Red awoke to chirps. Stretching his arms in front of him, he arose from his bed. For a second he had forgotten where he was, the unfamiliar (but not unpleasant) comfort of this bed confusing him. Then he looked at his windowsill, where the chirping was coming from, and saw three red-headed pidgey-like creatures. Right. Kalos.

Noticing that he was looking at them, the pokémon stopped chirping. They didn't fly away, however - Red had found that, likely because he had spent so much time with pokémon over the last few years (also because of his naturally calm, almost stealthy demeanor), most didn't even flinch at his presence now. Probably some sort of scent undetectable to a human nose that had been left on him by his team and others.

He quietly walked over to the windowsill, slowly opened the window, and raised his hand to the pokémon's height. They didn't move, which Red took as permission for him to continue. He started gently caressing the first of the three, making it chirp lowly. It was warm to the touch, warmer than your average Flying-type of this size - perhaps it was also a Fire-type? The orange and red markings would also make sense if that were true. On the other hand, it looked far too small to produce its own flames...Red would have to look into that. He was tempted to grab his pokédex, worried that it might cause the pokémon to leave, when -

"'Morning, Red. How d'you sleep?"

The pokémon flew away in a flurry of red and gray feathers. Red turned to see Blue, fully dressed and ready, standing at his door.

"...Really *yawn* well...you?"

"Yeah, ditto. You ready to choose a starter?"

Red immediately forgot about his previous encounter, his mind filled again with the prospect of a new pokémon partner. Blue grinned, seeing his friend's face light up.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hyped too. Wonder what kind they've got in Kalos. It's gonna be Fire-Water-Grass, of course, in accordance with international League rules, but...well, this place has been pretty up to par so far, wouldn'tcha say?"

In response, Red merely rushed to get ready. Blue looked on and smiled, simply happy to see his childhood friend and rival so eager after all the years of sullen quiet. He hadn't seen him this happy in...well, since they had both chosen their first starters. Of course, back then, Blue couldn't have cared less - about Red's or even his squirtle's happiness - but he hadn't known how much he would come to miss it, or how much he would come to love his pokémon. In fact…

"Hey, Red?"

Said ex-Champion was halfway through putting on his iconic jacket. He stopped and snapped his head towards Blue.

"You know how I chose a squirtle back then because it was strong against your charmander, right?"

Red had gone back to getting dressed.

"...Mm-hm. S'alright. Still beat you..."

"Wha - no, that's not what I - man, I really have to spell it out for you every time, don't I? I'm saying I want you to get the advantaged one this time!"

Red paused.

"...You're sure? You could just...y'know, take the one you like most…"

"I know, but...look, it's a matter of principle! I got the head start the first time around, now you get to."

"...Head start didn't do much, though…"

Blue sighed. He knew Red wasn't trying to twist the knife in the wound - it wasn't in his character - but he was starting to get tired of hearing of his defeat.

"Just...I'll choose first. That way you can pick the stronger or weaker one, if you want."

"...Fair enough…"

"Thanks. Now, if you're finally ready, let's go!"

When they entered the reception area, however, Sycamore wasn't alone. He was conversing in Kalosian with an elegantly dressed woman.

She had short, ash-brown hair, storm-grey eyes and an intriguingly ageless face; the sort that could be twenty years old as much as it could be fifty. She was, by all standards, quite beautiful - though, so far, the only Kalosians Red and Blue had met were her and Sycamore, who wasn't exactly ugly either.

Hearing their footsteps, Sycamore turned towards his guests.

"Ah, you're awake! Et déjà prêts pour l'action, à ce que je vois! But, of course, let me introduce you to your guide to Lumiose. Red and Blue, meet Diantha, former Champion of Kalos!"

Diantha stepped forward. Then so did Blue, who proceeded to bend down at the waist and take the woman's hand in his own. Red immediately thought back to Professor Oak's first request, but it was too late for him to stop his friend.

"Enchanté, charmante dame." With this, he kissed her hand. "Je me nomme Blue, de Bourg-Palette. Il y a longtemps, j'étais Champion moi aussi - mais vous avez clairement gardé votre titre bien plus efficacement."

Diantha put her free hand to her mouth and chuckled. She looked back at Sycamore with an amused look on her face.

"Eh bien, quel charmeur celui-là!" She turned to Blue again. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, Blue of Pallet Town. Thank you for your, comment dirait-on, enthusiasm!" She finished with a laugh.

"And you must be Red, then." He nodded. There was a look in her eyes when they crossed with his...yes, this woman, for all of her glamour, was clearly an experienced battler. She was already sizing the two of them up, and Red had no doubts that she would eventually ask him for a battle. "I am glad to finally meet the two of you, and I look forward to showing you around Lumiose. Though, as it would seem," she said with a smile at Blue, "my work is already made much easier than I thought!"

Sycamore spread his arms, an excited light shining in his eyes.

"Well, now that the introductions have been made, why don't we get on with the morning's main event?"

It was only then that Red noticed the briefcase at the professor's side. His eyes widened.

Sycamore took it by the handle, raised it onto the nearest table and opened it. Inside were three pokéballs.

"I know you two have been awaiting this, so...If you would do the honors?"

Red looked at Blue, who simply gave a nod.

He closed the distance between himself and the briefcase, feeling the ember that had lit earlier grow inside him, and gingerly took the three spheres. He pressed the three buttons and tossed the pokéballs into the air. With a flash of white light and three simultaneous cries, the starter pokémon came out.

On the left was a small brown rodent. It seemed to be wearing a green hat, likely just its fur (or moss? Red assumed this was the Grass-type of the trio) with leaf-shaped spikes coming out of it. On its feet were two wickedly large claws, almost like those of a sandshrew, and its short tail ended in a red cone. It had a happy, almost dopey look in its small black eyes.

In the middle was clearly the Fire-type. It was a quadrupedal, yellow feline, with a tail and head that seemed too large for their own body. It had very long, upright ears, out of which sprouted large tufts of fiery red hair. Its wide eyes shone with intelligence and confidence.

Finally, there was the Water-type. It shared a resemblance with the poliwags native to Kanto; slick, smooth blue skin and large eyes that always seemed lost. It had a sort of bubbly duvet around its neck and on its nose that reminded Red of seafoam.

The young pokémon looked at each other, getting their bearings, then looked at the humans gathered together. They likely knew that they were about to spend the rest of their lives with some of them - after all, starter pokémon were conditioned exactly for this purpose.

"Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie. Or, as they are normally called, Marisson, Feunnec et Grenousse," announced Professor Sycamore.

Next to Red, Diantha hummed.

"They are certainly cute, aren't they? You know, when I started, there was no such thing as League-regular starters. You got what your local professional would catch for you - in my case, a ralts."

Red was only half-paying attention. Even Blue was fixated on the pokémon in front of him.

While their first time choosing a starter pokémon had been a decisive affair, with Red knowing from the start that he wanted the Fire-type and Blue only waiting to pick the "stronger" one, the two were now faced with the dilemma every trainer had faced at the start of their career. Gears could almost be heard grinding in Blue's head.

"I did pick the Water-type the first time...should I do it again for old time's sake or change things up? If I do go Water, Red might go Fire again too and then It'll be just like when we started...and I don't need to be reminded any more of that...I like the look of the fennekin, actually, with its smug face...I do love a 'mon with some confidence...the chespin looks a bit doofy, honestly...the way I got it figured, froakies are the sweepers, chespins are the tanks and fennekins are support...wonder what types they get when they evolve…

...Damn it, which one's Red gonna pick..."

Said best friend of his, on his side, was equally lost in thought: he stared into the eyes of each starter, and tried to understand things from their points of view. He saw things the way they saw them.

the froakie's nervous

it doesn't know us

it doesn't know what kind of trainer we are

the fennekin is confident that it can impress us

it wants to

the chespin

it's trying to hide

how scared it is

Suddenly, Blue stepped forward. He went down to one knee, putting himself at the pokémon's level, and put his arm out tentatively towards - Red held his breath - the fennekin.

The Fire-type raised its head, looked Blue in the eye, and let out a happy growl before nuzzling its new trainer's hand with its fluffy forehead.. Sycamore grinned and spread his arms while Diantha clapped lightly next to him.

Blue, now with a huge grin on his face, took his new partner's pokéball and clipped it to his belt. Then he looked back at Red, and his smile wavered. Had he wanted the fennekin? Or, potentially worse, was he still going to pick the chespin...?

Red came down to his knees, putting his hands on his thighs. He looked at the froakie one last time, gave it what he hoped was a comforting smile...and reached out towards the chespin.

The Grass-type flinched and Red stopped moving. He swore he heard Diantha gasp faintly. The pokémon looked at him, terror clear in its eyes, and he stared back.

it's okay

not going to hurt you

it's okay

no enemies here

trust me

Slowly but surely, it relaxed. It gingerly crept towards Red's hand, never breaking eye contact. The fire in Red's heart grew with its every step. He almost smiled, but just managed to keep his face impassive, allowing the pokémon to determine for itself whether it would trust him, until finally, it took his hand in both of its tiny paws placed its head against it.

Red let out the breath he'd been holding and began softly caressing his new starter between the ears, being careful not to ruffle its hat.

"Well! Excellent! Now that that's done...would you like to give them nicknames?" asked Sycamore.

Nicknames? Red had never given his pokémon nicknames...he hadn't really needed to, considering almost all of his commands were given non-verbally…

Then again, he would have to train this chespin to respond to those first. With the rest of his team, it had just sort of happened as their journey progressed. Plus, it might be good to give the symbol of his new beginning a fitting name…

"Shinba...it means "new leaf" in Kantonese...because it's a grass type, and...I'm turning over a kind of new leaf…"

Sycamore nodded.

"I like it! A name that truly signifies something!" He turned to Blue, who seemed lost in thought; he appeared to be looking through the newly-named Shinba. "Will you do the same with your fennekin?"

Blue stirred.

"Hm...I guess that'd make sense, yeah...how 'bout Noko? Like in nokoribi. Ember."

Diantha hummed approvingly while Sycamore smiled.

"Parfait! Well, I am glad to have been here for this historic event. You know, you two are the first Kantonian trainers to have ever chosen from these starters! Now, however, I must be off. I will let Diantha take things from here! Au revoir!"

"...Merci infiniment, professeur…"

"Yeah, thank you so much. A la revoyure!"

Sycamore smiled warmly, and turned to leave. Diantha stopped him and they exchanged words, kissed on each cheek, and the professor left.

Diantha turned back to the pair, a gracious smile on her lips.

"Shall we then?"


AN: My Japanese is very approximate. Hope you liked this chapter!

Translations: "Et déjà prêts pour l'action, à ce que je vois:" And already prepared, visibly.

"Enchanté, charmante dame. Je me nomme Blue, de Bourg-Palette. Il y a longtemps, j'étais Champion moi aussi - mais vous avez clairement gardé votre titre bien plus efficacement:" A pleasure, charming lady. I am Blue, of Pallet Town. Long ago, I was Champion too - but you have clearly kept your title far more effectively.

"Eh bien, quel charmeur celui-là!": My, what a charmer that one!

"Comment dirait-on:" how would you say

"Merci infiniment, professeur:" Thank you infinitely (it's really a thing you say in french)

"A la revoyure!" Until next time! (seewhatididthere)