“Stupid,” Orion muttered as he kicked a stone across the grassy, moss-covered ground.

Moving from shadow to shadow to escape the scorching sun, he walked deeper into the forest, searching for that cool relief.

A muted shout came from behind, and he stopped for a moment, looking back through the treeline at the distant building. He knew that grassy fields and a line of fences surrounded it, even if he could see none of that due to the gentle slope. His uncle Basil was a spec in the distance, standing between the Taurus and probably searching for him.

Orion sighed and turned away, quickly running further into the forest so his uncle’s Pidgey wouldn’t catch sight of him and drag him back to the ranch.

Less than a month until I become sixteen… can’t they just let me have some free time? he thought as he ran deeper into the forest.

A rustle from the nearby bushes made him perk up, and his hand automatically lowered to the single Pokeball he had in his pocket.

“Come on…” he whispered. “Be something use-”

A rattata stuck its head out, a berry in its mouth as it looked around curiously.

Right, that's what I should have expected, Orion thought.

He sighed and continued ahead.

Twenty minutes later, he was deep in Ferrum Forest, crawling through a dense bush toward his favorite spot in the world. As he poked his head out, he smiled as he saw the tiny stream and the wide, low tree that dominated the clearing. There weren’t any bushes because he’d removed them over the years, and the lush green grass below the tree almost called to him to lie down upon it.

Jumping across the stream, Orion did just that as he lay down, crossed his hands behind his head, and looked through the leaves at the blue sky.

“One more month,” he whispered, glancing at the tree. “Can you believe I’ll be sixteen by then?”

A few Pidgeys shot through the air high above, circling around before vanishing north.

Following their movements, Orion hummed.

“I won’t be able to come here anymore because I’ll need to work full-time,” he said, feeling sad.

The tree didn’t respond, not that he had expected anything like that. It wasn’t a Trevenant, even if it did resemble it a little. He’d checked that years ago… multiple times.

He had always hoped he could find a strong Pokemon and go on his journey to become a Pokemon trainer. But instead, all he’d done was work to help support his family. After his father disappeared-

He shook his head, expertly clearing it off that specific dark and depressing line of thought.

“One more month. If I can’t find a Pokemon before then and synchronize with it, I’ll have to wait till Barry and Lina are old enough to work,” he whispered.

Again, nobody answered him.

He tried to suppress his sadness, and as he calmed down, his thoughts automatically drifted to the things he still had to do on the ranch.

That Sinnoh region trainer’s eggs should have arrived, he thought as he recalled the message that had been there.

He really should have warned his uncle about it, but it had consistently slipped his mind. Not that it mattered much. His uncle didn’t like dealing with Pokemon eggs and only even accepted them because he did most of the work. Half of the time, he didn’t know what eggs were coming and going.

These eggs were probably still in transit status in the network, waiting for him to accept them and find a place for them in the cellar below the ranch. Four years ago, it had been an empty storage, and Orion had been the one to change it to an egg hatchery. He’d hoped his uncle would award him with some extra pocket money for his effort, but in the end, all it had accomplished was to increase his workload.

I wonder what eggs he sent, he thought.

From the message, it had been unclear what type of Pokemons the eggs belonged to, but apparently, they were supposed to be powerful.

If only I could have one of those eggs, Orion thought as he raised his ball before his eyes and stared at it.

It had been a gift from his father, the only thing he had that reminded him of the old man. Its red surface was scarred and dented, but it was the only ball he had. With the increase in prices of Pokeballs, especially for non-trainers, he just didn’t have the spare cash to buy more. There was barely enough to pay for all the bills, let alone something as extravagant as a Pokeball!

“There’s plenty of Pokemon I could catch that would allow me to become a trainer with just one Pokemon,” he muttered, dreaming about the powerful Pokemon he loved watching on television.

If he could get a Gallade, or a Primeape, he’d be set! Then, he could start doing battles and earn far more money than his uncle’s paltry wage.

As he continued fantasizing about winning match after match, earning money to start his journey, even if it was much later than normal, he didn’t notice the sun slowly move across the sky.

A crackling roar not too far away jolted him awake, and he rolled over, struggling to his feet. Looking around, he didn’t see anything, but the sound continued, coming from somewhere further into the forest.

Two powerful Pokemon fighting?

Feeling a sudden excitement, he jumped across the stream and rushed to where the sound originated from. He knew it was potentially dangerous, but he promised himself he’d just look from a distance and see if he could find a target for his ball.

Running through the forest, he didn’t see any explosions of dust or movements indicating a battle. Nearly at the source of the odd sound, he circled a tree and stopped. A weird, jagged hole hung in the air before him. On the other side, he saw a group of four Houndours circling a heavily wounded Tauros.

They are attacking it? Orion thought in dismay as he saw a Houndour bite the Tauros’s leg while the massive Pokemon tried to kick it away.

He knew that wild Pokemon attacked each other and that some even ate other Pokemon, but he’d never seen something like this. Had this Tauros escaped from the ranch? How did it even get this far away?

The Tauros sank through its forelegs, and the Houndours howled and pounced.

“Hey! Leave him alone!’ Orion shouted, feeling his anger grow. He knew Hondours could get vicious, but they were usually easy to scare off by shouting loudly.

Before he could think about what he was doing, he ran forward and jumped through the odd hole, screaming at the top of his lungs.

A shock ran through him as he hit the hole, and for a moment, the scene before his eyes paused and flickered. Then something connected with him on a level he’d never felt before. Images streamed into his mind, and he saw two massive Pokemon fight in a dark space surrounded by a red ring or chain. Metallic and powerful, he couldn’t recall seeing them before, but he was surprised to see a group of trainers nearby, seemingly trying to stop them. Another group with shirts with massive red letter R’s on them were attacking those trainers.

It lasted for a brief moment, then the image vanished, and Orion landed on his hands and knees. The temperature dropped, and he looked up as dangerous growls came from nearby.

The Houndours stood a few steps from the Taurus, which was struggling to get to its feet. The fiery anger in its eyes showed it hadn’t given up yet, no matter the wounds on its body.

Orion tried to shake off the weird, electrified feeling as he stepped forward.

“Get lost,” he roared, moving forward and making himself as large as he could.

Although he wasn’t fully grown yet, having worked on the ranch for nearly his entire life, his body was stronger than average, and he’d always been tall for his age.

A deep growl came from one of the Houndours, and the hairs on Orion’s arms stood up straight as he saw the piercing eyes glare at him. Thick saliva caked its lips, dripping from between its teeth. Orion swallowed, feeling fear slowly take over. There was something seriously wrong with these Pokemon!

He forced the fear down, took a deep breath, and roared as he stepped forward. In the corner of his eye, he saw the Taurus struggling to its feet, which seemed a trigger for the Houndours. Three ran past Orion, snarling at the Taurus, while the other began slowly moving toward him. As it closed in on him, Orion realized one of the things that was wrong with it. It was way too big. A Houndour was supposed to reach no higher than his knee, but this one almost reached his waist!

The Pokemon jumped forward, and Orion dodged to the side, eyes wide in shock. Pokemon barely ever attacked humans!

Stepping forward, he aimed a kick at the Houndour, mostly to scare it off. The Houndour nimbly dodged it, and this time Orion saw a slight uncertainty in the Pokemon’s eyes. Most people wouldn’t have caught it, but he’d been around Pokemon for all his life, and more of them than most people even knew existed.

“Yeah, piss off!” he roared, stepping forward and making a kicking motion. The Houndour turned and ran into the forest.

Somewhat relieved, Orion turned to see the Taurus staggering, one of the Houndour unmoving on the ground while the others were trying to flank it.

“You two get lost!” Orion shouted. Seeing a nearby branch, he quickly grabbed it and ran forward, swinging it at the two Houndour.

They growled, but just as they seemed ready to charge him, the Taurus’s horns flashed towards them. With an angry yelp, the Houndour finally seemed to have enough and turned, running into the forest.

Orion shuddered as he looked at the Taurus' horrible wounds.

“You okay there, buddy?” he asked, trying to sound calm and soothing.

The Taurus snorted, swaying on its feet. It turned and began walking back, staggering every now and again.

“Hey, where are you going?” Orion asked as he looked around.

Then his eyes widened. The hole he’d jumped through was gone, and the only thing he saw behind him was a dark forest, ominously quiet. He’d been coming to the forest for years, learning every inch of it, and he instantly knew he wasn’t in a part he’d ever been at before.

“Where the hell am I?” he muttered as he looked around. Had he somehow been transported far to the north, near the mountains? He’d never gone further than an hour at most…

He didn’t see anything that he recognized, and as the Taurus began to move away, he realized he might have made a terrible mistake in jumping through that hole. Had it been some Pokemon ability?  He suddenly recalled the scene he’d seen as he passed through.

“Did those two Pokemon create the portals?” he whispered. What had they looked like? He couldn’t rightly recall… but they had been large and metallic.

There was a soft rustling from behind him. Hearing something move through the forest, he turned and hastily followed the Taurus.

The Pokemon looked at him, one of its eyes shut with a bleeding wound, then snorted and continued forward.

“You probably can’t tell me where I am, can you?” Orion whispered as he followed the Taurus.

A short while later, they passed an ankle-deep stream, and looking to the side, a single tree sat in a clearing. Orion looked at it, feeling a massive shock run through his system. He recognized this place! He’d only just been lying below that tree’s canopy mere minutes ago! Now, the tree was dark, its leaves brown on the edges, and it looked unhealthy. The grass had grown higher, and many of the bushes had grown back.

What the heck is going on here? Is this…No! How can this be the Ferrum forest?

Confused, Orion followed Taurus, suddenly noticing the large bull was leaving behind a trail of blood.

“I think we need to patch you up,” he said.

The bull ignored him, and Orion tried again.

“Listen, I don’t know what's going on, but you really don’t look too well-”

The bull snorted, an angry glint in its eye, and Orion stopped talking. Not knowing what else to do, he followed the Taurus.

As they traveled through the dark forest, he began noticing more and more familiar landmarks- big trees he’d climbed in and boulders larger than golems.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Orion stopped in shock.

He recognized the area beyond, as he’d lived here his entire life, but the landscape beyond was nothing like it had been hours before. Instead of the flowing grasslands, there were muddy hills with dark green bushes. A river he’d never seen before flowed in the distance, with dense, verdant grass around its edges.

What was even more shocking was that the familiar sight of the ranch, his uncle’s pride and joy, was nearly gone. Only an overgrown rubble-strewn patch and a few walls remained, while nearly all of the fences were gone.

A dozen Taurus moved around near the ruins, walking among the yellow patches of grass.

A dull thud shook Orion out of his shock, and he looked to the side to see the Taurus had slumped to the ground. Its breathing was ragged, and its sole good eye was slowly closing, its gaze lingering on the distant farm.

“Hey! Don’t die,” Orion said, his system feeling overloaded with what was going on.

He ran to the Taurus, which didn’t respond. Kneeling beside it, he put his hands on the big Pokemon’s flank. A shock, almost like lightning, ran through his body, and he was flung back, falling on the ground.

Lying on his back in a daze, he felt… something… click in his mind.

He had no idea what was going on, but a soft, sad, braying sound made him look up, snapping him out of his stupor.

The Taurus was looking at him, somehow having turned its head to the side. A final gleam was in its eye, almost as if it saw something interesting. Then the light dimmed, and with a final breath, the powerful Pokemon stopped moving.

“Shit…” Orion muttered, shaking the weird sensation from his head as he scrambled to his feet.

What had just happened? What was going on…

Confused and afraid, he moved to the Taurus, staring down at it. Letting out a sad sigh, he felt his eyes turn moist. He’d seen dead Taurus before, but those had died due to old age, having had a long, fulfilled life. None had been killed by a pack of houndooms. He stared at the corpse for a long time before finally shivering and waking up from his sadness.

Rubbing his eyes, he turned to the remains of the ranch.

“Fine. Let’s just see if I can find something that will explain what happened here,” he muttered.