Prologue

The world of Pokemon is a vast one. Every second, there are battles being fought, mysteries unfolding, and friendships being forged. In one part of the world, however, a battle was taking place that was unlike any ordinary battle.

It was in the New King Archipelago, on an island known simply as Maze Canyon. There are no houses or signs of human civilization on this island; only a vast array of rock formations jutting hundreds of feet out of the ocean. Waves splashed against their bases while a layer of mist collected high in the air. The only light came from a half moon.

A man was riding a Charizard, chasing a Pokemon flying through the air. The prey was small, dark, and fast, but the man wore a pair of night vision goggles for this mission, and his Charizard had sharp eyes.

The small Pokemon flew around rock pillars, carving a path through the mist, whizzing in irregular patterns and sudden, sharp turns, but the Charizard followed close behind. The target could easily outfly the Charizard by soaring into the clouds and out of the maze, but it knew there were others waiting above, ready to chase at any moment.

Soon, the Pokemon turned around a corner into a long and narrow valley, a natural corridor with no direction to move except forward.

"Flamethrower," the man commanded.

Charizard obeyed its trainer and released a stream of orange fire from its jaws. The fire rushed toward the prey, glowing bright in the night. Just when the flames were about to make impact, the small Pokemon rushed upward, dodging them by inches. Charizard rose with it, still shooting at its prey. The smaller Pokemon twirled through the air, avoiding the surge of fire. While it was still rushing, its body flashed white and unleashed a jagged bolt of electricity straight at Charizard.

The dragon dove down while the man crouched. The bolt passed just above them, close enough for him to feel a tingle along the back of his neck.

Then a Flygon and Salamence swooped from the clouds in front of the target and released two more surges of fire. The small Pokemon weaved around the two dragons and soared past them. As soon as it did, two more Pokemon dove from the clouds and zoomed straight at it. The first one, a Crobat, accelerated and struck the Pokemon with leathery wings, causing it to tumble in midair. The second predator, a Skarmory, flew straight at the Pokemon and was about to land a blow when the target regained its balance and barely swerved out of its way. It heard the high-pitched whistle of Skarmory's metal wings as it rushed past.

The small Pokemon kept flying forward while the Crobat and Skarmory matched its pace, continuing to lunge at it again and again. At the same time, the three dragon Pokemon fired from behind, burning away the mist and giving light to the valley. The lone prey twirled and zigzagged through the air, relentlessly dodging attacks from all five adversaries. The way it glided was so fluid, it seemed to be dancing in its struggle for survival.

Just as the Skarmory lunged again, the smaller Pokemon shot another lightning bolt, striking it from behind. The metal bird shrieked as its body lit up, then hurtled to the sea. The small Pokemon had no second to rest as it rushed to the side to avoid another strike from the Crobat.

The assaults went on until the long stretch of canyon walls ended, and the prey turned around the corner and out of the maze. On the other side was the open ocean. Here, the mist was thinner, and the moonlight brighter, illuminating a swarm of flying Pokemon that had been lying in ambush.

The lone prey stopped and hovered. The air was filled with large Pokemon and little Pokemon making deep snarls and high-pitched squeals. The prey paused for only a second before every single Pokemon charged at it.

As the predators were closing in, the small prey seemed to hover in place, waiting. Just when it seemed the prey was doomed, it unleashed a beam of pitch-black energy darker than the moonlit sky, stretching farther and wider than a bolt of electricity. Every creature that touched the beam wailed as they fell to the ocean. The Pokemon exerted all of its energy until the beam thinned out and dissolved. Almost all of the predators that had been lying in ambush had fallen. The beam had left the target exhausted, but it flapped its wings and thrust forward. It had miles to fly before it could rest.

The Charizard zoomed from behind and grabbed the prey. The smaller Pokemon grunted and squirmed as the dragon's claws dug into its body.

"Flamethrower," the rider spoke.

The Charizard spewed a column of flame into the prey's face, keeping its grip as the small Pokemon shrieked in pain. The mist surrounding them dissolved, and the trainer squinted under his night vision goggles. The Charizard kept shooting fire until the smaller Pokemon stopped crying and squirming. By the time it finally stopped, the creature hung limp in Charizard's claws, covered in burns dark enough to see in the moonlight.

The man pulled out a object that looked like a Poke Ball. When he tapped the round button in the middle, however, it grew twice the size of a normal Poke Ball and split open to reveal another, smaller ball that split into four parts and shot a white beam at the captured Pokemon, which twitched for a split second before it melted into an amorphous body of light and was sucked into the Poke Ball. Both layers of the ball slid closed before it shrank back to its original size.

The man gazed at the sphere in his hand as Charizard hovered in place. An Aerodactyl approached from behind carrying a trainer on its back. As it glided to a stop beside Charizard, the rider spoke, "That's the last of the targets. We're rescuing the Pokemon who fell into the water right now."

Charizard's trainer replied, "As soon as our units are gathered, we'll split up and depart as planned. We must not let anyone - or anything - free these Pokemon."

"Yes, sir." The Aerodactyl rider flew away to contact the other Pokemon trainers.

The other trainer rubbed Charizard's neck, the dragon panting heavily. "Well done, friend. Now the world can live in peace."

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading the prologue of Pokemon Bunko (Tentative Title) ⁽⁽ ◟(∗ ˊωˋ ∗)◞ ⁾⁾

There are no Fakemon in this chapter, but I will slowly introduce them throughout the story. You can see pictures of my Fakemon by searching "SunBunko" on DeviantArt (although at the time I'm writing this, most of the Fakemon on my account won't show up until later chapters, derp).

Pokemon is owned by Nintendo and Game Freak, and my Fakemon who haven't appeared yet are owned by me |ू･ω･` )

Feel free to leave a review~

-SunBunko