Mira ran as fast as she could through the rainy streets of Jubilife City. She had only just barely managed to escape the clutches of Team Galactic, and she knew they were hot on her trail. Once a virtually crime-free city, Jubilife was one of many locations in Sinnoh that had fallen to Team Galactic's rule in its ruthless quest for energy and power. Indeed, this nefarious organization was not above sacrificing humans and Pokémon alike in order to accomplish their scientific goals, and Mira was unlucky enough to not have either to protect her. The more fortunate victims of Team Galactic would be outright killed before being experimented on; many of them were not so lucky. Not even children were safe from these heinous fiends, and now Mira found herself desperately searching for a place to hide. Nobody would let her into their homes for fear of being attacked by Team Galactic. Running low on options, the pink-haired girl dashed into a dark alleyway and quickly hid inside a damp and discarded cardboard box, silently praying to Arceus that they wouldn't find her.
"She's got to be around here somewhere," a teal-haired man in an odd spacesuit-like uniform crept down the sidewalk near the alleyway, two other grunts nearby. "Keep looking!"
"I don't get it," one of the other grunts spoke up, sounding rather bored. "She's just a dumb little kid. What does the boss need with her?"
"That 'dumb little kid' could very well be one of those super-powered freaks trying to stand in our way," The first grunt stated irritably. "If we let even one of them get away, they could become a serious threat to Team Galactic in the future. So no one leaves here without her!
Mira's eyes widened. Super-powered freaks? It was true that several unusual cases had been reported in the past few years in which humans developed special powers akin to those of Pokémon, but Mira's mother always dismissed them as rumors. Deep down inside, however, a small part of Mira always wanted to believe otherwise. She wanted to believe that heroes really did exist in this damaged world.
"Hey," one of the grunts said to his comrades, motioning toward the alley. "The brat must be in there. Her tiny little legs couldn't have carried her any further."
Mira could hear everything they were saying, and she knew they were right. She really was just a little kid despite all of her talk about wanting to go on adventures and whatnot. Even though she could easily do so by sneaking out of the house, it wasn't exactly something that she should be doing. In fact, it more often than not landed the little girl into big trouble. Mira held her breath as she heard footsteps becoming closer and closer and various discarded objects being turned over. The footsteps became closer and closer until they finally stopped… Right in front of the box. The grunt smirked, silently signaling his cohorts to his side. "Well, boys, we've lost her. That little girl is quite the champion of hide-and-seek! I guess we better head on back to Headquarters and tell the boss that we screwed up big time," he exclaimed in an almost comical voice. Mira mentally breathed a sigh of relief.
'Good, they haven't noticed me. Now as soon as they leave I can just try to sneak back ho-'
"But first!" the boisterous voice continued. "Why don't we see what's under Box Number One?"
Crap.
This was it, she thought. This was the end of her short little life as a seemingly normal little girl. They would find her and take her to their creepy laboratory and do horrible things to her like she was some sort of thing to be poked and prodded with various tools until she eventually died. "I'm sorry, Mom," Mira whispered softly to herself, desperately fighting back tears. "I should have listened…"
Suddenly, she heard a rough thud, almost as if someone had jumped from a great height and landed on something – or someone – to cushion the fall. What followed next was what sounded like fighting and cries of pain that quickly died out. Mira shut her eyes tightly as a tall figure lifted up the cardboard box and threw it aside. Opening an eye cautiously, the girl was surprised to see that it was not a member of Team Galactic, but a man in a peculiar blue suit and hat. The man stared down at her with warm, gentle eyes, kneeling down to better make eye contact with the girl. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, his voice showing concern. Mira blinked in shock before nodding quickly. Seeing this made the man give off a relieved smile that oddly set Mira at ease. "What's your name, kiddo?" The stranger inquired.
"M-Mira," the girl responded, blushing slightly. She was told to steer clear of strangers, but this one gave off an aura of goodness.
"I see," the man mused, staring at the wall for a few moments. "And you're lost, aren't you Mira?"
The pink-haired girl once again nodded. "I'm not even sure how to get home," she sniffed. Whether it was from a close call with death or general homesickness, Mira didn't know.
"Well, we should at least get you out of the rain and somewhere warm and dry," the man stated. "And I know just the place. We'll look for your parents in the morning, but it's imperative that we find better shelter than a cardboard box."
"'Imperative'?" Mira questioned. The girl was barely ten years of age, so there were many words unknown to her.
"Never mind," the man sighed with a weary smile, standing tall and offering the girl his hand to help her off the ground.
"Thank you, Mister…" Mira trailed off.
"Riley," the man said with a friendly grin as if he sensed her confusion.
"Riley," the girl repeated. "I like it!"
"I'm glad you do," Riley laughed as he held Mira's hand and led her off of the dangerous streets of Jubilife City and to a nice and warm place she could stay for the time being. As the duo began chatting and becoming more familiar with each other, they did not notice a hand twitching in the darkness of the alleyway, reaching for a phone-like device. The hand snaked its way to the device before dialing a number and raising it to its owner's face.
"C-Commander Saturn," a voice croaked out in a hoarse whisper. "It's him… He's returned… And he has the girl…"
"I see," a sinister voice mused on the other end of the device, belonging to a blue-haired man with oddly-shaped hair. "This is most disappointing. Fear not, however. Though you have failed to capture the girl, I can assure you that your death shall not be in vain."
"N-No… I'm still… still alive… P-Please! I beg of y-"
Before the grunt could finish, Saturn produced a small device with a red switch on it from his pocket and unceremoniously flipped the switch. A large surge of electricity coursed through the grunt's convulsing body until he no longer moved. A cold smile of satisfaction came to the Commander's face as the line went dead. Setting the device down, his face became emotionless once more as he turned to his leader sitting in a magnificent chair, his back turned to Saturn. "My apologies, Master Cyrus. The girl has escaped our grunts," the commander stated wearily, hoping his boss wouldn't take it so poorly.
"Temporarily," came the reply.
"Pardon?"
"She has temporarily escaped us. We will capture her and the rest of her kind in due time, Saturn," Cyrus stated in a chillingly monotonous voice, turning his chair to face his second-in-command. Saturn gulped and nodded to his superior. "In the meantime," the boss continued, "there is more work to be done elsewhere. Rally our forces in Eterna City. It is time."
"Yes, Master Cyrus," Saturn obliged. With a wave of his hand, Cyrus dismissed his underling and turned his chair back around, gazing out the window of his office and into the night sky.
"You can run, Mira," he droned, picking up a Poké Ball and gazing at it momentarily before crushing it in the palm of his hand. "But you can't hide."
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Hello fans of Pokemon! As you can probably tell, this is my first attempt at a superhero story of sorts. It's an idea that's been stuck in my head for nearly a year now, and I always thought that the Stat Trainers from D/P/Pt/HG/SS (Cheryl, Mira, Riley, Buck, Marley) could use a bit more love on this site. Some of you may be familiar with my other "main" story, So Glad You're Safe. I know updates haven't been very quick lately, and I apologize for that. However, writing this first chapter has somehow come more easily to me than the more recent chapters of SGYS. That's not to say I won't be continuing SGYS, just that I'm having a bit of an author's struggle with further developing that story. If anyone has any questions, comments, criticism, etc., feel free to review either story or PM me! I'd greatly appreciate hearing everyone's input. :) Until next time!