The Rise of Darkrai

[The Writing Owl]

Ah, the bright town of Twinleaf was truly a peaceful one. With a total of 3 houses and a Pokémon lab, many wondered how it even counted as a town. That was 50 years ago. It now consisted of a successful town, full of proud parents who had very successful trainer children. It bustled with activity while still retaining a certain sense of charm. Almost all of the children who had grown up in that town had gone off with their first Pokémon, and became great trainers in their own right. All except two. However, let's get to that in a minute...

The town had been full of whispers and rumors lately of wild Pokémon becoming feral and attacking. Others said they saw a black figure before finding a Pokémon stuck in some sort of nightmarish coma. Danger seemed to come from everywhere, changing the rules of becoming a trainer a little bit. Children still sought to become a great trainer, or possibly contest winner depending on the child, so instead of sending the young ones out alone with only a small Pokémon, they prepared them a little more.

Back to the two children, today was the day they could get their first Pokémon! One of the two, a young brunette, ran through the streets. She had inherited her father's knack for never getting anywhere on time. She turned a corner, her ponytail trailing behind her. The girl pushed up her glasses, keeping them from sliding down her nose and away from her blue eyes.

"I'm late... I'm late... I'm so late!" The pale girl nearly crashed into someone, narrowly avoiding smacking them with her backpack. "Sorry!" She called, still running. Her worn tennis shoes slammed against the concrete roads as she finally reached her destination, a large lab that would lead her to her future. She panted, glad she had worn a tank top on the warm day, before taking in the building. Her cargo shorts rustled, their pockets ready to be filled as she stared at the blue building with windows showing glimpses of the wonders that were to be held. The girl took a deep breath before she got ready to open the door. "Welcome to the rest of your life." She whispered to herself before walking into the laboratory.

If only she knew just what mess she was going to get herself into.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Alyssa stood at the edge of the doorway, thoughts buzzing as she helped herself to another one of Rowan's treats. The flavor exploded in her mouth sending sparks of satisfaction through her body and the sweet taste filling her mouth. The aftertaste was even better, she decided. The tang of honey was still on her lips even after she swallowed, it was was better than her own mediocre skills at baking. Glancing around her she watched as the professor busy himself with last of installments to the machine. His fingers glided effortlessly on the keyboard. She felt a sharp twinge of envy; she wished she were that good at typing.

Shrugging and turning back to the treat table she selected a small cupcake. Dark chocolate ,like her skin tone, and with light brown topping that almost matched her hair. She smiled as she lost herself in the taste, the flavor singing just as the first one did.

Where she?

She felt a sharp tang of agitation as she checked the time again. It was ten minutes past the original time and slowly her patience grew thin. Her thoughts buzzed with agitation and she tapped her foot in spite of herself. Her small body almost glowing with impatience as she glared at the door. Her heart was in her chest suddenly as she angrily chewed her cupcake. Anxiety finally settling in as she glanced back at Rowan.

She almost sang when the door squeaked open.

 

[The Writing Owl]

"I'm sorry I'm late!" The girl called, walking through the door. "I was held up by my mom..." She rubbed the back of her head, knowing it wasn't a good excuse. She gave the other girl, Alyssa, an apologetic look as she walked toward where Alyssa and the professor were standing. She saw the table with the three Pokémon and immediately felt excitement rise up in her chest. She was going to be a Pokémon trainer!

The Professor cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the two children. "Alright, welcome to my lab. I am Professor Rowan. I'm here to give you both your first Pokémon. Since Alyssa, you were here first, you can go before Zoe." The brunette, Zoe, nearly wanted to complain however she knew that she deserved it since she had gotten here late. She watched Alyssa, waiting for her to pick her next partner for the rest of her life.

Rowan watched the two girls carefully. He wondered how they would react when he told them the requirements of becoming a trainer. The mustached man watched with careful eyes as Alyssa picked her first Pokémon to follow her for the rest of her life.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

"T-thanks." she mutters, anxiety creeping up in her body as she takes a shaky step towards the pristine table. She tries to forget her anxiety that makes her shaky and tries to focus her thoughts on something else. Just like her father the night before after showing her all his pictures from his past. She wipes her hand on her skirt and takes a deep breathe as she focuses her thoughts on the three poke'balls before. She sees them. The tiny creatures within the crystal like ball looking at her with excitement and anticipation as she reaches forward toward piplup. She pauses and waits for a moment as her thoughts buzz inside of her. She shakes her head slightly and puts her hand down. It's not like this should be hard, she thinks to herself, she chose this a year ago when she got her letter from pelipepper.

She swallows thickly and curses at herself in her mind. She takes a glance back at Rowan and sees nothing but patience inn his eyes. He raises an eyebrow and nods once before settling his gaze elsewhere. She doesn't want to look back at Zoe. She doesn't want see the irritation of what's taking her so long.

She sighs and scratches her head and decides to choose blindly. Covering her eyes she reaches forward, hand bumping the table and feels the smooth texture of a poke'ball within her hand. She clasps it within her palm and feels the warmth radiating from within it. Breathing hard she looks down and smiles. It was her first choice after all. She covers the poke'ball with her hand and steps back letting nodding to Zoe. She's smiling ear to ear now and feels the ball twitch within her hand. She wishers her father could have seen this.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Rowan looked over at Zoe before gesturing. "Let's meet your Pokémon before Zoe picks hers." The man moved to start getting the other things for the children ready before turning to watch the girl meet her partner for the first time. He had seen many a trainer meet their first Pokémon, however it still was a magical moment to experience with new trainers that he was very happy to be a part of.

Zoe waited to pick her new Pokémon. She had never really thought about which Pokémon she wanted. They all sounded nice in her opinion. She was tempted to do just as Alyssa had done, simply picking blindly, however she wouldn't be able to stand the thought of picking one then really wanting the other. The brown haired girl shuffled her feet as she glanced over at the remaining Pokémon. Her future partner was going to be in one of those two pokeballs. She couldn't mess it up with random chance. She had already been late, she couldn't screw anything else up.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Alyssa started at her pokemon-the term made her smile- and held it tightly within her hands. It felt smooth in her palm and the red top gleamed under the lighting of the room. The poke'ball was light, though she could feel the slightly heaviness of her Pokemon that was stored within it. She hugged it tightly to her chest feeling the warmth soon overcome her and forgot about everything else.

Glancing up she stared as Zoe took her time. She tried not to let the excitement overtake her and wanted to whisper to Zoe some encouragement. Though she felt as if she wouldn't have anything to say at all, so she kept her mouth shut. Glancing down at her Pokemon she wondered breezily what she should name it. She also wondered if it was a boy or a girl... She shrugged and turned her attention back to Zoe.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Zoe watched Alyssa and her new Pokémon before moving to the last two pokeballs. She looked between them, trying to decide just which one would be best for her. On one hand, she could choose Chimchar, a fire type. On the other, she could choose Piplup, a water type. The girl almost shook with the importance of the decision. Taking a deep breath, she slowly reached for the pokeball. Sweat beaded down her neck as she finally hovered over her chosen Pokémon. Closing her eyes, she grabbed the pokeball and quickly put it to her chest. She backed away, opening her eyes and looking down at the pokeball.

"Alright, let's meet your new Pokémon." Professor Rowan said, now holding two pokedexes. "After that you two will get your new pokedexes." Zoe stared at the pokeball for quite a while before finally releasing her new partner. The small blue pokemon blinked up at Zoe before giving a cry. Zoe smiled, kneeling down and pulling the Piplup close to her chest. She wanted to cry, quite like a mother would when holding their newborn child for the first time. She smiled, a few tears coming to her eyes. She was probably overreacting as she stroked her new Pokémon's head. Scratch that, she was definitely overreacting as some tears fell.

"You're going to be my best friend, Bud..." She whispered, earning a small yet happy cry from her new partner.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Alyssa watched with as Zoe released her small Pokemon. She noted the sleekness of its feathers and the firm beak that protruted out of it small blue head. She was happy for them, she really was. Alyssa looked down to the poke'ball that was clasped in her right hand. Pulsing heat vibarted from it and she smiled. She decidded it was time to meet her new partner, Turtwig.

"Go on. It's about time you meet him." Him. She noted the pronoun with happiness.

"Release!" she shook with happiness as white energy sprung from the poke'ball and formed a small creature. Turtwig looked at her and narrowed his eyes slighty, and Alyssa's heart clenched. Turtwig sniffed and turned its head and looked away. Disdain clear among it's brown eyes. Alyssa stood with shock as Turtwig rejected her, feeling a envy clasp her heart as she watched Zoe with her Piplup. Rowan sighed and seemed to look at Turtwig sadly, he opened his mouth to speak, but Alyssa stopped him.

"No, I'll make this work. We'll make this work."

Rowan seemed to stare at her for what seemed an eternity and nodded finally. Settling for a formal look at both of them as he walked to the the nearest shelf where the Pokedex's held.

Alyssa bent down and tried to pet Turtwig hesitantly, but he growled and glared at her. Her heart sunk as she was rejected once again.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Zoe wiped away her tears as she watched the Turtwig and Alyssa. She frowned as the Turtwig pretty much rejected Alyssa. "Hey, come on! At least give her a chance." The girl gave Alyssa a sympathetic look. It hurt having a Pokémon reject you. It was probably worse considering that this was going to be her partner for the rest of her life. "You don't even know her yet." Zoe told the grass Pokémon. "You can't just judge her like that." She doubted that the Pokémon really cared about her words or was even listening, but she had to at least try.

Her Piplup seemed to share her sentiments, jumping out of Zoe's house to go over and talk to the Turtwig. It's little wings flapped as it pointed from the Turtwig to Alyssa and back. Professor Rowan shook his head, though he still kept his serious expression. The Piplup patted Turtwig's shell, giving a small chirp in finality. "Looks like Evan agrees with me." Zoe said, giving her Pokémon a smile. The Professor gave Zoe a look. "What? That's his name, right Evan?" The newly named Evan gave Zoe his best form of a smile as he could, chirping happily.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Faking a smile, Alyssa watched as Turtwing coldly looked at her though the corner of it's eye. As their gazes met it turned away and sniffed. Alyssa tried her best not to cry in front of this new girl. It. She hated the term, but she couldn't distinguish a Pokemon's gender even if it were for her life. Sighing gently she picked a name out to herself quielty. Whispering to herself she noted with happiness that the name felt right on her tongue, even if the Pokemon itself didn't feel right with her. Forcing a smirk she glared back at Tur-Francis and turned away.

Professor Rowan blinked and her gaze dropped and shoulders shrugged.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Professor Rowan cleared his throat. As much as he wanted the Turtwig and Alyssa to start to bond, he needed to get them going. "Right, well, I have a gift for both of you. First off is your pokedex." He handed them both the red device. "This will help you identify Pokémon as you catch them. It should be really simple to use." He took out ten pokeballs and gave each of them five. "Here's five pokeballs for each of you. This should help you in catching Pokémon." He went back to some other things he had to do, leaving the two to their own devices.

Zoe was excited just to get the pokedex before realizing that there was something missing. "Wait, what about our trainer licenses?" She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. She had already put away her newest gifts into the backpack she had taken along, but she was focused now on one of the most important parts of being a trainer.

"Well, until you come with the person you are travelling with, I can't give you your license." Rowan said simply. Zoe blinked, wondering when having a travelling companion was suddenly part of the requirements for becoming a Pokémon trainer.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Alyssa blinked in union with Turtwing. "Wait...so this means I have to go with someone else?" Alyssa didn't let the happiness show in her voice as she glanced hopefully at Zoe. She was scared, to be honest, of going across the region on her own. With all that's lurking in the shadows she was glad to have someone she could rely on. She took a side glanced at Zoe and watched her. Tilting her head sideways, Alyssa frowned in confusion as the meaning came clear within itself. What was so bad out there that trainers needed to go in pairs with one another? She narrowed her eyes and bit the top of her lip thinking. Without her knowledge Turtwig did the same, tilting its head sideways in confusion and staring at the professor.

"Are we supposed to find partners to travel with or have you set them up already?" Casting a doubtful glance at Zoe she shook her head. Who would want a partner who was rejected by her Pokemon? She sighed to herself and decided to think about it later.

 

[The Writing Owl]

"Either or." The Professor said. "As long as you can travel with someone, then you can get your trainer license and start your journey as a Pokémon trainer." He seemed to leave them back to their own devices, waiting for them to come up with a solution to their problem. Though, it was nice to notice that Alyssa and Turtwig seemed to act similarily, even though the Turtwig still hadn't accepted his trainer. At least there was a possibility of a chance.

Zoe didn't notice the small detail, too busy trying to figure out what to do. "Shoot, shoot, shoot! I didn't think we would need someone to go with us for this!" She paced a bit, Evan moving away from the Turtwig to follow his trainer. "All my friends left on their own adventures already... Argh! What am I going to do?!" She was nearly pulling her hair out as she tried to figure out just who she could travel with. Evan followed, looking up at his trainer in worry. The girl seemed to not consider the fact that she could go with Alyssa, probably thinking her to find a different partner.

 

[AssiduousGhost]

Alyssa bites her bottom lip with a small hum. Thoughts looming and somewhat anxious, she glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Francis. He stood statue like only movement seen was the leaf blowing to and fro in the wind. He seemed troubled, by the narrowing of his eyes and anxious movement of his hind legs tapping the ground with a small almost inaudible-tut tut tut. She sighed and scratched the back of her head, fingernails dragging along the skin. She winced as she made a note to cut her nails. Opening her mouth she considers what she's going to say for a moment and closes it. She licks her lips, tasting the bitter gloss, and calls out to Zoe in a whisper.

"I figured, if you don't have a partner...and I don't have one, then maybe we could go together?" She trailer off, heart lowing further in her chest as she saw Francis turn towards her with a critical eye and snort softly. She almost followed his train of thought for moment, forgetting that Zoe was a stranger and that she need to find someone trustworthy. She looked back her self and laughed quietly. Zoe needed someone who's partner Pokemon didn't hate them. "We don't have to if you don't want to. We could always find someone else."

 

[The Writing Owl]

Zoe turned to Alyssa before smiling. "Um, sure! If you're okay with traveling with a lame girl you don't even know, I'd love to travel with you! Let's me keep an eye on your Turtwig so maybe we can open him up to you." She gave the grass type a disappointed look before turning to Professor Rowan. "Now, I believe you owe us some trainer's licenses." The brunette held out her hand, excited and nervous for the upcoming adventure. Even though she had started the day off with a rough start, she was sure that this was going to go well. At least well enough that maybe she could get all of the gym badges and maybe compete in a contest or two, if they got to Hearthome city.

"I'll give them to you in just a minute." Rowan said, his mustache twitching with the hints of a smile. He moved to a desk and picked up two plastic cards with the two's faces on them. "There you are. You two are officially Pokémon trainers." He gave a small smile to each of them. "Congratulations. I'd suggest you go meet each other's parents before you set off together. I'm sure they'd like to know just who their daughters are travelling with."

 

[AssiduousGhost]

The room is now pitch black as her mind soars to heights unimaginable. Her heart picks up speed as happiness bursts from her chest, she lets out a small uncharacteristic squeak and goes to grab her card. Her soft hand brushing against Rowans calloused one- most likely from the decades of Pokemon handling. She looks down at her hand, the brown skin on the underside of her arm has tiny hairs and looks smooth to the touch. She smiles at her small hands and something inside of her tell her that she's going to get the same callouses. The same bruises and scars from Pokemon battles and handling. She smiles at herself and blinks daringly at Rowan. Her card still in her hand she grips the cold plastic in her hand and fells the blunt edges. She'll look at it later, she decides and glances down at Turtwig and Evan. Hope fulling her chest as she stares at Zoe.

"Professor, Thank you so much, I mean really....you didn't have to do this." She nods her head towards Rowan as she takes Zoe hand. "C'mon slowpoke we gotta meet the parents. Let's consider this out first date." She hopes to lighten the awkward tension between her and Zoe by light jokes. Taking her hand she nods at Evan and glances shortly at Turtwig and pulls Zoe along by her wrist as she takes her outside in the warmth of the day. She hears the mumbled congratulations of the professors assistants and meaningful whispers as she walks past them.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Zoe smiled as she grabbed her license and was led away by Alyssa. She laughed at her little joke. "Alright, but you pay." She teased, pulling back a bit to let Evan catch up and grab onto her hand. She set him on her shoulder before continuing to follow Alyssa. "So, who's parents first? Yours or mine?" She asked, a feeling of giddiness and excitement welling up in her chest. This was the beginning of the rest of her life. She was going to be a Pokémon trainer! The small plastic card felt all the more prominent in her pocket as they started their journey. "So, do you have a nickname for your Turtwig? Even if he's being a little bit of a meanie right now, I'm sure he'll warm up to you eventually." She wanted to encourage her new friend, since having a Pokémon reject you was a horrible feeling.

Professor Rowan watched the two run out of the lab with a small smile. They were going to do something great. He could tell. Though the latest news about the dangers of the wild Pokémon worried him, he didn't worry too much about the two girls. They would be just fine. He got back to work, taking the Chimchar to look after and check it over. He was looking forward to seeing just what those two girls did.