The sound of boats flooded the city of Lilycove. Today was a day of activity as many trainers made their way into the city hoping to receive their first pokemon and officially start the adventure of being a pokemon trainer. It was the beginning of many stories and a defining moment for many lives. For some it was the start to everything and for others it was a means of starting fresh. For Noel Wolfe today was a day of escape.

A girl stood at the end of the dock, her black hair flowed with the cold seaside breeze. She stared at the new world in front of her. Fresh off the boat, only sixteen years old, this world in front of her was all hers. She muttered some words to herself, "No more Unova. No more Castelia. No more schoolmates. No more Mom…" She paused before moving on to her next statement, "No more anything!" She yelled out throwing her arms into the air.

An ear to ear grin took over Noel's face as she walked away from the cruise ship behind her. She had been living on that ship for the past few days and it was really an important step to the independence and freedom she had been seeking. The boat served as the bridge between her old world and this new one. Without it she would have never gotten here. Before this trip, Noel just couldn't wait to get on the boat and leave. It was all she was looking forward to, but now that time has pass and her next step in her journey has begun. It may have been fitting for her to give a sentimental goodbye to the ship, but that wasn't Noel. She had no time for sentiments, not when the best part of her trip was so near. It was time for her to get her starter pokemon and she wasn't going to stop until that pokemon was hers. With those thoughts, Noel was off, running off in the direction of a pokemon lab.

Noel wasn't going to stop until she reached the lab. At least that was what she believed. Noel stopped. Reality finally hit her. She was really far away from home. The world around her was so unfamiliar, having lived in Castelia for all her life; this city was odd to her. It did not have the rigid or organized structures that she was used to back home. The streets didn't have easy to follow patterns and there were no buildings that fought against the sky for dominions over the peoples head. There was no real urgency among the people; everything moved at an easy pace, even with the excitement from all the new trainers, the city wasn't much like her home. The city was very loose, no real form to it. Everything just trailed on and continued it was almost like the essence of the city itself was that of freedom, a loose freedom made from the lack of caring heavy burdens and weights. A freedom you gain from ignoring rules and living however you pleased; a freedom that Noel yearned and love. Yet this city made Noel feel different about this thought. It was just so different compared to the world she fought her whole life. The idea that the entire world around her embodied her ideal bothered her on a deep subconscious level. It was an odd change for Noel to figure out. There were just so many subtle differences to this new world.

Still there was one thing that was the same and made her feel a little bit at ease. Noel looked out to the Ocean. This was a sight that she has known since birth. The endless blue sea in front of her was still familiar despite how far away the two places were. The crashing sounds of the ocean fighting against the land were too, the same. The taste and smell of the air from the residual sea water were also very similar, though the Unovan flavor was a tad bit different. Thinking back to the ocean brought about a warm feeling that flowed into the Noel's chest, tickling at her heart. Noel couldn't help but laugh at the feeling. Coming back to reality, Noel realized what she had been doing.

"What am I doing wasting time? I need to get to that lab."

With that she was gone.

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It took a few minutes, but Noel finally made her way to the lab. There was a bit of a crowd when she got there, but through various means she easily made her turn come around very quickly. She walked in, greeted by a middle aged, dark skinned woman, sitting a distance away at a small table. She smiled with the girl's entrance, "Welcome Noel. Please come over." The woman waved Noel over to a chair across from her. Noel followed her instructions and took the seat. She began to speak,

"As you have probably been informed, my name is Professor Cyprus. I'm a Hoenn native and my subject of research is pokemon healing. Think potions and revives and similar items. Of course as a pokemon professor one of my duties is registering new trainers and handing them their pokedex and starter pokemon. This is the reason your here correct?"

Noel half paid attention to the woman, her lengthy ways of talking were unimportant to her, however she did her best to keep up a front of pleasantness. She really just wanted her pokemon, as quickly as possible. She lightened her voice and said, "Yes you are correct." Noel gave a quick nod along with the short reply.

"Of course, I already knew this." Noel was tempted to roll her eyes, but continued listening to the woman. "I've actually read up a little bit on your Noel." The comment came off as a little weird to Noel. What had this old woman about her to make her mention that? She looked at the woman questionably. Cyprus picked up on the girl's reaction quickly and continued. "Oh don't worry, it was nothing bad. Just a basic profile that was provided to me. I believe you had an interview to go along with your trainer application correct?" Noel recalled the interview. She was a bit more 'friendly' then. The interviewers must have recorded what they thought of her. She nodded as a response to Cyprus question. "Rash, Quick to action, a bit eccentric, strong willed, were just some of the things listened on your profile."

"Sounds about right." Noel quietly thoughts to herself

"Basically just some traits I felt were useful in deciding what pokemon would be fitting as your partner. You should appreciate my effort; it's not something I do with most of the trainers that come here."

The woman laughed at herself before getting up. That comment bothered Noel. She was not interested in having her pokemon handpicked. That wasn't what she wanted from this trip. The idea of having someone choose her path for her disgusted her. Nobody should have the right to guide someone who doesn't ask to be guided. Who said that she was right in her assessment of her anyways? She had to change this decision at once.

"Just one moment, I'm going to introduce you to your start-" The woman was cut off mid-sentence as Noel began to speak. "One moment, please." Noel said, piecing together how she was going to state her suggestion. "Yes what is it?" The professor asked, staring down the still sitting girl.

"I have a little request regarding my starter. I'm not really fond of the idea of having a pokemon hand selected for me. I'm not going to ask for any specific pokemon, but do you happen to have a lot of different pokemon here?" Noel did her best to sound sincere. This was the only way she could convince the woman to do things her way. Noel had to get her way. What was the point in living life, if the life isn't yours?

"We have a large amount of pokemon here for the new trainers, but I would like to know where you are going with this. Wouldn't you at least like to meet the pokemon I picked out for you?" Cyrpus replied, growing a bit interested in the girl's proposal. "Too be frank, no." Noel made her statement very clear. She had no interest in the pokemon that Cyprus picked out her. This made the woman's heart sink. "I was wondering if I could pick one randomly, in a 'draw a name from a hat' type of thing. You see I was really excited about the idea of getting a random pokemon to grow with and the idea of having a pokemon selected from me is a little offsetting."

Still disturbed at Noel completely throwing out her gift, Cyprus became a little annoyed. Her tone grew a bit angry, "Well that was a rather rude statement young lady. Especially after all the work I put into picking a pokemon for you." Noel saw her method wasn't going well for her, but she had nowhere else to turn and continued with her 'sincere' performance.

"Oh I'm sorry." Noel said batting her eyes to the professor. "But, please, can I allow me to pick a random Pokemon, you can include the pokemon you picked out in the select if you want. I just really want a random pokemon." The girl pleaded, throwing her hand together in hopes of getting to the woman. The professor took a little bit of time before deciding on a solid answer. Noels hopes began to rise. "No." Her hopes than sank, to the pits of her lungs.

"You are going to get the pokemon I decided for you. I don't really have time to argue with you." Cyprus stood firm on her decision. It was time for Noel to weasel her way out of that line she has heard time and time again.

"It wouldn't take that long!" Noel began by trying to shoot down the main problem she believed Cyprus was facing. The two already spent a ridiculous amount of time with what should have been a five minute meeting.

"No." Cyprus quickly shot her down.

"Alright, well if you were to let me have my way you would make the day of a young trainer!" Noel took a different approach, her sincere tone she has been trying to keep up now fading away completely, leaving her to use her ordinary tone. Cyprus took a moment before responding.

"No."

The third 'No' actually didn't bother her as much as the last two, the silence held a lot of meaning to her. Something she said made the woman think. She had an opportunity here. Noel took a moment before speaking again.

"Professor, why did you decide to spend some time on my profile anyways?"

"I thought you were interesting. I figured it would be worth my time to give such a free spirited trainer a specific pokemon."

"So you liked me?"

"…I suppose. Though I suppose I made a mistake in that thought. I guess it would be better to say I saw potential in you." Noel didn't care much that the woman admitted to disliking her. It was the last sentence shined for Noel. This was what she could use to grab victory.

"Well, wouldn't it be better if you went with my suggestion? You aren't losing anything and you'll make me very happy. Besides, doesn't my suggestion just provide a means to become a better trainer? Like if I can train a random pokemon wouldn't that be better for me than to just be handed a pokemon to make my life easier? A good trainer should go through random hardships right?"

The professor remained silent. The girl made a good point. It would just spoil her if she started her off with a silver spoon in her mouth. Making her deal with the randomness of the world sooner will only make this girl stronger. The fact she was fighting to deal with hardships was very interesting too. This girl had much potential.

"Okay, I concede. You win Noel. I'll go with your idea."

Noel's grinned, another victory won. She looked up to the professor and smiled.

"Thank You so much! I will always appreciate you for this!" The girl got up to hug the professor, who managed to stop her before getting too close. "Just hold that for a moment, I'll collect some pokemon for you to pick from." Cyprus left for the backroom. After a few minutes the woman returned with a box of pokeballs in her hands. She placed them on the table that the two were sitting at earlier.

"Okay Noel, just take a pokeball from this box and release it."

Noel nodded and grabbed a pokeball. She moved her thumb over to its button and pressed it, making the ball grow in size. She then spun the ball in her palm having the button face outwards. The ball opened up and released a red light that zipped down to the floor taking shape of a small creature. The light slowly faded to reveal the features of the pokemon. The pokemon had a large head, basically the size of the rest of its body, with a big horn protruding out from the back. There were two points seemed to stick out from its head as well, forming what seemed to be spike like tusks. The pokemon had pudgy little limbs and stood on its back two legs. As the light faded, the pokemon was shown to be green and with large red eyes, with a white iris and pupil.

"Looks like you were lucky enough to pick an Axew, congratulations dear." Cyprus said, though a bit slight as though disappointed that her self selected pokemon wasn't picked. She looked over to Noel, quickly losing any amount of disappointment that she had. The girl gleamed with happiness that the professor herself couldn't help but smile. "Oh thank you so much! Come here little Axew, Come to mama!"

The small pokemon looked over to Noel. It walked over cautiously, unsure what to expect from the young girl. Moving step by step it inched towards the girl until it was quickly grabbed for a warm embrace. This brought a surge of emotions to the creature, beginning with a mixture of fear and surprise and quickly transforming into acceptance and happiness, but most importantly he began to feel trust. This kind girl would be the person to become his trainer and he was okay with that.

"Would you like to nickname your pokemon? Just keep in mind that he is male so think of something appropriate." Cyprus stepped in, trying to finish up this meeting as she had many other trainers to deal with.

Noel looked down at the pokemon in her hands. Knowing that the pokemon and its evolutions are mostly related to Axes back in Unova, she had a perfectly nickname for it.

"How about, Hatchet?"

Cyprus nodded and smiled. "Now that you too are properly acquainted. It's time for you to pick up your pokedex and pokenav. You probably noticed them on the desk already. Feel free to pick them up dear." Noel put Hatchet to the side to look at the desk. As the professor said, both devices were on the desk, near the box that she placed there earlier. Noel began by picking up the iconic red and black device that she recognized as the pokedex. She began to poke around in it a little bit to get an understanding of how it works. Suddenly the device made a short but noticeable beep and began spouting information.


"I see you figured out how to access some of encyclopedia data the pokedex contains. You can also look up your pokemon ability and level using it. I'm sure you can figure that out on your own. Regarding the pokenav, it's a bit like a phone in that you can use it to make calls, however it also has a map function and can be used to identify other trainers. A recent addition added to this model is the ability to transfer between party and box pokemon immediately. Be wary that you aren't allowed to transfer pokemon during gym battle and people will not respond kindly if you decide to swap pokemon mid-battle. And finally here is your trainer ID, here. You should also know that you can access yours and other trainers ID with both your pokenav and pokedex if you ever want to look at a digital copy. "

Her attention was slowly fading as the professor talked more and more. She already accomplished her goal and all this extra information wasn't important to her. Noel popped up as the professor handed her the card, she quickly pocketed both devices along with the card. Tired the girl decided it was time to finish up. "Thank you so much Professor! Is there anything else?"

"Well of course Ms. Wolfe. I have to give you your pokeballs." With that the professor took a few pokeballs. Noel's discourtesy was clearly starting to get to her; she too was ready to finish with this long ordeal. She handed them to Noel and took a seat. "That'll be all dear; I do hope you turn out to be a great trainer someday." Noel pulled together a quick goodbye, and left the lab. Hatchet on her tail. Cyprus watched her on her way out waving away the girl a goodbye.

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Noel was now outside the lab, Hatchet by her side. She looked down at the small pokemon. He had big innocent eyes, an even bigger head, tiny limbs, rounded horizontally aligned tusks, and a green scarf like protrusion around his neck. He was such an adorable little pokemon. Noel put her hands around the pokemon and swung him around in the air. The Axew cheered happily once she finally stopped. Noel put the pokemon on her head, a surprisingly effect way of both playing and carrying the pokemon. Noel walked off in a random direction. She stared at her trainer card. "I guess I'm a trainer now, guess that means I have to do trainer-ly things…That means I should probably get into a battle." She then thought about Hatchet and wondered how capable of a battler the pokemon was. There was only one way for her to find out. Noel walked over to a random person in the vicinity. He turned out to be a guy around her age, possibly a little older. She began with a very direct question, "Hey, what do you think of a pokemon battle?" The guy looked over towards her. After giving her a good gaze, he responded. "Sorry, I don't have a pokemon yet. I'm actually on my way to the lab now, but you can wait with me if you want to get to kno-"

Noel was already gone at the first 'sorry'. She followed a similar pattern with a few other people, only to end with similar results.

"Guess we were a little quick on the picking up a pokemon trainer Hatchet. Given how many people I cut that isn't very surprising." Noel laughed to herself. Hatchet just looked down at the trainer in confusion, doing its best to maintain its balance. Just as Noel was about to walk off, she heard a voice from behind her. "Hey you up for a battle?" Noel turned around to see who challenged her. It was a pretty average looking male trainer. Different from the trainers Noel approached earlier. He wore a green scarf that was specifically memorable due to the hot beach weather.

"Sure! But how did you know that I was a trainer. I've been looking around for so long." The boy shrugged before replying "I don't know, I would guess it was the Axew on your head..." Noel picked up the pokemon from on top of her head, bring him to her arms. She replied with a flat, "Oh..."The two stood there silent for a moment. "Let's get going then." Noel stated breaking the silence between the two. She put down her pokemon and looked down to him. "Hatchet ready for your first battle?"

Hatchet turned his head slightly to the question. The pokemon clearly didn't understand what his trainer meant, but was in no way planning on going against his new trainers wishes. Noel tried to explain to him what she meant. "Okay so I want you to beat up on this guy's pokemon when he sends it out do you understand?" Hatchet stared absently at the trainer. Noel couldn't help but sigh. Her pokemon was just too innocent and cute. Only way to show him was to throw him into the battle. "Hey dude you're free to send your pokemon out whenever you want."

"Sure thing. Houndour you're up."

The boy called out, a bit shocked by the girls sudden shift in tone. He pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it into the air.

"Remember Hatchet beat up on whatever comes out of the light!"

The light revealed a small black canine, about the same size as Hatchet. It had white protrusions around its body, giving it a skeleton like motif. Almost immediately after materializing the pokemon jumped out at the Axew. He was caught completely off guard by the attack; the Houndour effectively took the time to straddle itself over Axew, leaving him stuck in a bad position.

"Hey, that's not fair. We weren't even ready yet! Get your Houndour off of him right now!" Noel clearly trying to make an excuse to start the battle off in a better start. The boy replied with another shrug. "All's fair in love and war. Get used to it girl. Houndour follow up with a thunder fang!" The Houndour ears perked with its trainer orders. It then opened its mouth for a moment and after a split second; its fangs began to shine with an electrical aura. The pokemon then went down for a bite into the Axew's body. Unfortunately, it seemedHatchet's scales were too strong for the attack and it barely left a scratch on the Axew.

"This is your chance Hatchet, counter attack!" Noel commanded unable to think of any move that her pokemon actually knew. Hatchet took in his trainers commands and pushed the houndour off of him, sending him flying a few feet into the air. Acknowledging her lack of knowledge, Noel pulled out her pokedex to see if it had any information to provide her.


Noel looked over at the scenario. There was now a fair distance between the two pokemon. The houndour had now gotten up and a small stare down was now underway. An air of seriousness surrounded Hatchet now that he understood what it meant to be in a battle. His stance was strong and his senses were completely focused on his opponent. His eyes showed a fierceness that couldn't come from only a first battle. It seemed he wasn't as unfamiliar with the idea as Noel initially suspected.

"Hourdour, weaken him with smog!"

Again the dog's ear flickered in response to his trainers command. The pokemon began to breathe a thick purple gas that spread out around him. He jumped at the Axew. Hatchet wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. He dodged the dogs attack, but ended up breathing in some of the gas the pokemon was still spewing. Ignoring the gas, the Axew punished the houndour with a few quick strikes with his tiny claws. Hatchet took a deep sigh after the attack, inhaling more of the poison smog. He began to look a bit sickly. Noel was quick to pick up the effect of the gas on her pokemon.

"Hatchet I want you to try out razor wind to get the smoke away!" Completely unsure of what the attack would do, Noel felt like she had to do something about the smog and figured a move with the word wind in it would do something to blow the gas away. Hatchet did as commanded and began to spin. The spinning soon turned into a small whirlwind. Drawing in all of the gas the Houndour created the whirlwind sent it up through the vortex of the cyclone away from the battlefield. Taking advantage of the Axew's focus, the Houndour came in for another pouncing attack catching the Axew off guard again. Though the Axew lost his focus the whirlwind still remained on the field. A command had reached the field.

"This time use fire fang!". Again the houndour flicked its ear to signify it picked up the command. Following a similar method as before the houndour pulled its head up to ignite its teeth and trust down for a bite. Once again the attack wasn't very effect against the Axew's scales; the Axew pushed the houndour off of him. However right when the Axew was about to counter attack, Noel yelled out a command to him,

"Dragon Rage!"

The Axew's eyes almost sparked at the command. He took a deep breath and looked at the enemy in front of him. Staring his opponent in the eye, the axew gave the most fear inducing look the houndour had ever seen in its short life. Hatchet spat a ray of purple flames onto the fire pokemon. The scarved trainer gave a sign of great excitement. "Right into my trap, Houndour show off your flash fire!" The Houndour only yelped in pain as the fire burned away at its skin. Figetting the pokemon did its best to get the flame off, with no results. The fire just kept burning his ability wasn't activating. The hourndours trainer stared in disbelief, "What's going on. Fire moves shouldn't hurt my houndour..." Noel looked at the pokedex to confirm her thoughts. "Dragon rage isn't a fire type move dude...It's a dragon type move...You know, Dragon, Rage." The boy could only reply with an, "Oh..."

The flames eventually went out, leaving a patchy houndour with its leave. The Axew's smiled at the Houndours appearance. Noel couldn't help but laugh."Hahaha! Look at your houndour! He's looks like some kind of sick mutt! Does the poor puppy need to be put down? Does Papa not care enough about him to keep him healthy? Hatchet finish this up with a dual chop so we can get going! This battle's over!" Hatchet nodded and pulled one of his stubby little arms out, two ethereal axes formed as an extension to the pokemon's claws. The pokemon then ran towards the sickly looking mutt.

"Hey don't make fun of my mu-houndour! It's not like your Axew doesn't look like it's about to die right now anyways." Noel couldn't help but agree. The poison was really wearing her Axew down; he wasn't going to last much longer. "I promise I'm going to win, I can't let my Houndour down…End this with Reversal!" The houndour flicked his ear one final time. He looked at the oncoming Axew and dashed towards him. Closing in on each other the two prepared for their last attacks. That was until the Houndour got smacked in the face by a strong wind.

The whirlwind had gotten faster since the battler last gave it any attention and it had finally reached a point where right before dissipating, it dealt one final blast of wind that was strong enough to damage the houndour. Surprised by the turn of events, Hatchet slashed at the air, completely missing the houndour. The purple axes faded as the poison further effected the pokemon. The Houndour now laid on the floor. Hatchet looked down at him and then over to Noel, who stared in equal shock.

"Looks like we wo-" Noel was cut off by an unconscious Axew infront of her. The houndour had leapt back to life with a headbutt right into the Axew's side. The attack sent the Axew flying over to Noel's side, knocked out.

"…We won! You see that Houndour, we did it!"

The Houndour let out a howl for his victory as his trainer cheered. "Houndour... You're really great. Return ." A red light flew towards the tired houndour and carried him inside the ball. "That was a really great battle. We should really do it again some time." The boy said only to turn his back and find nobody to talk it. It seemed Noel had already left while he was concentrating on his houndour.

"What a sore loser."

The guy then pulled up his pokenav, he ticked around a bit before finding a profile of a trainer. "Noel Wolfe… So that's the type of person you are huh?" He closed the pokenav and looked over at the pokeball in his other hand.

"I'm pretty lucky to have a pokemon as awesome as you. I don't need any stupid Axew to be a good trainer."

A distance away Noel could be found cursing to herself,

"Man **** that guy."

Noel stormed away from where the two battled. After such a defeat she couldn't just show her face to the guy and expect a good job or some other stupid response. She mumbled to herself, "Pulling such a ******** victory from his ass. I can't ever let something like that happen again. I hope I never meet him again, for his sake." She took long strides for each of her steps and stared down at the each of the side walk panels in front of her. It wasn't right for her to lose her first battle in such a manner. To go from being completely awesome to becoming a complete loser in seconds is just a terrible feeling for anyone. She pulled out her pokeball and began to speak to it.

"I'm really sorry that we lost that battle. So I'm going to make a promise and believe me, when I make a promise I make sure to keep it. I promise I'll make you the strongest you can possibly be. So strong that no stupid houndour will be able to even imagine steal a win against you ever again. Least we managed to make the houndour look like a scrangy mutt he really is, right?"Noel chuckled to herself; it was the only thing she could do to make herself feel better about the situation. Noel stopped after realizing she reached her destination: The Pokemon Center.​

//logan zephrulos

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***​

Noah Loveride
Pokémon Roster:

"Castform, The Weather Pokémon
-Future Sight
-Tackle
-Water Gun
-Ember
-Powder Snow
-Headbutt​