One Year.

(The only chap that had some "Big" changes was chapter 12, the gift. I added/changed a good amount of stuff to accommodate the added years.)

I felt horrible.

The little devil was terrified of me. He was obedient now, but it was not how I wanted it to be. I couldn't undo the past, but I could at least work together with him now.

When we went out to practice battling against wild pokemon he would listen to my orders. Which really helped against stronger opponents. I was technically not allowed to venture away from my town on my own until I turned 15. But the pokemon in my area were weak, which didn't really give me many options.

Thanks to the time I had spent working out the past few years, I had some muscle on me that made me look a bit older. So I decided to venture out a bit further away from my hometown to encounter more difficult pokemon, just pretending as if I was already on my journey. There was a limit as to how far I could go, but it was enough to get some more experience.

I was trying to bond with the little devil by fighting wild pokemon, which worked slightly, but I could tell the little one still feared me. I couldn't challenge other pokemon trainers because I needed my trainer id for it. The league tried to keep track of trainer battles and their result to watch out for up-and-coming trainers. People who could be recruited to work as future gym leaders or simply as powerful trainers that could be called upon if an emergency happened near the area they were at.

It also helped to prevent trainer battles from getting out of hand. If your league id had been used before the battle, it would be easier to identify a trainer that might have assaulted another trainer or taken things too far when battling.

I couldn't help but sigh as I petted the head of the little devil who was resting under my hat on top of my head. Which only caused him to stiffen up.

"Do you want to see something cool?" I asked him, only to get no response.

Turning to Ralts, who was by my side, I gave her a nod.

"Ralts has been trying to learn something to cheer you up."

The little angel was indeed my savior. Seeing how distressed I was by my current relationship with Dreepy, she had taken it into her hands to try to cheer me up. After spending all of her breaks glued to the tv watching different pokemon contests, she had learned a few things. She was a big fan of the coordinator named Zoey because she had a Kirlia. So after practicing a lot, she was able to copy the routine that she had seen on tv, even if it was a bit sloppy.

Dreepy turned to look at Ralts as she began to do a rough knockoff of the dance she had seen on tv. Using her telekinesis, she moved through the air while continuing to spin.

"Ralts!" She said in excitement as she continued to dance through the air.

I felt Dreepy relax on top of my head, his little tail swaying to the rhythm of Ralts dance.

— — —

During the next few months of training, Ralts worked as an intermediator between Dreepy and me. The little one was still afraid, but he would no longer stiffen up whenever I talked to him or touched his head.

It hurt me every time it happened. But the show I had put on for him against Gyarados had helped to get him stronger. Before, he would fool around and simply try to mess with his enemies, but now, when we battled wild pokemon together, he would become focused.

In order for a pokemon of his type to grow to their full potential, they either had to be surrounded by ghostly miasma in a place that had a lot of death, like the pokemon tower in Kanto, or to experience the pressure of other dragon-type pokemon and learn to adapt and resist it. Another alternative for the dragon typing was to continue to combat stronger and stronger enemies, but that option was a bit limited to me until I could start my journey.Thankfully, Carolina had been thinking of ways to help me since the phone call, so she sent one of her Garchomps to the lab near my house to assist in pressuring the little one.

I'll admit, I had a chill up my spine when I saw the disgust the Garchomp showed towards me when they first saw me, but thankfully, they were mature enough not to act upon it.

It saddened me to see how easily the two of them got along, but I ignored the feeling in order to try my best to support the little one. After the Garchomp had arrived, we added regular visits to the pokemon lab in order for Dreepy to experience what it was like to be with another Dragon. Which really helped to strengthen his confidence. The fear was still there, but even if Ralts weren't around, he would no longer coward against me.

It was clear that it was going to take more than just some time to overcome the barrier between us. But I was willing to be patient.

Ralts was still stronger than him by a reasonable amount, but the bridge between them had become smaller than before I was passing on to her all I had learned from Olympia, and she could even beat me when it came to telekinesis dexterity. She could assemble a house of cards without much issue, so for now, we were working on her telekinesis strength, trying to build so that she could lift heavier and heavier things.

I was honestly surprised by how fast she was growing. She was learning more and more moves, so our training was divided into two sections. Training the fundamentals and training the moves. Unlike the game, where you would need TM's to teach a pokemon a move, if you could figure out the basics of how the move worked, you could try to teach it to another pokemon. I had spent many nights researching as many psychic-type moves in order to create a way to teach them to Ralts. The price to buy TM's was outrageous, so this was the best move I could make for now. I had even contacted Olympia for assistance in researching the moves.

Though I was being careful not to overwhelm her too much. We would train one move at a time until she was comfortable using it, which took time.

I had also begun training with my mother during this time to begin preparing to become a pokemon coordinator. Something Ralts had been ecstatic about. It was a different form of battle than the one I had gotten used to by fighting wild pokemon, but I could see the appeal. Most pokemon contests required two pokemon in order to apply, and though I fulfilled that requirement, I knew Dreepy was not interested in the least. This meant I would have to start thinking of future pokemon I could catch that could participate along with Ralts.

The time for my fifteenth birthday was approaching faster than I could have expected it. I had almost wished that I had more than one year to prepare.

Raising newborn pokemon was harder than raising the usual pokemon given to you by a professor. But I was thankful for the experience, even if I wished I could have changed how some things had turned out.

Petting the sleeping Dreepy, he reacted by biting my hand lightly while still sleeping. I couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle as I saw his sleeping expression become one of absolute calm as if something that was missing was suddenly given to him.

— — —

Ralts had been sneaking out for some time the week before my birthday. Something she thought I wouldn't notice. I could have pried into what she was doing, but I simply decided to trust the little angel. In fact, I had a pretty good guess as to what she was planning. My mother was not well known for being able to keep secrets, and I could tell that they both were planning something together. I could also tell that Dreepy was planning something of his own, though I doubted it was a gift. I could see traces of determination in his eyes. Whatever he was planning on doing, he was working up the courage.

To be honest, I didn't really care much for my birthdays usually. But this day would mean the day I left the house to explore the world on my own. Something that filled me with both anticipation and nervousness. Things would become real the moment my id was given to me.

Since Rowan had gone into the hidden research facility, Carolina would be coming over to the party to declare me as a trainer officially. I already had the Pokedex and the starters, so this was mainly a formality to check up on how Dreepy and I were doing. I was slightly nervous that I would disappoint her, Dreepy had grown stronger, but I wasn't sure if he would be strong enough to pass in Carolina's eyes.

I could feel a headache as my birthday drew ever closer. All I could do was meditate and wait until the inevitable day arrived.

~Author's note~

Special FBI agent here. After failing to catch out target at their wedding, the government has cut our funding. Our special agent that was supposed to help us capture him has gone rogue and eloped. Send us power stones so that we may find this criminal and bring him to justice.

The next chapter is called "A Birthday to remember" and it will bring an end to volume 1, the journey before the journey. Insomnia struck again, so I decided to write this chap instead of waiting until tomorrow.