The official story, the "original" story told in Sinnoh, says there was only chaos. And at the heart of this chaos was a single egg. From the Void, the egg hatched and bore the Original One. Time and Space now had meaning, and thus were also born, along with matter. Even the Void now had purpose, if only meant to be forgotten. Finally, the Original One gave life to three living virtues, and helped bring spirit to the world. With the world created, the Original One entered a deep slumber, away from its creations.

The real story, the story my grandma and all the Sages have told me, was that there was nothing in chaos until three, brilliant, golden Goddesses descended from the kingdom of clouds high above. The Goddess of Power created and cultivated the land that would be the world. The Goddess of Wisdom bestowed her knowledge and order unto the land. And the Goddess of Courage created all life that would uphold those laws. They returned to the heavens when their work was done, and all they left behind were their mystical golden symbols, said to be locked away and used for a time of either great peace or utter destruction.

The similarities are all there; the chaos, the beginning, and the slumber of great power. There are plenty of other stories with their own meanings, but it's the little differences that people fight to prove. They believe that the story they grew up with is the absolute truth. And until recently, I was one of those people.

But when I heard about the tale of the Original One, and heard more claims of seeing god-like Pokémon as opposed to Golden Goddesses, I started to wonder. Could both stories be true? At least, that's what I like to tell myself. But what I'm afraid to ask or even write down is-

What if the "real" story is wrong?

Hyrule League

Chapter 1: The Girl in Green

Pokémon; the unique and colorful creatures that can be found anywhere around the world. Each Pokémon holds power beyond compare to the normal human, and are often seen in sport against each other by those that have caught and tamed them. From the quick-footed Ratatta to the powerful predator that is Pidgeot, they come in all shapes and sizes.

There are many reasons why people use Pokémon. Some simple folk just enjoy the companionship they bring, becoming good friends in the process. Others ambitiously see them as tools to better their nefarious goals, from global takeover to extreme terraforming, even attempting to claim the power of the Gods. And many, many more keep them close as companions as they travel the world in pursuit of their dreams.

Pallet Town was such a place where adventurers started out. It is a small but humble community town, with only a few houses close together with wide grass yards to spare (some might argue only as many as two as far as the eye can see). Pallet was best known for Professor Samuel Oak's Pokémon Lab and the new generation of Pokémon trainers that marched out of its gates every year.

It was another typical morning over Pallet Town. The citizens were all roused by the coos of various Pidgey. Young children ran and played with one another as adults tended to their chores and jobs. Those with Pokémon played and worked, while those that didn't watched and hoped to gain their own partners someday.

Even the port south of town was busy. It was barely used aside from trips to and from the exotic Cinnabar Islands, and even further down to the Orange Islands. It was possible that ships could travel across the sea to entirely new regions, though ships from other regions rarely docked into Pallet Town when Vermillion City was a well-known and closer destination.

But today was different.

"Laaaaand hooooo!"

The cry stopped all the Pallet Town harbor workers (and their assisting blue bodybuilding Machoke Pokémon) from their grunt work, causing them all to gaze out to sea. A ship? Here? But there wasn't another ship scheduled to dock for at least another week.

And this ship was unlike any design they had seen before. Most ships were cruise liners equivalent to the now sunken S.S. Anne, with powerful motors meant to carry passengers in luxury and comfort. This arrival, however, was simply a galleon-styled boat, with tall masts and pearl-white sails powered by the wind. The bow had a fierce-eyed lion figurehead, but bared no similarity to any Pokémon the sailors had ever seen. It was more like a red and angry beast with white hair and eyebrows with a yellow nose and horns. Even the blue eyes looked scary.

Further up, small white winged birds flew in circles around the ship. Some even roosted on the mast as if they were tree branches. Their caws grew in volume as the ship drew closer to the docks. "Gull, gull! Wingull!" they cawed.

The head of the Pallet Town harbor approached the ship as it fully docked. The middle aged sailor barely had time to move away before a small green blur zipped down the loading board and towards the town proper. What really startled him was the feeling of something cold and hard brushing against his chest muscles, like a metal rod. Looking back, he could barely make out the figure's bobbing yellow head and green hood before disappearing further down the road.

Must be some over-excited trainer like Delia's son. They come in all flavors, these days.

Another figure calmly walked off of the ship, lightly tugging his long blue vest. He was a rugged and salty character with a thin green mustache matching his hair, and old but well-kept navy clothes. A Pelipper, the larger and evolved form of Wingull with a distinctly large bill, roosted on his shoulder like a certain parrot Pokémon would.

"Ahoy there!" The man smiled and shook hands with the harbor head. "Name's Captain Linebeck of the Red Lion. Sorry to come in unannounced, but we're planning a short rest before sailing back home. Need a lot of provisions and such. And plenty of rum too! You wouldn't happen to know where the bar is, would ya?"

"The bar?" The man asked aloud, before turning and pointing to the road. "Well, there's one down to the right of the road but-"

"You hear that boys?!" Linebeck smiled as he turned back to the ship. "We'll be drinking like kings tonight!"

A unified roar bellowed from the galleon, as if it had come from a whole herd of wild Pokémon. Even the Wingull joined in the cheers. Then, to the shock of the harbor men, the ship's crew (man and Pokémon alike) all surged out like a stampede of Tauros, disappearing almost as quickly as the green blur.

The head of the harbor was just as baffled and confused by the antics of the visitors, but they certainly didn't set off any warning signals. In fact, just before the captain left with the crew, he dropped a small but bulky bag in the harbormaster's hands. Curious, he loosened the string and found hexagonal jewel-like stones of green and blue filling the contents. They looked as pretty as Sableye gems.

"Huh," the man said as he held one of the stones up to the sunlight. "Now that's treasure."

Now if only he knew how much these were worth…

Finally, land! Solid ground after being cooped up for so long in that ship! They were still a long ways from home, but she was going to make this day of freedom last for all it was worth. Especially when this land was one she hadn't seen before.

As she neared the top of the hill, she stopped and stared while catching her eager breath. She could barely make out a few houses from the hills below, as simple and small as they were. There was more cropped up farmland than there were buildings, and a lot more trees too. And she could even see a small creek that must flow to the sea. Everything was so green and welcoming, like Kakariko Town. Her eyes stopped wandering as she spotted a big building with a tower structure.

"They even have a windmill here," she said in awe, and immediately made a beeline towards the pace stopped at the edge of the fence, a wide space of grass stretching between her and the building. It looked like some sort of ranch or grazing ground, but where were the Pokémon that should be grazing?

"There should be at least a Ponyta or something racing around," she frowned. "Like at Malon's."

She glanced to both sides of the fence again, and still saw no sign of human or Pokémon. Shrugging, she climbed over the fence in a single "Hup!" and walked towards the windmill-building again. Surely they won't mind if she entered through the back door instead of going all the way to the front.

It's not like she was going to break their pottery and steal their money.

"Quick! Break all the pottery and steal all the money you can find! That has to be where they hide their savings!"

"But Jessie, this is a laboratory. All they have here are bottles and beakers!"

"And some fancy machines that would be way too heavy to carry!"

"Then find anything that we can carry! This is our biggest break yet in a Pokémon Lab heist and we're going to make this count!"

Inside the main lab room were four individuals, three of which were arguing as they picked the place clean. The one barking orders was a woman approaching her thirties, with a shapely figure, glossy red lips, and long magenta hair impossibly frozen stiff in a blown-back curl. She wore long boots and gloves, both black in color, as well as a short white skirt and white shirt. The shirt was parted over the chest, as it a triangle was cut off, revealing a black undershirt. The white shirt had a partially obscured red R insignia, standing for the proud criminal organization of Team Rocket.

The two she was barking at were a man and a Pokémon, stockpiling whatever they could find in a big brown bag. The man was a handsome fellow with short blue hair, of which a single strand reached down over his nose. He wore a uniform similar to the woman, except for the long white pants which were held up by a belt and his abdomen was covered under his shirt and undershirt.

The Pokémon was a Meowth. The Cat Scratch Pokémon shared many similar traits to his other Meowth kin; cream-colored fur with brown patches on the hind paws and tail, prominent whiskers poking out from the sides and top of his face, black-lined ears, and a golden oval charm on his forehead. Unlike most Meowths however, he preferred to walk upright on his hind claws and could say a lot more than just "Meowth".

And the fourth? He was a young man, victim by circumstance. Key features included a green shirt, red shorts, an orange bandana under his black hair and blue sneakers. The man, Tracey Sketchit, was a lab assistant and apprentice to his idol Prof. Oak… and he was currently gagged, bound, and taped down to a rolling chair. "Mhp ftt! Mff Mff thm Ffofimn fu!" he cried out in vain through his gag.

Ignoring the boy's cries, the woman took the time to admire the bag's contents. So many red and white spheres filled the bag, each the size of a food pellet yet they could expand to the size of baseballs when the center button was pressed, and open when the button was pressed again. Each ball contained a Pokémon, resting in the portable devices, and she knew a good number of them belonged to that twerp. It felt good to finally succeed again, especially whenever Ash Ketchum was concerned.

Having cleaned the lab clean of all the Poké Balls, her colleagues searched high and low for any loot to claim for themselves, only to come up short. Reluctantly, they revealed a handful of coins and scraps in their hands/paws. "One would think that a lab would have more silver to show for it," Meowth said, downcast.

"Or even some more nickels," the male thief added, before brightening up as he picked up a small item of interest. "But look! I found a new bottle cap for my collection!"

Meowth, somewhat exasperated, glanced to the human male, sweat rolling down the other side of his head. "You really got your priorities straight, James."

It was at this point that a fifth figure literally popped out of nowhere, or more specifically from a Poké Ball. He looked like a blue punching bag, he had a silly scrunched up face, he stood upright on four balls for feet, had a black tail with a face on it, and one of his two long limbs seemed to imitate a salute as he made his Pokémon cry: "Wo~bbuffet!"

"Perhaps it was too much to ask for some secret professor fund to be stashed away here," said the woman, turning her attention to the bag of Poké Balls. "But at least we got our main objective in acquiring all these Pokémon!"

"It was truly brilliant, Jessie!" James cheered. "Sneaking into Oak's lab at the crack of dawn when everyone, including the Pokémon, were all asleep is just pure genius!"

"And as long as the meddling kids and their Pikachu aren't here, we'll get away with it too!" Meowth added.

"Wobbuffet! Wobbuffet!" The Patient Pokémon expressed delight and praise to his owner with repeated bowing gestures.

"But of course," Jessie smiled. "Why waste time going after Pikachu at the Kalos League when we could get a head start at his defenseless Pokémon?"

"And who to thank other than our very own Pokémon Watcher?" Meowth grinned, referring to the gagged boy. They all shared a laugh while Tracey could only glare and struggle in vain.

It was a simple plan, really; sneak in, dress up as new lab assistants and learn all the time tables and pathways. Their disguises never failed, even when Meowth was in costume and talking. They reined in their urges for supposedly easy captures or early sneak attacks in favor of a long term plan, lest they lose everything.

And lo and behold, Team Rocket's patience was finally awarded. Professor Oak had left the other day to rendezvous with Ash the twerp, and left the drawing twerp Tracy in charge until he returned. All the Pokémon would be asleep in their balls which were kept in the lab. Thanks to their disguise as trusted interns, they were given a key to help. And to top it off, Tracey trusted their alter egos enough to assign the time where they could do the typical lab routine.

"Well, we better quit while we're ahead and hurry on out," Jessie ordered. James and their Pokémon partners in crime then lifted the bag as one; James in front, Meowth in the center, and Wobbuffet from behind. She purposely ignored their heaving grunts and led them toward the backdoor.

"All this would be pointless if the twerps catch us scrounging for bottle caps, so we're not taking any chances," Jessie added.

"But what about Pikachu?" James asked.

"What about Pikachu?!" Meowth snapped. As much as he wanted to bag the Electric Mouse once and for all, he hated getting electrocuted and blasted off in nearly every encounter far too much. "We already swiped all of the twerp's other Pokémon that made us look like chumps! Bulbasaur, Quilava, Staraptor, even all 30 of his Tauros! With all these Pokémon plus whoever else sends their Pokémon here, we don't even need that runt anymore! And in case you forgot our track record, we'd lose everything if we go after him now!"

"Actually, I was thinking of one last trick we could pull over the twerp," Jessie smirked. "We all know he loves his Pokémon; it's one of his more annoying traits."

"And his love for other Pokémon led him to meddle in other affairs too," said James, to which Wobbuffet echoed.

"So after we have long fled away and lay low a bit in Viridian City, we'll reappear, motto and all, and offer poor little Ash an ultimatum; we'll give him back all the Poké Balls we stole from him if he gives us his Pikachu!"

"Why Jessie!" said James. "That's so devious and underhanded! I love it!"

"Yeah, but the kid will never go for it," quipped the bipedal Pokémon, providing the much needed cynicism. "Chances are he'll try to rescue all his Pokémon back in a fight, like usual."

"And that's the best part!" Jessie exclaimed. "We'll only give him back the Poké Balls. But we'll have already given all the Pokémon away to our boss long before we get his hopes up!"

At once, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet beamed at their leader's brilliance. "Now that's devious and underhanded!" James smiled. "If we win, we finally get Pikachu!"

"And even if we lose," Meowth grinned. "We still get a grand payoff!"

"Team Rocket's rising up again!" The trio sang in high spirits.

"Wobbuffet!" nodded Wobbuffet.

Unfortunately for them, their hopes and dreams were going to be crushed in an instant.

The door opened from the outside, so it was much to Team Rocket's surprise that someone opened the backdoor, the grazing ranch door, before them.

Standing before them, like a Deerling in headlights, was a young girl. Their eyes were drawn first to her legs for two reasons. First, she wore brown, thigh-high boots with some unknown symbol around the knee pads (and that was unknown the adjective, not Unown the Pokémon). Second, she seemed to somehow have a crossbow hooked to her left boot and a small compact quiver on her right. She looked no older than the twerps they followed on a regular basis and yet she was carrying a lethal weapon!

Further up she wore what seemed to be an orange short shirt, and possibly a white blouse. It was hard to tell because they were both covered by a long green tunic that reached to her waist with an attached hood hanging down.

On her person, she seemed well equipped, and not just the crossbow. A big, round, golden trinket of some sort (Watch? Compass?) was hanging around her neck, as was a choker with a blue gemstone. Slung over her left shoulder was a green bag with a single strap, designed with weirder symbols than before. And over her right shoulder was what looked like a sword, but it was really the Sword Pokémon, Honedge. They've been in Kalos enough to tell the difference.

Their gaze finally settled on the newcomer's face. Big, innocent blue eyes wide with surprise. Pale, pristine skin that seemed to glow. Golden blonde hair fashioned into two braided bangs, and they barely hid away the extended, pointed ears from behind.

Frankly, Team Rocket had never seen such a weird looking girl before. And judging by her baffled expression, she had never seen people like them before either.

They just stopped and stared at each other, frozen in a trance for what felt like a long time. In reality, it was only a minute at most. The spell was eventually broken by a desperate cry from inside the lab.

"HHLLLLLLLLLLLF!" Tracey screamed, somehow managing to roll himself to the hallway behind Team Rocket. He didn't get much farther before the chair tipped over and he hit the ground with his chin. "OOF FHM!"

The quartet of thieves stiffened as they glanced between Tracey and the pointed-ear girl, who looked like she was just now processing that they were thieves. Whatever silver tongued lie they could have spun was gone the moment Tracey showed up, and it didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

Figures. Nothing ever went their way. Blasted karma.

"Oh to heck with it," Jessie snapped in equal parts annoyance and acceptance. "Run you idiots!"

Leading the charge, she shoved the stunned girl out of the way as James and their Pokémon followed close behind, who replied with an eager "Yes, ma'am! (Wobbu!)" As long as they could reach Viridian City and their hideout there, they would be home free!

The girl pushed herself up from the ground and stared at the running duo. The gagged man. The large sack. Their panic and rush to leave. Either this was some sort of customary ritual for their region, or most likely she was witnessing a robbery in process.

By Farore's Wind. Thieves? Here? Not on her watch!

"Stop right there!" she cried, and her arms shot for both sides of her boots. In a flash, her crossbow was unhooked and loaded with a sharp piece of metal. She quickly took aim for the Wobbuffet and fired.

Jessie happened to look back at that moment, shocked to see someone fire at her darling Pokémon! "Wobbuffet! Counter attack!"

"Wobbu?!" The Patient Pokémon turned to see the arrow flying towards him. Immediately, he turned to face the attack (ignoring James and Meowth's protests as they lost his support before quickly righting themselves) and started to glow. The arrow stopped short from reaching the Pokémon's face, as the Psychic type focused on the arrow.

"BuuuuuuuFFETT!" -And like a slingshot, propelled it right back at the girl.

"Whoa!" the girl cried, rolling forward in time to dodge the reflected projectile as it landed behind where she once stood.

But she was not deterred. She simply loaded another piece of steel into her crossbow, and glared at the thieves. "It's going to take a lot more than that to stop me, you ugly hoodlums!"

They had stopped running because of the bow attack, but being called out as "ugly hoodlums" struck their small but significant sense of pride. But none so more than Jessie, who glared at the girl with a popped vein and fire in her eyes. "Ugly? UGLY?!"

"Uh oh," James frowned. "Jessie's Rage attack is showing!"

"And it's building up too," Meowth winced.

"You seem to be confused, so prepare for trouble!" Jessie proclaimed, crossing her arms and standing confidently before her.

"We're in a bit of a hurry, so make it double!" James added, appearing to her right almost instantly and somehow holding a rose in his hand.

Poor Meowth was the only one left holding the bag, and was promptly squished under the weight of the Poké Balls. But the adult thieves ignored this and continued their rehearsed motto with vigor, back and forth.

"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie finished, extending her right arm forward.
"Surrender now, or prepare for a one-sided fight!" James mimicked the action with his left arm, almost crossing with Jessie's.

The forgotten Scratch Cat Pokémon had been pulling himself out from under the bag the whole time, and his exhaustion was showing. Still, he managed to jump and land on both Jessie and James's arms in time for his line. "Me-ouch, that's right!"

Wobbuffet appeared in front of the trio, both arms saluting. "Wobbuffet!"

The girl blinked, somewhat stupefied. She could have sworn she heard some sort of sinister music play a moment ago, but now she could only hear the whistling wind. "Um… okay, a few questions. First of all-" She pointed to the feline with her free hand. "Did that Meowth just talk?"

"Did that Meowth just talk?" the Pokémon mocked with a smug grin. "Man, if I got a dime for every time I heard that line, I'd have-" Meowth stopped himself in thought, and his grin fell. "A dime…" he finished lamely. He'd wanted to make a point and say something clever, but the truth was it actually the first time he had ever heard that line.

"Uh-huh," was the archer girl's "convinced" response. "And what's with the poetry? Is this a thing? Are we doing some sort of thing?"

"You arrogant girl!" Jessie growled, hating the newcomer even more as she spoke. "We're not some circus act! We're Team Rocket! Worldwide criminals extraordinaire!"

"We excel in hustling, pickpocketing, cherry picking, and jaywalking!" James added passionately.

"But most of all we just like stealing other people's Pokémon!" Meowth smirked, rubbing two paw digits for emphasis. "The pay's really good ya know!"

"Wobbuffet!"

The girl's eyes seem to widen, and her body twitched. "You're thieves," she muttered, slowly lowering her crossbow.

Team Rocket smiled. There was a special satisfaction in striking fear in the young and innocent (blame their oppressive childhoods). They never seemed to get that sense of terror whenever Ash Ketchum was involved, so this encounter was just further icing on their long deserved victory cake. She had no experience in fighting and was in over her head when confronting bad guys.

"That's right," Jessie said. "So why don't you be a good girl and hurry on home before-"

"THIS IS AWESOME!"

"Eh? (Wobbu?)" gawked Team Rocket, confusion evident on their faces.

The girl wasn't shaking in fear, but anticipation. Her face seemed to be beaming with a giddy smile as she hugged her crossbow close to her chest (but not recklessly enough to accidentally fire it). "I knew it! I mean, of course I knew it when I saw you running with that bag of- wait, what's in that sack again?"

The quartet of thieves just dumbly exchanged glances. "Poké Balls?" James slowly answered.

"Poké Balls!" the girl smiled, as she continued to dance in place. "That's great! Well, no, the fact that you're stealing them is not great at all. I mean that my first real bad guy encounter is with thieves from a big criminal group like Team Rocket! I've been waiting for an honest challenge like this to prove myself and it's finally here! Oh man, oh man oh man, I had something prepared for this too-!"

Sweat slowly rolled down the back of the thieves' heads the more she chattered to herself. "I think she's either a full-on whacko, or one of those eccentric hero types," Jessie droned.

"And neither option is looking too good for us!" said James.

"Okay, I just have to give it my all!" she assured herself with a nod. Then she turned fully to Team Rocket with a smile and free hand raised high. "My turn!"

"Your turn? For what?" Meowth asked incredulously.

Their confusion grew as the girl's peppy mood seemed to die out in an instant. Her eyes were closed, her free hand reached to the back of her hood and she started to recite a poem: "When the world has need for a savior-"

With a quick hand flick, the green hood covered her head, and her blue eye snapped open. "-A hero in green is blessed by nature!"

She lifted her left leg, and her crossbow-holding hand was lowered parallel to the boot. "She comes with Courage's mark-"

Her free hand reached for the Honedge strapped to her back, not even flinching as its blue clothed arm hooked to hers. "-To slay all that is dark! And her name is –"

The girl did a perfect one-legged spin for several seconds, arms outstretched with her two weapons before righting herself. After the fourth full spin, her left foot stomped down and she was set for battle; left arm poised forward, aiming with her crossbow, and her right held parallel to her head, the Honedge's blade reflecting the morning sun's rays.

"Linkle Braver!"

The girl held her defiant pose for several seconds before the desire for her audience's opinion got the better of her. "So, what do you think?" she asked with a smile. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Now it was Team Rocket's turn to be stunned. They had faced their fair share of heroes, mostly in the form of Ash and his friends, but aside from the rare times they mimicked and mocked their motto, this was a first. No one had their own sort of hero speech, complete with action poses.

"Nice limerick," James commented honestly.

"Could use a little more footwork," Jessie admitted.

Meowth gave a deadpan scowl before whacking both of them upside the head. The action caused them to flinch and ruin their once still arms that supported the cat Pokémon. "You idiots!" he scolded them as he landed on the ground gracefully on his feet. "She just said she was going to slay all that is dark! That means us!"

"We were just being polite!" the blue haired man weakly reasoned.

"He has a point," Jessie growled. "I don't know who you think you are, but if you don't back out of this now, you're only going to get hurt. So do yourself a favor and leave."

"That's my line," Linkle glared, no longer smiling or gushing over potential heroics. She looked serious, just like those meddling twerps they always ran into.

Jessie's eyes narrowed as she reached for her Poké Ball. "And it's your funeral." She gave Linkle a fair warning, and there was no way they were going to back down on their biggest score yet. "Go, Gourgeist!"

James threw his Poké Ball a fraction after Jessie. "You too, Inkay!"

Two flashes of light erupted as the Poké Balls opened. The first revealed a floating ghost with a base similar to a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, dark in color and an orange candle-like glow from inside. A thin orange neck-like appendage topped the pumpkin like a stem, with pink flowing hair forming arm-like limbs. The second face, the real one, was partially hidden by the hair, and scowled at Linkle. "Gourgeist!"

Appearing next to Gourgeist was a squid-like Pokémon with small blue tentacles that were barely parted from each other. Cute, black eyes and a small pink beak were crowned by a pink hat-like mantle, and two clear tendrils flowed through the air. "Ink!"

Linkle glanced between the two Pokémon, gauging them before pointing the Honedge towards each of them. "Fi, how does it look?"

A soft voice carried out from the Sword Pokémon that only she could hear. "Gourgeist, the Pumpkin Pokémon. Type reading: 50% Grass, 50% Ghost. Possible abilities: Frisk or Pickup. The Evolved form of Pumpkaboo. This species is rumored to sing eerie songs under the New Moon and capture its prey with their hair-like limbs. There is a 70% probability this is a Super Size variant; slowest of the four Gourgeist types, but also the toughest.

"Inkay, the Revolving Pokémon. Type reading: 50% Dark, 50% Psychic. Possible abilities: Suction Cups or Contrary. There is a 60% probability this Inkay will evolve into Malamar during this fight if its power swells while upside down. This species can emit bright lights from the dots on their membrane as a defense mechanism; while the opponent is dazed and confused, the Inkay scurry away."

"So an armored guard and a magic archer, huh?" Linkle grinned. "Yeah, I can work with this."

Jessie sneered at the hooded girl. "If you're done talking to yourself, and not going to throw out your own Pokémon, then I'll just make the first move. Gourgeist, fire your Seed Bombs!"

"And Inkay!" James followed. "Use Psybeam!"

The two Pokémon used their respective attacks: glowing green seeds from the former, and colorful psionic energy from the latter. Linkle wasn't deterred. "Fi, Autotomize."

"Redistributing weight. Speed levels rising."

A moment later, the attacks landed, causing the patch of field to explode. Heavy smoke covered the area and Team Rocket wondered if they managed to get her.

Or so they thought. "Too slow!"

"What?!" James cried, and everyone turned to see the girl in midair and just above the blast. How did she jump that high?

And why was she falling so close to his cute little Inkay!?

"Slash!" was Linkle's battle cry, just as she swung down the Sword Pokémon.

It was no Cut attack, but it was a brilliant cut nonetheless. The thick white line that followed, as if from a cartoon or comic book scene, showed just how strong the swing was. And Inkay felt every bit of power in the attack.

"Inkaaaaaay!" it cried in pain, spiraling down and crashing hard to the ground.

"Inkay, no!" cried James. The impact looked painful, but at least his Pokémon was still conscious.

Linkle landed in a crouch a moment later. Jessie, seeing an opportunity and taking revenge for Inkay, pointed at the girl. "Gourgeist! Trap her with Leech Seed!"

"Gour!" More seeds fired out of the Pumpkin Pokémon's glowing lower mouth, but were smaller and more numerous than the first volley.

"Be careful, Master," the voice spoke again. "Leech Seed is a Grass move that saps the energy of the victim and replenishes the user."

Linkle was already tucking her arm close and turning her body. "In that case…" The Honedge's blade flashed once before Linkle's body lashed out like an unwound Hitmontop toy. "Time for a Spin Slash! HIIIIYAH!"

The impromptu move looked like a Rapid Spin move. The only difference was that Linkle's spin lasted for only a few fast rotations, but they were enough to repel and cut away the Leech Seeds.

Needless to say, Jessie was livid. Who in the world was this "Linkle Braver"? And why was there always some new brat out there ruining their schemes?

But before Jessie could call her next attack, Linkle whipped towards Gourgeist with her crossbow, eye squinting and tongue sticking out. A moment later, a bolt of silver pelted the Pumpkin Pokémon squarely in the head, causing her to cry out in pain and roll backwards in the air.

With the two enemy Pokémon taken care of for now, Linkle focused on her primary goal. Her gaze turned towards Team Rocket and ran towards them. They all flinched and stepped back in surprise. "Wow, that's fast!atMeowth noted.

"Don't just stand there, Wobbuffet!" Jessie turned to her other Pokémon, and forcibly shoved him forward. "Stop that brat with your Counter attack!"

"Wobbu! Wobbu wobbu!" the Patient Pokémon cried, waving his arms frantically. Whether it was in reluctance to stepping up or trying to coax Linkle to stop, it wasn't clear, even to Meowth.

Seeing that she wasn't stopping, and expecting another Slash attack, Wobbuffet followed through and concentrated his aura again. "Fi, Autotomize again!"

"Autotomize?" James blinked. He'd read about that move somewhere before… and was promptly reminded of it when Linkle leaped high in the air. Even higher than the first time. All of Team Rocket stared, shocked and aghast.

"That's her secret!" he exclaimed. "We're not fighting just the girl, but her Honedge as well!"

"And with her speed, we can't stop her!" Meowth cried worriedly.

Wobbuffet then decided to improvise. He moved his ball-like feet to the side and swung his black tail to the side, passing through Linkle's shadow. The eyes on the tail glowed briefly, and the next thing the heroine knew; it felt like she was yanked by a chain and plummeted prematurely to the ground.

"Oof!" Linkle grunted, quickly trying to right herself up.

"She stopped!" James exclaimed obviously. Everyone had seen it, but events like these seemed to deserve notice.

"But wait," Jessie blinked. "Wobbuffet only has four moves, and none of them can do that."

"That must be his ability, Shadow Tag!" Meowth deduced. "It keeps anyone fighting Wobbuffet from bailing out!"

"Is that so?" Jessie was pleasantly surprised. And if this girl was unable to get away from Wobbuffet, she was a sitting Psyduck! "Gourgeist! Use Leech Seed again!"

Recovering from the crossbow bolt, the Grass/Ghost hybrid floated back into the fray and let loose more seeds from her lower mouth. Despite being kept shadow bound by Wobbuffet, Linkle prepared for her counter attack.

James knew what was coming, and wasn't going to stand for it. "Inkay, just like we practiced!" he called out. "Use Topsy-Turvy on Honedge!"

"Inkaaaaaaay~" The hovering squid glowed with psychic energy, and turned itself sideways in a full circle. Moments later, Linkle's Sword Pokémon glowed as well, and one could see that an outline of the Honedge spin until it was completely upside down.

"Spin Sla~aack!" Linkle's counter ended in failure, feeling her sword arm suddenly become sluggish and cause her to trip mid-spin. "Fi, what happened?"

"Master, I believe Inkay's signature move has reversed the effects of Autotomize. I do not detect a difference in my weight distribution, but speed has been hampered down to worse than normal."

Thing went from bad to worse as Gourgeist finally hit her mark with her seeds, landing on Linkle and her Honedge. Sticking fast like their namesake, the seeds opened and unveiled long vines that bound them closer, making removal even harder. Already Linkle and her Pokémon could feel their energy being siphoned away.

"Bullseye!" Jessie cheered, giving James and Meowth a group high five.

"I'm starting to see why the twerps use nearly all their Pokémon against us," James grinned. "It makes winning so easy!"

"And with only one twerp, the odds are in our favor!" Meowth grinned. "In fact, I think I'll have a little piece of this action for once! It's not every day we win, ya know!"

Wobbuffet stood behind Linkle, watching her intently and keeping Shadow Tag active. Gourgeist and Inkay hovered closer to each of her sides, flanking her. Meowth extended his claws and marched slowly in front of her.

Linkle was trapped. Outnumbered and outmatched. Grounded and feeling weaker with each second. It would be hard to beat all of these guys at once with just Fi, but what kind of hero gives up? Especially the Legendary Hero?

"Fi, how can we get out of this?" she whispered.

"By my estimate, there is a 22% chance of victory against all four Pokémon. Fortunately, while Wobbuffet's Shadow Tag can trap most enemies, it has recently been discovered that Ghost types are impervious to its effects."

"Man, if I wasn't holding on to you, maybe you could have passed on through," Linkle frowned. Then she blinked, an idea forming in her head. "Do Ghost type moves count?"

"Highly plausible."

"Gourgeist, use Seed Bomb!" Jessie pointed.

"Inkay, Psybeam! Let's go!" James cheered.

"And I'll finish it with Fury Swipes!" Meowth pounced.

The three-way pincer attack closed in. Between the battle cries and intensity of the attacks, no one could hear the girl in green cry out, "Shadow Sneak!"

Again the collision of seeds and psionic energy caused an explosion. Meowth timed his advance smartly, and avoided friendly fire as he swiped through the dust cloud. "Take this and that and this and that and this and that and-! Huh?!"

Meowth's Fury Swipes were so fast that they cleared out the smoke quickly, but as it turned out, he was only clawing through air. While dirt was clearly blown away to a small extent, there was no sign of the girl or her weapons. The Pokémon were confused and baffled.

The feline scowled at Wobbuffet. "You big idiot! I thought you had her pinned down! How could let her escape!?"

"W-wobbu-! Wobbuffet!"

"'Behind me'?" Meowth translated. Skeptical, he turned around anyway to see what got him so riled up. And then Meowth paled. "GAAAH! The bag!"

Jessie and James turned around as well, and mirrored Meowth's reaction. "Oh no!" James cried.

"She wouldn't!" Jessie reasoned.

Somehow Linkle had teleported away from Wobbuffet's Shadow Tag and past Team Rocket. What they didn't know, let alone see, was Linkle following her Honedge through Shadow Sneak, blending to the ground and zipping past everyone before jumping out from Team Rocket's shadows. She was impaired by the sluggish sword, but she was still running and closing the distance to the bag of Poké Balls for much needed reinforcements.

As well as making sure Team Rocket couldn't run away with all of the Pokémon.

"Slash!"

"Yes, Master."

Another clean non-Cut cut tore open the large bag as Poké Balls rapidly spilled out. Many of them opened upon falling to the ground, expanding and releasing their contained Pokémon.

So many different kinds appeared before Linkle and Team Rocket's eyes that it was hard to keep track of them all. A bipedal creature with a leaf-like antennae which matched those growing around its neck. A small and stout dragon with a large mouth and a slow look in its eyes. Two red-shelled crabs; one small with equal sized pincers, and one large with a single disproportionally large pincer. An enormously large and fat beast that looked like it had just woken up from hibernation. A bright colored owl that seemed to dazzle the eye just from being released from its Poké Ball. And a small, four-legged creature with a small but healthy bulb plant growing on its back.

They, among many other Pokémon, looked around startled and confused. The bulb plant Pokémon, a Bulbasaur if Linkle remembered correctly, seemed to collect its wits first, immediately noticing Jessie, James and Meowth. Whenever those three were around, there were Pokémon in danger of being stolen. Including all of the Pokémon from Oak's ranch. "Saur! Bulbasaur!"

Many other Pokémon stared as well. Most, but not all, seemed to regard the thieves nastily and with the intent to fight back. Team Rocket's bravado plummeted as they slowly backed away. Only Inkay and Gourgeist were less wary, but not much as it was still a lot of Pokémon openly hostile to their owners.

"Well, looks like we screwed the Poochyena on this one," James weakly joked.

"And that we're going to be blasting off again real soon!" Meowth winced.

"Wobbuuuuuu~…"

"Not this time."

Jessie looked determined and fierce, which gave the others a semblance of hope. Did she have a backup plan to salvage this failure? "Why's that, Jessie?"

She closed her eyes and smiled confidently. "Because this time we're-…"

Linkle expected some sort of desperate plan or super move, or even a giant robot like in the cartoons she grew up watching. But she didn't count on Jessie returning all of their Pokémon besides Meowth into their Poké Balls, grabbing James by the collar and Meowth by the neck, and breaking into a mad sprint at full speed, away from the lab and towards the tree-line across the fields. "RUNNING AWAY!"

This made many of the assembled Pokémon angry, but none so much as the red and white haired monkey with a flaming crown. If they were going to leave, it would be how they deserved; sent flying far away into the sky!

The Infernape attempted to charge them at full speed, until a green vine touched its shoulder. The Pokémon turned to see who wanted to stop it, and noticed the Vine Whip belonged to the Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, bulbasaur," the Bulb Pokémon said.

By normal accounts, the Infernape wouldn't have listened to a Pokémon as weak as a Bulbasaur, given the type advantage of Fire over Grass and the apparent level difference. But Linkle could tell that this Bulbasaur had a sort of knack for settling disputes and conflicts. And there was some power and wisdom in his words.

Infernape turned one last time to the fleeing Team Rocket. The anger was now a muted bitterness, as it huffed and turned away. They weren't worth the effort, anyway.

In all the excitement, Linkle had forgotten about the restraining Leech Seeds until they started siphoning her energy again. "Gah!" she cried out, falling down to her hands and knees. Fi the Honedge slipped out of her hand, flat on the ground and also feeling drained. The other Pokémon gasped in concern for their condition. Bulbasaur immediately galloped to her side, noticing the seeds on her body as well as Honedge.

As he could also use Leech Seed, he was aware of the move's strengths and weaknesses. Unless something was done, those seeds were going to sap away their energy even if no one was around to benefit from it. "Bulba!" he cried out. "Bulbasaur!"

A moment later, a red turtle with a black shell trotted over to him. "Torkoal?" it asked through its name.

A short conversation later, the Torkoal nodded and turned to the human and Honedge. The Fire type turtle inhaled deeply before exhaling through its nostrils, expelling a thick black smoke. It even gushed out of the top of its shell like a kettle.

Linkle ended up having a coughing fit, but was surprised to see the seeds on her body fizzle and die out. In moments, both her and Fi were clean of Leech Seeds.

"Master, I believe this Torkoal used his naturally expelled smoke to kill the Leech Seeds," explained Fi. "Normally Leech Seed is parasitic and only dies out when the victim is unconscious or the seeds are closed off from sunlight. That's why returning a Pokémon to their Poké Ball can clear them from Leech Seed, as it is a closed and controlled environment."

"Wow," said Linkle. She had been a little worried about how to get those seeds off, so she was relieved and grateful that the Torkoal did it for her. "Thank you."

Torkoal looked like it wanted to cry for some reason, and spat out some more smoke. Bulbasaur smiled and looked about ready to say something, only for his eyes to bulge and he shifted back slowly. Torkoal and the other Pokémon did so too.

Linkle was confused, and quickly tried to assure them of her good intentions. "Hey, don't be scared! I'm the legendary hero! I helped save you guys!"

"I believe they are warier of the Muk, Master."

"Muk? What Muk?"

Before Fi could answer, a dark shadow overtook Linkle's body. She turned around and saw what could be best described as a giant sludge monster with large hands and an unhinged mouth. And it looked about ready to engulf and eat her. "MUUUUUUUUUUK!"

"Oh." Was all Linkle could say before crippled under a Body Slam.

A/N: Greetings, readers. I'm Vegeta the 3rd and I bring to you a new kind of fanfic (which I had posted under a different name at the Spacebattles forums for a while now). For those familiar with me and my work, I'm still going to write diligently and favorably on Fate/Reach Out, don't worry. It's just this one came to me from my muse and on what I feel is a lack of good Pokémon fanfic, let alone a crossover with Legend of Zelda.

Not much to say or explain here, but Ash will make an appearance next chapter, and yes this is part of the anime that happens after the XY and Z anime but before the Sun and Moon one. And fortunately because of how the Zelda games work, each Hyrule is drastically different between games. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this story, and I hope you all have fun reading this too.

-Vegeta the 3rd