Carry On

Chapter Three: Chipper

I reach out to grab a red and white-capped sphere, pausing hesitantly before taking one. At my touch, the Pokeball dims ever so slightly, and I see the pale silhouette of a…frog..?

Oh, wait, no. I did not ask for this one. No, no, nononononono.

Too late.

"So, this one is mine then," Shauna declares, reaching in to grab the second Pokeball. "This one is Fennekin, right? It's perfect! My Li'l Fennekin!" She cradles the Pokeball to her chest and coos fondly.

Calem raises a brow before taking the last Pokeball. "Well, I suppose this one is mine then. Come on out!" He tosses the item a few feet away, rising from his seat in anticipation.

Pshooof!

Chespin! A small, otter-like Pokemon jumps out in a puff of smoke, chattering curiously. It wears a hat made of thick green quills, which bob as he turns to face us. Pin?

I smother the urge to grab him and run.

"Chespin, hello." Calem looks down at his Pokemon with a soft smile. "I am Calem. Because of you, I can be a real Pokemon trainer at last. Thank you." The Chespin cocks its head and gives a satisfied grunt.

"Well, now," Tierno says, pushing away from the table. "Trevs and I have to get going. There's a wicked flash mob in the next town over, starring ME! We have to return this stuff to the professor so we can get started, too." He gathers the metal box and tucks it under his arm, slipping out some thin disks from a pocket on the side of the box. "Oh, and these are for you!" Handing each one of us a disk, Tierno flashes a grin. "Pokedexes, the coolest thing since rock! Apparently, these are even more advanced than some other regions, and it has a bunch of slots in it that allow for later upgrades! So when you find a whole different group of Pokemon, they'll be saved in a different category, or something." He pauses. "The only thing is, I don't exactly know how to get the other slots… But that doesn't matter now! My party awaits!"

"Hold on, please," The orange-haired one finally straightens upright, closing his backpack. "I have this for you,….

"….

"What did you say your name was, again?"

Crap. I gaze nonchalantly at the diner menu. Tired of the same old Garbodor? Would you like to try something Numel? Try our new Sunyshore-style chips and dips! We guarantee it'll taste a Swalot better than our puns!

"Call me…Chipper." It's the best I can do at the moment, and hey, anything is better at this point.

"Sure… Chipper, then. I have this Hologram for your mother. It's from the professor."

"Hologram, huh?" I take the bulky envelope from his hands and glare at it. This thing could be about anything, and with my lack of intuition it's probably just some welcoming card, things to know about Kalos, yadda yadda. But since the removal of my mom's wedding ring, well, a lot of male visitors around our old town have been unusually interested in our personal lives. Let's just say I won't appreciate coming back home and finding my ditzy parent hitting it off with renowned professor of the entire region. Thanks, but no thanks.

My gaze returns to the ginger. "I heard about this 'Holo Caster' thing from the fliers. I think the lady on the cruise even gave me one, but I wasn't exactly…paying attention." Does jamming my headphones in and glaring at some smug little kid and his creepy worm Pokemon count as not paying attention? "Are letters nonexistent here?"

"Letters? HAH! Who even writes anymore?" Tierno guffaws, looking at me as if expecting me to laugh along; I wait. "The Holo Caster is the new thing now, invented by some guy who is good friends with the professor and all, but obviously there are still letters being sent around." He sticks his tongue out at me, in the style that I could only call anime. I didn't even know that was possible. "There are Wingull and Fletchinders flying around all day with mail, if you haven't noticed." I want to retort back at him but his tone is softer now, and besides it's pretty hard to get mad at this guy.

"Lysandre," Trevor says, flashing us a curious look. "His research has become pretty famous around these parts. But Professor Sycamore said that he seemed pretty interested in our journey; maybe we'll be able to meet him someday!" He pumps a fist, which surprises me, since he's hardly even come out from behind his bangs since we've met. "I'm going to fill up the Pokedex, and learn everything about the secret of Kalos! Chipper," he adds, giving me a determined smile, "we should do our best! The professor is counting on all of us!"

I can't help it; Trevor's excitement is contagious. "We'll be the best trainers of all Kalos, all of us."

"And the cutest!" Shauna giggles, clapping her hands together.

"Right," says Calem, accompanied by a cheer from his Pokemon. "Just keep getting stronger, everyone. I'll be waiting for you at the finish line!"

It's hard to believe that so much can happen in a morning. But suddenly, I realize that in a matter of hours, four complete strangers have become my closest friends.

/D'aww!

Alright, so I'll be doing the bulk of my work on the weekends, but now that we've gotten through the introductions, the story is about to get much more plot-based. And yes, I do know where the story is going, or at least the bare bones of it, but as I flesh it out expect to see a lot more reader interaction!

On that note, what do you think of our characters so far?

Cheers! Nookie