Authors note:

Hello, if you were a fan of my previous story The Johto Legacy Soul Silver, you may be a tad upset to hear that I am dropping production on that current version of my story. I was caught up with my life in college during the later chapters, and I never found the time nor inspiration to continue writing it while I worked toward my degree. I was also slightly upset with the quality of the writing in general and felt that I had some rather flat characters (Namely Lyra and Cyrstal) and had story threads that were either going nowhere or ones I wanted to include, but the themes weren't properly set up in earlier chapters to incorporate them. In the end, I wrote a novel's worth of material and found it too daunting to rework my 50+ chapters to make my story work the way I wanted.

However having recently graduated and got involved in the new Sun and Moon games, I found my inspiration once more. I can't work on something for 3+ years and not grow attached to the story I wanted to tell. So with this new found inspiration, I felt it was necessary to start over again with a clear game plan worked out rather than making it up as I go along like before. I also plan to use my old story as the framework for what I am calling my "Redacted" version of the story so for those who liked my old one would be happy to know I plan to utilize many plot points from my old story but with a more cohesive structure behind it. If you like my old story you are free to go back and read it, just know I have no real plans to go back to it as this is meant to be a clean slate that I can try to tell my story in a way I feel is better and more thought out.

I appreciate the love and attention my old story was able to get, but I hope you can respect my choice as an artist to redo it.

I hope you enjoy it! ^_^

Prologue:

There was nothing more invigorating to me than the sound of the final bell that echoes through New Bark Middle School at the end of the day. It meant that I got to spend time with my adorable Marill, Bliss, and to get away from the other kids in my school. I wasn't what you'd call a very sociable girl. I mean, I had a lot of friends in kindergarten and elementary school just like everyone else; however, as most kids found out in middle school, this wasn't the case for long. I didn't adjust well to the stupid rise of the 'cliques' and social groups that were defined by what I felt were stupid reasons. So I opted to spend more of my time with my Pokémon and going on adventures out in the woods, playing games with Bliss and other friendly wild Pokémon.

On this particular day, I was planning to trek my way up this nature trail I just learned about that snaked around the base of a local mountain to the west of town. I heard from my mother that after the first three miles of the path I'd be able to run into this old abandoned town from Johto's feudal era, so I'd expected to come across some old spirit gates and temples. Of course, I jumped at the prospect of getting to explore an abandoned village, the idea of a spooky forsaken temple alone was too tempting for me to ignore. I was so excited to go that I instantly took my bike that was parked outside of the middle school and made a beeline for the trail on the edge of town.

I naturally called my mom to let her know what I was doing, as I got into a lot of trouble the last time I left after school without letting her know where I was going. With Bliss happily sitting in the front basket of my bike, I took off down the road and felt the cool breeze of the springtime weather that was blowing through my hometown. Along the way, I got to see the cherry blossoms starting to lose their petals along the streets. I giggled as I watched my Marill trying to snatch at falling flower petals as they fell around us and were kicked up in our wake as we rode past the planted trees.

Around halfway through town, I biked along the street that was home to our town's Pokémon research lab, and I saw Professor Elm and a few of his research assistants returning to the building from what I could guess was their lunch break, seeing as they were carrying some bagged sandwiches from a local store.

As I came up to them, I waved, saying, "Hey, Elm, how's it going?"

The professor turned when he heard me and waved back. "Oh, good evening, Lyra! You on your way home from school, I assume?"

"Hell no, I'm going to see this bitchin' abandoned town I heard of!" I exclaimed.

"Hey! Watch your language, young lady!" Elm barked back at me with an authoritative tone as I rode past. "Your mother wouldn't approve of it!"

"Sorry, Elm! Please don't tell on me!" I replied while speeding off down the street, watching as Elm gave me a reluctant but disapproving look. Once I was out of earshot, I scoffed to Bliss, "Heh, Professor Elm? More like Professor Snitch, am I right?" I shot a smirk to my water mouse, to which she squeaked out a giggle.

It wasn't long before I cut through the city and I found the entrance to the trail at the edge of town. The path was sparsely traveled like it was hardly ever used outside of an occasional hiker. This route looked kind of like a thin tunnel that was bored into the dense forest with scattered rays of light hitting the path that spilled down from the canopy. Right away I could tell that this was the kind of adventure I was itching to have on a gorgeous day like this.

After parking my bike next to a nearby tree and locking it with a thin chain, I offered my hand to let Bliss hop out of the basket. She happily obliged and ran up my arm onto my shoulder. "Come on Bliss, let's go find that dope ass village!" I exclaimed with a triumphant pose, and Bliss squealed excitedly with me.

So with that my Pokémon and I set off on our little adventure. As I walked along the path, I enjoyed the cool shade cast down by the tree cover providing an excellent temperature for a long hike. It wasn't long before I saw evidence of what seemed like an old road, as I could see the occasional patch of cobblestone and old crumbling stone walls running along the path. After about a mile or so, I found a long stretch of an unbroken stone wall that was about waist high, and I let Bliss run along it and watched as she explored the ruined wall. I found it pretty funny when I saw my cute Water-type try to sneak up on a Pidgey that was perched on the wall. Bliss wasn't much of fighter, preferring to be friendly to most Pokémon she meets, but it was fun to see the more mischievous side of her come out every now and again. But of course, the Pidgey flew away before she could get to it, and she tried to squirt a weak water gun up at the fleeing bird.

I laughed at this and joked sarcastically, "That was a good attempt, except for the part when it wasn't." She then half-heartedly glared at me for that comment, seeing as she was used to my sarcasm, to which I followed with, "Maybe you'll get it next time, Bliss," as I patted the round mouse on the head and she squealed happily.

Bliss then hopped down from the wall and started walking beside me as I heard a flock of what was either some Spearow or some more Pidgeys fly overhead. I watched them flutter past, and as I craned my neck to observe them I looked across the road, and a bright glinting light caught my eye.

I tilted my head to look directly at whatever got my attention, and I attempted to make out what was glinting in the sunlight. I quickly walked over to get a better look and discovered that it was some kid's bike. It was in an odd position, though: rather than it being parked near the side of the road, it looked like someone had just tossed it aside and left there. Nothing was growing on it either, and it broke a few branches on a nearby bush, so it looked like it was left here recently.

"That's weird—why would someone ride their bike all the way out here and just toss it to the side of the path? It's not even hidden well, so it's not like the kid was trying to hide it," I thought to myself as I wracked my head wondering if I knew whose bike it was.

"Hey, Bliss, do you know whose bike this is? I swear I've seen it before," I asked my Water-type, to which she walked up to it and nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you know. I don't suppose you could tell me?" I sarcastically quipped as Bliss kind of shrugged unable to adequately express who it belonged to. With that, I decided to move on, as the mystery of the bike had quickly lost my interest. I had more exciting things on my mind, like that abandoned town I was dead-set on exploring.

I stood up from the bike and motioned for Bliss to follow me back along the path. Hardly any time passed before I practically forgot about what we'd found and my mind was quickly occupied with the prospects of the fun adventures I was going to have with my Marill in this old town. I wondered if I would see any Ghost-types hanging around the place or maybe discover something entirely new! It wasn't much longer before I was delighted to find the old torii gate that signified the entrance of the long-deserted village which was situated past the gate. The gate itself was over thirty feet tall, and it looked like it was painted red at one point, but it was overgrown with moss and vines.

"Whoa, this is so fuckin' cool, right, Bliss?" I gawked at the large wooden edifice and heard an approving squeak from my water mouse. "This place is so old; I don't think anyone's been in here in like a hundred years! Let's take a look over there!" I pointed to the first forsaken husk of a building I saw.

The two of us skirted off across the once well-traveled main street of the collapsing overgrown town. The cobblestone road was littered with green moss and scattered piles of dead leaves that fell from the surrounding trees, which some have even sprouted out from the streets or the tops of homes and businesses. From what I could tell around only around 15 or so structures remained standing out of what I felt was once a much larger village that was slowly being reclaimed by the forest. The ruins reminded me a lot of the old feudal homes I saw once back when my mother took me to Ecruteak City a few years ago.

Soon enough my Pokémon and I came upon the doorway to a decrepit old home. I was excited to look inside and poked my head past the entrance that had lost its door long ago. I could see the crumbling remains of the paper shoji wall dividers and what looked like a clutch of Metapods hanging from the ceiling in the far corner.

"Oh cool, look at all the Metapods! You see that, Bliss?" I asked my Water-type as I looked down to my side to see if Bliss was looking. However, I was confused when I found her staring across the cobbled street toward another building. "Hey, Bliss, whatcha lookin' at?" I asked, kneeling down to scratch her head.

The blue mouse's ears twitched slightly; it was like she was listening carefully for something.

"Hey, cutie, what is it?"

She then looked to me with a concerned look on her face, prompting me to ask, "What's the matter? Is something wrong?" My Marill nodded her head before she motioned to me like she wanted me to follow her. She then quickly scurried along the grubby stone path, and I followed in pursuit.

"She looks concerned—I hope it's not another injured Pokémon," I pondered, worrying about the potential of having to find a Pokémon center in a pinch.

It wasn't long before Marill, and I came up to a decrepit-looking honden that was adjacent to what I assumed was the town's old shrine due to the elaborate, but faded, carvings along the walls and columns. I was about to ask Bliss if what she heard was inside the structure, but I was interrupted when I heard the distinct sound of someone crying.

I raised my brow, incredulous to the sounds I was hearing. "Is someone crying? All the way out here?" I wondered as I watched my Pokémon waddle past the doorway and into the dark interior. I followed Bliss inside, as I knew my kind and caring Pokémon wouldn't have insisted I accompany her if she didn't think it was important.

As I looked around the now-neglected interior of the old shrine, I called out, "Hello, is someone in here?"

Suddenly, I heard a gasp off to my left, followed by the upset voice of a boy saying, "Go away!"

I turned my head to the left and saw a doorway that led to another room adjacent to the one I was in. I could see on the far end of that room there was a boy who looked about my age curled up and crying to himself. He was wearing a pair of grey sweats, a red sweatshirt, and a baseball cap that seemed too big for him with a golden strip down the middle. He quickly noticed that I was looking at him and I saw him open his tear-soaked eyes and was immediately astonished when I saw the bright metallic yellow of his eyes. They were striking and hard to not notice even in this dark room. However, I quickly grew concerned once I saw his clothes looked like they were roughed up and dirty, and that he had a nasty bruise on his right cheek along with a bit of blood dripping from his nose like he was in a fight.

Distressed that the boy must have been hurt, I quickly stepped into the room and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" But I was stopped when he barked back at me, "Leave me alone! Just go away!"

"But you're bleeding."

"I said leave me alone!" He tossed a nearby rock vaguely in my direction, which made me flinch, but I quickly realized it wasn't going to hit me.

"You're just here to make fun of me like everyone else!" the boy sobbed as he hid his face from me.

"Make fun of you? Why would I do that?" I asked, confused.

"Because there's something wrong with me and everyone knows it!"

I took a step closer to him as Bliss followed behind peering around my leg, and I asked, "Something's wrong with you? Is . . . is it your eyes?"

He lamented and scoffed at what I said, answering in an agitated tone, "No, it's not my funny-looking eyes you moron. And I told you to go away!" He then turned away from me, leaning his head against the rotting wood of the wall.

Despite his persistence, I wasn't about to leave this guy with a bloody nose out here in the middle of this forgotten village, I doubt his parents even knew he was out here. Determined to help him, I walked closer to the boy until I was about five feet from him and knelt down to ask, "Well, come on what is it? Why the heck would anyone make fun of you?"

He sniffled before I saw one of his tear-filled golden eyes peer over his shoulder at me, and he replied with an upset stutter, "Y-you really w-want to know?"

I nodded, which prompted him to wipe his eyes with a dirty sleeve and reluctantly answered with, "Fine, it's because I'm not allowed to have a Pokémon, all right? Everyone in school makes fun of me because I wasn't allowed to own my first Pokémon when I turned thirteen!"

Confused, I asked, "Wait what? You're not allowed to have a Pokémon? But—but why not?"

The boy tried to take a deep breath, but it sounded a bit wheezy as he found it hard to breathe he was so upset. He then sobbed, "It's because of something I was born with. The doctors called it something like Aspergers or something else that's fucking stupid like that!" After saying that he slammed his fist against the wall, which made me and Bliss flinch before he continued, "And because of tha—and because of—" He was so miserable he was having trouble speaking and it sounded like he was choking on his words. "And because of that, when I turned thirteen and applied for a Pokémon license, the Johto-Kanto League said I was 'mentally unfit' to have one. Everyone else got to have their own Pokémon but me! And once all my friends found out why, they called me names saying I was stupid and retarded cause only retards can't have Pokémon! And it's all because of some asshole doctor who said I was different!" He was balling his eyes out now and he had to keep wiping his face to keep the tears and his bloody nose from getting everywhere.

I was shocked to hear this; I had never heard of someone being denied their Pokémon license like this before. As I struggled to look for the right words to try and say, he wept, "And now that you know this, you'll think I'm retarded too, just like everyone else." He hid his face behind his arms and cried.

I felt devastated when he said that. I only wanted to help him, but it seemed like I just made it even worse. However, it was at that moment that I came to a realization, "Whoa, whoa, wait a second—aren't you the kid who lives across the street from me?"

He sniffled and looked at me. "W—what?"

I snapped my fingers. "Yeah, that is you! You're—you're Ethan right?"

He looked a bit confused, but he nodded, saying, "Y-yes."

"Yeah, I recognize you now! You're the kid who likes to play chess and stuff!" I smiled as I felt silly that it took me so long to recognize him. "Was that your bike I found on the road up here?"

He nodded his head slightly, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Did you get bullied today and try to hide here? Was it Eric and his gang?"

He nodded again as he lightly touched the bruise on his cheek.

"Was he the one calling you retarded? Come on man, you shouldn't let what that douchebag thinks about you get you down and . . ." I paused as I saw the bruise on his face. "Oh right, umm . . ." I tried to rebound with something else. "Look, um, I don't know about what some doctor might have said about you," I moved closer to him, sitting against the wall about a foot to his left. "But you gotta know that you don't have to be upset about what others say about you. Besides those guys are fucking losers, bunch a lame'o'zoids—you just need some new friends."

"But no one wants to be my friend. If they aren't making fun of me or beating me up, kids are only nice to me out of pity, cause their parents told them I'm 'special.' And that's all you're doing—being nice to me 'cause you have to'." he scoffed at me before his body language softened as he felt my Marill nuzzle up against him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I remarked rather sharply. "Why would you think that? You don't seem weird to me."

"You're just saying that! Don't fucking patronize me!" He sounded like he was about to start crying again.

"No, I'm not. Listen to me." I grabbed his shoulder and made him look at me. As he turned around I locked eyes with him for a moment, and I gazed at the unnatural coppery gold of his irises, before I said sternly, "Look, Ethan, I've seen you around the school and at the bus stop before. I can tell you that I never once thought you were stupid or retarded like you think you are. I mean, I've barely ever talked to you before, but you never gave me the impression you were someone with problems. Screw what some lousy doctor said about you, what the fuck does he know?!"

Ethan looked somewhat astonished at this; it was almost like he'd never heard someone say anything like this to him before. It took him a few moments before he gulped and was able to say something back. "Do—do you mean that?"

"Yes, I do. Look you gotta chill out, I doubt its really 'everyone' who thinks your 'special' just a couple of losers. No one should be as miserable as you are over something that some stupid doctor said about you. And those kids who beat you up are the real retards here if you ask me," I joked, which to my surprise made him chuckle slightly. This made me glad that I was starting to cheer him up.

I then scooted closer to him and motioned for Bliss to come to me. "Here, I'll prove it to you, if you were so unfit to have a Pokémon then why would my Marill be so happy to see you?" I then rather blatantly grabbed his hand which caused him to blush slightly and I guided him to pat the head of my water mouse. Bliss quickly smiled as she felt Ethan's hand on her head and she squeaked with approval.

"This is my Pokémon; her name is Bliss. I got her from a litter of Azurills when I was thirteen." I introduced him to my Water-type, "Go ahead and say hi to him, Bliss," I told my blue rodent, to which she squealed cutely toward him and nuzzled against his hand.

I pulled my hand away so that Ethan could nervously rub his fingers along my Pokémon's cheeks and on her head, before he stuttered, "It's um... nice to meet you, Bliss, heh."

Delighted that he seemed to no longer be crying, I said, "Look at that—she likes you! You see, you've already made a new friend, Ethan." I smiled at him.

"Wait—r-really?" he remarked, apparently a bit shocked by my cheerful attitude and how easy it was for Bliss to like him.

"Trust me; you'd know if Bliss didn't like you. Your face would be even wetter than it already is." I chuckled as he rubbed behind the Pokémon's ears. "And you know, if you want, I could be your friend too."

He looked a bit stunned at what I said: he gave me an odd look and I could see his cheeks were a bit rosy too. "Wait—you . . . you want to be my friend?"

I giggled at his dumbfounded face. "Well sure, it looks like you could use one. I don't really have many friends myself, so I guess you can say I need a friend too."

"Really? Wow—I don't know what to say. Um, thank you, I guess," he awkwardly replied.

"Hey, don't mention it, 'bud.'" I playfully shoved him.

"So, um . . . I guess this means we're friends now?" he timidly responded after a few nervous seconds of not knowing what to say.

"Mmhhmm." I nodded.

"Well, umm . . . This is a bit awkward to ask, but I don't know your name yet. And I feel that might be important if we're going to be friends." He timidly scratched the back of his neck trying to laugh but it was hard for him since his throat was sore from crying.

"Oh, that's right!" I smiled, extending my hand out to him to shake. "My name is Lyra—Lyra Kotone. And you?"

He shook my hand and said, "Mine's Ethan Goldberg."

"Goldberg? Heh, that's a pretty funny last name considering your eyes." I giggled. "I think I have the perfect nickname for you."