AUTHOR'S NOTE: There will be ten fics identical to this, hopefully, from ten different authors. Check my profile regularly for updates of the Project.

I do not in any way own the Pokemon Franchise. None of us do. This is merely a social experiment. We hope you enjoy it.

Fuck Mornings.

I lay in bed, facing the ceiling. I slowly turned my head to the left, facing my large window. Despite having the curtains drawn, the sun's rays still managed to filter through and disrupt my peaceful slumber. I glared daggers at my window.

Fucking sun, I thought. Where do you get off waking me up at seven in the morning?

I sighed, and threw my legs over the side of my bed. Pulling my upper body… upward, I buried my face in my hands and groaned. I was not, am not, and shall never be a morning person. I stood up, stretched, and took a quick look around to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Everything was where it should be: my bed in the rightmost corner of my room right next to the door, clothes strewn about the floor, TVs and game systems to the left of my bed right beneath my window. I shut my door and got dressed; nothing too fancy, just a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of dirty old shoes. I went into my bathroom (which was right across the hall from my room) and showered, got dressed, and did other hygienic things. Now, I was by no means good looking. My hair wasn't too short, but wasn't anywhere near long. My face was cratery and I was a little pudgy. I yawned, walked back into my room, and put on my glasses. Are you bored yet?

At that point my mom called me from down the hall.

"Brian!" she said. "I need you to take these things to Mr. Briny!"

"'Kay!" I called back.

I hated going to Mr. Briny. Don't get me wrong, he was a pretty cool guy. I just hated the inevitable trek through Petalburg Woods. Heading to his house wasn't that bad - it was coming back that was the hard part. Unlike most kids my age, I didn't have any Pokémon. Seven years ago, when I turned ten, I was too afraid to leave my mom and go out on my own.

Rustboro, my hometown, was just north of Mr. Briny's cottage, so it wasn't more than a half hour trek to his place. I walked at a brisk pace; didn't stop that often. Not until I reached the outskirts of town, anyway. That's where all the local Trainers hung out. They were always making fun of my lack of Pokémon. I ignored them as I continued down the bridge, around the bend and into the woods. I hated the bug Pokémon. I half-ran half-jogged further in, and jumped down the ledges. Within ten minutes I had made it out of the woods.

It was at that point that my life changed forever. I saw a Ralts. It was backed into a corner, and a Zigzagoon was growling at it.

Odd, I thought. There shouldn't be any Ralts this side of Petalburg.

I pondered for a moment whether I should jump in and help. On the one hand, the poor thing could get hurt. On the other, that Zigzagoon was probably rabid. I closed my eyes and started walking toward the cottage. The Ralts whined. It was a horrible thing to hear. I swear to this day that it melted my heart. Deciding against my better judgment, I hurried to the scene. Soon as I got there, the Zigzagoon got scared and bolted. I smiled to myself.

I crouched down and looked at the little thing, and held my finger out to it. It was sniffling.

"Hey, don't cry," I smiled at it.

It held its arms upward. It reminded of the way an infant would tell its mother it wanted to be picked up. I obliged, and the Ralts crawled atop my head and lay there on its stomach. I patted its back and headed into Mr. Briny's little sea cottage.

"Mr. Briny!" I called. "Got a thing for you!"

The old man turned from whatever it was he was doing with his Wingull and smiled broadly at me. "What kind of thingy?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

As Mr. Briny took the bag, he noticed the Ralts. It tried to crawl further down my head to escape, and I had to catch it as it almost fell.

"Where'd you get this little lady?"

"How can you tell it's a she?"

Mr. Briny smiled and pointed at his wrinkled old head. "Don't ask, don't tell. Now, where'd you find her?"

"I saw her getting attacked by a Zigzagoon just outside."

"Damn thing must've chased her all the way over here." He sighed and turned around. "Tell your mom I said thanks."

I smiled, told him sure, replaced Ralts on my head, and headed back for home.

"You need a name, don't you?" I asked the little Ralts. She cooed in reply. "How 'bout 'Twilight?'" I'm not sure how, but I could tell she was happy with the name.

The way back home was rather uneventful, which is an odd thing because usually there's the odd Trainer or two who mistakenly challenges me to a battle. I somehow had even managed to avoid the Trainers on the outskirts of town and made it all the way home.

"Hey, mom. Guess what I found."

Mom turned to face me from the kitchen and gasped in surprise. "A Ralts?"

"Her name is Twilight. She was being attacked and I couldn't just leave her."

My mom had a strange smile on her face. "Professor Birch is in town, you know. Why don't you go and become a registered trainer?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "I'm seventeen. It's kinda late for me to be a Trainer."

"Oh, please. My dad became a Trainer at twenty. It's never too late."

I thought on this. I always had wanted to become a Trainer. I thought about how great it would feel to return home after a long journey and show Mom all my badges, and then laugh at the look on her face when she hears that I was the Pokémon League Champion. I stood awhile in though, and finally nodded my head. I was determined to do this. I would become the next Hoenn League Champion.