Alright everyone, finally a proper first chapter!

Hopefully you all enjoy reading this different take on things.

We start things off with 2 boys on a train, Victor and Hop, heading for the first real start of their journey: Motostoke. As they travel on the train, they talk about the Wild Area, a vast area surrounding the city. But they are soon interrupted by some movement next to them.

*Urara!*

Looking down, they see a Pokémon that's very interested in Victor's large bag. The boys can see that the cry came from a short, chubby rodent. The Pokémon was sniffing around, even almost trying to crawl into the young man's stuff.

"Pikachu?", asked Hop. He then shook his head, "No wait, that's a Morpeko! Wonder what it wants?"

They don't have to wait long for an answer, as someone approaches. "Sorry about that. Morpeko's a bit of a troublemaker, always up to somethin'", a voice suddenly said.

The two boys are joined by a girl, wearing a very interesting pink and black outfit.

"Whoa", thought Victor, taking in the sight of this new girl.

"No problem", Hop laughed, "Morpeko's probably smelled some good stuff from Victor's bag!"

"Hmm," the girl said, while looking at Victor's large, rectangle case. "You sure are packin' a lot, you two going on an adventure or somethin'?"

"You know it!" Hop exclaimed. "In fact, we're taking the Gym Challenge! How about you?"

"Yeah," the girl said, "I was on my way to Motostoke to sign up."

She then took a moment to look more at the two boys. "Guess they might be my future competition..."

Satisfied with examining them, the girl picked up Morpeko, who protested, then started to walk off. "See you around."

"W-wait!" Victor called out, "What's your name?"

The girl paused, then turned back to them. With a tiny smile, she said, "Marnie".

"Marnie..."

"Alright Marnie," Hop grinned, "Hopefully we see you in the Champion's Cup, we plan on being there."

"Oh?" Marnie said, emotionless. "I plan on being there as well."

"Confident, are we?" Hop challenged.

"Hop..." Victor groaned, he knew where this was heading...

"Yes. I don't plan on losing, I'm going to win it all." Marnie was radiating confidence. This made Hop jump to his feet, Poke Ball ready.

"Then why don't we have a match; I'd like to see what my competition is like."

Marnie shook her head at Hop's rashness, they were on a train after all, was he planning on having a battle here and now? Victor jumped up as well, trying to talk his friend down from his innocent, yet persistent personality. Marnie was going to say something, when -

*SCREEECH!*

"Whoa!"

The train they were on came to a sudden, and abrupt stop. Marnie stumbled, losing her balance. Thankfully, Victor just happened to be in the right spot to catch her by her shoulders. Hop wasn't so fortunate, and he toppled over. When it seemed like the danger had passed, Marnie looked up, only to realize that her face was mere inches from Victor's. Blushing from both parties ensued.

"S-sorry about that..."

"It's... okay. Thank you for catching me..."

Separating, Victor apologized, while Marnie checked to make sure Morpeko was okay, and tried to get rid of the warm feeling she had going on.

And Hop? "Yeah, don't worry about me mate, I'll live..." Hop groaned, as he made his way back to his feet.

"I wonder what that was all about..." Marnie asked, looking around.

They didn't have to wait long, as a voice came on over the intercom, letting everyone know that a flock of Wooloo had appeared on the tracks. So, they wouldn't be going anywhere until the Wooloo had been safely removed. But since they just happened to stop at the Wild Area Station, those who wanted could exit, and make their way to Motostoke from here.

"Right," Marnie said, dusting herself off. She then turned to leave. "Guess I'll see you both later."

"GOING SOMEWHERE?!" Hop boomed. He had recovered, and still had his Poke Ball in hand, grinning. Marnie sighed, this again?

"Fine, if it'll keep you off my back."

"All right!" Hop cheered, "I may have lost to Victor a couple of times already, but when something's actually on the line, I really get roaring!"

"Hold up," Marnie said, turning to Victor. "You're the better trainer?"

"I don't know if I'd say better..." Victor mumbled, trying not to diss his friend. Hop chimed in too that those were just warm-up battles. But Marnie wasn't really interested in all of that.

"Then why don't I face you?" Marnie asked. "After all, you've been pretty quiet. And the quiet ones are usually the ones you have to watch out for. Can't help but wonder what kind of trainer you are."

While Hop protested in the background, Victor smiled, and readied his Poke Ball. And it happened without him even thinking about it. Had he stopped to think about things, Victor might have wondered why he was so determined to be around Marnie so much. He could fool himself, thinking it was just to get info about his competition... but no. Something else was going on.

Ever since he laid his eyes on Marnie, Victor was hooked. Everything about her was so... interesting. Her outfit, the almost emotionless face she had most of the time, (except for the very rare, cute smile), the fact she had a cute rodent as her partner Pokémon, her kind and respectful personality, which one might think would clash with how she dresses - Marnie was nothing like Victor was used to. Certainly, a breath of fresh air compared to his impatient best friend. No way would he pass up this opportunity.

Ignoring Hop, the other two trainers left the train, making their way on to the Wild Area Station, where they could have a proper battle. The people standing around the station would have to make room for these combatants, although they were happy to see something exciting happen.

*A few moments later*

Victor grimaced, "Guess this wasn't such a good matchup for me..."

He looked down at his Sobble, which had seen better days. The poor lizard was struggling just to stay up right. Despite the odd determined look on Sobble's face, the electric current running over it's body showed that it was also struggling with the Paralyzed condition. Marnie's Morpeko didn't have all these things going against it and was ready to end things.

For Marnie, this battle was already showing her what she had thought: Victor sure was a unique trainer. Sobble's are normally Timid Pokémon, but Marnie tilted her head as she looked at it, wondering if it had a Bold nature. ...Not that she would say that joke out loud.

"Well," Marnie said, "Looks like there's no point in continuing. It was an interesting battle, but I-"

*Heh*

Victor had been looking down, a shadow covering his face. He then looked up at Marnie, with a smirk on his face. "I hope you're not thinking we're done for!"

Marnie shook her head. Is he mad, he should be able to read the situation and know that foolishly pursuing a victory in this situation, can only end badly. And his insistence was going to bother Marnie. She couldn't tell if this type of personality both Victor and Hop both had was a result of their rivalry, or just a boy thing.

Regardless, after checking with Sobble to see if it can keep battling, Victor and Marnie keep going. But things are different this time around. Despite the low health and status affliction, Sobble was able to avoid Morpeko's Thunder Shock's, firing back with some Water Gun's of his own. Now both Pokémon are just about on equal footing.

While Marnie isn't too keen on Victor pushing his Pokémon in the face of rough odds, she can't help being impressed that Victor and his trust in his partner are giving her a tough time. Plus, she's kinda enjoying this battle with the strange boy...

"Well, how about we settle this right here, right now?" Victor said with determination.

"So be it."

Victor called out for Sobble to use Water Gun, which Morpeko managed to avoid this time. Marnie then had Morpeko return fire with Thunder Shock, which Sobble barely avoided. But the battle's effects were showing on Sobble. When it tried to follow Victor's command, the Paralysis struck, stopping it from acting. This made Victor stop as well, wondering what he was doing, why he was so determined to win no matter what.

"It's over." Marnie thought. She was going to take advantage of the opening.

Morpeko jumped up into the air, ready to rain down electricity on her opponent. But as the move reached Sobble, the water Pokémon pulled off an unexpected move: using the paralysis to play possum and avoid the attack. Now Morpeko was caught in mid-air, unable to avoid anything coming its way. Marnie's eyes went wide, realizing that they had been played.

But Marnie and Morpeko weren't the only ones shocked. While Hop in the background was cheering Sobble on, because he was ready to face Marnie as well, Victor couldn't believe that his partner was pulling off these high IQ plays. And he certainly was caught off guard when Sobble didn't wait for his command to attack.

So everyone else was surprised when Victor jumped in between both Pokémon, taking Sobble's Water Gun in his back. Catching Morpeko as it came back down, Victor apologized to it and Marnie, then gave her partner back to her.

He also had an apology for his partner. "Sorry about that, little buddy. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard." He realized that his personality had rubbed off on his partner, who just wanted to win to make him happy. Victor then turned to Marnie.

"You win," he said with a smile.

Marnie just stared at him, baffled. He was a strange guy.

Victor healed up Sobble, then returned him to his ball to let him get some rest. He also healed up Morpeko, which Marnie returned to get some rest as well. When Victor approached Marnie to give her the Poke earnings she won, Marnie refused. It was just a friendly match, after all.

"Arggh!" Hop howled, running his hands through his hair, while looking downcast.

He was upset that he wouldn't be getting his turn to face Marnie. But he recovered quickly. Grinning, he took off, saying that he was going right into the Wild Area, and do some catching and training. The battle he saw helped him to realize that he's got some work to do if he wants to keep up with his rivals.

"He sure doesn't sit still for long, does he?" Marnie asked, as she and Victor watched Hop take off. Victor laughed, good ol' Hop.

"Well, I'll be off as well. Perhaps I'll see you around, Victor." Marnie followed Hop's example, heading off to her own adventure.

But Victor wasn't so eager to see her go, he just had the feeling that if he didn't speak up, a great opportunity would be missed. So he ran after her.

"Marnie, wait up!"

Tadaa! As you can see, things will be a bit different than the video game journey we all had.

I won't normally do battles, but it was fun to try.

I'm so looking forward to keep writing this story, and I hope you all enjoy the ride.

I'll try and regularly update this story every month. And I might also try doing a couple of the other pairing I have in mind, some of which are Pokémon ones. I'd kinda like to try the Scarlet/Violet protagonist X Mela as one, with the protagonist being the same age as her.

But look forward to the next chapter, peace out!