"Human speech"

"Telepathy/aura"

Thinking

"Pokemon speech"

Pokemon move

Chapter 1: Pokemon or Trainer?

Decision, decisions...

(Third person POV)

Lumiose City is a magnificent place. Humans always running about, plenty of boutiques, cafés, restaurants, anything you could ever need. For someone travelling the region, this is but one stop. Yet...

"What do you mean, I can't leave?!" An angry young man almost yelled at the police officer. The zorua perched on his shoulder merely watched the exchange.

"I mean exactly what I say kid, you can't leave the city the way you are now. It is for your safety." Officer Jenny explained.

The boy sighed. "Alright... so, how do I get permission to leave?"

"You have three options," Jenny began, "One: you acquire any one badge, to prove that your pokemon is strong enough to protect you on the route. Two: you are in the company of at least one trainer with any one badge. And three: you hop on the Armored Transport that travels thrice a day."

If only you knew how strong I am... he thought, but pushed it aside. The very point of his journey was to do it inconspicuously, since people would immediately fight and/or try to capture him if they saw him in his true form. "Fine then. I guess I'll challenge one of the gyms in that case. Where's the closest one?"

Jenny nodded in appreciation. "The closest one is actually in the center of Lumiose. However, they only accept challengers with at least four badges. Your best bet is to go to Santalune City."

Later (Chrome's POV)

As I was told by the officer, I boarded the Armored Transport and I'm currently headed towards Santalune City. Shade was excited again, which is like an Absol when it comes to foretelling disaster... at least for me.

"What are you so happy for, Shade?"

"What else? I'm going to fight a Gym Leader!"

"...And since when was that decided?"

"Oh, come on big brother, how are you supposed to fight them otherwise? By yourself? Or are you going to cap-"

"No."

"Why not? You were given spare pokeballs for a reason, you know~"

I thought back at it, to the meeting I had with Prof. Sycamore.

Flashback, ~about an hour ago.

"Excuse me!" I yelled as I entered the building.

"One moment!" Someone answered. Said moment later he appeared. "Welcome! I am Professor Augustine Sycamore. How may I be of service?"

"I know this might sound like a strange request, but I would like a spare pokeball, if you have one. Shade, my zorua, and I are travelling, and I would like to capture him in a pokeball so no one takes him away from me."

"I see, I see. Would you like me to register you as a trainer while I'm at it?"

"No, I have no intentions of being a trainer, and even then, I could most likely never afford it." The professor laughed at me.

"Whenever did I say it would cost you? New trainers are registered for free. The only thing that actually costs is the pokedex and the regional starter. If you don't want a pokedex, and you are fine with any pokemon as your starter, or, as in your case, that you already have one, it doesn't cost you a dim!"

"I see... then, if it isn't too much trouble..." The professor laughed again.

"Oh, it only takes a moment. I just need your name and take a photo, and we're done."

"The name's Chrome," I said, "and this is Shade." I motioned to my brother on my shoulder.

A photo and some work later.

"And we're done. Here's your Trainer ID, as well as five pokeballs."

"That's... very generous of you..."

"Please, think nothing of it. It's common to give five spare balls for new trainers. The League pays for them."

With that, I captured Shade, thanked Sycamore, and left. The second Armored Transport was about to leave, and I had to catch it as the third and last one wouldn't leave until evening, and I didn't enjoy the thought of staying here for six hours...

End of flashback

I had also captured myself (Shade released me afterwards) to prevent any... accidents, regarding pokeballs. I couldn't help but wonder, why is it that pokeballs work on us, but not humans?

"Brother, we're here!"

As I jumped off, Shade poked my ear.

"So, how are we going to fight the Gym Leader?" I glare at him.

"Mom will rip off my fur and skin me alive if I let you fight, -especially- against a seasoned fighter like a Gym Leader! No, you won't be fighting, I will."

Shade gave me a confused look. "How will you do that?"

"Simple. You will pretend to be "me" and I will be your pokemon."

"Nuh-uh, I want to fight!"

"I see, that's a shame then..."

"Hmm?"

"If you refuse, then we won't be able to continue our journey. That means we'll have to return home. Mom and dad will be happy to see us back so soon I guess..."

"Waitwaitwait, I'll do it! There's no way we're going home already!"

With that, we went behind a building, Shade transformed into "me" while I returned to my true form, and he recalled me. Next stop: Santalune City Gym.

Fact about Chrom'es Journey: at first, I had intended to use the system that Kane has in Flame of Life: that pokeballs register users with blood and whatnot, but in the end I decided against it. I don't want to steal other's ideas unless absolutely necessary (or funny)