A pair of bright gold eyes peered out of the shadows concealing their body. They looked down from the branches of a pine tree. They followed a young man walking through the forest below. Perched on his shoulder was a rather large Pikachu. Said Pikachu's ears pricked up as a single golden feather dropped from the tree.

"Pika…"

"Hm? What is it Pikachu?"

Pikachu just looked up. "Pi-!"

It was cut short by a massive gold claw. The claw knocked Pikachu off of the human's shoulder. The claw retreated into the tree. A female voice echoed through the forest. It was cold and harsh.

"So, this is supposed to be the mighty Pikachu, partnered with the Great Ash Ketchum! Hah! Pathetic, simply pathetic! You couldn't even dodge an attack that you saw coming!" The tree shook as an enormous black shadow leaped to the ground in front of Ash and Pikachu. Two golden eyes glinted in the bright sunlight. Streaks of light cut through the shadow, revealing a large white, scaly body with large patches of gold. A crest of golden feathers ran between the shadow's ears and down its neck. Massive white forepaws were flat on the ground, long, thick gold claws protruding from each finger.

The shadow stepped closer. It was a mighty Dragon Pokémon. It had a slightly elongated face ending with a rounded snout. Two long fangs poked between the lips. Massive bat like wings were draping to the ground. The Dragon reared up, lashing its long spiked tail. Eagle feet were planted firmly on the ground. The Dragon spoke again.

"So you are the famous Ash Ketchum? I don't see anything special about you. Your Pikachu on the other hand…"

"What do you want with Pikachu?!"

"Oh, no, no! It's not what I want with Pikachu. It's more what Pikachu wants with me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Volc Oquine, the Expressive. You may call me Volc."

Ash stared at Volc. "What would Pikachu want with you?"

"The same thing any Pokémon wants with me: voice. You may be familiar with Palkia and Dialga? Palkia is my brother and Dialga my sister. They both have voice. Any Pokémon with Oquine blood is born with voice. Those that are not choose to seek it."

By this time Pikachu got to its feet and placed itself between Ash and Volc.

"It's okay Pikachu," Ash said. "She's no threat to us."

"Pika pika Pikachu. Pi. (I don't know. Hm.)"

"She is right to fear me. I'm not the most trustworthy of my kind."

"Cha pi!? (You knew!?)"

"Pikachu's female?" Ash looked at Volc, wide-eyed. "How do you know?"

"Heh, heh. It's simple. Look at Pikachu's tail. See how she has a little v-shaped form cutting into it?"

"I've never noticed that before."

"That's because a Pikachu normally keeps the end of its tail fluffed with static. My claw drained much of the static in her fur so that it would lie flat…" Volc looked closer at Ash. "You're from Kanto, aren't you?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. So?"

Volc sat on her haunches and crossed her arms. "So… That's a pretty dangerous place to be from around here. You're in Sinnoh now Ash. You'd better make some friends fast. Start with new trainers." She turned to pad away. Ash called to her.

"Why not help us out Volc? You seem to know a lot. There's more we need to know. What do you say?"

Volc thought a moment before padding on. She turned her head to look back. "Well… Follow me!"