Joanne "Joey" Parker She is the main protagonist of the story. She gets attached to the people close to her in her life, such as her friends and family. Although having a strained relationship with her mother, she still cares for her mother deeply. She also tends to put a lot of pressure on herself, in an effort for her parents to be proud of her. To make sure she could be ready for a journey, she has spent a lot of time studying Pokemon Reference Books. Despite living close to Gyra-Rock River for most of her life, she is not a strong swimmer.
Leslie Lee Jones Leslie is one of Joey's close childhood friends. They grew up in Windrush Valley together. Her parents haven't let her leave on an adventure, so she is rather restless and feels trapped in the Valley. So, she frequently sneaks out of the house. Leslie is also very dramatic, and afraid of heights.
Abby Brown Abby was diagnosed with Leukimia when she was seven years old. For two years after she was diagnosed, she continued to play outside with her friends. After her mother confined her to her house, she continued to sneak out of the house. This stopped very quickly. She died at the age of thirteen. Joey's Buizel is named after Abby.
Astar King Astar left Windrush Valley to start his adventure at the age of ten. Although he has been traveling for three years, he still holds his friends and family very close. He picks up on others feelings sometimes better then they do. He would never do anything to hurt other people.
Rachel Little A childhood friend of Joey's. Rachel left Windrush Valley with Leinsha when they were both eleven years old. Rachel prefers to battle, and has spent the majority of her two years traveling with Leinsha, battling while she prepped for contests. With her prized Zebraika, she has done very well in the battling world, but due to her desire to stick with Leinsha, hasn't cleared many milestones. She has a strong will, and tends not to tell people when things are wrong, preferring to handle them herself. It's a habit she got as a child, after suffering under her mother's anger.
[Picture not yet available] Leinsha "Lena" Mejia A childhood friend of Joey's. Leinsha left Windrush Valley with Rachel when they were both eleven years old. Leinsha, later taking the nickname "Lena" has become memorized with contests, and has traveled across the Region with Rachel, competing in contests wherever they are. She is quite ambitious, and has never grown too attached to anyone except Rachel. She comes from a very large family, with siblings who are disabled, so she used the contests as her chance to shine.
[Picture not yet Available] Laya Mejia Laya is the eldest child in the Mejia family. After setting out on her own, she got involved with the International Secret Poliece. She has been chasing Magenta for months. No matter how involved she gets in her work however, she still cherishes a bond (that may not always be mutual) with her family.
From the Journeys
[Picture not yet available] Sensei Yukiya Sensei Yukiya runs a fighting studio in Rubika City. Although the studio is not mainstream, some of the best battlers are regulars there. He is notorious for being very hard on the people he trains, but those who don't give up benefit greatly. His main princilpe of fighting is for the trainer to understand their Pokemon, and for the Pokemon to understand the trainer.
[Picture not yet available] Sean Jackson Sean is the Gym Leader in Rubika City, and specializes in Steel Types. He tends to be a "first Gym challenge" for many trainers, and has gotten into a habit into playing with his challengers to pull out their best rather than actually fight to win. Usually he still manages to win these matches. His fighting becomes more intense the more skill he senses his opponent to have. He is known as "The Steel Terror".
[Picture not yet Available] Erika Daley Erika is a fairly new Ranger, stationed at the Moran Forest Ranger Base. She used to live in Moran City, and learned the surrounding forest very well. She has worked tirelessly to prove herself as a ranger, and is eager to please her superiors.
Zowie Sunden A young girl of prolific skill, she rules over the Salia Pokemon Gym. As a child, her Pokemon learned not to fight, but to defend, as Zowie could never see any attacks coming as they roamed the countryside. Before the girl turned thirteen, she and her Pokemon had been discovered, and been given the job of Gym Leaders. Accepting the job initially as an honor, the gym slowly became her prison.
[Picure not yet Available] Quan Quite the Loner, not much is known about him yet. He seems to specialize in fire type Pokemon.
[Picture not yet Available] Lanh The kindhearted man who runs the healing house in the mountains. Somehow, he seems to know more about Kataya than he lets on.
The Baddies
Magenta Magenta appears to be the picture of evil. From her genuine disrespect of fellow human life, to her horrible treatment of her enemies and inferiors, she has become one of the most infamous characters in Kataya. Along with her Mismagius, and hoards of Misdreavus, she is difficult to catch or corner.
Aquanetta Aquanetta is much more cunning than fierce. In a pinch, she will fight to her last breath, but in general, she prefers to trap an enemy with a battle of wit and cunning. Fighting with her Jellicent, she takes a strong advantage in any water environment.
Windrush Valley is a small town nestled in the valley in the Rippling Cliffs. Due to the shape of the mountains and the connection to Gyra-Rock River, there is almost always a constant wind in the town. Legend has it, the only time the wind stops here is the period between someone of the Valley dies and when they are returned to Mother Nature.
Rockwall Camp
Rockwall Camp is located about halfway between Windrush Valley and Rubika City. The camp is located in an unusual rock structure, which shields it from wind. The camp is usually occupied by people passing through, although a few people choose to live there full time. The camp is not an official city, and does not have a Pokemon Center or a PokeMart, but does have a few trainers highly skilled in medicine who live there full time.
Rubika City
One of the largest cities in Kataya, Rukiba City dominates its surroundings by its incredible industry. Utilizing the wind power that is ever-present in the Rippling Cliffs, the city was able to grow. The building here are rumored to be both the strongest in the region, to withstand the wind, and the tallest, rumoring to touch the clouds. This city produces the bulk of factory-produced goods that are used throughout Kataya, as well as the supplies for PokeMarts across the region.
Moran Forest
Moran Forest is one of the most beautiful places in the entire Kataya Region. It is also a place of great mythology in the Region. Legend has it that the three large trees of Moran Forest were the first to grow in the Region, and brought life to the land. Their roots had spread, and more and more trees began to grow from the original three. Over many years, the trees had spread over many miles, every tree connected to the original three. Without their protection, the inhabitants of the forest and Moran City wouldn't stand a chance. When the energy is taken away from one of Moran Forest's Great Tree's, it falls out of balance, starting the Great Moran Fire.
[img]http://i51.tinypic.com/2q8oj1*bleep*[/img] Moran City
Located in the heart of Moran Forest. The citizens of this forest greatly respect their forest. All the buildings in the forest are made from logs from fallen trees in the forest. The city is rather small, but still has a Pokemon Gym.
Salia City
Truly the festive heart of Kataya, Salia is usually the place to be. Between its abundant apartments and hotels and the world-famous Salia Tower, there is still plenty of room at the Practice Hall, or the Park to brush up on Coordinator and Trainer skills alike. Several times a year, Salia Tower is all but alive, packed with people and Pokemon alike, for the Elite Four Challenges, and the Grand Festival. The Tower also hosts the City's Gym.
[Image Coming Soon] Shikan Port
A somewhat prosperous city based on the rocky coast of the Kanya Ocean. The city is very tightly packed together, no houses have yards, and they are mostly built in rows. The most prosperous part of the city is closest to the port, while the outskirts are basically in poverty. There is a safe house for the International Secret Police in the city.
[Image Coming Soon] Lincoln Town
Well known for a good its good camping, Lincoln is based on the small Northern Peninsula. There are very few full-year residents in this town, but it is filled with many seasonal residences and tourists.
The day on my calendar was already crossed out, even though it wasn’t coming for three more days. It was as if a little red ‘X’ in a printed bow could keep the day from coming. The rest of my room was fairly plain, old wallpaper that had long since lost its original color, and looked like it belonged to a six-year-old. I’d tried to hide as much of it as I could with pictures of me, my friends and my family, to little avail. My bookshelf was overflowing with magazines from Central Park Square, headlines about the Elite Four and the Ranger Union printed brightly on the covers. My helmet was lying on the floor next to my also overflowing hamper… laundry wasn’t ever my strong suit. Although the sun was high in the sky, I was still lying in bed. With my blankets pulled up over my head, I could pretend that the moon was still shining and time wasn’t moving. Someday, I’d have to learn that hiding from problems wouldn’t make them go away, but that day surely was not today! Only when my alarm clock (and by “alarm clock” I mean my mom pounding on my door) started going off at about noon did I slide out of bed. How wonderful sleep truly was, but noon was a little late to sleep in. It wasn’t like I had plans or anything, half my friends had left town years ago, and the ones who were left all had jobs. Mom must’ve already cleared breakfast off the table, as it was spotless when I came downstairs. No plates, no glasses, not even the sugar bowl was left on the table. The table was never this clean, come to think of it; the entire kitchen was never this clean. Even dad’s coffee pot was put away. Dad’s coffee pot was never put away; he drank the stuff all day long. “Mom!” I yelled up the stairs. “What is it?” She said, turning off the vacuum. “Where’s Dad’s pot? It’s always on the stove, he hasn’t left yet has he?!?” I could hear the vacuum thumping down the stairs behind mom, “has he…?” She put her arms around me, “I know it’ll be hard Joey, but no, he hasn’t left yet. I just asked him to run to the market and get some things for dinner. His supervisor is coming over tonight.” “So you’re actually going to cook tonight?” “Joanne!” She snapped. Yup, that had been the wrong thing to say, but I couldn’t help myself sometimes. Those stupid comedy lines you would hear on TV seemed to write themselves in my head at the worst times. To be fair, most of our dinners were microwave-ready, but she still hadn’t appreciated the comment. Wish I’d thought to just keep my mouth shut before I was forced to scrub the floor. The door creaked open as heavy footsteps paused on the front porch. Dad was home! At the stern look from my mom however, I returned to my sponge and the floor. I don’t get why we had to work so hard, he was only going to be here for a few more days, why not enjoy the time we had left together? Maybe after this dumb dinner tonight… Dad came into the kitchen, clad in his Ranger Uniform, (red jacket, black pants, and black shoes) kissed mom on the cheek, and hugged me around the middle. I couldn’t help but cry, these were the moments that were going to go away with him, this presence he had, like he could lift stress itself right out of the air, like he himself could keep the entire world at peace. Of course he noticed he tears running from my eyes, and bent to wipe them away. “It’s okay Joey; they only need me for a couple years. It’s my turn now; there are people who get to come home now that I’m going.” “It’s just not fair dad!” I couldn’t stop myself, I sounded so childish, “I’m only thirteen, and I still need my dad in my life!” He squeezed me tighter, and whispered in my ear, “You’re a strong girl Joey, and it’ll be your turn to go off on your own too.” I paused, completely stunned. Up to this point, my parents had been against the idea of me leaving town to pursue a journey or adventure, as most kids did. “I haven’t told your mother yet, but I have something for you.”
Before any of us knew it, the evening was upon us. I was dressed in my Sunday best, mom in an evening gown, and dad in a suit. It suited none of us, but as mom so put it, ‘we had to dress for company’. The table was set with our best china on top of mom’s silk tablecloth. The floors and walls had been cleaned twice over. I hadn’t ever met these people, they worked at Dad’s Ranger Base, and I’m not even sure he’d ever met them. Mom and Dad were standing by the door, looking horribly posed. I couldn’t really have cared less, lounging on the chair, my PokePod plugged into my ears. The doorbell rang, and I stashed my music under the couch cushions and ran to meet my parents at the door. The people waiting in the doorway looked horribly intimidating. The man must have been six feet tall, and more muscle on him than an Olympian. His wife was also rather tall, but she was more of a twig, and had the ugliest look on her face. Their presence alone made me want to run up to my room, but I knew I had to stay down here until they left. My mother led them into our kitchen, where dinner was waiting on the table. My stomach was turning in knots, I had no idea when the last time she had actually cooked was, and would it taste any good. Would these visitors make dad’s job harder if it stank? We all took our seats around the table, and Mom began to pass the dinner around. I couldn’t speak, even if I’d wanted to, something about these two just made me so nervous. They began talking about Dad’s assignment, but I couldn’t seem to follow. My stomach was so distracting, churning and writhing, like the thrashing of some great beast. Apparently he was going to be somewhere in the Hoenn Ocean, there was some sort of base over there he would be living at for the next three years. Stomach snakes were eating the dinner faster than I was. There were unusual occurrences in the Hoenn Region. I was going to puke if I took another bite. They needed a strong ranger. I couldn’t take it anymore; I pushed out of my chair and ran straight for the bathroom. Maybe it was their presence, or maybe it was Mom’s cooking, but within seconds it was all over the floor. I could almost hear my Dad apologizing for me, and my Mom trying to make up excuses to save her reputation. I was a failure to them; I couldn’t even sit through a simple dinner without bailing. I’d just lost every ounce of the dinner I’d eaten, and really was in no mood to repeat the experience. After washing the puke out of my dirty-blonde hair, I edged back to the kitchen, muttered something about not feeling well, and dashed up to my room. My bed was so welcoming, even though I’d only been gone for six hours. Before I knew it, the blackness had a hold of me, and there was no escape.
“She will not be going!” My mother yelled downstairs. “She’s depressed, all her friends left three years ago! She’s the only one left.” He spoke so much softer; it was almost hard to hear him. “This is just her throwing a temper tantrum because we said no! I will not cave into that!” Why oh why couldn’t I sleep through this. “Keeping her here alone is only going to make it worse!” While they continued shouting at each other, I pulled myself out of bed, and yanked my window open. Gone were the days when I’d climb out this window at night and meet my friends in the back alley. We’d all play ‘Trainer’ together, pretending we were actually on our journeys, running up and down the streets after stray Rattata, and finally, promising we would always be together, to travel together as a family. It seemed horribly desperate, but anywhere was better than here, listening to them yell. My old rope ladder was right where I’d left it, and just as easy to secure as it had ever been. It felt so familiar beneath my hands as I quickly climbed down and stole away into the alley. The alley was exactly the same as it had been four years ago. The same graffiti was sprayed on the concrete walls, the same dumpsters were broken, and leaning against the same abandoned buildings. The same night sky hung over the same humble alley, and back here I finally felt at home. “Couldn’t sleep either could you?” God! She had scared me. Leslie, one of my best friends who had stayed behind to work stepped out from behind one of the dumpsters. Her overly-pale face gleamed in the moonlight, red curls bouncing on her shoulders. “No,” I muttered, “Threw up, and then my parents started yelling. You’ve really got to stop sneaking around here alone Leslie.” “Like you?” “Touché” We both laughed; even in the grim shadow of my house we couldn’t help it. Both of us together back here felt like the old days. I half expected the whole crowd to jump out of the shadows, Astar, Leinsha, Abby, Dustin, Rachel, Zack, and Jake. “I think my Dad wants me to leave.” I said, just to break the tension held by seven missing people. “Lucky, I’m going to be stuck in this town until the day I die.” Her dramatics were usually pretty funny, but not so much tonight. “Why don’t we go down to the grotto, remember how we used to hide things down there?”
Yay, you remembered. I liked it. You have good grammar and the like, and that is what bugs me most is when a good idea is ruined by bad grammar. Keep writing. And I noticed an empty fan list earlier, and would like to know if I could make it not empty.
------------------- Sometimes before it gets better,
the darkness gets bigger,
the person that you take a bullet for is behind the trigger...
Through a hole in the fencing, down the bank of the old Gyra-Rock River a half mile, and halfway down the Rippling Cliffs sat our secret grotto. We’d actually found it by mistake about a year and a half before everyone left. Leslie, Abby and I had been playing up on the cliffs when Abby had slipped and fallen over the edge. She’d grabbed a branch sticking out of the cliff wall and had seen the opening. Since then, we’d been down there and back with the whole group about a hundred times. It was a perfect hiding place, neatly tucked into the side of the cliff. The only scary part was getting down, you had to jump off the edge, or slide down, grab onto the branch, and swing yourself into the grotto. I went first tonight, sliding down the cliff, grabbing the branch and swinging into the opening. Leslie was still scared, she always thought she would miss the branch, and fall into Gyra-Rock River below. Made sense, seeing as she had a fear of heights, it just made it harder to get her into the hideaway. The grotto hadn’t changed much, some of our trinkets and treasures were lying on the floor where we’d left them last time we had been here. Most things however, were in the little wooden box in the back, Mostly it was small things, a little silver coin, a deck of playing cards, a few indistinguishable fossils, and some small toys. With Leslie’s flashlight, we used to sit down here for hours playing card games. As if she had read my mind, she pulled her flashlight out of her bag, and I pulled the cards out of the box. Even though there were only two of us, we stayed there together all night, playing games like Seven-Up, Blackjack, and Euchre. The night could have lasted forever, and no matter how much I wished it had, the sun did decide to rise. True, by then we were both asleep on the floor, but that wasn’t really the point. We’d spent the night like we had four years ago, but the magic had to end. We woke with the wind, stiff and sore from lying on a hard rock floor all night, with a torrential downpour outside the cavern’s opening. “We’ve probably been missed by now.” Leslie muttered, speaking what we both had on our minds. “There’s no chance.” “Don’t give up. Come on Leslie, we can pretend we got up early to hang out or something.” “Or something?” “We’ll think of that part when we need to.”
With the clouds hovering so thick in the sky, it was hard to even tell what time it was. Maybe there was a chance our parents would still be asleep, if we made it home before the thunder. The ladder was still hanging out my window, the only sure sign that I hadn’t been caught. Every time my parents had noticed my absence, they’d pulled the ladder in, forcing me to meet them just inside the front door. Climbing up always seemed harder than climbing down, or maybe it was just my lack of practice. My room looked untouched, so maybe they really hadn’t noticed me. The clock on the wall showed Seven AM. Mom usually woke up in about a half hour, dad… well whenever he felt like it really. I had to go shower, it would be a dead giveaway if I was lying in my bed soaking wet. The touch of warm water and the smell of bath salts were always so soothing. Somehow I could hear Mom’s alarm clock buzzing though the sound of the water, and then her groan when she realized she’d have to wait for the shower. Sorry Mom, but I’m not blowing my cover that easy. Back in my room to dry off and get dressed, one horrifying little ‘X’ caught my eye. This couldn’t be the last day! No way, no no no no no no no no! He was leaving tomorrow! Why tomorrow?!? Why couldn’t we have another day, or week, even years? Seven-Twenty AM, that only gave me about eighteen hours and forty minutes before he was gone forever. That wasn’t enough time, there never could be enough time, I wasn’t ready to lose him! I’d make a breakfast, a big one, and then we could go out to the park, or down to Gyra-Rock River. The oil sizzled, the bacon burned and stuck to the pan, the toaster nearly caught fire, but Dad still said he loved it all. He wasn’t leaving until tomorrow, but the atmosphere still felt extremely solemn, like he was gone already and we were trying to adjust. “Hey Dad,” I stammered, clearing the dishes away, “I was wondering, since this is the last…” I couldn’t finish, but I didn’t need to. He always knew what I was thinking, sometimes even when I didn’t. “Want to go to the river with me; it’s a good season for Magikarp.” I just smiled and nodded, and off we went. The conventional trail felt so unfamiliar, even though the destination was the same as my midnight trips. This path was smooth and paved, all the trees were cleanly trimmed, and in full bloom. At the end of the path, we were thrown into the most breathtaking view in the entire Kataya Region. The Rolling Cliffs that flanked Gyra-Rock River always looked like they were parting before us, with the River (named for its winding shape, and the fisherman’s tales of catching a Gyarados ten meters long!) stretching out as far as the eye could see. During a dry season, there would be sandy beaches between the base of the cliffs and the actual water, but because of last night’s rainstorm, there was no beach to be seen. We raced each other down the path to the docks, like we had when I was a child. He won like always, but we both emerged laughing and smiling. The dock was almost empty today, only Old Man Joe was here. He seemed to be here everyday, sitting with his lined feet in the water, his rod in his hand, and his hat over is eyes. Nobody ever disturbed him, he was just there. Disregarding him like normal, we set our lines for the best and last day of fishing.
Wow, that is kinda neat. I always enjoy having a secret hideout in my works. So it is nice to see others include them too. just one question though. if they had to swing on a branch and jump in how did they get back out? your main character has quite a close relationship with her dad.
I am still liking it. Great work. You really make me feel for the main character. As I said earlier, keep writing! You are giving me motivation to finish my camp nanowrimo for this month.
------------------- Sometimes before it gets better,
the darkness gets bigger,
the person that you take a bullet for is behind the trigger...
Chapter Four! It's a little shorter, but I'm listening to Gaga and working on a craft.
Spoiler:Chapter Four- - Farewells
The day had finally come, and there was no denying it. July 12, the day my Father was leaving. What did you say to someone who had been in your life for thirteen years, who you were probably never going to see again? He just looked at me, took my hand, and pushed something round into my hand, something cold and small, about the size of a large marble. “You’re ready Joey; it’s your turn to go now too.” He said, looking me square in the face. My mom scoffed behind me. She clearly was not in support of this whatsoever. Luckily, as always, Dad had won. What he had pushing into my hand was a little Pokeball, with a diameter of about one inch, and very shiny. My dad hugged me, and whispered, “I have to leave now, and I think you should too.” I nodded. He was completely, one-hundred percent right. Being home alone with Mom was always something I tried to avoid; there was either some sort of shouting match, or fight, sometimes physical. All in all, it was just a bad situation. “Alright then,” I was a little nervous too now, I hadn’t planned to say goodbye to my mom so soon. Eventually yes, but not this soon. “Well, I’m going to go pack my things then.” I found feel her scorching glare following me as I ran up the stairs. There was no reason to look back, a look like hers could burn a hole straight through me. My bag lay empty by my door, ready to be packed. Now that I have an excuse to leave, I wanted to get out as soon as possible. A few shirts, a few pairs of pants quickly fell into my bag as I ran to get other things. Either way, within about ten minutes, I had my whole bag packed. Another ten minutes, and I was out the door. Somehow, my own leaving seemed easier than my dad’s. Dad had left before I did, because he thought it would be better if I left on my own, so he’d left when I’d been packing. Now that I was out of my house, the village had a whole different look to it. It was a warm, cozy look that for some reason I’d never seen while I’d lived here. Part of me still remembered the cold, prison-like feeling I’d felt until quite recently. It was that side of me that decided to bolt from the spot, and head for the hills. My feet pounded the trail as they lead me away from my home, and into my future. Future it seems wanted to come up and smack me in the face. Within five minutes of leaving town, the dark clouds had rolled in, and broke free. The rain was coming down in sheets, turning the simple little path into a muddy pool. Well, I was bound to have something like this happen sooner or later, seeing how much rain the village got. Not the best day to leave home, but one day is better than no day at all.