Chapter 1:

From the Cradle to the Grave: A phrase meaning something that affects you over your entire life.

The following week was startlingly peaceful. When I awoke I could see just a little better, and soon realized that I was, in fact, a baby. I was able to deduce this by realizing that I had, as impossible as it may seem, died. The giant humans around me helped a bit too, by calling me daughter and whatnot. The inability to move my limbs as I wished was irritating, and a fog persisted in my mind, making it hard to think clearly, and everytime I grasped a thought, my energy took a nosedive. My baby brain presumably couldn't handle the strain. My brain was adapting quickly, and whenever my thoughts weren't consumed by lingering thoughts of the hospital and my new parents, they were filled with thoughts of my circumstances. Or more specifically, my death. I had died suddenly, without much warning, but I took it as well as anyone could.

My death wasn't really unusual, familiar enough to big cities such as mine.

I had been walking home from my workplace, a publishing office, and took a shortcut through an alleyway. It was a route I was familiar with, so I wasn't particularly alert or worried. It was nearing evening, so the shadows were long and easy to hide in. My eyes didn't have enough time to adjust to the semi-darkness as I stepped between the towering buildings and off the main street. A young man was able to sneak up on me by abusing this fact, and mugged me at gunpoint.

After a moment of surprise and fear I calmly gave over my things, hoping for a peaceful solution, but we were interrupted when a well meaning civilian had shouted that the police were on their way.

This caused the young man to panic and shoot me just a bit under my right collarbone. I drowned in my own blood as the bullet had clipped my lung.

I was sad, but didn't panic, I rarely did. That might have been a weird effect of shock, too, though. The emotions weren't really getting through the haze my mind was settling into. In fact, I felt a bit sorry for the young man, who looked like he would just be going into college. He had actually tried to stop the bleeding once he realized what he had done.

Poor circumstances drive good people to do horrible things I suppose.

As I took a last gargling breath, with blood flowing from my lips I gave the man a closed lip smile. I was far beyond pain at that point, numbness had settled in nicely, and with my muddled thinking I figured bloody teeth would just scare him more.

In hindsight it probably didn't help much.

I had died at the age of 43. Jessica Rider was no longer of this world, instead I drifted somewhere else, becoming someone else.

-LineBreak-

Becoming a baby was a humbling experience, to say the least. People constantly manhandled me, especially with all of the extra tests the doctors seemed insistent on. I was a bit indignant by the end of things, I admit, even though the tests were probably necessary due to the nature of my birth. I felt incredibly violated after each of them, however.

One thing I was soothed by were my new parents. They are incredibly kind people who I could already feel myself growing attached to, and I knew sometime soon I would grow to love them. I quickly grew tired of the hospital, though, and Dr. Maple is a lovely man, but I think I'll grow to dislike him if he puts me through any more tests.

The entire family was glad to be rid of the hospital once the week was out. Luckily, our stay wasn't extended as there weren't any complications on my end. Perfectly healthy! The only abnormality was a slightly more powerful brain, I assume to help me think more clearly, and as I used it more this became apparent, the haze clearing away a little more each day.

My new mother, Eleanor Charlotte Meyers, was especially eager to show her new daughter their home. My new father, William Jon Meyers, was happy to get back to his own bed.

I stared up at my new parents, I liked them, truly. They were excitable people, full of life, if you will. They had a certain spark to them, constant confident smiles and straight backs. It was as if nothing could ever bring them down.

Perhaps that was just the excitement of their first child.

They were still gentle with me, as if I was incredibly fragile and would break at the lightest touch. They like to run feather light fingers through my deep purple hair, or to give me small boops on the nose to make me smile.

They're people full of love.

I felt these people deserved the best, so I dealt with the grief I had over my past life quietly and quickly, in order to move on from something I could not change, and accept the miraculous circumstances I now found herself in. I hadn't left a whole lot behind, luckily. Although, it's a bit sad to think about how truly dull my life was before. I had never been particularly close with my family before, and I found myself regretting that fact, so I would try much harder now to bond with my new parents.

The only thing I truly regret leaving behind were the few close friends I had made. Most of them being my coworkers. I had always been too buried in my work and books to gather a large group of friends, perhaps that would change this time around?

A new life brought so many new possibilities and opportunities to explore. I would attempt to take advantage of it.

-Linebreak-

When we arrived at our home, and wasn't that a quaint thought, it was exactly as I had imagined. It was a medium sized home that was well used, cozy, with warm colors coating everything. A bright red roof hung over the edges, a sprawling garden surrounded the exterior beige stone walls. The interior walls were painted a lovely warm shade of yellow, the furniture dyed a deep blue. Everything had pads on the corners. Childproofed.

What I hadn't expected was the yellow bipedal animal that welcomed us home. It carried a circular pendulum in one hand and had white fur around its neck. It seemed familiar somehow, but I couldn't place my finger on it. It felt like it shouldn't exist, yet did.

It shied away from me when it turned to catch sight of the new addition to the family. I had no idea why. It looked almost frightened.

I glanced towards my new mother, who was carrying me. She carried a concerned look on her elegant features.

"Hypno? What's the matter? Why don't you come and meet Mehr?"

Ah. I remembered now. Pokemon. But Pokemon was just a fictional franchise. How could a living, breathing, Pokemon be in my new home? I suppose nothing is impossible. After all, I did just come back from the dead. As a newborn baby.

I was too lost in my own thoughts to realize the pokemon had gotten closer. When I did notice it's presence I looked up at it with widened eyes.

It stared at me cautiously, wary of me.

I showed it a gummy smile and a giggle, hoping to win it over with cute baby charms.

Hypno seemed a bit less wary after that, but still took its distance, it's fur bristled in distress.

My parents were troubled by this turn of events, turning to each other with puzzled frowns. Mother walked off to put me in a crib in a separate room, setting me down on soft blankets. She fixed my position, then hesitated before leaving the room, presumably to talk to Father.

I wasn't privy to the conversation after that, so instead I took the time to think. I hadn't followed pokemon much, but knew that it was still ongoing, a DLC was being released for the Sword and Shield games when I had died. I couldn't recall the title. I only had vague memories from my college days to follow now, and some competitive battles I had watched rather recently out of curiosity. Those had a limited set of pokemon though, limited further by the meta followed by the players.

It was an impossible situation that I found myself in. One hard to believe. One impossible to believe, really. One my tiny baby brain had a lot of trouble computing apparently, therefore, I conked out.

-Linebreak-

I woke up to a pair of very large eyes right in front of my face. I blinked slowly when my sleepy baby brain caught up to the sight in front of me, unable to express my surprise further.

The large pair of eyes backed up a bit, looking a little put out that it's prank hadn't turned out the reaction it wanted.

A large tongue lolled out of its mouth, staying just out of my chubby hand's reach. Not that I could do more than twitch at the moment.

Gas emanated from it's form, surrounding the crib with a ghastly aura. Oh, right. Gastly. That's what it's called. I suppose it belongs to my parents.

I was almost immediately proven wrong in my assumption when Hypno ran in with my mom in tow. Hypno's pendulum began to swing and it fired something pink and transparent towards the ghost. Mother's body language turned protective and she pushed herself between my tiny baby body and the ghost pokemon. The ghost dodged the wave of psychic energy and disappeared through one of the house's walls, leaving behind wisps of dark smoke. Hypno hurried after it.

Mother turned worried eyes to me, lightly running her fingers over my face and body to check for anything that might be wrong with me. She sighed in relief when she didn't find anything wrong, and smiled softly when I gave her a gummy grin.

Strangely, I had felt no fear when interacting with the ghost, even when Hypno had run in. I had been eerily calm throughout the whole interaction. I hadn't felt as if I was in the slightest danger. Was it the fact that I was still getting used to the presence of pokemon?

Somehow, I felt that was the wrong assumption.

Before I could delve deeper into my thoughts, my father followed, heavy footsteps landing on the floor. He sluggishly rubbed the crust away from his eyes as he dragged himself into the room. "W'ass goin' on..?" The stern frown sent my new father's way had him straightening up immediately.

I giggled, and my mother's glare softened as she turned towards me.

"A Gastly got into the room and was looming over our daughter."

The way it was said was calm, but I could practically see the shivers running down my father's spine.

I would later learn that ghost's were particularly notorious and dangerous, known as the most volatile type next to the cunning dark and prideful dragons. Unpredictable was probably the better term, though.

I digress, my father was slowly backing out of the room, muttering something about going after Hypno before turning tail and hoofing it out of there. My new mother slept with me that night in a chair beside the crib. A few minutes later my father brought her a thick blanket, then retreated out of the room until morning.

-Linebreak-

The next day, it was deemed safe to leave me alone for short periods of time. The day was normal with some cuddles here and there and plenty of bonding with my parents. I learned my last name was Meyers, and my father announced to the world my middle name: Gray.

It was a bit uninspired, but I found it endearing.

He said it was because our eyes matched, a steel gray, like clouds rolling in before a thunderstorm.

I tugged on my mom's hair, the same color as mine, a deep purple, near black, color. Her eyes were near the same color, exotic in a way my old world didn't have outside of contacts.

My father's hair is wild and brown, with a trimmed full beard, which was more inside of my expectations. He looked a bit like a hiker from the earlier games.

He was the exact definition of a gentle giant, although he was a bit of a clumsy goof, at least around me, and sent me beaming smiles that made me feel all warm and gushy inside. He's a man full of adoration for his family, and it showed in every action he took. He was a touchy guy, and if he wasn't holding me near, he was close by or resting a hand near me. He did the same with my new mother, constantly hovering and spreading his adoration to her as well.

Mother, as I've taken to calling her in my head, was a much calmer existence in the household. She was elegant and coolheaded, poised. Her expressions seemed subdued, but she felt emotion strongly. Her eyes gave away what her expressions did not. Her eyes were sharp, fierce, when she emoted.

My new parents were markedly different in how they carried themselves, but I would have to be blind not to see how enamored they were with each other. They flitted around each other in a practiced routine, sharing constant smiles and glances throughout the day. I felt warm watching them, and incredibly grateful for their existence in relation to mine.

-Linebreak-

The next night Gastly returned. I used my motor functions to the fullest extent. As in, I uncontrollably swung my arms around trying to touch the tongue that lay just out of my grasp. We played like this for a while, both of us amused at the other.

I observed Gastly during our game, and although it's hard to read the body language of what is essentially a ball of gas, it's eyes were very expressive. I couldn't see any intent to harm me, so I let my guard down. Gastly froze, it's eyes sharpening. I grew a little wary.

It disappeared suddenly, and looking back I can assume it sensed Hypno coming.

Hypno looked around the room in suspicion before staying with me for the rest of the night. Despite his apparent wariness of me, Hypno had a protective streak a mile long. Sometimes it would stop and stare at me in suspicion, bristling, but it wouldn't last for long before it donned a confused expression and continued it's vigilant watch.

Gastly didn't return that night.

The next day was much of the same. Hypno was beginning to get used to me, but he was still noticeably wary for no particular reason. I was puzzled, after all, I was just a baby. Maybe it could sense my more mature mind? It would be perplexing to sense an adult mind in a baby's body after all. It was a psychic type, so maybe it could see something my parents couldn't.

My parents would speak in low tones, just enough so that I couldn't hear. They didn't treat me any differently, but there seemed to be a growing tension between my parents and Hypno.

They would frown at Hypno wearing faces of disappointment, but Hypno was stubborn in it's dislike of me. They tried to speak with Hypno about it, but it was tight-lipped on the situation. Not that it could speak in the first place. My parents' extra efforts to push Hypno to like me worked somewhat, but by nightfall it still kept its distance.

The next night Gastly returned, and this time I was able to hit the tongue it wagged in my face. My baby muscles reacted without my consent and latched onto the gross appendage on it's own. It panicked and tried to tug itself out of my grip as gently as it could, but in trying to be gentle, couldn't quite generate enough force to tug free of my surprisingly resilient hand.

Hypno stormed into the room and Gastly froze under the glare Hypno sent it. I giggled and tried to wave towards Hypno. I ended up lifting my free hand limply and smacking it into the side of the crib. Whoops.

Hypno stopped, staring at the both of us in disbelief. I could practically see the steam coming out of it's large cat-like ears as it tried to comprehend the concept that Gastly was (playing?) with the newest member of his family.

He was followed by my father who stared sleepily at the both of us, looked towards Hypno, then deliberately placed himself between Ghastly and the wall it had vanished through a couple of nights before.

Gastly tried a bit more frantically to get away, succeeding in getting his tongue out of my hand, but he was left drifting in place, eyes darting in look for an escape route. My father and Hypno stood between it and the outside, however, and it's only other option would be to go further into the house.

It stopped, and the gas it emitted seemed more controlled, tense. The tension in the room picked up another notch, and as Gastly appeared about to lunge towards my father, Hypno raised a flickering green shield around it, trapping it inside. It hissed and spat, ramming against the crackling energy.

My father raised his hands, stopping it as it observed him warily, glaring through the green covering of protect. "Hey there buddy, you seem to like my daughter. Mind linking up with Hypno so he can tell me why?" My mind stuttered. Hypno could do that?

It was enlightening, to say the least. I could only hear one side of the conversation, as Hypno hadn't thought to clue me in on this telekinetic chit-chat. It basically consisted of my new father asking why Gastly had decided to hang around me and reacting to each thing he heard. I watched his expression go from puzzled, to shocked, to resigned, to depressed, back to shocked, and ended with his complexion going from a sunny tan to absolutely ashen.

Hypno prioritized my still processing father over chasing the Gastly away, keeping it locked away in an offensive protect, a concept my mind momentarily boggeled over once I realized that was the move used. The constraints of the game didn't apply to the real world.

My father sat in the chair next to the crib, laying a hand on top of the bars keeping me in. I stared up at him with big eyes, and he looked back to me with a grim countenance. I sent him a smile in hopes of cheering him up.

It was my first time seeing him so serious and it worried me.

He turned to look at Gastly directly. "I think I'll need to speak with Dr. Maple again, but if it's as you claim…" He paused and took a deep breath. A weight seemed to settle on his shoulders as he released it, shuddering. "I don't know what we'll do." He finished weakly, running a hand over his face.

Gastly was allowed to stay for the rest of the night, once it was confirmed as nonthreatening, and my father stayed by my side in the same thinking position for the rest of it. I soon grew too tired to stay awake, the activity with Gastly having spent all of my energy.

I woke to my mother and father talking in low voices. They hadn't noticed I was awake yet.

"He said she had the aura of death around her, Eleanor! What could that mean? Does that mean our baby girl is going to die, after all?"

My father was nearly in tears as he said it, and my eyes widened at the realization. My mother replied, sitting stiffly in a chair they must have pulled from the living room.

"Doctor Maple said there were no further complications, and she was deemed healthy."

Even though she said it to reassure him, her own eyes were tight at the corners and filled with worry, a note of it couldn't help but slip into her voice.

My father picked up on it immediately, and slumped, running a hand through his hair roughly. He looked immeasurably tired.

"We'll have to take her back to the hospital. I don't want anything to happen to her."

At this point I decided to make my presence known. I gurgled and smiled. Their eyes immediately snapped down to me, softening. My father reached down and pulled me up into his arms. I reveled in the warmth and the subtle easing of the tension in his shoulders. My mother sighed and stood.

"I'll call to let him know we're coming."

She swept out of the room quickly, bringing a hand to rub at the corners of her eyes.

My father stared after her, lips pressed together in a grim line.

I tried to tug at his beard, but ended up bringing my arm around and smacking him in the face. He squawked in surprise and I latched onto his beard in his moment of weakness. I giggled, and he laughed soon after, allowing him to relax. He mumbled under his breath, although I could hear it perfectly fine,

"you'll be okay. You're such a good girl, you know that? You've been with us such a short time, yet we don't know what we'd do without you. So you'll have to be okay."

He sniffled and hugged me a bit closer.

That's how my mother found us.

I was giggling in his arms, a hand latched onto his beard, the area growing a little red from the harsh tug I had applied to it. Himself curled around me, a smiling, teary, mess.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were rushed into a small room, and Doctor Maple, the man who had delivered me, followed soon after.

The adults got straight to business.

My parents talked with the doctor while I was quickly run through some routine tests by a nurse. I was able to hear everything Gastly had told my father then.

"A Gastly has been visiting Mehr every night since we got home from the hospital. I was able to get our Hypno to communicate with it to see why it appeared so frequently around our daughter. It was surprisingly tame in our communications. It said she had an…"

He paused and took a steadying breath.

"Aura of death around her."

My mother laid a steadying hand on his shoulder and he sent her a grateful glance. He continued.

"When I asked what that meant, Gastly explained that she felt familiar, like an old friend."

The Dr. Maple sent him a puzzled glance.

"Yeah I thought the same, so I asked what that meant. Gastly's intelligence is a little too limited for an in depth analysis, but it said something that reminded me of a theory the professors have put forward about Ghost type pokemon's creation. The professors recently theorized that ghost pokemon were literally the spirits of dead pokemon. Turns out they were at least somewhat right. So tell me doctor, why does my daughter literally feel like the sensation of death to a pokemon who has experienced it firsthand?"

The doctor paled at the implications and ran a hand over his pallid face. He pursed his lips in thought.

"It's unlikely to be an illness of the body or mind. Our tests would have picked up something if it was physical, and your Hypno should have sensed something if it had to do with her mind."

My parents stiffened slightly and the doctor paused and raised a questioning eyebrow. My mother hurried to explain.

"She's been a perfectly normal baby, a little angel really, so it's unlikely. But, Hypno has been exceptionally wary of her, and refused to tell us why."

Dr. Maple shook his head, dismissing the thought.

"That's more likely contributed to her.. Particular aura. Not an illness of the mind. I feel Hypno would have spoken up on an illness's contribution to the aura had it been the cause. Of course, once you get home if we cannot find anything else I would ask your Hypno to see if it had perceived any abnormalities."

My parents relaxed slightly, but were puzzled, what else could be the cause? The nurse came back then, with a report of the test's results. All of them were normal, she was a healthy baby. He seemed to come to a realization.

He furrowed his brows and a sweat began to break out along his hairline.

"What I'm about to propose might be hard to believe, but hear me out."

My parents straightened in their seats, intent to listen.

"You see. When Mehr was born… She was born still. Unmoving. I believed her to be dead."

My parents gasped, and the doctor hurried on.

"But she suddenly started moving, reacting, so I believed myself to have been mistaken. The tests even came out perfectly. She was as healthy as a newborn babe could be."

He flipped through a file the nurse handed him, mine, I assumed.

"But maybe I wasn't mistaken, and she was stillborn. It wouldn't have been surprising-"

My parents flinched at that and the doctor sent them an apologetic glance.

"Your lineage has proven how hard it is for you to conceive, let alone make it through a pregnancy."

The doctor began to pace, and my parents were restless, shifting in their chairs.

"But that's impossible, right? She's here, with us!"

I couldn't tell who had said it, but it was true. How could I be here if I were dead? Had I taken residence in an empty shell? Was this baby meant to die and then I, a person from another world, took over in order for Mehr to live? I didn't know how to feel about that. Should I be happy for another chance? Sad for the baby who never got to live? I decided it was unimportant, I was here and hopefully making my new parent's lives better for it.

Raised voices brought my attention back to the room. My parents and Dr. Maple spoke heatedly for a few minutes, tossing back and forth theories and conjecture on the situation. They ultimately decided speculation was useless, and arguing would get nobody anywhere.

A nurse took me away to do further testing, and it was ultimately ruled that I was a healthy baby with a bit of a rocky start. Understatement of the century. It was decided that I would come in twice a month for checkups to monitor for anything unusual and that there wasn't much more they could do.

My parents left the hospital with a bit more information than they had, but not a lot of the tension had left their frames.

We arrived home in stony silence, I had tried to lighten the mood with smiles and tugs on their hair, but nothing was working like it usually did. I was about to start acting my age and throw a tantrum out of frustration.

I wished I could help them, but it's hard to help when you're immobile and the source of all of their problems.

It continued on like this for a couple more weeks. They walked on eggshells around me, as if, if they moved too suddenly I would just drop dead.

It was suffocating.

The only release I found was with Gastly, and surprisingly, Hypno.

Hypno seemed to finally get over whatever it was feeling with my aura around, and started playing with me just as often as Gastly. It was a welcome respite. The pokemon and I grew especially close over the next couple weeks. Hypno became like a third (or fifth?) parent to me, and Gastly was the mischievous older brother I needed. They kept me sane as I laid in my crib with minimal human interaction.

An adult mind in a baby body with nothing to do and no one to interact with was a recipe for disaster.

In the meantime I theorized about this aura of mine. Was it an aura like the aura guardians? Why was it so warped from death? I figured it had to do with my past life, my death, and subsequent drop into this body. It was the only logical explanation. Not that I would tell anyone that, even if I could.

I had already resolved myself to take this information to the grave, and allow everyone to assume it was because of my unusual stillbirth then subsequent revival.

I was okay with that.

What I wasn't okay with was my parents treating me as if I would just suddenly keel over. It had been a whole three weeks since the visit with the doctor and with each day they grew more distant. It was if they were preparing themselves for my death, all joy was gone from their eyes, and they pulled away from me, treating me like a fragile object rather than their own child.

They still did all of the things necessary to keep me alive, but they didn't play with me or cuddle me any more. They didn't show me the love that used to fill their bodies from the tips of their heads to their toes.

Each day felt endless, the hours dragged on as I wallowed in my own thoughts, no longer having the love of my parents to distract me from my grief and frustration.

I grew more restless. I would cry more often and wake my parents in the middle of the night. I could see it wearing on them, in the dark circles under their eyes, hunched shoulders, and tense expressions, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

It was finally setting in. I had died.

Everything I once knew was gone. Everyone I once knew might as well have been dead.

I had thought I got rid of the grief I carried. I was wrong. I had only distracted myself from it. My parents had been distraction enough that I could shove all of my overwhelming emotions to the back of my mind, however subconsciously.

Now though, all of my emotions came crashing forward, I attacked my grief with the bitterness brought on by the neglect my new parents showed. I brought each of my memories forward and reveled in them, allowing myself to truly go through each one for the last time. I needed to move on, but with my currently tumultuous emotions I found myself wishing for the past more and more. How could I move on when my past memories were largely the reason I was still sane?

I was tired and angry, and I think Hypno felt it because after nearly a month Hypno snapped and dragged my parents into my room, pointing at my crib angrily.

I could practically hear the telekinetic verbal thrashing Hypno was giving to my parents, and every wince and grimace that appeared I took a guilty pleasure in. After that they seemed to come to a decision.

If their daughter was going to die they would damn well spend every day like it was my last. They began to smother me in love, a complete 180 from the previous weeks. It gave me whiplash. They took me everywhere. They even moved my crib to their room, although most of the time I laid between them in their bed.

It was a welcome change, even if it left me with less time to play with Gastly and Hypno, because this finally allowed me to move on.

Over the next few months I was able to slowly move on as I built new memories on top of the old ones, mostly cuddling with my new parents as I was still practically immobile. I would never forget my previous life, who I was contributed to who I am now, after all. But I also wouldn't wish to go back to it any longer.

However, every once in a while, I found myself scared that my new parents would distance themselves from me again, and I would be left alone. What would I do then?

-Linebreak-

A year passed and my fears were largely unnecessary, every couple of months my tests came back exceptionally well, better than average, in fact. I began to crawl, my motor abilities seeing drastic growth the longer I played with Gastly, Hypno, and my parents. Gastly became a permanent part of the household, constantly staying by my side. I even began to communicate with Hypno and through him, Gastly. I made sure to keep sentences simple, however, trying to be seen as a child genius rather than a woman in a baby's body.

With this came more freedom. I was also finally able to visit the outside world regularly. Going on walks in my mother or father's arms in the streets of Cerulean, simply enjoying the sights my new home provided. As the home to the water gym it was lively, trainers and pokemon from all over the region strolled the streets.

My parents viewed me slightly differently and began to talk to me more, they would begin to point things out to me in order to teach me what they were. They read to me stories about trainers and their pokemon, pointed out different pokemon species on our walks, and regaled me with stories of their own experiences with pokemon.

I learned my Father was a world traveler, he went and documented ruins and wild pokemon for the different professors and a few magazines. He would venture deep into the wilds, unexplored lands between and beyond the known regions. He would laugh off how powerful that made him, and how famous that made him, apparently. Whenever we walked through Cerulean, my parents would garner gazes of respect, especially from trainers and rangers. It was implied he would return to this line of work once I had grown up a bit.

The more surprising story I learned is that my mother had gone all the way through the gym circuit and had challenged the elite four, a rare 8 badge trainer, and ever rarer a circuit winner. But after that she had decided to help her family business, a branch of Silph co. here in Cerulean. Although she admitted the family on her father's side literally owned the majority of Silph. Basically, my family was rich. Both in money and access to pokemon and technology. My mother had connections everywhere due to Silph and her trainer career, and my father was intimately familiar with the rangers and various government officials, including the elite four and champions of different regions due to the knowledge and permissions required for his job.

Of course, they didn't tell me all of this directly, but rather I eavesdropped on every conversation they got into while out on walks. Including one very interesting conversation with the cerulean gym leader, who wasn't who I had been expecting. Instead of the sensational sisters, who were due to take over the gym soon, it was their father. A man with a monstrous gyarados and a rough personality. He was much like my father in his softness for kids, though, as he practically melted whenever around me and would brag about his daughters every chance he got.

Another standout incident was when I met my mother's Ludicolo, a rambunctious pokemon that tended to the garden. It's a pokemon I only had vague knowledge on. It made me realize something I hadn't before. Pokemon are powerful. Unequivocally. Ludicolo often rearranged the terrain to better suit the garden's plants, and controlled the weather around our home to produce the best conditions. I assume the control needed for that was staggering. Not to mention the wiry muscles hidden underneath it's thick fur. I was excited to meet the rest of my parent's team, but I'm sure they were waiting until I was older. Pokemon are dangerous, after all, and I needed to be able to control myself around them.

These stories and the people I met alongside them made me want to explore this world myself, maybe build a team, after all, who wouldn't want to travel a whole new world? A wrench soon found my plans, however, as I found that as I grew and met more people and pokemon, something strange became immediately apparent.

People and pokemon alike are afraid of me.

Imagine disappearing for months on end after posting a single chapter, couldn't be me.

In all seriousness though, I apologize for disappearing without warning, I plan to continue this story and eventually complete it. I can't promise regular uploads, mostly due to wordcount variation which will vary how long each chapter takes me to complete. I'm glad y'all enjoyed the first chapter and hope y'all continue to enjoy the story as I upload it. Feel free to post suggestions in the reviews, I have a lot of ideas for this story, but I would love more!

As some of you have pointed out, this 'aura' mentioned in the description is actually inspired by BANIX's story "I just want to travel the world", although I will be taking the concept and making it the center point of the story and exaggerating it. So, in the end, it will be a completely different concept and story. It will also take on a bit more of a realistic worldview, meaning it'll be a bit darker, for example pokemon battles will be pretty brutal.

I'll be getting more into Mehr's interaction with people in the next chapter, and it'll be a lot more in depth character development, hope you're looking forward to it. I was originally going to put some of it in this chapter, but decided to save it as this chapter is already pretty long.

Any critiques are appreciated! I want to make this story as great as can be!

I would also love to answer any questions y'all have at the start of the next chapter, so feel free to leave them in the reviews.

I do not own Pokemon, only my OC's.