Super Smash Bros. – Big Time
Chapter 1

Lumiose City
Route 14's Stadium
11:47 PM

It had ended.

The shadows of a clouded night crept the empty streets, enveloping the heart of the Kalos region with a black tint of fear - The empty city of Lumiose should be a dazzling star during a time like such, clearing the view amidst the void of darkness. There was none of it, much less beyond the wrecked gate of Route 14. That bright star had died out in a sudden spark of eerie silence, one that quickly lit the flames of disaster, which only mere moments ago had died out from the brand new Stadium of the Route that had been erected not too far away from the city.

It was only a moment as the light of Kalos vanished.

Since its inception, it was simply circumstances which reigned it's purpouse. A means to host an unknown event that got the townsfolk excited. Rumors had gone afloat about powerful fighters of different worlds gathering, legendary tales brought to life in what was thought months ago to be mere fiction, and at last, it had been confirmed: Indeed, the Super Smash Brothers Tournament would be hosted at the Kalos region. Finally, the gathering of heroes and warriors alike had a place to call its battlefield during the initial bracket, a celebration of clashing might to witness in awe was more than inevitable. A spectacle to behold, culminating once a contestant came out on top from the furious melee.

There's nothing but a husk - Its purpouse had changed, and so did the circumstances. The fleeting glory of the finished construction that the Prism Tower powered currently fell into meaningless ruins. Its tragic mood was a sight to behold in the worst ways, but a curious object had its crash course set on the entrance. A titan of technology unseen in world of Pokémon, foreign as alien it was, a ship marvelous in its design, who belonged to one of the people set to appear in the Tournament. The seemingly metallic, orange ship was tear up and burnt, the remainder of the window covered the ground like a trap in a jungle, and the machinery within it was in constant failure, trying to bring itself back with a twitching light and a short circuit, without success. Grim, lifeless, and another victim of cruel fate.

What rested beyond the crack left by the ship would send anyone into immediate despair. The darkened hallway extended further into the center of the location, its decoration were blood and grazes across the wall, as if a beast tore its way through, and any poor soul in the way. With each step, objects without owners laid across the ground, bruised, battered, or broken outright, as a way to showcase the fallen. There were indeed victims, and they mere identity was laid out thanks to the imagination of the beholder. They stood out across the ground. No one would ignore the red, ripped up hat, nor the tiara and sword of a former contestant. Further into the center, a motionless figure rested in a wall, a male boxer with his green colored hoodie stained with a red tint, as well as a scorched, feminine body buried within the wreckage, whose hand hung out with a golden bracelet as the only recognizable feature.

If hope had a sign, it stood on the only one thing that moved within the rubble of the destroyed stadium. A small, fragile figure with prominent ears of black and yellow peeked from beneath the bent steel beams hastily holding the debris above the creature. Carefully, he came into view with a bit more confidence after his fearful, worried eyes scanned across the desolate stadium, before they focused back, nodding at another who shared the space in which they hid. Pichu, the smaller creature, waited very little for its mother, a Pikachu, to come out, as she hugged her son and looked around with him in quiet anxiety. Just as quickly as they exited their hiding spot, they jolted from a pile of rocks to another, trying to pay as much attention as they could to their surroundings, with the kid leading ahead.

They rested for a small moment, and ran to the next shadowy spot frantically. Wait. Run. Wait. Run. In spite of how much they rested, breathing was getting harder, accelerating, much like their rushed, systematic pace. They had to: If they were seen, it would be the end of it. The smaller electric rat anxiously kept the lead, finally reaching a sizable amount of wreckage to hop off to the seat area. The Pokémon followed each other step by step as they passed by the seats, heading towards the stairs, now having the mindfulness to alleviate their rhythm, but not without carrying concern. It was strangely quiet, almost to the point of madness, the only sound that they could listen to was their tired panting. Fear overtook them, and their gagged up throat wouldn't even allow them even the smallest of squeaks.

Whoosh!

Pichu had to. A faint squeal, but a clear one with the sight of a shadow quickly looming by, signifying that the shaking creature couldn't take it anymore. Shivering in fear, he would be completely helpless, if not because his mother lunged quickly and dragged him under the seats in panic. She instinctively hugged him tightly, petting his head to calm him down. Tears were rolling down the smaller rat's face, holding back from making any other sound, as the female Pikachu comforted her kid with her sights looking for the safety that had escaped them ever since this harsh, tragically everlasting moment. It didn't cease. It kept on going. It was draining them from hope.

"…I'm afraid so."
A whisper echoed from the top gate that the mother could hear thanks to her sensitive yellow ears. She aimed her sights towards the top – There was hope.
"It was reasonable … They would have gone down swinging like this anyway…"
It was a manly, rough and aged voice. One that had gone through much more than she could imagine. What a relief, it was definitely a stranger she could trust regardless.
"Nobody was ready for this. I know. We were pitted against a monster, you saw-"
The voice stopped himself before continuing, as the female Pikachu slowly peeked, tapping the now attentive Pichu softly on his shoulder.
"It's pointless, there's no one else… You think this isn't a suicide mission?"
The mother inspected the rising staircase next to their location and the direction where the rambles had come from. The stairs were roughed up, but luckily intact – Their distance towards the cramped, blackened exit above was a complicated issue. There were no more chances but this one.

They had to run.

Pikachu and Pichu both rushed with frantic breathing, completely exposed as they skipped the wide staircase as quick as they could. The lengthy climb seemed endless, their view fixed towards their goal and nothing else. Being close to each other, they synchronized in unison with their desperate lunge towards safety. The youngest animal couldn't take the fiery rhythm however, and tripped, prompting his mother to fall back and help him up.

Whoosh!

…It was closer than before. She could hear it clearly. It made her heart explode with a burning sensation of fright. The mother took the nervous Pichu and aided him, going upstairs with a frantic pace until the kid regained his footing. Soon they were both rushing up again, however, the duo was feeling the strains that adrenaline helped them ignore. They were close, but running out of time. The kid regained the lead he had initially shown when the Pokémon crawled out of hiding, until they finally reached the gate.

The electric rats had realized they couldn't hear the voice anymore, but kept running forward the hallway in which they thought it had been coming from, reaching what was at simple glance a dead end of ruins. Tight, cramped, neatly fit like a death trap for anyone, but it was different for mother and son – A hole in the lower section was small enough for any of the two to fit. Perfectly, they would simply sneak out and head to their savior, at best. Pichu regained some calm and slowly began to crawl, albeit shaking, inside the hole. Once he fully peaked out, Pikachu followed suit, as the kid went ahead. The mother stood up ready to follow him, her tail was the last thing to come out of the hole.

"Pika-!"
But the tail never made it through. Soon, she was taken back to the other side at breakneck speed as she let out a fleetingly cut squeak. Nothing else. The path was in silence again, and Pichu could only hear his own breathing as he looked back. He began to shiver. This couldn't be happening. The kid no longer stood still with that thought, soon approaching the small opening he had sneaked through.

The Pokémon was shivering. Worrisome. Afraid. His head tilted down, trying to look further even if the dark made it difficult to see. He came closer to the hole. He wanted to call for his mother – She had to be fine. Words couldn't escape him, much less he could escape alone. He didn't want to be alone.

But unwanted company at the other side opened their golden eyes – Staring directly at him.

He's here.

The rat squeaked running back like never before in his life, now in tears, fueled by nothing but sheer survival instinct. He was unable to look back while taking a turn and hear the dead end break into a million pieces: The massive body of the creature that was chasing him was hardly in ill condition, almost unstoppable as always. All in his mind was to run away as far as possible, tumbling onto some obstacles laid out in the abandoned stadium and crawling above others blindly in the dark. He didn't know where he was going at this point, completely dominated by panic and despair, until he stumbled upon something fleshy.

He fell back in tears, shaking as he crouched, covering his head. He felt as if it was the end of his short life, hopelessness filling the creature's heart in an instant. He then felt the same reassuring pat he felt previously, not unlike her mother would pet him. But this was a hand, one covered by a glove of some kind, of a male, perhaps one much more familiar – A realization that helped the creature calm down.
"Hey, kid. We'll get you out of this hell. Come on."
The same masculine voice that he had in a passing whisper was clear this time, and not a hardly audible echo across the building. Solid Snake had finally encounter the confused Pokémon, who now looked up to the jagged soldier who ordered him around.

There was a tremor between the hall, and Pichu quickly jumped out of the way, behind Snake. Both males fell back until they have reached a window by the end of the corridor the Pokémon had come from. The soldier didn't hesitate a second as the tremors continued and echoed closer and closer towards them. He was ready, having brought a rocket launcher in case he needed to use massive firepower. On a cramped location, it would be suicide – He had hoped the open stadium would be his shooting fields. Fortunately, the distance between the corridor and their spot was… Barely enough, to say the least. The weapon was soon loaded while the earth-shaking stomps soon stop as they were heard at the end of the hallway. It was a tense silence that reigned the moment of truth, the man himself in focus, awaiting the haunting target to make a move, seconds away from pulling the trigger.

What followed was a huge explosion, a ball of fire tore its way out of the ceiling of the stadium, and soon a loud crashing sound came out of the window. Snake had leaped holding Pichu in his arms into whatever was below – Luckily, it was Samus' wrecked ship, which allowed him to slide down into a much more comfortable fall. He ran as fast as possible holding the frightened animal after he regained his footing, trying to hide himself and his rescue.

Something crept up from the burning flames that the rocket launcher had created. Unharmed, unfazed, unamused. The smoke cleared up the figure of the dark, slender beast, his teeth spewing ash as he rose up into view. His sharp claws extended as well as his malefic wings as he let out a powerful roar that tear through the silence of the entirety of Lumiose City's dormant streets.

It was futile. Peace. Joy. Hope. All have become meaningless.

It had ended.

Ridley is here.

(A/N)

This is the first story I published ever, and hopefully this is the first of many chapters to to come. Although this came out of practice, I'll aim to pour as much dedication as this story needs. With that said, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of one of the many grim realizations of what we believed were good news...

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- GZ