Chapter 1: A Little Fire Lizard
"Oh my gosh Lydia, we look amazing!"
Lydia tugged self-consciously at the way-too-short red skirt her best friend had forced her into, wishing that her efforts would actually make it longer. She frantically racked her brain for something, anything, to get her out of the mess she was sure they were about to get into.
"But Amber, I don't-"
The girl across from her, Amber, continued before she could finish her protest. "You'll so find a man by the end of today! Now come here, I need to finish your makeup."
"I can do my own makeup. Not that I want to wear any, thank you," Lydia finally snapped, yanking her arm out of Amber's steely grip. They were twelve, for crying out loud!
The blond girl glared, brandishing her stick of eyeliner threateningly. "We've already went through this. If we want to get a boyfriend, we have to go all out."
"But I don't want a boyfriend," Lydia said in exasperation, shrinking back slightly. Her friend knew this, but she had been rather pushy today. It wasn't that she didn't like the idea of romance. In fact, she loved it, but until she was positive she found the right guy, Lydia was perfectly happy at home, reading her beloved books. "Why don't we just cancel the trip to Viridian, and do something fun around here instead?" 'Like reading'.
"Lydia, please. I have to get Red to notice me. He could be leaving Pallet anytime now and who knows when he'll come back. Obviously just trying to look good isn't enough, so I might as well try to make him jealous instead." Amber said the last part rather sadly, and Lydia couldn't say she blamed her.
Amber had been practically in love with Red for her whole life. He was her older brother Gary's childhood best friend, but had always seemed far more interested in pokemon than people. Even so, it was still an oddity that he never noticed the girl that always admired him from afar, because Amber was one of those girls who were just naturally beautiful. Honestly, Lydia was beginning to wish she would just move on, because the only thing liking Red ever brought Amber was hurt.
She was saved from answering when her room door was suddenly opened and her mom, Anna, became visible on the other side. Dark shadows outlined her eyes, a result of working long hours at the Viridian City Hospital. "Lydia, Professor-" The woman suddenly stopped, her mouth dropping open and her coffee swishing dangerously in its jigglypuff mug. "Oh. My. Mew."
She blushed brightly at her revealing attire, nervously brushing back a few strands of her picture perfect (Courtesy of Amber) brunette hair. "Doesn't she look great?" Amber squealed from beside her, temporarily forgetting their small dispute. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." The girl excitedly grabbed a cute white hat off of the nightstand and placed it on Lydia's head.
"Well... She certainly looks...different," Anna said, seemingly uncertain on whether or not to scold the girls. "As I was saying, Professor Oak wants to see you at his lab as soon as possible, Lydia."
"Great! I mean, alright," Lydia replied, happy that she no longer had to go to Viridian dressed the way she was. At least for the time being, anyway.
Amber scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "Why would Grandpa want to see you?"
Anna smiled secretively. "I can't tell you that, it's a surprise! But I'm sure you'll love it." With that, the woman exited the room, likely returning to her seat in front of the living room television. The girls exchanged perplexed glances and followed her down the short staircase, Lydia careful not to let her clumsy nature send her tumbling down it. After saying a short farewell to Anna, they left the house and headed down the street to Professor Oak's lab.
Lydia, as always, admired the area around her. Pallet was a small, quaint town, surrounded by tall pines on three sides and a small beach on the other. Unlike many of its younger residents, Lydia adored the town. She didn't think it was boring (At least, most of the time), and was content to stay out of the hustle and bustle of the city. One of her favorite pastimes was cuddling up on the edge of Route 1 with a nice book so she could read and watch the wild pokemon play at the same time.
It didn't take more than a few minutes for the pair to reach their destination. Professor Oak's glorious, white laboratory was easily the largest building in town, and many considered it to be the only thing that put Pallet on the map. While Lydia was busy staring up at it, Amber brushed past her and lead them inside the automatic doors like it was her second home. In a way, it sort of was, since her grandfather owned it.
Professor Oak was nowhere to be found in the room they had just entered, although a single aide sat at his computer desk. He looked up from his typing, adjusting his classes in an irritated manner. "Hello, Amber. Lydia, the Professor's been waiting for quite a while now. Come this way, please."
"S-sorry," Lydia said, her cheeks taking on a red tint as the man took them down a long, narrow corridor. Several other rooms branched off of the hallway, most of them filled with either shelves of pokeballs or buzzing machinery. The aide finally came to a halt at the last doorway, ushering them inside before returning to his work.
Several computers lined the walls of the room, and everything about it was perfectly organized. From her visits with Amber, Lydia was able to recognize the room as Professor Oak's personal office. The man himself sat behind his desk, a kind smile on his face at her arrival.
"It's about time! Gramps, will you tell us what you wanted now?" The familiar, sneering voice brought her attention to the two boys standing before him. '
Gary Oak stood off to the right with his arms crossed and a displeased expression on his face. His light brown hair was spiked up all over his head, and Lydia mentally giggled at the thought that he probably spent as much time on his hair-do as his sister. His attire consisted of jeans and a violet shirt, typical 'cool' guy clothes.
The other boy, Red, was approximately the same age as Gary, although judging by his messy array of black hair and all Lydia knew about him, he cared much less about his appearance. As always, he wore his favorite red cap, hence his nickname, and a small yellow pokemon was perched on his shoulder. His pikachu.
"Patience Gary, please," the old man said, frowning at his grandson's rude behavior. It had been getting even worse lately, and over the past few years had managed to morph Red and Gary's friendship into a fierce rivalry. Recently, it had even been hard for Lydia and Amber to stand his presence for very long. "Now, I suppose you would like to know the reason I've requested all of you here."
'Oh no. I bet he wants us to do him another favor.' Lydia liked Professor Oak, really. She even enjoyed helping him with the lab's pokemon when he would allow her too, but he always called them for the most annoying favors. For example, picking up packages for him in Viridian or delivering his mail.
"I have a favor to ask you three."
"Three? What am I, invisible?" Amber pouted, noticing her grandfather hadn't addressed her.
"Oh, well, um.. Yes. I didn't actually count on you being here..." Professor Oak said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck like he was hesitant about what was coming next. "You see... I don't believe that this 'favor' of mine would be very enjoyable for you." Lydia was now positive that he had some horrid job for them. After all, he was excluding his granddaughter for Mew's sake.
"Would you get to the point already? You're wasting my time here!" Gary butted in, his foot tapping impatiently.
With a sigh, Professor Oak reached into the pocket of his long, white lab coat to pull out three complex looking devices. Lifting the red-colored one up to Pikachu in demonstration, he said, "This is a new invention I've recently developed, but I can't complete it without assistance."
The yellow mouse pokemon tilted his head to the side curiously as the device beeped loudly. A few seconds later, a picture of a pikachu appeared on the screen. "Pikachu, the electric mouse pokemon. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs on its cheeks," the strange machine hummed monotonously.
"Pikachu, chu!" Pikachu cried in wonder, blinking his small black eyes. Red laughed quietly to himself, giving his friend a loving rub between the ears.
Lydia was entranced by the small machine, realizing that it could possibly gain more information than any other scientific study in history. For a second, she even forgot to be embarrassed about how she was currently dressed. Noticing her interest, Professor Oak spoke directly to her. "Ahh, Lydia. I thought you might appreciate my creation. It's basically a pokemon encyclopedia, though I like to call it a pokedex for short."
She nodded eagerly, watching as he handed Red the one in his hand and Gary a blue one. He turned to her last, gifting her with the green one. "I would like for you three to travel around the region and collect data on any pokemon you capture for me. Of course, I wouldn't ask such a favor without anything in return."
The old man fished around in his pocket for a second time, pulling out three polished red and white orbs. Lydia's brain went into overdrive as he selectively handed each of them one. She was almost thirteen, and though their was no specific time for kids to go on pokemon journeys, some children left their homes at ages as young as ten. Of course, she loved pokemon, but she had always been afraid of going out into the vast world all alone.
"The pokemon I've just given you are all rare, and have the potential to become very powerful with the proper training. I selected them carefully for what I thought would best suit your personalities, and I believe you will be grateful for it in the long run," Professor Oak informed, then went off into a long speech about how they should take good care of them and what not. None of them really listened though, each of them to preoccupied with what was actually inside the pokeballs to care.
Though it felt a little foreign in her hands at first, Lydia managed to enlarge the ball and press the button protruding from its center. A beam of red light shot out from it, eventually forming into a bipedal, orange, reptilian creature. The pokemon opened its eyes, revealing two brilliant blue-green irises. Its most notable feature was the flame burning on the tip of its tail.
"Charmander," it said quietly, placing its clawed finger on its chin bashfully.
'Aww, he must be shy like me,' Lydia thought, thankful that they had something in common.
Somewhat hesitant that she would make a bad first impression, she bent down as close as she could to the pokemon's eye level (Not that it was to difficult, because she was rather short) and said, "Hey, my name's Lydia. Would... Would you like to be my pokemon?"
Smiling up at her, the little charmander hugged tightly onto her bare leg. Surprisingly, it was careful enough not to scratch her with the sharp claws on its hands. Lydia grinned, overwhelmed with happiness until she suddenly remembered Amber. "Hey, Amber-" She looked around the room in confusion, seeing only Professor Oak and the boys getting acquainted with their new pokemon.
"She left." Professor Oak's voice sounded from a few feet away. His expression was downcast. "I should have known this would hurt her feelings, but I stand by my belief that training pokemon isn't the right thing for her."
'How can he say that about his own granddaughter? She probably hates me now! I know I wouldn't be to happy if my grandpa chose her over me,' Lydia thought to herself, her annoyance becoming mixed with worry as she realized just how bad the situation probably looked to her friend.
Just when she was about to head out of the lab and start searching for her, Professor Oak spoke again. "I wouldn't if I were you. She'll get over it soon, and knowing Amber, she probably wants to be alone right now."
"Alright... If you really think so," she said quietly in response, still unsure. Charmander looked up at her curiously, wishing its new friend didn't look so sad.
Trying to distract herself, she decided to take a look at Red and Gary's new pokemon. Red and his pikachu were chatting with a green toad-like pokemon with a bulb on its back, the three of them already appearing to be friends. Gary, on the other hand, was busy critically examining a small blue turtle pokemon Lydia recognized as squirtle. Squirtle didn't seem to mind though, because the friendly smile never left its face.
"Catching other pokemon and entering any competition with them will be perfectly legal for you three now, as the pokedex doubles as your trainer's license. Well... I suppose that's it then. In case you want to give them nicknames, Lydia and Red, your pokemon are both male, and Gary, your squirtle is female," Professor Oak said, apparently dismissing them.
Lydia automatically knew she wanted to name Charmander properly instead of just calling him by his species name. However, she also wanted to name him something special instead of the usual generic fire type names, and her mind was occupied with Amber at the moment. Would she ever forgive her?
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Lydia sat cross-legged on her bed, one hand propping her chin up and the other absentmindedly running over the warm fabric of her eevee bedspread as she studied her room. Even to someone who didn't know her, it was clear that it belonged to a bookworm. Two large bookshelves covered nearly a whole wall, and various novels lay strewn across the room.
Her mother had known exactly what Professor Oak had called them to his lab for. She hadn't come right out and said it, but she wasn't surprised enough for her to have not known. Apparently, Anna liked the idea of her daughter out in the world alone, because it would help her become more outgoing. Enough so, in fact, that she wanted her to leave tomorrow.
Personally, Lydia wasn't quite sure if she loved the idea or hated it. Ever since she was little, she had always loved pokemon. She loved playing with them, feeding them, or just observing them. Not to mention, it would be very nice to get out the sheltered little town of Pallet to see the world for once.
On the other hand, she had never particularly wanted to be a trainer. Not only was violence a bit of a turn off for her, but she was honestly scared of going out into the world alone. Kanto did have increasing criminal activity lately, and she was completely inexperienced with any of the essentials that she would need to travel alone. Though she didn't really have a particular career in mind yet, something like an author or pokemon nurse sounded so much easier.
She wouldn't be able to see her family for extended periods of time, either. Lydia and her parents were a simple, yet happy bunch. The thought of not seeing her mom or dad saddened her. And Amber. Amber was her best friend and had been for as long as she could remember. She would definitely be even more upset if Lydia left her behind.
"Char?" Charmander's sweet voice jolted the girl out of her thoughts. He was holding a book in his tiny arms, obviously asking her what it was.
His mind occupied, the fire lizard didn't notice his tail getting dangerously close to the shelf of books behind him. Lydia however, did. "Wait, Charmander, don't-"
Luckily, her warning managed to get him away from it, but not necessarily in the way she had intended. The sudden raising of her voice startled the already timid pokemon, causing him to drop the book he was holding and swing his tail around to hide his face.
Realizing her mistake, Lydia cautiously shifted off the bed and crept towards him. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, Charmander."
'Great. How will I ever manage to be a trainer if I can't do anything but scare the one pokemon I already have?' Lydia thought, upset with herself.
Though he hesitantly moved his tail away to reveal his face, she noticed how Charmander still kept his eyes downcast. Remembering the book at his feet, she started blabbering about the only thing she could think of. "This book is called The Hobbit. It's a fantasy, and it's got loads of great characters. Like Biblo, Gandalf the wizard, Thorin the dwarf, and..."
Lydia suddenly trailed off, her honey brown eyes lighting up. "Hmm... I think I just came up with the perfect name for you, Charmander."
-----
AN: I don't really have much idea how to work this site right now, but I wanted to try posting this story in a different place to see if I could get new feedback.
If you're interested in reading more, I have sixteen chapters published on fanfiction.net under the same username and story title. I hope you check it out
I may or may not post them all here, it depends. Anyway, please review!
"Oh my gosh Lydia, we look amazing!"
Lydia tugged self-consciously at the way-too-short red skirt her best friend had forced her into, wishing that her efforts would actually make it longer. She frantically racked her brain for something, anything, to get her out of the mess she was sure they were about to get into.
"But Amber, I don't-"
The girl across from her, Amber, continued before she could finish her protest. "You'll so find a man by the end of today! Now come here, I need to finish your makeup."
"I can do my own makeup. Not that I want to wear any, thank you," Lydia finally snapped, yanking her arm out of Amber's steely grip. They were twelve, for crying out loud!
The blond girl glared, brandishing her stick of eyeliner threateningly. "We've already went through this. If we want to get a boyfriend, we have to go all out."
"But I don't want a boyfriend," Lydia said in exasperation, shrinking back slightly. Her friend knew this, but she had been rather pushy today. It wasn't that she didn't like the idea of romance. In fact, she loved it, but until she was positive she found the right guy, Lydia was perfectly happy at home, reading her beloved books. "Why don't we just cancel the trip to Viridian, and do something fun around here instead?" 'Like reading'.
"Lydia, please. I have to get Red to notice me. He could be leaving Pallet anytime now and who knows when he'll come back. Obviously just trying to look good isn't enough, so I might as well try to make him jealous instead." Amber said the last part rather sadly, and Lydia couldn't say she blamed her.
Amber had been practically in love with Red for her whole life. He was her older brother Gary's childhood best friend, but had always seemed far more interested in pokemon than people. Even so, it was still an oddity that he never noticed the girl that always admired him from afar, because Amber was one of those girls who were just naturally beautiful. Honestly, Lydia was beginning to wish she would just move on, because the only thing liking Red ever brought Amber was hurt.
She was saved from answering when her room door was suddenly opened and her mom, Anna, became visible on the other side. Dark shadows outlined her eyes, a result of working long hours at the Viridian City Hospital. "Lydia, Professor-" The woman suddenly stopped, her mouth dropping open and her coffee swishing dangerously in its jigglypuff mug. "Oh. My. Mew."
She blushed brightly at her revealing attire, nervously brushing back a few strands of her picture perfect (Courtesy of Amber) brunette hair. "Doesn't she look great?" Amber squealed from beside her, temporarily forgetting their small dispute. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." The girl excitedly grabbed a cute white hat off of the nightstand and placed it on Lydia's head.
"Well... She certainly looks...different," Anna said, seemingly uncertain on whether or not to scold the girls. "As I was saying, Professor Oak wants to see you at his lab as soon as possible, Lydia."
"Great! I mean, alright," Lydia replied, happy that she no longer had to go to Viridian dressed the way she was. At least for the time being, anyway.
Amber scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "Why would Grandpa want to see you?"
Anna smiled secretively. "I can't tell you that, it's a surprise! But I'm sure you'll love it." With that, the woman exited the room, likely returning to her seat in front of the living room television. The girls exchanged perplexed glances and followed her down the short staircase, Lydia careful not to let her clumsy nature send her tumbling down it. After saying a short farewell to Anna, they left the house and headed down the street to Professor Oak's lab.
Lydia, as always, admired the area around her. Pallet was a small, quaint town, surrounded by tall pines on three sides and a small beach on the other. Unlike many of its younger residents, Lydia adored the town. She didn't think it was boring (At least, most of the time), and was content to stay out of the hustle and bustle of the city. One of her favorite pastimes was cuddling up on the edge of Route 1 with a nice book so she could read and watch the wild pokemon play at the same time.
It didn't take more than a few minutes for the pair to reach their destination. Professor Oak's glorious, white laboratory was easily the largest building in town, and many considered it to be the only thing that put Pallet on the map. While Lydia was busy staring up at it, Amber brushed past her and lead them inside the automatic doors like it was her second home. In a way, it sort of was, since her grandfather owned it.
Professor Oak was nowhere to be found in the room they had just entered, although a single aide sat at his computer desk. He looked up from his typing, adjusting his classes in an irritated manner. "Hello, Amber. Lydia, the Professor's been waiting for quite a while now. Come this way, please."
"S-sorry," Lydia said, her cheeks taking on a red tint as the man took them down a long, narrow corridor. Several other rooms branched off of the hallway, most of them filled with either shelves of pokeballs or buzzing machinery. The aide finally came to a halt at the last doorway, ushering them inside before returning to his work.
Several computers lined the walls of the room, and everything about it was perfectly organized. From her visits with Amber, Lydia was able to recognize the room as Professor Oak's personal office. The man himself sat behind his desk, a kind smile on his face at her arrival.
"It's about time! Gramps, will you tell us what you wanted now?" The familiar, sneering voice brought her attention to the two boys standing before him. '
Gary Oak stood off to the right with his arms crossed and a displeased expression on his face. His light brown hair was spiked up all over his head, and Lydia mentally giggled at the thought that he probably spent as much time on his hair-do as his sister. His attire consisted of jeans and a violet shirt, typical 'cool' guy clothes.
The other boy, Red, was approximately the same age as Gary, although judging by his messy array of black hair and all Lydia knew about him, he cared much less about his appearance. As always, he wore his favorite red cap, hence his nickname, and a small yellow pokemon was perched on his shoulder. His pikachu.
"Patience Gary, please," the old man said, frowning at his grandson's rude behavior. It had been getting even worse lately, and over the past few years had managed to morph Red and Gary's friendship into a fierce rivalry. Recently, it had even been hard for Lydia and Amber to stand his presence for very long. "Now, I suppose you would like to know the reason I've requested all of you here."
'Oh no. I bet he wants us to do him another favor.' Lydia liked Professor Oak, really. She even enjoyed helping him with the lab's pokemon when he would allow her too, but he always called them for the most annoying favors. For example, picking up packages for him in Viridian or delivering his mail.
"I have a favor to ask you three."
"Three? What am I, invisible?" Amber pouted, noticing her grandfather hadn't addressed her.
"Oh, well, um.. Yes. I didn't actually count on you being here..." Professor Oak said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck like he was hesitant about what was coming next. "You see... I don't believe that this 'favor' of mine would be very enjoyable for you." Lydia was now positive that he had some horrid job for them. After all, he was excluding his granddaughter for Mew's sake.
"Would you get to the point already? You're wasting my time here!" Gary butted in, his foot tapping impatiently.
With a sigh, Professor Oak reached into the pocket of his long, white lab coat to pull out three complex looking devices. Lifting the red-colored one up to Pikachu in demonstration, he said, "This is a new invention I've recently developed, but I can't complete it without assistance."
The yellow mouse pokemon tilted his head to the side curiously as the device beeped loudly. A few seconds later, a picture of a pikachu appeared on the screen. "Pikachu, the electric mouse pokemon. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs on its cheeks," the strange machine hummed monotonously.
"Pikachu, chu!" Pikachu cried in wonder, blinking his small black eyes. Red laughed quietly to himself, giving his friend a loving rub between the ears.
Lydia was entranced by the small machine, realizing that it could possibly gain more information than any other scientific study in history. For a second, she even forgot to be embarrassed about how she was currently dressed. Noticing her interest, Professor Oak spoke directly to her. "Ahh, Lydia. I thought you might appreciate my creation. It's basically a pokemon encyclopedia, though I like to call it a pokedex for short."
She nodded eagerly, watching as he handed Red the one in his hand and Gary a blue one. He turned to her last, gifting her with the green one. "I would like for you three to travel around the region and collect data on any pokemon you capture for me. Of course, I wouldn't ask such a favor without anything in return."
The old man fished around in his pocket for a second time, pulling out three polished red and white orbs. Lydia's brain went into overdrive as he selectively handed each of them one. She was almost thirteen, and though their was no specific time for kids to go on pokemon journeys, some children left their homes at ages as young as ten. Of course, she loved pokemon, but she had always been afraid of going out into the vast world all alone.
"The pokemon I've just given you are all rare, and have the potential to become very powerful with the proper training. I selected them carefully for what I thought would best suit your personalities, and I believe you will be grateful for it in the long run," Professor Oak informed, then went off into a long speech about how they should take good care of them and what not. None of them really listened though, each of them to preoccupied with what was actually inside the pokeballs to care.
Though it felt a little foreign in her hands at first, Lydia managed to enlarge the ball and press the button protruding from its center. A beam of red light shot out from it, eventually forming into a bipedal, orange, reptilian creature. The pokemon opened its eyes, revealing two brilliant blue-green irises. Its most notable feature was the flame burning on the tip of its tail.
"Charmander," it said quietly, placing its clawed finger on its chin bashfully.
'Aww, he must be shy like me,' Lydia thought, thankful that they had something in common.
Somewhat hesitant that she would make a bad first impression, she bent down as close as she could to the pokemon's eye level (Not that it was to difficult, because she was rather short) and said, "Hey, my name's Lydia. Would... Would you like to be my pokemon?"
Smiling up at her, the little charmander hugged tightly onto her bare leg. Surprisingly, it was careful enough not to scratch her with the sharp claws on its hands. Lydia grinned, overwhelmed with happiness until she suddenly remembered Amber. "Hey, Amber-" She looked around the room in confusion, seeing only Professor Oak and the boys getting acquainted with their new pokemon.
"She left." Professor Oak's voice sounded from a few feet away. His expression was downcast. "I should have known this would hurt her feelings, but I stand by my belief that training pokemon isn't the right thing for her."
'How can he say that about his own granddaughter? She probably hates me now! I know I wouldn't be to happy if my grandpa chose her over me,' Lydia thought to herself, her annoyance becoming mixed with worry as she realized just how bad the situation probably looked to her friend.
Just when she was about to head out of the lab and start searching for her, Professor Oak spoke again. "I wouldn't if I were you. She'll get over it soon, and knowing Amber, she probably wants to be alone right now."
"Alright... If you really think so," she said quietly in response, still unsure. Charmander looked up at her curiously, wishing its new friend didn't look so sad.
Trying to distract herself, she decided to take a look at Red and Gary's new pokemon. Red and his pikachu were chatting with a green toad-like pokemon with a bulb on its back, the three of them already appearing to be friends. Gary, on the other hand, was busy critically examining a small blue turtle pokemon Lydia recognized as squirtle. Squirtle didn't seem to mind though, because the friendly smile never left its face.
"Catching other pokemon and entering any competition with them will be perfectly legal for you three now, as the pokedex doubles as your trainer's license. Well... I suppose that's it then. In case you want to give them nicknames, Lydia and Red, your pokemon are both male, and Gary, your squirtle is female," Professor Oak said, apparently dismissing them.
Lydia automatically knew she wanted to name Charmander properly instead of just calling him by his species name. However, she also wanted to name him something special instead of the usual generic fire type names, and her mind was occupied with Amber at the moment. Would she ever forgive her?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia sat cross-legged on her bed, one hand propping her chin up and the other absentmindedly running over the warm fabric of her eevee bedspread as she studied her room. Even to someone who didn't know her, it was clear that it belonged to a bookworm. Two large bookshelves covered nearly a whole wall, and various novels lay strewn across the room.
Her mother had known exactly what Professor Oak had called them to his lab for. She hadn't come right out and said it, but she wasn't surprised enough for her to have not known. Apparently, Anna liked the idea of her daughter out in the world alone, because it would help her become more outgoing. Enough so, in fact, that she wanted her to leave tomorrow.
Personally, Lydia wasn't quite sure if she loved the idea or hated it. Ever since she was little, she had always loved pokemon. She loved playing with them, feeding them, or just observing them. Not to mention, it would be very nice to get out the sheltered little town of Pallet to see the world for once.
On the other hand, she had never particularly wanted to be a trainer. Not only was violence a bit of a turn off for her, but she was honestly scared of going out into the world alone. Kanto did have increasing criminal activity lately, and she was completely inexperienced with any of the essentials that she would need to travel alone. Though she didn't really have a particular career in mind yet, something like an author or pokemon nurse sounded so much easier.
She wouldn't be able to see her family for extended periods of time, either. Lydia and her parents were a simple, yet happy bunch. The thought of not seeing her mom or dad saddened her. And Amber. Amber was her best friend and had been for as long as she could remember. She would definitely be even more upset if Lydia left her behind.
"Char?" Charmander's sweet voice jolted the girl out of her thoughts. He was holding a book in his tiny arms, obviously asking her what it was.
His mind occupied, the fire lizard didn't notice his tail getting dangerously close to the shelf of books behind him. Lydia however, did. "Wait, Charmander, don't-"
Luckily, her warning managed to get him away from it, but not necessarily in the way she had intended. The sudden raising of her voice startled the already timid pokemon, causing him to drop the book he was holding and swing his tail around to hide his face.
Realizing her mistake, Lydia cautiously shifted off the bed and crept towards him. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, Charmander."
'Great. How will I ever manage to be a trainer if I can't do anything but scare the one pokemon I already have?' Lydia thought, upset with herself.
Though he hesitantly moved his tail away to reveal his face, she noticed how Charmander still kept his eyes downcast. Remembering the book at his feet, she started blabbering about the only thing she could think of. "This book is called The Hobbit. It's a fantasy, and it's got loads of great characters. Like Biblo, Gandalf the wizard, Thorin the dwarf, and..."
Lydia suddenly trailed off, her honey brown eyes lighting up. "Hmm... I think I just came up with the perfect name for you, Charmander."
-----
AN: I don't really have much idea how to work this site right now, but I wanted to try posting this story in a different place to see if I could get new feedback.
If you're interested in reading more, I have sixteen chapters published on fanfiction.net under the same username and story title. I hope you check it out
I may or may not post them all here, it depends. Anyway, please review!