Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pokemon characters except the ones I have made up in this story.

AN: Thanks to the people who have reviewed. I've taken some of your suggestions into consideration and made some changes to chapters two and three.

For people who criticised the names I use in this story, I can assure you they all exist (and some are quite popular) except Rideich. Also, Alyssandra will be joining Kamari on her journey, so her personality is important to the story.

I hope everyone likes the changes, and please continue to review.

Prologue

The World of Pokemon

A quick description of the differences in this world compared to the Pokemon series. Not all pokemon hatch from eggs – some are born (eg like Eevees, Poochyenas etc). Also, pokemon are a little like pets in the real world. You have to get them vaccinated and if you catch or own a pokemon, you have to be registered as a pokemon trainer (which is expensive, so this is one of the reasons Kamari can't afford a pokemon). Every time you get a new pokemon, you go to a Pokemon Centre and get your registration updated, so it keeps a list of all your pokemon, and your details.

When you register, you are given 5000 points on your pokedex. This allows you to use the points in battle (kind of like a bet), so you can gain more points or lose points. You can also use the points to buy food at various cafes etc, get your pokemon healed at a Pokecentre, grab a room for a night at a Pokecentre, and buy pokemon products. If you run out of points, you go into the negative, where you owe the Pokemon corporation money – although most people don't have this problem, because you can purchase more points for cold hard cash anyway.

Chapter One: Left out

Kamari was a typical 14-year-old; she was prone to mood swings, pokemon crazy, and enjoyed doing not-a-hell-of-a-lot on weekends. Except, unlike everyone in her year level, she didn't own a pokemon. While this bothered Kamari, she had learnt to deal with the fact her family was in financial difficulty, and couldn't afford her registration fee or pokemon vaccinations. They never used to be. Kamari still remembered a time when she had all the toys she could ever dream of and a huge room of her own.

But all that changed just before Kamari's ninth birthday.

Kamari's father, Rideich, worked for the Silph Corporation in a cushy job as one of the executives. He had worked his way up in the company until his promotion to executive five years before. Kamari's older brother, Ellis, and older sister, Tamara, had each received their own pokemon from the local pokemon breeder in Saffron City when they turned 10, as did most children.

Her brother had chosen a Growlithe, a fire-type pokemon. Kamari thought his choice was excellent, as it matched his fiery temper. Ellis never really wanted to be a trainer, preferring instead to work in law enforcement with his Growlithe, Inferno, as his partner. He had left home to begin his training in the local academy when he was 12, and Kamari eight. He had travelled to the Hoenn region in the second year of his training, as the area was in great need of more law enforcement officers. His decision hadn't been hard – he was enticed with a rather large salary, much higher than it would be had he stayed in Kanto with Kamari and her mother.

Tamara on the other hand had chosen an Azurill, a playful water pokemon, which also reflected her bubbly personality. Tamara had worked hard to train up her Azurill, Bounce, until, she had told her family in a recent letter home, it had evolved into a Marill just weeks ago. Tamara had left home on her tenth birthday - when Kamari was five - to become a great pokemon trainer. She was currently training under the supervision of gym leader Misty, and her rigorous schedule meant she rarely had a chance to visit home.

So Ellis and Tamara had left home just before everything erupted. They had their pokemon, they had their careers mapped out, and they were off surviving on their own. As the youngest, Kamari was a little jealous. She had loved playing with her siblings' pokemon, but had relished in the fact that, in just over a year, she would have had her own – until that fateful afternoon on September 17, shortly before her ninth birthday.

Kamari had arrived home from school to find her mother and father arguing with two police officers. She hid in the garden, not wanting to find out what was happening, afraid it was something awful. She stayed there for what could have been minutes or hours, hearing the rise and fall of angry voices, until she heard the police car drive away.

Creeping into the house, Kamari found her mother sobbing in the kitchen.

Her father had been arrested for embezzling almost 300,000 from the Silph Corporation.

Kamari's world turned upside down in a matter of weeks. Her father was jailed for ten years, and Kamari and her mother had to move out of their lavish house into a tiny, two-bedroom apartment. The debt collectors had come and taken almost everything. The only things Kamari had left were her old bed, chest of drawers, clothing, and a few toys, including her stuffed Eevee doll, given to her by her Dad when she was born.

Her birthday was overlooked that year – no real surprise given everything that was happening. Her mother began working full-time as a waitress in a nearby restaurant, the first job she had held in years.

Kamari helped out every now and then by donating her casual earnings from baby-sitting to her mother to help furnish the little apartment. When Kamari's tenth birthday came around, she still had the faint hope that her mother would buy her a pokemon. But instead on her birthday, her mum gave her a cake she had baked herself. It wasn't a particularly magnificent looking cake. In fact, it was rather messy, with chocolate icing dripping down the sides, and "Happy Birthday Kami" spelled out in wonky smarties on top. But her mum had looked so hopeful when she presented Kamari with the cake that Kamari swallowed her disappointment, and said, "Wow Mum, that looks great!", and proceeded to eat the whole thing – which surprisingly tasted pretty good.

"I'm sorry Kami," said her mum had said sadly. "I know you wanted a pokemon for your birthday, but I just couldn't afford it. I'm still trying to pay off your father's debts."

Kamari had looked up at her mother with her hazel eyes.

"It's okay mum. Maybe next year." And she smiled at her mum, who gave her a grateful smile in return. Kamari had used that line every year now when her mother apologised for not being able to afford a pokemon for her. But Kamari was used to it now. Instead she filled her days with school (and didn't skip class too many times, since her mother's hard earned money was paying for her learning), and hanging out with friends.

Since her family had become poor, Kamari had changed schools, and many people at her new public school had looked down on her because of her father's preceding reputation. But she did have two good friends. One was Jamieson, who had been her friend since they were both little. Their parents were great friends, and Jamieson's dad also worked in Silph Co. Both Jamieson's parents had continued to support Kamari's mum during the whole embezzlement ordeal.

But Jamieson had been gone for a while now. He'd been given a Poochyena for his tenth birthday, and, like Kamari was desperate to do, went off to become a pokemon trainer. Every few months he returned home, so Kamari still had a chance to see him. Plus he was actually good at writing letters, and his anecdotes about his travels continued to keep Kamari amused.

Her other best friend was Alyssandra, whose mother is Nurse Joy of The Saffron City Pokemon Centre.

Alyssandra said her mum was sick of having to look exactly like every other Nurse Joy, and be lumped with the same name – hence the reason she named Alyssandra the way she did. Alyssandra still had bright pink hair, but never wore it in the traditional Nurse Joy fashion. Nurse Joy also opened the first Pokemon Adoption Centre (PAC), where injured, maltreated or dumped pokemon were taken to be cared for and found a home. Kamari loved going to the adoption agency and helping Alyssandra with her chores on the weekend.

Alyssandra turned 14 before Kamari did – by about 3 months. She was the only other person who also didn't have a pokemon up until then – but since she lived around and cared for pokemon her whole life, it didn't really matter.

But for her fourteenth birthday, Nurse Joy gave her a baby Skitty from a litter that had been dumped on the Pokemon Centre's doorstep some weeks before. Again, Alyssandra confided in Kamari, her mum didn't want to give her a Chansey in the expectation she would follow in the family's footsteps.

With Alyssandra's new pokemon came a loneliness Kamari had felt so many times before. She so desperately wanted a pokemon, and had tried to suppress the feeling, knowing it was silly to dwell on something that was so obviously not going to happen. Alessandra had been the only other person Kamari knew her age without a pokemon, until now.

The afternoon Alyssandra told her about the new Skitty, Kamari had walked home through the woods alone, crying softly and drying her face every so often with strands of her long copper hair.

AN: Well that's it for chapter one. Hope you are all enjoying it so far! Please, read on and review! I'd also like to hear what some readers' favourite pokemon are - who knows, I may include them in the story!