Arc 1: One World: Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon; Pokémon belongs to a very rich company called Nintendo. I only own my individual characters and ideas.

AN: Redoing this because, while I love the idea, I didn't really like the way it was going and the writing was by no means my best. Considering that I only had one real chapter out it seemed simpler to simply edit what was already on here. This might seem a little confusing because it changes point of view from one paragraph to another but I tried to keep them in order of Manabu, Candace and Ian. Keep in mind that all of this happens simultaneously. This is the prologue and the rest of the story will not be like this, as it will take place primarily from Candace's point of view. Also this is rated T for a reason; expect swearing and eventual violence! There are potential character deaths in later chapters. Please review!

In A Pokémon World

A smirk pulled Keegan's chapped lips as his fingers flew rapidly over the keyboard. Sounds of keys being pressed echoed loudly throughout the vacant room as eyes that were as blue as the day lit sky gazed unblinking at the massive computer screen. As the scientist's head tilted slightly, the glow of the screen caught the lenses of his square glasses. Keegan's thin figure was covered with an off white lab coat and he sat hunched over in his black office chair. A thin layer of prickly stubble was visible on his usually cleanly shaven face. Blowing a strand of messy red hair out of his eyes, the sleep-deprived scientist never wavered. The only movement that betrayed his excitement was his right foot tapping impatiently on the grey slate tiles below him. Manabu quietly observed the man that had employed him, while pausing at the doors that had slid open silently and gazing down at the document in his hands. While he knew in the beginning that this experience would be unlike anything he had experienced before, what was going to happen soon was something that he had never even thought of, let alone aspired to.

Growling in frustration, Candace fought the urge to throw her DS to the wooden floor below her. After a countless number of times getting an error message the brunette had finally given in and checked what was wrong on her laptop. Apparently her bloody DS was not compatible with the way her family protected their source of Internet. While the teen was not certain of the exact method, she was by no means as computer savvy as that, she knew that the current password was not a WEP key. Exhaling sharply, she turned her head around and pouted at the person seated in the armchair near the couch that she was sitting on. A raised eyebrow was her only answer and she crinkled her nose at him in retaliation.

Calloused fingers massaged his forehead as Ian gazed unblinkingly at the screen. After all the time he had spent at his desk, all of the kanji, katakana and hiragana had long begun to mix together. While the team had long since begun the translation of their current project, it was due to come out in about eight days in Europe after all. He was a recent addition to the team and as a supposed pair of fresh eyes; they wanted his 'opinion' on what had been translated. So they wanted him to translate this particular part of the script to the best of his abilities and compare it to what they already had. A bit of last minute touching up that no one else wanted to do and seeing as he was new here he had no seniority, or any other power, that allowed him to pass it on to someone else. Ian, one translator of many at Nintendo, had managed to land a part in the translation of Pokémon Black and White even if it was this soon before when it was being released. Checking the time on the bottom of his computer screen, it was a lovely ten o'clock morning on February the twenty seventh, and he groaned while gritting his teeth. Leaning back in his office chair out of his small grey cubicle, Ian made sure the coast was clear before righting himself and whipping out his sleek blue and black DS Lite. Shoulders tense, even with the sound off and the light level low on his DS; he began the process to connect to the Internet on his DS. He wanted the complete trio of legendary dogs and seeing as today would be the last day he could get Suicune...

"Mr. O'Neil?" He questioned politely to announce his presence, even as the sound of his footsteps hitting the slate tile echoed throughout the computer lab. Keegan merely grunted to acknowledge the question, knowing it was simply how Kobayashi acted, while his blue eyes remained glued to the large screen attached to the wall and his hands glided swiftly over the keyboard. The hum of the enormous computers on either side of him soothed nerves that had been frayed. Keegan motioned to his lab assistant with a single finger on his raised hand. Holding back a frustrated sigh, Dr. Manabu Kobayashi handed the report to his employer. Eyes rapidly absorbing the information, Keegan smiled.

Having finally convinced her father by metaphorically poking and prodding him, he had temporarily disabled the password on the router so that she could download the event pokémon that was currently available with ease. Due to having an unusually busy school year, she was in Grade Ten and having had been unused to the workload, she had not really had time or effort to play videogames. On a whim she had gone on Serebii; a commercial for cereal on the television advertising Pokémon Black and White as prizes had reminded her that they were coming out in english relatively soon. That had peaked her curiosity. On the website she had found out that, while she had missed her chance to get shiny versions of the other legendary dogs, she still had a chance to get a Suicune today if she managed it before seven pm. With that Suicune she would be able to get Zoruark when she had the money to buy either Black or White. Candace hadn't decided yet

"Shit! Someone's hacking into the servers, we need help!" A feminine voice screeched as the panicked intern in charge of monitoring the website ran down the main pathway. She was also, apparently, in charge of running off to get help. Green eyes momentarily left the DS in his hands and widened as the desperate blonde ran through the office. Glancing down, he could see that his DS was finally downloading the event Suicune. The shaggy haired young man was by no means all that good with computers, he was here to work on translation after all, but he knew he had to do something to help. As Ian scurried away, he left his DS on the desk on top of all the papers strewn across it, and went to see what he could do. Unbeknownst to the panicking staff at the office in Redwood Washington, similar calls echoed in the other Nintendo offices worldwide.

A cold chuckle that sent shivers up Manabu's spine erupted out of Keegan. Dark, almost black, brown eyes had narrowed the very moment the redhead in front of him had opened that particular program. The scientist didn't even know why he felt that particular brand of surprise considering the circumstances. This had been the best offer of what he had wanted after all, even if it had been just in the beginning and before he had learned of Keegan O'Neil's rather eccentric nature and plan. He also knew, very well, what Mr. O'Neil had planned for today. Clearing his throat, Manabu inclined his head to the side, as the face with slightly manic twinkling blue eyes finally looked his way. Understanding the silent question, Keegan, having finally regained his composure sneered, "You know very well what I just did, Kobayashi."

Candace suppressed a squeal as she saw the message that she was receiving the Suicune appeared on the bottom screen of her DS. While she would have preferred to have more than one, Suicune was her favorite legendary dog, as she had more than one pokémon game, her father had cut that notion short as it had taken her a while to get everything working and he didn't want to leave the internet at their home unprotected for long. Despite pouting and giving him her best puppy eyes, he hadn't budged. The silver handheld device in her hands was one color; almost the same exact shade of silver as the original Gameboy Advanced SP she had owned when she was younger. For that reason she felt slightly nostalgic whenever she so much as held it. Candace had many pleasant memories associated with the device and could easily recall countless times when she played games such as Pokémon Sapphire or Golden Sun. Looking down, she froze as something very unusual happened, her mouth opened and her surprised squeak came out as, "What-"

"- the hell?" Ian mumbled as he looked at the DS on his messy desk. The screens were giving off an odd glow; zeros and ones were visible on the touch screen as they scrolled down in rectangular columns. The numbers were pitch black and the background was the white typical of the device. On the top screen was a familiar looking loading bar and text that said to press the B button if he wanted to cancel the update. The loading bar was at ten percent. He cocked his head to the side as he sat down at his desk. Despite his attempts to help he had been shooed away by the tech guys. Apparently, they did not appreciate his efforts. He grumbled, they didn't want his help, so why the hell should he tell them that something weird was going on with his stupid game boy? He merely raised an eyebrow and pushed it away. He had work to do; Pokémon Black and White weren't going to translate themselves after all. He had been excited to work on them when he first arrived but it hadn't taken long for him to realize that he was simply going over material that had been translated before. This was just another test of his skills that he was going to damn well pass.

Over the comforting hum of the computers, Manabu flinched, as the pained roars became loud enough to overcome the efforts that had gone into making that particular area of the lab sound proof. He gave his own hand a comforting squeeze, unseen by Keegan seeing as the man was now watching over the list on the screen like a hawk, and tried to forget the incredible evidence of the impossible that was nearby. Out of sight but not out of mind. It would become his reality soon enough anyway and there was no need to speed up the inevitable. Manabu steadied himself as he saw Keegan move. Tongue swiping over his bleached white teeth, Keegan announced, "You better get back to your little girl, Kobayashi, you now have a more… involved place in the experiment."

Ian jumped in his seat, as he was jarred out of concentration by a sudden noise and a flash of light. He pressed the backspace button on his keyboard to delete his mistakes as his attention was drawn to the source of the disturbance. In addition to what appeared to be a slight change in appearance, his DS's screen displayed an unfamiliar title screen and his eyes concentrated on the title displayed on the top screen. The unfamiliar title of PokéWorld was there in the familiar yellow and blue text that had long ago become the staple part of a franchise. He felt stares burning into the back of his head while, despite having turned the sound off, his DS belted out a very familiar theme song.

Candace's surprise turned to panic as the hand held device suddenly turned uncomfortably hot, almost enough to draw the instinctive reaction to any source of extreme temperature, and she dropped the DS onto her lap. Forced to clamp her eyes shut, due to the sudden bright light coming from what she assumed was the screen, Candace froze. While the thought that it was very lucky that she had been sitting down on the couch instead of standing up because her DS would have broken otherwise passed through he mind, she was also chastising herself for thinking that while the almost molten device was on her body. Tensing further, but not in any real pain, she could make out the sounds, no words, that came out of her DS.

So you wanna be a master of Pokémon?
Understand the secrets and have some fun!
So you wanna be a master of Pokémon,
Do you have the skills to be number one?