'The last words of a dying man on the point of imparting a sensational revelation-make a note of that literary device, it's a guaranteed cliffhanger! No reader can resist it!'
'There's one more thing you must bear in mind, my boy: it doesn't matter how a story begins or ends.
Optimus Yarnspinner: 'What does matter then?'
'What happens in between.'
-Dancelot Wordwright, on his deathbed.
A bright light envelops me and everything does dark.
...
"Um, excuse me sir, are you quite alright?" a faint voice beckoned. "You took quite a fall there."
'Urrggggg. My head… oh god the pain…'
"Are you okay there?" The voice called again. "Umm, sir?"
"Uh, who's there?" I opened my eyes and saw an older gentleman, looking at me with a face full of concern. "Who are you?"
"I could ask the same of you there." The man said, "You did just fall from quite a height there, after all."
"My…my names Jack. What's yours?"
"Alfred." He told me, helping me up. "Alfred Charles Murphy the Third, at your service. Now, where are you from?"
"Me, um…" I had to think quickly, if I told this guy I opened a box and got here, he'll think I'm insane or something. "I'm from uh, up north." I replied lamely.
"Oh, so you're from Lavaridge Town then?" He asked me, totally buying my lie.
"Uh, yeah. Came down to visit family." I said. "But I got off track and ended up here. Um, where am I anyway, uh, Alfred was it?"
"Yes, and your in Oldale Town, just north of the Legendary Prof. Birch's lab. And I say, how did you get here? Did you get attacked by rogue Pokémon?" he asked me. "By the way, what is that you do?"
"I'm a student." I replied, and after a split second my eyes widened. What did he say that I might have been attacked by? He didn't notice it, somehow.
"Oh, never mind. Would you like to stay the night at the place I run? It is getting late, after all. And the forest beasts aren't exactly neighborhood friendly."
"Uh, okay, I guess." I replied. "Wait, I don't have any money to pay you with though…"
"No, its fine. I have too much money from my time as a trainer. Follow me, then."
We went through town, and he gave me a small tour as we went to his place of business. And by tour, I mean he just pointed stuff out as we walked. At one point some little kid asked for his autograph, like he was a celebrity or something. I asked him about this, but all he did was keep walking. After a small walk, we made it to his workplace, and it wasn't exactly a five star resort. It was a small two-story inn, with a decently sized home nearby it. After unlocking the front door to the inn, he showed me to a room. It was a small room with a T.V., a computer, a bed and a kitchenette. A bathroom was off to the corner, and after telling me that he was going off to his home, I laid down in the bed.
'Well, this escalated extremely quickly. I have to recap all of this. First I opened the box, got overflowed in a bright light, somehow get to a place called Oldale Town, meet the old guy, and now im in a room without anything to help me to as where I'm at.'
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!
'What the, how is my phone going off?'
Wordlessly, I picked up the phone and said,
"Hello?"
"Jack? Oh thank God your alright! I saw the crash, but you and the box are gone! Please tell me you didn't use it?"
It was Erick! How the hell he managed this call, I'll never know.
"What's so special about that damn box, anyways?"
"It's not a box, it's a Teleportation Field, and it will teleport you to a random city in any universe. I told you not to use it, except in emergencies. I don't even know how to get you back!"
"Then why the hell did you give it to me?!"
"I thought you would never use it!"
I spun my head around to look at the door, which had just been knocked on. "Jack, everything alright? Who are you talking to?" It was Alfred.
"Who is that?"
"Long story man, Listen, I'll call you as soon as I can. But in the meantime, try to figure out where the hell I'm at!"
"Ok, but it will be awhile. Godspeed man."
"See you."
I hung up the call and went over to open the door. Alfred was waiting, wanting to talk to me.
"Uh, yeah, what is it Alfred?"
"Come with me." Is all that he said. I followed him out through the door, and he lead me into his home. After I got through, he locked the door and closed the blinds on the windows. He looked out of one of the windows, looking for something.
"Uh, Alfred? What do you need?"
Sighing, he turned to me and said, "I know you're not from this world." Astonished, I asked him how he knew. "I'm not as ignorant as you think," was his short reply.
"But, how did you know?" I asked him, puzzled. He turned and walked over to a set of shelves on his wall, and he grabbed a dusty old tome from them. He handed it to me. "Look at page 333. You'll find something there." I took the book wordlessly and flipped to the page he wanted. What I found was strange.
In years past and unknown, when the world and all the regions are dipped in turmoil, and single breed of heroes dot the landscape, standing firm against the dark hearts of evil. They come from many places, across oceans, mountains, even time and space. They all have different stories and reasons, but they are all known by a single name.
Each being is known as a Traveler. Not much is known about them, but all have a single purpose. To vanquish the hearts of those tempted by power, and stained black by greed. They cannot be noticed in public, but each has a certain power that sets them apart. Some control the elements of nature, others can call upon others to aid, and some can even reach the strength of Gods.
As of late, not many Travelers have been seen. Many have taken this to be an omen that dark times are ahead of us, but nothing is for certain.
-Mark Lumberg
"That was written around forty years ago. About thirty-five years ago, a group called Team Magma took over the region. They've been hidden in the shadows, not doing much." As Alfred told me this, he crossed the room slowly and sat in a squashy looking chair across from me. "They've taken over the black markets, and a lot of people think they're preparing for something. War, total takeover of the region, something that's not good. That's where you come in Jack. I think you're here for a reason. I think you're special. I think...you're a Traveler."
I was quiet, absorbing in what he said. Once he said that I might be a Traveler, I jerked my head up and my eyes were open in surprise. "A Traveler. You're saying I'm here to save the world?" I gestured to the book he had given me, which was now sitting on the table next to me. "You're saying I have those weird-ass powers?!What are you nuts?" I nearly shouted. He sat there for a while, before shaking his head.
"That is exactly what I am saying. And I will tell you why. About five years ago, in a region not terribly far from here, a prophecy was found." He told me, taking in a deep breath.
A scholar, lost in travels
takes a journey, reality unravels
Find those who are alone, make them whole
A scholar, with a fire in his soul
An ally, sent from another
finds the scholar, as a brother
helping those who need, as a friend
will fight, until the end
A leader, strength nearly unbound
will love those lost, so they may be found
vengeance against their home, a cry
beaten and alone, cannot die
A key, taken from the stones
a portal, covered in bones
four stones, and a keeper
must be beaten, without a leader
A dream, to purify and raze
a nightmare, to never raise
A single action, and many are gone
A single stand, an unbreakable bond
The midnight's bell tolls, and spirit's gaze
May lead the hero, to end all days
The noon bell tolls, and spirit's talk
May lead the hero, to leave and walk
A hero, born from ashes
may lead the charge, and forth he dashes
a hero, fire in their soul
play the hero, save us all
"Ever since I heard of that prophecy, I dedicated it to memory." He spoke quietly, tapping the side of his head as he did. "When I first saw you, you were unconscious on the side of the road. But you were perfectly fine. No cuts, nothing to show that you had even been moved." He paused for a second, before taking a breath and continuing. "Anyway, there is something else you should know before we continue." He sighed, and rubbed his eyes, wait, no, he took off his contacts. His eyes were as bright, almost shining like a gemstone. My eyes widened, and something clicked. I knew who he was.
"Your name is Ruby! That's how you know I'm not from here, the people from my past created you!" I exclaimed.
He grinned at me. "You're smart, Jack. But I have to tell you something. I know how to get you back to your universe."
I stood up and walked over to him. "How! Tell me!" I shouted at him, wanting to know more than anything at the moment.
He looked at me and said, "You must beat the Pokemon League, if you want a chance at getting home. To automatically get home, you must beat me and all the other Champions. In order, you must defeat me, Gold, the Champion of Johto, Red, the Champion of Kanto, and Pearl, the Champion of Sinnoh. When you defeat them, or if, you defeat them, you will get 1 key. When you have all 4, you must go to Retribution Cavern, which is at the end of your journey. Once all 4 are lined up, a portal will open back to your home. But, be warned, there is a Guardian you must defeat to get to the portal."
"What is it?"
"His name is Spiritomb. He is a pokemon with no weaknesses, and he hasn't been defeated in a millennia. Even I cannot beat him. All I can do to help you now is to give you something my son should have gotten… Years ago."
"What happened to him?"
He looked at me and told me that he was killed when he was 9. By some rouge Corphish, the little guy severed Ruby's son's spine.
I asked him what his name was. He told me it was Brandon.
"Anyway, enough of the morbid talk. This is what you need."
He gave me 5 baseball sized balls, and a thin, red brick. He told me it was a Pokedex. He also gave me a backpack with 5 potions, 3000 Pokedollars, which is roughly 30 dollars, my currency. Not much. And finally, a cellphone that had a map on it, as well as his phone number, and a card that had a fake name and place of origin. And his last gift to me was a small device that looked like Bluetooth. He wouldn't tell me what it was. Before I left however he stopped me and gave me a ball with a bluish hue around it. He told me to open it up by squeezing the side buttons. To my amazement, out popped a small, green lizard that stood on 2 feet. It had a red underbelly with a twig in its mouth. Ruby told me it was a Treecko, one of the native starter pokemon for the region. He told me I could name it. I looked into the little guy's eyes and told Ruby that I would name him, Brandon. When he heard that, he collapsed into tears. Me and Brandon rushed to comfort him, but he was already his feet. With a final goodbye, he told me that my first stop would be Petalburg City, just west of here.
Time change: 3 hours later
"Soooo, which way do you think we should go, Brandon?" I asked him.
"Hmm, I've never been out this far before, but I would say we should go left. To the path more chosen." The little critter replied. Brandon had taken a liking to me, and now sees my head as a place to lounge about. By now I knew that the Bluetooth think Ruby gave me was a translator or something, so humans can understand pokemon speech.
"Makes sense." I said
"Yeah. Most of what I say is right, after all." He said.
"Ya know." I told him. "Your gonna lose because of your Hubris."
He looked down at me from my head, so I saw him upside down. "Whats hubris?"
"Hubris is that your cocky, that you can never be beaten, that you can defeat foes dozens of times your size and win. Heh, just like-."
A scream came from the woods to our left. I looked a him, at the same time he looked at me. We both nodded and went towards the screaming. We had to cut through a bunch of bushes and foliage to get there. But what we saw wasn't pleasant, not by any extent of the human imagination. A small canine like creature with white pads on its arms was about to be attacked by a massive black and white wolf.
'If there is anything Animal Planet told me, it's that you should never interfere with nature. But then again, when did I follow the rules?'
I grabbed a large branch and charged out of the bush, while shouting,
"Quick, Brandon, use Bullet Seed on the big one! I'll grab the injured guy!"
Brandon jumped into the air and pelted the big wolf with small seedlings from his mouth. While the big one was stunned, I ran in there and grabbed the smaller, blue and black canine and ran out like a bat out of hell. Brandon, seeing that I was leaving, jumped off of the head of the wolf and landed on my shoulder. The wolf kept chasing us until we took a sharp corner, Brandon hit it with a Tackle, and it went sliding down a small hill. When we got to a clearing, I set down the canine, which was trembling by this point, and I got a good look at it. It was roughly two feet tall, had black legs, white pads on its arms, and a yellow scarf around its neck. The chest was also black, but everything else was a shade of blue. The wolf had done some bad damage to the little critters left leg, because it was still dripping blood, and the canine wasn't really conscious. I took out a potion from my pack and sprayed the wound until the bottle was empty, then I took off my jacket and ripped off a section and dressed the wound. Not knowing what else to do, I set up camp. I took a match book from my pack and set up a fire. After I got the fire blazing, I told Brandon to keep an eye on the canine, and to tell me if it woke up. I left to find a supply of dead wood for the fire, and I found a section of trees that looked as if they hadn't been alive in years. Lacking an axe, I broke off several branches and carried them back to camp. When I got back, the canine was still asleep, but was resting easier. Brandon told me that he hadn't moved since I left.
I pulled out my Pokedex and got ready to scan the wolf. "Brandon, stand back, I'm going to scan him, see what species he is. I don't want you to confuse the beam, make it think I found something weird." Brandon backed up, and hopped on my head.I sat down on the ground, and I pulled the scan function from the Dex and scanned the pokemon. This is what popped up
Species: Riolu
Gender: Male
Age: 14 months
Moves: ERROR
Hidden Moves: UNKNOWN
"Huh," I thought out loud. "It's a Riolu, and it's about a year old. But whats this error mean…"
On further inspection, I found that the error was highlighted, which meant that it was a link. Curious, I selected the link and it took me to a menu. The first choice told me that the error was because this pokemon hasn't been previously owned at all, so no moves for it was in the database. Puzzled, I scanned Brandon and got this.
Species: Treecko
Gender: Male
Age: 17 months
Moves: Bullet Seed, Tackle, Tail Whip, Pound.
Hidden Moves: Wrath of the Forest, Silent Night
'Hidden Moves? What are those?' I thought to myself. I saw another link, and the link told me that hidden moves can only be used when the Pokémon's health drops to dangerous levels. It advised me not to use them unless life or death, but even then, use with extreme caution. Guess I'm not doing that anytime soon.
"Jack! The Riolu's waking up!" Brandon told me.
"Shit! Already?" I shouted, before calming myself in my excitement. I looked at Brandon before standing up. "Let's go say hello, shall we."
We walked over to the tree where I sat the Riolu at, and he was stirring in his sleep. He opened his eyes, and saw me looking at him. He started to panic, but then he saw Brandon on my head. When he saw that we weren't going to hurt him, he relaxed slightly.
"Where am I?" he asked. "This isn't my nest. And who are you, and where did you bring me, Human?"
"I brought you here after finding you in the forest, being attacked." I replied "After dealing with the wolf attacking you, we brought you here and healed you up. Speaking of which, how is that leg of yours?"
The little guy was still visibly uncomfortable, so I laid on my side and had Brandon jump off of my head, so we didn't seem so intimidating. Brandon sat next to the Riolu and told him that he's safe now. But when the Riolu heard that, he snapped his head to look at me and asked if we saw his dad anywhere. I asked him what he looked like. He said that he looked like him, but bigger and had spikes where his pads were. Now when he said that, I did remember seeing a shape lying down in the foliage. I told him this and he begged to be taken back there, so that he could check on his dad. I picked him up and sat him on my shoulder, and started walking back to the place where I found the Riolu. It wasn't hard to figure out where to go, since we trashed the ground when we were running from the wolf. When we found the clearing, you could see the tree that the Riolu was against, because it had bloodstains on it's bark. We looked around to find the little guys father. I sent Brandon to look from the trees and me and the Riolu check from the ground. After and hour of searching, Brandon told me he found him, but it wasn't pretty. We followed him to the body. Upon just looking at him, you could tell he was in bad shape. One of his arms was at an awkward angle, and blood was pooled around him. Riolu jumped from my arms and ran over to his dad, and we followed. Riolu was trying to push over his dad to see him, and I helped. For a guy less than four feet tall, the bastard was heavy! When we pushed him so that he was lying on his back, the sight was horrendous. It was clear that his throat had been ripped open, but his organs were beginning to fall out of his chest and stomach. The look on his dead face was clear. He had suffered much before his death, with bloodied cuts and bruises peppering his face and arms. When the Riolu saw this, he turned and jumped into my arms, and began to cry. With solemn faces and heavy hearts, we walked back to camp.
(Later that night)
I walked back to the place where we saw the dead Lucario, and checked if it was still there. Sure enough, it was. I grabbed my shovel and began to dig a small hole, just big enough to fit him in. After digging, I gently set him in the hole, and began to cover him up. After that, I found a sizeable stone and laid it at the place where his head was at. A small grave, but for a quick burial, it would suffice.
(The next morning)
I woke up and saw that both Brandon and the Riolu weren't at camp. I looked at my PokeNav and saw that Brandon was directly above me, on my tent. There was also an alert for a wild pokemon nearby, which must have been the Riolu from yesterday. I guessed that they were going to jump on me when I stuck my head out of the tent. So, I walked out of the tent and stuck my hands up and caught them when they tried to jump me. I caught the Riolu, but Brandon used my hand as a jump pad and shot some low-power bullet seeds at my head. I hit the ground and started to chase Brandon through the trees. After a little while, I caught Brandon and walked back to camp. When we got back to camp, we found the little Riolu waiting for us, sitting next to the fire pit.
"I want to join you." He said. "I don't want this to happen again." motioning to his leg, he stood up and walked over to me. With a look much older than he was, he grabbed a poke ball from my belt and gave it to me. Without a word, I captured him. I pushed the release buttons and sent him out again. I looked into his blood red eyes and said;
"Welcome to the team, Xavier."
A.N. Well, that wraps up chapter 2 of the Fanfic, and I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Well, except for Xaviers fathers death. PM me with what you want to see, and peace out.