The Chronicles of Black.

"Didn't this Ash kid do pretty well in both Indigo and Silver, professor?" Lee asks like he doesn't already know. Birch nods. "Ash did remarkably well in both despite his young age, and his Pikachu was a key player in both."

"So pretty strong, yeah," Lee says back to May. The girl gulps and falters slightly in her pedaling.

The men, girl, and pokemon get closer to the electrical blasts cutting through the quiet of the forest, each blast more unnerving and ear-battering than the last. In the previous hundred or so feet away, the electric charge in the air makes the whole group's skin tingle and makes Vulpix's carefully groomed fur stand on end, much to her chagrin. The most enormous lightning bolt yet makes Birch and Lee shield their eyes, Vulpix turn away, and May stifle a scream.

The four cut through a final copse of trees into a small cliff-side clearing just in time to see a young boy, Ash, struggle to his feet with gritted teeth, electricity still arcing between his shaking limbs before it finally disperses. "P-Pikachu..."

Pikachu stirs from his place on the ground with a delirious "P-Pika..." and stands on all fours, his red cheeks sparking. The electric rodent then sprints full tilt away, moving like the wind despite his impairment.

And because of said impairment, Pikachu takes no notice of the cliff he's hurtling towards.

Ash's eyes widen in abject terror. "Pikachu!" He cries, sprinting towards his pokemon.

'Shit! Vulpix!'

"Vul!"

The vixen leaps high into the air from Lee's shoulder, flames licking the edges of her mouth. She takes a deep breath and fires a stream of screaming Embers right in Pikachu's path, cutting him off. Pikachu's ears twitch, and he stops almost a dozen feet short of the Ember's impact point, cheeks sparking ominously with red electricity. "Piiiikaaaa..." He opens one blurry eye and locks into Vulpix.

'Quick Attack down now!' Lee frantically orders.

"Chuuuuu!"

Vulpix glows white and shoots down toward the ground as little more than a blur. Even with the mental order being infinitely faster for Lee to issue and for Vupix to process than a verbal one, Vulpix dodges the Thunderbolt with only inches to spare.

'Jesus fuck, there was almost no charge time to that! And while much slower than actual lightning, Pikachu's electric attacks are still stupid fast.' Lee thinks, feeling a cold bead of sweat run down his face. Vulpix lands on the ground roughly but on her paws, taking a defensive stance before Lee, Birch, and May as Pikachu keeps sparking with a bleary-eyed glare.

"Pikachu!"

Ash rushes between them and Pikachu before snagging up the yellow mouse and hugging him tightly. "Pikachu, it's okay! It's me! No one's gonna hurt you!"

Pikachu struggles and sparks the entire time before finally biting down on Ash's forearm.

"Ahhhh!" Ash cries out, gritting his teeth as Pikachu's teeth sink into his arm, drawing several thin lines of blood.

Lee looks to Birch, who looks terse, but is content to watch for now. May, meanwhile, just watches with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes open wide. Slowly, Pikachu blinks, and clarity seems to return to him. He releases Ash's arm and then runs his tongue over his bloody teeth with growing alarm. When he looks down at Ash's bleeding arm, Pikachu squeaks out a sorrowful. "Pika pi!"

Ash just smiles like the pain isn't bothering him. "It's alright, Pikachu. I know you didn't mean it. I'm just glad you're feeling better."

Pikachu's face is still picture-perfect remorse. "Pika..." He says, licking Ash's wound to stem the slow trickle of blood.

As do Birch and May, Lee can't help but smile at the scene. 'Say, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?'

Thud!

Vulpix hops back up to his shoulder and paws his cheek.

'Ah, them...' "Prepare for... Prepare for... Oh, what's the point?"

Everyone turns and steps back in shock when a twenty-five-foot tall, red-painted robot that looks like a battery on its legs stomps into the small clearing. Standing on top of it are none other than Jesse, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, all three already in a flamboyant pose.

'And I already hate all of them,' Lee scowls, feeling his brow twitch. The instant that James opens his mouth, Lee tunes them out and turns his attention to Vulpix. 'Love, be ready to jump into action. This should play out as I expect it, but if it doesn't...'

Vulpix purrs an affirmative.

Lee turns his attention back outwards just in time to see the trio of criminals hop down the hatch to the robot's interior. A speaker on the outside crackles, then Meowth's voice comes from it to explain the ridiculous robot. "Old Meowth has whipped up a good one this time! No matter how much Pika power yous output, our battery will take it all and juice our big bad bot up!"

"Who... are these guys?" Birch asks, looking totally lost.

"Team Rocket!" Ash growls, holding his glaring Pikachu close. "They're a bunch of thieves who keep trying to steal Pikachu."

"I think the things an organization like Rocket do is more terrorism than just common theft." Lee sneers.

"Hey, scarface!" Meowth calls from the grainy speaker, prompting Lee to scowl and Vulpix growl. "We ain't that bad! We just want Pikachu! Here we go!"

A porthole opens on the front of the bot, then a thin mechanical arm tipped with a grabbing claw shoots out and snatches the shocked Pikachu right from an equally shocked Ash. The main arms of the robot pivot around to point at the struggling Pikachu, and what looks like suction cups on thin metal rods extend from the arms to latch onto Pikachu's sparking cheeks.

The three laugh over the speaker. "Draining away!" James calls with the sound of a lever being pulled.