Author's Notes:

Hello everyone, and welcome to LC, a trainer fic that's been around way too long for its own good because I just can't let it go. After twelve revisions, four rewrites, and multiple hiatuses, I'm finally on track to actually finish this ridiculous, over-the-top story about Rockets, Legendaries, betrayal, conspiracy, war, 'destiny', timespace, and infinity.

What should you expect from this fic? Loads of trainerfic cliches getting deconstructed to hell and back. A large focus on the Pokemon as characters, and not just their trainers. Tons of big, bombastic action. And of course, plenty of character suffering. If you like seeing characters pushed to their breaking point in increasingly bad situations, then this is the fic for you.

Lastly... this is gonna be a long ride. Eighty chapters when it's done. So strap yourselves in and get ready, because once the plot starts, it's not gonna stop. I appreciate any and all comments and criticism, so please let me know what you think. Enjoy~

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This story began with the human who rejected infinity.
It will end with the human who accepted it.

A pair of eyes snapped open, radiating a cobalt aura and illuminating the inky blackness within the depths of the sea. The true blessing of light had never reached the total darkness of the ocean floor, and even the rare glow of life could not break its concealment. The creature to which the eyes belonged knew this better than any other. The deep was always dark and always would be. The deep was always calm—not like the surface. The deep could always hide those who wished to be hidden. But the time for hiding was at its end.

At once, the creature shot up from the ocean trench like a silver torpedo. The crushing depths released their hold as it flew through the water, scattering countless tiny water Pokémon in its wake. Piercing eyes adjusted to the rapid increase of light just in time to be met with the inviting glimmer of the surface right above. And then the beast rocketed out of the sea. Cool, salty air washed over its body, a sharp contrast to the water's embrace. The sensation prickled like needles against its feathers, but still… there was something almost freeing about being able to beat its wings through the currents of wind and take gulps of sweet air that burned its unused lungs yet felt so good.

It was so wildly different than the deep, but somehow felt just as right. Flying was, indeed, one of the simplest joys in this world. The creature effortlessly sailed through the skies, its wings stealing bits of silvery cloud from all around to shield it from the view of any onlookers, had there been any. One could never be too careful, especially these days.

The ancient creature had spent much time within the realm of its dominion, reflecting upon the state of the world. The Order had been empowered to protect the balance, and protect it they had. For so long they had kept watch over its course. Caring for it. Guiding it. But there was a time when the balance had fallen, and the flames of war consumed the world. The creature had not witnessed that time itself, but the tale was well known amongst the Order. Even the humans had their stories from that era.

The time for careful observation was at its end. That cataclysmic era had left its mark on the world—one that had lain dormant for nearly 3000 years. Soon the conflict would resurface, and the Order would face its greatest challenge yet. The creature had not wanted to believe it, but the events of the past few years had confirmed those fears.

It was a strange thought, knowing that the balance of the world would soon unravel again. Would they be ready? It wasn't as if the Order had no course of action before them. They all knew what was required. They'd known for ages. And now the search had been set into motion.

Even as the fires of the Revolution subside, the balance that the Order fought so hard to preserve is already on the inevitable path to being torn apart once again. Seven among them—the ones who dedicated both mind, body, and spirit toward ending the war—shall be empowered to forge an alliance with humankind so that both might endure.

Such a strange course of action, joining the two sides together. But the legend knew just as well as the others that it could not refuse to follow that path. It had seen the threads of fate with its own eyes, much as it hated to admit it. The real question was… when would the conflict reach a point that the interlopers would be forged?

Lugia gazed down over the mainland, its mind swimming with conflicted feelings. The next seven years would be interesting, that much was certain.

A loud ringing filled the air, which meant the end of class for the day—and it was about time, too. I quickly stuffed my books into my backpack, following after my classmates and pretending I hadn't heard the last-minute assignment that we'd been given. It would have been just as normal as any other afternoon, except my head was still filled with rumors from earlier that morning.

I glanced down the other end of the hallway just in time to spot my friend Ajia, a small fifth-grader with dark hair and eyes. Well, that was good—at least I'd get to talk to someone before the end of the day.

"Hey Ajia!" I called out, waving to her from the crowd of my fourth-grade classmates before quickly making my way over to where she was standing.

"Heya, how was class?" she asked.

"Meh… failed a Pokéspeech quiz—you know, as always," I replied with a smirk.

Ajia laughed. "Yeah, that class is confusing doom when you first start out. It gets better later on, though," she said.

"Yeah…" I replied, my mind wandering back to what had been bothering me most of the day. "So, uh… have you seen Starr? I didn't even see her at lunch." I fidgeted a bit—how was I supposed to bring up the topic? "Is it really true, that…?" My words sort of died before the end.

Ajia sighed. "I think she didn't want to talk about it with you 'cause she knew you'd take it the hardest."

"What? What does that even—ugh, I've got to talk to her before she leaves."

"She's right outside, actually," Ajia pointed out.

I blinked. "Huh? She's not taking the bus home?"

"No, her mom's picking her up. If you hurry, you might catch her."

"Okay. See you on Monday!" I yelled, immediately taking off through a pair of double doors behind me.

The bright afternoon light stung my eyes as I raced past the areas where the younger kids would get picked up by their parents. I quickly glanced over all of the groups sitting along the ledges by the parking lot… and then spotted a girl dressed in a purple shirt and jean skirt sitting by herself off to the side. My footsteps slowed. I paused, hesitating for a bit before walking up to her.

"Hey Jade," Starr mumbled as I neared. She was leaning forward so that her short brown hair fell across her face—probably to keep from looking me in the eye.

I sat down next to her, but didn't say anything at first. She had only hinted at what was going on, and I had no idea what I was supposed to think. "So… this is really your last day at school here?" I finally asked.

Starr nodded slowly without looking up.

"Where're you moving to?" I asked cautiously. She obviously didn't want to talk about it… and I almost didn't want to know.

Her voice was blank as she replied, "Cianwood." I didn't even know where that was supposed to be.

Everything fell silent after that. It was like nothing around us even existed. I couldn't get my thoughts straight—all of this had come up too fast. I couldn't figure any of it out.

"It's not fair!" I suddenly exclaimed. "Why'd this have to come out of nowhere? And moving on your birthday? What's up with that?!"

"I don't know… it's all my mom's idea, and she didn't tell me anything. But my dad's staying here in Viridian."

I folded my arms. "Huh. You never really saw your dad very often before… did you?"

She shook her head.

"Still… it's dumb that your mom won't tell you why all of this is happening," I added.

"Yeah… she keeps saying that she wants me and my brother to have a better life that we couldn't have gotten here, or something like that… she never really explains," Starr mumbled.

"Hey, that's right, what does your brother think about all of this? Isn't he friends with Ajia?"

Starr sighed. "I don't know, Lexx has been acting weird and not talking to me much lately," she said with a bit of a scowl.

Neither of us said anything else for a while. I stared at the floor as the time went on, feeling sort of lost.

"Why didn't you want to talk to me before you left?" I finally managed.

She sighed. "I didn't want you to make a big deal out of it, okay?"

"Who says I was gonna?"

Starr laughed. "What do you think you're doing right now?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but realized she'd got me with that, so I glared and didn't say anything.

"Pfft, see what I mean? You're such a little kid," Starr said, smirking.

"Don't call me that!" I exclaimed, punching her in the shoulder, but then she just laughed even harder. Yeah, I was annoyed, but I was also glad to see her smiling.

"So… since you'll be in Johto when you get your trainer's license, which of the starter Pokémon are you gonna choose?" I asked.

"Probably Totodile. You know how much I like water Pokémon."

I smiled. "Yeah? That's cool. It's just too bad I won't be able to start my journey for three more years. Then I could meet up with you and—" The realization hit me out of nowhere. "Hey, wait! If you're gonna be a Pokémon trainer, that means you can travel anywhere you want, right? So then you can come visit way before I become a trainer!"

She paused, looking surprised. "I hadn't thought of that. It'll have to be in a while when I get strong Pokémon to protect me while traveling so far. But… I'll do that."

My face fell. Why wasn't she more excited about it? Starr just kind of stared into the distance, like she was thinking about something. She looked like she wanted to tell me something else, but didn't say anything.

We sat there for some time after that. It was probably only a few minutes, but I wanted it to last forever. And then Starr glanced up suddenly at a blue car that had just parked along the curb. She stared at it for a few seconds, then stood to her feet and threw her backpack over her shoulder before walking towards the car, her feet dragging a bit. She had only taken a few steps when she paused suddenly and turned back towards me one last time.

"Bye."

Just hearing that one word made me feel weirdly numb. I forced a smile—it felt fake, and I could tell from her face that she wasn't fooled by it.

I didn't watch as she got in the car.

Chapter 1: Ravaged Mountainside

June 5 (five years later)

Summer days were made for this—made for the blast of wind in my face and the rush of exhilaration as my bike flew down the street. The slightest twinge of fear pricked at the back of my head, but it was easy to shove aside. My eyes focused straight ahead, blocking out everything else. Teeth clenched. Fists tightened on the handlebars as I closed in on my target. Just a few more seconds and I'd pull back on the handlebars at just the right moment and—

"Aw yeah!" I yelled, throwing a fist towards the sky as my bike flew through the air. No matter how many times I jumped that same ramp, those precious few seconds of being airborne were the greatest thing in the world. I landed several feet away with a thud and immediately veered my handlebars to double back in a wide arc, waving toward the top of the hill.

"Did you see how much air I got?!" I yelled.

"Big deal, I can beat that!" Rudy called out to me while speeding downward on his bike. The usual determined grin covered his tan face; his dark eyes were wide and full of confidence as he raced downward. Neither of us were really experts at this whole biking thing, but who cared? It was by far the best way to spend the after-school hours, and summer offered the promise of biking every day.

I sluggishly pedaled upward, still watching him race toward the ramp. Which is why I never saw it coming.

Out of nowhere, a black blur shot into the street, skidding to a halt right in front of me. I swerved instantly to avoid hitting it, but then—crap, I was heading for a parked car—had to turn! I spun way too far, my front wheel hit the curb sideways, and then I found myself toppling over into a sprawled heap on the grass.

Well, that was random. But there was really only one thing that could have done that. Sure enough, only a few seconds passed before I felt heavy paws on my chest. Black fur covered my entire field of vision, and the air was filled with musty, hot breath and uneven panting.

"Ow… get off, Ebony!" I yelled, shoving the Houndour away. She lumbered off, but sat down less than two feet from me, apparently fighting the urge to jump on me again.

I sighed exasperatedly. "You're never gonna get tired of this game, are you?" Sure, she knew me, but still felt determined as ever to 'protect' her home and her owner—who was now standing next to his bike, cracking up.

"Pfft—shut up, Rudy," I laughed, climbing to my feet and wiping the grass from my baggy shirt and jeans. "How'd Ebony get out this time?" I glanced back at the energetic puppy, who was now wagging her stubby tail with the hope that she could play with us.

"Dunno," Rudy said, shrugging. "I guess I didn't close the backyard up good enough. At least Chloe didn't follow her." He grabbed Ebony's collar and led her toward his backyard. The Houndour followed without struggle, though she made an exaggerated show of dragging her paws as heavily as possible.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you—I get to bring Ebony with me when I leave," Rudy spoke up casually, like I already knew what he was talking about.

"Huh?" I said, not really sure what he was getting at. And then my brain clicked into place. "Wait, wait… You're leaving on a training journey?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" he asked.

"No. You didn't," I said flatly, a sinking feeling growing in my stomach. Really, he waited until now to tell me something like this?

"Yeah? Er, sorry… but you can't be surprised. I mean, school just got out, I passed the exam—why would I wait? It's like the most perfect time to start training."

Unfortunately, he was right. Summer really was the best time to start a training journey, even though you could apply to take the exam at any time after passing the required two years of Pokémon handling courses beforehand.

"You realize you're pretty much the only person I know who hasn't left on a journey yet?" The words were out of my mouth before I'd had time to fully think them through.

He shrugged. "I guess? But that's only because I'm starting late."

"Getting your license at thirteen isn't that late. My not having a license at fourteen? That's late," I grumbled.

"Oh come on," Rudy said, looking kind of bored with my complaints after having heard them a dozen times. "I still say you should just take Swift and leave, license or no license."

I stared at him. "I'm not gonna train Pokémon illegally. I'm not that stupid."

"Alright, alright, it was just an idea," he said, waving a hand impatiently. "I'm just saying if I failed the exam twice, that's what I'd do—just take Ebony and leave. Though it would kinda suck not getting a starter."

"Yeah, that's definitely the worst part about training illegally," I said. Then again, this was a nice place to change the subject. "So… which starter are you gonna pick, anyway?"

Rudy gave me a look like I was the dumbest person in the world. "Do you seriously think I would pick anything other than Charmander?"

"Right," I said, rolling my eyes. "Because already having one fire Pokémon just isn't enough. This way you can light even more random crap on fire." I guess the flame-tailed Charmander would be a perfect match for him, in that case.

"I just hope they don't run out of starters at the League registration building…" Rudy mumbled to himself as we led Ebony along a rock path to a fenced-off area of his backyard. "Maybe if Dad takes me there today—it is Friday—but so many trainers have already started…"

"Heyy, that's right—Charmander is the most popular Kanto starter. You might get stuck with Bulbasaur," I said tauntingly.

"Shut up," he laughed. "I don't like grass-types."

"Really? I had no idea."

We stepped onto the grass and over to the fence where Rudy opened a gate and let Ebony in with Chloe. The latter wagged her fluffy tail nonstop as she nosed up against the fence, obviously hoping for a chance to play with us. When neither of us responded, the Growlithe turned around and immediately decided roughhouse with Ebony instead. Rudy threw a glance around the rest of the backyard before suddenly clapping a hand to his forehead.

"Oh crud! I forgot to do my chores—my dad's gonna kill me!" he exclaimed.

"I could help," I said, shrugging.

He considered the offer for a bit, running a hand through his spiky black hair. "No, if my dad gets home and sees that you're here… I wasn't even supposed to be playing in the first place. Help me get the ramp in and then I gotta get to work."

I groaned mentally as we ran back to the front yard—figures that something like this would come up. We grabbed opposite ends of the ramp and carried it to his garage, setting it in a corner next to the large pile of boxes that took up most of the space. He wheeled his bike in and slammed the garage shut.

"I'll see ya, Jade," Rudy said, running to the backyard.

"Later," I said, swinging a leg over my bike and riding down the street to my house. Well, a perfectly good day of biking had been cut short. The only thing I could think of to pass the time was… bike some more. It seemed like a nice day to go riding around town for a little bit, in any case… just to take my mind off things.

I grabbed my wallet from my room, quickly scribbled a note to my mom on the first piece of scrap paper I could find, and was about to head outside when a fluttering noise from the other room made me stop. The source of the noise was the Pidgey sitting atop his wooden perch in the corner, flapping his wings lightly. He gave a few chirps, not saying anything in particular but hoping to get my attention in the smallest way possible.

"You don't have to be so shy, Swift—you know you can come with me whenever I go for a ride," I said, smiling and holding out my arm as the tawny bird flew over to perch on my shoulder. With that, I walked outside and mounted my bike once again, and the Pidgey took flight overhead, chirping contentedly.

I wandered the streets of Viridian City, glancing around at the various storefronts that I passed, half tempted to stop by the card shop or the c-store, but deciding against it. I mostly just wanted to ride aimlessly under the shade of the trees, enjoying the cool breeze and the empty sidewalks that came with it still being early in the afternoon. Every so I glanced up at the sky through the trees, hands drifting from the handlebars as my mind wandered back to the previous conversation.

Rudy was leaving. Going on a training journey, like everyone else. And as much as I hated to admit it… I was glad when he didn't have the credits to take the exam last year.

I'd never had all that many friends, but it seemed like for each one that left, I always had someone still here. Starr had been the first to leave, five years ago. Then Ajia three years ago, then all the aspiring trainers in my year, and then everyone I knew in the year below me. I didn't even want to be a professional trainer; I just wanted to go with them. First I screwed up by failing Pokéspeech so many times that I didn't have enough credits the summer after I turned twelve. Then failing the test the summer after I turned thirteen. And now this year. The crushing feeling of seeing that failing score… for the second time.

I hated to think about it, and yet I didn't want to do anything but think about it.

I was now nearing the edge of Viridian city; the trees and buildings on either side of the road had grown further apart, replaced with open stretches of tall grass. I'd just reached the point where the road merged with the highway to Johto, with trails leading north branching off into the forest—this was usually where I turned around. I glanced up at the sky and was about to call Swift, but he wasn't there.

"…Swift?" I called out hesitantly, half expecting him to hear me and suddenly fly into view, even though the sky was completely open. Where had he gone? He had never done this before.

"Swift!" I yelled, pedaling hard to power my bike along the route. A feeling of unease was spreading through the back of my mind. This wasn't like him. Had something happened to him? There was no way, but I couldn't see any sign of him in the entire… sky. I'd just realized. The sky was empty. No birds anywhere within sight, and these fields were usually full of Spearow.

"That's… weird…" I muttered to myself. My eyes traced the horizon, hunting for any possible clue, when I spotted a plume of smoke within the trees to the north. What was that?

Feeling almost compelled to head that way, I turned and rode along a trail leading north—towards the forest. I reached the treeline within minutes and kept going, unsure of whether I'd be any nearer to finding Swift when I could barely see the sky anymore. Still, I kept getting a vague feeling of significance, like this was important somehow. I couldn't explain it, and the more time passed, the more stupid I felt.

I was just about to turn around when I caught sight of a winged figure passing over the trees above me.

"Swift?!" I yelled, not expecting much. It could have been any bird.

Except it wasn't. It was him.

"Swift!" I exclaimed, holding out my arm for him to perch. "Why'd you fly off like that? What's going on?"

His expression was reserved like usual, but distinctly troubled. He motioned a wing in the direction I'd been heading.

"Did you check out the smoke or something? Is there a fire?" I asked.

The Pidgey nodded. I glanced over my shoulder, but now that there was a thick canopy of trees above us, I couldn't make out the smoke anymore. Then again… weren't there a lot of fire-types living in the area? Fires had to be pretty common.

Swift gave a low string of chirps. This time they had meaning, and I knew at least enough Pokéspeech to catch the words, "*It's bad… come see.*"

He took flight again towards the ridge north of us, and I followed in silence for several minutes. In time, the air was filled with a thick haze, and a horrible stench burned my nose. And still we continued on until we reached the edge of the destruction. One moment we were within the thick of the forest, and the next, there was nothing but the charred remains of tree trunks and blackened bits of what had once been grass and leaves. Flurries of ash saturated the air, stinging my eyes. And that noxious odor just wouldn't go away.

I stopped dead. For whatever reason, I realized that the odor saturating the air was burning flesh. These woods had been filled with Pokémon, all of them now dead. My brain really had no idea how to process any of it. Who on earth expected to see something like this on an ordinary day?

"C'mon…" I muttered to Swift. "We don't need to be here. We shouldn't be here."

But then I caught a glimpse of flame amongst the ashes, burning feebly at the edge of a dark mass. I leaned my bike against a tree before approaching it hesitantly, my eyes widening once I got a good look at it.

It was breathing.

The mound was alive. It was a Charmander.

I stared, unable to believe it. The lizard's orange scales were burnt black, and with each breath its body shuddered, almost as if it were cold. The flame that should have burned bright yellow on its tail was little more than a tiny scarlet ember that flickered constantly.

Shaking slightly, I reached a hand towards it. I didn't know why—it was like my arm was moving on its own. So far, the Charmander hadn't reacted to my presence. I took a deep breath before awkwardly attempting to pull the blackened scraps of wood and leaves away from it. The lizard jerked suddenly upon having its skin exposed to the air, and I snapped my hand back. Okay, so trying to clean its wounds was a bad idea; what was I thinking. It wasn't like I had any water or bandages anyway. In fact, water probably would have made things worse.

The fire-type didn't move again after that. It was still breathing though, so I could only guess that it was out cold.

"I wouldn't stay here much longer if I were you."

I jolted at the sudden voice. Someone else was here? I threw a glance over my shoulder and sure enough, a figure was approaching me. The smoke obscured him at first, but eventually he came into view. He was several years older than me—at least eighteen or so—and quite a bit taller than me, with wavy brown hair and icy blue eyes. He was dressed in a black shirt with a long gray coat, navy blue cargo pants, and thick, gray boots. And he was currently examining me with a reserved expression that made me feel like I was being x-rayed. Somehow, his overall air was that of someone much older.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"You shouldn't be here," he repeated. "They wouldn't want any witnesses, and"—he paused mid-sentence and suddenly asked, "Are you a Pokémon trainer? You look old enough to be one."

"Um, no… not yet," I admitted. After a few seconds of awkward silence, I asked, "Are you?"

"I'd have to be if I wanted to carry these around," he replied, pointing to the small red and white spheres clipped onto his belt. Right—only licensed trainers were allowed to use Pokéballs.

Now gazing at the ravaged landscape, he muttered, "Amazing how much damage humans can cause. The fire's spread too far, though… how do they plan to keep it unnoticed?" I wasn't entirely sure whether he was talking to me or just commenting to himself.

"Who did this, do you know—?"

"There's no point trying to explain it," he interrupted, walking further in the direction I had originally been going. "Just follow me."

I glanced back down at the pitiful form of the unconscious Charmander. I didn't want to risk hurting it by moving it, but what choice did I really have? Was I supposed to just leave it here to die? I hesitated as long as possible, but then finally wrapped my arms around the lizard's limp body, taking care to avoid its tail flame, tiny though it was. Its skin felt raw and sticky against mine and gave off a radiating heat.

The trainer was now just a hazy figure in the distance with all of the soot clouding the air, and I had to walk quickly to catch up with him. "How recently did all of this happen?"

"So recently that it's still happening," was the only response. We reached the edge of a ridge that overlooked an open valley between the forested hills. It was there that I saw what he was talking about.

A brilliant flash of fire tore across the mountainside before stopping suddenly in the middle of the clearing and unleashing a blazing heat wave outward. When the flames cleared, I saw it. A fantastically bizarre beast stood before us, shaking its head and ruffling its long brown mane. Jagged spikes framed its back, and a silky, cloud-like tail billowed constantly. The creature whipped its head around to take in its surroundings, and when it turned in our direction, I couldn't help but stare openmouthed. Its face was, in short, amazing—rimmed by brightly colored crests of red along the side, blue over the muzzle, and a crown of yellow over its eyes.

Entei. The Beast of the Volcano. A Legendary Pokémon of Johto. Right here, right in front of us, for real.

Suddenly, I heard a roar of engines to the right. A huge group of jeeps and trucks burst into the clearing, filled with countless armed adults. Entei recoiled backward, pelted by bullets—they were shooting it? The auburn beast slammed its shackled paws to the ground and let loose a wave of fire, incinerating everything within the valley. But then the flames cleared, revealing the vehicles' protective energy shields. Around two dozen Pokémon charged forward from behind the jeeps, unleashing torrents of water at their target. Entei stood its ground with a determined glare, but I could still see it wincing in pain as steam poured off its body. I could still hear the fury in its roar as it tried to flee, gripped by the glow of something preventing its escape.

"What… how can they…? Why…?" I stammered.

There was a pause. Then came the reply, "Have you heard of Team Rocket?"

I tilted my head. "Well… pretty much everyone has heard of Team Rocket, right?" The notorious organization that had run this region's criminal underworld for as long as anyone could remember. But knowing anything about them—that was a different story.

"To the general public," he continued, without acknowledging I'd said anything, "Team Rocket is nothing more than a widespread group of criminal gangsters. What the public doesn't know is that for the past twenty years, the team has been making a slow push for total control over all of Kanto and Johto. On the surface, they're still the same thieves, smugglers, and traffickers they've always been. But that just hides the fact that there's another side to the team that no one knows about." He motioned to the ongoing struggle down in the valley.

Words failed me. Everything he had said was kind of overloading my brain, and the only thing I could manage was, "How did you find out about this?"

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "Not all Rockets are satisfied with the direction the team is headed. Some of them have their own plans. Some of them are working against Giovanni from within the team."

"Giovanni?" He couldn't mean… the Giovanni? Leader of the Viridian Pokémon Gym?

"The current boss," he clarified.

I shook my head. "Hang on, hang on. You're telling me those crazy rumors that he's involved with Rockets—they're not just true, but he's the boss?!"

He nodded.

I couldn't help staring. "You're serious? That's supposed to be, like… tabloid fodder for conspiracy nuts. If it's actually true… shouldn't more people know?"

"You underestimate the team's influence," he replied with a slight laugh. "They have agents working all over. Turning him in wouldn't do anything."

Well that was… unnerving. Really, what was I supposed to say to that? With a glance back at the blazing hillside, I asked, "Shouldn't we do something? I mean, if we don't—"

"We?" he said, his voice tinged with amusement. "You have a pet bird and a half-dead lizard; I'd be the one doing everything. And I know my limits. I can't stop them alone."

I glanced down at the dying Charmander in my arms, feeling rather miserable about all of this. Really, why did he even bother explaining anything only to flat-out tell me I was useless?

"What would you say," he began slowly, with an unusual tone, "if I told you that a large-scale takeover might soon be within their grasp?"

I whirled around to face him, gaping in shock. "What?"

"That's why they've taken to capturing Legendary Pokémon. If the heads of the combat unit had Legendaries at their disposal, there would be no stopping them." His tone was perfectly casual, as though Team Rocket being on the verge of a regional conquest was normal, everyday conversation.

I was frozen, unable to process all of this. "…What do we do about that? Why are you telling me this?"

He gave me a very serious look. "Are you interested in helping stop Team Rocket's Legendary project? Would you be willing to fight them?"

I stared. How exactly was I supposed to fight them, and how did he expect me to? Didn't he just say that there was no way I could help? I kept waiting for him to say something like "it would be nice if it were possible," but his expression was cold and unflinching.

"How… what do you mean?" I asked.

"If you were able to stop Team Rocket from catching Legendaries, would you?"

I wanted to say "well, who wouldn't?" but that didn't seem like a very good answer. I found myself simply nodding.

He considered me for a while before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a small card. "This is your formal invitation to join a team against the Rockets," he said, handing it to me. "I've been handing these out to people just starting their journey. Once you become a trainer, I want you to meet me at the location specified on the card, and I'll tell you more."

"But how—?" I began.

"What's on that card is all I can say for now," he said firmly. "Don't lose it, and don't reveal it."

He unclipped a ball from his belt and pushed a button on it, causing it to enlarge and open. A flash of white light burst from inside and took the form of a tall dragon. Shiny, flaming orange-colored scales covered most of its thickly muscled body, save for a massive pair of blue wings. My eyes widened—it was a Charizard, the fully evolved form of Charmander. I'd never seen one in person.

He replaced the Pokéball and climbed onto the dragon's back. It flexed its wings and outstretched them, flapping against the air and sending flurries of soot into my face. I shielded my eyes reflexively until the reptile had lifted off.

"I'll see you," the trainer said before soaring out of sight.

"Later…?" I said, more to myself than him. How and why I'd see him later was beyond me. I looked at the small card he had given me and read.

If you have received this card, it is because you have been recognized as either a beginning trainer with the potential for skill, or an ambitious young trainer willing to face danger for the sake of stopping Team Rocket. If you are serious about joining a rebellion against the Rockets, then meet in Vermilion harbor prior to July 3 for further instruction.

Talk about vague. Still, it made sense, just in case Team Rocket got a hold of one of the cards. But was he really just giving them out to random trainers? Why was he doing this? And how on earth had I gotten myself mixed up in all of this?

I turned back to the battle that was still continuing. Everything about it was completely mind-boggling. The ridiculously powerful fire beast was still struggling to ward off its attackers, but its strength was waning. I still wanted to help it somehow, even though I knew I couldn't do anything. It was frustrating, and I felt stupid about it. With a sigh, I sat down and continued to watch.

And then it happened. The Rockets and Entei were now only about a hundred yards away from where I was sitting. One of the jeeps near the front of the formation suddenly broke from the group and began speeding up the hill in my direction. I stared stupidly at the vehicle racing towards me, unable to work though what it meant.

"Don't… don't tell me they…" My eyes widened as the realization hit me like a brick.

I'd been spotted. And they were coming for me.