Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Batman or any affiliated books, characters, and games

North Gotham, a suburb of Gotham City, didn't look anything like what you'd expect something with "Gotham" in the name to look like. The name Gotham brought to mind gargoyles, heavy overhead clouds, and an excess of crime. This was all true of Gotham City but North Gotham was different. It had been founded by the richer inhabitants of Gotham City a few generations previously when a group of them had looked around and realized that the city was a rather miserable place and they had the money to get out.

There were large mansions with larger gardens on either side of the main road. Each garden filled with greenery. A few patches of grass filled the small spaces between the estates. The grass would shake sometimes indicating the presence of a few wild pokemon. At the end of the main road was the biggest mansion with the biggest garden; Wayne Manor, home to the richest man in Gotham (and North Gotham).

One day a pair of individuals appeared in North Gotham and headed down the main road, in the direction of Wayne Manor. The first was an elegant woman, fashionably dressed, with dark skin and hair. She carried herself with confidence and looked around with a slightly disdain full air as though she had seen it all before. The second was much smaller, a young boy about eleven years. The similarities between his appearance and the woman's left no doubt that he was her son. The boy was attempting to copy his mother's casual confident disdain and not quite succeeding.

His name is Damian and he is the main character of our story. Her name is Talia and while she is not the main character of our story she is still quite important.

"I thought you said that Gotham was dark and gloomy," Damian said.

"It is," his mother responded. "But this is North Gotham. It's entirely different." The walked in silence for a little while, drawing closer to their destination.

Eventually Talia began to speak again. "Now I want you to remember everything I told you. You are here to complete your pokemon journey and prove your worth as the heir to Team Lazarus. Don't waste your time with side tasks. Don't get too chummy with your father's strays. Take advantage of anything your father may have to teach you. He has some misguided ideas but he is the strongest pokemon trainer in the Justice Region. Don't let anyone know you know who the Champion Batman is. I don't pretend to understand why your father insists that no one know he's the champion of the pokemon league but that is his choice."

"Yes, Mother." Damian put his hand in his pocket where he was keeping the pokeball that contained the starter pokemon his mother had gotten for him before they left the Team Lazarus headquarters. It was a zubat and Damian had nicknamed him Goliath, though he hadn't told his mother that.

"Your grandfather and I have high expectations of your abilities which I am certain you will live up to. You can return to Team Lazarus as leader once you have completed your journey and defeated your father." At this point Talia and Damian had reached the front gate of Wayne Manor. They stopped and Talia pressed the button for the intercom.

"Hello. Please state your name and your business." The voice coming out of the intercom was completely professional without a hint of emotion.

"This Talia al Ghul. I've brought Bruce's son to him."

"His son?" Now the voice sounded a little wary.

"Yes. Please let me in."

There was a buzz and the gate opened allowing the mother-son pair inside. They headed through the large garden toward the mansion.

Damian tried to remain as unimpressed as his mother was but he really couldn't. Team Lazarus had large amounts of wealth but they did not have a large garden like this. He could see pokemon flitting out of the grass. He tried looking around for nay bat pokemon before remembering that it was daytime and most bat pokemon wouldn't be out until after nightfall.

When Talia and Damian reached the house there was already an old man standing on the front steps waiting for them. He was dressed in a fine suit. He kept his face neutral until his eyes landed on Damian, when they widened in surprise.

"Ms. al Ghul…. might I ask what is the meaning of this?"

"This is Bruce's son. Is he going to be coming to greet us?"

"He had some work he needed to finish but he should be down soon." The old man continued to stare at Damian as though he didn't know how to pull his eyes away. Damian found himself growing uncomfortable under the unwavering gaze.

"Didn't anyone teach you that it's rude to stare?" Damian snarled. The old man blushed and finally turned away.

The door to the front steps opened and a large man came out. He had blue eyes and dark hair with a few grey stands peeking out. He saw Talia first and immediately started speaking to her. "Talia. I'm not sure what you are doing with any of my sons but if you've gotten any of them involved in some of your Team Lazarus-" He abruptly stopped speaking upon seeing Damian. "Um, hello." He turned to Talia. "I thought you said you were here with one of my sons."

Talia placed a hand on Damian's shoulder. "Bruce, beloved, this is your son. Yours and mine."

Bruce Wayne, for that is who this man was, turned back to look at Damian. "What? How old is he? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He's eleven years old. I've been raising him since he was a baby but I can't continue to do so. He's ready to begin his pokemon journey and he can't get a trainer passport if he's with me. He knows all there is to know about pokemon already and I've set him up with a starter."

"Wait." Bruce held up a hand. "We had a child together but you never told me about him until now. And you want me to take him in so he can go on his pokemon journey."

"Of course, beloved. I assumed you'd be perfectly willing to look after him. After all, you take in street rats at the drop of a hat…"

"I'm not saying that I'm not going to look after him if you can't. It's just…you never told me about him. How can you prove that he's mine?"

Talia reached into her purse and withdrew some papers. "DNA tests and blood work. I hope you don't mind that I kept some of your samples. So you will take him?"

"Well, yes."

"Then it's settled." She handed the stunned man the papers. She patted Damian on the shoulder one more time before turning around and leaving.

After Talia had vanished into the gardens Bruce finally turned to Damian and took more than a cursory look at him. "So…what's your name?"

"It's Damian." Throughout Bruce's exchange with Talia Damian had been quietly sizing him up. He had had a mental image of his father as strong, composed, and overall impressive man and trainer. Unlike the impressive gardens, this man seemed to be lacking. He had also expected him to be a bit taller.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Damian. I'm Bruce Wayne, your father. I suppose you already knew that. I guess you've already met Alfred." He gestured to the old man. "He's technically our butler but really he's family."

Alfred gave a slight nod. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we should take this inside."

The trio headed indoors. One would expect, in a rich man's house, for there to be a lot of expensive decorations on display but there were surprisingly few in Wayne Manor. The wealth of the family was still demonstrated but through good furniture and a large chandelier instead of paintings and expensive vases.

"Alfred, could you get a guest room set up for Damian," Bruce said. "And can you call Dick and Tim down from upstairs to meet him."

Alfred nodded and headed upstairs. Bruce sighed before turning to Damian. "Do you know- "

"About your unfortunate habit of picking up strays. Yes."

"They are your brothers you know."

Damian shrugged. "-TT-"

A series of thuds announced the incoming presence of Bruce's other sons. The first one to appear at the top of the stairs immediately jumped on the railing and slid down. The second walked down like a normal person. Damian took a moment to size them both up. The first was a young adult, far too old to be sliding down stair railings, wearing a bright blue shirt and sweatpants. The second was only a few years older than Damian and looked like he had forgotten to go to sleep the night before. Damian wasn't sure which of his father's strays they were but they struck him as unsurprisingly pathetic.

"Hey Bruce! Who's this then?" The older boy placed his hands on his knees and leaned down so he was closer to Damian's height. As though Damian were a child that needed to be talked down to. "I'm Dick! What's your name?"

Damian blinked. He was pretty sure none of his father's strays had a name as…vulgar as that. "That's not your real name."

"Uh, yeah it is. It's short for Richard."

Damian couldn't understand how one could get Dick from Richard but at least he now knew who this one was. The oldest, the son of traveling entertainers unable to settle in one place before they got themselves killed, taken in by his father in a moment of weakness. Richard Grayson had challenged the Champion of the Justice League and failed. A subpar trainer compared to Damian's father and how he himself would be when he finished.

"This is Damian. He's going to be staying with us for a while." Bruce stepped into the conversation. "Damian this is Dick and Tim. They're your brothers."

"Don't be ridiculous." Damian turned on his father. "I am your son by blood. These are just a pair of orphans you happened to take a liking too. They aren't related to me."

Dick and Tim both stared at Damian then turned to Bruce. "Bruce, please tell me you didn't knock up some random woman." Dick sighed.

Bruce didn't answer. Instead he frowned at Damian. "They are your brothers. Apologize to them now."

Damian shock his head. "I will not."

"Why do you think you're so superior to us anyway?" Tim asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Because I am." Damian smirked. "My mother told me about you pathetic trainers that my father took pity on. You were supposed to start your pokemon journey a year ago, weren't you Drake? And yet your still here. Too scared to leave home?"

Tim's jaw dropped before snapping close again as he trembled with rage. "Well, if your mother knows anything she knows that the only reason I didn't go was because I lost my spleen to Team freaking Lazarus."

Bruce stepped between them. "Damian that was uncalled for. You will apologize. Tim, don't let him bait you."

"I said nothing that isn't true. Why should I apologize?"

"'Don't let him bait me'? He started it!"

Bruce ignored Tim and focused on the more troublesome boy. "What you said was hurtful and I'm sure you know that. Now apologize."

Damian couldn't believe that his father was backing this orphan over him. He had thought his mother was exaggerating when she told him how much his father liked the strays he took in. "I won't."

"Damian-" Bruce was cut off by a sudden cough. The group turned towards the stairs where Alfred was now standing at the bottom.

"I've fixed up young Master Damian's new room. Lunch will likely be ready in half an hour."

Alfred left leaving Tim and Bruce glaring at Damian, Damian ignoring his father to glare at Tim, and Dick desperately trying to figure out a way to disperse the tension.

Hello, I'm Three Black Cats. Welcome to this story. I usually don't write authors notes, however, since I've done a fair amount of world building for this AU I thought I should include them in this story in order to explain things that my not be obvious and to provide additional fun facts about the universe. I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter.

This story takes place in the fictional pokemon region, the Justice Region. Which makes their pokemon league, the Justice League. Team Lazarus, is this universe's League of Assassins and are basically that evil team you always run into and fight in a pokemon game.

If you any questions about the details of this universe you can leave a question in a review or PM and so long as I don't think the answer is a spoiler I'll answer.

Thanks for reading.