The Kalos region, a beautiful serene continent surrounded on all sides by Pokémon of all kinds, from the tiniest Sewaddle to the mightiest Noivern. The countrysides were tranquil and bustling with all manner of Grass-types; while the cacophonic and chaotic cities refused to sleep. Everywhere you turned, you saw a wild Pokémon; the majority of trainers wished to train and raise them, and a small minority instead wished to live in harmony with them, in peace with them.
And then there were the criminals.
Groups of people obsessed with the power of Pokémon above all else, capturing them and forcing them to do their evil misguided bidding. Some of these criminals wished to harness the power of the strongest and most ancient Pokémon alive, while others wished to sell them to the highest bidder.
Our story begins with one of these groups, locked in combat in the dead of night with their law-abiding rivals…
"Gimme back my Pikachu!" yelled the dark-haired trainer towards the escaping thieves.
"Pika Pi!" the trainer's Pokémon yelled back in desperation, locked inside an electric-proof capsule.
"You won't get away with this!" his blonde friend shouted, struggling to keep up with his pace due to her shorter legs.
"Y'now Jess," the indigo haired thief said to his co-worker, "sometimes I feel bad for stealing the twerp's Pikachu."
"I know what you mean, James," his magenta haired companion replied, a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Maybe we should just let Pikachu go and call it a day…"
"Nah!" their diminuative feline cohort replied. "We've gone through so much trouble to catch it already, we might as well hand it over to the Boss."
"Well, can't argue with that, Meowth", Jessie laughed, knowing full well Ash could hear them as he chased after them. "Shall we get going, James?"
"Yes. Lets." James pushed a button on their van, causing the top of the van to pop off and start inflating their hot air balloon. As the balloon filled with air, the van begun to separate.
"Sayonara twerps!" Meowth chuckled as he clambered into the balloon's basket from the van's cab. As the balloon fully detached, the now driverless van started swerving wildly, before spinning out of control towards the two.
"Bonnie!" Ash quickly swerved to tackle her out of the way of the van, the pair rolling into the grass by the side of the road.
"Ash! Bonnie!" Serena yelled as she caught up with the pair while seeing the van come to a rather violent standstill next to a couple boulders further down the road. "Are you two ok?"
"Yeah, I think so," Bonnie replied, nursing a small scrape on her knee. As she made to get up however, her ankle gave out, and she fell to the ground in pain.
"Bonnie!" her brother Clemont panted as he finally caught up with them. "What happened?"
"I think she's hurt her ankle, Clemont!" Serena told him, as he caught his breath. "We need to get her to a medic, fast!"
As Clemont checked his Pokenav for the nearest Pokémon Centre, Ash was looking towards the sky for the balloon. "Fletchinder, I choose you!" he called out, and in a flash his avian Pokémon was in the air. "Fletchinder, go get Team Rocket!"
"Chinder!" the bird confirmed the command and set off like a proverbial rocket, using its Flame Charge attack to catch up relatively quickly.
"Aww great, it's the twerp's Pokémon," Meowth said to his teammates. "What do we do?"
"Simple. Pumpkaboo, let's show this pathetic bird how we deal with pests." Jessie brought out her Ghost-type Pokémon, who perched itself on the edge of the basket. "Shadow Ball!"
"Okay, Inkay!" James joined in, "Use Psybeam!"
The squid like Pokémon blasted multicolored light at Fletchinder, while the floating Jack-o-lantern launched a ball of ghostly energy, but Fletchinder's speed was too fast for the attacks to hit. It countered with a Flamethrower, which was itself countered by another Shadow Ball.
"Inkay, blind it!" James commanded. Inkay squirted a stream of ink at Fletchinder, catching it by surprise and covering its face in ink. Now blinded, it desperately struggled in midair trying to wipe its eyes while maintaining flight. "Now use Psybeam!"
"Dark Pulse, Pumpkaboo!" The two attacks hit the now defenceless bird dead centre, knocking it clean out and out of the sky.
Ash saw his Pokémon falling and quickly recalled it to its Poke Ball. He was about to call out another Pokémon when a bellowing roar caught his attention.
"What was that?" Meowth asked as the rain started up, ice cold droplets hitting the surface of the balloon.
"Maybe it's just the storm?" Jessie said nervously. A Fletchinder was one thing, but an angry flying Pokémon was another. "Whatever, let's get out of here before it catches us."
"Too late," James replied, pointing at the dark sky behind the balloon. Out of the clouds descended a black-skinned Pokemon, with a rider and a red hot tail. A flash of thunder illuminated the sky for a split second, to Team Rocket's collective horror. A powerful looking Black Charizard was fast approaching them, and while it was a rare Pokemon indeed, they unanimously decided to quit while they were ahead, and hit the turbos on their engines.
Ash too had seen the Pokémon in the sky. "Who's that Pokémon?" he asked himself, unable to quite make it out, but partially glad it was challenging Team Rocket.
"Did Team Rocket get away?" Serena asked, as Clemont and Bonnie, who was riding Clemont's Luxray, caught up to them.
"Not quite," Ash replied, pointing to the dark object in the blackness.
"I don't see any…" Bonnie started, but a flash of thunder made her jump, while also illuminating the Charizard. "What is that?" she said hesitantly.
"I think it might be a Charizard," Clemont replied, squinting to get a closer look. "Although, I've never seen one that looks like that before. "What's it doing up there?"
"Hopefully, saving Pikachu." Serena put her hand on Ash's shoulder, hoping he was right.
Back in the clouds, the trainer flew towards the balloon at a breakneck pace. Within seconds, it had caught up to the balloon. "C'mon, Meowth, he's gaining on us! Can't you make this go any faster?" Jessie demanded, a note of panic in her voice.
"We go any faster than this and we will tear the balloon apart!" James conceded, watching the gauges on the engines redline dangerously.
"Yeah, no kidding," Meowth replied.
The trainer flew in close, "Release that Pikachu, thieves!"
"Not happening!" Meowth replied, pushing the engines to their limits.
"Inkay, show this fool how we handle meddlers! Foul Play!" Inkay used dark energy to turn Charizard's own strength against it, forcing it away from the balloon.
"Have it your way. Dragon Claw on the capsule!" the man commanded, and the Charizard rolled into a dive, swooping down and smashing the capsule with a single blow; then diving again to catch the now freefalling Pikachu.
"You're not getting away that easily," Jessie yelled, but her rant was cut short by a small explosion from one of the engines. Thinking quickly, she detached the rockets from the balloon, causing their balloon to slow to a crawl while the malfunctioning engines kept pace with the Charizard.
"Oh crap, Charizard, roll out of the way!" As Charizard rolled, the rocket detonated, sending shards of metal in every direction. As Charizard quickly righted itself, it let out an enormous bellow.
"Er, guys" Meowth translated. "Charizard's a little pissed at us." The balloon was now heading right for them, and they were not going to dodge this attack.
"Charizard, Blast Burn!" The ebony dragon launched a stream of white hot fire at the balloon, punching a hole clean through and detonating the heater. As the thieves bid their usual adieus to the mystery trainer, he chuckled to himself. "When will they ever stop?" he muttered. "How you doing, Charizard?" he asked his partner.
"Rawr!" the beast replied, indicating no injuries were sustained from the explosion. Pikachu on the other hand wasn't so lucky.
"Pika…" it squeaked weakly, a gash across the left-hand side of its chest.
"Oh no!" he said to his partner. "We need to get him to a Pokémon Centre, pronto. Hold on little guy, we're going to get you to safety." AS he touched Pikachu's forehead, he received a rush of memories, of Pikachu's trainer, and of a friend and its trainer.
"Head to the Pokémon Centre, in Alisode Town. I'll meet you there."
Bonnie quickly looked around for the mystery voice, but couldn't see anyone. "Did you guys say anything?" she asked. The three said no, but her Dedenne nodded affirmatively, she did hear something.
"Ok, the nearest Pokémon Centre is in the village just down the road, we should head there. Hopefully, the person with Pikachu has headed there too." Clemont said as he showed the others the map.
"What about Alisode Town?" Bonnie asked. The three looked at her, then back to the map.
"Er, Alisode Town is a lot further on. Almost a day's walk." Clemont replied, his face puzzled. Why would you want to go there?
"We need to get your ankle treated straight away, before it gets any worse," Serena reassured her.
"No, we need to go the Pokémon Centre in Alisode Town. It's where Pikachu is," Bonnie replied abruptly.
"And how would you know where Pikachu is?!" Ash shouted.
"BECAUSE HE TOLD ME SO!" Bonnie screamed, pointing at the sky. The others stood in stunned silence, as Dedenne squeaked in confirmation. Realising her error, she quickly lowered her head, shocked at her own outburst. "He spoke to me, in my head big brother. Like he was next to me, but not really," she said quietly. Clemont quickly pondered over this, before realising one of the possibilities.
"Telepathy?" he questioned.
"Possibly," Ash replied. "There are a few people who can talk to others using telepathy, and a few Pokémon too. But to do it from so far away, to someone who you have never met?"
"Whoever he is, he must be a powerful psychic," Serena added. "My question is, why Alisode Town?"
"Because Alisode Town has some of the best emergency medical tech in all of Kalos!" Clemont realised. "That must mean this guy is hurt, or one of his Pokémon is hurt." As he spoke, both he and Ash realised the implications. "Or Pikachu is…"
The group quickly set off for the village, hoping to get some transport into the town.
Alisode Town, 11:40pm
The trainer landed just outside the Pokémon Centre, causing quite a stir to the few Pidove that took residence on the roof. The storm had eased off now, and the sky was crystal clear. Patting his partner's neck for a job well done, the pair entered the Pokémon Centre quickly, to the shock of the intern at the front desk.
"I'm sorry, Nurse Joy is taking a break at the moment. You are welcome to wait for her," the intern quietly said as she looked the ebon dragon up and down, before facing its trainer.
"I don't think this guy can wait that long." He uncurled his bloodied jacket, to reveal Pikachu, his fur matted with blood and his breathing shallow. The intern quickly paged Joy a code red, and within a minute three medics had bundled the mouse Pokémon onto a stretcher.
"My apologies, sir," Joy said as Pikachu was wheeled off to the ER. "We will do whatever we can to heal your Pikachu."
"Yeah, that isn't actually my Pikachu…" he admitted, a suspicious look coming across her face. "A group of thieves took him from his trainer, I took him back. He was injured when a machine exploded. Charizard and I dodged most of the shrapnel, but Pikachu wasn't so lucky it seems."
"I see." Nurse Joy had heard about a spate of stolen Pokémon circulating around Kalos. His story seemed legitimate, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Where is his trainer then?"
"He is on the way, his group were on foot so they couldn't make it here as fast as I did." He saw in Bonnie's memories the van swerve towards the pair. "I think the youngest in their group sustained an injury of some sort."
Now she really was suspicious. Here was a guy claiming to be a saviour of a Pokémon, yet couldn't return it to its trainer or help a trainer in need.
"I understand your mistrust, Nurse Joy;" he cut her train of thought off. "Allow me to prove my story."
"And how, pray tell, do you expect to do that?"
"I'm psychic."
It took every ounce of professionalism to hold in her laughter, but nevertheless a small smirk escaped her lips.
"Humour me, ma'am." As she agreed he held out his hand. She placed hers tentatively on his open palm, and the memories of the night's events played out in her head, from both his perspective and from Bonnie's.
Now finally believing, she apologised profusely to him, while he modestly replied that she didn't need to apologise. "I will need an overnight room while I wait," he told her.
She took Charizard into the back for a well-deserved rest and handed him a room key. "I'm going to need a name to put under the key log. Unless you want to be called Mr. Psychic," she teased.
He chuckled, something he rarely did nowadays. "Yeah, Mr. Psychic is too formal for me. The name's Ryan. Ryan Rowan."