Chapter One

"Excuse me," a high-pitched voice whispered. It sounded nervous. "Are you okay?" I opened one eye.

"Who's asking?" I mumbled. I couldn't see very well but I was sure that I was outside. The stranger breathed a sigh of relief.

As I opened the other eye, I noticed that I was, indeed, outside, near a river. I got up and looked around. There was a hut and I was under a shelter nearby. All this, was surrounded by trees.

Then I remembered. The stranger. They were nowhere to be found. As I looked around for them, I saw some weeds rustling furiously and moved closer; wondering what was causing them to do this. There was no wind. Then, without warning, the weeds popped out of the ground, spraying dirt everywhere.

As I shook the dirt off, I noticed a small, round, purple body running behind a tree. Was this the stranger that spoke to me earlier?

A high-pitched yelp from the plant confirmed it. The voice WAS the stranger's. As I looked around the tree, I noticed that the body was an Oddish, a Pokémon that had a round purple body, with weed-like leaves growing from the top.

Wait a second! A Pokémon? That can talk? This was too weird.

"I must be dreaming," I said to myself, pacing back and forth.

"Um…" the Oddish came closer, "what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to wake myself up from this dream."

"You're weird. What kind of Pokémon are you?"

"Pokémon? I'm a human!" Oddish frowned.

"A human? You look like a normal Riolu to me."

"What are you talking-?" I began to ask. I looked down at my paws.

Paws? I ran to the river, with Oddish hot on my heels. I looked down into the water and saw that I, as Oddish had said, was a Riolu. I looked like a small, blue-and-black pup. I jumped back in surprise, knocking into Oddish.

"Holy crap," I said.

"Are you feeling okay?" Oddish asked from behind me.

"Yeah. Just a bit shook up."

"Good." Oddish said kindly. "NOW GET OFF MY LEAF!"

I just realized that my paw was on its leaf. I lifted it, apologizing several times.

"So are you really a human?" Oddish asked.

"Yep. I don't remember anything but my name."

"What is it?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm Riolu now."

"What is your name?" Oddish yelled.

"Okay, okay. It's… Jay."

"Oh," Oddish said, just before breaking into a full blown laughing fit.

WWWRROOOOOAAAARRR!!

A humongous roar ripped through the trees as multiple Pokémon of different types scurried away. Oddish and I looked at each other. Roar was an attack many powerful Pokémon have, to exert their authority. As we neared a clearing, we knew exactly WHO made the deafening noise and WHO the target was.

A large black dog with white horns stood in the middle of the clearing, a look of utmost anger upon its face. And facing it was another Pokémon, an Absol, a doglike Pokémon with white fur and a long black horn on one side of its head.

"That Absol doesn't stand a chance," Oddish said.

"Why?" I asked.

"See that large Pokémon there? That's Houndoom. He thinks he controls this forest. No-one messes with him 'cos he is at a much higher level than most of us. His Fire Blast attack once started a bushfire so intense that it took three Gold-Rank rescue teams a month to put it out."

But Absol was either ignorant of this, or just suicidal, because he was standing his ground. His fur was singed and he was covered in scratches. Houndoom took a leap, but Absol was fast and dodged, before opening its mouth and shooting a ball of black energy at Houndoom, which didn't even faze it.

"Shadow Ball," Oddish said, "One of Absol's strongest attacks."

Houndoom blasted Absol with a jet of flame, knocking it into the ground.

"We should help it,Jay," Oddish said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it's always been my dream to start an exploration team, and not just explore but help others." I wasn't happy with the idea. That Houndoom looked tough. I sighed.

"Fine. But if we die, I'll kill you."

Oddish laughed before dragging me into the clearing.

"Oi! Ugly!" Oddish hollered.

"Yep," I said quietly to myself, "we're boned."

"What do you want, Oddish?" Houndoom growled. "Oh, and a Riolu too. You're type are rare around these parts."

"And I think we'll be medium-rare with a side of coleslaw soon," I whimpered.

"We're here to put a stop to this nonsense. You don't own this forest, Houndoom," Oddish bellowed. Absol stood up.

"No!" It said. "Stay out of it!" Oddish looked angry.

"I've been waiting a long time for this Houndoom," Oddish scowled.

Oddish began to glow green, as did Houndoom. Absol jumped up.

"No! Absorbs a grass-type move! It won't hurt him much!"

Absol was right. Houndoom had already shaken off the attack and started to charge at Oddish. I took a deep breath and charged.

"Tackle Attack!" I bellowed, cursing myself for jumping in.

I hit Houndoom in the back leg, barely laying a scratch on him, before being knocked away. Now it was Absol's turn to join in. It shot a Shadow Ball at Houndoom, still having no effect.

"Riolu! Oddish!" Absol cried. "Keep it busy!"

We got the picture. I kept charging at Houndoom as Oddish (unsuccessfully) tried to sap its strength with Absorb. Absol was now in the center of the clearing. A gale was blowing, whipping its fur around.

"Razor wind!" It hollered.

Oddish and I knew what to do. We ran for cover. The wind picked up such speed that it could cut. The wind burst forward. Dust was ripped up from the ground and was flying right toward Houndoom. As the dust settled, we couldn't see Houndoom. The leaves had been ripped off the trees. The place was a mess. In the center, Absol was showing obvious signs of fatigue.

"Oddish," I said, "go help Absol."

Absol put its weight on Oddish.

"Where's Houndoom?" Absol panted.

"Dunno," Oddish replied, disdainfully.

There was a massive crack as a nearby tree was snapped in half and, from behind it, Houndoom shot a jet of flame, the heat so intense I nearly fainted. Then, from behind another tree, shot another jet of flame, blasting Oddish and Absol away from each other.

"How are we supposed to fight someone we can't see?" I yelled to the others. They shrugged.

"Wait a second!" Absol yelled. "What about Sweet Scent?"

"That's it!" I yelled. "Oddish use Sweet Scent."

Oddish squinted, I could tell he was trying his hardest. This was frustrating. I closed my eyes and tried to block out the outside world so I could think, then…

A flash of blue-white light. My emotions went reeling. I was thrown to the ground.

"What happened?" Absol asked.

"Dunno," I said. I tried again.

I could see the blue-white light that was so intense taking shape. I could see Absol and Oddish's shaped from blue-white light, feeling their fear. Then, I could feel anger and hatred behind me. I turned and I saw Houndoom's shape. It was surrounded by a white, intense light. I started feeling his anger and hatred at a deeper level.

Houndoom was shunned from its tribe, then once it got here that all changed. Now it's attached to the power that he's held here in the forest. He doesn't want to lose it.

The feelings built up in me as I could feel the same energy as the one surrounding Houndoom fill me. Then, it started concentrating towards my paws. I opened my eyes, my anger on his behalf consuming me. It was then I realized that I was holding a ball of light in between my palms. Houndoom pounced as I threw this ball at him. He was thrown back, slamming against a tree.

An hour later…

Two Machoke restrained Houndoom, one on each side. Officer Machamp came into the clearing to talk to us.

"Sounds to me like you had quite a fight," it said.

"Yes, Officer," Absol said, "if it hadn't been for these two, I might not have been here now." It turned to us. "Thank you."

"And, that attack you told me about," Machamp said to me, clenching his four fists, "sounds like Aura Sphere, a very rare, but powerful, attack that uses the power of aura to attack. Riolu usually learn it eventually, but not this early. You're no ordinary Pokémon."

He chuckled heartily. Oddish and I looked at each other.

"You have no idea," I smiled.