Prologue
Finding herself surrounded by the horrific stench of fear and coated in her own cold sweat, Erika Pressley awoke from her nightmarish endeavours to the dark, lonely interior of her bedroom.
Erika felt as if she had been placed in a great vice, and only her hard, heavy sighs pierced the silence of her apartment. The vision she had just experienced was truly terrifying: the mere thought of it made her heart race. However, she found that as she continually tried to recollect the events of her nightmare, it became a progressively harder task.
This was not uncommon for Erika. She had once guessed that she must have the same nightmare at least twice a month. But she could never recall what occurred. What was so terrifying? What was the vision that threw her heart into such erratic thumps of fear? She had absolutely no idea. She was certain it was the same, recurring nightmare - she at least had managed to remember that she was young, and that their seemed to be Pokemon involved. Those details were "so vague", however, as her colleagues had often pointed out, and the exact events of the dream danced on the outskirts of her memory, teasing her. But it had to have been the same nightmare. It always instilled the same shock and horror in her, and the way in which it overwhelmed her senses was unmistakable.
There was another reason that assured her it was the same nightmare, but a reason that she could share with only five other people on the planet. The Creeds. Whenever she awoke, she would feel a burning sensation in her finger. Looking down at the two golden rings, something always caught her eye: for a few instances after she awoke, the Ruby and Emerald embedded in the rings would glisten beautifully, before returning to their regular state that the night's darkness commanded. On this night, Erika remembered her mother, many years ago, warning her of the dangers of wearing jewellery to bed - of the risk that one might cut one's circulation of. Erika cringed at the realisation that she had been disrespecting her mother for so long, but the circumstances were much different, and these rings could not simply be tossed aside for hours on end.
The burning pain in Erika's finger grew. Odd, she thought. The pain usually subsided after several seconds, but now minutes had passed and the pain was actually increasing. Having calmed down after her violent awakening, she stood up, and started towards her balcony door - she needed fresh air. The moment she reached for the handle, the small glow from the two jewels morphed rapidly into a spectacular display of unmatched red and green light. The burning was replaced by an irrefutable sense of warning in Erika's brain. She recoiled from the handle in surprise and fear - this sudden sense of foreboding troubled her.
She regained her form, and for a second time reached for the door. The jewels still shone, but after the door had opened, the beams of light retreated until even the small glimmer that Erika had initially observed was gone. Hurriedly, she looked left, right, and then centre; towards the grand, sprawling forest that lay a few hundred yards behind her apartment. She could not dismiss the worrying thought that some kind of shadow was looming over her. At first, she decided that such a "shadow" must be the delusional mystery of her nightmare.
Or maybe I'm just delirious, she thought. It was a long day yesterday and I've had barely any sleep. Certain that her second train of thought was more comforting and more logical, she made her way back into her bedroom, not noticing the tiny glimmer that the jewels emitted when she did so.
~o-o~o~o~o~o~
Several hundred yards away from Erika Pressley's apartment, a middle-aged man watched from his eerie forest dwelling. He licked his lips at the sight of Erika, and patted the jagged Pokemon by his side. You are truly a disgusting little creature, he thought to himself as his crooked, charred hand stroked the wild raccoon-like Pokemon that had sidled over to him. He did not mean to call the Zigzagoon disgusting - he was in fact referring to Erika. His obsession, coupled with the mere glimpse of her tingled his every desire as sinister thoughts lapped over his brain like icy white fingernails. But you have caused me great displeasures nonetheless. Your fancy lightshow won't be there forever.
He pulled out a piece of ripped, ancient parchment. It featured a large drawing that the man was very accustomed to: a hexagon surrounded by six identical triangles. The hexagon was split into six more inner triangles, connected by a circle in the centre of the hexagon, and seemingly random speckles floated aimlessly in the triangles. The man became enraged. The meaning of the circle and the dots - if a "meaning" even existed - was still a mystery to him, and his plans had been halted until said mystery was solved. Tired and irate, he smacked the Zigzagoon, and as it ran off with sobs of fear and pain, he returned to his home: deep in the forest, away from the world.