Summertime is generally the finest time of the year for little children. It was always luscious and sunny, there was all the time in the world to play with your friends and there was not a care in the world for kids except what fun awaited them the next day. Summer is, as some say, an idyllic paradise for just this reason and few could ever be miserable at this time of year. But for four year old Ryan Kingston, the time could not have been more miserable. Thought the weather was perfect every day for playtime and fun, there wasn't much a lonely boy like him could do without friends beside him. His good friend Holly Queensbury was away with her family in the Hoenn Region seeing the launching of the first ever rockets from the Mossdeep City Space Center. His best friend, the sweet and kind hearted Addison Tenton, was also out of town with her family. As her mother was the reigning Queen of Arcana, winning the contests for the last few years, she was compelled to take her daughter and husband to the Sinnoh Region to take part in the Pokémon Contests in Hearthome City. Even Ryan's twin brother, Matthew, was stuck at home sick with the flu and could not play with his brother, prompting their father to take the boy with him to Charizark Town where his Gym was located and stay there until he was healthy. This left Ryan alone to have to find some fun for himself to undertake. Easier said than done with poor Ryan being the only healthy and present little kid in town.

Sure, there was Professor Maria Pines's granddaughter Piper, but she was far too old to want to play with a little boy like him. And he couldn't really spend time with her at the Research Facility anyway. Maria Pines may be a kind and sweet old lady, but she couldn't have a little boy running around, especially one who wasn't really old enough to have a Pokémon companion of his own yet. As for the rest of his family, they were either too old or too busy to play with him. His cousin Daniel, only a few years older than him, was going to a special Summer Camp in Kalos to learn how to properly raise Pokémon. Even his favorite cousin, the Champion Michael Kingston, was too old to want to play around with him. And as Champion, he was always working around the whole Arcana Region.

Knowing she couldn't have her son cooped up at home for the whole summer, especially with his brother still being sick, Alison Kingston would take Ryan with her every day on her errands in town. They would go to the General Store to pick up whatever the household needed, get themselves some lunch at the local delicatessen and then make a stop at the local playground so the boy could play a bit. But Alison soon found that her son wasn't exactly happy doing these things every day. The precocious little boy would have preferred someone to play with, but they were usually on their own at the playground. While Alison would read a book on the bench at the park, her son would slide on the slides, swing on the swings and play around in the sandbox. This would go on for a few days, while Matthew and the boy's father were at home resting from the both of them suffering from the flu.

But one day, it all changed for the future hero of Arcana.

It didn't seem like it would be a different day for him as it started. He was woken up by his mother, quickly dressed and brought out of the house. He clung to his mother as they walked out and made their way to the General Store. As they approached the entrance, Alison put her son down and told him to hold her hand as they went inside. Ryan did as his mother told him and walked beside her as she picked up a few things for the house. When they were finished, Alison noticed the down look on his face and sighed.

"You could try to be a little bit happy, Ryan" she suggested.

"I'm sorry Mama" the boy replied. "I'm just bored, I guess."

"You miss your friends, don't you?"

"I do" he admitted. "Are Addy and Holly coming home soon?"

Alison shook her head. "I'm sorry, but they're not coming back for a few weeks." As the two made their way for the Delicatessen, she glanced over towards the Research Facility. "I wonder if your cousin is home, or not. I know you could use the company."

"I don't think he's come home yet" Ryan thought aloud. When the Pokémon League Tournament would draw to a close, the Champion usually spent a few weeks away from Parlor Town before coming back. He was probably headed for the finishing school where Professor Maria's granddaughter was preparing to obtain her doctorate to succeed her grandmother and let her retire. Ryan couldn't help but wonder why he would do this, when he could be spending all of that time in Arcana getting along with the rest of the family. But whenever he asked his mother or father about Michael, they usually told him they'd tell him when he was older.

"Perhaps he'll be home soon" Alison assured her son. "In the meantime, let's get ourselves some lunch. What do you say?"

Ryan shrugged. "Okay Mama."

The two went into the Delicatessen and ordered themselves sandwiches and drinks before heading along for their daily jaunt to the Park. But as they approached the park, there was something very different about the area that day. There were some people there for once in a while. An old man was sitting on the bench in a heavily worn suit with a briefcase plopped beside him. And on the playground, there was a little kid running around with a strange pink Pokémon flying about, letting out a strange mist at it moved around after it's trainer. Alison urged her son to run ahead and make a new friend.

"But I don't know-"

"That shouldn't stop you from making a new friend, Ry" his mother told him. "Go on. I'll be making a new friend myself." She gestured towards the old man on the bench she usually read on.

As his mother made her way over to introduce herself, Ryan gulped and did the same by running towards the playground. He climbed his way up the ramp towards the first of the slides, but came to a skidding halt when he ran right into the pink Pokémon. She looked nothing like any of the Pokémon that could be found in Arcana. She floated about in the air as if she was gliding on the magenta-colored mist she let out. On her sides were pink and violet colored spots that were made out to look like flowers. Her ruby eyes studied him closely before she chirped and flew back towards her trainer.

"Oh, did you meet someone new?" a little girl's voice asked the Pokémon. Ryan tried to push his way through the magenta mist to follow the Pokémon, accidentally bumping into someone in the process. "Ouch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry" Ryan exclaimed as he realized what he had done.

"I'm okay" the girl's voice continued. "I just wasn't expecting you to run up so quickly."

"Is that your Pokémon?" he inquired.

"Uh-huh" she replied. "This is my Munna. I call her Ames."

"You're lucky" Ryan replied. "Mom and Dad said I can't have Pokémon until I'm older."

"That's strange" the girl replied. "My Mom and Dad said that a Pokémon has to choose us as it's own." As the mist cleared around them, Ryan was able to finally get a good look at the girl. He had definitely never seen her in town before. She was roughly his age, with long almost platinum-blonde hair. Her clothing seemed handmade, with clear signs of patchwork sewing done to help keep them together. Atop her head, she wore a lace bonnet with a pink sash wrapped around it, the same color as the Munna that was her constant companion.

"Did you guys just move into town?" Ryan asked, curious about his new companion.

She shook her head. "No. My Grandpa is supposed to get some work in this region, so we're only here for a few days."

Ryan sighed to himself. That's a shame. I was hoping to make a new friend for all of us. Nevertheless, the boy shrugged and continued on getting to know the new girl. "Well, while your here, did you want to play with me?"

The girl nodded. "I'd love to. Once Ames is done, I'll join you." Ryan looked past the girl and saw the Pokémon still letting out the mist, with a stream of it flowing all around their little secluded playground.

"What's she doing?"

"Creating Dream Mist" she told the boy. "I don't know why she does it, but I get to have fun so long as I play in it."

"You can play in it?"

"Of course you can" the girl continued. "Can't you see the castle we're in?"

Ryan shook his head. "This isn't a castle. It's a playground."

The girl giggled. "No, not around us here. In the mist." When she realized he really could not see what she could, she turned towards her Munna. "Hey, Ames. How about we bring him along with us?" The Pokémon chirped happily and began to circle the entire playground, spreading her mist as she did. The girl made her way over towards where Ryan was. "Are you ready to see it?"

Ryan was now completely lost. "See what?"

"The castle we've been playing in" she responded.

Ryan looked around, but all he could see was the mist. "Is it somewhere in the mist?"

The girl laughed. "No, silly." She held out her hand to the boy. "Come on. I'll show you."

Though he was hesitant at first, Ryan knew playing this girl's game was probably better than playing by himself. He gave her his hand and the mist swirled around much faster. When it cleared, Ryan gasped. They were now standing on the outer walls of a castle. Below them was a medieval village. He could not believe what he was seeing. "What-what is this?"

"This is our play world" the girl explained. "We're playing castles today." She tugged Ryan along the way, showing him every aspect of this fantasy world that her Pokemon had created for her. Ryan could not help but wonder if he was more impressed by her imagination or her in general. The girl's imagination was so vivid and believable, he could feel as if the walls around them truly did exist. Noticing his growing admiration of the world, she came to a stop. "We can go anywhere we want. In the real world or in our imaginations." She looked to him. "Is there someplace you would like to see?"

Ryan shrugged. "I'm curious to see what's in this castle."

The girl smiled. "Then we should keep going, then." She continued to lead him towards the watchpoint on the highest tower. Upon arriving at the ladder to reach the watchpoint, she let go of Ryan and climbed up the ladder to oversee the rest of the kingdom. To his surprise, when she let go of him, Ryan could see bits and pieces of the playground coming back to life. There was certainly something mysterious about her Munna, but he was having fun playing with her, so he didn't mind if the power wasn't completely immersive.

"And all of this came from your imagination?" Ryan asked.

She looked down at him and nodded. "Of course it is. The best worlds to play in are the worlds you make on your own. Now come on, or else the guards will catch you."

Without waiting to second guess her, Ryan climbed up the ladder after her and came to her side. He looked down and spotted several armored men marching past the ladder he had just climbed up. The girl pulled him over to her side and pointed towards the lands below. Ryan was in awe. A lone knight was battling what appeared to be a Salamence. "Is that really going on?"

"In our world, it is" the girl explained. The two watched as the knight swung his sword to fend off the Salamence and drive it backwards. Ryan was on the edge of complete excitement as the dragon growled and spat fire all around the knight.

"I hope he makes it" Ryan remarked.

"Take care, brave knight" the girl called down to the knight. "We're counting on you, here!" She leaned towards Ryan to explain. "The Salamence is attacking the village and only our brave knight can save us!"

Ryan gulped. "So, that's real?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yup. And we need the knight to win or else the Dragon will take the fair Princess and her Squire."

Ryan blinked. "Then shouldn't we protect the Princess?"

"Oh, I'm fine" she remarked.

"Huh?"

She reached for and took his hand in hers. "I have my squire with me." To Ryan's astonishment, the girl's patchy clothing had changed into a beautiful dress made for princesses. His own had changed into a tunic generally worn by squires. By his side, hung a small sword.

"This is crazy!" he exclaimed.

She eyed him worriedly. "If you don't think you can handle it, we can change the story if you want."

Ryan, realizing how timid he looked, defiantly shook his head. "No way! I need to be brave for the princess!"

The girl blushed. "Okay, then." The two watched on as the knight battled on with the Salamence, before finally throwing his javelin into the dragon's wing, forcing him to limp away from the village. As the Salamence stumbled off, the villagers cheered for the knight.

"HURRAY!"

"Way to go!" Ryan echoed.

"Now that is a hero" the girl proclaimed. She was about to call to the knight himself, but fell back in shock when another Salamence flew up to the two of them. She cried out as she slid behind Ryan to protect her. "Look out! It's another dragon!"

Ryan, despite his nerves of going up against a dragon, drew the small sword at his side and swung it wildly at the dragon, until it growled at him and tried to bite at his sword. Ryan, thinking quickly, shoved the sword into the dragon's throat, trapping it's jaws open. As the dragon struggled with the sword in it's mouth, Ryan looked towards his new friend. "I don't think that will hold him forever."

The girl nodded. "We have to escape on our Magic Carpet!"

"Magic what?" Ryan asked. He watched as the girl hurried over to a part of the tower where a long carpet was prepared to fly them to safety. He made his way over to her side. "Man, you think of everything, don't you?"

She nodded. "We have to always be prepared." She ushered him to sit behind her. "Come on! I need my squire to protect me until we've escaped the dragon!" Ryan did as the Princess bid and sat behind her. She looked to the Magic Carpet they sat on. "Go on, Carpet! Take us someplace safer!" She looked back towards Ryan. "You might want to hold on! This could get a little crazy!"

Ryan grabbed hold of her waist as the carpet finally took a gliding dive off of the tower and the two began to spin around and round as they descended to safety. Ryan could see the pink mist clearing around them and realized the two were no longer on a magic carpet, but sliding down a tall and winding slide. As the slide wrapped up, Ryan and his new friend shot off the slide and landed on the foamy mat beside it, with Ryan falling on top of his newest friend. Their clothing had reverted back to normal and the two friends laughed. Ames the Munna floated down to them and chirped happily as she enjoyed the fun the duo had taken a part in in their dream world.

The girl laughed playfully as Ryan pushed himself off of her. "That was fun! It's a lot better when I have someone to play with!"

Ryan nodded. "You're right! I can't remember the last time I had this much fun."

"Where should we go next?" she asked him.

Ryan thought for a moment, wondering how best he would be able to create a world. "I don't think I'm as imaginative as you are."

She shook her head. "Then, why don't you tell me what we should play next?"

Ryan looked at the jungle gym in as different a light as he could. "But I don't understand how we're going to get our ship back out to sea? We're stuck here in the sand."

The girl looked at her Munna and nodded. "We're trapped on land, Ames. We need some water!"

Ryan looked down at his feet as the magenta mists surrounded them and thought he could feel his feet being submerged in water. He took his new friend's hand and the two hurried back onto their slowly transforming Sailboat. Upon reaching the first major level of the play equipment, the two found themselves on a ship that was beached by a low tide.

"And if we don't get our ship out to sea soon" the girl continued, "those mean old pirates are going to steal our treasure from us!"

"Then we need to protect the treasure and stop those pirates!" Ryan insisted.

{Some Time Later}

From the walls of a medieval castle to the open oceans surrounded by pirates, Ryan and his new friend had so much fun the rest of their time at the playground, that they had failed to notice or hear their guardians calling to them to come along. Finally, as the sun began to descend in the distance, did the mist finally wear off and the two were forced to come along with their mother and grandfather respectively. As Ryan and his new friend descended the steps towards their awaiting protectors, the two looked at each other happily.

"Did you want to meet here tomorrow?" she asked him.

"Sure! I can't wait to see what adventure we have!"

"My name is Avery, by the way" she told him. "Avery Frost."

"Ryan Kingston" Ryan told her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Avery raced over to her Grandfather with her Munna right behind her and leaped into the old man's arms, hugging him tightly. While she regaled her Grandfather with the stories of her new friend, Ryan made his way over to his mother.

"Did you have fun, Ry?" his mother asked.

"Yup!" Ryan replied quickly. "Can we come back tomorrow at the same time?"

Alison giggled. "Sure, Ry. But you and I have to get home, now." She picked her son up and held him as they made their way home. Ryan looked over his mother's shoulder and saw Avery and her Grandfather gathering their belongings and departing along the other path out of the park.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!" Ryan insisted as he yawned and rested his head on his mother.

{Some Time Later}

Over the next few days, after Ryan and his mother ran their daily errands and made it to the park, he and his new friend Avery became inseparable. All they had to do to enter their dream worlds was imagine it, have Ames the Munna create her Dream Mist and hold each other's hand and the two would be transported anywhere in the world they wanted to be. On a spaceship battling alien invaders, in an ancient pyramid being chased by mummies, exploring exotic jungles, diving deep into the ocean to swim with Water Pokémon, or even back to the days of prehistoric Pokémon, the only thing they were limited by was their imaginations.

While Ryan still missed his friends and his brothers, so long as he was with Avery, the longing for them to be with him was not as drastic. She seemed to bring out the best in him and he hoped that he did the same for her. But with her imagination so vivid and expansive, perhaps he didn't need to bring out the best in her. Nevertheless, the two spent so much of their time together over the next few days, that nothing seemed to bother either of them except the inevitable moments when they would have to go back to their homes for dinner. The promise to see each other the next day made up for that disappointing time of day. And day after day, the same refrains would continue.

As the end of their wonderful week came, the two decided to not play in their imaginary world, but instead sit with one another on the swings for most of the day. Though they knew that their time together would come to an end, neither had imagined that it would come as soon as this. While Ryan's mother and Avery's grandfather exchanged Poke Gear numbers so the two kids could keep in touch, Ryan did his best to comfort a deeply saddened Avery.

"Don't be sad, Avery" he told her gently. "You're going to come back, right?"

"I guess so" Avery answered mournfully. "But what's the point of going anywhere if I'm just going to make friends and then it has to end?"

"We're going to be friends no matter how far away you are" Ryan promised her.

"You think so?" Avery asked.

"Sure thing. Take my friends Addy and Holly. They're gone for the summer, but I know that we'll still be friends when they come back. And it will be the same for you. We'll include you in all the games and stuff we do."

"That sounds nice" Avery responded. "I'd love to meet your other friends."

"If you guys can come by tomorrow" Ryan offered, "you'll get to meet my brother, Matt!"

"I don't know if I will" she spoke up. "My Grandpa told me it will take a long time for us to get to where my Mom and Dad are working. It's an island really far away."

"Oh. Well, either way, you and I are still gonna be friends when you come back." He held out his hand for her. "You can count on me."

Avery lowered her head. "Thank you, Ryan. I just wish this didn't have to end. This has been the most fun I've ever had." She looked away from him as she held his hand. "I just-I don't want it to end like this." She looked over towards Ames, the Munna, and called to her. "Hey, Ames!" The Munna floated over to her and looked at her eagerly. Avery whispered something to her and he Munna happily bounced.

"What did you say?" Ryan asked.

"I asked her to do something for me" Avery explained. The Munna floated over towards Ryan and then pecked him gently on the forehead, as if to kiss him. "There. Now we'll never be that far apart, anymore."

"What was that for?" Ryan asked as he rubbed where the Munna had touched him.

"We're both connected to Ames now" Avery said. "Maybe we'll be able to play together in our dreams."

"I hope it works" Ryan replied.

"We won't find out until we go to bed" Avery told him. The two finally stopped swinging and leaped off their swing, still holding hands. "But I don't think I'm going to sleep for a while. I'm going to go on a real boat for the first time in my life! I'm so excited!"

"When you do go to sleep, though" Ryan continued, "you should tell me when we meet in our dreams how you liked it."

"I will!" Avery promised.

"We have to go, Avery" Amos Frost called to his Granddaughter. "Come along now, Missie. We don't want to miss our boat."

"Come on, Ryan!" Alison called to her son. "We've got to get dinner ready. Dad and Matty will be home soon."

"Okay Mom" Ryan responded. He gave his friend's hand one last squeeze before letting go and going along with his mother. He looked back and saw Avery being carried by her Grandfather. She looked at him with big, sad and soft eyes and waved to him. Ryan nodded sadly and did the same.

{Some Time Later}

Avery and Amos Frost never returned to the Parlor Town Park and Ryan never got to introduce Avery to any of his friends or his brother. Ryan overheard his mother speaking with his father one night about a dangerous storm that was coming, but nothing beyond that. When he asked his mother if Avery was coming back, she never did answer him. He grew to miss Avery dearly, even when his brother came back to play with him.

Eventually, as Addison and Holly returned to Arcana and back into his life, Ryan put his brief week of joy behind him and allowed his memories of Avery Frost and her vivid imagination to fade into the back of his mind. Occasionally, he would look back on this memory of a girl with a Munna and the wonderful imagination she had, but never more than just a passing thought. Any need for friendship he had from her was moved on to Addison, who soon became the boy's best friend and even made him form a bit of a rivalry with Matthew over trying to please her.

The rest...well...is history.