Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end. Go without falter - and let your heart be your guide. He who guides the hand of fate through power and bonds alone will learn the lesson this teaches. Adventure, Enjoyment, yet also Tragedy, all await.

Chapter 1: Academy Graduation

My alarm clock rang, the time striking 7:30 AM as I reached my hand over, setting it on the snooze. I brought my arm back and used both to raise myself out of my pillows and sat up in bed. I looked across the small room, seeing my roommate still asleep.

I sighed, knowing that he could sleep through anything. I got out of bed, wearing just boxers and a light t-shirt.

"Well, might as well shower before he wakes up…" I sighed to myself, doing a bit of stretching.

I went over to my dresser and pulled out clothes. A pair of black jeans, a pair of boxers, a white tee with a designer name near the waist and a black jacket to put over that. I slung the outfit over my arm and grabbed the black towel I used, putting it on my shoulder as I opened the door to the bathroom.

I set my change of clothes on the rack and the towel above it, undressing and stepping into the box shower after letting the running water heat up.

My name is Joseph Moore, I'm 17 years old. A student Pokemon Trainer. I hail from the Hoenn Region, and I was enrolled in an academy by my parents to learn the ultimate techniques in Pokemon Battling. Type coverage, battle power, I even got the occasional demonstration of Mega Evolution through my professors.

After I finished my shower I dried off using my towel, setting it in the laundry basket. I changed into the outfit, looking at myself in the mirror and grabbing a comb to brush back my dark brown hair into a slicked state.

I draped the jacket over my shoulder, and walked out of the bathroom, returning to the main section with my roommate's snores now filling the room.

"Hey asshat, wake up." I said, taking one of his pillows away as he began to groan.

His name is Seth Connors, but I call him asshat simply due to the fact that there are some mornings his snores sound like him ripping ass. He had auburn colored hair that looked like it was thrown through the washer a good few times, along with blue eyes, similar to mine.

Seth groaned a bit more, pushing himself up, sighing. "What time is it even?" He started.

"8:00 AM." I said, looking at my digital clock. "You have 30 minutes to shower and dress before our last day of classes starts."

"30 minutes? Shit…" He cursed under his breath, though I still heard. "Eh, I don't think Ms. Zephyr will mind me being late on the last day."

"She hasn't minded you being late on any other day." I scoffed a chuckle.

He laughed too, getting out of bed and grabbing his clothes, a pair of brown shorts with an orange tee, then going into the bathroom to shower and dress.

I slipped into my socks and shoes, deciding to leave him behind a little bit, walking out into the dormitory hallway. Like a lot of other students, Seth and I lived on campus. Teachers and Professors littered the halls often, carrying paperwork to storerooms.

I slipped into my jacket as I walked, passing by other students who were still waking up or already woken up. I stopped at a pair of doors, passing through them and going out to a balcony area where you could see the training field – where even early in the morning, the learning instructors practiced against each other and gave students a strategic field test. Or as most students called it, a "battle you can't win".

"You're up early Moore." I heard a female voice call to me as I heard the clicking of shoes enter the balcony.

I turned out to see Mrs. Collins, my teacher. She and I were pretty good friends, and she was overall a really good battler. I was the first student of hers to push her pretty hard during a 1v1 testing battle, even if I still lost.

"Not really Mrs. C." I said, chuckling. "I'm normally up early, I just slept in an extra half hour today."

Collins slanted herself against the railing that I leaned against to watch battles occasionally. She was dressed in a white button-up with a black dress that hugged her waist down to her knees. She had a single Pokeball attached to her hip, similar to how I did.

"In that case, do you want to have one last battle before you graduate my class?" She then asked.

"That's right, graduation is today." I said, "Well, it's fine with me if you have time."

"Perfect, Lucario and I are always up for a fight with our strongest student." Collins smiled as she walked towards the doors.

I followed close behind as we walked into the elevator that took students and teachers out of the dormitory hallways. We walked out into the battle field, and Collins cleared the previous match that'd been ongoing.

She stood on one side of the battlefield, brushing her short blonde hair from her golden eyes.

"Are you ready Moore?" She asked, grabbing the Pokeball from her waist.

"Ready as ever Mrs. Collins." I smiled, grabbing my own.

We tossed the Pokeballs at the same time, the red laser beams forming the shapes of Pokemon. Hers, a Lucario. It was her pride and joy, a shiny one. It matched the color of her hair, a brilliant, shining yellow with a dark gray adorned everywhere besides it's chest, where it had light blue fur.

My ball formed and shaped into a rather small Pokemon, dark fur coating its body with touches of red at its' head and paws. It stared forward with determined blue eyes, and I smiled. Zorua was a faithful partner to me. We'd bonded after I battled with it so many times during tests and show offs that Mrs. Collins gave it to me essentially as a starter.

Zorua was experienced with fighting her Lucario, as we'd battled it many times.

"I'll let you have the first attack, Moore." Collins said, smiling.

"If you insist, I won't deny." I smiled. "Zorua, use Imprison!"

Zorua's body glowed red and it sent a blast at Lucario, forming several red seals around it's body. At first when Zorua used the attack it only blocked similar moves between the two Pokemon, which often made it useless – but it had somehow changed over the years we fought together to be able to restrict a Pokémon's movements entirely.

"Now Zorua, use Shadow Ball!" I called out.

Zorua opened its' little mouth wide, a spherical orb appearing in front of it and as it grew larger, Zorua jumped into the air and fired it at Lucario, who attempted defending itself, but was unable to due to the effect of Imprison.

The blast hit Lucario straight on, cancelling the Imprison effect and knocking it backwards. However, as the attack hadn't been all too effective due to the Steel-Fighting type of Lucario, it shrugged it off, still retaining damage however.

"Alright, our move then." Collins said. She thrust out her and smiled. "Use Aura Sphere!"

Lucario stanced itself, forming its own spherical orb between its steely paws, though instead of a blackish purple color like Shadow Ball, it was bright blue, fluctuating often with white. Lucario then thrust it's paws forward, the attack firing out at full speed to Zorua.

"Zorua, quickly, use Detect!" I called.

Just before the blast hit Zorua, it steeled itself, closing its' eyes and creating a yellow shield that absorbed the Aura Sphere, and shattered to pieces soon thereafter. We never could stand by an Aura Sphere. Zorua was always done in one hit if it was smacked by one.

I sighed one of relief, and chuckled. "Just in time. Good work Zorua."

"Lucario, use Quick Attack!" Collins took no time, calling her next attack, as Lucario disappeared from our sights and reappeared with a flashing afterimage rushing through the field. Lucario collided with Zorua, launching it into the sky and damaging it, following it skywards.

"Zorua, use Shadow Ball again!" I called quickly.

Zorua attempted to follow Lucario's speed, and began to charge a Shadow Ball while in midair.

"Lucario, counter using Aura Sphere!" Collins called forth.

Lucario charged its' own sphere just as fast Zorua did, and the two fired their blasts at the same time, the attacks colliding and creating a plume over smoke that covered the section of sky and the field. I quickly brushed it away as much as I could using my arms and saw both Zorua and Lucario fall from the plume located in the sky.

They landed on the ground and tumbled to their respective sides, both badly damaged from the throwback of the collision. Both Pokemon struggled to their feet as the smoke cleared and attempted to keep a steady view of the other.

"Why don't we finish this up, Moore?" Collins suggested.

"I agree, Mrs. Collins." I smiled, and she responded with her own.

Collins reached into her pocket, grabbing a glimmering stone and a locket with a slightly larger stone inside. She tossed the locket to her Lucario, who caught it weakly and slid it around its' neck.

"Call to the bonds beyond!" Collins recited. "Answer to my call, Mega Evolution!"

She held the glimmering stone up high, and the stone inside Lucario's locket reacted with each other, connecting shining paths of light together as Lucario began to shift.

I'd never seen this before, well, I'd seen it, but I'd never pushed Collins to the point of using her Mega Evolved Lucario during our battles. No student had. Only other professors and the headmaster.

Lucario became a bit taller, the chest fur extended down to cover its' tail as the paws changed into a dark red color, along with the tail ends of headpiece that came down along it's back.

Lucario posed into a stance, sending out a wave of power along with a deeper voiced cry into the air. It gave Zorua a glare and a smirk, and Zorua smirked back in reply, attempting to stay in on the battle.

"Mega Lucario!" Collins called out, giving a confident smile. "Use Close Combat!"

"Zorua, hold your ground!" I called, giving my own air of confidence.

Mega Lucario rushed at Zorua with incredible speed, approaching with its' glowing with an intense light. It leapt into the air to drop the attack into Zorua from above, and I smiled. It fell closer and closer to Zorua, and I called my next command.

"Use Foul Play!" I called at the last second.

Zorua dodged Lucario's attack with lightning quick speed, appearing next to where it's paw first crashed into the ground and latching onto the fur with its' fangs.

Zorua made an effort to throw Mega Lucario, using his own attack against him, tossing him far, sending him crashing into the ground and rolling to Collins. It stood up one more time, heaving heavily and reverting back to the regular state of Lucario.

Zorua sighed, content with itself, and both Pokemon collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted.

"DRAW!"

Collins and I both jumped at the sudden sound of a referees' voice. We looked around, seeing an entire horde of students gathered around us. We didn't even notice during our battle. We'd gone from a nearly empty battlefield, to have students and teachers loitered around us and on the balcony where we once stood above.

We returned our respective Pokemon, latching them to our waists as we walked to the center of the field. I shook hands with her as per routine, and we smiled.

"That was a fantastic battle Moore." Collins said. "I didn't think you'd push me to use Mega Lucario. You've really leveled up in your training since we last fought."

"Same to you Mrs. Collins." I replied. "Mega Lucario's strength is absolutely brilliant though. I'm surprised Zorua didn't collapse when that first roar of its' sent out an energy wave like it did."

"Dude!" Seth yelled, coming up to us both from the loitering crowd. "That was EPIC!"

Collins chuckled to herself and left the battlefield, letting Seth and I stand there.

"Hell yeah it was." I said smacking a high five with him.

"That last Foul Play attack was clutch, where'd you learn to do that?" Seth asked.

"Constant training." I said, even though it was a complete and utter lie. I'd simply remembered that Zorua had learned Foul Play in our last training session.

"Sure it was. You had to have raided the Rare Candy stock in the cafeteria or something." Seth assumed.

"Nope." I disconfirmed him. "It was totally training."

"Whatever it was Mr. Moore, it was absolutely brilliant." I heard a gruff, familiar voice. "Well done, well done indeed."

I looked where the voice came from behind the fleeting crowd, seeing Headmaster Redwood. He was a taller, buffer male with darkened brown, almost graying hair that slicked behind his head and also adorned his face as sideburns. He wore a black suit, and smiled.

"Thank you Headmaster." I said, bowing to him quickly as he returned it. Seth did as well, and Redwood bowed to him in response just the same.

"Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end." Redwood began.

"Go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide." I finished him, smiling. "You've drilled that phrase into every student's head since the first day here."

"In that case, might I ask what the phrase means to you both?" He then asked as I and Seth looked at each other.

We turned our backs to the Headmaster, throwing our arms over each other to keep a sort of silencing wall between us, even if it wasn't very strong. We chatted incoherently like best friends would, crossing our ideas to form a sentence.

"We believe the saying means that time never waits for a person because the inevitable end may one day arise," I started.

"But you use that fleeting time period to accomplish what you hold dear in life. Accomplish, and deliver it to your own end. Break that similarity between ends for you and the next person and make it your own." Seth finished.

Redwood closed his eyes, tossing his head to the left and right softly as he thought while humming a small tune.

"Great answer boys. I'll give you 92% grade." Redwood chuckled.

Seth and I looked to each other, and laughed as we scratched our heads.

"Kidding boys. I'm kidding. That was an answer truly worth 100%. As such, I'll give you two these." Redwood said, opening the suitcase he had with him and handing us two rolls of paper.

"Wait, are these?" Seth asked, but stopped midway through asking. I was silent.

"They are. These are your graduation diplomas. For an amazing battle between you, Joseph, and Mrs. Collins, along with the fantastic answer joint between you both," Redwood said. "I'm allowing you to jump over the official ceremony tonight and graduate right now."

"Thank you sir, so much!" Seth and I both said, bowing to him.

"No problem boys. However, Joseph, I have depressing news for you." Redwood said. "I can't let you leave the school grounds with Zorua."

"Sir, why not?!" I objected, and Seth stayed silent, almost in pity.

"Zorua belongs to the school ground and while Mrs. Collins may have called it your starter, I only allowed her to give it to you for the duration through until your final year." Redwood explained.

"Sir, I hate to curse to you, but I'm calling bullshit." I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, how about this. We'll keep a handle on Zorua for the time being, and you go get even stronger as a trainer and a person." Redwood dealt. "Then I want you to return here, and you and I will battle. If I win, the Academy will keep Zorua. If you win, I will trade official ownership of Zorua from the Academy to you."

I looked at the Pokeball at my waist. "Very well. If that's the only way that I'll be able to train Zorua." I gritted my teeth, pulling back sadness as I took the ball in hand.

"Give it to the Nurse Joy in the school center." Redwood said. "I'll have her give it to me directly."

"Yes sir." I groaned.

I dragged myself to the campus Pokemon Center. Seth walked with me, and patted me on the back.

"Hey, think of the deal you made with the headmaster." Seth told me. "You'll get stronger, and return here. Hell, I'll come with you when you return."

"Yeah." I said, giving Zorua's ball to Nurse Joy, who informed me she was told not to return it. "This isn't goodbye Zorua. No way, no how. I'll see you again."

"That's the spirit my man." Seth said, patting me on the back.

"Hey, you two. Right there." A male voice said expectantly. "Are you two boys Joseph Moore and Seth Connors?"

We turned around to see an adult man who looked around the age of the Headmaster. He had completely gray hair and solidly silver eyes that almost seemed to shine like crystals. He had a wondrous smile on his face and wore a dark gray suit beneath a white lab-coat.

"My name is Professor Cedar. It's nice to meet you both." He said. "I work as the teacher for providing students lessons on Mega Evolution, and as the instructor that hands out starter Pokemon."

Well I hope y'all enjoyed. Sorry the first note seemed kinda...well, prophetic. I thought it felt right. Anyways, this is a new story. Not bound by any script similar to how my Fates and Awakening stories were going to be. This will be a ton easier for me to write, as it's also where I began writing.