Take A Chance On Me (Pokémon) *Tracey/OC*

"And I still beat her, even though she was the one who didn't wanna go with me, because she insisted she was going to win and didn't want to upset me. And there were so many people... And they all had such cool Pokémon. And..."

"Slow down!" Kyou interrupted. "I think you lost me somewhere on Victory Road."

"Kyouuu!" Jay whined. "I'm talking about the Pokémon League! Aren't you even listening?"

Kyou just laughed. It was always amusing teasing his little sister. "I'm kidding; I was listening. Just slow down a little and actually breathe between talking."

"Very funny," said Jay sarcastically, taking a swipe at his head.

Kyou ducked automatically. "So the Pokémon League, huh? Where did you place?"

"Top six," Jay beamed, feeling proud of both herself and her Pokémon team. "I still can't believe it. We were right up there with some of the best trainers in Kanto."

"Aww that's great, Jay. Well done!" said Kyou proudly. "Oh, here, can you hold onto this little guy for me for a second?"

He passed her a young Oddish that had been running around hyperactively for the last ten minutes and thoroughly getting in the way of the Parasect he was trying to examine. Jay sat down on the grass beside where her brother was kneeling and tucked the eager little Oddish into her lap.

"This one's new, isn't he? You only had that grouchy old Gloom last time I was here," Jay remembered.

Kyou laughed. "Oh, yeah, she's still around here somewhere," he said, looking around the patch of grassland that they had behind their house. "She made friends with Ginny's new addition after you left."

Ginny and her husband, Wes, were their next door neighbours. They were always happy to assist with Kyou's breeding programmes and look after the Pokémon when he had to visit other cities for more research. CinnabarIsland was only very small – with a population of just thirty-six people. But Kyou and Jay owned the largest plot of land on the entire island, left to them by their parents. It definitely came in handy for Kyou's dream of becoming Kanto's most renowned Pokémon breeder, following in his mother's footsteps.

Jay, however, didn't really remember either of their parents. Their father had left before she was even born and their mother had died when she'd been very young. She and Kyou had been brought up mostly by Ginny and Wes, who had been close friends with their mother. Their uncle had helped out with additional funds, but as the island's gym leader, he didn't really have the time for much else.

Jay had never resented their irregular family life. How could she miss the birth parents that she'd never really known? Ginny and Wes had practically been like her parents growing up anyway. And Kyou had always been there for her too. What could she possibly have to complain about? Plus she was optimistic by nature – complaining wasn't really something she did all that often.

"So you're concentrating on grass types at the moment?" Jay asked, petting the leaves on the top of the baby Oddish's head.

Her brother usually concentrated on specific Pokémon types at a time. When she'd first left to start her journey as a Pokémon trainer, he'd been working with fire types. He'd actually given Jay her very first Pokémon – a baby Charmander that he'd bred himself. Charmander had been her most loyal companion throughout her journey and they were now closer than ever.

"Mostly grass and bug at the moment," Kyou replied, without looking up as he charted Parasect's stats on his clipboard.

"Really?" Jay brightened. "What bug Pokémon have you been looking at?"