So, looking back, it looks like I tried a multi perspective approach to this. Was this confusing? Should it have been through one group's "eyes"? A little question, that's all. (Edited Sept. 26th)
"PIKACHU! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, ANSWER ME!" A cry rung out throughout the forest. Pikachu's ears perked up as he heard it.
"It's Ash!" Pikachu said to Piplup, who leaned on Pikachu as he caught his breath.
"I gotta send a signal!" The electric mouse thought as yellow electricity built up around him. Pikachu was about to use Thunderbolt to answer his trainer, but he forgot one thing- Piplup was leaning on Pikachu!
"Ahh! Wait a-" Piplup tried to stop his buddy from frying him.
"Thunderbolt!" Pikachu cried as it shot a bolt straight into the sky. The Thunderbolt illuminated the sky with yellow for a few seconds before it disappeared.
"Okay, I think Ash saw that. Piplup, let's wait here." The penguin didn't answer Pikachu.
"Piplup?" Pikachu turned around to find Piplup with wide white eyes, stuck in a pose, with smoke coming off of him.
"Never... do...that...again..." Piplup wheezed before dropping to the ground with his feet twitching. Pikachu scratched its head.
"Uh... sorry, Piplup..." After a few seconds, the penguin shook it off and got up.
"Ugh... anyways, why'd you fry me to a crisp again?" Piplup asked.
"You heard Ash too, right?" Pikachu asked Piplup, who nodded. "Then you know why." Piplup thought for a second before he realized-
"Oh! You were sending a signal!" Piplup finally realized. He wasn't as experienced as Pikachu, who travelled for a longer time.
"Yeah. Now we have to wait for Ash here." Pikachu said, as it took a seat on a tree stump nearby.
"Okay, I heard you the first time..." Piplup took a seat next to Pikachu.
Ryan jumped off of his feet and fell onto the ground when he heard the sudden, loud cry.
"What... was that?" Ryan mumbled as he got up from the ground.
"Squirtle, squirt squirtle?" (What am I doing here?) Squirtle got a rude awakening when the teen crashed to the ground. The pokemon looked at its surroundings in surprise. It was dark with a crescent moon dimly illuminating the sky. Squirtle knew it dozed off a lot longer than it should have. What surprised the pokemon was that he couldn't see his body, only a black pack. He began to wiggle around vigorously. Ryan noticed the movements immediately and set the pack down to let Squirtle out. The pokemon jumped out as soon as Ryan unzipped the pack. Squirtle backed up, preparing to fight the human. He had no idea what the human had done to its friends or where he went while he dozed off.
"Whoa, take it easy Squirtle!" Ryan noticed the defensive stance the pokemon took.
"The Eevee wandered off while we were asleep to play, remember?" The teen said to Squirtle, who wasn't convinced.
"He probably had other humans take them while he took me..."
Ryan continued explaining.
"Squirtle, when I woke up, I saw the Eevee had disappeared. I was about to run off to find them, but you were still asleep! So, I put you in my pack so that you'd get some sleep while I looked for the Eevee."
Squirtle was caught a little off guard. No human had ever really cared if he needed time to sleep, especially HIM. Squirtle lowered his defensive stance and stared at Ryan.
"Uh... is something wrong, Squirtle?" Squirtle didn't answer, since he was lost in his own thoughts.
"Pikachu!" A yellow bolt of lightning flashed in the night sky, snapping Squirtle out of his thoughts.
"Someone called out for a Pikachu a while ago, and there's a bolt of lightning..." Ryan thought as he saw the bolt.
"Squirtle, wanna go check that out?" The pokemon nodded his head. The two of them started to run, but Squirtle fell behind as Ryan started to run faster. Noticing this, he stopped for a second.
"Hey, Squirtle, you need a ride?" He asked Squirtle.
Squirtle nodded, jumped onto Ryan's shoulders and hung on. He had no idea why he said yes, he still didn't trust this human... only, he did trust the human for some unknown reason to Squirtle. His gut told him to trust the human. Ryan, with Squirtle on his shoulder, ran through the forest, passing tree after tree with no sign of the Eevee anywhere.
"Hey, you think the Eevee saw the lightning too?" Ryan asked the tiny turtle pokemon on his shoulder. Squirtle nodded with a small look of confusion on his face. What was the human trying to say?
"Well, what if they're running towards the lightning like we are?" What the human said made sense to Squirtle.
"Aww man, I was sure this was the way back!" The two Eevee were being led by the hyper sister. Since the two left Pikachu and Piplup, they've tried to find their way back to the human and Squirtle, only to find themselves lost for the umpteenth time. Before they knew it, the sunset turned into nightfall.
"Let's take a break..." The brother was exhausted from chasing after his sister and laid down on the ground, where the grass brushed gently against his fur.
"But I know the way out this time!" His sister argued, jumping up and down in front of Eevee.
"That's what you said the last time! And the time before that... and before that..." His sister stopped jumping.
"But I'm sure it's this way!"
"That's what you said earlier t-" Eevee was interrupted by a sudden boisterous voice.
"PIKACHU! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, ANSWER ME!"
Both of the Eevee jumped from the surprise.
"Brother, what was..." Eevee was interrupted by a sudden familiar voice.
"Thunderbolt!" A yellow bolt flashed in the sky for a few seconds and then disappeared.
"That sounded like Pikachu!" Both Eevee said aloud.
"Let's go see what's going on!" Eevee got up from the ground he was resting on.
"I thought you were tired?"
"Well, I was, but..." His sister looked at him with a sly grin.
"Anyways, let's go!"
The Eevee ran into the forest again, hoping to find Pikachu. The brother-sister pair ran side by side, passing bushes and trees full of startled pokemon. They finally approached the small clearing where Pikachu supposedly was, when some strange scents tickled the brother's nose.
"Hey sis!" He stopped in his tracks, which his sister mimicked.
"What's wrong brother?"
"You smell that?" His sister sniffed the air.
"No, what?" Eevee was a bit amazed. He could have sworn she had a sharp nose, especially since she always found flowers no matter where they happened to be.
"Well, I smell a faint scent of Pikachu... and Piplup too, but I'm picking up three weird scents."
"So? It could be the trainers you told me about..." Eevee shook his head.
"It can't be them... the smell, seems older."
"Huh? Since when could you tell ages from scents?" The dumbfounded sister asked her brother.
"I just have a feeling, that's all.." The sister shook her head knowingly. Her brother was just as playful as she was, but... he always had his moments.
"Okay, I guess I'll take your word for it bro!" Before they turned to run again, the sister added,
"You know brother, you sure have had some weird moments lately... are you okay? It's almost like you're about to evolve or something..." A small silence followed as Eevee seemed to reflect upon his sister's words.
"Sis, I feel fine. I'm just worried about you, that's all..." The sister nodded, even though she knew there was more. They continued their sprint towards where the Thunderbolt flashed in the sky earlier.
"Hee-hee!" Three heads popped up from a bush near Pikachu and Piplup.
"Ooh! They're ripe and ready for picking!" James remarked.
"Yeah, what're we doin' here, let's go grab 'em!" The pokemon known as Meowth said.
"Pipe down!" Jessie instantly got their attention. "Now, we all saw that Thunderbolt, right?"
James and Meowth nodded.
"The twerps must be looking for their precious pokemon right now..."
"But what does that hafta do with-" Meowth started to ask, but Jessie ignored him and went on.
"And they must've seen the Thunderbolt and are headed here right now!"
"Then we'd better capture Pikachu and scram!" Meowth noted. Jessie merely waved her finger in a 'not so fast' kind of way.
"I say we set a trap for all the trouble they've put us through!"
Jessie's two cohorts thought she had gone crazy- crazier than normal, anyways. Here was a chance for a quick and easy Pikachu capture, but all she wanted to do was brag right in front of the twerps!
"Wouldn't it make more sense to take Pikachu and leave with no twerps tailing us for once?" James asked. Unfortunately, Jessie didn't take the question too well.
"SHUT UP!" She roared. Her head seemed to grow in size and fire was seen in her eyes. James and Meowth huddled together in fear. Seeing that,
"No questions? Good. I say we dig a bunch of holes around there..."
"I wonder if Ash got lost again..." Pikachu thought aloud. A couple of minutes passed since he launched a Thunderbolt into the sky, giving his location away.
"No, don't be silly Pikachu! If Dawn's with him, he couldn't be lost!" Pikachu sheepishly rubbed his cheek. He didn't want to say it, but... sometimes Dawn was the reason he was lost.
"Well, you're right..."
"I know I am." Piplup put his wings proudly to his waist. "Hey, is that them?" He got off of the stump and ran towards a noise behind some bushes.
"Dawn, Dawn, Dawn!" Piplup repeated as he ran.
"Wait, Piplup!" Pikachu started to run, but a metallic noise made him stop.
"Huh?" That was all Pikachu could say before a small cage dropped and slammed shut on him.
"Piplup!" The proud penguin turned to his trapped friend.
"Pikachu? What's-" Another small cage dropped on the penguin and captured him.
"Gotcha!"
Piplup and Pikachu looked up in the sky at a Meowth hot air balloon and loathed the sight of three familiar faces.
"Look! Over there, it's Team Rocket!" Dawn pointed out towards Meowth balloon in the distance. Ash and Dawn were still running towards where Pikachu shot a Thunderbolt into the air earlier.
"Pikachu! We gotta hurry!" Ash started gaining speed rapidly.
Dawn tried to keep up with Ash, but he was just too fast.
"Ash! Wait up!" Dawn cried out.
Ash, with Dawn trailing behind, was catching up to where the hovering balloon was. However, unknown to the young trainers, Team Rocket had something in store for them...
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out from the cage it was in to its trainer.
"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup reached a wing out between his cage for his trainer.
Ash looked ahead of where he was running and saw two small cages with Pikachu and Piplup trapped.
"Pikachu! Don't worry, I'll get'cha outta-" Before Ash could finish his sentence, the ground below him collapsed, sending him falling.
"Ash!" Dawn stopped in front of the pit. "Are you alright?"
Ash had landed at the bottom of the pit.
"Yeah, I'm okay!" He told the blunette. "Get Pikachu and Piplup outta those cages!"
Dawn turned to look at the two cages. Pikachu and Piplup wore worried looks on their faces. Turning back to her friend at the bottom of the pit,
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine!"
Dawn had second thoughts about leaving Ash down there, but he had been in tougher situations before... or so he had told her. She got up and ran towards the pokemon trapped in the cages when Pikachu shouted and shook his head.
"Pika! Pika, pikachu!" He shouted in warning, but it was too late.
"Ahh!" A few feet ahead of Ash, Dawn fell through the ground in the same manner he had fallen.
"Ow..." Dawn had safely landed on her behind, except it hurt from the impact.
"Dawn! You alright up there? Dawn!" Ash called out from his hole. Dawn was about to answer when she was interrupted.
"Listen, is that a twerp I hear?" A female voice said from above.
"Yelling out loud and clear!" A male voice followed.
Ash and Dawn both looked up at the descending balloon.
"Floating on the wind,"
"Past the stars-"
"In your ears!" Meowth jumped in.
"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"
"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!"
"A rose by any other name's just as sweet-"
"When everything's worse, our work is complete!"
"Jessie!" She struck a pose, pointing at the two trapped in the holes.
"James!" He also struck the same pose Jessie did, only mirrored and he had a red rose in his hand.
"Meowth, now dat's a name!" The pokemon jumped up onto the edge of the balloon basket.
"Putting the do-gooders in their place-"
"We're Team Rocket-" The three all pointed at the twerps.
"And we're in your face!" They all finished at once.
"Hey, there's Pikachu!"
The Eevee had finally found their new friend from earlier, but something was wrong- terribly wrong. What was Pikachu doing in a cage?
"Brother, what's going on?"
"I don't know..." He whispered back to his sister. They were hiding behind a bush, watching a scene unfold in front of them. Cries of "Dawn!" were heard and a strange trio was reciting something as they descended down to the ground in their balloon. The trio looked busy, so Eevee took the chance to ask his friend what's going on.
"Psst! Pikachu!"
Pikachu's ear twitched as he turned his head towards the source of the whisper. He saw the two Eevee poking their heads through a bush.
"What's going on? Why are you and Piplup in cages?" Eevee continued as he also noticed the proud penguin pokemon in another small cage nearby.
"It's Team Rocket!"
"Team what?" The sister replied.
"Rocket, and they trapped my trainer and Dawn in those holes over there!" Pikachu pointed towards the two holes in front of his cage.
"But why?" The sister asked.
"To catch me and Piplup!"
"What can we do to help?" The brother asked quickly, as it sounded like the trio was finishing whatever they were reciting.
"Get out of here and get help! If they see you guys, they'll try to capture you guys too!" The brother suddenly wore a serious look on his face as he answered,
"Okay. I'll go get my human to help." He and his sister pulled their heads back from the bushes. Eevee was about to run off, when his sister asked him,
"But shouldn't we help Pikachu and Piplup?"
"What could we do to help? Neither of us knows any strong attacks- you don't even know Quick Attack!" The brother answered.
"But what about that one move you learned?" The brother seemed a bit surprised her sister remembered he knew that move.
"It's... still not ready yet. Let's hurry up and get the human here!" He ran off in the opposite direction with a curious sister following behind.
"Hey, he's nearby!" The sister's nose picked up the familiar human's scent. She ran in front of her brother and started to sprint faster. She stopped behind a tree and told her brother,
"He's getting closer!"
"Squirtle, what's up?" The tiny turtle pokemon had jumped off of Ryan's shoulder and ran off in another direction. Squirtle stopped near a tree and called,
"Squirtle! Squirt squirtle?" (Eevee! Are you guys there?)
Then two familiar and nearly identical faces showed themselves from behind the tree.
"Eevee!" (Squirtle!) The two Eevee exclaimed at the same time. They ran up to Squirtle and greeted their friend.
"Hey guys!" Ryan walked over to where the Eevee siblings were. As he walked, the Eevee remembered what they needed to do to help their friends in trouble.
"I'm glad you guys are..." He stopped in mid sentence as he thought he saw worried looks on the Eevee's faces. Squirtle also noticed and asked,
"Squirt squirtle?" (What's wrong?)
Eevee ran up to Ryan and motioned over towards the direction they came from.
"Eevee, eevee vee!" (Please, help us!) She cried out. Unfortunately, the teen had yet to understand what the pokemon were really saying.
"Huh?" Ryan looked in the direction Eevee motioned. "Say, isn't that the direction where the lightning bolt was?" He thought out loud. It took a minute, but from the lightning bolt to the worried Eevee, he managed to put two and two together.
"Did something bad happen or something?" Ryan asked Eevee, who nodded. Then she ran off, looking back and crying out,
"Eevee vee!" (Follow me!) Then she ran off again. Her brother followed with an almost urgent like speed and Squirtle started to follow.
"Squirt!" (Wait!) Squirtle called to no avail as the Eevee ran off.
"Come on Squirtle, something's up." Ryan said to Squirtle. He motioned for Squirtle to climb onto his shoulder so he could catch up to the Eevee. After a bit of hesitation, Squirtle decided to climb on- something was wrong with his friends. Then Ryan and Squirtle quickly followed the Eevee, who were ahead of them.
Eevee stopped behind a line of bushes which seemed to lead to a small clearing.
"Eevee!" (Over here!) She motioned Ryan over and peeked through the bush. Her brother did the same as Ryan approached. Squirtle hopped off of his shoulder and looked with the Eevee.
"Huh? Why are they…"
Ryan decided to do the same action as the pokemon and peek through the bushes. His heart skipped a beat.
"N-no way..."
A familiar Meowth balloon hung overhead with a familiar trio of thieves inside. A familiar electric mouse was trapped in a small cage on the ground. A not so familiar blue penguin was also trapped. And two open pitfall traps graced the ground, meaning someone had fallen in.
"Is that...?" Ryan shook his head.
"It can't be..." He remembered waking up early Saturday mornings to see a cartoon, a certain cartoon called Pokemon. His thoughts flashed to a messy haired boy with a Z on his red and white hat, a redhead girl, and a tanned teen fighting off this same trio of thieves- "Team Rocket! Ryan looked up at the figures in the hot air balloon. A purple haired guy- James! A red haired woman- Jessie! They even had the same Meowth!
"Hey, dat worked like a charm!" The Meowth talked, just like the cartoon! Ryan's mind was blown. The pokemon next to him noticed his shocked expression. The Eevee were a bit surprised themselves- how did this human know these bad people? The sister nudged Ryan, shaking him from his almost star struck-like thoughts. Ryan, noticing he was lost in thought, apologized.
"Sorry guys." He looked over towards the Pikachu trapped in a cage. It looked familiar too! The boy from the cartoon had a Pikachu too! What if...
"That Pikachu looks familiar... if Team Rocket's here, then that has to mean..." A shout from one of the holes confirmed his theory.
"Team Rocket, you'll never get away with this!" A familiar voice yelled out.
"Too bad we just did, twerp!" Jessie stuck her tongue out, facing the hole farthest away from the cages.
"It's Ash Ketchum!" Ryan thought, his mind was having trouble comprehending anything that was happening. Weird fortune telling, real pokemon, and now, the cartoon characters were real?
"Wait, is Ash stuck in one of those holes?" He quietly asked both of the Eevee. They both nodded. It all clicked in Ryan's head- Eevee wanted him to help Pikachu!
Ryan quickly thought of a plan. Three pokemon and a human that needed to rescue a Pikachu, Ash, and anybody else in that other hole. The pokemon probably wouldn't obey if he tried to command them. Even if they would, he had no idea what they could do. He knew what attacks they could learn, but he had no idea which ones they could do.
"A head on strike is out... Well, unless..." He remembered about the rope in his pack and took it out. He had one part of his plan ready, now for the next part.
"Guys," Squirtle and the Eevee looked at Ryan as he talked. "I got a plan," He held the rope in his hand. "I'll get Ash out of the hole, and he'll send one of his pokemon out to break the cage Pikachu's in! Problem is, I need time to do this, and I have a feeling Team Rocket won't give it to us."
Realizing what he needed to do, Eevee charged out from the bush.
"No! Wait!" Ryan reached out through the bush, instantly blowing his cover.
"Oh, shoot."