So comes chapter 1 of this new story! Just as a reminder, no deaths, no dying. Sorry. :P

Magek: Nope, Blaze will not be dying. And I will accept your character, sure. I didn't tell you of this fanfic cause I wanted to honestly know what you thought of it, and also I didn't want you to expect it. It's not as good then, so I won't be giving you any spoilers, either.

ExplosionsAreFun: Thank you! :D Blaze doesn't get much mention in this chapter, but she is an important character, so don't worry.

Also, this odd region the characters are in is a mix of all the regions, so any Pokemon can appear here. I'll be making up town names and other stuff, too, so don't worry.

Chapter 1

I didn't know what I was expecting when I turned around, the room soaked, the Flareon fainted, the Shinx scared to death in the corner, and the Trainer herself with my Pokeball dropped on the carpet in shock. Seriously, maybe some pity, or something? This girl had just wrecked my life. Of course, the life of a Caught Pokemon doesn't work that way, not at all.

"Seriously?!" She yelled suddenly, jumping up and waving her arms, shouting at me. "Aqua is gonna be so mad! This is her house, not mine, not yours!"

I looked at her. Half of the things she was saying made no sense to me whatsoever, and honestly, I couldn't care less. I looked to the Shinx, who looked back at me, and stayed in his corner.

"Don't be scared of me." I said, kind of feeling sorry for the guy. Besides, I wasn't going to hurt him. "You can't really blame me for hitting that Flareon with the Water Gun. She took me surprise when I was all alone in the woods!"

The Shinx stood up. "It wasn't Blaze's fault. She had to attack you. Sienna told her to."

I looked at him in surprise. "Who's Sienna, and why does Blaze have to listen to her? I don't think Blaze is the type to listen to anyone."
The Shinx looks at me. "You're right about that. Blaze has to listen to Sienna because she was Sienna's starter. Starters always have to listen to their Trainers."

"So Sienna is that human over there yelling at me?" I ask, nodding towards the girl.

"Yeah." He nodded. "You should probably acknowledge her. She'll throw a tantrum later."

"Thanks." I said. "You're Lightning, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Good luck!" He waved me away with his tail, padding over to his dropped Pokeball and pushing the button. It sucked him in with a pinging noise.

Resigned, I turned around to face my furious Trainer. She seemed surprised.

"So, you're gonna apologize, right?" She crossed her arms and looked at me.

"You wish." I said, my tone letting her know that wasn't ever going to happen.

"Hey, you owe me!" She frowned. "I saved you from the wilderness. I took you out of all that misery and hardship. The life of a Trainer Pokemon isn't that bad! Blaze? Lightning? Tell her!" She looked around. Blaze moaned softly from the corner and Lightning made no reappearance from his Pokeball.

"Probably wouldn't be very bad if you weren't the boss." I muttered. I knew humans couldn't understand me anyway, but it felt good to let the girl know I detested her.

She turned around and glared.

"Don't mutter." She said. "It makes me feel like you're talking about me." She flipped her hair. "Though no one could hate me."

I rolled my eyes. Lightning was so lucky that he had found such a quick escape from this. I knew I'd be stuck out here for a while.

Sienna looked back down into my face and seemed to realize something.

"Oh!" She cried. "You don't have a name!"

I considered it. I never really had had a name. The other Mudkip had never really run into this issue. I was just the youngest one, and we'd mostly just scream at each other until we caught the right one's attention. Thinking on it now, it probably wasn't the best method, but it had always worked. We hadn't known anything other.

I was curious beside myself to see if the name she would give me was worth responding to. So as I looked into her eyes, and she looked into mine, I didn't look away.

Then she stood back up, snapping her fingers together. "I got it!" She looked at me, a broad smile decorating her face. "I'll call you Gray! Cause of your eyes!"
I thought about the name, passing it back and forth in my mind. Gray… Yes, it could work. It was a lot better than the other things she could come up with.

I smiled, but quickly glared as she aimed the water-drop Pokeball at my face.

"Don't-" I cried, but it wasn't fast enough. I was sucked into the tiny capsule with hardly more than a whisper.

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Val smiled to himself as he walked along, his Absol pacing next to him loyally. Soon, very soon, he and his starter would take on the first gym leader in the region. They would be at the Pokemon League in no time.

Val smirked, remembering Sienna, his neighbor he'd had since he was a child. Together, they'd wanted to be Pokemon Trainers. After all, she hadn't been half-bad when she was younger. The Zigzagoons would take food from her and the Pidgeys would like to chirp and land on her shoulders. In fact, all Pokemon had loved her. The memory even made him kind of sad, even now. Sometimes he would talk to the Pokemon when he was younger, and they did like his small town.

And as Sienna grew, she started taking charge. Silk, Sienna's household Pokemon was miserable with it. Sienna would order around every Pokemon in her mother's team every day, claiming she was just practicing to be a Trainer. Val smiled darkly. It took much more than that to be a Trainer. Val remembered Sienna's mother's Skitty. It had always been Sienna's friend. Now, it definitely wasn't. In fact, Val was pretty sure that Delcatty hated Sienna now. Even since it evolved, it would slide out its claws and hiss whenever Sienna got near it. Poor Silk.

Sienna was probably going to be trying to eventually take on the Pokemon League, but he bet she would be useless at it. She was useless at everything. He'd get their first. He was better than she was. He was going to beat her. He was going to win.

He'd always win.

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Sienna dropped the Pokeball into her bag and promptly dropped that on the floor, leaning backwards, spread-eagled onto her friend's bed, staring up at the ceiling. Aqua was going to be furious. Sienna sighed, wondering what Aqua would do. Why were her Pokemon always so explosive and angry? Well, except for Lightning. He was always gentle. Blaze was always mad, and every other Pokemon that she'd tried to catch fled without a backward glance.

The front door to the house opened, and Sienna sighed. Aqua was right on time, as usual. She checked her Poketch. Two exactly.

The door to the room she was laying in opened, and Aqua came in.

"Hey Sienna, I'm back from the-" Aqua cut off. "What happened here?!"

Sienna took a look around the room again. The carpet was soaked, the ceiling dripping, and a fair-sized dent was where Blaze had hit the wall. Yup, Aqua was going to be very angry. Sienna sat up.

"Sienna, what have you done?!" Aqua entered the room fully; a Chatot perched on her shoulder and a Charmander following hesitantly behind her. "My room is a mess. My parents are going to kill me!"

"You're parents aren't here." Sienna pointed out. "We have all the time in the world to clean this up."

"They're coming home today." Aqua yelled. "You've got to get out of here!"

"I don't see why…" Sienna trailed off uselessly, knowing any argument was useless. "They know who I am."

"And they hate you." Aqua stopped yelling, but she was just as irritated. "I'll use Flame's help to get this place dried off. You just need to get out."

Sienna stood. "Fine…" She started shuffling towards the door, remembering to pick up her bag on the way out.

Aqua shoved her faster, pushing her out the front door.

"Don't be so down." She said, faster than Sienna would have imagined possible. "Take this and go. Feel free to stop by some other time; you just can't spend the night. I'm always happy to have you!"

The Chatot squawked angrily as the door slammed closed. Aqua shushed it so fast Sienna couldn't catch what it might have been saying. She looked down at the book that Aqua had shoved into her hand just before the door closed. It was white, with "Trainering for Dummies!" written across the top and bottom in bold black lettering. In the middle, a misshapen Pikachu drawn in crayon was smiling.

Sienna stared down at it disbelievingly. Did Aqua think she was this stupid? She was about to throw the book in the gutter when something held her back, forcing her to drop the unwanted object in her bag instead. Read? Her? A stupid book like that? Maybe later…

Her feet automatically took her to the Pokemon Center. The sliding glass doors opened, and Sienna walked directly up to the counter, sliding Blaze's Pokeball across and into the hands of Nurse Joy, who looked slightly surprised. Several people who had been waiting behind her muttered in complaint. One said something extremely rude, and was probably flipping the bird at her right now. Sienna ignored it all.

"Here, Nurse Joy. I'm afraid Blaze isn't in the best of shape right now." She said, unphased.

"Oh! Sienna! I'm afraid there's a line behind you, and…"

Sienna cut her off. "Blaze. She's hurt. Here. See you later."

There was a ping and a gasp, and the nurse's hand shot out, grabbing Sienna's shoulder and holding her back.

"Sienna!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "This is not good. Your Flareon is seriously beat up!"

Sienna turned around. "I know!" She retorted. "That's why I brought her to you!"

"You need to bring her to me before you reach this state!" Nurse Joy, unafraid, didn't back down. Her eyes blazed angrily, and to be honest, Sienna was a little edgy.

"Sorry?" She tried. Nurse Joy was unamused. She gestured towards the Fainted Pokemon.
"Look at Blaze and tell me she is only a little hurt." Joy demanded.

Sienna looked at Blaze.

The Flareon's tail twitched, her eyes and mouth open. Her legs were sprawled out at an unnatural angle, eyes glazed over and cloudy. The best part was she was still wet.

"Umm…" Sienna stammered. "She might be a little more hurt than I anticipated…"
Nurse Joy sighed. "You're a lost cause. Just leave."
The nurse shoved Sienna out the door. "Come back at dusk to pick up your Flareon."

Sienna stood outside the Pokemon Center, feeling a little lost without her starter. She sighed, figuring that now was just as good as any, if not better, to go and train up her new Pokemon. Of course, they'd probably hate her for it, but what else was new?

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There was nothing stranger than a Pokeball.

I opened my eyes, my words of protest dying as I looked around.

Nope, nothing stranger.

The grass was short and bristly, poking my feet. The sun was hot overhead, making my skin feel dry and rough.

All at once, I suddenly wished for the shady, cool marshes that I had been born in. The bout of homesickness overcame me in a wave of nausea, making me collapse, my face falling against the grass in painful prickles.

Then it was gone. All the pain was gone. I looked up, blinking the grass away from my eyes. The ground beneath me was soft, lush grass. Above, large, waxy leaves shaded me in a sort of den from the hot sun. I pushed through the side and stumbled my way into a small marsh, full of cool mud and pools of water interspersed with reeds and thick grass.

The homesickness was still there, but it had faded enough for me to wander around. I waded up to my cheeks in the mud, it reminding me of home so much I could cry. But I didn't. I don't know how long I sat there, but it was comforting. Nothing else seemed as real and as nice as this moment here, which I didn't want to leave behind. Then, there was a sort of instinct, so strong and so directing, I suddenly stood up; dragging myself to sit in a pool of water so the mud was gone. Then I pulled myself out and away from the marsh, sitting tiredly on the banks, quietly waiting for something to happen. I didn't know what it was, but I was ready for it.

There was a ping, and my vision went black. When it cleared I was standing in front of Sienna, in a ready position. I quickly relaxed and sat down, the sights and feelings of the Pokeball confusing me the more I thought about them. So I didn't. I looked up to face Sienna again.

"Hi Gray." She muttered. "We've got to get some Training done today."

I cocked my head. Train for what?
"My mom told me the best way to Train was to find some other Trainers. I figured that I should first figure out what you can do. Than maybe I'll consider getting up."

I rolled my eyes at her, but inside, I still had a concern. Train for what? What could be so drastic that I needed to Train to do it?
Sienna started talking. "Ugh. Nurse Joy yelled at me when I brought Blaze to the Pokemon Center. She said Blaze was beat up pretty bad." She scowled. "And she didn't let me get a word in edgewise to say the damage had been done in one blow. By you."
I smiled, proud of myself. Nobody could get away with randomly attacking me.

"And you know what Aqua did?" Sienna sat up, rummaging in her bag. "She shoved me out of her house and gave me this on my way out…" She shuffled around some more. "Ugh! Where is it?!" Than she sat up, clutching a small white book. "See?" She threw it down on the grass so I could see. "Isn't it awful?!"

I looked down at the book, flipping it around so I could see it right. A crudely drawn Pikachu was in the middle, smiling its disfigured smile, while bold black lines arranged in odd patterns were displayed boldly across the top and bottom.

"It says, "Trainering for Dummies" Sienna said miserably. "Aqua must think I'm so stupid."
Couldn't have said it better myself. Though the book was relatively thick; I couldn't imagine how many important things this book would have to say. The Pikachu was bothering me, so I took one wet foot and placed it directly on its misshapen face, smearing the waxy material it was drawn with. Hooray.

Sienna groaned. "I haven't even opened it yet!"
Allow me. I pushed open the cover of the book. The first page was covered in purplish, loopy, lines.

Sienna gasped, snatching the book out from under me and making me land face-first in the grass. "It's a note from Aqua!" She exclaimed. I glared at her as I got up, spitting out bits of grass.

"Dear Sienna," She read aloud. "Sorry for giving this book such a shaming, stupid, hastily-made cover. I was testing you, I guess. Yeah, I hope you'll forgive me for that, too. Oops. Now I can't scratch that out, either- oh never mind. Anyway, this is one of the most official, helpful, most amazing books for Trainers out there. I know you don't like to read. Believe me, I know that- but if you read one book for the rest of your life, let it be this one. It will help you so much- so much. You have no idea just how much it will. Read it from cover to cover and no doubt you will have improved beyond recognition. I have faith in you! Aqua."

Sienna eyed the book doubtfully. "Read?" She asked aloud. If I could reach my face, I would have face-palmed.

She hesitantly turned the page, and her whole face lit up. "A table of contents!"
For not liking to read, I wouldn't think she would be so happy about that.

"Let's see…" She smiled. "There are sections about Training, Bonding, Catching, Battling, Breeding…" I froze at that one. "…even Contests!" I sighed with relief. But what was this about Battling?
I laid down on the grass as Sienna continued to prattle off in her book. I was so interested, I fell asleep.

Amazing, right? For some explanation- this is in the past-tense, yes, and it's supposed to be like our Mudkip friend is telling the story from in the future, so that's why she knows the name of some stuff. Or, if you don't like that idea, she has had years of knowledge passed down through the Mudkip generations. :3 New chapter should come out soon enough, but I've really got to update my other stuff. People get impatient. Since I'm now trying to beat the elite four on DP with seriously under-leveled Pokemon that I'm too lazy to level up- I've always got Pokemon on the brain. It might not be the healthiest thing, but it sure helps me write! :D