~ Prologue ~

Footsteps pattered in the rain. Soft. Almost unnoticeable.

"Quick, I thought I saw it go through here!"

Bright red lights shone through the leaves. A fearful gasp hissed between her teeth and she spun, furry paws landing hard against the wet earth as she ran. She tried to reach within, access Teleport, but her powers… where were they?

Leave me alone, her heart cried out. Hot tears fell on damp fur. Leave me be!

As if her hearts cry had brought light to her fear, radiance exploded around her, breaking through the night. She gasped, skidding in the mud. A cry, unlike any other she had heard before, deafened her ears. It was like two Steel-type Pokémon charging horns first against one another, Skarmory wings scraping together.

You.

She looked up. Two blood red eyes met hers.

And she screamed…

"Leave me alone!"

Sweat poured down Charley's back, soaking through the back of her nightshirt as she sat up. Light slowly faded into her vision. She wasn't in the forest, near any sort of a dark, Dragon-shaped Pokémon. She was here, in her room, in Lavender Town, Kanto.

At least, for the rest of the day.

The previous weeks' discussions with her parents came rushing back.

"Charley, guess what, I've been promoted! The company is sending me to the Paniola Ranch in Alola! Isn't that exciting!"

"I know you've been looking forward to starting your Pokémon journey here in Kanto, honey, but you already know almost all of the Pokémon here! Won't it be exciting to visit a new country and explore it for your journey?"

Her mom even tried to butter her up by having the local Pokémon professor, some crazy crackpot called Kukui, send her a video chat displaying all of the interesting Pokémon that Alola had to offer.

But… the Alola professor almost certainly did not have a Charmander to give her. Ever since she was a child, Professor Oak had promised her that, as a gift for the start of her journey, he would give her a Charmander, her favorite Pokémon. She would never get to work with him, train him to be strong and wise, until he finally evolved in the a Charmeleon, and then a Charizard. They would never fly across Kanto together, battling gym after gym until she faced the Champion at the Pokémon league.

"They don't even have a freaking Pokémon league in Alola," Charley snarled. She threw off her comforter and slouched over to the bathroom. "Or even gyms for that matter. It's ridiculous. How is someone supposed to go on their first journey without battling a single gym."

Hot tears rolled into the corner of Charley's eyes. She gritted her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror, willing them to disappear. Though her green eyes shook, the tears sputtered out. She was done crying. Nothing was going to change. The insane box maze that was her bedroom was proof of that.

"Mreow."

Warm fur rubbed up against Charley's leg. She sighed and leaned down to stroke Maggie, her mother's Meowth. The Meowth purred in pleasure and trailed her tail around Charley's hand. She scratched the Pokémon under the chin.

"Wanna run away, Maggie?" she asked.

The Meowth just purred in delight, rubbing its head into Charley's hand. Sunshine glimmered on the kitten golden head coin. In the reflection, Charley saw the image of an eighteen-year-old girl whose dreams had just been ripped out from under her.

In Kanto, the tradition was that, after high school graduation, the students were allowed to participate in a journey across the region. The hope was that, during this journey, they would learn about themselves, about the world and, at the end, have a better understanding of the path they wanted to take as adults. Her friends were there, Hana, Miko, Nate, and Trip. Friends she had gone through everything with.

And now…

"Charley!" the voice of Charley's mother echoed from down the hall. A few moments later, a soft knock came at her door. "Charley, dear."

"Yes, mom?"

The older woman gently pushed on the door and peeked through. Her dark brown hair, much like Charley's, spilled around her slender shoulders. She pushed a pair of horned rimmed glasses up her wide nose and gave a crooked tooth smile.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake dear. Are you okay?"

Charley quietly nodded her head, petting Maggie.

"Charley, I know you're heartbroken about not getting to journey here in Kanto. Your father and I talked it over and we've come to an agreement I think you may like."

Charley slowly lifted her eyes, skeptical.

"If," Mom raised a single finger. "You can complete the island challenge successfully, visit the four islands, beat each of the islands captains and kahunas, as a celebration present…" she sighed. "We will send you to Professor Oak and you will be allowed to start a second journey across Kanto. If you're up for it that is."

"R-really?" Charley's jaw dropped. "Mom, this better not be a tease. Please do not let this be a tease. I cannot handle it."

Her mother laughed. "It's not a tease, dear. Give Alola a try, and we'll let you come back here to finish up your journey."

"There she is! Get her!"

Lillie cursed under her breath as she heard the agents shouting behind her. She gripped her bag close to her body and dashed, cutting passed people dressed in pristine white and sparkling grey. Aggravatingly, her boots clinked hard against the chrome tile beneath her.

"I'm going to get you out of here, Nebby," she hissed through gritted teeth, clutching her bag all the tighter. A small tinkling sound, like the chiming of Christmas bells, echoed from the enclosure.

"Not so fast!"

A man and woman pair, both dressed in white, appeared in front of her. Lillie stumbled backwards. The man held a small radio to his face.

"We've got her, boss."

"Like heck!" Much to her own amazement, she took off one of her shoes and threw it at the man. Surprised, he took the full brunt of the weight, dropping the receiver.

She took the moment, spinning down another hallway, kicking off her other shoe as she went.

What was she thinking? Taking Nebby? Escaping her mother? This was nuts, this was insane.

You'll never amount to anything, child.

You are foolish and ignorant. You know nothing about the world and you have never tried. Why, you can't even train a Pokémon properly.

Tears welled in the corner of her eyes. She could feel Snowy's pokeball resting on her hip, untouched and unused in so many days. She had been such a failure to her companion and to Nebby for so long.

But not anymore.

As she passed through the corridors, she found herself entering into a wide room that was almost like a green house. Tall, Alolan palms wafted in a fabricated breeze around her, Wingull resting on a strange wind. In the bushes, she noticed a few Yungoos poking their noses out, scrabbling in their ferret-like way.

"What is this place?" she placed her hand on a white rail, looking around the room. Pokémon… they were everywhere. Pokémon of all kinds, even some she had never seen before. A strange, blue turtle Pokémon toddled on its hindelegs, coming over to peer at her.

"Squirt?" its voice sounded like it was speaking through a mouthful of marbles.

"What are you all doing here?" Lillie whispered, placing a gentle hand on the Pokémon's head. If she knew her mother at all, she knew it couldn't be anything good.

"Got you!"

Lillie screamed as someone grabbed her hands, lifting her in the air. Nebby's bag fell from her arms, spilling onto the ground. A small Pokémon tumbled out, its hands short, and it's body like a swirling galaxy.

"Nebby!" Lillie screamed. She kicked her feet, almost clobbering her attacker in the knees. But the agent was strong and he pushed her face-first onto the chrome floor. Hot, painful tears rushed down her cheeks. "Let me go, let me go… Nebby!"

The nebula Pokémon chimed. A bright light surrounded its body, surrounded Lillie. The grip on her arms slackened as everything went black.

…

In the distance, the light of the far away stars danced, tantalizing, calling to her. She still remembered that journey, far beyond the reaches of this planet or any other, into the depths of space and beyond, on the spine of her trusted partner and friend, Boreas, her Rayquaza.

The calm, Hoenn air caressed Sapphire's hair. She puffed out her cheeks, resting her hands as she sat on her back-porch in Mossdeep City, her new home. Beside her, Ryu, her loyal Flygon, thumped his tail in irritation. His eyes were also trained on the sky.

He feels it too, she realized. She reached a hand over and stroked the top of his head.

"Saphy."

Sapphire glanced over her shoulder and, for a moment, the tightness that gripped her heart loosened. The man that stood in her doorway was Steven Stone, his gray hair spiked away from his forehead, his deep, gray eyes leveling her with concern and love all at once.

"Hey," she murmured, turning her gaze back to the sky. She felt his warm hand caress her back and she leaned into his touch.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle, soothing.

Worrying.

Sapphire shook her head. "Something is wrong. I feel it. In here," she pointed to her chest. "Ryu feels it too."

Steven nodded his head. "I trust you. You..." his voice suddenly trailed off.

She knew what he wanted to say, to speak of... her interaction with the creature from beyond, the one who spoke with the stars and the earth, the future and the past, who granted wishes and tied reality and fantasy together. But he didn't. She couldn't speak of that day, as she was forbidden. But, after that day, so much about her sensing of the world had changed. She felt a... closeness to the planet, the all of time and life. She couldn't explain it. Their language didn't have the right words to convey what she could know now.

Thankfully, he trusted her anyway.

"I..."

The phone on Steven's hip buzzed. He frowned slightly and answered it.

"This is Steven Stone, speaking, who is... Oh, Wallace, hello... I..." his eyes grew round and wide. Sapphire watched, horrified, as her best friend and lover gritted his teeth, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. He pushed his thumbs into his gray eyes, trying to stifle the reaction. However, his choking voice as he spoke to Wallace betrayed his hidden emotions. "O-okay, I'm on it... where... Alola? Really? Okay, thanks Wallace..." He clicked the phone shut.

Steven Stone, the ice-cold Steel-type trainer, the cool collected former Champion of Hoenn, screamed and threw his phone into the ocean. Sapphire yelped, jumping back. Ryu lifted his wings in alarm, putting one protectively around his Trainer.

"Steven..."

"Fucking Maxie and Archie have escaped from prison!" Steven shouted.

All of the color drained from Sapphire's face. Ryu growled deep in his throat, holding his Trainer tighter. They both knew what that meant...

"How?" she breathed.

"We don't know," Steven growled. "But that's not the worst of it... Saphy, Wallace has had eyes on Groudon's movements ever since... the Storm. He's gone, Saphy. Groundon is gone."

Tears welled in Sapphire's eyes. Uncontrollable. She couldn't hold it in. She put both hands to her mouth, trying to choke back the sudden emotion.

"May, oh sweetie, I'm sorry."

Steven's arms were suddenly around her. She leaned into his shoulder, letting herself fall into the wrack of sobs.

"Wallace put a tracker on him, though. He's traced him to Alola. We're going to get him back, Saphy, I promise."