He stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead using his arm. He let out a sigh and his breath left a cloud in front of his face. The sun now hung high in the sky, illuminating the tundra lands of Arctnora. At one time this had been a place teaming with both people and Pokémon, but now it was uninhabited. A chilling wind blew against him as he became aware of footsteps behind him.
"Hello Jonathan, you had something you wanted me to look at," said a man in a white lab coat as he approached. He was young, perhaps in his early thirties. He had a brown mustache, blue eyes, and wore thin framed black glasses. His dark blonde hair blew into an untidy mess as the wind kicked up once again. A name tag on his lab coat read: Griffithii Larch.
"Ah, Professor Larch. I didn't know you were coming today," Jonathan responded. Larch smiled.
"Some prior engagements canceled on me, so I thought I'd come early. Is that a problem," Larch asked. Jonathan chuckled and shook his head.
"Of course not Professor, I'm glad you made it. If you'll look at the dig site you'll see that we've uncovered a great number of relics and fossils here. We've also found keystones, mega stones, and some strange stones that give off the same radiation signatures as occupied Poké Balls," Jonathan explained and held out a small clear stone. Larch raised an eyebrow.
"Oh my, this appears to be the same kind of stone as had been in Sir Aaron's staff," Larch exclaimed.
"You mean Sir Aaron of Rota, the legendary Lucario trainer who lived long ago," Jonathan asked. Larch nodded his head.
"The one and the same. Many Arctnoren texts have detailed these stones and yet none have been unearthed that remain functional save for the one in Sir Aaron's staff. These stones are predecessors of our modern day Poké ball, or so the ancient writings suggest. I wonder if these are still functional," Larch mused.
"If anyone could figure out how to work them it would be you Professor. If you wouldn't mind, would you be willing to tell me what you know about this region's history," Jonathan asked. Larch sighed and shrugged.
"I don't know anything, we only have theories about the Arctnoren histories because nothing is verifiable, that said a great number of old legends have been unearthed and I would be happy to share those with you," Larch offered.
"Oh that would be fantastic, shall we begin today? My lunch break is coming up in just under an hour," Jonathan responded excitedly. Professor Larch laughed.
"In that case you're buying! I'll meet you at lunch then," Larch responded. They shook hands and each went about their business. A little less than an hour later Larch found himself in a makeshift lodge sipping on his favorite hot beverage. He set down his steaming mug as Jonathan approached with lunch menus.
"Hello professor, I didn't take you for one who drank coffee," Jonathan said. Larch shook his head.
"I don't, but I do enjoy hot cocoa from time to time," Larch said. Jonathan sat down across from him and handed over one of the menus. Before long they had placed their orders.
"So professor, how complete is this legend you are about to tell me," Jonathan asked as Larch sipped on his cocoa.
"Hmmm… It depends on where in the legend we are, it is a long legend and will require more than one sitting to recount it, that said it is actually a legend comprised of stories and those stories are relatively complete, some even remarkable so, even detailing weather and such. That said the scientific community is unsure of the order for most of the stories, but I will do my best to recount them in an order that seems logical," Larch said. Jonathan placed his elbows on the table and his chin in the palms of his hands and smiled politely. Larch smiled.
"My my, aren't we eager, but I don't think our waitress is as interested in my story, not while she's holding our food anyhow," Larch said. Jonathan turned to see that the waitress was indeed holding their food.
"Oh I'm sorry miss, did we keep you waiting long," Jonathan asked. The waitress chuckled and set their food down.
"No, only a few seconds really. I just figured I would wait for a pause so I didn't interrupt anyone. Honestly I didn't think either of you two saw me but apparently the professor did," the waitress said.
"Well thank you miss, that is kind of you to wait. We'll probably be a good long while so feel free to bring the check whenever," Larch said. The waitress smiled.
"Of course professor, thank you. I'll be back to check on you guys later then," the waitress said. She waved good bye and left. The professor, who had ordered the soup of the day and a salad promptly sampled both. He smiled then turned his attention back on Jonathan who was taking a bite out of a local specialty sandwich that seemed almost too big to hold.
"So Jonathan, were you aware that the Arctnora region has a legendary hero," the professor asked him. Jonathan shook his head no then swallowed.
"Well now you do, however the heroes name is somewhat debated as manuscripts unearthed refer to him by several. For our purposes I'll simply refer to him as Lant, which would be not only the easiest of the names to pronounce but also the name used in the first manuscript discovered that tells this tale. All the tales unearthed roughly agree on a few key point of his appearance, he had black or very dark brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, pale skin, and was of average height though that would mean average height back then and we are not sure how close to a modern average he would be. He often wore a black cloak that shaded his face and always carried a means of defending himself. He worked as a mercenary, you do recall what a mercenary is right," Larch asked suddenly. Jonathan nodded.
"Weren't mercenaries professional soldiers for hire? They were sometimes called sellswords too right," Jonathan asked.
"Precisely, though sellsword was a derogatory term. Mercenaries were looked down upon because they were perceived as disloyal. How could you trust someone who could be paid to turn on you? That meant they generally lacked honor, or at least were perceived as such. But that is what makes the legend interesting. It is quite unusual for a mercenary to be hailed as a hero through generations. But we'll get to that in due time for now we'll visit what is likely the first of Lant's journeys into this land," the professor said. As he spoke Jonathan tried to envision the ancient world the professor was painting for him as the time ticked on by.