Chapter 1

*A veil of black and white drops over everything before a TV appears in the middle distance.*

"Leah....LEAH can you hear me?"

I can't make out anything on the TV but a strange jingle is playing. I recognize the tune but can't quite place the name.

Suddenly I awake on my rented bed at the top of the Pokemon Center in Pewter City. That was a strange dream.

I got up and followed my usual morning ritual of showering, brushing my teeth and getting dressed. It was snowing as it often did this time of year so I chose a white wooly jumper with black insulated, water proof leggings, heavy walking boots and a light blue windproof jacket. On my brown leather belt was a pouch with my six pokeballs and my cellular phone, as well as my flashlight and map of Kanto.

After thanking the nurse for her hospitality and lodgings I left the Pokecenter and headed east towards the next town.

My head was still spinning from that crazy dream but I was determined to regain my memory.

As I headed down Route 3 the snow was settling down, though there was a thin layer spread across the ground.

Suddenly I got dizzy again and I could hear that familiar jingle again as a vivid image of a fuzzy tv screen flashed in my minds eye.

A voice snapped me out of the vivid hallucination.

"HEY. I see your Pokeballs there, let's battle!"

A young boy called out to me. Of course, this pretty much meant I had to battle, as I had learned very quickly since I lost my memory.

"Jeez..if you insist." I replied,

I reached into my pouch and pulled out the Pokeball with a water drop sticker on the front. A way of remembering which Pokeball contained which of my Pokemon as the amnesia made it hard to remember.

"Go, Croconaw." I called out pressing the button and releasing the Pokemon into the snowy battlefield. He looked back at me full of attitude and confidence. He seemed to trust me, it made me feel bad that I could barely remember him.

The young boy sent out his own Pokemon, a well developed Metapod with a determined look in his eyes.

"Don't underestimate us girly!" the young boy heckled, sticking his tongue out.

>CROCONAW (Leah) vs METAPOD (James the young trainer)

"I won't..." I said back tentatively. I was more nervous about my own skills more than I was worried about his.

"Croconaw, use Hydro Pump!"

My Croconaw looked surprised for a second before growling at me and leaping forward and attacking the bug Pokemon with a powerful Crunch attack. Oops. It obviously hadn't learned Hydro Pump yet. I felt really stupid.

The boy made it worse.

"HAH. Did you buy this Pokemon from another trainer? What kind of trainer doesn't know their own Pokemon's moves? Metapod! Use harden!"

The Metapod glistened like steel as Croconaw kept biting down with his Crunch. It didn't seem to be that effective.

I couldn't get the jingle I heard earlier out of my head. It was so distracting. Suddenly my memory was jolted.

"Oh! Croconaw use Rock Slide!"

The Pokemon smirked back at me as a glint swept across his eyes. He pounded his claw into the ground sending a wave of rocks hurtling towards the Metapod, crashing into it for super effective damage.

The Metapod fell onto its side and fainted. The boy was obviously annoyed.

"Urgh!! Metapod!!" He returned the Pokemon and glared at me angrily.

"Bully!"

He stomped off towards the Pokemon center. I walked up to Croconaw and happily petted his head.

"I'm sorry I can't remember. I'm really trying."

It growled happily before I returned it to its Pokeball and continued on my way to Mount Moon

"Leah..Leah when are you coming back to us?"

*A familiar jingles plays in the background*

I awoke startled. That same dream again. That's right..I had taken a short nap inside Mount Moon. I was lost in one of the maze like caverns beneath the mountain, trying to find my way out.

My Pokemon were tired. I was tired. I got up and stretched my legs and took a sip of water from my flask.

"Onwards we go I suppose..."

I was still a little on edge from my dream. I saw a fire ahead and silently hoped that it wasn't another trainer, my Pokemon were pretty tired.

A friendly looking hiker sat at the fire.

"AHOY!"

He called out to me in a bellowing voice.

"Hey trainer! you look tired. FAHAHA!! You know these mountains aren't for the uninitiated."

"Um..yeah, I am a little tired" I noticed the stew he was boiling over the fire and salivated a little."

He caught me looking and looked up at me with a big honest grin.

"Well, take a load off lass. You can eat with me if you like! My name's Izah by the way."

He patted the log next to him gesturing for me to sit down.

"Sure..thank you very much."

I sat down slowly and let my backpack fall by my side. Izah seemed nice. He was huge and chubby with a large black beard and small narrow eyes. His face was rough, but friendly.

"I tell you lass. These mountains are rough on new trainers. I've spent my life traversing them with my Pokemon searching for something. I'm not quite sure what that something IS yet, but I know I haven't found it. FAHAHAHA!!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at his boisterous laugh and the way he was so open with me.

"I understand...I don't know what I'm searching for either.."

I said, staring into the flames. The damp blackness around us shrunk away from the flickering heat of the fire and stew.

"Ohhhh~?"

He smiled at me.

"Then we have something in common!! Well I tell you what lass, why don't you and I travel together until we make it out of this hellish mountain?"

*Leah and the Hiker travelled together for what seemed like hours. He showed her the best routes and even where to find a few interesting items. Finally they arrived at the end of Mt.Moon.*

"So this here is the exit. Continue straight ahead and you'll come out near Cerulean City. I hope you find what you're looking for there. Oh! Before I go take my number. If you're ever in a pinch give me a call!!"

I thanked Izah deeply. He was the nicest man I had met since my amnesia and I was deeply touched that he would help me out so selflessly.

After parting ways I continued on past a patch of tall grass. A trainer was watching me from some bushes but I pretended not to notice.

"Hey sexy!"

The man called out. He looked to be about mid 40s, overweight and greasy. He had big spectacles on and a stained white shirt.

"What say you we engage in a Pokemon battle? If I win...we go on a date!"

The man squeeled at me.

"Um...I don't want a boyfriend. I will battle you though."

I was trying to hide how repulsed I was but I feel like I wasn't doing a great job. None the less it would be a good chance to shake off the cobwebs I gathered trudging through Mt. Moon, and Izah the hiker was kind enough to help me catch a strong Pokemon down in the depths of the mountain.

I fumbled around my pouch for the Pokeball with a sticker of Izah's smiling face on the front..I still found it strange how he just had that laying around.

I tossed the ball out and summoned my new friend.

"Go! Onix!"

The man opposite me crinkled his nose and chuckled, causing his flabby body to shake grotesquely.

"Onix..all show and no strength! Try out my partner..."

He tossed his own ball and a Kirlia appeared infront of him.

>ONIX (Leah) vs KIRLIA (Pokenerd)

I hadn't seen a Kirlia before being a native to Kanto, but this guy had obviously travelled to Hoenn to catch this particular Pokemon. My newly caught Onix was a giant. Even Izah said it was one of the biggest he had ever seen.

"Okay Onix. I know we've just met but let's see what we can do together, okay?"

The Onix roared back with his eyes sternly fixed on the Kirlia. The Pokenerd sniggered and wiped his nose with the palm of his hand.

"Kirlia use Psychic, my sweet!"

The Kirlia almost looked as if she rolled her eyes before a purple glow emanated from her being and a bolt of energy shot out at Onix.

"Onix, dig!"

He was fast. Onix smashed into the ground with his head and tunneled below the earth completely avoiding the Kirlia's attack. The Pokenerd wasn't impressed.

"Damn it. Kirlia, use Future Sight to see where he'll pop out and blast him with Psychic!"

I wanted to warn Onix but what could I do? This was the power of Psychic type Pokemon. I could feel the black fog raising in my head again, my head started to feel dizzy. My eyes fell onto Onix's pokeball and caught the sticker with Izah's face on it. His kind words and actions flooded back to my memory and helped me to relax.

"Right...Onix! I don't know if you can hear me but...DON'T COME UP!! Stay down there and Earthquake!"

I didn't hear a sound. The next few seconds passed in what felt like an eternity. Then suddenly the earth shook. Rocks came flying out of the ground and great fissures opened up around the Kirlia. The Pokenerd fell backwards from the vibrations.

"Noo! Kirlia why didn't you predict this?!"

He fell back on his rump with a dull thud as the bottom of his stomach protruded from the obviously too small anime themed t-shirt he was wearing.

"Return Kirlia!!"

Onix came out of the ground a second later and towered over me smiling. He was roaring triumphantly before bending down and nuzzling his stone head against my hands gently. He was cold but I could feel the warmth radiating from the giant Pokemon.

"Well done Onix. Thank you so much."

I tapped the Pokeball and he shot back inside, I looked at the sticker of Izah briefly feeling immense gratitude and hoped I would see him again one day.

"Good battle. Using Future Sight like that was very impressive. Better luck next time, okay?"

I offered him my hand. It was a good battle after-all, I had no hard feelings about his rude remarks.

"Oh shut-up! you're just gloating because you won!" He bellowed at me. "Next time i'll smash you and your rubbish Pokemon you girl trainer! By the way, my name is Emmet! REMEMBER IT!"

With that he stormed off, angrily shoving Kirlia's Pokeball into his sack and pulling out a back of cookies. I laughed a little to myself. Although he was rude, smelly and not much to look at, he was kind of entertaining. I put Onix's Pokeball into the pouch on my belt and headed back along the road to Cerulean City.