Prologue: Jewel of Life

Me: Looks like I'm back in the Pokémon side of Fanfiction again, I guess. Anyway, thank you for all of your patience and sorry for the major delay, readers of my past Pokémon stories and fans of Arcus. Welcome to the next rewrite of "The journey begins - season 1".

Unfortunately, for the other two polls, they had lesser votes compared to this one. So please enjoy this new rewrite, with a major modification that has been added to it. But before we head into, I'll tell you something first. There won't be quite a lot of lemons in this story because of the reason that you will know when you read it, also I'm getting a bit rusty at it. Also, this season combines both the Kanto and the Orange Islands. So, on with the disclaimer.

Arcus: No, no, no! You're still going to pay for what you're going to do to me! *Charges up Flare Blitz*

Me: Shit! Someone, anyone, get to the disclaimer and make it quick!

Angel: *Rolls eyes* Boys *sighs* They always fight. Anyway, on with the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon but I do own Arcus and any other OCs in this story.

Prologue:

There Arceus stood, body rested on the ground, his head facing the sky. Rain was pouring down, making the whole atmosphere feel depressing. Arceus then opened his eyes and stood on his four legs, revealing his body as it brightened.

His body resembled a white equine with a gray, vertically-striated underside. The striated pattern has similar recurrences on the underside of his mane, tail, and face. His four pointed feet are tipped with gold hooves. Arceus had a long mane juts away from his head, and his face is gray, with green eyes and red pupils, and a green circular pattern below his eyes. Arceus also has a streak of gold coloration on his head, and ears that point upward.

His neck is fairly long, with two pairs of extrusions to the sides, and a flap-like feature on the neck's underside that is colored white like much of the body. Arceus also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to his body by his round abdomen. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it. The pattern of striated gray of Arceus's underbelly resumes past Arceus's waist. His limbs have gray undersides and extrusions at the tops of his legs. Arceus's tail is fairly like his mane in shape and coloration.

Arceus looked down towards the ground, where a transparent green sphere stared back at him. Within the sphere, energy was swirling in a circular motion.

The Alpha Pokémon shifted himself as his gigantic form began to shrink down. When he had shrunk down to human-size, his entire body glowed as he stood on his hind legs, which began to morph into legs. The wheel attached to his body had split and curled down as his mane and tail disappeared. As the glow faded, it revealed that Arceus had turned into a human. His white hair covered his eyes and he flicked it to the side, revealing that his left eye was covered by grayish bandages that travelled down to his chest.

He bent down and gently picked up the sphere. Arceus smiled gently at it. "To think that it has been years since you were still the Jewel of Life, the source of human cultivation. Then you were returned to me by the boy named Ash Ketchum and his friends. Now, you are given the chance to live, as a Pokémon and...my son."

Tears began to develop in his right eye as he continued. "You shall be raised by Ash Ketchum. He may be a pain for you at first, but you'll come to understand him soon. Learn from him. Learn about compassion, love, responsibility and the bonds between Trainer and Pokémon."

Before Arceus could say anything else, the energy within the Jewel of Life suddenly formed a silhouette of a small foetus. A smile of joy formed on the Alpha Pokémon's face as he embraced the Jewel of Life. "You are going to make a fine Pokémon, son. I couldn't be more proud of you. But our time has come short."

Looking back up, Arceus spotted a sign: Pallet Town.

Smiling, he made his way towards the direction that the sign had pointed to, hands holding the Jewel of Life tightly, protecting it from the rain.

In Pallet Town:

As the rain continued pouring down, Professor Oak had to return the Pokémon to their Pokéballs. He was enjoying it too. The happy faces of Pokémon playing with one another, the cheerful sounds of Pokémon chanting. Looks like he will have to wait till the rain stopped.

"Char~" Came the voice of an orange lizard-like Pokémon who's tail had a flame at the tip of it.

Professor Oak turned to the Pokémon and smiled. "I'm sorry, Charmander. It seems that this sudden rain has cut your playtime short. You'll have to wait till tomorrow until you can go out and play again. Right now, you'll have to go back to your Pokéball." The Charmander hung its head low as it walked away sadly. Professor Oak sighed. "When will that translator be constructed? I've waited years for it! And when will this rain stop?"

Just as he said that, there was a knock on his door. Professor Oak looked at the door with a raised eyebrow. "Who could be here at this hour? Better yet, who could be here in this weather?" He approached the door and straightened himself as he opened the door slightly. Professor Oak peeked out of the door and he saw Arceus standing there, soaked by the rain.

The professor opened the door and he looked at Arceus. "My goodness! Why are you standing out here in the rain, sir?"

"Are you the one everyone calls Professor Oak?" Arceus asked, ignoring the professor's question.

Professor Oak nodded. "Yes, I am. But you haven't answered my question. Why are you out in the rain?" Again, he was ignored. Arceus said nothing as he gently pushed the professor aside while he entered the house. "Excuse me! I asked you a question."

"I'm terribly sorry, professor," Arceus spoke as he looked towards the professor. "The rain just brings more sorrow to me the more I stood there."

"But why?" Professor Oak asked. "Why is the rain bringing you sorrow? What could you have possibly done to receive it?"

Arceus shook his head. "It is not what I have done, professor. It is what I am about to do." The Alpha Pokémon stretched his hands out and placed the Jewel of Life onto the table in front of him. "I am here to hand this over to a future Pokémon Trainer, professor."

Professor Oak gazed at the Jewel of Life with his mouth agape and his eyes widened. "W-what is it?"

"It is an Egg, professor. A rare one-of-a-kind Pokémon Egg," Arceus replied with sadness in his tone. "I'm giving this Egg to a specific trainer, who will become a wonderful Pokémon Trainer in the future."

"Oh! Do you mean my grandson, Gary?" Professor Oak asked with a hint of excitement in him.

The Alpha Pokémon sweat dropped as he shook his head. "Uh...no. I meant the boy by the name of Ash Ketchum."

"Ash?" The professor repeated. "Why him? Sure, he's an enthusiastic boy. But him? Last I checked, he couldn't make it on time for almost anything important."

Arceus nodded. "You're underestimating the boy, professor. He'll prove to you himself that he's a wonderful trainer. When he grows a little more mature, that is to say." He looked towards the Jewel of Life and smiled. "This egg means a lot to me. It's been through the worst and has witness miracles. I'm sure that Ash Ketchum will raise it well. I have faith that he will."

Professor Oak sighed and nodded. "If that's what you request, then I can't say no. But can I have your name? I'm sure that Ash might know who you are if you give me your name."

Smiling, the Alpha Pokémon replied. "My name is a secret. But you can call me "A". By the way, that Egg, if it hatches and it's a boy, name it Arcus. That is all I ask for." With that, Arceus made his way towards the door. But he returned a smile to the professor as he left.

The professor stared at the Jewel of Life and gently picked it up. "Hmm...I must say, I've never seen a Pokémon lay this kind of Egg before. And it's transparent as well! I wonder what kind of Pokémon it could be, though. I wonder if this "A" is still out there. Maybe I could ask him." Unfortunately for him, Arceus was long gone by the time he had opened the door. He looked around and sighed as he closed the door. "Looks like I'm just going to have to call this Pokémon as Arcus for the time being."

As the professor set it back down, he froze, remembering a certain detail that Arceus had left out. "Wait a minute...what if it's a girl?"

Unknown to him, Arceus was watching from above. He was perched on the rooftop as he watched the professor. The Alpha Pokémon nodded with satisfaction when the professor went back into the house and he leapt down from the roof and onto the patch of grass. As he got up, Arceus dusted himself before he made his way out of Pallet Town. "Grow up well, Arcus."

Me: There's the end of that prologue. Now head over to the next chapter!

Arcus: Stop right there! I'm not through with you yet, you jerk!

Me: Oh well. It was nice knowing you guys. Now I am going to run for my life. See you next chapter!

Ella: When am I going to appear?

Me & Arcus: You're not in this story until Eliza escapes Team Rocket!

Ella: *Pouts* You meanies...

Me: Anyway, please move on to the next chapter.