Jen shot up from where she lay and looked around the room. Her mind was still trying to process the fact that she was awake, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something. That something was wrong.
"Good morning, honey!" Lucy said as she entered the room. "Happy birthday."
Jen blinked as her mom placed a tray of pancakes and a glass of apple juice down on her comforter covered lap. "Mom?"
"I know you didn't want me to make breakfast in bed for you, but today is your day. You deserve it." Her mom said with a smile.
Jen smiled back at her. "Thanks, mom."
Her mom stood, but she didn't leave. She stared at Jen as she poked at her food and frowned. "Honey, is something the matter? Do you want me to make you something else instead?"
Jen shrugged. "It's not the food, mom. I just had the weirdest dream ever…not to mention the longest, but I…I can't quite remember what it was about. I feel like…I'm forgetting something."
Her mom sat down next to her and kissed her forehead. "It was only a dream, Jen. Now eat up and get dressed. We can do whatever you want today."
Jen nodded. She was still trying to remember what she was forgetting. She rubbed her right arm in though. "What is it?" She mumbled softly.
Lucy was almost to the door when she heard Jen gasp loudly. She spun around to see Jen jumping out of bed and throwing her hoodie and white hat on her head. "Jen, what are you-"
"No time, Lucy! I have to go see him!" Jen cried as she slipped past her mom.
"See him? Who is him?" Lucy asked in bewilderment.
Jen didn't stop to answer as she threw her shoes on and sprinted outside. "I hope he is still there. He's got to be at his home, right?"
Jen didn't stop running until she had reached her destination. She was breathing heavily as she called out in a huff. "H-Hey!"
"Ah, Jen, you made it." Professor Oak beamed when he saw her enter the lab. "And you're in your pajamas. Hehe, just like Ash. I guess that means today is the day you are going to get your starter, huh?"
Jen tried to laugh at his joke, but she was still trying to catch her breath. "D-Do you…still h-have starters left?"
"I do." He smiled as he motioned to three Pokeballs on the table next to him. "Choose your starter."
Jen examined each Pokeball eagerly. "I think I'll choose…this one!" She said as she picked up the Pokeball with a leaf on it. "I choose you, Bulbasaur!"
A red light flew from the Pokeball and took the form of Bulbasaur.
"Bulba!"
Jen's lips formed a wide grin that stretched form ear-to-ear. "I love it!" Jen cooed as she hugged her starter.
"Bulba bulb!" Bulbasaur said with an equally wide smile.
"Well it looks like you and Bulbasaur will be the best of friends." Professor Oak said proudly. "All you need now are these."
Jen looked over at him as he held out six empty Pokeballs and a Pokedex. Her grin grew as she took the items from him (while still managing to hold onto Bulbasaur). "Thanks, Professor."
"Are you going to give your Bulbasaur a nickname?" Oak asked.
"Umm…" Jen glanced down at her Bulbasaur and pursed her lips. "I'm not very good at giving or coming up with nicknames. Hmm…" "How about Gemma?"
Gemma smiled. "Bulba bulba!"
Jen hugged Gemma again and ran out of the lab. "Thanks, Professor Oak. See you later!"
"Good luck and have fun." Oak called as he waved goodbye.
About an hour later
Jen had finished packing with the help of Libby, who had showed up about a half hour earlier, riding her birthday present, which turned out to be a blue bike with two baskets attached to it. Their mom had been a little hesitant to accept the fact that Jen was leaving, but after a long argument with Libby, Lucy had walked upstairs to her room and shut the door.
Jen swung her messenger bag over her shoulder and smiled down at Gemma. "Ya ready?"
"Bulba!" Gemma chirped excitedly.
"Alrighty then, let's go!" Jen cried as she led Gemma downstairs.
Libby was waiting for her outside, strapping her bag into the back basket of her bike.
"Thank you for helping me, Lib." Jen said as she picked Gemma up and placed it into the front basket.
"No problem, sis. Mom was dragging her feet for far too long, and I highly doubt, even though she promised you could leave this year, she was going to let you leave. You should have started your journey when you were ten like the rest of us." Libby said.
"Nothing is going to stop me now, especially since I have Gemma now." Jen beamed as she mounted her bike.
"Bulbasaur!" Gemma cried.
Libby snickered. "Okay. Don't let me slow you down. Just call mom later, if you dare, and say your goodbye." She pulled out one of her Pokeballs and summoned her Fearow. "I'll see you in Unova, Jen. Don't keep me waiting."
"See you later, Libby." Jen smirked with a wave. She pushed down on the pedal and biked off down route 1.
About a day later
Jen and Gemma had just beaten the first gym leader and was now heading out of Mount Moon and towards Cerulean City. A huge grin was on her face as she biked quickly towards Cerulean.
From her time after she had left home to now, Jen had caught a Caterpie, which was now a Metapod, and a Rattata. Their Pokeballs were strapped to her belt, while the Boulder Badge was pinned to the inside of her hoodie.
Jen glanced down at Gemma, who was watching the city growing closer and closer with eagerness. "Enjoying the ride, Gemma?" Jen teased.
"Bulba!"
"Good." She said with a grin. "You and the others did really good during our first gym battle. Flint had no clue what hit him."
"Bulba bulb."
Jen shut her eyes and continued to pedal down the straight path. Who knew being a Pokemon trainer was so much fun. Yeah, it was challenging at times, especially during gym battles (there were many close calls during the battle against Flint), but that was what made it fun. "I just wish mom allowed me to start earlier."
"Bulba?"
Jen opened her eyes and glanced down at Gemma. "What's up, Gemma?"
"Bulbasaur bulb." Gemma replied as it motioned towards a worn path.
Jen slowed down and tried to follow the path with her eyes, but it disappeared into a cave a couple yards off of the main path. "You want to go exploring before we battle the next gym leader?"
"Bulba!" Gemma chirped.
Jen turned her bike and pedaled towards the cave. "What do you think we'll find?"
Gemma shrugged.
It didn't take them very long to arrive at the front of the cave. In fact, it only felt like five minutes, but once they got to the mouth of the cave Jen was forced to stop. A man was standing stock-still before them staring straight ahead.
"Uh, hello."
The man didn't even look at her.
"Hello? Sir?" Jen tried again.
The man remained silent. He didn't even blink.
Jen glanced down at Gemma confused. Her starter stared back at her with a look of equal puzzlement. "Still want to go exploring?"
Gemma glanced at the man from the corner of its eye before nodding determinedly.
Jen pushed forward as she tried to move past the man.
The man grabbed her bike with inhuman speed and slowly turned his head to look at her. But…he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were still focused straight ahead. "Don't." He groaned.
Jen stared at the man with an open mouth. She didn't know if the man was crazy or…well, her instincts were screaming at her to bike as quickly as she could towards the city. However, there was something that encouraged her to stay. "Sir, are you…okay?"
The man leaned forward, but his eyes did not move. "Leave, human."
Jen frowned. "Beg pardon?"
The man started pushing her bike backwards with Jen still on it.
"Wha—hey, stop it! What are you doing? Stop!" Jen cried.
The man ignored her and continued to push her backwards.
Jen groaned annoyed. Before the man had time to react, Jen snatched Gemma up from the basket and sprinted past the man into the cave.
The man dropped her bike and turned on his heels. "Stop." The man cried dryly.
Jen could hear the man chasing after her. His footsteps reverberated against the cave walls as he ran awkwardly after her.
"Bulba bulba!" Gemma cried as Jen ran faster.
Adrenaline was rushing through her veins as the man gained ground on her. "Stop!" Jen growled.
The man reached out to grab Jen, but she narrowly avoided his grasp.
"Bulba!" Gemma cried as it tried to crawl out of Jen's arms. "Bulba!"
Jen was too scared to let go of her Pokemon. She held onto Gemma as she tried to length her stride, but her foot caught a stalagmite causing her to fall onto the ground. "Ugh!"
The man grabbed Jen and pulled her to her feet. "I told you not to enter."
"Why?" Jen hissed as she tried to escape the man's grasp.
"BulbaSAUR!" Gemma cried as it leapt from Jen's arms.
The vines in Gemma's back shot out of its back and attacked the man. The man was thrown backwards, allowing Jen to escape farther into the cave.
"Thanks, Gemma. Let's go." Jen said as she ran with Gemma at her feet.
"Bulba!" Gemma said as it stopped suddenly.
Jen tried to stop as well, but she tripped over Gemma and landed in a large cavern. "Ouch."
"I told you to stay out." A deep voice growled.
"That voice…" Jen slowly looked up at the owner of the voice, but she blacked out before she could see him.
About three years later—On the roof of Libby's apartment
Jen had made it through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and finally to Unova with Gemma at her side. Their team had grown since their time in Kanto, both in size and strength. Gemma was no longer a Bulbasaur, but a great and powerful Venusaur.
"VENUSAUR!" Gemma cried as it lashed out at Libby's Mightyena with a vine whip.
Mightyena dodged the attack and rushed Gemma with a head-butt.
"Stay strong, Gemma. You can beat Mightyena! Use solar beam!" Jen cried.
The attack began charging on Gemma's back.
"Mightyena, while they're busy, use bite!" Libby barked excitedly.
Her Pokemon bolted towards Gemma with its fangs bared. Gemma stood strong as Mightyena's fangs sunk into its front leg.
"Gemma!" Jen cried.
"Ven." Gemma hissed as it tried to shake the Pokemon off.
Mightyena growled at Gemma as it attempted to put more pressure into its bite.
"Gemma, head-butt it!"
Gemma obeyed and nailed Mightyena on the head. The wolf-like Pokemon released Gemma and stumbled backwards.
"Quick, Mightyena, use tackle!" Libby cried, but Gemma's solar beam was ready.
"Venusaur!" Gemma roared as it launched the powerful attack at its opponent.
Mightyena rolled backwards and went limp. The battle was finally over.
"YES!" Jen shrieked as she ran over to hug Gemma. "We won!"
"Hehe, good job, little sis. You've gotten really strong. How long has it been since you began your journey? One, two months ago?" Libby teased as she rubbed her Mightyena's head. Mightyena nuzzled her hand and looked over at Jen and Gemma.
"Dude, three years."
"Three years? Cheez! Where has the time gone! Has mom finally accepted the fact that you have your own life now?"
Jen nodded. "I visit her from time to time, and she's totally fine with me being a trainer now. I'll probably head back tomorrow and check in on her."
Libby beamed at her. "That's a good idea. I just might join you if you don't mind."
"Please. The more the merrier." Jen said eagerly.
Libby looked at her with narrowed, but humor-filled eyes. "Why are you so giddy about going home? You're not that excited about going home are you? You're not getting bored of being a trainer are you?!"
"Bored? Pff! Please, Lib. Be serious." Jen smirked. "I'm only excited about returning because…I feel like the thing I am still missing is back in Kanto. I don't know what it is, but…the farther away I get, the emptier I feel. What am I forgetting?"
"Heeelllloo? Earth to Jen. Is anybody home in there?" Libby asked as she poked her sister in the head.
"Staph!" Jen giggled as she pushed her sister's hand away.
"You were blacking out on me. Whatcha thinking about?"
Jen shrugged. "I feel like I'm missing something back in Kanto, but I've got my friends with me. You're here with me and mom is back home…"
"You're just nuts, Jen. Completely and utterly nuts, you know that?" Libby said with a smug smirk.
Jen's lips formed a thin line. "Maybe…hehe, I guess you're right. I just need to focus on what's more important. My friends, my family, and becoming a Pokemon master."
"Good!" Libby grinned.
Jen rubbed her right arm again and looked at Libby with a serious expression. "Can we…just go onto Kalos, please. We can call mom either before or when we arrive in Kalos. I don't feel like returning to Kanto."
Libby cocked her head to the side. "Ookay. We can do that. You sure?"
Jen nodded. "If I return to Kanto, I may not want to leave for Kalos. It'll be too far. I need to completely forget this 'missing' thing and just focus on training. Libby can help me." She sighed and ran her hand over Gemma's soft head. "Alright…let's go."
A/N Told you guys I had a good idea for my next chapter! :D
Jen: You just came up with this chapter earlier today!
Me: Hush, Jen!
Jen: No, you're going to give all of your readers a heart attack. Angelicdemonichybrid started writing this chapter today to celebrate April Fo-
Me: *Clamps hand down on Jen's mouth* HUSH, JEN!
Jen: IPS A APPIL OOL A ANK!
Me and Jen together: Happy April Fools Everybody! ;D