"Wha-" a tiny noise escaped shaky lips. Grey eyes fluttered open, dilated in fear. He was frozen in place, laying on the ground, a thick layer of soft, wet grass underneath him.

"What happened?" he pressed a trembling hand against his forehead, skin icy. A shudder tore through him, eyes frantically darting around, searching for a source of light. Nothing. Only darkness.

Ashton sighed, struggling to sit up, his shirt stiff, like it'd gotten damp at one point, and froze solid right afterwards. An icy breeze made leaves rustle and branches creak.

Wasn't he inside just a second ago? Yeah, he was in his living room, dozing off.

"Umbreon" Ashton's head snapped around, squinting, trying to spot whatever had made that strange noise. He was about to jump up and back off, thinking he angered a wild animal, or stumbled across some dangerous hermit living in the forest.

That's when he saw it. Blue rings glowing, coming closer slowly, moving with cat-like elegance. "Umbr" a purr left the creature, and it stared up at Ashton with sharp eyes.

"Moonshine?" the name slipped past his lips before he knew it. Yeah. Must've been her. That little stray cat coming by his house every now and then. Wait. What's a cat? Ugh, his head hurt.

"Umbreon" the creature squeaked, jumping onto Ashton's lap before he could move away, warm paws kneading at his thighs, cheek rubbing against his shirt, comforting.

"How'd you get here?" he asked, voice raspy, like he'd been asleep for a long time, a hand reaching over to mindlessly pet Moonshine.

Finally, his eyes had adjusted, picking up the gentle moonlight illuminating a dark forest. Bushes and tree trunks surrounded the two. "Oh fuck" Ashton nudged Moonshine off his lap, before getting up.

Legs like noodles, hands trembling, the boy supported himself on a branch. "I can't remember… anything" he mumbled to himself, watching Moonshine. Where did he say he was before he got here? He was home.

Right. Home. He needed to get there, but… how. If he had a phone, he could call somebody to pick him up. Who though? Where even was he? Where would he try to go, anyway?

Memories slowly faded. His address? He didn't remember. How did his house even look like? How old was he? His name… A- A- Aaron? No. André? Ashley? Ash. Yeah. That's right.

"Umbre" a cry snapped him out of his thoughts, and he whipped around just to see Moonshine sprinting off.

"Wait" he yelled. That creature was all he had, the only thing he recognized in this weird place. He couldn't let her leave.

So, Ash chased after her, following blue, glowing rings through a dark forest. Branches and leaves brushed past him, scratching up bare arms and legs, hitting him in the face.

Despite the burns of frigid air on pale skin, Ash tumbled along, vision blurry, mind foggy. Thorns lapping at his pants, roughing up his sneakers.

After minutes of running, the glowing circles finally stopped, and Ash came to a sloppy halt, stumbling forward, chest heaving. He slumped against a tree, glaring at the black creature.

"What the hell?" he breathed, gaze slowly wandering up. "Don't run away lik-" Ash stopped, eyes wide.

Moonshine nodded towards the town beneath them, covered in fog, a lake just behind it. She wagged her fluffy tail, before striding down that small hill they'd found themselves on.

Ash threw a nervous look around, before finally letting out a breath, and following the creature.

His sneakers sunk into ankle deep mud, grass swaying in the breeze. He'd finally caught up with his companion, strolling through an empty city, right by her side. Some of those old brick houses scattered about the place had light shining through their windows.

No wonder. Must've been either real late at night or real early. Shit, he didn't even know what time it was. What day it was. Again, Ash grabbed at his forehead, a dull pain throbbing inside the brunette's head.

"What on earth happened to me?" he mumbled, his attention soon grabbed by Moonshine.

She nudged his leg, then headed off towards a building right outside town. It stood on the end of a dirt path, looking so modern and out of place. Just a grey square brick in the middle of nowhere, with reinforced windows and metal doors.

Moonshine sat in front of said door, pawing at it, while Ash begrudgingly followed. Not like he had any other choice. He stopped, then shrugged. "Now what?" the brunette asked his companion, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Umbreon" she pawed at the door again, glaring back at him.

"What? I can't just knock like it's nothin', are you crazy? It's like, the middle of the night" he scolded, but Moonshine wouldn't move, her gaze getting firmer.

"Fine. You bossy fuck" Ash groaned, raising his hand to pound against the metal, before he waited. And waited. And waited.

"See, told you" Ash was ready to walk away, frustration laced into his voice.

At least until the door opened with a creak, letting light flood out, hitting Ash's back. He snapped around, his eyes widening at the vaguely familiar face of a middle aged man, brown hair looking shaggy, his white lab coat a wrinkly mess.

"Ah, Ethan, I didn't expect you so early" he began, but stopped once he'd put on his glasses, tired eyes filled with surprise. "Sorry" he scratched his neck meekly, smiling. "You're not who I expected. What can I do for you, young man?"

Ash only stared, mouth agape. Why does he seem so familiar? Ash knew this dude. He just did. No idea how, or why. The guy didn't know him, apparently, so why was he so sure they'd been close sometime in the past.

"So, well, uh" Ash said, voice quiet. "I kinda got lost, and-"

"Umbreon" he got cut off by Moonshine, rubbing her cheek against the guy's ankles. That man raised an eyebrow, bending down to scratch the creature's fluffy head.

"You have an Umbreon. A shiny one at that" his voice cracked, trying to hide his child-like excitement at seeing his… cat? No.

Umbreon. An Umbreon. Has she always been a Pokemon? Or… where was he? What was this place?

"Are you okey?" the man looked up, just to see Ash falling over, collapsing on the ground.


Knocking echoed through an empty, dark laboratory. "Lyra, darling, could you get the door? I have my, uh, hands full" a familiar voice yelled from the back room.

"Right away, Professor" a door opened, letting light flood into the main room.

Somebody entered, making her way over to answer that knock. A woman. Long, brown hair, wearing a white lab coat, bow in her hair. She stopped, smiling wide, swinging the front door open.

"Ethan, we've been wait-" she choked, dark, almond eyes, wide open. Lyra stepped back, letting the newcomer slip inside like a shadow.

"I didn't think you, of all people, would show up here" her eyes followed him with every step he took, never daring to let the visitor out of sight.

"Not like I have a choice" he grunted, voice gravely.

Gloved fingers pushed a strand of bright, red hair from his face, revealing the young man's eyes. One silver as metal, one black as ink.

"Glad you're here, Silver" Lyra gave a shaky smile, sincerity written all over her innocent face.

The redhead sighed, letting himself drop onto a chair. Only then, Lyra noticed the shadow by his side. A weasel, red feathers sticking from its head, sharp eyes glared at her. "Oh, let me get you a coffee" Lyra chirped, before scurrying off to the back room.

"Forget about that, bring him a shot of Vodka" both Silver and Lyra perked up. A dark figure stared them down, looming by the still open door, arms crossed. "He's way less of an asshole when he's drunk" he stepped closer, stripping from his leather jacket.

"He's not wrong" Silver commented, voice monotonous, giving a shrug.

Before the newcomer could sit down to greet his old friend, two arms wrapped around his neck. "Ethan" Lyra yelled, almost tackling him and falling to the floor, taking Ethan with her.

He just about kept them standing, one arm squeezing the girl's waist, before they parted, Lyra's smile bright and cheery.

"Hey, who said you could start the party without me?" loud steps and a booming voice let everyone know of the woman with spikey, blue hair charging through the door, wrapping one arm around Lyra, the other around Ethan.

She had to stand on her tip toes to reach either of them, which prompted a laugh from the brunette. "Hey, shorty. How are you?" Lyra finally let go of Ethan to hug the other woman, lifting her off the floor.

"Don't tell me you've missed me?" the woman mocked, unable to hide the wide, dopey smile on her face.

The reunion was interrupted by a car engine roaring right outside the door, obnoxious headlights blinding the four through a window. All heads turned when steps started approaching.

"I wasn't expecting anyone else" the blue haired woman commented.

"About that… well" Lyra began, but she was cut off by a tall, blond man barging in.

"Yo, Elm, what the fuck?" he yelled, taking off his sunglasses. He threw a disinterested look at Ethan, then the blue haired woman, then Silver, and finally Lyra. "You're his assistant, eh? Where is the coot?"

"Right here, right here" the middle aged man from before finally appeared, papers flying out of the binder he was holding. "We had an emergency, my apologies" he stopped before the group, eyeing everyone.

"Somebody is still missing" he scratched his chin, when finally, noises from above caught his attention.

He smiled, watching a giant bird land in front of his laboratory, it's blue feathers glistening in pale moonlight, like they were made from ice. On top of its back sat two figures.

A tall, skinny woman, brown hair spilling down to almost reach the small of her back, a fluffy fur coat keeping her protected from the cold, and a short person, blond hair slipping out from underneath a straw hat.

"We're here" the tall woman chirped. She hopped off the Articuno, helping her friend down, before running towards the group.

"Finally" Professor Elm sighed, shaking his head. "Blue, would you please, uh…" he pointed at the blue bird with shaky hands.

"Not flaunt your legendries all over the place?" the blond man finished his sentence, a cocky smirk on his face.

"No offence, Green, but if you can pull up in this village with your S600 Lambo-Ferrari I can show off Freezer" she retorted, getting all up in his face, her smile just as smug.

"Hey" the blond accompanying Blue raised their hand, earning a couple 'hi's and 'hey, Yellow's back from the others, who soon broke out in aimless catching up and or bickering.

Elm watched with a pained, helpless look on his face and beads of cold sweat on his brow. Ethan noticed the professor's nervous demeanour, and placed a hand on his back. "Everyone, shut the fuck up" he yelled, and the room went dead silent.

"Professor, why did you call us here?" he then asked once all eyes were on him.

"Well, first of all, Blue. Please, I know Freezer hates small spaces, but…" Elm began.

"I get it" Blue raised her hand, before fishing a Pokeball out of her coat, catching the bird inside. Articuno let out a crow of disapproval, glaring at his trainer, before disappearing into an icy bolt of light, being sucked inside his purple capsule-home.

"Please, lock the door" Elm ushered them all deeper inside the building as soon as he'd made sure Yellow closed the door properly.

"What on earth did you call us here for, Elm?" Green complained, letting himself fall onto a chair across from Silver, making it slide backwards, before propping his feet up on the table top.

A sigh escaped Elm. "Please, sit down" he gestured towards the empty chairs, waiting for everyone to take a seat. Once they did, he nodded towards the blue haired woman. "Kris. Would you explain?"

Kris raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean about Team Rocket?" her eyes drifted towards the crowd. "They're back"

Her nonchalant tone made the professor deflate. "Please, take this more seriously"

"Hold up. Come again? Team Rocket is what?" Ethan spoke up.

Kris turned towards him, giving a shrug. "We found gang signs here and there. Some people reported getting' robbed by thugs in uniform" she explained

"That's what you called us here for? We all got a life, Elm, we don't have time to deal with thugs, man" Green got up, prompting Ethan to grab his arm and pull him down.

"Hold your Horseas, Oak" he glanced up to Elm, hands shaking, nervously toying with his lab coat.

"It's more serious than you think, Green" Elm started, swallowing. "Listen, sorry for calling you all here, but I seriously worry about all of you. Team Rocket has stolen Pokemon from within their trainer's Pokeballs. It would be a disaster if that happened to your legendries"

Green scoffed, leaning back in his seat. "You could've just texted us, old man" the blond commented lazily.

"No, Green, please. We need to take care of this. We're the only ones who can" Elm argued, taking his glasses off.

"No disrespect, Elm, but why can't the police take care of this?" Blue spoke, leaning over the table. "Team Rocket is a joke. We can keep an eye out if you want, but I don't see any reason for us to-"

"Somebody died, Blue" Elm blurted out, earning a concerned look from the others.

"Is that true?" Yellow turned to Kris.

The blue haired woman scratched her head. "Well, some of my guys found a body, and witnesses said they saw somebody with a red R on their chest run away from the crime scene" she explained. "I don't buy any of that, though. Why'd Team Rocket want people to know they're coming back? Why'd they let themselves be seen?"

"It's to spread fear" all eyes were on Silver as soon as he spoke up. He leaned forwards, not daring to meet anyone's glares. "There's no way those shitheads only got back together now" he continued. "Probably been recruiting people and collecting money for years, and now they're ready to strike"

A stunned silence dragged through the room.

"Right, sure. That's ridiculous" Green spat out a laugh.

"No, no, I think he's got a point there" Kris argued. "They probably assume they're hot shit now, if everything happened like Silver thinks, but they're still terrible trainers, and they suck at doing crimes. My department and I can handle it"

"I agree with that" Green smirked. "Besides, if they really got back together, they would've gotten a new leader" his green eyes darted to Silver.

"What you looking at me for, huh?" the redhead jumped up.

"Just saying, you're Giovanni's son" Green shrugged, that smug smile never faltering.

"How about you shut your fucking mouth, bastard" Silver almost knocked the table over, about to punch Green in the face, when Lyra wrapped her arms around his to keep him put.

"Why would Silver tell us all of this if he was the new leader? Why would he even be here now, huh?" she growled at Green, who only shrugged.

"Deception" he sneered.

"Bullshit" Ethan raised his voice. "Silver isn't even close to smart enough to deceive anyone"

"Exactly" Sliver agreed, before his eyes narrowed at the brunette. "Wait, what did you just say you little shit?"

A loud thud echoed through the laboratory, followed by a whine. Everyone went silent, exchanging confused glances.

"Looks like our visitor is awake" Elm sighed.

"Should I go see him?" Lyra asked, but the professor raised a hand.

"No, I'll go. Please, Lyra, bring our guests some coffee" he excused himself, before heading towards the back room.


Ash had landed on his stomach, forehead pressed against tiled floor. He let out a whine, joints cracking once he tried to push himself up.

"Are you okey?" Ash jumped, silver eyes snapping towards where the voice was coming from. A brunette man stood at the door, worried look on his aged face. Wait, he remembered. That guy from before.

"Sure, I think" Ash shrugged, trying to pull himself up on the table right next to him. The man rushed towards the boy, grabbing his arm to help him up.

A groan escaped quivering lips, and Ash slapped the man away, a fire in his eyes. He backed off, pressing himself against a wall. "Where did you take me" the teenager's gaze darted across that strange, unfamiliar room he'd found himself in.

"You're in my laboratory. Please, remain calm" the man raised a hand, dark eyes gentle, pity laced into his expression. "You were unconscious, so I carried you inside. We were about to call an ambulance, but things came up" he tried to explain, a stutter in his voice.

"What?" Ash shook his head, teeth clenched. That dull, throbbing headache again. "Where's Moonshine?"

"The Umbreon?" the other asked. He scratched the back of his head, shoulders raised awkwardly. "I lost track of it. Sorry"

"Hey, what's taking you so long, Elm?" another man stuck his head through the door. He must've been around 22-23, brown hair covering half his face. "Who's that?" Ethan asked, eyes on the teenager.

"That's, uh" Elm tried to explain.

"Ash" the teenager spat. "Who the hell are you?"

"Huh. Ethan" Ethan smirked, looking Ash over. He stepped closer, hand outstretched. Ash glared at the stranger, eyes wide, like a scared, cornered Houndour.

Finally, a hesitant hand came up to shake the brunette's.

"You remind me of somebody" Ethan let out a laugh, pulling Ash towards him, wrapping a hand around his shoulders. "You want some coffee?"

Ash didn't put up any resistance while being guided outside. Ethan seemed familiar. His name alone brought up memories long forgotten. Feelings buried under years of time passed.

Still, though, it didn't matter how hard he tried, nothing concrete came to mind.

Where had he met the guy before?

"Who is that?" Ash stopped once six sets of eyes landed on him. A blue haired woman leaned against the table, legs crossed. "That a new employee, Elm?" she asked, a suspicious look on her face.

Elm replied, but Ash stopped listening. All those people. The straw hat girl, the blond guy, the brunette woman, the girl with a bow in her hair, and that redhead. Especially that redhead.

He knew them. All of them.

"Kid. Hey kid" the girl with blue hair snapped her fingers in front of his face. Ash tossed his head left and right, glaring down at her.

"I hear you" he scoffed.

"Ah, an attitude. I like it" she laughed. "Where did you come from?"

Ash hesitated. "I don't know"

"How can you not know?" the brunette spoke up. "Why are you, like, here?"

A grunt left the boy's lips. He told his story, as briefly as he could, admitting how he didn't remember anything about himself.

"Nothing?" the blue haired woman, who'd introduced herself as Kris, asked.

"Nothin'" Ash affirmed. Elm placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced over at Ethan.

"I will let the boy live here for as long as he needs to, though, I think I'll need your and Kristal's help finding his parents" he asked, earning a laugh from Green.

"You're just gonna help him like that? Well, guess you won't need us for this" he got up from his seat, though Ethan pushed him back onto his chair.

"You ain't leaving until we sort this" he growled, teeth bare.

"What the- what made you think you can tell me what to do?" Green retaliated, slapping the brunette's hand away.

Ethan grabbed the other man's shirt collar. "You better shut your-"

"Umbreon" a cry interrupted the two.

"Moonshine" Ash jumped towards his companion. She just stood there, right before them, like she'd always been there. "Where were you?" the boy crouched down, scratching her chin.

"An Umbreon?" the blond man pushed Ethan away, a genuine spark of excitement in his eyes. "I haven't seen one of those in ages" he commented.

"Eeveelutions have gotten rare ever since…" Blue continued, a sombre look on her pretty face.

"Yeah, all of his Pokemon have become rare. People are going insane over them, catching them to almost extinction, even the breeders can't keep up" Yellow sighed.

"Enough of that. The real question is" Green kneeled down, hand reaching towards the Umbreon. "What's she got around her neck?"

Moonshine stared up at Green, then turned to Ash. She did have some sort of paper sticking out from under pitch black chest fur, attached to her neck with a ribbon.

Her owner scratched his chin. "I don't know" he definitely didn't put that there. Then again, not like he'd really remember. "Let me see" Ash carefully untied that ribbon, letting a scroll fall into Green's hand.

"Let's see" he unfolded it, green eyes narrowing at black ink on yellowing paper. "Geeze this is hard to read. My Pidgeot could write better than that"

"What does it say though?" Blue glanced over one of his shoulders, Elm over the other.

"It says… uh…

Greetings, challenger

Today, your very own adventure will begin. I have personally chosen 800 young Pokemon trainers to compete for my favour. You will become champion of your region of choice, and anything you desire could be yours

If you're skilled, of course. Should you fail, or disobey any of my rules, you will perish and all you have achieved will be forgotten.

Now, the rule:

You may not catch any Pokemon, aside from the first on any given route.

You must give every Pokemon caught a Nickname.

You may not use potions, antidotes, etc. in battle.

You must prevent your Pokemon from fainting. They will not be healed by revives or the like.

You cannot tell anyone about your challenge. They might feel sorry for you and let you win battles.

Once your entire team faints, you have failed.

Go forth and strive for greatness, young Ashton. I expect the first badge in a week.

Sincerely

M.

That's weird" Green raised an eyebrow.

Kris let out a laugh, leaning against the blond, who simply shrugged her off, a disgusted look on his face. "Why would anyone think this is a funny joke?" he asked.

"What if it's not a joke?" professor Elm raised a finger.

"Please professor. How would anyone 'prevent his Pokemon from being healed', or whatever?" Ethan snatched the role away from Green, slapping his palm with it.

"It might be a joke" Blue interjected. "It probably is, but… what if not?" she brought up.

"That's morbid" Lyra clung to Kris' arm.

"It is. Why would anyone even do this? No prove, no motive. So, there's no reason to believe it's serious. Occam's razor and all" Kris argued.

"Because it's simpler to assume somebody caught his Pokemon, put a note on it, without Ash noticing just to scare the shit outta him?" Ethan told her.

"You just said there's no way whoever made that could prevent his team from getting healed" the blue haired woman glared his way.

"I didn't say there was no way" Ethan countered.

"Either way" professor Elm finally chimed in, interrupting their argument. "Kris, you should help Ash find a way back home and reunite him with his parents. They must be worried sick about him. Until he gets there, though, he should do as the letter says and start his Gym challenge. We don't know what might happen if he doesn't"

Kris, after a second of thinking, nodded, before wrapping an arm around Ash. "We'll help you" she smiled, but the brunette shrugged her off. He grabbed the roll of paper away from Ethan, shoving it in the pocket of his pants.

"Don't bother, I don't need help" he growled. "Moonshine" Ash called for his Umbreon, while heading for the door.

"Are you crazy? It's 1 in the morning. You can't run around outside" Ethan stopped him. "Just take our help, dipstick, you'll need it" he added, making the brunette's ears turn red, brows furrowed, fists clenched.

"Who says you're not gonna fuck me over? Take advantage of me. Who says you're not the guy who wrote that letter?" he mumbled.

"Why would we-" Ethan was interrupted by a chair sliding across the floor.

The redhead, who'd not said a word until now, got to their feet, palms pressed against the table. "Are we done here?" he barked, voice icy.

Ash snapped around, grey eyes wide. That guy. He knew him. More so than he knew the others. Despite the redhead's demeanour, he felt drawn to him.

Felt like this guy was gonna bring him closer to finding his home.

"No, Silver. We haven't decided on what to do next" Elm tried to calm him.

"I hate to admit it, but fire crotch's got a point. We all have responsibilities, and we can't spend all day talking about a non-issue like team Rocket" Green told him.

"You can handle those guys by yourself, even if they have some new tricks and all" Blue agreed, ready to leave with the others, making professor Elm more exasperated by the minute.

"You- I- at least fly over to Cherry Grove to get a room for tonight. I don't want you getting lost this late at night" he pleaded.

Green and Blue threw glanced at each other, before nodding. "Okey. Take care of yourself, old guy" the brunette waved goodbye.

Yellow followed them out. Lyra and Kris offered to help the professor clean up, but he declined.

Once only Ethan and Silver were left, Ethan insisting on walking the redhead out, Elm stopped them. "I have some news for you" he said, voice quivering.

Silver was about to walk out, but Ethan grabbed his arm and stopped him. The redhead jerked away, slipping from his grasp, before snapping around. "What?"

"It's about your father" the professor stuttered, taking a step back.

Silver's eyes narrowed, filling with pure, cold hatred. "Why the fuck should I care?"

Ash perked up at the tone, trying to hide away behind the professor. That voice. The yelling. Those eyes. So familiar. Memories came back, crashing down on him. Only for a second.

"We have reason to assume he's still alive, Silver. Doesn't that seem relevant to you?" a stutter in his voice, Elm motioned towards a chair.

"No way. That weakling killed himself years ago. Spare me your-" again, the redhead slapped Ethan's hand away.

"Dude, if he's alive, we have to take care of him" the brunette glared at him.

"Exactly. He might have gone back to team Rocket and-" Elm was interrupted.

"No. There's no fucking way. Even if he was alive" Silver growled. "That asshole wouldn't crawl back to team Rocket, no way"

"Please, consider-" loud ringing cut Elm off. He fished his phone from the pocket of his pants, staring at the screen. "Who would call at this hour?" Elm raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't show a number either"

He finally picked up after the third ring, while Ethan listened in. "Elm here, how may I help you?"

"Leave the house" a distorted voice snapped at him.

"Excuse me?" the professor asked.

"Leave, now. Get away as far as you can" Elm glanced up at Ethan.

"What did they say? Who was it?" the brunette wanted to know, but Elm only stared at his phone's display.

"He hung up" he shrugged, before throwing a look towards the door. "We should leave"

The professor stepped past Ethan and Silver, to head out. Ethan let out a sigh, motioning for Ash to come along, before following Elm.


Fire swallowed the earth whole. Pieces of glass shot through a thick wall of smoke like tiny bullets, scratching Ash's bare arms, piercing his skin. The impact had knocked him off his feet, and all he could do was cower in a ditch, cool earth pressed against his heated face.

He was gonna die here. Tears squeezed past closed eyelids, rolling down pale cheeks. He'd never see his friends again. His mother. Snippets of the life he was ripped out of flashed inside his head, though they were gone as soon as cold waves of fear washed over him.

Ash would die, before his adventure had even started.