication of the view from their favorite spot over his bed.
A tanned hand appeared in front of her sight and she grabbed it, allowing Rogue to pull her to her feet and they walked out of his room and into the living room. "The beast lives!" cheered Michelle from her spot on the couch with a mouthful of cookies. Rogue just glared at her. He also wasn't much of a morning person.
"Rogue." He watched as his parents approached him with Pikachu on his father's shoulder and something behind his back. "We figured that since you loved Pikachu so much, we'd give you one of Pikachu's children." Rogue's eyes widened. A pikachu of his own?! His father brought his hands forward and Rogue's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. Not a pikachu. A pichu. "Pikachu figured that his only son would be the best fit for you. Be careful with him alright Rogue? That little one there is quite special. As you know Pikachu is one of the most powerful Pikachu's out there so this Pichu is bound to be powerful in his own right." There was a twinkle in his father's eye. He carefully took the small electric mouse in his hands and gently stroked a finger down it's stomach earning him a small shock. The small mouse glared up at him, sparking slightly. Rogue grinned and looked straight at Pikachu.
"I promise to care for your son to the absolute best of my ability." Pikachu nodded and went back to watching his son with his new trainer. If Rogue was anything like his parents, then his own son was in for the ride of his life.
He turned to the three girls standing by the door with a small smile on his face, not caring that the small Pichu in his hands was sending constant shocks into his hands. Lorraine smiled and turned to open the door, "Come on guys, we don't want to pull an Ash and not get a starter do we?" The affronted man squawked.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Everyone turned to him. "Pikachu is a starter!" They all sweat dropped, Pikachu included. Nobody was denying the fact that Pikachu was a started.
"Right, let's go." Rogue nodded, and followed the girls out into the sun. One step closer to fulfilling their dreams.
The walk to Professor Oak's was peaceful, by their definition anyways. Michelle and Sarah were egging each other on about who's starter was gonna be more powerful. Of course it was in all good fun, all four new that it wasn't the pokemon's power that made them powerful, but their spirit and soul that made them powerful. Just take a Magikarp for instance, they evolved into the atrocious pokemon Gyarados. This was fact that was drilled into them by their parents from a young age. With their parents being researchers, coordinators, a pokemon master, breeders, designers, connoisseurs, inventors, etc. it was hard not to believe that anybody or pokemon wasn't powerful in some aspect.
"So Rogue, are you gonna give your Pichu a nickname?" Rogue hadn't stopped smiling as he walked stroking his Pichu's stomach. He seemed enamored at the fact that he finally had his own Pikachu, it was a dream of all the Ketchum children to have such a strong bond with a pokemon of their own like their father and his Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu. There was just something like no other with those bonds.
Rogue glanced at Lorraine from the corner of his eyes before looking back at Pichu. "Nah." Lorraine nodded. That seemed like him, Rogue wasn't much for naming things. She got that, of course Michelle loved giving people nicknames. Even if they didn't want one.
"So Tsundere," He glared at her, "Are ya gonna get a starter now that you have Pichu?" Rogue thought for a moment. Was he? Eh, he shrugged. Michelle gaped at him. Seriously?
Lorraine smiled and laughed as she started walking faster, making Rogue smirk at her. He knew what she was doing. He quickly moved the still sparking Pichu to his shoulder and started walking faster. Michelle and Sarah groaned.
"Do you two have to do this every time?!" Michelle groaned. Every time they got within eyesight of their destination, the two childhood partners in crime would race to see who could beat the other. Of course, by now it was getting to be a tie most times.
Laughter just echoed as the two raced towards the large building up on the hill overlooking the small but slowly growing town of Pallet Town. Michelle and Sarah shared a grin and raced after them. Why not join in the fun?
A smiling grey speckled brown haired man with laugh lines greeted the panting quartet and sparking Pichu as they layed sprawled out on the top steps of the steep stairs that led right to the front of Professor Oak's lab. "Who won?" This was obviously not the question to ask as he got 4 glares and a small shock.
The quartet and pokemon slowly moved into the lab to stand around a steel table with 3 other 10 year olds. "So you 7 are here to get your first pokemon. Excited?" He got seven grins.
"Come one Dad! Just start already!" He laughed. His daughter was so impatient. His wife was hoping she would learn some patience on this journey and maybe mature like he did. He grinned and walked over to stand on the other side of the table.
"Alright Michelle, be patient and maybe I'll start." She glared her father.
"Now you seven are here to start your pokemon journey. I trust you to be both safe and respectful towards both pokemon and people. Should I find that you are not then I'm sure you'll be fine with me revoking your trainer license and contacting your parents." The three newbies who were clearly not from Pallet, probably from Viridian City, were clearing shaken by the look in his eyes. "Alright then, now. Julietta, why don't you go first. Don't worry there's enough for all seven for you. What pokemon do you want?"
A timid girl with dirty blonde hair in two braided pigtails and light blue eyes behind purple framed glasses wearing a lavender and white dress with pale purple leggings and white shoes cautiously stepped forward, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Um, I-I'd like the B-ulb-basaur-r please." Professor Oak smiled and handed her the red and white pokeball with a green leaf sticked on it, giving her an encouraging smile. The other 6 trainers took a step back.
She stuck her arm out and took a breath. "Bulbasaur, show us your power!" In a flash of white light came a cheerful Bulbasaur who immediately bounded over to it's new trainer and chirped happily as it leaned against it's new trainer's legs. The girl smiled and seemed to gain new confidence with her pokemon. She took the standard trainer kit from one of the assistants and got back in line.
Professor Oak turned to the next in line, "Henry." The mentioned boy swaggered up to the Professor and smirked. "Charmander is my choice." Lorraine and her friends shared an identical smirk. Oh how they wished the boy could meet Ash's Charizard. His expression? Priceless.
Professor Oak seemed to have the same thought as he handed the cocky boy his pokeball with a flame sticker. The boy immediately flung out his hand and called out, "Charmander, light your fi-!" Before Henry could finish, the Charmander got impatient and broke out of its ball and let out a small ember. Henry smiled and nodded. Charmander glanced at it's new trainer and cackled before launching itself at him.
"Well This Charmander certainly likes it's new trainer. I'm sure you'll have a grand time with him Henry." You could tell he was having a hard time trying not to laugh. He turned to the last of the Viridian City trainers, "Lucy, why don't you go next." The young blond girl nodded and pointed to the last Charmander's ball.
"Charmander please." Professor Oak nodded and handed her the ball. She struck a pose and swung her arm out, "Charmander, I summon you!" With a flash of white, a calm looking Charmander popped out and took one glance at Lucy and grinned before launching itself at her, shoving it;s face into her chest. She squeaked and blushed. Michelle started laughing making Lucy glare at her before the two girls switched places.
Michelle gave her father a large grin, "Come on Old Man, I know three of these balls are empty so fork over the pokemon." The Viridian City trainers shared a confused look, empty? The professor threw back his hand and laughed. He nodded and walked over to the double doors that led to the large habitat behind the lab where all the pokemon stayed during the day, calling for Ash. He shut the door and motioned for the trainers and four pokemon the follow him out to the road that led to Route 1. The quarter shared an excited look, before racing out the lab and into the sun where all their friends and family stood along with a proud Ash at the front.
"Hello children." He said with a smirk. "I know, you're wondering why those four balls were empty. Well our pokemon decided that you should have one of their children as your starter instead of the standard ones." The quartet grinned at their parents.
Ash stepped forward and took the ordinary ball from Pikachu from his shoulder. "Rogue, I know you already have Pikachu's son Pichu but one of Pokemon wanted you have to have his child as he promised many years ago." Rogue's eyes grew wide. A promise from years ago. Wait?
He stepped forward, "Dad are you telling me that Charizard is letting me be partners with his child?" Ash nodded and pointed up at the 2 large circling shadows. That were quickly getting bigger. Everyone took a giant step back as two large Charizards landed with a great blast of heat. Lorraine snuck a glance at Henry and his charmander, both were drooling with awe. Rogue took a step forward. Charizard look down at the now grown boy who used to use him as a climbing structure and who used to fall asleep during late night flights as a baby.
The large dragon turned to his mate and down to the sleeping pokemon in her arms. She stepped forward and leaned down to hand the sleeping charmander to Rogue who softly took it and cradled it in his arms with Michelle, Sarah and Lorraine all looking over his shoulder. There was a peaceful silence as they all watched the young Charmander slowly wake up and open its eyes, gazing curiously at the people and pokemon surrounding it.