The Legend of A Master
DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR NARUTO, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
Chapter 6 - Family comes first
When they announced the name, nobody appeared, but then right in the middle of the stage, a small black flame was appearing. Most people were squinting to see the flame but nonetheless, it was there. Suddenly blue flames erupted around the small already present stage and formed a spiralling vortex, the clan heads as well as the Hokage who was on stage had long cleared away and flames weren't harming the audience. In the middle, a lone figure stood and suddenly the flames die down. It revealed a boy not older than 17 from his height, he was dressed in a dark grey jacket with the Uchiha symbol on the arm of the hoodie as well as the breast pocket had a small Pokeball sown on it, it was zipped up just enough to reveal a bit of a blue T-shirt with silver lining Black Jeans and black combat boots with silver buckle, a face mask and a dark hood on. The earlier worn headband was now tied to his right sleeve, he looked like he normally did. He was standing there casually with his hands in his pockets. Raising one hand out of his pocket and with a slight wave said...
"Yo".
All of them blinked then broke out into thunderous applause at the display. Sasuke cleared his throat.
"I am the new Uchiha clan head, My name is Sasuke Uchiha. It was nice meeting you all" and he gave a small bow.
Murmurs broke out in the audience over how young this person looked to be a clan head. With the boys the conversation was...
"How did he do that?"
"Is he really the clan head of the Uchiha clan"
"Meh, I think I can beat him in a spar"
With the girls, the conversation went something along these lines...
"He's sooo cute!"
"I think I'm in love"
"He's so cool!"
Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were all smiling bemusedly at the scene playing in front of them, it was vastly entertaining. Sasuke cleared his throat again...
"I hope you all do very well and graduate as fine and talented ninja" and with the flick of a wrist dispersed this time in a lightning shunshin. And the chattering continued at the display once more.
FIRST PERIOD
"Hello there children, My name is Iruka Umino and I'm going to be your teacher for this year" the instructor smiled up at the students, "Come one by one and introduce yourself" and the cycle began...
"My name is Shikamaru Nara" Yawn...
"Hi there, I'm Ino Yamanaka"
"Greeting, Shino Aburame"
"Hello everyone, my name is Chouji Akimichi"
"Hey ya'll, the name's Kiba Inuzuka"
"Hello there everyone, My name is Hinata Hyuuga and I hope we can be friends," Hinata said softly and took her place back beside Naruto's seat.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Good morning," Naruto said calmly and with that promptly returned.
"So now that everyone is introduced let's start off with..."
LUNCH BREAK
Naruto and Hinata came out and Naruto realized he didn't bring any of his usual ramen with him.
"Ah man, I forgot my lunch again!" Naruto whined out.
"Don't be like that Naruto-kun, you can share my lunch" Hinata offered, Displaying some soba, onigiri, tofu and fried shrimp.
"Wow, Hinata-chan you're the best!" Giving his best friend a hug and holding her close. Hinata's face became red at prolonged contact. When Naruto realized this, he blushed and let Hinata go as well. It was then they started eating and talking.
But even after finishing they were both still hungry, it was then that Sasuke in his usual size arrived with 2 bento boxes filled with food.
"So, you guys still hungry?" Sasuke asked with an eye smile.
"Hai!"
"Okay, I've brought some food for you" and opened the boxes to reveal some fried noodles, prawn crackers with sweet and sour sauce. "I made these all just now so they're still hot. Enjoy kay?"
As they were having food the second years came out for lunch. Hinata's cousin Neji and Neji's classmate TenTen seemed to have agreed to a spar of some sort and were having it quite near to the training ground that our favourite trio was having lunch.
"The girl seems well versed in weaponry, she will make a fine weapon's mistress" the last Uchiha contemplated lacing his fingers together.
"Sasuke!"
"Huh?" he was snapped out of his observation calculations because of the shout from Naruto who was standing 2 meters away.
"Let's spar! Kenjutsu only though" he told the older boy cheerfully.
The older boy gave him an eye smile. "Okay Naruto, if you want to, then a ten-minute spar we shall have". He agreed slowly rising to his feet.
While Naruto unsealed his katana from his sealing scroll. He accessed one of the newer features of his Holo-dex and withdrew two of his long swords and they appeared on his back. He unsheathed the swords as Naruto did the same. Hinata was just watching from the sidelines.
"Ready?" he called. Naruto nodded.
"Begin"
He immediately rushed forward as Sasuke kept the same lazy stance and blocked. Sasuke made no effort to attack, rather with fluidity akin to water he chose to block or dodge all of his strikes. The clanging of metal caught the attention of Neji and TenTen. TenTen took one look at the swords and immediately, promptly forgot about everything around her.
She forgot that she was precariously in the air preparing to throw the practice kunai at Neji and threw it at the swordsmen locked in combat by mistake. Her eyes widened and she immediately froze in terror and closed her eyes. But what does she find when she opens her eyes?
One of the long swords of the masked person was sheathed and her kunai was comfortably resting on his right hand by the loop of the kunai and he was pushing back the blonde katana wielder with just his left hand, his stance still as relaxed as ever as if this happened on a regular basis.
Breaking the sword contact, they both broke their sword stance and bowed. Without even looking behind him, the masked boy threw the kunai backwards and it hit right in between the forehead of one the target practice dummies swaying nearby on the training ground.
He momentarily turned backwards...
"Next time please be more careful" and disappeared into the trees.
1 Year later -
9th April, X101
OAK'S LABORATORY –
It had been an oddly eventful year for Professor Oak. Finding that Arion was Red and Yellow's child from Green and how he had sworn to keep that secret no matter what. Arion helped out at the ranch and laboratory as a paid researcher. Some of his thesis were brilliant and Arion let him publish it under his own name. What he didn't know is that the Professor actually published all the papers under his alias name – Adrian Tokugawa.
Researchers and professors all over the world were stunned at the perspective put into the papers and often at conferences asked him about the mysterious researcher who they only knew the name of. Imagine their surprise when they found out he is merely a boy who helps him around in his lab taking care of all the Pokemon. They were eager to meet him, to discuss new theories based on his original work, but Arion refused the requests.
Sure at times that made him come off as a little arrogant and a bit of an ass, but he didn't mind. His top priority was living his life as safely as possible and keeping the others around him safe as well. He couldn't risk losing any more family and innocent and dear people getting hurt because of him didn't sit well with him.
The old man and the young boy were close now. Arion would take care of and play with his great-granddaughter all the time. Leaf also, in particular, liked spending time with Arion. They did lots of things together, whether it be play tag [Leaf had never been able to catch him], him playing the piano for her or offering and eventually teaching her how to play the guitar.
Even though the boy was nonchalant in executing most of these tasks if you knew what to look for you would realize it too. Arion had a soft spot for the emerald-eyed girl, you could see how his red eyes were just a shade happier when he spent time with her. Leaf herself was a bright, bubbly and happy child, but she was a lonely one as well and that was partly the aged Professors fault. Both of her parents were original dexholders, he still sent Blue to collect data for him sometimes and Green being a gym leader was self-explanatory. So Leaf did spend most of her time alone. Arion fixed that problem. Either he would spend time with Leaf or he would take up the Blue's assignment himself and finish it so that Leaf had more time to spend with her mother.
Right now he eyed said prodigy of a boy feeding a new trainer's Gyarados. It was crazy but the Gyarados actually liked Arion more than he liked his own trainer if the nuzzling of his head and the willingness to take food from the ravenette was any indication that he would use. Gyarados, in particular, were so hostile that there were several incidents of them attacking their own trainers, yet with charisma like no other Arion had a way with all of them.
Snapping his attention back to the task at hand as the Ponyta, Rapidash and Tauros once again started running around with great energy and enthusiasm and were completely ignoring the aged Professor's desperate attempts to get them to stop. Ash and Gary were trying to help him tame them but we were failing miserably.
"Here Ponyta please slow down" Ash yelled out and only succeeded in further frightening the Ponyta and Rapidash further. The Taurus didn't seem to hear the young boy's plea or they just didn't care.
"Hey Ashy Boy, you'll never be a pokemon master if you can't even calm pokemon down properly" Gary smirked arrogantly standing right in front of the stampeding herd and bellowed "Stop".
But they didn't stop and Gary was about to be hit. Gary's eyes widened in fear when he was knocked out of the way by Arion. He dashed forward and jumped performing a flip and landing on a tree. He seemed to map out his plan and then jumped off the tree to land in a crouching position within the course of the stampede and he calmly raised his hand. It was like magic as the usual response came out they were all soothed and calmed down enough for the hooded figure Adrian as he was known by the boys to walk up to them and further soothe the leader Rapidash which kept the whole herd at ease.
The pokemon were spooked due to the rough auras being emitted by that wild powerful pokemon that was northeast of here.
"Hmm, I would have to check it out later with Uncle Kirito when he's not busy with Asuna, the other pokemon that were not affected were either in Pokeballs, indoors or were hiding underground…" Arion's thought process went somewhere along these lines.
Once that was done he carefully lowered his hand and let them go in the direction that they wanted to go in. His eyes turned back to Red from the frightening Golden it had been. He pulled up his blue hoodie and opened the zip fully.
"Well, time to go," He thought to himself as he left the field at high speeds.
"Hey! Arion?" was the voice of the professor he heard but he was already out of sight by that time so he ignored it knowing that the Professor would understand.
The Professor just shook his head a chuckle bubbling up to his lips.
10th April, X101.
11.46 PM
"Faster," he thought to himself.
He growled out in frustration, his blades were not doing as much as he needed them to do. His simulated opponent was dodging a few of his strikes but he was still landing a good amount of hits.
"Got to go faster" he reminded himself as he got hit back a few times.
He surrounded his dual blades with lightning chakra as he focused his strikes more vividly now, his Mangekyou Sharingan flaring to life.
Finally, his strikes were all landing as the adrenaline shifted his body on autopilot landing deadly strikes on the neck, chest, head and heart.
When the final strike was given he whispered the name of his newly created combination...
"Lightning Eclipse".
Immediately he regretted using that much chakra. It was bubbling up to the surface again, he could feel the bone mask forming on top of his left eye. He tried his best to repress it but it was no use, that sinister aura was bubbling up once again and he felt the sclera of his eyes turn black, now having no differentiation from the eye.
This was bad, he had to push it down. Ryu had warned him before.
He had to regain control.
6 Hours Later.
He lied on the floor of the opponent simulation room there utterly beat and exhausted. His Mangekyou Sharingan was still active swirling and flaring erratically. It had taken everything he had to suppress the attack this time. His eyes widened once more…
Oh no…
His muscles seemed to have locked up. He clutched his head in pain. Something snapped in his memory as every image of his parents came rushing to me in a fast stream. Over the years he had suppressed these memories and didn't think about them anymore but he could never forget them ever. Their faces flickered behind his eyelids as his Aura became erratic. His Mangekyou Sharingan was shifting once more, they were spinning wildly and finally settled into a new pattern. His Aura and Psychic power settled into a calmer rhythm as he surrendered himself to unconsciousness. A memory surfaced and played in his head.
It had happened when he was just 5 years old nearly 3 years ago...
FLASHBACK
"Ryuu?" He called out waiting for the dragon Bijuu to appear as he usually did.
"What is it, child?"
Rather than his dragon form, he appeared in front of me in his human form. His eyes widened fractionally as he took in the new appearance of his eyes, which was rare as hardly anything surprised the aged Bijuu.
"Those eyes..."
"What are you talking about Ryuu?"
"The eyes child that you had, it is one of the evolutions of the Sharingan...
The Mangekyou Sharingan, but you know this you have been training with it for some time".
"Mangekyou Sharingan have 3 primary powers...
Amaterasu...
Susanoo...
And Tsukuyomi".
"Each is very powerful in their own right. Of course, you of all people know this… "
The boy didn't deny the bijuu's words
"Indeed, but what you didn't know is that even though these eyes are powerful, the price of this power is high".
"What is the price Ryuu?" he questioned intrigued.
"Blindness, the price of controlling the ultimate visual prowess is sealing away this prowess bit by bit"...
Sasuke inhaled a sharp breath at that. He had been training with something that was damaging and didn't know it? But Ryuu hadn't finished, there was a pregnant pause in his sentence
"There's more isn't there?" he asked, being the ever-perceptive one.
"You indeed catch on very fast that's what I like about you child" Ryuu replied.
"Yes, there is a way to make this sight permanent".
"There is?"
"Yes, usually to make this power permanent you have to take the eyes of another wielder of the Mangekyou Sharingan, resulting in the blindness of the other" Ryuu paused at that.
"Then I don't need this power" was his simple reply. Ryuu simply smiled.
"Why exactly do you say this child?"
"If I need to make someone else suffer, for power of only my gain, then I become no different than those who took away my parents from me because of his parent's skill and prowess as Shinobi and trainers, and I refuse to stoop that low".
"What if you have no choice but to destroy your enemy with this new power?"
"If it is what Arceus has set out in his destiny, then I will have to accept the fact that I will remain blind for life because to gain something, something of equal value must be lost. That is the law of the world".
"I knew I made the right choice...
But lucky for you, you are different you already had the power to make it permanent within you " was all he heard before a hand was on his forehead and he found himself in a state of almost paralysis
This time he turns to see Ryuu standing directly in front of him a brightly glowing ball in front of him.
"This Arion is your greatest strength," Ryuu said calmly floating in his space like he owned it.
"And that…" he said pointing to an even larger ball of dark purple light to his right…
"Is your greatest fear"
He looked into the direction that Ryuu pointed as the Juubi released the bright ball of light.
"Only if you can conquer that fear is when you will get a taste of what you can really do"
FLASHBACK END
Arion's eyes flicked back to the dark ball in the middle of the room. Was he ready to do this? Arion approached the dark ball that seemed to be growing in size feeding on the darkness around him. When he touched it, it was all over. The darkness broke out and clutched onto him engulfing him in its wake.
"Wha…" was his last thoughts as it swallowed him whole seeping into the very essence of his body. He found his knees weaken as he fell to them. His pupils dilated the amber flakes becoming pitch black as even the white of his eye was consumed.
"Where am I?"
"What am I doing?"
"Who am I?"
Flashes of colour streaked past him as he followed it. A dash of golden yellow and specks of dark raven. They floated around teasing him like pixies. But then he found himself face to face with…?
Himself?
True to word, his carbon copy was standing in front of him. The only difference was that the colours were all wrong.
His copy gave him a feral grin and charged in a second I was knocked to the ground.
"This…" it whispered in my ear as I couldn't move a muscle.
"Is my domain. You used to be the dominant one but that stupid Juubi let you come in here, didn't he. He let you find me, didn't he? Did he really think you could beat me?"
"Ryuu let me in here? what is he talking about?".
"You think you're so strong and smart. Let me tell you this if you think you're strong I'm 10 times stronger than you any day! It's easy too, while your heart is pure your spirit in itself has overwhelming darkness within it that I feed off of and let me tell you, it's a lot".
In a flash, he was in front of Arion and before he could step back and before he could defend he was knocked back. Arion lashed out blindly finding strange bursts of energy at odd times, but it was futile in a matter of minutes his form was crumpled on the floor.
"You know it's your fault they're gone." The voice was becoming slowly one that he recognized.
"If you weren't such a baby maybe they would still be alive" a sliver of anger shot up his core, and in that instant, he recognized the voice as the same one that taunted him when things were tough. His eyes widened.
This carbon copy of his…
It was his alter-ego.
It charged forward at an alarming speed as he staggered back to his feet. He raised his hand to weakly deflect the blow. Only to be wide open to an axe kick to the of his neck. His form crumpled under his foot. Blood was pouring from gashes all over being emitted by the terrifying dark chakra surrounding the dark him, his chakra, on the other hand, was acting erratically.
"Your spirit is black so let darkness do the work for you and let's start by eliminating those pesky Academy students you call your siblings"
And Arion snapped, his second eye also turned that pitch black colour and the mask rapidly formed across his face as he started losing himself once more. He let out a feral roar in a voice that wasn't his own.
"Damn it! You can't lose yourself now, get a grip Arion!" he screamed at himself. But his eyes closed, he could feel his life force fading the hollowness taking hold within him and as he did he saw flashes of colours once more.
His partners were waiting for him. The pale lavender that made Hinata's eyes to Naruto's Cerulean blues, Blue's Sapphire gaze, Green's emerald stare, Professor Oak's dark brown orbs, his uncle's own black ones, Asuna's chestnut hues glazed over in concern, His father's red-eyed look and mother's gentle gaze, his Pokemon's pleading beady eyes and finally Leaf's Jade Emerald admiration sparking up towards him.
"Arion can you hear us? We're getting scared…"
"This isn't like you, Master, What's happening?"
"Boy, why won't you answer us… What's wrong…?"
"Boss, Please answer if you hear us speaking now…"
His eyes fluttered open at this warmth he felt in his chest.
"What am I doing?"
"Why am I not fighting back?"
"Am I really so Weak?"
His eyes snapped open at that realizing that warmth was from the ball that Ryuu was holding earlier.
"This is my greatest strength?"
"It's my….
Memories"
His mind went back to his earlier attempts, using his friend's motivation. It had worked for some time but ultimately failed.
"But what stops me from trying again?"
He regained his footing and lashed out. His body immediately settled into the trained grace that it was so familiar with as combinations of styles and improvisations came out on the fly. His eyes spun in memory burning the images into his brain. His muscles tightened and flexed in exertion as he strained them and defended himself from the brutal attacks. Techniques and blows were exchanged, blood was spilt…
"If it wasn't the memories? Then what was it? How can I destroy the darkness?"
"Everyone has darkness in their hearts, don't you remember that time?"
Of course, he did. One of the first ANBU assassinations that he had. He had wiped out a small post of bandits. He felt no remorse for them, but there were women and children with them. The other ANBU didn't spare them like he did. He felt guilty for their lives and that night he cried.
And cried…
And cried…
Who was he to decide whether the person was good or bad, whether they deserved peace or death? How could you give instruments of power to those with a weak will and heart? How do you justify something that you hate yourself for?
He didn't have a chance to look again at his opponent as he was sent flying, he felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. He slammed into a seemingly non-existent wall. His vision was fading and his alter ego seemed pleased at that.
"Why are you holding on so tightly to yourself, surrender yourself to the darkness and I'll make everything right again!"
Darkness…
Darkness…
Darkness…
Was it really the only way? Was there nothing else in this world that could give him a little hope, a little light?
FLASHBACK
"Son, what people don't understand about aura is it's all emotions"
"Emotions? Shinobi don't have them do they, Dada?"
"There is no one in this world without emotions who is human kiddo. When you lose your emotions you lose what makes you human, you lose your humanity…" A glazed over look took over Red's eyes as he stared at his wife.
"And I almost fell down there Kiddo, for my Sharingan I once almost lost the light in me, but lucky for me your mother was there, she pulled me out and showed me a light when I was lost in the darkness." The three-year-old stared at his father.
"Do you regret falling into the darkness now Dada?"
"I don't," Red said easily.
"Because if it was not for that darkness I wouldn't have found the light of love from your mother…"
FLASHBACK ENDS
"My memories…
Is that why they were my greatest strength because the key to the problem is buried somewhere deep in them?
Light…
Darkness…
Wait…
"Everyone has darkness in them…"
"It's true"
His eyes snapped open and he found himself falling as his doppelganger watched him condescendingly.
"You have great darkness within you, you know it's true" he smiled wickedly and Arion saw sharp teeth. Arion closed his eyes and concentrated at his Aura…
"You're right" the alter ego was surprised at his acceptance.
"I have darkness in my heart…"
"But at the same time, there is light, there is love" The alter ego grew more and more frustrated at his words.
"How can you say that, don't you see?! You're all alone in the darkness, there is no such thing as love, where are all those stupid people you call your friends now Huh?!" he snarled.
Arion's eyes snapped open to reveal a dangerous Azure blue.
"I am in the darkness, it's precisely that I'm in the darkness that I can see the light"
"Light and darkness, they both exist in me. I can't destroy either without destroying my own humanity and I don't think I will!" He screamed emitting a strong Aura pulse outwards that sent his alter ego tumbling to the floor.
The darkness around them dissolved and the dark he was dissolving too. The dark he couldn't believe it. He had lived in this body for so long and now he was being destroyed?
"You are not being destroyed"
The doppelganger's concentration snapped towards the original. He was panting and looked exhausted, but his wounds and cuts were healing.
"You are becoming a real part of me…" were the last things he would hear and a small smile was the last thing he saw before his form completely dissolved.
Before Arion himself could fall down in exhaustion he saw Ryuu's approving smile and eyes and fell to the ground with a sense of accomplishment.
It took him a week to recover from a semi-coma like state. When he would come to, he would find concerned Pokemon fawning over him who he had to assure he was okay.
IN REAL TIME
Ichigo knew something was off the moment he walked into the training room. He saw his nephew on the ground face first. He bolted towards him and lifted him up. His eyes were glazed over, but his chakra was erratic. Compared to his brother he was inferior in chakra sensing and aura detection but even he could feel the two energies flowing around disturbed, not calm as it usually would be.
Was it actually time already? Had he actually been ready this young?
It was a risk exposing a young child of an Aura guardian into that chamber of their soul. They could be consumed and become everything they despised or stood against. The darkness was strong, especially in those with horrid memories. The hollows inside him won't be easy to conquer. They were vast and strong but if you were skilled enough, it could become a strength and you would ascend to a whole new level of Aura manipulation.
Ichigo had never dared to open that chamber of his soul, he didn't desire what he would get even if he did manage to conquer it. But Arion was a different story, his dark side came out by force…
Ichigo closed his eyes in regret. If he had been there for his nephew at the right time before, then he wouldn't have this problem. His darkness would have left him alone.
Arion was going to have a tough fight if Ryuu had actually done it this soon. He didn't know what Ryuu saw in Arion but Ichigo could feel something different about Arion. He was pure yet his mind had been tortured. His hands were soaked in blood, yet he was still gentle and had compassion for all living things. This gentleness was rare in the world, the gentleness that only a few people ever really see within the child.
He was emotionless and a shell of a real person yet he had more depth to him than most. He wasn't shallow, he saw through façade and he followed his heart when it mattered. He had a strangely enchanting charisma to him.
Yet could he overcome his demons and actually win? Did he have the will to continue on in this world as a guardian of life? Did he have it in him?
Ichigo didn't know. Arion's Pokemon were getting anxious, their master wasn't awakening. All he knew he could do now was wait.
"Please Arion…
Come back to me"
He took the boy to his bedroom and placed him on the bed, opening his mouth and giving him supplements so that he wouldn't go completely hungry, he was getting more and more worried as more time passed. As he checking the mail, he noticed the usual, orders for some electronic part his nephew probably ordered, bills but the last was the most strange.
"Huh I wonder what he wants with Arion," Ichigo thought placing the letter on the table.
It took a week but the boy eventually did come out of his coma-like state. He was fussed over by all his Pokemon. He was just glad that he was conscious now, he glanced at the letter that sat on the table from Professor Oak addressed to the boy.
"Hey, Arion…"
A WEEK LATER
DAWN BREAK, 3.45 AM
Arion sat on the outskirts of Pallet town, a lone figure at this time. He was waiting for his uncle to return. He was pretty sure that his uncle would be stressed out due to something that was obviously of great importance to him. So like the good nephew he was, he waited. It was about time that he came back. And sure enough around the horizon, he could see the signature silhouette of black that indicated that his uncle was back from his mission.
He seemed tired and the boy could tell that his uncle had succeeded in something but failed in maybe what he considered the more important task. He walked up the boy sitting patiently waiting for him.
"How was your mission, a protection detail right? It took you all the way to Snowpoint in Sinnoh" he asked quietly.
"It was a success" the reply was equally quiet.
"So did you find the perfect one?" The boy asked the man, a hint of teasing in his voice.
Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. An action of frustration, coming from him at least.
"I couldn't, nothing clicks or seems good enough to me and I am running out of time, it's coming soon" was the agitated reply.
"Well then" The boy started, hopping off the rock.
"It's a good thing you have a nephew like me," He said, a message implied and received. We both walked back to the house.
SCENE BREAK -
He stared at the object in his hands in disbelief.
"It's perfect" Ichigo stated taking the object from me and examining it in the light.
"Of course it is, I crafted it myself" The boy stated a teasing edge to his voice.
His uncle stopped in his tracks.
"You made this?" was his confused, as well as impressed reply.
"Yeah" he shrugged. He glanced at the time it was a special day after all.
"So did you accept Oak's offer," Kirito asked storing the carefully held item in his storage pack.
"I did take him up on it, I start today," He said casually.
The truth is when Prof Oak had first come across Arion as an enigma and wanted to find out more and discover his potential and he did. Arion was gifted and he became a regular face around the Oak ranch. Then there was the bombshell of his parentage and the old man became even more protective of the boy.
Recently he had hosted a summer camp for those under the age of 10 and encouraged every child of Pallet town who met the criteria to participate in this event. In this camp, the one who managed to impress Oak the most would get a chance to start his or her journey when the next batch of trainers were produced.
Arion was the child that never seemed to be paying attention to any of the instructions given, yet executed his tasks perfectly. That was no surprise, after all, everything that was connected to Pokemon Arion had this strange on the dot instinct about. The pokemon seemed to adore being around him even the painfully shy ones would allow him to stroke them or feed them from his hand. Through and through this boy was more prepared for a journey that all of the 10-year-old trainers of this year put together. Arion was the chosen boy and his journey started today.
"Well uncle, I'm gonna take a shower and then head off, that Okay?" Arion asked casually.
"Yeah that's fine kiddo, I've got to move though" Ichigo replied glancing at the time.
"That's right you only have 4 months left," the dark-haired boy said far too smugly for a kid.
"Shut up!" was all uncle said with a playful swipe.
"Yeah right, good luck~," he said back in a sing-song voice.
3 HOURS LATER
He was dressed and all ready to go. His 4 Pokeballs hung on his belt carefully hidden, his holo-dex hidden from sight on his left forearm. A black long-sleeved V-necked shirt with zips from the neckline to the sleeves of silver, Black cargo pants that were form fitted and black combat boots with silver buckle, a black leather enforced belt along with a supply pouch at the left side back with Pokeball holder clips. A form-fitted Black jacket with silver linings and an attached hood and mask and black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. his Silver pendant around his neck and a black and silver sling travel pack on his back. He was ready for anything that came in his way.
AT OAK'S LABORATORY
GARY! GARY! HE'S OUR MAN! IF HE CAN'T BEAT'EM NO ONE CAN!
Arion rubbed his temples as an oncoming headache made itself clear to him.
"Thank you all citizens of Pallet, I will now go to receive my starter" was the telltale, trademarked arrogant voice of Gary Oak that he was used to hearing on the streets. The ravenette, on the other hand, went in quietly. All 3 trainers were present but according to common knowledge, there were supposed to be 4 starting trainers here excluding me today.
"Yeah I got the best one!" was Gary's arrogant smirk and with gusto returned his starter back to its Pokeball.
"Professor Oak" Arion asked in a steady voice.
"I was called in today".
Professor turned his head to see the youngest child of the lot. Giving a slight nod he motioned him to stand aside and wait for everyone else to leave. When they had and it was finally quiet. Professor Oak came to me.
"So you did come after all"
He lifted his head in acknowledgement with an eyebrow slightly raised.
"Did you really think I wouldn't?" He challenged. The aged professor simply chuckled.
"I had a special request to you," he said as he motioned me to follow him inside.
He did as he was told. In the special incubator, he took out a single Pokeball and handed it to the curiously masked boy.
"Open it" was his simple command and he did, it opened to reveal...
...
...
...
...
An empty Pokeball.
The suspense that Professor Oak was trying to build up was shattered as professor Oak fell on the ground anime style.
"Where did he go" the Professor frantically started looking...
The boy simply stood there smiling to himself and his eyes flashed blue for a second. He smiled softly again feeling bad for the poor creature. The window was open as he walked up to it and took a leaf from a nearby tree. He placed it to his mouth to play a simple melody that was very familiar in the forests of Viridian.
Everything seemed to be brighter as the soothing melody calmed down all souls who heard it, Pokemon and people alike. A pair of bright eyes of a certain four-legged pokemon in the lab calmed and experienced the feeling that it had missed for so long. Arion eventually caught on to his location. Kneeling down to crouch in front of the creature, he offered him, for he was male, his hand.
"Hey there little guy"... he started as he opened his eyes once the melody stopped.
"How are you doing?"
The creature stared up curiously at the offered hand and the calming aura. In his short life, nobody had ever been friendly with him...
Maybe... just maybe this human was different.
Nuzzling into the offered hand he found a certain comfort as well as warmth and was instantly more attracted to this human...
For the first time in his life, he felt safe.
Professor Oak looked on at the scene in awe. This pokemon was willingly nuzzling into the hand of a child it just met but wouldn't open up to him in the 6 months it had been here. This child was truly amazing.
"So I think he is my starter," Arion said without turning, motioning to the silver Eevee sitting comfortably on his shoulder. Professor Oak nodded in acknowledgement,
"I have to warn you though Arion..."
"About what?" the boy asked gently scratching the foxy pokemon in between his ears. The shiny purred in comfort.
"His genetic makeup is even more unstable than a normal Eevee's, my guess is that something was done to the embryo before the egg was fertilized and laid to produce a pokemon of all genetic natural natures".
The boy nodded turning his attention to his starter.
"Also" he coughed regaining his attention.
"Take these with you" handing the new trainer a pure black Pokedex and 5 Pokeballs.
"The Pokedex is registered to Adrian Tokugawa, you're normally referred to name, however, it has also been programmed to your real name and your DNA"
"Thank you" and with a bow, the prodigy of a child turned and left the lab walking on the familiar dirt path that laid ahead.
ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PALLET TOWN
"So..." he started kneeling down to his starter's eye level, his Eevee, looking at me curiously.
"You already established an Aura bond with me earlier, so you know my name is Arion, Would you like to have a name?" he asked gently.
He nodded vigorously.
"Okay," he said getting a thoughtful look on his face.
"How about Eon?" he asked him after some contemplation.
He gave an enthusiastic response in English, performing a few backflips to display his excitement.
"So let's begin our rise..."
3 HOURS LATER
"Quick attack"
The youngster fell down in disbelief...
"So strong..." The trainer and his Silver Eevee seemed to give off a feral grin turned on his heel. Eon naturally coming onto his shoulder as he called out...
"Next time, please be a little stronger" and with a careless wave of his hand Arion head down the path to Viridian city.
He walked into the Pokemon Centre at Viridian city. He hadn't seen any pokemon worth catching yet so I still only had the Pokemon he left home with.
"GARY! GARY! HE'S OUR MAN! IF HE CAN'T BEAT'EM NO ONE CAN!"
He felt a migraine returning.
"Girls please, we can continue when we're back on the road after I beat all the chumps around here." a familiar and arrogant voice filled his ears. He sighed, returning Eon and walked up to Nurse Joy.
"Excuse me I would like a room for 2 days please."
Nurse Joy immediately snapped back into concentration and giving me a pleasant smile nodded and tapped a few keys on her keyboard. Nodding in satisfaction, she handed me a pair of keys.
"Your room number is 207, please enjoy your stay" and with another smile walked over to the other side of the counter to tend to another trainer and her injured Rattata.
Arion shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking towards his room.
"Hey, Adrian!"
The voice was obvious as well as its intention but he shrugged it off and continued to walk as though he hadn't heard the obnoxious voice at all and he would have kept at it until a hand was almost smacked on his shoulder. Being a ninja he had avoided the blow pretty easily and had been able to twirl out of the way of the smack, obviously exasperated at the diligence, he turned his face to the one he was trying to ignore.
"So we meet again Adrian"
Yes, he was face to face with none other than Gary Oak. He looked on with an impassive expression on his face. Ever since that incident with the Tauros and Rapidash herd, Gary had been on his head about everything turning it into a competition that he just kept losing.
"Hey! Speak when I'm talking to you!" Gary blew his top off far sooner than he had expected. He still kept the same impassive expression on his face.
"What is it Oak? What do you want?" his eyes never strayed, the cutting red colour made Gary flinch.
"So how many Pokemon have you caught? I have a full set" Gary boasted proudly.
The quiet boy pulled back his jacket revealing five Pokeballs clipped to his belt.
"Haha, I have more than you!" Gary called out far too smugly.
"And I'm okay with that" Arion said equally calmly.
"That's it you and me right now at battleground 3" and proceeded to try to drag me there by force, key word being try.
Arion dodged his swipe and Gary ended up flat on his face. He proceeded to walk there himself thinking this would be a good time to test some of the strength of his attacks.
He looked behind himself and called out...
"Do you plan on lying there the entire day or are you coming too?" and with a wave of his hand continued on his own merry way.
AT BATTLEGROUND 3
"So a 5 on 5 match till one person has no pokemon remaining, sound good?" Gary said eyeing the now exposed Pokeballs on his belt.
Arion simply nodded.
"Begin"
Gary started out throwing a Pokeball which produced a Pidgey.
"Come forth for battle" he replied throwing his starter's Pokeball, Eon appearing...
3 MINUTES LATER
"NO! Squirtle!" Gary ran forward to catch his fallen starter.
NO! GARY LOST!.
He had had enough, returning Eon, he walked out on top of the roof of the Pokemon Centre and that was when I saw him...
Ho-oh...
The legend of the Jhoto region before his eyes fluttering majestically. As he soared through the sky a feather fell onto his outstretched hand. A rainbow feather, his blessing he supposed. Twirling the beautiful feather between his fingers he closed his eyes and heard the message embedded within it...
"Help the chosen one on his quests, he will need it"
Signing Off,
The Aura Phoenix.