The Village Guardian Chapter 1: Section 1, a pokémon fanfic

Barely a year after completing his own Pokémon journey, Dr. Mack Foxx, a scientist and inventor from another world, retires back to his hidden laboratory. After a freak earthquake rocks the local mountain range, Mack sets off to find the cause, unaware of what lays ahead of him: a criminal organization and a hidden village, filled with secrets.

A Pokémon fan-fiction written by Philip "Dr. Mack Foxx" Byard with some help from Aaron "Aaraboga Jones" Byard

This is a work of fan-fiction and may not be modified or sold under any circumstances.

-The Village Guardian-

-1-

Today started out like any normal day for Dr. Mack Foxx. Mack was sitting comfortably in a chair in front of one of his super-computers. He was drinking a cup of coffee and reflecting on what had happened during his journey over the last several years. This journey started in his home town with the completion of a new device for his star fighter, named, the Firefox. This device allowed Mack to travel between dimensions and even through time. All seemed well the day he left his lab back home. Mack had no idea that someone had sabotaged the Firefox. Thus began a long, strange journey through one dimension after another, until he finally wound up here: in the world of Pokémon. Just barely a year ago, Mack's journey with his friends Ash, Misty, Brock and others had finally come to an end. After releasing all his Pokémon back into the wild, Mack retired back to his hidden laboratory to complete his latest projects as well as make repairs to the Firefox. As Mack's robotic companion, K-1, pointed out, the intricate systems on the Firefox had been severely damaged hundreds of times so far from frequent crash-landings into dimensions. K-1 had been discovered in a forest a few miles north of Mack's home. Mack managed to repair K-1, who looked like a large, metal cat's head on a steel box with legs. K-1 also had some doors in his chest which he could open and then extent arms from. Due to the damage, K-1 estimated that it would be roughly 5 more years until the Firefox would be fit to send them home. Mack was getting so bored; he was just about ready to start another Pokémon journey. He looked to the left and stared at his glass trophy case. Inside the case, all the badges and trophies he had won were on display. His super-computer crackled to life.

"Good morning, doctor," said the computer with a feminine voice.

"Ah. Good morning to you as well, Central," replied Mack as he drank the last of his coffee. Central was an artificial intelligence program that Mack had developed while he was in his home world. Mack had made sure that Central was uploaded to the Firefox before he departed and now Central resided quite comfortably within a much more powerful computer.

"I still can't get a trace on that recent seismic disturbance," said Central. Just minutes ago, a powerful earthquake had rocked an area that had never experienced quakes since record keeping began. Not only that, but the quake only effected a few square miles. The magnitude of this quake should have destroyed the terrain for several hundred miles from the epicenter. Instead, there was almost no physical evidence that a quake had even occurred. Central had been shaken up and had to spend most of her power on restoring corrupted data, hindering the effort of locating the quake's epicenter. The quake was strange, but was of little concern to Mack, compared to his latest invention. Mack stood up and walked to another display case. This case contained a new cannon he had developed for his S-100 Type I battle armor: the Capture Claw. The capture claw was designed for one purpose: to instantly capture wild Pokémon. After all, Mack was about to start another Pokémon journey and had no Pokémon of his own left. Mack was not about to use heavy weapons to get his first new Pokémon. The capture claw would make acquiring a Pokémon painless and almost effortless. Of course, the S-100 was a work of art in itself. This suit of electronic armor had been in development for thousands of years. Mack has constantly been improving the design since his journey began, adding more devices, more powerful weapons and also improving the power and shield generators. Thicker, stronger armor didn't hurt much either. Fortunately, Mack had never had to break out this awesome weapon of war in the world of Pokémon. His Pokémon were always ready to defend their trainer and his friends, but now Mack had no Pokémon. With rumors of Cipher being in the area, Mack was not going to take any chances. Cipher reminded Mack of Team Rocket, an organization that was formed to conquer the world using Pokémon. Team Rocket, of course, was no more. However, Mack had heard that Cipher was proving to be more ruthless and dangerous than Team Rocket, Aqua and Magma combined. Still, this was all based on rumors. Few people even believed that Cipher even existed. Mack pondered this thought until the lights in the lab went dim.

"Now what…?" muttered Mack.

"There appears to be a problem with the power conduit at the ground surface," said Central as Mack grabbed the capture claw and ran for an elevator. Mack grumbled about his bad luck. The last time this happened, whatever had caused the power fluctuation was long gone by the time Mack had gotten to the surface, only to find the panels on the conduit torn apart. As the elevator ascended, Mack pressed some switches on his watch and instantly, his armor appeared and unfolded all over his body. He clipped the capture claw into a slot on the back of the armor's right shoulder. Mack wondered what kind of Pokémon was causing the trouble and the possibilities were enough to make Mack chuckle with glee. When the elevator door opened, Mack was somewhat disappointed. Just as the door opened, he saw several Pikachu run from the conduit. There were still at least a dozen of them holding live wires that had been torn form the conduit. Why, the little rodents were leaching off power from the lab!

"Wonderful…" thought Mack as he started waving his arms around.

"Go on! Get lost!" shouted Mack as he tried to scare off the timid Pikachu. Most of them ran off, but one of them stubbornly held onto a live wire and continued to leech off the high voltage.

"Hey! I said to get lost!" thundered Mack as he stomped towards the Pikachu. The Pikachu let go of the wire and casually turned towards the strange metal beast.

"Pika," said the Pikachu rather smugly as its checks lit up with electricity. Before Mack could realize what was happening, the electric rodent fired off a bolt of lighting right at him. Mack dodged out of the way just in time. The S-100 helped make Mack more agile, but he still almost took a direct hit. Mack stared at the Pikachu. The Pikachu glared back. This was a first for this veteran trainer. Mack had always heard that Pikachus were timid and shy, but this one certainly had a bad attitude. The onboard computers also confirmed that this particular Pikachu was unusually strong. The Pikachu continued to glare at Mack.

"It's toying with me," thought Mack, "The little bugger is sitting there, waiting for me to make the next move." Mack slowly tilted the capture claw down into position while the onboard computers acquired a targeting lock. The Pikachu suddenly charged Mack, blazing with an aura of electricity.

"Bad move, buddy!" laughed Mack as he fired the capture claw. The cannon came to life with a loud "BANG!" and the Pikachu was enveloped in a beam of red light. The light turned the Pikachu into a ball of energy and then quickly dragged it down into the barrel. There was a loud "HISS!" as steam vented from the cannon. A few seconds later, a Pokéball was dispensed from the cannon. Mack clutched the Pokéball in his gauntlets, staring at it in disbelief. The capture claw had worked better than Mack had ever expected. He figured it would take several repeated tries to capture a Pokémon and he would probably have to weaken it first.

"Well, looks like you're staying with me, little fella," said Mack with a grin as he boarded the elevator and headed back for the lab. He would have K-1 repair the conduit later. Mack removed his faceplate as the door opened. The lab was one of the few places he could do this. Mack was certainly not human, but more of a human/fox hybrid. Now this life form was common in Mack's world, but not in this one. Whenever he went out in public, he wore a mask, black leather gloves and a trench coat to help hide his tail. Not only did he stick out like a sore thumb in his disguise, but he had to explain often that a horrible accident had destroyed his face and that no doctor could fix it. So far, no one caught on.

-2-

Cecil Drake: a name known far and wide throughout Cipher, for he was one of the top administrators. So far, his plan was working. The moderate quake had shaken up the local village. Soon, it would come. Cecil had been waiting for this moment for over a year. Soon, he would have what he needed for what he thought would be the ultimate shadow Pokémon. Cecil turned towards his assistant, Dr. Newman. Dr. Newman was an enigma within Cipher. No one really knew where he came from and why he always had a team of Alakazams following him everywhere.

"Do remind me what we are doing here?" asked Dr. Newman as he fiddled with his computer.

"You've forgotten, eh?" replied Cecil as he coldly stared at Dr. Newman, "We are here for one reason: to capture an unusually strong Pokémon. With it, we will have the makings for quite possibly the most powerful shadow Pokémon ever."

"What about the rumors of this XD001?" asked Dr. Newman.

"Bah! They're thinking too small. Besides, that project has been in development for months now with no results! They have yet to even find the right Pokémon for their project. However, I've been watching this Pokémon for months and know exactly what to do. No other admin in Cipher has a clue what I'm about to bring in," said Cecil triumphantly. Something on one of the video monitors in the room caught Dr. Newman's eye.

"What have we here?" said Dr. Newman as he walked over to the monitor for a closer look.

"Excellent. The cameras have spotted it," declared Cecil, "Do we still have that prototype?"

"The Master Ball? It's still in storage under lock and key," reporter Dr. Newman.

"Good. Have it brought up to me at once. I'm going to set out at once and intercept it," said Cecil as he started to leave the room. Dr. Newman did not quite understand what was happening. Why would Cecil want this Pokémon so badly? More importantly, Dr. Newman had never seen this particular Pokémon before.

"Excuse me, sir," asked Dr. Newman quietly.

"What is it?" replied Cecil.

"Pardon me for asking, but what Pokémon is this?" asked Dr. Newman as he pointed at the monitor.

"Ah. That, my friend, is a Gardevoir. According to our research, this particular Gardevoir is the most powerful on record. For some reason, I have seen this one in the nearby village quite often," explained Cecil, "It always seems to react whenever the village is in danger. That moderate quake was just what we needed. It will track down the source of the quake and will ultimately stumble into my trap! One of the most powerful psychic Pokémon in existence and soon, it will be mine."

-3-

Mack had been looking everywhere for K-1 for the last hour: Where had he run off too? Mack figured it was as good a time as any to meet his new partner. With a flick of his wrist he let the Pokéball fly. With a bright flash it hit the floor, releasing the Pikachu into the lab.

"Pika? Pika-chu?" it said.

"Hmmm…it seems curious…" thought Mack as the Pikachu wandered about, "Reminds me of my old Pikachu…" K-1 came into the room.

"Good afternoon, Mack. I just finished fixing the GAH!!" shouted K-1 as he noticed the Pikachu. The little rodent made a beeline right to a power socket and was happily siphoning the power. "What is the meaning of this?!" demanded K-1.

"Calm down, K-1. I want to you to meet my new partner," said Mack, pointing to the happy rodent.

"Ah, another one. What will you name him?" asked K-1. Mack pondered for awhile.

"He seems a lot like my first Pikachu. I think I'll call him, William!" declared Mack.

"Pika-chu!" said William with delight.

"I see he likes his name," said K-1 as Central clicked to life.

"Here is the report, doctor," said Central.

"Okay. Lay it on me," said Mack as he sat back down at the console.

"All data restoration is complete…"

"Good," said Mack.

"I have also tracked the epicenter of the quake. It seems to be coming from Mt. Terror," explained Central.

"Mt. Terror? What kind of a name is that?" asked K-1.

"Apparently, the first group that climbed the peak had a horrible time. They all made it to the summit and back, but there were plenty of times when it seemed that one of them would fall to their death," explained Mack as he checked some maps of the region, "However, something doesn't ring true. None of these mountains within 200 miles have ever experienced earthquakes. This region is certainly not known for volcanoes.

"I suspect you're going to check it out?" asked K-1 with curiosity.

"Of course," answered Mack.

"I'll mark the exact spot on your armor's map," said Central as she looked at William with one of the cameras in the room, "I see the capture claw did not need any adjustments after all."

"Indeed," said Mack as he slipped the faceplate back into place. He ran for the elevator and started on his way back to the surface.

-4-

Cecil had been waiting for this moment. The Gardevoir was racing straight to the source of the quake and Cecil was right in the path, camouflaged behind some bushes. Cecil looked through some binoculars and soon caught sight of his prize. Cecil readied himself and got the Master Ball into his hands.

"This is it…" he muttered as Gardevoir unknowingly ran right to him. Cecil threw the Master Ball and it hit its mark, capturing Gardevoir.

"Success!" he laughed. Then, something odd happened: the Master Ball started jumping and shaking around violently.

"I thought the Master Ball never failed…" thought Cecil as the ball started to spark, "Heh. Fight all you want! You're mine!" The Master Ball suddenly stopped moving. Cecil ran over and grabbed his prize. He held the ball, perplexed. Never had anyone recorded a capture with a Master Ball like this one. The Master Ball had looked ready to explode. The capture was supposed to be smooth and without a fuss. Undaunted, he started back to the mountain base, chuckling about the possibilities.

-5-

Mack had been in hot pursuit, heading towards the source of the quake as fast as possible when something hit him. He stopped at once. For some reason, he sensed fear and sadness for a few seconds, and then the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come. Mack had all kinds of tricks in his arsenal. Aside from the S-100, Mack possessed strong psychic powers as well as an unusual power over light. He rarely used these abilities as they would weaken him quickly. More than once, he had nearly died in combat. Not from injuries, but from the overuse of his power, sapping almost all of his strength.

"How strange…" muttered Mack as he pressed some switches on his left gauntlet. Mack decided to check the area using his spectrum analysis visor. Using this visor he could see in the ultra-violet, infra-red and x-ray spectrums. Almost nothing could hide from him. Mack saw nothing on ultra-violet and normal heat from the infra-red mode. He soon picked out what looked like the entrance to a cave, roughly 20 miles from his position.

"May as well check there," thought Mack as he ran towards the cave. He continued his jog until something else caught his eye. "Hmmm?" Mack clearly saw what looked like a small town, nestled in the valley, roughly 5 miles away.

"That's strange…" thought Mack as he checked his maps, "This village doesn't show up on any of my maps. Why, the nearest town is over 180 miles away." Mack saw that the village was right in his path and he also sensed something about it.

"Looks like I'd better start my search there, at the village. Maybe I can get some answers," thought Mack as he ran off.

-6-

Dr. Newman had never seen anything like this before. Suspended in a glass tube was Gardevoir, surely one of the most beautiful species of Pokémon he had ever seen. Dr. Newman eyed Gardevoir, wondering if Cecil was right. Cecil entered the room.

"Ah. I see the specimen is ready," said Cecil.

"Yes it is, sir. Gardevoir is asleep and my new psychic jammers will ensure that even if it does wake up, its psychic powers will be useless," explained Dr. Newman.

"Are you certain those new machines of yours will work?" asked Cecil.

"Of course!" laughed Dr. Newman, "Besides, I can't take all the credit. They helped me, of course." Dr. Newman pointed to his row of six Alakazams.

"Very well then. Let us begin," said Cecil as Dr. Newman powered up the machinery in the room. Dr. Newman frantically got all the machines ready, ready to create the strongest shadow Pokémon in existence.

"We'll be ready to start the infusion within half an hour," said Dr. Newman.