A New World, Same Shadows

Interlude: Selene

Warning: this chapter( as will the future interlude chapters) is intended to take place during an undefined moment of time or day and mainly talks about events in the past. Ergo it is not required to read and does not influence the "present" story so you can be skip it should the word count intimidate you or you simply are not interested about Selene and James/Kira's past at the moment. Also, I cannot guarantee tags outside of what this story already has will not make an appearance but I will do my best to give you a fair warning. For example, there will be blood this chapter.

Ringo Apple lay slumped on the dining table, hugging a warm cup of tea to her face. It wasn't a large cup of coffee like she wanted right now but Fuji put a lot of love into making it and, more importantly to her tastes, four lumps of sugar. In front of her was a stack of pancakes with bits of apples baked in and coated in a not-so-healthy layer of maple syrup. Beyond that and sitting on the other side of the table was the reason for her exhaustion, creatures new to this world called Pokémon. Specifically, they were a Gardevoir named Selene, a Greninja calling himself Kira, and a Vulpix named Cinder. There was a fourth Pokémon present, Phoebe, but her ghostly body was floating above all of them in the air happily eating her own portion of breakfast. The aforementioned trio on the other hoof were causing a ruckus, with Selene trying to use her breakfast to sneak a kiss out of Kira and Kira blocking her by shoving a bite from his own into her mouth, and then blushing from a comment that could be taken out of context either by Cinder or Selene, Selene more often than not and definitely on purpose.

Just another breakfast at the Fuji household nowadays.

While her grandpa was loving the new life around the house and even in town Rin was not as quick to adapt. So, in order to give her time to wake up as well as answer one of many questions she had Rin decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, Selene. How'd you and James meet?"

Selene and Kira, currently locked in a struggle over wanting to be kissed and not, perked up at the question and shared looks between each other and Rin. With a shrug the two sat straight and cleared their throats, Selene even removing Kira's fork from her mouth and giving it back to its owner "well, it's kind of a long story..." Selene admitted, scratching her cheek with a cyan finger while her amber eyes looked away.

"If it's time yer worried about, the day's young an' nothin' needs ta be done right now. In fact, ahm a little curious mahself, so go ahead if ya like." Fuji's aged voice assured, balancing a platter with a fresh kettle of tea, a Morning Sun apple for everyone, and his breakfast of pancakes on one hoof as he took a seat next to his granddaughter.

With Fuji's blessing Selene cleared her throat once more, a smile plastered on her face as she made sure her audience was comfortable. Kira on the other hand returned his attention to his meal, or what was left of it anyways. This was a story he heard before anyway( hell, he lived this story.) and if Selene was up for it then he had no reason to stop her.

Besides these pancakes were delicious and talking with a mouthful was a pain in the ass anyways.

"Well then, it all started ten years ago in Oldale Town..."

"And there it is folks! Steven Stone has beaten the challenger Sarah and retains his title of Champion! But man, what an intense battle it was!"

The crowed roared as the battle came to a close, cheering and bellowing in adoration at the two trainers standing on opposite ends of the stadium. On one end was a brown-haired, glasses wearing girl hanging her head in defeat as her Pokémon, a Swampert, lay on the ground groaning. On the other end of the battlefield was a young man with light blue, almost metallic, hair and eyes waving to the crowds while his partner, a Metagross seemingly made of platinum and gold, stood undaunted towards the fallen Swampert, ignoring the cameras that televised their battle while his trainer acknowledged them and the viewers at home with a calm smile and a wave.

"That, was sooo COOL!" one of said viewers screamed, not the only one in the Hoenn region doing so.

"Hurry up, James! You're going to be late for school!"

"Okay Mom!" the young black-haired boy yelled downstairs, turning off the T.V. in his room. He creeped out of the covers of his bed and put on the first pair of pants he got a hold of and slipped on the a (probably )clean shirt-

"Hold it!"

Selene paused, looking innocently at Rin, whose front hooves were slammed against the table "Yes?"

"Shouldn't this story start with you, and not James?" Rin refuted, removing her hooved from the table and returning to her seat "Also, how do you know his point of view anyways? Were you there with him and he didn't know, or what?"

Selene chuckled at the questions, as fair as they were "that's easy," she said holding up a finger "one: James' story and mine are intertwined by the red string of fate. It's only natural that I'd start at the very beginning." Rin just rolled her eyes in response as Selene held up a second finger "Two: I think what happens that day is important as a sort of build-up. And since I'm the one telling the story I choose what to leave in and what to leave out."

'Of course if you twisted the story too much I'd correct you.' Kira thought, tearing off another piece of his breakfast with his fork and popping it into his mouth.

"And three: I read his mind once we reached Petalburg City." and then the Greninja started choking on said breakfast.

'Really Selene!? You had that much faith in me!? ...Well, yeah, actually. I'd buy that.' Kira surmised after he coughed up, then washed down the piece of pancake 'And hey! Spoilers!'

"Now then, as I was saying..."

James barreled down the stairs in his favorite set of clothes, black pants with a zipped-up pocket on the right leg and a T-shirt with a Blaziken in a dynamic Blaze Kick pose, and forest green backpack slung over his shoulder. Swiping his lunchbox with one hand and placing a bagel with cream cheese in his mouth with the other he opened the front door, nearly making a mess as in the kitchen as he left...again "oh-hay, ha'm hehin' hout how. haiii!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" his mother chided from the front door, watching him wave back at her with his bed-head and breakfast still sticking out before breaking into a sprint towards school, trying to get his lunchbox in his backpack. With a content sigh James' mother went back into the house to start her day as well.

James on the other hand was still trying to fit his lunch in the backpack while running across town to school. For some reason his lunch was getting caught on the edges of his bag and trying to force it in would only tear the paper bag apart, and by extension spill his lunch all over his school books "come on... Get in there..." he groaned, shifting his bag's contents around trying to make enough room but to no avail. While this wasn't the first time this had happened to him he was lucky that everyone in Oldale Town kept to a rather predictable routine, it made dodging them a lot easier. Nowadays he never ran into anyone when he was late for school "oof!" well, almost never.

As he rebounded onto the ground, James heard whoever he ran into fall to the ground as well and the distinct sound of bags dropping with them "Oww..." James moaned, rubbing the back of his head to check where it stung. There was definitely going to be a bruise there later, but it wasn't something he was going to cry over. He was a big boy now so a little fall like this wasn't worth crying over. The tears in the corners of his eyes were from the dust that's all. Honest.

"Are you ok kid?" an gruff unfamiliar voice called out. Wiping the water from his eyes, that were definitely not tears, James looked around and found that the voice's owner happened to be the same guy he ran into, who by this point was already up on one knee and offering a hand to help him up. He wore a ragged brown cowboy hat, an unzipped red explorers jacket covering a black shirt, and a pair of fingerless gloves. The distinct straps of a backpack could also bee seen and combined with the goatee he had, James couldn't help but admit he looked pretty cool.

Shaking off his star-struck expression James slowly got up on his own "yeah, I'm fine..." he mumbled, dusting himself off and wiping the not snot from his nose "Sorry about that." he added pensively, bowing his head to show he was serious. Unexpectedly, the next thing he heard from the man weren't words of forgiveness, or even slightly deserved ranting but raucous laughter. Curious, he looked straight at the man, seeing he actually was laughing at him "Heeey... what's so funny?" James pressed, now more annoyed than sorry.

"Haha, sorry, sorry," the man said, raising his hands in surrender before pointing off to the side "but I think I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

Not sure what he meant by that, James followed the man's finger to the spot on the ground it was pointing to, and the reason suddenly became clear "my bagel!' he cried, sucking up the snot trying to escape his nose, as he stared in disbelief at his dirtied food 'that was supposed to last me until lunch.' he bemoaned to himself, wiping more snot from under his nose as he stared teary-eyed at the bagel, taking everything about it in. The golden sheen of the crust, the notable bite marks left in it, the red splotch near one of said bites...wait a minute.

"Uhh...I'm referring to your bloody nose kid."

It took James a moment to register what was just said and when he did he wiped the his nose with his hand once more only this time he looked at the back of his hand afterwards. Sure enough there were three red streaks going across the back of his hand with his nose still running. Now that he thought about it he did smell something strange shortly after hitting the guy. Groaning, James covered his bloodied nose with his hand 'great, now mom's going to wonder why my nose was bleeding once I get...back...from...' "SCHOOL!" James yelled, now wide-eyed and panicking "I'm late for school! Again! And now I have a bloody nose! Aww, they're never going to let me live this down!" James cried, forgetting about everything else. He was already considered by his classmates as the flighty latecomer, whatever 'flighty' meant anyways, but he figured this wouldn't help any!

"I think I can help you out with that." the man said, instantly drawing James' attention. With a smile he took off his backpack and setting it in front of the two, unzipping the topmost compartment and reaching inside "Let's see... Where is it?" he mumbled, fishing around in the bag and pulling out handfuls of different colored spheres the size of a large marble each "No...no...not over there...where is it?" he griped, still rummaging through his bag.

James on the other hand found something else to interest him, now focusing on the spheres the man was pulling out "hey, is that an Ultra Ball?" he asked inquisitively, marveling at the black and white sphere with a yellow "H" on the top. Next to it were two other different colored Pokéballs,  one blue with yellow lines crisscrossing along the button in an "X" shape and the other red and white with a red bulge on the top "And these are a Quick Ball and a Timer ball aren't they?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, they are." the man said, lookin up for a second to confirm what James was pointing at before going back to searching his bag.

"Then you're a Pokémon trainer, right?"

"You could say that...Aha! Here it is." the man said smiling, pulling out his hand and with it a small first-aid kit. His triumphant smirk went unnoticed as James' star-struck( and still bloody) face looked at him in pure awe "...What?"

"So cool..." James swooned, his wide eyes and gaping mouth showing he forgot about everything else around him, again "Can you show me your Pokémon? Please? Please!?" he begged, getting in the trainers' face, bloody nose and all in the blink of an eye with a hungry expression that wouldn't take no as an answer.

"Uhh, how about we take care of your nose first." he suggested, gently pushing James out of his face. He then opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a tissue and two cotton balls. "Hold still, ok." he said, lightly rolling the cotton balls in his hand and wiping the blood from James' face with the tissue. Next he stuck the pieces of cotton into James' nose and watched as the cotton slowly turned red from the blood "There, how does that feel?""

"My nose itches."

"That's normal. Just breathe through your mouth and keep those in there until the bleeding stops, ok." the man said while putting the Pokéballs back into his bag. Once finished, he stood up fully, and imposing six and a half feet tall, ready to say farewell when the expectant look James was giving him caught his attention "What?"

"Pokémon?"

"What about them?"

"'Nose First, then Pokémon'?"

"I never said that."

"You implied."

"Don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be?"

"Yeah...I'm already late for school though, so I've got time." James admitted with a casual smile on his face.

Letting out a drawn out sigh, the man looked down at the wide smiling kid with a wry smile of his own "you're not gonna let me go unless I show you aren't ya."

"Nope!"

"Looks like I've got no choice then..." he bemoaned. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a Pokéball, smiling at the device as it grew into its full size "I'll show you one, and then you head straight to school, ok kid?" he offered slyly.

James closed his eyes and crossed his arms, mulling over the offer in front of the trainer, or at least that's what he wanted him to think. Really James had already made up his mind, he was just stalling to see if the guy would sweeten the deal. After a minute of nothing happening, James conceded and nodded his head "deal." he said "And my name's not 'kid'. It's James Kirikaze." wearing a devious smile, one the trainer mirrored a moment later.

'Sucker...'

After the two shared a wily chuckle the trainer tossed the Pokéball high into the air "come out!" he cried. Responding to his call the ball split apart unleashing a cascade of brilliant white light. The light coalesced on the ground beside them forming the shape of a small flabby pink Pokémon. It stared at the two with pink eyes and a goofy smile with its tongue sticking out. Its hair( or what counted as such) was the same look and consistency as pudding, only a slightly darker shade of pink with a lightish-red sphere jiggling at the top of its head. It also smelled sweet, almost unbearably so even to James.

"Slurpuff!" the Pokémon answered, slurring its speech from drool slightly.

"Woah..." James gasped, taking in everything about the foreign Pokémon "What's this Pokémon?" he asked eventually, his expression showing nothing but awe.

"This, James, is a Slurpuff." he answered, motioning to the sweet-smelling Pokémon "A satisfied client of mine in Kalos gave him to me as a reward."

"Cooool." James fawned, not really listening to him but instead admiring Slurpuff from every angle. He even considered licking it( you know, to see if it really did taste like the cotton candy it smelled like) but decided against it since doing so considering that would be rude. Slurpuff didn't seem to mind the attention anyways as all it did was keep James in its sights smiling the same goofy smile with drool dripping off its tongue. "So what do you do exactly?" James asked once he was done swooning and his more rational mind, for a child anyway, started working.

The man cleared his throat, gaining both his Pokémon and James' attention "shouldn't you be getting to school?" he chided, though his tone held no irritation or contempt, rather it was more like he was goading him.

After considering the question for a minute James relented with a groan. The man was right after all and there was a difference between being late and skipping school altogether. Being late meant he would be the center of attention at school and get a lecture from Mom when he got home. Skipping school meant he would be grounded for who knows how long and with today being Friday he couldn't let that happen, now more so than ever "fine..." James sighed, his expression worsening. He then backed away from Slurpuff and zipped up his backpack, taking a moment to safely fit his lunch inside, and fastened it onto his back. After that he turned to the man and bowed deeply "Thank you for your time and I'm sorry for hitting you." he said in a monotone before sprinting off past him and his Pokémon. As he ran towards the schoolhouse the dour look on his face slowly began to change. His despondent eyes began burning with passion, his frown curled up into  teeth-bearing smile, and his heart shook in excitement 'that was it! That was what I was waiting for! That last push! A Pokémon I've never seen before and a trainer who no doubt has many more than that, how could I ignore that?! I've decided. Tomorrow's the day. Tomorrow I become a trainer.'

'Tomorrow...I'm catching a Pokémon!'

'Okay, snacks? Check. Pokéball? Check. Plan? Well, I'm still working on the details but it'll work...I think.'

James went through the contents of his backpack one last time, making sure everything was accounted for, for the third time in the past hour. It was finally Saturday, the weekend, and he had no other chores left to do! His plan for becoming a trainer was deceptively simple, go out to Route 102, head off the beaten trail, and catch the first Pokémon that met his standards, those being a Pokémon that can evolve twice, not a Bug-Type, and would look cool when fully evolved. To this end he wore a pair of jeans and a durable, hooded jacket over a long-sleeved shirt. The snacks he was bringing with him consisted of two apples, a leftover bagel from yesterday, and five candy bars...give-or-take two extras. The Pokéball he had was you everyday red and white Pokéball he "borrowed" from the local Pokémart 'I'll be sure to pay it back once I win my first battle.' James thought as he casually strolled out of the store.

Obviously there was no way his mother would approve of this and that he would be grounded until a century after the end of time. So he did the only logical thing a kid would do; lie to her face and say he was going to play with his friends 'as long as I'm back in one piece before dark there'll be no harm done.' he assured himself. The last item in there was a folded up sheet of paper he wrote up last night detailing his so-called plan from his criteria for the Pokémon he'll catch to what he'd do if he met a Legendary Pokémon, like Raikou for example.

Satisfied with his preparations he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder "alright, I'm finally ready." James said, psyching himself up. Now that he was about to do this, he felt his heart beating like crazy and invisible weights tied to his ankles. But still he moved forward. It was a slow start but after the first five paces his walk became a jog and after another ten he was in a steady run. He kept up this pace until he reached the first rough spot on the route, coming to a stop just before the dirt road gave way to a grassy path, and the much taller grass that usually hid some Pokémon.

But instead of charging headfirst into the tall grass like so many trainers before have, James turned ninety degrees to the left and walked straight to the treeline 'If I were a wild Pokémon, I wouldn't hang around a path trainers pass through daily. That's just asking me to be caught.' James hypothesized as he wriggled past the first tree of many. To prove his point there was already a trainer romping through the tall grass, a trainer he particularly wanted to avoid. It wasn't the one from yesterday, rather it was one of his classmates, one who battled any trainer he saw whether they wanted to or not. No doubt he was trying to ambush some other unwitting sap instead of training that Zigzagoon of his. Regardless, he was out of sight soon enough and James had more pressing matters to attend to. The brush was incredibly thick now and he had to actually start planning his moves beforehand otherwise the bramble would claw at his clothes or any exposed skin. Still he persevered with a grin on his face 'This isn't so bad.' James thought, pushing a cluster of branches aside 'This is exactly what I planned for really. After these bushes I should start seeing Pokémon left and right. In fact, nothing could go wrong at this point!'

'I think I might be lost...'

That thought sent a wave of panic down James' body as he looked around for something, anything, that told him where he was. All he saw however were more trees and shrubbery in every direction with not a single living thing, let alone a Pokémon in his sight. And this was not something new either. For what felt like three hours he had been climbing and navigating through the forest alone, his snacks reduced to a candy bar and an apple, and scrapes and scratches dotted his arms and face from when he tripped and fell into a bush. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case a clearing off in the distance. It still looked at least a hundred meters away but having some visibility was better than having none. It would also help settle this sense of claustrophobia he was starting to feel.

But before that he had another appointment with the ground. Falling face first into another bush and getting more scrapes on his arms was not part of his plan, and as an added bonus one of the branches found its way between his shirt and pants and through his side. James wanted to scream, more out of frustration than pain as his cringing eyes and gritted teeth attested to, but he resisted. He figured any loud noises would scare off any nearby Pokémon, something he really didn't need at the moment. So instead he breathed through the pain and rolled to his side to look at the wound.

It wasn't deep, the branch just caught on his skin and tore through it, but it drew blood 'great, one more thing to worry about when I get back.' James groaned, looking back at what made him fall 'Dumb acorn.' he cursed seeing the shape of a large cracked acorn only a few steps away from his foot, coincidentally in the path he was taking towards the clearing. Picking himself up, James tapped the wound with his hand to see if it was still bleeding before continuing onwards to the clearing. The splotches of blood on his palm and sting every time he touched it meant that it he had to be more focused moving forward. He was so focused in fact that he didn't notice the "acorn's" empty eyes or feet...

Selene quieted down at this point, staring at the tea Fuji poured for her. It wasn't that she didn't know what happed to James after that point. Rather, she was reaching the point where, as June would eloquently put it, shit hits the fan. She knew what happened next would turn out okay, that James and her would become a team but it still brought up bad memories, memories that were currently playing through her head like an old record. If it weren't for Rin she may have stayed like that.

"Hey! Selene!"

"Huh?"

"You ok? You're kind of spacing out on us."

Selene blinked and looked around the room, first at Ringo staring back at her with her ears folded back and a worried look in her face then to Cinder and Fuji looking at her with similar expressions. Phoebe had stopped floating above them and was now by her side rubbing the shiny Gardevoir's back. It...helped in Selene's mind. Kira was laying on the floor with his eyes closed, using one hand as a prop with his back to the group feigning indifference to her whole ordeal after his food was eaten, but she knew better. Because in his other hand, hidden from all but her and Phoebe thanks to their short stature was a sphere of black water constantly expanding and contracting in his grip. "Uh...yeah, I'm ok. Where was I?" she said half-heartedly.

"James was about to enter the clearing." Rin answered albeit a little hesitantly "But are you sure you want to keep going? I mean it seems kind of like you're stalling."

"N-No! No. I'm not stalling, it's just..."

"Selene," Kira calmly said from his spot on the floor though his tone lightened up a moment later "what were you doing before everything went down?" he asked with seemingly genuine curiosity. Seemingly because James already knew her side of that day and Rin could feel the loathing air he was trying to hide.

But the distraction seemed to work as the gears in Selene's head started working again "I...suppose I could do that." she mused "Although, it was just a normal day of wandering around and eating berries for me so there's not a lot to tell. I wasn't very old to begin with either."

"Ah don't mind."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Yay! Mommy's childhood!"

"Alright, alright," Selene sighed "but I'll only cover the hour before ok? Ok. Now then, I was wandering around in the thicket looking for food..."

One hour earlier, Ralts wandered around the thickets of her home. She was on a mission, one of grave importance: she was hungry. The berry tree she usually went through had been picked clean by the other Pokémon. She knew this because they picked it clean while she watched from the bushes. She didn't know if they were just passing by and hungry or if it was on purpose but the Poochyena among them prevented her from defending her territory. If it was on purpose she would know why at least. The other Ralts stayed away from her, calling her a "bad luck magnet" and a "shiny" not that she knew what either of those meant. All she knew right now were two things. One: while all the other Ralts simply growled and hid at dangers, she fought back, making her stronger by default. And two: she was hungry, VERY hungry, and she wanted to eat now. And Three: there was this sweet smell in the air.

Wait...what?

Ralts stopped and lifted her face into the air sniffing for the source of the smell. It was sweet, like the pink berries were only sweeter. She liked the pink berries and could usually find lots of them, maybe whatever was making that scent was similar? She couldn't give it much thought as a low gurgle from her stomach made the decision for her.

"Hungry..."

Before she knew it she was walking towards the sweet smell. It didn't smell far away at first but it wasn't until ten minutes passed that she saw sunlight breaking through the treeline. Seeing the sun and smelling the sweet thing motivated her for what had to be the final push.

It was a good thing too as the next moment she was trampled by five more energetic and less hungry Ralts. Not wanting to have her food pilfered twice in the same day the cyan Ralts on the ground got back up and chased after them into the clearing.

That had been a mistake.

Immediately after clearing the bushes she saw a tall bipedal thing with red, brown, blue, and black coloring all over his body staring at her with a toothy grin. Beside him was a pink blob thing smiling at them blankly. There was a metal contraption standing on four black circles near the end of the clearing and riding on it was a large, intimidating purple monster with pincers on its arms and tail, glaring at not only her but the other Ralts too. More importantly there were no fruit trees at all in the clearing, no food in sight, only metal cages everywhere, and the smell was coming from the pink blob Pokémon. With the illusion broken she gauged the emotions of everything there. Conceit, hunger, fear, malevolence, a mix of these emotions were swirling around her coming not just from the other Ralts and the person but the other Pokémon as well. She had to get out of there now! Slowly she started backing up to cover of the forest in and attempt to escape.

"Ah, ah, ahh... No running away now. My client wants to get to know one of you much more," the person remarked snidely, pointing to a tree branch behind them "and I don't think my friend would appreciate it either." the group of Ralts followed his finger to see a metal-clad vulture glaring down at them with sharp eyes and a challenging grin "Then again, he does look hungry."

For one of the Ralts that was the last straw. They turned around and made a mad dash for the forest, hoping to escape this nightmare. They even made it to the bushed before a gleam of steel flashed by and struck them down. The Skarmory overhead was now ten feet away, partially obscured by shrubbery, striking furiously at what could only be the Ralts with its beak. None of the others dared move, not even the cyan one. Fear had paralyzed all of them. It wasn't until the person let out a sharp whistle that the Skarmory stopped and faced everyone with its blood covered face "Skarmory! I told you not to kill any of them until after I was done checking them!" he shouted "Now give it here."

Rolling its eyes the Skarmory reached down with its beak and picked up the limp body of the Ralts, its green hair dyed red. Unceremoniously the Skarmory tossed the body towards the person where it hit the ground a foot short. Cursing the man stepped forward and picked up the bloody body, spreading each appendage and examining what wasn't obscured by blood or gouges "Tch, a female. There goes our bonus," he said as he tossed the corpse towards the purple monster. The thing caught it in its pincers and devoured in three bites, its fangs having no problem crunching through the flesh and bone "Oh well, one down; five to go." he said with indifference "Slurpuff, use yawn on one of them."

"Yawn..." the pink blob slurred, opening his mouth wide inhaling then exhaling a large amount of air. With his exhale a large bubble floated out of his mouth and found its way to one of the other Ralts prompting it to yawn as well. The remaining four watched as the yawning Ralts toppled over and fell asleep only to be picked up by the Skarmory and dropped off in the persons hand where he began checking the Ralts again.

"Male huh... That's a shame. Slurpuff use Dream Eater. We don't need this one."

"Foood..." Slurpuff drooled, holding his arms out wide. A large slobbering shade of it rushed out of Slurpuff's body and through the asleep Ralts resulting in the sleeping Pokémon to wail in pain. But it wasn't over yet as Slurpuff's shadow circled around and passed through the Ralts again before receding back into the meringue Pokémon. This time there was no response and the man tossed the Ralts over his shoulder "Hungrrryyyy...".

"Next, Slurpuff." again the Slurpuff yawned, and again the sleep bubble floated towards and popped on another of the Ralts, already that one was getting drowsy.

The problem was that this time it hit the shiny one.

Ralts was struggling to keep her obscured eyes open. Even standing up was becoming a struggle 'I...have to...go...' she thought, trying to focus on her old berry tree safely out of the reach of this person. There may not have been any food there but it was away from these things in Pokémon shapes at least. Desperately trying to conjure the psychic energy she needed to escape she kept the image of that tree in her mind, keeping it as clear as she could. Finally she enveloped herself in a bright light and teleported away from her attacker. When the shiny Ralts touched down on the ground again she collapsed to her knees, fighting valiantly against the exhaustion that would soon claim her. With her strength dwindling she raised her head to look at her surroundings in order to be absolutely sure she was safe before passing out, and her heart dropped at what she saw.

Staring back at her were the three other Ralts and the person staring at her in shock.

'What...went wrong?' she thought as she fell to the ground 'Was it not enough energy? Were my thoughts too blurry?' she questioned, watching the purple monster leap down to the ground and grab the three remaining Ralts in glowing purple pincers at its trainers command. She couldn't make out what he was saying, she could barely even make out everything's shape at this point, she was so tired. So very tired. Her eyes begged her to close from both exhaustion and seeing the three other Ralts writhe in the monster's clutches, her body felt like it weighed a ton and wouldn't listen to her command to move, she felt the grass below her become more welcoming by the second and the sweet scent of the Slurpuff made it even harder to stay awake. But if she did fall asleep, what life would await her when she woke? Would she even wake up? 'I'm...scared.' she thought, unable to move, unable to keep her eyes open, unable to do anything other than pray. Pray to Arceus or whoever else would listen that somehow this would turn out all right.

"Freeedo-whah!"

And it seemed her prayer was answered. Right as she was about to black out a young childish voiced yelled out from the trees. Accompanying the voice was a smaller person in a green coat barreling through a bush with the widest smile she had seen reaching out to the air with one hand. That same boy then planted face first into the ground when his leg got caught on one of the bushes branches. To his credit his arm was still outstretched, albeit twitching a little, and the fall didn't look too bad but her overall impression of him did detract a little.

Pinning her hopes on a small child to save her didn't inspire much confidence either. It was four against one, three of which were Pokémon and all of whom had no qualms taking lives. The irritation he was emitting worried her too but it wasn't the same malice she felt from the larger person so at the very least this person was the lesser of two evils. Not that she had any choice in the matter, she was at her limit. So with the last of her energy she propped herself up the best she could and uttered two words to the boy before collapsing to the ground and watching everything fade to black.

"Help...me..."

James couldn't believe it, the first thing he does upon reaching the clearing is fall on his face 'well at least nobody saw that.' he groaned from his place in the dirt. He lifted himself off the ground, checking the imprint he made for any blood( wouldn't want to get a bloody nose two days in a row) before looking up at the clearing, and coming face to face with a blue Ralts 'Huh, don't Ralts usually have green hair? Anyway, at least nobody I knew saw that.' he corrected, patting off the dust accumulated from his fall and pulling his leg free from the bush.

"Ra...alts..."

His attention was drawn away from his musings as the Ralts in front of him collapsed fully to the ground "hey! Are you ok?!" he said, quickly rising onto his knees and picking up the Pokémon "Come on, answer me!" he said, vigorously shaking it in his hands. He did not want the first living thing he's seen since entering the forest to faint on him now. When he stopped shaking the poor thing he watched the body and noticed the steady rise and fall of the chest. Curious, he put his head close to its and listened for the rhythmic sound of breathing and a heartbeat "Oh, it's just sleeping. Heheh...whew. Don't worry me like that." he sighed, letting his own breath return now that he knew the Ralts wasn't in danger of losing its.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

The new yet familiar voice made James tense up and send a shiver down his spine, mainly because it meant he had to correct himself again 'well, at least this can't get any worse, right?' he thought before taking a glimpse around rest of the clearing and seeing the trainer from yesterday staring at him with his arms crossed and an chastising look on his face "looking for Pokémon...?" James replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand while his left held onto the sleeping Ralts "Anyway, why are you here, mister?"

"Looking for a Pokémon myself. Specifically the one you're holding kid." the trainer said casually.

"Oh, ok. I'll had 'em over them." he said happily. As he got up he surveyed the rest of the clearing, seeing the Slurpuff from yesterday with that same smile too. He also saw another Pokémon, one he had seen before on broadcasted exhibition matches from Sinnoh "Anyway, I knew you were holding out on me yesterday but you could have shown me your...Drapion...instead..." and then he noticed what was in its pincers, three Ralts all hanging limply and moaning in pain. Looking at the trainer again, he noticed another Ralts on the ground behind him not moving and the large truck beside the body lined with metal cages. Alarm bells started ringing in James' head and, hesitantly, he started taking a half-step backwards "Why did you need this Ralts again?" he asked tentatively "And what's wrong with those Ralts anyways?"

"Hand over the one you're holding and I'll tell you."

"Tell me first and then I will."

This seemed to make the man's eye twitch slightly but he kept his calm demeanor in tact, though something was on his mind. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath the man pinched the bridge of his nose while the trees rustled around them "you really want me to tell you?" he asked in a grave tone, something James answered with a nod prompting another sigh "Alright then. But don't say I didn't give you a chance." he said as he walked towards the Ogre Scorp. Pokémon "These Ralts are sick. A disease has been spreading across the local Pokémon, causing fits of rage, discoloration, intense pain, and a comatose-like state until they finally die from it. That one is patient zero and as you can see it's still alive. I need it to try and find a cure otherwise a lot more Pokémon like the Ralts lying over there are going to be killed."

James stood there speechless, struck dumb by the revelation he was just told. The Pokémon he was holding was making others sick? How? From what he knew, Pokémon were pretty resilient when it came to natural diseases. It took things like pure sludge to even poison most Pokémon and even then there were types that were immune completely 'maybe the bug evolved to be stronger than the Pokémon.' James theorized. But if that were the case, was he going to get sick now because of it? And if so how long would it be until he started showing symptoms?

"...lying..."

'Yeah! I could be lying on the ground within the ne-' James paused, repeating the voice he just heard in his mind. It sounded exactly like what the trainer had just said, same voice same intense tone same everything. It was like he heard him say it again only this time it echoed in his head 'Oh man! I AM getting sick! This is how it starts isn't it!?'

"No. 'Mister'. Lying."

There it was again, this time his voice was included saying the word "mister" just like he said it earlier. It was like specific parts of his memories were repeating in his head, except for the 'no'. He never heard the trainer say "no" the entire time he's been here, yet if felt like a vivid memory.

'mister...lying. Mister...lying,'

"Mister, lying?" James whispered, something the Ralts in his arms reacted to by squirming around slightly, something everyone there noticed. 'This Ralts was doing that? And has he really been lying to me this whole time?' James thought. The trainer had been rather secretive up till now, in fact he still didn't know his name, but now he's telling him this Ralts is the cause of an impending Pokémon pandemic? When he thought about it like that something in his chest started tightening, as if to serve as a manifestation to this...wrongness he was feeling. It also presented a problem, if the Ralts was right and the trainer was lying then the next most likely thing causing the other Ralts pain would be the Drapion...and its trainer, putting James in a very dangerous position. On the other hand if he was telling the truth then he was preventing who knows how many other Pokémon from getting better. Either way he had to make a decision, one that would cost lives, hopefully not his. It all boiled down to one cruel decision: Trust the trainer? Or the Ralts?

"So are you going to give me the Ralts or not?"

James looked at the ground in a grimace, tightening his hold on the Ralts slightly. He opened his mouth to answer only to find no words come out. He tried again and again to say what he wanted only for his throat to constrict "I...I-I think we should...take her to a Pokémon Center first." he finally managed to eke out.

Just by looking at his face James could tell the trainer did not want to hear that. The eye twitch had returned and accompanying it was a slight tug at the corner of his mouth "Kid, do you know how close I was to losing that Ralts before you showed up?" he said through gritted teeth "How close we were to a pandemic? I had Slurpuff put it to sleep so it wouldn't harm anybody and Drapion can only hold three Pokémon. I need to catch it before it can run away."

"But-"

"Dammit kid! If that thing wakes up then my check disappears along with it!"

Silence permeated the clearing as the two stared at each other with the same wide-eyed, mouth opened expression. One from what was just said and the other from realizing his faux pas. The trainer was the first to recover when he closed his eyes and scrunched up every part of his face before letting out a long breath "I'm only going to say this once more; give me the Ralts, or else." the man said, no longer hiding his maliciousness from James. There wasn't any point anymore. Instead he glared at the child in an attempt to scare him into surrendering the Ralts.

But he refused. James stood his ground and returned the glare with the most intimidating look he could despite being terrified.

"I see." the man sighed, hiding his eyes under the hat he wore and relaxing his body. James relaxed as well, thinking that maybe there was a chance that he would drop the issue altogether.

"Air Cutter."

'Air Cutter?' James tensed at the realization and jumped to the left the very next second covering the Ralts with his body. And in that second blades of air tore through the ground where he had been standing. From the ground James looked over his shoulder to where he had been standing the moment before and saw the gashes left by the attack, as well as what was left of his supplies strewn about the remains of his backpack. The apple, the Pokéball, his candy, all torn to shreds by the blades of wind. Turning his neck in the other direction he followed the trajectory of the attack to see the Pokémon that caused it 'A Skarmory...' he gasped watching the Armor Bird Pokémon fly overhead and land on another tree branch, a smile under its blood stained beak. If there were any doubts left in James' mind regarding whether or not he made the right choice they vanished upon seeing the dark look it was giving him and he knew exactly what he had to do.

He ran.

"Dammit. Get back here kid!" the trainer shouted as the Skarmory dived down for another attack. Its talons shredded through James' jacket but the Skarmory could not stop him before he disappeared into the foliage he fell out from, leaving the revealed poacher and his catch alone in the clearing once more "This isn't over James! Not by a long shot!" he yelled before making preparations.

James ran. He ran through the forest in the direction he thought he came from, he ran clutching the Ralts close to his abdomen not caring about the cuts and nicks he was accumulating. He was, after all, running for his life.

He didn't know exactly how long he had been running or how far he had gotten in that time but so long as he was away from that poacher it was good enough for now. He kept to the shadows of the trees not taking the chance that the Skarmory was searching for him from the sky. But he couldn't keep running forever, he was just a kid after all, he had limits. When that limit was finally reached he ducked behind a tree and listened for anything from his pursuers. Hearing nothing, he let out a sigh and started catching his breath as he assessed his current condition. His coat was frayed everywhere, all that was left of his backpack were the straps and the torn padding pressing against his back, and even his jeans were starting to show wear. He had three more gashes on his right shoulder from where the Skarmory swooped own on him. But the Ralts was safe, soundly sleeping in his arms. He had to admit, she looked kind of cute with her mouth slightly open as she breathed, like a little sister he never had. It was...nice, despite the dire situation he was in.

That 'little sister' however started moving in his arms, slowly waking from her sleep. When she opened her amber eyes the first thing she saw was the warm smile James was giving her "morning." he said softly and happily, hiding the pain he was in. The Ralts blinked and looked around, taking in her new surroundings before focusing on the person once more "Did you sleep well?" he asked still smiling with not a trace of negative emotions in his demeanor. It wasn't enough to fool the Ralts, she could tell he was scared and hurting, but he was doing his best to be happy instead so she replied with a nod. With the pleasantries finished the Ralts stepped off of his lap and started scanning the area to determine which way she would go "Um, are you leaving already?" James asked, something Ralts replied with another nod "I...wouldn't recommend it." this got her attention and she turned around to face the person she had just woke up to. Yet to her surprise his expression and emotions were sad "That guy is still out there looking for you and it doesn't look like he's going to give up anytime soon. I don't think I lost him, just moved faster through the brush than he could." the Ralts' mood dropped slightly at the news, something immediately picked up on "B-but it's not like I don't have a plan!" he added, waving his arms wildly in front of him "I was heading to my house to hide. He wouldn't dare do anything in town where there are so many witnesses, I think." he explained, his voice notably quieter at the end. Suddenly a thought struck him out of the blue and he quickly added "B-but I had no intention to catch you, ok. When I thought it would be safe I was going to bring you back to this forest and let you go." It wasn't exactly the truth though, he did intend to catch her at their first meeting but after everything involving that poacher happened that just wasn't something he wanted to do anymore. So he held out his hand and gave her a warm smile "So, will you trust me? At least for a little while."

The Ralts stood there just out of James' reach staring at him and his extended hand. He was battered, bruised, and a little bloody but he was trying to fight his fear so that he could ask her to trust him with a smile, with nothing but kindness and hope in his eyes. Slowly the Ralts inched closer and closer, raising an arm to meet James' and placing the end of it gently in the palm of his hand. In response James gently closed his palm around her arm and let his smile widen even more "Alright! Then I promise I won't let that poacher, or anyone else catch you." he vowed. Surprisingly Ralts felt the fear in him dissipate slightly as he said that "Well, that's enough of a break. Let's get going." James said, gently lifting her up to his chest and making a seat for her out of his arms. With his charge safely and comfortably in his arms, James once more set off into the forest "Umm, just to be sure, you aren't sick or anything, are you?"

"Raaalts..."

"Ok, Ok, just making sure."

The two continued onwards through the forest, making steady progress despite the foliage. Ralts proved to be an invaluable asset as she helped James keep his footing and prevent further scratches by using Confusion to move some of the branches out of their way on top of pointing towards shortcuts or hidden trails wild Pokémon used. She helped so much so that James' three hour journey in was cut down to two hours. The drawback was they exited the forest at a different spot then where James entered thanks to a detour they had to make to avoid running into the poacher, someone Ralts sensed and confirmed that he was indeed still after them.

But finally they stood on the main road staring at a sign pointing down each path. The sign pointing to the left was engraved with Petalburg City while the sign pointing to the right had Oldale Town, their destination. "Well, we're almost there." James told Ralts before jogging off towards home "This path will take us around a small cliff and then straight to Oldale town. But I know this awesome shortcut that will put us at the town's front door." he bragged to his passenger "It's still going to be a while before get there, especially at this rate, but after all the running I've done today I don't think I'll be going anywhere for the next week."

The Ralts nodded in understanding. The entire trek through the forest had taken a toll on both of them and while James' was a physical toll Ralts' toll was more mental. It would be some time before she could use Confusion again in battle, for example. But there was still other ways she could help him, and by extension herself. Focusing on the farthest point of the road she could see, the Ralts gathered her energy, surrounding James and her in a translucent blue aura. The next moment the two blinked out of existence only to reappear at the turn in the road.

"Whoa!" much to James' surprise.

Thanks to the sudden shift in location the step James was about to make became off-kilter. He stumbled forward another few steps before regaining his balance on the grass "That...was weird." he said as he took in his new surroundings. He even looked back the way he came and recognized the spot he should have been seconds ago and finally put the two together "You know Teleport?" he asked the inconspicuously smiling Ralts in his arms.

"Raalts~" she answered brazenly despite James not knowing what she said.

"Cool..." James gushed, at least until a thought popped into his head "But wait. Then why didn't you just teleport away back there?" the Ralts replied with a low growl and a pair of puffed up, slightly red cheeks as she took a sudden interest in a pebble on the dirt road "Right, sorry." James chucked in an attempt to save face. It didn't work. The Ralts excused herself from his arms and leapt down to the ground where she then proceeded to fold her arms and scoff in his opposite direction "I said I was sorry..." James sighed as he pressed his two index fingers together dejectedly.

With their little spat over James regained his composure "Anyway, we're not too far from that shortcut I mentioned. The path leading to it is right over there." he said right before pointing to an inconspicuous path leading seemingly deeper into the forest. That path led to a ridge just outside of Oldale Town and circled around the opposite side of the hill. The ridge itself was only a story high but thanks to the loose rocks nobody ever tried climbing it making the 'shortcut' one-way. On the plus side they were headed in the right direction to use it. So without another moment of hesitation the two walked side by side down the narrow path "If we pass through here it'll only be a hop, skip, and a jump to my front door and then-"

'And then what?'

James stopped dead in his tracks. He never even thought about that before now. What was he supposed to do afterwards? The poacher did say this wasn't over, he even called out his name! He couldn't hide in his room forever, let alone hide Ralts from his parents. He could tell the police, no... That wouldn't work either. He would probably just lie to them and come back later, or wait near the edge of the forest and not show himself at all. Could he fight back? 'With what; the wild Ralts he's after?' that idea was out. So what did that leave? He could contact the strongest person he knew and have them face him instead, but Steven was probably preoccupied on the other side of Hoenn, not that he knew him personally either. The strongest trainer nearby was Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, the city in the opposite direction he went.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Suddenly the Ralts started franticly tugging on his pant leg and pointing to the path they were just on "please tell me that doesn't mean that guy is close." James pleaded but the panicked nod Ralts answered with confirmed his fears.

With option one closed off James ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the ground below 'yeah, falling from up here would probably hurt a lot, especially if you landed wrong.' he thought, with his option two slowly taking shape 'All I have to do is get him to the edge. That should be enough.' with a tentative plan in mind he looked down to his traveling partner for the day "Well, it looks like we'll be saying goodbye pretty soon."

The Ralts looked up to him with confusion and uneasiness in her eyes only to find a calm smile on his face. Immediately she started reading his emotions while listening to every word he said. "It's only a matter of time before he finds us, and I can't think of any way to get him to stop...besides two." he said in a somber tone, with regret being his most predominant emotion. He really was sad that these two options were all he had to work with and by the sound of it he didn't like either of them.

"The first option is to hand you over and hope he lets me go... W-which I'm NOT going to do by the way!" James said, even flailing his arms and backing away slightly to make the last part clear "I promised to not let anyone catch you and I will keep that, even if it kills me." he added with a strange sense of conviction, something the sense of pride Ralts felt backed up.

"Which brings me to my other option. The second option is to, well... Is to get him caught red-handed committing a crime." James explained even thought Ralts could see the hesitation and anxiety he had about that plan "I have a plan on how to do that too. It's...not perfect...but at the very least it will give you a chance to get far away." he said, trying to convince her and possibly himself if the emotions Ralts was sensing were accurate. He then went over his plan, what Ralts had to do, and what she should do if it failed. He explained everything in a sense of peace, with the fear and anxiety he was feeling all but gone from his voice. That is until she noticed he was focusing on her and not himself.

"Ralts, Ralts?" she said, intending to ask about him if he would be alright. Her heart sank watching his expression sadden briefly only to be replaced with a large fake smile.

"Hehe, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

He was lying.

Hesitantly, the Ralts nodded and agreed to his plan but made a vow to change it.

The poacher cut through the unkempt path leading back to Oldale Town, tearing branches and leaves out of his way while his Drapion leveled everything else in its path behind him. The suave demeanor he prided himself in was gone, that brat and his meal ticket made sure of that. Still, with each branch he broke and every leaf torn away he felt slightly better, especially since he was imagining these things as the child's limbs. It hadn't been hard to track them thanks to the footprints left behind and the knowledge of their destination. After all, everyone knew about this shortcut to Oldale. But his venting was cut short when he reached the seemingly empty ridgeline, seemingly being the important word "Come out kid! I know you're here!" he called out to the forest. The forest answered by producing some rustling from a nearby tree and from behind the tree James stepped forward with the shiny Ralts sleeping in his arms. At once his rage calmed and a wicked grin crept onto his face "Stealth rule number one kid: Unless they're staring back at you don't show yourself when they say so." he said with a condescending bite.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." James said evenly, putting himself between the poacher and the ridge.

Seeing the determination in his eyes despite the position he was in made the poacher cover his face and chuckle "kid, I don't think you understand the position you're in." he said behind his hand "I have you cornered, overpowered, and utterly at my mercy. And after everything you put me through, after you made me poison the rest of my haul just to make sure they wouldn't run away while I was hunting you down, I am NOT in the best of moods right now." he seethed and watched as the kids grip tightened around the Pokémon "But, if you hand over that Ralts right now I would be more than happy to forget about this whole incident." he said in his cool and collected tone. He wasn't lying about that either, after he had the shiny Ralts he would completely forget about the child, who would be in a shallow grave ten-to-fifteen minutes later taking a long dirt nap.

Annoyingly, James started chuckling as well before looking back at him with a wry smile "pass."

"What?"

"I said 'pass'." James said with the smug look on his face growing "I'm not handing over Ralts to the likes of you. I promised her that much and I wont change that now."

The poacher was no longer laughing at this point. Instead he simply looked at James from behind his hand with absolute disgust "Then I'll just take her from you." he said coldly as both he and his Drapion took a combat stance "Don't you get it kid? There's nowhere left to run."

"Then I'll jump."

"The fall would kill you."

"No it wouldn't." James said simply "But if I landed wrong then it would definitely hurt a lot. In fact even I would start crying like a girl if I, say, landed on my elbow or knee." James paused to admire the pained expression on the poacher's face. It was clear that he wanted to hurt him but couldn't. If he so much as said the wrong word or his Drapion twitched then he would bolt off the cliff. And whatever injuries he got would be blamed on the trainer that 'pushed him off'. And with houses he recognized not even a quarter mile away from the ridge there would be no time for the poacher to run before James was discovered. "I'm also pretty sure that would wake Ralts up, and I don't have to explain what she would do next, do I?" James flashed him a winning smile before staring him down with the best 'serious face' he could muster "Turn yourself in or I'll make you."

"Your bluffing."

James lowered his head and took a deep breath in and let it out in one fluid motion. When he rose his head again he faced the poacher with his eyes closed and a faint smile on his face with only one sentence leaving his mouth.

"Let's find out then, shall we?"

As soon as those words exited his mouth James turned around and ran towards the edge of the cliff with the sleeping Ralts in hand. The poacher tried to catch up to him with his Drapion right on his heels in an attempt to intercept him. But it was for naught, James reached the edge first and jumped as far as he could, shielding the Ralts with his body. Not a second later the poacher leapt after him, trying to grab the boy mid-air while his Pokémon was poised at the edge of the cliff ready to grab him and reel the three back. Time seemed to slow in that moment as the poacher reached for one of James' legs while James himself rotated in the air with his back facing the ground.

And revealing the widest grin he ever had plastered on his face. But that wasn't the worst of it. The shiny Ralts in his arms was smiling back at him as well, wide awake and in the palms of James' hands.

'Sucker!' James taunted as he lifted his arms into the air and let go of Ralts. His plan had gone off without a hitch. Ralts could now teleport anywhere she wanted while the poacher took the fall with him. James knew he wouldn't have his Drapion attack and risk harming Ralts, the Slurpuff's moves wouldn't make a difference now, and that Skarmory had to be above them as he jumped if it was going to swoop in and snatch them up, which, thanks to Ralts scanning the area while she was "sleeping", wasn't the case since neither it nor the Slurpuff was nowhere nearby to begin with. Maybe it was keeping an eye on the other Pokémon the poacher captured. That was the most likely explanation in James' head. But right now that didn't matter. All that was left was to hit the ground and bust that poacher for pushing him off a cliff. He's probably going to get a broken arm for this but he figured it would be his comeuppance for using the Ralts as a bargaining chip, even if it was to help her escape. Still, with a smile on his face and a chuckle echoing throughout his mind, he accepted his fate.

So when he felt something grab his finger a wave of surprise washed over him. Looking up her saw two white, spindly arms clutching onto his hand and a smiling face staring back at him 'what are you-' before he could finish his thought the two blinked out of existence, leaving the poacher to swing front first into the loose rocks of the ridge with his Drapion holding on to him by the ankle. The moment didn't last long as something heavy crashed into the Drapion's back, knocking it forward slightly and freeing the rocks underneath. With cries of panic coming from both Pokémon and trainer the two tumbled down the ridge while small boulders buried them.

On the topside of the ridge two pairs of eyes watched the pile of stone and the purple carapace below them "that's not going to hold them long." James said, already seeing some of the smaller rocks move. Deciding it was better to not be there when those two broke free from the pseudo Rock Tomb James picked up Ralts and ran away from the poacher, the town, and his home. There would be time to rest, think of a new plan, and question why Ralts did that later but right now he had to live past the next five minutes.

With the poacher and his Pokémon between him and Oldale Town, James' only chance at getting help was Petalburg City, a three day trip by foot, maybe less if he could run the entire way, which he couldn't. To compound that the poacher could beat them there if he was fast enough. After all, they were still on Route 102 and James had a shorter ways to go, but that poacher had a truck. A truck in the middle of the forest but a truck nonetheless. He knew he had a ways to go, he knew he could not outrun a vehicle but seeing how the clearing he saw the truck in was a couple hours away he had that long to figure something out.

And the more he thought about it the more he realized how screwed he was.

When they reached the road once more James couldn't help but collapse on his knees "gotta. Keep. Moving." he wheezed, sucking in air as fast as his lungs would allow. As he sat there he loosened his hold on Ralts allowing her to hop off his lap and stretch while he kept breathing "Have to. Reach. Petalburg." he gasped, trying to get back on his feet but his legs wouldn't respond, they hurt too much. His whole body hurt. And he felt dizzy.

But he couldn't rest, not right now anyway. Working through the hurt, James once more got to his feet and lowered his arms to pick up his travel partner. Ralts had other ideas and climbed up to his uninjured left shoulder and perched herself on his back, wrapping her arms around his sternum "Ralts! Ralts!" she said, seemingly pushing him on.

With a sigh, James started moving down the road as fast as his tired body would let him, with Ralts now getting a piggyback ride as well. With one step after the other James made his way down the road carrying Ralts on his back diligently "we just have to follow the road." James muttered to himself. He knew where he had to go and he knew that if he stayed on the path he would reach Petalburg City eventually...probably. If the poacher didn't catch him first. He knew the first step was backtracking to the guide post and he figured that was going to take an extra hour due to his tiredness. He already saw the sign, or at least where it would be but between him and it was miles of road yet untraveled. He knew that beyond that was a two day walk to the city. He was-

"Wah!?"

...Already there?

James struggled to keep upright on the unfamiliar ground, coming to a stop to prevent eating dirt. When he regained his balance he let out the breath he had been holding and looked to the right, noting the familiar wooden sign that pointed down each way of the road. He really made it back to the sign in less time than it took before, something that should have been impossible "how did we...?"

"Ralts!"

Looking over his shoulder James saw the smiling face and amber eyes of Ralts looking back at him "riiight, you know teleport..." he said as he hung his head in realization, with a dumb smile on his face "Then, we may have a chance!" he said, brimming with hope. He faced Ralts again, this time with determination shining on his face "Do you think you could keep ding that? At least until we reach the city?"

Ralts pondered the question for a moment before nodding her head in affirmation "Ralts!"

Smiling and laughing James started running down the path to Petalburg "Ok, but when you're about to teleport us, say something ok." he requested, picking up his pace to a steady jog "That way I'll be ready for it." he said now in a full sprint.

Ralts grunted and nodded, showing she understood his request. As James ran Ralts focused on the farthest point on the road she could see and started gathering her power. A silver lining to being put to sleep was that she conserved a decent portion of her psychic energy. So while she couldn't fight with her Confusion, her Teleport move was something she could do almost indefinitely. Zeroed in on her point in the distance the Feeling Pokémon gave her signal "Ralts."

In that instant James leapt into the air and the duo blinked further down the road with James landing ungracefully landing on his feet but recovering nonetheless "Haha! It worked!" James cried out "We teleported while moving and I didn't fall down!"

"Ralts."

Again James jumped into the air and teleported even further down the road and again he landed on his feet and kept running "Haha, we'll be there in hours at this rate!" he cheered just in time for Ralts to warn him a third time and warp them forward. This pattern continued for another hour and already they crossed what it would take a whole day to do. And after fifteen or so more Teleports the duo decided to use whatever Ralts had left in an emergency. Besides nightfall was coming and her Teleports couldn't go very far in the darkness anyways. During this run, as twilight loomed over the forest James slowed down to a brisk walk to help ration what fumes of energy he had left, as well as say something "Ralts?"

"Mm?"

"Thanks for teleporting me too..." he said shyly "I...didn't want to imagine what would of happened to me if my plan worked. Heh, I always thought the heroes were so cool when they sacrificed themselves to save the innocent but...I...probably wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for you. So, thank you." James said plainly and honestly. And as he did it felt like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders even when it really felt like Ralts had tightened her grip on him. Still it wasn't a bad feeling, in fact she felt...warm.

He didn't have very long to enjoy the feeling as something on the horizon caught his eye, something that brought a smile to his face "Hey, look. We're here!"

In the distance, shining against the darkness of night were the myriad lights coming from street lamps and homes. The quiet cacophony of the bystanders echoing into the night. And most importantly the illuminated dojo-esque building that was the Petalburg Gym. "Petalburg City... We made it to Petalburg City!" James sighed as he took in the sight despite almost fainting from dizziness. Ralts on the other hand hid herself behind James' back, intimidated by the sight in front of her. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. I promise." James assured, putting a hand over his shoulder to help reassure her "The Gym Leader will help us, I'm certain of it." he said with a kind smile, something that seemed to help a little. With a deep breath James made sure Ralts was holding on tightly and spent the last of his energy running into the city.

Norman stepped into the Gym's entrance ready to lock up for the night. All around him the usual trainers who practiced here were gathering up their things with some help from their Pokémon. His own Slacking was also playing with some of the younger kids and their Pokémon while their siblings were busy gathering their gear. Once a trainer was done they would call back their Pokémon and head home or simply leave with their partner by their side. Norman would admit he was looking forward to heading home as well but as the Gym Leader it was his responsibility to close the Gym for the night, which meant being the last one to go home too. But he didn't mind to much, not when his daughter and son would be there to greet him.

"See you tomorrow, Norman."

"Have a good night Parker."

With the last of the trainers leaving, Norman returned Slacking to his Pokéball and gathered his own things as well. All of the badges were accounted for, the other doors were locked, and he checked each of the training rooms one last time for anything left behind or forgotten. With everything else done he made his way to the front door, only to watch it open suddenly and a young boy stumble in.

The kids clothes were torn, he looked on the brink of death with sweat pouring off of him despite the cool night air, his right shoulder was soaked in blood, and the breaths he was taking were long and raspy. His eyes looked unfocused and he was holding onto the doorframe tightly with one hand while the other was propped behind his back. He only said one word before collapsing to the ground and revealing the Ralts, a shiny Ralts on top of that, clinging to his back.

"Help..."

James woke up in a white room. His eyes straining to see anything in the glaring light other than the night sky out the window and a pink blob in the distance. He heard the Pokémon in the distance but due to grogginess or the walls themselves he couldn't make out what kinds they were, at this point it didn't matter. At the very least they sounded happy, so that was good. Another good omen was that he didn't hurt as much as he remembered. He felt the cool bed sheets on his chest and bandages wrapped around his waist, shoulder, and other parts of his upper body. He was no longer wearing his jacket, or a shirt for that matter, but whoever treated him most likely took them and held on to it somewhere, in his mind anyway. The cool breeze coming from the window felt good and slowly he moved his arms searching for one last thing, something he didn't find.

Concerned, James looked around the room once his eyes adjusted to the light and immediately noticed two things. The first was the Chansey with a first aid kit beside it sleeping by the door. The second, and much more important, was that Ralts was not with him. Upon realizing that James threw off the covers and got out of bed, startling the Chansey awake in the process "Where's Ralts..." he managed to say before his body suddenly started tingling all over and his vision went black. All he could do was fall onto the bed while the Chansey ran out of the room in a panicked fit. His eyesight returned moments later but the prickly sensation in his arms didn't go away for another five minutes.

In that time James shifted his head to gaze at the crescent moon outside 'nighttime huh? Mom's going to be mad at me for staying out so late...' he mused. He was so close! He made it to Petalburg, to the Gym even, but somehow he still managed to lose Ralts. Now he just laid there, sore all over, staring at the moon outside while the night breeze caressed his face.

That went on for another couple of minutes when the door opened once again, with two familiar people walking in. One had short black hair and was wearing a zipped-up red jacket and navy blue jeans and the other had pink hair that was curled into two large rings in the back and was wearing a nurses outfit. The Chansey from before was there as well and in its arms was a small, white and cyan Pokémon.

"Ralts!"

"Ralts!"

James and Ralts leapt forward with their arms wide and faces smiling intending to meet in a warm embrace, only for James' body to give out  once more and make him collapse on the ground "I'm okay..." he said, sitting on his knees and rubbing his head.

Norman and Nurse Joy relaxed as they watched James laugh off his fatigue and the Ralts hop to his side with a carefree smile on her face. The Gym leader let the two share their moment of revelry with a content smile on his face. Whatever those two had been through, he could wait until after they were done to hear it. Eventually the laughter died down and the boy and Pokémon duo exchanged smiles before turning to the adults with a more concerned expression. "I'm sure you have quite the story to tell me, don't you." Norman said calmly, something James responded to with a nod.

He then began recounting the days events starting from when he left Oldale Town up until he stumbled into the Gym and collapsed apparently only three hours ago. He explained how Ralts somehow repeated words either he or the poacher had said to warn him, the events leading up to and including the ridge standoff, and their Teleport jumps to Petalburg. Ralts supported the story being told by either nodding in affirmation or using a move in front of the group whenever James had first mentioned it, with a pillow being used as Confusion's target. Norman for is part stood with his arms crossed and listened intently while Nurse Joy raised a hand to her mouth in astonishment.

When James finished he took a deep breath and looked back to Norman with a serious look that belied a nine year old boy "...and that's it. So, please, help me Mr.Norman. Help me find a way to keep her safe."

Norman stood there and took in everything that was said including the request. Technically, James was in the wrong since he took a wild Pokémon away from another trainer had he would have to release the Ralts into the wild. After all James may have seen a truck with some cages in the bed but without any mention of a Pokémon trapped inside said cages the trainer couldn't be charged with poaching. That being said, the shiny Ralts in front of them wasn't the only Ralts in that clearing. so with that in mind he formulated a plan of his own "Nurse Joy, I need you to contact the Oldale and Petalburg Police Departments and notify them about that clearing. With any luck there will still be something incriminating left."

"Right away Norman!" Nurse Joy squeaked before turning to the door. But before she left James spoke up once more.

"Wait. Please tell them he had a Skarmory, a Drapion, and a Pokémon I've never seen before called a Slurpuff, maybe even more too. The Slurpuff knew a sleep causing move and the Drapion could poison it's targets. If there was anyone that had an experienced Numel or Camerupt, recommend sending them along with any full-heals they had."

"Got it." Nurse Joy nodded and ran off with Chansey following behind her.

Norman stood impressed at James' advice "not a bad assessment, despite the dire circumstances." he praised.

James' face immediately went red as he scratched the back of his head and smiled meekly "well, I do want to be a Pokémon Trainer. Learning about type matchups is the most basic of basics." he said sheepishly.

"Oh really?" Norman inquired, a smirk appearing on his face and an idea in mind "Wait here, I'll be right back." he said and then left the room as well, shutting the door behind him.

James exchanged a confused look with Ralts only to shrug it off and stare out the opened window until Norman returned, with Ralts joining him a minute later. One minute turned to ten, and ten turned to thirty before Norman walked through the door again. When he did he held out his right arm with his hand clenched into a fist "here, hold out your hand." he requested.

James nodded, wary but otherwise compliant, and put his right hand under Norman's. The next moment he felt something small and round drop into his palm and when he had a chance to see it his eyes went wide "a Pokéball?"

"If you want to be a trainer then you'll have to catch a Pokémon." Norman said with a smile "I've already contacted you mother, James. I know you're still too young to become one just yet but there are plenty of unofficial trainers in the world. One more won't make a difference. This will also prevent Ralts from being stolen in the future, since she would belong to you and you alone. Plus she seems to have taken a liking to you already. In fact if I-"

"No."

Norman looked down at James with a inquisitive stare and frown appearing on his face "why not?"

James looked at the Pokéball with regret, clenching it in his fist as if he were trying to crush it "I can't. I promised Ralts that I wouldn't let anyone catch her; including myself." he said weakly "When we first met I considered it but after everything that's happened I don't think I could catch Ralts. It...just wouldn't feel right. After all, I couldn't save the others." the feeling that was tearing him apart didn't dissipate as he continued to confess his failures. In fact they seemed to intensify into a self-loathing wry smile "I'm sure she has friends of her own she would be leaving behind. Besides, even if she did choose to become a trainer's Pokémon she should be with someone strong enough to protect her...and that's not me." with that James turned around and threw the Pokéball as hard as he could out the window and into the night sky.

Only to watch it lazily float back into the room and over Ralts' head.

"I... Choose... You..."

"...James..."

Again the words played back in James' head, all of which he remembered saying in the past hour...except his own name. That was said in a young girl's voice, a voice that was fragile and awkwardly said but one he had never heard before in his life, which meant it could only be-!

As he put the pieces together in his head he watched the Pokéball expand to triple its former marble size and the faint blue aura around it dissipate, dropping squarely onto the smiling Feeling Pokémon's head. It bounced off slightly before opening and enveloping Ralts in a red light and sucking that light inside the ball and closing as suddenly as it opened, where it then hit the ground. It shook once, twice, three times before clicking, signifying the successful capture.

"...And that's it."

Rin blinked at the sudden end of the story "that's it?"

"Yep."

"But, how did James know you were a girl at first? What happened to the poacher!? And, HOW DID YOU GET YOUR NAME!?"

Selene put a finger to her cheek and hummed about how best to answer her "mmm... Well... It must have been when I tried speaking to him using my memories, the first time anyways."

"You were asleep!"

"As for what happened to him, I don't know. Nobody told us anything about him after that. For all we know he disappeared into the sunset, never to be seen again. And as for my name it's..." her voice trailed off while her face turned bright red "Well, kinda embarrassing..." she answered poking two of her fingers together while she looked outside.

Rin tried holding back her frustration while Selene continued dodging her last question though her scrunched face and twitching eye showed it was proving to be a tough battle "are you kidding me..." she said in a dangerously heavy tone while Selene started whistling innocently "I can tell you're fond of that memory, you know. It's written all over your face."

"Ohheylookatthetimewebettergetoutandstartourday!" Selene blurted a second before teleporting out of sight.

"HEY!" Rin dashed out of the dining room and towards the outer yard "Don't you dare run! Come back here and finish your story!" she screamed as she literally started searching the estate for her from top to bottom "At least tell me if you were in love with him like you are now by then!"

"I wasn't, not even close! But he was definitely the safest choice available!" Selene's voice rang out from...somewhere.

After a minute of silence  it became obvious that neither Rin or Selene were going to be retuning anytime soon, effectively ending their little story time. "Aww..." Cinder moaned with a sullen expression as she pawed the table dejectedly "Maybe someone in the forest will want to play with me." the young Vulpix wondered out loud as a smile returned to her face "Yeah...yeah! That sounds like fun!" she cheered while bouncing outside herself.

"Wait for me Cinder, I'll join you." Phoebe added following her through to wall.

One by one everyone left the dining room, with Fuji collecting everybody's empty plates and started washing them in the kitchen. Everyone, save Kira who kept laying there with a smile on his face.

"Are you sure about this?" Norman asked.

"Yeah." James replied.

"Alright, I'll go get you the necessary paperwork." the Gym Leader said with a twinge of anguish in his tone. After that he turned around and left James to himself.

James sat on the bed staring at the Pokéball in his hand with his newly caught Ralts eyeing it curiously from behind his back. With it being nearly midnight when James woke up, Norman and Nurse Joy decided it would be safer if he stayed at the Pokémon Center that night. James contacted his mother who was understandably angry, worried, and happy. Norman on the other hand got a hold of Professor Birch and filled him in on the situation. Which led to the Pokéball in his hand, It wasn't his Ralts'. Instead it held a Torchic, one of three Pokémon all aspiring trainers in the Hoenn region could chose from to start their journey with. Officially this would be his 'starter' Pokémon once he was old enough with Ralts being his first 'caught' Pokémon, but for now it was an 'early birthday present' from the professor. Normally this doesn't happen but the Gym Leader and Professor agreed keeping Ralts' anonymity would be best since she was a shiny Pokémon, something James didn't understand until he called her out of the Pokéball for the first time.

Another reason was time, since James was going to be in Rustboro City studying until he was old enough through the Trainer School's boarding program, something that would keep him away from home and in a big city alone. Now that he was Ralts' trainer he had to get stronger in his own way. He wouldn't be able to battle alongside Ralts like a Pokémon so he had to learn everything he could and become a genius trainer that could never lose. His parents were against it at first but after seeing James' determination( or stubbornness to not accept "no") they eventually gave in and wished him luck.

Which brought him to the present, slightly over twenty-four hours after he left Oldale Town, staring at his second Pokémon "hmm... I should probably think of names for everyone." he mused, garnering an inquisitive hum from Ralts "I mean, it would get confusing if we ran into someone with another Ralts, or you suddenly evolved, wouldn't it?" Ralts pondered this and tried to comprehend her new trainer's point of view. All other Ralts looked different to her and she could easily spot these differences with a glance. But maybe humans couldn't?

"Raalts." Ralts sighed, consenting to his idea.

"Okay, well, I've already thought up a name for this guy." James said. He then tossed the Pokéball lightly into the air "Come on out, 'Grand Supernova'." the Pokéball burst open and white light and coalescing into the shape of a small orange chick with yellow tufts of feathers on his neck and head.

"Torchic!" 'Grand Supernova' chirped.

"See, he likes it." James boasted while Ralts simply shook her head "Right, Grand Supernova?"

"Torchic?"

Sudden giggling drew everyone's attention to the doorway where Nurse Joy happened to be standing, covering her mouth with a hand in a vain attempt to hide her smile "I think that's a bit too long, James. Perhaps you could shorten it?"

'Shorter, huh?' James mused, folding his arms to consider the suggestion "Ok, then how about just Nova?"

"Torchic! Torchic!"

"He seems to like that one."

James smiled at the news and Torchic bouncing running around the room with more energy than even James knew what to do with proved that he made the right choice "alright, then from this day forth your name will be 'Nova', the fiery star of the future Hoenn Champion." he declared proudly, even pointing out the window and into the clear blue sky. A moment later he retracted his arm and adopted a puzzled expression "I guess that means I also have to change the name I had in mind for Ralts." he murmured.

"What was it?"

James hesitated at first but after enough time for his cheeks to turn red and a deep breath later he blurted out "Supreme Galaxy Goddess Dianna..." he was immediately pelted with a psionically tossed pillow.

Again Nurse Joy broke out into lighthearted laughter "you certainly gave it a lot of thought didn't you." she said, though the deadpanned look James was giving her said he wasn't convinced, or didn't find it funny "I'm serious, I can tell you really care about her." she defended, never losing her lighthearted demeanor. "How about this; consider Ralts' characteristics and then think of a single name that embodies those characteristics. No 'grand' something-or-other, or 'supreme' this-and-that, just one word. If it 'sounds right' then you're on the right track, ok?" Nurse Joy suggested.

James let the advice sink in, taking a long deep breath to help clear his mind. He then crossed his legs and closed his eyes, ready to delve into his subconscious.

When they first met Ralts saved him from the poacher by tipping him off to his lies. When they fled, she used her own power to keep the both of them safe and even teleported him to safety when she didn't have to. In the past twelve hours she had been his guardian angel and because of that he was doing what he did. Still, something he noticed last night was that Ralts was fascinated by the moon. Long after he tucked himself in to bed she kept looking out the window staring at the crescent moon with a warm smile. The night sky seemed to love her as well since the faint moonlight shined off her light blue hair and made her amber eyes sparkle. It wasn't because she was a shiny Pokémon, it felt like it was because she was happy, content with the choice she made, and had the conviction to see it through. How could James simply name something he didn't feel like he deserved.

Slowly he waded through his thoughts, with some ideas coming to mind but nothing 'sounding right' as Nurse joy put it. It wasn't until said Ralts tugged on his shirt and looked at him that his mind saw a spark of something. The more he thought about it the better it sounded to him, and the more proud he was at thinking about it. But it wasn't the same haughty pride as 'Supreme Galaxy Goddess Dianna' had been, this name him feel calm, confident, happy, and driven all at the same time. The more he imagined saying it the more the feeling inside him grew and he knew this was the right choice. Looking down at Ralts' smiling face and seeing Nova's expectant look he took one last long deep breath "I've got one. One perfect for the ace of my team, my reason to get stronger, and most importantly my partner." James said confidently, without a single doubt in his mind. Ralts looked back at him as if she already knew the name she was about to be given and smiled, showing her approval.

"It's nice to meet you, Selene."