This is a spin-off of my other fanfic, Mega-City, located in the 'Spider-Man x X-Overs' section of this website.
The basic premise is that various people and places, particularly large cities, from across media/the multiverse are magically teleported into one location to form one, gigantic 'Mega-City'.
The previous fic is mostly told from Peter Parker/Spider-Man's POV, but the city is so large, with so many characters from across fandom included, that it makes sense to see what they are getting up to as well.
So, this fic will be told from Ash Ketchum's perspective as he navigates this new world he's found himself in.
The beginning of this fic will seem a little odd, considering I said that they'd be in a huge city, but by the end of this chapter it'll become obvious where they are in the city.
The smells of Brock's world-famous cooking were what awoke Ash Ketchum the morning this story starts. As he lumbered himself out of unconsciousness, he took a deep inhale out of whatever delicious smelling broth Brock was cooking.
He sat up in his sleeping bag, and looked around the small red tent he had slept in the previous night. Ash still couldn't quite believe that it had been almost a year since he had journeyed from home and Pallet Town to become a great Pokémon trainer.
"Pika, Pika?", came a small voice from his side. Ash looked down to see his beloved Pikachu, the first Pokémon he ever got, staring up at him. Pikachu had been snuggling up against Ash the night before, still not liking the Poke balls Ash carried around. Ash could hear Pikachu's stomach audibly growling, causing Ash to chuckle.
"All right, enough reminiscing.", he said, scratching the electric mouse's head. "Breakfast time!"
After getting undressed, Ash stepped out into nature; specifically the forest he and his companions had pitched their campsite in last night. Or was it?
Scanning the surrounding forest, Ash couldn't help but think that something was different about it. Trees that he thought were closer to the tent were now farther away, and rocks that weren't jutting from the ground were now doing so. A strange feeling as well; like they were being watched.
"Well, well, well, looks like the sleepyhead is finally up.", came Misty's mocking voice, breaking Ash's concentration.
Ash shrugged and smirked. "Hey, I'm not that late."
"Your definition of 'not late' is 11:00 in the morning.", said Misty.
Ash looked to Brock to back him up, but Brock was fixated on the stew he was cooking. That, and Brock looked worried about something.
"Hey, Brock, what's up?", asked Ash.
"He's been acting weird all morning.", said Misty, as Brock looked up. "It's just that... the forest looks so different this morning than last night."
Ash looked to Misty. "Looks the same to me.", she said, but Ash could tell she was trying to convince herself of this more than Ash and Brock.
Brock looked at the woods one last time, then began ladling soup into bowls. "Anyway, here's breakfast."
Brock's stew was... good, but nowhere near his best work. Perhaps Brock was distracted by the woods. Ash felt it too, but it had been nighttime when they had pitched the campsite... maybe they were just confused.
After the stew was done and Pikachu fed and watered, Misty smiled at Ash. "So, Pokemon battle?"
"You got it.", said Ash, plucking a Poke ball from his belt. He looked around at the enclosing forest. "We're going to have to find a more open field; this spot is too tight."
And so the trio packed their supplies up, and set off through the forest, Pikachu riding on Ash's shoulder. The feeling of unease seemed to be intensified as they walked through the forest. Number one, Ash was sure they had passed through a large clearing in the trees last night, even if it had been very dark. They had been walking the same distance to reach it, but hadn't for some reason.
Number two, the feeling of being watched began growing. When Ash had come out of the tent this morning, it had been a sort of vague feeling. Now, it felt like someone or thing was directly watching them from the woods. Even Misty began to feel some unease.
It was only when they left the... these woods when they began to get really scared.
The woods opened up to show a large river, running smack dab in the middle of the forest, bisecting it. Ash felt his mouth drop open; there had been no such river when they had entered the forest last night. It may have been nighttime, but they had forged no river to get to the spot they had chosen.
"Guys, where are we?", said Misty, looking very scared.
"It... seems we have been moved to another forest in the middle of the night.", said Brock, shocked.
"By what?", said Misty, incredulously. "Magic?"
Ash thought hard. Whoever did this to them had to have a reason, but who would possibly benefit from bringing them to wherever here was?
Team Rocket! They had to have been behind this. But Jessie and James had never been this smart before, and besides, how had they done this?
He was about to tell his now bickering companions his theory, when Ash noticed Pikachu. The Pokemon had jumped to the ground to examine the river, but was now glaring with a protective look at a nearby tree.
Ash examined the tree closely, as Misty and Brock continued to argue about the predicament. Then, Ash saw movement in the upper branches. Someone was moving in them.
"Hey, someone's watching us.", said Ash, pointing to the tree. Misty and Brock looked at the tree as well, then pulled out their own Poke Balls to attack. Ash did as well, picking out Charizard's ball, as Pikachu leapt in front of Ash, snarling at the tree.
Slowly, the figure in the tree began climbing down. For a few tense moments, the trio could only watch as the figure shuffled down the branches. Then, as it dropped to the ground, they realized it was a little girl, dark-skinned and confused.
"Who are you people?", said the girl, after a long staring pause. "How did you get in the arena?"
"Arena?", said Misty, just as confused. "You mean, like, a Pokemon arena?"
"This doesn't look like any Pokemon arena I've ever seen.", said Brock.
The girl stared. "This is the Hunger Games arena."
Ash, Misty, and Brock both gave blank stares. "The what games?", said Ash.
"How have you never heard of the Hunger Games before?", said the girl. "Everyone in Panem knows about them."
The trio put away their Poke Balls, with Brock rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "We're... not exactly from Panem, you see."
Now it was the girl's turn to stare. "Look, could you tell us where's the nearest town with a Pokemon center is?", said Misty.
"You... you really don't know where you're at, do you?", said the girl.
"Can't say we do.", said Ash. "Could you tell us where we can get some.. shelter, I guess."
The girl, after a pause, slowly nodded her head, and began leading the trio alongside the river. The trio hesitated at first, then began to follow. "So, what's your name, anyway?", asked Ash.
The girl looked back briefly. "Rue. My name is Rue."
So, that's the first chapter. As you may have guessed, the trio are in the hunger games arena, located somewhere in the city. I'm going by the film's interpretation of the arena, basically being a large, mechanical dome of sorts.
Anyway, make sure to fav, follow, and review this story, as well as tell all your friends about it. Also, check out the other fic set in this universe in the Spider-Man x X-Overs section of this site. Have a great day!