[center][color=orangered][h1][i][b] Amber "Flare" Chaelamin [/b][/i][/h1][/color][/center]

“So you all ready for tomorrow, Amber?”  A woman spoke to a young red head as she served dinner.

[color=orangered]“Yeah mom, made sure that I packed everything I needed before I had to professor Stonewood’s lab tomorrow,”[/color] the red head responded.

“I’m surprised you hadn’t started your journey sooner,” A man seated on Amber’s right interjected.

[color=orangered]“Well I had wanted to, but I wasn’t really ready to begin it yet, why? Looking forward to getting rid of me, dad?”[/color] Amber teased.

“No sweetheart, of course not, I just figured you had wanted to leave when you could and see the world,” her father gave a smile.

“Well I’m glad she stayed a little longer, who knows how long it’ll be until we see our daughter again, plus she’s been a big help with the shop,” Amber’s mother spoke up once more as she finished putting food on the four plates at the table and then took a seat across from Amber.

“I can go and get my first Pokémon with her as well, right mom?” Amber’s younger brother, Adam, asked, an excited look on his face over the talk of his sister soon getting her first partner.

“No, you’re still too young, perhaps when you’re a little older you can go, but for now you’re staying at home.”

“But mom, Flare can take me, right?” He pleaded, looking to his sister as he asked.

She looked down at her plate for a moment before looking to her brother again and then to her mother,[color=orangered]“I wouldn’t mind bringing him along with me on my journey, I’ll make sure he’s safe.”[/color]

“I already said no dear, I want your brother to stay here and that’s final,” Her mother responded a little more firmly.

[color=orangered]“Sorry squirt, you heard mom and what she says is final.”[/color]

Adam folded his arms, slightly pouting and for a few moments, there was only silence and Amber and her family continued to eat their dinner, “Flare?” Amber’s mother asked with a curious look to her daughter.

[color=orangered]“Oh, uh, it’s a nickname my friends gave me, cause of my red hair, guess the squirt heard and liked it,”[/color] she embarrassingly chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

“Ah, well I guess it is rather fitting,” her mother responded with a small chuckle of her own.

After dinner, Flare showered and brushed her teeth and then got into bed, she was excited to finally start her journey, almost to the point where she couldn’t sleep. She glanced over at the clock, it displaying 11:00 on the LED display, [color=orangered]“Ugh, figures, the night before I go to the lab and I can’t sleep,”[/color] she let out an irritated sigh. After about forty-five minutes, she finally fell asleep, the night quickly passing her by and even the early morning.

[b][u]The Next Morning[/u][/b]

“Honey, wake up, you’re going to be late,” Flare’s mother called from downstairs.

She groggily awoke from her slumber, shielding her eyes as the bright sunlight shone partially through the gap in the curtains as she sat up. Glancing over at her clock, it was already half past ten, [color=orangered]“Shoot, I’m already late, I gotta hurry,”[/color] she spoke to herself as she rushed out of bed, changing her clothes and straightening out her hair before rushing downstairs.

Her mother glanced back when she heard her daughter rushing down the stairs, “I put some breakfast on the table sweetie, why don’t you eat something before you leave.”

[color=orangered]“No time, I’m late as it is, I’ll eat after I get my Pokémon,”[/color] Flare responded as she rushed out the door and then ran over to her bike.

“That girl, always on the move,” Her mother spoke to herself with a smirk as she shook her head.

Flare hopped onto her bike and then peddled as fast as she could, dirt kicking back off her tires as she made her way to professor Stonewood’s lab. Flare looked up when a drop of water hit her nose, the sky having quickly turned dark with rain clouds as thunder rolled and lightning flashed, [color=orangered]“I better move it,”[/color] she spoke to herself as she increased her speed, her legs pushing heavily on the bike’s peddles, so much so that it made her legs burn a little.

It didn’t take long for the clouds to produce a downpour and a heavy one at that, [color=orangered][i]‘Just great, that’s all I need to be showing up to the lab, late and drenched,’[/i][/color] she scolded herself in her thoughts. Flare saw the lab come into view over the horizon of the hill and pushed herself even more to get to the lab and out of the rain, [color=orangered][i]‘awesome, all I need to do is round this turn and then I’ll be at the lab,’[/i][/color] she thought to herself once more as she saw the final turn she needed to making coming up.

However as she went to make the turn, the now muddy path was slick and caused her back wheel to fishtail and forced the bike to slide out from under her. She crashed through the wooden guard that was along the path and then tumbled down the hill, her momentum halted when she hit her head on a tree, knocking her out cold. A few moments later a light enveloped her, slowly parts of her body vanished until she was completely gone and the last bits of lights floated up and then disappeared.

Flare awoke a few hours later, wincing from the throbbing pain in her head, she looked around the area as she sorted her vision out, suddenly in a wooded area, [color=orangered]“Where the heck am I?”[/color] She asked herself aloud, rubbing one of her eyes with her paw. Wait, a paw? Flare looked at her paw when she felt the fur of it brush against her face, [color=orangered]“What the hell? A paw? Why do I have a paw?”[/color] She asked herself once more, looking up the length of her limb and then to her body, all the way to her multiple tails, [color=orangered]“and tails as well? What is going on?”[/color] Flare added, her heartbeat increasing as worry set in.

She hastily looked around the wooded area, trying to find anything that would let her see her own appearance, suddenly spotting a puddle, she rushed over to it as fast as her paws would take her. Upon looking into the reflective liquid, she discovered, much to her surprise that she was a Pokémon and not just any Pokémon but a Vulpix, now she was really scared and equally confused. 

[color=orangered]“What? Why am I a Pokémon?”[/color] She asked herself again, confused even more so than before. [color=orangered]“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know I need to find some help, maybe someone can tell me why I’m like this and help me get back to normal...but where do I go?”[/color] Flare turned around multiple times in the spot she was in, unsure of where to start walking, she didn’t wish to get even more lost than she already was.

She eventually decided to head north, she was sure she was bound to run into a town eventually but she had no idea where that direction was, soon remembering the sun could help her with that direction, she looked up into the sky. The sun was already slightly in the west, so it couldn’t have been more than a little bit past noon, perhaps one or two in the afternoon, now that she had the direction of north, she began walking. 

Flare’s stride didn’t last long however, she noticed a glimmer in the corner of her eye and went over to investigate it, on the ground there was a silver necklace with a locket attached to it, curiously she looked over it, pressing the latch on the side and the lid sprung open, revealing a picture of Flare’s parents, her brother Adam and Flare herself. [color=orangered]“I wonder why this is out here? And who are these people?”[/color] As she continued to look at the picture, she got a feeling, [color=orangered]“Whoever they are, they seem familiar, maybe I know them and they could help me, I better take this with me, see if anyone knows them,”[/color] Flare spoke to herself, closing the locket and then scooping it up with her nose until it slid behind her head and was safely around her neck.

After that, she once more continued her stride north, hopefully she would find a town soon and she could get some help, this definitely was a strange day, discovering she was a Pokémon and having little memory of herself, she didn’t know if things could get much worse.