Hello Readers and Pokémon Lovers. I am very excited to release the first chapter of my new fanfiction! I've put a lot of thought and energy into this fanfiction and have several chapters already rolled out and typed up. I have every intention of making this the best fanfiction it can be, and what's a fanfiction without its audience? I've created a neat little companion blog for everyone who wants to get deeper into my head and the heads of the characters. I'm going to put up some of my concept art, character profiles, even an ask-a-character page!

You can check out my profile to find the link to my website.

That's as far as my introduction will go, though I have a lot more to say. I don't want to clutter my first chapter with an introduction to the series, so please check out that blog!

Now, enjoy!

Episode Zero

Part One

The day my life totally changed began fairly normally. I woke up at dawn, just as faint blue light filtered into my room. I spent the first four minutes of my morning getting ready for the day by brushing my teeth and hair and throwing on a shirt and jeans. I ate my usual toast with Pecha berry jam and a glass of Moo-Moo Milk, then I headed out the door, an umbrella in hand—because you can never know when it will rain. As I walked down the street I put my hat on to help my already applied SPF 100 sunscreen protect me from the harsh sunlight, which was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Then I checked my bag for the usual, making sure I didn't forget anything. Extra toothpaste and a toothbrush in case I wanted something garlicky for lunch, a little first aid kit—cuz you just never know—sanitizer, extra sunscreen for reapplication, a packet of hair ties, extra socks and a rollup pair of flats, and finally lose money in a wallet with a single picture of myself and the most important people in the world to me, my best friend Tris, and my brother Jared.

Jared smiled at me through the plastic casing, encouraging me to get through my day. I nodded and smiled, promising I would. I missed my brother these days. He got a job just a route over in a place called Sandgem Town. He worked with the esteemed Professor Rowan as an assistant. Jared wanted to become a Pokémon breeder specializing in steel Pokémon. He worked a lot these days, and was often out adventuring around the world to help Professor Rowan. There was a time or two when I considered visiting him myself but then I remembered I wouldn't get very far.

You see, I don't like Pokémon. I'm actually absolutely terrified of them. I'm an anomaly. Most people deal with Pokémon on a daily basis, my goal in life is to avoid them. It makes it even more of a conundrum when my whole family works closely with Pokémon. My brother traveled many of his young years as a Pokémon trainer, battling and adventuring, my mother worked the majority of her life as an assistant to Nurse Joy in Sandgem Town's Pokémon Center after she reached her dream of becoming an esteemed coordinator in the Sinnoh Region, and my Granny was a former Pokémon Champion of the Sinnoh Region.

My mom tells me she's not sure when my aversion to Pokémon started, but she noticed at a very young age I would avoid anything and everything Pokémon. As I got older I became worse. My Poképhobia advanced so far that I was once reduced to a blubbering shaking creature when I was cornered by a well-meaning Chansey. In the past year I've been able to overcome some hurdles of my phobia. Now I can be across the room from a Pokémon with only minor loss of breathe, sweaty palms, and a mild case of the jitters.

It's not the Pokémon's fault. I just have an irrational fear of them. I've never experienced any traumatic involvement in which a Pokémon shocked me with electricity or squirted me with water. I'm just odd. Do I wish I could be in the same room with a Pokémon and not freak? Of course. Do I wish I could have a friendship with one of them? Hell yeah. Do I wish I wasn't picked on because of my strange fear? More than anything.

But my life is how it is, and I can't exactly change it. So I walked on ahead to work, putting my musings behind me.

The bakery was a simple place. Lots of light, a little area for customers to enjoy coffee and pastries, and a large enough baking area for my boss, his two kids, and myself, to comfortably work in. But I definitely had to admit, Four Cakes was quite a bit grungy. The lights on the ceiling were foggy, the lights in the display cases no longer worked, the oven was at least fifty years old, and the walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint. And yet it was close to a sanctuary to me. Four Cakes was the only business in town that did not have Pokémon working alongside the customers. Occasionally a Pokémon would walk in with a customer and I would take care to hide in the back room until my boss took care of them. Later I would reappear like a Ditto coming out of his hole—which, I suppose, isn't the best analogy considering.

Right now though, we'd not yet opened. I was prepping the shop while Dan, my boss, was out to get some of the extra supplies we needed. I busied myself with the bread, sliding the already baked loaves out of the dinosaur oven and placing them in baskets on the shelves behind the counter. The smell of fresh baked bread is the absolute best smell in my opinion. It helped to calm and prep me for a busy day of work.

I continued on with the work at hand when I heard the back door open.

"Hi Tris," I called. Tris was Dan's younger son. His oldest worked in a bank in town. Being a baker was not something he'd ever strived for. He hoped for a bigger cash pot. Tris though was still a year shy from graduating. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do with his life. All he knew was that he would not take charge of the bakery alone. Tris believed he didn't have the patience to run the bakery. Or the maturity. I thought.

Tris was known in town as a major bad boy. He spent most of his free time playing pranks, and just all together goofing off. I personally loved him for his dry, albeit sometimes offensive, humor because it usually brightened my day and gave me a good laugh. Unfortunately, others weren't so appreciative. Let's just say Tris and Officer Jesse knew each other very well.

"Tris?" I called again. The front door opened. I turned ready to tell whoever it was to leave and come back when we were open. Looking up I saw, to my astonishment, Tris looking tired as hell. His hair was in a disarray, and his clothes were muddy.

"What happened to you?" I asked running over to him with the wet rag I'd been using to clean the front counter. I wiped some of the dirt off his face. He was leaning against one of the few lopsided tables in the front of the bakery breathing hard, like he'd ran the marathon of his life.

"I got into a little bit of trouble," He said between pants. I stopped wiping down his face.

"What kind of trouble?" I gave him the Look. He peeked at me from the corner of his eye not daring to glance at me for more than a second. He knew the Look meant bad things.

"That doesn't matter right now. I've got to hide before he finds me." Tris stood up shakily.

"Yeah you're right. I think your dad's here," I said, thinking again about the backdoor. "If he sees you like this, you'll be in so much trouble." I looked at a scrape along his arm that was welling blood. Remembering the first aid kit in my bag, I dashed behind the counter.

"No Bernie. Not from my dad. I have to hide from…" I was so preoccupied with my first aid kit that I didn't even hear him. I didn't notice when he stopped mid-sentence, and the little shuffling sounds behind me only registered in my brain seconds after they stopped. It wasn't until I found my first aid kit and looked over at Tris that I realized something was wrong. He was staring up over my shoulder with a wide eyed look. I froze.

"What?" I whispered. Very few things could make Tris look terrified like that.

"Don't move." He whispered back. But of course, just like the girls in horror movies, I did the exact opposite of his instruction. I spun around and there it was. Sure he was only a few feet high, and sure at any other given time most people would have thought he was the most adorable thing since the invention of the plushy, but when I saw him a cold dread hardened and stopped my heart.

Just two feet away from me was a Chimchar. He looked furious, his teeth bared in a manic scowl. His little body was shaking and radiating heat. But this wasn't your run of the mill Chimchar. He looked battle worn. A scar the length of my pointer finger was cut into his forehead just above his right eye. A chunk of his left ear was missing, torn away by what I could only imagine was a beast just as terrible and terrifying as the one I was staring in the face. Even one of his fangs was chipped slightly (from eating boulders perhaps?)

He's gonna hurt Tris! I don't know what changed inside me in that second as I realized Tris was in danger. I don't know where I pulled the sudden and very foreign bravery from. I especially don't know why in my right mind I thought that jumping in front of a very angry Chimchar was a good idea. But I did it, much to my and Tris's amazement. I have no recollection of moving, I only realized I was standing in front of Tris, limbs spread wide, as the Chimchar sprang from where he was standing high up on the shelves. I shut my eyes, ready to face the pain ahead.

I felt myself shaking. My heart sped to a running pace, pulsing in my ears. I listened for the sound of a Pokémon's cry but all I heard was the gasp from Tris behind me. I balled up my fists, digging my fingers so hard into my palms that I felt blood seep down my hand and onto the floor. It was so quiet I heard the little pish sound of each drop on the linoleum tile. I stood there for what felt like a lifetime wondering why this bloodthirsty creature had not already rid me of my pitiful life. I slowly opened my eyes.

The Chimchar was just inches away from my face, perched by his feet on top of a chair. He was looking at me with something like confusion. This close up the ragged scar across his forehead was intimidating, the chunk missing from his ear was absolutely terrifying. But he did nothing to hurt me.

"Bern." Tris reached for my hand and tried to pull me toward him, but I couldn't move. I was paralyzed. Could Pokémon do that, paralyze you with a single look? The Chimchar looked down at Tris's hand then back at me. He raised one of his hands toward me. I stiffened. His hand paused. He continued to look at me, using what seemed to be caution. He blinked a few times and continued to reach out to me.

The Chimchar placed a single finger on the tip of my nose stirring from me a little girlish squeak. He tipped his head to the side watching every emotion that flashed across my face with startling intensity. He placed a palm against my cheek. He was so gentle, the warm callouses of his palm just barely touching my skin.

I couldn't move my eyes away from his. With the passing seconds and the dawning realization that this frightening creature seemed to have no intention of hurting me, I began to watch his face as well. I observed the subtle hints of his features which allowed me to read his emotions. I especially watched his eyes. I saw something in them that broke my heart.

First was the anger. It was something so fierce and frightening that I was sure my heart must have stopped for ten seconds in the least. But the anger quickly melted into nostalgia and hurt and suffering. That one look told me so much about this Pokémon, and allowed me to see his aura, a twirling, chaotic thing. The thin ribbon flew around him moving every which way, jerking left then right, then left again. It looked exhausting, all that constant, enraged, pained emotion.

Something changed inside me. Suddenly this new ribbon was tied onto my own, and I could feel everything the Chimchar's ribbon held. The sorrow, the betrayal, the anger, pain, and above all, the loneliness. I felt the emotions like they were my own as they overwhelmed my body, taking up the whole of my heart and leaking deep into my bones. How this little Chimchar could feel so much emotion was beyond me, but it was there seeping from him in deep blood red.

"Tris, Bernie? You guys there?" It was Dan's voice coming from the back room. The Chimchar stiffened and broke his gaze from mine. Before I could tell what was happening he was gone, his emotions tore away from my body. I cried out in pain, gripping my chest. Then I out.

Obrigada for reading! Don't forget to check out my website to learn a little more about Bernie and see my first sketch of her! See ya