I managed to do the 50,000 in a month but the story wasn't finished after 50,000 by a long shot. Did I already say this I forget? Anyways, yay, the kid did it and now will have a name and stuff!

I felt like the entire kingdom had gathered to watch me mess up again. I stood on a marble slab, raised only slightly above the rushing water of the Cascades. I felt the lines etched into the marble with my bare feet. There was an intricate carving of our Kingdom's crest in the marble, which I was staring at to try to avoid the thousands of stares coming directly at me.

This was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Really, it was. And… I was excited for it… It's just… It was about five years too late.

I was 17, and I was only just now having my legend bonding ceremony. We got our Pokemon familiars according to what was in our hearts and souls, according to my teachers. I wondered what legend I would get. I could feel them staring at me. I was sure at least half the people here thought this ceremony would never happen.

You were supposed to have the ceremony no later than 12 years old. I was 17. So, that meant, for 17 years of my life, I lived as a blank slate, a child in everyone else's eyes. I had white straight hair, that I had not been able to style in any way. My eyes were gray, almost see-through. I didn't have a name. I didn't have an identity, at least, not one that other people recognized. I doubted they couldn't see me, they knew I had developed my own personality. For a while there, I was convinced I would never develop the magic required to take part in this ceremony. You were supposed to stay a clean slate until you received your familiar, and then start growing into your own person from there with the help of your familiar. Since I thought I would never be standing here… I took matters into my own hands.

But I did it… I worked day and night, studied for hours on end with the best teachers the royal family could offer up. I even tried some alternative methods of increasing my magical prowess that I'm not proud of and weren't particularly safe. There wasn't time in the world to list everything I tried. My life had been focused on this singular thing… that and adventuring. Even with all I gave to increase my magic, for the longest time, nothing happened. Everyone had given up on me. I… had almost given up on me. Lilly didn't give up on me, though. And because of her, I was here.

I inhaled, and exhaled very slowly. I was here. The restless murmuring of the crowd quieted as my dad took his place on the riverbank. Well, on the riverbank wasn't exactly the right wording, more like floating above the riverbank. My dad the king. I hadn't seen him for what felt like days, and I wouldn't see him in days more, and now, when I was seeing him… it was in his full official robes, purple cape and all. He was in full king mode. It would have been nice to see him in dad mode. That would be the icing on the cake for today. But that was fine. I was about to get a best friend, I was about to finally be accepted as a full member of society, as a proper member of the royal family.

"My people, I am proud to be able to gather you all here today in elemental harmony in order to celebrate the bonding of my sixth born daughter to her companion Pokemon, to her legend. Today, the council of legends, under the mighty rule of Arceus, will choose one of their own young to join the princess on her life's journey. Today, she will be born anew."

I gulped, nearly imperceptibly. Born anew, what did that mean exactly? I was me. Would I still be me tomorrow? I glanced quickly at my sisters, lined up obediently behind my father, the king. They each wore a silk gown with their respective gems or precious metals woven in. They each stood next to their legend. I had watched each of my sisters in turn go through this ceremony. I knew approximately what to expect. Dad would go on for a long time, then I would demonstrate proof of my magic… then a projection of the legend would rush at me. I was not allowed to show fear, even though a giant creature would look like it was smacking right into me. Our souls would intertwine or something, and I would receive my identity. Then I would go to the catacombs to meet with the oracle, not to return for many hours. And then… I'd start training with my particular magical skills, and start specializing, and figure out who I was. I would be able to defend myself in the outside world. And life would… begin.

"Let us now bow our heads and pray… for safety and favor." Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes, including me.

Arceus, please… bring me a companion, bring me acceptance in this world. Grant me, please, the power to go see the world and return home and have a place in this world and this society. Bring me my happiness. I've been waiting so long…

I finished my silent prayer and opened my eyes, waiting for everyone else to finish as well. I fidgeted nervously in my white silk dress, while people still had their eyes closed. I was supposed to look all composed, but really… this was scary. Exciting, sure, it was supposed to be exciting for me. I was going into the unknown. No matter how good things might be on the other side of this, no matter how much the unknown excited me… But, would I lose myself. As good as everything could be from now on. What would be the point if I wasn't me to experience it? Nobody had lost their identity before… but nobody had really had much of an identity before. I couldn't back down now, though. Everyone was watching. Everyone was always watching.

After what must have been a solid five minutes, the king and his Mewtwo opened their eyes, and soon, so did the rest of the kingdom. The actual prayer we were supposed to be saying was quite a bit longer, but, uh… honestly, I didn't think the whole thing would do anything more than the honest yearnings of my soul. A soul that was about to be altered by mixing with another.

"My daughter will now demonstrate her magical abilities as an offering to the council of legends. She will become a beacon for her legend to find her. May the light guide them safely here." My dad cued me.

The world became quiet as all attention focused on me. I glanced over again. My sisters were waiting to see if I would be able to do it or not. That was what everyone was here to see… if I would be able to manage something as simple as gathering up a sufficient magical aura. It was a sort of… beacon, for the legend. Lilly was in the crowd with her Guardevoir. The two of them still had their heads bowed and their hands clasped. They were… praying for me. I might have felt like it was condescending if I didn't know they wanted what was best for me. She put in so much time, just for me. I didn't know what I did to deserve someone like her and Guardevoir. Even when I gave her sass, and rebelled, and all sorts of things I did, all the times I disappointed her. Even now, she was rooting for me. I couldn't let her down now…

I took a deep breath and centered myself. I felt the warm sun on my face, heard the rushing of water at my feet, the breeze coming off the water. We drew our power from nature, especially from the lake. I looked out into the lake, which the cascades emptied into. I wanted to jump in and just… escape all this pressure. They would not have let me do the ceremony if my teacher didn't think I would be able to do it. This was the time. This was my time.

I put my pointer fingers and thumbs together and intertwined the other figures. The pointer finger represented humans, the thumbs represented our Pokemon counterparts, and the other fingers represented the unconscious energy of the world that we drew from and acted upon. The energy held us aloft, the Pokemon were right behind us, granting us power we could never have otherwise, and we lead the way. It was a hand gesture meant to ground and focus you for magic. Although I wasn't sure I had it in me to lead the way, if that meant being responsible for other people's mistakes… I had enough of my own.

Stop it, stop it. I had to stop thinking my thoughts and concentrate, or this wouldn't work. I focused and centered myself, tuning out the people here, tuning out myself… focusing only on the world around me. The windmill, the beacon…

I still struggled to feel the energy from nature that was supposed to fuel me. That thing that was so, just, second nature to my entire family…was foreign to me. I visualized the breeze going through me, bouncing around, generating power, staying loose…and the ocean, always moving.

And then, finally… I saw a faint glow from behind my eyelids. Thank Arceus. Was this enough, though? I had no way of knowing. Ever so slowly, I lifted my eyelids. Too fast, and I could end up losing my focus. If that happened, anything I may have conjured up would be lost. Ever so slowly… the world came into focus. There was a white glow in the periphery of my vision, and my whole body vibrated slightly. I was doing it! Now all I had to do was keep it up and wait.

That was easier said than done. I kept my breathing steady and my mind focused on the nature around me, flowing in and around me. I kept my eyes open for any sign of a legendary Pokemon. It could come from anywhere… the earth, the sea, the sky, it could open a portal, or just… appear out of nowhere. I didn't know what I was hoping for… I didn't have a preference for any particular legend, as long as they would be able to explore with me. I just wanted someone. No, I wanted something that could go, fly or swim…

Stop it, if I lost focus, all would be lost. I would be humiliated in front of everyone.

As the seconds ticked by, I started to get exhausted. I was pathetic. This wasn't even that strong a beacon… probably the reason this was taking so long… and I was already exhausted. I couldn't give up. Everyone needed to see that I could handle this simplest of magics. If I couldn't even do this right, what hope was there for me? I doubled down my efforts. I had to keep this going. I could rest afterward. Fueled by sheer force of will, the white lights in the corner of my eyes grew brighter.

And then… up in the sky, I saw it… in the clear azure sky, a small green dot. I saw it before anyone else, and at first I thought I was seeing things, but then the green dot got bigger, and then it turned into a squiggly line. I… I knew what Pokemon that was. Rayquaza, the ruler of the sky, who lived high in the sky, almost in space. I was going to have a dragon! Take to the skies and fly! Freedom! Adventure! My mind raced. I would fly with him, and we would be together, and I wouldn't be alone, and I would finally have my place.

The green line stopped midair. Rayquaza… stopped midair? What? I squinted really hard, trying to figure out what was going on up there. And then there was a giant dragon in my face, mouth open and teeth barred. It slammed directly into me and I screamed, stumbling backwards.

I fell into the river. Suddenly, I was soaked, my vision went watery, and my stomach shuddered as I fell down the cascades and made a final, unimpressive splash into the lake.

The crowd gasped. I was humiliated. I looked up at where I had just been standing. Rayquaza was there, although much smaller than the projection. He looked down at me with an unreadable expression. After a moment, I felt myself being lifted back onto the platform by Mewtwo. I wasn't hurt, at least. All I had felt was a gust of wind and a hot wash of shame. This was the least proper thing I had ever done. It was only a few days since the incident with the kid falling in the cave, and now this… Nobody said anything, but I knew what they were thinking. The Dud did it again. She managed to mess it up again. My whole life was a series of mistakes. But the way in which that happened… there was no way that was my fault.

I glared at my sisters, specifically Diamond. I knew it was her. She used her power to manipulate time in order to make me look like a fool. Just because she was the youngest to have her ceremony at the age of six. She had already had her identity for a decade, and she still felt the need to steal the show! Or did she just want to mess with me, at a time like this?! Couldn't she just let me have this?! Rayquaza was supposed to come steadily. It would still have been scary, but bearable. Diamond skipped time forward for me so that it would look like a huge monster was suddenly in my face. To everyone else, it would just look like I was a coward. I wanted to run away, but it still wasn't over. I was just trying to keep my tears in at this point. She wasn't going to get away with this.

Dad cleared his throat so that everyone would be quiet and stop saying things about me.

"My citizens, I present to you… my sixth born daughter… Emerald, and her legend, Rayquaza. May Arceus guide your lives together."

The applause was tepid at best, and then, everyone awkwardly dispersed. I guessed they sort of forgot about the exalted speeches, leaving me to meet Rayquaza.

To the person who said to give her Latias/Latios I forget which, that was a good idea, but it doesn't fit with what I'm trying to do as well. Hope you enjoyed and as always guys, have an awesome day!