Pokémon Rumor Has It

**AN: **

**Um, hello everyone, and welcome to my second posted fanfic, "Rumor has it" based in an Anime/Game-verse pokemon world! **

**I've had this character in mind for… I don't even know how long… but only got down to making a story with her a year or two ago. She's heavily influenced by my poke'spe manga OC honestly, (Ah Violet, my first pokemon OC, maybe one day I'll get around to writing out your tale; but god it would be sooooo long…) which is why she's a bit rough-and-tumble compared to some. **

**Anyway, this story is more of a side project than anything, so I can't promise when it will get updated. My main project is my Tales of The Abyss Fic, "A Scion's Tale." This fic is really more for me to practice first-person POV -which I'm terrible with- as well as different writing styles. Well, enough of my blathering, please enjoy the first chapter-er prolog of "Rumor Has it"**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.**

Prolog: Let's Get Goin' Already!

I pushed back a lock of black hair back behind my ear as the wind whipped up again. It dragged small pebbles of golden sand up into its strong grip before hurling them at me and my opponent across the makeshift battlefield. The dusty sand plains of Orre had never been known for kind weather, so neither of us bothered complaining or fighting against it. In fact, I can't help but feel it adds a nice touch to any battle; making any fight more challenging, and therefore more fun! Besides, my jacket and pants protected me from the worst of it. The other trainer made a similar sweeping motion through his pink hair with his hand, pushing his bangs out of his eyes before turning his attention back to the battle.

"Vee, use Swift to finish them off!" I called out to my small purple partner dashing about the sandy field. Without missing a beat she opened her mouth and released a rain of shining stars upon the pair of Linoone. The shimmering attack soon hit its marks and the two brown and white creatures cried out as the attack collided with them and sent them flying backwards. They landed on the ground with a loud thud and, after a short moment of trying hard to stumble to their feet again, both resigned to defeat and fell unconscious to the ground. I could hear my opponent gave a shocked gasp before sighing heavily.

"Tch, wiped out again!" he cried aloud as he ran his hand through his wild pink hair once again before returning his two exhausted fighters. He looked down at the pokeballs in his hands with a small smile. "You two did an awesome job though, great work." The two made the motion of crying softly, barely noticeable even through the translucent red top of the pokeballs. He looked up at me as I came closer. I picked up and held my victorious pokemon in a way that allowed her back paws to dangle freely down against my stomach, her favorite way to be held, as I closed the gap between us. "You got us again kiddo! But just you wait, we'll get you next time!" he declared as he reached out his hand for our customary after battle handshake.

"You three did much better this time Willie, but Vee and me will win again just like today!" I declared back as I took his hand and shook it. He flashed me one of his well known, infectious toothy grins, one of my favorite features about him, as he shook my hand vigorously.

"We'll see about that!" He pulled his hand away and reached into his pocket. "But for now, loser buys winner a shake, like always!" Vee's large ears perked up.

"Espeon!" she cried loudly, looking up at Willie with a slightly concerned face. The rider quickly reached down with his free hand and pet my little psychic partner's head, knowing just the right way to scratch behind her ear.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you little bud!" he reassured her, "I'll buy you the customary winning pokemon's Duka's special!'" Vee's ears perked up happily at the declaration. I'm sure she was suspicious, like I was, that he was trying to avoid paying for her meal by "forgetting" it like last time. The nervous way he chuckled at my partner's excitement told us both that he had been caught; but since he already promised to pay it, I didn't feel the need to comment. My pink haired pal led the way back into the nearby building, a small all-purpose store/diner on the outskirts of the region, shaped like a lead train car.

As soon as he swung the door open, the mixed smells of delicious home cooked foods mixed with a subtle hint of gasoline from outside danced up to our noses. I took a deep breath of it in, trying my best to log it in my memory; I could feel Vee's stomach expanding in-time with mine as she did the same. I hadn't always liked the smell of the place, but somehow it had become something I would often dream about on my long journeys across the regions. And since I'd be leaving for a brand new destination again tomorrow, I wanted to memorize every last detail about the place.

'_If only I could cook some of their dishes while I'm on the road… _'

A familiar burly man with wild red locks flowing down from underneath a green and yellow bandana turned to greet us from behind the counter of the store.

"So the two fearsome battlers are back!" he announced heartily as Willie closed the door behind us. "So, who won? As if I have to ask-" an enthusiastic laugh broke his statement, causing Willie's toothy grin to flip upside down, quick.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean Duka!?" Willie half asked, half growled. Duka just waved it off as he suppressed his laughter.

"It means what I said; let me take a stab in the dark, Ave won again?" Duka asked as he raised an eyebrow, his teasing smile never fading. I tried not to giggle as I saw Willie's cheeks shift from pink to red, -strangly enough, you could see it through his unkempt sideburns- but before he could respond, I stepped between the pair.

"Alright you two. Cool it" I told them as I moved towards the counter to sit, placing Vee on my lap. "Don't tease him Duka. The usual please, for both me and Vee." The older man gave a knowing smile and nodded before heading back to the kitchen to put in the order as Willie sat down beside me still fuming slightly. "You know Duka doesn't mean anything by it." I assured my flamingo-headed companion. "What's up; you're not usually this strung up on a loss." He sighed and relaxed a bit.

"I know I know; but after all this time, you can still wipe us out with just your espeon out on the field. It's frustrating."Willie confessed. I patted his shoulder and offered a small smile. I didn't mean to trounce him so bad every time with just Vee, but he always insisted on challenging my star performer to a battle, and she doesn't need help dealing with his pair of Linoone; if I sent out a partner, I'd just defeat them faster. Besides, it was great practice for me and Vee to fight against two opponents at once. But even so, looking at the usually chipper smile of Willie looking sullen, I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

'_But the only other thing I could do is lose on purpose, and that's an insult to him and his pokemon, as well as an insult to Vee._'

"You just need a more seasoning Willie." I encouraged as I referenced his catch phrase. "Maybe you should travel more? You always stick so close so Duka's; why not try venturing out more?" He looked over to me as his toothy grin began to form.

"Traveling huh…?" he half asked, half stated before standing up, "That's it! You got much stronger after you came back from traveling all around Orre!" Before I could respond he pumped a fist into the air. "So it's decided then! I'll travel all over this place and become stronger!" I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm, his toothy grin was infectious after all, and turned back to the counter as Duka presented me with my strawberry shake. I waited patiently as he placed his mix of pokemon food and oran berry ice cream down onto the floor so Vee could eat it.

"One strawberry shake and Duka's Special, fresh for our two young adventures!" Duka exclaimed as Vee and I began to dig into our treats. Willie ordered his favorite chocolate shake and it wasn't long before we were both sitting and laughing about both past adventures, and adventures we hoped to have. It wasn't long before we finished our sweets and Duka had taken our dishes back after Willie put down the cash for it. As I stood to leave, Duka reached down and placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him questioningly as he handed me a small handful of pokeballs. "Take these as a parting gift." Before I could protest, he placed his hand up to stop me. "You're the only one who bothers to buy them kiddo, and they'll be much more useful wherever you're going as opposed to sitting in a box collecting dust." I smiled as I slipped them into my bag and Vee jumped up onto my shoulder.

"Thanks Duka. I appreciate it." He smiled and waved me off as Willie and I made our way out. We walked to the side of the train car where Willie's clunky brown hover bike was waiting.

"So, where you headed to now?" he asked as he mounted his bike. I rolled my eyes; how many times have I told him this info? He knows how much I hate repeating myself.

"I'm not repeating myself again dude; if you don't remember after the third time, then you aren't remembering, period." I sighed as I pulled out my hover board from its holster across my back and slid my goggles on. Before he could respond I continued on. "But I'll be sure to remind you when I get back- _after_ our battle that is." His wide grin returned.

"That's a deal kiddo!" he agreed as his bike's engine roared to life. It gurgled and growled as though it was actually itching to get on the road as much as its rider. With a quick wave, Willie was off, heading towards… towards…

'_Opps, I forgot to ask…_'

Anyway, Willie was soon out of sight. I quickly mounted my board as Vee nuzzled into my shoulder, ready to get going. I slipped my shoes into the footholds of the hover bored before stepping onto the "start" switch with my back foot. The slick silver piece of metal soon whirled to life and lifted off the ground a few feet as the sound dulled to a soft, smooth hum. I adjusted the headphones that rested dangling on my neck before switching on the radio function of my PD*A and cranking up the volume. Vee gave a small squeak of approval at the song playing through my headphones; I glanced to my little partner and made sure she was settled on my shoulder properly before pressing one foot down on the ground to get our forward momentum going. After we were moving at a decent speed I slipped my foot back into its foothold before pressing the "forward" button with my leading foot. We immediately began to pick up speed, and we soon were speeding across the desert wastelands of Orre at high speeds.

'_Wind in my hair, sun to my back, a great radio station playing amazing new tunes, and my best buddy riding along on my shoulder; seriously, can it get better than this? _'

That was one thing I always missed most about Orre; the way you could just ride for miles, wind in your hair and sun on your back, without worrying about anyone or anything- save for the occasional bandit. I first left Orre region about three years ago when I was twelve, and none of the regions I've been to have provided me the feeling of freedom that Orre has. Not to say that this region was all rainbows and butterflies; it couldn't be farther from that, actually. This region is crawling with the lowest forms of humans one could hope to meet. I should know, I've met many of them. From kidnappers to gangs –new ones popping up all the time- Orre is by far the harshest region I've ever dealt with. Granted, it's still a great improvement from only a few years ago when Cipher and Team Snagem were still running rampant with their plots to gain power.

See, it was only about four years ago that Team Snagem terrorized the entire region of Orre using their "Snag Machines" to steal pokemon from right under their trainer's nose. They then handed the stolen pokemon over to Cipher who performed horrible experiments on them to create "Shadow Pokemon," or "Pokemon whose hearts have been sealed." That was their happy way of saying they had turned normal, probably frightened from having just been stolen, pokemon into mindless fighting machines. They would then redistribute these soulless creatures back to Snagem so they could defeat and steal even more pokemon. It was a vicious symbiotic relationship the two had, until the vigilante trainer showed up and shook up the entire region.

Even now, not too much is known about her, other than that she's a girl who always keeps an Espeon by her side. She is considered the leading force that brought the two organizations to their knees; not to say she was the only one who had a hand in their downfall, but she is credited as the hero that lead the charge that saved the region-albeit through less than ideal methods at times. Tales of how she saved those who had been abducted –both people and pokemon- and fought off top Cipher admins had spread far and wide, as had the stories about how she had broken into police departments and stolen many of the confidential files on both groups. Granted, they were all mailed back later, but that didn't make it legal to do in the first place. And this pattern continues; for every tale of heroic deeds there was a crime report filed about wrongdoings. And then there was of course, her most famous break in; her now infamous infiltration of Realgam Tower.

'_Realgam Tower; where people and pokemon could reach the heavens; or so they claimed… _'

It is now known that the tower was constructed by Cipher in order to host Shadow Pokemon battles in which they would fight to the death in front of live crowds. Taking advantage of Orre's lack of police authority and undefined laws, they hoped to make millions off the venture, then use those funds to mass produce shadow pokemon and use their savage power to take over all of Orre before spreading across other regions. At the time however, it appeared to simply be a much needed tourist attraction funded by a private doner as well as the mayor of Phenac city that would also hold tournaments on its rooftop. Most of us here in Orre shudder to think of what would have happened if the vigilante hadn't broken into Realgam Tower on the opening day. She whirled the entire place into an uproar as she made her way to the top, and soon battled her way to the second-in-command of Cipher. After defeating him as she had the others, the true head of the evil organization revealed himself to her, only to be defeated by her as well. And the cherry on top of the story was how all of his mighty shadow pokemon, the strongest Cipher had produced at the time, were stolen by the vigilante using the very snag machine that his own corrupted team had developed.

It turns out the girl had stolen a snag machine from a Team Snagem base before proceeding to blow it to smithereens, destroying all other snag machines as well as the data of how to produce then. She then went around, stealing shadow pokemon from those who abused them; and for all of her known digressions, she has never been known to steal a single non-shadow pokemon. What happened to the shadow pokemon she "snagged" –slang for stealing a pokemon with the snag machine- still remains a mystery to most. And the few known to have been involved with her back then, as well as a few years later when she put an end to Cipher's attempted revival, refused to say anything. What is known however is that thanks to her intervention most of Cipher and Snagem is behind bars. Though many will dispute her methods, no one could protest the results, even the authorities- who have since, ever so slowly, began to take back control of the region.

"It's already been a few years since that huge commotion, huh Vee?" I muttered out to my partner. I reached a hand up and patted her head softly, causing her to squeak lightly in delight, but I quickly turned my head forward again as the ominous figure of Realgam Tower came into view. That's right, after everything that happened, the tower was still standing, despite many calls for its destruction. Many still viewed it as a vile symbol left behind by the villainous groups and wanted it dismembered as soon as possible, but many argued that much work –and money- had gone into the project, and that it should be kept for it was supposed to be- a tourist attraction and hot spot for trainers to gather. Though why any trainer would choose that ritzy place compared to the challenging, rough and tumble battles of Mt. Battle, I'll never know. There's no better way to test what you've got then with a grueling 100 trainer line-up on your way to the top- at least there isn't to me. Either way, Realgam has barely stayed afloat these past few years due to the negativity attached to it. Now some foreign company has taken a shot at sponsoring it while giving it a complete overhaul; if I remember correctly, their idea was promoting it as "taking what was once bad, and using it for good proposes" or something like that. Though I hear that they promised a portion of the profits were being dedicated to charities. They were also supposed to be making expansions to it to make a full zoo area for imported pokemon.

'_Ambitious idea, to say the least; but either way, it doesn't really concern me.'_

Vee perked up at the sight as we got closer. I patted my head to calm her as I picked up speed. The last thing I wanted was to be caught up in a construction zone. As I passed by, I could clearly see that the place was in an organized chaos, but I couldn't help but feel a bit excited to catch a few glimpses of the imported pokemon being brought in; wild pokemon of _any_ kind were a rare in this harsh region, so I know many people will be ecstatic for the chance to see pokemon up close like that. I kept my eyes square ahead after I had passed the tower, but Vee perked up more before we were even two miles from the tower.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as I sensed her becoming distressed. She cried loudly before motioning towards a cliff a short ways from us. Knowing better than to ignore my pokemon's instincts, I quickly changed direction and headed towards the area. I slowed to a stop as I reached the edge of the rocks, and the first thing to register in my head was the screams of confusion from down below. I glanced down and quickly to see a small truck had slid some-ways down a steeply sloped hill –probably caught up in one of Orre's infamous rockslides- and had tilted onto its side, still teetering back and forth. A young girl could also be seen down near the bottom of the rocks, flat on the ground. After a few seconds the girl stood shakily to reveal a small pink and white pokemon underneath her. I gave a relieved sigh at seeing her move, and soon many people –I'm guessing workers for the tower redevelopment, as well as the source of the confused screams- began to make their down the less steep sections of the cliff side towards the girl. "Seems like everything's alright here Vee. Let's get going."

No later than the instant I turned around did I hear another round of screams. I turned to see that a shower of pokeballs was now raining from the truck, -why did it have to teeter so far forward?- all of them opening to reveal a Tauros. It wasn't long before all the confused Tauros began to stampede their way around the gorge, quickly grouping up before heading straight towards the young girl. Without thinking, I pushed my board down the steep hill towards the young girl. I could see her and her pokemon –a flaffy I believe- were frozen at the sight of the oncoming Tauros. I took in as much breath as I could before calling out to the pair.

"Hey! You two!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. It worked well enough for the two to turn their heads towards me, the rest of their bodies still frozen in place from terror. "Return your pokemon right now kid!" I demanded of her as I glided over the rough surface of the rocks. She looked hesitant before another shout from me gave her enough resolve to call back her small pokemon into its ball. As the call of the rampaging pokemon grew louder, I pushed the "boost button" with my back foot and dashed forward at an even faster pace. I could see the gap between the girl and the Tauros closing as I hit the home stretch. I reached out my hand to the girl, and grabbed hold of her as she reached out her own. I could hear the wind being knocked out of her as I yanked her onto my board and swung my body hard to the side to turn the board away from the wild pokemon. To her credit, I felt her grab hold of me tightly as we began to try to outrun the swift herd.

I could barely hear Vee cry out, alerting me to the pokemon quickly gaining on us from behind, over the thundering roar of the Tauros's heavy gallop. The fact that I could hear my heart's own racing tempo pulsing in my ear wasn't helping much. I scanned the area ahead of us for any ideas of how to escape, when I noticed the gleaming bars of iron used in construction up ahead. I called out for my partner, and soon one of the bars was levitating off the ground, forming a ramp for us to use, pointing to a ledge that would be out of the Tauros's reach. Without missing a beat I moved the board towards the beam and picked up speed, causing my passenger's grip to tighten more.

"Hold on tight; this landing will be rough!" I called to her as loud as I could. I felt her nod against my back as we approached the beam. I glanced back to see the heard only a few feet away now; if we didn't make the jump, we'd soon be swallowed up by the pack and likely trampled to death.

'_And here I was just thinking about how relaxing road trips in Orre are. Silly, silly me…'_

I began to pick up speed as we closed the last leg of distance between us and the beam. Just as I felt the overbearing presence of the wild pokemon only inches away from us, we hit the ramp and were sent soaring into the air. The brief exhilaration from escaping the stampeding Tauros was quickly wiped out as we began to fall towards the ledge. I swung my legs forward so the stream of energy that allowed a hover board to, well hover, would help slow our landing. I glanced over my shoulder to my poke-partner. "Vee, use your Psychic attack to slow our landing!" Without another word she let out a cry, and I soon felt the strong pull of her psychic energy encasing the three of us. It pulled at us from above, but didn't have enough time to slow us completely; both me and the girl landed with an obnoxious _thud_ and rolled a few feet on the ledge, -me finishing on my stomach, her on her back- while Vee jumped off my shoulder at the last minute and landed gracefully on her four paws.

I laid still for a moment and allowed the sound of the rampaging stampede still raging just below us fill my mind for almost an entire minute. Then, I picked up my head and spit out the mouthful of sand I had nearly swallowed as a courtesy of my landing. After seeing that Vee was safe and sound, I crawled over to the girl who was still on the ground and began to shake her gently.

"Hey you; are you still with me?" I asked as I began to shake her a bit harder. She opened her eyes and glanced up at me dizzily –I could just imagine the little torchics from old cartoons circling over her right now- before picking herself up into a sitting position.

"Wh-What happened…?" she asked in a soft-spoken daze. "Are we dead?" I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Nope. Not quite yet, but we did get awfully close to accomplishing that goal." I responded as I felt myself relax. It seemed as though it was at this moment that she noticed the sounds of the raging tauros still running right below us. She let out a scream and tackled me down in a strong hug, her arms around my stomach. "Whoa, calm down tenderfoot!" I assured her with a light laugh as I patted her head; Vee came up on her opposite side and nuzzled to her, trying to help calm the poor thing. I reached down to my belt and pulled out a pokeball. "Give me a hand here Cirri!" I called as I threw the pokeball into the air. The red and white ball released a red beam that quickly took the form of a large blue bird with cloud like wings. The girl now attached to my side glanced upward as my Cirri let out a song-like cry.

"My… What a beautiful Altaria…" she whispered as Cirri glided around above us. I smiled at her.

"Thanks; but she's got more than just looks ya' know." I responded as I turned to look down at the still rampaging creatures down below. "Cirri, help us out with Safeguard; then give these knock-em-out with your Sing!" The graceful humming pokemon swopped down and circled the party, almost close enough to touch, before turning a giving an off a luminous light. I could hear a light gasp from beside me. The girl released one arm from around my stomach and reach out towards Cirri; but right before she could touch her, the pokemon flew off over the herd of wild bull pokemon, leaving the soft blue light surrounding the three of us. The girl looked at it with such wonder, I couldn't help but snicker a bit. "This is Safegaurd; it'll protect us from what's coming up next." She looked to me curiously, but my airborne performer's song answered her question before she could ask. We turned our attention to the Tauros as Cirri glided over them, singing a captivating tune. We watched as their formation began to break and a few began to fall over asleep; it wasn't long before the once clamoring army or bulls were fast asleep on the ground. The girl pulled away from me completely and looked at the scene awe struck.

'_Clearly, she needs to get out more; while the Tauros chase may be a bit extreme, Cirri's sing should not be this awe-inspiring to a girl who looks like she's my age.'_

I stood up and brushed myself off before turning to my newest acquaintance and offering her a hand up. She took it hesitantly and, with some help, pulled herself into a shaky stance. She attempted to brush the dirt off her sullied white dress, but it was useless; there wasn't enough bleach in the world to make that piece of tattered cloth white again. At least she didn't appear to have anything more than a few bruises. She looked at me with a nervous smile.

"Th-Thank you for saving me miss" she said while giving me a curtsey. "The rockslide was so unexpected, and before I knew it I was at the bottom of this forsaken crevice. Then out of nowhere, the Tauros…" I placed a hand on her shoulder to shake her from her thoughts; there was no need for her to freak herself out with a bunch of 'what if' scenarios.

"It's no problem; you can call me Alyssa; what's your name?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"My name is Yukiko; it's very nice to meet you Ms. Alyssa." She offered back in a quiet voice.

"Now, why don't we round up these party animals back into their pokeballs?" I suggested as I pulled my hand away. She nodded in reply and soon we were riding back towards where the pokeballs had fallen from the car. Picking up all the sleeping tauros didn't take too long, and before I knew it, many workers had made their way down to us to help us with the collection. As it turns out that the poke-transport system in Realgam was on the fritz do to the construction, so Yukiko and a few others were bringing the zoo pokemon to their new home via cars stuffed to the brim with pokeballs.

"Unfortunatly," she started as she shyly twirled a thick strand of light blue hair around a finger, "I begged the driver to get closer to the cliff so I could see the view and…" her dark blue eyes glanced down as she trailed off. I just chuckled more.

"Unfortunatly you got a much closer look than you intended." I finished for her as her face turned bright red, "Well, on the bright side, you did get a great vie-" before I could finish, a long black limousine pulled up right next to us, causing my new buddy to jump and hide behind me. Vee switched from my right to my left shoulder to get a better look at the car. As soon as it was at a complete stop, a boy who looked to be only a year or two older than me dressed in a white button shirt and black dress pants shot out of the car.

"Yukiko!" he shouted as he practically shoved me out of the way before hugging the girl behind me. He quickly pulled away and looked down at the girl as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? How did this happen? Do you need to go to the hospital? What-" Yukiko pulled out of his grasp, causing him to stop.

"I'm fine brother! It was all just an accident; please calm yourself-"

"An accident that could have cost you your life Yukiko!" he retorted, obviously upset. Though I make it a policy not to get involved in other's affairs, seeing Yukiko flinch and tear up like a tediursa that had just stepped on a spike made me feel obligated to help. I stepped up to the boy, ignoring the sound of the other car door opening.

"Hey now, yelling at her won't really help anything will it?" His hazel eyes darted over to me with an intense glare instilled in them. The boy who seemed like such a caring brother a second ago now reminded me of how that group of ursuring looked when I stumbled into their territory.

"And who are you to comment on this?" he practically spat at me. Before I could respond with 'the one who just saved your sister's ass,' or something to that effect, a man in a black and blue business suit stepped between us.

"Nathan, do not take your anger out on this girl; she's right, yelling at Yukiko will do no good now" the man stated. Looking at all three of them now as they began to talk, it was obvious that the man had to be their father; his dark brown hair matched the boy's perfectly, and his daughter obviously inherited his eyes. The man turned his full attention to me. "Yukiko tells me that you are the one who so daringly rescued her; I thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing my daughter. If there is anything I can do to repay you, please just say the word." I placed both of my hands on the back of my head and offered a smile.

"No need for that; I'm just glad it all worked out so well." I pulled out my board and hopped on. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going; I've got a boat to catch." The man reached into his jacket's pocket and handed me a business card. I glanced it over' 'Nicholas Grey,' it read with contact information written below it. Wait, where have I heard that name before?

"If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to call. My company has connections spread across many regions; I'm sure you'll find some way in which I can repay you." He explained. I nodded and put the card away. Of course, Nett said it was the Nicholas Grey's company that bought the Realgam Tower.

'_So Yukiko is a rich girl who probably doesn't get out much; that would explain her reaction at a simple Sing attack…_'

After a few more minutes of exchanging goodbyes with the group, as well as email addresses with Yukiko, I was on the road once again. Thanks to that little adventure, I barely made the high-speed bullet train to Grateon Port. With the train ride, and a mad dash to the docks, I made my way onboard the S.S. Libra Jr just as they were raising anchor. I squeezed my way through the sailors and other guests and leaned against the railing near the back of the boat, where there was hardly anyone around, and watched as the shoreline of Orre slowly began to vanish in the distance. As I watched the land get smaller and smaller I heard my PD*A beep. I opened it to find an email from Yukiko, and began to read it over.

' Dear ,

Thank you again for saving me Ms. Alyssa. To be honest, I was hoping to find some sort of adventure here in Orre; though not that much I assure you. Actually, and I ask you don't laugh, I came here hoping to be able to meet with that mysterious vigilante trainer somehow. I hear she's been spotted in Orre again, but I'm sure you already knew that. But I won't be disappointed if I don't meet her now, because meeting you was a wonderful experience as well. I'll even venture to say that you are much more impressive than she is. Oh, look at me go on like I know you both so well. Anyway, please do email me as often as you can; I hope we can become good friends from here on out!

Sincerely Yukiko.'

I couldn't help but giggle; clearly she didn't socialize much outside high society; I mean, she even used a formal letter format on an email. But she was a sweet girl, so I couldn't bring myself to dislike her, even if she does seem a bit naive. I typed a quick reply before closing my PD*A and looking back out at the water.

"More impressive than the vigilante trainer herself, huh?" I muttered aloud so that only Vee could hear. The pokemon looked at me curiously and I smiled at her. After a few more minutes, the few people around me had all left for their rooms, and I was left alone on the deck. I glanced around before pulling back the sleeve of my jacket; now was as good as time as any to check that no hardware was broken. I looked over the thin metal frame that went from my shoulder to my wrist, then separated so a piece of metal went down each of my fingers; everything looked fine. "Good thing the snag machine wasn't damaged in that landing, eh Vee? Guess the Prof. really did make this model 30% more durable." I whispered to my pokemon, who gave a small cry in return. I quickly covered it back up and turned towards the front of the ship.

'A_t least you got your adventure before I had to go Yukiko._'

In a few days I'd be in Johto, one home of Team Rocket, as well as the second largest head quarters of the pokemon G-Men; and I doubted either would enjoy having me around. Not that I really cared.

"Afterall, we have something too important to do to be worrying about them, right Vee?" Vee perked up and gave an assuring cry. I reached up and scratched her behind the ear. I knew that dealing with them would be dangerous; the G-men already wanted to "question me" in regards to my activities in other regions, as well as where all of the shadow pokemon I've snagged have gone, and I'm sure Team Rocket can't like the idea of a vigilante that has already defeated two other insidious organizations being in their territory. Then add the many trainers who would love to be known for defeating me to make things even more complicated.

_But it doesn't matter either way. For Sachi's sake, I'll defeat anyone who stands in my way. So bring it on anyone who dares try to take us on; I will not- no, we will not lose!  
_

**AN: Well, that's it for the first chapter/prolog! Hope you all like. **

**Also, for all of you who don't know, this is based on the region from Pokemon Colosseum/XD Gale of Darkness, and the pink haired Rider Willie IS a real trainer that challenges you multiple times. And I gave the Outskirt Stand's owner a name, but he also exists. If you haven't played, don't worry; the explanation in this chapter is all you need to know.  
**

**Please review if you liked it; it motivates me to update faster. Especially since this is a side project; even if it's just one person, knowing you want to read more will push me. Comments, constructive criticism, I welcome it all!  
**

**Hope to see you all again next time!  
**


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