Chapter One

Introduction

Life inside a pokéball turned out to be nothing like how the humans described it. I'd listened in to the musings of the assistants flocking around Elm. Some thought it was like being snuggled in a bed or nest, while another thought it to be more like a miniature world. Really, it's just dark. You're there with only your thoughts, feeling disconnected from your body, lost. The first few moments passed and I thought that it wasn't so bad. As my existence dragged on, I lost track of time. The professor promised I would only be in there a few hours, but months, maybe even years, visited. All I had were memories, thoughts, questions, and fears. And, after a while, I ran out of all those things too. If I'd known about the stagnant hole called a pokéball, I may not have run after the human. I could do nothing but hope for a quick release.

Up until being zapped inside the ball, living in the lab was not completely horrible. The professor allowed me to follow him to the edge of the woods before stating again that I should return to my home. I had already bitten into my decision, and so I defiantly sat at his heels. He debated for a long time, finally coming to the conclusion that I was not leaving. "You're the little one that was outside the fence, weren't you? Maybe you're just small for your age."

Nearly every experience from then on was new to me. I lived each moment with an anxious exhilaration. Elm introduced me to the shelters humans stayed in, the prepared food they ate, and many of the bizarre technologies they wielded. He did not prepare me for my new life as thoroughly as the cyndaquil did though.

Two other pokémon lived inside of the blindingly white lab with me. There was a totodile who made me look like a giant. With as much concern Elm held for me, I'm still surprised he allowed that runt to be chosen. My second living mate was a magnificent cyndaquil. The flames on his back were so consistently full and luscious that I fully believed his story of being from the alpha line of his pack.

While the totodile did not speak much, or really at all, the fire pokémon's mouth hardly stayed shut. He schooled me in everything basic to humans. Coming from a nesting grounds close to a city, his pack's ways of life were closely tied into human society. They even told the young ones stories of great trainers. His knowledge came of great use to me. I was eager to learn about the telling of time and of toilet customs, even if his tone was a bit condescending. After two of the so-called months, the cyndaquil became convinced that I knew enough to get by.

The ending of my lessons aligned almost perfectly with the beginning of the three new trainers.

Waiting still to be freed from the mentally suffocating nothing, I tried to focus on my hopes of seeing a certain human's face. Only one of the possible candidates for my trainer visited the lab in my time there. Ivy seemed like the kind of human I needed. Being the daughter of Elm, her entire life had been filled with knowledge about pokémon and how to keep us safe. All of her movements were well coordinated and determination read across her painted face.

Ivy seemed to like me well enough. She would usually spare me a few strokes on the back whenever I would playfully tug her skirt or rub my face against her smooth legs. Her eyes fascinated me. They were always painted with deep hues of red, matching the determined glimmer they held. Going by her name, I was the obvious choice, but the pompous cyndaquil told me otherwise. "Ivy is obsessed with Lyra; she's not going to want you."

"Who is Lyra?"

The fire type scoffed. "She's only the longest running champion of Johto. About twenty years ago, she got her start in this lab, having chosen my great-uncle as her starter. Ivy knows of my superior bloodline. Plus, she dyes her hair red. Like fire."

I thought the hair argument was a bit silly, but the first part had me worried.

A light began to eat through the black engulfing me and I knew time had finally come. I let myself be bathed in it. Feeling began to trickle down into my body. In a few moments, the pads of my feet softly connected to the shiny floor. My surroundings blared into my still adjusting eyes, leaving me to only see blurred silhouettes. I blinked rapidly, trying to shake my vision back. Several humans laughed. The first thing I clearly made out was Cyndaquil, and I was relieved to see that it was still indeed a cyndaquil. Surely he would have evolved at least once if I had been locked away as long as it felt. After identifying the pokémon, I realized that he was sitting at Ivy's feet.

"Oh no!" I gasped. "No, not her. I don't want her!" The slouching human holding my pokéball was gangly and inattentive. She had two twisted lumps of bark colored hair resting on her front. One arm crossed over her stomach and the other one's hand played with an end of hair rope. Barely casting a glance in my direction, she appeared distracted by the male next to her.

"I told ya," Cynadquil taunted. I glared at him, trying not to stare up at his trainer in envy. I could not help a few peaks though. Ivy appeared much more put together than my human. Her dress rested snug against her body and was a pleasing array of warm colors. An inviting autumn day. In comparison, the girl looming over me was dressed completely in baggy blue material that seemed stiff. There was a bit of pink peeking through the mostly buttoned jacket. Comparing them for a few more moments while both the female trainers watched the male free Totodile, I was disappointed to see that my trainer was taller than Ivy. Although it was rare, sometimes trainers would walk past the meadow's fence. They were all so much shorter than Ivy and Elm. I had figured it to be a trait of power, but perhaps it was simply age or a subspecies.

The male trainer spoke to the professor standing a few feet away. "Thank you Sir, he's really great!" Untamed joy registered in his bright open smile as he picked up the small totodile and held him close to his face. A fat marill I had not noticed at first was tucked between his arm and body. It wiggled furiously, which hardly seemed to faze the boy. "You want to meet your new friend?" He set them both down onto the floor near me. The marill poked Totodile and then chirped something unintelligible.

"You're certainly welcome, Emmett. It'd hardly be fair to set the girls up with a starter and not yourself." Elm grinned in the direction of the water pokémon, each taking turns lightly tapping the other. "Rosa seems to already enjoy having a companion."

"They're really cute together." Ivy commented. It may have been me getting used to human speech patterns, but it sounded odd to hear that remark in a serious tone. "Are you thinking of specializing in water types too?"

A small scowl came to his thin mouth. It was forced away before he answered. "No, I just really like totodiles. And Rosa was a gift, remember?"

"I still think you'd make a fierce water trainer."

A somewhat familiar dinging noise came from the direction of Elm. He put his wrist wearing a device up close to his bespectacled face, squinting at a square that would draw their strange designs. "Sorry kids, I have to take this. I'll be right back." He pushed a button and then crossed to the other side of the lab.

A heavy silence came to the trainers. Ivy fished a metallic tube out of the tiny bag hanging from her shoulder. She then used it to repaint her lips red. Cyndaquil told me that the respectable human females all wore the paint on their faces. Not surprisingly, my trainer had none. "You know, you can look at your chikorita, right? It's not going to hurt you." She said after smacking her lips a few times.

For the first time, my trainer made eye contact with me. I don't exactly know what I was expecting, but her reaction did not sit well with me. Her brow narrowed and her already small mouth thinned more. Even her stance changed in the way a caterpie's does when it meets a fearow.

"Grass type is going to be good for you, Penn." The male said. My ungrateful human immediately changed back into a timid, slightly dense, bug. "They're really mellow. Maybe you should give her a name."

"A name?" My human dimly mumbled in response.

"It'd help you bond better. C'mon, what do you think she looks like?"

Clearing forcing herself, she looked at me once again. "I dunno. Sally?"

He laughed and smiled wildly. Then he put one of his arms around her upper back and kind of shook her. It looked strange. I wondered what it meant briefly, but then I was sidetracked by the fact that I had flippantly been named Sally. Sally! Human names had never held much weight with my family, yet I could not stand that I would have to respond to such a silly word. Sally. Sounds like some kind of slimy bog pokémon.

By the time I was able to shake off my frustration and concentrate back on the humans again, he had left her back and was grabbing for her wrist. They must have been familial with each other. She made no move to flinch away, instead actually moving her hand towards his the slightest bit. "Just let her sniff your hand. Introduce yourself." The hand came towards my face. I tried to be brave, but I was afraid my disdain showed through. I likely matched my trainer's expression.

Elm stepped back over, thankfully interrupting the humans before they could reach me. "Sorry about that, gang. An old friend called me. It actually ties in perfectly with what I'd like for you to accomplish today." The professor began to rattle. I tried not to bolt towards the door, away from the human that would be charged with me.

Author's Note: Sorry this is getting to such a slow start. This chapter was originally going to include a lot more, but I split the tutorial part of the game into two different parts. Next one will have my first battle in it, so that's a bit nerve-wracking.

I'm basing the past on my first play through of the game, so Lyra started with a cyndaquil in that. Again, it's not based off the television show at all.

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