"So, this is me again. Hi Mum. Thirty-two days, and I'm still alive and kicking on Melemele Island."
The Hau'oli Outskirts were quiet as usual in the early morning. It had been a while since they had been vibrant and alive, full of people going about their business and wild Pokemon engaging with the locals. These days, the long grass had grown out of control, wild Pokemon hiding within it fearful of what could appear at any moment. The dust of the Route hadn't been disturbed by the footsteps of anyone in a long time. Anyone except Dexter, that is.
Dexter sat outside the abandoned Trainer's School under a tree, his back turned to the old building with doors hanging off their hinges and windows smashed open. His eyes, a dull blue and heavy from a lack of sleep, focused instead on the laptop computer sat on his lap, the little red recording light on his webcam blinking. The screen's white light danced on his pale face in the shade, showing up a remarkably clean-shaven face given the circumstances, and throwing a shadow underneath his nose, bent ever so slightly from where it had been broken in the past.
He sighed. "If you're watching this, I know I've sent you one of these every day since everything went to shit. I have to. I can't let you think I'm not doing just fine, can I? But I know the signal in Alola is so patchy for outside transmissions, so in case you haven't got any of my messages until now, and are wondering what's been going on..."
Dexter stood up, pulling his lanky frame upright and checking behind him before carrying on. "It's been thirty-two days since these weird creatures arrived here in Alola, kept appearing from holes in the sky. I don't know what started it, how they were able to get here, but now they roam everywhere, killing people and Pokemon, destroying everything. Alola's a wreck, compared to what it was like when I got here."
He reached down for a second and picked up a small walkie-talkie radio in his left hand, sat beside him. "These creatures... the locals call them the Ultra Beasts. They come from another world, they're like Pokemon but so different. I just call them the Beasts, and I know the name of one of them, but there's a few different types of them. Don't worry, I know my Pokemon can help me out fighting them. We've been managing to keep safe from them so far."
"I know, I probably should have tried to come home the day this all went downhill. Alola's become like something out of an apocalypse movie. But come on, how could I leave? Dad taught me.." Dexter paused for a moment, looking away from the camera, before looking back. "Dad taught me growing up to never leave people behind when you can help them. I know he's gone, and it's a corny line coming from a former Ranger, but I'll never forget him telling me that, Mum. That's why I stayed. I can help."
He reached down to grab his backpack and shoulder it over the top of his red T-shirt, all the while holding his laptop in his outstretched right arm. "You see, travelling back home in Sinnoh as a kid meant my team and I can use moves Alolan Pokemon can't. The locals here relied on these things called Ride Pagers to get around, which meant they would call wild Pokemon to help them cross seas or break boulders or fly places. The fact that Empoleon can use Surf and Staraptor can use Fly means I don't have the same issues the locals had when the wild Pokemon refused to answer the Pagers and come to help against the Beasts, or when the Pagers lost their signal. I'm not completely trapped on one island, like all the locals. So I can go where I'm needed to help people, travel around and fight off these 'Beasts' if they turn up somewhere."
"That's where the radio comes in, you know?" Dexter held it up to the camera for a second, before placing it back down at his feet. "It's how I find out where I'm needed. Internet might not work, and neither do the Pagers, but the survivors here keep in touch on the radio, let people know where help is needed and so on. And it's how I know the name of one of the Beasts. This... hacker, a guy calling himself Edge, leaked some top secret Aether Foundation files from the weird scientists here. Turns out they'd been studying a Beast called Nihilego, found out its weaknesses and everything. Between that, and Edge broadcasting updates where new Beasts emerge, it's good to have this little thing around. Keeps me safe out here".
"I guess what I'm saying, in a really long and convoluted way, is that I'm capable of handling myself out here. Empoleon and I are learning how to fight these Beasts, what their weaknesses are. Mudsdale and Salazzle are getting stronger too, every day. We've helped people from Melemele Island to even Poni Island, though I don't want to go back there anytime soon. I've tried finding files in the Aether Foundation's labs across the region to help me learn more on what these Beasts are-" Dexter's head snapped to his right as a burst of muffled static came over the miniature radio at his feet, but when nothing happened he carried on- "but even if I'm not learning that much new, the important thing is I'm surviving just fine. And hey, if all gets worse, it's not like Staraptor can't Fly home to Jubilife in an emergency. I don't want to leave when I can help, but if I have to..."
"So yeah, if you're receiving all of these, I'm sorry my repeated explanation of the situation is boring, but I'm still alive Mum. Mudsdale got injured a couple of days ago fighting one of those Beasts, so I'm headed for Iki Town to see if there's any medical supplies around. I don't think the Beasts have got to there yet, so hopefully I'll be able to find some more Potions from any locals left behind there."
Dexter, despite the loneliness of the situation he was in, smiled to the camera. "I love you, and I miss you. And I'll come home, I promise that. I've just got to do as much as I can to help these people, and then I'll get home. I'll speak to you tomorrow. And hey, it's four days until my birthday, you know? I've got to try and find a cake and seventeen candles somewhere, I guess... Speak tomorrow, Mum."
He clicked the red button on his laptop, pausing for a moment to wait for the message to send, but when he realised the computer was doing its usual and not showing if it had been delivered successfully, he sighed and closed it up, sliding his backpack off his back and slipping the laptop into his backpack. He was doing all he could. One day he would hear back from his mother. Hopefully...
As he packed a tourist map from when he first arrived in Alola into his backpack, Dexter took a look around the derelict schoolyard once again, lifting his cap off his head and wiping the sweat off his forehead from beneath his messy, bedhead hair. He was sat in what probably used to be a parking lot for the school, but nature had begun to encroach on the untended yard, vines beginning to grow on the fence and the grass beginning to get uncontrollably long. There was a large black stone nearby with a message carved into it, and if Dexter squinted he could make out the beginning sentence of "Let's learn and gro-" before the moss covered the rest of the slab, but other than that the school was a shell of what it once was.
Shouldering his pack again in readiness to leave for Iki Town and to find some medicine, he jumped for a moment when he heard the radio beside him squawk suddenly, disturbing a Pikipek in the overgrown hedgerow. "Calling anyone who's out there, we need help in Hau'oli City! We're under attack in the Shopping District, one of the Beasts ambushed us! Please send help! Somebody come!"
Dexter stretched out his arms, groaning in satisfaction as he felt some of the numbness from where he'd been sat down trying to get his laptop to work disappear, before picking up the radio and tucking it into the back pocket of his cargo shorts. He was close, and there was no time to waste. He would go and help out however he could. But first...
He turned to look at the foot of the tree and rolled his eyes. "Come on, we've got another one. I've got to go and help, there's no excuse when I'm so close. You know what to do."
As he turned away, part of the shadow that appeared to be thrown by the tree blurred for just a moment, as if something else was causing it, before Dexter's own shadow appeared to ripple and distort to another shape just for a second. It happened so fast it could have been lost in a blink of an eye, but Dexter didn't even bat an eyelid.
"Come on," he said, as if to himself, as he began to break into a faster pace of walk towards the Beachfront and the former glory of Hau'oli City, his shadow flowing behind him. "We've got another Beast to take on..."
(***)
"Calling anyone who's out there, we need help in Hau'oli City! We're under attack in the Shopping District, one of the Beasts ambushed us! Please send help! Somebody come!"
The second the radio finished squawking its plea for help, a large hand wrapped in black gloves reached down and switched it off, as quick as a flash. Its owner pocketed the radio deep within a long, brown, hooded cloak, its edges frayed and burned from a lifetime of abuse.
Beneath the hood, and on top of the roof of the abandoned Marina in Hau'oli City, deep eyes looked out across the bay to the horizon, sunken back beneath the colourful mask that hid the face of the man beneath the cloak. He stayed low and crouched, staring out to sea as if pondering for a moment.
He grunted, stood up and turned his head to one side, not looking at the shadowy presence behind him. "Ready?"
The tall, black being behind him crossed its arms from where it had been basking in the morning sunlight, and nodded its head in silent response to the gruff, deep voice. With a mere nod from the hooded man in return, without a further word being said, before both the man and his companion jumped from the roof and began to slink towards the Shopping District, keeping as low and as hidden behind cover as they could...
Duty called.
A/N: Greetings all, it's ya boy.
I've been wanting to write an apocalypse fic for a long time now, and this is hopefully the start of something good- we'll see what happens when Sun and Moon failed to stop the Ultra Beasts from coming to Alola, and what was left of Alola after this. Updates to this may not be regular, as I've started this around my exam season in real life, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.
I hope you enjoyed this first set-up chapter, and are looking forward to finding out a little more about Dexter and his shadow, Edge, the Beasts themselves and our mysterious hooded man. Please leave a review if you feel kind (I just insist on no flaming, y'know. Constructive criticism is fine, flames are just rude) and I welcome any and all favourites/follows of my work or myself (feel free to check out my other stuff).
Until next time, ya boy, out.