Pokemon: Shattered Empires

Summary: A fragile peace has reigned for many years, but that is about to come to a screeching halt, tragedy soon befalls Ash as a massive conflict soon grips the Sinnoh Region, a princess soon comes to reality to turn against her father, it soon falls to Ash and Salvia to change the destiny of the world around them, with nothing to gain there is everything to lose as well.

Main Characters:

Ash: 21

Salvia: 20

Deceased characters:

Dawn: 20 (deceased) yes she is one of my favourite characters but this is part of the story.

Pikachu: 11 (also deceased) Heartless aren't I? Same as above.

Disclaimer: Pokemon and the characters don't belong to me, they are the property of Satoshi Tajiri, please support the official release.

Chapter 1: Hammer strike

Ash kneeling on the ground wearing a suit with a black container in his hand, he looked up with great pride and took a deep breath, Ash's and Dawn's respective mothers were witnessing what was unfolding in front of them. "Dawn will you marry me?" A raven haired trainer asked his long-time girlfriend, presenting his expensive ring to the blue haired coordinator. Everyone in the room was silent, Ash wearing his suit waited for an answer as Dawn with her mouth agape looked at the diamond ring, "so Dawn, what do you say, want to be my wife?" Ash persisted with great expectations.

Dawn who was wearing a pink dress looked at the ring and placed her hand over her mouth in great surprise, tears of joy streamed down her face, she turned to her mother who was the standing next to Delia, both hoping for an answer from the bluenette, "come on Dawn say something," Johanna told her daughter with a proud expression.

Dawn looked back, she removed her hands and looked down towards Ash and smiled, "yes Ash, I will be your wife," Dawn finally replied as she watched her love slip the engagement ring on her finger.

Ash stood up and embraced Dawn with the two mothers and Pikachu watching from the entrance of the room, "I have waited for this day for so long," Ash confessed while pulling back to looking into his fiancés bright blue eyes, "took me long enough I bet," Ash commented with a chuckle.

"Yes it did Ash," Dawn replied lovingly. The bluenette now on her tip toes, pressed her lips against Ash's to seal the deal, "I cannot wait to marry you Ash," Dawn chimed after pulling back from the kiss.

"Me too Dawn," Ash replied as he put his arms around his future wife, not expecting anything bad to happen, his life was heading in the perfect direction, he had Dawn forever, won a pokemon league, "you know everything has worked out so well, I have a beautiful woman, and now, I can focus on my job as a Champion taking on many challengers," Ash explained his goals to Dawn.

"Yeah, I know," Dawn replied happily, admiring her engagement ring.

"You know you two need to go out for the night to celebrate," Delia suggested with great joy.

"Yeah, there is this nice restaurant that you could take my daughter to," Johanna remarked after her best friend.

"Plus there is this amazing view Ash, it really is amazing," Dawn told Ash about the view.

Ash looked over to his partner pokemon who tilted his head and walked up the steps, "alright Dawn, get ready for a night out," Ash instructed his fiancé.

"Um Ash, I am already ready to go out tonight, I was kind of hoping that we would go on a date tonight," Dawn replied with a giggle. She grabbed onto Ash's arm and dragged him out of the house wanting to have a great night with her soon to be husband, ignoring the men rushing towards the harbour of the small town.

"Dawn, don't you think that this is quite odd?" Ash questioned the bluenette.

"What is Ash?" Dawn enquired.

Ash looked back with concern, "nothing Dawn, just overthinking that's all," Ash lied to his future wife. The two walked towards the town centre for their date together, 'I have a bad feeling,' Ash thought as he looked back wondering what was happening.

(Arrowroot Town)

A guard walked up to the king with a paper in his grasp, "sire, we have received reports that Littleroot Town is about to be attacked," one of the Sinnoh Soldiers told the king of the region, the man wearing a black suit approached the king of the region.

The king shook his head but there was nothing but a smirk on his face, "so it begins," the king announced calmly. The king walked towards the room at the end of the hall, "who is it?" he asked quietly not wanting to wake up his daughter.

Meanwhile Salvia pressed her ear against the door, dressed in a purple night gown, she tried her best to listen to the conversation, "it is the Unova forces sir," Salvia overheard the soldier talking to her father.

Salvia turned around and put her back on the door, shocked at what she had heard from the people on the other side of the door, "unbelievable, so this region is at war, starting with Littleroot," Salvia whispered as she gasped in horror at something she had remembered, a sudden chill ran down her back, "no Lady Dawn," Salvia gulped in shock, she quickly got to her feet and rushed towards the closet to leave the palace.

"Sire what about the princess?" one of the soldiers asked with concern.

Salvia froze to listen to her father's response, "she is weak, too kind and too gentle, I will be the last king this region ever sees," the king decreed.

"What, but I am next in line, he promised that I would be the queen of this region after my twenty first birthday," Salvia whispered while placing her best friend's attire on her bed, wondering what was going to happen, she remembered the time of peace that the region had enjoyed since before she was born, "so this peace was a fake peace, my dad intended to rule with an iron fist," Salvia said as she started to change her clothes.

"So what is the plan?" the general asked quietly.

Salvia approached the door to hear another response, "this is like a game of Go, we position ourselves until we capture our objectives, in other words leave Littleroot Town to its fate, we will push them back into the sea later on," the king replied not realising that his daughter was overhearing the conversation.

"But what about your daughter?" the general asked with concern.

"What about her? My sole concern is to consolidate my power to defeat the Unova forces, while keeping Hoenn and Kalos at bay," the King stated while walking down the hall.

Salvia pulled open her door slightly and watched her father and soldiers walking towards the war room, she waited to see what was going on, still in shock that her father would abandon towns in his own region, she walked slowly towards the distant room, tip toeing towards it not wanting to let others know that she is spying on her own father, "I will find out what is really going on," Salvia resolved.

Salvia continued down the hall, as she got closer she heard an Earth shattering roar, it caught the attention of everyone in the palace, "wait that sounds like Palkia," Salvia whispered as she made it to the room, she pushed open the door and peered inside to see a large white pokemon standing on its hind legs, the other pokemon, coloured blue and standing on all fours, "Dialga too," Salvia placed her hand over her mouth at the sight of the two mighty pokemon.

"Yes the Unova region is bringing Reshiram and Zekrom, Hoenn will have Groudon and Kyogre while Kalos will be using Xerneas and Yveltal," the general pointed out while he was looking up to the two legendary pokemon.

"That's right; each kingdom has two legendary pokemon of their own, as for my daughter, the promise I made two years ago, now stands for nothing, she doesn't have what it takes to lead," the king informed the general who shook his head in amazement. The two heard the door close behind them, the king suddenly turned around and approached the door, "there is a spy, find that spy and execute that spy," the king ordered his general angrily.

Salvia started running back to her room in fear of her father's command, she made it to her room and closed the door behind her, breathing heavily she jumped into her bed and placed the blanket over her head, she heard the footsteps approaching her room, "please, don't enter," Salvia pleaded, she breathed a sigh of relief as the two men rushed passed her room and towards the perceived spy. The princess pushed the blankets away and re-opened the door, she looked down the hall way to find that her father and his general making it to the main hall of the palace.

Salvia placed her hand on the door and pushed it open, looking back to see if anyone was nearby, she walked in slowly towards the containment area to find the two pokemon looking down at her, "how terrible, you two shouldn't be locked up like this," Salvia whispered, she frowned at the sight and started to wonder what her father's real intentions were, "also my best friend is in danger," Salvia admitted to the two powerful pokemon.

(Flashback 5 months earlier)

"You know Salvia, there is one thing I cannot wait for," Dawn told the royal with a hopeful grin, the two girls walked down the street of Arrowroot Town talking about Dawn's dream about the future she was wanting to have.

"What is that Lady Dawn?" Salvia asked her best friend.

Dawn looked up with a smile gracing her lips, "I have been going out with Ash for so long," Dawn pointed out with great pride.

"Oh that's right, you two have been inseparable for so long," Salvia stated with a grin.

Dawn nodded at her friends words, "yes that's right," Dawn acknowledged as the two girls continued down the road talking about Ash some more. Dawn started to smile think about the day Ash would finally ask her that one question, "I have always visioned Ash and I getting married one day, settling down and having a family together," Dawn admitted her thoughts to her friend.

"That sounds amazing Lady Dawn, you and Sir Ash, make a wonderful couple," the princess said while clasping her hands together. "Hey why not make your wedding at my palace, I want to be your bridesmaid," Salvia suggested while Dawn looked over to the look a-like fondly.

"Sure, I would be honoured, but that would upset my other best friend," Dawn commented as she approached the palace gates with her friend.

"Well I better get going, I have so much I need to do," Salvia stated as she entered the gates of the palace.

(Back to Salvia)

"It seems the spy has entered into this area," one of the guards commented as the door was pushed open with considerable force.

Salvia ran towards the back of the room where the crates were being stored, "I need to get out of here," Salvia whispered, thinking of a way to escape the situation she was in, she watched from around the corner to see the men looking for the spy not knowing that it was the princess. It was as they walked into the room next door Salvia took the opportunity to run to the exit, she looked at the two pokemon, "I will save you both, please wait," Salvia told the two pokemon with tears running down her face.

The two captured pokemon nodded and watched the princess leave the area, hearing the voices of the men approaching the young princess. "You two know something about that spy, I will find out what that spy wants," the king told the two pokemon as he rushed off towards the exit of the war room with a rampaging desire to kill the person that was checking the place out, not taking into consideration that the spy was his own daughter.

Salvia made it to her room and locked the door, "that was close," Salvia panted, feeling like her heart was about to jump out of her chest, she tried to compress the fear she was experiencing and the fact that her father was willing to dispose of her.

A loud knock was heard on her bedroom door, "Salvia, this door is locked, I want to see if the spy had entered your room," the King advised his daughter with as her heart started to race again.

"No dad, there was no spy," Salvia lied to her father. "Dad, before you go, you never told me what happened to my mother," Salvia questioned her father with a frown.

"Nothing that concerns you, now get some sleep!" Salvia's father yelled at his daughter.

Salvia froze at the mannerisms of her father, "he is hiding something, I will find out," Salvia resolved, she walked towards the balcony of her room and looked out towards the horizon. Salvia kept her gaze passed the palace walls, a sea of stars spread across the dark canvas with the half-moon imposing its dominance over the night sky, "I have to leave, I don't feel safe here," Salvia told herself as she looked down to see the guards keeping an eye out for the spy.

(Littleroot Town)

Ash and Dawn were sitting at the fancy restaurant enjoying their meal together, "you know Ash, six years we have been going out, I can only say this, it's about damn time you asked me to be your wife," Dawn chimed as she grabbed her dessert and started eating it. Ash chuckled as he placed an entire slice of cake into his mouth, "if there is one thing I need to learn, is that I need to learn to cook for an army," Dawn giggled before an explosion shook the ground around them, shattering the glass of the restaurant and knocking the couple to the ground.

Ash and Dawn got back to their feet and noticed that the dark sky was now illuminated by a fiery red smoke, "what, not now," Ash declared while helping Dawn back to her feet. Ash placed his money on the table and the couple rushed outside to see that an invasion force had entered the streets with a small army defending the town.

"Ash, our mothers, Pikachu and Piplup," Dawn gasped in horror before running off ahead of her fiancé.

"Dawn wait!" Ash yelled out before another explosion knocked him off his feet. He got back up and started to run towards Dawn's house, "why now?" Ash hissed as he ran down the streets, seeing trees knocked out of the ground and houses burning to the ground, Ash looked up to see three men from the Sinnoh Defence Force being slaughtered by what seemed like a Unova invasion force, "what Unova? But why?" Ash questioned perplexed at what was happening.

With no time to think Ash ran towards his future wife's house to see what was going on, Ash looked around the sky was reddened but the surrounding houses blackened by the fires of the opening salvos of war, "Dawn where are you?!" Ash yelled out, the ground continued to shake violently with buildings exploding into flames around Ash.

Ash rushed through the streets with his search for Dawn intensifying, the yelling of soldiers as the battle for the small town started to building in intensity, Ash looked around in search for Dawn. Before he could turn the corner to the next street a tree fell in front of him making the champion jump back to avoid the tree trunk from hitting him.

Ash looked around to see if there was another road, he looked back to see a group of men dressed in white approaching the street he was on, "all men find and capture any survivors," an officer told one of the soldiers.

With little time to think and the Unova soldiers approaching from the other side of the street, Ash ran towards the tree and climbed on the tree trunk. As he was about to get over the tree trunk an electric attack whizzed pass his head causing him to fall to the ground on the other side of the tree, "hurry we need to capture him," one of the soldiers told the other.

After landing heavily on his back Ash suddenly woke up with blood dripping from his left arm, he got up slowly in pain after the fall, "oh man that was not cool," Ash whispered, he rolled over and got up, he spotted more houses on fire and limped towards the wall, he placed his right hand on the wall and kept going, "this town is getting destroyed, where is the Sinnoh Defence force?" Ash asked in disbelief, scanning the town which was now in a shade of crimson.

Dawn was standing at the front of her house, engulfed in flames she watched in despair as it started to crumble to the ground right in front of her, "mom, Piplup!" Dawn started to cry, she fell to the ground and screamed out in agony as she had lost the ones closest to her.

Ash had made it to see Dawn looking at the house crying at what she had seen, "no, Pikachu, mom it can't be," Ash whispered in horror as he approached his fiancé.

"Ash, we lost our family," Dawn cried, she got back to her feet and embraced Ash.

A group of soldiers turned from one street spotting Ash and Dawn embracing, "there are survivors here!" a soldier yelled out.

Ash looked up and gritted his teeth, "oh shit Dawn we have to get out of here now," Ash told the blunette as he grabbed her right hand. The two started running avoiding pokemon attacks from behind them.

"Ash, are we the only ones to survive this sudden attack?" Dawn enquired as she looked up to see the sky now completely reddened from the fires of war.

"No time to answer, we need to get out of here," Ash shrugged off the question and continued towards the end of the street. The two kept running not daring to look back as more attacks kept flying passed their heads. They fell to the ground as more explosions rattled the area, the battles around the town became less intense as the opposing soldiers approached them, "great, the tiny defence has crumbled, come on Dawn," Ash got back to his feet, he helped Dawn back up and the two started running again this time into a random street.

Ash continued to run through the streets avoiding detection from the soldiers, "Ash where are we going?" Dawn asked in surprise, not knowing which direction her future husband was taking her.

"I don't know, everywhere seems the same to me," Ash hissed, he continued until he spotted the street heading out towards the exit of the small town.

Ash let go of Dawn's hand and the two started to exit the town, Ash and Dawn looked towards the destroyed town in shock, unable to take in what they had experienced. Saddened by what had happened the attack which had come along so suddenly forced them to flee from the home town of Dawn, "Ash, this is horrible," Dawn cried as she fell to her knees in tears, seeing her home town in flames as the final act of the sudden attack ended, "I have lost my home," Dawn cried.

Ash placed his arm around the bluenette and shook his head, "there was no time for the people to escape," Ash stated, he started to ponder about why, why did this happen? Losing his partner pokemon, his mother while Dawn had experienced the exact same emotions, losing the ones precious to her. Ash was shaking with anger, "this was cowardly," Ash hissed in anger.

"Yeah," Dawn replied in sorrow, she got back up and looked back towards the town.

Before the two could leave the area three powerful attacks seemingly directed at Ash caught the attention of Dawn, without thinking Dawn pushed Ash aside with all her might and took the attack for him, saving his life, injuring herself mortally. His eyes widened by what he had witnessed, seeing Dawn fall to the ground from the attack, Ash looked up and spotted three men with their pokemon at their sides, "no, not you too Dawn," Ash gasped in shock, he looked down and collapsed to one knee, 'no, I had only just asked her to marry me, this is a nighmare, it isn't real, I can't be real,' Ash cried, Ash picked her up and started running towards the next town.

"A-Ash," Dawn stammered as her strength started to leave her.

"No Dawn save your strength, I am going to save you," Ash said as tears started to fall from his eyes, he continued to run, not even thinking of looking back this time, not even stopping in case someone needed help, his sole focus was Dawn.

Dawn started to laugh lightly as she was being carried towards the next town, she placed her right hand on her left and pulled the engagement ring from her hand, "this is where I break my promise to you Ash," Dawn stated weakly, returning his ring and smiling at him.

"Shut up Dawn, I said I will save you," Ash stated before falling over on the ground, Dawn fell out of his arms and face up towards the stars, "Dawn!" Ash called out to her.

Ash got up and kneeled next to Dawn, "you saved me Ash," Dawn commented as the light in her eyes started to fade.

"No Dawn, stay with me!" Ash yelled out while Dawn grabbed his hand, she placed the ring in his hand and smiled softly at him, "come on," Ash tried to plead as he continued to cry out for Dawn to live.

"You know Ash….." Dawn started while turning her attention to Ash, she moved her left hand onto his face and caressed it gently, "I can still smile…knowing that without a doubt," Dawn's breathing started to fade and the colour on her face grew more pale.

Ash placed his arms around Dawn as he shook his head, "no stop it," Ash instructed Dawn.

"No Ash I will not," Dawn replied with a proud smile, "I will always love you," Dawn professed while her left arm dropped to the ground and her life had finally left her.

Ash still in shock, started to shake Dawn to bring her back, "Dawn, Dawn, you can't leave me," Ash cried as he tried unsuccessfully to bring her, "DAWN!" Ash cried out while collapsing on top of her, crying uncontrollably continuously calling for her. His grief was soon overcome by rage; he jumped back up and yelled out in anger, blood curdling fury making the pokemon in the surrounding area run away at the mere sound of it.

Ash picked Dawn up again this time walking slowly towards a tree filled with small blue berries, tears still streaming down his face and a million thoughts rushing through his mind, memories flooding back, 'Ash, wait for me,' Dawn's words echoed in his mind, thinking back to when she wanted to travel with him around the pokemon world, 'Ash, I promise to love you until the day I die, no forever,' Dawn's promise played back a thousand times.

Ash looked down at the lifeless body of the one he loved, "you fulfilled one promise, but I failed to fulfil mine," Ash whispered as he made it to the tree. Putting Dawn on the ground he pulled out a folded shovel from his bag, he started to dig the ground saddened by the night's events, "a promise to look after you for the rest of our lives and now look what happened," Ash said in a sorrowful manner.

After digging the hole in the ground Ash turned to the one he loved, "you were always my ray of sunlight Dawn," Ash stated while picking up the dead bluenette. Ash gently placed Dawn in the ground and looked at the ring that was returned to him, "This is yours Dawn, take it with you please," Ash whispered while slowly placing the ring back on her finger, he looked towards her face to see a smile still on her lips, Ash knelt down and kissed her gently on the lips, "I will never forget you Dawn," Ash promised as he walked out of the grave.

Ash pushed the dirt back into the ground burying Dawn and the engagement ring, feeling both sad and angry, and tears still streaming down his face, but fury that remained shackled inside. After finishing the job, Ash walked up to the tree and started to carve it with a small knife, "Dawn, my one and only ray of sunshine," Ash whispered as he carved the words of his love in the tree.

Ash started to walk away from the site and wondered to himself, what was going to happen next? He had lost everything, he looked up to see the clouds growing darker and the rain starting to fall, "great, even the skies are crying," Ash announced, he clenched his fists in rage, "I will make them suffer, for what they have done!" Ash announced his revenge for the world to hear. Ash looked back to the tree where he had buried Dawn, "Dawn, wait for me," Ash whispered while closing his eyes. In his vision he had seen Dawn smiling with the sun rising in the background, "no Dawn I will not be seeing you again, for what I am about to do, it seems like I will be going straight to hell, and the people that did this to you, I am dragging them down with me," Ash announced his intentions to Dawn's gravesite, he grabbed a knife and carved his and Dawn's initials with a love heart surrounding them.

Ash walked away thinking about everything he had lost during the night, his Pikachu, mother, Dawn and her family, it all seemed too much for the trainer, holding back his anger and sadness he continued to trudge towards the next town in the rain on his own. He had seemingly lost everything in a quick moment, everything seemed perfect but his world soon came crashing down around him, he fell to his knees and let out another powerful yell, "I will never see her smile again!" he yelled out smashing his fists into the grounds picking up water, he fell to the ground with tears streaming down his face.

(Arrowroot Town)

Salvia started eating her breakfast, but her appetite was a little off, she looked around the room as an air of unease filled the room, "Dad, I am going to go for a walk in town," Salvia announced quietly.

"Very well, but you need to take the personal guard with you," the king stated while walking towards his own guard, he whispered something into the guards ear.

Salvia noticed this strange behaviour and walked towards the main foyer, "no dad, I want to walk on my own, I have some things to think about," Salvia told her dad softly. Salvia walked towards the entrance of the palace and towards the main gates, "I will find out what is going on," Salvia promised herself as she walked towards the main street of the town.

The king looking out the window started to smirk at his daughter's growing independence, "she could be a problem, I don't want anyone being a threat to my power, eliminate her," the king ordered one of the guards without any form of remorse.

Knowing this Salvia looked back towards palace gates and started to run away from the town, not wanting to think about what her father was planning on doing, "I cannot believe my father would want me dead, all just so he could hold onto his power," Salvia whispered, she shook her head and started walking further away from the town on her own.

Her thoughts drifted to her best friend, who was most likely in the midst of the battle for the town, but as she continued to walk a heavy weight fell on her shoulders, as if some sudden sadness gripped her, 'why am I so sad?' Salvia asked herself, placing her hand over her heart, she could feel something guiding her. Before she could find out the answer she heard the guards from the palace in the shrubs, "oh no, I better get to the next city in a hurry," Salvia told herself as she started to run off towards the major city to the north of her home town.

"Call forth my secret weapons, The Seven Shadow Lords," the king instructed his men making them worry about the command.

"Sire that's a bit much just for one person isn't it?" the guard asked his king, he grew concerned about the king's desire to get rid of his daughter, the king turned to the young man who was shaking from the mere mention of the Seven Shadow Lords, the king glared at him and grabbed his collar, he cringed for a moment knowing that he was in strife from answering back to his superior, "alright sire the Seven Shadow Lords it is," the man submitted while looking back towards the palace walls.

"Oh good, we can finally feast on a battle, how I have waited to eat my enemies whole," one of the mysterious people proclaimed while one of the royal guards walked up to him.

"I see, so we are to hunt the king's daughter and have her killed, so how much money is the king willing to pay us? Because if he doesn't pay us, then we aren't going to do this job," one of the Seven Shadow Lords explained to the guard.

"Our skills are too good for the king, in fact we Seven Shadow Lords are more powerful than any of the kings and queens in this world," a young man commented while appearing in a black hooded cloak, "fine, Greed, you are to head out and deal with the princess," the male leader instructed the person calmly.

"Wait, where is the other Shadow Lord?" the royal guard questioned the six remaining shadows.

"We can't control him, his fury is uncontrollable, so we bind him in chains to make sure he doesn't hurt the people that pay us to do their dirty work," the leader of the Shadow lords replied calmly, he looked over to his group and nodded and vanished to get ready for the task, 'soon The Seven Shadows will change this world and we will rule it with fear on our side," the leader proclaimed while looking down at the king who was preparing the mission with Greed.

Okay yes the start of this chapter was a little malicious of me, but that will serve as a platform to the story. It is me trying something a little different as well, so I hope you enjoyed it, even though certain characters are some of my favourites it doesn't mean I should be nice to them all the time. The Seven Shadows are named after the seven deadly sins

Next up chapter 2: There is no light.

Also this story is rated (M) there will be moderate violence, mild-moderate language, consumption of alcohol and some other stuff.

I have done 2 stories (Almost Easy and Separate Roads) with the same formula, so I want to give this darker story a try. I am also typing the forgotten pieces, so please be patient, some of the chapter of the forgotten stories will be released in the new year, most likely first week into the new year.