Welcome to the majesty that was the faraway and fair Kalos region.

This land was rich in natural beauty and regal history perfectly mixed with the integrations of modern technology into a quaint civilization created through the cooperation between humans and Pokémon. To a foreigner from places like Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola, they would be lost in Kalos's breathtaking atmosphere, just as much as how a native citizen of Kalos would marvel over the distinctive timely qualities of Johto, Hoenn, and even Unova.

However, these aforementioned locations bear no major significance at this moment of time.

Located within the heart of Kalos was the ever bustling Lumiose City. The major buzz within this advanced city was that the distinguished Lumiose Trainer Academy was about to release a fresh class of young graduating Pokémon Trainers. Though it was traditional for an aspiring Trainer to leave on his or her journey as early as ten to eleven years of age, the Academy was a unique and sophisticated education system officially sponsored by the Pokémon League Committee that would allow aspiring Trainers to continue learning more on the concepts and theories of Pokémon for a greater advantage at the cost of four years of studying.

As such, the highest percentage of the age range wherein Kalos Trainers begin their journeys was around fourteen to fifteen years of age, close to the center of the adolescent years.

Gathered within a classroom of the prestigious Lumiose Trainer Academy were numerable students ready to embark on their journeys and achieve their respective dreams. This day, they were gathered together in their homeroom for one final hurrah.

"Isn't this exciting, Marinette?" Alya prompted eagerly, grinning widely towards her dark-haired, bluebell-eyed best friend. "We're about to become full-fledged Pokémon Trainers once we set foot outside Lumiose City. I can't wait to explore Kalos and dig up so many of its secrets!"

Marinette smiled back, her enthusiasm confirmed when her decided partner landed on her shoulder and affectionately nuzzled against her cheek.

"Tikki and I have to agree with you, Alya," Marinette replied, petting her Ledyba's head. Her friend of Alola descent couldn't help but grin fondly over their bond. "There's just so much to look forward to out there."

"I still can't believe I missed out on the day from our first year where our class got to find and pick out their own partners from Professor Damocles's Pokémon reserve," Alya remarked in passing, laying her head on her propped-up arm. "I still wanted to see how you were first acquainted with your Ledyba…" A sly smirk stretched itself on her lips. "… And how you've fallen badly for you-know-who."

Even at the vague reference the young brunette journalist used, Marinette jolted back on her seat with a luminescent pink blush glowing upon her face and an audibly subtle squeak as she looked ahead upon the seat in front of her. Sitting in front of her and talking to Nino Lahiffe was none other than Adrien Agreste, son of reigning Kalos Champion and top Kalos fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, and most importantly the love of her life.

Marinette soon relaxed, leaning forward upon her desk with her head resting on hands and the expression of her face molded into a loving gaze as she easily recalled how Adrien had captured her heart without the use of a Poké Ball.

Four Years Ago…

It was the first year Marinette Dupain-Cheng had been enrolled into the Lumiose Trainer Academy shortly after turning ten and graduating Jr. Trainer School, wherein the very basics of Pokémon training were taught. She wanted to get to know Pokémon better and develop friendships with them, which was why she chose to pursue the opportunity to learn how to become a proper Pokémon Trainer.

Of course, her main aspiration from the beginning was to become a fashion designer for both people and Pokémon. Her initial target audience would be addressed to young women that wanted to become Pokémon Performers intent on obtaining the title of Kalos Queen. She did have some male designs on hand for formal gatherings, but that field was limited at the moment. But once she had proven sufficiently successful, she planned to expand her demographic to include Pokémon Coordinators as to cater to more men as well.

That was what Gabriel Agreste was doing right now with his fashion lines as his success in Kalos allowed him to escalate his reach and appeal to the Coordinators of the Sinnoh region on top of defending his title as Kalos Champion.

By going on a journey, Marinette would be able to gain the confidence and insight needed to create the most fabulous designs the Pokémon world has ever seen.

Sadly, she wasn't sure if she was going to survive the first quarter of the year in the Academy.

There were plenty of ups and downs within the first few weeks of starting, from befriending Alya Césaire as her family had moved from the Alola region to dealing with Chloé Bourgeois, the spoiled and snooty daughter of the current Pokémon League Committee President and owner of Lumiose's Hotel Richissime, André Bourgeois, as well as her meek sycophant, Sabrina Raincomprix. It was usually the latter antagonizing their whole class, declaring that she was going to be Kalos's best Trainer and its most beautiful Queen because of her father's position and that everyone else was beneath her. Of course, she exempted her Adrikins from her scorn due to obvious reasons.

With such interactions, drama flared up and misunderstandings spread like wildfire, one of which Marinette misinterpreted a prank Chloé had set up on her and initially disliked the new student Adrien for being an unwitting accomplice due to his connection with the blond brat, even though she would eventually realize that he was trying to undo said prank, but was unfortunately seen at the wrong place and at the wrong time. This was a memory Marinette was not fond of only because of how she initially treated him.

Moving along, the day came where their class was moved to Professor Damocles's lab, in which the local Pokémon researcher led them to one of his Pokémon reserves to allow the students the opportunity to find and bond with their first Pokémon.

Traditionally, new Trainers that go up to him for their first Pokémon get the well-rounded starters that were Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. However, exclusive to the Lumiose Trainer Academy students by order of the Pokémon League Committee, Professor Damocles had prepared a Pokémon reserve that housed a variety of Pokémon that were mainly at their most basic forms.

"In addition to the three Kalos starters, you may find that this reserve has a number of Pokémon that are not even native to Kalos," Professor Damocles announced to the class, much to the students' growing wonder. "Some Pokémon not native to Kalos include Snivy, Torchic, and Squirtle, and those are just naming off starters. There are plenty of basic stage Pokémon in this reserve outside of the known starters. If you're lucky, you might run into one of them while exploring the reserve. You will then have to prove yourself worthy of their trust by appealing to them however you see fit."

"Oh, puh-lease, just save me and everyone else the trouble and hand over the strongest Pokémon you have in that ridiculous ranch of yours to me," Chloé scoffed, much to everyone's annoyance. "My daddy says I'll be Kalos's best Trainer and its Queen."

"I'm afraid that's not how it works, Chloé," Caline Bustier, a young aid to Professor Damocles and assigned homeroom teacher to their class, intervened while shaking her head disapprovingly.

"In any case, you have up to two hours to find your first partner," Professor Damocles resumed. A Noctowl flew in from behind and perched itself on his shoulder. "Ms. Bustier and I will monitor your performance, making sure you don't accidentally overstep boundaries and bring harm among yourselves and especially the Pokémon. If you get lost, please wave up to the sky and my Noctowl will guide you to the exit. It's a good thing one of us still has twenty-twenty vision."

His self-depreciating joke certainly earned a collective chorus of innocent laughs from the students.

Fast forwarding a an hour and a half later upon commencement, Marinette found herself lost within the unexpectedly large reserve after chasing a Poliwag and losing sight of it after tripping over her own feet. Gray clouds garnered overhead, signifying the change in weather from clear to rainy in a few minutes.

"Hey! Anybody?" Marinette called out with her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify her bellows. "Noctowl?! I don't know where I am! Please help me!"

Her ankle wasn't as sore as it would be due to her klutzy nature, but her legs were still trembling out of fear and apprehension. Not only did she lose her way through the reserve, she had no luck in befriending a Pokémon. They were either scared off by her eagerness or felt that she wasn't worth their time because of how easily she could trip over air.

"Ooh, why did Alya have to go to a family reunion today of all days…?" Marinette murmured, frightened tears sliding down her face.

The dark-haired girl felt lost without her best friend guiding and supporting her. At this rate, the Academy would have to call in the police just to pull her out and she would drop out from the school because of this horrible experience and not become a Trainer to avoid spreading her humiliation throughout the public.

It certainly didn't help that while she tripped over a tree root while caught up in her despair, this time leaving a more noticeable, sore bruise on the affected ankle.

"SOMEBODY!" Marinette yelled desperately.

As though her pleas were being answered, the nearby bushes started to rustle into activity. Marinette wasn't sure who or what was going to pop out. While Professor Damocles and Ms. Bustier assured that the Pokémon won't attack unless majorly provoked, the young clumsy girl still remained fretful and braced for the worst.

A soft buzzing of wings echoed from the bushes and the creature making that noise revealed itself to be a Ledyba. Marinette looked up in spite of her stinging tear-stained eyes, noticing how this Ledyba was gazing upon her with a rather sympathetic look. She also noted that its antennae were particularly short, signifying that it was a female.

"Ree?" the Ledyba questioned.

"Please… help me," Marinette pleaded in a whisper, demonstrating that she was unable to stand due to her injured ankle. She then waved a hand over to the Five Star Pokémon. "Ledyba, pull me up."

Without hesitation, the Ledyba flew over to the girl and used all six limbs to grab onto her hand. The Ledyba then pulled up to give Marinette enough support to stand back on her feet. However, the soreness of her ankle sapped her of her power and she was forced to collapse again, this time pulling the Ledyba with her.

"Reh reh," the Ledyba buzzed, experiencing a bit of discomfort after being pulled down with the human.

"I'm so sorry, Ledyba!" Marinette cried, cradling her in her arms. "I-It's okay if you're mad at me. I don't blame you. I'm mad at me for getting into this mess." She sniffled while bearing a wan smile. "I'm such a klutz… a useless, hopeless, silly little klutz."

The Ledyba continued to gaze softly at the human girl's forlorn look, only for the both of them to jump out of shock when the roar of thunder suddenly reverberated throughout the graying Kalos sky. A mild downpour had started to rain upon their already dismal parade.

"Redi," the Ledyba grunted, a determined expression reflected from her wide eyes as she soon took off.

Marinette didn't even try to stop her. She figured the Ledyba wouldn't stick around with someone as unlucky as she was. Since she couldn't stand without reeling in pain, she opted to stay and weep with her legs folded up and her head buried behind her knees as the rainfall steadily intensified.

Barely a couple of minutes had passed though and the bushes where Ledyba came out of started to rustle once more. Marinette momentarily paused in her despondency to look as a swift little Pokémon leapt out of it. This Pokémon had purple fur with a few areas of vanilla-crème colored locations and was on all fours, but then it took up to standing on its hind legs. It also had a rather mischievous, but mysterious look on its face.

"Purrrr-loin," it mewled.

"Plagg, wait up!" a new, but familiarly boyish voice exclaimed.

Marinette sat up straight and leaned against the tree she was on. Someone was on their way to find her. She also recognized the voice. Soon enough, the boy she recognized as Adrien came through the bushes along with the Ledyba that was temporarily with her.

"Y-You," Marinette muttered, a small frown forming on her lips.

Adrien looked away uncomfortably, recalling the recent memory of getting blamed for being part of Chloé's prank. He didn't blame her, but he really didn't want any ill feelings between himself and anyone from his class, especially since he finally got approval from his father to attend a Trainer school instead of being privately tutored and trained in the frigid forests surrounding Snowbelle City.

"Listen, I know you don't have a great opinion of me, but hear me out," Adrien said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I know what it looked like back at the classroom, but I swear I was trying to undo what Chloé did." Marinette watched him impassively. "The thing is that… we knew each other when we were little. Back where I was from, she was my only friend. My father, wanting me to live up to his expectations so that I can take the title of Kalos Champion from him some day, had me isolated from others just so I can learn about Pokémon at a very early age without distraction."

Marinette felt her facial features soften upon listening to him. She couldn't explain to herself why, but this charming boy was as sincere as he claimed. A pang of compassion touched her heart upon sensing his loneliness and she felt internally remorseful of her actions against him. The only reason why she chewed him out was his immediate association with Chloé, and she already had enough with the spoiled brat since Jr. Trainer School. She was already familiar with her and most of her class as they pretty much grew up together because of the opportunity for Pokémon education. Both Adrien and Alya were newcomers to their class this year.

"Anyway, I wanted to make new friends with this opportunity to attend Lumiose Academy and more once I leave for my Pokémon journey," Adrien resumed. "I never really had any friends and it's all new to me, but I'm glad Nino gave me a chance and I found my first partner here in my Purrloin, Plagg. And then this Ledyba came out of nowhere and led me here to you, so if I can…"Adrien hesitated a bit while Marinette looked up to him rather expectantly. "I want you to be my friend too… and for me to be your friend."

Marinette blinked, unable to come up with anything to respond with. He was so blunt and open, not fearing if he got hurt because of this vulnerability or was used to rejection before. That was not right. He shouldn't be punished for the mistakes for others.

"The very least I can do now is to help you out," Adrien said, kneeling down upon spotting the mild injury her ankle sported and inspected it. "It's not too inflamed, but a temporary patch-up should work until the nurse can see it."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a fine white handkerchief. Marinette could tell that it was made from refined Ariados silk. Adrien then held up Marinette's foot, gingerly sliding off the flat she wore by the heel so that he could tie the handkerchief around her arch firmly enough to secure the ankle in place to prevent additional discomfort upon exerting action. Only after tying it up did he realize that it was raining and pulled a black umbrella out from his bag as well.

Adrien stood back up to open up the umbrella, shielding himself and Marinette from additional raindrops. Marinette attempted to stand, but she still felt the sharp pain from her ankle searing her nerves.

"I-It still hurts," Marinette whimpered.

Just as she reopened her eyes as a result of surviving the aftershock of her pain, she found Adrien extending a hand to her.

"Believe in yourself just as your friends do," Adrien said resolutely, gesturing with his fingers to persist in standing.

A warm, empowering feeling welled within her gut as Marinette reached out to take his hand. Once she was in his firm grip, she tried again pushing herself off the ground. The pain in her ankle seemed have dimmed down significantly as she practically rocketed into the air and back on her feet. And because of her seemingly natural inelegance, she fell over against Adrien while he had his arms secured around her to prevent her from falling over. Her head was partially pushed against his right shoulder.

It was as though they were hugging.

The warmth that she felt started to rise up to her face the longer she was in the blond boy's embrace. Realizing what was going on, she backed up a bit to be greeted by Adrien's brilliant smile.

"I knew you can do it," Adrien reassured, extending another hand for her; it was the hand that held his umbrella. "Now let's get back with others. They're really worried."

"Y-Yeah, she would… I mean, we should," Marinette nodded rather stiffly as she gripped onto Adrien's hand with the umbrella under the soft roar of thunder in the sky, her eyes briefly widening upon catching herself stuttering for the first time in a while.

The dark-haired designer also realized that he purposely had the umbrella between them so that both would be protected from the increasing rain. This boy that she initially scorned proved that he was completely different and opposite from Chloé. He was kind, sincere, thoughtful, honest, cute…

He was perfect.

While Adrien didn't notice, Marinette's face was illuminated with a warm, affectionate blush that was practically its own light source in the dark, raining Pokémon reserve. Plagg and the Ledyba followed behind the two humans, with the Ledyba gazing fondly upon her new friend finding comfort in another human while Plagg rolled his eyes and bore an amused smirk regarding future entertainment from their interactions.

Though even as her injury healed by the end of the day, Marinette still held onto his white handkerchief up to the present day. She felt she was entitled to keep something of his that he wouldn't notice if it had gone missing, even if had been wrapped around her drenched, sweaty foot for a few hours.

"GYAAAH!" Marinette yelped, falling off of her chair as a minor electrical shock went through her body. Tikki had already taken to the air as she already knew what was happening. It wasn't her fault that her Trainer was stuck in another Adrien-related daydream, but she really needed to get a grip on her priorities. A hand emerged over the desk, pulling a steamed Marinette up as she angrily faced Alya. "Will you please stop siccing your Elekid on me?! There are other ways in getting my attention aside from electrocutions, ya know!"

Standing next to the chair at a short height was the Elekid Alya got as a gift from her family as to make up for her absence at the Pokémon reserve years ago. The Elekid shared a mischievous smirk with Alya before being called back to her side.

"I know, but it's just more fun doing it this way," Alya winked. "You're used to it now and Elekid has been going easy on ya. You understand, don't ya?"

"No! I don't!" Marinette fumed through clenched teeth.

"Everything alright back there?" a voice Marinette feared to face at the moment had asked.

Adrien was looking back at her and Alya along with Nino with a concerned glance. It was likely that he overheard her not-so-little outburst and was now checking up on her. Marinette soon found her eyes looking everywhere but the gorgeous boy sitting in front of her, trying to find fascination with the Purrloin on his desk eating a small block of Moomoo Farm brand cheese. Why Plagg was so interested in cheese was still a mystery to many, but Marinette didn't want to put Adrien on the spot like that. After all, she learned a day after befriending Tikki that she had a particular, unquestionable fondness for sweets, particularly cookies and macarons in addition to Poké Puffs.

"N-No!" Marinette stumbled, shakily tapping her fingers together. "I mean, y-yes! Fine we…! I mean, w-we fine… I mean, you're fine! No… we are fine! Uh, not to say that you're not fine, but−!"

"She means there's nothing to worry about, boys," Alya intervened as she placed a hand over her mouth, deciding to step in before her best friend buried herself further into the proverbial pit of shame. "Anyway, Adrien, Nino, you dudes excited to start?"

"Totally, girl!" Nino chuckled, gesturing his first partner to join him on his shoulder. "Thanks to Squirtle's help here, we've got some mad beats to belt out as we storm our way to the top. My music and the Squirts's moves are gonna blow all your minds!"

"Squirt Squirtle!" Squirtle agreed.

"You know, I still can't help but imagine why you're not giving Squirtle a solid nickname, Nino," Adrien pondered, resting his head on his fist. "I mean, so far you've called it 'Squirts,' 'Squirt Dude,' and even 'Bubbler' for some reason."

"Why the 'Bubbler'?" Alya asked wryly.

"… I like Squirtle's bubbles," Nino shrugged, to which the Tiny Turtle Pokémon demonstrated by spitting out a few harmless bubbles out of his mouth. "And to answer Adrien, not everyone is keen on nicknaming their Pokémon, though I still find it interesting you named your Purrloin 'Plagg' of all things."

"And my answer to you is 'Why not?'," Adrien responded. "Though I think Plagg is the only one I'll nickname for now. And besides, you're going to confuse poor Squirtle with all those names."

"Don't worry about him, Adrien," Alya waved off. "While I'm not about to name my Elekid something silly like 'Lady Wifi' only because he's a boy, you have your reasons. You're not the only one who nicknamed her first Pokémon, isn't that right, Marinette?"

"Y-Yeah…" Marinette breathed with a rather awkward, dopey smile before receiving a hidden jab from Alya's elbow. "Ow! I mean, yeah! I, uh, named my Ledyba 'Tikki' so, um, nothing wrong with that… yeah."

"I don't remember if I said this already, but that's a really unique nickname for your Ledyba," Adrien smiled. "I think you have quite a penchant for names, Marinette."

"I do?" Marinette asked a little too quickly for her tastes.

If only Adrien knew that she already determined the names of their future three beautiful children, as well as their future family pet Dedenne, though she was still debating on getting either a Growlithe or a Skitty along with the Dedenne. She still had plenty of time to decide.

"Hey, so it looks like you two have a lot more in common than you think," Alya spoke up, grinning slyly at her best friend to incite a flustered blush on her face. "I was wondering since Nino already kinda shared his goal, what's your dream, Adrien?"

"Well, I'm kinda expected to become the next Champion after my father, so I have to compete in the upcoming Kalos League, win it, and defeat the Elite Four for the chance to face him," Adrien explained, though Marinette was able to sense that he sounded half-hearted about that goal when the others didn't. "Honestly, I just want to travel the world and meet new friends and Pokémon. I just like the freedom that going on a Pokémon journey can give."

"Come to think of it, you were also stuck doing some modeling in Laverre City in addition to all that intensive training, weren't you?" Nino mentioned.

"Ugh, I'd rather not look back at it," Adrien groaned.

"How about you dudettes?" Nino inquired. "I guess I don't really have to ask you, Alya, since you're pretty obvious."

"You know it, boy," Alya replied cheekily. "I'm gonna be a top journalist for the Lumiose Press as I scour all over Kalos and uncover its greatest mysteries, like find more on that old tale with the war and the ultimate weapon. They've already placed me at entry level and all I have to do now is to write up some more juicy stories and I'll be climbing up the ladder in no time flat."

"Oh, yeah? Have you uncovered the mystery on why Chloé can't take a hint that our charming Ace Trainer here is not interested?"

At Nino's jest, the four friends broke out in laughter. Marinette was palpably cheerful over it, given that she disliked the brat with great intensity over her past bullying and how she continued pushing herself over Adrien. The dark-haired girl was impressed at the seemingly infinite amount of patience he had in dealing with her, even though he was clearly aware of Chloé's awful personality.

Compared to her, Adrien was a saint. A pure, handsome saint.

"Heh… I'm still a novice, but I'll uncover it someday," Alya said after calming down from her laughter. "You guys will definitely be the first to know so don't worry your beautiful heads off."

"That's… good to know," Adrien chuckled, glancing at Marinette, causing her to mildly recoil for some reason. "Marinette, you haven't shared your dream yet. What do you want out of your journey?"

Marinette's heart fluttered over the fact that her crush was really interested in learning more about her. To be fair, they didn't have much interaction in the four years they spent together in the Lumiose Trainer Academy, mostly because of how she would shy away out of fear of making a bigger fool out of herself, as well as the ridiculous idea that he would reject her on the spot. It was bad enough that she could barely scrape up coherent sentences while in his presence, but she felt that she had already left an impression on him on how weird, awkward, and creepy she came off as.

She soon remembered the threat of Alya watching with a playfully malicious smirk while pointing down at her Elekid, who was spinning his arms to store up some electricity to use to wake her up with as though the Electric Pokémon was now her new alarm clock. Tikki fortunately came to her rescue, landing on her head to jar her from her love-induced daze.

"Um… I want to travel Kalos for, uh, inspiration… for m-my fashion designs," Marinette shared, tapping her fingers together while gathering her thoughts. "While I loved working with my parents in their bakery, this will give me the… um, opportunity to learn more about Pokémon… and, um, stuff like that."

"Say Adrien, your father's doing something like that already on top of being Champion, right?" Alya interjected.

"Yeah, his designs are a big hit considering how many formal get-togethers happen in Kalos in addition to the Performer Showcases," Adrien mumbled, modestly scratching the back of his head. "And I usually have no choice but to attend as a guest with my father in most of them."

"Interesting," Alya mused, facing Marinette next. "You know, if Adrien's dad is capable of holding onto the Champion title while running a major fashion line and company, I don't see why you can't, girl."

"That's… something I don't really think about, but it would be nice," Marinette pondered.

"Looks like that makes us rivals," Adrien quipped, sending a suave wink and smirk that made Marinette's heart melt and nearly stop beating on the spot.

"Yo! Don't forget about me, dude," Nino called out. "I'm gonna rock the Kalos League with my musical battle style."

"Of course, bro," Adrien concurred, bumping fists with him.

"I'm not too concerned about collecting gym badges, but I'll consider it," Alya muttered. "Personally, a super scoop is more valuable to me than some fancy championship title."

"Since we all shared what we're going to do once we leave the Academy, I'm curious on what other classmates plan to do next," Adrien said, jutting his chin out to point to the rest of the classroom.

"I talked to most of them, so here's what I got," Alya answered, starting with the rows behind her. First was Ivan Bruel, who was affectionately patting his male Nidoran behind the ears. Though as to kill two birds with one stone, Alya faced the direction of Mylène Haprèle in the row across from hers, who was doing the same with her female Nidoran. "Ivan and Mylène made it clear that they were going to travel together and become the greatest battle couple."

Marinette only sighed wistfully at the comment, placing herself and Adrien in their place instead in the landscape of her vivid imagination.

"There's Nathanaël Kurtzberg who wants to sketch every Pokémon he sees, kinda like a Pokémon Watcher," Nino continued where Alya left off; the four of them briefly observed the quiet red-haired artist showing off his latest drawing to his timid Cyndaquil on his sketchpad. "I talked to some of the guys too, so yeah."

"Both Rose and Juleka are considering the path of Performers if the whole collecting badges for the Kalos League doesn't work out," Alya added, showing Rose Lavillant animatedly talking about Pokémon she thought were super cute with her Igglybuff sitting on her lap while Juleka Couffaine listened with her Gothita resting on her head.

"I have no doubt that Max and Kim are going to compete in the Kalos League with clashing brains versus brawn tactics," Nino commented, gesturing the group to glance upon the far back where Max Kanté and Lë Chiën Kim were conversing while their respective first partners, Abra and Mudkip, seemed to be in a bizarre staring contest.

"Alix is super competitive, so I know she'll be gunning for the Kalos League too," Alya remarked, observing Alix Kubdel getting her Torchic pumped up for future battling. "If I know her as well as I think I do, she's probably aiming to knock Kim down a peg or two if nothing else."

"I doubt we need to cover Sabrina and Chloé," Marinette said drolly, rolling her eyes at the sight of Chloé pampering her Snivy while Sabrina tended to both her friend and her Bulbasaur. "We've suffered their song and dance for more than four years now. I think we can skip it this time."

"In any case, I'm glad to have been a part of this roller-coaster of an Academy experience," Adrien announced, folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back on his chair. "I felt that I learned more here than under my father's private tutelage."

"Yeah, dude, for one thing, you're surrounded by Pokémon and people," Nino jested. "I know I can't handle the isolation business for too long. I'd go madder than the Hatter himself!"

"Same here," Alya chimed. "With all you've been through, I think you definitely have a shot in winning the Kalos League and dethroning your dad, Adrien."

"… We'll see," Adrien shrugged noncommittally, facing the front of the classroom seeing as all has been said and done.

Marinette didn't say much of anything since Ms. Bustier had entered the classroom, opting to sneak glances at the blond boy and mentally analyze the composition of his luscious hair while his attention was now off her.

"Good morning, class!" Ms. Bustier greeted sunnily. "I can imagine all of you are ready to embark on your own adventures with your Pokémon." She was responded with a quick plethora of cheers, quickly silencing them with a hand gesture in order for her to continue. "That said, you should know that there are no major formalities regarding a class's last day here in Lumiose Trainer Academy. No huge graduation ceremony or diplomas to be handed out, well except for the Pokédexes that also serve as your official Pokémon Trainer ID."

"Then what was the point of even showing up?" Chloé bemoaned.

"It would've been unwise to send you all off without some final remarks from Kalos's own Professor Damocles," Ms. Bustier resumed, gesturing for the old man with a Noctowl perched on his shoulder to enter the classroom as he was greeted with a respectful applause from the graduating students.

"Ahem, I've said this for many years now, but I can't help but express my gratitude for the faculty that has served this great institution," Professor Damocles began. "I really have to thank Ms. Caline Bustier here for guiding this generation of Pokémon Trainers so well. I can see that the lot of you have potential to go far in your journeys and fulfill your dreams. Please remember the value of the bonds you form with your Pokémon."

"Yoruuu," Noctowl hummed in agreement.

"As the current leading expertise on the phenomenon known as 'Mega Evolution,' I'm afraid I don't have much to say about it at the moment, but I do know this," Professor Damocles resumed. "This phenomenon is achieved once the bond of certain Pokémon and the Trainer reaches its maximum level, the highest clarity of trust and synchronization. I actually hope that you all have the opportunity to become strong enough to understand this power, not simply for my sake of research, but for yours as you make your dreams come true."

"I always look forward to learning more on the topic with you and the rest of the faculty, Professor," Ms. Bustier commented resolutely.

"In any case, with you all starting out on your Pokémon journeys as your time in the Academy ends, there's one last thing you need to understand," Professor Damocles said. "It's a whole new world out there for you to live in. There's a whole new way for you to see. Outside of this school and Lumiose City, it's a brand new place to face with a brand new attitude. But you still gotta catch 'em all and be the best that you can be."

Hi.

So at this point with this fic being published, I'm new to this site and I tend to jump in between different fandoms and my interest tend to vary a lot, meaning I may or may not finish a fic that's longer than one chapter. But so far, I want to see how this AU goes since I've seen this series combined with the likes of Harry Potter and Avatar so far, among others.

With Kalos being based off of France, it'd make sense to use the XY&Z world, right? Also, the basic storyline so far will be mostly game-based, but with elements from the anime to make things more dimensional and easier to manage. As such, you can imagine what elements inspired and created the flashback. Not the most original setup ever written, but if it isn't broken, no need to fix it. On an unrelated note, any Pokémon fan that has been up to date with the XY anime seen the latest battle between Ash-Greninja and Mega Sceptile? Two words: Ep… ic.

As for Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, I think I'll be able to improvise somehow… I've already got the final ultimate teams for Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino planned before making this chapter.

You could probably guess who'll lead the villainous team, but I'll get on that when the time comes.

And who knows? Maybe I might finally start a trend with this one and better Pokémon AU fics will pop out soon enough.

Leave a review on your thoughts and recommendations!