Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

I don't really have much to say right now. Only things: please review! I will respond to each reviewer at the end of each chapter, sometimes a PM if I feel like you bring up something really good. No flaming, but I do like constructive criticism. Sometimes I go OOC or mess up in grammar. I have no beta, but I don't know if I need one. Just a few pointers sometimes is good, if you are bothered by them.

Summary: 3 years ago, trainer Ash Ketchum disappeared from underneath everyone's sight. All of his Pokémon disappeared as well, and nobody has found him since. Now, Max Maple, 13 years old, is out on his own Pokémon journey, however, what he's about to get into is far beyond the average journey. Will he be the one to discover Ash; if he's still alive?

Notes: Takes place in Generation V, so Unova does exist. It'll be expanded upon later on.

For ages sake, Max is 13. These will be a bit off, because I need this story to develop in a way of which ages are important. Plus, I feel a 12 year old in a serious relationship is so... I dunno, wrong? I just think it's a bit young. Nothing against people that do, just my own opinion.

Ages will be, essentially, AU.

May- 16

Ash- 17

Brock- 19

Misty- 17

Gary- 17

Iris- 15

Cilian- 18

Leaf- 17

Finally, romance. This will be an aspect moving forward, so I will have pairings eventually. I really hope they don't cause you to not read the story, but I'd like to hear some opinions, so lay them out. I don't really write slash, it's not my thing.

Enjoy!

Three years prior to Chapter 1...

"Your mission is going to fail."

"Like yours did? Keep talking kid. You're just wasting your breath."

The teenager smirked; typical of him to be referred to as a kid. Even at 17, nobody seemed to understand that he had greatly passed his child-phase and was now regarded as one of the most influential trainers in all of the 5 regions.

"And you're just wasting your time. I'm going to escape before you can actually do anything, so why bother with the ropes?" If there was any good side to being capture by the enemy, it was the fact that the teen had every opportunity to mock the ones he'd fought so long against.

The man whom had captured the teenager and bound him, sighed. Nobody had told him that there would be difficulties even after capturing the trainer with the highest bounty on his head. For someone whom most of Team Plasma feared, the grunt was shocked to find it was a mere child- in his eyes- causing all the implications and errors in so many liberation plans.

"Where would you go once you escaped? Let's see; we have your Pokémon, we have your bag, we even have your DNA. You escape, we'll just track you or your scent via one of the Pokémon around here. We've got you this time. Not to mention we're in the middle of the ocean. You'd be screwed the second you got loose."Throughout the grunt's explanation, the teenager had been slowly checking his ropes and feeling if they'd completely stripped him of all Pokémon.

"Oh?" The teen asked. His plan, for now, was to keep this grunt talking. The more he discovered, the more he could solve and halt in his pursuit to disband Team Plasma. That was the only reason he'd let himself get caught- he needed a new lead. What better way than by a loud-mouth grunt? "The ocean?"

The curiosity and surprise in the teen's voice wasn't hard to sound convincing for this truly was a surprise to the hotshot trainer. Last he'd known, Team Plasma's efforts had been concentrated on the Dragonspiral Tower and the possible acquisition of Zekrom or Reshiram. Neither of those two Dragon-types were Water-typed, nor were they found exclusively on the ocean.

Their goal seemed slightly astray now... and it piqued the trainer's curiosity, tenfold.

"Yes, the ocean," the grunt said in a cocky tone. The teen ignored the superiority in the grunts tone, opting to just get information instead of sparking his rage. "We're on our way to Liberty Island."

"Never heard of it..." the teenager said quietly.

The grunt laughed unnecessarily. "Of course you haven't; it's off-limits. There's a power inside that is so great, it could easily rip apart a region if properly harnessed. That's where we come in. Team Plasma, with that kind of power, could easily liberate all Pokémon across the Unova region! But that's not all... we could expand to Johto, than Kanto, moving down to Sinnoh and Hoenn! We'd be unstoppable!"

The teenager remained quiet. He was getting all he needed- and more.

"Of course; that's if we decided to harness its power."

The teen frowned. If?

"What'd you mean, 'if'?"

The grunt smirked, pulling the teens raven hair, exposing his deep brown eyes to the merciless eyes of the Plasma grunt. "Well, let's just say, we have a bigger prize in store. To get it, we need that power."

Before the teenager could ask any questions, a loud buzz was heard, filled with static and grain. A metallic screech was heard- similar to that of an Onix's Screech attack- and the small metal cabin that the two men occupied was filled with a robotic sounding voice. The grunt smirked, but didn't speak. He just turned to face the speaker system, as if that would make the report nicer to hear.

"5 minutes until landfall at Liberty Island. Repeat; 5 minutes until landfall. Cabin's are pressurized and submarine is ready for rising."

With that, there was a loud click before the speaker system shut down. The grunt slowly turned around.

"Well, guess that's that..." He looked to the teenager... who was no longer in the chair. His eyes widened and the grunt took a step back. He shook his head in disbelief, his heart beginning to race. His eyes were locked onto the ropes that laid cut on the floor, and the now unoccupied chair.

"You know; I told you I was going to get free." The grunt froze in place. Every single muscle in his body went rigid and his heart seemingly stopped once that voice filled his eardrums. "And look... I did."

"H-how?" The grunt squeaked. His confidence had long-since left him, abandoning him the second the trainer was freed from his bonds. He feared to turn around, afraid to see what his fate was about to become. Instead, he remained staring at the chair, sweat beginning to race down his skin.

The trainer shrugged. "You took my Pokéballs; not my Pokémon. I had decoys, idiot."

Without even waiting for a response, the teenager cracked a knuckle. His face had grown hard since his freedom, and his carefree attitude seemed to evaporate.

"Kingler; you know what to do."

The grunt knew, at the moment, he was in serious trouble. The room was too small for a Pokémon Battle; it didn't help that the large red crab was taking up a lot of the non-existent space. He couldn't summon his Liepard for assistance, seeing as how it'd be KO'ed in seconds with its relatively low defense versus Kingler's massive attacking strength.

He had no back-up plan for the trainer's escape. It had seemed impossible.

At that moment, he realized his real mistake.

He'd underestimated the greatest threat to Team Plasma. And now, he was going to pay.

"I give up... please, don't hurt me..." The grunt immediately pleaded. He spun around, before getting to his knees in a last ditch effort to preserve his life. He didn't care about the Plasma code at this point; he cared only about him, the Kingler, and the trainer. The trainer... whose name had never been disclosed. He went only by 'The Threat'.

The trainer snorted. "I don't plan to. I may want to stop your idiot plans, but that doesn't mean I don't respect your views. I get what you want. I get why you want it; well, some of you. I get all of that. What I don't get, is how you go about it. Why capture a legendary Pokémon? You'd be doing exactly what you're trying to prevent. It doesn't make sense to me. Regardless, I'm going to spare you, but you need to consider what happens next time. We meet again, it won't be so nice. Got it?"

The grunt immediately nodded, not caring about what points the trainer had brought up. It all didn't matter- it only mattered that he'd live another day.

The trainer nodded once. "Good."

He pulled a Pokéball from his back pocket and enlarged it. Tossing it, a bright flash of white light engulfed the small metal room, revealing a green bug-looking Pokémon. The room, at this point, was beyond crowded.

"Leavanny; String Shot. I don't want him escaping." With a cheerful sort of response, the Nurturing Pokémon looked directly at the man before spitting a silk thread around the grunt's torso. The line tightened, clamping his arms to his side and than moving to keep his ankles together. Finally, one good shot tied his mouth shut.

"Excellent work, Leavanny. Let's move."

The two Pokémon, without a second look, followed the trainer out of the room, moving as silent as possible. The grunt watched, helpless, as they slipped through his fingers, escaping from the room- and the ship. He closed his eyes and didn't care as he tipped over and landed on his side. He'd failed; and by surviving this, there was no guarantee that he'd survive his punishment.

He was out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

The last thing he thought before he let himself fade into the darkness of unconsciousness sealed the fate of the Unova region.

'Too bad we've already got the power...'