The Island
Prologue:
"So… you've collected them?" He asked.
The underling nodded firmly, "of course, they're caged and are currently getting their memories wiped just as you instructed."
The commander nodded his approval, "and you're going to replace them, right?"
"Of course, sir. Doppelgangers are being created as we speak; no one shall ever know of their disappearances as you instructed."
He grinned. "This will buy us all the time we need. Soon, the world's most powerful trainers will be under my command. Our scientists must still finish the serum though… but at least now there's not as much pressure."
The underling nodded, "you will make a fine ruler, sir."
He laughed, "of course I will! I know how to run this place better than all the Pokémon Champions combined! And with my new invention… there will be no need for Pokémon anymore… and what better messengers to deliver the news than those two?"
The underling nodded his support. "So, proceed as planned?"
"Yes, get them out of my sight."
"Of course, my lord." The underling said, exiting with a bow.
He gave a satisfied smirk, "yes… the revolution has begun."
Chapter 1: Amnesia
Serene waves lapped at her feet; sand scratched at her stomach and ankles and cheek. She awoke to the cries of Wingull and crashing waves. A weak moan escaped her lips as her gray eyes flickered open. The world looked like a big, bright, blurry seizure of color. It was painful to look at. She slammed her eyelids shut in an attempt to escape it. But she knew it was still there.
Her hands grabbed handfuls of dampened sand and squeezed them to cope with the searing pain in her brain, her whole body shook with the effort, pulsating with every movement.
Damn… what happened? She asked herself, wincing at the pain that thinking brought.
She bit her lip at the pain, tears budding at her eyes. She'd never had much of a pain tolerance after all. She forced herself to ignore the hammering pain and continued her thought process.
Who am I? Where am I? How- Another sharp stab of pain silenced her mind.
She tightened her grip on the sand and gritted her teeth, wanting to die as more noises tormented her pounding skull.
"Meg… Ganium?"
She didn't remember anything… not even her own name, but she did recognize the sounds. They pricked at her memory to no avail. It stayed quiet for a moment, allowing her to sigh in relief, the tears steadily slowing themselves. The salt water stung at her eyes, not doing much to help her. She cringed when her head was nudged, the tears starting back up again. Her heart pounded in her chest; she was sure that her rib cage would shatter. Her teeth began to grind against one another as a sharp whip-like noise sounded nearby - like nails on a chalk board - She stiffened a little when she felt something thin yet sturdy snake around her body, supporting her head and torso as she was lifted from the water.
Her head hung limp, the ends of her dirty blond hair still floating in the water. Her neck cracked as her body was swung in a U-turn motion. Whatever was carrying her was very heavy footed; with every footstep sounding like an explosion to the girl. She moaned again, her fingers reaching for invisible, nonexistent sand. She held her breath, bracing for each deafening crash; each step shattering her being.
Her features loosened when she felt shade, the shield from the blazing sun reviving. The explosive steps slowed, quickly coming to a stop. She felt herself lowering to the ground; giving a content sigh as she was placed on soft, cool, springy grass; letting sleep overcome her once more.
XXX
"Bre? Umbre? Umbreon!" The moonlight Pokémon cried, prodding his trainer tentively with his forepaw.
"Five more minutes…" He mumbled, reaching for blankets that weren't there to pull over himself, his eyes drowsily opening after realizing that he wasn't in his room at the Champion's Mansion.
"Whoa… am I… wet?" He asked, his face heating up in embarrassment.
He sheepishly looked around him, relief washing over him when he realized that he didn't wet himself. The Umbreon shook his head slowly, sweat dropping at the sight of his trainer. He looked at his shirt.
"Thank Arceus it's not lost," he said, clenching the poke ball necklace that his good friend, Naomi, had given to him last year just before they'd gone their separate ways.
After they'd just defeated the Elite Four, he wanted to replace Lance in the Elite Four as Champion, whilst Naomi had wanted something else; she'd never been too keen with others observing her or praising her. She really only talked to either him or her Pokémon, mainly her Pokémon though. He got up on his feet, brushing the clingy sand from his pants.
"Okay, last time I checked, I didn't go to sleep with my jeans and training shirt on… nor was I anywhere near the ocean… or was I? Umbreon, do you know what happened?" He asked.
Umbreon shrugged, shaking his fur free of sea water.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one to get wet, eh?" He smirked.
Umbreon shot him a warning glance. He put his hands up in defense, backing further into the water, rewetting his clothes. Umbreon grinned, stifling a laugh.
He sighed, "you'll never change, will you?"
Umbreon shrugged, giving him a 'what are you going to do?' look. He was about to retort when it hit him.
"Wait! We were on a boat, remember? Yesterday! All the Champions got together and went on a cruise together so we could all get to know each other, remember?" He exclaimed, reaching into his pockets and pulling out his laminated ticket.
Name: Nik Powers
Age: Eighteen Years
Status: Johto Champion
Jetspray ocean cruise line
Nik sighed, "well that explains the water part… but I don't remember any boat crash, or sinking or struggle… I don't get it, none of this adds up."
"Bre." Umbreon agreed, walking further up the beach, away from the tide's reach.
"Good idea, buddy." Nik complimented, following the dark type up the beach.
He pushed his green sweat band further up his head so he could see the area more visibly: There was a very lush, healthy looking forest just after the beach's sand. The highest point of the area seemed to be barren and rocky looking. Nik looked down at Umbreon.
"Let's just head into the forest and figure things out," he said, turning his attention to his leather poke ball belt with all six pokeballs still strapped securely on the belt. "Then I can ask the others if they know what happened."
Nik walked with Umbreon by his side into the forest, sighing as the refreshing atmosphere of the forest engulfed him; hiding them from the angry sun and its blistering heat. He thought of Naomi.
"She would like this," he murmured, thinking of his old traveling companion.
He chuckled as he recalled the memory of when they entered the Ilex forest together. Naomi hadn't wanted to leave, neither did her Meganium, well, Chikorita at the time.
"Um?" Umbreon snapped him out of his memories, reminding him of their situation.
He blinked, "hm? Oh, sorry. I was just… thinking."
Umbreon just shrugged, staring at his belt.
"Oh! Right, thanks for reminding me." Nik thanked, releasing his Pokémon one by one: Typhlosion, Noctowl, Nidoking, Lapras, and Dragonite. Umbreon respectively joined the ranks of his fellow Pokémon teammates, sitting beside Dragonite.
Nik drew in a deep breath.
"Does anyone know what happened? Umbreon and I just woke up on that beach over there… If there was a ship-wreck than somehow I missed it."
All six Pokémon exchanged confused glances, not knowing what happened either.
"Well isn't this just great," Nik mumbled, sitting on the tall, healthy, springy, green grass.
Umbreon's eyes suddenly glowed purple, yanking an object out of Nik's back pocket: his Pokegear. Nik's eyes glittered in hope, taking the device from Umbreon. He pressed the on button. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. This time, it sparked, making him drop it.
"This day just keeps getting better and better." He muttered, staring hopelessly at the Pokegear.
"So… any of you guys know how to fix a broken Pokegear?"
XXX
Hours had passed since she had blanked out. The pounding in her head was still present, but had subsided to some degree. She could stand to open her eyes, the shade of the forest helped. Her clothes were stiff and smelled of rotting Magikarp and seaweed, but they were at least dry now. Her surroundings were still slightly slurred, but she knew that she was in a forest.
Her gaze flickered to a Meganium who seemed to be standing guard. Even though she didn't remember who she was or why she was here or why her head hurt so much, but she did know, somehow, that this Meganium was hers.
"… Meganium?" She whispered.
Meganium's attention snapped back to her trainer. She gave a cry of delight, rushing towards her. She let out a sharp cry of pain, the sounds of Meganium's feet slamming against earth giving her stabbing pain, part of her vision went black and fuzzy for a moment.
Meganium came to an abrupt halt. "Meg?" She asked, clearly puzzled as to why her beloved trainer was in such pain.
She remained unresponsive to Meganium. The grass type was only a few more paces away from her, but she was now reluctant to move in fear of damaging her trainer.
"I-It's f-fine, Meganium, really." She rasped, still laying limply on the grass.
After all, what point is there to get up if you don't even know who you are?
Meganium carefully moved towards the girl, a pained look on her face as she tried to be light on her feet. She didn't notice. Her attention was focused solely on the blank blue sky, staring into nothing. She'd forgotten what she was doing previously. Meganium soon reached the girl, prodding her shoulder with her foot. She screamed, her eyes huge and her chest rising faster than it had previously.
"Meg!" Meganium cried apologetically.
She didn't respond. Her head lolled uselessly to its side as her eyes leaked silent tears, her body giving violent shudders. Meganium could only watch helplessly as her trainer suffered.
XXX
Time had passed, but Nik hadn't wasted that time. Since his Pokegear was busted and Noctowl and Dragonite didn't see any other people or Pokémon for that matter, he'd set up a base camp: a basic shelter composed of drift wood and some meager twigs surrounded by stones for a fire pit. It wasn't much, but it'd help him survive the night, or if this was all a big joke, it wouldn't seem like an actual base camp; the other Champions were known for pulling elaborate pranks on each other. Pushing his sweat band back up his forehead, he turned to Umbreon.
"So do you think it's a prank-" Nik was cut off by a loud scream, making the hairs on the back of his neck stick up.
He recognized that scream, no, he knew that scream. Nik had heard it very few times during his travels, but he for sure knew that what he had just heard was Naomi's scream. Nik had heard it only when she got trapped in the Burnt Tower back in Ecruteak City. He'd never forgotten it. Nik and Umbreon exchanged concerned glances, bolting to the other side of the forest, Umbreon taking the lead.
"Faster, Umbreon faster!" Nik heaved, his exhausted calves burning at the sprint.
"Bre!" Umbreon nodded, picking up more speed.
Nik skidded to a halt as the forest's visibility turned dark, almost as though the sun just turned itself off. The sunlight was completely blocked in this part of the woods, no sunlight trickled through the leaves like it did where his base camp was.
"Umbreon, give us some light." He commanded.
"Um!" Umbreon cried, the ring on his forehead acting as a flashlight.
"Good." He praised, gesturing for Umbreon to lead the way.
The two were forced to tread slower, as the darkness hid all the knobby oak roots that stuck out of the ground, waiting to trip someone. Nik pulled Noctowl's poke ball from his belt, releasing the nocturnal bird.
"Noc!" Noctowl cried, awaiting Nik's command.
"Go look for Naomi." He commanded.
Noctowl's head tilted to the side, looking at Nik like he'd lost his mind. But he complied anyway, flying around the leaves looking for a way out. "Umbreon, help Noctowl out and use shadow ball to blow the leaves out of the way." Umbreon nodded, shooting a powerful shadow ball just above his head, the leaves crumbling away. Nik squinted as a beam of light now shone awkwardly in the middle of the darkness. Noctowl hooted his thanks to Umbreon before flying out of the hole.
Nik and Umbreon continued through the darkness, taking caution with every step.
Nik tensed up. "Hey, Umbreon? You hear that?"
Umbreon snarled, his rings flashing in the darkness in an aggressive manor, his sharp teeth bared. He was ready to fight.
"Umbreon?" Nik asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
He then saw what Umbreon was growling at. A pair of narrowed blood red eyes stared through the darkness.
Nik gulped, backing away.
"I hope one of these didn't find Naomi…"
XXX
She had muffled her spasms of fear and pain, reducing them to shivers. Tears still flowed down her cheeks, her eyes rosy and swollen. Through her tears, she saw Meganium, still looking distraughtly at her.
She felt a pang of guilt.
I'm sure she didn't mean to scare me… She thought, turning back to her Meganium.
"Meganium… who am I?" She sniffled.
A look of shock and concern shot through Meganium's eyes, "meg?!"
"I don't know who I am, do you know?" She whispered.
Vines sprouted from behind the enormous pink flower around its neck, the sharp noise making her wince. Meganium guided the vines to her trainer's waist, pulling off the brown leather belt strapped around her waist. She then pushed two of the poke ball's buttons, releasing a Togekiss and an Espeon. Both took an immediate concern towards their trainer.
"Es?"
"Kiss?"
She recognized those two as well, somehow knowing deep down that they were hers too. Meganium and Togekiss exchanged some words, resulting in Togekiss's taking off into the skies. Espeon, however, approached the girl.
"Do you know who I am?" She asked, her voice so quiet that Espeon could barely hear her.
"Speon?!" She gaped, recoiling a bit at her trainer's question.
Espeon waited a moment, wanting to see if she'd just sit up and start laughing, or start saying 'fool'd ya!' but she didn't. Espeon, growing more concerned by the second, used physic to pull her wallet from her pocket (she'd never been one for purses nor bags), opening it with ease. Her trainer's card was still unharmed and still dry. Careful not to wet it, Espeon gripped the card in her teeth, presenting it to her. She slowly took the card from Espeon, holding it in front of her face.
Name: Naomi Foster
Class: Pokémon Trainer
Hometown: New Bark Town, Johto
Pokedex: 250 species
Age: 17
Badges: Eight
Naomi blinked, slowly drinking in the information.
"Naomi… my name's Naomi?" Naomi said, saying it more like a question rather than a statement.
"What is this place than? Is it… New Bark Town?" She asked, looking curiously at the Meganium and Espeon.
The two exchanged distraught glances before shaking their heads no. Naomi's face fell.
"Then… where am I? Where are we?"
Meganium and Espeon didn't respond.
"Do you at least… at least know how we got here?"
Espeon padded lightly to her trainer's side, nosing at her jacket. Suddenly curious, Naomi slowly unzipped her jacket and looked at the inside: On one side, eight shiny small scraps of metal each beautifully decorated and unique were pinned with near perfect spacing; beside them was a larger silver circle with a four in the center. On the other, two ribbons were pinned, one blue with a white stripe running through the middle of each ribbon strand, the other was pink; each with a gold center.
Seeing the metal scraps and ribbons seemed to energize Meganium and Espeon, light dancing in their eyes.
"What are those?" Meganium's and Espeon's happiness drained away with those words, sorrow drowning their gazes. As did Naomi's.
"What? A-am I supposed to recognize these?" She stuttered.
"Speon…" Espeon cried sadly, a look of defeat on her face.
"Sorry… I just don't…" Naomi murmured, hesitantly reaching out and patting Espeon's head.
"Meganium, can you help me up?" She asked.
Meganium looked nervously at her trainer, not wanting to move in worry that she'd hurt Naomi again. Even her vine whip seemed to cause her pain.
"Meg-"
"Ah!" Naomi cringed, holding her head as she fell back onto her side, writhing in pain.
Meganium looked horrified, now afraid to speak or move.
Meg!" Meganium suddenly cried, a high pitched screeching noise, hanging her head low.
Espeon had begun suffering from the noise right around when Naomi had. She just suffered silently, her ears flattened to her skull and her eyes tightly shut. Naomi forced herself to keep her eyes open. Black and white spots fogged her vision, but she could still see.
"What… what is that?" She mumbled, unable to believe what stood before them.
Shall I continue?