"YOU'RE LATE! GET THE HELL UP RHYS!" With that the boy fell face flat onto the floor with his chocolate shoulder length hair sprawled out across the wooden tiles. Rubbing his slanted hazel eyes, he started at his mirror image. Well, you know, without the same eyes, since his brother's drooped downwards and had a curve. Giving a deadpan look, Rhys simply hid under the covers again. "Five more minutes Chrys." With his twin brother's face contorting into borderline murderous intent, Chrys took out a red and white capsule. A popping sound was heard as well as this dark command, "Starmie.... Thunder. Full power." With that, Rhys ran out the room and into the bathroom before the purple alien object could shock him to death. It was too early in the morning for this crap, his slightly athletic build was aching. What was he doing? Re-watching each and every contest he ever recorded... Because... Wait. Why was he e-. Right, he almost forgot, he had to go on a journey and all that stupid idiocy. Wonderful. Stretching his arm, he decided to grab a bottle of hair gel from under the sink cabinet. Wait, something was missing.

Hey, where was his Pokemon? "Evo. Wher-." "Veeeeeee!" With that, the little canine like creature jumped onto him since it came from god knows where. It kept on nuzzling it's soft cheeks against him. Ah~! It was so soft and cuddly. After a little bit of cuteness, Evo was placed on the toilet seat lid as Rhys turned his shoulder length hair in to a valley of mountians. No, seriously, it looked like a valley of mountains. After a few hours, Rhys was done. Looking at the time, he was late! Crap, crap crap! Running past the kitchen to grab a bread roll, he stuffed in his mouth as his Eevee followed suit. Crap, he was so screwed. This was a disaster, kicking down his front door, he ran. He supposed to be there about an hour ago! On aorget aboutll days, he had to f today didn't he? Just great. And he said he never would forget. Reaching the meeting point, he checked to see if his best friend was here. "Heeeeeeeey! I'm sorry, if I pissed you off! I'm here now right!?" He called obnoxiously loud. His Eevee just watched in amusement as the Pidgey's sang a song dissonance.

"Lookin' sharp, Winter. Lookin' real sharp."

Making various faces into the mirror, the seventeen-year-old ran a comb through his deep black hair. It was such a tint that one might think he had dyed it black, but they would be mistaken. It was short, but long enough to be spiked. Winter was a few inches short of six feet, so he was about the average height for someone his age. Icy cyan eyes glittered with excitement as he smoothed his clothes. They contrasted greatly with his lightly tanned skin. Today was the day he would finally embark on his journey to become a champion. It was a goal that hundreds of youth had, but less than a handful actually got to taste. But with an older brother living far away as a pokemon breeder, Winter considered himself two steps ahead.

He was wearing a t-shirt that had a sketch of the Prism Tower in the Kalos region under a black jean jacket with a high cut, and sleeves folded up to his elbows, with dark red lace up boots and slim olive pants. Winter usually liked the flashier clothes, but if he was serious about being a trainer, he would have to wear more mobile clothes. Feeling a tug on his pant leg, the boy looked down at his partner pokemon. "Huh? What'd you want? You know I can't tell what you're thinking when I look into your glowing, soulless eyes, right?" The trainer to-be joked with a smile, causing the tiny phantump to whine. Chartarum's voice sounded like a baby's, which unnerved even Winter the horror fanatic.

After levitating to his shoulder area, the pokemon let out a cry once more, not because it was distraught, but because it was how ghost types were. With a smile, Winter grabbed his partner by the stump and gently pushed him away. "Aren't you so excited?! We have to meet Rhys today at the soda pop shoppe so we can leave this back water town!" He sang while running to the kitchen, alarm clock beeping as he left the room. It was six o' clock, six hours before the meeting time. Chartarum trailed his master slowly.

"Okay," Winter admitted, biting into his omelette, "So Slateport is actually a pretty cool city, being by the beach and all. Don't you think?" Stare. "You know, Char-tar-um, you aren't exactly the most loving of pokemon. Can I at least get a nod?" Red eyes seeming to focus, the ghost type seemed unresponsive and Winter sighed, a bit disappointed. Suddenly, the boy heard a rattling. Eyes widening as he realized it was coming from the sink, he didn't notice his pokemon's eyes glow a green. It wasn't from the sink, it was the potted plant that had mysteriously grown and fallen into the sink. "I will never understand you, mister." In turn, the pokemon almost giggled. Almost.

"And the funny thing is, I actually expected him to be on time." The teen finished, hugging his phantump to his body like it was his only friend. The little girl was confused, but squeezed her inner tube. "Uh... that's sad, mister... But uh, you said you would help me find my mommy...." The teen combed a hand through his hair, clearly not listening to the tuber. "And then, Rhys will probably just pop outta nowhere, and will I forgive him? No. Nuh- uh. Because I'm always expected to hang by his immature hide, no matter what! Plus he still owes me a copy of To Kill a Murkrow." Cyan eyes narrowing, he took another sip of his lime soda bottle. Just then, he heard his best friend's voice and his eyes lit up. "Awyeah!" He ruffled the random child's hair even as she complained to him, but he wasn't playing attention.

Being careful not to step on any sandcastles, or small children building sandcastles, Winter snuck up behind the brunette, and convinced his best friend wasn't paying attention, sent a playful punch to his shoulder. "You know, if you and Chrys were planning on hanging out without me, you could have let me know. I stayed up all night!" He complained with a pout. Crossing his arms, the trainer dug into his off-the-shoulder bag until he found his hollocaster. Then, he hit Rhys in the back with it. 'We have these things for a reason, you know! They're not just for looking at naked people!"

With a small feeling on his right shoulder from behind him, he turned around and saw his way more taller friend. Then again, most people would be taller than a seventeen year old with a baby face around one hundred and sixty two centimetres. "Oh there you are! Winter!" He pointed the obvious in a rather childish manner as he added a toothy grin. With a cute cry, the canine next to him rubbed itself against his friend's leg. "We have these things for a reason, you know! They're not just for looking at naked people!". Winter belittled him. Rhys laughed and scratched the back of his head, with a rather wry smile. "W-well... You see, I kinda left my bag at the Pokemon Center. I thought something like this would happen so I asked Chrys to leave it there. It's also why I slept in this! Gahahaha." There it was his signature laugh, which he let out as he referred to his travelling outfit.

He had to admit though, what he was wearing needed a bit of color. That wasn't blue. Wearing his stained white scarf loosely around his neck, he also had a navy blue undershirt which mainly hid under his unbuttoned aquamarine t-shirt, which had white shoulder sleeves and white accents on the bottom and button area. it also had a golden lightning bolt on the right of his chest. He also had a light sky... wait for it... blue sweater around his waist which stood out from those denim jeans which seemed ripped at the bottom. Also he had a crimson bandanna on his left knee which complimented his white sneakers. All in all, he looked like someone from a Japanese RPG than in a modernised city. "Though, wearing this is going to be a piece of cake since it's so light! Ahaha!" He laughed again. Staring at the beach around him, everything was so fun and happy. "Oh yeah! You have to see my new combination! Me and Evo have been practicing it for the past few days! Evo! Combination Shichisei Ranka! Go!" He clicked his finger as Evo got ready for action.

"OK! Evo, show's all yours! Swift!" His voice called out a command and his Pokemon would oblige. Shooting an array of golden stars in a circular motion in front of it as started to charge towards them. "OK! Now, try a Quick Attack!" The brown fox-like mammal then dashed into the golden lights, knocking them into each other, as they bounced up into the sky. "Easy now! Jump!". "Eee.....Veee" With the momentum from the dashing, it leaped onto the closest star available and leaped onto another, pushing the previous star down as it jumped and then it jumped onto another pushing that star down into the other one. Evo repeated this process until it reached the highest it could go. As it looked down, it saw the stars had all joined together into one really big one as it gave a knowing glance to it's trainer. "Alright! Time for the finish! Use Shadow Ball!" It opened it's mouth as purplish blob started to appear. "Eevee!" It shot the ball of violet energy shot straight down into the gold as it exploded into a huge array of purple stars that floated upwards. As Evo landed gracefully on it's feet, Rhys looked at his friend with a proud smile as he asked his blue-eyed raven eagerly, "What did you think? Was it good? Was it?"

Chrys was simply reading a book in the twin's backyard. Then a rain of stars fell down onto the lawn and exploded into sparkles. All over Chrys. He was not amused.

"You..." The muscle under his left eye twitched. "You left your bag at the pokemon center? You idiot!" Winter hissed. Though he could easily stand his friend, Rhys being late irked him, especially when he thought the other really cared. As the wannabe coordinator asked if he wanted to see his routine, Winter grumbled and shrugged, knowing his childish friend would show him regardless of what he said.

Icy eyes widening, pokemon and trainer both had their mouths open to tiny 'o's as Evo jumped from star to star. A tactic that might prove slightly useful in battle, but in Winter's opinion was too appearance-oriented. Chartarum wailed excitedly. More than a few times, Winter and Rhys had battled. But since one had a normal type and the other had a ghost, they didn't get much done. Now that Evo knew shadow ball, though....

Winter smiled at the thought of future battles, but crowned once more as Rhys asked him. How did the other know he had a soft spot for purple? "It sucked. Get a new hobby." Winter grumbled angrily, cheeks tinged a red hot fury. Then, sighing at the shorter boy, nodded. "I liked it, but it feels a little lacking. When are you going to evolve Evo? Once you do that, your routine will be a lot better!" He suggested.

Then, Chartarum tucked under an arm like a book, the trainer grinned, "Well? What are we waiting for? Isn't it time we got going?" That was how their relationship worked. Neither of them liked to stay angry or to hold a grudge. And while it may seem lime Winter took more blows in the relationship, he put Rhys through quite a lot too. Grinning, he took off his bag and hung it around Rhys' neck. "Because you were late, you have to carry my bag for the day." He declared triumphantly, rocking on his heels.

He gave a wry smile, knowing he was late. Putting said bag on his neck, his neck of all things!? He wasn't a Growlithe for Arceus's sake! He had to thank the mythical Pokemon god for making the bag light. Chucking it on his right arm, he gave a glance to his blue-eyed friend. "How many times have told you!? I'll Evo when he wants too, I have like all three stones in my bag and I know where to go to evolve him. I'll evolve him when he wants to and what he wants to evolve him too! I swear to Arceus this is like the millionth time I've told you this!" Rhys informed in an annoyed manner. "But what about you? Charturum can easily evolve if you trade it to me and I trade it back. I mean, Evo knows Shadow Ball now and soon it's going to learn Bite, so who knows when you're actually going to beat me anyway? You''re supposed to be the future champion right?" There it was, the old "evolution" argument. Both of them could easily just evolve their respective Pokemon right then and there, but they both held back on that for numerous reasons.

Giving a little huff, he put on a toothy grin. "Ah well. Gahahahahaha! Let's go to the Pokemon Center and grab my bag. And then we're off to wherever you want to go!" With his signature laugh he gestured for both people and Pokemon to follow the petite ball of energy. The Pokemon Center was just a few metres ahead so he rushed towards it, gripping on to his best friend's bag as he ran. Mew help him if he had anything important in there. The sun sure was bright today though, but then again, Hoenn was always known for the amount of sun it gets and with it's monsoonal rain. Really, it was just a tropical paradise. As the warm rays beat down his neck. Rhys ran into the red building which was just outside of the city borders. One did had to wonder, how the hell did he get there so quickly.

"Nurse Jooooooooy! I'm here to pick up my bag! Chrys dropped off yesterday!" Rhys called out rather loudly. He was an obnoxious brat and everyone knew it. "Hey, keep it down! This is a public place not your house." It was a cold voice, first he thought it was Winter's voice. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around to look for who called out to him. "Huh? Who said that?" His clueless baby face pretty evident. "Over here, Shorty!" Looking up, he saw a tanned teenager with a hat? He didn't know but it was white and it covered his brown hair. "Ah! Sorry! I didn't realise I was so loud! Gahaha!" His childish behaviour seemed to irritate the athletic looking guy even more. "Well, you should pay attention to those around you! I bet a kid like you should already know that by now!" His voice was just dripping with acidity. "Yuki, I think you shouldn't pick on a little kid. Act a little a more mature!" There was a female voice. Looking behind him, he saw pretty girl with a red and white bow in her light brown hair which split in two, creating an upside down "V" shape. "Haruka, I'm just teaching the kid a lesson. I'm not a being jerk." He retorted.

"Hey now! I'm not a kid! I'm actually seventeen! Gahaha!" Normally, Chrys would be apologising sweetly as Rhys lie dead on the ground, practically fried through electricity.. Too bad his twin brother was busy cleaning up sparkles. This was not a good way to start a journey.

Winter smirked knowingly and stretched exaggeratedly, really wanting to rub it in that he wouldn't have to be carrying his bag. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to leave his holocaster in the bag, for fear it might be broken in Rhys' senseless yet humorous antics. As long as they weren't happening to him, anyways. The device tucked safely into his pocket, Winter took only a moment but by the time he had looked up, it was too late. The endless ball of energy and... well, more energy.

Sighing, Winter mused to Chartarum, "It's like I'm traveling with two pokemon- three is you include Evo. And then Harmony wonders why I'm so good with the little kids and their little baby pokemon." He jested, smiling at Chartarum's expected reaction. That is, he floated with a blank stare as Winter strolled through the tourist-friendly beach community. He knew where the pokemon center was, anyways.

"Dumbass." He growled, suddenly popping behind Rhys and striking him roughly with his palm, then turned to look at Yuki. Nonchalantly, Winter popped another Swirly Sweet Swirlix Gumball out of the tiny package and into his mouth, chewing the candy happily and wondering if it was made of real Swirlix, or if it was just a catchy name.

Chrys could order his starmie to zap his brother, but Winter never took pokemon attacks lightly. One of the only things he couldn't stand about the twins was that they failed to understand that. Of course, they had all played with pokemon when they were younger, but that was before...

Clicking his tongue and scrunching his face at the two, Winter cockily stepped in front of Rhys and 'tsked' to Yuki. "Hey, don't be a bully." Then whispering only slightly, intentionally letting Rhys listen added, "They do not pay me enough to babysit this child. He keeps saying he's seventeen, poor kid... You see, when he was little, a psychic pokemon screwed with his mind a bit, which explains why he's such a dummy. So let's leave the poor disabled child to himself, yeah?"

With a bit of pain attacking the back of his head, he turned back with a hand on his head and a pained expression. "H-huh? What did I do?". Evo only shook it's cute little head as it looked at it's idiotic trainer with a deadpan look. Looking at how his best friend went in front of him, in a more big brother type of way, he moved away so he could see past Winter. Hearing Winter's rather offhand remark, Yuki's face turned into a level of disgust not seen in this world. "What kinda crap is that?! If he's so broken you should be nice to him, not him in the back of the head AND not talk behind his back like that! Just who the in Arceus's name do you think you are!?" Yuki lectured with obvious tone of annoyance. Rhys sighed a little, he knew he had to do this at one point or another, thankfully Winter didn't know about this one trick up his sleeve.

The girl behind him, Haruka, had seem to be in a state of worry until she say Rhys, visible tears in the corner of his eyes, a flushed and pink face and very, very cute yet helpess expression. "A-ah! Are you alright!?" She called out to the crying ball of endless hyperactivity. "I-I'm s-s-sorry Mister! I-I didn't mean to... b-be such a bother... Hic... I'm really sorry... I-I... promise.... Hic... I won't d-do it... again..." Rhys blubbered out in a array of fake tears which littered the ground beneath him, he had to thank his brother for the lessons in cute. He supposed that his brother's motto of "With a little smiles and tears, you can cute your way through anything.". "A-ah, no it's okay, sweetie! You don't have to cry... My friend is... just has a headache... So..." She tried to comfort the already comfortable Rhys but then gave a glare to her friend who looked a little guilty. "Um... Yeah... I shouldn't have yell at you like that... Uh... Sorry... H-hey! Why are you still crying?" Yuki panicked, who has obviously never with a crying kid before.

Rhys wasn't gonna stop the river of salty water any time soon. "i-i just... th-think... Hic... That... H-he's being.... mean... Hic... H-he... said really.... mean things..." Rhys stuttered out between the tears. Yuki, with a determined glare, he looked back at the icy-blue trainer. "Apologise to your younger brother right now! What you said was absolutely horrible!" Rhys hid his chuckles, younger brother his foot. Haruka seemed to stop for a second, looking at Rhys with strange expression. "H-huh? Wh-what is... it Miss?" Rhys turned back to stare with puppy dog eyes. The female brunnette had a sudden look of realisation. "Y-you're....CHRYS!" Rhys stopped crying, blinking a few times.

What? How did this girl know Chrys?