Hey guys. :P

So I've been keeping this one up my sleeve for a while, but I love Pokemon. So since my LOTR story "See No Evil" has gone over so well, I decided to branch out yet again and make another story, this one focusing on Pokemon. This one was also inspired partially by another story called "The Adventures of Absol", which is really good. You should go check that one out. It's awesome. Anyway, I'm going to start this story now, which follows the life of one of my all time favorite Pokemon, a Zorua that will eventually evolve into a Zoroark, which is freaking awesome! XD anyway, here we go.

It's difficult sometimes to explain. The tightness in your chest. The way the breath won't enter into your lungs. The way your heart screams out in protest and your brain refuses to accept. This happened to me once, well probably more than once by now. But when I was still just a pup, it was hard to understand. I was young, and I thought that nothing bad would ever happen. I was ignorant to the world. But it did happen. And I was left to tell the tale.

It's not necessary that you should hear all of what happened then. But it is needed, so that you can understand my story. Events were set into motion on that day, that let me become what I am now. You see, I was not a Pokemon that was usually seen, even in my home region of Unova. I was a Zorua, nothing special. I was rather small for my kind, and not "shiny" as people call those of us who are born with different colors. I was just a normal Zorua. I lived in an old forest with my mother, and a few others that remained nearby. The humans had a name for it, but I never bothered learning it. I was a wild Pokemon. Humans didn't bother me, and I had no need to bother them.

Zoroark and Zorua tend to be rather shy and reclusive creatures, even from others of our kind. But the adult Zoroark had seemed to be growing more and more nervous about something, and so they began to gather together in one area, living in a sort of colony. Their illusions kept humans away, but other Pokemon that found us began to talk about how odd it was. Pokemon like us weren't normally very sociable creatures, and none of them knew what to make of it. At that time, I was only worried about making some new friends and playing.

But our "protection" didn't last us long. There was a group of humans then in the region known as Team Plasma. They came to our home and found us, even with the air heavy with illusions. They attacked us, and there weren't enough strong adults to protect us. These humans killed and burned, because they found some sick amusement in it. Then they captured as many of the young Zorua as they could and took us away. I didn't know how many had survived that attack. I only knew that my mother was not there and I was alone.

Sometimes in the night we would cry, a sound filled with pain. It was the only sound that those dumb humans could understand. They couldn't understand us at all. They beat us when we cried out. Then some of them came, the younger ones, and chose some of them. There were seven of us there. But then I really was alone. None of them wanted to take me for whatever plans they had for the others. I was too small. So one day they crated me and all of the other Pokemon up and put us on a boat.

It was full of such cries of torment and shrieking metal! The cages were too small. There was little light and no food or drink. I thought I was going to die. I thought it would have been a blessing then to have died. But I didn't.

One night though, the humans manning the boat weren't paying very much attention. Or maybe some thing hit us. I'm not sure. But I heard a loud bang and then I smelled flames. There was a lot of panic among the Pokemon. None of them wanted to die. I on the other hand would have been fine with that. But a Ponyta panicked and broke free from its chain, kicking my box open as she passed.

I couldn't ignore the panic in the air then, and I ran. I just wanted to get away, to escape the flames. I had decided then that I hated humans. They were careless and destructive. I didn't want to be anywhere near them. One of them started grabbing Pokemon and throwing them off the ship. He grabbed me too and threw me off.

I had never tasted salt water or felt its sting. But I didn't want to be anywhere near the boat, so I swam as hard as I could away from it. I never once paused to think about the man who had thrown me off of the boat. I just knew that I had to escape.

I wasn't going to make it to shore, even when I could see it so close by! Luckily for me, a passing Seaking saw me and took pity on the drowning Zorua. He helped me to shore, and heaving, I collapsed onto the white sands.

"Well there you are," he said. "Land at last. That was quite an accident. But I've never seen a Pokemon like you!"

"I'm a Zorua," I tried to explain, still coughing up water.

"A Zorua?" the Seaking asked, obviously not recognizing the name. "Nope. Never heard of a Zorua. What region do you come from?"

"Unova," I said. The water type Pokemon seemed very surprised.

"Unvoa," he cried. "That's a far journey! I've only seen Pokemon from that region brought over by Trainers. This is Jhoto, and these are the Sevii Islands."

I could only stare at him. Jhoto! I had heard tales of it from my mother, who had always made a point to tell me what she could. It was so far from my home! I had no chance of ever getting back now, and curled up in the sand, crying a little. The kind Seaking attempted to comfort me, but at last gave up and went away, seeing as he had other things to take care of.

There was a jungle nearby, and it was more comforting a sight than the sands, though it was strange too. I ran to it, and found a small tree whose roots I could crawl under. There were other Pokemon here, but they shunned me, because they didn't know who I was, and had never seen a Pokemon like me. So I lived here in silence for many years.

That was, until the boy came. It was obvious when he came, because humans are always so loud and clumsy! I heard another voice with his though as he came running through, and so though I hid out of sight, I was curious and stayed close.

The boy was an awkward age, around eleven or so. He had a big goofy grin plastered to his face, and bright green eyes. His hair was brown and seemed to be in a perpetual state of mess. He carried a bag at his side, and beside him ran, to my astonishment, a Maril.

I had seen Trainers and their Pokemon before, but only when they were battling. This Pokemon ran beside him, laughing happily and without a care in the world. She seemed to like him. I couldn't understand it. The only humans I had ever come into contact with were cruel and mean. But I couldn't help but admit that this boy didn't seem like the others. I couldn't help but not like him though. Not after all of that.

"Come on Silver," the boy cried. Silver? What kind of name was that for a blue Pokemon? She just laughed though and sped along after him.

"I'm coming," she laughed. "I love this place! The ocean's great!" I was even more confused. She was talking to him like he could understand her! It was insane!

"You like this place Silver?" he asked even though she'd just said that, proving my point. The boy scooped the Maril up into his arms and hugged her, and she hugged him back. "Good. Grandpa says we'll be here a while. I thought it would be nice to take a break from our adventure and come have some fun with Lucy for a change."

"Yeah," Silver the Maril replied. "Lucy's been lonely lately."

I watched, confused but slightly interested. I'd seen trainers before, but I'd always been taught to fear them. This trainer was different than any of the others I had seen! He didn't care about the power of his Pokemon. He wanted her as his friend. I scoffed at the thought. Humans being friends with Pokemon. They were only cruel. That's all I had ever seen of them. Silver heard me though, and hopped down, peeking under the tree at me.

"Hello?" she asked. I stared growling as menacingly as I could. The boy stepped forward as well and looked under the tree.

"What's that?" he asked dumbly. "A Pokemon? Woah, cool! I've never seen one like that!" He pulled out a strange little machine. I think I'd heard it called a Pokedex before, but I wasn't sure. He opened it and looked at it expectantly.

"Pokemon unknown," the programed voice replied. I continued to growl.

"What?" he gasped. "Unknown! Well, I'm pretty new at this myself. You must be from another region. What are you doing here little guy?"

He reached towards me, and I didn't want that at all. I snarled and bit his finger when it came close. He yelped in surprise and pulled his hand away. I instantly recoiled, remembering how the humans had beat me before when I had bit them. I curled up in a tight ball, still growling. The Maril instantly got angry with me, and started chiding me.

"That's no way to treat a trainer," she said. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Tom's a good boy. He didn't do anything to hurt you!"

"I don't care," I snarled back. "I hate humans!" She froze, seeming surprised by that. "All they've ever done is hurt me."

"Oh you poor thing," she said, pity filling her gaze. "You were abused. Did you have a trainer?"

"No," I snapped. "I'm still wild. But they kept hurting me, and they didn't want me because I was so small. Now I'm in the Jhoto region of all places! I just...I want to go home."

I couldn't help but start crying again, making a very sad whining and whimpering noise. But no Pokemon had talked to me in a long time, and even though Zoroark were solitary creatures, a young Zorua was not supposed to be. The Trainer, whose name I supposed was Tom, looked down at me and seemed sad suddenly. I felt the tiny paw of the Maril pat my head a little, and she looked at her Trainer sadly.

"He's so sad Tom," Silver said. "And so little. He can't be very old."

"H-Hey," Tom said, reaching towards me again. "It'll be alright. Don't cry. What's wrong?"

I felt his hand touch my head. It was a little bigger than my head. I flinched, but it wasn't a hard touch like it had been before with the other humans. It was much gentler. I paused a moment, wondering what was going on. I'd never had a human touch me that way before, without hitting me. But the old fear came back and I snapped at him. Anything to get him to leave me alone. I snarled.

"Go away," I cried. "Stay back!"

He pulled his hand away and looked at me a moment. I could see the pity in his eyes, and the pity in the eyes of his stupid Maril. I snarled and looked at her.

"I don't need your pity," I snapped. "From you or your dumb Trainer! I just want you to go away!"

"It's okay," Tom said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I didn't believe him of course. But I was being very clear in my message. You had to be with humans, and be very deliberate. Or else they wouldn't understand us. But he seemed too thick headed to understand, and simply sighed. He didn't leave me alone either. But at least the Maril had stopped patting me, and he wasn't trying to touch me anymore.

"It's okay," Silver tried to tell me. "We won't hurt you. Tom's a good kid. He's not like the other humans you've met."

"Go away," I growled. Suddenly Tom though, seemed to have a different idea.

"I know," he said. "I'll catch you! You need to see that humans aren't going to hurt you, and my sister needs her own Pokemon so she won't be lonely again. Besides, Grandpa was a Pokemon Trainer too. He'll know what you are. So how about it?"

"No," I growled. "I don't want to be caught by some human!"

"Come on," Silver laughed. "It'll be fun! You'll see, humans aren't all that bad."

"I don't want to be caught," I snarled.

"Too late now," She giggled. "It's time to battle. I hope you're ready!"

"Silver," Tom suddenly cried. "Use bubble!"

I yelped in surprise and leaped out of the way as the Maril sent bubbles flying at me. I hadn't battled in so long! But she only giggled, which annoyed me more. Usually I would have tried to run away, but this Maril was getting on my nerves. I turned back towards her and launched the first attack I thought of, Pursuit. I leaped forward quickly, catching her off guard and knocking her back. She leaped back up quickly though and giggled.

"You're stronger than your size suggests," Silver teased. "But I've been traveling and training. I'm stronger than you kiddo."

"Whoa," Tom gasped, stating the obvious. "Was that Pursuit? Are you a Dark Type then?"

"Yes you idiot," I snapped. "I'm a Dark Type. That's what Zorua are."

"Never heard of a Zorua before," Silver mused. "Oh well."

"Silver," Tom cried, pumped up now. "use Rollout."

She rolled up into a ball and then rolled at me. I tsked a little and dodged that as well. I may not have fought much, but I knew how to fight. I didn't see her change direction though and roll at me again. She caught me off guard, and I yelped as she hit me from behind. I landed heavily on the ground but stood up again. I was breathing a little heavier now, but I was enraged too. I snarled and turned back to her, glaring her down. I had used Leer, which lowered her defense a little. She rolled up into a ball and came at me again. This time I dodged both times she came at me, because she came with more force than she had before.

"Whoa," Tom gasped, seeming very excited. "He's fast, and he's pretty strong for such a little guy! Lucy will love him."

"I agree," Silver said with a smile. "But we have to catch him and get him to calm down first."

"Never," I snarled. "I won't be caught by some human!"

"Alright Silver," Tom cried. "Get ready to hit him again."

She got ready as I rolled my eyes. I could dodge her stupid Rollout. She wasn't going to hit me with that again. I leaped forward to use Scratch, hitting her multiple times with my claws, and then I leaped back in preparation for her attack. As I thought, she came at me with Rollout, which I dodged. Then however, Tom called something else out.

"Got him," he called. "Silver use Bubble!"

The spray of bubbles hit me right in the face, and I tumbled down to the ground with a yelp. I stood back up, but found that Silver was smiling at me and had backed off. Too late I noticed the red and white capsule flying at me. I tried to dodge it, but it shot out a red beam of light that sucked me into it, and there was a swirl of colors.

For those of you who have never been inside of a Pokeball, let me take some time to explain what it's like. First of all, when you are recalled, it tingles and you're surrounded by a red light. Then you're sucked into a Pokeball with the world swirling around you. It's disorientating a little bit. You're shrunk in size and put into a tiny parallel world that's full of darkness, with a safety release switch on the inside that's very hard to find, but used when needed. From the inside of the Pokeball, we can see everything that happens on the outside, with only the thin black line and button of the ball visible from the inside. We can also sometimes feel the body heat of people touching it, but only those with gentle touches. It doesn't hurt, and sometimes it can get a little boring if you have to stay in there for a long time, but it causes little more than an inconvenience to the Pokemon inside of the Pokeball, who would rather be walking around.

I however had never been inside of a Pokeball before, and I panicked. I tossed and turned, and I attacked the sides of the ball, not knowing then that I could look for the release switch. Most wild Pokemon didn't know of this. So they attacked, trying to rock the ball hard enough that it released us. I'd seen it done before by other Pokemon. But I had been weakened enough that though the ball rocked hard for a while and Tom and Silver watched it carefully, I couldn't get it out. With a ding the ball stopped rocking, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it to rock anymore. With a feeling of dread I realized that I had been caught. I was a domestic Pokemon now!

I almost wanted to cry then. I didn't want to be in the hands of humans again. I didn't want to be hurt by them again. I felt too like I had betrayed my mother, who had warned me against letting myself get caught. Before I'd thought that Pokemon were stronger, and that we could get away from humans, but then I felt very powerless. I snarled as Tom jumped up and down for joy and Silver ran over to the Pokeball. She pushed the button to release me and there was yet another swirl as I reappeared in a red light and glared at her and Tom.

"Alright," Tom cried. "I caught you! It says your a guy, so I'll need to give you a name hmm..." he paused a moment, thinking.

"Really?" I cried. "You've already disgraced me by catching me! Do you have to name me too? It better not be something stupid."

"It's fine," Silver giggled. "Tom's a good boy, and his sister's sweet. Their grandfather has all sorts of Pokemon too, and there's one that kind of looks like you, only bigger." This got my interest fairly quickly.

"A Zoroark?" I asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I've only ever heard her called by her nickname."

"I've got it," Tom suddenly cried, inspiration lighting up his eyes. "I'll call you Zero, since all unknown Pokemon are listed as the Dex number Zero in the Pokedex. Also, it sounds kinda cool. Don't you think Zero?"

"I do exist," I grumbled angrily. But I had to admit. I'd been caught, and there was nothing I could do about that now.

"Right then," he said. "Return Zero."

He held up the Pokeball and zapped me with the red light again. I was sucked into it again, and found myself muttering angrily and looking at him within his hand. He smiled down at me, that same stupid grin of his. He seemed very excited.

"Man, Lucy's going to love this," he cried. "I'm sure Grandpa will know what you are Zero. Then Lucy won't be so lonely, and she'll have a Pokemon of her own. Come on Silver! Let's go back to the vacation house!"

He started running, which was again very disorientating. At least I wasn't getting thrown around too badly in here. He ran as quickly as he could to a little house that had a dock by it, by a pier. I could see what I thought might be the mainland across the water, but it was very far away and kind of blurry. I sighed, wondering how I was going to do as a Trainer's Pokemon.

There was a man at the front door, and I looked up at him. He had kind brown eyes and gray hair, along with a gray beard. He had some aches in his joints, and I could see that well because of the way he was sitting. He wasn't a young human anymore. He was very old. But he looked up at Tom and gave him a patient smile. It reminded me of my mom. She gave me the same smile, no matter how many times I ran up to tell her I'd found something dumb, like a snake Pokemon. The thought both saddened and comforted me. I knew a kind person when I saw them, though it didn't mean I liked them.

"What've you got there Tom?" the old man asked.

"Grandpa," Tom cried with a smile. "I caught a Pokemon, and I'm going to give it to Lucy. I figured she needed a friend like Silver. He's really fast and strong. Only..." he looked down at me, and I found those pitying eyes again. "He doesn't seem to like people. I think he was treated poorly. He even bit me! But he was so scared. I couldn't just leave him. I think he needs to see that people are okay too."

"That's kind of you to try," Grandpa said. "And it'll be good for both of them I think. She needs a friend, and she needs some responsibility taught to her, even if she doesn't become a Trainer right away. She wants to though, and this will be good for her."

"Yeah," Tom agreed. "But I don't think he's from this region. I've nicknamed him Zero, but I've never seen a Pokemon like him. I figured you'd know what he was. Hold this for me Grandpa, while I got get Lucy. I want to surprise her."

Tom handed the old man the Pokeball, who held it very carefully. I could feel the heat of his hands. It was a comforting heat, and he was very gentle with the Pokeball, like he could tell that I could feel his touch. He began to hum a little tune, which was oddly soothing. I'd never heard anything like it before. Soon Tom came bustling back, and I saw my Trainer for the first time.

She was about nine I thought, and small for her age kind of like me. She had black hair that hung down to her shoulders, and a little streak of red across the bangs that laid across the left side of her face. Her eyes too were a bright blue. She didn't look shy per say, but she did look a little lonely. Her eyes had lit up with eagerness though. I thought her appearance was a little strange and oddly coincidental, especially since she was training a Zorua who, if you hadn't noticed, had the same coloration.

"Really?" Lucy gasped. "I get a Pokemon?" I rolled my eyes. Great, I just had to get the one that would be excited didn't I?

"Yeah," Tom replied with that goofy grin. "But you gotta be careful with him. He doesn't like people, so you're going to have to show him that it'll be okay. Alright? So be very careful. Don't scare him alright? He's not from this region, and I think he was abused."

"I'll be careful," she promised. Grandpa handed her my Pokeball, and she took it very gently. She smiled sweetly down at me, which I found both annoying and refreshing. "Let's see what you are, okay Zero?"

She pushed the button to release me, and I popped out gladly. I shook off a little and turned to glare at her, telling her as plainly as I could that I didn't like her and didn't really think I ever would like her. She just continued to smile at me. At least it wasn't that same goofy grin as her brother Tom's. Grandpa leaned forward and looked at me.

"You're right Tom," he said. "Zero's not from this region. He's from Unova, and he's a rare Pokemon to find even there, where he's native. It's because of the ability of him, and his second evolved form, which takes care of little ones like him." he reached towards me and I began to growl. He wisely pulled his hand away. "He also doesn't like people, so he was brought here by force, and obviously left. He's probably been abused a lot too, so you'll have to be careful with this little one."

"I will Grandpa," Lucy promised, and then rolled me a berry that she pulled out of Tom's bag. He let her take it, and I glared at it a moment. But I was hungry, so I quickly ate it and glared at her, though I couldn't hide the fact that I wished I had more. She smiled, and I growled at her a little.

"Now, he's a Pokemon called Zorua," Grandpa continued. "Also known as the 'Tricky Fox' Pokemon. Generally they have the ability to turn into other Pokemon and even sometimes people, though some can use a weak form of the much stronger version of this ability that is used by the adult forms of this Pokemon, creating weak illusions that can disorientate and show you something that doesn't exist. It's called the Illusion Ability, and it'll get stronger as he grows. He's a dark type Pokemon."

"He's so cute," Lucy giggled. I grew annoyed again. "I wonder why more people don't have little ones like him?"

"It's because of the adult form of Zorua," Grandpa replied, reaching into a bag for a Pokeball. "This Pokemon is known as Zoroark, the 'Illusion Fox' Pokemon. They're generally very shy Pokemon, and only live with a single Zorua until it's full grown. Thus, they're very protective of their Zorua. Not much is known about them because of this Illusion ability, making them very hard to find. They can even confuse cameras and other ways we have of finding them. You've met a Zoroark before. It's my Nina."

He threw out a Pokeball, and out came a female Zoroark. She made a purring noise to the two children, then looked down. She seemed to freeze as she saw me, and they all watched with interest as I looked back up at her. She crouched down low to the ground, so that her forelegs, which she would use more as arms than legs, were touching the ground and her chest was low. Her nose, with a snout longer than mine, was inches in front of mine.

"What are you doing here little one?" She asked.

"I don't want to be here," I complained. "I didn't want to be caught. Humans have always hurt me. I want to go home." She smiled kindly at me.

"Well this will be your home know," she said. "You belong to Lucy now right? Be a good little Zorua for her alright? She'll take good care of you. Not all humans are bad. You'll see."

I didn't want to believe her, but I wanted badly to feel the touch of another Zoroark. Anything familiar would do. I quickly ran under her chest and curled up in a ball, and she wrapped her arms around me as comfortingly as she could, purring to me. It was a familiar sound.

"I can see it now," Tom said, excited. "They look so similar!"

"Yes," Grandpa said. "And I think I'll leave Nina out of her Pokeball. It's more comforting to him, and it'll help him adjust to his new surroundings better I think. We'll just have to take it slow, and make sure he knows we're not bad people. I got Nina in a trade from a younger friend of mine. You'll take care of him for me, won't you girl?"

"Yes I will," she said, and he seemed to understand what she meant.

"Good girl," he said with a smile.

"He's going to be one awesome Pokemon," Tom said excitedly to Lucy. "Nina's super powerful! You're going to have an awesome Partner Pokemon! And look! He kinda matches you." She nervously flipped around with her hair.

"I-I guess he does," she said but with a smile.

I sighed, looking down. I didn't want to be a Trainer's Pokemon. But I wasn't too scared with Nina here. She was something familiar at least. And she didn't seem to mind them at all. I wasn't quite so homesick now that I had a Zoroark near me, but I still didn't want to have to listen to some human that would never understand me. But that's where I was now, and I didn't really have a choice anymore. I was determined at that point that I wasn't going to listen to her, no matter what she did. I wasn't going to be a toy for her amusement.

"Alright," Grandpa announced. "We've got to head back soon. We've got to go back to the mainland, and then go back Pallet Town. It'll take a while. But we'll leave Zero and Nina out of their Pokeballs until we get back. I don't think he likes it much in there. And we'll give him some first aide."

"That's okay," Lucy said cheerfully. "He can walk beside me, like Silver does with Tom. He doesn't have to go back in if he doesn't want to. Right Zero?"

I growled a little at her, but she didn't seem perturbed. She was determined to make a presentable Pokemon out of me, which only made me sigh more. Nina however continued to purr at me, and laughed a little.

"Don't worry," she said. "You'll get the hang of it soon enough. We'll be heading back across the ocean soon, and then you'll get to see your new home."

"Fine," I sighed. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it." I crawled up onto her back and laid down on her head, like I had so many times with my mother. She stood again and smiled.

"You will," she promised.

At the time, I didn't really think so. Funny how things end up working out though.

So what do you guys think? This has got a bigger story line to it as well, though it'll take a few chapters to get there. I hope you like the younger version of Zero though, and will continue to read. He'll grow bit by bit on this journey, just like Lucy will, and of course in the world of Pokemon they'll meet all kinds of crazy people and Pokemon! :D It'll get better eventually, I promise, but I needed to start off the story somehow. Obviously this is from his point of view, and I hope it'll get better and better to read as this goes along.

Leave a review below please to tell me hoe you think its going so far. ^^