First off I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year. Hopefully 2016 will he better than 2015. I'll try to be more consistent with uploading these chapters this year. Anyway, on with the chapter.
It was nighttime, our three trainers had set up their tents and we're sitting in front of a campfire. Diego was shining his new badge, Renée was looking up at the stars and Julia was looking at the fire. Suddenly Renée stood up and spoke.
"Look, I know you guys are Stull bummed about everything that's been going on, but let's try to stay positive ok? He'll come back!"
"It's been two weeks sis, if he wanted to come back he would've come back by now." Julia replied.
"Plus Kanto is a huge region. He could be anywhere." Diego added. He put away his badge and fell back into the ground, looking at the stars. "Y'know, on nights like these... it makes me look back to when we all met."
Years ago, in the Vermillion Pokemon Academy, all of the incoming students were meeting up in the auditorium. Students were sitting down at several tables around the room and Diego didn't know where to sit, he saw an empty table and took a seat there. At the time he wasn't as social as he is currently. Diego himself looked much different, he wore a dark red buttoned shirt and khaki pants, he didn't really want to wear those clothes but his mother insisted that he did.
Two girls approached the table Diego was sitting, they both had familiar blond hair and wore clothes similar to their current clothes.
"Hi, do you mind if we sit here?" The girl with blue eyes asked.
"Oh, um I don't mind." Diego answered, scooting over a little bit.
"I'm Julia and this is my sister Renée!" Julia introduced.
"My name's Diego." Diego answered, still a little bit uncomfortable. Another boy approached the table he seemed excited to see Diego.
"Diego? What's up man! It's been years!"
Diego turned to see the boy and looked just as excited.
"Jack! I didn't think I'd see you here of all places, what's up!" Diego said giving Jack a fist bump.
"Oh do you two know each other? Great! We can all be friends together!" Julia said cheerfully, Jack fell silent when he saw her.
"You were so scared of coming here sis, but look at you now!" Renée chuckled. Julia laughed with her before remembering she didn't introduce herself to Jack.
"Oh! I almost forgot, my name is Julia and this is my sister Renée. It's nice too meet you!" Julia greeted shaking Jack's hand. Julia didn't notice it, but Jack blushed when she shook his hand, but Diego and her sister did notice. Renée even raised an eyebrow in intrigue when she noticed it.
"Yeah, it's nice to remember how we all met. We became friends so quickly." Julia said before thinking about something. "Hey, how did you and Jack meet anyway?"
"Yeah, you looked like you two knew each other before meeting each other at the academy." Renée added.
"Hehe, we'll we actually met because of our parents." Diego answered.
Years before arriving at the Academy, Diego and his parents and older sister were heading towards Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region. After landing, the father's of the two boys left to work on something. Their mothers wasted no time in starting a conversation with each other. Jack's mother noticed that Jack was hiding behind her.
"Jack, why don't you meet a friend of mine. She even brought a little friend you can play with!"
Jack nervously looked at Diego's mom and then at Diego himself. Diego skin was much lighter than it currently is, he was wearing a Treecko shirt and blue pants while Jack wore a white shirt and grey pants. Diego waved to Jack who waved back at him.
A few years later, Diego's mom was talking to Jack's father over a video phone.
"Thanks again for letting Diego and Janie stay with you over the summer."
"Oh its no trouble!" Jack's dad replied. "Diego's a nice kid and he seems to really love being here. We'll take good care of him."
"Thank you so much. It's too dangerous to bring them along with us to Snowpoint Temple."
"I understand, I hope the exploration goes well. We're going through a bit of a heat wave here in Hoenn, so I'm taking everyone to the beach."
"Alright, tell them I said hello!" Diego's mom said before ending the call. At the beach, Jack and Janie were going to get something to drink.
"Hey Diego, we're going to the Seashore House. Do you want anything?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, can you get me a soda please?" Diego asked.
"Don't be lazy, come with us!" Janie responded.
"But I wanna play some more!" Diego argued.
"Ugh, you're such a kid!" Janie groaned. "Come on Jack, let's go."
After getting their drinks, Jack and Janie returned to see Diego much more tanned. He wasn't sunburned, but his skin was much more tan to the point where he and Janie no longer looked related. Jack's parents looked concerned as well.
"Well that explains why you look so different from your mom and sister." Renée noted.
"Hehe yeah, they took me to a doctor to make sure I was ok. They said that the sun light completely changed the levels of melanin in my skin. It isn't a major health concern but my skin is now permanently tan." Diego explained.
"Wow, I can't believe you never told us this." Julia said, pouting a little bit.
"I can't believe you never asked." Diego chuckled.
The three of them all shared a laugh at this.
"Hey, speaking of Hoenn. Remember when you and Jack went to Hoenn last summer? You showed us some pictures of your trip and there was a little girl there. Who was she?" Julia asked.
"Oh, that was Jack's little sister, Sunny. She's pretty shy around people so when my family goes to Hoenn, she stays with Jack's grandparents." Diego answered.
"Oh, well I suppose that makes sense..." Renée stated.
"But enough about me and Jack, what did you two whenever we weren't in a group?" Diego asked.
"Oh, us? Well besides spending time with our family back home, our Aunt Cynthia takes us to the Sinnoh region. We've been all over the region, from Stark Mountain to Mount Coronet to even the Old Chateau!" Renée explained.
"P-please don't mention the Old Chateau. I hated that place!" Julia said, she was shivering in fear.
"Hehe, sorry sis. I forgot you're still scared of Ghost pokemon." Renée said.
"Well I know you still hate Bug type pokemon!" Julia retaliated.
"Y'know, I don't think I'm really scared of Bug pokemon anymore. Being with Larvesta and Joltik made me realize that Bugs aren't all that bad." Renée admitted.
"Wait so if you've been to Sinnoh then that means you two have met Professor Rowan, right?" Diego asked, to which the twins nodded. "That's awesome! I always wanted to meet him! I always wanted a Torterra and he gives them to trainers who start in Sinnoh. I wish I could have one!"
"Well maybe you'll get one someday." Renée said.
"Hehehe, you sound just like you did during our time in school." Julia laughed.
Months after meeting for the first time, the group and their classmates were currently in their first year of classes.
"Before we begin today's lesson class, I'd like to ask you a question. What would you like to do once you graduate from the academy?" The teacher asked.
"I wanna take on the Kanto League and I'll win too!" Diego answered almost immediately.
"Well you're not the only one who wants to be the champion!" Shade responded.
"He's right, if you truly want to become the champion then you will have to beat all of us first." Celeste added.
"More than half of the class wants to be the champion Diego." Jack said. "If you want to win then you'll have to get through all of us!"
Diego didn't look intimidated in the slightest.
"Oh yeah? Well I'll battle all of you!" Diego proclaimed.
"Heh, I guess I do sound like I did back then." Diego admitted. "But I still go by what I said, I'm not going to give up until I win. But even if I don't win the Kanto League then I'll go and challenge other leagues. I won't give up and I'll be the champion!"
"Good for you Diego! You keep pushing yourself and striving to achieve your dreams. That's really something to admire!" Renée said with a smile. Diego chuckled and look proud of himself.
"Hey guys..." Julia said. Getting the attention of Diego and her sister. "If Jack really is out there right now, where do you think he is?"
They pondered for a moment before Diego came to a conclusion.
"Well knowing him he must be trying to lay low and keep out of the open." Diego said.
"Maybe he would make some sort of disguise?" Renée questioned.
"Disguise..." Diego repeated. Julia then seemed to realize something.
"Wait! That trainer we met back in the Lavender Town Gym! He never took his mask off the entire time and he seemed to order his pokemon to attack without even speaking!" Julia noted.
"Speaking of his pokemon, they seemed really familiar didn't they?" Renée added.
"That must be Jack! And if that's him then my brother must be with him!" A voice exclaimed. The three of them looked around to find where the voice came from.
"Who's there?" Diego asked, getting one of his pokeballs ready just in case.
"Ah, it seems like we've finally established a connection." A different voice said. "Don't be alarmed, it's us; Psyduck and Kirlia."
"What? How are you two talking to us, pokemon can't normally speak." Renée said in shock.
"True, but Psychic type pokemon can communicate with their trainers if they establish a telekinetic connection that is powerful enough. However I am unfortunately not yet powerful enough to establish a connection due to the fact that I lose focus due to my frequent headaches." Psyduck explained. "However I was able to connect with Kirlia, who helped me connect to the rest of you. Now that we have established a connection, we should be able to communicate with you freely from now on."
"That's amazing!" Julia said in awe.
"So now you can talk to us telepathically whenever you want to?" Diego asked.
"Yup! But you don't have to physically speak, you can talk to us using your kind!" Kirlia answered. "And we're not the only ones you can talk to either."
"You can communicate with any of the pokemon you currently have. But back to the point, if your friend is collecting gym badges despite his current situation, then he is most likely heading to the next pokemon gym, wherever it may be." Psyduck said.
"So he must be heading south to Fuchsia City." Renée stated.
"So you now know where you are going. Good. For now I suggest getting some rest as you will need it to continue your journey." Psyduck replied.
"Yeah, it's getting kind of late. I guess we'll head off in the morning." Julia said, the group headed off to bed.
End of Chapter! Sorry if this chapter took a turn for the weird towards the end, but I wanted to further the plot a little bit as its going to be picking up a lot coming up in the story. But for now I hope you enjoyed and will look forward to chapter 50.
