Chapter 2:

It's my tenth birthday! My parents got me a new outfit and a special belt for presents. The outfit consists of a shirt, shorts, a hat and shoes. The shirt is a light purple tank top, to accent my amethyst eyes, with a cute little Eevee detailing right over where my heart is. The shorts are durable denim that cover my knees and are loose and comfortable with extra pockets on the side. (My big brother described them as cargo shorts.) The shoes are sturdy brown hiking boots that will hold up under a lot of stress, but are also comfortable enough not to cause blisters. The hat is a news boy cap the same light denim as my shorts and will help keep short black locks of hair from blowing into my eyes. The hat also has a little Pokémon egg pin that could be switched for another if I found one I preferred. I don't think I could ever find a pin better than that one.

My favorite present, though, was the special belt. My parents had had it custom made for me. It has spots for ten poke balls and also two pouches where I can carry eggs in and not worry about them getting cold. When I asked my parents why there were so many spots for balls, they explained.

"A breeder can carry more than six Pokémon with him or her. However when in battle, they will never, I repeat, never use more than six because that would be unfair for others. You want to have one of each Eevee before you began officially breeding, correct?" At my nod they continued, "Then you will have eight main Pokémon. The extra two slots are for any Pokémon you want to train some before you give them to their new trainer. You understand everything?"

I let what they said sink in for a few moments before I nod and smile over my gifts. Then it is my brother's turn to give me my birthday gift. As I open up the small package I see a brand new communication device. Then it hits me. These gifts are all those things I will need when I set out on my Pokémon journey. I look at my family with huge eyes.

My brother smiles, knowing I finally understood what was going on. "We already stocked and packed your bag for the journey." He came over and gave me a big hug. "Happy birthday, little Sophie." My parents echo his words as they give me hugs of their own.

Then Mommy pulls back and gives me a look. "You aren't leaving till tomorrow though."

I smile happy to be able to spend my birthday with my family and Pokémon.

Later when I put my presents in my room, I find my Eevees clustered around something. Before I see what they are up too, I admire how they've grown in the two years that I've had them. Avon has grown but has stayed the same thanks to the everstone that my brother helped me attach to his green collar, a green that matched his eyes. Dusklace has evolved into a Shiny Umbreon. I had given her a collar of lace the shade of the dusk sky. Dawnlace was still as tiny as when she hatched but she had evolved into an elegant Espeon. The lightest pink lace was what I had made Dawn's collar out of.

After marveling at how much they had changed, I went over to investigate what they were doing.

Mommy! It's your birthday right? Avon spins towards me before I even get a step closer.

"Yep! What are you three up to? I haven't seen you guys since I got up this morning."

We went out to get you something! I really hope you like them! Dawn jumped around in a small circle, clearly full of excitement over their presents for me.

"Wait, you guys went out by yourselves? How far did you go?" Worry hung clearly on each of my words.

We didn't go far and Big Brother Flare was with us the whole time so we didn't get into trouble. My sweet and steady Dusk quickly reassured me. Now will you please come see what are gifts are?

I giggle at their impatience as I come over to see what they found for me. Amongst a pile of small, vibrant purple flowers are three stones. One is a vivid red that seems to have flames moving in its heart, a Fire Stone. The second is such a startling yellow that it seems as if it would shock you if you touched it, a Lightning Stone. The third and final stone seemed to be a solidified pool of rain, a Water Stone. I look from the stones to the eager and slightly worried faces of my precious Pokémon. I smile with tears gathering in my eyes. My little babies had gone and found me the three stones that will help me get three of the other evolutions of Eevees. It was so sweet.

I gathered all three Eevees up in one of my gentle hugs. Dawn quickly wiggled free and assumed her usual position on my shoulder. I let the other two go and gather the purple flowers up so that I can put them in one of Mommy's vases. I gladly allowed my happiness to flow along the psychic link I had with my Eevees.

Once my little ones had fallen asleep I carefully packed my three stones in my bag, going over their reaction to the news that we were starting on journey in the morning. Dawn had started bouncing off the walls- two years hadn't calmed her down even a bit- Dusk had asked if she could take her favorite stuffed Pokémon- a little stuffed Mew- and Avon had just cocked his head at me and asked me if we were really going with just the four of us. Avon had been thinking of the few camping trips we had gone on with my brother. We had gone and camped out in the forest surrounding the ranch, but my big brother Tristan had been rather overprotective and battled all wild Pokémon we encountered himself. With my brother being fifteen years older than me and already left and returned from his own journey he had won each battle easily. We hadn't had an actual battle- be it with another trainer or a wild Pokémon- yet. All the experience we had gotten was from training with other Pokémon on the ranch. When Avon had asked his question, Dusk and Dawn had stopped and looked questioningly up at me. I had simply said 'Just the four of us.' After that they had all gotten even more excited and finally wore themselves to sleep.

As I too got ready to sleep I carefully formed pictures of my family in my head. My big brother Tristan had eyes that were more of a deep indigo than amethyst. He wore his black hair just above his ears in a spiky mess, about an inch shorter than mine. He stood around five foot nine and was still growing. His skin was a pale tan because our skin just couldn't darken very much, but it also couldn't burn. Even though he was twenty-five, he appeared to be around fifteen, a trait he and I both inherited from my mommy. (I may have just turned ten, but I appeared to be around five or six.) My mommy usually wore her silky violet black hair braided and twisted into a bun so not many realized that it nearly reached her knees. She is only five foot five, so my brother practically towered over her. Mommy was in her fifties, but she only appeared to be in her early thirties. With her pale lavender- almost silver- eyes you couldn't really tell where the darkness of Tristan and my eyes came from till you looked at my daddy. Daddy's eyes were a deep royal blue that seemed bottomless. At six foot five, Daddy was really tall but he could still be so gentle. Mommy called him her gentle giant. Daddy also look young for his age, appearing late thirties early forties while he was really in his fifties. He keeps his blue black hair short, not even long enough to get into his eyes. (Tristan's and my hair seemed to have indigo highlights, depending on the light.) While my mother was completely incapable of tanning, my father tanned easily and all his work with Pokémon left him with evenly tanned skin.

My daddy- Jeremiah Stone- my mommy- Chiaki Stone- and my brother Tristan Stone. My human family. All the Pokémon on the ranch were also part of my family. As I drifted off to sleep, I continued to form pictures of each of the Pokémon, preparing myself mentally for my journey that was going to begin in the morning.

Author's Note: Hey, forgot to mention last chapter that I don't own Pokémon, just most of the characters that will appear in this story. If I don't own one I will mention it in these notes. Also there are a lot of descriptions in this chapter, but I wanted to make sure you could picture the characters. There were nearly zero descriptions of people in the first chapter. Also timeline. This is taking place in Unova before Pokémon Black and White and those events. Later I might have her go on another journey that would take place after Black and White 2. Not sure. If you have any questions, opinions, or see any mistakes (this is not beta'd) then please feel free to mention them in a review. But please review. I need to know that people think this is worth reading. As always, beware: I have no clue what I am doing.