Every society throughout history has had its own set of legends. Some tell of monsters and the heroes who vanquished them. Others tell of great wars and epic battles. Still others tell of times of great prosperity or eras of perpetual darkness. Told to soldiers to ready them for battle or in taverns by passing bards, they served as links to a past greater than the present.
There are some legends, however, that instead tell of things yet to occur. They are called Prophecies. The future, unlike the past, is not concrete. There is no set course, but prophecies can guide one toward a brighter path or warn one from a darker choice.
As time has progressed, however, the legends have been forgotten. Now they are but fairy tales told to children before they lay down to sleep. No one sees the truth hidden behind them. So too are the prophecies, written down eons before history itself was recorded, being lost to that same history. Now, however, the legends confront us once more. First Mew, then Lugia, the Unown, and Celebi; all legends returning in fact. As we consider what this means, we must accept that, as the legends are being reborn, the prophecies may hold us in their power as well. For they are messages from the past, to the present, warning of the future. We must heed these warnings, for time gives no second chances. That is why I must do what I am about to do. I only hope history will allow me some forgiveness. I only hope I am deserving of it in the end.
-excerpt, diary of Samuel Oak
Dark Prophecy
A master will be born,
The youngest to wear the crown.
Upon the coronation,
The redeyes will be awakened
To reclaim the world it lost.
It will take the master,
And its reign will begin anew.
The sky will rain upon the world,
And human and pokémon alike will fall.
Forests will burn,
Seas will boil,
And the world will end.
However, amidst the horrors,
A flower of water will bloom,
Wielding the thorn
That will extinguish the Redeyes,
And free the world from its fate.
-- unknown
Dr. Eve Simpson wiped sweat and dust from her eyes. She had been down in this chamber for hours. Both her mind and her body were begging for rest, but she couldn't stop now. The 24-year-old archeologist sighed. Her arms felt like jelly after so many hours hunched over this artifact or another.
She'd been working here at Pokemopolis for five years and there were still new things to discover. What had started as a single temple had grown into a city of enormous proportions. Eve was beginning to wonder, even with her diligence, if the site was just too large to examine in one lifetime. The city looked to have been carved into the raw stone of the mountain, but an ancient battle between two enormous pokémon had sent it, and the mountain itself, sinking over two hundred feet downward where Eve and some traveling pokémon trainers had found it millennia later. Now this city incased in stone was slowly revealing its secrets to her.
Then yesterday everything had changed, becoming even more interesting. A worker had fallen through the floor in one of the lower regions of the ancient underground city. What he found down there… Eve still wasn't sure if she believed it herself. She had sent the entire workforce home for the day. She wanted to examine this alone. Her colleagues at the institute had scoffed at her when she had first reported to them that she has found the lost city of Pokemopolis. What would they say if she told them that she had found something older… much older.
Eve wasn't sure how they would react, but that didn't bother her. All she knew was she had spent the last seven hours in this small chamber trying to figure out what exactly she had come across. The room she was in was roughly fifteen feet square. Clay pots and shards littered the stonework floor. Field carbon dating tests were giving figures around 50,000 years old, almost twenty thousand years older than Pokemopolis itself. Intricately painted murals covered the two sidewalls, depicting an ancient people with trained pokémon at their side. If this room was as old as the tests indicated, this could be the oldest evidence of trained pokémon in the world. In one wall there was a passageway, which after twenty feet or so was caved in tightly.
The thing that interested her at the moment, however, was the door in front of her. As far as she could tell it was made of a solid slab of stone. There were markings on it in a language Eve didn't recognize. Most important, however, was that the door itself looked undamaged. Whatever was on the other side probably had not been seen by human eyes in almost 50 millennia. She knew she should wait, but Eve didn't know how long she would be able to contain her curiosity. That was the biggest problem with being an archeologist. It was always a struggle to wait. If she had known there was so much—
"Hi."
The voice broke Eve from her thoughts and sent her jumping into the air. She spun around quickly, eyeing the young pink-haired girl in front of her. "You scared the shit out of me! Don't ever do that again, Joy!"
Her assistant shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry I just—" She trailed off.
Assuming Joy has been properly chastised, she let her expression soften. Joy, truth be told, had been a godsend over the last several months. Fresh from the institute, she had been filled with eagerness and zeal. Not many young people like her enjoyed long term field study, but Joy didn't mind, and actually enjoyed it. She had confided to Eve one night that she was just happy to away from her family, who looked upon her as a failure for not following the family tradition of nursing. Eve had to smile. How one went from nursing to archeology, she would never know. She was just glad to have such a capable assistant. In fact, she was the only person Eve had kept on the site after the initial discovery of the chamber. She was the only one she trusted.
"What did you find out?" Eve asked finally.
"It seems as if it could be a strange dialect of what was used in the time of Pokemopolis, but there are many irregularities to it."
"Is there any record of this anywhere else?"
"Not that I could find in the institute's computers. As best I could make out at the moment, it seems to be some kind of warning against opening the door."
"Sounds about right. Typical mumbo jumbo."
"You ever wonder if any of it is real?"
" Legends? Ancient pokémon and lost civilizations, sure. But, curses are where I draw the line."
Joy couldn't come up with a response.
"So, are you ready?"
"For what?"
"To open the door, silly."
"Don't you think we should wait for authorization from the institute?"
"You don't become a world famous archeologist by waiting for the bureaucrats to get off their butts and sign a release."
"I don't know," Joy responded nervously.
"Oh, its not the curse that's got you scared, is it? Believe me, if curses were real, I would be dead ten times over by now."
"It's not—" she said trailing off. "Ok, let's go."
"That's my girl." Eve pulled a pokeball from her belt. "Go Ivysaur."
"Saur!" the pokémon grunted as it materialized on the stone floor.
"Help us with this door."
"Saur… saur!" The behemoth pokémon waddled up to the large stone slab and latch onto it with its vine whips. "Ivy-saur!" it yelled as it strained with all its strength. Nothing happened at first, but then the door began to slowly open in towards them. Soon the opening was large enough for Eve to slip through and she called for Ivysaur to stop. The Pokémon nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Eve gratefully returned it to its ball. She motioned for Joy to follow her and squeezed into the chamber beyond. Their two flashlights cut through the inky darkness and what they revealed shocked both women into silence.
The room was circular with its walls roughly hewn from the solid bedrock. The floor was smoothed over and covered in fine sand. Resting in the center of the room, however, was a mammoth statue. The figure, perfectly black and seemingly made from a solid piece of onyx, had no discernable shape. It was almost as if it defied any attempt at definition. What truly haunted Eve though, were the eyes, which consisted of two enormous red rubies.
* * * * *
The crowd was deafening. Thousands upon thousands of spectators filled the sold-out arena. People were milling about trying to find their seats with ushers racing around to help them. Snack and souvenir vendors called out advertising their wares as they trolled the aisles for customers. The Master's Tournament was only held once very five years, and only the best could enter, with only those who had won a league tournament eligible to apply. This year there had been twenty-two entrants. Now only two remained.
The noise was so loud that Ash could hear it even in the locker room. He couldn't believe it. After all these years, this was it. In a matter of minutes, he would be competing in the most important battle of his life. The last six years didn't matter anymore, only today. He made some last minute checks and closed the locker door.
"Pika," Pikachu announced.
Ash turned around. Misty stood before him in all her beauty.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Ash's breath stuck in his throat, as it did most times when he saw her. Six months before, the two of them had finally admitted to each other that their feelings were more than friendship. It had been the happiest day of Ash's life when he had found that she returned his feelings. They had been dating since, as often as their busy schedules allowed. Truth be told, they didn't really know what to do. Neither of them had had any true romantic relationships before, and Brock wasn't the best one to ask With Ash preparing for the tournament and Misty taking over more responsibilities at the Cerulean City Gym, there wasn't enough time. Today that would change, one way or the other, he thought. "Just about," he finally replied out loud.
"And just what are you thinking about?" Misty asked.
"What do you think?" he replied. "The tournament."
"That all?" she asked suspiciously.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Ask me again tonight," he said with a wry smile on his face.
"Ash Ketchum, you dog! I'm just going to have to take you up on that."
"I'll be counting on it."
"Just do me a favor, ok?" she asked.
"Anything."
"Kick Gary's ass."
"How could I refuse a request like that?" he asked, a grin forming on his face.
"I'll see you afterwards." She hugged him. "Good luck."
"Thanks for everything. I mean it. You've been with me from the beginning. I know I wasn't always the easiest person to get along with."
"You just go out there and win. I have to go get my seat. Don't forget about tonight."
"I won't. I'll be looking for you."
She left, Ash watching her until she turned a corner and disappeared. He walked down a separate corridor leading to the competitor's entrance. There a league official met him.
"Wait here until you hear your name called. Then walk out, wave to the crowd, and make your way to your box."
Ash could only nod. His nerves were starting to take over. If there wasn't enough pressure as it was, his opponent had to be Gary Oak. Ash hadn't seen him in two years, but what had started as a childhood rivalry had only gotten worse as it turned out they would be battling each other this one last time.
He could hear the roar of the crowd echoing through the door in front of him. He had read that the arena could hold fifty thousand people, but from the sound it seemed that there were even more. After a few moments, the announcer's voice blared over the din.
"Welcome to the final match of this year's Master's Tournament. The match will consist of a six on six pokémon battle. The first trainer to faint all six of his opponent's pokémon will be the winner and will be crowned Pokémon Master." The crowd thundered even louder. "And now, our competitors. First, in the red box, he comes to us from Pallet Town, at the age of 16, Ash Ketchum."
Once more the crowd roared. Ash couldn't believe it; all those people cheering for him? He just stood there trying to comprehend it all before the official nudged him forward. Slowly he stepped through the doors. The light blinded him briefly and he shielded his eyes with his hand. Pikachu meekly followed at his heels. Ash glanced up at the crowd. So many people; it made him dizzy. He quickly looked down and concentrated on making his way to his box. The roar of the crowd seemed to be trying to crush him into the ground. He released a sigh of relief when he finally made it to his designated area. How could the match be any harder than that?
The announcer continued. "Ash won the Orange League three years ago, and followed it up with a win at the Johto Tournament the next year." The announcer paused until the cheering subsided. "And his opponent, at the age of 16, also originating from the town of Pallet, Gary Oak." The crowd roared as Ash watched Gary. The noise seemed to have the same effect on Gary as it had on Ash. Even so, he still wore that same arrogant smile he always had. "Gary won last year's Indigo Tournament, becoming the youngest trainer to do so." Gary stepped into his box and stared at Ash. Ash met his gaze, trying to hide his fear.
After a few moments, Ash risked a glance to his right. He saw his mother and she waved. Next to her were Misty and Brock. They had been his friends since the beginning of his journey, always behind him, urging him on. There was no doubt in Ash's mind that if it hadn't been for those two, he would have never made it here.
Ash was broken from his thoughts when another door opened to the arena. An old man appeared in the doorway and made his way to center of the arena. Ash recognized him as the president of the Pokémon League, Mr. Goodshell. He began a long-winded speech about the history of Pokémon that Ash only half listened to. He almost expected Gary to shout out for him to stop, but his opponent only stood quietly waiting. Ash spent the time going over his strategies one more time before the match started. Finally the speech ended and the president started to leave. As he reached the door he turned. "Competitors, are you ready?" Gary nodded sharply and Ash tried to follow his lead. "Then may the best trainer win. Good luck. You will begin at the signal." At that, Mr. Goodshell left through the doors he had entered from, which closed behind him. High above them, lost amidst the sea of humanity, a large gong was hit, the sound echoing around the stadium.
Gary wasted no time. "Go Venusaur!" The pokémon materialized in front of him, ready to fight.
Ash was ready. "Go Charizard!"
* * * * *
Eve was exhausted, but she didn't even think about sleep. She and Joy had spent the last hour setting up workmen's lights around the room. For the first time, she stood back and took stock of the room. The circular walls arched upward until they met as a sharp point directly above the black statue and its base. Eve walked around the monument once more gazing intently at it. The best way she could describe its shape was as a specter. In all her years as an archeologist she has never seen anything like it nor had she read of anything similar.
"What do you suppose it is?" Joy asked.
"I don't know."
Joy knelt down at its base and brushed away a layer of sand. "Look at this. It looks like the same writing as on the door." The young woman stood up and brushed off her pants. "Why is this down here? I mean, we're over two hundred feet underground."
"We're about at the level of the original base of this mountain. From the looks of the walls in here and the antechamber, they were both an extension of an already existing cavern which could have led outside. Thousands of years later settlers began what would be become the city of Pokemopolis. During the great cataclysm that destroyed the city all of the land in the area sunk hundreds of feet."
"Even seeing the ruins, it's hard to imagine such a disaster."
"Yeah."
"It still doesn't help us tell what this thing is."
"No it doesn't. Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. What I don't understand is that there is no sign of damage in the walls. You would expect to see at least some stress fractures after such a great shift." Eve paced around the room again, attempting to find anything she may have missed.
"Maybe we should call it a day," Joy suggested. "You've been down here since the crack of dawn. We can contact the institute and see if they have anything."
"Somehow I doubt anyone knows anything that could help. Still, even I have a point where I have to stop." Eve glanced once more at the monstrosity. Six feet wide, two feet thick, standing over seven feet, and solid black except for its eyes, it seemed to beckon her to continue. Eve slipped off a glove and brushed her hand over its shiny surface. The smoothness surprised her. Usually over the years statues, even of the greatest quality, lost the fight with age. This one felt as it had just been polished. "Oww!"
"What's wrong?" Joy asked as Eve jerked her hand back.
"Something cut my hand." She stuck her finger in mouth to clean off the blood. "Damn that hurt." She looked down at her hand, but her finger was already red.
"It looks deep. Let me get my medical kit."
"My little nurse comes to the rescue," Eve said tauntingly.
"Don't start or I'll just leave you here to bleed to death."
"That wouldn't be very ethical, now would it?"
"I'm an archeologist, not a doctor," Joy relied wryly.
"Touché."
"Now let me see it." Joy began to wrap her finger in gauze and finished it off with some tape. "What did you cut yourself on?"
"I don't know."
Eve looked back over the area she had touched. She couldn't see anything that could have cut her finger so badly. In fact, the entire statue was perfectly smooth.
Suddenly Eve's vision began to waver. She shook her head in attempt to clear her mind. It wasn't until she heard Joy scream that she realized that it wasn't her vision that was swimming but rather the statue itself. Its shapeless form, which a moment before had been solid stone, was now undulating like the surface of a stormy sea.
"What's happening?" Joy screamed.
"I don't know, but let's get the hell out of here." Eve turned and ran, but only made three steps toward the door before the floor rocked sending her crashing. Pain shot through her arm as she landed on it awkwardly. Joy landed beside her, unable to keep her footing on the trembling stonework. The statue's convulsions grew stronger as it thrashed about like a stricken animal amidst its death throes. For several moments Eve was frozen in fear and could do nothing but clutch her arm and glance around helplessly. Soon the convulsions subsided, but the "thing" began to change in another way. To Eve, it seemed to become less… there. It was as if it was fading from reality altogether, now appearing to be a fine black mist. It was constantly shifting, but seemed to be a semi-cohesive form. The fact that it was black seemed to come less from color but from the lack of light, as if it devoured any light it encountered. The only color it had emanated from its eyes, which shone with a sickening red. The entire roomed seemed to be bathed in the horrific hue.
Despite the fear and the pain Eve felt, the academic side of her brain still wondered what this was in front of her. Is this thing a new type of pokémon, never before seen, she asked herself, or something else? Whatever it was, Eve was sure she had never seen nor read of anything like it.
As the being gazed at Eve and her assistant with a predatory glare, Eve began to wonder if the reason no one had ever heard of this before was that no one who had encountered it had lived to tell the tale. For the first time in her life, she believed in a curse.
* * * * *
Ash cringed as he watched Charazard fall to the stadium floor after being hit with the full force of Gary's Gyrados' dragonrage. Ash almost jumped over the edge of his trainer's box but he saw that Charizard's tail flame was still burning, although noticeably weaker. Ash quickly returned Charizard and the announcer blared, "The red trainer's pokémon has been eliminated." The overhead display chimed and Ash watched the first of his six bars blink out. Gary didn't seem as happy as Ash might have expected, but that might have been because Gary's side of the display was already missing three bars. Charizard had made relatively quick work of Gary's Venusaur, Alakazam, and Umbreon, but Gyrados had been too much. Now Ash had to choose his second pokémon.
As he thought about it, he glanced to his right, where Misty, Brock, and his mother sat.
"Go Ash!" Brock shouted, his voice barely audible over the noise of the crowd.
"Yeah! Kick his ass!" Misty followed, turning sheepishly to his mother, but she either had not heard or was too excited to reprimand Misty at the moment.
Ash turned back to Gary, a smile still planted on his face.
"Gonna wait all day, Ash?" Gary taunted from across the stadium.
"Just letting you savor the moment." With that said, Ash threw his next pokéball. The ball opened in midair and red energy shot forth. "Go Kingler!" His long time pokémon gave him a quick salute and readied for battle.
"Bubble attack!" Large bubbles shot from Kingler's mouth streaming towards Gyrados.
"Hydropump!" Gary shouted at his pokémon. The large jet of water broke through the bubbles and hit Kingler, knocking him back several feet.
"Let's see how he likes it, hydropump!" This time the attack hit its target, but did little to slow down Gyrados.
"Let's finish this oversized crab!" Gary shouted. "Bite attack, now!" Before Ash could shout a warning, Gyrados seized Kingler in its vise-like jaws.
Ash gasped as he watched his pokémon being slowly crushed. "Kingler, return!" Ash called, having no other choice. Kingler disappeared once more into red energy and Gyrados' teeth slammed together with a loud snap.
Ash didn't look up, but heard the display chime once more. He knew he was down to four pokémon now, but he still had the lead. He didn't waste any time releasing his third pokémon. "Go Butterfree!" Butterfree was incredibly weak compared to Gyrados, but it had the advantage of flight, which Ash planned to use. Ash glanced over at Gary once more and caught him with a smug grin. Hoping to catch him off guard, Ash quickly ordered Butterfree to attack. "Sleep powder!" If I can get Gyrados to fall asleep, he said to himself. Unfortunately, Gary anticipated the move and had Gyrados send a large jet of water, dispelling the powder harmlessly. Butterfree dodged an attack and then another. For several minutes Butterfree zipped around overhead, missing the water blasts aimed at it, but was unable to successfully return any attacks. Then, wearing down, Butterfree was hit by a solarbeam from Gyrados. The pokémon fell to the ground and could not get back into the air.
"The red trainer's pokémon cannot continue." Grim-faced, Ash returned Butterfree to its ball. Now Ash and Gary were tied. What was worse, though, was that Ash wasn't sure what to do next. He was down to three Pokémon, and he didn't know if any of them would be able to take on Gyrados. If he could help it, he wanted to save Pikachu until the end, knowing that Gary was doing the same with his prized Arcanine.
* * * * *
"Ash releases his fourth pokémon in the match. It's a Bulbasaur! Another interesting choice by the young trainer, but will it be enough to overcome the behemoth pokémon's brute strength?"
Professor Samuel Oak sat silently as he listened to the vid-screen announcer give the play by play of the Master's match. He listened, but he didn't watch. Instead he just looked down at the table. Although he didn't look at them directly, he could see the three other people in the room, each one sitting around the large table, looking at him. He noticed them constantly switching their gaze from him to the large vid-screen on the wall to see if he showed any reaction. He didn't.
Finally, one of them broke the silence. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Patrick asked. He was the youngest person in the room at 34, and his shaggy brown hair and slight frame gave the impression of a bumbling student. Regardless, he was incredibly bright and had been one of Samuel's best prodigies.
Even so, Patrick had been having doubts for a while now. It was understandable considering the circumstances.
"Patrick," Clarice answered. Samuel had figured she would be the first to answer. Intimidating was a word often used to describe Clarice. Tall, blond, and beautiful, she knew how to use her beauty to get what she wanted, most of the time by allowing men to underestimate her intelligence. Although quick tempered, she had been a valued colleague for years and Samuel trusted her unreservedly. "We've been over this more times than I care to remember."
"But…" Patrick interrupted.
A sudden roar of cheers from the vid-screen diverted his attention before he could continue. "I don't think—Yes! Gyrados is unable to continue! Ash takes the lead again!"
Patrick turned to face Samuel. "You of all people. How can you sit there looking so calm?"
Samuel laughed. It was a short guttural noise lacking any evidence of humor. He turned to face the others. "Calm you say? In the next 24 hours, we are going to see if any of us will survive to see the 24 after that." He paused. "Calm," he sighed. "Look at that screen." For the first time since the match had begun, Samuel looked as well. Gary's Stantler was using an Illusion attack on Ash's Bulbasaur. He could see the looks of determination on both of their faces. "That is my grandson and the boy who I love as my own. One of them could well de dead by this time tomorrow. I am many things right now, Patrick, but calm is definitely not one of them."
"We still can't be sure if any of this is going to happen. We're dealing with words written down tens of thousands of years ago." Marshall said. Samuel knew it was only a matter of time before he spoke up. Marshall was a great person with a frighteningly sharp intellect, but he wasn't truly able to accept anything until it sat down in front of him and slapped him in the face. He was the only person present older than Samuel, and his views were often more conservative than the rest. Receding snow-white hair and a sharp set of crystal blue eyes made him look more like a judge than a scientist and historian.
Samuel slowly looked at Marshall, finding it hard to tear his eyes from the screen and the battle being shown. "A couple of years ago, I probably would have agreed with you, Marshall. That was before the whole world was blindsided by the Lugia incident. There had been warnings then too, but everyone ignored them. Look what happened! We came damn near to having the world destroyed because some half-brained pokémon collector decided he wanted to mess with things he didn't understand. Nothing would please me more than for all of this to be a bunch of ancient hogwash. For God's sake, one of the boys down there right now is the one who saved all of us that time! But until we can be sure we're wrong, we have to continue. Too much is at stake."
"I understand that Samuel," Marshall replied. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now. I'm only saying that we do not need to get overly worked up over this yet."
In the silence that followed, Samuel could hear the announcer again. "I don't think Ash's Heracross is going to be able to get up from that one."
He was distracted from the match as another person rushed into the room and handed him a folder. "What is this?" he asked Jacob. Another of Samuel's former students, Jacob had helped him develop many of the technological devices he now used in his lab. A short but muscular body framed a small and gentle face.
"I just downloaded this from the Pokémon Institute mainframe. It's from the archaeology department."
At the sound of the word "archaeology" everyone in the room turned to Samuel. As calmly as he could he opened the folder. Inside were papers, mini-disc, and several photos. When he saw what the photos contained, he could feel the color drain from his face. "When was this uploaded?" he asked quickly.
"About four hours ago."
"What is it?" Patrick asked from the table, but Samuel held up a hand to silence him.
"Why didn't we get it before?"
"Eve didn't make a formal announcement," Jacob answered.
"She didn't want to wait for permission from the Institute. She never did have time for the bureaucrats," Samuel said to no one in particular.
"Looks that way. The only reason my search even came across it was because her assistant put these photos into the report and made a small mention of it before sending it off to the institute."
"Damn. Damn! Have you tried contacting the site?"
"Yes. No response."
Samuel sighed. It was really happening. "Call Mr. Russell—"
"I already sent the team. They should be there within the hour."
Clarice spoke up. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"
Samuel, without saying a word, got up and went over the large wall screen and inserted the mini-disc. The ongoing Master's battle shrank to a small box in the upper right hand corner. The rest of the display came alive to show the same image that had been photos. There were noticeable gasps from across the room. The display depicted a stone doorway covered in strange markings. If he were to show them to just about anyone on Earth, they would have said that it was indecipherable. In fact only five people on the entire planet could read it, and at that moment, they were all in the same room, looking at the warning before them. It was a warning that stated for the sake of the world and everything on it, do not enter the room behind this door. For to enter would bring death and destruction to all, and there could be no stopping it. For to enter would wake the Redeyes.
"Where?" Marshall asked, only able to say that one word before his voice broke in fear.
"Pokemopolis. Evidently Dr. Eve, the head archaeologist, found this door sometime early this morning."
"So you're saying that we found it in time?" Patrick asked hopefully.
"No, what I'm saying is that we only found this because of the afterthought of Dr. Eve's assistant. I'm saying that all attempts to contact Eve and her crew at Pokemopolis have failed. I'm saying we have sent a team to stop her from doing anything foolish, but I think we're too late. I'm saying… unless I am wrong, it has begun. We're no longer dealing with just words and theories, this is hard reality."
The words seemed to echo around the room as well as in Samuel's mind. Even so, the announcer's voice once again filled the room. "Arcinine is down! It's down! It might be trying—Yes! No! There's the signal! Arcinine has been eliminated! Ash Ketchum! Ash Ketchum is the newest Pokémon Master! This has been an unbelievable match! Incredible! Ash is the youngest Master ever!"
"The youngest to wear the crown…" Samuel whispered to himself. He pressed a button on the wall and the battle filled the screen.
"What do we do now?" Patrick asked.
Samuel looked around the room. Everyone looked back at him for guidance.
"We wait."
He thought of Delia. Over the last several years, they had become close, especially after the incident with Entei and the Unown. When she had first heard of his plan to study the ancient prophecies, she had called him the "Protector of the Future." What would she call him now, if she learned of what he had just sentenced her son to?
"We hope."
He risked one last glance at the vid-screen. It showed a close up of Ash. His face beamed. Misty and Brock, his two best friends, were beside him. Samuel watched as Ash leaned over and kissed Misty, sending her face several shades redder. Through it all Ash's face beamed with accomplishment and hope for the future. He had no idea of what was to come.
"We pray."
(to be continued…)