A Journey of a Thousand Miles…

When the small band of teenagers got outside, what awaited them was chaos. Most of the PokeCenter was on fire, and so were most of the buildings as well. They saw several bodies lying on the ground, blood pooled around them. The bodyguard was in the distance, directing a Tauros and a large Aggron in combat, against a Seviper and several Mightyenas. Ron's hand snapped down to his PokeBall, but before he could throw it, a Mightyena tackled him out of nowhere. The large wolf crashed into Ron with immense force, and brought the both of them towards the ground.

The Pokemon tried to close its jaws around Ron's neck, but he threw his right arm up just in time. The wolf clamped down on Ron's arm and savagely bit it. Ron screamed in pain, and searched around for his friends. However, they were distracted with several Poochyena, and didn't notice Ron in his predicament.

Ron looked back at the Mightyena with fire in his eyes, determined to win. He clawed at the Pokemon's eyes with his left arm, and finally found an eye. He dug his thumb into it, causing the wolf to yelp in pain. It scampered off Ron, one eye screwed shut. Ron quickly stood up, and faced off with the wolf, ignoring the pain in his arm. The Mightyena snarled, and charged at Ron. This time, however, he was ready. He quickly sidestepped the Pokemon's charge, and as it stopped suddenly to readjust, he launched himself at it, wrapping his arm around its neck. The Mightyena snarled, and tried to wiggle its way out of Ron's grip, but the adrenaline helped him hold on tight. With one arm he had a front headlock on the Pokemon, and the other was constantly punching the wolf in the face.

The Mightyena finally got free of Ron's grip, and launched at Ron. He quickly ducked and spun, and as the Mightyena soared over him and landed, he leapt on the wolf's back. He wrapped an arm around its neck, and squeezed.

The Pokemon's struggles got softer and softer, while Ron's arm got tighter and tighter. Eventually, the wolf stopped moving and trying to breath. Ron got up, gasping and looking around at the battle. The townspeople had organized a defense against the raiders, and were slowly driving them back, with Douglas at the lead. Ron couldn't help but notice a dozen of the fighters wearing the uniform of the Ever Grande League.

Ron ran towards the melee, throwing his PokeBall as he went.

"Go! Charmander!" The PokeBall let loose a flash of white light, and the light molded into the shape of the small lizard. It blinked a few Douglases, and looked around. Ron ran up to it.

"Hey! Charmander!" The Charmander looked up at Ron with confused eyes. "Hey! See those guys over there?" The Charmander looked at the men the townspeople were fighting, wearing dark blue uniforms. "Go get those guys! Alright?" The Charmander nodded enthusiastically, and ran towards the melee, spouting small gouts of fire at the bad guys.

Three days later, the fires were extinguished and the wounds were dressed, but the scars of the battle were still there. Almost every building in the town was affected by the fighting, and there were many buildings. Some, like the PokeMart, were completely destroyed. Some, like the buildings on the outskirts, only had some broken windows. But to everyone, the events of that night were still fresh.

The Ever Grande League responded quickly, sending in several dozen Rangers to help contain the situation and try and track the raiders. The townspeople and the Rangers on scene during the attack killed 7 of them, but there were at least 20 more that fled the battle.

Ron walked around the site of the battle, a fresh bandage on his arm. He saw Lauren talking to a Ranger, and walked towards the two.

As he walked towards them, he caught the tail end of their conversation

"-and if what are you guys going to do?"

"We're going to find them and bring them to justice. Simple as that. Now, if you'd excuse me, I need to attend to something." The Ranger briskly walked away. He had an air of authority about him that Ron didn't fail to notice.

"Hey Lauren!" She turned around at her name, and gave Ron a half smile when she saw him. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm… I'm okay." She sighed. "Just… I don't understand why it happened! What did they want with us?" Ron shrugged.

"I don't know. I couldn't tell you…." He trailed off, and the two looked at the town. They were standing in Downtown, at the edge of the square in the middle of town. The Rangers has set up a camp in the middle of the square, with at least 30 Rangers there. Ron was impressed by their efficiency. Even so, every hour or so, Rangers were flying back and forth on their mounts, looking important and busy. Lauren looked back at Ron.

"How's your arm?" Ron looked down at his arm. The bandage was still clean, but not fresh any more. He shrugged.

"It's alright. The medic said it could take up to three weeks to properly heal. Fortunately, the Mightyena only bit down, and didn't tear my flesh. Still, it's a deep wound…. Ah well." He shrugged. The two stood in silence again, looking out at the scene. Ron's Charmander, which he had since named Zippo, was wandering around, acclimating himself with the people and the other Pokemon. Lauren had released her Cyndaquil, Cinder, and the pair was getting along quite nicely. Jack had his Treecko, Xylem, out, and he was helping the Rangers keep an eye out for any other threats.

"Hey!" Ron and Lauren turned around at the noise. A Ranger approached them. "Commander Zane says you two are to report to him ASAP." The pair looked at each other, and nodded.

"Where is he?" Ron asked. The Ranger pointed to the command tent. Ron nodded, and the two started towards it.

"What do you think he wants us for?" Lauren asked Ron. Ron simply shrugged and kept walking. The passed their Pokemon, and the two fiery Pokemon followed them, confused as to why they were walking that way.

When the small band got to the tent, they found Commander Zane and Douglas in the tent, looking over several sheets of paper, engrossed in them. Jack was there also, standing to the side, looking as confused as Ron and Lauren were. He had his belt on, with two PokeBalls on. Ron mouthed

"Where did you get the second one?" Jack help up a finger, signaling that he would explain later. Ron nodded.

After a few moments of the trio silently standing there, waiting, Lauren cleared her throat. Zane and Douglas looked up, a startled expression on their faces, before realizing whom they were.

"Oh, sorry to keep you standing there. We didn't notice you guys enter." Zane said to the three. Ron smirked.

"We noticed." Douglas raised an eyebrow, and then looked at Zane. Zane cleared his throat, and began his speech.

"Well… here is the gist of it. Have you three ever heard of Team Aqua and Team Magma?" Ron, Lauren, and Jack looked at each other with confusion on their faces. "I'll take that as a no. But the perpetrators of last night's attack was Team Aqua." Jack interjected with a question

"What did they want with us?" Zane looked at Douglas, then said

"I'll get to that in a bit. But basically, they wanted something that we were keeping here. A piece of technology that Devon Corp. has been developing for some time now. Team Aqua got wind of this invention, and they realized that it would help them with their goals. So, they tried to steal it."

As Ron was listening, the realization hit him. The people who had attacked Oldale, the people who had attacked them on the road, and the people who were in Petalburg were all the same!

"They were after Professor Birch." Lauren quickly interrupted

"Wait, Professor Birch? Why him?"

"He had the piece of tech that they needed. Apparently, they thought he was in Oldale, not Littleroot, like he actually is. But! He's still in danger, whether or not he realizes it. So, here is what I am asking of you three. You all demonstrated a lot of bravery in the attack, and what we're asking you to do will take that same courage." He stopped talking, and then looked towards Douglas.

Douglas continued on. "We need you three to go to Littleroot and escort Professor Birch to Rustboro."

"Wait a second!" Ron half-yelled. "Rustboro? That's a 4 day walk! And through Petalburg Woods!" Douglas nodded.

"Yes, we know. The journey will take a while. But the Rangers can't afford to do it; they don't have the resources. They're already spread thin enough around Hoenn tracking these two teams, and the resources they devoted to helping Oldale weakened them too much. We're asking you to do this, for no other reason other than we think you can and we need you to." He looked at each of the three teenagers, lingering the longest while looking at Ron.

Ron looked at his two friends. They both nodded at him. Ron looked at Douglas and Zane, and nodded. Zane cleared his throat and spoke up again

"Ahem! All right, so it's settled then. You three should get moving as fast as possible, just to make sure Aqua doesn't get to Birch first. He will be expecting you. Clear?"

"Clear!" The three said in unison.