Pokemon XY
Prologue – A Journey Calls

"Nanalog?"

Looking up from a picture she was holding in her lap, a young thirteen-year-old girl sat up in her bed as she heard more insistent knocking at her bedroom door. At her side, a gentle female Dewott rubbed its eyes from where it had been resting against the edge of a soft white pillow.

"Nanalog, are you alright in there?" she heard, again, as she finally stood to her feet right as her Absol rose up its head, too, and joined her at her desk. Sitting beside her, it watched as Nanalog took a brush and ran the bristles through her smooth and long brown hair for a few strokes, before she called over her shoulder and said, "Yes, Aunt Isa, everything's fine."

Hearing some laughing on the other side of the door, her aunt smiled as she said, "Alright, sounds like it. When you can, come downstairs. I have a letter from your father for you."

"Ok! Oshana," Nanalog said, laughing at the way Dewott had skirted towards the end of the bed after it had saw the annoyed look in Cinccino's sleepy eyes from having one of its tails mussed up. "Oh dear, it's ok you two. Nothing a little brushing won't fix. Come here," she said with a gentle smile, one of which her two partners returned as her Absol patiently waited for its turn, deciding to lay its head back down until its mistress was finished.

After she was done, they all four reported in the kitchen where Nanalog saw her aunt sit a stack of pancakes on the table for her and a couple of bowls of Pokémon food on the floor, too. Eager, Nanalog's partners helped themselves to them, to which Oshana and Cinccino ran over too and picked through the berries to find their favorites. As Absol took a seat next to Nanalog by the table, Nanalog said, "Thanks, Aunt Isa. What's the letter about?"

Her aunt was a thirty-four-year-old journalist that wrote for an online newspaper website that covered the never-ending mysteries of the natures of Pokémon, a job that allowed her to travel almost anywhere she wanted for her stories. Running her own blog, it gave her aunt the freedom and independence she needed to freely travel and be at home when she needed to be.

"Aud-au-Dino!" they both heard as they both looked up in time to hear Aunt Isa's treasured and first partner, Audino, chide Oshana and Cinccino to slow down and wait, to which they both swallowed with an innocent shared grin as they both just smiled.

"You'll just have to open it and see," her aunt said with a secret smile as she sipped a cup of her special brew of Roserade Tea, revealing nothing as Nanalog curiously opened it with a gasp. "What is it?"

"Dad and Devin are coming home!" Nanalog said, swallowing a bite out of joy as she calmed down enough and smiled, seeing her aunt's amused expression.

"Didn't your brother just turn ten?" Her aunt asked, already knowing it was true.

"Yep, and he's coming home with his partner from Johto," Nanalog said, getting to her feet in a hurry to get ready as her Absol rose to its feet right behind her. "He didn't tell me who he picked on the PC the other day when I called him from the Pokémon Center. I can't wait to see who he picked!"

"I bet," Her aunt said, smiling with a memory. "I remember almost three years ago when you were ready to get your partner, Oshana. Tell me again, how did you know it was the right one for you?"

Looking over at her evolved partner, Nanalog only smiled as she watched Dewott look up from its breakfast and smile. Returning it, she said, "I just had a feeling. Oshana was special, and I … I've always adored water types, sure. She needed me, and I needed her."

"You two did make a good match," her aunt replied, both of them watching as Oshana took hold of its two scallops and made some training poses. Just watching, Cinccino peeked up from the other side of the bowl and only swirled her scarves as Oshana got a little too close, running away as Oshana started chasing it out of play. "What was it that Cress or Cilan said about you at your very first gym battle in Striaton City?"

"To be honest, I was a little surprised that I actually let Trish convince me to enter the Unova League at all," Nanalog said, recounting some of her memories of when she and a couple of her friends travelled through Unova together when she had just turned ten. "I remember that Trisha had actually come and asked me if I was ready to go on a journey. When I didn't have an answer, she put Luken up to it and made me come."

"But … you did have fun," her aunt said, checking the time on the wall clock as she and Audino cleared away the dishes.

"Yeah, we did," Nanalog said, smiling from her experiences. "In answer to your question, though, I think it was Cilan that said that he thought that me and Oshana were a cool and collected pair with a surprise spice flavor, or something like that. Cress, his brother, was kind enough to say that he approved of our bond and described us both as having strong yet caring hearts."

"You both are careful and gentle battlers, but you are strong in many other ways, too, my dear," her aunt said, turning around to sit a hand down on her niece's shoulder. "Don't forget that."

"Thanks, Aunt Isa," Nanalog said, smiling as Cinccino and Dewott both joined her on the side of her chair in agreement, the little tiny chinchilla scarf Pokémon putting the two of her paws on her trainer's knees as Oshana returned its scallops back to their original places on its sides.

"Now, you ready?"

"Ready?" Nanalog asked, confused.

"Sol!" Absol said right at her side, holding Nanalog's envelope lightly in its mouth and looking up into hers with its almond eyes in excitement.

"Oh yeah," Nanalog said, jumping to her feet as she picked up Cinccino up into her arms as her other two partners followed her to the stairs. "Sorry, I'll be right back, Aunt Isa."

"That's ok, Nani. Just be quick, we'll meet them as their plane lands in twenty minutes," her aunt called up after her, watching her niece go as Audino only smiled.

Once inside her room, Nanalog opened up her closet to see her new clothes that she and her aunt had picked up together in town. Slipping into the light pink long-sleeved top that her mom had made her and also into a light teal shirt that stopped just part-way up her dress top, she sat down to lace up the new white blue-accented boots that she had just finished tugging her blue jeans into.

Standing to her feet to pull on her blue waistcoat and fingering her necklace in thought, Nanalog only smiled as she and her partners heard a light shuffle come from her bag. Picking it up, Nanalog opened the flap on her camping bag to see who it was that just woke up from its nap inside as she said, "Oh, there you are. I wondered where you had gone. Come on, you missed breakfast. We'll grab you a bite to eat and then we'll go meet Devin and Dad. They're coming home."

"Oh really? Nani?" Nanalog heard someone say as she took out her transceiver from her bag and heard her friend's voice feed.

"Luken!" Nani said, recognizing his voice as a slight blush flushed to her cheeks. "Where are you?"

"Close. I was just actually on my way in to see you. Why?" he said, hearing her shouldering her pack. "What's up?"

"Dad and Devin are coming home!" Nani said, running now as Oshana and Absol ran after her, right as two little black ears poked eagerly out of her bag and Cinccino gingerly hopped up onto Nani's shoulder as she walked down the landing.

"That's great!" Luken said, just over the speaker as her aunt looked up from where she had grabbed her keys. "Then, I'll just meet you guys at the airport."

Riding in her aunt's car, they made it there with time to spare at the Nuvema Town airport to see several planes come in. Looking off into the distance towards the bay, Nanalog felt the breeze touch her hair a bit as it blew a little off of her shoulder as she sighed.

"Nani!" She heard someone say as she looked up to see a young man come running up the sidewalk a little bit out of breath. Dressed in a white collared outfit from his shirt to his cream pants, Luken looked up with his almond eyes reflecting the sun's rays as he squinted his eyes past the glare and waved, his sleek black hair slightly blown back past his poke-ball cream headband.

"Luken!" Nani called, running up with her partners in tow as her aunt only smiled as she watched the two reconcile. "How was school?"

"It was something, definitely opened my eyes up to a lot of options," He said, straightening his black vest from where it got nudged to the side by a little face that peeked up past his right shoulder. "You remember, Minnie?"

"Of course I do," Nani said, reaching out a hand up to the little Minun who smiled and giggled as it got tickled under its chin. "Is it still your dream to one day become an aquatic therapist?"

"Yeah, it's what I want to do … in time. Well, there they are," he said, taking Nani's hand as they both then turned to see Nani's father, Canon Archer, appear on the landing as he and a young lad came walking down the path and waved. Looking up, though, the lad saw his sister and took off running past their father as Nani took off for him as well.

"Devin, happy birthday!" Nani said, giving him a birthday squeeze that made him gasp a bit but feel loved, his glasses falling a bit down his nose as he pushed them back up once he was released.

"Thanks, Sis," Devin said, pulling away a bit to reveal a single poke ball in his hand.

"Is that your partner?"

"Yep!" Devin said, readjusting his glasses as he through it up. "Chiko, come on out and say hello!"

POP! The poke ball opened with a bright burst as a little tiny Chikorita materialized on the ground in front of Devin and smiled, swinging its little leaf on its head in a pleasant way. Turning around, it spotted Devin with a "Chiko, Chiko. Ri!" as it leapt up into Devin's loving arms and they both shared a hug, its leaf rubbing up against his nose a bit as Devin took in the sweet scent.

"Oh, how cute!" Nani said, petting its head and getting a small nuzzle in return as Chiko smiled at her, too.

"You mean, cool, right?" Devin asked, almost correcting his sister as he felt their Dad sit a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see him laughing.

"Alright, Son," their father said, his pale blonde groomed hair blowing a bit in the wind as Aunt Isa just smiled, her curled and strawberry hair bouncing off of her shoulders with her chuckle and catching the breeze, too. Releasing him, he watched as brother and sister took off towards their aunt's car but didn't get in, instead walking up the path together as they caught up on what the other had seen. Joining them, Luken looked at Devin's partner with keen interest as Devin held Chiko out for him to get to know, too.

"How was Johto?" their aunt asked her brother as he chuckled.

"You should know, you helped me out a lot there when I started out on my journey and started taking pictures that often led me into trouble," he said, sharing a memory of their past as kids as they both laughed. Something else coming to mind, he sobered enough to ask, "How is she?"

"She misses her every day, Canon," Isa said truthfully, thankful to see her niece smile with their return. "She definitely missed you and Devin, too, while you guys were gone. I think she's thinking about going on another journey, but …"

"She knew Devin was turning ten and didn't want to miss it," Canon said, watching how Nani had looked up from where she talking to Luken and Devin for but a moment. Connecting her eyes, she only smiled as Devin got her attention, again. "They're both growing up so fast! Devin wants to go to school, but … I'm not really sure where to send him since he already has …"

"Mr. Archer!" Professor Juniper called, walking up the way as she had said her hellos and was followed by the kids. "It's wonderful to see you back, again! Take any more good pictures?"

"Plenty, have a look for yourself," he said, passing her a portfolio that he had reached over his shoulder and took out for her to see, her eyes stopping on a faded yet vivid and colorful blurred picture of what looked like a somewhat normal tree. "Wow, is this ...?" Looking over, Dad's eyes seemed to smile with her as they both gazed at the picture in questionable curiosity.

"Professor Juniper?" Nani said, seeing the amazement on her face as she looked up and remembered that the kids had followed her when she had some news for them all to hear. "What is it?"

Closing the portfolio gently, the professor only sighed as she looked at them all. "First, let me say my congratulations to you, Devin. Are you thinking about starting out on your journey right away?"

Only shrugging, Devin shyly pushed up his green circle-rimmed glasses up over his emerald eyes as he said nothing at first. "I'm not sure, maybe. It's a lot to think about and prepare for."

"Yes, it is," Professor Juniper said, seeing the way Canon and Isa-line smiled at the way Nani and Luken stood next to him in support. "Now, I know you've been inquiring about any news I have on, well …"

"… Marissa," Canon said, saying his wife's name before anyone else said anything. "Are they her …?"

Nodding, Professor Juniper took out a total of four poke-balls that she had in a satchel and held them out for the five of them to see, Isa-line and Canon both gasping when they saw the familiar names on the capsule balls. "She didn't talk long, but she sent me these."

"One's missing," Isa said, taking them from the professor and reading the names. "Where?"

"One of my assistants traced her call when we spoke. She called me from the Pokemon Center that was located in Lumiose City in the Kalos region," Professor Juniper finally said, making Canon and Isa-line's eyes shoot up and look at each other in worry.

"Mom," Nanalog murmured, thinking of the mysterious way her mother had disappeared just shortly she had been given her mother's second partner, Cinccino, on her tenth birthday just after she had picked out Oshana with her aunt Isa. Fingering the rainbow accented gem around her neck, Nanalog saw the odd yet concerned looks that Luken and her little brother were shooting towards her as she only said nothing and knew inwardly she had a choice to make.

Meet Nanalog and her family, my OCs in this pokemon story to come. With XY(and Z) as one of my favorite series, I have been wanting to post this for a while and have finally have a chance to. I hope you enjoy it, and I promise the next chapter will be typed soon, where she will place her first steps into the Kalos region.

More to come soon, and enjoy! ;)