Updated 4/15/2016

Chapter 1

You Gotta Fire Up

The world we live is one that is shared and is maintained by a vital balance between humans and nature. At the center of this balance is the relationship between humans and Pokémon. Some legends say that in the beginning, humans and Pokémon were one in the same. Others claim we lived as separately as this world would allow. But something changed. When we began the path of settling the land, raising crops, and building cities, Pokémon became more than other creatures. They were our neighbors. At times they aided us and, at times they hindered us. From this our pact was formed. We would be allowed have our homes, call on them for aid, and travel through the lands as long as their homes were not damaged in the process.

Over the countless eons our relationship has grown even more. Pokémon became an integral part of our society. Our economy, labor force, and even ours wars have been affected by Pokémon. In the modern era, the relationship between humans and Pokémon is closer than ever thought possible. Some keep Pokémon as pets in their household. Some use them to create dazzling spectacles. Some make them as powerful as deities.

Our story will focus on last of these groups. To them, Pokémon are not simply tools or pets. These humans and Pokémon fight alongside one another, push each other to new heights, and will even risk their lives for one another. They are partners, friends, and family. These humans are known simply as Pokémon trainers. This is the tale of one of them, a sixteen-year-old young woman named Jazz Heterodyne.

It was nine in the morning in Pallet Town. With the sun warming her dark brown skin, she stood in the plaza of the small town with a teeth showing smile and narrowed eyes. The treads on her boots had been walked through hell. Frays nicked her orange high cut jacket and shorts. The beige bandana around her neck was wearing thin. Her red tinted goggles had numerous scratches on the lenses. The brown shirt she wore hardly hid the stains. Her legs had countless scars both faded and recent. The tips of her of ponytailed dreadlocks were dyed the same crimson as her eyes. Two pieces of apparel set her apart from a simple traveler, though. The first was a second belt that hung loosely from her waist and held six Pokéballs. The other was a bracelet on her right arm containing a Keystone.

At Jazz's sides stood her long time partners, Beat the Lucario and Rhythm the Gardevoir. Beat's Mega stone was set in a bracelet on her arm and, Rhythm's was the center piece of her necklace. A light chuckle escaped as she noticed the crowd around them grow. "Double battle, two outta three, right?" She said to her opponent who nodded with a cocky grin. Jazz grabbed two Pokéballs from her belt and threw them high into air shouting, "Darude! Tiësto! Showtime!" Out of the white lights emerged a shiny Dragonite and an Electivire. Their opponents: a Metagross and Darmantan.

"Electric rain! Follow-up: Tiësto, Dig: track 3! Darude, Hone Claws!" While the opponents looked dumbfounded, a field of light electric sparks emerged from Tiësto and Darude formed and released a glowing blue orb that became a localized rain shower. The resulting steam obscured the vision of the Pokémon except for Darude, whose Hone Claws improved his vision.

An Incinerate and Psyshock erupted from the other side. The Incinerate did nothing more than fly over a fresh hole in the ground and, Darude was only grazed by the Psyshock. He then went through an over exaggerated stagger. "Zen Headbutt!"

The Metagross tucked its arms in and propelled itself at Darude. Jazz didn't say a word and let her Pokémon vanish into the steam and deliver a Sucker Punch. "Fly, aim at the Fire type! Tiësto, on my mark!"

"Bulk-up and Iron Defense!" The other trainer called.

Jazz's eyes scanned sky over the battle waiting for the shadow of a Dragonite to appear. When the clouds were momentary pierced a loud "Mark!" signaled the attacked. Darude crashed fist first into the Darmantan and, Tiësto burst from ground and sent the Metagross into the air. "Darude get in one of the holes; Tiësto, Bonnaroo: track 2!"

Arcs of electricity rose from the ground and connected with Tiësto. The Electric Terrain broke apart and flowed into him. Tiësto's body glowed yellow and cracked with electric charges before he let loose a dome of electricity. Both the Metagross and the Darmantan were caught in the attack the edge of which was close enough to the trainers to stand their hair on end. The light faded as did the steam and revealed that Tiësto was the only one left standing until Darude poked his head up.

"Nice work you two." Jazz said before recalling her Pokémon. The other trainer recalled his Pokémon though his smile had since faded. Jazz waved to the crowd when she heard their applause. As the rain died the next round began. "Icona! Jimi! Show time!" Jazz's next two Pokémon were a second shiny Dragonite and a Torterra. Her opponent was taken aback by this but, sent out his next pair of Pokémon: a Talonflame and Gigalith.

"Flareblitz on the Torterra! Power Gem on the Dragonite!"

"Fault Line: track 3!" The command resulted in two attacks. The first was a Stone Edge being used to create three walls extending from the center of the plaza that shielded Jazz's Pokémon. The second was an Earthquake opening up a triangle shaped pit the points of which were at the ends of the walls. The Gigalith fell into the pit causing the Power Gem to go wide. The Talonflame crashed into wall going at full speed. While the rock's shattered from the force the bird was still KO'd. Icona then flew over the wall with a Focus Punch ready. By the time Gigalith had climbed out of the hole, Icona had already flown into its face and proceeded to end the battle.

"Hell yeah!" Jazz threw her fist into the air. Icona and Jimi made their way over to their trainer. Jimi had to use Stone Edge to create a new way over the pit. A few of the spectators ran over to congratulate her. Her opponent joined her as well.

"You got us big time." He admitted and extended his hand. Jazz returned with a warm shake. "How did make this hole with an Earthquake?" The crowd began to wonder out loud.

"Now why would I just divulge my secrets to anyone?" A smirk was on her lips. Her hands were occupied petting Jimi's head and scratching Icona's snout.

"Because you promised that you would cut down on the trash talk, insults, and general not being nice," said a female voice. It lacked a distinct source seeming to originate from the minds of those who could hear it.

"Also, it's not like you used rocket science to pull this off." This voice had clear source: Beat. The Lucario's gestures towards the battle field confirmed the crowd's suspicions and left the opposing trainer with even more questions. Contrary to popular myth, Pokémon using telepathy to communicate with humans isn't particularly rare. With a bit of practice, any Pokémon with Psychic or aura based abilities can learn how. "Telepathy, no one's ever seen it before."

"Beat…" Rhythm said like a mother chastising her child.

"Rhythm!" Beat replied like daughter going her teenage years, hands on hips and all.

"Jay-yazz!" Their trainer joined in jazz hands waving.

"Look if you don't wanna tell me, that's cool…" The trainer was starting to back away with the thinning crowd.

"Oh stay your ass put. I was just screwin' with ya." Jazz's attention was on recalling Jimi and Icona. A smile was still on her face.

"Well if that's the case, then maybe I can take crack at figuring out your secrets?" An older voice belonging to man in his sixties approached. Rhythm's eyes lit up at sight of him with his thermos filled with coffee as she was his self-proclaimed biggest fan. Jazz didn't even turn around. "During the first round your 'Dig: track 3' command was for a specific pattern that all of your Pokémon have memorized. The Earthquake upset the ground creating that pit. The stone walls were created by tracing Stone Edge on the inner parts of the hole. Also Darude isn't a Dragonite at all. He's a Zoroark. That's why he can use Sucker Punch."

Jazz looked at the old man and recognized him on sight. There stood the Professor Samuel Oak with a warm smile on his face. Jazz's reason for knowing, however, was less from him being a famed researcher but, rather videos of his battles from his youth when he was the Kanto region's champion. "Guilty as charged."

Darude popped out his Pokéball disguised as the Darmantan. He then put the massive hand of the Fire type over his face and pulled in a dramatic fashion as though he were tossing away a mask. Now he appeared to be the trainer they had beaten. He removed a final mask to reveal his true appearance and proceeded to snuggle up to his trainer. "Alright boy, chill out." Jazz chuckled and petted Darude's head before recalling him to his Pokéball. "Professor Oak, right?"

"Guilty as charged." He said with his smile. As he held out his hand Rhythm finally lost the ability to contain her excitement.

"I am your biggest fan!" She said giddily. "I've read all your books and every article and research paper you've ever published. I've watched every interview you've given and listen to your podcast every week. Your birthday is June twenty-ninth. I'm sure you get this a lot but, you were the one who convinced me to learn telepathy. Please, please, please can I have your autograph please?"

"Well, I uh…" Oak nervously held up his hand.

"Imagine that for two weeks and you've got our lives when she learned telepathy. Thanks." Beat said.

"This man is genius!" Rhythm shouted in the minds of all present.

"And you're a spaz." Rhythm's white face turned pink. "Please notice that neither has been denied."

"Ten years, every day I've had to listen these two idiots." Jazz said. She then snatched one of her Pokémon into each arm. "But love 'em anyway. Oh, by the way, I've got a package for you from Professor Rowan."

"So must you be Jazz." Oak said. "If you don't mind, I'd rather we discuss the package in my lab. I was running a bit late already you see and, I have an important guest who's supposed arriving soon. Would you care to join us um…?"

Oak turned to the trainer Jazz had defeated only to find he had sulked away.

-#-

"So you intend to compete in the Indigo Plateau Conference?" Professor Oak asked as they walked up the hill to his lab.

"That's the plan. It'll be my first go 'round, though. Most people try sooner but, I figured I might as well wait. No one under fourteen has ever won and the mean is seventeen." Jazz explained. "In the meantime, we've just been travelin' the world, trainin', and havin' battles against strong opponents."

"Well, if that performance earlier was anything to go by, it's certainly paid off." Oak commented. "Ah, here we are. Welcome to my pride and joy: the Oak Research Laboratory." Standing outside the lab were Oak's employees: a middle-aged man who was his full time aid, and his two interns, a man and a woman in their early twenties. "Sorry I'm late. I got a bit sidetracked on the way here."

He pulled out his keys and unlocked door resulting in the alarm going off. He quickly disarmed it and allowed everyone inside. "It's no problem." His aid assured. "Is she the one who'll be collecting the hard drives? She's certainly not here for a starter Pokémon." He said looking at Rhythm and Beat.

"Ha! If you let her near anything more complicated than the web browser, you can kiss your computer good bye." Beat said.

"Anyway, you three get started the usual routine. Jazz, please come with me to my office. Oh, and if you see our other guest please send her back there as well." Jazz, Rhythm, and Beat followed the Professor through his lab. Rhythm drank up every inch of the building. She took a mental note of everything from the machines to small Pokémon that walked freely around the facility. Jazz and Beat, however, were far more interested in the fields behind the building. In them dwelled Pokémon from all around world including quite of a few neither of them had seen before.

Oak's office was everything Jazz would have expect. A large oak desk sat in middle with a computer and paperwork placed atop. Bookshelves lined either side of the room and on the back wall hung various awards and plaques for his research. "Go on, take a seat." He motioned to the chairs as he set down his coffee.

The three complied and Jazz began digging around her bag. "Let's see. Should be right…there we go." In her left hand was Pokéball with a golden top half rather than the usual red. On it "GS" was inscribed. "One average Joe's yearly salary, hand delivered."

She set on the GS ball on Oak's desk with confident smile. Oak, however, had a stern almost grave look on his face. "Jazz, I can't go into details with you but, I can assure you that this Pokéball is worth far more than the annual net profits of Silph Co. and the Devon Corporation combined. You have my utmost gratitude for delivering it safely."

All this did was pique Jazz's curiosity, something which Rhythm mentally warned her not to act on. "It's whatever. I'd be passin' through anyways. 'Sides, I owed Rowan a favor. And he set me up first-class on the boat ride from Sinnoh. The food was orgasmic." Jazz's facial expression, tongue out and droopy eyed, aided the drawn out way in which she described the food. Rhythm buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. Beat leaned forward and rested her head in her paw resisting the urge make another comment.

"Oh…well…um…" Oak stammered as he put the GS ball in his desk drawer.

"So is that all or, ya got something else for me? Im'ma be in town 'til tomorrow morning."

Back to his senses, Oak folded his hands together and rested his face on them. "What exactly are your plans for collecting the gym badges?"

As Oak took another swill of his coffee Jazz pulled out a protean bar. "You mind?" Oak signaled his approval with a tip of his thermos. "Well, I'm gonna try to collect all sixteen badges from Kanto and Johto, seeing as the tournaments merged five years ago. I won't have much time for sightseeing but, that's the price you pay. Why?"

Oak nodded in acknowledgement and set his coffee down. "Let's start at the beginning. Ten years ago I had the current regional champion my grandson, Blue, the current world champion, Red, and another trainer from Pallet Town, Green, do me a favor. The three of them set up equipment monitoring Pokémon populations across the Kanto and Johto regions. Starting tomorrow, an assistant of Unova Professor Juniper will be retrieving the hard drives with the data on them.

"My concern is that recently there has been a resurgence of a criminal organization called Team Rocket who I have reason to suspect might be after that data as well. They're the reason Professor Rowan gave you the GS ball to deliver by hand. That and the blasted thing can't be transmitted. Now the person gathering the hard drives is a fairly skilled trainer in her own right but, as they say: there's safety in numbers. Not to mention Professor Rowan seems to believe you have great potential. I would be deeply appreciative if the two of you were to travel together just to give me greater peace of mind."

Jazz had finished the last bit of her protein bar as Oak finished his request. With her arms folded and head tilted down and to the left, she began to mull over the idea. "I dunno. This is kinda short notice. I mean, maybe if I knew this assistant a bit better..."

Before Jazz could finish her sentence, the door to Oak's office was flung open. "Sorry I'm late, Professor Oak!" Jazz and her Pokémon turned around to the door saw the assistant in her somewhat flustered state. "Bianca Genovese reporting for duty!" she said with a salute, the jerky movement shaking her glasses and beret off balance. At that moment, she noticed the tension in room. "Did I interrupt something?" She asked as she reoriented her head wear and specs.

"No. Well, yes, but we were talking about you. It's good to see you again, Bianca" Oak's smile returned though Jazz could tell it was for the sake of formality. "Bianca, this is Jazz. Jazz, Bianca. I was just suggesting that the two of you travel together since she intends to enter the League tournament this year."

"That's fine with me. The more the merrier." Bianca said in a chipper tone.

"Hey, I haven't agreed to shit to yet."

"Language!" Rhythm scolded.

"But, Mom…" Jazz whined.

"In a just world, I'd be the trainer." Beat said watching the two bicker.

"So, who wants a tour of the lab?" Oak said.

-#-

After a tour of the building, the Professor had taken his guests out to his vast fields. In them dwelled Pokémon from various regions most caught by trainers who started their journeys in Pallet Town. Also in them were wild Pokémon from the area.

"Alright you two." Jazz said mentally. "Should probably give an answer before we leave. Pros and cons."

"Pro: aiding a renowned scientist will get you support from the general public." Rhythm immediately fired.

"Con: you could be giving a large criminal organization a reason to come after you." Beat warned.

"Pro: Professor Oak could give you access to some of his resources as thanks."

"Con: the potential publicity could result in someone asking why your public records are so hard to find."

"Pro: the criminal organization could make for good practice in between gym battles."

"Con: they have no reason to stop after KO'ing us."

Rhythm paused for moment realizing she had nothing to counter that point. She looked around frantically trying to come up with something that could potentially tip Jazz's risk/reward scale in her favor. Then she realized the answer was right of her merrily conversing with Professor Oak. "Pro: Bianca has a big butt."

"Con: that will distract from your goal!" Jazz was proving their presumptions right, eyes now deadlocked on Bianca's rear end as it moved with her gait. "Oh my God. Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No, I'm not." Oak said. "Most people don't believe me but, on the day Red, Blue and Green set off to become Pokémon trainers, I saw Ho-oh fly over Pallet Town and Route 1."

"That's not what I…screw it!" Beat flung her arms up in defeat. "What is with you humans and your obsession with each other's asses?"

Their tour continued and after a short while the debate as to whether or not they should travel with Bianca rekindled. In the end, the two Pokémon reached a stalemate with both admitting that the other had valid points. Jazz expected this much. She'd been their trainer for ten years and had heard them debate over trivial and serious matters. Really her goal in asking their opinion had been to have both sides of the argument laid out in front of her. It was par for the course in their adventures. At the end of the day it was her call, though.

"Jazz, everything alright?" Bianca asked as the tour came to end. "You've been pretty quiet back there."

"Huh?" Jazz jolted as she snapped out of her thoughts. "Nah, I'm fine. This science stuff just ain't my cup o' tea is all."

"Well, anyhow, that concludes the tour of Oak Laboratory. Do any of you have questions?" Oak said as they approached the building. Before Rhythm or Bianca could raise their hands, the ground bulged beneath Oak's feet. Just as the professor stepped back a Drilbur burst out of the ground. "Now how many times have I told you not to dig near the building?"

The Drilbur responded by rapid firing a series of grunts and arm movements that immediately had Rhythm and Beat's attention. "Translation, please." Their trainer said.

"Someone's using a Steelix to dig…" Before Beat could finish the steel snake erupted out of the ground knocking over all present. "I think you can fill in the blanks."

"I said we've been compromised. Evacuate the vicinity at once and meet at the emergency rendezvous. We will attempt a forced acquisition then meet you there." The voice had come from behind the Steelix. Two people each in gray outfits with a capital R on the tops stood next to the Pokémon. "Let's make this quick. I'm Hun and this is Attila. Hand over the GS ball and you all walk away in one piece." The person with long grey hair spoke.

Oak stood up fury in his eyes over the situation. His aids immediately rushed over to the commotion but, found themselves facing four Rocket grunts that began climbing out of the hole made by Hun's Steelix. Bianca released her Emboar, Barb. The Rockets' response was to begin releasing their Pokémon, an assortment of Zubat, Growlithe, Koffing, and Rattata.

In the midst of all this Jazz spoke up. "Quick question: are you a guy or a girl?" Jaws dropped on both sides of the confrontation. All eyes were on Jazz and, Hun's eyes in particular were attempting to shoot lasers through her skull. Rhythm face palmed and Beat rolled her eyes. "What? I wanna make sure I use the right insults."

"Don't worry! You won't live long enough for it to be an issue! Bleda! It's Crunch time!" The Steelix let loose a roar and lunged forward with it iron maw wide open. Unlike the Rockets and the researchers, Jazz and her Pokémon didn't flinch when Bleda moved. Then Hun realized the blunder. "No! Stop!" By the time the command reached the Steelix, he had crashed into the Protect Rhythm had set up. He reeled from the impact and quickly regained his senses only to have them knocked right back out by a Focus Punch from Beat.

"Don't just stand there!" Hun shouted at her underlings. "Attack!"

"Rhythm! Safeguard!" The white light from Safeguard covered the humans and their Pokémon protecting from a wave of poisonous gas from Koffing. "Beat, focus on the one in charge! Bianca, make sure none of the grunts get inside the lab! Rhythm, long range support and prep for Meteorblast!"

Keeping track of the entirety of the melee was hopeless effort. Beat was keeping the Steelix occupied and Bianca had released her Emboar named Barb who was now handling the majority of the grunts Pokémon. The rest were struck long-range attacks from Rhythm.

"Meteorblast in 30!" Rhythm broadcasted to her allies.

Hun watched with gritted as Bleda was knocked around by Beat. The tap on the shoulder was met with a swift turn and a snarl. Jazz's fist was swung across Hun's jaw. Before Attila turned to punch Jazz, Hun had been grabbed by the arm and swung into Attila's path. Attila backed up as Hun fell to the ground and when he did, Jazz slashed him across the chest with a foot long curved knife.

"10 seconds!"

While Attila clutched his bloody wound Jazz ran across the field. "Bianca, withdraw your Emboar!" Bianca looked at Jazz like she had lost her mind. "Just trust me on this!" Against Bianca's better judgment Barb was returned to her Pokéball. She looked up and saw something she hadn't expected to see from Jazz. It was a technique employed typically by Psychic specialists with decent frequency. With practice it was possible for Psychic type Pokémon to send a specific attack ahead using Future Sight in this case the Fairy type move, Moonblast. Beat leaped up to the attack and set her leg on fire. Delivering the Blaze Kick had an interesting effect on the Moonblast. The wispy energy that surrounded the attack now resembled flames taking on pink and purple hue. The core of the attack, however, turned black as though it had been scorched upon entering the planet's atmosphere. "Get wrecked!" Jazz's middle finger was raised.

"Shit..." was all Hun could say when Meteorblast hit right in front Bleda. First came the light. The single flash was enough to force anyone with eyes shut them and leave spots after it faded. Next was the shockwave. If your feet were not planted firmly, you could expect to be knocked right off of them. The glass in the back windows of the Oak research lab shattered. This was accompanied by a deafening boom. That's when the heat would be noticed. The ground around the impact sight was scorched and the surrounding grasses were burned to black crisps. Finally small chunks of the fairy flamed meteor fell in the surround area somehow not igniting the grass.

The silence, a combination of temporary hearing loss and utter shock from all but Jazz and Professor Oak, was accompanied by dust impaired vision. The only concrete details that could be made out were the red lights of Pokémon being recalled. The light from the Meteorblast pieces began to fade as the dust settled. Attila and Hun were already fleeing on a Mandibuzz. The remaining grunts attempted to escape on foot but, were intercepted by the police who had been responding the commotion.

-#-

When all was said and done, four Rockets were in police custody and their Pokémon handed over to Professor Oak. Their leaders had escaped, however. After a series of questions being asked and photos of the scene being taken, the police gave Jazz a stern warning not to use Meteorblast in areas populated by people or Pokémon unless absolutely necessary then left.

"Barely in this region a few hours and, I already got the cops on my case." Jazz, Oak, and Bianca were now back in Oak's office. The professor was rubbing his temples and looked exhausted. "Uh, sorry 'bout the windows."

"Don't worry about that." He leaned back in his chair and rested his hands in lap letting out a sigh. "What's important is that everyone's safe. Though, I would heed the police's word about Meteorblast." Jazz, Rhythm, and Beat all dawned the same prideful grin as Oak cracked open the draw of his desk to assure himself that the GS ball was safe for now. "Now, I must ask you again. Having experienced the risks first hand would you consider traveling with Bianca?"

Jazz reassumed the pose she took when first the question. She went over the debate between Rhythm and Beat again. Also going through her head was battle she'd just been in. Particularly she noted how obvious it was that only Bleda and the Skarmory had any real training. Finally, she stood up, looked Bianca in the eyes, was momentarily distracted by how pretty her eyes were, and said, "Sounds fun to me. Meet us at the northern gate tomorrow morning at six o'clock sharp."

Before Jazz could turn on her heel and make her exit, Bianca had scooped her into a hug. "Oh, it'll be so much fun! We can tell stories and compete in tag battles together and talk about Pokémon and boys and we can…"

Bianca's prattling went on for a moment but, as Rhythm and Beat could attest to, only one thing went through Jazz's mind, "Titties…"

-#-

It was five past six and, Jazz, Rhythm, and Beat had begun their trip on Route 1 to Viridian City five minutes earlier. Bianca was running behind them at top speed. When she finally caught up, she was out of breath. "I said six o'clock sharp."

"I didn't…" Bianca stopped to take a breath. "…think you'd leave…" Another wheeze. "…without me."

"Well ya thought wrong, obviously." Jazz hadn't stopped walking with plans to reach Viridian by noon the next day driving her legs forward. "I got sixteen badges to collect. I can only afford so many detours."

Bianca sighed then sucked up the air in front of her and continued forward. "Right. This is where our great adventure across Kanto and Johto begins!"

A smile followed by a laugh came from Jazz's face and, her arms stretched out wide. "Damn straight! Indigo Plateau, here I come!" Jazz's hearty shout echoed throughout the morning sky signaling the start of a journey.

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