With a hesitant glance behind me, I gently pushed through the barren branches of a small bush. Dark black clouds loomed overhead and the dim flickering of raw lightning could be seen in the distance. The leafless trees of the forest made it easy to see the fast approaching storm.

I surged ahead heedless of the storm. Everyone would be indoors and I'd have time to myself. My mother would no doubt worry, but I could take care of myself. I knew these trees. I grew up here.

I stumbled slightly as I neared my destination and I almost dropped the object I was carrying under my coat. Stuffing it hastily back under my arm, I forged onwards. I couldn't let anything happen to it.

As the first raindrops began to pelt around me, I found what I was looking for; a small burrow in the base of a tree which was large enough to fit me comfortably. I guess something large had lived in it at some point, but it had long been abandoned. I slipped inside as the clouds let loose.

The rain created a smooth pattering sound on the dry dirt floor of the dark forest as I settled in my burrow. No one would bother me here. It was better I look at this in private.

I removed a small chest from the inside of my coat and placed it on the ground before me. It was made of simple wood sanded smooth and painted in a cherry finish. There was a small latch which looked like it might have sported a lock as some point, but it had long vanished.

Glancing out into the storm briefly, I flip the latch and opened the chest.

Several old papers sat on the very top. I picked them up and they crinkled slightly. In the dim light, I could barely make out the handwriting, but I read my mother's name on the top. A swift scan showed them to be by a name starting with a large R. The rest of the name was impossible to make out with the style of writing and the dim light. I'd have to read them later. They had to be important if my mother had warned me to never to touch this chest.

I placed them inside the lid of the chest to keep them off the ground and picked up the next items that presented themselves to me.

They looked like several differently coloured spray bottles one might use for cleaning the kitchen counters or spraying mist onto plants in a greenhouse. I stared at them in confusion. They looked familiar but I couldn't quite place where. It was clear they were probably as old as the papers which had been placed on top of them.

I shifted them aside and placed them in the lid too before I lifted out a horseshoe-shaped magnet. It was mostly gray with one tip red and the other blue. There was something that looked like it could be a claw or a fang and it had several nicks taken out of it. A small bag of silvery powder joined the objects on top of the papers, as did an ordinary spoon with a major bend in it. Each of the objects was interesting, but the next one made me catch my breath.

A bolt of lightning struck somewhere nearby and thunder shook the ground as I lifted the sphere out of the chest. I almost dropped it both in shock at what I was holding and surprise from the lightning strike.

I stared at what I held in my hand.

This couldn't be right! They had all been destroyed!

I gawked at the ball I held. It was split in two by a thick black band with a white button in the middle. The bottom half was white and the top half appeared to be a deep purple colour. It had two pinky-purple spots on the top and a small letter M just above the button.

I stared at the Poké Ball I held. These things had been destroyed since Team Plasma decreed all Pokémon to be liberated and the Poké Ball rendered useless. They were devices for torturing and enslaving Pokémon. Why would my mother be hiding one?

A roar of thunder made me jump and swiftly gape into the clearing as lightning blazed again and something landed just beside the tree I was sheltering in. It staggered slightly before it collapsed into the mud.

Before I could stop myself, I ran out into the rain and to the creature's side.

It was mostly yellow with pale black patches on its legs and sides almost resembling jagged stripes. It looked almost like a picture I'd seen somewhere of a large wildcat. It had a flowing purple-gray cape-like mane draped halfway along its back. The tail looked like lightning and sparks in a pale blue colour and it had more pale blue fur for its whiskers. It had a dark gray crest on the top of its head and long white fangs which loomed just passed its chin.

I stared at it heedless of the rain drenching me. It stared back at me with bright, intelligent, red eyes and growled softly at my approach before its head dropped to the ground in a groan of pain.

I felt a welling of emotion in the center of my chest. This had to be a Pokémon! I hadn't seen one since I was a very young child. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a Pokémon. This creature was magnificent! It was also injured.

I had to do something to help it and quickly.

It was obviously going to be too heavy for me to lift properly, and where would I take it to take care of it? As far as I was aware, Pokémon centers don't exist anymore so I couldn't just take it somewhere to heal it. I'd be accused of hurting it myself and I didn't want to know what the members of Team Plasma would do to me then.

I glanced at the ball in my hand. I'd forgotten it in my rush to discover this Pokémon. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I considered the option. I didn't want to trap this Pokémon, but I couldn't move it otherwise. It would be easier to move around if I got it inside this ball. I just had to make sure Team Plasma didn't catch me with it. I'd let this tiger-like Pokémon go once it was fully healed. That would be the right thing to do.

It continued staring at me with its apprehensive red eyes. It persisted in trying to move, but couldn't seem to get its feet under it to lift itself off the ground.

"I'm sorry," I murmured softly. "Forgive me."

With reluctance, I threw the purple and white ball in a slow under-handed toss at the yellow and white Pokémon. In a flash of red light, the Pokémon was drawn into the ball. It landed softly in the mud where the Pokémon had lain. It lurched a couple times until the red light on the button of the ball faded with a slight 'ding' sound.

I slowly lifted the ball off the ground and brought it up to face level.

"I'll let you go once you feel better," I muttered softly to the Pokémon within.

I closed my eyes as the ball shrank in my hand to the size of a large marble. I slipped it into the inside pocket of my jacket without looking at it.

I stood in the rain for a long while. I need to find some place where I can get help for the magnificent creature I'd just captured.

"Hey!" yelled a voice from behind me.

I swiftly turned in the direction of the voice and was knocked off my feet by something resembling a brown and tan dog with black fur on its back. It pounced on my chest and growled into my face.

"Herd. Herdier! Rrrrrrr."

"Kid!" yelled the same voice as a man in the armor of a Team Plasma grunt approached me. I couldn't go anywhere due to the dog-like Pokémon pinning me down.

"Y-yes?" I gasped in wide eyes. I was so scared I couldn't think.

"Kid," repeated the grunt. "Tell me where the Raikou went! We know it went in this direction. I bet you saw it."

Ignoring the growling dog on top of me, I took as deep a breath as I could muster. The way this guy was ordering me around made me angry, but I knew I couldn't afford to get into trouble with him. He had a Pokémon pinning me down and all I had was an injured … whatever that Pokémon was, in a Poké Ball that was in no condition to be battling.

"W-what?" I asked as calmly as I could muster.

"We were taking it to a safe location so it would be safely kept away from those who might try to capture it," replied a female voice as a lady in similar, if slightly feminine, armor as the man. "You understand our concern that it got away from us, sweetie."

There was something in her look and her voice I immediately distrusted. A slight gleam of irritation and the hint of crossed smugness set me on edge. The dog on my chest growled deeper at me.

"So," she continued as she stopped a few steps away from my face. "Where's the Raikou, sweetie?"

"I don't know," I said with enough hesitation so it seemed like I wasn't challenging them. "I don't even know what you're looking for."

Both grunts were silent as the dog continued growling at me.

"Country Bumpkin," scoffed the male grunt. "An uneducated one at that."

"I can believe that, sweetie," replied the lady. "He's not worth our time. We need to catch that Raikou before it gets away."

"Herdier!" exclaimed the man. "Come! Let's keep after it!"

"Herd herd!" barked the Pokémon as it leaped off me and bounded into the woods from the opposite direction it had appeared from.

The man hurried after it without a second glance at me. The woman hesitated for a second as she stared down at me with a half disgusted smirk.

"Be sure to alert the proper Plasma authorities if you see any strange Pokémon, sweetie."

She too left in a hurry without any motion to help me up.

It took me a long while of staring up into the black clouds as the storm drew to a close before I could sit up.

I patted my jacket and heaved a sigh of relief when I felt that the ball was still there. I knew one thing for sure. I wasn't going to let those people get their hands on this Pokémon. I needed to protect it until I could get it back into proper health and release it so it could be completely free and far away from Team Plasma.