Leo was taking the bus back to the hideout when he ran into a guy.
Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. It was late morning, around eleven, just about the time you begin to get hungry for lunch or a snack, when Leo got on the bus.
Leo was nearing his fifteenth birthday, but all you need to know about the first fourteen years of his life is that he was a young Shinx and an orphan, hanging with a gang of delinquents.
He considered himself a coward. Whenever the boss declared war on a rival gang he would conveniently call in sick. Whenever they would pass around the stardust or nuggets he would say he'd just ate and couldn't pop any on account of nausea. This was an outright lie, and everyone knew it. Leo would have been lucky if there was any water to drink- not even the leader had any proper food.
Leo was coming back from one depressingly bleak empty area to a hideout where things were unlikely to be much better.
Fortunately for his sake and the sake of this story, his future held many circumstances that proved to be much, much more exhilarating. And this future began with that stranger on that bus that morning.
You know that annoying situation when you're the only person on the bus and someone comes right over and sits next to you even though they could choose from two dozen other seats? That someone was this someone, the charmander who would set events into motion.
Leo glanced over at his unwanted seatmate and grumbled something about unwritten and sacred rules of bus etiquette. The newcomer was pretty tall, nearly half a head taller than Leo even if the shinx stood on his hind legs.
The charmander glanced at Leo briefly, then studied his surroundings in that half-hearted way that people do when they are trying to act innocent. This suspicious act piqued Leo's interest, and nervousness replaced his frustration.
He was wondering if he should say something along the lines of "Do I know you?" or "Am I bothering you?" when a loud rumbling shook the bus, accompanied by a flash of light. Outside the bus window, the entire sky was split with fire.
Flaming wreckage from one of the skyscrapers fell in front of the bus as other vehicles swerved off the road and pokemon poured into and out of buildings like startled ants.
The bus pulled to an abrupt halt, skidding sideways. Leo felt his body leave the seat, tumbling off to one side, limbs flailing. The char grabbed Leo's hindpaw, stopping him from being catapulted out the window.
With a crash, the bus collided with a fire hydrant, finishing the job that the brakes had started as water gushed into the air. Putting Leo back down in the middle of the seat, the char stood up, sauntered forward to the front of the bus, and jumped out the broken windshield.
Leo took several tentative steps forward, unsure if following the char would be more dangerous than staying put in the bus.
The bus, in a way, represented what Leo's life had been like. It was empty, uncomfortable, and it was on fire, but it had some sort of nostalgic value for him. On the other hand, it was on fire. This fact influenced Leo's decision to leave pretty heavily.
He walked slowly up to the front of the bus, pausing to stare at the driver who was slumped over the steering wheel. Leo was considering shocking the hapless mon back to the land of the living when a charmander head popped back up in the shattered windshield, it's metallic claws grasping the jagged glass edge.
"You coming or what?" The char asked in a brusque tone because he was holding himself up with sharp, broken glass.
Leo didn't reply.
The char sighed. "We've got to hurry. Come on and leave this bus if you want to live."
Leo took another step to the windshield and stared upwards in horror. There was no sky anymore. It was completely blotted out-replaced by another urban city. It wasn't far away, either. The top of its tallest skyscraper just barely touched against the tallest in Leo's city.
The char looked at Leo questioningly and dropped to the ground. Leo left the bus, but he sensibly used the stairs and the door.
Outside, the char was picking through the slivers of glass from the windshield to uncover a manhole cover. He lifted it with ease, revealing a small compartment of sealed metal boxes instead of a sewer entrance like Leo was expecting.
At this time, the bus finally got around to exploding spectacularly. Leo realized to his horror that the bus driver was still on board, the latest casualty of the disaster.
The char began to lift metal boxes out of the hole without missing a beat or even changing his expression.
Leo sat down and tried to catch his breath. "Dude!" he said, his voice cracking from panic. "The bus driver was in there!"
Reaching back into the hole, the char picked up a long metal rod with grips mounted under it. "It doesn't really matter. He was already dead." the charmander said, slinging the rod over his shoulder. "A shard of glass in the neck tends to do that to a guy."
Leo wasn't sure what to make of all this, so he forced out the first words that came to mind. "What's the rod for?" Leo asked.
"It's a precautionary measure if we run into any trouble. So try not to." the char answered while scanning the rows of buildings lining the desolate street.
Taken aback by the answer, Leo asked, "Does that mean you're trying to protect me? Why? I'm just a worthless street cat-Why would anyone care about my life?"
The char hoisted one of the boxes of supplies over his shoulder and grinned, showing his fangs as he did so. "You're Leo, aren't you?" he said.
"Well, yeah," Leo replied, "but-"
"But nothing!" The charmander said, beginning to slowly walk away from the bus. "It's not my job to question orders."
Leo put his head through a bag's handle and followed. "What is your job then?" he asked.
"My job, my life's work is to protect things." said the stranger. "I've always been good at it- it's the only thing I'm really good at. It doesn't really matter who or what I'm protecting, as long as it's my job set before me."
Leo sighed. "That doesn't really help me at all. Can you tell me your name?"
"Cole. My name is Cole. That's all you need to know. We have to get underground, now. I expect that my superiors are eager to hear of my success."
Leo felt somewhat strange. "Wait… Did you say underground?"
"Yeah." Cole replied. "First though, we've got to get to one of the elevators. The one I came up on should be somewhere that way." Cole began walking swiftly on the left side of the road, and motioned for Leo to follow him.
Leo struggled to keep up, partly because of his shorter legs and partly because Cole walked really fast.
"Stay close and watch my back," Cole cautioned. "If you see anything or anyone unusual, give me a holler."
"There's another city above our city." Leo said. "I don't know if unusual really has the same meaning that it used to."
"Just yell if you see anything move." Cole said. "That simple enough for you?"
Leo nodded his assent.
Actually, the job was simple. Nothing was moving for as far as Leo could see except for the pillars of smoke rising from burning buildings. Looking up, Leo could see similar fires consuming the city above.
The shadows in the corners of the streets were the only things that Leo found strange- they seemed to ripple occasionally, forming outlines that were like looking through water. When he blinked, the disturbances disappeared. Leo thought about saying something, but was worried that Cole wouldn't believe him or think he was just saying things.
After walking several blocks, our heroes arrived at the wall of a small unassuming building that Leo guessed was an abandoned coffee shop. Two metal doors began to slide open, but stopped as the street's power went out, along with the few unbrokestreet lamps.
Leo saw movement out of the corner of his eye. "Cole!" he shouted. "I think we've got company!"
Cole was by Leo's side in an instant, rod raised towards the buildings opposite them. Two figures silhouetted against the burning city in the sky appeared, poking their heads over the top of the closest building. Leo squinted closer, and saw that each apparition had three glowing green eyes.
Cole swore and pulled the rod's trigger, launching a metal ball through a window on the other building. Seconds later, the top part of the building burst into blue flames.
The two figures moved back from the top of the roof.
"Go!" Cole yelled, and began prying the stuck doors open, claws glowing white as they bent the metal. Leo pushed himself past Cole to the door and looked forward into darkness. Orange emergency lights lined the dark shaft downwards for as far as Leo could see. It didn't take a genius to tell that they could never survive the fall.
Cole scooped up the rod again, firing at the front door of the building to create a wall of fire in front of the intruders. One burst through the door foot first, it's black body suit leaving wisps of smoke as it charged toward them.
Leo stood motionless on the edge of the drop. Why… Why can't I move? I'm still just a cowardly street cat-
He opened his eyes and found himself falling, the lights on the side of the tunnel blurring past him faster and faster each passing second.
Cole's arm was wrapped tightly around his leg, a look of pain on his face. The rod was tumbling over and over next to them, a thin wisp of smoke leaving it's barrel. The only sound was the rushing of the wind and the whoosh of Cole's tailflame, elongated by the air rushing past them
And at that moment Cole and Leo entered the geofront.