Hello, and welcome to something that has become a bit of a pet project. I read The Sun Soul By 50caliberchaos, loved it, became inspired by it, and started work on my own story.

I loved the way they portrayed pokemon as a dangerous and deadly force, something that humans feared rather than made friends with. Being a trainer would mean something, and you would need to be far older than ten to head out on some adventure. That is exactly the world this story takes place in. Politics, prejudice, and fear dominate this iteration of Johto.

Fair warning, I tend to go crazy with world building.

So, I hope you enjoy.

He was eight years old. The sun was just beginning to poke over the horizon, though none in the forest could see it yet. He groaned, his head pounding from the impact of his cart being knocked over. The hour was too early for even the mist to cover the bodies of the archaeologists, and the trainers hired to protect them.

Not a single person, but him, survived till the morning, and for once it was not the forces of nature that had claimed them with streams of fire or the blow of frigid wind summoned by the mystic animals they lived among. These were the actions of humans, who's powers lied in gunpowder and steel. The basics of martial weaponry, in a world where creatures wielded the power of the elements themselves, left something to be desired in the poetry of the slaughter.

Memories of musket fire swam to the surface of his mind. He remembered the smell of hot flint, and the sounds of agony from both pokemon and humans. His thoughts returned to the present when remnants of gunpowder drifted through the cracks in the wood, and tickled his nose with its dry scent. He stirred as he came to, groaning. Head thumping, the young boy laid in the cramped storage cabin beneath the wagon, hindering his movement.

His eyes slowly opened, seeing only by the light of the still dim sunlight. He remembered the axe head which had made the crack, it had barely missed his head just before the cart had been knocked over.

The next moment he recalled, he awoke a second time, and the light had grown stronger. Hours had slipped by when Zach had lost consciousness again. Only two things could do that, psychics and serious head trauma. He remembered his mother telling him this fact, though he always questioned its veracity.

By the time he had opened his eyes again, the fog in his mind had finally begun to subside. His head pounded behind his eyes, feeling the tension in the back of his neck as well. The boy had been beaten without even fighting, but he was alive.

As his consciousness gained, he began to hear the dull murmur of voices outside. He took a deep, dry breath as he slowly turned to his side, his back aching as he did so. With much protest from his shoulders, he propped himself up on one elbow, his nose touching the wall in the tiny compartment.

He slowly made his way to his feet, enduring the screams of protest from his ankles, shoulders, neck, and head. With heavy breaths, he looked up. The small crack, though large enough to let in light, wasn't wide enough to see through. He didn't know if the aggressors were outside, but if it was daytime then he had been out for more than seven hours after the attack. Even in his daze, the boy was intelligent enough to determine that.

Eterna City had a motto "shit or get off the pot," this came to the boy's mind as he pushed up on the door above his head. The door flung open with a bang, betraying any hope of slipping away. The sudden surge of light caused him to shield his eyes with his forearms.

Instantly, the light became blocked by a towering figure. Four bulking arms protruded out of the large silhouette. Two of these arms reached out to him, and powerful hands lifted him up under the arms. Zach felt helpless as his feet dangled, but when he felt the dirt of the road on his feet, he was gently released. He looked up in surprise, identifying a machamp, which towered eight feet over the young boy. The behemoth figure moved away, allowing its trainer to take a position in front of him.

The boy's weak legs shook with the rest of his body, and the smell of gunpowder flooded his nostrils. He began to cough, falling to his knees. After a moment, he had fallen silent, and slowly opened his still sensitive eyes to the light and gunpowder. At first he only saw the large black boots of the man standing in front of him, and his sore muscles all tensed at once.

The light of the morning sun gleamed on the man's bald head, he had the demeanour of a hardened soldier. Zach had found relief when he saw the concerned expression of the man, and the machamp which stood behind him. The pokemon's frog-like head was fixed on the boy, it's mouth twisted in a perpetual grin.

The boy blinked and was still dizzy. He saw parts of brown and black clothing and fur scattered around the wagon. Many of which were not distinguishable in the thick mist of the powder.

"Are you ok?" the man asked the boy.

The boy didn't respond, but simply stood. His legs quivered some before he found his strength. He nodded, looking around at the nine bodies that surrounded the wagon.

The tauros, a bullet wound clearly defined on both sides of its head, laid with the other bodies, still strapped to the front of the wagon. Behind it laid the scattered remains of pots and plates used by people of ancient times.

Through the mist of the powder, a single figure stood out to him. A blue skinned lion laying on the ground, its black fur matted with blood from yet more bullet holes. His father's luxio, which laid on top of its trainer.

The child didn't want to believe what he was looking at. This was something that threatened to convert his haze into hysterics. As he looked at the body of his father, the ranger became a part of the forest to the boy, just another part of the scenery. This man, who had pulled him from his potential coffin, had might as well have been in The Indigo Provinces.

He stumbled slowly towards the body of his father, but tripped over the leg of another dead man. He hit the ground hard, landing with a grunt. As he laid there for a moment, his eyes meet the gaze of another dead pokemon, whose red eyes stared vacantly into the forest.

He pushed himself up and stepped over another corpse before he reached his father. Who had always been a dignified man. Even his body laid with a level of decorum. His mouth did not hang open, and his eyes had closed. His gray jacket was stained with blood over his stomach, and his hand rested uselessly against the wound. He looked actually peaceful despite the battle-torn surroundings. His other arm was laid over top of the luxio. The two had passed away together, both succumbing to their injuries.

The only thing he could do was rest his head on his fathers shoulder with tears streaming down his face. Had he done this while his father was alive he would have heard him sing in soothing tones, but not this time. No more songs would come from his father, and nothing would comfort him in this time.

"Mesprit's heart..." the large man offered in condolence as he approached the scene. "You're Zachary Pine, aren't you?" he said sympathetically. He stood for a moment in silence before he knelt. "I'm sorry about your father, he was a good man."

Zach said nothing to the ranger.

Another man appeared from behind the wagon, his long hair falling over his face. "They have one," he said blandly over the sound of the crying child.

The man by Zach turned to look over the carnage, his features sombre. "All we can do is hope they can't use it. We can get it back eventually."

"We'll run out of time eventually. We have to act."

"What will you have us do?" the man stressed. "March on their headquarters? Just the two of us? Our priority is to get this boy to the city, and a report written on this attack."

The sound of a branch breaking caught the attention of the three.

Zach, with tears still falling down his face, rose his head from his father's shoulder. Movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and he simply remained knelt and frozen among the other bodies. Scavengers would surely come to this scene, and even more bold pokemon would take on the survivors. He was still as sobbing would allow.

A small brown pokemon emerged from the forest. This animal had no look of aggression, only fear, matching Zach's sorrow in its large brown eyes. It looked between the three humans among the dead nine, its long ears pulled back in a cowering stance. He glanced at each human in the eye, taking in their emotions and studying their expressions with intelligence well-known in eevee.

The baby vulpine pokemon inched cautiously towards the bodies, sniffing at the ground with attentiveness as it periodically stopped to peek at the present humans. It stopped at a man laying by his fathers feet, and nudged his hand with a small whimper. Zach's teared eyes narrowed as the eevee looked at him with another whine.

This wasn't a wild pokemon. It was being raised by one of the hired trainers. Eevee were prized, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if a successful mercenary was raising one.

The bald ranger slowly inched back to make space for the advancing eevee, and gestured to his machamp to take the same action. The eevee reached Zach and sat, its sorrowful eyes never breaking away from him.

The boy looked at the eevee for a few moments, still fighting back sobs. The eevee advanced again, it's eyes never leaving Zach's as it laid its head on the boy's lap. Zach's hand raised for the pokemon's head slowly and hesitantly, but eventually found soft fur. They sat like that for a moment, both trembling.

"I want to go home," he said, his voice quiet and shaking. The man nodded, and helped the boy to his feet.

"Sebastian Pine's dead, huh? The museum is going to love that," said the long haired man, who was quickly silenced by a glare from the other uniformed man.

Zach looked back to the bodies, wanting to take one last look before they departed. He said nothing, only looking at his fathers body, which laid along with the bodies of the rest of the convoy and their pokemon.

Their flintlock rifles had been taken along with their swords. They would likely be sold to other bandits since firearms were so rarely seen among commoners. He even noticed the pokeballs, which some of the guards possessed, had been taken. Nothing was left there but the dead, and a wagon full of useless clay pots from ancient times.

"Don't worry. We'll see that he receives a proper burial," the larger ranger said, placing his hand on the boy's back. "They all will."

The small eevee watched as the company departed, whining quietly as his long ears fell back again. It caught the attention of the boy. He stopped, and closed his eyes as he turned. When he opened his eyes again he was looking over a massacre, with a lone eevee sitting in the middle and staring at him. All it took was a snap of the rangers fingers for the eevee to trot over to them.

Zach leaned over to pick him up. The pokemon sniffed at the boy's hand, hesitantly looking around their misty surroundings. It only took a few seconds for the eevee to take refuge in Zach's arms, and the boy stood, holding the tiny infant to his chest. In response, the pokemon licked his cheek before curling up. "You and I," he said in a shaking voice. "We can't let this happen again. Not if we can stop it."

The long haired man now walked beside Zach, looking to the taller ranger. "Who did that eevee belong to?" he asked.

The larger man looked down at the small cat-like fox, then to Zach. "It's his now," he said contently as they let the mist of the gunpowder and the smell of death fall far behind them. "That's all that matters now."

Zach had come to name the eevee Leo. Sharing the name of his father's fallen luxio, who had protected his father till the very end. Each year, they visited the graves of both his father and Leo's old trainer, paying their respects. With each year that passed, they returned to the graves stronger, not sparing a single day from training.

15 years later

Johto – The Indigo Provinces

The day of his arrival was a miserable day, the beautiful blue sky was glazed over by hideous gray clouds. The threat of rain loomed, the clouds acting as a warning for the potential downpour. As ominous as it seemed, any rainfall would mean nothing to the young man sitting in the back cabin of the car.

He had short black hair, not going so far as to pass his ears. His eyes had remained the same shade as he grew older, maintaining an apparent glow of hazel. His expression had matured into an aware seriousness, this was because he was always analyzing, always thinking, his eyes showed it well. He had been called attractive by many women, both ones he knew well, and by the charismatic characters he had passed on he street going to and from work.

Thoughts of Eterna City rolled through his mind as he looked out the window, lines of trees gave way to fields, which returned to forest shortly after. The trees passed steadily as the slow moving vehicle made its trip. The scenery of Southern Johto was exciting to Zachary, despite its monotony. His long journey was almost to an end.

His bounty of luggage cramped the area, covering both the forward facing and backward facing seats in the cabin, as well as the space in between. Despite the clutter of the area, he felt a sensation of relaxation. He had leaned back in the seat, his elbow rested on the door. His head rested on the back of his hand, his face now tranquil. His new life was about to begin, far from the city, far from anything that made him comfortable.

He took an orb off of his belt and held it up, admiring its red cover as a nice change of tone in the otherwise bleak setting. The ball had been a perfect tool for keeping him and his boss safe many times.

"Almost there," he said quietly to his partner and life-long friend. "Then you can get out of there."

With a smile he lowered the ball and let his hand fall on his thigh, now holding the capsule precariously in his fingers. His passing thoughts were accompanied by the quiet humming of the electric engine powering the cab. He rocked gently around in his seat, the uneven pavement of the shoddy road, Zach noted, being only just good enough to drive on.

The glass panel, which separated Zach from the driver, slid open, catching his full attention. Anticipating a conversation, he sat up in his seat. If the driver and he were going to converse it would be the first interaction with him in the two hour drive.

"Sorry to bother you," the driver said, his friendly face growing more serious as he spoke. "I want to ask what brings you so far from your homeland to live in a border town on the frontier." The lines on his aged face became more pronounced as he spoke, his tone changing from the chummy cheer of a chaperon to the cold tone of an earnest man who had seen much. He continued, "I hope you're prepared. People die out here if they're not careful outside of the town."

Zach sat quietly for a moment, he knew the danger. He practically lived on the field in Sinnoh. Helping Professor Rowan conduct research. Even his lab work was mostly his reports containing what he had learned on the field. He was a professors assistant, but he was strictly a field assistant, taking the time, when Rowan took to the comfort of the city, to train and build his knowledge of survival in the wild. Much to the pride, and concern, of his mother.

"I'm here to work for Sean Elm," he said matter-of-factually.

The driver remained silent for a moment, focusing on the road. "Ah, yes. The upcoming professor," he said with a grin, breaking the gloom of his previous statement. "You must have really impressed him to have been hired from so far away. Sinnoh, right? I can tell by your accent." He allowed a smile, his rugged features wrinkling.

"Yes, I'm from Eterna City," Zach said before proceeding with his real answer. "Elm said he needed someone with experience in training and raising a pokemon, and that I was the only one who caught his eye in that regard."

"You're a trainer then?"

"Field assistant. Kind of a blend of researcher and trainer." Zach attempted to explain as he rested his arm over the top of the seat.

"So is that Pokemon in the ball yours? Or is it for Elm?"

"He's mine. Since I was young." he said proudly, remembering the day he and his pokemon had met, his eyes dulling as the thoughts entered his mind.

"It's good to have an old friend in a new place," the driver said, discontinuing his questioning. He returned his full attention to the road. "It must be hard to leave your friends behind to come half way across the world."

"It is, but I know they'll stay in touch."

"How?" The driver asked flatly, turning his gaze to the rear view mirror to look Zach in the eye in an apparent attempt to add weight to what he was about to say. "There are no phones on the frontier, friend. You got spoiled living in a developed country."

Zach sat quietly for a moment, remembering the research he had done on the newer country of Johto. He had been right. It was only two hundred years ago that people came down from Sinnoh to attempt a settlement that was closer to the Orange Isles and Orre,. A bill of independence from Sinnoh was signed not long after Goldenrod had started to flourish and so they cut themselves off, becoming their own country without the aid of their motherland. So the province of Johto in the Indigo Leagues was born. Thought it was world knowledge that Indigo's development was slow, as the world they lived in was not easy to tame.

The driver continued. "Progress in Johto is slow, but it is steady. I warn you, though. Things have been better. Olivine and Ecruteak are at each others throats like houndoom. I have a friend in Olivine, he tells me that Ecruteak's been getting bold near the border. I think it's a load of shit, but Ecruteak has seen better days. They might be getting desperate."

"Things were certainly less interesting in Sinnoh. How long has this been going on?" Zach asked.

"No idea," the man quickly dismissed. "But if anything goes on up there, that would affect the Violet region." He looked at Zach through his rear view mirror. "That's us," he informed.

"Then I hope they keep to themselves," Zach admitted.

The driver simply waved his hand dismissively. "Honestly I doubt it will escalate."

"Still...," Zach whispered to himself as he hunched back into his eat and looked out the window.

He watched the distant ocean to the south. A small smile contradicted his worry. The ocean, maybe half a kilometer away, grew closer as the car slowly approached New Bark. The scenery of the trees quickly gave way to a beach, the waves falling gently on the sand. Finally he saw the first indication that he had almost arrived. A large orange sign stood on the side of the road, welcoming any new arrivals.

New Bark Town

Population 228

"Where the winds of a new beginning blow."

A few moments later, Zach finally saw the walls of New Bark Town, the sight of civilization exciting Zach the same way it did when his ship approached Cherrygrove. His new life would be here, and despite the danger, he was happy to be there.

The cab slowed to a full stop in front of the gates. The driver rolled down his window, raising his hand outside as an indication to the guards who were posted on top of the wall. Zach couldn't see them from where he sat, except for a single guard positioned further up the wall. His green and muddy body armour fitting loosely over the scrawny man.

Shifting into park, the driver stuck his head out of the window. "It's Dallen!" he shouted to the men. "I have Elm's new fodder." He laughed. Zach heard the men on the wall laugh as well, feeling his face burn red.

As the driver began to ease the car through the gate, he turned to his passenger. "Don't mind the fodder comment." he said with a smile, his white teeth almost glowing compared to his tanned complexion. "We say that joke about all of Elm's aids, and none of them have died yet."

"Yet," Zach retorted. He lowered his head, releasing a troubled sigh.

Dallen drove the car through the gates and proceeded to stop where the pavement ended in the small settlement where cars could only go as far as the first houses. He put the vehicle into park and cut the power to the engine, the hum of the motor ending its light assault on Zach's ears after two hours.

"You'll find people here have a different sense of humour. It helps deal with life on the frontier. Think nothing of it," Dallen said defensively. "Its the first thing you'll notice. Now let's get you settled. You're probably eager, and I need to stretch. I'm as stiff as a sudowoodo." He stood up out of the cramped drivers seat, his knees popping loudly as he straightened out.

Zach stepped out of the car, his knees also popping as he did so. With a relieved sigh, he stretched and looked back into the back cabin of the car with a frown. All the luggage would have to be carried to his residence, and where that was he didn't have a clue. The luggage would have to stay in the car for now in a town he didn't know with people he didn't yet trust.

He looked over to Dallen, who stood staring at a garage behind him before turning to Zach."I guess you need to talk to Elm before I lock this old girl up," he said, patting the high roof of the car. "You can see the lab from here, largest building in town. You can't miss it." He pointed behind him, presenting the green roof, which protruded over some trees between them and the building. The roof looked like it would glow in the sunlight if that day had permitted it.

From the path leading towards the lab, a dark figure contrasted by his white lab coat came running towards the car. The short haired man was heavy built, his shoulders and chest broad, double the size of the medium built Zach. As he drew closer, Zach could see the panic in the mans features, his mouth was open and his less than white teeth were clenched together. His attention turned from the wall he was approaching to the cab and its driver when he came close enough.

"Dallen, did you see Professor Elm out there?" he spat out between his breaths.

The driver waved his hand in front of him. "No. Why?"

"Damn," he exasperated as he ran off again towards a tawdry staircase that led to the top of the wall.

The man reached the top of the stairs and said something to a few of the guards, who immediately ran north up the wall. Another scientist, a woman who was attractive despite her old age, ran past Zach and the cab, taking the same route. The dark skinned scientist immediately ordered her to go to the northern position, to which she responded.

"It's likely he'll come from where Ashley is positioned, but we'll be here just in case," said the dark skinned scientist to the guards, pushing his glasses closer to his face. He turned his head to Zach, his chest rising and falling heavily. "You're the new field assistant, right? Come up here!"

One of the guards took his pokeball in his hand and flicked his thumb over a trigger-like protrusion on the side, opening the capsule. A brilliant white light brightened the area around them. The light swirled as it found its shape, congealing into a humanoid form. The white light turned yellow as an electabuzz took its position beside its trainer.

The guard spoke quietly to it, and the pokemon looked at him with a surprising intelligence, as though it actually understood the orders being given to it. Pokemon of humanoid nature often had this trait, although modern science of their world had not been able to explain why. When the guard finished talking, everyone around it stood back. An audible crackling emitted from the creature as its fur began to stand up.

"There!" A guard yelled, pointing into the forest.

Zach took the final step to the top of the stair case just in time to see Elm emerge from the forest. Wheezing, the middle aged man jumped out of the bush, running desperately towards the wall.

"Get the gate open!" yelled one of the guards to another standing in a glass booth. Without hesitation a button was pressed, triggering the high pitched whining of the gate as it labored to open.

Behind Elm, a swarm of rattata appeared from the forest. No more than five or six, but enough to take a man apart without much effort. Their red eyes focused solely on Elm, unaware of their surroundings in their pursuit. They were a fair ways back from Elm, obviously outrun by the long strides of the larger human.

Before Elm had reached the open gate, he hazarded a glance behind him, causing him to stumble in his exhaustion, and throwing off his balance. Elm slowed and the rattata began to gain on him. He was five meters from the gate, and losing distance.

One rattata ran ahead of the group, mouth open and razor sharp incisors ready to take whatever it could from the professor.

The electabuzz responded to the wayward rattata. A loud crack followed by a split second of lightening flashed from the humanoid. It hit the rodent, connecting with its eye and popping it like a ripe tomato. The rodent landed with a skid, smoke fuming from its mouth.

"Take care of the rest!" its trainer ordered. The electabuzz, nodded in confirmation, and the air around it cracked again. The second burst let out a loud buzzing crack, and, With a blinding flash, the swarm of rattata all dropped at once. One had exploded in a charred mess, the smell of burnt flesh instantly hitting Zach like a wave.

"Shit," a guard near Zach muttered. He looked to the man, who gritted his uneven teeth as his face grew red with anger. Zach followed his gaze. The booth, which held the switch, stood uselessly, the interior dim. The young and inexperienced guard inside stood dumbfounded. "Damn kid," said the older guard as he walked past Zach. He yelled to the booth. "Did you not release the fucking button?" he asked, his voice booming with anger.

He pushed the younger guard out of the glass booth, pressing the button multiple times before leaning on the console, his head hung and his face red. He breathed in and out for a few moments before he could gather what little patience remained of him in his old age. He was a man who had been doing this for too long. He stuck his head out and hollered to the man north up the wall. "Hey, Jason. Take Buzz and charge this damn generator so we can close the gate!" he hollered.

He looked back to the younger guard, who couldn't have been a year older than Zach himself. "I've told you this a hundred times," he hissed. "the button doesn't need to be held. You suck out the power faster than the generator can produce it, and then we can't close the gate." He pointed to the unit of dead pokemon laying scattered on the dirt path. "Then those things get in!"

Zach glanced down to Elm, who Dallen had met as soon as he entered the walls. He began to take a step down the stairs, but was interrupted by the hollering of the young guard.

"Raticate!" he hollered. He shouldered his rifle and pulled back the hammer. After a moment of aim he fired, the hammer connected with the fission and the gun unleashed a thunderous bang. The scrawny boy looked like he almost fell back when the gun fired. The bullet impacted the dirt where the raticate had been when the gunpowder ignited. It was too fast for such a large and inaccurate weapon.

"Dammit, Randall." the old man shouted. "Hold fire!" He leaned over the railing on the inside of the wall where the electabuzz had just reached the generator."Get that damn gate shut!" he shouted, watching Buzz position his hands on the negative and positive of the battery.

Elm and Dallen moved further from the gate, the driver opening the door of his cab to provide the professor with shelter in case the pokemon entered the town.

The dark skinned scientist looked over to Zach, his face stern. "Show us why he hired you," he said flatly.

A second later Zach's pokeball flung open. White light swirled into its shape at the foot of the wall. Long ears pronouncing themselves from the center as they pushed forwards to the forming head. Moving from the head, the pokemon took shape. Four legs and a long, broad tail took their conformation. Before it fully took the form of an entity of matter, it had already taken its stance, holding its sharp-edged tail upwards and poised to pounce. The beige fur of the canine took its pronunciation, along with the green moss which coated sections of its body.

The raticate, spotting the creature, instantly redirected its charge at it, running over the bodies of its inferior counterparts. It's mouth looked as though it could eat most anything in a single bite. Sharp fangs ran up towards its incisors, its foremost teeth measured the length of a grown mans forearm. It grew closer to its target, opening its mouth as it readied to bite the leafeon in half.

Zach's leafeon, still in its stance, waited patiently for the large rat to close the distance between them. Once it had come within a meter of the fox, it leaped forwards, landing beside the charging rat. The next thing that came from the raticate was a stream of crimson flowing out of its side, running through its brown fur and onto the ground. As it landed, its entrails popped out of the wound. The raticate laid on the ground struggling, the ground around it streaking with a short trail of blood. Leo walked over to the raticate's throat and clamped his jaws down, cutting off the airflow.

Among the six rattata, their leader now laid five meters closer to the wall than any of them had made it.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Zach jogged down the stairs and towards Elm, who stood with his hands on his knees still trying to catch his breath as Dallen kept his position between the professor and the still open gate.

Like a phantom, his leafeon ran silently back to him. As the pokemon reunited with his trainer, he raised himself to his hind legs and jumped up onto Zach. He had folded his green tail towards the center, giving it more vulpine appearance. He had been trained to do so when no threats were around, as to avoid any accidents had someone come into contact with the razor sharp edges. Zach patted the leafeon's head with a proud smile before ordering him down. The fox obeyed and sat on his haunches, still looking up at his partner.

Elm was a skinny man, but tall. Despite this, his muscles had been toned from working in the field. The only lines on the professors young and tanned face were around his mouth, and more had began to carve themselves into his forehead. His hair was short and brown, with random strands of gray beginning to pronounce themselves. It had begun to recede in his mid-life years. To compliment all of this, dark brown eyes peered through round glasses, giving Elm the full appearance of a scientist.

Elm, taking deep breaths, looked up to Zach. The hint of a smile exposed in combination with his exhaustion. His young and tanned face was red, sweat pouring down his brow. He removed his circular glasses, producing a cloth from his pocket as he began to wipe them clean. "I thought I recognized Leo," he said between his panting breaths.

"Are you hurt?" Zach asked.

"I'm fine," Elm said with an adrenaline-fueled laugh. "I'm glad you made it here safely, Zach." They shook hands. "To be honest I forgot you were coming today." He scratched the back of his neck with embarrassment.

The dark skinned scientist approached from the wall, his face as stern as ever. "I thought you had a furret with you," he said handing Elm another cloth from his lab coat.

Elm, laughing again, broke the professional mannerism Zach had grown accustomed to during his time with him in Eterna City. "Damn noctowl carried it off." He mimicked the swooping of the pokemon with his hand. "Came out of nowhere and grabbed it. I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I must have not noticed until those rattata decided I looked good."

After a few moments of a silent break in the conversation, Elm had managed to ease his breathing. He began to take slow and steady breaths, looking about the situation. "Now, Zach. Lets get you acquainted with the lab. I have something for you that you might like. Consider it a thank you for coming so far south to live here," he said, placing his hand on Zach's back as he urged him to follow.

The lab was fairly plain besides the large windows that occupied a large portion of the wall on either side of a large double door. The two story building has little in the way of decoration. It simply stood blankly against a mountainous backdrop, leaving something to be desired by Elm's new employee. As far as labs went, it looked more like a warehouse than a scientific institution on the verge of provincial recognition.

"You'll be doing much of the same stuff you did with Rowan," Elm told him as they stopped in front of the double doors. "My focus is on breeding patterns, but the evolution of infant pokemon is also my area of specialty." he said modestly. "I haven't been doing this for long, so an experienced helper is nice. I graduated from Professor Oak's class only a few years ago, but I've found great things." He grinned as he pushed the doors open, revealing the sanitary interior. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you your assignment."

The lab, like the building itself, had an insipid atmosphere. Its white bland floor blended with the walls and ceiling, leaving little in the way of distractions. The same bland white colour extended to the machines lining the walls, the large computers only distinction from a simple protrusion in the wall being the black consoles sitting in the midsection of the towers. Various lights blinked on and off in their own patterns, indicating something Zach was sure he would be familiar with soon enough.

Zach followed him to the back of the lab to his office, which was only separated from the rest of the room by the large boxes that had been stacked waist high. A desk laid under a mountain of papers, which extended their invasion to the floor. Zach stood outside of the makeshift room, fearing he'd step on something important. Elm opened the drawer of his desk and produced a key, walking past Zach again towards a large door.

He moved across the lab towards a large machine with glass surrounding a single pokeball. "Normally I'd have at least three pokemon in here, but they've been given out to aspiring guards who proved their worth," Elm said. "That electabuzz is good, but we can't rely on him all the time, and in a town with no gym we need all the protection we can get." He unlocked the machine, and the glass panel slid open. He grabbed the single pokeball and handed it to Zach. "We need more people like you in New Bark." He laughed. "Hell, all of Johto. That's why I'm entrusting you with this little guy. He's your assignment."

"Seriously?" Zach said astounded. "To raise him?" Elm simply nodded his head silently, his hand still reaching out with the pokeball. Zach hesitated a moment, but grabbed the pokeball. "What is it?"

"See for yourself." Elm smiled, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Holding the ball in his hand he pressed a button on the side, releasing the lid and allowing the capsule to crack open. The white light shot onto the top of a nearby table and swirled into the shape of a small rodent.

Its ears appeared almost square on the top of its head. The white turned a solid yellow as the baby pokemon opened its eyes, looking around curiously at the room. Zach placed his hand out to touch the small pokemon, which reacted with a small squeak and a snap of weak electricity to Zach's fingers.

Zach recoiled, holding his hand as Leo began to growl at the tiny animal.

"It's alright, Leo." he said to his leafeon, a small quiver of excitement lining his words. "He's just scared." He crouched to be eye level with the rodent, who only stood half as tall as his head. Leo stopped his growling, curbing his aggression. The pichu only stared at Zach, its own curiosity flashing on its face.

"He looks like he has aptitude." Zach turned to Elm.

"That species usually does, they're very popular as pets in Kanto. Which is unwise because of how dangerous they can be, but that's why I wanted you to have this pokemon. I can see your ability to raise a Pokemon well from infancy." He nodded towards the leafeon. "I have full confidence in you, Zach. Welcome to New Bark Town."