Zoey woke up with the alarm going off. She groaned, slowly opening one eye and shutting off the alarm. She curled up tighter in her bed and smacked her lips. Suddenly something sharp was poking into her side and she jumped out of bed. "Oh my god, oww!" She groaned, looking at the clock. It read '8:01 am' in flashing red color. She looked around confused. "Now who…" She scratched her head, puzzled. Then a little torchic jumped up from behind her closet, her backpack in her mouth, and dropped it at her feet. Zoey giggled. "Oh, thanks Mitch. I guess you're excited to get going." Mitch chirped and jumped up and down on her matted bed. "Mitch," she groaned, "I have to clean up this mess now, before we can get going." She crunched down and threw the sheets; she pushed off the bed in her excitement, back onto the bed carelessly. "Ok! Let's get going then."

She quickly put on her clothes and grabbed her bag. Mitch walked behind Zoey as she walked down the stairs. Her mom was there setting food on the table. "Good to see you up, Zoey. Breakfast?"

Zoey grumbled and sat down where the food was placed. There was a giant stack of pancakes, sausages, and eggs placed so it looked like a happy face. The syrup was toasty hot, and orange juice was placed out on the table. There was a bowl set out for Mitch with pokémon food, and he quickly went over and began tasting the food. Zoey eyed the food, and then eyed her mom. "Mom?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why do you have pancakes out? You usually don't make that."

Her mother sighed, "Well, I wanted to just send you girls off with style." She held her heart to her chest, "I'm just going to miss you two. It's going to get quieter when you're gone."

"Mom…" Zoey groaned, lifting her head up from the food. "We've gone over this already. Besides, Amaya and I are ready to go." She looked over at her mother, so looked like she was going to cry. Zoey sighed and walked over to her, giving her a hug. "I'll miss you, ok?"

Her mother smiled. "I know."

"And I'll be ok. We'll take care of each other, and nothing will happen. Don't worry about us." Zoey sat back down and the table and munched on her food.

Her mother looked at her, a concerned look on her face. Then she let out a sigh, casually holding a finger up to her chin, as if she was thinking. "Maybe I shouldn't have let you two girls go 2 years earlier than normal…"

Zoey groaned, swallowing so she could talk. "Stop worrying about us already!" she said distressed.

"Ok," her mother giggled, her hands up in defense.

Zoey began stuffing her face again. "Where's Amaya?"

"Oh, she went out early. She wanted to train, since you weren't waking up."

"Oh," she casually said, still stuffing her face. "Has she left?"

"Well…" her mother thought, "I told her to stick around and wait for you, so you could start your journey together. She's probably in the woods, I hope," she shrugged.

Zoey laid back, "Well, I'd better get going then." She stood up, calling Mitch over, swinging her bag over her shoulder, and began heading out the door. Before she could walk to the door, her mom stopped her in the kitchen doorway. "Mom!" she looked back. There was a worried look on her face. Zoey was confused, "W-what's wrong?"

She looked away. Then gathered the strength to say, "Zoey… there's something I need to tell you." She let go of her daughter's arm, and took a step back. "There's a secret I've been keeping from Amaya and you… Your father…" she let out a hesitated sigh.

"Yes?" Zoey asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What about him?"

"There's… a reason that I'm letting Amaya and you start your journey early… and there's more to your father then you know, Zoey. He –"

The door rang, and they both looked over. "I'll get it," Zoey said, trying to relieve the tension that was building up between her and her mother.

But when she opened the door, her eyes widened. "F-father?"

Love is Problematic

Amaya decided to start her journey without Zoey. If she caught up, then great! The road was getting dense, and the road steeped up. Azure was walking next to her, as Amaya explained to the new charmander how she does things. "… Chase and Adolf have been my friends… well for a very long time. I usually don't keep more than the two of them with me, honestly, but for you I'll make an exception," Amaya smiled.

Azure nodded back. "Now as for training," Amaya continued, "I'll tell you know, it's pretty intense training. I'll be asking you to use skills that most pokémon, like you can't. But, it's really rewarding to learn it," she winked. Azure looked at her confused. "Like what, you ask?" Amaya thought for a minute. "Well, take Chase for example. He's a normal type pokémon, that can't really learn anything, but tackle and such. I've been training Chase for a while, but I've taught him some abnormal attacks for an eevee. What you may ask? Well, he knows ember, water gun, and also spark. He can do it one at a time, but not all at once, and right now that's what we're working on. Also, Add knows some abnormal things too. He can't really use other attack types, but he's able to swim underwater! Same with Chase. And if I try with you, maybe you can do something like that?"

Azure looked unsure. "If you don't think you can handle my training, then say it now, because I'm not one to put up with weak pokémon." Azure smirked and burned Amaya's leg with his tail. She lifted her foot slightly and smirked.

Suddenly a little taillow came out of the bush, yelling out and flapping its wings about. "You must have burned it," Amaya said dully. The taillow pecked at Azure, and then she hit it with her tail again. The taillow screeched, calling for its family. Soon a swellow came out from a tree tops and began attacking them. Amaya jumped away as it swooped down. Azure roared over at Amaya. Amaya looked over at her, "Do you think you can handle it?" Azure thought, then looked up at the swellow, using a wing attack.

Azure jumped up and used a scratch attack on its face, causing it to hit the ground and scratch at its eyes. It growled, jumping back up and using quick attack, pecking Azure in the stomach. She went flying into a tree, still ready to fight. "Azure use smokescreen!" The swellow coughed in pain, using its wings to get rid of the smoke. "Now ember!" A gust of flame came from the smoke and hit the swellow in the wings, causing it to fall back to the ground. "Now finish it off with scratch!" Azure jumped out of the smoke and scratched at swellow. It squawked in pain.

"Alright Azure, stop." Azure backed off and growled at the swellow. It growled back, even though it could barely move. The tiny taillow came back out of the bushes and began crying over the swellow. Amaya sighed, "Good job, Azu," she smiled. Azure smiled back. Then Amaya bent down next to the swallow, taking out a potion. The taillow began squawking and pecking at Amaya's hand. "I'm trying to help it, taillow," she glared. Taillow flinched, and settled down. "I'm sorry swellow for the mishap. I hope you can forgive me and Azure," she smiled. Swellow looked at her confused. She sprayed it on the swellow's scratched wings, and the mark on its eye. It blinked for a second, and then quickly got up, pushing taillow back into the bush. It looked over at her, confused, and then quickly flew away, with taillow by its side.

Amaya smiled, looking down at the confused charmander. "You don't emhave/em to capture the pokémon to make them your friends. Sometimes it just happens." She bent down next to Azure, taking something out of her bag. "Now, I'll only give this to my pokémon that I plan on training for a while." She took out a bandana, which was black with red striped zigzags all over, and tied it around Azure's neck. "You can wear this if you want, for however long you want. Just, I hope you accept training with me." Azure beamed, hugging Amaya. She smiled. "Ok, back into the pokéball you go, Azu." She opened up her pokéball and the little charmander immediately went into the pokéball, without hesitation. Amaya smiled, putting her next to Chase, Adolf, and the wurmple she caught earlier. She let out a sigh, pulling down on her black gloves. 'I hope I can fulfill this journey, for my dad,' she thought to herself with a smile. 'If only I could remember you. All I remember is your words to me.'

Suddenly a loud high pitched sound began screaming in her ear. "Ah…" Amaya let out of her mouth, holding a hand up to her ear, and putting her other hand on a pokéball. "Must be a pokémon," she softly growled.

"Indeed it is," came a voice from above, the screeching stopped. Amaya looked up, instinctively taking out her pokéball and holding it to her face, about to call it out. "Now calm down, I'm not here to hurt you."

Amaya put her hand down, the pokéball still in her hand. She couldn't tell who it was, the person was hidden behind the shadows, but she could tell he was a middle-aged man by the sound of his voice. "What do you want?" she growled.

"I'm here for you, child," he smiled.

Amaya blinked for a second. 'Me? Child? What is he talking about?'

He walked out from behind the shadows and showed her his true face. Amaya blinked a few times. "Do you know meem now/em?"

"Umm… I don't know who you are, mister, but I don't talk to strangers."

His eyes narrow slightly. She could tell his temper was growing, but she really didn't know who he is, or why he makes himself seem important. "I noticed how well you were fighting that swellow. Is that charmander your only pokémon?"

"… well no, but what do you care?" Amaya began taking steps back, back down the road.

"Because, I am your father."

Amaya gasped, shocked, "W-what?"