Finally, here's the Pokemon fic. Sorry for anyone who's waited for it!

This fic was written with a few cliches in mind. You could think of it as a creative attempt to make all the cliches work in a single fic, while still being believable. I also put a bit of effort into trying to make the world somewhat more realistic, but not so realistic that Pokemon are committing mass murder every which way.

I'm also playing with a new writing style that is vastly different from the fics I've published thus far, I think.

I'm dedicating this fic to a good friend of mine, who shall be referred to as bonafide here. Thank you for all the help and support (and urging; gods, I probably never would have gotten this out if it weren't for him).

I welcome you to the fic and hope you enjoy it!

And please, feel free to review. Rather, please do review.

Prologue

Green.

Green was everywhere, surrounding him. The only break in color was the white shapes moving hither and thither, scurrying like ants at some job – though he had no idea what.

Someone was talking to him. He looked towards the voice. Another tall white pillar, but this one was identifiable by slight differences. White draped over the figure and spilled towards the ground but never reached it. Light blanketed over the dark red, almost black in the shadows of poor lighting, against a background forest of green monochrome. Only the base of the figure reflected anything – shiny leather that must have been meticulously polished free of dirt and dust daily.

Words were spilling from the figure's mouth only to never reach his ears. The hard-lined cavern opened and shut soundlessly. His attention drifted, and that was when he saw something moving in the corner of his vision, right behind the mosaic of white and red and black that was mouthing something to him.

He cocked his head to look behind the white curtain, much as though he were playing hide-and-seek.

Before him was a smaller figure, hair dark and skin pale, hands clutching the white curtain tightly. He had a pair of large clear eyes.

Eyes that reflected the shadows, himself in a swirling amalgam of red and green.

Innocence.

Potential.

And then the silence transformed from a muffled dullness to suffocating chokehold and the world closed in upon itself without a moment's notice.