DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR POKÉMON
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|PROLOGUE|

Harry Potter had never run so fast in his life.

Not this life anyway.

His lungs burned as he sprinted down the dirt road of Route 1, his legs threatening to give out from under him at any moment. He jumped over a large tree that only moments ago had been standing. The air around him was sizzling with heat, torching the hair on his arms. The exploding rock shards weren't exactly helping either, with tree bark and dirt flying in every imaginable direction.

This is not how today was supposed to go! Harry thought as he risked a quick glance behind him. The two Team Rocket grunts were still on his ass, urging their Pokémon—a snarling Houndoom and a Rhyhorn lowering its head to charge—to run faster.

"You can't run forever, kid!" one of the grunts yelled from behind Harry. "Hand over that Celebi now, and we'll let you leave with your Pokémon!"

Harry faced forward again, scoffing as he pushed his aching legs to keep moving. He didn't believe that promise for a second. If it was Jessie and James he might have believed it, but even then, he wouldn't have handed Celebi over. There was only one reason why Team Rocket would want Celebi—the Mythical Pokémon's time-traveling ability.

"That Pokémon belongs to Team Rocket now," the other grunt sneered. "Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

Without hesitation, the Houndoom nipping at Harry's heels let out an ear-piercing howl as it unleashed a Flamethrower attack. Harry reacted instinctively, twisting to take the brunt of the blistering stream of fire across his back to shield the already injured Celebi from further harm.

The force of the Flamethrower blast sent Harry hurtling violently forward, white-hot agony searing through his body. He slammed into the dirt face first, losing his hold on Celebi as the breath exploded from his lungs on impact. Houndoom sprang forward its massive form crashing onto Harry and pinning him to the ground. Its crimson eyes glowed with a feral light, and its sharp fangs glinted in the sunlight as it snarled and drooled, saliva dripping onto Harry's face. The heat of its breath was suffocating, and the smell of sulfur made his eyes water.

Pain exploded from Harry's arm as Houndoom's jaws clamped down, sharp teeth piercing through skin and muscle. The Pokémon's razor-sharp claws scraped down his back, tearing through fabric and flesh. Harry cried out in pain and fought to buck the savage Pokémon off of him, but the Houndoom was relentless, its teeth and claws digging into his back.

Desperately, Harry risked rolling over. Houndoom tore into his chest. He kicked out with one leg, his boot connecting with Houndoom's eye. The Pokémon jumped away, howling in surprise and pain, giving Harry a brief moment of respite from its brutal assault.

The momentary distraction gave Harry a chance to crawl away and scramble to safety. He picked Celebi back up, ready to start running again despite the blood flowing from the numerous injuries on his chest and back.

Before Harry could take a single step, a massive shadow fell over him. It was Rhyhorn, charging towards him like a bull. Harry felt the weight of its powerful body smash into his side like a battering ram. All the air was knocked out of him, and he found himself airborne, the world spinning as he was flung like a ragdoll.

Harry closed his eyes and twisted in the air so he would hit the ground first, bracing for impact. When he hit the ground, he gasped at the sudden shock of freezing water against his skin.

His eyes shot open, and Harry found himself underwater. He hadn't landed on the ground at all but in a river!

Why am I in the water? Harry wondered, watching as a school of Magikarp swam by him. He felt himself being pulled downriver after the piscine Pokémon. Holding his breath as long as he could, he let himself be pulled along...farther and further away from Team Rocket and their vicious Pokémon.

Harry still couldn't believe he'd met two jackasses like that on his first day as a Pokémon Trainer.

He felt his lungs start to burn from the lack of air and forced his tired legs to move. When Harry finally broke the surface, gasping for air, the sunny afternoon had become a monsoon. The sky was now a menacing shade of grey with dark storm clouds looming overhead, spewing out torrents of rain that pelted his face like tiny needles and pounded against the surface of the water.

What the—

Harry was confused for a split moment before he remembered which Pokémon he was holding in his arms. Celebi must have sent them through time when he closed his eyes.

The river surged around Harry like a living thing, icy tendrils trying to drag him under. He tightened his grip on Celebi, holding the small Pokémon close to his chest as the rapids carried them relentlessly downstream.

Harry knew they were being swept toward a waterfall—he could hear the rumble growing louder by the second. He tried to swim against the force of the river. Harry could feel his muscles straining and his lungs burning for air. He had to get them out of the water before they reached the waterfall's edge. But as hard as he tried, the current was too strong, and it was pulling him closer and closer.

He looked around desperately, hoping for something to grab onto, but there was nothing—no branches or rocks, nothing! Celebi had dropped them right in the middle of the river, and there wasn't a thing he could grab to stop the current from pulling them towards the waterfall.

All he could do was curl himself around Celebi and brace for the drop.

They went over the edge.

Harry clamped his eyes shut, bracing for impact. The plunge into the basin knocked the wind out of him, the impact blasting the air from his lungs as icy black water closed over his head. Spinning uncontrollably, it took all of his strength not to lose his grip on Celebi as the current pummeled them from every side. The lack of air made his chest burn, and sparkles of light danced across his vision.

Just when Harry thought his lungs were going to fail and the last bubbles of air would slip from his lips, the current suddenly weakened and spat them out into a large lake.

For a long moment, Harry simply focused on dragging air into his burning lungs as he floated in place. Celebi too gulped at the air, its sides heaving.

Until something huge moved in the depths below. Harry's eyes widened in sudden terror as a leviathan shape circled upward toward them with lazy confidence.

There was only one Pokémon in the rivers around Pallet Town this enormous.

Gyarados.

A massive head full of dagger-like teeth rose out of the water.

To Gyarados, they were nothing but food—tired, battered, and bleeding. Easy pickings.

Harry twisted his body, narrowly escaping the giant snapped teeth by inches. He had avoided being swallowed whole but still slammed brutally into smooth azure scales as Gyarados hit them like a freight train.

Gritting his teeth against the shockwave of pain from the heavy blow, Harry grabbed onto one of Gyarados's scales, clinging tightly as the Pokémon surged through the water.

He clenched his jaw, refusing to let go of the only thing keeping him and Celebi alive.

If he did, they were quite literally dead in the water.

The ferocious Gyarados violently thrashed through the water in an attempt to dislodge Harry. It was like trying to hold onto a rampaging Tauros. Its massive body twisted and writhed as it approached the shore, causing the water to churn and foam around its muscular body.

3...2...1...!

Harry released his grip, allowing himself to be launched towards the bank by Gyarados' powerful momentum.

Hitting the shallows, he skipped like a rock twice before stopping just a few yards from the shore. The water was only waist-high now, and Harry stumbled out of the lake and up the muddy bank on his hands and knees.

Behind him, there was a deafening splash. He spun around as the massive Gyarados erupted from the water. The colossal Pokémon rose above Harry, towering at least three times his height. Lightning split the sky as the storm raged on, and thunder boomed, rattling his bones.

Staring up at the massive water beast, Harry couldn't believe that his first day as a Pokémon trainer had gone so bad.

I know the Pokemon anime didn't start until 1997, but for the sake of the story pretend it was the last, not the first Pikachu and Ash episode that aired in 1997 instead!

Thanks for reading!