3:19AM Local Time, 19 April 2021

Superstar Pokemon Trainer Hostel

Central Mauville City

Serena was rudely awoken by a deafening crash, a mixture of breaking glass, breaking walls and general carnage. Immediately, she jumped out of the bed. The lights of the city flickered outside of the broken window. She stumbled across the Hostel room for the light, but when she flipped the switch, nothing happened. 'What just happened?' Was Serena's only clear thought.

Deciding that the best option was to leave the room to investigate, she nearly forgot her Pokemon, inside their Pokeballs. She ran across the room to grab her bag, where the Pokeballs were, before dashing out of the room into the corridor. What she saw in the corridor bared no resemblance to how it had looked when she arrived two nights ago.

Along one end, the corridor was completely blocked off by rubble, and a thick black smoke obscured whatever was behind it. Various lights had fallen off the ceiling, or were just about attached and flickering violently. The other end of the corridor, thankfully, was unblocked. Serena reached for the Pokeball containing her Sylveon, and released it. The Fairy-Type came to, confused and agitated by the loud noise of the fire alarm as it went off nearby.

The two of them ran along the corridor, and the stairwell at the end. Serena's only instinct was to get out of the building, which was clearly in some danger. The stairwell was dark, but there was no smoke in it. Both the trainer and her Pokemon raced down the stairs, the city outside visible from a large window on the second floor. Serena stopped to look out of it. Various Buildings near the Dockyards were burning, pillars of smoke towering above even the high-rise buildings downtown.

Out of the window, a shadow darted across the sky. It moved towards the ground, impossibly fast. It was huge, maybe as long as a truck. Of course, she barely saw it, but when it hit the ground it exploded. The flash was blinding, forcing her to look away. The Sylveon screeched loudly in reaction to the flash. One or two seconds later, the shockwave hit. A deafening bang filled the air.

Serena wasn't sure what just happened, and if the same had happened to the other end of the hostel, but it reinforced the urge to get out of the building. Turning her back on the window, she continued down the stairs. Eventually the two were at the bottom.

Running along one of the corridors, they reached the reception. As she ran out, she saw that the street was full of fire engines and ambulances. At least a dozen people were outside, some on stretchers, others sitting on benches receiving medical attention or making phone calls. One of the firefighters, wearing a mask and oxygen tank, ran to her side. "Hey! Are you alright?" He shouted, his voice distorted by the mask. He looked at the side of her head for a few seconds, before calling for a paramedic. "Hey! I need a medic over here!"

Serena hadn't even noticed the large cut on the right side of her head, caused by the window in the room breaking after the explosion. The medic had quickly patched it up, and had been sitting in the ambulance for a few minutes, when a loud rumbling noise. Feeling better thanks to her Sylveon's 'disarming voice' technique, she opened the ambulance to see what was going on outside.

A huge tank was sitting in the middle of the road, followed by an eight-wheeled vehicle with a turret of a similar size. A soldier was standing next to the tank, talking to one of the firefighters. Serena listened in on the conversation.

"What happened? Ten buildings are on fire in separate locations! We can't handle this!" The firefighter shouted.

"Don't blame us! Command says we're under attack!" The tank commander answered.

"What do you mean, under attack?"

"Missiles! They came in before than our defences could pick them up, every radar in the fucking state was dead when they came down!"

Serena jogged over to the soldier, and timidly spoke to him. "W-we're under attack, did you say?

"I don't know. That's what we were told. What are you doing here anyway?"

Serena replied, "I-I'm a Pokemon trainer. My name's Serena, a-and I'm from Kalos."

"Alright then. Just stay with us for now. Call your parents, tell them you're OK."

"OK... I will." Serena replied quietly. Her parents probably wouldn't be awake right now, so calling them might not work. Maybe she should leave a voicemail? But... what if she left a message saying she was fine, but then something... happened? Scrolling through her contacts, she looked at who was online. Barely anyone was.

Before she could think any longer, a low grumble filled the air. Looking up, she noticed two pairs of flashing lights. 'Fighter Jets', Serena thought to herself. Back in Kalos, a lot of Charizards were used to patrol the area alongside planes, but in Hoenn, human machinery was vastly favoured, as she had seen from her short time in the nation. They sped towards the sea, hopefully protecting them from any further damage.

Sitting on a bench, and very tired, Serena decided that sleep might be a rare commodity for the next while, and lay down, attempting to get some rest in case the small group of EMTs, soldiers and civilians had to move soon.

She fell asleep almost instantly.

12,000 Feet above Rustboro City

3:23AM, 19 April 2021

14th Air National Guard Squadron "Rayquaza"

The flight of F-15Hs circled over the city centre. The 'H' variant, an advanced variant of the jet, was license-built by Devon Heavy Industries, and featured upgraded avionics, frontal canards and thrust-vectoring engines. Captain Jake Connors closely watched the soft blinking of the aircraft warning lights, not too far below him.

The radio came to life. "Rayquaza flight, this is Southern Air Command. We have received word from the CENTCOM. The nation is under attack from unknown hostiles, believed to be of Johtoan origin. You are to head vector 120 and begin combat patrol. Engage all non-friendly aircraft. How copy?"

Connors' blood froze. Under attack? Johto? Shakily, he responded. "S-say again? Engage all h-hostile aircraft..?"

"Affirmative, Rayquaza Lead. The national threat level is at Protocol One."

The young pilot felt like he was going to puke. Protocol one meant that war was imminent. What was waiting for them in the deep blue sky just fifty miles away? "Oh fuck," He muttered under his breath. "Roger, command. Turning Vector one-two-zero, speed 700 knots. Rayquaza flight out."

"Copy, Rayquaza flight, good luck. May Arceus protect you." The Comms chatter went silent. The four jets turned left, applying full afterburner. They rocketed off into the terrifying beauty of the night.

So, now things have properly kicked off. Hoenn has regained control of their command network following the downtime that allowed Johto to attack, and the country is at the highest stage of alert (Red Alert, you could say). I won't spoil much, but the people of Hoenn aren't out of the clear just yet, as the Johtoan Makinami's cruise missiles are inbound to military sites across the country.

Any feedback is appreciated, I'll try to keep it in mind for the next chapter!