Chapter 1: Burn It Down
It was a quiet night on the Strife farm. The Miltank were all safe inside the barn and the Strife family was sleeping peacefully in their beds, but all was not as it looked on this quiet farm. Under the cover of a moonless night a man strode down the long winding road leading from the main town to the remote ranch. His face was masked by a dark hood connected to his similarly colored robes. As he walked the man considered his mission, he had been sent by Overlord Sharakor himself to assonate an enemy of the state, but what could a simple farmer have done to deserve this? He remembered then the words that had got him this far as an assassin "mine is not to reason why, mine is but to do or die". The man could not remember where he had heard these words but they had become his motto and his motivation and so he continued down the path towards his target.
When he was within a hundred yards of the farm house he stopped pausing for a moment to take a Pokeball from his belt. He tossed the ball casually in the air and out came his partner in business and crime his trusty Houndoom. With a silent nod from the assassin the duo of death walked forward towards the house once again.
Inside the house seven year old Kennith Strife was still awake lying in his bed looking out of his window. A flash of red light illuminated a short figure that seemed to be approaching the house on the road. Who would be coming to pay a visit at such a late hour the young boy wondered? Whoever it was he thought he should go greet him after all he had probably walked for miles to get here and surely would be weary. As he opened the front door another red light illuminated the sky but this time is was far from harmless.
"Burn it down." The small assassin ordered and his Pokémon complied with his request immediately letting loose a torrent of flames from deep in its throat that shot towards the house like a meteor. The blast decimated what had been Kenith's room and within seconds the blaze had spread to the entire structure. The hooded man thought that for a split second he had seen a tiny black shadow flee from the house but corrected himself after seeing the wreckage, nothing could have escaped that. Returning his partner he removed his hood and lifted a communicator to his mouth a said simply. "It is done."
Kennith had never run so fast in his life than he had when he saw the fireball shoot from the night. His mind was racing with thoughts he couldn't comprehend. Then when he was sure he had escaped the flaming ruins of his home he looked back to see a face he would never forget. In the light from some sort of hand held device he saw the face of the man who was responsible for the loss of his family. The man had a long skinny face with the skin pulled tight over his bones as if they were too big for his face. His eyes showed no emotions, no joy, and no sorrow and certainly no regret over what he had just done. As he watched the man disappear into the distance Kennith began to cry. He cried because he was scared, he cried because of his loss but most of all he cried because it was the only thing he had left to do.
9 Years Later
Ken was ripped out of his dream by way of a friendly nudge from his Flareon. He had been having the nightmare again, the one where his father, mother and twin brother had been ripped from him by the Overlord's assassin. He looked over at his friend and gave him a reassuring look and the Pokémon settled down next to him again. He had been traveling with his Flareon and the rest of his team for three years now looking for the man from his nightmares.
After that horrible night he had gone to live with his father's best friend Suku Fuji the local dojo master. It was there he had received his first Pokémon a Charmander his father's final gift to him. He stayed at the dojo learning various fighting techniques for six years and had learned much, but had never wanted to take up raising the fighting type when it came to Pokémon. Instead he choose to train the very type that had been responsible for the destruction of his life as he had known it.
His choice of Pokémon had left him somewhat ostracized from the other pupils who gladly raised the fighting type, but he didn't mind. Ever since that night he had never quite trusted other people outside of Master Fuji of course. The man had been kind to him when he needed it most and had taken him as his own teaching him the family traditions and passing down the rich heritage of fighters to him. Though Ken had appreciated the gifts and the years he lived with the kind man and his welcoming family on his thirteenth birthday he knew the time had come for him to leave. He was determined to track down his family's murderer and bring him to justice by the same means of his crimes.
Three years later he had made no progress and was starting to give up hope but he knew he couldn't give in to the temptation of surrender the man was out there if he could only get just one lead. This is where the problem lied, the man was a ghost. Many people had heard of him and his infamous deeds but none wished to speak of him amount themselves even, much less to a 16 year old child. The only information he had gathered was that he worked as an assassin for the Overlord and went by many names, most notably the fire snake. He was rumored to be the Overlord's most valuable tool used for eliminating enemies of the Overlord without placing any blame on the ruler.
Overlord Sharakor was the ruler of Pantera the country in which Ken lived. Pantera was a very large island in the shape of a very rough circle. In the center of the island was Dragons Reach a mountain whose peak soared far above the clouds. On top of this mountain was the Overlords Fortress. Protected by his royal guard and a maze of walls and buttresses Overlord Sharakor ruled the last with an iron fist and all those who dared to oppose him all seemed to mysteriously disappear.
Dispelling such thoughts ken rolled back over and in an attempt to fall back asleep. Finding that sleep was not forthcoming Ken got up and looked around him. He was in the middle of a dense forest that offered shelter from the rain that had been so persistent in the last week and also from the eyes of the Royal Guard. Though he had not openly challenged the Overlord he had been asking questions about the Fire Snake and people had gone missing for much less than that, it was better to just stay away from towns and other heavily populated areas.
After he finished breaking down his primitive camp that had consisted of a hole in the ground for a fire and a fold up cot he had borrowed from the dojo Ken looked down at his map wondering where his next stop should be. He was presently in the Azul woods just outside of Vermillion City on the Northeast corner of the island. The next closest town was further inland and was called Celadon City. Judging by the map Celadon looked like a large city where he could be seen and blend into a crowd. He didn't plan on staying long, he never did, but wanted to spend at least one night in one of the hotels there in addition to replacing his worn out clothes.
He replaced the map in his large brown back where he kept all of his traveling essentials. Flareon was currently engrossed in trying to catch a Pidgey that was easily gliding from tree to tree avoiding the snatching paws of the fire wolf. Ken smiled at his Pokémon's antics and watched the playful creature for awhile. It was one of the small joys he had left, spending time with his Pokémon. He met his Flareon in the dojo as an Eevee, back then it had been scrounging for food behind the dojo out of trashcans. Ken took pity on the small Pokémon and their bond grew to the point where it was second only to that he had with his oldest friend Charizard.
After some time of this Ken stood up and looked at Flareon expectantly, Flareon gave him a sour look and stood still as he was returned to his Pokeball. Flareon hated the contraption so Ken usually let him roam free but he had a long flight ahead and didn't want to risk Flareon falling off midway through. Clipping the ball that held the energetic Pokémon back to his belt he removed another one and released the Pokémon inside. Out came a massive dragon that towered several feet above Ken's six foot frame. Its tail burned with a bright fire and it gave a roar of joy when Ken indicated that they would be flying.
With Ken safely latched to Charizard's neck the dragon rocketed into the sky with a mighty flag of its wings. Soon they were flying level above the clouds and Ken felt safe enough to lift up his hands from Charizard's neck enough to retrieve his harmonica from the brown backpack. It was always a serene feeling to sit above the clouds and play music and to feel the wind in his hair attempting to dislodge him from his position. Below the clouds started to thin and before long Celadon City came into view. Ken instructed Charizard to set down on the outskirts of the town as not to draw unwanted attention to him.
The city itself was a very busy place and as Ken had hoped it provided him the perfect place to get lost in the crowd. His first stop was to the Celadon Department Store to purchase new clothes. His old dojo uniform was too conspicuous and though he had remained mostly unnoticed traveling through the city a few passersby had thrown interesting looks in his direction because of the brown jumpsuit that was the dress code of the dojo.
He found what he was looking for on the second floor in a department labeled "Trainers". The entire floor was laid out in clothes for aspiring trainers and all of it was surprisingly cheap. Though he supposed that it was also mass produced by a company owned by the Overlord no doubt. He ended up with a pair of dark grey jeans and a black long sleeved shirt over which he wore a dark blue short sleeved jacket. On his way out of the store he noticed a bin that was giving away free trainers gloves; they were fingerless black gloves with white bands around the wrists that were supposedly for helping one grip a Pokeball better. He figured that as long as they were free they couldn't hurt so he picked up a pair and left the store.
Finding a hotel was not nearly as easy as his shopping trip had been but eventually he fought one that claimed to have belonged to Erika the Compassionate, whoever that was. When he stepped inside Ken found the place to be nearly deserted except for one old man sitting behind the counter.
"Can I help you son?" He asked in a croaking voice
"Yes, I was wondering if there are any rooms available." Alex responded without hope despite the deserted lobby. The old man answered his question with a laugh.
"Of course there are rooms my boy, there are always rooms here." He said finishing rather ominously.
Several minutes later Ken was sitting in his small room and realized why this was the only place left in town. For lack of a better word the place was a dump. There was only one window, that though it consumed nearly the entire wall was facing a new skyscraper and offered no view. Overall the hotel looked like a place that had outlived its time, standing still while the world passed it by. Tired from his journey Ken went to sleep after releasing Flareon to sleep on the floor as there was no room for him on the small bed. Ken's last thought as he drifted off to sleep was that he had to find a led and quick or this was going to drive him insane.
Falling away
Can't buy back time
Burn it down anyway
Burn It Down- Avenged Sevenfold
Thanks to Kairi Avalon for submitting Ken.
