Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or anything else, just the plot of this story. I make no money from this so now that my ass is covered here is the story.

Chapter 1: The Past

It was around noon in Fuchsia City. The streets were buzzing with tourists and trainers alike, taking in the sites and enjoying the fine summer day. On the top of the local pokemon gym, two children sat while playing with a small venonat.

"So tomorrow you get your first pokemon and start on your adventure, right Ray?" asked the purple haired girl.

"Yup, I can't wait, and my dad is coming home to see me pick my first pokemon." said Ray as he looked out over the city.

"Oh." she said quietly looking at the boy. Sensing a change in her voice Ray turned around.

"What's wrong Janine? You going to miss me?" he said in a teasing tone.

"What? No I'm not going to miss you." she said with a faint blush. "It's just going to feel weird without you here."

"Come with me."

"Ha, you know I can't."

"I know." he sighed grabbing her hand "I'm going to miss you too."

"I-I never said I was going to miss you." she stuttered looking into his gray eyes.

The venonat silently giggles as she watched the two slowly lean forward. Their lips almost touching when a puff of smoke caused them to jump apart and the venonat to run behind the kids.

"Janine, lunch is ready." Koga, Janine's father, said standing in the clearing smoke with a venomoth hovering next to him

"OK dad... Come on Venni." she called to the venonat.

"Hmm? What the?" Ray questioned as he felt something shaking his leg. Looking down, he sees the small venonat.

"Hey, don't be afraid" he said picking up the shaking pokemon "Someday you will be bigger than her, okay. You are going to grow up big and strong, then she will be the one shaking."

"You are going to be one hell of a trainer kid." Koga thought to himself, watching the boy cheer up Venni with a small smirk.

"Now go eat a good meal and train hard Venni." Ray said while putting her back on the ground. He watched as she ran to Janine and they both ran down the stairs.

"You know, for a ninja master, you are very loud." he said turning to look towards the Safari Zone

"Well" Koga chuckled, walking towards Ray, "if I remember right, the last time I was silent you called me a creepy bastard." he finished placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Well, you are." Ray quipped.

"Thinking about sneaking in again?" Koga asked incredulously.

"I have to go say goodbye to the Chansey there. Could you imagine how disappointed they would be if I didn't?"

"Haha, yes, you wouldn't want to get them upset with you for leaving unannounced. Leave it up to a kid to befriend a whole group of chansey and Baoba can't. You are going to be one great trainer. I'll look forward to when you seek the Soul Badge. It will be a great battle, it will be one that I hope would challenging for the both of us."

"Thanks, I better get going. I got a lot to do before I can go. See you later Koga." Ray said, walking to the stairs.

There's definitely something special about him." Koga thought to himself as he watched Ray from the roof, making his way home.

Ray walked the streets, glancing at the trainers eating lunch with there pokemon. Pokemon of all types were eating with their trainers, including fire types, dark, flying, poison, and a few dragon types enjoying being with their trainers. The city had grown a lot since the Safari Zone opened. Many cafes, hotels, and shops of all kinds lined the streets, all catering to trainers and tourists alike. While passing a small café, he heard three guys talking about fishing when a voice called out to him from behind.

"There you are Ray! I have been looking for you."

"Hmm, oh hello Office Jenny." Ray said as he turned around to greet the teal haired police woman, noticing the absence of her normal cheerfulness. "What's wrong?" Ray asked with worry.

"Oh, nothing." she replied, forcing a smile. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

The two walked in silence for nearly ten minutes, passing a small park with a family enjoying a small picnic. A pained look flashed across the young officers face. Ray noticed this and decided to break the uneasy silence between them.

"Ok, what's wrong?" he asked, causing Jenny to jump. "You are usually talking my ear off about your family, or how some trainer thought breaking into the Safari Zone would be easy. Even growlithe has been quiet. Now tell me what's wrong. Did my sister get crushed by a snorlax or something?"

"No, not now." she said, thinking of a way to tell him. "When you get home, you will find out."

"Is my dad is home already?" Ray asked cheerfully as they neared his home.

"Ray, try to be strong for your mother." Jenny said weakly once they reached their destination. "You need to be stronger now than you have been before."

Ray walked the path up to his house. Everything seemed quiet and still. He heard quiet sobbing once he reached the door. He took a deep breath before he opened the door and entered his home, finding his mother crying on the stairs.

"Oh, honey come here!" his mother said and grabbed him in a big hug.

"Mom what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Daddy died."

The next couple of days past like a haze for Ray. The gym leaders of Kanto, the Elite Four, Baoba, Professor Oak, even the president of Silph Company was at the funeral. Ray wandered around, people were seeking him out to shake his hand and give their condolences. A rather large group of businessmen were shaking his hand when a kind old man rescued him from the group.

"I must apologize for my associates." The old man said. "They looked up to your father, we all did. His talent will be missed. I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ja..."

"James Haymich, president of Silph Company." Ray interrupted, catching the Silph Co. president off-guard.

"Well, you certainly are well-informed. I take it that you know that your father worked for me with the..."

"With the goal to improve pokéball technology with the ultimate goal of making a ball that would capture without fail." Ray finished.

"Well, I'm impressed. You seem far more informed than most of my employees. Your father spoke highly of you, said that you're a genius like no other." James stated with a smirk.

"Well, not really." Ray said scratching the back of his head. "I was going to help him by testing his prototypes in the field and give feedback on them once I was a trainer, but now, I don't know what to do."

"Do what you want to do. Listen to your heart and you will find the answer. If you have half the brain your father said you had, there's a research lab back at headquarters with your name on it." James said with kind smile.

"Thanks but, I don't know what I want to do now."

"You don't want to be a trainer?"

"Not really, I really want to be a ranger more than a trainer."

"Hmm, well what ever you do in your life make sure you give it your all." James said as he left.

Ray thought about what he was told as he wandered around. After about thirty minutes, an idea formed in his mind and he went in search of Baoba. He went outside to search and found him sitting on a bench, far from the crowd with Chrissy, his father's dragonair. As he neared them, the dragon pokémon lifted her head.

"Hello Chrissy, Baoba." Ray greeted them

"Oh, hello there Ray" Baoba gently said as Ray sat next to him. "I wondered when I was going to see you. There's something I have to ask you."

"Oh, what's that?"

"Well, it's about Chrissy here. It seems that your father left her in your care now." He stated, pulling out a green pokeball and handing it to Ray.

"Wow, but it's not really up to me though, it's up to her." Ray said as he turned to her holding out the pokéball. "Well girl, do you want to stay with me or to return to the wild?"

Chrissy made her way over to him and looked at the pokéball with tears formed in her eyes. She looked to the sky and let out a cry.

"Well, if that's what you want then." Ray solemnly said, opening the pokéball and snapping the crystal inside, releasing her into the wild. "Take care girl."

Chrissy gave one last soft cry before she took off into the sky, leaving behind a blue gem. Ray picked it up and stared at it for a while. His trance was broken when Baoba quietly coughed.

"Looks like she left you a final gift there. That was a very mature choice you made. You are well on your way to becoming a first-class trainer, if you keep acting like that." Baoba stated.

"That's what everyone's been saying." Ray quickly replied ask he walked away leaving Baoba.

Ray walked though the crowds half halfheartedly listening to them as he passed. It wasn't until he heard his name called out by Professor Oak that he stopped his wandering.

"Ah Ray, I have been looking for you." Prof. Oak said as he lead Ray away from the crowd. "Now I know this isn't the most appropriate place to discuss this, but I understand if you want to delay the start of your pokémon adventure."

"Well Professor, to be honest with you, I can't leave my mom like this." Ray looked towards his mother, sitting on a bench crying with his sister next to her, comforting her. "The thing is, I've never really wanted to be a trainer. I want to help pokemon. I kinda want to be a ranger instead of a trainer, you know."

"Hmm, well I can't say in not disappointed, but if that is what you want then so be it. My offer will still stand if you should ever change your mind." Oak told Ray with a slight sadness in his voice. He looked toward Ray's mother and then whispered in a low voice, "So, how are you going to tell her?"

"I have no idea." Ray admitted

Two days after the funeral, Ray was running through the city with tears in his eyes. He kept to the alleys and back streets to avoid the crowds. After ten minutes of running, he reached his destination, a small hole at the bottom of a border fence to the Safari Zone. He crawled through the hole and made his way to a small hill overlooking a pond. He suddenly stopped once he noticed the warden on the hill. He started to sneak away when Baoba called out to him.

"Don't be shy boy. If I didn't want you sneaking in here, I would have blocked off the hole a long time ago." Boabo said turning to Ray. "Had a fight with your mother did you?"

"How did you know?" Ray questioned.

"Ha, half the city heard it. I don't blame you. When your parents were dating, they would often get into a fight and your father would come here to think and cool off."

"Really? He came here a lot?" Ray asked, looking out over the lake.

"Yeah, he even proposed to your mother in this spot." Boabo remember with a chuckle.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, Chrissy, back when she was a dratini, saw him do that and was so happy she decided to join them. She would leave those two alone until he caught her. No matter what happens in life, make sure you do what makes you happy. If you don't want to be a trainer, then don't. It's your life, your destiny. You make the calls." Boabo finished as he handed Ray a green pokeball. He turned to leave Ray to his thoughts.

Once Ray was sure that Boaba was gone, he sat down and started to silently weep. A chansey came up to him and tried to comfort him. After a while, he calmed down and looked out on the lake to see a dratini playing with a magikarp.

"Chan?"

"I feel better now girl, thanks. I just feel lonely now that's all."

"Chan?"

The chansey looked around and then ran off into the fields and out of sight, leaving Ray alone. He continued to look at the lake for about ten minutes when the chansey returned with a confused looking cubone. After she set the cubone down, she ran back into the fields to leave them alone.

"Cu?" The cubone made it's cry in a confused manner.

"Ah, well that was odd." Ray agreed with the pokemon. He turned to the pokémon and heard it's stomach grow. "Hungry? Wait here for a moment."

"Bone?"

"Here you go." Ray said, placing a few berries infront of it.

The cubone ate the berries silently and they both sat in silence, until the sun started to set. As Ray got up to leave, the cubone jumped on him and searched his pockets. Cubone found his prize and got down, revealing the green pokéball. He looked at Ray and tapped the center button before disappearing into the device. Still stunned on what happened, Ray picked up the ball and silently walked to the main gate of the park. He was still in his trance as he walked through the the doors of the main entrance when a female worker snapped him out of it.

"So, finally using the door huh?" she asked.

"Err, sorry." Ray said quietly, handing the green ball to her.

"It's ok. If the boss didn't want you here, we would have fixed it by now." she said with a smile while transferring the pokemon to a normal pokéball before handing the ball to Ray. "Here you go, a male cubone. You want to give him a name?"

"Well, it's really up to him." Ray stated taking the pokéball from her. The ball suddenly opened and the cubone emerged, looking frighted. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to go back in there if you don't want to."

"Bone, bone!" it gave a cheerful cry.

"I can see you will take good care of him." she said watching them.

"Yeah, I will. So, do you want a name cubone?" Ray asked, thinking quickly. "How about Jarvic? Does that sound good?"

"Bone!" the pokémon cried, nodding it's skull-covered head.

"Alright, let's go Jarvic. Time to meet my mom." Ray said as the pair left the building. As they left they ran into Boabo.

"Well now, a cubone? That's an interesting choice." Boabo said while looking at Jarvic.

"His name is Jarvic, and he chose to come with me."

"Well that is great, but I have a feeling you want to ask me something."

"Yeah well, I really don't want to be a trainer, so I was wondering, do you have an opening here at the Safari Zone? If so, can I learn to become a ranger?" Ray asked hopefully looking at the old man.

"Hmm..." Boabo pondered as he stood up. "There is one, if you're sure you want it."

"Yes, it's what I want."

"Then so be it. Welcome to the Safari Zone my lad." Boabo said proudly. "That goes for you too Jarvic, you two need to work together to help maintain this park. I have my first task for you two."

"Right, we're ready, tell us what it is. We can handle it no matter what it is!" Ray said proudly with Jarvic at his side.

"Go tell your mother that you are working for me." Boabo said with a smile.

"Oh shit."

AN: Yeah so if you took the time to read it thanks. This is just the background info and the rest of the story will follow the games with some other stuff added from the show and manga. If this story gets reviewed I would be happy so please do so. Thanks to The Constitutionalist for being my Beta. Remember you can't unread it!