June 15th

36th Annual Sinnoh League Tournament

The lights of Lily of the Valley island vanished as the ferry pulled away from the slippery dock. I was the only passenger, seeing that everyone else was still stuck in the mayhem that I accidentally created a little over three hours ago. The sun slowly sank over the horizon and pulled the rest of the light away with it, leaving only the single lantern at the front of the run-down boat as a light source. The boat was shady enough anyways- banged up, dings in the front, chipped paint, cracks in the seats. If this thing sank, I'd be in a huge amount of trouble... not that I wasn't in that already.

My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm a wanted man in all of Sinnoh.

I ran my fingers along my belt and made sure that I had everyone with me. Pikachu's empty pokeball, check. Buizel, Staraptor, Gliscor, Infernape, check. I'd switched Torterra out for Quilava before the mad dash to the ferry happened... and Professor Oak gave me some of the best advice I'd ever received as I waited for the switch to come through.

"Don't use your real name. People will know what's happened over there by now. The newscast only showed your back, but your hair's pretty distinguishable. Ditch the cap, grab a hoodie, and don't let anyone see your eyes."

I asked what I should do.

"Come back to Kanto. I know you're not the despicable human being the media's made you out to be. That Darkrai attacked you first, not the other way around. We'll talk more about this once you get here. Your mother's worried about you."

I left soon after I hung up. It was easy to sneak out around the madness of people trying to get off the island on one of the high-class ferry boats. An old man sat on a rickety speedboat in a silent cove, and I paid my fare while he cranked the engine.

Pikachu sat on my shoulder, quiet in the night air. He gave me his signature glare and pointed at my stomach with a tiny finger. "Pikakachu, pikapi." I looked down and recoiled as I noticed the blood soaking my shirt. Even though the night air was stiflingly warm, I pulled my jacket tighter over my favorite- and soon to be ruined- black shirt.

"We're here, sonny," the pilot announced. "Have a good night."

"Thank you, sir," I replied with a quick wave as I jumped out of the boat.

The second I was out of sight in the darkness, I sat down, lifted the edge of my shirt, and gasped at what lay beneath it. One long, bloody claw mark seeped through the remains of a makeshift bandage and ran from the top of my right shoulder to the start of the left side of my hip- it didn't look great. The wound wasn't that deep, but its depth lied about the pain- Arceus, it hurt.

"Pikachu, patrol the area. Make sure that no one sees me while I do this." My starter nodded, and dashed off through the bushes. I shook my head as the memories of what happened less than an hour ago flew through my mind.

Attempting to save what was left of my team from a rampaging Darkrai...

Taking an ice-covered claw for Sceptile, who wouldn't have survived if the hit had made contact...

Having my friends call me weak because of my futile attempt to fight off multiple legendaries with an exhausted and battle-worn team...

Fleeing to the ferry station while tying a makeshift bandage across the Darkrai claw mark in my chest... it was a miracle that I made it off the island alive and not in handcuffs.

I bit the inside of my lip. What did Professor Oak used to say? There's a time and place for everything? Damn it, I couldn't afford to focus on what had already happened. I moved the makeshift bandage aside, and the wound glistened in the faint light. The only thing that mattered now was stopping the blood loss from my chest.

I glanced around to make sure that Pikachu was doing his job, and attempted to pull what little aura I could muster into a usable form in my palm. It was a lot harder without Sir Aaron's gloves, but I somehow managed to pull it off. Looked like my miracles hadn't run out just yet. I remembered Lucario briefly mentioning something about healing wounds with Aura, but couldn't remember the technique to save my life. I held the small cerulean sphere closer to my heart and watched in amazement as tiny tendrils of my darkest secret faded into the bandage, slightly easing the pain.

My vision started to waver after a good five minutes of aura-pumping, and I reluctantly let go of the sphere in my palm. Pikachu came back and squinted at the half-healed claw-shaped gouge in my chest.

"Kapi, Pikapi?" My partner's big brown eyes wavered.

I shrugged, then winced. "Bad idea. I'm a little better. It stopped bleeding, which is a good sign, but we're not out of the woods yet. We need to figure out a way to get back home. Professor Oak and Mom can help us out."

"Pikakachu." Pikachu nodded, then perched himself on my shoulder, careful to avoid any extra motion that would re-injure my chest.

"Great... any idea where we are?" I asked.

Pikachu shrugged. "Pi-kaka chu, Pikapi."

"It's not my fault for not keeping a map on me, that's normally Brock's job! Wait, maybe the Pokédex has something in it..."

Luckly enough, the small cataloger had a GPS chip in it, which showed relative directions to the nearest Pokémon Center. "Great! It's only about a mile and a half away..." We set off towards the Center, and lights appeared on the horizon after an eternity of minutes.

Pikachu pulled on my ear as we approached. "What?" I hissed. Pikachu jabbed a finger at a clearing about three-hundred feet in front of us. People in uniforms ran around as a figure with spiky red hair ordered them to different stations. I stared at the mess before me.

"Team Galactic?"

"Crap," I muttered. "Pika, what're we gonna do now?"

He paused. "Kapi, chupika?"

"Sneak around? Good idea, but it might not work. Any other ideas?"

"Pi!" he sighed, shooting me a glare. I shrugged and then winced again.

"Not my problem that we walked into this. Okay, we'll go with your option. Be super quiet."

My partner nodded, and we set off in a wide circle around the Galactics. We made it halfway around before a Grunt slammed into us, knocking Pikachu and I to the ground.

"Commander! We have intruders!" he yelled. A female in uniform walked over.

"Arceus, Brandt, you'd better be right this time around..." she trailed off as she saw the two of us. A spark of recognition entered her eyes, and I braced myself for the worse.

"You're the one that sent Cyrus off into the void!" Mars growled. "Thanks to you, we've had that stupid secret agent- Looker, wasn't it?- and his friends on our backs ever since Cyrus vanished. What'd you do to him, huh? Where'd you send him?" I backed away and tried to hide the fact that I was injured.

"I don't know! All I did was work with Azelf to get the job done. I'm only one-third of your problem. The two other people you're looking for aren't here."

"Liar! You spoke with Dialga before he vanished back into his dimension! Where's Cyrus?" she lunged towards me, a Pokéball in hand. The other grunts spread out in a combat formation around her, ready to react in an instant.

I'd never fought a Galactic grunt without a full team or backup from either Brock or Dawn. This situation was completely unknown- I'd never fought in a brawl. Looked like there was a first time for everything, though, and I ran backwards as Pikachu took a battle stance.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" I yelled, dropping to the ground. Yellow lightning flashed through the area, thoroughly singeing most of my opponents. Mars dodged, and released her entire team- a Purugly, a Crobat, and a Houndoom.

I winced when I saw the dark-type, but gritted my teeth and released Gible and Quilava to counterattack. Quilava was still slightly injured from his fight in the semis, and Gible trotted forward with a half-enthusiastic limp and his signature smirk.

The grunts that didn't pass out from electrocution released their Pokémon as well, and I counted at least fifteen different species among the mix.

Holy crap, we're toast.

A figure shot out from the trees and waved in my direction before ordering a Dragon Pulse. An Altaria rocketed forward, slamming five Golbat with a purple-hued beam of mass destruction.

"Thought you could use a hand!" the figure said with a laugh and a mock salute. She shoved a mass of coppery curls and waves out of her face. "Let's get this over with."

I nodded and ordered a combination attack from Pikachu and Quilava- all distance based in order to preserve energy.

The girl had a battle presence that rivaled any top-tier gym leader or frontier head. Confidence radiated from her team as they took on up to three foes at once.

"Were you competing?" I yelled.

She dodged a Gust and swung her offensive around so that she could get a little closer to me. "Hell, no! Just competed in Johto a month ago..." she ducked an electric attack. "Ack! Empoleon, Hydro Cannon!"

Her statement was cut off by Mars' roar of frustration and a frantic Hyper Beam from Purugly. The Empoleon's attack invalidated Purugly's aim and the Hyper Beam shot up into the sky as the hideous cat tumbled backwards and down a hill.

I winced as I heard the sound of bones hitting earth. Mars returned her most powerful team member and lunged towards me with a fist extended.

I never knew that I had combat instincts, but my arm flew up to deflect her blow. Pikachu jumped on Mars' back and pulled on her hair, sending her veering away from me and towards the girl.

"I hate doing this..." my new ally muttered, " but we have no choice. Altaria, Thunder Wave!"

White lightning crackled from the dragon-type's beak, and completely encased the Galactic Commander. Pikachu jumped off Mars' back as she tumbled to the ground, paralyzed from the neck down. Mars started a stream of obscenities that vanished into the roar of battles, but Pikachu knocked her out soon afterwards with another attack.

The rest of the battle went smoothly after Mars went down. The girl and I teamed up to take down the rest of the Grunts, who fled into the night one by one as they were defeated. The last one tripped over a root on the ground on her way out, and knocked herself out on a rock in the path.

"We make a great team," I said with a shrug, turning to face my new ally.

"You could say thank you, you know," she said, a slight twinkle in her midnight eyes.

I frowned. "Thanks. And you are..."

"Aurian Borealis. You're Ash Ketchum," she replied, pointing a finger at my chest.

"Yours truly," I muttered. "How far has the news spread?"

She sighed. "My cousins in Unova called a few minutes ago to ask me about it. Going up against a raging legendary with a half-exhausted team was suicidal at best, but I like your style. It's the thought that counts."

"Thanks... I think? Why'd you help me?"

Aurian shoved her curly bangs out of her face and tried to tie her hair back with a worn-looking elastic. "Who wouldn't miss a chance to drive Galactic scum into the ground? Plus I'm on the run for… different… reasons, so we're in the same boat."

I called on a lesser-known aspect of Aura. I could tell if someone's trustworthy with one look into their eyes. I saw something within Aurian's midnight blue that I had never seen before. There was an all-too familiar cerulean spark in them. I thought I was alone in this generation with aura use...

"You're an aura user, aren't you?" I asked.

She raised her eyebrows. "What makes you say that, Ketchum?"

I pooled a bit of aura in my palm. "So am I."

Aurian's eyes widened, and a few violet blue sparks danced off her fingertips. "No way I'm ditching you now. We have to stick together for our own safety. You ever been followed for what you can do?"

I laughed, but then winced as my wound reminded me of its existence. Aurian yanked my shirt up and sucked in a large breath as she saw the extent of the claw mark.

"Well, your aura work helped a little. Want me to chip in?"

I nodded. "If you can."

She cartoonishly stretched her fingers and her eyes turned grave. Aurian called more sparks from her hands and directed them into my chest. I sighed in relief as muscles slowly started to knit back together.

"I've had more crazy adventures and attempts on my life than you could count on two hands," I said.

Aurian raised an eyebrow. "Really? Ever met any free legendaries?" "Most of them, actually." "Seems we have a lot more in common than I thought. Ever been to Unova? There're some trippy aura legends over there..."

A sheen of sweat appeared across her forehead, and I pulled her arm away. "You'll fall unconscious if you keep going. I owe you one."

She shook her head as she sat back on the ground. "Really?"

I nodded. "Learned that one the hard way in the Tree of Beginning a year ago."

"Really? I've always wanted to go there," she said wistfully. "Feels like something pulls me in that direction whenever I'm in Kanto."

"But the more important thing..." I trail off. "Where are we gonna go? I can't stay in Sinnoh, you probably can't go back to wherever you're from..."

"Sandgem," she blurts. "I'm from Sandgem, and I won't go back there until hell freezes over."

I picked myself up and started pacing back and forth. "Sinnoh's out of the picture. I'm from Kanto, my mom still lives in Pallet. She'll hear us out, give us some advice." She grinned, and I extended a hand so she could help herself up. "Whaddaya say? Outcasts together?"

"Together," I replied. "Where are we, anyways?"

"A mile outside of Sunyshore. Your team needs medical attention, and you could use some antiseptic on that claw mark of yours," she said. "Have two flying types, if you want to borrow one."

"Please?" I asked, giving her my best Growlithe-eyes.

Aurian chuckled quietly and released an Altaria and a Staraptor. "This is Ace," she motioned to the Staraptor, "and Chance." Altaria hummed politely. "Take your pick, I'm fine either way."

Altaria's friendly face felt rather reassuring, so I hopped on his back. Aurian slid onto Ace and hooked her knees around the bird's wings. I copied her motions with Chance, and the friendly Pokémon wrapped his wings around me in a comforting manner before we took off.

"What were you saying about being followed?" Aurian yelled over the whip of the wind.

"Galactic, Aqua, Magma, Rocket," I counted off on my fingers. "I can bond with every Pokémon I meet. Wasn't until last fall that I realized how unique that is."

Aurian shook her head. "Add Plasma to that list, subtract the Hoenn syndicates, and you've got me. I can free any captured Pokémon without contact with its Pokéball."

"Whoa. That's weird. Is it an aura side-effect, or just you?"

She shrugged. "Can't tell. I've never been around another user, so I'm pretty inexperienced. You?"

"I've met two," I replied, thinking of Riley and the Lucario from Rota. "Didn't get any advice- we were too busy trying to prevent the apocalypses."

Aurian let out a harsh laugh. "You too? Figured I'd had the worst luck ever with world-ending stuff."

The lights of the city came into view, and Chance landed softly in front of the Center.

"Thanks, you two," Aurian said, returning her teammates to their Pokeballs.

I turned towards the lights. "First, we heal our teams."

"And get you medical attention," she finished, pointing at my chest.

"Right."

We entered the Center, and the Nurse Joy rushed towards us.

"My Arceus, what happened to you, young man?"

I shrug and then wince. "Wild Pokémon attack, Nurse Joy. Can you help me, please?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course. Do you want your friend to come back with you?"

I shot a hesitant glance at Aurian, who shrugged.

"Yeah. She can come back."

Aurian and I followed the Nurse into a back room, which was stocked with various supplies meant for Pokémon healing. I sat down on the stretcher and Aurian plopped down in a chair in a corner, her back against the wall.

"We normally don't deal with human injuries, so Chancey and I need to gather some different supplies. We'll be right back."

I waited a little bit to speak after the nurse walked out of the room.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Aurian asked, eyes narrowing.

"Kind of? I spoke with Professor Oak before I left. He said we shouldn't use our real names until we get back to Pallet. Do you agree?"

Aurian nodded uncertainly. "Yeah. If a Professor says to do something, do it. They know what their stuff. What name were you going to use?"

"I'm not really sure. I was thinking of using something basic, completely generic... any suggestions?"

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Go for a color name. They're unusual, but forgettable."

I paused, but then an idea came to me. "Would Red Aronshu work?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I like the sound of that one. I'll try Blue Katrian on for size- does it seem okay?"

"Intimidating," I said with a laugh.

The nurse and a Chancey returned with bandages, antiseptic, and lots of gauze pads.

"What's your name, young man? We have some forms for you to fill out," Joy said as she started separating the supplies.

I shot a worried glance at Aurian, who motioned for me to go on with that plan.

"About that..." I said, biting my lip. I take off my ripped jacket and shirt, revealing the bloody remains of my bandage. T

he nurse's hands flew to her heart. "You were on Lily of the Valley Island, weren't you?"

I nodded. "Yes, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone I was here. I've got people looking for me, Nurse Joy, and I don't think they'd like to leave me in one piece whenever they finish."

"You have my word," she responded. "I can't disclose any kind of treatment I could give to you or anything about you because of the Oath we take whenever we enter medical school. You came to the right place."

I winced as she dabbed at the claw marks with hydrogen peroxide.

"Damn, that hurts."

"It'll get better soon," Aurian said from the back of the room.

Nurse Joy turned towards Aurian as she picked up a huge bandage. "How did you drag yourself into this, young lady?"

Aurian shrugged. "Saw that this kid was in trouble and at an unfair disadvantage in a battle, so I decided to jump in. It was impulsive, but I found an instant friend."

"You fought in a brawl to save a complete stranger?" Joy asked, wrapping medical tape over my bandage.

Aurian shrugged, her midnight eyes jaded. "I wish someone would've done that for me when I was in Unova. Figured I'd regret not saving this kid, so why not?"

Nurse Joy finished wrapping my torso, and passed over a plain grey t-shirt and a black hoodie. "You'll need this to get past customs at the region borders. Get out of here, and quick. I saw the other nurses discussing what happened on the island when Chancey and I went to get supplies. That bandage should hold until you reach wherever you're going."

"Thank you for everything," I said, jumping off the table. "I'll page the Center after we get where we're going so you know we're safe."

She smiled. "I'd appreciate that, Ash. The last rounds of flights out of the regions for the night leave in a half-hour. You can make it to the airport if you run. Take a right out of the main entrance- the airport's about a half-mile down the road."

"Come on, let's go!" Aurian said as she dragged me out the door.

We made it to the airport with only a few minutes to spare. There were two cheap seats on a cargo plane headed for Viridian City, so Aurian and I jumped at the chance to buy those.

Two minutes after we arrived at the gate, the pilot came to introduce himself.

"Lieutenant Surge?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Aren't you supposed to be in Vermillion?"

He gave me a particularly impressive Arbok-eye. "Aren't you supposed to be in League custody?"

"Touché. Lieutenant Surge, this is Aurian. Aurian, meet..."

"We've met before," she said, crossing her arms. "Do you remember me, Lieutenant? I'm the girl with the Empoleon and the Serperior..."

His eyes widened. "It's nice to see you again, Copland. We need to leave now if we're gonna outfly this storm coming in over East Sinnoh. It'll be a rough three-hour ride- you up for it?"

I nodded. "Anything to get out of here."

"Right. All aboard the Spark. She's tiny, but she's mine. Buckle up and hold on."

Aurian followed me up the ramp, and we strapped in to two seats behind the cockpit.

"Ready?" Surge asked from up front.

"All good!" I yelled. "Let's go home!"

The small cargo plane rattled down the runway and leapt up into the air.

"So... Aurian Borealis, right? Why'd Surge call you Copland?" I asked.

She sighed, and pain entered her eyes. "It's a long story."

I motioned around the cabin. "We've got time."

"All right, here goes... three weeks ago, my mother left my father for a rich businessman in Almia. There was a nasty custody case fought over my brother, and I learned I was adopted in the midst of it. I did some digging, found my original birth certificate, and my last name was Borealis on it."

I grimaced. "Ouch. Wouldn't they have told you before something major like that happened?"

"Dad... oops, Atticus, said that he was planning on telling me when I turned fifteen. He's nine months off," she added on in a mutter.

"When's your birthday?" I asked, suddenly curious.

She bit the inside of her lip. "April sixteenth, why?"

"Oh. Mine's the fourth. Weird, right? We're both wielders, we have birthdays kinda close to each other..."

Aurian nodded. "Yeah, it's unusual. But remember, we're Red and Blue now. Ash Ketchum and Aurian Borealis dropped off the grid about three hours ago."

"Gotcha. We should try to get some sleep. See you in Kanto?" I asked.

She winked and nodded. "Don't let the Caterpie bite."

Aurian was asleep within minutes. What did I know about this girl? She showed up out of nowhere, reeling from recent emotional trauma, and with a kick-butt team to boot. This whole situation seemed fishy, but I wasn't complaining about an ally falling into my life.

Her head fell to my shoulder as we hit a spot of turbulence and I couldn't help a smile. I knew nothing about Aurian other than the fact that she was an enigma, but my gut told me that I could trust her as sleep finally took over. Things looked like they were turning out to be us against the world.

Were we ready? Hell no. But we could put up a fight to remember.

(A/N): Hey, everyone, and welcome to the first chapter of As it All Fell to Pieces! Special thanks to thechinskyguy for betaing and general idea-bouncing, and ConstructiveWriter for encouragement after my original prologue kinda crashed and burned.

This is the prologue to my main multi-chapter, called "Primary". You can technically read this one on its own, but things will make a lot more sense if you've read up to the last chapter I've uploaded in that one.

Since Ash narrated this chapter, Aurian's up to speak in the next one!

I'd like to start a new thing in my postscripts- for those of you who know me from my other fics, you know that I love music... a lot. I've decided to add on a song in the postscript that inspired the mood of the chapter.

This chapter's theme song is "Icarus" by Bastille! If you haven't checked them out, you really should. All of their songs are great!

Thanks for reading, and please drop a review! I'd really appreciate it!

PL, signing off!