Chapter 1:

The beginning of the line

"There`s no way I can lose now."

"Dusclops, you ready?"

"Clooops!" the human shaped, gray Pokémon with a single round red eye answered. It had white three-fingered arms directly attached to it`s body and three bandage ends coming out of it-one was like a ponytail.

The Pokémon's trainer was a young boy. He wore a yellow track suit with black vertical stripes and matching black sneakers. A sweat drop fell across his face from his spiky blonde hair- his opponent was giving him quite the match.

The boy stared at the large, red and orange, bulky Pokémon on the other side of the field. It was human shaped but with a round torso and no neck. It had large pink lips and a single flame protruding from its head. Its tail was made form red flames, too. The Pokémon's yellow hands were shaped like cannons but they had retracting claws.

The Fire type`s trainer - the gym leader- was a tall, middle-aged man with short black hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed with a black shirt with a flame design and dark blue jeans.

"Be prepared, Magmortar, it`ll come any second now." he ordered the Blast Pokémon.

"Dusclops, Psybeam- full power!" the young trainer shouted from across the field.

"Now, Magmortar! Charge head-on!" was the unexpected reply of the gym leader.

The ghost Pokémon charged for a second energy in its single eye and fired a rainbow-colored, lightning- shaped beam from it.

It seemed that time has slowed its pace…

The Magmortar was charging recklessly, facing the incredibly powerful attack without even a glimpse of fear in its eyes…

The beam sparkled one last time and hit the Pokémon with a force so devastating that the field cracked…

It seemed that everything was over. The smoke was covering the entire field and the young challenger couldn`t see beyond his trusted Dusclops. The smoke was starting to disappear.

Then the gym leader shouted:

"Magmortar, Overheat!"

The trainer couldn`t believe his eyes and ears. His opponent`s Pokémon jumped from within the lifting smoke- it was scarred by the attack but glowing red nonetheless.

Magmortar landed in front of Dusclops and pointed its cannon-shaped arm at the ghost Pokémon. With one last red glow it released a devastating barrage of flames. Dusclops was sent flying and crashed in the wall behind his trainer`s back, nearly destroying it.

The boy was devastated. He recalled his trusty partner and said:

"You were great out there, buddy, have a good rest. Winning streak or not, this guy showed us what strong means."

"Don`t be too hard on yourself, kid! I wouldn`t risk with the last move if I knew I`d last longer against you." the gym leader was now standing next to the boy, smiling at him. "Now why don`t you go see that beautiful town of ours, train a couple of days and come to challenge me again?"

"You know, I`ll do just that! And I`ll win next time!" the boy replied and sprinted out the gym in the blink of an eye.

"That`s the spirit! " The middle-aged man shouted running after the boy.

But when he got out he only caught a glimpse of a boy with a yellow track suit running down the street.

"Man, nowadays kids are really hyperactive. Wish I were so fast!" the man laughed.

"Dad, now could you drive me to Sandgem Town? You said you`ll do it after you face your challenger but instead of doing it you are standing here laughing you head off!" said the gym leader`s son.

The boy was standing at the front door of the gym and his hazel eyes were shining with excitement behind the rectangular glasses with black rims. His black hair- another treat he shared with his father- was blown by the morning wind looking even spikier than it was...

The future Pokémon trainer folded his arms and threw a rigorous stare at his father. The man was taken aback for a second- the look in the boy`s eyes reminded him of his wife. His son`s character was like a copy of his mother`s- cheerful and sometimes clumsy, but prideful and strict when they wanted something done their way.

"Well, since I know you are always early for anything I prepared the car yesterday. You`ll get your starter, Kale, don`t worry!" the gym leader replied.

But his son wasn`t ready to give up:

"Someone could get there before us! There are only three starters! That`s why I piled up four alarm clocks near my bed!"

"Geez, I didn`t even know we had so many." Kale`s father laughed "Anyway, it`s eight in the morning. Nobody is going be up so early!"

"But Celestic town is miles away from Sandgem Town! Until we get there it would be at least 11 o`clock."

"And standing here and talking about it gets us there faster how?"

Kale paused for a second then burst into laughter:

"You got me there, Dad. Let`s g…"

"Wait for a sec, champ! Your Mum and I have some presents for you first." The boy`s father interrupted.

The pair than went back inside the gym. There was still some smoke inside, ironically matching with the gym`s red walls with yellow flame design. There were stands at the right side of the field and next to them stood a door through which Kale and his father entered their house.

The interior of the house was different than the bold and bright design of the gym. The wall colors were mild. Every room had a different color theme with two main colors- white and silver, cream and light brown or shades of blue.

When they entered the living room Kale`s mother was sitting on the couch and reading a magazine. When she heard someone entering the room she cast up her piercing black eyes. The woman smiled when she saw her eleven-year-old son standing next to his father all grown up. She smiled despite being sad that her little boy was going on his journey and stood up and hugged Kale.

"Mum, I`m not a kid anymore!" the boy said in spite of the fact that he was hugging his mother, too.

"You know that if I still considered you a kid you`d never go on this journey, right?" the woman replied laughing.

Then she gave Kale a small yellow packet wrapped like a present.

"This is your travelling present from me. I`m sure they`ll come in handy for an excellent poke ball grip. Literally."

Kale tore open the packet like a hungry Snorlax. Inside it there was a pair of fingerless gloves. They were black with yellow edges and a yellow poke ball symbol on them.

"Wow, they`re great!" Kale exclaimed "And they match my top design, too." He pointed to his blue T-shirt with yellow edges. For originality`s sake- or at least Kale thought like that- he wore it over his black blouse.

A second after Kale put on the gloves his father joined the conversation:

"Sarah, I won`t let you be the only one giving presents around!" he burst in his usual laugh and pulled out something from the yellow pocket of his shirt. He slightly bent down to his son-the boy was fairly tall for his age- and opened his cupped hand in front of him.

In it there was a necklace: a golden poke ball, as big as a ping-pong ball, with a silver center ring and button, as well as a mark that looked like a silver wing on the top of it.

With trembling hands Kale picked the necklace up by it`s golden chain. He hesitated to put it on and said:

"Dad, that`s your lucky charm! Are you sure you want to give it to me? "

"Why not? That little trinket you`re holding brought me luck when I was on my journey. I`m sure with it you`ll be lucky too." Was his father`s simple answer. "Now lets get going before you`re really late!"

Kale was out of the room before his Dad had finished the sentence. After a record-fast shoe-lace tying he grabbed his parent`s arms and sprinted out of the house. He pushed his father in the black car parked in front of the house and was about to jump in the car himself when his Mum stopped him.

"Not so quick, young man! We still have some rules to talk about."

"But, Mum! We`ve already talked about them. Yesterday, remember?" was her son`s response.

"Okay, okay." Sarah sighed "But be careful! And phone when you stop at a Pokémon center, right? "Then she leaned forward and planted a kiss on her son`s forehead "Now, go get them, my boy!"

Kale was so excited that after he jumped in the car he forgot to wave goodbye. He turned back but the only thing he saw through the windshield before the car turned was his mother, with her brown hair and long green dress blown by the wind, waving goodbye to him.

Then the car was suddenly on Route 211 and Kale left behind his hometown, his family and friends to follow his dream….To be a Pokémon Master!

With his Dad silent and focused on the road Kale began to think. He was thinking how he had to wait a whole year after he turned ten because he had to finish Trainer school. He finished it all right- on top of his class. But for him the Trainer school was just a stepping stone…he lost a year but gained training with different Pokémon and learned some useful stuff… For Kale it wasn`t enough to win a League- he was aiming for a record- to be the youngest trainer to win the Sinnoh League. And since the youngest winner ever was twelve…well, he didn`t have much time.

But it was the way he liked it- one shot-no more, no less. Trying a second time would be killingly boring. Kale didn`t have much sleep last night, he was tired of all the excitement and while watching the ever-changing landscape through the window he slowly dozed off….

He was in the middle of a large stadium…everything was blurred and the only thing he saw were thousands and thousands of faces….chanting his name again and again…. He was excited, happy, nervous, astounded….and he had no idea what he was doing.

Then he saw him…first just a face, then shoulders, and torso, and legs- the Champion!

Kale lifted his hand in the air and pressed the poke ball's button. He threw it and shouted:

"Go, Turtwig!"

A small, turtle-like, yellow and green Pokémon with a brown shell appeared in a flash of white light.

"Razor Leaf!"

The leaves on the Pokémon's head glowed and suddenly it changed… Now there was standing a small, monkey-like Pokémon. It was light brown, with a cream-colored belly and a tail flame…. Kale couldn`t believe his eyes and blinked…. But now in front of him was standing a blue penguin-like Pokémon! It opened it`s beak and said:

"Kale, wake up!"

"What?" the boy opened his eyes but regretted it after a second- the sun was shining brightly, blinding him with its light. A few moments later Kale recognized his father, leaning in front of his face.

"I said we are here. Sandgem Town! And we are right in front of Rowan`s lab!"

"What? Oh, the lab! And the starter! Great!" the boy jumped out of the car but instead of going to the lab he circled the car and opened the trunk. In it there was a blue bag, exactly like the one on the back seat.

"How come you have two bags?" his father asked.

"You don`t expect me to eat all the healthy food Mum made me pack, right? I wouldn`t survive a day out there without anything eatable!"

Kale`s Dad entered the car and while still laughing bid farewell to his son. Soon he was out of sight too and Kale was alone in front of the lab. After standing outside for a few seconds he entered.

The lab was extremely clean-from top to bottom the blue and white walls were reflecting Kale as he walked towards the big door at the end of the entrance hall. He was about to open the door when he heard someone behind him saying:

"I wouldn`t do that if I were you."

Kale turned around and saw a boy, probably his age, outstretching his arm.

"I`m Lucas. Lucas Damon. And you are?"

Kale was a little surprised but shook hands with the boy.

"Kale Winstar. And why shouldn`t I open this door?"

"Because the Professor isn`t here and they are conducting some important, you-know-how secret researches in there. They shoved me out the second I walked in. Hey, you look familiar somehow. Were you in Jubilife`s Trainer school?"

"Yes, I was." Kale replied "Are you here for your starter too?"

"Yup! Not that I know who it will be anyw…"

Suddenly, the lab doors opened with a bang and a few people dressed in lab coats sprinted out. One of them shouted to an assistant who had stayed behind:

"Call Officer Jenny now! The Professor said that the crooks had stolen the starters and were heading to the lake."

Both boys were astounded:

"Starters…"

"Stolen!"

The two future trainers stared at each other for a second than ran after the lab assistants. They had just started the engines and were about to head to the lake but the boys jumped in one of the jeeps at the last second. They hid under the back seat and waited.

Soon the cars stopped and the assistants stormed out of them and ran into different directions. The boys waited a minute and then jumped out of the jeep. For a second time today Kale was blinded by the sun. He looked around and saw a small forest in front of him. The wind was picking up again and Lucas had to set his red hat right. He fixed his disheveled blue hair and said:

"No sense waiting around here. Let`s go." then he walked in the forest.

Kale followed him closely but stayed silent. It was almost noon and in spite of the fact that the sun was shining brightly the tall, maybe century-old trees stopped much of the light before it reached the forest floor. Many small Pokémon hid in the bushes- the boys could see many Bibarel, Bidoof, Rattata and even some curious Teddiursa who had wandered away from their overprotective parents. When Kale looked up he saw many more Pokémon on the tree branches-most of them were Bug-types.

The forest was silent-the only sounds were the cries of the invisible for the boys bird Pokémon above the branches. Then after maybe twenty minutes of walking in the silence Lucas stopped.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered.

"Hear what? This place is so silent that it`s creeping me out." Kale answered annoyed but quiet.

"It sounded like two men….bickering about something" Lucas paused for a few seconds.

"Listen!"

At first Kale didn`t hear anything different than the mundane forest sounds but after a some time he heard voices getting louder and louder by the minute. It seemed that the men were near. Then a third, female voice joined the bickering. The voice was strangely girly- like an adult whose voice still sounded like they were ten:

"You two must be the biggest idiots in our organization! This was supposed to be a covert operation! We just had to enter the forest, go to the lake and install the scanners! But you fools had to steal Pokémon! And not ordinary ones, oh no! You had to steal Professor Rowan`s Pokémon. The starters which the police will be looking for half a minute after they are missing!"

The woman was interrupted by one of the men. His voice was trembling- it seemed that the woman ranked higher than him:

"B-but, C-commander! We thought tha…"

"No "buts"! Now hurry up! We have one scanner left."

Lucas followed the voices to the edge of the forest. He found himself on the beach of Lake Verity. He hid behind a bush and saw the people who were talking. They were dressed very strange: the men were in some kind of grey and black tracksuit-like uniforms and they had a stylized yellow "G" on them. The woman`s uniform was similar but she had a long, round skirt in addition.

Then to Lucas` surprise he saw Kale behind them. Kale pointed to the briefcase near them and slowly crawled towards it. His friend couldn`t believe his craziness and watched amazed as Kale grabbed the briefcase and slowly retreated to the bushes.

"You are insane!" was the angry whisper with which Lucas greeted Kale when he returned to him.

"Maybe. But we have the poke balls in here. Let`s just return to the jeep and wait for the other guys."

"Well, that`s sort of a plan. Let`s get out of here before Princess Bossy out there finds us." Lucas said and then headed to the forest.

"Princess Bossy, eh? And you boys are?" the unmistakably girly voice lisped behind them.

The boys turned terrified to face the red-headed woman.

"You idiots finish installing the scanner!" she told the grunts "And I`ll deal with these midgets."

"And what are you going to do? Stop us with your clown looks?" Kale laughed.

"NOW I`M REALLY ANGRY!" the scream took the boys aback. "FIRST IT WAS A BAD HAIR DAY, THAN THESE GREEDY IDIOTS AND NOW SOME PUNKS MAKING FUN OF ME!? THAT`S IT! GO, PURUGLY!" she threw a poke ball and from it in a flash of light emerged a big gray and white feline with a wound tail and big ears with purple ends.

"Puuuur!" the Pokémon exclaimed. It stared coldly at the two boys and looked like it was ready to tear them apart.

"Pick one from the briefcase and fast!" Kale told Lucas, himself with a poke ball in hand already. Lucas nodded, grabbed a poke ball for himself and stood ready. Both boys threw their poke balls at the same time:

"I choose YOU!" they shouted.

The round red and white spheres opened and two Pokémon emerged in a flash of light.

A monkey-like, light brown, cream-bellied Pokémon with a red tail flame landed in front of Kale and a small, blue, penguin-like Pokémon who looked like it was dressed in a tuxedo landed in front of Lucas.

"Awesome! I picked Chimchar!"

"And I- Piplup! Now let`s show her how to battle!"

But the woman was already ordering an attack:

"Fury Swipes, now!"

Purugly jumped, claws glowing, at the two trainers.

"Chimchar, use Ember!"

"Piplup, Bubblebeam!"

The two Pokémon fired their respective attacks. Chimchar fired a beam of red-hot embers and Piplup a beam of blue-glowing bubbles. The attacks met with Purugly`s claws mid-air. For a Pokémon so big it moved incredibly fast. It broke free from the colliding attacks and ran toward the starter Pokémon while moving in zigzags.

"Chimchar, use Dig!"

"Chaaaar!" the Chimp Pokémon answered and dug in the ground with blinding speed-Purugly`s attack barely missed. The Thick Fat Pokémon's claw stuck in the ground for a second and then Lucas shouted:

"Peck, quick!"

The Penguin Pokémon's peck glowed white and it jumped head-on at it`s much bigger opponent and started to peck it furiously.

"Shake it off!" the woman screamed.

Purugly managed to press Piplup to the ground and was about to attack when Kale shouted:

"Chimchar, now!"

"Chim!" the Chimp Pokémon rocketed from the ground and uppercut it`s opponent in the face. The feline Pokémon was forced back and looked battered.

"Gee, no wonder they called it Purugly" Kale whispered to Lucas.

"I. HEARD. THAT! HYPER BEAM!"

Purugly opened its mouth and a glowing yellow-orange sphere formed in front of it. The two trainers grabbed their Pokémon and jumped back the second the Hyper Beam was fired. The effects were devastating and the boys stayed on the ground guarding their partners with their bodies. With pieces of dust still falling on their heads Lucas shouted:

"YOU JUST CAN`T KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, CAN`T YOU!"

"OH YEAH ? AND WHO CAME UP WITH THE PRINCESS BOSSY NICKNAME!"

Unexpectedly, Purugly jumped on them and started Fury Swiping their backs.

"You kids are stupid nowadays. Just let Purugly slice and dice your Pokémon. And maybe I`ll tell her not to slice and dice you!" she laughed.

But the boys, despite doubling in pain, continued to protect their new partners. The little Pokémon were amazed at how brave their trainers were. Chimchar and Piplup looked at one another- and then, after a brief nod, they slipped out.

Piplup jumped in front of Purugly and took the attack- but instead to double in pain it just rolled up and glowed white. The glow became more and more intense until the Penguin Pokémon released a white energy beam at Purugly, hitting it in the face. The force of the attack forced back the Thick Fat Pokémon. It was confused but was about to attack again when Chimchar came from nowhere, engulfed itself in fire and rolled towards Purugly. The hit was spot-on and it was forced into a tree, rendering it unconscious.

The two trainers, still lying on the ground in pain, were amazed at the starter Pokémon's strength.

Kale felt dizzy. The forest was silent again-the only thing he could here was the wind, swiftly blowing above the surface of Lake Verity. The lake…he could see it`s gentle waves coming towards him from there….someone was shouting near him:

"Commander Mars! The police are here! Hurry!"

Someone running near him….the waves…the lake itself was glowing brightly, shoving out of his mind the pain, the forest, everything. Then, something emerged from the center of the lake….it seemed unearthly, more a spirit than a living being. The creature looked at Kale…their eyes met…..and darkness engulfed him.

TBC