"Two entities who never should have met, crossed paths in the space-time rift. This ill-fated meeting has brought forth their unbridled wrath enveloping the city, and as a result...all will collapse."
A re-written novelization of The Rise of Darkrai. Written in the perspective of Dawn and an attempt to further explain the lore of Legendary Pokemon. Unlike the anime, however, Lucas and Barry will be incorporated into the story. Follow Ash and company and their adventures in Alamos Town, a town consumed by the swirling maelstrom of the rage of the space-time entities, helpless within the vast infinity of the Unown Dimension. Subtle twinleafshipping.
Barry's personality is written as a mixture of the game and the anime. However, Pokemon teams (besides Lucas) will be based on the anime adaption for a less complex re-write. I have also changed the ages to around 14-15 for all of them, while Brock is 16.
- Chapter 1 -
Dawn Of A New Era
Route 209 was pretty much the same as the other routes they had passed through before. The mid-noon sun hung above them, its light peering through scattered clouds and open blue skies, illuminating the path as the company walked silently, yet peacefully through the smooth graveled path. Luckily, there hadn't been many fields of protruding tall grass growing straight through the route. The chances of running into wild Pokemon were thankfully low. However, there were a handful of trainers strewn across their path, each of them demanding battles, to which Ash accepted to all of them, unsurprisingly winning each one.
The path gradually crept up the ascending hill as the trees began to thin out less and less with each step. The jungle-like forest surrounding them reclining to gentle groves where wild Furret and Stantler stopped to curiously peer at them through the scattered leaves.
"Shouldn't we have gotten there by now?" Said Dawn.
She disliked asking Brock that question often. Although, she really couldn't help it this time. After trying, and eventually failing to win her second ribbon at the Hearthome City Contest, her chest hadn't stopped feeling tight and her confidence had never felt any lower. The loss had been soul-crushing for both her and Zoey. Especially Zoey, having lost to Nando in the final round.
Dawn had been confident that she and Zoey would be the two facing off in the final rounds, but when she saw Jessilina's face instead of hers in eighth place of the Performance Stage results, it took every fiber in her body to keep the tears from spilling over her eyelids in front of her friends. That familiar sharp inward stab of disappointment that struck after leaving the competition so early. Afterall, it was her third attempt at obtaining her second ribbon. The road to becoming Top Coordinator was already looking painfully bleak.
Despite the disappointment of losing in the Hearthome City Contest, her stomach flipped as they neared Alamos Town, where another contest was taking place. She wanted to learn more, become stronger with her Pokemon. She wasn't the only one affected by their loss in Hearthome City, her Pokemon felt it too. Competing in another contest would benefit her with the experience and knowledge of developing strategies, along with a surge of indestructible determination that would fail to falter with each step towards Top Coordinator. Loss or not, she still had somewhere she wanted to be.
Brock flipped through a few pages in his little green travel book. "Almost,"
"Look, there it is! That's Alamos Town!"
The rising hill transitioned to a jutting cliff opening up to a small city rising up on the horizon. The tops of its orange buildings peeking up from the edges of the jagged precipice.
A warm, wave of relief passed over Dawn as Beautiflies bubbled up from her stomach to her chest, replacing the doubt and anxiety that she had felt before. A laugh of enthrallment escaped her lips as she felt her legs carrying her body forward, her feet pounding in tune with her racing heart against the ground.
Ash popped up on the right in her peripheral vision, simultaneously laughing and running ahead of her as Pikachu held onto the back of Ash's hat, chattering cheerfully along with its trainer.
"Pikachu! When we get there, we're gonna find lots of battles right away!" said Ash, grinning. "We haven't seen another trainer for awhile, can't wait to see some new faces!"
"Think of all the new Pokemon we might see with the upcoming contest, so many unique combinations!"
Suddenly, Ash's smile deflated, his mouth hanging open, his forehead wrinkling as he stared forward and quickly skidded his feet to a halt. "Wait…"
The town rose up in their vision, the entirety opening itself up to a large island sitting in the middle of a deep lake. Its buildings, from what Dawn could tell, sat huddled close to each other, nearly gripping the edges of the green mesa.
Dawn's excitement quickly faded into exhaustion after spotting the gray stone bridge connecting the island to the mainland on the other shore of the peninsula.
"Looks like we ended up hiking on the wrong side..." Brock trailed off, flipping through the pages of his book again. "Am I holding this wrong?"
Slumping the backpack from her shoulders, Dawn gave Brock a doubtful look and hung her shoulders down. "That's it. I can't walk anymore, I'm tired."
"Me too," said Ash, dropping his head to the ground.
So much for all that excitement from earlier...
"Did I take a wrong turn back there...?" spoke a faint familiar voice, behind them. "Maybe I shouldn't have spent all that time taking notes and more time paying attention to the route."
Dawn glanced behind her. "It's you!" She exclaimed, swiftly spinning her body back towards the beaten path.
The guy she had recognized as Professor Rowan's assistant back in Sandgem Town when she was just beginning her journey, now had a Turtwig riding atop his shoulder. He was the only trainer she had seen so far with a beret-like hat and it wasn't very easy to miss. Her sudden yell caused him to jerk his head up from his map for a second before a wave of recognition washed over his face and his shoulders that seemed tense before, dropped as he reached closer to their area.
What was his name again...?
She instantly regretted her outburst when he stopped in front of them, deliberately avoiding eye contact with her.
"Hey," The corners of his mouth pinched up awkwardly before he extended a hand. He struggled to make eye contact with her, trying to be friendly, "Dawn, right?"
She quickly remembered her manners and shot her hand out, shaking it stiffly. Shooting back an equally friendly smile, she realized she wasn't really used to this sudden politeness and swiftly dropped his hand.
"You two know each other?" asked Ash, standing up from his spot on the grass, "Huh? Hey, I got a turtwig too!"
Dawn nodded. "Back in Sandgem Town when I first started my journey," She held out a hand, "This is Lucas. He's Professor Rowan's assistant and is studying around the region to help the professor research evolution."
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town in Kanto," He said, grinning. "And I'm gonna be the greatest trainer in the world!"
Lucas smiled back, "The Professor mentioned you, I'm glad you were able to find your Pikachu."
"By the way," Brock interjected, "My name's Brock." He said, and Lucas turned to shake his hand. "I'm sorta like the chef, navigator, nurse and referee of this little group." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
Dawn shifted her feet slightly. She knew Lucas wasn't inclined to make much conversation. In fact, he made more facial expressions in these five minutes alone than she's ever seen before. Then again...they had only briefly met in Sandgem Town and a few short instances after that, but they weren't really friends. It was more like he was treating her like an associate. Which she understood, as Professor Rowan mentioned that Lucas spent more time in his own head than with others. But it still felt... uncomfortable to talk to him. She reminded herself that he was probably just as uncomfortable as she was and shook away her thoughts.
"So what brings you to Alamos Town?" She found herself asking.
"The professor suggested that I brush up on some Sinnoh mythology and he suggested this town but...it seems like I made a wrong turn." He laughed sheepishly.
Ash let out a sigh. "Yeah, we got lost too. We're taking a short break before heading all the way on the other side."
Dawn silently thanked Arceus that Ash was with her. She was normally great at making new friends and inflicting good impressions but she struggled to make conversation with Lucas at times. Heck, she just barely found out that he even had a Turtwig. The only thing she realized she knew about him was that he was Professor Rowan's assistant.
"Would you all like a lift?" A faint unfamiliar voice called from afar.
The four of them looked around, searching for the source of the voice until Dawn craned her neck up, scrunching her eyes into slits while the bright noon sun burned into her pupils. A green and yellow hot air balloon gradually descended from the sky. Inside its light brown wicker basket was a young lady with poofy blonde hair tied into low, double ponytails, waving down at them, a Chimchar chirping at her side.
As the balloon was preparing to land, they took several steps away from the path of the basket as it touched ground, bumping loudly against the earth before slowing down. Relief ballooned up in Dawn as the balloon's basket rested on the grass in front of them and stopped.
"I was flying around trying to get a good view of the town when I saw all of you standing here. Good thing I did a perimeter check today! Are you all travelers? I'd be happy to give you a ride across!"
Before any of them could get a word out, Brock was already flocking to her side.
"You descended like an angel from above, saving me from the edge of this desolate land!" He professed, "We would love to ride across in your balloon!"
"Go ahead!"
Dawn was dumbfounded. "At least ask for her name first," She said as he clambered onto the basket, desperate to be at the girl's side. "Unbelievable."
"This is great!" Said Ash, marching over to the balloon. "Now we won't have to walk!" He swung his leg over the edge of the basket, with Lucas following close behind, furiously writing in his notebook.
"With a bird's eye view of the city I'll be able to analyze the town efficiently and collect data which will greatly reduce time spent on memorizing the map and potentially losing myself within the streets. The only problem being, the map didn't specify any libraries, laboratories or bookstores so navigating through will be tricky. I've concluded that the optimal amount of time spent here gathering data is three days-" He mumbled under his breath.
Not having anything else to say and exhausted with the situation she was put in, Dawn entered the basket of the balloon as the girl shouted a few commands to her Chimchar. The heat from Chimchar's Flamethrower slightly warmed Dawn's face as she stared up through the burners and the envelope of the hot air balloon, watching the stream of fire rushing out of Chimchar's mouth that filled the envelope with hot air.
The balloon detached from the ground, startling Dawn for a moment as her stomach lurched with the balloon's ascent. She rushed to the edges of the basket, her shaking hands clasping desperately against the wicker rims. Nervously, she peered over the side of the container, watching as the ground became smaller and smaller beneath them.
The wind brushed up against her face and she squeezed her eyes shut, yanking her head away from the side of the basket. She had never ridden in a hot-air balloon and nor had she flown on a Flying-type Pokemon before.
She glanced at the others, who seemed to be unaffected by the climbing balloon. Lucas had his nose buried in his notebook, too busy writing to notice the height they were at. Brock, of course, was attempting to woo the poor girl. Meanwhile, Ash was practically sitting on the edge of the basket, eyes wide at the scenery around them.
Dawn looked back to where they had left the cliff and realized that the balloon was now flying over the lake that surrounded Alamos Town. Her eyes shifted to the grassy path they had taken before and looked up to the burgundy mountains illuminated by the sun's light and breathed out a shaky sigh. At least the scenery was beautiful.
"We can't thank you enough for your kindness!" Said Brock, clasping his hands together. His voice sounding more spirited than usual. "My name's Brock, will you do us the honor and tell us your name?"
"I'm Alice."
"So it's Alice! Alice from Alamos Town!" He exclaimed, dropping down to fish a small journal out of his backpack. "I can't believe I don't have you written down in my little blue Book of Babes, silly me..."
"Gross." Lucas muttered over the edge of his notebook before continuing to write as Brock let out a groan of disappointment.
Brock cleared his throat and straightened his back, "My heart can only be yours. Certainly, you'll let me take you OW-t?!"
Dawn hid her face in her hands, feeling secondhand embarrassment for Brock as he doubled over in pain from Croagunk's swift Poison Jab that was directly hit in Brock's…She shuddered thinking about it and decided to change the course of the conversation.
"Sorry about that...my name's Dawn. I came to Alamos town to enter the Pokemon Contest!"
"I'm Ash," He said, beside her and lifted up his right shoulder. "And this is my partner, Pikachu." Upon being introduced, Pikachu chattered its own name excitedly.
There was a slight pause of silence as Alice looked expectantly towards Lucas before he fumbled with his notebook and cracked a smile, "You can call me Lucas," He said, at last. "Thank you again for letting us ride across in your balloon!" He bowed curtly.
Alice nodded and instructed her Chimchar to use Flamethrower once more and Dawn felt her stomach lurch up again as the balloon began to pick up speed. She bravely peered over the side of the basket, squinting against the sunlight reflecting on the water in the basin. "The lake is really pretty." She said aloud.
"Not as pretty as Alice!" Brock jumped up from the floor of the container.
"That was fast," Ash commented.
Dawn let out a sigh, "He's used to it."
"By the way...are you a trainer, Alice?"
She shook her head, "I'm usually studying music," She said, retrieving a wide oval leaf from her pocket. "but sometimes I'm a tour guide on this balloon."
Alice stretched the leaf against her lips and the gentle notes began to fill the air. It sounded muted yet playful and carefree, like the melodies of Pidgey welcoming the radiant pastel sky of the dawn. At first, calm, muted and wavering before soaring into deep violet hues blending into warm reds, then orange to sunny yellow with bands of shining pearls stretching across the horizon.
A bevy of Pidgey rose up beside their wicker basket. The Pidgeotto near the front of the flock, twittered harmoniously with the intonation of Alice's melody and responded by fluttering its wings out.
The Pidgeotto reciprocated with a series of shrill chattering and flew off towards Alamos Town with its congregation as Alice ended her song with a few short notes. The flock of Pidgey dipped down and climbed the air again, a cluster of Pelipper followed close behind, excitedly honking against the wind.
"The Pokemon are showing me the air current," Alice explained, "Let's go, Chimchar!"
The air balloon ascended again and Dawn loosened her grip on the edge of the basket, looking forward in the direction of Alamos Town. Orange shutters from the roofs of the building were more discernible now and its streets were filled with bustling villagers traveling to and from across the gray stone brick streets. Lining across the streets were strings of round multicolored lanterns. But the building that caught Dawn's interest the most, was the town's centerpiece. Two large spiraling towers joined together by a bridge-like gateway with a staircase spiraling up to the very apex of the two towers, caught light of the noon sun. Its bronze illuminated almost like gold light reflecting on honey, an appropriate contrast of ancient nostalgia against the fresh blue backdrop of the sky.
"Those are the Space-Time Towers," said Alice, "They were based on the old Brass and Tin Towers of Ecruteak City in Johto. When Godey, a famous architect in Sinnoh from 100 years ago, assumed responsibility for its design. He paid homage to Dialga and Palkia by constructing those two towers. The Space-Tower, located on the left, has a central design resembling that of Palkia's Lustrous Orb. The Time Tower, located on the right, has diamond shaped objects encrusted over the spire, and a design similar to that of Dialga's Adamant Orb."
"Fascinating." Lucas marveled, once again jotting down notes in his notebook.
Alice gestured a hand towards the base of the tower, "That's where we are holding the Pokemon Contest, Dawn."
The beautiful tower was already enough to make her smile, but the fact that the contest was going to be held there, made her heart pound with excitement. She wondered for a moment if her mother ever participated in the Alamos Contest as well.
"You four came just in time for the Alamos Carnival," Alice continued, "It's a historical tradition that takes place on the streets of the city and has done so since the 16th century. The first day of the Carnival is where you'll find an abundance of food markets all over the city. We spend this week celebrating and taking part in battles. With over 30 parades, dancing and costumes, floats, a firework show and the 'Arrival of the King', you simply must take part in our celebration!"
"Sounds like fun! Wanna stay here for the week before we head out to Solaceon City?" asked Ash, turning around to face the group.
"I'd love to spend the whole week with Alice!" Brock exclaimed.
Dawn turned to Lucas who was still scribbling in his notebook, "What about you, Lucas? Want to hang out with us while we're here?"
He looked up from his notes for a moment and returned his eyes to the paper, "I really can't." He replied. "I have to get this information back to Professor Rowan after three days."
"Well I really can't force you...but let us know if you're free for dinner or something and maybe we can hang out a bit then?" She gave him a smile.
"Maybe I'll stick around for a little, just for today." He said, returning the smile.
Suddenly, the wicker basket began violently rocking back in forth and Dawn felt her stomach reel as she took staggering steps toward the support frame that held the basket up and lunged her shaking arms around it. Breathing hard, she held on to the frame as tightly as she could, letting out a shriek as the basket dipped forward. She clenched her eyes closed, feeling her stomach drop with every swinging motion. When she dared to open her eyes again, vibrant waves of kaleidoscopic colors crashed over her vision and a sharp sting throbbed in her forehead with a low rumbling sound ringing into her ears.
In the next few moments, the shaking began to cease and the balloon was stable again. Dawn cracked her eyes open, and steadied herself upright, still holding onto the frame for support, her legs tremulous as she tried to stand correctly. She took in deep breaths, trying to ignore her heart pounding loudly in her ears.
"Is everyone alright...?" Alice asked, at last, trying her best to sound calm and unconcerned about their situation. Dawn glanced over at the blonde. She looked a bit shaken, but otherwise alright.
Brock breathed out a shaky sigh, "What was that?"
"I suppose it could have been the air currents...but nothing like this has ever happened before..." Alice stood quiet for a moment, "Sorry if you all got scared, I'll make it up to you by showing you around town!"
"Yes, please!" Lucas shouted excitedly.