AN: Hullo world. I guess I don't have too much to say. First chapter in a hopefully very long fic. I'm writing this as I go along, but I can promise you I will definitely finish this. I don't own Pokemon ;) /AN

1. In Which the Boy Awakens and Promptly Has a Violent Encounter

"Excuse me? Have you seen any Shroomish around? Hello?" Sounds. Words. The boy took his time processing those words, figuring out what they meant. Had he seen any Shroomish nearby? He didn't think so. He lightly sniffed the air. Humid. Woodsy. A wet forest, good place to find Shroomish. He still didn't remember seeing any though. A hand touched his shoulder lightly and his eyes snapped open in an instant, his own hand flying up to catch the other by the wrist. His eyes rapidly took in his situation even as his brain continued to drift into consciousness. The hand that had tapped him belonged to a very startled, and somewhat concerned, looking businessman. They were both in a forest; very deep in a very thick forest if the looks of the surrounding vegetation was any indicator.

"I-I'm sorry," the businessman stuttered, "I thought you might be injured or something; you weren't responding." The boy blinked a few times and frowned.

"Did it occur to you that I might be sleeping?" He hadn't been, or at least, he didn't think he'd been intentionally sleeping. What had he been doing? At his suggestion however, the businessman blinked owlishly.

"Sorry. That didn't occur to me, not that someone would be sleeping way out here. I'm very sorry for waking you young man." The young man in question shook his head and sat up, simultaneously releasing the businessman's wrist. He rubbed his hand against the back of his head, feeling small particles of dirt falling away as his hand brushed over his hair. A glance down at his clothes showed them to be in the same dirty state as his hair. What in the world had he done to get so dirty?

"Why were you looking for Shroomish in the first place?" He asked curiously, mainly to distract the businessman from his dishevelled appearance. His question seemed to catch the businessman off guard. The man blinked a few times before answering.

"Well, I just really like Shroomish, and I was hoping to catch one here in the forest. I've heard some of the city folk saying they can be found in the deeper parts of the forest, but I myself have never really wandered in here. Do you perhaps live in the city?" The boy thought about that. Did he live in the city? Why did he even have to think about that? Despite the fact that he knew he should know exactly where he came from, he couldn't seem to remember. That was... worrying. He settled for shrugging and making a sound that wasn't exactly a yes, but not actually a no either. He thought about how to keep the man from asking more questions. If he couldn't answer them for himself, he certainly didn't want the stranger asking the questions. He didn't like having questions asked of him, that was for sure. He came to a decision.

"This forest seems pretty big, and since I seem to have nothing to do right now, would you like me to help you look for some Shroomish?" The man blinked at the suggestion, and then his face broke out in a boyish grin.

"Would you? That would be amazing." They began searching through the bushes, startling the occasional Wurmple and Taillow. At one point, the boy thought he heard a faint pop, but when he spun around, all he saw was a flash of red disappearing into the canopy. After staring after the flash of movement, the boy went back to his search. It wasn't long after that the businessman called out and waved the boy over to the bush he was looking in. The boy walked over and crouched next to the man to get a better look at what he had spotted. It wasn't a Shroomish however. Lying underneath the bush as if it had been thrown there was a small backpack. It was covered in dirt and leaves and several dark stains.

"Does this bag belong to you?" The businessman asked curiously. The boy picked the bag up and examined it carefully. It was well worn, even under the dirt. Inside were two Pokeballs, one empty and one containing a Pokemon Darius couldn't make out, some food, two papers that looked like letters, and a rolled up blanket. There was also some kind of strange device that the boy couldn't identify. Someone had taken a marker and written the name 'Darius' on the inside, just under the zipper. Something twinged in the boy's head upon seeing the name. He assumed it had to be his own. He looked up to see the businessman looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, this is my bag." The boy said. "Not sure why it's so dirty though." The businessman nodded and glanced at the written name.

"So your name's Darius?" The boy supposed it was, so he nodded. The businessman smiled. "Well, thanks for helping me out Darius."

"The hell is up with this damn hold-up?" A voice snarled from behind the two. Both man and boy turned on their heels to see a man wearing some kind of blue get-up and glaring in their direction. "I was hoping to jump you when you came out of the woods, but you take forever and when I come to see what the hell is taking you so long, I find you playing in the dirt with some brat!" Darius, who could only assume he was the 'brat', cocked an eyebrow and looked at the businessman.

"Friend of yours?" He asked. The businessman glanced at him and then back at the newcomer.

"Definitely not." He replied. Louder, to the strange man, he asked "Can I help you with something?" The man grinned and drew a Pokeball from his belt. Darius immediately felt his body tense.

"Yeah, you can help me with something. Hand over those research papers you were delivering, and I won't hurt you." He tossed the Pokeball and a Poochyena appeared, standing by its master's leg and snarling at the two who were kneeling on the ground. Darius looked at the bristling Pokemon and then at their attacker.

"Not a very nice way of asking, is it?" A tiny part of his brain was telling him that this was a very bad situation and he should really be quiet, but a much larger part of his brain was telling him that this man was just an idiot. He wasn't sure which part of the man told him he was an idiot, but Darius knew it anyway. At his words the man's eyes narrowed.

"Are you defying me?" He asked quietly. Darius could feel the businessman edging behind him, but he simply shrugged. He was running purely on instinct, but the poor businessman didn't need to know that.

"Depends. Why should we be handing these papers over? They sound pretty important." The man's gloved fingers clenched into fists, and Darius could see his facial muscles twitching.

"Listen brat, I'm a member of Team Aqua, so if you don't shut up and hand over those papers, you're going to regret it." Darius couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at the man. Team Aqua? That explained the man's behaviour then. He believed that if he had the group behind him, he held power, but without the group...

"Then tell me mister Aqua man, are the rest of your teammates here as well?" Darius asked. He could feel the businessman shaking behind him, but he refused to back down. "Because if they aren't, I honestly don't know why you being a part of this group has any force behind it." The man's lip curled back in a snarl. Now he was angry.

"I warned you brat. Now you're going to pay for defying Team Aqua!" He looked down at his Pokemon. "Get them!" He commanded harshly. The Pokemon barked and leapt at Darius, teeth bared, mouth opening. A Bite attack then. Darius made a split decision and swung the backpack that still hung limply in his hand into the side of the Pokemon's head. The Poochyena flew away with a yelp. As soon as his bag made contact, Darius sprang to his feet and spun around, grabbed the businessman's arm, and took off in the opposite direction.

"Was that a good idea?" The man called to him, panic edging his voice. Darius glanced back and grinned at him.

"Probably not. Keep running." Behind them, Darius could hear the running paws of their attacker's Poochyena. As well as a second set of paws. Darius spun around again, yanking the businessman behind him once more to face their pursuer. Two Poochyenas stood before him. They faced each other, snarling. One of them, the slightly larger of the two, glanced at Darius curiously and in a heartbeat he came to a snap decision.

"Bite!" He called out. The Poochyena that had glanced at him snarled and leapt at the smaller Pokemon, fangs sinking into the fur. Their attacker's Poochyena let out a yelp and began struggling to get away from the crushing jaws locked around its leg. Their defender shook his head a few times before releasing the other Pokemon, which fled back the way they had come, limping on the damaged leg. Once it was out of sight, the Poochyena turned back and trotted up to Darius, looking up at him curiously. Darius bent down and allowed his hand to automatically scratch the top of the Pokemon's muzzle. Seeming satisfied with this, the Poochyena sat on the ground beside Darius's foot, tongue hanging out lazily. Darius then turned back to the businessman, who was leaning forward, hands pressed to his knees as he caught his breath.

"Thanks for that. I didn't realise you were a Pokemon Trainer." Darius didn't mention that he hadn't known that either.

"What was that man after anyway?" Darius asked curiously. The man gave a nervous laugh.

"Ha, I was actually passing through this forest on my way to deliver these important papers." He reached into his suit and drew out a yellow envelope. "It would have been horrible if that man had stolen them!" The man shuddered and tucked the papers back into his suit.

"Well, there's a chance that man is still in the forest waiting to jump you again, so why don't I come with you to the city?" The man looked up in surprise at Darius's offer.

"You'd do that?" He asked. Darius nodded. He needed to find his way out of the forest, and in truth, he really was concerned about the man being jumped again. The man that had attacked them had obviously been some kind of low-level lackey for this Team Aqua group, and for him to be that weak while having that much confidence, Team Aqua must have some kind of force behind them. Which meant that lackey might not have been the only one after the papers. Together they set off through the forest, the businessman leading the way, Darius scanning the area for signs of their attacker, and the Poochyena bringing up the rear.

AN: So yeah! That's the start anyway! Questions, comments, insults, anything would be appreciated. Even a fav or follow would make me happy. If you're following, that means you're waiting for chapters, and if you're waiting for chapters, that means you like it! And I like it when people like the things I make! That's why I'm always giving people cookies! Cyber-cookies for reviews/favs/follows! /AN