To the skies and beyond!

It started with the intense blowing of a ship horn. It was followed by the cries of Wingulls overhead and the tone was set by the beautiful shine of the sun above. Then finally she emerged on deck. The sun glistened off the metal plate at the front of her headband. An excited grin crossed her face and now she gazed at the partly cloudy blue skies above. Asuka Reilly had come within eyeshot of her next adventure, the Luenn Region. The boat ride that brought her this far was only the beginning. Asuka's mind raced with thoughts on what awaited her here.

"You're excited aren't you?" came the voice of one of the ship's crewmen.

She turned to the man in uniform. She fixed her hair behind her ears. She wanted to speak but wasn't able to. Asuka merely shook her head confirming his question. The crewman smiled as he looked ahead.

"I remember my first Pokemon Journey! There's much to be excited about. I'm sure you'll have a great one."

Asuka gave a nod in response, just barely giggling. The ship soon docked pier, and now Asuka was free to take her first steps upon the land belonging to the region. She tightened her fingerless gloves on her hands and rushed out along the gangplank onto the dock. Her first sight was the scene of a beautiful beach with plenty of the town's natives running about, enjoying themselves. Some even had Pokemon of their own. Soon she would get to pick out the partner of her journey. She just needed to find the laboratory of Professor Julia Palm.

Asuka Reilly, welcome to Luenn Region. she thought.

She departed the dock now to head into the town. After her business was handled, she could enjoy the beach as she saw fit. This she could bet on.

The journey to Professor Palm's lab was a long, but necessary one.

Accompanied by his Father and Mother, the ranch back home was left in good, capable hands.

As a rancher/breeder in training, Alberdyne Cormyr was part of a famous legacy within the lore of the Luenn Region. Cormyr's were breeding powerful pokemon long before the first established Gym in the Luenn region. Some of the current gym leader's Pokemon likely came from a Cormyr breeding ranch, or one similar to it. The party had their prized pokemon with them as they arrived in the small Sea View Town. Salty air came in from the direction of the ocean, and Dyne could just make out a nearby port area. Sea View was a port town, but that meant that a lot of traders would come looking for their own pokemon to raise.

Dyne liked port cities the most.

There he could get a taste of exotic cultures and learn from the best, the sea-faring sailors that dared to travel the world riding in ocean-faring vessels.

Dyne was eager to get the errand done for his parents so that he could explore the routes around Sea View Town.

He'd heard that many wild Pokemon inhabited the area.

Dyne and his prized Zubat were standing next to the older people of his party as they addressed Professor Palm. There was some business about raising certain of the pokemon in the area, and a few other matters. Then, the package that Dyne's Father had for Professor Palm was exchanged. Another package was given to Dyne's Father and the two exchanged a warm greeting after.

"Drinks are on me later at the bar." Dyne's Father said to Professor Palm and his Mother. Suddenly, they were all looking at Dyne. "What will you be doing Dyne?" His Father asked.

"Well. I was hoping to train up my Zubat." Dyne said carefully, remembering the adults in the room. Dyne was not a child, but he was not a old gentleman either. "Possibly catch some more Pokemon using the Pokedex that I was given on my birthday." He turned to look at Professor Palm with a warm smile on his face. "I would like to talk to Professor Palm too about my Pokemon." With that, the other adults parted with Professor Palm and Dyne and went about their business. Dyne stood behind and walked over to Professor Palm.

"Let me see your Pokedex." Palm asked. "Ah yes. You're a new trainer are you not?"

"Breeder." Dyne said. "I'd like to help out Trainers raise more powerful pokemon though."

"If you'll wait here just a moment, I'm sure a Trainer will come along who will be a suitable partner for you." Then, Palm looked at Dyne's Zubat. "Say, Dyne was it? That's a mighty fine Zubat specimen you are raising. How about you test it against one of my Pokemon?"

"Varo, get up! Didn't we talk about you needing to go to bed early last night?" Rai said loudly from the door of Varo's bedroom.

The bedside alarm clock read 6:36 AM. For the past six minutes, the alarm was honking loudly with no reaction besides endless snoring from Varo. Rai had told him to go to bed early last night and as was always the case, Varo stood up late again, reading about some of the first Pokemon ever discovered. His curiousity always got the best of him at the worst times. Machop, was training as always.

Now though, he needed to get up and get ready for what might be the start of great things in his otherwise dull life. He had Machop, who was loyal to him without question, but they both wanted more out of life. They needed to be around people like them, in a place where people and Pokemon lived together peacefully.

Nothing like Brooklyn.

"Ungh..." Varo groaned finally, his sandy hair was all over the place and he didn't bother to fix it until he sat up and let out a long and loud yawn.

Machop jokingly held a finger under his nose, and smiled. He hopped off the treadmill across the bedroom from Varo's bed and turned it off. It slowly decreased from it's incredible speed and stopped with a click. He went to his trainer's bedside and shook him by a shoulder gently.

"I'm...getting up," Varo moaned and pushed back the hair covering his eyes.

The early morning sun shining through two adjacent windows was nearly blinding to the young teenager. He squinted his eyes and then quickly brought his hands up to block the light from view. Through the windows, an ambulance siren could be heard blaring loudly for a few seconds before going out of earshot of the entire neighborhood. Far off, a faint repition of popping could be heard in the general direction of where the ambulance was likely headed.

I'm glad we're out of here today, Rai thought and walked away from Varo's room now that he was up.

Rai was ready for a change of scenery, having been hired to help out at the many Pokemon Centers throughout the Luenn Region. They would reside at Sea View Town, and he would travel as needed to find a way to pay the bills. He had given his landlord his thirty day notice before moving, and they were out of time. They had only an hour or so to leave the premises, and he knew Varo would take at least half that time just to get ready to eat.

Varo is the most stubborn teenage boy I have ever seen. Just like his father...

Varo's wheelchair could be heard squeaking through the hallway and into the bathroom. He had the habit of bumping into the walls every morning when he got up, and Rai had been smart enough to put some money aside to pay for the damages to the landlord before they leave. Unfortunately, it would be some time before Varo got a new wheelchair. At least until they settled into Sea View Town and Rai worked hard enough. Varo was a trooper, and understood how tough things might be for a while.

He insisted that he could wait as long as he had to for a "fresh set of wheelz" and that it wasn't an issue for him. Unfortunately, Rai knew the truth in that all too well. Varo was a growing boy, despite his disability. He was outgrowing his wheelchair and he was long overdue for a new one.

A few minutes later, Varo exited the bathroom with fresh breath and a smile. He went back into his room and quickly got out of his pajames and into baggy black jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, and his favorite black and white Converse sneakers. His hair was still a mess, but not nearly as bad as it was when he first got up.

He rolled to the kitchen table and immediately went for the large empty bowl, milk and box of cereal waiting for him. He ate quickly without a word and burped loudly to announce he was ready to go.

"Mornin'," he said to his uncle.

"Mornin'," Rai replied. "Ready to go?"

Varo looked at Machop who came out of their room carrying several large suitcases of their many things. Machop's wide smile was all Varo needed to see to know that they were equally anxious to see new people and Pokemon.

"Machop, there's no need to take anything with us," Rai said happily. "I'm having most of our stuff shipped over by tomorrow."

Machop sighed and went back in the room. The sound of the heavy suicases hitting the floor nearly made Varo and Rai jump. The strong Pokemon came out of the room and dusted his hands off as if he were carrying the world as if it were light as a fether.

"Alright, let's go." Rai led the way out of the dirty building they would no longer call home.

Varo didn't bother to dwell on the thought of leaving the neighborhood he wanted so badly to get out of with his family. He rolled himself to the passenger side door of Rai's beat up car and pivoted into his seat using his upper body alone. He could move his legs, but it was difficult because his calf muscles suffered atrophy and his quadriceps strained to support his increasing size and weight. Both Rai and Machop learned long ago to avoid any attempt at assissting Varo when he was doing almost anything. It was Varo's strength and independence that made Machop loyal to him day after day.

Machop sat in the back seat quietly and eventually nodded off. Rai took the wheel and began to explain what would likely happen when they reached the ferry that would take them to Sea View Town, but Varo nodded off almost as fast Machop did. He was a night owl, not an early bird. Machop however, was simply tired from training.

"Oh well, off we go..."