[A Few Minutes Earlier, Outskirts of Sandgem Town]
"Bibarel, use Surf!" Rowan ordered. "Bib." The beaver responded, before a swirling blue vortex began to grow behind its buck teeth. It only took him a few seconds to fully charge up however, water flooding from out its mouth. Throwing its body vertically, the water began morphing into a solid wave of liquid, at least ten feet high, shaking the ground underneath. In the next moment, it collided with the treeline, drenching them and stamping out the fire immediately, even snapping a few younger trees in half. It was an impressive sight, to see the enormous creature create and throw a wave all on its own. Rowan stood facing the fire, his long coat billowing backwards from the wave's impact, rustling his hair and moustache.
It was a start, but it wasn't enough, and there were more fires all around them. Even if they put down one, another would sprout up not that far away. Bibarel could have taken down the entire forest by himself, Rowan knew this very well. However, on its own he would quickly grow tired.
There was something else that was gnawing at Rowan's consciousness however. There was a potent stench in the air, a smell he knew well enough. Gasoline, and tons of it too. He could buy that a green camper may have accidentally set a tree ablaze, but not to this level, and not this fast. With the interspersed flames all around them, it quickly became evident that there were multiple people setting multiple fires all at once, which only made his job all the more difficult.
"Floatzel! I need another Aqua Jet over her!" Berlitz shouted out beside him. "ZEL!" The large orange weasel cried in response, hurling itself at the fire. Yet, as it flew through the air, a veil of water appeared at the tip of its nose, leaving a long trail behind itself. At the last moment, just before crashing through the underbrush, Floatzel snapped back, sending the water attack directly into the fire. It worked well enough, dampening the area, but the forest fire refused to die down...
"Has Yuzo gotten word back from the police yet?" Rowan called out to Berlitz. He shook his head. "I haven't seen him since we split." He responded. His Staraptor was the perfect Pokémon to get messages quickly, especially given the rapidly developing situation. "This isn't some accident, Berlitz. These were set on purpose, hopefully I'm wrong..."
Through the fire, a menacing laugh began cackling through, before being joined by a whole group of figures in grey armour. Rowan knew exactly who they were. "Hunters." He gritted his teeth, knowing that this could have happened. He had predicted they would attempt an attack while the police were out searching up Route 202. It just made too much sense. One stood out confident amongst the rest, flashing him a cocky smirk. "Look at this pitiful Champion! He's just some old, senile fool too busy with his little research projects! How the mighty have fallen, eh?"
His snide remarks meant little to Rowan, but it was hysterical to the twenty or so grunts who had emerged from the burning brush. "How dare you do this to my home! My people!" He shouted back, clenching his fists, trying to control his rage. He had always had a problem with his anger when it got too much, but he had learned to mask it well with age. Bibarel regrouped, standing before his master defensively, strong and steady. "What home? You mean that smouldering wreck up on the hill?" Another voice called out, pointing towards the laboratory.
Rowan shot them a suspicious look, not believing them for a second. That was until an enormous explosion rocked the landscape behind them, a fiery inferno engulfing the village in his peripheral vision. He nearly choked on his own saliva for a moment, whipping his head around to watch. And what they had said had come to pass, as the Pokémon laboratory became little more than ashes, smoke rising higher and higher into the sky. His eyes went wide, realising he was watching not only all his work go up in flames, but also all his junior aides, [Y/N] and Cynthia who he had had such great expectations for...
His knees wobbled, nearly falling to one knee, but he refused to do so in front of such evil people. "Oh no, Rowan needs his walking stick?" One said. "Thanks for all the free merchandise, old man!" Another called, and in unison they all began retrieving their own red and white Poké balls, releasing a massive horde of monsters. There were Puruglys and Skuntanks, Drapions and Toxicroaks, Yanmega and Dusknoir, but even some foreign Pokémon, like Houndoom or Mightyena. This wasn't just some impromptu attack, no. This was a well-planned operation, and they had played them all like fools...
However, the Hunter's had just made their second mistake, showing Rowan exactly what he was up against immediately. Their first mistake? Underestimating the rage-filled Sinnoh Champion and Pokémon Professor, Rowan. His face was dark, concealed by night and contorted shadows. "Berlitz, head back to the lab. Help anyone you can, and don't let anyone get away. Use force if necessary. Understood." Berlitz didn't hesitate, seeing the expression on Rowan's face. "Yes, sir." He said, nodding back, and he took off without looking back, his Floatzel right behind him...
"Admit it, Rowan. We've caught you unprepared. Even with your Bibarel, there's no way you can win here. Give up and we'll make this quick, or not..." They began cackling once more, but Rowan didn't flinch. They thought that by catching him unaware, he wouldn't be at full strength. Third mistake. "You're all scum. I thought we'd dealt with your kind years ago, but I suppose I've been too lax as of late. That is my mistake to bear alone."
Some of them were startled by the response, looking around for support. "Y-You're just some old, washed-up Champ with one Pokémon to your name. W-What are you going to do?!" Another goon shouted nervously. Rowan stood his ground. "I can tell none of you have ever known the love that a trainer holds for their Pokémon, it's as clear as day..." His voice was stronger than ever, making him appear like he did in his prime years.
"Because a TRUE trainer always follows one sacred rule..."
They looked around at one another, some confused, others more so concerned.
"A Pokémon trainer NEVER leaves home without expecting to face their toughest battle yet."
Five enormous bright lights exploded around Rowan in an instant, lighting up his stoic face. Every hunter took a step back, expecting him to have only kept his Bibarel. They had planned this so they would only need to fight on Champion's Pokémon, not an entire team!
Rowan remained quiet for a second longer, letting the intimidation factor work itself. He took in a deep breath.
"Show them the strength of Sinnoh's best."
====================
[Ruins of Professor Rowan's Laboratory, Sandgem Town]
"We we're just here to take the spoils, but nobody said we couldn't have a little fun on the job..."
Fire was quickly spreading all around them, destroying all it touched. And not only the Laboratory, but fire had been set to the neighbouring built up areas of Sandgem town, in some cruel effort to leave no stone unchecked. They would leave death and destruction, and make off with hundreds of new servile Pokémon to sell overseas.
Splayed out upon the front entrance, the remaining aids sat teary-eyed, wounded and scared, trying to help their slowly fading associates. Mina sat spluttering away, massaging her bruised neck against the floor, while Cynthia lay still and unconscious, unaware of the world around her. Before them stood the rotund hunter, who shot them all a malicious grin, and his Skuntank, a similarly large foe. That left five left to face this threat who could still fight. A wounded, dazed [Y/N], close to collapsing himself, Chimchar, Turtwig, Piplup, and Cynthia's Gible...
It wasn't the best odds, but it was the best they were going to get.
"H-HEY!" [Y/N] shouted out, slowly rising from off the floor. "Huh?" The large man murmured. "Can't you just stay down, pipsqueak. Leave this to the adults?" He laughed at this impromptu trainer's cry of defiance.
"Why are you doing this?! What did Professor Rowan, or any of these people, ever do to you?!" [Y/N] continued, losing control of his tempo. He had been treated as nothing less than a family member by the entire laboratory, and to see everything they worked so hard to build destroyed in a matter of minutes made him furious.
The rotund man laughed once more. "You ain't never heard of a Hunter, boy? What rock have you been living under? Hunter's run this region, kid. WE'RE the power in charge here. Not the Pokémon Association, or the Champion and his Elite dogs, not even the International Police!" He rambled maniacally. "Sinnoh's been an untapped market for way too long. The other regions let us work without much hassle, but these people just don't know when to give in. We've gotta' make you all understand where your place is in this world..."
"Because when it comes to interfering with our money, we don't take that very kindly. Especially from some old bastard who doesn't know the way the world's turnin'." The hunter continued, mocking Rowan's name. He spoke as if they had some inherent justification to do as they wished, without any repercussions or backlash for their heinous actions. [Y/N] hadn't even known the region's name for less than two days, but even he felt sickened by his language.
"And, you see, kid. Money is a very important thing, because the people with the most money also happen to be the people with the most power. So, you mess with our money, you mess with every Hunter in the industry. Really, it's their fault for not expecting this sort of attack in the first place, and if a few people gotta' die to make that clear, then I think that's pretty reasonable."
[Y/N] didn't want to hear him speak anymore, it was all excuses to make up for how awful they were. "Y-You think this is reasonable?! This is sadistic!" The hunter let through another sly smirk. "I'd say good business, but it really doesn't matter what you think. You've rubbed me the wrong way, kid. I don't like this disrespect I'm hearin'. Some people just don't learn, shame..."
"Skuntank, teach this little brat a lesson while I clean up the rest of these little ones..." With a sleazy smile, he turned towards the four starter Pokémon, knowing how much money they would all be worth. Skuntank's eyes honed in on him, step by step, growing closer and closer. [Y/N] was still wounded from the explosion, and from simply looking at the Pokémon, he knew that if he took an attack from that thing he wouldn't be around for very much longer.
"Fury Swipes!" The hunter called out. Skuntank's head lowered, and it charged, launching itself at him. It brought its front paw forward, striking out with an intent to maim. [Y/N] only got a brief second to raise both arms before the attack hit, carving a blood claw mark across his feeble defence. He could feel the blade-like appendages slice into his skin with little resistance. A loud, agonising grunt escaped him as he fell to the floor, on his back. He tried to fight through the pain, but it was too excruciating.
However, it didn't stop there, striking again at his legs multiple times. The first missed, and [Y/N] booted the Skuntank's snout, forcing it to recoil temporarily, but it didn't wait long. It made sure not to miss the second time, cleaving down on his leg like a guillotine. He just barely stifled a full scream, as he began to lose feeling in the limb. It was hard to tell at night, with the ever fading colours, but the fire illuminated the landscape well enough. He could feel himself growing weaker, the world around him more faint by the second.
A scream called for him, a woman's scream? Was it Mina? Perhaps Cynthia? He wasn't really sure but right now it didn't really matter to him all that much, all the noise around him seemed to grow slightly more quiet. The fire's once blazing yellow, orange followed too, dimming from his perspective. The last thing he could really make out was the Skuntank slowly perching itself atop his body, moments away from gouging out his throat perhaps? Or maybe gutting his stomach? Both seemed an equally unfavourable way to go out...
Was this it? Dead only two days after losing all semblance of self and memory? Just when he had decided what he actually wanted to do with his new chance at life? It just seemed cruel at that point, to offer something so tempting, and then to immediately rip it away. Especially so given he had met such nice people, like Mina and Professor Rowan, but also a potential companion in Cynthia. Maybe the two days had been just some extended dream all along, and he was actually dead. That he was living out his final moments in a fantasy realm constructed by his dying brain.
That sounded right. It had all seemed too good. Waking up and having some cute, clueless blonde girl fawn over him after only having known one another for probably less than a day. To be presented with the opportunity to throw off a normal life and take to the hills, with no responsibilities to anyone but to himself. The chance to make a name for himself, and do something with his life...
No, it was way too good to be real. He would have laughed at his own stupidity had he not already been in the progress of dying, bleeding out in real time.
However, if it were to have been actually real, it probably would have been a pretty life-changing adventure. He would never know of course, but the idea did seem awfully appealing...
Maybe even one day he would become the very best, that no one ever was, huh? Which one would he have chosen...
What were their names again?
Oh, yeah! That was their names...
There was Piplup, the water penguin.
Then there was Turtwig, the grass turtle!
And, who could have forgotten Chimchar, the fire monkey.
Either one of them would have made a pretty awesome partner, but that was all in the past now. In some world, they would've been the strongest team the world would have ever known, unfortunately this world wasn't that...
After a few moments of thinking to himself, [Y/N] came to a strange conclusion.
Why was he not dead yet? He supposed, lots of people died, so maybe there was a backfill? That was a stupid thought, and this was a serious situation. He really should have stopped thinking by now. Or, was this death? Just thinking in some incorporeal realm? He didn't really like that idea...
Slowly, he could feel himself drifting along, like he was being taken through a calm river. There was no rush, and it was a relatively calming feeling. Maybe he could even get used to it.
Then, his head felt incredibly heavy, and the throbbing pain returned, as if hundreds of pounds of force were being applied to his entire body.
And, clear in his incorporeal mind, he heard a booming voice speak to him.
"You are not ready."
"There is still work left to be done."
"I have bestowed upon you gifts that your body is not yet ready to accept fully."
"This once, I will unlock a fraction of that power."
"And that will be the end of my interference."
There was a brief pause as [Y/N]'s mind raced to understand what was going on around him...
"You will know this power when you awaken anew."
"And you will continue my plan once more."
"You will feel immense pain afterwards."
"That is the price you must pay for failure."
[Y/N]'s mind went blank once more...
"You will not remember any of this upon awakening."
"Your strength will not only lie within yourself, but within the bonds you form."
"I hope we will not have to meet once more."
"Good luck."
... ... ... ...
"You're all goin' to fetch a pretty penny..." The Hunter said, holding the Turtwig against the ground by its neck, his cannon aimed out towards the rest. "Don't move now, wouldn't want my finger to slip..." He chided them, and they didn't. However, deep down, all four Pokémon were seething with rage. Pokémon were said to have a far wider range of senses than humans. They could tell death, almost like a spiritual connection. And they knew without even needing to look...
[Y/N] was dead.
From a distance, his chest lay flat, unmoving, not even a tiny gasp for air. There was no life. In the background, tens of Hunters were scavenging what remained of the laboratory, pilfering as many Poké balls as they possibly could. However, the rotund Hunter didn't care for that. He had a bounty worth its weight in gold before him.
This whole operation had gone even easier than they had expected! No Rowan, no police, not even a single competent trainer! Sinnoh had had such a reputation for its legendary fighting spirit, but where was it now? Nowhere to be found as far as he could tell, all a bunch of lies. How far the mightiest of regions fell, huh?
Skuntank placed itself behind the three left standing, making sure they didn't make a break for it. Chimchar and Gible were furious, practically throwing themselves at the enemy, but Piplup somehow managed to hold both back, knowing it would only be bad for them.
Turtwig struggled, trying to break free from the Hunter's grasp, but he wouldn't budge. It was useless! There didn't appear to be a single thing they could do...
"Bite." Turtwig heard in its mind. It looked around confused, trying to find some sources of the voice, but it couldn't find one. Perhaps it was going crazy.
Yet, then it heard the voice again. "Bite. Bite down on his hand." And this time, he recognized the voice, but that couldn't be possible. Turtwig cast his eyes over towards [Y/N]'s dead body, waiting to see some response.
There was still no movement, no movement at all. "Listen to me." The voice came once more, like a ghostly haunting. "What good is a starter Pokemon that doesn't follow commands?"
Turtwig almost took that offensively, but now wasn't the time. Even if it wasn't [Y/N]'s voice, what other option did it have? It might as well resist, even if it was his final act...
"BITE!" The voice commanded one last time, and Turtwig did. The Hunter looked up at the raging Gible and Chimchar for but a second. Two enormous jaws clamped down upon his hand, crushing it as hard as he possibly could. The Hunter only barely stopped himself from screaming out loud, glaring at his hand. He held it out before him, only for Turtwig to hold on, dangling in the air before him. "You dirty stinkin'..."
However, before he could respond, a massive blast of scalding water collided into his chest, propelling him onto his behind. "PIP!" The tiny penguin said with new found confidence. It had heard a voice. "USE WATER GUN!" It had screamed at her, and she felt compelled to do it, even if it meant risking their own safety.
Chimchar scratched its head with confusion, but he too soon heard the voice. "SCRATCH HIS FACE OFF!" It roared at him mentally. Was it supposed to not listen to the voice inside its head encouraging its violent tendencies? He thought not, leaping atop the fat Hunter and straddling his face. "POUND THE SHIT OUT OF HIM!" Piplup heard, yet she was a little apprehensive, and not so responsive to the cursing. "W-Would you please pound the shit out of him?" The voice asked again in bewilderment, not realising he was dealing with a nuisance. This worked well enough for Piplup who joined Chimchar in his assault.
On all sides, the Hunter was being attacked. His hand was gnawed apart by Turtwig, his face shredded by Chimchar, and Piplup pounding his legs, preventing him from getting up. By all accounts, it was a pretty embarrassing sight. Especially given how confident he had been beforehand. Yet, the three didn't stop, beating him until they grew tired.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" He shouted, grabbing Chimchar by the scruff of his neck. However, just as he was about to get up, the sole of a boot crashed into his face, repeatedly stomping him. "YEAH! TAKE THAT BASTARD!" [Y/N] shouted, joining in on the attack. At first, the three starters weren't fazed. That was until they looked at where he had once sat dead, and then looked back at his living, moving body who was kicking the hunter while he was down alongside them.
What was even more strange was that he didn't have a single speck of blood on him. His clothes were still torn, but the marks on his arms seemed to have generally sealed back up, leaving large scars against his arms and legs and stomach. They didn't know what to think. "DON'T STOP NOW! BEAT HIS ASS!" [Y/N] shouted at them, himself refusing to stop. Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar looked at one another, and collectively chose to ignore it for now, continuing to attack the weak, crying hunter...
"P-Please stop..." He cried, his eyes welling up with tears, a mixture of runny snot and blood flooding out his nose. "I-I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I-I'll go back to school and get an actual job..."
"WHERE'S ALL THE 'AND IF A FEW PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE, THAT SOUNDS PRETTY REASONABLE' BULLSHIT, HUH?!" [Y/N] shouted back, not letting him recover.
Gible watched on with fascination, and so did the Skuntank, but more so in fear. It was sure it had killed that boy, and yet, now it stood before them, alive and well. Yet, that wasn't all, there was a new energy to him, and it was strong and potent. It wasn't visible, but it could feel the power emanating from his person...
Skuntank was a relatively high-level, and it only barely listened to its master, but seeing him beaten down so easily really made it reevaluate who it was listening to. And so, without much hesitation, the Skuntank simply ran away, turning its back on the hunter, leaving him to fend for himself. "Y-YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME, STUPID POKEMON! I-I OWN YOU!" The hunter shouted.
"That's enough out of you." [Y/N] said, delivering a final punch to his jaw. Even though he wasn't the strongest, it proved enough to finally knock him out, alongside the bite marks, scratches and pounds.
He then took in a deep breath, looking at his body, and his hands, at each individual finger. The scars along his arms and stomach remained clear and bold. How was he still alive?
The three Pokémon kept their eyes upon him, each giving him a strange look, he gave them a similar look back. "The voice thing?" He asked them, they all nodded in tandem. "Yeah, I've no clue. I just started cursing at them and then you all started doing what I was thinking. If anything, you guys are the weird ones." [Y/N] said, folding his scarred arms. They all took a deadpan expression.
A hoarse cough from behind them got [Y/N]'s attention, as he turned to face the surviving aides. "Mina?!" He called out, skidding down next to her. "Are you alright?!" It took her a few moments to recover, but eventually she regained composure. "Am I alright?! How are you standing right now?!" She exclaimed, grabbing a hold of his arms. It only took a quick glance to know that there were no wounds, only scars. That wasn't possible though, right? Had her eyes been playing tricks on her? Perhaps the stress and the fumes was getting to her head.
"Is everyone okay?!" Berlitz's voice called out from a distance, the researcher running up the path towards them, before needing to take a break, hunched over his knees. Next to him, a large orange weasel followed his lead, though it didn't suffer the same exhaustion.
"I-I think this is everyone. Is Rowan alright?" Mina responded. Before Berlitz could even respond a massive explosion of energy erupted in the distance near the treeline. The sheer impact could be felt even from their far distant position. "He's fine. Rowan's the Champion. I'd be more worried for the hunters who challenged him..."
"We've got one here, but the rest got away. I'm sorry..." [Y/N] said, guilty to have done so little to help. He wanted to be a trainer, but all he could do was beat up some fat grunt. "What do you mean?" Mina asked, Berlitz attending to Cynthia's unconscious body. "If you hadn't gotten Cynthia out of there then she wouldn't still be breathing right now..." He cast his eyes over towards her still form, it was faint but it was still definitely there.
"If you hadn't fought back, all four of those Pokémon would be captured, and we'd all be dead!" Mina continued, [Y/N] clenched his hand together. It wasn't enough. "You weren't expected to do anything, but you did more than most. What more could you have done?" In the distance, shadows crept amongst the trees, disappearing behind the fires. Like bandits they made off with all they could get their hands on, and they didn't leave anything that could be sold for a high price...
[Y/N] looked down at the large, severely beaten, hunter upon the ground. These people were the worst sort. They didn't care about anything but themselves and making a profit. Pokémon were just tools to them, like a gun that they could point and aim without any consideration.
Rowan had done so much for him, despite only having known the man for less than two days. The burning, desolation that had once been the Pokémon Laboratory sat behind them, the fires rising and refusing to die down.
It was then that he realised something about this world. A trainer wasn't just someone who trained animals, a trainer could be one of the strongest people in a region. The hunter's words rang within his head, about those with power. However, those with power could also do good, and fight back against those who hurt and preyed upon others...
He looked down at the three starters, who had all been giving him suspicious looks since his resurrection. "I'll get those Pokémon back. I swear it. Even if it's the last thing I do..."