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In the pokemon world, there have been countless trainers, breeders, professors and researchers. Over the years, their stories have weaved together a tapestry of life and joy that have made the pokemon world into a place where even the youngest of people can work together with pokemon to achieve their dreams. One such child was Ash Ketchum, and other was Gary Oak. But their story has been told once before.

This story is about a boy named Contern Killif, a trainer of humble roots in small town Cherry Grove. Together with his friends, Billy, Kimberly, Trini and Max, they defend the pokemon world from evil of Lord Zedd. My name is Zordon and these are the Pokemon Power Rangers.

... ...Wait, who hijacked my story to turn it into a lame Power Rangers ripoff? We're starting this over again.

Anyway, it's about Contern and his journey in the pokemon world. He comes from Cherrygrove Town and has some rather interesting circumstances behind actually getting on the road and meeting his goals. To tell that story, we must begin a day before he's on the road.



It was the last day of school at the Poke-Academy, and where else would we find our hero but in class, watching the time tick away. On his desk was a test he should be finishing, but he couldn't focus. Dread and elation mixed as he anticipated eagerly the long, empty summer days, but mourned the lack of something to fill them. Subconsciously, his hand drifted down to the lone pokeball at his belt and he fiddled with it.

The Nidoran male within it quivered with anticipation. Con had been toying with it all day, and that might be a sign Nidoran might get to fight. It had been so long since the two had shared a battle with anyone else, Nidoran began to wonder if they would battle ever again. But he waited patiently for his master's call while he remained cooped up during school hours. Nidoran eagerly awaited the summer days without school as well.

The final bell of the day and the school year rang and Con's answer sheet was still blank. Sighing, he let go of the pokeball and gathered the papers on his desk and placed them in the pile forming on the teacher's desk on his way out. He walked home with Nidoran at his side, and when he arrived, taped to the door was a note.



Con smiled. His mother, Kim, was the nurse at the pokecenter in town, and if she was working late, there was a good reason for it. He'd be glad to run an errand for his mother. Nidoran would appreciate it, too. After fetching his bicycle from the side of the house, the two were off.

The ride between the two towns didn't take long, they might as well have been one joined town but for the dense forest between them. Con and Nidoran arrived at the Pokemon lab in New Bark and parked the bike next to the door. Entering, the building was dim inside and dusty as well. It looked like the front half of the lab didn't get clean very often. The back was just as empty, as it turned out. 'Elm isn't here,' Con thought. He shrugged. There was still the professor's house next door to check. He would worry after that didn't pan out.

Con knocked on the professor's door. Arnold Elm himself answered. A smile lit up his face as he recognized the boy. "Contern, I thought I'd get a visit from you, today. Did you come by for help or to help?" he asked, folding his hands.

Con returned the smile politely. "To help, sir. My mom said you needed a favor? Is it something I can do?"

Elm nodded brightly. "Definitely. This way," he motioned the two of them and the lone pokemon into a side room, where several computers sat on long tables lining the wall, some hooked up to others, some not. As they walked, he made small talk. "So, how is the elder Killif boy?," he asked. He took a seat at what seemed to be the hub and motioned for Con to do the same.

Con replied briskly but not rudely. "Lance is holding his position well."

As Con sat, Elm nodded absently and began explaining. "Now, I've done some research on pokemon evolution, namely in the Eevee line, lately that turned up interesting results. It seems that there are more possibilities in the Eevee chain of evolution. You are familiar with the current evolution tree?"

Con nodded, adding, "Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon and Umbreon," by way of explanation. "What happened?"

"Well, I have a contact in the Sinnoh region who told me about ice and grass type evolutions found in the wild there. It made me curious. Ice and grass stones are universal, so what makes the difference?" Elm asked in a manner that lorded the answer he already had over Con's head, but not in a derogatory manner as he turned back to the computer, typing and clicking all over the place. "The answer lies in genes. It seems the basic make up of any given Eevee there is different in a myriad of ways. I was interested in some empirical hands-on evidence, and your mother informed me of the single, orphan Eevee in the critical unit there. That gave me an idea," he said, as he pulled at least three compact discs out of drives and placed them in cases.

"If an Eevee could be studied over time as it is raised, we may be able to further pin down the differences." Elm swung around in his chair again, facing Con once more, discs in hand. "Which brings me to you. If you are willing, I'd like to ask you to take on that Eevee, raise and train it and let me observe from time to time to gain the information we're missing."

Con nodded in thought, weighing the options. "Sounds like a lot of work, a lot of time invested for a hunch."

Elm, sensing the boy's hesitation. "Think of the possibilities, Contern! If we can pin down just Eevee's specific evolution habits, we may finally crack pokemon evolution completely! I mean, we understand it now, as much as possible, but it's always been like sleep. No one fully understands it, other than knowing it's necessary for a species to survive. And besides that, you are still interested in doing some traveling, right?"

Elm had the boy there. "I'll do it," he said decisively.

Arnold Elm beamed over his glasses. "Wonderful! You'll need these, then!" he said, holding out the CD's. Con accepted them.

"Why is that?" he asked, placing them carefully in a generous cargo pocket on his jeans.

"Those are my reports and all my findings on the case, and they are for Professor Oak. He was next in line for this information, and he is in Violet City for the next week and a half, teaching a lecture class. While you are out and about, I need you to deliver those to him, can you do that?"

Con nodded with a grin on his face. "Absolutely, professor."

"Wonderful! Now, do get on your way, you'll want to be home before night fall. I'll call your mother and fill her in. Thank you very much, Contern!" he called as the boy was almost out the front door.

"You're welcome, professor!" he called back before letting the door swing shut. "Come on, Nidoran, we've got some packing to do if we're going on a journey," he said, mounting his bike again. He rode out of New Bark with Nidoran safe on his shoulder and a big smile on his face. The wind was crisper than it had been on the way over, the light brighter and the world nicer, all because of one little Eevee and what potential it held. "I can't wait," he said to his pokemon partner, smiling that impish smile all the way home that evening.