Hiya, Scott here again. I finally had inspiration hit me again, this time based around Pokémon, believe it or not. I wonder what the public will think of my latest attempt at a decent fic. At the start of every chapter, up here I'll comment and feedback on reviews. Anyway, here it is- Chapter 1.

Team Aero: Rayquaza Hunters
Chapter 1: Old Friends

After checking up in his PokéNav on the number of the Professor, Talon set it to dial him up. He had found something that Professor Birch might find rather interesting indeed. The voice of the renowned Pokémon expert came fuzzy through the speakers.

"Hello? Is that you, Talon? Where the heck are you, the reception is awful on my side!" the Professor said.

"Yeah Professor, it's me. I'm in a cave right now, lucky I got through at all.Doesn't look like it's gonna hold out for long, so I'll get on with it quickly. I've found something you might be very interested in, and for some reason, I wanna know about it too."

"What? What is it Talon, you've struck my curiosity now; it'd be cruel to keep me hanging on tenterhooks!"

"Ack… Something's coming, gotta go... Get back to you at the Center, Prof. Bye!"

"Grr... Hurry up then, I'll be waiting!"

-beep-
Talon turned off his PokéNav and turned toward the way of the cave exit. Little did he know that he was walking closer to the "something" from earlier: a very large, wild Onix. Its rocky face had chunks missing, probably from tussles with other Onix, and it made it look all the more intimidating. It must've been curious to all the weird beepings and sounds from Talon's earlier PokéNav conversation.

"Bugger. Houndoom's still weak from all the other wild Pokémon to fight this beast of an Onix… I knew I should've bought more Potions before I came here…" Talon said to himself. He thought of making a break for it, but remembered Onix could burrow over 40 miles per hour. He was close to the exit, as he could see moonlight rays peering out from behind the monstrosity. He considered all the other possibilities, even one which made him laugh, involving using the old "Look over there!" tactics on the Onix and scarpering.

Yes, he was kind of at a loose end here, and he kicked himself for letting himself get in such a situation. He was supposed to be taking the League Championship, and with mistakes like these, he wouldn't be cutting it soon. Shaking off these feelings for a moment, he decided to risk making a run. He wasn't too far from the exit-
Out of nowhere, the Onix's tail swung through the dark, Talon just noticing it in time to dodge it. The tail crashed into the side wall of the cave, causing a thunderous noise.

"W-Whoa… Okay Talon, relax… It could've been you, but it wasn't." he said, trying to calm his breathing down. That had given him quite a shock. "This isn't good for my heart." he added jokingly. The Onix readied another swing, but Talon was too tired to dodge it- Both he and his Houndoom had had a very long exploration through this cave, and both were worn out.

Talon jammed his eyes shut and braced himself for the crushing of a bone or two, but no such feeling came. He opened his eyes slightly to see that a rather large Sneasel was actively taking on the Onix…
"-and winning… I only know one Sneasel that size and strength." He said, grinning. He turned slightly to find a familiar person calling orders to it. Sneasel's claws glowed a light blue in the darkness of the cave and it slashed at the Onix with full speed. The Onix gave a roar of disgust and pain and quickly slithered away in the best way possible for a rock snake.

"Good going, Sneasel, you finally got that Ice Punch mastered." The Trainer said, as Sneasel ran back to him. "Finally tracked you down… I heard from your mom and the Professor that you'd left to help him and I've been looking for you ever since. I guess I arrived with a flashy entrance, just as I hoped." He said to Talon, smirking.

"I guess so. Why were you looking for me anyway?" Talon replied.

"Well, I wanted to come with you from the start, but you were too anxious to get out there. I had no idea which way you went after you left."

"Looks like we've teamed up right now eh? Finally. You should've told me back at the lab, Dan!" Talon laughed, greeting his best friend for many years, Danus Katskil. After everything that just happened, Talon was surprised to find himself yawning loudly. "God, I'm beat. If I remember correctly, there's a Centre just outside the cave, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, come on Talon, you're knackered. Surely you didn't make it through this cave in a day?" Danus asked.

"Yep, and I found something which you might want to look at when we get back." He nodded, grinning and gesturing to his backpack. The two friends made it out of the cave into a little forest clearing. Talon could hear the sound of the waterfall that he had passed in the cave earlier that day roaring behind him. A little further on along the woodland path they finally came across the gatehouse to Ecruteak City. Talon breathed a sigh of relief as the gatekeeper let him through to the city, the Pokémon Centre just ahead.

"Finally, Houndoom and I can get some rest…" he said, as they walked through the automatic doors of the Centre. He quickly handed over one Pokéball to recuperate, and checked in for a room himself. "That's that done. I'll just wait around for a moment, so I can pick up Houndoom before I go to bed." He told Hideval, getting them both a drink from the machine. "Shouldn't you get Sneasel healed too?" he asked.

"Nah, Sneasel just needs a night's sleep, and he'll be fine. He's got some stamina, I tell you." Danus explained, while Sneasel nosily looked over a nearby Trainer's shoulder to watch him feed his baby Pichu.

"I guess you're right. He doesn't seem tired at all, more bored than anything." Talon said, chuckling as Sneasel sat down by Danus, sighing with obvious boredom. He kicked his feet out like a small child would do on a chair too big for them.

"Snea…" it said.

"I know mate, but not everyone here is in the same league as you. Most of them are normal and need sleep." Danus said, looking over to his Sneasel, grinning.

"…Snea? Sneasel snea?" asked Sneasel, sounding rather offended. He didn't give Danus the time to explain. As he opened his mouth, he was greeted by a light version of Beat Up in the face, making him fall off the chair. Sneasel hopped onto the table, looking victorious, Talon trying his best to keep a straight face.

He yawned again, and was interrupted by the nurse. He walked to the reception and took Houndoom back, who immediately jumped out of his Pokéball, appearing beside Talon. He stretched low, first his front legs, then his hind legs, before shaking it off. He growled his disapproval of being kept in his Ball for so long, but nevertheless, his tail wagged. Talon grinned and knelt down to give him a little pet on the head.

"Hey you. You did great today, and I didn't expect you to hold out all day like you did. Let's go rest, yeah?" he said, to which Houndoom wagged his tail faster, batting against Talon's leg as he got up to his feet again. "See you guys tomorrow, kay?" he said to Danus, who nodded. "Night mate."

And with that, he headed into his room, and was asleep within five minutes.

Talon was woken up in the morning by the sun glaring into his face off of a mirror on the opposite wall of his room. He groaned and turned over onto his side, trying to drop off again, while dodging the sunlight. It didn't seem to work however, and Talon gave up. He sat up in bed and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he noticed Houndoom had slept curled up on his bed sheets beside him. He smiled and decided to let him sleep as he washed and got ready for the day. Let sleeping dogs lie, especially evil fire-breathing ones…

By the time he had finished in the bathroom, he could see Houndoom stretching on the bed, before hopping off to greet him, trying to jump up.

"No Houndoom, I've already told you, it's against doggy rules to jump up." He said with an expression that mocked one of someone's parents to a child who had done something wrong. He quickly squatted down and gave Houndoom the attention he wanted, and he was satisfied with a quick stroke or two along his back. He got up and checked himself in the mirror. Talon could be considered a guy that girls would call "cute", which sometimes annoyed him, as many girls he had liked couldn't take him very seriously. He had short black hair, with bright blue eyes that flickered out from between the strands of hair that covered them. He had a European look in his features; Firm, strong-looking and resilient, which Talon could thank his father for. His eyes came from his mother though, which his grandmother never tired of reminding him about. He had a fairly athletic build, not particularly muscle-bound, but quite fit and in good health. He was currently wearing a red short sleeved T-shirt with a thin white stripe across the chest, and a long-sleeve white T-shirt under it. He was also wearing his favourite black jeans and black sneakers with white stripes. Like most Trainers, he kept his Pokéballs on a simple belt around his waist, although it just kept Houndoom's empty Pokéball on it. Seventeen, with one Pokémon. True, it was quite a strong one and it had evolved, but at seventeen, after seven years of being a Trainer and only having one Pokémon make him feel weak. Houndoom's aforementioned strength made him forget about that once they were in battles.

He messed around a bit with his fringe, trying to move it away from his eyes for a bit before giving up and grabbing his backpack. After checking that he had everything, he called Houndoom to follow him and left the room, heading into the reception area of the Pokémon Center and sitting by the doors.

Right then guys… Chapter 1 is through, and now you know about Talon.
What about this Danus character? And what of this strange interesting thing? Some explained in Chapter 2, reviews appreciated!