Author's Note: Hello, readers. My name is B1tt3rb33f. This is my very first story, and I hope you all enjoy it. This story is rated M, as seen in the summary above (if you're on desktop mode) but contains no lemons. Only some romance, and some innuendos. I know it looks daunting to read, but I encourage you to read the whole story. You may be inspired or like what you see.

This is the first story in a series that I'm planning called the Legend Series. If you enjoy this story, be sure to check out my other stories (that I haven't updated in a while, but still) and if you're an Earthbound fan or just want to see the other side of this series, check out my other story, the PSI Saga which will be updated eventually...!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the canon characters that are mentioned in this story, like Natsu or Red. Read and review, (be nice with the reviews, that means no hate) and share this story with those you know.

So without further ado, I now present: "Beyond Legend".


Prologue

Cerulean City, May 17th, 10 years prior

Cerulean City. A calm, thriving city of passion intertwined with the essence of water that it was just so built off of. With sometimes a busy environment comes a balance of a relaxing lifestyle. Home to the Kanto Region's second gym, with Route 25 just to the north, always packed with energetic trainers ready to test out their skills in battle with their beloved Pokémon. Cerulean Cave just to the west of the city seemed to give a rather opposite, but never negative vibe of adventure and mystery, a mystic cave said to have been there since ancient times.

This day was just like any other, the sky blue and beautiful with the right balance of clouds granting shade to the land below. A soothing spring breeze's gentle fingers ran through the waving grass, the sign of present vitality throughout the land, creating equilibrium and peace.

An equilibrium destined to be short-lived.

The winds grew stronger and forced the blades of sharp tall grass nearly horizontal as sounds of quick footsteps and rustling wings accompanied by the rhythmic inhale and exhale became audible from the exit of Route 4 into Cerulean City. Two beings, a woman at an average height and a dragon/man with an ignited tail, large wings and orange skin could be seen running in panic for their lives, chased by dark, ominous clouds swooping in from the west. If one could take a guess, they would hypothesize that the thundering storm clouds perhaps adopted a mind of its own. This was not a far-off guess, as this unnatural being was controlled by a large group of bandits along the ground, far away, who seemed to be chasing after these two.

As the two people rushed into the city, the regular folks looked at the two as if they had lost their minds, but then the man called out at the top of his voice:

"EVERYONE! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! FIND SHELTER QUICKLY!" Everyone recognized the man's well-known voice, and with one glance at the mob of bandits not far behind the two, all rushed into their homes and sought low shelter immediately, hiding in their basements, under tables and chairs, in cupboards, anywhere they could escape this insane party of bandits.

"HURRY! THERE'S NO TIME!" shouted the dragon to a few stragglers.

"Izzy, run into the cave and don't wait for me. I can hold them back."

"No! Jerry, you saw what they did! They'll rip you apart! They'll kill you!"

"Izzy, please. Listen. Have faith in me, okay? I know what I failed to do in the past. I won't let that happen again. Okay? I promise. I'll catch up with you in a bit if things get too out of hand," assured the dragon named Jerry.

"B-but..." stammered Izzy.

"Just go! Make sure he stays safe too!" Jerry referred to the tiny little three-month-old baby clutched in Izzy's arms, who, despite all the din, only stirred, but never woke. Izzy soothed the baby with her gentle touch and escaped into the cave. Meanwhile, Jerry transformed into his dragon form, then grew in size, changing colors to have blue flames emitting from his tail and mouth, and dark gray skin. Ready and facing the crowd, he sharpened his claws and glared at the rumbling mob, then...

"This won't be nearly enough... I'll have to evolve once more. Giga... Evolution!" With as much energy as he could gather, Jerry evolved further, this time his skin turning a sleek black, then his fire adopting a much lighter blue color. His arms grew larger and flames burst from his wrists, and then a horn grew on his head between his other two horns as if combining both Mega Evolutions of Charizard into this next evolution.

The clash of the mob with this super being was terrific. The bloodshed of the army of crazed mages and mind controlled soldiers came in abundance; dead bodies and severed parts lay all over, but with a great flash, they all disappeared into oblivion. Despite this, however, the army was enormous and never seemed to cease, like a constant flowing river. Though the comparison of sides may have seemed unfair at first; Jerry up against an entire army, one could not simply underestimate the power of this entity's soul.

Holding back an army was proven to be tough, despite the amount of power that Jerry possessed, and he was quite worn out after the third wave from the army. After this wave, however, he had a window of time before the next and hurriedly rushed into the cave to find Izzy waiting, ducked down to protect the baby who still hadn't woken to the awful ruckus outside.

"Are you alright?" asked Jerry, who was panting heavily, sweat dripping profusely from his forehead. Izzy nodded, the sign for Jerry to put the escape plan into action.

"I should be asking you the same, though. I don't care how powerful you are, you could've died out there! I saw! There were moments when you almost got killed! And look at all your cuts and bruises! Look at yourself, you're dripping blood everywhere!" cried Izzy as they ran through the cold, dark cave. Shouts and heavy footsteps could be heard from the entrance, chasing after the two as they traversed deeper into the cave.

"Izzy, stop worrying about me! Please!" As he spoke, they came to a stop briefly.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I feel like they might know about the other entrance to the cave and might be waiting for us there. Now, I don't have enough Magic Energy to teleport us to Sinnoh because you know, Magic Energy doesn't replenish here as quickly, but I have almost enough for one more Dimension Shift. Just a few more minutes, and we'll be out of the cave. And if things get bad, then you know what to do." Jerry pulled out a Pokéball and handed it off to Izzy, who clutched it in her hand, shrunk it down, and pocketed it.

"What if Magisia shows up? I won't be able to get away then! Then you'll be-"

"Izzy. Izzy, shh..." Jerry whispered. "Hush. It's going to be fine. Even if you don't think it will be, it will. Trust me. I will stop him."

"What if... what if they murder you? Like everyone else in the Legion? What'll become of you...?" Izzy's words became more and more slurred the harder she sobbed, tears pouring down her cheeks endlessly.

"If that happens, I'll always be watching over you. Don't worry. I have faith that you'll raise Vincent up to be a leader, just like his name means." Jerry, with a normal, soft hand, caressed the baby's face with his backhand, causing the baby to smile a bit, recognizing the touch from his father.

The shouts and heavy stomping boots drew nearer. Instantly, Jerry and Izzy snapped back into reality, forcing them to run from their predator that was right on their tail.

Through many turns and twists of the labyrinth of the cave, the two were able to find the exit, the glorious sunshine of the outside illuminating the exit. It seemed as if they were free...

But as predicted, waiting for them at the exit of the cave were hundreds of identical, brainwashed soldiers with no intention but to seek out and kill every single member of the Charizard Legion.

"Oh no..."

"Oh no is right," spoke a voice from within the crowd. A mage in a long, intricately patterned black cloak with dark blue hair and gray eyes stepped forward. He had an old face, a face of malicious intent and a history of both torturous murders and swift deaths of the past. A face so notorious, the cause of the downfall of almost the entire Charizard Legion.

"Magisia...! Damn you...!"

"Hmph. You two have been on the run for much too long. The Charizard Legion is done for, you may as well give up now. Death is the better option, you filthy... pretend hero."

"Who's the one pretending here again? Remind me. Oh wait, that's right. It's none other than YOU! GIVE IT UP, ELEMENTIA, YOU COWARD! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"Just for that, I'll make your death far more unbearable. I'll torture you in the worst way possible before your inevitable doom. Then, I'll kill your wife and your child so that the legacy of the Charizard Legion will be no more!"

"You... sick bastard... what kind of, quote-unquote, 'hero' talks of killing women and children with such a serious face...?! You're not even human. You're... you're below human! You're a monster! You're a demon! You're Death itself!"

"And? Your point being? Exactly. None, for you have no point. There is no point to this conversation, or better yet, there's no point to your existence, for you shall be dead soon. Men, seize them. And the baby."

"NOOO!" Izzy cried, but instantly a hand clamped down on her mouth, muffling her scream. She stomped her foot down on the soldier's foot and pushed him out of the way as she tried to grab baby Vincent, who still hadn't woken to a single sound, but was now being held captive, separate from his mother, who wailed for her life as she watched her baby forced away from her. Jerry was forced onto his knees, hands behind his head, as Magisia circled around him and mocked him.

"You really thought you could escape from the Elemental Army? You fool!" Magisia slapped Jerry across the face, hard, and spat on him. He motioned for a chainsaw to be brought in, and they forced Izzy to watch as the saw cut deep into the flesh of her beloved husband, making a shower of blood that rained everywhere, tearing apart the guts that spilled out, painting the grass the deepest red hue.

"This is the last thing you'll see before you die. Don't worry, we'll kill you last, so you can watch us tear your son to pieces as well. Like father, like son...!" smiled Magisia, who acted as a shield for Izzy, allowing the blood to splash upon his back, but still making sure that Izzy could see every organ and bone torn to shreds by the chainsaw, bloody muscles and tendons flying out from the spinning blade and hitting many soldiers. Soon, all that was left was the head, but when they tore apart the skull, a beam of light shone out, a white light that blinded anyone who dares look upon it. In this diversion, Izzy was able to break free from the soldier's grasps and skillfully locate her baby blindly, with both eyes filled to the brim with salty tears and the light radiating everywhere. An attack was coming, an attack that would kill all of them soon.

With his remaining Magic Energy, Jerry, in spirit, teleported Izzy into the air, where she had no other choice but to send out the Pokémon that she put away, Pidgeot.

"Jerry...!" Izzy's vision was completely blurred by the wall of tears that covered her eyes, dripping down her face like a current.

"Izzy. Take care of Vincent. I have faith that you can do it. Even if this attack doesn't kill Elementia, it'll at least set him back for a while."

"But what do I say to Vincent...? How can I ever tell him that you were killed...? He'll be traumatized! He'll..."

"It's going to be alright. I'll watch over you. I promise. Take care of Vincent, you'll be able to tell him someday. Just give it time. Shh... don't cry... I'll be alright. It didn't even hurt, okay?"

"I don't... believe that..."

"It's alright. It'll be fine. Let me see Vincent." Izzy held baby Vincent out for Jerry, who kissed his face and rubbed his face smoothly.

"Vincent... you'll grow up to be a strong hero one day, I promise. You'll save the world from Elementia and all evil in the world. I know it. Vincent, whose name means leadership and victory... you'll grow up to be a victorious leader one day... Izzy, it's time for me to go. Take care of him and yourself."

"W-wait! Jerry...!" called Izzy. Vincent stirred a bit as Jerry's spirit began to fly away.

"Goodbye."

"J...J-J-JERRYYY!" screamed Izzy as Pidgeot soared away, as a golden light from above obliterated every single soldier in a light beam of judgment, crushing Magisia/Elementia's entity and sending him god knows where.

As Jerry's spirit drifted away, Vincent began to fuss about in Izzy's arms, wailing as if he felt his father's spirit depart to the afterlife, as if he could feel the bond breaking in two.

And with that, the Great Charizard was no more.


BEYOND LEGEND

"W-what… are you?!"

I spoke not.

He must be erased.

"P-please...! Spare me! Please...!"

My state remained stagnant as I advanced in on the hunter.

"Please! I want to live...!"

For the first time during this short-lived fight, I spoke to the opponent.

"False." Rushing up to the killer faster than he could react, I held him up by the throat. As I spoke, my hand began to heat up slowly. "You want not life, only my bloodshed on your hand. If you decide not to tell me what happened to her, I will end you and eventually the entire Organization. For one last time, tell me."

He looked as if about to tell me, but incompetently thought he could get away with telling me something besides what I wanted to hear. "Hmph. It's my duty to- AAUUGGHH...!" Heating up my hand a bit more, I melted right through his metal armor covering his neck, and eventually disintegrating the neck as well, causing his head to catch fire until it dislocated entirely from his melted spine and rolled away, hitting the floor and instantly turning to dust.

Looking into the red distance toward the ominously looming fortress on the horizon, I set down the decapitated corpse and began my long march toward it.

"I'll have to find her by myself then," I muttered, adopting a murderous look in my eye.

Every Legend has their own story, whether dead or alive. When they're dead and gone, they're honored and remembered as a legendary hero. When they're alive, they're known as the hero who saved everyone from destruction and demise. But I've got a question, something you may not have ever thought of.

Do legendary heroes have crazy bounties put on them? As in 900,000,000,000 Jewel?

Exactly. Other legendary heroes aren't faced with the reality that nearly half the population of their planet wants them dead. Other heroes aren't constantly on the run, chased by bounty hunters and assassins as a thank you for saving the world from destruction. They don't know what it's like to be a hero who's treated like a villain.

I can tell you what that's like though, being hunted for being the strongest person in possibly the whole universe. But in order to tell you the whole story, we need to start from the very beginning, how I saved the world in the first place before I became the strongest beyond compare.

Twinleaf Town, June 10th, 20XX

...

My eyes fluttered open slowly, my heart pounded heavily in my chest, the sign of a nightmare I had woken up to. I shut my eyelids and rubbed my fingers over them to clean the blurry layer of film and the crusty buildup in the inner corners of my eyes. I blinked twice more to see clearly and tried to piece together the nightmare that had just occurred, but by this time it was too late, as I had spent the last few seconds waking up and rubbing my eyes. Sighing and climbing out of bed, I slid on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Since I had just woken up, my mouth acquired a foul taste in which I had to wash out in the bathroom across the hall. As I transitioned from my room to the bathroom, my eyes glanced down the hall to Mom's room and the guest room on the left side of the hall right before her room. The door was open, meaning she had been awake. This was also rather odd as well, as I usually woke up before her. This was one of those rare occasions of her being the early bird; this usually meant that she went to bed early, another rare occurrence as she was used to staying up all night watching dramas just barely loud enough for me to hear when I pressed my head down against my pillow. This also meant that she must've had a bad dream, but because I had just woken up from a nightmare, I considered the coincidence to be unlikely.

While rinsing out my dry mouth of all the filthy build-up overnight and brushing my teeth, I was able to recall some of my dream I had the previous night. I didn't know what it meant, but I was with a girl, and she stood by me as we faced a large, evil, towering demon. The demon struck, and my eyes filled with tears as I witnessed the beautiful girl fall before me, catching her last breath before she died of blood loss. I couldn't figure out what any of it meant. It was just a nightmare, but I felt a twinge of sadness for a girl in a dream... why...? I didn't recognize the girl, but I did recall red locks of hair waving up as she fell. Confused, I ran my fingers through my own hair, a head of messy, jet black bed hair, but after taking a brush to it, it seemed fine. I splashed some water on my oily youthful face and stared into the reflection at my red, dragon-like eyes. I smiled briefly at the reflection, happy to be born at least decently handsome, as my lips lifted up to reveal my rather dangerously sharp teeth, much like a dragon's. These were the features of my father, as I was told by my mother, but I recognized her jet black hair in mine, and some of my facial features resembled hers.

Speaking of her, I found her downstairs having tea and reading a newspaper. She looked as if she had been awake for hours, but because she was my mom, that meant that she still looked low-energy. Though she always looked like this, she didn't act like it and I knew from her behaviors that she was the exact opposite; lively and deceptively full of energy. But most of the time she was very relaxed. She was all I knew, basically, aside from a few friends I had. She was almost my whole life and I loved her. She taught me everything I knew up until this point, what some might call homeschooling. This was natural in the Regions, where I lived, specifically in Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh. Most kids were homeschooled, and the really smart ones who went to work for big companies like Silph in Kanto would go to college. I wasn't planning on that; I wanted to be a professional Pokémon trainer that traveled throughout the land, seeking challenges and amazing everyone with my power and skills. The problem was, mom wouldn't let me be a trainer. I had hoped at the legal age of 10 that I would be able to embark on my journey like most kids, but she wanted me to work in a job with her at a boring company that, although paid well, wouldn't spark my interest in any way whatsoever. A boring, normal life filled with no adventure, no action, nothing.

Mom told me stories of Dad, who I never knew because shortly after I was born died in a car accident. When I was little, she told me bedtime stories of a hero he once was, tall tales of how he was a Charizard who learned magic spells and could ravage entire cities, take down entire armies without breaking a sweat. As a gullible little kid, I was inclined to believe such incredible tall tales, but as I grew up, I discovered these tales to be false, and Mom had told me that instead, he worked for Silph Co. in the great office building in Saffron, Kanto. I was heartbroken to find this out, but soon got over this and my mindset became normal and boring.

Mom glanced over at me as I walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you get a good night's rest?" she spoke in a gentle voice. She was very beautiful for her age; I almost couldn't believe that she was in her late 40's. She had almost no gray hairs, and her face was toned and smooth. Her black hair was silky and braided into a ponytail, and she was fairly tall, but she always said that I got my height from Dad. I was pretty tall for a 14-year-old.

"I slept fine... for the most part," I replied, adding in that last part a few moments later.

"For the most part, huh...?"

"Yeah, I had a weird nightmare. Which is weird, since I haven't had a nightmare for a long time. It was an odd occurrence to have a bad dream." As I said this, she looked as if her heart stopped.

"A... nightmare...? Tell me, what was it about?" she asked slowly.

"It was weird. I was standing next to this girl and everything was dark, and I saw her get killed by a demon or something. I dunno, I can't grasp what it means."

She slowly nodded, taking it in. I saw a rare surprised look on her face, and then she opened her mouth to speak, but then decided against it. As I made myself some breakfast, she continued to read the paper, but I could tell that she wasn't really reading it, because her eyes never moved from one point on the page. A worried look settled in her eyes, and then she decided to speak.

"Vincent, sweetie, you know what we're doing today, right?" she questioned.

"Yeah, you told me last night, that we're going to go visit Dad's grave today," I answered easily.

"Yes. So when you're done eating, let's leave early so we can tend to his grave and then I need to talk to you later. Oh, don't worry, you're not in trouble, I just want to talk to you about something."

I wondered what that "something" could be. I hoped that she would let me go out on a journey, finally, but I didn't get my hopes up too high. In the meantime, I finished eating, so I bounded upstairs and changed into more formal clothes; a white button down shirt with a black tie, and a pair of black dress pants.

I didn't know what information was waiting for me, but I had a feeling that my life would never be the same.