Chapter 04: Way Different From Yesterday When Candace, Jeremy and Chloe took their first step off the boat, the first thing they noticed was a lot of trees. Not too different from the stereotypical first town. But it was bigger from what they had heard that the starter towns in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn were. It was a decent sized town with nice neighborhoods. Candace suddenly wondered what it would've been like to live here. Would everything have been okay? Would she and Ben grown up as a normal sister/brother pair? Would she have had a nice relationship with her mother? Would she have seen her father more than a couple times a week? "There's the laboratory!" squealed Chloe. "I can't believe we're here!" Candace couldn't believe it either. She knocked on the solid wooden door. A middle-aged man opened it almost immediately. "Hello there! Welcome to Orimo!" "Thanks," Jeremy replied, putting is hands in his pockets. A piece of medium brown hair fell in front of one light blue eye and Candace felt her heart flip. He looked kind of cute. But they were much too different and Candace knew that she had no chance. "I'm guessing you all are beginning your Pokemon journeys," the man said. "Yes, we are!" Chloe said enthusiastically. "Well, I'm here to start you off. My name is Professor Aspen." "I'm Chloe Dalton!" Chloe chirped happily. "The name is Jeremy Turner," Jeremy said in his normal quiet ways. He was always cool and calm, Candace suspected, never making an unplanned move. "And you?" questioned the professor, nodding at Candace. "I'm Candace Parker," she said with a shrug. "Well, I have thirteen Pokemon here and we already have nine trainers here, plus my son." "Okay, we're totally ready!" said the enthused blond. Professor Aspen laughed. "Okay, let's go!" He led us into a room that was packed with people whose ages differed quite a bit. Some were teenagers like Candace and her friends, some a bit older and some way younger. "Okay, now why don't we introduce ourselves?" Professor Aspen questioned. "I'm Mitchell Wyatt," said one boy with dusty brown hair. He looked around the age of twelve, shorter than Candace but taller than the youngest kids. He was aloof, and cool, quite a bit like Jeremy. "I'm Jenn Frost," said another girl who was standing near him. A couple people fawned over the girl, who Candace had read about in the papers once or twice. She had conquered the Hoenn League only months before, and her boyfriend Nathan, another esteemed trainer, had been hit by a drunk driver. Candace felt sorry for her. "I'm Jeane Wilson!" chirped another girl with dirty blond hair who reminded Candace strongly of Chloe. She seemed to be with Jenifer Frost. Candace probably would've liked the girl if she had travelled with her, but her group was pretty complete. "The name is Christian Matthews," said a boy with spiked brown hair. Candace raised her eyebrows. Very attractive. He even had a cute name. "Akili Ruiz," said yet another beginning trainer who looked at the tiled floor. She had pretty red hair that reminded her of Emily. She was older than the previous couple of trainers, probably about sixteen. A shy type. Definetely. "Chase Aspen," said yet another boy, looking at the floor. So this was the professor's son! He could've been cute, if he had made the effort, with a mop of dark brown curls and crystal blue eyes. He had potential, Candace thought. "I'm Stacy McLachlan," said another uncaring girl who leaned up against the wall. Her straight black hair hung loosely over her shoulders and Candace saw Jeremy staring at her. She even felt a little jealous of Stacy. "I'm Victoria Landgren. But everyone calls me Tori," said another girl and Candace's head whipped around. There stood Astrid's younger sister, the one that Candace really couldn't stand. With her mouse brown hair and brown eyes, she didn't compare in looks with her sister, but she was definetely smarter. Definetely. "Patrick Martin," said another boy with pretty emerald green eyes and dark blond hair that flopped nicely over his eyes. She saw Chloe looking at him with a blush and made an effort not to giggle. "I'm Ryan Litz," said a light blond haired teen. He was a lot taller than Candace, and even taller than Jeremy, but just barely. The two boys were together and looking aloof. "My name is Chloe Dalton!" chirped Candace's new travelling buddy. Candace hadn't even realized that it was their turn to be introduced to the group. "Jeremy Turner," said the brown-haired skater simply. Definetely not a complex guy. "And I'm Candace Parker," she said finally. She grew red as the majority of the eyes in the room turned to her. "Now that we know each other, why don't we pick our Pokemon?" suggested the professor. A mumble of answers sounded off from all over the room, but they basically all said the same thing. Mitchell, Jenn, Jeane, Christian, Akili, Chase, Stacy, Tori, Patrick, Ryan, Chloe, Jeremy, Candace... They were to be competing against each other for the same dream. And now they had to get started. "I've written all of your names down and put them in a hat. The order I draw will be the order of who picks their Pokemon." Ah, the old drawing out of a hat thing. How unoriginal. He reached his hand into the hat and the thirteen trainers stared at the Poke'Balls eagerly, even the ones who had seemed aloof. "Akili, you're up," announced the professor. The fair-skinned older girl blushed red enough to almost match her hair. She walked past the group and reached the Pokemon. She hesitated a bit and grabbed ne randomly. She released the Pokemon inside. Out came a Bulbasaur. Akili smiled and retreated to the group. A few wandered over to her to congratulate her, but most stayed rooted to the spot. Professor Aspen's hand reached back into the hat. "Chloe, it's your turn!" Candace's friend squealed and went up eagerly to where the PokeBalls were. She grabbed one off the side and enlarged it. "Come on out, Pokemon!" she called. A Torchic stared at her unsurely. Chloe squealed again and returned the fire chicken to it's ball. She returned to Candace and Jeremy. "Look at what I got!" she cheered. "Congrats," Candace said quietly. The professor's hand had gone back into the old top hat. "Christian!" he called and the attractive blond strutted up to the PokeBalls, where he grabbed a random one. A Totodile hopped around eagerly where it had been released. Christian smiled a bit and returned to the group. Professor Aspen's hand returned to the hat. "Jenn!" was the next trainer. Her blue eyes were sad as she grabbed a PokeBall. A leafy lamb was released. "How cute, a Leamb!" Chloe said from the side of Candace. Jenn returned from where she had stood with the enthusiastic blond girl. They were all anticipating the next name the professor called out. "Mitchell!" The calm boy had chosen a Charmander and he showed no excitement as he returned to his seat. "Stacy!" was the next name called and the ebony haired teen chose a Mudkip. Candace saw Jenn smile ruefully, for Mudkip had been her old boyfriend's starter Pokemon. A tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away and chuckled a bit. The professor then called Ryan, and the tall boy chose a Treeko. There was only one grass Pokemon left, a Johto starter called Chikorita. "Candace!" called the professor, interrupting her thoughts. All eyes were on her, as she made her way up there. She hesitated, grabbing one. "Come on out!" she called unsurely. It's beak was orange, and it was mostly black, but it had a light blue patch on it's stomach. "How cute!" she exclaimed. "But what is it?" "It's a Penguiro!" cheered Chloe. "You're so lucky!" Candace headed back to her spot with Chloe and Jeremy. "Chase, you're up!" called out the professor. His son went up and hesitated a bit and then chose his Pokemon. When he released it, it was shown to be a Chikorita. He quietly went back to where he stood by himself. "Tori, it's your turn!" The girl that Candace couldn't stand sauntered up to where very few Pokemon were left and grabbed just one. "A Squirtle!" she said happily. "Patrick!" was the next name that Professor Aspen called. The cute blond that Chloe had her eye on chose one of the last three PokeBalls that were left. Out came a Cyndaquil and Candace smiled. "How cute is that?" she whispered to Chloe. "Him or the Pokemon?" Chloe responded. "Jeane!" was the second to last name that the professor called, meaning that Jeremy was all that was left after her. She chose the one on the left. A Wurmple was released. "Glad that she picked that instead of me," mumbled Jeremy. "Well, Jeremy, I guess you're the last person left," said the professor. With that, Jeremy grabbed the last remaining PokeBall. He enlarged it and let it out. A black and red fuzzy creature was released. "Oh my God, it's an Adnap! How adorable! I'm jealous!" exclaimed Chloe. The crowd thinned and everybody was leaving with somebody else, except the professor's son. "I feel sorry for him," commented Chloe. "Think we should ask him to travel with us?" "I'm fine with it," said Candace. Jeremy shrugged. "There's no problem with me." "I'll ask him," said Candace. She ran up to the boy, whose name she couldn't even remember. "Hi," she said cheerfully, feeling way too much like Chloe. "Hi," he mumbled back and stared at the ground. "I'm Candace!" she chirped. Now she REALLY knew how much Chloe felt. "My name's Chase," he mumbled. So that was his name! Definete potential in that boy, in Candace's opinion. "Hey, do you want to travel with me and my friends?" she asked him. She gestured to Chloe and Jeremy, Chloe with a huge smile on her face and Jeremy, looking at the wall. "Sure, why not?" he replied. She led him over to where her friends stood and recalled momentarily how different this was from the day before. "So this is where it all begins," said Jeremy. "You said that when we arrived in Orimo!" Candace replied. This is where it really began.