-Prologue-

"This is so stupid," I thought to myself. "Why do I have to write a history report as my final project? Everyone will just do the same people as usual."

I wanted to pick someone that was well known, but the information surrounding most legendary trainers was mostly myths. I started to go down the list of people I know everyone would pick starting with Ethan. Everyone picks that guy, especially the girls because he's apparently very attractive. He's the one that's said to have captured Ho-oh although he's never used him in battle. He has done a lot as the Johto champion so it would be good to pick him because there are real facts on him.

I bet at least one guy would write a story about Nate; the current region champion. I thought about doing it on him because at least he didn't disappear and he saved Opelucid city from being frozen. He was also the one that finally ended Team Plasma once and for all after they had a second uprising.

Then there's the hero of this region, Hilbert, but no one really knows about him because he disappeared twenty years ago. All that we know is that he left in search of someone named N and now that N is back in this region, it's obvious he isn't who Hilbert is looking for. Some say he is really looking for Red.

Red; a lot of people will write about him, but most of the information on him is just myth. He was the original hero. Even the furthest away regions know about Red because it was him that crushed Team Rocket before becoming an unbeatable trainer of legend. It has been so long since anyone has seen him. There was the Red that shocked everyone when he showed up at the Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City, but after he lost, it was revealed that he was fake. I never would have thought you could be arrested for pretending to be someone else.

I sighed because I wanted to write about Red. He is, after all, my hero. The truest rumor I heard of Red was that he trains on a very secluded part of Mount silver. I decided I won't because I don't know what is really true about him. Some say he travels with all legendary Pokémon and others say he never really existed.

So I laid back in thought when a smile broke across my face. Who is the one trainer I know more about then anyone else. "My dad would be perfect!" I exclaimed. "He is well known and would fit the requirements set by the teacher," and I excitedly began to write about my dad.

-Ch. 1 The Road Ahead-

"My history report on a famous trainer is none other than my dad Blaine. Blaine was the Kanto region's eighth gym leader. He fought with fire type Pokémon and being one of the Kanto region's original gym leaders, he can confirm that he fought and lost to the great trainer, Red." I stopped and looked up at the surprised faces of my classmates. I hid my grin because I knew that made them jealous. "My dad is brilliant and since there are already very smart Pokémon researchers, he decided he would study Pokémon moves and abilities since there are even less known about that then Pokémon themselves. My dad is the one that came up with the theory of Pokémon having levels and that being the connection between how Pokémon learn new moves and also it may solve the greater question on how and when Pokémon evolve. He helped make many of the tm's that we see in our markets around the world.

One day may dad met a pretty woman at a hotel he had opened on his native island called Cinnabar Island and he followed love back to this region two years after the second attack of team plasma and soon after I was born. As for my final fact about my dad, it is that he once got lost in a in a treacherous, freezing mountain range. He on the point of giving up when the legendary Pokémon Moltres guided him out of the mountain range. That forever changed him and gave him the burning passion he has for fire type Pokémon," I concluded.

I took a breath and looked at my teacher. "That's all I wrote on my dad, Mrs. Doe," and took my seat.

The teacher smiled and said "Thank you, Blame. That was a very good and very detailed story about your father." She stopped and look at the small class of ten kids with ages ranging from ten to sixteen. I was the oldest, but that was only because I helped my dad in his lab research. "So now that everyone has finished presenting their assignments, does anyone know why it was your final assignment?" When no one raised their hand, she continued. "It is to inspire you to be as good as these trainers an dto strive to be as good as you can be, because who knows, you could be as good as them. With that said I will say you all passed this final grade and you all are officially Pokémon trainers!"

The class screamed their heads off as the teacher passed out each and everyone's official Pokémon trainer cards with our pictures already on it.

I was so excited when I was handed mine and then, once she had finished, she walked to the door and said "now explore the world young trainers, but remember to get your own Pokémon before you go out into the wild," and she opened the door. We ran out and I ran right onto the city streets of Aspertia. Leaving the school in the dust, I ran right for my dad's lab; just east of the school and the Pokémon center.

I was so happy that I burst through the door like a raging fire ball. It scared my dad to death and ran over to yell at me, but stopped when he saw what was in my hand. An official Unova region trainer card.

Anger turned to happiness as he exclaimed "My son is finally a Pokémon trainer! I'm so happy that you finally have your own card." He looked up and started to yell out to the small wooden house on the other side of the lab. "Sidney, honey, come seen what your son has finally got." No longer did he yell it then my mom appear out of the house, running towards us. Her curly black hair tired into a pony tail and her sundress seemed to fly behind her as she ran to me.

Before I had a chance to brace myself she grabbed me and hugged me tight. "Oh my little man is finally a trainer. I'm so proud of you Blame."

"As am I Blame," my dad added. "Hon, can you let our son go because it's time."

She looked up and asked "Are you talking about that thing you discovered after that thing and now it's time for that thing you told me last night about?"

My dad chuckled at this and nodded his head. That made my mom hug me tighter before she finally let me go and I caught my breath. "Now both of you follow me," my dad said as he began to walk into the lab. I followed him with my mom next to me, holding my hand as tight as she could.

I walked through the lab with machines and other devices littered across the building and many of my dad's workers and sub-researchers congratulated me as we walked. Finally, we came to the nature preserve doors where my dad likes to keep his Pokémon and the ones he studies. He opened the doors to the rolling green hills and tall trees that is located behind his lab. It was a huge area he owned and had made it like a small version of professor Oak's outdoor habitat for Pokémon and had areas for all types. He began to walk towards the fire pits, which is his biggest area. It was where the fire types, including his Pokémon, like to rest.

As we approached the fire pits, I checked to make sure I stayed in the grass and didn't step in it because the heat generated to make a fire Pokémon feel good would burn me to a crisp. The first thing I noticed is that there were two Arcanines curled up together and his Magmar sat next to five eggs, only a few inches from both of the Arcanines. His Camerupt, Rapidash, and Torkoal were also there and their sudden attention told me that there was a show about to begin. I looked at my dad and saw huge smile graze his face and I knew what was coming when he removed his glasses.

"Riddle me this, Blame," he started, "Two Arcanines meet. One night after another, one starts to sneak out more and more to meet the other which found its way here from the wild. Then one day, an old geezer finds these two cuddled up with five eggs. Which one do you pick?"

I was usually quick on the draw with these riddles my dad comes up with, but now I was stumped. "Wait, what? Do you mean I get one of these eggs?" I asked with much anticipation.

"Yes you do son but that's not the answer to the riddle."

"Wait, what about the parents?" I asked looking at the two very big Pokémon that now were wide awake looking very intently at me.

"Blame, just because my main partner is Magmar, it doesn't mean I don't have a connection with all my Pokémon. You remember that. As for my Arcanine, he has already made it clear to the female one over there that this is natural and very good for a young Growlithe. Although I think she has her own test to preform first."

As if on cue, the female walked over to me and began to circle me as she cut me off from my mom.

"Blaine, are you sure about this?" my mom wispered as she pulled out a pokéball.

"Yes, let the female continue to analyze him. Don't bring out your Flareon. That will only make this situation a lot worse." Stubbornly, she put the pokéball back into her pocket and waited for the slightest reason to pull it back out.

The female nudged my arms as if asking for me to raise them before nudging my leg, forcing me to stand on one foot. I tried to keep my balance as she sat down in front of me and watched. All the Pokémon's eyes were on me. I tried to hold it as long as I could, but eventually I couldn't keep my balance any longer and fell. The surprising thing was that the ground wasn't what I hit. The Arcanine had come over and caught me. She gently she lowered her head letting me put my arms on the soft grass before letting go of my shirt from her jaws. I pulled myself up as she sat in front of me before looking at her mate and giving a simple bark to him. The male quickly ran over and tackled Dad before licking him all over. After my dad was covered in the warmed salvia he ran over to me and gave me a nod of approval and looked over at the Magmar.

"Nine," Arcanine barked at Magmar. Magmar grunted "Mag," before picking up the five eggs and walking over to me and placing them before me.

I looked at my dad that had gotten cleaned up and walked over before kneeling with me before the eggs. "My Arcanine was very happy that his mate gave her approval of you." he chuckled, "You have earned the trust of the parents that you will take care of and provide for whichever Growlithe you pick. You understand that, Blame?"

"Yes I do," I agreed.

"Good now which one will you pick because you haven't answered the riddle yet."

Each of the eggs looked exactly the same. How could I choose? I scanned each one over many times before I noticed a small yellow spot almost hidden from view. It wasn't like all the other green spots on the egg. I tiled my head and found a small gold circle on the egg almost covered by the grass.

"What are you looking at" Dad asked.

"The answer to your riddle, Dad," and picked up the egg with the small difference marked on its bottom.

"So that's the egg you choose, and your first partner?"

"Yes," I answered with much confidence.

My dad smiled and gave Magmar a look. Magmar began to walk over and opened his arms so I could place it in his care. Once he had the egg, he backed up to the fire pits and held the egg tight and pressed up to his flaming hot body.

"Blame, you're aware that all Pokémon have abilities right? Well I have confirmed that Magmar's ability allows him hatch eggs faster if the eggs are near him. I decided to call it flame body."

"So that means it could hatch soon?" I asked.

"It means it will hatch any second. These eggs have been near Magmar for two whole days now. Blame the first thing I want that Growlithe to see is you."

No sooner did Dad say that then the egg Magmar was holding almost jumped out of his hands. Magmar placed it on the ground in front of me and sat back down on the hot coals in the pit.

The egg moved some more and began to rock back and forth. The egg chipped and cracked before standing still. I began to worry as it stood but, suddenly it burst into a beautiful white flame that melted the rest of the egg, leaving a small Growlithe in the melted puddle.

The thing was that the aw sound people make when they see a baby Pokémon was replaced by gasps. As the Growlithe opened his eyes, all I could focus on was the gold coat that seemed to reflect the sun. It had a shiny coat!

The Growlithe had now fully opened his eyes and they focused on me. I locked eyes with him and he walked towards me. He put his two front paws on my legs and gave me an affectionate "Growithe!". I picked him up and he began to lick me and the feelings I had couldn't be contained any longer as I began to laugh as he licked me. I fell backwards to the soft grass and laughed and cried tears of joy as the Growlithe continued to lick me all over.

"Arcanine!" the new mother barked and the little one's head snapped to the direction and ran over to his mother, leaving me in the grass.

My dad walked over and helped me up then spoke, "For a second he thought you were his mom, but now understands that Arcanine is his mom."

I felt a little sad as the two new parents licked him all over and learned the new smell of their new pup. "Don't feel sad though," my dad said as if reading my thoughts, "He knows who you are and he already has a deep connection with you."

I smiled and we all sat down and watched the parents greet their new son. After a few minutes my dad gave an order to Arcanine. "Arcanine, it's time to let the little one go."

The poor new father seemed a little sad yet happy his new pup already had a trainer that would watch him and protect him. The father led the pup back to me and talked with him. Words we didn't understand was being passed from father to son and the pup tossed his head to me and walked over to me.

I gave my dad a look and he nodded his head and reached into his pocket. "Blame, I have been saving this pokéball for a special occasion and I feel that you should have it." He placed a pokéball that had the colors reversed on it. "It's called a premier ball, now you know what to do from here."

Taking the ball I showed it to the Growlithe standing only a few inches from me. "This is called a pokéball, I mean, a premier ball. I don't know how much you understand already, but if you choose to, you can travel with me as my partner. You would become mine and we would travel all over the region becoming strong and seeing and learning many new things. What do you say, partner?"

The Growlithe gave his father a single look before pressing his nose onto the ball. The ball popped open and the Growlithe disappeared into the ball, becoming my Growlithe. I exploded up and yelled yes as loud as I could!

"Congratulations Blame" my mom yelled as she hugged me.

My dad joined in and added "Your first Pokémon. I know you will become a great trainer." The hug broke up and my mom turned around as she tried to hide that she was crying. My dad saw this and decided to try and lighten the mood. "Blame, you remember the story I told you about why you're named Blame?" I nodded my head and he told me it again anyway, "We decided on Blame because I knew you had a flame inside of you from the moment I saw you. I wanted to name you Flame, but your mother wanted to call you Brain," He chuckled as my mom took his arm. "Of course we compromised."

"I'm glad because Blame is so much cooler than Brain," I confessed.

"Well, let your Growlithe out and say his goodbyes. Pokemon have as much feelings as humans do," dad said.

I threw my new Pokémon's ball into the air screaming "Growlithe, come on out!" Growlithe landed with a small thud and was greeted again by both parents. They congratulated each other and tails waged as they seemed to become deep in conservation. So I turned to my parents and hugged them one last time. "Mom, Dad, I'm ready. I'm ready to see the region. I'm ready to travel. I'm ready to see what destiny has in store for me."

"Already, honey?" mom asked frantic that she was just about to lose her son.

"Sidney, it's ok. He knows everything from school. He is already a very smart boy and he is sixteen. I think it's time for us to let him go," dad sighed

"But I made dinner for three, Blaine."

"It's ok. I'll have seconds."

My mom signed and gave me one more hug. "Blame you be careful, ok?"

"Don't worry mom, I got my new partner with me," I said and at the mention of him, Growlithe walked over and laid at my feet, looking up to us.

"She smiled and looked at Growlithe and gave him a look and said "You're the one that can breathe fire. You protect my boy."

"Growlithe!" he answered, wagging his tail.

With a final smile she looked up at me and said "Your father knew you were going to leave today so I had this prepared for you," She walked back to the lab doors and grabbed a bag. She brought it back to me "It has everything you need to get started. Food for two weeks, a map, and also a new Xtransceiver."

"Stuff for your Pokémon too," Dad added, "Also one thousand five hundred Poké."

"Wow that's a lot of money" I gasped.

"We will keep sending you some, but don't feel afraid to win some of your own," he said with a grin.

"Well that's it," I said eagerly, "I'm ready to go!" and the four of us walked back to the lab and to the Pokémon center all together.

My mom and dad waved as I walked into the sunset with Growlithe on my heels. The last thing I heard them yell before crossing into route 19 was "I love you! Good luck!"