Prologue
The stars shined against a cool, summer forest as the sounds of creatures drowned the night air. The light moved against a quiet cemetery, gravestones protected by tall trees and faint, wandering voices. At the center laid a large stone sculpture of a young woman laying down, eyes closed and blind to the sky.
Beneath the sculpture lay a hallway to a dark tomb, with a man and a canine creature with three-toed legs emerging from the darkness. They walked to the end of the hall up a small stone staircase, emerging into the outdoor air from beneath the sculpture. The man unzipped his black and purple coat, stretching his arms and looking upwards at the stars, breathing his first summer air in days.
"Nice to get some fresh air, isn't it?" the man asked the creature behind him.
It let out a modest cry as it stretched its orange-pelted arms, hunching its back in satisfaction. The man sat on the stone ground surrounded by the grass of the cemetery, feeling a weak downdraft. The creature laid its head against the man's lap, closing its eyes as he pets its beige fur.
"We have a lot to look forward to, Arcanine, much like all these new trainers coming to carve their path here in Sigma. Are you curious to see how far they will be able to walk?"
Arcanine nodded its head in agreement before the man stood up and walked forward to feel the wind in the forest, his feet touching the cool grass. Arcanine continued to stretch behind him.
"Of course, the one who walks the farthest will discover the truth of this world," he said with a tinge of excitement building in his voice. A strong wind brushed against his body before he turned behind him. "You and I have been in anticipation for it for much too long, haven't we?"
Arcanine let out a louder cry, standing proud. The man smiled before looking above him, seeing gray storm clouds cover the night sky. Before long, a distant rumble of thunder was heard.
The man began to walk back towards Arcanine. "Those clouds are rolling in. Let's get some cover to keep you out of the rain."
Steady raindrops began to fall over the trees as the clouds covered the minimal light of the stars, leaving the forest in near-total darkness. Realizing this, a teenage boy quickened his pace as a black and blue creature next to him began to run on its toes. The boy held a large box wrapped in a bag to keep water out.
The boy groaned. "Of course. It's always the one day I have to pick up food from the village that the rain starts. Why can't the chief get wet once in a while?"
The creature looked up at the boy and his box, walking closer as it began to smell a delightful scent of steamed clams.
"Calm down, Riolu," the boy smiled. "We'll get our share once Cyto and Karla get a share of this fresh, succulent, delicious…" His voice trailed as his nose began to overtake his thoughts. "No! Calm yourself!" he snapped.
Riolu stopped in its tracks, looking at the boy with sad, wanting eyes. It started to pull its paws against the boy's pants.
He realized the misunderstanding, flustered and apologetic. "Oh, not you, buddy. I'm yelling at myself."
Riolu looked away, pouting. It pointed its right paw slightly right of their path.
"Thanks. I was worried we'd never find it in this darkness."
The two of them stumbled down a steep hill, finding a yurt half-buried underground. They walked down some wooden stairs and opened a hastily built wooden door. Inside was a small living room and kitchen, with a bed to the side, the materials consisting mostly of wood and felt. A middle-aged man stood on top of a small stool with a sewing needle and felt, patching holes on the roof of the yurt, paying them no mind as they walked in.
Riolu shook off its wet fur as the boy closed the door behind him. "Cyto, you wouldn't believe what Chef Gordon had on special today: fresh shellfish from the northern coast. I know Riolu couldn't stop sniffing the stuff," looking down at his partner. Riolu merely glared at him in judgment.
Cyto continued patching the hole, not so much as glancing in their direction. "Yes, yes, that's very nice, Frazer. Could you please call your sister? She's been held up in her room all afternoon."
Frazer set down the fish on a wooden dining table. "Is something wrong?"
Cyto sighed in frustration. "The usual."
Frazer placed his hands in his beige long shorts, closing his eyes in a mix of sadness and disappointment. "Alright, come on, Riolu," motioning it to come with him.
Riolu nodded as the two of them walked to the other side of the yurt, with steps leading further underground to an ancient tunnel. The stone, crumbling from centuries of moisture, had leaks of rainwater dripping onto the floor.
The two walked for a few minutes before reaching the door to another yurt on their right. Frazer lightly knocked on the door, as his voice became that of concern. "Hey sis, how are you feeling?" No response. "Sis?" After thirty seconds of no responses, Riolu began pushing on the door, finding it unlocked.
Her yurt, like that of Cyto's, was eerily quiet. Frazer started getting a dreadful feeling. "Karla?" He and Riolu looked around before finding her bedroom door wide open. He slowly made his way over and creaked the door open with his hand.
"Karla, please talk to me." There was no answer. Riolu rushed into the bedroom in front of Frazer.
There was no one there. Riolu only found a note on the lone bed, slightly wrinkled. It ran over to Frazer and handed him the note.
Frazer found no need to read the note as his face was already sinking into despair. "Oh no."
The forest rain continued to fall as an older teenage girl ran through the muddy ground, leaving wet footprints behind. Her purple designer top and bordered flared skirt did not protect her thin figure from the rain, soaking her. After running for a brief period, she stopped and began to frantically look around in a slight panic.
After a brief pause, she called out, "Pikachu!"
As if on cue, a bolt of lightning shot upwards from the ground toward the sky. She was able to pinpoint its origin from the top of a hill off in the distance. "There you are. She began to run toward it, being careful not to trip on any tree roots.
As she approached a small area of charred ferns, she found a group of yellow mouse Pokémon sharing electricity. One of them looked behind and saw Karla approaching. It cried out to its brethren as they scattered in different directions. The one Pokémon ran toward the girl's outstretched arms, embracing her. She leaned against a tree to rest while still holding it.
She emotionally pleaded to her friend. "I'm sorry, Pikachu, but I can't do this anymore. We have to leave Sigma."
Pikachu looked up at Karla with a mix of curiosity and worry, as the rain dripped down her pink-brown chin-length bob hair.
Karla gripped Pikachu tighter as her pleas turned to frustrations. "I just can't keep doing this. Why should I be destined to follow in Alpha Blood's footsteps when there's a whole world of people out there not dragged down?"
Pikachu pointed behind Karla toward her point of origin. Karla followed its arm, took a deep breath, and stared at her friend intently with her violet eyes.
"No, Frazer isn't coming. He probably hates me for leaving him."
Pikachu began to sense Karla's waning emotions and cried at her in anger.
"Please, Pikachu," she pleaded as guilt washed her face with the rain. "I know I'm not your trainer, but I can't stand to be away from you or the Pokémon of the world, no matter what Cyto says. Please come with me."
Pikachu relaxed and hugged Karla in acceptance, resolving itself to be with her.
Karla became extremely emotional and could barely hold back tears, hugging Pikachu tighter. "Thank you so much! I promise I'll take care of you."
Karla then stood up against the tree and scouted around her while Pikachu jumped on the ground, attempting to sense any people or Pokémon approaching the two of them.
"We need to stay north," she analyzed. "If we can follow the coast to the port in the storm, they won't be able to track us."
The Pokémon cried in agreement.
"Then let's go!" she hastily yelled as the two of them quickly began to run north toward the cool ocean.
As the rain began to erode and wash away the mud on the hilly terrain, Cyto, Frazer, and Riolu ran past the Anglas Cemetery, aimlessly treading in the thick forest.
Cyto looked back at Frazer and Riolu, exhausted from running in the rain. "Can Riolu track her aura?"
Frustratingly, Frazer responded: "no, Riolu isn't strong enough to sense anything far away in this weather."
Cyto quickly looked around him, seeing their footsteps wash away in the mud. In his frustrations, he was beginning to realize a conclusion that he wished was false.
"Damn it all, she planned this. How long will it take for this girl to understand her importance?" he yelled to a rhetorical audience.
The two continued to run west away from the cemetery as the man and his Arcanine watched the two under the shelter of the tomb, with the man's hands in his pockets to keep them out of the cooling air.
"Karla's trying to escape again," he tiredly proclaimed, as if this wasn't the first time. "No doubt the girl is creative enough to avoid detection a second time."
Arcanine grunted at the man, being careful to stay by his side out of the rain.
"She's a youthful, aspiring trainer like the rest of them. Keeping her down is like asking a Tauros to stand still for more than five seconds."
Arcanine let out a cry in confusion.
"Oh, don't misunderstand me. Sigma is her home; she won't abandon it for long." He exposed his hands. "I'm more intrigued about what will happen once she returns."
The man then walked out of the shelter and into the rain, embracing the storm as it drenched his clothes. Arcanine remained still.
"Go ahead of me. I'll be right down," he called back.
Arcanine turned around and walked back down the stairs they walked up, returning underground. As he did, the man looked behind him to the far horizon, being perched on a large hill that allowed him to see a large mountain range.
"She'll fight for it on her terms, but rest assured, Karla will play the Azure Flute. She can't escape from that truth."
The man noticed the largest central mountain in the region, dominating the skyline over the others. He could vaguely point out red crystal jetting out of the mountain face as its peak soared above the clouds towards the heavens.
Pokémon: Sigma.