Update:

Hey you guys! For those of you who didn't get to read the update before this one, I restarted my fanficiton. I wasn't satisfied with what I had, and now I believe that I can have good consistency in my writing style. For those of you who are new to this fanfiction, welcome! I hope you enjoy reading! ~Kat

"Pokemon: Black and White"

Prologue

She wandered alone with a strange and enigmatic feeling looming over her. She had never experienced such a feeling before; it somehow felt... empty.. like all of the life was sucked out of her. It wasn't long before she realized that she had no body. It was as if she was a mere spirit, lingering around with no place to go. The young girl was confused and frightened by the still darkness that surrounded her for miles without end. She frantically searched for the slightest sign of light—of happiness... But neither was in sight.

Suddenly, the blackness faded away and was followed by a grassy, forest-like area. None of the trees swayed with a warm, spring breeze. There was no glowing, balmy sun in the sky. Actually, there was no sky... Just a paper white ceiling with yellow lights shining down onto this bizarre place.

An animal-like creature appeared slowly from the bushes. It had a small bum that pointed upwards slightly, and a circular crimson colored body, almost resembling a tear drop. It had short hind legs, long and powerful gorilla-like arms, and thick, meaty fingers curled up into tight fists on the ground. Two long, red and yellow flame-like eyebrows shot upwards above it's perfectly circular, jet black eyes. These features gave the impression that the creature was always angry. But what stood out the most, was the its huge mouth full of pointy white teeth, shaped so that it looked like it was smiling evilly. Despite it's intimidating appearance, she felt as if the creature, that she knew as a Pokemon, was sullen. She noticed bruises and scars all over it's immense body, and felt as if the Pokemon could cry at any given moment.

A small boy stumbled out of the same bush and ran to the Pokemon. His long, green hair wrapped in a low pony tail trailed behind him. He attempted to put his pale arms, miniscule in comparison, around it, but couldn't make it nearly all the way. This boy had a peculiar feel to him... He had cloudy green eyes that stared off into space continuously, and skin snow white. The Pokemon lovingly nudged the boy and wrapped one of its massive arm around him. He smiled warmly and snuggled with the Pokemon for a time before the scene changed once again.

This time, it was a long, auditorium-like room with a shiny marble floor that reflected the light of the candles gracefully hung along the walls. An outstretched, crimson carpet was laid out, leading to a golden thrown. Sitting in the thrown was a homely man with a broad nose, evilly narrowed gray eyes, one being covered by a solid red eye-patch outlined with silver, and a gruesome scar across his cheek. He was wearing gaudy robes that bore a creepy, murderous eye on the front. The robe's neck was much like the roof of a castle, and he had long, out-of-control green hair that fell past his collar bone. In his lap rested a gold, jewel incrusted crown only suited for a king. Many others crowed the room around the carpet, all of them in fancy robes like he.

The front doors of the building swung open and a hush came across the crowd. The same boy from before ambled down the outstretched carpet with his head held low slightly, giving the impression that he was deep in thought. He still had his green hair that fell to the middle of his back tied low, as well as those soft and hazy eyes. The boy had definitely aged; appearing now to be an early teenager. Many white bearded men in tall, wooden hats surrounded him as he continued to step towards the thrown, as if he was an extremely important person to be protected.

He paused in front of the man in the thrown, silent as a grave. The man stood up slowly, the crown glistening in his hands, as the boy lifted his head to make eye contact. He held the crown high above his head, signaling the bearded men to disperse with their head held low and hands folded in front of them.

Unexpectedly, a rush of emotion came over the girl. Something about this... about them... was evil, beastly, corrupt, spiteful... But what was it? She felt an immense chill as the man lowered the crown closer and closer to the boy's head. No. She thought. No, no, no... If she had had a body, it would be quaking terribly, and sweat would most certainly cover her. This terrible feeling of dismay was too much for such a young girl. She wanted it all to stop. This feeling, this ceremony, the suspense... The crown was not even an inch away from the boy's head. No, no, no! Stop! No more! She tried to cry, but nothing came out. She was unable to prevent this from happening. She was unable to prevent this foreboding and just plain bloodcurdling feeling from taking over. At last, the incrusted crown was placed gently upon his head and a roar of cheers shrilled in her ears. She tried with all her might to scream, a scream so ear-splitting and full of fear that it could wake the dead, but still nothing came out. She looked around more frantically than before, glancing at all the somehow happy faces in that massive room. Could this get any more twisted? Any more horrendous or horrifying? The room was starting to spin. Quicker and quicker it rotated around the girl as the smiling faces came closer and closer. A sharp pain pierced the girl as she tried to cry and scream even more. Stop...! She tried to yell. Please! Just stop! Stop! NO!

She opened her eyes and shot up, shrieking in terror. Her breathing was heavy as she felt her forehead with her tiny hands and around her big, icy blue eyes. She realized that her face was completely soaked in a combination of tears and freezing cold sweat. The light of the full moon filled her room, overflowing with colorful Pokemon plushies. The young girl hugged her knees and started to sob, wanting to forget that horrifying nightmare she'd just had, and never wanting to feel such a horrible feeling ever again.

"Athena!" Her mother and father gasped as they burst through the door.

She raised her head slowly, tears still coming out of her innocent eyes. "Mommy... Daddy...!" Athena cried as she reached her arms out to her parents.

They rushed to her bedside and her father scooped Athena up into his arms. "Did our little goddess have a bad dream...?" he asked.

She sniffled. "Y-yeah! There was an evil man putting a king's crown on this boy with a pony tail... and people were happy, but it was bad! Oh, Daddy, it was so scary!"

Her mother stroked Athena's head as she buried her face in her father's shoulder. "Oh, honey, it's alright... it was just a bad dream. It's all over now."

"I-It was so scary! No one could hear me, and no one was there with me! Not you, not Daddy, Cheren, or Bianca!"

"It must have been so horrible..." her father said, comfortably.

"Yeah..."

"Don't you worry. We're not going anywhere. Not me, not Mommy, Cheren, or Bianca."

She lifted her head. "R-really...? You promise?"

He lifted his pinkie up. "Pinkie promise."

She smiled and locked pinkies with her father, who she was so dearly close to, just like her mother. They gave Athena some more comforting pep talks before putting her back to bed and leaving the room. Feeling at ease and a great deal happier, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Athenaaaa!"

She was woken up with a start; her bed was shaking as Athena's body was lifted off her mattress again and again. Suddenly, a small body fell on top of her pink-covered self, and the breath was knock out of her. Athena turned on her back and pulled of the covers, then saw those familiar gleaming emerald eyes of one of her best friends, Bianca. Her short baby blonde hair was in a mess as usual, and a big smile was spread across her lips.

"Good morning, Athena!" Bianca cheered. "Time to play!"

"Hi, Bianca!" She said, sitting up and giving her friend a hug.

"Sorry, Athena... I told her not to do that." Cheren sheepishly apologized.

Her other best friend, Cheren, was standing at her bedside. His night black hair was neatly combed and over his royal blue eyes was a pair of glasses that he was constantly readjusting.

"Well it worked, right?" Bianca teased. "She's awake!"

His hand met his forehead. "Bianca..."

"No, it's okay!" Athena smiled. "I'm up! I'll get dressed so that we can go out and play!"

"Okay!" Bianca said while climbing off her bed and pushing Cheren out of the room with her. "We'll be downstairs!"

"W-wait, Bianca!" Athena could hear Cheren call once they were out of the room. "If you keep pushing, we'll—GAH!" A number of bangs and crashes played in a row downstairs. "...fall." she heard him groan.

"So, what do you three plan on doing today?" Athena's father asked them as she trotted down the stairs.

"We're gonna play!" Bianca cheered.

He laughed. "But of course!"

"Where are you guys planning on going today?" Her mother asked while putting Athena's extraordinarily fluffy brown hair into a pony tail, like every morning.

"We dunno," Athena told her. "But we'll find somewhere!"

"As always," Her father said. "You guys always find someway to have fun."

"Yup!" she giggled. "Thanks, Mommy! We're going now!"

"Alright then. Be safe, okay?" she called.

"Okay! Bye bye!"

Nuvema Town was the smallest in the Unova Region, consisting of a supermarket, a Pokemon Research Lab, and exactly ten houses. Athena, Cheren, and Bianca's houses were all neighboring each other, so it made it that much more convenient for them to meet up every day and play. You'd think that three six year old children walking around by themselves would be dangerous, but not here. Not one crime had ever been committed in this small town. It was as if everyone there was part of one big family, with the three of them centered in the middle. Everyone knew them. They truly were the town's "three musketeers."

Soon they found themselves at the town's lake, glistening yellow and orange from the pleasantly glowing sun shining down upon them. They all rested at the end of the old wooden dock and splashed their feet in the clear, crystal water.

"Oh! I forgot!" Athena said suddenly. "I had a really bad dream last night..."

"A nightmare?" Cheren asked.

"What's it about?" Bianca added as she continued to stir the water below with her tiny feet.

"Hm..." Athena looked up at the sky for a long moment. "It was like... I wasn't there, but I could see what was going on. I was watching things happen like we watch cartoons, kinda."

"Oh! Then, it wasn't all bad, right?" Bianca asked cheerfully, thrusting her feet into the water a couple of times.

"No, it was bad. Evil! A boy was hugging a reeeeeeally big red Pokemon," She stretched her arms out as far as they could for effect. "that was all sad and stuff. Then, I saw that same little boy when he was a big kid! He got a king's crown put on his head in front of bunches of people!"

"But what's so bad about that?" Cheren observed while wiping some of the water off of his glasses and casting Bianca an annoyed look.

"It just was." Athena put simply. "I felt really scared for some reason! I never wanna feel that scared ever again!"

"Hmmmmm..." Bianca hummed. "So that was you screaming last night?"

"Y-you heard...?"

"Hey, you guys, look over there!" Cheren told them. He pointed behind them, where two of the older kids in Nuvema Town stood across from each other with tense body language. The three of them got up and turned around to see what was about to happen.

"Go, Minccino!" yelled the older girl. She threw a baseball sized red and white ball into the air. The three of them watched in complete awe as the ball opened like a mouth while rays of sparkling red shot out of it. These mysterious red rays of light hit the ground and formed in the shape of a Pokemon. It was short with big ears and a long, furry tail that curved up. The red lights vanished and left a gray and furry little Pokemon. It had a rat nose and big, blue eyes.

Athena and Bianca swooned. "Woah! What was that?"

"I think my parents read to me about this once. Um... I think that those are called Pokeballs..."

"Pokeballs? Do you know more?" Athena asked eagerly. However, his answer was cut by the older boy's yell.

"Steal the show, Sawk!" he shouted. He, too, threw his Pokeball that shot red rays of light that hit the ground and morphed into the shape of a Pokemon. The light vanished once again and showed a new Pokemon. It was tall and shaped almost like a person. It's skin was like flat, cracked diamonds the color of the lake were glued to his body. It was wearing a karate uniform and had a black belt tied around it's waist.

"Kinda scary..." Bianca cowered.

"Now what, Cheren? What happens next?" Athena asked.

"Minccino, use Swift!"

"Sawk, doge it and use Brick Break!"

The two Pokemon jumped into action and started to round at each other with different moves. Athena and Bianca gasped at the sight of them trying to hurt one another.

"What's going on?!" Bianca shrieked. "The poor Pokemon!"

"Cheren, why are they hurting each other?!"

"It's okay, stop crying." he reassured them. "I think this is called a Pokemon Battle... And they're normal."

"Really...?" They asked. "I wonder which one will win?" Athena pondered.

"The bigger one, of course." Cheren told her. "It's stronger than that one!"

She puffed out her cheeks. "How do you know? Just because that one's little doesn't mean it's not strong, too!"

"It's obvious that Sawk will win, though!"

"No! Minccino could win if it tried!"

Cheren snicked. "Yes.. Maybe when Trubish fly."

"Maybe you should fly!" she mocked, not fully understanding what she'd just said and sticking out her tongue.

They continued to watch the battle. It was so fun and entertaining to watch! Sawk was strong and powerful, but a bit slow. Minccino was fast and agile, but not nearly as big or as enduring as it's opponent. The three of them watched the battle as if in a tans, wanting to see how it would all unfold. Finally, Minccino looked as if it was on it's last leg.

"Ha! See, I told you, Athena! Sawk is about to win!"

"Don't count your Pokemon before they hatch, Cheren!" she insisted. "It isn't over yet!"

"Minccino, use Charm!" yelled the Girl Trainer.

"Charm?" Questioned all three of them.

Suddenly, the Minccino batted it's eyelashes and made itself look cuter by widening it's eyes and looking up at Sawk. Little pink hearts filled Sawk's eyes and it stopped trying to attack.

"What?! Sawk, come on! Use Retaliate!" yelled the Boy Trainer. Sawk did nothing. "Hey, Sawk! Are you okay? Come one, finish it! Use Retaliate!" Sawk, yet again, did not obey. "What did you do to my Sawk, Elizabeth?!"

Elizabeth chuckled. "I made your Sawk temporarily fall in love with my Minccino, Jake. He's immobilized by love!"

"You did what?!" Jake yelled.

"Minccino, keep on using Fury Swipes, then finish it off with Take Down on my signal!" And so it did. It continuously slashed at Sawk's face with it's sharp claws. "Ready..." Minccino took one last hard swipe at Sawk's face before pushing off of his forehead with its rabbit like foot, back flipping back onto the ground. "Now! Use Take Down!" Minccino jumped at Sawk and knocked him down to the ground so hard that a great deal of dirt and dust flew into the air in the form of a heavy cloud that blinded the three's vision of the battle. They all shielded their eyes after getting some residue into them, then eagerly looked back over once the cloud had cleared. Sawk was on the ground, unconscious with swirls instead of eyes.

Athena's eyes widened with happiness as well as her smile. "Yes! Yes! I told you, Cheren! I told you! Yay, Minccino! WHOOHOO!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She was so excited, so exhilarated, and felt so alive! Athena was so loud that she caught the attention of the two Trainers who hadn't noticed them in the midst of their battle.

"Good job, Sawk. You tried your best." said Jake in a murmur. He opened his Pokeball by pushing the top and bottom together, releasing the latch. The red light engulfed Sawk, then went back into the ball, only leaving the imprint of his body on the ground.

"Minccino, great job! You make me so proud! Take a rest." Elizabeth told her Pokemon. She also opened her tired Pokemon. The Trainers both walked over to them.

"Hi, you guys! Were you watching just now?" asked Elizabeth.

"Hello Ms. Elizabeth, hello Mr. Jake!" Athena smiled warmly. The three of them had known Jake and Elizabeth for as long as they could remember.

"Yes, we were watching. Sorry if that was nosy.." Cheren aplogized.

"No, don't be! We're happy that you guys found our battle so entertaining!" said Jake.

"So, Elizabeth won the battle, right?" Bianca asked.

Jake laughed. "Unfortunately, yes. Her Minccino beat my Sawk."

"She sure did! You'll probably get me next time, though." Elizabeth toyed.

"Wait, why aren't you sad? Aren't you disappointed you lost?" Cheren asked Jake.

"Well, of course I am. But I know my Pokemon tried it's best, so I'm not so bummed. Actually, the battle was really fun! I'm glad we had it! Plus, each battle is just making my Pokemon and I closer."

"But what's more important than winning...?" Cheren asked in almost a whisper. No one had heard him.

"Closer...? What do you mean?" Athena asked curiously, eager to learn more.

"Elizabeth! Time for lunch! You can bring Jake, too!" called a voice from a nearby house. They recognized it as Elizabeth's mother.

"Sorry, you guys. Maybe next time, okay?" Jake told them.

"Bye, you three!"

"Good bye!" They called.

Athena was pretty let down—she wanted to learn as much as she could about these Pokemon Battles and Pokeballs... And everything in between. It was all just so interesting to her. She wanted to try it for herself; watch her own Pokemon try its best and win a battle. So she turned to the smartest person she knew.

"Cheren!" Athena cried. "Do you know anymore about Pokemon Battles and stuff?"

"No, not much...Sorry, Athena."

"Awh! Dang it! I wanna know more!"

"Why don't we go ask your Dad, Athena? He knows bunches of things about stuff!" Bianca suggested.

"Good idea! Let's go back!"

Athena burst through the door of her house to find her parents just sitting down for lunch. They looked at the three of them curiously.

"Athena! We were just about to call you guys in for lunch. Why did you come back?" Her mother asked.

"Because I need to ask Daddy some stuff!" She told her while sitting down at the table along with her friends. "Important stuff!"

"Is that so?" he asked. "Go for it."

"Tell us what you know about Pokemon Battles! And Pokeballs!"

Her parents exchanged looks. "Why so suddenly?"

"We saw Jake and Elizabeth do a Pokemon Battle! And it was cool!" Bianca told him.

He chuckled. "I see... Well, a Pokeball is where you keep the Pokemon that you've caught from the wild. Pokeballs keep them safe from any harm and makes it easier to carry them around with you everywhere you go."

"Wow! Everywhere?" Athena asked.

"Yes! Every Pokemon you catch become part of your Pokemon Team. You battle with other trainers to make your Pokemon stronger, and build better bonds with them."

"How does that work?" Cheren wondered.

"Well you see, by battling according to the demands of its trainer, trust builds between them. When trust builds, so does friendship. That way, you and your Pokemon become like family over a period of time."

"Does becoming friends with your Pokemon make them stronger?" Cheren asked.

"In a way, most certainly. The trainer does, also."

"But... why do you want you're Pokemon to be strong?" said Bianca.

"What's more important than being strong? It obvious." Cheren interjected before Athena's father could answer.

"Ah, Cheren... There are many things that are more important than just becoming strong. You might not realize that now, but you will in due time." he glanced over at Athena for a short moment. "Trust me."

"Hmm?" he hummed in confusion.

"Never mind that. Anyways, to answer your question, Bianca, there are many different reasons why someone would want to make their Pokemon Team stronger. Now you see, when you three turn thirteen, you will go on a long journey with Pokemon alone."

"Eh?" Athena gasped. "Daddy and Mommy won't come with me...? Not even Cheren or Bianca?"

"You three can travel together if you want to, and I suggest you do when that time comes. However, Mommy and Daddy can't. This Pokemon Journey is when you become an adult, and adults don't need their parents to help them with everything, right?"

"Right..."

"So, you three will be out on your own. During this journey, you can aim to be whatever you want to be with your Pokemon. A doctor, a baker, a Pokemon professor, a Gym Leader, the Champion..."

Athena and Cheren both shot up when he said champion. "There's a Pokemon Champion?"

"Yes. The Champion is the strongest of the strong. He or she is the best Pokemon Trainer in his or her region."

"How do you get to be the Champion?" They asked.

"On your journey, you'll have to travel to many different towns and cities to challenge their Gyms. There, you will battle with a Gym Leader and get a badge if you win. Collect eight of those badges, and then you can go and challenge the Elite Four. Beat the Elite Four, you get to challenge the Champion. Beat the Champion, and you're the new Champion of the Unova Region."

"Get eight Gym Badges, beat the Elite Four..." Athena started.

"Beat the Champion, then you're the new Champion?" Cheren finished.

"That's right."

"Okay! I know what I wanna do on my journey!" Athena announced white standing up on her seat. "I'm gonna become the Champion! I'll be great friends with all my Pokemon, so that way, we'll all be so strong that no one could beat us! We'll be one big, happy family! Just like all of us in Nuvema Town, Daddy!" She turned to Cheren and Bianca. "How about you guys? What are you gonna do?"

"Becoming Champion, huh... I could get so much power and respect from others... Alright. I'll try to become the Champion of Unova, too."

"Yay!"

"Gee, I don't know what I'll do..." Bianca sighed.

"Well, you don't have to decide now, Bianca." Athena's father told her. "Just take your time. I will say this to all three of you though, so listen up." The three of them settled down, and his big, rounded yellow eyes softened. "You three should stay together, always. There's nothing more important than the friendship you three share with each other, and out there in the world, each other will be all that you have besides your Pokemon Team. Go out there and do what you want to do, be who you want to be... and don't let anybody get in the way of your dreams. Only you can make them come true, you know. Just be yourself, and enjoy the time you've got.."

A wave of silence came over all of them as their little minds tried to soak in all that he had said. "...Okay, Daddy!" Athena voiced. "I'll make all my dreams come true! No matter what! I promise!" She held out her pinkie. "So don't worry!"

He slipped his massive finger into her's. "Good. I'm glad to hear that.."

They all smiled warmly and laughed whole-heartedly. Athena hadn't even thought about that awful nightmare since they watched the Pokemon Battle between Jake's Sawk and Elizabeth's Minccino. She felt so happy, so alive... she never wanted this feeling of such love to go away. She never wanted her friends, or her parents to go away. Athena was overjoyed and thankful for everything she had, but couldn't wait to start her journey once she turned thirteen. She'd try her best to always remember her father's words and really take them to heart.

This is where it all started for Cheren, Bianca, and most of all, Athena. They were completely unaware of what would happen to them while they were on their Pokemon Journeys in seven years. In fact, I don't think anyone could have predicted what lay ahead for these three; Especially the little girl who had the nightmare, Athena Jones.