Hello, dear reader, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Nintendoverse!

I understand that beginning with Johto instead of Kanto is a weird choice, but Johto is personally my second-favorite region behind Sinnoh (I grew up with Gens IV-V), so I decided to start this interconnected series through something I hold near and dear to me.

Hope you enjoy!

700 years ago, two towers were built in an area which would soon become the first city of the Johto region, Ecruteak City. The twin towers were called the Bell Tower and the Brass Tower, the Bell Tower being plated with silvery panels of tin and the Brass Tower being plated with, well, brass.

The Rainbow Pokémon, Ho-Oh, visited the two towers once every twenty-five years, usually heralding the end of a particularly nasty region-wide storm which seemed to strike Johto every five years. The lucky few who did get to see Ho-Oh when it would perch on top of the towers, even if they saw it for mere moments, were blessed with a life of eternal happiness. The sages of Ecruteak's twin towers would frequently pray to the bronze statue of Ho-Oh on the fifth floor of the Bell Tower in an attempt to commune with the Legendary Pokémon.

However, these times of peace and happiness would not last, as 550 years after the construction of the towers, the Brass Tower was struck by a lightning bolt from the reoccurring storm, which set the tower ablaze. Through the efforts of the Ecruteak community, the sages of the tower and most of the Pokémon were safely evacuated... with the exception of a Jolteon, a Vaporeon, and a Flareon.

The roaring fire was extinguished by a fierce rainstorm which lasted for an entire day, and the citizens mourned the loss of both the Brass Tower and the three Pokémon who perished in the fire.

Ho-Oh had seen the burning tower when it was up in the sky, and, having taken pity on the three Pokémon whose lives had been unfairly robbed from them, resurrected them with its Sacred Ash. The three resurrected Pokémon were known as Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, and Ho-Oh allowed them to freely roam the Johto region as they saw fit. Those who wandered near the Ecruteak towers on that day swore that they heard the sounds of twinkling bells.

The citizens of Ecruteak would not see Ho-Oh for 150 years, with the Rainbow Pokémon having concentrated its efforts on stopping the freak storm which came by Johto every five years.

A century after the burning of the Brass Tower, the reoccurring storm had completely vanished, and it is said that Ho-Oh and the beasts of the Burned Tower still freely roam the Johto region to this day.

"...and that's the story of the twin towers of Ecruteak City." A young woman in her mid-to-late 20s closed a storybook, which was met by loud protests from her seven year old son.

"Now, now, Gold, Mommy'll read you two stories tomorrow if you go to bed before 9:00, how about that?"

The child's demeanor flipped on a dime, and he let out a chipper, "Okay!" before running up the stairs and heading to his room.

Evelyn smiled as she heard her son thunder up the stairs before getting ready to go to bed herself, due to needing to prepare for another long day of working at the Goldenrod Radio Tower.

Giovanni's lips formed a thin smile upon hearing the profits of the day's business. To the public, Team Rocket put up the front of a benevolent corporate organization that sought to better the world and assist the researchers in Mossdeep City of the Hoenn region by providing parts and crucial technology for Mossdeep's space program. However, behind closed doors, they were a ruthless crime organization who sold rare and powerful Pokémon to the highest bidder (or through their Game Corner in Celadon City), and sometimes even did cruel experiments on Pokémon to bring out their true potential.

While the team was primarily based in Kanto, they had also recently begun setting up outposts in the Sevii Islands and in Johto's Mahogany Town.

Regardless, Giovanni was pleased by the profits that had come in for the day, with his best agents managing to capture and sell a powerful Unovan Pokémon, a Haxorus, to a wealthy man in Alola.

Reading through the records, he was soon interrupted by his secretary, Matori, who said, "Boss, it appears that your son's babysitter has called about it being the end of her shift..."

Nodding, Giovanni thanked her before commanding, "Tell the grunts to shut down business for the day."

Matori nodded before exiting Giovanni's office to relay the message to Proton, an up-and-coming executive in the organization.

After making some minor adjustments to his suit, Giovanni walked out of the team's headquarters and into the busy streets of Saffron City. Walking out of the city, Giovanni made a reminder for himself to keep the Viridian Gym open for one hour longer the next day, as he wanted to show Silver how it was like to be a powerful Trainer.

Having made his way back to Viridian City just as the sun was setting, Giovanni unlocked the door to his modest two-story dwelling, and saw the babysitter he had hired playing on some kind of game system with Silver.

The babysitter, Julia, looked up to see that Giovanni was staring right at her, and she quickly stood up, nervously saying, "Oh! I didn't expect you to be back so soon..."

Chuckling in a good-natured fashion, Giovanni coolly replied, "Oh, it's not an issue." Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a neat stack of 5,000 PokéDollars, asking, "I expect that you will be back tomorrow?"

Julia nodded, and Giovanni said, "Very well," giving a light gesture towards the door to indicate that she had been dismissed.

As Julia left, Giovanni looked his son in the eye, and asked, "So, how was school today?"

Giovanni had a genuine smile on his face as he listened to the seven year old boy tell him about how his day at Pewter City's primary school had gone...

Around the same time, Gold and his mother were up on the roof stargazing, the two of them having disregarded the whole 'early sleep' thing.

Evelyn excitedly pointed out where Ursaring Major, Teddiursa Minor, and Kancer the Krabby were in the night sky, and Gold looked up in awe, the night sky being illuminated in his golden eyes.

Eventually, Evelyn had fallen asleep, but Gold remained awake just in time to hear a sound which sounded like a thousand twinkling bells. Looking up, he saw something glitter in the night sky, but Gold wasn't sure of what it was.

Ho-Oh flew over the now-quiet New Bark Town, shedding a single one of its feathers.

Gold smiled as he fell asleep, unaware that the Rainbow Wing that had molted from Ho-Oh was now resting inside the pocket of his jacket...

Four years later, Silver, now eleven years old, was running after Giovanni on Kanto Route 22. Silver finally caught up with Giovanni, and yelled, "You told me... you were the number one Trainer in the world! Are you really just going to quit like that? What are you going to do now?"

Giovanni turned around, and after a long pause, he began, "One must acknowledge one's defeat before he can move on..." After another pause, he said, "I will go solo for now, so that one day I will form a stronger organization!" Under his breath, he muttered, "And maybe prove myself to be a better person than you think I am, Silver..."

Silver, having developed an incredibly cynical worldview in the four years that had passed, harshly rebuked, "What aspect of you was number one, gathering so much only to be defeated by a mere child from Pallet Town!?"

Giovanni, his face being almost unreadable, replied, "Putting together the potential of many is how you produce a huge power... that's what an organization is... that's the strength of an organization! I failed to make the best use of my subordinates' potential... but you shall witness one day the revival of me and my Team Rocket!"

Silver walked closer, and yelled, "Dad, I don't understand you! You're not making any sense!"

After yet another long pause, Giovanni turned his back to his son and cryptically said, "One day, you will understand..." before walking away.

Clenching his fists, Silver yelled after him, "I don't want to understand you! I will never become someone like you... a coward when you're alone and acting like a tyrant when you're in front of other cowards! I will become strong! I will become an even stronger Trainer all by myself! Do you hear me?! All by myself!"

Silver stormed away, while behind a tree, two children from New Bark Town of the Johto region, one with a black-and-yellow hat, and the other a girl with blue hair, watched the events unfold, with a Celebi accompanying them...

Three years passed, and Gold, now a fourteen-year old, woke up excitedly, having been tasked to run an errand for Professor Elm, the Pokémon Professor of the Johto region. Almost bolting out his bedroom door, he stopped and went back to take his lucky feather, one that had mysteriously shown up in his pocket after a stargazing session with his mother seven years ago. Once he made sure that the feather was secure in his bag, he ran down the stairs, out of the house (though not without giving his mother a hug), and towards Professor Elm's Pokémon Laboratory.

Before he could go in, however, Gold spotted a mysterious red-haired teenager who looked to be the same age as him staring into the windows of Professor Elm's lab in a totally not stealthy fashion. Walking closer, Gold heard the boy mutter, "So this is the famous Elm Pokémon Lab..."

Silver, turning around, saw another boy his age looking at him in a perplexed fashion, and he snapped, "What are you staring at?!" Silver shoved the boy away, who gave him a reproachful look as he walked inside the laboratory.

Gold, slightly put-off by his encounter with the boy outside, entered the laboratory, calling out, "Hey, Professor!"

Elm temporarily stopped what he was working on, and he greeted the teenager with a friendly handshake, saying, "Good to see you, Gold! I've been waiting for you!"

Once the two of them broke the handshake, Gold asked, "So, what is it that you need me for?"

Elm began, "Do you remember what I've told you about my research so far?"

Gold shook his head, and Elm began, "As you know these days, Pokémon are carried in Poké Balls." As Gold nodded, Elm continued, "But before the Poké Ball was invented, people used to walk with Pokémon, just like your friend Crystal does!" Pausing to clear his throat, Elm pressed on with, "Poké Balls are great because they allow you to carry up to six Pokémon on your person, but I think walking with Pokémon must have its own merits, possibly with how Pokémon grow or evolve... so I'm going to give you a Pokémon!"

Gold, in shock, exclaimed, "You are?!"

"Yep!" Pausing, Elm then asked, "Can you walk the Pokémon you choose outside of its Poké Ball to see if it brings out any special bonds between Pokémon and people?" Jerking a thumb to Gold's right, he continued, "The device over there has some Pokémon that you can choose from... much like every other region in the world, they're Grass, Fire, and Water-type Pokémon that are very difficult to obtain."

Before Gold could say anything, Elm's laptop let out a little chirp, indicating that he had gotten an email. Elm checked the contents of said email, and he turned back to Gold and said, "So, I have an acquaintance called Mr. Pokémon." Chuckling at the name with an amused annoyance, Elm continued, "He keeps finding peculiar things and keeps raving on about them... anyways, I just received an email from him saying that he actually found something for real this time."

As Gold nodded in interest, he asked, "So what does he usually find?"

"Oh, traces of Pokémon fur, Shiny Pokémon, Pokémon Eggs... speaking of Eggs, he says that he found a rare one, but since my assistant and I are incredibly busy with our research..."

"Let me guess, you're asking me to go, right?"

"Right on! Can I count on you?" As Gold nodded, Elm exclaimed, "That's great! You can go pick one of the three Pokémon over there." Gold walked over to the table, where three Pokémon resided next to a single Poké Ball.

As Gold looked at the three, Elm, from the back, pressed, "So, will you take Chikorita, the Grass-type Pokémon, Cyndaquil, the Fire-type Pokémon, or Totodile, the Water-type Pokémon?"

Gold had his left hand cupped under his chin, as he was struggling to make a decision...

And that's our prologue done! Did you enjoy it? If so, leave a review, feedback is always appreciated for my stories!