Welcome to my fifth and final story of my Special-series, Special Years (SY). I picked that title so I can add a letter to the end of current S-EARL (Special – Events/Adventures/Randomness/Lives) and still form a word. Now the series is grouped together into S-EARLY. And SY will be the last of the Special-series because I can't add another letter to the end of "EARLY" and still form a word. Or at least a word that doesn't sound too damn awkward. S-EARLY is already pushing it.

SY was designed to be the successor to Special Adventures (SA) and Special Lives (SL), but was changed at the end into something entirely different. It will not be succeeding anything. Though SY has nothing to do with its predecessors, I highly recommend reading all of S-EARL for various story mechanics and preferences that were described there that will be incorporated here. It will spare me the great effort of re-describing every mechanic/preference if someone brings it up.

Story wise, SY has the influence of both SA and SL. Meaning, SY will have multiple bad guys (SA), but still maintains a small Dex Holder focus (SL). As SY is closer to a spinoff, it will have faster pace than SA/SL and focus more on combat. But in order to maintain that small Dex Holder focus, some Dex Holders will not be appearing at all. That's the plan, at any rate. Those who have read S-EARL probably know already which Dex Holders will be canned.

SY will likely be the only story in which I use Age Relations Edition IV (as described on my profile page) as opposed to the more story-friendly Edition III (also in profile).

Since SY is set after BW and probably BW2, as stuff are revealed/confirmed, the corresponding stuff in SY will be magically updated off-screen unless that reveal/confirmation is groundbreaking. Since BW2 arc still only has the prologue revealed, everything in SY related to stuff in BW2 (Aspertia City, Pokéstar Studios, BW-BW2 attire change, etc) will merely be predictions.

Warning: SY will contain small scenes of blood, not entirely gruesome content, and some bad f*cking language.

Chapter 1: Kidnapping

Aspertia City, Unova, 12 pm…

It was a warm, calm, bright sunny day in the westernmost city of Unova. In such a nice weather, just about everyone was out of their homes doing something to enjoy the peace. The senior citizens took a slow stroll around the city while the parents took their toddlers out for picnics. Some children were forcefully dragged into the Trainer's School in the corner of the city while the other children ran around playing games. The teens… stayed home unlike everyone else.

One teen stood at the top of Aspertia's pride and joy, the Outlook, looking at the marvelous view of Route 19 while leaning against the protective rails. The teen was Aspertia's greatest pride and joy as well, who personally helped with the development of various public facilities. Though only 18 years old, the teen was offered to become the mayor of Aspertia, but she had declined the offer.

The teenage girl took a deep breath and stared into the calm distance, admiring the view of lush forests, crystal clear lakes, and tall snow covered mountains. Her pink cap protected her bright blue eyes from the sunlight so she had no problems in looking into the distance. Her long dark brown hair was tied into two long side-tails which gently moved with the calm wind. She wore a rather tight white shirt with blue elbow-length sleeves, long black skintight leggings, and beige skirt-like shorts over the leggings.

The girl was White. As one of the Unova Dex Holders, she had greatly helped in calming the crisis that involved Reshiram, Zekrom, and even Kyurem a few years ago. And as the president of the BW Agency and (as of last year) Pokéstar Studios, her reputation and popularity had skyrocketed. With all the money she made from the two companies, White donated a large portion to various charities in Unova and used majority of the remains into further developing her hometown. As a result, she had great firm reputation throughout all of Unova and was loved by everyone in her hometown. Some apparently loved her in more ways than one, evidenced by the amount of letters and emails requesting a date with her. Apparently they never got the message that she already had a boyfriend…

Her boyfriend was the other Unova Dex Holder, Black. A former employee of the BW Agency, he technically only worked for her because of his debt. White had to eventually 'let him go' when he completely worked off that debt. She was quite sad when she released him, but her depression turned into joy when Black immediately applied to become a full employee of the company. But due to the location of his home and difference in his goals from White's, the girl couldn't accept him. Instead, the two Dex Holders agreed to a partial employment. In every competition, Black would wear the BW Agency logo as a method of advertisement while White supported him financially. It was a deal that had existed before Black's debt was paid, but now it held since White had restarted her company. During the time they spent with each other, White had confessed her love for him, and the two Dex Holders have not been happier.

Due to the distance between their homes, Black and White remained in contact mostly through video calls and messages. They still met in person from time to time, but with White's company, the meetings became infrequent. As a result, White 'retired' from daily work and let her vice president take over. As the owner of the BW Agency, White still received money from the company's income, which was more than sufficient. And with the acquisition of the Pokéstar Studios near Virbank City, the income multiplied. Now, White met Black in person at least once every two weeks as opposed to the previous once per month.

White enjoyed her time of peace. She didn't have to stress over her company at all. She still checked every employee's performance record once a month and the company's progress once every two weeks to make sure her company didn't get screwed over. But she trusted her vice president's abilities. And to make sure everyone remained loyal to her, White gave raises to the employees with outstanding performance record on a monthly basis. The VP of the company received benefits whenever the company did exceptionally well.

Not long after the acquisition of Pokéstar studios, the people of Aspertia suggested that White become the new mayor. The girl had declined that offer, however, as she wished to remain peacefully unemployed. And the last thing she wanted was to get the other mayor candidates (who were around 3 times her age) upset with her. Getting into politics and such was not the best way to remain a hometown favorite. Currently, people of Aspertia liked her enough that the city's news reporters and cameramen did NOT follow her around. Instead, they respected her privacy and simply politely asked permission if they could take her picture or write an article on her a day prior to actually meeting with her. The citizens did not follow her around either. Whenever she walked by, they simply waved at her and she waved back. And White preferred to keep things that way. Becoming a mayor or anything like that would change things too much.

Today, White remained standing on Aspertia Outlook. Not only because she loved the view, but also because there was a Pokéstar Studios staff filming something in Route 19. As the owner of that company, she wanted to see what was happening without directly interfering. The movie being filmed was going to be a classic; White could tell. She couldn't wait to see it in the theatres (or at home, if the VP of Pokéstar Studios decides to send her a copy of the movie prior to theatrical release), and in order to avoid spoiling herself, White didn't want to eavesdrop or watch the filming too much.

"Hey, Miss President!" came an all-too familiar voice from behind.

White jumped in surprise but quickly spun around with a bright smile on her face. "Black!"

The two Unova Dex Holders embraced and kissed. "Did you miss me?" Black asked once the kiss ended. He still kept an arm around White's waist and used the other hand to brush strands of hair away from her face.

"I missed you," the girl said happily. "I know you missed me too! But what made you come all the way here?"

"I wanted to know if you'd like to have a dinner date with me."

White checked her Xtransciever. "Sure, I'd love to. But isn't it a bit early?"

"I'm here to see Cheren and how he's doing in the Gym as well," Black said. "I came to find you first to see if you were available."

"Alright then. Sure, go check on your friend. You'll know where to find me when it's time."

Black kissed White goodbye and after taking a glance at Route 19, proceeded to climb down the stairs. The girl had a longing smile on her face as she watched him steadily disappear from her sight. Afterwards, she let out a content sigh and resumed looking at Route 19.

10 minutes later, as White was replying to a message the VP of the BW Agency sent her, there was a loud thud coming from Route 19 that seemingly shook the entire Aspertia Outlook. White quickly looked ahead and saw a large cloud of dust and even ominous mist billowing from where the Pokéstar Studios staff was filming. As she watched the cloud and mist, she heard Pokémon attacks and people screaming. And those were definitely not a part of the movie.

White quickly sent her message to the VP and hastily made her way to the filming area with her Pokéballs ready. At the scene, she found all the Pokéstar Studios staff scattered on the ground, all knocked unconscious. White sent out her entire team and began to check on the staff's condition. But a low growl emanating from the thick mysterious mist quickly caught the girl's attention.

"Everyone, maintain a defensive position," White ordered her Pokémon. "And Barbara, try to clear that mist with gusts of wind!"

The Vullaby did as ordered and began to flap its wings towards the thick mist. But before it managed to clear the area, a powerful Ice Beam shot out from the thick mist and hit it directly.

"No!" White cried out as her Vullaby hit the ground as a frozen block of ice. "Amanda, Leaf Storm!"

The powerful Grass type attack managed to clear some of the mist while landing a direct hit on the Pokémon inside. But surprisingly, the attack didn't seem to do anything. Instead, it triggered another Ice Beam, which the Serperior barely managed to dodge.

'Okay, I'm clearly up against some strong Ice type Pokémon,' White thought to herself as she tried to come up with a plan. 'But I don't have any Pokémon that hits Ice types well…' "Nancy! Water Pulse!" The Alomomola blasted the mysterious Pokémon with a strong Water Pulse. Once again, the attack seemed ineffective. White gritted her teeth and proceeded to get her entire team to attack at once. "Dorothy, Thunderbolt! Jessica, Leech Seed! Unibo, Psychic!"

In retaliation to the group attack, a blast of freezing cold wind swept at White's entire team, along with the girl herself. The girl's Pokémon all tried to protect themselves from the freezing cold wind. White dropped to her knees and tried to shield herself. She felt a thin layer of ice forming on her hair and skin and immediately dropped to the ground to expose herself less. Once the freezing wind stopped, White brushed off the forming ice with trembling hands and forced herself off the ground. Realizing that she was in the most difficult battle of her life, she reached into her half-frozen bag and took out her Pokédex. Since the thick mist cloaked the attacking Pokémon from eyesight, there was no way White would be able to even identify her enemy. The Dex Holder immediately frozen upon seeing her opponent's data.

"… No… No way…"

Just as the realization hit her, a massive Hyper Beam shot out from the mist, aimed directly at her. The girl's Serperior jumped in to intercept the attack, creating a large explosion that knocked White back several meters, forcing her to drop her Pokédex.

Meanwhile, in Aspertia's Trainer's School, Black stood by and watched as Cheren went on with his lesson. He didn't want to interrupt the class, so he patiently waited. Within a few minutes, there was a small break as the children went to get lunch.

"Hey, Cheren," Black called as he approached his childhood friend. "How goes the Trainer's School?"

"Oh, it's going great," the Aspertia Gym Leader answered with a smile. "White really helped us out again. Now with new textbooks and instructional videos, this school is doing better than I could've hoped for."

"How's the Gym?"

"Fantastic. With White's donations, our Gym no longer looks like some backyard. It now looks like an official facility! It even has brand new video cameras and projectors that records and replays Gym Battles for the sake of teaching."

Black smiled. "Great. You know, if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask."

"Oh, I know," Cheren replied. "But White's done so much for us already. I couldn't ask her for help again."

"Maybe you can ask Miss President for help that doesn't relate to the school or the Gym," Black said with a grin. "I mean… you look boring without your glasses. Maybe you can ask her for some fashion advice?"

Cheren smirked and shook his head. "Yeah… I think I'll pass on that. … Thanks for the… advice?" He put his glasses back on at Black's 'suggestion' and sat down on his desk. "You know, your girlfriend is something of an icon in this city. All the kids look up to her, all the adults are proud of her, and… guys around her age are in love with her. So be careful. You have a lot of 'rivals' in this city."

"You included?" Black asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Of course not. I value her as a friend, nothing more, nothing less. Besides, she's with you."

Black shook his head and smiled. "Well, thanks. I'm sure those rivals would know that Miss President loves me sooner or later. They probably won't be happy, but I doubt they'll do anything that'll affect her in the slightest. If she's an icon, then no one's going to bother her in the slightest, right?"

"Yeah. No one's going to upset someone who donates the vast majority of her money for the good of her hometown."

Just then, one of the students came running back inside. "Teacher, teacher!" she called desperately.

"What is it?" Cheren asked as he tried to calm the little kid.

"Miss… Miss White needs help!" the little girl cried out.

"What?" Black asked. "What do you mean?"

"She's being attacked by something! Please help!"

Black and Cheren took one glance at each other before they both ran out of the Gym as fast as possible. Not long after leaving the Gym, the two trainers heard a loud thud coming from Route 19. The two trainers quickly headed up north and came across the one sided battle immediately upon exiting the gate. Black stared in horror as White's Pokémon lay frozen solid on the ground, and the girl herself trembling violently while curled up face down beside her Pokémon.

Black quickly tried to rush over to check on her when an Ice Beam was shot out of nowhere to create a large barrier between the two Unova Dex Holders. Black and Cheren immediately sent out their Emboar and Stoutland respectively and proceeded to smash through the ice barrier.

White tried to push herself off the ground so that she could continue fighting her attacker. But it was getting harder and harder to fight due to the thickening layer of ice over her skin. Despite trembling violently from the cold, White maintained her fierce glare as her attacker slowly moved forward. The enemy trainer had returned his powerful Pokémon since White wasn't able to fight back and Black and Cheren couldn't interfere due to the ice barrier. With the Pokémon back in its Pokéball, the thick mist had disappeared.

Black's Emboar had just managed to smash through a tiny section in the ice barrier, just enough that Black could see through. He watched in horror as a man wearing a black mask approached White and forcefully dragged her up to her feet by her half-frozen hair. The man then wrapped an arm around the girl's iced throat and forced her to look at Black. The boy smashed a fist into the ice barrier while the girl watched helplessly. Just to screw with the Unova Dex Holders, the man used his free hand to grab onto White's arm and used it to wave at Black.

"Boar, Flare Blitz!" Black roared in anger.

"Stoutland, Double Edge!" Cheren yelled right after.

Just as the ice barrier broke, the masked man sent out another Pokémon: an Elgyem, which hopped onto his shoulders. And Black knew what was about to happen.

"No, no, no! Not again!" Black yelled just as he smashed through what was left of the ice barrier. "No!"

Just before he could reach out and save his girlfriend, the Elgyem used Teleport, causing itself, the masked man, and the hostage White to instantly vanish.

Cheren observed the carnage around him and returned his Stoutland. "Sorry, Black."

"Shit!" Black yelled in anger. He looked at White's fallen Pokémon all around, trying to figure out what Pokémon attacked her. He was about to send out his Musharna when he spotted the girl's Pokédex on the ground. He saw the entry displayed on the screen and took a look around in despair. He now understood how White was thrashed so easily. "… Kyurem…"

Oh yeah, spoiler alert. Black's Munna returns as a Musharna. Should've mentioned that. Whoops. My bad.

As mentioned, faster pace than SA. By a lot. … Maybe it's too fast…

For… 5% of those who read S-EARL prior to SY's release, you might have noticed a massive change to my profile page. No more news section. It has been moved into the chapters themselves, thereby creating an auto-archive. The profile now contains various statistics that'll be updated at… every update of S-EARLY. Apart from random stats, the most important/notable addition is the ETA to the next update. Not always accurate, but they're better than no estimate at all.