Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 21

When we arrive at Route 214, Lillie feels a strange aura and we find an injured Riolu on the road. We also meet up with a top ranger Kellyn, who comes in time to stop Pokemon Hunter J's minions from grabbing Riolu themselves; he uses his Vatonage Styler to recruit nearby Bug Pokémon to halt the thugs' kidnap attempt.

Now that everyone can relax, he explains that Riolu hails from the Paradise Kingdom, where it uses its special Aura powers to serve as the kingdom's guardian. Those powers strike a chord with Lillie, who's able to sense mental images of Riolu's past. Riolu was kidnapped from its kingdom and is now on Pokémon Hunter J's target list, so Kellyn, together with Pokémon Ranger Solana and Officer Jenny, is here to save Riolu and get it back home. As proof of his good intentions, he brings Riolu a wooden carving made by the old man who raised it.

Hoping to evade Pokémon Hunter J, Kellyn teams up with us to escort Riolu downriver toward a waiting recovery team. It's all for naught, though, as Pokémon Hunter J and her Salamence attack, forcing everyone to scatter. Lillie and I manage to rescue Riolu and its prized carving from the water, but we wind up lost on a riverbank and cut off from the others, with Pokémon Hunter J's goons already searching the forest around us.

We make a break for it, only to be spotted. Pokémon Hunter J coolly decides to flush us out into the open by burning down the forest around us, and we escape the flames only to find ourselves cornered by J and her Salamence. We aren't able to stop them as they take Riolu away. We try to sneak on the ship once more, but after the last time and what happened to her sister, she already knows we're going to do it. They eject us from the ship in mid-air and we are saved by Kellyn and the Staraptor that he uses the styler on.

Lillie can use aura connection with Riolu to sense its location, so we saddle up on some Dodrio and sets off in pursuit, hoping to intercept Hunter J before she can hand off Riolu to her client. We reach Hunter J's rendezvous point, but we're too late: the client has already gotten Riolu, and he leaps on a Fearow and takes off with his prize! While the others hold off the client's troops, Kellyn, Lillie, and I spur on their Dodrio in pursuit.

Kellyn's Dodrio leaps onto Fearow to bring it down, yet it still doesn't convince the client to give up Riolu. He flees into a cave and blocks the path behind him, not realizing that Kellyn can recruit a Donphan to clear the way and Lillie can use Aura to find Riolu. The client is finally cornered and knocked out by Pikachu's Volt Tackle, his men are subdued and put in custody. As for Pokémon Hunter J, she escapes to hunt another day, but Riolu is safely headed home to the Paradise Kingdom.

While the group is eating lunch, Piplup accidentally knocks a piece of food out of Pikachu's paw with its flailing arms. We follow the two Pokemon and we find a trainer beside my Pikachu and Dawn's Piplup.

"Pikachu! Hey, we've been looking for you." "I told you not to go far." Lillie says. And then the trainer says, "Back off! I found it first, search for your own!"

The trainer calls on his Raichu, and I yell, "Pikachu! Heads up and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu then uses the move and both sides prove evenly matched.

"That Pikachu is powerful, how about a trade? My Mareep for your Pikachu?" He asks.

"Sorry, I'm not trading Pikachu." I say. "So why do you want Pikachu so much?"

"Easy, I already have a cool Pichu and a Raichu so I also want to make friends with a cool Pikachu. I want a full power of evolution set." The trainer says.

"So why don't you get your Pichu to evolve and get over with it?" I ask.

"No way, then I have to find a Pichu again." He says. "How about we have a battle, if I win, then Pikachu will be mine?"