Author's Note:

Hey guys, long time no see, here is the first chapter of the next instalment in my Journey of a Pokémon Master series. I would like to apologise for the break since the end of Hoenn but I wanted to pre-write enough of this arc so I can have a constant upload without needing a hiatus during the middle. I also want to be honest with you guys, after finishing Hoenn, I lost a lot of motivation for writing this series. A lot of stuff in the last part of Hoenn (imparticular the league) received some criticism but not so much in the constructive way. While it pointed out things they didn't like, there wasn't any suggestions on how to improve it. Along with some readers claiming to drop the series after that book. I want to be clear; I know real life comes first and people will move on but reading it is very hard hitting. I hadn't really taken a writing break since starting this series, but I knew that I'd have to. This does mean I didn't write nearly as much as I'd like but I wanted to start posting again to restart that communication and sense of community. As for a schedule with this series... I don't have one. I tried hard to make a schedule work in Hoenn (which is where I think part of my problem came from), but it evidently came at the cost of quality and my own enjoyment with the series. You'll notice that the average Unovan chapter is between 7,500 - 8,500 words but I also couldn't force out the 10,000 words per chapter any more either. I hope you can understand my struggle and why it's been so quiet but now onto the series.

Unlike every book previous, we won't be following Ash but his twin brother Drake whilst he takes on the Unova region. This first chapter is really just laying out the pieces for the story, out of everything, that is my main focus this time around. We get to meet Drake's two main rivals in this adventure and one of them I plan on being as important as Paul towards Ash. I also want to say, early on I wasn't sure on the audience this series would get and was a little tip-toe around using things such as strong language. Given some of the darker stories lines, that does seem a little ridiculous looking back so expect strong language sprinkled within this book along with dark themes. Not much else to say for the chapter itself so onto bits concerning the overarching story for this book.

WARNING! THIS NEXT PAPAGRAPH WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THIS STORY GOING FORWARD!

I will say that this entire arc will be darker and really more political satire than anything else. As hinted in Hoenn, there will be at least one death. Will it be murder? We'll just need to wait and see. Obviously Unova is based on America so expect the commentary to be focused on that. I can imagine a lot of people taking offence with some of the stuff brought up, but none is intended. I don't intend to insult or offend anyone with this story line, just show how it looked from someone on the outside witnessing said subjects live. Themes that you can expect to see are: gaslighting, manipulation, abandonment, corruption, murder, and some... on the nose comparisons to some real-life characters. I'm just going to say it, the entire Plasma plot is meant to be an allegory for cancel culture in this series.

END OF THE SPOILER PARAGRAPH!

As typical in these first chapter's author's notes in this series, I want to tell you where I feel I am as a writer. In Hoenn I feel like I've refined my skill of character writing and just improved as a writer in general. Unova has some of the best Pokémon in my honest opinion so picking which Pokémon goes to which trainer's wasn't an easy choice. I've also tried to show off some of the more underappreciated members from this line up. Which means yes, Drake won't just be travelling on his own. I feel like that would lead to a stale adventure because of the lack of interplay, especially since he can't speak to his Pokémon like say Ash or even Serena can. This chapter is picking up around the same time in universe which the first chapter of the Hoenn arc was. So, everything in Hoenn, at least in this chapter hasn't happened yet. As for the polls, I intend to keep them updated every ten chapters with the new one posted now. Don't forget to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin

Chapter one: Unova, Land of the Free

Standing on the seat, he peered out of the window of the airplane. The vast ocean shimmered underneath with the faint outline of earth just on the horizon. He smiled as the thoughts of the adventure about to unfold filled his head.

"This is your captain speaking." A voice echoed over the entire vehicle. "We'll soon begin our descent into the sea-port of Nuvema town. Please return to your seats and pack away the trays. We'd like to thank you for flying on the Braviary-Airline and enjoy your time in the region of Unova."

Slumping down back into his seat, he turned towards his trainer as he fastened his seat belt. Turning towards him, he reached over to do the same. "You excited for a new adventure Marowak?" he asked, clicking his seat belt on.

With a wide grin, he enthusiastically nodded. Causing the slightest smile to flicker upon Drake's face. Reaching out to grasp his hand, he glanced up to the window as the force of gravity took effect. It didn't take long for the sea-ship to settle at the port.

Undoing his seat belt, he stood beside his trainer as they waited for the others to pass. Following behind the rest of the passengers, they ended up being the last ones to leave. Standing on the port, he turned to look over the vast ocean they just flew over.

"Come on." Drake instructed. "We need to-"

A bellowing cry drew both their attention up to the sunny sky. The intense sun beamed down on them. It took a couple seconds before he realised a torrent of fire was blasting down to the. Jumping on the ground, he forced a rock chunk up, acting as a shield.

Drake grabbed his hand and they turned to run down the port. They barely got three steps down before a wall of fire blocked their path.

"Please do not threat chosen," a feminine voice echoed. "I merely wish to talk about what lies ahead for you."

Looking into the flames, he gasped as a burning phoenix shilluette formed. He turned to the flames which blocked out the outside world but to his surprise, no heat. Just like with Rapidash, whoever was controlling this just didn't want anyone to see and not actually attack or hurt them.

"How can I understand you?" Drake asked.

"Just like the guardians set forth by father, I can manipulate aura in the most basic of ways-" she explained, "but now I've answered that, do me the curtsy of answering this. Why tell your brother that my beasts instructed you into this land. That we tasked you with the plasma problem raising up."

"I didn't want him to question it," he replied, "I needed to distance myself and if he knew that... he'd have insisted on coming along."

"Very well." She nodded. "Just know the consequences of your chosen trial."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

A tornado of fire swirled down and consumed his trainer. His widened and the image of his mother disappearing amongst the rocket goons flashed in front of his eyes. Turning towards the phoenix, he flung his bone down onto the floor. It rebound up and hit the head, flying back, he jumped to catch it.

"Do not threat, child," she hissed. A bellowing howl echoed, and the tornado dispersed. "I have imparted a gift on you."

"What it is?" he asked.

"All in due time. When the need for it arises, it shall be revealed" she replied, "but you mustn't become reliant because the gift will become a curse. I must be going so just remember this entire region shall be your personal trial. You need to keep one step ahead. Don't allow your adversaries to out predict yourself."

"Why are you contacting me now?" he asked.

"Unovan's are interesting beings... very easy to fool," she replied, flapping her wings to begin a take-off. "It's very much more difficult for secrecy in this land, making them more prone to deception so I decided on a hiding in plain sight. This should also help you get out ahead of the challenges which await you."

A rushing wind blew, and he covered his eyes with his arms. Squinting through the force, he noticed the flames die down as the shilluette disappeared.

Looking towards Drake, he ran over help his trainer up. Receiving a nod off reassurance from his trainer, the two of them began walking down the port towards the large building. He couldn't help but notice several people staring in awe. Feeling his trainer's nervousness, he reached up and grabbed his hand in a show of support. With an uncomfortable silence the two of them made their way into the main building and through the security checks.

Stepping out into the busy street of Nuvema, he couldn't help but wonder if they were really in the right place. After all, this was meant to be a town, but its size would compare to places like Olivine or Fuchsia. Following his trainer's lead, they set off down the pavement on the side of the road.

"According to the security guard in the airport the professor's lab is straight down here," he explained, "probably... ten minutes or so."

Giving him a nod, the tension from the port stares faded into the usual comfortable silence. Taking in the scenery of the region for the first time, his eyes found themselves drawn to other people walking along. He was the only Pokémon he could see but the true attention-grabbing thing was the people's belts.

While not everyone, several of the people had hoisters and guns on full display. Closing his eyes, each hand tightened as he remembered the tower in Lavender and how he lost his mother. A cold chill shivered down his spine at the horrid memories intruding on his thoughts.

"I know..." Drake whispered, stopping, and kneeling down so they were eye level. Feeling his hand on his shoulder, he forced himself to look his trainer in the eye. "I know it's scary but don't worry. They'll need to get through me before they can use them on you. We'll be just fine, okay."

Offering a small smile to his trainer. He stood up and they put a little kick into their step. Sooner they reach the lab, the sooner they can hit the road.

Iris sat on a thick tree-branch which overlooked the route ahead. Nuvema town rested at the end with the horizon of the ocean just past it with a sea of green tree top and a grassy route making up the final spot between the two. A low grumble peaked out of her stomach.

With a hand on her stomach, she slouched slightly. Her eye caught sight of a juicy red apple dangling from the branch below her.

Cautiously she moved onto her knees, reaching out to grab the piece of fruit. Breaking it off, she moved back into a sitting position. Biting into the red treat, a light wave of juice overflowed out and ran down the corners of her mouth. Smiling at the sweet treat, she closed her eyes.

A thought of their previous training session flashed in her mind. Axew struggled against him and ended up hurt, which is why she's currently resting.

Opening her eyes once more, she wondered what she'll do with him. Ever since that battle he's been-

"Whoa!" She muttered. Her mouth hung open slightly as the scene unfolding on the landscape in front of her.

A torrent of fire coloured the sight of blue & grey. She could've sworn she felt the heat radiating off but logically she knew that was impossible, if she did then the entire route between them would be ablaze. Her heart thumped harder as she remembered the legends of old.

"It's gotta be Reshiram-" she thought as her mind rushed back to one of the lessons she had with the elder.

She sat on the rugged mat of the elders hut. The elderly women with white hair kneeled in front of her with her partner, a Druddigon, to her side. She held up an apple and the rough-skinned dragon chomped it down. Looking down at the book open in front of her, she took in the old drawings of two legends.

The first being a pure white, bipedal dragon with avian and mammalian traits. A long, voluminous wispy mane steamed out from the upper side of the snout and outwards from the head. The top of the mane was adorned with two protrusions, which she felt resembled ears. The face was fringed with spiky features, and a single small, pointed extension below the chin. The eyes were blue and black, contrasting the rest of body.

While the second was complete opposite, being jet black and resembling more of prehistoric creature with darker patches on various portions of the body. It had red and white eyes which again contrasted with the other dragon. A small horn stuck on the tip of the snout. The head sported a thundercloud-like crest tipped with light-blue electric current colouration. At the base of the neck was a stud-like feature, and atop of the shoulders were similar, larger features resembling armor padding. The bases of the wings also had such padding, and a fanned, splashed, seemingly webbed shape with a small 'wing-spike' on the edge. The lower lengths of Zekrom's arms extenuated into similar splayed, seemingly webbed, somewhat baseball-mitt-like formations, with three-clawed fingers on each hand. The belly and thighs had thin striations down their length.

"Dragons are the most dangerous species of Pokémon in the world but none are more than the two dragons of hero's. The black dragon, Zekrom, represents ideals and the white dragon Reshiram, represents truth." The elder explained, "both with the desire to usher in a new world of hope and goodness."

"Which of them is right, Elder?" she asked, looking up from the book. "Truth or ideals? Reshiram or Zekrom?"

"You miss understand, young child." She chuckled lightly. "It's only with an ideal vison of the future but truth of the current situation that we can achieve anything in this world. The dragon was once a single being and I believe the fate is for them to reunite into one dragon eventually."

"Why did it split in the first place?" she asked.

"The single dragon Pokémon had helped the twin heroes bring this region into being when the invaders from Galar arrived. But the older brother sought truth about the land in which they called home while the younger sought to make it an ideal world," she explained, "eventually a civil war broke out as the two of them fought to see which of them were correct. Brother against brother. In the end, we learnt that truth and ideals don't need to be opposite."

"Have you ever seen them?" she asked.

"Afraid not," she shook her head. "Only in the old texts. Although, when the village elder ascends to this position, we do venture in search for the third."

"Can you tell me about the third dragon?" she asked. "The one left behind when the two split?"

"Maybe another day, child-"

Swallowing the bit of apple in her mouth, she felt her whole body go numb. The fire tornado expanded up into the sky with some sort of shilluette within, but she was too far away. Reaching up into the sun in the sky, the legendary dragon disappeared from sight.

"Xew?"

She turned to see the greyish-green dragon with tusks protruding from either side of her mouth on her shoulder. Most of her body was covered by her thick purple hair. Offering her partner, a smile, she held the fruit up and she lunged forward, biting into the half-eaten piece.

"Something greats going on in Nuvema," she explained, scratching her dragon on top of her head, "It's got to be Reshiram."

"Ax Axew!"

She ended up coughing on the fruit from the excited cheer. Patting her on the back, the twin tusk Pokémon ended up spitting a little bit onto the floor.

"How about we go and check it out." She took the fruit back, placing it into her pocket. "Maybe Reshiram can help us with-"

Shaking her head, she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentiment. Checking her pure dragon was secure in her hair, she stood on the branch. Looking to the next tree in front of them, a loose vine dangled down. Smiling, she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh air.

Jumping from the branch, she counted to two. Reaching out, she gripped on tight to the green shrubbery rope.

Her momentum moved forward as she swung up to the next tree. One by one, she switched between the vines.

Wind blowing against her face caused a wide grin to be plastered. Her cheeks began to hurt as she swiftly covered the ground. Seeing the opening off the forest, she inwardly sighed. "Prepare for landing, Axew!"

As her last vine reached its apex, she let go and performed a summersault. Spreading legs out, she landed at the base of the tree in a perfect stance.

Moments later her pure dragon type jumped out and started walking beside her. Feeling her heart beat from the rush, she looked far ahead.

"That's it Tepig!"

Turning downwards, she stared at her partner for a few seconds before they turned to the direction of the voice. Running along a bit, she found another girl a little bit older than herself with a Tepig in some form of training. Running back and forth with flames covering the body.

"Excuse me?" She called out.

"Huh?" The blonde-haired girl turned towards her. "Oh, sorry if we bothered you. I'm Bianca."

"I bet you're a new trainer, right?" she asked.

"Erm, actually," she scraped her foot in the dirt. "I've been with Tepig for about six months... but we set out a few days ago."

"Oh, why the wait?" she asked.

"You know, Plasma... my dad felt it was dangerous-" she shrugged. "I'm only going to Striaton for Professor Juniper."

"Well... how about a battle?" she asked. "We've not been together long either. Right Axew?"

"Sure thing!" She smiled.

"I'm Iris, by the way!" She introduced herself.

Walking over the grass to create a makeshift battlefield. Axew stood in front of her as the small fire pig stood opposite and Bianca just behind.

"Charge in!" She shouted.

Her pure dragon type took off with arms out to the side. Her claws glew white and extended, slicing blades of grass beneath them.

"Get rolling with a combo!" Bianca retorted.

The pure fire type curled up into a ball and a shimmer covered his body. Her partner scratched down and knocked the pure fire type back. Rolling along the floor, he picked up speed in the roll. Flattening the grass under his body, he took a wide turn.

"Leer then knock 'em back again!" She hollered.

Narrowing her eyes, she extended her claws once more. Charging in, the two Pokémon crashed into one another. Axew came off worse.

Being sent flying backwards, she spun and landed on her stomach. Their opponent continued his rollout as she pushed herself up. Tepig charged in.

"Dragon rage!" She shouted.

Her belly glew dark blue and her mouth opened. Coughing, puffs of black smoke exhaled from her mouth. The fire pig smashed into her and the two went tumbling around from the sight. Covered by the smoke, a bright light burned through, causing her to hold her breath. Smoke cleared showing her opponent.

The glowing stopped and she took in her opponents new appearance. Now bipedal but still hog-like. The body was orange and chubby with brown bands around the shoulders, sides, belly, hands, and from the back of his head down to snout. Yellow bands encircle the wrists, and swirled yellow designs bulge from his chest. A red snout, pointed ears, and two pointed teeth that protrude from the lower jaw. Each hand had two claws, while the feet had a single nail.

"Awesome Pignite!" Bianca jumped with an excited squeal. "Let's try out some of your new moves! Arm thrust!"

Turning towards Axew, his hands glew white with a tint of orangey-brown. Thrusting them down, one by one they smashed into her dragon.

"Axew!" She cried out.

Running forward, she couldn't arrive in time as her partner stumbled forward. Swirls replacing her eyes.

Spotting the large building off in the distance, he let out a low sigh of relief. Something about being in the busy urban areas really does put him on edge. As they slowed their pace into a more comfortable stroll, he wasn't expecting Drake to stop suddenly.

Turning to ask his trainer what's going on, he looked at where he was staring. A poster promoting Plasma was plastered on the wall, with a red circle crossing out a Pokéball. Leering closer, he turned to catch the side-eye of his trainer.

"It says-" He cleared his throat slightly. "For years Pokémon have been imprisoned within Pokéballs. Plasma asks you to no-longer partake in the crude and abusive relationships with these wonderful beings. Give a voice to those affected by the oppressive trainers who plague this land."

"I know not every person is good but-"

His words stopped in his mouth as a loud screech echoed from behind. He turned just in time to see another human skidding across the floor. Crashing into his trainer, the two boys went falling onto the floor. Marowak took in the boys appears, with a bright orange shirt and purple-blue cargo shorts with large spikey hair held up with a headband and some sort of pale beige scarf around his neck. With orange sports trainers on his feet.

"It's nice to see your taking my advice on making new friends." He laughed as his trainer push the boy off.

"Shut it, Marowak," Drake growled in annoyance. Dusting himself off, he stood up as the boy moved into a sitting position.

"Oh man, that sucks-" The boy groaned, rubbing his head. Opening his eyes, he found the spikey-haired individual staring right at him. "Great! It's a Cubone!"

"Marowak actually," he sneered. "And apology accepted for running into us."

"Erm, sorry about that-" he climbed up to his feet. "The names Cameron and I was on my way to the professor's lab to get my starter."

"What a coincidence." Marowak whistled. "That's where we're going. Maybe this could be your first Unovan friend."

"Yeah, lucky us-" he rolled his eyes at the ground types comment.

"You understand what Marowak said?" the boy asked with shimmering eyes. "That's so cool."

"Not exactly," he muttered, "he's my partner so I get a general idea of his meaning. It's not like a word for word translation."

"Still cool if you ask me." He proudly declared.

"Why are people in this region so loud?" he hissed again, turning away from Cameron. "Come on, Marowak."

Walking up to his side, he let out a low sigh knowing the friend make venture wouldn't come to pass. Grabbing his trainer's hand, they stood on the edge of the pavement, looking left to right to observe the traffic on the road, preparing to cross.

"Whoa, you can't just jaywalk in the street!" Cameron put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "You'll get hit or arrested. It's illegal ya'll know."

"They can't even teach you to look both ways and made crossing a street illegal?" He let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I thought this was meant to be one of the most developed countries. Alright, guess we'll need to find a crossing point Marowak."

Heading off down the path, it didn't take long for a crossing signal to come into sight. Luckily, it was positioned right next to their destination anyway. Walking down the path, he couldn't help but not the large smiles on every persons face as they gave some sort of acknowledgement. Glancing up to his trainer, he knew it was irrating him all the more. Letting out a low chuckle, he glanced behind to find Cameron following at a more reasonable pace.

"So do you have any other Pokémon or is it just Marowak?" he asked. "And where are you from? It's clearly not Unova or one of the other states."

"He's not going to answer you but we're from Kanto-" Marowak replied, "but you won't understand it so no point in my response."

"You don't say-" He marvelled.

"You understood him?" Drake asked.

"Not in the slightest-" He laughed heartily.

As they crossed the road with Cameron's constant question asking, he couldn't help but be reminded of Leaf during their Johto journey. While she didn't initially irate himself like she did Drake, that changed with her feelings becoming more prevalent. Maybe he was wrong in thinking Cameron could be his first friend in their adventure. It's not like he's trying to make his trainer uncomfortable, he just seems to only get on with his Pokémon.

Standing in front of the laboratory, he couldn't help but gasp. It was certainly the largest building housing a regional Professor that they've seen. Large metal gates stood at the entrance as Cameron pressed a buzzer on the side panel, declaring his intention to receive a starter.

With a loud chunk, the gate opened slightly, and he shrugged. Following the energetic boy down the long path, he noticed several Pokémon species he's never seen before scattered around the front lawn. Although they couldn't waste time getting to know them right now, so they just walked up into the building.

Standing by the door with Drake, they patiently waited as two other boys stood with Cameron in a line. The first one had long dirty blonde hair and had a reddish-orange jacket on over a dark purple undershirt. While the other had medium length brown hair in a grey track suit.

"Now that your all here, we can begin-" A female voice echoed from the other room. Walking into the room, a light-brown haired women in an open lab coat with white undershirt and green skirt walked in, pushing a trolley with the starter sets of starter Pokéball, Pokédex and set of five Pokéballs. In front of each of the starter devices a new species stood. "My name is Professor Juniper, but you probably already knew that. As the first one here, Trip, you'll have the honour of selecting your starter first. So, allow me to introduce to you the grass starter, Snivy. The fire type Tepig and the water Pokémon, Oshawott."

Jumping slightly, he tried to get a look at the three starters, but they were obscured by the professor as the dirty-blonde haired boy walked up. Glancing up to his trainer, he noticed Drake slipping his Pokédex back into his pocket. The boy pulled out a camera and snapped a shot of the trio before turning to Juniper.

"I've decided." He smirked. "I'm picking Snivy."

The green, serpentine Pokémon held their head up with a certain degree of smugness. Jumping down by the boy's side, they moved back in line.

"Shamus?" the Professor gestured to the two remaining starters.

Without a single word, the boy walked up and swiped the fire pig's Pokéball. While the starter seemed pleased at first, he nervously jumped down when not receiving as much as a single word from his new trainer. With wobbly legs, they returned to the line.

"You also getting a weird vibe from them?" he asked his own trainer.

"Yeah-" he uttered.

A loud screech drowned out any further words as Oshawott lept up into Cameron's arms. He couldn't help but smile at the meaningful hug between trainer and his water otter. Sitting on the energetic boy's shoulder, they too returned into the line.

"And to help you on the road I'm entrusting you with a Pokédex and a set of five Pokéballs." She motioned to the equipment on the table. "The dex contains all current information on species living in Unova and the Pokéball are-"

"Yeah, yeah." Trip cut her off, clipping the devices to his belt. "That's basic."

With all three of them receiving the same set of gear, the two of them stood in silence as they finished up the starter ceremony. Before they could switch places to talk with the Professor, she set them out, but all three lads turned to the flag position on the wall, placing a hand over their hearts.

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under Arceus-" they chanted.

"Pledging allegiance to a flag?" Drake muttered. "What sort of dystopian nightmare is this place?"

His trainer's comment seemed to draw the four humans attention towards them. Feeling the burning eyes with mixture of confusion, annoyance, and scepticism. Glancing between the trainer's and their Pokémon, he could feel them moving into a more defensive stance.

"Who are you?" Trip asked.

"Drake-" he replied, locking eyes with dirty-blonde-haired boy.

"You must be the trainer Samuel told me about, I'll be right with you." Professor Juniper greeted, turning towards them. "Drake came all the way from Pallet town in the Kanto region."

"Pallet town? Kanto region?" Trip asked. "Figures someone like you would come from the boonies."

"Ah, the unearned arrogance Unovan's are famous for-" he replied, "I almost thought I went to an actual developed region."

"You just have to pick fights." Marowak sighed.

"They started it-" his trainer uttered.

"What's that Pokémon?" Shamus asked, pointing his Pokédex down to him. While Trip pulled out his camera to take photos of him.

"What're you doing?" Drake asked.

"This is why we don't like people from the boonies." Trip lectured. "A Marowak in Unova is hugh. It's a really big deal."

"Oh, so you mean to tell me the other Marowak's managed to escape your insufferable sense of righteousness?" he asked. "Smart bunch."

"Why did you come here if that's how you feel?" Shamus asked.

"I like to do some work for those less fortunate." He sneered. "You probably don't understand the sentiment... it's call charity."

"Yep... we're definitely getting into a fight-" Marowak pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It seems like our Pokémon want to battle-" Drake suggested. "Why don't we settle this on the field."

"I didn't mean for you to suggest it." He growled. Following his trainer, they walked out to the front where a larger than average field sat. Standing on one side, he watched as the three boys tried to argue on who'd get to fight first.

"At least make it worth our while." Drake rolled his eyes. "All three at once might give ya'll a chance."

"Look whose arrogant now-" Trip sneered.

"Realistic." He retorted. "You're up, Marowak."

Walking out onto the field, he spun his club around in his hands. Slamming it down on the floor, he leered across the three starter Pokémon.

"They're fresh face so I trust you can handle it yourself." Drake instructed. The water otter took a deep breath and launched out a medium blast of water.

Kicking his bone up, he held it in the centre. Spinning it around, it blocked the water gun, spraying it out either side.

"Get that bone off it." Trip growled. "Vine whip."

Briefly letting go as the water gun ran out, he gripped the centre of his projectile. Two vines reached out, wrapping around the two ends. Holding on with one hand, he felt the grass type pull against him, but he clearly had the superior physical strength in the tug of war.

"Don't just stand there, you two!" Trip stomped his foot down.

Seeing the two other starters run to grab onto the bone, he inwardly smirked. Letting go, the forced causing the trio to tumble over as his bone went flying.

Taking off, he picked up the weapon in his charge. Swinging it in one fluid motion, he knocked the water type off to the side.

Leaping in his stride, he brought the club down on top of Snivy's head. Causing the vines to retract inwards. Spinning around, he sent the two starters flying in opposite directions. Crashing into the floor with puffs of dust, he froze and waited... but nothing came from his three opponents.

"Guess that's that." Drake shrugged, turning back towards the lab. "We're wasting day light."

"Get up!" Trip demanded. "This isn't over!"

"Yes, it is," Drake replied, "you only just got these Pokémon. Did you honestly think they'd have a chance in this battle?"

"Maybe if I was an electric rodent," he chuckled, walking up to join his trainer. The duo left the new trainers outside and walked inside.

"Was it just me or was he just like a Unovan Paul?" Drake asked.

"I think he was more of an a-hole compared to Paul being a dick." He shrugged.

"what's the difference?" he asked.

"One's just full it whilst the other can be tough and cause trouble." He chuckled, earning a laugh from his trainer.

"Ah, I assume you've finished your battle?" the Professor asked, walking up to them.

"Yeah." Drake nodded. "Professor Oak suggested I stop by here first."

"it's probably because there's a few things that Unova does differently because of the Plasma protests," she replied, "for example, the gyms have a set order due to so many leaders being scared out of their positions. Some original ones remain but it's not many."

"Where's my first gym then?" he asked.

"Striaton city," she replied, "but you'll need to go through Accumula town first."

"Thanks." He nodded. "Do you mind if I use your phone?"

"What for?" she asked.

"I only brought Marowak with me on the flight over," he explained, "so I think it's time I filled out my roaster a bit."

"Of course." She smiled. "It'll be nice to chat with Samuel again."

He clipped the last Pokéball to his belt and turned back to the computer screen. Professor Juniper was still deeply invested in a conversation with the elderly professor from Pallet. Closing his eyes, he went over his collection of five Pokémon joining Marowak. Charizard, Jolteon, Victreebel, Rapidash and Ariados rested inside their devices. Turning towards the door, he turned to see the ground waiting for him.

Holding onto his best friends hand, they set out. Opening the door, it barely opened a crack when a series of flashes, cameras and multiple voices assaulted his ears and eyes. It took him a second to registrared numerous news reporters and television sets filming. Slamming the door shut, he turned to Marowak.

"What the fuck is going on?" he asked, receiving a nonchalant shrug from his ground type. "Well thanks for the input."

"Hero of truth, how did you survive the fire?!" "What did Reshiram say on the port?!" "What's your name?!" "Are you affiliated with team Plasma?!"

"They think the thing at the port was Reshiram?" He uttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh boy... what have I let myself in for?"

"Maro Marowak."

"I guess I could-" he shrugged. "No. If I use the opportunity to denounce Plasma now. It could create an uproar. Best is to keep things between us for now."

"Marowak."

"Your right... we do need to get past them, and something tells me they won't take no-comment for an answer-" he sighed. "I got it!"

Pulling a device off his belt, he released his pure fire type. With a soft smile, she gave a small greeting. Welcoming her to Unova, he explained the situation to her quickly, evidenced by the camera flashing through the windows. Without hesitation, he climbed up and pulled Marowak up into the spot in front of him.

Rearing her back, she set off into the door. Bursting though, they managed to leap over the crowd of reporters. A stunned silence shut them up as they landed behind the group. Setting off down the garden, they quickly tried to pursue but his fire horse was far quicker.

Keeping his head down, they took off down the road and sped up out of the city. Exiting out into the north of the city, he spotted a large sign indicating the entrance to route one. With an added message that Accumula was a week's walk away.

"Oh boy, maybe we should've picked a better starting point-" he muttered.

"Maro Marowak."

"Yeah, yeah, I know I've only got myself to blame." He pulled a face to the back of the ground types head. "We just need to keep our guard up. You saw that some of those reporters were on Plasma's side. Who knows how many more are out there."

"Marowak."

"Right." He nodded. "They have a nice message but... the way they want to go about it... that's the scary part."

Leaning forward, he kept the ground type contained as he encouraged the fire type to pick up speed. If they can cover enough ground with her run than they'll be able to get some good time training in without really delaying their journey.

As the world passed by, he couldn't help but take in the sight of some nearby Pokémon. Some sort of pink fish-like Pokémon were jumping out of a large lake to the side. While some sort of capreoline Pokémon started running alongside, being much smaller in stature with a pink top and beige legs. Some smaller brown rodent Pokémon seemed to scatter so he only got a glimpse at them. With some grey and black pudgy birds were scattered in the sky.

He briefly considered stopping to catch a member for his team. Stroking the side of his fire-horse, he thought back to the team he caught in Johto, none of them really had the same bond he forged with Rapidash or Marowak. Xatu was just a curious little bird who followed them from the visit to ruins of alpha and he caught Kingdra when he started threatening boats at Olivine port. Spinarak tried steeling some of Charizard's food when camping in Ilex forest and learnt the hard way what the consequences were. The one he got closest to was Swinub when he helped the poor guy trapped in the ice path.

"Maro Marowak!"

"Yeah." He shook his head, returning from his thoughts. "I just... I was thinking."

"Wak?"

"No... not about the league," he replied, "we've got a way to go before then."

"Marowak!"

"Heh, sure buddy." He smiled as Rapidash added in her own comment. "This time we'll win it all... together."

Letting his thoughts return as the world passed by once more, he took in Pokémon. He tried to just let those he'd naturally encounter become a part of his team, but it left him wilfully under-prepared for the Silver conference. He really does want to forge friendships with his team like Ash does but maybe he'll need to be a little more proactive in the matter at hand... at least with just himself, he won't have to worry about a certain loud mouth scaring any potential team members away.

Narrowing his gaze, his mind turned to his currently line up between his on-hand team and those in Pallet. What sort of team members will help cover their weakness' and what sort of gym leaders shall he face. Hopefully he'll be able to answer those questions and more sooner rather than later.

He stood in the corner of his room. The toy train set moved around the path in a set constant pace. The constant strumming across the tracks created the comforting obedience that he became accustomed to. He kept the light off to prevent the bright blue walls from blinding him.

"Son of Ghetsis."

"Yes, Father Rood?"

He turned to see the friendly old man in a brown ceremonial robe stood at the entrance to the door. He wasted no time in moving across the room to greet the man face to face. A neatly combed beard covered most of said face, helping hide the truth behind his visit.

"I need you to come with me," he replied, "there's been a number of developments."

"Have the league association given into the truth?" he asked.

"Afraid not." He sighed. "It seems the barbarians are still set in their ways. Unfortunately, the pending war cannot be avoided."

"Why do they enjoy inciting violence between Pokémon?" he asked. "What drives these people? What gives them the right to use the precious creatures which were meant to share this world with?"

"I'm afraid I'm as blind as you are on the matter," he replied, "but more and more are seeing the light. Every day our recruitment numbers are growing."

"At least there's solace in that truth," he replied, "I just wish we didn't need to liberate the Pokémon. That the humans would-

His words died in his mouth as a black blur shot out of one of the rooms. He couldn't react as the creature slammed into his chin, knocking him over. Using his arms to stop from lying on his back, he looked up to see a small slate grey, fox-like Pokémon with red and black accents in the fur. The ears were triangular with dark insides, and a large tuft of fur tipped with red on the top. Large greenish-blue eyes stared up to him, which had red eyelids when blinking. Circular, red markings above the eyes resembled eyebrows. A short and tapered muzzle with two small fangs seen in the upper jaw of their mouth.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Zorua." Rood greeted.

"Zorua?" he asked, dusting himself off as he stood up.

"This young one was recently rescued by members of Plasma," he explained, "she came in quiet injured. The followers report indicated she lost a battle, and the trainer abandoned her in the route. She had sufficient injuries, but your sisters have been taking care of her. It seems she's back to full strength."

"Are Anthea and Concordia here?" he asked.

"Afraid not." He shook his head. "Your father already assigned them a new task. Once Zorua received all clear, of course."

Receiving a friendly bark from the dark type Pokémon, he offered the little one a small smile. Turning back to the sage, they continued down the dimly lit beige corridor with a regal blue carpet. As a comforting silence ensued, he couldn't help but feel like they weren't alone.

Glancing back, he saw the Zorua following. As their eyes locked, her head turned to the side with curiosity filling the orbs.

"It seems Zorua wishes to join you in this new task," Rood smiled.

"I-I can't-" he stuttered. "We promised to separate people and Pokémon. Allow them to thrive in a world untainted by man."

"Unfortunately, some wars require soldiers. Only once we've got the masses on side can we also separate ourselves from these magical creatures," Rood replied, "it's a horrible truth but one we're required if we wish to make our movement last. For the time being we need to play by societies rules."

"But how could I ask her to go back onto the front line?" he asked.

"Maybe seeing the damage done to her by a ruthless trainer is the push others will need-" Rood replied, "and we also need to get through to those captured and contained within Pokéballs. The best way is with a liberated voice to get our message across."

Nodding in understanding, he turned and picked the dark type Pokémon up. Feeling her fluffy fur felt weird, like a texture he's never experienced before but he couldn't linger on it. Following the sage once more, he found himself in a room with a decent sized television planted on the wall. Rood turned it on.

It seemed to be a news channel showing footage of an airport with a tornado of fire spewing high into the air. The headline 'Hero chosen by Reshiram returns?' scowling across the bottom. The torrent burst open revealing a teen-boy around his own age, maybe a bit younger with a Pokémon by his side.

He watched the screen blow up to a face image of the boy. Looking straight into his eyes, he felt his chest tighten and his palm sweat. Tightening his fist, he felt each breath pass by his lips. With each blink the swirling vortex of fire from which the boy appeared flashed in his head. Memories of his father and the rest of the seven sages training him for the role of hero of truth played out in his head.

Meeting the Pokémon hurt by the humans of this world. Those captured and forced to fight, abandoned after a loss in the fight. Hunted by poached for meat or other aspects. Having their homes destroyed for what they refer to as civilisation. Each and every Pokémon... hurt by the parasite known as man.

"Not much is known about the hero chosen by Reshiram, but we know he came from another region. It seems flames don't bother him. Our field reporter tried to get a word from him when he visited Professor Juniper's lab, but he was unavailable to comment. The question lingers however, how does he plan on helping this great region of ours? What's his relationship with the terrorist group known as Plasma? We'll keep you updated on the latest here at Liepard News."

The screen returned to a black screen. He turned to see Rood holding the remote out with his brows pulled together.

"Propaganda nonsensical-" He uttered under his breath.

"How can we change the world with such opposition?" he asked.

"Pain is a byproduct of life. That's the ugly truth of life. Sometimes it sucks." Rood placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's true for everyone. But if you don't face the pain, you don't ever get the other things either. I believe our cause is worth fighting for. Worth dying for-"

"I also believe it." He nodded.

"The first step towards change is awareness," Rood replied, "the second step is acceptance. If change was easy, it would've already happened."

"Right." He closed his eyes. "So, you mentioned father having a new assignment for me."

"Ghetsis wishes for you to join him in Accumula town," Rood explained, "not only shall you see one of his presentations first hand but he's planning on meeting the supposed hero of truth. He wishes to know his intentions and learn if we can rely on him in the coming war."

"Do you really think its him?" he asked.

"I don't know, I've never met the boy, but should he see the truth of this world-" Rood explained, "it's entirely possible for multiple people to fulfil the role in pursuit of a common goal. Having two hero's to propel our message will work wonders."

"And what if he's not with us?" he asked.

"Than its doubly important that we intercept him," Rood replied, "if it's believed he's the hero of truth reborn and he doesn't share the truth we know. All that we've accomplished so far could be undone. I pray Reshiram would not toy with us like that but it's a possibility for sure."

Staring at the screen, he saw his own reflection with Zorua staring back. The image of the boy baptised in fire filled his head. His heart thumped harder.

"Okay." He nodded. "We'll prepare for this meeting."

Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. Don't forget to vote in the polls. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...