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Chapter Two: The meeting

Jake POV

This was just great! I am leaving home to become a trainer, and the best of them all! I was thinking about this and walking through the garden with Howard when I met Fred, the house's gardener; and Jenna, the maid. I always liked them as my godparents; they are too nice to me: Jenna taught me a thing or two about technology, and Fred taught me how to handle a sword. They both had big smiles as I approached them.

"Happy birthday Jake! I'm so happy to be able to live to see this day arrive." said Jenna.

"I'm really proud of you Jake: you are going to be a great man, just like your father." Fred added.

"Thanks, Fred and Jenna, I'll never forget you!" I said, running to hug them.

"Yes, we know that, but just to be sure we have a special gift for you. Here, take it!" Fred presented a long and thin box.

Wondering what it was, I decided to reveal the answer immediately and opened the cover. The content inside almost made my jaw drop in surprise: it was the most beautiful sable I had seen in my whole life. The hilt was made of gold and it has carved symbols of a dragon eating the sun and a ruby on the lower part; the blade was made of fine white steel and it was adorned with two sky blue diamonds and a tiger head engraving; the scabbard was night black with golden scriptures that spells the sentence, 'This blade is no going to cut any more than the evil in my enemies' heart'.

"That is a truly amazing gift." Howard commented, bringing me back to the world before me.

"B-b-but, h-how did you make this sable? It is beautiful in every sense!" I exclaimed. This string of events just make the excitement in me build up even more, almost trying to burst its way out.

"Remember that time when you went out for the vacation? Well, I guess you know the rest." Jenna said with a great smile.

"You used your vacation to make this for me?" Happiness was hardly the word to describe my feeling. "I can't believe it, this is the best gift of my whole life!"

"Thanks Jake, we like that you enjoy it. To clear things up a little, the engraving of the dragon eating the sun means the overcoming of perfection, like you've always wanted!" Fred said with tears of joy in his eyes.

"This is great, I will never be able to thank you enough." They smiled and kissed my cheeks.

"You better get going now, good luck!" I hugged them one last time.

"Good bye, and I hope that the house would still be like this when I come back after defeating the Champion!" I shouted at them from the gate of the garden before entering Howard's SUV.

"So, how does it feel like to be the champ-to-be?" He asked as I settled myself on the front seat.

"Absolutely delightful! The whole thing... It's just so exciting!" I responded, almost in trance now.

"Good for you." He said as we started to travel down the hill where my mansion stood.

"Where are we going anyway? Sandgem?" I asked curiously as we cruised through the city streets, noticing his unusual quietness. Sure, he is a reserved guy, but such quietness does not occur frequently when he's around me.

"My house; I still have a few items for you." He replied, taking the gravel road the leads to his cottage in the woods. Soon entering his cozy residence, I was given a trekking outfit for me to change into after he criticized for trying to wear a suit for the trek to Sandgem. Being familiar with the wilderness as a result of his profession, he stuffed my half-empty backpack with items that are supposed to help me in my endeavor as well.

"Well then, I'm all set!" I exclaimed, zipping my camping bag, trying to cramp all the items he's gave me.

"Not without this." He gave me a silver box, with the hunter's association's emblem on it.

"Wow, thanks brother!" I tried opening the box, but mysteriously could not.

"When the time comes, the box will let itself be opened." He chuckled, and I almost slapped myself for forgetting about his eccentric antics.

"Oh well, I hope it will really help me when I need it. Goodbye!" I squeezed the box inside my bag and walked down onto the gravel path.

"Bon voyage, mon ami." He said calmly in response. Waving goodbye, I was soon on my way.

I headed down the gravel path for a while, feeling the realization that my great adventure had just started and the indescribable excitement that came with it. Half an hour later, I turned into the small, hilly dirt path to Sandgem that branched out from the gravel path, still in high spirits. Before I even managed to lose sight of the gravel road, however, a shrilling cry came crashing in. It was a shout of agony, "LLLIIIIAAA!"

"Where did that come from?" I stopped and concentrated my attention on tracing the source of the sound. Then, it echoed through the woods again, obviously coming from my right.

"KIIIRRRLIIIAA!" The scream was one of desperation, and it felt as if it pierced straight through my balloon of ecstasy and drove me into a worried and anxious state.

"A Kirlia is in trouble!" I said to myself, hurrying to where I perceived the sound to be.

Arriving at a clearing moments later, I saw a Kirlia lying helplessly in the dark shadows at the base of a tree. Its arms were bleeding, quite possibly from the Houndoom and the Mightyena which were approaching slowly, their sights casted on it with an aura of menace. Without much thinking, I unsheathed the sable and sprinted into the little bit of space that separated the two from the Kirlia. Having studied Pokémon before, I knew that a psychic type is usually defenseless against dark types. Besides, I just can't bear to see an innocent being attacked and overshadowed two Pokémon way bigger and more powerful than it.

"Leave this Kirlia alone!" I shouted at them, only to get angry growls in response. The duo stopped their advances and started backtracking, their intention to pounce on me leaking right through their malicious eyes.

"Kir, lia, Kirlia, kir" The Kirlia was apparently alarmed. I thought that it was saying that I don't need risk my left for it, but that didn't changed my mind.

"I won't let you be harmed!" I said, looking at the little being while getting ready to defend against the eventual offensive.

I had the spare moment to see its shocked expression, before the Houndoom and the Mightyena executed a well-coordinated attack, one jumping in from low-right and the other high-left. I just waited, taking my stance.

As they started their jump, I moved a step back and moved my sable above my head in one swift movement. Unable to control themselves mid-jump, they lined up perfectly at the place where I stood and I sliced through the both of them with a well-timed slash. The expected bloodshed did not happen, however, as the sable just shinned black for a few seconds and returned to silver again. The words in the scabbard almost forced its way into my head, "This blade is not going to cut any more than the evil in my enemy's heart."

Without delay, I proceeded to further my attack on the duo until they were safely disabled, lying unconscious on the ground without any physical injuries. Heading to the Kirlia, I knelt by its side to examine its badly scratched body. "I'll get you healed in no time. Ok?" I asked it.

"Kirlia." Taking the response for a yes. Retreating to a stone nearby, I took out the jerry can of water and a hyper potion. "Come here, I'm not going to harm you." I said upon seeing the Kirlia backing away slowly when I approached it. It hesitated for a moment, before finally stopping to let me kneel beside her again. Taking the water, I started to wash its wounds, though the pain from that caused her to start struggling away again.

"Don't worry, it's to heal you, Just bear with it for a moment." I said in the most soothing voice that I could manage, and she stopped for a while before giving an affirmative nod, squirming in pain as I attended to the wounds. After cleaning them, the potion was finally able to work its magic and its injuries healed before my very eyes.

"Maybe you wouldn't want to be near to those two when they wake up, eh?" The Kirlia looked at the Houndoom and the Mightyena on the ground, and immediately held on to my hand, squeezing it and transferring her shivers to me. "It's okay, come with me." I said and the Kirlia started to follow me. Following a short trek, we headed to another clearing and there I set up my tent, seeing that it was surprisingly already turning dark. Night was soon falling and the chilly winds that were so typical of Sinnoh were creeping in, but it was warm inside the tent. I entered it after a brief dinner of compressed biscuits, which I forced down my throat; they were absolute crap compared to my mom's, or even dad's cooking. However, it soon dawned on me that the Kirlia was still outside, so I climbed to the entrance of the tent and said, "Come on and get in; it'll be a chilling night, not to mention that there may be wild Pokémon."

Like a soldier receiving a command, the Kirlia ran into the tent. Unexpected, however, was that it hugged me tightly as soon as it entered. Slightly shocked and confused at first, I understood the situation and put my jacket around her. After a while, it seemed better, and I decided to talk to her about becoming my starter; after all, one does need a Pokémon to become a trainer, and currently I have none.

"Hey, we don't know each other," I started, "but after all that, do you...want to be friends?"

Sensing her confusion over this sudden speech, I continued while pulling out the Mythical Ball, "You know, to be friends, it'll be best if we can understand each other. This is a Pokéball, a device to capture Pokémon. This one is special, however, because the Pokémon caught inside gets a link with its master's soul. I won't force you to, but if you want it, a link between our souls should be forged and I will understand you and the other Pokémon too. This is your decision, so no obligation; I won't get angry if you are not here next morning. I just want a friend, a friend with whom I will persevere through the unavoidable difficulties, celebrate the joyful times, and fulfill our destiny. Get some sleep, and think about it, eh? Goodnight."

I turned around and was just crawling into my sleeping bag when an almost blinding light shone from behind me. I turned around, only to see the Mythical ball shake three times and make the famous 'ding' sound. With the widest smile I've ever had, I took the Pokéball to set the Kirlia free. In a golden beam it came out and smiled while I hugged it with happiness, and in that instant something strange happened. Our chests started to shine with a bright, white light, and what seemed like a line of energy started to connect them together. Too shocked to speak, we watched as the light grew even stronger, forcing us to close our eyes before it was all darkness again. Readjusting my vision, I managed to make out the shocked expression on the Kirlia's face.

"Are you ok?" I asked, blinking a few times.

"Well yeah, but that was strange." She answered me. By the voice, I could tell that she was a girl, but I was more interested in the fact that I could actually understand her.

"Sure it is, but even more strange is that I can understand you as if you are speaking English." I told her.

"Really?" she asked me.

"Yes, really; and a little question that I'll have to ask: what's your name?" I asked, elated at being able to understand her.

"My name is Lily." She told me.

"Lily? That's a beautiful name." I commented.

"Thanks for the compliment." She was a little blushed at that.

"It is because you deserve it. Although I'd love to talk all night, I'm getting tired. Good night." I said, going into my sleeping bag again.

"Good night, Jake." She answered.

"Wait... I don't remember giving you my name?" I was pleasantly surprised at her response.

She chuckled, "I looked into your mind, but only enough to find out your name."

"We're even, then?" I joked, zipping up my sleeping bag.

"Can I ask you something?" She blurted, somewhat shyly.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can I sleep with you?" She asked back in response.

I thought for a while before answering, "I won't force you to sleep in your Pokéball, it's up to you."

"I'll take that as a yes?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course, why not?" I said, smiling before pulling out another sleeping bag, thanking Howard for his foresight, and zipping the two together.

"Oh thank you so much!" She said before climb up to my chest and falling asleep, apparently fatigued by what must have been a rough day for her.

"I'm sure that I can safely say that this is the best birthday of my life." I thought to myself. I was hopeful again, especially after previous experiences with my friends of the opposite gender that all ended rather unsatisfactorily. I was sure that she will become the girl who will be my friend forever and never to leave me; who knows that it will turn out to be so much more than that...

Danny: Well...

Xellan: Let the adventure begin!

Danny: And may the odds be ever in your favor!

Romeo: Please stop, I need to continue writing.

Danny: Jolly good, I ought to get back to editing as well.

Xellan: I will...I will...

Romeo&Danny: *Glares at Xellan*

Xellan: Ok! I get it already. I'll make tea and order the pizza, alright?

Romeo: But before that...

All: Bye readers!