Chapter 1: The Night Our Fates Intertwined

This is a little story about how what I thought would be just a normal night for me, ended up being the very beginning of something amazing. Who would have thought?

[About five months prior]

My best friend and I had decided to take my little cousin out for his 21st birthday so naturally for Frank and I being the planners, it had to be sushi and a bar.

"Well Hayden, what do you think about some sushi for the pregame before we hit Poke'Paradise for Brett?" Frank asked as he and I were both sitting on the couch looking up places to go on our phones.

"Honestly, you had me at sushi." Brett said, already swinging his keys around in his hand. "Should I drive or?"

Brett was my little cousin who at the time had just moved into Frank and I's neighborhood here in New Bark to be as close to us as possible while still being close to his new job. I had called in a favor from our friend Whitney, who had helped me out by landing him the position over at the Goldenrod Radio Station as a sound engineer, which he had just finished getting a degree for.

"Pretty sure you driving is a terrible idea, cause Frank and I are getting you plastered tonight my guy. I'll drive, cause ya know...I'm the most responsible, specially when I'm with this one." I said, jokingly pointing at Frank.

"Yep, won't even try to deny it. Hey by the way, doesn't Whitney work the bar over there on weekends when she's not tending to the gym? Could probably get her to slide us a few freebies for Brett...also gives you a chance to have something to talk about and make a move."

I let out a sigh and shake my head, grabbing my keys and wallet before opening my front door. "When are you gonna give that a rest man?"

"When you quit denying it." Frank said folding his arms.

"And what, praetell, am I denying exactly Frank?"

"You tellin me right now you don't think Whitney likes you like that?...As much as y'all talk? Not to mention she goes out of her way, pulls tons of strings for you just to get your cousin, who by the way she's never met, a job like that?"

"Yeah, that's called being a great friend Frank." I said rolling my eyes as I walk to my car.

Frank and Brett both follow suit and hop in the car as well.

"You get shotgun birthday boy." I said pointing to the passenger seat for Brett.

"Way ahead of you." He said as he began buckling his seatbelt.

"So as I was saying-" Frank squabbled on the second I put my car in first gear.

"Annnnnd he's still going." I said as the mental exhaustion was already setting in.

"I mean bro...you seriously don't see the way she looks at you when we hang out sometimes? She has a thing for you, I promise."

"Okay, and let's say she miraculously does, that doesn't mean that I'm in love with her or some shit you know. I see her as a really good friend, and that's it. Sides, I'm not even looking for anything like in the first place."

Frank just shakes is head disbelievingly and stares out the window. "Whatever you say my man."

"And I mean hey, what about you and this mystery girlfriend you've had for a few months now? Every time I ask about her you tell me I already know her and that I'll see one day. Like I'm your best friend...the fuck man?"

"It's...a bit complicated is all bro, I promise you I'll tell you all about it in due time. But for now, I'm starving, can you step on it a bit?"

"Yeah, I'd like to not get pulled over on a night like tonight thanks. Luckily last time I got pulled over we actually had Whitney in the car with us. Officer Jenny and her are good friends so we got out scott free ONCE. I don't think we'd be so lucky this time." I said, glaring at him a bit in my rear view mirror.

"Where are we going exactly anyway? I mean I know you two said sushi and a bar, but where at? I'm still not crazy familiar with here, it's so different from Hoenn." Brett said, glancing around at the surroundings that we had been passing in the car as he spoke.

"We're going to Goldenrod sushi spot, some of the best sushi you'll eat around here I promise. Then we'll head to Poke'Paradise, which is the local bar slash hangout spot. Super mellow so that's why Frank and I like it. They make some dope drinks there as well."

"And also his gf works there." Frank muttered under his breath.

"You know I can hear you asshole." I said with a smirk.

Frank mockingly snaps his fingers. "Darn, you got me."

I just roll my eyes and turn my attention to Brett once more. "Anyways as I was saying, we're heading to Goldenrod. Pretty sick little town honestly and it really comes alive at night with all the lights and shit, you'll see."

"Alright, sounds cool then." He said with a nod before looking back out of the window.

After about another 15 minutes or so, we had arrived at our destination.

The three of us had just decided to get a ton of different types of sushi to split between us all. After stuffing our faces, Frank and I had covered the bill this time obviously, before we all left and headed up the road to the bar.

We all hopped out of the car and walked in to a fairly packed place, which wasn't too surprising considering it WAS Saturday.

Without even ten seconds passing by, Frank hits me on my shoulder to get my attention as he pointed over towards the bar.

"There's ya girl, let's go." He said, pointing at Whitney who had already taken notice of us and waved.

"Ay yie yie. You're killing me Frank." I said as I politely waved back at Whitney.

"Hey guys!" She said ecstatically as we all sat down at the bar.

"Sup Whit? Usual for me please, also open a tab, I'ma need it for sure." Frank said, handing her his debit card.

"You got it." She said, pouring him an IPA from Unova and handing him the glass.

"Preciate it." He said, chugging almost half the glass in one go.

"Yanno, I didn't even know you guys would be here tonight, Hayden usually texts me and asks when I'm working and all, unless my service is just bad or something and I didn't get it this time."

"Nah...honestly it just slipped my mind while we were on the way here since we were all talking in the car on the way to get sushi." I said, handing her my card as well. "Tab for me too, but it's mostly for our star guest of the night here since I decided on being the DD."

Whitney just gives me a bit of a death glare as she playfully rips the card from my hand. "Uh huh, and you didn't even text you're old friend Whitney to ask if she wanted any, KNOWING that you guys were coming here? Shame on you."

"Ah, you're right how rude of me. I digress, please don't spit in my drink ma'am." I said, putting my hands up in defeat.

"Guess you owe me a sushi dinner then huh?" She said, punching my shoulder lightly and giving me a playful wink.

"Sure, because I'm such a nice person, I may just do that." I said with just a touch of sarcasm.

"Cool, better not forget either mister cause I'm holding you to it!" She said, turning towards the drinks and beginning to grab a pletora of liquor bottles. "A thunder wave for you I'm assuming?"

I nod my head and smirk at her a bit. "Aw how sweet, you know me so well."

"Thunder Wave? Like, the move?" Brett asked, finally speaking up a bit.

Whitney nodded as she began mixing my drink, fairly gracefully at that. "Yep! Like the move. Got it's name cause of the color resembling electric types. Also just like the move itself, drink too many..."

"And you'll be laid out on your ass, I promise." I said, finishing her statement.

"Well what's in it?" He asked me out of curiosity.

"Vodka, coconut rum, sweet and sour, elektrike strike energy drink and a squeeze of lemon juice." Whitney named everything out as she was adding them to the mix in real time, sliding the drink to me.

"That sounds pretty good actually." He said, clearly intrigued about the drink now.

"Thanks girl." I said as I grabbed the glass and took a few sips. "Might as well go ahead and make him one too.

"Comin up." She said, flawlessly making another.

"You don't need my id or anything?" Brett asked, pulling it out of his wallet.

She hands him the drink and shakes her head, pointing over her shoulder at me. "Nah, I trust Hayden , so you're good. And believe me if I DID find out he was lying about your age and cost me my job, I would just kick his ass."

"Gee, love the confidence in me." I said, shaking my head as I down another gulp.

"Sweet, well thanks." Brett said, taking a big sip. "Damn, this IS pretty good."

"Preciate it! By the way..." Whitney said, extending her hand. "Since I technically haven't formally introduced myself yet, I'm Whitney! Gym leader of Goldenrod, and bartender occasionally on weekends as you see."

"I'm Hayden's cousin Brett, nice to meet ya." Brett said, shaking her hand back.

"Ahh, this is the guy I got the job for then! Hayden didn't tell me it was your birthday or anything so I hadn't put two and two together hehe...sorry bout that."

"No no you're good. Also, thanks for that too...hell, I mean you don't even know me and you did that so...seriously you helped me out a lot already."

Whitney just smiles and puts a hand up. "Oh come now, save your praise. If you're family to Hayden then you're already a friend of mine as well. Plus, it really wasn't too much, being a Gym leader has it's benefits!"

"Well, regardless of that, we both appreciate it Whit." I said, finishing up my drink and sliding the glass to her.

"No prob, want another one?" She asked, holding the empty glass up.

"Nah I'm good for now, was mostly here just to hang around with these two since I'm driving, I'll let you know if I change my mind."

"You got it. Well, let me tend to the other guys down the bar, they've been trying to flag me down for like the past two minutes. Holler again if you guys need something, kay?"

"Of course." I said with a nod.

She began trotting over towards the other end of the bar when about halfway, she had turned towards me over her shoulder and gave me a little smile before turning back around again.

Brett had ended up catching it also. He scooted a bit closer and leaned his elbow on the bar, looking at me with an eye raised.

I glance around a bit before realizing it was me that he was looking at like that.

"What?" I asked.

"Bro...DEFINITELY into you." He said a bit cockily.

"We're cousins Brett, I'll pass." I said to him jokingly.

"Not me dumbass, Whitney. Now I see what Frank was getting at FOR SURE.

"Told you!" Frank said from behind me, now leaning on my shoulder. "But ya don't wanna listen."

I mentally face palm and shake my head before letting out a exasperated sigh.

"You guys are gonna kill me with this shit all night, and y'all aren't even drunk yet."

"Hey, that's what we're here for!" Frank said, slapping me on the back before sitting back down.

The three of us continued cracking jokes and rambling on for the next three hours or so until the bar had just about closed up. I had me another drink or two myself but stopped about an hour before I knew that I'd be driving.

Can't say the same for Brett or Frank as they were both very much inebriated.

Whitney had ended up just calling the two of them a cab, which was probably for the best at that point.

"Alright come on you idiots get in, and I swear to God don't throw up in the cab." I said, holding the door open for my cousin and Frank.

"No I won't, I mean...I'm definitely feeling it but I'm not as bad off as he is." He said, pointing to Frank, who was definitely worse off.

Frank just gave a thumbs up and smiled as he laid his head against the seat.

"Jeez...I'll see you guys tomorrow morning when you're both hungover I guess." I said shutting the back door before poking my head into the passenger window. "Just drop em off at my house please, and thanks."

I hand the cab driver 100 bucks and gave him my address, to which he thanked me quite a bit before driving off.

"Well, they definitely had fun eh?" Whitney said, playfully elbowing me in the side. "Yeesh my feet are killing me from standing so long."

"Where's your car anyway?" I asked her while scanning the parking lot.

"Ah, I walked today to get a little exercise in. Probably should've thought that out a little better but it's only like a 15 minute walk to my house so no biggie."

"You sure? I mean, I'll give you a ride dude." I said, pointing over my shoulder towards my car.

"I mean it's really not-"

"Whit...would you like a ride?" I asked once more firmly.

She just smirked a bit before nodding. "Actually, I would. Thanks Hayden."

"Of course." I said as we both began walking to my car.

After a short drive to her house, we said our quick goodbyes and whatnot before I began heading back to my house. Nothing but the usual, normal quiet night drive for the most part...that is, until I pulled up to the red light back by the bar.

I glance out of my window briefly over to the parking lot there and had taken notice of a vehicle that wasn't there when Whitney and I had left.

"Hmm...probably a couple looking for an empty lot to do the do." I chuckled to myself.

That thought had quickly washed over me when I had taken notice of two guys dressed in all black walking into the woods right behind the bar with flashlights in hand.

"Hmm...maybe they lost their friend or something?" I said to myself as the light had just turned green.

Something from within me was stirring up and telling me to go over and help. I'm not sure why I felt the need to do so at the time, but I did. Instead of going straight, which would be my normal way home, I took the detour and pulled into the parking lot before shutting my car off and getting out.

I no longer saw the two guys, but I could occasionally see the shine of flashlights protruding through the trees at times.

I locked my car as I got out, and once again I'm not sure why but something told me to grab my gun as well just in case, so I had done exactly that.

I walked up to where the trees had began, and although I could have called out into the woods to try and help, I had gotten an eerie feeling and decided not to do so as soon as I could start to hear two voices from within.

I tried my best to make out what they were saying but I couldn't at first, so I ultimately went in, though I did my best to remain undetected for the time being.

As I had gotten closer and closer, the voices became distinctively louder and I could finally make out what their conversation was about.

"Jeez dumbass how could you let it just hop out the window like that! If we would have lost it for real, we would have been fucked!" The first guy said furiously.

"Me? How the fuck is it my fault when I was the one driving the car! It was your job to keep an eye on that little shit!"

"The hell are they on about?" I whispered to myself as I began inching closer to get a better view.

"Christ, Giovanni would have probably had our asses if we'd have let this one get away." The second guy said, finally turning towards the direction I was in, revealing what he had in his hands.

The instant I could see clearly what it was, I could feel the anger well up from within me.

"Is that...a pokemon?!" I muttered angrily under my breath.

The thug had been holding what looked to be a cat pokemon by the neck with one hand, but that wasn't even the worst part. This pokemon seemed to be out of breath, panting profusely as if it had been running for it's dear life from these guys.

"Man what's the boss even see in this thing? Seems like a regular ass pokemon to me."

"Heh, watch this." The guy who was holding the poor thing began to snicker a little bit before shaking it a little bit "Hey, nap times over, do the thing again!"

The pokemon looked up at the man, defeated, tears welling in it's eyes as it shook it's head.

"Tch, I don't really think you're in a position here to negotiate. Do it!...or do you want to get the shit smacked out of you until you comply?" He said, tightening his grip on it's neck a bit.

With what little strength it had left, it looked up at him before swiping at his face as it hissed, successfully giving him a nice new facial scar with it's claws.

"Tsss...fuck!" He said as he dropped it on the ground.

Unfortunately it seemed to be too weak to even run at this point as it just lay there panting heavily.

He rubs his face before giving the pokemon a death glare, raising his hand to strike.

"You mother fuck-!"

"Yeah, I think I've seen enough here." I said, walking out from the tree that I was hiding behind, fully revealing myself to them.

"Eh? You lost or something friend?" The first guy says to me, trying his best to intimidate.

"No, actually...and I'm not your friend. There a reason two guys are threatening to hit a helpless pokemon? Or am I just not seeing the big picture here."

"Tch, we don't have time for this Ren, just fuck him up and let's go before Gio finds out about any of this!"

"Way ahead of you." The one apparently named Ren, pulls out what looks to be a switchblade, flipping it around a bit in between his fingers in another attempt to intimidate me.

"You might wanna put that up before you hurt yourself." I said, slowly reaching back and putting my hand on my pistol.

"Oh what, you gonna call the cops bud? You won't even have enough time to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I pulled out my sig and aimed it straight at the two of them.

"Drop the knife, and step away from the pokemon." I said, slowly walking closer.

Instantly, both of their demeanors had changed 180.

"O-h...s-sure man take it easy." He said as he put the knife down.

The other guy just put his hands up as well and remained silent.

"Kick it over to me." I said, making a 'give it to me' motion with my free hand.

He complies and kicks it over to me before putting his hand back up.

I pick up the knife and hum it as hard as I could deep into the woods.

"Good, now both of you get the fuck in your car and leave, and I better never see either of you again or the next thing you two will be getting into will be a casket signed by yours truly."

They both swallow hard before looking to one another and nodding.

"Y-You got it man..."

"Come on let's bounce...Giovanni don't even pay us enough for this type of shit, I'm out!"

The both of them take off and after a bit I could hear the car dart off into the distance, signifying that they were actually gone.

"N...nyyyuhh.."

I quickly turn my attention back to the pokemon who had begun to make a few sounds, which effectively snapped me back into reality.

"Oh shit the pokemon!" I said, picking my gun back up and walking over towards it.

Once I had gotten a good look it had finally hit me that I actually had never even seen one like this before.

"Huh, wonder what it even is."

I knelt on the ground as I began to reach for it and take it into my arms. Or at least, that was the plan.

"Hiss!"

"Ow, shit!" I said, rubbing my face after getting the same treatment as the wannabe thug did.

It begun to pant harder as it lay there, most likely scared to death, unsurprisingly.

I put my hands up and try my best to calm it down and help it in any way that I can.

"Hey hey it's okay, I'm not one of them...are you okay? Are you hurt? I just wanna help an-"

"SSS!"

It swipes at me again, though this time I was a bit more prepared and it missed.

"Calm down buddy please! I'm trying to help-"

Before I could even finish, its eyes began to shut and its head hit the ground as it finally gave up and went limp.

"Oh fuck...need to hurry!"

I quickly grabbed it and ran through the woods back to my car, setting it down gently on my passenger seat and pulling my phone out.

"Damnit, pokecenter closes at midnight. Gotta call Whit, I''m sure she keeps a good bit of meds handy at the gym or something."

I dial her number and she picks up rather quickly.

"Hayden! What, you miss me alread-"

"Whitney! Listen, do you have any max potions or...full restores or any extra shit like that laying around? I'll pay you for it or whatever but-"

"Whoa...hang on dude slow down. First off, I wouldn't make you pay me for that if you needed it, but second of all...you know pokemon medicine doesn't really work effectively for humans right? What did you get in a fight or something after you left my house?"

"What, no...look it's a long story, I'll be at your house in five minutes is that ok?"

"I mean...yeah sure Hayden. Is everything okay? I know you don't own any pokemon or anything so..."

"I know I-"

All of a sudden I could hear a bit of shuffling from next to me. My small newfound friend that lay in my passenger seat had looked up to me briefly and what came next came as probably one of the biggest surprises I've ever gotten in my life.

"M...mama...where..."

After a few brief words, it had once again lost all it's energy plopped back down onto my seat.

"Uh...I'ma call you back Whit."

"Hey wait you!-"

I had almost dropped the phone out of my hand as I hung up.

"D...Did that thing just...TALK?"