Chapter 1: Seirei's Journey Begins!
"Now remember, Seirei, this is going to be your first Pokemon. You need to treat it well!" Seirei's mother, Haruka, called from the docks as her daughter's ferry pulled away. Her father, turned to the side, merely grunted. Haruka slapped him on the shoulder, scolding him for not saying goodbye as the boat took off, speeding towards Sinnoh. The girl on the boat, head held high, couldn't help but let a tear fall.
Finally, after so many years, she was finally getting her first Pokemon. On her belt, however, two Pokeballs already laid comfortably in two holders - unable to be opened. These were Seirei's gifts from her parents, two Pokemon that she would not be able to use until she defeated her first Gym Leader. It was frustrating, sure, but Seirei was sure she could deal with it as she went to the front of the boat to watch for Sinnoh.
That had been several hours ago. Now she stood before Professor Rowan's Lab in Sandgem Town - indecision biting into her. Gripping the locket around her neck tightly, Seirei walked in - Professor Ethan Elm looked up at her in surprise at first, before simply smiling. "Well hello, Seirei! I almost didn't think you'd come! Don't worry, I have your starter ready." He pointed to a Cyndaquil behind him, who looked at her for a few seconds.....Before glaring.
Was she hallucinating? No, that couldn't be. The Cyndaquil was glaring at her. Professor Elm offered a shaky laugh at the sight before picking the Fire Mouse Pokemon up and offering to her. "Cyn....Cyndaquil...." The Pokemon said in warning. It was shockingly clear what the Pokemon has said: "Touch me....I dare you..." As Seirei grabbed the Pokemon regardless of whether or not it would be good to risk her health with such an action, Professor Elm quickly drove off Professor Rowan, who had come over to give Seirei her Pokemon speech.
"She doesn't need it." He said with a curt nod, allowing Professor Rowan to attend to the other new trainers.
"Hello there....Cyndaquil." Seirei said tentatively. The Pokemon glared harder through his eye slits, before snorting and turning his head away. "Look," she began again, "you may not like me, but I want to try and get to know you. I want to be friends!" The Pokemon seemed to understand her a little more, and even offered a smile....Before squirming out of her grip and tackling her in the chest.
"C-Cyndaquil!" Professor Elm said in alarm, helping the girl up again as the Pokemon tottered to a corner. "Seirei, are you-"
"I'm fine! Really!" Seirei said, cutting him off with her small smile, still keeping up the near stoic facade. It wasn't her fault, however. Being quite....Socially awkward, it was still hard for the girl to express her true feelings. She turned to the Cyndaquil, finally displaying her own outrage at the Pokemon. "You.....No matter how much you may hate me, it doesn't mean I like you."
The Pokemon turned to her with yet another glare, although this time more challenging. "I just want you to know this: we can at least TRY to make this work. You don't want to disappoint Professor Elm, right?" This seemed to hit a nerve, as the Pokemon finally tottered towards her again, albeit with hesitance. He didn't trust her, not by a long-shot, but he would not disappoint Professor Elm. The Professor, content when the Pokemon allowed itself to be picked up again, finally offered Seirei her needed items: An Advancedex, which he explained easily enough, before continuing with offering her the five Pokeballs and two Potions.
When he offered the tins of Pokemon food, however, Seirei opened one up after setting Cyndaquil on a nearby table - offering the Fire Mouse a few pieces of food before putting the rest away in the pack on her pack. The Pokemon, in return, placed one of his stubby little paws out in front of him. Raising an eyebrow, the girl carefully shook it.
The truce was made.
A few minutes later, and after a few curt words of advice from all the Professors, Seirei departed once more with Cyndaquil by her side.
"Cyn, cynda, cyndaquil!" The Pokemon announced as they approached the docks. The ferry they were supposed to go on was almost ready to leave. With a sharp gasp of shock, Seirei picked up her new partner and sprinted towards it, hopping on as quickly as possible.
"Sorry about that, Cyndaquil," Seirei panted slightly as she dropped him ungraciously onto the deck. He let out a yip in surprise, rubbing the side of his head in mock pain. "But, now that we're here....I suppose you deserve a name, huh? How about.....Cinder?"
The Pokemon shook his head, unhappy with the name as he followed Seirei to the front of the deck.
"Erm....Ah! I know! Honoo. It means fire."
A dry look was all she received. "Cynda." Cyndaquil laughed. It was very unoriginal. Seirei sighed, looking at the Pokemon for a few seconds in thought.
Finally, it came to her.
"Okay, how about Eien? It means eternal, like our partnership will eventually be." She meant for it to be cheesy, as it gained a laugh from the Pokemon....But he nodded. Eien it was, then.
Smiling, she picked the Pokemon up and placed him on her shoulder, where he whined slightly and climbed back into her arms. Seirei's eyebrow lifted again. Was the Pokemon used to her already?!
Unfortunately, this was not the case as Eien's snores reached her ears. He was making her hold him so he could sleep. "Conniving little punk," Seirei said, laughing as she held him in one arm - much like a child - so she could pet him with her free hand.