Disclaimer-Pokemon is not mine. The characters do not belong to me

"Only a couple more hours until you get to start your travels, are you excited?" Deliah asks Giovanni.

"I'd like you to come with me." he says.

This was unexpected, she thought. He'd never mentioned it before.

"Really? I'd like to, but I wouldn't want to be in the way." she says.

He takes her hands and looks her in the eyes.

"You wouldn't be. What do you say?" he asks.

She embraces him. "Of course I'll go!" she says.

Putting his hands on her hips, he leaned towards her and took her lips in a sweet, sensual kiss. She lost herself in his embrace, not wanting to be anywhere else.

Some people think I'm crazy for loving Giovanni, but they don't know him like I do, she thought. He may put on an aggressive front, but he had never been anything but loving towards her. They had only been seeing each other for a couple months, but she knew from the moment they met, they would be together.

It had been Samuel that had introduced them. He was the most skeptical of all. She remembered the day that she had told him that she and Giovanni had gotten together.

"I hope you know what you're doing. I don't want you to get hurt." Samuel had told her.

He had been so concerned, but she had promised him that she would be alright. She had even been there when he had caught his Machop. I believe in him, she thought, looking up into his eyes. He smiled too, as though he understood...



"I can't wait for Professor Fir to arrive. I wonder what the starter Pokemon will be this year?" a boy asks.

"I heard Giovanni already has a super rod and twenty ultra balls. He's awesome!" another says.

A few other teens nodded, agreeing with him. Samuel couldn't believe how big the crowd was this year to get starter Pokemon. He smiled, thinking of this. He had worked many summers volunteering at the Professor's lab in Pallet Town in the Kanto region. For years, trainers had recieved their first Pokemon there. He looked up to the Professor for giving him the chance to care for all the various Pokemon there.

"You're the most studious young man I've ever had work for me. I predict great things for you if you stay the course." Professor Fir had said.

"I won't get distracted, I promise." Samuel told him.

The crowd hushed quickly as Professor Fir made his appearance to a round of applause.

"Thank you, everyone. For those of you that do not know me, my name is Professor Highland Fir. I am the person that you will recieve your starter Pokemon from. I see lots of familiar faces out there, along with some new ones. May I be the first to congratulate all of you and wish you luck on your Pokemon journeys." he says.

He wasted no time getting as many trainers as possible registered and handed out their Pokemon. Samuel tried to distract himself from the loud beating of his heart from his excitement.

"it's almost your turn." a voice said behind him.

He turned around to face Deliah.

"What are you doing here? I didn't know you were training too." he says.

"I'm not. I came to find you. I wanted to wish you good luck." she says.

"Thanks. I am a little nervous, but I'm excited, too. What are you going to do while Giovanni's gone?" he asks.

"Actually, he asked me to go with him. I didn't want to miss all the fun everyone's having, so I decided to go." she says.

"Okay, Deliah. Just be careful out there, okay?" he says.

She kisses his cheek, lingering for a moment. "You're so sweet. I promise I'll be careful." she says.

She leaves, him touching his cheek where she had kissed him.

"Blushing, Samuel? You must have just had an encounter with Deliah. People are going to think you like her or something." his friend teased.

It was his friend William Westwood the fifth, a fellow lab volunteeer.

"Hey! I haven't seen you since last summer! How's it going?" Samuel asks.

"Great! My Slowpoke and I are making great progress. I still haven't caught a Shellder to help him evolve. I kinda like him the way he is." he says.

"I wish I would have known you would be here. I would of brought some treats that Agatha and I made together a few nights ago." Samuel says.



Tired of showing off his Pokemon to all the trainers outside, Giovanni sat down for a moment to take inventory of all the things he had packed for his trip.

"Hello, young man." a voice says.

He looked up quickly to see the most incredible woman he'd ever seen. She had to be at least six feet tall, with waist-length red hair and a slender build.

"Do I know you?" he asks.

"I'm sure you're going to want to. My name is Mei. You seem like a healthy young man." she says.

"Are you going to get to the point?" he asks.

She laughed. "Feisty, too. I like that. I think you'd make a great addition to my team." she says.

He stood then. "I'm not about to take orders from the likes of you. Whatever you're offering, I'm not interested." he tells her.

She bends over to face him, giving him a full view of her heavy bosom.

"Here's my card. Maybe you'll reconsider." she says.

He watched her leave, throwing the card into a puddle on the ground. He walked away as well, the bold lettering on her card fading away, enblazoned with the letters TR...







Samuel had been surprised when Professor Fir had waited until everyone had left to escort him outside to where he let all his Pokemon run free.

"Considering how much you have loved and cared for my Pokemon every summer, I thought I would reward you by letting you take that baby Pokemon you cared for last summer as your starter." he says.

"You mean that baby Kangashakan?" he asks.

"Yes. She's no longer a baby, but she's still young. I think I can trust you to be a good trainer for her." he says.

Samuel smiled as Fir handed him his first pokeball. "Thank you, Professor." he says.

Professor Fir smiled. "Take good care of her, young man, and good luck to you." the Professor says.



"Some woman wanted you to join her organization? What did you say?" Deliah asks.

"I said no, of course. If I'm ever a member of some organization, it'll be because I'm it's leader. I'd like to show what my parents got me for my travels." Giovanni says.

He led her to the garage where he uncovered a small moped.

"What do you think? Now we won't have to walk." he says.

She embraces him. "This is so great, Giovanni. We're going to have a great time." she says.

He smiled at her, taking her into his arms for a long, passionate kiss. She pressed her body against him.

"I'm so glad you decided to come with me, Deliah." he says.

She smiled at him. "I am too." she says.

He kissed her again. this time with a little more urgency. She lost herself in his embrace and the excitement of what was to come...



"Which Pokemon did you get as your starter?" a friend asks Samuel.

Agatha had come to say goodbye to Samuel before he left, and had brought their friend Joseph Sequoia with her. He too, had worked with him at the Professor's lab for many summers and was looking forward to resuming his training as well.

"He let me have the baby Kangashakan I cared for last summer." Samuel says.

"He must really think you'll suceed if he gave you that one. Kangashakan are hard to train. I'm envious." he says.

"I think she's already tame too. I remember how hard it was for you to tame your Charmander." he says.

"Yeah. He just evolved to Charmeleon a couple months ago. Do you want to see him?" he asks.

"Yeah. We can introduce them to each other." he says.

They both pulled out their pokeballs. "Okay." Samuel says.

They both release their Pokemon, who appeared with a cry.

"Kangash!" Samuel's Pokemon roared.

He offers her two pieces of Pokemon food that Agatha had brought. She ate it happily.

"Take the other piece and offer it to Joesph's Pokemon." he tells her.

She goes over to the orange dragon, offering him the treat. He accepts and uses his Ember attack to cook it a little, offering her half of his.

"Your Charmeleon is really nice. Thank you." Samuel says.

"I've never seen him do that before. That's really cool." he says.





They both recalled their Pokemon.

"I guess I'll see you soon, Samuel. Goodbye, Agatha." he says.

They watch him leave. Samuel and Agatha look at each other for a moment before they embrace, holding each other tightly.

"i'm going to miss you, Samuel. Be sure to stay in touch." Agatha says.

"I will. I'll write as often as I can, and write down everything that happens on my travels." Samuel says.



There's no place I'd rather be than here relaxing under the night sky with the one I love, Deliah thought. The stars were so beautiful and romantic. She was so caught up in her stargazing that she didn't notice that Giovanni was leaning over her.

"Oh! You startled me." she says.

"Sorry. You just looked so pretty staring off like that. I've always done that too, lose myself in the stars." he says.

"Isn't that night sky romantic? It's so beautiful." she says.

"Not as beautiful as you." he says.

He takes her into his arms and holds her close. She smiled and curled up close enough to him to be able to hear his heartbeat. She loved being close to him, and she could tell he felt the same way.