Legendary Trainer

Prologue

(BGM: Burn My Dread – Persona 3: Battle for Everyone's Souls)

"Now Milotic! Ice Beam!"

"Chihiro! Dragon Pulse!"

The battle had been fierce. Zero Shinzaki, a 16 year old trainer from the Hoenn Region was now challenging Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh Region. He had entered the field with fire blazing in his eyes. The two were evenly matched, both down to their last Pokémon.

The scaled yet elegant water snake loosed a blast of frigid energy at her target. The pink floating legless dragon before her, a Latias, an extremely rare Pokémon retaliated with a continuous blast of energy. The piercing stream and the modest orb of power crashed into one another, kicking up a massive wall of dust as the crowd watched with bated breath.

Cynthia was sweating…but it wasn't just sweat that rolled down her cheeks…but silent tears as well. The boy's tale was a tall one…but she herself had seen the skill, the knowledge in his eyes when she first encountered him, a strange brunette at his side. He spun a web of events…starting from when she thanked him for his efforts at Mt. Cornet.

"Thank you? You're damn RIGHT you're thanking me! The world almost ended that day!"

The two sent out their Pokémon. For Cynthia, a Spiritomb, a Dark Ghost combination. A fusion so rare only two Pokémon species in the entire world boasted it. He sent out a Magneton, something he called 'Ikazuchi.'

Cynthia was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"…you don't know anything do you? I figured as much. Tch…useless…Ikazuchi!"

The boy need not speak. The trio of floating magnets all stiffened like rods…and a wave of electricity washed over the entire arena. Spiritomb suddenly had a harder time moving.

"Dialga and Palkia, you idiot! Those two god-like Pokémon woke up because of Team Galaxy!"

The graceful blonde gasped, not just at his revelation, but at the sheer magnitude of his pokémon's attack. Thunder Wave was supposed to be a weak jolt of electricity…but this version was far wider a range than anything she'd seen before.

"Dialga…and…Palkia? Impossible! They're just-

"THEY'RE REAL!" He snarled out.

She flinched at that. Robotically calling her Spiritomb back, the swirling mass of darkness had been bested by a single Zap Cannon, something she'd never encountered before. Flinging out another ball she listened intently to his tale.

"Those two woke up! And Dialga flipped out on us! It's a miracle my pokémon are still alive, let alone myself! Roar of Time Cynthia! Roar of Mother FUCKING TIME! An attack so powerful it can distort time itself! If it wasn't for Palkia deciding NOT to be a dickshit like you, I would have died!"

Her next pokémon, Roserade was easily taken out by a Blast Burn from his Blaziken. She twitched, both at the flagrant vulgarity and the fast defeat her pokémon withstood.

"I…I don't understand…"

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK! YOU WERENT THERE! AND YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN!"

She called forth Gastrodon, only to watch as it quickly fell to a Magical Leaf launched by his Mismagius.

"You never did ANYTHING! You left it up to me! God you have no idea how LUCKY you are that I've faced impossible odds before! What if I was a new trainer huh? What if I was just some green kid fresh out of Twinleaf? They would have died in an instant, and their blood would have been on YOUR hands…just like those pokémon at Lake Valor!"

The battle paused as everyone present silenced.

"Lake…Valor?"

"Galaxy…their Galaxy Bomb…you saw it…you had to. The lake…it was completely destroyed. All those pokémon living in it died in the blast. All because you were too lazy to stop them!"

"L-Lazy?"

"You…the supposed Pokémon Champion…what a crock of shit!"

She froze.

"Some Champion you are! You didn't even lift a finger to try to stop those Galactic fuckasses!"

"I was on the other side of the continent!"

"YOU WERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR GOD DAMN ETERNA DISTRICT WHEN I MET YOU!"

"I thought they were just small time Zealots like the other Teams!"

"SMALL TIME ZEALOTS? Are you fucking STUPID? Team Aqua almost drowned the entire planet when they pissed off Kyogre! Team Magma almost caused an eternal DROUGHT when THEY pissed off GROUDON! I had to go wake up fucking RAYQUAZA in order to save the goddamn planet!"

She spoke in a small voice filled with awe. "You're…that Zero Shinzaki?"

"DAMN RIGHT I AM! And don't even get me STARTED on Team Rocket! Most of them are bumbling fools but before that Ash kid beat their boss enough times in Kanto, and I swept up their remnants in the Sevii Islands and Johto, they'd managed to create and damn near control Mewtwo! My GOD! You fucking Sinnoh natives have it MADE! How EASY it must be to just sit back and ignore everything else that goes on in the world!"

She tried to hide her surprise behind a wall of irritation.

"Don't patronize me Shinzaki! I'm the Champion here! Not you! GO GARCHOMP!"

"You may be Champion here…but I'm Champion of Hoenn, Kanto AND Johto! And once I beat you, I'll have kicked the asses of all four regions! CHIHIRO!"

The strange brunette behind him nodded and leapt of the railing. Cynthia got ready to call a disqualification when the girl glowed and morphed into…

"A LATIAS?"

"I didn't tell you? I also ran into this Latias while I was on the way to Johto. Damn captain made a wrong turn and the ship broke down near a really weird Island. I found her trapped under a fallen tree from the recent storm and nursed her back to health. After that, she started following me around, so I gave her a name…Chihiro! Bufudyne!"

The Pink creature nodded her assent and evaded the opposing dragon's charge. A wave of frigid air washed over the arena as she summoned a Blizzard. Quickly, icicles formed on the Garchomp's body. The combined weakness to ice got it frozen solid in a block of ice.

"Now call back your pokémon before I decide to shatter it to pieces and relive it of being bound to someone as incompetent as you!"

He was champion of three different regions, she thought. He doesn't need this title added to it…is he that angry that he would kill a pokémon? Yes…yes he is…

"Go Milotic!"

The beam of ice ruptured the ball of draconic energy, tearing through the air and impacting on the Latias, causing the Dragon pokémon to cry in pain as she dropped to the ground.

"Chihiro! Dammit…" The dark tan skinned young man pulled out a purple ball with an M stamped on it.

A Master Ball?

A beam of red light engulfed the Latias, calling it back to its sphere.

"I'm sorry Chihiro…I forgot about Mikoto knowing Ice Beam…"

He looked up at Cynthia, noting her sweat.

"Tenkou mitsukuru tokoro ware wa ari…"

The blonde woman blinked in confusion.

"Yomi no mon hiraku tokoro nanchi ari…"

The young man reached behind him, eyes closed and drawing an Ultra Ball. He tossed it into the air.

"IDE YO! KAMI NO IKAZUCHI!"

In a wave of golden light, his Magneton appeared. Within seconds, clouds began forming in the air. The three magnets separated, surprising not just Cynthia, but everyone present, as well as those watching at home. The few researchers watching the battle started fumbling around for writing utensils, never before seeing a Magneton split into three before.

"INDIGNATION!"

The three Magnemite making up Magneton fired a beam of yellow into the cloud. Immediately after the beams stopped there was a flash of light as a MASSIVE golden bolt of lightning slammed down on Milotic. The water snake screeched in agony as its internal water supply was almost entirely vaporized. It dropped to the ground, lifeless…unconscious…and alive…but just barely.

With a shaking hand, Cynthia recalled her Milotic, gaping at the sheer power this youth's pokémon possessed. She was down to her last.

"I…wow…it's…been a long time…since I was pushed this far…but now…it's over! Go…LUCARIO!"

In a wave of light, the blue furred lupine pokémon appeared.

Tch, Lucario…they're naturally fast…not as fast as a Scyther, or even a Jolteon…but fast. Faster than Ikazuchi. Even if it separates repeatedly, during the times it needs to reconnect in order to restart the flow of magnetism…it can be hit easily…

"Enough, come back Ikazuchi."

Another red beam, and the Magneton was returned.

"Fine then…let's see you deal with AKIHA!"

A burst of sparkles and his Blaziken appeared. Only his looked different from the normal…

"A Shiny Blaziken?"

"I got lucky."

Damn…Akiha's good, but that Lucario looks battle hardened…this is gonna be tough…

"Akiha!"

"I won't let you! Extreme Speed!"

Cynthia's Lucario vanished in a small puff of dust. Body honed from training against her own trainer, the Blaziken deftly spun out of the way of the rematerializing Lupine's swing, grabbing it by the neck and flaring up its internal energy for an Overheat.

"ARC DRIVE!"

赤手折り紙: Sekishuu Origami! (Bare Handed Paper Folding)

Within seconds the Blaziken's power ripped out of its body, igniting Lucario in a massive tower of flame. The pillar of fire distorted as Lucario's flaming form was launched from it. Zero's Blaziken panted with exertion. Slowly…Lucario got up.

Dear…god! What in the world was that? My Lucario is barely holding on!

"Lucario! Are you alright!"

"L-Lu!"

"Good…Aura Sphere!"

Energy gathered within its palms.

Shit. "Akiha, can you move?"

"Blaze!"

She nodded and began racing at Cynthia's Lucario.

"Attack now Lucario!"

"Cut, cut, CUT!"

Understanding the words, Zero's Blaziken brought back its right claw and swung it upwards in an arc just as Lucario launched its Aura Sphere, a glowing blue orb of power.

Three massive gashes suddenly ripped into Lucario's chest. It let loose a howl of pain, but weathered the attack. Unfortunately for Zero, his Blaziken was wide open and took the Aura Sphere head on…the attack kicking up a massive wall of dust, but also knocking it out of the fight.

Dammit… "Good job Akiha…rest now…"

Another red beam.

Only two left…and Ikazuchi would get schooled…

"Zefie! It's up to you!"

From the inky black depths of a Dusk Ball, Mismagius appeared.

"Cynthia…it ends here."

"Not if I can help it! Lucario! Launch your Psychic attack!"

Zero's eyes narrowed as the opposing pokémon glowed pink for a moment and a massive distortion of air emerged from it.

Though a Ghost, Psychic attacks can still affect Zefie…not very well, but she can still be hit by them…and with the radius of that move she's not likely to dodge…

However…just before collision…a ghostly image of a Gyarados materialized in the way of the attack, bursting into vapors…and then re-forming.

"What…What is this?"

Zero chuckled. A hollow…empty sound that drained the spirits of everyone present.

"Didn't I tell you? The blood of all those lost pokémon at Lake Valor is on your hands. Tell me…what is Mismagius?"

"A…Ghost…Pokémon. Why?"

"Ghost…meaning she's dead. A spirit from the afterlife given form."

Zefie nodded and her form blurred. In moments she went from a strange yet creepy looking pokémon to a pale skinned violet haired little girl wearing a witch's hat. Still transparent, the girl glowered down on her opponent.

"Zefie…was a ten year old girl who was murdered by Team Galaxy's former leader. Before Cyrus became leader, they had another, one who was a lot worse. He wasn't afraid to use pokémon to kill other humans who stood in his way…and Zefie here was one of his victims. Her spirit merged with the ambient energy given off by the pokémon near her, and she became a Misdreavus. This…is what she looked like before she died."

"I…my gods…"

"And now…this battle ends."

"How so?"

"You see…Ghost Pokémon…Dark Pokémon…those who live in the shadows…those who are surrounded by death and destruction…they all have a very…special…set of moves. Grudge, Revenge, Spite, Curse, Payback, Torment and Destiny Bond…"

The transparent little girl began glowing. She tilted her head back and spread her arms. Suddenly, the arena was filled with the wails and cries of ghosts. Transparent images of all the pokémon slain at any point by Team Galaxy began to appear and then vanish into the little girl's body.

"Don't you remember Cynthia? We survived a Roar of Time attack…we were touched by a Spatial Rend attack…the power to change the universe…that doesn't not leave its scars."

A wave of air washed over the arena. Everyone but Zero seemed to suddenly begin shuddering as the world seemed to distort. Fear, sorrow, grief, anguish, depression…all those feelings suddenly emerged into the hearts of all that were present. Lucario was frozen in terror, rooted to the spot, unable to move a muscle.

"And now…you will witness the fruits of your disgrace."

A violet aura wrapped itself around the little girl as she pointed her arms towards Lucario, palms outward. A series of rings appeared around her wrists, each ring consisting of symbols, runes, letters and other strange markings. Three rings appeared as a sphere of energy started growing in front of her palms.

"Behold, Cynthia! The rage, the despair, the anguish of these lost souls! Feel their pain! Embrace their fear! Become one with the knowledge that their deaths are on your hands! Know that you have failed in protecting your home!"

The violet sphere turned pitch black. Both Trainer and Pokémon spoke as one, as the last ghost vanished into the orb.

"Kneel and perish! ETERNAL DAMNATION!"

A black light erupted from between the girl's palms…as a massive beam of darkness screamed its way towards the paralyzed Lucario. The patrons cried out in fear as the wave of black washed over all of them, robbing them of sight.

In the distance…one could see a massive pillar of black erupt into the sky…

All as the earth rumbled…