"Bib?" The beaver Pokemon questioned the human in front of him while tilting his head, clearly confused.
"C'mon Bibarel! I know that I can do it! Just focus really, really hard for me, okay?" The seven-year-old boy pleaded with the Pokemon in front of him while sitting on the couch. He knew that he could do this! He just needed to focus even harder!
"Ash?" The boy's mother called out from the kitchen before poking her head around the corner to view the very strange scene of her son, with his hands on each side of his head, glaring at her Bibarel as the Pokemon stood there with a puzzled, yet dopey expression.
"Um… are you busy here, Ash? You and Bibby up to something?" Delia asked with a puzzled tone as she stared at her son, trying to decipher what exactly was going on.
"Yeah!" Ash grunted, not even turning to his mother as he glared in Bibarel's eyes. "I'm just trying to talk with Bibby! I know I can do it! I just gotta…"
Ash let out a loud grunt as he suddenly fell backward fully onto the couch while breathing hard. Delia just held a smile on her face as she made her way toward her son, making sure to pet the dopey Bibarel on the way, of course.
"I think one of the first lessons they teach you in magic is to breathe, silly." Delia teases as she looks down at the boy with her hands on her hips. Taking a few seconds to stare at her adorable mess of a son before reaching out to gently boop his nose, which caused him to giggle.
"Mooom… It's not magic! Gary says it's psychic! Telepathy stuff I think. I told you that I heard Mimey thinking about what groceries to get last week!" Ash pleaded with his mother while whining slightly. It was true! He could do it! It just wasn't working right now for whatever reason.
"Now, Ash. I know you're bored and I know you hate winter but please don't give yourself a migraine from straining too hard, dear." Delia chuckled as she bent down to lift her son back up into a sitting position. "Besides, you don't want to have a headache when talking to Serena, do you?"
That certainly got the boy's attention. The tail that was previously lackadaisically swaying from side to side was now straight as a board. A wide smile on his face as he rocketed up from the couch onto his feet.
"Really?" The boy asked with excitement up at his mother. "Is she on the phone right now?"
"Yes, dear. Go ahead before she gets bored and hangs up." Delia giggled at her son's excitement. Scratching under Bibby's chin while watching her son run out of the living room.
Ash ran towards the phone console as fast as he could. Slamming his butt down onto the chair as he gave a big, toothy smile at the girl on the opposite end of the screen. The boy's tail was waggling side to side almost like it was some freakishly long Lilipup tail.
"Hey, Serena!" Ash practically screamed out in excitement. His elation to be talking with his friend was very clear on his face.
"Hey, Weirdo!" The girl on the other end of the screen laughed. Her laughter doubtlessly came from her friend's stupidly excited expression as well as his unstoppable tail as it oscillated back and forth quickly.
"It's been too long, weirdo!" Ash jabbed back with a grin. He honestly didn't mind the nickname she had chosen for him as, as much as Delia argued otherwise, Ash was, in fact, really freaking weird sometimes.
"Sorry! I've been super busy! School and modeling and practicing for Ryhorn races and ughhh…" The young girl on the other end of the screen whined out with a small groan as her head rolled back.
"Hehe." Ash giggled at the girl's misfortune. "I guess not everyone has an awesome Mom like me who does homeschooling. And I get to work with Pokemon and stuff on the ranch, too!"
"Lucky…" Serena whined with her cheeks puffed out a bit.
"But…" Ash paused for dramatic effect before suddenly holding a magazine to the camera with a wide smile. "I don't get put on stuff wearing awesome clothes like you do!"
"You saw?! I didn't know they sell all the way in Kanto!" A shocked gasp escaped from the girl as her hand came to her mouth.
The cover of the magazine Ash was holding had the title of 'Young Fashion! Kalos Edition!' with pretty much the entire cover filled with the image of a seven-year-old Serena smiling wide with a black, sleeveless shirt, red, frilled skirt with pockets sewn in, and black socks that go all the way up to her mid-thigh with matching, black hightop shoes which is all topped with a red, felt hat that brings the entire outfit a clear black and red theme.
"We did! Mom was the first one to notice so we had to get it! You look great! What was it like?" Ash grinned from ear to ear. He was truly excited to hear from his friend and learn all about her experiences and success.
"Well… I don't know! Don't put me on the spot like this! Uh… I guess it was kind of fun! They gave me all these different outfits to wear and took pictures at different places. I liked it! There's going to be another one that we are going to do in the spring that I'm excited for!" Serena told of her experience with a wide smile on her face.
"Wow… I don't think that that's really for me. You don't even get to work with Pokemon?" Ash asked with a small frown. Not to mention having to keep switching clothes like that with his tail wrapped up would suck majorly.
"No… but apparently I'll get to hug a Cottonee in the spring shoot! That'll be fun! Anyway, what about you? Tell me about everything at the farm and your weirdo stuff!" The girl asked, changing the subject away from her and onto more interesting matters for the girl.
"Oh uh…" Ash muttered as he rubbed his head. Not expecting the topic of discussion to be thrust upon him so suddenly. "I'm trying to talk with Bibby."
"That's your mom's Bibarel, right? And you know that Bibarel can't talk, weirdo…" The girl shot her friend a questioning, doubtful look from the other side of the screen as a sweatdrop rolled down the side of her head.
"Hey! I know that!" Ash demanded back, quick to defend himself from Serena's judgment. "It's just that… I don't know… It's like I can hear Pokemon's thoughts sometimes. My tail gets like, jittery or something. It's really hard to explain."
"Hm… I don't know. So you say that you hear Pokemon thinking in their head? Isn't there a word for that?" Serena wondered as she placed her finger on her chin to think.
"Gary says it's something called 'telepathy'." Ash finished his friend's thought for her, adding air quotes when he says 'telepathy'. "But he doesn't think I can do it. He says that I'm going crazy because I hate winter.-"
"Which you do!" Delia yelled out from the other room.
"... Which I do…" Ash confirmed his mother as Serena giggled slightly before going back into her thinking pose.
"Well, the word I was thinking was 'weirdo'," Serena stopped to giggle as Ash poked his tongue out at her. "But anyway, if you feel it in your tail… why not try and use it?"
"Use it how?" Ash asked while tilting his head. The boy's tail almost leaned in like it was trying to hear what was being said.
"I don't know! I'm not the weirdo with the tail who thinks that my blood is tasty!" Serena scoffed a bit at her friend with a light, playful smile.
"Blood is what…?" Delia questioned as she poked her head around the corner with a puzzled and worried expression. The woman was currently wearing a pair of reading glasses with a pencil resting on her ear.
"Oyster blood, Miss Ketchum! It's rich people's food over here in Kalos!" Serena blurted out quickly with a nervous smile on her face.
"... Okay… just checking…" The woman slowly nodded before simply staring at the smiling do for a few more seconds. After seemingly being satisfied, she ducked back into the living room as Ash let out a sigh of relief as Serena giggled.
"Seriously? Can you not bring that up, please? It's so weird!" Ash pleaded with the girl after picking up his stomach which he dropped at his mother's voice.
"Exactly! You're my weirdo so no! I refuse to stop bringing it up." Serena stated with childish glee which seemed to only occur when teasing or embarrassing either of her two Kanto friends.
"Anyway…" Ash groaned while rolling his eyes. "You think that… using my tail would help?" Ash asked while he looked back at his swaying tail.
"Maybe! I mean, why not try it?" Serena suggests while tilting her head, also seemingly staring at the tail. "Anyway, I've got to go! See you later, Weirdo!"
"Bye Serena! Call again soon!" Ash waved goodbye with a smile before the screen suddenly went dark. Ash took a moment to himself before getting to his feet with a small grunt.
"Ash, dear? Are you done in there?" Delia called from the living room, causing Ash to start on his way towards her.
"Yeah, Mom. It was awesome to talk with her! She's doing good!" Ash stated with a smile as he entered the living room to see an all too familiar sight: catalogs. Housing catalogs to be precise. All splayed out on the coffee table with one even being held in Bibby's mouth, though he didn't seem to mind… or notice.
"That's wonderful to hear, dear! Now, which of these colors do you think looks better? Mimey can't seem to decide." Delia asked her son before suddenly shoving two identical-looking cards of color into Ash's face. Mimey stood to the side with his face in his hand as he sighed.
"I- Uh… what for? Are you painting the walls again?" Ash asked with a gulp as his eyes darted between the two blues presented to him. They looked exactly the same, or if they weren't, the difference was so minor that Ash couldn't tell in the slightest.
"Of course not, dear! I'm thinking about repainting the barn!" That was Ash's mother, of course. She always had to be renovating something if she wasn't knee-deep in farmwork or homeschooling or else she would go insane.
"Oh… Uh okay." Ash chuckled nervously while nodding slowly. This hobby of his mothers had always either gone amazingly, or disasteriously. On one hand, his mom turned the basement into pretty much a jungle gym for him to practice his agility with his tail, which is awesome! On the other hand, scenarios like the attic incident still give him nightmares… so much flooding just from one, simple pipe…
"Hm… I'll just go with this one!" Delia muttered while taking the cards away from Ash's face, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"R-Right. Good choice…" Ash muttered with a light chuckle. "Hey uh… I'm going to go outside and walk around and find something to scratch on, okay? My claws are starting to feel sore."
"Alright, dear! Stay warm." Delia called out to her son whine not tearing her eyes away from the catalogs she's currently enamored with. Ash had learned to stay far away when she gets like this or else he would wind up getting sucked into a grocery run or having to measure something.
"You know I will! Bye, mom!" Ash called out while exiting the warmth of their house and into the windy, frigid chill of the outside in just shorts and a tee shirt. The cold has never really bothered the boy all that much. Sure, Ash could recognize that it was cold outside, it's just that Ash was rarely ever cold unless he was wet or something.
Ash yawned as he walked the paths of his mother's ranch quietly. It was quite a pretty day outside! It was a shame that it was too cold for Gary to come over and hang out. He and his stupid need to stay warm and junk.
"Ugh… Why can't it be summer alre-" Ash stops and turns his head towards the utility and feed barn as he sees the lights inside flash and flicker before going out with a click.
"That's weird…" Ash mumbled as he began to make his way towards the tall, wooden building with the tin roof. Getting power surges or outages wasn't normal, even in this windy weather.
As he grew closer, Ash began to hear the sound of… rustling. Like a bag being jostled around or something. The young boy smiled slightly at the thought of removing a pest to his mother's work… as well as potentially getting a snack before dinner.
Poking his head into the dim building, Ash was surprised to find that the wires that connected the light switch to the actual lights on the ceiling were frayed and bent unnaturally as if they had been jostled around by something.
'Find…'
Ash froze with bated breath as his eyes grew wide. Had he just heard when he thought he did? Of course it would happen again when he wasn't even trying!
The young boy slowly turned his head in the direction his head felt the 'voice' come from to find… a tail? Yeah, it looked like a tail. A black, angular tail that was currently poking its tip out of one of the bags his mother uses to store extra batteries for the various pieces of equipment she uses.
'Find… food… help…'
Okay, now Ash was sure he had heard this little guy 'talk'! The young boy started to creep slowly toward the unsuspecting Pokemon, using his inhuman dexterity to his advantage as he gained ground. Once Ash was close enough, the boy reached out and gently pinched his fingers onto the sharp, angular tail to lift the unknown Pokemon out of the bag.
"Oh! Its a-"
"Pi-CHUUUU!" The Pokemon screamed out before Ash was barraged with an arc of electricity. Ash didn't have time to react and yelled out loudly in both surprise and light pain as he dropped to the ground onto his butt while shaking his arm. Grimacing slightly as it didn't hurt too badly, it just startled him.
"OW! That really freaking hurt!" The young boy whined while continuing to shake the hand that had held onto the Pichu when he was shocked. "If you need help, then just freaking ask!"
The tiny, yellow Pokemon who now stood on top of the work counter after jumping away from Ash as he fell now looked both confused and surprised at the boy's words. The mouse tilted its head slightly as his large ears flopped to the side.
'Understand?'
"I don't know… a little? It's hard. Hold on…" Ash grunted as he got to his feet again and closed his eyes. Trying to follow Serena's advice, the tip of Ash's tail began to shake quickly like an Ekans tail as his face scrunched up slightly.
'Is he pooping? I didn't know humans had tails.' Ash heard the Pokemon more clearly as the boy gasped in surprise and excitement.
"I heard you! And no, I'm not pooping, I'm doing telepathy!" Ash yelled out with an excited smile on his face as his eyes glittered with excitement. He could do it! He could hear what Pokemon say! This is awesome! Oh, he is going to rub this in Gary's face so much!
"Pi?!" The tiny Pokemon jumped back with a horrified expression on his face at the reveal that the human could hear his thoughts. However, after taking a moment to collect himself, the tiny Pokemon moved back to the edge of the table and stared up at Ash intensely.
'Help… Mama… dying…' Were the only words that Ash could get through the still-unstable connection but that was more than enough to make the boy understand as he nodded quickly.
"I'll help your mama! I'm really good friends with a- hey wait!" The boy yelled out as he couldn't even get through his explanation before Pichu had climbed down from the counter and subsequently scurried out the door in a dash.
'Follow! Lead!' The Pichu called out to the now lagging boy as Ash followed the fast, yellow blur into the woods behind the medium-sized barn which Ash had used both as a playground and hunting grounds many times before, so he knew the land, or at least his way back to the house, decently enough.
"I'm coming! I'm right behind you!" Ash grunted as he sprinted behind the Pokemon, reminding himself how lucky he was not to feel the cold like regular humans did. Running behind the quick mouse would be so much harder if he was trapped in some jacket and long pants!
"Pi! Pichu Pi!" The Pokemon called out to pretty much nobody as he stopped, Ash skidding to a stop right behind the tiny Pokemon with a few feet to spare as he looked around in confusion.
"Hey, where's your mam-"
"Kang!" A small, squeaky-voiced called from the woods caused Ash to whip in the direction it came from. Pichu bolted off in that direction as well, causing Ash to follow close behind as the duo came across a large, rocky outcropping that Ash remembered from the time he and Gary thought about making a fort out in that very spot.
"Kangas…" A more mature, deeper voice spoke out as the duo approached. Ash took note of how this one sounded… weaker, in a sense. That was probably 'Mama' whom Ash was called to help save. And the baby Kangaskhan was there too, sitting beside the mother who was sitting with its back against the back wall of the outcropping.
"Oh… Okay…" Ash gulped as he stopped a few feet away from the Pokemon it glared at Ash, though Pichu quickly got onto the Pokemon's belly with its arms outstretched to block Kangaskhan's view of the human.
"Pi! Pichu pi! Pi pi!" Pichu called out to the hurt Pokemon. Though he couldn't exactly hear what was being said, Ash got the gist that Pichu was trying to tell Kangaskhan to trust him, which might have been a taller task if the poor Pokemon wasn't incredibly hurt, which seemed to be the case given the blood and marks all over its body.
"Hey… hey, I'm just trying to help… please?" Ash whispered as he crept closer to the Pokemon with his arms up and claws hidden. A soft smile on the young boy's face as the Pokemon let him approach, but never taking its eyes off Ash.
'Can you help?' Pichu asked through their still shaky connection as Ash hummed a bit. It… wasn't the best. The scratches and scrapes that the Pokemon had didn't seem to be too deep, but the problem was that there were a lot of them. Pretty much all over her body. If it was just a few, then all that would be needed was one or two potions and she would be fine, but with so many…
"We should go get my mom. She will know what to do." Ash stated plainly as he rose back to his feet while smiling at Kangaskhan and her baby genuinely. 'Don't worry! We have a friend who loves to help Pokemon of all kinds. You will be fine! I promise!"
Ash's words seemed to resonate with the hurt Pokemon as its face softened as she stared into Ash's eyes. Kanhaskhan merely rubbed her baby's head as she nodded slowly.
'Trustful eyes. Kind…' Ash barely heard whispered from the Kangaskhan's mind as Ash turned to start running back to the house, though not behind Ash felt something latch onto his leg and begin climbing up onto his shoulder. It was Pichu!
'Come too! Help!' The Pokemon smiled at Ash, who simply smiled back before starting to sprint in the direction of his house to go get aid from his mother as he had honestly no idea how to help the poor Kangaskhan except to get it to Professor Oak's lab.
"Oh yeah! How did she get like that? What attacked her?" Ash questioned the shoulder rider as he sprinted through the woods towards his goal. Pichu's cheeks started to spark a bit.
'Mean Pokemon. Spearow. Lots of them hurt Mama when Mama hurt one for bullying sister.' Pichu growled out while his thoughts made their way to Ash, while nodded.
"Don't worry! Me and Mom will do everything we can to make your mama better! Look, there's the house, right there!" Ash called as he pointed ahead as the duo burst out of the woods. Ash didn't slow down as he made his way toward their large house while panting.
"Mom!" Ash yelled out as he slammed open the door to his house. Delia and Bibby in the same spot that they were previously when the boy had left.
"Ash!" Delia called out in both surprise and exacerbation. "How many times have I told you to please not sla-"
"Help! A Pokemon needs help!" Ash called out while panting, interrupting his mother's scolding.
"What happened? Explain it to me slowly." Delia gently demanded as she got up and quickly ran to her son, getting onto one knee with her hand on the shoulder that Pichu currently wasn't standing on, though still acknowledging the new arrival's existence with a glance.
"I found Pichu in the feed barn and he said that his mama needs help so I followed him." Ash started explaining carefully while looking into his mother's eyes after she had stopped scanning Ash for any sign of injury or a struggle. "I found his mama and-"
"Wait, you talked with this Pichu?" Delia accidentally interrupted her son in shock with her eyes wide as she stared at Pichu for a few seconds before turning back to look Ash in the eyes again. "How?"
"Not important right now!" Ash demanded while shaking his head quickly. "Mom, there's a hurt Pokemon and we have to do something! Please!" Ash pleaded with his mother, unable to get the thought of Kangaskhan lying there in pain, hoping for Ash and Pichu to get back soon. His empathy always overtook everything when it came to Pokemon.
"Yes, you're right, Ash. Let's go!" Delia nodded before she got up to quickly put on her jacket as she made her way to the door with Ash right behind her. Once they were outside, Delia put her fingers to her mouth and made a loud whisper which always made Ash feel like he needed to cover his ears.
"Okay! You ride on Pidge-Podge and I'll lead you! Um… Pichu, can you shoot lighting into the air or something?" Ash stopped as he turned his head towards the Pichu riding on his shoulder, who nodded quickly. "Okay! Then Pichu will shoot up lighting and stuff to get your attention!"
"Alright Ash, just please stay safe, okay?" Delia pleaded with her son after climbing onto the back of Pidge-Podge, her Pidgeot who had just landed in front of the house and stared at Ash intently, probably able to tell that this wasn't just some sunset joyride that he and Delia were taking.
"Got it, Mom! Follow me, Pidge!" Ash commanded before jumping over the railing of their front porch to begin sprinting towards the woods again as Pichu struggled to hang onto Ash's shirt from the sudden burst of speed. The boy smiled as he heard the bird Pokemon caw out as he rose into the air.
'Thank you!' Pichu thought while looking at Ash while he ran through the forest for the third time in such quick succession. Ash just smirked at the Pokemon in response.
"I'm going to be a Pokemon Master someday! You can't do that if you don't try and help and be friends with every Pokemon you meet! So don't mention it!" Ash genuinely explained to the Pokemon while smiling happily. As much as he hated the fact that Kangaskhan got hurt, Ash really did love helping Pokemon. Well, he enjoyed helping pretty much everyone, but Ash enjoyed helping Pokemon in particular!
'I don't even know your nam-' "Pichu!" Pichu's train of thought was interrupted as he pointed at the outcropping of rocks where Kangaskhan lay. Ash nodded in understanding as he ran over and let Pichu off.
"Hey! We're back! Mom is right behind us, too! Don't worry. You won't be in pain much longer, okay?" Ash smiled genuinely at the hurt mother with his hand resting on top of hers while Pichu shot up thin bolts of electricity into the sky with small, strained cries.
That seemed to have been enough as not even a minute later, Pidge-Podge landed nearby with Delia still on his back. The woman quickly hopped off and ran towards Ash with Pichu right behind her as the boy waved to his mother.
"Okay, dear. I'm here! Where is- woah. Is that Mama?" Delia stopped in her tracks as she turned to see the hurt Kangaskhan under the outcropping. The woman just stared for a few seconds as she examined the Pokemon up and down quietly.
"Yeah! What are we going to do?" Ash asked his mother with an excited smile, sure that she would have all the answers, just as most children expect of their parents. Pichu climbed back up onto Ash's shoulder as the tired Pokemon continued to pant from the effort his signal took.
"I… well… When you said 'Mama', I expected maybe a Pikachu or Raichu, something that I could just carry back to Professor Oak's. Not a Kangaskhan…" Delia mumbled while slowly she slowly stepped towards the hurt Pokemon who was currently staring at Delia while keeping her baby on the other side of her body, away from the human. Delia got onto her knees to appear smaller as well as making it so she wasn't talking down to the Pokemon.
"I… well… shoot!" Ash grumbled a bit as his hands went to scratch at his head in an attempt to think of a different solution.
"Now hold on, Dear." Delia turned to her son, asking him to calm down before turning back to Kangaskhan. "Hi… My name's Delia. That boy over there is my son. He asked me to come and help you. I know of a place that can, but that will mean that you have to go into a Pokeball for a while. I promise you that you will be released right after, but you need to trust me, okay?"
Delia finished by taking out an empty Pokeball from her jacket pocket and holding it out for the Pokemon. Kangaskhan looked a tad nervous at the thought as she most definitely didn't fully trust Delia yet, so instead, the Pokemon looked to Ash and Pichu.
"Pichu Pi!" Pichu called out while nodding quickly with a smile.
"Yeah, what Pichu said! And I promise that we are good people! We'll get you all healed up and then you can go wherever you want!" Ash tried his best to reassure the scared, hurt Pokemon with a bright smile while standing behind his mother.
'Kind eyes…' The Kangaskhan thought briefly before lifting her baby to place her back inside the Pokemon's pouch before looking back up at Delia. The duo shared a nod before Kangaskhan tapped the Pokemon, getting sucked inside. The Pokeball shook three times in Delia's hand before a gentle 'click' sound could be heard as Delia stood back up with a resolute expression.
"Okay, I'm going to Oak's. Will you be okay, dear?" Delia asked as she speed-walked back to Pidge-Podge. Swinging her leg onto the bird Pokemon in one swift, quick motion.
"I'm right behind you! Me and Pichu both are, right?" Ash smiled at his mother as Pichu let out a loud 'Pi pi!' in response to Ash's question.
"Good!" Delia smiled at the duo genuinely. "Ash, you did so well with this. Thank you. I'm so proud of you. See you at the lab!"
Pidge-Podge took that as the signal as the Pokemon jumped up into the air with the aid of his powerful wings. The duo of Ash and Pichu watched as the large Pokemon rose slowly until they were past the treetops, where the Pokemon shot forward with a burst of speed and out of the duo's view.
'Weird…' Ash suddenly heard from the Pokemon's mind, unprompted.
"Hey! What's weird?" Ash asked with a mildly stern expression as he crossed his arms. Pichu had jumped slightly in shock as he clearly didn't expect his thoughts to be called out like how they just were.
'Give me a warning! I forgot you could do that.' The Pokemon commented after collecting himself. 'It's weird that she doesn't have a tail like you. And that you have a tail. I didn't know that humans could have tails.' Pichu's comments just made Ash smile as he was reminded how unique he was.
"Yeah, okay, I guess I am a bit weird. My friend's nickname for me is 'weirdo' even." Ash smiled as he explained the situation to Pichu. The light started to leave the woods quickly as Ash began walking towards the lab. All the running he had done in the last half-hour had tired him out…
'And what is your real name, then? I asked before but we got to mama.' Pichu asked casually as his large ears bounced up and down with each of Ash's steps.
"Oh! I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum." Ash introduced himself with a bright smile. "Wanna be friends?"
'Pichu. Just Pichu. And sure! I love having friends!' Pichu returned Ash's smile with one just as bright. The duo stared into each other's eyes for a moment.
"Awesome! I got another friend!" Ash smiled wide as his arms with into the air with excitement, nearly causing Pichu to fall off, but he just jumped onto the top of Ash's head.
'So… if you are a weirdo-human with a tail… are there any others like you?' Pichu asked as his arms crossed and he tapped his foot while thinking.
"Well… my mom tells me that I got my tail and stuff from my dad, but other than that, nah. It's just me! Well, there could be others but we don't know them. Eh. No use worrying about that stuff. Wanna go see your mama?" Ash shrugged off the question as Pichu began nodding quickly and pointing forward.
"Pi? Pi pichu!" The little Pokemon called out while stomping his foot on Ash's head. Becoming the human to go faster as Ash started jogging his way toward the lab while laughing at the Pokemon's demands for him to hurry up.
Hours later, miles and miles away from Pallet Town, on one of the many beaches in Vermillion City, something washes ashore. What it is, not even the thing itself, is sure given how it seemingly pulsates and stretches out randomly in a direction before turning to its proper, amorphic shape.
People could have guessed it might have been some beached jellyfish or some misshapen Pyukumuku if there were any around, but given how it was the dead of night, nobody was. Just an assortment of trash and items people forgot to collect before returning home for the day.
The thing, seemingly having had enough with the ocean, began to crawl itself forward onto the beach. Though 'crawl' might not have been the best word. Dragging itself or rolling might be a better description, but it was nearly impossible to tell due to the thing's uncanny ability to writhe or reach out randomly in a direction before seemingly giving up and returning its 'limb' back into its main body.
The pulsating mound of… something had eventually reached its goal of escaping the waves. Now sitting in naught but the damp, compact sand and berated by the freezing, harsh winds of the winter weather, the thing shook, shivered even. As if it could feel the chill or it could express fear in any sense, it sat there shaking unnaturally, at least until the wind caused something to blow directly into the mound's body.
A forgotten magazine, forgotten by its owner and carried by the wind, slams into the shivering thing's body. A magazine with the title 'Young Fashion! Kalos Edition!' on the cover.