Guardians of Paradise

Prologue

I have always never thought before I acted… I guess that's how I got in this situation in the first place. I have always put the fate of others before my own. That's just the way I am…but now I'm afraid…this could be it for me. I have only one shot, one chance, and it could be my last. To save the lives of the ones I care about…to save the life of the world…I must give up my own…

Chapter 1: Only Human

I have always never thought before I acted… I guess that's how I got in this situation in the first place. I have always put the fate of others before my own. That's just the way I am. Forgive me, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. My name is Aiden. At age 19, I was a Pokemon Master, but later resigned after a few years to help with a greater cause. My friends and I used the knowledge and money that we gained from our previous careers to open Mt. Paradise, a secluded mountain plateau with endless acres of land perfect for both rescued and wild Pokemon alike. We also put together a task group to keep Pokemon safe from poachers like Team Rocket and now the more sinister and deadly group, Team Chaos.

One day, I got a call from one of my old professors. He found out that Team Chaos had sent some of their men to a place called the Tree of Beginning, a Pokemon paradise not too different from our own here. I volunteered to go check out what they were up to.

(You see, this is what I was talking about earlier about the 'thinking' thing. I should've known better.)

Anyway, I took a Flygon there and began my investigation. It turns out they were causing trouble there, of course. They were catching Pokemon using strange kind of poke balls that I had never seen before. The Pokemon that they used seemed sinister somehow, like they were being controlled more than just listening to their masters. I knew this was bad. Whatever Team Chaos was planning, they had to be stopped.

The first time I tried to take them on was terrible. I thought they were cutthroat before, but what I saw and experienced that day…it's almost impossible to describe. Their Pokemon had no hesitation, no recollection of what they were doing. They nearly killed my Pokemon as well as myself. I managed to escape and made it to the Pokemon Center down the road from the closest town, how I'll never know. I never considered my Pokemon my servants, my tools or anything like that. They're like family to me. I tried contacting base for back-up, but the phone lines were dead and because of the Tree's interference I couldn't use my other gear to contact them. I was really alone.

From the Pokemon Center I already could see the signs of Team Chaos' plans unfolding. The wild Pokemon outside ran by the windows of the building, away from the forest. They were restless, confused, frightened…I knew that this would be just the beginning if someone couldn't stop them. Knowing they were in no condition to continue fighting and in fear for their safety, I left my Pokemon behind…a promise that I hated to break…and went back to the Tree of Beginning alone. Before leaving, I left the nurse at the Pokemon Center my information and a message for the people back at base in case I didn't make it back. I knew that if I didn't contact them, my team would come here and take my Pokemon back to Mt. Paradise where they would be safe.

I took Flygon to the foot of the Tree and told him to go back to the Pokemon Center and wait for my team to take him and the others home. He flew back at lightning speed and I entered the cavern entrance. I took a deep breath before I looked around the first corner. There were two guards there, they really didn't look like they were paying attention, but their Pokemon were on high alert. I had one option, I would have to fight my way through. Carefully and quietly I opened my nap sac and took out one of my latest inventions, a glove with the ability to collect data from Pokemon I have trained and allow me to use some of their attacks myself. I had never used it before and I didn't know what it would do to me, but I had no other options. I put the battle glove on and the computer came online.

Softly, I gave the computer a command, "Scan Sora."

Sora was my alternate colored Raichu that I had trained from a Pichu and she was also the very first Pokemon I had ever trained. The computer scanned for her attacks and loaded them in. I readied myself for the most serious battle of my life. It was a whole room of grunts and their Pokemon against me, I had to be careful. As soon as the scan was completed, I rushed out and used Quick Attack on one of the guards and used Quick Attack again to hide. They all had no idea I was there. I tried another attack using Quick Attack and Thunder together. It took a while, but eventually I took them all out. In that instant, I knew how dangerous this invention really was. All of this power flowing through me, I really liked it. I kept my self control, but I thought about what would happen if this fell into the wrong hands. No matter what happened, I absolutely could not get caught with this.

I ran in a bit further into the caverns. I saw more crystals around me so I knew I was on the right track. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched by someone.

I stopped just a few feet from the corner of the entrance into one of the grand halls of the cavern. I took out a video recorder from my bag and slightly pointed it toward the corner. I looked at the view screen and could see the room was crawling with grunts and their Pokemon, most of which were Toxicroak and Seviper. That was just like Team Chaos, having a room full of deadly Pokemon to protect the few grunts they had there. Those cowards.

Great just what I needed, I really need to be careful now. If I get hit by any of those Pokemon, I'm a goner, I thought to myself.

Just then, I got that same feeling that I was being watched. I quickly turned around and just two inches from my face was Mew! I was startled and almost let out a yell when I caught myself and put my hand over my mouth.

Dear god, I hope they didn't hear that, I tried so hard not to breathe. That was a scary thought.

I waited a minute to see if I could hear them coming… …nothing, not a sound. I breathed a sigh of relief and then gently told the Mew to shh.

Mew was a fun loving Pokemon by nature, I knew this from reading articles about them from people that have claimed to have seen Mew.

I knelt down and Mew hovered at my level just a few inches from the ground. It was really curious, I guess it wanted to know what I was doing and thought I looked silly just hiding behind this rock. I looked at Mew, I didn't know how to explain to it the situation I was having. My own Pokemon understood me, but that was different. Mew has never met me before and, most likely, has never met another human before me or these creeps invading it's home. I took a deep breath and began to explain to it what was going on.

As I was telling Mew about how the men were bad and that I was trying to help, it seemed to understand me.

"Well", I said taking a deep breath, "I have to go."

Just when I was about to rush out there, felt a tug on my jacket. It was Mew. It let out a little peep sound, like it was telling me to 'wait'. I actually understood what it was saying. I knelt down beside Mew, making sure that I understood it correctly.

"You…wanna help me?", I asked curiously.

Mew nodded and let out a soft cry. I really didn't like the idea of Mew helping me, I didn't want it to get hurt. Well, it wasn't like I could tell it 'no you can't help me save your home'.

"Okay", I agreed, "but you have to be careful."

Mew got a little excited and I reminded it gently to be quiet. Mew covered it's mouth the same way I did when it startled me. My god, it was too darn cute.

I peeked around the corner one last time, I had my glove ready and tightened my fist. I wasn't going to let Team Chaos beat me again. I failed once, I won't make let them get away with it twice. I glanced a little at Mew.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Mew", Mew piped and nodded.

I started counting down, "Three…"

One of the Pokemon finally caught my scent, their senses must be seriously lacking due to their hypnotized like state. Or it could just be their master's poor training methods.

"Two…", I took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for the battle that was about to unfold.

The Pokemon that sensed my presence started walking toward the corner.

"Now", I ordered quietly and rushed out into the open.

I used Quick Attack from my scanner and hit the Toxicroak hard. I looked over where Mew had appeared over a group of Pokemon and quickly teleported them out of the hall. I assumed it dropped them off out of the Tree or somewhere where they couldn't do any harm. The other Pokemon saw me and jumped in to try and attack me, but Mew was way ahead of them and teleported me to the other side of the hall. This gave me the room I need to use one the strongest attacks Sora had. I used Quick Attack, Thunder, and Iron Tail together to make Volt Tackle. Now when I used Iron Tail I noticed that since I didn't have a tail, the energy went to my arm instead, I wondered how that would work. I hit about three of the Pokemon, but as I went to turn around I saw another Toxicroak behind me. It was about to use Poison Claw on me, but Mew teleported me out just in time. I came up above him and used Zap Cannon. The grunts pulled out their guns and started firing. I heard their confusion as I took their Pokemon out one by one.

"What is this guy, some kind of half-Pokemon or something?" One of them yelled nervously.

"I don't know, but I think he's heading right for us!"

Oh, I was more than heading right for them, I was on a collision course. I had a Zap Cannon saved in my hand and was using a Quick Attack at the same time. I was trying something new. I pulled my arm back as I appeared right in front of one of them, I hit him with the attack dead on. I'm sure it felt like an electrified truck just ran into him. He blew to the other side of the hall and was knocked out cold.

I turned to the other grunt, who was shaking terribly as he held the gun right at me. He had just realized that he was literally the only one left in the room, no more grunts, no Pokemon, just me…and him.

I gave him a look of anger as walked toward him. My glove began to glow, I bet I looked like some angry spirit or something to this guy, because he didn't fire at me, not even once. I was no more than a foot from him now, that's when I realized that he was just a kid, not much younger than I was. My expression didn't change however, I just looked at him thinking how could he have chosen a path that would lead to innocent Pokemon getting hurt or killed.

In one motion, he turned his gun around and offered it to me. I took it from him and then used Thunder to fry the gun's circuits. I had no use for the gun, and I really wanted to scare the shit out of him. I tossed the gun aside, never taking my eyes off of him. The grunt fell to his knees, he obviously thought I was going to kill him. I would never do such a thing, of course, but he had no idea what I was thinking.

"Go ahead and kill me," His voice began to shake, "I never wanted to do this…The things we've done…the killing, the manipulation, I can't stand it!…"

He was really breaking down now, he really meant what he was saying. Not acting at all. He sincerely meant that he regretted everything he did. Poor, lost creature, I thought to myself.

"…Please..", I could feel the lump in his throat as he barely got out the words that nearly made my skin crawl, "…kill me…"

I waited the for a moment, not quite sure of what to do. I took a few steps back and took a deep breath, I noticed it was getting harder for me to breathe. I figured it must've been the adrenaline rush. He noticed I stepped back and looked at me.

"Why?"

Exactly what I was thinking, why? Why didn't I just take this kid out like the rest of the goons in this place. I knew why now, it was just that. He was just a kid. I gave him a slightly sincere look, I had no idea what to say. I looked back and saw Mew at the other end of the hall. It was motioning to me to get a move on. I can tell, it was just too animated. I looked back at the boy.

"Because I see more in you", that was all I could think of to say at that moment. The same thing my old professor said to me when he gave me the chance to become a Pokemon trainer.

I quickly turned and ran toward the entrance. I stopped and looked back one last time and gave him a look.

"I'd get out of here if I were you." I warned and I dashed out of the hall into another cavern around the corner and left the boy alone to his thoughts.