Tamah: So. . . . Hi there. :D I started writing this when I moved, I wrote it at school, usually, and now people think that I'm some crazy kid. Great first impression.

But anyway, this is a story about the (Heart)Gold/(Soul)Silver/Crystal games, mostly the originals, because I'm a nostalgia-fag . XP I just thought Kris/Crystal needed some love, now that she's been replaced and all. *sniff*

My dad was sitting at his post as he watched me leave. "Maybe today will be your lucky day, champ." He tried to sound encouraging.

I laughed. "I wish," I hefted my Super Rod, "I think this thing's broken." The bell I had tied to the top jingled.

"Ahh, Crissy, don't be like that." He smiled. "I might have to go somewhere later today, so don't freak out if the post is empty."

I nodded, but wincing at the hated nickname. My dad was the route guard for Route 45's route gate. It wasn't that bad of a job, really. My dad and I lived upstairs, along with another route guard, named Perry. My mom was in Sinnoh at that moment, studying the ancient Pokémon there.

I waved at him and left, heading up route 45. I was heading to a little pond, where I fished from everyday. There was supposed to be a "Magical Mirage Pokémon" that you could find while you were fishing, according to a legend.

I remember my grandma first telling me that legend. I was visiting her at her house in Blackthorn. I don't think I was much older than six, and I loved hearing her stories. I made her tell me this one like a million times. It started out with a man who had lost all of his Pokémon to a highway man. He was wandering though the canyons, trying to find a way out, when he found a small pond. He was starving, so he went fishing for something to eat. Instead of a fish, though, he found a beautiful Pokémon who led him out of the maze of canyons, and it became the most powerful Pokémon that he had ever had.

I'd been going there for three solid years, and nothing but stupid magikarp. I wasn't going to give up, not because I really wanted the Pokémon, there was just absolutely nothing else to do. And I liked fishing, anyway.

After a long ten-minute hike up ledges and over rocks, I arrived at the pond. I plopped myself under a berry tree, relaxing for a minute before casting my line. I watched the float. It was kind of hypnotic, and I zoned out. I was snapped out of my reverie by the sound of the bell ringing. I grabbed for the rod, and tugged on it. Meh. Just another magikarp. I tossed it back in the pond, and sighed. I casted the line again and went back to the tree. Maybe the legendary Pokémon was a magikarp? I laughed to myself. That would be my luck.

I looked up at the sky, to try and judge the time because I didn't feel like getting my pokégear and checking the time. It seemed to be around noon, I guessed. My stomach growled. I did have a tamato Berry sandwich, but I wanted to save it for later.

An hour or so passed before the bell rang again, and I rushed over to the rod. I yanked on it, and felt a huge weight on the end of the line. I reeled it in excitedly, enjoying the fight, and hoping that the Pokémon was the legendary. A huge shape emerged from the waster, and I realized. . . that it was another magikarp. Of course. But this one was the biggest one that I had ever seen. I hefted it back into the pond, wondering where all of these Pokémon were coming from. I mean, it wasn't that big of a pond, but it was deeper than I could tell.

I cast my line yet again and relaxed for a bit. The sun was beating down, and I was trying my hardest to not doze off. I guess I did, though, because I was woke up by a shout of alarm. I snapped to attention, and I looked around for the person. I saw somebody dangling from the cliff path above the canyon. I grabbed by bag and dashed up a golem trench to get up there.

"Hey, hold on," I shouted.

The guy glared at me. "I don't need you to tell me that."

I tossed down an escape rope, and he grabbed it and hauled himself up.

"You alright?" I asked, concerned.

He brushed off his clothes, still glaring. His red eyes tore into my soul like burning metal, as cliché as that is. His hair matched, it was a flaming red. He stayed silent.

"So, uhm, Where you heading?" I asked, a bit put off.

"That's none of your business," he said, stomping off.

I just stood there, like a dope, dumbfounded. He turned around.

"What are you staring at?" he growled.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I changed my mind and just shrugged. I slid back down the golem groove and realized that there was a Pokémon on the line. I snatched the rod, and began to reel it in. This time it was really light, so I figured that it was a baby magikarp.

Well, it wasn't. It was a blue wriggly thing, about three feet long. I picked it up, and detached the hook. I rummaged through my bag for a pokéball. I belatedly realized that I didn't have one. I sighed. At least it didn't seem like it was going anywhere. I patted it on its head, and it squeaked at me. I decided that I would keep it, I mean, it was the first non-magikarp that I had caught.

"Awwww, " I said, "You're so cute. You must be a baby."

It bumped my hand with its silver nose and squeaked again. It dawned on me that it might be hungry or something. I pulled out my sandwich, offering it to the Pokémon.

It took a bite out of it, tasting it, I guess, then it bolted the rest down quickly.

"Wow, someone must've been hungry." I laughed. It curled up in my lap and started purring like a skitty. Now that it was drying off, I found that it wasn't very slimy like I thought it was going to be. It had fins or something on the side of its face, too. I first thought they were like gills or whatever, but I guess I was wrong.

"I wonder what you are, any way?" I contemplated, "I've never seen anything like you before." Maybe Professor Elm will know, I thought, he does know a lot about Pokémon, after all. I smiled at the Pokémon, wondering why it was just sitting there. Most wild Pokémon would've ran or attacked me by now. I petted it, noticing that I could feel its ribs. That's why it likes me, the poor thing's starving. It licked my hand, looking up at me with sad little eyes.

I sighed. "You're still hungry?" I draped it over my shoulders and I made my way home, so I could feed it. I got home ten minutes later, my dad still at the post, smiling.

"Hey Crissy, what do you have there?" he asked, "It looks strange."

I laughed. "It's my new Pokémon, isn't it cute?" I put it down on the counter, and my dad inspected it.

"I've never seen that kind before," my dad said, poking at it, "Do you know what it is?" It squeaked at him and slithered back over to me.

I shook my head, "Nope." I picked it back up, patting its head, "I was hoping the professor would, though."

My dad nodded, "I bet you he will." He leaned over and ruffled my hair. "So I guess you're going on a journey, then?" He sighed. "I knew you were going to sometime, but still. . . . You'd better call me, Crys." Ack, the second hated nickname.

"'Course I will Dad, I'll call you a ton." I smiled at him halfheartedly. I knew that it was killing him to let me go.

He smiled at me though, surprising me. "You better go get cleaned up and packed, hon." Wow, he didn't call me Crissy or Crys.

I went upstairs, to the kitchen area first. I put the Pokémon down on the counter. "What do you want to eat?" I asked it, not caring that it couldn't talk back.

I went through the fridge, grabbing a few berries. "How about these?" I sat the berries down in front of it, and it gobbled them down. I smiled brightly at it, then I took it into my room so that I could get ready. I took a quick shower, then I put on my "Trainer outfit" that consisted of a red shirt, with a white jacket and yellow jogging shorts accented with green. There was also a white hat/beanie/thing. My mom bought me like five sets of the outfit before she left. I packed them all. My mom had really wanted me to be a Trainer. I guess I'm doing what you want Mom, finally.

I left, after saying goodbye to my dad, heading towards New Bark. It was only like a five minute walk. It was a small town, and I spotted the town as soon as I got there, and I made a beeline towards it. As I entered, I saw a man talking with two other kids my age. I assumed he was the professor, since he seemed like a absentminded scientist to me. They seemed to be talking about something important.

"Hello?" I asked, "Are you the professor?"

He turned. "Why yes, I am."

The two kids turned too. The girl looked creepily like me, and she seemed a little weirded out, too. Instead of her hair being blue, though, it was brown. It was in the same style, though, and she was wearing different clothes, but it was still crazy.

The other kid, a guy, looked pretty normal. He had dark hair and a ball cap. He didn't seem wierded out, and neither did the professor.

"Do you know what kind of Pokémon this is?" I asked the professor, holding it out to him.

After a few minutes, he finally spoke. "Why yes, I think that it's a dratini." He took it out of my hands, and looked at it closer. "I'd say it is a young female. Very malnourished." He handed her back to me, because she was getting antsy.

"N-no, I didn't do anything, I just found it," I stuttered.

"This is a very rare Pokémon, you know. Worth a lot of money," he told me. I didn't like his tone of voice.

"Really?" I asked curiously, "How much?"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. "Did you steal it?" he asked me.

I couldn't talk, the words just wouldn't come out. I finally managed to utter a "N-n-no."

"Really? Because yesterday, we had a report of a missing dratini from Blackthorn." He said.

I had a burst of inspiration, I had found a hole in his plan. "Well, if it went missing yesterday, how could it be malnourished?"

"Dragon Pokemon, especially young ones, can starve to death within seven hours."

Oh, great. Just my luck. I backed up a little, readying my escape.

"Gold, Lyra, help me." the professor said. The three of them turned on me, and I took another step back. There was a loud shattering of glass, and they spun towards the noise. I took that opportunity to run like hell. The dratini had itself wrapped around my neck, squeezing painfully, and I had to stop. I pried her off of my neck, gasping for air.

"Arceus!" I swore, "You trying to kill me?" I put her in my bag, with her head sticking out, and went back to running. I heard yelling and shouts from behind me. Fuck, I am so screwed! I though frantically , looking behind me every few steps.

Eventually, I ran out of steam and stopped, at the entrance to Cherrygrove City, in a little alcove. I stood there gasping for air for a minute when a person, also running like hell, dashed into the clearing with me. It was the red-headed kid from earlier.

"You again?" He sneered. "I don't need a wimp like you around." He saw my dratini on my shoulder.

"What in the hell is that thing?"

"She's my Pokémon," I told him, proudly.

He laughed. "That thing looks pretty pathetic to me."

"Whatever." I glared at him. What a mean and nasty person.

I heard a shout, and those kids ran into the clearing.

"Oh! Lyra, I told you they were working together!" the boy, who I assumed was Gold, said loudly.

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused.

Red-head grinned at them. "My name's Silver, and I'm going to be the best damn trainer the world's ever seen." He sent out a totodile.

Gold's eyes narrowed. "Oh, so that's the way you want to play, huh?" He sent out a cyndaquil while the girl sent out a chikorita.

Well, I guess it's my turn. . . Or I could just run. . . . The dratini looked up at me, with eager eyes.

Silver glared at me. "I can take care of myself," he snapped.

"But two on one's not very fair," I pointed out. "Okay, let's go." I told the Pokémon, she squeaked happily and got into battle position. Man, I really need to come up with a name for this pipsqueak, I thought.

"Ok, Fern, use Tackle!" Lyra yelled, and the chikorita slammed into my dratini. I winced.

Right about then, I realized that I had no idea what kind of moves it would know. I thought quickly, remembering the tight grasp that it had on my neck earlier. Wasn't that a move? If only I can remember. . . When I remembered it, I shouted it out, on accident. "Wrap!" The dratini lunged towards the chikorita, and she clung to it with all of her strength.

Silver and Gold were in their own little mini-universe, with Gold calling out random names and Silver staying silent, except when he issued a command.

"Fern, use Tackle again!" the girl cried, and it listened. It began slamming itself into the ground, with dratini, hurting both of them. I was praying that dratini could hold out. She looked like she was running out of steam.

"dratini. . . Let go!" I yelled to her. The chikorita slammed itself into her one last time before she fainted. I ran over to her. I picked her up, and breathed a sigh of relief. She stared up at me with sad eyes. "It's alright honey, you tried."

Lyra looked at me. "You really care about that thing, don't you?"

I looked away, towards the town, and noticed that there was a crowd of people gathered around. I heard Gold yelling triumphantly, he must have won or something.

I felt a hand grab my wrist, and I was half dragged into the woods. I realized that it was Silver. I ran along with him until we stopped at a clearing. He let go of my wrist quickly, and sat down under a tree, gasping.

I was breathing hard too, and I didn't even bother to walk to a tree. "Thanks," I told him.

He glared at me. "I don't care."

"My name's Crystal, by the way." I said. I think it was a sad attempt to make conversation.

"You already know my name, so I don't care about yours." he said, sending out his totodile.

I shivered. Arceus, this guy's cold. That was further proven by his next words.

"You worthless Pokémon." I looked up. He was towering over the poor totodile, who was almost unconscious. It almost tore my heart in two. "You lost, so you are useless."

"It's not useless," I said, in its defense, "It just needs some love and care."

"Love and care?" He scoffed. "I knew you were just some bleeding heart. No, this thing needs training. Enough training to make this thing worth more than a piece of garbage."

"Well, you can't do much training if the poor thing's fainted!" I yelled.

"Who do you think you are, anyway?" He snapped at me. He looked like he was going to come over there and kill me.

"I'm just trying to help! Geeze." I said, trying to smooth ruffled feathers.

"Well don't. I can take care of myself." He turned, back to his totodile.

I walked over to a tree and sat down, right into a clump of a bitter smelling plant. Of course, I thought woefully, I have to sit in a patch of Revival Herb-Wait! Revival Herb? I smiled. Listening to crazy old grandma finally helped. She may have been wrong about eating nomel Berries, but. . . . "Today must be my lucky day!"

I heard Silver laugh. "Really now? Getting chased by twerps and cops is lucky?"

"No, I found some Revival Herb." I said proudly. I picked as much as I could and wrapped it into a bundle. I put it in my bag, safe and sound. "Do you want some?" I asked my dratini, "It'll be bitter. . ." She looked out of sorts, so I just gave her some anyway. She made a face at me, but she felt better. She didn't seem too mad, either.

I got up the courage to walk over to Silver. "Do you need some?" I asked, ready to run off.

"Yeah, whatever." He snatched what I offered him out of my hand, and I shrugged to myself.

I sat back down, petting the dratini, trying to think of a name. I thought of a bunch of random nouns and I settled on Myst. "It's because you're bluish gray, and it sounds all magical and stuff." I told her, "Do you like it?" She didn't answer, so I poked her. She was sleeping.

I laughed. "Myst it is, then."

There was a peaceable silence for a few minutes before Silver broke it. "Why are you still here, wimp?"

"I'm just relaxing for a bit before I head out to Violet." I said.

"Is that where the gym is? Oh, who am I kidding? I doubt you'd know." He was baiting me, with a smirk, too.

"Yeah, I do know, actually," I said, falling for the bait, "It's Falkner's Gym, and I'm going to challenge it!" Wait, challenge it? Where did that come from? I wasn't planning on challenging any gyms, but I guess I did need something to do.

He burst out laughing, the bastard. "You, challenge a gym? Ha! That's rich."

"Oh yeah? I'll prove it!" I said, crossing my arms, "I'll beat every damn gym in Johto just to prove you wrong!"

His laughing faded away. "Yeah, I'd like to see that. I bet you couldn't even beat one if they let you."

I stood up and stomped off, Myst on my shoulder, in the direction of Violet City.

"Where are you going?" He said, walking up after me.

"I'm going to Violet City, duh." I glared over at him. "I'm going to totally prove you wrong."

He walked next to me in silence. I sighed, predicting that I was going to regret this. "So, what do you want if you win the wager?"

"I'll think about it," he said curtly.

A few minutes later, I spoke again. "Well, don't you wonder what will happen if you lose?"

"I never lose, girl." He smirked at me.