the golden AU

Nolan:

Sabre / Litten: An alley stray kid!Nolan befriended before rescuing him one day from drowning in a canal. Follows him like a little shadow ever since.

Princess / Skitty: Nolan adores Skitties and always wanted one. So he saved up and bought her from a specialised Skitty breeder after being on a long waiting list. He also wanted a playmate for Sabre (”This is your sister”). However his two cats bicker often.

Lee / Elekid-Electabuzz:  A wild chance encounter.

Boog / Cubchoo-Beartic: Followed after (intensely stalked) Nolan throughout his journey despite Nolan's protest and eventually caught himself with a Quick ball Nolan was saving up.

Lazarus / Numel-Camerupt: He camped out for Lazarus because he thinks Numels are so! freakin! awesome! Boog causes an accidental landslide that traps a Numel and Nolan stays behind for several days, encouraging it to break free.

Baz / Wartortle-Blastoise: He chanced upon it in the wild where it had a Naruto Rasengan/Chidori (Aura Sphere vs Electro Ball) battle with Lee.

Zion:

Don / Shiftry*: He lived in the tree kid!Zion would often read under as a Seedot. He was very intrigued by Zion’s books and would try to follow after him to look at the pages. Despite being initially annoyed by his persistence, Zion took a liking to him and they eventually struck up a friendly companionship. When Don was attacked by a horde of bird-Pokémon, Zion took him in and nursed him back to health and they’ve been together ever since.

Aoi / Riolu: Aoi and Naga were street urchins who were drawn to Zion's garden and started stealing his produce to fill their empty bellies. They got caught by Zion's Nuzleaf (then) and Zion punished them. ...but he also fed them and cleaned them. Them living with him is essentially him going "Well, I guess you can stay until we find you a new home, but until then, make yourself useful" They've gotten really comfortable at Zion's.

Naga / Mienfoo: Like Aoi, they raided and ruined Zion’s garden and were tasked with repairing the damage it (as Zion did not have the heart to throw them out as they were kids). From the garden it shifted to chores around the house to earn their keep. Till they find “new trainers”, they had to do their part and Zion felt like he had to set them straight, on the right path.

Ueki / Bonsly-Sudowoodo: Zion found it hiding in his garden one day eating his crops. He tried to chase it off and when he finally cornered it, it started bawling (Fake Tears). This caught him off guard and he faltered. The Bonsly saw an opening and slipped past Zion, but not before throwing a move at him and sticking its tongue out, and then running away. The Bonsly returned in the days of the following week and caused a lot of trouble for Zion until he finally captured it. It took forever because it was devious and clever and it wasn’t afraid to fight back. They even set up traps for it. Aoi and Naga were the main ones who chased after it while Don supervised (it’s surprisingly agile) and it had a lot of fun making them scramble around. It used the Fake Tears trick on Zion again but he wasn't fazed. In fact, he gave it an angry stern lecture and it sulked.

Hagame / Turtwig: The Turtwig lives in his garden and spends most of her time sleeping amongst Zion's crops. He found that she had wandered in and made a home for herself and he was really afraid she’d eat and damage his crops. But he found out that she didn't and actually made his plants healthier so he just left her alone (also mainly because he failed to drive her out) She was always sleeping and once she was asleep, she wouldn't wake up and she was very heavy - so he got Aoi and Naga to lift and carry her out of the garden, left her outside and they shut the gates next day she was back at the same place so this continued on for a while until Zion kinda gave up since she wasn't really being a nuisance. She is also a very clean Pokemon. Zion appreciates that. He feeds and waters her regularly like another one of his plants. She also produces oxygen which boosts health and in turn she boosted the health of his crops xD She’s a grass type Pokemon so idk I guess she was good for the plants too She sleeps a lot and doesn't really bother anyone. Sometimes Zion takes the time out to polish her shell.

Fūrin / Chimecho: Inherited from his great-grandparents together with the house as a guardian.

Day:

Kirby / Sylveon: Picked out from a litter of Eevees given away in school a local Eevee breeder (same as Jacob)

Mickey / Marill-Azumarill: He got his Azurill from a trip to the beach. He befriended it and it followed him back

Pinkie / Cleffa-Clefairy-Clefable: Appeared during the night of a meteor shower. While everyone else was out watching the meteor shower, she snuck into Day’s house to steal but got stuck. She literally broke in. Pinkie loves Minior-shaped candies

Benny / Togepi-Togetic: Given to Day as an egg by his god-aunt, Noella as a Christmas gift (in conjunction with Jacob’s Mimi)

Aeriel:

Pixie / Cutiefly-Ribombee: Aeriel’s childhood pokemon.

Mochi / Pikachu: He was found entangled and stuck wires and overcharged after a power outage and was very ill with electrical overcharging. Day’s mum nursed it back to health. Because they usually release Pokémon they’ve nursed back to health, Day pleaded for his mum to keep the Pikachu. He now stays as their family pet.