Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon
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/ Prologue /
In a time, where Pokéballs didn't exist and humans' knowledge of Pokémon was nothing more than just a few thoughts, there existed a power that was strong beyond imagination on the planet. It was a power that could've solved everything, or destroy it all the same, therefore it would have probably be called the ultimate power. However, such a power had its price and not every creature could use it, yet there had been enough to be believe that they were the chosen ones.
With the bearer of this power standing above everyone else, it was easy to think that it shouldn't get into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, this worry soon changed into fear by the ones, who sensed the danger, or were attracted by it, because as long as you didn't own this power, your future wasn't certain.
With humans' inability to sense the radiating energy, they were subject to the happenings around them.
Only a selected number of creatures were eventually strong enough to approach the energy source without being overwhelmed by its presence. It didn't take long until the first fights broke out and soon, a massacre occurred that let everyone suffer, even those who didn't want to exploit the power.
For a long time, it seemed that the never-ending war would only end with everyone's death.
In the end, it was a coincidence or even the will of earth that might have changed the outcome.
Due to a natural disaster, the energy source broke at several places and some parts were shot away to different locations, where they were absorbed by plants and in some cases, living individuals.
In one of two important cases, the energy hit a group of humans, which leaded to a stronger resistance of them towards the remaining energy source. Specifically, it also increased their strength, speed and even reflexes to a point, where they were able to confront the larger creatures on their own.
Seeing it as their duty to finish this dark chapter, the group of humans approached the weakened energy source in order to seal it forever. Thanks to their newly gained strength, humans confronted the fighting creatures and thanks to the only creature, that had been exposed to the energy as well, they fought back the creatures that would eventually been known as legendaries.
With the war ended for the time being, the human group had to deal with the energy source that seemingly repaired itself. The natural disaster that caused the damage of the source also served as the possibility to lock the power away that depraved everyone that knew about it.
Using the earth's gigantic powers, the energy source was hidden at a place, where it couldn't return to its full power and not being found. Kept as a secret, the entrance to the place was covered by a temple and guarded by the humans.
Slowly but surely, the world turned back to normal and the human race started to live together with the creatures, they would later call Pokémon.
Everything seemed to be great, but unfortunately, it wasn't everything.
The humans, that had been exposed to the energy and used it to fight and protect, were killed from within when their life energy seemed to end abruptly. One by one, they paid the high price that nobody knew to this point and the legendary creature, that helped them, could only look on how the saviors lost their lives.
The knowledge of the catastrophe, that shouldn't have been forgotten, got lost …, but not completely.
/ Chapter 1: It starts as a whisper in the wind /
"Wow, that was an incredible story," said Ash with amazement, sitting on the wooden ground in a cross-legged position and leaning backwards on his arms.
"To me it sounded more like a fairy tale than a legend," explained Serena, a little bored. Within her lap, Fennekin had listened to the story as well and the fox agreed with her trainer by exclaiming a loud 'Fen'.
"I find it sad that all those humans died …," said Bonnie sadly.
"It was the price for using this forbidden power, no matter if it was for the good or for the bad."
Those words came from an old man, who kneeled in front of Ash's group and put his hands on his thighs. His long hair had become white over the years and his face spotted several wrinkles, but the man's eyes were as attentive as ever and he surveyed the group of kids in front of him, which gave the impression that his mind hadn't become old.
"In the end, it's still a myth, right? It's not scientifically verifiable that such a power could even exist," told Clemont the rest of his group, adjusting his glasses.
"Oh, does this mean that this story never happened," asked Bonnie, slightly disappointed.
"It's up to you to believe it or not," said the elderly.
"Anyway, I'm thankful that you let us stay in your house during this bad storm. To be honest, I don't know what would have happened if we didn't find you," said Serena, squeezing her hair to get rid of the last remaining water drops.
"Well, I couldn't just look on how a group of young trainers wanders through this forest, especially during a strong storm like this," said the man, who turned around to put some additional firewood into the chimney behind him.
The noises of the rain, cracking woods, spiting fire and howling wind went through the room.
"Can't you tell us more about this legend," asked Ash, being as curious as ever.
"Yeah, please!," said Bonnie hectically, folding her hands together to plead.
"There isn't much more that I can tell you about it," answered the host.
"I can't still imagine the power that the humans got from this source," wondered Ash aloud, thinking hard to imagine what kind of power it was. Just as clueless as Ash, Pikachu had a puzzled expression before its stomach started to rumble quietly.
"Are you hungry," asked Serena before she motioned to Pikachu to wait until she took her little basket with Pofflés out of her backpack. After she gave one to the yellow mouse, Serena also gave her Fennekin one as well and of course, the Pokémon loved them.
"It's easier to imagine than you might expect," said the elderly. "I'm sure you know the myth of Hercules and his unmatched strength. It's similar to the strength of those humans, although they might have been even stronger."
Clemont seemed not very convinced.
"Really? That sounds incredible," exclaimed Ash with clenched fists. " … Oh … you mentioned legendary creatures and later used the word Pokémon. Does this mean that it were legendary Pokémon that fought each other?"
"You're right," answered the old man, nodding.
"Did really all of them die," asked Bonnie again.
"It seems that you suffer a lot with those humans, but I fear that all of them died quickly after those events," responded the white-haired man, looking thoughtfully to a window, where hundreds of raindrops hit the glass.
"According to your story, this energy source is still somewhere on the planet, so why - - -," asked Clemont before he was interrupted by a shocked Serena.
"Where are my Pofflés," exclaimed Serena, looking desperately around for her baking.
Everyone was confused why the girl acted like that, but she soon believed that she knew who was behind the missing of her Pokémon snacks. "Clemont, did your Chespin eat all of my Pofflés again," blamed Serena the boy.
"Uh," retorted Clemont before he looked to his pocket. "It wasn't him, Serena! Really! Look, he's still in his Pokéball."
Indeed, the grass-type hadn't left its ball since they entered the house.
That was strange and everyone looked around to find the Pofflés, without much success.
"It seems that the storm won't stop until morning, so you should use the time to rest ," said the elderly unexpectedly before he stood up to walk to the exit of the room.
"I still have many questions and …," said Ash, but their host already left the room.
Ash would need to put his burning questions on ice and like the man said, the storm sill blew heavily and the rain turned into a downpour. It was still the best idea to spend the night in the house, rather than wander through the storm in search of a Pokémon centre.
Walking through the floor, the old man aimed unerringly for a spot where he just stopped to take a huge breath and to sigh. Crossing his arms, he looked down to a corner, where he saw the silhouette of a person that seemingly sat on the ground, with his back to the wall.
"Did you think that I wouldn't notice it," asked the old man.
There wasn't a response though.
"How often did I tell you that you shouldn't take away things that doesn't belong to you," scolded the elderly an unknown individual, but he made sure that he wasn't loud enough to be heard by any of his guests.
"Thousand, two-hundred and fifty times …," answered a young-sounding voice.
"If you know it, you should also know that stealing is a bad characteristic," explained the man strictly.
"I know, uncle Sato," responded the voice humbly.
"Give me the little basket," demanded Sato, which was the short version of Satomato.
Without resistance, the kid handed the object to his uncle.
"As a punishment, you'll cut firewood tomorrow, but you'll only carry ten pieces at once! Do you understand," asked the uncle with a very strict voice.
"Understood," replied the nephew.
"By the way, this baking is for Pokémon, so you wouldn't have liked it anyway," explained the uncle.
Throwing a last glance of disappointment at his nephew, Sato took the basket before he walked back to the living room, where his guests were. During the whole interaction, the nephew hadn't moved much and he remained in his sitting position. Eventually, however, he looked to two Pofflés in his hands that he hadn't returned to his uncle.
In front of the chimney, Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont rolled out their sleeping bags in order to spend the night when Sato reentered the room with Serena's missing belonging.
"Oh, that are my Pofflés," noted Serena before she went quickly to the host to take the basket. "Where have they been?"
"It was just a ghost Pokémon that behaves mischievously in my house," answered Sato.
"A … a … a ghost," repeated a pale Serena, shivering.
"You don't need to worry about it. It won't make you any trouble during the night," assured Sato before he noted, "There's a guest room at the end of the corridor that you and the little girl can use for the night."
" … I think I might want to stay here with my friends … uh … it's so comfortable in front of the chimney," explained Serena after she looked past Sato and into the dark corridor behind.
"It was just an offer," replied Sato before he walked through the house again to make sure that every window was closed during the night.
"Why didn't you accept the offer," asked Bonnie, clueless.
"Well … it wouldn't be fair to have a room while Ash and Clemont have to sleep in their sleeping bags," explained Serena uneasily and unnoticed, she pushed her sleeping bag closer to the one of Ash, who still talked with Clemont.
"Hey, Serena," exclaimed Ash, who startled Serena with his words and she became slightly red in the face. "How I see you got your Poké Puffs back."
"Oh yeah …," replied a relieved Serena. "A small Pokémon took them away that lives in the house."
"Really? What kind of Pokémon is it," asked Ash, who didn't receive an answer. "Maybe, Sato can show it to me."
When the raven-haired boy wanted to go, he was hold back by Serena, who hold on his sleeve.
With a puzzled expression on his face, Ash looked at Serena and the girl seemed to be afraid.
"Please, don't go," said Serena pleadingly. "Uh … I mean … can't this wait until tomorrow. I'm sure that Sato wants to go to bed and we shouldn't bother him anymore."
"I guess, you could be right about that," replied Ash and he returned to his sleeping back to sat down on it. As soon as he was on the ground, he already let out a yawn that immediately infected the rest of his group.
The storm still tore through the forest and evening had turned into night.
With the crackling fire behind them, the group had laid down for sleeping and while Bonnie slept in rather quickly, the remaining three stayed awake for a few more minutes. Crossing his arms behind his head, Ash looked to the ceiling before he said, "I can't stop to think about this legend."
"It's just a myth, Ash," replied Clemont. "There's no chance that something like that happened without leaving any evidences."
"Oh well? I can't tell you how many legends have become reality," responded Ash convincingly.
Serena's amazement for Ash's conviction caused her to side with him in this debate. "It sounds incredible to believe it, but anything can happen, can't it?"
"Of course," replied Ash, giving Serena a smile and she smiled weakly back.
"Whatever, we should sleep now to be rested enough for tomorrow morning," suggested Clemont and after everyone wished everyone a good night, the group drifted off to sleep despite the howling wind and bickering rain.
By next morning, the storm had ended and besides a few broken branches, it didn't cause too much damage in the forest. There were a lot of puddles on the road and ways, but with the sun shining brightly, they would surely disappear quickly.
Ash stretched his arms after the sun woke him up and he felt very refreshed.
"I haven't slept that well in a long time," said the boy.
Serena rubbed her eyes to get rid of the remaining tiredness before she took her belongings to the bathroom to fresh herself up. After the usual morning routine, the group kneeled at the table of the living room, where Sato had prepared breakfast for them.
"All of it looks delicious," noted Clemont.
"You can eat as much as you want," allowed Sato and more and more, the elderly became almost the perfect host. In Ash's case, you didn't need to tell him twice to eat as much as he wanted.
After Bonnie gave Dedenne a cracker, she had a question. "Excuse me, but do you live alone in this house?"
Nobody had thought much about this, but after Bonnie's question, it became interesting to think about it. After all, Satomato had a lot of firewood and he had to take care of this huge house, which shouldn't be easy for a man in his age.
"I live on my own," answered Satomato easily.
"You have to be in great shape to take care of the whole house," noted Serena, nipping from her tea.
"Your age shouldn't limit you in anything," explained the elderly.
Ash could only agree with this, but actually, he was too busy to try everything in front of him. Serena then handed out some of her Pofflés to the Pokémon of her group and after everyone was replete, Ash and the others put their things together before it was time to thank Sato for his hostility.
In front of the wooden house, Ash's group was ready to leave.
"I can't thank you enough for everything you did for us," said Ash honestly.
"We, too," said Serena and Bonnie.
"It was a pleasure to have such young guests and I hope that you'll be safe on your way to the next village," responded Sato. "You should reach the closest Pokémon centre in about two hours."
Bonnie had this weird feeling that they were watched by someone, but the small girl shrugged it off.
After the goodbyes, Ash's group continued their way.
Reentering the house, Sato heard how someone dashed down the stairs and to the back door. Perhaps, there was someone, who had watched the goodbye scene, but when the backdoor was opened, Sato heard the voice of his nephew.
"Uncle, I'll cut the firewood now. See you later."
Immediately thereafter, the door was closed and Sato shook slowly his head, although he had signs of a smile on his face.
There was an almost endless forest behind the house and the storm had left visible scars during last night, but all of them would eventually heal. With raindrops dropping down as dew from the leafs, it was a beautiful morning and Fletchling's chirped loudly.
After he walked straight through the woods, Sato's nephew eventually reached a clearing where he was soon welcomed by two Pokémon.
"There you are," he said, relieved. "I hope you found a good shelter during yesterday's storm."
The two fox-like Pokémon shook themselves and their fur to get rid of the remaining water, but they squealed loudly thereafter. Seemingly, those two had waited eagerly for the boy and for their surprise, he even had something for them.
"It's not much, but I think you'll like it."
With those words, he took the two Pofflés out of his jacket to give them to the Pokémon. Inspecting the unknown good, they were not sure what to think about it, but eventually, they tried it and loved it even more. Satisfied, the boy looked on how those two shone with happiness.
Suddenly, several bird Pokémon left the forest towards the sky.
Something was in the air …
"Oh, wait," exclaimed Ash shockingly, stopping right on tracks. "I wanted to ask Sato which Pokémon helped the humans in this legend."
"I guess, you missed your chance," noted Serena.
Unfortunately, Serena was right, because they couldn't just walk back to the house to ask such a random question. Despite his curiosity, Ash decided not to go back and their would perhaps be other opportunities to learn more about the past.
"I hope we'll be spared from forces of nature, like this storm, for the time being," said Clemont, not knowing what would happen next.
As on a clue, the earth started to shake and thousand of flying Pokémon left their shelter in the crowns of the trees to get out of harm's way. Becoming continuously stronger, the quake brought Serena out of balance and the girl clang to Ash's shirt to stay on her feet.
Clemont put his arms around his sister to make sure that she was okay. "What's going on? This area isn't known for earthquakes at all!"
However, as quick as this earthquake appeared, it ended again and shortly thereafter, it seemed as if nothing happened at all.
"Is it over," said Serena fearfully.
"Uh, Serena? You can let me go now," said Ash to Serena, who hugged him firmly.
Releasing him from her grip, Serena turned away to cover her increasing blush with her hands. "Sorry, Ash! This earthquake just scared me to death!"
"It's just important that all of us are okay," explained Ash before he looked to Pikachu on his shoulder.
Strangely enough, the rodent seemed to be rather absent, facing the same direction all the time.
"Pikachu? Pikachu," said Ash loudly and finally, his Pokémon woke up from its trance. Shaking its head, the electro-mouse didn't know exactly what happened to him and he was as clueless as his trainer at this point.
"It seems to be over," said Clemont. "It wasn't all too strong and not very long, but it's still a mystery to me why this earthquake happened."
"Do you think there will be more of it," asked Bonnie fearfully.
"I don't know …," replied her brother. "Anyway, we should reach the Pokémon centre. I'm sure we'll get some answers there."
"I hope that nothing happened to Sato," exclaimed Ash worriedly. "Should we go back to look for him?"
It wasn't easy to decide, but eventually, Serena was the one who said, "We should split up! Clemont, you and Bonnie should go to the Pokémon centre to learn what happened and Ash and I will go back to check on uncle Sato."
"Are you sure," asked Clemont.
"I think it's the best we can do at this point," agreed Ash with Serena.
Agreeing to meet at the Pokémon centre later in the day, the two teams went their separate ways, but they were much faster than before. Running back to the house, Ash and Serena almost ran out of breath, but they just worried too much to walk slower.
Eventually, Serena's stamina wasn't as good as Ash's, but the boy noticed this and ran as fast as the girl, so she could keep pace with him.
"Serena, are you okay," asked Ash, concerned.
"I'm fine, Ash …," responded Serena, noticing that she slowed Ash down. "You … you don't need to slow down, because of me. Go ahead and look for him."
Ash just smiled at her and gave her a straight answer.
"You don't slow me down, Serena, and besides, if another earthquake happens, I want to know that you're not alone."
To hear such caring words from him caused Serena to be flattered. Without any words needed, she just nodded in agreement and together, they aimed for the wooden house that might have received some damages during the quake.
Most Pokémon around them were still resentful after the event. There were groups of Rattatas that wandered through the forest, bug Pokémon clang to the branches of trees and many Pokémon just looked to the same spot, Pikachu had looked to during his trance.
Finally, the two teens reached the house and boy, it didn't look good or bad.
Slamming against the door, Ash knocked loudly on it and he shouted, "Uncle Sato! Is everything okay?"
There wasn't an answer though and Ash feared that might something terrible happened. Continuing with his attempts to get an answer from the elderly, Ash hit the door several times until his fists hurt too much.
"Maybe, there's another entrance," suggested Serena and started to walk around the house in search for an additional door. Eventually, she found the back door and fortunately, it was even open, so Serena shouted, "Ash, we can enter through the back door!"
Running to her, Ash pushed the door open to enter the house.
Calling for Sato, Ash ran straight through the house, but eventually, he found the old man at the stairs, leaning against the wall.
"What are you doing here," questioned Sato sternly, not having expected to see Ash and Serena again that soon. After the earthquake, chairs laid on the ground, several pictures had fallen down from the walls and even whole bookshelves were tossed to the ground.
"We just worried for your safety," explained Ash, checking on Sato.
"You don't have to worry! This quake just surprised me when I walked down the stairs," explained Satomato, suppressing the pain that he felt at the moment. However, it became obvious that the old man was hurt and Ash tried to help Sato up to bring him to a bed or something.
Serena looked worriedly around, trying to figure out what she could do to help.
Clemont and Bonnie ran as fast as they could and after a long run, they finally spotted the familiar Pokéball logo on top of the Pokémon centre. Like usual, Clemont could almost not keep up with his sister's pace and he had to stop to catch his breath.
"Clemont, you're just too slow," fumed Bonnie at her brother.
"I just can't go on," said Clemont being completely out of breath, but when he looked to the Pokémon centre, he saw that already dozens of trainers gathered in front of it and within it.
Bonnie quickly dashed to the group and pulled on some trainer's sleeve.
Looking down to the girl, the teenage girl wondered what she wanted.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me what happened," asked Bonnie pleadingly.
Apparently, the teenager, with long green hair, fought with the decision whether to tell Bonnie about it or not. Eventually, she kneeled down to the blonde girl, just when Clemont caught up with her.
" … *panting* … I'm sorry if my sister annoyed you or anything," apologized Clemont already.
"Are you her brother then," asked the green-haired Ace trainer.
"Yes I am, but why are all those trainers here? Are there Pokémon hurt," asked Clemont unknowingly.
"You haven't heard about it yet, huh," asked the female Ace trainer. "Well .. There has been a very strong earthquake in front of the north coast … and … a tsunami almost destroyed the whole coastline …"
End of chapter!