Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long to update but I started my junior year of college so I haven't had much time to write. Queen and I both have been busy but we are dedicated to keeping this story going. I appreciate all your reviews and constructive criticism, which I have taken to help make this story better.
Enjoy this second chapter in a rewrite of Power of One.
"Normal speech"
"Pokémon speech"
'Aura speech'
A flock of Pidgey flies over the quiet, rural town of Pallet in the Kanto region. The sun is shining and the humidity is just right for a summer day. For Mrs. Delia Ketchum, this is the perfect time for her to tend to her garden on the east side of her house.
While her trusty housemaid, Mr. Mime, is sweeping away any leaves that may have fallen onto the ground and any other things that collected on the ground, Delia is watering her vine of tomatoes. Despite being at the age of thirty and having an eleven year old son, she still looks like a young woman in her early twenties. She still gets men asking her out on dates but out of respect for Ash, she would decline them every time. She knows it must be hard for her son to not have his father around but she has done the best she can to raise him by herself.
The sound of tires skidding on the ground next to the white picket fence caught her attention. She turns to see Pallet Town's resident Pokémon expert, the esteemed Professor Samuel J. Oak, on top of his bicycle in front of the house. The old man is nearing his mid-sixties by now but still maintained a youthfulness to him that was irresistible. Delia has known the professor since she was a young girl and considers him a second father to her.
"Good morning, Delia," greets the professor.
"Oh good morning, Professor," she returns.
Oak looks at the blooming garden and smiles.
"Boy, you sure have a green thumb," he comments.
She giggles. "Well I've been getting a lot of help in my garden lately. The weather's been just perfect."
Dark clouds soon sweep in, blocking out the warm summer sun. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Ketchum, Mr. Mime went into the house to grab an umbrella and opens it up to hold over her. It seems that Mr. Mime knew what was going to happen because at that moment, a strong cell of rain poured down viciously. While Mrs. Ketchum was dry, poor Professor Oak is getting drenched to the bone. His lab coat is practically see-through with all the rain hitting it and he looks like he jumped in a swimming pool.
Suddenly, the rain stopped. Just as fast as it came in, it went out.
Before anyone can say anything, a flash of white passes before Delia's eyes. She thinks that it could just be the sunlight coming back until many more flashes of white fall before her.
'Is this…snow?' She thinks to herself. 'That can't be. It's the middle of summer. How can it snow?'
The anomalies would not end there as the sky blew up with color in an aurora, which is especially odd because Pallet Town is nowhere near the Artic Circle. The two people cannot wrap their brains around what is happening. It is all too good to be true. Something must be happening somewhere to make the weather be this crazy…and one of the writers lives in a state where the weather is always crazy, regardless of the season.
Soon, the aurora and snow are gone and the sunny skies return. Confusion falls over them.
"Uh…did I just see what I think I saw?" Professor Oak asks, his jaw almost to the ground. "Or have the sixties started to catch up with me again?"
"That was rather odd," Delia agrees. "It's summer. How could it snow like that, and so briefly?"
A cry from Mr. Mime alerts them. They turn to see a whole group of Diglett charging down the road towards the house. They soon reach the ground under the professor's bike and continue to plow through, taking the bike with them. Professor Oak manages to jump onto the fence but the Diglett soon fade from sight with the bike.
"Fine! Take it!" He yells at them after being stunned for a few seconds.
Mr. Mime then became visibly upset, which disturbs Delia as well.
"Mr. Mime is upset about something," she says.
"Yes, so are the other Pokémon," Oak agrees with a nod. "Pokémon are more in tune with nature than we are. When something goes wrong, they can sense it. I fear something, somewhere, is going terribly wrong."
"What is it?"
Oak exhales through his nose and closes his eyes.
"I'm not sure, Delia. I have a feeling that we may just find out what it is soon."
On the beach of Shamouti Island, Ash and friends find themselves washed onto shore with the boat embedded in the sand. Thanks to the school of Magikarp guiding them in, they were spared from a hard wreck in the sand. While everybody else gathered their bearings to go ashore, Lucario notices Pikachu has a worried look on his face. Naturally, he decides to confront the little electric type about it.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Do you feel something off, Lucario?" Pikachu asks back. "Like the world was just thrown out of balance? There is no way that storm was a coincidence."
Lucario nods.
"I feel it too," he replies. "All the answers will be revealed to us soon. I may have to meditate on this when we finally find a place to settle down."
"I don't have a good feeling about this," says Pikachu, his gaze cast to the sky.
"Neither do I."
Not too far away from them, their trainers and their friends get off the boat. Troy got off first before assisting the others down to the sand below. Looking around, they see many Polynesian-style structures on the island as well as many palm trees.
"Can someone please tell me what just happened back there?" Troy demands. "One minute there is clear, beautiful weather and then the sky gets dark and the sea becomes rough."
"Island weather tends to be very unpredictable, Troy," replies Misty. "It may have been a tropical storm that we went through."
"There wasn't any rain though," he retorts. "Usually tropical storms bring heavy rain with them."
"Not always," she sighs, beginning to lose her patience with the oldest member of the group. "Sometimes it only includes the seas becoming rough and I think that is what happened. Besides, if we hadn't found this place, we could have been stranded out in the sea and in real trouble."
Troy is about to retort until a cry from Tracey stops him. It is a cry of fright, which startles the other three members of the group. He is so overcome with fright that he stutters his words.
"I…I think we still might be," he says, pointing a trembling finger towards the walkway above them.
The others follow his finger. Once they get a glimpse of what he sees, they too let out startled gasps. Standing on top of the walkway is a group of natives with big avian masks and spears in their hands. They jump down and surround the group. If they looked intimidating from afar, up close they were absolutely terrifying.
Troy could feel the goose bumps run up his arms as Ash and Misty cling to him, trying to hide behind him. Tracey looked like he was going to faint any second with his knees quivering like they were going to give out any second.
"Cannibals!" he cries in panic. "Troy, do something!" He is too stunned to move, shaking like a leaf.
Troy glares at him. "And what would you want me to do?" He demands.
Misty pushes him forward. "Be our peace negotiator," she says. "Surely you can talk us out of this."
"Wha…?" He tries to move back to them but they force him out and towards the group of "cannibals."
Troy is normally a very brave person but right now he is scared shitless. He doesn't know what is going to happen until one of the supposed cannibals speaks up.
"Maren, how are you?"
Troy is surprised to hear English coming from them. Looking to his left, he sees one remove their mask to reveal their identity.
That was when he started blushing.
Standing before him is a young woman about the same age as him if he had to take a guess. Light brown hair that almost looked garnet, light green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, and a cute face to top it off, Troy thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was looking directly at the captain of the boat.
'Wow, she's cute.' Troy thinks as he continued to admire the young woman's features. She still had not noticed him yet. 'Cannibals, my behind.'
She spoke again. "It's been a while."
"Carol, how are you?" Maren replied in greeting, happy to see a familiar face.
"What are you doing here on Shamouti Island?"
"The storm blew us in but it looks like we arrived just in time."
"You're right," nods Carol. "The annual legend festival starts today."
"This is my favorite island holiday," Maren then mimes playing a flute. "Are you going to be the star of the show again?"
Carol shakes her head. "No, I'm too old to be the festival maiden anymore. This year my little sister's going to take over for me," she explains before looking around the beach. "She should be around here somewhere."
"I'm right here," a bratty, female voice pierces the air. The entire group of people looks up at the walkway to see a younger, beret-wearing, sunglasses sporting version of Carol. She looks to be about thirteen or so with the same light brown hair being longer than her sister's.
"Only I'm not wearing some stupid costume," she scoffs. "Geez, after a few centuries, you'd think you'd outgrow this dorky ritual."
"It's our tradition," retorts Carol. "You should be honored to take part."
The girl shrugs it off with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry, I'll play my part in the big legend," she says before grumbling to herself, "I've only seen you do it like a zillion times."
With a roll of her eyes, Carol turns back to the group.
"Well unfortunately, that's my little sister," she explains. "Her name is Melody, but don't be fooled. She is not always this adorable."
Troy feels a wave of embarrassment overcome him when she finally makes eye contact with him. His face becomes so red that he has to turn away bashfully. Carol giggles in amusement.
"Hi," he says, stretching out his hand. "I'm Troy."
She gladly accepts the offer and shakes his hand. Troy could feel electricity go through his entire arm once her hand makes contact with his.
"Carol," she returns. "Nice to meet you. Say, haven't I seen you before?"
Troy groans internally. She probably knows who he is so he better play it cool before word gets out about him being on the island.
"Yeah, you probably have," he replies. "I used to be a famous Pokémon trainer."
He looks her over once more, trying not to make it obvious that he is doing that for fear of freaking her out. She's absolutely perfect in every way.
"So a former festival maiden huh?" He asks. "You're pretty enough that you can still do it in my book."
This time Carol is the one who blushes and giggles bashfully. "Thank you. But once you've turned 17, you're supposed to pass it down."
"What a pity," he returns with a suave tone, looking directly into her eyes.
Maren clears her throat to break up the conversation, for which Troy is thankful. Another minute and he would end up embarrassing himself in some way. Carol's eyes turn to look at Ash. She hums in curiosity.
"Who's this?" she asks.
Ash scratches his head nervously now that he is the center of attention.
"This is Ash Ketchum," says Maren. "He's a Pokémon trainer."
"Pokémon trainer?!" The entire group of islanders exclaimed in excitement. They soon whooped and danced in joy and celebration at this news.
"Can't help but wonder how they'd act knowing Misty is a gym leader," Troy says low enough for at least one person to hear, other than the redhead herself. She lets it slide for the time being.
One islander with a massive blue mask walks up to the group.
"The ancient legend foretells of your arrival," a gruff, male voice says. "And only with you can the guardian of the waters vanquish the titans of fire, ice, and lightning."
He lifts his mask to reveal his face to the group: one of a wise, old man with a big white beard on his face and rugged eyes that stared directly at Ash. Ash stepped back a bit at having his personal space invaded.
"In your hands, O Chosen One," he says. "In your hands rest the whole world and its fate."
"I…it does?" Ash stammers, finding this overwhelming to take.
"Grandfather!" Carol chastises. "You don't need to scare him before the ceremony."
The old man, now revealed to be Carol's grandfather, laughs a deep chuckle.
"I'm sorry, Carol. I can't help it," he says before turning back to Ash. "Don't let it worry you, kid. It's just for the tourists."
The beak of the mask covers his face once again.
"Blasted beak," he grumbles before pulling it back up. He notices the blushes on both Troy and his granddaughter's faces as they turn away from each other and smiles mischievously.
Melody makes her way down to the sand to get a better look at Ash. She studies each of his features after lifting her sunglasses.
"So you're a Pokémon trainer huh?" She asks, removing her sunglasses to reveal dark green eyes that are just like her sister's. "I guess you'll do. Here's your traditional welcome kiss."
She kisses Ash on the cheek. Ash's face erupts in a blush. Beside him, Misty is fuming with jealousy and anger.
Melody notices.
"Are you his little sister?" she asks.
Misty is offended at that comment. "I am not!" she denies.
Ash winces inwardly at that and only Troy detects the unease with the younger boy. He felt sorry for the young trainer and knew what it was like to be in his shoes.
"Well then you must be…" Melody stops to think about what to say before deciding on an idea. "His girlfriend."
Misty's blush grew even deeper until it was the same shade as her hair. "Eugh! Gross!" she reacts in disgust.
"Oh I don't think so," Melody smirks. "I'll be glad to play for him at the legend banquet, starts around eight. Oh and Misty, try not to be jealous."
Misty shakes with rage, ready to jump at this cocky bigmouth, but Troy holds her back.
"Cool it, Misty," he says. "Just let it go."
Melody then turns her attention to Troy.
"Yup, you definitely picked a winner, Carol," she smirks after studying him closely. "He's cute. I'm sure the two of you would make the perfect festival king and queen this year."
"Melody!" Carol's face turns even redder than before, as does Troy's.
"Y-you've got the wrong idea," Troy holds up his hands in a defensive gesture. "We're just going to take in the festivities until we can get back out to sea. Nothing more."
"Mmhm," Melody smirks while shaking her head, not buying his excuse one bit. "We'll see about that."
"We have found our Chosen One!" Carol and Melody's grandfather announces to the entire group of people there. They cheer joyfully in response. They begin to play a marching beat as they lead the new arrivals up the stairwell and off the beach.
Troy can't help but groan internally.
'What have we gotten ourselves into this time?' he wonders before catching himself staring at the back of Carol's head as she and Maren talk. He tries to look at something else before she notices, or anyone else for that matter.
Sadly for him, someone did notice.
Lucario felt this strange feeling coming from his trainer, something he had never felt before. He feels Troy's pheromone levels spike every time he looks at Carol, causing him to smirk.
'Troy, do you want to mate with her?' he asks.
Troy's face turns deep red and looks like his nose is about to bleed. He smacks Lucario upside the head.
"No!" he squeals in a high-pitched voice. "What makes you think that, Lucario? I barely even know her."
The jackal Pokémon's smirk grows wider. 'Your aura suggests that. I can read your thoughts.'
Troy groans loudly as the group keeps walking.
"You keep that up, Lucario, and you won't be getting any meditation time," he threatens.
Lucario backs down. He needs his meditation so he does not want to risk losing it. Deciding he had teased his trainer enough, he sees Pikachu looking around nervously, obviously searching for the source of the bad feeling he felt.
'I don't think we're marching into a normal celebration,' he thinks. 'There is an aura disturbance and I don't feel good about it.'
Queen: please bear in mind that Hurricane Harvey has claimed lives. Hurricane Irma might be heading my way. Then there's Jose and Katia, but I don't know much about them yet. Sorry for the delay in this, but we will get this done.
MDL96: Hope you guys all enjoyed that. Things are now starting to get interesting. There were some things that Queen and I both agreed did not make much sense in that section so we added them in. We also added in that fourth wall break because it seemed to fit.
Be sure to keep reviewing and giving your thoughts on the story. They help a lot. See you guys next time. If you're in the hurricanes' paths, stay safe.
