"Wait, so in the 2 minutes it took me to get here, you've befriended a Pokémon?" "Y-yeah, I did. I-I've just always had a-a certain way with Pokémon," I stammered out, my face getting hot. *Hey, are you alright? Your face is getting as red as your hair,* Rusty told me. :Yes, Rusty, I'm fine.:

"Jasmine! Are you even listening?" "Oh, yeah! I was!" "I asked you to elaborate on what you meant by your 'way with Pokémon.' I would like to know more." *Yeah, so would I.* "Well, I don't know why, but I can communicate with Pokémon, like, with my mind."

Dan and Rusty shared the same expression for a few seconds, their mouths agape from shock. "Y-you really mean it? You're not lying about that?" "Dan, how would I be able to befriend Rusty so quickly if I didn't?"

"Y-you make a fine point. That must of been why Team Galactic kidnapped you." *Wait you were captured by Team Galactic?* "No, Dan, I learned of my ability to talk to Pokémon after I was captured. It couldn't have been why."

"Oh, well, then the plot thickens. We should get back on the move. Twinleaf Town is a bit further. I think that you should walk there until you catch Rusty." "Okay then, see you there!"

He hopped back on Bonnie, returned his other Staraptor, and flew back southwest, barely above the treetops. :So, can you walk by yourself, or do I still need to hold you,: I asked my Pokémon. *I should be fine, just go slow,* my Pokémon said. I set him down, and after he wobbled a bit, he began taking a few slow steps, before picking up his pace. We walked and talked for 5 minutes, before reaching Twinleaf Town.

It was a very small town, with only around 10 people living there at the time and 4 houses. I saw Dan waving to me, so I walked over to him, Rusty following behind me. "Hey, you're finally here," Dan said as I approached him. "Yeah, I am. So, who'll be teaching me?" "That would be me," said a voice from behind the house.

The speaker came out from behind the house, and moved next to Dan. They were a boy, about my age, with gray hair and eyes. He was wearing a blue and gray sweater vest, jeans, and red shoes, a red scarf, and a red hat. "Hi, I'm Lucas, nice to meet you." "I-I'm Jasmine, n-nice to meet you to."

"So, Dan, is this the girl you told me about?" "Yes. Lucas, she would like to learn how to read." "Well, I'd be glad to teach you, Jasmine," Lucas said with a smile. *Hey, wait up, Jasmine! I can't go as fast as you can,* I heard Rusty call out from behind me.

I turned around to grab Rusty, but as I did, I heard an unfamiliar voice from behind me. "Hey, you there!" I turned back around and looked to where I heard the voice. I saw another kid, around Lucas' height, maybe a bit shorter, with blonde hair and orange eyes. He had an orange and white cardigan, a green scarf, gray pants, and brown boots on, and he was running my way.

"Yeah you, red! Who are you and why are you here? Tell me, or I'm fining you a million Pokedollars!" Rusty noticed the kid rushing me down and sent a Thunderbolt at his feet. The kid stopped, scared to move any closer with the Shinx glaring molten fire at him. :Rusty, stop, he's fine,: I told my Electric-type Pokemon. He relaxed his stance, before moving over to me, rubbing his head affectionately on my pant leg.

"Arceus, what was that for? I wasn't going to hurt you," the kid called out to me. "Well, you shouldn't have rushed her down, Barry," Lucas told the blonde kid. "Yeah, and what even are Pokédollars? I don't have any," I told the kid. "Wait, how do you not know what Pokédollars are? Wait, back up, who are you?" "Barry, this is Jasmine, I'm teaching her how to read. Jasmine, this is Barry, he's my best friend."

"So, why do you not know how to read? Were you hidden from the world for most your life," Barry asked me. "Well, I guess you could say that. I've been a prisoner of Team Galactic for most my life." Lucas and Barry's mouths were agape. "Wait, since when did Team Galactic take prisoners? And for more than a few days," Lucas asked. "And how long is 'most your life?' "

"A-As long as I can remember. All I've ever known is being a prisoner. It was only today that I learned that my hair is blood red and my eyes are rose pink. I don't know why parents are, why I was captured, or why I can talk to Pokémon, but I just...crap, did I just say that?" "Yes, you did, Jasmine," Dan told me.

"Wait, you can talk to Pokémon," Barry asked. "Yeah, I can. It's just something I can do, it's not why I was captured. I only learned that I could do it after I was abducted." *Jasmine, are you alright? You seem like you're flustered.*

:I-I'm fine. I just hate being reminded of my past.: "Well, Jasmine, shall I show you inside," Lucas asked me. "S-sure, why not?" As I walked towards Lucas' house, Dan stopped me.

"Jasmine, I have to leave now. Lucas will be taking care of you until you start your journey. It was nice to meet you, Jasmine. Be sure to visit me back in Floaroma Town." "Okay, I will. Thank you Dan, for everything," I said, hugging him.

When I pulled away, Dan got back on Bonnie and took off, his Staraptor's brown feathers shining in the sunlight as it flew northeast to Floaroma Town. "Well, let's go inside, Jasmine," Lucas said. I nodded to him, picked up my Shinx, and followed him inside.

The inside of the house was nothing special, other than the house having a second story. "Oh, well hello there," the blue-haired woman sitting at the table called to me. "You must be Jasmine! I'm Lucas' mother, Johanna, it's such a pleasure to meet you!" "W-well, thank you. I-it's nice to meet you too," I stammered out.

"Well, Jasmine, shall we get started? I have have a space in my room set up for you to learn," Lucas told me. "S-sure, that sounds good." We walked up the stairs to Lucas' room, which had a bed in the corner, two desks set facing each other at the foot of the bed, a desk with a small laptop in the opposite corner, and next to it, a TV. But, what caught my eye was a yellow backpack on the bed, with a Great Ball on top of it.

"Hey, Lucas, what's that bag?" "Oh, that? Dan was carrying that and told me that it was yours." I walked over and picked up the Great Ball. *So, I imagine that the Great Ball is for you to capture me," Rusty said.

:I would imagine that would be true,: I told the crippled Shinx in my arms. "You talking to your Pokémon," Lucas asked me, to which I nodded to him. *Well, let's do it, Jasmine.* I tapped the Great Ball on Rusty's forehead, which opened up, sucking the Flash Pokémon inside using a red beam of light. The ball fell to the floor, shaking 3 times, before making a clicking sound, signaling Rusty's capture.

I pressed the button on the Great Ball, causing it to shrink in the palm of my hand. I pressed the button again, and it grew back to it's first size. I set the Great Ball on the bed next to the backpack, before picking the backpack up and searching through it. I found a piece of paper with words on it, a scrubber like the one I used at Dan's house, and the book I was reading at Dan's house. "That's why he said this was mine, I was trying to read this a while ago."

"I see, you want to be a trainer, correct?" "Y-yes, I think that it would be fun." "Well, Barry and I could help teach you. But for now, we should begin our lessons." "O-okay," I said, moving to the desk with its chair to the bed. "So, let's start at the beginning."

(Two Weeks Later)

"Come on, Jasmine! If you make us late, so help me, Arceus, I will fine you," Barry said to me as I ran towards him and Lucas. "Sorry I'm late, I forgot my backpack," I said as I approached the two boys. "Well, let's go! We don't want to keep Dawn waiting, do we," Lucas asked. "No, probably not, let us go!"

We began walking along Route 1 towards Sandgem Town. We were planning to meet a friend of theirs named Dawn when she got off the boat that she was on. She sounded nice, and she was a contest performer, which had always looked interesting to me, despite myself not wanting to do that. As we were walking along, we began to talk about whatever crossed our minds. "Man, I wonder how Dawn will look," Barry said.

"Yeah, we haven't seen her since she went to Hoenn a few years back." "Wow, so you guys haven't seen Dawn for over 2 years?" "Yeah, it's pretty crazy, but we all have our own paths. And Dawn's lead in a different direction than ours," Lucas said. We were approaching the town, it's white sand reflecting the sun's rays.

"Sandgem...Town, is that right," I asked Lucas as I read a sign up ahead. "Yes, that's what it says. I see that your lessons are paying off," Barry said to me. "Yeah, she's quite the fast learner. Learning half a textbook's worth in 1 week is impressive."

"Hey, stop it, you're embarrassing me," I told them, giggling. We were now in Sandgem Town, and we walked down to Route 219. We saw a boat resting along the shore, it's ramp descending to the sand below. A girl was coming down the ramp, wearing a black dress with a short pink skirt, pink boots, a red scarf, and a white hat with a pink half Pokéball symbol on it. She had the same grey hair and eyes as Lucas did, and from the look on Lucas' face, he knew the girl.

The girl caught sight of Lucas, and rushed over to him, hugging him when she was in range. "Oh my Arceus, Lucas! It's been so long since I last saw you!" Lucas wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her in tight. "It's good to see you too, sis."

"Hey, Dawn, great to see you again," Barry said to the girl. "Wait, Dawn is your sister, Lucas?" "Not just sister, we're twins," Lucas said as he pulled away from Dawn. "Oh, you must be Jasmine. Lucas has told me about you."

"W-well, l-let's hope it's all g-good t-things," I stammered out, my face getting progressively hotter. "Hey, are you alright? Your face and hair colors are starting to blur together," Dawn told me. "Y-yeah, I just get nervous around new people. I don't know why, it's just a habit of mine."

"Hey, Jasmine, think we should go see Professor Rowan and leave these two to catch up," Barry asked me. "Sure, why not?" We began walking towards a house on the edge of town, leaving Lucas and Dawn to themselves. "Thanks for that, I didn't want to make it more awkward than it already was." "Hey, no problem, I did that for me more than for you."

His comment made me laugh, which surprised him. "Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before." "Well, how was it?" "I...I'm not sure that I could truly judge it, but I think it sounded nice. I think you should do it more."

We were now at the lab of Professor Rowan, where Dawn apparently assisted the professor a few years ago. As we walked in, we were greeted by a white haired man with a large mustache. "Ah, Barry, it's about time you got here! I assume you must be Jasmine!" "Yes, I'm Jasmine, nice to meet you," I told the professor.

"So, Jasmine, you would like to train and battle Pokémon, correct," the professor asked. "Yes, I very much would like to do that." "Well, it may do you good to have one of these," Barry said, pulling a rectangle shaped device from his pocket. "Jasmine, this is a Pokédex, and it can help you out on your journey." "Wow, what does it do?"

"The Pokédex is an important tool for research. Anyone who has one has promised to use theirs to gather a special kind of data, unique to the owner. Barry, for instance, has gathered data on the fastest Pokémon, and how many boosts a slower Pokémon would need to outmatch it." I thought back to Rusty, and the burn on his leg. Even though it was a liability to him, it was one of the things that made him unique.

"I can see your mind is wandering, Jasmine. What are you thinking about," Professor Rowan asked me. "Sir, if I were to have a Pokédex, I would take note on all the different things that make individual Pokémon unique." "Ah, I assume this is based on Rusty, correct," the professor asked. "Yes, that's right, and I feel that I could find many interesting things to log in the Pokédex."

"Well, that certainly sounds interesting. What do you think, Professor," Barry asked. "It certainly sounds doable for research. Jasmine, do you promise to, once you have something that could be considered truly unique, to come back here and show me?" "Yes. professor Rowan, I know that Rusty's burn isn't exactly unique to only him, as anyone else could have a Houndoom burn. But, once I find a truly unique Pokémon, I'll come back and show you."

Just then, Rusty came out of his Great Ball, an angry look in his eyes. :Rusty? What's wrong?: *Nothing, I'm sorry I have nothing unique to say.* :Rusty, I'm sorry, I just mean that you look and most likely fight like any other Shinx.:

Rusty bit my pant leg in rage, pulling on it like a puppy. *How would you know? You don't know the first thing about me!* Just then, a small, orange, monkey-like Pokémon punched Rusty away, sending him crashing into the wall. "Okay, Chimling, we need to calm that Shinx down," Barry said to the Pokémon.

:Rusty, are you alright,: I asked my partner Pokémon. *Yeah, I'm fine. That Chimchar doesn't have anything on me!* :Well then, use Intimidate,: I told him, remembering something I read in that book Dan gave me. *See, this is the problem, Jasmine. My Ability isn't Intimidate!*

Barry's Chimchar rushed up to Rusty and hit him in the stomach, sending Rusty into the air. Rusty used this opportunity to envelop himself in a ball of electricity and crash down onto Chimling. When Rusty's attack was finished, he jumped back to my side, his face visibly more pained than before. :Wait, so your ability isn't Intimidate? Is it Rivalry?:

*Well, Chimling would be in much better shape if I did.* I looked at Barry's Chimchar, it's face contorted with pain. :Wait, so of it's not Intimidate, and it's not Rivalry, that means you have Guts!: *Yes, that's right, Jasmine. How unique is that?*

"Professor Rowan, I believe that Rusty has something truly unique about him. The burn on his leg activates his Ability, Guts. He always has increased power from his burn." "Well, that does seem quite interesting. Jasmine, I believe that this is evidence enough for you to have a Pokédex," Professor Rowan said with a smile.

"Woo hoo, yeah! Way to go, Jasmine," Barry told me as he returned his Chimchar. "Thanks, Barry, for helping out. If Chimling there hadn't attacked Rusty, I wouldn't know what his Ability was." I returned my Electric-type partner and followed Professor Rowan to the back of the lab.

He took a box and opened it, showing me 3 Pokédexes, each a different color. "Choose whichever you like." I looked at the three Pokédexes, one blue, red, and cream, one purple, and the last one white, light green, and auburn. The white and green one stuck out to me, so I took it. The professor nodded and closed the box, setting it back down.

"Thank you, sir," I told the Professor. "You're welcome, Jasmine. Anything for you after what Melody did for me." "Wait, who's Melody?" "Jasmine, Melody was my best assistant, and your mother."

~~~O~~~O~~~O~~~

Word Count: 2825 Words

Finally, this chapter is out! I'm so used to making chapters in a day or two, so this is just nightmarish to me. But, writing troubles aside, we finally know something about Jasmine's mother!

And, I have to get this out of the way, Lucas, Barry, and Dawn are sort of a mesh of different elements from all the media.

And yes, I made Lucas and Dawn twins, my god, I'm such a horrible person.

Well, chapters don't write themselves, so I have some work to do. Until next time, reporting from the prison for people who don't like Shinymewgirl's 'Why Me?', this is SSGSSJ2, telling you, Happy Reading!