Please review, and if someone wants to beta my writings, please ask.

Please note: While it may or may not seem similar to other stories, this is still my idea. I may be influenced or inspired by other writings, but in the end, this is still mine.

*{I do not own Pokemon, or any characters used in Pokemon. I only own this story}*

Chapter 2: Partners

I looked at the box in surprise. I honestly couldn't believe it. Professor Juniper came to my house and brought me a birthday gift? I was stunned. The chuckling I heard from the Professor and my mother implied that I wasn't hiding my surprise very well.

Professor Juniper smiled before speaking. "Happy birthday, Touya." As she gave me the box, I was still surprised. We don't know each other very well, besides the normal student-teacher relationships.

"Aw! I wish I had a gift from the Professor!" I heard Touko say. I smirked slightly. I may not be a jerk to my sister, but we still have the normal sibling rivalry, so hearing her jealousy is rather enjoyable.

The young Professor cleared her throat before speaking again. "Well, actually, this is a gift for not just Touya, but also for Bianca and Cheren as well." Now we were all confused. It must have been evident on our faces (Touko and Bianca are usually so easy to read) when she returned our confused look. She turned to Mother and spoke once more. "Did you not tell them, Terra?"

Mother chuckled, nervous and embarrassed. She rubbed the back of her head before speaking. "Well, you see, I wanted it to be a surprise, since it's such a big thing and well..."

The Professor sighed, and shook her head, an amused smile returning to her face. "Alright then." She turned from Mother to us. "Touya. Cheren. Bianca. In this box lies a key to your future, and the gate to your potential as adults." Slowly, she opened the box, revealing three red pokeballs.

My eyes widened and an excited smirk grew on my face. Cheren gasped, his face clearly showing disbelief at this turn of events. Bianca's face turned into one of absolute joy and glee. She jumped and cheered in happiness.

The balls each had a small symbol on them, just above the button. One symbol was a flame, the symbol for the fire-type, Tepig. On another was a raindrop, the symbol for Oshawott, the water type. Finally, the last one had a leaf, symbol for Snivy, the grass type.

"These three are for you, and will be the first step on your new journey." Professor Juniper continued. "Normally, I'd suggest that you discuss amongst yourselves a fair way to decide who gets who..." She flashed me a smile. "But I think the birthday boy should get the first pick." I rolled my eyes at the statement. I knew what I wanted, and would have tried to get it either way. I heard Cheren and Bianca next to me agree.

I nodded and walked up to the box. Without hesitation, I grabbed the ball that contained the pokemon I wanted – Oshawott. "I've been thinking about this for years." I muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear. "I knew that Oshawott would be my pokemon of choice."

Professor Juniper nodded, saying "Good choice!" She then turned at Cheren and Bianca. "Now, what will you two-" She was interrupted by Bianca as she walked up to the box, snatched up Tepig's ball, and tossed Snivy's at Cheren. All of us in the room, even the Professor were surprised and shocked at what just happened.

"I call Tepig!" Bianca cheerily shouted. "You can have the Snivy, Cheren." That was simply her explanation. She wanted next pick, so she got it. Mother and the Professor sighed in slight exasperation, but kept their smiles. Cheren looked fully annoyed, before sighing and mumbling "at least I got what I wanted." Touko and I couldn't breathe, we were laughing so hard.

Bianca looked thoroughly confused by our reactions. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked in a worried voice. I sighed and attempted to stop myself from laughing."

"That's not it, Bianca." I said (although the laughter stubbornly refused to fully stop) I sighed again. "You just never cease to amaze us, that's all." Seemingly satisfied with my response, she giggled and stood back next to me and Cheren.

Professor Juniper sighed, and was about to speak again, but stopped. Looking in the direction she was looking, I saw what stopped her. Touko was visibly upset. I guess she was sad that she couldn't have a pokemon yet. I would be as well, if I was in her position.

"Hey, Touko." Professor Juniper said to her. When she had Touko's attention, she reached in her pocket pulled out another pokeball (surprising pretty much everyone else in the room), walking over to Touko and handing it to her. "I wouldn't exclude you from this, you know. You're too young for me to give you an official starter..." She smirked slightly. "But I can give you an unofficial one anytime as a gift." Professor Juniper was then tackle-hugged by the 15-year-old brunette in happiness.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Touko repeated over and over again. I chuckled to myself. Same old Touko...

"Professor." I heard Cheren speak up. I could hear the confusion in his voice. "What exactly was in the pokeball?" Bianca and I turned to the Professor – we were curious as well.

With another smirk, she spoke to all of us. "Why don't you all release your pokemon, and see them yourselves?" The four of us looked at each other and nodded. We each held out the ball in our hands and pressed the button in the center. The ball opened, and in a flash of light, our pokemon came out.

Out of my pokeball came a small blue and white creature. The head and arms were white, and had a large brown nose. It's body was colored a light blue. It's pointed ears, flipper-like feet and flat tail were a darker shade of blue. With a happy jump, it yelled "Oshawott!"

Bianca's ball released a small creature that stood on four legs. It's body was orange, however, the top half of it's head, as well as a stripe on it's body was black. On it's snout was a flash of yellow. It had a curled tail with a red ball at the end of it. The Tepig yawned, saying it's name as it did so.

Out of Cheren's pokeball came a small green creature. It's body, except for it's belly and legs were green. Those were more of a pale color. It also had a few flashes of yellow on it's body, such as above it's large brown eyes. Compared to it's body, it's arms and legs were rather small. It puffed out it's chest and turned it's head, muttering a quiet "Snivy" as it did so.

The biggest surprise is what Touko released. She released a small creature with a black body. It's ears and tail were blue, and it's face was pale. It had no arms or legs to speak of. When it saw Touko, it hopped up a few times, happily saying "Tympole" while it did.

Professor Juniper looked at us with a proud smile, and Mother looked at us with a happy one. "Well, guys." The Professor started. "Here are your new partners!"

That's a rap for this one. I wanted to do a bit more, but I thought it'd be a good place to stop for now.

Just to clear things up (and more will be explained later on) I named the mother Terra for a reason. You'll see later on.

One more thing, age is also a factor into this story. So, to explain -

Touya – 18

Bianca – 17

Cheren – 17

Touko – 15

Mother (Terra) – 36

Professor Juniper – 32

It may not seem too important, but trust me, everything is there for a reason.

Review Responses ^_^

xavierfincher – Thanks, and I'm glad you like it. I'm trying to make it longer as it goes on. The first chapter might be short, but the chapters will progressively get longer, until I reach a pretty decent point.

Bird of Flame – Thank you. I'll be putting more, and hopefully on a regular basis as well.

Dr. John Madblender – Happy to hear you're interested, and I know, it bugs me too. Rebelshipping should be more popular.

Guest – I'm glad I have your support, and I'll try to be unique, but I wouldn't say there's NO stories about them. Very few, yes, but I've read some.

I hope you like this, and if you do, please review, it helps. ^_^

See you later

~RonSio