Forever Rival

“Excuse me.” Alain turned around to see a man with long, grayish black hair wearing a red cape and a beige uniform. “Alain? The assistant to Professor Sycamore?”

“Yeah… How do you know who I am?” He pressed the button on his Pokéball, enlarging it to normal size and ready to summon Charizard.

“I’m Tobias, winner of the Lily of the Valley Conference. I was sent here to recruit you for an important mission. The fate of the entire world is at stake. We need your help.” Tobias said. Alain glared at him.

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Alain followed Tobias to a warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. The sooner he was done with this, the sooner he could go back to working with the totally not evil Lysandre. There, he saw an Aerodactyl resting by. Hmm… Perhaps there was someone with an Aerodactylite nearby. There, he could already see a few other people standing by. Alain just scoffed. He didn’t know any of these people.

“Glad you can join us all the way from Kalos.” The guy who approached him looked very generic. He had a blue t-shirt and Khaki pants.

“This is Harrison. He didn’t win the Silver Conference in Johto, but he managed to do some damage.” Tobias said. He then pointed to a kid standing next to Harrison. “That kid however, Jon Dickson, he won the Silver Conference.”

“Glad to meet you!” Jon tried to shake Alain’s hand, but he slapped it away.

“What exactly is going on here?” Alain looked around and glared at Tobias with a mean look.

“We’ve been called here by a veteran Trainer.” A man in a greenish-blue jacket said as a Meowth in leather boots and a feather-hat followed him. “Our leader for this mission.”

“Leader?” Alain was ready to walk out of the place when he was stopped. He backed away, ready to fight him, but he took a moment to calm, knowing the person wasn’t Ash. He was dressed similarly to him though. “Who are you?” Alain asked.

“That’s Ritchie! He’s from the Kanto Region! He’s a legend!” Tyson said. He tried to pat Alain on the back, but he grabbed his hand and twisted it. “Owowowowow!”

“Thank you guys for coming on such short notice.”

“So what’s going on?” A teen in an orange jumpsuit asked.

“I was hoping this day would never come, Virgil. Tobias had been spying on the Pokémon League Conference in Kalos and noticed that a trainer by the name of Ash Ketchum made it to the top four.” Tobias said.

“But I thought Ash wouldn’t even be able to make the top eight!” A kid with his Lucario said.

“Well, Cameron, he seems to have something that allowed him to wipe the floor with some of the more difficult trainers.” Ritchie said.

“… His Greninja.” Alain knew all too well what Ritchie was talking about.

“So, you’ve seen his power?” Ritchie asked.

“Yes… It’s akin to Mega Evolution… But… Somehow I believe it is even stronger.” Alain said.

“Indeed it is. If Ash utilizes that power and wins the Pokémon League, then he will have achieved his dream of being a Pokémon Master…” Tobias said.

“And if he becomes Pokémon Master, the world will have no reason to continue, and thus, all life as we know it will cease.” Ritchie said.

“… What?” Alain raised his eyebrow.

“Few people know about this, but the world of Pokémon centers around Ash and his journey. If his journey were to end, then the world will also end. That’s why we were made. To prolong his journey.” Tobias said.

“Made? You people think my life duty is to stop some stupid kid in a silly tournament? Forget it, I’m needed elsewhere.” Alain walked off.

“Very well. I can’t force you to go. But… Isn’t there someone you care about that you want to protect?” Ritchie asked. Alain stopped and remembered the girl who he pushed away…

“Mairin…” He said.

“Then for her sake, you should help us stop Ash from winning.” Ritchie said. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a motorcycle.

“What the?!” Alain asked.

“Ah, I knew he’d make it.” Ritchie said as he rushed out of the warehouse. There, he greeted the man on the motorcycle as he parked it outside. He took off his helmet as his spiky brown hair fluffed out. “Gary!”

“You guys weren’t going to do this without the original rival, were you?” Gary asked.