Diego began to returning to conciseness as his subconscious woke him to find out why his inhaling of breath had become slightly harder. As Diego's eyes began to open, against their own will, the world above him slowly improved from the blobs of green, blue and white to outlines of trees, the sky and two clouds. "Muhh" he moaned as he slowly raised his head to investigate the problem only to see a pair of red, piercing eyes staring back at him, all he could do was groan before the eyes were covered by dome of green stranded hair. Why is there a Ralts on my chest? He thought to himself before the events of last night came flooding back, "oh that's right" he murmured.

"Diego are you awake?" something grumbled to the left of him.

"Yeah I'm up Ferno" Diego said as he felt the Growlithe wriggle out from underneath his right arm, which had trapped him over the night. "Could you check on our visitor and see if it's alright? oh and tell it to get off me so I can get up" he whispered but as he finished the question he felt the weight on his chest shift and slide off to his left side, "or it could get off itself, that works too" he said as he sat up in his sleeping bag before stretching and groaning. "So how did everyone sleep?" Diego asked the two Pokémon.

"Great, and now I'm raring to get to Petalburg" Ferno barked excitably. When there was no other response Diego turned to see the Ralts standing a step away from where Diego had slept simply looking down at the ground causing him to frown,

"What about you?" Diego asked the silent Pokémon to which its reply was a simple foot movement. "Hmm" Diego grunted

"You know you can talk to him" Ferno barked from beside Diego. After a minute of staring at the Ralts the two shrugged and turned back towards the bag.

"My mother told me not to talk to humans" a quiet voice came from behind them, one which only Ferno heard and understood, making him turn and look at the Ralts.

"This one's not human, his different" Ferno barked indicating at Diego.

"Who's different?" Diego asked Ferno as he heard Ferno's statement.

"It spoke, it said it doesn't talk to humans" Ferno replied

"Ahhhh" Diego said turning towards the Ralts, "so it does speak" he simply stated as he looked into those piercing, red eyes again but this time the Ralts didn't turn away, instead returning his stare. "Hm, well now that you speak why don't we ask you some questions" Diego said, "let's start with a simple one: are you a boy or a girl?"

"Ralts" the Ralts replied.

"Ah, what did you say?" Diego asked confused.

"Ralts" it repeated "Ral Ralts"

Diego was seriously confused "why can't I understand you?" he said, "you're only a psychic type. Wait! That's it you're a psychic type, I've never absorbed a psychic type before that why I can't understand you" he exclaimed throwing up his arms, relief flooding over him.

"Ahh you okay?" Ferno asked slightly confused.

"Yeah I'm good it's just that you're gonna have to be a translator for a little while. Anyway, what gender is it?" Diego asked turning to face Ferno.

"It's a girl" Ferno replied

"Okay then, second question: do you want to stay with us or return to where you came from, where ever that is?" Diego asked turning back to look at the Ralts.

After a few minutes of waiting for the Ralts to make up its mind Diego turned back to continue packing away while Ferno continued to wait for the response. He was just putting his makeshift pillow bag away when he heard a reply. Instead of turning to the Ralts he simply looked at Ferno.

"It said that it is thankful for what we did for it last night and that it has been separated from its clan for several weeks so its decided that it is probably safest with us" Ferno said looking up at Diego.

"Is that a yes?" Diego said to the Ralts, confused about the answer. The Ralts simply nodded. A smile grew on Diego's face until it swallowed his whole face "alright then, welcome to the family" he smiled before walking up to the Ralts and pulling it into a hug. After letting the Ralts back down to the ground Ferno walked up and licked her on the face making her blush and Diego to laugh. "Alright lovebirds, lets finish up here and head back into Oldale to stock up on supplies and get a Pokéball for our new member" Diego said heaving himself to a standing position.


The sun was just passing over the eastern building skyline as the trio wandered towards the Pokémart in Oldale town. Ferno walked to the left on Diego while the Ralts sat on Diego's shoulder bouncing up and down as he walked. "I need to think up of a name for you Ralts" Diego said as he pushed open the door of the Pokémart, "let's think ahh…. You're a psychic type so I need a psychic name"

"Good morning, what can I do for you today?" the man behind the counter said interrupting Diego's thoughts.

"Ah yeah, could I get a couple of potions and pokéballs" Diego said walking up to and leaning on the counter.

"How much would you like exactly?" the clerk asked.

"Ah, 5 of each thanks" Diego replied.

"Okay then" the clerk said before rushing off to the back of the shop to grab the supplies. "That will be $150" he said when he came back to the counter.

"Oh, that's quite a bit" Diego said as he reached into his pocket of his pants to grab his wallet. After Diego had given the money to clerk he grabbed the bag of supplies, turned on his heels, called for Ferno, who had been looking at racks of stuff, and walked out into the morning sunlight. "Okay then Ralts, time to officially catch you" he said picking the Ralts up off his shoulder and placing her on the ground. As he took a few steps back he grabbed a pokéball out of the bag, set the bag on the ground and got ready to catch the Ralts. "Okay I'm not that sure how to do this, but I've seen I been done before so here goes nothing" he said as he pushed the button on the ball and gently threw it at Ralts. There was a burst of light causing Diego to cover his eyes but when he looked back at where Ralts had once stood now sat a pokéball in the dust. As it stopped moving Diego began to smile again, "Yes! I caught a Ralts" he shouted joyfully while Ferno barked happily as well, "let's do you now Ferno" Diego smiled at Ferno, reaching down and grabbing another pokéball.

"Nonono, I'm not doing that, I prefer to be out here with you" he barked backing away from Diego.

"Don't worry I'll catch you than bring you back out straight away. Plus, you don't want other trainers trying to capture you because you're not officially mine" Diego said reassuringly.

"Fine but make it quick" Ferno growled.

As Diego repeated the process which he'd done for Ralts, he could help but smile even more than before as he held both of his pokéballs in his hands. "So this is what it feels like to be a Pokémon trainer" he smiled to himself.


"Are you gonna bring her out yet?" Ferno barked.

"Yeah, and if you would of asked I would of told you that I thought of a name for her" Diego smiled at Ferno's impatience as he reached for the pokéball he had carried in his pant pocket.

"Fine what's the magical name you got for her? Please tell me it's not something cheesy" Ferno growl at the thought of a horribly cheesy name.

Diego shook his head, "nope, you finding out when she does" he said as he pointed the pokéball towards the western fringe of Oldale. As he pushed the button there was a burst of light as the ball opened releasing the Ralts. As the light faded the Ralts yawned. "Okay then guys let's head over to Petalburg so we can meet up with the others. Ferno, I expect that you'll be walking?" which earned a confirming bark, "Dea, do you want to sit on my shoulder?" Diego asked earning confused looks from both Pokémon.

"Who's Dea?" Ferno asked.

"Her" Diego replied simply pointing at the Ralts "that's her name; Dea. Do you like it?" he asked causing Dea to nod vigorously and start talking. "What's she saying?" Diego asked Ferno.

"I can't pick out much, only fragments; 'yes I love it' 'thank you so much'" Ferno replied not taking his eyes of the ecstatic Ralts.

"Alright, Dea calm down. We need to head off" Diego said grabbing Dea and lifting her off the ground and onto his shoulder. "Onwards unto Petalburg" Diego exclaimed in an announcer's voice causing him to giggle at his own stupidity.


A few hours later

"I got a question" Dea said to Ferno from Diego's shoulder, Ferno didn't look up but nodded to show that he was listening, "before you said; 'This one's not human, his different' what did you mean?"

After a pause Ferno replied "ahh… I don't know what to tell you, he's just different. He's a Guardian or something"

"But that's the thing, what is a Guardian?" Dea asked confused.

"That's an excellent question" Ferno growled thoughtfully before turning to Diego, "Diego what's a Guardian?"

"Huh, I knew it was only a matter of time before you asked that" Diego sighed, "um how to tell you this, ah. Okay, once upon a time, there was three species that inhabited Earth; the Humans, the Pokémon and the Guardians. The Guardians were a species that were kind of a cross between the two other races, like, we had humanoid bodies but we solely consisted of two types, like Pokémon, for example I'm made from dark and fire, kind of like a Houndoom.

"But one day something happened, the Guardians disappeared. All but one because you see we are what our name says we are, we are Guardians. So this chosen one stayed behind while the others vanished. This chosen one was the Guardian of its time, and when he passed on a new Guardian was born and so it continued for thousands of years. So when one dies another is born, so when the last Guardian died I was born. A wise man once said that nothing really dies. It just comes back in a new form." Diego explained staring straight ahead the whole time.

"But why are you the Guardian and why dark and fire?" Dea asked only making Diego give her a confusing look.

"She said 'why are you the Guardian and why dark and fire?'" Ferno sighed.

"Oh okay, I don't know why I'm the Guardian I guess it was just the luck of the draw" Diego shrugged, "and the dark and fire thing that because they were the first typing I absorbed, an Absol and a Charmeleon"

"Absorbed?" Ferno asked.

Just as Diego was answer there was a yell off to their right; "Oi, you, you with the Growlithe"

"Huh?" Diego grunted as he turned to see a young boy jogging towards him

"You, you're a trainer right? I challenge you to a Pokémon battle" the boy gasped from the short exercise.

"Ah yeah, sure" Diego replied as the boy reached out into his pocket and pulled out a pokéball.

"Go Poochyena!" he shouted as he released his Pokémon.

"Okay, Dea" Diego said picking her up off his shoulder only to find her shaking uncontrollably. "You okay Dea?" then he made the connection between Dea's shaking and the fact that she was staring directly at the Poochyena, "oh, it's okay you just sit this one out" Diego reassured placing her on the ground. "Ferno your up" he instructed as Ferno took a few steps towards the Poochyena.

"Let's do this" he growled.

"Poochyena use Howl" the kid said as his Pokémon put its head back and howled.

"Okay Ferno, use Ember" Diego instructed making Ferno to unleash a jet of fire that hit the Poochyena head on before it had time to react.

"Okay Poochyena use Tackle" the kid instructed

"Hit it again with another Ember" Diego shouted as the Poochyena charged at Ferno. As Ferno released another jet of flame again getting another direct hit causing the Poochyena to trip and skid along the ground for a meter before stopping. "Looks like we won" Diego smiled at Ferno who howled triumphantly.

"Oh, Poochyena return" he boy said pointing the pokéball at his unconscious Poochyena. "I guess you're a lot tougher that you look. Here" the boy said holding out a fist full of notes.

"No, I'm not gonna take your money, I reckon that you're gonna need it more than I will" Diego smiled "exactly if you're gonna win next time" he said causing the youngster to smile.

"Thanks" he said before turning around and heading back towards Oldale.

"Good work Ferno, you were amazing" Diego said crouching down and giving Ferno a good scratching.

"Pff, It was nothing" Ferno growled happily.

"Anyway, Dea are you okay now?" Diego asked turning to Dea.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little affected by the other Poochyena I encountered" she replied only to see Diego look confusingly at Ferno who simple rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Man we really got to get a better way of communicating" Diego said, standing up and scratching the back of his head. "Anyway we better keep moving" he announced, picking Dea up and placing her back on his shoulder.


"You still haven't answered my question yet" Ferno barked looking up at Diego

"Root" Diego said as Ferno tripped on a tree root sticking out of the ground causing Dea to giggle. "What was the question?" Diego said looking straight ahead.

"What's absorbing?" Ferno growl annoyed that he hadn't seen the root beforehand.

"It's like the move but different" after a pause Ferno barked impatiently, "it's something that Guardians do but instead of taking power from a Pokémon it trades a small piece of their aura with the Guardian own aura. It how we gain our ability to understand Pokémon" Diego said.

"But why can't you understand Dea?" Ferno asked

"You know how psychic type moves have no effect on dark types and dark types are super effective to psychics" both Pokémon nodded, "well it's like that but if I absorb a psychic type they die" Diego said as a shadow cast across he's face, "that's why I can't understand Dea, I never absorbed a evolutionary variant of a Ralts"

"Oh" Dea said finally understanding.

"So can you never understand her?" Ferno asked

"I don't know" Diego said. "Anyway let's stop talking about such depressing stuff, we're almost at Petalburg" Diego said breaking the awkward silence. "Actually that's not true, we got another 10 K to go" Diego said earning a groan from both Pokémon which made him laugh.


As the trio finally walked through the eastern border of trees that surround that side of Petalburg the sun had begun its decent from its midday position. "Argh that was a way to long route" Ferno growled licking his paws.

"Pff that was nothing, you should see the route between Mauville and Fortree that one's a killer" Diego said wandering towards a bench to take a rest.

"Well you didn't have to carry Dea for a whole 3 kilometers, I mean she's heavy" Ferno said as he collapsed against Diego's leg before being hit by a branch that Dea had thrown at him using her newly learnt Confusion. "HEY!" Ferno yelled.

"Chill you two, plus I had to carry her for the other 20 odd Ks I feel like my shoulder bone's broken" Diego said before both him and Ferno burst into laughter only to be cut short by another two branches hitting each of them. "We're only joking Dea" Diego chuckled covering his head from further assault only to hear Dea mutter something, probably insulting. "Alright guys let's head over to the Pokècenter and get you guys healed up" he groaned as he hauled himself off the bench.

"Ah, fine then" Ferno groaned as he slowly got up.

"Dea you can ride up top" Diego said grabbing her and placing her on his shoulder, "okay, let's go". It took them a further 15 minutes before they found the centre about in the middle of the city. Instead of doing the whole act like in Oldale, Diego simply put the Pokémon back in their pokéballs and handed them over to the nurse to heal them. After the nurse told him it was gonna be a 10 minute wait, Diego decided to call one of his mates he was gonna be meeting up with, "hello Red?... hey man, it's Diego… yeah I'm in Petalburg, where are you… where's that?... oh so you still in Petalburg, I thought you would of headed over to Kanto already… oh so you're gonna wait to see her before heading off eh?... Oh are you there with the others….. Yeah well some of us travel by ourselves, like men….. Nice, anyway, do you know when she's getting in?... Okay, about 10:30, are we gonna meet up beforehand…. Yeah I'll meet you down at the port about 9:45…. K, hey I gotta go… yeah see you tomorrow, bye" with that Diego ended the call and walked back towards the main desk of the centre where he was being call to from.

"Here are your Pokémon, fully healed" the nurse said handing over his two pokéballs.

"Thanks, by the way where's the closest motel?" Diego said. After getting directions he headed out the doors and took a few steps before releasing both Ferno and Dea. "Alright guys I just got off the phone with one of my friends and we're gonna meet up with them tomorrow, so we're gonna rest up at a motel not too far from here, sounds like a plan?" to which both of them nodded in argument, "okay then" Diego said as he turned and began walking in the direction of the motel.