Chapter 3: First Step of the Journey
September 18, 2010
The twins warily left their room and walked down to the living room. At the foot of the stairs, they saw their mother, face unreadable, listening to Cheren speak.
"So Mrs. Clearwater...we are so sorry about the mess we made. We did not mean to cause trouble," Cheren said smoothly.
Belle sheepishly offered, "We can help clean up..."
The twins' mother, whose face finally brightened into a smile, waved off Belle's words with a kind smile. "Oh no, it's quite alright. I'll just cleanup for you guys. I could hear your Pokemon clear down here! That must have been quite the battle you guys were having. But look at your Pokemon! They're so cute." She laughed. "I don't think the letter mentioned it, but you were supposed to meet with Professor Juniper after you received your Pokemon." She looked at her watch, amused. "The Professor should be expecting you right now. Hurry along!"
Touko and Touya thanked the stars that their mother was not upset and actually had a reaction quite the opposite of what they expected. They both hugged her at the same time. Touya's Oshawott had climbed onto his shoulder, but Touko's unfortunate Pokemon was smashed within the embrace.
Touko giggled, "Thank you Mommy!"
Touya smiled. "And to Dad too..."
At this point Cheren remembered the note. "Oh yes! Belle and I must thank you for the recommendation as well. If not for your recommendation, we would not have Pokemon to call our own. We are most grateful to you." He flashed her a smile.
Belle piped up, "Oh yes, thank you so, so much! I love my little Tepig so much!" A silly grin lit up her face. She planted a kiss on her little Pokemon's head and it oinked in surprise again.
The twins' mother walked over to Cheren, ruffling his hair. As the teenager reached up to fix his raven hair, she chimed, "Cheren, you don't have to be so formal! And Belle, you are most welcome! You four have been friends for so long, it only seemed fair...and Professor Juniper was more than happy to oblige. After all…oh, speaking of!" She started pushing her kids towards the door. "You four have an appointment with the Professor! Be sure to thank her for the Pokemon!" She grinned. "Now hurry!"
The town of Nuvema was the smallest in all of Unova. In reality, it was originally a private site for the construction of a Pokemon research facility, but soon, houses were springing up and the town of Nuvema was born.
It had everything the residents needed: a ship port, a supermarket, a clothing store, a bank, a hospital, a couple of schools, and a number of other little stores and businesses. Since there were actually only about a couple hundred families living here, the houses and buildings were all within walking or biking distance. One could easily walk the length of the town in an hour.
The lab was rather close to the twin's house. Within a 10 minute walk, the four teens were standing in front of the Pokemon lab. Cheren pressed the doorbell to announce their arrival, and the loudspeaker next to the door beeped. A melodic female voice came from the intercom, asking, "Who is it?"
Touya pressed the button under the intercom, which allowed him to speak back. "It's Touya and Touko. Our friends are with us. We came to thank Professor Juniper for the Pokemon." He let go of the button.
The static returned, and the voice spoke again, "Oh, of course! Please, do come in!"
The intercom shut off again and a buzz sounded as the door to the laboratory opened. Touya entered first, followed by his sister and two friends. They entered a room surrounded by steel walls, decorated with paintings of different Pokemon in their natural environments. A flight of stairs was across from the entrance the group had just come through and two electronic sliding doors were on the other walls. Since they had not heard directions to go up the stairs or through the doors, the group meandered through the small room, looking at the pieces of art.
Touko was particularly enraptured by a picture of a ghost-fire type Pokemon that resembled a candle stub. It was surrounded by darkness, but the little creature gave off a bright purple glow that illuminated a sphere of light around itself. While she thought it was adorable, she had never seen or heard of something quite like it.
Wow...I want to meet THAT Pokemon... she thought to herself. Of course, she had to leave town first, since she was sure that nothing like that lived near Nuvema Town. Around here, only Patrats and Lilipups scurried about, with the occasional flock of Pidoves flying overhead.
Touya felt a wave of nostalgia as he gazed at a painting of a Zebstrika galloping through a field of grass. As a child, he always dreamed of riding on one's back. While that fantasy still secretly held true deep within him, Touya realized that he was probably too large for a Zebstrika to carry around. He was well over the height of an average Zebstrika, but he allowed himself to become lost in his memories, a blank look crossing his face.
Cheren was not too interested since he had seen these paintings every time he visited his father at the lab. Belle, however, flitted from painting to painting, gazing in awe at all the different Pokemon that existed. At this moment, steps could he heard coming down the stairs, and all eyes turned to see who the newcomer was.
A beautiful woman in her early thirties descended from the last step. Her pale brown hair was pulled into a loose bun on top of her head, revealing red spherical earrings. She adorned a long white lab coat over her plain white shirt and emerald green skirt.
Her matching emerald eyes twinkled as she addressed the children, "Hello everybody! I see you are enjoying my art gallery. I actually got these from Burgh of Castelia as a gift. He's the gym leader there, but also a famous artist." She chuckled, catching herself. "Oh I'm sorry, I've gone off on a tangent again. Excuse me! Allow me to introduce myself!" She smiled at the four friends. "My name is Professor Juniper, researcher of the origin of Pokemon!" She gave a small bow of her head.
"Nice to see you again, Professor Juniper." Cheren smiled. The children had all met her at some point, so she was no stranger to them.
Professor Juniper chuckled. "It's nice to see all of you again. I assume your day has gone well so far?" Her eyes landed on the Pokemon in each of the teens' arms.
Touko suddenly burst out, "Thank you so much for the Pokemon!"
Professor Juniper turned her attention to the two twins, a smile on her face.
"Well Touko, Touya, happy birthday again! I see you have chosen the twin Oshawott." Juniper tapped her chin thoughtfully. "In fact, it's funny. Touko, you chose the male Oshawott, and Touya, you chose his sister. Quite an intriguing coincidence." She chuckled, patting the heads of the Oshawotts in their arms. "What's more, Belle, your Tepig is male, and Cheren, your Snivy is female."
The two water Pokemon were glad to see a familiar face. Snivy seemed like it could not care less while Tepig was squirming in Belle's hands, no doubt looking for food. He had missed mealtime and was rather hungry now.
Professor Juniper raised her eyebrows, walking around to inspect each Pokemon. In amazement, she asked, "Did you guys already battle with them?"
A collective, unintelligible murmur went through the group, each teenager not sure if they should or should not have.
However, Professor Juniper smiled and held up her hands, "No no, that's not a bad thing. In fact, the Pokemon seem to be getting used to you already! The fact that they allow you to carry them so easily is proof enough. Although..." she stopped in front of Touko's Oshawott. "Your Oshawott seems to be a little uncomfortable. I do hope nothing is wrong." She frowned.
Touko mirrored her frown, holding her Oshawott to face her. "What's wrong?"
The Oshawott was confused. Nothing was wrong, per say. He just had lingering uneasiness about having this girl as his trainer. Not quite sure how to answer her, he shrugged.
Professor Juniper burst into laughter. "Or perhaps he is simply getting used to you." She caught the squirming Tepig in her peripheral vision, and shook her head. "Goodness, someone needs to put some food into that Tepig's belly. Why don't you all come upstairs and I can give your Pokemon some lunch while we chat?" She gestured to the stairs with small grin.
At the mention of lunch, the two Oshawott started to fidget too. Snivy secretly desired food as well, but there was no way she was going to show such a silly weakness. She just nodded curtly to the suggestion.
So the four trainers followed the Professor up the stairs to the main part of her lab. It was far larger than the waiting room and was filled with electronic equipment. Giant monitor screens covered one side of the wall, with information about some Pokemon scrolling down one of them. There was a low table in the center of the room where four food bowls, filled to the brim with Pokemon food, were placed. The Oshawott twins and Tepig leapt out of their trainers' arms, dashing over to their food. Snivy waited patiently for Cheren to place her down on the ground, rather displeased that her trainer had not brought her over to the bowl itself, before strutting slowly to the food bowls.
The four young trainers watched their Pokemon enjoy their meal before Professor Juniper caught their attention again. "Before I continue, I wanted to let you know that you can nickname your Pokemon if you so choose. I'd imagine that you two will start to confuse your Oshawotts if you don't," she directed her last statement at the twins.
Touko stared intently at her Pokemon before smiling triumphantly, declaring, "I shall name you Sir Wotterlot, and you shall be my third bestest friend in the world!"
Sir Wotterlot, as he was now named, directed an incredulous stare, laced with annoyance, at Touko. Perhaps it sounded noble to be called a "Sir," but the name "Wotterlot" was just so ridiculous! What will the females think of him as a Samurott named "Sir Wotterlot?"
Next to him, his sister Oshawott snickered.
Yes, exactly that reaction.
While Touya deliberated a name for his own Oshawott, Belle squealed out, "I'm naming mine Porky!"
Everyone in the room gave Belle an unimpressed glance, and the twins felt a bit guilty for eating bacon this morning...for all they knew, it could have been Tepig meat.
They were all definitely going to need to watch their meat consumption from now on.
Porky blinked and realized he had a new name, but actually rather liked it. It oinked in approval, "Tepig, Tepig!"
Belle furrowed her eyebrows and pouted, wagging her finger. "No no, your name is Porky now! Not Tepig!" Poor Porky became confused. Did he not just agree to his new name?
Cheren adjusted his glasses and sighed. He stuck his hands in his pockets and addressed his Snivy. "Your name will be Eliza. I think it suits you quite well." Snivy blinked, mauling the name over. Not too girly and it sounded solid and strong. She gave a smirk. She approved. Cheren returned a half smile, nodding curtly.
Touya was the last one left without a nickname. His Oshawott looked up at him, waiting patiently. He really did not care for nicknames, but since everyone else had given their Pokemon one, it seemed silly for him not to as well. For Arceus's sake, even Cheren named his Snivy!
Shrugging, he said to his Oshawott. "I suppose I like the name Zula. How about it?"
The female Oshawott thought about it for a second, then nodded, her mouth opened in a happy grin, tiny fangs glinting. Touya could not help but return the smile and give Zula a pat on the head.
Professor Juniper smiled to herself, remembering when she received her first Pokemon, a Minccino, from her father. Knowing she had much to explain, Professor Juniper clapped her hands to get the teenagers' attentions again. "Splendid choice of names! A trainer and Pokemon can become closer from something as simple as a nickname," she chuckled. "In any case, I do not give out my precious Pokemon without asking for something in return."
Confusion settled over the heads of the trainers, wondering what they had to do for Professor Juniper. Pay money? Clean the lab? Raise Pokemon?
"It's simple really," the Professor continued, turning around and walking over to a steel table. On it were four devices, each a different color: green, pink, red, and blue. Professor Juniper picked up the green one and held it up, asking, "Do any of you know what this device is?"
Cheren, finally understanding, smiled knowingly. "That is a Pokedex, Professor."
The Pokemon Professor beamed, "Very good Cheren! You are quite learned about Pokemon, aren't you?" Cheren continued to smile, readjusting his glasses.
Belle, completely confused, whined, "Huh? What's a Pokedex?" Touko nodded slowly, curious as well. Touya waited patiently for Professor to explain.
"For everyone's sake, I shall explain from the beginning. There are over 100 known species of Pokemon living in this region, but combined with those of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, I'd say there are well over 600 species in this world." The teens seemed surprised by this piece of information.
Smiling, Juniper continued. "This device, as Cheren said, is called a Pokedex. It is designed to record down any Pokemon you encounter in the wild! There is a scanner that picks up the DNA signature of nearby Pokemon and logs their personal information into the Pokedex. You see, I do have a database of every Pokemon that is known to exist in the region of Unova, but unfortunately, I do not have detailed information on them, nor do I have time to go out into the field to study them." Professor Juniper rubbed her neck, smiling sheepishly.
"What I'd like you all to do is to go out, travel Unova, and meet every Pokemon there is to meet, and record their data onto this Pokedex. I want to have a full database with all the information of every Pokemon out there. It was your mom's idea to invite your friends along." She addressed the twins. "She thought it was an experience everyone should have. I already spoke with your parents, Cheren, Belle." She nodded to the respective teens as she spoke. "They agreed to let you go on this journey."
She was slow while saying the word "agree." True enough, Cheren's parents were complacent with their child traveling, but the same could not be said of Belle's. However, Professor Juniper continued smiling, asking a final question, "Can you guys do that for me?"
The room fell silent, hearts pounding from fear, anticipation, excitement, and suspense. Belle broke the silence first.
"Travelling? Meeting new Pokemon? Going to different cities?" she babbled, wide-eyed.
"I'll go. I've always wanted to be a traveling trainer," Cheren smiled, hands in his blazer pockets.
Touya shrugged, smiling, "If Touko goes, I'll go."
Touko gave him an incredulous look, smirking, "You're kidding right? Miss out on an adventure of the lifetime?" She turned to Professor Juniper, grinning, hands on her hips. "We'll do it, Professor!"
The woman clasped her hands together, beaming. "Splendid!" She turned her attention to Belle, "And what of your answer?"
Belle bit her lip, still deliberating. Touko pouted and turned to her friend. "Come on Belle! You've always talked about going out of Nuvema Town, and seeing the world! Trying new things! Finding your place in life!" she grinned, grabbing Belle's hands. "This is your chance! It's practically smacking you in the face! Take it!"
Belle's uncertainty faded as Touko spoke, and her frown turned into a bursting grin. "You're right, Touko, you're right!" She turned back to Professor Juniper, "I'll join! I'll find every Pokemon for you!"
Professor Juniper laughed, her eyes twinkling. "You four have given me the greatest answer you possibly could have!" She picked up all four Pokedexes and walked back over to the waiting trainers. She gave the green one to Belle, pink to Touko, red to Touya, and blue to Cheren.
When she finished distributing them, she chimed, "There you are! Thank you all so very much! Please go home and pack your belongings. I think it will be a good idea to leave tomorrow. Pack enough for a day's trip. The next town over isn't very far. I've provided a list of essentials for all of you!" She handed the each teen a list before finishing up. "I still have some things to show each of you, but I have some other business to attend to today. So please meet me in front of the exit to Route 1 tomorrow at 9:00 AM. Is that fine?"
Words of approval and agreement rang from the teens' mouths, to which the Professor responded to with another smile. "In that case, Touko, Touya, Cheren, and Belle," she nodded her head in each of their directions as she said their names, "It was a pleasure seeing you today and I must thank you all for agreeing to this request."
"We should be the ones thanking you!" Touko beamed.
"Yeah, I mean, yes, Professor Juniper! Thank you so much!" Belle added.
"Thank you Professor Juniper. We really appreciate it," Touya smiled.
"We are grateful for this spectacular opportunity you are offering us. We sincerely thank you," Cheren finished.
Professor Juniper waved them off, chuckling, "It is no problem at all. Now, I'm a busy woman. And it appears as if your Pokemon are done eating," she gestured to the starters. "You can return them to their Poke balls when you travel, as to not tire them out. Just hold up the Poke ball and ask them to return and they will."
Cheren held up his Poke ball to return Eliza and Touya did the same with Zula. Belle said goodbye to Porky before recalling him and Touko gave Sir Wotterlot a huge grin before calling him back. With the Pokemon returned to their capsules, the four trainers left the lab.
Belle's house was closest to the lab, so the group took her home first. At her doorstep, she asked her friends, "Can you guys come in with me? I want to show my parents your Pokemon too!" Not one of them could say no to her jubilant, childish grin.
Belle fumbled with her key for a moment before opening the door. "Mama, Papa, I'm home!" she called out excitedly, going towards the living room. As she had expected, her parents were watching the television. Her father seemed irritated, but Belle took no notice. "And guess what? I got a Pokemon today! A Tepig! I named him Porky!" she exclaimed proudly.
Her mother beamed, "That's wonderful, dear!" She went over to her daughter. "Did Professor Juniper give it to you?"
"Mmhm!" Belle agreed happily, before continuing, "And what's more, Professor Juniper had asked us all to go on a journey to complete the Pokedex! Mama, Papa, I'm going on a journey!"
"No."
All heads snapped to source of the voice. Belle's father stood up from his seat on the couch, an intimidating scowl on his face. He looked nothing like his daughter, being a heavy-set man with brown hair and eyes, as compared to Belle's pale blond hair and bright blue eyes. He towered over Belle, staring down at her like a judge in court.
"No and a thousand times no!" he growled, crossing his arms. "You most certainly are not ready to go out into the world."
Touya, Touko, and Cheren flinched, feeling the atmosphere turn hostile. Belle placed her hands on her hips, gearing up for a fight. "But Papa, I'm ready for this! I'm already a trainer, with a Pokemon and everything!" she pleaded her case.
"You're not ready to take care of yourself out in the real world! It isn't full of nice people, or cute, harmless, little Pokemon. There's crime and violence, and little girls like you will get hurt!" he roared down at her.
"Honey, everyone goes on their Pokemon journey eventually. Belle is due to have hers now," Belle's mother tried to reason with her husband.
"Yeah, I'm not a little girl anymore, Papa! I want to leave Nuvema, travel, and see the world! I want to find out what path I may want to follow someday!" Belle declared in rebuttal.
"That doesn't mean you need to leave Nuvema or travel! We can send you to a nice university over in Castelia or you can ask the Professor to take you on as an intern here! You can barely use stairs without tripping or falling! You know how clumsy you are!"
Belle could not keep the hurt expression from her face as she argued back, her voice starting to falter. "I can definitely handle myself! If not, I'll learn to! It's not like I'll be alone!"
"Is that so? And who might be going with you?" he scowled.
"I'll be right with her the whole time!" Touko suddenly spoke out, determination in her eyes.
Cheren almost face-palmed.
Touya cast his eyes off to the side.
Belle's father looked at Touko like one would at a madman.
After all, Touko was not exactly the most responsible or mature human being around.
Cheren quickly cut in, saying, "Touya and I will be going along as well, sir. It will be quite alright. Safety in numbers, yes?" he chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.
Belle's father seemed to reconsider a moment, but decided that two teenage boys and a girl with the mannerisms of a 5-year-old were most definitely not the choices of traveling companions he wanted his daughter to have.
"No is no. And that is final." He slammed the gavel down. "You may keep your Teepig or whatever, but you may not go on the journey. Do I make myself clear?"
"But Papa..."
"Am I clear?"
Casting her eyes off to the side, she murmured, "He's a Tepig…"
"Excuse me?" Her father growled dangerously.
Belle, seeing she had lost the case, pursed her lips and mumbled, "Understood..."
Her friends stared at her heartbroken figure, feeling pity for the once-bubbly girl. She turned to her friends and said in a shaky voice, "Sorry guys! Looks like I'm not going with you all tomorrow. But it's ok, really..." She turned her head to the side, pulling her beret further down to hide her eyes. "I'll see you off tomorrow morning, ok? I've got some stuff to get done now..."
She turned back to her friends, eyes closed as she smiled, cheeks inflamed. "Bye! Happy birthday again Touko, Touya!" She chirped as chipper as she could. The twins gazed at her sadly, but before Touko could embraced Belle in a tight hug, the blonde had run to the stairs.
She made it to the top without tripping even once.
At the top, Belle turned back to look at her father with an expression of solemn gloating. The twins watched helplessly as she dashed into her room and slammed the door closed.
The three left Belle's house and walked back to the twins' house quietly. It was early afternoon now. There was still so much daylight left to burn, but everyone's spirits were extinguished. The friends waved goodbye to go their separate ways, going home to pack for the journey to come.
Touko and Touya decided to spend the night on the couches, since their room was still a disaster area. It was a good thing their closet and bathroom was not damaged, since many of their necessities were in there.
They packed in somber silence, still upset for Belle. When they finished, Touko groaned, "This sucks! Touya, can't we do anything?"
Touya said nothing, but Touko caught the bit of sadness in his eyes. "You want her to come as much as I do! Come on, maybe we can convince her dad or something-"
"It's not going to be easy. I don't think her dad is going to let her go willingly." The male twin crossed his arms, sitting down on the couch.
With a pout, Touko sat next to him. "If only we can get his permission."
Touya frowned slightly. "Even sneaking her out would be easier than getting per-"
"That's it! Touya, that's it!" His twin jumped to her feet excitedly. "We'll just sneak her out! It'll be so easy! We can climb up to her balcony like we used to do all the time as kids! We can pack a few extra things for her and buy anything else we need at the next town! We'll be gone before her dad can say a thing!"
Normally, Touya would convince her from doing something so completely irresponsible, but for once, he found himself nodding his head. Wait, he was agreeing?
"Ok awesome! Let's do it! We'll get up really early tomorrow and get Belle outta there before either of her parents notices a thing!
September 19, 2010
The twins rose up early the next day, but skipped their routine morning jog. Instead, they ran to Belle's house and sneaked around to the back to where her window was. Touko scaled the tree in the backyard and hopped onto her friend's balcony, peering into her room.
The curtain was always left open for the teens, since Belle knew they had a tendency to sneak to her house a lot. Today, however, there was no sign of the blonde. Her bed was even neatly made.
In confusion, Touko knocked on the window, only to get no answer. When she did not get any answer from a second knock, she leaned over the balcony, catching her brother's attention.
"She's not in her room!" Touko said as loudly as she dared, a heavy frown on her face.
Touya blinked in surprise, mirroring her frown. He was about to say something when he heard sounds coming from the front. Touko heard as well, eyes widening. She quickly descended to the ground and the two creeped around the corner to see what was happening.
Their blond friend stood on her porch, a large backpack slung over her shoulders. She was hugging her mother for a long time. When they parted, Belle's mother whispered something to her daughter. Belle started to cry at this point and threw her arms around her mother again.
Completely confused, the twins waited a little longer until mother and daughter parted again. Belle wiped the tears from her face, beaming at her mother. This time, Belle started to walk away from the house, waving as she went. The woman waved back, her own tears falling from her eyes.
Once she went back into her house, the twins came out of their hiding place, dashing towards Belle. The girl heard the footsteps and turned around in shock, eyes still stained in tears. Her best friends were definitely not who she was expecting to be running up behind her.
"Touko! Touya!" She gasped, barely having time to open her arms to accept the barreling hug from Touko.
"Belle, oh my god! We tried to come and sneak you out this morning but you weren't in your room and then we heard you and your mom and what is going on?" Touko babbled in rapid fire, shaking the girl before her.
"You…you guys tried to sneak me out?" Belle blinked, a wide grin spreading across her face. This time, she was the one who threw her arms around Touko, hugging her tightly.
"Thank you! Thank you! But…" She pulled back, a rare devious smile crossing her face. "I already planned my own escape. Well…" She scratched her cheek. "Mama helped me with it. She helped me pack and kept Papa busy so I could sneak out."
"Your mom helped you sneak out?" Touko gaped in incredulity. "Seriously? Dude, Belle, your mom is the coolest mom ever…next to ours of course!" She grinned. "So really, you're going to come with us?"
Belle nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm going on the journey with you guys!"
Touya, who had not said a single thing until now, smiled. "That's great, Belle."
Without warning, Belle hugged Touya tightly as well. The male twin allowed a soft smile to cross his face as he returned the hug. Belle let go and hooked an arm around each friend. "Thanks guys! You're truly the bestest friends I could ever ask for!"
The trio went back to the twin's house since there was still time until they were supposed to meet Professor Juniper. To Touko and Touya's surprise, their mother had cooked a large breakfast for them as a good luck wish and farewell gift.
Seeing Belle, the twin's mother smiled. "I have enough breakfast for you as well, Belle! Your mom let me know that I should be expecting you." She winked, which only surprised the teens further.
"Mommy! You're in on this too?" Touko gasped.
Touya only raised his eyebrows. Well this was a surpise…
Their mother only smiled, gesturing to the food. "Better eat now. You don't have too much time left before you leave!"
At 8:45, the teens were done with all preparations and were ready to go. Touko and Touya turned to their mother, their expressions a mix of sadness and excitement.
"Going on your Pokemon journey...I'll miss you two." Their mother smiled sadly.
Touya and Touko immediately hugged their mom, simultaneously saying, "We will miss you too... "
Their mother felt tears spring to her eyes and pulled away. "You two go out and do your best! You'll make me proud, no matter what! Remember, just have fun! And Touya." She turned to her son in a teasing manner. "Take care of your sister."
Touko huffed, "I don't need no babysitter! I'm older than him!"
"Yeah, by two minutes," Touya chuckled.
Their mother laughed before noticing the time. "Dearies, you better get going! It's almost 9:00!"
The family exchanged looks before Touko broke into a wide grin. "Bye Mommy! We'll come back to visit really soon!"
Touya smiled, "Take care of yourself, Mom."
They turned to leave, heading down the dirt path towards Route 1.
"Stay safe! Keep in touch! Take care of each other! I love you!" Their mother called out with a grin.
"We love you too!" The twins shouted, waving. She sadly watched her children run away. To her right, she saw a flock of Pidove fly away into the sky.
She smiled to herself and walked back into the house. Time to clean up the room...
When the twins arrived at the town's exit, Cheren was already there, and they waved good morning. Cheren returned the greeting, genuinely surprised to see Belle with them. Judging by the devious grins on Belle and Touko's faces, he deduced what had happened and sighed. Hopefully, he would not hear any grief from Belle' father later…
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Touko cheered, starting to step forward.
"Waaait Touko!" Belle whined as she yanked her friend back.
"What?" Touko moaned.
"I was thinking..." she turned to her friends, a smile shining as bright as the sun. "Since this is the first time we have ever set foot out of Nuvema Town, I think we should all take our first step into Route 1 together!"
Everyone smiled and nodded at the suggestion.
"Works for me," Touya agreed.
"I'm fine with it," Cheren smiled.
"Ohhhh that makes sense! Good idea Belle!" Touko grinned.
"Come on!" Belle hooked her arms around Touko and Touya's arms, excitement radiating. "Cheren, you grab Touko's arm!" she giggled mischievously.
Cheren shot her a glare but complied, awkwardly taking Touko's arm in his.
"Ok, on the count of 3, we all step in with our right foot!" Belle chirped.
"Why the right?" Cheren asked.
"Why not?" Touko asked.
"No, just wondering...I mean the left works just as fine..." Cheren defended.
Touya chuckled.
"Come on guys!" Belle whined, before smiling again.
"1..."
Everyone snapped to attention.
"2..."
Everyone lifted their foot.
"3!"
And with that, the four friends set their right foot down on unknown soil, taking the first step of their journey, ready to face whatever awaited them in the outside world.
Together.
A/N: And thus begins the journey! I typed this all out on my iTouch, and did ¼ of the proofreading on it. Yes, the reason why I have half-decent grammar is because I proofread. I'm just neurotic like that. If someone else actually proofreads, please let me know! It'd be nice to know there are others like me out there. XD
So I decided that Pokemon IS the source of meat in my fanfic…I know it sounds horrible, but people do keep pet chickens and cows and goats and such, but still eat these animals. I won't touch on it very much though, since I don't like the idea of eating Pokemon very much at all. Ugh. Although I fear in chapters, it may become important for meat to appear…
Anyways, I didn't have a chance to say so, but I'm sure by now, everyone's heard about Japan. I just wanted to let my readers know (few as they are) that I hope that you will at least keep the country and its people in your prayers, whether you are religious or not. Thanks!
I believe the story will be more fun to read starting now. There will be some violence later, but probably not for quite a few chapters. I have to warn you: I'm rather sadistic. I actually live to write violent/sad scenes…whether they are effective in affecting your mood is up to your to decide.
Thanks to you guys for reviewing:
Kazusa-chanx: Haha I guess you see what I did here now then? Thanks!
Sarah ball: Thank you! C:
Kitty1872: Aww thank you! Here's another chapter. XD
WhiteWolfPrincess95: That's quite a compliment! Thank you!
BlueChanXD: Wow, thanks so much! I read some of your fanfics too, and "Pretty as a Doll" made me giggle on all sorts of crazy levels. Amazing work!
HokkaidoMaster: Daww thank you so much! I hope to continue to please!
Please review, and thanks for reading!
~Alexie