"Deerling!"
A small groan issued from a lump of sheets on the bed. The small deer pokemon jumped onto the bed and started to poke the lump on the bed, causing more groans to issue from the bed. After a few more minutes, a human head emerged from the safety and warmth of the covers to look at the pokemon. Red hair in total disarray, the human gave the pokemon a hard look that was softened by the effect of just waking up. The small deer wasn't paying attention. Instead she was prancing about, proud to have woken up her trainer.
"Alright, alright! Belle, do you want to go outside?" The trainer's voice was slightly croaky from just waking up, but the meaning wasn't lost on the Deerling.
Chirping slightly, she gracefully jumped off the bed and pawed at the door. Running a hand through his hair, the boy got up and hauled himself to the door to open it for himself and his pokemon. Belle sprinted down the hallway and sat herself down at the back door. The boy caught up with her after and let her out to graze outside.
Sighing, the boy walked into the kitchen and sat at the table overlooking the back yard and watched his Deerling graze and scamper about in the morning light.
"Erik, have you noticed?"
The boy jumped and looked behind him. In the doorframe was his mother, a maternal woman in her forties with dark brown hair starting to streak with gray. She was already dressed for a day out in the field, dark brown jeans and a green shirt to help hide her appearance in the woods. Erik's mother, Kennedy, was a pokemon biologist that specialized in the field of the life cycle of insect pokemon.
"Noticed what, Mom?"
"Belle's coat is turning again." Erik glanced outside. Belle had come closer to the window, allowing a better view of her coat. Amongst the drab browns in the Deerling's winter coat, he could see the first patches of pink.
"Hm, you're right. I guess it's time to get the brushes out."
"Erik, what else does that mean?"
"There's something else?"
"Honey," she finally detached herself from the frame and came to sit next to Erik. "That means this is her sixth spring."
The blow hit home for Erik. The family used to live in the Unova region, but since had moved out to the forests outside Oldale City in the Hoenn region. When Erik was ten, he decided to forgo his journey and stay with his parents to learn more about pokemon. That spring, a mother Sawsbuck had been killed by some unknown force, leaving her newborn Deerling alone. The baby pokemon was found by Erik's father, who was studying seasonal effects on local forest populations. He brought the baby home and Erik cared for her until fall came. Usually they would let the pokemon go, but Erik pleaded for them to keep little Belle. His parents relented, saying that he could keep Belle until her sixth spring. He could keep her if he went on his journey, or if she evolved during that time. They gave him such a large margin because they didn't want to rush him, but they thought living with the Deerling would make him want to go out. Obviously, she hadn't evolved, and Erik hadn't even thought about his journey. He would have to make his decision before her coat turned bright pink like it did every spring.
Erik's train of thought was broken with the soft sound of scratching from the door, a signal that Belle wanted to be let in. When he opened the door, he wasn't expecting another pokemon to walk through the door with the deer. A puff of brown fur alerted Erik to Ren's presence. Ren the Eevee had been a household pokemon that had taken on a strong liking to Erik. Pressing himself against Erik's shins as he walked through his legs, the Eevee purred as he slinked into the house. Belle pressed herself against Erik as he closed the door.
Erik had been through enough seasonal changes to know that he probably had a day or two before the color change was finished. Spring was obviously on its way; most of the snow had melted by now, though the weather was still on the chilly side. Small early spring flowers were starting to burst from the ground. Sighing, Erik grabbed the set of grooming brushes out of his room and called Belle into the kitchen, the only place in the house without carpeting. Already the house had a multicolor look to it, the result of near twenty seasonal Deerling changes.
Twenty minutes and a large pile of Deerling hair later, the pink that had barely been seen in Belle's coat had become much more pronounced. Erik probably had a day left before either he left home or Belle had to be released into the wild. During that time, Belle could tell that Erik was distracted with something. She nuzzled his knee. "Deerling?" she asked, as if she wanted to know if he was okay.
Erik sighed and rubbed her head. "It's alright, girl. I'm going to make it okay," he said. Erik walked over to the broom and dustbin sitting by the door, his face showing the internal conflict he was battling out in his head as he swept up the Deerling hair into the dustbin and into a small basket to be left out for the Swellow and other bird pokemon to line their nests with.
An hour later, Erik had collected his parents together in the living room. Belle was at her usual place at Erik's left knee. Ren was lazily sprawled along the coffee table, watching everything happen through lazy movements of his head. Erik was fidgeting as he stood in front of his parents. Belle could sense something was wrong, but she kept her mouth closed. Better to wait it out.
"Alright, I have something to tell you guys," Erik addressed his parents, trying to calm his nerves. Here was the big moment. A silence enveloped the room.
His mother was the first to break it. "Yes, sweetie?"
"I've decided to go on my journey."
Both his parents didn't react for a minute, and then both broke into wide grins.
"Good to hear, son!"
"I'm so proud of you, Erik!"
Erik allowed himself a small smile. "I'll be taking Belle, of course, and I'll be le-"
"Take Ren with you too, son," said his father, cutting his son off.
Erik looked taken aback. "But, but he's not mine!"
"You know how much he likes you; you're almost his trainer anyway," came his mother.
Ren perked up, realizing the people were talking about him. They wanted him to… go somewhere? What in the world? No, no they were kidding, obviously. He was a house Eevee, he didn't want to go out into the world and do silly things like the pokemon on the magical box that showed moving pictures.
Erik nodded. "Thank you, I'll start getting ready and the three of us will leave first thing tomorrow."
Erik's mother nodded. "We'll call Professor Birch tonight and have a Pokedex here for you when you leave. Oh, Chris, I'm so happy Erik decided to go!"
Erik's father nodded. He got himself up and clapped his son on the back. "Son, you're going to grow up a lot on this journey. You'll learn about pokemon and people. And for your mother's sake, remember to call when you can," he looked back for a moment before quietly continued; "you know how she gets."
Erik nodded, trying to control his laughter. In his mind, he was still trying to grasp the concept that tomorrow; he'd be out of the house for a long, long time.
He was going to become a real Pokemon Trainer.
A/N: First story! Please R&R if you'd be kind enough. I'm accepting OCs for random battles/ traveling companions. PM me their name, age, gender, type (trainer, coordinator, ect.), pokemon info, personality, and history. I hold the ability to not use your characters, so don't flame if I don't use your OC.