Notes: I find that my chapters are a bit longer than I usually have them, but it's okay becasue I plan to update on a weekly basis if I have something ready. These first two chapters are kind of like an intro, so enjoy.

~BLACKTHORN~CITY~

About seven years had passed and Ixen had grown into a fine Dragon Tamer. His reddish-black hair had grown a bit wild in the front while remaining flat at the back. His sparkling grey eyes solidified into a calmness that showed his newfound wisdom. Average in height and very lean, he was the new pride yet common target of the dragon clan. Well-liked by his seniors and juniors, he earned the jealousy and dislike of his peers. Usually it was due to his natural-born abilities, but he didn't mind. He trained to be very strict on himself so he could control what he must and to outshine anyone who wished to get in his way.

As a part of this mental training, Ixen silently meditated next to his elders and ignored all feelings of malice aimed towards him. His head was cleared of all thoughts, yet he anticipated the coming of the next dragon hatchlings. He could hear many things besides the rushing water, including the loud roars of the dragons and the whirlpool swirling in the distant. He tensed as the sound he was waiting for arrived. He wanted to bolt up, but remembering Cousin Clair's advice, he stayed seated with his eyes closed and mind relaxed.

Elder finally reacted to the new cries of infant Pokémon. He looked around and chose the person to take note of the new baby dragons. "Clair, Ixen. Please report to me the status of the Pokémon."

Ixen and Clair slowly rose and bowed in respect. "Yes, Elder."

Ixen stood at the edge of the water and stared at it. His only Pokémon was a Charmeleon so he had no way of traversing across the large pool. Clair scoffed at him. "Here's a Dragonair. Be careful with him." She climbed onto her Kingdra and began surfing across.

Slightly stunned, it took Ixen a while to respond. "Uh… Right! Thanks, Clair!" He climbed onto Dragonair but only after a quick apology and thanks. "I know I'm not usually your tamer, but please do your best," he said with a bowed head.

Clair shook her head at her cousin's oddity. "When are you going to give up that formal tone with Pokémon? You don't have to always be so polite."

Ixen frowned. "No, I do. There are a lot of things I can't do but the Pokémon can. Cousin Lance told me to respect their abilities and I do that by always thanking them." He smiled and petted the Dragonair he was on. "The only reason why I think you always lose to Cousin Lance is because you put your pride above your Pokémon, Clair."

The gym leader splashed the young boy's face with water. As Ixen sputtered, Clair turned and glared at him. "Don't you talk to your senior that way. I lose because I don't have those abilities you and Lance have."

Ixen tilted his head sideways as he dried his face. "We're not that special. Besides, if he really was great, he wouldn't be missing now."

Clair glared at him again resulting in his silence. "Yes, he's missing and no one has heard from him in years."

Ixen looked at the water and brushed his wet bangs out of his eyes. "I'm sure he'll turn up fine sooner or later," he whispered. "He's Lance after all." He finally saw the breeding ground and stretched his neck to see more of the land. "Clair! Don't you have a Pokémon who has an egg this year?"

"You're too loud," the gym leader pointed out. "Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean wasting time. We must check on all the species of Pokémon here."

"Right, got it." Ixen stepped onto land and marveled the scene. I wish Yaoban was here to see this, but he's too shy. I'll share my memories with him later then. He went through each group of Pokémon alone to examine the new baby dragons. "Awesome… All of the Horsea have hatched." He heard a roar and looked up towards the Tyranitar. "Larvitar too, huh?" He went towards the area to check, just in case.

After they finished, Clair found him playing with the Charmander. "Get up. You look like a fool."

"Lighten up, Clair. Everyone I checked hatched. How about you?" Ixen stood up and continued to allow them to tackle into him. When his cousin didn't answer, Ixen looked up and noticed a light blue egg in her hands. "Is that your Dratini egg?" It's not differently colored, but it still didn't hatch.

Ixen reached for it, but Clair snapped at him. "What are you doing? We must report this to Elder. After this, you must catch up with the others and train with them."

The boy remembered his schedule and sighed in disappointment. "Right… It's just that this is the only egg that didn't hatch. Didn't the last time this happened, it was with Yaoban?"

"Don't compare this Dratini to your Charmeleon. As powerful as that Pokémon is, it doesn't change the fact that there are rumors that it was a defective egg."

"Yaoban is not defective!" Ixen cried out.

"No, but you're still bullied amongst your peers because of it. It's also one of the reasons why you're in the top of your class and the other seniors enjoy you, not because you remind them of Lance." They reached the shrine together and Clair looked once more at her young cousin. "You don't have to come in with me. I was given the responsibility to report."

Ixen shook his head. "I want to know what will happen with the egg." The boy kept his grey eyes on the blue object.

"Fine, you can hold it." Clair handed it to him and he smiled at it. "Just keep your words in your head. I don't like how it makes me look bad because you always look like you're talking to yourself."

"Okay…" Ixen looked down at the egg and smiled. It can't be helped though since you're such a nice egg. Inside the shrine, all of his attention was directed at the egg. Clair was speaking with the Elder, but Ixen didn't mind them. He was just enjoying the small egg in his hands. Really? You could be Yaoban's younger sister. He's always wanted a younger sibling. Between you and me, he's just too timid sometimes. It's one of his best and worst qualities. He began chuckling but he quickly stopped when he remembered he was in the presence of the Elder. He bowed hurriedly. "I apologize for my rudeness, Elder."

"Not a problem at all, Ixen. Do you have any other Pokémon besides your Charmeleon?"

"No, sir." The nervousness began to grow within the boy. He had no idea what was going on. He sensed that Clair had already left and realized he was on his own.

"But many of your peers have already received their second Pokémon and some even their third."

Ixen looked down dejectedly. "Whenever we are ready to receive our second, Yaoban and I are usually the last to choose. By then, there is nothing left to choose from."

"You did very well with that egg. Clair and I had been talking while you were busy. You may keep that Dratini egg if you can hatch it."

The egg seemed to respond to this statement with a shake. Ixen stared at it in surprise. "Really, Elder?" He bowed respectfully in thanks. "Thank you. I will do my best." I wonder what Yaoban will think. He quickly left the shrine and rode his borrowed Dragonair out of Dragon's Den. "Thank you for the ride, Dragonair. I will also thank Cousin Clair for lending you to me. Please continue to do your best for Cousin Clair." After a quick bow he searched the entrance for his Charmeleon. "Yaoban! I'm back."

A gold-colored Charmeleon stuck his head out from behind a boulder. Ixen spotted him quickly and smiled. The two of them quickly exited the cave. Ixen stared at the pool of water before him and returned Yaoban into his Poké Ball. The boy then turned to the water and dove in. He swam behind the gym and to shore and wrung out his drenched clothes. The Charmeleon quickly did his best to dry his master before the boy caught a cold.

"You could have used Dragonair to get you here," Clair stated bluntly.

"You saw that?" Ixen chuckled nervously. "I couldn't help it. The water is just so nice. It's been that way ever since your battle with Suicune." Ixen stood up and bowed to his cousin. "And thank you for the egg and Dragonair. You're very kind, Clair."

Clair turned her head away. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just didn't want to be burdened with the egg and be scolded by Elder for leaving you behind. By the way, your class has already met up at Route 45."

Ixen jumped in surprise. "I'm going to be late! Thanks again for everything, Clair. I'll see you later at the gym!"

"Be careful and make sure you don't fall into Route 46!" Clair cried as he bolted south of the town.

"Sure thing! Thanks, Clair!" Ixen turned around to wave at his cousin once more. He darted past the townspeople and nearly ran into a boy. He didn't take time to stop though. "Sorry, Santos, but I've got to get going. I'll make it up to you later."

Once he got to Route 45, he stopped to catch his breath. The instructor saw him arrive and snapped at him. "You're late to class. I know that you were in Dragon's Den this morning, but you nearly missed the day's instruction."

Ixen bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, Teacher. This will not occur again." He lined up near the back of the group and ignored the laughter directed at him. At least I wasn't that late. It would have meant being put on gym-cleaning duty. Ixen sighed in relief and straightened up to listen.

"As you know, this morning all of the eggs in Dragon's Den have hatched. We always have a few eggs each month, but only every few years many batches are born. They hatch either on set days regarding the New Year and seasons and are very special to us. These new hatchlings are given to the new trainees and sometimes recruits. Every time the batch hatches, it is the duty of every Dragon Tamer to catch even more Pokémon to add to the den. Today's assignment will be related to this. All of you will be given ten Poké Balls each. You will catch as much as you can and you may keep whatever you like. You must catch and turn in one Pokémon or else you will be stuck cleaning the shrine as well as feeding the newborns. Seeing as this year, the eggs hatched on the coming of the Autumn Moon, extra points go for using the Moon Ball. You have until sundown. If you get lost or travel too far, make sure to call in with your Pokégear. Before setting off, you must check in with me and log in which Pokémon you will be bringing along with you. We will go by rank order, so Ixen! Come up."

"Yes, sir!" The boy straightened up and hurriedly picked out the ten Poké Balls he wanted to use. Two Love Balls, three Level Balls, one Moon Ball, and the rest will be regular Poké Balls. No point in gathering so many Moon Balls since those types of Pokémon are rare around here, but I know the area better than anyone else. Ixen looked at the one Pokémon he had on hand. "It's just going to be me and Yaoban, Teacher." Something in his bag shook and he remembered the second companion he had. "Oh! I almost forgot. I'll be bringing along a Pokémon egg, too." This statement resulted in laughter from the rest of the group. As usual, Ixen disregarded them and smiled at the egg. "I was entrusted by Elder and Clair to hatch it so I want to keep her with me at all times." Yaoban and I will help you become strong just like your mother.

"Another late hatching egg, huh? Very well then. You may get started."

Ixen nodded and released Yaoban from his ball. The Charmeleon stretched and cautiously checked the air for foreign Pokémon. His partner soon set out after him further into the route.

~ROUTE~45~

"Catching sure is difficult, Yaoban," Ixen stated as they took a break for the afternoon. He sat on a fallen tree and took out their lunch. The ten-year-old was certain to feed his Pokémon before himself so watched as his Charmeleon enjoyed the berry jam his mother had made. Ixen smiled and laughed. "You don't have to be so shy with me, Yaoban. You can always have more if you like. Mother gave me two full jars." The boy went on to prepare his own sandwich. "But back to what I said. I said it was difficult but actually catching Pokémon is easy and fun, but it's just not the same as when I hatch them. I think hatching is easier than catching actually, but that could be due to how my left hand always misses the ball on the return. But most importantly, the feeling between the tamer and Pokémon is much different."

Yaoban looked at the light blue egg and took it out of his master's bag. He held it carefully and made sure his tail was a safe distance away. This is to be my new sister?

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll make a great big brother. Both of you are children of great Pokémon of Clair and Lance after all." Ixen stood up and stretched towards the sky. "I want to be the same as them. Both raised me to be the best Dragon Tamer of my generation. And those news stories of great trainers we see on television…" Ixen shook with excitement when he remembered the ninth Pokémon League tournament. "I want to take on the Pokémon League too! That'll show our clan that I'm not just some lucky outsider from Viridian. You understand my feelings, right, Yaoban?" Ixen paused when he heard something nearby. "Eh? What's that?"

Yaoban obediently packed their things and checked for danger as Ixen picked the bag up. A group from class is nearby. Also, Larvitar.

"Let's check it out then." His eyes dulled and he made sure the Dratini egg was safe. He darted through the grass and paused when he saw a group of Larvitar. They crowded around something and seemed to be attacking it. When he got closer, he felt dismay as it was a smaller Larvitar that was discolored. "Hey! What are you doing! Yaoban!" His Charmeleon immediately used Metal Claw to force the crowd to back away. He reached for the Larvitar but the Pokémon backed away from him. "It's okay. I won't hurt you."

"Hey! I found the brat!" The voice startled both the boy and Larvitar. It immediately ran away, much to the trainer's dismay. "Too bad it got away, huh? How many did you catch already?"

Ixen reluctantly got up and placed a hand on Yaoban. Keep track of that Larvitar but stay sharp. Yaoban responded with a low growl as he looked at the group of tamers. "Relax…" Ixen stated lightly. He looked up at the group and smiled falsely. "At least I managed to help, if only a little. I'm down to one Poké Ball left. The nine others I turned in. None of the Pokémon seemed right when they travelled with me." The boy ducked a punch and blinked in surprise. "What did I do this time?" He quickly eyed his Charmeleon sternly so he wouldn't react.

"You're nothing special and yet you're showing us up again!" The boy tried to punch Ixen again, but he backed up to avoid the blow. "You and your defective Pokémon aren't fit to be top of this class!"

Ixen burned in cold rage. His eyes dulled even further and became icy. "Say anything about me; I don't really care. But don't you dare say anything about my Pokémon!" He ducked another punch and rammed his head into the student's stomach. "How about a two-on-two battle to settle this?"

"You don't have another Pokémon to spare, Viridian brat!"

"Who said this was going to be just a Pokémon battle?" Ixen completed a roundhouse kick and turned to Yaoban. "Ember!" The flames created a wall between the two trainers. Ixen knew a direct challenge was enough to stop this fight, but he prepared for the coming battle nevertheless. The group turned away and Yaoban put out the fire. The Charmeleon's stern expression made the boy feel a bit guilty. The trainer knelt down and placed a calm hand on the Charmeleon's head. "It's alright, Yaoban. No need to worry. I promised Lance I wouldn't get into anymore needless fights, remember? Even Clair worries that my left arm will break again." He stood back up and looked around. He sighed in disappointment. "The Larvitar all scattered. Can you pick out that shiny one, Yaoban? I want to see how she's doing."

The Charmeleon nodded and smelled the air. He ran through the forested mountain and paused as he sensed more trainers. Without even a command, Yaoban let out a roar to startle them out of their activities. Recognizing the fierce tone, Ixen sped up and arrived into the clearing and placed himself between the Pokémon and the trainers.

"Quit hurting that Larvitar!" He looked at the shiny Larvitar and understood why she had flinched when he reached for it. He felt himself burn in anger again. "Leave her alone!"

"This isn't any of your business, outsider!"

"Yeah, it is! I won't let your bully some defenseless Pokémon while I'm around." Ixen stayed planted on his spot.

"Even the other wild Larvitar were bullying it. It just shows that nobody cares for that defect. It's like how you shouldn't even be in our class." The boy sent out his recently-caught Larvitar. "We'll prove it with a battle."

More Larvitar appeared and Ixen watched as he and Yaoban were quickly outnumbered. We can't handle this many trained Larvitar. Even at his level, Yaoban doesn't have the endurance to withstand so many attacks. Our only chance is to fight while running. His eyes darted to the Larvitar. She's too weak to even move. I'll have to carry her along too so nothing hurts her. He focused his thoughts and looked at his Charmeleon. Yaoban, I want you to create a path of fire for us.

Yaoban lowered his head and let out a low growl. He suddenly roared and unleashed a powerful Flamethrower down the middle of the group. Ixen took the chance to pick up the heavy Larvitar and recalled his Charmeleon. He tripped when someone with a Graveller used Magnitude. Tucking his head, he absorbed the impact of the ground and protected the Larvitar he held. Realizing the combined weight of him and the Larvitar would hurt if they crashed into something, Ixen immediately let go. He saw a pond before him as he continued to roll so threw his Charmeleon's ball aside as he crashed into the water.

Yaoban quickly let himself out and stared at the water. He became very distressed as he couldn't help without getting wet. The Charmeleon looked around for a stick or something, but panicked even more when he realized Ixen still had the egg with him. He turned to the Larvitar desperately. "We have to save him!"

"How? I can't swim."

Yaoban looked at the surface of the pond again and noticed the air bubbles rising rapidly. The head of a Dratini suddenly appeared and she managed to get Ixen out of the water. The boy coughed the water out of his lungs and breathed in deeply. "I didn't realize we had been running around so much today. Wulong hatched just in time." He laughed lightly and fell asleep to Yaoban's shock and relief.

~ROUTE~46~

Ixen put the Pokégear back together disappointedly. "No go. The circuits were drenched. I can't call for help. Good news is that everyone is back to full health. Even you, Longjia." Ixen picked up the shiny Larvitar and smiled at her. "I don't know why you crawled into my last Poké Ball while I was recovering, but it's good to have you join the team. I'm sure we can find a way up again."

He let her down and Longjia immediately began playing with Wulong. Ixen couldn't help but laugh at the two. Yaoban immediately began tugging on the edge of his master's shorts and Ixen turned to him. What will we do?

"Relax, Yaoban. We can't go through Dark Cave since we don't have Flash. I also think we need Surf which Wulong can help us with, but since we won't be able to see and she's too small to carry me for long distances, there's no point." Ixen picked up his Pokégear and fidgeted with it. "I can't call anyone or use the radio, but the calendar, clock, and map seems to be fine. The closest town is New Bark Town. If it gets too late, we can head there and find some lodgings as well as a way to contact Clair. I heard there's a professor there too, so maybe he can fix my gear. Don't worry, Yaoban. Have some berry jam."

The Charmeleon reluctantly sat down and took the jar of jam from the boy's hands. He stiffened when the small Larvitar tackled into him. Yaoban straightened up and shyly offered her some of the jam. Ixen smiled at his small team. He picked up Wulong and began petting the Dratini.

"So Longjia loves sweet things too. You're pretty fast and strong. That's good since it's difficult for me to carry you. You weigh more than Yaoban and Wulong combined." Ixen raised the Dratini a bit higher and stared at her. "Even though you're still just a baby, you're very stubborn. It could just be Yaoban and me when we hatched you, but I guess it's fine because we should always stay true to our beliefs. Anyways, Yaoban can't be the only one to always take full responsibility; he's just too timid and worries a lot. You'll help your big brother, won't you, Wulong?"

Yaoban let out a growl, but Ixen knew it wasn't serious. The boy shook his head and went back to running through his bag. The Charmeleon gave the rest of the jam to Longjia and went to examine their surroundings.

Ixen saw this and looked to Wulong. "Go with him, but stay where I can still sense you. I've never been to this Route before, so the Pokémon we may meet can either be very strong or very weak."

Wulong hurriedly caught up with her brother. The Charmeleon was surprised but accepted that he shouldn't be out alone. "We can be ambushed anytime while Ixen is drying his things. As my partner, I want to protect him." Yaoban raised his head and tested their surroundings. "We had to train a lot back home, so now I'm strong enough to fight off most things."

"Is training hard?"

Yaoban shook his head as he followed some Rattata tracks. "The instructors make it simple. It's just our class that makes things difficult. Whatever the two of us do, it seems as if we are disliked. The other Charmander enjoy tormenting me whenever I am alone. I don't mind since I can fight and I have evolved, but if Ixen is alone, he gets into fights that usually end him breaking his fragile left arm. I make sure to never leave his side." The Charmeleon paused and turned to Wulong. "Since we're here, let me teach you a few things so once we get back home, you'll be a bit ahead of the others. They might target you too, but I won't let that happen."

The Dratini made sure to keep up and learn as much as she could about fighting. Yaoban would search for a target and Wulong would try to master her DragonBreath. Both stopped when they sensed a powerful Pokémon pass by. The Charmeleon immediately tensed and pinpointed the location of the creature. His weak Ember was spread out thinly and managed to land on the mysterious Pokémon. He was surprised when he felt that he was being pulled backwards in time. In the end, he saw that his attack had missed.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Wulong tried to use Wrap. She managed to make contact, but a second later, she found that she managed to capture nothing.

At the rest site, Ixen blinked at his Pokégear clock. The last second had just repeated itself. He shook his head and looked at Longjia. "Did you feel anything strange?" The Larvitar shrugged and continued to enjoy the berry jam. Ixen turned back to the small machine. "I could have sworn the clock was working fine. Unless there was something wrong with the physics of time. But that would mean a Celebi…" He paused and thought about the possibilities. After a quick laugh, he decided, "No, that's not very likely. My Pokégear is just broken." He stood up once his things were all packed up. "Let's get the other two and head to New Bark Town, Longjia."

Yaoban jumped as he spotted seeds flying towards him. He burned them quickly and saw Wulong trapped in the Leech Seed snare. He quickly cut the vines and rammed his head into the floating Pokémon. "I've got you!"

"Yaoban! Wulong! Where are you?" Ixen's voice seemed close and it agitated the Charmeleon a bit.

Wulong shook the plant debris off and called for their trainer. The Celebi paused as it sensed the presence of the boy get closer. Yaoban used this chance to knock it to the ground and keep it there. The trapped Pokémon looked up at the Charmeleon hopelessly.

"Hey! Longjia! Where are you running off to!"

The Larvitar found her two friends and stared at the Celebi. Wulong was careful to keep her distance while Longjia and Yaoban stared off against the time-traveling Pokémon. Ixen got closer to his party, but at the last second Celebi's Future Sight pulled through.

By the time the boy arrived, Yaoban and Longjia were badly hurt. Wulong looked around for the Celebi with no avail. Ixen didn't know what to think as he went to his Pokémon's sides. "Both of you return. What were you thinking, Yaoban? Facing off against such a strong Pokémon at your level… What was it anyways?" Wulong came up to him and he read through her memories. "Pinkish? Celebi is light green though. Sort of like a plant bulb. But memories don't lie, so… Well let's not think about that. We've got to find a place to rest tonight." Ixen turned to follow the Route south, but was again stalled.

"Hey! A trainer!" A man wearing black came out of the bushes carrying a lot of gear. Ixen's eyes landed on the large butterfly net the man held. "Did you see a shiny Celebi come by here?"

Ixen was very cautious with this man. "No…"

"Then what's with this damage?"

Ixen looked around and came up with a decent half-truth. "My Charmeleon was training here." The charred grass and deep scratch marks were enough evidence to fit his story. Ixen calmly stared at the man. "Why are you looking for a Celebi?"

"It's not just any Celebi. It was shiny!" the man snapped. He sighed, thinking this junior trainer didn't know enough to understand the value. "A brat like you has probably never seen a discolored Pokémon. Just so you know, they're great in the markets. Collectors are willing to pay anything for a shiny. Even more for a shiny legendary!"

Ixen could feel his annoyance growing. "Good to know… Well, if you excuse me, I'm leaving now. The training has exhausted my Pokémon." The Dragon Tamer turned to Wulong. "Let's go." Once at Route 29, Ixen looked at Yaoban and Longjia. Both seemed upset and Ixen empathized. "Yeah, I feel the same way. I don't like him either, but there's nothing we can do. We can only hope the Celebi will be okay."