-2-
"C'mon Flame, wake up! It's already 10:30 and we need to go see the Elders!" As Serene was saying this, she was shaking him, trying to wake him up.
"Huh…? What time is it?" said Flame in a tired tone with a loud yawn.
"Its 10:30, Flame. We need to go see the Elders and get our assignment," said Serene.
"Oh, okay," said Flame, stretching out and trying hard to wake up, "What's for breakfast Serene?"
"Umm… I don't know. You want me to cook something or should we go get something to eat?" asked Serene.
"I think we should go get something to eat, unless you don't want to that is." said Flame as he stood out of bed.
"Sure. I don't mind," replied Serene.
"So, what restaurant is good around here?" asked Flame.
"There is a restaurant called Pearson's that isn't too far from here," answered Serene in an excited tone.
"Alright, let's go then," said Flame as he walked up to Serene. Soon, Flame and Serene started walking out of their house: Flame's arm was wrapped around Serene's shoulder and Serene's arm was wrapped around Flame's hip. 30 minutes passed when they finally arrived at the restaurant.
"This place doesn't look bad at all, it looks nice. I hope the food is good," thought Flame.
"Don't worry, Flame, the food is great here," said Serene telepathically. As Flame and Serene walked in one of the greeters said "Welcome, please come with me, I'll show you to your booth". As Flame and Serene arrived to their booth, the greeter said "Your hostess will be with you soon". The restaurant had a nice 1980's look to it, but it also had a sense of tradition, since it hadn't changed its look since it established.
"Why are there so many people here? I didn't think a lot of people would come here to eat at this time," thought Flame.
"I don't know why either," said Serene as she was looking at the menu. Flame didn't think about it anymore, and asked Serene "What are you going to order?"
"I think I will go with the Chicken salad and some water to drink. What about you Flame?" asked Serene with a smile.
"I am going with the Breakfast mix; it has Hash browns, eggs, and Ham. I'll also have some water," said Flame. The waitress arrived 10 minutes later. Flame was somewhat shocked to see that their waitress was a Kirlia.
"She's a Kirlia, and she already has a job…? That's surprising!" thought Flame.
"Hey, I may just be a Kirlia, but that doesn't mean I can't have a job!" answered the Kirlia sharply.
"Umm… why does everyone have to read my thoughts…?" said Flame, thoroughly annoyed.
"Oh! I am sorry. I thought you would have blocked my mind reading," said the Kirlia with embarrassment.
"I can't block mind reading…" said Flame as he lowered his head in shame. The Kirlia nodded her head with understanding.
"I feel bad for you. I thought Gallades could block mind reading," said the Kirlia with a frown.
"Gallades can learn that, just not Flame. He didn't learn how to," answered Serene.
"Anyways, my name is Lily," said the Kirlia as she did a curtsy.
"Wow, you are so cute," said Serene with a smile.
"Thank you. What will you be having today?" asked Lily.
"I will have some water and a Chicken salad, please," answered Serene.
"Okay," said Lily cheerfully as she faced the Gallade, "And for you Flame?"
"I will have some water, and a Breakfast mix," answered Flame politely.
"Thank you," said Lilly, "Your order will be ready soon." Lily did a curtsy to Flame and Serene, and then danced off.
"I'm wondering…" asked Flame.
"What is it?" asked Serene.
"…Can you look into the future?"
"Yeah I can, but it really tires me out and I might pass out if I do it. Do you want me to?" asked Serene.
"No," answered Flame. 20 minutes later, the Kirlia waitress returned with the couple's breakfast. Flame sniffed the air: the wonderful smells coming from the food were enough to make his mouth water.
"Hey, the foods here!" said Flame in an excited tone.
"I hope you enjoy it" said Lily. She bowed and then walked off to take another customer's order.
"She's really sweet," said Serene. After about 30 more minutes, Flame and Serene had finished their delightful breakfast, left the restaurant and were on their way to see the Elders about their mission. Flame asked "Are you ready Serene?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," replied Serene. As they arrived, they stopped just outside the Elders' chamber: Serene grabbed Flame's hand and she nodded, reassuring Flame that she was ready to do her mission. They stepped into the quiet, central chamber of the immense palace.
"Aero, Blizz, and Elegon: where are you?" asked Flame. The only response he got was his voice, echoing off the walls of the large room. He quickly realized that the Elders weren't in their usual spot.
"That's strange, isn't it?" said Flame. Serene nodded.
"I guess we'll have to search for them," said Serene as she shrugged her shoulders. With that, Flame and Serene started to search the palace grounds, trying to find an Elder. The palace was made out of green and white marble and the inside of the Palace had the colors green and white everywhere. Flame and Serene started to walk through a hallway labeled "The Protectors of the past." On the left side of the hallway there were the pictures of all the Male Protectors. While on the right, there were pictures of all the Female Protectors. The pictures also listed when the Protectors had lived and the frames of the pictures were all made out of fine gold. Towards the bottom of the frame it had the name of that Protector inscribed in it.
"I wonder where your mom is?" asked Flame. Then he noticed Serene had stopped at the last picture on the right side.
"I guess this is your Mom?" asked Flame with tenderness.
"Yes" Serene answered quietly and somberly.
"What's your Mom's name?" asked Flame.
"Her name is Anna," answered Serene. Flame noticed that she looked quite young and beautiful. Also Flame noticed that she had burn marks on her arms, Flame thought "I wonder how those got there?" Flame looked left and right he noticed that there were 10 pictures, 5 on each side.
"This must be the 5 couples of the Protectors," thought Flame with amazement. A voice called out, echoing from down one of the dark hallways.
"You're right on the mark."
"Who goes there?" asked Flame. Alerted Flame stepped into a battle stance with his blades out, ready to fight. Serene jumped behind Flame for protection.
"Calm down. It's me, Aero," said the old Gallade as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh, it's only you. We were looking for you," said Flame as he retracted his mighty blades.
"Look at this picture," said Aero, pointing at the last picture on the left side. "Who is this?"
"He's a Gardevoir," answered Flame.
"No," said Aero.
"He's the fifth generation of the Protectors. And he is also my Father," explained Serene. Flame and Serene noticed that the Gardevoir in the picture had huge scars on his arms, a scar on the left side of his face and a scar on the right side of his face.
"You noticed the scars?" asked Aero. Flame and Serene nodded their heads
"Do you even know your Father's name Serene?" Aero asked, Serene lowered her head and looked away.
"No. I never knew my Father's name," said Serene with sadness in her voice.
"Your Father's name is Mark and I can also tell you how he got those scars. You see, back in the day, Mark and Anna were assigned to protect the Tribe of Grass. Many different grass-type Pokémon were in the tribe, and they were often under attack by a group called the Hell Blazers. It was a long battle with the Hell Blazers, but they were soon defeated by Mack and Anna. After that the Hell Blazers promised not to attack the Tribe of Grass anymore; therefore the Hell Blazers became allies with the Grass Tribe. Some time later, Mark and Anna were heading back to the back to the Guardian city. Suddenly, out of nowhere a Scyther and a Blaziken appeared and challenged the Protectors to a battle. Mark and Anna refused to do it, but the two other Pokémon insisted on it. After the battle was over, Mark and Anna had won. Though they had been the victors, Mark and Anna had suffered severe injuries. Their wounds healed before long, leaving the scars you saw in the picture. The Scyther and Blaziken also recovered and had been amazed at just how powerful the Protectors were. They asked 'Do you think we could help you on your protecting?' Mark and Anna gladly accepted their offer. The Blaziken and Scyther were invaluable allies and great friends with Mark and Anna. Unfortunately, things were about to take a turn for the worse. On their next mission, Anna sacrificed herself to protect a coastline from a tsunami: she had saved thousands, as well as Mark who had not seen the massive wave coming. After that, Mark left the Protectors and never returned. Soon after that, the Scyther and Blaziken left and we lost contact with them," explained Aero.
"So, that explains the scars on Mark, and the burns on Anna," said Flame.
"Yes" replied Aero, "Now, if you will come with me, I will show you what we need you to do."
"Okay" said Flame. He saw that Serene was sad, Flame whispered "Don't worry; I'm by your side." Flame held Serene's hand gently. Serene smiled and rested her head on Flame's shoulder. They followed Aero as he led them to a room, deep under the palace they had never seen before. Suddenly, Aero teleported, disappearing in a bright flash as the lights in the room came on. They saw Aero, Blizz, and Elegon were sitting on chairs up a small set of stairs nearby.
"What is this place?" asked Serene.
"This is what we call the Judgment room" Elegon answered. Serene looked around the room and saw that the room was gigantic; at its center there was a gigantic gold staircase, with a red carpet on it. The massive stairway was in front of Flame and Serene. Flame noticed that they were standing on a carpet with the Yin and Yang symbol, but instead of black and white, it was green and white.
"Please, Flame and Serene, step off the carpet," asked Blizz. Flame and Serene stepped off the carpet, and the Yin and Yang symbol started to spin faster and faster until it started to radiate a bright, white light. A strange breeze filled the room, causing the Gardevoir's skirts to blow about in the wind.
"Look into the light. If you were lying about wanting to be a Protector and instead wish to fulfill a selfish desire for power, the light will turn red and a terrible power shall scar you with horrible mental images which you will carry with you for the rest of your life. It will be two weeks until you even awaken from the immense pain," explained Elegon.
"Flame, will you look into the light? Are you are ready?" asked Aero. Flame thought for a moment as the room continued to be filled with light and wind.
"If I am not ready, my only regret will be that I won't be able to see Serene anymore," thought Flame as he gathers his courage. Flame glanced at the Elders, then he looked towards Serene, and Serene nodded. Flame finally looked into the light and a voice rang out in his mind.
"You think you are ready?"
"Yes!" said Flame with great courage.
"Then let me into your mind and soul!"
"Go ahead! I'm not hiding anything!" shouted Flame as he was blinded by the immense light. After a minute, Flame started to feel lightheaded: he dropped to the floor, his strength fading quickly.
"C'mon Flame! You can't leave me now!" screamed Serene. He glanced at Serene and saw that she was crying just as his vision turned black.
A week later, Flame finally started to wake up.
"What happened?" asked Flame as he sat up in his bed.
"Oh, Flame! You're finally up!" said Serene with delight as she held Flame in her arms.
"Don't worry I am fine, but what happened while I was out?" asked Flame.
"Well, after you looked into the light, a few minutes passed then you collapsed on the ground," answered Serene.
"Did the light turn red?" asked Flame with hesitation.
"No" answered Aero as he stepped into the room, "We were quite surprised that you fainted for a week after the light had turned green. We did research on this incident and from what we found; the other Elders and I believe that you may very well be the most powerful Protector in history!"
"Serene? What happened when you looked into the light?" asked Flame. Serene smiled nervously.
"I couldn't look into the light without you by my side. So, I took you back to our house and haven't left your side at all," said Serene.
"Thank you" said Flame cheerfully as hugged Serene and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh, Flame, I really missed you too," said Serene telepathically.
"Serene, are you ready to look into the light?" asked Aero.
"Yes" said Serene.
"Then let's be off," said Aero as he started back on his way to the palace with Flame and Serene in tow. It took over half an hour, but they finally arrived back at the Judgment room. As the symbol on the giant carpet started to spin, suddenly, Flame started to felt light-headed and he stumbled to the ground as a strange feeling of exhaustion came over him. Serene gasped.
"Flame!" shouted Serene with fear.
"Don't worry, I'm just feeling light-headed. Please, just look into the light before I pass out…" said Flame weakly. Serene stood up, and the symbol started spinning faster and faster and before long, it produced a bright white light. Serene looked at Flame as he was kneeling down with his hands on the floor.
"Go for it!" shouted Flame. Serene looked into the light and a few minutes later she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
"Serene!" yelled Flame as the light soon turned a bright green.
"I guess she'll wake up in a week," said Aero. At that moment, Flame dropped to the floor and passed out from exhaustion.