Nurse Joy packed up her daily belongings in her bag, getting ready to hand off her shift to her third cousin, the other Nurse Joy that worked the night shift. "Are all the Pokemon in stable condition, Chansey?" Nurse Joy asked Chansey, the assistant who helped out with the day-to-day tasks.
Chansey nodded and walked back to the area where Pokemon were kept. Nurse Chanseys usually worked both shifts, as they were able to maintain their strength for long periods, so while Nurse Joy was going home to sleep, Chansey was getting ready for another session of work.
Nurse Joy grabbed everything that belonged to her and hoisted her purse onto her shoulder. She pushed the chair under the desk and began walking towards the door that led outside. Before exiting, however, she looked at the small screen that showed current news about everything that needed to be known.
None of the news particularly caught her eye, except the final part of the information, which talked about something that was of interest to her. "Small signs of Zygarde cell activity shown to be in Santalune City..." she read in a whisper. We're currently in Santalune City right now. I wonder why there are readings of Zygarde?
Six years ago, she never would have understood the activity of a Zygarde cell, let alone what a Zygarde was. After what people were calling the Cell War, which was a massive fallout from an intense and damaging conflict somewhere in Kanto, high-ranking officials made sure that people knew what certain people and Pokemon looked like and what threat they could pose to society.
"And that's all for today's news!" The bulletin read. Nurse Joy frowned and thought to herself, It would've been nice to know more about that Zygarde cell activity. She shrugged it off and walked through the doors outside, only to be met with a pitiful sight.
A young man, around his late teens with raven-colored hair, was crawling towards the center on the ground, his fists bloody and a Pikachu with burn marks on his arms. "Oh my Arceus!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, running over to the teenager, who looked up at her. Something about him looked familiar, but she wasn't positive about it. "Please... help... Pikachu..." he muttered before losing all strength and fainting right on the ground.
It took a second for Nurse Joy to react. She hoisted the trainer onto her shoulder and poked her head inside the center, yelling to Chansey, "Code Red! Code Red!" In a matter of seconds, Chansey came running with a stretcher, allowing Nurse Joy to place him on it. As they both pushed him back into the operating room, Nurse Joy stared in wonder at the teenager's face, wondering desperately how he got there.
{—} 22 hours earlier from the arrival {—}
Samuel offered Ash a towel, dripping with water. Ash happily accepted it and applied it to his sweating forehead. "So that's all of the training for today?" Ash asked, hinting at the now setting sun which signified that bedtime was soon. Samuel chuckled and nodded. "Sure. You've made enough progress for today."
Ash lightly punched the old man on the arm and laid down in his hammock. He and Samuel hadn't always had a father and son relationship. It was a sort of professional mentor and student situation at first, which slowly became more comfortable and friendly as the months grew by.
"Well, good night, Ash," Samuel said, waving as he departed for his small hut that stood just a few dozen yards away from where Ash usually slept. "Yep. See you tomorrow," Ash responded, sitting up in the hammock and nodding at Samuel, who had begun walking away.
Pikachu slowly made his way over to Ash and hopped up into the hammock. "Pika..." Pikachu said tiredly, snuggling into Ash, who leaned back and rested his head on the end of the hammock. His mind, now on Samuel and what he meant to Ash, began wandering back to the first time they had truly broken the barrier and began bonding.
It was around five years ago, nearing an entire year that Ash had been on that island as a result of him flying away from his previous life. He hadn't yet acclimated to Samuel's training schedule and rigorous demands, so it didn't shock him that on this day particularly, he had slacked off big time whilst dealing with some major mental blockages.
Up until that point, he hadn't been able to trust Samuel at all, as he had restrained himself from asking why Samuel was helping him due to a fear of being ridiculed or scolded for asking in the first place. His lack of trust, however, had begun to bleed into his training, causing him to flinch more often at Samuel's attacks or fail to react altogether.
Around the twentieth time, Samuel had caught Ash off guard during defense training, Ash had brought himself to his feet and asked Samuel point-blank, "Why are you helping me? What do you get out of it? And how do you know everything about me?" His questions came out in a hurry, causing Samuel to lower his guard.
Ash had waited impatiently for a response, not wanting to continue any training until he got one. Samuel had walked over to a nearby log and sat down, signaling for Ash to do the same. Eventually doing so, Ash had begun waiting patiently as Samuel had stared out at the sunset. "I witnessed the death of my wife and son," Samuel had said blankly, shocking Ash so badly that he had stopped breathing for a good minute or two.
Samuel sighed and added, "Sorry for being so blunt, but telling you this is very important for the rest of the reasoning for why I am here." Ash had nodded his head shakily, gulping after hearing that horrible fact. Samuel had stood up and walked over to the sandy beach. "One year ago, you appeared on this island after an emotional turmoil within yourself. Am I correct?" Samuel had asked Ash whilst looking away from him.
"I-I don't know why you know this stuff, but yes," Ash had responded. "I guess you can call it that." Samuel nodded and frowned. "Only a few days prior, I had managed to attain a mental state that only the highest level of meditators hope to achieve," Samuel began explaining as he sat down on the beach. "A mental state?" Ash had asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"We lived in Sinnoh. I watched my wife and son die 20 years ago," Samuel had continued, ignoring Ash's question. "It was at the hands of Team Rocket, which I'm sure you know about." Ash had nodded his head. "I don't want to talk about what they did exactly, but it was enough to cause me to go crazy. I would've done anything to get them back at that moment," Samuel had continued, his voice quivering.
Ash had stared at the ground while Samuel spoke, unable to respond in any way. "So, I left my life behind and traveled far away, eventually ending up in the high mountains where not a single human resided," Samuel had explained. "I was living off of berries and river water with no interactions of any kind for days, until I stumbled across a group of Medicham deep in the snowy forest, all meditating and paying no bother to my presence."
Samuel had stood back up on the beach and stared at the calm ocean water. "My first instinct was to take out my anger upon these peaceful creatures, but something about the atmosphere there urged me to not do so," he had confessed. "One thing led to another, and those Medicham showed me how to find peace with what had happened." Ash's mouth had opened breathlessly by this point.
"A few months before you arrived here was nearing my twentieth year of meditating and living peacefully in the mountains. I knew my life was nearing its latter half, so I managed to meditate in a deeper state each day," Samuel had explained while walking back to the log. "Of course, you can understand what I'm about to say given the timeframe," he had said to Ash, who thought for a moment.
"That was around the time I was fighting against Giovanni and Mewtwo, wasn't it?" Ash had guessed, earning a slight nod from Samuel. "Correct. And if you recall, you were using your Lucario's Aura to gain strength during battle," he had added. Ash had suddenly understood. "You could feel the Aura, couldn't you?" Ash had asked, feeling confident in his answer.
"To some extent," Samuel had responded. "I could feel that something massive was taking place. Of course, this has happened a few times over the last twenty years. But every time I could sense a massive conflict taking place through the bond created by the trainer and Pokemon, there was one thing that was the same." Ash had tilted his head. "And that is...?" He had asked impatiently.
"You were the one there to stop it," Samuel had said, turning towards Ash. "Once I had deduced this, I was able to keep track of your adventures and battles, which is why I know so much about you." Ash had put a finger up to his chin. "So, what makes this time any different?" Ash had asked inquisitively. "Why interact with me now, after all this time?"
Samuel had frowned. "I've asked myself the same question," he had said. "Some force urged me to help you become stronger by training with you after you had woken up from your coma." Ash had nodded and realized that he also felt extremely compelled to simply run away upon awakening from his coma, similar to how Samuel felt the need to find Ash soon after.
"So it wasn't just my emotions getting in my way?" Ash had asked, feeling hopeful that maybe it wasn't his fault for feeling this way. Samuel frowned and shook his head. "I do believe you still have issues there, Ash," he had responded, causing Ash to frown.
"All I know, Ash, is that there's a greater threat than that Zygarde Core upon us," Samuel had added, a hint of fear in his voice. "While that third Core may be stabilized in a laboratory somewhere, something tells me that a product of that conflict may be the bigger issue." Ash had suddenly gotten up and held out a hand to Samuel.
"Help me get stronger," he had said bluntly. "I want to make sure this planet never has to go through any turmoil ever again!" He had rubbed his hands on the back of his head. "I wasn't open to training before, but now I understand you more, so I'm readier than ever." Samuel had been caught off guard, but gave a small smile and grabbed Ash's hand. "Show me you're ready through your training," Samuel had responded, his voice filled with pride and respect.
Of course, in the present day, Ash and Samuel were close friends, despite the large age gap. They had a mutual respect that only the most skillful of trainers could have for each other. Ash smiled as he thought about their relationship while he began drifting away to sleep.
{—} 16 hours earlier from the arrival {—}
"Pika...pi..."
Ash, who was sound asleep, opened his eyes to reveal a worried-looking Pikachu desperately shoving him to wake him up, trying to get his attention. "What's the matter, buddy?" Ash groaned, feeling the effects of a lack of sleep. He sat up and smacked his mouth, stretching his arms. "PIKA!" Pikachu screamed, pointing behind Ash.
Ash turned around and quickly realized what Pikachu was freaking out about. A large fire had engulfed the entire forest around him, spreading ashes everywhere and causing the native Pokemon to evacuate. Ash quickly reached for his Pokeballs on his belt and released all of the Pokemon that he had on hand, revealing Dragonite, Gengar, and Farfetch'd.
"You guys need to help all those Pokemon," Ash quickly commanded. All of his Pokemon realized the severity of the situation and quickly began guiding the Pokemon away. Ash watched intensely, thinking about his next move when it hit him like a ton of bricks. Samuel. His heart dropped to his stomach as he realized Samuel's cottage was deep in the forest.
"Dragonite!" He roared, getting his flying Pokemon's attention. "We need to go find Samuel. NOW!" Dragonite, feeling his trainer's desperation, flew over at supersonic speed and picked Ash up, quickly taking him up into the air to look for the cottage.
Ash almost screamed at the sight. The entire forest was completely covered in flames, with most of it already burned and reduced to nothing. Luckily, Ash knew that Samuel's cottage wasn't too far from where the fire hadn't yet reached, so he quickly told Dragonite to fly over to see if any damage had been done.
He noticed as he flew over that the fire was spreading at a rapid rate. Too rapid. Ash commanded Dragonite to fly closer to the ground and saw something that sent him into a rage. A group of men in black and red outfits, proudly showing a large 'R' on the front, had flamethrowers strapped to their backs and were flaming everything in their path.
Ash, fueled with hatred once realizing that this was caused by Team Rocket, swooped down and allowed Dragonite to land on the ground powerfully, causing the grunts to look behind them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ash screamed, his voice demanding. The grunts looked at each other and nodded, sending out their Pokemon to deal with Ash while they continued flaming the forest.
Ash was not amused by this attempt at shrugging him off. They caused so much damage to the place he called his third home, that they needed to pay. All five of the grunts each had a Raticate, something that Ash knew would be no issue. "Dragonite, use Hurricane!" Ash commanded. Dragonite began flapping its wings and sent the Raticate hurtling back into the grunts, who were knocked over as a result.
Ash turned to Dragonite. "Can you get them out of here?" He asked. Dragonite nodded and flew over to the knocked-out grunts and their Pokemon, and began transporting them to the beach one at a time. Ash knew he would have to put his trust into Dragonite for the time being, and ran past the grunts in search of Samuel.
Upon reaching further into the forest, Ash horrifically realized that while he was busy with those grunts, the fire had spread massively. So much so that Ash couldn't tell his general location, meaning he couldn't find Samuel or his cottage. I can't just lose Samuel, Ash thought to himself. I've got to find him.
