A/N: This is unexpected, and I feel a little guilty about posting this, but oh well. Every now and then I go looking for Pokémon fanfic and due to my incredibly specific set of requirements, I often come away disappointed. I don't like dark and gritty reimaginings, and I don't find much enjoyment in super-powerful protagonist stories. All I want from a Pokémon fanfic is a story which feels like a lost episode of the anime, or like reading a novelisation of a movie I haven't seen. I don't need Ash catching legendaries, or becoming the greatest Aura Guardian to ever Guard Aura. I just want something warm and fun. With maybe a hint of romance.
So that's what this is meant to be. The issue is that I have far too much on my plate at the moment, so updates for this may be sporadic and unreliable. I have at least got a full plot worked out, so hopefully we'll get there at some point. Imagine this like a movie plot. It takes place at some point in Ash's Sinnoh journey, in some location in Sinnoh which you'd never be able to find on the game's map of the place. Ash has aged since he set out on his journey, but I plan to keep ages vague and mostly irrelevant (as they are in the anime). Ash is exactly as old as he needs to be for the events to feel reasonable to you. For myself, that's probably ~23 while Dawn is ~16 and Brock/Cynthia are ~26.
While I do read some Pokémon fanfic, I'm not really a part of the community, so I hope I'm not about to run afoul of too many sacred cows. Or sacred Miltanks.
Chapter 1
The world of Pokémon! A world filled with wonders, and an infinite array of unusual creatures too varied to properly comprehend. Every one different and unique, moulded by nature into innumerable diverse forms. No matter what corner of the world you visit you can rest assured you'll find Pokémon living, and thriving there too. Swimming in the seas and oceans, soaring in the skies, swinging in the jungles, under the scorching desert sun, and upon moon-lit grassy plains, Pokémon are everywhere!
People and Pokémon come together in Pokémon battles. They are contests of strength. Strength of body, strength of mind, and, most importantly, the strength of the friendship shared by Pokémon and trainer. Only those who share the strongest bonds with their companions can hope to reach the very pinnacle, the Pokémon Masters.
An intrepid trio of Pokémon trainers is lost in a dark wood.
"Are you sure this is the way, Brock?"
Ash Ketchum, Pokémon trainer and aspiring Pokémon Master was completely tired out. They'd been walking for days through thick forests, and while it had been great at first, with so many wild Pokémon to battle, it was really starting to wear thin. Ever since setting out on his Pokémon journey he'd been tramping through the wilds of the world with his friends, and there was no doubt that he still loved it. Sometimes, though, the prospect of a comfortable bed and a warm meal was really attractive.
His stomach rumbled ominously.
Perhaps that was part of the reason. It had been so long since they'd been able to restock that they were having to forage for food, and being early spring, there wasn't all that much around that was edible.
"Piika," said the Pikachu on his shoulder. Pikachu was Ash's oldest friend, and closest companion, and over the years Ash had come to be able to understand the little yellow mouse better than he understood most people. Pikachu rubbed its empty belly with a rueful look.
"It's okay, buddy," said Ash. "We'll find something to eat soon. Won't we Brock?"
Brock, a taller man with dark, tanned skin and brown hair frowned in thought. "I don't understand it," he said as he turned the map in his hands this way and that. "There should be a town right around here."
"Are you saying we're lost again?" asked the only woman of the little group. She had dyed blue hair which spilled out from beneath a white beanie with a Pokéball logo on it, and which framed a youthful face which was currently playing host to a deep frown. She was joined in her displeasure by her constant companion, a little blue Penguin Pokémon, Piplup.
"Piip-lup!" It waved its flipper-like wings around before pointing at it's open beak. "Lup!"
"Not lost!" said Brock. "This path must go somewhere…" he trailed off, peering at the map again and turning it upside down before he gave up completely. "I just have no idea where. Or when we'll get there."
"Pika," said Pikachu, sadly shaking its head.
Ash sighed. Usually Brock was pretty reliable with directions, but it hadn't been hard to see the storm clouds gathering at the last crossroads when his friend had been completely distracted by a pretty girl going in the other direction. Ash was fairly sure that they shouldn't have taken the left fork, but he wasn't going to bring it up. What would be the point?
Anyway, Brock was right. All roads had to lead somewhere, right? It wasn't like he was short of time on his league challenge. He'd always found that a slightly lackadaisical attitude to directions often led to more exciting adventures, anyway. What was the point of travelling the world if you didn't stop every now and then to actually take it in?
Another rumbling sound from the region of his stomach reminded him that as nice as all that was, he was also hungry.
He popped one of the Pokéballs from his belt and expanded it.
"Staraptor, I choose you!"
The flash of light which erupted from the opened Pokéball coalesced into the shape of a large bird with brown and white plumage, already winging overhead. "Staaar!" it called joyously, happy to be out of the confines of its Pokéball.
"Staraptor, can you fly up high and see if there's any towns nearby?" Ash shouted up to his friend.
"Star!" the Pokémon answered, already flapping its wings and climbing higher and higher into the clear blue skies. The shade of blue was slowly deepening as the sun dipped towards the horizon.
They had a few hours of daylight left, but if the town was as close as Brock thought, it would be nice if they could spend the night at a Pokécentre instead of in their tents.
"Good idea," said Dawn, shooting Ash a happy smile. "We can't see anything through these trees, but Staraptor can just go over them."
Ash grinned in response, and watched the bird Pokémon enjoying its freedom. It had been too long since he'd had Staraptor out of its ball anyway. He'd really have to up his training regimen if he wanted to stand a real chance at the League, but it was so easy to just get lost in the wilderness, not to mention meeting new people and Pokémon that he often let it slip.
It wasn't long before Staraptor descended back down to ground level and alighted on the path in front of Ash and his friends. While Ash wasn't quite as able to interpret the speech and mannerisms of the Pokémon he'd only relatively recently captured in Sinnoh, it wasn't hard to understand the meaning of Staraptor's outstretched wing. It pointed straight down the path they were already walking down, so Ash smiled.
"Thanks, Staraptor," he said, rubbing the Pokémon's head fondly, much to its obvious pleasure. "I'll let you out again soon so you can stretch your wings. We'll get some training in too." Staraptor flapped its wings happily, and called out as Ash recalled it to its Pokéball in a flash of red light.
"Well, looks like we just keep going," said Brock. "See, I told you I knew where we were going."
Dawn folded her arms, an action mirrored by her Piplup. "Suure, Brock. Sure."
"Lup!"
They barely managed to get ten paces before a voice shouted from out of the wood.
"Hey, mister. Are you a Pokémon trainer?"
The voice belonged to a kid who didn't look much older than Ash had been when he'd started his journey. He had thick rimmed glasses and dark hair which was just about matted with leaves and sticks. He was staring straight at Ash, a Pokéball in hand.
"I am, yeah," said Ash, taking the kid in as he clambered over the narrow ditch which separated the road from the forest. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town." He pointed to Brock and Dawn in turn. "And these are my friends Brock and Dawn and my buddy Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
The kid waved the introductions off impatiently."Whatever. Was that your Staraptor I saw?" the kid asked. He didn't bother to wait for an answer before going on. "I want a battle!" he declared, already throwing his Pokéball. "Go, Bronzor!"
"Hey, cool Pokémon," said Ash, looking the Bronzor over appreciatively once it had fully materialised. It was a blueish green Pokémon that looked a little like a manhole cover. "Don't see many of those around."
"Shut up with the talking, and battle me already!"
Unimpressed, Dawn crossed her arms. "Rude," she said.
"Piplup," her companion agreed.
The Pokéball Ash pulled from his belt made a little whining noise as he pressed the button to expand it. "One on one?" he asked, fighting a grin.
"Uh huh," said the kid, very nearly bouncing in excitement.
Ash turned to Brock who'd been watching the excitable kid with an amused look. "You want to referee?"
"Sure," said Brock with a nod. He stepped up to the mid-point between Ash and the kid. "This will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and…" He looked over at the kid and raised an eyebrow in askance.
"Finn Lune," said the kid. "From Selenia Town."
"Ash, send out your Pokémon," said Brock after repeating Finn's name, mostly for the look of the thing.
"Okay then," said Ash with a broad grin. Battles never failed to get his blood pumping, even after a whole decade of travelling and learning. "Time to battle, Buizel!"
"A Buizel?" said Finn, eyes wide for a moment before his surprise was replaced by a confident smirk. "This should be easy. Finally!"
"Don't be so sure," Ash called back. The kid reminded him a bit of his younger self, all enthusiasm, no thought.
"Buibui!" Buizel agreed as he limbered up in preparation for the coming fight.
Brock brought his arm down in front of himself. "Begin!"
"Bronzor, use Confusion!" called Finn instantly.
To his credit, Bronzor didn't delay. Its eyes grew large, and powerful waves of psychic energy shot from them towards Buizel, tearing up patches of soil.
"You know what to do," said Ash, getting a nod from Buizel. Before the attack could reach him, Buizel leapt into the air on a broad pillar of water, and the Confusion waves passed harmlessly below it. It threw itself high enough that it was hidden in the glare of the sun. Ash grinned.
Finn's reaction wasn't all that bad. "Protect!"
A shimmering screen appeared all around Bronzor, and Ash nodded in satisfaction. It was obvious the kid was a beginner from the way he was throwing out commands. He simply stayed quiet and let Buizel take charge.
As expected, Buizel stayed high in the air, but powerful waves of acoustic force descended upon it from out of the sky, breaking the protective veil. Buizel couldn't be far behind.
"What?" Finn asked. "How is it still in the air?" His Bronzor floated back a little under the onslaught. "Bronzor, use Iron Defense!"
"Now, Buizel!"
Just as Bronzor started glowing white as a result of its use of Iron Defense, Buizel finally materialised from the glare of the sun, wrapped in a glowing curtain of water, an Aqua Jet attack. As he rocketed down from out of the sky, Bronzor saw the danger and moved to dodge even before Finn called out, but it was no good. Ash had been working on Buizel's maneuverability in Aqua Jet, and his twin tails spun in counter rotation, allowing him to turn almost at right angles. There was still work to do, but Ash could see the benefit of their training.
After having already taken the Sonic Boom attack, Bronzor was thrown through the air with a startled cry of "Zooor!". It clattered to the ground like a discarded hubcap before rolling gently to a halt and toppling over, clearly knocked out.
"Bronzor is unable to battle," Brock declared as Finn returned his Pokémon with a downtrodden expression. "Buizel is the winner."
Buizel punched the air. "Buibuibui!" He turned to look at Ash and offered a self-satisfied smile.
"Nicely done, Buizel," said Ash, grinning back, and giving him a thumbs up. "You did great. That turn was brilliant!"
"Bui!"
"You have a rest now," Ash said as he tapped the Sea Weasel Pokémon with his Pokéball. "We'll soon reach a Pokémon centre, I promise."
Not that Buizel had taken much damage in the battle, but it had been more than a week since their last check-in, and Ash liked to make sure his team was on fighting form. He clipped Buizel's ball back onto his belt and looked up to find Finn.
He was on his knees, staring blankly at his Pokéball. "I lost," he said, his voice quiet. "Again. I'm sorry Bronzor."
"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for," said Ash. He walked up to stand in front of the kid. He really did remind Ash a little of himself when he was just setting out on his journey. "You two did really great."
"You beat us in two moves," said Finn petulantly. "Or one. Maybe. I don't know. You didn't even have to tell your Buizel what to do. You think that's great?"
"Ash is a really strong trainer," said Dawn, as she and Brock joined them.
Brock nodded. "He is, and I can tell you've been raising that Bronzor well."
"Don't worry about it," said Ash. "I'm not exactly a beginner at this. I can see you've been working really hard with your training though. That Confusion was really strong, and the Protect you used didn't have any gaps Buizel could have exploited."
"You still beat me without even taking a hit," Finn pointed out.
Ash shrugged. "Like I say, I've had a lot of experience. You just need to start working on Bronzor's awareness in battles. If you have to command him, you've already lost valuable seconds. Battles should almost be second nature."
"How do I do that?"
"You gotta find the right way for you," said Ash. It might be a bit unhelpful, but when he was younger he'd tried so many different training methods, and none of them had really worked for him. "From what I saw here though, I think you're on the right track. You just need more experience."
"But how am I meant to get experience if I keep losing?" Finn asked, scowling down at his Pokéball. "How is Bronzor meant to get stronger?"
"Hey, the most important lessons I've ever learned were during losses," said Ash, giving the kid a grin in the hope of bucking him up a bit. "I've learned a lot of important lessons, believe me."
"Piika," said Pikachu, earning a fond scratch from Ash.
"I still need to be stronger," said Finn, looking back at his Pokéball. "I can't keep letting Bronzor down."
"Maybe," said Ash with a shrug, "but no matter how long or hard you train, there's always going to be someone out there who's stronger. That's the really great thing about being a Pokémon trainer. There's always new friends to find."
Finn sniffled, but nodded. "I guess." He rubbed the tears from his eyes, and looked Ash up and down once more.
"So if you're so strong, are you here for the Cresselia Festival?"
"Cresselia Festival?" Dawn asked, beating Ash by half a second.
"In Selenia Town," said Finn. He waved an arm in the same vague direction Staraptor had indicated earlier. "Loads of people come for it every year. Loads of trainers too!"
"I think I've heard of it," said Brock, nodding. "It's a night-time tournament honouring the crescent moon, right?"
"That's it," said Finn. "Trainers battle every evening for a week until there's only two left, and the winner gets gifted a feather by Cresselia!"
"I've heard about those," said Brock. "It's said that a Cresselia feather ensures happy dreams for the owner."
"Oh, wow, that's neat!" said Dawn with obvious excitement. "Cresselia's meant to be so beautiful and graceful too. Can we go to see it, Ash?"
"Of course we can!" Ash declared. There was no way he was going to pass up an opportunity to see another legendary Pokémon. "When does the tournament start?" he asked Finn.
"This evening! It's the first night of the waxing crescent moon this spring," said Finn. He was finally starting to perk up a little. "You want me to show you the way to the sign-ups?"
"That would be great," said Ash, nodding his thanks. "We've been lost out here for ages, and I wouldn't want to miss the chance to take part in something like this."
"Me neither!" said Dawn brightly.
"Piip-lup!" Piplup declared, puffing its chest out.
Brock looked excited about the idea too. "There must be so many interesting Pokémon to see."
"Okay, then," said Finn, any lingering self-doubts gone. "I'll take you right there. This way!"
He headed off down the road at a brisk pace, and Ash, Dawn and Brock all had to hurry to keep up.
"I can't believe we might get to see Cresselia," said Dawn. She clasped her hands together and a distant look entered her eyes. "It would be so amazing!"
"It is pretty cool," Ash agreed. "I've never seen a Cresselia before. They're meant to be really really rare."
Finn nodded. "They are. Super rare. I heard the one that visits Selenia is the only one that has been proven to exist."
"So how many trainers usually take part in the tournament?" Ash asked. "I bet they come from all over for a chance to see a Pokémon like Cresselia."
"Oh, they do," said Finn quickly. "The town's usually pretty quiet, but at this time of year it's crazy. Everywhere you look, there's trainers battling!"
"That sounds amazing." Dawn's statement was met with immediate agreement from Piplup.
"Piip-lup."
"I can't wait!" said Ash, just as excited by the idea. Somehow the thought of Pokémon battles still got him every bit as excited as when he was an overenthusiastic eleven year old . "All those strong trainers to test ourselves against, right Pikachu?"
"Pi pikapi!"
"You got that right. They won't know what hit 'em. You and me, buddy. Against all comers."
And if he won the feather, he knew exactly what he'd be dreaming about.
A/N: I went for Cresselia as the 'movie legend' as it never got a movie, only receiving an anime appearance. I know it's not as 'cool' as Darkrai or Giratina, but you gotta feel bad for it getting snubbed like that.