• Prologue: Venture Forth, Young One!

    Solvash hurriedly packed food, water, and any other essentials he needed on his journey into his backpack. He stuffed the last piece in and zipped the bag closed. He quickly clipped on his sleeping bag onto the bottom before hefting it onto one shoulder.

    “Alright! I’m ready!” He pumped his arms in excitement. He couldn’t believe he was finally starting his pokémon journey! He had been waiting for years just for this very moment! He opened his room’s door in a rush and slammed it closed as he left…before re-opening it and grabbing the small silver pokéball from atop his nightstand.

    “I can’t believe I almost forgot this!” He looked at the small thing and juggled it in his hand for a second. It was a custom-made pokéball to celebrate him getting his first pokémon. It was colored silver all around, with the band that connected the two halves colored a dark blue, and for a personal touch, it had his clan’s symbol just above the activator button. He clenched the ball in his hand as he thought back to when he received it. He couldn’t remember much, after all, he was just one year old at the time, but he could remember this immense feeling of awe, excitement, and happiness.

    Now, he was fifteen years old. Normally, a child was supposed to start his journey at ten, but his parents were really concerned that he wasn’t ready, so they had held him back for several years. Solvash just shrugged as he snapped back to reality and clipped the pokéball to his belt.

    “Now…where was I…? Oh, yes!” Solvash swung his room’s door wide open and slammed it closed twice as hard as the first time. He had regained his excitement from before and practically leapt down the stairs. As he reached the foot of the steps he unexpectedly collided with something, his backpack slipping off his shoulder as he fell.

    Solvash clutched his reeling head while trying to sit up. “Ugh…What did I hit?” He shook his head to try and clear his mind, before looking at whatever he had hit.

    “Oh…Ciara, it’s you!” Solvash chimed happily, completely forgetting the pain. The Lucario stared at her trainer coldly with arms crossed and snorted in response. She wasn’t even fazed by the surprise collision, being part steel type was useful even outside of battle.

    Ciara was Solvash’s first pokémon, the silver pokéball’s owner. She was also Solvash’s first and most treasured friend. “Ciara,” Solvash sang her name in a happy tone, “do you know what today is~?”

    Ciara gave another snort in response. “We begin our journey today.” She answered bluntly. She had been taught how to speak, read, and write by her parents.

    Solvash smiled at her, he loved how her voice was so smooth and certain, albeit a bit cold. “You’re always so stiff, you need to learn how to loosen up and learn to take things a little less seriously. Then again, you are part steel…” Solvash’s voice faded as he took notice of his Lucario’s deadly glare. He could a feel a bead of sweat roll down his head.

    Ciara clenched her paws threateningly, before wandering off. Solvash watched her go for a second before releasing his held breath. “Sometimes I feel like I’m the pokémon and she’s the trainer…” He whimpered to himself.

    “Soooolvash!” A voice echoed throughout the large house. Solvash could recognize it as his mom’s. “Solvash! You better get going! If you don’t leave now you may not make it to Jubilife in time!” His mom called.

    Solvash looked at his watch and jumped after realizing the time. “Aw, jeez!” He hurriedly bent over and picked up his fallen backpack and tossed it onto his back. He ran across his house’s large living room, almost bumping into a couch in the process, and dashed through the open door of his house.

    Ciara rolled her eyes as she watched her trainer run down the sidewalk before closing the door she had held open for him. She stretched her legs for a minute, crouching low to extend them, before hopping up into the trees bordering the sidewalk. She leapt from branch to branch, easily catching up to her trainer. She pushed off of the last tree branch, landed next Solvash, and began to run alongside him, all in one smooth motion.

    After passing through his neighborhood, the town square, and the smaller houses at the outskirts of town, they had finally reached the edge of their hometown. Which only took about ten minutes, the town was pretty small. Solvash put the brakes on and screeched to a halt in front of standalone building which marked the official end of the city.

    Solvash stared at the open road; the building next to him was the farthest he had ever dared to go. “Well Ciara, it looks like we won’t be seeing this place for a while. Are you ready? We could always go back.”

    Ciara blinked, “What? You want to go back? We were just allowed to leave!” She couldn’t understand why Solvash was being so sentimental. They had lived in the small town for their whole lives and now that they had finally been allowed to leave he wanted to go back? She just wanted to get the heck out of there!
    Solvash laughed silently to himself, ”She still can’t understand another person’s feelings all that well. She needs to learn to be more sensitive…” Solvash coughed to cover his laugh and looked at Ciara. “Let’s go!” Solvash took one last look at the town he had lived in all his life before turning back towards the dirt road ahead of him. “So long, Aurelia! When we come back I’ll be a pokémon master!”

    Solvash ran down the road at full blast, eager to start his journey, until he heard his Lucario’s voice. “Solvash? Jubilife is that way.” Ciara pointed to the left of the fork road, the one he had turned right on.

    “Um…right! I knew that!” He said as he ran down the correct path Ciara following behind him. She shook her head tiredly and sighed. “This is going to be a loooong journey.”