Anyway, this is the first real chapter, so, enjoy!

I don't own Pokemon... (starts to cry)

A beautiful day in Saralli – the hot sun poured down onto tropical palm trees and small stone cottages. Aria, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her bare arms was walking hastily to a huge building barely ten minutes from her house, lest she be late for her first day in her new school.

Saralli Caira…no one spoke ill of it. While the buildings were large, modern and spacious, they were nothing compared to the grounds. They had been specially constructed to attract the widest variety of Pokèmon possible. So, while there were meadows of luscious green grass dotted with wildflowers, there were also cool leafy forests, dry sandy beaches, still ponds and ferociously wild rivers.

As Aria entered the grounds for herself, she both confirmed and added to the stories she'd been told – stories of a haven for Pokèmon and trainers alike, stories of untamed, wild beauty existing side by side with humans…

But it was all so quiet…where were the other trainers? Aria knew it was an exclusive school – it only took on roughly twenty pupils a year – sometimes less than that – but she felt it was…too quiet… Glancing at her Pokètech watch, she realised the clock at home must have been very early – according to hers, she hadn't even left the house yet!

Still, the beauty around her stopped her from being angry, so she explored the grounds. She wandered through a shady forest, following a shallow, pebbly stream down to a pond in the forest's clearing. She was so absorbed in the beautiful sights that, for a brief second, didn't notice she was no longer alone.

"Excuse me, but would you mind being quiet?" said a low, male voice steeped in politeness.

Aria whirled around to see a boy barely a year older than her, with a sleek Furret nestled against his feet.

"Not that you were being loud to begin with, but I thought it best to warn you. You see, I'm looking for a timid Pokèmon which only appears near here first thing in the morning and I wouldn't want you to frighten any away."

"Okay, I'll be quiet," Aria agreed in a low tone. "Is it usual for other people to be here this early?"

The boy thought a moment. "It depends on the time of year, and how dedicated people are. I couldn't imagine me arriving late or just in time, but I suppose there are many people who can't imagine arriving as early as we are now."

Aria got the impression that this boy, whoever he was, was a deep thinker.

"I almost forgot, what's your name? I'm Latto, and my friend here is Bandit," Latto introduced, gesturing at the Furret.

"I'm Arianrhod…but please, call me Aria."

"Not fond of long names?"

"Seriously, if you had a name that long, would you like it?"

Latto paused. "True – I think my father was thinking of calling me Benjamin…I'm glad my mother had more sense…"

Aria nodded in sympathetic agreement.

"So, what Pokèmon are you looking for?" Aria asked curiously.

"Surskit. Last time I was here, I saw one, but it fled before I had the chance to capture it."

Now, Aria was really warming up to the boy, and her curiosity overwhelmed any shyness left in her.

"What kind of trainer are you, then?"

"I like to see myself as a contest goer – I've only been to a few, but they really interest me, and once, Bandit managed to get second. What do you think you'll be?"

"I don't really know. I think I'd be quite a good battler, I can keep a cool head, but still be passionate about battles…"

"Did you find the entrance exam easy?" Latto asked suddenly.

Aria was stunned into telling the truth, "Y…Yes."

She then scolded herself – she'd lied to everyone who'd wondered, saying it was hard, and she'd barely got a place, so she didn't look bigheaded. But now, the truth was out – she couldn't take it back now.

Latto smiled kindly. "Don't worry, that makes two of us. If that's the case, you'll go far in this school. Saralli Caira specialises in helping people make the most of themselves and abilities."

Aria was about to reply to this, but was silenced by Latto's finger rather uncomfortably near her lips. For a second, Aria was puzzled, but after a moment, she realised the reason Latto was acting like that.

There must be a Surskit nearby!

Aria scanned the bushes frantically to gain a glimpse of the Pokèmon before simply realising that she could just follow Latto's gaze. And sure enough, Latto, gazing warily at the pond's edge was staring straight at the small pond skater Pokèmon.

"Bandit, go!" Latto suddenly said.

The Furret became a small blur as he charged at the Surskit. Taken by surprise, the blue Pokèmon merely jumped back and narrowly avoided Bandit's claws. Bandit bounded around the Surskit as it blew a powerful stream of bubbles at him.

"Bandit, keep dodging, wear him down slowly," Latto commanded confidently.

The Furret nimbly dodged all of the Surskit's futile attacks, bounding around almost as if it were a game he was playing. His fur was glossy and shone slightly in the sunlight.

"Bandit, scratch!"

Obediently, he whirled round lashing out at the small Pokèmon with his claws. It was a direct hit that left the Surskit reeling.

"Keep at it, Bandit!"

The Furret bit and scraped the Surskit until it barely knew how to stand.

"Okay, good job!" Latto praised happily, tossing a Pokèball.

It engulfed the insect in a burst of red light before snapping shut. The closed ball wobbled slightly, making both humans grit their teeth in determination. It kept rocking – Aria thought it'd never settle down, until finally…

"It's stopped," Latto said numbly. Then, as it sunk in… "Yes! I caught a Surskit!"

"Well done – that was amazing!" Aria said, eyes wide in wonder. "I've never seen a battle like that before!"

"You will do, here. There's a guy here, a year older than me – pretty odd looking, but he can definitely battle. In two years he's become the best here – even some of the teachers can't beat him – and he's set his sights on becoming a champion!"

"Even the teachers can't beat him?.." Aria wondered, awestruck.

"You'll see soon enough – though he's good, he's also a show off. Anyway, I'm going to go to the main building to heal this little guy," Latto announced, brandishing the Surskit's Pokèball proudly.

"I'll come with you."

And so the two strolled across the grounds, towards the tall, gleaming central building. Aria realised that while the grounds were large and well spread out, it would be quite difficult to get lost in the school. From the main gate, there was a stone paved path straight to the building, which was central to the whole grounds. Surrounding the building was mostly flat, lusciously grassy land, which was only broken by a tiny winding stream – small enough to step over, in any case.

To the North of the building was some rocky, dusty terrain. Unfortunately, it rained too often to be considered a desert, but it was hot most of the time, and water drained quickly through the sand. To the East were the forests, rivers and ponds where Aria and Latto had just come from, and to the West was where the grounds met the shore – the soft, sandy beach with the warm salty sea beating against it.

Aria would grow to know these lands well over the next few months, along with the other new trainers, but for now, she was content to merely be in awe of Latto's knowledge of the place. It was almost as if he knew every blade of grass personally, the way he picked through, finding the shortest way back using landmarks like a slightly odd shaped lichen on a tree trunk, or a particularly rare flower…

When they got to the building – which hardly seemed to take any time, yet Aria had been walking for half an hour without realising it – Aria was somewhat disappointed. All this natural beauty outside seemed to leave the inside with a cold, neutral hospital feeling to it.

"Don't worry," Latto assured, sensing her disappointment. "Very few of your lessons will be taught indoors. For all that the teachers say, this is just a glorified Pokèmon Centre – it heals, it has a library, it serves food, it stores things that people may need storing, but you'll be spending as much time as possible outside, I promise you."

Aria nodded absentmindedly – at any other time, she'd have been really interested, but she'd just seen some other, older trainers, and they were so puzzling that they completely bewildered her. One in particular looked very odd…

He, for the figure was definitely male, was covered in smooth, pale blue skin. His head didn't have hair, like a human's, but ended in a…it could only be described as a fin, really, but it wasn't anything like a fish Pokèmon's fin, it was long, like an Ekans' tail, except infinitely more elegant and smooth, and ended in a fork. There was something more human about his face though – while the smooth cheekbones belonged to the slightly fish-like side of him, his keen eyes and heavy brow could have only been human, as was his rounded ears.

Aria got a strong impression of water just by looking at him. The problem was, with looking so strange, she expected him to wear something as odd. As it was, he was wearing normal, baggy, teenage clothes, which only went to highlight how strange he looked.

Latto chuckled. "That's who I was talking about earlier, his name's Haru."

Aria turned round. "What, he's the guy who can beat the teachers?"

Latto nodded solemnly.

"What does he use? Water types? And what kind of style and-"

Latto cut off her excited ramblings with a small shake of the head.

"You'll find out soon enough. Besides, it would be politer to ask him yourself," Latto told the young girl, while handing the Pokèball containing his Surskit over the counter to get it healed.

Aria's eyes were wide – the last thing on her mind was to actually talk to this person! He was all weird and…fish-like…he might not even speak her language!

Latto, observantly noting the shyness manifested in Aria, along with the natural human reaction of shunning anyone physically different, called Haru over. Aria couldn't help but notice with guilty discomfort the effortless ease in which he walked – at first, she'd almost been fooled into thinking he'd stumble and flounder like a fish out of water.

"Haru, this is Aria – she's one of the newbies," Latto informed him.

Haru took a small glance at her before replying. "Are you sure she's come to the right place? She looks a little too scared to be a true Pokèmon trainer…"

Aria's pride and indignation swallowed her cowardice whole. "What did you just say? I'll have you know that this is all a very new experience for me and I was just startled!"

A moment passed in which the two boys absorbed the strangeness of the remark. Then they burst out laughing – Haru's laugh sounding bubbly and conjuring the image of a fast flowing river churning against the rocks in it's path. Aria, suddenly self-conscious and realising how stupid her defence had sounded, turned red.

"You know what, kid? You might just have what it takes to get good here," Haru remarked. "Although, you'll never beat me in a battle."

"What makes you so confident that you won't lose?" Aria asked boldly.

"Kid, you haven't got a Pokèmon yet, and already you're giving me trainer backchat. But, I'll answer your question anyway. I have my family's reputation to uphold – I promised myself that I'd become the best in the world, for my father's memory. You think you can compete with that?"

Aria smiled confident now. "Of course. I have a great family name resting on my shoulders, too."

Aria remembered the words she had often been told as a child in that language that her parents had spoken. A language no one else could seem to speak. So now, she repeated them, in a tongue they could all speak.

"My homeland is that of the red dragon – my family name is Jones…"

The words, while sounding impressive, had little effect on Latto, but Haru stopped, frowning.

"You're quite sure?"

"That's what I've always been told…"

Haru gained some slight understanding at this. "My father hailed from that same land, a cold, damp and hilly place…Sometime, Aria Jones, I would like to meet your parents…tell them the name Atkinson – they'll understand…"

And strangely, Haru walked off without another word.

"What?" Aria questioned – but Latto was as much in the dark as she was.

From above came the melodic chime of a bell.

"Aria, it's been nice meeting you, but I'll have to leave now. I'll see you around."

"Wait, where am I supposed to go?"

"Just stay here – the other new trainers will arrive eventually and some member of staff will explain everything after that."

Latto disappeared down a corridor, and Aria was left quite alone in the blank room, quiet except for the hum of several computers. A few lonely minutes dragged by, and Aria started to wonder if this was some kind of bad joke. Eventually, though, children her age arrived, either alone or in twos or threes.

Aria, although quite shy by nature, forced herself to talk to some of the lone arrivals while they waited. She met two girls with mystical, glittering violet eyes, one called Tegeirian and the other called Rhiannon. Aria felt a kinship with them – they, too, had long names that no one had ever heard of, and preferred them shortened to Tegg and Nannon. Another girl whom she met introduced herself as Wraith, and she had shiny silver hair with deep, almost glowing green eyes.

In fact, alongside many of these people, she felt quite drab. Before, she'd seen her thick, multi-toned brown hair something to be quite proud of – in certain lights it appeared blonde, in others it appeared light to mid brown, in yet another light it could appear auburn and on a couple of occasions it had looked slightly ginger. Aria's eyes were nothing special though, a mixture of muddy brown and mossy green with charcoal-like flecks.

Before a teacher entered the room, she'd met a few more people – a boy called Sieg, who, like Latto, seemed rather polite yet had an intelligent air that was slightly intimidating; and a boy called Zero, a randomly hyper boy who seemed to go on about penguins armed with oranges who would take over the world…

An intimidating, powerful figure of a teacher stood before them, silencing the timid conversations with confident ease. Everyone in the room knew instinctively – this was a figure to be obeyed unquestioningly and they wouldn't have dared defy her. For this incredibly powerful figure was female.

She told them her name was Mrs Griffiths, but no one in that room would possibly call her by her name. She would be known simply as, The Griff.

She explained that this was a school of high quality, that the pupils future's would carry the school's reputation and thus, they should make choices wisely, as their choice not only reflects on themselves, but also on the school. She went on like this for many long, boring minutes, speaking of things that had no real interest or value in the real world, and naturally, the children sank into a stupor. It possibly didn't help that they were still standing, and standing as still as humanly possible, so before the talk was over, their legs ached.

Suddenly, a fresh, vibrant voice took over. The voice belonged to a smiling face with short brown hair and dark eyes. His voice instantly shook the children out of their daze.

"Now, I know you're all keen to get your first Pokèmon, guys. But before you do, I'd like to tell you something. By the way, I'm Mr. Reese, and I teach Communications. But you'll learn more about that later!

"Inside the main hall are many different varieties of Pokèmon. They are all under a month old, so they will grow and learn along with you. The Pokèmon you choose today will be your constant companion for many years to come, so do not take this choice lightly. Take a lot of thought and consideration into it. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers."

The man – Mr. Reese – clapped his hands. "Right then, I think we'll have you first," he said, pointing at Aria.

"Why me?"

"You arrived first, it's only fair that you get first pick."

Aria moved, dumbstruck, through an indicated corridor to find a pair of double doors. She numbly, but carefully, pushed them open to find a myriad of Pokèmon, all different sizes, shapes and colours. She felt overwhelmed – she hadn't got nearly enough eyes to see all of them, yet all of them were watching her curiously. She'd prefer that they looked away or minded their own business or something, because it was starting to unnerve her and make her self-conscious.

The girl kneeled on the floor, to get closer to the Pokèmon. They crowded round curiously, jostling each other to catch a glimpse of her. Aria couldn't speak their language, but she seemed to be able to feel the whispers travelling the room – no doubt the subject being herself.

How was she meant to choose? It seemed so difficult… Of course she'd spent all summer contemplating her first Pokèmon, but now the time had arrived, she realised that she never had decided.

Luckily, her Pokèmon was going to help decide for her. At first, the shy creature had hid in the corner of the room, not wanting to be chosen at all, but curiosity had caused her to gaze at the human when she'd entered. When the girl had kneeled, the creature almost went to get a closer look, but then scolded herself. She didn't want to be some trainer's warrior, she wanted to be wild and free…the problem was, the girl looked like the type of person who would live like that…

As the doubt grazed in the back of her mind, her brother nudged her. 'She looks just right for you, sis. Why don't you go over?'

'What if she's not the right person?'

'What if she is?' her brother argued back.

She knew her brother was right and uncurled herself from her corner to get closer to the human girl. She smelled…woodsy. Clean, but with a slight aroma of bark that a human could never hope to pick up with their noses. Her wide eyes took in the human's appearance, from the solidly built frame to the practical clothes she wore.

As the human turned and looked her in the eye, they both gave a little gasp of shock. It was as if a small spark had sprung between them, connecting them. They didn't know why, but they understood it. Aria offered out her hand, and the Pokèmon wound round it and up her arm.

"I choose you, Dratini," she whispered gently.

Okay, sorry but I won't be able to update for a week - I'm going to a place without Internet connection, but I'll still be writing.

Please give me some lovely reviews to welcome me back home!