Prologue

"So, you wanna a story tonight, Mini-Mi?"

I scoffed, burying my hands in the deep indigo comforter I had piled up on my bed like a den. I was lying half-in, half-out of the collapsed pillow opening, on my stomach with my chin resting on my folded arms in front of me. "Gavin, there's no way I'm listening to a fucking bedtime story."

A light chuckle came from the floor. He shifted slightly, his soft brown hair and the back of his navy jacket the only visible things in the streamline crack of light coming in from the hallway. "Mina, I've told you about cussing. You're too young to use words like that in normal conversation." My brother sunk a little lower onto the ground, until only the top of his wavy-haired head as all that poked over the edge of my twin bed.

He was scolding, but he was smiling. I could tell. I buried my nose deeper in my bed, hiding my own smile.

"… So do you wanna talk then, or should I just go?" He finally asked after several minutes of listening to our alternating breathing.

"Nothing to talk about." I mumbled into the bed sheets.

"You can talk to me about those new bandages."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I self-consciously buried my hands deeper into my comforter, wishing for the half-folded over edges of the Band-Aids lining my fingers would stop catching on the bed sheets. I turned onto my side, facing away from my brother's silhouette.

"You've got three bandages on your forehead, all bright green Snivy Band-Aids by the way, and you've got tons of the little circle ones all over your fingers." The floor creaked as he shifted his weight and I felt a hand on one of my own.

"… Tat's cuz we ran out of the normal ones…" I whispered low enough I hoped he wouldn't hear. Of course he did, though. I sighed. "It's not what you think."

"Got into another fight again?"

I snorted, shrinking away from his touch, suddenly too shy to talk about such trivial things. "Not a chance. I'm on the Straight and Narrow now, remember?"

Gavin shifted again, and I could feel the bed dip a little bit as he put his chin on it close to my head. His gentle breath ruffled my hair. "You're in junior high; I thought this was all left in seventh grade, kiddo."

"Tell me about the legendries again and I'll tell you about the bandages."

Now it was his turn to snort a little, though it wasn't as mean as mine had been. "You've heard them all a million, trillion, ba-ziiiiiiillion times though. I bet you could repeat them all to me by now." When I didn't answer, he sighed. "Fine, what do you wanna know about?"

I turned around, facing him again. "The wish-granting one… Jirachi."

Gavin rubbed the back of his head, pausing for a second to remove his jacket, and to reposition himself sitting up a bit more before starting. "Jirachi is a special Pokémon that can grant wishes, but the methods to do so vary depending on the tale. Some say that all you have to do is wish on its comet when it crosses the sky every thousand years, while others say that you have to write down your wish on a piece of paper and attach it to its head so that when it wakes from its sleep it can grant it then."

"… a guy in class threw scissors at me." I felt the bandages under my bangs; I thought they were long enough hide them, but I suppose it was my own damn fault for using bright green bandages. "That's where the ones on my forehead came from."

"And why did that happen?"

I was feeling shy again. "I told him how I'm more important to the professor than everyone else is. We kinda started yelling, and he told me to shut up, and when I didn't, he threw a pair of safety scissors at me… one of the really crappy pairs too." I closed my eyes remembering how sick I felt as I felt the hot blood rushing down my face and how angry I was when I picked up the same pair of scissors and threw them back at him.

"The ones on your fingers?"

"Tell me about… Zapdos."

He sighed. "Zapdos is a bird that can control thunder and is part of a trio of flying-types, including Moltres a fire-type, and Articuno, an ice-type. Their master is said to be Lugia, another flying type, but though there has been no recorded Lugia sighting for decades, it's hard to prove anything. Zapdos is said to be from the Kanto region, all the way on the other side of the world."

"The scratches on my fingers are from fighting with the same kid. He took a swipe at me with the scissors and I stopped them with my hand. That's it."

"Why did you say all those things you did to him?"

I wanted to hide. To shrink into oblivion like a Krabby receding into the shadows of its shell. "Cuz it's true. Be a shame to get his hopes up only for the Professor to smash them when she tells everyone Bianca, Cheren, and I are the only ones going on a journey for her." I smirked into my hands. "Be such a shame."

"You truly have no filter."

"Not like you've never done the same thing, Gavin."

A chuckle from the floor. "I guess you're right… though I'm way older than you and know when to stop."

"You're only twenty. Six years isn't a big difference."

"I suppose…"

It went quiet. Gavin didn't move. I listened to his breathing, trying to figure out if he was smiling or not. I couldn't tell. I looked down at my rough fingers, the peeking scratches out from under the minimal bandaging. I couldn't tell how I even felt anymore.

"The reason I'm always asking you about the legendaries is because I wanna be a Pokémon master one day. I'm going to get a Snivy when I'm older and go on a big journey for the Professor, so I don't know why I have to be nice to people I don't care about or go to school when I'll never need it again."

"But you never ask about the legendaries of your home region…" Gavin half whispered, almost to himself; the thought was so misplaced in the conversation, so I pretended I didn't hear. He started again. "So you're trying to get expelled?"

"Maybe… would you be mad if I was?"

"Not really. It's your life. Do with it as you please. " Another chuckle. "Just don't give mom a heart attack."

"Haha, yeah."

Silence.

"Hey, it's getting late. You need to go to bed. I have stuff to do tomorrow anyways." The bedsprings creaked as Gavin got up, the floor in turn creaking under his weight as he rose to his full light in the dim light from the hallway. I could only see part of him, the rest hidden in the shadowy darkness of my room.

"Okay then."

"Sleep well."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Goodnight Gavin."

"Goodbye Mina."

The door clicked closed.

This is not the end, this is not the beginning…. Though the words sound steady something's empty within them…. "

'Waiting for the End to come'

Linkin Park

Hello all! I am Pokégirl, and this is my Pokémon partner, Thorn!

Thorn-"Charmed, I'm sure. You all look lovely. I think I'll eat your livers with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

So yeah... this is my first Pokémon fanfiction, and centers in Unova, and while it is a Ferriswheelshipping, the plot does not focus solely on this. I still hope you'll give my story a try! So this is a scene between our heroine and her brother, and though is tells a 'lil bit about their personalities, I hope I didn't give away too much! And yes, Mina is 'Hilda' 'Touko' 'White', whoever you prefer~

Thorn-"I hope you all give away a lot... of reviews... and livers."

Thorn quit that! Anyways, thank you all, I hope to see you all again next time!