Well, now that you know about Sora(Ash), you might be wondering about how that mermaid Rina(Misty) fits into this picture. Well, here's a small little insight into how Rina came into the mix with Sora. And some stuff here will come full circle later in the story.

Again, I do not own Pokemon or its characters. They all are the property of Game Freak, Nintendo, and related companies.

"Hurry up, Rina! We're going to be late!" Rina's sister, Sarah, complained.

"I'm swimming as fast as I can," Rina retorted. She always hated how pushy her younger sister got. Sarah was a pretty strong-willed mermaid, when she needed to be. She had dark blue hair that went just past her shoulders. She wore a pair of clam-shaped earrings and a sky blue bikini top. Her tail was a bright pink color with a red clam-shaped imprint on her hip.

Before long, Rina caught up to her eager and impatient sister. Floating beside her was her other sister, Kari. She had brown hair that wasn't as long as the others, and a bright orange tail with an aquamarine spiral-shaped shell imprint. She had a pair of starfish earrings, an armlet made out of various shells, and wore a green bikini top.

Immediately upon Rina's arrival, Kari spotted what they were waiting for. In the distance came a huge pod of Wailord and Lapras. The massive, blue bodies of the Wailord glided so gracefully under the Lapras. The two groups of Pokémon were migrating to another region of the sea, and they only passed by where the three mermaids lived once every couple years or so. But when they came by, they would share tales of the many wonderful places they had seen.

Overly excited, Sarah cried out, "Come on. I'll bet they all have tales as big as they are to tell us this time."

As she took off, Kari sighed and told her sister, "She just never seems to stop, does she?"

"What's there to stop?" Rina replied. "We had been looking forward to hearing about their journeys. So, we'd better catch up." And they swam up to the pod to hear what they had to share.

Kari and Sarah hung out below with the Wailord, hearing stories about seeing many strange places that had sunk to the bottom of the sea and about great treasures the mermaids could look for someday. While that was going on, Rina rested on one of the Lapras' back to hear tales of humans. Unlike her sisters, Rina became interested in humans when she overheard one of the Lapras talk about a human that had saved him and reunited him with his family.
For a long time, it was believed by the three that humans were cruel and heartless creatures who thought only of themselves. This had partly been because of some human encounters the mermaids had when they were younger. But when Rina heard about the human who saved Lapras, something inside her changed. She felt curious about this human. And she had been eager to know more about him.

"So, have you seen this human since we last talked about him?" Rina inquired. Unlike humans, mermaids could understand Pokémon via telepathy. However, this was limited primarily to Water-types.

In response, Lapras answered, 'Only once. But I have heard more about him very recently.'

"What's he like?" Rina asked rather eagerly.

'He is very pure-hearted. He cares greatly for those around him. And he can understand Pokémon on a deeper level than most other humans.' Lapras described.

"Really?" Rina exclaimed, beaming with earnest to hear more.

'Indeed.' Lapras told her. 'He has a Pikachu that he has been friends with for the longest time. And he has many more Pokémon that live with him that all love and respect him.'

"How do you know he has a Pikachu though Lapras?" Rina questioned. Not that she doubted it, but she had not heard of too many Pokémon of the land. Though Pikachu was one she had heard of, hearing someone being partners with it were rarer still.

To this, Lapras smiled and told her, 'Because when he helped me, he had a Pikachu with him. I thought I had told you about this before.' The mermaid said nothing in response, but then tried to envision the human she was told about.

Rina could not help the feeling of elation that grew in her heart as the image came to her. There was a human who loved Pokémon just as much as she did. She imagined him being very handsome, with a smile that would melt her heart. She wished she could meet him, to know more about him. Perhaps he would be different from other humans.

'I heard he settled in a kingdom to the east of here after saving another human's life,' Lapras continued.

"What do you mean?" Rina asked, snapped out of her revelry.

'I don't know what happened, but I do know he lives near here. You might get to see him for yourself.'

"I think I will. Thank you Lapras."

'Think nothing of it child.'

Deciding she should follow what she was told, Rina hopped back into the water and waved good-bye as the pod continued its migration. Down below, story time was also over. And Sarah and Kari were saying good-bye to the Wailord.

Swimming up to them, Rina suggested, "Sisters, let's go visit the island to the east."

"But, that's a human island!" Sarah gasped.

"Why do you want to go there?" Kari questioned. "Humans are dangerous."

"Just one quick peek, then we can go home," Rina reasoned. And without another word, she took off towards the east. Not having much of a choice, the two followed her as they ventured towards the island, home of the human town known as Aurora.

Upon arrival, the three mermaids spotted a crowd of humans gathering near a black ship. The sight of the vessel intimidated all three.

"I don't like this," Sarah muttered.

"Me neither," Kari agreed. "It's probably just a show or some kind of torture their doing."

Looking to the eldest, Sarah griped, "We had a peek. Can we go now?"

"Not yet," Rina spoke fiercely. "I want to see this." So she swam closer to the port, followed by her unwilling followers.

With much difficulty, the three sisters managed to at least lift their heads onto the side of the port. Various humans were crowding the dock, but it seemed that their focus was on the ship.

Then, from out of nowhere, someone proclaimed, "Guardian Sora has arrived!" At this, the crowd parted, and the three mermaids could spot someone coming down. A boy, no older than twelve, wielding a staff and having a Pikachu ride on his shoulder. Rina was star struck, yet she didn't know why.

"Look," Kari said, breaking Rina out of her trance. "That boy is about to battle that human on the ship."

"Ooh, a battle?" Sarah replied, getting all giddy. "This will be exciting!" Rina couldn't agree more. Mermaids rarely got to see too much battling. Even though they had their own Pokémon, they weren't as exciting as seeing humans battle.

As soon as the Guardian Sora and the other human sent out a Rhyperior and Bulbasaur, the battle commenced. The other villagers cheered and oohed as the two battlers exchanged blows. Sarah and Kari even joined in when the crowd got loud enough so they wouldn't be heard. But Rina was fixated on Sora. There was something about him that made her heart go haywire. She thought it was the way he commanded his Bulbasaur, or how he anticipated his opponent's attacks, or even how he judged what to do and how. There was so much that captivated her that she found it hard to really describe.

When the Guardian Sora had ended victorious with Bulbasaur's Solarbeam attack, Rina cheered, "Yay! He did it!" But, in doing so, she let go of the edge and fell back into the water. Her sisters soon followed, and it was a good thing too. Rina's outburst attracted the attention of a couple of villagers standing near where they were hiding.

"What was that about Rina?" Kari interrogated, safely hidden with her sisters below the waves.

"That was kind of weird," Sarah inputted. "I don't think you ever cheered for a human to win. At least, not with that much energy."

Blushing from embarrassment, Rina replied, "Sorry. Guess I just got a little carried away."

"I think that was more than just 'a little.'" Sarah eyed suspiciously. The two were about to ask further until they noticed Rina taking off for the farter parts of the coastline. This new behavior in their sister both puzzled them. Kari was quick to dismiss it, but Sarah was a little more persistent on the issue.

At a nearby beach, the three sisters rested on the wet sand as they each thought about the humans' Pokémon battle. Sarah was busying herself by brushing her hair. Kari scavenged the sand for pretty shells she could use to make new jewelry with. Rina, however, lay in the sand and was humming a song to herself.

As Sarah was listening to her elder sister, she stopped mid-stroke and inquired, "What's gotten you in such a happy mood?"

Rina didn't understand what her sister meant, until Kari added, "You don't usually hum that cheerfully unless something really good happened. The last time you were this happy was when we sunk that human ship with your Gyarados's help."

With a small chuckle, Rina answered, "I was just thinking about that human boy. The one they called Guardian Sora."

"What about him?" Sarah asked. "He's just another human. Another Remoraid in the school. There's nothing special about him, especially as a human."

Considering carefully, Rina replied, "Oh I don't know Sarah. I was thinking more about how great of a battle it would be, if I went against him."

"You really want to battle him?" Kari questioned. Rina knew that wasn't the entire truth, but she didn't want her listeners to know the real reason she thought about that boy.

Before she could compose another answer, the three were startled when an Absol darted by them.

"What was that?" both Rina and Sarah wondered aloud.

"Trouble," Kari told them. And she pointed to the horizon. Soon all three saw dark clouds begin to block out the last rays of sunlight. A tempest was approaching, and fast by the looks of it. Understanding that it was not safe to remain, the mermaids dove back into the water, and went deeper towards the bottom.

Reaching a nearby reef, the mermaids stopped to open three oysters. Inside were rather large pearls, each the same color as the tail of the mermaid it belonged to. Inside these pearls, like with the gems the humans had, housed their Pokémon that they could call upon to aid them. Each of them retrieved their pearl and tied the string attached to them around their necks.

Hastily swimming up to their sea cave, Sarah urged, "Hurry! That tempest will be here any minute!" Not a second later did the currents grow stronger, threatening to throw them around. Kari quickly followed Sarah inside their shelter.

Rina was about to follow, when she suddenly heard, 'Somebody! Help!' It was a Pokémon, and a Water-type to boot. Rina didn't know where the call was coming from, but she knew she had to help.

"Rina! Get inside!" Sarah called.

But Rina responded, "There's a Pokémon in distress in this storm. I need to go help it. Stay here, and stay safe. I'll be back." And she took off.

"Rina!" Sarah started to call. But Kari held her back from following.

"You know how she gets," Kari explained. "Whenever a Water Pokémon is in trouble, she always feels that she has to help it. That's just who she is." Sarah understood that, but she didn't like that Rina would be simply reckless doing it.

Reaching the surface, Rina began looking around for the Pokémon that called out to her. But the waves were getting rougher, making it difficult to stay afloat. Lightning crashed from the clouds above, wind howled in her ears, sheets of rain pounded the surface of the water and the land nearby. She would be in great danger if she stayed up here too long.

Then, through the rain, She spotted the Pokémon calling for help. It was a Squirtle! The turtle Pokémon was stuck on the back of its own shell, and was flailing in its effort to right itself.

'Sora, somebody, help!' Squirtle called out. Rina suddenly froze after hearing the first name he said. How did this Squirtle know this human she saw earlier today?

As if to answer her question, Sora came up to the bluff's edge and yelled over the wind, "Hang on Squirtle!" Rina finally realized this Squirtle belonged to Sora, and he had come out to save it. She was even more impressed when Sora used his staff and returned Squirtle before it fell into the water even though he had to toss it to save it. But as he went to retrieve it, a massive wave spilled over the bluff, and swept him and Pikachu under.

"Oh no!" Rina cried out, and she dove down to find him. She immediately spotted Sora, struggling against the currents to get to the surface. But eventually, he and his partner let out the air in their lungs as they passed out. Rina couldn't bear to watch this human drown. He had already shown a great love for his Pokémon, and realized that what Lapras said about him was true. That he was pure-hearted, and loved and respected his Pokemon very highly.

Convinced of what she needed to do, Rina swam up to Sora and managed to grab his wrist before he continued to sink. Hauling him up, she managed to get a hold of him around his waist. But it took a lot of her effort to swim against the stormy waters, and trying to lift Sora made it harder.

Tapping her pearl, Rina whispered, "Gyarados, please, help me save him." A beam of teal-colored light escaped from the pearl, and a mammoth-sized sea snake Pokémon with a huge, gaping jaw appeared beside her. Gyarados swam under Rina and Sora, and picked them up. Then, it set them down on the beach and coiled itself around the two to protect them from the elements. Looking at Sora's unconscious face, Rina felt a gaping tug at her heart.

So she prayed, "Please Sora, be alright."

The next morning found the duo asleep under a bright, sunny sky. Rina's Gyarados had returned itself to its mistress's pearl once the storm had broken over. Rina groggily began to wake up, when she realized she had been sleeping right next to Sora, her head on his chest just a hair from Pikachu's ear. Then she remembered: the storm, Squirtle, Sora falling into the sea. Carefully removing Pikachu from Sora's coat and setting him next to her, Rina put her ear to Sora's chest. His breathing was slow, as was his heartbeat, slower than normal. Rina instantly began to panic. Sora might die if she didn't save him soon.
But as she calmed herself down to clear her head, she rested her hand on Sora's and Pikachu's chests as she sung a song to save them.

A twinkle in the night sky, far far away
A golden star I gaze upon in my dreams
On a sleepless evening, I sing along
Tomorrow, I'll sing with you. On the wings of a dream
On a sleepless evening, I sing along
Tomorrow, I'll sing with you. On the wings of a dream

As she sung, Sora began to become conscious once more. Rina looked to him just in time to see his eyes squint slightly open.

"A… mermaid?" he muttered, loud enough for her to hear.

Rina nodded, and introduced herself, "My name is Rina. I saved you."

"Saved me?" Sora struggled to reply. Then his eyes began to close.

Worried, Rina pleaded, "Are you alright? Please stay with me."

But as he conked out again, Rina worriedly thought, 'What do I do now?'

Okay, so there you go. The stage has been set, so far. But now Rina faces the difficulty of reviving Sora after he nearly drowned. Not exactly an easy thing when you've never had to deal with this sort of thing before.

Stay tuned for more chapters to come. Till then, please review and let me know what you think (politely and respectfully, please).