Episode 1: I Declare You My Rival!

[Zophiel]

The harsh cry of a poke'mon rang out through the sky as a pair of people descended on what is known to be Blackthorn city. The near silent noise of the wind being cut in half by his wings could only be heard by the pair of trainers sitting on it's back. The main riders hand patted his poke'mon's neck and chuckled. "Settle down Sonar, we don't want to scare the old people. Chances are they haven't seen many of you here in Johto."

In a flurry of dust and wind, the giant bat-dragon known as Noivern touched down and the pair hopped off onto solid earth. They landed somewhere near the center of town; which meant that there were several sets of eyes that looked upon them. The man returning Sonar to his poke'ball stood about six feet tall. He had dirty blonde hair, a defining jaw line, and harsh brow; accompanied by a smile that softened his looks quite a bit. His gear suggested that he was going to be out and about, adventuring and the like.

To his left stood a small girl, blonde in hair and lithe in form. She wore a hoodie and a thick pair of cargo pants, most likely to stay warm on the long trip through the skies. Green eyes shut tightly for a moment as she stretched, making weird yet satisfying noises. Suddenly, in an instant, she was off running. "No-- Odette!" shouted Ulrich. He cursed under his breath and started after her at a brisk walk. Odette quickly turned around and stuck her tongue out at her Dad before she picked up her pace. She'd never been out of the Kalos region before, and there was no way she wasn't going to see as much as she could before getting locked up inside with some babysitter.

She hit him like a Rhyhorn rushing an Onix. He barely budged, but Odette ended up flat on her ass. "Whoa there. Are you alright?" A hand stretched out before her face, offering help up. He tugged her with ease, the sun eclipsing his towering figure for the moment as she looked up at the man. "Perhaps we should both pay more attention to where we are going, hm?" He smiled clearly as her eyes adjusted to the harsh light. Her obstacle certainly wasn't an ordinary man by any standard. Hair burning red and eyes like gold, the man seemed as too familiar. It wasn't until she saw the cape that it dawned on her.

"You're -- You're Lance!?" she shouted, finger outstretched towards his face. "I've watched every one of your-- I-- I challenge you to battle!"

"You..." He stared, dulled eyed and a bit confused. Then all at once his laughter came crashing down. "Ahaha, well, alright. You have any pokemon then?"

"Well, no. But once my Dad gets here, he'll battle you! Here he comes now!" she said with confidence, hands on her hips. It was then that Ulrich finally caught up to her and noticed that she was in talks with Lance of all people. Even with no knowledge of what was said, his assumptions were spot on.

"Ah Lance, thank you for stopping her. Good to see you again!" he said, stretching out his hand to shake the champion's.

"You as well, Ulrich. I can see where this little one gets all of her spirit now that I know just who her parents are." he replied, tousling Odette's hair for a moment. Both men chuckled amongst themselves while Odette's face grew red.

"Hey you are supposed to be battling!" she whined tugging at her father's sleeve. "I'm still here; don't ignore me!"

The young girl pouted and gave up on the notion of an epic battle went out the window and instead focused on something else. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Lance! He's only like one of the most famous trainers in the world!"

"Must have slipped my mind!" countered Ulrich, looking somewhat worried as Odette's hands were curling into fists. His quickly reached down and picked her up in a hug, squeezing her tightly.

"Let me go!" she groaned. "You are only doing this so I don't run away again, huh?"

Ulrich smirked happily. "Well, you aren't wrong~"

Lance laughed once again and motioned for Ulrich to follow. "Come on, Odette, let's head to the house and we'll get you settled in for your little vacation."

[Percival Greyson]

"You'll enjoy your time here, Odette. It may seem like a quiet city, but there is much to do around our family estate. I've bet you've never been outside of Kalos, so you're sure to have an adventure. I won't be around much, but Percy will keep you company." He led them up a few beaten slopes towards a plateau that overlooked much of Blackthorn. Alone at the top sat a grand house, styled much to the Johto's regions traditional architecture. For such a large place though, Odette noticed it fell oddly silent up here. The air seemed calmer, but the shadow of importance rest within this home, The famed home to the Dragon Clan of Blackthorn city.

At the gates stood three figures, waiting for Lance and their guests to arrive. The tallest waved energetically towards them, jogging slightly as she went to greet them. "Hey there! You got here much quicker than I thought. See? I told ya that you wouldn't have to wait that long for them, huh?" She teased the Champion with a confident smile. Her hand reached out towards Ulrich, bumping his fist with her's in a friendly gesture that made them seem like old pals. She shifted towards the small girl, resting her hands on her knees as she leaned down. "And you must be Odette! I'm Greyson! I've known your dad for a long time. The last time I saw you, you were in diapers." She continued smiling. "Come on! Let me introduce you to someone!" Greyson marched over towards the two figures near the house gates.

"Odette, I'd like you to meet my son, Percy. He'll be entertaining you while we're gone. Say hello, Percy." She whispered that last part to the boy who looked entirely unimpressed with his situation. At his side was a Mawile, holding his hand. He peeked up at Odette before once more gazing off somewhere else that didn't met anyone's eyes. The Mawile tugged on his hand ever so slightly. The pokemon gave out a cheerful cry as if to say hello, and it wasn't until then that the boy decided to acknowledge her.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you..." His lackluster greeting died in comparison to both of his parents' outgoing natures. Greyson ruffled his hair and smiled.

"He's a little shy, but I'm sure you two will get along great! This is his friend, Mawile."

"Her name is Morgan." He informed Odette, only slightly more excited than when he introduced himself.

[Zophiel]

As they made their way up to the house, Odette couldn't help but wonder just what kind of person the son of Lance would be like. He was probably some dragon prodigy who had a Dragonite by now. Images flooded her mind of a boy her age standing prominently on a cliff of some kind, Dragonite flying about. His piercing eyes would look down at her from above as he sent the Dragonite to attack some poke'mon she had before her. They were in a heated battle and that's all that mattered. Like a young man imagining playing war with explosions, she imagined Flamethrowers and Hyper Beams blast to and fro.

As she quickly met the champion's family, her vision of Lance's son was quickly torn asunder and replaced with a meek and timid boy. She paid no mind to his lack of enthusiasm but instead focused on the fact he already had his very own poke'mon! "No way!? You have your own poke'mon!?" she exclaimed dashing forward to get a look at the equally cute and intimidating fairy type.

"Uh-oh." could be heard from behind her, spoken by her father.

"He's already got one! Why do I have to wait till I'm ten!? It's not fair!" whined Odette staring deep into her father's soul. He looked from side to side and cleared his throat.

"Don't be rude Odette, show your manners!" he urged, trying to get her off subject.

"Ughhhh-- " she turned whilst groaning. "Sorry, it's very nice to meet you Miss Greyson. And you too Percy, and Morgan as well." she finished, her eyes staring jealously towards Mawile. An arm quickly shot out and gripped Percy by the wrist and began to pull him off towards a different part of the yard. "Come on, let's ditch the grown-ups! That includes you Morgan~" she dictated harshly. It was obvious that her father had miffed her just a bit.

She brought them to a small garden within the courtyard and then turned to face the pair. "You have no idea how jealous I am of you right now! What moves can she do? Have you had any battles? What types is she? It is a she yes?" she said, practically interrogating the young man she just met; and quite rudely as well .

[Percival Greyson]

"Oh, look! They're aready fast friends." Greyson joked, watching the little girl terrorize her son from a distance. Soon they were out of their sight. "Thanks for bringing her, Ulrich. Percy doesn't leave the house much... Ever. So, he doesn't have any friends besides Mawile. I hope Odette can look past his aloof nature and take care of him."

"You make it sound like you're giving our son away in marriage, Grey." Lance groaned, scratching the back of his head. Greyson chuckled, in a mischievous way all too familiar to her husband.

Percy certainly was taken aback by Odette's whirlwind nature. He felt himself shrinking with every passing question. His heart thundered nervously as he held Morgan's hand just a little tighter. His fearless pokemon wouldn't allow her trainer to not take an opportunity to show her off. She nudged him obnoxiously until he finally spoke. "Well, she, uh, is still really little so she only knows Astonish and Fake Tears. I'm not allowed to battle with her until I get my trainer license... My mom caught her for me as a birthday present. We've been friends ever since." And that's when he finally smiled. "Even though she isn't battle ready, she's still really amazing and always looks out for me! I know one day we'll both be strong enough to beat even my father and mother!" Odette could see his passion for his pokemon quickly outweighed his sullen nature. His eyes glowed with such care for Morgan, and his partner knew just how much she mattered to him. She smiled wide, with even her mouth hanging off her head giving a giant toothy grin.

[Zophiel]

As soon as he started talking, Odette was consumed with every word he said. Each passing moment brought new information for her to judge them by, for better or worse. What impressed her the most was that Percy readily admitted to have a goal in beating his parents with Mawile at his side. So he wasn't a meek kid after all; there really was something going on in that noggin of his; at least when it came to his Mawile. She had not the slightest of ideas about anything else. But for Odette, nothing else mattered either.

"So she was a birthday present, but you can't battle with her yet?" questioned the young blonde out loud. "How do you expect to beat your parents if you don't start training her now? Every moment you waste is one where they grow stronger! If I were you, I'd be out there working on being a better trainer until they dragged me back inside, yup yup!" she replied, a matter of fact quality to her voice. Then, her confident smirk turned into a sly smile. "Why don't we do that right now? Come on, they'll be busy talking about boring grown up stuff anyway. Probably won't notice a thing. Hey! Why don't we ask Morgan, I bet she would love to get out and stretch those muscles!"

[Percival Greyson]

"Ah?" He exchanged glances with his pokemon. She seemed to nod with an understanding that passed between them. "Mm. Okay. We'll go with you." He smirked mischievously, something seemingly uncharacteristic within him came to the surface. "You're right, I can't let them pass me." They were two giants looming over such a small child, but he wouldn't give up until he was the one looking down on them. All their strength seem to come in easy strides towards them. What was their secret of power? He hoped one day to grasp onto such secrets. With Morgan, he felt it possible.

All his life he was just their son. Maybe someday, they'd just be his parents. He'd rise above them, even if it took all of his life. He find a legacy greater than just being their child.

"But, Odette.... What should we even do to train?" He found himself at a loss. It only seemed possible to become stronger by battling other trainers and their pokemon, but Odette wasn't able to help them in their endeavor. Suddenly an idea came to him. "Oh! I know... I might get in trouble, but..."

"In there." He pointed to a corridor leading into the house from the courtyard. "My family keeps supplies down in that hallway. There's bound to be some pokeballs. We could battle wild pokemon and capture them. Maybe we can even get you a pokemon!"

[Zophiel]

"Awesome!" Odette exclaimed.

She found it a bit easier than she expected it to be; almost as if was going to be pulling out teeth. On the contrary, her words were wisely chosen and fanned the flames of an ember deep in Percy's heart. One that he would, one day, use to conquer the legacy of his parents and forge his own.

But, he had a good point. Without a poke'mon of her own they weren't going to make any progress towards forging a legacy with Morgan. In her times in the alleyways of Lumiose City, she had seen some battles that ended in fights between the trainers. Sometimes they would even use poke'mon moves they learned from rigorous training of their own. Unfortunately, the young girl knew nothing of the sort so fighting Morgan herself was out of the question. Thankfully, Percy had an idea of his own. "Trouble?" she pondered.

Her eyes followed his fingers towards the manor while her ears trained on his words; which, were much chipper than before, and thankfully so. Poke'balls, Wild Poke'mon, a Poke'mon of her own... "A poke'mon of my own?" she repeated out loud. Instantly this trip got one hundred million times more exciting! Her aura burst aflame, matched only by the fiery tenacity in her eyes witnessed by Percy. "Lead the way!" she would say, but Percy would have to pick up his pace as she was already ten yards ahead of him power walking like she knew the place.