Chapter one: The storm at sea.

This world is filled with darkness... There is no sunrise or sunset... Time does not flow and the human race is all but gone. Only Pokemon and Nations are left.

Nations and Pokemon had always gotten along. One nation would always have one main partner Pokemon, one they are bonded with. Once they were bonded, the nation could understand wild pokemon and even gain some of their partner Pokemon's attributes, such as a nation with a fighting type Pokemon was stronger then other nations or a nation with a fire type Pokemon could withstand the heat longer then normal.

xXx

"Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa...!"

There was a flash of light and the shaking started.

"Are...are you ok?!" His hand was slipping and he could feel his partners hold tightening. "No! Don't let go! Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!"

His hand was slipping too much...

"N-n-no! I can't... hold on...!" He yelled. His hand slipped completely. "Waaaah!"

xXx

America looked at Rome's Guild. "Hmm..." He started to pace, wondering if it was a good idea to be here before strengthening his resolve. "No. I refuse to be scared any longer! I used to tell my family that I was a hero and I'm gonna prove it!" He said to himself. "No more wimping out. I'm going to be brave today! Right, Squirtle?" His Pokemon nodded fiercely in response.

He stepped on the gate, his Squirtle beside him, when a voice scared him.

"Person and Pokemon detected! Person and Pokemon detected!"

"Who is it, Da~ze?" came another voice.

"The Pokemon is Squirtle! Person, please identify yourself!" The first voice said.

America jumped off the gate, thoroughly startled. He looked around to make sure no one saw that and started to breath to calm down. "Well... That could have gone better..." He muttered. "I can't... I can't push myself to do it after all. Not even my personal treasure helped me..." He looked at his treasure, a rock with an odd pattern on it. "But I just can't do it... Some hero I am..." He walked away, his Squirtle following him, so he didn't notice two people- nations themselves- come out of hiding.

"Hey... Eygpt..." Greece said, holding a skitty even if the Koffing behind him was his bonded Pokemon. "What do... You think?"

"..." Egypt was silent for a moment, his Zubat flying around his head. "...He had something good... Some kind of treasure..."

"Do..." Greece looked at the dark haired nation beside him. "Do we... Go after it?"

Egypt nodded and they were off, following America.

xXx

America looked at the bubbles and how pretty they looked in the sunset's light. "Wow..." He muttered, smiling. His Squirtle played with the bubbles as they came near him. "When the weather's good, the Krabby come out and blow bubbles at sundown... It's always impressive."

He started walking down the beach. This is always were he went when he felt sad he wasn't the hero he told everyone he was. It feels good to be there. It always does. Coming there cheers him up. He suddenly stopped short, making Squirtle bump into him.

"Hey... What's that?" America asked Squirtle. Squirtle just shrugged. He couldn't see it any better then America could. America walked closer. Then he realized that there was some one that looked a lot like him and a cyndaquil was passed out on the shore. He ran over and started to try to wake the guy up, ignoring the fact that they looked just alike.

"Hey! Wake up! What happened?! Are you ok?!" He paused in his yelling as the boy and the Cyndaquil started to come to. The guy sat up, holding his head and America sighed in relief. "Great! You're ok!"

The guy looked at him blankly then started to look around as he stood up. He looked really confused, though America couldn't blame him. America laughed, making the guy look at him again. "You weren't moving. You really had me worried there!" He watched as the guy picked up the Cyndaquil, which he guessed was his. "How did you wind up knocked out here anyway, dude?"

The guy blinked. "I... I was knocked out?" He muttered and America could barely hear him. "What happened...?"

"Anyway, I'm America! Nice to meet you dude!" America shook the guy's hand. "I haven't seen you before. Who are you?"

"Well... I'm a nation, first off." The guy said and America nodded. He figured. "But my name is..." The guy looked like he was having trouble. America cocked his head.

"What's wrong? Can't you remember your name?"

"I can't remember much of anything, actually..." The guy said. "My name is Canada, and this is Cyndaquil."

"Oh, Canada's your name?" America nodded. "Ok! Well, you don't seem like a bad guy, at least. Sorry I doubted you. More and more bad guys have been turning up lately!"

He was cut off from saying more by two dark haired men pushing him, making America fall and his treasure come out of his bag. Canada and Squirtle jumped back in surprise.

"Ow!"

"Escuse me." The one with the Zubat said.

America jumped back up, mad now. They just pushed him, not bumped into him! "Hey! Why did you do that?!"

"Can't you... Figure it out?" The one with the Koffing behind him and a skitty in his arms said in a tired voice. "We... Wanted to mess... With you."

"W-What?" Canada questioned in his quiet voice from behind America.

"This is..." The one with the Koffing said again. "Yours, right?" He pointed to America's treasure.

"Yes, that's mine!" America said as he reached for the rock but the one with the Zubat got it first.

"Are you going to get it back?" He asked. He turned to his friend. "Let's get out of here."

They ran into the cave that was behind Canada and America. America face palmed and Canada looked at him.

"I don't know what to do... That was my personal treasure and really want to get it back but I don't think my Squirtle is strong enough to do it." America looked at Squirtle, who looked determined to go fight. The pokemon was right, of course. He had to try! America looked at the cave angrily. "No! There is no time to waste!" He turned to Canada. "Will you help me?"

Canada hesitated before nodding.

"Thank you! Let's go quickly!" And do they ran in the cave.

xXx

"You still have that sleep seed we found?" Canada nodded and America continued. "Good. We're gonna need all the help we can get. Our Pokemon aren't that strong."

They continued to walk until they got to Egypt and Greece in the last level.

"Hey!" America yelled to et their attention.

"You... actually came..." Greece said.

"Give me back what you stole!" America yelled. "That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Treasure you say?" Egypt said. "So it's valuable?"

"All... the more reason... not to give it back..." Greece continued.

"Whaaat?!" America yelled, startled. He was hoping they would just give it back right away.

"If you want it back so badly..." Egypt said. "Come and get it!"

The Koffing and Zubat flew at them and America yelled, "Canada! The seed!"

Canada nodded and threw the seed he had picked up in the dungeon. It hit the Zubat but instead of making fall asleep, it exploded and knock the Pokemon out.

"Oops..." America said sheepishly. "That was a blast seed, not a sleep seed..."

"Zubat!" Egypt yelled.

Koffing tried to knock the smaller Pokemon out too but they were able to take it.

"C-Cydaquil-"

"Squirtle-"

"Use tackle!" The two blond nations yelled together and both Pokemon hit the purple Pokemon, knocking it out as well and into Greece and Egypt.

"Ow..." Greece said, the Skitty running off.

"Ugh... We got beaten..." Egypt groaned as he stood up. "How did we lose?"

"Here... Take it." Greece said as he threw America's treasure at him. "But this victory... was just a fluke!"

They ran off, holding their Pokemon in their arms.

"We did it! We got my Relic Fragment back!" America laughed. "I'm so glad!" He turned to Canada. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome." Canada laughed. "Let's get back to the beach."

xXx

Canada smiled at America's excitement. Really, he only helped because he just happened to be there but it was the right thing to do. It was nice to be appreciated.

America took about his Relic Fragment and showed Canada. "Here's what they stole. I call it my Relic Fragment. It's my one treasure!" America said. "I always liked myths and legends and I always liked learning about the mythical things that happen in this world!" America looked out to see with an excited smiled before looking back at him. "So when I happened to find my Relic Fragment, I made it my mission to find out its secrets!"

Canada looked closer at the rock, to see what was so special about it. He saw the strange pattern on it. He had never seen a pattern like it.

"It must have some meaning to it! I'm sure of it!" America continued. "That's one of the reasons I want to join an exploration team. I want to discover what this fragment means! Getting to save people and be a hero is a plus too! So earlier, I tried to join an exploration team as an apprentice..." America started to look down and Canada was worried what was wrong to cause such a mood whiplash. "But... I got scared. Some hero I am." America looked at Canada. "What about you? What are you going to do?"

Canada blinked, confused. What did he mean?

"You lost your memory and was knock out on the beach for some reason." America continued, seeing Canada was confused. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

Canada was silent. What was he to say? If he did have family anywhere near here, he certainly didn't remember them.

"If not, can I ask you something?" America asked. "Would you join me to make an exploration team? I think we would make a good one, Canada! So what do you say?"

Canada blinked, startled at the question. What should he say? He was getting recruited out of the blue. He didn't even know what an exploration team is... But it was true that he didn't have any where to go. Canada looked at America's hopeful face and sighed. He hoped this was a good idea. Who knows, maybe he will get his memory back by hanging around this nation that could be his twin.

"Sure. Let's form a team."

"Really?!" America smiled bigger then before and Canada suddenly felt he did the right thing. "Yahoo! Thanks! We're gonna make a great combination! Let's make this work!" America pointed to a building on the cliff that Canada could just barely see from the beach. "First, we need to go to Rome's place and sign up! There we can train to be a great team! The training will be tough... But let's give it our best Canada!"

Canada nodded hesitantly. What did he just get into?