Interlude 1: Riley

I sat down, wiping my brow of the sweat that had accumulated on it. The sun was still high in the sky, but I was tiring. Lucario sat beside me, grinning. I always enjoyed our spars, and on the wilderness of Iron Island, we could go all out. "Good spar," I said.

Lucario nodded back. "Good spar."

I had hatched Lucario from an egg over a decade ago, and in the years since, we'd bonded over our love of fighting. When I was little, I loved to get into brawls and came out on top more than on bottom. But when Lucario had hatched for me as a Riolu, I'd realized I could put my fighting skills elsewhere.

A year after Riolu had hatched, I'd discovered I was an aura adept. This had opened up more avenues for me to get stronger, and I'd trained daily, perfecting my kata and honing my aura abilities. Riolu had evolved not long after, and I had a sparring partner who knew my limits as well as I knew his.

Today, we'd had more of a brawl than a spar, but each bout was fun in its own way. As always, neither of us had won in the end–any spar tended to end in a draw. I pulled lunch out from the lunchbox I'd brought with. Munching on the sandwich, I glanced around our training area. It was a roughly square spot, with the rock walls crumbled in places. Sometimes, Pokémon would come and watch our spars, but none had today.

A loud crash echoed in the distance, and both Lucario and I stood, alert. A second crash, and we had leapt from our lunches and towards the disturbance. We arrived a minute later to see a Steelix fighting an unknown bear-like creature. Steelix was wrapped around the black beast, and crushed it. I watched in confusion as the creature began to dissolve. Not ten seconds later, no trace remained of the masked creature.

I glanced at Lucario, who appeared as confused as I did. This had to be investigated. I ran forward, the Steelix underground, having eliminated the threat to its territory. The beast's tracks led further north, and I motioned for Lucario to follow.

We found the next clue about half a mile from the Steelix. A large, golden ring hung in the air, black distortions filling the interior. I couldn't place the ring, but I knew it wasn't natural. Before my eyes, another creature emerged, this time more closely resembling a Houndoom. Up closer, I could feel the negative energy the creature radiated, and we attacked.

Again, the creature dissolved, though it took longer than the other one had. "We need to see what's causing this," I said.

"Agreed. These creatures are unnatural. Whatever's causing this, it needs to be stopped."

I picked up a stone, and threw it through the ring. The distortion absorbed it.

"It looks like some kind of portal," I said.

"Then the logical course is to enter," said Lucario.

I grimaced. Whatever was beyond the portal, it was dangerous. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I did know it had to be stopped.

So I stepped through the portal.

I don't actually remember anything inside the portal, but I do remember stumbling out into a forested area, Lucario close behind me. I scanned the area, noting the red leaves on the trees, but not seeing any creatures resembling the two that had come through the portal. Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the tree cover, giving me enough light to see.

"I'm going to need a better view," I said. Recalling Lucario, I sent out Salamence. He whipped his head around, unfamiliar with his surroundings.

"There was a portal, and it took us here," I explained. "I need a better view of this place."

With me on his back, he took to the air. The red forest stretched for miles in all directions, though I could see mountains to my left. Then I saw the moon.

"What in the world?" A full half of the moon was in chunks, floating near the still composed half. Where in the world had this portal taken me?

Salamence twisted suddenly, dropping me from his back. I glanced up to see a giant black bird flinging feathers at Salamence. He dodged again, diving to catch me.

He caught me just before I hit the tree line, and curved around, gaining as much height as he could. Forming a Dragon Pulse in his mouth, he fired the projectile at the bird. The draconic blast detonated beneath its wings, and gave Salamence enough time to get close. Ramming it with a Zen Headbutt, he sent the bird flying.

I launched several Aura Spheres, each striking the bird from different angles. Salamence covered the bird in flames, and then clamped down on its left shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh with his jaws. The bird screamed in pain, and I shoved another Aura Sphere down its throat.

The bird exploded, but I protected us from the gore with a quick shield. I patted Salamence on the head. "Good job, buddy."

At this height, I took another glance at the distant mountains. I thought I could see something at the foot, but it was hard to tell from so far away. "Salamence, take us closer to the mountains."

Salamence obliged, and I turned around to calculate where the portal was from the moon's position. I would pay attention to where the sun rose when it came up, but for now the moon would have to do. As we approached the mountain, my hopes were confirmed. A large city was sprawled out beneath us, and I searched for a place to land.

We set down in a large square, and I recalled Salamence. No one was in the square this late, but Salamence wasn't the most calm of my Pokémon. I sent out Lucario.

"We found a city near the base of some mountains, but it looks to be very late at night," I said. "Salamence and I fought a giant bird like the other beasts. We killed it, but I'm still not sure where they come from. But look at the moon."

Lucario did, and frowned.

"I don't think we're in Sinnoh any longer," I continued. "We might even be on another planet entirely."

"That is possible," said Lucario. "But we must keep all options on the table."

"Right. For now, we wait until we can find someone to talk to."