Ghosts of our past- chapter 1

“Long ago, there lived a king. He ruled over Unova with a great dragon type Pokémon and a kind heart. He had two sons and when he passed on, he gave the title of King to both of them, along with his beloved Pokémon, who loved the sons as much as he did the King. But as time passed the two sons grew apart, one following the path of ideals while the other followed the path of truth. Eventually the great dragon split into two. The Black dragon, Zekrom, went with the brother of Ideals while the white dragon, Reshiram, went with the brother of truth. The brothers divided the region into two, creating a war that passed on to their sons and their sons after that until the day that they realized that their fighting was pointless. The two dragons sealed themselves into stones, waiting for the day that the two new hero’s would wake them from their slumber.” Lisa said. The two children were wide eyed as their mother finished the tale of the region.

“Are they still waiting in the stones?” The little boy asked in wonder.

“Does anyone know where they are now?” His twin sister asked.

“I don’t know.” Their mother said, shrugging. Both of them looked at her blankly.

“You don’t know?” The boy asked, his head tilting to the side.

“No one really does know. There’s been rumors of people finding stones but no one really knows if it was really the two dragons or not.” Lisa said.

“Nate? Are you even listening to what mom is saying?” Mei asked, her blue eyes narrowed at the 16 year old. She poked him a couple of times in the ribs to make sure he was awake. He swatted her hand away and blinked a few time, looking from his mother to his twin before giving a cheeky grin.

“Something about going to the market right?” Nate asked. Lisa sighed, rolling her eyes at her son as Mei only groaned and faceplamed.

“Well, at least he was half listening.” Their mother said.

“Sorry mom, I thought it was just more market gossip. And if half the things you hear there are true, well then we’d all have S-.” Mei cut him off with another jab to the ribs and a ‘stop-talking-right-now’ look. Lisa gave a laugh.

“No, what I was saying wasn’t gossip. But you are right about that last part. What I was saying was that an old friend of mine called me on my way back from the market. You remember Aurea Juniper right?” Lisa asked. 

Nate and Mei screwed up their faces in thought, trying to remember the woman their mother had asked about. They nodded after a minute or two.

“Professor Juniper, right? What did she want?” Nate asked, running a hand threw his messy brown hair.

“Well, she wanted to ask me a question about you two actually. But really! The woman has been one of my best friends since we were little kids and then BAM! Fourteen years pass and not a word? Honestly, would it have killed her to say hi once in a while? I mean a letter or a phone call would have been-.”

“MOM GET TO THE POINT!” The twins yelled in unison.

“Oh, right. Sorry you two.” Lisa said, rubbing the back of her head and giving them an apologetic smile. “Anyway, you two really like Pokémon right?” The twins looked at her dumbly, sighing before nodding.

“Well, she wanted to know if you two wanted one to go travel around Unova with on a journey. I told her that you would love one.” Their mother said. Shocked expressions lit up their faces before turning into big smiles, the two jumped up and hugged the woman.

“Oh my Arceus! Thank you so much mom!” Mei said.

“This is so cool!” Nate added.

“Her assistant is already in town. Though she didn’t say where, but she has a green floppy hat and her name is Bianca. You two have better go find her. Good luck and be safe, alright?” Lisa said. The two nodded before grabbing their visors, bags and shoes and heading out the front door.

“So, there’s the beach, the docks, the Pokémon gym and center, the outlook…” Mei said as they walked, counting the places that Bianca could be on her fingers.

 Nate shook his head smiling. He tuned the rest of what his sister was saying out. A couple of music notes drifted into the air, hitting his ears softly. He stopped and looked for the source of the sound. A young girl, around the age of six, was standing at the end of one of the docks, playing a flute. She had brown hair that was held in a high ponytail. The girl wore a pair of black combat boots and a knee length, white, summer dress. A small lillpup danced at her feet as she played. Nate had never seen her around the city before, so who was she?

“Hey, Mr. Slowpoke! Whatcha looking… at. Whoa, she’s really good at playing that flute.” Mei said, following her brothers gaze, having realized that he had stopped.

“Yeah, but who is she?” Nate asked.

Mei shook her head. The girl stopped playing her flute, giving a smile to the small puppy Pokémon. She looked up at the two twins, still smiling and gave them a wave. Still transfixed by the music they had just heard, the two slowly raised their hands and gave a small nod.

“Who are you guys waving to?” A familiar voice asked.

The two spun around, their eyes wide. A smile appeared on their faces as they saw their friend Hyu and his little sister June standing there. Hyu’s Oshawott, Triton, rested on his blue spiky hair.

“That girl that’s playing the flute on the docks over there.” Nate said, jabbing his thumb behind him. Hyu frowned, looking behind the twins to the docks.

“There’s no one there.” He said, frowning deeper. Mei and Nate frowned as well, turning to look behind them.

The little girl was gone.

“That’s weird, she was just there not but a second ago.” Nate muttered, turning back to Hyu and June.

“Where are you guys headed to?” Hyu asked.

“We’re looking for a person named Bianca.” Mei answered.

“She’s wearing a green floppy hat. Have you seen her by any chance?” Her brother asked. The two shook their heads.

“No, sorry.” June said.

“Can’t say that I have either. Why you looking for her?” Hyu asked.

“She’s giving us our starter Pokémon and a pokedex so that we can travel around Unova on a journey!” Mei said, puffing her chest out proudly.

“I’ll help you look. There’s nothing to do here but battle wild Pokémon anyway. I’m getting a bit board with it.” Hyu said.

“Uh… If you guys really do get a Pokémon, take really good care of it alright?” June said, playing with the end of her braided hair. Mei and Nate exchanged looks.

“June.” Mei said, bending down to the little girl’s level. “I promise that we will take very special care of them. Okay?” The brunette said. June’s face lit up in a smile and she nodded.

“Why don’t you head on home. I’ll see you later.” Hyu said as Mei stood back up.

“Okay big brother! Bye you guys!” June said, racing off towards their house. Mei smiled after her.

“She is so adorable!” She said. Nate rolled her eyes.

“Alright, let’s go find that Bianca person.” Hyu said.

“So, why are you helping us again?” Nate asked as they walked around the city looking for Bianca.

“There is something I have to do.” Hyu said, his crimson eyes staring at the ground. “And to do that, I need someone I can trust other than Triton. Someone that isn’t a Pokémon…”

“You trust us?” Mei asked.

“You guys seem to have good instincts. But that is if you are willing to help me out.” Hyu said, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

“Duh! Friends help each other out Quilfish.” Mei said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey look! Floppy green hat ahead!” Nate said, pointing at the outlook.

“I’ll just wait here.” Hyu said as the two raced each other up the stairs.

“It’s so cook up here!” Bianca said, her back turned towards the two twins.

“Excuse us miss.” Nate said. Bianca turned around, a bit surprised as she came face to face with them.

“Oh! Hello! My name is Bianca. I’m looking for a set of twins. Do you happen to know them? Their names are-“

“Mei and Nate?” Nate asked. Bianca looked even more surprised until realization hit her and her mouth fell wide open.

“OHMYGOSH! You’re Mei and Nate! Nice to meet you two!” Bianca said. “Alright, so here are you’re pokedexs.” She handed them each one of the devices.

“And now, you can choose…. Oh, I know they’re in here somewhere, hang on… Oh, there!” The blonde said, digging in her bag and pulling out a tube with three pokeballs in it. “You’re Pokémon! There is Oshawott, the water type.” She pointed to the one on the right.

“Tepig, the fire type.” She pointed to the middle one.

“And last but not least, Snivey, the grass type.” She pointed to the one on the left.

“You pick first sis.” Nate said, gesturing to the pokeballs.

“Uh, okay… I’ll go with…. Snivey!” Mei said, grabbing the one on the left.

“I’ll take tepig then. Thank you so much miss.” Nate said. Bianca smiled, putting the tube back into her bag.

“No problem. And please, call me Bianca, I’m nothing fancy. You can give them nicknames too if you want.” She said as both of them let out their new partner. Snivey blinked his red eyes up at Mei as Tepig let out a sneeze, small flames bursting from his nose.

“Aw! They are so cute! How does Aaron sound?” Mei asked as the snivey jumped up onto her shoulder. He gave a smile and nodded his head.

“Hmmmm…. I’m thinking… Blaze! How does that sound?” Nate asked, picking up Tepig. The small fire type gave a happy cry.

‘I like it a lot!’ He said.

“How long are you planning on keeping me waiting, anyway?” Hyu asked, walking up the stairs. Mei and Nate turned around to face him.

“So, that’s your partner Pokémon then? Huh, they don’t really look that strong.” Hyu muttered. Triton face palmed while Mei and Nate sighed. Their starters yelled angrily.

‘WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEAK?’ Aaron asked.

‘Yeah?! We may be tiny but we’ll show you our strength!’ Blaze yelled.

“Don’t insult them! I know someone that picked a snivey and someone that picked a tepig. I also had a tepig on my original team. All three turned out to be really strong. That day seems so long ago…” Bianca’s voice trailed off and her eyes grew quite sad. A gentle breeze blew past them.

“Sorry I said that. Uh, my sister said it already, but take good care of these guys, you got it?” Hyu said. The twins nodded in unison. Hyu noticed the pokedexs in their hands and turned to Bianca.

“May I have a pokedex as well, please?” He asked.

“Who are you again?” The blonde asked, frowning. Mei and Nate tried not to laugh.

“Hyu. I’m friends with these two clowns. If I have a pokedex I can learn more about Pokémon and then-“Hyu stopped himself before going any further.

“We are not clowns! Just a couple of goof balls.” Nate said, placing his hands on his hips and mimicking his sister’s voice, which only made her laugh harder. Bianca smiled as Hyu only shook his head.

“Alright! I always take an extra pokedex with me where I go. Here.” The blonde said, handing him one of the devices. “Oh, I know! You guys should have a battle! It’s a really great way to get your Pokémon to know and like you better.”

“A battle? Well alright then. Nate, you want to battle?” Hyu asked. Blaze jumped out of Nate’s arms, already pumped to fight the teen.

“Triton, use tackle!”

Hyu returned his fallen Oshawott, frowning deeply. Nate gave Blaze a high five, both smiling happily before picking him up and holding him in his arms.

“Great job Blaze!” Nate said.

“That’s a lot different from battling wild Pokémon. Well then, see you later.” Hyu said, running off towards his house.

“Ummm…. Okay then. Well, bye Bianca and thank you again!” Mei said, the two twins waving as they walked down the steps. Bianca nodded, giving them a smile and waving. Once they were out of sight, she sighed and looked at the ground sadly.

“Now that is never a good thing to see on Bianca Hudson’s face.” A voice said. The blonde looked up in surprise before a smile slowly appeared on her lips.

“Cheren! Wow, you look great as a gym leader!” She said. Cheren smiled, walking over to his girlfriend and longtime best friend.

“So what are you doing in Aspertia city early? You said that you weren’t going to visit until next week.” He said.

“Professor Juniper asked me to give these two teenagers their starter Pokémon today.” Bianca said, turning around and walking to the railing, looking out at the scenery below.

“How long had it been Cheren?” She asked.

“B….” He said.

“How long have they been gone?” She asked again.

“About six years since we last saw them.” Cheren answered.

“Wow… six years. It seems like it was only yesterday that we started our journey. What day is it anyway?” Bianca asked.

“August 8^th.”

“She’d be twenty-four today. And then in four weeks it would be seven years ago that we started our journey. Wow…. Time really passes fast doesn’t it?” Bianca’s voice was soft and quite.

“They will be okay B. You know how much they mean to each other.” Cheren said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I hope your right. Now let’s go get some dinner. I’m Starving!” She said as they walked down the stairs.

Please be safe you two. And come back soon.