Et Tu, Unova? Chapter 1: Prologue, a pokémon fanfic

Disclaimers:

Though these disclaimers are legally useless, some sites prefer them, so here we go.
-I do not own Pokémon, its characters, locations, mechanics, etc.
-I'm rating this T to cover all the bases I may need. It will never have romance and the only swear is in this chapter, so it could probably be lower.
-I'll may occasionally switch between Anime, game, manga, other format, or completely made up versions of the rules of Pokémon, depending on what suits the plot
-I'll try to mention any major rule changes if and when they happen
-Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Feel free to tell me you hate my writing, just please also tell me why.
-I will also (eventually) be posting this on Archive of Our Own (same username)
-I will not be repeating this disclaimer in every chapter. It will remain here for your viewing pleasure.

Prologue

The woman who uses Ghost types, and the woman who uses Ground types. I couldn't ask the reason why their names and appearances are so similar.

Shauntal rereads the line again and again, but despite its solid premise, her latest novel just never seems to work. She wanders the castle that hosted her compatriots and herself, hoping the ghosts of the structure's terrific battles past would offer aid. But memories are fickle and none serve Shauntal's purposes today. The League here had come and gone two months ago, but the winner chose to battle Marshall first and just didn't measure up. It has been a long while since she has partaken in a good battle herself. Maybe she should go find –

"The Sinnoh League tapes are here, Shauntal. That's the last of them for this cycle."

Shauntal has always wondered if Caitlin's psychic powers helped her timing. She turns to look at her only female colleague. The girl (for she is by far the youngest of their group) has a mysterious radiance about her, giving her the archetypal feeling of the princess who sends the hero on his quest. This may well be accurate given her opulent style and manner of living.

"Oh. I suppose that means that Cynthia will be retreating to her villa for the summer soon." Shauntal very much enjoys visiting her Sinnoh colleague in the summers.

"Not this year. Apparently she's expecting the league winner to make it to his battle with her," Caitlin responds, "But she's sent some notes on the participants. Would you care to watch the leagues together?"

Caitlin does have the best TV in the castle.

Jessie has never told her friends and teammates the full truth of her history with Team Rocket. Despite outward appearances she loathes coming back to Viridian City. Sinnoh had been a relatively successful trip. They didn't catch Pikachu, but they put down the group of fashion freaks and Jessilina made the semifinals of her first and only Grand Festival. Well, maybe not only: Jessie did sneak back and retrieve her discarded costume - just in case. The Boss should be proud.

And then they get to Headquarters and learn that Cassidy and Block have been promoted to admins. Her greatest foe is now ahead of her. At last it becomes too much for the second generation Rocket. There were expensive statues lining the walls. One by one, Jessie annihilates them in her rage. One by one, she throws them against the marble floors, shattering them like her dreams of following in her mother's footsteps. One by one, she lashes out long limbs to destroy with her own touch the opulence that should have been hers. Grunts try to pull her away but are kept at bay by her sheer destructive power. Higher ups would soon be called.

The Twerp can keep his damn Pikachu. Cassidy can have her grunts to boss around. And Giovanni can rule his empire without her. Jessie is a star. No blonde wannabes should have been able to get in her way. She's never told her friends, but Giovanni had always known.

Jessie storms out of headquarters without looking to see if James and Meowth were following her. She has plans to make.

Pallet Town lives up to its reputation as a beautiful pastoral town the day that 14-year-old Ash Ketchum returns home. He is fresh off a brutal defeat at the hands of a trainer who crushed his opponents with Legendary Pokémon. Ash had never thought about using the Pokémon of myths and legends in battle. It really wasn't fair. Paul only lost so badly to Brandon because the Pyramid King used all three of his Legendary golems in the same battle - something he had never done against Ash.

His longtime best friend and traveling companion, Pikachu, sits on his shoulder as he runs down Route 1 towards his mother's delicious home cooking. Ash recalls his two previous trips through Kanto: Pikachu and Brock the only constants between them. Pikachu had been with Ash through all of his journeys, even more so than Brock. Ash thought about what Brock must be doing right now. He had just decided to give up his dream of being a great Pokémon breeder to follow his new passion as a doctor. How did one know if they needed to change their dream? But Ash shakes himself out of it quickly.

"Next time around we'll do even better, right Pikachu?"

The electric rodent stands and enthusiastically agrees. And in this position, it's easy for the residents of Pallet Town to recognize their hometown hero returning from his best League finish yet.

After a delicious lunch at home, Ash decides to go visit Professor Oak. The veteran scholar is sure to know where Ash should head for his next league.

"Ah, Ash, it's good to see you," the Professor greets Ash, "I was thrilled to see your performance at the Sinnoh League. You know, you're the last Pallet Town trainer from your year still competing and you always do us proud."

"Gee, thanks Professor, but it's my Pokémon who do the real work."

"Yes, trainers so often seem to forget that. But, I digress: your Sinnoh specimens seem fascinating. I'd love to study them. It's wonderful that you seem to have gotten over your silly habit of not using your older Pokémon in new regions."

But alas, Ash doesn't hear the last part of Oak's speech as he is a bit busy being trampled by his excited Pokémon. They were thrilled to have gotten exercise at the League and are even more thrilled to see him.

When Ash finishes greeting them he goes inside to find where the Professor had gone off to. He finds the man at his computer and is about to speak when he notices the woman in the room. She sits completely still, absorbed in reading a book. Unruffled, like the kind of person who stays indoors more than out. He can't even see any Poké Balls on her. Finally, he is noticed.

"Ash, I forgot to mention I have a guest. This is Shauntal, she's a – "

"Novelist, trying to find things to use in my next book," Shauntal finishes for the professor, putting down her reading material, "I'm traveling to various places for inspiration. I came here to see Pokémon in a lab setting, but as the Pride of Pallet Town has returned, I think a battle would help me more."

"I'm always up for a battle!" Ash responds with all of his usual enthusiasm.

Professor Oak isn't entirely sure what game Shauntal is playing, but the Ghost Master has never been known for being open or direct. He'll play referee and make sure nothing is amiss.

It would be a single battle, that's all Shauntal needed. She had caught a new Pokémon just a few weeks earlier. It's powerful, but not enough so that it would spoil the plot early. So she calls out her Jellicent.

Ash has never seen the floating blue jellyfish before, so he scans it with his Pokédex as is his custom. When no data can be displayed Ash becomes interested.

"Professor Oak, why doesn't Dexter recognize that Pokémon?"

"Shauntal and her Pokémon hail from the faraway Unova Region. I haven't had a chance to update your Pokédex data for those species as of yet," Oak considers the battle, "In order to be fair, I should tell you that Jellicent is a Water- and Ghost-type Pokémon."

Even without having known Jellicent's typing, Ash had known he'd use Pikachu for this battle. When facing the unknown, who better to fight with than his most trusted companion?

Ash's speedy Pokémon unleashes a jolt of electricity with a Thunderbolt. Given no time to react, Jellicent is forced to withstand the attack. Even after the super-effective damage, Jellicent seems largely unhurt. It responds with a Shadow Ball and hurls the dark purple blob at its opponent. Pikachu is ordered to bat it back with Iron Tail and Jellicent must cope with Ghost type being effective against itself. As it shakes off being hit with its own move, Jellicent is once again blasted by Thunderbolt.

Jellicent unleashes an Ominous Wind. Pikachu can't hit this one back and is forced to dodge. It adds momentum by using Quick Attack. Then Pikachu attempts to once again use its signature move. And fails.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Ash questions. Pikachu doesn't know.

"Allow me to elucidate," Shauntal takes the opportunity for a lesson, "My Jellicent's ability is Cursed Body, which comes with the chance of disabling moves that hit it. Your Pikachu's second Thunderbolt activated the ability. Until Pikachu leaves this battle, it will be unable to use that move. Meanwhile, I believe this would be a good time for Jellicent to use Recover. Don't you agree, Jellicent?"

Jellicent uses the health-restoring move, undoing the not-insignificant damage Ash's starter had dealt. Pikachu unleashes a barrage of Quick Attack boosted Iron Tails, avoiding any attacks by Jellicent in the process, but fails to do more than inconvenience the bulky Pokémon. And Jellicent manages to hit Pikachu with an Ominous Wind.

Ash knows that he can't win this battle without Thunderbolt. Jellicent can recover too quickly. But Pikachu is stuck without it until he leaves the battle. Until he leaves the battle Ash thinks as he looks across the vast expanse of Oak's ranch.

And so Pikachu runs. He darts across the plains. Jumps over the rocks in the pond that Corphish enjoys so much, runs through the flowers Heracross snacks on, past the enclosure all the Tauros call home. Jellicent follows, but is too slow to keep up. Their trainers follow them and seem to have the same relative speeds, one moving cautiously and one with reckless abandon. And then Ash and Pikachu return, Pikachu's cheeks sparking along the way. And Pikachu uses its most powerful Thunderbolt so far this battle. Both Pokémon are tired. The battle must end soon. Jellicent's Hydro Pump is well aimed and when it hits its target Shauntal prepares to claim victory. But there is a yellow light from within the Hydro Pump. Pikachu emerges from the other end to strike its opponent with Volt Tackle. It's too much electricity for Jellicent, but Pikachu took damage from both the Hydro Pump and the recoil. Oak calls the match a draw as both Pokémon fall.

It was a good battle. The trainer's Pikachu was powerful. But even more, the trainer was creative. Making use of the larger than normal battlefield to remove the effects of Cursed Body was nothing short of genius. And most of all, Pikachu and Ash were on the same wavelength. The Pokémon trusted Ash enough for the unconventional strategies to be pulled off without words or prior planning. Cynthia was right, Ash would help her writer's block tremendously.

"You did a remarkable job, Ash," Shauntal comments, "especially against a member of Unova's Elite Four."

And Shauntal can see her plan has worked. Ash would journey to Unova and she would use his adventures (as Cynthia called them) as inspiration. All that remained were the details.

Author's Note: Updated 5/12/22; Number of times I have completely rewritten this prologue: 4 (there may be some I'm forgetting). Welcome new readers. If any old readers are left from when I last updated nearly 9 years ago, wow and thank you. The main thing that's changed here is the formatting of battles.