As the plane soared through the sky, Cole paced around the first class cabin. He looked down at the Pokeball in his lap, remembering his last conversation with his parents.

"This will be good for you," his mom had said, after giving him the Piplup he'd asked for his birthday. "You can explore the region and challenge the pokemon league, and the fresh air should help your asthma."

Pfft, that was the dumbest thing he'd heard in a while. Why would anyone give up Hearthome City for some jungle in the middle of nowhere? And how would it help his asthma? It seemed she just wanted to get rid of him.

"Alright, no time to mope," he said to himself then grabbed his Pokeball. "Piplup c'mon out!"

The Pokemon in question appeared from white light and looked at him. He smiled at it. At least he still had one friend in this place. This had been his best birthday gift ever.

"This is your captain speaking," said someone over the speaker, "we'll be landing soon, so, would all passengers please take your seats and return your pokemon to their Pokeballs."

"You heard the man," Cole told Piplup.

The stewardess came around to collect garbage and stopped by Cole's seat. Her wrinkled face smiled.

"What brings you to the Ozzy region, kid?" she asked.

"I'm no kid! I'm 10 already," he replied, indignant.

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck." She chuckled and walked away.

Finally, the plane touched down and Cole ran out, breathing in the fresh air. The first thing he noticed was that his allergies were going crazy. There must've been a bunch of trees around. Looking around the runway, Cole noted the airport was much smaller than the one back in Hearthome. He walked through the airport and looked around the town. According to his map, this was Kingslind. Pulling out his guidebook, he saw Kingslind was the capital of Ozzy, yet it was much smaller than Hearthome.

"Well, I suppose I need to go to the Pokemon gym." Cole said to himself.

He looked down at his map and followed it for a few minutes until he walked into a brick wall. Yeouch! He looked up and realized he'd come to a dead end. That's odd, he thought to himself, the map said it should be right here. Backtracking, Cole walks several blocks in the other direction and came to another dead end. Turning around, Cole saw a familiar red roofed building.

As he entered the pokemon center, he saw Nurse Joy talking to a girl not much older than him at the counter. The girl wore her red hair in pigtails and turned to look at Cole when he entered.

"Hi," he said, "I need directions to the pokemon gym."

"I can help," said the girl.

"I, um, don't know you," Cole said.

"My name is Tori," she said. "There, now you know me."

"I'm Cole," he replied and laughed. "It's nice to meet you."

"So, you're a trainer?" Tori asked. "What kind of pokemon do you have?"

Cole released Piplup from the Pokeball.

"Piplup," the pokemon said.

"Is that it?" Tori asked. "You may want a couple more pokemon. C'mon let's hit the jungle."

With that, Tori took off running. Cole ran after her, wheezing. Dear Arceus, he didn't even have time to stretch. As they kept running, Cole noticed the houses becoming even more sparse until there weren't any at all. In fact the only thing around was trees and grass. Even Tori had disappeared.

"Is anyone there?" Cole asked. "Hello!"

A man in a long coat ran at Cole from the opposite direction, knocking into him and causing him to fall on his behind.

"Yeouch!" Cole cried out, "watch where you're going."

"You watch it, punk," the man said reaching into his pockets.

"Woah are you challenging me to a battle?" Cole asked.

"Sure...let's go with that." the man replied.

He pulled a Pokeball out. A Tyrunt popped out of it. Cole sent out Piplup.

"Alright, Piplup use bubble," Cole yelled.

Piplup blew bubbles at tyrant and they exploded, like small firecrackers. Tyrunt held its ground, despite being pushed back by the force.

"Now it's our turn," said the man "Tyrunt, bite!"

Tyrunt chomped down on Piplup's leg, while Piplup shook with agony.

"Piplup, use bubble, once more!" Cole yelled.

This time, each bubble exploded with the force of a small bomb, knocking Tyrunt out.

"Hah!" Cole yelled "That's Piplup's ability, Torrent! When its HP is low, the power of its water attacks greatly increases!"

The man ran off. After a couple minutes, Tori came running back looking around wildly.

"Where'd he go?" she asked.

"Who? The guy with the Tyrunt?" Cole asked. "Do you know him?"

"Not him specifically," Tori said "but I could tell he was with Team Gaea."

"Team Gaea?" Cole asked

"Yeah. They're a group dedicated to bringing this planet back to its primal state, with only the supercontinent Pangea."

"We have one of those in sinnoh too," Cole said. "I'm guessing that, like Team Galactic, they'll stop everyone who gets in their way?"

"Pretty much." Tori replied

"Wow. You'd think a region so sparse wouldn't have one of those things. Still should we tell someone?"

"By the time we find a policeman, he'll be long gone," Tori sighed.

It was at that moment an Espurr jumped out from behind a bush, and started making noises frantically, before stopping. A moment later, he heard the voice of a young girl in his head, though he couldn't see who it was coming from. Then, he realized Espurr must have been using telepathy.

Can you hear me? Espurr asked

"Loud and clear." Cole replied, a curious look on his face. "Why have you gone through the effort to use telepathy to converse with humans, though?"

Well, I just thought...Ok, I'll start from the beginning. My trainer used psychic Pokemon, and she pushed them to their limits to achieve great things. Her Gardevoir was actually capable of creating black holes with its psychic energy. That's how I learned to use telepathy. After a while, her abilities allowed her to become the Gym Leader of the Hidden Tower gym. But then, she started favoring the psychic attackers, and training more powerful Pokemon to their limits. I, along with others, including Gardevoir, was given to a trainee so that they could improve their skills with us trained Pokemon. Gardevoir's was lovely, she was kind and thoughtful, and did her best. Mine was not. He bullied me when I didn't do the impossible things he asked of me. Then, when he found out about the dark-type dojo, he released me, and I never saw him again. Now I've been hanging around this area, looking for skilled trainers who might appreciate me more than he did. The few I've found turned me down, but I'll keep trying. Please, will you be my trainer?

"I...I need to think about it." Cole said warily. "Could you give me a minute or two?"

Very well. Please say yes, though. I am lonely, and you seem ever so kind, and a skilled trainer at that.

Cole pulled Tori over, and whispered, "Well? Did you hear it too?"

"Yeah. I'd say you should accept it, and if you don't, I'll try to become its trainer."

"Alrighty then." He said, and walked back over to Espurr

Well?

"I've decided that, if you also wish this, I shall become your trainer." Cole said, and tossed a Pokeball at it. Espurr happily allowed itself to be pulled in. The ball rocked three times, then stopped.

Suddenly, a thought struck Cole. "What about a Pokedex? The trainers who stopped Team Galactic in Sinnoh had them. Is there a Professor nearby?"

"Yeah, Professor Hickory." Tori said "She's just a little ways from here. I help her out with research from time to time, and she said she just received a set of Pokedexes earlier today. I was supposed to stop by and get one. You can probably come with me."

"Cool," Cole said. "Let's go!"

They sprinted towards the Professor's lab, with Tori leading the way. When they got there, Cole held back as Tori opened the door.

"What's up?" Tori asked, "She's in here."

"I don't want to barge in and demand a Pokedex," Cole said. "I don't know whether she'll be nice, or tell me to leave, and I don't want to be rude."

"It's really not an issue." Tori said, somewhat impatiently. "C'mon don't be a wimp. She's really nice!"

"Ok." Cole said after a minute "But if she gets mad, it's your fault, not mine."

They walked in to see a tall pale skinned woman wearing a lab coat. She seemed to be in deep conversation with a dark skinned woman, slightly younger-looking, slightly shorter, and wearing a dress.

Tori cleared her throat, and both women looked up.
"Tori! So nice to see you" said the older one with a smile. "And I see you've brought a friend."

"Hi, my name is Cole," Cole said, turning red at the younger woman's sudden gaze scrutinizing him. "I-I was just wondering if I could, maybe…" His voice got quieter, "have a pokedex?"

"What?" the woman asked.

"May I please have a Pokedex, please?" Cole said, as fast as he could.

"One more time?" Professor Hickory chuckled, "and slower please."

"He wants to have a Pokedex, but he's worried you'll say no." Tori answered.

"I should get going," the other woman said then turned to Professor Hickory. "See yah, Aunt Jeanie." She turned to Cole next. "You should find some confidence, kid. It'll help if you ever want to challenge me."

"Challenge you?" Cole asked "I don't mean to be rude, but why would I?"

"Cole, are you as dumb as you look?" Tori asked. "She's the Ozzy League champion, Alpha!"

Cole froze, and by the time he got wits about him, the champion had walked off.

"Now," Professor Hickory said, drawing the attention back to her "I heard you two wanted Pokedexes?"

"O-only if you're willing to give them…" Cole stuttered

"First, I'll need to test your skills, to see if you're worthy of this device." She replied

"Umm... if I may," Tori interjected, "Cole battled a team Gaea grunt successfully, and was able to catch the Espurr hanging around here."

"He did?" The Professor asked, mouth agape.

"Yeah," Cole said, feeling like he'd accomplished something "Espurr, come on out!"

Espurr Espurr said, mimicking the way a human would say it

"Gosh, that is the Espurr," said Professor Hickory "you must be an accomplished trainer to have been able to catch it."

"I try." Cole said with modesty.

"Still, I'd like to see you in action." Professor Hickory grinned.

She sent out a komala.

May I have this battle? Espurr asked

"You certainly may." Said Cole, smiling "Espurr, I choose you!"

Espurr ran up to the Komala.

"Komala, use tackle!" Yelled Hickory

"Espurr, dodge, and use psybeam!"

Komala smashed into the wall,and Espurr hit it with Psybeam

"Komala! Use Substitute, then Stockpile!"

Crud, Cole thought.

Keep going! My special ability is Infiltrator, so I can bypass substitute!

"Espurr, use psybeam, once more!" Cole yelled.

Komala collapsed. Cole had won the battle.

"Good job." Hickory said "But I have one question. How were you able to know Espurr's moves and Infiltrator ability without a Pokedex?"

"Espurr told me." Cole said matter-of-factly.

"According to what Tori has told me, you're very new to being a trainer, but you were able to connect with espurr very quickly." She handed him a Pokedex. "Use it for research, and hold true to your ideals."

"Thanks so much, Professor!"

"No problem. Here Tori, you get one as well."

Oh boy, we got what we came here for. Now let's go check out the gyms. I think the closest one is the Conservatory .

"Conservatory?" Cole asked "Where's that?"

"Oh, I think Tori will be able to help you get there."

"Yup!" Tori added brightly "I know this region like the back of my hand!"

Tori turned and walked out the door turning left. Cole moved to follow her.

"The Conservatory is the other way," Hickory said.

"I knew that!" Tori said sheepishly.

"I'm so dead…" Cole sighed following Tori.

Arriving at the conservatory, Tori grinned, turning to Cole. He gazed up at the massive domed building. The roof of which was glass. That's when a dark skinned boy exited the gym, a smirk on his face. His ripped black jeans and gray t-shirt were covered in what looked like cobwebs.

"Did you just come from a gym battle?" Cole asked him.

"Why else would I be leaving the gym?" The boy frowned.

"Oh, um, sorry," Cole said, flustered.

"So did you win, whatever your name is?" Tori asked. "Is the gym leader strong? Cole's going to challenge him."

"I crushed them," the other boy grinned as he turned to Cole, "though, I doubt you could. You look like the kinda kid that's scared of bugs." He laughed mockingly. "By the way, my name is Isaiah, and don't forget it. I'm gonna be champ one day."

"You can't talk to him like that!" Tori yelled.

Cole gripped Piplup's Pokeball with shaking hands. I can do this, he thought to himself. Isaiah's smirk turned to a scowl. Despite his trembling, Cole kept a determined stare.

"Let's battle," he yelled.

"Fine," Isaiah said, pulling out a Pokeball. "Crush him, Pansear."

Pansear popped out of the Pokeball and jumped into the air with a menacing grin. In a flash of white light, Cole sent out Piplup.

"You got this, Cole," Tori yelled, "fire types are weak to water types."

"Use fury swipes," Isaiah said to Pansear.

The monkey Pokémon jumped, slashing at Piplup menacingly.

"Bubble, Piplup!" Cole called, remembering his battle against Tyrunt.

"Pop them!" Isaiah called to his pokemon.

Pansear swiped at the bubbles, popping them before they could hit. Still, the number was overwhelming and several bubbles managed to explode within range. Pansear fought through the pain remaining close to Piplup.

"Now lick," Isaiah called.

"Eew, gross!" Cole shuddered.

With Cole's attention halted for a moment, Pansear licked Piplup across the face. Energy crackled on the monkey's tongue and as Pansear finished, Piplup fell to the ground unconscious.

"Piplup!" Cole ran over to his unconscious Pokemon.

"Word of advice," Isaiah scoffed, "type advantages mean nothing without training to back it up."

Isaiah returned Pansear to the Pokeball and walked off.