"Pikapi!"
The shout of the pokemon interrupted the silence of the night. Beside the little rodent lay the sleeping form of a black haired teenager. Two distinctive marks adorned his cheeks. This teenager was no other than Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. Pokemon trainer, contest participant, friend of pokemon and human alike, hero.
"Pikapi!"
The small rodent was his long time friend: Pikachu. Pikachu was a small pokemon, number twenty five according the now obsolete Kanto Pokedex. Pokemon research was still a growing field, countless scientists and researchers compiling and updating the ever-expanding body of knowledge pertaining these creatures. One of the foremost experts on this field was Professor Oak, the scientist who gave Ash this Pikachu on the start of his journey, when he was ten years old.
"Chuu!"
Thunderbolt. A midclass electric move, which shocks the objective with up to ten thousand volts of electicity. The particular receiver of this attack, the aforementioned Ash Ketchum, was considered by some to have developed something of an inmunity to electric shocks such as these, given the fact that he had been hit uncountable times by his best friend. Of course, that didnt't completely negate its effect, or the fact that electricity tended to hurt.
"Ouch! Ouch! Pikachu! What's going on!"
"Pika!"
As much as he appreciated his long time pal, Ketchum was never a fan of being hit with electricity. Even less so in the middle of the night. This was fast shaping up to be one of those days. Shaking off the remnants of the attack, he looked around him to see what had gotten his partner's knickers in a twist.
And promptly saw that the trees surrounding the area where he and his pokemon had camped were on fire.
He could also hear screams from various pokemon, clearly distressed at having their habitat destroyed.
So that's why Pikachu was so insistent. He definitely must have been tired if all that ruckus hadn't shook him. Pikachu hadn't interrupted the silence of the night, far from it.
Rapidly getting to his feet, he ran through his options. Putting out the fire was essential, he could worry about the pokemon later. He was about to call out one of his own pokemon, when another shout of "Pikapi!" and his pikachu tackling him threw him to the ground.
From where he could see a concentrated ray of light pass through where his head had been moments before, and then hitting another tree, causing a huge explosion and disintegrating most of the plant.
A hyperbeam.
Ash got up to his feet again, and with Pikachu at his side, tried to see what had been the cause of the attack, but to no avail. Smoke covered most of the small clearing; shadows danced, and only the sound of burning embers remained.