Authors note: This is my first piece of fiction I have allowed anyone to read.

I do not own Pokemon

Please review!

DT

He awoke suddenly to the purposefully irritating chirp of a small device that rested beside his pillow. Lifting his head, he depressed the button on the side of the phone, which snapped open, and put the headset to his ear.

"Taz Boroughs," he said quietly, forcing his mind out of it's groggy state. At the foot of the bed, a large, canine head lifted, and he imagined the two eyes looking at him expectantly through the darkness.

"Taz, it's mom.."

"Hey. What's up? It's like…" he pressed the light button on his watch. "It's four in the morning."

"Taz, Professor Birch's lab caught on fire sometime in the last hour or so. Norman and several trainers from Oldale are here, but it will take several hours to get rid of."

"What? What about the Professor?"

"We can't be sure if anyone was inside the lab when it caught fire, and no one has heard from him since yesterday morning."

Taz's mind had kicked into overdrive, and he mentally reviewed everything he knew about fires.

"I'll be there soon." He promised, snapping the phone shut.

Ten minutes later, Taz emerged from the small building clothed in his usual jeans and black leather jacket over a blue t-shirt. On his hip, a PT 1911 .45 caliber pistol sat in its holster, alongside a pouch that held two extra clips. Right behind him, his trusty Mightyena followed.

Taz held up a sphere about the size of a grapefruit and spoke.

"Electivire, watch over the lab, okay?"

Elevtivire, a man-shaped Pokemon almost as tall as himself, nodded as Taz replaced the pokeball on his belt.

"I'll be back later." Then, he held up two more pokeballs, with one, recalling Mightyena, and the other, he called out Skarmory, a sturdy, steel-armored bird. Wrapped around the bird's chest and back was a simple leather saddle that consisted of a loop of leather to hold onto, and two smaller loops for the feet.

"Skarmory," he addressed the bird, approaching the big bird. "We're off to Littleroot. As fast as you can. Deal?" Skarmory merely nodded, crouching so Taz could climb aboard before launching into the sky. They climbed rapidly, Skarmory's powerful wings carrying them ever higher with each stroke, and began in the direction of Littleroot, where their next mystery would unfold.