Keys to the Crown

Sparkles

"Ok guys! Are you ready to go?" Edie asked.

"Umpfmumpf," Holly replied. "Uhh I mean yes, now that I'm done with that mouthful," the young girl grinned.

"Well then, lets go!" Elliot exclaimed, getting up from their table in the Pokémon Center breakfast nook. As he turned to go, he bumped into someone. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" He apologized profusely.

"Dude, chill, it's cool," the person turned around. Edie realized that it was the red blur from the day before. She had purple hair with red tips that was held up in a ponytail, a red headband, a red jacket and black shorts. On her feet were black sneakers, and peeking out from under the jacket was a black t-shirt. "I'm Liz, nice thanks meet ya,"

"Nice to meet you Liz, I'm Edie, and this is Elliot and his little sister Holly. And this is my partner Chikorita!" Edie introduced them. "We're on our way to Violet City, how about you?"

"No way! You're going to Violet City too? Sick! I'm on my way to challenge the gym leader, why are you going there?" Liz replied.

"Well, Elliot and Holly both live there, and I'm also going to challenge the gym. I'm going to be the next Grand Champion," Edie said, as they headed out of the Pokémon Center, on the road towards Violet City.

As they walked, Edie, Holly, Elliot, and Liz chatted, Edie told Liz and Holly about the position of Grand Champion, and Liz told them all about how she used to live in Johto, before she moved to Unova with her family. After becoming a Pokémon trainer and competing in the Unova championship, she decided to come back to Johto to try and become champion in her home region. Soon, they stopped for lunch.

"Ok Sentret, come on out!" Edie called.

"Snivy, Herdier, you ready to eat?" Liz yelled.

"Ledyba, Butterfree, Venonat, let's get some food!" Elliot exclaimed.

"Alright Growlithe! Let's do this!" Holly shouted. She was absolutely giddy about calling out a Pokémon, even if it wasn't her own.

After introductions, and a nice meal, courtesy of Elliot, the new friends decided to camp right where they were for the night. They set up camp, Holly, Liz, and, if she wanted, Edie all shared one tent, while Elliot got his own. Soon, it was time for dinner.

"Hey Liz, I gotta question," Holly began.

"Ok, shoot," Liz replied.

"So, earlier you said you had traveled all over Unova and even competed in the championship, making it to the Semi-Finals, but you only have two Pokémon, why is that?" Holly asked, a curious look on her face.

"Well, that's because Snivy is my starter, and Herdier was a birthday gift that I got when I was 10 back when she was a Lillipup. As of right now, Snivy hasn't wanted to evolve, so I'm not forcing her. Same with Herdier. I wanted to start my new journey fresh, but I couldn't stand the idea of leaving either of the two behind," Liz told them.

"Awww!" Holly cooed, "How sweet!"

After dinner, they played a few games with their Pokémon, but soon it was time for bed. Edie wiggled like a Caterpie down into her sleeping bag and, with Chikorita sleeping on the ground next to her, Sentret keeping her head warm, and Rotom slumbering away in her ClemonticGear backpack, Edie fell fast asleep.

At about 6:30 the next morning, Edie woke to the sound of rustling leaves. She was just about to get up to investigate, when she saw a group of small navy blue bird Pokémon flying off into the distance. Murkrow, she thought they were called. Edie tried falling back asleep, but it was no use. Even though it was so early in the morning, the sun was still starting to peek through the trees. There was nothing she could do to fall back asleep. Resigning to her fate, Edie quietly got up, not wanting to disturb her sleeping friends. However, her hopes of silence did not work out entirely, as Chikorita and Rotom woke up as Edie was pulling on her sneakers.

"Wanna come? I'm going for a short walk," the girl whispered. Nodding, Rotom and Chikorita got up to follow her. After Edie grabbed a couple Pokéballs the group started off on their morning walk. They were just about to leave the clearing when Sentret raced up behind them, and jumped onto Edie's head. Edie sighed, but she was smiling, she knew she couldn't stop her new friends from coming even if she wanted to.

Edie was just about to turn back when she heard the rustling of another tree. Thinking nothing of it, she and her Pokémon continued on. Not long after, though, Edie heard something that sounded like crying, coming from the same direction. After looking at her partners they and Edie quickly headed to the source of the sound. They quickly found a very round little Pokémon, with bright yellow wings, red eyes, and... one leg? Rotom immediately brought up the PokéDex description for the little Pokémon. *Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon. It always stands on one foot. It changes feet so fast, the movement can rarely be seen.* Edie just listened to Rotom, not taking the time to see a picture of one, there was a Hoothoot right in front of her after all, they all look the same, she figured. Edie walked quickly over to the small Pokémon, and saw right away why it was crying.

    "Oh! Poor thing! It got its wing caught under a rock!" Edie gasped. She gently removed the rock from the small Pokémon's wing, then she grabbed the Potion she always kept on her person for emergencies like this one. She carefully sprayed the wing, and when the Hoothoot looked fit to fly, she said, "Ok little one, if you hurry, you should be able to catch up with your flock," as Edie stood, a Pokéball fell from her pocket. When it hit the ground, it expanded. Edie reached for it, but before she could grab it, Hoothoot hit the button with its beak, sucking it in with a flash of red light. The Pokéball shook violently, more so than when Edie had caught Sentret, and then lay still.

    Edie picked it up, and let Hoothoot out. When he, Edie had guessed correctly, Rotom would tell her later, came out, there was a tinkling noise, and some sparkles surrounded her sudden catch. Huh, Edie thought to herself, must be some sort of special Pokéball the professor gave me on accident.

     "Hoothoot, why didn't you back with your friends?" Edie asked kindly. Hoothoot gave a series of squawks, and flapped a bit, doing his best to convey his message. "I think I get it," Edie said, "Your flock teased you for being different and even trapped you here! That's so mean, I am so sorry," Edie crouched down to pick up Hoothoot. Standing back up with him in her arms, she said, "Well don't worry, no one in this little family will ever tease you," and in that moment, Hoothoot knew it was the truth.

    "Edie! EEEDIIIE! WHERE ARE YOUUU?" A voice called out, breaking the morning silence into millions of little pieces.

    "Ohmigosh! I didn't realize how late it was! C'mon, let's go!" Edie raced back to the campsite, her Pokémon running or flying beside her. They burst through the bushes a few seconds later, and Edie called out, "Come! Meet my new friend, this is Hoothoot!"

     Elliot, Liz and Holly turned to look at Edie. When Elliot and Liz saw Edie's new Pokémon, their eyes grew big. Elliot took a shaky step forward and said, "Edie, y-you have a shiny Pokémon."

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in over a month! I've had a bit of writer's block, and just not really having the writing bug, plus I was gone without tech for 3 weeks. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this part, more soon! Until next time, stay Elegant!