That night I had a strange dream. In it, I was surrounded by seventeen different colored luminescent beings. I couldn't tell what they were, were they human, or Pokémon? At this thought all seventeen began to glow brighter. It got brighter and brighter until I couldn't stand it any longer and closed my eyes. Their voices began to echo through my mind, "You are the key...."

"The key to what?!" I cried out in desperation.

"The key..." echoed again in response. All of the sudden images began to pass through my mind, flashing by at insane speeds. An epic battle. A clash of titans. Two demons, of water and earth, fighting for dominance. A great dragon. Darkness. In the darkness there began to glow a small light with me inside. The seventeen reappeared around me and echoed once more, "You are the key, the one who will banish the dark..." With that the dream went to black. I didn't remember this dream again for awhile, and when I finally did, it was too late.

"Wake up, Master Chris," I heard within the confines of my mind. "Wake up."

"Five more minutes..." I mumbled, trying to remember my dream from last night. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I knew something about it was important.

All thoughts of that were erased by what happened next. I felt a small, wet tongue slide quickly from the tip of my nose to the space between my eyebrows and immediately shot up. I looked around to find my assailant only to see a white fluff ball rolling on the floor laughing.

"What's so funny?" I grumbled, but at the same time couldn't help but laugh a little myself. Rena finally calmed down enough to stop rolling around and I ruffled her head fur, being careful to avoid her horn. "Good morning to you to," I said with a smile. I looked over at the couch to see Neo stretch and get up. He turned around to see me getting out of bed and greeted me with a "Good morning Master Chris."

That was really beginning to bug me. I didn't really act like their superior, did I? I decided to confront them on this. "You know, you guys don't have to call me Master, just Chris. It really isn't necessary."

Neo walked up to me and explained himself. "It's a formal term," he started. "It just means we have great respect for you." At that Rena nodded her agreement.

"I understand, but could you just call me Chris? We're all friends here, and it would make me feel a little more comfortable about it." I really didn't like having to feel like I was above them. It just made me feel like total slime for some reason.

"All right," Neo said while the same response echoed in my mind from Rena, "but only because you put it that way Chris." He said the last part with a wink; I just figured it was because he actually just said my name for once.

Just then I realized something. I had only paid for a one day stay at the hotel. That meant that I had to be out by 10:00! Sure enough, I looked over at the clock, and it read 9:45.

"Oh shit!" I swore under my breath. I began packing up my small amount of possessions at a furious rate, explaining to my partners the situation while I packed. I really did not want to pay for another night when I really only needed the next few minutes to pack up and leave.

Once we finished, we raced down the halls of the still just waking hotel, nearly running over a bellhop and apologizing frantically before continuing to try and make the deadline. We rushed to the front desk, where a redhead teenager with an unconcerned look on her face was filing her nails. Once she looked up and saw there were customers in front of her though, she quickly put away the file and said cheerily, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," I replied, "My name is Chris Neoman; I was checked into room 121 yesterday and would like to check out of the hotel."

"You just missed the deadline for checkout time, but seeing as it just passed I think I'll let it slide," she smiled and winked at me as she said this. She typed a few keys and then took my room cardkey. "Alright, seems like you're all set. I hope you enjoyed your stay at Rustboro Resort!" she exclaimed with an overly cheery voice. I thanked her and my two partners and I left the lobby out into the fresh morning air.

"What do you guys want to do now?" I inquired of my companions. "We could go get some breakfast, and I hear there's a gym in town as well."

"Could we get something to eat? I'm starving," Neo replied with a sheepish grin as his stomach growled to confirm this.

"I wouldn't mind a bite to eat either, now that you mention it." Rena said, tickling my mind with her consciousness.

"Alright, it's settled. Let's go find a restaurant," I said enthusiastically.

It took awhile, but we finally found a restaurant that served Pokémon and people. The food was pretty good, and our waitress, a young woman with a pretty blue dress, wasn't that bad either. After I had paid the bill and thanked the waitress with a generous tip, we set out again.

"Who's up for a gym battle?" I asked my team. I knew they hadn't been through many battles outside of the gym, let alone in it, but I thought they might be ready due to the results of their fight against Team Rocket.

They both expressed their excitement with loud whoops of joy, which I interpreted as saying they were ready. "Okay then, let's find this gym."

It didn't take long to locate. It was a pretty impressive building. Its roof had a giant boulder decorating it, and the walls were covered with murals of giant rock Pokémon. I assumed that this meant the gym was a rock-type gym. My partners and I stood nervously at the front door for a second before I steeled my nerves and opened the giant double doors. The inside was pretty standard, and we walked up to the front desk to register for a gym battle. Once registered, I was escorted to the arena where I was to officially challenge the gym leader.

The first thing I noticed about her, for indeed the leader was a she, was her beautiful brown hair and eyes. Both shimmered in an almost ethereal way. The second was that she was only a teenager.

"I ch-challenge you to a gym battle!" I declared nervously but adamantly.

The gym leader had a determined smile on her face as she began to call out the customary, "I accept your challenge!" But was cut off by a small flying white Pokémon I recognized instantly as a Togetic. It began speaking frantically to her in poke tongue, while she nodded with a concerned look on her face, as if she understood.

"Get out!" she yelled hotly.

"Wha...?" I began but she only yelled louder. "But why?!" I managed to get out through her screams. "As an official gym leader, you are required to accept my challenge." At this my Pokémon got between me and her, worried at what she would try next, seeing as this was obviously not normal gym leader behavior.

"I am sorry, but I cannot accept your challenge. It is not even safe to associate myself to you in any way." she admitted in a regretting way, which only confused me more.

"Why can't you? Did I do something wrong?" I asked, genuinely curious now, though I was still a bit miffed.

"If you want answers, meet me at my house later tonight. We can talk safely there. Ask my receptionist for the address." And with that she left out the back door of the gym. I was left standing there with my partners, completely befuddled as to what just happened.

I did what she had said and later that night found myself in front of an impressive three story house in the east side of town, only three blocks away from the Pokémon Center. I hesitantly walked up to the door and knocked, one time, two times, three times. Right when I thought nobody would answer and began to turn away the door burst open and a hand quickly pulled me inside. I worried about my companions but knew they were safely tucked away in their balls. I was glad I had the foresight to get one for Rena before we came.

"Did you come alone?" I heard the gym leader hiss in my ear as she closed the door.

"Yes I did," I said nervously, wondering why this had to be such a secret.

"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief while releasing me. "I'm sorry I had to be so secretive back at the gym and that I was so tense now. What Togi told me back at the gym really had me worried. By the way, my name's Roxanne."

"Mine's Chris, Nice to meet'cha I guess," I laughed nervously. I really hoped that her release in tension would be permanent at that moment, but she had other plans.

She snapped back to her serious tone and began speaking again, "I can't tell you much, but there are things that I need to explain to you, things you need to know. We need to talk fast; the Dark One's spies are everywhere." I began to ask her who he was but she quickly continued, cutting me off. "I am part of a secret society known only as The Order. Our purpose has always been to protect the peace and preserve the balance of good and evil. If one ever gains too much power, that balance would tip, and chaos would reign. Long ago there was a prophecy; it was of a boy that would be born on the night of the full moon. He would have pure white hair, and where he walked, evil would be undone.

She paused for a breath, and then continued. "The prophecies continue to state that this boy would be granted particular gifts, which would begin to show themselves once he was confronted by the elementals. Togi told me back at the gym that you were one of the many children we had under surveillance who fit all the categories, but she had more important news. You have the Aura of one touched by an elemental."

Through this whole speech, I had been silent; at this new bit of information however, I began to question her.

"How could that even be possible," I argued, "I've never even seen these 'elementals'. Even If I had seen one, I certainly would remember one touching me!"

She looked at me with eyes that said, "You really have no clue, do you?"

"Elementals aren't physical beings," she explained. "There are seventeen of them, each one representing one of the seventeen attributes found in Pokémon. If one even contacted you, it would be in a dream. Do you remember any strange dreams?"

I thought real hard. I couldn't remember any, but something was bugging me. Something at the back of my mind just wouldn't leave me alone. Roxanne looked attentively at me, but I just shook my head no. She looked disappointed but then decided to change the subject rather than wallow in said disappointment.

"Well, I guess you must not be him, I'm sorry for inconveniencing you, but if you need a place to stay, I'd be happy to let you have the spare guest bedroom." she said with false cheer. I thanked her and she showed me to my room, where I passed out on the bed right after she left the room.

The next morning I woke up and said my goodbyes. I left her house and walked through the now crowded city streets. I found the same restaurant from before and let my Pokémon out to eat, but I just wasn't very talkative. The gym leader had given me a lot to think about. Also, something was nagging at the back of my mind. It came to me in a rush, the dream! I couldn't believe I had forgotten it. After wolfing down my breakfast (Neo and Rena had finished already anyway) I went to pay the bill. I rushed outside and ran as fast as I could back to Roxanne's house.

But there was no house. All I found beyond a crowd of curious and concerned spectators were ashes. I sank to my knees and began to cry, wave after wave of tears running down my cheeks knowing this was probably all my fault. My Pokémon came up to either side and rubbed their heads against my shoulders, not knowing what was wrong but trying to comfort me all the same.

Just then, through my blurred vision, I spotted something on the ground in front of me. I wiped my eyes and picked it up. My heart froze. It was a note, which read three words. The first two were a message, 'you're next!', but the last was a name. Cassidy.Chapter End Notes:Finally, my first chapter I didn't just rush through without a set plan. I think It went rather well, but would appreciate any and all feedback on exactly how I did, as well as how I can improve. I apologize for using the dream scene so soon again, but it seems the best way to put these things down for now. I'll try to trim the number dream scenes I put in future chapters down a little so they stay dramatic. Also, on an unrelated note, I am still waiting to hear what anyone thinks Chris's first flying pokemon should be. Oh and I need to find a good beta reader