Chapter One – A Rift in Space and Time
Snivy couldn't quite tell what it was that made today seem so very special. Things seemed normal but some Grass sixth sense was telling him that this was going to be no ordinary day. Snivy had never been a psychic Pokémon, nor had he ever wanted to be one as his experience of psychic Pokémon was limited to the occasional visits of Munna in the town where he lived and it spent almost all of its time asleep. No, Snivy was proud to be a grass Pokémon and he wasn't afraid to stick up for his type no matter what. Yet there seemed to be something in the air that was telling him something was about to happen. He was unsure whether the rest of the Pokémon in his town could feel the same kind of mysterious buzzing tension hanging in the air but he could feel it. As well as being the only Snivy in the area, he also prided in being one of the only grass Pokémon for miles and miles around, all the way up to Accumula town at least, where there was a group of resident Pansages. Snivy didn't expect for an instant that something as simple as a Pansage would understand the feeling he was now experiencing, or a stupid Lillipup or Patrat even. Snivy considered all normal type Pokémon to be quite simple minded, sometimes even completely dim witted, communicating in only the most primitive of squeaks, barks and chirrups.
Snivy was standing to the left of a large house with a green roof and an oaken front door in Nuvema town, somewhere to the south of Accumula where most of the other Pokémon lived. Snivy had a large tail in the shape of an ivy leaf and a two large brown eyes framed by slightly yellowing leaves and more plumage in the form of a golden plume about his head. He held his head very high, sniffing the air for any hint of the burning smell that often issued from the occasional visits of the Pansear when they passed by on their way to Accumula but all he could smell was the pollen drifting through the air from the flowers around his house. He descended the steps of his house, blinking his large eyes slightly deliriously as he stepped from the shade into the bright meadows around the village. He set off at a brisk walk down towards route one, the route which connected them to Accumula town.
"I wouldn't go…yawn…that way if I was you." Yawned a soft voice to the left of his ear. Frowning in a bad tempered fashion, Snivy turned around to find Munna gliding along by his left ear, "There are…bad things down this way…"
"You know what I don't like about you psychics?" Snivy snapped looking up at the Munna as it followed him down the field drifting effortlessly alongside him, "You have no idea what you're talking about. Now leave me be." He sped up but the Munna continued right along drifting effortlessly beside him.
"You don't trust me do you?" The Munna contemplated him through its large red eyes, "But there are…dangers…dangers of which you know not…"
"Yeah. Dangers of which I know not. Got it." Snivy snapped not looking up at the Munna, "Now get lost, can't anyone enjoy a nice peaceful walk without getting bothered by you about tragedies and dangers of which they know not? Or is that too much to ask for in this place?"
"Don't say I didn't…warn you." The Munna said lazily and with that it floated lazily up into the sky, turning a somersault as it did so and drifted ahead of him into the trees, "But then again not even…Patrat listen to me these day…say I talk to much…"
"Oh really?" sneered Snivy, "I'd be more worried if they did listen." The Munna sighed gloomily and vanished into the undergrowth, "Stupid Munna." Snivy said to himself angrily, "Can't it ever leave me in peace?" He assumed instantly that the Munna had felt the strange excitement in the air just like him but had interpreted it as a sinister sense of doom and foreboding, but then again, what had he expected from a Munna? Snivy pressed on down the route, there was definitely some excitement in the air now, and it almost pinched at your skin as you walked. Snivy walked past a familiar patch of long grass and stopped still to look into it, there was nothing there. He didn't know why he bothered looking, he guessed that maybe the lack of squealing and scuffling Patrat had unnerved him a bit, but then he supposed that maybe it was something to do with the Munna spreading its tails of doom and death, but then again, there was no one around. No one at all.
"Snivy? Is that you?" a voice called from a patch of dark grass to his left and Snivy looked around, knowing who it was in an instant, partly because it wasn't incoherent squeaking but partly because he secretly listened out for this voice every time he came down this route.
"Good morning Purrloin!" Snivy said proudly, straightening the leaves around his neck and turning round to face the beautiful purple cat which had just emerged from the trees to speak to him. She had sleek pointed ears and a very pretty purple tail which she waved idly behind her. She looked very delicate on her sleek purple feet but Snivy knew she was very good fighter and it was either very brave or extremely foolish to call her delicate to her face, "Has Munna been bothering you with dangers of which you know not this morning?" Purrloin nodded her violet head.
"Yes, he almost drove me right the way up the wall, but you know how we dark Pokémon are super effective against the psychics and how their powers don't affect us, it left me alone after I took a swipe at it. Has it been bothering you?" Purrloin asked him, sitting back on her back legs and cleaning the back of her paws before looking back at him.
"A little." Snivy straightened himself up "But I got rid of it soon enough."
"Well done." Purrloin beamed at him, "It took me ages; I guess you must just have a knack! But then again, did I expect anything less of you?" Snivy fought hard against a blush that was trying to force its way up into his cheeks.
"Well it was nothing really." He smiled proudly. Purrloin beamed, got to her feet and moved to stand right beside him.
"Where are you heading?" she asked him.
"Just off for a wander down route one." Snivy told her truthfully, "It just seemed like such a nice day and because of the tales that Munna's telling, there are no Patrat around either."
"I'll come with you." Purrloin smiled at him, stretching her front paws out before falling into step beside him. Snivy was feeling very proud of himself, most of the other times he'd met Purrloin she'd been heading home or she'd been busy, and he very rarely got to go out for a walk with her, and it was such a good day for it today, there were no Patrat to sit there sniggering at them from the side of the path. He found he was holding his head much higher than he normally did.
"It's funny…" Purrloin spoke up, "But when I got up this morning I could've sworn there was some kind of strange feeling in the air…I know it sounds like a stupid thing to say."
"No I know what you mean." Snivy assured her, "I felt like that this morning when I woke up too. I don't think I can feel it so much now. It's like as though there's something dancing on your skin isn't it!" Purrloin nodded and looked back ahead of her along the route ahead.
"I wonder what it could be." She looked back at Snivy as they walked. Snivy nodded his head. In reality he hadn't even begun to wonder about the truth of this feeling let alone the source. They continued to walk talking playfully as they did so, passing patch after patch of empty grass and empty trees with no Pidove roosting in them before they stopped beside a tree upon which was pinned a tattered brown notice depicting a large sinister looking black Pokémon with what appeared to be smoke concealing most of its face.
'WANTED – DARKRAI of the GHOST FORCES'
"They still haven't had any luck with any of the ghost forces yet have they." Purrloin returned to licking the back of her paws as they took a rest beside the notice, "I don't see how they're going to catch Darkrai though, he's the legendary nightmare Pokémon isn't he?"
"I think so." Snivy ran his hands along the leaves on his neck in order to straighten them out, "They've put posters of various members of the ghost forces everywhere. Haunter, Mismagius, Golbat, Banette…I think I might even have seen the legendary Giratina somewhere!"
"They'll never catch them." Purrloin said dismissively, "They've been trying for years, they'll never catch them." Snivy nodded in agreement before looking back up at the poster where the sinister black Pokémon Darkrai stared back malevolently at them making him shiver slightly but he stopped himself, wondering what Purrloin might say if she saw this. The sun had climbed further into the sky since they'd set out and now it was a beautiful, warm midday with a soft breeze blowing.
"Do you think that Munna was talking about this photograph when she was speaking about dangers of which everyone else knows not, maybe she just saw it and it gave her a fright, I bet she's terrified of Darkrai."
"Wouldn't surprise me." Purrloin stretched her tail out before rolling over to lie on her side in the grass.
"Reward for capture of this Pokémon," Snivy read aloud, scanning down the notice, "One million Poke, one hundred master balls and a top first class villa in Undella town with a sea view across the bay. This makes them sound desperate doesn't it?"
"Well I suppose that in all reality they are." Purrloin had closed her eyes as she lay on her back on the floor basking in the sun, "Considering the things that team have done. I mean what's to stop them coming after our own legendary dragons?" Snivy nodded gloomily. He went to sit down by Purrloin on the grass and resumed the straightening of the leaves around his neck, a common past time of his. Looking just down the track Snivy could see the building connecting them to Accumula which was glinting in the distance. He released the leaves around his neck and began examining the end of his tail, again an activity that he performed daily.
All of a sudden, Purrloin's head came off her paws and she sat bolt upright, her ears pricked and her whiskers twitching. Snivy looked over at her worriedly but she hushed him and continued to listen as hard as she could. Purrloin's hearing was significantly better than Snivy's so Snivy didn't bother; he just stared around trying to see what Purrloin was desperately listening for.
"Can you hear that?" she asked him quickly, not moving her eyes from a spot in the distance somewhere beyond the hedges before them.
"No." Snivy admitted, "What is it?"
"It's like a humming noise." Purrloin twitched her ears to a different angle, "I think it's coming from this direction, let's go and check it out!" She rose to her feet, her long purple ears still raised up catching sound and Snivy hastily climbed to his feet too. The two of them left the shade, Snivy taking one last glance at the glaring face of Darkrai as they went. Purrloin was walking along at such a pace that Snivy had to nearly jog to keep up with her as they pushed through bushes, trees and patches of grass.
"Purrloin?" Snivy managed to catch up with the cat, "Where are we going?"
"I think there might be a clearing with a small lake in it just along from here." Purrloin explained, looking around at him again, "That's where I think the hum is coming from." She didn't speak again until the two of them reached the lake which Purrloin had been referring to and Snivy was completely out of breath. He would've collapsed onto the ground had he not seen what was across the lake at that very moment and he felt his jaw drop. On the small rocky island in the middle of the lake was what appeared to be a spinning purple disc with silvery lights glowing inside it. The feeling of tremendous excitement had returned but this time it had transformed into a sense of sinister foreboding which seemed to reverberate off every tree and emanate through the air.
"What…what is that?" Snivy found words at last gaping at Purrloin.
"I've no idea." Purrloin shook her beautiful head, "But I think it's probably what the Munna was talking about when it's been warning everyone to stay away from here. It might be dangerous if you trust Munna's opinion."
"Yes but who does?" asked Snivy, shrugging, "That Munna's wrong about most things. Besides it can't hurt us if we just go and have a look can it?" Purrloin cocked her head on to one side, looking at the porthole with the utmost suspicion.
"I guess not." She said finally, "I'm a good swimmer; I know not many Purrloins are but I like to swim myself. Hop onto my back and I'll carry you across. Although can you please use vine whip on any Basculin which start splashing me, they're really off-putting!" However Snivy didn't need to use Vine whip as there wasn't a single Basculin in sight, actually there were no other water Pokémon in sight either. Maybe they were all hiding at the bottom of the lake as far away from the spinning, humming disc as they possibly could be. Eventually Purrloin reached the back of the small rock pile and the two of them climbed onto the back, Purrloin shaking water from her fur. The two of them looked up at the disc. Weirdly, Snivy noticed that the disc seemed to be two dimensional yet like a tunnel leading back into the darkness if you looked at it from straight on with silvery orbs floating around within it. The two of them adeptly climbed the rocks until they reached the top of the pile where the disc stood staring out over the forest like some tremendous evil eye glaring down over the forest. Snivy took a step gingerly close to the disc.
"I wouldn't get too close to it if I were you!" Purrloin said warningly, "I don't like the look of it, it gives me the shivers. I think we should leave it alone, like Munna said."
"Why do you suddenly trust Munna so much?" Snivy asked in genuine curiosity.
"I don't know, I just think that maybe she has a point for once. This thing isn't natural. It shouldn't be here, it feels wrong, I suppose that's all." Purrloin shook her head and closed her eyes, looking deliberately away from the disc.
"I'm sure it can't hurt us." Snivy said passionately, trying to comfort her, "Look, it can't do anything to us." He took another step so he was standing right in front of the disc."
"Snivy please come away from it." Purrloin begged him, "It's not safe."
"Look it'll be fine." Snivy shook his head, "It's probably like the discovery of the century or something. Here, if I touch it and nothing happens will you come up here with me?"
"Don't touch it Snivy!" Purrloin sounded really frightened now and it was this tone in her voice which made Snivy stop, "It's not safe! Come down here." Snivy took one last look at the disc before looking back at the terrified Purrloin. He sighed and turned around to walk down the rocks towards her but as he did so, his elegant ivy leaf tail swung around and went straight into the disc. He felt as though something had grabbed hold of his tail and pulled really hard. He fell backwards off his feet and struggled to hang onto the rocks as some invisible force dragged him further and further backwards into the disc.
"Help!" he screamed, "Purrloin help!" He had never seen anyone move as fast as Purrloin did then. She sprang up onto the level of rock he was on in a flash and grabbed his torso with her paws, fighting to hold onto him and stop him being dragged backwards into the oblivion at the end of the disc. But the harder she tried to stop him being dragged backwards the stronger the backwards force became until Purrloin's claws were being scraped through the rock and she too was being hauled towards the disc.
"I can't stop it!" Purrloin screamed out aloud, "It's too…too…" But Snivy never found out what the disc was too much of. Purrloin's claws gave way on the rock and both of them fell head over heels into the disc. They were inside a long purple tunnel stretching off in all directions into other tunnels and branching off to form long passages and corridors. The silver orbs of light floating around them parted to let them pass. The instant they had entered the tunnel the pulling force had relaxed and the two of them could now move without effort although they were floating; a feeling neither of them were used to. Purrloin still had tight hold of him and her eyes were still wide with terror. They flew faster through space, the purple smoke rushing past on either side.
"How do…how do we get back?" Purrloin spluttered, looking around them, "How are we meant to get anywhere, we could have come out of any of these." She gestured around at the many passages as they continued to drift through the space. Snivy had no answer to give.
"I don't know." He looked crestfallen, the leaves around his neck drooping, "I'm sorry Purrloin; this…this is all my fault."
"Don't be sorry." Purrloin told him, "We've got to think ahead now, it doesn't matter alright. It doesn't…doesn't matter…" But clearly it did matter to her for her eyes were brimming with tears which she was evidently fighting back. Snivy had no idea how long they drifted through space but he said nothing, only stroked the purple fur on her paws gently trying to pass the little hope he himself had left onto his friend. All of a sudden the world seemed to be rent apart. There was a tremendous smashing noise and the purple tunnel began to shatter around them revealing a sky covered with storm clouds. There was a crash of thunder and suddenly Snivy was falling.
"Purrloin!" he cried but the purple cat was slipping from his grip. He desperately tried to keep hold of her paws but the winds were too strong and she was whipped out of his grip, crying desperately out behind her. There was a flash of what seemed to be lightning and the remainders of the purple tunnel and Purrloin both vanished into the darkness of the stormy sky.
"No!" Snivy yelled but he was falling fast through the air. It was raining very hard, so it stung his face as he fell faster and faster. It was very dark though Snivy couldn't tell whether this was because it was night or because of the storm clouds covering the sky. There were occasional flashes of light across the sky and deafening rumbles of thunder, "Purrloin! Purrloin!" he yelled back up at the clouds but they were rushing away from him at incredible speed as he fell and the howling winds carried his voice away. Briefly through the darkness he thought he saw a light flash illuminate the top of a tower though he couldn't be sure of this and there was so much rain he couldn't see anything much. He was soaked through and the leaves around his head and body were badly ruffled but he couldn't stop himself falling. Would he fall forever? Then he could see a mountain silhouetted against the storm and then there were trees surrounding it and land became visible though it was little more than a large black mass. It was rushing up faster and faster towards him. Snivy rolled over in the air and noticed trees flying up out of nowhere to meet him, and then he could see a large mirrored surface directly below him. He didn't have time to cry out before he had hit the surface hard and everything went black.