Waves lap back and forth along the shore of Olivine City. A cool gust blows across the beach, whipping sand through the air. A thin layer of gray clouds blanket the sky, thickening in the distance and growing darker.
The signs of incoming rain are enough to convince most people in the city to stay inside, unless they have somewhere to go. However, one pair of beachgoers don't seem particularly deterred - a pair of brothers, one clad in red and the other in blue. Their robes may not be necessarily fit for beach activities, but then again, they don't seem to be here for fun in the sun in the first place.
"It seems today may not be a good day to make our way to the Whirl Islands, brother," the red brother comments, gazing out toward the brewing storm. "The waters are going to be even more rough than usual."
"Perhaps so, but we should not delay too long. Father wants us to return by next week, and I'm afraid this storm is likely to last longer than forecasted," the blue brother responds.
The red brother raises an eyebrow. "You sound rather certain about that. Forecasts may be notoriously inaccurate, but what makes you so certain that you know better?"
The blue brother waves dismissively. "I don't. It's an educated guess."
"If you say so."
They continue to gaze out toward the islands.
"Say, brother," the blue brother asks, "what do you know about the Legendary Pokémon of Johto?"
The red brother thinks for a moment. "I know of the story of the two towers of Ecruteak City. The city had two guardians, each with a tower dedicated to them - Lugia in the Brass Tower, and Ho-oh in the Tin Tower. The former tower was struck by a bolt of lightning, and burned down. Lugia fled with its life, but three other Pokémon weren't so lucky, and perished in the fire. The blaze was eventually extinguished by a torrential downpour, and Ho-oh visited the remains to revive the three that perished. They became Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, who we both are more than familiar with. All of them subsequently ran away, and Ho-oh flew away as well in search of a pure-hearted trainer. Bells were put into the Tin Tower to use as a signal if Ho-oh were to return, and as such, the tower was renamed the 'Bell Tower'."
The blue brother nods. "Indeed. The legends surrounding Ho-oh and the Legendary Beasts are very well known. However, what's had my interest lately is the relative shortage of mythology Lugia has in comparison."
"True… the stories I've been told did drop the subject of Lugia rather quickly in favor of telling about Ho-oh's revival of the Beasts."
The blue brother smiles. "Exactly. Which is why I've done some personal research on the subject. For all intents and purposes, both of their stories end as they already have, but what they don't tell you is how they got where they were before."
"Then you have their backstory?"
The blue brother nods.
Thousands of years ago, before the time of Lugia or Ho-oh, there was a much more feeble bird. This one was always on the run, being chased by a very persistent white-furred predator. Everywhere the beast chased the bird, every town they passed through, began to meet misfortune. Plagues, famine, storms… the two became a notorious ill omen, feared by all.
Eventually, in a secluded forest far away from endangering human life, the bird became too tired to flee any longer. The beast caught up to it, and the helpless bird was nearly killed.
However, a second bird saw this happening from its home in the forest, and came in to intervene. Together, the two birds managed to defeat the hunter, but not before the first bird sustained severe wounds.
The second bird's act of selfless compassion was recognized by Xerneas, the life-giver. Xerneas granted the second bird an apotheosis, turning it into the sun bird we now know as Ho-oh. However, Xerneas did not do the same for the wounded one, instead issuing a warning - Ho-oh may choose to use its new power to save the injured bird, but will forever have a bond with a cursed being.
Understanding the warning, Ho-oh chose to save the other bird from the clutches of death. And so the cursed one underwent its own transformation - unlike Ho-oh, who remained a fully recognizable bird, the cursed one became a creature between a bird and a one is what we now know as Lugia.
For a time, the two were inseparable. They considered each other brothers, just like you and I. As long as they were together, there was no sign of a curse like Xerneas had warned of. It wasn't long before they both forgot about the life-giver's warning completely.
However, the curse became apparent again when they finally separated. Ho-oh, the radiant sun bird, brought happiness and good fortune wherever it went. But Lugia, the half-bird, once again brought illness and storms, despite having nothing but gratitude for life in all forms.
Lugia grew fearful. When it found Ho-oh again, it begged to never be apart from its brother. Ho-oh understood, and asked the people of what would become Ecruteak City to build homes for both of them. And so they did - a silver-colored tower for the golden sun bird, and a gold-colored tower for the silver half-bird.
They thought that the two towers would be close enough together that Ho-oh's blessing could counter Lugia's curse. However, as the Burned Tower story indicates, they weren't nearly so lucky.
So Lugia fled the city and escaped to what would be the Whirl Islands. Its curse brought tempests and the whirlpools that provided the islands their name, but Lugia was secure in knowing that they would never put anyone at risk again. Meanwhile, Ho-oh appointed a triumvirate of powerful birds to serve as Lugia's guardians, becoming what we now know as Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
"The people of Ecruteak are respectful enough to recognize Lugia's curse as a tragedy. However, others who have seen it are not always as gracious."
The red brother mulls this information over. "I suspect this means we may have to capture its guardians before we go for the beast itself."
The blue brother grins. "Now you understand. But mark my words, Lugia will be ours. I think a being of disaster will be a rather fitting subject for the XD001 project, no? Father will be quite pleased."