______________________________________________________________
Part 8: The Dark King...
Black exits his room and floats over to the table where Mewtwo, Alen, and Glen are. "So, you also know about them?" Alen looks a little surprised; it was the first time he had heard him speak.
"I always thought you were mute... oh well. Yes, we do know about the card." Alen felt a little uneasy. He sensed a very odd and old presence now that the dragonair spoke. Mewtwo stepped forward in Black's direction.
"You, your name is Black and you are older even than me. I thought dragonair had a maximum age of about ten-thousand years, but you are much older." Mewtwo then kneels on one hand and one knee and bows. "You have my respect for attaining such age naturally. I did not kneel earlier because I do not like doing such honors in front of unsuspecting guests." He stood back up. "So, will you share your vast knowledge with them, or-"
"Yes, I am waiting for the right time. I must speak with Adrian outside. I must show him the past as I have seen it," the deep, resonate voice interrupted; the voice of Black.
"What is it that-"
"This matter cannot be discussed with you, Alen, nor you, Glen. I will take my leave now, and see Adrian. I thank you, Mewtwo, for the honorific. It is not everyday that anyone meets one such as I, even if I have been with part of this family line since it first began. The earth is giving Adrian protection by having all of us magical creatures get caught in the net that is his family's line of blood since its conception. I am afraid that Adrian is the last of this pedigree, and then it will be over." Black begins to float up through the skylight and out to the forest. Alen was shivering.
"The chill of evil is around him. Why is it that I could not sense it before?"
"Because he did not let you." Mewtwo answered. "It is said that a pokémon's mental powers grow with age. His age surpasses mine by at least one-hundred times. He may not have come from this world, since nothing could have existed here that long ago." Glen begins to grin with an idea.
"It look like you not only one who is interested in Adrian's well being. Could it be that Black will start something that will trigger something and make something make Adrian do something.... weird?!?" Glen questioned almost jokingly.
"An interesting thought," Mewtwo answered, thinking on it. Alen was still confused.
*****
"Aahhhh... nothing like fresh meat!" Charla had finally captured her prey and began feasting. Black began to come into view. Charla glanced up and saw him floating toward her. She quickly flamed the blood off her body and knelt on one hand and one knee as he floated in front of her. "Lord Black! It is good to see that you are moving again," she said in a very 'lady'-like manner. The dragonair stopped in front of her.
"Carry on with your meal... I see that it took you long enough to capture it." He started to float above the trees.
"Lord, have a safe trip," Charla said up to the dragonair. He nodded and continued his flight to Adrian.
Alen's eyes grew wide. "I just heard Charla calling the dragonair 'Lord' Black! Why did she call him that?" Alen's mind could 'hear' beyond any normal hearing, and actually heard Charla yell 'Lord Black.' Mewtwo almost looked surprised, but didn't.
"What do you expect? But, of course, you do not know the stories." Alen knew that as true; he had never heard of any dragonair named Black.
"But she never called him that whenever he would come out of his pokéball to get a check up."
"That is because he asked her not to in front of the others. He asked the others that knew of him to also not mention it. There are many myths about his life that are told by different elder pokémon. The charizard's version is different than the blastoise' and so on. When I first probed their minds, I found that each of them that knew these stories were worried about that dragonair. He is the subject of the stories, but they cannot ask him about them, because he is extremely old and is considered an elder to all pokémon. But he let me probe part of his mind. Those stories are true. All the different versions are just different times in his life."
"So what are these stories, I've never heard them." Mewtwo psychically sends all the stories into Alen's mind. Alen begins to concentrate, going through the new memories as if he lived them. "....I feel weak..... So many different things.... How could he have lived a life like this? It just doesn't seem possible..."
*****
Adrian and Ollie are sitting and staring out at the sea from a small shore line. The waters were very calm. "This is such a strange place, isn't it Ollie?"
"Yup. So many things happened. I just wish we were home."
"I do too, but I suppose this place will just have to be it for right now." Black is slowly floating his way toward Adrian. He could be seen if Adrian turned around and looked up a little. Adrian, instead, looked at the sand. Ollie was clawing at the sand, making shallow pits that filled in a second later. Adrian grabbed some sand into his hand and let it run through his fingers. "It's just like water, only not wet."
Black stops and hovers behind some trees. He wants to know what Adrian will do next.
Ollie began gathering some sand into a pile. It never got taller than up to his chin. Adrian decided to add to Ollie's pile, making it slowly rise above the cat. He then leaned against it. "Seems pretty strong," Adrian said as he used it like a recliner. He palmed some more sand. 'I wonder,' he thought. He slowly concentrated on the sand trying to make it levitate about his hand, but nothing was happening. Black could sense Adrian's psychic strength reaching toward the sand, but it wasn't very strong.
'Just a little further, Adrian. Just a little further...,' Black silently encouraged.
By the time Adrian's head started to turn red, the sand jumped from his hand. "Woh!" The sand landed on the ground silently. Small waves began to splash playfully on the shore.
"I saw it," Ollie stated, "I saw the sand jump!"
"I think I'm going about this the wrong way. I concentrated on the sand really hard, but it only gave me a small response. It was easier when I used telepathy to talk to everyone, or when I lifted the plate. Why is this so much harder?"
'That's it Adrian: question it.' Black continued to wait.
"Well, the plate was one thing, right? That would mean that each grain of sand in my hand was lifted on its own. That's it! I need to be able to move them as a group, like one thing, like the plate. What do you think Ollie?" The cat walks out in front of him.
"It sounds okay, but do you think you can do that yet?" Adrian nods.
"I can try..." He scoops up some more sand and begins to concentrate on the sand. His eyes flash green, and the pile in his hand begins to rise. He moves his hand away and leaves the sand clump suspended in mid-air.
"Ooooo. You did it! But can you shape it?" Ollie's tail raised and started to wave with happiness.
"I wonder if I can." Adrian closed his eyes and envisioned the clump as a cube. When he opened his eyes, the clump was a small, compact cube. In his excitement, he lost his concentration and the clump fell and dispersed. "Hmmm..." He scooped up some more sand. He concentrated. The sand levitated up and started to move. The shape began to change into an ameba-like blob. '...yes!' He held his hand out and tried to control the blob of sand's direction of movement. At first the blob hovered in one spot and continuously changed its shape like a lava lamp, but Adrian's eyes flashed red and his aggresion started to kick in. He swatted the blob from the air. Ollie jumped behind the big pile of sand, cowaring. Adrian stood up and held out his hand toward the big pile of sand. He clenched his fist then thrust it up. The pile rose with as much force. He turned and faced the sea with the pile hovering above the water. He then began to reshape it. A perfect ball was formed. It then started to stretch until it was the thickness of a single grain of sand. His eyes flashed red again. The sand began to take on a shape that was a very complex pattern of ridges and valleys that seemed to repeat themselves at any point. Ollie is left in awe. Black's eyes widen.
'Yes, you have done it Adrian!' He begins to float toward Adrian again.
Adrian begins to smile. He then forms a large ring with the sand. Ollie walks forward and tries to bat at the sand in the usual cat manner of curiosity. Adrian begins to laugh a little as Ollie reaches for the ring to try to grab it. Ollie jumps and grabs on. The sand ring seems to hold him up. Adrian then moves the ring to be above the ground instead of the water. Ollie lets go. Black stops behind Adrian and circles to face him.
"You are learning how to manipulate the sand very well."
Adrian drops the sand and looks up at Black. He was surprised to see him, and could now feel what Alen felt. Ollie ran and hid behind Adrian.
"Do not be so frightened Oliver, I pose no threat to you nor Adrian. I am here to tell you the passed history of humanity and the magical creatures you call pokémon. Will you allow me to tell you the past?" Adrian looks at him, trying to look into his eyes, but cannot find them in the dark pools for eyes the dragonair had.
"Yes, you may tell me," he said slowly. Black's voice rumbles.
"Thank you, Adrian. You will never forget what it is you will hear from me...."
*****
"It is possible, because some of that I know to be true." Mewtwo reassuring Alen that the stories must be true. "I remember when some of these events happen. Others happened before my time, but I place no doubt in them."
"These stories are unreal! How could one pokémon have seen and done all those things and still be alive and moving?! It just doesn't seem right." Glen begins to smile.
"Because he not really pokymon. Dat must be only reason, eh?" Mewtwo almost agrees.
"He is pokémon, but just not the same kind of pokémon that exists today. He must be from a time when pokémon were new, since he called them 'magical creatures.' Somehow, I know why he is what he is." Alen and Glen are puzzled.
"When pokémon were new?" they both asked. Mewtwo nods.
"Humans have existed longer then I once thought now, because Black was there." Glen looks a little frightened.
"You don't mean that... that..."
"Yes."
*****
Adrian sits and listens as Black speaks. Ollie is also interested in what he has to say. Black's voice has such a deep pitch that the sands rattle lightly as he talks. He spoke of times when the earth was newly formed, of how the first things lived and died. He was not actually there, it was history he was told when he was young. He then talks of how humans first came.
"Humans are an interesting animal to talk about. They don't have any major abilities besides their brains and how they use them. A really weak species of animals yet they can do things no animal can." Adrian is astonished so far. He continues to listen as Ollie is slowly giving in to his usual catnap at about this time of the day. "One could say that humans were just jealous of how all the other animals had special abilities and of how they only lived a life of 'eat, sleep, live.' Humans cannot just 'eat, sleep, live,' no, they must invent. Because they invent, the fires of a new future arose." Ollie begins to roll himself into a little ball in Adrian's lap. "Man set out to change his environment. He cannot live like the other animals, so he invented a new way of living. He invented a heat source by accident. He was mashing some nuts on a rock when he caused a spark to fly from the rock to some nearby twigs and they caught fire. He used this fire to heat himself during the long cold winters and to cook his food, since cold meat is very hard to eat. He invented tools that would make cutting open an animal very easy. He used these tool to cut trees and invented shelter where there was none. As time passed, they continued to invent. Shovels, axes, clubs, spears, bows and arrows, until they figured that some materials could be melted and then shaped. They made copper and iron based weapons, as well as copper and iron based sheeting for shelter and physical protection. No animal was a match for the human, except for himself. Wars broke out for territory and females, just like how the animals brawl for the same. After much bloodshed, the leaders of these fighting nations agreed that fighting would not solve their problems. One nation was created when the daughters and sons of one were wed to the sons and daughters of the other." Ollie is fully asleep and purring softly. "You, Adrian, are a true descendant from that uneasy truce." Adrian's eyes suddenly widen.
"How? How could I be a descendant of them?" Black's voice continues.
"Each of the couples had many sons and daughters, but all were separated at birth except two. The other children never knew who their family was. This was intentional, so that the nation would not get separated by jealosy in the family. Each of the couples had done this, and many children, dozens, were given to other families."
"Dozens?"
"Yes, there were initially sixteen couples."
"How could the two leaders have so many children?"
"They did because times were different. Having more children meant your family would last through the ages. That was what they intended, but something very strange was taking place. The couples had the same number of boys as girls, and somehow they found each other." Adrian looks a little disgusted.
"Incest?"
"If that is the word for it, yes. Brothers unwittingly married sisters. But, as I said, times were different. Back then, inbreeding did not cause the babe to be deformed. The new couples would then have more children, but the same number of boys and girls. This continued for generations, but stopped when the current generation had exactly six-hundred and sixteen. All the couples had the exact same number of children, and would continue to have either one or two children each generation. Soon the families unwittingly moved to different parts of the world. The one nation that had existed was now broken into small parts, each looked after by different people. Your ancestors never knew that they were actually related, until Man invented a machine that could make a sort of genetic finger print out of a piece of skin. This can reunite long separated families as well as track crime. It was mandatory in this new age that everyone be identified. When everyone was done, the machine compiled the data into a world database and began sending letters and faxes and electronic mail to families who were separated, as well as arrest warrants and fines for those who committed crimes. When your ancestors finally gathered, they noticed something strange about each other." Black looks to the sky; it was after noon. Adrian is anxious for Black to continue. Black senses this and continues. "Each man looked the same. Each woman looked the same. When they introduced their children, the children also shared this strange aspect. Every other couple had come from a different part of the world, yet everyone was the same. After the gathering, they each left to their part of the world and continued their lives as if nothing happened. This continued all throughout history, they simply continued their lives, unwittingly crossing paths when the time comes to continue the family line. They finally get back together and lived in an underground city. The regions they had lived in were fighting, so they escaped it all together. Human society declined after much time. Nearly all the machines they had built had been destroyed by a sudden global disaster. Two large nations were at war when they sent atomic devices at each other. The blasts from such explosions was so great that all the animals and plant life had been destroyed. Only your ancestry survived. They survived by living in an underground city and relying on underground farms that used sun-lamps powered from the many boiling lakes and aquefers underground. They were watching their televisions when everything blanked out. All communication was dead. They were frightened of what could have happened, so they continued to live underground for several more generations. When they finally went to the surface, everything was gone. Some were sent to try and find machines. They found heaps of machines that still worked and started by rebuilding plant-life. There were machines that were used to cultivate the earth for farming. They used those machines to plant the seeds of trees and to also grow food. They found machines that had the genetic make up of many different kinds of animals. Since none of the animals lived through the blast, they used the machine to create new ones, but they would change them some. They wanted to be able to contain them in small orbs so that they could preserve life if something like this were to ever happen again. They called them 'Pocket Monsters,' or Pokémon." Adrian's eyes widen.
"You mean pokémon were made by humans?!" Then Adrian thinks a little more. They were made by my ancestors?
"Yes, pokémon were invented to repopulate the earth with animals. They created thousands of different kinds, but some died out as others evolved. Well, they thought they did the world some good. They planted the plants to clear up the atmosphere. They made the animals to inhabit the earth. The only thing that there was not a whole lot of was humans. They had a remedy for that too. They were able to salvage one of the machines the held the genetic data of the people, but they didn't want to recreate the existing humanity. Plus, they needed to make machines to nurture the infants once they were born, since humans cannot take care of themselves when they are newborn. The animals were not a problem, but rebuilding humanity would be. After many generations, the machines were ready to take and accelerate the growth of humanity. They tried to suppress the urges that make humans violent. They did some other alterations to them, those of which you can see on your television. There were initially more pokémon than humans, so your ancestry invented the capture orb, or your typical pokéball of today. And so, this gave the new humans something to do so that the pokémon would never die out. The new humans formed new societies, and large nations after many generations. Your ancestors finally went out and lived in the different places that humans of the time had inhabited. They had split into two groups and went around. These societies seemed like they had always existed, yet they didn't. Humanity would continue to exist, but would always have a decline followed by a rise. What Mewtwo said about humanity resembling a sine wave is true, but a sine wave is the same forever. Humanity continues to change." Black looks up to check the time. The sun is on it's way to the horizon. Adrian leans back on his hands.
"So I am the last real human?" Black shakes his head.
"There are six left. Your great-grandmother, your mother, and you and another three. They are the opposite. A great-grandfather, a father, and his daughter. In fact, the daughter is the same age you are, and is hearing the same story you are." Adrian is puzzled.
"You mean, there's another dragonair like yourself talking to another kid like me, only it's a girl?" Black nods.
*****
Alen looks at Glen, who looks back at Alen. Mewtwo is not surprised at their conclusion.
"Humans started all of this." Glen begins to smile.
"HA HAH! So all of us WERE created. Eh, it not big deal." Mewtwo almost looks furious at Glen's last comment, but doesn't.
Maro walks in from one the doors. He seems shaken as he approaches the three. Charla also returns, but through the skylight. Something had also shaken her.
"Something's messing with my head.... I can't think straight..." Maro began saying between breaths as he stumbles forward. 'Seems he ate some of the fruit,' Mewtwo thought. Upon mental probing, Maro had gotten sick from eating a particular fruit from a certain tree.
"Are you alright, Maro?" Charla asked as she landed. Maro looked at her and leaned on his bone club.
"Stomach feels like... fire," he finally said, "It looked soooo gooood when I saw it...."
"Are you prepared, Maro?" Mewtwo asked sharply. Maro nodded; he knew in the back of his mind what Mewtwo was going to do. Mewtwo's eyes glowed as he teleported the contents of Maro's stomach to a sealed container in a closed off room. "There, you should feel fine within a day. It is a good thing you got yourself here so quickly. Another few minutes and you would have lost sanity from the pain." Maro fell over on his back.
"I can't believe I ate it."
"Actually, some of the fruits and trees here do not exist outside this island anymore. The fruit you ate gives off a strong scent to attract its victims. The seed only takes root in the victim's dead carcass not long after ingestion."
"That's more then I needed know..." Maro weezed as he grabbed his belly and curled into a ball.
*****
"In fact, it is almost time for you to meet them and your great-grandmother," Black's voice rumbled. Ollie woke up. Adrian picked Ollie off his lap and stood up.
"Here?"
"No, in another place in two days. By then you will be able to travel there." Adrian looked confused.
"I'll be able to travel there? You mean... alone..?" Black nodded.
"The sun has finally set. We should get back to his house and rest." Black floated up and then straight to Mewtwo's castle. 'House,' Adrian thought, 'only a house?'
"Let's go back," Ollie said softly. Adrian began to walk back through the now dark forest. He concentrated on a light source of some kind. He envisioned a something like a light bulb. His eyes flashed white and a soft source of light came into existance in front of him. As he walked, the light source followed like a balloon tied to string. "I didn't think it would get so dark...."
"Don't worry, kitty," Adrian said as he picked him up in his arms. The sound of footsteps was heard in the distance. Must be some of Charla's prey, Adrian thought. Ollie began to shiver. "Ollie," Adrian whispered, "stay quiet. I'm going to stop the radience." The ball of light began to wither until it shined no light. Adrian concentrated. His eyes flashed a purple-ish color. He began to float above the ground towards the castle without making any sound. More footsteps could be heard in the distance. Adrian continued moving forward. His mind wondering what it is exactly is moving. His question was about to be answered.
"....master.....," a hoarse voice whispered. Adrian almost jumped. It came from in front of him. "....lord.....," it whispered again. Adrian regained his wits.
"Y-you mean me?" he asked quietly. The creature in front of him moved closer, but was still too dark to see what it was.
"....you are not what you are told....." Ollie shivers. "....he is not what you think, either.....," the creature said as a long, shadowy claw could be seen pointing at Ollie.
"Who or what are you?" Adrian asked the creature. The creature came closer.
"....I do not think I can answer that question easily. You will remember who I am soon....." The creature seemed to have vanished. No footsteps could be heard. Adrian thought some on it, but decided not to think too hard. He continued on his walk, recreating a light source.
"Am I not what you think?" Ollie asked, lightly, almost jokingly. Adrian looked at his meowth and smiled.
"Well, aside from the fact that your fur isn't beige, you're just a normal, sleepy kitty, and I'm glad." Adrian stroked the cat's fur. Ollie began to purr softly. 'His house' could now be seen as Adrian left the forested area. It's windmills were spinning slowly. Light could be seen shining through the doorways, cutting the darkness. As they got closer, Adrian let go of his light source, and walked in.
______________________________________________________________
Part 8: The Dark King...
Black exits his room and floats over to the table where Mewtwo, Alen, and Glen are. "So, you also know about them?" Alen looks a little surprised; it was the first time he had heard him speak.
"I always thought you were mute... oh well. Yes, we do know about the card." Alen felt a little uneasy. He sensed a very odd and old presence now that the dragonair spoke. Mewtwo stepped forward in Black's direction.
"You, your name is Black and you are older even than me. I thought dragonair had a maximum age of about ten-thousand years, but you are much older." Mewtwo then kneels on one hand and one knee and bows. "You have my respect for attaining such age naturally. I did not kneel earlier because I do not like doing such honors in front of unsuspecting guests." He stood back up. "So, will you share your vast knowledge with them, or-"
"Yes, I am waiting for the right time. I must speak with Adrian outside. I must show him the past as I have seen it," the deep, resonate voice interrupted; the voice of Black.
"What is it that-"
"This matter cannot be discussed with you, Alen, nor you, Glen. I will take my leave now, and see Adrian. I thank you, Mewtwo, for the honorific. It is not everyday that anyone meets one such as I, even if I have been with part of this family line since it first began. The earth is giving Adrian protection by having all of us magical creatures get caught in the net that is his family's line of blood since its conception. I am afraid that Adrian is the last of this pedigree, and then it will be over." Black begins to float up through the skylight and out to the forest. Alen was shivering.
"The chill of evil is around him. Why is it that I could not sense it before?"
"Because he did not let you." Mewtwo answered. "It is said that a pokémon's mental powers grow with age. His age surpasses mine by at least one-hundred times. He may not have come from this world, since nothing could have existed here that long ago." Glen begins to grin with an idea.
"It look like you not only one who is interested in Adrian's well being. Could it be that Black will start something that will trigger something and make something make Adrian do something.... weird?!?" Glen questioned almost jokingly.
"An interesting thought," Mewtwo answered, thinking on it. Alen was still confused.
*****
"Aahhhh... nothing like fresh meat!" Charla had finally captured her prey and began feasting. Black began to come into view. Charla glanced up and saw him floating toward her. She quickly flamed the blood off her body and knelt on one hand and one knee as he floated in front of her. "Lord Black! It is good to see that you are moving again," she said in a very 'lady'-like manner. The dragonair stopped in front of her.
"Carry on with your meal... I see that it took you long enough to capture it." He started to float above the trees.
"Lord, have a safe trip," Charla said up to the dragonair. He nodded and continued his flight to Adrian.
Alen's eyes grew wide. "I just heard Charla calling the dragonair 'Lord' Black! Why did she call him that?" Alen's mind could 'hear' beyond any normal hearing, and actually heard Charla yell 'Lord Black.' Mewtwo almost looked surprised, but didn't.
"What do you expect? But, of course, you do not know the stories." Alen knew that as true; he had never heard of any dragonair named Black.
"But she never called him that whenever he would come out of his pokéball to get a check up."
"That is because he asked her not to in front of the others. He asked the others that knew of him to also not mention it. There are many myths about his life that are told by different elder pokémon. The charizard's version is different than the blastoise' and so on. When I first probed their minds, I found that each of them that knew these stories were worried about that dragonair. He is the subject of the stories, but they cannot ask him about them, because he is extremely old and is considered an elder to all pokémon. But he let me probe part of his mind. Those stories are true. All the different versions are just different times in his life."
"So what are these stories, I've never heard them." Mewtwo psychically sends all the stories into Alen's mind. Alen begins to concentrate, going through the new memories as if he lived them. "....I feel weak..... So many different things.... How could he have lived a life like this? It just doesn't seem possible..."
*****
Adrian and Ollie are sitting and staring out at the sea from a small shore line. The waters were very calm. "This is such a strange place, isn't it Ollie?"
"Yup. So many things happened. I just wish we were home."
"I do too, but I suppose this place will just have to be it for right now." Black is slowly floating his way toward Adrian. He could be seen if Adrian turned around and looked up a little. Adrian, instead, looked at the sand. Ollie was clawing at the sand, making shallow pits that filled in a second later. Adrian grabbed some sand into his hand and let it run through his fingers. "It's just like water, only not wet."
Black stops and hovers behind some trees. He wants to know what Adrian will do next.
Ollie began gathering some sand into a pile. It never got taller than up to his chin. Adrian decided to add to Ollie's pile, making it slowly rise above the cat. He then leaned against it. "Seems pretty strong," Adrian said as he used it like a recliner. He palmed some more sand. 'I wonder,' he thought. He slowly concentrated on the sand trying to make it levitate about his hand, but nothing was happening. Black could sense Adrian's psychic strength reaching toward the sand, but it wasn't very strong.
'Just a little further, Adrian. Just a little further...,' Black silently encouraged.
By the time Adrian's head started to turn red, the sand jumped from his hand. "Woh!" The sand landed on the ground silently. Small waves began to splash playfully on the shore.
"I saw it," Ollie stated, "I saw the sand jump!"
"I think I'm going about this the wrong way. I concentrated on the sand really hard, but it only gave me a small response. It was easier when I used telepathy to talk to everyone, or when I lifted the plate. Why is this so much harder?"
'That's it Adrian: question it.' Black continued to wait.
"Well, the plate was one thing, right? That would mean that each grain of sand in my hand was lifted on its own. That's it! I need to be able to move them as a group, like one thing, like the plate. What do you think Ollie?" The cat walks out in front of him.
"It sounds okay, but do you think you can do that yet?" Adrian nods.
"I can try..." He scoops up some more sand and begins to concentrate on the sand. His eyes flash green, and the pile in his hand begins to rise. He moves his hand away and leaves the sand clump suspended in mid-air.
"Ooooo. You did it! But can you shape it?" Ollie's tail raised and started to wave with happiness.
"I wonder if I can." Adrian closed his eyes and envisioned the clump as a cube. When he opened his eyes, the clump was a small, compact cube. In his excitement, he lost his concentration and the clump fell and dispersed. "Hmmm..." He scooped up some more sand. He concentrated. The sand levitated up and started to move. The shape began to change into an ameba-like blob. '...yes!' He held his hand out and tried to control the blob of sand's direction of movement. At first the blob hovered in one spot and continuously changed its shape like a lava lamp, but Adrian's eyes flashed red and his aggresion started to kick in. He swatted the blob from the air. Ollie jumped behind the big pile of sand, cowaring. Adrian stood up and held out his hand toward the big pile of sand. He clenched his fist then thrust it up. The pile rose with as much force. He turned and faced the sea with the pile hovering above the water. He then began to reshape it. A perfect ball was formed. It then started to stretch until it was the thickness of a single grain of sand. His eyes flashed red again. The sand began to take on a shape that was a very complex pattern of ridges and valleys that seemed to repeat themselves at any point. Ollie is left in awe. Black's eyes widen.
'Yes, you have done it Adrian!' He begins to float toward Adrian again.
Adrian begins to smile. He then forms a large ring with the sand. Ollie walks forward and tries to bat at the sand in the usual cat manner of curiosity. Adrian begins to laugh a little as Ollie reaches for the ring to try to grab it. Ollie jumps and grabs on. The sand ring seems to hold him up. Adrian then moves the ring to be above the ground instead of the water. Ollie lets go. Black stops behind Adrian and circles to face him.
"You are learning how to manipulate the sand very well."
Adrian drops the sand and looks up at Black. He was surprised to see him, and could now feel what Alen felt. Ollie ran and hid behind Adrian.
"Do not be so frightened Oliver, I pose no threat to you nor Adrian. I am here to tell you the passed history of humanity and the magical creatures you call pokémon. Will you allow me to tell you the past?" Adrian looks at him, trying to look into his eyes, but cannot find them in the dark pools for eyes the dragonair had.
"Yes, you may tell me," he said slowly. Black's voice rumbles.
"Thank you, Adrian. You will never forget what it is you will hear from me...."
*****
"It is possible, because some of that I know to be true." Mewtwo reassuring Alen that the stories must be true. "I remember when some of these events happen. Others happened before my time, but I place no doubt in them."
"These stories are unreal! How could one pokémon have seen and done all those things and still be alive and moving?! It just doesn't seem right." Glen begins to smile.
"Because he not really pokymon. Dat must be only reason, eh?" Mewtwo almost agrees.
"He is pokémon, but just not the same kind of pokémon that exists today. He must be from a time when pokémon were new, since he called them 'magical creatures.' Somehow, I know why he is what he is." Alen and Glen are puzzled.
"When pokémon were new?" they both asked. Mewtwo nods.
"Humans have existed longer then I once thought now, because Black was there." Glen looks a little frightened.
"You don't mean that... that..."
"Yes."
*****
Adrian sits and listens as Black speaks. Ollie is also interested in what he has to say. Black's voice has such a deep pitch that the sands rattle lightly as he talks. He spoke of times when the earth was newly formed, of how the first things lived and died. He was not actually there, it was history he was told when he was young. He then talks of how humans first came.
"Humans are an interesting animal to talk about. They don't have any major abilities besides their brains and how they use them. A really weak species of animals yet they can do things no animal can." Adrian is astonished so far. He continues to listen as Ollie is slowly giving in to his usual catnap at about this time of the day. "One could say that humans were just jealous of how all the other animals had special abilities and of how they only lived a life of 'eat, sleep, live.' Humans cannot just 'eat, sleep, live,' no, they must invent. Because they invent, the fires of a new future arose." Ollie begins to roll himself into a little ball in Adrian's lap. "Man set out to change his environment. He cannot live like the other animals, so he invented a new way of living. He invented a heat source by accident. He was mashing some nuts on a rock when he caused a spark to fly from the rock to some nearby twigs and they caught fire. He used this fire to heat himself during the long cold winters and to cook his food, since cold meat is very hard to eat. He invented tools that would make cutting open an animal very easy. He used these tool to cut trees and invented shelter where there was none. As time passed, they continued to invent. Shovels, axes, clubs, spears, bows and arrows, until they figured that some materials could be melted and then shaped. They made copper and iron based weapons, as well as copper and iron based sheeting for shelter and physical protection. No animal was a match for the human, except for himself. Wars broke out for territory and females, just like how the animals brawl for the same. After much bloodshed, the leaders of these fighting nations agreed that fighting would not solve their problems. One nation was created when the daughters and sons of one were wed to the sons and daughters of the other." Ollie is fully asleep and purring softly. "You, Adrian, are a true descendant from that uneasy truce." Adrian's eyes suddenly widen.
"How? How could I be a descendant of them?" Black's voice continues.
"Each of the couples had many sons and daughters, but all were separated at birth except two. The other children never knew who their family was. This was intentional, so that the nation would not get separated by jealosy in the family. Each of the couples had done this, and many children, dozens, were given to other families."
"Dozens?"
"Yes, there were initially sixteen couples."
"How could the two leaders have so many children?"
"They did because times were different. Having more children meant your family would last through the ages. That was what they intended, but something very strange was taking place. The couples had the same number of boys as girls, and somehow they found each other." Adrian looks a little disgusted.
"Incest?"
"If that is the word for it, yes. Brothers unwittingly married sisters. But, as I said, times were different. Back then, inbreeding did not cause the babe to be deformed. The new couples would then have more children, but the same number of boys and girls. This continued for generations, but stopped when the current generation had exactly six-hundred and sixteen. All the couples had the exact same number of children, and would continue to have either one or two children each generation. Soon the families unwittingly moved to different parts of the world. The one nation that had existed was now broken into small parts, each looked after by different people. Your ancestors never knew that they were actually related, until Man invented a machine that could make a sort of genetic finger print out of a piece of skin. This can reunite long separated families as well as track crime. It was mandatory in this new age that everyone be identified. When everyone was done, the machine compiled the data into a world database and began sending letters and faxes and electronic mail to families who were separated, as well as arrest warrants and fines for those who committed crimes. When your ancestors finally gathered, they noticed something strange about each other." Black looks to the sky; it was after noon. Adrian is anxious for Black to continue. Black senses this and continues. "Each man looked the same. Each woman looked the same. When they introduced their children, the children also shared this strange aspect. Every other couple had come from a different part of the world, yet everyone was the same. After the gathering, they each left to their part of the world and continued their lives as if nothing happened. This continued all throughout history, they simply continued their lives, unwittingly crossing paths when the time comes to continue the family line. They finally get back together and lived in an underground city. The regions they had lived in were fighting, so they escaped it all together. Human society declined after much time. Nearly all the machines they had built had been destroyed by a sudden global disaster. Two large nations were at war when they sent atomic devices at each other. The blasts from such explosions was so great that all the animals and plant life had been destroyed. Only your ancestry survived. They survived by living in an underground city and relying on underground farms that used sun-lamps powered from the many boiling lakes and aquefers underground. They were watching their televisions when everything blanked out. All communication was dead. They were frightened of what could have happened, so they continued to live underground for several more generations. When they finally went to the surface, everything was gone. Some were sent to try and find machines. They found heaps of machines that still worked and started by rebuilding plant-life. There were machines that were used to cultivate the earth for farming. They used those machines to plant the seeds of trees and to also grow food. They found machines that had the genetic make up of many different kinds of animals. Since none of the animals lived through the blast, they used the machine to create new ones, but they would change them some. They wanted to be able to contain them in small orbs so that they could preserve life if something like this were to ever happen again. They called them 'Pocket Monsters,' or Pokémon." Adrian's eyes widen.
"You mean pokémon were made by humans?!" Then Adrian thinks a little more. They were made by my ancestors?
"Yes, pokémon were invented to repopulate the earth with animals. They created thousands of different kinds, but some died out as others evolved. Well, they thought they did the world some good. They planted the plants to clear up the atmosphere. They made the animals to inhabit the earth. The only thing that there was not a whole lot of was humans. They had a remedy for that too. They were able to salvage one of the machines the held the genetic data of the people, but they didn't want to recreate the existing humanity. Plus, they needed to make machines to nurture the infants once they were born, since humans cannot take care of themselves when they are newborn. The animals were not a problem, but rebuilding humanity would be. After many generations, the machines were ready to take and accelerate the growth of humanity. They tried to suppress the urges that make humans violent. They did some other alterations to them, those of which you can see on your television. There were initially more pokémon than humans, so your ancestry invented the capture orb, or your typical pokéball of today. And so, this gave the new humans something to do so that the pokémon would never die out. The new humans formed new societies, and large nations after many generations. Your ancestors finally went out and lived in the different places that humans of the time had inhabited. They had split into two groups and went around. These societies seemed like they had always existed, yet they didn't. Humanity would continue to exist, but would always have a decline followed by a rise. What Mewtwo said about humanity resembling a sine wave is true, but a sine wave is the same forever. Humanity continues to change." Black looks up to check the time. The sun is on it's way to the horizon. Adrian leans back on his hands.
"So I am the last real human?" Black shakes his head.
"There are six left. Your great-grandmother, your mother, and you and another three. They are the opposite. A great-grandfather, a father, and his daughter. In fact, the daughter is the same age you are, and is hearing the same story you are." Adrian is puzzled.
"You mean, there's another dragonair like yourself talking to another kid like me, only it's a girl?" Black nods.
*****
Alen looks at Glen, who looks back at Alen. Mewtwo is not surprised at their conclusion.
"Humans started all of this." Glen begins to smile.
"HA HAH! So all of us WERE created. Eh, it not big deal." Mewtwo almost looks furious at Glen's last comment, but doesn't.
Maro walks in from one the doors. He seems shaken as he approaches the three. Charla also returns, but through the skylight. Something had also shaken her.
"Something's messing with my head.... I can't think straight..." Maro began saying between breaths as he stumbles forward. 'Seems he ate some of the fruit,' Mewtwo thought. Upon mental probing, Maro had gotten sick from eating a particular fruit from a certain tree.
"Are you alright, Maro?" Charla asked as she landed. Maro looked at her and leaned on his bone club.
"Stomach feels like... fire," he finally said, "It looked soooo gooood when I saw it...."
"Are you prepared, Maro?" Mewtwo asked sharply. Maro nodded; he knew in the back of his mind what Mewtwo was going to do. Mewtwo's eyes glowed as he teleported the contents of Maro's stomach to a sealed container in a closed off room. "There, you should feel fine within a day. It is a good thing you got yourself here so quickly. Another few minutes and you would have lost sanity from the pain." Maro fell over on his back.
"I can't believe I ate it."
"Actually, some of the fruits and trees here do not exist outside this island anymore. The fruit you ate gives off a strong scent to attract its victims. The seed only takes root in the victim's dead carcass not long after ingestion."
"That's more then I needed know..." Maro weezed as he grabbed his belly and curled into a ball.
*****
"In fact, it is almost time for you to meet them and your great-grandmother," Black's voice rumbled. Ollie woke up. Adrian picked Ollie off his lap and stood up.
"Here?"
"No, in another place in two days. By then you will be able to travel there." Adrian looked confused.
"I'll be able to travel there? You mean... alone..?" Black nodded.
"The sun has finally set. We should get back to his house and rest." Black floated up and then straight to Mewtwo's castle. 'House,' Adrian thought, 'only a house?'
"Let's go back," Ollie said softly. Adrian began to walk back through the now dark forest. He concentrated on a light source of some kind. He envisioned a something like a light bulb. His eyes flashed white and a soft source of light came into existance in front of him. As he walked, the light source followed like a balloon tied to string. "I didn't think it would get so dark...."
"Don't worry, kitty," Adrian said as he picked him up in his arms. The sound of footsteps was heard in the distance. Must be some of Charla's prey, Adrian thought. Ollie began to shiver. "Ollie," Adrian whispered, "stay quiet. I'm going to stop the radience." The ball of light began to wither until it shined no light. Adrian concentrated. His eyes flashed a purple-ish color. He began to float above the ground towards the castle without making any sound. More footsteps could be heard in the distance. Adrian continued moving forward. His mind wondering what it is exactly is moving. His question was about to be answered.
"....master.....," a hoarse voice whispered. Adrian almost jumped. It came from in front of him. "....lord.....," it whispered again. Adrian regained his wits.
"Y-you mean me?" he asked quietly. The creature in front of him moved closer, but was still too dark to see what it was.
"....you are not what you are told....." Ollie shivers. "....he is not what you think, either.....," the creature said as a long, shadowy claw could be seen pointing at Ollie.
"Who or what are you?" Adrian asked the creature. The creature came closer.
"....I do not think I can answer that question easily. You will remember who I am soon....." The creature seemed to have vanished. No footsteps could be heard. Adrian thought some on it, but decided not to think too hard. He continued on his walk, recreating a light source.
"Am I not what you think?" Ollie asked, lightly, almost jokingly. Adrian looked at his meowth and smiled.
"Well, aside from the fact that your fur isn't beige, you're just a normal, sleepy kitty, and I'm glad." Adrian stroked the cat's fur. Ollie began to purr softly. 'His house' could now be seen as Adrian left the forested area. It's windmills were spinning slowly. Light could be seen shining through the doorways, cutting the darkness. As they got closer, Adrian let go of his light source, and walked in.
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