Master of the Elements

Chapter 1

A Delayed Start

A pair of bright blue eyes followed a magnificent white cloud lolling across the deep azure sky. The cloud seemed to be building up but Sky knew it wouldn't last and would die off in a few minutes. The girl was sitting in her favorite spot on the rocking bench, which was against her house facing west, in her backyard, which was almost completely covered in different flowers and plants. The yard was situated west of her house, which faced the other way. So sunsets were the most beautiful out here sitting on the bench. Her feet, which were mostly obscured by her blue jeans, grazed the grass as she straightened out her gray t-shirt that was too big for her size. A thin lock of dirty blonde hair fell across her face and she brushed it aside with an almost spider-like hand. Her wavy hair flowed wildly down her back and was always kept behind her ears, making them protrude a bit more away from her head. She was small, but scrawny small. Like she had been starved and had only recently been eating. But Sky had been like this almost her whole life. Her mom could never find the right fitting shirt and jeans. But she didn't mind. She liked baggy jeans and t-shirts. It made her feel more at home.

Sky took her eyes off the cloud and looked around, admiring the little gardens around her. On either side of her bench there were gardens full of delicate flowers and berries that had medical properties. There were a couple of small trees inside of the wooden fence around the yard and another garden across from her against the fence before a large forest that stretched for miles. Sky loved this garden the most out of the three because it had a small pond where her mom would sometimes let her Pokemon swim in. This morning, only Glow, her mom's Lanturn, swam in the shallow clear water. Sky watched its blue fin sway back and forth before she switched her attention back to the clouds above.

Sky just loved watching clouds roll by, looking for funny shapes or just gazing at its talent of creating so many different kinds of clouds. But what she loved the most about clouds is how one moment they could be cute and cuddly but the next transform into a powerful thunderstorm that would create hundreds of intense lightning bolts that would, a few seconds later, let off thunder that would vibrate across the air and make your bones quiver with not only sound waves, but with excitement. And the downpours the thunderstorm generated were the best to run through, splashing in yard wide puddles and getting completely soaked so it would feel like you're swimming through the town.

The forecaster this morning did say there was a chance of thunderstorms all today but Sky hadn't seen any build up yet. It would be awesome, though, to have thunderstorms on her first day of her Pokemon journey, if she passed the test first. At that moment, Sky quickly lifted her right arm and looked at her digital watch. 8:43 AM. Sky sighed with relief. I've got time. The tests didn't start until nine o'clock. So, only seventeen minutes until death toll. Oh, you'll be fine, Sky thought, though she was still a little scared of being with so many older kids. Just because you're not ten yet doesn't mean you're stupid. Yes, that was true, but it didn't help the butterflies in her stomach. And since her birthday was on September eighth, it would mean that she would have to wait for the test next year, which was held every September first. But her mom had talked with Prof. Birch and he agreed to let Sky in, just because he was nice, so her mother said. She had been homeschooled by her mom so she was at the same level as the other kids, but Sky knew that the main reason why she could take the test early was because her mom had been friends with Prof. Birch for as long as she could remember. It was also the reason that her father had been friends with him since his childhood, because he stayed with Prof. Birch's parents for his own Pokemon journey, though Sky didn't know why. She always wondered what her father had been like and what he had done before he died.

Don't go there, said a strong voice in her head. You know everytime you do, you get all blubbery and run to your room like a baby. But another weaker voice answered Yea? So what? Maybe I like being a little crybaby. But Sky new better. She could already feel tears welling up. Why did this always happen? She wished it wouldn't. Why couldn't she be brave like the rest of her family? Come on, she's suppose to be part of a celebrated lineage and she cries everytime she thinks of her dad because he isn't there anymore?

Sky knew she was the weak link in the family. Her father had been a famous Dragon Master, her mom was one of the strongest Kanto trainers of her time, her grandfather on her mom's side was a gym leader in Hoenn while the grandfather on her father's side had been an even stronger Dragon Master than her father, himself, and her brother had gone alone into Johto when he was only ten and has already challenged the Elite Four more than once. But one thing that kept her happy was that her brother still hadn't beat Lance, the Champion of both Kanto and Johto, and he had been there for almost nine years. Lance had also been one of her father's good friends and they had both trained under the same master. And what was she? A blubbering baby who was afraid of hurting anybody, including Pokemon, and who only had the talent in arts. The only thing that made her want to become a Pokemon Trainer was for the fact she wanted to show them wrong and that she could also be like her father. But the only things she could do was read, draw, and sit outside with nature. Hmph. Some brave Pokemon Trainer you'll be. But she did like one thing a lot about herself. It was her name. Sky Amaya Draknoir. She didn't really know what her last name meant but she knew that Amaya meant something like "night rain". And from what her mom told her, her father had picked her first name, though she didn't know why he had picked "sky".

Sky looked down again and to her right where a large blue book sat. She picked it up and looked at it's cover. Eragon. Sky loved this book, though mainly because it had a dragon in it named Saphira. If she had a dragon Pokemon, she would name it that. She just adored dragons. Another reason why she admired her father so much. Brave, loyal, and awesomely strong. And what she liked to say about them was that dragons are "silently powerful". Oh, but if she could be a Dragon Master like her father then she would be around dragon Pokemon all the time. But she knew that would never happen because again, she was a blubbering baby. No, a blubbering baby that hadn't eaten anything for days. Oh well, she did like water, electric, and even dark Pokemon very much, too. But not as much as dragon Pokemon. Maybe she could try for Water Master since her dad also specialized in water type if she got to pass that test...

"Sky! Are you ready to go? You have to leave in five minutes so you better be prepared!" called her mom from the small kitchen window right above her head. Sky jumped and quickly looked at her watch as Eragon dropped back onto the bench. 8:51 AM. I've still got time. She did this everytime. Thinking she has time left but becomes late. It's only a few steps away, anyway. Almost everything in Littleroot Town was a few steps away. There was only four buildings there in the first place. She still couldn't see how this could be called a town. One was her house, which had been built by her parents before she was born and sat on the very west side of town; there was the Pokemon lab where Prof. Birch held some of his studies and it was on the southeast side; May's house which was the northeast part; and Brendan's house, which was just north of her house. Both May and Brendan started their journey last year. May had gone with some other people whom she didn't catch the names of and Brendan having taken a more researching journey than the gym-beating one. He wanted to become like his father, Prof. Birch, who was a Pokemon Researcher. She hadn't really gotten to know them because for one, she was usually stuck up in her room or out here playing with her mom's Pokemon or just reading, and two, Brendan was always with his father researching and May was always stuck up in her own room, doing stuff Sky didn't want to know about. Out of the two, she knew Brendan better since they could see each other from their yards and so he would talk to her occasionly. When that happened, Sky would always get shy and would try to cut the conversation short. Now, with them gone, things were always quite. But she kind of liked it better because it was more peaceful when she came out here. But this morning, since the test is to take place today, there were around ten kids here to take it, a lot more than the usual amount. She had all morning been pearing through the wooden planks of the fence trying to get a glimpse of the new strangers that had come from all around Hoenn. They had probably gotten up really early to reach the larger town next to theirs, Oldale Town, to get here in time. They were now all in the lab getting ready for the test. But since she was only a few yards away, she didn't have to leave as early as them.

Her mom, who was wearing her apron on top of a baggy t-shirt and a pair of wide high-waters, burst out of the living room slide door.

"Sky! Do you realize what time it is!? You're going to be late! I can't always be there to remind you!" she yelled, dashing back into the house. Sky fell out of the bench over the exersion of trying to stand up fast and quickly got up to run into the house. She swore under her breathe as she glanced at her watch and passed through the glass slide doors. 8:58 AM. Great, she did it yet again. She sprinted into the kitchen, her blonde hair streaming behind her, where her mom was grabbing her shoes, and up the stairs where she ran through her door which sat right infront of the end of the stairs. With her heart beating fifty miles per hour, she ripped open her dresser and snatched a pair of socks before she turned around to sprint back down the stairs. Sky seized the bag her mom was holding as she flopped down infront of the door to put on her shoes which were placed there by her mom.

"Why do you do this all the time? You know I can't help you everytime you have something going on. If you're going to become a Pokemon Trainer, you better start acting like one!" scorned her mom as she watched her daughter stuff her shoes on.

"I know, I know. I just always think the time isn't going to fly by that fast!" Sky said as she sprung up to open the door which was already opened by her mom.

"Just worry about passing that test," smiled her mom as she gave a quick hug to Sky before she ran out the door. She watched a moment before closing it again, reminding her of a little girl who used to do the same thing.

---

Sky raced across the grass as a million things ran through her head. She was furious with herself for letting this happen yet she was also shaking with nervousness as she got closer to the big white building that was facing south. Oh, if she could just wring her own neck and-

"AAARGH!!" Sky tripped and fell, sprawling onto the ground with an aching knee, hand and toe. What the heck did she trip on? Whatever it was, it was harder then heck. It felt like it broke her toe. She inspected her skinned hand and brused knee which throbbed with pain. She then quickly sat up and turned around to find her new found enemy, when she saw it.

"What the..." Sky crawled over to where something dirt covered protruded. It looked like it was burried deeper than it looked, so she found another rock lying aside and started to get digging. It was even deeper and bigger than she thought. After a few pain staking moments, she finally pulled the rock out, which was about two fists big and ovalish, yet it didn't look like a rock in a way...

"So, it looks like I'm not the only one late." Sky jumped so badly she almost dropped the rock. Quickly getting up and turned around, she found she was facing a boy a little older than her, though definitely bigger, that was staring at her with a slight interest. She was shocked by his appearance. She hadn't seen him out of the group of kids this morning. He was wearing some sort of red sleeveless shirt with black trims and part of a black fire around the collar. He had a pair of large, black baggy pants with bulky pockets that almost obscured his black and red shoes where the pants were rolled up to expose a grey underneath. A small black bag with a grey strap that buckled behind his back hung around his hips. But what surprised her the most was his bright red hair that stuck up and back with two broad bangs that hung on either side of his eyes. And his eyes, as she looked at them, were dark brown with red, thick eyebrows forming a scowl, yet he was slightly smiling at her.

"What are you doing, anyway? Digging up treasure?" The boy sniggered at his own lame joke.

"No, I'm going to Prof. Birch's lab to take the Pokemon test," said Sky proudly, straightening her back to look taller and still holding the rock between her arms.

"You? But you're only, like, eight! Are you joking with me, or what? I don't need jokes right now. I, unlike you, am really going to take that test my stupid uncle is giving me," replied the boy, who had a trace of annoyance now in his face. "I am to taking that test! It's just I'm only nine, but my birthday is coming up in a few days so Prof. Birch let me come this year instead of the next. And I'm not joking, either!" Sky retorted, turning red out of embarassment.

"Whatever. Just don't get in my way, even if you really are telling the truth." Sky hunched her shoulders in anger as the boy was about to turn around, but he suddenly caught eye of the rock she was holding. Before Sky could protect it, the boy had snatched the rock out of her arms.

"What's this? Your treasure?" the boy laughed as he watched Sky frantically trying to get the rock back in vain as he held it out of her reach. When Sky gave up, he held it closer for examination.

"What the heck? This is just a cruddy old rock covered in mud. You can have it back, since it looks like you really need the treasure," he said, giving Sky a taunting look and tossing the egg back to her, making her leap to catch it. But after she secured the rock back in her arms, she caught what he had just said.

"Hey! What the heck is your problem, you jer-" but the boy held up his hand as Sky came towards him, halting her.

"Save your breath. I've got to go take a test and I don't want to be late because of you. Well, see you later, treasure digger," said the boy as he left Sky, angry with fustration, heading towards the white building.

"Ooo, if I ever meet him again, I'll give him something to think about..." but before Sky could mull over what she could do to the boy that would make him pay, she remembered she was already late as it is. Cursing under her breath, she stuffed the rock into her bag to look at later, hastily wiped her dirty hands on her already grass-stained pants, and hurried to the white building, after the boy with red hair.

---

Sky quietly opened the large brown door to face the hunched backs of around ten kids in school desks, all bent over their tests in concentration, in the middle of the large room. The room held cabinets full of books on Pokemon, desks covered in papers and computers around the edge of the room, boxes stacked here and there around the test taking students, and a large red and white orb-like machine, which sat in the middle of the right side of the room. As she walked in, she noticed the red haired boy talking quietly to a stocky man around his thirties with short, brown hair with a thin beard, wearing a lab coat over a green shirt and a pair of tan shorts, who was infront of the school desks, watching over them as they took the tests. Prof. Birch nodded and walked over to his desk, which sat close behind the orb machine, and grabbed a stack of papers, handing one of them to the red haired boy and pointing to an empty chair near the front. As the boy sat down, Sky noiselessly walked over to the professor, fearful of the kids as a few of them looked up to see who she was. She wished she could have cleaned herself up better before she came in. Prof. Birch, noticing the kids were getting distracted, saw Sky walking over and he came to meet her.

"Late again?" he whispered to Sky as he smiled warmly and handed a test to her. She smiled weakly back to him as he pointed to a desk next to the red haired boy that was also abandoned. Oh no, not him again. As she walked over to take her seat, the boy looked up. Satisfied with his surprised look, she sat down and looked at the clock infront of the room and cringed. 9:11 AM. Wow, she was really late this time. Wasting no more time, she bent down to get started on her test and read the first question.

1. What is the object that is round with a red top, white bottom, and a white button in the middle that opens it up called?

A. Pokiball

B. Pokesphere

C. Pokeball

D. A round ball

Wow, are they all this easy? she asked herself as she circled the letter "C" with the pencil that was laying there beforehand.

2. What color is a Potion?

A. Pink

B. Purple

C. Red

D. Blue

That's more like it, she said to herself as she circled the letter "B" and went on to the next question. The rest were not that difficult but made her think for a bit. But when she was on question thirteen, she saw that the red haired boy was rising from his chair, already finished with his test. How'd he get done so fast? But as she took a quick look around the room, she noticed that most of the other kids were already done and another kid was already getting up with his finished test. He wasn't fast, I'm super slow! But as she kept on watching the kid and the red-haired boy, she noticed that they gave their tests to Prof. Birch, who was sitting behind his desk, and started to grade them. In less than a minute, he gave them back, smiling, and beckoned them both to the red and white machine where he pressed a button and four Pokeballs which were sitting in the middle were revealed. He pointed to three of them and the red haired boy immediately grabbed one as the other boy reached for another. But before the red haired boy left, the professor held him back and told him something. But all that Sky could think of was two left. She looked around the room. There were three people left taking their test in the room. Sky started to panic. She had wasted so much time looking at everybody.

Hurryingly trying to finish her test before the other two, even though she knew it was useless, Sky sped through the last of the questions, but still trying to do so with flying colors. But on the twentieth question, a girl got up, finished. Then on the twenty-third question, the last boy rose up and walked over to Prof. Birch. He ran his hand through his brown hair nervously as he waited for the professor to finish grading. Fail, fail, fail, fail... But he didn't fail. Sky's heart sank so low she thought it might take place of her intestines. He beckoned the boy to the machine and revealed the last pokeball. Picking up the ball, he smiled brightly as the professor told him something. That should have been mine! Sky thought angrily, turning away so she wouldn't meet Prof. Birch's eyes. She saw the feet of the boy walking to the back of the room and heard the door open and close. Finishing the last two questions, she slowly rose out of her chair and walked over to Prof. Birch's desk. Sky looked up to give her test to him to see that the professor had a somber but solemn look on his face as he grabbed the test from her. She looked down again at her teninis shoes as he went over her test and listened for any pen marks of missed questions. But the only scratch she heard was a short stroke, two long ones, and then some small marks. 100. Too bad it didn't matter anymore.

"Sky, look, I know you were last and that there are no more Pokeballs in the machine but-"

"What's the point? I shouldn't have even thought of taking this test early if I wasn't even going to get a Pokemon anyway!" burst out Sky as tears started to well up in her eyes, being stung by the whole situation. Her stupid procrastination always got in the way. But this was the worst time ever.

"Wait, Sky, calm down. I never said there weren't any Pokemon left, there just wasn't anymore in the machine-" Prof. Birch started.

"What!? There's one left? Oh please! You know how I've longed to become a Trainer like my dad! I'll take anything! Please, where is it!?" Sky cried, her heart being revived and placed in her throat, as she leaned across the desk, waiting for the professor's answer. He had flinched when she mentioned her father, but his overall reaction didn't fit what she was expecting. He slowly set the test down and looked Sky in the eye.

"Look, there is one left, but I have to tell you something about it before you decide to take it," he replied slowly.

"What?" asked Sky, fearful of what the answer might be. Her heart had dropped back to her stomach. The professor reached down, opened a drawer of his desk, and brought out a Pokeball that shined in the lamp light. Sky stared at it, afraid of what it might hold. He beckoned Sky to stand back as he got up from from his chair. As Sky stepped a few feet back, the professor held up the Pokeball and threw it at his desk.

"Go! Mudkip!" he called out as a bright light filled the room. As Sky blinked out the dots in her eyes, she noticed a small, dog-like creature which appeared on the the desk in replace of the Pokeball hitting it. It blinked its small beady eyes before it noticed the two on either side of it. It was sky blue and had a light blue underneath with a large, light blue fin for a tail. Its cheeks had bright orange patches with three stubby spikes sticking out from either side and it had a smaller fin sticking up from its head. The mouth formed the boundary of the sky blue and the light blue and was directly in between the six orange spikes. It was a Mudkip, one of the three starters given out in Hoenn, but it seemed smaller than what she remembered in her old coloring books...

"Okay, let me explain. This Mudkip did come from the batch of starters I requested from the Daycare Center but this one seemed to be the runt of his litter, so I stored him in my desk, in case there weren't enough Pokemon to give out. See, I wasn't expecting so many to pass the test so all of them were given out before you finished your own test. That test was designed to make sure whoever passed it would really take care of their Pokemon, and not neglect it. But I guess there were a lot more promising trainers this year than the past few. So this is the last one I have. If you don't wish to keep it and to wait for next year to take the test again, I'll understand." Prof. Birch watched Sky closely as she mulled over what he had just said.

She was a little disappointed that there was only a runt left because she was expecting to get a strong starter so then she could have a great start on her journey, and then be as strong as her father. But this would change everything. Her heart sank even lower as she decided to herself that maybe she should wait until next year because that was the year she was suppose to start, anyway. But when she looked up to tell the professor, she caught the little Mudkip's eye.

It was like looking into a mirror. Pain and loneliness from when it was born just because it was smaller than the rest. Sky knew that feeling. To be laughed at or to be not picked just because of a misplaced gene, even though you were part of a famous lineage. Her heart ached to comfort the heart that was like her own. But then she remember the decision she just made beforehand. But the Mudkip looked so hopeless! Will I be so selfish as to not choose this one just because of its size? You would be acting like that red-haired boy! Sky then walked closer to the desk again, gently picked up the small body and hugged the creature as it gave whines of new found joy.

"I'm keeping it," she said firmly, happy that for once she had made the right choice. Prof. Birch smiled appreciativly, seeing the ancient bondage of Pokemon and Trainer come alive once more. He knew that this decision would change many things in that girl's future, even if terrible events were to come upon her. Tears formed in Sky's eyes again as she knew, herself, that she had helped someone very much, as the Mudkip lovingly rubbed its face into her shoulder.

"So you are sure with your decision?" asked the professor, making sure he could go on with what he had previously planned.

"Yes," Sky repiled, lifting her head and beaming back at him.

"Good. Now I have a job for you. Could you please go outside and find two boys waiting out there and bring them back in here?" Sky looked at him questionably before turning around to leave, the Mudkip being set down on the desk again and given a small pat on the head, as the professor bent down to get something out of his desk.

When she opened the large brown door, she found the two boys, but what she had not expected. One was the impudent red-haired boy, who was leaning against the building, and the other the brown haired boy, standing with his back to them, who was the one that took the last Pokeball out of the machine. The red-haired boy was the first to notice her staring at them in astonishment.

"What the heck are you doing here? And why were you really at that dumb test?"demanded the boy, who looked annoyed again. The other boy turned around to see who was there and looked at her questionably. Sky turned red on the spot.

"U-uh, the p-professor told me to get you two because he wants y-you inside," she stuttered, completely frightened out of her wits at the looks of the two. The new boy, though he looked nicer than the other, still looked intimidating with his stern gaze. He had messy brown hair that stuck out in all directions with brilliant green eyes that bored into hers. He wore a green, black trimmed t-shirt with a collar and was split open in the middle over what seemed to be a white turtle-neck with green and brown stripes running across his chest. His pants were light blue with pockets down the sides and he had on green, white, and brown tennis shoes. What the? This guy looks like he was made for the earth, Sky thought to herself as she tried to decide if he was friend or foe.

"Finally! We've been out here for hours! What the heck was he doing in there, anyway?" shouted the red-haired boy as he pushed aside Sky to get in. The brown-haired boy just gave a displeased look after the other boy and waited for Sky to dart in before he entered into the room again, closing the door quietly behind him. The three walked up to the professor's desk, with Sky hovering in the back, wondering what would happen to the two boys. Sky then noticed that her Mudkip wasn't on the desk anymore. Maybe she could just wait a bit before looking for it to see what was happening to the boys and then go home to show her mom her first Pokemon.

"Ah! There you are! Now I have a request for you three. So please just stand infront of my desk until I get these things sorted out," said Prof. Birch as he got up to greet them. But Sky stared around the room. Three? Where was the third person? No, it couldn't be her. She wasn't the kind that got asked to do something.

"Okay, please look closer to see what I-" But the professor noticed Sky backing up to look for her Pokemon instead of listening. "Sky, what are you doing? You're part of this, too!" said the professor with almost a humorous expression.

"What!? We're working with her? What's she got to do with this?" burst out the red-haired boy who wheeled quickly around to find Sky standing there and glaring at her with remorse. But she was already too dumbfounded to retort back at the boy. Me!? Like he said, what do I have to do with this? She stared at the professor in amazement. The other boy just looked back at her with a slightly surprised expression. The professor looked at them all in turn in question before realizing that he had forgotten to tell them something important.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to tell you why you're still here!" said the professor, smacking himself in the forehead, leaving a small red spot. "Let me explain, I wanted to choose the top three students for a special task to give them. And they also had to have each of the three starters. And since you three were the only ones to score an above a B and had a different starter, I chose you. So let me-"

"Wait a second! She has a starter pokemon?" burst in the red haired boy as he pointed back at Sky, who was jostled to earth from glorifying over the thought of being the top three on the test. "I thought there were only two pokeballs left with three people, including her, still taking tests when I got mine, and I saw the other two walk out! So there's no way she could have passed!"

"I did to pass!! And I do have a starter!" retaliated Sky who was now enraged that he was calling her a liar. Why did he all of a sudden hate her so much? She didn't do anything to him.

"If you did, then where's your pokemon?" retorted the boy as he turned around to yell at Sky in the face. "Did it already die of laughter to see what kind of trainer it would have been brought up by?" At that moment a jet of cold water splashed onto the boy's face, drenching his hair and shirt. All of them stood in surprise at what happened but the red haired boy was the first to recover.

"What the hell was that!?" shouted the boy as he frantically tried to wipe the dripping water of his face with his arms. Sky's Mudkip then jumped of a shelf that stood to their right and onto Sky's shoulder, who was also brought back to reality. Sky looked over at it and noticed that it was scowling and glaring menacingly at the red haired boy. The boy then noticed the pokemon on her shoulder. "I'm going to kill that stupid little thing!!" he yelled as he lunged towards them both. But an arm shot out and grabbed the boy's collar, almost choking him as he held him back.

"That's enough. Demitri, go over behind my desk and you'll find a stack of shirts. Grab one and give it to him to dry himself," said the professor wearing a scowl himself as he let go of the red haired boy. The brown haired boy immediately obeyed and went to get what he was asked. "Sky, please also put your pokemon away. I still have to explain some things to you three and I can't have you making a mess of my lab while I'm doing it." Sky, after setting down Mudkip, quickly darted around the the red haired boy, who was now massaging his neck and glaring at the professor, and Prof. Birch to retrieved her pokeball which was still sitting on the desk. She gave a quick eye to what was on the desk but swiftly grabbed the ball and went back to her pokemon as the brown haired boy, whom Sky guessed was called Demitri, came back a handed over a shirt to the other boy, who immediately started rubbing his face and shirt, as Sky wondered what the professor would want with a bunch of strings.

"That's her pokemon?" blurted out the red haired boy, who paused in his drying, as he seemed to already connect the combination but wanted to make sure of it before believing it.

"Yes, it is my pokemon," replied Sky loudly as she turned to the boy, "and I'm proud of its first successful attack on an enemy," she added more quietly as the professor turned around once he made sure it wasn't going to turn into a brawl again so he wouldn't hear. But as the boy examined the Mudkip a bit more carefully before Sky recalled it back into the pokeball, he grinned gleefully. After making sure the professor wasn't going to turn around again, he leaned slightly towards Sky who now held securely her pokeball in her hand.

"Well, at least you resemble each other," whispered the boy only audible to Sky as he smirked in satisfaction at her infuriation. But before she could retaliate at what he said, the professor turned back around and the boy leaned back, rubbing his face with the shirt in innocence. Even though Sky wanted to blow up at the boy, she held it in in fear of losing her priviledge as a new trainer. But that thought was wiped momentarily off her mind as she saw what the professor was holding in his arms. What she thought were strings were actually necklaces that hung from the professor's arms. He also had in his hands three red rectangular devices that Sky didn't recognize. The other two seemed to also notice because the red haired boy stopped rubbing his face to look and Demitri gazed at the professor instead of Sky's and the other boy's quarrel.

"Okay, I know I should have asked this beforehand but I'll ask you now. Like I explained earlier before we were interrupted, I had chosen you three to carry out this job because you scored the highest grades from the test. But before I give out anything, I want to ask you if you agree to doing this job in the first place," said the professor as he watched the three's reactions. "See, if any of you backed down, I can easily send my Swallow out to retrive one of the other trainers who had also scored very high and do the job instead, so it doesn't really matter if you decide not to do the job." Sky mulled over what the professor had said. So, she could have the choice of forgetting about this whole "job" thing or staying with it. But the idea of letting the red haired boy and this Demitri, who took what she thought to be the last pokemon, taking over this task burned her dignity. Oh well, she might at least get something out of this. But as she looked at the others, she saw almost the same reaction from Blaze who glanced at her and then nodded. Demitri seem to just accept it as he was already looking back at the professor. She also looked at Prof.Birch who was now wearing a smile.

"So, you all are going to do it?" asked the professor as he watched them all nod in unison. "Great! Now, again, before we go on, I need you to introduce yourselves to each other so then we are acquainted." Sky felt a trickle dread run down her throat at the thought of revealing who she was to someone who was a completely stranger to her. "Demitri! How about you first? Just give something like you name, age, and something about you," said the professor who turned his attention to Demitri.

"Um, my name is Demitri Woods, and I'm ten, and I guess I just want to become more of a Pokemon Researcher than a Trainer but still be somewhat strong," said Demitri as he ran his hand through his brown hair again. So, Demitri Woods. Even his last name sums it all up, thought Sky to herself. He seemed nice enough to her. As friend or foe, she chose friend for him since he still hasn't called her a liar or a squirt. Sky looked up to see if it was her turn next but it seemed the red haired boy took the matters into his own hands and started up.

"Well, I'm Blaze Birch," Blaze Birch "and I'm also ten, and I want to become the greatest trainer in Hoenn!!" said Blaze proudly as he stuck out his chest a little bit. Sky looked at Blaze in awe. Birch? How could that be? They look nothing alike! Or even act anything alike! Sky then remembered him commenting on taking his uncle's test but she never really caught it until now. And you know what else? she thought to herself, that would make him and Brendan cousins! Ugh. At least what he said what he wanted to become somewhat explained his behavior but it didn't explain why it was only to her and not Demitri. Sky then noticed that they were all looking at her, and then turned slightly red out of embarrassment.

"I, uh, I'm Sky Draknoir, and I'm, um, nine, and I guess I want to become like, wait, I want to understand the, I mean, I just want to, um, become a Trainer..." said Sky as the end of her sentence became barely audible. Sky didn't dare look at Blaze afraid of seeing him rolling on the ground laughing but she did take a quick glance at Demitri who was also looking at her with not amusement, but interest. At least someone doesn't find me worthless, Sky thought to herself as she felt a little better. Prof.Birch just gave her a quizzical look and went back to what he was about to do.