I do not own Pokemon, all rights go to the creator. I do not own any refs I throw in this story either.

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A Shade of Grey

Chapter Three

The door creaked open. Cheren walked inside, blinking his eyes.

"Professor Juniper?" Bianca called from behind Cheren.

White turned the lights on to reveal the good professor slumped on her desk and the usual mess in her lab.

"Umm… She did say to be here at nine, didn't she?" Hilbert questioned. "Because it looks like she pulled an all-nighter"

White shrugged as Cheren walked closer to Professor Juniper.

"Professor? Are you awake?" he asked, shaking her a bit.

"WHO DARES DISTURBS MY SLUMBER!" Professor Juniper roared, snapping her head up.

Cheren jumped back. "He did!" he claimed, pointing to Hilbert.

"No I didn't!" Hilbert defended.

White clipped them both on their heads.

"Ow…" Hilbert glared at White while rubbing his head.

"Please Professor, we came for our pokédexes," Bianca put in. She stepped over a pile of papers.

Professor Juniper growled at them. "Why?"

"You invited us to be part of your research for the pokédex," Cheren added.

Before anyone could response, the front door flew open. Bianca squeaked and jumped behind a nearby table, spilling all the papers over.

"PROFESSOR JUNIPER!" An aide yelled, running into the lab. In his right hand he held a pot of coffee. The coffee splashed against the pot's sides as he dodged the stacks of paper.

"Carlos! What took you so long?! I sent you out an hour ago," Professor Juniper demanded.

Carlos put the pot of coffee on the desk. "I had to drive to Accumula."

Professor Juniper took a long sip from the pot and sat it back down on her desk.

"Alright," she sighed in content. "You four, ready to begin your journey?" Prof. Juniper asked, smiling slightly at the four trainers.

"Would we be here if we weren't?" White deadpanned.

"Touche," Professor Juniper leaned over for a moment. When she straighteed moments later, she held three pokédexes.

"Um, Professor? Why are there only three pokédexes?" Hilbert questioned as Bianca crept out from behind the table.

"I preprogrammed each of these pokedexes with your information," Professor Juniper continued. "They can also double as your ID and I took the liberty of entering you four into the Unovan Pokémon League for this year. If you fail to gather all eight badges this year, you may try again starting next August. Provided that you enter once again."

Professor Juniper handed Bianca, Cheren and Hilbert each a pokedex.

Cheren looked down at the smooth, rectangular device. It was hard to believe that the pokedex he held in his hands would be his lifeline.

"What about White?" Bianca asked. "Doesn't she get a pokedex?"

"She doesn't need…" Professor Juniper started.

"It'll be fine Bianca, don't worry about me," White interrupted.

"If you say so," Bianca sighed.

Professor Juniper nodded. "I trust you all remember how to catch pokémon If you need a reminder, I'm sure White will be happy to show you. Just as soon as she and I talk," she offered.

White glowered at the professor.

"Now, does anyone want to nickname their pokémon?" Professor asked.

Bianca shook her head. "No thanks, I think Snvy would prefer to remain unnamed."

"I want to name Oshawott Samurai," Cheren stated.

"Tepig's named SCB," Hilbert added.

"Do I want to know what it stands for?" Professor Juniper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Self-cooking Bacon," White deadpanned.

Professor Juniper blinked and Hilbert looked at her.

"I have no regrets," he told her.

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"You owe me five bucks Bianca," Cheren gloated. "I told you Professor Juniper wouldn't reject that nickname."

Bianca glared, a faint blush rising in her cheeks. "Shut up Cherry!"

Hilbert looked at his Pokedex. "You know what? Professor Juniper never did tell us how to turn these things on."

"Well… crap," Cheren said after a short pause.

"The real question is why White didn't get a pokedex," Bianca pointed out. She leaned against the lab's wall.

Hilbert glanced at the closed door. "I don't think White applied for a position in Professor Juniper's research. She didn't even plan on going on a journey until this morning."

"I wonder what changed her mind…" Cheren mused, sitting next to Bianca. "Then there's Inferno… how did White get her hand of a Sinnoh starter. Starters are incredibly rare…"

"Then there's also the issue of not needing a pokedex. Hilbert, do you have any idea where White came from?" Bianca asked.

"Wellll…" Hilbert drawled and Bianca and Cheren leaned in. "When a man and a women love each other very much… OW! Cheren! What was that for?!"

Cheren glared at Hilbert and rubbed his knuckles. "You know what, idiot."

Before Hilbert could retort, the door opened to reveal White.

"Oh, you three are still here," she stated. "I've thought you would be half-way to Accumula by now."

"We would, but Bianca insisted we stay until you got out," Hilbert supplied.

"Well, I'm done. Let's go. The sooner we get out of here the better," White stated.

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"Wait!"

White looked at Bianca in confusion. "What? Don't you want to get out of here before your parents finds out?"

"Yeah… but this is the first step. I was hoping that we all could take it together," Bianca explained, she grinned and looked at the other three.

"Fine," Cheren shrugged, he took Bianca's right hand.

"Sure!" Hilbert grinned back and took her left hand.

"Whatever," White intoned as Hilbert grabbed her right hand.

The four of them looked at route one. "On the count of three," Bianca said. "One, two…"

"YOLO!" Hilbert yelled, running forward, dragging the other three behind him.

"HILBERT!" Bianca screamed as she slipped on the wet grass. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Get in line," White muttered, wrenching her hand free and stumbling.

Hilbert let go of Bianca's hand and Cheren hauled her up before she fell.

"Thanks," Bianca muttered.

"Alright! We're free!" Hilbert cheered. He punched the air and whooped. Hilbert began to run around, but Cheren tripped him.

"Waahhh!" Hilbert screamed as he fell on his face. He glared at Cheren, a bright green grass stain marring his face.

"How about we have a contest?" Bianca suggested as Hilbert climbed to his feet "Since my first idea was a bust due to SOMEBODY…"

"Don't hate me," Hilbert protested and White smacked him on the head.

"Anyway, we could have a contest to see who catches the most pokémon before we reach Accumula," Bianca cut in.

"How can we do that? Professor Juniper didn't give us any pokéballs," Cheren asked. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked over at her.

"Hang on," White dug into her bag and pulled out 15 pokéballs. "Professor Juniper asked me to give these to you guys."

Cheren, Hilbert and Bianca took proffered pokéballs.

"Do you know if she's coming?" Cheren asked, shrinking and enlarging one of his pokéballs. He glanced over at Bianca.

"Why? Don't you remember how to catch a pokémon? You forgot already, didn't you?" Bianca facepalmed. "You are hopeless. Professor Juniper showed us how to do it just a month ago."

Cheren and Hilbert shrugged.

"During that field study?" Bianca prompted. "When Professor Juniper beat up that pokémon thief? By Keldeo's mane, and you two tease me for being forgetful!"

Hilbert looked around route one. In the distance, the bright orange roof of the Accumula Pokécenter stood out against the green and yellow of the trees.

"Hey, I think White ditched us," Hilbert said as he shoved his hands in his pocket.

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White hiked up towards the bank of the river. She glanced up to the cloud dotted sky as the cool autumn breeze blew golden leafs across the landscape.

"C'mon Inferno," She called to the Chimchar. "You wanted a journey."

"I thought you'd be carrying me," Inferno complained. "Not me walking the whole time!"

White smiled down at her. "There will be plenty of places where I'll need to keep you in your pokéball. You should be glad that you can be outside. Some pokémon don't get that privilege."

Inferno rolled her eyes. "You said that many of a time Mistress."

White paused as Inferno caught up; White fingered the pokéball that hung around her neck as she stared in to the distance.

"Mistress?" Inferno whispered. She frowned at her mistress when White made no move. "Mistress!"

"Huh? Oh," White looked down at Inferno. "I got lost in my thoughts…"

Inferno huffed and crossed her arms. "I would have never guessed.

White picked up the Chimchar and put her on her head. "Time is a-wasting Inferno. The sooner we can get to Accumula the better."

"Then let's get on with it," Inferno added dryly.

White giggled. She reached up and patted Inferno's head. "Alright then, forward ho!"

Finished. Next chapter we meet N (yay)! Please review, though flamers will be blocked and deleted. Any questions will be answered via PM, if you signed in when you reviewed.