Introduction

I can still hear them, running, screaming, bleeding, dying. People being buried under piles of rubble and snow. I can see the fires, as everything burned in front of me. All the people I knew, all the memories I made, burned up in one horrible day. I can smell the horrid, putrid stench of burning corpses, as they were obliterated in a single blast. I can feel the blood running down my hands as I pulled the people dying out, from underneath their demolished homes. I live it almost every day, and every day I have to remind myself that no matter what I do, they're never coming back. I was one of the few to come out alive, one of the Broken. I survived the Sinnoh Event.

I lived with my mom and dad in a plain house on lake Acuity. Nothing special, just a two-story wooden shed a few yards from the lakefront. Some days, if the forest was forgiving, we could see straight onto the water and right to the other side. It always snowed on this side of the mountain, but the lake never froze over. Some say it was the power of Uxie, the legendary pokemon of the lake bed, that kept it from ever freezing over with its psychic power. The flowing lake was supposed to keep the mind clear, and allowed new ideas to flow and be nurtured. I always thought it had something to do with being so close to the mountain, having underground volcanic streams keeping the water warm enough that it won't freeze. But whatever the reason, it didn't keep me from getting out of bed every morning and taking a long walk on the shore line. I always walked barefoot and in the only pair of shorts I had. Not for any grand reason, just that they were the easiest to put on and the most comfortable. Also because I was too lazy to put on anything heavy.

It was always refreshing in the morning. The crisp air and smell of pine needles relaxed me on even my worst days. The quiet sounds of the lake running along the shore, coupled with the silent chatter of the Snorunt and Absol, brought me down to Earth and made me think of everything that could remain as still as the snow. The lake seemed to know everything that was peaceful, and it worked hard to keep it that way. Anytime the lake was troubled it seemed to affect us all. I had never seen it happen before, so I never felt distressed.

The pokemon on the lake always had something to debate about. After the emergence of a talking meowth back in Kanto, most pokemon picked up the trade and have been teaching it to their children as the generations went on as a way to communicate with people without the need of telepathy. It allowed from more pokemon to voice their opinion to people, without making everyone run for the hills because a something was inside their heads. It also did away with people coming along claiming they could hear the voices of pokemon, since most of them were frauds and ended up taking a lot of people's money on the hopes of knowing why their skitty kept scratching them. What the pokemon actually had to say, on the other hand, wasn't always interesting, but it was nice to hear what they thought and the experiences they shared. Even though it was often the same thing.

It seemed to me that the most relevant topic among them was the catching of pokemon. Some of them would talk about how they thought it was atrocious, that it reduced them into mindless fighting machines. Inside a pokeball, a pokemon couldn't go anywhere. They were forced to follow the trainer that managed to catch them. Those who did, however were usually shot down by the others who were completely fine with it. They found that being caught not only gave them food and shelter, but also said that even though they could fight each other, trainers made battles a much more organized and safe environment. As far as freedom of travel, a pokemon would travel to places they could never dream in the hands of a good trainer. I honestly couldn't care what you called it, but it was nice to hear that even pokemon couldn't decide which end of the spectrum they were on, just like people.

My mother was the coolest person around, more literally than figuratively. She was the Snowpoint City gym leader, and and her position on the job was obvious by the fact that she never wore a single garment of winter clothing even though we were in the coldest place in all of Sinnoh. I would think my same form of immunity to cold stemmed from her, except that temperature resilience wasn't hereditary in people, so who knows. But for whatever reason we found it comfortable to dress for summer in a place where it didn't exist. Besides the act of defying cold weather, she would sometimes let me borrow a few of her pokemon for a mock battle. I would always fight with Glaceon and she always used her Abomasnow. Glaceon was a riot to fight with, telling jokes and talking down his opponents, despite the obvious size difference. The others she had, especially Glalie, were always a little intense. They fought like every battle was for life or death and they had every reason to win. Mom would always beat me of course, but she was cool enough to make at least look like a real fight. She would always rant on afterwards about focus and how she was 'fired up'. Honestly, she seemed more like a fire type trainer rather than a calm and diligent ice type.

My father, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. He would be slow out of bed, and very cranky around breakfast. But by some miracle, around lunch, he would be bouncing off the walls like a buneary. Despite being the only one of us who couldn't handle the cold, he would always be yelling about how he was 'ready to go' and was 'burning for a a good fight'. I swear he had to have been photosynthetic or something. The more time he spent in the sun, the more he started to run around and ask random people for a battle. There were days when he would travel into the blizzard on route 217, just for a decent fight. In a sense, I guess that's how the two were alike. They both had so much energy and not enough hours in the day to put it somewhere. But in all honesty, you would think a guy who was champion of the Sinnoh League and a gym leader would have a bit more control.

I often asked my mom why she never became the champion. There were days when the two would have a battle and it seemed like Mom was going to win. She never did, but to me it felt like she let him. But no matter how many times I asked I always got the same response. "If I wanted to be the champion, I would. But I like not having to travel at the drop of the hat. It's fun to battle trainers but if I lose I don't lose my job as well. All I do is give them a slap on the back and hand out a badge. I have the choice of letting someone win! Besides, I like it here in Snowpoint, and let's face it, your dad is terrible with ice types."

My parents weren't around all the time. There were days when they would have to leave to battle some trainer who had come prancing around for a badge or had challenged the Sinnoh league. At those points, they would run off to battle him/her and I would be alone in the snow. One time we almost had a huge scare with Dad when this one trainer came in with level 70 Rhyperior. But by the time dad got to the league, we found out that was it. Just a Rhyperior and nothing else. I saw the battle recording Dad took and man that guy got creamed. It took two turns with Maxie, my dad's lucario, and it was down for the count. My dad didn't even send out Ren, his empoleon and leader of the team, and that trainer was sent packing. But even on those days, I never minded when they were gone. All the wild pokemon kept me company, and we would spend the day just talking about what we were had done that day or sharing our stories. In fact I almost felt a little more relaxed without having to deal with them yelling at me to get my school work done or help them train.

That's what my life was. Clear skies and Snovers till the end of time. Maybe a quick run through the caves if I felt like a safari was due, but I could always find time to lay down in the snow, and nap like a Snorlax. At least, that's how it should have been.

I remember it like it was yesterday. No one had any idea why it happened, but the fact of the matter was it must have happened over night. Lake Acuity had frozen over. Never in my life have I ever seen an event similar to this, but the the facts were there. The lake was covered in a six inch sheet of solid ice. Half the city had showed up that morning to see it and everyone took turns walking on the ice. There was no illusion, it was frozen solid, and we all had a bad feeling in the pit of our stomachs. After hours of constant deliberating about what had happened to the lake, everyone went home. My mother and father didn't say a thing as we walked to the house. Once inside, they both sat down in the living room, neither of them speaking. I went straight to my room, trying to wrap my head around all of this. For my entire life, that lake has stayed thawed, and now, in my fourteenth year it decides to freeze. My parents have never been this quiet. Just sitting there in the living room, thinking to themselves. We should have seen for what it was, a disaster. Around noon the earthquakes started hit.

The whole house shook, as if an army of Hippowdon were stampeding underneath us. The panels in my room began to splinter, tearing away from each other like they were making a new window. The floor was breaking apart underneath my feet. Floorboards were falling out piece by piece until I could get a clear view of my mom and dad rushing out of the house. I stood paralyzed as a giant chunk of my room fell out, swallowing up my bed and forcing me to have my back up against the wall. I had to move, quick. As I carefully stepped out of my bedroom, I got a clear idea of the state we were in. A giant chasm was appearing in the middle of the house and I could see right through it, all the way to the living room and the darkness below. My heart was pounding out my chest, to the point I could barely breath. I turned the corner to the stairs where I was confronted with another drop. The stairs had broken off leaving me with a six foot gap to the bottom of the stairs and a land of sharp things in the middle. With the only other way being a deathtrap, I had to break the railing and climb down from the top of the stairs. The house was still shaking as I managed to squirm my way down onto the floor. I could barely keep myself upright as I turned in the direction of the door.

I ran fast as I could, right out of the house, and almost falling to my death in the chasm that continued to open up behind me. Once outside with my parents I watched as everything began to rip itself in half. With them I saw the house slowly break apart as the world kept rumbling. The constant shaking was making my stomach turn, and my mind was trying its hardest to make since of any of this. As we watched the house get destroyed a second wave hit, this time taking the mountain with it. All the snow on Mount Coronet appeared to be falling straight for us in a massive avalanche. "We got to get everyone out of here!" my dad yelled over the thunder of the earth, releasing his Onix, Caesar. Upon release, Caesar was rendered immobile the second as he saw what we were up against. I have never seen an Onix afraid in my entire life, and it's a sight that can suck the hope right out of you. We were all in a state of complete panic, and my body felt like it was going to collapse in the snow. For the first time I can remember, I felt cold. Caesar slowly turned to face us. "What the hell is happening!?" He asked Dad. I couldn't even find the words to describe this disaster.

We had to move, and fast! "Caesar, you have got to get us to Snowpoint, or else a lot of people are going to die!" My dad shouted. I could barely hear him over the pounding vibrations of the ground and the cries of the fleeing Sneasel, but Caesar got the idea and we all climbed on his back. He rushed us far away from the lake, riding along the edge of the big chasm. We fled straight through the forest and right to Snowpoint city. The last thing I remember of that house was it finally breaking apart for good and falling into the black depths. The last thing to fall was the front door, before the whole thing was swallowed up. Caesar was right..

What the hell was going on?

"Candice, go to the surrounding villages and get everyone out! I'm going to head to the routes and make sure all the trainers get out safely. We got about 5 minutes before that avalanche hits route 217, and by that point everyone needs to be gone! Let's hope that quake didn't hit them as hard as us." My dad said to my mother as we raced through the forest. It was the first time I ever heard him sound afraid. Every pokemon in the surrounding area had the same idea we had, and were fleeing to the highlands beyond the lake. Every vein in my body felt like it was going to burst, and my breaths came short and painful.

When we got to Snowpoint we saw that no one had been spared the damage. Houses were in shambles, the Pokemon Center had its roof collapsed in, and the chasm in our house was on the verge of splitting the town in half. As we dismounted Caesar, my mom grabbed me by my shoulders. "Jack, try to help anyone you can. Caesar, you too. We don't have a lot of time and we got to get as many people as we can out of here. Please, Arceus keep you safe!" With a final hug, they took off. Dad on his Staraptor, Julie, and mom on Abomasnow.

Thankfully most of the city had seen the avalanche and were already in the midst of evacuation. Though despite the best efforts people were still trapped under the rubble. Caesar and I did the best we could but it was just too much. It seemed that under every house someone was dead. People had their heads smashed or impaled by the floorboards. My hands were covered in blood before we got to the second house and I couldn't take it. I had were points where I would break down, my heart would start racing again, so much that I couldn't breath. Once in the midst of pulling half a person from underneath their crushed homes, my knees gave out and I started to puke. The sight of his entrails being dragged along the ground behind him was too much for me to take. My head felt fuzzy, and every part of me wanted to run away. I felt like if I ran far enough it would all turn back the way it was. Bruno was the only one who was able to keep me together. "If you don't keep moving, there will only be more of them. Is that what you want!? STAND UP, JACK!" I had to force myself past the blood, despite the urge to just run and leave anyone trapped to die. I had to keep going.

I was carrying two little girls out of a crumbling Pokemon Center with Caesar when I saw them running. An army of trainers on the back of any pokemon that could carry them, and leading the pack was my mom and dad. They were all running, fleeing from something we couldn't see. Dad was screaming something to me but I could barely hear it over the rumble of the earth. "Ja... r..n." As he got closer I was finally able to hear what he was trying to say, and why. The avalanche had hit 217. We were out of time. "Jack, RUN!"

"Caesar, we gotta go!" I screamed, rushing over to him with the two girls still in hand. Everyone who hadn't already left was now running up to the highlands. The highlands were a flat plain that ran all the way to northern cliffs. The only thing in between us and it was a quarter of a mile long, forty degree incline from the city to it. In the past, once a quake had been predicted, the whole town would grab what they could and head up the hill. Once there the steep incline would slow down any avalanche that came, and anyone who made the climb would be safe. But this quake had come without a warning, and now people would have to climb in the midst of an avalanche.

We raced us up the hill, zipping past people as Caesar climbed. Once on top we got a clear view of the state we were in. Hundreds of people were going to be trapped as soon as it hit. The trainers were fine, flying to the top or riding pokemon till they finally were safe. But those without were trapped, the avalanche was about to take 217 and from there the city and the hill. There was nothing we could do. If we went down to help we would only be trapped ourselves. It hurt to watch people scream in terror, pleading for help, and me just standing there unable to do anything. Me, my parents, and every other trainer and civilian that made it up stood their as the avalanche hit. I felt like I lost a piece of my soul. Every person on that hill died because we weren't able to do anything.

"Caesar, return." Dad said. He sounded completely defeated, just like the rest of us. Despite our best efforts, people had died and we couldn't stop it. "Jack, just remember, we did the best we could." Mom said, looking more enraged than upset. "When I find out who caused this I'm going to beat their face into the mountain side." I was completely put off guard. My mother honestly thought that someone was behind an earthquake. "Candice, what are you talking about?" My dad said, and I agreed with him. What was my mom smoking to think that a natural event was caused by some random person. "Think Michael!" She shouted. "Lake Acuity being frozen over. Earthquakes happening for no reason. Any of this sound the least bit familiar." My dad's face hardened as Mom finished her rant. He was agreeing with her and I was still sitting there dumbfounded

With that, another monstrous wave of shaking anything that hadn't fallen over before was on the ground now. Trees, people, even the pokemon were falling over from its magnitude. But out of all of them, this one was different. When the quake finished all of it had stopped, not even a distant rumble could be heard. But with the silence, came a sickly red glow. Everyone was bathed in it, even the shadows radiated in an angry bright violate. Like Magikarp on command, everyone in the city looked up to see what was causing this.

The sky was gone.

No sun, no moon, not even a cloud or star. It was blank, and the purple light came from the top of Mount Coronet. Some say the light could be seen from every nation, and others claim they never saw it, but there was no one who missed it in Snowpoint. A gaping chasm in the middle of the sky shined bright over the entire region of Sinnoh. We all stared at it in awe, as if we thought if we stared long enough everything would go back to normal. It only gave us a clearer view of the destruction that was descending on us. From the Chasm came the Legends, Dialga, master of time, Palkia, master of space, and Giratina, master of reverse reality.

Who could have done this? What evil would release the gods of Sinnoh upon us? My whole body felt weak. For the third time today I found myself collapsed in terror. I couldn't even find the strength to stay on my knees. It took every ounce of will I had to look up and witness their descent. "Why am I always right?" My mom said through her teeth. Dad couldn't even find the words, but they both climbed onto Julie and took off.

In response to the appearance of the most powerful beings in Sinnoh, every member of the league had flown into the air. While a few could be seen hovering in defense of their city, most were heading straight for Mount Coronet. All the way to Eterna city we could see them fly off, but I felt not a shred of hope, or anything for that matter. I was empty.

"We're all going to die." I said, and that's how I felt. Without something to go for, some idea that we had even a chance of getting out of here alive, I gave up. Everyone in Sinnoh knew of the Legends' power, and as we watched Dialga and Palkia soar onto the region, we felt too helpless to do anything.

"Everyone, we have to move." It was some old hiker, he looked just as empty as I was. I could look him straight in the eye and I could see nothing, and yet still he wanted to march on. "What's the point." I said. "If we move we'll only delay the inevitable. Sinnoh is going to burn down." I was so sure of myself, like I knew everything that was going to happen. I took another look into his eyes, and deep behind the fear and the emptiness I saw a fire. He looked right back at me and said, "Not today, friend. If we are going to live, we'll have to hide out in the caves, which means getting a little close to the mountain. But if we make it in time we can hide out till this all settles down." His will was infectious, for a moment I could almost feel like we had a chance. The best I could do in response was chuckle.

He was right.

Despite my every urge to just accept death, that hiker forced me to feel as though I needed to do something. "You're right." I said, finding the will to get on my feet. "We gotta go, but we have to go on foot. Those things are bound to see an army of pokemon racing across the country, and we have to go now." In agreement every trainer recalled their pokemon, and we made our way to 216.

The endless blizzard that surrounded this side of the mountain made seeing difficult, and the harsh winds drowned out any sound. We all moved slowly, step by step to avoid being seen by anything unwanted. The snow came up to my knees and its sheer cold made my legs numb. It was hard to move, and even harder to breathe. With every inhale it felt like I was sucking in a foot of snow, but we kept trudging. We were halfway to 216 when one of them found us. We couldn't see its face, just the twenty foot shadow that loomed above us. My heart stopped as it hit the ground with a giant thud. No moved a muscle or dared to make a sound. For the longest time it seemed like the Earth had stood still. We could have sat there forever, no one moving or saying a thing, but someone moved. I don't know who it was but even over the blizzard we could hear it. The unmistakable crunch of the snow, and with it the roar of a Legend. "Everyone, get to the forest!" I yelled as all of us ran for cover and our lives.

We rushed through the forest, closer and closer to the mountain at speeds I would have never thought possible. There was no turning or stopping, the forest was too dense, we just plowed through. Desperate to get away from the Legend. Inside the dense woods I was blind to the world around me, but I could hear it. The screams of those unable to run fast enough, the tremendous roar of the Legend. Sprinting at our limits, those in front of us almost made it to the route, but it cut us off. It happened in a blur, but one second people were running for their lives and the next they were flying through the air, sliced in half. I couldn't see which one it was but I had a guess. Whatever it was it was moving so fast that it was taking people out in an instant. Blasts of energy appeared to be appearing from nothing. Leaping over the fields of bloody corpses and piles of ash I got the idea. Whatever it was, it wasn't moving fast, it was pausing time, and striking when it played back. I just hoped I was wrong.

I almost made it too, but just before I could get there the ground in front of me exploded. Dozens of trainers in front of me we blasted to bits in front of me. I was thrown back what felt like a mile, slamming my back on a tree. The shock had knocked the wind right out of me, and possibly broken a few of my ribs. A stabbing pain shot across my chest. In front of me was a crater of blood and limbs. The arm of a trainer clutching a broken pokeball sat only a few feet from me. People at the edge were screaming in pain as her legs were blown off, exposing the inner flesh and bone. I tried to get up but with every move my chest felt like it was being ripped apart. Blood was dripping from my mouth. I had internal bleeding. If this got worse my lungs would fill with blood and I would suffocate.

Ahead of all of it, I got my first clear view of the Legend. It stood tall in the snow, it's dark blue skin making it appear as though it was born in the red light. The steel like panels protruding from its skin made it glow as it reflected the world around it. 17 feet tall, and one of the first beings to have been born.

Dialga.

I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. Nothing could describe what I was seeing. It felt as though I truly in the presence of a God. A creature, who with the flick of the wrist could delete me from existence. I guess I was. This pokemon preceded the existence of the earth, it was a monster. I wasn't scared though, I was beyond that. There comes a point when you know that your chances are next to none, but the way you are going to die is still unclear. It's a feeling that can only be felt on your last day. The blood that engulfed the forest around me only furthered my awe in its absolute power. Standing tall, staring us down as if it dared us to stand against it. I wanted to run but the blood starting to fill my mouth prevented me from taking a step. If I moved I was bound to die from the bleeding, and if I stayed I would only be obliterated.

"Jack…...RUN!"

If I was going to die it was going to be on my feet. We had come all this way just to have a chance and we weren't going to stop now until we made it. Despite the pain and the blood I got on my feet and I sprinted. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Dialga, and it was watching me. It's like it wanted me to run, to make it more of a challenge to him. The pain in my chest was slowly numbing down, probably due to adrenaline as I ran through 216. The high cliffs surrounding the route made me feel like I was a fish in the barrel. Running through I saw the cave, trainers had made it through and were chanting me and the others to move faster. We were in a 100 yard dash right to the opening when it struck again. Dialga was attacking the hillside, knocking down boulders down into the valley. It was going to bury us underneath a pile of rock. It was toying with us, it wanted to see us try to live. It wanted to test our will.

"WHY THE HELL IS THIS HAPPENING?!" I screamed.

The rocks hit the ground around me with a heavy thud. I tried as could to dodge the falling boulders but It wouldn't let me. Dialga flashed through and fired them right at us. I had no chance of escaping, and one of them got to me. My right arm had been crushed under a massive stone. The pain was making my vision go white and I was screaming for all my life. From the elbow down every bone was broken, it was dead, no chance of revival. None of them were going to help. They were all too terrified to help me. Now I knew how those trapped on the hillside felt. To be screaming for help and no one even lifting a finger. I wanted to live, I was desperately trying to lift the damn boulder off of my arm. I couldn't even make the thing budge but I didn't stop. I wasn't going to die here! I was going to make it!

"Scizor, Steel Wing!"

A flash of pain, and I blacked out.

When I woke up I was inside the cave, and it was chaos. Whomever brought me inside had leaned up against the side of the cave and I'm thankful he did. The cave was shaking like crazy, dripping stalactites and throwing Zubats into a frenzy. Everyone was running around trying not to get impaled but to no avail. Several people were already dead, pieces of rock protruding from their chests and from their heads. I tried to get up and help some of them but I couldn't feel my arm. I didn't have an arm. Who ever had used that Scizor had cut it off, just past the bicep. The stump was covered in a blue jacket, tied around the shoulder and a few feet above the sight. The blood in my mouth had gone away, must not have been internal, but now I had a new issue. I had no right arm.

One handed, I got to my feet and got a good look at the situation. People were running over people, screaming at the top of their lungs, clawing at one side of the wall. The only one who wasn't going crazy in the panic was one guy in a green T-shirt and jeans running towards me. "OK, sleepy head," he grinned. "We gotta get out of here."

Grabbing my left hand he dragged me past the group of people and deeper into the caves. I was completely lost, but I didn't have the energy to fight back so I let him drag me through the caves. The pathway from Snowpoint to Eterna city was a straight path through the caves and out. But the path had so many branching caverns and roadways that it was near impossible to find your way unless you knew where you were going. I could only trust that this guy knew the way, because the longer we stayed in this shaking cavern, the greater our chances of getting impaled. After an eternity the shaking finally stopped and we entered a calmer section of the caves. At that point he stopped and let go of my arm. Blood was starting to seep through the jacket on my arm I decided to ask some questions.

"You were the one who cut my arm off, weren't you?" I asked. He nodded his head and proceeded to sit down with his back to the cave wall. "Yep, that was me. Scizor insisted on it and I hope for your sake that he was right." He almost sounded proud of that statement, as though it gained him some kind of authority. "Why did your Scizor want to save me?" I asked. What compelled his pokemon to insist that I was worth saving? He laughed at this. "Scizor didn't just want to save you. He was looking out for his pride. He considered the incident as an insult to his abilities. So when he saw you trapped, he decided that if he saved you his pride would be restored. You're welcome, by the way." I almost laughed out loud at this. Here comes a guy who says I was only saved out of convenience and pride and he wants a "thank you". I had one last question. "What was going on back the shaking and the nut jobs?" At this his face became stern and frustrated. "Dialga wasn't going to leave us alone. He wanted us dead and was blasting the cave with everything. The nut jobs were those who didn't know their way in the caves and were trying to dig their way out. By now they probably have been crushed. Once again, you're welcome."

With that unpleasant note, I sat down as well and for the longest time we stayed silent. If one listened hard enough, he could hear the screams. Every person and pokemon being ripped apart or crushed in the legend's wrath. It was silent, but the noise pierced through my heart like a knife. The Zubats had all left this area, most likely so confused by the noise that they fled the caves for the outside. Neither of us said anything. We just listened to the sounds, and felt the pain.

"I want to see what's happened." He finally said to me. "I don't want to wait anymore. I want to know what's going on out there." I had to agree with him. Sitting down and imagining what was going on was torture. We needed to know. "If we go deeper in, we can follow the paths up the mountain." I said. "Maybe we can find a ledge and get a good vantage point." With a slight nod, he helped me up and we went deep into the caves.

The pathway up Mount Coronet was long and confusing, full of false paths and fog. It was completely empty. Not a single pokemon, or a hiker; There was nothing. A hole had been blasted out in the ceiling, too high for us to reach. Several times, we saw a group of people, buried under piles of rock from whatever war had been waged. The sounds grew louder and louder as I climbed higher through the caves, and at times the noise sounded like it was right above us. The echo beat through our chests as if the world was being ripped apart. The higher we climbed the worse it got, until the roars of the legends seemed to come from the walls themselves. It just grew louder and louder until we couldn't stand it. Our ears were deafened by the constant, echoing roar.

And then it stopped.

We had no explanation, no reasoning, just a sudden and complete silence. For a moment we thought we'd gone deaf. My fear had mingled with my curiosity. Was it over? What else could there be to end this fight? Further we climbed through the various paths in the mountain, until we saw it . Daylight. The cave had opened up onto a small ledge a few thousand feet in the air, but it was enough to see it all. Sinnoh was in flames.

The red glow was gone, and was replaced with an orange radiance from the earth. We had appeared on the opposite side from where we came, so we could only imagine the state it was in. This side needed an imagination to believe. Palkia had distorted the entire area into an horror flick. Cities were upside down, chunks of earth looked like it had been liquefied, and the whole thing was blanketed in silence. Palkia lay dead in a pool of its own blood, flowing from a gash in its neck. Dialga was nowhere in sight, probably on the other side of the mountain, but we didn't care. Everything was destroyed, and no one could have lived through this. It all seemed like it was on purpose, that they planned everything they did until the death. They knew where those people in the mountain where, they drew us into the caves so they could pick us off easier. My head was getting light from just the idea that any of this had a purpose.

Any of this sound familiar.

Who was behind this? Who could have been so bold to destroy an entire region?

The only other one I couldn't see was Giratina. He hadn't descended the mountain with the other two when it started. My legs gave out from underneath me. Was there more of this? Could it still be alive, biding its time to kill any stragglers? I didn't want to know, I just wanted it to believe that I could wake up from this nightmare.

"We should join them." He said walking closer and closer to the edge. "It'll be quick and easy, we can join them." I couldn't move, I was almost ready to agree with the man. "Come on, we can fall together." I looked at him in horror. He was right about to fall. I tried to pull him back with my right arm, but the stump was useless. "You can't just give up on everything!" I yelled. I didn't even know his name, yet I was so scared of being alone that I didn't want him to die. "I lost my family, my friends, even Scizor." He sounded so calm, even though he was about to jump. "Now, I can see them again." I watched him fall. My legs wouldn't let me move even an inch. I crawled to the spot where he fell and looked down. He had gone head first and I could see the scattered pieces of his brain as it scattered from his skull.

I was ready to puke. I had just watched so many people die in just a few hours, and now I can add one more to the list. My heart had stopped and my vision was starting to get blurry and I was ready to faint again. I held it back, all of it until all that was left was my anger. Someone had destroyed my home, and the possibility that it could keep going made me want to kill. If I was going to die, it would be staring death in the face. I wasn't going to take the easy way out, I was going to go out swinging for everyone.

I saw it all.

Every dead and mangled corpse that once was the league. Gym leaders without their arms, league members without their heads. A pool of blood and gore and in front of it all was my mom and dad and Giratina. All of them, dead.

Mom had no expression, as though she died without a single regret. She was still clutching a pokeball, but it was empty. Her eyes stared right at me but my attention was on her stomach, or lack thereof. A huge, bloody hole, with a straight view of the floor was in the middle of my mother. There was no chance that she was alive. Not a breath not a heart beat. My dad was crushed under a pillar, or at least part of him was. I had no idea where the rest of him was and I dared not look or try to find it. Giratina was watching it all, flat on it's stomach, with its mouth wide open.

In between the tears and heartache I found the strength to scream in anger. To want to beat the damned Legend till it was unrecognisable. Did it know what I went through to get here!? The things I had to see and feel!? It took everything from me, and now it just lays there with it's damned stupid expression! I hit it with every ounce of strength I could muster until I couldn't hit it anymore! I wanted to bring it back to life and beat with my bare hands! My knuckles were red and bloody and my stump blood was finally dripping through the jacket. The bastard didn't even have a scratch. I just felt like giving up there. I was alone.

"Are you…..done….having a…..tantrum?"

I froze. Someone in here was still alive. I almost started crying again. I wasn't alone!

"Over…...here."

I found her. Her blond hair was soaked in blood, and her signature black clothes were torn apart. The ornaments that she decorated her hair with were broken and scattered on the floor. She was missing part of her left arm and leg, exposing the shattered bone and shredded muscle. Her left eye was shut, but blood could be seen pouring from inside. She didn't move, and her breaths were so short you could barely see her chest move. I would have seen her has just another corpse if she hadn't spoke.

"Cynthia?"

"Hey there…...how's life?"

I ran to her as fast as I could and I immediately started working on her arm and leg. I ripped apart the jacket and used it to tie up her arm and leg. "Jack….what are you….doing?" she said. "Don't speak." I said, in between my tears and awkwardly trying to stop the bleeding with one hand. "Talking will only use up your energy."

Sigh

"Hey!" I choked. "Don't you dare die on me! Promise me you won't die!" I could barely keep myself together. The tears were running all over my face. I couldn't lose her, she was the only one left.

"I promise."

It was three hours before the International Police found us. Cynthia were slipping in and out of consciousness at that point. I had wrapped my shirt around my arm, but since it was one handed the blood loss was quick. Thankfully, they had arrived in a medical chopper just in time to give us a lift out of there. As for the rest of Sinnoh, out of the six million people living on the island, less than one hundred survived. The whole nation had been quarantined off, allowing no entry in and out till they were able to account for all missing personnel. We were the last live ones they picked up. The rest of was a field of corpses, coating the streets in blood. I got a clear view of it from high in med-copter, and everything was burning to the ground. Palkia was being lifted by what appeared to be at least 20 helicopters out of the area. Dialga had it's face down in the water, it's body was in the middle of Oreburgh city, cut off again at the neck. I was now a part of an act of mass genocide, known later as "the Sinnoh Event". 23 civilians, 46 registered pokemon trainers, an ex-champion, and me.

July 27, 2198. The day Sinnoh died.

Cynthia and I were sent immediately to intensive care along with 17 other individuals. After weeks of of surgery and aesthetics induced comatose I woke up for the first time since the Event. Cynthia had to undergo a complete amputation of her arm and leg due to an inability for the attachment of any prosthetic, as well as the loss of her eye. My injuries were much cleaner, allowing for minimal surgery and the majority time for healing. After a month of psychiatric evaluation, I would be deported to Unova. I would have been released sooner, but I kept rambling on about how the whole thing was planned. They eventually convinced me I was crazy and that the whole thing was an accident caused by a rupture in space induced by Palkia. I was going to live with a host family in Nuvema town until I turned 18 and could live on my own.

Fours years later, that story, would begin.