"Devon…" a faint voice called out. The human slowly opened his eyes, and appeared to be standing in the midst of an open grassy field that stretched for miles around. He looked up and saw the sky pulsating in various colors, from red to yellow to green to blue and all the colors in between.

"Devon," the voice cried out again, "you must listen to me. You don't have much time. The fate of the world rests upon your shoulders."

"Wh-What? What are you talking about?!" Devon called out.

Devon watched as a huge shadow spread across the field. Devon looked up and saw the sky had turned black, and as he watched, a glowing pair of red eyes peered down at him from the heavens. Suddenly, he began to sink into the earth, and, try as he might, he couldn't break free from his earthen trap. The darkness began spilling from the sky and began to converge on him from every angle. Devon screamed and struggled even harder to escape, and as the darkness was upon him, the voice spoke, in a voice no louder than a whisper, "You must prevail…"

"Hey! Are you okay? Wake up!" a voice yelled in his ear, a different one from before.

Devon slowly opened his eyes. The world appeared bleary, as it tends to when someone sleeps for a long time. After a few minutes of blinking and rubbing his eyes, Devon looked around and saw he was in a house of some kind. Due to the pricking in his side, he figured he was lying down on some sort of straw mattress of some kind.

"Hey, what's up?" the voice said again to his left, "That seemed like some dream, the way you were tossing and turning like that."

Due to his position on the bed, Devon had to lift himself up to see who was talking. When he finally finished flipping over, he saw a Riolu hovering over him, watching him curiously.

"Um, are you feeling okay? You look kind of sick." The Riolu asked him.

In one motion, Devon leaped to his feet, a surprised scream coming out of his mouth.

The Riolu backed up in surprise of his own. "Whoa, hey! Easy, buddy. I'm sorry if I startled you."

Devon could only make panicked gasps as he backed away from the Riolu. This isn't real, he thought to himself, This can't be real. This has to be a dream.

Dream. Upon thinking of the word, Devon suddenly remembered the strange dream that he had. He thought about what the strange voice had said to him. "You don't have much time. The fate of the world rests upon your shoulders." What did it mean by "fate of the world?"

"Hey, what's up? You're acting weird." The Riolu said, bringing Devon back to the situation at hand. "Can you even talk, or are you mute?"

Talk? Oh, right! Devon realized. Anxiously, he started to speak. "T-T-Talk?"

As soon as he said that, the Riolu's mood brightened. "So you can speak!"

"T-Talk," Devon continued, "Y-You. T-T-Talk."

The Riolu was starting to get really confused. "Huh? 'You talk?' What's that supposed to mean?"

After these first few words, Devon began to be a little more confident in his speech. "Y-You're a R-Riolu. Riolu a-aren't supposed to t-talk."

The Riolu was thoroughly taken aback. "What?! But, all Pokémon talk. You should know that, since you're a Shinx and all."

"What?!" Devon shouted, almost outraged now. "I'm not a Shinx. I'm a human."

The Riolu just paused. "Wait. Sorry, did you just say that you used to be human? As in, for real?"

"'Used to be?' What's that supposed to mean?" Devon demanded from the Riolu. Suddenly, it came to Devon's realization that he wasn't standing up the way he was supposed to. Instead of standing on his two feet, he found that he was supporting himself on his hands as well. And when he looked at his hands, he found that his "hands" were now actually blue, furry paws with a yellow ring around the wrists. The blue fur continued up his arms (front legs?) and converged with the blue fur around his chest. Around his waist, the fur changed color from blue to black, looking almost like a pair of pants. The black fur continued all the way down his hind legs to his paws, but as he noticed this, a tail swung into view, which was covered in black fur all the way up to the end, where it fluffed and fanned out so it looked like a four-pointed star.

"Nononononono…" Devon muttered to himself, utterly wishing that what he thinks has happened isn't the case.

The Riolu, which had left while Devon was looking at himself, came back with a wooden bucket that had water inside. He laid it down in front of Devon and, knowing what the Riolu was implying, he looked into the bucket to see, not his face, but the face of a Shinx. The blue fur, the tufts of fur spouting from the top of his head and each cheek, the large ears with the yellow cross-like patterns on the inner part, and even the yellow eyes. He turned his head and the Shinx turned his. He stuck out his tongue and his counterpart did likewise. He violently shook his head and the Shinx did as well.

Devon backed away from the bucket and sat down on his haunches. "No, I'm a human. I-I can't be a Shinx. I know I'm not. I know it."

The Riolu sat cross-legged in front of the Shinx. "What's your name?" it asked simply.

Devon looked up at the Riolu. "M-My name? It's Devon."

The Riolu across from him sighed. "I knew it. You have a weird name, too." The Riolu shuffled closer. "I know this may sound odd, but I believe you. I think you're a human who was turned into a Pokémon."

Devon, naturally, was shocked. "Really? Are you telling me there are others?"

The Riolu nodded. "At the very least, one. He's the leader of what we call an 'exploration team,' and a pretty famous one at that. He literally saved the world from becoming paralyzed."

"Wait, paralyzed?" Devon asked.

"Um, I'll talk about that later. But, if you're here, then that means something big is definitely gonna happen soon." He seemed lost in thought for a few minutes, before nodding his head slightly in confirmation with himself. "Devon, I have a proposition for you. I want to help you find out why you're here, but I'm in no position to do that right now. What I'm asking is, do you want to form an exploration team with me?"

"Um, no." Devon stated. After seeing the downtrodden expression on the Riolu's face, he clarified, "I mean, I don't want to get into something without first knowing what I'm getting into. From the sound of it, I think I should be flattered that you're asking this of me, but first I'd like to know a couple of things, like what an exploration team is exactly, and who this other person is. Stuff like that."

The Riolu gasped slightly in shock. "Oh! Um, right. You'd wanna know a little about this world before making a rash decision. I hear you. Okay then, what do wanna ask first?"

After several hours of talk back and forth with each other, Devon finally explained to the Riolu that his curiosity has been mostly sated. "So, basically, this other human defeated Dialga and saved the world from paralyzing, and that's what made him famous?"

"Yep!" Riolu confirmed, "And then Team Impossible went on to do lots of other cool stuff. Like battling Palkia and Darkrai, finding the legendary instruments, and even taking care of a baby Manaphy." Riolu stifled a giggle. "Sorry, but that one was always a bit ridiculous."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Devon looked down on his new body again. I hope I can get used to my new body like he did. Suddenly, Devon perked up. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask. What is your name? You asked me mine, but I never got yours."

"Oh, um," Riolu scratched his head with his paw, looking a little flustered. "Well, in truth, my name is Riolu. But…"

"You want a different name?" Devon proposed.

"Well, yeah. Now don't get me wrong. I like the name Riolu. But, it would be nice to have some kind of nickname or something. I just want a name that people will look back and remember. Something distinctive, not just a generic name like 'Riolu.' I mean, think about it. People would go around saying, 'Hey, you remember Riolu?' 'No, not that Riolu, the other Riolu.' 'Wait, which Riolu are we talking about again?'"

The two Pokémon laughed at this point Riolu had. "Yeah, I can see how that can be confusing," Devon said finally, "Okay, how about I think of a nickname for you?"

Riolu looked surprised. "Really? B-But, we just met. I don't want you to feel obliged to do something like that."

Devon shrugged. "Eh, it's the least I can do. After all, you spent the last couple of hours explaining the history of your entire civilization. So, how hard can it be to think of a nickname for you?"

Riolu sighed. "Well, I guess you can give it a shot, then."

Devon smiled. "Okay, then. Let me think." Devon's brows furrowed, and his eyes displayed his intense concentration. Finally, he looked up at Riolu. "How about Aura?"

Riolu scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Devon, pretty much one out of every ten Riolu are named something silly/stupid like that. Why don't you try again?"

"Okay, then, um, how about Rolly?" Devon suggested

Riolu's eyes almost widened out of their sockets. "Hey, that makes me sound fat. Definitely not!"

Devon cringed. "Uh, whoops. Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you like that."

As Devon went back to thinking about it, Riolu sighed again. "You know what? Just forget it. 'Riolu' is just fine, and it doesn't make me sound like I have a weight problem."

Just then, Devon's mind sparked an idea, which literally caused him to spark for a second or two. "I got it! What about Lucas?"

"Huh? 'Lucas?'" Riolu asked.

"Yeah. I don't remember much from when I was human, but I could swear that I remember the name Lucas belonged to someone really famous. Plus, it works so well with your species name. Even if you evolve into a Lucario, it can still be applicable."

Riolu thought about it for a minute. "Lucas." He let the name roll on his tongue, tasting it as one would with a good Berry wine. A smile slowly grew on the Riolu's face. "Lucas. Yeah, that's perfect! I love it! It sounds really epic, in a way."

"Well, then," Devon said, obviously pleased, "mind if I call you Lucas from now on?"

Lucas smiled. "Yeah. In fact, I want everyone to call me that." The Riolu rushed out the door and screamed, "Look out world! There's a new Pokémon on the explorer scene, and his name is Lucas!"

Devon chuckled as he walked up to him. "I'll do it."

Lucas turned to Devon. "Huh? What?"

"Well, if you're gonna be an explorer, you gotta have another Pokémon with you, right? I'll do it. Let's be an exploration team together."

Lucas gasped at him, tears forming in his eyes. "Really? You mean it?" He rushed at the Shinx and locked him into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Anytime, but it's getting hard for me to breathe now." Lucas suddenly realized that he was holding on to Devon way too tight, and he let go. Devon took in a couple of deep breaths, before telling Lucas, "I'm glad you're excited about this, I am too, really, but please don't kill me before we even start."

Lucas sheepishly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head with his paw. "Hehehe, sorry. I guess I got a bit excited." Lucas looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon. "Wow, it's really gotten late. What say we go to Treasure Town tomorrow to register? I feel a bit bushed now."

Devon didn't realize it until then, but he felt a bit tired as well. He figured that the guild could wait one more day, and he agreed with Lucas. They then went back into the house to get some shut-eye, eagerly expecting all of their new adventures come the following day.

And that does it for this chapter! I've noticed that a lot of people weren't as excited about Pursuit as they were for Escape, and I suppose this is fine, considering that Escape has some of the most unique characters out there. But, still, I really would like to see more love for Pursuit as well, considering it's supposed to be following similar events in both. I know I'm using common Pokemon, but there's a good reason for these two, so just trust me.

However, in case you do have something to say to me about either of my stories, then please leave your thoughts in a review. I make sure to try to read all of them, and I like hearing what people have to say about my story! You don't have to do it, but it would be awfully nice of you.

Oh, and speaking of that, I actually have a proposition for everyone. I'm actually considering taking some OCs that you guys think up, in a standard SYOC style. The reason that I'm saying this is because, as this takes place a few years after the events of PMD:EoS, there are obviously some things that had changed during that time span. (As you guys probably saw in the first chapter, what with Bibarel and everything.) And since I'm too lazy to think about every new Pokémon that would be introduced, I figured I'd give everyone a chance to try to wow me with their ideas. Now, I'll have a full list of what you can try for, as well as the rules and form, on my profile soon, but let me just say that brand new exploration teams are a must here.

Anyway, that's all I have to say right now. So, as always, make sure you stay tuned for the next chapter, and even if I don't update in a while, be assured that I always think about all of my stories all the time.