"Get back here you stupid brats! You won't escape from me this time!"

Raymond sighed. It seemed as if Jack had slacked off on his lookout duty, and now the rest of the teens were going to have to deal with an angry security guard. The group of four that were currently standing beside a shattered window all looked at each other, before booking it in two opposite directions.

Since Raymond was the fastest of the group, he decided to force the others to suck it up and ran to the closest stairwell, with another kid named Rayleigh hot on his heels. Alex and Ace seemed to realize that they were on the short end of the stick and bolted towards the other side of the mall, hoping that the security guard would chase the other two. Unfortunately for Raymond, it seemed as if the security guard preferred a sprint over a marathon and turned after his duo.

In no time flat the stairs were before the two, and the teens wished each other best of luck and ran off on separate flights of stairs. This time Raymond was generous and ran up, hoping to loop back down while the guard was too far to see him turn, or that they would choose the easier and slower target of Rayleigh. But once again, Lady Luck turned against Raymond as the guard turned up the stairs after him, and followed at a pace fast enough that Raymond couldn't slip away from.

Why did he still hang out with these kids again? It's not like he really cared about them, but rather he had no one else to hang out with so he kinda stuck with them. They were fun most of the time, even if they could get too rowdy, but was a group of people like this really worth running from security every other week? Probably not.

These thoughts and other meaningless ones quickly took a back seat when Raymond realized he screwed up and that he somehow ran all the way to the roof without noticing. It was still crowded since this was the biggest mall in the Hoenn region and it was one of the best views in Lilycove, so maybe he could try to slip away. The teen dove into the mob of people and pokemon, and slowly made his way to the edge of the roof so that he could observe everything that happened and tell when the coast was clear.

Unfortunately for him, the security guard managed to keep his eyes on the kid the entire time, and was quite easily able to corner him. He slowly stalked up and cornered Raymond on the edge of the roof, before hunching over and taking a huge breath of air.

"Oh man… I haven't had to run up that many stairs in years! Thanks for the workout kid, but please stop running now. There's guards at every stairwell now and to be honest, it's just going to be a pain for everyone involved if you keep running." The guard sounded as exhausted as he looked, and was completely relaxed now that Raymond had been cornered.

Raymond cursed under his breath. Being caught wasn't really an option here, as his parents would show the greatest amount of attention they ever gave him and kill him on the spot if they found out he was vandalizing the mall. Running wasn't ideal either because he was also tired from the sprint, and if it was true there were extra security guards then the chase would be over before it even began.

But there had to be something he could do to get out of this! Think Raymond, what can you use to get out of this. What's around you that can allow you to esca-

Oh, there's a thought. A quick glance behind him caused a smirk to grow on Raymond's face that seemed to confuse the officer. Good, then he wouldn't see this coming.

"Well Mr.Officer sir," Raymond began, watching the sky to make sure he timed this just right, " While you do bring up a good point in it being easier for everyone involved, I don't really feel like being involved in this escapade anymore. And so I am sad to say that I will be bidding you farewell. And next time, please don't follow the one going to the roof." And with those final words said, Raymond quickly turned and dove off the side of the building.

Of course, his masterful plan wasn't to kill himself from a 15 story drop, but instead to dive onto the back of a passing flying type pokemon below him. More specifically, a tropius he saw flying right next to the building. However, the teen's scream of triumph was cut short as he landed on the flying type, with his last thought being that maybe diving head first into things wasn't supposed to be literal.

The boy then blacked out from headbutting the back of the fruit pokemon.

The first thought to cross Raymond's mind as he woke up was why did he hit himself with a sack of brinks before he went to bed last night. His second thought was why was he lying in the middle of a forest. Memories quickly swarmed to the front of his mind, and the boy quickly let out a groan of defeat as he spread out on the ground. Of course he decided jumping on the back of a random flying type pokemon was better than just apologizing to a shopkeeper. Of course he messed up his jump so bad that he ended up blacking out as he landed on the back of the pokemon. And of course the pokemon in question, instead of landing like he thought it would, flew off into the middle of nowhere before dropping him, leaving Raymond stuck in the middle of some random forest clearing. This was quickly turning into the worst day of his life.

Arceus apparently thought that it'd be even more funny to throw another thing at the boy, because as soon as that thought went through his head the brush behind him began to shake as something walked through them. Raymond sprang to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, and prepared himself to fight whatever pokemon appeared from the tall grass. No matter what happened today, if Raymond Coast was going to die he was going to go out swinging. The thoughts of violence were cut short however, when a big leaf began to poke out.

The leaf then extended down into what appeared to be a tiny green dinosaur walking out of the grass. It was only around two feet tall, three if you counted the leaf, with little nubs of grass poking around its neck. Its big blue eyes quickly scanned around the area until they came to a stop on Raymond, at which time it gave a chirp of hello.

Raymond gave an awkward wave in return, going to do more before the pain in his head quickly spiked again, leaving the boy clutching his skull.

The pokemon, which Raymond loosely recalled as a chikorita, quickly walked over and went behind Raymond, before it began nudging him with the back of its leaf towards a small sunny spot in the middle of the tiny clearing. The human stumbled forward and was only allowed to sit whenever he got right next to the sun spot, as the leaf pokemon quickly claimed the sun for itself before offering its leaf towards Raymond.

Raymond quickly pushed it out of his face. "Uhm, thanks I guess? I don't understand what you're doing but I'm pretty sure I don't need a leaf shoved in my fac-'' His sentence was cut short when the small pokemon had apparently decided it had had enough of his attitude and slammed its leaf on his nose, and the human inhaled it. Almost instantly the headache the boy had went from a spike in his head to just a minor annoyance, and the leaf was pulled back to reveal the smug face of a chikorita. "Huh, that's pretty neat. Thanks!"

The pokemon chirped once again, this time carrying more of a 'your welcome' tone to it. It quickly stretched out and began to relax in the sun, basking in the glow of its victory over the dumb human.

The pair sat in silence for what felt like an hour to Raymond, before he decided to break the silence. "So…" the boy began, " Do you happen to know where we are? Because I'm kinda lost. I kinda blacked out when I nosedived onto the back of a tropius, and woke up here right afterwards."

The pokemon looked at Raymond, this time giving the expression of 'are you an idiot? What kind of suicidal thought pushed you to do that' to which the teen replied with a sheepish grin and an embarrassed rub to the back of the head.

The grass type took a moment to ponder the boy's question before nodding and pointing at a tree nearby. Raymond's face grew into a huge smile.

"Is Lilycove that way?" A shrug which was both awkward and adorable was the response he got.

"Are there any buildings that way?" Another shrug.

"Are there any humans over there?" And a third shrug from the pokemon.

"Did you just point to that tree because we're in a forest?" This time an enthusiastic nod came from the grass type, with its leaf shaking up and down rapidly. Raymond deadpanned.

"… you're just as lost as me aren't you?" This time a slow, sad nod was Raymond's response. Raymond sighed, unbelievable.

"Well, at least we have each other now. Since it looks like we're going to be here for a while, we should probably introduce ourselves. My name is Raymond Coast, I am 14 years old, and I was born and raised in Lilycove. And you are?" The chikorita quickly looked the boy up and down before trilling a reply, something that the boy assumed was an acknowledgment.

After trilling its response to Raymond, the leaf pokemon stood up and began to walk around excitedly, chirping and trilling all the while in what could only be an enthusiastic response to the boy's question. It only stopped its presentation whenever it heard the sound of Raymond's chuckling, at which point in time it started to pout. This caused the human to laugh even harder. His laughing only stopped whenever a small seed was launched and hit him square in the forehead.

"Ow, what was that for!" The fourteen year old boy snapped, only for the leaf pokemon to look the other way while doing its best whistle. It wasn't that good. "Well, I am happy to hear you have such an amazing family if the way you go on and on about them is any indication. I wish I had that sometimes."

While that last sentence was said quietly, there was not a lot of background noise in the forest and the chikorita had clearly heard it if by the way its leaf wilted was any indication. Raymond quickly backpedaled.

"Wait, it's not like that! I mean sure it's sometimes hard to tell if they care at all or if they even like me, but it's not that bad. They feed me, show up to what they have to, and provide some support when needed. I actually have it pretty good compared to most people from what I've heard!" Raymond's attempts at dissuading the worries of the young pokemon seemed to fail if its unconvinced stare said anything. It continued to approach the boy until it loomed over him (well, its eyes were slightly above Raymon's knees, but its stare felt as if it was 10 feet tall).

At the look on the chikorita's face, the boy relented a little. "Okay, maybe I do wish they'd support my dream sometimes or would believe in me more or let me do whatever I want to do instead of them forcing their ideas down my throat, but it's not a big deal. My dream is stupid anyway, so it only makes sense they'd tell me to ignore it." Conveniently, there was a rock in perfect kicking distance that allowed Raymond to punctuate the end of his speech by hitting it into the tree. The rock spiraled three feet away after his terrible attempt.

The unyielding determination in the grass type's eyes now held a glint of curiosity, practically demanding the human to tell it what exactly his dream was. The boy went to raise his hands in a form of not answering, but those hands were both hit by more seeds, forcing them to recoil at the slight pain. The eyes of the pokemon now had a saying of 'answer the question, or else' as it waved its leaf menacingly (adorably) at the human. The boy sighed.

"Alright alright, I'll tell you. But! You have to promise not to laugh!" At the pokemon's nod, Raymond pushed forward. "Ever since I was young I've always hated being pushed around and doing what others told me to do. I've always wanted to be able to create my own destiny, forge my own future, do whatever I want and have no one stop me. The only people who have the ability to do that are the strong. The Champions. One day I'm going to become a Champion, and these are no empty words. It's no mere dream or aspiration, but instead something I'll force onto the world. I'll grab my own destiny and force my way to the top, obstacles or no! That's my future. That is my dream."

Okay, how is giving a rant more tiring than running multiple flights of stairs because man is he out of breath. Chikorita, on the other hand, was absolutely enamored by this speech. So starstruck in fact, that they quickly began to dance with even more passion than they had when talking about their family.

After a minute or so, the pokemon abruptly stopped its parade and turned back towards Raymond. It made a noise that sounded like it was supposed to be a terrifying roar before shooting a stream of leaves into the air from its main leaf. Not a bad razor leaf considering how young the pokemon appeared to be. It then returned its head from the raised position and met Raymond's gaze.

"Oh, do you share that dream too?" A determined chirp was his response. "I bet you'll easily accomplish that dream then! With the skill you have at your age and how strong you can become through your evolutions, any trainer would be lucky to have you!"

Instead of a chirp of gratitude like the boy expected, he was instead hit by the hardest seed to the head yet, as well as an annoyed chirp following it.

"Hey, what was that for?! I was just saying any trainer would be lucky to have you!" Another seed, this time slightly less painful and to the chest.

"Are you saying you think you have a low potential?" A razor leaf flew a few feet to the right of the boy. "Alright, then what am I saying that is so wrong?"

The little plant dinosaur looked completely exasperated before pointing at Raymond. The gesture confused the boy for a moment, before an obvious conclusion hit him.

"You want me to be your trainer?" Now an enthusiastic head nod was his reply, with no oncoming promise of pain. "But I can't even become one for another two seasons! You have to be sixteen to start, and I'm still only fourteen! Plus I won't be able to get a good sponsorship or equipment since I don't have any connections or scores high enough to be at the top of my class!"

This time the chikorita thought for a second, before walking over and nudging the boy. It quickly looked up at Raymond before giving a big smile and happy chirp. Raymond couldn't stop a smile of his own blooming on his face.

"Alright then, I guess if you want to be stuck with someone like me then who am I to complain. But you're going to need a name if we're going to be partners." Raymond quickly looked at the pokemon, who promptly plopped its butt to the ground and looked at him expectantly.

"Hmm, what's a good name? We need one strong and powerful fitting for a man such as your-" Razor leafs passed four inches in front of Raymond's nose." For a woman such as yourself. Hmmm, how about Leaf?"

The pokemon deadpanned before getting up and starting to walk away. It then sat back down and chirped something that Raymond assumed was either mocking or down right rude.

"Geez, it was just an idea. Anyways how about…" Raymond quickly began to list names to the wind for what he assumed was hours. And while none of chikorita's actions were quite as dramatic as the first, it was clear none of the names had impressed her.

"Okay, how about Bloom?" This was a shot in the dark and honestly the boy didn't think that it would even be considered, but surprisingly the leaf pokemon shot straight up and began nodding rapidly, as if to reward Raymond for no longer being an idiot.

"Well then Bloom, when the time comes I plan to rock this world and be the greatest trainer the world has ever seen. But to do that, I need the greatest team of pokemon the world has ever seen as well. Are you up to the task of joining and leading said team?" A determined trill was his response, and Bloom quickly jumped into his arms. She was a little heavier than expected (although common sense told him to not state that fact aloud), but in no time flat they began laughing together and staring up at the now visible stars.

"Let's reach our dreams together, Bloom. As long as we keep moving forward, not even the heavens themselves will be able to stop us." A quiet chirp was his only reply, before the duo resumed their stargazing.

The two remained like that for what seemed like hours, before their peace was interrupted by a loud call, its voice deep and powerful. Bloom quickly floundered off of her back before trilling as loud as she could, causing Raymond to grab his ears in pain at the unexpected screech. His momentary confusion was then interrupted by the sound of a loud stampede in the forest, increasing in volume as it approached.

Raymond quickly scrambled himself off the ground, but before he could decide if running was the best option a giant sprinted into the clearing. It was at least twelve feet tall, green with two yellow antennas on its head. A wreath of pink petals wrapped around its neck, each one in perfect condition and giving off a scent that made Raymond relax subconsciously. It quickly scanned the clearing before its eyes landed on Bloom and it began quickly running towards her.

Bloom began running towards the pokemon Raymond now recalled as a meganium and, while she didn't quite meet him in the middle, the two began to rub heads (or rather leaf to head) as soon as they could. Behind the meganium, more pokemon appeared that looked like more members of the evolutionary line, with another, albeit significantly smaller, meganium walking up to Bloom and quickly joined in the nuzzle.

After a moment, Bloom shot back and began to once again dance energetically, frantically hopping back and forth and swinging her leaf to point at different things in the clearing. It was clear that this was a common occurrence as the taller meganium listened attentively while the smaller one seemed to deadpan and just nod along. Eventually, the story died down and Bloom quickly ran back towards Raymond's side before playfully headbutting him in the leg.

The larger meganium blinked, as if truly noticing the human for the first time before it began to walk towards Raymond. The boy knew that it would've been a bad first impression to take any steps back, so he simply tried his best to keep his gaze even with the pokemon's even as it began to loom over him. It leaned down once, closely inspecting his face and scrutinizing every flaw he had, before bellowing loudly and wrapping its neck around Raymond in what he hoped was a hug.

The teen quickly reciprocated and hugged back, to the amusement of the giant. The pokemon then grabbed the back of the teens shirt before throwing him on its back, and giving him a look to tell him to stay put. It then leaned down and grabbed Bloom, throwing her to what Raymond could only assume was her mother. The smaller meganium repeated the motion the larger one did on the boy, this time picking Bloom up by the scruff of her neck, much to her embarrassment.

The large meganium that Raymond was currently riding gave another, more subdued roar, and then the entire herd began to move towards some destination that eluded the boy's knowledge.

While riding to seemingly nowhere, the teen took this time to observe the herd of pokemon more closely. Aside from the two meganium he had already taken notice of, there was one more meganium that seemed to keep his distance from the front, bringing up the rear of the herd.

Almost a dozen bayleef brought up the middle, constantly chirping and trilling about one thing or another. It seemed that it wasn't always friendly between the pokemon though, as more than one time two of the pokemon would begin to fight, but it was always stopped by one of the meganium putting their foot down before any true trouble could start.

It also seemed as if the group was unused to traveling at night, as running into trees seemed to be an all too common occurrence. It was always a source of quick amusement to the group when it happened, with Raymond even joining in the laughter after a while.

Eventually however, all things must come to an end. This trip ended whenever the large meganium found the spot he was looking for and roared again, uncaring for the damage done to the ears on the human riding him. A flash of light appeared in front of the group, and a man wearing what looked like a league uniform (it was dark so Raymond couldn't be sure) appeared from it, with an unamused grumpig standing behind him.

The man wasted no time in beginning his tirade. "Of all of the things…! Why couldn't you guys just stay put! I mean I understand that chikorita had gone missing but that doesn't mean you have to sneak away in the woods in the middle of the night! You could've had the decency to wait until tomorrow and have the next shift deal with this!" The man took a calming breath before turning back to the thoroughly amused meganium. "Did you at least find the princess?" A seed to the area that shall not be named was the man's only reply, much to the amusement of the herd.

"OkAy then. Nice to see she's as sweet as ever, but what's that thing in your back?" At that question, Raymond decided that now was the best time to make himself visible. He quickly slid off of the back of meganium and began to speak.

"Hello there, um, sir." The man jumped a foot into the air, and in an instant the clearing was filled with light. Raymond quickly closed his eyes and blinked the black spots out a few times, before looking at the man who was now clearly seen as an ACE TRAINER!!

ACE trainers were the highest level trainers the league had to offer behind the elite four and the gym leaders, with them being some of the strongest in the region. And while it wasn't exactly an uncommon sight to see one, seeing one teleport out into the middle of nowhere and obviously examining him was an… experience, to say the least. Raymond forced his mind off autopilot and began to speak.

"Um, ah- As I was saying, it appears I am lost and in need of assistance." At the trainer's disbelieving stare and the now glowing eyes of his grumpig, he began to talk faster." After a series of events that is better left unsaid, I ended up leaping off the top of a high building in Lilycove trying to land on the back of a passing flying type, hoping that it would land swiftly and deposit me on the ground. And while it worked halfway in me hitting the back of a tropius, it failed in the fact that I went face first and ended up blacking out upon hitting its back. Next thing I know I'm in the middle of the clearing and a small chikorita walks up to me before shoving a leaf in my face." Raymond's mad rambling came to an end at that moment, and he looked at the ACE while trying to project as much honesty as he could. The trainer stared.

"Well," He began, glancing at his pokemon, "While that story reeks of stupidity and chances to live a short life, Bacon here says you told the truth the whole time. I don't know why no missing persons report has been filed yet, but that's not an issue. Let me just take this group here back to the Safari Zone and then I'll teleport you and be on my way."

Before the now named Bacon could do anything however, Bloom hopped off her mother and ran in front of Raymond, chirping angrily at the trainer. The man paused a moment before shrugging and going to resume the (assumed) teleport before the large meganium stomped the ground hard. The trainer looked at the behemoth of a pokemon before sighing and signaling for the psychic type pokemon to stop.

"You can't be serious! He has to go live with his family back in Lilycove, he can't stay with you!" A low growl was his only response.

"Fine, he can visit once a month." A snort cane this time.

"Once a fortnight." The grass type gave an unimpressed look.

"Alright, once a week he can be teleported over to visit miss princess here, but I'm not going any lower!" This time the meganium stared, with its chocolate eyes meeting the amber of the human's, before bobbing its head in acceptance and smiling at his daughter happily. Bloom did a little happy dance in response.

The ACE trainer (although his latest negotiating performance had Raymond questioning that rank) sighed in defeat before snapping his fingers and letting Bacon finally teleport them all to the Safari Zone. Raymond's stomach did a performance that would've made a gymnast green with envy.

Once they got there, a much larger herd of what must've been at least fifty of the plant dinosaurs were seen. Most of them were sleeping, but one or two noticed their arrival and gave a low growl in greeting.

The ACE then gestured for grumpig to begin to teleport again, but before they could finish Bloom jumped into Raymond's arms. Raymond couldn't hide his laugh at the face of the annoyed trainer. He then switched and began to console the (his?) pokemon.

"Hey, there's no need to be down, Bloom. Next week will be here before you know it." A sad chirp was the boy's reply, and so he kept going. " And next time, I'm going to have found out ways to help train so you can get even stronger for our journey. Does that sound good?" A slightly more excited chirp was his reply, and the leaf pokemon quickly jumped off of him before waving goodbye with her leaf.

A single wave was all the time the trainer gave because the next thing Raymond knew, he was on the sidewalk in the middle of Lilycove trying to keep his lunch in. The ACE gave him no sympathy.

"Listen kid," the trainer began turning towards Raymond. The teen unintentionally stiffened. "If you want to actually visit, come to the front of the ACE building every Saturday at 8 A.M. sharp. We won't wait for you. And I hope you know your way home because I'm not a babysitter either. Later." And with those words, light once again flashed and the ACE trainer was gone.

Raymond stared at the ground. Well, there's no point in putting off the inevitable. Who knows, maybe his parents will actually care that he was gone this time. And with that final thought, the boy turned and set off in the direction of his home. This had quickly become the best day of his life.

But what no one could have guessed is that the events of today, the one tropius that flew too far, would change the fate of the world as we know it? And if it was for better or for worse, well, whose to decide?

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, Lugia Moon here. So I've had this fic stuck in my head for a few years now, and then a close friend of mine had the audacity to dare me to write it. And as I'm a sucker for dares, I ended up doing just that.

I'd really appreciate feedback on this and how I can improve since I know I'm just a novice. And while I have most of the story planned out, my ears are always open to ideas so if you have any feel free to shoot them my way.

And last but certainly not least, a huge thanks to my Beta Reader YuuriEs.

Thanks for reading and I hope I can see all of y'all again in the next chapter. Later!