Disclaimer: moi-moi819 does not own Pokémon, or any of their titles therein. This is a nonprofit fan fiction. No copyright infringement was intended.

Moi-Moi: Hey party people! What's up!? Guess what I've decided to do!

Ash/Satoshi: Uh… challenge me to a Pokémon battle?

Moi-Moi: -_- No. Besides, I would win. ;) I recently watched the beginning of the Unova League and re-watched the Sinnoh League for the 4th or 5th time. That got me going, so I decided to do a Pokémon fanfic this time! Hoo-ray! *lights a fire cracker, but it sizzles out without a spark* … Never mind! Let's get started, shall we? : )

Ash/Satoshi: *blows party horn once*

As I heard my Starly alarm clock ring to life, rousing me from my light sleep, I opened my eyes to the bright sun peering through the open window. My dark brown eyes narrowed and closed before I rolled over and away from the blinding light. Slowly, but surely, I felt sleep start to recapture my mind as my thoughts went fuzzy. It was too early for this. I only needed five more minutes…

"Gabrielle!" I heard my mother's chiming voice call out. I groaned and hid under my sheets feeling the sleep slip away for good. Not even my warm bed could lull me back into unconsciousness. As soon as she stopped yelling, I felt skinny vines rope around my mid-section. My eyes opened wide to see my mother's Meganium smiling brightly at me as she held me upside down. She put me down on to the wooden floors before pulling her vines away.

"You didn't have to wake me up, Meganium. I would have gotten up eventually," I say and rub her head. I leave my unmade bed behind with a yawn. I could hear Maganium fixing the covers as I went into the bathroom to get ready for today. Meganium insisted on having things in order more than my mother did. But, in my opinion, order was chaos.

I stretched my arms over my head with a small smile forming. Yesterday was my tenth birthday. Which means that I'm now old enough to begin my Pokémon journey. Idly, for the ten thousandth time, I wondered which starter Pokémon I would choose. There are only three choices. It shouldn't be this hard!

I let out a groan before placing my brush in my yellow backpack. I was packing up the final necessities for my journey now that it was time for me to leave home. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone standing in my doorway.

"Hey, runt," I say affectionately to my little sister, Victoria. She was watching me with a sad and curious look as I finished packing my bag.

"Are you really leaving?" she asked and stepped into the room.

"I have to. How else will I start my journey?" I ask with a smile and place my bag on my back. It was then that I realized how much we look alike.

Like me, Vicky had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes (we got it from Mom). However, mine stopped a little lower than mid-back and had brown streaks in it. I put my hair up in a high ponytail and nodded once. I was wearing a short sleeved yellow shirt and a pair of white capris. I had white sneakers with yellow laces and a yellow thunderbolt pendant hung from my neck.

I pulled on my white, fingerless gloves before smiling at Vicky again. "Listen, in four years you'll be leaving on your journey. Trust me. You're gonna wanna leave as soon as possible," I say.

"Yeah, I guess… You'll catch lots of Pokémon so that I can play with them, right?" she asks, her mood doing a 180. I blinked at her strangely with a nervous laugh. Vicky was staring up at me admiringly with her small hands clasped before her.

"Of course!"

"Then go! You have to go catch Pokémon!" she yells and pushes at my legs and out of my room. I move around her with an annoyed look. I look around my room one last time. My small bed rested against the wall with my window perched over it. The walls were covered with posters of electric type Pokémon. I looked down at the stuffed Pachirisu doll on my bed. "I'm gonna catch me a real Pachirisu first," I promised and shut the door behind me.

"Do you have everything?" my mother, Christiana, asks. I nod my head before turning and showing her the bag on my back. "Alright then."

"Right. Bye, mom! Bye, Vicky!" I yell and grab a bite of her toast. She objects loudly, but I am already out the kitchen door and onto the road. I smile to myself as I leave my home behind and head straight to Prof. Rowan's lab. I was in no rush. I lived in Sandgem town; right near the beach. I wondered if it was a wise choice to turn down my mom's offer of getting me a bike for my journey. "Definitely," I muttered to myself. I liked walking.

Not even twenty minutes into my walk and I spotted the Professor himself standing in the middle of the road. What was he doing? "Professor Rowan!" I yell and wave.

He looked up to see me jogging over to him. "Hello there, young lady," he says in his deep voice, his facial hair slightly muffling it. Sometimes, I think Prof. Rowan called me "young lady" because he couldn't remember my name. Not just my name, but everyone's. but, who knows? I smile at him before pulling out my post card from my bag.

"I came for my Pokémon, Professor."

"Well that's-" he starts, but is cut off by someone bumping into his back. He turned and I looked behind him as well. We both saw a blue-haired girl in a pink outfit that made my eyes hurt. Who wears that much pink? She had a pink bike next to her and looked embarrassed and lost.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologizes. I notice the postcard in her hand. She must be a new trainer as well.

"You seem lost," Prof. Rowan says. No kidding.

"Who? Me?"

"You're the only one lost here so yes," he responds. I muffle a snicker. "Judging by that postcard in your hand, you must be coming for your starter Pokémon. Why don't you follow me back to my lab and I'll get you two started."

"Did you say lab?" she asks, shocked. Duh.

"I'm pretty sure he said lab," I say with a smirk. For the first time, she looks at me. She pouts angrily before looking away.

"I wasn't asking you," she says with a turned up nose. I shrug and turn to follow after the professor, seeing that he had left us behind. I wouldn't let her attitude get to me. I was pretty good at brushing most things off and letting them just roll off my back.

"So, what is your name, young lady?" the Pokémon professor asks. Since he's known me my whole life, I was sure he was talking to the other girl. Then again, he really could have forgotten my name. She looked to me confusedly before looking at his back.

"My name's Dawn."

"Well, Dawn, do you have an idea which starter Pokémon you are going to choose?" the professor continued. I looked back at Dawn then. I was mildly interested to hear her answer. I hadn't chosen which Pokémon I wanted yet.

"Not really," she confessed. I was down heartened by this. It would have been nice to hear a choice and opinion. Maybe then, I could decide.

"If it makes you feel better, I haven't chosen one either," I say. I don't know what possessed me to speak, but it caused Dawn to perk up.

"At least I'm not the only one," she says.

"We're here. Let's go inside," Prof. Rowan says. We all step inside the cool lab and my heart rate picks up. This was exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. My first Pokémon is waiting for me in there. No pressure.

"Professor! We're so sorry!" a man started. He quickly babbled an explanation to the Professor that I barely understood. I looked around instead, piecing together the story. The room was in shambles. Books, plants, papers, and trash were scattered around. A window was broken and there was broken glass everywhere. A Turtwig sat on the table looking perfectly unbothered by the mess.

"Let me go after them," I heard Dawn say.

"Hm?" I heard the Professor mumbled. Not wanting to be left out, I spoke up as well.

"Me too. I have to pick a partner from those Pokémon," I say. Dawn and I share a determined look. Prof. Rowan stares at us for some time before agreeing. "You can count on us, Professor," I say. Dawn and I leave the lab and head out back. She immediately calls out to the Pokémon. "Look Dawn!" I exclaim, noticing movement in the trees. We both see Chimchar swinging away from Piplup's bubblebeam. "Chimchar!" I yell going after it. I hear Dawn calling to me and then Piplup before her voice fades away. "Chimchar, wait!"

The monkey stops before sticking its tongue out at me. My temper starts to flare, but I stand my ground. What a Pokémon… As if a light bulb just went off above my head, I got an idea. "I guess you're just an immature Pokémon. That's a shame. I'll just have to choose from Piplup and Turtwig for my partner. That Turtwig seemed pretty strong," I say and place a finger to my chin in thought. When Chimchar starts to carry on like I'd hoped, I hide a smirk. The fire type jumps out of the tree and stalks over to me angrily. "What? You're the one carrying on. If you don't like my choice, prove me wrong," I challenge. Chimchar nodded once with determination in its eyes.

Just then, a bush started to rustle next to us. We turned just in time to see an Ariados crawl out. I froze up at the sight, but Chimchar seemed unfazed. Chimchar inhaled before letting out a fire type attack that I recognized as Ember. The Ariados was stunned enough for Chimchar to use Scratch. Finally, feeling confident, I commanded, "Chimchar, use Ember."

I have to admit, Chimchar packs a punch. Once the Ariados began to quickly crawl away, I smiled down at Chimchar. Chimchar gave me a cocky look. "Alright. Maybe you're not completely useless," I say. Chimchar eeped in protest. I laughed from behind my hand. "Come on," I say. Chimchar eeped before following after me slowly. I hear some screaming and I look to where it comes from. "Dawn?" I ask. I turn to Chimchar with a serious face. "We have to help her." Chimchar nods before hopping onto my shoulder as I take off into a run.

We push through some bushes to see Dawn and Piplup facing many Ariados. "Ember!" I command without hesitation. Chimchar jumps off my shoulder and fires the attack mid-air. I smile when the attack hits and a dust cloud rises up. It clears slowly to show the Ariados stunned and not moving. "Dawn!"

"It's you," she says. "…What's your name again?"

I sigh loudly and hang my head. I could hear Chimchar snickering softly. "It's Gabrielle." I hear the Ariados begin to recover and turn to them. "Chimchar, Ember!"

"Help out, Piplup! Bubblebeam!" Dawn yells. The separate moves hit the bugs in a fiery wave. Having had enough, the Ariados all clear away. "We did it!" Dawn cheers and goes to Piplup. The Penguin Pokémon stands proudly and my eyes go to Chimchar. It looks at me before smiling. I smile in return as it jumps into my arms. I laugh as Chimchar rubs my face with its furry hands.

* * *
"You've both had quite a day. Hopefully, you have learned something about Pokémon today," Prof. Rowan says. "Have you both chosen who you would like as your partners?"

"I have," Dawn speaks up. I watch her, worried that she had chosen the same as me. "I choose Piplup." Chimchar seemed disheartened by her choice and I smiled. I breathe a sigh of relief. "What about you Gabrielle?"

"Isn't it obvious? I choose Chimchar," I say and look at the monkey. It eeps happily before climbing onto my shoulder. I scratch the tuft of hair at its head happily. Her mood was instantly reinvigorated.

"Those are good choices. Now, here are your Pokédex and Pokéballs," the Professor says.

"Thanks, Professor," I say.

"Yeah, thanks!" Dawn agrees.

After acquiring my things, I left the lab with Chimchar still on my shoulder. Dawn followed me out before recalling Piplup into its Pokéball. I looked to Chimchar. It looked back at me with question in its eyes. "Nah. I like having you on my shoulder better," I say, answering the unasked question. "Well, see you later Dawn," I say and turn to her.

"Huh? You're leaving?" she asks. I nod with a small smile. "Uh, don't you want to travel together or something?"

I blink twice at her. I had never thought of travelling with someone else. I was a bit of a loner at heart, but everyone needs someone. I shrug casually. "Why not? It's obvious that you need me around to protect you," I say with a large grin.

"I do not! You're no better off than I am!" she objects. I stretch my arms into the air and begin to walk off with a laugh.

"You gonna stand there and yap or are you coming?" I call out behind me. Chimchar laughs from my shoulder as Dawn follows after us. Now, this wasn't so hard. I think this journey will be a piece of cake…

* * *
Moi-Moi: What do you think? Review please!

Next Chapter: Enter Pikachu and Team Rocket!

Revised: 10/1/13