Viridian city.

A beautiful city that was enveloped in green year-round in the Kanto region. The landscape was well-preserved. Along with the friendly citizens, the city was a famous tourist attraction as well as pokemon trainers from everywhere, especially for Kanto-born trainers. Why? Because it was the hometown of Professor Kim, the most intelligent Pokemon professor of Kanto. His knowledge about pokemon was undoubtful. Being passionate about pokemon, he had been all his life researching on the pokemon world. Along with his lovely wife and daughter, who were really supportive of his job, he gave almost all the trainers in Kanto their pokemon starter and contributed many research papers to the world’s science.

When his daughter, Kim Yewon, showed great interest in his research at the age of six, Prof. Kim brought her along to his lab, teaching her about the pokemon world and everything he knew. With a hope that one day, she would become his legacy. The little girl was really smart, responsible and enthusiastic, showing her great potential to become a great Pokemon professor in the future. However, unlike her father, Yewon did not wish to spend all her time in the lab.

Her neighbor was the Hwang family who also had a daughter around her age, Hwang Eunbi. Since they were of the same age, the two little girls spent a lot of time together. They went to the Pokemon Academy, playing and watching all the pokemon battles on television. Eunbi had been an out-going and ambitious girl. Her dream was to become a powerful Pokemon Champion. That was why she was really serious about her study, learning all the traits of pokemon to create her future strongest team formation. Being influenced by Eunbi’s passion, Yewon told her parents that she wanted to be with Eunbi, to take on an adventure, encountering Pokemon battles and growing stronger along with her friend. She also thought that it would help her to extend her knowledge about Pokemon world’s more which would be more helpful than staying in the lab. In the end, her parents were convinced by her reasons and ended up supporting her dream. Eunbi usually hung out in Prof. Kim’s lab since they were neighbor, naturally becoming his second daughter.

Therefore, on Eunbi’s eighth birthday, Prof. Kim decided to give the little girl a special gift. He invited the little Hwang over his lab, guiding her to stand in front of a suitcase placed on a table. He chuckled softly, seeing how Eunbi’s eyes shining brightly in eager while holding onto his daughter’s arm. She knew what was going on and yet she could not act subtly to hide her excitement. Enough with the torture, he opened the suitcase, revealing the three pokemon balls organized neatly inside.

“Eunbi-ah, as a birthday gift from me, you can choose one of these amazing pokemons as your first companion.” He pointed at the balls in order, from left to right. “We have Bulbasaur, a grass-type Pokemon. Charmander, a fire-type. Last but not least, Squirtle, a water-type.”

Behind the table was a big screen, showing all the information and image of the pokemons. Eunbi’s mouth gaped at the sight of all the pokemons. Her body was so itchy, urging her to quickly make her choice. However, she suddenly remembered something important. She darted her gaze to her best friend, asking innocently.

“But, Prof. Kim, what about Yewonie? Is she going to choose one also?”

“Don’t worry, Eunbi-ah. I already prepare another gift for her on her birthday.” Prof. Kim dashed a reassuring smile to his daughter, who thoughtfully nodded. “So just feel free and choose whichever you wish for.”

Eunbi once again asked her friend silently. Yewon giggled and gently nudged the girl on her side, motioning her to not to worry about her. Only then, the little girl stepped forward, thinking carefully while reading all the information. She already had her dream formation in her mind. Therefore, it was not a difficult decision to make. After all, it was one of the main pokemons in her idol’s team.

“In that case, I’ll choose Charmander.”

While saying, she pressed the button on the pokemon ball. The ball opened. Soon later, an orange lizard jumped out of the ball and appeared in her waiting arm. Charmander greeted her cheerfully with his big smile. His hands waved back and forth as if he was really happy to be chosen by her. The little girl squealed softly, rubbing her cheek against the pokemon’s head. Prof. Kim nodded repeatedly out of satisfaction.

“Good choice. You’re really a natural breeder. I hope you and Charmander will have a great journey ahead of you.”

***************************************

After receiving her starter pokemon, Eunbi began her bonding and training time along with Charmander. She spent most of her time outside of the house to train and explore the forest surrounding Viridian city. Although her parents were completely supportive, they were worried about her so they still did not allow her to go on an adventure until she graduated from the Academy. She listened to them very well and only stayed around the city. A few months later, on Yewon’s birthday, Prof. Kim kept his promise, bringing back a pokemon from his business trip to Alola. It turned out to be a Rowlet, a grass-type bird pokemon that Yewon had been fond of after reading a book about the far-away region of Alola. As soon as she received her first pokemon, Yewon joined Eunbi in her daily training.

A year passed. Charmander and Rowlet became the little girls’ inseparable partner. On a summer day, Eunbi’s cousin came to visit her family and stayed in the city for the whole season. The girl named Jung Eunbi, sharing the same first name with the little Hwang. At first, because of the confusion, everyone called them big and little Eunbi since Jung Eunbi was one year older than the other two girls. However, it was a big problem sometimes as both of them would turn their head around at the same time whenever Yewon called out ‘Eunbi’. Being a smart kid since her birth, Yewon came up with nicknames to distinguish the two Eunbi. The older Eunbi was called Eunha, since her aura was always bright and beautiful like a galaxy. On the other hand, Yewon called her best friend as SinB, meaning mystery since the girl always had this cold resting face and was really carefully with her worlds. She never say too much despite of her mischevious attitude. Therefore, no one would know exactly what she had in her mind.

Being opposite to SinB, Eunha had never been interested in Pokemon battles. She loved pokemon as much as the younger girls but she also had a great passion for beauty. Brute pokemon battles were boring to her, unlike how she could spend hours in front of the television watching Pokemon Contests. She would always end up bragging and discussing how pokemon could be so beautiful as SinB, making the younger girl to roll her eyes in boredom several times. Although they did not share the same courses, the two girls respected each other’s dreams fully. As SinB shared her knowledge of pokemon’s traits to the older girl in order to determine the best team combination for Pokemon contests, Eunha in exchange also taught the younger girl how to use Pokemon moves as a distraction during battles.

Soon later, the duo grew into a trio. The three girls spent their summer days having fun with each other. One day, the girls had a vacation in Vermilion city. The adults were having a nice talk in an ocean-view cafe while the children strolled along the beach. Charmander and Rowlet were released from their balls, enjoying the fresh air as they ran side by side on the sand. Watching from afar, the girls giggled at the sight of the playful pokemons while taking a seat on the warm sand. Even though she was older than the other girls, Eunha had not received her first pokemon yet. Not like the Hwang family, her parents disliked pokemons in general, resulting in that she was grown strictly and avoided any contact with pokemons. Her grandma was the only one who encouraged her to follow her dream. She spent most of her time listening to her grandma’s stories of her young age, when she was on adventures, seeing different kinds of pokemons around the world. However, because of a chronic disease, her grandma passed away when she was six. After that, Eunha felt suffocated as she had to hide her passion in front of her parents and secretly watched all the pokemon battles on the television after they had gone to sleep. That was how she had been always thrilled to visit SinB’s family every year during the summer since her grandma’s funeral.

Knowing about Eunha’s circumstance, Yewon empathized for the girl and offered to ask her father for a pokemon, which was declined politely by the older girl. Eunha knew that her parents would definitely make a big scene if she brought back to her house any pokemon. She would feel sorry for the pokemon so she did not want to hurt them by owning any of them. As they were chatting about various things, mostly about the upcoming Pokemon league in Kanto, a distress call came from Charmander, startling the young girls. Rowlet flew toward his owner, flapping his swings furiously while motioning something in the ocean. The girls squinted their eyes, trying to see whatever the pokemon was pointing at. Charmander ran beside SinB, clearly freaking out. After a while, from the horizon, a small unusual wave of water was coming at them. Getting a closer look, they found out that it was caused by a group of pokemon. Three of them. A wild Squirtle was carrying by a blue penguin on its back, who was swimming hastily toward the shore, as both of them was chased by a red-blue piranha. The girls gasped in horror as their pokemon partners could not stand still and kept urging them to do something. Exchanging look to each other, Yewon and SinB quickly rose from their positions and ran closer to the shore, following by Eunha and their pokemons. They were in a hurry when they saw the piranha was only a few inches away from its prey.

“Charmander, use smokescreen!”

SinB shouted. Charmander took a high jump in the air and released a thick layer of smoke from his mouth. Blowing by the wind, the smoke quickly approached the wild pokemons. Seeing it coming, the penguin held on tight on its friend and dived under the water, successfully avoiding the smoke. Catching off guard, the piranha was blinded by the smoke, halting its chase. Taking the opening, Yewon commanded.

“Rowlet! Razor leaf!”

The bird flew above the piranha, throwing sharp leaves from her wings at the fish. It was a super effective move as the fish. The fish flinched as it took the attack. The damage was not enough to knock the fish out but was enough to scare it away. As soon as the piranha swam away, completely out of the sight, the girls quickly ran toward the wild pokemons who managed to reach the shore safely. The penguin dragged its friend out of the water in difficulty. Rowlet and Charmander were the first ones who approached the pokemons. They spoke to each other for a few seconds until the girls arrived. Seeing humans for the first time, the penguin stayed alerted, abruptly standing in between the Squirtle and the girls, not allowing them to come any closer.

It was not their first time to encounter a wild pokemon. However, the penguin seemed to be very hostile if they dare to make any moves. Yewon and Eunha looked at each other, not sure what to do. On the other hand, SinB’s gaze was fixed on the unconscious Squirtle behind the penguin. She saw a few scratches and a bleeding bite mark on its left leg. It must be from the previous piranha. Then, she turned back to the penguin. She did not know what kind of pokemon it was. She knew all of the pokemons inhabiting the Kanto region but she had never met any pokemons like this penguin and the piranha. They must have been coming from another region. Seeing the uncomfortable gaze, the penguin furrowed it eyes, stretching its wings further, warning SinB. Charmander and Rowlet were worried but they could not convince the pokemon. Smiling gently, the little girl kneeled in front of the penguin, keeping a safe distance between them.

“Hello there, buddy. My name is Eunbi. I’m here to help your friend.”

She said as friendly as possible. However, the penguin was still giving her a skeptical look. Carefully opening her hands toward the penguin, she showed it's her sincerity.

“See? I have nothing on me. I mean no harm to both of you. Please, trust me.”

Both of them had a stare competition as they all tried to read each other’s mind from their gazes. A moment of silence felt like decades. Finally, the penguin relaxed a little and stepped aside. However, it was still on guard as it watched closely how SinB approached his friend. Sensing that, SinB quietly told the other girls to stand back while she slowly got closer to the Squirtle. Being cautious, she glanced the unconscious pokemon from head to toe. She sighed softly in relief since she did not find any other serious wounds beside the bite. Searching in her pocket, she did not find any piece of cloth that she could use as bandage to tend the wound. As she was still thinking about what to do, a hand reached out from behind, holding a white handkerchief with flower design. She turned around and met up with Eunha.

“Use this, SinB-ah.”

“Unnie... this is your grandma’s handkerchief. It’s way too precious to you. I can’t use it.”

Eunha shook her head, insisting that her grandma would forgive her to dirty her handkerchief in order to save a pokemon. The younger girl noticed the other’s hand was shaking a little. Furrowing her brows, she stubbornly declined the offer and quickly tore one of her sleeves before the older girl could say anything. She wrapped the torn piece of cloth around the wound tenderly, stopping the bleeding. Finishing her task, SinB wanted to carry the Squirtle to Pokemon Center to treat its wound completely. She shot a questioning gaze at the penguin, who did not say anything. But it softened gaze spoke everything. Carefully, SinB stopped the Squirtle into her arms and stood up. She rushed to the nearest Pokemon Center with her friends and pokemons followed closely behind.

**********************************

After that incident, the two wild pokemons returned to Viridian city along with the three little girls. The adults received a call from Yewon informing about the whole situation. They had a little discussion on what to do with the wild pokemons. Thanks to SinB’s stubbornness and Eunha’s secret weapon – the begging puppy face – the adults allowed them to keep the pokemons. From Yewon’s explanation, SinB learned that the penguin was called Piplup, a water-type pokemon from Sinnoh. While the piranha they fought previously was Carvanha, a water-type pokemon from Hoenn region. It was not unusual for wild pokemons to move between regions. However, the incident was pretty unique. As Piplup did not want to be separated from the Squirtle, as soon as the injured pokemon was discharged from Pokemon Center, SinB and Eunha decided to bring both of them back to their house.

The Squirtle turned out to be a shy girl. She tended to be easily scared by strangers. Most of the time, she would be clinging on Eunha, hiding her face onto the girl’s chest whenever she got scared. Although she was the one who treated the pokemon, SinB did not understand why the Squirtle was more fond of Eunha than her. Amusingly, Yewon gave a hypothesis that Eunha’s round and chubby face and her bob-haired looked like a squirtle to the pokemon. That was why Squirtle felt more comfortable to the older girl. Eunha pouted at the explanation but she did not mind at all. She took care of the pokemon heartfully, evening let the pokemon share her bed every night. Slowly, they became friends.

As for Piplup, the penguin had an aura of a tough guy. He rarely expressed any emotions but his attitude was friendly enough for others to get close to him. He especially was attached to SinB since he was impressed by her heroic act at the beach. He stuck with her all the time, deeply care about the little girl as well as other pokemons in his own subtle way. Eunha and Yewon teased sometimes that Piplup resembled SinB a lot, like two drops of water.

From time through time, Piplup grew closer to SinB as he followed her on her daily training with Charmander. At first, he joined in some friendly spars against Charmander. He did not listen to SinB’s command since he had not acknowledged the girl yet. One day, when Charmander was sent to Prof. Kim’s lab for checking up, SinB and Piplup went to the wood for a morning stroll where they suddenly were attacked by a swamp of Beedrills. They were overnumbered so SinB called for a retreat. However, having his own ego, Piplup stayed behind and fought back. Of course, the result was not pleasant. He soon was pinched down on the ground, getting poked by the needles from everywhere. Could not stand of the scene, SinB threw herself between the pokemons and covered the penguin with her own body. She endured the pain, focusing on shielding the small pokemon. Touched by the act, Piplup changed his thoughts about the girl completely, pledging his loyalty solemnly. Later, both of them were rescued by Prof. Kim and Yewon. After that, Piplup stayed by SinB’s side all the time she was recovering from her injuries. After that, he started to listen to SinB’s commands and accepted the pokemon ball, officially became SinB’s second pokemon.

As for Eunha, once summer was over, she had to go back to her home in Saffron city. Because of her parents, she could not take Squirtle with her. The pokemon was on the edge of crying after learning that the girl needed to leave. She begged the girl to stay. Despite how much she wanted to, Eunha could not disobey her parents. However, the time she spent with Squirtle affected her a lot. The Pokemon gave her the strength to fight for her dream, to follow her heart as her grandma had always been telling her. On her departure day, Eunha had sewed a ribbon from her grandma’s handkerchief and put it on Squirtle’s head.

“This ribbon will help you to remember me. This is my promise to you. I’ll come back one day and become your master completely. When that happens, we won’t be separated anymore.”

The Pokemon stared at her with teary eyes, still not ready to be separated from the girl. Smiling weakly, she wiped away her own tears then hugged the pokemon one last time. She entrusted the pokemon to SinB then went back to her home.

Since then, Squirtle stayed in the Hwang family, missing the bobbed-hair girl every single day. Thanks to SinB’s and Piplup’s company, the pokemon never felt lonely. She was friendly toward SinB and Yewon. However, she was never clingy to any of them like how she used to with Eunha. Prof. Kim explained that this was a special bond between human and a specific pokemon. It was connected emotionally, not physically, which was really precious and crucial for a Pokemon trainer. Unconsciously, Squirtle had become Eunha’s first pokemon.

A year later, SinB received a news from her 10-year-old cousin, informing that she had passed the pokemon exam and obtained her license and Pokemon Trainer ID card. Eunha managed to convince her parents to allow her to pursue her dream with a deal that she would take over their CEO chair in the Jung Corporation in the future. Until that time, she was allowed to do anything she wanted as long as she could keep her grades in the top. SinB was glad for her cousin and Squirtle. After all the toughness, they were finally able to reunite. During the following summer, Eunha paid her annual visit to the Hwang. But at the end of her vacation, she went back to her house with her official pokemon partner and her new family member, Squirtle.

Current team formation

Hwang Eunbi (SinB) 9 years old

Charmander (starter) Level 13

Piplup Level 10

Kim Yewon (Umji) 9 years old

Rowlet (starter) Level 12

Jung Eunbi (Eunha) 10 years old

Squirtle (starter) Level 7