Chapter 1

What is it you wish for?

Who's to say where the boundary between reality and fantasy lie?

A young boy leaned back sitting on a bench in the sunshine directly in front of a fully blooming flower box. Nearby a gentle water fountain sparkled, spraying its clean, clear water towards the cloudless sky, only to fall back to the pool below it as though it were a water fall. This boy wore a black cap with a golden stripe streaking through the center. His cap was on backwards, allowing for his equally black bangs to force their way through the hole in the back.

As he stretched, his ever faithful companion jumped up to the other side of the bench. He had blue-ish colored fur on the upper half of his body yet his underside was a soft creamy tan. On top his head he wore a single bright red spot, and on his behind the creature bore several more spots. "Quii…" he called to its trainer. The creature took his head and gently rubbed it against the boy's red jacket. The boy, in return, reached up and rubbed the creature's head.

There was a loud click, followed by a painfully loud, flat, screeching tone. A voice followed and echoed through the peaceful park. "Attention guests!" a voice resonated throughout the park. "The bug catching contest will start in thirty-minutes. Those who have not yet registered for the event are asked to do so immediately at either of the two park lodges. Those who will not be participating in today's event are asked to vacate the premises for the duration of the contest."

The young boy heard the memo and simply stretched. His Quilava continued to beg for more petting by gently ramming its head into the boy's side for attention. The boy jumped when he felt his PokeGear attached to his wrist vibrate. He glanced at the device and sighed before pressing a button on the side. "Hi Joey…" he barely muttered into the PokeGear.

"Hey Gold! Listen to this! My Rattata just took down a Pidgey! It's got to be in the top percentile!" a younger boy's voice digitally resounded through the small wrist device.

"Is that all you wanted to say Joey?" Gold asked with a slight hint of foreboding dread. He already knew the answer to that question.

"Well, now that you mention it, the two of us took down another Rattata last night! It was awesome, barely took a hit!" Joey continued ecstatically.

Gold sighed before responding. "Wow… I'm so glad for you…"

"What's wrong? You sound kind of sleepy." Joey innocently inquired, finally catching up on Gold's flat demeanor.

Gold sighed again, "It's nothing, I need to get to my bug catching contest. Bye"

"Oh, in that case good lu-" Joey's voice was cut off by Gold pressing the end call button.

Gold leaned back on the bench and reached his arm around his Quilava, gently petting its shoulder, "Quilava… Joey's really annoying. He talks about his Rattata like he's bragging about a girlfriend. Why doesn't the PokeGear have a call blocker option?" Gold rambled aloud, "Only twenty-seven minutes to go before that contest starts. A nap sounds nice."

On the other side of that phone call a young boy who looked no older than ten stood in knee deep grass alongside a tree lined path. "Let's see, Rati. Who else should we call?" he asked the small purple rat that was patiently curled up beside his feet. The young boy was smiling ear to ear holding his PokeGear only a couple of inches away from his face. He wore a simple white T-shirt without any writing, a faded blue pair of baggy jean shorts and a long necklace with a relatively large, lumpy, gray stone attached. He scrolled through his contact list and selected another member of his phone book and gleefully repeated the phone call. The small Rattata looked up at the bright blue sky through the grass before lying her head down on her arms and closing her eyes to sleep.

Rati just enjoyed the warm light and soft wind, she only stirred slightly as Joey's PokeGear rang. She continued to keep her eyes shut and ignore everything as Joey whispered and an electronic voice responded.

"Hey, Rati, wake up. Mom just called, it's time for lunch," Joey gently whispered as he reached down and softly pet her short fur. Rati woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, stood on all fours, yawned and stretched. Once she had somewhat woken up she hopped into Joey's open hand, crawled up his arm, passed his shoulder and placed herself on his head.

The house they lived in was simple, with beige walls and brown window sills outlining only some of the windows. Joey ran in through the front door and quickly kicked off his shoes before dashing up to the dining room table. He pulled a stool away from the kitchen bar and placed it next to the table so Rati could jump up. Rati politely stared at the table, waiting patiently while Joey slid into his chair right beside her stool.

"Get that rat away from the table, now Joey," a woman growled as she approached the table carrying two bowls full of a yellow soup.

"Rati has as much right to sit at the table as you and I!" Joey growled back as his mom placed the steaming soup in front of him.

"She's a rat! Only humans sit at the dining table," his mom growled as she retreated into the kitchen.

"But she used to be human!" Joey retaliated in Rati's defense.

"Oh please, not this story again," she sighed exhaustedly, placing a freshly baked loaf of bread on the table with two glasses of milk.

"But it's true!" Joey shouted.

His mom returned for the last time with two spoons in one hand and a plate with two older slices of bread covered in peanut butter which was placed on the ground. "If she wants to eat, she's going to have to go to the floor," she muttered sliding into her chair.

Rati obstinately sat on the stool and quietly watched both Joey and his mother eat; only swishing her tail back and forth. Once lunch was done Joey cleared away the plates and put the extra bread in a wooden box while his mother started washing the dishes. All the while Rati sat on the stool, patiently watching.

When he thought his mother wasn't looking Joey snuck the peanut butter bread onto the table, towards the edge where Rati could eat off the table without leaving her stool. Rati got about one-fourth of the one slice of bread finished before Joey's mother placed the bread back on the floor.

"I will not have a rat eat off my table!" she exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Joey huffed and then picked the plate off the floor and called to Rati, "Rati, let's go out and eat where mom won't yell at you!"

As Joey ran towards the door, Rati right behind, his mother yelled, "I'm not yelling at Rati, I'm yelling at you! You're training a Pokemon, not a child!" with that, the door was slammed. "Remember to bring that plate back in one piece!"

Sitting outside on the same path as before Joey grumbled while Rati quickly ate her bread. Joey closed his eyes and remembered a couple of years ago a young girl, the same age as him hopping in through his window with a slice of bread in her mouth, and a lump of gray stone around her neck. It was a sunny day, exactly like today.

A/N: Next chapter will have a plot twist; I hope you look forward to it. I should have it up tomorrow afternoon to tomorrow evening. My original goal was to post it exactly 24 hours after each other but some stuff came up that's much more important.

I've actually had this in my computer since October/November. I had typed it while waiting for my brother to finish his class. I just forgot that I had it all set and done. XD

Thanks to Temp 777 who Beta'ed this, made it more grammatically readable and gave me wonderful tips!

Please review, let me know what you think, what I can do better.