Hey. I won't normally do this before or after a chapter, but I'm going to put this one here to kinda let you all know what's going on as I'm uploading this. I have been working on this as a passion project for a while, plotting out stories and characters and Teams for almost a year and a half now, just now getting back to actually writing the story actively. I am slowly typing it up whenever I feel inspired, and I will TRY to get 1-2 chapters out at least once a month, but no promises, but if I end up inspired and burning through writing MULTIPLE chapters, I will get more out, uploading at least one a day, on Sun-Mon and sometimes Tuesday.
I hope you enjoy Pokemon; Rising, as much as I do while I am working on it.

I started to wake back up after going down.
"Shawn? Shawn?" Elesa was gently rocking me back and forth like she was trying to wake me up.
"Hu-"

"OH MY GOD SHAWN!" She grabbed me as I sat up and hugged me tightly, crying.
"He's awake?" I heard Juniper call out from somewhere behind me.
I broke loose, and stood up, brushing myself off while checking my arms to see if I was bruised at all.
"You DUMBASS!" Chili sprinted over and grabbed my shoulders.
"Wha-" things were moving too fast as the rest of the crew slipped under police tape and ran over to check me.
Juniper walked over, parting the others away from me, with a stern look "We need to talk. And get a vitals reading on you and Trace both. Now."
She pulled out a laptop and nodes from her bag. "Shirt off."
I was confused but complied, pulling my shirt off as Juniper immediately pleased three nodes on my chest, one on both of my arms, and two on my forehead, as a small current ran through them, and removed them, walking over to a barely lucid Trace, repeating the process.
Cress walked up and explained what had happened from when I passed out, while I put my shirt back on. The Toxicroak hit Trace with a second Poison Jab as I went down, and Trace collapsed too after letting out an Ember, as Jenny's Growlithe tackled the Toxicroak to the ground, biting it.
Juniper walked back, and grabbed my wrist as Miles broke through the police line checking on Skyla as Elesa and John ran in front of Juniper. "What's going on with Shawn?" they said in unison.
"Out of the way. I need to talk to him in private."
John looked down and walked away, Elesa still blocking Juniper with tears still fresh in her eyes, as Miles and Skyla jogged over as Miles put a hand on Juniper's shoulder. "Shawn has saved Skyla, and his friends are worried sick about him, Juniper. They deserve to know what happened."
Juniper looked back at Miles. "Fine. Let's go back to my lab."
She let go of my hand as I handed a Pecha berry to Trace, and recalled him into his ball after he ate it. As we began to walk back to the lab, there was a silent tension very clearly there.
Finally Juniper broke the silence "Listen. Shawn's father and mother trusted me to keep him safe, and with his Soul Bond awakening, I need you all to help me." The lab doors swung open and Juniper kept walking, and pulled a book, causing a section of the bookshelf to sink in, revealing a code pad.
"Shawn's father had a Soul Bond with his Emboar. The bond is at it's strongest when their heartbeats are in sync. Shawn will become more animalistic in his mannerisms, and Trace will become more powerful, and eventually change forms once the bond is far enough progressed."
She swiftly punched in a code, causing her desk to slide back and a staircase to open up, leading to a secondary lab, with a medicine bay. "Shawn, Please send out Trace, and take off your shirt again, and lie down on the bed to the right."
"O-okay" I was unsteady, feeling like I was about to collapse as is, following her orders.
"We know little about Soul Bonds. From what we DO know, normally, Soul Bonds don't reveal themselves until the Pokemon is in its final evolution." Juniper continued on.
"Eren requested when Shawn turned five that I start developing tech to help track their heartbeats, so that if this DID happen, Shawn would be able to keep track of their heartbeats, so as not to lose control."
"So, what does that have to do with us?" Elesa chimed in.
"Eren had tics that showed the rest of us when Emboar and himself were syncing. From there, Alder, Clay, Rei, Erika, Lenora, Juniper, and Quinn could stop him." Miles quickly said.
"So you also were there, Grampa?" Skyla inquired.
"No, that's stories I've heard from the rest of them. Eren was an expert battler, but that made it more dangerous, because at full sync, all the pain Emboar would experience, Eren would also experience."
"Exactly." Juniper restarted after placing nodes on Trace and Myself, revealing our heartbeats on a monitor, both playing over the top of each other, almost in sync with the. "Trace's heart rate while walking is 90 BPM. Shawn's is 85 at the same speed. Almost a Full Synchronization. At rest, Trace sits at 72 BPM, while Shawn sits at 65."
"So at rest they are furthest from being in sync?" John spoke up from the back of the group.
"On the nose." Juniper quickly walked over to a vault on the wall, opened it, and pulled a syringe, and 2 watches. "These are what I developed to help keep track of their heart rates." She put one on my wrist, upside down. I lifted my arm to check the face, seeing a number and a blue pulse line. 68BPM, as I felt a slight pinch in my chest as I looked over to see trace getting a shot, as a second number popped up and a red line appeared.
"So, this will allow me to read our pulses on the fly, right?" I asked.
"Until Trace Evolves again, when I'll have to give him another shot to reset the tracker." Juniper said, handing me the extra watch. Same info reading on it.
"What's this one for?"
"It's for whoever you trust can stop you if you start syncing." Juniper sharpley said as she kept going on. "Now, as for you all, Learn if he has a tic when they start syncing, because it will be better for all parties involved instead of the opponents having to bury a Pokemon every time Shawn uses Trace in battle, or you all having to bury Shawn and Trace."
"So if Trace faints they both die?" Cilan practically yelled.
"NO! I mean if they are in full sync and Trace takes a hit that is too hard and kills him, Shawn would also die."
"Oh." Elesa sighed.
"Hold here. I need to get something for Shawn before we all carry on this." Juniper headed up the stairs to the main lab.
"So. The rumor was true." Skyla was practically crying.
I sat up, pulling the nodes off me, "I'll be fine guys! Promise!"
Miles grabbed my shoulders "Don't make promises you can't keep. You know what happened to your dad. He made a promise to the rest of us that he'd take care of you 'til your journey started and then take over the Castelia city gym. Your clock has been cut essentially. We now truly NEVER know when you'll pass now Shawn."
"Then I'll make my own path to prove it." I shook Miles off of me, and hopped up, putting on my shirt, and recalled Trace. "I'll make it past my father and burn it all away with Trace. I'll take the throne from Alder and sit above this region."
"That's the Shawn I know." Chili punched my arm.
"We'll have your back 'til the very end Shawn." Cress smiled.
"It's just an extra card dealt and you'll play it flawlessly." Elesa hugged me tight.
I slipped loose and handed her the watch. "We all will be at the Elite 4 together. We will be the future of this region." I smiled and spoke, checking my watch again. T:80, S:75. "We'll all do it together."

Juniper came back down, holding a red leather jacket. "Your mother made a version of this jacket for your father, and your father had a smaller version made for you, shawn. He was going to present it to you before you left on your Journey." She unfurled it, revealing on the back a white leather '2-9' on it.
"Your father was the second strongest trainer in all of Unova and 9th strongest in the world. He said to me when he made the order that he's sure you'll end your journey with a one on the back."
I teared up, and accepted the jacket, putting it on.
I remembered seeing a jacket like this in some of his and mom's old pictures.
"I'll make him proud, no matter what."
"We'll make your father happy, to know you have good friends that will help you the entire way."