Chapter One: Departure

"When are you going to start traveling, Risiko?" Risiko's red headed father asked him from behind an orange tea cup. He took a sip from the deep black tea as he studied his thin, dark haired son expectantly. The wild red color of the man's hair surrounded his face and spiked out from his head in an array of directions. The man's piercing blue eyes often made his son feel uneasy when two made eye contact. His crazy appearance had always made Risiko sigh with relief; the boy had not inherited much from his father in the manner of appearance.

"Your father has a point." Risiko turned to his mother, who was dressed in a flowing orange kimono, attire she had picked up from their next door neighbors. Her long black hair resembled Risiko's. Like Risiko's father, his mother's bright green eyes were also filled with expectation. "Most pokémon trainers start their journey at the age of ten. You're already eighteen and you've barely seen the outside of Ecruteak!"

As dazzling as his parent's eyes were, Risiko's eyes were a dull grey. For this he was thankful; the dullness of his eyes drew attention away from him. This was preferred, of course, since Risiko usually felt embarrassed when given attention. His mother's build hair seemed to dominate most of Risiko's genetics. He had inherited her dark hair, slight body frame, as well as her pale skin and short stature.

Risiko was not the outgoing person his father was. Whenever his father saw him, he would comment on the 'fire running through' Risiko. Risiko was a disappointment to his father with his lack of interest in training fire type pokémon.

"I can't go out to train without a pokémon to defend myself without a pokémon…" Risiko offered his comment lamely, his dull eyes focused on the floor. A small, fox-like pokémon wondered into Risiko's field of vision and sat down before him. The pokémon looked up at him with soft brown eyes and Risiko found that he could not look away from the tiny Vulpix.

Risiko's mother gracefully scooped the small fox-like creature in her arms and held her out to her son. "You have a pokémon, son."

Risiko shook his head, now locked with his mother's emerald gaze. "Mom, I don't…" He reluctantly turned away to look at his dad, his forehead creasing with worry. "Guys, I know I should have told you this sooner… Look, I know you want me to inherit the gym and all, but I'm just not as… Fire type pokémon aren't my thing."

Risiko's family had built a very small gym in Ecruteak City. Their gym was not even big enough or well known enough to offer a badge. Besides, that was Morty's job in Ecruteak with his ghost type gym in their city. However, Risiko's dad was quite fond of their small fire-type gym. He hoped that Risiko could inherit the place and put it on the map. Risiko had no such motivation.

Risiko's father gave a deep, hardy laugh at his son's response. "Is that why you haven't left the city?" He slammed his tea cup onto the table in a fit of laughter.

Risiko's mother was clearly not as amused as his father was. Her gaze was sympathetic when she turned to her son. "You will grow to like them." She placed the Vulpix in Risiko's arms and turned away from him. "You will grow strong and make your father proud." She left the room of their 'gym' (which was really just part of their house), her wooden sandals clocking against our wood floor with her every step.

Risiko's father had ceased his laughter and returned to his tea by this time. Risiko gave an exasperated sigh and turned to make his own leave when his father's words stopped him. "Risiko," he called out to his son.

Risiko turned to his father wearily, hiding most of his gaze behind the long black bangs of his hair. "Yeah, Dad?"

"If you don't want to inherit the gym, what do you want to do with your life?" His blue eyes now focused on the tea in his cup, which relaxed Risiko to a degree.

"I would like to…" Risiko's voice trailed off, as he knew his father would find a way to mock his answer. The red headed man turned his deep blue eyes to his son, and Risiko felt obligated to continue. "I want to write. I want to write novels about pokémon, and people, and fantasy worlds. I just want to create…"

The intent, listening gleam remained in his father's eyes as Risiko related his dreams to his father. Rather than mocking Risiko as he had before, he gave a thoughtful nod. Risiko brushed some of the hair away from his eyes to be sure he was reading the fire pokémon trainer correctly. Finally Risiko's father broke the silence. "Son, do you know what would bring you inspiration for your novels?"

"What, dad?" Risiko's tone was soft but eager, as he was very curious about his father's sudden change of heart.

"Some fire pokémon training experience!" Risiko's dad broke into another grin, but it disappeared as soon as Risiko's hope did. "Now listen, son. You can't write about what you don't know about. You have to get out of this city. You have to meet people, experience things. Just sitting here on that computer isn't going to get you any of that."

"So you want me to leave… To become inspired?" Risiko asked. He could feel a smile breaking across his face as joy filled his heart.

"Of course not!" Risiko's dad pointed to the Vulpix in his son's arms. "I want you to go out and see how great and fulfilling pokémon training can be. Once you experience that, you'll put all this novel writing nonsense behind you."

Risiko placed the fox-like creature on the wooden floor softly before making his leave without so much as a farewell wave to his father. After his father's attempt at encouraging him to leave the city, he had no intention of ever leaving it. Rebelling may have been childish at Risiko's age, but it certainly felt appropriate at this point.

The heat of aggravation plagued Risiko as he walked through the grass of the small city. There was one place he was certain to be surrounded by people who understood him, and that place could never be home with his parents. The Dance Hall was Risiko's destination.

The small Dance Hall was home to the five Kimono Sisters. The Kimono sisters had been training their pokémon there since before Risiko was born. Zuki now had a sixteen-year-old daughter who seemed to be following in her mother's footsteps.

Shiki (Zuki's daughter) was training an Umbreon, just as her mother always had. She did not yet possess the same skill as her mother, but Shiki was determined to one day surpass her teacher. The girl had always worn a dark kimono to match the color of her pokémon. The Eevee-evolved pokémon loved his trainer; he had to in order to become what he was. He was willing to work with Shiki. The bond between that trainer and her pokémon was stronger than Vulpix and Risiko could ever dream to have.

Of course, there was more to Shiki than her Umbreon. No matter how hard she trained, she always found time in her day for Risiko. She would listen for as long as Risiko could talk about the trouble he had with his parents, and Risiko was more than happy to write and keep her company while she trained with her Umbreon. The kimono girl and the gym leader's son had become close friends.

When Risiko arrived at the Dance Hall to find Shiki dressed in a sporty top and athletically fit pants, he was taken aback. Her dark hair was often pinned up elaborately in a geisha style, but on this day in hung from a loose pony tail. Her bright blue eyes were gleaming happily when Risiko walked into the Dance Hall.

"Risiko!" She greeted the short, black haired boy. The bounding motion she made when she rushed to Risiko's side again surprised him. She could never have moved that way in her elaborate kimono. "I have something for you!" she said.

Risiko now noticed that Shiki had been carrying a blue backpack. She rummaged through it now to pull out a lightly colored brown egg. The oval shape had a single jagged white line running across it. Shiki shoved the object into Risiko's arms.

"What is this all about?" Risiko asked with confusion. "I mean, it's nice to see you out of the kimono and all, but why the sudden change? And why the egg?"

Risiko's kimono friend's usually bright eyes were suddenly dim. She turned her gaze away from Risiko's and focused instead on the egg in the boy's arms. "I guess it's time you know. I'm leaving here, Risiko. I can't just stay in this town any more. I'm going on my own pokémon journey."

Risiko stared at Shiki, too dumbfounded for words. The only friend he had was about to leave him alone in this town. His confidant would soon be off making a name for herself while Risiko was left here to put up with his parents. It was not a completely unexpected announcement. He knew Shiki's dreams were too big for Ecruteak. Risiko had thought he would have at least had some time to brace himself for the news, though.

"I want you to have this egg." Shiki ran a pale hand over the oval in Risiko's arms. "When the pokémon comes out of there, you'll think of me."

"I won't need a pokémon to remind me of you," Risiko replied, but he had no intention of parting with his gift. "You want me to raise whatever comes out of here?"

Shiki nodded with a small smile. "I want the pokémon inside this egg to become really strong some day. I want us to have a battle with our really strong pokémon!"

"But I really don't like fighting…" Risiko's voice trailed off as he gave the innocent egg another glance. Developing a relationship with a pokémon soon after its hatching was suddenly appealing. Perhaps he would like raising this creature, even if he never used it to fight. He held the egg close to his body carefully as he said, "But I would like to take care of this pokémon, especially if it'll make you happy."

"It would." The enthusiasm returned to Shiki's vibrant face as she flashed a genuine smile at Risiko. "You don't have to fight with him, just treat him with care."

"I will… I promise." Risiko stroked the egg gently to reiterate his point. "But wait, how do you know it'll be a boy?"

Shiki gave a shrug. "Most of that type of pokémon is male, that's all. Call it intuition, who knows?"

"You won't tell me what kind of pokémon is inside, huh?" Disappointment must have been evident on Risiko's features because Shiki gave a small giggle.

"That would ruin the surprise!" Her tone became contemplating. "But it shouldn't bee that hard to figure out."

"I'm patient," Risiko replied. "I'll wait for the little pokémon to show me himself."

A tall, dark pokémon rubbed his head against Shiki's leg. His deep red eyes searched her expression impatiently. "Okay Umbreon, you're right." Risiko's kimono friend gave a sigh and stroked her dark partner's head. "It's time for me to go while it's still light out."

"I understand…" The softness of Risiko's voice returned as he thought of Shiki leaving.

"I expect to see you out on the road soon," Shiki commanded. Risiko could not help but smile at the high pitch of her voice in such a commanding tone. "I want you and that hatchling to catch up to me and Umbreon, okay?"

"I'll try." Risiko gave Shiki a half-hearted smile as he followed her out of the Dance Hall. "Be careful."

"I'd rather have fun." Shiki stuck her tongue out at Risiko in a teasing gesture. "How about you be careful for me?"

Risiko chuckled slightly, though there was a weight on his chest. Parting was not going to be easy for the gym leader's son. He mustered all the strength within himself to say, "I'll do my best" convincingly.

"As will I." Shiki gave Risiko one last fare-well grin before disappearing into the tall grasses of Route 38 with her Umbreon.

With the new egg in hand, Risiko began walking back to his family's house, prepared to accept whatever snide comments that would come his way for accepting the new pokémon egg.