Part I: The Beginning
When the Great Pokémon War began, it was quiet-fought in the deep wilds, the alleyways, the shadows. Normal folk and their Pokémon were largely kept out of it and kept in the dark to minimize casualties, panic, and serious collateral damage. However, the very nature of war is loud. We kept it contained for as long as we could, but eventually the war spilled out into the streets and into mundane society. We couldn't keep it hidden forever-we knew that-but we'd hoped to have the war contained long enough that we could neutralize the threat.
We didn't do either. The dam of silence eventually shattered and the war flooded into mainstream media like a tidal wave. There was a war going on, reporters said, and Team Rocket was trying to take over the world.
Of course, it wasn't that simple. Things like this never are. That was the sum of it, however, and Team Rocket's efforts to thwart our endeavours doubled once they realized that they no longer had to be quiet about everything.
Team Rocket. Until now, theirs was a name primarily uttered in condescending tones by those who work intimately with Pokémon, from Professors to Trainers to Rangers and all flavors in between. Their sad, bumbling attempts to capture powerful Pokémon-both wild and partnered-had ended in far more bumps, cuts, and bruised egos than successes. Their mysterious "Boss"-the man we now know as Giovanni, the former Viridian City Gym Leader-was widely regarded to be an inept leader with incompetent subordinates and was ultimately considered non-threatening to the vast majority of Pokémon professionals.
But something changed. Even now, we do not know what happened. The forces of the United Regions are still researching what might have happened. All we know is that gradually, Team Rocket's army went from laughably few and ineffective to a shockingly strong and numerous force bolstered by powerful Pokémon-Pokémon who seemed to have no reservations about destroying whomever and whatever got in their way.
It was then that I, a dedicated Pokémon Professor and one time Ghost-Type Gym Leader of the Ecruteak City Gym in Johto, put aside my studies-that of Pokémon related technology, such as TMs, HMs, and Pokeballs-and joined the Rangers. My expertise would be needed in the trying times to come, and I had plenty of outdoor experience from my own Journey as a young woman. After all, no one else knew as much about Pokémon storage and transfer as I did, and my knowledge would be needed to face what was to come.
Hello. My name is Amelia Yew, and I am a Pokémon Ranger-Professor.
I sealed up my lab in Dewford Town and gathered my Pokémon, creatures I had raised and trained since I was a girl out on my own journey before settling down a few years ago to focus on my studies, and left. I spent the early years of the war in the wilds, tracking Team Rocket agents across various climates and zones, but staying mostly within my home region of Hoenn. Just as the war began to escalate and spill over, I came across a disturbing revelation. The United Regions had been heavily recruiting Pokémon Trainers, Masters, Gym Leaders, anyone who had extensive knowledge and experience with Pokémon battling who could help fight against Team Rocket's growth and expansion. We had gotten quite a few, but therein lay the problem.
Trainer Red, the foremost Pokémon Master our world had ever produced, was missing. No one knew how long he'd been gone, and all attempts to find him to that point had failed. Red had been fighting against Team Rocket longer than any other Trainer or Master and his disappearance was a major cause for concern to the United Regions. As a Pokémon Professor, I had contact with Red on several occasions-he frequently tested out my newest technological creations when he passed through the Hoenn Region, sparing me the trouble of going out and testing it myself and passing the results onto me. It made for an efficient system-my creations got tested, and he had access to the best I had to offer. But when the war began in earnest, my contact with him diminished. I had assumed he was out in the wilds with the Rangers, but I was told by senior Rangers that Red had not been seen in nearly a year.
This was concerning. Trainer Red was the best that ever was, and we needed him. The United Regions were, at this point, holding Team Rocket off, keeping them locked in a stalemate that would not last for long. We needed Red. He would be the edge we needed to shove Team Rocket off of their seats of power before Team Rocket got too big to be contained.
It was decided that I would be the one to track him down. They're thinking was simple: Red had met and interacted with every major Professor in the United Regions. Being a Pokémon Professor gave me extensive contact with my colleagues. Being a Ranger meant I could navigate the wilds with relative safety and potentially avoid detection by Team Rocket's forces. Being a former Gym Leader and Trainer meant I knew how to handle myself in a Pokemon battle. It gave me an advantage over most Rangers that could have been sent to find Red. And so I was sent to reconnect with those men and women in hopes that they would have some information I could use to locate Red, hopefully following in his footsteps, and bring him back.
His last known location, the Rangers told me, was in Kanto. Pallet Town. He had gone home to visit family and friends from the area. Professor Samuel Oak had also made his home there, and was a very close family friend of Red's. Kanto was also Team Rocket's primary seat of power, having taken over Celadon City and possessing considerable influence over most of the rest of Kanto. I couldn't go to Kanto. I couldn't risk them finding me, figuring out what I was actually doing, and following me in order to get to Red themselves. So, I had to look for other opportunities to track Red. Red had last been seen in Kanto over a year ago. So much could have changed since then. Chances are, Red wasn't even there anymore-he never was one to stay in one place for too long, Kanto included. In any case, it meant leaving Hoenn, and doing so with as little notice as possible.
Team Rocket had, in recent months, started attacking travellers on the roads as well as targeting commercial ships and aircraft with known high value targets on them. I was one such high value target-all of the Pokémon Professors were, given we were subject matter experts in our individual fields. This made my fellow Professors and I targets for kidnapping. As such, I needed to forego using commercial transportation as much as possible to avoid needlessly endangering innocent folk who did not have the same resources as I did. I could travel from Fallarbor Town and fly anywhere. This game me options. Red had many Trainer friends and friendly rivals scattered across the Regions. If I could track down their locations, they might have more information on his whereabouts. It would also provide me with a circuitous and somewhat safer travel route. Team Rocket knew I was currently stationed in Hoenn. They would be looking for me here, but they had no idea where I might be going from here.
This is where my technological expertise came in handy. I had invented a special PokeDex device that doubled as a mobile, wrist mounted computer that was connected to the intricate satellite network net I helped develop. It acted as my PC and allowed me to transfer Pokemon and store them digitally (if I chose to capture more) as well as granted me access to maps, news networks, and anything else I might need on my journey. I even had a separate, portable plug-in drive specifically for TMs and HMs. I could use this 'Dex to plot my travel course to minimize my chances of running into Team Rocket and maximize my chances of finding Red's friends in every region without bringing attention to them. I'd attached it to my left wrist, and it could be opened by pressing down on the folded in screen, which would gently spring open.
First things first, however-I had to get out of Hoenn, and I had to do so as quietly as possible. So I left Dewford Town and travelled south. Dewford Town was on a large island south of Hoenn and It wasn't far to the coast. If I took off from there, I could easily fly around Hoenn and get to Johto close to Azalea Town, or cross the gulf and head south to Sinnoh. I had to work off of the assumption that Team Rocket had the same intel on Red's location that I did and that they would be scouring Kanto trying to find him and Oak. That meant my most logical place of departure would be Johto.
Sinnoh it was. I held up my left wrist and opened the 'Dex, exposing both the screen and the inset miniature keyboard. Trainer Red had several contacts in Sinnoh, including Professor Rowan. It was likely that Rowan was in hiding or on the move, evading Team Rocket, so locating him was likely to be difficult. I had another potential lead, however. Red had befriended a now well known Pokemon Performer by the name of Dawn. She I could find- Pokemon Performers, while they often started off as Trainers, were not valued by Team Rocket as fighters given their more creative and peaceful natures. Performers were often left unmolested and welcomed in all cities, whether controlled by the United Regions or by Team Rocket. Dawn would be safe from them. So it was her I needed to find first. I input Dawn's name into my 'Dex and ran it against known Pokemon Performances that were scheduled over the next four weeks in Sinnoh. It took only a moment to find her. Dawn and her Piplup would be performing in Eterna City, which was thankfully Region controlled, which was perfect. We would both be safe enough in Eterna City, and it was right on the coast, which would make travelling there fairly safe and easy.
I pulled two of my Pokeballs out of my hip pouch, knowing which of my Pokemon they contained just by touch, and tossed them to the sand.
"Golurk! Haunter! It's time to go!"
Golurk was the largest of my Pokemon, a whopping nine feet and two inches tall and looking every bit the golem he was designed to be all those centuries of ago. Haunter was the very first Pokemon I captured-I'd caught her while on my journey, travelling at night. She was a Gastly then, but she had been with me from the get go and had been the Pokemon who sparked my interest in Ghost-Types. Anytime I did any extensive travelling, Haunter was always at my side. I found it comforting to have a Pokemon out with me as I delved into unknown places. It helped that Haunter was terrifyingly large and very much a trickster who loved ghosting about around me, unseen if possible, keeping an ever watchful eye on me while simultaneously scaring away anything that might be a threat. She also flatly refused to evolve, happiest as she was as Haunter.
As I bent down to retrieve the now empty Pokeballs, Haunter floated over and nuzzled my face affectionately.
"Hello, love!" I greeted with a laugh, reaching up and stroking her head behind her spikes, her eyes closing happily. "Ready for some adventure?" I tossed the Pokeballs back into my pouch.
"Haunterrrr…" she purred, bouncing up and down in what roughly translated into an ecstatic nod.
"Good!" I looked up to Golurk, who was staring at me curiously. "We need to head to Sinnoh, Eterna City specifically, but we need to avoid flying over land. Can we do that?" I asked it politely.
Golurk's head bowed once towards me. "Golurk," it stated in an affirmative, if slightly mechanical tone. I smiled.
"Wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Let's not waste any time, then. We can grab supplies once we get to Eterna City, but we need to leave Hoenn before Team Rocket comes hunting for me." Golurk lowered its massive hand down towards me and I hopped up into it. It cradled me protectively against its massive chest for a moment before allowing me to climb up onto its shoulder. Haunter simply floated up by Golurk's head, needing no assistance to travel above ground. Suddenly, its hands pulled up into its massive forearms and its legs collapsed into the giant kettle chest. In moments, bright orange flame roared out from where its hands and legs were, and Golurk took off like a rocket, bearing me south towards Sinnoh and hopefully my first clue to Trainer Red's location.