Red stood next to Green and Blue waiting for Yellow to arrive. The four had received an invitation to challenge something called "Sacrifice Tower" which no one had even heard of before. They were going to take a ferry to the island where the Tower was. Pika's ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps. Sure enough, there was Yellow with Chuchu trailing behind. They looked a little depressed, though.
"Yellow, what's wrong?" Green was the first one to speak up.
"Eh? It's nothing, really, just…" Her words trailed off as she pointed at the road she had come from. Green turned to see Gold, Silver, and Crystal headed toward the dock where the others stood. "I ran into them as I was leaving Viridian. Gold somehow convinces me to let them come." Yellow pulled her hat over her face to hide the embarrassment which shouldn't have been there in the first place.
"It sounded fun! Besides, I'm not going to ignore something like this." Gold put his hands behind his head as he spoke. "Enough about that, when do we get to go?"
Just as Green was about to point out that only the Kanto dexholders were invited, a man stepped off of a waiting ferry. "Are you the trainers bound for Sacrifice Tower?"
"Yeah, that's us." Red stepped toward the man and held out his hand. The man took it as he continued.
"May I see the invitation?" Green walked up and pulled it out of his pocket. There was only one invitation and since it was sent to Professor Oak, he was the first to hear about it. The man looked it over and nodded. "I'm sorry, but I can only take the four that were invited. The rest of you will have to stay here."
"Wait a minute! They have every right to come as we do!" Blue immediately came to the defense of the Johto dexholders. Crystal joined in as she tried to find something in her bag.
"If anything, we have the same qualifications. Ah, here it is!" She found what she was looking for—her Pokedex—and pulled it out. Gold and Silver did the same. The man flicked his eyes over the devices before responding.
"I see. Well, perhaps it will work with seven. Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I am the tower's keymaster, Eli. Now, shall we go?" Eli moved aside to let the trainers board the ferry. While everyone boarded the small boat, Silver didn't move.
"What do you mean 'it will work with seven'? And what is 'it'?" The redhead stared defiantly at the old keymaster.
"Ah, the Sacrifice Key. I can't say much out here in the open, but I can gladly tell you anything you want to know on the ferry." While he still didn't look too happy, the Johto trainer joined to others on the ferry. Eli followed and pulled the gangway into the small boat.
"What's the Sacrifice Key? And what are these for?" Gold looked quizzically at the needles Eli had passed out to everyone.
"Only three people can take the tower's challenge per group. Normally the fourth stays behind to act a link between the worlds, but I'm not exactly sure if having more people will affect the link. The key—" He cut off abruptly upon seeing Gold pretending to stab Silver in the back of his head with the needle. Crystal punched him in the arm. The boy quickly muttered and apology and glared at her.
"As I was saying, the key chooses which three enter the tower." The man reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like a pentagon-shaped box on a silver chain. The box itself was black with lots of indents on the top. "This key is something beyond what you've ever imagined." Red's eyes widened.
"I…I think I've seen that before." Everyone stared at the champion in shock.
"Are you sure? This version of the key is the only one in this world." Eli shook his head. "You're probably mistaken. Ah, we are nearing the island. Quickly, use the needle to draw a little blood from your finger and push it into one of the slots." Yellow made a face as she did hers.
"Why blood? That's just…ugh." She shuddered and Chuchu rubbed against her leg reassuringly.
"It's not just the key to the tower. This key uses your memories to decide who to send in." Eli pushed he gangway onto the dock. Blue skipped out completely unfazed while the rest of her friends walked slowly off the ferry. Everyone made their way towards a small house not far from the dock.
"Soooo…when will we know who gets to in?" Blue stepped beside Eli.
"I won't know until the morning. You will either find out tonight or tomorrow afternoon." He continued walking and paused briefly to prop open the door. "Come in. This is where you'll be staying." The trainers followed him inside. After giving them the tour, Eli left to set some things for the next day. Everyone settle in their rooms before falling into the clutches of sleep.
.o0O0o.
The next morning, Gold was the first person to wake up. He got ready quickly and made his way outside. The cool spring breeze felt good on his face. Soon, Red came out next to him.
"What are you doing up so early? You don't seem like a morning person, Gold."
"I'm not. Just…an interesting dream."
"Same. Silver looked pretty restless when I got up, so he might've been going through the same thing."
"Oh really? Ooh! Did you know that he's—"
"FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND YOU'RE DEAD." A very angry Silver was making his way towards Gold. The black-haired boy smirked.
"—ticklish." Silver froze and Red's mouth fell open.
"Are you serious? Silver…you're ticklish?" The red head ignored the champion and was about to punch Gold in the mouth when Eli's voice stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll need your strength to make it through the trials." The man walked toward the shocked trio with the Sacrifice Key in hand. Silver immediately dropped his arm.
"What trials?"
"I only had to go through the formalities. I always knew it was you three who would be picked. The blood pact was necessary for the key to assign you your survival abilities." Eli paused to let the information sink in.
"You didn't answer my question."
"Ah, my apologies. the trials are…more like fights to the death."
"Just how dangerous are these trials? What are they for anyway?" Gold's tone became serious as he spoke. Silver slowly walked away while pulling Red with him. A serious Gold is a scary Gold.
"The trials are not something you will survive. You die with or without your abilities. The tower isn't where the challenge is, either. When you partake in the trials, you will receive your ability one at a time. Afterwards, you are taken to the world that needs the most help." Gold was about to interrupt until Eli held up his hand. "You'll understand in due time. Perhaps someone in the other world will explain everything to you. To cross the boundaries of time and space, you must die in this world. Only then can you take the challenge."
"If we die here, how can we be alive in the other world?" Silver chose his words carefully.
"It's not really dying as much as the feeling of death. If you're pushed too far, you will be killed by your own ability and disappear. We must begin soon or the blood pact will expire. Follow me." The keymaster turned towards the tower and held the key in front of him. Gold sped up slightly to catch up.
"Where are we going?"
"The trial room. It's a tear in space where all of the worlds come together. When citizens of a particular world are faced with something that they cannot overcome themselves, the key recreates the threat of that world and presents it in the room." Holding up the key, Eli gasped I horror as the tear opened and revealed thousands of small black ghost-like creatures.
"What are these things?" Red questioned as one of the creatures flew in his face.
"Coal tar…This isn't good. I've faced this world before. Just know that once you're there, you have to seek out the King of time. Good luck!" With that, Eli pushed the trio into the tear.