Hello people! For those of you who have read the original version (Starting Anew) and came here from either Wattpad or this very site, welcome back, and thank you for both reading the original story and also for giving this new version a chance. To those of you who are new, I hope you all have a great time!

My username's Kaiki (no longer naakrA now) and pleasure to meet you are. As I've mentioned, this is a rewrite of another fanfic that I posted on this site under a different account. Well, I don't really have much things to say as this is the first chapter (Technically this is Chapter 0 a.k.a. Prologue) so I'll just let you all start reading.

Actually no, I do have something to say. This fanfic is obviously very much inspired by the countless other 'betrayed' fanfic, but after many revisions from the original version, I'm confident that this fanfic will still be a unique experience even if you've consumed pretty much every other 'betrayed' fanfic as I did. At least I'm sure it is based off my plans for this story.

Ah, another thing is that while this is the prologue the story doesn't really start until Chapter 1 (the next chapter) and this is more to set up the main trio and also a sample to the writing style I'm trying to do for this fanfic.

Well, that's all I've got to say here (for real this time). I'll leave you to read the chapter and I'll see you in the next chapter!

–A Step Forward–

ASH stared at the blue, cloudless sky through the window as he pondered about the past few years of his life. It's been over 5 years since he first left the small little town known as Pallet Town. 5 long years full of many struggles and challenges, but also full of adventure. Full of meetings, and partings.

And yet, what had he really achieved during that time?

He had participated in 6 official leagues and won none of them. Sure he did beat both the Orange League and the Battle Frontier, and he was proud of them, but having lost all of the 6 official leagues he'd participated in was still a pretty huge blow to his motivation. A part of him couldn't help but feel that maybe it was time to give up.

"WHOA! That's so cool!"

Before he could wallow in more self-doubts, an excited voice shook him out of his musings. Turning his head toward the source of the void, he saw a boy who looked to be around his age standing not too far away from him, straight in front of the window. His eyes were sparkling with excitement and his mouth was spread apart in a wide grin.

Following the boy's gaze out of curiosity, Ash saw a plane flying by in the sky. It appeared to have just taken off from the airport they were currently in. Turning his head back to where the teen was, he could see him muttering in excitement.

Ash couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at the boy's antics. It was only a couple of years ago when he first saw a commercial plane up close, and he remembered how he acted exactly as the green-haired teen was currently doing. Although he supposed he couldn't be sure that it was the teen's first time seeing a plane.

That made Ash think about his journeys up until now. Sure his goal was to become a Pokemon Master, and sure he still wanted to one day be strong enough to beat an official league, but in focusing on those goals he'd neglected to reflect on everything else that had happened.

Every new Pokemon he caught, every new friend he made, every ups and downs in his journeys, and all the excitement he felt through all of it. Losing in the leagues didn't make any of them matter less. It meant that he still gained many things from all his journeys and that all his adventures until now weren't pointless.

The plane soon disappeared out of their view as it made its journey to its destination. The green-haired teen stood in front of the mirror for another brief moment before walking off to another section of the airport, his grin never leaving his face as he did so.

At that moment, Ash decided that he wouldn't ever give up on his dreams. He'd been reminded of the simple joys of life, and he'd continue his journey while keeping that in mind. That is, as soon as he's rested up in Pallet Town and figured out where to go.

With a wide grin on his face, Ash got up from his seat and left to find out what was taking Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie so long just to get some snacks.

–A Step Forward–

HAU was very excited to be moving to Alola. He had been there a few times over the years, yes, but he was finally going to get a chance to participate in the Island Challenge and follow in his Tutu's footsteps.

"Chu…?"

Tearing his gaze away from the plane's window, Hau looked at his bag on the ground as a small Pokemon popped her head out of the bag. She had two ears with wide black outlines, as well as a pair of bright pink blush-like circles near her large, beady eyes.

"Finally awake huh, Pichu?" Hau greeted the small Pokemon with a smile on his face. Pichu inspected her surroundings in confusion before Hau picked her up and placed her on his shoulder as he spoke to her,

"It's been a few hours since we left the airport. I think we're almost in Alola!"

"Chu? Pichu!"

Hau mirrored his Pokemon's grin, "You're just as excited as I am huh? Well, I guess we do still have to wait a few more months before we can actually take the Island Challenge but even just staying in Alola full-time is very exciting isn't it?"

"Chu!" Pichu responded with a cheerful cry before falling silent as she looked through the plane's window.

"Whatcha looking at?" Following Pichu's action, Hau turned his head back to the scenery outside and found his breath caught in his throat.

"Whoa…"

Visible through the plane's window was the view of the 4 islands of Alola bathed in the warm light of the rising sun. To put it simply, it was simply breathtaking.

"Chu…"

"I know, buddy. We've been to Alola many times before but… this is the first time we've ever noticed how pretty this place really is."

Pichu let out a small cry and nodded to signal her agreement.

Hau then noticed something. A bright white light was streaking through the skies, leaving a bright trail in its wake.

"A falling star…!" Hau gasped in surprise. Looking at the Pokemon on his shoulder, they shared a knowing nod and prayed in their hearts.

'I wish to have a grand adventure!'

–A Step Forward–

The first thing LILLIE noticed when she first opened her eyes was that the room was bright. Much too bright than her room usually is.

The second thing she noticed was that she felt like absolute crap.

"What happened…?"

"Oh, you're finally awake?"

Startled, Lillie turned her head over toward the voice, or she tried to at least. As she currently was, the best she could do was tilt her head slightly. What she saw was a man who just entered the room.

"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to startle you." Spoke the tanned man wearing a cap, a pair of weird sunglasses, and a lab coat with… nothing underneath it?

The man took a seat near her bed and continued talking,

"The name's Kukui, I'm a Pokemon Professor. What about you, young lady?"

"Lillie H- Lillie. Just Lillie."

She caught herself just before giving away her family name. She thought it was for the best. Not only did she not know this man, but she also wanted to distance herself from that name as much as possible.

For the first time since waking up, Lille finally noticed her surroundings. The ceiling was low, much lower than what she was used to, and it was made of wood. A single light bulb was hanging down from it, unlike the chandelier that her room had. On the wall to her right, there was a wooden cupboard, next to a small wooden table with a painting of the sea hanging on the wooden walls right above it.

"Where am I…?"

"Ah, this is my house slash lab. If you're wondering how you got here, my wife and I found you passed out on the beach with your Pokemon."

Her eyes widened in surprise. How could she have forgotten about her friend? Frantically, she looked around the room.

"Where's Nebby!? What happened to him!?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! Your friend's safe!"

Kukui tried to calm her down, but it was in vain. She was already halfway through leaving the bed when a new voice cut in.

"Seriously, didn't I tell you not to bother her? She's not fully recovered yet, and she must be really confused."

Standing at the door was a woman with white hair wearing a gray tank top. She was looking at the man– Kukui– in exasperation, and in her hands she was holding–

"Nebby!"

Lillie's shout alerted the Pokemon to her presence. The purple cloud-like creature let out a joyful cry as it floated from the woman over to Lillie. Lilie welcomed the Pokemon with a big hug.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Lillie exclaimed with a massive smile on her face, which the small Pokemon reciprocated.

The white-haired woman smiled at this interaction and sat down next to Kukui. After letting Lillie and Nebby interact with each other for a while longer she spoke up once more,

"Your friend here was completely spent of cosmic energy when we found you, so I was helping him recover. Sorry if that made you panic."

"No, it's fine… Thank you for helping us," Lillie did her best to bow in gratitude. She was silent for a while as she contemplated what to say.

"About Nebby… Would it be possible for you two to keep him a secret…?" Lillie bowed her head as she made her request. She knew how rare Nebby is especially for a Pokemon Professor, so she knew that it was unlikely that it would happen but she still needed to make the request.

"Sure. In fact, we were already planning on it."

Looking up in surprise, Lillie found both Kukui and the woman smiling warmly at her. The woman opened her mouth to elaborate.

"That Pokemon… Nebby as you called it? It's a Cosmog isn't it?"

"That's… yes."

"I thought as much," The woman nodded in thought. "Right, let me introduce myself. My name's Burnet, and I'm also a Pokemon Professor just like my husband. However, unlike my husband, I specialize in Dimensional research. I was quite surprised, to be honest. I've read the theories about Cosmog as it is quite prevalent in Alola's legends, but I didn't think I'd ever meet one in my life."

"I see…" Lillie muttered to herself. Looking at Burnet in trepidation, Lillie voiced her concerns. "So… what happens now?"

"Well that depends on what you want to do," Burnet shrugged in response. "I'm sure you have your own circumstances, and I won't force you to talk about them."

"If you want to," Kukui continued. "You're welcome to stay here. I'll hire you as a Research Assistant, and you'll get a place to stay, as well as some income."

"Of course, this is just an offer," Burnet clarified. "If you have somewhere else you want to be then we won't force you to stay here, and we will try our best to help you to get there."

"You'd do all that for me…?" Lillie asked in disbelief. She couldn't remember the last time anyone else had even tried to do so much for her. Not since that incident a decade ago.

"Of course," Burnet smiled sympathetically at her. "You're what? 13? 14? It'd be a failure on the side of us adults if we leave you to your own devices. So whatever it is you choose to do, we'll try and help you in it."

Lillie thought about it. What was it she wanted to do? She'd run away with Nebby on a whim, but she hadn't thought about anything that came after that. She didn't think about how what she had done would mean losing the only place she could call her home.

A small sound brought her attention down. On her lap, Nebby had fallen asleep with a big smile on his face. Lillie couldn't help but smile at this. Regardless of the end result, she definitely didn't regret her decision to run away.

That was when she came to a realization.

Nebby was a Pokemon from another dimension. He's been away from his home for years, lost in an entirely different world. It hadn't even been a day yet, but Lillie herself was already starting to feel homesick. She couldn't imagine how Nebby must have felt all this time.

After that, it didn't take long for Lillie to make up her mind.

"I'll become your Research Assistant," Lillie looked straight at the pair of Professors as she spoke. "And… if possible, I want your help in getting Nebby back to his home."