Red was alive, so very much alive. The aches and pains on his body were proof of that. Pikachu and the others were in perfect health, however. After all, Pokemon centers were far better at healing Pokemon than human hospitals were at healing humans. And Chameleon turned back into a Charizard after a few hours, apparently. He was a Charizard when Red woke up there in the Cerulean City gym.

That was, in itself, a few hours ago. Now, he was in the commons room of the local Pokemon Center, with Pikachu by on his shoulder and the two wild Pokemon that had aided him against the invaders (and, it had turned out, gone and gotten Misty to come to his aid when he'd gone and flown off to try and save Mewtwo) sitting at his feet. On most days, the presence of Red of Pallet Town inside a Pokemon Center would have gotten at least some mild attention, but today wasn't most days. War had come to Cerulean City, and although surprisingly little death or damage had hit the city, it was still far more than it had seen in living memory. And, what's more, upon a special screen put up for those who were taking shelter in the Center, there came news that Cerulean had not been alone.

"We are getting reports from across our world of strange invaders attacking areas where legendary Pokemon are rumored to live..." said the newswoman, who sat alongside a Clefable that was there simply to provide some much-needed warmth and distraction from the news of the day, "... Ilex Forest in Johto, three different locations in Hoenn have been confirmed to have been attacked, even areas as far as Unova have been assaulted... and in Sinnoh... well, here's some video we've gotten in from Jubilife Television from near Mt. Coronet," she said, as the screen cut to a handheld video:

It was a Lucario, blue, determined, standing tall with black portions here and there and spikes on it's arms and chest. Red had seen a Lucario only a few times, but he always liked them. They seemed to have a quiet strength to them, and were extremely loyal, with a sense of justice.

And they could put up a fight: the one on the television was greatly outnumbered, surrounded by weird-looking green creatures that vaguely looked like Krokoroks or a leaner Feraligatr. They came at the Lucario one by one, but each was soon taught a lesson: the first was quickly sent down to the ground by a glowing Force Palm attack, the next was confused by a Double Team that allowed the Lucario to prepare his Aura Sphere, which he then released, knocking out the attacker. And then, two tried to sneak up behind him. Bad move, it turned out. The first was knocked out with a swift kick (Red couldn't quite figure out what move it was), and the second was thrown...

...right into the camera.

Static. And then back to the newswoman and Clefable. They said things, but all Red could hear was the concern of his ever-present companion:

"Pikaaa..."


Onett was a quiet Eaglelandian town of about 3,500 people, and it had been even quieter the last year or so. It wasn't too long ago, back in the year 199X, that there were problems with spiteful crows and the street gang known only as "The Sharks." Oh, and there was the time that meteor landed north of town, and then later that year there was the whole deal with those aliens that invaded. But, still, it was all good now.

And, unknown to them all, the single most important person related to all of those events was a now 14-year-old boy named Ness, who lived with his mother, sister, dog and, in theory, his father. Yes, Ness, the leader of the Chosen Four, psychic wunderkind and lover of steak, baseball and rock'n'roll, just like any good Eaglelandian boy was supposed to be.

However, the problem with saving the world from a Universal Cosmic Destroyer at the age of 13 is that, well, you kind of have peaked. Oh, sure, you can go to school, play little league, and generally hang out (when not sending flirtatious little love letters to your friend down in Twoson), but, well, it's not quite the same. The price of greatness, in a way.

So, today, Ness, looked down from his hill-top home at his hometown, thinking about one of the few loose ends from his adventure: Pokey Minch.

"Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!" That's what the last letter from him had said. But that came after the final clash in the Cave of the Past, where could he have gone? Was he going to come back to try and get him?

Ness realized it wasn't healthy to think about it, and turned back towards his home. And it was then that it happened, one of the most feared sights he ever saw descended from the sky. There he was, spinning as he came down with his blonde hair. Ness so very much wanted to pull out his baseball bat, but, alas, his kindness got the best of him as his foe stood before him, produced his weapon, and then said the words that Ness had so long learned to dread:

"Pictures taken instantaneously!" said the man, "I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

The photographer raised his camera, and continued to say the same thing he must have said to Ness something like 32 times: "Okay, get ready for an instant memory!"

Ness couldn't help giving a forced smile, thinking of what the photo-man was about to say next:

Look at the camera...

"Look at the camera..."

Ready...

"Ready..."

"Say, 'fuzzy pickles.'"

Ness have the peace sign and said exactly that: "Fuzzy pickles."

Click, the camera shutter sounded.

"Wow, what a great photograph!", the photographer-man said, "It will always bring back the fondest of memories..."

And then, just as inexplicably, the photo-man spun back up into the sky.

Ness stood there for a few seconds.

Hang on, he thought, every time that guy showed up, we were about to do something important...
He ran towards his house.


Beyond, they argued. Sky, of course, was the one talking the most:

"We need to do something!" he yelled at his fellows, "Somebody is disrupting the multiverse!"

He threw up his strange ball-like hands: "Overthrowing kings! Stealing away mighty creatures and objects! Putting together armies!"

He began to jump, ever so slightly, as he continued to exclaim his displeasure, despite the fact that his dark brown hair seemed as stuck as plastic despite his thrashing: "This is a threat to all of us! To all of our kind! We need a team!"

A silence fell upon them, and then, standing up, was Lush, with his black hair firmly in place and an almost ever-present grin even during this:

"Well, we have two problems: we must find out what is causing this, and we need to stop those behind it. A team would work well..."

The next to speak, waddling up to Sky, was Bright, something of their leader:

"It won't be easy..."

A beat.

"But I guess we have to do it."

"On a limited basis," came the voice of Mountains.

Sky gave a quick smile: Better than nothing, he thought.


Ness was eating steak and listening to the Runaway Five on the radio when it happened. It was weird, too, since he was just thinking about how, despite the photo-man's appearance, things seemed to be pretty calm. Well, a minute later he probably was kicking himself for even thinking such a thing possible.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement: Strange creatures are attacking Fourside-"

It didn't matter what the rest of the announcement was. Ness was up and he was running to the door.

"I'm-going-to-Fourside-Cya-Later-Mom!" he said quickly.

Slam went the door. And now Ness again looked at the city of Onett. But not for long. Feeling deep into himself and thinking hard, Ness began to run in a circle. And then, shouting at the top of his lungs, he screamed:

"PSI TELEPORT!"

Ness saw the green grass of Onett bend, stretch and fade around him, and the cityscape of cement, brick, iron and glass of Fourside ahead of him. Closer... closer. Ness blinked, and now he was stepping out of the wormhole... and he was in downtown Fourside!

Screeching to a halt not far from a park, with the Museum and Monotoli Tower not far from him, he could already see the invaders. And they, it seemed, quickly noticed him, as they approached him. They were... weird looking. And Ness of all people would know what weird looked like.

The invaders swarming Fourside, attacking the populace, looked like clear crabs, with red cauliflowery brains visible through them. And they floated, their sucking pincers hanging from below them.

And as they approached, he could tell even more that they had not come in peace. In fact, it was time for a fight. He could feel it.

"It," you see, seemed to blare into Ness's mind, perhaps a result of him psychically sensing the identity of his foes, out of instinct.

Metroid and it's cohort attacked!

Ness wasn't sure what a Metroid was, but as he drew out his baseball bat, he intended on teaching them a lesson.


"We've lost contact with 0781," came the booming voice of Free over a speaker.

Sky ran over to the speaker and spoke back: "Did you say the Mushroom World is gone?"

"No, it's still there, but it's... shrouded. Walled off."

That wasn't any less disturbing.

"Keep trying," came the voice of Bright.

"We have an incursion in Universe 0789," said Thread, the Mii in charge of that strange, strange world, "In the year 199X+1, Fourside."

"The leader of the Chosen Four is engaging the invaders... I think they are from 0886..."

His calm manner was somewhat disturbing, usually Thread was more of a whimsical, humorous type of being, as strange but brilliant as the world he watched. As Sky heard the words echo to him down the corridor, he realized what it meant.

"Then we have our first place," said Sky, "Flat, Hill, are you ready?"

"Yes, are you sure these are the first ones you want recruited to your team?" said Flat, an older one with a widow's peak and slightly graying hair.

"No, but you heard Bright and Mountains, they don't want to go fully with my plan yet, so they are keeping it to those that already have been exposed to the problems."

Flat knew what he meant.

"The robot will be ready soon, and I'll contact my old friend."

Next time: The Battle of Fourside!