TB: Hey there guys :) Miss me? (cricket chirps) (Sweatdrops) Okay, I know I haven't updated this in like, what? Forever? I'm sorry for that :3 Don't be mad at me, please? Any-dang-way, time to really get this party started! XD Yeah!

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Now still early in the morning, we come upon the town of Little Root once more. Everyone was up and about, taking care of chores, playing out in the meadows, or heading off to Professor Birch's to get their new Pokémon… well, almost everyone anyways.

At the Ankoku residence, Riku groaned in exasperation as he knocked on the door to Zoey's room.

"What is taking her so long…?" He asked himself, "Hey Zoey! You have to get up quickly and get going, or else you won't get your starter Pokemon!"

The only answer he got was some incoherent mumbling through the door.

Riku sighed. "That girl could sleep through a hurricane, I swear. Well, might as well let her sleep. She's in a worse mood when drowsy than when she's late."

With that, Riku went downstairs to make breakfast. Meanwhile, in Zoey's room, we find the little trainer snoozing the day away, happily dreaming of what Pokémon she would get (if she would just get up and get going already). She rolled onto her side, getting closer to the edge of her bed, and mumbled in her sleep.

"Yeah… go get 'em … Torchic…" Zoey muttered sleepily.

She rolled even closer to the edge of her bed as she muttered…

"I choose you… Treeko…"

Now she was dangerously close to falling off the bed…

"Let's show them… what we can do… Mudkip-"

And with one more roll, gravity did its work.

Zoey squealed in a start as she fell off her bad, covers skewed now between her (on the floor) and the bed. A thud penetrated the former quiet of her room. A very hard thud. Zoey groggily opened her grass green eyes half-way, which were spinning from disorientation.

"Ow…" Zoey muttered as she sat up and rubbed her paining head, "How did that happen-?"

Zoey stopped herself mid thought, her mind suddenly registering a dreadful thought. She shot up from the floor and looked at her alarm clack. Getting a good look at it, her jaw went slack in shock.

The clock read 8:07 AM.

Back with Riku in the kitchen, he was currently making scrambled eggs on toast with a side of hash browns, humming to himself as he cooked. He stopped for a moment to look at the clock above the counter. Smirking to himself, he began counting down for some reason.

"And three… two… one." Riku muttered dryly.

"AAAAAGGGGHH!!" He heard Zoey scream from upstairs, "I'm so late!"

Riku's smirk widened with a roll of his eyes. "Right on cue."

The platinum-haired father heard tumbles, stomps, various angry curses and other frustrated sounds as he continued to prepare breakfast. He chuckled to himself when he heard Zoey scream in exasperation (he guessed she might have stubbed her toe on the foot of her dresser again). He was just about done with preparing breakfast and setting the table when Zoey scampered swiftly down the stairs.

"Good to see you're up bright and early." Riku said sarcastically as he put breakfast on the table just as a messily-dressed Zoey bolted to the door to put on her shoes.

"Not funny dad!" Zoey snapped.

"So, you want to eat breakfast before you go? It's your favorite, eggs on toast with hash browns." He said in a sing-song voice.

Zoey was just about to bolt out of the door, but froze when she heard 'egg, toast and hash browns'. Zoey looked back at the delicious-looking food, her mouth watering. She let out a frustrated groan, running her finger through her hair.

"That's just mean." Zoey whined angrily.

And on that note, she bolted out of the door, and to Professor Birch's laboratory. She didn't bother to look back as Riku walked casually up to the front doorway, smirking in triumph.

"How about I put yours in the fridge?" He called after his daughter, "You can eat it when you come back!"

Zoey's face brightened up and she smiled back over her shoulder, waving thankfully to her amused father.

"Please and thank you!" Zoey called back.

Riku watched his daughter disappear from view, a proud yet amused smirk on his face. Once Zoey was no longer seeable, Riku chuckled to himself with a shake of his head. He then went inside, shutting the door behind him.

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Later at Professor Birch's Laboratory, a middle aged man stood in front of it, waving the three trainers who had just gotten their starter Pokémon (Zoey not one of the three), shouting "good luck"s, "be careful"s and other encouraging words to the new trainers. The man waving goodbye to the young trainers was Professor Birch himself.

Once the trainers had gone out of view, Birch stopped waving and sighed in content. However, a sudden thought crossed his mind. He began to look left and right, as if searching for something (or someone).

Birch scratched his head in puzzlement. "I was almost certain the Riku's young one would be coming by today to pick up her Pokémon. She seemed so eager too." Birch thought out loud. He then said with a sigh, "I guess she must have changed her mind. Children can be so fickle nowadays-"

"Wait!!"

The Professor's monologue was interrupted by a sudden loud call, coming from somewhere not too far from his lab.

"What?" Birch asked himself, shielding his eyes from the sun as he scanned the direction the shout come from. He squinted as the sight of a figure running like mad in his direction.

Once Birch realized who it was, he gasped. "Zoey?" He asked out loud.

"Professor Birch! Wait!" Zoey cried, sprinting like no tomorrow.

"Zoey! Stop, wait! You're coming in too fast!" Birch exclaimed.

BAM! Too late. Zoey ran right into Birch, resulting in the Professor to fall back. Once the dust had cleared, the two groaned loudly in pain from awkward heap on the ground, Professor Birch's eyes swirling dizzily.

"Oww…" Zoey and Professor Birch both mumbled in pain.

Wincing in pain, Zoey looked down at the professor she had just rammed into. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and chuckled feebly.

"Uh… hey there Professor Birch. Long time no see?" She said weakly.

Professor Birch just sighed in a deadpan, his head propped up on his palm.

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Meanwhile, on a certain grassy Route not too far away from Little Root…

The short boy allowed a single pain-filled groan escape past his parted lips. His head was pounding in his skull, not showing any signs of quitting. Worse yet, his stomach felt like it had been tied up in knots, let the knots be undone, and then retied just to spite him.

Eddy groggily opened his eyes, having to squint and blink at the unexpected change in lighting. Once his eyes properly adjusted to the bright azure sky and sunlight, he yawned and groaned tiredly.

"Ugh… aw man…" He groaned from where he lay.

Eddy tried to make himself sit up, but felt too tired to even move. Lacking the energy to do anything, Eddy decided to just lie there, lazing the day away. The quiet, wooded environment around him made him feel at peace. A soft breeze blew against his face, relaxing him.

"Ah…" He sighed in content, "That feels nice…"

Eddy's expression then shifted from content and at peace to puzzled and confused. Something wasn't right… when did he get there in the first place?

At first drawing a black on the situation, Eddy dug into the deep recesses of his mind, trying to find the reason for him to be out in the middle of the woods. Why was he even here in the first place?

His eyes widened at realization. "Oh yeah, the scam! I totally forgot about that." He said to himself.

With some difficulty, Eddy forced himself out of his sleeping position, and finally managed to sit up. With another yawn, Eddy stretched him tired limbs and shoulders. Once more awake, Eddy sat up, staring at what he usually expected to find in the woods near to the Cul-de-Sac: trees, trees, (maybe a bush or two) and more trees. Eddy nodded at the surroundings, and folded his arms across his chest.

'I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason… I feel a bit off today.' He thought as he stood up.

"Ah well," Eddy said out loud, "Probably nothin'."

Eddy then forced himself to stand and started strolling past the… abnormally tall blades of grass. Not that he noticed. He just kept on looking and walking… somewhat awkwardly. He must've been more tired than he thought (which was pretty tired since he had passed out for some reason or other).

"Hey Double D! Ed!" He called out, "Come on guys! You here?"

No answer. Eddy groaned in exasperation. They ditched him.

"Great… Where did those two slackers head off to?" He asked out loud, taking some quick looks around him.

Eddy sighed in disappointment and massaged his forehead. They had a scam to get going for Pete's sake! Now was not the time for them to be slacking. This was just so typical. Great, just flippin' great.

As he mentally cursed the absence of his two lackeys while simultaneously massaging his forehead, Eddy realized something that didn't seem right to him. His forehead was… hairy.

Eddy blinked in confusion. "What the…?"

Curiosity getting the better of him, Eddy started feeling around his face. Much to his surprise, the rest of it was hairy too… well not really hairy, more like fuzzy. They moved slowly at first, but then more quickly and panicky. As they moved around, they fell upon something on his forehead. It felt like there was a metal plate or a coin or something like that attached to his forehead.

"What the-?!" Eddy exclaimed in a panic.

His eyes bulging in surprise, Eddy slowly pulled his shaky hands away from his face so he could get a good look at them. His jaw went slack. He stared in shock at his three fingered hands... err should I say paws?

"B-but… but how?!" Eddy shouted, now very freaked out, "What? Who? When? Where? Huh?!"

Eddy quickly backed away, accidentally tripping over his own feet and stumbling back. Shivering in fear, Eddy tried to get back up, but during his scared mind-set he just ended up stumbling even more until he just plain fell flat on his face.

Eddy groaned as he tried to get up. He was only able to stand on his hands and knees, staring in dismay at the tall blades of grass as he tried to think strait.

"This… this has to be a dream." Eddy muttered to himself, "There's no… there's just no way this can be real…"

He whirled his head around frantically and saw a small pond nearby.

Feeling desperate, Eddy forced his shivering form over to the small pond and slashed the green water in his face, determined to wake himself up from this nightmare (despite the it being green and obviously not very sanitary).

"C'mon wake up," Eddy whimpered as he splashed his face frantically, "Wake up!"

Now soaking wet, Eddy just sat there, crouched next to the pond and breathing hard. He kept his eyes closed, praying to God that the green pond water had done the trick.

Not feeling any different, Eddy forced himself to pry one eye open. At first he just saw the ripples he had made with his splashing undulate. Once they eventually subsided, Eddy was able to see his reflection in the water. His heart stopped.

What he saw was not the short, three-haired boy he had seen in his bathroom mirror earlier that morning. What sat in its place was an odd cat-like creature with cream-colored fur, brown and black ears, a gold charm on its forehead, and a tail that curled up and was brown at the end. To top it all off, it also wore a yellow collar with a red stripe and a looped chain attached to the side.

"…Huh?" Eddy finally asked himself.

He felt around his neck. Sure enough, there was a collar around his neck. He looked at the rest of his body, and sure enough it was the same at the reflection.

Letting reality set in, Eddy stared in both shock and uncertainty at the visage in the pond water. He figured this was some sort of trick. I mean, that couldn't really be him, right? This was all some kind of joke. Yeah, that was it! Eddy laughed to himself for letting him get so freaked out like that…

But then he asked himself in his mind, 'Why does it all feel so real?'

Eddy nervously moved closer to the water to inspect the matter further. Much to the boy's surprise, the cat in the water moved forward along with him. Eddy blinked unsteadily. Okay… He moved back. The reflection moved back. He leaned to the side. It leaned to the side.

"Is… Is that really me?" He asked out loud, furrowing his brow, "B-but how did-?" The reflection furrowed its brow too.

A bit annoyed at the reflection copying him, Eddy made a funny face at it, but the reflection did the same. He stuck his tongue out, and so did the reflection. Now very ticked off, Eddy stood up and stormed off from the pond in a huff. Five seconds later however, he bolted back to the water and made yet another goofy face, but came in too fast and fell into the murky pond water with a splash.

"Wagh!" He sputtered as he flailed about in the water. He quickly swam to back to the edge of the bank and jumped back to the grassy shore.

Drenched from head to tail, Eddy spat out some of the pond water he had accidentally swallowed. He shuddered in disgust. Yuck, murky green pond water. Then, before he knew what he was doing, Eddy started to lick the water off of his paws like a cat would normally do. Eddy's eyes widened at the sudden realization.

"Pthftht! Blegh!" Eddy spat out, "Aw man! Why the heck did I just do that?! Gross!"

Once Eddy had finally gotten the taste of cat hair and pond water out of his mouth, he just sat there on the grass, soak cold to the bone. He looked at himself, feeling awkwardly helpless.

Okay, he was in the middle of the woods, his friends were nowhere to be seen, he had somehow managed to get himself turned into a cat-like… thing, and now he was freezing cold and wet. Eddy mentally thanked god that no one from the Cul-de-Sac (a certain cap-wearing jock in particular) was seeing him like this. Now that would just be plain embarrassing. Despite that, this was one of the worst days of Eddy's life

But the bigger question of Eddy's day was, "Can today get any worse?"

Eddy was so busy moping that he failed to notice a pair of blood red eyes, watching him hungrily like a hawk in the shadows…

Apparently today could get worse.

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Her shoulders slumped and her head hung low, Zoey dejected trudged down the dirt road of Route , muttering about how her life was just so unfair.

Her alarm clock had picked the worst day to give out on her. Because that stupid contraption didn't wake her up early enough, she arrived at the professor's lab too late. She missed her chance to get a starter Pokémon. Man, life was so unfair!

Zoey sighed at her dumb luck, her pouty gaze cast downward at the dusty dirt road. She swung her blue bag over her right shoulder and jammed her free fist into her pocket.

"Well," She said, pulling out a pokéball from her pocket, "At least I was able to make a back-up plan."

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-Flashback; 15 minutes ago-

Outside of Professor Birch's laboratory, everything was quiet and peaceful. A Taillow nestled itself on a nearby tree branch to eat some Peacha berries. It had just finished eating one when something very loud penetrated the morning air.

"WHAT!?"

Startled beyond all belief, the Taillow squawked an unhappy "Tail!" and flew away to find a much more peaceful place to roost.

Meanwhile, in the Professor's lab, said Professor Birch nodded his head gravely at the flabbergasted young blue-haired girl in front of him.

"I'm terribly sorry for breaking this to you Zoey, but I'm afraid it's too late." The Professor said, "You know how the old saying goes. 'The early Pidgeotto gets the Catterpie."

Zoey let out an exasperated groan, slouching miserably onto the Professor's couch, her head thrown back.

"Aw Jeez…" She whined, "How am I supposed to become a trainer now?"

Birch looked at the preteen sympathetically, scratching his chin in deep thought. There had to be some way for her to get a Pokémon. The Professor pushed his expertise and brain power to the limit to think of a solution. Then a small light bulb appeared over his head.

"That's it!" He exclaimed with a snap of his fingers.

Zoey yelped in surprise and turned to the suddenly eager Professor. "W-what? What is it?" She asked.

Professor Birch smiled widely. "I think I just found a way to solve your problem." He beamed.

Zoey's eye widened in surprise. "Really?" She gasped.

The Professor nodded and walked over to one of his many file cabinets. He ran through a few drawers, searching for something. Zoey shifted excitedly, hoping that Birch was not joking about this. Once he had searched his last cabinet, he let out a hearty laugh and pulled out a thick package. He opened the package and quickly walked back over to the preteen.

"First, you'll need to take these with you." Professor Birch explained.

Zoey cocked an eyebrow at the contents of the package; a small red rectangular contraption, and several red and white balls.

"What are those things Professor?" She asked warily.

"Well first of all, this," Professor Birch began by holding up the red rectangle, "Is called a PokéDex. A very handy machine you'll need for your journey-"

"But how can I go on my journey if I don't have a Pokémon?" Zoey interrupted with a whine.

"I was getting to that, my eager young friend." Professor Birch said sternly, quieting the excited youth, "No, as I was saying, the PokéDex is very handy. It will help you determine what kind of Pokémon you will meet along the way. Simply point it at a Pokémon, and the PokéDex will provide the information you wish to know about it."

The girl's grass green eyes sparkled in amazement and she let out an awed 'ohh'. She took the PokéDex from the Professor, staring at in wonder. Could this single piece of machinery really do all of that?

"And these," Birch continued, picking up the small red and white balls, "Are called pokéballs. You use them to capture a Pokémon. The way you use them is pretty straightforward. Simply toss to ball at the Pokémon."

Zoey let out another 'ohh' and nodded in understanding. She took the pokéballs from Professor Birch and put all of her knew gadgets into her blue backpack.

"These things are cool Professor," Zoey said with a worried look, "But how are they supposed to help me get a Pokémon? Do you want me to go out and catch one for myself?"

The Professor sagely waved his index finger back and forth. "Not quite Zoey. I am going to go send you out to catch a Pokémon, but not by yourself." He explained.

The sage-like professor then pulled out a photograph out of his jacket pocket, quickly handing it to Zoey. The girl cocked her head to the side curiously as she inspected the picture. In it was Professor Birch with a small family of three, like Zoey's. What caught her attention the most was the pre-teen boy standing in front of the Professor and the woman (most likely the mother).

The boy looked no older than Zoey herself. He wore a cocky smirk on his face, his thumb pointing confidently at his chest. He had spiked, dark crimson hair, and darkly shaded golden brown eyes. The clothes he wore were much to be desired: a pair of ridiculous-looking goggles with thick lenses and green straps around the crown of his forehead, a black shirt that had a red flame design on both of the tips of its sleeves and at the end of his shoulders, all of which worn over a blue collared shirt, a pair of baggy khaki carpenter pants, and white and navy blue tennis shoes. Zoey arched her eyebrow further as she rescanned the photo over and over.

"His name is Sonar." Birch said, making the girl look up from the photo, "He's my son."

Zoey nearly fell over in shock. "Your son?!" She exclaimed, "But he looks nothing like you!"

"I know." Birch smiled sheepishly, "He gets most of his looks from my wife's side of the family."

Zoey raised bother her eyes brows. "Oh…" She whispered, looking back at the photo. 'His son, huh?' She thought.

"Now," Birch continued, "I want you to go out on Routes 102 and 103. I sent him out there earlier to help me with some of my research. With any luck, he'll still be there and be willing to lend you a hand."

Zoey looked back up. "You think so?" She asked.

Birch sighed with a shrug and nodded. The two stood up and walked over to the door. Birch opened it and politely let Zoey leave for Route 102. Zoey heard the Professor sigh in amusement as she dashed down the road with a renewed vigor to meet up with this Sonar.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more!" She heard him call after her.

She flashed him a determined smile and waved back. "It's alright Professor! You've got research to do after all. I think I can handle this myself now!" She called back.

Once the excited Zoey was out of sight, Professor Birch shook his head with a small smirk, praying for all the luck in the world for the excitable youth.

"Ah, to be young and spirited." He said.

-End Flashback-

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So there Zoey was. Walking down a dirt road with nothing but the clothes on her back, a backpack full of supplies, and plain hope. The honest-to-every-single-deity-out-there kind of hope, that this Sonar guy would be able to help her out.

But then a thought crossed Zoey's mind. What was Sonar like? Was he polite? Was he a jerk? Would she be able to get along with him or not? Was he good looking? …

Zoey stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide and her face red a tomato. She let out a small startled squeak as her blush rose across her face to her cheeks and ears. She violently shook her head.

Where in the world did that thought come from?! She wasn't supposed to be thinking about guys at a time like this!

The thought still persistent in the back of her mind, Zoey marched onward along the dirt road, coming up on a small forest. Little did she know, Zoey was in for more that what she had bargained for when she stepped foot into the forest.

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Eddy, drenched and exhausted from emotional and mental strain, finally collapsed on his back from fatigue. His head was aching even worse than it had before, he was shivering from being cold and wet, but worst of all…

Grumble…

He was starving.

Eddy groaned out loud and clutched his now furry belly. In all the excitement, if that's what you want to call it, from getting ready for the previously planned scam, he had forgotten to eat breakfast.

"Aw, great." Eddy mumbled, "That's just what I need right now. Man, what I wouldn't give for a nice, juicy cheeseburger…" Drool trickled on the edge of Eddy's mouth just thinking about food.

Just then, Eddy's ears perked and he shot up, a sudden rustle in the bushes having startled him. His eyes darted left and right, animal instinct somehow kicking in all of a sudden. Then something caught the cat-boy's eye. A small glint of red, coming from a small shrubbery. Eddy glared at the glint. He didn't like unexpected guests unless they were 'pigeons'.

He puffed out his chest and took a step forward, trying to look brave. "Who's there?" He demanded, unsheathing his claws instinctively, "Show yourself!"

There was a long silence, only interrupted by the soft howl of a warm breeze. During the quiet, Eddy couldn't help but let a thought cross his mind. Why was he going on the defensive all of the sudden? It's not like he was in any danger, right? … Right?

A sudden bone-chilling snicker brought Eddy back to reality.

"As you wish…" A sinister voice drawled.

Eddy cocked an eyebrow when the red glint in the shrub flickered. His gut plummeted into his stomach when a huge paw extended out from the bush-like plant and made the ground tremor when it thudded the ground. Eddy felt his throat turn dry, his knees were beginning to knock, and his eyes became wider as a mammoth sized, dog-like creature revealed itself. It slowly sauntered over to the now-very-small-in-comparison-to-the-dog-thing Eddy. Its midnight black and grey fur, not to mention its glaring blood red eyes, sent shivers down the terrified boy's spine. He had to crane his neck to look up at the fang-baring muzzle of the predator. Eddy gulped.

"Uh…" Eddy finally squeaked, sweat dripping down his neck and face, "Heh heh… What's up, big guy?"

The monstrous dog bared it's fangs in an evil smirk at the shaking Ed-boy.

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TB: Dun-dun-DUUUUUUUN!! DD: Oh-noez! Eddy's in trouble! Will he survive? What will happen to Zoey? And what about Sonar? Find out next chapter (if I ever get of my arse to work on it X3) Hope you liked this chapter.

Meowth Eddy: Read and Review!