"Very good Chris!"

Doctor Brander had woken me up early that day. He personally came to my room to request that I start ahead of schedule. I had agreed and we went to get a quick breakfast, leaving a note for my team. It turned out Doctor Maynard had wanted to work more on my abilities I had displayed before. Right then I was working on the ball of light I had made before. Doctor Brander had called it an 'Aura Sphere'.

"This is incredible!" he remarked. He then explained about why it was so, as well as what a regular aura sphere was. "An aura sphere is created by concentrating the energy in your body into the palm of your hand. It is centralized in the stomach then flows through your arms into your hands. What appears usually reflects the aura, or spirit energy, of the person who creates the sphere. In order to create a golden aura sphere it takes an enormous amount of energy. This sort of power is unheard of!" He showed me by using a miniature volt-o-meter whose needle broke through the side due to the speed at which it tried to measure the energy.

"What does this mean?" I asked, a little out of breath. Those spheres really took it out of me.

"It means that you can hold the destructive force of an atom bomb in your hand given enough training, not that that's what we want or anything. We want to teach you to control it so accidents such as that won't occur. Also, it is very important that you never, under ANY circumstance, misuse these abilities. Absolute power corrupts, and we want to help you avoid that. Now, let's move on if you think you are ready."

I nodded and the next few hours involved multiple exercises in manipulating energy to my will, along with the consumption of at least ten 'quick energy' bars. I was exhausted by the time we called it quits, and actually welcomed my therapy session. I did not expect to have to do all that work that day. My therapist yet again tried to delve into my past, trying to help me rediscover who I was. His trusted partner Hypno tried once again to pry through the layers of my mind, but to no avail.

After this, the therapist once again got to the topic of my parents. I was still upset about their deaths, but I had learned to cope. I firmly believed they went to a better place, so at least I had that peace of mind. He thanked me for my time after about a half an hour and left. After this, I was free to have the rest of the day to myself.

The first thing I did was try to hunt down my friends. I went to the exercise room and found Dylan lifting heavy weights into the air and depositing them on a ring, only to bring them back down to the floor and repeat the process again. "Hi Dylan, what's up."

"Nothing much," he replied, setting down his weights and turning to me. In case you are wondering, the reason why he was able to speak with me was that The Order had equipped him with a translator device, which was wrapped around his left leg, the closest they could get it to his mouth.

"Any idea where the others are?" I inquired of him.

"Yeah, Neo and Rena are getting their check-ups today; they won't be done for at least two hours." He said this casually, as if he really didn't care, but he gave himself away by the bare fact that he knew. He had always been a little distanced from the group. He was one of those guys who liked to think that if they distanced themselves then they wouldn't have to get attached to anybody who could get hurt. He didn't fool me though; I knew he enjoyed our company.

"Alright, do you wanna hang out with me for today? I wouldn't mind having a friend around."

"Really?" he responded enthusiastically. "That would be great!" See, what did I tell you? He was biting at the bit to get going so we could be together. At first we just went to the various exercise station, trying to see how well we could do; but I was tired so that didn't last for long. Afterwards we went to the Rec Room. I showed him a virtual reality game I had discovered with Neo one time that a trainer and Pokémon could play together. They would both lie in the pods and be able to go through simulation battles, their minds being tricked to think they were actually happening.

Later, we headed out to the real battlefield. We found another trainer who was willing to face us, but he wasn't much competition. His Treeko was down and out with one gust attack. The trainer and I shook hands after the battle, but then he had to rush his Treeko to the Pokémon Center two stories up, run by yet another Nurse Joy.

Finally, when the day was growing short and the clock read 8:00 we headed back to our room. "Some day, right?" I said contentedly.

"You can say that again," he said with a smile so huge only a Golbat could pull it off.

"Some day, right?" At this we both chuckled a little, then settled down to wait for Neo and Rena. It didn't take long for them to arrive.

"Hi Chris!" Neo said with a grin.

"Hi, how are ya buddy?" I replied, matching his expression.

Just then Rena ran up and tackled me onto the bed and gave me a playful lick on the cheek. "You didn't forget about me did you?" she projected for everyone to hear. That got a laugh out of both Neo and Dylan.

"Now why would I do a silly thing like that?" I asked sarcastically with a sly grin. I then lifted her off of me and onto the bed so I could talk with both Neo and her. "So, how did your checkups go?" I inquired.

Neo decided to speak for them at this, "Not too bad, apparently I'm the slimmest; most physically fit Zangoose Nurse Joy has ever seen. Rena here supposedly is in top physical form as well." He said the first part with pride, then the second to avoid getting hit when he saw Rena's venomous glare.

"Of course, Neo neglects to mention that I beat him at the strength test," she huffed before breaking into a smile.

"Speaking of which," I interrupted so as to stop the quarrel before it started, "Dylan and I got to hang out together today in the weight room. We had a pretty nice time." Dylan bobbed his head in hearty agreement.

"Touché, you win this round," Rena said jokingly. She then lifted herself up with my shoulder and placed a kiss on my cheek. "I'll get you next time though," she whispered playfully into my ear.

After that it was time to go to bed and we did so like usual, but this time Rena crawled in bed in front of me. "It's a little cold," she explained with a blush. I thought she might be bluffing on this but let it slide at the moment. I just draped my arm over her like she usually did to me and fell asleep.

I had a dream that night. It was about the first time my dad and I went fishing. He had prepared the bait of course, seeing as I was only six. He stood beside me and guided me through the motions as he tought me how to cast. The first few times my hook went to far back and got tangled in a tree, but he would just laugh and set me up for another go. Eventually I had it down, and we just waited. I distinctly remember he was talking to me, about what I wanted to do with my life.

"I wanna be a great Pokemon trainer like you dad!" I replied with enthusiasm.

"Hehe, sure son. I tell you what, I'll make sure you get to, as long as you promise to wait till you're sixteen. The world is a dangerous place, so I want you to be prepared son."

"Okay Dad," I responded with a grin. "I promise." Right as I said that, I felt a bite on my rod. I did as my dad instructed, setting the hook and reeling it in. Right as almost had it, the line snapped. I was dissapointed, and tears had filled my eyes. What my dad said next had followed me everywhere. "Don't give up, just try again. Never give up in anything son, and success will always find you." I know it sounds cheesy, but I lived my life by that creed. The dream began to fade into the next, and I called out for my dad to come back. It was too late though, and he faded into the distance.

*Rena*

I woke up to a gentle shake. I thought it was morning, but then I looked up to see that it was just Chris, crying in his sleep. This had happened before but I was still worried for him. I crawled up by him and pressed my paws down firmly on his shoulders. I then lay on his chest with my face next to his, whispering in his ears the most soothing things I could think of. This had always worked before, and this time it was no exception. His eyes slowly opened and he saw where I was. I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled at him.

"You alright Chris?" I asked gently.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bad dream," he replied, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"You wanna talk about it?" I was hoping he would, I really think it would help if he was just willing to talk about his problems.

"Nah, that's alright, but thank you Rena." He said this while scratching in my favorite spot; right behind my horn. I couldn't help it, my left back leg twitched a little. He laughed at this and began to pull away.

"D-dooonnn'ttt ssstttoooppp..." I moaned with pleasure, my voice undulation with the beat of my leg.

He only laughed at this and continued on until at last we fell asleep once more.

*Neo*

I woke up a little earlier than usual that day. I looked around to see everyone else was still asleep. Not wanting to wake anybody I had crept out of the room, getting ready to go through my morning ritual. On the way to the bathroom, I saw a door slightly ajar, and heard voices coming from inside. I noticed it was Doctor Maynard's office and was curious, so I decided to take a listen.

"I will not have you use my charge in such a way! He's not ready. Just let me work with him for a few more months, the tests have been going great so far."

"Exactly, the tests have been going superbly. You know as well as I that the Rocket's will stop at nothing to get what they want. They already have Darkrai, haven't you seen the news? People are becoming mysteriously ill. They fall asleep without waking up for days. Usually they don't even survive! All that remains of them are empty husks, stripped of their souls as well as their life. We NEED Chris; now more than ever. Doctor Brander, need I remind you exactly why you have been doing what you have? He came to our realm of existence originally to fight the darkness, and I believe we should help him achieve his forgotten goals!"

"Be reasonable Charles. Elemental or not, he's still just a boy! He's lost his parents only a few months ago for God's sake! Have you no compassion?"

"It's not that, if we could do this any other way, I would pick that, but we can't. Either you allow the boy to begin learning under Agent Tappainer tomorrow, or I will no longer allow your sessions together to continue."

I had heard enough. I slipped away, unnoticed by the two men in the room. When I reached the restroom I felt as though I was going to hurl. Why didn't Chris have a say in this? Wasn't their main priority his safety? It was so confusing at the time, as my mind couldn't comprehend my greatest friend being rushed off into danger after we finally had settled down. I guess I had known something would have to happen sooner or later due to the prophecy I had heard many times, but I really wished it was later rather than sooner.

I returned back to the room a little later, all ready for the day, but I still felt a little sick. How would I tell Chris, and how would he react?

*Chris*

I woke up for once to something other than Rena's small pink tongue. I heard the door open, so I checked to see what was going on. I saw Neo come into the room, so I figured he had woken up early. When he spotted me awake, he froze for a second then his face flashed a guilty look before he turned away.

"What is it Neo?" I asked curiously.

"It's nothing, I just didn't mean to wake you," was his halfhearted reply. I could tell he was hiding something, but I wasn't going to press him for information. I began to get ready for the day, completely unaware of what was in store.

*Agent Jonathan 'Kyle' Tappainer and Doctor Brander*

Kyle
"Do you think the boy is ready?"

Brander
"No, but Charles seems to think so. I tried to argue with him, but he insists the boy begin his training with you. He firmly believes that the evil the boy was meant to balance out was Team Rocket's control of Darkrai, as well as their plans for capturing Giratina. Now that they are on the move again, he thinks that now is the perfect time to strike. I'm afraid we will have to go through with this. You know what to do I presume."

Kyle
"Alright I'll do it, though I go against my heart. I'll train the boy the best I can. Just drop him off at the training grounds once you're done with your normal routine, and God help us is something goes wrong.

Brander
"We can only hope..."Chapter End Notes:Well, I think it's time to shake things up a little, don't you? If there are any requests on something you might want in the story just drop them in the reviews. I might just add that to future chapters. Also, I would appreciate if someone would go back and review previously unreviewed chapters so I can know if I made any errors, and please actually review in that chapters section