Pikatwig: The 20th anniversary of Pokemon is upcoming, huh?

KKD: *scans articles in tablet* Hmm… looks like it.

Pikatwig: Didn't see that coming. But I'm excited.

KKD: Yea. So… Big special?

Pikatwig: Oh yes!

-Some while later…-

Pikatwig: Alright, we're ready! But first… shall we get into our Pokemon stories?

KKD: Roger. *spins before appearing in the outfit of Brendan from ORAS.* Ready?

Pikatwig: One sec… *walks off for a second and proceeds to get a black cap that had the Pokemon logo on it* My mom was buying me Pokemon stuff and got this as a bonus. ...I'll need to wear this on my vlog at some point… anyway, you first.

KKD: Right. First, how I got into Pokemon. Well, believe it or not, I was one of those kids who got crazy over it on the playground, watching the anime, but I never played a game until Gen 3 when I got a GBA. I admittedly dropped off after Gen 4, only coming back this last Gen, just in time for ORAS.

Pikatwig: Alright, so that explains how you first got into it and your first game. My turn. Way back in the second grade I met these two kids, one of them I can't remember his name and the other was who I wanted to be friends with. He was nice, but this other kid… I think Shawn was his name… told me I had to get into Pokemon to do so. This was around the time I knew what a computer was, so I did my homework and wowed him and the other kid, Cameron, with knowledge on Pokemon. I also got some info on Gen 4 as it had yet to be released in the states at that point, so I printed out some info about certain Pokemon like Turtwig, the Mascot Pokemon of Diamond and Pearl, and Ambipom. Shawn didn't believe me about there being an evolved form of Aipom, even though I had physical evidence. I tried to show it to him and… well… he punched me where the sun don't shine.

KKD: Ouch.

Pikatwig: Never saw him again after that day… think he may have been expelled for that act, but me and Cameron became good buddies. After that, I then got into Sonic and Kirby, then Zelda, and the rest is history. But my older brother… jerk that he was, didn't like Pokemon and 'banned it'. Seriously, anything Pokemon I had he would take from me until my mom was able to stop him from doing so… reason he hated Pokemon, not even kidding here… the TCG.

KKD: Really?

Pikatwig: Yep. He eventually came around to like Pokemon… so there's that. And lastly, my first Pokemon game was Pokemon Diamond, but the very first Pokemon game I ever played was actually Pokemon Snap while I was at the hospital and it was on an honest to goodness Nintendo 64.

KKD: Wow. Honestly, I forgot what game I first saw and first game I played in terms of Pokemon, but Sapphire was my first in terms of owning it.

Pikatwig: Here's something neat that I noticed. From Sean, to Silver, to you, to me, we each got into Pokemon one generation after each-other. Sean got into it via the originals, Silver got… well… Silver… you got Sapphire and I got Diamond. Neat, huh?

KKD: Yea… hmm… wonder if I should change my name to KKD Sapphire?

Pikatwig: *shrugs* But anyway… since my name is two Pokemon names, you can tell it was influential in my life… if not for Pokemon, I doubt I'd be here right now. And before you ask where the heck 'Pikatwig' even came from… I honestly don't know where I came up with it. I remember the first time I ever used the name in a video that I don't know if I still have, I was using a Turtwig plushie and I introduced him as the Turtwig of 'Pikatwig'.

KKD: Cute.

Pikatwig: Regardless, this story will be in the anime continuity. This is something big that Pokemon will NEED to do for the anniversary, since the last time they did something big was for the 10th, which I honestly liked. And before you ask us about our thoughts of the anime… it's okay, though not as much worth my time to get up on Saturday mornings. Other things are. As for recent development in the anime with AmourShipping… it's fine I guess. Actually doing an arc that seems like it's going to do something different in the anime.

KKD: Still can't decide if I'm a Pokeshipper or an Advanceshipper… I guess the latter, that's when I got a Pokemon game.

Pikatwig: Personally like PearlShipping more… but I don't mind the fact that AmourShipping seems to be going somewhere since it's more canon. ...think there may be any sort of official hook up by X & Y's end?

KKD: With how it's been going so far… Doubt it.

Pikatwig: Think there may be a chance, especially since higher ups at the anime seem to be supporting it. Let's get back on track… 20th anniversary story and we're bringing in a BUNCH of continuity, even the MOVIES! Few things… there will be some small things retconned… such as the second Mewtwo from Genesect and the Legend Awakened. Nothing against that Mewtwo… but not only does its existence seem sort of pointless… there's one thing they ignored about the original Mewtwo… it's final appearance is in a city inspired by New York City. And what was the main setting in Legend Awakened? Oh yes, "New Tork City".

KKD: Huh…

Pikatwig: And we will be bringing in a certain somebody that was originally going to be a mystery never solved. *shows a picture of Ho-Oh from the cover of HeartGold* Yea… they originally had no plans on identifying the Pokemon that Ash saw at the end of the first episode, but it just coincidentally resembled Ho-Oh. We haven't seen Ho-Oh in years for… some… reason.

KKD: Right. Though, the anime aired close to when Gold & Silver were first developed.

Pikatwig: But seriously, Ho-Oh has not appeared in years… odd, ain't it? We won't say what role Ho-Oh will play in this story, but trust me… he's playing a role.

KKD: But then again, we'd be spoiling much of this, wouldn't we?

Pikatwig: And as a comment, we've never seen Ho-Oh in a movie… at all. It was close to appearing in Zoroark: Master of Illusions

KKD: Sheesh, I certainly HOPE we see Ho-Oh in a movie before the 30th anniversary.

Pikatwig: Who knows. And yes I know a lot of trivia about Pokemon… and as of recently I looked into some facts about the creation of the game, if only for a stupid assignment in my 'animation' class… let's get this thing started before I begin to rant.

KKD: Right. Now then, we need the Disclaimers. Mind setting it up, Aibou?

Pikatwig: I guess… *rolls a Pokeball at screen and the disclaimers popped out, only to fall a bit short.* ...this is why I leave it to you, it tends to fail on me.

KKD: Crud. *calls it back before throwing the ball proper.*

DISCLAIMERS: Neither Pikatwig nor KKD Silver own anything in this story except for original concepts. All properties belong to their respective owners including Nintendo, Game Freak, the Pokemon Company, etc.

In the desert west of Lumiose, there was a hidden chamber somewhere deep below the Kalos Power Plant. Inside this chamber were a bunch of guys hard at work analyzing data, trying to read some notes that had years of dust on top of them, and were trying to drown out the screams of some Pokemon in test tubes.

"Shut up in there!" one of the higher ranking members of this group shouted as he banged against a test tube, he approached a female scientist, "How long is this going to take?!"

"I have no idea…" the woman responded in annoyance, "It would help if you weren't pestering me every five minutes!"

"Well what would you expect?! I am getting very fed up of waiting for my Pokemon to receive their enhancements!" he shouted.

"This would be easier if Orre's police didn't scrub our computers clean of how to make Shadow Pokemon…" the woman muttered to herself as she picked up a tablet and began to look at the data on it, "It's all fragmented and we need to put it together again."

The man walked into some light, revealing his rather muscular structure, a red shirt and pants that had black lines going down, a brown belt, a wrench attached to said belt, gray shoes, black, yellow and blue gloves, yellow glasses with blue frames, some sort of headphones and goggles around his neck, "I am so tired of waiting!"

"Gorrigan, patience is a virtue," another voice told him as a rather tall male approached, wearing a white cloak, long white shirt and pants, a purple necklace, and seemed to have a white cap of some sorts on his head, "Once our Pokemon are modified, we will be able to take over this region with ease, and I shall be the ruler of Kalos!"

"Why do you get to rule Kalos?!" the female scientist growled as she walked over, revealing her pink twintails, white top, black pants, long white high heels and white goggles, "I should be the one to rule the most fashionable place in all of the world!"

"Lovrina, that is a stupid reason for wanting to rule a region," the male responded.

"Shut it Snattle!"

A male who was hidden in the shadows let out a loud groan, almost instantly getting them to stop speaking and turn around to him.

"I grow tired of your bickering… you two have been complaining ever since we fled from the Orre Region," the person growled, his voice slightly old, but demanding and threatening, "I want results for the revival of Cipher! Cipher shall be a name feared all over the world, not some long forgotten relic tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper and never remembered."

"Yes, Master Greevil!" they all nodded as they ran to get back to work.

The man, Greevil, sat and then turned his floating chair around to an oubliette to see the two prisoners in it. There was one male and one female, the female looking like a familiar redhead but with two pigtails, blue eyes, and wearing a purple shirt under a blue denim jacket, a white skirt, and pink boots while the male had dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, had a white line underneath his eyes but above his nose, wore a long blue robe that covered up most of his body, had black boots and currently had his right arm wrapped up in some bandages.

-To think… what we saw all those years ago was only the beginning…- the girl whispered, which was picked up by a monitor observing the two of them.

-If I stopped them once, I can do it again.- the male smirked before he winced in pain.

-You alright Wes?- the girl asked, concern evident in her voice.

-I… I think so… there's a procedure to remove the Snag Machine safely, but do they listen to me warning them? Nope, they practically rip my arm off to take the thing off.- the male, Wes, grumbled.

-Do you think somebody will come and help us?- the girl asked.

-I doubt it Rui. The Orre region is the only place that seems to know that we exist, to the rest of the world we're just some undetectable blips on a radar…- Wes responded.

-...let's hope somebody finds us…- the girl, Rui, whispered.

"Nobody will be here to save you two, because nobody even knows we're here…" Greevil chuckled, "And with you two locked up and the Snag Machine as far away from it's owner as possible, there is nothing that can stop the might of Cipher! NOTHING!"

Greevil began to laugh evilly, but he soon heard someone clear their throat to get his attention.

"Grand Master, I-" a male in blue began.

"What is it Ardos? I am in the middle of my maniacal laugh!"

"Forgive my Grand Master, but I have something I feel as though you should be aware of," Ardos informed as he handed Greevil a folder, "While looking around Kalos for parts, I heard of somebody who… may pose as an issue to our plans…"

"Some dorky kid from Pallet Town? What can some low country bumpkin do to us?" Greevil asked.

"That's what I was wondering," Ardos continued, "I then began to do some research… this 'low country bumpkin' appears to have traveled across the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova Regions and has stopped the various villainous teams and has met a multitude of… Legendary Pokemon,"

This instantly got Greevil's attention as he looked at some newspaper clippings showing the boy having been reported to have 'saved the world'. ...several times.

"Hmm… you bring up a valid point now," Greevil admitted.

"And he has had helpers…" Ardos added, showing off at least five other folders.

"This poses a problem… but also opportunity…" Greevil smirked as he looked at one file that showed this boy in Dahara City with an image of what looked sort of like a gold ring, "Run an analysis on this ring here and see if it matches up with the Mischief Pokemon,"

"Yes Grand Master," Ardos nodded as he took the newspaper clipping and headed to another room in the lab.

Greevil looked over the pictures for a moment, chuckling a bit before he began to formulate a plan…

Celebrating 20 years of Pokemon

Pikatwig and KKD Silver present…

Pokemon: Shadow of Two Decades

It was a normal day for the boy that was in the pictures and newspapers, Ash Ketchum, as he was taking a moment to shine his badges, the seven badges sparkling in the sunshine. After shining his seventh badge, he looked up at the sky for a moment.

'How long has it been since I started?' Ash thought, 'Three years? Four years? However long it was, it certainly has been quite the journey…'

At that time, his partner Pikachu was resting nearby, currently catching some Zs as his tail blocked the sunlight, his snoring sounding just like him saying his name.

'I know there's at least been one year, since I had that party to celebrate the first time me and Pikachu began our journey… it was a spectacular day… seeing that legendary bird…' Ash thought as he put his badge down and eyed the case for a moment,

"...Pika?" Pikachu blinked a bit as he scratched the back of his head with his tail, "Chuuuuuu…"

"Hey Pikachu, glad to see you up," Ash smiled as Pikachu walked over to his trainer and smiled.

The two looked up at the sky for a moment, seeing some Fletchlings fly by along with some Spearows. He recalled what happened on his first day as a trainer and how much of a bad omen it would be for him.

"Still remember the day we first met?" Ash asked Pikachu, earning a bit of a reluctant nod from the electric type, the two remembering that it was quite traumatic for their first day. Pikachu openly regrets how badly he treated his trainer when they first met, "That was quite a day…"

"Pikachu," Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"So what happened that day?" a female voice asked as Serena walked over to the two, "If you mind my asking?"

"Oh, hey Serena," Ash waved, "How're you doing?"

"Pretty good," she smiled as she sat down by the two, "Given how you two get along so well, I bet your first day was really great."

Both Ash and Pikachu gave an awkward laugh to that, "Yea… funny you should say that…"

"Your first day went that badly…" Serena gawked in surprise, Ash simply nodding in response, "Wow…"

"Honestly, it could've gone a lot better," Ash stated, as Pikachu simply tried to hide an embarrassed look on his face from his trainer.

"Well, every relationship has its rocky starts, I guess…" Serena shrugged, "Mind me asking something?"

"Sure,"

"If you weren't late, who would you have picked?"

"Back then, I honestly would've picked Squirtle," Ash admitted.

The electric mouse Pokemon blinked in surprise, before he let out a small shock on Ash in agitation.

"Bonnie, what do you think that was?" Clemont asked Bonnie.

The young blonde girl didn't respond, humming a beat as she was petting a small green Pokemon of sorts, the Pokemon was very small something that could easily fit in one's palm, had white eyes with black dots in the center and a red core right in its stomach.

"Bonnie?" Clemont asked.

"Yeah?" Bonnie responded.

"...nevermind, I'll go look myself," Clemont told his younger sister, leaving the young girl with her Dedenne and over the watchful eyes of Clemont's Luxray.

"Squishy…" Bonnie began, "Could you try getting bigger?"

The Pokemon, nicknamed 'Squishy', looked up at her for a moment.

"I mean… if there's ever any major danger to me. Just to try and keep me and Dedenne safe," Bonnie clarified.

Squishy nodded, proceeding to slightly slide away to eat. The green Pokemon proceeded to begin absorbing sunlight, while Dedenne began to eat some food. Bonnie simply smiled softly as she pet Dedenne, the little electric type Pokemon simply giggling slightly.

Up in the air a certain balloon was hanging in the air, a very familiar trio was watching as Bonnie sat there.

"Look at the little twerpette, all alone and Pokemon ripe for picking," one of them commented, the magenta haried woman smirking as and her cohorts looked onwards.

"So how should we do it? A simple net?" a male with light-blueish haired inquired.

"Uh oh! Bad idea! Looks like big brother left a guard Luxray," the Meowth with them pointed out, "We gotta think of something else, because I don't think our Pikachu electric absorber can absorb any larger output than what Pikachus can produce."

"Point taken," the other two nodded.

"WOBBU WOBBU!" a Wobbuffet announced, striking a salute.

"So… why did Pikachu zap you guys?" Clemont inquired.

"I'm not sure," Ash admitted.

"Maybe he was a little upset by learning who you wanted to pick?" Serena guessed.

Pikachu looked at them for a moment, but he didn't say anything and simply walked forward. However, Pikachu tripped on a tree branch, accidentally sending a Thunderbolt right into the air… and right to the balloon. This caused the passengers of the balloon to panic and scream as it was sent into the air.

"What happened to our electric absorber?!" the woman demanded.

"It wasn't charged," the male informed.

"It needed to be charged?!" she growled.

"We got it on the cheap…" Meowth sighed as they flew into the air, with a 'ping' sound.

"Did you guys hear something?" Ash inquired.

"No," Clemont and Serena responded.

"Must've been hearing things," Ash shrugged as they arrived back at the camp.

Clemont thought for a moment, "Hey Bonnie, did you hear anything?"

"No," Bonnie informed.

"Alright," Clemont nodded.

Pikachu sat down by Dedenne, the two electric types using their electricity to communicate. Pikachu groaned a little bit, with Dedenne responding. The gerbil Pokemon figured it out, nodding in response.

"What're they talking about?" Ash couldn't help but wonder.

"Maybe whatever made Pikachu upset?" Serena guessed, looking at the electric mouse, "Am I right?"

Pikachu simply walked over to sit down and did not say a single word.

Some distance away from Ash and his group was a male who had a black ring around his wrist, currently staring at a tablet of sorts, minding his own business as he looked at any known info about Greninja, a picture of a Greninja surrounded in a vortex of water with a few different shades of color on it.

"...nothing. Just… what is this Greninja? It's not a Mega Evolution," he mumbled to himself as he noticed something about the colors that were just barely visible, they matched up with the hair color and hat color of the Greninja's trainer, "...how is it this Ash kid is able to pull this off?"

Suddenly, a white flash of light emerged from a Pokeball, revealing a Charizard that had a sort of armor plating nearby its neck.

"What is it Charizard?" he inquired.

The Charizard let out a small roar, showing the concern it was carrying for him.

"I'm fine Charizard. I just… don't get this Greninja we battled," the Charizard's trainer explained, "He didn't have a Mega Evolution item on, his Pokemon didn't, and there's no database on the planet that recognizes what the heck that Greninja… did."

He just sighed as he put the tablet away, before noticing a Pokemon flying in the air.

"Hmm… a Dragonite?" the trainer inquired as the yellow dragon Pokemon landed by him, having a black satchel of sorts. The Dragonite handed the trainer a note before it flew off, leaving the trainer in confusion.

A trainer looked at a note that was given to him by another Dragonite, seeing it was an invitation.

"To the Kalos region? ...sure. Sounds like fun," he smiled, "Hey Sparky, we're heading for the Kalos region."

A Pikachu walked over, looking rather interested. This Pikachu noticeably had a scruff of fur next to its left ear pointing upwards…

"I wonder what this could be?" a trainer with light purple hair mumbled, with an Espeon nearby. She slowly opened it up, revealing the same invite, "Kalos? ...sounds like fun,"

"Kalos? Isn't that the region Ash recently traveled to?" a male with black hair, wearing a red headband, green shirt, red shorts and blue shoes inquired.

"It certainly is Tracey," an older gentleman nodded, "I hope he's doing alright. I haven't heard from him in a while,"

Tracey proceeded to hand a letter to Professor Oak, which the professor proceeded to open up "Let's see here. ...a Pokemon tournament in the Kalos region?"

"Why do you think they'd invite us?" Tracey couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not certain, but it definitely seems like fun. Why don't we go and try it out?"

"Hold on a sec, gramps," a new voice added, revealing Oak's grandson, Gary, "I don't think you're going to be going out there without somebody who at least knows how to traverse the land."

"Are you sure, Gary?" Oak asked.

"I'm sure. Plus, it'll be nice to catch up with ol' Ashy-boy," Gary admitted.

Later that evening, Pikachu stared off at the sky, thinking about something. The mouse Pokemon also took some small bites out of some food put down by it by Clemont, but was all alone by a log. Greninja took note of this and approached Pikachu.

"Grenin?" Greninja inquired.

"Pika," Pikachu responded, shifting it's head way from the water frog, confused by the frog ninja's sudden appearance before Greninja sat next to Pikachu.

The two carried on a short conversation, which would be untranslatable for human ears but a certain cat Pokemon happened to be able to overhear.

"...wow, that's unexpected," Meowth mumbled as he slowly slipped away.

Meowth soon returned to where Team Rocket currently was, only to see the only one awake was Wobbuffet.

"Oh, you're up. What is it, Wobbuffet?" Meowth inquired as he sat down and proceeded to open up a container of canned peaches for the two to eat.

"Wobbu wobbu, wobbuffet," Wobbuffet responded.

"Oh? You miss Mime Jr.?" Meowth checked, earning a nod, "It certainly has been a long while since we've seen her. Not to mention a long time since we saw Weezing and Arbok… I'd hate to admit it, but I kinda miss them. But I know they're looking off some younger Koffing and Ekans."

The two sat in silence as they ate some of the peaches, both of them quietly pondering how their old friends were doing…

Pikachu was the first to wake up the next morning, the electric mouse stretching a little bit, soon seeing Squishy getting some energy from photosynthesis. Pikachu simply stared at the green Pokemon trying to wrap his mind around it. He was not only confused by Squishy ability to 'get bigger' as Bonnie dubbed it, but the fact that it seemed to be something of a collective, if the unintended trip into the green Pokemon's dreams were anything to go by.

"Good morning, Pikachu," Bonnie greeted, the young girl leaving the tent, "Is Squishy around?"

Pikachu nodded and pointed over to where Squishy was, Bonnie quickly picking up the small Pokemon and hugging it. Squishy just smiled as best it could, due to lacking a mouth.

The others all soon woke up, with Pikachu still slightly giving his trainer a cold shoulder, only slightly as he was willing to sit closer to the group, but still didn't seem to want to speak.

"Pikachu, what's the matter?" Ash asked, turning to his partner, "You haven't spoken to me at all for a while now. I'm getting worried."

Pikachu was silent, not sure what to say as something flew by the group, temporarily blocking the sun with its shadow. They all looked up to see a Dragonite, who landed by the group, the wind blowing away Ash's and Serena's caps

"Huh? A Dragonite? What's it doing here?" Ash wondered as the dragon-type handed him a letter, "Huh… deja vu."

The Dragonite then proceeded to fly off, as Ash and the others looked at the note, which was an invitation to a tournament…

Pikatwig: And we're done! We're five days ahead of the 20th anniversary. ...man this took a lot longer than it should've.

KKD: Yea, and it's mostly due to me with my schedule. I apologize.

Pikatwig: Which is why I'm posting this, not you. And another part of it was writer's block, since dabbling with the anime's storyline isn't something I normally do, so I'm in unfamiliar territory now. Anyhow… yes, we are including Cipher here. Nintendo seems to have forgotten that Orre even exists, since anytime you send a Pokemon from Colosseum or XD upwards, they're stated to be from a 'faraway land'. Honestly, I really liked those games and I feel as though Nintendo needs to do SOMETHING with them one of these days.

KKD: Point taken. It's not exactly fair to the two games, especially since in Gen III it was one of the only ways to get the Johto Pokemon.

Pikatwig: True. And in fact, one super old Pokemon guide I own even mentions both games in it. Why is it some guide book with the Pokemon up to Gen III gets that right, but no other books seem to know Orre exists? ...whatever. Anyway, Wes and Rui are here, and they will be important players.

KKD: And you'll see once we get to those chapters later.

Pikatwig: As an aside, and mentioned on my Miiverse account and in my vlog, I got the Mew card… took three Gamestops, but I got it and have the 151st Pokemon in my game.

KKD: There's only one close to me now, so I hope I can get mine tomorrow as of this writing.

Pikatwig: Here's hoping. So… thoughts on this chapter?

KKD: It sure is a nifty way to start. Plus, neat reference to the first Pokemon movie.

Pikatwig: Couldn't help myself… also, as an aside, we're lucky we're still getting Pokemon. Gold and Silver was going to be the end of the series, and the first movie was planned to be the anime's end.

KKD: I see what you mean.

Pikatwig: I know a bunch of trivia about Pokemon… and my mom showed agitation that I could somehow remember the date of Pokemon Red and Green's original release, yet couldn't remember how to do synthetic division.

KKD: …

Pikatwig: ...yeah. Uh… favorite part?

KKD: Well, mostly the references we made, including Meowth acknowledging Jesse and James' former Pokemon, especially Arbok and Weezing (I miss those goofs), as well as getting a glimpse at the cast from Orre.

Pikatwig: I need to agree with the appearance of Orre characters. And thus, we end off. Just Live More.

KKD: Jaa ne!

*silence filled the room*

Pikatwig: So… what now?

*KKD took out a Pokeball and sent out a Blaziken*

Pikatwig: So, a short battle? Alright… go Aqua! *sends out a Greninja*

KKD: Ikuze! Blitz, MEGA SHINKA! *activates his Blaziken's Mega Evolution*

Pikatwig: Oh… a Mega Evolution. I have no need for such… trivial things. *closses eyes and focuses with Greninja* Let's do this thing Aqua, just as we always do. As a team!

*Greninja let out a roar, being developed in a vortex of water, gaining a blue sort of top to the forehead, and yellow lines around its eyes, resembling the lenses of goggles*

KKD: Well, this is new. But we won't be deterred! Blitz! Give it all ya got!

Blitz: Blaziken!

Pikatwig: Ikuze, Aqua…

Aqua: Grenin.

*The two Pokemon rushed in and were ready for battle…*