Edit to summary: Suicune will come in in a chapter or two (depending on how you look at it.) Currently under editing.

"Hi Mom. Bye Mom." I yelled as I ran out the door. I heard her yell something about breakfast back to me but I was in too much of a rush to stop. I'd woken up this morning at 8:05, 35 minutes after my alarm clock went off. It was my tenth birthday today and I was supposed to go to Professor Oak's laboratory to get my first Pokémon. I was going to finally set out on my journey to become Pokémon master.

I got to the lab at half past 8 to see my rival/sister Lena leaving. She said hi to me but I didn't respond in my headlong rush. I could only hope that I wasn't the last person there, just barely too late to get a Pokémon.

Professor Oak greeted me with an apologetic smile and said, "I'm sorry Isaac but you just missed it. You'll have to wait until next year to get a Pokémon."

I groaned and begged, "C'mon professor. Isn't there at least one more Pokémon on the reserve?"

Professor Oak tapped his chin as he seemed to consider a serious matter. I perked up hoping that it was concerning my problem. When he finally spoke, anticipation was essentially dripping from me. "Well…. There may be one Pokémon. I was hesitant to give her up because she's remarkably aggressive. Would you be ok with getting hit repeatedly by a Pokémon until you manage to become friends with it?"

I nodded my head vigorously and said that I'd do almost anything to start me journey. The Professor smiled and gestured for me to follow. We passed through several rooms until he stopped us in a room with a small, round table in the center that had four buttons: green, blue, red, black-and-blue.

The professor walked over a pushed the black-and-blue button, opening a hole with a Pokéball in it. The professor smiled to himself, tossed the Pokéball to me, and said, "Go ahead. Open it."

I pressed the small button in the center that opened the Pokéball and released the Pokémon inside. The ball jumped out of my hand and opened with a red flash. It returned to my hand but fell to the ground as I made no move to catch it. All my attention was focused on the place where the light had hit the ground. Now instead of empty air, a Pokémon I'd never seen before was standing there.

Professor Oak chuckled as I stared at the Pokémon. It gave me a cursory glance before focusing on wiping non-existent dirt off its claws. Oak explained, "This Pokémon is called a Riolu. They're actually native to another region but I asked one of my colleagues to send it over. If you would, please take her on your journey as your starter Pokémon. Given that I'm transferring ownership to you she will likely hate you when you start off. Please excuse that for now."

The Riolu had jerked its gaze up when the professor said that and said in a feminine voice, much to my surprise, "Professor! You can't be serious. This child is just that. A child! Why should he be able to bring out my full potential?"

Oak ignored the Riolu in favor of explaining to me, "This Riolu's name is Sierra. The voice you heard was hers. She can use telepathy." Sierra harrumphed at this but otherwise stayed silent. "I trust that you will protect her like you're life depends on it."

I gulped and nodded my head aggressively. A moment later, a slight tendril of doubt slithered its way under my skin. "Professor," I asked, "Are you sure about this? I'm just a kid. Even Lena would be better suited to training Sierra."

Professor Oak gazed at me sternly as he said, "Isaac. I am entrusting Sierra to you because of that very thought. Whether you know it or not, you care about her safety, perhaps a little too much although I'm not sure that's a bad thing, and in time, she will come to care for you."

I blinked, clueless as to what he meant, before mastering my expression and nodding seriously. "I'll protect her as best I can and then some professor. You have my word on that."

Professor Oak smiled while Sierra rolled her eyes. "C'mon," she said, "If we leave now, then we'll be able to make it back to your house, get all your stuff, and I swear if you put me back in that Pokéball then the next time I'm out I'll beat the shit out of you!"

I shuddered slightly, making a mental note to not get on her bad side, while the Professor turned to Sierra and scolded her quickly for threatening me.

We said our goodbyes and turned to leave, stopping when Professor Oak an over to us with a bag of stuff. "Here," he said as he handed me the bag, "This will get you started on your journey. As far as the Pokéballs in here go, you shouldn't need any accept for type advantages. Trust me, Sierra will have your hide if you ignore her or put her in her Pokéball. She was only in it so that none of the new trainers were interested in her. Now, go on home to your mom. Tell her what you're going to do. Then go do it. If you two believe in each other, there's nothing you can't do."

I smiled at the professor and thanked him before turning, holding out my arm, and, seeing that she wasn't going to jump onto it, picking her up and putting her on my shoulder before walking out the door.

When I got home, Sierra was still in her snit so I said, or begged would be more accurate, "C'mon Sierra, at least pretend to trust me in front of my mom. Don't make her worry about how likely you are to actually protect me if we get into trouble."

Sierra harrumphed but nodded. I took this as the best I could hope for and walked in. "Hi mom." I said.

My mom was cooking lunch in the kitchen. At my greeting she turned to me and asked, "Hi honey. Was professor Oak nice? Which Pokémon did you get? Did you even make it there in time?"

I laughed and answered, "Mom slow down. Yes he was nice. No I didn't make it there in time for when he was giving out Pokémon to the new trainers. Yes I got a Pokémon."

The last two things seemed to confuse my mom. She asked, "How did you get a Pokémon if you made it there when he stopped handing out Pokémon? Which Pokémon was it? It must have been different if he didn't give it out at first." She seemed to have noticed the Riolu at that point.

I answered to this, "He gave me this Riolu. He said it came from another region. He didn't give it out at first because he didn't really trust any of the trainers to care for it more than they would their own safety. He asked me if I would protect her like she was my sister and I told him that I would. I actually gave my word on it. He seemed to consider it for a second before handing me a bag and sending me off. I came home to tell you all of that and that I'm leaving today. I'm going to the gym in Pewter City first."

My mom seemed to be quite surprise by what I'd told her. Two minutes of silence later she said, "That's great honey! What all do you have in their?"

"I have Pokéballs, Pokémon food, a few potions, some status cures, and….. A Pokédex! Wait. It has a note attached. It says, 'Isaac, use this Pokédex to catalog any Pokémon you come across. I'd like you to catalog them all though you don't have to if you don't want to. If you do decide to catalog them all, you don't have to catch them. All you have to do is point the Pokédex at a Pokémon and it will tell you their level, gender, weight, height, where other Pokédexs have cataloged the Pokémon, etc. That's really all there is to it. I'd suggest finding out what level Sierra is. A Riolu will evolve during the daytime if it is happy with its trainer.' I guess I have a little side task to do for the professor. I'll definitely do it along the journey because I'll come across plenty of Pokémon and doing it that way means I won't have to go back and find them later."

My mom smiled and shooed me out the door towards Pewter city after handing me a bag of money that she said would help get me started and that when in Pokémon battles with trainers the loser gives the winner a bit of money. As I walked down the road she called out, "Isaac! You should probably stop in Viridian City to get food and other supplies before you head on towards Pewter. Come visit sometime!" I smiled and waved back to my mom while she went back inside the house.

I spent about an hour trying to get Sierra to talk to me before we stopped for lunch. I went over to a shady area five feet or so off the path and sat down. Sierra hopped off my shoulder while I opened the bag my mom had given me in search of some food and the bag professor Oak had given me in search of the stove.

Once lunch was cooking, I went back to trying to convince Sierra to talk to me. To my surprise, she actually responded when I asked if she was ever going to actually open up to me or if a rock was going to be more conversational than she was.

"Of course I will! You just have to earn my trust first. I swear though, if you ever say something like that again I'll hit you over the skull with a stick." She threatened.

I flinched and replied, "Ok, ok. I won't say something like that again. How long will it take to earn your trust?"

She thought for a moment before answering, "At least until you prove your worth."

I frowned and asked, "How do I prove my worth?"

She replied, with a disturbingly sly tone, "I'll have to think about it."

I scowled but neglected to reply and instead got the pot of now-finished-food off the grill. I started to get some Pokémon food out for Sierra but blinked when she stole my food before I could even blink. She grabbed my spoon as well and finished half the plate in a matter of seconds before handing it back to me.

She explained without prompt, "I don't eat like a regular Pokémon. That gunk they make for Pokémon is barely fit for a Grimer. Pokémon like a Riolu or Lucario deserve far better food than that." I noted this and finished off my food before she could finish off the rest.

"I'll get more food when we get to Viridian City than." I said when I finished. I cleaned the stove and plates in a nearby stream and packed everything up before we moved on.

That night we camped in a small clearing about forty feet off the path way. After dinner was done, I asked Sierra about where she lived before moving to Kanto Region. I was secretly trying to get her to open up.

"I lived in Sinnoh before being sent here. My father actually wasn't a Lucario. In truth, my father was a Zoroark. They're beyond rare in Sinnoh. My mother had been off in the forest at night when she met my father. I happened. She never saw my father again." Sierra answered, a distant look over taking her eyes. Before she could continue, both our gazes snapped towards a bush off to the side.

-Thank TheEvilEye for telling me what the speech was-

"Prepare for trouble!" A male voice said from the darkness.

"Make it double!" A female voice added

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" A Pokémon added.

"Huh?" I said.

"Oh please. Are you really attacking us?" Sierra asked.

The 2 humans blinked and looked around wildly, trying to find where Sierras voice had come from. The Meowth jumped up and slapped both of them before pointing at the Riolu sitting next to me.

"Get it." He yelled. "It knows telepathy. The boss will love it for sure."

A dreamy looked crossed the man and woman's faces while Sierra rolled her eyes.

Meowth gazed hungrily at her, immediately setting me on guard. Before either of us could react, the trio pulled out a net and threw it on Sierra. They grabbed it and ran, cackling madly while I chased after them. I put on a burst of speed and threw myself at the net. I managed to grab it, causing it to tear open, but the Meowth used swipe at Sierra. I jumped in front of her, taking the swipe on my back. I arched my back in pain while Sierra looked up at me with a new look in her eyes.

An air of determination began to radiate from Sierra as I fell over to the side, not unconscious but also in too much pain to even move. Sierra held her paws up and a blue sphere of energy began to form and grow in front of her.

Meowth shook in fear while the two Jessie and James looked between the two Pokémon, a look of confusion crossing their faces. That look turned into a fear that matched Meowth's when Sierra looked up from the sphere she'd made. She thrust her paws in front of her, flinging the ball towards the ground right in front of the trio. The ball hit the ground and blew up, shooting the three would-be crooks off towards the mountains. "We'll be back!" I heard the girl say faintly as my pain blocked almost everything surrounding me from my mind.

Sierra came over and looked at me sadly. She sat down next to me and held a paw up against my heart. I saw her mouth move but couldn't hear what she said when a blissful peace over took me, sending me off into a dream-less slumber. Little did I know that changes that would overtake my body in the coming days.