Prologue(s): SINNOH
The nights were dark and cold at the end of October, unfitting for anyone to be out at those late (or very early) hours. Certainly it didn't help the three small and exhausted Pokémon that it also was a moonless night, barely allowing them to see one another amidst the lush forest.
"I feel incredibly weak," said the pink one with a sigh.
"One could tell," answered the blue one, with a no less tired voice. "I can barely sense you two, and you are right beside me."
"This is sickening," whined the yellow one. "I'm already about to faint, I need to sleep."
"Our poor lakes..." sobbed the pink Pokémon. "How is even possible for them to dry up? It never happened before!"
"I'm not sure either, Mesprit," answered the yellow one. "I wouldn't have thought it possible if not seeing it myself."
"Cof, cof!" the blue one coughed. "We need to find another shelter immediately and take refuge before our energy depletes."
"But our lakes were our haven, Azelf. Where else we can hide?"
"Good question, and I... don't know. Any ideas, Uxie?"
The yellow pokémon was so still and quiet that anyone could have thought he had already fallen asleep, but the mild glow emanating from its body told otherwise.
"I might have..." he spoke, glow disappearing. "But it won't be of your liking."
Knowing how to recognize a hint from their friend, the other two pokémon emitted their glowing pulses too for a few seconds.
"Oh no, no way!" rejected Azelf. "I know we're kinda in a tight spot, but that's definitely a bad idea. So bad I don't even need to be the entity of knowledge to know it."
"Achoo!" sneezed Mesprit. "As much as I agree with you, it doesn't seem like we have any other option."
"Look, I'm about to faint at any moment," Uxie said, its small body shaking from the shivers. "I'll be able to Teleport just once before falling into slumber for who knows how many years, so I'll take the chance I'm given."
"I understand how desperate our situation is, but... merging with a human? Cof cof... I don't think their energy is pure enough to help us heal."
"These are babies we're talking about, Azelf. Surely they weren't born already contaminated. Besides, as far as I can tell... they've already been chosen by eien, mugen and juuryoku, as it seems. There's no better energy than that."
The will entity looked uncertain, but its pink companion was right. How many centuries had passed since the last time any of them showed up? This couldn't be a coincidence, suddenly having the three in the region... Yes, something was on the making somewhere.
"So be it," it finally agreed. "Take care, Mesprit, Uxie. Juuryoku?"
"Good luck, you two. Eien!"
"We'll meet again. Mugen..."
The three pokémon used Teleport at the same time, disappearing from the nightly forest, that became silent again. And just a second after, in three different locations, three unsuspecting babies embodied a mysterious glow...
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JOHTO
The wind was howling against his tent that night, making it impossible for him to sleep. Or perhaps were the emotions inside him, knowing that finally tomorrow they will visit the Ruins of Alph? But his classmates didn't seem to have the same problem, as they were soundly asleep... at least, the three little boys that shared the tent with him.
Oh, nature was calling, by the way. And not in the poetic way.
As soon as he stepped out the tent, chills went up his spine. Why was it so cool? They were already starting June, and school had decided to camp in Route 36 thanks to the nice weather, which would be more of an adventure for the kids than a hostel. However, a cold breeze was coming from the north.
Deciding to mind his business quickly and get back to his warm sleeping bag, the boy walked several metres from the settlement. They have camped in front of the north entrance to the ruins, quite a safe place, but before he had time to even untie his pajama pants, a rustling sound came out the tall grass beside him. Just a few metres away, where the first line of trees started.
Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to camp near the tall grass, where those called Pokémon hid. What a time to figure it out.
The rustling sound happened again, this time more noticeable and hasty. It was like something was crawling, and the boy got a little scared. He backed a few steps, preparing to run away at any moment if needed, when he heard something else.
A little crying sound, then a shushing. Those were definitely not Pokémon's.
Mustering up all the courage he had in his small body, the boy walked slowly to the source of the noise, or at least where he thought it was, giving the dim light of the moon.
"Hello?" he whispered. "Is anyone there?"
Suddenly a piercing weeping sound came from the same direction he talked to, startling him and making him fall on his butt. The shushing became frenetic for a minute, but there was no way whoever was there to keep hiding. Its mysterious presence have already been made too evident.
"Hey, I know you are there," the boy tried again, getting up and coming closer. "Are you ok? Don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you."
The crawling became quiet, as if trying to merge with the forest, but the little crying noises were still audible. The boy stood right in front of the source, but couldn't see anything but a damaged bush. Then it struck him, and crouching to soil level, he confirmed his suspicions: the bush was actually a woman, with her ripped clothes covered in mud and her hair full of leaves and broken twigs.
The cold wind felt like seeping through his veins when he saw, shocked, that the most astonishing fact of all was that she had a baby in her arms, cuddled in her lap.
"Whoa, lady!" he said, aghast. "What are you doing here with a baby? You should be sleeping at home, or you both will catch a cold! Plus you stink, why are you so dirty?"
Disrespect aside, the poor woman looked like breaking down when he mentioned home. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have enough strength left to scream at being discovered, and instead, silent tears started to run down her face.
"Home?" she muttered. "They burned down our home. Everything we had... was destroyed."
"What?" the boy didn't understand. "Has someone been a meanie to you, lady? Where is the dad?"
"The dad... I don't know. There was a lot of red on him... and so much red on the floor that I couldn't tell him apart anymore."
The boy frowned, not making sense out of anything. But there was a single thing clear to him: the woman needed help.
"Lady, you look hurt. Wanna come with me? Our teacher is very kind, and she can heal your ouchies."
He got up, expecting her to do the same, but she didn't move at all, focused on lulling the baby.
"What's your name, kid?" she sounded somehow calmer now.
"Uh, I'm Eusine, lady."
"And how old are you?"
"I'm already seven!" he said proudly, hands in his hips.
"Really, seven? You only look like six to me," she smiled faintly.
"No, I'm seven!" Eusine huffed, his small ego wounded.
There was a moment of comfortable silence, their banter finished. Eusine crouched again when the clouds moved away, allowing more moonlight in the scene. He noticed the baby was fully awake but quiet, and it was looking directly at him, interested.
"How's your baby called, lady?"
"Her name?..." the woman frowned, as if it was difficult to remember. "She is my daughter. She was born barely a month ago."
"She is very pretty," Eusine smiled, mesmerized by her incredible purple eyes.
The woman was going to say something, but some shouting coming their way alerted both of them.
"Look carefully through the trees, she must be near! Don't let her escape again!" an angry voice was heard.
And then, mayhem happened. Several flashlights were visible in the night, moving around everywhere. The woman started to panic again, like she was when Eusine had found her.
"They are here!" she tried to crawl back. "They are here already! I shouldn't... I shouldn't have stopped. And I was so close...! My poor girl, we were so close..."
She was crying, desperately grabbing the baby, who was restless again.
"What? Hey, what's happening, lady?" Eusine was scared too, not knowing what to do. "Who are they?"
The frightened woman shot him a glare, eyes big open, like considering if he also was an enemy.
"You, kid," she spoke in low voice, apparently having forgotten him name. "Tell me something. You are a good child, right? You have offered me help. You wouldn't take back your word, would you?"
"Of course not, lady!" small Eusine felt offended. "A true gentleman always helps those in need. That's what dad says."
"I see. Then..." after kissing the baby in the forehead, very unexpectedly, she shoved her in his arms. "Please, RUN! Take my daughter to a Pokémon Center."
"Wait, what?" Eusine almost dropped her, dumbfounded. "Why a Pokécenter? Shouldn't be a hospital? And what about you?"
"NO! Take her to a Pokémon Center!" she insisted, slowly crawling away. "And tell the nurse she is Suicune. She will understand."
"But you..."
"Run and don't look back, kid!"
The flashlights already were dangerously close, but the woman dashed right to them. A moment later, the lights were no more directed to Eusine's general location but to some other random one. The shouting also became quieter until disappearing, and the night was silent again.
"Haa, haa..." Eusine was breathing heavily, scared to the bone. "What... what I'm supposed to do now?"
He looked down at the baby in his arms, whose amazing purple eyes were filling up with tears. Only then he noticed how incredibly cold she was. She was freezing! And was freezing him too, just like the wind that night.
Take her to a Pokécenter, the mother has said. Tell the nurse she is Suicune, quite a strange name. Eusine had never heard it before. But where to go exactly? Ecruteak was too far away for a kid like him to make it back alone, even less to make it with a baby in his arms. But... Violet was at reachable distance, even for a child in the middle of the night. At least, that's what he hoped.
"Then it's decided, off we go!" he whispered to the baby, who was chewing something. "Hey, what you got there? Be careful with what you put in your mouth."
He took it out. It was a star pendant, hanging from a small chain in her neck. With difficulty, he read the name Crystal engraved in it.
"Crystal? Wasn't your name Suicune?"
Obviously, the little girl didn't answer him, but at least she wasn't crying. They needed to be quiet.
Eusine walked for an hour. His feet hurt, his arms were aching, and his pajama was definitely not suited for the freezing cold he was receiving from the baby. He had goosebumps all over his body, and his teeth were clattering. He was tired and wanted to rest... but Violet was already close, he needed to keep going. The city lights were already visible.
He tripped on something in the dark and fell on a numb knee, scraping it. Boy, that would hurt if he could feel it, but for the moment he couldn't. Maybe it was a good thing? Or maybe not, he didn't know.
"Whaaa, whaaaaa!" Crystal/Suicune started to cry, bothered by the fall.
"Hey, no, don't!" panicked Eusine, looking around for any flashlights coming. "It's ok, don't be afraid, I'm ok! Shush, shush, shush..."
She quieted down, and not sensing any impending danger, Eusine chose to sit down for a while.
"Don't worry, all will be ok. I'll take you to the Pokécenter..." he talked to her. "I won't let the bad people get you (yawn), believe me! I'll get strong, and when I grow up (yawn) I'll protect you, I promise..."
The yawning was getting serious. He felt so tired, and so cold... maybe he could sleep a little. After all Violet was already close, probably just another hour away of walking. They would arrive after resting a bit.
"Hey, Crystal Suicune..." Eusine murmured, lying down and closing his eyes, hugging the baby. "Wake me up in an hour, please..."
The next time he opened his eyes, however, it wasn't after a single hour. In fact, several hours must have passed, judging by the breaking dawn in the horizon. The night was gone, and he... he was moving?!
"What is...?"
He was lying on some strange kind of blue creature that trotted gently, barely touching the ground. The sunrise hues reflected beautifully on the crystal piece on its head... And speaking of crystals, where was the baby?!
As soon as he sat straight, Eusine saw her carefully cuddled in the creature's long mane. She seemed to be ok. He sighed deeply, relieved.
"Please, don't scare me like that," he said, untangling the girl and scoping her in his arms.
And then he noticed. She wasn't freezing anymore, and neither was him. The weather was warm again.
"But how...?"
Sad chance that he didn't have any time to figure it out. The creature stopped and laid down, waiting for the children to dismount. At that moment, Eusine realized they were in Violet City, right at the door of the Pokémon Center.
"I don't understand anything..." mumbled Eusine once on firm land. "But it's obvious you helped us a great deal. Thank you."
For an instant, the magnificent creature seemed to smile, and then it took off. It was a sight to behold, the dawn shimmering on its body, a soft wind from the north stroking its mane.
And then Eusine finally understood. Without a single doubt, that was Suicune.
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KANTO
She couldn't take it anymore. What were doing those sorry excuses of policemen? When were they going to find her son?
It had been three weeks already. She remembered it so vividly... They had celebrated her dear son's second birthday barely a few days ago. It was January. They were playing innocently in the snow, and then... Just a moment, merely a few seconds she looked away, and next thing she knew his son was being held by a frozen creature.
Yes, that's right. Her beloved son was kidnapped by an ice monster. That's what she had told to the Police, and certainly those suspicious looks they gave her weren't comforting in any way. Ice monster, of course she would say that, being a recognized ice mistress herself.
"My cute little Silver..." she sobbed, looking out the window, where a snowfall was covering Lavender Town with a pure white blanket. "At least he had Sneasel to protect him."
"Lorelei," her husband called her softly, entering the room. "Have you been up through the night again? You really should take some rest."
"I'm fine, I can keep going," she muttered.
"You're starting to look ill," he insisted, worried, attempting to guide her to the bed.
"I said I'm fine!" she shouted, pushing his arms away. "What about you, Giovanni? Have you find anything about our son yet?"
Since she refused to look at him, she didn't see the pained grimace on his face.
"I'm doing everything I can."
"Really? Somehow I doubt it," she replied sarcastically. "Every time I ask you where have you been, you always say 'work'."
"I'm working on finding our son!" he was angry too. "I have every single one of my underlings investigating every little corner in Kanto."
"And since when are you a detective?" the redhead confronted him. "Do you distrust the Police's capability that much, giving that you are trying to do its job? It's been quite some time since you last went to attend your Gym, or the Game Corner in Celadon City. I'm actually starting to wonder what you possibly do when you 'go to work'."
"How you dare?!" he shouted back, irate. "I'm as much heartbroken as you are, Lorelei. You're not the only one whose son was lost, damn!"
"... Don't talk about him like he's already dead," Lorelei cried, trembling. "Because he is not. He can't!"
The poor woman couldn't stand anymore the stern look on her husband's face, knowing that her own was worn out by stress and sorrow. In hasty pace, she ignored his callings and left the room, left the house, and went out into the night. She didn't calm down until she felt the cold, always so friendly to her, sipping through her blouse and stockings. Tired of the run, she fell on the snow on her knees and hands.
"My my!" a voice spoke to her. "What are you doing out there in the night, miss? And with this snowfall no less! You are going to get sick if you don't take better care of yourself."
Looking up, Lorelei could barely see a thing through her frozen glasses, so she took them off and put them in a pocket. Being quite close, she saw an old woman walking with a cane, that looked at her with both curiosity and pity. Lorelei also realized she had fallen right in front of Lavender Tower.
"Are you lost, my child? Do you need help?"
At the words my child, new tears flowed from her eyes, but the cold froze them over her cheeks.
"I can see something must have happened to you, young lady," said the granny, patting Lorelei's head. "But nothing can be solved by crying in the snow. Come into the tower, at least there you won't get sick."
She helped the redhead up and guided her inside, where they took seat on a bench.
"I cannot shake the feeling I have seen you somewhere, though I am sure we never met before," spoke the elder.
"I'm... I'm Lorelei," she sobbed, calming down a little. "Also known as the Ice Mistress."
"Oh, right! She is another bonder of the Pokémon, just like us," the other woman thought, smirking. "I see. I probably recognized you from TV or some magazine. My name is Agatha."
"N-nice to meet you, Mrs. Agatha."
"There is no need for pleasantries, Miss Lorelei. It is obvious you are into some kind of predicament right now. Anything that an old woman like me could do to help you?"
"I'm afraid not, nobody can help me with this... My little son disappeared. The Police has been looking for him three weeks straight, but they haven't found anything. Those incompetent idiots! How could anyone kidnap a child and not leave a single clue?!"
She burst into weeping again. Agatha didn't even flinch, she was more than accustomed to tears and desperation. Mew knew she had her own dose of that in her long life... so she simply waited patiently until the younger woman regained a bit of herself.
"If only... if only all of this ended," Lorelei whispered, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm so tired of the pain inside... I feel like I'm going to suffocate each time I breathe. If I could make everything just disappear...!"
Unbeknownst to her, a dark creature was slowly making its way from Agatha's shadow to hers.
"Are you sure of that, Miss Lorelei? You are still young, life has much more in store for you yet, that is for sure."
"I am. If nothing of this is making me happy, then what use is for?"
"... I understand, that is quite true," Agatha said. "Thus, I shall help you to ease the pain that is consuming you. Gengar, Hypnosis."
Being deep in her sorrow, the redhead didn't notice at all when the dark figure crept over her. She quietly fell asleep on Agatha's lap.
"Now, Dream Eater."
The shadow did as commanded, and soon, Lorelei's grieving face relaxed in peaceful rest.
"Good. Now sleep, my child," Agatha smirked, patting caringly the younger woman's head. "I promise that when you wake up, all the pain will be gone forever... And also, welcome to the Elite family."
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Now, stating pokéfacts:
1. The prologues are random in time and NOT consecutive.
2. The first time I ever saw a Crystal's fanart, she was painted with purple eyes. It looked so incredibly beautiful to me that the image stuck forever.
3. In case it comes to mention, the currency is the poké, as in Mystery Dungeon games.
4. Questions and doubts are welcome, but don't expect me to spoiler the whole story just to give you answers...