The Beginning of a Journey

[Ami]

❆    Althea

To say that she was scared to go on a journey would have been a lie.  Althea feared nothing - she wouldn't let herself.  However, there was a certain sense of...apprehension when she had first left home, though not so much for herself.  She would be fine, she could take care of herself.  ]She had been for years.  She was one of Elle Gilroy's two children, and she had been the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the world.  Everyone had always told Althea that she was her mother's daughter, and she was not about  to prove them wrong.

No, it was her family that she was worried about when she first got onto that boat.  Oh, her parents would be fine - her father and mother (not Elle; Sophia, her adoptive mother) had done just fine for themselves before she was born, obviously.  Andre, her older brother, was stupid, but a loveable sort of stupid; others would be more than happy to help him.  His amiable nature drew people to him.  Besides, he had been considering joining her in the Sinidad Region before she left; she might see him in a couple of months.  She was a little worried about Simon, since she couldn't be there to protect him from bullies anymore; but as much as she hated to admit it, he needed to learn to take care of himself.  She was sure he would do just fine; he was pretty responsible.

The one she was worried about was Skylar, her younger sister and the youngest member of the Gilroy family.  Though her kind heart made her popular, Sky was one of the most irresponsible people Althea knew.  In school, Althea always had to be checking on her to make sure she was doing her homework.  Even if a situation was perfectly safe and danger-free, Skylar knew exactly how to get into the worst trouble.  Althea wasn't sure if she did it intentionally, but in the end, it didn't matter.  Skylar was always causing some sort of disturbance.  Worst of all, she didn't keep up with her diabetes.  Didn't she know that her condition could kill her if she wasn't careful?  Althea had spent the past eight years dogging after her, ensuring she checked her blood before and after meals, plus every few hours in between.  She kept records and charts to track her blood sugars over time.  Skylar resisted her every step of the way, going as far as running away when she saw Althea coming, which frustrated her to no end.

In the end, though, Althea had to shove Skylar out of the nest eventually.  Well, it was less shoving her out of the next and more the mother bird leaving her in her sibling's supervision for a while.  Simon had promised her that he'd keep an eye on Skylar, and of course her parents would help.  Althea would still worry, of course, but it was in her nature to worry about her family.

But this journey wasn't about Skylar.  It wasn't about Simon, or Andre, or her mother or father.  It was about Althea and her biological mother, the woman she had never had a chance to know.  Elle Gilroy - though most of the world still knew her as Elle Moore - had been one of the greatest Pokémon Trainers the world had ever seen, and was an inspiration to children everywhere.  There was even a TV show about her that Althea had watched religiously as a child.  However, Elle had died giving birth to Althea.  The only things that Althea had to remember her by were pictures and stories.  And, apparently, herself.  All her life, she had been told how much she was like her mother - not just in appearance (apparently she had inherited everything but hair and eye color, which were her father's), but in personality as well.  Her family liked to joke that she was the next Elle.

For a long time, she had believed them, and she wanted nothing more than to be this mysterious woman that she knew nothing about.  She listened to the stories and stared at the pictures, hungry for any information she could get about her.  One day, she was going to be the new Elle Gilroy, just like everyone said.

As she grew, though, she realized that, though she had seen every episode of her show, though she had memorized every picture, though her family was tired of telling her stories, she didn't really know her mother.  Oh, she knew about her.  But she didn't know who she actually was.  Besides, did she even really want to be her mother?  Though they might be very similar, in the end, they were different people.  Althea wanted to be able to walk her own path.  But...what path did she want to walk?  She had been aspiring to be her mother for so long, Althea wasn't sure what she wanted for herself anymore.  She had always enjoyed biology, and was interested in being a doctor.  Or was this her way or rebelling against the image of her mother?

That was why she had decided to start training Pokémon.  Training Pokémon was obviously something her mother had loved and excelled at.  By becoming a Pokémon Trainer herself, it was a way for Althea to gain a unique insight into her mother's thoughts, feelings, and mindset.  Not only that, but by learning about who she was, Althea would gain a greater understanding of herself - where she and her mother were the same, where they differed, and where Althea wanted to be her own person.

Yes, this was a journey she needed to take.

So, the morning after she got off the boat in the Sinidad Region, she made her way to the lab.  Her blood sugars had been a little high that morning, but she set her pump, clipped at her belt, to give her a little extra insulin after breakfast to bring them down.  Besides, she would be exercising a lot today, and that would help bring them down as well.  She french braided her long, black hair over one shoulder, and pulled out her winter clothes - it was the beginning of December, and the air was freezing.  As her breath misted in the air, she recalled how Skylar would exhale heavily in the cold weather and pretend that she was a Dragon-Type Pokémon.

She pushed thoughts and worries about her sibling out of her head as she opened the door to the lab.  Now was the time to begin her journey of self-discovery with Pokémon, not to fret over her family.  "Hello?"  she called into the quiet lab.  "My name is Althea.  I'm here for a Pokémon."

[SHROOMY]

When the girl entered, Professor Mulberry was actually underneath her desk, talking to herself in her usual choppy, nonsensical way. When she heard Althea come in, she froze, and shushed the tiny furry form in her arms. It wasn't until Althea called out did she pop up jerkily from behind the desk, using one hand to smooth her frizzy hair and the other to pull the small yellow form closer to her thick body. She grinned lopsidedly at Althea and tugged the blanket the small creature was wrapped in over its head.

"Ah, here for a Pokemon, a friend. You're at the right place!" So far several young girls had come in to get their own starters, but no young men had appeared yet. They usually procrastinated coming to these sort of freebies, anyways.

As Professor Mulberry scanned over the girl, she cocked her head to the side; she looked very familiar. Maybe... Maybe like someone she had seen on television before, but honestly, Mulberry rarely kept up with current events outside of the scientific community.

Clearing her throat, she motioned for Althea to come closer, and opened up the blanket to reveal a Pichu so small it could have only been newborn. "They're the only reason we haven't destroyed ourselves, you know." She said it very casually, as if it were a very shallow thing to say. The small Pichu was fast asleep, small chest rising and falling with its tiny breath. Professor Mulberry seemed very, very calm, as if she was drawing this state of mind from the Pokemon in her arms.

With her free hand, Professor Mulberry tapped out a few keys on the computer before turning the screen toward Althea. "You look familiar... Here are your options." Her voice was very soft when she spoke, as if she were trying very hard not to wake the little Pichu.

Shuppet	Torchic
Voltorb	Shinx
Sneasel	Charmander
Buizel	Poochyena
Shellder	Doduo

[Ami]

❆    Althea

The lab itself was meticulous.  Althea could practically see her reflection in the shining floor.  It smelled as if it had just been cleaned as well.  A half-moon desk sat in the back, right in front of a large computer screen.  There was a neat "In" and "Out" box with a few papers and files resting in each.

The woman who emerged out from under the desk was so out of place in the sparkling lab that, for a moment, Althea thought she was a squatter who had broken into the lab.  The only thing that kept her from immediately asking her to leave was the ID badge that identified her as Professor Mulberry.  Besides, expensive labs like this probably had state-of-the-art security systems to prevent people from breaking in and stealing Pokémon.  Then again, they did allow pretty much anyone who asked for a Pokémon to have one, anyways.

But that wasn't Althea's problem.  She was here for a Pokémon and that was exactly what the strange professor was getting her, though she was shooting her strange looks as she typed several things on the keyboard.  Finally, Althea's ten options popped up on the screen.

She hated to admit it, but her first reaction was disappointment.  Somewhere deep in her heart, she had been hoping to start out with the same Pokémon as her mother (a Cubchoo), or at least one of the same Pokémon that she had owned (Fletchling, Cacnea, Azurill, Elekid, or Tyrunt).  A Swablu would have been cool - Altaria's were considered lucky to her family - yet not a one of those Pokémon had popped up on the screen.

She kept her face neutral as she silently scolded herself, pretending to just look over the Pokémon on the screen.  The point of this journey was to find out who Althea was, not to become an exact copy of her mother.  She couldn't choose her starter Pokémon based on her mother's.  She had to pick based on what she wanted; the type of Pokémon she wanted on her team.

Well, what type of Pokémon did she want on her team?  She didn't have particular leaning for or against any of these Pokémon - her favorite Pokémon was Absol, but that wasn't on there either.  She was also partial to Ice-types, like her mother, but the only Ice-type on the list was Sneasal, if you didn't include Shellder, which evolved into a partial Ice-type.

This wasn't helping her at all.  Instead of figuring out which one she liked best, Althea tried to imagine herself traveling beside one of these Pokémon.  Somehow, this made the decision easier.  She couldn't see herself with a Voltorb, Buizel, Poochyena, or Shellder.  (There went one of her Ice-types.)  Fire-types were interesting, but they could be flashy and destructive.  Althea preferred the calm, so Torchic and Charmander were out.  That left Sneasal, Shuppet, Doduo, and Shinx.  All four of these would be interesting travel companions, and each had their own advantages and disadvantages in battle.

In the end, though, she came to a decision.  "The Shuppet," she said. "That's the one." The decision had been difficult, but it was the one that she wanted.  And Electric-type like Shinx would have been too energetic for Althea, and though a Dodou would have been interesting, it came down to between the Sneasal and Shuppet.  Shuppet had won out, though - the very common Normal-type couldn't hit it.

Now it was time to deflect questions.  Althea didn't want to be recognized for her mother.  (Or her father, for that matter, since her family was rich enough that he was on TV occasionally, but Althea took after her mother, not her father.)  In fact, she didn't want to be recognized at all.  Althea was a very private person.  She didn't want to be followed by cameras and reporters blabbering on about how she was fulfilling her mother's legacy.  The press would eat that up.  Instead, she easily replied, "You must have me confused with someone else. We've never met before."

[SHROOMY]

It took this girl quite a lot longer than the other that had come in, but the Professor didn't mind. She simply rocked and cooed to the small bundle in her arms, lost in another world. When Althea finally spoke, she glanced up and offered a coffee stained grin, before nodding. "Shuppet is a good choice. There is still much, much to learn from Pokemon such as that." She didn't leave immediately, but instead stay a bit longer to respond to Althea.

"You look like... Ah, who knows. It doesn't matter. I'll be right back with your items and Pokemon."

The strange woman disappeared through the swinging doors in the back, and several minutes passed before she returned with a bag in tow and a Pokeball in her free hand. Shouldering the bag onto the desk, she gently slid the Pokeball towards Althea. "You look like someone I saw on television, maybe. I've seen a lot of people, but I know I've never met you." The Professor didn't seem interested in talking, she simply stared down at the little Pichu as she spoke, smiling at it lovingly.


"Everything you need is in the bag. You'll find the people in Sinidad are very giving as you travel. Don't avoid them."

<b style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><div style="text-align: center; display: inline !important;"><img width="96" alt="Spr 5b 353.png" src="http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/43/Spr_5b_353.png" height="96"></div></b>

[b]Species:[/b]
Shuppet
[b]Gender:[/b] YOUR CHOICE.

[b]Ability:[/b] Insomnia OR Frisk
[b]Level:[/b] 5

[b]Moveset:[/b]
Knock Off, Screech
[b]Nature:[/b] YOUR CHOICE.

[b]Met:[/b] Lab @ lvl 5







[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/pokeball.png[/img] Pokeball x5



[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/potion.png[/img] Potion x2



[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/tmcase.png[/img] TM Case



[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/famechecker.png[/img] Pokedex

[Ami]

❆    Althea

The woman probably had seen her mother on TV before.  The woman she had probably seen most was the actress portraying Elle Gilroy; and Althea bore much less resemblance to her than to her mother, obviously, since Althea got her face, pale skin tone, and personality from her mother, but her coloration from her father.  Still, every once in a while reporters would bring up the old tapes of her battles; and anyone who was old enough had probably seen her on the news.  Althea didn't know if Professor Mulberry constituted as "old enough", though.

"You're correct," she replied dismissively as she took the Pokéball and items from the Professor, turning to place the various items neatly in her bag.  "It doesn't matter."  It was true, but maybe not in the way the Professor thought it was.  It shouldn't who Althea's mother was, not to anyone, and especially not to Althea herself.  The exploits of her mother would not have an effect on her own journey; her own path, her own decisions.  If she made history somewhere along the way, whether it was by Pokémon training or becoming a doctor or something else entire, it was because she had achieved something, because she had done something incredible, not because her parents were famous or because her mother was a great Pokémon trainer.  Somehow, the prospect excited her.  Her fate was in her own hands, and only she had the power to influence it.

Well, she, and a few others, like...

"Go, Kira."

The Shuppet burst from her Pokéball, and immediately turned to face Althea, giggling a little.  "So, you're my trainer.  Althea, huh?  Something tells me this'll be an...interesting partnership."

Nickname: Kira
Species: Shuppet
Gender: Female

Ability: Insomnia
Level: 5

Moveset: Knock Off, Screech
Nature: Impish

Met: Lab @ lvl 5

"That it will be," Althea replied.  Then, she turned back to Professor Mulberry.  "Thank you very much for your help," she murmured, her voice quiet to allow the slumbering Pichu in the Professor's arms to sleep.  The Professor had assisted her, and Althea was not in the habit of making life difficult for those that had aided her - they might be useful to her again in the future, and alienating them would not make them want to help her any more.

"Good luck with your work.  Farewell," Althea nodded to her as she recalled Kira to her Pokéball and tossed her scarf over her shoulder.  Then, with that simple, quick goodbye, Althea turned on her heel and left the lab.

I have a journey to begin, after all, she thought to herself with a smile.

((So I'm pretty obviously all done with this thread. I don't know if I'm allowed to lock and move it myself, though?))