Firstly, apologies to anyone who really hates anthropomorphised Pokémon, but it's essential to the story to have a Pokémon who acts like, and has similar hobbies to, and wants similar things as, a human child. This also supposes that the Lugia from Pokémon 2000 has a son (and in my story, it's male.)

It is set a few hours after the events of the second Pokémon movie.

The Little Collector.

Dad! DAD! Look at what I found!

The Lugia turned at the sound of his son's mental "voice", and wondered what he wanted. He really wanted to rest, as the events earlier that day had taxed his strength, even with the Festival Maiden's Song and the energy from the Slowking's shrine restoring him.

It was probable that his son, Lu, had found an attractive shell or feather or stone to add to his growing collection of "beautiful treasures" as his son called them. In fact, judging by the excitement in his son's voice, it might be something more, like a feather from one of the three birds. If it were a Moltres feather, Lu could not have brought it down without the sea putting it out, and if it were a Zapdos feather, everything in the sea for miles around would have been shocked, so it wasn't either of those. Perhaps he'd found an Articuno's tail-feather?

Lugia watched as his son surfaced from the water-filled tunnel that led to their airy under-sea cave. He didn't have a feather, or another unusual Pokémon to add to those in his little pool that he kept as pets, although he did have something alive under his wing.

It was on Lightning Island, and it's got such pretty fur! Look! It's sort of greeny-yellow! Lu told him, nuzzling his beak into a rather-begraggled clump of what indeed appeared to be greeny-yellow fur on top of whatever-it-was's head. And the markings on it's body! So pretty! Light blue and dark blue and red! Can I keep it Dad? Can I? Please? I'll look after it, I promise! Lu opened his wing, allowing a very wet figure to slip to the floor, where it panted for breath. As it looked up, Lugia recognised with a start exactly what it was, and indeed, who it was.

It was the same human who had tried to capture the three birds, and then Lugia himself, just hours earlier. Its hair and clothes were plastered to his body, and it looked a very wretched figure compared to the proud creature who had presumed to collect Lugia.

Lugia could also tell that it had heard every word of what Lu had asked, in fact any human nearby would be hard-pressed to not hear. When Lu got excited, as he was now, his mental voice got very loud. The human looked rather shell-shocked and as Lugia watched, began to shiver violently. Lugia gently brushed his mind over the collector's, gleaning from it that his name was Lawrence, that he was male, and that he was cold, hungry, and scared.

Lugia spoke to his son, pitching his mental voice so that the human could hear too.

Bring it over here, Lu. It's an air-breather and I believe its kind live out of the water. It will not have an insulating layer and needs to be warmed. Be careful if you take living things out of their own environment, some of them can be ridiculously fragile!

Come on, over here, let's get you warm. Lu said, in the same soothing 'voice' he used when taking to his pet Pokémon in his pool. He took Lawrence's forearm in his beak, and led him over to where his father was sat on the nest. Lugia raised a wing and Lu pushed Lawrence underneath. Lugia lowered the wing again, squeezing the frightened human gently against his body. He would soon warm up under there. Maybe what he had done was wrong, but Lugia was a Guardian for all in his area, Pokémon and people. He would be remiss in his duties if he allowed this human to freeze to death.

Shake yourself as dry as you can and then come under too. You can help warm him, and I can help warm you. Lugia said to his son. Lu shook himself violently, and Lugia raised his wing slightly to protect the human beneath from the resulting shower of droplets. Once Lu had shaken off all that he could, he slid in under the wing next to his human captive, snuggling him tight between he and his father, and then reached down with his beak to gently nuzzle Lawrence's drying hair. Then he pulled over some nearby edible seaweed and placed it in front of him.

I hope it can eat this. He said to his father. I don't know what these creatures eat. Lawrence reached out and tried the plant, and it must have tasted okay, for he took the strand Lu had placed by him and began to eat it, nervously but hungrily. Lu looked pleased and reached out to drag another strip of the same seaweed within the collector's grasp.

So, can I keep it, Dad? Now we know what it eats, I can look after it and I know it can swim because it almost got away when I brought it down. Maybe I can get it to stay with me and we can swim together? Please?

Lugia was about to explain that humans were sentient and it wouldn't be right when he changed his mind. He could do that, and explain to Lu all about humans, later on. He spoke so both the human and his son could hear his mental voice.

We will see. We will keep it for a day or two, and I will see how you care for it and how it adapts to living here, and then I will make a decision.

Of course, Lugia thought to himself, in a corner of his mind, Lu could not keep Lawrence, and he would explain why in a couple of days. He knew Lu would understand when he explained it to him. Until then, however, it might do Lawrence the world of good to know what it was like to be collected…..