The air in the Pokemon world felt wrong.
Not bad, just different. Lighter maybe, or cleaner. Jaune took a breath and tasted something he couldn't quite identify. Magic? Energy? Whatever made Pokemon possible in this world.
He was standing on a grassy shore overlooking Lake Verity. The water was impossibly clear, reflecting the sky like a mirror. Forest surrounded the lake, dense and green. In the distance, maybe a mile away, he could see buildings.
[Location: Lake Verity - Eastern Shore]
[Time until Team Galactic arrival: 27 minutes]
[Objective: Locate Dawn and establish defensive position]
Twenty-seven minutes. Jaune started walking along the shore, scanning for any sign of people. The lake was massive, and he had no idea where Dawn would actually be.
A sound made him freeze. Voices. Young, excited.
He moved toward them, keeping quiet, and spotted two figures near the water's edge about a hundred yards away. A girl with long blue hair in a white dress and pink boots, crouched down looking at something. Next to her, a small blue penguin Pokemon.
Dawn and her Piplup.
Jaune approached carefully, not wanting to startle her. As he got closer, he could hear her talking to her Pokemon.
"Look at how clear the water is, Piplup! This is perfect for practicing our appeal."
The Piplup chirped in response.
Jaune cleared his throat. "Excuse me."
Dawn spun around, startled. Her Piplup immediately jumped in front of her, taking a defensive stance.
"Oh! You scared me!" Dawn put a hand over her heart, then smiled. "Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be out here this early."
Up close, she looked exactly like the anime. Blue hair, bright eyes, energetic expression. Fifteen, maybe sixteen. Young. A kid he was supposed to protect from terrorists.
"Sorry about that," Jaune said. "I was just hiking through the area and saw you by the lake."
"Hiking?" Dawn looked at his clothes, his sword. "Are you a trainer? That's a really cool sword!"
"Something like that. I'm Jaune."
"I'm Dawn! And this is Piplup." She gestured to her Pokemon, who was still eyeing Jaune suspiciously. "We're from Twinleaf Town, just over there. We come to the lake to practice for contests."
"Contests?"
"Pokemon Contests! You know, where coordinators show off their Pokemon's appeals and beauty?" She looked excited just talking about it. "Piplup and I are going to win the Grand Festival someday!"
Jaune smiled despite the situation. "That sounds impressive. So you're out here alone?"
"Yeah, my mom doesn't mind as long as I'm back before lunch. The lake is really safe. Well, usually." Dawn looked around. "Though there have been some weird people in black uniforms around lately. Mom said to stay away from them."
Team Galactic. Already in the area.
"Black uniforms?" Jaune asked casually.
"Yeah! They had weird hair and were asking about the lake guardian. Like anyone actually knows where Mesprit is." Dawn shrugged. "Probably just weirdos."
[Time until Team Galactic arrival: 22 minutes]
Jaune needed to move her somewhere safer. He couldn't just tell her terrorists were coming—she'd ask questions he couldn't answer.
"Hey, this might sound strange, but I've got a bad feeling about this place right now," he said. "Would you mind if we moved back toward town? Just to be safe."
Dawn tilted her head. "Bad feeling?"
"Call it instinct. I've learned to trust it."
"Hmm." She looked at Piplup, who chirped something. "Piplup says you seem okay. And Mom always says to trust your instincts." She stood up. "Okay! We can practice closer to town. There's a nice clearing near the path."
'That was easier than expected. Thank you, protagonist trust in strangers.'
They started walking along the shore toward the path that led to Twinleaf Town. Dawn chatted the entire time, talking about contests and her Pokemon and her journey. Jaune listened with half his attention, the other half scanning the tree line for threats.
[Time until Team Galactic arrival: 18 minutes]
They were maybe halfway to the path when Piplup suddenly stopped and made an alarmed sound.
Dawn froze. "Piplup? What's wrong?"
Jaune heard it a second later. Movement in the forest. Multiple people, not being particularly quiet.
"Dawn, get behind me," Jaune said quietly, his hand moving to Crocea Mors.
"What? Why?"
Six figures emerged from the trees. All wearing matching uniforms. Black and gray with bright blue accents. Strange bowl cut hairstyles.
'Those haircuts really are terrible.'
"Well well," one of them said. "Look what we found. A little coordinator and her friend."
Dawn took a step back. "Team Galactic? What are you doing here?"
"Galactic business. Nothing a kid needs to worry about." The grunt's eyes moved to Jaune. "You though, you're not from around here. Who are you?"
"Just a hiker," Jaune said calmly. "We were just leaving."
"I don't think so. Commander Mars wants the lake area clear. That means no witnesses."
Another grunt pulled out a Pokeball. "Should we just handle them now?"
[WARNING: Team Galactic forces arrived earlier than projected]
[New objective: Protect Dawn and escape, or eliminate threat]
Jaune drew Crocea Mors. The sound of the blade leaving its sheath made all six grunts tense.
"Last chance," Jaune said. "Walk away and nobody gets hurt."
The lead grunt laughed. "You're going to fight six of us with a sword? Go, Glameow!"
He threw a Pokeball, and it burst open in a flash of red light. A purple cat Pokemon materialized, hissing.
The other grunts followed suit. Five more Pokemon appeared. A Stunky, two Wurmple, a Cascoon, and another Glameow.
Dawn grabbed her own Pokeball. "Piplup, Buneary, come out!"
A small brown rabbit Pokemon appeared next to Piplup. Both took defensive positions in front of Dawn.
Six grunts, six Pokemon. He'd faced worse odds in training.
"Dawn, when I say run, you run toward town and don't look back. Understand?"
"But—"
"No arguments. Run when I say."
Jaune's aura flared around him, a pale shield of energy. The grunts stared.
"What the hell is that?"
"Doesn't matter. Glameow, use Scratch!"
The cat Pokemon lunged at Jaune with claws extended. Fast, but not faster than his father's practice strikes. Jaune sidestepped and brought his sword pommel down on its head. The Glameow crumpled, stunned but not seriously hurt.
"Stunky, Poison Gas!"
The skunk Pokemon released a cloud of purple smoke. Jaune's aura blocked most of it, but his eyes watered. He moved through the cloud, sword flashing. The flat of his blade caught Stunky hard enough to send it tumbling.
"What is this guy?!"
"All of you, attack at once!"
The remaining four Pokemon rushed him. Jaune moved, his body flowing through forms his father had drilled into him. Block, parry, strike. Use the flat of the blade against the smaller ones, let his aura absorb the hits.
A Wurmple tried to String Shot him. He cut through the webbing. The Cascoon launched itself at his face. His aura deflected it. The remaining Glameow got in a good scratch across his arm, but his aura held.
Fifteen seconds. That's how long it took to disable all six Pokemon.
The grunts stared in shock at their defeated partners.
"Run!" Jaune shouted at Dawn.
She didn't need to be told twice. She recalled her Pokemon and took off toward the path, Piplup running beside her.
"Stop her!" one grunt yelled.
"Deal with him first!"
Two grunts pulled out what looked like stun batons. The others recalled their Pokemon and drew similar weapons.
The first grunt swung his baton at Jaune's head. Jaune ducked under it and drove his shoulder into the man's gut, sending him sprawling. The second came from the side. Jaune's sword caught the baton, redirecting it, then his boot caught the grunt in the knee.
The man went down hard.
The remaining four circled him warily.
"What are you?" one demanded.
"Someone having a bad day," Jaune said. "Last chance. Leave."
They attacked together. Jaune let his training take over. His father had drilled fighting multiple opponents for months. Read their movements, control the space, never let them surround you.
Two minutes of brutal close combat later, all six grunts were on the ground, groaning.
Jaune was breathing hard but unhurt. His aura had held.
[Threat neutralized]
[Continue primary objective: Protect Dawn]
He sheathed his sword and ran after Dawn, leaving the groaning grunts behind.
He found her on the path, bent over trying to catch her breath, Piplup standing guard.
"Are you okay?" she gasped when she saw him.
"Fine. You?"
"I can't believe that just happened! Team Galactic actually attacked us!" Her eyes were wide with adrenaline and fear. "And you just... you took them all down! With a sword! How did you do that?"
"Training. Lots of very painful training." Jaune looked back toward the lake. "We need to get you to town. Now. There might be more of them."
"Right. Okay. Town. Mom's going to freak out." Dawn started walking quickly. "Thank you. For protecting us. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."
"Don't thank me yet. This isn't over."
They made it to Twinleaf Town fifteen minutes later. A small, peaceful place with maybe a dozen buildings. Dawn led him straight to a house on the edge of town.
"Mom!" she called out as they entered. "Mom, something happened!"
A woman who looked like an older version of Dawn emerged from the kitchen. "Dawn? What's wrong? And who is this?"
"This is Jaune. He saved me from Team Galactic!"
The woman's expression shifted immediately. "Team Galactic? At the lake?"
"They tried to attack us," Dawn said. "But Jaune fought them off!"
Dawn's mother looked at Jaune, taking in his sword, his stance, his general readiness for violence. "Thank you for protecting my daughter. Please, sit. Tell me what happened."
Jaune gave her a sanitized version. Hiking, ran into Dawn, Team Galactic showed up, defended themselves, came here. Left out the system, the dimensional travel, the mission parameters.
"This is serious," Dawn's mother said. "If Team Galactic is openly attacking people at the lake, something big is happening. I need to call Professor Rowan. And probably Officer Jenny."
"Good idea," Jaune said. "They mentioned someone called Commander Mars. Said she wanted the lake area clear."
Dawn's mother's face went pale. "Commander Mars. That's one of their leaders. If she's here personally..." She stood up. "Dawn, you're staying in the house. No arguments. Jaune, thank you again. I'm calling the authorities right now."
She left the room, scroll already at her ear.
Dawn looked at Jaune. "You're not just a hiker, are you?"
"It's complicated."
"Are you with the police? Or maybe a Pokemon Ranger?"
"Something like that." Jaune leaned forward. "Look, I know this is scary, but you're safe now. Stay here with your mom until this is over."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to make sure Team Galactic doesn't hurt anyone else."
That was his mission. Protect Dawn. But if he could stop whatever Team Galactic was planning at the lake, maybe prevent other people from getting hurt, that was worth doing.
"Be careful," Dawn said. "They're dangerous."
"So am I," Jaune said with a slight smile.
[Mission Update: Dawn secured in safe location]
[Optional Objective Available: Investigate Team Galactic operations at Lake Verity]
[Warning: Optional objectives increase risk but may provide additional rewards]
Dawn was safe. Mission accomplished. But Team Galactic was still out there, and Commander Mars was planning something. He could stay here and wait, or he could actually be useful.
"I'm going back to the lake," he said, standing up.
"What? Why?"
"Because someone needs to stop them. Might as well be me."
Dawn stood up too. "Then I'm coming with you!"
"Absolutely not."
"It's my home! My lake! I'm not just going to hide while you fight!"
Before Jaune could argue, Dawn's mother came back. "Professor Rowan is sending help. Officer Jenny is mobilizing too. They'll be here within the hour."
An hour. A lot could happen in an hour.
"I'm heading back to the lake," Jaune said. "I can slow them down until help arrives."
"That's too dangerous!"
"Maybe. But if I don't, people could get hurt."
He headed for the door before either of them could stop him. Dawn called after him, but he was already moving.
Back toward Lake Verity. Back toward Team Galactic.
His first quest was supposed to be a simple protection mission.
Looked like it was about to get complicated.