"Leaf, I have a special request for you," Professor Oak said, rifling through the disarrayed pile of papers on his desk.
"Whatever I can do to help, Professor," a young girl responded cheerfully.
The girl, Leaf, was a 17-year-old Pokemon trainer who, at the tender age of 11, had been one of the youngest ever to successfully challenge the Indigo Plateau. She won the title of champion but quickly renounced it. She preferred exploring the open lands without the inconvenience of being summoned back to Kanto each time a rookie trainer challenged the Indigo Plateau.
Leaf was in the midst of discovering new Pokemon species in the Unova region when her old mentor, Professor Oak, reached out to her. Without hesitation, she hopped on her Noctowl and flew back home to the small town of Pallet Town, where Professor Oak and his Pokemon research laboratory resided. She favored traveling on Pokemon over man-made vehicles, even if it meant occasional stops for resting and eating.
Having served as an unofficial assistant to Professor Oak for years, Leaf knew a call from him meant that an exciting new adventure was on the horizon. This time was no exception.
"Aha!" Professor Oak exclaimed, extracting a custom Pokeball from beneath the avalanche of paperwork. "It's just a prototype, but I believe it'll prove useful in your next mission."
He handed the purple-pink ball to Leaf.
"A Master Ball?" Leaf mused aloud, furrowing her brow. She wondered why there was no "M" printed on the ball, a feature usually present on every Master Ball she had ever seen.
"Yes, but not quite. This one is a tuned-up version. It's specifically designed for capturing Psychic type Pokemon."
"Oh," Leaf's eyes sparkled with excitement, "am I going on a mission to discover a new species?"
"No," the elderly man replied, retreating behind his desk. He gestured towards a seat opposite him and Leaf swiftly took to sit.
"It's a bit more complicated."
"A bit more complicated," Leaf huffed as she ascended a mountain in the northwest of Cerulean area. The biting cold had numbed her fingers miles back. Summer was still months away, but spring had been unusually warm. Well, except for today, when Leaf and her companions were climbing a mountain. "Fortunately, this girl isn't afraid of a good challenge. Right, Faro?"
Her oldest and most trustworthy Pokemon, an Ampharos, shot her a dirty look as it struggled up the icy mound of rocks. Its foot slipped on the slick surface, causing it to stumble backwards and knock its head against a large boulder. It scrambled back up, small birds flying circles around its head.
"I'm sorry, Faro, I'll make it up to you," Leaf promised, scratching her head apologetically.
As they neared the peak, Faro chirped at Leaf, pointing towards an opening. "Good job, Faro," she praised her Pokemon.
After navigating through the opening into the cave, Leaf instructed Faro to use Flash. With a concentrated effort, Faro filled the entire cavern with a brilliant burst of light. The cave seemed endless, its darkness swallowing up the light. Numerous tunnels branched out from the main path; it looked like a herd of Digletts had run amok, drilling the mountain full of pathways. Leaf had no idea where to start.
She pulled another Pokeball from her utility belt.
"Mimien, could you lend a hand?"
Mr. Mime materialized from the Pokeball, blinking in the harsh light of Faro's Flash. Leaf knelt beside it.
"I need you to use Locatype. We need to locate a powerful Psychic type Pokemon somewhere in this maze."
Locatype, a challenging psychic move to master, allowed the user Pokemon to locate any specific type of Pokemon in places like caves or forests where the presence of common Pokemon like Zubats could make search efforts arduous.
Mimien nodded, complying with its trainer's orders. Its eyes gradually enlarged, emitting pink pulsations that echoed off the cave walls and travelled like ghostly spectres through the narrow tunnels. Mimien repeated the Locatype move until a single path of pink light marked the way deeper into the cave.
"Thank you, Mimien," Leaf praised her Pokemon, calling it back to its ball. Guided by the trail left by Mimien's Locatype, Leaf and Faro ventured further into the cave, eager to encounter the mysterious Pokemon lurking within the mountain.
They had been walking for quite a while when the trace of the Locatype finally ended. Leaf and Faro found themselves in a spacious cavern within the mountain. But as far as Leaf could see, it was empty.
"I'm beginning to wonder if this whole mission is just a waste of time, Faro. I mean, I've caught legendary Pokemon before and I know it can be incredibly difficult to find one, but... they usually don't hide quite like this."
Leaf sighed, idly picking up a rock. It was cool in her hand, and she tossed it aimlessly into the expanse of the cavern.
"Ouch!"
The surprisingly human-sounding cry startled Leaf, prompting her to instinctively grab hold of Faro. Faro tensed up, ready to unleash a Thunderbolt, the threat of electricity crackling beneath his yellow coat. Leaf scanned the cavern, but everything seemed as it should.
"Um, hello?" She ventured.
Just as she was beginning to think she'd imagined the strange voice, the air shifted. It seemed as though something invisible had just shifted before her eyes. Squeezing Faro's shoulder in an attempt to calm it, Leaf picked up another rock. When the air twisted once more, she hurled the rock at it.
"Ouch! What's wrong with you!"
Suddenly, the outlines of a creature materialized. Standing before them in all its 6'7'' grandeur was a Mewtwo, its light coat glowing against Faro's Flash.
"Could you please refrain from hurling rocks at me?" The Mewtwo requested politely.
Leaf had never encountered such a Pokemon. It resembled a large, grayish-purple cat with a long, muscular purple tail. But there was something strikingly human about the Mewtwo.
"You... speak?" Leaf gasped.
"Yes, complete sentences, in fact. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was in the middle of planning my escape," the Pokemon replied, rubbing a tender spot on its head.
Leaf noticed that, even though she could hear its voice clearly, its mouth hadn't moved once.
"I uh... I'm sorry."
She stared at him in awe until Faro nudged her.
"What? Oh. Yes." She cleared her throat and pulled out the custom Pokeball Professor Oak had given her.
"I'm here to catch you," she declared, trying to sound confident.
The Mewtwo just looked at her, amusement and mockery twinkling in its eyes.
"Good luck with that," it said, turning to leave.
Without hesitating, Leaf hurled the custom ball before Mewtwo had a chance to disappear again.
The large feline Pokemon was pulled inside the ball with a brilliant pink flash. The ball rolled on the ground for a moment before coming to a halt. Leaf exhaled deeply, her breath hitching in anticipation. When the ball remained still, she glanced at Faro, who simply shrugged.
When Leaf hunched to pick up the ball, she could have sworn that she heard:
"Shit."
Inside the ball.
A/N: At the time of originally writing this in 2012, I had been playing Soulsilver/Firered for about three weeks in a row. Being a huge fan of Pokemon, fanfiction and smut, this story just begged to be written. Me, usually, I like electric type Pokemon the most.
Chapter 1 and 2 were written back in the gen 4/5 era, but I'll probably incorporate more modern aspects of the Pokemon universe in later chapters.