Part One: A Journey Begins
 
Sarai Ketchum pumped her legs harder at the thought of somebody getting that 
Mudkip before she did. If she was determined to become a master like her father, 
she had have that Mudkip.
"Grandma!" Sarai shouted, bursting through the lab door. "I mean, Professor 
Rose, is it still here?"
"Is what still here?" asked the woman, her hands shaking slightly as she typed 
of her computer. 
"The Mudkip!" Sarai said, trying to keep her voice level. "Is it still here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry dear," said Professor Rose. "I gave it to Kieran."
Sarai felt a familiar type of hatred surge through her veins. "You gave it to 
that juvenile delinquent!?! He's not even supposed to have Pokemon!"
Professor Rose shrugged her shoulders. "His godfather's a powerful man. There 
was nothing I could do."
"His godfather is the leader of Team Rocket! What kind of power is that?"
"Look, Sarai," said the professor. "I'm pretty sure your father reserved one 
more Pokemon for you."
Sarai's hopes went up. "Really? Where is it?"
The professor led her to the far back of the room, and pulled back a curtain.
The wide smile faded from Sarai's face.
It was a Mawile, in fact, the offspring of her mother's Mawile.
She never liked her mother's Mawile, because it didn't like her back.
"You're kidding, right?" Sarai said, raising an eyebrown and flipping her short 
black hair. "There's another one behind it, right?"
Professor Rose shook her head with a smile. "She's yours. You can even give her 
a nickname."
"How about stupid?"
The Mawile snapped at her with its jaws that were connected to the back of its 
head. 
"Okay, I won't give you a nickname. I'll just call you Mawile. Where's her 
Pokeball?"
The professor handed her a standard Pokeball.
"Okay. Mawile, return!"
Mawile glowed red for a moment, and then disappeared inside the ball, but came 
out a split second later.
"Oh, it must not like Pokeballs."
The same thing happened to Dad and Pikachu, Sarai thought.
"Okay, I won't force you inside. C'mon, Mawile."
 
Sarai allowed Mawile to stay outside of her Pokeball as they walked around the 
town. 
Sarai still had a lot of things to do, like pack her things, call her dad and 
tell him she got a Mawile that won't go into her Pokeball, and how Kieran got to 
that Mudkip before she did.
"Yo, Ketchum!"
Sarai recognized that voice, but kept on walking, Mawile right beside her.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
She continued to walk.
She only stopped when she felt a rock hit the back of her head.
She turned around and saw a boy with wild blue hair and almond shaped green 
eyes.
"What do you want, Kieran?" Sarai asked him sourly.
"To say good luck, 'cause you're gonna need it."
Sarai scoffed. "Whatever."
"You think just because your daddy's the Pokemon Master and your mommy's a 
famous Idol Master means that you get a free ticket, but that's not gonna work, 
princess. It's not who you know, it's who has the better Pokemon!"
Sarai rolled her brown eyes. "Whatever. Let's see who gets to that train station 
first tomorrow morning."
"I'm not taking a train to Littleroot I got a motorcycle for my birthday, so 
I'll meet you there."
Sarai turned her back to him.
She didn't know how a motorcycle could go faster than a train, but it wouldn't 
hurt to see.
"Sure, Kieran. Say what you want."
 
The next day...
"ALL ABOARD!!!"
Sarai boarded the train, holding Mawile close to her chest.
She took a window seat, and immediately began to look out the window.
Her mother was on the platform, waving and jumping up and down.
Sarai waved to her just as she disappeared when the train took the corner.
"Is this seat taken?"
Sarai looked up and saw a girl with short blonde hair.
Sarai was surprised to see that her skin was semi-dark brown, and with blonde 
hair, but she didn't say anything.
"No."
Mawile glared warily at her as the girl sat down.
Sarai noticed that her pants were black and her eyes were baby blue.
Closer inspection revealed that they were contact lenses. 
"My name's Tamika," she said, shaking Sarai's hand.
"Sarai. Sarai Ketchum," she replied proudly.
"So, your dad's the master, huh? That's really cool. I'm studying to become a 
Pokemon breeder."
Sarai suddenly remembered Brock, her adopted uncle. 
He and Tamika  should meet.
"What kind of Pokemon do you have?" Sarai found herself asking. 
"I only train Dark and Psychic," Tamika said. "I think they don't get as much 
attention as other types of Pokemon."
Sarai and Tamika talked the whole entire train ride, about Idol Masters, boys, 
Pokemon, anything that came to their minds.
The train finally pulled into Littleroot, where they would register to enter the 
Pokemon Gym Challenge.
"I can't believe I'm finally here!" Sarai exclaimed, squeezing Mawile so tight 
she screamed at the top of her lungs. 
"So, you finally made it."
Sarai's hope faded when she saw Kieran ride to her on his motocycle.
He took off his helmet and smiled playfuly at her. "I'm already registered, and 
I'm making my way to Petalburg City to battle Max, the gym leader."
"You just got your Mudkip," Sarai said. "You won't be doing much."
Kieran laughed. "You seem to forget. My godfather's a very important man. He can 
make whatever I want happen."
With that, she sped away, kicking dust up in their faces.
"Who was that?" Tamika asked.
"Kieran, my arch rival. We've been at it ever since his family moved in next 
door."
The two walked to the registration booth, and they were both registered in about 
10 minutes.
"Well, guess this is where we split up," Tamika said, hanging her head.
Sarai sighed.
"No. You can travel with me and Mawile," she offered with a smile. "It gets 
pretty lonely out there."
"Really? Cool!"
 
Sarai, Tamika, and Mawile registered and soon took down the road on the way to 
Oldale...