Becoming a Hero

[Hikari of Dark Rose]

Becoming a Hero

Chapter 1: Not a Normal Day

By: Dark rose Hikari

A/N: Hi everybody, Hikari here. Just wanted to add a note that this story is loosely based off my team run of Pokémon black but the ending and journey will be somewhat different. I'm posting here because I've found that posting is actually a great way to back up your stories and I wanted to give a Pokémon fic a go. Feedback is allways welcome. Well now that I've left my note, on with the story.


My name is Alymere, please call me Ally most everyone does. I am a Pokémon trainer. I get to battle other people and I, among others, fight to protect the world from Team Plasma… who are they? Well it's a long story. But isn't that why you're here? Well if you will forgive me I can start at the beginning.

See, I wasn't always the trainer I am today. I started just like any other trainer. I lived in Castelia City, the youngest daughter of a family of bakers who had been in business so long our last name actually was Baker. Like most trainers I started my journey on my 10th birthday, why 10? I don't know. But like any other kid that age I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, I never even went anywhere without my softball and catchers glove that way I could build up the muscles I would need to handle Pokéballs.
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It was just past 3am in Castelia City. The City was as quiet as things ever got, with little traffic on the roads and although there were people in the buildings working overnight, most of the city was dreaming away and content to stay that way until dawn. However in one home on the 2nd floor of 48 Park Drive someone's day was just beginning.

An abused brass alarm clock began beating out its morning call, a slight twanging groan in its cries stood testament to many years of service. At first nothing stirred in the room, no shadows moved on the pink walls mostly covered with posters of Pokémon. Then a hand shot out from under a mound of blue blankets and lacy yellow bedspread a top the mattress of an old brass bed. The small hand lifted and then fell heavily in an attempt to silence the clock but missed, eliciting a yelp from its owner. Two more missed smacks did not improve the former sleeper's temper and finally she bolted up right and lunged at the clock, holding the mechanism still until the offending noise stopped.

Slowly the sleeper looked around the room and blinked sleepily, the bangs of her pale lavender hair fell in front of her eyes like the forelock of a Shetland pony. Dressed in only her long white nightgown the girl left the room to get dressed her bare feet navigated the green carpet and avoided the toys and yesterday's clothes that had been left on the floor. Minutes later she came back dressed in dark grey jeans and a purple tunic, with silver lines of trim at the neck and hemlines, two lines of trim on each sleeve one above and below each elbow. As she walked back to the bed the tunic started to slip down one shoulder as it was far too big, the bottom hem actually hanging past her knees brushing the top of her mid-calf boots.

The girl returned to the bed and grabbed a long thick leather belt off one of the posts before she wrapped it twice around her waist and adjusted the slack of the tunic. Sitting on the edge of the bed the girl began to hum quietly as she brushed and plaited her hair into a long braid and just as she finished the door to her room creaked open a couple inches and a pair of crystal blue eyes peeked inside.

"Audino?" A pink and white Pokémon entered the room and began tugging hard on the girl's tunic, this Audino was a child of a pair of Audino belonging to her siblings. It didn't belong to anyone but found life in the bakery pleasant enough to stay. "Aud, di Aud no!"

"Don't worry, 5 minutes late won't matter much" Alymere told the Audino as she patted it on the head. For some reason the little creature had become attached to her and it tried to follow her everywhere she went. The girl got up from the bed as the Pokémon continued urge her to hurry and grabbed a worn catcher's mitt on her way out of the room.

Alymere and the Audino made their way through the dark bakery, sounds of the family's other Pokémon waking up echoed through the room. Outside was a shed with an old Bouffalant dozing in a stall.

"Good morning Taurine." Alymere said softly patting the animal's head, ruffling the curly afro which caused the Bouffalant to make a sleepy grumbling noise in response. Going over to a wall Alymere retrieved a pair of large saddlebags and a halter which she fitted to the large Pokémon. "Come on, lets get this show on the road, or no one will have fresh bread this morning." Gently she tugged on the halter and the elderly Pokémon followed amiably.


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Ah yes, that day when I turned 10 started out like any other day, You see to earn money for my Pokémon journey I helped my parents and siblings by getting up at 'way-to-early-in-the-morning' or as normal people call it, 3am. All to fetch fresh ingredients mostly milk and honey from Driftveil City… yes that's right, Castelia to Driftveil, both ways, in the dark… I got a lot of use out of my pedometer and my town map. But it was halfway to Driftveil that things started to get a little weird that day…
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Ally and the Bouffalant made their way through the city of Nimbassa, the streets were dark and the only light was coming from the Pokémon Musical up ahead. As usual Ally stopped there, letting Bouffalant graze next to the building as she took a minute to study several posters on the walls looking for Pokémon she had never seen before.

"Ready to go, Taurine?" The girl asked walking back to the Pokémon who helped her on her daily route. Taurine actually belonged to her father, but Ally could pretend he was hers and hoped one day soon to have a partner of her own. She was ten after all, a fact Alymere had brought up at dinner the night before. No one had said anything in response, not her parents or her two older siblings, who had all gone on adventures of their own. Taurine bumped the girl's side gently causing her to ruffle his mane again and started walking; he knew the route just as well as she did and he knew it was time for them to get moving. Ally sighed; she supposed she would just keep working and bring it up daily until they were ready to discuss the subject. Alymere pulled a softball out of one of the saddle bags, needing to move her train of thought off her family's lack of enthusiasm for her journey she put on her mitt and began to play catch as they walked.

Neither the Pokémon or the girl was expecting what happened next though, as Ally tossed her ball high a man with thick glasses and a white lab coat came running out of the woods right in front of them. The ball hit him and the man screamed, jumping away and blinking at the girl and her Pokémon as the ball rolled to a stop near his feet.

"You… you're not… one of them?" The man gasped as he caught his breath and his head cleared. "Of course you're not!" He laughed slightly making Ally a little nervous, causing her grip to tighten on Taurine. "Oh! Please, don't be frightened. Here, hold out your hand and you can have your ball back." The scientist picked the ball off the ground and plunked it heavily into her mitt. Ally was in a bit of shock and she didn't notice right away that the weight he placed in her mitt was far too heavy for the ball alone. "Now I'm just going to go this way, don't tell anyone we had this talk, oh! And please take good care of it." With that the man was gone.

"Take good care… of what?" Ally asked herself out loud. She didn't get an answer, at least not yet, but soon found out what the man was running from as three people in white sleeveless tunics over silver armour came running from the forest.

"How could we have let him escape?" One growled angrily looking around, for the missing scientist. "Lord Bronius wanted the entire facility under our command, he will be furious."

"We have freed the Deerling being held there," Another pointed out, "That alone should put young Lord N's mind at ease for a while."

"Besides," The third said, pointing to Alymere and Taurine, "I believe we can make the loss up to him."

Ally clung to Taurine's halter… Who were these people? What did they want with her? The trio of people advanced on the girl, each releasing a Pokémon from a ball on their waists. One looked like a bag of Garbage that had split open, and smelled just as foul as it loomed over the girl. The next wasn't tall, but long, it looked like a fusion of ant and robot. It gnashed it's mandibles at its opponents, eyes glowing red with a hunger for battle. The last was possibly the least threatening but something in its eyes made the young girl shudder, it was only about two feet tall with a gray shrimp like body that seemed to be made of layers of pulsing membranes held in place by a multitude of insectile legs. Atop this column were to muscular arms supporting a yellow head with a spiralled protrusion in back and red stripes down the front.

Taurine stood there eying the three Pokémon with a withering glare. HE had trained with his human on a long journey. HE had practically carried his trainer through the Unova league, and most important of all HE had been entrusted to protect his trainer's child. Taurine turned his head back and pulled at the straps of his pack until Alymere got the message, put her glove away and removed both the bags and the halter. The Bouffalant stepped forward, shaking himself and getting into a battle stance. There was no way he would let these hooligans hurt his little charge not while he still stood, with a ferocious bellow the bull charged forward ramming into the Garbodor with no mercy giving the opposing trainer no time to command the refuse.

"Use Sand Attack Durant!" The next opponent was faster and following the instructions the Durant then kicked up a sand cloud to blind the Bouffalant then skittered away from it. Taurine bellowed again and smoke began pluming from its nostrils soon joined by glowing embers, suddenly the attacking Bouffalant erupted into a fiery aura before trampling the Durant under its hooves with flame charge making this the 2nd aggressive Pokémon defeated.

"You'll pay for this!" Shouted the remaining enemy "Accelgor, beat them with your Acid Spray!" The creature in question fired a massive spray of purple liquid and the whole air filled with a bitter smell. Even though Taurine was hit by the spray the high level he was at plus his relatively weak opponent made the attack almost ineffective. With another murderous roar the Bouffalant rushed in and used an attack called Giga Impact, charging at the Accelgor with every bit of its remaining power.

The strange trainers stared at the Pokémon that was willing to defend a girl who obviously couldn't be its trainer; they gathered their Pokémon and the leader looked to the girl.

"Team Plasma will free all Pokémon from trainers who exploit them" As the knights retreated he glared daggers at both the child and the Pokémon who stood beside her." Enjoy your time together, for it will be brief" and then as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. Taurine growled under his breath then his eyes rolled back in his head as the Bouffalant fainted, it had been well over ten years since he had last battled and the strain took its toll.

"Taurine!" Alymere cried as she rushed forward, catching the creature's head before it hit the ground. Normally she wasn't one to cry but as she clung to her protector Alymere began sobbing into Taurine's mane. After a minute or two Alymere calmed down reaching to her belt, she activated the ball returning the mighty monster to its resting place before shouldering the bags and continuing the trek on foot. Alymere knew the way in the dark and her only thought was that Driftveil had a working Pokémon Center. She barely even noticed that she had made it to the bridge, and was almost all the way across it before she heard a voice calling her name.

"Alley! Alley Baker!" A loud booming Voice with a south-western accent called from the far side. The owner of the voice carried a lamp and Alymere focused on the glow as she began to run toward the voice.

"Mr. Clay!" the girl called as she ran her feet clanging heavily on the bridge, sending flocks of roosting ducklet flying in panic from the reverberation. Had this been a normal day the drip home would have included Alymere stopping to gather fallen feathers… but not today.

"Omphf!" Clay Dalton had long been a friend of the Baker family, ever since he had become gym leader and Alley's mother Anise had been his right hand trainer and assistant. From Clay she had learned how to run a business and when she had married Theodore she had used that knowledge to expand his Family's bakery into the # 1 in Castellia. He had watched all three children grow and was eager to see what sort of trainer Alymere would be, in fact when the youngest of the Baker children failed to show up on time Clay had hauled himself from bed and gone searching. Of all the things he was surprised to see the normally strong willed and level headed girl near tears again as she stumbled into him in the dark, He put his hands on the girl's shoulder and braced her as she told him what had happed. "Easy on there. You say Taurine tuckered himself out after chasin off some varmints? Come on then, I'll raise the bridge then walk you to the Center myself."


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Driftveil Pokécenter
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Nurse Joy was as surprised as Clay had been, Alymere had always been so responsible having her come in with Taurine in such a state was a shock. As Taurine was being treated Clay left to go inspect the laboratory on the next route. Alymere paced the entire time thoughts swirling in her head. Who were Team Plasma? Why were they saying people exploited Pokémon? Nurse Joy came back soon though giving Alley no more time to think.

"Taurine is just fine now Alley." The Pokémon Nurse smiled when she saw the young girl's face light up. "Just try to keep him out of strenuous battles. He is getting a bit on in years" Joy wondered if Alymere even heard her as the girl grabbed the Pokéball, releasing Taurine and nuzzling his head.

"Taurine! I'm so sorry!" Alymere whispered to her friend as she held the large head close. Taurine rolled his eyes and licked the girl to tell her he was ok. He had done his duty and protected her, and now was ready for work again... they had a delivery to do. The Bouffalant reached his head down, lifting the bags and nudging the girl.

" Thank you Nurse Joy, we really have to go now" Alley said as she took the bags and put them back on her Pokémon, before leading Taurine to the market. Apparently word of the incident had gotten around and all the merchants were worried about their favourite frequent customer, all the fuss was a little embarrassing to Alymere but she took it all in stride. It had happened and today's attack was one more reason to get Pokémon of her own in her mind.

"Hello, what's this?" the dairymaid said as she opened one of the bags to fill it with milk. "Alley is this going to be your starting Pokémon?" Alley turned and looked at the woman with a confused expression, in the woman's hands Alymere's mitt but tucked inside next to the softball, was a gray egg with red and black speckling. Slowly the ten year old took the egg and held it in her hands... a Pokémon egg... it must have come from the man with the lab coat.

"Yeah..." Alymere stared at the egg a small smile appearing on her face as she realized just what she held "I guess it is"

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Hey, first off welcome to forum. As I always check these things when I don't have time, I'll come back and read your story. Just wanted to drop in and tell you that I like trainer-fics and enjoy seeing two of them in a short period of time

Until then!

[Hikari of Dark Rose]

Becoming a Hero

Chapter 2: Calm Before a Storm

By: Dark rose Hikari

"No! Absolutely not!" Alymere's father shouted as he slammed his hands down on the table. "You are not going on a Pokémon journey and that's final!" Silence reigned for a moment as everyone present (both humans and Pokémon) looked from Alymere to her father, then back. Anyone who knew the Baker family would tell you the two most stubborn members were the father and youngest daughter.

"But Dad!" Alymere looked up at her father, holding the egg in her lap "Everyone else gets to go on a Pokémon journey at age 10!" The young Audino finished its Pokéfood and crept over to the lavender haired girl, gently latching on to her sleeve for comfort.

"You don't even have a starting Pokémon!" Her father countered staring at his youngest daughter. The attack by Team Plasma on his daughter had shaken him… and now this little Alymere, the child he was closest too, wanted to go out into certain danger and travel alone with almost no protection. "How will you look after yourself?"

"Don't forget you and Mom have been paying me for making the milk runs every week for the past 3 years and I haven't spent so much as one credit of that allowance. I'll be fine as long as I'm careful with my money." Alymere paused then lifted the egg from her lap for everyone to see, "And this will be my first Pokémon once it hatches."

"You don't know anything about it." Mr. Baker retorted back. He didn't trust that egg, why had Team Plasma been chasing the other man for it? Would they come after Alymere if they figured out that she had it? "I don't think you understand just how dangerous this situation is, young lady." Alymere was about to open her mouth to protest that statement and plead her case once more when her mother raised her hand for silence.

"Alymere… Why don't you take your dinner upstairs to your room and finish it while you do some packing?" At first Alymere didn't move trying to figure out why she was being sent from the table. After about a minute of silence she angrily rose from her seat and stormed up the stairs, leaving her plate behind.


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Later
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Theodore Baker and his wife Anise had much to talk about. Theodore sat on their bed while Anise slowly put her long black hair into curlers, both unaware their youngest daughter was outside their door. Alymere had packed her clothes and had been expecting everyone to be asleep by this point, now she was frozen outside her parent's room afraid that the noise of either advancement or retreat would draw their attention.

"You know," Mr. Baker said as he shook his head "I always thought that by the time I saw our third child off on these adventures I would be used to it. But I'm not and this is the hardest one yet."

"If you think about it." His wife countered as her dark brown eyes met her husband's blue through the mirror, "When Arthur left Alymere was just learning to walk, and when Morgan took her turn Ally was just starting the Driftveil milk run on her own, none of this is surprising. You're just suddenly realizing all our kids are growing up and you have nothing to distract yourself anymore." Mr. Baker stared at his wife and chuckled a little.

"You know me better than I know myself, love." Theodore leaned back on the bed gazing at the ceiling with rapt attention. "So… What do we do? Just let her go, knowing Team Plasma might go after her? If she were leaving in a group with some close friends I might be more comfortable… She probably hates me right now."

"You are being way too hard on yourself. The both of you are like a pair of bookends, she doesn't hate you, though if she was half as much trouble as you were at that age I'd be worried about her sneaking out." Outside the room Alymere blushed in the darkness as she hoisted her bags over her shoulder to keep from having to put them down and make noise. "Any how," Anise Baker continued, "She was never the close friends type, she gets along great with Pokémon but not other people… she inherited someone's stubborn need to always win."

"OK ouch." Theodore winced, he and his daughter did match more than he liked to admit, she had his hair, his posture and way of walking, and last but not least his stubborn attitude, "It's a good trait in a Pokémon trainer! It means she won't quit and come home before she's finished growing!"

"Yes but it also means she will press on no matter how dangerous things get… What we need to do is make her compromise." She pointed to her husband who had his mouth open in a decent impression of a Magikarp. "I know that's a foreign concept so pay attention. Elgyem can teleport her to Nuvema Town, She stays there until the egg hatches, then goes on her journey. The Plasma people will be expecting her to start from here in Castelia or over in Nimbassa."

"Assuming Juniper says yes." Theodore began to counter, "….You already called him, didn't you?"

"As soon as I hung up the phone from Clay, yes." Anise grinned as she once again shocked her husband.

"Ok, so you planned all this out… but one thing isn't clear. What part of this is a compromise on her part?" Theodore crossed his arms trying not to look like he was sulking; adult ex-Pokémon trainers did NOT sulk.

"Well she can't start off right away like she wanted." Anise clarified "She has to wait for it to hatch, and Juniper promised to keep her in Nuvema till the hatchling was on par with what is normally given to starting trainers." Anise moved over and lay down next to her husband turning off the bedroom lights. "Now Shhh, lets sleep now so we can outsmart our daughter in the morning if she tries to fight the plan."

Soon both parents were asleep, leaving Alymere standing on the stairs feeling foolish. Here she thought she would have to leave in the middle of the night… but her parents…. Ok her mother, had already planned it all. Sheepishly the 10 year-old girl climbed the back stairs to her room and eased into the bed, dreams of her journey lulling her off to sleep.


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The next morning
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The first sign that that morning was different came when dawn arrived, at first Alymere was confused because she was usually going back to bed at daybreak, then she remembered today was the start of her Pokémon journey. Alright maybe not the actual start, but once she and her parents had their talk she would be leaving home.

The second sign was the youngest Audino clung to the girl like it had been glued in place. Clearly it didn't want her to go without it. Whenever it was forced to relinquish its hold on Alymere it began to cry and sob, volume escalating until the 10 year old was certain it would wake the whole house. This was finally put to a stop by Morgan Baker coming out of her room and capturing the tiny creature in an ultra ball.

Alymere stared at her older sister; Morgan had inherited their mother's Raven hair and shared her brown eyes with Alymere. The only difference was she had inherited some of her facial structure from their paternal grandmother. This made her resemble a face one would see on a stern angel in a renaissance painting and this morning, half asleep and angry; she was scarier than a Garados.

"You!" Morgan shouted pointing at her little sister "Waking the entire house, typical… Mom" Morgan broke off ranting and yawned loudly "Wants you fed, dressed, and packed by the time she gets back from the milk run."

Backing away from Morgan, Alymere began apologizing profusely as her sister slowly retreated back into her bedroom. Once the door was closed the youngest Baker continued down to the kitchen, only to find her brother Arthur sitting there with a large breakfast waiting. Blue eyed and black haired with a smile that made most girls melt Arthur was the friendliest of the Baker offspring, his only fault was that he was a morning person, something that neither Morgan nor Alymere appreciated.

"And there she is, my dearest little sister!" Arthur practically sing-songed as he picked Alymere up into a hug, spun her around, and then began pinching her cheek. "The little baby is all grown up and heading out into the world!" Arthur put his little sister down and gasped theatrically, pretending to cry and wiping his eyes with his apron "I'm so proud!" There was a loud sigh as Arthur's purple Audino, fully used to its trainer's overly dramatic behavior, rolled it's eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be advising me like a good older brother instead of picking on me?" Alymere said as she slid over to the kitchen table and began eating breakfast at a pace only a 10 year old in a hurry was capable of.

"Um, no." Arthur said with a loud laugh as he refilled his sister's plate. "As an older sibling it is my duty to make any major event in your life as embarrassing as possible."

"Will the both of you shut up!" Morgan yelled down from her room "I am trying to get some beauty sleep!"

"It won't help!" Both Arthur and Alymere chorused back before grinning at each other and then Arthur got down to business

"So you want advice?" Arthur began, Ally nodded and waited "Unless you need special medicine or capture balls, avoid the shops." Arthur sensed his sister was about to say something but held up his hand "Listen I haven't seen a potion yet that smelled like something I would actually drink. Bottled water, Soda pop, Lemonade, and Moo Moo Milk are much cheaper than their potion counterparts. Only use them, your Pokémon will thank for it."

"I thought you weren't going to advise me?" Alymere said as she helped herself to a french toast stick from the plate in front of her.

"I wasn't, but if you're going out, I don't want you to be a failure like Morgan." Arthur grinned as he heard a loud angry noise coming from his sister's room; though whether it was her or her liepard that made the noise couldn't be told.

"She didn't fail…" Ally defended her sister "She wants to be a Pokémon musical writer, and is staying at home while interning there."

"She left wanting to be a battler, then a coordinator, and now… whatever you just said." Arthur pointed out "Eventually Mom will put her back on track; maybe send her to visit our family in Hoenn where there are more contests. But that brings me to my last bit of advice. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability and don't give up, reach for the stars and go beyond if you can."

"Wow… that is so corny. I expected that sort of thing from dad." Alymere snickered as she gathered her plate and began washing them in the sink.

"Hey, don't lump me in with the old man!" Arthur said as he ruffled his little sister's hair then handed her a piece of paper. "It's too bad we didn't get to hang out more when you were growing up runt, anyhow there's my transceiver number. If you have any problems or want to check in, call it anytime."

"You won't be saying that if I ring you at 4 in the morning to talk about Rattata or something." Alymere pointed out as she took the paper and copied the number in a phone book and placing that in her bag. "Okay… Bag, check. Transceiver and Pokétech, check. Egg, check. Food, check. Water filter, check. Balls, check." Ally had barely finished going through her supplies list when her parents arrived back from buying milk.

"Arceus, My legs are killing me." Ally's father said as he collapsed in one of the kitchen chairs. "All these years of not walking that far, I forgot how tough that trip is." it was then that he noticed one of the breakfast plates on the table. "Oooh breakfast, Arthur you're a wonder"

"Don't whine in front of the children dear, it sets a bad example." Anise Baker told her husband as she came in the kitchen behind him and removed her goggles and sat gracefully in one of the other empty chairs.

"Alymere, Your father and I wish to apologize for last night." Anise smiled and Theodore nodded. "Truth is… You're our baby and last night we treated you as such instead of talking it out like rational adults." Pausing in her speech Anise scooped a Pokéball from her waist and released a small blue Pokémon, almost two feet tall with black lines on its face, the Pokémon also had glowing green crystal eyes as well as three colored gems in each hand. "Roswell, here will take you to Nuevema Town… All we ask is that you just wait a little while before leaving there."

"You mean until this egg hatches and is able to take down some of the local wildlife?" Ally asked as she hoisted her bag and collected her egg under one arm, it had not seemed close to hatching yet but everything she had read on the subject told the girl that with care and attention that could change at any moment. "I was planning on lying low somewhere anyway… until this whole thing blew over a little… Hey!"

Apparently not wanting to sit through a long series of goodbyes Roswell the Elgyem suddenly grabbed Alymere's hand and in a flash of purple light the 10-year old found herself standing outside of a large house with many windows and a red roof. Next to the door there was a brass plate that read "Professor Cedric Juniper & Aurea Juniper." Ally looked around bewildered for a few moments and realized what had happened turning to the Elgyem to get it to take her back but it was already gone. Alymere blinked a few times wondering what to do before her transceiver rang with a text message.

"Are you in Nuvema? Elgyem just arrived home. Anyway your father and I wish you good luck, the Professor's will be expecting you and please remember to call or we will worry." Glad her parents weren't worried about her Ally texted back that she was fine and knocked on the door to the lab.


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weeks later
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Alymere soon settled in to the pulse of life in Nuvema Town, She often spent her days helping people around town or looking after several young children who lived there. They made her the referee in their games and when she wasn't playing with she could be found walking to the abandoned boat launch at the end of the disused road leading to route 17, Sewing or reading under a large flowering tree behind the lab, or helping the Junipers tend the Pokémon they raised. Wherever she went however one thing never changed, her Pokémon egg was always with her.

"So… what is it going to be anyway?" asked one of the children one warm afternoon.

"Hmmm?" Alymere said as she looked up from a black tunic she was hemming to see a young boy with black hair and glasses, all of 3 years old he wore a white shirt and black overalls under a large blue coat that his older brother had left behind upon starting his own journey. His name was Cheren and he stood there pointing at Alymere's egg. "Oh, sorry Cheren. But I don't know what it will be."

"But why?" Cheren said with a solemn pout as if not knowing something was somehow fundamentally wrong.

"Because it was given to me so I never saw the parents, besides you can't know everything or life loses some of it's mystery" Alymere looked down at the winter tunic she was working on and would probably need before the year was out. As she looked down though Ally saw the egg twitch slightly "though it moves around inside sometimes. So It must be close to hatching, I guess we'll all find out soon enough."

"Can I watch it hatch?" Cheren looked up at Alymere hopefully as he took the older girl's hand and they took a walk down to the boat launch to watch Basculin spar with one another.

"Only if it happens during the day."


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Later
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As it turned out, it didn't happen during the day but rather late that evening. Alymere lay in her bed in the lab curled up around the egg, trying to ignore the sounds of a late spring storm outside. The 10 year old was so distracted by the raging winds outside that she failed to notice faint sounds issuing from inside the egg. Just as the storm was reaching its peak suddenly a loud cracking sound split the air of the room accompanied by a flash of red light, surprised by all this Ally shrieked and tumbled off the bed. More cracking could be heard and then a quiet rasping, just as Alymere calmed herself enough to realize what had just happened a small, red domed helmet and a pair of golden cat-like eyes peered down from the top of the bed.

Rising to her feet Alymere sat on the bed staring at her Pokémon partner. It stood barely over a foot tall and looked like the armor belonging to a doll samurai with a small sharp bladed horn on top of its head, a pair of claws that more resembled daggers in shape, and two slots in its chest from out of which slid a pair of hooked blades.

"Pewh?...Pwawn!" the newly hatched Pokémon was cold and confused it had been warm in the egg and under the blanket… and it could tell this was the being that had watched over its egg, but now as it reached up and asked to be carried did the human look frightened.

'It wants up?... but short of losing a hand… how?' Alymere thought as she stared. Finally the little creature grabbed her wrist, careful not to use the sharp edges, and placed the hand to its one of its chest blades which retracted at the slightest pressure. Realizing she wouldn't be cut Ally scooped the newborn Pokémon into her arms, cuddling it close and humming a lullaby as the storm outside continued to rage.

[Hikari of Dark Rose]

Becoming a Hero

Chapter 3: Dreams & Dangers

By: HikariofDarkRose

A/N: ok so last chapter was pretty much all filler… important filler but filler none the less. In this chap we do get back to the plot, so hope you enjoy reading and remember feedback is always welcome.


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Alymere found herself in a strange place. A golden castle in the center of a golden city, it was beautiful and slightly familiar but also incredibly creepy for as Ally walked from room to room through gardens and courtyards, even a kitchen, the entire place was empty. Ally continuously heard voices in the rooms ahead and every time she swung open a door she expected to find someone who would tell her where she was… but then there would just be another empty space, silent as a tomb and Alymere suddenly couldn't convince herself that anyone else had been here in a long, long time, until she would hear the next set of voices. Finally it came down to one last door; Ally took a deep breath and pushed a large pair of double doors open. Inside the entire floor was pitch black, except for a long carpet of silver and gold leading to a golden throne.


On the throne was a sleeping princess, she wore a silver and white wraparound dress with a swirled pattern of black in it. The same edges and whorls could also be seen in a delicate white glass circlet that glittered amongst her pale lavender hair. Slowly Ally approached the throne not even noticing the black shifting and spreading around the room, until standing near the feet of the princess, she and Alymere were the only thing left. Ally reached her hand out and the princess who had been slumped forward grabbed her wrist and lifted her head. Upon her face was an expressionless silver mask and deep in her chest was a silver dagger. Alymere fell back trying not to scream and in the same instant the princess was replaced by a glowing dragon with shining blue eyes.


Ally stared at the giant Pokémon before her its body looked white, but not like any white Alymere had seen before, more like the white from the tail of a shooting star. Burning sapphire eyes sat in a fox like face atop a swanlike neck. The girl and the dragon stared at one another for a long silent moment, and then a soundless voice echoed from the dragon.


"You must hurry and walk my path little one, another is coming and he will not like to see you." The dragon looked far to its left and in the distance Alymere could see something in the distance coming closer. She stood there and stared, trying to make out the shapes she was seeing. They looked like a pair of eyes one made of purple smoke and another made out of a sickly brown yellow but both glaring with glowing red irises, floating above the eyes was a tarnished gold crown a luminescent lapis stone set in each crenellation. "Follow the path… but beware HIM, little one, when you find me we will speak again."

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It was then Ally woke, morning sunlight streaming in through the window, Pidove cooing to welcome the sun's return after last night's storm. Lifting her head Alymere looked around the room trying to remember where she was until the movement of the tiny Pokémon on her stomach made her remember. Last night her egg had hatched; now she could officially be called a Pokémon trainer. Slowly the girl nudged her new companion awake and the Pawniard lifted its head and yawned at its trainer.


'Was all that… just a dream?' Alymere asked herself as she patted her Pokémon on the back. The pair lay on the bed getting to know one another as Ally talked to the little creature and even came up with a nickname for it, eventually however loud clanging noise and bickering voices told Ally she was no longer the only human awake.


"Alright Caliburn, let's go down and get some breakfast." The Pawniard grinned when its trainer mentioned food and clambered up to sit on Alymere's shoulder.


Down in the kitchen both Junipers stood arguing over the day's menu. Ally made her way over to the table, preparing to wait with her opinion until the fireworks died down. It was unfortunate that she never got the chance however as one of Juniper's aids ran into the kitchen.


"Professor! Professor!" The aid stopped, bending over and panting with his hands braced on his knees. "Team Plasma… they are planning on giving one of their demonstrations. I tried to tell them they had to clear things with you in advance but they ignored me." Cedric Juniper looked around the table and sighed.


"Well, it looks like breakfast will have to be put on hold. Ally, I want you to stay inside the lab till I give you the all clear." With that Professor Juniper rose from the table and began making his way to the door.


"Dad… you don't really think these people are dangerous, do you?" Aurea asked her father with a worried tone. Sure different people had different beliefs but such differences rarely resulted in violence, surely.


"I don't know… Before Ally joined us I would have said no… but with the attack on her plus a whole Laboratory of people suddenly missing, even though Plasma denies involvement, I don't know what to believe anymore." Cedric left the room and Aurea looked to Alymere.


"Well you heard Dad, stay here… look after your Pawniard." Aurea, the younger Professor grabbed the assistant and began pushing him out the door after her father "Come on we'd better go watch this."


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Plasma
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'Nuvema Town…' Thought Ghetsis as he stood on a platform watching the grunts set the stage for his speech. 'It is the place where most young trainers come sooner or later to receive a Pokédex… it is the perfect place to spread our word.' Of course Team Plasma had come to town for more than that but Ghetsis wasn't going to dwell on phase two, no his job was to complete phase one: conduct a speech about the freedom and rights of Pokémon, the reputation of Team Plasma had to be restored.


Meanwhile two agents dressed as ordinary criminals were hiding in the woods, preparing to invade the laboratory and confiscate all the Pokémon inside. Eventually all was ready and Ghetsis began to speak to slowly assembling crowd, at the same moment the pair of behind the building pried a window on the ground floor open and hoisted themselves in.



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Meanwhile
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Alymere had climbed up into the attic of Professor Juniper's Lab. The first floor was the kitchen, all the research labs, and equipment suites. The second floor was where the bedrooms and Pokémon kennels were kept but the third floor was the attic, nothing but storage boxes practically glued together with dust and cobwebs forming a strange labyrinth that only a child could properly navigate. Alymere and Caliburn both easily fit into that size parameter and stood hunkered next to a large window facing out toward the rest of town to watch the action.


"Those guys are wearing the same outfits as the ones who were after you, but we're too far away so I can't see their faces." Ally told her Pokémon as the pair watched the knights and… Alymere felt the blood freeze in her veins as she watched the person speaking to the crowd, on his clothes where the eyes from her dream! And as soon as that thought registered in her mind the weird collar thing around his shoulders suddenly was a dead ringer for the lapis and gold crown… Ally stared out the window just barely managing to dodge out of sight when Ghetsis cast a look in her direction.


CRASH! The sudden noise from downstairs broke Ally out of the spell she was in, what was going on? She should be the only person in the building, yet it sounded like someone had just walked into a table in one of the equipment suites. Alymere picked up Caliburn and crept down to the first floor landing to see if she could catch a glimpse of what was going on.


"You idiot! Do you want the whole town to know we're here? Be careful!" Ally heard the hushed angry whisper. She put Caliburn down on the landing behind her and crept closer, hugging to the wall as she went.


"Why do we have to be so careful? We are the only ones in here and the boss is good with the public… no one will know we're here until we have all the Pokémon and are on our way." Alymere paled as she heard the plan. They wanted the Professor's Pokémon? Most were housed in the kennel upstairs and Ally knew she couldn't round them all up before these two found their way up there. Then an idea came to Ally just past this room was Professor Juniper's office and Aurea's Office was on the second floor, next to the kennel. There were two key cards that could be used to lockdown the kennel. If Aly was quick and quiet she knew she could sneak past the door while the pair of thieves argued. With one card she could lock the room and if she took the other as well then no one could unlock it, not without at least one of the cards. Barely daring to breathe, Ally eased herself off the last step and onto the floor pausing only for a second before darting past the open doors of the lab suite and into Juniper's office.


Caliburn stood watching his trainer from where she had put him, he didn't understand the shouting humans but they didn't seem to be too big a threat… in fact, he decided as Ally made her dash past the door, Caliburn himself would route these two and perhaps someone would finally feed him! To be honest the little Pokémon was almost insulted that that task had not been the first thing done.


"Pawn… Pawnard!" The little Pokémon growl as he stomped into the room with the two intruders threatening them with a horrible gruesome demise for delaying his breakfast and morning nap.


Alymere had just lifted the key card off its peg when she heard Caliburn's voice in the next room over… she had left the little Pawniard on the landing, but it must have left to challenge the intruders. "Oh Arceus…" Judging by the lack of sound the robbers hadn't noticed Caliburn yet, Ally looked around trying to find something she could use. Her eye settled on a tray, various Pokéballs sat neatly lined up in 6 rows, Cedric Juniper had set them aside so Ally could officially catch Caliburn after breakfast… but apparently the time was now. Alymere scanned the tray desperately with her eyes as she tried to remember which ball was which, just yesterday she had been able to name them all and list off their effects on how they improved the odds on a successful capture, why couldn't she remember a single thing now?


'Come on Ally, Concentrate! You need a Nest Ball, come on.' Ally was just about to give up and run out there when an image of the green and brown ball popped into her head. With a stifled cry of triumph Ally grabbed the correct ball and dove out the door throwing the ball just as the would be criminals saw the dark type practically at their feet.


"Hey… what is that?" the robber asked his partner just as the nest ball hit Caliburn in the back of his helmet, encasing the Pokémon in light and drawing it into the ball. The ball twitched and rocked a couple times but locked and sealed with a chime. The nearest thief made a lunge to grab at the device but the recall function activated and the green and brown ball leapt back into Alymere's waiting hand. "Hey, look Bill. It's a kid."


"I see that stupid, go after her! We can't leave any witnesses." As soon as Bill said those words he winced because Ally slipped the shrunken ball into a pouch on her waist and bolted from her spot making a mad dash for the stairs with both criminals in close pursuit. Ally tried everything she could think of to buy time for herself time the adult men pursuing her had a longer stride and were closing the gap between themselves and their quarry with surprising swiftness. Ally clung to the curve of the stairs and used the post to push herself through it quicker, in the hallway at the top there was a book shelf and without thinking Alymere pulled it down. That bought a few more seconds…


Running to the door of the kennel room Ally swiped the key card through the reader and a yellow light came on next to two buttons. Pressing the green button would open the door, But Ally slammed her hand down on the red one which caused it to lock tight and not open until the one of the keys was swiped again.


"Hurry up Jack!" Bill shouted at his partner as he tried to climb the fallen shelf. What was the girl up too? He watched her do something to the door and the yellow light blinking to red gave him a sinking feeling that was confirmed by a loud click as the locks on the kennel slid in place. Cursing, Bill stormed toward the girl who retreated to another room down the hall. "Stay there Jack, She will have to come back that way."


'This is bad… how long can that demonstration outside last and more importantly how long can I keep ahead of these two?' Ally thought as she grabbed the spare key card off a hook in the wall, she was slipping it into the pouch with Caliburn's ball and the other key when the floor outside the door creaked. Alymere stifled a yelp and hid under the desk in Aurea's Office. 'That's the only way out…' She held her breath as the door opened, one of the intruders entered the room and began to approach the desk, searching for her. Alymere quickly realized the man wasn't going to go away on his own, he knew she was in this room and it was only a matter of time until he found her. She closed her eyes and inhaled, trying to restart her stalled mind and think of a way out. And then it hit her, in the air, there was a sweet smell in the office… at first Ally couldn't place it but a second breath brought it back. 'Miss Aurea keeps a bottle of perfume in her desk…it sprays out as foam.' Slowly and gently Alymere eased the bottom drawer open, fishing around until her hands landed on the cold bottle of perfume.


"I got you now." Bill said as he rounded the desk and saw the little girl hiding underneath it, "So sorry little lady but I have my orders and there can't be any witnesses to say otherwise." Bill began reaching to grab the girl not really looking forward to having to hurt her, Bill however never got that far as Ally whipped out the spray bottle and shot him right in the face spray, the liquid quickly foamed and clung to his mouth and eyes causing him to stumble away choking and screaming.


Alymere wasted no time as soon as Bill was distracted the girl climbed to her feet, ran around the far side of the desk and out into the hall only to see the other intruder was blocking the stairs both to the ground floor and to the attic. Hearing his partner scream and seeing the girl emerge from the room Jack began trying to climb over the bookshelf to grab her and aid Bill. Ally, realizing she had little time, retreated back to the end of the hall, still looking for any means to escape. All she found was window at the far end, big enough for her to squeeze through with a clothes line running from just above it to a five foot high pole standing in the yard.


'I can't believe I'm about to do this' Ally thought as she slipped off her belt and pulled her pouch over her head, she opened the window and for a second froze, starring at how far she would drop if this didn't work. However before she got time to lose her nerve Ally heard the loud crashing noise of the final intruder shoving the bookshelf aside and now storming toward her. With a final gulp of nervousness Alymere looped the belt in her hand over the clothes line, and even as she was desperately praying it could hold her weight pushed herself out the window, gravity pulling her down the line much faster than she would have liked. She was almost to the pole when Ally's worst fears became real and the clothesline broke with a creak and a snap that sent Ally plummeting straight to the ground. The lavender haired girl landed on her side and momentum rolled her into the pole, as Alymere got her wind back she thanked whatever was looking out for her that it had only been a short drop.


Jack growled as he started out the window, he couldn't follow the child down the line he couldn't even fit out the window. It was then Bill emerged from the office having just managed to wash the perfume foam off his face, though his eyes were still red and sore.


"What are you doing, where did she go?" Bill asked Jack as he looked around and noted the girl was nowhere in sight.


"Out there." Jack said pointing out the window and Bill could now see the form of the girl making its way toward some trees.


"She's going to take cover in the trees, then rejoin the crowd out front. Come on if we go out the front we can cut her off." Bill grabbed Jack's arm and dragged his partner toward the front door. Outside Alymere had reached the trees and was starting to make her way toward the crowd when she saw the two intruders from inside coming toward her.


"Professor Juniper!" Ally called out into the crowd, but no one reacted. The only person who even noticed she had shouted was the speaker he looked up, saw the girl and blinked several times, still he kept talking and the crowd remained hanging on his every word. The men from the lab were still coming closer and Ally, realizing she wouldn't get help in time, bolted back through the trees heading toward the old boat launch. The run seemed to take forever and if Ally hadn't been in such good shape from her milk runs she was sure the men would have caught her right away. Finally however the old rickety building came into sight and Ally darted inside slowly crouching on the far side of the furthest dock, trying to cut the number of ripples she made to a minimum. Several Basculin swam over to check out the disturbance but quickly dismissed Alymere since she came down almost every day and often brought food.


"She in there?" Jack said nervously from outside as Bill entered the building, they were already in trouble and would have to explain themselves to Ghetsis since the girl had tried to interrupt the demonstration. However if they brought the girl into custody they could avoid the worst of the boss's temper.


"I saw her come in." Bill snapped at Jack he was thinking much along the same lines as his partner as he began going from dock to dock. Ally realized they were actually going to search the boat house and eased herself deeper into the water, very glad Pokéballs were water proof so she didn't have to worry about Caliburn. The Basculin were distressed by this variation from the plan and gave Alymere a few warning nips to her clothes as the girl moved under one of the docks toward a bubble of air that formed there. Bill got to the end of the walk and noted the circling fish Pokémon with a grin, the girl must have gone under the water. Bill walked out to where they Pokémon were concentrated. Grabbed the side of the dock and stuck his head and arm under the water in an attempt to grab her.



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Nuvema Town
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Ghetsis was secretly angry, he didn't know how those two had screwed up their mission, but things were starting to unravel fast. Alymere had drawn more attention than she had thought mainly from a pair of children in town. One boy with black hair and a oversized blue jacket and another in a green dress and hat with blonde hair. Now the pair were fussing, the older girl had come around needing help and had been ignored so the other two children began pulling at their parent's and the professor's clothes, whining, demanding attention, and getting louder by the minute. Ghetsis may have been able to hold a crowds attention through minor distractions but the adult human was hard wired to pay attention to small children, soon the leader of Team Plasma found his control slipping. Giving up he closed his speech and finished the demonstration, he and the other Plasmas with him leaving as quickly as possible.



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The boat house
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Jack stood outside guarding the door until Bill began to scream, when that happened he rushed inside to aid his friend, so focused on Bill he didn't even notice Alymere swim out the partially submerged entrance. Ally kept under water for as far as she could eventually surfacing for air she pulled herself to shore and collapsed on the bank as the adrenaline rush that had been sustaining her failed, this combined with last night's disturbed sleep and not having eaten much within the last 16 hours caused Ally to pass out, not even having properly pulled herself out of the water.


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Nuvema Town (hours later)
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"I don't understand it… What could have happened here?" Aurea said as she and the aids began cleaning up the mess the lab was in. Several rooms were trashed (her office being one of them), the Pokémon kennel was under lockdown, and apparently no one had noticed a thing.


"Aurea…" Cedric Juniper called to his daughter as he made his way down the stairs from the attic. "Is Alymere down there with you? I've looked all over the building and I can't find her."


"No Dad I haven't seen her." Aurea said with a face-palm, part of her not in the least surprised the energetic girl would be part of this chaos.


"Professors!" One of the aids shouted as he ran up to the Junipers. "We've cleaned up the security camera footage… Can you come with me?" When both Professors nodded the aid led them to bank of screens in a security room, there from several different angles; they reviewed the events of earlier that day.


"Well at least we know why the kennel is locked," Cedric muttered to himself "But why didn't Alymere come to us when she escaped?" It was then that the phone began to ring and Cedric answered it without missing a beat.


"Hello, Professor Juniper speaking. Ah Matilda! … Well I'm afraid there was a spot of trouble, it seems a pair of vandals broke into the lab …" Cedric's eyes went wide and he turned around to take a look at the pair of men on his screen. "Yes Millie, that's a perfect description of them … Is Ally with you? ... No, but Sarah is? … Well thats nice, but without talking to Ally how?…" Aurea and the aids leaned forward trying to catch as much of the conversation as possible "Wait… your children saw them, when? You're telling me she came outside and yelled for me, and no one but your son and Sarah's daughter noticed? ...in the woods … No I'm going to look on my own ... since it's already getting late… if I can't find her we will start searching at first light. Ally has a Pokémon with her and she's a smart girl. She will turn up."


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In the woods
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Alymere woke up in the woods with something rough lapping her face. Slowly Ally opened her eyes to find herself staring into the black eyes of a wild Lillipup. The tiny dog Pokémon wagged its tail when it noticed she was awake, licked her cheek once again and burrowed up against the point where her neck and shoulder met for warmth, settling in with a sigh louder than an animal of that size should make.


"Aggh, My head… " Alymere mumbled as she pulled herself all the way out of the water, night was falling and Ally guessed it to be somewhere about 8 o'clock. As she stood up a gust of wind hit the girl and she began to shiver, the small Pokémon clinging to her shoulder a welcome spot of warmth. At first Alymere was confused about where she was but then felt the pouch around her neck shift and it all came back, reaching into her pouch Ally pulled the nest ball that held Caliburn out and released the tiny Pawniard.


"Paaaaard." the black and red Pokémon growled as it glared at its trainer, then turned its back to the girl. It had been about to show those intruders who was boss and she interrupted the fight!


"Are you alright, Caliburn?" Ally asked her partner with a shaky voice and Pawniard, who was all set to snub his trainer for the rest of eternity took a closer look. She stood there panting, bruised, and scratched, feeling a little guilty Caliburn slowly walked to Alymere and gently held on to one hand, tugging slightly toward a road that could be seen through gaps in the trees. "Right… back to the lab." Ally reached up and scratched the little dog on her shoulder.


"You want to come along? I don't have any Pokéballs with me but I'll get some tomorrow." The puppy Pokémon shook its head and jumped down, scratching its paws along the ground. Ally stood staring at the small animal before what it was trying to tell her kicked in. "You want to wait here till tomorrow and we can have a proper battle about it?" The puppy eagerly barked and Alymere nodded. "Alright, see you tomorrow Lillipup." Waving goodbye Ally gave in to Caliburn's urging and allowed herself to be led to the path.


At his lab Professor Juniper was just leaving to search for Alymere once again. Night was getting thicker and even with a flashlight Cedric was doubtful of his chances at finding the lost girl but he had to try. If he didn't the whole town would search tomorrow… but what would he tell her parents in the meantime? Anise called her daughter faithfully every 3 days and in 2 hours if Ally wasn't found he would have to tell one of his oldest friends that he had managed to lose her youngest child Cedric sighed and pulled on his coat, one more search that was all he could do. The elder man turned the corner of the building and began trekking towards the woods only to stop short, starring. Alymere and Pawniard were standing on the path in front of him, the Pokémon looked alright but Ally was a bit of a mess. As the pair saw him they waved and Cedric returned the gesture as he approached.


"Hey Professor … am I late for dinner?" Ally said with a weak smile as both her and Pawniard's stomach growled at the mention of food.