…

(A/N: I wrote a trilogy of Pokémon stories over a decade ago – "Love, War, and Games," "Mystery, Murder, and Mayhem," and "The Elite Eight." I later wrote two more stories – "Dark Times" and "Return of the Queen," which I deleted because I felt they were not up to my standards. This story takes place a decade after "Return of the Queen," but obviously you can't read that story anymore, as it has been lost to posterity. Fortunately, though, the characters will tell you what exactly happened ten years back, and how it affects their new life. If you're confused as to romance shippings, please check my profile for all my OTPs. The main ones are TechShipping, Blamika/IncidentalShipping, and AccidentalShipping.)

Chapter 1

Pick the Pieces Up

"Mommy! Daddy! Let's go outside today!"

Giselle Gravelpot immediately scolds her nine-year-old daughter.

"Synneva, this is not the time for that," Giselle says. "Only Mommy and Daddy are allowed outside."

Synneva starts pouting, and Joe comes over to embrace her.

"Why, Daddy? Why? Why am I not allowed outside?" she says.

"There's a good reason," Joe says.

"And what's that?"

"That there's nothing to see outside," Joe says. "I don't have to tell you the story of your birth again, do I?"

"Please tell me."

"I'll tell it!" Giselle exclaims.

"Hey, I've got this," Joe says, causing Giselle to cross her arms and pout herself. "Ten years ago, there was a very bad woman, a very evil queen. Her name was Cynthia Celestic. She tried taking over the entire Pokémon world, and she almost achieved that goal. She called down the legendary, mythical Pokémon Arceus, who was said to have created all Pokémon. When Arceus saw what evil she had done, he brought down his Judgment on her. Cynthia battled back, and the result was mass destruction like never seen before. All the cities in the Pokémon world were destroyed. Indigo Stadium, home of the Pokémon League Tournament, was turned to rubble. Saffron City, the most beautiful city in Kanto, crumbled to nothing. Cerulean-"

"I think she gets it," Giselle says with a hint of sarcasm. "Move on with the story already."

"Yes," Joe says. "So, before this battle took place, a teacher at Pokémon Tech told us what was going to happen. She claimed to be one with Arceus. She let us know before the battle that we needed to escape. She knew the future somehow."

"Yeah, I think she was just a little lucky guesser," Giselle says.

"Anyway, that woman, Roxanne, helped us build a safety shelter down in the depths of the highest mountain on Indigo Plateau. We brought everything we needed into this shelter."

"Including my three Pokémon League championship trophies!" Giselle interjects.

"I know, I know," Joe says. "But we moved everything we needed down here, except for food and water. We stayed here for a whole year after Arceus and Cynthia battled."

"A whole year?" Synneva asks.

"Yes, and that's how you came into the world," Joe says.

"How so?" Synneva wonders.

Joe chuckles, while Giselle puts her hands on her hips. "Isn't it obvious?" she says. "My gorgeous body won this man over, and he forgot to wear a condom."

"A condom? What's that?" Synneva asks.

"Never mind that," Joe says. "Anyway, your Mommy Giselle gave birth to you down here. And for the last nine years, you've lived down here in this cave with your parents, because the radiation that still lingers, caused by Arceus's Judgment, is too dangerous for a child to take."

Giselle looks annoyed. "Joe, are you going to ever get to the point?" she asks. "Synneva needs to learn the truth."

"The truth?" Synneva says.

"Yes, the truth," Joe says. "The truth is… every Pokémon is dead. Every one."

"Every one?" Synneva asks.

"Every one, every Pokémon," Joe says. "This used to be a Pokémon world. Now there are hardly any left, except the six we kept in this cave. Graveler, Cubone, Weepinbell, Raichu, Starmie, and Pidgeot. There are also a few Pokémon that our friends managed to save. These are the only Pokémon who survived Arceus's Judgment. I've looked," Joe says.

"What do you mean, you've looked?" Giselle asks. "We haven't been able to visit all the ruined cities. All we know is that some of our friends survived… and some didn't."

"Survived?" Synneva asks.

"Giselle, let's not talk about this in front of-"

"No! She needs to know!" Giselle responds. "She needs to know about the people who gave their all trying to save the Pokémon world – and failed."

"Well, let's go through them," Joe says. "Sabrina is missing. No one's ever been able to come up with her body. Which makes no sense because Cynthia hated her so badly. So we can't make a determination on her at all."

"Will made it, though, along with their daughter Roxette," Giselle says. "And Liza and Tate each survived off in Hoenn. How about Silver and Jasmine, Gold and Whitney? They all made it."

"Falkner and Janine," Joe says. "They made it, too. Survived by getting to the bottom of the Burnt Tower and digging far enough underground that they made it through."

"I don't know who these people are!" Synneva cries. "Tell me about them!"

"Well, let's first make it clear that none of them were as good a Pokémon Trainer as myself!" Giselle says. "But we still love them all the same. Will's a psychic, who used to live with Sabrina in Saffron City. When Sabrina went missing, Will became very depressed and took his daughter and teleported a long, long way from here. As did Liza and Tate. Will was one of the key figures who helped save our world from Team Rocket twelve years ago – three years before you were born. Sabrina was even more instrumental, though I could beat her eight days out of seven."

"We last heard from them a couple months ago," Joe says. "We went to visit the ruins of Saffron City and they were there. It was very sad. They couldn't spend much time because of the radiation."

"Who are you fooling?" Giselle says. "We can't spend much time due to the radiation either!"

"I know," Joe says. "Whitney and Gold – they're farmers now."

"Farmers?" Synneva asks. "But… how?"

"They were tipped off by Roxanne, as were we," Joe says. "They had enough time to create an underground farming area which a Solrock provides the heat to make it work. Liza was the one who gave them that Solrock."

"Stop saying stuff about that Roxanne!" Giselle says. "It's almost as if you have a crush on her!"

"Relax, Giselle," Joe says.

"But how do you get the food here?" Synneva asks.

"We fly Pidgeot every week to pick up food from Whitney's farm, and we have Starmie gather a ton of water from the nearby sea," Giselle says. "We can't stay outside for long, because the radiation is still so strong. And that's why we can't let you out there."

"Oh, come on, Mommy!" Synneva complains. "I want to see this Pokémon world!"

"There. Are. No. Pokémon," Giselle says sternly. "They're gone. They're kaput. There will never be another Pokémon League tournament, which is why I treasure my trophies so much."

"You must always remember," Joe tells Synneva, "don't ever leave this cave without our permission. You are likely to die from the radiation until you're old enough. Only those of us who are full-grown adults can survive the radiation, and that only by wearing masks."

"I understand," Synneva says disappointedly.

Two days later, Joe puts a mask on and takes Pidgeot over to Johto to find Whitney's underground farm. As he looks over the land, he sees the horrible ruins. Violet City, home of Falkner's Gym – completely reduced to rubble. Azalea Town, totally destroyed. And Goldenrod City, the shining light in the middle of Johto, completely dark and desolate. He finds the secret entrance to the farm and lands Pidgeot there, before walking down a long staircase underground.

"He's here," a female voice says, as Joe comes down the steps.

"Oh, thank heavens it's not her," a male voice says.

Joe then makes it into the underground chamber, seeing a surprise couple beside Gold and Whitney: Silver and Jasmine.

"Welcome, Joe!" Whitney exclaims. "How's the family?"

Joe sighs as he takes off his mask. "I have a grade school kid who wants to explore the world outside. Every week I'm telling her how that's not possible anymore. But what are you two doing here?"

He points to Silver and Jasmine.

"Silly, we need to eat too," Silver says. "And without her Miltank's milk, we'd be done for."

Everyone enjoys a laugh. Joe then turns to Jasmine.

"How is Olivine City?" he asks her.

Jasmine looks down in silence. Silver answers for her.

"The lighthouse is gone," he says. "The gym – in pieces. The only thing left is our small cottage, where we live underground now."

"Life sucks underground," Gold says. "But the radiation is too much. I've always said, if we could get rid of the radiation, we'd have a kid. We were lucky to get married before Judgment Day."

The five friends all sit in silence for a second.

"Judgment Day, 11/11/11," Joe says. "The day Arceus and Cynthia unleashed their full powers upon the world and completely decimated everything."

"Where is that… person now?" Silver wonders, carefully avoiding using a choice word to describe Cynthia.

"The last thing we heard, she was living in Orre," Gold says. "A far-off, desolate desert where she made her home. I still can't believe Arceus didn't kill her."

"You know what, I don't get any of this," Silver says, getting angry. "We're living in hiding because we're afraid of what may happen if we go outside. But at some point we've got to go out and live. If we stay here forever…"

Silver starts panting in anger, and Jasmine tries to calm him down. Whitney, meanwhile, begins packing up the bags Joe brought with him, giving him as much food and milk as possible.

"You stay safe," she tells him. "Someday we're going to get out of this. And when we do, I want to celebrate with you."

"Thanks, Whitney," Joe says.

"Our Pokémon will one day run free," Gold says. "For now, the four of us combined have three Pokémon each. One day, we will find Pokémon again."

"I hope so," Joe says. "Because Giselle is killing me that she can't win another tournament."

The other players laugh. "Tell her I'm coming for her!" Silver exclaims.

"Will do," Joe says, as he heads on out, putting his mask back on.

As Joe flies off on Pidgeot, he tries averting his eyes of all the soot and rubble that cover all the cities. It wrenches his heart as he flies along, seeing all of the places he once visited. The one that hurts him the most, though, is the Pokémon Tech campus. It is completely crumbled to pieces, with soot covering everything. Somewhere below him, he can see a treadmill, seemingly the only thing that survived Judgment Day.

One day, Giselle, one day, Joe thinks. There will be a day when we can hold classes at Pokémon Tech again.

He lands back in Indigo Plateau, then puts Pidgeot back inside its Poké Ball. He climbs down the stairs to reach the living area. There isn't much; it isn't much more than a Secret Base like in Hoenn. There are two beds, one for Synneva and the other for the lovers. There are Giselle's Pokémon League trophies, and a bunch of books. A Poké Gear sits on a table; it is the only way of communicating with the outside world, and only when outside of the cave. Finally, there is a diploma hanging on the wall, with Joe's name on it. "Pokémon Tech Graduate," it reads, with Joe's all-time best score of 2400 below.

"How are you?" Joe says to his wife.

"F-fine," Giselle says. "E-everything's okay."

Joe looks at Giselle with a puzzled reaction. "Huh? The great Giselle Gravelpot, stuttering?"

"Th-there's a reason," Giselle says.

Joe then looks around the room carefully. When he realizes what is missing, he nearly has a heart attack.

"Synneva!" Joe screams.

"It's your fault!"

"No, it's your fault!"

"You imbecile, you left the door open so she could sneak right out!"

"You're the moron! How did you just let her walk out of the basement?"

"I was sleeping, okay? Is it so wrong to get some beauty sleep?"

"There's no excuse for not watching our daughter."

"You should be telling that to yourself!"

After going back and forth for about an hour, Joe and Giselle finally catch their breath. "Fine, it's my fault," Joe says. "As it always is."

"You better believe it is!" Giselle replies.

Joe motions with his hand for Giselle to calm down. "She couldn't have gone far. I wasn't out there all that long."

"I don't know, a lot could happen in five hours."

"Which is six now because you refuse to admit any guilt."

"Just shut up!" Giselle exclaims. "Grab your mask and Poké Balls, it's time to go outside."

Joe and Giselle stand on the top of the pile of ashes that is the former Pokémon League headquarters. Each of them calls out desperately. "Synneva! Synneva!"

There is no answer. Joe walks over to the abandoned stadium, which is not much more than a pile of rubble. Giselle tries going down Kanto Route 23. Neither of them finds any sign of life, and the two come back to each other after a couple hours of looking.

"This – this can't be happening," Giselle says. "There's just no way."

Joe hugs her and kisses her forehead. "Relax, we'll find her. I promise you."

Suddenly, a Natu comes flying through the radiated sky, going right to Joe and Giselle. It lands on Joe's arm.

"A Natu? What the hell?" Joe says.

"Look, it's carrying a note," Giselle says.

She takes the note and opens it up, then gasps.

"What does it say?" Joe asks.

"Hold on just a second," Giselle says, trying to read the note, before Joe snatches it from her.

"Greetings, this is Sabrina, the former Gym Leader in Saffron City," Joe reads. "I have the key to saving this world. It all starts with your daughter. Relinquish your daughter to me."

Giselle snatches the note back off Joe, and she rips it up into little pieces. "Right, like I'm giving up my daughter to someone who may not even be alive."

"But Giselle, what if she's telling the truth?" Joe asks.

"I know she's not telling the truth," Giselle says. "If that's even her. And where would we go if we were to see her?"

The Natu begins flying in a certain direction, before coming back and landing again on Joe's arm.

"He wants us to follow him," Joe says.

"Very well then," Giselle says. "Pidgeot, go!"

She sends out her Pidgeot, and she and Joe hop on the big bird and follow the little bird far off into the distance.

The Pokémon Tech couple continue to fly on Pidgeot in the direction Natu is going.

"Where the hell is this thing taking us?" Giselle wonders. "We've been going for over two hours!"

Joe looks over at his Poké Gear. "Looks like we're headed toward Alola. Akala Island, to be specific."

The Natu then flies right into the giant volcano of Akala Island.

"I suppose we are to follow him?" Giselle says.

Pidgeot takes Giselle and Joe into the volcano, where there is no lava but ashes everywhere. Natu shows the two a ladder, and Giselle and Joe jump off the Pidgeot and climb the ladder underground.

"Welcome," a familiar voice says, as the two Trainers make their way down the ladder.

"It's Sabrina!" Joe exclaims.

"About time you showed your face," Giselle says. "You're still embarrassed by losing to me all those times, right?"

"Nonsense," Sabrina says.

"How did you do it?" Joe asks. "How did you survive Cynthia's onslaught?"

"Ditto," Sabrina responds. "I used a Ditto to fake my injuries and my death. I've been living here under the volcano for the past ten years. I teleport to gather food, but this is where I live now."

Joe smiles, but Giselle looks upset.

"You do realize, you have a husband and a child that you left behind," Giselle says. "For you to just abandon th-"

"They abandoned me," Sabrina replies. "In my hour of darkness, Will chose to hang tight with Karen, his former lover. My daughter always liked her father more than me. I don't care to go back to either of them."

Joe shakes her head. "Where is our daughter?" he asks.

"Your child is the necessary fuel for my plan to revive the Pokémon world," Sabrina states.

"What?!" Giselle yells. "You'll do that over my dead body!"

"Your body will be dead anyway," Sabrina states. "You have to trust me on this one."

"Nope, nope!" Giselle exclaims. "I'll take you down in a Pokémon battle right here, right now, unless you produce my daughter immediately."

Sabrina sighs. "If you wish to see her…"

She teleports to a back room, before bringing out Synneva. Giselle and Joe's daughter has tons of wires sticking out of her head.

"Mommy! Daddy!" she cries, rushing over to embrace them.

"What have you done with my daughter?" Giselle asks. "Are you really trying to cause a war or something?"

"You do not understand yet," Sabrina replies. "Synneva is the one. The chosen one, so to speak. She was born with special powers only a psychic can sense."

"What the hell?" Giselle yells. "Just shut up and let us go home."

"Gravelpot, you need to realize – your daughter is the only person who can undo everything that's happened the last ten years. She has the power inside of her to do it. I have spent the last ten years building a machine that works much like a Pokémon Center machine. The big difference? If I have the right person at the right age, I can use this machine to syphon away all her powers. When that happens, with Giratina's power, I can distort our world back to the way it was before Cynthia and Arceus ruined everything."

"Shouldn't you be going after Dialga?" Joe asks. "After all, Dialga controls time."

"Dialga and Palkia were destroyed by Cynthia," Sabrina replies. "Giratina is the only one left. It can distort the universe we currently have and change it into something else. Then, by using the powers of the one, Giratina can be programmed, so to speak, to reverse everything that's happened over the last ten years. But again, it only works with the right person."

"And you actually think Synneva's that person?" Giselle asks.

"Yes."

Giselle bursts out laughing. "You're crazy," she says. "You're insane. Come on, Synneva, let's go."

"Hold on a second," Joe says. "If Synneva really can undo every bad thing that's happened in the last ten years, we should go for it. I'm willing to give it a shot, if she is. After all, Sabrina never said she'd be under any danger."

"Actually…" Sabrina says, with Giselle looking angry.

"What is it?" Joe asks.

"Synneva would disappear forever, sent into the Distortion World."

Giselle immediately grabs Synneva's hand and heads toward the ladder. "Screw you!" she yells.

"You're making a mistake," Sabrina says. "Sacrificing one person for the betterment of the whole world would be so worth it."

"How do you even know she's the chosen one?" Giselle asks.

"Because I'm psychic."

"Oh, sure, play the psychic card. If you knew it, why didn't you try to get her earlier?"

"Because she wasn't the right age."

"You know what, just shut the hell up. Come on, Joe, we're leaving."

Joe starts climbing the ladder behind Giselle and Synneva, before he takes one last look at Sabrina.

"Isn't there any other way?" he asks.

"I may have to wait another nine years," Sabrina replies. "The chosen one can only be nine years old. It's the time when psychic power is at its strongest, and it can be used to control Giratina's distortion."

Joe sighs, with Giselle and Synneva already all the way up the ladder.

"I hope you're wrong," he says, before climbing out.

"Can you believe the nerve of that woman?" Giselle says.

Giselle, Joe, and Synneva are all back in their cave, with Joe reprimanding Synneva.

"You can't ever run off like that again," he says.

"But I didn't! I was teleported away!" Synneva protests.

"You mean it wasn't because Joe left the door open?" Giselle says.

"No."

Joe rolls his eyes at Giselle, who looks thoughtful.

"You know, now that I've got all those tubes out of your head, maybe we can figure something out," Giselle says. "Maybe we can storm Sabrina's hideout and find that machine she's talking about. Then we figure out a way to use the machine and get it to work the same way she said, just without using our daughter."

Joe shakes his head. "No chance. We'd never get by her."

Giselle lets out a mocking laugh. "What the hell are you talking about?" she says. "Remember how I felled 26 giant Pokémon?"

"It was sixteen," Joe states plainly.

"Look, we need to have two goals," Giselle says. "One is obvious. Protect Synneva at all costs. The other? Figure out Sabrina's super machine and get this world back to normal."

Synneva hugs her mother a little tighter.

"I say the next thing we do is Operation Swarm Sabrina," Giselle continues. "We are going to go after her with all we've got, and get that machine she's talking about. Quite frankly, I don't even believe there's a machine. But if there is, I'm going to get it and find a way to make it work."

"So, all three of us go after her?"

"That's right, all three. Synneva watches and sees what a true Pokémon Master looks like. We are going to shock Sabrina!"

(A/N: The idea for the characters to wear masks does not have anything to do with wearing masks in our post-COVID world. It was simply a way of allowing our characters to go outside without feeling the radiation. The fact that it matches up to real life is purely a coincidence.)