Everything was oddly quiet.

James remembered an explosion happening in front of him. He could still see the way Wobbuffet lit up under the glaze of a mirror coating. His ears felt simultaneously numb and wet. He saw spots of bright light in his vision. Even when he scrunched his eyes shut and opened them again, they were still there. The edges of his vision were black, vibrating around the sides.

He pressed a hand to the side of his head and was unsurprised when it came away slick with blood. He took a breath, frowned as he pushed himself up to stand on shaking legs. He saw Jessie not too far away from him. She pressed her poké ball gently to her wobbuffet's head. It disappeared in a flash of red light, assuaging some of James' fears. Somehow the pokémon was still alive, despite everything.

Meowth groaned as he wobbled back to his own feet. The poor pokémon's fur looked singed. James hesitated to even think about how he himself looked.

The cause of their turmoil stood above them, looking down on them much like a disapproving scientist would stare down a microscope. Despite everything, Zapdos looked unbothered. There were no signs of damage, no telling indication that anything had happened.

James' only solace was that whatever wobbuffet had done, it had stopped Zapdos' magnetic hold on their poké balls.

Zapdos spread its wings. The air split at its command. The pouring storm parted.

James had barely enough time to activate a poké ball before the world lit up.

"Shield us!" James cried.

His weezing appeared in a burst of light that seemed dim compared to the lightning zapdos summoned. The weezing burst into life, already glowing green. A dome of emerald energy appeared over them. The lightning hammered into it with enough force to make James' teeth rattle.

There was a sound like glass smashing before an explosion went off in front of them.

James only realised he had been thrown into the air when the ground stole the oxygen from his lungs. He wheezed, winded, sucking in no air. He rolled onto his side and tried to jump back to his feet. He made it only to his knees before doubling over in pain. He felt a tiny paw at his side and gritted his teeth, shook his head. He was certain he said that he was fine, but heard nothing over the ringing in his ears.

Meowth gestured a question at him. 'Delphie?'

James shook his head. His chimecho was busy teleporting the four kids and their pokémon to safety, back to Vermillion. She would need time to recover her strength after such a trip.

Time that James was afraid they had already spent.

The blast that knocked him off his feet had destroyed the protection barrier. His weezing was on the ground, smouldering. James' heart stopped as he activated the recall function. It still worked. His pokémon was still alive, somehow.

"Nosos," James whispered, "let's hope I survive to get you healed."

Each beat of Zapdos' wings brought a wind that stole the air from James' lungs. He looked up at the great titan's eyes and saw the way it looked back down at them. It knew. Somehow, despite all logic, it knew the real reason why they had come, even if James himself lacked that knowledge.

"You overgrown budgie!" Jessie screamed. "How dare you attack my precious wobbuffet like that!" She hoisted what looked like a rocket launcher onto her shoulders. "Take this, you walking spark plug!"

The cannon fired with a resounding boom. An ariados-silk net unravelled in the air, spinning towards the titan.

Zapdos moved a wing and the wind followed. The net went sailing off into the distance, missing the creature by a mile.

"Well," Meowth whispered, "I think we're a little fucked, don't you Jimbo?"

"We need to stall it," James said. His voice was raspy, surprising even himself. The rain continued hammering down on them. With the whipping winds, James was starting to feel cold. The tips of his fingers felt numb. The ground sparked with errant electricity. The pressure in the air made it hard to open his eyes for too long. There was a growing agony in his mind that made it difficult to concentrate.

Jessie arrived by their side, stood atop her arbok. James had no recollection of her calling the pokémon out. She kept a hand pressed against its hood and stood on the tightly wound coils of its long, snaking body. "How long until Delphie can rescue us?" she asked.

James shrugged. "She's made sure they're safe. I don't know if she'll be able to make it back before we're just as dead as the rookie."

Jessie bared her teeth as she growled. "The trees?" she asked, nodding to the surrounding forest. "We might lose it there."

"No chance," Meowth said with a shake of his head. "Whatever calls that home, they're used to picking off what zapdos here chases into there. We'd be just as dead."

"Well," Jessie said. She looked up at the zapdos. It was still staring down at them, waiting for them to move. "It's just playing with us, like a liepard with its next meal. Maybe we shouldn't have gone so hard in that battle in Cerulean. We'd still have two pokémon fresh and healed to help us battle."

"Well whatever we're doing, it better work," Meowth said. His eyes were darting wildly, though they never strayed from the creature looming over them. "The moment we move, it's gonna strike."

"Well," Jessie snarled, "Cleo and I have no intentions of dying today." When she smiled there was a mad glint in her eye that sent a chill down James' spine. "So let's put this bird back in its cage."

-O-O-O-

When Ash woke up, he found himself in what looked like a hospital ward. Three hospital beds lay to his side, each occupied by one of his friends.

"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as he sat bolt upright.

"Kid," a voice said. A large, heavy hand pressed down gently on his chest and guided him back to lying down. "Don't stress yourself."

Ash blinked as he looked up at Surge. The man's forehead seemed to be etched in a permanent frown. His blonde eyebrows were specced with dirt, his shaved hair unable to cover what seemed like a recent electrical burn that ran down the right hand side of his head.

"Your pokémon packs a bit of a punch," he said, pointing to the burn. "You were all disoriented when you appeared in my gym. Dunno what brought you back, but strong as it was, it barely managed to keep itself together long enough to teleport back out. Your pikachu panicked, attacked thinking we were whatever was after you four." He glanced over at the other beds. Ash was surprised to see that he was the first one awake. Holly had a respirator on her face. Misty had her left wrist bound in a cast. Brock's hair had been shaved, and it looked like the tip of his right ear had burnt off.

"And fuck me, I don't know how you managed it kid, but all you had wrong with you was an alarming lack of energy." Surge sighed as he pulled over a metal collapsible chair that, compared to him, seemed like it was meant for children. He popped it open with a quick flick and sat heavily on it. When he spread his legs, it seemed like his knees were able to touch both the top and bottom of the bed at the same time. "Kid, let me apologise. If I'd known whatever was there could have done this to you kids, I'd have sent one of my gym trainers instead. All my intel said it was a D-Grade risk at worse." He shook his head as he pulled free a metal flask from a pocket in his sleeveless olive jacket. "If it was just Evergreen and you, I wouldn't be so surprised, but if Misty and Takeshi are in such a state too?" He took a swig of the drink and sighed again.

"Where's Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Surge laughed. It was a gruff, deep sound that oddly put Ash at ease. "Your pokémon's healing, don't worry kid. All of them are, yours and your friends." Surge took another swig from his flask. "And for your next question, you're all in my gym. My own private medbay, because it's not like the public hospitals are working our nurses and doctors to death anyway."

"Oh," Ash said. Somehow, finding out that Surge had his own hospital in his gym came as no surprise to Ash. He sat bolt upright again with a gasp, exclaiming, "Team Rocket!"

Surge stood. His chair clattered to the floor beneath him. Ash winced, glancing over at his friends. They remained asleep, the monitors attached to them beeping with a slow, continuous rhythm. "Say that again?"

"Team Rocket," Ash repeated, quieter this time. "They were there, at the power plant. It was the same two that attacked the pokémon centre back in Viridian city. Them and their talking meowth."

"A talking meowth?" Surge echoed.

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Ask the others when they're awake, they'll say the same."

Surge muttered something as he placed his flask back into his jacket. "And they did this to you? I don't care who they claim to be, if they've been assaulting my-"

"It was Zapdos," Ash said.

"Zapdos." Surge's tone betrayed none of the fear and disbelief that Ash could feel washing off him. "Zapdos did this to you, not Team Rocket?"

"Yeah, Team Rocket actually tried saving us," Ash said. "Strange, I know," he continued, seeing Surge's frown. "I don't know why either. Maybe it was why they were there in the first place."

"I see," Surge said. He sighed. "Kid, if that's all true then I'm impressed you survived all of that. I know adults twice your age and size that wouldn't have the cajones to face what you've faced."

"It was awesome," Ash declared. "Just seeing it was like I was breathing in electricity. Each beat of its wings made the storm do exactly what it wanted." He grinned. "Someday, I'm gonna get strong enough to challenge it again. Me and Pikachu will show it just who the master of storms can be."

Surge went from palpable disbelief to laughter. "You know what, kid? I had you all wrong to start off with. Just try to rest for some time before you go off chasing that dream, alright? You won't be fighting anything if you put yourself out of commission by running on fumes."

"I'm raring to go!" Ash declared. "Just let me know where I can go to train, and we'll be back to put it to shame."

Surge shook his head as he chuckled. "Shit kid, if you're talking this big now, I expect big things for when you challenge me. Now try and rest," he said, placing his heavy hand down on Ash's shoulder. "One of my team will swing by later, he's to collect a blood sample from you, if you're alright with that. We just need to make sure that whatever happened to you didn't cause any long lasting damage."

"Oh," Ash said, nodding as he lay back down. "Okay. I mean, if it's to make sure I'm healthy, then sure."

"Good," Surge said. "Now do me a favour, would you, kid? Take it easy today. We'll see how you're feeling tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll call Professor Oak. Your pokédex has him listed as your sponsor, so I'll update him. And don't try and sneak out of the gym," he warned. "There's been reports of a snorlax sighting east of town, so we're all on high alert at the moment. Doesn't help that there's a band of squirtle running round north of town, acting like a merry band of bandits." He shook his head. "Fucking state the world is coming to, I tell you."

-O-O-O-

Surge was exhausted. It had been a trying twenty-four hours, ever since Misty had charged into his gym with dreams of grandeur but no solid goals in mind. He had thought sending her with Evergreen would kill two birds with one stone. Misty needed to learn how to think with her head on the ground, not in the clouds, whilst Evergreen needed to learn that not everything could be taught from a book.

Instead they had been teleported in not six hours after they had left, by a pokémon that had disappeared just as suddenly as it arrived. It left and all hell broke loose in its wake. It had taken activating Situation Sigma to try and calm the situation. The speakers built into his gym's walls activated an emergency frequency that led to his plusle and minun singing everything and everyone to sleep before they could even get close.

Surge sighed into his mug of coffee, taking a sip before scowling and adding a healthy measure of whiskey from his flask. It tasted much better the second time around, and he felt himself relaxing just a little when the video call connected.

"Owen!" Professor Oak greeted. "Good to see you, young man."

Surge snorted. The list of people that could call him a young man and either get away with it, or be old enough to have it be the truth was getting smaller and smaller by the month.

"Howdy-do, Prof," Surge said. "I'd love to have an idle chat, but this is a business call. You get the report I sent you?"

"I did," the professor said, nodding as he started rummaging beneath his desk. Surge heard the sounds of paper scattering and fought the urge to sigh. With how disorganised the man was, Surge was surprised any acts of genius could be noted down and found again later. It was hardly surprising that the man's grandson was such a stickler for lists and order, though Surge hoped he would take their post-battle advice and try to battle without the stick up his ass.

He had, of course, phrased it much more politely, but he was certain that the runt had gotten the message all the same.

"Ah yes," said the professor. He held up a sheet of paper, and frowned before placing a set of large, dust-covered glasses on his face. "Yes, this is most troubling. He had mentioned this attack in Viridian previously, to the officers responsible for questioning him after it happened. I confess, I too had dismissed it at the time. Regardless of whether these people are the real thing, or if they're merely impersonating an urban legend to get away with their crimes, this doesn't bode well."

"You and I know they're more than an urban legend," Surge said. Professor Oak nodded grimly. "Any ideas what they'd be planning? We haven't used that powerplant in years - I've been campaigning the League for a long time to get it repurposed. The way it was, it was just asking for trouble. Good as a distraction for any terrorist activities, but still a potential weakness."

"Ah, Owen," Professor Oak sighed, "you could do so much more than simply be a Gym Leader. You could-"

"We both know Kanto ain't about to appoint any foreigners into its higher echelons," Surge said, "so let's not have that discussion."

"I suppose." Oak sighed and leaned back in his chair. "The power plant has acted as a pseudo-nature reserve for some time now, since it was first shut down after that electabuzz colony first nested there. Honestly, they could have merely been poachers, or had worse intentions. Hopefully this will get the League to address the long-standing donphan in the room."

"And the part about Zapdos?"

"I would like to lie and say that it was a figment of their imaginations, but I accessed their pokédex records. They're able to record data on pokémon even if not directly activated and pointed at said pokémon. What it recorded-" he grimaced, "-shows that the power levels were off the charts. We're recalibrating the sensors and rolling out a patch soon, but…"

"It still means I put four kids up against the fucking Stormbringer." Surge sighed and buried his face in his hands briefly. He growled into his palms before forcing himself to look up, not before draining his alcoholic coffee. "Alright, I'll look into that myself. Have you had a chance to run the bloods I had sent over to you?"

Professor Oak's face went blank. "Owen, my boy, I'm still waiting on those to be delivered."

"What?" Surge growled. There was an icy stab in his heart that blossomed out to take over his arms. He felt his brow become slick with sweat. "That's impossible, I sent one of my best guys over an hour ago." He pulled up a programme on his computer and scanned his fingerprint into the groove on the screen. A map appeared on screen, with blinking blue dots all over the combined Kanto-Johto continent. "It's right here in front of me," Surge said, sharing his screen as he zoomed in on Pallet Town. "Wilson got there twenty minutes ago, then left ten minutes later."

"I haven't had any alerts," Professor Oak said. "ASPER, what's our status?"

The world behind Oak folded in on itself. Reality distorted, giving way to a sleek, curve, bird-like pink creature that appeared to form out of the air itself.

"Accessing secure pathways," the porygon2 droned. Its voice sounded not unlike the last sat nav Surge had used - and subsequently tossed out the window when it got him lost in rush-hour Goldenrod traffic. "Recovering data files. Attention; ERROR!"

The pokémon shrieked. The sound of it made Surge's video feed distort. He saw the air behind the porygon begin to twist and stretch. Its head came loose and begin spinning on its own access. Its eyes turned from a dark brown to a harsh yellow. They rotated in an opposite direction to its head.

"ErRoR!" it shrieked. "PaThWaY cOrRuPtEd!"

Its head stopped spinning and fired a beam of light into the ceiling. There was a thunderous boom that echoed before Surge saw the ceiling falling down around them.

"Owen!" Professor Oak cried. "Don't trust-" the video turned to static, "-not-" more static, "-he is!"

The video cut out.

"Oak!" Surge shouted, leaping to his feet. A poké ball was in his hand without a moment's thought. "Lockheed, we're going to Pallet!"

His magnezone appeared in a flash of light. The poké ball had barely even finished materialising him before the world turned upside down. Surge fought the vertigo and blinked away the spots as he appeared outside Oak's private laboratory.

What sounded like a missile ripped through the air. Surge's breath caught in his throat as a dragonite shot into the building. It burst free on the other side, and Surge barely saw the figure on its back as they shot into the air, being chased by something that looked like a pink spec that was firing all manner of elemental energies after them.

"Who the fuck doesn't want us analysing that blood?" Surge growled. He gestured to his magnezone, who was floating silently beside him. "While he's leading the enemy away, let's get these civilians to safety."

He glanced up at the sky, where he could see the clouds parting under the dragonite's wake. "Don't you fucking die on me, old man," Surge said. "Not when this mystery is only just getting started."