Ethan had lived a fairly normal life. He was about seventeen or so now, and typically wore a few things. His mostly faded jeans, dark, royal blue jacket or sweatshirt he had on at most times, and a regular maroon t-shirt he wore under that. Actually, Ethan's life wasn't that normal after all. Let's backtrack a little bit;
Ethan lived in the far off quiet region known as Alistor, which was a decently sized fairly secluded island that never really got much traffic from the rest of the Pokémon world. They did have a harbor, they exported things, imported, everything was good, but it was a rather quiet place to live. This was fine, however. Living there tended to give one that warm peaceful feeling of living out in the unpopulated suburban countryside, but on a much bigger scale. Additionally, the fact it was a smaller more closed region meant they didn't have as much of a problem in crime. Other regions had groups like Team Rocket and Plasma to deal with, some of whom threatened the world, but groups like these didn't typically grow in Alistor.
One point of positivity for living in the region of Alistor was that people and Pokémon were on the whole, closer to each other than they were in most other regions. Of course, that wasn't to say that inventions such as Pokéballs didn't exist there- they were simply less-than-commonly used, and Pokémon would frequently be seen in or around towns going about their own business- Living there, shopping, existing and chatting, and people didn't mind. Nobody would bat an eye at a Pokémon for doing this, and there was little threat of them being captured.
But of course, every region has their guardian. Johto has Lugia and Ho-oh, Hoenn has Kyogre and Groudon, so on, so on. The guardian legendary of Alistor was a small Pokémon known as Jirachi. Jirachi was a tiny white Pokémon with a yellow star-shaped headpiece, green highlights under its eyes, and an eye in the center of its chest. A few yellow comet tails struck from its back. Jirachi slept for one thousand years, after which it would be awakened for only one single week. From its millennial slumber, it would watch over the world and silently grant the wishes of the people.
In most regions, Jirachi was very, very seldom seen by anyone. But in Alistor, it was revered as the region's deity. Most people went to a place known as the Celestial Veil to pray to it and make their wishes. The Celestial Veil was a quiet little place that had become something of a "shrine" to Jirachi. It was a small series of hills in the region's southwest that was tipped in stardust and cloaked in an eternal night. A marvel of the world, really.
But the Celestial Veil wasn't Alistor's claim to fame. No, the centerpiece of the region would probably be the old castle. See, ages ago, the place had been a kingdom ruled by a royal family. But, as kingdoms tend to do, it had crumbled long ago. And not to mention, the current prince at the time had completely vanished. There were rumors, surviving to this day, that perhaps he had been kidnapped, killed, things that one would expect, a few say the King and Queen made a wish to Jirachi that had something to do with him, but nobody knew where he was.
But, the old castle; Castle Malino. Castle Malino sat at the northernmost part of the region, overlooking the rest of it. It sat atop a cliff and the only way to get to it was an admittedly very stable but very precarious wooden bridge. The place was surrounded by cliffs that presumably once a moat or lake or something. The castle stood high and could be seen from anywhere at all in Alistor. It was a proud, representative symbol of its ancient history.
The capital, then, was Malino City, which sat not a day's walk away from the castle. Malino was a cheery little city with all sorts of bustling people and Pokémon walking around. It was governed by the Chancellor- who also happened to be descended from the old royal family. He made sure the castle stayed at least somewhat safe, and though it had long since fallen into disrepair, he made sure it was protected. It was the national landmark, after all.
But, about Ethan. Ethan lived alone with his mother in a quiet little cabin out in a small wooded clearing between the castle and the capital. Despite their close proximity, however, he'd never really been to either. His mother had frequently gone into the city to run various errands, and sometimes he came along, but he never really did anything there and never went any further. Sometimes she would go on her own.
He could only remember childhood memories of her, none of his father, for some reason. Try as he might, he could only remember living here with her, and any time he attempted to ask about it got promptly ignored for some reason or another, and she didn't really answer any questions he had about his very early childhood.
However, there was one very important aspect of his life that perplexed everyone who knew him. He had the uncanny ability to understand the words of Pokémon. Now, despite the closeness between them and people in Alistor, the language barrier of Pokémon and people was still a definite issue that people had to deal with. But not Ethan.
And, whether it was for this reason or for the reason that he was rather shy, mostly cooped up for his life, or whatever reason, he always found himself connecting better to people than Pokémon. They understood him, and he understood them like he knew nobody else could. He'd heard, of course, of faraway people that could talk to Pokémon as well, but they were very rare and far between.
Pokémon would comfort him, would be there for him where people weren't. They would share their worries and concerns and they knew they could trust him with that sort of thing. They told their stories, and they told of their people. People that were nice, and people that were mean to Pokémon. Heck, he, himself, barely had any desire to keep any sort of Pokémon contained.
But there was one specific Pokémon he had grown closer with than all the others. This one was a lone Gardevoir known as Rose. She was the current Pokémon of the Chancellor, and would frequently visit their little home for reasons he didn't know. The two of them had just... hung, together, sharing stories and their life experiences together. And every night, she would return to the capital. Other than that, the two of them had spent enough time together to practically see each other as siblings, and Ethan's mother found the relationship quite amusing.
But today was different. Ethan went outside, listening to clear chirps of Pidoves above and went over to the spot she agreed to meet him every day. But she wasn't there today. He waited, and waited, and waited, for hours on end, but she never came. He began to worry that perhaps she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. They'd argued a little bit last time, but not anything serious, so where was she...?
Then, he looked up at the castle while pacing around to himself. Atop the roof, atop one of the towers sat a lone Dragonite. No, not lone. He held Rose next to him, standing up there. Ethan was surprised and confused at the same time. He'd seen him standing up there day after day, week after week, just watching the two of them. Honestly, it began to get creepy, and now he had kidnapped her? Rose looked more apathetic than anything, but he knew he'd have to help her. He'd never been to Malino Castle, but now was the time. His mother had a Sylveon, named Sylveo, and he knew that Fairy Pokémon were strong against dragons! He would just get her to come with for a little bit to go save Rose! With a smile of nervousness adorning his face, he went home to go explain and retrieve Sylveo.