A/N (Oct. 10, 2011):
Hiya, guys! I don't like wrting these thingies, but I just wanted to thank everyone whose reviewed so far. It means a lot.
I also wanted to ask: Would any one of my readers be interested in sending me an original character, if they're good at it? I really don't want to take it from just anyone, but I'd like to get some ideas from my readers. I know a plot hasn't opened up so far, and I want to get a few characters I can use before that conflict really begins. If anyone can help, let me know!
Now, onto the story!
Immediately, the girl reached for her bag and pulled out a shiny Great Ball, flashing me a sarcastically apologetic smile.
"I wish your Hoppip good luck going against my partner!" she boasted, shrugging her bag off her shoulder. She threw the ball and called out her Pokémon.
"Go, Jay!"
I scoffed at her Pokémon. A Nosepass. It was a rock-type, so I had the obvious advantage.
She must've read my expression, because she shook her head at me. "Don't assume you've won yet!" she shouted. "Nosepass! Use your Tackle attack!"
"Dodge!" I called to Hoppip.
Another perk to fighting against a rock-type; they moved very slowly. From what I could see, Hoppip were really agile and fast, so when Nosepass charged at Hoppip she dodged it easily, in one bound.
I smirked in satisfaction. "Now, use…" I paused, thinking it over. What could Hoppip use, anyways? I had no idea, but I kept my cool and shot Hoppip a look that said "do whatever you have to do!"
"Uh, use your special attack!" I shouted, to keep myself from looking like an idiot. I may as well have not said anything, because Hoppip did something that hurt my pride so much nothing could fix it.
She used Splash.
I could only watch in pure horror as Hoppip started to flail around, nothing happening at all. My opponent burst into a laughing fit, clutching her sides from how hard she was laughing. I stared at the ground with narrowed eyes, trying to hide my reddening face.
"Don't laugh!" I said exasperatedly, crossing my arms to keep myself from majorly facepalming. The girl ignored me, but her laughs did calm down until she was only breathing heavily.
"A-Are you serious?" she said shakily, grinning from ear to ear. "Splash is her 'special move'?"
I refused to look at her; I wished more than anything to turn invisible and run far away, and forget any of this ever happened.
It was silent between us for a while, her staring at Hoppip and I with a huge grin and me staring at Hoppip darkly, cursing how happy she looked right now.
"Hoppip," I began slowly, deciding to be patient at a time like this, "Can you by chance, know any other moves?"
Hoppip looked back at me with the most sinister grin anyone has ever given me. "Hop…?" she shook her head, and made her way back to my side. "Hop!" she squealed brightly, jumping onto my head.
"Guess this battle is over," my opponent said with a shrug. "I won!"
"What? No, you didn't," I sputtered, looking at her angrily. "It's a draw! Your move didn't even hit Hoppip!"
"Neither did yours," she sang mockingly, picking up her bag. "Now, hand over the cash!"
"I'm not giving you my money!" I shouted defiantly. I felt a sneeze come on, and paused to do so. "If neither of us got a hit in, it's a draw!"
"But your Hoppip is the one who can't continue to battle," she pointed out. I tightened my fists and grounded my teeth together in agitation. She got me there.
With a shaky sigh, I calmed myself down and handed her a few bills, shoving them into her outstretched hand roughly. She didn't seem to mind, because she smiled at me.
"Better luck next time, though," she chirped, "I'm sure you're just not ready yet! After all, people don't usually win their first battles…"
"It was a draw, I muttered, and turned away. Hoppip snickered, reaching down to tickle my nose with her stubby arm. I sneezed loudly, and slapped her arm away, starting to walk away.
"Ah, hold on!" the girl called. "My name's Cassidy, but people just call me Cass! And you are?"
"Leaving," I said bitterly, "And very annoyed, so leave me alone."
I didn't wait to hear a response from her, and walked off quickly. I could only scowl at the ground my feet were shuffling through. My thoughts weren't connecting at that moment.
Why did I have to get stuck with such a horrible Pokémon? I was already bent on becoming the greatest, perfect trainer. It was only natural that my Pokémon should be the same. A Hoppip that only knew Splash was not perfect – or good, really – and losing my first battle so pathetically, or losing at all, sure as hell didn't make me a perfect trainer, either.
I glanced up at the setting sun, letting out a long breath.
I would just have to fix that.
._._.
I spent the next few days or so travelling around, trying to teach my Hoppip a new moves. I probably spent hours pushing her into every wild Pokémon we encountered, encouraging her to use any type of move she could manage. All that she could manage was Splash, and the occasional Tackle, if she was feeling up to it. You could only imagine how many wild Pokémon we had run away from. But at least we were gaining stamina and speed, right? The first two days I was completely committed to having Hoppip learn a strong move. I only needed her to learn one, just one, and we could leave the route. I had already figured out the way to the next town, but I refused to make our way out until we made some progress. That goal, however, was slowly losing its importance, and within a week I had given up and started to travel to the next town – whatever it was called.
One night, when I was pretty sure we would make it out of the route by morning, we ran into a new trainer. Much to my relief, the guy didn't want a battle at all. I had passed by him in the darkness, seeing him nestled in the grass with a Pichu on his lap. He awoke once I approached him and looked at me with cloudy eyes, calling out to me before I could get away.
"Girl," he said quietly, "Do you want to hear a story?"
I froze in place, feeling my heart speed up. About fifty-five percent of my brain was shouting "Get away! This guy's a rapist-creeper-molester!" But the other part told me to calm the hell down and regard the man seriously. I did just that – albeit reluctantly – and even managed a strained smile.
"Sure, why not?" I muttered. The boy stayed curled into the grass, and gave a small, creepy smile.
"Well, then. What if I told you that I have met one of the legendary lake guardians?"
"Uh, what? What are you talking about?"
"The lake guardians? You haven't heard of them?" He let out a small sigh, and sat up. "You're quite an ignorant girl then, no? The legendary lake guardians: Azelf, Mespirit, and Uxie… Azelf is the being of Willpower, Mespirit is Emotion, and Uxie is the being of Knowledge. The three were created by Arceus to watch over Sinnoh, you know… Anyways, I met Mespirit after visiting the lake nearby, close to Twinleaf Town?"
I nodded, remembering the place. I had gone there plenty of times with my mother to go fishing. I didn't know a legendary Pokémon lived there…
"Anyways, I saw Mespirit in its real form," he continued, his eyes shutting, "It was… fantastic. It's a very beautiful Pokémon, you know… If only people believed me…"
I nodded, but it was more to myself than to him. Sure, the story seemed pretty farfetched, and his creepy appearance and dirty clothes didn't help, but I couldn't help but wonder. They were the very essence of Emotion, Willpower, and Knowledge? They sounded strong… and I couldn't help but wonder about Uxie, the Knowledge one.
The buy's eyes shut within the minute and his breathing slowed. He was asleep again. I looked down at him for second before turning on my heel and walking in the direction I was going. Hoppip jumped onto my head when I started to walk again and curled into a ball, quickly falling asleep. As I walked through the darkness, dragging my feet on the ground tiredly, I thought over what I had just heard. Azelf, Mespirit, and Uxie… I was going to learn a bit more about them.
Afterwards, I was going to catch them.
