-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-[The Starry-Eyed Trainer]-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-
-x-X-x-[Chapter I]-x-X-x-
[Journey Beginning]

The lazy girl with eyes narrowed, as if she had just gotten out of bed, was a fifteen-year-old newly fledged trainer. Her name was Stella Gazer, and she was often told that she had eyes upon the stars. If you were to ask her, on the other hand, she'd say it was impossible because she would be sleeping when the stars came out.

In fact, she'd say she'd rather sleep during any kind of situation. She was best described as an aloof teenager with a problem in laziness and productivity. She was someone you'd think would make a terrible trainer.

Stella doesn't study, she isn't motivated, and she usually spends her free time asleep in her room. She was someone that was fully confident when saying that they were empty, and yet, everyone had high hopes for her.

Perhaps they had thought to themselves that she'd have a good experience and grow out of being the lazy, problem child that she was.

Be that as it may, today was the day that Stella would be leaving her home at Eterna City within the Sinnoh region. She had already received her starting Pokémon the other day – a Pokémon imported from the Galar region, a Rookidee.

It was the Tiny Bird Pokémon and a Flying-type. Stella nicknamed the male Pokémon, Slayer. He was quite the rambunctious fellow – already garnering a reputation among the locals for attempting to start fights with any Pokémon it spots, though it usually ends up on the ground seeing stars.

While most might find this annoying, the local Gym Leader, Gardenia, decided to make a game out of it when the small Rookidee attempted to fight her Leafeon. Throughout that entire day, it had been spotted hurriedly flying away as that very same Leafeon chased it everywhere.

If one were to ask Stella what her thoughts on this were – it would be that Slayer, her Rookidee, had it coming. She believed that any action, whether positive or negative, had an equal consequence. If you hit someone, be prepared to get hit back. If you steal something, prepare to lose something.

If you went around attacking the local Pokémon population? Prepare to see Nurse Joy.

To her, the world was filled with shades of gray, a world of karma. Doing good was rewarded with good and doing bad was rewarded with bad. This is why Stella avoided problems. If she didn't do anything, nothing would happen to her.

Or at least, nothing should've happened to her.

But now, she was forced to go out to see the world. Why? Because she was so lazy and her parents wanted her to grow out of this phase, as they put it. Stella was, undeniably, lazy. If one thought clearly, then they might realize that throwing someone lazy out into the real world was an impractical idea and might even end with their life. Especially with the threat known as Pokémon, one might accidentally meet an end if they weren't careful enough.

And who would know most about Pokémon? A researcher? A trainer? The class president? Or the lazy student who nearly flunks every year?

Yep, you guessed it: the lazy dropout.

Which is why she was given a Pokémon and told to see the world.

Door slam.

Parents go to get a glass of wine, sit their lazy behinds on a couch, laugh, and drink.

Daughter alone with only a single Pokémon and five thousand Pokédollars to her name, and a backpack to store everything she needed, from collapsible Pokéballs to a tent equipped with a bedroll.

With her dear beloved Rookidee, nicknamed Slayer, perched upon her right shoulder and his shrunken Pokéball attached to an extension on her belt on her right waist, the girl was to start her journey. At least, that was what was supposed to happen.

However, for the next five minutes, she simply waited outside the door just in case this was either a dream or a joke. When her mother popped open the door and asked what the hold-up was, Stella's hopes were let down and she was disappointed, thus her day was ruined.

Nope.

This was real, and Stella would be going on her own adventure at the tender age of fifteen. While most trainers might trek out alone at age ten, such an amazing and wise age, those who waited to turn fifteen to go out was simply in the minority.

You can't be a Pokémon trainer at fifteen!

Of course, this was all made up in Stella's head. She just didn't want to put in the effort. Which was why when her mother finally shooed her away from the premises, Stella decided to actually do something for once in her life.

And attempt to move in with her only friend who hadn't decided to leave on her own journey. But after a half-hour of trying to persuade her friend, and her friend's parents to let her stay there, she gave up. Stella's parents were too clever for Stella's own good.

With that, her other idea was to get a room in the hotel and burn through the money she had – if she didn't have anything, her parents wouldn't be able to comfortably send their only daughter on a grand adventure, where she would have amazing memories, find awesome friends, and live an enjoyable and carefree life, right?

Wrong.

Every single hotel, motel, and even the Pokémon Center had been called and told to not let Stella stay there.

She would have to leave Eterna City. Only then would she be accepted back. Or something along those lines, Stella didn't really want to put in the effort to ask, so she simply guessed as she found herself at the southern gates of Eterna.

Sitting down with her pack by her side and her hands upon her chin, she lazily stared forward, face expressionless and Slayer napping.

Stella didn't know how long she had stayed there, but she did notice that the sun was setting soon. She spent that time well – at least according to her. To Stella, doing nothing was the best. If she didn't do anything, nothing would happen to her. She could continue to live as she always has done, and even if she was now hungry from not eating anything (it wasn't like she hadn't been given food for her journey, but Stella was too lazy to open her backpack to retrieve it), it wasn't like it mattered much to her anyway.

However, her outlook upon life crashed and burned once more when a voice cleared itself from behind her. Turning around, she met the orange eyes of Gardenia, the local Gym Leader.

Her orange and black hair, her cute face and petite frame, a black long-sleeved shirt which revealed much of her stomach, the green cloak was worn over the top half of her body, the orange trousers with a black belt, and green boots – Gardenia was pretty, Stella decided to herself. It was her first time seeing the Gym Leader, mostly because she was too lazy to watch any of her battles and because she'd rather spend time at home, asleep.

"Hello, I'm Gardenia, the Grass-type Gym Leader of Eterna City, uhm, but you probably already know that, right?" Gardenia questioned, and Stella nodded because she was right; she did know her but has never actually seen her. Though this was true, it wasn't as if she doesn't know what she looked like – she did recognize her after all. "Your parents are a little worried since you haven't actually… left, or anything, so I decided to come over and help you out a little. If that's fine with you?"

Stella shrugged, though mostly to herself as she turned her gaze downward, her eyes cast upon her lap. "I'll accept your invitation," Stella mumbled to herself, her natural voice quiet and small. Most people would consider her voice cute, and attractive. When she speaks, everyone strains to hear her clearly, which proves this line of thought to Stella, as she actively ignores that it might also be due to her quiet and timid voice. "You'll let me stay at your house, right?"

At her inquisitive question, Stella looked up at the now silent Gardenia, who was looking off to the side with an awkward smile. Finally, she scratched her cheek and stood back up to her full height. "Well, we have a few hours left… shall we?" Offering a hand, Gardenia helped the too-lazy-to-stand-up-by-herself Stella, and then began to lead her down the path out of Eterna, her hand wrapped securely around Stella's hand.

Stella felt a small blush of embarrassment spread against her cheeks, but she was too busy thinking about why they were heading out of Eterna City to notice. To herself, she thought everyone lived in the city. But, could it be possible that there were people who lived outside of it? In the forest?

She quickly decided that this was true – but only of those who were insane. Who'd want to live in a forest and walk all the way to the city to get groceries? Not like Stella ever went to the store or anything, but even for her, that felt like too much work. Then again, most things felt like too much work.

A supporting factor to this was that Gardenia specialized in Grass-type Pokémon, and she really loved them, oftentimes becoming infatuated in new Grass-types that she hasn't caught and raised yet. Because of these rumors, that Stella has heard, Stella worked out that Gardenia most likely lived in the forest where she would be surrounded by them. And bugs. A lot of Bug-type Pokémon.

Stella didn't like that.

She decided henceforth from now till ever, that she would never live in a forest or go near one.

"Oh, uhm, you look pretty cute by-the-by. New clothes?" Much like what Gardenia said, which only caused Stella's reddened face to intensify as the blood rushed to it rapidly by the offhand remark, Stella was indeed wearing new clothing that her parents had procured for her for starting her adventure.

Of course, they bought several pairs of it, because apparently trainers only wear one set of clothing. Either that or they didn't have the time to clean their clothes that much, so they usually had multiple of the same kinds of clothing and simply went from one set to the other from day to day and that they were too lazy to purchase differing kinds of outfits. Or something of that margin.

Stella has amber-colored eyes, with light brown colored straight hair. The bangs fell down to her eyes, with the side and back falling to her shoulders. The sides were a little wavy, definitely not from her sleeping, and it also framed her face beautifully. Many often credit Stella for being a beauty among beauties, and Stella totally understood. She was cute, she was adorable, and she was awesome. She was also a deep sleeper and could sleep through anything – even earthquakes.

She wore a red jacket with black accents and pockets near the bottom. The cuffs were black and slipped over half of Stella's hand easily, though if she tried, she could make the sleeve cover her hand completely. The jacket wasn't buttoned nor was it zipped; it completely exposed what she wore underneath, which was a tan short-sleeved shirt with a few symbols in the middle, with a lime green undershirt worn under to help hide her cleavage, which was also partly visible at the bottom.

Stella's assets weren't really big, but it wasn't like she was small either. They were a good size, something around the lines of an apple or an orange if she guessed. Stella didn't bother remembering her three sizes, just that she had a nice, petite body that was still hopefully developing. Stella wanted to one day say boing-boing as she gestured towards her great and amazing assets, but perhaps that was too narcissistic of her?

Wrapped around her neck, was a leather-bound necklace that fell down to her abdomen, which formed a wooden cross at its end. It was a good luck charm and one she received by her father when she was essentially kicked out of the house. She wore short jeans which wrapped around her thighs almost deliciously, showing off her legs wonderfully, and white sneakers with black accents and white socks that barely slid over her ankles.

Her backpack, which was now worn back over her shoulders, was red with black accents, matching her favorite jacket. Carried within, was everything Stella supposedly needed for her journey, from a tent accompanied by a bedroll, to Pokéballs, Potions, Pokéfood, and even some cooking utensils, such as a frying pan.

Her father also made a strange joke about it also being used as a drying pan for when it was raining, but Stella didn't understand what he was trying to say, but she would try to remember it for when it rained. Since the kicking-your-daughter-out-of-your-home-to-become-a-Pokémon-trainer-joke turned out to not be a joke, Stella decided to remember this piece of advice for when it rained, believing it to be sound advice.

She didn't understand it – but it didn't mean that she couldn't figure it out. When it rained. Which, she secretly hoped to be never, as she silently prayed to Groudon to beat up Kyogre and prevent it from raining ever again.

Blinking her amber eyes, Stella realized that she completely forgot that Gardenia had complimented her new outfit and was now looking back at her out of the corner of her eye awkwardly.

"Thanks, I have a few matching pairs. Want one?"

"N-no need! I have several outfits as well."

"Oh. 'Kay."

The conversation was quick. Gardenia's hopes for a conversation were dashed as clumsily as Stella could. She didn't feel the need to converse; she simply wanted to get to Gardenia's house, get something to eat, and then go to sleep and hopefully wake up in her bedroom and find out that this wasn't real.

Though if it was a dream, then could something naughty happen between her and the Gym Leader already?

It wasn't a really well-known fact, in fact, nobody knew about it at all and didn't even suspect it for even an instant, but Stella had a certain interest. It was in other girls. She found them much cuter than boys, and the fact that nobody caught on simply showed how lazy she was in projecting this interest.

She had secretly hoped that when she turned down the advances of several boys that clearly should have higher goals in life than asking out a lazy girl like herself, that a girl would take notice, but no such luck for Stella, the girl who has her eyes set upon the stars.

As if.

Stella secretly believed that while she was the cutest being in the universe, she was actually secretly ugly. It must've been why no girl had ever approached her in a romantic fashion, never mind the fact that she was complimented on her appearance left, right, and center, and not that every girl in her school was straight, and she was the only one rooting for the other side. Nope. That thought never crossed her mind.

Stella should've gone to an all-girls school – she might've had luck then.

After several minutes of handholding with Gardenia after their brief conversation had died down, Stella tilted her head silently. They were walking side-by-side at this point; Stella was no longer being dragged along. But a stray thought had crossed her mind, and Stella thought that it'd be best to deliver this thought to Gardenia herself.

Of course, she first had to seal it within an envelope and write out the address, making sure it was sealed and the correct information written. Then, she had to send it via the mail, and eventually, it'd reach Gardenia. She would then read it, write out her response, and send the message to Stella.

Stella would then get her parents to receive the mail and deliver it to her, and she would read it and send a response back.

In other words, she had to formulate the thought within her head and send it out verbally, forming the words with her vocal cords and mouth moving in response, so that Gardenia, who was walking next to her, could hear it and understand what she wanted to say.

Stella was lazy, but she was nothing if not practical!

Which is why it had taken all of five minutes for her to speak up. Within that time, the sun had properly begun to set, and Stella was getting quite fatigued for walking for so long that it felt as if it had been hours since she had been sitting down at the southern gate of Eterna City. With sweat sliding down her delicate and unblemished face, Stella turned to look at Gardenia, the movement catching her attention. With Gardenia's attention now focused on Stella, and their faces quite close, Stella grew a bit more flustered, nervousness clearly showing.

"Yes?" Gardenia finally asked, slowing down so that they came to a stop and faced her properly, though she made sure she didn't let go from Stella's hand, as if letting go would mean that Stella would run away.

"When are we arriving at your house?" Stella asked after an awkward half-minute of staring. Gardenia blinked her pretty orange eyes and stared in confusion at Stella.

"While it is true that I have a cottage out in the woods here… we aren't going there," Gardenia told her and proceeded to explain further upon seeing Stella's blank stare. "I'm helping you get through the forest for today and helping you set up camp. When it's morning, I'll be returning back to Eterna City."

"Ah." Stella mouthed, her voice small and shaky. It was the worst turn of events for the ever-lazy Stella. She was going to be staying the night, not in a comfortable bed, but in a forest, surrounded by Bug-type Pokémon that would be happy to snuggle up to her in her sleep, the creepy little buggers.

Stella would wake up in the morning and would have to complete her journey out of the forest towards Oreburgh City, most likely, given the direction they've been going. If she couldn't, she'd most likely die. Returning to Eterna City was also an option, but she'd most likely be kicked out from the gates. The gatekeeper there had been eyeing her for a while, and now that Stella thought about it, he had most likely called her parents, who called Gardenia.

Stella almost felt like cursing, but she held it back. It wasn't like Gardenia was going to leave her. Right! She was going to help her get through the forest, and through her entire journey! In fact, she was probably going to train her Pokémon for her so that when she returned home, her parents would welcome her back with open arms!

In fact, she really wanted to witness the battle between Gardenia and Gardenia. It'd surely be amazing.

But Stella was horribly, horribly, wrong. Gardenia wasn't going to be helping her for long – in fact, she had said so herself. But Stella being Stella, completely disregarded this piece of information in favor of strategizing how best to leave everything in the Grass-type Gym Leader's hands.

Oh, how horrified she was going to be when she finds this out in the morning! How tragic! But, being the lazy girl that she was, she certainly didn't feel the need to ask Gardenia how to do anything at all. How to set up a tent? Leave it to Gardenia so Stella can get an extra hour of sleep! How to cook breakfast? Leave it to Gardenia so Stella can get an extra hour of sleep! Do anything other than put on clothes, makeup, eat, sleep, and other various daily activities? Leave it to Gardenia!

In fact, Gardenia might as well have been Arceus itself for how generous she was! Here she was, running an entire gym, but deciding that she had to help Stella out on her adventure, from start to end! In fact, Stella might even decide to go to other regions, so who was going to look after Gardenia's gym? Certainly not Stella.

With those types of thoughts, the two continued walking deeper and deeper into the forest, and Gardenia expertly navigated the two to a small clearing to set up camp. While Gardenia gave instructions to Stella and even showed her how to set up her own tent, Stella was blankly staring forward as her Rookidee, nicknamed Slayer, napped on her shoulder. She wasn't paying attention. Why would she?

Gardenia would be doing everything!

Thus, Stella ended up eating food cooked by Gardenia and then sleeping in her own bedroll. Gardenia had snuggled up close to her to keep her company by chatting to her as she slowly fell asleep on her first night away from home, but there was no need for the thought! Stella was a natural at falling asleep, so there was no worry there.

Slayer, on the other hand, had been given Pokéfood and found a comfortable place to sleep in peace. Gardenia had promised him a wonderful day when the sun came up, filled with intensive training and battling led by his trainer – and while Slayer didn't believe her in the slightest, she seemed energetic enough that he didn't think she was really lying, just that she didn't know his trainer that well – and as such, he slept wonderfully, without much of a care, to gather as much energy as possible for the big day tomorrow, just so he could be let down. What a kind and generous Rookidee, which, if you didn't know, was nicknamed Slayer.

Thus, Stella's first day of her journey was over, and she was just as starry-eyed as ever.

[x-X-x-Chapter I End-x-X-x]

Stella Gazer – Female

Pokédollars: 5,000

Date: June 2nd

Badges: N/A

Main Pokémon: Slayer (Rookidee)

Stored Pokémon: N/A

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another one of my random stories, this one, a Pokémon story! I really hoped you enjoyed it, and please tell me what you thought about reading it, negative or not! It'd help, a lot, really!

Here's to a brand new start, with a story that was fun writing. Cheers!