( A/N: Hey guys! First of all I want to say I'm co-writing this story with ACitrineGem of wattpad. So be sure to check her out too! Also, we don't own Pokemon. Nintendo does.)
The morning sunlight beamed down on the riverside village of Aquacorde town as a young girl made her way through the streets. She stopped and looked around, the light wind tugging at the tremendously long scarf she wore around her neck.
She reached a staircase that descended down in to a yellow brick plaza and stood on the top stair, looking around. She grinned when she spotted two people her age - a boy and a girl who looked to be siblings - sitting at a table with a briefcase set on the tabletop. That was where she needed to be. She ran down the staircase and across the plaza, approaching the table with a smile.
The boy looked up and flashed a smile back at her. "Oh! You must be Esme."
"Yep!" she said and looked to the girl. "And you two must be Adam and Aimée!"
Aimée nodded. "Yeah, that's us! The professor dropped off this briefcase and letter a few minutes ago. It's for us, so let's go ahead and read the letter now that we're all here."
Both Adam and Esme nodded.
Aimee picked up the letter, her eyes scanning the paper, and began to read aloud.
"Dear Pokemon trainers... The three of you have been selected to receive Pokemon to help you on your journey around Kalos. You all have shown great promise as trainers and that is why I am entrusting these Pokemon to you. Choose carefully - the Pokemon you pick will accompany you for your entire journey. When you're ready to choose, open up the briefcase. Settle your choices politely. I've also included pokedexes for all of you, so you can learn about all the wonderful Pokemon you catch. Sincerely, Professor Sycamore."
All three trainers grinned as they all looked down at the briefcase. "I still can't believe we're getting these Pokemon." Adam said.
Esme nodded. "I'm so excited to meet my first Pokemon and have my first battle!"
Aimée smiled and reached forward to open the briefcase. "Here we go..."
The latch locking the brown case clicked open and Aimée pushed the top open. Three pokeballs and pokedexes sat in the briefcase, and the trainers looked down at them excitedy. The faint silhouettes of a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander could be seen in the pokeballs.
Esme reached out and picked one up, holding it in her hand and looking inside it. "Wow!" she gasped, looking at the other two pokeballs. "Should we let them out?"
Adam and Aimée looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't see why not."
Esme grinned and threw the pokeball she was holding up in the air, and it broke open with a beam of red light, and a Bulbasaur appeared on the ground in front of her. "It's a Bulbasaur!" She exclaimed. The seed Pokemon cried happily and stood up, waddling right up to Esme's feet.
Aimée took the second pokeball, which released a Charmander. She gasped with excitement and bent down. "Hello, little one."
A Squirtle came out of Adam's pokeball. It looked around like it was scared for a moment, but it quickly warmed up to him.
Esme stood up after sitting down to pet Bulbasaur and looked to Aimée and Adam, who seemed to already have bonded with their Pokemon. "I think our choices are settled!"
Adam looked up and nodded. "These our our first Pokemon!" He said, while Squirtle chirped happily.
"What now? I'm assuming we're just going to start our journey from here." Aimée said, excitement in her voice. She picked up her pokeball and withdrew her new Pokemon.
Adam and Esme looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah! Let's go!" Esme exclaimed.
Adam and Esme withdrew their Pokemon into their pokeballs, picked up their pokedexes, and the trio began walking towards the bridge over the river that bordered Aquacorde town.
They chatted excitedly until they got over the bridge - Route 2, or Avance Trail, as Adam told them.
"Oh!" Aimée gasped, digging around in her bag. "I forgot - the professor left pokeballs for all of us. So we can catch new Pokemon."
"Really? How many?" Esme asked, leaning over and peering in to the other trainer's bag.
They all helped pull the pokeballs out of the bag and divided them up between them. Each trainer got five.
"Perfect!" Esme grinned, putting the pokeballs in her own bag. Than she gasped happily when an idea formed in her head. "Guys! Why don't we catch and train our Pokemon and then meet up at Santalune city - than we can all battle!"
Adam grinned. "That sounds great! Squirtle and I are going to be the strongest for sure!"
Aimée shoved Adam playfully. "No way! My Charmander and future Pokemon team will be the best. And I accept that challenge, by the way!"
Esme laughed, glancing out towards the treeline of Santalune Forest. "Great, but you're both wrong! Seedling and I can beat both of you!"
"Seedling?" Adam and Aimee asked. "That's a good name… I guess!"
Esme laughed. "Come on!" She started running through the clumps of tall grass, towards the forest.
Both siblings laughed and started running after her. "Hey! That was an unfair headstart!" Adam yelled playfully.
Esme was about to yell something back at him, but she was startled when a Zigzagoon jumped out of the grass and in to her path.
"Ah!" Aimée caught up to her. "Oh! A wild Zigzagoon!"
Esme took a deep breath and grabbed her Bulbasaur's pokeball. "Seedling, go! This is our first battle together!" She called, throwing the pokeball. It opened with a flash of red light, and yet again the Bulbasaur appeared on the grass, letting out a happy cry.
Zigzagoon crouched and than launched at Esme's Pokemon, using tackle.
"Seedling! Dodge it!" The seed Pokemon attempted to move out of the way of Zigzagoon's attack, but it suddenly changed direction and collided with the Bulbasaur's side.
Seedling tumbled a few feet away, quickly scrambling to its feet. "Ok, now it's our turn!" Esme cried. "Use tackle!"
Seedling nodded and ran at the Zigzagoon, colliding with it and dealing a fair amount of damage.
The wild Pokemon pulled to its feet and let out a growl, distorting the air around it.
"Hey, let's see if we can catch it! Use tackle again!" Esme's Bulbasaur backed up and tackled Zigzagoon again, but not as hard as before, due to it using growl.
Esme grabbed a pokeball from out of her bag, and quickly threw it at the wild Pokemon. "Good job, Seedling!" The pokeball hit the Zigzagoon and engulfed it with red light.
The pokeball began to shake and all three trainers stared at it anxiously. Esme smiled and walked over to pick it up as the pokeball clicked, signifying that the Zigzagoon was caught.
Esme's Bulbasaur skipped over and sat at her feet.
"Wow! Great job!" Aimée peered at the pokeball from over Esme's shoulder.
"Thanks." Esme said as she let Zigzagoon out of its pokeball. "Hi there!"
The raccoon-like Pokemon looked around, then up at its new trainer. It let out a joyful cry and raised its tail happily.
"Here, I'll heal your Pokemon for you." Adam offered, taking two potions out of his bag and spraying one on Bulbasaur and the other on Zigzagoon, who sniffed Adam's hand while he did so.
Esme laughed and picked Zigzagoon up, hugging the furry Pokemon. "I'm going to name you Li'l Ziggy." She decided promptly.
Li'l Ziggy seemed satisfied with this and nuzzled Esme's shoulder.
Adam grinned and looked towards the woods. "I think we should go our separate ways, right? I think I'm going to stay here and train Squirtle, but if you and Aimée want to go in to Santalune Forest than you can go ahead! I'll be sure to meet you guys in Santalune city, though."
Aimée nodded. "I really want to see what kinds of Pokemon are in the forest. Plus, there's bound to be other trainers in there!"
Esme set Li'l Ziggy down, then put both of her Pokemon back in their pokeballs. "Sure! We can go together!"
So both trainers bid Adam farewell and walked toward the treeline. "Wow." Aimée said, looking in to the forest. "It seems so big."
Esme nodded, excited. "I can't wait to explore it!"
They both entered the forest, but they soon found a fork in the path.
"Which path do we take?" Esme wondered aloud, looking down the left path. Suddenly, movement caught her eye. A Pansear!
Aimée folded her arms, looking from path to path. It didn't seem like she saw the wild Pokemon. "I think... I'm going to go right. What about you? We can split up if you want to go left."
Esme glanced over at the left path once again. "Sure, we can go our separate ways. See you in Santalune city!" Aimée nodded and began walking down the trail.
Esme smiled and looked back towards where she'd seen the Pansear, beginning to walk down the path. Where did it go? She gasped as she saw a flash of red, and ran towards it.
She could see the Pokemon swinging from tree to tree, going parallel to the path. She began running after it, and when it crossed the path and went further in to the trees, she didn't think it would be bad to go off the path to follow it.
She swatted branches and vines away from her face as she chased the monkey-like Pokemon. Eventually she had to stop, and she leaned her hands on her knees, panting.
She could hear rustling as the Pansear swung further and further away. Dang it!
She looked around, and a feeling of dread grew in her stomach as she did so. She was in a small clearing, but she couldn't see the path and had no idea which way it was. She turned a full circle, hoping to find a familiar landmark... Or something. I'm lost...
She tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear nervously, and her eyes widened as she heard rustling. And it was getting louder. Esme looked around again, trying to find out where it was coming from.
Is it a Pokemon? What kind of Pokemon is it? Can Seedling and Li'l Ziggy take it on?