Journey Through Createa

Fae walked happily through the dirt streets of Peacove, her light pink hair bouncing as she walked. She hummed quietly to herself as she walked. It was a beautiful day. She could imagine that it would be even prettier by the water. Michael and Robert would probably be there already, doing guy stuff. Knowing those two, they had probably started a mock battle. Michael had just gotten his Charmander a few days ago, but he would be itching to find out what it could do. Her own pokemon she had had a little longer. It had found her when she was just a kid and for some reason, stuck around. It followed her even now, squishing along side her like the adorable blob of pink that it was. She smiled as she looked down at it, overwhelmed by an urge to pick it up and squish it in a big hug. She did just that.

"Ditto!" it protested, squirming out of her grip until it rested on her shoulder. She giggled, stroking it's gooey skin until it calmed down. Jello didn't like it when she did things like that, but it always put up with whatever she did. It had done so even when she was little and decided it would be good to see how far the pokemon could stretch. She laughed slightly, remembering her guilt when her father had found her. She had learned a lot about her pokemon since then.

Before long she had reached the bank of Lake Harmony. As she had predicted, Michael and Robert were there, squaring off along the water with their respective pokemon. She shook her head ruefully as she approached them. Robert's Porygon seemed to be winning at the moment; Michael's poor little Charmander looked a bit out of breath.

"Let's call it a draw, guys," she said. When she spoke, both pokemon lost interest in the battle, instantly running to her side. She laughed and pulled out the poketreats that she kept handy in her pocket.

"You spoil them, you know that?" Michael joked, crossing his hands behind his head as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I know. They're just too cute, though!" she replied, returning the sign of affection.

"You two are gross," Robert protested, sitting down on the grass and sticking out his tongue. When it finished its treat, his Porygon, Cookie, floated back over to sit in his lap.

"You're just jealous," Fae replied, making a face. "So, you said we were meeting someone else here too, right? Who is it?"

Luke tossed her ginger bob of hair out of her face as she shuffled down the dirt road, trying to ignore how out of place she felt. Everything in this new little town seemed so small compared to Settis City; she felt claustrophobic. The buildings seemed uncomfortably far apart, yet somehow closer together. The trees towered above her head, mocking the little pines she used to see growing out of the sidewalk.
Luke's silky pants made a soft swishing sound as she headed towards the waterfront. She saw a group of three people huddled together, and awkwardly shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. Luke knew that her pen pal, Robert, would be one of the ones over there.
Robert and Luke had been talking back and forth for some time while she lived in Settis City, and had met over a social networking site. They had both been so excited when Luke announced that her mother and she would be moving to Peacove. But all of a sudden, Luke was too nervous to go meet him.
Swallowing her pride, Luke took her hands out of her pockets and balled them into fists. She forced her legs to move, and before she knew it, Luke was standing beside the group.
"Hello" Luke choked out as she smiled her most pleasant smile.

Fae looked up as a girl she didn't know approached the group. This must be the friend of Robert's that they were waiting on. She looked nice enough; she looked a little nervous, though.

Robert quickly stood up, almost tripping over himself in his rush to seem courteous.

"Ah, it's nice to finally meet you face-to-face," he said, offering her his hand to shake. "You're prettier than your avatar! I mean, er. . ." he cleared his throat, blushing. "Anyway, these are my friends, Michael and Fae. Guys, this is Luke. I've told you about her."

Fae and Michael followed Robert's example, standing up to greet their new acquaintance.

"Nice to meet you," Fae said cheerily. "Robert talks about you all the time. Nice to see that you're real!" She laughed merrily, punching her friend lightly on the shoulder.

"These are our partners," Michael added, motioning to the pokemon. "Cookie's Robert's Porygon. Jello's Fae's Ditto, and this little guy," he picked up his Charmander, "is Conleth. I just got him a few days ago."

With the introductions over, the group sat back down on the grass. Fae happily kicked off her shoes and dipped her toes into the water, watching as a few Surskit ran over the water's surface. She really loved it here.

"S-so, what do you think of Peacove?" Robert asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose in a nervous habit. A soft breeze ruffled his shaggy black hair, making him push a few strands out of his eyes. He tried to make eye contact with Luke, but found himself blushing again and looking down at the ground.

"It's... quaint." Luke replied. "A lot smaller than what I'm used to, but it's cute."
She took encouragement in the fact that Robert was even more nervous than she was, and allowed herself to relax.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Luke pulled out a poke-ball. "This is my pokemon, Ember." She smiled as a cindaquil appeared on the grass beside her. "He's a little mean sometimes but, once you get to know him, he's really sweet." Ember looked around at the group before laying down in the grass. "And he's lazy." Luke giggled and sat down beside her pokemon, petting it on the head.
"So.... what is there to do around here?"

"Ah, he's so cool!" Michael exclaimed, scooting over to get a better look. Noting Luke's comments, he decided it would be a good idea to just look, rather than touch. It was difficult though; he really wanted to pick it up and cuddle it. Fae giggled, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around him.

"Michael loves fire pokemon," she explained, winking at Luke. "It's kind of cute. One of the few things he get's really excited over, right babe?" Michael shrugged her off, suddenly embarrassed.

"Whatever. They're just cooler than other pokemon, that's all."

The three friends looked at each other after her question, exchanging shrugs. What was there to do around here other than swim in the lake?

"This is basically it, actually," Robert said eventually. "If you walk to Sandstone you can watch some Contests or maybe see a Gym battle. There's nothing like that here, though. They're talking about adding a new gym here, but they haven't even confirmed a location yet. We usually just hang out here while we work on our studies or play with our pokemon."

"I keep trying to talk them into taking a trip across the region," Fae added in, "but Robert's kind of a wimp when it comes to things like that."

"Am not!" Robert protested quickly.

While they were talking, Conleth crept up behind Ember, unnoticed. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he blew a small flame at the unsuspecting pokemon, making it jump.

"Conleth!" Michael scolded, grabbing his now laughing pokemon up off of the ground. "I'm sorry. He's not very well behaved yet."

Luke giggled as Ember stood up and started trying to climb Michael's pant leg. "It's okay, neither is Ember." She picked Ember up and held him up to Conleth. Ember playfully nuzzled the Charmander's nose. "I'm surprised he's not trying to bite his head off, though."

As Luke started to set Ember back on the ground, he started to shape himself into a ball. Once he'd hit the ground, Ember rolled right into Michael's leg, knocking him over. Luke cried out, startled at what Ember had just done. She ran over to him and picked him up, scolding.

"I'm so sorry," She said, "I just don't know what got into him!" She hugged Ember tight to her chest as he struggled to charge at the Charmander that was now within his reach.

Michael cried out as he fell, falling squarely on his butt. He lost his grip on Conleth in the process and the ornery pokemon skipped out of his reach. He winced, rubbing his sore behind.

"Get back here," he called to his pokemon, but the little lizard pokemon seemed to be ignoring him. He stuck his tongue out playfully at Ember, swishing his tail in a teasing action. Michael stood up and shook his head, dusting off the seat of his pants. He knew that pokemon could be a handful, but Conleth was already proving to be that and more. Despite that though, he couldn't help but smile. His playful teasing was kind of cute.

Fae shook her head ruefully, smiling to herself. This was why she thought they should travel. New experiences and battles would not only help Michael and Conleth bond, but it would give them a better respect for each other. She looked over at Jello, who had watched the whole scene with a comically studying look on its face. It didn't seem to know what to make of the overly energetic pokemon.

"They may want to battle," Robert spoke up. "According to my studies, some pokemon will spar to get to know each other and help establish an alpha."

Luke smiled at Robert's idea. "You're absolutely right," She said as she placed Ember on the ground. "I'm just not entirely sure that I'm ready to battle with him." She giggled. Luke looked over at Michael. "Are you okay with it?" She inquired.

Ember was braced on the ground, ready to strike at any given moment. The flames on his back burned bright and red. A low rumbling was coming from its throat.

Luke went over and stood beside Robert as she watched her pokemon and waited for Michael's response.

"I'm always up for a battle!" Michael boasted, puffing up his chest to try and look intimidating. "Conleth won't loose!"

"We'll see about that!" Luke said, smiling confidently. Luke and Michael squared off several meters apart from each other, giving their pokemon plenty of room to battle. Fae and Robert stood on the sidelines, cheering on their respective favorites.

"Let's do this, Conleth!" Michael said, excited to see what his Charmander could really do. The two fire pokemon faced each other. both flaring out an impressive amount of flames on their back and tail respectively.

"Conleth, start out with a Scratch barrage!"

The Charmander responded quickly, lunging at Ember with his claws extended. Ember reacted almost as fast, dodging a few of the blows, but still getting hit by some.

"Keep moving, Ember," Luke coached from the side. "and blind it with smokescreen!"

A black cloud burst from the cyndaquil's fire, covering the field in a smokey fog.

"Clear the fog with a strong Ember!" Michael shouted, frustrated.

Conleth blew forth a strong stream of fire, catching not only Ember, but the entire smokey field in a burst of flames. The explosion caused the cheerleaders and trainers alike to blink with the sudden light. When the smoke and fire cleared, Conleth was lying in the middle of the field, trying in vain to get up. Somewhere in the confusion, Luke had gotten Ember to use tackle, making a hit in a critical spot.

"Conleth!" Michael shouted, rushing to his injured pokemon. "I'm sorry buddy, I shouldn't have made you battle again so soon."

Luke was unsure how to respond at a time like this. She called Ember over to her and checked him for wounds as she congratulated him. Satisfied that Ember was none the worse for wear, Luke stood and cradled her cyndaquil close.

"You did so good, Ember." She whispered to him before setting him down. Although Luke had put up a confident front, she had secretly been very afraid. That had been her first battle, and she was glad that she had won.

Ember ran to Conleth's side and a queer, high-pitched sound emanated from his throat. It could only be interpreted as concern. "I think we need to get Conleth to a Poke Center," Luke said. "He looks pretty hurt."

"How was that?" Luke asked, looking up at Robert for his input. Luke had thought she did pretty good, and was proud of herself for how well she had reacted the explosion.

Michael cradled his injured pokemon, a concerned look on his face. He had always been so careful with things; why had he pushed it this time? Now his pokemon was paying the price.

"Char-" Conleth said, trying to sit up in Michael's arm to show him he was okay. He didn't want his new trainer to worry about him. He winced though, unable to get up like he wanted.

"Here," Robert said, digging into his pack. He was always prepared for emergencies; it only made sense to pack for the unexpected. He pulled a Potion out, tossing it to Michael who caught it one-handed and immediately began applying it. Robert turned to his friend, smiling broadly.

"You did great!" he responded honestly. "In your letters, you said you hand't battled before. Did you get some practice on your way here? You really seemed to know what you were doing!"

"Michael did great too!" Fae said, bouncing up to her boyfriend and giving him a pity-kiss on the cheek. "You might have had her, if she hadn't have it that big move at the end. Your combos were awesome!"

"Char!" Conleth agreed, feeling better already from the Potion.

Luke giggled. "No, this was my first battle. I kind of know a little bit about pokemon and battling, though." She blushed. "Thanks, though." Luke looked down and noticed her hand was shaking. "I guess I was more nervous than I thought I'd be."

Ember was running circles around Michael now, anxious to play with his new friend. His soft, impatient "Quil"s were cute and annoying at the same time. He was such a playful little fellow.

Luke looked up at Robert. "Are you always so prepared for this kind of stuff?" She asked. She didn't say it, but she thought it was kind of cute how nerdy he was. She was so glad she'd finally gotten the chance to meet him.

"Ah, well, you did very well for your first, then!" Robert replied. "I think it was one of Michael's first too. I'm glad you two could practice together." He blinked, surprised by her question. "Of course I do. It wouldn't make sense to go anywhere unprepared." He opened up his bag, holding it wide so that she could see inside. "I keep two of everything I may need: repels, potions, antidotes, awakenings, and paralyze heals. It would be a lot easier if I could go to one of the bigger cities. They sell Full Heals there. I could simply get a few of them instead of lugging all of this around." He pushed his glasses up on his nose, happy to be showing off his things. He was very proud of his studies and his preparedness.

Michael put Conleth back down on the ground now that he was feeling better. Immediately, he began running around with Ember. Apparently, their battle had not been taken personally by either side. If anything, it had made them more friendly, which fit in with what Robert had said would happen. Michael smiled. He was glad that little Conleth had made a friend. He was even cuter when he was having fun with someone else. He seemed more confident in himself too, which was another plus.

"Man, that was a little more intense then I anticipated," Michael confided to Fae. "You always seem so calm. I don't know how you do it." He laughed a bit, embarrassed by how flustered the battle had made him.

"You get used to it, is all," she responded, shrugging. "Once you have trust in your pokemon, you can almost battle without giving any verbal commands. Its all about the bond between trainer and pokemon, right Jello?"

"Ditto, Di!" the happy little blob replied, forming into a spring and hopping onto Fae's shoulder. She laughed, nuzzling it with her nose.

Luke hesitated. Fae seemed to be on to something. This group was perfect to travel together. "You know," Luke said in a very convincing fashion, "We could all go to a big city together. A kind of adventure. Then you get some Full Heals." She smiled sweetly. Please take the bait, she thought.

Luke looked over at Fae. "It's a good idea, right? I think we'd make a great team." She smiled her brightest. "We'd certainly be prepared for anything that came our way." She sort of nudged Robert in a playful manner.

As Luke was trying to convince the group, Ember rolled around in the grass. The cyndaquil looked up, as if suddenly remembering that there were other pokemon there. He focused his attention on Cookie, and ran over to greet the strange pokemon.

Robert's eyes lit up almost immediately. He had always been looking for an excuse to travel. He could only imagine all of the research he could do on the road! Imagine, if he could be a real field scientist, just like the great Professor Oak. He had always been afraid to do anything though. Despite always being well read and as prepared as possible, he just hadn't liked the idea of traveling alone. He had tried to convince Fae and Michael to go with him on multiple occasions, but Michael hadn't had any pokemon then and had been afraid to go.

"I'd love to," he said, trying to contain his enthusiasm. "What do you say, guys?" he asked, turning to his two friends. Fae agreed right away, which came as no surprise. Michael hesitated, but eventually nodded as well.

"Fae's been wanting to take on a few gym leaders," Michael said, making his girlfriend blush. "It might be a good opportunity for her to do that."

"It would be fun," she said, smiling. "I'd like to train another pokemon or two before that, though. Can't take on a gym with just one pokemon, after all!"

Cookie flew a couple circles around Ember, not quite sure what to make of the little fire pokemon. It cocked its head slightly, before chirping happily.

Ooh, how cute, Luke thought as she watched Robert's eyes light up. In a nerdy sort of way, he was definitely cute. A slight breeze blew Luke's hair out of her eyes and she blushed as she tried to hide the fact that she had been staring.

Luke looked away from Robert as she felt her heart get lighter. She was looking forward to a little adventure. Maybe on her travels they would even visit Settis City! Luke was already feeling slightly homesick. "So it's settled then?" She asked.

Ember jumped happily at Cookie's chirp. He then kept jumping, as though trying to fly as well. After giving up on the endeavor, Ember lay on the ground, exhausted. A small "quil" escaped his mouth as he looked up at the group of trainers.

There was some brief discussion among the group to make sure that there would be no issues when they went to travel. They would all need to prepare for the journey, so they agreed to make preparations and be ready to leave the next morning. The group disassembled with an excited air. Michael and Fae left together to begin packing, holding eachothers hands as they walked - or bounced, in Fae's case - down the road. Robert stayed behind with Luke, not wanting to leave her alone out here by the lake.

"I'll walk you back to your house, if you'd like," he said, glancing briefly over at his pokemon to make sure it was behaving. "I'm sure you'll want to tell your mother that you'll be leaving, even if it's only for a few days."

Silently he wished that they would end up traveling longer. He knew how much Fae wanted to test herself against a variety of trainers. Himself, he wanted to travel as far as possible. All of his idles had made their names by working in the field and making wonderful discoveries about pokemon. He wanted to do the same.

Cookie looked startled by Ember's energy. When the little pokemon fell to the ground, it landed next to him, looking amused.

"Thank you," Luke said, blushing a little. "I'd love it if you could walk me home." She whistled to Ember and he came running to her side. She turned and started walking towards her house.

"You know, I'm really looking forward to this trip." Luke said. "It'll be nice. Just the four of us, going on a small adventure together." She flinched as she said the word small; she knew that she intended to prolong the trip as long as possible.

Ember bounded along side the pair, acting as though he hadn't been exhausted only a moment ago. He ran circles around them before Luke finally just picked him and held him. He crawled up her shoulder and sat on her head, enjoying the view from up high.

Robert couldn't help smiling as they walked. It was really nice to be able to talk to Luke face to face like this. He had expected to get along with Luke, but he hadn't known how pretty she would be. It was kind of strange, walking with her now. Despite that though, it seemed almost natural, like they had known each other forever.

"I think it'll be a lot of fun!" Robert agreed. He readjusted the pack on his back awkwardly, not sure what to say next. Online, it was easy to think of something to say. If he couldn't, all he had to do was type "brb" until he thought of something. Things were a little more intense in person.

"So, I wonder where we should go, though," he said after a while. "I mean, the two closest cities are Shadowveil and Peachpit. Neither are super big, like Settis, but from what I've heard they're a lot more traveled than Peacove. According to my notes, Shadowveil is known for it's dark and poison pokemon. Peachpit, as I'm sure you know, is famous for it's orchards. Both would have a gym for Fae."

Luke considered the choices. Peachpit sounded very nice, and Shadowveil sounded like more of an adventure. "I think maybe we should go to Peachpit." Luke stated. "It'll be nice this time of year, and it seems a little less shady."

Luke kicked the dirt as she walked, searching for something else to say. She glanced over at Robert. He looked back at the same time, and she quickly averted her eyes, blushing. "So have you lived here your whole life?" She asked, focusing very intensely on a speck of dust that was floated in front of her face.

Ember had started playing with Luke's hair, fascinated by the way the sunlight reflected off of it. In his play, though, he pulled a little too hard.

"Ember!" Luke took the little handful off of her head. She didn't even know when or how he'd gotten up there. She'd have to keep a better eye on him in the future.

"Peachpit sounds better to me too," Robert said with a smile. "The Safari Zone is on the way too, if no one has to get back soon. It would be a good place to find some rare pokemon. From what I hear, they've done a great job of simulating natural habitats, so its almost like seeing them in the wild."

He looked over at his walking partner, forcing himself to make eye contact without looking away. He was happy to be talking with her like this and he didn't want her to think that he felt uncomfortable. He shook his head when she asked him a question.

"Most of my life, at least. I was actually born in Kanto, if you can believe it. My parents lived in Saffron. They decided to move out here when I was little. I guess I had some sort of rare condition when I was a baby. They needed a place with fresher air, so they came here. It's the only place I really remember. All my memories of Saffron are kind of fuzzy." He shrugged, then smiled as he watched her interact with her little Ember. She really was good with it, for someone who was so new to training. He was interested to see how she would grow as a trainer. Perhaps he should start a small study on her interactions with her pokemon. He had always been interested in seeing how being with a trainer changed a pokemon's physical as well as emotional development.

"What about you, did you grow up in Settis?"

Luke shook her head. "No, we actually lived here when I was born. We moved to Settis when my dad got this crazy idea to start his own store. It was going well, until he was bought out. I don't remember anything about this place, though."

Ember looked up at Luke. Her lips were moving, speaking that odd language he didn't understand. He nuzzled her arm, and she ran her hand over his smooth head.

Luke pulled herself to a stop in front of her house. She looked over at Robert. "This is it. Thank you for walking me home." She smiled brightly.

"It's too bad that your dad lost his store like that, but I'm kind of glad too," Robert said with a slight blush. "After all, that's what allowed you to move back here, right?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah, well, it was nice to finally meet you, Luke. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He started to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and turned back to face her.

"That's right! Bring your traveling stuff and we'll meet on the outskirts of town, okay? It'll be a lot of fun! I'll see you later!"

He turned again and started towards his own house, which was not too far away since the town was so small. Once there, he sat down on his bed, to excited to contemplate sleeping. His pack was ready; he had been prepared for an adventure for over a year now, so he kept it stocked and in the corner of his room.

"I'm so excited, Cookie. We'll finally get to be like real researchers!"

Cookie chirped happily, building off of its trainer's excitement. It spun in circles in the air, making Robert laugh.


Meanwhile, Michael and Fae were helping each other pack for the journey.

"I don't have too much stocked up," Michael complained. Fae sighed and handed him a couple of her potions.

"You'll have to be more prepared if you're going to be a trainer, you know!" she said, scolding him lightly. "A trainer's no good for his pokemon if he's not ready for any situation, right?"

Michael nodded. He knew that he would have to be more reliable now that he had a pokemon he had to take care of. He looked over across the room to where his little Conleth was playing with Jello. The sight made him smile. He was so nervous to start training, but really excited too! He had a good feeling about this trip.

Luke packed her things as carefully as she could. She didn't want to forget anything. Ember ran circles a round the room as she packed, Luke just knew he couldn't wait to head out. He as such an energetic little thing. Luke couldn't wait to see how he'd do when they hit the road.

As Luke finished shoving the last potion into her bag, she wondered if the others were nearly as excited as she was. It was like an adventure! She couldn't wait to head out in the morning.

Luke set her bag on the floor by the door. She had a tendency to forget things, so that was really the only safe place for it. She ventured back to her room and slid under her covers, hoping that maybe she could get some sleep. She would need rest for tomorrow.

The next morning Robert awoke just before the sun came up. He glanced over at his squirtle alarm clock; there was still ten minutes until it was supposed to go off. Close enough! he thought, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He had already set out his clothes for the day and quickly slipped them on. He glanced in the mirror, adjusting his glasses and running a quick hand through his hair to get rid of the just-woke-up haystack. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed out the door. If his friends weren't awake already, he would make sure they were soon! He decided to check on Luke first.


The sun shown through the window at Fae's house, making her groan as it hit her closed eyes.

"Time to get up, Michael," she mumbled, slowly getting out of bed herself. Her partner rolled over, pulling the sheets further over his head. Fae rolled her eyes. She should have known that he wouldn't be up for such an early departure time, but she wasn't going to wait for him to wake up today. She took a firm hold of the sheets and yanked hard, pulling them not only off of her boyfriend, but the entire bed. Michael instinctively curled up into a ball at the sudden exposure to the cool air.

"Let's go!" she prompted, waking up Jello and Conleth as Michael finally began to sit up. "We're heading out today - remember? We're going on a trip with Robert and Luke!"

"Who?" Michael groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Oh. . . oh! That's right!" He was suddenly wide awake as yesterday's events came back to him. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!"