Chapter 1 – Call of the Sea

Kyrene

My name is Kyrene Maris, and I'm a Pokémon Trainer. I'm nearly thirteen years old, with really long golden-brown hair and royal blue eyes. As of now, I'm wearing jean capris, a gold t-shirt, a loose blue vest over that, my Pokéball belt, and teal tennis shoes.

I've been traveling the different regions for about three years now, and I've got a huge collection of Pokemon to show for it. Accompanied only by my Pokemon, and always by my faithful Vaporeon (who preferred to stay on my shoulder rather than its Pokéball), I've been through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and I just finished the Sinnoh League. Right now, I'm returning to Kanto to see if the League has gotten any more challenging – mostly on the suggestion from Professor Oak. He's like a father to me.

My team as of now consists of my Vaporeon, Mudkip, Dragonite, Lucario, Weavile, and Lapras. They work really well together, so I'm going to use them to beat the league again.

The quickest way to the Kanto League was to take a boat from Snowpoint City to Cinnabar Island, and surf from there. Or to just fly to the League. But I guess I've always felt a connection with the sea; I'd rather sail and surf than fly, if given the choice. However, right now, I did not much want to wait for the ship to dock, as unloading with the other passengers could produce disastrous results.

We were approaching Cinnabar Island now, and I walked over to one of the sailing attendants to ask if that was possible.

"Excuse me," I said tentatively, poking him on the shoulder.

He turned around with a smile. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Um, if I showed you my ticket now, could I disembark?"

He looked confused. "Disembark here? In the water? If you'll just wait a few more minutes, miss, we'll be docking at Cinnabar Island."

"I have a Lapras. And I'd prefer if the other passengers didn't know I was on the boat. I've kinda been in hiding the whole time."

"Vaporeon!" Vaporeon agreed from my shoulder. I gave him a sheepish smile as I handed him my ticket. One look at it, and the confusion completely cleared from his face.

"Oh! My apologies, Miss Maris. Please, feel free to disembark in whatever way you wish! Oh, and, um, if you wouldn't mind…" he dug in his pocket and produced an empty Pokéball and a pen. "Could you autograph this?"

I was slightly taken aback. I mean, I knew I was a little famous, but asking me to autograph a Pokéball? That was just… over the top. "Uh, sure," I shrugged, despite not liking it. It was the least I could do.

"Great!" He handed me the Pokéball and the pen, and I quickly scribbled down my signature and handed them back to him. He, in turn, handed me back my ticket, which I stuffed in my pocket. I thanked him, and ran back to the boat railing, grabbing one of the Pokéballs off my belt in the process. Vaporeon clung tightly to my shoulder.

"Lapras!" I muttered, glancing furtively over my shoulder for any other crazy fans. "Get us out of here!" My Lapras appeared in the water in a flash of light, and I jumped onto her back. She darted away into the open ocean, heading around Cinnabar Island towards Route 21.

Okay, I guess I should explain about the whole fame thing.

You see, apparently I'm the youngest person EVER to have beaten all three Leagues. Whatever. I don't care about the fame or anything; I just like traveling with my Pokémon. Unfortunately, I seem to have amassed a fan base. Lovely.

Suddenly, a Pelipper swooped in and landed on my Lapras's head. She didn't seem to mind, just kept swimming, but the Pelican-like Pokémon started staring at me. It was strange enough to see a Pelipper in Kanto, but it was getting very creepy with it staring at me like that. I tried to keep my eyes on the water, or on Vaporeon, but eventually I got fed up and lifted my gaze to meet the bird Pokémon's. That was when something really strange happened.

The Pelipper's eyes lit up and it cawed to the sky. But though I heard its cry, I also heard a voice.

Your Majesty, I have found her! The voice cried. I could have sworn it was the little bird Pokémon if I didn't know better. Only a few Pokémon could talk, and only those that knew telepathy. As far as I knew, Pelipper did not – and could not – learn telepathy. A rumble sounded from deep within the sea, and Lapras sped up a little. The Pelipper flew away, and I sighed in relief. Seriously, the staring had really been freaking me out.

But the slightly abnormal day got even stranger from there. Another rumble sounded from the ocean floor, and Lapras stopped – just froze in the middle of open water.

"Lapras…?" I asked warily. "Why did you stop?" She just turned her head to look back at me with something like excitement in her eyes. I blinked in confusion – she was stopping because she was excited? Or was it something else?

Just then, a huge shadow passed underneath us, causing me to gasp. It's just a Wailord, I told myself. Just a big old Wailord that decided to take an excursion to Kanto. Suddenly, two of the Pokéballs on my belt started rattling. The two currently empty ones. Suddenly, red light flashed out of each of them, recalling Vaporeon and Lapras as easily as if I had said, "Return!" Except I hadn't. And this left me without a ride.

I gasped as I plunged into the icy water. What the heck was that? I wondered. Sometimes Pokemon can get out of their Pokéballs, but I'd never heard of the Pokéballs recalling the Pokemon on their own! This was getting really freaky…

The shadow passed under me again as I was treading water, only larger this time, which meant it was closer to the surface. I flinched when I felt something brush my foot. Great, I thought. It would be just my luck to find the first man-eating Wailord. The shadow paused right beneath me, then, to my dismay, started rising straight up.

I tried to swim away, but it just started rising faster. I could make out sapphire blue skin and strange red markings…

Hold on a second. Strange red markings? Since when did Wailord have red anywhere at all?! I started swimming harder. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to be going anywhere – it was like an invisible current was pulling me back.

Suddenly, there was a solid surface under my feet, and I was basically forced to stop treading water. The shadow continued to rise until I was no longer in the water, but standing on a small island of blue. Two dorsal fins arched up on either side of me, and a long, somewhat triangular fin protruded from each side. On each fin was a strange red mark: a circle with several lines branching off from it towards the end of the fin.

Is this some kind of new Pokemon? I wondered. The mark on the fin looked vaguely familiar, as if I had seen it in a book before. The Pokemon listed to one side slightly, and I lost my balance, rolling down its side and off one of its fins into the water. At once, it turned to look at me.

I found myself staring into its large golden eyes that were outlined by the red lines that seemed to run all over its body, contrasting its blue skin. Its underbelly, now that I could see it, appeared to be white. Instantly, I remembered where I had seen the markings before.

It was in a book Professor Oak had shown me about Legendary Pokemon. This Pokemon looked exactly the same as the picture of the ancient legendary Pokemon Kyogre, creator of the seas. But Kyogre was a myth, wasn't it? It was legendary. Keyword: legend. However, it looked so much like the picture…

And then, to my amazement, it spoke.

Greetings, little one. It didn't open its mouth, but I could hear the voice loud and clear – it was definitely female, and reminded me shockingly of my mother's. My eyes widened in shock, and my mouth gaped uselessly like a Magikarp's.

"Y-you're Ky-Kyo-" I couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

Yes, I am Kyogre, she said gently, her eyes still locked with mine. Empress of the seas. And you are Kyrene Maris, my Chosen human.