Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 1

"It is said that what is meant to be, is already done. But that does not relieve us from the doing.

That is true when I look back on my life. I never wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer.

I was content living with my grandmother, in Twinleaf Town, spending free time with my two friends, Jeremy and Lyss, and not having a care in the world.

Eventually I would have taken over the family business and started running the Pokémon Ranches throughout all the regions, spending a few months of the year at each Ranch. That would have been a great life, but it is not the life I chose, or moreover, it was not the life that fate chose for me.

Everything changed the day I met that Starly in the woods down by Lake Verity."

* * *

Sam walked through the woods in the early morning. No one else was up yet, and he preferred it that way. It was quiet, and he could think much better without the noise of people; and as much as he wished his friends could join him, he also revelled in the alone time of the morning walk.

Sam loved Sinnoh in the early spring, it was quiet and peaceful, and it was warm—except in the north, where it always snowed.

He walked down the dirt road towards Lake Verity; he loved to go there in the mornings, he could sit by the water's edge and think, not about anything, just think. Sam had done this ever since he was a child, when his grandfather used to take him there. It was his grandfather's thinking spot as well, and after he had died, Sam made it his.

Sam had never known his parents, nor had he ever asked about them, he grew up with his grandparents—who had always taken care of him and made sure he could get the best opportunities—and they were just like parents to him. They acted like it, and they treated him like their son, and Sam was content with that.

The only thing Sam ever knew about his parents was that his father had left his mother before Sam was born, and that his mother died in childbirth, beyond that Sam never bothered asking more.

He had had a good life in Twinleaf Town, what more could he need? He had two great friends, a good family, and he wasn't exactly poor—his aunts and uncles all owned a share in the family business, along with his grandmother and him.

Sam sighed as he lay down in the green grass by the lake, he looked out across the vast expanse of water, and could see—in the distance—a small island in the middle.

Legend foretold of a Pokémon that lived inside of that island, the guardian of the lake. Sam, nor anyone else for that matter, had ever seen it.

Sam smiled as he imagined himself, as a Pokémon Trainer, discovering the Pokémon of the lake. It would be great if he could, but Sam didn't want to become a Pokémon Trainer—or at least, he couldn't. He needed to stay behind, and take care of his grandmother, as she was getting older; someone needed to watch her. Sam couldn't leave to go on a journey, not as long as his grandmother was alive.

Sam stood up and looked down into the lake to see if he could see any Magikarp, but he couldn't see anything except his own reflection.

Sam was a 16-year-old boy, and he had medium length, dark brown hair, dark eyes. He was tall for his age, at 5'9" and was never seen without his typical wear. His usual fair was a pair of beige, cargo pants and a black jacket he'd inherited from his grandfather, emblazoned with an orange Dragonite on the left breast. His white t-shirt peaked out from the half-zippered jacket. On his hands was a pair of black, fingerless gloves that had once belonged to his grandfather.

As Sam sat back with a sigh, hoping—for once in his life—that something interesting would happen.

Suddenly, as if an answer to his prayers, a Starly shot out of the nearby trees.