On the far side of Route 25, a lone trainer sped through the dense woodland atop a swift and powerful Dodrio. The three-headed bird weaved skillfully between the trees, its talons barely touching the ground before propelling forward again.
The trainer wore a wide straw hat, its brim casting a shadow over most of her golden-blonde hair, save for a ponytail that swayed with each jolt of movement. She was dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt beneath a flowing yellow tunic dress, the edges lined with green. Blue tights clung to her legs, tucked neatly into ankle-high purple boots. Her dark greenish-yellow eyes gleamed with excitement as she leaned forward.
"Faster, Dody!" she called out.
Dodrio's three heads nodded in unison, and with a powerful burst of speed, it surged ahead.
Then—BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed through the trees. A massive plume of dust and debris erupted ahead, shrouding the path in a thick, suffocating cloud. The ground trembled faintly beneath them.
The trainer's expression hardened as she instinctively reached for a Poké Ball. With a flick of her wrist, she released a Butterfree into the air.
"Kitty! Go check it out!" she commanded. "If someone's in danger, protect them—but don't hurt whatever's attacking them unless absolutely necessary! If there's nothing, just wait for us there. We're coming too!"
Butterfree—nicknamed Kitty—flapped its delicate yet powerful wings, giving a sharp nod before darting toward the rising dust cloud.
The sun had begun its slow descent, casting elongated shadows over the battlefield. Lying on the ground, exhausted and barely able to move, was Alex. His body was drained to its limit, his ribcage ached with every breath, and his hands trembled violently. Yet, against all logic, he felt… happy.
Maybe it was the sheer relief of surviving. Maybe it was the thrill of overcoming something beyond his limits. Either way, a tired but triumphant smile crept onto his face.
Floating just above the battlefield, Aria had completed her evolution. But she looked different.
Unlike an ordinary Kirlia with soft green and white hues, Aria's body shimmered with a striking blend of deep purple and crimson. Her horns—normally rounded—had grown sharp, jagged, and menacing. Her eyes, now blood-red, burned with an intensity unlike before. Instead of the delicate, ballerina-like skirt typical of her species, she wore a long, flowing one that concealed her legs, shifting slightly with the wind. Her violet hair cascaded down her back, far longer than before.
Slowly, she stepped onto the ground, her new form radiating an eerie presence.
Before her lay Feraligatr, utterly defeated. Its massive body was wedged between two trees, its unconscious form barely moving aside from the faint rise and fall of its chest.
Aria's gaze swept across the battlefield. Oddy stood nearby, swaying on its feet, looking utterly drained. While it had managed to avoid serious injuries, it was clear that the battle had taken everything out of it. Even a plant Pokémon, it seemed, could sweat from exhaustion.
Then, Aria's sharp red eyes flicked upward.
Hovering in the sky, wings beating softly, was a Butterfree. Watching. Waiting. Observing both her and the battlefield below.
The battlefield was in ruins. Deep cracks splintered across the ground, remnants of powerful impacts. Trees lay toppled or torn apart, their trunks splintered by Hydro Pumps. The air was thick with dust, carrying the scent of damp earth and burnt wood.
The people on the battlefield were in no better condition. One man lay groaning, his leg looked broken, blood trickling from a wound on his forehead. Another had a severely burned face, his breaths ragged and shallow. A third, dressed in a red coat and black shirt, lay motionless, his chest rising and falling faintly—though the sweat on his skin was so thick and crimson-stained, it looked as if he were sweating blood.
Among the wreckage, only one Pokémon remained standing.
A strange-looking Kirlia.
Her red, sharp eyes locked onto Butterfree, the two staring at each other in silence. Then, after a moment, she broke eye contact and turned, walking toward the unconscious trainer in the red coat. With slow, unsteady steps, she reached him—then collapsed on top of him, her body too exhausted to move any further. Yet, even as she lay there, resting, there was something peaceful about her expression.
Then, the sound of thundering footsteps.
Dodrio burst from the treeline, its three heads scanning the battlefield as its rider, the trainer with the straw hat, leapt down. She froze for a moment, eyes widening as she took in the carnage before her.
"What happened here?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her gaze darted between the unconscious bodies and the wounded, before locking onto the two men—the masked one with the broken leg and the burned man. Without hesitation, she sprinted toward them, sliding to a stop beside the masked man.
A soft, golden light enveloped her hands.
The moment the glow touched his shattered leg, the man gasped. Slowly, impossibly, his bones realigned, the pain fading as the wound began to mend itself. He watched, breath hitching in shock.
"Who… who are you?" he stammered, adjusting his purple mask as if to reassure himself it was still there.
The girl didn't look up. "For now healing you matters more." she said flatly with a small worry. "But what does matter more than that is what happened here. Do you know?"
She moved to the burned man next, checking his injuries.
A smirk twitched under the masked man's face. His mind raced as he processed this unexpected opportunity. Arceus,Giratina or Something must still be watching over me… he thought. Then, as he flexed his newly healed leg, disbelief flickered in his eyes. How the hell is this even possible?
Still, he knew an escape route when he saw one.
"That kid over there!" He pointed at Alex, his voice shaking just enough to sound convincing. "Him and that guy—" he gestured toward the burned man. "They tried to steal a kid's Kadabra! Me and my Golem fought them off, and we did manage to get Kadabra back, but after that…he killed my Golem!" He swallowed hard, injecting just the right amount of fear into his tone. "Then that bastard broke my leg and turned on his own partner! Knocked him out cold! Then he just… laid down and slept,probably resting in order to kill us later!"
He exhaled dramatically. "Thank goodness you showed up! If you hadn't, I probably would've been killed!"
The trainer hesitated, her sharp greenish-yellow eyes flicking to Alex, then to the sleeping Kirlia lying on him.
"That Kirlia… does she belong to him?" she asked.
The masked man nodded eagerly, as fast as he could.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Stay here," she ordered. "I'll check whether you're telling the truth."
She rose to her feet, sparing only a glance at the healed burn victim before turning to Butterfree. She murmured something under her breath, and the Pokémon twitched its wings in response,pointing at Aria. Then, without hesitation, she walked toward Aria, kneeling beside her and pressing her forehead to the Kirlia's.
The masked man tensed.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, slowly, he reached for his belt.
Now or never.
Silently, he returned the unconscious Feraligatr to its Poké Ball. Then, with one swift motion, he unclipped another Poké Ball and threw it into the air.
A flash—and the stolen Kadabra materialized before him.
The trainer's head snapped up, eyes darkening.
"Kadabra, use Teleport!" the masked man barked.
The psychic Pokémon's body was immediately enveloped in shimmering pink energy.
Alex stirred at the sound, groggily blinking awake just in time to see the scene unfolding before him.
"Kitty, Bug Buzz! Dody, Quick Attack!" the trainer shouted.
Butterfree's wings vibrated furiously, unleashing a deep, resonating hum of green energy. Dodrio shot forward, a blur of motion.
But the masked man was already crouching, seizing his partner by the leg.
In an instant, they vanished.
The battlefield fell silent once more.
The girl clenched her fists, crouching down for a moment as frustration flickered across her face.
"Bill is going to kill me!" she muttered under her breath, her voice laced with panic. For just a second, tears welled in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, forcing herself to focus.
She stood up abruptly, scanning the battlefield before shouting, "Kitty! Search the area!" Her voice rang out with authority. "Dody! Take this kid to Bill's place! Make sure he doesn't run off—then come back here! We will find those knockoff Team Rocket grunts!"
Her Butterfree, Kitty, flapped its wings and immediately soared into the air, its sharp eyes scanning the terrain from above. Meanwhile, Dodrio let out a guttural squawk, nodding its three heads in unison.
Then she turned to me.
"You!" she snapped, her voice cutting through the haze of exhaustion in my mind. "You're Alex Carter, right?"
I blinked up at her, still struggling to catch my breath. "Yeah... that's me. Why?"
The moment the words left my lips, my sluggish mind finally caught up with reality. The two masked men—they were gone.
I shot to my feet so fast that my vision blurred, shaking Aria awake in the process. She let out a sleepy noise before immediately collapsing again, too drained to stay conscious. I barely even noticed as I whipped around in a panic.
"Where are they?!" I shouted, my heart hammering in my chest. "Where the hell are they?!"
I turned to the girl, desperate for an answer, but before I could take another step, Dodrio stormed forward. The massive bird glared at me, all six of its eyes locked onto me with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Look!" The girl's voice snapped my attention back to her. "I know you're angry, but I don't have time to waste another second!" Her greenish-yellow eyes burned with determination, her small frame radiating authority beyond her size. "Dody!"
Dodrio let out a sharp cry before lunging forward. Its powerful beak clamped onto the collar of my coat, yanking me upward before hurling me onto its back like I weighed nothing.
"Hey—what the hell?!" I yelped, barely managing to stay upright as Dodrio adjusted its stance.
The girl didn't even spare me a glance. "That Gloom over there belongs to him too!" she called as Butterfree returned, letting out a soft chime of confirmation. She nodded. "Good job! Now lead the way!"
Butterfree fluttered ahead, wings shimmering in the fading sunlight. Without wasting another second, Dodrio's left head carefully scooped up the unconscious Oddy in its beak before the massive bird took off towards bill's house at full speed.
At first, I struggled to hold onto the feathers of the massive three-headed bird as it sprinted at full speed, the wind whipping against my face. My grip tightened instinctively, but then I glanced down at Aria.
She was looking up at me, her newly evolved form glowing faintly in the fading sunlight. Her eyes were a deeper red than before, but they held a warmth that made my chest tighten. She smiled softly before resting against me, her small body pressing into mine as exhaustion overtook her.
I studied her for a moment, taking in the changes—her sharper horns, her longer hair, the way her skirt now flowed down like a robe instead of the usual ballerina-like form of a Kirlia. I gave her head a small pat. She let out a soft, content cry before slipping back into sleep.
Fifteen minutes passed in a blur of rushing wind and pounding footsteps before I caught sight of a large cluster of buildings. The salty scent of the sea filled my nose, signaling that we had finally reached Cerulean Cape.
My eyes widened at the sight ahead.
Bill's house…?
Or should I say houses?
Back when I played the games, there had only been one small house by the Cape. Now, five or so buildings stood in its place, forming a small complex. At the center of the road leading toward them, I spotted two familiar figures.
Skyla And Rotom.
Beside them stood a man about the same height as Skyla, his brown-and-white hair slightly unkempt, a pair of glasses resting on his nose. The moment I saw him, my brain nearly short-circuited.
Was that... Bill?
I blinked. Damn... the years really didn't go easy on him, I thought, my gaze filled with unintentional pity.
Before I could react further, Skyla and Rotom finally noticed me.
"Alex!" Skyla's voice rang out, laced with relief and frustration.
Dodrio abruptly slowed down—and then yeeted me, Aria, and Oddy straight onto the ground before sprinting off at breakneck speed again, heading back toward its trainer.
I groaned, pushing myself up and brushing the dust off my coat. "I am never training a Dodrio!" I grumbled under my breath.
I barely had a second to breathe before Skyla tackled me with enough force to nearly knock me over again.
"I got so freaking worried!" she shouted, throwing a small punch—directly into my already bruised ribcage.
Pain exploded in my side. I nearly cried.
"Skyla, what the hell—"
[Good job making it out alive, Alex Carter! We were so worried!]
Before I could process the pain, Rotom literally smothered my face, buzzing with relief and static energy. I tried to pry it off while Bill, watching the whole scene unfold, let out a chuckle.
"Skyla?" he called.
She instantly snapped to attention, springing to her feet and throwing up a salute. "Yes, boss?!"
Bill sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "Relax. Is this the guy?"
Skyla glanced down at me before nodding. "Ah—yeah! This is Alex Carter, the one who ended up taking me here instead of the regular guy!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a blue screen popped up in front of me:
[Mission Completed! Your reward will be in use within the next 24 hours.]
I blinked at it. Wait… was using the Pokémon Storage System without a PC really worth all this chaos?
I sighed, closing the screen as Rotom finally stopped suffocating me.
Bill extended a hand toward me, and I took it, letting him pull me to my feet. His grip was firm but friendly, and he gave me an easy smile.
"Nice to meet you, Alex Carter! I'm Bill—the creator of the Pokémon Storage System."
I grinned. "I know! I'm a huge fan of your work!"
Bill's gaze flickered to the sleeping Aria, and his expression shifted to mild curiosity. "Ah, are you training an Adapted Pokémon?" he asked, tilting his head. "You know, my son is training one too—an Axew, actually. Dragon and Steel type."
I smiled automatically. "That's pretty cool—"
Then I froze.
The words fully registered in my brain.
His son? An Axew?
My brain short-circuited for a second time.
SAMMY IS BILL'S SON?!?
I screamed internally, my face still locked in a perfectly polite smile.