"Valaina, wake up!" echoed a sweetly demanding feminine voice. A pounding came from the floor underneath me as I tossed and turned in my bed. In a feeble attempt to block out the pounding, I pulled my pillow over my right ear and held it tightly.

"C'mon already, you're gonna be late!" her voice had more of a concerned tone this time; she pounded some more. The items in my room rattled around a bit from the shaking, she had been hitting the ceiling pretty hard after all. I grunted and turned to lay on my right side, slowly raising my hand to my alarm clock facing it toward me. Holy shit, it's this late already? I thought as I shot up, jumping out of bed like a ninja and throwing on my usual; a pair of fishnet stockings, black and white leg-warmers, neon green checkered belt, black, green and purple ruffled skirt (there are three layers to the skirt, each being one of the colors in the order stated), black shirt with the sleeves rolled up), cropped purple jacket, converse and my layered necklaces along with the heart pendant on a chain. My hair… Well that never really turns out how I'd like it to, but we'll just say it's in a ponytail. It's been a while since I was this nervous..

"Val, are you ready yet? The Professor is waiting, 'ya know. She doesn't have all day!"

"Yes mom, I hear you loud and clear." I stated half annoyed as I made my way downstairs and into the Kitchen where she was cleaning the dishes. She turned and gave me 'the look'; I just half rolled my eyes.

"Eat your food before it gets too cold." She patted the table with a spoon she was about to wash.

"Mmm, looks delicious. Thanks ma'." I munched on her famous bacon and eggs, once I finished she followed me to the door.

"Okay, make sure you keep in touch with me, you know how I worry about you."

"Don't worry, I will." I was about to turn and walk out the door when-

"Oh, before I forget! Here, the Professor wanted me to give this to you before you arrived." She handed me a small, odd looking device.

"Gee… Thanks, I don't know what to say… Except, what is it?"

"Right, it's an Xtransceiver; it's a high-tech transceiver with a camera function and it allows up to four-way calls." She said in a very proud and sophisticated manner. 'You're cool mom, gotta say.' I coughed; mom gave me a concerned look.

"Ahahaha, I'm okay, just had some bacon stuck in my throat. Thanks a lot; I'll make sure I use it to keep you updated." I smiled big. Mom's eyes started to get a shiny, glossy look to them. "Oh, don't cry.. 'Ya gotta see me off with a smile."

"I can't help it, you're gonna be gone for so long." She gave me a big hug, kissed me on the cheek (much to my dismay), and pushed me out the door. Alright then, I thought. On my way to the Professor's lab I ran into Cheren and Bianca, they seemed to be in high spirits today, well Bianca always is, but it's a rare sight to see Cheren so happy.

"Ren, Bi, hey guys." I waved calmly, Bianca ran over with a huge grin on her face; Cheren seemed to slow down a bit. I gave Bianca a look and she must have known what I was thinking because she told me why he slowed down.

"Sad to think you didn't realize it by now, Val." She shook her head disappointedly.
"Know what?" I asked completely lost. She pointed to him and nodded her head. I waved my hand at her to say "Yeah, okay". Cheren glanced up at me when he noticed I was walking toward him.

"Hey Ren, what's wrong?"
"Uhh... Nothing." He stuttered, looking around for some means of escape. I tipped my head slightly to the right and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, so you don't want to talk about it right now, that's fine too." I shrugged. He didn't take to that reply too well; a grunt came from his direction in response. "Either way, we should get going, it's already 9, if we're any later she might not give them to us." I stated walking back toward the lab. Both of them followed behind closely, I could hear Bianca's small voice whispering harshly to Cheren.

We finally arrived at the lab and were greeted by the Professor right away.

"Welcome guys, you finally made it, huh?"

"We're so sorry." The three of us bowed in one swift motion; she laughed.

"Its fine, I was the same way when I was younger, now follow me if you will."

"Uhm, Professor Juniper?"

"Yes Bianca?"

"My mom wanted me to give this to you; she said it was given to her by some elderly man in thr market." Bianca handed the Professor an oddly colored egg.

"Oh my, this is interesting. You don't want to hold onto it?"

"I think it would be better if you took it." Bianca said nervously, she wasn't really good at watching over or taking care of things like that. I glanced at the egg and felt something, it's like it was drawing me in. Cheren must have been watching me because he shook my shoulder violently, attempting to snap me out of my daze. The Professor soon gave me a concerned look.

"Valaina, are you alright?" Juniper asked, worried. Cheren and Bianca's glances followed hers'.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That egg… It seemed to draw me in somehow. What's in there?"

"There's no way to tell at this point, we simply have to wait until it hatches. The process will be quicker if one of you were to take it along on your journey, it seems as though having a Pokémon egg around other Pokémon helps it grow," she turned to me with a hopeful gleam in her eyes, "What do you say, Val? Take the egg with you?" There was no way I could turn her down, besides; it would be a good opportunity to learn about taking care of young Pokémon.

"Tanka," I nodded, gently taking the egg from the Professor's grasp as she gave me a skeptical look. I become confused myself as I didn't know why I was receiving such a look, but I soon realized my mistake.

"Goheno nin, I sometimes forget to leave my language behind."

"You speak Elvish?" Her expression was that of shock, I couldn't blame her, not many know people who still know the lost Elven language. Cheren and Bianca were already used to this since they've known me for years now.

"Yes, I do. I, myself, am half Elvish. My father was part of an old tribe that still exists to this day in the far eastern lands. What I speak is a mix of the different branches. My mother and I speak Elven to one another in order to keep the language alive within our family. I had learned it at a young age."

"That's amazing, I'm sure your father would be very proud of you right now, Valaina."

"Thank you Professor," I smiled sweetly towards her.

"All right, now it's time to give you what you came for." Her attitude went from that of a student learning something new, back to the professional she is. She started once again while glancing down at three balls in front of her, "In front of me are three pokeballs, as you can see. Inside are three unique pokémon, you'll each be choosing one of them. Going from your left to right we have Oshawott; the sea otter pokémon, Tepig; the fire pig pokémon, and Snivy; the grass snake pokémon. First we'll have Valaina choose."

"Awee, but I wanted to go first!" Bianca whined. I gave her a pitiful look because of how childish she can be. Turning my attention back to the three pokeballs that lay in front of me, I swallowed hard, nervous and afraid of making the wrong choice. I can't possibly pick the wrong Pokémon, either way it'll grow to be strong, I know it. I'm sure they're all great.. But which to go with… Something was telling me to pick Oshawott, but for some reason I kept finding my glance going right back to Snivy's pokeball. Is he trying to tell me something? Is he calling me?

"What'll it be, Valaina?" The Professor snapped me back to reality.

"Yeah Val, choose already! I can't wait any longer!"

"Okay Bi, don't get your hair in a knot," I looked at Professor Juniper with a serious expression, "I choose Snivy; the grass snake pokémon."

"Are you sure you want to choose this pokémon?" She asked almost as if she was trying to tell me something.

I exhaled deeply, "Yes, I'm positive."

"All right, here you go then. I'm sure you two will get along amazingly." She smiled like a proud mother. I took a good long hard look at my new partner-in-crime's pokeball and decided it was time to meet him. "Snivy, come on out!" I commanded as sweetly as I could. A red beam came from the pokeball as I threw it in the air and a small snake-like pokémon materialized right in front of me. It gave a small cry and looked at me with its big brown eyes; a nonchalant expression on its face. I knelt down beside him, giving him a warm welcoming smile.

"Hey there Snivy, my names Valaina and from here on out we're going to be partners. How does that sound?" There was no response, he just twitched his tail and walked away. I snorted and stood up with my arms crossed. "Well then, fine, if you wanna be like that." Cheren, Bianca and the Professor laughed at my childish reaction to Snivy. While I was busy fawning over him, both Bianca and Cheren chose their pokémon, as usual though Bianca was complaining of how she wants to leave and whatnot.

"Val, Val, look at who I chose! Go Oshawott!" A small blue pokemon materialized from the pokeball, it ran over to Bianca and clung to her leg. "Awee, Bibs, don't be afraidd," Bianca cooed to 'im.

"Very cute Bi, what about you Ren?" I turned to see him gazing at the small otter attached to Bianca's leg.

"What? Oh, I chose Tepig. He seems like a strong one, we'll definitely make it far." Cheren seemed to be fired up for once, I was happy for him. Bianca on the other hand, I worried about her. I'm sure she's going to baby her Oshawott and he's not going to be able to use his full potential.

"Now that you guys have your partner, I'm sure you're all eager to be heading on your journeys. Be sure to go and let your parents know you're leaving, otherwise they might worry. I'm sure they all want to see who you've chosen as well."

"Thank you for everything Professor Juniper." Cheren said in chivalrous manner, I bowed beside him as thanks also. Bianca just waved, shouting thank you while darting off towards her house. I think she might have been the most enthusiastic of us all. "Rinnggg, rinnnggg~"

"What in the world?" The Professor looked around trying to find where the ringing was coming from. I, on the other hand, was trying to fish out my Xtransceiver.

"Oh, it's only your transceiver, how come you have it set for that ringtone?" The Professor questioned as I pulled it out of my bag. I gave her a puzzling look as I attempted to open up the device. A sketchy image of my mother appeared on the screen, I moved to the lab's door and the image became clearer.

"Hello? Valaina?"

"Yes mom?"

"Ah, there we go. I see that it's working well. I just wanted to make sure things are going smoothly."

"They are; I chose a pokémon." I smiled big and pointed the Xtransceiver in the direction Snivy was standing.

"Oh dear, he's adorable. Are you going to give him a name?"

"I haven't really thought of that… Hmm, what should I call him?" It was true, I didn't really think about giving him a name. I know Cheren won't be giving his Tepig one, and well Bianca is already calling her Oshawott Bibs. "What do you think of Shuu?"

"I think that's a lovely name for him honey. I'm sure you and him will become the best of friends in no time. Make sure you're careful and call me if anything interesting happens. I'll let you go now so you can get on your way." She gave me a proud smile and blew a kiss.

"Thanks mom, I'll make sure I take good care of him. He's got quite an attitude, but that makes this all the more exciting. We'll be in touch soon. I love you, bye." We both hung up; Cheren was standing behind me watching my Snivy just stand there.

"He's interesting, isn't he?" I said causing him to jump. I laughed and walked over to my new Snivy. "Hey, what do you think of the name Shuu?" Snivy looked at me and smirked, I took that as a yes, "All right, so your nickname is now Shuu." I stated happily. Bianca came waltzing in with a half-smile on.

"How did it go?" Cheren asked while walking over.

"Dad was furious, but mom helped me convince him for now. I'm going to have to become tough and show him that it's not a worthless thing to do. I'm going to prove him wrong!" There was determination in her eyes, something I hadn't seen before with her.

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it Bi, as long as you don't get too carried away." We all laughed and headed out the door. It was already noon, the sun was high in the sky and the road ahead was long; filled with mysteries all around.