Chapter 1: A New Life

Matt looked up at the girl and smiled slightly. She was slightly shorter than himself, standing at 5'5" at full height and also slightly younger at 10 years old. She had waist long, light brown hair which was slightly wavy. Her eyes were deep sapphire blue, a color Matt always though was a beautiful color. She was thin, though not so thin as to be sick. She wore the same clothes as Matt, except her shirt was half-blue and had Seel and Dewgong. Her coat was the same too, color and all.

"I couldn't sleep." Matt said, "And what about you, Karren? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I couldn't sleep either." Karren said sitting down next to Matt, "So I came out here to find you."

"I see."

"So, have you chosen which started you're going to pick?"

"Yes."

"So have I. I hope it's not the same one."

"I have a secondary choice just in case." Matt said. He knew which one he wanted the most, but he wasn't about to get his hopes up. He had the highest grade of the three who passed with top scores, so he would have to pick last. He didn't mind picking last since he had been in battle with all three choices before, so he knew how to work with them. There was a long pause before Karren broke the silence.

"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked.

"Yeah, who wouldn't?" Matt said, "I was being chased around by a trainer's beedrill and you recalled it just before it got me."

"How long ago was it again?" Karren asked Matt.

"Two years."

Matt had been alone in Pallet Town, save for Tracey and Oak, for four years before meeting Karren. She was still his only friend, and the two had formed a close bond of trust over the two years they had known each other. There was nothing the two hid from each other, except for Matt's home town.

"When are you leaving tomorrow?" Karren asked.

"Immediately." Matt responded.

"You're not going to say good-bye to the class?" she asked.

"No. They avoid me anyways, so I don't think they would mind if I didn't..." he responded in a sad tone while looking away.

"You know that's not true." she said.

"Can you prove me wrong?" he asked. Karren didn't speak, seeing as she had no rebuttal.

"I didn't think so." Matt said.

"I'm going home now." Karren said getting up, "I'm getting tired."

"Good night." Matt said, "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't."

Matt watched as Karren walked off until she was out of view. Something in her tone of voice told Matt that what he said got to her. He shrugged it off and got up as well, deciding it was time to get back to the lab. As he was taking his first step, a cry caught his attention. It wasn't human, so he went toward the sound. Everything was so alike in the plains ahead of him, he was surprised he didn't see what made the noise.

The cry came again. Matt looked toward the forest, sure that was where the the noise was coming from. As he wandered into the forest, a flock of butterfree above him took off. Matt jumped at the sound of their wings, but lost his balance. Unfortunately, it was downhill where he was, and when he fell, he began to slide quickly down the hill. There were no trees in his path, but to his horror, Matt saw a ravine ahead. He had been at it's edge several times, so he knew falling would prove fatal.

He sat up... the first step to recovering from this mess. The ravine came closer quickly as he gained speed. Nothing was in reach except for one tree by the edge. A single branch was within his reach, but it was low enough to hit him if he kept sitting up. He reached out as he passed it, his heart pounding on his chest as he fetidly tried to grab onto a hold or branch. The icy surface of the tree prevented him from getting a good grip. A pain in his head shattered his thoughts of survival as he realized he had neglected to duck from the very branch he tried to grab.

Slowly losing consciousness, he felt his body fly over the edge. He wanted to scream, but the drowsiness he was now feeling prevented it. He felt hopeless as his vision started to blacken and he started losing consciousness. The last thing he heard was the same cry as before and the flapping of giant wings before he lost to the abyss that pulled on his mind and all went black...