In the region of Fiore, humans lived alongside creatures known as pokemon. Some battled with them, others raised them, others just wanted to catch them all; but in every community, they loved their pokemon. Catching, raising, evolving; things such as these were everyday occurrences in Fiore. The city of Magnolia sat in the Southeastern part of the country, not too far from the sea, and fairly close to the neighboring country of Bosco. The large city was full of people who cherished their pokemon, and had a gym challenge for those who dared. But that's not where our story starts.

A loud crash was heard through the lab that was in the center of Magnolia, a few shouts following after.

"Gotcha!" Levy yelled as she slammed a plastic container over their little intruder. Peering in, she looked at the small Joltik trapped inside. This little guy had been chewing wires around the lab for weeks, and she finally caught him. Despite his small size, he caused so many issues. They're usually found clinging to bigger Pokémon, absorbing the static electricity, but in rarer cases, they have been found sucking energy from homes, and other facilities.

"Finally! He's been driving me crazy!" Jet, a fellow lab worker, sighed with relief, happy to not have to worry about live wires anymore.

Droy walked over to her, looking inside the container as well. "Whatcha gonna do with it Levy?"

"Well, the same thing we do with other Pokémon we find around the lab of course!"

Levy and her companions worked in Magnolia's lab, run by Makarov Dreyer. He was one of the most famous professors in the region, almost legendary. Pupils of his would make great strides in science or become successful trainers. Levy herself dreamed of taking over the lab once Professor Dreyer decided to retire, which would probably be never. She didn't mind, it just meant that she was able to do her own research, as well as being a bit more flexible when it came to her time outside the lab. Unlike her though, Droy and Jet were content being known as "assistant lab technicians." It was pretty much what Levy did, but they had more leeway in how they would research a topic or where they went to do it.

Levy took the small Joltik to her private office, setting its container on her desk. It wasn't attacking, so it wasn't very agitated, maybe just a bit nervous. She cut her computer screen on, logging in to make a video call. She was calling her friend Laxus, the current champion and Makarov's grandson. It only took a few rings for him to answer, he never made her wait too long. He was a strong willed, blond, caring trainer. Laxus was a little older than her, acting more like a brother to her than just a friend; having been raised with him since her youth, they were practically relatives at this point. And at some point between starting his Pokémon journey and becoming champion, he had gotten a scar over his eye in the shape of a lightning bolt. He never mentioned how he got it, but the blunette could only imagine that he got it by picking a fight with the wrong electric type Pokémon, his type specialty.

"'Sup Blue! You don't usually call this early in the day, but hey, I'm not complaining." He answered her call and smiled, using his affectionate nickname.

"Hey Champ, it's only noon, but you're not wrong. I called because I found this little guy in the lab and thought you might wanna train him." She smiled and held up the container with Joltik, showing him off to Laxus.

Laxus smirked a little, never having a Joltik on his team out of fear of crushing it. "I'm not opposed. He's pretty cute, you name him yet? I can tell you didn't properly "catch" him."

"No, I thought you'd name him. And I didn't properly catch him because if you didn't want him, I was gonna let him go outside." Levy shrugged, setting the container down.

"You can always just release him afterwards. People do that all the time."

"Yeah, but what if he got attached?"

The blond on her screen ignored her question, as it wasn't meant to be answered anyway. Sitting back in his chair, he looked toward the ceiling of his own room. "Is that all you wanted to talk about Blue?"

"Yeah, that was pretty much it…"

"You didn't want to ask for assistance on anything? Like a research mission?" He raised his eyebrow at her..

"Ugh, how do you know about my project?! Did Professor Dreyar tell you?" She let out a growl, she didn't want to ask him.

"Actually, one of your assistants did. Jet accidently let it slip when I was helping him learn about pokémon speed and how I trained mine to have better speed stats. It's no big deal if you need my help."

"I didn't want to ask because my project requires traveling around Fiore. I'm researching pokemon in their natural habitats, primarily with little human interaction. I need muscle, and I'm not asking you to take time off just to help me."

"I understand, I've only been champion for six months and I think I've taken more time off this little amount of time than any other champion within their first year heheh." He let out a half hearted laugh, knowing it was probably true considering how often he liked to visit his gramps.

"Which is why I was going to come to Crocus to drop this guy off to you. Plus, it'll give me a reason to see the capital again."

"Sounds like a plan, it's gonna be about a day and half by train, so I suggest you put that Joltik in a ball and name him before you get him here. He'll trust you, and then he'll trust me."

"I'll be sure to name him something cute before I get there okay. See you in a few days." She waved goodbye to her computer screen and ended the call.

She turned to a picture on her desk, it was a picture of herself along with Laxus, and their friend Gajeel as kids. It was long before Laxus had gotten his scar, and even longer since Gajeel had come to live with them. It was a sad tale, one she hardly thought about.

Back when they were younger, Laxus' dad, Ivan Dreyer, had been the champion of Fiore, with a specialty for psychic types. Gajeel's father had been part of the Elite 4 for years, a title almost as hot as being called champion itself. Apparently, Ivan had been running a secret evil organization in the shadows. Only a few gym leaders had known his secret, being part of the conspiracy, poaching pokemon and selling them on the black market, particularly rare pokemon. At the time of course, there weren't laws set in place to protect endangered or legendary pokemon. Once Gajeel's father, Metallicana Redfox, found out about their plans, he couldn't stand by. Metallicana was a noble trainer, but Ivan had thought that he would lower his morality for some extra cash, he was wrong. In order to gain as much information as possible, Metallicana pretended to go along with Ivan's organization, he called it Raven Tail. To keep up appearaences, Ivan went under the moniker "Alexei," keeping his personal life separate from the crimes he was commiting. It was surprising how deep the conspiracy went, all under the noses of those in the region. Being that gym leaders too were involved, it led to a steady influx of rare pokemon and unethical breeding procedures to make a max profit.

Once Metallicana had enough evidence, he took it to the Pokemon Council, who governed the activities of people and pokemon, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. From then on, he was on his own. The steel type specialist not only took on Raven Tail on his own, but Ivan himself. It was unknown the order of who he defeated on his way to fight Ivan, but right before their final fight, Metallicana released all the information he had gathered to the public, tarnishing Ivan's name and reputation. Not only was it a shock to everyone, but it hurt Laxus the most. No one knew exactly what happened in the final battle, but it left Ivan bruised and beaten, and Metallicana nowhere to be found. The Council hauled Ivan off to prison, but only because he corrupted the mind of a legendary pokemon to do his bidding. From there, they took down the rest of his co-conspirators and reevaluated the laws of pokemon.

And from then on, it had been the three of them. And by the time Laxus was twelve and Gajeel was ten, they had officially become rivals. Makarov had encouraged them to always stay equally matched before they branched off into their own path. Levy remembered the first time the two boys had a rival battle, they both used magnemite, an electric/steel type pokemon, but it was very clear in how they battled, that they weren't so even. Gajeel preferred to brute force his way through battle, while Laxus was more strategic, using status effects to give himself the upperhand. She was always there to cheer them both on. Though she never truly had a pokemon battle, she could appreciate the hard work trainers put in to be the best at what they did. But as time went on they evolved themselves and their pokemon, they both grew into new people. Gajeel had taken on the steel specialty, like his father before him, and Laxus turned to electric types; their rivalry still running strong, even after Gajeel had taken on the title as champion. He'd held onto that title for two years, that was until six months ago when Laxus beat him for the title. If she was being honest, she rarely spoke to Gajeel much these days. After losing his title, he stopped battling all together, despite taking on a new role as a gym leader.

Back when he was still champion, she remembered how she and Makrov would regularly send him and Laxus new pokemon to give variety to their teams, or when the two boys would send their pokemon to them to keep in the lab's park. It was almost like a nature reserve filled with the pokemon they had trained or caught, they were still in captivity, but atleast they weren't stuck inside of a ball all the time. But since the loss of his title, Gajeel never sent them any pokemon.

After looking at the little joltik in the container. She stood from her desk and looked in her closet. She'd need to pack if she was going to the capital, it was about a day and half away by train, and she didn't plan to leave the second she dropped off the joltik. The blunette packed a small backpack with three outfits; one was a green shirt with a white miniskirt, the second was a halter top dress in yellow, and the final outfit was a blue vest and khaki shorts. She also packed a few toiletries, she hoped that maybe she could stay with Laxus while she was in town. Being that the pokemon league was sponsored in part by the royal family of Fiore, all gym leaders and others within a position of power in the league were given free room and board, with the champion getting the most prestigious diggs. In the past six months, she hadn't even gone to visit Laxus, so this would be her first time seeing his new place. Going from Elite 4 to Champion was a pay jump, so he was more open to find another place, which he quickly did. She remembered his last place, it was really nice honestly, but very big for one person. He had his badges displayed, a few pictures from his time as a trainer and Elite 4 member. And now that he was champion, she could only imagine how his place would look now. As Levy finished packing her things, she turned to a small chest, opening it to reveal a plethora of unused pokeballs. She sifted through them, trying to figure out which ball might be best for her new little friend. Over the years, she'd somehow accumulated a number of pokeballs; it was always good to have a stash for if she ever actually needed to catch anything, which was rare. Finally choosing an appropriate ball for the joltik, she stood back up, going over to the container.

Levy held the friend ball in front of the clear plastic, "Now, if I let you out, will you promise to get in the ball?"

"Jol, joltik, tik!"

"I have no idea what that means, but I hope it was a yes." Levy openned the box and gently tapped the joltik with the pokeball. A flash of light appeared and she heard the pokeball going through the typical sounds of catching. Then the sound of it being successful, then Levy thought of the perfect name.

"Come on out Livewire!"