Pokémon Legacy

By Arkilos, Marth, and Lux Contritum(Beta)

April 1st, 1997. The wind howled, shaking the forest. Rain poured down from the heavens, fast and furious. Hardly anything was visible, except a tall building, encircled by 10-metre high walls. There was naught but one entrance in and out of the building, a large iron-wrought gate, guarded constantly by a pair of sentries that rotated every 12 hours. And the owners of the building? Why, none other than the infamous Team Rocket.

Crouched in the bushes at the edge of forest, was a lone man, his face covered by the shadows and the weather. The only thing that kept him from freezing in the rain was a large grey trench coat which hung loosely on his wiry frame. Unfortunately for the sentries, they had no such defence against the elements. They were tired, cold and rather hungry, an understandable consequence of having been on duty for the past 11 hours. The heavy rifles slung low over their shoulders had begun to feel like lead, weighing them down.

"How long till we are done standing in this godforsaken weather? I want to get back to the toasty changing room. It's freezing out here." Sentry One bitterly asked, pulling his uniform collar closer to himself for warmth.

" Cheer up mate, it's almost over, only an hour left out here. I'll cook you a bowl of noodles later, alright?" Sentry Two cheerfully replied.

"Thanks mate, you're the best friend any guy could have." Sentry One replied gratefully.

Distracted, the two sentries failed to notice the lone man as he crept closer to them, his movement hidden by the forest. As they continued to chatter, the man crept up behind Sentry One. His dagger appeared in his hand, slicing a sickly smile across the throat of the unfortunate sentry. The sentry gurgled, choking on his blood.

Next to him, Sentry Two continued speaking, still oblivious. Just then, a dagger sprouted out of his chest, having been thrown by the man. Piercing his heart, he was struck dead instantly.

Waving his hand in a "come hither" gesture, the man signalled to his companion to come out of hiding. His companion obliged, stepping out of the forest. He, or it, was a blue jackal, its lithe blue form giving it a certain elegance in its movement.

"You could've left one of them for me, Master." The figure spoke, his words appearing in the man's mind.

He sighed in exasperation, replying rather stoically, "Let's focus at the task at hand, Lucario."

The two of them dragged the dead men into the shrouded forest, draping them in man then stripped the uniform off one of the guards, preparing to do it himself.

"Argh, the dirty little bugger didn't wear underpants."

Lucario cheekily replied, "Did he leave you any little brown presents?" Refusing to dignify the question with an answer, the man checked the pants before shrugging them on hurriedly. He strode over to the gate, pretending to keep watch. Lucario stood to the side, hidden by the forest, watching for any signs of danger.

After a lengthy period of time, waiting in the wind and rain, two new guards and a senior officer appeared, opening the gates.

"Where is your partner,Soldier ?! There are supposed to be two guards on duty at all times!" The officer demanded, his breath steaming in the cold air. He seemed furious, if his tone was any indication.

"Sir! My partner noticed a disturbance in the forest and left post to check it out, Sir!

"Very well soldier, you're relieved of your post, return to your bunk."

"Yes sir!" The man replied with a salute.

Moving behind them, the man ambushed the unsuspecting officer from behind, thrusting the dagger roughly into the small of his back. At the same time, Lucario jumped out of the bushes. Having gathered his energy beforehand, he shot two quick Aura Spheres at the men, who were too slow to react. As they dropped to the ground, Lucario strode over to his master.

With the three men disposed of, they quickly made their way inside the complex.

"You know what to do Lucario, kill any soldiers or men you encounter, but always remain hidden. When you're done, give this to Professor Oak, and tell my wife that I'll miss her. I left my bank account in her name."

"Master… what are you… why would you…" Lucario's crimson eyes widened in realization. "Master! Don't!"

The man paused in his footsteps, turning to face his loyal companion.

"Lucario, this battle has gone on long enough. If the planes, weapons, and officers remain, then Team Rocket will just rebuild itself all over again. It is paramount that you destroy the weapons depot while I sever the head. The hydra shall never be able to rise again. Now, GO! Leave me to my final task."

The man turned and continued on his way. Just as he entered the inner sanctum of the building, he heard a series of explosions, buildings rumbling as they collapsed. He smiled wryly. Lucario was definitely doing his duty. As he approached the structure's core, he killed all he met, making sure his presence was well known.

However, hushed voices caused him to stop.

"We need to get out of here while everyone else in the base is distracted." a high childish voice said.

"What about the Pokémon that they are experimenting on?" another asked, "We can't leave it here, the scientists will kill it."

"Well this complicates the matter, We are not here to kill innocent children- they must be amongst the many who were kidnapped over the years.

Lucario… do you hear my thoughts?" The man asked in his mind.

Lucario pleaded with his master."Yes master. But must you go through with this? I understand that the war needs to end now, but must it be this way."

"I'm sorry my friend, but this is the only way. My brother is a madman. His cruelty knows no bounds. He must be stopped at all costs, and if I die to stop him, so be it. Live your life Lucario, and may it be long, my friend. There are children here. Save them and return them to their parents. Do it for me."

Upon reaching the lab, he severed his mental connection with Lucario. Swiftly gunning down the "scientists", he ran to the centre of the lab, freeing the trapped newborn Pikachu. It was genetically altered to be more powerful than others if the information in the monitors are to be believed.

Keeping the Pikachu close to him, he dropped by the two children who were busy planning their escape.

"Ahh! Don't kill us, we'll do whatever you say sir!" One of the kids yelped, frightened out of his wits, whilst he trying to protect the other."

Crouching down to face them, the man said."I'm not here to kill you! What are your names?"

"My name is James." Muttered the boy with purple hair and Team-Rocket Trainee uniform. He was holding a protective stance with the shivering girl behind him.

"Uhh… my name is Jessie sir… Please don't hurt us!" The second child replied quietly. She was a young red haired girl who seemed younger than the boy.

The man sighed. "Look, I'm not here to kill or hurt you. I need you to take this Pikachu and run away from here. You'll meet a Lucario outside. He's my friend and will help you. There is a small town to the south, about three days away. You will find a large building with a windmill, a professor lives there, and he will keep you safe until you can be returned to your parents. Now go!"

With the pikachu handed over to the children, the man continued down the hall. Reaching the reactor core of the Team-Rocket HQ.

Removing his trench coat, the man reveals a vest. Strapped to his chest, were explosives. Lots of explosives. Enough to cause an explosion to take out the entire base, at any rate. With any luck, Lucario should be long gone by now.

One by one, he set up the explosives around the Nuclear core, until all that was left was to press the button.

Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of leather shoes on the concrete tiles, as a man entered the hollow room. "So this war ends where it started all those years ago. I still have the picture of the tree house the three of us built here all those years ago. The area was very different back then.

And you know… I was right all along, Mum and Dad always favored you and Allen above me."

The man snorted, unbelieving "Don't be foolish Giovanni, there was never any favoritism." He jabbed a finger at him, "If you paid attention, instead of wallowing in your ocean of self-pity, you would have realized that we got just as many chores. We also got punished for our wrongdoings. But you chose your path, and I chose mine. And we probably wouldn't be here now if you had gotten out of your room more."

"Doesn't matter much now." The youngest sibling replied bitterly."It all ends now, perhaps we will be closer next time around."

"Maybe, good bye brother… and I'm sorry my love, take care of our son and may he grow up in a better time."

With this said, The eldest of the three Ketchum siblings pressed down on the trigger. Ending their lives, and destroying the complex in a maelstrom of flame and debris.

April 1st, 1997. The day Team-Rocket was destroyed. Its chain of command butchered, headquarters brought to ruin, it was never to rise again. Till this day, only pockets of resistance remain, defying authority.

Jessie and James, two of the many kidnapped children, made it to Pallet Town with the aid of Lucario. They met Professor Oak at his research lab, who immediately contacted Kanto regional police, who aided in the locating of parents and subsequent return of their children. As for Lucario, he would never be heard from or seen again, the children having had entered the building alone before anyone else saw him, no one knowing where vanished to.

Fewer knew about the other events that occurred that night, for just as a life was removed from the earth, another was also created. In a small clinic in the middle of Pallet Town, a new mother was giving birth to her first and only son, Ash Satoshi Ketchum. On first sight, it was easy to assume that he was a normal, healthy lad. What was different though, was that upon his birth, he uttered not a single sound. For he was born without vocal cords.

He was born mute.

Though disheartened and rather saddened, 17 year old Delia Ketchum swore to herself that she would love and take care of her son regardless, though very young for a mother.

The whole event had been an accident admittedly, a lapse in poor judgment on a particularly stressful evening, whilst Delia and the man she loved became much closer. However, no matter how he was conceived, she knew deep in her heart that she would love him regardless.

Delia held Ash in her arms, as the small nuclear explosion lit up the stormy night. Tears fell as she watched, knowing deep in her chest, that something terrible had just happened.

Soon the doctors took baby Ash to a separate room, calming Delia down in the process, and returned to bed, where she remained rather exhausted. Her eyelids drooped down slightly before closing into a deep and restless sleep.

It was three days later when she received the grievous news. The man she loved, Ash's father, was found dead at the bottom of a crater amongst a hazardous, nuclear wasteland at Ground Zero. Delia felt...hollow. Broken. She didn't, no couldn't believe the news. But as she gazed somberly at charred, mangled remains of his corpse, she felt something rushing up inside her. Her knees felt weak and before she knew it, she was on her knees, tears streaking down her face like rivers across a valley, a valley of bones.

For the first day, she felt empty. She moved almost mechanically, her body on autopilot as her mind grieved. The third day, she was mad. Mad at him for leaving her, for leaving behind his child, for breaking his promise to always be by her side. By the fifth, she had accepted it, accepted it but no she would never forget. It would haunt her, hurt her inside. But she had a duty now, a duty to her newborn son.

Delia knew that she had to remain strong, if not for herself, then for her son. She had to feed and care for him. The last few days, the nurses had cared for him as she grieved, but she knew she had to find work, and care for her son. His insurance money would not last her long anyway.

It was easy to assume her parents were just supportive during their daughter's plight, but this was far from the case. As far they were concerned their daughter could suffer alone and die as they no longer cared.

Her parents didn't approve of the man Delia loved, or that her sister also had held a crush on the same man. They members of the social elite and despised Pokémon trainers, and Pokémon alike. As far as they were concerned there was no place for ruffians like that.

So when news came that Delia was expecting a child of said man, and that man had become a champion of the Pokémon league, well you can only imagine the result.

Delia didn't think of her parents, though. Only that she was now a parent of the small child of her own.

As the years passed, Delia slowly started to teach Ash to write. It started with simple ABCs, before moving on to simple words. To teach him to communicate the words were difficult, but she managed it through a combination of hand-gestures, and books. Though it soon became apparent that Ash struggled more with his studies due to Dyslexia, which he inherited from his father

It was an event in Ash's life occurring at age of three which would alter his life forever.

Delia had taken her son to the small park in town.. it was there he meet three and half year old Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson. He and his sister, Daisy Oak, had recently moved to Pallet Town, due to their parents' marriage issues. Rather than having their children be stuck in the crossfire, they sent them away to live with Samuel Oak.

Gary Oak wasn't one to be ignored, and was very keen on establishing his presence as being above any of the common folk who lived in the town. He was small, but rather arrogant and often thumbed his nose at the other children, to the consternation of his grandfather and sister. When Gary believed Ash refused to answer him, the truth was that little Ash could not speak to him. "Think you can rise above me!" He yelled as he pushed Ash backwards, Ash landing in a nearby puddle. Before Gary could strike once more, he was stopped by his older sister.

"What are doing!?" She yelled at her younger brother.

It was all too little, too late. Ash had fled the situation entirely before his mother had known what had happened.

Ash continued his silent crying. Why had that kid said those things. Ash only wanted to be a friend to him. The way he had pushed him into a puddle. It was confusing and it hurt.

As Ash was far from paying attention, he didn't realize that he had run straight into the forest surrounding the small town. And he definitely did not he notice the many pairs of eyes that followed him.

Whilst crying, Ash tripped over an overgrown tree root. He soon found himself tumbling and falling quickly down the hill. It wasn't he reached the bottom of the steep hill that he came to a stop.

In the shadows, a single pair of blood red eyes watched as Ash continued to silently shake with tears running down his face, now both physically and emotionally hurt. He found himself in lost in a world foreign to him. The forest was where wild pokémon resided and lived and seldom did any humans come to that part of the forest, the last being many years ago.

Another pair of blood red eyes joined, this pair much taller than the other. The taller of the two closed its eyes and a solitary black paw stretched from the shadows, then as if encouraging the smaller one, it forced it forwards, out of the shadows. The creature was revealed to be a small black and blue puppy-like creature with pointed ears and bumps on its forepaws. The creature opened a telepathic link with Ash. As its Meema had taught it to.

"Why are you here, Master?" The puppy asked in a young feminine voice nervously. She was feeling quite unsure about herself.

"I… I'm not your master, I'm lost, I don't know where we are… who are you… are you here to eat me?" Ash replied, looking around the dark forest frantically. He didn't know where the voice was coming from.

The creature was confused. Why would she eat the human? Didn't Meema say that this boy was powerful and he was her master?

"I'm not here to eat you, why would you think that, master? I am Riolu." The creature explained as her Meema, a figure that was taller than her with spikes on her chest and the back of her paws, backed away into the shadows.

"Young one, help for you is underway, know that my pup will be with you on your journey and your life for now on. As none as powerful as you have been seen in many generations…" Lucario told him.

"ASH!"

"I must leave the two of you now. But before I do, I must leave you one final gift…." Lucario's eyes temporarily glowed dark blue, "It's done. Now your life shall be mostly normal until your true gift is needed."

"ASH!"

Lucario left just as Ash's eyes started to blur, black dots slowly forming in his vision as the ground seemed to sway and dance, before rushing forwards to meet him.

The last he heard was a familiar distant young voice, sounding not far from his own age. Warmth enveloped his chest...almost as if someone was hugging him. "Oh Arceus!- DAD, I FOUND HIM!- I NEED HELP, H-HE'S UNCONSCIOUS!" Then, his eyes drew close and his world faded to black.

Ash's life would be dramatically different after that day. A bond was formed with perhaps one of the closest friends he would ever gain in his lifetime, and more yet to come.

Deep inside Ash… a being had just been awoken… "Whe… Where am I, I feel, c-cold," A steady rhythmic beating drew the attention of the being as she turned to face it, though she furrowed her brows in confusion. "Who am I? The warmth… I'll follow the warmth."

AN:

On behalf of the the team, I would like to thank you for spending your time here.

Please remember to review, your thoughts mean the world to us.

-Arkilos, Marth, and L.C.