Chapter 1: Prologue

In the large region of Kanto, within the rainbow city of Celadon, and inside a small house, a young teenage boy sat in front of a computer screen as he surfed the web. He hummed to himself as beautiful pictures of the region known as Alola passed his view, brightening his face with their bright blues and vibrant greens.

A sudden beeping drew the boy's attention to the side of his screen, as the icon for the video chat flashed. Intrigued, the boy clicked it, and his face brightened with a grin as his computer informed him it was the Alolan professor, Professor Kukui. Accepting the call, the boy bounced in his seat as the professor adjusted his camera.

"Hang on, gimmie just a sec…" The professor finished adjusting the camera, and waved at the camera, smiling. "Hey, good evening! I guess the day has come that you're moving to Alola!"

The boy laughed, nodding. "Yeah, just gotta finish packing everything up!" The boy blinked and then tilted his head. "Actually, was there a reason you called me, Professor?"

"Pretty sharp Cousin!" in the background, The teenager could see a small yellow and white fly-like pokémon buzzing past, as a small dirt brown dog pokémon chased after it, yipping, and causing the professor to turn to look at them and laugh. "All right guys, calm down!" he turned back to the camera grinning. "Anyway, I called to confirm what would be on your Trainer Passport!"

The professor looked down and typed on his keyboard, and several pictures appeared on the screen. "All right, cousin, choose the picture you want on your passport!" The professor's voice sounded out, and the boy hummed as he looked over the pictures.

Finally, He selected one. In it, a teenage boy of around fifteen grinned at the camera, he had slightly tanned skin, and messy chocolate brown locks down to his mid-neck, which were slightly covering his bright sapphire blue eyes, with a pair of black sunglasses on his forehead. "This one Professor." The boy said as the other pictures of him in slightly different positions disappeared.

"Got it!" the Professor said, looking at the picture. "Yeah, that's a nice one! All right… uploaded! I'll let you make sure I spelled out your name correctly next!" As he talked, the boy's name appeared on screen, below the picture, with two options, confirm and edit.

"Sapphire… Chaser… Looks right!" Sapphire nodded and clicked confirm. The picture and name minimized and transferred to the side of the screen as the professor nodded.

"10-4 little buddy! I'm gonna let everybody know you're on your way!" The professor crossed his arms and grinned, as the dog and fly Pokémon Sapphire saw earlier hung and hovered over the professor's shoulders. "Sapphire… yeah, that's a name that hits you like a Trop Kick to the head! Woo!" Sapphire blinked at that one, before shaking his head and laughing. "Alright, can't wait to see you in person then, cousin!" Professor Kukui waved one last time, before reaching down and clicking a button to end the call.

Sapphire sat there for a second, before leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, breathing out slightly. Somehow, knowing his Trainer passport was complete made the move more… real somehow. Even if it wouldn't be for a few months at least, he still felt sad about leaving the city he grew up in, and all the friends he had made over the years.

"Sapphire! Come help me with these boxes!" Sapphire slid down his seat even more, grumbling, before getting up and turning off his computer. He stretched, and noticed his 'Guide to Alola' tour book, open next to the computer, the page detailing something called the Aether Foundation. He smiled and closed the book, patting the top, before walking out of his room.

Sapphire sighed, lying on his back, basking in the sun's rays as he lay in an open field a bit away from the city. It had been two months since his conversation with the professor, and he finally got a day off from preparing for the move. It was a beautiful day for it too, the sun was shining, the pidgy's were chirping, and his best friend was hiking over, and would be there soon with a picnic lunch.

Sapphire suddenly heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and a shadow blocked out the sun. He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses to see a tall, scrawny blond boy with pale skin, with slightly combed hair and reading glasses standing over him. A teasing grin grew over the blond's face as he looked down at him as he crossed his arms. "Are you wearing sunscreen? You don't want a sunburn from lying there all day."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear!" The blond boy laughed and offered Sapphire a hand, which he took and allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet. "I don't need Sunscreen, look at what I'm wearing!" he looked down at his black hoodie, navy jeans, and blue sneakers. "Might have to get rid of the hoodie in Alola though… Oh, and I hope you remembered to bring the food, Gearface." Up on his feet, he was only a couple inches shorter than his friend, which the blond always liked to tease him about.

The blond snorted and motioned him over to where his magnemite was lowering itself and a picnic basket onto a blanket. "By the legends, I'm going to get you to forget that nickname one day."

Sapphire shook his head smiling, and rubbed the Magnemite's head, and sat down on the blanket. "Heya, Bolt, Anthony been treating ya well?" The magnemite leaned into his rub and let out a happy 'bzzzt' sound, closing its eye in contentment. He turned back to Anthony, who was pulling out plates and cutlery. "So what'd you make, Ant?"

"Well first, a salad with ingredients I bought yesterday," he ignored Sapphire as he fake gagged, "and then I have some teriyaki and rice, which might put some meat on your bones."

"I don't need to put meat on my bones," Sapphire said, impersonating Anthony's voice. "I am perfectly healthy the way I am. Besides, you're scrawnier than me! I could beat you to a pulp!"

Anthony just sighed as he started serving himself the salad and teriyaki, and Sapphire the rice and teriyaki. "I'd like to see you try. Oh well, I'm not the one that's going to be traveling across a bunch of islands as a trainer, now am I? I'll be waiting to tell you 'I told you so.'" Sapphire just grumbled at his friend's logic and began digging into his friend's cooking. "Oh, this reminds me, did you memorize those recipes I sent you? If you're going to be traveling across so many islands, you'll have to cook for yourself. You won't have me or your mom with you, remember that."

"Yeah, I memorized a couple of them. And I can look up the rest if I need to. And, before you say it, I memorized the pokémon food recipes. I can also mph…"

Anthony sighed, kneading the bridge of his nose. "Chew and swallow, Sapph."

He rolled his eyes and swallowed, before continuing. "I can also bring along canned foods in case of emergency. I'll be fine, Gearface."

Anthony sighed and shook his head, but smiled anyway. "Well, I suppose that's all I can ask for. Either way, I," He stopped as Sapphire suddenly stood, and looked around. "Sapph?"

"Did you hear that?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

Anthony just shook his head, and stood up quietly, motioning over Bolt. Sapphire stopped looking around, instead staring straight at a nondescript bush. Anthony frowned, and began to open his mouth, before hurriedly closing it, as the bush rustled.

Sapphire began creeping forward, a frown marring his features. "Hey… I don't want to hurt you, little guy… I just want to help…"

Anthony looked at Bolt, confused, and Bolt looked back, its eye filled with just as much confusion. "Hey, Sapph?"

Sapphire only dismissively signaled him to be quiet and knelt down in front of the bush. The rustling grew louder, and a soft growl began emanating, causing Bolt to begin charging electricity through its magnets before Sapphire signaled again to stop. "He's just scared… he doesn't want to hurt us, do you, little guy? C'mon, we won't hurt you. Hey, do you want any food? We have a bunch over here… Ant, get me my plate..."

Anthony, trusting his friend, grabbed Sapphire's plate and handed it to him. Sapphire then lowered it in front of the bush, and backed up a few steps, sitting down. The bush rustled again, before a small cobalt paw reached out to grab some of the meat, and darted back in. This continued several more times before the bush rustled louder.

Slowly, very slowly, a small, bipedal pokémon emerged from the underbrush, most of its body and its tail a light cobalt blue, with its legs, a small part of its torso, and a sort of mask being black. It had small metal nubs on the backs of its hands, a yellow collar, and red eyes. Most noticeable, however, was a large bruise on its right leg, which caused it to wince whenever it put weight on it.

Sapphire frowned and had to consciously stop himself from grabbing the pokémon and making sure it was all right. Instead, he nudged the plate forward, motioning for the pokémon to continue eating. The pokémon looked at him for a few seconds before going back to eating, slowly at first, then faster. "Ri, riolu…"

Sapphire smiled down at him, and turned to Anthony "Hey, Ant, do you know what pokémon this is?"

He shook his head. "I do recognize him, but I can't really recall..." He slowly sat down, making sure not to startle the biped, "Hey, Sapph, how'd you know he was over there in the first place?"

Sapphire frowned, and looked down at the hurt Pokémon, and then watched as Bolt began entertaining him while he ate by doing slow tricks in midair. "I… I felt him. I don't know how else to describe it."

Anthony snapped his fingers and then winced as the sound caused the injured Pokémon to flinch. "Now I remember, that's a riolu, a Pokémon from Sinnoh. They can sense and project aura, which you must've felt somehow, and he sensed in your aura that you didn't want to hurt him… maybe that's how you also know it's a male? But why is it in Kanto right now? They aren't found anywhere in Kanto!"

Sapphire just shrugged, watching as riolu finished the food, and smiled as Riolu laughed as Bolt pretended to fly face-first into a tree. "Maybe it has something to do with the bruise on its leg… Poacher's maybe? Either way, we have to get that checked out soon. Hey, Riolu, I want to help make sure you're okay, and we can take you somewhere that'll heal you up."

Riolu looked up to him, hesitated, looked at Bolt, and nodded. He stood up and then winced as he put weight on his bruised leg. "Olu…"

Sapphire looked down at the leg, before turning to Anthony. "Ant, got a pokéball? I don't want to risk injuring his leg anymore."

"No, sorry. The only pokéball I have on me is for Bolt." Sapphire sighed, and then looked down at Riolu again.

"Alright, looks like you get to hitch a ride little buddy," Sapphire said, reaching down to pick Riolu up, and carefully holding him in his arms. Bolt floated down and levitated the plate over to Anthony buzzing energetically.

Anthony breathed out and kneeled down, repacking the blanket and the rest of the cutlery, before taking the plate from Bolt and packing that as well. "Alright, let's get moving." Bolt floated over and started orbiting his head, as he picked up the basket and stood up. Alright, Sapph, Riolu, ready to go?"

"The sooner we can heal up Riolu, the better." Riolu just smiled feeling the two teenage boy's concern for him and perked up slightly.

"Olu, ri, riolu!" Sapphire laughed and made sure to cradle him a bit more carefully, nodding to his blond friend and his partner Pokémon. "Right, let's move."

"Hey, haha! Good to see you're alright!" Sapphire laughed as Riolu hugged him, as Nurse Joy, Anthony and Bolt watched on smiling. Or, in Bolt's case, buzzing happily. "I was worried for a little bit there, little buddy!"

"Ri, ri!" Riolu laughed, and clambered onto his shoulder, before sitting down and waved at Bolt. "Lu, olu!"

Bolt levitated over and gave Riolu a light shock, enough to tickle and nothing else. "Mag! Ne, ne mite!"

Nurse Joy laughed at the byplay between the two Pokémon and turned to Sapphire and Anthony. "I'm glad to say the injury was nothing life-threatening, but if you hadn't brought him in when you did, it might've become infected! You said he's not either of your pokémon?"

Sapphire shook his head, reaching up to rub Riolu's head, making him yip happily. "No, he's wild. Found him in a small clearing, slightly outside the city."

"Hm. Well, either way, I'd suggest looking after him for a short while."

Sapphire blinked. "Why? He seems perfectly healthy to me!"

"Even so, I'd like to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Besides, he certainly seems to like you, doesn't he?" Sapphire turned his head to Riolu, to see him look away from Bolt, and smile at him, yipping happily.

"Well… sure, why the heck not? Hey, Riolu, you want to stay with me for a bit? I'm aiming to be the best Trainer ever, so you'll be staying with a future master of Pokemon!" Riolu looked at him for a second, seeming to think about it, looked at Bolt, back to Sapphire, and smiled, hugging him.

"Ri, riolu!"

He laughed at the response and turned to Anthony. "You think mom is gonna be okay with this?"

Anthony snorted, and turned to leave, Sapphire turning to follow him. "If it's cute, she'll be fine with it. The only problem I see is Meowth getting jealous of the attention she'll give him."

Sapphire snickered at the thought of Riolu and Meowth getting into a fight. "Oh god, the horror!"

It was finally the day of departure, which had led to some mixed emotions. Sapphire was excited to journey to a new region, but on the other hand, he was leaving friends behind. Anthony, Bolt, even Riolu, who he'd only known for a month now, but was still important to him. There were also the goodbyes. Sapphire hated goodbyes.

"… And remember to video call whenever you find a new recipe! And whenever you get a new Pokémon!"

"All right, all right, jeez, Gearface, you're acting like I'm gonna forget to call my best friend!"

"You've literally forgotten it was your birthday once."

Sapphire immediately began putting Anthony in a chokehold. "We agreed we would never speak of that day ever again! Exams were coming up, and I was stressed!"

Anthony snickered and shook his head as he pried himself free. "Whatever you say, buddy. I totally believe you. Totally. I'm not being sarcastic at all."

Sapphire placed his hands on his hips, trying to keep a smile off his face, but failing slightly. "I feel like you're being sarcastic for some reason…" he turned to Bolt, levitating over Anthony's shoulder. "You better take care of Ant, got me Bolt? Get him in trouble and find loads of adventures now that I'm not around to do it with him!"

"I feel like you're being a slightly bad influence on my Pokémon Sapph…"

"I've been a bad influence on him for the year and a half you've had him," Sapphire shot back, sticking his tongue out. He then looked down at Riolu, who was holding on to his pants leg, looking down sadly. Hey, c'mon little buddy… I promise I'll call!"

Riolu looked up at him, and frowned, before concentrating. "Ri… Riolu ri, lu." Sapphire frowned and shook his head.

"Sorry, bud, I didn't get that. I'm kind of sad we didn't get that aura translation going before I could leave…"

Riolu closed his eyes and concentrated harder. "Ri… Want ti come luth you." Sapphire blinked, shocked.

"I… it worked! Riolu, I could understand part of that! Wait… You want to come with me?"

Riolu yipped happily and nuzzled into his pants leg. "Well… ah, screw it! You get to come with me to Alola!" Riolu leaped up and hugged him, before leaping up onto his shoulder, pointing forwards. "Ri, olu riolu!"

Sapphire laughed and turned to Anthony. "Whelp. I guess… ugh, I really don't like goodbyes…"

"Then how about, I'll see you later." He smiled and spread his arms, causing Sapphire to grin and give him a manly hug, much manlier than a regular hug, even though it looked the same.

"See you later, Gear face."

Sapphire turned and boarded the boat, and grabbed the rail, waving to Anthony and Bolt, as well as a few other friends behind them he also said his farewells too. He was proud enough that he didn't bother to hide the few tears that welled up. He kept waving, only stopping when the shore was no longer in sight. He sighed turning and leaning on the rail, looking out up to the cloudless sky, where the stars sparkled brightly.

"Ri, riolu?" Sapphire turned and smiled at Riolu who had jumped from his shoulder onto the railing.

"Yep. New adventures on new horizons." He rubbed his ears, causing Riolu to yip happily, and tilted his head. "Hey, how about to celebrate, we come up with a couple of nicknames?" Riolu looked at him before yipping and nodding. "Hmm. Sir Yipsalot?" Riolu gave him a look for that one. "All right, all right. Only a joke." He laughed and he and Riolu turned back to the horizon, where the sun was slowly rising. "Fitting. Our new adventures begin on a new dawn."

"Riolu, ri."

"Yeah, you're right, way too cheesy. Oh well!"

And so ends the weirdly long prologue. But hey, needed to start it up somehow eh? Anyway, review your thoughts, and, if you can think of any, some constructive criticisms! Flames are welcome too, those can be amusing to read haha. See y'all next chapter!