Aryan's POV

A hazy scene began to form all around me and every noise I heard seemed weirdly echoey. A streak of yellow flashed past me, too fast for me to fully see what it had been. I turned, feeling like I was in slow motion as my head inched to the right. The yellow streak smashed into a huge beast, and the impact sent the beast crashing to the ground as the yellow streak tumbled back through the air. A shadowy figure that pulsed and shifted weirdly ran to the spot of yellow, also in slow motion.

My gaze turned to the beast whose outline was blurred but his echoing roars of anger and humiliation rang through the strange scene ominously. Not fully understanding why... I reached out my hand and tried to tell the beast to calm down. But before my halting words could escape my throat, a raging flame shot from the direction the beast was in. I could feel guilt searing through my entire body as I looked over and saw the shadowy figure, who had reached the yellow spot and was holding it protectively against itself.

"NO!" I yelled as the flames made contact with the shadowy figure.

"NO!" My eyes flew open and I shot up in bed, flinging the covers off of me and looking around as I tried to get my breathing under control. Hysteric gasps were still coming from my lungs and I was drenched in a cold sweat. Covering my eyes with my hand I forced myself to take deep breaths as I relived the horrible scene of my Salamence losing its cool and torching Satoshi.

"Crap," I swore under my breath as the guilt that had been gnawing at me for the last several days raged inside of me. In my entire life, I had never turned my back on someone injured. Honestly, I would have been willing to release my entire team of pokemon to take on the half-dozen Team Galactic grunts that showed up precisely at the time Salamence injured Satoshi so badly. Yet the pleading expression in his brown eyes floated through my mind and I clenched my jaw.

Letting out a frustrated sigh through my nose, I maneuvered my legs off the side of the cot I had been sleeping on for the last few days and propelled myself from the bed. I almost welcomed the stinging cold of the linoleum floor against my bare feet since it distracted me from the rage of emotions warring inside of me.

After leaving Satoshi behind and losing Team Galactic, I hid in the forest and tried to circle back. By the time I got back to where Satoshi and I were battling though I wasn't surprised to see the place vacated. I managed to track them back to the edge of Mount Coronet though. To my frustration, the tracks led directly to the side of the mountain and seemed to completely disappear. I didn't dare to leave the cover of the forest, just in case they had surveillance nearby, but I was sure I had just found a secret entrance to their headquarters.

Deciding that I was officially in over my head, I reluctantly left Mount Coronet and went back to the Oreburgh Police Station where I was given a private conference room to video call Chief Vik and explain everything I found out. He had never heard of a Satoshi Killian either and had promised that he would look into him from his end as well. He also said he would pass on the location of Team Galactic's base to his higher-ups and the other intelligence agencies he was in contact with to see what could be done. Although I didn't understand why there was a chain of command for Chief Vik to report to when the International Police had always been the frontman for anything related to Team Galactic in the past.

"So many questions," I grumbled to myself as I typed in the passcode and entered the silent computer lab. I chose a computer at random and logged in with my credentials, pulling up the police database as well as just a basic internet browser. My frustration grew as I searched through every mention of "Satoshi", "Killian", and "Team Galactic".

When I couldn't find even the barest hint of who the heck this random guy could be, I changed my search to "Pikachu Boy" and grunted in annoyance as I hit the enter button. Pushing myself back from the desk I spun around in the desk chair, trying to get rid of some of the restless energy coursing through me. As I spun again, I glanced over at the computer screen and noticed a report with a ridiculous amount of exclamation marks pulling up from my search. Recognizing the file, my eyes went wide as I planted my feet on the ground and focused on the title.

"Team Galactic Foiled with the Help of Brave Trainers!!!!!!" I blinked several times as I looked at the file with Detective Looker's characteristic enthusiasm apparent. Being Detective Looker's junior partner I had looked through most of his old case files and I recognized this as the original case file from back when Cyrus was the leader of Team Galactic.

"Why would this pull up though..." I breathed out slowly, rolling slowly back over to the desk and clicking on the file. Using a quick command I searched the file for any mention of "Pikachu" and was shocked to see that there were 10 instances where a Pikachu had been mentioned. Frowning deeply, I combed through the file and felt my brow furrowing.

I read about Ash Ketchum, a young trainer who seemed to have a propensity for getting caught up with evil teams. Apparently, Ash had played a key role in not only stopping Cyrus from destroying the world with Dialga and Palkia, but he also mentioned fighting against evil organizations in the other regions he'd traveled through up to that point. Detective Looker raved about how fierce Ash's Pikachu was in battle. He also mentioned the strong bond that the two shared, which was one of the reasons Ash had apparently bonded with Azelf and managed to calm the legendary pokemon along with the help of his two friends Brock and Dawn.

After reading through every mention of Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, I found the physical description that Detective Looker had filled out. My frown deepened when it described him as having black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. An image of Satoshi with his black and blue streaked hair standing up in spikes with his brown eyes and tan skin popped into my head and I heaved a sigh, rubbing the heels of my hands against my closed eyes.

"It can't be him though," I muttered to myself. "It has to be a coincidence."

Even though I was sure this couldn't be a real lead, I found myself looking up the name Ash Ketchum. There were only a few cursory mentions of the boy from files years ago about evil organizations he had faced though. Feeling silly, but also not willing to give up on my hunch, I switched over to the internet and looked up Ash Ketchum. Articles from past League battles popped up and I was mildly impressed to see how well he had done for himself as a young trainer. In every picture I found of the kid, he always had his Pikachu sitting proudly on his shoulder. But just like the police files, all mention of Ash Ketchum seemed to disappear after he challenged the Sinnoh Pokemon League and lost in the semi-finals.

"Why would such a promising trainer just stop competing?" I thought to myself with frustration.

Glaring at the picture of the young Ash Ketchum I could feel my whole body tingling. This scrawny kid was nothing like the battle-hardened grunt I faced up on the roof of the PokEtch company. And I found no traces of Ash Ketchum knowing martial arts or anything... but something about this just... fit.

"Why would someone who stopped Team Galactic in the past change his name and join them years later though? And why did he just drop off the face of the planet? It's not like he died or anything..." I muttered to myself. That gruesome thought led me to search for an obituary, which I was both grateful and annoyed not to find. "What on earth is going on?"

Ash's POV

After three days of near-constant supervision and regular healing sessions with a Chansey, my skin was almost back to normal. Sometimes I wished I were a pokemon so Chansey's healing powers would work just as fast. But even if it wasn't as effective, I was grateful for any little help I could get. Having such a massive burn had been more inconvenient and painful than I could even describe. I doubted I could have relaxed enough to allow myself to sleep without the medications that they gave me.

The doctor had finally given me a clean bill of health though, and my skin had regrown with only the barest amount of scarring. Pikachu jumped up onto the mattress as I reached for the shirt that Marcus brought me earlier when he came to visit. I felt a gentle pat on my side where the scarring was the most prominent and I grinned over my shoulder at him.

"I've been wanting to get a cool scar," I said with a grin. "Would've been even better if he had burned my neck though! Scars on your neck are so awesome." 

Pikachu frowned heavily at me, obviously unimpressed with me making light of the situation. My grin slowly faded and I reached out and rubbed his head.

"Hey. You know I would do anything to keep you safe, buddy. And you do the same for me. Don't be feeling guilty or anything." 

Pikachu's little black eyes became moist as he battled back tears. But he then violently shook his head, pulling himself together and giving me a grin. "Pika pikachu pi," he said as he slapped my back with his little paw. I laughed and nodded firmly.

"Exactly. We gotta get stronger so we wipe the floor with that Salamence next time we see it!" I exclaimed excitedly. Although I became immediately subdued as my thoughts went back to Aryan and the pokemon battle we had fought.

"I believe I can help you with that."

Both Pikachu and I jumped at the unexpected female voice coming from the entrance to the infirmary. Trying to keep my wariness out of my expression, I looked over to see Neptune standing in the doorway, looking at me with her usual emotionless gaze. Neptune had checked in on me several times throughout my stay in the infirmary and had already grilled me about my encounter with Aryan. I had claimed I didn't recognize the trainer though and no matter how much she pressed I stuck to that story.

I awkwardly glanced down at my bare chest and quickly slipped into my shirt before giving Neptune my full attention. "What do you mean by that?" I asked with false cheerfulness. There was no way I wanted this insane woman's help to fight against Aryan, but it wasn't like I could come out and say that now could I?

"Are you fully recovered?" she asked, ignoring my question and walking over to the bed Pikachu and I were on. I blinked rapidly as she extended one of her hands and laid the back of her hand against my forehead.

Over the last few days, I noticed that Neptune was much more touchy than even in the past. This was not a development I was excited about, but remembering how she threatened to pull the nurse away from treating Pikachu before, I knew I couldn't say anything if I wanted to stay on her good side.

"Completely," I declared firmly. 

Neptune slowly pulled her hand from my forehead. She nodded once, apparently satisfied, before gesturing to the door. "Come with me, then," she ordered brusquely.

Just barely keeping a frown from my face, I stood and Pikachu immediately hopped onto his spot on my shoulder. We followed Neptune and, unsurprisingly, she led us into the heart of her headquarters which was all made out of the white crectin stuff she was so proud of. As we walked I tried to keep my mind occupied with how something could truly be "Natural Disaster Resistant" instead of anything that was going on around me.

I recognized the area she was bringing me to as the one where she kept/created her new pokemon. It was difficult not to feel guilty as I walked through this hallway, but I did my best to appear unconcerned as I followed Neptune down a side hallway I had never been to before. The sounds of medical instruments beeping softly greeted me as Neptune opened the door and walked in without announcement. I steeled my nerves for whatever lay beyond that door, then forced myself to follow after her.

My eyes widened when I saw what the room held. Circular glass containers filled with a greenish liquid were stretched across the whole back wall. In each of the containers, it seemed that a Tigrice in different stages of creation was bobbing silently in the green stuff.

Neptune waved her hand to me, prompting me silently to follow her. I turned away from the freaky sight in front of me and she walked me over to a door of an adjoining room. Before opening the door though, she stopped and looked up at me with her emotionless mask.

"Beyond this door is a gift for you," Neptune announced suddenly. I blinked, glancing around me at the two scientists in the room. They obviously knew better than to interfere though because they were both giving their full attention to whatever their computer screens were telling them.

"A gift?" I repeated slowly. "I kind of messed up not too long ago. It seems a little weird for you to give me a gift," I pointed out slowly, trying to sound bashful instead of suspicious. Neptune smiled though and flicked her purple hair over her shoulder.

"I do not require a reason to give a gift," she stated imperiously before she frowned slightly. "I call it a gift, but this is not something you can refuse, Satoshi," she said firmly with her lavender eyes sparking threateningly. I quickly shook my head and bowed slightly to her.

"I would never dream of refusing a gift from you, Neptune," I assured her awkwardly and Neptune nodded at me.

"Good. Beyond this door is a Tigrice that I want you to make part of your team." 

My eyes widened at this unexpected announcement and I looked at the door incredulously. "You're giving me one of your new pokemon?" I asked in shock. I had assumed she wanted to hide her new creations from the world, so I didn't understand why she would be giving me one now.

"As I said before," Neptune continued while ignoring my question. " The tigrice are my most perfect creation. They have achieved that status because they have a very special addition to their DNA called the Loyalty Genome."

"Loyalty Genome?" I repeated, not liking the sound of that one bit.

"Correct. It makes it so that as soon as the pokemon has finished developing, it will become completely and unalterably loyal to the first person that it comes in contact with." 

My throat tightened at this statement and I remembered the Tigrice she had shown me weeks ago. It had been sleeping, but upon hearing Neptune's voice it came and stood perfectly still next to her without any hint of emotion.

She found a way to make a pokemon loyal to someone without bonding with them? That's sick, I thought to myself with revulsion. She had essentially made a living, breathing pokemon into a machine. Something that could only be accessed by a single operator.

"Because of this," Neptune continued, "Once a Tigrice is fully developed we keep them in isolation until their determined partner can come and have it imprint with them."

Neptune looked between the closed door and me and I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. She actually wanted me to go in there and enslave a pokemon to myself. I could hardly keep myself from shuddering and I could feel Pikachu gripping my hair in his hands tightly to keep himself from reacting.

"Leave your Pikachu here and go in, Satoshi," Neptune ordered calmly. I flinched at this command, glancing over at Pikachu. Before I could even open my mouth though, Neptune narrowed her pale eyes at me and shook her head. "There can be no interference with the imprinting process. Pikachu remains here."

I frowned slightly but sighed and nodded my understanding. Pikachu reluctantly hopped off of my shoulder and stood on the table, looking at me sadly. I rubbed his head briefly before looking towards the door. Neptune didn't wait for me to say anything, she just typed in a passcode and the door slid open.

Doing my best to look excited, I walked through the door. Although I couldn't help but jump when it immediately slammed shut behind me. The room was poorly lit; I could barely see anything around me. After a moment though, a deep growling came from a darkened corner of the room. My body tensed and I was immediately on high alert. Movement and a flash of blindingly white fur came from the same corner as the growling and I faced that direction fully.

The Tigrice slunk forward threateningly towards me and I tried to meet its gaze. In the back of my mind, I knew all I needed was to speak and the Tigrice would become docile... But the thought of enslaving this poor pokemon to my will left me feeling nauseous. However, as the Tigrice raked a clawed paw towards me, I knew that there was no way I could keep the pokemon as Neptune required without it ever hearing my voice.

Feeling like a complete failure as a trainer, I dropped to my knees and grit my teeth. Just as I saw Tigrice springing towards me I let out a "tch" and opened my mouth.

"Tigrice, stop." My hands clenched into fists when Tigrice suddenly cut its leap short, dropping within inches of my body. The pokemon shook its large head, blinking rapidly at me as if confused as to why it hadn't ripped me to shreds yet. Clenching my jaw briefly, I slowly reached out my hand. A weak growl came from the beautiful pokemon in front of me and I let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I gently laid my hand on its head. "I'm so sorry."

Tigrice's growling puttered out like an old car engine coming to a stop. A glassy sheen came over Tigrice's marble-like eyes and I could almost feel it losing its personality by the second.

"You can still act normal with me you know," I urged as I brushed the thick, soft fur on its head. Tigrice cocked its head slightly to the side, but its eyes remained glassy and I could see that it was just waiting for my next order.

Gritting my teeth against the anger building inside of me, I stood up and let my hand fall away from Tigrice's head. It stood perfectly still and I turned away from it and towards the door.

"Come with me, Tigrice," I said quietly as I moved towards the door. The soft padding of the large pokemon's paws behind me was the only sound I could distinguish as I walked to the door. It opened easily from the inside and I was immediately greeted by Neptune's smiling face.

"Well done, Satoshi," Neptune said as I walked out of the gloomy room with Tigrice following close behind me. "Now if you ever meet that trainer again you can take care of his Salamence without any worry."

I barely kept myself from frowning. Instead, I reached out my arm and Pikachu immediately jumped over to join me on my shoulder.

"I am truly honored by your faith in me, Neptune," I said while bowing so I wouldn't have to force a smile. When I straightened again, Neptune was smiling at me with satisfaction in her expression.

"Take the rest of the day to familiarize yourself with Tigrice and her moves," Neptune ordered with a nod.

"Her?" I repeated, looking down at the intimidating pokemon who was standing resolutely by my side.

"That's right," Neptune said with another nod. "She is the first female Tigrice that made it successfully to full development. I expect great things from you training her."

I nodded silently, not sure how to respond to that. It wasn't like I could actually train a pokemon that would follow my orders without question or hesitation.

"Ah, and as a friendly piece of advice," Neptune said, taking a step closer to me and gently taking my wrist into her hand. I stiffened at the unexpected touch and her nearness, but I forced myself to look into her eyes. "The first order I gave my Tigrice was to be aggressive to anyone other than myself and the people I introduce him to."

I swallowed unpleasantly as Neptune stepped even closer so she could reach over and touch my Tigrice on the ear. Tigrice didn't even blink and Neptune smiled up at me as if she had just proved a point. Forcing a tight smile, I nodded in understanding and Neptune stepped away from me.

"I'll make sure no one disturbs you in your training today. Go to bed early and tomorrow you will be back to your normal duties," Neptune said firmly. I nodded my understanding once again and Neptune gestured to the entrance of the weird lab.

"I have a few things to check up on with my researchers. You go on ahead."

"Thank you again, Neptune," I said, hoping that I sounded sincere before I turned and marched out of the room that had a sickly green glow from the liquid they were growing the Tigrice in.