What it is, here is chapter two y'all with an actual story in it instead of a long intro. Sorry it took so long to post; I have been getting ready for school and I have just started school this week so it took a little bit longer to finish this chapter so enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters, just the games that our sold.

"Character speaking"

'Character's thought'

Reading something

SHOUTING

Flashback or Pokedex Entry

Chapter 2: Journey's Beginning

This world that we live in is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon. We humans live along side Pokémon as friends. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. Some people use their Pokémon to battle and develop closer bonds with them.

Nevertheless, there are still numerous mysteries surrounding them. In order to find out more about these creatures, many scientist have dedicated their lives to Pokémon research.

Our story takes setting in the Johto region; a land where it is not just modernized like its neighbor region, Kanto, but is still rooted to old traditions and its history. Many of its historical temples, shrines, palaces, gardens, and architectures have been preserved.

In the southeast corner of Johto is New Bark Town, the town where the winds of a new beginning blow and the home of Professor Elm – an authority on Pokémon Evolution.

But more importantly, it is also the home of our hero of this tale named . . .

"Ethan, are you still asleep up their?" said a middle-aged woman working in the kitchen. She has her dark hair in a loop on each side of her head while wearing an orange sun dress and an apron over it. Here we see our hero's mother busy with the housework, wondering what is taking her son so long to come down stairs.

"What is that boy doing?" she wonders. "Professor Elm said he had an errand for him"

Upstairs of the house we have a small bedroom with a clock on one wall, a television in the right corner with a Nintendo Wii on its right, a desk with a PC on it, and a bed in the back corner of the room. And on this bed is our hero Ethan, laying down, and fast asleep.

He wears a black T-shirt with black shorts and his black/bluish hair is short and wild like it hasn't been combed. Ethan continues lay on the bed with a little drool dripping down is mouth and a peaceful look on his face, until . . .

"ETHAN, WAKE UP!" his mother yells while banging on the door.

At the sound of this, Ethan immediately wakes up and falls off the bed. As he collects his thoughts he replies "What is it Mom?" with a hint of drowsiness in his voice.

"Did you forget what you are doing today?" his mother answers.

'What I'm doing today, what does she mean?' Ethan ponders as he sits on the floor Indian-style. He looks to the wall with his clock reading 12:45 PM and it suddenly hits him like a ton of bricks.

"Oh snap!" he finally speaks. "Professor Elm, I almost forgot."

Literally leaping off the floor, Ethan scurries around his room gathering his stuff.

From his closet he grabs and puts on his red jacket with a white collar and black cuffs zipping it all the way up, from under his bed he gets and slips on his red and white tennis shoes, and to complete his outfit he puts on his favorite black and yellow hat wearing it backwards with a tiff of his hair showing in the front.

"Alright" he says to himself. "I'm all ready to go." As soon as he spoke those words he rushed out the room and down the stairs. He then suddenly runs back up the stairs back into his room and grabs a black and gray bag hanging on his chair.

"Silly me." He says out loud. "I forgot my bag." With his bag on his back he once again goes back down the stairs.

Still in the kitchen, Ethan's mom is fixing a pot of tea when she spots her son rushing down the steps.

"I see that you are finally awake honey." She giggles.

"Eh heh heh" Ethan replies with his hand behind his head. "Sorry about that Mom."

His mom then remembers "Oh that's right! Your friend Lyra was just here"

"She was?" Ethan shockingly asked. "Well why didn't you tell me?" His mom then gave him a look that said "you know why" and he suddenly remembers what had happened before he came down stairs.

"Oh right." He answered embarrassed. "Sorry again."

His mom just shakes her head at him. "Well anyway, remember, Professor Elm wants to see you today." She tells him. "He said that he has a favor to ask of you."

Ethan replies "I know mom, I'm on my way to the lab to see him right now." He then rushes out the front door toward his destination. "See ya mom" was the last thing he said before he was gone.

"Bye sweetie" she tells her son as he's leaving.

As Ethan steps outside he feels a light breeze blow by him and looks around his home town. New Bark Town is unlike all the other cities in the Johto region; there are no giant buildings or things like a Gym or Pokémon Center. In fact it is sort of isolated from the rest of Johto. But this did not bother Ethan at all; he loved his town all the same. The sight of the rolling green hills, the cool feeling of the blowing wind, and all surrounded by tall serene trees. All of this made him feel relaxed and at peace.

He is suddenly interrupted by the sight of something small. Coming towards him was a small blue mouse-like creature. It had a sphere-like body with a white belly, two small round ears, and a black wiry tail with a blue bubble at the end.

"Marill!" the Aqua Mouse Pokémon squealed as it jumped into Ethan arms.

"Hello there Marill." Ethan greeted giving the Pokémon a small hug. "If you're here, then she can't be too far right?" Marill just replied to him with a nod.

"There you are Marill!" Said a girl the same age as Ethan but slightly taller running towards him. It turns out that the girl was not only Marill's owner but also Ethan's best friend Lyra. She was wearing a red long sleeved shirt with short blue overalls over it, black and white knee-high socks and red shoes, and a white hat with a red bow on the side. She had a yellow handbag on her left shoulder with a pink and white device attached to it. Her hair was golden-brown and two short ponytails on the side and curled up a little bit.

At the sight of her owner, Marill leaped down from Ethan's arms and jumped into the arms of Lyra instead.

"Looks like I found you Marill." Lyra says while hugging her Pokémon. She sees Ethan in front of her and greets him with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Ethan!"

Ethan smiles at his friend and replies "Hey Lyra, I see you and Marill are enjoying yourselves today as usual."

"Of course." Lyra exclaims while grinning like a cat and making a V sign with her right hand. "You know me very well, I guess that's why you and I are good friends." The

two of them giggle at her response and Ethan thought about what she said. The two of them had known each other since childhood so its wonder that they know each other very well.

"By the way," Lyra speaks with her hands on her hips and pouting. "I came by earlier to see you but apparently you were asleep." Ethan remembers what happened and what his mother told him about Lyra as a sweat drop falls down his head.

"Yeah I know, mom told me"

"Well I wanted to ask if you wanted to come out and play." Lyra asks with a playful look on her face. "Sorry, I have to go to Professor Elm's lab to help him with something."

"Awww." was her only reply as she had a face that made her look sad and yet cute at the same time. At the sight of such a cute sight, Ethan's cheeks were painted with a dash of red and turned his head away from Lyra.

"But," Ethan finally speaks. "If you want, you can come with me and when I'm done we can play."

"Really?" She exclaims as a she appears a few inches from Ethan's face with sparkles in her eyes. With Lyra that close to his face, his cheeks become redder as he can only nod his head as an answer.

"Yay!" Lyra exclaimed once again as she returns Marill to its Poke Ball and grabs Ethan's hand and starts running towards Professor Elm's lab. "Come on lets go!"

Ethan can only keep up with her as he is being pulled by Lyra. His blush once again becomes even redder as his hand is connected with Lyra's. The truth is that while the two were just friends, Ethan had always liked Lyra more than as a friend but he would never say it to anyone especially Lyra.

After a few minutes of running and being pulled, Lyra and Ethan finally made it to the lab. "We're here." Lyra speaks after the silent run. She turns to Ethan seeing him with his free hand on his knee trying to catch his breath which causes Lyra to realize that she had been dragging him the whole time.

"Oh my God Ethan, are you okay?" she asks while looking him over.

"I'm fine," Ethan says in short breaths. "I just . . . need to catch . . . my breath."

"I'm sorry," she apologizes with her head down. "I guess I got too excited again as usual." Lyra was always known to get excited and be real energetic at times.

"It's okay," Ethan replies finally catches his breath. "Besides it's that energetic personality that makes you . . . well you." Lyra looks up and smiles at the compliment.

"Thanks Ethan." She says to her friend as he makes his way toward her. "You're welcome, lets go see what the Professor wants." Ethan replies as he heads inside the lab with Lyra behind him.

The inside of the lab was huge filled with a couple of shelves full of books for research, a computer, a strange machine in the corner of the room and a capsule containing three Poke Balls. There was also a set of stairs that led to the second floor of the lab wear Professor Elm and his family lived.

As they walked inside, they saw one of the Professor's aides looking for a book. He saw the two given them a wave hello and went straight back to work. Ethan and Lyra made their way to the back of the room where they found the man they were looking for, Professor Elm. The Professor was a tall and sort of thin man; he was wearing a light blue dress shirt, green slacks, glasses, and a white lab coat that stopped past his waist. From the look of him, he looks like he been working for a while since he had a bunch of papers in his lab coat, his clothes were wrinkled and he was busy writing on a notepad not even noticing the two walking up to him.

"Hey Professor!" Both Ethan and Lyra shouted to get the man's attention. Professor Elm jumped a bit and looked around to see who called him to only spot the two.

"Oh hello Lyra," He responded while fixing his glasses then looks to Ethan. "And hello Ethan, I've been waiting for you."

"I know, sorry for making you wait." Ethan answers with a hand behind his head. "So what did you want me to do for you?"

"Right." Elm begins to explain. "Now do you know anything about my research?"

"Um yeah, Pokémon evolution right?" Ethan answers a little bit unsure.

"Yes, as you know Pokémon are carried in Poke Balls these days' rights?" He asks as the two friends nod their heads as an answer.

"But," Elm continues. "Before Poke Balls were created, people used to walk with Pokémon."

"Like Lyra?" Ethan interrupting looking at his friend.

"Exactly." Elm replies. "Poke Balls are great because you can carry many Pokémon. But walking with Pokémon must have its advantages."

"What kind of advantages?" Lyra asks with Ethan thinking the same.

"It could have something to do with how Pokémon grow or evolve," Elm answered. ". . . So I'm giving you, Ethan, a Pokémon!"

"Really?" Ethan answers while in a state of surprise. "My own Pokémon?"

"Yes." Elm once again explaining his plan. "I want you to walk beside this Pokémon, outside of its Poke Ball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between Pokémon and people; can you do that?"

"Of course!" Ethan answered with glee. Lyra could tell from the look on his face that he was very happy at the thought of getting his own Pokémon.

After hearing the boy's response, Professor Elm went to the capsule containing three Poke Balls and picked each one up.

"You can choose from any of these three." Elm explained while opening the first Poke Ball contain a pale green creature with small green buds around its neck and a dark green leaf on its head.

"There's Chikorita, a Grass-type." He opens another Poke Ball releasing a blue and cream colored mouse with four red spots on his back.

"There's Cyndaquil, a Fire-type." Then Elm opens the last Poke Ball bringing out a small blue crocodile with red spines down its back and tail.

"And there's Totodile, a Water-type." Elm finishes explaining. "You can pick any one of these."

"Oh wow!" Lyra exclaims. "Totodile looks so cool and Chikorita and Cyndaquil are so cute." Ethan chuckled at his friend's response as he studies the three Pokémon trying to decide which one to pick.

"I think . . ." He finally speaks. "I will pick Cyndaquil."

"Quil!" The Fire Mouse Pokémon squealed in joy for being picked.

"I think it's a perfect choice for you." Elm told him as Cyndaquil jumped onto Ethan and sat on his head. Lyra giggled at the site of this and saw that it was cute. She then looks to see that Chikorita was looking sad and had a tiny tear drop on the edge of its eye.

Lyra, after seeing Chikorita was upset for not getting picked, picked her up and gave her a hug.

"Aw don't worry Chikorita," She said comforting the Leaf Pokémon. "I still think you're cute." Chikorita smiled at the comment and cheered up a bit. "Chika!" Its exclaimed to Lyra.

Professor Elm looked at the two as he was returning Totodile to its Poke Ball and came up with an idea. "Lyra if you want to you can keep Chikorita."

Lyra jerked her head towards Elm in shock. "Are you sure its okay Professor?"

"Of course," He told here. "It would help out my research even more and it seems that Chikorita is fond of you."

With a big smile on her face she responds, "I'll do it. You hear that Chikorita, looks like you get to stay with me."

"Chika Chika!" Chikorita responded just as happy as Lyra. Both Ethan and Lyra put down their new Pokémon and they start interacting with each other. The two of them and Professor Elm laughed at the two Pokémon seeing them having fun.

This is interrupted by a beeping sound from the computer. Elm goes up to it to see what it is. "Oh, hey! I got an email." He begins reading it becoming totally absorbed in the message. Ethan and Lyra try to look over Elm's shoulder to see what is so important.

After he finished reading, Elm turns back around only for the two to straighten themselves up trying not to look like they were noisy.

"Um Ethan," Elm begins to ask. "I was wondering if I can ask you for another favor"

"Sure Professor." Ethan answered. 'I wonder what the favor is; does it have to do with that email?'

"You see, I have this acquaintance that people call Mr. Pokémon. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries." Elm begins to explain. "Anyway I just got an email from him saying that this time it's real"

"I wonder what it is." Lyra asks while Ethan asks himself the same question.

"It's probably another Pokémon Egg, but we're still so busy with our research . . . so can you go in our place?"

Ethan thought about it and replied, "Sure I'll go for you."

"Thank you so much Ethan." Elm grabs Ethan's hand and shakes it with joy. "I really do appreciate it. You can also take this opportunity to bond with your Pokémon"

"I guess." Ethan replies.

"Mr. Pokémon travels everywhere and finds rarities." Elm explains. "His house is just past Cherrygrove City. You just go north a little past Cherrygrove."

"That not too far, I'll be back in no time." Ethan than turns to Lyra. "You wanna come along with me?"

"No thanks, I think I'll head home and spend sometime with Chikorita." Was her reply.

"Okay then, see ya Professor." Ethan tells Elm as he and Lyra leave the lab together with their Pokémon at their heels. "See ya later you two." Elm waves them goodbye as he gets back to his research. Before the two can leave, the aide comes up with a paper bag in hand. "Ethan, before you go take these with you."

Ethan goes into the bag and pulls out a purple spray bottle. "What's this?"

"Those are potions." The aide explains. "If your Pokémon is injured along the way, you can use them to restore their health."

"Wow that sounds useful." Ethan takes the five potions and puts them away in his bag. "Thanks a lot"

"Your welcome." The aide sees the two on their way out. "Be careful on your way."

Ethan and Lyra, along with their new Pokémon, walk together until they reached Lyra's house. "Before you go, you should show your mom Cyndaquil." She tells him as she walks up to the door.

"That's the first place I'm going." Ethan reassures her and holds up his right pinky. "And when I get back, I'll keep my promise and play with you."

Lyra flashes him a sweet smile, glad that he still remembered, and hooked her pinky to his in a pinky swear. "I'll hold you to that promise." After they unhook their pinkies, Lyra bends down and pets Cyndaquil on the head.

"You keep an eye on my boy ok cutie?" She asks the little Pokémon. "Quil!"

Ethan just blushes to her comment as Lyra stands up and looks at him. "Be careful on your way ok?"

"Umm . . . Yeah I will" Ethan stutters still blushing. "W-well I see ya Lyra, come on Cyndaquil." With his Pokémon at his heels he runs towards his house with Lyra waving him goodbye before going inside her house.

As Ethan walks into his house he spots his mother sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup a tea. "Hey mom I'm back." She turns around and sees her son home.

"Hello honey welcome home." She gets up to go to her son when she spots Cyndaquil. "Well hello their cutie; is this your Pokémon Ethan?"

"Yeah this is Cyndaquil; I got him from Professor Elm." He picks up Cyndaquil and haves a seat at the table. "Well that was nice of him." She heads to the kitchen getting another cup of tea for Ethan.

Over tea Ethan explains everything that happened at Professor Elm's lab and his errand while his mother listens to every word. "My that sounds like a difficult task you have."

"Don't worry mom," He assures his mother. "It will be easy especially with Cyndaquil by my side, right buddy?" Cyndaquil response by igniting the flames on its back.

"Quiilll!" Ethan and his mother were surprised by the Pokémon's action but they both knew that it was his own way of saying "yes". "See mom, we'll be fine."

"I guess . . . Oh, that right!" She suddenly remembers something and literally leaps out of her seat. "I almost forgot!" She goes to a drawer and pulls something out of it.

"Your Pokegear came back from the repair shop today." She hands him the device that was just like Lyra's except it was blue instead of pink. "Thanks mom." Ethan takes the device and clips it to his left jacket sleeve. The Pokegear, or Pokémon Gear, is a device all trainers should have. It acts as a cell phone and if the right data card is installed also a radio and even a map; though Ethan's only has the phone function.

"Well I better go before its gets late." Ethan gives his mother a hug before he leaves. "See ya mom." She waves to her son as his Pokémon follows him.

As Ethan and Cyndaquil run towards Cherrygrove, they stop in front of Professor Elm's lab. He sees a stranger looking through the window of the lab. 'Who is that kid?' He wonders to himself. 'I never seen him before; I wonder if he new around here?' The stranger that he was thinking about was a boy around his height but about a year older than him. He has long red hair stopping at the end of his neck; also wearing a black and red jacket with matching shoes and purple jeans.

As Ethan made his way towards the youth he hears him speaking to himself. ". . . So this is the famous Elm Pokémon Lab . . ." Ethan moves closer and tries to talk to him.

"Um excuse me but . . ." The red-headed youth looks at him with an evil look "What are you staring at?" That was all he said before he pushes Ethan away from him.

"Hey!" Ethan retaliates while keeping his balance. "What was that for?" The youth gave no reply as he continued to look through the window. Cyndaquil, angry at this youth for pushing his trainer, lit the flames on its back and got into attack position.

"Cyndaa!" Ethan ran up to his little buddy trying to calm him down. "Hold on Cyndaquil, there's no reason to get fired up. Look I'm fine see?" Cyndaquil looks at Ethan and decides to listen to him putting out its flame. "Come on buddy, he got an errand to run"

As the two begin to walk away, they are suddenly stopped by someone shouting. "Wait a minute!" They turn around to only see Professor Elm running from the lab door towards them out of breath. "Good thing . . . I caught you before . . . you left."

"What wrong Professor?" Elm straightens himself up and catches his breath. "I wanted to give you my number." Elm takes Ethan's Pokegear and programs his number in it.

"If something comes up give me a call." He returns the device back to him. "I already have your number so I'll call you if something comes up as well."

"Thanks Professor." Ethan places his Pokegear back on his sleeve. "Well see ya later." He walks off again as Elm goes back inside his lab. Ethan once again stops and glances over his shoulder. That red-headed boy was still there looking through the window.

'I hope I don't see that guy again.' He thinks to himself as he and Cyndaquil make their way to Route 29 which would lead them towards Cherrygrove City.

But without realizing it, Ethan and the red-haired youth would meet once again . . . sooner than he thinks.

And there you have it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I put a lot of hard work into this one. As mentioned earlier I have just started school so these chapters will take longer to post. If I am lucky, since it is a three day weekend, I might be able to post another chapter so keep your fingers crossed. Also pleases right reviews for this so I know if I'm doing a good job on it. So until next time . . . Peace!