Note: This is a spin on a story RKS and I are working on. I'm exploring how things would go if some characters made different decisions and this story is the result.
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Chapter 1 - A Journey Begins
"I'll show them," Rae muttered to herself, "I'll become the best trainer any of them have ever seen. Then they'll have to actually start treating me like a person."
Yet again, she'd been laughed at for missing the chance to get a starter pokemon from the regions professor. It was infuriating! She was eighteen now and still had no pokemon of her own. Everyone else got theirs when they turned ten or a year or two later on occassion, but it was practically unheard of to not have one by eighteen. She'd never fit in around town and this little fact certainly didn't help that.
There were always rumours going on about her. Majority were all done to tear her down and trash talk about her. It was frustrating but at that point in her life, she'd become resigned to it and no longer bothered to listen to them. She wasn't even sure what was going around about her now, other than having once again missed getting a starter. It was one of the kinder rumours, if they could be considered kind at all. But that didn't matter. She was going to take things into her own hands.
Stopping at the edge of town, she stared ahead at the dense forest that surrounded it. Plenty of tall, unkept grass, berry trees, and bushes all showed to be great hiding places for wild pokemon. People were told not to go anywhere out of a town unless with pokemon or with an escort that could protect one from the wild pokemon. If her mom saw her now, she'd certainly be getting a scolding for even thinking of venturing into it on purpose.
Taking a deep breath, her bright green eyes hardened as she made up her mind. Within a few strides, she'd slipped past first few trees of the forest line and began to search for a pokemon to make her starter. She had plenty of pokeballs and snacks in her backpack to last her the day. She wasn't planning on leaving without at least one pokemon.
That resolve only lasted until early evening when she stumbled out of the woods to sit on a log a few feet away from the river. Her blonde hair was a mess along with her clothes after what she'd just gone through. She'd gotten pecked out of trees, nuts thrown at her, tripped a few times, along with many other unfortunate mishaps while trying to capture a pokemon. Nothing had worked and she was left sore and tired.
"What am I doing wrong?" she glanced at her hands.
"Shi-!"
The sound of a cut off pokemon cry brought Rae's head snapping up. Her eyes scanned the area around her, trying to find the source. A few seconds later, she spotted a shinx being swept downriver. The poor thing was struggling to try to keep its head above water.
Without a second thought, she kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag and sweater to the ground before racing towards the water and diving in. Despite it being summer, the cool water was a bit of a shock. It wouldn't stop her though, as she swam towards the sounds of the pokemons cries. At times she caught glimpses of it, but the little guy was starting to struggle more.
Just hold on a little longer, she silently pleaded, arms beginning to ache from how hard she was pushing herself to cut through the rivers tide. She was almost ontop of the shinx when it slipped beneath the surface. Diving down, she was barely able to grab it's tail and pull it closer to her. Once she had a good hold of it, she resurfaced and was relieved to hear it cough when it's head once again was above the water.
"It's alright, I've got you now," she assured the pokemon as she once again fought the current to get them back to shore.
It felt like it took forever, though in reality it probably only took her about a minute to get back to shore. Her limps now really tired, she carefully set the shinx down before collapsing onto the soft grass. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. She hadn't had to swim like that in forever. Well, she hadn't gone swimming in a long time regardless.
After taking a moment to catch her breath, she glanced over to check on the shinx. He was coughing up some water and seemed to have a few cuts and scrapes, but otherwise alright. She wondered a bit just how he ended up in the river in the first place.
"There, see, we're safe now," she smiled when he looked over to her.
He didn't seem to have the energy to really react as he laid next to her, little body starting to shake from the shock and cold. Not to mention he was electric type so water wasn't exactly something he'd be all that good at facing.
"I know what'll help you feel better," Rae said as she gently scooped him up in her arms and began to walk back to where her discarded items lay, "My bag is farther upstream and I've got some food and stuff to help you heal. Should have you feeling better in no time."
A few minutes later, she would have him sitting on the log while she dug through her bag. He was certainly scratched up and a scar across his nose. Clearly he'd gone through a lot challenges in his life by the looks of it. He also seemed rather dejected and sad. She could sympathize with that as she'd had a rough day and had been feeling like that before diving into the river.
"This should help you feel better," she told him, pulling out a basic healing spray.
The shinx didn't even move as she applied the spray to his injuries which healed within a few seconds.
"You know, I'm alone too. If you want, you could come along with me on my journey. Can't promise it'll be easy there with you when things get tough and you'll have food whenever you want it."
Sure she could just use the pokeball on the little guy and most likely catch him without issue with the state he was in, but something felt wrong about that. Instead, she put it out there as an offer. He'd most likely refuse like all the others had that day, but she couldn't help but hope he'd agree.