Welcome to my final story, Eternal Legacy, or Legacy for short.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer on my Tumblr.

Legacy is set after the XY arc, but compresses the age gaps between several Dex Holders in order to prevent a 20 year gap between the oldest and the youngest.

Warning:
As usual in my stories, Legacy will contain scenes of blood, not entirely gruesome content (no one's going to lose a limb, for example), and will definitely have some bad f*cking language.

Note:
Due to the sheer amount of necessary background events for Legacy, the first 3 chapters will all be prologues, divided by region. This 3-part prologue will also serve as most of the slow build-up before sh*t really starts happening.

Prologue – Kanto:

May 28, One Island, 11 am…

Blue finished packing up her belongings in her bag. There… really wasn't much to pack. She never really had much stuff to begin with, given her past. For years, she had to steal the bare necessities in order to live, and never had the luxury of having… fancy stuff. Even now, her belongings mostly consisted of a sketchbook, an extra set of clothes, a small handful of beauty products, and a small selection of high tech devices that she had stolen many years ago that she had tinkered with and improved upon in her spare time.

She looked at her bag and sighed. … She never really had a lot of stuff. And she was about to have a lot less. Right now, she was living in her parents' house, with her new… old family. She didn't know what to say, actually. Living with her parents didn't really turn out as she thought it would. Before she met them again, she always dreamed about it, living as a whole happy family. Maybe deep inside, she knew that it wouldn't really work out, but she never gave much thought about it.

But nowadays, Blue had plenty of time to think, and she knew that things weren't working out. She loved her parents, of course, and they loved her. But she had spent nearly 12 years living by herself since her kidnapping to the reunion. She had grown far too independent. Similarly, her parents had lived 12 years without her. They were certainly not used to the independent girl that was their daughter.

And of course, there was the new family member. Her parents had another kid. … Another daughter. Blue had very… mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she was used to acting like an older sister (thanks to Silver), so she was okay. And having a younger sister was… fun. But on the other, it was clear that her parents had moved on since the kidnapping, and this new daughter was basically a replacement. And at times, Blue got the impression that she was… intruding on a happy little family of 3. Most of the times, she felt like a complete stranger.

For years, Blue tried to get close to her new family, but failed. No matter how hard she tried, she still felt like a stranger intruding on a happy little family. To her parents, she felt like a reminder of a bad past. Her existence alone seemed to remind them of the daughter they lost due to kidnapping, and the same daughter that they never got back, since she had changed so drastically over the years. And to her little sister, she felt like a stranger that suddenly appeared who was apparently an older sister.

In the years since the reunion, Blue had actually spent a lot of time wandering around the various regions for the sole purpose of giving her family some time away from her. But that was not something she could continue. Every time she left on a trip, her parents had given her spending money. And Blue felt like she was just wasting their money while only causing discomfort to everyone.

So she couldn't stay with her new family, but couldn't continuously leave on a journey either. The solution was straight forward. She would leave her new family and live on her own, as she had for so many years. Even if it meant that she'd have to live in some run down shack of a secret base that she had built with Silver so many years ago.

It was probably better to leave on happy terms than sticking around until something went horribly wrong. Given the drastically different personalities, it was likely that eventually, Blue would get into a huge argument with her new sister, and many hurtful things would be said. It was best to leave before that happened.

With her bag strapped over her shoulders, Blue went downstairs to say goodbye to her family.

Both of her parents and their new daughter were already seated in the living room, talking and laughing. The moment Blue entered the living room, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Blue's eyes twitched a little at this reaction. … For some reason, this always happened. Every time her family was engaged in a conversation and she appeared, the conversation ended awkwardly, as if it was something that she must not hear. … Another reason she had to leave.

"Mom, daddy…" Blue began, forcing herself to remain strong. "… I have to tell you something."

…

Pallet Town…

…

Red yawned as he remained lying down on the couch. … He felt so damn bored. He wanted to train or battle with someone, but no one was available that was strong enough for him. The only person strong enough had gone over to Kalos to meet with that region's champion.

There was only one other Dex Holder within Pallet Town, and that was Crystal. And the girl didn't really battle. … And she was working right now, so dragging her away for training or battle was not going to happen.

Yellow was in Viridian Forest, but she's nowhere near strong enough. The next nearest Dex Holder was Gold in New Bark Town (and Silver too, apparently), but Red had been training with him and only him for a while now.

It was a shame that Platinum was going to visit him next week. Her visit would not alleviate his boredom right now.

Red took out his Pokégear, looking at the list of contacts. Maybe Blue could help out? She was certainly capable in battling, though she may not particularly care much about it. But he doubted that she'd come all the way to Pallet Town just to train. Maybe a friendly hang-out then?

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her in a long while. She lived too far away for frequent visits, but not far enough to warrant a multiple-day visit. Maybe he could convince her to move somewhere closer. Although… Blue was now living with her parents after being separated so long. She might not want to move out.

And speaking of Blue, her birthday was coming up, wasn't it? Red looked over at the calendar. As always, he had forgotten to mark everyone's birthdays on the calendar. And now he forgot most everyone's birthdays. And he couldn't ask Blue about her birthday.

Red slowly got up to his feet. He was sure that Crystal would know when exactly Blue's birthday would be, so he was going to ask her.

Within a few minutes, he arrived at Prof. Oak's lab, where Crystal was working. As usual, there were hardly any people inside. With the professor gone to Goldenrod to record a supposedly-live radio show, there was probably only Crystal left.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Red called out.

"Hi, Red," came a cheerful female voice from somewhere deeper in the lab.

Red followed the voice and soon came across one of the research rooms. He knocked on the door for courtesy before opening it, but didn't enter the room. He spotted Crystal writing something on a notebook while observing something on the table.

"Hey, Crys," Red said.

Crystal turned to face her senior and gave him a bright smile. "Hi. Were you looking for someone?"

"Eh, I have a question I'd like to ask," Red answered.

"Sure. But… what are you doing out there? Come inside," Crystal said, noticing the fact that her senior was still outside the room.

Red chuckled. "Well… the last time I was in that room over 10 years ago, I accidentally released every Pokémon, and Professor Oak and I had a hell of a time trying to get them all back. … Ever since then, I've been permanently banned from going in there."

Crystal smiled. "I'm sure that Professor Oak wouldn't mind now if you came in, but… rules are rules, I guess." She set everything down on the table before leaving the room to talk to Red face to face. She straightened out her lab coat as she stood in front of him. "Okay then, what question did you want to ask?"

Red rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm pretty sure that Blue's birthday is coming up soon, but I don't know when it is exactly. And I don't think I can ask her that question. So would you happen to know?"

Crystal lightly tilted her head as she thought for a second. "Hmm… I think Blue's birthday was right after Emerald's, and Emerald's birthday is May 31."

"That's great," Red said. "It gives just enough time to prepare for her birthday. I haven't seen her in a while, so it's the best time to catch up."

"Great idea," Crystal said with a nod. "I'm sure she'd be really happy."

…

Few hours later, classified location, Kanto…

…

Blue looked up from her sketchbook when her Pokégear began to ring. Were her parents calling? Were they calling to try to convince her to return home? Or just to check whether she was all set by herself? She checked the Pokégear and noticed that it was Red calling, not her parents. Blue momentarily hesitated, as this wasn't the best time. But she couldn't ignore his call and reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Blue, it's Red," Red said.

"Hi, Red," Blue said, trying to sound cheerful.

"So your birthday is coming up, and I wanted to ask. Would you want a big party, or a small one?"

Blue blinked a few times. "Birth…day?"

"Yeah. Your birthday is June 1, right?" Red asked. "It's just a few days away, and I wanted to know ahead of time."

Blue suddenly felt a sheepish smile forming on her lips. "… You don't have to do that, Red."

"Of course I do. It's been a long while since we last saw each other, and what better time to hang out and catch up than your birthday?"

Blue lowered her head and smiled as she felt… warmth all over her body. "… Thanks, Red. I really appreciate that."

"So, would you like a small party, or a big one?" Red asked again.

"Keep it small, please. Just a few people."

"Will do. So I'll see you at my place on your birthday at… noon."

"Okay. I'll see you then." Blue soon hung up and stared at the Pokégear for a while, feeling… happy. "Oh, Red…"

She put away her Pokégear and tried to focus on her sketchbook again. But her thoughts were focused on Red, and she couldn't concentrate on drawing. With a content sigh, she put away her sketchbook as well and looked at her Ditto that was sliming around.

"Let's go on a walk, Ditty. It's too good of a day to waste indoors."

…

3 days later, June 1, Pallet Town…

…

Blue slowly descended onto Pallet Town at the promised time. The Ditto-Jigglypuff gently landed, allowing Blue to hop off and return the Pokémon back into its ball.

Blue took a brief moment to take a deep breath. The air of Pallet Town was always so calm and soothing. Maybe that was because her subconscious longed for Pallet Town ever since she had been kidnapped.

Upon arriving at Red's house, she straightened out her clothes and her hair before knocking on the door. Red answered pretty quickly.

"Hey, you're here!" he said with a bright smile. "Welcome!"

"Thanks, Red," Blue said with a smile of her own.

"Now that you're here, we can begin. Come on in."

There were four other Dex Holders in the house: Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Red hadn't invited the other Dex Holders since they were all living quite far away, and Blue had wanted a small party.

"Long time no see, everyone," Blue said to everyone. "Well, except Silver, anyways. How's your new home, Silver?"

"Real good," Silver said. "Lots of good food, entertainment, and comfort."

"In unrelated news," Gold said from behind. "My refrigerator has seen an 85% drop in food storage. For some reason, whenever there are some leftovers in any meal, they're magically consumed by someone within the hour! It's as if Dia is secretly living in my house."

Silver let out a cough. "… It's good food."

"Gold, you should be nice to your new housemate," Blue said. "This is the first time Silver gets to live in an actual house with 3 proper meals per day."

"I know," Gold grumbled. "At least he helps around in the house. Having an extra set of hands for various house chores is nice."

"But Gold, what are you doing here?" Blue asked. "I wouldn't have thought that you'd come to my birthday party."

"I told him to come," Crystal said. "I thought it'd be rude to invite Silver over but not Gold since they're living in the same house. And I figured that we'd need an extra set of hands with the party preparation and all."

"And he's actually helpful?" Blue asked.

"Yes," Crystal said with a smile. "We have a… deal going on. He has to be on good behavior. And part of that means helping out when a senior has a birthday party."

"Well, thanks, Gold," Blue said with a nod.

Gold simply gave her an exaggerated bow before moving on to resume setting up the dinner table.

"All right, Blue," Red said. "It's your birthday, so just sit down, relax, and enjoy."

"Sure thing."

…

Several hours later…

…

Blue watched as Gold and Silver left for New Bark Town. They were the last to leave, which officially ended the birthday party. Blue waved at Silver before she focused her attention to the setting sun.

The birthday party has been very enjoyable. The food was very good, and she found it surprising that Gold and Crystal could cook so well. She doubted that Gold could cook so well. But she also doubted that Crystal could do so as well, given how she worked all the time and never had the time to practice cooking.

After the meal, everyone ate the cake that Red had bought while playing a board game that Silver brought… from Gold's house. And Blue hasn't had this much fun in years, maybe for the first time ever. She always knew that she felt… lonely, so just spending time with others was just enjoyable.

"Did you have fun?" Red asked once Gold and Silver were out of sight range.

"Sure did," Blue said with a happy smile. "Thank you so much."

"We should do this more often," Red said. "But you live too far away for a frequent hangout, you know? The Sevii Islands are just way too far away from Kanto mainland."

"Oh, I don't live there anym-" Blue quickly held her tongue, as she didn't want anyone to know about her leaving her parents' home. But it was too late, and she knew it.

"What? Did you move out of your parents' place? Why?" Red asked, sounding concerned.

Blue let out a sigh. "… Damn it…"

"Blue? Why did you move out of your parents' house? I thought you'd like living with them."

Blue forced herself to smile. "I… didn't feel at home there. So I moved out." Red was still looking at her, waiting for the proper explanation, and Blue couldn't resist for long. "… I felt like I was intruding. My parents have another daughter. She's basically a replacement for me. And that little family has lived without me for 12 years. And all of a sudden, I have to live with them. … Things weren't going to work out. Hell, I spent most of my time in the past few years traveling to other regions, giving my new family some time to themselves. At this rate, we'd only drift further apart, so I… left. That way, we'd have separated while we're still on good terms."

Red slowly nodded. "If that's what you felt was the best choice, then I won't question you. But I'm worried about you. Where are you living now?"

"I'm back to living where I have before I went to live with my parents," Blue answered.

Red frowned a bit. "Wait. You said to Gold that this was the first time that Silver actually lived in a house, eating 3 proper meals per day. But he was living with you the whole time before you moved into your parents' place. So that means that you are now back to living in a place that's not an actual house, and you are now once again not eating 3 proper meals per day."

Blue's eyes drifted to the side as she thought for a second. "… I said that, didn't I?" she muttered with a bittersweet smile. "Crap…"

"That won't do," Red said as he shook his head. "Blue, I can't let you go back to living like that. No, no, no. Why don't you come live with me, then?"

Blue blinked a few times, taken aback by the sudden offer. "Wh – What?"

"You saw how big the house was during the party," Red said. "So you know that there's plenty of space. It's a bit too big for one person. And while I don't know about eating 3 proper meals per day since I'm not that good at making food, but I can guarantee you a proper house to live in. What do you say?"

"Are… are you sure?"

"Why not? You obviously need a real place to live, and I have plenty of space here, so I don't mind."

Blue looked into his warm red eyes for a while before she lowered her head and smiled. "… Okay… I'll accept. Thank you."

"Great!" Red said happily. He extended a hand. "Welcome to my house! Or should I say, our house!"

Blue sheepishly accepted his hand and shook it. "I still have to go back to my place and get my stuff, so… I'll be back."

"All right. I'll be waiting."

Blue sent out her Ditto which morphed into a Jigglypuff and rapidly inflated itself. Blue gently hopped on and waved at Red as she steadily floated towards the sky. Red watched her leave before going back into his house to clean up the mess made by the party.

The sun had completely set by the time Blue returned. Red had finished cleaning up by this time, and had even taken a shower so that he could sleep.

"The bathroom is upstairs in the bedroom," Red said as Blue temporarily put her belongings in the corner of the living room. "So take a shower and sleep on the bed."

"Wait, what? Then where are you going to sleep?" Blue asked in surprise.

"Down here, of course," Red answered. "I've slept on the couch before. It can be surprisingly comfortable."

"Come on, Red. It's already much for you to let me live in your house, but it's too much for me to… kick the owner out of his own bed."

"Don't worry about it," Red said with a smile. "Besides, I can't be in the bedroom when you're taking a shower. Again, the bathroom is connected to the bedroom, so it's best for me to be down here while you're drying off for the night. And I'm really tired right now, so I can't really wait for you to finish either. So don't worry about it, take a nice long shower and just sleep on the bed. I'll see you in the morning."

And without waiting for a response, Red plopped onto the couch, preparing to sleep. Blue reluctantly headed upstairs to take a shower. Almost an hour later, she had finished with her shower and finished drying off completely. She quickly got dressed for the night and headed downstairs to check up on Red. Halfway down the stairs, she could hear his snoring. Since he was sleeping so soundly, she chose to leave him be and headed back upstairs to sleep on the bed.

But unfortunately, she couldn't sleep; not while knowing that Red was sleeping on a couch because of her. The guilt was too much. Even though Red had volunteered, he obviously wouldn't have done so if she wasn't going to live with him. And… was this going to happen every day? Knowing Red, he'd offer the bed to her and sleep on the couch every day. And that was definitely too much. Blue refused to be insensitive and let the homeowner sleep on the couch every day.

She soon got off of the bed and quietly made her way downstairs again. She can't sleep if Red was going to sleep downstairs on the couch. But Red wouldn't allow her to sleep on the couch while he took the bed. So there was only one logical solution.

Blue reached the living room and spotted Red sleeping lightly on the couch, no longer snoring. She lightly shook him by the shoulder.

"Red, wake up."

Red mumbled a bit before he woke up and looked up at her. "Huh? … Oh, hey, Blue. What is it?"

"… Red, I can't sleep," Blue said as she crouched to meet his eye level. "Not while you're down here, sleeping on a couch. You look quite uncomfortable."

"Nah, it's fine," Red said, but Blue wouldn't let him.

"Look, I can't sleep like this. No. And I know that you won't let me sleep on the couch or the floor. So the only solution is for you to sleep on the bed as well. It's big enough for us to share without difficulties."

"What?"

"It's the best solution. I can't sleep on the bed while you're down here. You won't sleep on the bed if I'm down here. And both of us sleeping down here and leaving the bed unoccupied is just silly. So the best solution is for us to share the bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Just come upstairs, Red."

Blue didn't wait for a response and headed upstairs first. She got onto the bed and made sure to stay on her half of the bed, giving Red ample space. Red showed up a few minutes later, visibly hesitating. Blue closed her eyes, feeling her guilt being alleviated. She smiled as she felt the bed moving from Red lying down on the other half of the bed.

"Sorry, Blue," Red said as he settled down. "And good night."

"Thanks, Red," Blue said in response. "And good night."

…

Next morning…

…

Blue slowly woke up from her sleep. She had such a good sleep for the first time in… years. Even now, she felt so comfortable, she didn't want to get off the bed, ever. She felt so warm and… … Wait a minute…

She suddenly remembered that she was sleeping on Red's bed, and… Red was sleeping on the same bed as well. Blue quickly sat up and glanced around. She found him sleeping peacefully on the bed right behind her, and… it appeared that she had been using his chest as a pillow.

Blue slowly smiled as she watched his peaceful expression, as he lightly snored. He looked so… adorable. For a while, she just stared at his face as a lot of thoughts flooded her mind. She recalled how she felt when she left her parents' house, how lonely she felt, and how depressed she was. But one call from Red had changed all that when he asked her about her birthday party.

The birthday party was so amazing, she never had so much fun before. And just before she could return to her dark life, Red had offered her a place to live. Just like he did when she first saw him, he was once again unknowingly helping her escape her dark life and finally attaining happiness.

She owed him so much, that it was impossible for her to repay him for everything. And she knew that Red would continue to offer her everything. As always, he was the key in her life to happiness. And she suddenly couldn't resist anymore.

Blue slowly crawled onto the bed, crawling right over Red until she reached his face. She glanced down to make sure that her knees weren't going to make contact with him, as she really didn't want to wake him up right now. Once she was satisfied, she leaned towards his face, being careful to avoid making a sound. She lowered her head to give him a kiss on the cheek, but stopped just before her lips made contact.

'… No… I can't do this…' she thought as she remained frozen in place. '… He deserves the absolute best… and that is definitely not me. … He's always so happy and cheerful. I can't let someone like me darken his life. … Does he even like me in that way?' Blue closed her eyes and slowly backed away. Once she got off of the bed entirely, she took a few steps back to watch Red from a "safe" distance. '… He doesn't like me the way I like him. And even if he does… I'm not good enough for him. … Yellow likes him too. I can't do anything to Red fully knowing that.' She let out a quiet sigh. 'I can't let him know, ever. I have to keep everything under control. … I'll just make breakfast now. I know that Red can't really cook well, so I can repay a bit of my debts by making good food for him.'

Blue looked at Red's peaceful sleeping face for another few seconds before heading downstairs. It would be difficult for her to keep everything hidden when she was now living in the same house as him, and even sharing the bed at night. But this was too important for her emotions to ruin it. There was a delicate balance here. She had to use this opportunity to finally be happy. But at the same time, she had to keep her own feelings down so that she wouldn't negatively impact Red.

This part of the prologue was to show the steps that led to Blue living in Red's house, which is important for the main story, but doesn't really fit anywhere on it.

The second half of this part may feel rushed, because there's a lot of points to cover all within this one prologue part.

Part 2 of the prologue, which focuses on Sinnoh, should be out soon. Perhaps.