Hatching Eggs

by Pagen Godess

No one can ever hope to understand why they stand with us as little more than slaves when they could whipe us from the face of the Earth. Slight Transfomers/Pokemon X-over. On hold due to lack of proper computer.

1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The world in which we live is filled with numerous wonders. Perhaps the most wonderful and the most mysterious of these are the creatures that the human race has named Pokémon. For sometime since the beginning of time these creatures have changed very little and all but claimed the planet that they share with people and animals as there own.

These amazing creatures have harnessed the powers of the elements themselves, mastered evolution on a grand scale, all but pushed their less fortunate cousins off of the map and according to legend have sworn to help human kind.

The reason why these creatures that could so easily dominate our world and eliminate humans altogether have lowered themselves to being mere pets, partners, and in some cases slaves and science experiments is unknown to any who have dared asked the question; Why? Perhaps the answer is unknown to even the poke'mon themselves lost to time and only felt as some sort of primitive drive to obtain a type of power that can only be gained by working with the very being that are as of now killing their homes.

It is possible that they know that together our kinds can accomplish great things that have long been thought imposable. For together we can do great things if only people would stop and listen to what others have to say.

Or perhaps they seek to help us protect the world in which they live from a danger older and worse than even their kind has to offer. Perhaps they know that if we do not fight together then our world has no hope of survival.

- Unknown

ooo

The sound of several CV-22's filled the desert air as they headed towards the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base. Each one carrying both soldiers and supplies. The occupants of the first CV-22 however weren't paying the sound of the crafts engine any mind instead they were all sending half annoyed looks at one of their members who refused to quit singing aloud to whatever was currently playing on his I-pod.

Captain William Lennox shook his head in annoyance and proceeded to scratch the area around the horns of his Houndoom Sidney. Dark red eyes crossed in pleasure and tongue hanging out of the side of her reddish orange snout Sidney was apparently unaware of her trainers growing annoyance.

"Who sings that song Epps?" Lennox asked, speaking loudly so that he could be heard over his friends music. Epps blinked and looked at him before replying.

"Daddy Yankee." The dark skinned man replied. Lennox smirked slightly.

"Well then let him sing it or better yet let Yankee sing it because we all know he sounds a lot better than you do." Lennox said as he pointed the pokémon that sat next to Epps.

Mostly white with red markings on its front paws, left ear, and an m shaped mark on his belly. Though the thing that stood out most were the wicked claws that adorned it's front paws. A Zangoose like any other. Yankee, named after the very singer that had been talked about, looked between his trainer and Lennox for a few moments before nudging his head up against Epps's side in an attempt to get the man's attention. Epps meanwhile looked offended at his friends statement.

"Ya well when I win American Idol and get rich I'll remember what you said and when you come to me need'n cash you'll be shit outta luck." Lennox snorted and shot a look over at another of the soldiers riding with them. He was about to say something but was caught up in the other man's muttering.

"Sixteen months of this. I can't wait to get some of momma's alligators éeouffée." Jorge 'Fig' Figueroa said with a half wishful smile on his face. Apparently the memory of his mothers cooking was far more appetizing to him than it was to the other members of the CV-22. Lennox and Epps shared a look, one that was mimicked by Sydney and Yankee, before one of them managed to speak.

"Man remind me to never eat at your momma's place like ever. Cause her cooking sounds nasty." Fig made a face and made a motion to reach for one of the pokéballs on his belt.

"That's my heritage we're talking about." Sensing that a battle, a stupid one at that, might just about be ready to take place in a place not meant for battling Lennox thought it best to interfere.

"Hey you guys remember weekends?" The almost battle died in a heartbeat.

"I hear that." Epps said as he finally scratched Yankee behind an ear. Fig's hand returned to it previous position and he turned to Lennox.

"What's the first thing your gonna do when you get home Captain?" Lennox's look turned just as wishful as Fig had been not long before.

"First thing I'm gonna do is hold my baby girl. Imprint and start teaching her to say daddy." This comment gat him teased more than Fig's about missing his mother's cooking as a few 'aww's' and a 'that's adorable' filled the air.

Epps offered him and grin and pulled a battered picture out of his pocket. His own kids stared out at his fellow soldiers as he waved it in front of their faces.

"Be warned man once they start talking back they own ya. After that it'll be 'Daddy I wanna Ponyta or a Skitty or a Lillipup.'" Epps smirked as he looked at Lennox. Lennox's replying growl was matched only by Sydney's.

"Are you done yet?" Epps only grinned at him.

"Fine don't come cry'n to me when she starts." The slight jolt that ran through the CV-22 shut the occupants up faster than even a direct order could have. Epps placed the picture of his kids back in his pocket as they prepared to exit the craft.

The soldiers departure was apparently what Sergeant First Class Donnely was waiting for, for no sooner had their feet touched ground before he was upon them. The younger man was pestering them for the results of a baseball game that he'd bet on. The reply he was given was far from what he had wanted to hear.

Lennox found that he could only smile as he listened to Epps heckle the younger soldier about being able to get a bookie even while in the middle of the desert. His smile widened even further when his eyes landed on Mahfouz a kid from a village a couple miles from the base. The youngster visited the base every chance he got so it wasn't very unusual to see him and his Sandshrew running around annoying the soldiers.

As if his staring had alerted the boy to his presence Mahfouz turned and looked right at him a smile splitting the boys face before he started towards the older man.

"Lennox man you cool. Did you bring chocolate?" Lennox shook his head at the kids question.

"Sorry kid already ate it." A horrified look crossed Mahfouz's face before he began hopping up and down.

"You lie! Give it to me before I call down the wrath of Rakan and Jalila upon you!" Lennox laughed and shook his head. Something's never changed no matter what part of the world you were in. Kids and comic book hero's were one of them.

Digging in his pocket Lennox pulled out a bar of candy and gave the boy in front of him a slightly stern look. "I give this to you your Sandshrew gets a piece too."

Mahfouz nodded eagerly. The candy's wrapping was gone barley a few moments after the bar had left Lennox's hand but the look of delight that was on the faces of both Mahfouz and his Sandshrew would have been worth the lost fingers.

"Give us a hand with the gear." Lennox said as he lead the younger away. It was a fair trade considering that the kid spent a good amount of time sitting in the Rec Room watching TV with them as well as shamelessly begging for candy.

ooo

The heat that tormented the soldiers outside wasn't a problem for those that were stationed inside of the air-conditioned Operations Center. At that moment however the cool air inside of the room wasn't providing any sort of relief.

"Unidentified inbound infiltrator ten miles out and closing." Reported a man that sat in front of one of the room's many consoles. Within seconds a higher up was standing behind him looking at the same readout that he himself was staring at. Sadly the higher up couldn't make any more sense of it than his comrade. He could however give the unidentified intruder a warning.

"Unidentified aircraft you are in restricted air space, squawk ident and proceed east out of the area." If there was a response it was lost to a sea of static. Was the comm. unit bad or was whomever was flying the craft trying for more time? The watch commander had no idea which one it was but he did know that it was time to take action.

"Raptors One and Two: snap to heading two-five-zero for intercept. Bogie is in the weeds ten miles out and not squawking."

ooo

Darkness was falling on the base much like it was falling in the surrounding desert. Lennox was ready to feed himself and his poke'mon and then head to the Rec Room for a little but of R and R before turning in for the night. The persistent ringing of his cell phone however was preventing him from doing so.

"Lennox." he replied waiting for the voice on the other end of the line to acknowledge him in return.

"Captain I'm pleased to report that we have a secure home front connection for you." Those words sent Lennox over the moon. "Please hold and respond to the incoming link."

Lennox had his laptop out and was getting it ready before the words were even finished being spoken. As soon as his login was accepted his wife's face appeared heart achingly clear on the screen of his computer. She was sitting in the kitchen feeding Annabelle.

"How are my ladies?" Lennox asked trying to work past the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat.

"Missing their man." Sarah's reply was crystal clear and there was very little delay between video and sound. "It's official. She has your laugh."

Lennox wasn't sure if he wanted to burst into tears or start laughing. His baby's first laugh another in the long list of first's that he'd missed.

"Her first laugh are you sure? Come on it must have been gas." Sarah's laugh sent both pleasure and pain bolting through him.

"It was a for real laugh." Lennox shook his head.

"You see I was telling her about the night that you locked us out of the house and instead of going to the neighbors for the spare key you decided to build a fire in the backyard and nine months later-"

"Hey," Lennox interrupted, "I though we said we'd wait till she was two before getting into the R rated stuff." Sarah's eyes had a far away look to them. For the moment she was lost down memory lane.

"I started laughing when I got to the part about the keys being in you jacket pocket the whole time. Then she started laughing but I think it was more at you them with you." Lennox grinned.

"Did you ever think that maybe I locked us out on purpose?" Sarah smirked and offered up a challenge.

"Did you ever think that I slipped those keys back into you pocket when you weren't looking?" Even from half a world away her laughter still lifted him higher than a kite. "Are you still coming home soon baby?"

Lennox nodded. "I'm due for a rotation. The Colonel assured me that I'm right on to of the list. No BS this time." he said as he tried to make eye contact with his daughter through the computer screen. "You hear that Annabelle? You're gonna get to meet your daddy any day-" Lennox's words halted as the picture in front of him burst into pixels.

"Sarah?" The sound of his wife's voice could barley be heard over what was left of the connection and it was with an annoyed huff that Lennox closed his computer. Thankfully both he and Sarah were familiar with such unforeseen interruptions though it didn't make them any easier to bear when they did happen.

"Well this sucks doesn't it Sydney?" In response to her trainers question Sydney got to her feet and nudged his side with a soft whine. Turning away from where he'd left his laptop sitting Lennox focused instead on the incoming chopper.

He wasn't the only one who had turned his attention to it either. Epps and the other mean that made up his group were watching it as well. Lennox found that he had to admire the pilots skill when the man managed a smooth lading in the dark. As soon as the chopper sat down however Sidney began growling her hackles raised and her teeth bared. It was a reaction that was being repeated by Yankee and every other pokémon that was outside of their pokéball at that moment. And if that hadn't been enough to set Lennox on edge the flotilla of Humvees that had weapons ready would have.

"What's going on Lennox?" Epps asked as he and Yankee made their way over. Yankee had moved so that it was standing on it back paws instead of all four of it's feet and it looked like it was ready to tear into something. Sidney looked just as tense. The small jet of flame that she exhaled a moment later only confirmed her battle ready state.

There was something wrong with the chopper and all of the pokémon knew it. Lennox looked back at the chopper his gaze landing on the pilot. The man sitting inside had a blank look on his face despite the fact that he was surrounded by ready weapons both human and pokémon. Every soldier watched as not four minutes later as the pilot seemed to fizzle and disappear.

ooo

In the command center every screen was taken over by electronic mush. Then every single readout went berserk no two readouts showing the same thing.

"Radar's jammed! And systems are failing." A tech's voice declared as it rose slowly in pitch. The room was in motion almost immediately. It wasn't until one soldier took a moment to look at the newest addition to the base that they realized the cause.

"It's coming from the chopper!"

ooo

Lennox wasn't sure when he'd started slowly backing up towards the big tent that he and his men and the helpful Mahfouz had been stacking supplies in but the one thing that made him aware of it was that Sidney hadn't moved and inch.

In fact while most of the soldiers around him were backing up none of their pokémon had moved. Yankee had moved so that he was standing next to Sidney but that was it. Lennox wasn't sure if it was safe to try and pull his Houndoom back or not. There was a very real chance that he'd get bitten if he tried to do so.

There was a flash as lights exploded and when the flash faded the chopper had moved. It just wasn't moving in a way he'd ever seen. Parts shifted so that the chopper was no longer a chopper but something else entirely. It had arms, legs, a head, and a name: Blackout. Blackout of course offered the soldiers and the creatures around them nothing of course.

Not even his name. Lennox wasn't quite sure what he was seeing or if it was even real. Even if it wasn't real Sidney looked like she was about to jump at it. Lennox made a mad grab for Sidney's empty pokéball mirroring the actions of Epps and most of the other soldiers around him. Several flashes of red filled the air as pokémon were called back into the safety of their balls. It came just in time to for moments later there was a clap like thunder and a moving wall of air knocked every soldier and remaining pokémon off of their feet.

Then everything went to hell. There wasn't any time to react as a Blackout turned his attention from the fallen creatures at his feet a row of parked C-17's. The blaring of the base's alarm caused soldiers to arrive from their various starting points just in time to see the large planes destroyed. Soldiers both men and women began to scream and search for cover as Blackout proceeded to attack the base.

None of them knew what to do and few were willing to risk their pokémon against an enemy that they knew nothing about. To make matters worse fire and smoke took visibility in the area down to almost nothing. Only the sound of occasional blasts and screams could be heard.

ooo

The roof of the command room was ripped off by an unseen force. The reactions that came from seeing the large hand that reached down into that room ran from panic to stunned fascination. Techs watched as the hand felt around the room for something.

That something turned out to be one of the few still working consoles. They continues to watch as the console was ignored for a fistful of wires. The wires themselves seemed to come alive as the hand pulled them and they snapped free of one end of whatever they were clinging too.

They wriggled like an Arbok slithering through the forest and attached themselves to different parts of the robotic hand that held them. Only the watch commander wasn't watching the goings on with the robots hand instead he was looking at one of the still working screens and the words that were flashing across it.

PROJECT ICE MAN- TOP SECRET SCI- SECTOR SEVEN ACESS ONLY

While the commander had no idea what Sector Seven was he did know that the files being taken or at least looked at were restricted to an unbelievable point. The sight of a senior officer picking his way across the room caught his attention.

"It's going after the deep files! Cut the hard lines!" It took a moment fore the man to hear his over the loud electronic squeal that still filled the air but a nod from the other man reassured him that he had in fact been heard. The commander watched as a Great Ball was pulled from the man's belt and thrown in the direction of the lines that needed to be cut. There was a flash of red as the creature the had been trapped inside was released. Before what was released even became clear an order was being shouted.

"Weavile use Metal Claw to cut the lines!"

There was a flurry of movement as the black and red pokémon lunged towards the desired lines it's sharp claws glowing silver.

"Vile!" Weavile's sharp cry cut through the air just as the lines were cut through. The howl of outrage that followed moments later didn't promise good things for anything living on the base.

ooo

The base had dissolved into complete and utter chaos. Not that it surprised Lennox all that much as he and his men as well as Mahfouz ran along a row of tanks trying to find some sort of transport out of the base. Any other time there would have been keys left in at least half a dozen of the vehicles they had already passed.

If it came down to a worst case scenario those of them who had flying type could always ride out but not being sure about what they were up against killed the odds of any of them risking any of their team human or pokémon. Reaching the end of the tanks and still running Lennox was far from pleased to find that they were now open targets for whatever it was that was attacking the base. A large metal foot slammed down on an empty trailer squishing it flat.

Lennox glanced back at Epps for a moment. None of them had anything other than small forearms on them at the moment and sometime during their run Epps had picked up a thermal imager. Lennox shook his head. Leave it to Epps to pick up the latest in technology and leave a rifle. Lennox tried to keep an eye on his comrades but was having trouble doing so while dodging the robots (for that's was the only thing it could be) large feet.

Epps slid to the ground as a large foot slammed down next to him. Rolling to dodge another foot Epps swung the thermal imager upwards. He wasn't sure if the imager would even show anything but considering the amok machine was blotting out most of the sky behind it he felt certain that there had to be something to show. Then he was rolling to his feet and trying to catch up with his buddies. Unknown to either Lennox or Epps was the fact that they weren't the only one's aware of the thermal imager.

The moment that Epps had snapped the image blackout had become aware of it's presence as well. Honing in on the small device weaponry was then unleashed. Lennox barely had time to pin Mahfouz to the ground as something shot passed them and exploded in the air. The next few minutes were a blur of running and bullets as Lennox and his men made a stand against the mechanoids that was attacking their base.

The flares that were launched from the weapon that Fig had secures and that Lennox was firing actually managed to knock the being back a few steps. No one however noticed the creature the detached itself from blackout and proceeded to disappear underground.

They never noticed that it followed them to the edge of the base and into the desert. Neither Lennox or Epps or any of the other's were aware of the fact that they had just become Skorponok's prey.

ooo

The lunch bell at Tranquility High School was an often looked forward to part of the school day for both teachers and students. For teachers it allowed them forty-five minutes of free time away from students and for students it was forty-five minutes of time that was all their own and they could do almost anything they wanted during that time. It was also forty-five minutes that their pokémon were allowed out of their pokéball's, so long as they were outside of course.

It was something that most students were more than happy to do because if they spent all day bored then it had to be worse for their pokémon who weren't allowed out of their balls except for certain classes and lunch. Lunch was a chance to show off one's pokémon's strength or beauty. More so than in any other group strength and beauty were a major part of being a pokémon that belonged to one of the popular kids.

Mikaela Banes was no exception to this rule as she sat with a group of her friends. The gaggle of girls were taking turns ohhing and awing over each others pokémon. The current subject of the groups attention was none other than the brown and cream rabbit like form of Mikaela's Lopunny, Venus. Hands ran over fur that was brushed to a shine and was silky smooth to the touch and Venus took every chance she could to bask in the attention she was getting.

The complements were however drowned out by the voice of Mikaela's current boyfriend Trent DeMarco. Looking every bit like the star football player that he was Trent's voice was loud and carried over the voices of the other students as he yelled at his favorite target.

"Hey Wikity the homeless shelter called! They want their cloths back!" The person that Trent had just yelled at turned slightly to look at him giving everyone around him a good view of what he was wearing.

His shirt was worn and the jacket he wore over it was ripped and torn in a few places. His pants were missing their knees and the leather cord that hung around his neck looked like it had seen better days despite the fact that the fang that hung from it was a gleaming white. Even his shoes looked like they had seen better days as the sole of the left shoe was starting to come off.

The brown eyes of one of the schools outcasts turned from looking around to looking towards Trent and regarded him with very little emotion. Why would it bother him any when he was teased and picked on everyday? He was far to used to the teases and insults that were thrown his way to care. Besides he had better things to do at that moment.

"He's suck a freak." One of Mikaela's friends muttered as she watched the boy disappear around the corner of the garden clubs greenhouse. Several of the people around her agreed. It was true to an extent. Sam Witwicky was one of the school freaks. It was even possible that he was the biggest freak. Not that anyone really knew all that much about the reclusive teenager. In fact all Mikaela herself knew about him was that he lived alone on a pokémon preserve that sat a few miles outside of town.

His parents had died when he was young and his Grandfather had died a few years after them leaving him alone. Most people wondered how he made a living because no one she knew had ever reported seeing him work anywhere in town and rumor had it that he had some sort of deal with the town council about him going to school in return for something.

What it was she didn't know though most people suspected that it was money. The Witwicky kid wasn't very social and spent most of his time outside of class avoiding people. He was a mystery that was for sure. A mystery that she had no desire to crack or to get to know. Not when she had her own social status to worry about after all.

ooo

Sam sighed as he turned the around the corner of the schools greenhouse and continued walking. Trent's little shout out had stung, they always stung, but he was far to used to them to really care. And despite what Trent said his cloths weren't bad enough to have belonged to a homeless shelter.

In fact the only part of what he was wearing that looked like it might have once belonged to someone homeless were his pants and that was only because the knee's had been torn and the bottoms looked like they'd been chewed on. That was probably because they had been chewed on and he preferred his pants being chewed on to his fingers being chewed on.

Then again his shoes had the same chewed on look that his pants did and it was for the same reason. Sam made a mental note to stop wearing his current pair of shoes to school and switch to one of his newer pairs. In fact the only reason he was even wearing his currently falling apart shoes was because he tended to wear things until he absolutely had to get new ones. His shoes had defiantly hit that point.

Scratching the back of his head and smiling slightly as he neared his favorite place to sit during lunch. Sam couldn't help the more relaxed feeling that overcame him as the headache that had been pounding behind his eyes since morning faded slightly. Finally reaching his desired spot Sam sat down and leaned back against the rough bark of one of the tree's that sat on the schools property.

To tell the truth he hated school and it wasn't the work or the classes that he hated but the waves of uncontrolled emotion that attacked his senses almost constantly. If it weren't for the fact that he was able to separate himself from the crowd during lunch he doubted that he'd have been able to make it through a school day at all.

Being an empath just sucked like that. Being able to sense emotions was a needed ability with his job but every other second that it wasn't needed tended to be a headache. Large crowds often left him feeling like his head was about to explode and the more people and pokémon there were the worse it was. A loud chattering drew Sam's attention from where he was seated and he couldn't help but smile at the sight that greeted him even though it was the same thing that happened almost everyday.

Miles was walking towards him with his usual smile plastered on his face. The blonde teen was carrying two lunch trays, one of which Sam knew was for him. It wasn't just his friend however that made him smile for chasing each other around the school's lawn were two of Miles pokémon.

Deep purple fur covering most of her body except for the light yellow of her face, belly, and the pair of hand like appendages that adorned her red tipped tails Delany was just as fun loving and playful as any other Ambipom.

Elvis on the other hand was almost too mischievous for his own good. A single tail adorned this green and light yellow monkey with a pomp. The only thing that set Elvis apart from his kind was the fact that he was slightly smaller than most other Simisage.

Sam watched in amusement as the pair chased one another up the tree he was leaning against chattering at one another the entire way.

"They need to get on with it and lay an egg already."

Miles laughed. "Well I looked it up and apparently Delaney should come into season sometime soon. Who knows I may just end up with an egg before long ." Miles said as he handed Sam one of the trays he was carrying and sat down. "Speaking of eggs. I wanna see when your through eating."

Sam blinked and looked up from where he'd been putting salt in his ketchup. "See what?" he asked. Miles made a face before answering.

"Don't pull that crap with me man. You told me this morning that one of your eggs hatched and I wanna know what it is!"

Sam smiled. It was true enough. One of the eggs that he watched over had hatched the night before and he'd been mean and hadn't told Miles what had hatched from it when he'd seen his friend that morning.

"Your just as bad as Mojo you know that. I hadn't even finished filling out the baby's chart before he was trying to get a good look. Not that it's to hard for him." Sam muttered the last part of his sentence before eating a fry.

"What do you expect man he's a freak'n Arcanine you couldn't stop him if you tried. Besides he's bigger then you are."

"I know he's bigger than I am. He's only been that way since I turned thirteen." Mojo, bless him, had been Sam's first pokémon ever and while he'd been slightly protective of Sam when he was a Growlithe he'd become majorly overprotective when he'd been evolved into an Arcanine. He was also Sam's main ride to school and back home everyday.

"He's not going to take me getting a car well." Sam said as he ran a finger over the battered pokéball that held said pokémon. Miles nodded in understanding. Ignoring the sudden change in topic. "Of course he isn't. He takes you everywhere and on the rare occasion that he can't take you somewhere then I take you. Your getting rid of one of his jobs by getting a car." Miles said as he waved a rather soggy fry at his friend.

Sam tilted his head back and groaned. "I know that but he can't carry groceries or a dozen pokémon eggs and you can't keep hauling me around now that you have a job. He's gonna be mad a me for months." Sam muttered unhappily as he looked down at the trey in his lap before shaking his head and moving it. Whatever appetite he's had had just vanished. Sighing Sam rubbed at his eyes for a moment before reaching for one of the pokéballs on his belt. "You ready to see what hatched last night?" Sam asked his friend.

He'd dwell on Mojo being mad at him when the time came.

"Hell ya bro!" Miles said as he put his tray aside and moved forward. His excited tone drew both Elvis and Delaney out of the tree and down to them. Sam spared the pair of pokémon little mind, they new better than to annoy baby pokémon, as he pulled a pokéball from his belt. The ball he pulled was different from the most of the other balls on his belt for this ball lacked the worn look it fellows possessed.

This ball had been painted a shiny black and was dotted with what appeared to be stars set against a swirling galaxy. Pressing the button in the center caused the ball to enlarge. Pressing it again freed the creature that had been trapped inside.

Barley a foot long the little creature that Sam now held in his arms was mostly light blue except for the black that covered it's hind legs, half its chest, and a black mask that covered its face and a pair of raindrop shaped appendages that hung down from the side of it's head. Red eyes peered out from eyelids that were barley open.

The most unusual thing about the pokémon that was cradled in Sam's arms however were the three white dots that adorned the black mask. The smile that was on Sam's face was only rivaled by the amazed look his friend was giving him.

"Dude I don't think I've ever seen a Riolu up close before. Do you know how rare they are?" Sam gave Miles a flat look.

"Of course I know how rare they are you idiot. I've seen more Lucario than I have Riolu. Now hand me my bag it's lunch time for Orion." Miles raised an eyebrow as he handed Sam his bag.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Sam asked as he pulled out a bottle that had been wrapped in some sort of thermal covering.

"Why Orion? He doesn't look like a mighty hunter to me." Sam huffed lightly as he looked down at the pokémon being cradled in one of his arms while he used his other hand to hold the bottle it was now drinking from. It was true that the baby pokémon he held didn't look like much at the moment but that would change in a month or two.

"I named him Orion because of the white spots on his mask. They made me think of Orion's Belt." Miles made a small "ah" of understanding.

"So are you ready for your report in Hosney's class."

ooo

The last class of the couldn't come soon enough. Sam half wondered what it would be like to go a single day of school without his head hurting. Though the press of emotions wasn't as bad in the classroom as it was in the halls. It helped a bit that almost everyone in the class was feeling the same boredom he felt. Something about it helped dull the pain slightly. He wasn't quite sure why it worked that way and if he remembered he'd look it up when he was at home and had the time.

For now he was trying his hardest to focus on the kid in front of him and the report he was giving on his grandfather of so many greats. He'd stopped paying full attention when the kid had pulled out a book of some sort that he insisted on going through. Brown eyes shifted up towards the clock above the chalkboard. Ten minutes of class left and then he could leave. The fact that Hosney looked half asleep in his chair didn't help him find the desire to pay attention to the kid at the front of the room.

Sam blinked and closed his eyes only to have Miles elbow him in the side. Sam grunted and shot Miles a look only to have the blonde nod towards the front of the room.

"Your report Mr. Witwicky." Mr. Hosney drawled. He sounded about as excited to hear Sam's report as he had been to hear the other seventeen. Standing from his seat Sam took a moment to grab the bag that he'd gotten out of his locker before he'd entered the classroom. Trudging up to the front of the room Sam wasn't really surprised that he was followed by whispers and laughs. He was also quite sure that he felt a rubber band hit the back of his head as he reached the front of the class.

Trent's smiling face assured him that he had in fact been hit by said projectile and Trent had been the one to shoot it. Having placed his poster board bearing his family tree within visual range Sam took a deep breath and prayed to a handful of legendaries before he began speaking.

"I did my family genealogy report on my great- great- grandfather, Captain Archibald Witwicky. Captain Witwicky was one of the first men to explore the Artic shelf which back then was a really big deal. In the middle of an Artic winter he and a handful or either very brave or very stupid people straight into the Artic shelf where their ship was caught in the ice."

"Forced to depart from the ship in an attempt to clear a path so that they could continue Archibald suffered a fall of unknown distance. It was believed that while trying to get him out of the hole he'd fallen into he suffered some sort of injury or had a nasty run in with an unknown pokémon. For when he was pulled from the ice his vision had vanished and he was raving about some sort of Ice Man."

Sam stopped so that he could pull a few items out of his bag. A damaged group of sailors tools were laid out along the table in front of him. Ignoring the laughs that came from the other students as he explained what each item was Sam was sure that they were as interested in what he had to tell them as he had been in what they'd had to tell him.

"Sadly Archibald's metal health rapidly deteriorated and no help was available to him. He wound up spending the rest of his life in a nut house drawing a series of strange symbols and raving on and on about his Ice Man and some sort of coming war." Sam stopped for half a second his eyes glancing up so that he could look at the other occupants of the room. He was about to continue when a most miraculous event happened.

The final bell rang. It was with a sigh of relief that he put the items that he'd set out on the table back into his bag. Another day of school over only a year and a half left. Having gathered everything that he'd used for his report up Sam made to move towards the desk that was his during class so that he could get his satchel.

Only Hosney's voice stopped him. "May I have a word Mr. Witwicky?"

Sam blinked and turned to look at his Social Studies teacher. Closing his eyes and focusing for a brief second Sam attempted to reach out and feel for the other man's feelings. He was met with worry and a sort of curiosity that Sam was familiar with having felt it in many of his other teachers.

None of the teachers that thought nonpokémon related classes seemed to know that he was empathic. Trudging towards the teachers desk Sam half wished that the man had just left him alone.

"Yes, Mr. Hosney?"

"Your report seemed lacking. You had plenty of time to gather the required information or is your outside job interfering with your study time?"

Sam sighed in annoyance. "It's hard to know what's fact and what's not when you don't have any relatives on either side of your family to confirm or deny how valid they are. Besides there wouldn't be a lot of information on an insane sailor out there anyways. Nobody really cared about what Great great grandpa did or didn't find in the ice."

Sam stopped and took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. He hated talking about his family in any way. He always felt like he was lacking something afterwards. "And my job had nothing to do with my lack of information. You have the packet of stuff you had us make so you could check our facts for yourself. There was little more to be found then what I had."

Hosney fixed Sam with a look that seemed to promise that their conversation wasn't over yet. Sam on the other hand was tired of his teachers trying to pry into his home life. At least Hosney hadn't brought the condition of his cloths into the conversation though he had a feeling that if they had another talk that his cloths would end up being a topic.

Shaking his head Hosney dismissed him and it was with an inward whoop of joy that Sam made his way out of the building.

Miles was waiting outside of the exit for him. Thankfully the blonde avoided the obvious question and asked something else instead.

"Want me to drive you to a car lot?" Sam stopped and turned to look at his friend.

"Why?" Miles smirked.

"So I can laugh at the junker your forced to buy and so you can have a few more hours of Mojo not being mad at you." Sam gave Miles an odd look for a moment before shaking his head.

"Na, I figure that I might as well piss him off now so he can get over it faster. Thanks for the offer though." Miles nodded.

Light chatter drifted between the two as they walked towards the parking lot. It had become a weird tradition for Sam to walk with Miles to the blonde's own junker. Most of the students were gone with only after school students or sports players remaining.

Sam waved good-bye to Miles as the blonde drove away in his car before reaching for the most worn and battered pokéball on his belt. Both the ball and the pokémon inside of it were almost the same age as he was. Smiling slightly Sam tossed the ball into the air and watched as it burst open and a red stream of light released the best within.

The sorry state of the pokéball it came from was vastly different from the state of the pokémon it unleashed. Tiger stripped red orange fur shone in the sun and looked as smooth as silk and the only other color on Mojo were the crème colored mane, tail, and tufts of fur that were on each leg. A happy bark was the only warning Sam had before he was knocked over by the overly enthusiastic Arcanine. Mojo's wet tongue was running over his face and soft paws pinned him to the ground. Sam laughed and pushed at Mojo in a silent request for him to get off.

Mojo backed off of his trainer almost immediately. Sam stood as Mojo took a few steps back. "Lets get ready to go Jo." Sam said moving to climb on the Arcanine's back. Well trained and more than happy to carry his trainer anywhere he wanted to go Mojo lowered himself slightly so that Sam could climb on his back. Sam scratched Mojo behind one ear as he shifted his seating slightly. He had no desire to fall off of Mojo's back while he was running.

"Okay big guy we gotta go do something I'm sure that you're not gonna like." A large head turned to regard him deep green eyes looking at him worriedly. "Nothing too bad I promise Jo but Miles got a job and you can't carry everything. That means that it's time for me to get a car."

The nasty look he got in return made him laugh slightly. He couldn't help it he'd been expecting more than that. He'd been expecting a nasty look and a pissed off snarl or something more than he'd gotten. But really he shouldn't have been all that surprised. Even if he hadn't been an empath he was certain that he wouldn't have had any trouble knowing what Mojo was ever feeling. The two of them were so close to each other that Sam knew Mojo's mood without the use of his empathic ability. Sam smiled and buried his face in soft cream colored fur before straitening where he sat.

"Let's go." Sam said as he dug his heals into Mojo's side. It was all the nudging that was needed because a second later Mojo had broken out in a run. Sam smiled at the joy he could feel radiating off of his friend as they moved through the streets dodging cars and other vehicles with complete and utter ease.

There was nothing better than riding on Mojo's back. It was one of the best things in the world. If Sam hadn't been afraid of heights he was sure that it'd had been like flying. The freedom that came with Mojo's ground eating run's was an always a welcome feeling. The sound of his paws hitting the ground in a rhythm that he'd know in his sleep rivaled the most wonderful song. It was freedom for both rider and the one being ridden.

ooo

Bobby Bolivia's Auto Resell and Petting Zoo was a far cry from where Sam wanted to get his first car from but it was the only place in town where he was likely to be able to afford a car. While there were a couple of other used car lots in town they sold more recent upscale cars and none of them were priced lower than five thousand dollars.

He'd only managed to save up four thousand and it'd take far to long for him to save up another thousand for a better car. So as much as he dreaded going into the car lot that sat before him he had no choice. He really needed a car. Sam eyed the lot in front of him with a weary eye. A Dodrio in a cage caught his eye along with the 'Petting Zoo' sign that hung from one of the rusted bars. Sam had a feeling that if someone even tried to pet the annoyed looking three headed bird that it'd bite off their finger before they even knew what had happened.

He was also pretty sure that the cage it was in was small enough that should a cop or a member of the local humane society see it that it could be counted as pokémon abuse. Sam had just barley caught sight of the black man heading his way before he was shouting at one of the people that was working at his lot.

"Manny! Get you cousin out of that clown suit! He's having heat stroke again scaring white folks!" Sam blinked and turned to look at the clown that was busy waving a sign. At the moment he was more scared of the man heading his way than he was of the clown. Shaking his head at the ruckus that had started behind him Sam climbed down from Mojo's back and turned to look at the man he could only assume was Bolivia.

Professional smile in place and arms open Sam feared for half a moment that the man was actually going to hug him. Thankfully he stopped a few feet short of Sam as he got a good look at Mojo. Eye's darting back and forth for the briefest of moments Sam was able to come to the conclusion that so long as Mojo was outside of his ball they weren't going to make any progress. It was with the utmost reluctance that Sam recalled him and placed his ball back on it proper place on his belt.

"Hiya, son, the names Bobby Bolivia. Like the country except without the diarrhea." Sam shrank back a moment before taking the hand that had been offered to him.

"Sam." he said.

Bobby nodded his head and shook Sam's hand with more force than was probably necessary. "Well how can I help you Sam?" Bolivia's voice sounded more than willing to help. The greed rolling off of the man however told Sam otherwise.

"I need a car."

"A new one or is this your first?" Bobby asked as he slung an arm around Sam's shoulders and pulled him close.

"My first." Sam mumbled. He hated it when people invaded his personal space. Being able to sense their emotions was bad enough he didn't want to be able to smell them too. A look of joy crossed the man's face so quickly that Sam wasn't sure if it was real or not.

"And you came to see me? Well that makes us like family. Call me Uncle Bobby B baby." There was no way in Hell that Sam was ever going to call the man that was herding him towards row upon row of beaten up old cars 'uncle' in any way. Sam tried to worm him way out of Bolivia's grip but was unsuccessful as the man continued to ramble on.

"You see Sam, drivers don't pick there cars, no sir. Cars pick their drivers. It's a mythical bond between man and machine that no woman or pokémon can ever break." Bolivia's head nodded up and down as if he were a preacher speaking the lords word.

"Trust me son I wouldn't lie to you." Sam snorted. Sure he wouldn't. The sleazy feeling he got when around people who were good liars was just apart of his imagination. Said sleazy feeling was rolling off Bolivia in a constant wave.

A loud commotion behind them caused Bolivia to let go of Sam and the brunette took that moment to make his escape into the vehicle's around him. Stopping for just a moment to snag another ball off of his belt Sam considered what he was about to do. He didn't really want to be alone with Bolivia again and letting one of his pokémon out would both keep that from happening and give him emotions to focus on other than the mad salesmen's. The sound of foot steps coming his way made Sam's choice for him.

Sam grabbed the desired ball from his belt and tossed it. The pokémon that appeared was lavender colored and an mixture of what could have been a fox and cat. A pair of large ears adorned its head and it's long tail was split in two halfway up. A red gem sat between two large purple eyes that looked at him with concern.

"Es?" Sam smiled as a soothing wave of calm filled his senses. Bending down Sam scratched the Espeon before him behind the ears before standing up again.

"Care to run interference for me Clover?" He asked as he started walking and looking at the cars around him. Head tilting to the side in a curious manner Clover's eyes darted around the lot before she began following Sam.

Paws made little to no noise as she moved in-between various cars. Sensing Sam's unease in the air around him she made sure to stick close to her trainer at least until she caught wind of something else that drew her attention.

"Eon." The sharp cry form Clover got Sam's attention the moment it was uttered. Turning Sam saw what had caught his pokémon's attention. Sitting a few yards away was a Camaro. Yellow in color with black racing stripes. The car before him looked to be in good enough shape considering that it was from a time before he'd even been thought of.

"Look Clover racing stripes. Do you think it really raced?" Sam asked as he ran his fingers down the faded paint of the cars hood. Clover tilted her head and uttered a single syllable that Sam was sure said no. "I didn't think so either." He said as he tried the door.

He wasn't sure if he should have been surprised or not when it opened with out any trouble. Casting his eyes towards Clover who seemed content if very curious about the car they were looking at Sam concluded that it wasn't a big deal apparently. Clover would be able to sense anything bad that was about to happen before it happened and he was sure that a warning of some sort would be given to him.

She'd never let him down before. Brown eyes took in the interior of the car in a single sweep. Nothing was left unseen from the lion on the dash to the items hanging from the rearview mirror or the faded leather seats. Shifting slightly so that the task would be easier Sam slide into the drivers seat and found that no matter how worn the leather was the seat was actually quiet comfortable.

"You want in?" Sam asked turning his attention to Clover. She seemed to consider for a moment before jumping up into Sam's lap and moving over to the passenger seat. Sam smiled as her comfort drifted across to him.

With or with out his empathic abilities he still would have been able to feel what she felt. Being a psychic type meant that she was empathic anyways and would have been able to connect with him in a way that would have allowed him to feel what she was feeling. It was common knowledge that bonds were almost always formed between trainers and their psychic type pokémon. It was one of the reasons why Clover was always one of the pokémon on his ever shifting team.

She was able to do what he couldn't and force others emotions away from him by forcing her emotions to be the only thing he felt. She was very good at keeping the headaches he got in crowds away while she was out and about so long as the crowd wasn't to big.

"Where did this come from?" Bolivia's sudden reappearance caused Sam to jump slightly. Apparently he'd been found only Bolivia's attention wasn't on him but the car he was sitting in. "Hey Manny, what the heck's this!"

Sam watched as the man that had chased the clown around earlier wandered over and rubbed the back of his head as he began to speak. Sam didn't hear what he said however. Light reflected from the steering wheel had caught his attention. Sam stared at the dirty mark for a moment before running a finger over it.

Most of the grim came away with his finger. What was reveled was a mark that most defiantly wasn't the Chevy chevron. Sam shrugged and turned back towards Bolivia and Manny only to find that Manny had gone and Bolivia was once again coming his way.

"You look real good in that car kid." Bolivia said as he stopped next to the open drivers side door. Sam blinked at him for a moment before turning to look at Clover. The approving look he got from her was enough.

"How much do you want for it?" Sam asked as he climbed out of the car. Clover however had curled up on the warn leather seat and looked like she was about to take a nap. Bolivia stared at him for a moment before offering up a price.

"Five thousand take it or leave it." Sam winced at the price and shook his head.

"Can't do it man. All I have is four thousand. I can't afford five at least not without a few months worth of saving and I really need a car."

"I've got plenty of other cars you can look at for four thousand. Their not as nice as this but…" Bolivia let his sentence drag to an unfinished stop. Rolling his eyes Sam climbed out of the car just as Bolivia moved towards the yellow VW Beetle that sat next to it. The door that swung open and slammed into the little yellow car was unexpected and for a moment Sam was sure that Clover had been the cause of the opening door. The idea was shot down however when he realized that he would have seen the glow from her powers surrounding the door had she done it.

That and the surprise that she was feeling convinced him that it hadn't been her. In fact Clover had jumped out of the car just seconds before the door had swung open and was now sniffing at the Camaro as if she weren't sure what to think of it. The joy of earlier had turned into curiosity. A curiosity that Sam felt as well.

"Don't worry we'll get a sledge hammer and knock this right out." Bolivia said before yelling for Manny once again. Sam shook his head. Even if it was a last resort there was no way he was ever going to buy a Bug. "And if this one isn't your style then I have one on the other side of the lot that I'm sure you'll like." Over his the shock of car doors that opened by themselves Bolivia was back in salesmen mode once again.

Sam shook his head slightly. He really doubted that Bolivia had anything other than the Camaro that he'd want even if the car in question was strange.

"I'm sure you do." Sam said his voice thick with sarcasm. Bolivia didn't seem to notice. In fact the man was busy trying to get the Camaro's passenger side door closed. Cursing slightly as he pushed he didn't seem to be having any luck. Only a moment later there came a cry of victory from the man that soon turned into a pained shout.

For the very moment the car's door slammed shut the horn started blaring at a level that was threatening to leave them all death. The noise drove Sam to his knee's in both his own and Clover's pain because while the noise was loud but not to harmful for him there was something in it that Clover could hear and he couldn't and whatever it was really hurt. Other than driving them all to their knee's the blast from the Camaro succeeded in doing one other thing. Every single window from every single car on the lot had been blown out by the noise.

The glass that littered the ground and sparkled in the sun look far less dangerous that it probably was. Sam eyed the lot full of glass for a moment before deciding that whatever had just happened was bad enough and he didn't plan on waiting around for the next bad thing. He was leaving. Bolivia could sell the car to whoever he wanted for five thousand because he wasn't going to argue with him.

The Camaro so wasn't worth all the trouble that was going on. Besides if worst came to worst he'd could always ask Miles to take him to one of the out of town dealerships. He was sure that his friend wouldn't mind so long as lunch at a restaurant was thrown in. Bending down Sam opened his arms so that he could pick Clover up, he didn't want to risk getting glass stuck in her paws. Once the Espeon was settled in his arms he began to walk away his shoes making crunching noises as he walked across broken glass.

"Hey kid! Wait a sec!" Sam stopped as Bolivia's panicked voice and footsteps reached him. Turning so that he was facing the man Sam raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Look the cars yours for four thousand so long as you get it off the lot today."

Sam blinked and closed his eyes. The panic and fear rolling off the man before him was almost enough to make him say no. It was the feeling of need that came off of Clover however that changed his mind because apparently she was set on him getting the Camaro for whatever reason and while Sam didn't understand the feeling he found that some part of him felt the same way. It was almost like he just had to have the Camaro.

The feeling went beyond his like of the car and the fact that it was not only comfortable for him but for the pokémon that would be riding in it with him because if Clover, picky as she could be at times, thought it was comfortable them it was more than likely that his other pokémon would find it the same way. Offering Bolivia his hand Sam spoke: "Fine. I'll take it."

000000000

Teams

Lennox's Team

Houndoom- Sidney

Epps's Team

Zangoose- Yankee

Mikaela's Team

Lopunny- Venus

Sam's Team

Riolu- Orion

Arcanine- Mojo

Espeon- Clover

Miles's Team

Ambipom- Delaney

Simisage - Elvis