The Legendary babysitter!

Bzzt.

Moonlight shone through the ceiling-to-floor windows of a Kalos laboratory, giving a dim luminescence to the white tiles,steel shelves and wooden tables. A man with porcelain skin and black hair sat at a wooden desk in the corner of the room, typing away at some work that needed tidying up.

A phone rang on the professor's desk,shaking around various kick-knacks and echoing into the moonlit lab. He turned his focus away from a computer screen to glance at the phone.

The name at the top of the screen flashed 'Preyja'.

A surge of mixed emotions ran through him as he considered how long it had been. He hadn't heard a peep from the girl since she left for Unova to help with the crime syndicate causing trouble there. He considered just ignoring the phone and continuing to focus on his work.

Instead, he picked up the phone, and with a few swipes of his finger, accessed the messaging app.

P: Hey, professor. Long time no see. I know it's late, but uh...you got a minute?

Sent at 10:02 pm

He deliberated on his response for a moment, erasing several responses before eventually settling a friendly one.

Self: If it isn't the champion herself! Finally decided to stop being a stranger,huh? It's good to hear from you, little lady. What've you been up to?

Sent at 10:07 pm

P: Well, simply put, I need some help. Can I trust you?

Sent at 10:07 pm

The professor set down his phone, tapping his fingers on the table as he pondered on what he should do. He knew it would be like this; it was always trouble with this girl. She'd go silent for months at a time, then get into contact with innocent questions like,"How long can a Dragonite use fire blast before it burns it's mouth," only to follow up with something along the lines of, "And if I were to be,say, Faced with a 36 inch iron door, how long would fire blast have to be held to burn through it?"

The girl had a knack for finding opportunities-a knack which compounded all too well with her daredevil bravado, meaning she often came across success and danger in equal measure. She was a champion- The champion, some might say- and swung the title around like a heavyweight;she often used it as an excuse to go around hunting down evil corporations like Team Galactic or team Magma, constantly throwing herself into danger like it was the natural thing to do.

Last time I helped her, I had gotten drawn in for questioning after her involvement with the team flare and their ultra-weapon. The time before that, my lab was nearly destroyed after her admittedly resourceful teleportation sent her and that unstable core directly to me...In my lab. We managed to get everyone out without injury, but...

Bzzt.

He brushed away his thoughts from earlier, flipping the phone over checking the new messages.

P: Oh, and it's good to speak with you as well. We should catch up sometime, after...well.

Sent at 10:09 PM

The professor pondered for a moment, then steeled himself for the worst as he typed his answer.

Self:Yes, we should. What is it you needed help with? I'll do what I can.

Sent at 10:10 PM

P: I see. It's kinda hard to explain, so I'll just, uh, send you a clip.

Sent at 10:11 PM

P: Oh,and you can't tell anyone, promise?

Sent at 10:12 PM

Seriously, what could have happened that she was so worried about? If it was any other girl her age, I'd think they were just exaggerating. But Preyja was...well, if she was this worried,she may have really gotten herself in too deep in something she shouldn't have…

Self:I promise you that ill act in your best interest.

Sent at 10:12PM

P:Seriously, old man?

Sent at 10:13PM

Well, it's not like plan to report her or anything. But if she was getting into trouble, I'd definitely tell the proper authorities and have them deal with it. Though,I'm sure she knew that, so if she was coming to me, maybe I should be prepared for that...?

P:Well, that's fine. You know how it's,uh, 'frowned upon' by the state to capture Legendary Pokemon?

Sent at 10:15 PM

...Oh god, what did she do?

P: Well, uh, don't flip when you see this, but…

A few seconds later, she sent me a small video clip. It seemed to be recorded on her phone, and started with a close up on her face. "Uh, right, so, Professor, I'm, uh, really at a loss as to what to do here…"

Preyja looked awfully troubled. She was slightly older than the professor remembered- around sixteen or so- and her dark, youthful features were ridden with worry. her brows were furrowed, and she seemed to have an issue focusing on the camera, her hazel-brown eyes constantly flitting between the camera and something happening behind her. Small, reverberant thudding noises were coming from the room behind her. A green flash dashed in the small gaps of the scene behind her, followed almost immediately after by a loud crash. She flinched away from the noise, and I could see more of the room-including what had been making the noise. What I saw nearly made me jump out of my seat.

After the crash, a green- no, a emerald colored serpent fell into frame, after presumably knocking itself silly from ramming directly into the wall, the contents of the shelf above it strewn across the wooden floor. At a glance, the Pokemon was almost long as Preyja was tall- a little over five feet long,with coloration not unlike that of a flygon;It had dull yellow patterns playing along its hide, and a red pattern that outlined it's lips and singular fin. Unlike most serpentine Pokemon, the head was huge-easily a foot long on its own, taking up a large portion of its body. It's hide was separated by small gaps near the head and tail. After a brief moment,the monster sprang back into action,and resumed it's rapid motions around the room.

"Yeah, so - SORA!"

Her voice rang out in the small room, and she took the phone as she went towards the pokemon behind her. It was hard to tell what exactly happened, with the camera shaking wildly as she tried to get a hold of the pokemon- but when the cam settled the green snake had stopped moving in mid air, looking down, and made a noise- something like a cross between a loud roar and a soft gurgle-and flew towards her, It's tiny hands wrapped around her neck like it was giving her a hug as it coiled itself around her body. She rested her head against the pokemon's,gently gliding her hands along it's hide. it looked like just like some lovey dovey picture of a trainer and their Pokemon you could find anywhere.

The professor stopped the video. He was visibly shaking, and it took everything in him to keep his phone from dropping. He swiveled his chair towards his computer, briskly pulling up the files on the Pokemon that his mind couldn't believe the one in the video resembled. The data he had on it here was low; Low resolution pics and short, low definition videos with little but glimpses of the pokemon were all he had to go on. Even so, there was no mistaking it- It's horns hadn't fully grown in, and it's patterning was slightly off. There were fewer gaps in its hide, and it was way smaller than it would normally be...but it's appearance was too similar to be a coincidence.

It has to be a rayquaza...

The singular ruler of the sky, that had been alive for at least Three thousand years, and Scientists had confirmed was the only one in existence. And here it was, a smaller, presumably baby like version of it, just...flying around without a care in the world.

"Ah, that's too tight sweetie,"she said, gently tugging at the rayquaza draped around her neck.

"Yeah, so our uh, I, after that last fiasco, know that certain people can tap into the speakers on a phone. For a quick explanation, I'll just say our, uh, 'forest guardian friend', heard it was my birthday,and thought it would be an absolutely stellar idea to invite a few friends to the party," she said,swapping her gaze tiredly between the camera and the pokemon. the rayquaza let out a loud grumble in response. Or maybe it was a low grumble that seemed loud due to it being...well.

"Oh, hush." she gave it a peck on it's head, and it let out a loud, seemingly affectionate gurgle, and then opened its mouth- revealing razor sharp teeth that made the professor flinch just seeing, and a jaw so wide, it could have easily taken off her head in a single bite- and licked Preya's cheek with a reptilian tongue. she stroked the rayquaza gently in response, running her hand along it's head. eventually, it relaxed it's entire body,letting itself droop onto Preyja as it drifted off into sleep- much to the dismay of Preyja, who was struggling to support the pokemon on her shoulders as it put more and more of its weight on her.

"Hey hey, heavy heavy heavy- ack! you're heavy, you can't just...ugh." she touched a white Luxury poke-ball to it's head, and it went into the ball as if it was natural.

"Yeah, so uh, that' the stitch, doc. The pokemon, uh- Sora, Devi, and Shiva all ended up here with me. I can't go into detail over the phone, but chances are I'll be heading your way by the time you see this, so…"

She re-centered the camera to her face, and her tired face lit up into the biggest smile she could muster, contrasting sharply with the expression she wore until that point. It was a tired smile, but one that was brimming with life all the same.

"see you soon!"

And like that, the clip ended.

...What in the world is happening. She said the 'forest guardian'? That would be Celebi, right? Those pokemon have some strange control over time, but surely she didn't mean...did he pull those pokemon from when they were just being born? That was absurd. inconceivable. It was something that should have been impossible from what we knew.

Then again, so was a baby rayquaza.

The professor set the phone down, leaning back in his chair as he was tried to process what just happened. Trying to parse what meant it going forward.

What it meant for time- if the original rayquaza was still here, if it meant that there were many rayquazas at one point in the past- but there wasn't enough information. What it meant for the world, having such powerful pokemon possibly being able to reproduce once more, another apex of the apex predators roaming the earth.

What it meant for for the power balance of the nations, too. If it were a baby, and they managed to somehow gain control of it, that could be catastrophic as well. At best, we would have to keep it under wraps until it grew up- and at worst, we'd have to fight to keep it out of the hands of tyrants and other people in power...just the thought gave the professor a headache. That's not even considering the fact that they would have to prepare the lab to be in full lock-down, to make sure no one unnecessary caught a glimpse of the pokemon. not only that, we'd have to prepare for accommodating a legendary, which would involve both space and a veritable mountain of food.

As if that wasn't enough, she actually mentioned three names at the end of the video. If Sora was a rayquaza, what could Devi and Shiva possibly be code names for? The professor racked his brain, trying to think of the meanings of the names. Rayquaza was the ruler of the sky, so Sora must have meant 'sky' or 'flight', but that gave little perspective to the other two names. Just when he was about to text her for more clarification, he realized something else she had sad.

'See you soon!'

Last he heard, she was finishing business with the championships in Unova. She was smart enough to know she shouldn't fly by plane,in case of a random pokemon search...so how did she plan to get here?

I could probably get her a private flight,the professor mused to himself. Hate to have to call in a favor, but I suppose it can't be helped…

The professor snapped up his phone,preparing to make the call to his associates,until he noticed something odd. The video had a timestamp on the top of it. It said it had been recorded at 4:00 PM- recorded seven whole hours before the messages had been sent. Sensing something was wrong, the professor changed his plan and called Preyja. She picked up after only one ring.

"What's up, professor!"

A massive amount of wind could be heard on the other side of the phone, making her voice barely audible over the apparent storm raging on.

"Preyja, where are you right now? Is it storming? I can barely hear you, are you ok?"

"Yeah, professor, just fine!" she said, raising her voice over the winds. "Don't know that you could really call this a storm, but the winds are always high around this height!"

"...Preyja, where are you?"

"Ah, well, you see, that's a hard thing to answer. I'd say I'm like,I don't know, three fourths of the way to Kalos? No, more than that- I should reach the coastal side in the next thirty minutes, maybe?"

This girl, surely she isn't…

"Preyja, Where- Exactly - Are you?"

Preyja paused for a moment.

"Above the ocean, uh- 47.2 latitude,-25 Longitude. Moving due west. The navi puts me at 36 minutes out from the coast at my current speed. That good?"

The professor gripped his phone tightly, and his knuckles popped as his other hand dug into the armrest of his chair. He took a deep breath, and spoke evenly, asking each question in a stern tone.

"Who's bringing you? Which way did you come from? Did you launch off from somewhere, or- "

"I'm coming from Unova! I didn't want to take a plane, so I took my pokemon and-"

"Are you an idiot!? Did you even think that through? Coming across the ocean by pokemon is the height of stupidity, young lady!"

Coming from Kalos from Unova would require hours of uninterrupted flight. To do that all on one pokemon…it'd be difficult at the best of times. Most flying type pokemon would struggle to fly for that long while carrying a person with them. If they were to give out over the ocean…

I suppose I'll have to meet them at the coastline. It's only twenty minutes away, so I should make it to meet them there…if I get there now, I may be able to help if something goes wrong.

The professor began to get up as they conversed, getting his jacket and shoes on for the travel ahead.

"I know professor, I know, but we couldn't just-"

A loud, guttural pokemon's hiss cut above the winds from the other side of the phone. Before the professor could ask what the noise was…

"Hey, Triochi, are you ok? Are you tired?" the pokemon she was speaking to responded with another hiss.

Triochi... that's her hydreigon, isn't it? It should be able to make the flight if it was rested…

The professor thought with a hint of relief.

"Ok, just hang on. We'll swap it out. Zmeys!"

The noise of a pokeball releasing it's charge could be heard, followed by the roar of another dragon type pokemon.

Zmeys… her dragonite? Why did she pull out another pokemon, did she encounter a hostile one mid air?

"Ok, just like we did before. Triochi, go up!"

The wind picked up as the pokemon changed it's altitude.

"Ok, now- h-hEY!"

"Wait, hold on, what are you doing Preyja!?" the professor said. Sweat was beading down his face, and he was nearly in a panic. The wind that had been picking up was now in full throttle, and it was impossible to tell exactly what was happening.

For all he knew, she could be falling this very instant.

"Preyja!?"

The professor stumbled out of the lab and rushed in his car as he called her through the phone, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, the wind from the phone died down, and the soft thud noise came from the phone.

"N-nice Catch, Zmeys..." Preyja said, Heavily breathing. The sound of a pokeball collapsing a pokemon's form into itself could be heard.

"Preyja, are you ok?"

"Yeah, Professor, just fine. Triochi got tired, so I was planning to switch over to Zmeys, but Tri was more tired than I realized, so…well, anyway, we'll be shoreside in about 15 minutes, I think. Zmeys can fly super fast."

The professor had a lot of questions. Lots of emotions surging through him.

But more than anything, he was just glad she was safe.

"Yeah, I'll meet you shoreside. Do you know where exactly you'll be landing?"

"About a mile north of Cyllage city, professor. EH?! No, sora, don't- I'll talk to you soon, professor!"

And with a click, the phone call was over.

11:35 PM

"Well, little lady? Let's hear it."

Preyja and the professor had just made it back to the lab, and were discussing the ramifications of what she had done. The baby rayquaza, now released from it's ball, flew around the perimeter of the lab.

"I said I was sorry, didn't I? I get that it was reckless, but I couldn't get over here otherwise. I didn't know what he ate, or drank, or, well, anything that a baby rayquaza would need, so I figured..." she said, making a bridge with her two fingers.

After the professor had picked up the young champion, what followed was about a twenty minute car ride with a lecturing on the ramifications of her actions. Endangering herself, her pokemon, crossing the border without permission, that sort of thing. The girl had sat and nodded the entire ride, muttering "sorry, sorry…" as they rode along.

"And what would you have done if you had failed? What if your pokemon weren't able to make it? You'd be..." the professor had been holding back in the car, probably due to his frustration with the girl, but now he couldn't hold back his tears.

"Ah, there's no way that would have happened. Tridochi was from his initial chasing down of Sora earlier, but normally he could make the flight without any issue. Not only that, I had Zmeys AND Meta on me, as well. Even if they had to take turns-"

"That's not the point, Preyja. You know that."

"...Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Truly."

The professor practically knocked Preyja over with his tackle hug. They lingered there for a while, until they noticed that Sora had wrapped himself around them in an attempt to get in on the hug. feeling his tough, yet oddly smooth hide around his body caused the professor to look up- which nearly caused the professor to jump out of his skin as he raised his head and met with the pokemon's ginormous eyes, much to the enjoyment of Sora.

"Ah, now that that's out of the way…" Preyja said, her voice slightly muffled in the professor's chest. "What are we gonna do with this guy?"

She gently pulled away from the professor, using Sora as a counterbalance as she twisted her way out of sora's gentle, but binding embrace and freeing herself of the impromptu group hug.

"Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good at training pokemon. But if he's as young as he's acting, I'm not sure if it's the same thing? Raising him, I mean."

The professor shook his head, and laughed. Sora looked at the professor with a quizzical expression, before letting out a strange rumbling noise that might have been it's own attempt to laugh as well.

"Not at all, Preyja. Not at all. But don't worry, I'll teach you everything I possibly can..." Sora flew from around the professor, back to Preyja. It lightly coiled itself in the air around her, it's head resting on her shoulder. She smiled, gently stroking sora's head, and for the briefest moment, the professor saw the smallest part of himself in that smile."...About how to take care of someone."

When she was younger, the girl had lost her parents. The professor had kept her for a couple of years- but the moment she was able to, she set off on her journey to be a pokemon trainer. She wasn't really his child, but he helped her as much as he could all the same. She caused him trouble, and headache after headache, but she was a good girl at heart. He knew that. Seeing her, eyes full of life, ready to take on the challenge that was thrust upon her...he couldn't help but smile.