I decided that I wanted to start writing a Pokemon fanfiction because I find the concept of the world and the creatures very inspirational at times. This is the introduction to that story! I've struggled with keeping myself motivating, so I'm hoping that working on something like this will help push me to start writing again.

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Introduction

Elizabeth woke up, breathing in the freedom that came with not having to go to school. She had finally graduated! She ran her fingers through her wavy blonde hair, trying to straighten it from the inevitable mess she would have to deal with fully after she got up. With a sigh of relief and a long stretch, Elizabeth forced herself to sit up. Her room was small with just a bed, dresser, desk (which had been cleared of the stacks of books and papers that usually littered it) and posters, pillows, dolls, and a small crystal hanging in front of the window on the other side of the room.

Everyone else in her class was excited about going on their adventures with pokemon. In Siria City, it had become standard for children to wait until they were 18 before they headed out on adventures. Not that every kid waited to finish school before they headed out, though. There were only 16 kids in her graduating class because all the others had left already. Elizabeth preferred her education to leaving on some wild adventure of self-discovery that would inevitably end with her finding some low-paying job and being miserable.

With a lot of effort, she pushed herself up and opened her dresser to grab a purple shirt and blue jeans. She changed out of her pajamas and grabbed a brown belt that was sitting on top of her desk. It had one pokeball in it, although that was an empty one that her parents insisted she keep with her. With a few moments hesitation, she conceded defeat and strapped it around her. Then she was out her door, into the hallway, and downstairs to make herself breakfast. Her parents were gone to work already. Despite their disappointment that she hadn't adopted a life with pokemon like they had imagined she would, they accepted her choice as long as she started looking for a job. But that could wait a week or two!

After some eggs and toast, she decided to put on her sandals and go outside and enjoy the sunshine. The city was abuzz with shoppers, mostly trainers getting ready for their big adventure. Elizabeth raised her face up to the sun and let it beat against her. Their house was on the outskirts of the east side of the city, near Rise Forest. She turned to the trees to her left and ventured down the path. A few people passed by on their way to the city, greeting her as they went by. A few minutes after walking down the well-trodden main path, she found the small path that wound off to the right that her and most anyone familiar with the area knew led to the lake. Soaking her feet in the cool water would feel so good since it was getting exceptionally hot.

The lake was surrounded by trees except for the small path leading to it and the area that people used as a sort of beach. Thankfully, she was alone, so she sat down a little to the left of the beach area, took her sandals off, and let her feet slide into the cool water. Elizabeth stretched out and laid back, kicking her feet back and forth. It was quiet except for the calming sounds of the water and the trees rustling in a summer breeze.

There was some rustling in the area behind her, but she paid it no attention because it wasn't rare for wild pokemon to venture towards the lake. They never came close and, if she moved, they always scurried away. Next, she heard a voice in the distance. As it grew closer, dread washed over her. It was Brent, yelling at his pokemon. Elizabeth didn't desire to own a pokemon, but she certainly felt like she was better qualified than Brent was. He was not smart and he treated his pokemon terribly. She had actually had a nightmare last year that she was one of his pokemon. It wasn't pleasant.

"Get it, Houndour!" Brent could be heard yelling in her direction. He was growing closer and her first instinct was to get up and run at full speed, but she didn't want him ruining her relaxation like that. The rustling in the grass behind her erupted and she saw what looked like grass dashing toward her. Then she looked down and realized that it was an oddish running for her at full speed with a panic-stricken look on its face.

"No, no, shoo!" she whispered to it, waving the pokemon away with her hands. It didn't listen and dashed into her with a thump, the leaves on its head brushing against her arms. "Why on earth are you cuddling up to me?" Elizabeth looked down and couldn't help but feel pity on the little creature shaking as it huddled against her body. Why would it come up to her? She didn't like pokemon.

Brent's houndour came dashing out of the grass, stopping quickly when it saw her. It's master was shortly behind and sneered at her like he always did. "I thought Lizzy didn't like pokemon? Or are you just trying to keep it from me because you're jealous?" Ugh, she couldn't stand that snide look on his face!

"Jealous of what?" she scoffed. Everything about him was revolting. His orange hair, his freckles, his hairy legs, his gross toes sticking out of his sandals, his black shorts, his ugly gray shirt, his white baseball cap with the words 'Pokemon Master' written across it, and especially the I'm-better-than-you look that he wore on his face all the time.

"What's not to be jealous of?" he replied.

"Everything. Can't you leave this poor thing alone so I can go back to what was supposed to be a relaxing day?"

"I don't think so!" Brent pulled out a pokeball. The oddish let out a small shriek and jumped into her lap. She swore that these creatures could sense what kind of a trainer each person was. Lizzy sighed and looked down at the pokemon that had decided that she was far from harmful.

Without giving it another thought, she grabbed the pokeball from her belt. "I don't want you, but I don't want you to end up with him more." The oddish seemed to nod. Lizzy tapped the pokeball against the oddish and it furled into a ball of light that raced into the device in her hand. The pokeball rocked back and forth in her hands once, twice, three times, and then calmed down. She looked over at Brent's face and grinned with satisfaction.

"You! You stole my pokemon!"

"I rescued it, actually. Now can you leave me alone?" She flopped down on the grass and looked up at Brent's houndour. It always looked angry, but this was the first time she had seen it up close and it looked like it was in pain. Brent came over and stood directly over her. She swore he was going to stomp on her face by the look in his eyes. "Can I help you?"

"You'll regret that." He called his houndour back to its pokeball, huffed, and walked away.

"I can't argue with you there," she whispered after he was far out of earshot. Her parents were going to be thrilled. She could not let them know under any circumstances that she now owned a Pokemon because they would make a huge deal out of it. Lizzy sat back up and pressed the button on her pokeball. The oddish flew out in a ball of white light and looked up a her with a smile. Elizabeth sighed because she felt like she shouldn't have a pokemon when she didn't want one. Maybe she would give it to someone.

"I'm going to be honest with you, little one," Lizzy said softly. Her oddish kept smiling at her. "I don't like pokemon... and I don't really want to own one. I only did that because I know how horrible Brent is and I didn't want to have to see you be tortured by him. You're free to go if you'd like."

Her oddish shook its head and brushed up against the pokeball in her hand. So it was decided. This oddish liked her and it was staying. Maybe this would make her parents happy, actually.

"You can stay, but I'm going to give you a name. Are you a girl?" The oddish nodded. "I'll name you... Emily... if that's okay with you." Her oddish nodded and bounced up and down a couple of times. "Alright. Welcome to my life, Emily."

Are you working on adding to this? Because I really like where it could be headed. I like that Elizabeth is a reluctant Pokémon trainer, and that she didn't get a typical starter. I hope you continue writing. Brent sounds like a di...fficult person to be around, but do I smell something between them? Or is that pizza BURNING IN THE OVEN I gotta go.

I dunno what you're doing
But keep doing it

Yes, I work on it in small bits and segments when I get a chance. Because of my writing style, it sometimes takes me a while to get very far in a story. >_> I've also never had anyone actually read what I've written, so my motivation has been minimal.

I do not like when people just take the standard Pokemon storyline and re-create it with a different set of Pokemon or a new area or both. It seems lazy to me. It bothers me that the main series has such a definite pattern, too. So I try to create my own scenarios. o: And characterization is something I try to focus on, so I'm glad you find the characters interesting so far.


Thanks. :3


This is a segment of chapter 1 that I've started working on. The chapter isn't complete by far, but it's a little bit more to read while I work on more. ^^

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Chapter 1: Graduation Gift

Lizzy felt like her belt was heavier now that Emily rested inside her pokeball. She had to admit that, while she still wasn't certain that she wanted a pokemon, the feeling of having someone with her was comforting.

Her relaxation by the water was now a memory, so Elizabeth decided to start heading home. It was beginning to creep into the early afternoon and her parents would be home in a few hours, so she thought it best to get the house a little cleaner before they arrived. When she was just about to exit the forest, she saw one of her friends from school walking in her direction. The girl's face lit up when she saw Lizzy.

"Hey there, Lizzy!" she called, waving an arm as if someone could miss her in that bright yellow shirt.

"Hi, Maddy," Lizzy responded with much less enthusiasm. Madeline was a good friend: they would hang out and go places together. They had girl nights and Maddy was easy to talk to. But Elizabeth was very independant and she found Maddy's clingyness to be rather irritating after a while.

"What's new with you?" Maddy asked with a smile, stopping in front of Lizzy.

"Well..." she hesitated, not sure whether she should tell Maddy about her new friend or act like something major hadn't happened in the past hour. After a few seconds of hesitation and a confused look as Maddy waited for Lizzy to finish, Lizzy decided that she needed to share this with someone to get their advice. And Maddy was trustworthy, despite her sometimes overwhelming energy. "I caught a pokemon."

Lizzy watched as Maddy heard her and thought very carefully about what was just said. It took a rather long time for Maddy to show any sign of processing the information. "You... Elizabeth, caught a... pokemon?"

"Yes."

"But you've said that you would never..."

"I know. It just kinda happened." Lizzy shifted uncomfortably. This is why she didn't want to share the information in the first place. She had made such a huge deal about not getting a pokemon that she felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world.

"What pokemon is it?!" Maddy hopped up and down with the biggest grin Lizzy had seen on her. She was taken aback; there were no more questions or criticisms. This just became the most exciting event of the day for her friend.

"I'll show you!" Lizzy said with a grin of her own. She pulled out Emily's pokeball and released her. Lizzy's new oddish looked up at Maddy and smiled.

"Awwwww it's so cute!" Maddy scooped up Emily and hugged her tightly. Emily kicked her legs back and forth, trying to feel solid ground again. Lizzy giggled. Emily squirmed in her direction, so Lizzy took her pokemon back from Maddy gently, letting it rest in her arms. "You two are so cute together, too! I knew you'd find a pokemon eventually! Did you give it a name?"

Lizzy nodded. "Emily."

Maddy beamed as if everything in the world had been corrected. Then she got the look that meant that she just remembered her task prior to getting distracted. "I have to try to find some oran berries! Do you want to come with me?"

"I would join you, but my parents will be home soon and I still need to clean up the house." She tapped Emily's pokeball against her to send her back inside, then tucked the pokeball in her belt again. "I'll probably see you tomorrow, though!"

"Alright! Have fun with Emily!" Maddy winked as she jogged past Lizzy and into the forest. Lizzy watched her for a few seconds before finishing her walk back home.

To be continued...

Thank you! :3 (This is a VERY late reply and I apologize for that!)

I intend to keep working on this story, although progress will probably be very slow. I'm working full-time and trying to manage personal things as best I can, so sometimes my creative endeavors get pushed back for periods of time. I actually started writing a story outline and a continuation of this, but I haven't gotten far enough to post anything up yet. It'll happen eventually! ^_^