Shedding Skins

Chapter One

Hope is Overrated

Author's Note :

First of all, thanks for reading this. This is my first fan fiction and I'd like you all to be honest with your opinions. I'm all for constructive criticism, I want to know what I'm doing right and wrong and I'd like to thank anyone in advance for reviewing this.

Disclaimer :

Pokemon is a registered trademark of Game Freak, Nintendo, etc. and not owned by me. This has been done without profit and only for entertainment purposes. All original characters, places, ideas, etc. belong to the author.

I didn't think I would feel so utterly terrified when receiving my first Pokemon. I had been excited about it for years but when I was standing there, waiting for a Pokemon, I just felt scared.

You see, the League were providing me with a Johto starter because my family were poor and my parents couldn't afford a Pokemon or a trainer's license. The League provided people as poor as me with a starter and trainer's license so that we had the opportunity to train if we wanted to. Richer people had to buy their own Pokemon.

It worked out well for the League because we would buy more Pokemon related goods like Pokeballs, which made them money and more of us would participate in the Championship, again earning them more money.

"Linus Ferrie," the nurse called out. I quite visibly jumped in surprise and got a strange look from a few trainers. I got out of my chair and started walking towards the reception - that walk seemed to be miles long. I reached the reception and took a deep breath, awaiting my first Pokemon and my trainer's license.

The nurse at the reception handed me a laminated piece of paper with my name, age, date of birth, height, weight and every other little detail about me on it - It was my trainer's license. I didn't really care about that and just pocketed it when I received it. Instead of handing me the pokeball, the nurse threw the pokeball to me. Being incapable of both throwing and catching things, I raised my hands to try and catch it but it hit my knuckle, dropped to the floor, released the Pokemon inside in a flash of light and rolled under a table.

I held my breath as I watched the white light from the pokeball take shape. I didn't know what Pokemon it was. Trainers didn't get to choose what Pokemon they received and instead, the League gave out the Pokemon randomly. I was hoping with everything I had to get a Cyndaquil. They're the easiest to train and they're probably the best fire types in Johto. They also looked the best out of the three.

Totodile would have been my second choice. They're physically very strong once they evolve and have a killer bite. They're water type so they can be used for surfing, crossing whirlpools or climbing waterfalls. They look tough but are the hardest and most dangerous to train. I also thought they looked kind of gross.

Chikorita would have been my last choice. The grass type as a whole is quite frail and Chikorita isn't built for attacking, which is what I wanted. They look girly and Meganium looks absolutely ridiculous. It didn't help that they're weak against bug types and flying types; the two types that I would undoubtedly run into the most in the wild.

Want to guess what Pokemon I got saddled with? That's right; a Chikorita. Half of the people in the center burst out laughing at my failure to catch the pokeball. Although, that didn't matter to me as much as it should have. I was too busy being pissed off at my starter to care too much about people laughing. I had to scramble around under the table for much longer than I would have liked to get it's pokeball back, though, which made me even angrier.

I stomped out of the center, angry, embarrassed and with a positively cheerful Chikorita trotting along beside me. I scowled at the plant and returned it to it's pokeball.

I wandered around Ecruteak while considering where to go. I had originally planned on going straight to the Gym to earn my first badge but with such a weak Pokemon I knew I would get stomped into the ground. It was common knowledge that the Gym Leader was one of the tougher ones, much tougher than Morty had been when Gym Leaders were still specialized and had to be fought in a specific order. I saw the Gym's red neon sign in the distance and had the sudden urge to challenge the Leader. Of course, common sense told me not to so I didn't.

I thought about what I could call the plant in the Pokeball that I was idly rolling from hand to hand. My first thought was to call it something insulting but I quickly decided against it. It wasn't the Pokemon's fault that it was a stupid Chikorita. I thought of calling it after a plant but apart from "Tree" and "Flower", I didn't really know of any plants. I would also have liked to be more original than that.

After failing to find a name for the plant and also failing to think of something productive to do, I decided to go to the nearest store to get a few more supplies. I ended up buying some pokeballs, medicine and food, all of which I didn't need, a cheap phone and a chocolate bar.

I sat on a bench outside with the bar of chocolate in one hand and the plant's pokeball in the other. I threw the ball on the floor and it was released in a flash of light just like it had been earlier, complete with the ball rolling under the bench and me having to spend longer than I wanted to trying to get it back once again. I decided that I had to get around to learning how to bounce and catch a pokeball soon.

As soon as I retrieved the ball and sat back on the bench, the plant made a strange noise that I can't even begin to describe. It was like nothing I had ever heard before and I had no idea what it meant. It looked vaguely curious but beyond that, I couldn't tell what it was feeling. I groaned to myself and wished I had a Pokemon that was easier to read, or a psychic or a translator. I broke off a piece of my chocolate bar and threw it to the grass Pokemon but it just sniffed with disinterest. That was when I found out that I also didn't know how to feed it. Just what I needed.

"Don't like chocolate then?" I asked it, not expecting an answer or particularly wanting one. Predictably, it didn't give me an answer. "Can you tell me what you do like?" I asked. Again, I didn't get my answer. I remembered reading somewhere that Chikorita could photosynthesize to make food and hoped that it was true - that would be so much more convenient than having to feed it. "You going to do anything apart from just standing there?" It lay down on it's side, soaking up the sun. There was my answer. I made a mental note to buy the thing a translator as soon as I had enough money for it, although I didn't think that would be any time soon.

I wondered if I could get it to respond to me but I couldn't try getting to respond to it's name since I still hadn't thought of one. "What can I call you?" I asked it. I was still talking to it for lack of human company more than anything else. I realized just then that I didn't even know what gender it was, although I wanted it to be a girl because having a male Chikorita would be weird - I thought they looked far too girly to ever be male.

"Hey, come here," I said to it, hoping it would obey. It got up and I felt somewhat proud of it. That was until it started walking in the opposite direction. I sighed and returned it. I finally thought of something productive to do - If my Chikorita wouldn't listen to me, then I'd have to train it.