Author's Note: This story has a lot of different aspects that may be difficult for me to explain. This prologue is somewhat lengthy and attempts to explain some of the background of the plot. If something doesn't make sense in this chapter, it should be resolved in chapter one. Otherwise, enjoy. Also, please review if you like it, or if you feel you have something to say that will improve it. Thanks!

Prologue

My heart was pounding out of control, even though I was sitting down. I looked around the room to try and find some source of comfort to quell the building nervousness. It looked like a regular Pokemon Center—bright and cheerful—aside from the obvious lack of a healing machine. Of course, that only made sense. This wasn't a standard Pokemon Center, it was a Bonding Center.

Unable to sit still any longer, I jumped up. Rezzie, my Furret, squeaked in surprise and leapt out of my lap, only to jump back into my outstretched arms. I buried my face in his soft fur as I walked towards a bulletin mounted on the wall. Papers were pinned very neatly across the board, all information about the Bonding process or various other technical notices. My eyes scanned over the one in the middle, although I had already read it enough to have it memorized.

"… The Bonding process, perfected by Rocket scientists over a decade ago, is completely safe and painless for both the patient and their pokemon…"

"… A trained Rocket expert will perform the procedure, which will take less than three hours…"

"… Bonding is a wonderful and exciting experience that will bring the patient and their pokemon closer than ever before…"

"… Bonding is truly the melding of the two souls into one body…"

"… Physical changes will typically appear three to five hours after the procedure is completed… and will continue to develop for up to four months…"

"… Bonding is the first step in becoming a Rocket Unit, a trained professional with many opportunities for success in New Johto."

Reading it over again eased my tensions. I looked down at Rezzie, who was squinting at the papers as if trying to decipher their purpose. His face made me giggle, and I hugged him tight against me. I loved Rezzie, and soon he would realize just how much. Today, we were going to be Bonded. I tossed the thought around in my mind. Ivan and Rezzie… we'd be Izzie. I giggled again at the thought.

I walked back over to the waiting area where I had been sitting before. My mom looked up from her book and smiled. I sat down next to her.

"Nervous? I'm sure this is a lot for a ten-year-old to deal with." She closed her book.

"A little…" I laughed nervously, stroking the fur along Rezzie's back. "It's taking them forever!"

"You read the paper they sent, Ivan. It takes several hours. The last patient should be done soon." She shrugged.

"Can I ask a question, Mom?"

"Of course."

"Why do they call it 'New Johto'? Was there an 'Old Johto'?"

She frowned. "It used to just be called Johto, before Team Rocket stepped in and changed things."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did they change things?"

"That's more than one question," she rolled her eyes, "But they did it because they had to. Things were horrible back then. You'll learn about it at the Rocket Unit Academy in a couple years."

"Why can't you tell me about it now?" I was getting nervous again, and I wanted her to distract me.

"Ivan, don't whine. It's annoying. You won't understand, anyway." She looked at me for a moment, awaiting signs of surrender, but I was stubborn. "Alright, fine. But I'm telling you, you won't get it, and I'm not going into details that you don't need to know at your age. Let's see… well, the Elite Four—"

"The what? Who?"

"Shush!" She brought her hand up and hit me lightly on the head. "The… the government, okay? They started getting nervous because Team Rocket was developing all this new technology—like Bonding—and the Elite Four was used to blaming them for everything, so they didn't want people to know—"

"Why would they blame Team Rocket for anything?" I was incredulous. How could the people who ran the whole society of New Johto have done anything wrong?

"If you're going to keep interrupting," she gave me a look, "I'm not going to tell you anything more. Okay? So… the Elite Four tried to get Team Rocket out of Johto by arresting their members and destroying their scientific facilities. There was an entire branch of the police devoted to stopping them, can you believe that?"

"No…" I was imagining a police force of officers chasing after Rocket scientists, with Growlithes trailing behind, ready to burn their laboratories down.

"Well, it happened. Then—" She stopped abruptly as the side door slid open with a mechanical sound.

"Ivan and Rezzie?" A fair-haired Rocket nurse read from clipboard, standing in the newly opened doorway.

I stood up, holding Rezzie close to my chest as my heart began to beat faster. This was it. I looked to my mother. She smiled encouragingly, probably relieved to be spared from further history lessons, and waved me on. The nurse smiled as I walked towards her, and she stepped out of the way to let me through the door. It was cold in this part of the Bonding Center, and the familiar bright wallpaper was replaced with sheets of steel.

"This way, Ivan." Well, obviously—there was only one hallway here. We walked down the brightly-lit stretch together, silently. I looked over at the shining walls, and tried to make out details in the fuzzy reflection of myself. A blob of blonde gave away my hair quite easily, but my skin was too dull to reflect definitively on the metal surface. Rezzie was also discernable, a shapeless brush of brown and tan in my arms.

Rezzie… I had tried to explain to him this morning what Bonding was all about. He had given me a confused look at first, but I think he understood. In any case, I could explain in to him when our minds were one. Or maybe when that happened, he would already know? Would he know everything I did as soon as it popped into my mind?

One question brought a wave of new ones crashing down on me. What would we look like? I had seen plenty of Bonded people, and they all looked fine, but what if something went wrong and we were deformed? Would we be tall, or small like Rezzie? I looked down at him, then suddenly noticed how bare my arms were for the first time. Would we have fur? A tail? Would we share the same soul or would it be the two of us in the same body?

"Ivan?"

I jumped at the nurse's voice. We had reached the end of the hallway—it was shorter than it seemed—and she was holding a door open for me, waiting.

"S-sorry…" I hurried in. Rezzie looked up from his resting position in my arms, and shivered. It seemed a silly thing to do now, when it was just as cold outside the room. I let my gaze drift around the room as I found a chair to sit in. It was almost as big as the waiting room, but not nearly as friendly. The walls were metal, and the floors tile, just like the hallway, and the walls were lined with dangerous-looking instruments.

The nurse took a seat at a metal-plated desk, and entered text swiftly into the computer. I gripped Rezzi tighter as I examined the centerpiece of the room, a large contraption that consisted of two big tables and various lights and buttons. It was metal, of course; it seemed like everything here was.

"Okay, Ivan," the nurse tapped a last key and then turned to me, "This is a big day for you. This is Rezzie, right?" She gestured toward the Furret, who seemed more nervous than before. He squirmed slightly in my grip.

"Yup," I tried to smile normally, "We're getting Bonded."

"Are you sure he's the one?"

Her tone took me by surprise. When people and pokemon were Bonded, it was because they were inseparable before—Bonding just completed the connection. The way she talked, though—and the way she looked at Rezzie—was almost as if she found him… below standards.

"Yeah. I love him. And he loved me."

"…Okay." She smiled, but I couldn't trust that smile anymore. She made me uncomfortable. I didn't like her. "Well, unless you have any questions, we can begin the process now. Please follow me."

I did so. She led me to the strange machine, and beckoned for me to sit on one of the large tables. Before I did, though, she grabbed Rezzie out of my arms, getting a disgruntled cry in return. The metal was cold, and it almost burned when I pushed myself up. The nurse set Rezzie down on the other table, then pulled the straps dangling under it over his furry mass.

"You can probably do your own straps, Ivan. Just pull them over your legs and waist—yes, just like that, good. I'll do your upper ones."

"Why do we need straps? It's not like we're going to be moving around a bunch." Or were we?

"You'll be under anesthesia, so most likely not. However, if the process is interrupted, there could be some… unsatisfactory results, so we do it as a precaution."

That was not comforting. Neither was the needle she had begun filling with tinted fluid.

"Um…"

"This is the anesthesia. It will only hurt going in, don't worry."

"I hate shots." I shivered.

"Then look away, and don't tense up. Here, I'm doing it right now, be ready."

I quickly turned away from her as she sterilized my arm with a cold wipe. I looked at Rezzie, and his eyes met mine. He looked confused, just as he had when I tried to explain to him what was going to happen today. He squeaked, and tried to squirm out of his bindings.

"Don't move, Rezzie, you need—OW!" The needle stung as it entered, but the area was quickly numbed by the spreading of the cool liquid injected into it. Rezzie froze as he heard me cry out, and he looked terrified.

"The anesthesia will kick in soon, then you won't feel a thing until the doctor's finished." She smiled again, but I didn't smile back.

"Who's the… who's the doctor?" My mind already felt a little fuzzy. I tried to focus on her as she filled another syringe, for Rezzie, probably. The liquid had a different color.

"A trained expert. He's with the previous patient in the recovery room." She walked briskly over to Rezzie, and injected him with the medication as well. He squirmed and cried out in pain, but soon it settled down to a whimper.

"Alright, Ivan, you'll be drifting off any minute now. Just relax. I'll inform the doctor." She smiled one last time, turning on the bright lights above, then leaving.

I looked over at Rezzie. He seemed to be in pain still, and his eyes were full of fear. He looked at me as if… pleading. It hurt me inside.

"S'ok, Rezzie…" I was having trouble forming sentences, but I needed to comfort him. I couldn't stand that face. "S'ok, we'll be together soon…"

He looked at me for a while longer, still terrified. His eyelids began to droop, however, and soon they were only slits, trying to convey some message that he couldn't speak.

"G'night, Rezzie…" I mustered the strength to smile for a few seconds before drowsiness washed over me. "G'night… see you in the morning…"