IVY

After sneaking out of her house and traveling for miles to get to Lumiose City, Ivy was not about to let her pokemon get taken by two clowns dressed like giant carrots. And the boy seemed to be thinking somewhere along those lines, too.

"Go, fennekin! Use Ember!" he shouted.

Fennekin jumped off his shoulder. A ball of fire collected in its mouth and shot towards the enemy scraggy. The scraggy leaped aside just in time, and the fire ball hit the orange woman's pants as it went by. She cursed as she put out the flames.

The other carrot girl laughed. "How embarrassing," she said to her. "And you thought that you could actually have a name in this team!" She tossed out a pokeball. "Zubat, show her how it's done!"

A blue, eyeless pokemon flew out from the ball. Ivy shuddered. She'd seen this pokemon attack local trainers in swarms whenever they tried exploring a cave, and she didn't want the same thing happening to her. But she took out her pokeball anyway. "Froakie, let's go! Use Bubble!"

Froakie popped out, looking determined. Until the zubat came flying straight at it with its fangs bared, and the froakie jumped away in terror.

" I told you to use Bubble," Ivy protested. Her pokemon paid no attention and started climbing up the alley wall.

This definitely wasn't how Ivy expected it to go. The zubat started making a rasping sound that she could've sworn was laughter.

"Use Ember again!" said the boy. This time, the fireball attack actually hit. The zubat was now fluttering lopsidedly, with a hole burned into one of its wings. It managed to send a blast of wind into fennekin's direction before plummeting to the ground.

Fennekin stumbled. Sensing an oppurtunity, the scraggy lunged, ready to deliver a headbutt attack. But it didn't notice as Ivy's froakie dropped down silently above it. Froakie punched the scraggy in the head as hard as it could, and there was a dull crunching sound as the attack hit.

The scraggy was still standing, but it was staggering around with a dazed look in its eyes.

"Use Pound," Ivy called. The froakie took a deep breath. It closed its eyes and shot forward and kicked. And the scraggy finally collapsed.

The two pokemon thieves both slumped to the floor in frustration. "Oh, come on," said the scraggy's owner. "I could've won if your zubat wasn't in the way." "You're the one who was being incompetent to begin with!" her friend snapped. "Imagine, being beaten by children!"

Then they started arguing with each other, not noticing as Ivy and the boy brought their starters back into their pokeballs and slipped off to the metro station.


She felt extremely happy. Despite her froakie almost running away, she'd won. And it wasn't a fight on a battle simulator, or even a mock-battle in class. Most importantly, she'd won with her very own pokemon, too, instead of a borrowed one from the Trainer's School.

Once they were far away enough from Orange #1 and #2, the boy spoke up. "Thanks for the help, um..." "It's Ivy," she said. "Oh," he said. "Well, thanks, Ivy. My name's Leo."

They arrived at the station just in time to see the train Ivy was supposed to take speed away to Vaniville without her.

She froze in shock. The next train to get home was in one hour, so there was no way she was coming home in time now.

She bought tickets for the next Vaniville train anyway. At least I still have my pokemon with me, she reasoned. But she still couldn't stop thinking about what would happen once she got home. Hopefully, they'd still be asleep.

But maybe they would ground her. Maybe they might even stop me from being a trainer, she thought with a sinking feeling. And that battle to keep froakie would be for nothing.

"So, what are you going to do?" Leo asked. Ivy looked up. He was sitting on a bench close by, with his fennekin sitting on his lap. "I mean," he clarified, "there's the Showcases coming up soon, and the Connoisseur Tests, and then there's also the gyms to challenge…" his voice trailed off.

"Well, I'm going to take on the Kalos League," Ivy said. "It'll start in a few months, so I've got plenty of time to get eight badges."

"That's what I'll be doing, too," he said. "Maybe we'll battle each other at the tournament."

A blue-striped train arrived and Leo got up. "Well, there's my ride. See ya." He left, leaving Ivy to wait for the next fifty-five minutes by herself.

Finally, her train came. "Lumiose to Vaniville, boarding now. Please stand clear of the doors," said a robotic voice from the speakers. Ivy almost leaped through the doors the second they opened.

She took a seat in the train. Outside, the world zoomed by as the metro started to pick up speed. She watched the view through the windows change from tall, gleaming buildings to smaller towns and shops as they left the city. Eventually, Lumiose Tower was completely out of sight, and the train started to hurtle through the forest.


She was almost to the door of her house when she suddenly shot into the sky.

It was like an invisible net had scooped her up, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get herself free. There was really only one thing she could do.

"I told you not to do that," she grumbled. From the doorway, the family delphox smiled innocently as it let Ivy down.

"Well, if a certain someone had asked permission before they went to another city," said her mother, appearing next to the pokemon, "they wouldn't need to sneak back in."

Ivy gulped.

Serena Ketchum wasn't the type of mom that got angry often. But today was an exception.

"What were you thinking?" she said as she marched Ivy to the living room. "You didn't even have a pokemon when you arrived at Lumiose!" Her voice rose. "Don't you know how worried I've been? Delphox showed me how you were even attacked by pokemon thieves."

The delphox was looking very proud of itself as it projected an image on the wall of the orange-suited people jumping in front of Ivy and Leo.

"But I beat them," Ivy protested. "And I did get a pokemon, see?" She held up the pokeball so that the froakie was easy to see inside.

"But you could have been hurt or worse, kidnapped," continued her mother. "You should have actually told us where you were going instead of just leaving a note."

Ivy was really feeling guilty now."I'm sorry,"she muttered.

There was a pause.

"Haven't you ever wanted something so badly that you'd go far away from home?" Ivy blurted out suddenly. "Without anything to help you?"

"Well…." her mother's voice trailed off, apparently caught by surprise.

"...Yes," she admitted at last. "I have."

"So, I can still go challenge the gym today, right?"

Her mother hesitated. "Well, you can..." Ivy's heart leapt. "...Once you finish doing all of the chores," her mom finished. "Including cleaning the talonflame's cage. Arceus knows it'll be a while before League season arrives and that bird gets in a pokeball again."

Ivy sighed and picked up the fireproof disinfectant. She knew she deserved it. But at least she could go battle the gym leader soon, so it wasn't the worst punishment she could've gotten.


LEO

There was a crash as Leo's mom dropped the plate she was holding. It shattered on the floor, but she didn't seem to care.

"Are you sure?" she asked him. "You're sure that they've returned?"

She looked calm, but Leo saw how white her knuckles were from clenching her fists. Her blue-gray eyes scanned his, desperately searching for any sign of lying.

"I'm very sure. Some of their members ambushed me and another trainer today, demanding that we hand over our starters," he said. "They were wearing orange suits and glasses like you described. One even referred to themselves as a 'team'."

His mother started to pick up pieces of the broken plate. "Unbelievable," she seethed. "After all that work of covering up what that Zygarde incident had to do with our family, and now…"

"I know, Mom. But Ly-" he caught himself before he said the name. "-their boss died more than twenty years ago. And their new leader most likely doesn't have anything to do with us."

"I certainly hope so," she said, dumping the last bits of china into the garbage.

Then her expression softened. "You're beginning your journey, so I've packed all your things for you." She gestured to a backpack propped on the couch. "And call me every once in a while during your trip, okay?"

"I will," he promised, taking the backpack. And before he walked out of the house, he smoothed down his hair as much as he could, so that it wouldn't spike up.

Just in case.

"Remember, our gym is being renovated," she called from the patio. "You'll have to go to another city."

He passed by the garden's pond on his way. A milotic rose from the depths and waved its beautiful tail like it was waving goodbye. "Bye, Milo," he said. "I'll miss you." Milo leaned against his hand affectionately. Then it slipped beneath the water as Leo walked away.


IVY

Talonflame cooed as Ivy petted it. Its cage was finally sparkling clean, as well as the other pokemon's sleeping areas. "Done," she called.

"That's good," her mom said, coming into the backyard too. She looked at the fully-cleaned backyard with approval. "It definitely looks like everything's done. Now you can go and challenge Winter."

Ivy nodded, her blue eyes shining. She grabbed a bag and put the six pokeballs inside, along with money and a map of the region. "Bye, mom!" she called.

Then she walked out, pulling on a dark blue vest over her black clothes, and then she was gone.