Raymond Ellis walked up the driveway to his little house on the eastern end of Route 103, a wide grin on his face. His little girl hadn't been expecting this.
Raymond was a pokemon professor who worked in Mauville City with a group of researchers on a new pokemon discovery project, and he often did field work in New Mauville. However, he had recently come across a pokemon from the Kanto region, and he'd thought it would be just perfect for his little daughter. She had had a fascination with pokemon since the day she was born, but he'd been hesitant to bring one of the potentially dangerous creatures into his home when she had been a baby. But today, for his daughter's fourth birthday, he had found just the right one.
"Where's the birthday girl?" he cried, stepping into the house and looking around for his wife and daughter.
He was immediately answered with a squeal of, "Daddy!"
The little girl came bouncing down the hallway, a smile on her face and her big blue eyes stretched wide with excitement. She threw her arms around her father's right leg, giggling hysterically. Raymond's wife, Mina, came next. She had flour on her face—she had obviously been busy about making birthday cake.
"Kana," Raymond said, ruffling the little girl's red hair, "I have a surprise for you!"
Mina shot him a knowing look. She already knew what the surprise was, too. Raymond grinned at her, and pulled a pokeball out of his pocket.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart," he said, releasing a soft, baby Eevee into the living room.
"Eevee!" Kana cried, bouncing up and down.
"You'll have to take good care of him, okay?" Raymond said, picking up the Eevee and placing it in Kana's arms. "He's your first pokemon, and since he's young he'll make a great training partner for you someday!"
That day came a lot sooner than the Ellis family had expected. Before Raymond knew what was happening, he came in from work one day to find Kana out in the backyard, battling a wild Wurmple with her Eevee. The young Eevee had skyrocketed to level three in as little time as one hour. By the time Kana was old enough to be officially licensed as a trainer, she already had a decently trained Espeon that loved her more than anything else in the world. The two of them did everything together—they ventured through caves, climbed mountains, explored forests, deserts, and even the watery depths of the seas. Kana added many more pokemon to her team as she grew more mature as a person and as a trainer—she traveled to the farthest reaches of the known world and acquired pokemon from all regions. And so, Kana Ellis became a pokemon master in time. She adored her pokemon as best friends and as partners. The bonds between their hearts grew until they were unbreakable, and they became a true force to be reckoned with as a team.
Then, one day, the unimaginable happened.
On a day not too long after Kana's nineteenth birthday, she had decided to spend the day honing her skills at the Sky Pillar. It had been a little rainy that day, and though the pillar was leaky, it was better than spending the day outside. Besides, many wild pokemon lived in the pillar, and they provided a wonderful training opportunity for Kana's Raichu. She was level ninety-six, and Kana was carefully training her for the soon-coming time when her power would peak at level 100. They had worked their way to an upper floor of the tower when suddenly, the cries of giant pokemon met the young trainer's ears.
Quickly calling her Raichu back to her pokeball, Kana raced to the summit of the pillar, following the sounds of the pokemon cries. Upon reaching the top, her eyes beheld a large Altaria engaged in ferocious battle with a magnificent shiny Rayquaza. A nest full of Swablu eggs was nearby. Stricken with awe, Kana immediately threw her only Master Ball at the Rayquaza, wanting nothing more than to tame it, train it, and add it to her collection of trusted partners.
But all was not well.
Upon inspecting the Rayquaza, Kana happened to find around one of his thin wrists what appeared to be a sort of tracking device. Thinking nothing of it, she removed the device, assuming that perhaps it had been attached by a research team, much like the one her father worked for. But little did Kana know that the device had actually alerted a powerful individual that his precious shiny Rayquaza had been captured by an ordinary trainer. Upon receiving this shocking news, the infamous leader of the mighty Team Ozone immediately sent troops to the Hoenn region, demanding that they locate the pokemon that he so deeply desired to own for himself. Trainers were apprehended without mercy in the streets—Ozone members ordered people to send out all of their pokemon for inspection. Those trainers who refused had their pokemon stolen from them, were murdered, or both. Terror gripped the region of Hoenn as the search for the current owner of the legendary ebony dragon left a blood-soaked path in its wake.
Kana couldn't help but feel responsible for all of this. So she knew she had to take some kind of action.
She kept the fact that she had the Rayquaza a secret from everybody she knew—even from her parents. She discreetly traveled to Blackthorn City in Johto to a little shop she knew of that sold high quality dragon-riding armor, and bought for herself a really nice set made of silver. She spent a lot of money on some technology, including a headset that could be worn under her helmet and some tiny earpieces for her pokemon to wear.
Kana resolved to stop the senseless killing, no matter what it took. And she wasn't going to let the leader of Team Ozone have his way.
Thus, the Rayquaza Rider of Hoenn came to be.