Pokemon: Legends of Cataria

Chapter 1:

The snow fell from the dark night sky like a frozen white blanket over the tiny town of Glacia, the most northern settlement of the Catarian Region. The main resources were the mines, especially the salt mine that sat at the edge of town. Any further north would lead to only wilderness, and eventually the northern ocean, littered with icebergs.

Ryder Reigns lay awake in his warm bed, with a Pokeball sitting on his bare chest.

He was sixteen, with shaggy light brown hair, which was almost always hidden under a tuque, piercing blue eyes, lightly tanned skin and a lean but muscular build. He stood at five foot nine inches, and had a coiling Seviper tattoo, that slithered from his left shoulder, down to his wrist.

Ryder's family never had much money, mostly making a living ranching Piloswine, on their frozen farm, where he grew up. the money was enough for them to get by on, but never enough for them to leave this frozen tundra.

Ryder didn't exactly hate Glacia, but wanted to move on and see the rest of the world. He had only left the town once, when his parents took him to the Pokemon Reserve on the southern tip of Cataria, but Ryder was only three, and too young to remember.

He now laid awake, contemplating on running away, he knew the area well, but beyond the snow and ice, knew nothing of the world outside his frozen home, he wanted to see the big city and get away from all of this.

Ryder's big dream was to stud, ancient and extinct pokemon in the capital city of Apollox, and travel the world, researching and discovering, rare and legendary pokemon.

It was spring time now, and all of the Beartic would be moving south, away from the melting waters, which meant that Ryder's father's farm was at a high risk of losing precious Pokemon to animal attacks, not to mention the increasing number of Sneasels that were being pushed from the northern mountain by Glacian miners, who had recently uncovered a new strange stone that inhibited the abilities of ice pokemon. They were shy pokemon, but when threatened, their razor like claws could slice through even the thickest protection. Ryder's mom's brother worked at the salt mine at the edge of Glacia.

Ryder shook his head, trying to push the thought of running out of his head. I can't leave, he thought, my family needs me.

Eventually, the fatigue took over, and around 3:00AM, Ryder drifted off to sleep.