Jack Zypher's Story

Ryan rocked back and forth in his chair. He could hardly contain himself. It had only been a few days since he had met Professor Redwood. The man was old. Must have been in his late 50's, but he was still up and kicking. Ryan could tell that this old man, this legend, was just as much of a Pokemon master as he was fourty years ago.

The champion, despite his former glory, was now just a lowly world history professor at Evergrande University. There must have been something really bad, or really important that happened to keep him from training. Unlike most professors, who use Pokemon as a teaching aid, Professor Redwood never revealed any Pokemon of his. Ryan couldn't imagine what they'd be like. He'd heard stories of Red's legendary team. He would give anything for a chance to train with any of them.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders and came back to reality. He had drifted off and needed to get back on task. He checked the clock. It was nearly noon, class ended at noon. He scanned the back of the heads in front of him. He spotted the long purple hair of his friend Jessica. She sat near the front. She was listening intently, like she always did. A few seats down and back sat Rya Hallot. The youngest of their little crew. She was sitting quietly, taking notes, although they probably weren't notes. They already knew all of this. Sitting directly behind her was Ryan's best friend and training partner, Jack. He was leaning back casually in his chair, soaking up everything the Professor had to say. They had a plan, and they needed Professor Redwood and everything he knew about Kanto, and Pokemon.

They had already brought everything up to the Professor, they were merely biding time. The Professor had told him to have everyone meet at the Evergrande League Gate after class.

Noon. The bell rang. Class was dismissed.

All of the students got up and filed out of the room, leaving the Professor at his desk. He gave a small nod to Ryan as he left. On his way out Ryan caught up to Jack. "Hey bud, wanna get some lunch with the girls before we head to the meeting?"

Jessica walked out of the shower and smiled at Honey, who was laying on Jessica's bed exactly where she left her. "You just hate to wake up don't ya?" Jessica joked as she sat down and gently woke her friend up. Honey whined as Jessica woke her up, "Well if you're gonna sleep out here instead of in your pokeball then you gotta get up when I do." Jessica said, giving the same speech she gave to the Growlithe every morning, "Plus it's like 10 o'clock already, when I used to train with Alder, he had us up at 4 in the morning everyday, this should be easy" she laughed as she dried tied her charm in her hair, it was a gift from a very special person back in Flocessy Town, she communicated with him regularly, now he was studying in Castelia City. Of course they weren't a couple anymore, too hard to manage a relationship across continents. Jessica sat on her bed reminiscing about her past and then glanced over at the clock "CRAP! I'm running late again, Honey why do you let me do this?" the clock read 10:52, she had 8 minutes to run across campus to Professor Redwood's class. She quickly grabbed a pair of sweatpants and put them on and ran out of her dorm room, when she hit the door she turned around and grabbed a hoodie and threw it on "Don't wanna run around topless now do I?" She laughed as she ran to class. When she arrived at the lecture hall it was four minutes past eleven, luckily Professor Redwood never starts class on time. She jogged to the front of the class room and sat down, Honey was now safely in her pokeball, she just liked to sleep outside of it. Jessica pulled out her notebook and waited for class to begin.

She didn't have to wait long, classes started up shortly after Jessica sat down and luckily for her Redwood's lecture was on a topic she enjoyed today, well kind of, Jessica hated history, but she rather enjoyed pokemon battles and luckily they came up regularly in Redwood's history class, today he was talking about the history of Indigo Plateau and Mt. Silver, and of course you can't talk about either without talking about battling. She was completely entranced and before she knew it the bell rang and unfortunately Redwood had avoided talking about Red's battle with Blue for the title of Champion, and as she had assumed, Redwood didn't even mention Red's battle with Gold at the summit of Mt. Silver. Jessica knew about the battles, but she did not know their details, she didn't know what their teams, or the tactics they used, and since Jessica and her friends had confronted Redwood about his identity she had hoped he would possibly reveal some of that info, she knew the only way to get better would be to learn from the best and everyone knows that despite his age, Red is the best.

Jessica packed up her things and was one of the last ones to leave the room, she walked up to two of her friends who were standing near the door. "Hey bud wanna get some lunch with the girls before we head to the meeting?" she had overheard Ryan saying to Jack, before Jack could respond Jessica jumped into the conversation. "Sorry to disappoint ya Ryan but as I'm sure you can see, I look like shit. Didn't have time to get ready this morning, Honey woke up late again, and I damn near ran out the door without a shirt on." Jessica said flashing a smile to her friends, "I'm gonna go change into something a little more presentable. I'll just grab a bite in my room and catch up with you guys at the meeting, I got an hour right?" She didn't wait for the boys to answer her question and she ran off waving at them.

She arrived at her room and set her messenger bag down on her bed and pulled her pokeballs out, all of her pokemon, save for Lucas, were still small so she could let them out in her small room without too much worry. And she did just that. Then she took the dirty sweats and hoodie off and opened her closet, despite her love of battling and the assumptions one might make about that, Jessica loved clothes, and she did try to look her best whenever possible. She pulled out her favorite skirt, and a top to match. She smiled and put them on and then turned to her pokemon who were busy trashing her room, they were why her room was always a mess, "Hey guys how do I look?" She asked and not one of them responded. "Thanks guys I feel beautiful." She complained as she walked into her bathroom and put on her make up, re-brushed her hair and overall made herself look good. She looked in the mirror and smiled. "Well now to find some food." She thought to herself as she walked back into the main room, "Who's hungry?" she said as she grabbed the pokefood and dished up food for each of her pokemon, she always fed them first, a habit she picked up from Alder. After everyone was fed she opened her fridge which contained a single bottle of pop and no food. "Great." she thought as she glanced down at her C-Gear and saw that it was only 12:15 "Cool I might be able to catch up with the guys and get some food with them." She thought as she returned her pokemon to their balls and returned the balls to her bag. She grabbed the bag and ran out of her room, this time looking much more attractive than she did this morning.

Jack stretched as he rolled out of bed. Once he'd recouped he looked at the clock. 7:00 "7 o clock? Why do i wake up so early. Alright Ken let's go." Jack pressed the button on Ken's pokeball releasing him into the dorm room. "You up for a morning run and some sparring?" Ken nodded and started stretching. "Alright!" He threw on some shorts and a sleeveless shirt. After pulling on his shoes he threw open the door checking his belt making sure his five pokeballs were still attached to it. "Alright everyone we're good to go!" With that Jack left the room closley followed by Ken as they started their jog around the Academy. After about 20 minutes of jogging they'd circled campus and stopped at their normal spot. "Alright everyone time to wake up!" Jack tossed his pokeballs into the air releasing his partners. "How is everyone this morning?" The group offered a quick response as they started stretching. "Glad to see you all too." Jack laughed as he squared off with Ken. "Well lets go Ken time to wake up." The pair circled each other and closed in their fist meeting mid air. The sparing continued for 5 or so minutes before Jack was exhausted. "Your getting to good for me Ken." Ken offered a smile and stood up taller. Looking around at the rest of his team. "Alright who wants some breakfast?" Everyone quickly agreed at the idea of food. Jack smiled and grabbed his pack pulling out everyone's food. He walked around distributing it checking over each of his pokemon as he went making sure they were all as healthy as they could be. "Alright guys dig in then I have to get ready for class." They all smiled happily and started breakfast. "Today's the day everyone. We're getting ready to go to Kanto." Jack smiled as he started his breakfast enjoying being surrounded by his partners. Once they'd all finished eating he returned everyone to their Pokeballs and started walking back to his dorm. Once there he showered and shaved throwing on his normal jeans and hoodie.

Jack had fallen asleep and was woken up by his alarm. 10:30 He groaned as he sat up. "I may have pushed it a little far today Ken's getting really strong. Ah well." He looked around his room and grabbed his bag making sure he had his C-Gear on his wrist. Ken wandered across campus taking his time getting to class. He got there with 5 minutes to spare just like he did every day. He took his normal seat. As he waited for class to start he watched the students trickling in. He nodded to Ryan and Rya as they walked in, but as time ticked by closer and closer to class Jessica still hadn't arrived. 'Is something wrong? I hope she's alright... He breathed a sigh of relief as she rushed into class almost 5 minutes later and not looking up to her usual self. Jack laughed to himself. 'She must have overslept again. Even on a day like today she's still herself.' Shortly class picked up with out much else of note happening.

Once the clock hit noon and the students were filing out Ryan rushed up to him. "Hey bud, wanna get some lunch with the girls before we head to the meeting?" Before Jack could reply Jessica had called out something about going to get dressed. As she ran away Jack called out. "Don't forget to meet at the League Gate!" He then looked back to Ryan and Rya. "Food sounds great. Wouldn't want to show up to our meeting hungry." He laughed stepping in behind Ryan as he led the way to the Cafeteria."

Rya was an early bird. She always had been because her father used to get up early to go fishing so 6.am was nothing to her.
She awoke to Tai her Aipom clinging to her arm. She often let him sleep next to her, he kept her warm and she felt more comfortable having his soft breathing in her ear rather than silence.

' Good morning Sunshine ' she said as she ruffled the small tuft on his hair.

Same routine as always. She let the other Pokemon out that she kept in her room. It was a Gabite named Rex, her other two were kept in special holding units because they were far too big for her tiny room.
She fed Rex and Tai before having a shower and washing up.

It was about 7.30 after she had cleaned up after her two boys mess, they were both extremely messy eaters.
' Come on then, we better go feed the other two now if we want to have some time to read the lecture notes'

Rex returned to his ball and Tai took his position of Rya's shoulder. They headed to the stables first, she had to creep quietly through her dorm because most of the other students would still be sleeping.
Once she had exited her dorm Rya crossed the large floral green that decorated the front of the campus and took a short walk to a row of large Barns.
Her Ponytam, Ziphina was in Barn 5 block C. Rya took a key from around her neck that unlocked the large barn.

SHe arrived in block C and entered her Pokemon's pen. There sat a small shining red Pokeball. It was university rules that all Barn Pokemon were to be kept in their balls without supervision.

She released Zephina, the usual greeting was the Ponyta sniffing out the Poffins that Rya had stored in her backpack.

After the pleasantries and feeding Rya put Zephina back into her ball and locked up after herself.

Checking the time Rya headed the the PokeQuarium where she kept Osha.
Osha was a smallish Prinplup that was in a group tank with a mixture of other water pokemon. It was always the same, Rya would have to wake Osha from the tank by tapping three times on the glass.
Osha was notoriously lazy but would always swim to the surface of the tank on the third tap.

Once Osha was fed she was returned to her Pokeball and so was Tai before Rya headed to her first lecture of the day. HER favorite lecture and possibly the last one she would go to before she left.

Rya sat near the front of the lecture. She was there at least thirty minuted before everyone else, she had briefed herself on the lecture notes before re starting to write a list called 'Make sure you have ...'.
She didn't even realize the lecture had started and pretty much worked on the list the whole lecture. Once it was finished shhe joined her three new friends... her new travelling companions. The other girl in her group Jessica went back to her room so it was just the three of them.
She did not say much but followed the boys to the cafeteria.

Ryan shrugged as Jess ran by. 'Maybe if the girl would get up on time she wouldn't have to go home and get redressed nearly every day.' He thought. He smiled to himself. Should be interesting travelling with her.

Students shuffled by the three of them while they walked to the Cafeteria. It wasn't a five star restaurant, but it was decent. Enough to keep them going, and fill them up for the long trip they were about to take. He wasn't sure how they were going to travel to Kanto. He knew it was quite far away. They wouldn't be able to walk there. And from what the Professor was saying in the lectures, they weren't catching a ship to Vermillion. Maybe the Professor would have them Fly there on the back of a bird Pokemon. Although a quick mental scan of the group and their teams showed that that probably wasn't going to happen, unless everyone wanted to ride on Jack's Tropius. Maybe Surf there? Osha, Nami, and Constantine were pretty strong swimmers. Although one of them would have to carry two passengers, and again. It's a looong way to Kanto.

Ryan shook his head. He zoned out every now and again in thought. They had just arrived at the Cafeteria. Ryan held the door for both Jack and Rya, shooting her a smile as she walked by. She was a bit quieter than the others. He closed the door behind him and situated into the line.

After selecting a mish-mosh of questionably looking foods Ryan snagged a table outside, under a tree. He tossed his bookbag onto the bench next to him and began to rummage through it, looking for his Pokeballs. A Flash lit up the inside of the bag, and when it subsided a small teddy bear had appeared. Ryan chuckled and helped his Teddiursa out of the bag. She sat on the table in front of him and stared at his tray. Ryan was still rummaging. "No Chloe, you already ate." He turned and stuck his tongue out at her, a gesture that was probably lost on her. He finally found the other three balls and placed them back onto his belt where they belonged. He would have let out the others, but Diocletion and Constantine would just screw around, and he'd probably be told to put them away anyway. Hector wouldn't be a problem, but it's not like he would notice whether or not he was in his ball.

He finally sat up. Chloe was still looking covetously at his food. Ryan smiled and tore off a piece of his bread roll. He handed it to her, much to her glee. "Have a ball."

Jack followed along behind Ryan as he led the group to the cafeteria. While he was happy that he was with his friends and that he was about to start a new adventure with them he was worried. 'This is going to be dangerous. Not just for me but for my Pokemon. If I mess up I won't be able to save them. I may loose some of my friends while we travel.' A determined look crosses over Jack's face. 'But no matter what happens we will win. We will find out what's causing this and we will save the Pokemon.' He came to his senses just as they walked through the doors to the cafeteria. Walking through the line grabbing anything that looked good he walked out to the table Ryan had gotten and joined him and his Teddiursa, Chloe, who was eating a roll.

As he sat Jack reached to his belt and pulled one of the Pokeballs of of it releasing Karma who stood behind him looking slightly worried. "It's alright Karma we'll be fine." Jack held out a sweet roll to her and she took it smiling. Rya had come and joined them at the table. "So is everyone all packed? I've been packed for like 2 days now." He smiled at the group eating his food and pat Karma on the head as she joined him sitting on the bench.

Rya realeased Aipom before sitting down. Tai often liked to help her finish the food she could not eat.

The purple pokemon climbed onto the table once she sat down and removed a packed lunch from her bag. He sniffed it, he was already intrigued to what was inside the small plastic box.

She patted his nose softly and pushed him aside. She handed him a Poffin which he quietly enjoyed. He was rather interested in the Teddy Pokemon who was also feasting on the table. He moved closer to the little bear hoping for some interaction.

Rya often let Aipom explore, it made him happy and he rarely troubled anyone. She presumed that Ryan would be ok with it.

' I'm packed... I just need a few more things. Need to make some more Poffins.. ' she replied to Jack with a smile.

If anything Rya had over packed. She had first aid kits, food and lots of clothes. However, she had managed to fit in a small bag which she was rather proud of. ' I did however have to re-pack because Osha got into the case.... and then of course Tai here joined in whilst Rex and Ziphina watched '.

Jessica ran to the cafeteria as fast as she could arriving a few minutes later. She skipped the longer lines containing the prepared food and made her way over to the sandwich bar. She made a quick sandwich and scanned the seating area, when she didn't spot her friends she realized that they were probably sitting outside, it was a nice day. She stepped outside and saw her friends sitting at a table in the shade of a good sized tree. She smiled as she walked up to her friends. "Hey guys! So um shocking revalation here there was no food in my room. ... Again. So I grabbed a sandwich, room at the table for one more?" She greeted and asked them as she sat down. She smiled at Chloe Tai and Karma who were all playing nearby. "And how are you doing?" She asked them before letting Honey out of her ball to play. "Have fun, be safe." She said to her growlithe and smiled at her friends, "So I hate to say this but before we leave I do have to stop by my room again, I have my bag all ready to go but I didn't want to bring it to lunch." she laughed as she talked. The journey was going to be tough, and they were gonna need to fight for what's right, but despite all that, this trip might just be fun. She was gonna spend it with her friends and she might get some battle lessons from her idol, she couldn't wait to see him battle. Jessica wasn't at all worried about losing some of her partners in battle, this doesn't mean she isn't aware of the possibility, she knew all too well how dangerous battling is for pokemon now, but she has full faith in her abilities and her pokemon's skill. They would not be beaten, no matter the cost. Each and everyone one of her carefree and fun loving pokemon fully understands the risk of battling and has decided to take that risk alongside her. She continued to smile as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out her other three pokeballs, she proceeded to let Smugleaf, Lucas and Elizabeth out of their balls. They deserved some love and free time as well considering they were all heading out in less than an hour.

Ryan nodded to each of his friends as they took their seats. Fortunately Jessica took the time out of her busy schedule to join them for lunch. How nice of her. Ryan smiled as he finished off the last bite of his chicken. Everyone was in high spirits, eating, talking, letting out their Pokemon. He hoped this would last... but in the back of his mind he knew it wouldn't. The stakes were high, and as he scanned the group of Pokemon that had been let out, he knew they would have to train hard, and fight harder to keep everyone safe. His biggest fear was Chloe. He never meant for her to be a fighter. In all reality, he never meant for any of them to be fighters, but he knew they all had it in them. They all had the fire. They all had the guts to be all that they could be.

He realized something, looking at his team, and their Pokemon. They could do it. The four of them, and Red. They could save the Kanto region and fix this disease, or whatever it was that affected Pokemon in this way.

Jack had asked about their packing. Ryan gestured to his bookbag. "It's all in there." Jessica stated that they needed to go to her room before they headed out. "That should be fine Jess, We've got plenty of time before we leave... I think" He laughed. He checked his PokeGear. Everyone else had a C-Gear. PokeGear was enough for Ryan, a Johto classic. They had about an hour before they were to meet the Professor. Plenty of time.

-------

Professor Redwood was going over his supplies behind his desk. "Yes yes, this. I've got that. Oh, I need this. And we're set." He smiled and zipped up the bookbag. This faithful bookbag had been a trustworthy companion throughout all of his adventures. It didn't hold as much, and was not as organized as some of the newer bags, but it was enough for him.

He had one last thing to get. In his locked safe behind a painting in his office. He input the combination. 'Click' the safe swung open. Inside sat one lowly Pokeball. A Pokeball that he had not held in years. "It's time to wake up buddy." With a flick of the wrist he tossed the ball into the air, sending out a bright flash, and a bit of dust. Red smiled at his old friend. The Pikachu stood quietly, stretching. It had been a while but the Pokemon looked just as powerful as the day Red locked him up for his own safety. It looked at him quizzically as if to say, "What's the deal. Why am I awake."

"Pikachu, It's time to save Kanto."

-Time Skip-

The Pokemon League gate was huge. Must've been fifty feet tall, and just as wide. It glowed silver in the sunlight. The top was adorned with statues of many of Hoenn's most powerful pokemon. A Metgross, Salemence, Flygon, Cacnea, Walrein, Wailord, as well as the legendary Pokemon Ryan had only heard legends of.

Ryan had always wondered what it would be like to challenge the League, and the Elite Four. He never had that chance. The Indigo league was all but destroyed. He hoped to reform it to its former glory, that he might challenge it. Were any of the members even alive anymore? He couldn't imagine that Koga or Bruno would still be living. Lance and Will must be in their 80's by now. Maybe there would be a new Elite Four. Hah, maybe it would be the four of them, with Red as champion. Wouldn't that be cool? He smiled at the thought.

The three of them had taken spots sitting against the gate. He remembered that the Professor had told them to let out all of their Pokemon once there. He clawed at his belt and retrieved his four Pokeballs. He tossed them all at once. Four bright flashes left four smiling Pokemon behind. Diocletion, his Quilava, flared a bit and then started to climb on top of Hector, His Shuckle. Dio was a bit lazy, and enjoyed napping on top of Hector. Hector never seemed to mind. He was a bit... slow. Chloe bounced giddily on the stomach of his Quagsire, Constantine. Ryan smiled, He loved how fun loving and carefree his Pokemon were. He just hoped they'd stay that way.

Jess was the last of the group to arrive at the stunning league entry gates, it was nothing compared to ruins of the old Unova league that she and Alder had traveled to once before, but it was quite beautiful. When she arrived the other's were all leaning against the gate. She waved to her friends, "So no Redwood yet?" Well I guess we'll just have to wait for him." She said. She then remembered she was supposed to let her pokemon out. she reached at the four balls around her belt and grabbed them. She threw them into the air and out popped her four pokemon. "Well hey guys, enjoy the fresh air." She said. Jessica watched as her friends all played around and she wondered if they were capable of battling, she knew her pokemon could handle it, she's seen it happen, but the others's pokemon just looked so cute.

Lucas being the fierce competitor he was, was looking for a way to train and Honey was happy to oblige. The two walked away from the other pokemon to avoid hurting them and began sparring. They had trained enough together to know how to spar without harming each other, and in fact if you looked closely at their faces, and looked past the fierce expressions you could see that they were really enjoying themselves. Watching them train Jessica couldn't help but smile, she was so proud of them and all they had done and she knew that they could handle anything thrown at them.

Elizabeth was quick to climb a tree. She loved being off the ground a habit she learned from her mother who used to fly with her. Elizabeth looked at home in the tree but Smugleaf had different ideas, he wanted to be in the tree too and he climbed up and attempted to push Elizabeth off. The two had been with Jessica from the very beginning of her journey and so when Jessica saw Smugleaf acting this way she just let him be, she knew that the two pokemon loved each other very much and would figure it out on their own. Sure enough after a few minutes Smugleaf came back down the tree and walked over to Jessica, who was now also sitting against the gate with her friends. "Hey buddy what's wrong?" She asked as her Snivy walked over. Smugleaf pointed to Elizabeth up in the tree and Jessica chuckled. "Come here buddy." She said holding her arms out to him and Smugleaf crawled up to her in hug. After their hug he made his way to Jessica's shoulder, which was his usual place when Jessica traveled through Unova and it brought a nostalgic smile to her face. "Isn't that better bud?" She asked him and he smiled in return.

Jack stood slightly away from the rest of the group as they let out their Pokemon. 'A few of my Pokemon are quite a bit larger than theirs... I really hope they don't get scared."[/b] Finally getting his thoughts settled Jack reached to his belt removing the four Pokeballs he kept there. "Alright here we go guys." Jack threw the balls up into the air releasing his team. Ken and Karma walked over and stood next to Jack while Toph and Nami went to stand behind him. "Guys It's alright No one here is going to try to hurt you go make some friends.

After a while Toph decided to go and meet the rest of the group. He wandered over to Tia and Chloe where playing. He laid his head down on the ground so he could look at the pair. Karma stayed close to Jack's side refusing to take more than a step away from him. Ken slowly wandered over toward the pair of sparing Pokemon. He stood a slight ways away watching them spar hoping that they would let him join. Nami laid down around Jack and closed her eyes. Jack leaned back and leaned against Nami. "So is everyone ready to go?" As everyone assured each other that they were ready Jack breathed a sigh of relief. [i]Maybe this we can actually succeed. If everyone is this prepared we may actually get this done! He looked around to his new friends and partners. "Good I can't wait to start working to save the Pokemon. When is Professor Red supposed to show up?"

They were all there. All four of them with their Pokemon. They all looked so... Confident.

Redwood walked slowly toward them, his Pikachu sat lazily on his shoulder. The Professor's lab coat swirled behind him in the wind. He knew this would be difficult for them. This was not a task he would wish on anyone. He wished he could use some more experienced trainers, but maybe these youngsters have what it takes. A quick once-over of their Pokemon gave him plenty of information about how they would work as a team.

The types were well separated. They could do with a bit of diversity. Five different fire types, though one of them would eventually become Volcarona... hopefully. Not many Pokemon who would be a good match with the multitude of poison type Pokemon that live in Kanto. They would certainly catch more Pokemon as they traveled. Yeah, They would do. But they would need help.

"Thank you all for coming" Redwood stated as he arrived. They all looked to him in anticipation.

"You've all heard my lecture about the current situation in my home region, so you have a general idea of what is going on there. But I didn't tell you everything. There are people there who will kill your Pokemon. That is a fact you need to acknowledge right now. If you are not prepared to lose a team-mate, then you need to leave immediately." He said this with a stern voice. No one even flinched. They all knew what they were doing.

The Professor nodded. "Ok then. Next thing. There will also be people who are willing to help you on your journey, but not everyone with a kind face can be trusted. This is war, just as you would do anything to save your friends. These people will do anything to save theirs. I have a few contacts throughout the region who will be able to help you, but you will have to find them first. That is your first task. Find the Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock. I'm sure you've all heard of him. He will be your first informant, and he should be able to help you. There may be more gym leaders who are still around, but probably very few. I wouldn't count on too many ringers to help you out in the knick of time." He had heard rumors of several powerful trainers roaming Kanto. He was not sure if they would be helpful.

"If you know who I am, you will know my accomplishments. You will know that I was able to capture every single Pokemon in the Kanto Pokedex. I assure you I will help you in any way I can, but I will not permit to use any of my Pokemon in battle. So don't ask. They are simply too powerful, there will be more bad done than good. I will send you one of my Pokemon only if you truly need it to continue your journey." This was not the only reason. Several of the Professor's Pokemon were quite old, and might not be able to stick it out in a battle.

"Lastly I have a few things to give you." He pulled the bag off of his back and unzipped it. "You will need these" He retrieved four metal cases from his bag. "In each of these cases there are twenty four syringes. 6 of them are Antidotes, as there are quite a lot of poison Pokemon in Kanto, and not many places to heal your Pokemon. Ten of them are Super Potions. 4 of them are Full Heals. The other 4 you can use at your leisure, if you happen to find some medicine on the road." He handed a case to each trainer. "Secondly, here is my PokeGear number." He recited his number to them all. "I will call you whenever I have some information for you that could be helpful."

He realized he had probably been going to fast, but there was not much time to lose.

"Look, people. I know this is a lot to take in in such a short time, but we don't have time for you to be as prepared as I want you to be." He pulled a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it into the air. A small, fox-like Pokemon appeared. "Everyone, meet Abra." The Pokemon grumbled his name. "Abra will Teleport you all to my hometown, where you will begin your journey." He smiled. "I will set up shop in Professor Oak's labratory. If you need me, call me, but this is where we part ways." He put his hand on Abra's shoulder. "Everyone place your hand on Abra, and kiss Ever Grande University goodbye. If you have any questions, call me." He gave a small, reassuring smile.

They all withdrew their Pokemon, placed their hands on Abra, and then were gone.

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A bright flash made Ryan close his eyes. When he opened them He was in a different place. The air was thick here, and a bit muggy. This must be Pallet Town. He could see the laboratory in the distance. The Professor had not said a word, and simply left with his Abra, who sauntered quietly behind.

He nodded to the others. Time to hit the road.

Jack blinked his eyes as the bright light faded. Looking around he could see that they were quite obviously not in Ever Grande anymore. As the Professor walked away Jack called out to him. "Don't worry, sir, we won't let you down!" He turned back to his companions as the professor faded from view. "Alright everyone. We're finally here! I know I'm not like a leader or anything but I think that our first thing should be getting our Pokemon used to the Pokemon from this region... I'm going to go out for a training session luckily Karma has a good advantage over the poison types here. Plus she can heal the rest of our partners." Jack gave everyone a bright smile listening to their ideas. Once everyone had given their ideas he smiled and started walking to the north where he would be able to meet and train with his first Pokemon from the Kanto region.

As he trained against the wild Pokemon of the Kanto Jack made sure to have a large safety area making sure that none of his Pokemon were never in danger of real lasting injury. While he made sure to train all of his Pokemon getting them used to the Kanto environment he spent quite a bit of extra time training Karma. "Alright Karma I don't want to put to much stress on you so if you get tired let me know. I just know it's going to be a long journey and your healing abilities will be invaluable as we work." Karma nodded to Jack a determined look on her face as she prepared to battle the next Pokemon that attacked them.

Rya took a deep breath when the professor arrived. It was now all becoming reality, she realized that this journey was going to happen and their was a possibility she could lose her friends....
In fact she knew it was highly probable that she would. She didn't even know if she was ready for the loss. Not after the last time.

She could feel the prickling sensation in her eyes. She chocked back the tears and hoped that no one noticed. If any of the team thought she couldn't handle it she just knew she would be letting them down.

Rather than speaking she just touched the Abra's head. Now she was ready, she had to be for the sake of everyone in her team.

With a great flash she was in Kanto. It was totally different from the way she had imagined it. The air was thick, it wasn't any harder to breath but it certainly was not a pleasant experience. She decided against letting her Pokemon out of their Pokeballs. Simply because she was unsure how they would react to their new environment. Better to do it somewhere safe.
' I guess it's finally becoming real now ' she whispered more to herself than anyone in paticular.

There was a bright flash and the next thing she knew Jessica was in a completely unfamiliar location. "So, this is Kanto, the air is thicker here." she thought to herself taking in her new environment. She waved as walked off to the north to go train. Jessica considered going with him, but before she could make a decision her C-gear rang. Upon answering it she saw a very familiar face, "ALDER!" she nearly screamed as she walked away from the group. She hadn't talked to him in months and was quite excited to see him. "Hello Jessica, it is good to see you too. Do you remember that package I gave you moments before you set sail for Ever Grande? The one I told you not to open?" He said to her. "Yeah I remember I have it right here in my bag. Why?" she responded. "I think you're ready now, so I want you to open. The decision when and if you should use it, is entirely yours. But I feel you are finally ready to make that decision." Alder sounded quite serious, as he usual was when they trained. Jessica reached into her bag and pulled out the package. She opened it and inside was a flaming orange and red stone, a fire stone. It was a rare item and most certainly had cost Alder a lot of money. "I, I don't know what to say. Thank you." She said at a loss for words. "Think nothing of it, I'm sure you and Honey will decide together the best course of action, but I wanted to make sure you had the option to make that decision. And now it would seem I have a class to teach, I will talk to you again soon. Good bye J-J." "Bye Bye!" Jessica said as they hung up.

She reached into her bag and pulled out Honey's pokeball. She let her friend out and after she took a moment to get acquainted with her environment Jessica knelt down and asked her friend, "Honey, our good friend Alder has gifted me with a fire stone, but since it is you that the item will change I want to ask you, do you want to be an Arcanine? Are you ready to evolve?" Honey looked puzzled for a minute and then jumped up and licked Jessica's face in a loving manner. Jessica of course easily interpreted the action to mean "Yes! Of course I do. I'm ready when you are!" Jessica smiled at her friend, "Then what are we waiting for?" She said pulling the stone out and placing it against Honey's skin. Honey began to glow a bright white color and she grew in size to nearly six feet at the shoulder. Honey had evolved into an Arcanine. "Wow, Honey I can't believe it, I knew it would happen and I can't believe it. Your stunning!" She exclaimed as she hugged her knew friend. She then realized that none of her friends would have seen the evolution, as she had walked away from them for the conversation. She climbed onto Honey's back, "Let's go show our friends how awesome you are now." She said and she went north to where Jack was training.

"Hey Jack, how goes the training?" She hollered down to him from atop Honey.

--CONGRATULATIONS JESSICA. YOUR HONEY EVOLVED INTO AN ARCANINE.--

Ryan watched Jack go off and start training, and Jess took off somewhere talking to Alder. Really? Already splitting up, they just got here. He sighed with a smile. This should be interesting.

He tightened his shoulder straps on his ba and took a few steps forward, before he squatted down. He pulled his sleeve up to check his PokeGear. They didn't have a physical map, so he was settling for the one on his Gear. It already had a built in Kanto Map anyway. He zoomed in on his location. They were in Pallet Town. They were headed for Pewter City, that is where the Professor said they could find one of his contacts. Pewter City was north, past Viridian City and Viridian Forest. He nodded and pulled his sleeve back down. This region was very close to the sea in many areas, so it was probably gonna get kinda sticky outside. Great. Humidity was not Ryan's favorite, but he would have to deal. It was a little different than Johto, seeing as Mt. Silver separated the two.

He fingered his belt and withdrew the first Pokeball. He let out Dio, who surveyed his surroundings. He was not pleased. Dio tended to like clean air, despite all the smoke that came off of his back when he was flamed. Regardless, the Quilava sat quietly in front of Ryan.

"C'mon bud, let's get some training in." He stood up and started headed after Jack, but stopped in his tracks. His last companion had not moved since they'd arrived. He turned his head to look back to her.

"Hey Rya, you commin?" he asked with a smile.

As the rest of the gang began to move and train. Rya stayed put.
She wanted to move, only she couldn't. It was now that she questioned herself.
Why am I even here.... I have risked the lived of my friends... my family.... are we even strong enough

Rya had been confident till this point. Mainly because she thought of all the suffering pokemon in Kanto but now she was here .... well it had really sunk in.
It was at that moment that Tai's pokeball began to shuffle, Osha's too until both Pokemon were at her side.

The two were shortly followed by Zi and Rex. Somehow they must of knew she was on edge. A small tear escaped her eye.
We really can do this. We ARE strong!!!


She was finally happy and decided to follow the others North. She returned her Pokemon, though Tai refused to be put away and sat on her shoulder.
Cathching up to Ryan she smiled ' Sorry, little panic.... I'm ok and ready to go!'
Taking out her Pokegear and sent a message to her father.
Love you

She lifted her head up to the sun before noticing a huge flash from the corner of her eyes. Tai toppled from her shoulder and landed on his hand shaped tail.
He was fine as usual but she still picked him up and cradled him.

Honey had evolved from a tiny little pup to a huge dog. In which Jessica was now capable of riding.
' Wow... well done you two! ' The red haired girl cheered, remembering just how amazing it was watching her own pokemon evolve.

"Agh, god damn this tall grass, It's making my legs all itchy" the Cueball grumbled. Cueball wasn't his name. People just tended to call him that due to his bald head. His real name was Jerry. He used to live in Celadon, but since Daimon took over that place was kinda wishy-washy. He was also worried that Daimon might mistake an upstanding young..ish man like Jerry as a criminal and have him erased from existence. Alright, maybe he wasn't "upstanding" but he wasn't that bad of a guy. At least he didn't think so, he just did what he had to do to survive.

Jerry pushed through a patch of grass and came upon an interesting scene. Four young trainers stood in a field, but the one that stood out was the one riding the Arcanine. An Arcanine! That would be the grand master of all Pokemon around here. He had to have it.

He jumped through the grass and exposed himself to them. "Hey you, girlie, riding the Arcanine. Hand it over and I wont destroy the rest of your friends Pokemon." He ordered. He really hoped this girl would take his bluff, because he was not sure if his Muk, Weezing, and Ekans would be able to take care of that thing.

Regardless of his fears he stood his ground. He had to take this girl on. For the good of his Pokemon.