Chapter Text
A Fletchling was flying all throughout the Kalos Region, a place that only seemed more beautiful as it traveled. The tiny bird closed its eyes and focused on the wind blowing against its face, quickly opening them to dodge a Litleo’s ember!
The bird spun out of the way, angering the young cub. Fletchling just smiled, smiling as well as it could with that beak it had. The Litleo responded by attempting to pounce on Fletchling, who used a Quick Attack to escape, flying back where it came from.
The tiny bird felt like a weight dropped from his shoulders, he shouldn’t have to put his life on the line to stretch his wings!
…
Wait… that’s what humans were for. Fletchling facepalmed with his wings, flying at top speed back to the safety and comfort of Vaniville.
A few hours later, Fletchling made it. Judging from the sun, it should be about 8:00 AM, a decent time for a weekend, because his owner used those days to chill, and might be sleeping in.
Grace was usually pretty nice about these sorts of things, and Fletchling understood why they couldn’t just go out and fly wherever the hell they wanted 24/7. But come on, sneaking out to just… enjoy some fresh air wasn’t so bad, right?
Fletchling tried to find an entrance, but everything was locked, damn it! Looking from a window, Grace was about to wake up, they needed to get in, and fast! Where did they exit from?
Right! It was her son’s room! Fletchling rushed over to his room, rushing through his open window, flying like an arrow.
THUD
Fletchling stuck into the wall like an arrow too. Shaking the room, certainly bound to wake up his owner and her son. Not to mention his stunt caused a rip in the son’s poster. It was some poster of a ginger tomboy holding a big trophy or something. Apparently she’s from Sinnoh.
Calem woke up.
“Wha… What the hell Scout?” He asked, referring to the Fletchling. “Why are you here?”
Fletchling chirped at the boy before flying off and pecking at the door.
“Alright, just make sure you get lost.” Calem replied, having a good idea of what the tiny bird wanted. “Today’s my big day, you know.”
Calem hopped out of bed, he was wearing a simple blue shirt and pants.
“Today’s the day.” He thought. “After 17 years, it’s time to be myself.” He looked through his closet, finding a blue jacket, a red cap, and some jeans… Ignoring the other clothes entirely, especially the ones that were Shauna’s
He looked at himself in the mirror. He didn’t consider himself anything special. His black hair drooping down to his neck as he arranged it to look nigh identical to his hair after getting out of bed.
Within the mirror, he got a glimpse of his ruined poster. A hole poking right through the damn thing. His favorite coordinator. Sigh, at least the one with the Phantom himself was safe*, and the one with Hoenn’s favorite Top coordinator, Wallace.
Calem packed everything he considered important, and maybe a few luxuries like his 3DS.*
Calem looked around, about to leave the room. He saw all his old things, mentally saying goodbye. Goodbye to his computer, his Coordinator posters, his bed, his desk, his mirror, everything, because today, Calem would truly be free.
Calem walked downstairs, about to leave. He opened the door quietly when a hand grabbed the door and shocked him.
“What are you doing?” Grace asked him.
Grace was Calem’s mother, but that wasn’t obvious by looking at them. She put her hand on her head of brown hair in frustration, and stared at Calem with her piercing blue eyes directly looking at her son’s gray eyes.
“Going outside, I’m meeting up with my friends.” Calem said, flatly.
…
“At least have some breakfast first, please.” Grace pleaded.
“It’s urgent.” Calem excused. “According to what Tierno defines as urgent.”
“Thinking about it, Tierno would define breakfast as urgent, and second breakfast.” Calem thought.
“Wait, you should take Wrecker with you!” Grace offered.
Wrecker was Grace’s Rhyhorn. An absolute beast of a specimen, solid grey, solid rock, rhinoceros shaped. She’s been with Grace ever since she was a little girl, and was her partner back when she raced Rhyhorn with the best of them.
Unfortunately, those days passed, and now Wrecker prefers to sit at home, in the sun. She can’t compete anymore with time catching up to her, so she usually gets used as transportation for smaller, slower things.
“No thanks, I have my bike.” Calem replied. “I don’t want to bother Wrecker.”
“Come on, she’s begging to see some action!”
“It’s like, half an hour from Vaniville to Aquacorde. I can make that pretty easily.”
“Fine, just don’t spend all day. You know that I’m worried about you.” Grace said.
“Thanks.” Calem replied, walking off and closing the door.
Bzzzt, Bzzzt, Bzzzt
Next door to Calem’s house, A girl’s phone was buzzing while she slept. How dare it. Doesn’t the phone know someone like her needs beauty sleep, it’s essential goddamn it!
The girl violently snatched the buzzing phone, half awake. She angrily tried to figure out who it was and-
She looked at the message closely.
Trevor: Yo Serena It’s starter time. I let you in on this plan for a reason. Get over here before we take all the starters for ourselves.
Oh, that.
Serena hopped out of bed, her pink pajamas flying off of her as she hastily grabbed a proper outfit. She wore a red Felt Hat, with a black ribbon on it, topping off her long blonde hair. Honey Blonde as she specifies. Her sleeveless black shirt accentuating her body, drawing down to her red skirt… with pockets! And to top it all off, her slender black Thigh Highs* and high top shoes. It feels good, to look good, and for Serena, she feels incredible.
She rushed out of her room, beelining for the door, but her mom was across the room and glared at her. Serena glared right back, reaching into her pocket and putting on her white sunglasses and running off.
Her mother just shrugged, she was always like this.
Trevor put his elbows on the table. “I feel like I shouldn’t be so impatient, but what’s with these guys?”
“It’s still early, they probably just forgot.” Shauna replied. “Besides, why couldn’t we do this later in the day?”
…
“Good point.” Trevor replied.
The two leaned back in their chairs, Tierno was still out with the starters, allegedly.
Trevor was the redheaded short one. He was in a green shirt with a white collar and sleeves. As well as some pants.
Shauna was the one with the brown… whatever her hairstyle was. Her shirt was pink with a bowtie pattern on it, and she wore short shorts.
“So… Considering the starters aren’t here yet, can I play with your Flabébé?” Shauna asked.
“Sure.” Trevor responded. He grabbed a regular Pokéball from his pocket and threw it into the air. In a brilliant flash of light, Flabébé appeared waving to her friends!
Unlike Calem, Serena and Shauna, Trevor already had a Pokémon, his Flabébé had been in the family for a while, and it’s taken a liking to Trevor ever since he was born. Her becoming his Pokémon full time was inevitable to his family.
Shauna opened her hands for the tiny white fairy thing. It was one of the smallest Pokémon known to man, the red flower it always carried notwithstanding. Shauna scratched its cheek with her finger.
“Dawwww you’re so cute.” She cooed. Flabébé cooed too.
Suddenly, Calem came in with his bike, waving at his two friends. “Yoooooo. I’m here now.”
“Hi Calem!” Shaua shouted.
Calem rode over to the duo and stopped, sitting down and folding his bike into his backpack. “I got that folding bike, neat huh?”
“Neat.” Trevor replied, not really caring. “Anyway, Tierno still isn’t here. I told him he should’ve gotten that Driver’s License."
“With what car?” Shauna asked.
…
“His parent’s car?” Trevor said, like it was extremely obvious.
“Wait, how did you get here so fast?” Calem asked.
“I’ve been here since yesterday.” Trevor explained. “I have a Pokémon, my parents don’t really care.”
“Huh, neat.” Calem remarked.
“You- you did all that for us?” Shauna asked, her hands covering her mouth as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. Flabébé tried to brush away the tears.
“Yeah, mostly.” Trevor replied, brushing off the girl’s emotional display. “Remember, the deal was that…”
“I’ll wait until Serena is here, she probably needs the refresher the most.”
Just as Trevor mentioned her, the woman showed up, running at top speeds before screeching to a halt.
“Huh, it’s like a demon. You speak of her and she shows up.” Shauna remarked.
“Shut up, where’s the starters?” Serena impatiently asked.
“Not here yet.” Trevor answered. “Chill out, it’s been a while since we’ve all met up like this.”
“True!” Shauna replied. “What have you guys been doing?
“Rotting mostly.” Calem instantly replied.
“I watched most of that big Tournament held in Lumiose this year. The Lumiose Shining Light Cup, or something.” Serena replied. “It was actually pretty cool, minus Volkner winning as usual for every event he turns up to.”
“Almost, you know he did lose to Maylene in the Sinnoh Regionals a while back.” Shauna replied.
“Shauna everyone knows that, mostly because people are curious to see if he’s ever lost before.” Serena remarked.
“He also got clapped by Cynthia during a title defense match of hers.” Trevor spoke up.
“Wait, isn’t one of the Sinnoh elite four a Ground user?” Calem asked. “How the hell did he get past her?”
“He’s him.” Serena and Trevor said in unison.
“He’s so good it actually pisses me off.” Serena said, crossing her arms. “He 3-0’d our electric specialist by the way.”
“That tournament was literally just Sinnoh descending down to piss on us.” Trevor complained. “How did all 8 Sinnoh Gym Leaders have enough time to fly out here?”
“We were exposed as frauds… or something.” Calem chimed in.
“Exposed? Everyone already knows Kalos is a bottom 1 region in battling.” Trevor replied. “It was embarrassing, but it was upholding the status quo, rather than creating a new one.”
“Well Valerie did well.” Shauna added, holding up her phone with an image of the Fairy Gym Leader in the top 16 out of the many many competitors.
“I think she dodged a lot of terrible matchups.” Serena replied. “What is she going to do against Byron? Meanwhile, Mini-Byron just folds to her Mawile.”
“It’s possible. Byron has a tendency to get knowledge checked a lot.” Trevor replied.
“Nothing can knowledge check your nerdy ass!” Serena barked.
Trevor just nodded his head, taking Serena’s response as a compliment.
“But yeah, we all got washed, especially the type specialist mirror matches.” Trevor added.
“I think Korrina vs Maylene will go down in history. That was bad.” Shauna replied.
“You know it was bad because Shauna didn’t say something positive.” Calem remarked.
“Weren’t our elite four also there?” Shauna asked.
“Yeah, Siebold was. I think the others had things to do.” Serena replied. “Nice that they sent the actually powerful one."
“I always thought Wikstrom was the strongest elite four member.” Calem remarked.
“It’s debatable.” Trevor answered. “Personally I think it’s Malva.”
“Siebold has the biggest feats.” Serena responded. “In this tour alone he was basically the last line of defense against Sinnoh.”
“Fair, but Malva had Drake pull out the Mega Salamence.” Trevor replied, smugly.
“Did she win?” Serena asked, already knowing the answer.
“That fuckass croissant was on 1HP!” Trevor yelled, slamming his hands on the table for emphasis. “Go watch the battle and look at how Mega Salamence was moving!”
“Hey don’t diss croissants.” Shauna interjected before being ignored completely.
“Yeah! He was moving like crazy on her entire team. He was twerking on her with those DDances!” Serena yelled back.
“Ok this is getting intense.” Shauna remarked. “It’s just a sport.”
Trevor’s Flabébé covered her ears, retreating back into her Pokéball for the time being.
“I’m still on the Wikstrom agenda personally.” Calem said, his voice being drowned out by the arguing.
“She pushed the strongest Hoenn elite four member to extreme diff! What do you want from her?” Trevor yelled.
“I want her…” Serena started, putting her hands on the table and leaning into Trevor. “To not be a BUM!” Serena yelled directly in the teen’s ears.
“Siebold just bullies Gym Leaders all day!” Trevor yelled.
“He washed Fantina, a top 3 Sinnoh Gym Leader with a counter shield! He beat Gardenia, a Grass user! He. Out. Watered. Crasher. Wake! Siebold has feats!”
“He’s a mega merchant!” Trevor Yelled. “Malva barely even needs Mega Houndoom!”
“We’re all mega merchants in this God-forsaken region!” Serena shouted back. “You’re just mad Mega Blastoise actually accomplishes things!
“I agree with Serena here.” A voice said.
“Huh.” Serena said in shock, looking over to see Tierno with a case with 3 Pokéballs inside it.
“Hey, Tierno’s here!” Shauna yelled in delight.”
“I have arrived!” Tierno proclaimed, holding the case over his head triumphantly.
“What took you so long?” Trevor asked. “Did you eat the starters and have to replace them?”
Tierno just rolled his eyes. “Hahaha. But seriously. I tried to make a shortcut through the forests, but it was actually a longcut because of all the Pokémon there!”
“This is why we don’t go offroute!” Trevor yelled.
“Give us the goods!” Serena said, mentally salivating at the idea of owning a Pokémon for herself.
Calem just stared intently. Freedom was directly in front of him, all he had to do was pick his favorite.
“Alright, we’ll open these one at a time, then you 3 can make your own decisions.” Tierno stated.
“While that is true, there’s another thing we must do first.” Trevor clarified.
The boy reached into his bed, pulling out 5 machines that looked oddly like a 3DS.* He laid 3 of them out for Calem, Serena, and Shauna, and handed over the 4th to Tierno, leaving a machine customized with stickers for himself.
“These are Pokédexes.” Trevor explained. “While you 3 are getting a free, easy to care for Pokémon, the price isn’t completely free.”
“Professor Sycamore wants us to use this journey as an excuse to research the wild Pokémon we come across.” He continued.
“What happens if I think that’s fucking stupid?” Serena asked, raising her hand for emphasis.
“According to Sycamore, that’s at his discretion.” Trevor replied.
“More free things.” Shauna said, examining her shiny new toy.
“I’ll have you use the Pokédex on the starters as a test drive.” Trevor added. “Now, Tierno, unveil the first starter!”
“You got it boss.” Tierno responded, setting down the case and clicking on the rightmost ball.
A flash of light erupted from the Pokéball, and out came a small, bipedal, brown and green, hedgehog looking thing.
“Alright, I want Shauna to examine this one!” Trevor said, pointing to her.
Shauna quickly sat at attention, despite fidgeting around with the Pokédex a moment ago. “You got it boss.” She said, saluting.
She aimed her dex at the green thing, holding it steady and-
Chespin: The Spiny Nut Pokémon.
The quills on its head are usually soft. When it flexes them, the points become so hard and sharp that they can pierce rock.
The Chespin was flattered by its own description, right before flexing its spines as hard as possible to impress the group.
“Woah, that's cool!” Shauna yelled. “Science and Nature are so amazing!”
“I’m neutral to science.” Calem replied. “I like nature though.”
“Thanks for speaking out because Calem is up next!
Like clockwork, Tierno sent out another Pokémon. This time it was an orange and red Fox, with a big head and cute face.
Calem pulled out the dex, much quicker than Shauna.
Fennekin: The Fox Pokémon.
Eating a twig fills it with energy, and its roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 390 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Spicy.” Serena commented.
“It’s cute.” Calem complimented, making the Fennekin smile.
Calem reached out his hand and pet the Fox Pokémon, it gladly accepted the offer and put its fluffy head in the palm of Calem’s hand.
“Cute.”
“Anyway, last starter!” Trevor yelled.
Tierno opened the last Pokéball, this time it was a blue Frog, its eyes looking dull and unamused.
“Who’s this geek?” Serena commented. “He kinda looks like you Tre-”
The frog shut her up quickly with a sticky bubble from its neck, going in her mouth and sticking it shut.
“Greatest thing I’ve seen it do all day.” Trevor snarked.
Serena pulled out her new Pokédex, scanning the thing for info.
Froakie: The Bubble Frog Pokémon.
It protects its skin by covering its body in delicate bubbles. Beneath its happy-go-lucky air, it keeps a watchful eye on its surroundings.
“mph mmph mph mm.” Serena tried to say.
“Want me to get it out?” Shauna asked.
There was no need, as with a snap of its… fingers? Froakie got rid of the bubble.
“The Pokédex didn’t mention it, but those sticky bubbles are called ‘frubbles’. For your information.” Trevor mentioned.
“Thanks.” Serena said, admittingly happy to speak clearly again.
“So, make your choice.” Trevor said. “Me and Tierno already have Pokémon, so this is just between you 3.”
The 3 were in intense thought, but quickly realized they should talk to each other about it.
“I want Chespin.” Serena said, instantly. “Fennekin and Froakie look stupid.”
“Fennekin seems super cute… but Chespin is also super cute… and Froakie is also super cute.” Shauna said, in distress. “Who do I choose!”
“I really just want Fennekin.” Calem spoke up.
“So it’s settled. I get Chespin, Shauna gets the ugly one, Calem gets the Fox one.”
WHAM
Chespin slammed into Serena with a Tackle, then retreated into Shauna’s lap.
Serena nursed her cheek, looking up to see Chespin in Shauna’s lap while Froakie and Fennekin watched.
“I want Chespin, but it looks like Chespin doesn’t want me.” Serena remarked.
“Probably because you called his friends ugly.” Shauna remarked. “I’m ok with this arrangement.” She added, nuzzling the Grass Type.
Serena growled, but accepted it.
Thinking it over, doesn’t Froakie evolve into Greninja? That’d be a reason to keep this poindexter around.
“Ok, I’ll be taking Froakie.” Serena said. “First impressions are one hell of a thing. I actually think he’s quite charming now.”
Froakie tilted its head.
“Froakie’s a girl.” Trevor explained.
“She’s quite charming.” Serena corrected.
Serena reached out to grab the frog, but Froakie’s eyes expanded, becoming much more attentive as it dodged the human’s hand.
“Look I’m sorry for calling you ugly ok.” Serena said, being more correct than either of them thought.
Froakie looked apprehensive about it, but decided that Serena was ok, handing her Pokéball to her.
“Oh, Chespin. Here’s your Pokéball.” Shauna said, handing it to the hedgehog. “We’re gonna need it!”
Calem beckoned Fennekin over, who came to him with its Pokéball in hand. “Just because you got picked last doesn’t mean I don’t want you, get over here!”
The 3 starters went inside their balls, and Calem, Serena and Shauna posed in unison to celebrate their new Pokémon.
“Hope you guys enjoy… But I want to know what you’ll be doing with them.” Trevor asked.
“I’ll be aiming for Kalos League Champion.” Serena said, confidently. “Diantha is getting washed!”
“I don’t know!” Shauna said with even more confidence.
…
…
“Calem?” Tierno asked. “Don’t you have any goals?”
“Maybe… but I don’t want to talk about them.” Calem said, feeling more melancholy.
“You have the freedom to do whatever you want now!” Trevor said. “Wasn’t that the whole reason I backdoored the professor for you?”
“I- I’ll figure it out.” Calem said. “Let’s go.”
“Where the hell are we going?” Tierno asked.
“Well, we should probably get to Lumiose to tell the professor about this. Serena can go to Santalune, which has a Gym there.
“Oh, they’re holding a contest there!” Trevor announced. “Not my kind of thing.”
Calem’s attention was immediately caught. He stared intently at the conversation.
“Aren’t contests the things that pushed showcases out of relevancy?" Serena asked.
“Showcases were dying, the Kalos Contest Circuit was a mercy kill.” Trevor explained.
“What happens in a contest?” Shauna asked.
…
Calem finally spoke up. “In a contest, trainers have to make their Pokémon stand out and be beautiful. They do this in appeal rounds, which are solo rounds where the Pokémon shows themself off, and in battle rounds, where they have a 1 on 1 fight where points are deducted based on how the opponent styles their attacks and outshines the opponent!”
…
…
…
“Oh, you’re a fan?” Shauna asked.
…
“Maybe.” Calem replied, his voice getting quieter.
“Oh that’s what you were into!” Serena remarked. “Didn’t you want to dress up like a girl and stole Shauna’s clothes and-”
Calem instantly reached over and put his hand over her mouth.
“Not funny Serena.” Tierno replied, coming to Calem’s defense.
“Wait what?” Shauna asked. “That was Calem?”
While the group was arguing, Calem fell still. It felt like the world around him stopped. Nobody could know about that. His mother never liked his opinions on contests, the people of Vaniville either passively or actively moved away from him, so why would his friends think any differently?
It’s not like he could stop. He loved contests, and did plan to enter the Kalos Circuit, but…
“Hey, Calem, you want a spare outfit of mine?” Serena teased.
“Shut the fuck up.” Calem thought.
“Uh, no.” Came out of his mouth instead.
“Stop!” Shauna yelled. “We’re all free to go out and explore the world now. Calem can dress however he wants!”
…
“Yeah I know.” Serena responded. “But it’s still funny.”
Serena looked around. Nobody was laughing. Her smile faded.
“Alright alright. I support you.” Serena admitted. “I was just… being an asshole.”
“I don’t want to admit any of this in public, so can we please just go out now?” Calem asked.
“This town has the population of the average Showcase stadium nowadays, so nobody’s around.” Trevor joked.
“So… are we all going to travel together?” Shauna asked. “Team V rides again!”
“Team V hasn’t been a thing in ages.” Serena remarked.
“Come on guys. It’s Team Vaniville!” Shauna shouted.
“I’m from Lumiose.” Tierno clarified.
Shauna felt her confidence drain from her body.
“Yeah sorry.” Serena said with an odd amount of remorse from her. “Anyway, you guys wanna get something to eat?”
“Yeah!” Everyone yelled.
“I gotta call my mom and tell her I’m a trainer now.” Serena said.
Calem felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of Serena’s plans, but just ignored it for now. What he couldn’t ignore was Trevor giving him a letter.
“That reminds me. Professor Sycamore wanted me to give this to you. It’s a note that you’re a Pokémon trainer now.” Trevor explained. “Give it to your mom.” He walked off with the rest of the gang, but gave a knowing look to Calem.
Inspecting the letter, it was coated in perfume. If what Trevor said about the man was true, then maybe this was a love letter instead of a professional one.
“You guys go on ahead.” Calem encouraged. “I’ll give this to my mom.”
Calem walked off to Vaniville. He waited until the group was out of sight, walking onto route 1. He brought his Fennekin out of his Pokéball, putting the letter on the floor.
Fennekin. Burn this.” He ordered, his voice firm, yet wavering a little.
Fennekin did as his trainer commanded, unleashing a small wave of fire on the note. The two watched as the letter incinerated before them. Calem felt off. Was he really going to abandon his home, his family?
“Too late now.” He thought, the flame reflecting in his grey eyes. He stomped on the fire to put it out, shocking Fennekin with the forcefulness of the movement.
…
“Sorry little buddy.” Calem apologized. “You wanna go back to our friends?” He asked, putting his hands out.
Fennekin nodded, walking into Calem’s arms apprehensively. He lifted the Fox Pokémon up, and gave it a warm smile.
Yeah, this was good enough for Fennekin.
Calem took one last look at his hometown. “Goodbye Vaniville.” He said to himself. “Good riddance.”
Author’s Note
Yeah, I’m still doing these, Kind of a staple at this point.
*Character from AG061 and 062. He’s cool. His real name is Timmy btw.
*If you play as the girl, the protagonist will have a 3DS in her hand at the beginning. This is apparently because she must be holding something at all times and they didn’t want to make a second idle animation.
*They’re called “OTK (Over the Knee) socks in game.” There’s a difference, but it’s minor enough I don’t care.
*In-game, the Kalos Pokédex is a tablet thing, but I like it when the dex looks like the console the game is on, and I love the 3DS.