So this is my first story attempt. Ever. So, any feedback would be nice, and I'm planning on making this a non-regularly updated story, so no commitment on when the next chapter could come out. Anyways, I am feeling what the general outline of this story is, and all that's left is to put that into words.

And without any more interruptions to take place, I hope you enjoy this little snippet of an introduction that I worked really hard on.

A dark, cold afternoon went by in a peaceful city, where instead of the fiery sun that scorched all year round, leaving no one to forget its existence, there was a sight few get to behold. That is, if you are not one of those astrologist that study the phenomenon night and day, but right now, it was neither dusk or dawn for the city folk. A solar eclipse was drawing all the attention, were instead of trainers battling, businessmen working, and the ever elusive legendaries taking slumber, the land seemed united to behold the temporal joining of two astral bodies. For many, luck couldn't be more on their side, and dances were withheld to show just that in a celebration made by the people of Crimsonoak City. They couldn't have felt more accomplished, either. They had brought up the decaying town where they resided and built what was now a city that surpassed the many others in the region in terms of popularity, culture, and plain victory, with consecutive championships in the Sinnoh League theirs to take.

The ascendance from the noble Twinleaf Town to the grand Crimsonoak was a welcome change, brought forth by the League as a compensation for taking two champions-to-be to their much deserved place, giving the town, or what it was then, at least, the psychics that were Solrock and Lunatone. They, and a bevy of others of their species, recreated the town, with help of the Champions and their instructions, to create the warm, cozy Crimsonoak City. And as so, it was only inevitable for their third wonder to strike, and as a tribute to the Pokemon that helped them, and an undesirable need to celebrate what they saw as their upcoming-but-not-confirmed champ, they commenced preparations in the already beautiful town square as soon as they heard of the eclipse that would arrive. The square was decorated with even more ornaments, like Sun and Moon Stones for the streetlights, gold and silver linings to the immense fountain in the middle of the area, carpets for the moderately rough roads to be used for caravans, and orange lights shining a hue that tied it all together, like if a sunset was in tow, casting reflections from the windows of houses near the area. It was all a beautiful sight to see, but to one soul, this was the only place it wouldn't want to be in.

A Pokémon wandered through the streets of the city, afraid of what might happen if it was found. It walked close to the houses, where bushes provided cover from any probable trainer that may challenge it to a battle, if there were any here. More importantly, what is here? The little Pokémon couldn't identify where it was, or where it came from. The orange lights blinded the small Pokémon, as they were also hidden in the bushes where it decided to take cover, and was repeatedly paralyzed in its travels by chitchat from the people walking, making it crouch down and use its head as camouflage in the bouquet of flowers it traversed. This worked for a while, but unbeknownst to the little one was that the red flowers in which it had taken cover previously were now yellow; as it slowly moved forward, the scenery had changed, and from the level, ornate town square it previously traveled, it arrived at a sloping, rocky, and long road with nary a house on its flanks. One particular couple took notice of a strange bush, with red on it instead of the yellow that was usual there. When the male tried to grab what he thought was a flower, though, a shriek was heard, not a very loud one, but a shriek nonetheless. The couple realized that it must be a Pokémon, and proceeded to leave it alone and leave, while the Pokémon in question darted off, running with its little legs pushing forward even though its body never ceased to be hit, smacked, or even cut by branches. Not too long after, a rock toppled it over, and out of the bush and into the rough road it went, rolling down and scraping most of its body, a high pitched grunt following each time it landed on the ground and went up again, only to repeat the process again and again. Once it finally got to the next level area, it had cuts on its knees, bruises on its face, and what worried the most, a small splinter on its backside, which would normally be nothing to worry about, but as fate would have it, the splinter made it impossible for the Pokémon to move; the pain was just too much for such a delicate creature to withstand. And as blood started dripping out of the knees of the child sized Pokémon, and its hopes for survival, or any hope whatsoever, vanishing due to the cruelty of life, it lifted its right hand, for one and only one thing: a hint of compassion.

Help… please. A voice that transmitted itself through all the minds in the short vicinity it could reach. Almost nobody could hear it, and most who did didn't care for what was disturbing their minds, least of all when the celebration had already started, and carried on with the festivities, letting whomever asked for help up to their own fate.

Most.

A teen, older in appearance than what he really was, was reading a book in an alley nearby the Pokémon Center, getting submerged in its action sequences, when he heard the teeny voice in his head amidst the clatter and music made by the city's people. What was that? The boy thought, and hastily stepped out of the alley he found himself in, and in the middle of the road intersection, he saw a creature, laid down and helpless, with its right hand beaming upwards. Confused but aware, he hurried over to it, and as closer he got to it, he could make out red on the road were it was, and suddenly, its other hand shot up as well, and from what the teen could see, it tried to stand up once it saw him, but its arms failed it and it resumed from where it was before, now whimpering at the thought of being battled, in this status, like many had done to it before. The teen arrived to it, and saw in full horror what the Pokémon had gone through, while the Pokémon itself tried crawling away, only resulting in more pain and equally as many whimpers from it, and it gave up. He didn't understand why it wanted to escape his nonexistent clutches; the only thing in priority to him was to get the poor thing to the Pokémon Center.

"Hey, you're injured," he said, extending a hand out to it and unwillingly taking it by surprise, making it back up. "let me help you. I heard you earlier, please come." The Pokémon seemed surprised, as it hadn't seen a human so kind ever since it could remember. Feeling itself rather weak, it decided to trust him, putting her hand on his. He smiled, and when the little one saw it, none could explain from where, but a happiness like no other infested it, and it smiled too, before secluding its mind into slumber it could not impede.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep

"Huh? Oh, she's awake!" said a feminine voice, rather excited.

"She's quite more than awake," said a masculine voice, with concern evident throughout. "Calm her down."

"Hello there, little Ralts." said the same feminine voice from before. The Pokémon, now know as Ralts, slowly opened her eyes, and the two humans, dressed in white attire and seemingly professional in demeanor, gave her a grin, happy to see that their patient was recovering. Instead of her pulse diminishing, though, it increased. The Ralts seemed to not like them, she looked at them with surprise, she looked scared. She was frantic, backing up into the frame of the bed, looking down at her arm and seeing a chord going into a machine, exactly like she had been done beforehand. She gasped, while the nurse tried calming her down. "No! We're not hurting you! Please calm down now."

The Ralts was looking around the room, darting her head around, breathing heavily on the events unfolding. The testing room, where her most agonizing moments in life were, where she lost her control of her powers, which were being used for no other reason but to bring pain to those many enemies the humans had. The plain, white room wasn't what worried her most, though. Her hair, that she'd always play with when she was bored, wasn't there. She liked it, no, she loved it. She used to play with it while she waited for her father… to snuggle up in his arms, to cut trees with his blade, to watch him comb her hair with his stubby yet delicate fingers… it's gone. She was now crying, eyes fully open, right hand over the area where her hair should have been, her pulse wrecking the machine keeping track of it with constant beeping, and gasping for every ounce of air she could get in her closing throat. She couldn't hear what the doctors were saying anymore, and in her anxiety, teleported to the last place she was happy, so she could feel safer than that room full of dread.

Where she ended up, she found it to be quite warm, if not dry. As she shifted, she heard paper rustling, and then breaking, which, even if brief, prompted her to open her eyes in shock, looking upwards to see yet another human. The Ralts rolled over what she felt was a book and landed on the concrete floor, face up, and then, like a torrent in a downpour, the pain hit her. The splinter she had made a sore behind another thing to worry about on her already aching body, while it dug deeper into her thin and delicate skin, and no one there to help her except that human, probably preparing a Pokéball to catch me, she thought. Instead, though, she felt two hands on her small waist lifting her up, causing her eyes to slam shut with a squeak resonating through the seemingly barren alleyway, and the same thing of before happened, a feeling strange to her seeped inside, but not happiness this time, instead, worry that seemed to radiate throughout her body. She opened her eyes to see the same person she'd trusted with her life earlier, who must have been who put her into that room of memories never known to her, and became stiff. Here she was in the hands of who started her emotional outbreak, not doing a thing but looking at him with a curious face. The boy then spoke up.

"Aren't you the Pokémon I-" he started, but was interrupted by small rocks hitting the backside of his head rather heavily. Many hit him hard in key areas like the neck, but he just winced with one eye tightly shut and the other barely open, and saw that the red orbs that were on her retinas were now replaced by a blue color taking up all of the eye's area, signifying an use of psychic energy. She wriggled her way out of his hands, only to be met with the same pain as before, the splinter letting itself be known. As the boy endured the hits, he looked at the little creature that did this to him, seeing her arch her back up with her eyes closed, a grunt here and there by both of them, each with their eyes almost completely closed. "Why are you... hitting me?" The Ralts looked at him with a face of anger, or what she could muster out of it, and tried growling intimidatingly at him, only to fail, giving him an absurdly cute one instead. "I took... you to the Center, so you could be healed. Not so you could... come hit me out of nowhere." The boy then dropped on his hands, hurt evident in his only open eye, while the pellets seemed to get bigger, and slower paced. "You don't care, apparently."

Again, a feeling foreign to her body acted on her, and she felt what was undoubtedly one of the worst ones: sadness. But from where, exactly, was that feeling coming from? She only knew that her species was an emotion-centric one, and that she could feel as well as transmit emotions of who she trusted, but none of the beings which she did, in truth only two, was present. Only a human, not unlike any other to her eyes, begging for mercy as she hit him repeatedly with as many rocks she sensed around, in front of her. In fact, it intrigued her to know why he hasn't hit her yet. As she shifted from her aching backside to resting on her delicate arm, he could have punched her, or at least rolled over to the side, but anything would have satisfied her ever increasing curiosity. As she looked at him, she began feeling pain herself, until it was at sync with the pace in which she flung rocks at him. So as to stop the seemingly endless barrage of invisible pellets hitting her body, she ceased her fire to the teen, which, confusingly for her, also stopped her own pain. As the rocks fell to the floor, the boy opened his eyes at almost the same time her own pair were lifted of the blue glow that adorned them.

"Didn't think of breaking my back?" said the teen, obviously irritated at the events that happened. The Ralts, however, was pondering on what happened. She felt sad, although she didn't know why, and at the same time, she was hurt by an invisible force repeatedly, like if it was mocking her. This distraught her from her fear only for a while, and as she caught up to reality, she finally looked at what she had in front of her. The same boy that took her earlier to the room infested with painful memories and had indirectly caused an emotional outbreak in her crouched in front of her, looking at her with his own pair of… crimson eyes? Her eyes were just like his, and vice versa, but his were in a sort rage state while hers were in shock. What will he do to me? she thought, fully scared of the possibilities, I've harmed him; he'll kill me for it, I'm sure. Her body began to shake and sweat as she was filled with suspense.

But, he did the opposite of what she thought. He sighed, closed his eyes, and stood up, making any rocks that clung to his back fall down like rain droplets. As she saw his figure rise, instinct told her to run, but the splinter impeded her movement, so she dragged herself away at a slow pace, to where even a Shellos with a boulder on its back could outpace her, but that was as fast as her lithe body could take her. She was pitiful. Looking down at her from an impressive height, he looked compassionately at her even though he faced brutal treatment at the Pokémon's hands, or mind technically, because of reasons unknown. He extended his hand toward her as he bent, taking the Ralts by surprise, clearly aware that his hand was mere inches from her face. What did he want from her? Were humans so brutal to even act like they care about them, only to cause them more pain?

"Sorry for, well, surprising you," he said. She flinched at his words, making him sigh as he apparently made no progress. "You're hurt. Come on, you need to rest and let the nurse take care of you for a while." She'd fallen for that one before, offering her help, but instead taking her to the very place her mind ignited in fear and confusion. Now that she analyzed, though, she had felt better in the comforting bed, even though it was a deathbed in her memories. But, her memories also proved futile to what she had before herself, either feel better to leave this condemned place at the expense of having an emotional throwback, or to linger here and die slowly in front of the human. But what would they do to her except revoke her of her powers to use for their own evil? Fake care and affection came to her mind, but at the same time, it was that or die shamelessly. "Earth to killing machine, er, Pokémon." Snapping her out of the frenzy her mind was, she shot a glare at him before looking at his hand. Of course he thought of her like that, all humans did, but she couldn't do much more than accept, her mind in complete disagreement while her body kept pleading for mercy; she'd gone through enough, she would just use the humans so as to regain her energy, and she'd wreck havoc on them, just like she had done before meeting this town. She looked at him with a blank face as she prepared herself for whatever the human had in mind.

"If you plan on hurting me, I'll still get you over there, and I'll stay as long as you're there." He said, sparking irritation in her eyes. "Two times now you could have killed yourself, and the second one was trying to hurt me," he reminded her, with anger barely coming out in his words, but she could only think about what that human wanted with her for him to be so insistent with her life. "but I'd rather die myself if it meant saving something as innocent as you, though, so give me your hand; you need help." He couldn't be for real, he'd gladly give up her life in favor of his. Maybe that's it, he wants her to be alright just to pass her on to his superior and get spared, or even paid.

"Lies" she snarled at him. To her amazement, his hand retracted as he knelt down again in front of her, while the breeze from the road crept in with an orchestral from the celebrations. He was only just above her eye level; he couldn't lower himself any more than that. She got a quick look at his abnormally rare crimson red eyes; they were a perfect match to hers, and she already had an unusually darker shade of eyes for a Ralts. It was no wonder for her, as her experimentation should have produced any type of alteration to her body, but for him, what could have happened for a human to have that rare coloration? He looked at her eyes as well, but not as interested as she was, and spoke to the creature in awe with a reassuring voice.

"You're a Ralts, you should know. You can read my mind for answers, you can ask me, whatever you want, but if you think I'd lie about anything, you are sorely mistaken." He stated, using his hand to demonstrate her body as it laid on the floor, the only indication of her livelihood being her uplifted head. "Let me take you to the Pokemon Center. You know what, I'll make a deal with you," she had to admit, this human had nerve to persist on her wellbeing. He had let her look into his mind, but she didn't have the energy to do it, not yet. She doubted anything she could find in his mind was of any importance to her, anyways. Anything but that offer he was now making her. "I'll let you do whatever you want to me as long as you let yourself be healed. I know I will regret it, but you already started bleeding out and I'm desperate." Anything, he said. She could give him what he and his species deserved, what they had done to Pokémon in those enclosed cubicles. She was going to one of those horrid places, but at the thought of her plans and what that human would do for her, she ignored the fear that tried to take over her. She could make her parents proud. He also said something about bleeding, and it wasn't only until she looked behind herself to see a small drop of blood slip to the concrete beneath them. She shivered as it felt cold, all of the sudden. "Please. You don't have to talk to anyone, but please. You are dying." She looked directly in front of her and put her delicate hand slowly on his, and she thought he had lied to her all of this time, and that he was going to torture her like many others had done and enjoyed. Her hand was on him for only a split second as she removed it before he could grasp it. He sighed and she only let a quiet growl for him to think of.

"Fine, go yourself. They won't be able to attend you without a person, and I don't think you could make much of a trip there. But I'm not making myself responsible for a Pokemon that doesn't trust me." Her own stupidity reigned over her mind; she had neglected his offer to heal her. "I'll be reading whatever you didn't break of my book. Welcome to my home, I guess." He stood up and ran a hand through his short, curly hair, to then sit down and pick up a book. Home? This couldn't be a home, there was no triangular roofing or wooden walls or windows with flowers hanging carelessly in front of them. This was an alley. No one should live here, not that she cared, but still. And now that she was unable to move, she lost her only probability of surviving, thanks to herself.

Humans were complex beings for her. So alike in physical appearance to her family yet so distant in everything else, to where her mother would save a soul on account of her life, humans would have given it up even before the life was at stake. She needed to find a way to remove that splinter, though, as it impeded her advance both mentally and physically with its pain. She couldn't teleport; she was as exhausted as she was cold, and as every second passed, she felt her limbs chill. Moments later, forced breaths came from her, as she shook. A small, but significant puddle of red ooze was coming from her, and the human sat with his back to her as she died slowly. A change in the atmosphere in her body arose, as she felt yet another feeling: fear. She felt it, she knew it wasn't her fear, but equally knew she didn't know from who. Then it clicked. The human must have been doing something to her, but how? As far as she knew, only her species could do such a thing, and she was pretty sure she had not enough care for any human to transmit their emotions to her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the very teen she was thinking about.

"You want me to remove that splinter for you?" He asked, with only a tinge of fear on his voice. Remove it? She'd gladly accept that if it weren't he who offered the much wanted service. She could accept it and run off, find a place to rest away from the humans, and be happy alone. She looked at him and nodded, looking at the sad and distressed look in his face. He might be good, she thought, and as soon as she did, the memories came over her. Of how they give you a nice face to then bring themselves onto you, trapping you in their grasps and stabbing you with all the needles and machinery to- she couldn't bring herself to remember any more of the cruelty that infested her past; she needed to let that splinter go no matter what happened afterwards. She had never thought anything could hurt as much as her behind in that moment, and she nodded slowly with a little apprehension in her gaze. She maintained a look of anger as he stood and walked over to her, but he didn't seem to mind, a spark of happiness in his eyes. "I'm telling you now. It will hurt, a lot. But its that or die, so please, don't make the world crash on top of me. Do you still want my help? The nurses can do a better job." She looked at him, wide eyed. He said it would hurt, but anything was better than being slowly killed by a piece of wood. The Ralts nodded, though she was skeptical on the process's outcome, but she could take it, she had to. "Wanna grab my hand?" She shook her head; her glare piercing his very mindset. This is a suicide mission, he thought, but it was worth it in his mind. He lowered himself next to her, and grabbed the small point of the splinter that stuck out and she flinched, and he sighed. "I warned you." He began to pull it out of her waist, putting his other hand on her back, and gut wrenching pain shot through her. She felt as if her very insides were being ripped and she searched around for anything with her little arms to grab. He told her not to hurt him, but her mind told her to impale him with the horrid splinter as she had the stick removed. Her eyes glowed blue, and any rock in the vicinity lifted, but she remembered: He told her the truth. He warned her about what she would feel, and she accepted. If any honorable thing was taught to her by her loving father, it was to accept what you brought to yourself, even if the one pulling the hated splinter from her aching body was of the species she despised.

He hesitated as he saw the rocks raise themselves, but continued as he slowly slid the splinter out, until it was entirely out from where it was once before. As she felt that the splinter left her waist, she felt the pain receding, although at a miniscule pace; she wouldn't be able to walk for a while, her plans had been foiled. She still felt blood seep from the wound, and as she touched it, lament burst through as a new wave of pain went and ran over her nervous system, and she whimpered at the sense of hopelessness she felt. I still can't move. What is wrong with me? She thought, with ever increasing regret. I should of never trusted him. He knew. She felt stupidity rise through her own senses as she heard the human talk, no doubt to laugh at her for her naive trail of thought.

"I told you, didn't I? Now, let me..." He trailed off as he took one of his pocket towels from the back of his pants, a white and blue checkered one, and lifted her with his other hand. She winced, and as she could see the human face to face, she closed her eyes, expecting a horrifying treatment from her captor, when instead she felt a material wrap around her, trapping her tight and rubbing the area of her snow white skin that was hurt, causing even more pain to her panting, sweating, and now crying body. She was pathetic. One human destroyed two of her plans of escape without even trying, and once again she found herself at his mercy. After he had finished the painstaking process of wrapping her waist, he shifted from resting on his knees to sitting with his legs crossed, and put her on his lap carefully. "There. You lost a lot of blood, for your size at least, but now it won't drip anymore. And don't cry, if anything, you'll get to see another day come and go although you won't walk for a while." He sighed as she looked at him with disgust, tears streaming down the sides of her head, and he noticed a clip, metal in construction, holding up part of her hair to the side, exposing her large, tearful, crimson eyes. He removed it, and spread her hair over her face as it always had been, much to her shock. Her mouth gaped as she played with the loved strands previously missing from her sight, and a smile settled on her face as a wave of happiness came over her own senses, and the senses that appeared before foreign from her body mirrored her own, happiness that went through her worries and hatred. She looked at the human for a split second, him looking down at her pleased with her expressions, before asking him.

"Why... help me?" She asked in a tone of humility. This human had brought her joy, and even if he caused her pain, she knew the consequences, and like he told her, she wasn't dead, although hurt, but very well alive. She could feel his emotions, yet she hadn't made initiative to trust him, much less like him. He tried saving her, he never lied, and she involuntarily trusted a being of the species she detested, so this question was a pinnacle in her understanding of humans, or in truth, this human

"You asked for it, one," he said, looking at the alley's start, to where the lake up ahead gave a sparkling response to the sun's ever lowering presence, blue in the skies up above and and orange tint initiating its coverage of the horizon; the moon was about to eclipse it, most notably by the sudden darkening of the trees. "two, you were dying in the middle of the street in front of me, during a festival where even the legends awaken, and I'm sure they wouldn't want to see you die at a celebration" he stated, and she moved her eyesight from him towards where he was looking at, to see an ever approaching darkness as the townspeople made massive roars of cheers and musical instruments behind them, causing her to inadvertently adjust her position, shaking. She no longer felt cold in his lap, but the darkness that now covered them made her feel helplessly alone. "lastly, you're a little kid, you're hurt, and if anything, I wouldn't think your parents would've liked you dying alone. Plus, I can finally say I matter to someone." The words came in an upbeat manner when he started, but the feeling of happiness slowly faded from his voice as he stopped, being replaced by sadness.

He mentioned her parents, and he was right: The only thing they wanted was for her to live a happy life, but she wanted to live away from the humans, they only caused her harm, pain, anger. But this human took from his time to save her two times, he endured her tantrum, and here she was, healing on his lap minutes after trying to kill him. He had to be something else, he couldn't be a human if he did these things for her. He actually cared for her more than himself, unlike the rest of his species, unless he was making a plan to capture her for good. But if the treatment was as good as this, she didn't mind. Anything except the Team Rocket grunts, even if captivity was an escape route from those villainous souls.

As the eclipse took place, she looked at the boy, even though he couldn't see her. And in that same lapse of time, she felt like if he was her mother, as odd as that sounds, caring for her even as she made any type of resistance to be taken care of. Cheers could be heard from afar as the eclipse ceased, bringing back the brightness that loomed over the town mere minutes ago. Then, as she gazed at him still confused by his actions, he looked at her, his previous sadness replaced by newfound joy. He finally made a true friend after many, if not too many, years of loneliness, even if she despised his very existence. She trusted him, much more than what he had been able to do for the longest of time. He had no ounce of trust for anyone because nobody trusted him. They prefered leaving him orphaned than adopting him, living on the streets with only the care that Nurse Joy could give him in her spare time. The League didn't have any solutions for him, either, as any teen could choose to go on their adventure independently, making them show no care in the matter. He had no friends apart from the Nurses across the region, and even then they weren't there for him for most of his life. But now, he had someone to care for and be taken care of. He had a Pokémon friend, even if he hadn't asked her, he felt as if her being there meant for their relationship of acquaintances to form. He thought of this, and remembered, she didn't even know him for him to be making assumptions.

"Hey," he said, bringing her back to reality as she jumped at his voice. "I never told you my name, didn't I?" He looked to the horizon, where the lake met the sky in its orange hue, as her eyes seemed to be more focused on him than before, likely from even more confusion. "My name is kinda weird, but, I don't mind. Name's Black." He looked down to see her crimson eyes through the strands of green that covered them. She was lost on why did the human told her his name; she still was going to leave him and his beastly species as soon as she could, even if she was to be in the wild for another human to take her by force, she wanted to take her chances and live normally like Pokémon were made to. Even so, though she didn't want any relation with this human, she felt as if she was in sync with him, what with the rocks hitting him and hurting both of them and the feeling of his emotions take place. And to this, she thought he's been nice to me, I at least owe him my name, right?

"My-my name?" What is my name? She spoke, to then think of what would she say. She was a Ralts, that she knew, but her name was a mystery. So much was lost or confused while she was with the Rockets, she truly did forget her name. "I-I-I don't kn-know." She hated her own stutter, even if it was a mental link, she still managed to release it.

"You don't know? Well, um," he seemed confused on what to do from this standpoint, but decided that she must've been too young to remember her name, or since the wilderness isn't like a civilization, she maybe didn't have one. "do you want one?"

She maintained a look of uncertainty, mostly because of why the human wanted for her to have a name. Does he plan on keeping me? Why else would he want me to have a name if not to have me be around him? These and more thoughts swarmed her mind, but ultimately, one prevailed over the others. Will I stay here with him? Well, I'm injured, and he's the only one that I believe wouldn't use- what am I thinking, of course he'll use me! He's preparing me to be enslaved and be sucked into that round object! Her eyes shot open. She'd been resting on this human for this whole time, acting carefree and trying to convince herself that he was just going to let her go. Pain or no pain, she had to get out of there; things were not going to go like the first time, no matter the similarities

Jade Sunset | Flashback

There was nothing but cold in the atmosphere, snow falling over the trees that surrounded the ever-humble Twinleaf Town. The ground was luckily still visible, thanks to the recent temporal migrations the townsfolk made to Hearthome due to the major blizzard expected to hit the south of Sinnoh. Amidst all the snow, which was put in comparison to Snowpoint, a young couple traversed the empty town. The wooden buildings, and by extension, Twinleaf Town, seemed to lose its cozy touch without its inhabitants rambling about Team Galactic or the latest Champion couple. It was barren, no signs of people or Pokémon to be seen by the human eye. Except two lovers entering the town, of course.

The duo was nothing less than equipped to the brim with clothing so they could handle the steady but vicious snowfall. As they traversed the snow filled land, chit chat could be heard from in between the cold air blowing through the woodlands around them. During the talk, a worry popped up in the male's head.

"You better have the keys, Jay. I'm not walking all the way to Hearthome with this weather." He said, but with a hint of tiredness he tried to hide. She giggled, and searched through her two sweaters to find a pair of keys dangling from a Pokéball keychain, and showed them to her companion.

"Yeah, worrywart, I have 'em." She said mockingly, to which he replied sticking his tongue out, which was rapidly covered in snow. He then savored the taste of water as his tongue reentered his mouth, a substance he grew to love more than many other things.

As they neared their destination, a house not unlike any of the others in the vicinity, they entered the house, promptly removing the abundant amount of clothing on them as soon as the door closed.

"Welcome, to Abode de la Dawn, where the heat inside burns your skin off." Jay said, smiling while striking a winning pose to then do a curtsy, to which he laughed. "Hey, Johnny," he grunted in discomfort as she looked around the house. "where are we sleeping? Dawn's room?" He walked up from behind her and took her by the waist, surprising her, and be tickled her, only for her to try and contain her laughter rather effectively.

"Name's John, not 'Johnny'," John said, mocking her voice in utter failure, and she could hardly stifle a laugh from both the imitation and the relentless wave of nervous impulses prompting her to feel joy. "and anyways, where else? I don't live here, you oughta know, I mean, aren't you her best friend?" He let her go, at the same time she wriggled for escape from his happiness-inducing clutches, and she launched herself towards the floor in total confusion, and laughter, to then let go all the joy he had made her feel in the few moments before. This was the reason she loved him, the simple but enslaving happiness he produced just for her to enjoy, and she was only just making him happy, too, in any way she could.

"Well, I mean, have you slept in someone else's room?" She asked, receiving a shake from John's head. "It feels weird, like if you don't belong, but, uh, you do and..." she trailed off, only to promptly retrace her words. "I don't know, man, just trust me on it, okay?" John chuckled at her reddening cheeks, and winked at her.

"You just don't want to be in a room with me, is it? Am I t-" he was cut off by a voice.

"Co-cold"

The pair looked around for a clue of where the voice came, neither getting any results out of it. John calmly looked around, trying to see if anyone else was in the building, meanwhile Jay was frantic, her strong dislike of ghosts kicking in, taking over her normally brave nature.

"Maybe it came from outside," she said, hoping that it was the case, knowing fully well what Mismagius and her kin took for a hobby inside homes. As they both headed to the door, John in the lead, she couldn't help but think if it was such a good idea to reside in a snow-filled desserted town for an indefinite amount of time. Outside, not much more than white covered their surroundings, that and the monotone colors of houses fading to the gray that covered the sky. Both gave a glance around, but to their dismay, there was nothing to be found, which prompted John to step into the chilliness of the now arriving night even without his heavy gear. Due to the lack of heat, not much more than a quick glance in either directions were able to be done until the freeze started creeping up on him, forcing him to hastily retreat to the warmth of the house, only to trip on something seemingly alive, as it gave a whimper at impact. Jay, observing as he ran toward her and then fell, was surprised not only because of the whimper, but also in part due to the white tower that was John falling on top of her, knocking her down as well on the hardwood floor inside the house.

He quickly pushed himself up, looking at his feet still outside the house just as he felt his left leg being grabbed, almost pulled, by nothing more than two small arms. John sat, reeling in his leg to see that from the pale snow, bright colors contrasted, blue and orange. Jay, who managed to squirm her own legs away, looked on from over his shoulder, to see the same thing he saw: A bowl with arms. That's unlikely, she thought, must be a Pokémon, and dang, it's shivering! She received a questioning look from John while he stood, unplucking its little arms from his legs, which it reluctantly accepted as it enhanced its grip, making the walk for the door handle more of a tedious task for him. Shortly after he managed to close the only way the heat could escape, Jay leaned from her crouched position and approached his leg, seeing a young Pokémon firmly gripping the fabric that were his pants. From this angle, she could see a bruise, no bigger than a bottle cap, on what seemed to be its face, while it shook mercilessly against John's leg, and he couldn't help but wonder what happened to it for it to be so scared. He bent his knee, which in turn lifted the tiny Pokémon, up to his waist, and with a swift motion, his left hand was under the Pokémon's arms, trying to pry it away. Not much after he did so, he brought both his hands around it so it could see him, but its head faced down, giving him a clear look of a bruise on its cheek and tiny, frozen droplets that stemmed from its eyes, all of it contemplated by the quiet sniffles the Pokémon made. He couldn't bear the sight, even if he's seen worse.

"What happened, why were you alone out there?" He asked just as Jay stood up. He received no response, but its shivering was enough to know that it was cold, so he rushed over to the sweaters that he used to subdue the chill of the snow, took one and wrapped it around the poor creature. It never lifted its face, which worried both of them as they waited motionless for any movement from its part.

"Thank... you" it said, surprising both John and Jay. Telepathy was one of the things they never got a grasp on.

"No problem, now would you please look up? We want to see if you're okay." Jay said, slightly on edge due to the sudden voice in her head, but truly concerned for the little Pokémon. Still in John's arms, it looked up slowly, moving its vision from his shirt to his neck, then to his eyes, giving him a clear shot of its large, ruby eyes. It looked so innocent and surprised; he tried to make it smile by giving it one of his own, and succeeded.

His eyes were full of hope until they transitioned to the bruise next to her mouth. "Who did that to you?" His voice took on a more serious note. It lifted its hand to its face to touch the bruise, quickly retracting it as it winced. It lost its brief happiness and returned its gaze to the hardwood floor.

"...will you hurt me?" it asked.

Jay and John said in unison "Never."

"But... you kicked me." it sniffed. John realized what it meant. As he ran back to the house, he tripped on it, hurting it in the process. Jay must've understood, too, as she tried comforting it.

"He didn't mean it, actually, he was searching for you because you called for help, didn't you?" She rubbed its head by the sides of what seemed to be a spike that went through it. John then let it sit on the leather couch, and lowered himself to its eye level, making it look at him, then Jay, and back again to him.

"She's right, sorry, but, what were you doing out there? It's freezing."

"...do you... know where daddy went? Mom and me were searching for him, and I got lost... I'm scared" it uttered, starting to cry.

"Oh, uh," John looked at Jay to see if she had anything to help, but she shook her head, concerned. "we just got here, kid, we don't know." It started crying louder. "No, but you can stay with us! After the storm, we can help you find them, right Jay?" Jay nodded. The Pokémon lowered its volume, and looked at John, still sobbing.

"You... would? Aren't you... going... to catch me?"

"No, you have a family, don't ya? You'll just be here with us till we find them, sound good?" It nodded. "Awesome, now, um, are you a boy or are you a girl?" John said, while Jay just laughed at how 'Professor Oak' that sounded, and even though John laughed as well, they both knew they'd be taking care of a little girl for the time being.

Jade Sunset | Flashback End

She'd never met any other humans as amazing as them, and no matter the similarities, this boy, apparently called Black, couldn't be like them. No one could.

Still, that name caused a tug at her memories, like if she'd met someone also known by that odd name.

"I won't t-tell you" she tried playing it off as if she knew, but that memory didn't give her the answer she wanted. Black gave her a face of doubt, then looked at the mouth of the alleyway, seeing how everyone returned to their homes as the celebration came to an end. With a sigh, he began thinking, leaving her in confusion as to what he was doing and deciding the next best thing was to escape from the human. It was at this time she noticed they were in the dark part of the alley, and as the sun moved, it became increasingly harder to see his face, or see him at all. He then spoke.

"Why do you hate me?"

It was a simple question, but one where she had many answers to give him. "Yo-your species a-a-are full of abusers" He was astonished, for Pokémon to think that way of humans, he thought, they'd either had an abusive trainer, or were told at a young age. She looks way too young to have been trained, so maybe her parents or a friend.

"Who told you that? Because I don't see you believing that if you're so comfy on me." He would regret the comment soon afterwards, as rocks flew rapidly onto his back, making it arch in.

"You put me here!" she growled, increasing the pace in which the rocks flew at him thanks to the extra energy resting provided her, plus the lack of a splinter piercing her leg. Not much after, though, she felt the same pain as him, like before, invisible pellets hit multiple parts of her body mercilessly. "Wha-what are you doing to me? St-st-stop!"

"Do I look like I'm doing anything?" he said. She looked at him, expecting his eyes to light up blue and confirming her suspicions. But they were jammed shut, hurt evident in his facial expressions, no stray particle of light shining around his eyes. Am… am I doing this to myself?, she confronted herself, if I hurt him, I hurt myself? But why? I don't trust him, I don't know him! Only deep friends can do that! Argh, it hurts so much… She ceased her assault on him, stopping her own pain in the process. Black opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it all out. "Sorry for making fun of you, ca—"

"We're not, orphy, so give us the Pokémon "

Both of them heard the shout, but only Black knew what was happening. "Thugs." He whispered tiredly. At that moment, two men came from either side of the alley's entrance, both skinny, but armed with handguns and smug looks on their faces.

"Give it here, poor boy, we ain't got all day for you," said the first thug, extending his hand as if he was going to receive anything, Black thought. "give it or we'll take it, you choose."

"Don't wanna en' like last time, eh?" The second thug spoke. "Cooperate an' we'll be easy on you."

Black looked at them with anger, and the little Ralts could feel it. It was a lot, but her own anger boiled inside her too. "This is what you were talking about?" Black said, pointing at them and looking at her. "Then you're right, there are many abusers in Sinnoh. All of them dumb apparently, right guys?" He knew what he was doing, and even though fear bolted through his body, he stood up, carrying the Pokémon in one arm.

"You were talkin' to it? Hah, look Harold, we struck big!" bolstered the second thief. "A psychic type! We be making money already!"

"Proves my point." Black said, pointing at the second vandal. "I'm not giving her up, get lost." The Ralts was amazed, he couldn't be serious, could he?

"The-they have guns! What in the world are you d-doing?" she questioned in a link only he could hear, but he ignored her.

"Now, now," the first thug lifted his weapon and aimed at him as best as he could, as it was hard seeing him in the shade were he stood. "do you want another hole in that big mouth of yours?"

"Find a real gun and then you might." Black said, confidence standing in the way of any fear he might have shown. "Crimsonoak doesn't receive any firearm rounds shipments, one, because there's no dock, two, because Sinnoh lacks guns completely and not even Team Galactic has any, and three, I checked them."

All except Black were dumbfounded. The thieves backed up and dropped their fake weapons, and in unison, they asked "How?!". All eyes were on him, and what came after was as much as anything the scandalous pair would see.

Black's eyes glowed, particles of light taking life around them, their blue hue standing out in the darkness like a lantern. "I've known for quite a long time, actually, about you guys, where you live, and what you know." They started to run, but a force held them in place, not by Black, but by his companion, who's eyes resembled Black's in all but size. "Peeping on Gary while sleeping, Harold? I thought your education in third grade taught you better, oh wait, you never got there, sorry." Black was smiling now, and the sirens could be heard in the distance. "Oh, Gary, remember Billy Joel? He's been waiting in prison for a while, something about fun times." Both vandals were scared beyond belief, eyes wide open, mouth gaping, and when the police arrived and the psychic hold was let off of them, they didn't complain or move when they were pushed into the car. Officer Jenny didn't approach them, instead giving a salute from far away and drove away, but a troubled nurse did walk to them rather rapidly.

"Black, did they hurt you?" He shook his head, but realized that she must not see him in the darkness and the absence of his florescent eyes, do he stepped into the little light the sun managed to give them, but the Pokémon in his hand was scared, shaking hard, mumbling its name repeatedly. "Oh, you got her! Wonderful, we were wondering where she went. May you give her to me, we need to finish healing her."

"No! Leave m-me alone!"she screamed through the mental link. She left the humans surprised, but this wasn't going to do. I need to leave, they want to put me in that room again.

"But, you're injured, and its my job to heal you." The nurse was tired, and it showed. The Ralts only had faint memories of a nurse, and the one she did remember was nowhere near the same looks as this one. A disguise.

"No!" Black sighed.

"I'll take care of her, you taught me how to so she'll be fine." Black said. The Pokémon felt as her stupidity dawned on her, and proceeded to beat her with the naiveness she had. I've been on his hold all this time, I hurt him again, I helped him somehow, and I haven't even thinker about what he wants with me? I… I felt his pain, his anger, his power, but… he, no, could he be nice? This is too much to fake, oh! I can read his mind. As the humans talked, she began her search through his mind. Sadness, loneliness, death… orphanage? Abuse? Stress? Me—

"You keep digging that deep and you'll get a depression." Black said, looking at her distressed and horrified face. "Nurse left, so you'll be with me for a while until you heal up, okay?"

He, he's been through what I've been... could he understand me? No, but he's a human, they're all evil.

"Keep telling yourself that. If we've been through the same, and we're both here, alive, then why would you think leaving will solve your problems?" said Black, sitting down and facing the exit of the alley, where the lake could be seen. "You feel what I feel, you came to me out of panic, and you don't have anyone to take care of you, except me. You think out loud too."

She blushed, but he couldn't see it. "You, ana-ana-analyzed that?" she said, diverting the last part of his statement. He nodded, but she was barely able to see him as sunset arrived. "I'm scared. I can't tr-trust you, and I want to, but hu-humans have done horrible things to me." she started crying.

Black sighed. "Well, we can start building your trust with a name, can't we?"

"I, uh"

"Don't know, Miss Smarty-pants? Don't go thinking you can fool me." He chuckled. "And since you like rocks so much, why don't we name you after one?"

The Ralts felt shy. I don't know if I should trust him, but… I could ask him to free me when I feel better. The police officer knows him, and she has gone against the Rocket's before, but… I'll be with him for a while. "Ro-rocks have n-names?"

"Well, of course, just like Pokémon species have different names, to differentiate one from another. There are many names to rocks like, um, diamond, ruby, emerald, amber, jade…" he trailed off, but she tugged at his shirt, prompting him to look at her and tear his gaze from the lake, which thanks to the Lake Pokémon that resides in it, took on a green tint that contrasted with the mesmerizing orange in the sky.

"… I like jade. Green is m-my favorite."

"Well then," he chuckled. "My favorite is orange."

He looked back at the lake while she thought about today. She injured herself, was found by a human, was taken into a room full of bad memories to then escape, find the same human, hurt him twice, be saved by him from a splinter and thugs, and be named after the very thing she used to hurt him. Wow, the grunts would have punished me hard for even looking at them… those horrid grunts. Bad memories came to her mind, but she pushed them all away. No matter how bad things went, she always knew that those two humans that saved her in Twinleaf Town were the only good ones in the world. But this one was good, too, it was just that she couldn't believe it without some strong convincing. But to be convinced, how would anyone convince her? Many have persuaded her, in her memories, at least, and that was what caused the lack of straight memories, of no timeline or order. But, she could trust him, if he proved himself.

"Hey," she was snapped out of her thoughts, and brought back to reality. "Jade," she smiled genuinely, her first in years. "Sunset."