(A/N: Anyone who knows me knows that I can't stop with only one story when it comes to something that I personally enjoy. And this is definitely no exception here.

For those of you who think that I'm irresponsible, then don't read this. Leave me alone, don't read this, go on with your life and I can go on with mine.

Truth be told, I'm only writing this because I can't get the idea out of my head. It happens to me a lot and I am able to resist it, but not all the time. Sometimes, I hold myself off from writing it out for long enough that I end up forgetting about it.

Alright, enough of that, let's get on with the reason why you're here. Please enjoy it and I hope that it's the start of something new and wonderful.)

I-I-x-*0-0-0*-x-I-I

It was a beautiful, early morning in Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. In a house in the middle of town, sitting at the table, was a middle-aged yet youthful woman with shiny dark blue hair and matching blue eyes. On the floor next to her was her faithful partner, Glameow, sleeping.

While she was enjoying a cup of coffee, she heard a pair of feet coming down the stairs. She set her drink down and smiled, "Good morning, Sky."

She received a yawn in response, "Good morning, auntie."

"Is your cousin awake yet?" she asked, although she already knew what the answer was.

"Nope, Dawn and Piplup are still asleep," she replied, sitting down with her aunt.

Skylar, or Sky as her family called her, looked similar to her aunt and cousin, except she had brown hair with dark blue on the ends. Her eyes were a similar shade of blue, the only difference was that hers were slightly lighter.

Her mother was Johanna's sister, who passed away when Skylar was very young, and she had no idea who her father was. Johanna and her sister went down different paths when they were on their journeys, she became a Coordinator and she was a Trainer.

She raised her with her own daughter, Dawn, who was a year older than her. She and Dawn were very close, but there was some degree of separation when she went on her journey.

Until recently, Dawn had been traveling through the Hoenn region, but she was back in Twinleaf Town for a visit. She had one contest ribbon so far and was determined to get the other four in order to participate in the Grand Festival as soon as she was back in Hoenn.

Johanna was proud of her only daughter, but she had been thinking a lot about Skylar lately. She thought it may have been time for her to consider the path she wanted to take for her own journey.

"I've been thinking, Sky," she began, which caught her niece's attention, "I believe it might be time for you to start thinking about what you want to do."

"What do you mean, auntie?" she inquired, even though she knew exactly what she meant.

"I mean, you should start to think more about you, what you want," she told her. "We're always talking about Dawn and her succession, both here in Sinnoh and now in Hoenn, but now that you're getting older, I think it's time for you to consider your own journey."

She understood what her aunt was telling her, but the thought of going on a journey made her feel very nervous. "But I don't even know what I want to do with my life yet."

Before Johanna could say anything, Dawn came down the stairs with Piplup, "Good morning, everyone!"

"Piplup!" Piplup chirped.

She picked up her pokemon and sat at the table with them, "What are you talking about?"

"I was just telling Sky about possibly going on her journey," her mother replied.

"Oh! That's great!" she smiled. "Do you know what you want to be yet?" Skylar only looked at the table with a frown and didn't respond.

"You have a choice, you can be a Coordinator, a Trainer, a Breeder, or something else that has your interest," Johanna mentioned.

"I don't know what interests me," she admitted.

"Okay, how about this, what don't you like?" she asked.

She thought about it for a bit before she answered, "I don't think I would like being a Pokemon Breeder."

"Is there anything else you don't like?" she asked her again.

Again, she thought about it, but then she shook her head, "No, I can't think of anything."

"Okay, so if a Pokemon Breeder is off the list, what about becoming a Pokemon Coordinator or Trainer?" Dawn suggested.

She shrugged, "I'm not sure which one I like more."

Dawn held her chin and closed her eyes as she tried to think of a compromise for her. Piplup looked up at his trainer with a perplexed face, "Lup?"

After a couple of moments, she opened her eyes and brought her hands together with a clap, "I've got it! You should test out contests and gym battles, and you can see which one you like better."

Johanna had to admit that her daughter's ideas could be outlandish at times, but this one didn't sound too bad, "You know what? I like that idea."

Dawn grinned and jumped out of her seat, squealing. She grabbed her cousin's wrist and tried to pull her up, "Come on, Sky, let's get you packing!"

Johanna stopped her from taking it too far, "Wait, Dawn! I said I liked it, but it's ultimately Sky's choice if that's what she wants."

Skylar pulled her wrist away from her cousin, who apologized, embarrassed, "Sorry, Sky. I just got really excited."

She rubbed her wrist, "I know, Dawn." She sighed, "Look, I appreciate the idea, I really do, but I don't even have a pokemon yet and if I did I still wouldn't know what to do or where to go."

"If you want, I can make you an appointment with Professor Rowan," her aunt offered. "You don't have to pick a pokemon if you don't want to, but it might help you to just take a look."

She considered it for several moments before she nodded, "Okay, let's do it."

Dawn squealed again, this time louder, causing Piplup to cover his ears. She grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the chair, dragging her upstairs.

Johanna laughed seeing how enthusiastic her daughter was, while her niece was still processing everything. Glameow woke up and jumped onto the table, nudged her hand with his head.

"You know, I think this could be the start of something fantastic for Sky," she told her partner. Glameow meowed.

The girls were only upstairs for a few minutes when they eventually came back down. Dawn was dressed in her usual black and pink outfit with her white and pink hat, while Skylar was in a long-sleeved, dark green shirt and blue shorts with black leggings underneath.

While they were putting their shoes on, Dawn grabbed Skylar's upper arm, "Let's get our bikes and go to Professor Rowan's lab."

"Dawn, you don't have a bike," she reminded her, pulling her arm away again.

She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "Oh, yeah. I forgot."

"Piplup, Piplup," Piplup chirped in a deadpan manner to Skylar.

She rolled her eyes as she finished tying her shoelaces, "Tell me about it."

They heard the rattling of keys as Johanna twirled her keychain on her finger, "Are you ready?"

"Oh, Mom, you're driving us?" Dawn inquired.

"Yes, your sense of direction would get both of you lost," she commented jokingly as she turned her back to them.

"I guess you're not wrong about that," she remarked, embarrassed.

All of them, including Piplup, left the house and got into Johanna's car. As soon as she started the engine, they were on their way to Sandgem Town, where Professor Rowan and his lab was.

The drive to Sandgem Town was relatively short, as it was only one town away from Twinleaf, and similar in size. While on the way to the lab, Skylar looked out of the window, seeing all of the Trainers. Many of them had pokemon, some of them did not.

A nervous chill ran up her spine, 'I feel more insecure than ever!'

Johanna pulled up to the lab and Dawn and Skylar got out while she stayed behind. She had decided that it would be better for them to go alone.

Dawn opened the door and let her cousin go inside first, before going in herself. "So, what do you think?"

The lab was bigger than she expected, not that she thought it would be a small facility. There was no one around, it was just them.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Dawn called out.

As though on cue, a middle-aged man came into the entry foyer. He wore a lab coat and held a clipboard in one hand.

Dawn smiled when she saw the man, "Professor Rowan! It's good to see you again."

He smiled back at her, "I'm glad to see you're doing well yourself." He then eyed the blue pokemon in her arms, "And how are you, Piplup?"

"Pip, Piplup, lup!" Piplup chirruped happily.

"Professor Rowan, this is my cousin, Skylar," she introduced her. "You got a call from my Mom, right? About her looking at pokemon?"

"Oh, right. Follow me, please," he said.

He led them into a room, where there were three pokemon sitting on a table. The pokemon were Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup; the three starters for Sinnoh.

"You're under no pressure to pick one today," he reminded Skylar. "You may just look."

Nervously, she went up to the table, and immediately her heart dropped. Turtwig seemed calm, but also indifferent, she wasn't sure if it was even looking at her. Chimchar was very hyper, eager to be picked, so much so that it made her feel a bit intimidated. Piplup was the least interested of them all, it actually appeared to be partially asleep, not even trying to stay awake.

"Um, thank you, Professor Rowan, but I think I'd like to leave now," she uttered, struggling not to shudder.

Dawn knew that was her way of saying that she was done, she sighed and gently grabbed her arm again, leading her out of the room. "Thanks for everything. See you next time."

He smiled and waved as they left, "Hopefully, that will be soon."

Before they left the lab to reunite with Johanna, they stopped in the foyer. There was something Dawn wanted to talk to her cousin about.

"Are you feeling alright, Sky?" she asked worriedly.

She shrugged silently, looking at the floor, "I don't know, Dawn. Honestly, I was hoping that I'd be able to bond with one of those pokemon, but they didn't seem too interested."

She placed her hand on her shoulder to comfort her, "Hey, it's okay. Believe me, I understand how you feel. When Piplup and I first met, I was constantly being pecked in the face. And I can't tell you how many times Pachirisu used Discharge on me and messed up my hair."

Skylar sniffled and wiped her nose, now suddenly feeling close to tears. If Dawn was trying to help her, it wasn't working well. She didn't see the reason for her stories of her pokemon.

She could see that she might have accidentally made her feel worse, "Okay, if you don't want one of these pokemon, you can always find one. They say there's someone for everyone, right? Maybe you'll find a Starly, or an Eevee, or-" She saw how her cousin's sadness turned into anger and she was giving her a glare. "Or… or…"

"Dawn, stop!" she snapped, swatting her hand away again. "In case you forgot, you've been on a journey for over a year, I've been watching TV and taking care of Auntie Johanna's pokemon. I've never had a mind like yours, you think you can climb a mountain without falling. You've always been someone who does things without thinking, sometimes without even considering what other people want. Don't you get it? I'm not you, I'm never going to have this 'no need to worry' thing like you do. You're trying to help, and I get it, but you're being really pushy about it. I want a pokemon I'm going to be happy with, one that I can find on my own."

It was a lot she had to intake, everything she was saying about her was true, some of them were things that others had pointed out about her before. "I guess I can be a bit demanding, can't I?" she gave her a small, embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry you feel that way, I really am just trying to help you out."

They left Professor Rowan's lab and reunited with Johanna. As they got back into her car, Skylar watched as a Trainer walked into the building and came out a couple of minutes later with Chimchar.

'How do other people do it so easily?' she thought.

It was difficult for her to comprehend that a pokemon she had no connection with could bond with someone else in a small amount of time. She knew it took Dawn almost a full day to befriend Piplup, even after she saved him from the webs of an Ariados. They say there was a pokemon for everyone, they just needed to find them.

She spent most of the drive back to Twinleaf Town in deep thought, only breaking it to talk to her family when she was involved in conversation. It was hard for her to get her mind off of what she saw before they left the lab.

She wondered if she was overthinking about it, but it was difficult for her not to. She wished the whole topic of her finding a pokemon was never brought up, because she couldn't stop it from taking over her mind. Now, it was suddenly the only thing she wanted.

They arrived back at the house and got out of the car. Johanna went inside first, with Dawn closely behind her, but Skylar stopped at the stairs to the porch. There was an area of forest near the house, a place she didn't go to too often, but she needed a place to get a few things off her mind.

Dawn noticed that she wasn't following them inside, "Hey, are you coming, Sky?"

"Actually," she rubbed her eyes to relieve a little stress, "I need to clear my head. I think I'm going to take a short walk. Can you tell auntie?"

She wasn't sure what to think of it, "Oh, uh, okay? I'll tell her."

She went into the house and Skylar made her way to the forest. In the back of her mind, she hoped to find something, but she wasn't sure what that could be.

She gazed up at the trees, which flanked her on both sides, almost like green walls. The scent of the greenery was earthy and sweet, and strangely relaxing. She hadn't been walking for long, but she knew that she made a good choice, the anxiety she felt earlier was gone, as though never there.

'I need to come here more often,' she thought, smiling.

She felt that she was ready to go back home, now that she was no longer feeling how she was earlier. She turned around to retrace her steps back to the house.

"Wurm!"

She stopped in her tracks when she heard a shrill cry. It sounded like a pokemon, and near where she was.

She heard it again, "Wurm! Wurmple!"

Her first instinct was to run home and get her aunt and cousin, however, she wasn't sure if she could get them and come back in time. Whatever that was, it sounded very desperate, if it was a pokemon in danger it would likely not last long without help.

She followed the cries and soon began to hear other sounds as well. Eventually, she came across a sight that caused her heart to drop.

A flock of Starly were surrounding a pokemon, one she recognized as Wurmple, the Worm Pokemon, they were scratching and pecking it. There was something odd about Wurmple, it was purple, instead of the normal red, and its underside was a lighter color, almost bordering on ivory.

She knew she had to do something to ward off the Starly, she looked around for anything to use. The first thing she saw was a rock, so she picked it up and threw it at the Flying Type pokemon.

"Starly, Starly!" one of the Starly twitters angrily at her.

'Uh, oh,' she thought, fearful.

All at once, the entire flock flapped their wings as they used Gust. It was so powerful that she was struggling to keep her stance, the soles of her shoes scraped the ground, revealing an underlayer of soil.

The unusual Wurmple gained the strength to lift its head off the ground. It knew it had to leave as soon as possible, while the Starly were distracted, but it couldn't bring itself to. The human girl risked her own safety to save its life, it couldn't leave her without giving itself a guilty conscience.

Wurmple was tired and weak, but managed to muster enough energy to unleash an assault of Poison Sting. A barrage of purple needles hit all of the Starly, disorienting them and causing them to fall ill. The sick avian pokemon decided to retreat to their nests up in the trees.

Skylar was stunned when the flock of Starly suddenly stopped attacking her and flew up into the trees above. She looked down at the purple Wurmple, which was covered in injuries from snout to tail. None of the wounds it had were particularly deep or life-threatening, but she knew that it was still likely in a lot of pain.

She couldn't treat the injuries at that moment, but she did know how to help Wurmple heal itself quicker. Dawn used to tell her all about the things she learned from her friends Ash and Brock while she traveled with them, she had once learned from Brock that Oran berries could boost a pokemon's immune system. Fortunately, there was an Oran berry tree nearby.

She plucked a berry off the tree and knelt down as she presented it to Wurmple. It seemed suspicious though, cautious of the fruit in her palm.

She took a small bite out of it, showing Wurmple that it was safe. "It's okay, it's good."

Finally, it came closer to her and began to eat the berry out of her hand. Soon, the entire round, blue fruit was gone from her palm and Wurmple was already beginning to look livelier.

She reached her hand out, causing it to back away from her slightly. "Hey, it's alright. I just want to get you looked at to make sure you're going to be okay."

Wurmple looked up at her, unsure of what to do next. It wasn't sure if she could be trusted, but it was also exhausted from the aftermath of the Starly attack. Finally, it made its choice, it crawled towards her.

She picked it up, cradling the Bug Type pokemon in her arms, "I'll take care of you, little fella. I promise, you're going to be fine."

Surprisingly, Wurmple got a little bit upset with her, "Wurmple! Wurmple! Wurm!"

"Or… are you a girl?" she asked meekly.

"Wurmple!" she chirped.

"Well, that's good to know," she smiled awkwardly. "Come on, let's get you patched up."

As she walked down the path back to her house, Wurmple made herself comfortable in her arms. Skylar smiled down at her, while she wasn't sure if she would be able or permitted to catch her, she was glad to have made a new friend.

I-I-x-*0-0-0*-x-I-I

(A/N: So, what do you think of it so far? I know, it's not 'the best story ever' (and I don't want to hear the complaints about how I'm 'the most irresponsible author in the world' because I'm starting yet another story), but it's still in the early stages, give it a little time.

I'm hoping this goes well and I want to show you what I have planned. If you want to know, stick around, wait and see.)