(3 years later…)

"Damn, I'm late!" Rex yelled, running to get to school on time.

It was very early in the morning and the former chosen boy, now 15 years old, was running so as not to be late for the first day of school. In his mind, he found it funny how he was still careless after he had saved a world other than his own. Now, instead of facing possessed Pokemon, he would have to face the most difficult thing in many kids' lives: growing up.

Despite the fact that he had grown to that stage, his heart remained that of that chosen child who, together with his friends, fought tirelessly against the evil Darkai. Sometimes, he remembered that adventure over and over again and, coincidentally, that was the reason he almost didn't wake up on time that day.

"Whew, on time" he thought slightly aloud when he entered the school at the time the school start bell rang.

"You're in luck,Rex," his teacher told him when he saw him enter the classroom just as he did, "There's not much tardiness, remember?"

"Sorry teacher" he replied with a nervous smile. Not very convinced, the teacher let him enter classes.

"Hello, Rex" a girl greeted him when he sat down in her place.

"Kate?" Rex asked surprised, "Are you in this school?"

"Yes, but we talked during the break..." she reassured him when he noticed the teacher's gaze, attentive to behaviors of couples.

(During break…)

Rex and Katie's story was short. They just met at the age of 8 and learned that they had a lot in common: they were both adopted. At first, like any child at that age, they thought about the possibility that they had been brothers, but later, they realized that they were not.

"I found out that last year you and the other kids just disappeared," Katie told him during the break, "According to the reports, you didn't say where they went or if they were kidnapped or anything"

"Well... it's true" replied Rex, trying to hide that information.

"And...can't you tell me what happened or where they were?"

"I'd like to, but we kept our promise not to reveal it," Rex explained, "Let's just say… I was on a big trip with a lot of action, but people would have a hard time believing us; they would think us crazy or simply say that we lie. Also, what we saw is something that should be kept secret, for the best."

"For your good?"

"No, for the good of those we met on that trip… I know it's hard to explain, but you must believe me: it's for the good of others. We made several friends that no one should know"

"I don't know if I can understand it, but…"

At that moment, another boy, three times the complexion of Rex, came from the side of the yard and stepped between Rex and Katie. He pushed Rex, making him back up. Fortunately, he had mastered his reactions long ago and only backed down, but he stood his ground.

"Get out of the way!" the thug told her, approaching Katie.

"Leave me alone, Martin!" she yelled defending herself, "I don't want to see you even in paint anymore"

"Hey Katie..." Martin replied, "I'm still your man... do you prefer me to this...?"

It should be noted that Rex had a slight dark skin tone, while Martin was paler and had blonde hair. However, his appearance differs from him completely from his personality and his race superiority complex.

"That's why I hate you! For your stupid racism!" Katie snapped. And she, without saying anything else... she moved away, she took Rex by his hand and went somewhere else.

"You'll pay me, damn" the guy said to himself as he watched them walk away.

Away from that loser to avoid being punished for fighting at school, Rex asked Katie:

"Did you and that guy have something?"

"No, just once when I went out with him for ice cream," she replied, "But he complained to the clerk just for being…"

"Different, I know…" Rex continued, "Yeah, a lot of schools still have that stupid thought. This is the first time this has happened to me, but others who are more 'different' as they are called, have had more problems. I never liked that attitude and I changed from two schools to defend those kids… even against the teachers"

"With that attitude, I'm surprised you're some kind of heroe, even if it gets you in trouble. Well, changing the subject… are you going to the president's speech at Central?"

"Well… it could be interesting, although it will surely be crowded. But I will still go, and you?

"Yes, I'll go too"

"Then maybe we can go have a drink over there, if you don't mind."

"No, no problem"

(Later…)

After classes, Rex took a shuttle to Central Park, where hundreds of people were watching and listening to the presidential speech. As expected, he had interesting things and others that made one sleepy.

Rex then searched the entire congregation for Katie and found her…trying to get away from Martin again. This was no longer insistence, it was harassment.

"I told you to leave me!"

"Only until you agree to come back with me!" he claimed

"Is there a problem, Katie?" Rex asked, moving closer to them.

"Get out of here, you eyesore!" Martin pushed him. Rex regained his footing, but didn't counterattack back.

"Hey, she has the free choice to be with whoever her heart desires. You are nobody to force her to be with you"

At that time, the crowd of people taking pictures and shouting for the president to answer reporters' questions was so loud that it was almost impossible to hear anything. Rex received another push and this time he did fall to the ground.

"Yours can't tell me what to do…" Martin snapped, "Stop meddling or else…"

But Rex wasn't listening to him, because thanks to the push and the fall (he hadn't hurt himself) he managed to visualize a silhouette flying in the sky... it had the shape of a dragon and looked like a... No, it wasn't possible that...

"Are you listening to me?!" the thug yelled.

Then the silhouette came closer and then he recognized it: a Dragonite. Its shape and colors were recognizable, but what was it doing in the human world? Before that question was answered, this Pokemon released a blaze that burned several trees in the park. People screamed in terror and the thug realized what was happening. For their part, as expected, the special forces had to protect the president and deployed weapons. However, the bullets that Dragonite received only seemed like pebbles.

"Do not give up!" shouted one of the soldiers, "We must attack that beast!"

But Rex had other plans.

"Dragonite!" he yelled at the Pokemon, "What's wrong with you? What are you doing here?"

But the Pokemon wasn't listening to him, and he sent a Hyper-Beam towards the boy. Katie looked scared to see what her friend was trying. The military was still trying to attack, but even one missile was not enough. The reason was that the living matter of the Pokemon world was not compatible with that of that world... in short, it was immune to any weapon from that world.

Rex then took out his cell phone, but then he reflected: it was no longer his Pokephone, how could he help him fight that battle?

"As long as your heart is pure and brave, that power will always live with you"

Mew's words entered his mind. Going back to pondering, he just squeezed him as he said:

"Please help me: I must save these people…"

Then, he felt a tickle in his chest: the symbol of the flame had reappeared and, in turn, his cell phone shone. However, that glow came off and he formed his Pokephone, separating from his cell and being two different objects.

Dragonite was about to launch a Flamethrower at the president and the security and himself were surrounded by fire. Wasting no time, Rex ran over to it.

"Don't do it, Rex!" Katie yelled at him.

Rex jumped the fire that was engulfing everyone and the Flamethrower was heading at full speed. Then, he put himself as a human shield while he shouted:

"Time to evolve!"

The flamethrower hit the young man squarely as the president and the others escaped by inches. The Pokemon, seeing that it had missed its target, was ready for a new attack. However, a light shone through the flames that Rex had been in and the fire of the entire place was concentrated on it. They formed a column in the shape of a spiral that reached up to the sky.

"Charmander evolve into...Charmeleon!" a voice yelled.

From the glow and the flames, Rex appeared: he had left his human body again and was now a Charmeleon. The people who saw that spectacle had no place for what they had seen. Katie was no exception.

"Rex…?" she wondered in her mind.

Rex thought he was dreaming again: he had almost forgotten how good it felt to be a Pokemon. For his part, Dragonite seemed to pause for a moment, but he quickly let out a roar of fury and attacked again with Flamethrower.

"Flame thrower!" Rex countered.

The orange flames collided in midair, canceling each other out. Then, Dragonite swooped in: his right arm was a Thunder Punch. Rex dodged it, jumping into the Pokemon's body and jumping with all his might on its tail, soaring high into the air.

"I must fight in the air so no one gets hurt..." he deduced, "Time to Ultra Evolve!"

As in the old days, the symbol of fire reappeared on his chest.

"Charmeleon ultra evolves into…Charizard!"

Rex evolved back into Charizard and, with his wings and strength, grabbed the Dragonite's tail and threw it with all his might into the sky. He knew that the Pokemon would use its wings to stop itself in the air... which it did.

Dragonite launched a more powerful Flamethrower than the previous one, to which Rex responded with another equally powerful one. As both attacks collided in the air, a large amount of air was released when they neutralized each other. Dragonite then attacked again with Thunder Punch.

"Fire Punch!" Rex countered.

When both punchs collided, the shock wave spread through the air, causing several pieces of glass to break. The battle had become intense, Katie and the others present could not help but see that.

"Thunderbolt!" attacked Dragonite.

"Steel Wing!" Rex protected himself by covering himself with his wings.

One of the bolts shot into a light pole near Katie and began releasing electrical discharges. Rex, seeing that, couldn't help but worry and he dived when he saw that the pole fell on his friend. He narrowly managed to rescue her. However, Katie's cell phone fell near her and was struck by lightning.

"Rex?" Katie asked as she recognized her childhood friend, "Is that you?"

"Yes, Katie" the Charizard replied, "Now run: you must be safe. I will take care of finishing this battle"

Katie was speechless, but she quickly obeyed, took her cell phone, which still seemed to be working, and then left the room. For his part, Rex got back into the air before Dragonite decided to go down to fight.

"Dragon Rush!" attacked Dragonite, enveloping himself in a blue aura.

There was no way Rex could dodge that blow; however, he did manage to protect himself by using Steel Wing as a shield. From any perspective, that didn't seem to save him, but it did work. Taking advantage of the confusion, Rex attacked by surprise, his tail glowing blue.

"Dragon tail!"

Rex hit the Dragonite hard and accidentally broke a strange ring that the Pokemon had on its neck: it was black in color and seemed high-tech.

"What the hell is that?" Rex wondered.

Dragonite calmed down and approached the ground. Rex tried to catch it, but something strange happened: his device threw a light in the direction of the defeated Pokemon, wrapping it in it and reducing it in size to a small sphere. Then, Rex realized that Dragonite was locked in a Pokeball, more precisely in an Ultraball. Then, that sphere flew in the direction of the Pokephone, shrunk even more and entered it.

Rex descended back to the ground, wondering if Dragonite was okay. But then he remembered that the dark device was the one that had it crazy. He turned to look for it, but before he could even touch it, several reporters and security agents started milling around, trying to figure out what was going on. To prevent anything from being revealed, Rex spread his wings and quickly flew away from there.

"Something is happening…" he thought as he walked away, "I must find the others…"