The Duelist

Chapter One: The Beginning.

A/N: This is my first story. It is heavily influenced by various fan fiction writers. Hope you enjoy this story as much as enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or Harry Potter.

Old man Evan knew his place better than the back of his hands, he knew about the peculiar hole in the wall through which light finds passage only for twenty minutes every noon, he knew about the various degrees of sound he can make from the floor board as it creaks when stepped on, he knew about the overhead pipes that ran through the attic that would produce a sound akin to low keening wails that countless people have mistook for a Ghost Pokémon. Despite being decades past his prime his mind was still sharp, the rundown bookshelf that hosts a small collection of well worn books laid a testament to that, books he had read time and again in his life, books he now treasured, all things considered that was one of the few things that was left of him. He was a man of routine, not always have been but now he welcomed the monotony, everything was same in his life for past 6 years. There standing in his office of his home for many years he saw something that broke his routine.

A book was missing from its place, one of the few that didn't belong to him, a book he wouldn't have noticed gone if it was an ordinary one unless bending down to check the bottom most part of the shelf, an activity he was sure his aching back would never agree to. He could not see the book his grandson kept, the one he never parted with. It was missing from its place.

A sigh of frustration left his lips, he needed to get that back. He had a pretty good idea regarding who might have nicked it, it was common knowledge amongst the residents of Pallet Town, that a young child was seen often stealing from people, people never really complained because it was usually out of need, what the boy took was probably of no use to the owners, it ranged from leftover food, torn clothes, toys that have been thrown out once it broke or lost its coolness. The residents knew he was a ward at the local orphanage and what he did was never out of malice, people knew the boy did it for his fellow wards. It was the same heart that prompted the residents him included to provide funding as well as donate some belongings to the orphanage, he had seen the joy the children exhibited on seeing the donations, but what stuck with him was the boy, a boy of seven or eight, with unruly midnight black hair, he was of average height and thin like most orphans, what made him stand apart was his demeanor. Keeping watch over what was precious to him, he had seen strength in those eyes that he had witnessed rare few times in his life, those eyes spoke volumes of his character, reflected in those emerald green eyes he saw the eyes of a Guardian.

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The said boy was lounging by a small creek that ran through the forest, he didn't venture further into the forest and kept closer to the town, although calling it a town was bit of a stretch from what he remembered of massive cities of London and the likes. He was leaning against a tree watching the tranquil scene while leaving through a book, the tree provided a nice shade. Ten years into his into his new life, Harry liked it better than his previous one. He remembered his previous life as Harry Potter with vivid clarity, but most of the emotions associated with that life were muted, he could remember the life Harry had lived, but couldn't empathize with the wizard. He recalled the troubles leading up to and beyond the wars, after the war things never settled as many had hoped, the losses on either side was too much. Yet with unwavering and unyielding will he had pushed on, building Magical Britain step by step with his Brothers and sisters in arms, for the future generations discarding any issues, desires they themselves had. He had joined the Auror Department for a successful career finishing as a Deputy Chief Auror in seven years. What followed was a fulfilling time as a Hogwarts professor that ended with him as the Head of Gryffindor, what surprised many was his chosen subject, he had performed admirably as the Professor for Transfiguration when Minerva had stepped down as professor to concentrate more on being Headmistress. All things considered he lived a good life he was content if what little he could experience in terms of emotions said. He lived a couple of years after his wife had passed away, and on age of 142 Harry Potter, Man-who-won, boy-who-lived, chosen one, undesirable number 1, Professor, Auror, Friend, Brother, Husband, Father, Grandpa passed on to what he now knew was the next great adventure.

He didn't expect death to be this, he was not given an explanation on why he was here, no death to greet him in afterlife. He had to say that this place was a much better improvement than previous place, the town he lived in named Pallet town was a peaceful place, and the air was fresher than anything he was used to, the lack of countless automobiles and industries helped towards that, the water cleaner. Another thing he appreciated was the night sky, it was so clear the stars were not covered by layers upon layers of pollution he had never seen such a bright night sky even though none of the constellations seemed familiar from the half remembered Astronomy classes he had. What he found even more amazing than all of this was Pokémon, he loved Pokémon from the first moment of watching them, everything about Pokémon seemed wonderful to him, a fact alone that made him love this life more than anything.

With a start Harry bolted awake from his thoughts by something moving against his leg, on looking down he could see a small green colored Pokémon that looked like a caterpillar almost the size of a kitten, he could see a bright red antennae on top of its head and huge black beady eyes looking at him, from the trainer cards he have found at his disposal liberated from some bratty kid in the neighborhood, he knew this pokémon, it was a caterpie.

"Hello" Harry spoke softly, he knew how easily the pokémon got spooked, while his interaction with various pokémon was limited, the classes with Hagrid had helped in greatly in this regard. He thought that his old friend would have loved this world. The caterpie tilted its head to the right, observing the human before it and trilled a reply.

"I'm Harry, I live outside the forest" He explained to the bug pokémon, who looked at him with wide unblinking eyes, Harry had a feeling this pokémon was quite younger than the most considering the trainer cards said caterpie evolve within months, that was another topic that fascinated him since he heard about it, spontaneous changes called evolution. He looked down at the small pokémon closed his book and left it at his side and gently raised a hand towards it, slowly moving his hand he allowed the pokémon to track his movement, he placed a soft touch on the top part of its head, carefully avoiding its antennae and rubbed the pokémon, who seemed to like it if the leaning into his hands with eyes closed was any indication.

Smiling down at the happy pokémon he reached with his other hand to a leaf that littered the base of the tree, picking one up that didn't look half dry he offered it to the little bug who nudged the leaf with its head and tentatively took a small bite of it of which it seemed to like well enough and followed with finishing the leaf faster than Harry thought the little bug could.

With a chuckle, Harry lifted the bug and placed it on his knee, and started talking to it, he talked about how he lived at the orphanage all his life, how he was the second oldest at the orphanage and how he helped the kids there. When funds at the orphanage was low, he resorted to stealing, an act which he didn't particularly enjoy but saw the necessity in it. Harry knew that only reason he was not punished was because he only took what people didn't want anymore. At least with the new funds in place he didn't have to steal anymore, which prompted him to take a guilty look at the book laying next to him, he took that book because he wanted to learn more about pokémon, it was a rare book compiling the findings of various pokémon professors that had information about many pokémon of different regions. He tracked it by rumors and by asking questions masked as innocent queries of a child. He felt bad about stealing from the weary old man, but he promised to return it one day and pay the man back for the book, the book turned out to be a treasure trove of knowledge. With only basic education offered to the kids at orphanage he had to make do somehow. He had pilfered countless books that kids have thrown away in petulance, he had bought them all back to the orphanage and kids there loved them, the books ranged from mundane physics text to pokémon biology texts and one half filled pokémon coloring book which made Josie happy.

Looking down at the pokémon who wasn't making a noise for some time, he found that the caterpie had fallen asleep on his knee, with a small smile he adjusted the caterpie and leaned back against the tree to continue his reading. As he continued to read more he was fascinated by pokémon, his first encounter with one was a Persian that the matron had found near the orphanage. The Persian stayed with them at the orphanage and acted as a protector for the kids, though it was fairly anti-social, he remembered the matron telling Bella about how the Persian was a trained pokémon and was most likely abandoned by her trainer. He always liked the Persian, he knew the feline pokémon had a soft spot for the kids. Deciding to get some reading done Harry went back to his books, he was thankful he didn't have to wear glasses anymore, as his sight was perfect now. He had till evening to read.

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He was walking down the street, having said goodbye to the little bug pokémon , the sun had begun to set bathing the street in its warm crimson embrace, sleepy and content was what he would describe the town he lived in, cobblestone path that ran in various directions, white picket fences that marked the boundaries of cozy looking homes with a beautiful gardens, as he reached the centre he saw a small fountain set in the middle with some benches placed in a wide outer circle he always liked this place. Looking ahead he could see the windmill on top of the hill that acted as power for the Pokémon lab there, he had heard that the professor had a reserve built there for sponsored trainers and for his research purposes. Continuing on his way he saw some shops, selling groceries, pokémon items, the rest escaped his notice when he spotted the café that was opened a year ago by a newly moved in women, he heard that she was a single mother raising a boy, business seemed good for her, the café being packed with people, it was one of the few recreational places here. The other being the beach to the south that was a favorite places for all generations and some pokémon. Harry thought a trip to the beach should be made in the future.

As he kept on walking he thought about his being here, a world that was small compared to the previous in terms of population, a world he had come to call his home, when he had asked the matron about the nature of his birth she had no idea who his birth parents were, and just that he was found on the doorstep of the orphanage with the name Harry sewn into his quilt. He was quite happy about the fact as one of the few emotions he could feel about the wizard's life he led were about James and Lily Potter, he wouldn't have to replace them. He waved at the man who supplies milk from his ranch on his way, that man was always a friendly person, who has given him multiple bottles of milk countless times for free. As he approached the far end of the street he saw a building that was his home, the Pallet Orphanage a simple two storied building housing a total of seven kids, the house had a small front yard, and a small well cared for garden. Entering through the house he was greeted with lit interior, the cream colored walls he remembered helping paint a month ago, the wooden flooring that was showing signs of wear, it was a decent place. He entered the sparse living room, and went past the matrons office to the hall, he could see three children involved in various activities there, he called out a greeting and received acknowledgement from them, he knew the three boys were probably up to some trouble, they always seem to be, wearing a thin smile on his lips he climbed upstairs to the second floor, ignoring the first room that was locked, he opened the second door that lead to his room, a sparsely decorated room, the smallest one in the house, the walls were painted a light shade of green he didn't have any carpet on the floor to cover the worn hardwood, a rickety table faced the window through which he could see the sparse forest on this side beyond the backyard, he spied two girls playing some game on the yard. A couple of books and pens were neatly places on the table. He could see the trainer cards on the table. What a haul it was for him, the trainer card had basic information of pokémon from Kanto and Johto regions, a pretty useful tool in his opinion, a collection of books could be seen stacked on the floor ranging from various topics, a small bed set against the wall, quickly moving to his bed before Josie could find him he lay down on his bed for a well deserved rest. His bed was not the best one, but it was an improvement from his old cupboard and the spare room at the Dursleys.

He was pretty sure not five minutes have passed when a small weight jumped on his bed and woke him up, with a half smile half sigh he opened his eyes to see the smiling visage of a five year old Josie, she was the youngest of them all and seemed attached to him more than anyone.

"Harry!" squealed the young blonde haired pipsqueak. "Let's go color, you promised", this was said with pout that he was sure would melt most hearts.

"Where's Maya? Usually she helps you with colors." He asked knowing how much the other blonde loved helping the child color.

"Maya is outside playing with Bella" was his reply, he could see the pout worsening. She was an adorable little creature, with blonde hair and innocent light blue eyes, a tiny wisp of a thing.

"Alright, alright" Harry sighed. "And stop pouting, it looks ridiculous." Grumbling about having a talk with Bella about teaching innocent kids Harry went outside his room followed by a cheering Josie to help her color.

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After the excitable chatterbox had spent all her energy coloring he took her from the hall to the living room, he could see the remaining kids were glued to the old television set they got from the donations, and it was showing a pokémon battle. He had only witnessed a couple of battles and that too on TV, what he had seen had left him wanting, he didn't understand the point of battle, why did they hurt pokémon? For fame? For money? It was questions he had asked some of the residents and honestly he was not satisfied with the answers. Although the advancements in medicine and pokémon treatment from what he learned from others let him be relieved to know none of the majestic creatures would be hurt, he had learned pokémon could handle a lot more and recovered fast. A death in a league match was extremely rare. So Harry decided he would repeat what he remembered from being told he was a wizard, he went forward with a wide open mind, and accepted it for what it was.

He quickly moved to a spot near a brunette girl, quickly taping the girl on her shoulder to announce his arrival, the girl turned and offered him a smile as he settled next to her to watch the match; he could see Josie moving towards Nick.

"Who's battling this time?" Harry asked the girl next to him who was a year older than him as quietly as possible. He spotted the Persian curled up on her spot on a cushion idly watching the TV with what could only be haughty indifference.

"Last year's league final" The girl whose name was Bella replied. Eyes stuck back to the screen watching the exciting match.

Nodding his head, Harry focused on the screen he could hear the commentators describing the battle, taking strategies apart and explaining unknown moves to the viewers, he blocked all that and watched the match.

The green trainer was using a Feraligatr that looked to have taken some punishment already, it was panting slowly. The pokémon seemed to be strong from a single look, the scales looked tougher, the teeth that pointed out looked like claws, he was sure this pokémon was a beast in battle. The red trainer had just returned his pokémon which he could not see back, he had missed a good chunk of the match, they were down to last pokémon each, he could see the red trainer take a pokéball and whisper something to it, maybe a strategy or a prayer, he didn't know. With a flourish and a shout the trainer send his last pokémon.

"Charizard let's do this!"The kanto region fire typed emerged from pokéball with a roar to announce its arrival, the draconian fire type looked awe inspiring in his appearance, the bright flame and its size lent credence to his might, with a snarl Charizard looked eyes with the Feraligatr and let some flames loose from his maw. He quickly tried to recall the information from trainer cards, fearsome beasts were what he surmised.

"Hydropump, test him." was the green trainers opening order as the match official gave his signal.

Without any orders Charizard dodged a few opening shots by shifting and then took to the skies to dodge the powerful blast of water from his foe, the water type kept him in check with multiple low powered shots, with a snarl the Charizard met the next shot with a bout of flamethrower vaporizing the small stream of water and producing steam, seeing the steam and using it as cover the red trainer ordered another flamethrower. Charizard sent a torrent of flames down at his opponent.

The green trainer, who had thoroughly drenched the field near him, saw the opportunity called out "Mud wall."

Feraligatr stomped his feet and a column of mud rose up to take the flamethrower in his place, the drenched field proving useful for a creative technique Harry was sure took some effort to develop, the defense stood against the flames and froze into a brittle solid wall as the water evaporated off it.

"Feraligatr, use aqua tail"

"Dodge it Charizard." The water type swung its massive tailed swirling with water right into the brittle wall which shattered on contact and rose up to the Charizard whose steam had blinded him from the attack. Acting upon his trainer's voice the Charizard dodged to his left but was not fast enough and the projectile clipped his wings taking some damage and sends him spiraling.

It was with a snarl of anger that the Charizard righted itself with a flap of his wings and replied with a powerful shot of Dragon pulse, the bluish sphere of energy shot right into the water type causing it to roar in pain. Harry was getting more and more into the match, everything was a blur to him except the battle, he could feel the energy of the match, it was causing a stirring deep inside him, and he loved every second of it.

"Blizzard-3" The green trainer ordered his Feraligatr who took a breath and gather power and the eight foot beast roared and released a veritable cone of ice stream, a powerful move that might end this battle.

Seeing the danger the red trainer called a risky gambit. "Flare Blitz Charizard, full power" on hearing that the draconian pokémon began gathering energy, the tail flame rising high, he become shrouded in a cloak off flame and shot forward to meet the oncoming storm, a resounding crash saw the Charizard break the shield of ice and impact with Feraligatr, which threw the pokémon off its feet, when the smoke cleared it showed a barely standing Feraligatr and a heavily panting Charizard who took a large amount of recoil damage.

"One more time Feraligatr, Hydro Canon" The green trainer said with an air of determination.

"Meet it with fire blast" the red trainer was worried for his pokémon. The concentrated blast of hydro canon was midway when the fire blast was out to meet it, the water powered attack easily tore through the fire blast and struck the Charizard and sent it crashing.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Victory goes to green trainer."

The sound of the crowd through the TV was drowned by the sound of children screaming in excitement, Harry was happy to celebrate with them. His thoughts on the battle forgotten for the moment.

Dinner was a boisterous affair with children calling mock commands and acting out them, he could see Dan try to order Persian around, and all he got in return was a blank stare.

As night approached and Harry sat on his bed, he recalled being happy watching the match, by what he saw, in the battle he saw opportunity, he saw it as a duel, a battle of wits and strength, above all he saw the bond a pokémon shared with its trainer, he liked what he saw, he wished for the same camaraderie in battle and out of it, he now knew what battle was about, it was about Pride, Honor, he remembered various dueling competition he had participated as a wizard. No matter how much Harry had tried to deny it, battle was in his blood, he may have passed it off as aptitude but battles have made his blood sing, it was a core of who Harry was. That was the moment Harry decided to be a pokémon trainer, a trainer with a wizard's experience. An inconsequent battle paved way for the rise of the one of the greatest to walk among them, a Titan among the legends.

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As soon as breakfast was over he was back at his spot, near the creek, he had informed the matron that he was going out to read and asked Bella to keep an eye on the rest, and he knew she would be up for the task. He was sad for her, she wanted to be a Doctor and he knew it would be a difficult dream to achieve, he had promised himself he would help her achieve that dream somehow. The books he got her were devoured with a passion he had only witnessed in a half forgotten memory. Stretching back against the willow tree he opened the old man's worn book, he looked around for the caterpie he met yesterday, he couldn't find it near. With a shrug he went to read his book.

A good part into the book he understood pokémon better, he learned more about the sentient creatures than he knew, he was amazed to know how they adapted to external influences in ways humans are not capable off, he understood more about the creatures that shared this world with humans. They thought and processed information differently and applied it with vast instincts at their disposal. He was astounded to learn about the intelligence some pokémon possessed, the fighting spirit, and their drive. All of those from what he read made him love the majestic creatures more.

Harry slowly got to his feet. The sun's positioning allowed him to judge that noon was fast approaching, with facts about pokémon in his mind he decided to explore the forest more, maybe he will have a glimpse of various pokémon that called the forest home. He left the book under a makeshift safe he built using rocks near the base of the tree, he knew it would be safe there for now.

With that he walked up and along the creek that disappeared into the forest, many of the residents and the matron had warned him never to go inside the forest without supervision or without a pokémon accompanying him. Harry was not worried, he had something no one had, something that has served him all his life, something that saved his life time and again without fail. His magic.

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He watched with happiness as numerous Pidgeys flew above him, he could see the tawny birds flying and trying to outdo their brothers and sisters, he spotted a bigger bird than pidgey following him with its eyes, he supposed that might be a Pidgeotto the evolved form of a Pidgey. Dismissing him as a threat the larger bird gave a shrill cry and took off prompting the flock to follow the bird to elsewhere. Harry was happy with sighting the pokémon, he was some distance into the forest. The trees looked strong and tall they seemed to form an impenetrable fortress that acted as safe haven for many pokémon.

Walking down a path which he realized was going downhill, and if he guessed correctly was a little way off from the beach. He spotted various pokémon on his way till now, he had seen several rat like pokémon called Rattatas which soon ran to the bushes as soon as they spotted him. A tiny yellow and black mouse like Pokémon that had a mischievous air to it, a pink Nidoran and a purple Nidoran engaged in a fight. He liked what he saw, pokémon living in harmony with nature.

Soon he found himself at the base of the hill exiting the dense forest that had become sparse as he reached the exit, he took in his surroundings. He was right about the beach being nearby, well almost right. It was a probably around 2 miles away from where he was standing. What lay before him was a large dry patch of rough lands, he could see rocks strewn about everywhere, short grass sprouted sporadically. A small cliff was overlooking the land on the base of the cliff he could see a small pond and a smattering of trees. But what caught his attention was the herd of Rhyhorn lazing in the sun, barely 50 feet in front of him. He could easily count around five or six Rhyhorns that looked slightly smaller than the three foot Rhyhorn sleeping near the tree, baby pokémon he guessed. He spotted three more adult Rhyhorns watching the herd looking for threats. He observed the rhinoceros-like pokémon for sometime before deciding to move closer.

As he moved closer, one of the adult Rhyhorns spotted him and gave of a warning growl that sounded like heavy slabs of stone rubbing against one another, he stopped all movement and casually stood there hoping the pokémon won't get spooked. That approach didn't work very well for Harry as a baby Rhyhorn got angry for reasons that eluded him and decided to charge him.

Harrys' mind worked fast for a plan that didn't hurt the pokémon badly, he recalled how Rhinoceros followed a single line charge without much forethought and entered tunnel vision, he assumed this pokémon was like that and waited for the pokémon to get near. As it approached him, Harry took a lunge to the side easily avoiding the considerably slow Rhyhorn, which had crashed into the tree at his back. What he didn't account for was the Adult Rhyhorns to take offense to his hurting the baby and to start charging him. With a fierce cry the pokémons rushed towards him, the earth rumbling under their feet and throwing up dirt trails. Unwilling to hurt them, he took off on a run to the pond and witnessed the Rhyhorn that was sleeping was preparing a charge as well. Harry decided to rush the incoming Rhyhorn and put an extra bit of speed for his short sprint. The incoming pokémon moved faster than a pokémon its size should, he could see the force of nature rushing towards him, if that pokémon even clipped him it would be put him in mortal peril for sure. As soon as it neared him, Harry quickly changed directions and weaved away from the incoming Rhyhorn missing it by inches, allowing it to rush past him and slam into the Rhyhorns that were chasing him.

This window allowed him to rush past the herd and get to the side of the pond, with a source of water near him Harry was confident that the Pokémon won't trouble him. Showing almost no fear the Rhyhorns quickly shook of the impacts and rushed him. With no choice of peaceful encounter, Harry sighed and closed his eyes, reaching inside the well of energy inside him, he draw it outwards, the familiar tingle of power rushing up his veins was reassuring to him, thrusting his hand out Harry focused on the Banishing charm. The invisible charm left his hand and the force of magic left his body recoiling. The charm rammed right in from of the startled pokémon and ripped rocks and dirt right into their faces and send them stumbling. The Rhyhorns seeing a display of power from the human turned and ran taking the herd with them. Harry released a sigh of frustration while staring at his hands, his magic was not what it used to be, a banisher in his prime had sent a 30 foot giant flying during his career as Auror, and he seemed to tire easily as well, magic was harder to use here. Transfiguration being nearly impossible, he could perform a few charms easily, only facet of magic that worked well for him these days were his Occlumency, his shields were stronger than before now, Harry promised to work harder on perfecting practical magic later. With nothing more to do, Harry moved near the tree the Rhyhorn was using as shade and decided to have some rest, he knew he earned it.

X-X-X-X

What woke him up was a snarl of rage, deeper than anything the Rhyhorn produced, he woke up to see a behemoth of a pokémon standing before him. The bipedal pokémon was similar to a draconian rhinoceros, at least six feet tall. The horn on top of its head looked lethal, he noted a spike like protrusion on its head, though on closer look it appeared damaged, he supposed it might be an evolution of the Rhyhorn, its torso was protected by stone armour that was the very basis of its exoskeleton. He cast a vary glance at the massive tail the pokémon wielded, he would have to watch out for it.

'Ah shit, they've bought the big daddy' thought Harry as he saw the Four Rhyhorns he sent away backing the bigger creature, who he was now certain was an evolution, perhaps the protector of the herd. With a small flick of his hand Harry summoned the sand near where he was sitting and banished it across their face temporarily blinding them, the pokémon responded like he assumed with furious roars and stomps, the beast quickly recovered and slammed the tail where he would have been had he not been already moving when he prepared the banisher. It was a close call, the massive tail had ripped a deep gouge where he was sitting moments ago. Taking his chance Harry quickly moved near the river, focusing a deep breath he channeled magic to direct the water to rise, a thin stream rather than the massive burst of water he was expecting rose and he directed it at the beast. The stream did its purpose of hurting the pokémon and making it wary of attacking him. He watched the beady eyes of the creature as it ripped a piece of rock from the ground and hurled it at him. Thinking quickly Harry pooled his magic and hoping it would work called his protego charm forward, it worked better than he had imagined. A rectangular pale translucent shield in light blue color rather than the transparent shield he was used to sprung forward and blocked the rock easily. He could see the bewildered gazes of the rock pokémon in front of him. With an angry rumbling snarl it bought an even larger piece of rock from the ground and prepared to hurl it at him.

A roar that quickly echoed through the clearing that came from the cliff stopped the pokémon from hurling the rock. Startled Harry looked up to see a sight he found comical. A blue colored pokémon had hurled itself of the edge of the cliff, it was roaring mightily as it fell, the pokémon seemed to be flapping its arms wildly as though it would gain flight. He saw the Rhyhorns scampering away in what he recognized was fear while the beast still holding the rock faced the flying projectile.

The suicidal pokémon slammed right into the beast, aided by gravity the rock armour the beast had cracked in multiple places and it fell down knocked out and kicking up dust nearby. The small pokémon in comparison emerged from the dust looking dazed and announced its arrival with a victorious snarl. Harry was impressed with this pokémon for being alive and providing him an assist in taking the beast down.

The remaining Rhyhorns charged the pokémon taking advantage of its dizziness, previous apprehension forgotten. The pokémon that stood under two feet had a domed head that must be harder than steel, with a single hit of its head the pokémon knocked a Rhyhorn out, it was a one sided slaughter. A Rhyhorn decided to blindside the small pokémon and rushed it from behind, this broke Harry out of his stupor, chastising himself for freezing in middle of battle he performed another banisher on the short legs of the Rhyhorn that made it stumble, allowing the blue pokémon to ram its head into its side and knocking it out. The remaining Pokémon chose to run back leaving the beast down.

Harry released a relieved breath. He wasn't sure how long he could've continued to battle, this body was proving terrible for some branches of magic. He chose to look at his companion, on a closer look the Pokémon stood close to two feet in height. It was a bipedal creature, predominantly dark blue in color, it had a cream underside as well. The dome on its head had three thick gray spiked ridges that ran along its spine protecting the creature's neck. It had three sharp claws on each foot, the short stubby arms ended in dull claws. Harry didn't know which Pokémon this was, being familiar with the entire list of pokémon from Kanto and Johto, he deduced this might be a Pokémon from another region. What struck him the most was the intelligence he saw in its amber eyes, the Pokémon was no mere beast, it was more intelligent than most humans, and there was pride in its eyes. Though it seemed to be painting softly, the freefall and subsequent fight might have caused the Pokémon some damage. As he was about to establish a rapport with the creature, a force akin to an earthquake hit him causing him to tumble and nearly loose his balance, a quick instinctual pulse of magic kept him steady. Looking down at his companion he was not surprised to see the pokémon had fallen down and was now struggling to get back up with trembling legs, the blue pokémon snarled angrily and looked for the source of the attack. What they found was the previously fallen beast rising from its prone position, he could see deep cracks in the Pokémon's armour. The beast turned murderous eyes at the duo and roared a terrible sound that promised retribution.

Harry did the one thing that was safe at the moment. "Run!" he screamed at his companion pokémon who despite its anger had chosen the rational action to run from the beast, proving his earlier thoughts on its intelligence.

"Aim for the trees, going uphill might slow the thing down!" he said to his companion feeling calmer then a moment ago, he saw the blue pokémon running on its short legs as fast as it could. He could feel the beast had given chase from the tremors it caused, the anger was causing the pokémon to make mistakes. As soon as they entered the tree lines he turned back and sent a blasting charm at the beast which clipped its shoulder providing breathing room for the two. Soon he was panting hard as exhaustion of using magic and the run uphill was taking a toll on his body, he could see his companion struggling with the climb as well. As he paused to breath after running for quite some time, he looked at his companion asked "Think we lost it?" the pokémon listened for a moment and shook its head no.

"Ah hell, I'm tired of running, are you ready to fight this thing, the vantage point will aid us." Harry asked his companion.

A nod and a snort of purple flames that trickled out of its maw was his reply, he could see the sharp teeth the pokémon possessed as well.

"Get ready, I will shield us" was all he said when he noticed the rumbles growing stronger. The blue shield sprang up before the volley of stones could reach them, the beast had attacked even before they were in sight. The shield buckled under the force but stood strong, with a grunt of effort he gave a nod to his partner who seemed to be focusing on something.

With a ferocious roar that sounded draconian in nature the little pokémon released a stream of purple energy from its open mouth that impacted the beast as it came to view and caused it to roar in agony. He was in awe of the little pokémon, it had packed a powerful attack in its small body.

"Great shot" He praised the heavily panting little pokémon, who he was positive looked happy with his praise. They watched with horror as the beast slowly shook off the powerful impact and shakingly stood to its full height and charged them again. Harry knew that his companion pokémon was tired and didn't have any more attack left in it, so he did what he thought to be best. He dug deep into his core and sends a powerful banisher at the small pokémon, which looked at him wide eye as he sent it flying towards left of where they were standing. He saw the pokémon tumble in to the bushes away from him. With no further thought he shot the beast a smirk before he turned and ran, knowing the beast will follow him and leave the pokémon alone.

A mad sprint uphill saw him put as much as distance between the beast and his companion, the rumbling cry confirmed that the beast took chase after him, soon he would be tired Harry knew that, at least the blue pokémon will be saved, he liked that pokémon it had a heart of gold.

"Leroy, stop the Rhydon" an unfamiliar voice called out from before him, he saw a streak of purple that passed by him by a flash and struck the beast which he now knew was a Rhydon, the resulting crash send the Rhydon crashing and knocking it out for good. As he observed what was supposed to be a purple mass moving out of its powerful attack, he saw a magnificent pokémon that looked like a grown lion. The major share of its body was a dark blue, bluer than his battle companion and the remaining portion was black, the royal blue mane provided the pokémon a regal appearance, as it slowly stalked its way towards the trainer every movement the pokémon made was calculated. It was the prowl of a predator that knew its strength, as he met the Pokémon's eyes all he could see was a kind and regal bearing of a just king.

He recognized the trainer that the pokémon stopped in front of, it was the old man who he stole from. The six feet tall completely bald headed man was pretty easy to recognize. Try as he might his eyes kept returning to the majestic pokémon that had sparks present at the end of its tail, he really wished to know what pokémon it was.

"He's a Luxray, not common to Kanto" the old man had answered his unasked question, his face soon twisted in to a snarl. "Don't you have any sense boy, running into wilds without a pokémon or with a trainer, you're lucky Leroy tracked you easily." The man exploded at him, he seemed to take a deep breath to calm down. "Enough of that, I don't have it in me to care about you now. Tell me boy, where is my book?"

"It's not with me right now" Harry replied although irked by the use of the name boy. The old man though frail had a fire within him that didn't agree with his appearance.

"Well go and get it, now. And tell me why you stole my book?" The old man demanded him, at his side the Luxray was looking stoic and watching Harry.

"I wanted to know more about pokémon and understand them better, your book was one of the limited ones that exist which is a collection of works from different professors, I am sorry for what I did, I will return it as soon as possible" Harry replied as quickly and earnestly as possible.

The old man stared at Harry, he looked into his eyes. After a few moments deliberation the old man seemed to have found something and offered a miniscule nod in his direction. "One week. I will give you one week with the book. After that I want it back at my house in same condition as you took it. Do you understand me?" Old man barked at Harry.

Nodding vigorously Harry accepted the proposal. "Thank you sir." Was all he could make out before the man cuffed him on his head.

"Come along child, that's enough adventure for today. Leroy lead the way" With that the old man turned away and started to walk, the Luxray released a small grunt and started moving ahead them in the direction of the town. Yet Harry stayed for a moment, feeling a gaze on him he turned and saw his battle companion observing him. In the heat of battle he had forged a connection with that pokémon, they were in sync with each other, there was bond between them now, and a bond he recognized was much stronger than a familiar bond could be. He could see it in its eyes, the pokémon had acknowledged the bond between them, and Harry knew he gained an invaluable friend in that instance. With a quick nod to the pokémon promising him to visit the next day Harry ran up to join the old man all the while the pokémon watched him go.

X-X-X-X

He was thankful that the old man didn't mention his little trip to the forest to anyone, especially the matron. With his mind elsewhere he went through the remainder of the day at the orphanage taking everything absentmindedly and as soon as he was alone at night, he sat in front of the table and under the light from an old table lamp he began leafing through the book he had retrieved before going to the orphanage. The old man had a strange look in his face when he saw the book in his hand. He needed to find that pokémon, he knew it had a part in his life. Even though he was sure that the pokémon was not of kanto origin he searched that list just to be thorough.

After a good long hour of searching he found the pokémon, what he found let him be further in awe of the little pokémon. Under the picture of the blue pokémon was a name he saw for the first time.

Bagon: The dragon Pokémon.

Thanks for reading.

Edit: Special thanks to a reviewer who spotted the disparity in Harry's age. Yes, initially it was eight, then I changed it to ten.

The bit with Evan was intentional.