A young boy sat crouched in front of his television. His dark green eyes were fixated on the action happening on the screen.

The boy's room was entirely dark other than the tv. Its light faintly illuminated the room and the boy in his blue pajamas.

He brushed some of his dark black hair away from his eye and pressed his face right in front of the tv screen.

On the television, a battle was taking place between two trainers. The camera was focused on a man in his early-20s with light brown hair covered by a red hat with a faded Poké Ball symbol on it.

The man's brown eyes shimmered with excitement and he had a sly grin on his face as he stared down his opponent.

"And the champion takes out another one of Alex's Pokémon!" An announcer shouted, recapping what had just happened in the battle. "Can everyone's favorite upstart trainer defeat Red after five years of being champion? Both trainers are now on their final pokemon!"

The boy winced at how loud the man was and grabbed the remote, turning the volume down by two levels.

"As if the champion and his Charizard are going to be defeated by a single Pokémon." The boy said to himself.

The Pokémon resting on his bed stuck its round head up to look at him. It yawned and then went back to sleep.

The two trainers and their Pokémon were fighting on a flat battlefield that was covered in debris and burn marks from an intense battle.

On the field, a giant lizard creature stood tall. It spread its large wings in an attempt to intimidate its foe. The Charizard habitually flicked its tail back and forth, the flame on its tip burning bright orange.

The younger trainer grit his teeth and ran a hand through his golden hair. He reached onto his belt and removed a Poké Ball. The trainer tossed the ball into the air and it burst open.

The Poké Ball fell back into the trainer's hand while a figure made of light landed on the battlefield. The figure's form became more defined until it was fully formed.

A blue jackal creature stood where the light once was. Its red eyes bore into the Charizard and it pounded its fists together, showing off the spikes on the back of its hands. Similarly, a spike stuck out of its chest.

"Alright Lucario, use Power Up Punch!" Alex said. He spoke with extreme confidence. Very few trainers had gotten Red onto his final Pokémon after he had become the champion.

His Pokémon dashed forward. Charizard leaped into the air and flapped its wings, keeping it high above the ground.

The young boy watched the battle, completely mesmerized. "He thinks he can get in close? Good luck." The boy murmured.

The Lucario readied its fist as it approached the flying dragon. It leaped into the air and the Charizard quickly moved to the side.

The Jackal fell onto the ground fist-first. Creating a small crater where it landed. The Pokémon quickly recovered from the missed attack and turned around to see a giant fireball almost on top of it.

The Lucario was engulfed in the fire. It cried out as the flames continued to burn for several seconds. Red nodded to his Pokémon and the Charizard flew towards Lucario, grabbing the Jackal in one of its claws as soon as the flames died out.

The Lucario had a dazed expression as it was dragged through the air. Its trainer grit his teeth as his eyes darted back and forth. "Lucario get out of there!"

Lucario began to thrash its body, trying to escape Charizard's grip. Red brought his hand down and without speaking a word his Pokémon threw Lucario onto the ground.

Lucario crashed onto the battlefield and slowly got to its feet. The Pokémon was covered in scratches and its blue fur was lightly singed from the fire attack. It had labored breaths as it took an aggressive stance.

"Hang in there Lucario!" Alex spoke with less confidence upon seeing the state his Pokémon was in. "Get in close with Extreme Speed!"

The Fighting and Steel-type Pokémon began to run forward before it vanished. Charizard scanned the arena and Lucario reappeared behind it.

"Charizard... look out." The young boy said. He began to tap his fingers on his leg. Charizard took too long to turn around and Lucario brought its leg down on the back of the lizard Pokémon's head.

The Jackal Pokémon used Charizard to leap high into the sky. "Rock Slide!" Alex yelled. Large boulders began to appear around Lucario and they quickly plummeted towards Charizard.

The large Pokémon attempted to escape but one of the stones hit its wings. The Charizard began to flail its body as it crashed onto the ground, the rocks fell onto it and buried the dragon.

Lucario landed on the ground and winced. It took a look back at the pile of stones and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is... is it over?" The announcer wondered. "Erm-after a stunning Rock Slide from Alex's Lucario, it appears that the champion's Charizard is... unable to battle."

The boy's eyes widened and he began to shake his head. "No... no Charizard you have to wake up!" He pleaded with the screen. The Pokémon sitting on his bed opened its eyes again and watched the scene unfold.

Suddenly an orange glow began to shine from beneath the stones. Several rocks shattered as a giant column of fire burst from the center of the pile.

The flames died down and Charizard stood where they once were. It was battered and bruised all over its body. The Pokémon attempted to move its wings but winced and looked back at its trainer.

"Looks like Charizard still has some right left in him! But he can no longer fly and seems badly hurt. How will the champion pull off this victory?" The announcer's tone filled the young boy with life and he glued his eyes to the TV.

"We're not going to lose! Lucario use Extreme Speed and Power Up Punch!" His trainer said. Fire burned in the younger trainer's eyes and his Pokémon seemed to match his energy by vanishing once again.

Charizard narrowed its eyes and kept its claws at the ready. Carefully watching for any movement.

Lucario once again appeared behind Charizard but before it could attack Red made a motion with his hands and Charizard quickly wrapped its tail around Lucario's leg.

The Charizard grinned as it threw Lucario into some remaining rocks and released it from its grip. The Jackal Pokémon broke through the boulder and went tumbling onto the ground.

Charizard roared and ran forward on its bulky legs, its claws began to glow green and extend outward. The Pokémon leaped into the air and used its wings to glide just long enough so that it could bring the full force of its right claw down onto the Lucario.

The ground beneath Lucario caved in as the attack hit it, and the Pokémon passed out.

"And the champion defends his title! Beating yet another challenger!" The announcer shouted as the screen displayed a graphic of the champion and his Pokémon.

A wide grin formed on the boy's face and he shot up with joy. "Yeah! He won!" The boy cheered, his eyes widened right after he made the noise and he clamped his hand over his mouth.

The boy shut the TV off and quietly slipped into his bed, where he drifted off to sleep.

Sunlight poured into the boy's room through his window. He yawned and opened his eyes. "Oh man, what time is it?" He asked himself.

The boy dragged himself out of his bed and changed out of his pajamas into a light blue jacket and a pair of black jeans.

He put a cap that was yellow on the back and under the brim and black everywhere else onto his head, stuffing most of his hair under the hat.

Once he was ready he noticed his Pokémon was still asleep on the bed. "Wooper! Wake up, we gotta go see Silver!" The boy said to his Pokémon.

The blue Pokémon opened its eyes and jumped off of the bed. Had it not been for its large tail it would've struggled to balance its large head and short body due to the Pokémon's lack of arms and stubby feet.

The Pokémon wriggled the two purple coral-like whiskers on the sides of its head and smiled widely at its trainer.

The boy returned the Pokémon's smile and the two left his room and walked down the stairs of the house.

The house was mostly made of tan wood. It stood sturdily next to a lake. Two large windows on either side of the door let light into the main part of the house.

The boy's mother was standing over a stove placed in the back of the room cooking something. She was currently wearing a white apron and had her black hair up in a high ponytail.

As she heard the boy coming down the stairs she turned and smiled. "Good morning, sunshine!"

"Morning mom!" The boy said, taking a seat at the table.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked, turning her attention back to the food on the stove.

The boy made a shrugging motion with his shoulders. "Pretty good, I guess."

The mother smiled as she removed the food from the stove and placed it onto a plate. She brought the plate over to the table and set it down in front of her son.

"Thanks, mom!" The boy said before he turned his attention to the food and eating it.

His mother walked back to the stove and put the pan in the sink where she began to wash it. "Your father called last night. He says he misses you, but so far the job's going well in Unova. With any luck, he'll be home in a few weeks assuming it all goes well."

"Cool!" The boy said with his mouth half full of food. "Silver and I are making a fort and once we're done I'm gonna show it to him! It's gonna be so cool!" The boy finished his food and stood up, pushing in his chair.

"Done already?" His mother asked.

The young boy nodded. "Yep! I'm going to go see if Silver can play now!" He told her, running off.

"Alright honey, remember the rules." His mother said as he began to put his shoes on.

The boy nodded. "Yep! Be back before sundown, no fighting Wild Pokémon, stay away from strangers, and stay with Silver." He listed off as he tied his shoes.

"And remember, Gold, stay safe!" Gold's mother said, she smiled and waved at him as he opened the door and ran outside with his Pokémon following close behind him.

A light breeze blew in Gold's face as he ran from his house on the edge of the lake to another house not too far away.

The sun was high in the sky and the weather was fairly cool. The few people that lived in the town would likely be out and about soon enough as it got later into the day.

The tiny town was mostly comprised of small wooden homes. The only anomaly was the large house near the western exit. The home as a lab on the first floor and the living quarters were on the second floor.

Next to the building was a windmill slowly rotating due to the light gust. The windmill provided electric power to the town, which was installed by the professor working in the lab.

Gold jogged over to the house and knocked on the door. After waiting a few moments the door opened.

Standing on the other side of the door was a boy with unkempt scarlet red hair. He had cool grey eyes and a warm grin on his face. "Heya, Gold!" He said. "You ready to go?"

Gold nodded. "Of course! Silver, we're going to build the most coolest fort ever!" He told his friend.

Silver stepped outside, buttoning up his dark blue overshirt. "Let's go!"

The two boys ran into the woods north of Gold's house. A few bird Pokémon flew above them as they ran between the trees. Leaves colored orange and red coated the ground and filled the trees.

"Did you see the battle the champion had against Alex last night?" Gold asked Silver as they walked alongside a river.

Silver shook his head. "I thought that battle was super late?"

"It was! But I stayed up!" Gold said, putting a hand on his chest and smiling smugly.

"Really?" Silver awes. "Your mom let you stay up that late?"

"Nope, but she didn't find out because I was quiet." Gold told his friend.

"So what happened?" Silver questioned.

Gold grinned and began to recount the events. "And then they were both on their final Pokémon, right? And the champion was beating Alex but then his Lucario did this super speed thing and got behind Charizard and almost beat him!"

"Beat Charizard? No way!" Silver said in disbelief.

"Way. And then he tried it again but the champion was ready and then Charizard grabbed Lucario with his tail and threw him onto the ground! It was so cool!" Gold explained, pantomiming the fight as he narrated.

Wooper jumped into the river and began to swim next to the kids as Gold finished the recount. "And then Charizard hit him one more time and the champion won! It was crazy!"

"Woah..." Silver marveled, imagining the event. "I don't think anybody can beat the champion."

"Nobody can!" Gold affirmed. "Except for me!" He pointed to himself as he said this. "I've watched all his fights and I know everything there is to know."

"Yeah but Gold, once you beat him, I'll beat you. And then I'LL be champion!" Silver said with a smirk.

Gold rolled his eyes. "As if! Oh hey, this is the spot!" The two boys came to a stop in a large clearing.

The boys admired the area and went right to work. They grabbed various large branches buried under leaves and constructed a crude hut leaning against a tall tree out of the branches.

Eventually, they took a break and watched Wooper play in the water. "I can't wait until we can become trainers." Gold said, swirling a stick in the water.

Silver nodded. "It'll be so cool! We'll take on the world together! Just five more years." He said wistfully, looking up at the sky. "My mom says I can't even get a Pokémon until I'm 12."

"Well, it's not like my mom wanted me to have a Pokémon either. My dad got me Wooper." Gold reminded his friend.

Silver frowned. "Yeah. How's his job in Unova?"

Gold shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's going good. I'm not sure. I haven't talked to him in a while."

The two friends sat together in silence and listened to the sound of the river and Wooper splashing in the water for some time.

Gold sat upright and turned to his friend suddenly. "Do you feel that?" He asked.

The red-haired boy looked at him. "Yeah, I do. That's weird, it sort of feels like when I put that balloon on my hair." The two boys stood up and looked around.

Wooper noticed their confusion and jumped out of the water, running off deeper into the woods.

"Wooper! Where are you going?" Gold chased after his Pokémon with Silver following close behind.

The two boys came to a stop as they felt more of the strange energy. Their eyes followed Wooper and saw a Pokémon standing not too far away.

The Pokémon was a yellow feline quadruped. It was half as tall as the trees around it. The mysterious Pokémon had large fangs and blue whiskers that stuck straight out.

Its blue tail was arched like a lightning bolt and it had strange patterns made up of black fur on its legs and back.

The Pokémon turned to face the two boys and snarled. The boys were noticeably uncomfortable as the strange Pokémon increased the energy as a warning.

"G-gold, let's get out of here. I don't like this." Silver said to his friend.

Gold nodded and turned to leave, before noticing his Pokémon was walking closer to the feline. "Wooper! Get over here!"

"Just put him in his Poké Ball and let's go!" Silver said, grabbing his friend's arm and tugging it.

"I-I don't have it! I l-left it at home! Wooper come back!" Gold pleaded. His brown eyes were wide and his breathing was quick.

The Wooper turned around and smiled at him before continuing to walk towards the large Pokémon. It was seemingly unbothered by the energy.

The Pokémon noticed Wooper continuing to approach it and it turned its body, lowering its front two legs as it prepared to pounce.

"Wooper! No!" Gold cried, breaking free from his friend's grasp and running through the woods. He closed the gap between Wooper and him and scooped up the Pokémon.

The boy was paralyzed by the amount of electric energy that the strange Pokémon was giving off. It roared and he clutched his Pokémon close to his stomach as he turned his body away.