Woweeeeeee! I haven't been on here for a long time O_O Boy, fanfiction has changed... and this document manager text is puny! Ah, well, nothing I can do about that. I'm back, and with a new tale here to boot. I do hope you readers will enjoy this. It's not my first Pokemon tale, but it's definitely the first one to be published on fanfiction. Here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Chapter 1: The Attack

They came in like a virus - silent, unsuspecting, and then once within, they wrought destruction upon the little town of Primordia.

Cyrano had been looking after his ten-year-old sister, Ida, when he first heard the shouts and crashing coming from the town hall. His home was on the edge of town, the town hall in the center. If HE could hear it, something awful was going on.

"Ida, I'm going down there to see what's happening." He scrambled to get his sweater on and shoved his feet into his shoes.

His sister stood at the foot of the stairs and scowled. "I want to go with you," she whined.

He glared at her. "No, Ida. This sounds bad. Stay home and keep safe-"

"No!" She dashed forward and clung to his arm. He winced as he felt prickling of static where she gripped his arm. "Please please please let me help you, I can shock bad guys super easily!"

Cyrano pried his sister from his arm and ruffled her lanky mop of hair. "Just stay, all right?" he said to her in his most coddling voice possible. "Go hide in your room or something." He and Ida jumped as a loud boom resounded from outside.

"But what about Mom and Dad?" she cried. "I'll tell on you when they get back!"

"Just stay and keep quiet, okay? I'll be back." He turned and slammed the door in his younger sister's protesting face.

He wasn't the only one disturbed by the noises coming from Primordia's center. Many of the neighbours were poking their heads out, using their Pokemon anima abilities to get a better perspective either through hearing or scent.

"Cyrano, don't even think about running there!" one of the women yelled at him from her door. "I can smell gunpowder from here!"

Of course she would know - she possessed a Growlithe anima. Still, Cyrano gave no reaction. He continued to run down the street.

His neighbour was right - as soon as he arrived, there were smoke and flames coming out of their modest town hall. Cyrano thought he saw men clothed in dark outfits running around the front of the building, but they were covered by billowing smoke. Cyrano swallowed down his anxiety that had formed in his throat. Oh boy, he thought. Fire. My favourite.

Cyrano heard a cry for help coming from the mayor's house, which was beginning to catch on fire for it was directly beside the town hall. Cyrano dashed towards it, not caring if he was literally out in the open for whoever caused this destruction - "Water, we need water over here," he yelled to the many bystanders - and reached the mayor's door. He burst inside and was greeted by a tall figure dressed completely in black rags. A cloth masked the lower half of the man's face. He wore a small black hat with an unusual red insignia on the front.

"Who-" Cyrano began, but was immediately cut off as vines shot from the man's outstretched arms. They snagged his entire body and pulled him in.

"I got another kid," the man shouted to someone upstairs.

"Good," someone replied, "I've got the mayor's children here."

"Let's bring 'em in then- oof!"

"Fat chance you're taking us anywhere!" Cyrano jerked violently, calling on his Pokemon to help free him from his bindings. Shimmering leaves appeared around his body, deftly slicing the vines and setting him free. He punched his captor in the face as hard as possible and turned towards the stairs by the door, where another man dressed similarly to the other one was standing at the top, holding two large bundles on his shoulders.

Cyrano tried to ignore the sting of smoke as it continuously filled the hall. "Put them down!" he shouted, but it came out hoarsely and without strength.

Without a word the man jumped. Cyrano dove out of the way just as the man landed right where he was standing. He landed with a deafening crash and caused a crater to form in the marble floor. Then he was out the door, running, with two squirming bags in hand.
Cyrano yelped as a flame licked his leg, all muscles in his body recoiling from the dancing heat. He rolled and crawled over the stunned body of the man he had punched earlier and scrambled out the door.

A lot had happened while he had the scuffle inside the mayor's house. Buildings in the vicinity sustained some sort of damage - windows were smashed, doors broken in, debris strewn everywhere - and most of all, men in tattered black clothing swarmed everywhere like termites. One bumped violently into Cyrano, causing him to tumble to the pavement.

"Team, move out!" a gruff voice was shouting.

The one that had knocked Cyrano over turned briefly and tried to drag the winded boy across the pavement in a lame attempt to bring in a captive, but Cyrano twisted and stumbled to his feet. He glared savagely and hoped that his normally dark golden eyes became the leering yellow that they were supposed to do when he glared hard. It seemed to work, because the skinny henchmen fled immediately. He disappeared into the trees surrounding town along with the rest of the perpetrators.

And as quickly as the attack took place, it was gone.

"How peculiar! What was a Treeko anima doing in a blazing building, eh, lad?"

A steady hand was placed on Cyrano's shoulder. Cyrano rubbed his eyes blearily and nearly jumped when he saw who it was - it was Eugene, Primordia's "mystery man". He was well known throughout town as a charismatic wanderer who happened to be staying for a while - the mayor was an old friend of his. But to have this man of prestige speaking to him was almost mindblowing for Cyrano. He, a measly fifteen-year-old kid with an unevolved anima, talking to the man whose anima was as mysterious as he was?

Eugene chuckled, but his smile was instantly replaced with a grim look. "Greetings aside, lad. We have a mess to fix. I don't know who those men were, but they came here with a destructive purpose."

Cyrano swallowed again. His throat kept catching for some reason. "Why... why were they... the kids..." His eyes widened. "The mayor's kids! I saw one of the guys take them!"

"Aye, but they weren't the only ones." The tall man visibly sagged, exhausted and defeated. Cyrano's heart sank. He looked around at the wreckage of town, spotted people helping each other, watched various water streams directed at the leftover flames of the building, but he saw something else instead.

"Those children weren't the only ones taken, right?" he squeaked.

Eugene said nothing. He sighed heavily. "The wreckage was only a diversion. They took many children from town. I suspect they tried to take you, but failed."

But Cyrano was no longer listening. He tore away from Eugene and began to run faster than he could have imagined.

C'mon, faster! he scolded himself. You've got a Treeko anima! You're supposed to be naturally fast!

Cyrano was gasping for air by the time he came home. The sight of the front door hanging open by one hinge sent an icy spear through his heart.

"Ida!" he screamed. He ran indoors, saw signs of a struggle in the living room. There were countless scorch marks along the walls, likely from Ida's powerful thundershocks which she often failed to control. Now she had a use for it, but it had failed her. He dashed up the stairs and burst into Ida's room, where it looked like a hurricane had come through.

His little sister was gone.

*gasp* And there you have it! The classic hero-is-urged-on-an-adventure-due-to-conflict start to a story! Yes, I have been looking into to fiction techniques quite a bit since I was last on here. Reviews and critiques are greatly appreciated, and look forward to the next chapter! (That is, if you can even look forward to ANY chapter coming up on a majority of fanfiction stories Dx)