Okay. This is my first time writing something epic and fit for public consumption, so pardon if there is any... loopholes... in my story. This is something like an experiment. Something like bringing different things into Pokemon. My story may drift near the 'Shannara' standards, but I promise to be much less draggy. Oh, and the romance part of story comes WAY later. By the way, I will explain ideas i invented in my editor notes at bottom of chapter. So, shall we start?

'Hello there.'

'Are you a Pokémon?'

'You are, aren't you?'

'Are you alone?'

'Shall we play together?'

LLLLLL

The giant beast reared up its head, giving a tremendous bellow. Despite that, it was obvious that the Steelix is at its limit. The poor creature could barely lift its tail enough for a desperate Rock Throw. A fruitless effort that Zarl's Gardevoir easily deflected.

"Maria. Psychic!" Zarl commanded. The pale skinned Gardevoir shut her eyes and began channelling energy to the Steelix. A strange distortion in the air was all one could see between the Gardevoir and the Steelix, but the effects were even more spectacular. The Steelix suddenly froze, before an invisible force blast through it, bending the creature to impossible angles, forcing sparks to fly from the friction. Within moments, the creature collapsed, unconscious.

'Well done, Maria. That Psychic was spectacular.' Zarl said.

"Why a Psychic as a finish anyway. The Steelix would have fallen even with a Confusion. It took a lot out of me." Maria complained. Not that she actually spoke. For some reason, Maria could share telepathy with Zarl, and talk to him with her mind.

"You know why, don't you?" Zarl replied rhetorically.

Maria lowered her head.

Zarl do not remember his mother. Her mother died when he was three, barely aware of his surrounding to even remember his mother's face. Leyard had explained that she suffered from a terrible fever, which had resulted in her becoming brain dead. She was kept on life support for a year, but in the end, a fire razed the hospital. There wasn't even enough time to transfer her mother to another hospital. There were no photos, not even a tombstone, and his father does not talk about mother much. The only other thing Zarl know about his mother is that she is called Marie.

Since 10 years of age, Zarl was plagued with a nightmare. In the nightmare, a Gardevoir was lying immobilized in the middle of a circle of Hypnos. By some rather obvious reasons, Zarl felt that the Gardevoir is like a symbol for his mother. The Hypnos were using their power to do something to the Gardevoir, which could only curl up and writhe in agony. For the past six years, this dream tortured Zarl. The sight was so heart rending Zarl had vowed that in his battles, he will ensure that the opponents were finished quickly, to spare the agony of writhing in pain, while slowly falling into unconsciousness.

"Well then, shall we return to the lab?" Zarl suggested, priming a gun of some sort at the unconscious Steelix. Specifically, it is a bio-pistol, used to shoot a glob of organic tracker. A tracking device that does no harm to the Pokémon. In fact, it contains herbal extract that could hasten recovery of unconscious Pokémon, and could be controlled remotely to drop off the Pokémon, then left to decompose among the leaf litter.

Apparently, Leyard had taken a hiatus from being a gym leader, chasing his one true love. Zarl had always noticed how his father favoured ground type Pokémon. When Leyard decided to take a break from being a gym leader and devote his time to geography researches in Fuego Ironworks, Zarl had been more than against it. Until he noticed how his father's eyes lit up every time Fuego Ironworks was mentioned. The same man who was once how one describes as a living corpse, only truly showing feeling when he was alone with his Pokémon. In the end, Zarl relented. By some weird chain of events, Zarl ended up as a fieldwork assistant for his father. Not that it mattered. For the first time since his childhood, Zarl could feel love from his father. Something he had forgotten, and rediscovered.

"10 Steelix in four hours. The old man better is making steak for dinner." Zarl said, holstering the bio-pistol.

"Then... Shall we?" Zarl asked, turning to face Maria.

"Shall we what?" Maria replied, confused.

"Teleport us home." Zarl explained, taking a step towards Maria.

"Um... You know how I feel about teleporting with you. I... can't." Maria whispered, floating backwards slowly.

"Maria, the sun is setting and the lab is on the other side of the island. I am not going to walk for an hour back." Zarl complained, shielding his eyes from the orange rays of the setting sun.

"But..." Maria whispered, kneading her fingers into her flowing gown.

"Oh, alright. We walk back." Zarl shrugged, turning to face the other side of the island.

"Wait. I... We will teleport." Maria relented, floating forward slowly.

"I always wondered what was it you feel when we teleport." Zarl said turning to face Maria.

"A strange, tingly feeling. How would you understand if you never felt it before?" Maria said, as she places her arms around Zarl. Zarl formed a circle around Maria with his arm, preparing to catch. Maria had explained that to teleport another living creature with her, she had to focus all of her energy in bring their bodies together as a single entity, so that they can be teleported together. That would mean she had to cut off the power needed for a Gardevoir to float.

Legend had it that in the past, there was a war of Pokémon. Gardevoirs were overpowered Pokémon, their psychic power surpassing that of any other psychic Pokémon. However, in times of peace, their excess power was barely needed. So instead, they used the power to levitate, granting immense speed. Since then, Gardevoirs had used levitation for transport. Their legs lost their meaning, and thus strength, becoming useless limbs that could not be evolved away due to how other evolutions of Ralts relied on their legs. Maria is one of the few Gardevoirs who knew how to utilise the excess powers. The only problem is that they lose all mobility when using the power, making such power unwieldy in battle.

Maria shut her eyes, as she floated lower, until she was no longer levitating. Zarl smiled as he noticed how Maria tightened her arms around Zarl's neck, despite his arms around her waist. Like a couple in a sensual dance. Or a couple sharing warmth at a cold winter night. That reminds him. The first snow should be falling tonight.

"Then, I will begin." Maria whispered, opening her eyes slowly. Once again, the green luminance in her eyes fascinated Zarl. Like wells of sparkling energy. Then Zarl lowered his eyes, staring at Maria's lips. The way she clung onto him was almost seductive, Zarl mused, and then wondered how those pale green lips tastes like.

Then a strange feeling forced his train of thought to grind to a halt. The feeling of exiting your body and of someone else is joining you in your body.

Zarl stared again at Maria's lips. They were quivering gently, as Maria begin to channel energy for the teleportation. Definitely seductive, Zarl decided, and then closed his eyes to brace for the dizzying array of colours during the teleport.

"Ahh..." Zarl heard Maria moaned. Opening his right eye, Zarl watched Maria's throat quiver with the effort to muffle possibly more moans, while her eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.

"Strange..." Zarl muttered, and then closed his eyes again, as they fell upwards, through a rift in space.

And so, the first chapter of my 'epic'(It seemed epic to me). As usual, do comment if you can bother to. Give suggestions. Constructive criticisms are welcomed. Note: Keyword is 'constructive'. You may even give suggestion for the direction of stories. I 'may' refer to them if i have writer's block. And I get writer's block at an average of one per page. I write slow, so don't be angry if there is no upload for a week.