Time: 1221 A.D. Place: Near the Indus River

"Faster! Faster! They're almost on top of us!" came the order form Jalal ad-Din, earlier Crown Prince and now Sultan of the Khwarezmian Empire shouted to his troops.

For over three hundred miles, the Sultan and his army had been chased by the accursed Mongols on horseback, all the while fighting a desperate rear-guard action in order to try and lose their enemy in the mountains of the Hindu Kush.

They had not dared to stop and instead changed horses as remounts, as well as slept and ate in the saddle. Their adversaries, however, did the same and were far more skilled on horseback and with archery than they were.

It was turning to be all for naught though as it seemed the enemy was finally upon them.

With the Indus river flowing at their backs, the half-starved and bone-weary soldiers with nowhere to run turned around to make a desperate last stand against Genghis Khan and his army. After all, though they knew in their hearts they were outmatched, they also knew that it was either fight or die. And each and every single one of them knew that men can accomplish miraculous things when they know that their very lives are on the line. And so they fought.

They fought for three days with a fury that bordered on madness. They fought for their country, and for the millions of people these accursed Mongols had slain. Jalal ad-Din was not a terrible strategist, and placed his army into two flanks, but Genghis Khan, the so-called Flail of God and the Favorite of Heaven, sent a small group of men around the mountain in order to attack the Sultan's army from both directions.

For three days, the screech of arrows, and the screams of men and horses filled the air until it was apparent who was winning and it was not the beleaguered Sultan.

Desperate, Jalal ad-Din watched as the last of his bodyguard charged at the enemy, hoping to draw them off long enough so that he could escape.

Jalal ad-Din, even as he turned and dived for the Indus River, saw his bravest and most loyal soldiers give up their lives simply so that he, their last remaining hope, could live to fight another day, and perhaps, perchance, return and liberate the Khwarezmian Empire from Mongol Rule.

For now though, Jalal ad-Din realize that he would have to seek shelter somewhere while his strength recuperated. His goal in mind was the Delhi Sultanate. The Mongols, for all their might, had been unable to conquer India thanks to the hot and humid conditions that neither their bows nor horses could survive.

As Jalal ad-Din waded with his horse into the river along with his imperial guard, however, suddenly the Indus overflowed and he found himself torn from his guards.

"Retrieve the Sultan! He must live!" the head of his bodyguard called out.

Jalal ad-Din quickly found himself separated from his bodyguards and desperately trying to keep his horse from losing its wits. In another circumstance, he would have slain it and dived into the river, but he knew very well that without a horse, he would have no chance of escaping from the Mongols.

The current grew ever stronger, and then the entire world was washed away in a huge wave of water that obscured everything. His mount's reigns were torn from his hands.

Strangely enough, from beneath the water, the Khwarezmian Sultan heard something that sounded like a lion's roar.

And then there was darkness.

Time: ? Place: ?

Jalal ad-Din coughed up water as he slowly came to awareness of where he was. He saw grass in front of him and it took a moment to register that the soil was wet. He turned around to see a small stream, which could not compare to the mighty Indus.

As he removed the water from his ears and climbed up the bank, taking off his boots, he tried to get his bearings.

He was in a small groove in a very beautiful and scenic forest. The sky was calm and tranquil. For a second he considered if he had died and had ascended to heaven, but quickly dismissed the idea.

For one, he was still in his war armor and old clothes, which, though they had been tailored for a prince of his rank, had been ruined with so much time of travel. Certainly he would have received new garments had he entered the afterlife?

Secondly, his entire body was still sore from the battle, and most important of all, he was aware of a severe pain from his stomach as he had clearly not eaten properly for several days.

He got up and took his bearings. If he wasn't dead… than he was most probably in India. He looked around at the trees and froze. Right there, in the treetops, there was a bird that looked just about as large as a horse. It had its eyes fixed on him.

Cautiously, Jalal ad-Din looked at his surroundings to see if he could find a weapon. He had a small dagger in his clothes, of course, but that was hardly a weapon fit for- aha! Right there, just five feet away from him, was his trusted bow and a quiver of arrows. And better yet, his curved sword.

Slowly, trying not to startle the bird, Jalal ad-Din reached for his bow and arrows when the thing suddenly let out a loud noise and thankfully, didn't press an attack but instead flew away. Jalal ad-Din collected his weapons and paused, waiting for an attack, but none came.

Following that, he followed the stream's course and saw a tree with a blue fruit hanging from it. Having never seen a fruit of that color before, he automatically assumed that it must have been poisoned, until a small bird unlike one had ever seen before flitted into its branches and instantly took several into its beak before flitting off again.

That probably meant they were okay to eat, Jalal ad-Din thought and reached for several as his stomach growled even louder. On closer inspection, he could tell that they were probably more akin to berries than actual fruit. He tentatively tried one.

It didn't taste very good, but he had had nothing but cold jerky and yogurt for the past few weeks, so it was not unwelcome. The tree didn't yield much of the fruit, but enough so that he felt he couldn't eat more after a while and stowed away a meager reserve, hardly a few mouthfuls, in his clothing.

Just then, a shadow passed over the earth and Jalal ad-Din looked up in time to see… well, he had no word to describe what it was, but it was even larger than the earlier bird. It seemed to consist of a huge sphere that resembled a cat somewhat, and attached to the base was what looked like a wicker basket.

It landed not to far from him, and, curiosity overcoming his caution; he tried sneaking towards it, though stealth had never been one of his strong points. He hid in a bush that should have shielded him from view.

From the wicker basket two of the strangest looking people Jalal ad-Din had ever seen had gotten out. Both of them were wearing clothes that were mostly white except for a symbol in red that was present across their chests. One of them looked to be a man and somehow had blue hair of all thins, while the other one who he guessed was a woman had long violet hair that went beyond her waist.

He scratched his head. He had heard of hair the color of the golden sun before, but never blue or violet!

Then again, if he truly was in India, he had heard strange tales about the place. About rivers that flowed with honey and men with backwards feet on… and there had been that huge bird earlier. Was such hair color this common within these lands?

It took his eyes a moment to notice what looked like a small cat which resembled the huge sphere he had seen. It opened its mouth, and began making noises. From the way that the two humans looked at it, Jalal ad-Din could only surmise that they could somehow talk to it.

How absurd.

The Sultan weighed his options. He was in a foreign land with naught but a few weapons and none of his imperial bodyguard. These two were the first humans he had seen, but from what he could hear, they did not speak any language that he did.

He considered his options. He could attack them, but he was uncertain of what powers or weapons they possessed. After all, they had just disembarked from what was very much a flying machine.

So, he decided to try a passive approach. He kept his weapons but placed them far from his hands and held them up to let them know that they were empty.

He walked out of his vantage point but made the mistake of stepping on a twig.

The small creature's ears twitched and it turned around along with the two humans.

Jalal ad-Din held his hands up and tried to look as nonthreatening as possible. In a slow tone, he said, "Good evening, friends. I am Jalal ad-Din, Sultan of the Empire of Khwarezmia. Would you mind telling me where I am?"

The two humans and the creature stared at him.

The man, in his own language that sounded like gibberish to the Sultan, said, "What's this guy doing, Jessie?"

"I don't know James," the woman replied. "But look at his clothes… and is that an actual bow on his back?"

Jalal ad-Din didn't understand this, and so tried speaking in Persian instead. From the looks on these people's faces, he could tell that that wasn't going through either.

"What's he saying?" Meowth asked. "I mean, it isn't just me, right? You guys can't understand a word either?"

"Not a word," Jessie repeated.

"Hold on," James said. He pulled out a small cylinder about the size of a Pokedex. "This was supposed to be a universal translation device made by Team Rocket's Science division to allow people to talk to Pokemon?"

"Really?" Meowth asked with exaggerated surprise. "They wanted to talk to Pokemon? Oh, it isn't like they always had a special one which could do that anyway and tell them what Pokemon said, right?" he said sarcastically.

"Regardless, this thing apparently focuses more on brainwaves and behavioral patters than actual sounds," James said. "They gave the project up, but I managed to land this prototype."

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly did you come across this?"

James blushed slightly. "Don't fret on the details! Let's see if it works!" He turned it on and kept it on the ground, and the screen on top started displaying: ANALYZING LANGUAGE. PLEASE REMAIN PATIENT.

Jalal ad-Din of course, hadn't understood any of this and didn't get why they had kept a small black machine with a light emitting from it on the ground. As such, he kept switching languages, hoping that something would register, to no avail.

With that option gone, he then resorted to using basic phrases and words that he was sure that most people would have heard… to get no reaction at all.

He then at last resorted to trying to mime things out. He was sure it would have looked comical, but had gotten no results.

Jessie and James, similarly, were at a complete loss. But then, thankfully, the translator seemed to have finished and was now displaying the message: PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS COMPLETE. ATTEMPTING INITIAL TRANSLATION.

"Do you understand anything of what I'm saying?" Jalal ad-Din finally said exasperatedly.

A noise came out from the machine, and it relayed what he had said, except in English.

"It works!" James said.

This time, the machine translated this for Jalal ad-Din who immediately widened his eyes as he noticed the sound seemed to be coming from the cylinder. He crouched on the ground and took the device, wondering who it was that was speaking from inside.

"Hey! That thing is expensive!" James said.

Jalal ad-Din heard this and dropped the device with a sneer. "Expensive? Ha, I will let you two know, that I, Sultan of Khwarezm, ruled an empire with more jewels and gold than you could have spent a dozen lifetimes to count."

Then, it occurred to him that he might have made a fatal mistake. After all, what if these people were thieves? They did not seem to be too dangerous, but there could be more of them nearby. Not to mention that it was all mostly bluster… he hardly had anything left with him now.

"Did I hear what he said properly?" Jessie asked.

"He's calling himself a Sultan of some place, Crazemeh or something," James said. "Do you think he might've hit his head on something too hard?"

Their conversation continue for over half an hour as the translating software got better at its job. There were still some glitches, but it was functioning approximately enough for Jessie and James to understand what their guest was saying.

Similarly, Jalal ad-Din got to know a little bit more about these two and that Pokemon. Apparently, the black cylinder was some sort of contraption that allowed anyone to speak to anyone in any language. He had heard of magic before, but this was a first for him.

As their conversations continued, Jalal ad-Din figured out that he was in some place called 'Can-toe.' When he asked if it was a part of India, or if they had heard of the Delhi Sultanate, or even the Himalayan mountains, the responses were all in the negative.

From their names, James and Jessie… well, the name James sounded distinctively Christian… but Christians in India? Unless these people were a band of extremely intrepid missionaries… but that didn't seem likely. They carried no crosses or holy books. So was he in Russia then? Or did he somehow wash up on the shores of some far away country like Italy? He for one had never heard of the name 'Can-toh.'

Instantly though, despite the communications difficulties, he could tell that these two were skeptical about his story, and especially about his claim to be Sultan of Khwarezm. He couldn't honestly blame them, after all, he had none of his royal entourage with him.

That reminded him of the story of Toghrul, khan of the Kerait Empire. He had been defeated by Genghis Khan in battle, and had become separated from his guards as he tracked his way up towards the territory of the Naiman Empire in order to enlist their aid. On his way, he was found, alone, by a Naiman Scout who had refused to believe the khan's story and assumed he was talking to a lone madman who had delusions that he was a khan.

And so, Toghrul, an emperor who had once wielded power and authority over Genghis Khan himself, had been beheaded by a Naiman foot soldier, who promptly afterwards began removing all the valuables from the deceased khan's body.

Jalal ad-Din shuddered as he imagined his head falling from his shoulders. Falling in the glory of battle was one thing, but to die here, in a foreign land, where he would be unrecognized, was almost instantly worse.

But, despite his paranoia, he had to admit that these two didn't look too dangerous. They carried no weapons he could discern… not even the man named James, and that surprised him. He had seen a huge bird, and that probably meant such creatures were common. Then shouldn't they have carried some form of protection? Or were those… well, apparently they were called Pokemon safe and docile?

Not to mention Jalal ad-Din couldn't help but notice that they stared at his weapons with interest and fascination, and it didn't simply seem to be because they belonged to a Sultan's. No, it was almost as if they hadn't seen a sword or bow before… but that sounded ridiculous.

James then asked once, "Would you mind if I were to take a look at your bow? Just for a second?"

Jalal ad-Din considered the request. He was wary of giving away his weapon, especially one so valuable, but then again, it wasn't like he was going to give him his arrows, and he still had a sword. And most tellingly, the man didn't seem very muscular and probably couldn't use it.

Hesitantly, he took it and handed it to James. James took out some more… well, Jalal ad-Din had no name for what they were, but they seemed to be instruments of some sort and handed back the bow in less than a minute.

After that, James beckoned to his two companions and said in a low voice so that the translator would not pick it up, "That bow is adorned with real gold and silver! Worth more than four year's of my own salary!"

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"To be more sure I'd need to visit a goldsmith or antique specialist," James said. "But I'm as sure as I could be under the circumstances."

"Well then, we might just go ahead for taking it," Meowth whispered. The translator, for some reason, didn't translate Meowth's words, but he considered it an appropriate precaution anyways.

"And not just that," James said. "That armor that he's wearing… if that's real, and I think it is, it be worth more than we could earn on our Grunt salaries in four decades. Not to mention don't even get me started on the sword…"

The three of them knew that they were going to do something about this, but agreed to postpone it for later, perhaps when the man had gone to sleep.

Jalal ad-Din found their conversation strange though he didn't understand the words. He also found it uncanny that the woman Jessie spoke so freely to James. He wasn't able to tell what their relationship was, they had mentioned they had been partners but it didn't seem like they were married, more like they had been assigned to do something together.

While that was strange, even stranger still was the animal that kept talking. He couldn't understand it as the machine gave no translation, but it was apparent that the other two talked to it like it was an equal.

Completely baffling.

Team Rocket, on the other hand, were busy wondering how best to get their guest to part with his treasures. He looked dangerous though, and it was clear that those weapons were not just decorations…

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise- the man's stomach growling. They laughed and James said, "Well, we're just getting dinner ready. Do join us."

"I see," Jalal ad-Din said. "Well, thank you, friends." He watched with curiosity as they somehow built a fire- all without wood using yet some other instrument he had never seen before.

Jalal ad-Din may have been a Sultan, but even a Sultan was lucky if he could get a meal in a battle like the one he'd fought. All of his meals had been cold and forced down… and now, a warm meal was more than welcome.

The food was good and tasty, though he was unable to identify the ingredients. After his stomach was full, exhaustion at the last few day's ride overtook him and his eyes began drooping heavily. He took off his armor and put his bow to the side, but kept his sword with him. Better to be careful…

'Better to be careful' was what Meowth thought as he switched off the translator after he was sure the guy was asleep. Then again, Meowth couldn't understand what was wrong with humans. They somehow made a translator to translate what Pokemon said, and yet it couldn't translate Meowth's words for some reason even though they were in English. Team Rocket's Science division certainly had some work to do. "So, what're going to do abut him?"

"Isn't it obvious? Take his stuff and sell it," James said with glee.

"Uh-huh. Imagine what we could buy…" Jessie said, her eyes misty as her thoughts trailed off in thoughts of what comforts she could purchase.

Meowth shook his head. In all truth, it was amazing to him how narrow-minded these two other idiots were. "Are you out of your heads? Take his stuff? Didn't you hear what he said? He's the Sultan of some kingdom!"

"Oh, he's probably just crazy," Jessie said with a dismissive sigh. "You know, I've heard stories like that, about people who are actors and then get too into their roles…"

"But his weapons are real," James suddenly realized. "And that bow was the real thing. Not to mention he is talking in a foreign language. And he doesn't seem to be joking…"

"If he's crazy he'll be serious about it of course," Jessie said dismissively.

"You two don't get it do you!" Meowth said, almost angrily enough to have woken up the Sultan if he hadn't been too tired. "Let's say there's even a point one percent chance the guy's tellin' the truth…. Think about it! He's from some place where bows and arrows are considered to be weapons. And think about 'da bombs and missiles we have… and what did he say about his home country?"

"He said it had mountains of jewels," James said with a grin.

"And even if that is an exaggeration, I don't doubt that he'll be rich. Plus, Team Rocket has had trouble in Kanto lately, so a new region as our base wouldn't be bad to have," Jessie said.

"So what do we do?" James asked.

"Simple. We take 'da guy to our Team Rocket Base. And even if he's lying, we'll still have gotten his expensive armor and bows to sell," Meowth said.

The other two agreed with the plan and so they made a call to a nearby Team Rocket Base before turning in for the night.

Glossary/Some Background Information: You don't need to know too much about history, and some things will be explained, but I thought it'd be nice to have a short summary available:

Mongols: A tribe of nomadic horsemen that, under the rule of Genghis Khan, set out to conquer the world and established a dynasty, that, though short lived, was the largest ever in human history. They relied on superior archery and a large number of horses as well as superior organization and communication skills. To give you an idea, at the battle described in this chapter, the Mongols had thirty thousand soldiers while Jalal ad-Din had around fifty thousand.

Khwarezm: A very large empire that bordered to the west of the Mongol's. The story goes that a trade caravan sent by Genghis Khan was taken and slaughtered by the Shah of Khwarezm's uncle. Another embassy sent to the Shah was humiliated and one of them was killed. The Mongols declared war and subsequently destroyed the empire, even the Mongols were greatly outnumbered, with the Shah forced to flee for his Mongols said that they wouldn't have attacked if the Shah hadn't insulted them, but to be fair, the Mongols were notorious for turning on their treaties and would have probably attacked later anyway.

Jalal ad-Din: Crown Prince of Khwarezm, whose father, the Shah Muhammad II insulted the Mongols. Later, Jalal ad-Din became the Sultan and led a last-ditch effort with soldiers from current-day Afghanistan to try and liberate Khwarezm, which failed.

Khan: Word literally means ruler.

Kerait Empire: A powerful steppe tribe. Later absorbed by Genghis Khan into his own empire.

Toghrul: Khan of the Kerait Empire. He was earlier Genghis Khan's adoptive father and Genghis Khan his vassal, though eventually the two went to war with each other.

Naiman: Another powerful steppe tribe, which was also defeated and assimilated by Genghis Khan.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Like I've said, you don't need to know much about history but I will be throwing some pieces in.

Also, I'd like to stay as close to fact as I can, but I have made up several things, after all, we don't know a lot about stuff that happened them, but I will try to be reasonable in what I say.

This a more of a testing-the-water fanfic. I'll see whether or not I update based on several other things.

Do please review with your thoughts.