The quiet halls of the Pokemart were kept especially clean at all times. Doing this was a thankless job. Same thing with stocking items on the shelves. It's the kind of job no one really wanted to do, but someone had to do it.

The only person in the pristine, empty aisles right now was that someone. The tall, dark haired boy quietly took objects out of a basket and set them neatly onto the rows of other products. These things ranged from Silph Co.'s own Potions and Pokeballs, to other third party products, like herbal remedies and various camping supplies.

Since the amount of items that could help specifically a Pokemon trainer weren't plentiful, the store wasn't that large, and so was easily tacked onto the side of the Pokecenter proper.

Since it wasn't very spacious, the conversation that was happening on the other end of the store easily reached the boy's ears.

"Did you hear about the new idol? The one that performed at Nimbasa city the other day?" a clearly young male voice said.

"I think I heard something about her. Is she cute?" came another voice like the first.

"Oh you bet she is! See, look at this pic."

"Huh, yeah I guess she is…wait, is she a demi-human?"

"Yeah, she looks like she's part Cinderace. What, she's still cute, isn't she?"

"Hm, I guess so, it's just kinda weird is all."

"Well, I personally think it just adds to her appeal."

The sliding doors to the Pokemart opened as the two boys left, their conversation going with them. Once the doors closed, the boy could no longer pick up their voices.

Not that he cared. The only thing that he cared about was finishing up this job. After emptying his basket and making sure everything was straight, he cricked his neck and stretched his arms high above his head.

"Jeez, what a pain," he said, mumbling to himself.

"Nice work today, Rory," a calm and even voice came from the boy's left. He turned to see the Nurse Joy that worked at this center. "The Pokemon center has quieted down for the night, so if you're all done here then you can head on home."

"Finally," the boy named Rory said, not trying to hide his relief in the slightest.

"Here's your pay for the day," Nurse Joy said while handing Rory an envelope. He grabbed it without hesitation and slipped it into a pocket on his uniform vest.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"No, thank you for always helping out," the nurse reciprocated. "Can I call you again when we get busy?"

"Sure, it doesn't matter to me."

"Are you sure it's no trouble?" Nurse Joy asked. Rory was confused at this question.

"Some parts of this work are boring, sure, but I don't hate it. Why? What's the matter?"

"I'm just, well, a bit worried about you," Nurse Joy said. "I sometimes feel like all you do is work. From what I know of you, you don't have any hobbies, or that many friends either for that matter. I just hope the world isn't passing you by."

"Um, that's…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, listen to me ramble," Nurse Joy interrupted Rory before he could reply. "I'm sorry, I have a son who just turned 19, so he's around your age. Maybe I'm just being overly worried."

Rory didn't reply. Everything she said was right, so there wasn't anything for him to counter.

"I know I've asked this before, but what about a Pokemon journey?" Nurse Joy said, perking up again.

"Huh?"

"You know, becoming a trainer and traveling around the region. I think something like that could do you some good."

Rory paused before giving his answer.

"I'll…think about it," he replied, unable to meet her gaze. It was the same answer he gave last time, but he hoped Joy didn't remember that. An awkward silence grew between them.

"I guess I'll let you head on home," Nurse Joy spoke up. "Thanks again," she repeated with a slight bow.

"Sure thing," Rory replied with a nod. Once Nurse Joy left to go back to the Pokecenter side, Rory put his basket down on the main counter and headed out the same doors that the other boys left earlier.

Once outside on the pavement, Rory looked towards the horizon. His hand moved to his face as the sun's rays glared toward him. It wasn't long before dark, so Rory decided he wouldn't waste anymore time. He looked at the free magazine rack, took the newest looking one, and started to head down the road.

The town Rory lived in was an 'off-the-radar' town called Excus town, and it was located in the middle of nowhere, south-western Unova. It was hard to get 'in the middle of nowhere' in Unova, but this old town had managed it. Most maps of developed Unova had this area cut off, so there were some who didn't even know it existed.

It wasn't undeveloped, by any means. The cars rushing by Rory and the roaring sound of turbines in the distance was proof of this. Still, that didn't mean that it wasn't boring.

"Go, Rhyhorn, use Horn Attack!"

The voice of a young male pierced through the still air and reached Rory's ears much louder than he would have liked. He looked and found the sound had come from a Pokemon battlefield not far from where Rory was walking. The boy that had shouted was currently locked in a battle with a girl, with what looked to be her Ivysuar.

At first, Rory was fine with just glancing over at their battle before continuing on his way, but he soon stopped his gait completely in order to look over towards the battlers.

It was pretty clear to Rory that the Ryhorn was going to win, no doubt. Much stronger built, and was in a much better position, too. The type match-up would hurt, but the Rhyhorn clearly had too much momentum for that to matter at this stage of the battle. The girl would have to pull out some grand plan in order to win this one.

Rory stared at the battle much longer than he had meant to, and when he finally realized how much time he had spent, he let out a large sigh and shook his head before continuing on his way.

It didn't take much longer for him to reach his destination. It wasn't his home, but instead the local trainers' school, which, to Rory, was just as dull as the rest of the town. He had never been inside himself, but it was a popular hangout for trainers. That was especially true during the current summer break, since regular school wasn't in session.

He wasn't here for the school itself, however. It was for the thing stationed in front of it.

A little ways from the front doors lay a booth of sorts. Perhaps that was too grand of a word, considering it was only a small table about a third of a meter high. In front of the table was a kid trainer who was staring at all the items and bobbles that adorned it. Behind the table was a small, green cactus Pokemon, which was the only thing that stood out to Rory in front of the drab background of stones and bricks.

"Maractus!" The Pokemon said with bright glee while she shook the flowers on her head, making a rattling sound in the process.

"Well, let me see," the kid continued to stare hard at the items on the table before fishing out of his pocket a small collection of shiny rocks. "What if I trade you these rocks for… that seashell?"

The grass type picked up the large seashell, examining both it and the rocks in the kid's outstretched hand. Eventually, she gave a nod with a large smile and an uplifting "Marac!"

"Sweet!" the kid said with exuberance before leaving the rocks on the table and picking up the seashell. "Thanks a lot, little maractus!"

The named gave a farewell "Maractus!" as she scooped up the rocks and started to neatly put them together. The kid gave a wave back as he started to run away, passing Rory on his own way to the table.

The cactus Pokemon was too distracted by the rocks to notice Rory until he was right next to her.

"Hey, Flora, how's business?" he asked with a voice that was much softer than what he had at the Pokemon center and a smile that hadn't been present before either. When the Maractus heard her name and the voice that said it, her head darted up towards the human that said it.

"Mar Mar!" she yelled with jubilance before jumping over the table and grabbing onto the boy's pant leg in a hug.

"Hey, hey, watch the thorns, Flora," Rory said lightheartedly. "Those things hurt you know."

The cactus looked up at Rory as she loosened her grip but not her embrace. "Mar!"

"So, what would I be able to get for this?" Rory asked, waving the magazine he had back and forth. Flora's eyes widened as she gave an excited "Mar!" and released Rory to go back around and rummage through the pile of items she had. Rory knew that Flora loved to flip through these fashion magazines, even though she couldn't read any of them. Rory tried to pick up new ones whenever he could.

From rocks and flowers to candy and water bottles, the items on and around the table were very varied. There were even some trainer items scattered about, like a potion or a pokeball.

The item that Flora pulled out from under the table, however, was even stranger than anything else on display. She picked up what looked to be some kind of weird brass container. It had a spout on one side and a handle on the other, almost like a teapot, but much smaller, and much slimmer.

"Maractus!" Flora proudly displayed the item in her hands as she held it up for Rory to see.

"What the hell is that?" Rory asked after a brief moment of pause. Flora took the lamp back down to her eye level and examined it a bit herself before giving up with a shrug.

"Marac Maractus!" she said after presenting the object again, now eyeing the magazine in Rory's hand.

"That's what you're wanting to trade?" Rory asked, still a little confused. After a second, however, he just gave out a sigh.

"Sure, why not," Rory said and played along. It's not like it really mattered; he was always going to give her the magazine anyway.

After the exchange, Rory briefly examined the object in his hands, but it didn't make it anymore apparent to him what it was. Flora, however, was immediately engrossed in the magazine as she started to flip through the pages, being extra careful to not tear any of the pages with her spikes.

Just then, a yawn escaped Rory's mouth.

"Well, today was such a drag, and I'm really tired, so I'll head home first, kay?" Flora nodded in acknowledgement without looking up from the fancifully dressed people on the pages. "It's already getting dark, so don't come back home too late, alright?" Rory said. Another nod as Flora looked back at the magazine gave Rory the idea that he wasn't getting any more verbal answers from her. With that, Rory left the trainer school and Flora behind and started the walk home, which was thankfully not very far.

Rory and Flora lived in a small apartment complex in the middle of town. It was pretty old, and the building was a bit run down, but it was cheap, so Rory couldn't complain all that much.

Since he rarely used his money on anything, he probably had enough saved up to move to a better one, but he just never felt the need to. Flora didn't mind it either, so it was all good to Rory.

The door to room 103 was fairly bland, like the rest of the complex. The only distinct feature was that it had a special, smaller door at the bottom to let Flora in. Unlocking the door and heading inside, Rory immediately took off his jacket and threw it on the couch with a few worn magazines, ruffled up his hair, and passed through the living room on the way to his bedroom.

"Finally, some time to relax," Rory said once he got there. He placed the brass...thing…on his dresser before falling comfortably onto his bed.

It wasn't long, however, before Rory's eyes drifted back to the enigma Flora had given him. Still curious about what it was, he got off the bed and grabbed the object again, flipping it over in his hands once more.

"How did she even get her hands on this?" Rory asked himself, his gaze looking for anything in particular about this thing. While not super important, Rory eventually found a small smudge maring the otherwise glittering exterior. Instinctively, Rory took his shirt and rubbed the object, getting the dirt off it. Once he was done, he held it up in the air to look at it in the light.

"There we go, all go-"

Before he could finish, a loud popping sound erupted from the object, with smoke billowing out of the nozzle no sooner after. Rory dropped the device out of shock before trying to back away, but it was no use. The smoke had already spread throughout the room and it wasn't long before it engulfed Rory as well.

Rory used his hand to try and dissipate the smoke as he coughed through it. After a few seconds, the smoke started to disappear on its own. However, in its place came something else.

As if arriving from the smoke, Rory watched as a girl dressed in a long, plain white dress drifted slowly down from the smoky room before placing her bare feet on the carpet. Her long, white hair almost touched the floor as well. Once all the smoke had gone, the girl opened her vibrant, violet eyes and let them slowly drift to where Rory now stood.

"Greetings, to you who have summoned me," her voice was smooth, but still had the tone of someone in authority. She stretched out her hands dramatically before continuing. "Rejoice, for we have now entered into a contract. To this end, I will grant you thr-"

"Get out."

"H-huh?" was the girl's meek response, a clear far-cry from her voice just before.

"Get out of my house," Rory repeated himself, his voice unwavering.

"B-but," the girl was now shrinking back, "but I-"

"Listen, I don't know how you got in, and I'll admit the smoke thing was impressive, but what you are doing now is breaking and entering you know; I could easily call the police."

"W-wait wait wait!" The girl finally got up her courage to talk. "There's gotta be some misunderstanding. You summoned me, right?"

"Summoned you?" Rory questioned.

"Yeah! You rubbed my lamp, didn't you?"

"Your lamp?" Rory questioned again. He looked over to the object that had been in his hands but was now sitting squarely on the carpet floor in front of him. He picked it back up. "This thing?"

"Yes, that thing!" the girl said, pointing her finger while her voice was rising in volume. "When someone rubs my lamp, I get summoned to the outside world."

"Lamp? Outside world? Wait, that sounds like…" Rory thought out loud for a second before looking back to the arm-crossed girl and reexamining her, "...a genie."

"Hang on, you summoned me and you didn't even know what you were doing?" The girl said, now exasperated more than anything else. "You know what? I think we've gotten off to a weird start, so let's just start over."

The girl sighed and shook her head before putting one of her hands on her chest. "My name is Celeste, and yeah, I'm the genie of that lamp. You rubbing said lamp summoned me out of it, and so now I'm here."

Rory was silent for a second, his eyes still narrow. "A genie? Really? That's a pretty big claim. Why should I believe you?"

"Well, don't take my word for it," Celeste said. "As a reward for summoning me I can give you 3 wishes, so please, wish for whatever you want." She ended this by puffing out her chest.

Rory was still very skeptical of all of this. After all, this seemed pretty far-fetched. So, if he wanted to test her, he needed to make sure to wish for something that she couldn't fake.

"Okay then," Rory started as an idea dawned on him, "Then for my first wish…I wish for a Legendary Pokemon."

"There's no way she could pull one of those out on her own," Rory thought to himself.

Just then, a loud bell rang out, seemingly from nowhere. Celeste's hair also grew brighter for a few seconds before dying back down to her normal white color.

"All right, that settles it!" Celeste said energetically, clapping her hands together. "So, pack your bags, we'll leave first thing tomorrow."

…

"..."

"..."

"Get out."

"Wha-what?! Not again!" Celeste exclaimed out of exasperation. "What's wrong this time?!"

"Don't 'What's wrong this time' me!" Rory said, his voice strong but not quite angry. "Packing my bags?! What's that about?! You just claimed you were some sort of 'genie', but if you really were, then you'd be able to snap your fingers and give me my wish!"

"Huh?! Are you crazy?! I can't do that." Celeste yelled back. "Just what do you think Genies are? We're not miracle workers!"

"That's exactly what Genies are supposed to be!"

"No! We can't make things into reality with just a snap, we just use our powers in order to help people fulfill their wishes! What the heck are you talking about?"

"Well I don't really see any 'powers' that make you different from a normal human. So that just makes you just an interloper in my home." Rory said, dropping the lamp on the ground. He turned away from the girl and headed back over to his bed. "Go on, shoo," he said again, motioning for her to leave without looking back.

However, when Rory was just about to collapse back onto his bed, an invisible force stopped him. All of the sudden, he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried. He was abruptly forced to spin around and face Celeste, who now had a very neutral expression on. More than that, however, her eyes were glowing and her hair billowed behind her. Without warning, she lifted her arm up, and Rory started to float in tantum. Rory tried to scramble, but it was still fruitless; he still couldn't move.

While keeping her right arm outstretched, Celeste threw her left arm out to the side, which caused a fierce wind to start circulating inside the room. Papers and clothes flew everywhere while boxes were overturned. Soon, a rain cloud appeared below the roof of the room and the water that fell down added to the maelstrom that was forming. Rory could do nothing but watch the disaster unfold in front of him.

Without warning, Celeste's arms and gaze dropped, and the entire room returned to normal in a fraction of a second. Rory fell from his space in the air and landed on his bed. His hair was now windswept and his clothes were damp. Both of these were adjectives that could now describe his room as well.

The air was silent for a few seconds before it was broken with an uplifting grunt from Celeste as she took her right wrist and rolled it a bit.

"I take it that will suffice for proof?" Celeste said, a small grin appearing on her face. "I am quite powerful, I'll have you know," she added, not with the smugness that Rory expected after such a spectacle, but just with simple glee.

In a world with Pokemon, seeing one control the elements wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but seeing a person do it was completely unheard of.

It took Rory a few more seconds to do anything, but he eventually dropped his head and let a grunt out of his own.
"Alright then. Suppose I do believe you," Rory acknowledged as he got up, brushing his pants while his voice was still fairly mild. "What do you want with me?"

"I've been trying to tell you, I can use my powers to help you fulfill your wishes," Celeste said. "Protect you from harm, perform things you can't do yourself, give you advice, these are all ways to help you accomplish your dream. That's my job as a Genie after all."

"Okay, fine. But you're assuming I even have some wish I want granted."

"Of course! Everyone does!"

"Everyone, huh?" Rory thought about it for a second. "I don't really think I have any."

"Huh? No wishes? Then what was that about a legendary Pokemon?"

"I just said that to test you, I couldn't care less about that."

"Bu-" Celeste cut herself short. At this point it was clear she was starting to figure out that her words didn't really help anything.

"Listen, I won't tell anyone you were here, or about your powers so you can leave and go on with your life. Go help someone else."

Celeste stood there silent for a few seconds. "Are you sure you really don't have anything to wish for?"

"Anything I wish for we'd still have to go out and make it happen ourselves, right? I don't feel like going on some big adventure. Really, I'm good. Thanks, but no thanks."

It's not like Rory was lying either. He really couldn't think of anything to wish for that would be worth it. He was fine with his life right now, and didn't have the drive to really do anything. More than that, he just wanted this weird girl out of his hair.

"I mean, if you want to go after a legendary Pokemon, be my guest, but I don't really care."

Celeste huffed. "Fiiinee," she breathed out. "You win, I'll leave." The Genie walked over and picked up her lamp before heading for the door. She stopped right before she left the room.

"Can I at least stay the night here?" she asked, turning her head around.

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, I need sleep like everyone else."

"Just sleep in your lamp."

"No, I can't leave my lamp of my own choice, so I'd just be trapped in there again."

Rory stared at her for a few seconds giving another sigh and rolling his eyes.

"There's a couch in the living room," he said, defeated, "it's all yours."

"Thanks," Celeste affirmed her gratitude with a handwave before opening the door to the living room. She stopped though as she almost ran over the creature that was now in front of the open door.

"Mar mar!"

"Wha-!" Celeste jumped back in surprise as she saw the Maractus standing just on the other side of the door.

"Oh, hey, welcome back, Flora," Rory talked past Celeste to the grass type. He eyed the girl in white before going back to Flora. "She's uh…don't worry about it," Rory figured it would be too much to explain. "She's just going to stay the night is all."

Flora's face showed that she was certainly a little confused, but that expression was soon replaced with a large smile. "Marac!"

"Aww, aren't you the cutest thing," Celeste knelt down and rubbed one of the flowers on Flora's head, which got a few giggles out of the Pokemon. "Welp, good night, I guess."

"Yeah…" was Rory's tired response. Celeste walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Rory stood for a few more seconds, still processing everything that had just happened while Flora examined the room, which was looking quite a bit different from how she had remembered it.

Eventually, Rory just shook his head, exhausted. "I just need to sleep," he concluded before finally collapsing once again onto his bed, which was a bit wetter this time. Flora found her own small bed amongst the clutter of the room and set it upright before flinging her small backpack full of her baubles to the floor and falling in her bed's embrace.

He laid awake for a bit with his thoughts racing. Thankfully, because of how tired he was, it wasn't too long before sleep claimed him.