Chapter One

“Hold still, Flaaffy!” A teal-haired girl laughed, trying to massage the Pokémon shampoo into the electric type’s fur.

“Flaaffy!” The Pokémon yipped, his tail waving in the air behind him. Grinning at her childhood friend, the girl stuck her tongue out at the pink Pokémon.

“Just a little while longer.”

“Flaa….” Crossing his arms, the Flaaffy became stonily still, one eye scrunching close as the girl scrubbed the shampoo into the white fluff on top of his head with vigor.

“Lily!” A voice called suddenly. Frowning, the girl glanced back at the house.

“My name’s Leo!” She yelled, pursing her lips as she finished washing Flaaffy and started washing off the suds, much to the electric type’s relief.

“Your name is Lily.” A voice stated. Ignoring her older sister, the girl helped Flaaffy out of the small tub he was sitting in so that he could stand in the grass while she towel dried his fur.

“Lily’s a girly name.”

“Well, you are a girl. I think.” Glaring over at her older sister, the teal-haired girl pursed her lips.

“Leo’s a cool name. Unlike Lily. Or Faye.” Her sister gained an irk mark, making the younger girl grin.

“My name’s cool!” Faye barked, lifting a fist towards her annoying brat of a sister. They were complete opposites, in both personality and looks. While Leo had teal hair that was relatively straight, Faye had blonde, wavy hair. Leo’s eyes were a green-blue color while Faye’s were a light purple. Leo tended to spend more time in the woods adventuring while Faye stayed inside, taking care of baby Pokemon.

They ran a sanctuary for abused, weak or abandoned Pokemon. If a trainer didn’t want their Pokemon any longer, they sometimes left a pokéball on the doorstep, never to be seen again.

After their grandmother had died, Faye had taken over the sanctuary while also caring for the then seven year old Leo. It had been three years since then, and Leo was soon to start her Pokemon journey.

Faye had grown mature far faster than most children. Having been abandoned by her parents with her two year old sister on her grandmother’s doorstep, it made for a rough start. But, the twenty-four year old was determined to take care of the Pokemon here at the sanctuary, for however long it took.

Sighing, Faye lowered her arm and took in Flaaffy’s shiny coat. “You cleaning him up for your journey?”

“Yeah. Plus he was stinking.” Laughing, the teal-haired girl dodged the Thundershock directed towards her. She had long since gotten over being shocked. Flaaffy had been her first Pokemon, and she’d grown up with the electric type since she was three.

Then again, he had been a Mareep at that time.

“You’re so—” Faye was cut off as the doorbell rung, making both the girls frown towards the house. Both of them – with Flaaffy following – headed into the house.

Opening the door, Faye blinked at the gold Pokemon egg with a cream oval. It was sitting in a basket, surrounded by blankets.

Eye twitching, the girl looked up at the sky before looking up and down the road. Seeing no one – just like usual – Faye sighed before picking up the egg.

“People.” She grumbled, heading into the room where all the eggs were kept and monitored.

Her Vaporeon yipped from her spot on the rocking chair, looking up as Faye brought in the new Pokemon egg.

“Do ya know what Pokemon is in there?” Leo questioned, tilting her head as her sister put the egg in a case for protection.

“Nah, never seen one like this yet.” Faye answered, patting Vaporeon’s head as she passed by the water type. The Eevee evolution usually kept watch over the many Pokemon eggs, that way she could alert Faye when one started to hatch.

Staring at the egg for a moment, Leo shrugged before heading out of the egg room and towards her bedroom. “I’m gonna finish packing for tomorrow!”

Making sure Flaaffy was in the room, Leo shut the door before flinging herself onto the bed. Pulling at the damp shirt sticking to her stomach, she frowned over at her bestfriend.

The electric type simply shrugged, making the girl roll her eyes.

~

Leo entered the kitchen the next morning with bags under her eyes. Then again, the feature was permenant, given the fact the girl couldn’t sleep all that well at night.

You could usually find her sitting in front of the computer, researching the different Pokemon, at about three in the morning. Once the sun came up, however, the girl would go right to sleep before waking up at noon. Faye never really saw a problem with this, since Leo usually took care of the nocturnal Pokemon and made sure they got their food.

“Flaaffy, grab me a Pecha berry too.” The girl yawned, making the electric type throw the one he was holding over to her. Catching it, she took a bite and watched as the electric type grabbed another one from the basket on the counter top.

“You know, we do have cereal.” Faye pointed out as she walked into the kitchen. Leo simply ignored her, finishing up the sweet berry before placing the seeds in a jar set in the center of the small table. They collected all the seeds so that they could replant them later. They needed a lot of berry trees, given the amount of Pokemon they took care of.

“Oh, and this arrived.” Faye pulled out a rectangular package, handing it to the small girl. Upon seeing the sender, Leo tore into the packaging quickly.

A pokedex was sitting inside, along with five pokéballs. Thanking her luck that the pokedex was black, Leo dug out her Trainer ID she had gotten two days ago – on her tenth birthday.

Once she programmed the pokedex to her specific Trainer ID, Leo went to work checking out all the features.

“You sure you don’t want to go get a starter Pokemon? Littleroot Town is only a three day drive.”

“Flaaffy’s the only starter Pokemon I’ll need.” Leo answered, making the pink Pokemon nod sharply in agreement as sparks danced across his white wool.

Faye rolled her eyes before nodding. “Well, you’ll be leaving around noon, right?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna go take a shower.” Getting up from the table, Leo padded down the hall while Flaaffy headed outside to say goodbye to his friends.

Frowning after her sister in thought, Faye headed into the egg room. Greeting her Vaporeon like normal, Faye headed over to the egg that had arrived yesterday.

Staring at it for a few seconds, the girl considered her idea. Shrugging, she picked up the case and headed back into the kitchen, setting it down on the table. While she waited for Leo to return, Faye treated herself to a bowl of cereal.

Ten minutes later, Leo headed back into the kitchen with a towel around her neck, wearing only her undergarments with a huge shirt going to her knees over it. She would be getting changed once her hair dried.

Seeing the case sitting on the table made her pause, however, and turn to her sister. “Why’s the egg out?”

“I’m giving you your second Pokemon.” Faye responded, nodding to the golden egg. Leo stared at her for a few moments before grinning.

“Thanks, sis. I’ma get changed.”