Shade Heart woke up to the morning sun streaming across her face. For a moment, her sensitive red eyes were blinded, but they cleared quickly after she rolled out of bed. Using her purple-glowing magic, she pulled a brush off of her dresser, running it down her dark purple mane and tail. She sighed, looking at her black form in the mirror. She didn't like herself very much. Her appearance and light-sensitive eyes gave others the impression that she was a bad pony. If they would just get to know her, they'd see that she was very friendly.
She went downstairs quietly, nuzzling her mother for a moment. "I'm going to miss you," she said quietly, looking out the window. It was her tenth birthday. Time for her to get her own Saddlemon and travel across Equestria, learning what she could. With a slight sigh she picked up the saddle bag that she had packed by the door. Her mother waved goodbye as she started walking to professor Oak Leaf's lab.
As she walked through town she was plenty aware of the other ponies casting glances at her, could hear them muttering to each other when they thought she was out of ear shot. They thought she was trouble because she preferred the nighttime and had such dark coloration. Many of them were expecting her to snap one day and go on some kind of rampage. Celestia only knew what they would think of her getting a Saddlemon.
She saw a white Earth pony walking the streets, a confused look on her face. Definitely lost. Shadow Heart was tempted to help her out, but the thought of the other pony running away screaming came to her mind and she decided against it. With a resigned sigh, she continued on her way to the lab.
The older unicorn was doing some last minute check-ups on the three starter Saddlemon as she entered. He glanced up briefly, smiled a bit, and said, "It will be just one more second. I don't want to give anyone an unhealthy starter." With a nod, Shade stood off to the side, studying some of the books and notes that were scattered around. Most of the books were information on Saddlemon, written by Oak Leaf himself, the leading authority on the subject.
She remembered hearing that, in his youth, he had been quite the Trainer, even going up against the two Princesses, a rare occurrence that would make a pony famous beyond all imagination. Oak had beaten Luna,and came very close to beating Celestia, which would have made him the first to do so. Shade Heart smiled a bit at the thought of the old stallion defeating the solar princess. Who knew how famous that would have made him?
He was also one of the only ponies who was friendly towards her, deciding that appearances didn't matter. He would know, since nobody would have guessed that someone so ordinary and grandfatherly would be a very powerful trainer. It also helped that he was her uncle on her father's side of the family.
Thinking about her father made Shade Heart frown a bit. Her mother had told her time and again that he was a master of Saddlemon in his day, and if he hadn't vanished he could probably have defeated Celestia. Nobody knew where he had gone. He'd fought his way through the Elite Four of Equestria, and then just stopped communicating with everypony who knew him.
Shade wanted to find him. Had to find him. She had so much to ask him, and so much lost time to make up for. He'd disappeared just shortly after she was born.
Presently, Oak turned to her, smiling. "All right, Shade Heart, how are you today?" He smiled kindly at her, a hint of worry for his niece showing on his wizened face.
"I'm not bad, professor. In a bit of a rush to get going, or I might change my mind," she replied quietly; no matter how often she spent time with her uncle, she always felt nervous talking to him. She could help him with studies on Saddlemon, sure, but an actual normal conversation? Forget it.
The professor nodded a bit, chuckling. "Well, I have three Saddlemon waiting for a trainer right here. Go ahead and pick one, and then I'll give you some advice on it, all right?"
Shadow Heart nodded a bit, quietly looking at her three choices. The first one she laid eyes on was Charmander. With a good attack and its final evolution being part flying type, it was a good choice, all though she knew she would struggle through the first couple of gyms with it. The lizard looked up at her, an excited look on its face. This was one that wanted to get up and go; maybe that was a good thing.
This turned her attention to Bulbasaur. It didn't have quite as much attack as Charmander, though it had a slightly better defense. It was a grass and poison type, which would help her through the first few gyms, especially that nasty water leader. There was, however, the problem she would encounter later on when going against the fire type gym and the psychic gym. Bulbasaur's expression was calm, its eyes looking into hers coolly. It would be good to have that calm nature on the road.
She turned her attention then to Squirtle. Average attack, but a more than decent defense, it would carry her through the first gym, not have too much trouble with the second... but the third, the electric type gym, would demolish it, and it was the only one of the three that didn't gain a second type anywhere in its evolutionary line. Of course, Blastoise was essentially a tank, capable of taking huge amounts of damage and dishing back a fair amount to those who fought it. This Squirtle seemed a bit jumpy, however, startling at the slightest movement. She would definitely have to keep an eye on it in battle.
With a groan of irritation, she looked between the three. Which one would she take?
Which one should she take? I'll give it September 7th before I put the next chapter up with the relevant choice.