The oncoming storm
The Legend of the Storm

Written by My Fleeting Touch.
(My Fleeting Touch does not own Pokemon)

I've heard stories of places where Pokemon Trainers are respected.

I can't imagine what it'd feel like, to have normal citizens smile at you and greet you happily, to not have to pay twice the amount to get what a normal person could get. I've always grown up in a place where Pokemon Trainers were despised and scorned, where you can't even walk though a city without upsetting at least one person.

So even if these stories are true, it didn't matter here, because things never change in Raeonn. The only story people used to care about was the Legend of the Storm, but even that is forgotten now. It is a legend, telling of a resistance of pokemon trainers, rebelling against the source of the prejudice within the people, and changing Raeonn forever – but such a story can never come true.

Every day, another pokemon trainer or a person associated with a pokemon trainer would disappear. Less people are willing to aid the trainers these days; they'd prefer to keep their heads down so that they don't get hurt.

I don't blame them.

I'm Jaye Falconer, a Pokemon trainer myself, I've been one for about five years now and I've managed to escape the claws of the crime syndicate that runs Raeonn so many times that I've lost count. The prejudice, the hateful glares, the disappearances, it's enough to drive hope out of one's heart completely.

So those stories about other regions, I don't believe them.

"Jaye Falconer," my stomach squirmed as the head of Oakroot town called out my name during the town meeting in a cold, clear voice. This could only be a bad thing. It wasn't my fault that Mr. Jacobs' well caught alight when I walked past, or that Mrs. Kale's magikarp tried to suffocate itself by jumping out of the pond when I was trying to put Mr. Jon's goldeen back into the water. My mother clutched my arm in fear. "Jaye Falconer!"

I slowly loosened my mother's grip on me and stumbled to the front, where the head, Mr. Lore, was giving me a glare which could freeze a charmander. "Yes?" I tried not to sound defensive, but failed.

"Jaye Falconer, it had come to our knowledge that ever since your birth, which was a grave mistake in itself," he shot a glare at my mother, "That you have only wrought destruction and trouble on our town." His voice dropped to a harsh whisper that was only meant for my ears, "I should've gotten rid of you from the very start, I should've known you'd be exactly like your father, a trouble-maker. Therefore, I only find it fitting that you should follow in your father's footsteps." His voice rose again, "From this day forth, Jaye Falconer," I saw the blood drain from my mother's face, "You shall be exiled to become a Pokemon trainer."

"No!"

"Jaye," a familiar voice broke through my dream as I tossed on the grass of the Asper Forest. "Jaye, you are too close to Asper City, if they find you you're gone."

I shot up, "Archer?" I glanced around, but there was no one but my pokemon and myself. My flareon, Scorch, rose his head warily, but Archer had to be here, he had to be! "Archer! Where are you?"

"Get out of here, Jaye," his voice came again, from everywhere around me, from the murmur of the trees, from the rustle of the grass, "Get out!"

I scrambled for my pack and stuff, Scorch was swiftly by my side, growling. They were here – the crime syndicate were in the forest. I clenched back a panicked whimper and quickly darted away, drowning out the yells of surprise. "Quickly Scorch, quickly!" The treeline was disappearing quickly, I glanced behind me – if they were too close, they'd spot me escaping and that'd be the end of it. I had to stop them, fast.

"Scorch, ember!" My flareon spun and let out a burst of flame, creating a line of fire across the path.

"Dammit! She's getting away!"

As I reached the edge of the forest, a hand suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into a dark cave. I panicked, "Let me go! Let me go!" A sudden yelp of pain told me that Scorch had found his target and sunk his teeth into their hand. I stumbled to the ground.

"Your flareon has got a bit of a bite," a dissatisfied voice came from the darkness.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I was back on my feet, holding up my fists, I couldn't let my guard down again.

"Relax," a laugh came from the darkness, "I'm on your side, I'm part of the Resistance."

"Never heard of any 'Resistance'," I growled, "Now let me go free or I'll have Scorch bite you again, or burn you."

A nervous laugh came again, "And let you go out there to become captured by those guys? I don't think so. Pokemon trainers help each other do they not?"

"All of those who I've met seemed rather concerned in helping themselves," I said snidely, "Except one or two, doesn't matter now, they're gone."

"How long ago was the last time you saw one," the voice asked calmly.

"About six months, when," six months ago, all those painful memories, those rocks falling to separate me and, "look, this is none of your business, now let me go."

"A lot can change in six months," the stranger passed a stick to me, "Here, have your flareon light this, and I'll show you what I'm talking about."

I stared into the darkness warily, before having Scorch light the stick, in front of me stood a man and I couldn't hold myself back from whispering, "Archer?"

The man was confused though, and as I brought the light closer to his face I could see that he wasn't him, "Archer? No, I'm Kyle Ryan. Pokemon trainer, and part of the Resistance," he held out a hand.

I took it and shook it, "Jaye Falconer, Pokemon trainer and I like being on my own."

He stared right back into my eyes, "Is that really true though, Jaye?" There was a pause where I glared at him before he went on, "I've heard about you though, been on the run from the crime syndicate for ages. There is quite a bounty on your head and…" he raised his eyebrows, "Archer Hawken's head as well."

"Archer is dead," I replied a bit too quickly, "He was a fool."

Kyle sighed, "Shame really. The Resistance was quite eager to have the two rebels, not just the one. Now come with me, I've got something show you."

"I've heard rumours," I started cautiously, walking behind him, "Of the Pokemon trainers starting to rebel."

"So you didn't cut yourself off from civilisation completely for six months then?" he looked at me in amusement. I scowled, six months wasn't long enough.

"I've heard a little on my travels," I retorted, "Is it true then?" He chuckled again, which was answer enough for me. "Why now?"

"You were a bit of an inspiration," Kyle told me, "you and Archer," he glanced at me before continuing, "Causing trouble wherever you went, not standing for any prejudice, it was like the disappearances weren't having any affect on you two like it was the rest of us. But then six months ago, it stopped and two of you disappeared. We feared that the crime syndicate had gotten to you, so we decided to set up an organization that would rebel against the syndicate and free Raeonn. But they didn't get you," he looked at me, "And they didn't get Archer."

"They did get him!" I couldn't help it any longer, "They killed him! He's basically the same as 'disappeared', Kyle, but he has no chance of returning!"

"But he isn't on their side, Jaye! Whenever someone disappears, it means that they're worth something or have some valuable information. They won't be able to get that information now," Kyle said fiercely. "He may be gone Jaye, but his death has protected us, protected you."

"I don't need protecting!" I shouted.

Kyle said nothing, just stared at me, before putting the torch on a holder and pointing towards a hole with light shining through it. "We're here," he muttered. Trembling, I walked towards the hole and found myself standing on a ledge about a huge open cavern, light streaming through a hole in the roof, and all around the cavern people were trading, training their pokemon, battling, harvesting, talking and so much more. I stared down in amazement.

"No way," I breathed, I'd never seen so many trainers together at one time, "No way."

If only Archer had been here to see this…

"Welcome to the headquarters of the resistance," Kyle said, "At the moment, we're underground and the closest town is Willowwood, who supports the resistance. We are also trying to find a place close to Juniper City, as they are also supporters and they have a lot of resources for us."

"Willowwood? That means we're close to Oakroot as well! I could check up on my mother, I could bring her down here! She could be safe!" But Kyle shook his head.

"If your mother suddenly goes missing, people will suspect something. Oakroot doesn't want to have anything to do with us, Jaye, I'm sorry."

"But what if the crime syndicate gets to her!" I pleaded, "Please, Kyle."

"That is a fear many of us have to face everyday, Jaye," his face was as hard as stone, "We have to put our families behind us."

I thought of my mother, all alone, wondering if her daughter was ever going to come home. I sighed and dropped the matter. It was my fault that she ended up alone in the first place, and it was my fault that Archer died, all alone under those life crushing rocks.

-Somewhere in Raeonn-

I chuckled darkly as I took a sip from my wine glass. Finally, we'd found the little run away girl, Jaye Falconer - finally we were getting somewhere. We'd find her and then we'd make her spill all she knew and turn her over to our side, but not until she had had a long time to catch up with her best pal.

"Bring out our guest," I gestured to the guard on my left, "He'd want to hear the good news." I grinned, casually pushing back my hair as my shoe tapped against the marble floor. It'd been some time since I had seen our dear visitor, I wondered if he still had the same defiance pulsing through him, all that fierce hatred.

Chains clanged against the marble floor, and there was a groan of pain as the guards threw the boy to the floor in front of me. His body was shaking with the effort to keep his pride. His straight brown hair was dark with sweat as I guessed he had recently fought off another bout of fever. His blue-green eyes burnt with the desire to kill me. I tutted, "Your prison guard tells me you haven't been eating your meals again. It's such a shame that even when you're sick, you refuse to eat. Is that any way to treat the food that your host prepares for you?"

"You call that food?" he spat back, beside him, his equally imprisoned Jolteon growled, to which my Mightyena answered warningly.

"I'm sure you've eaten worse on your travels," I examined my wine glass. "You aren't going to get any stronger if you don't eat the food."

"I refuse to be fed like a poochyena by my enemy!" he exclaimed.

"Are you forgetting who saved your life?" I lowered my voice dangerously.

"I was better off dying there than being chained up by people like you!"

"And I can end it just as easily, you are at my mercy, but I'm not like the one who abandoned you to die," I watched in amusement as the boy's eyes flared with despair, the next thing I knew, I was against a wall, his hand closed around my throat, his eyes sparking with venom.

"Don't you dare bring that into this," his voice dripped with hatred, "I will kill you."

A yelp behind him had informed me that my Mightyena had grabbed his Jolteon, I watched as the boy flinched. Such a connection with his pokemon was amazing. I chuckled, pushing him away from me, "I'm surprised you still have so much energy in you, but I guess that is no longer the case." He sank to the ground, shaking harder than before. "But, as you might have guessed, I hadn't called you out here to talk about food or life debts."

He froze as I continued, I spent my time enjoying every effect my words were having on him, "We've found your little girlfriend, after all these months, we've finally found the little run away girl. I had almost given up hope of ever finding her."

"No," he sunk even lower if possible and lowered his head into his shaking hands, "No, no, no."

Chuckling, I bent down in front of him, "Come on now, you know her name, the guard says you whisper it in your cell. Say it."

"Jaye," he sobbed into his hands, "Oh Jaye."

"There we go, that wasn't so hard was it now? I don't intend to let the little bird escape again, this time, I will capture her," I returned to my chair, my shoes clicking on the marble floor, "And you will help me. Can you imagine it? The duo, Jaye Falconer and Archer Hawken, together again."

"No!" his anguished cry lit up the room.

"May I introduce," Kyle began, addressing the Resistance ring leaders, "Jaye Falconer."

They were a rather interesting bunch of people; a girl in complete black, a rather manly, well-built man, an old cloaked man, a boy about two years older than me with blue hair, and a gorgeous woman dressed in a blue dress. The girl just stared at me, and then at Kyle and then back at me again, "Is she one of us then?"

The well-built man laughed, he seemed like the alright sort, "Yes Halie, she's one of us." He grinned at me, "Welcome to the pack, Jaye, I'm Kevin, rock and fighting is my style of pokemon. Ghost girl here, Halie, takes charge of dark and ghost pokemon. The old man, 'Old man Kon' we call him, takes care of normal and bug pokemon. The boy with the blue hair, Neo, likes his dragon pokemon – he's got a bit of a temper too." Neo scowled. "And Aoi is in charge of ice and water, and then there's…"

"Me," Kyle chimed in, "I can introduce myself, thanks Kev, I'm Kyle and I have the flying pokemon."

I stared at him, "You never told me you were one of the leaders! I had always assumed you were a scout."

He grinned cheekily, "Scouting is part of my job."

"Then there's you, Jaye," Kevin went on, "You'll be the ring-leader in charge of fire."

"You're rather quick to assume that I'd like to join your happy little group," I said a bit fiercely. "I like to train all kinds of Pokemon thank you very much."

He laughed, "Indeed, but you've mastered training your fire pokemon. You'll join us, Jaye, you've been away from human company for far too long."

I growled, knowing I had been defeated, "You haven't got all the types though. There is still ground, psychic and…" I paused, trying to remember the other one.

"Electric," Kyle completed for me, "Ground basically goes into Kev's department and psychic is pretty much Halie's. But electric," he paused, looking away ashamedly, "We'd hoped that we could find both of you."

I stood there shell-shocked, that's right, electric had been Archer's favourite. I was brought back to those times when we'd fight together as a team, Jolteon and Flareon, it hit me that that combination wouldn't happen again. Even if I did meet someone with a Jolteon, it wouldn't be the same. "Guess you'll have to find someone else then," I murmured.

Kev clapped his hand onto my shoulder, "Don't worry, Jaye, we'll hold a proper memorial service for him here in the cavern. It'll make it easier for you to move on."

It was true, ever since that catastrophe in the cave, all I had been doing is running – I hadn't had time to give him a proper send off. I hadn't wanted to, somewhere in deep inside me there was the hope that he was still alive, that he'd pop out of nowhere and grin like nothing had happened.

Whenever I closed my eyes he would be there, right beside me, whispering into my ear. Fear clutched me, what if that voice disappeared – that voice that warned me of danger, comforted me when I was all alone, wandering Raeonn with not destination in mind. When Archer died, my destination had died with him. What if that voice disappeared? "No," I whispered, "No, don't let me be alone."

Kev was confused, "You won't be alone, Jaye, you've got us now. You can't keep on holding on to something in the past forever."

"No! I won't let you take him away from me!" I shouted.

Kev motioned to Kyle, "She's stressing herself out, get to it."

Kyle grabbed me, his Pidgeot restraining Scorch, I gasped and struggled, "Let me go, Kyle! Let me go! Don't side with them!"

"I'm sorry, Jaye," he muttered into my ear.

"Listen to me, Jaye Falconer," Kev bent down to meet my eyes, "A lot of Pokemon trainers come here with a past they can't let go of. We make sure that they all let go of it so they can focus on their job. Some throw tantrums, like you are, but you should ask around, their lives are better now that they've let go. Your job now is to lead this resistance along with us, and if Archer is getting in the way of you completing that job properly, then you are better off without him."

"No!"

Kev sighed, "I hate it when it comes to this. Put her light out, Kyle."

The next thing I knew, something hit me on the temple lightly and my vision started the cloud and blacked, but I had to force out my words before I was out to it completely, "Kyle, you are a traitor."

End Chapter 1.

Author's Note:

Ah ma gad, it's been far too long since I've written a fanfiction :\ I'm just lazy and then I get mind block and then .

Yep.

So, I've always liked the idea of there being a place where Pokemon trainers aren't accepted so readily – because that is the way society is. (i.e. Hating of the non-conformists.) And I like the idea of having to fight for something, whether it be freedom or love or whatever.

So yeah, oh yeah, I used flareon as Jaye's character because I've always like flareon, even since I was like a little kid. So yeah, let's hope I can keep this fanfiction on going.

Please read and review. Reviews bring hope.

~MFT