And lo, the Tyrant's first real story hath appeared.
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon franchise. If I did, things would have been a hell of a lot different. I did, however, create a large number of elements in this story.
Pokemon: Ivory & Onyx
Prologue
An excerpt from the Manuscript of Rhodes the Prophet:
'…from the north they came; an army clad in dusky topaz, of both men and beasts, for the sole purpose of entering the gate. Their dark and terrible King had in his possession the Abomination, the Fiend of Cerulean Flame, Master of Wishes…bade the devil to open the gates, which it did so in a fashion most horrific. It didst rend asunder the very fabric of creation, tearing a jagged wound in the sky which devoured all who drew near. The yellow king and his armies vanished within the dark abyss, consumed to the last page and squire…and from the black portal, malevolent eyes, numbering Ten-and-Three, didst gaze upon the land in evil triumph, joined by the equally vile laughter of the Azure Demon.'
The man closed the ancient book softly and set it down upon his cluttered table. Hastily-scrawled notes, half-a-dozen bilingual dictionaries and a number of star charts covered every inch of the oaken desk. With a frown, he realised that it was dark, and reached over to the oil lamp, giving the knob a little twist. To his annoyance, the light emanating from the glass bulb barely increased; the wick must be nearly exhausted. He turned to his friend, hoping to inquire if she might rectify the situation, but upon seeing her curled up at the foot of his bed, purring in contentment as she dreamed a cat's dream, he couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He removed his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose, stifling a yawn as he realised that it was the twenty-first of May. This meant that he'd been pouring over his research for at least a week without more sleep than a few quick naps. No wonder he felt so tired.
His eyes fell upon one of the star maps, where the constellation Ophiucus had been circled with a red pen. The words 'Serpent of Chaos' had been written underneath the image, based upon part of Rhodes' prophecy.
Rhodes, he thought with an admiring smile. He may have been a madman, but the guy was a genius! Years ahead of his time. And his prophecies…I can't think of a single instant where any of his predictions actually turned out to be false.
The thought of the prophet's accuracy proved sobering. If only the man's final vision hadn't been so starkly apocalyptic. It foretold the coming of an evil so terrifying as to reduce the world to a smoking ruin, bereft of anything which could possibly support the return of life. It did mention that a champion would supposedly rise up to combat the evil force, but the outcome of the battle had not been foretold: Rhodes had passed away before he could finish recounting his vision.
An urgent rapping brought the man back to reality. He frowned. According to the wall clock, it was half-past eleven at night, and he couldn't imagine who could possibly be calling at this hour. Certainly not his brother, Samuel, or his mother Cyan. He'd become estranged from them both after moving to the continent of Exodus.
The rapping came again, louder and more urgent than before.
"All right, I'm coming!" he yelled irritably as he got up from his chair. Less than a minute later he was at the door, clad in a bathrobe and having straightened out his dishevelled hair. "Who is it?" he inquired, peering through the peephole in his door.
"Speedy-Ponyta express," came the muffled reply. His late-night visitor was a woman dressed in a trench-coat, a brown fedora pulled down over her face. "We've got an urgent delivery for a Mister Red Pallet. You him?"
Red knew that something was definitely not right. In addition to the fact that he received all of his important mail by courier Pidgey, the girl in the hallway didn't even have a package in her hands. She also appeared to be concealing a revolver in one of her pockets.
Red snorted. He was dealing with amateurs.
"Just a second," he said as he opened the door. The girl smiled evilly as she stepped through the threshold, reaching for her trusty six-shooter and taking aim at the foolish Pokémon Trainer's back—
Only to have the door slam into her with tremendous force. She cried out as she fell to the floor, and gasped in fear as a large feline Pokémon strode over to her. One look at the creature's leonine features and fiery mane told her that this cat was a force to be reckoned with. She tried to reach for her gun, but the Pokémon snarled and brought a massive paw down on her chest. She gave out a loud "woof!" as the blow drove the air from her lungs, and she could do nothing as it used its tail to flick the gun across the room.
Red locked the door and came over to inspect his would-be assassin, toeing the fedora away so that he could get a good look at her face. He could scarcely contain his shock as he took in the girl's familiar brown hair and matching eyes.
"Green," he said at length, his tone utterly neutral. "What a surprise to see you all the way out here in Faultline City. Shouldn't you be back in Kanto, trying to scam some gullible twit out of his money or something like that?"
"Nice to see you too, honey," she replied dryly. "Don't I get a 'how have you been after all this time,' at least? And will you call off your mutt?"
The feline Pokémon brought its face dangerously close to the brunette's and bared its smouldering yellow teeth, growling with obvious rage at being mistaken for a repulsive canine. Green blinked nervously, noting that the air around its mouth was actually shimmering from the heat. Perhaps insulting it was the wrong thing to do…
"That's enough, Ember," Red said in a commanding tone. "She's a friend."
'Ember' glanced back and forth from Red to Green, the look on its face clearly indicating that it would like nothing better than to maul the girl for such an effrontery. It eventually got off of her chest, fortunately, and slinked over to Red in what was decidedly a possessive fashion.
"Ember is a Pyroar," Red explained, offering his former traveling companion a hand as she got to her feet. "I found her about a year ago, when she was just an Umbar—a little kitten with a fiery coat and an adorable face that you would've loved, I'm sure—and we've been partners ever since. As you've already seen, she can be a bit possessive—especially when it comes to me!" he added as the big cat playfully knocked him down before shooting Green a venomous glare.
"Yeah, I can see that," Green noted with a smile. "Though I doubt that it can beat trusty old Shell-shocker. He does have the type advantage, after all, and he's been travelling with me since you and I started out all those years ago."
Red found that he couldn't really argue with that. After all, he could still recall the time that her Blastoise managed to defeat every single one of his Pokémon without really breaking a sweat…
"Well folks, there you have it!" the announcer's voice thundered throughout the stadium. "In this, the semi-final match of the Third Indigo Conference in the Kanto Pokémon League, Red Pallet from Pallet Town has managed to defeat five of his opponent's six Pokémon using only his Marowak! Truly, this is an unprecedented event the history of the Pokémon League!!"
Red's Pokémon, Thrasher, stood proudly in the center of the battlefield. It reached out with one hand and caught its returning weapon, a long thigh bone, as its opponent—a Victreebel—dissipated into red light and returned to its owner's Pokéball.
"Not bad, Red." Green had to admit that her thirteen-year old friend had come a long way since the brash and self-centred boy he had been at the start of their journey. "You're a lot better than I thought you'd be."
"You too," the boy replied, shooting her a wink. "But I have to say that I think we all know how this match is going to end. Why don't you let this end with some dignity, and forfeit?"
Even though she was still smiling, the look which she gave him was anything but friendly. Red felt a massive bead of sweat run down the back of his head. What was that old saying about 'hell hath no fury…?'
"Sorry to disappoint, buddy," she sneered, reaching for her last pokéball. "But you know how I never live up to people's expectations." And with that she hurled the ball, calling out her final—and strongest Pokémon.
Red groaned. He'd forgotten just how big Shell-shocker was. At five-foot three, the blue-and brown tortoise stood a good two feet taller than his Marowak. The Blastoise growled its name as two scales on its carapace flipped open to reveal a pair of large cannons. He gulped, recalling one of Professor White's lectures about how a Blastoise could shoot water from those guns with enough force to punch a fist-sized hole through solid steel, and yet were accurate enough to hit an empty coke bottle from one-hundred and sixty feet away. This was not going to be an easy battle.
"Thrasher, use Bonemerang!" he called out, making the first move.
"Wak!" the Ground-type Pokémon replied, cocking its arm back and throwing the bone like a boomerang. The femur sailed through the air at a rapid speed, arcing towards the bipedal turtle's head.
"Shell-shocker, Withdraw!"
Immediately the Blastoise retracted its limbs and head into the shell. The femur slammed into the shell exactly one second later, rebounding off the durable keratin and arcing back to strike the shell a second time before returning to its thrower's outstretched hand.
Green didn't hesitate to take advantage of Thrasher's momentary distraction. "Use Rapid Spin!"
"Blast!" the turtle Pokémon roared as it began to whirl like a dervish, shooting across the field almost too fast for the eye to track. Red yelled for Thrasher to get out of the way, but it was too late: Blastoise slammed into the smaller reptilian Pokémon with such force that Marowak flew across the arena and slammed into the wall, leaving a foot-deep impression of itself behind. Thrasher remained in that newly-created niche for five seconds, at which point it popped out and fell to the ground, obviously knocked senseless.
Red scowled as he recalled the Pokémon. I'm not going to let her get the best of me! he thought, unclipping the next pokéball from his belt. "Energeel, I choose you!"
Green's eyes widened in surprise at the bizarre Pokémon. It was a neon-blue, seven-foot long…eel (she shuddered at the thought) with a number of glowing green spots and bands running down its body. A streamlined metallic helmet covered its head, the light at its end seeming almost comical as it reminded her of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Stantler. Most bizarre of all, though, was the fact that it was floating in midair without any obvious means of support.
"Energeel, use Thunder Wave!" Red ordered. The complied instantly, its nose-light lighting up before unleashing a cone of yellow electricity across the field. Green's eyes widened; she knew that if the electricity made contact with Shell-shocker, he'd become paralyzed—and be completely at the mercy of Red's remaining Pokémon.
"Dig!"
The Blastoise retracted into its shell once more, whirling onto its side before spinning lengthwise like a massive drill as it bored its way underground. The electrical blast from the eel's Thunder Wave passed harmlessly over the spot which Shell-shocker had just vacated, diffusing into the earth without incident.
Red started to panic. As an Electric-type Pokémon, Energeel was particularly susceptible to ground-type attacks. If he didn't act now, his second Pokémon would be toast.
"Energeel, use Protect!"
Energeel closed its eyes and shuddered, the green patches on its body suddenly glowing much brighter. Within seconds, the bands had projected an emerald sphere around the creature's body, rendering it impervious to harm. Almost immediately afterward, Blastoise erupted from the ground and slammed into the ell-like Pokémon, only to be repelled by the energy shield.
"Now!" Red yelled. "Follow it up with Volt Tackle!"
Arcs of blue lightning began to gambol along the sinuous Pokémon's body as it lunged forward with a sudden burst of speed, intending to ram Shell-shocker and blast it with several thousand volts of electricity. Unfortunately for Energeel, Blastoise sidestepped to evade the attack, then grabbed the eel by its nonconductive tail and looked to its trainer.
Green smirked evilly. "Hey Red," she called, dragging out her friend's name. "Do you remember that game we used to play when we were young?"
"You mean 'Let's Pretend'?" he asked with a sinking feeling.
Green nodded vigorously. "Now, Shell-shocker! Let's pretend that that goo-covered eel is on fire!"
Aw, nuts, Red thought to himself.
Exactly as he had feared, the Blastoise proceeded to crack his poor Energeel like a whip and slam him repeatedly against the ground. This went on for a good minute or so before the turtle finally got bored and let the eel go with a casual shrug. The crowd had gone silent, shocked at this display of brutality. Even the announcer, who had been running a continuous stream of commentary since the beginning of the match, could find nothing to say as Red returned the battered Pokémon to its container.
And so it continued, with his Espeon, Lombre, and Magnezone meeting similarly quick defeats. By the end of it all, Red was shaking from frustration. He'd spent the last two years of his life traveling through Kanto, collecting as many Pokémon as he could in addition to the eight Gym Badges required to take part in the Indigo Conference—hell, he'd even single-handedly brought down Team Bomb, the most notorious criminal organization in the world! He'd gone through all of that, and now he was going to let his best friend and rival walk all over his most powerful Pokémon?! I don't think so!!
"Well, Green, you've given me a real run for my money," he said through clenched teeth. "But don't think that you've beaten me yet!"
"Why shouldn't I?" she goaded him. "You're down to your last Pokémon, in case you didn't notice."
Red grinned nastily. "True," he agreed, his breath coming out as a hiss, "but it's a doozy." He cocked his arm and hurled the pokéball onto the field. "Come forth, Behemoth!"
The red-and-white rob bust open to revealing a hulking, four-legged Pokémon with ferns and a palm tree growing out of its back. The teal saurian towered over Blastoise by almost two feet, and it was clearly wider and heavier. The brutish creature lumbered forward, its ferns parting to reveal a massive scar which ran across the length of its face. glaring at the bipedal tortoise with contempt, it opened its mouth and loosed a bellowing roar: "VEEEEEEEEEEENUSAUR!!"
"What's this?!" the announcer demanded rhetorically. "It seems that Red Pallet has been saving his best for last, sending out his Venusaur to combat Green Easel's Blastoise. Who will triumph in this incredible battle of the Kanto starter Pokémon?!"
Green's eyes narrowed in contemplation. It was obvious that Behemoth was Red's strongest Pokémon: not only was this suggested by the lumbering Grass-and-Poison-type's battle-scarred appearance, but it also seemed to exude a sort of pressure which made all within it presence look upon it with awe. One thing was certain; this battle wouldn't be anywhere near as easy as the previous ones.
"Hydro Pump!" Green commanded.
"Solar Beam!" Red ordered at the same time.
Twin jets of pressurized water exploded from Shell-shocker's cannons, even as Behemoth fired a ray of condensed photons from the flower on its back. The two attacks collided in midair, creating a massive explosion of energy and sand which obscured the entire field for several seconds. Both trainers used their hands to shield their eyes, each trying to see what had become of their Pokémon.
Slowly the dust cleared, revealing that both Pokémon were still on their feet and essentially undamaged from the explosion. Even though the rivals breathed sighs of relief, they cursed fate for allowing the opponent to escape the attack unscathed.
"Vine Whip!"
Venusaur obeyed the command without delay, unfurling two vines and launching them straight at Blastoise. Before either trainer or her Pokémon could react, the vines had entangled the turtle, picked it up and hurled it across the field. Blastoise slammed into one of the stadium walls and dropped to the floor, leaving a small crater to mark its violent impact.
"Now finish it off, Behemoth! Use Frenzy Plant!"
Everyone in the audience gasped. Frenzy Plant was, without question, the most powerful grass-type attack in the world. It was also the most difficult to master, requiring extended periods of practice and study. For Red's Venusaur to even be able to pull off such a move was a clear mark of his prowess as a trainer.
Venusaur roared, rearing back on its hind legs and slamming them down with such force that the entire stadium was shaken as if by a powerful earthquake. Massive, spiked roots tore out of the ground and lunged like vipers at the stunned Blastoise, ready to bludgeon the turtle into unconsciousness.
But the Pokémon was not there.
Shell-shocker had managed to pull itself far enough away that it escaped the brunt of the blast. It still took one hell of a pounding, however, as the vines exploded as soon as they struck the earth, showering the injured turtle—and some unfortunate members of the audience—with enormous chunks and slivers of wood. Blastoise wasn't down yet, however, as it still had one last trick up its sleeve. It aimed its shoulder cannons at the weakened Venusaur and began to draw in particles of white energy.
Red frowned. He'd never seen anything like whatever it was that Shell-shocker was doing, apart from Solar Beam, so what…
His eyes widened as the answer hit him. An Ice-type attack!
"Shell-shocker!" Green ordered. "Use Arctic Lance!"
Immediately upon receiving this order, Blastoise fired two yard long shards of ice from its cannons. Venusaur, who was still weak from using Frenzy Plant, couldn't muster the energy to get out of the way in time. The attack slammed into Behemoth, encasing it in a pillar of ice which shattered almost instantly. The pain of being frozen solid and then shattered was too much for the Grass-type Pokémon too bear; it stumbled forward weakly and groaned out its name before it collapsed, unconscious.
"What an amazing match!!" the announcer roared. "After what seemed like a certain victory and a complete turn-around upset, Green Easel's Blastoise managed to defeat Red Pallet's Venusaur with an unexpected use of the devastating Arctic Lance attack. The winner, with one Pokémon out of six remaining, is Green Easel of Pallet Town!!"
"Yeah, that was a hell of a battle," Red admitted. "It's too bad that you lost to Sammy in the next round, though."
Green flushed with embarrassment. Although she and Red had been more or less evenly matched during their battle nine years ago, her battle with Samuel Oak had been notably one-sided. He had taken down five of her best Pokémon using only his Dragonair, and even though Shell-shocker was able to overcome the elegant serpent, her Blastoise had taken quite a beating. As a result, the poor thing couldn't stand up to Samuel's Charizard despite having a type advantage.
She snapped out of her reverie when she realized that her friend was asking a question. "Sorry, Red, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?"
"I said how is Sammy? I haven't seen the little runt in almost a decade."
She smiled, and proceeded to relate everything that occurred since Red had departed from Kanto about a year after the conference. He was quite surprised to hear that his adoptive brother had plans to become a Pokémon professor, and that not only was he already married, but his wife was expecting their first child.
After an hour of reminiscing, Red decided that it was time to get own to business. "Now, could please explain why you tracked me down and pointed a gun at my back?"
Green immediately adopted a sombre look. "Oh," she said slowly. "That."
Red watched in confusion and worry as she stood up from his bed and sighed, picking up the revolver from the floor. "That wasn't for you, Red. It was for me. You can't imagine how depressed I've become since you left."
Red's eyes widened in horror as she brought the gun up to her temple and smiled wistfully. "I just wanted to see you, one last time," she whispered. "One last time before I end it all…"
And before Red could stop her, she pulled the trigger.
"NO!" the boy screamed, reaching out with one hand in a futile attempt to grab her pistol while flinging the other one over his eyes, not wanting to see his best friend's guts splattered all over his apartment.
Instead of a deafening 'bang' and the awful sensation of blood on his arms, however, there was instead a 'pop'…which was accompanied by uproarious laughter. Confused, Red lowered his hand and saw Green, alive and rolling on the floor, guffawing. The pistol in her hand had a flag emblazoned with the word BANG! protruding from its muzzle. Red could feel his face go from stark white from relief, to red from embarrassment, and finally to a deep, angry purple.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Green managed to choke out between sobs—she was actually laughing so hard that tears were gushing from her eyes—and pointed a finger at the beet-faced man in mirth. "If only I had a camera on me!"
"You have a seriously fucked-up sense of humour, you know that?" he snapped angrily, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her up off the floor. One look into his pained, hurt eyes was enough to make Green stop laughing. "I almost had a heart attack, for crying out loud!"
Green dropped her head uncomfortably, unable to meet her friend's gaze as the full weight of her prank finally settled upon her. If she'd known that he would react this badly, she'd never have done it. her train of thought was derailed, much to her surprise, when Red did something completely unlike him; he clutched her to his chest and laid his head on her shoulder. Astonishingly, she felt wetness on her shoulders.
Red awoke hours later to the sunlight streaming through his apartment window, right into his eyes. He groaned softly, reaching up with a hand to blot out the sun. The arrogance of that ball of hydrogen! Shining painful rays of light on his incredibly tired eyes! How dare it disturb his sleep in such a way.
He stayed his hand once he saw how beautiful they made the dozing woman next to him appear. Green lay spooned against his back, naked except for the blanket they wore and looking utterly content. She murmured softly and snuggled into him, making any chance of escape nonexistent.
Not that I'd actually want to escape, he thought with a loving smile as he gently caressed his lover's side. Memories of last night's passionate events came flooding back to him: Green's apologies, his revelation of his feelings, her acceptance, and culmination of more than a decade's worth of pent-up emotions expressed through the ultimate act of love.
Red sighed, closing his eyes and inhaling his soul mate's intoxicating scent. This, he felt, was the perfect way to cement their relationship. Within seconds he had drifted of to sleep.
Moments later, a fiery blue orb popped soundlessly into existence at the center of the room, roiling and morphing until it had become a small, ghostly Pokémon with two small arms and a goatee on its chin. It bore a white turban with a red jewel and feather upon its head, pulled down so low that the top half of its face was obscured in a band of shadow, from which only its mischievous black eyes could be discerned. A wool vest embroidered with bizarre scarlet eye patterns was draped on its small shoulders, and two golden bracelets which resembled shackles clung to its wrists. The eighteen-inch tall genie cast its gaze about the room, its sinister little grin never leaving its face. for a moment it wondered whether or not to have some fun with the sleeping couple, but decided against it; the Pyroar sleeping in the corner looked powerful, and would probably wake at a moment's notice if it felt that its master was in danger.
Instead, the genie looked over at the paper-covered table, using its telekinetic powers to make the notes and charts rise up into the air and whirl around. It only took the sinister Pokémon a few seconds to analyze the contents. It puffed itself up in pride at the titles by which it was referred in Rhodes' manuscript, and the last vestiges of boredom disappeared as it read the old coot's final prophecy:
Two who were once more than friends, now naught but bitter and dire foes,
One, powerful, ghastly pale, cunning and born of Darkness,
The other, lithe, sun baked, wise and born of Light,
Shall call to them all who feel the touch of the Damned Gods
And awaken the Insane Lords of Chaos and Order.
Should the Balance not reassert itself and restrain the Beast of Nether,
The world—nay, all worlds—shall be unwrought by the Gods' furor.
Against the tide of destruction, one shall rise;
Chosen of the Sea, Herald of the Sacred Fire
Friend to the Aberration and the Foreigner alike.
He who hath born the title of King of the Sea, and who didst pacify the Lustrous and Adamant Dragons, calmed both the Lord of the Dead and the Mover of Continents, healed the Guardian of Time's Flow, and destroyed the False Behemoth,
Shall be called upon to perform his final labour.
Alone, he shall meet his end, but he shall use the tools of the Mad Gods' heralds against them, and shall overcome this task by combining—
And that was all to be read; the bottom half of the page which Red had been deciphering was missing, lost to the unforgiving sands of history. But that was perfectly fine with the Pokémon; even if it didn't have the second half of the page—and it did—it knew their meaning by heart. It grinned in a manner that would have sent the bravest man screaming for the hills. It knew everything—past, present, and many possible futures—and it knew that the events which the prophecy foretold could not begin without a little…outside help.
The creature vanished, cackling maniacally as it did so. This was going to be fun…keep playing with fire, Red Pallet; YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH FIRE YOU'RE DEALING WITH!!AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!
Three months later, Red and Green were married in Pallet Town, to the joy and expectations of many. About a year later, Green gave birth to twins: a girl with brown hair and eyes, and a darker-skinned girl with pale hair. They named them Delia and Lucille, respectively. As the years passed, the two girls lived very different lives; while Delia was content to stay in Pallet Town and go to school, studying under now-renowned Professor Samuel Oak alongside her friend Spencer, Lucille chose to follow in her parents' footsteps and become a Pokémon Trainer. She made it as far as the Quarter Finals in the Indigo Conference before she lost; after this she broke off all contact with her family and disappeared.
As for Delia, she settled down in Pallet Town and married a man named John Ketchum. Their relationship ended about a month after their son, Ash, was born. Green fell ill shortly afterward, succumbing to a fatal disease. Red, heartbroken, left Kanto to search for his daughter, in an attempt to bring his family together one last time.
Ash Ketchum, much like his grandfather, was obsessed with Pokémon from the day he could talk. Upon becoming ten years of age, he set out to Professor Oak's laboratory and received his first Pokémon, a yellow electric rodent named Pikachu. From then on out, he spent the next seven years travelling the world with his companions, earning Gym Badges, making friends and thwarting the plans of nefarious organizations such as Team Rocket, Team Aqua and Team Magma, and Team Galactic. Having recently lost in the Sinnoh Pokémon League Conference, troubled Ash has returned to Pallet Town in order to take part in an activity that was utterly foreign to the boy.
Ash Ketchum was going home…to think!
