The flags of Violet City waved proudly in the gentle breeze, hosting the cities banner, a blue plain with the white outlines of a pidgeot.

Above the city, the sun shone brightly, caressing the scene with its warm and welcomed glow. The sky was clear, and not a single cloud lingered over the heads of the crowd. The barracks of Violet City were filled on this beautiful day. Those who gathered watched the young men and women stand in their formation, facing the stage at the head of the building. Their body armour caught the sun and glistened with the same colour as the grass they stood on. They were adorned with red scarves hung over the left side of every one of their chests, and their berets gave the impression of an unwavering ocean of green. For all the people who were present, the barracks were silent enough to hear the breeze.

This was a graduation ceremony. After four years of intense training and studying, the new roster of the Violet Region's ranger corp stood proud and silent. All eyes met the headmaster as he appeared on the stage. His well built frame was adorned with a formal blue uniform that was decorated with all manner of medals and various badges from the gyms of the Johtan province. He slammed his foot to the wood of the stage, and the impact echoed through the stadium. At once the almost one hundred men and women slammed their feet as well, sending a rumble through the seats of the onlookers.

He cleared his throat, and began to give his annual speech. The first half of which was simply reciting the oaths that these men and women had given. He spoke until the shadows of the high standing walls shortened with noons approach. Somewhere in the crowd, amber eyes fluttered as they struggled to remain opened in the long spoken and dragged out address.

Finally, the tail end of the speech was delivered in the form of a passage written long ago, in a time when Johto wasn't even an idea in the minds of Sinnoh's government. "Though the staraptor may soar too close to the sun, its wings will not break against the heat. For its will shall not allow it. We may face the eyes of Darkrai, but we will not flinch, for our will shall not allow it. The vows you have made these past four years direct you onto the path of probity in the interest of your fellow men, women, and their pokemon. You made this promise to yourselves, your families, and your friends. Do not allow cowardliness to betray you of those vows. You are the very cornerstone of safety on the routes of Johto."

He paused, and scanned the faces of the graduates, who's ages varied. Some were experienced guards making a transition, others were middle aged men or women who looked to be of service to the region. For the most part, it was youth who had decided on this path.

"Fire, Ice, and Sky," he concluded "You will leave the stadium in Apiou Formation." He stomped his foot one last time, and held his hand over his heart in a salute.

His salute was returned with a collective stomp.

For the next five minutes, the graduates filtered out of the stadium, continuing their formal and restrained demeanor as a group. At least, until they left the stadium, then their faces changed. Joy and celebrations were had.

One of the graduates left the stadium as he ran his hand through his short brown hair, which didn't fall passed his ears. Although unlike Zachary, he had the aestheticism to attempt a style. His eyes where a dark brown, appearing black unless hit by direct light.

He had the makings of a ranger even before the four years of intensive exercise and studying. This was a job he was born for.

He scanned the scene. Vendors had set up many booths in the absence of the automobiles that normally sparsely dotted the small parking lot in front of the barracks, reserved for the outrageously wealthy.

As large crowds of people filtered out of every door of the building, the area came to life with the sounds of vendors advertising their wears to people who would stop and look. A small independent business profiting off a large group of people was not uncommon in Violet City, nor was it frowned upon. The economy of the frontier was not as strong as people would have liked, and many people had to do what they could to get by. Anything that kept the money in circulation, or brought trade from Goldenrod, was welcome.

You worked or you left. That was the frontier. No dead weight was tolerated.

The new graduate began a perusal of his surroundings, many of his fellow graduates had already met up with their families, hugs and smiles in abundance on the features of many. He could tell which ones did not wish to remain in the city, he could tell exactly which ones wanted to go for the very top and work for the Indigo Plateau.

His aspirations were similar, but his expression did not match their stoic ones. His eyes were smiling, as they always did, a faint smile ever present on his features. He observed his surroundings with the confidence he had earned over his long training. Such a thing was worth working for, but he was perfectly fine with settling to the Violet Region. He had ties in this city that meant more to him than any aspirations for honour or prestige.

He began to move closer to the vendors, shoving his hands into the pockets of his green fatigues. He sauntered casually, knowing that when he would enter the large crowd he would be the target of many of the vendors, most of the graduates were smarter than to go into such a crowd, unless they craved the attention. Adrian was a man to embrace the attention and shoot a smile to the young women who eyed the ranger.

Well, he used to be that man, but the same chains that tied him to the city were the same reason his bachelor days were long behind him.

"Congratulations, Mister Ranger," he heard a cheery and pride filled voice call out to him. He closed his eyes and smiled, turning around and instantly being met with the soft lips of his partner. He smiled and kissed her back, holding the back of her head gently. When they pulled back, he looked deep into her eyes, feeling a familiar sensation of warmth rise in his chest.

He kept her close, not letting her out of his gentle hold. "I guess that would make you Miss Amelia Ranger?" he said, pulling a piece of her hair behind her ear. He pulled her in again.

When they pulled back, he stared deep into her amber eyes. She stood only a two or three inches shorter than the six foot tall ranger, and her slender build gave her a nimbleness that her line of work almost required. Her light brown hair fell just passed her shoulders, and seemed to glow in the sunlight. To him, she was the most beautiful woman in the Indigo Leagues.

His best friend and constant source of the blunt honesty that kept him grounded, that was the woman that Adrian had fallen in love with.

Although the girl had been with him long, she couldn't help but blush. She had kissed this man many times before, but never when he was a ranger. Her pride for her husband was not hidden by any stretch of the imagination. In contrast to this, a spark of guilt was present on her features. "Sorry my parents couldn't make it," she said with an embarrassed wince.

"Ah," Adrian scoffed, taking a step back and waving his hand before his face. "They would have been bored anyway," he passed off. Then he looked at her, and smirked. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "I saw you sitting directly behind the headmaster, you were nodding off," he mocked.

She let out an embarrassed laugh, pushing him gently. "I was not. I was making sure Quen stayed at my feet."

"Ha! Like she would ever disobey an order form me. You were fallin' asleep!" he said with his grin maintained, one of the many joys he had in life was bugging his significant other. He grin lessened into a smile. "How was she, by the way?"

"She was good. Practically stared at you the whole time."

The newly graduated ranger rubbed the back of his neck. "She could see me through all those folks?"

Amy nodded, and she pulled the pokeball from off of her belt. "Ya' got a good one here, Adrian," she said in her poorly executed mocking of her husband's small town cadence.

Adrian chuckled as he took the pokeball in his hands. He stared at the orb with pride. "Sorry you couldn't be down there with me, baby girl," he whispered to the ball.

She watched the moment with a smile, knowing how hard they had worked for this moment. She folded her arms over her chest, remembering the days when she would chastise him for the frequency which both Quen and himself had become injured. "So. What's the plan then?" she said after she grew tired of standing in the crowd.

"I thought we were gettin' some drinks with Paul and Natalie."

She smiled, shaking her head. "You know what I mean. In the next few days."

Adrian chuckled. "I want to go down to New Bark to tell Professor Elm. He'd be happy to hear I made it through with the pokemon he gave me."

"And I'm coming with you?" the girl asked expectantly.

"If ya' want. Honestly, Amy, it's not the most dangerous trip, A lot of the pokemon there are simple normal-types," he admitted, shrugging before letting his arms fall to his side. "Just watch for weedle."

"I'll see if the pokemon center will give me the time off," Amy said vacantly, her thoughts falling into conceptualizing how she was going to ask her boss.

"I think they wouldn't have an issue with it. There're a lot of other nurses who could fill your schedule for the week."

"Ok, Adrian. Mister Optimistic," she said mockingly.

"Hey," Adrian retorted. "That's Private Optimistic."

Amy shook her head and smiled. "Whatever."

Adrian snorted a short laugh and took her hand in his as they began to walk away from the market, daring not attract that sort of attention. Although Adrian would have enjoyed the ego-boost from the many congratulations he would have received.

"I'm sorry, ranger?" they heard a genial voice call from behind them. "I couldn't help but overhear you wanting to visit Professor Elm?"

The graduate and his wife both stopped at the address, but only Amy turned her head. Adrian need straight, hiding his excited grin from the voice.

"We did say that, yes," she welcomed.

Adrian now turned, to see a man in his fifties. His graying hair stopped halfway down his head, where his forehead had claimed dominance. His wrinkled face was stuck in a familiar expression of kindness, but his eyes told of past experiences that Adrian would rather not pry him for.

"And that would be in New Bark Town, yes?"

"Yes." He released his wife's hand, turning around to fully face the man. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, his tone becoming deeper and more confident. His new job as a ranger might be getting off the ground already.

"If I recall, that is a five day trip, and you look eager to make it," he said as he held his arms out to his sides, glancing at his waste. "As you can see, I have no pokemon, but I have something that needs to be taken to him. It is very important that he has it. I have no protection, so I can't make the trip on my own."

The only thing Adrian felt was a sense of youthful pride, someone was already calling on his aid. "Are you asking for an escort?" the ranger returned in a professional tone. Through practice he found he could speak formally, and his small town drawl could be hidden.

The man shook his head, and fished into the pockets of his loose fit pants. "Oh, there's no need for that," he said as he pulled out a cloth covered sphere from his deep pockets. "This is what I want him to see. I'll only slow you down."

They stood for a moment, Adrian looking at the cloth. He was never one to bury someone in questions if they had asked him for a favour. "I don't see the harm," he said as he turned to Amy. "What about you, hun?"

The nurse has been looking into the man's eyes since he had first got their attention, and she felt a sensation of unease. Those eyes were troubled, but not in a sense that meant the young couple harm. The way he looked at her was almost pleading. To her, he seemed in need, so she shrugged and feigned a smile. "Of course. It's what you do, right?"

"Right," Adrian answered as he turned to the man again. "Consider the job done."

"Fantastic!" the man said in a fit of joy as he stepped towards Adrian and handed him the object with a youthful vigor that caught the ranger off guard. "Tell him it's from the motherland," he said with a wink.

Amy's eyes narrowed some as she focused on his voice. In the pit of his excitement, she thought she could hear an undertone of some accent. Something buried in his voice. Her husband, on the other hand, noticed nothing.

Adrian nodded with an eyebrow raised in surprise. "This came all the way from Sinnoh to be studied in Elm's lab?" he said in exasperation. "Wow. He's really takin' off."

The man shrugged. "He's becoming important, that's for sure. Maybe he'll change the world. One way or the other," he answered with a nod. "Thank you two very much, the world needs more people willing to do the right thing," he said as he turned to walk into the crowd again. After one step, he stopped and turned again, looking ove rhis shoulder at them. "I also heard that he has a new assistant at his lab. Came all the way from Eterna City to work for him. Give him my best as well," he said as he nodded to the couple again and turned.

He looked down at the object he had been handed, and shoved it into his pocket. He watched the man vanish into the crowd, and felt the lightweight orb against his thigh.

"Adrian!" he heard called out behind him. Amy was in a jog towards the road, where a vehicle the shape of a wooden box on wheels sat and waited. "You're gonna miss the tram!"

His smile returned as he set into a jog after his wife, his thoughts remaining on the new responsibility he had been given.

SC

Zach's house was mostly dark with the exception of the single lamp, which illuminated the textbooks that were scattered over his desk. Luggage from his trip was laid around the house as neatly as they could possibly be situated, for Zach that meant against the wall in order of height. He hadn't fully unpacked even though he had been living in New Bark for the better part of a month at this point. He was at work more than he was home, and the welcomed opportunity for cleanliness had yet to arise for the research assistant.

Zach stepped out of his kitchen, with a glass of water, and moved across the hardwood floor towards the desk. Placing the water down, he sat, the sound of the chair against the hardwood floor resonating through the sparsely furnished room.

He hunched over the documents, studying Elm's works. He had managed to get most of it in his short time with the professor, but his findings were becoming more advanced. In such a short time, Zach had to restart his thought process with Elm's work due to new findings contradicting old ones, it was convoluted, as it always has been. That was the very essence of biology: complexity.

An hour of filtering through the information passed before Zach sat back in his chair. He grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

He took a moment to look away from the papers, scanning the small narrow room. His house was small, as were most of the homes in the village, but it was cozy. He was slowly getting used to the quiet life of the border town. He had found New Bark to be a sleepy village, and the economy was not as strong as the city he was used to.

His train of thought was interrupted by the pile of books next to him being toppled over, knocking all but one of them on the floor. Papers glided down, landing, at most, a meter from the desk. Zach sighed quietly at the mess, eyeing the culprit instantly.

"Riley..." he sighed.

His pichu sat on the desk, peeking over the edge at the mess he had just made with his small tail twitching. He sniffed around at the rest of the desk, climbing over papers as he went along. Zach only smiled at his new addition. He had come to know this particular pichu was mischievous in his young age, knocking things over and hiding behind almost any furniture Zach had possessed. There were a few times he had come late to work because he had to find the small mouse, much to Elm's understanding.

"Come here, you," he said as he leaned over and picked up the tiny pokemon, triggering a small squeak from the rodent. Riley sat against Zach in his hands, sniffing at his owner before looking up at him. Zach patted the top of his head with a single finger. "How am I supposed to get any work done with you always causing trouble?" he asked, amused at the pichu. "Riley The Chaotic. That suits you just fine."

He began to rub little pokemon on his belly. Immediately, Riley grabbed at the finger with his small hands, gnawing at it. He let loose an electrical discharge. Zach recoiled at the shock, shaking his hand and opening and closing it. Thankfully, at his young age, Riley was not powerful enough to cause harm.

"We're going to have to get that under control," Zach muttered, both to himself and the mouse.

He set Riley down on the desk and began to pick up the papers and books. He stacked them neatly, pushing them to the back end of the table where they couldn't be accidentally knocked off.

Things were finally starting to whined down at his place. Between Leo and Riley, he had his hands full with training and caring for the pokemon. He couldn't imagine what kind of person would want six of them at a time, the training would be constant, the needs would be vastly different. Even feeding them would be a hassle. This and juggling his studies were proving a challenge for the researcher.

The interruption had proven to completely throw him out of the mood to study any further that night, and he leaned back in his chair, feeling his shirt stick to his back. Johto was far south from Sinnoh, on the other end of the expansive area known as The Badlands, as a result, very little cold air came from the north, and the province was far warmer than his northern homeland. After almost a month, he began to grow used to it, but he still felt the urge to clean himself of the sweat.

He glanced over to Leo, who rose his head in an instant. His trainer silently nodded towards Riley, and the fox instantly knew what Zach wanted. He lowered his ears as he stood, and crossed the room with his head down. Zach met him halfway across the room, and knelt in front of the leafeon.

"Just make sure he stays out of trouble," he said to the leafeon. "So by that, I mean make sure you don't wake him."

Leo's eyes narrowed in a response, and Zach just patted Leo on the head before making his way to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, and took a deep breath. Any moment of silence he could get was welcomed, even in the tawdry tiled bathroom.

He undressed, turned on the water, and stepped into the shower to wash himself.

Then a familiar sensation crept in behind his eyes.

He leaned against the wall, rubbing his temples. Zach had been subjected to frequent headaches for most of his life. A small pounding that usually became more immense, and that it did. He turned and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes while he waited for the pain to subside with deep breaths.

Since he had moved to Johto they had become more frequent. Before they would come to him maybe once every few weeks, but now he was experiencing them at least twice a week. More recently, a midst the pounding in his head, he thought he could hear a faint hum with every pulse of pain.

Head still pounding, he waited for a few minutes, standing with his hand on his head. He looked up towards the shower head as it continued to pour warm water on him, holding this position until the headache subsided, as it always did.

They were almost incapacitating, causing Zach to be unable to focus on anything other than the throbbing. The duration of them was odd. They never lasted more than a few minutes. His mother had told him it was just remnants of the stress from his fathers passing.

He thought that was a suitable explanation.

He turned off the water and dried himself off. When he stepped out of the shower he moved over to the fogged mirror and wiped the moister away. What he saw made him chuckle habitually. He had become slightly more tan in the past few weeks, and he had developed the beginnings of bags under his eyes.

"Busy day tomorrow," Zach muttered to himself as he entered his bed room. He removed his towel and put on a pair of boxers. The spring heat of this new temperate country had taught him the valuable lesson of wearing as little as possible when possible.

He did not sleep well that night. Throughout the night his thoughts raced with the repeated images of fire and lightening flashing before him. Constantly reoccurring in front of him like a broken image. This lasted a few hours, but to Zach it felt like only moments. At last, the dream had changed. In the final moments of his slumber the dream molded into something he could perceive.

In front of him was a large city sitting on the coast, the southern ocean cast itself far beyond Zach's perception. Within an instant the sky became a hideous dark layer of swirling clouds that engulfed the tips of the numerous skyscrapers that were cast erratically within the make believe city line. With the dark cast of the scenery came a chilling wind that washed over Zach like a ghost's embrace, chilling him to his core.

SC

He breathed slowly despite the chaos that enveloped the scene before him. An odd sense of calm filed him, his heart did not race, nor did he sweat. Not until he saw a spark light in the city.

Through the mist of his visible breath he saw the city begin to catch ablaze, and, in an instant, the entire town had taken the scene of a hellish landscape. Houses burned to the ground, large obsidian structures began to crumble beneath the matte clouds, which had begun to cover the city with a torrent of rain.

When the downpour came, the fire did not yield. As the rain made contact with the warm ground, and the fire that forked out of each structure, steam began to rise up. In moments the city had become enveloped in a thin mist that rose into the air from the heat.

Then came the booming of thunder, roaring over Zach like a freight train. Flashes of lightening took over the scene, and Zach had to raise his arm to cover his eyes. From the peripherals of his poorly shaded vision was the constant flashing of the sky, sending forks of lightening against the skyscrapers as they began to collapse. One at a time, they fell, sending no clouds of dust from their foundation as they crumbled in on themselves.

From above the overpowering thunder and the cry of the frozen wind came a voice that echoed into the front of his mind. For a moment it sounded distant, as if it was on the other end of the ocean the city sat against. "Them," it said calmly.

An eerie and high pitched sound emitted in the distance, sounding like the combination of a scream and a train whistle before the dark clouds rushed forward towards Zach, and the voice boomed a second time."Stop Them!"

SC

Zach awoke that morning in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. His eyes scanned the room that had been painted orange, through his window, by the rising sun. Casting the long shadow of Riley across the room as he lie on the windowsill. Zach sat up slowly, steadying his breathing as his mind raced with the images he had just born witness to. He raised himself on the bed and leaned his back against its headboard, running his hand across his forehead to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Leo stood in the doorway, scanning Zach and slowly wagging his tail. Zach looked back at him for a moment. "I'm fine, bud," he said quietly to the leafeon. "It was just a nightmare."

At once the pokemon moved across the room towards Zach's bed, resting his chin on the sheets. Zach scratched him between his ears, feeling the light scrape of the mossy texture of his fur. Sounding a heavy sigh, he removed the blankets to stand up.

"I guess I can't dwell on it, we have more important things today." Zach told his pokemon who looked at him with minimal understanding of his words. For the most part a well trained leafeon was able to read a situation by it's own intuition alone, only selectively knowing a few words of the common language.

Zach took another quick shower to wash the sweat off himself, the scenery of his dream clinging to his mind's eye like a blanket.

Once he got out of the shower and gotten dressed, he sat down on the couch in his living room, filtering through his field equipment through the advice of a list Elm had provided for him. Leo sat next to him, eyeing the various tools that were scattered across the table. When he heard the sound of something falling in the other room he left to investigate. Playing big brother to the pichu had seemed to occupy a lot of the leafeon's time.

Zach spent the next few minutes ensuring he was properly equipped, and left anything he deemed unnecessary on the table. By the end of it, his bag was light, but held enough for an overnight trip.

He whistled for Leo, who came around the corner. Glancing around the room before sitting on his haunches, he looked at Zach as if asking if it was time to leave.

"Just one more thing," he answered his silent companion as he moved across the room and dug into one of the many bags of luggage. He produced a sleeping bag and tied it on the bottom end of his pack. Had it gone on the top it would hamper his ability to go prone at a moments notice, a small trick he had picked up years ago.

The final addition to his outfit, which consisted of jeans, running shoes, a white shirt and black sweater, was the knife he strapped to his belt. The sizable blade sat in its holster, the black handle not protruding enough to catch on any foliage.

He grabbed a pokeball from his desk and moved into his room, retrieving the small mouse that had begun to chew at the leg of his bed. Shaking his head, he put the ball inside his unzipped sweater, a magnetic slab holding it in place.

Everything was ready, he threw the bag over his shoulders and moved through the door, Leo in toe. The rest of the day would be on the field.

Thanks to those who read, favourited and followed.