Sorry nothing has been updated, I've been in California on vacation. This and It's Our Destiny WILL be updated though, I promise.

Still looking through OC submissions to decide who will go where, so hang tight.

Thanks for the support, likes, comments, reviews, etc. Hearing your thoughts really means a lot to me and helps me stay motivated to keep writing! :D

BTW: this story has undergone plot changes, so expect some differences and maybe more romance/drama in the teen year chapters.

Anyway...enjoy :)


Age in this chapter: 6

The kids in Pallet Town were always up to something. Always.

And today, a crisp, warm summer day for the residents of Pallet Town, was no different. The whole town could hear the four children - Ash Ketchum, Clem Aspen, Gary Oak and Holly Pine - whooping and hollering as they trampled through the woods right outside of town. Well, at least two of them were whooping and hollering, while the other two of them were following in a much less enthusiastic fashion.

"You're slower than a Slowpoke!" hollered Clem over her shoulder, her messy bangs and stubby brown pigtails flouncing as she ran. "You'll never catch me!"

"Yes I will!" Ash yelled playfully, picking up the pace. "I can run faster than Alakazam can teleport! You're the Slowpoke!"

"Then why am I ahead of you?" Clem giggled.

"You better run!" Ash laughed, as the two continued to dart, leaping over the small obstacles in their way. They were headed to a pond a small ways away from town, where the kids liked to play with the local Water-type Pokémon.

"Slow down, you losers!" Gary piped up, riding his bike a few feet behind Ash. "You'll scare away all the Pokémon with all the noise you're making!"

"You're just jealous that you're still slow on a bike!" Clem shouted back, smirking.

Gritting his teeth, Gary put the pedal to the metal on his bike. The one person that irritated him more than Ash Ketchum was Clem Aspen. She was like Ash, friendly, a bit naive, and always doing the right thing, the right way. However, she was more intelligent and less cocky than Ash, which made her all the more annoying, especially since she was a girl. That bugged Gary, a girl who had more potential as a Pokémon Trainer than he did. And he was the grandson of Professor Samuel Oak, for Arceus' sake.

Even further behind Gary was Holly, who was huffing and puffing, though she was only walking. She wasn't dressed for casual play like the others, she was dressed in a pleated pink skirt, a pink and green striped long-sleeved shirt, knee high pink socks with green lace trim, and dainty ballerina slippers that weren't at all suited for playing in the woods. She didn't even like playing in the woods. She didn't even like Pokémon, really. She just went along with the other three because she had to, because her parents said it was good for her to do something besides forcing their servants to have tea parties with her in the garden.

She liked the other kids enough, but she didn't fit in. They all loved Pokémon and loved all the rough-and-tough things Holly despised. Holly had hoped they'd have similar interests, and especially had this hope with Clem, a fellow girl. However, Clem soon proved to be too much of a tomboy and a daredevil to be a well-suited playmate to join in Holly's tea parties. Clem was nice, but Holly wished she'd fix her hair properly, dress in girl's clothes, and stop touching all of those disgusting Pokémon. Then, there was Gary, who was just mean, and Ash, who was nice, but was just as boyish and daredevilish as Clem was.

Up ahead, Clem skidded to a stop in the grass that encircled their favorite pond, as she exclaimed, "Yes! I win!"

Coming in a close second, Ash smiled and assured her, "Well, I'll beat you next time!"

"You're on!" Clem winked, before pulling her socks and sneakers off.

Both Ash and Clem stripped out of their clothes, revealing the bathing suits that they wore underneath, and leapt into the pond. Three Poliwag that lived there surfaced to greet the children, and the five individuals began a playful splash-fight, full of giggling and laughter.

Gary arrived shortly after that, and, though annoyed at being beaten in the race by Ash and Clem, hopped in the pond with the other two. He quickly got over it, and relaxed into playing with the Poliwag and Ash and Clem.

Of course, Holly was the last one to get there, and the least happy to be there. She settled on a rock nearby, crossing her legs as she attempted to fix her long green hair. It'd gotten messed up on the walk here, and it was one of her pet peeves. Unlike Clem, she was very concerned about her appearance, in particular, her hair.

"Holly! Why don't you come in the water with us?" Clem asked, hugging one of the Poliwag.

Looking to the three kids in the pond, Holly winced, seeing that they were all touching those disgusting Pokémon, and playing with them. It was just gross, in Holly's opinion. Time after time, Clem and Ash had tried to convince that the Pokémon, the Poliwag, were friendly and cute and totally not scary, but Holly refused to believe it. Pokémon had always been and will always be gross.

"I...I forgot my bathing suit," Holly replied, clearly fibbing.

"They're not gonna hurt you, y'know," Ash added. He lifted one into his arms and walked towards Holly, holding the blue Pokémon out in Holly's face for her to see, and then said, "Look, it's nice. It just wants to play."

"Poli!" the Pokémon grinned at the blue-haired girl.

"AGGHH!" Holly shrieked, leaping off her seat on the rock. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head with fear and disgust, as she cowered against a tree. In the process of knocking against the tree, she knocked a Caterpie out of the branches, which landed at her feet, only causing her to scream again.

Gary and Clem came out of the water, Gary holding the other two Poliwag, to try and calm Holly down. Clem walked over to her, and picked up the Caterpie at her feet, wrapping it in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Clem asked sweetly, petting Caterpie's head.

"Yeah...just get that thing away from me!" Holly responded.

"I wasn't talking to you," Clem said, but not rudely. "I was talking to Caterpie."

Holly's face fell, but then went back to one of disgust as she watched the Caterpie crawl over Clem's shoulders, causing the brunette girl to giggle. Totally gross.

"Why are you so scared of Pokémon?" Gary inquired. "You're gonna get your Starter Pokémon when we're ten. You shouldn't be so scared."

"I don't want a Starter!" Holly cried, tears suddenly coming into her eyes. She was traumatized by the Pokémon, and annoyed with everyone picking at her for not liking Pokémon. "I hate Pokémon!"

Before any of the other kids could respond, she'd sprinted off back towards town, leaving them and the Pokémon staring in her direction, astonished.

"I just don't get how she doesn't like Pokémon," Clem remarked after a few moments. "I can't wait to get my Starter! I've always wanted to pick Charmander!"

"Yeah?" Gary piped up. "Well, I'll choose Squirtle, and we'll beat your Charmander!"

"What?!" Ash shrieked. "I want Squirtle!"

"Well, I just got dibs on Squirtle!" Gary shouted.

"That's not fair!" Ash yelled. "You can't get dibs on Squirtle!"

"I think I just did!" Gary hollered.

Clem sighed, as she exchanged shrugs with Caterpie and the three Poliwag, before going back to playing with them and ignoring the boys' fighting. She liked her human friends enough, but her Pokémon friends were always better.