Well here's the first actual chapter :] Meet Avery and Taryn. They love you.


SPLASH.

As cold water rudely interrupted her sleep, Avery opened her eyes with a loud gasp, and her body tensed as the warmth left her. As she adjusted to the bright light of morning, Avery then realized her Oshawott, Sophia, was perched upon her legs, water still dripping from her white face as she looked down at Avery with a slight smile on her face.

"Oh boy." Avery sighed in a mix of amusement and exasperation. Perhaps this was the reason she did not need an alarm clock – Sophia was always much too happy to drench her trainer in an ice cold Water Gun.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Avery then waved her hand, gesturing Sophia to get off. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, letting out a long yawn and stretching her arms.

"Oh, yeah Sophia, let's go out to the café for breakfast. I think they're having a breakfast special today."

"Osha!"

"Hmm?" Avery looked at Sophia, after the water Pokémon's uncharacteristic rejection. Sophia stepped back, and removed the scalchop from her stomach. The Oshawott then proceeded to mimic battle motions, slicing the air with the yellow blade. The memory then hit her like a truck.

"Oh, yeah, we're finally leaving Aspertia City today!" Avery jumped up as her Oshawott nodded and smiled, showing off her two little front teeth.

As Sophia went off to wake up her two brothers, Avery grabbed the silver hairbrush from her nightstand and walked towards her mirror, which was leaned against the wall opposite her. After running the bristles through her dark blue tangles, Avery placed the hairbrush back in its respective place and opened up her dresser.

"Hmm, what should I wear today?" she wondered to herself. It was still August, but Unova tended to get cold faster than other regions, not to mention Avery's extreme sensitivity to anything even remotely cold. She picked through her wardrobe (there was very little in it – most of it had been packed away for her journey), deciding on a loose, cream-colored shirt with a dark brown wool cardigan. She peeled off her wet clothing and changed into the new, more presentable outfit. After changing, she grabbed a hair tie from a small cup sitting on her dresser, and tied up the top portion of her hair into a bun at the back of her head.

"There." Avery mumbled to herself as she took a glance at herself in the mirror. Good enough, she decided, racing out her bedroom door. Sophia had been done waking up her the twins, Aaron and Oliver, evident by her satisfied expression as she walked towards Avery. The two 17-year-olds followed the Oshawott sleepily.

"Oh, hey, Avery, aren't you leaving today?" Oliver asked as he and his brother passed by her. Avery nodded.

"It's been a while, huh?" Aaron commented as he shook water out of his hair, "You've been waiting for…four years now? Well, take care, sis. Remember to call." Aaron ruffled his little sister's hair, messing up the hairstyle she had just done minutes earlier. Avery sighed.

"Yep, I will. I'll see you two at breakfast." Avery pulled out her hair tie and quickly redid her hair as she walked down the stairs, Sophia following closely. Once she arrived downstairs, she saw her mother setting a plate of breakfast down.
"Avery! Good morning!" Her mother, unusually happy this morning, greeted her as she walked down the last few steps.

"Morning, mom. What's—"

Knock-knock.


Taryn rocked back and forth on her heels waiting for someone from the Galliard's household to answer her knock. A few moments passed, and then she heard the click of the door unlocking. Mrs. Galliard opened the door and smiled down and Taryn.

"Oh, hello Taryn! You're here early," she greeted.

"Yeah, I was just a little overly-excited, so I got ready pretty fast. Is Avery awake yet?" Taryn asked as she peered over Mrs. Galliard's shoulder. She nodded and stood aside to allow Taryn in. Inside, Taryn was greeted by Avery's Oshawott running over to her. Taryn's own Oshawott, Nadia, jumped down from her shoulder to greet Sophia.

"Hey, Taryn. I'm just finishing up my breakfast, and then we can go," Avery waved from where she was sitting at the table. Taryn nodded and then went to sit in the chair beside her. She took off her pink backpack and began sorting through it to make sure she didn't forget anything. Once she was done she got up and slid the backpack back onto her back. Soon after, Avery got up to put her dishes into the sink.

"Okay, Avery, are you ready now?" Taryn looked over at the blue-haired girl, who nodded in reply. Taryn clapped her hands together in excitement and then looked around for Nadia. She saw her on the ground dodging Tackle attacks from Sophia, and went to grab her. The Oshawott squirmed around in her arms, obviously not wanting to be carried.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. We've asked this boy named Hugh to come and give you some tips and explain things to you before you go. He's already beaten all eight gyms, so he's very experienced," Avery's mom told them.

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean Hugh as in the Hugh who's friends with Rosa- Champion Rosa?" Taryn asked in anticipation.

"Um, yes I believe so. He'll be here any minute, so you'd best get outside."

"Alright! C'mon Avery, let's go!" Taryn grabbed Avery's arm and started to drag the girl out of the house, but she yanked it back.

"I can walk on my own, and I still need to grab my bag," she said. Taryn shrugged and walked out of the house without her, and was surprised to see that Hugh was already out there waiting.

"Oh my gosh. Hi, Hugh! Tell us everything you know!"


Avery sighed as she grabbed her bag, quickly putting it on. She and Taryn weren't necessarily friends, however their parents were, and due to the recent dangers in Unova (the same dangers that had prevented her from starting her journey four years ago) Taryn and Avery were forced to go together. Avery saw this as a slight annoyance, for she didn't care for Taryn's peppy, excitable demeanor. However, she knew she would tolerate it.

"Oh my gosh. So you're best friends with Champion Rosa?" Avery heard Taryn's excited squeals as Avery left her house. Avery sighed as she approached the two trainers.

"Yeah, we grew up in this city together." Hugh explained. The older trainer then noticed Avery come out of her house. "Hey, I'm Hugh. So your mothers asked me to teach you guys the ropes of Pokémon. Let's go out to Route 19 so I can properly train you two!" Taryn jumped up.

"Ooh, okay – let's go! C'mon Avery!" Taryn grabbed Avery by the arm and tugged her along as the two followed Hugh out of Aspertia City. Avery sighed, giving up and allowing Taryn to drag her along. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Nadia pick up Sophia, carrying her starter over her head, much to Sophia's annoyance. Soon enough, they had arrived at the border between Aspertia City and Route 19.

"Alright, so these are your starters?" Hugh gestured to the two Oshawotts as Nadia set down Sophia. "They seem happy!"

"Yeah, we've been raising them since they were born!" Taryn piped up.

"They're sisters – our parents are breeders so they gave us the eggs a few years back." Avery added quietly. Hugh nodded.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two treat your Pokémon right! Anyways, I'll show you how to catch a Pokémon." Hugh walked a few steps away from them, into the tall, knee-length grass. "Pokémon usually hide in here. So whenever you're in the tall grass, be careful because—" Hugh was cut off mid-sentence by the shrill cry of a Patrat. The small brown Pokémon hissed at the trainers, tense and ready to attack.

"Alright, so the most important step is to weaken the Pokémon first. It's harder to catch a Pokémon at full strength." Hugh explained, before picking a Pokéball off of his belt. "Go, Serperior!" The red and white ball flew through the air, before glowing white and releasing an elegant-looking Serperior, "Slam!" The green serpentine Pokémon quickly obeyed its orders, sliding behind the Patrat and slamming it with its tail. The Patrat lunged forward with a yelp.

"Now that you've weakened the Pokémon, you want to throw a Pokéball at it." Hugh expertly snatched a Pokéball from his bag, and tossed it towards the Patrat. The capsule opened mid-air, and a beam of white light hit the Patrat, sucking the Pokémon into the ball. It fell to the ground with a soft thud, and the ball shook violently for a few seconds before settling.

"There! And that's how you catch a Pokémon."


Taryn nodded in understanding once Hugh was done with his demonstration. He then began to shuffle around in his bag, and then took out two pouches.

"Here, your parents told me to give you these. There's a few Pokéballs in there for you to use," Hugh handed them each a pouch, and Taryn stuffed it into her bag.

"I can't wait to catch a Pokemon. What do you think you'll catch first, Avery?" Taryn asked.

"Umm… I don't know. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what kind of Pokemon are out there," Avery shrugged.

"Come on, I need to show you a few things back in Aspertia," Hugh said as he gestured for them to follow him back to the town. As they entered the city Hugh pointed out a tall building that Taryn recognized as the Pokemon Gym. "When you think you've trained enough you should go challenge Cheren at the gym. And over there," he pointed to a building with a red roof, "is the Pokemon Center. Go there to heal your Pokemon. Oh and there's also a shop to buy things."

"Okay, thanks Hugh!" Avery said as she gave a grateful smile.

"Yes that was very useful information! But uh, could you tell us more about your adventures and battles and stuff?" Taryn gazed up hopefully at Hugh, who looked rather taken aback.

"Well um, I have to go back and check on my little sister, so maybe some other time. You should probably get started on your journey. So have fun, and remember to treat your Pokemon well!" Hugh waved goodbye and then began walking back to his house.

"Hmph. He could of at least told us one." Taryn complained.

"Well he's got better things to do, I guess. Now let's get going and start training," Avery turned and began walking out back towards Route 19. Taryn ran after her, and Nadia and Sophia followed her.

"Alright Nadia, you ready to Water Gun these suckers?" Taryn grinned down at Nadia, who nodded in reply. Avery was the first to start walking into the tall grass, and stopped when a Lillipup hopped out in front of her.

"Ok Sophia, use Water Gun!" Avery's Oshawott let out a burst of water, and the Lillipup staggered backwards a few steps before fainting.

"Alright! Good job, Avery!" Taryn held her hand up for a high-five, and Avery slapped her hand against Taryn's weakly. "That battle was not worthy of a high-five as weak as that." Avery ignored her and kept on walking. They traveled on for a bit more, and there were many more battles.

"Floccesy Town is coming up. We can rest up Nadia and Sophia there," Avery told Taryn, who was currently battling a Patrat.

"Sounds good to me!"


Thanks for reading c: