(Indigo Mountain, Archeological Dig Site, 1968)
The clang of metal picks
and shovels against the large rocks echoed throughout the mountains. Several
archeologists tore into the boulders, reducing them to crumbling pebbles,
in order to get to whatever lay below. Professor Samuel Oak, 25 years of
age, stood behind them, his head and face shaded from the sun by a large
straw hat. He was fascinated by their work, and on this day, he had a chance
to finally watch them work.
"Professor!"
Professor Oak smiled warmly at the young archeologist,
Dr. Van Von Kinle, as he approached.
"Please call me Samuel."
Kinle returned the smile.
"Very well, Samuel,"
he agreed in his thick accent.
He placed his hand on Samuel's shoulder and indicated
to an area of dug up rocks and rubble.
"I would like it very
much, if you would help me out. That pile over there needs to be thoroughly
examined. Would you be interested?"
Samuel nodded eagerly and Kinle led him over
to the large pile. They kneeled down on their knees and began to dig and
sort through the rocks. Samuel hummed to himself as he searched. A gust
of wind blew over the mountains just then, knocking the hat off his head
and down to a bottom corner of the clutter. He crawled over to it and picked
it up…when something caught his eye. From amongst the dull, dirty rocks,
he could see something sparkling.
"Hmm? Say…what's this…?"
He dug away the rocks and found a sparkling jeweled
ring. Picking it up, he could see the golden band was rusting and there
were several elaborate markings. It looked ancient.
"Dr. Kinle!"
Seconds after Samuel's call, Kinle was by his
side.
"What is it, Samuel?"
Samuel handed him the ring. Kinle looked it over
in a strange silence. Then he looked at Samuel.
"You found this here?
In this pile?"
Samuel nodded and showed him the exact spot.
Kinle shook his head in disbelief.
"It's amazing you could
actually find this small thing among all this… Well, let's keep digging
around here—maybe we'll find some more."
And more they did find.
By the time the day was through, Kinle and Samuel had dug up a pendant,
a flask, an urn, a chalice, and two spoons. All of them had the same strange
markings inscribed beautifully into them. After they cleaned and rinsed
them off, they could see that the markings were some sort of ancient text.
"It looks like it might
have been older than even the people of ancient Pokemopolis," Kinle observed
to Samuel. "This
is a very rare discovery indeed."
That night, Samuel phoned
a colleague of his, Genesis Morgan. Genesis was a professor that taught
at a gym leader-training academy outside Fuchsia City. Samuel and Genesis
were both very taken with the idea of ancient civilizations, and Genesis
had originally planned on going with Samuel to Indigo Mountain for this
particular dig.
"Come now, Genesis.
Don't you want to come and see these things? They're so strange."
"What about my boys,
Sammy?"
At this time, Genesis was helping two of his
students with some in-depth training, along with a young man he had taken
in as his assistant. They were all smart boys and they got along very well.
All of them really respected Genesis and admired him much more than he
ever really knew.
"I don't think they'll
mind coming along," Samuel said, smiling. "You remember how we were at
that age, don't you? Always ready for the unexpected adventure…"
"It wasn't that long
ago, Samuel," Genesis remarked, beginning to smile as well. "But I suppose
you're right."
"Of course I am!" Samuel
laughed.
And so, Genesis and the boys-Koga, Blaine, and
Devon Brown-caught the next plane out to Pallet Town- and from there, into
the mountains where they joined Samuel and Kinle, and the rest of the archeological
crew.
On the night they arrived
there, the three boys stayed awake late in their tent.
"What'd you two think
of those things, huh?" Blaine asked them, putting his arms behind his head.
"They're interesting,"
Devon remarked. "I want to know what that text on them says."
Blaine nodded, smiling.
"Yeah…I'm a little curious
about that myself."
Koga closed his eyes.
"Personally, I don't
see anything so special about them. People find artifacts all the time,
what should make these so unique?"
Devon thought about this. He rolled over on his
stomach and propped his chin up with his hand.
"Well…maybe because
they're so old."
Koga laughed.
"All artifacts are old,
Devon."
"Well, yeah, but…these
are really old. Dr. Kinle said that they may have come from a civilization
older than Pokemopolis, remember?" He paused. "And there's that writing."
"What about the writing?"
Koga asked, his voice monotone.
"No one has been able
to decipher it. It could mean anything-all those symbols and pictures."
Koga shrugged and turned on his side.
"It's probably nothing
too special."
Devon stared at his back. He sighed and looked
back up.
"Maybe."
He jumped alittle when Blaine suddenly leaned
over him.
"Don't listen to him.
He wouldn't know 'interesting' if it came up and bit him on the a--…"
Koga coughed loudly. Blaine and Devon grinned
at each other.
"What's the matter,
Koga? You know it's all in fun!"
Koga grumbled something under his breath.
"Goodnight to you too!"
Blaine chimed, his head still hovering over Devon's.
Devon laughed and smiled up at him. Blaine winked
at him, and in one swift movement, was back in his sleeping bag.
"Good night, Devon."
"Night, Blaine. Sweet
dreams."
Kinle pulled back the
cloth that hung down in front of the entrance to the tent. He went over
to the dug up artifacts to look at them more closely. He had become an
expert at reading ancient text, and he was positive he could figure this
out. He leaned close and traced his fingers along the symbols on the chalice.
"G…Good…God…Gods. Gods."
He nodded, feeling a light warmth of pride as
he read the first word.
"Gods. Give…share…hmm…"
He paused a moment, rubbing his finger over the
spot.
"Bring! Gods bring."
He kept going on in this way, until he
got one full sentence: Gods bring us salvation from darkness.
Satisfied, he told himself
he should go back to bed…but there was still more to be deciphered.
You can finish tomorrow, he told himself.
They aren't going anywhere.
But in the end, he decided solving a few more
lines couldn't hurt. So he got a chair and settled himself down in front
of the chalice.
When the first light
of dawn peeked out from over the mountains, Kinle was finished. He leaned
back, exhausted, in his chair, fully content with his progress. He touched
the chalice lightly and read the words aloud, instinctively filling in
the spaces between certain words.
"Gods bring us salvation
from darkness. Never break the bonds of his evil Lordship, lest this world
be cast into his vile shadow. To thee, Gods, may this prayer go unspoken
and forgotten from this day, for if it shall, may the darkness himself
rise again…"
His voice trailed off as he read, and he stopped.
He had never been a religious person, but that last line played over and
over in his mind, making him feel nervous and tense. After several moments,
he relaxed and found he had been holding his breath. He picked up the chalice
and placed it back where it had been, in the center of a little circle
of the other relics.
As he stepped outside, he felt the earth began
to tremble. It was so subtle, that he barely noticed it at all, but it
was there. He looked above his head and saw massive dark clouds begin forming
in the sky, smothering what little sunlight there had been.
He doubled back into the tent, and instantly
regretted it. The relics glowed with an amazing aura, the chalice floating
in the center. He cursed himself silently, and then aloud.
"Damn me!" He gasped.
"Damn me straight to Hell!"
By now, the light tremble had become a harsh
quaking, shaking the tents and trucks and such. Inside, their tent, the
three boys woke up instantly.
"What is this?" Koga
demanded the air. "An earthquake?"
On impulse, Devon reached over to grab his arm.
"Koga, what's going
on?"
Koga pushed him away, knocking him back into
Blaine's arms.
"If I knew, would I
be asking?!" He snapped.
Blaine put an arm protectively across Devon's
chest, holding him to him.
"Calm down, Koga. Isn't
that what you're trained to do? As a ninja?"
Koga shot him a nasty look, reluctantly realizing
he was right.
"I'm calm," he replied,
more to himself, than to the others.
"Boys! Boys!" Dr. Kinle's
voice shouted from across the campsite.
Koga quickly slipped out of the tent. Blaine
stood, bringing Devon with him as he followed.
Samuel, Genesis, and
Kinle stood outside, staring up with horror at the sky. The clouds were
surrounding everywhere, covering as far as they could see. It felt like
they were closing in…cutting off their fresh air with a thick supply of
a strange odor unlike any other. One of the young archeologists headed
for the tent with the relics, unaware that they had caused this. Kinle
saw him and called for him to stop, but the man was already inside. Koga
followed him and was greeted by a spurt of blood that splashed on his face
and body. The man lay dead before him; several little creatures climbing
and clawing out from the ground. One of them stood on the man's stomach,
his claws drenched in blood. He leapt at Koga, but the ninja dodged out
of the way. When he advanced again, Koga reached out and grabbed the thing
by its scrawny neck. His rough hands twisted it until it snapped in his
grasp, new blood spilling over him: black blood.
The other demons attacked, but he could only
do so much with two hands. He was soon overpowered. Finally, Genesis ran
in with a large knife, and proceeded to slash blindly at the mass of creatures.
But there was no end to them.
Suddenly, they stopped and stood still for a
moment. Then, they all scurried outside, leaving Koga and Genesis breathing
heavily and wiping sweat and blood from their faces.
End of Chapter Eight
