A/N - Hey, Mephiles here. Just felt like taking a quick break from bashing my head against the Metroid wall, and trying somethin' in Pokemon. I could ramble, and ramble, and ramble, but you just want to read. So go on; do that. And please review.

Hey there - name's David; though everyone just calls me Dave. 21, house of my own, and - heh, a pretty good life, altogether. Chances are, you know about Pokémon. You've played the games, watched the series or movies, or even played the trading card game. But no matter how, you know Pokémon - creatures with incredible power, insanely tough and surprisingly intelligent to boot. And, depending on the Pokémon, flat-out cool looking.

Of course, they're all fake - existing only in a series of video games or the minds of some little kids, right? Yeah... not quite. Not anymore. I know that... better than anyone. You don't believe- Hey, Aurora! Cool it! I'm typing here! You wanted me to do this, so let me type! Thank you. Anyway, Pokémon... aren't just digital anymore. They're real - and it's not going over well. But I'm getting ahead of myself - how about I start... well, where this all started. It was about two years ago...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Real World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright, Aurora - let's finish 'em off... Aura Sphere!" In my hands was the biggest time-sink ever invented - a Nintendo DS, and Pokémon Platinum. Shown on the screen - and, honestly, in my head too - my Lucario, Aurora, who I'd been training for... well, weeks... finished off the last of my opponent's Pokémon - Volkner's Luxray, if you want to know - with her signature move. Of course, in my head it was a lot cooler. The game couldn't mimic the feel of energy swirling together, or the impact it had when it hit... ah, who am I kidding? It's a game.

Despite that, I was proud of Aurora - as I always was - for helping me finally beat Volkner. She may have ultimately been nothing but pixels, but... "Good job, Aurora." I said quietly, smiling. I got my badge, accepted the usual TM reward, and brought my team straight to the Pokémon Center. For whatever reason, I always feel bad when my team gets hurt - felt like there was something I might've done differently. But, of course, they never complained - even seemed happy, sometimes.

When the healing animation was over, I re-checked my team. At the front, Aurora - level 49 female Lucario. Next in line was Juggernaut, my level 47 male Aggron. Then Kairi - female Gardevoir, level 43. Finally - yeah, I only had four Pokémon with me at a time; sue me - was my very first starter, Verden. A Venusaur with a hell of a punch, he was an impressive level 96. I'd transferred him up through every game - even went out of my way to find a rigged up GBA/DS transfer cable to do it.

I always liked to think, in my own little world, each member of my team had a distinct personality. Aurora seemed like the proud and determined one - nothing would make her give in; she'd push herself to the limit on anything. Juggernaut would be the team's shield - literally and metaphorically; you hurt any of them, you'd have to get through him - heh, good luck. Kairi would probably be their sideline fighter, and maybe mother-like; keeping them in synch, and giving help from a short distance. And then there was Verden - the sort of mentor type, I would think. A Pokémon veteran, teaching the 'newbies' some new tricks; of course, he'd know there was more to learn.

And then, you have me. On a bus home from my part-time job - I was a grocery bagger; go figure. I was skinny, a little over 5'8, dark haired, and wearing a generic T-shirt/jeans combo. Hell, I even wore glasses to top off the 'nerdy one' image. And you know what? I was exactly what I looked liked. I would be content to plop myself down in my room - yeah, I still lived with my parents. - and play the hell out of my video games, try to make model star fighters... the works. But real life just can't be polite, can it?

Nothing interesting happened on the rest of the ride to my stop - it was a Votran bus, what do you expect? Although, there was what looked like an absolutely huge storm coming in from... yeah, it was the East; right across the ocean. '… Something ain't right about those clouds...' I thought absently. I'd always had this sort of... I don't know, 'spider-sense' for when shit was about to hit the fan. It was always vague, but helpful in its own right. And those clouds were setting it off like crazy.

I stepped out of the bus when it finally reached my stop - I had the good fortune of having one a short walk away from my parents' house. Half watching my DS screen and half paying attention to where I was going, I made my way up to the front door and unlocked it. "Hey mom - oh." I stopped when I noticed a sticky note on the inside of the door. 'Will be out for a bit - groceries. Be back around 8. Usual in the fridge. :) Mom'

Quickly, I checked my watch - 6:28. "Awesome!" I said to... absolutely nobody, and nearly threw open the fridge. My 'usual' was a Mountain Dew, some BBQ-Twist 'chips', and a Snickers. Yeah, I'm still a kid inside, alright? But the reason this was so awesome was... I had the house to myself. Time to get some power-training in. I rushed up to my room, whipped out my DS charger and plugged it in - this was going to be a while.

I switched on my TV, just to have something beyond the soon-to-be repetitive Pokémon battle music playing, and started training. "Alright, Kairi... let's get you caught up." I talk to my game when I'm playing - sort of a habit by now; though I swear it helps. A critical hit right when I need it, a high-power move dodged by my near-fainted team members... it's almost like they hear me rooting for them. But hey - that's crazy.

I must've been training for a little over an hour when the program on TV - it was Adventure Time, by now - was interrupted by that loud, attention-grabbing BEEP of a sever weather warning. Warning - A heavy thunderstorm, estimated to be of record-breaking intensity, is moving quickly inland. It is suggested to remain inside for the duration of the storm. Do not go outside for any reason. The message repeated, over and over, for a full ten minutes before finally switching back to the show.

I just shrugged my shoulders and re-focused on my game. After all, we've got surge protectors on every outlet in the house, and I was sure that my parents would be smart enough to wait the storm out. They'd be delayed, but that just meant more training - and Hot Pockets for dinner. Yum.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Pokémon World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Standing on the sidelines, I watched as Kairi teleported away from another beam of light. 'Does that Roselia know anything beyond Solarbeam?' I glanced over at our trainer - and as always, he seemed confident; even when knowing that we were battling a Pokémon far above our own skill, he was never worried. It was inspiring, in its own way. He had taught us much - the Human names of our abilities, how to recognize commonly used attacks and techniques... and he cared for us like family, unlike some more brutal trainers.

I only noticed Kairi was hurt when our trainer suddenly bolted forward, a small spray bottle appearing from his pack almost as if from nowhere. He quickly sprayed its contents onto a series of small punctures on the Gardevoir's side, and they healed over just as quickly. Within seconds, she was back in the fight with the small Roselia, and he was standing in his usual position. I closed my eyes, and tapped into the second 'sight' I, like all Lucario, possessed - Aurasight.

When I 'looked' at somebody, I could see their aura; it was a way of telling the core characteristics of an individual. For instance, Kairi's Aura - while several colors were present, two stood out among the rest: A vivid, glowing blue that was her caring, almost motherly nature. And a different, softer blue color, representing her normally peaceful mindset, her understanding, and ease at communicating clearly with others.

Then I 'looked' at our trainer - and saw something I had never seen before: Two, nearly identical auras overtop one another... like two near-twin minds, in one body. 'That is... not possible.' I 'blinked', refreshing my Aurasight, but the phenomenon was still there - in fact, it was becoming more distinct.

"What is wrong, Aurora?" the gruff, grinding voice of 'Juggernaut' - our trainer's Aggron - asked from behind me. I turned my head to look back at him, opening my eyes fully - and remembered I had to look up, as well; Juggernaut, or Jagged, as he likes us to call him, was over twice my height and covered in heavy metal plating.

"… I do not know. Something is... strange about his aura." I didn't have to say who I meant - Jagged understood. I let out a quiet sigh. "I also feel there is something... unstable... coming to the world. I do not like it."

The Aggron nodded. "Yes... I can feel it too. It makes my plates itch." He looked up at the sky and crossed his arms - it was a very... Human posture. "Be on your guard. I do not know what is coming... but we must be ready for it."

I silently nodded, and turned back to look at Kairi's progress. She was doing well, all things considered - her 'dress' was torn in places, her skin burnt or scratched; her opponent was in worse condition, being knocked out on the grass with no visible injuries. As usual, the Gardevoir had won a fight without dealing any physical or permanent damage.

With a faint smile, I nodded again. We were easily going to be ready for whatever may threaten us.