AN: I'll be honest, I've thought about publishing a Pokemon story on and off for a while now, but I had this short draft laying around since November so I've decided to test the waters. I don't really read many stories in this fandom but I do tend to enjoy novelizations the most, and Platinum is one of my favorite games in the series in general. I've also found myself drawn to more logic based worldbuilding. I love the science-fiction aspect of Pokemon, but at the end of the day I think there should always be some mystical elements to it. Here's hoping I can keep it balanced.

Chapter 1: Logic, Impulsivity, and Hesitation

Twinleaf Town was a quiet settlement in the southwest corner of the Sinnoh region. Only a few thousand people called this collection of suburbs, open, rolling fields, and hardy evergreen trees their home. Fresh and Free was Twinleaf's slogan, proudly painted on the sign by the lone road leading in and out, and it wasn't a false advertisement. While they lacked a crowd-drawing gym, a high tech laboratory, or dazzling sky scrapers, the town had plenty of clean air and open space to enjoy. The adults cultivated gardens and fished in the small ponds dotting the landscape, and the children ran around without worry of busy roads or construction. Starly flocks sat on power lines and tree branches, and the woods echoed with the musical cries of Kricketune as the sun set. A small hike through Route 201's wilderness would take you to the scenic shores of Lake Verity, the sealed cavern at the center of the calm waters drawing in legend-chasers and researchers from all over. Most were met with disappointment, but at least the weather and view were nice.

The town consisted of ranches and two-story homes, built on stone foundations with wooden frames and slightly curved roofs to keep the snow off when winter arrived. There were only a few main asphalt streets, lined with shops, restaurants, a local supermarket, and a couple of school buildings. The rest of the roads were nothing but dirt and pebbles, smoothed down by constant use. The firehouse needed a fresh coat of paint, and there was a basic clinic for the injured or sick, people or Pokémon. If anyone required serious treatment, they had to be transferred to the hospital in Sandgem Town less than an hour's drive away.

Dawn Hidaka had lived in the same town for 14 years and counting. The same house too, right beside her friend Barry's. Her parents had moved from Kanto shortly after marrying and bought land back when the town was barely on the map. It'd grown since then. But the atmosphere was almost unchanged. Dawn considered Twinleaf to be very...isolated. She saw the same things every day. The whole town was familiar with itself, and there weren't many reasons for her mother to venture out anymore.

Once an impressive Pokemon Coordinator that dazzled the main stage in Hearthome City with her prized Glameow, she'd now settled down in retirement. The Pokémon that was once on the cover of all sorts of Super Contest magazines spent most of the day napping on a sunlit window sill or chasing pests off the property. Not too impressive, but Dawn could tell from the way the Glameow moved and reacted that he was still very capable… if he ever felt inclined to do anything at all. And her father… He worked. Constantly patrolling Sinnoh, jumping from assignment to assignment with the occasional call home. It made her jealous.

Dawn was restless. If she were a little older, she could maybe apply for the Trainer Program at school, but there were a few more years to go before she was eligible for a permanent card and the freedom that came with it. Until then, she had more time to learn and prepare.

Her room up on the second floor of the house was packed, yet neatly organized. The floor was polished wood, covered with a large throw rug to make it less cold to walk on. Her bed was tucked into a back corner, carefully made that morning. A few Pokémon dolls sat on top of the sheets, staring blankly. A television sat on a stand with a built-in cabinet, filled with DVDs of nature documentaries, recorded battles from years ago, and a few movies she liked enough to own. Her desk and laptop were next to it, along with a game system that she had almost solely to keep up with Barry. The walls were covered in colored maps of Sinnoh and other regions, some for topography, some with all the major settlement names, and some labeled with Pokémon habitat zones. Her bookshelf was stuffed to the brim with fiction books and much thicker ones on biology, mythology, history, and competitive battle strategies. A collection of figurines of tv show characters were organized on top of it.

She had a window that looked out onto the front yard and the house across the way, along with a nice view of the treeline in the distance. There was a faint barking from the neighbor's Houndour as a lone car passed, but Dawn tuned it out as she sat on the floor, watching the end of a television special set in Kanto with rapt interest.

"Pokémon are by our side, always. I hope you will understand the meaning of those words."

Dawn wasn't sure what to make of that quote from Professor Rowan. He was a stern looking older man with thick white hair and matching mustache and sideburns to match, but he was surprisingly idealistic when it came to his studies and how Pokémon related to people. He'd been away in Kanto for about four years, but now he'd returned to Sandgem Town to continue his own research on Pokémon Evolution. His latest theory was that 90% of all Pokémon were connected in some way to others through evolution, and now he was dedicated to dissecting why evolution occurred in some species but not others. As much as she was focused on the battling aspect of training, Dawn found his research very thought provoking. Maybe one day, she'd convince her mother to visit Sandgem and see the professor in person. She wondered if he was going to start giving out Pokémon to new trainers in the area soon…

"Dawn!" She didn't even flinch as Barry yelled from the top of the staircase. She was too used to his outbursts by now. "You saw the special, right? The one with Rowan in it?"

"...I recorded it, but yes." Dawn stood up and shut the television off, taking a moment to stretch as Barry vibrated in place.

"Yeah, I knew you'd watch it. You like that kind of technical stuff. I thought it was kinda dry, but it gave me an idea! We should get to Sandgem and ask him for Pokémon!" She blinked at him, and he stopped and tilted his head. "What? You're not excited?

"Barry, we don't have licenses."

"Pfft, we don't need em just to have partners!" That was true. You only needed to be a certified trainer to have Sinnoh League official battles and other professional contests that were based around Pokémon. Her mother still had her card from years ago, and made sure to keep renewing it when it was about to expire. But still…

"We can't walk around Route 201 defenseless, and we don't have repels to keep the wild ones away. I don't think Glameow is going to listen to me if we take him with us either."

"Hey, did you think I forgot? I've got a plan, okay?" Dawn really didn't like the sound of that. Barry always had a plan, and those plans tended to be even worse than the original problem. "Just meet me at the edge of town. If you're late, I'm gonna fine you ten thousand bucks, you got that?" He thundered back down the stairs before she could get a response out, leaving her not much of a choice at all. Of course she was going to follow him, if only to see what he thought was going to get him through the thickets between here and Sandgem in one piece. And a small part of her really did wonder if it was possible to get a partner of her own. That would give her a massive head start on her own plans if she trained up a Pokémon early. There was a faint smile on her face when she journeyed downstairs, taking her time.

She needed every advantage she could get if her father wasn't going to help. Johanna looked up from reading the newspaper on the living room couch as she approached. Glameow was glaring at the door as if it'd cursed him, his hackles slightly raised. Probably upset by all the noise.

"Oh, you just missed Barry, honey. He's outside already. What's gotten him so worked up today?" she asked. Dawn shrugged.

"Pokémon." Her mother laughed.

"Yes, that does sound like him." Dawn scratched between Glameow's ears as she headed for the door, getting a purr in response. As haughty as he acted at times, he did appreciate attention. "You're going out for a while?" she asked after Dawn grabbed a duffel bag.

"...Not really. Just being prepared. I'll come back later." She made sure to take a key with her in case mom went shopping, and then set off down the road. Or she would have, if Barry wasn't right across the street. She stopped behind him while he crouched at the gate to the neighbor's yard. The Houndour was still barking, but as soon as Barry offered a hand for him to inspect, he went quiet.

"What's up with you, buddy? Did the traffic scare you?" Barry asked, his voice quiet. That was a rare occurrence. The Houndour inched a little closer and sniffed his fingers. While it'd usually be dangerous to approach a Pokémon that didn't belong to you without checking with the trainer first, this was a house pet. A bit smaller than the average Houndour and purposely bred to have weaker attacks and more gentle behavior. The most that Houndour could do to Barry was singe his hand or nip too hard, a far cry from a tougher one. Breeders had managed to control Pokémon traits to an amazing degree over the last 10 years, and a variety of popular species now had naturally domesticated versions available in commercial markets. Tauros, Ponyta, and Milktank were popular choices for ease of ranching, and smaller, "cute" Pokémon like Pikachu, Zigzagoon, and Buneary were very common pet choices these days. They weren't suited for battle at all though, and it'd take years to get one up to speed with a more combat oriented Pokémon.

"You're set on this idea, huh?" Dawn asked, crouching next to him as he pet the Houndour.

"Yup. I know it's gonna work!" He stood up again. "And then you'll be thanking me for getting you a Pokémon early!"

"Of course. Let's just...get it over with already." He stuck his tongue out at her before running ahead, and she shook her head before jogging after him. They left their bikes in the yard to make it less obvious they were going somewhere far, and bikes wouldn't be of much use in the thick brambles of the path they needed to take. Worst case scenario, a wild Pokémon damaged it and they'd have to explain to their parents what happened. The neighborhood wasn't far from the edge of town though, and the civilized part of Twinleaf was soon a good distance behind them. The start of Route 201 was marked by an old wooden archway, a remnant of a time before the main road was constructed. That road was only for cars, so it was impossible for them to take without an adult. The trees were far denser here, and while there was a somewhat visible path that led to Sandgem, it was obscured in places by many interwoven bushes and overgrown grass patches. The perfect environment for bolder Pokémon to hide out in. Dawn's pulse quickened as she heard the sharp cry of one. Maybe a Bidoof hidden in the shadows? For a moment, she thought she was afraid, but after another few seconds passed, she realized she was excited. This was new. Dangerous. A Challenge.

Was this why Dad couldn't stand to stay here for longer than a few years? She imagined it'd be hard to not want to return to a life on the road. Barry touched her shoulder, snapping her out of it.

"You still good?" he asked, his grin fading a little.

"Y-yeah, it's fine. I zoned out." The emotion drained out of her like water from a faulty canteen. Back to normal.

"Good! Alright, here's the plan. As soon as we get into that grass, we just...keep moving! Long as we're running, the Pokémon can't react fast enough to jump out!" Was he serious?

"...Barry, no," she said firmly. "That's terrible."

"What? But you didn't even try! We just gotta run fast, and we're good at that." Sure, they had pretty good gym grades, but that was a little different from a life threatening situation. There weren't a bunch of roots and trees to dodge on the track field either.

"There's no way that's going to work for longer than about a minute."

"Look, I'll show you." He walked past her, intent on proving his ridiculous and possibly deadly point. Her eyes widened, and she took a step forward.

"Wait, don't-

"What do you kids think you're doing?" Barry froze up, and she almost jumped at the unexpected, booming voice. A tall thicket shook, and then a familiar old man in a dark coat pushed his way through. They were in trouble now.

"Woah, it's him…" Barry whispered. Dawn elbowed him, keeping her eyes on Professor Rowan. He was somehow just as intimidating in real life as he was in that documentary. Despite being 60, he didn't seem to have any issues walking around the woods, and his tone commanded a sort of authority that was hard to brush off.

"Children should not be wandering in the wilderness without something to protect them," he continued, walking towards them. He eyed their very empty belts. He was tall enough to make Dawn feel like she was in elementary school again. "Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Um…" Dawn blinked, at a loss for words.

"We wanted to see your lab and get our own starters!" Barry said, snapping out of his stupor. Dawn expected him to shout again, but instead, the professor looked pensive.

"...Is that so? You want to be trainers, then?" he asked. She could tell he was sizing them up.

"Yes, Sir," she said, giving him a polite bow.

"And you think you deserve them after the stunt you tried to pull?"

"No, Sir..." they both mumbled. Barry looked guilty for a split second, and then there was a determined look in his eyes.

"It was my fault, Professor," he said. "I came up with the idea, but don't punish Dawn." She turned and stared at him, shocked by his confession. Barry wanted to be a trainer just as much as she did. He wasn't much for heavy reading or technical theories, but he had a way with Pokémon that Dawn was envious of. He could figure out how to get the best out of them like he could hear them speak, and she believed that would carry him far one day. Mastering the Sinnoh League was their shared dream, even if their motivations were different. How was he ever going to get strong enough to challenge the Battle Tower if he never received a starter Pokémon? Professor Rowan cocked his head to the side and rubbed his chin.

"Hm. How old are you kids?"

"Uh...14."

"A couple of years off the usual start time, then." Barry's face fell. "But not impossible to work with."

"Wait, what?" he asked.

"I was debating registering you both as certified trainers." Professor Rowan turned back to the woods, letting Dawn and Barry wonder what had just occurred over the last minute. Were they seriously this lucky? Barry should buy a lottery ticket. "Lucas, come here with my briefcase!" he bellowed, scaring a few unfortunate Starly overhead.

"Hold on!" Oh, someone else was out here too. A dark haired boy around their age stumbled out into the open, holding a brown business case to his chest. He wore a red hat with a blue Pokéball design on the side, along with a black and white shirt and long blue cargo pants. A red scarf was tied around his neck, with a few leaves stuck in the fabric. He was panting a little when he came to a stop. "Professor, you shouldn't go on ahead like that!"

"Never-mind the details, I need you to show these two the starters I have," he said.

"These two?" Lucas looked at them and frowned. "Uh...who exactly are they?"

"I'm Barry, and this is Dawn! Nice to meet you!" Lucas only looked more confused.

"...Hello."

"I've selected them as new trainers." The Professor took the briefcase from him and clicked the latch, causing it to open and reveal three red and white Pokéballs. They were each marked with a name. "You may choose between Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup." Barry's mouth was wide enough to catch an entire Butterfree, but then he shook his head and took a step back.

"You pick first, Dawn. I'll go second. It's only fair." He crossed his arms and nodded. He really wanted to prove he was mature, she guessed. Lucas still looked like he didn't approve of this, but held whatever he wanted to say.

"If you insist." She examined the capsules with a critical eye. Dawn remembered doing research on it all a couple of years ago, wanting to figure out the best option.

"I'll take Chimchar," she said quietly, picking up the ball with the little flame design. An image of an older man and a large Charizard standing by Lake Verity filled her mind, but she pushed it away. This had nothing to do with longing or admiration. Chimchar was going to be her own unique partner. Better than Charizard, even.

"Alright, then Piplup's mine!" Barry took the ball marked with a water droplet. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"You did that on purpose."

"I'm taking all the advantages I can get if you're gonna be my rival," Barry said. "I've seen your scores in the virtual battles." Every school began to teach the vital skills for working with Pokémon around the age of ten, from using a Pokéball and field medicine correctly to how to give clear, smart commands. The older kids got to participate in the special simulations against AI and human opponents, fighting turn based battles under different scenarios. It wasn't exactly like the real thing, but it taught the concepts of keeping your Pokémon's weaknesses in mind, along with constantly monitoring its condition in a shifting battle. A trainer had a responsibility to keep their partners as safe as possible, unless it was a life or death scenario for the human. There was a very thick handbook covering the rules trainers had to follow if they wanted to keep their license.

"Well then, that's settled." Professor Rowan closed the briefcase and handed it back to Lucas. "If you're accepting those Pokémon, then I'll be waiting for your certification papers at my lab. Fill them out and email them to me as soon as possible, and I will see to the rest. In about... a month's time, your Trainer Passes should arrive. I want to meet the both of you in Sandgem Town for me to brief you on a task I need assistance with."

"A...task?" Barry asked.

"Yes. Those starters are valuable, and if I'm going to let you keep them, then I hope you'll be kind enough to do me a favor in return. It would greatly help my research. Does that seem reasonable?" he asked. It made sense in her mind. Professors sent trainers off on errands all the time, mostly to gather fresh field data.

"Of course," Dawn said, standing up a little straighter. "We'll agree to it."

"Very good. I hope you take the time to sort out your affairs before we speak again. Come, Lucas. There's still today's work to finish…" Without any fanfare, Professor Rowan departed in the direction of Sandgem Town. Lucas snapped out of whatever he'd been thinking about and hurried along.

"Can't believe it all happened so fast…" Barry said, not letting the silence stretch on for too long. A short laugh escaped him. "We're gonna be trainers! I'm holding a real Pokémon in my hands!"

"Yeah, you are." It was hard to fight off a smile as she looked down at her own Pokéball. They were minimized at the moment for easier storage, about the size of a ping pong ball, keeping the Pokémon in full stasis. But as soon as she activated it, her Chimchar would wake up, or at least be conscious enough to interact with. "...We're going to have to tell the school we're leaving too."

"Ugh, it'll be hard enough getting my mom to not freak out, and now we gotta worry about homework too?" It was summer now, but Trainers under the age of 16 still needed to finish their classes online as they traveled. Schools had programs specifically for students that couldn't attend physically.

"It won't be that bad. It'll give us something to do while we train."

"I figured you would say that." He suddenly grinned and tossed his Pokéball in the air a few times. "So...how about a battle? The Professor said we have a whole month, so we might as well get used to this stuff. I wanna see my Pokémon right now."

"It's been less than five minutes, but...I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Yes! Alright, let's do this!" He clicked the Pokéball's button, and it grew to the size of a baseball. "Go, Piplup!" He threw it at the ground, causing it to ricochet upward and burst open. A white beam of light was expelled, and then a penguin-like creature with blue feathers materialized. Its large blue eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting to reality as Barry caught the ball's rebound. "He's so small…" He was right, it was barely over a foot tall. The Piplup startled and turned to face him. He crouched in front of the Pokémon and tapped the ground gently. "Hey buddy, I'm your trainer," he said in a softer voice. The Piplup stared at first, but then waddled over to him. Barry patted it on the head, and it chirped. "I'm Barry, and I'm gonna have to figure out a name for you!" As usual, he'd won it over in record time. Dawn expanded her ball and looked at it for a long moment. Would it like her? She read a little about Chimchars and they didn't seem stuck up or difficult. What if their personalities didn't work well together? She steadied her thoughts before they spiraled farther out and gave the ball an underhand toss.

"Chimchar, go." A tan and orange furred chimp appeared, a small flame immediately lighting on its backside. The Chimchar was crouched as it yawned, revealing a set of sharp looking fangs, and then it looked up at her with brown eyes that held an unexpected amount of focus. She bent on one knee as it stood a little taller, a few inches taller than the Piplup was. "H-hello." It cocked its head to the side and approached, momentarily walking on its knuckles for more stability. She swallowed hard, the only outward reaction to the churning sensation in her stomach. Why was she so nervous? She froze when it reached a hand out...and tugged on her scarf, chattering. She held her arm out in return, and Chimchar climbed up so fast that she could barely jerk from the sudden motion and weight. It settled on her shoulder, examining her hat. Was that a sign they were okay for now? "Hm…"

"Look at that, you made a friend," Barry said. He already had his Piplup in his arms, and it seemed pleased with his treatment. "C'mon, let's spread out first!" They moved farther away from the gate, not wanting to attract attention from anything that lived close by town. Creating an influx of wild Pokémon for the police to handle wouldn't be fun. Barry was about 30 feet away, a good distance for a low stakes battle. Their starter Pokémon were small and not very strong yet, so she wasn't afraid of getting caught in the middle.

"Chimchar, let's battle," Dawn said in a clear tone. The Pokémon on her shoulder paused and turned its attention to where she was pointing. Most Pokémon weren't fully capable of understanding human speech, even if they could read your intentions and emotional state well enough, but they could be taught a variety of commands. Pokéball technology helped greatly with their learning process, able to teach the most basic word cues while the Pokémon was inside. The healing machines in Pokemon Centers used the ball's complex electronic systems to heal Pokemon in the same way, directly interfacing with their bodies. Technical Machines could be downloaded and taught in the same way, applying moves to a Pokémon that they might not be capable of naturally picking up. Some moves were so strong, complex, or secret that they still needed to be taught in the real world by skilled tutors. Chimchar hopped back down, landing on the grass a few feet in front of her.

"I choose you, Piplup!" Barry set it down, and Piplup waddled up to face them. Definitely not the cowardly type, then. "Let's agree to stop when they get tired. I don't want them to get too banged up before we even leave Twinleaf."

"That's fair," she said with a short nod. Now what commands did this Chimchar know so far? Having a Pokédex or a computer synced to its ball would be nice right now, but she'd have to go off her memory. "Chimchar, Scratch." Her Pokémon narrowed its eyes at Piplup, and after pumping itself up with a few deeper grunts, lunged at the opponent.

"D-dodge and Pound back!" Barry stammered out. She'd caught him off guard, but it wouldn't last long. Piplup nearly fell backwards getting away from the swipe of her starter's sharp nails, and then followed up with a hard slap of its stubby wing. Chimchar reeled from the hit, and then recovered. "You could've warned me!" Dawn gave him a half smile.

"Sorry. Chimchar, Scratch again." Chimchar rushed forward, but this time she had it continue attacking. Barry commanded Piplup to dodge and counterattack, but Piplup was only fast enough to escape before the next hand swung for it. Now she was getting somewhere. Barry frowned.

"Two can play at that game. Bubble!" Wait, it knew a water type move already? Piplup stood still and received a rake across the chest for its troubles, but then it sucked in a breath and expelled a haze of bubbles from its beak. Chimchar hopped backwards to avoid the worst of it without Dawn needing to say something, but as they popped, Chimchar was caught in the painful bursts of water. "Ha ha, got ya! Let's keep going!" Her eyes widened as the Piplup breathed in again, and she hurried her next order out.

"Ember!" Dawn didn't even know if he knew that move, but the bundle of flames behind Chimchar swelled, and then it spat burning shards of flames into the approaching attack. They cancelled out as the bubbles popped against the Ember, doing effectively no damage. "How did you know that'd even work?" she asked Barry.

"I didn't, just thought it'd be a useful move to have." He really was unbelievable at times.

"Right, of course. Go in and Scratch again." Chimchar shook off the lingering discomfort and ran at the Piplup.

"Growl!" Just before the attack connected, Piplup made an aggressive honking sound, causing Chimchar to flinch and graze it with its claws. "Too close…"

"Ember!" Without even backing up, Chimchar shot a burst of fiery darts out. Piplup was singed and fell on its backside. Barry countered with a Bubble that Chimchar was clipped by when Dawn ordered it to back off. Both Pokémon seemed on their last legs now. Their trainers locked eyes.

"Pound!"

"Scratch!" Their two Pokémon steeled their bodies and slammed into each other, though when they broke apart, it was Piplup that was dizzy from the last painful blow.

"...Dang, you got us," Barry admitted with a sigh, pulling his Pokéball out. "Return, you did a good job." A red beam caught Piplup and broke it into energy, storing it away. Chimchar looked a little less worse for wear, but not by much.

"Good job, Chimchar." Dawn returned it as it looked back at her with a toothy grin. "That's one point to me."

"Aw come on, we don't have licenses yet! That win doesn't count."

"Sure it doesn't." Dawn minimized the Pokéball and tucked it into her dress pocket. "We should get back home and work on our emails."

And have an unexpected talk with her mother. She had one month to get herself ready for whatever Professor Rowan wanted from them. There was so much research to do.

AN: I may continue this if people are interested, but this won't be a straight novelization. I really wanna try to develop the protagonists alongside the big, world ending plans Team Galactic is up to.