This new story is inspired by and dedicated to Charizardag, whose own Pokémon, Beast Wars crossover story was one of the fics that inspired me to start writing myself. Anyway, this is the first time I've ever done a story for either of these franchises, so please be patient with me as I get into a groove with this one. Also, at first you may notice some similarities between by story and Charizardag's but trust me, I intend to make this one my own as I go along. So don't just outright accuse me of stealing his idea. With all that said, Pokémon is the property of Nintendo, Gamefreak and several other companies, while Beast Wars and all other Transformers related media is the property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Blah. Blah. Blah. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Night of Falling Stars

The road from Viridian City to Pallet Town, or Route 1 as it was more commonly known, was not the most exciting stretch of dirt in the Kanto Region, nor the most treacherous nor even the longest, but to a weary traveler heading home for the first time in nearly a year, it may as well have been a trek across a vast desert. For although he was an experienced Pokémon Trainer of three and a half years, at heart Ash Ketchum was still just a boy, and from time to time his thoughts turned to home and the loving mother who was always there waiting for him.

Now was one of those times.

Having completed his latest journey through the Hoenn Region, our aspiring young Pokémon Master was eager to get back to his home town for a well-deserved rest. Accompanying him on his minivacation was his longtime traveling companion, Brock of Pewter City, who was on another one of his extended furloughs from his regular job as the local Gym Leader, along with two new additions to the group, up-and-coming Pokémon Coordinator May of Petalburg City and her studious little brother Max; all three of them looking forward to the homecooked meal and the warm beds that awaited them at the end of the road.

But anyway, it was around five in the afternoon and our heroes were less than half a mile from their destination. Ash, who was by far the most eager to get there, had taken a generous lead ahead of his friends and was currently scaling the last hill that separated him from his home and family.

"C'mon, guys! We're almost there!" he called to his friends as he reached the top.

"Easy for him to say. He doesn't have these stubby little legs." Grumbled Max in mild irritation.

"Oh lighten up, Max." said his sister good-naturedly. "He's just excited."

"As well he should be." Added Brock, sounding perfectly at ease. "Nine months is a long time to be away from home. Even for the most experienced travelers."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Say, after we stop over at Ash's mom's place, do you think we can head over to Prof. Oak's lab?"

"Sorry, Max, but it's getting pretty late and the Professor's a busy man. We'll probably have to wait until tomorrow."

"Aww…"

"Cheer up, Max." said May reassuringly. "For once we get to sleep somewhere other than a Pokémon Center or a tent. And from what Ash has been saying, Mrs. Ketchum is the best cook in the entire world. Uh, present company excluded, of course."

At this, the older trainer just laughed and they continued on their way.

Up at the top of the hill, Ash looked down at the land beyond and saw just about the prettiest sight he'd ever seen.

Home.

"Feels like a lifetime, eh Pikachu?" he said to the little yellow creature perched on his shoulder.

"Chu, Pika. Pika Pi!"

"What do you say we run the rest of the way, huh Buddy? Mom's probably got dinner waiting."

"Pika!"

"That's what I thought." The young trainer said affectionately, before turning back to his friends. "We're in the homestretch, guys! Last one there's a rotten Exeggcute!"

Then without another word, he took off like a rocket with the rest of the gang trailing several feet behind.

And speaking of rockets, in a tall tree a fair distance away, a familiar figure in an equally familiar uniform watched the scene play out through his binoculars with great interest.

"Ah~ Isn't that sweet. A boy coming home from a long journey, to be met by the waiting arms of his loving, devoted mother." Said the blue-haired man with an odd mix of sentiment and envy. "Sigh. Some people have all the luck."

With that said, he put his binoculars away and tapped a little button on his earpiece.

BZZT

"Red Queen, this is Feather Nest. The Twerps are en route to their final destination and should arrive within the next ten minutes. What are your orders? Over."

BZZT

"Copy that, Feather Nest. Return to Base Camp for further instructions. Over."

BZZT

"Roger. Over and Out."

Then without another word, he proceeded to slowly shimmy down the tree like a three toed sloth.

Within minutes he was back at 'Base Camp', which was literally just a campsite at the base of the tree, where his teammates were waiting for him.

"Nice recon, James." Said an attractive redhaired woman in a similar uniform.

"Thanks, Jessie." James replied jovially. "Man, these things are amazing. I feel like a secret agent."

"I know, right. Best forty bucks we ever spent." Said Jessie, before turning to the third member of their merry band. "Hey, Meowth, you wanna try these? It's super fun."

But alas, the tiny cat Pokémon did not seem interested. In fact, he was still in the same, slumped fetal position he'd been in over an hour ago.

"Yeesh. What's with him?" asked James, sounding both concerned and a little annoyed.

"Beats me. Hey, Meowth, why the long face? We're in the middle of a caper, in case you didn't notice."

"Yeah, this is usually the part where you hype us up with some elaborate fantasy sequence about us getting promotions."

"Sorry, Jimmy Boy. I'm just not feelin' it today." The tiny cat creature replied with a sullen but stereotypically gangster-like accent. "It's hard to dream about the future when we're this close to the edge."

"Oh, for the love of… don't tell me you're still fixating on that stupid memo from the Boss." Said Jessie as she rolled her eyes.

"And how are you not? You saw what it said!"

"Yeah, it said our debts are finally all paid off, so we'll be getting our full paychecks again. That's a good thing, genius."

"No, it's an awful thing! And you'd know that if you'd finished readin' it before runnin' off to buy that stupid toy!" Meowth shot back, sounding positively livid. "That debt was the only reason the Boss had to keep us around! But now that we're outta the red, our work's gotta speak for itself! And yous two nimrods couldn't catch a cold if ya stood out in a blizzard!"

"I'll assume that's just the stress talking and let it slide." Jessie said dryly. "But anyway, you've got nothing to worry about, Meowth. This new scheme can't possibly fail! By this time tomorrow, Pikachu and every other Pokémon in this town will be all ours! Lock, Stock and Barrel! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh Jess, I just love it when you're nasty~" said James affectionately.

"I'd love it if either of ya had a brain." The talking Pokémon muttered crassly; raising Jessie's ire.

But fortunately, before she could give in to her primitive instincts, James stepped in to calm her down.

"Now, now, Jessie. Let's not do anything we'll regret." He said diplomatically. "Look, it's too late to pull off our plan today anyway, so why don't we knock off work early and get a fresh start in the morning? What do you say?"

"Well… alright." The redhaired woman replied, reluctantly putting aside her rage. "I saw a nice-looking hotel on our way into town, and for once we can afford it. C'mon, James. You too, sad sack."

And with that, the two humans casually made their way towards an evening of room service and overpriced movies, while their feline companion lingered for a few moments to observe his longtime quarry. In the distance, he saw the loathsome mouse Pokémon on the shoulder of his trainer as the latter was being lovingly crushed to death by his devoted mother.

"Sigh. I dunno why we even bother. The Twerp 'll win. He always wins. Tomorrow won't be any different." He said sullenly, before trudging off to join his friends.

But he was wrong, dear reader, as I'm sure you've already guessed.

Tomorrow would be different.

Very different indeed.

However, this would not become apparent for some time.

At this point, permit me to direct your attention upward, approximately 9,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. On any given day, if you were to enter this part of the Exosphere and somehow survive, you'd be able to see an unobstructed view of space, but not much else. However, if you were to fast-forward time by several hours, to approximately 1:25 am Western Kanto Time, you would see something far more spectacular. For it was at this time that a lone Rayquaza came onto the scene.

Now ordinarily, the Sky High Pokémon would never venture this far beyond its home in the ozone layer, but for some strange reason it felt compelled to break from its usual routine and climbed all the way up to the very edge of space to peer into the darkness. It was hard to explain, but something deep down in its gizzard told it that something was coming.

Something bad.

Just then, the particular part of space it'd been watching began to ripple and distort, and a strange, otherworldly humming sound permeated what little air there was. It was as if the universe itself had been set on vibrate.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of bluish white light, and from out of that light came a pair of the strangest looking metal objects the Legendary Pokémon had even seen. One was long and thin and shaped vaguely like some sort of bird of prey. The other was bulkier and shaped almost like the head of a primitive spear. Both were firing ballistic bolts of light at each other with the obvious intent to kill. Naturally, Rayquaza didn't know what to make of any of this, so for the moment it decided to simply watch and wait.

Now as I'm sure you've already guessed, these strange objects were in reality interstellar vessels of extraterrestrial origin, or in other words, alien spaceships; each containing a full crew of genuine space aliens.

"Ugh!" groaned a member of the spear shaped ship's crew as a stray energy bolt struck the starboard side. "Hull breach in Sector 7! Guidance Systems failing!"

"Oh man, this is ridiculous." Complained another crewmate with an oddly familiar accent. "We're an exploration ship, not a battle cruiser."

"No choice." Barked the ship's commander. "Our ship was the only one that could lock onto Megatron's warp signature."

"Shields are doin' a major fade!" exclaimed the first crewmember.

To which the commander replied,

"Plasma cannons to full power!"

Meanwhile, on the other ship…

"Their shields are down!" said the second-in-command with a snarling voice. "Destroy them!"

"Now where's the fun in that? A little torment I think first. Yes…" said the second ship's commander in deep yet casual voice. "Side guns!"

As ordered, the second ship's broadside cannons came online and unleashed a devastating barrage on the first ship.

"Rupture! The stasis hold is failing!" shouted the first ship's first crewmate.

"We're goin' down." Said a third in a deep yet strangely placid tone.

By this point, Rayquaza had seen all it needed to. These metal things, whatever they were, were encroaching on its territory and needed to be destroyed. One was already hurdling towards the Earth, so it only made sense to attack the other one.

"Lord Megatron! Lord Megatron!" exclaimed another member of the second ship's crew in a raspy, wheezing voice. "Unidentified lifeform approaching off the port bow!"

"What?"

But alas, before 'Lord Megatron' could react, Rayquaza unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam straight into the aft section of the ship.

"What the slaggin' heck is that thing?" asked the first ship's second crewmate in a panic.

"No idea, but apparently it doesn't like Predacons." Replied the first ship's commander. "Hurry, while it's got them distracted! Release all pods! Get them into a safe orbit!"

As ordered the ship released dozens of smaller, oval-shaped objects into the outer atmosphere, allowing them to drift safely into orbit. And not a second too soon, for just as the last pod went out, the ship became caught in the planet's gravity.

"Brace for impact!"

Meanwhile, on the ground far below, a pair of young Pichu sat out in an open field and watched in astonishment as a star fell to the Earth in the west; followed swiftly by another in the far south. Blissfully unaware of what was about to begin.

End Notes:

Not that anyone asked, but the title of this story is a reference to a line of dialogue from a live action Jungle Book adaptation from the 1940s. I forget which one, but basically, it's in refence to the law of the jungle. Anyway, I've been wanting to do something like this for a while and I hope it works out. With that said, I hope to see you all in the next one.

Peace.