Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and there's no reason that any of you should think I do. So why do I have to write this every time? sigh To make happy, I guess. ;)
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A Single Spark
Chapter One:
In the year 2047 A.D., humanity lived a simple life. They had plenty of food and water, and nature's beauty bloomed all around them. They had few wars amongst themselves, and though the few problems they had seemed bad at the time, most of the world was able to live peacefully.
But something happened then that changed the world forever. A gigantic meteor fell from the sky, landing in the ocean and causing tidal waves around the globe. This disaster was nothing next to the surprise that was to come, for the meteor was no ordinary space junk: it was an alien spacecraft, and it was occupied!
The aliens called themselves the Lonaki. They claimed to have come in peace, saying that they only wished to learn more about our society. Since nearly everyone in the world was in shock, there was little resistance to their search for information. The Lonaki used this freedom extravagantly, absorbing all of Earth's knowledge at a startling rate. Because of this, many people believed these creatures could solve all of their problems.
But alas, it was not to be. As soon as they had gathered every last bit of information the planet contained, they sent a message into space, recalling their mother ship. As the ship came out from behind the shadow of the moon, it became clear that it was a ship of war.
The aliens withdrew to their ships and began creating their attack forces based on the information they had acquired. They created soldiers that were specifically designed to be unstoppable monsters. Because of the way these creatures were contained, they were called Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon.
The Pokémon obeyed their masters, ruthlessly destroying all traces of man's advanced civilization. The humans who escaped the destruction were captured, sent to live in the Lonaki dungeons for future study. A few isolated communities survived, relying on pilfered alien weapons to keep them alive. But the Pokémon were flawlessly designed, and the humans knew that sooner or later they'd be destroyed.
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"And that brings us up to today, the year 2079. As you all know, our society is reduced to ashes, and most of us live in fear that one day the Lonaki will discover our hiding place and obliterate the last human settlement on this planet."
The class shifted restlessly in their seats, anxious to get out of there. The teacher sighed in resignation. "Kids," he muttered. "They never seem to care about anything, no matter how important to their lives it may be." Then he waved his hand in dismissal, and watched the students pile out of the door.
Mr. Juniper slumped farther into his seat, more depressed than ever. He slowly shoved his notes into his suitcase, groaning in anticipation of telling the same story to the next class, which would no doubt be just as bored as the last two.
He trudged into the lunchroom, accepting his tray of subsistence food and sitting at the table at the very back of the tiny shelter. He looked into the glass of water, staring at his reflection and wishing he could be out on the front line, fighting to protect these children instead of sitting in here, safe, having to recite the history they could care less about.
"Wishing you were out there again?" said a low voice. His colleague, Professor Schutte, sat down beside him and dug into her mashed potatoes. "You know it only makes you more depressed. Why don't you look on the bright side? We're safe here, and we're alive. There's nothing better than that as far as I'm concerned."
"Well, I'm sorry I don't see it your way then," he retorted. He stabbed his fork into his peas, thoroughly annoyed that she could be this happy all the time.
"Look, things aren't going to improve if all you do is mope around all day. I admit, I'd like to be helping defend our people against the aliens too, but I know I can't, not with my asthma. So I deal with what God has given me, and I make the best of it. Someone has to teach these kids about the past, so they don't make the same mistakes we did."
"Yeah, but why does it have to be us? And don't even start with that "it's all part of God's plan" garbage. God doesn't give a rat's rump about us. He proved that by letting those blasted Lonaki destroy our way of life."
Silvia sighed and stood up. "I'm never going to convince you, am I? Well, have it your way. Sooner or later you'll have to acknowledge that this is your life, and it won't be pleasant if you keep up this attitude." She turned around and walked off without even bothering to say goodbye.
Jonas Juniper watched her sit down at another table, then returned to examining his glass of water.
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-o- Now, I know that most of you older readers either hate or despise Pokémon, but bear with me here. I'm trying to turn it into something that all ages can enjoy. -o-