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Pokemon: Neo Legend --- Kanto (Part 1)

Sixty Years Ago – Somewhere in Johto

The mountain trail was rugged and hard going, even for the Jeeps. It had rained the night before and the path was thick with mud, making it even more treacherous as the vehicles weaved between mountains and out on dangerous ledges. The little girl, in a very proper blue dress, was in the second Jeep sitting in the middle of the back passenger seat. Two white-coated men sat on either side fiddling with clipboards and thumbing through pictures. The driver and the other man seated next to him were clad in black, and rarely spoke.

The engines strained as the caravan made its way to even steeper ground, a few times the drivers were forced to exit the Jeep and pull forth their pokemon to get the vehicles unstuck. Though they quickly recalled them when the work was done. Despite the hectic ride, the little girl in blue was pleased with the scenery, she had a clear view off the mountain to the surrounding lands, mostly covered with lush green forests, bird pokemon fluttered above and between the trees. She actually cared very little for them, these pokemon, but they were essential to the life of a great number of people in Johto, the region they currently were in, and actually they were near the very heart of the land, deep within its interior. Also elsewhere she had heard that pokemon filled important roles, the lands of Kanto, and the Orange Islands for example.

Soon the vehicles found even ground, they had made it to the plateau. The rest of the trip was simple, and they quickly reached the campsite. Unlike most children, the little girl waited patiently as everyone got out of the vehicle, and finally the door was open for her. One of the white-coated men, the one with the moustache and reading glasses gave her a hand to help her tiny form down to the ground. From there she was accompanied to the tents, each filled with complicated computer equipment and buckets, upon buckets, of rocks. She really didn't understand, though she was very young. The white-coated men were all about, running here and there speaking with other men who wore goggles and hard hats along with big boots and belts filled with all manner of tools.

Past the first group of tents, she walked. Always present though rarely seen were those black-clad fellows, they stuck to the shadows. There weren't many, but they were there…always watching. Her path led her to a ledge, from there she looked down into a gorge, the walls of which were dotted with caves. From her vantage point the people appeared as ants, scurrying about back and forth. The hard hat men and the white-coats.

After walking nearly half the circumference of the trench they reached the second group of tents, and that's where he was located. Garbed in a finely cut, dark suit. He stood so still with arms folded behind his back; one could almost believe him to be a statue. The dark man's face held a shadow of a beard that no shaving could remove. The little girl in the blue dress did not pick up speed to reach him faster, but continued on evenly until she was beside him. "Papa," she curtsied.

"Marisa," he answered, his tone always so even. Entering from the opposite direction was the other child, the red-haired boy; the little girl in blue hated him more than any other. He was far older than she, perhaps twice her mere six years. His cruel eyes always seemed to linger too long where he set them, giving the uncomfortable feeling that he was staring. The boy reached the dark man, her father, and they spoke of things she really didn't pay attention too; she was too affixed with giving the other youth dirty looks.

"Sir!" a white-coated man came forward, holding more rocks and brandishing them before her father. "In the southern gorge we have found the most incredible ancient pokemon remains…"

"Doctor," his even toned interjected, he didn't even divert his gaze from the caves below, "We are looking not for fossils of the past, but portents of the future. Don't bring me those worthless things again." The white-coat bowed humbly and backed away before turning and rushing back off to another tent.

"Humph," the red-haired child snorted, a wry smirk on his face. "I'm returning to the caves."

"You are sure we are close?"

"Trust me," the boy said without even turning back to look at him, rarely did any show her father that level of disrespect. She certainly couldn't, how could this boy get away with it?

Only a few more boring moments passed before something happened, an event that the little girl in blue would never forget. She had wandered around her father's tent, looking at various things when a brilliant flash exploded into her vision. Turning she had to shield her eyes from the light that was emanating from the gorge. An explosion that had the ground rattling beneath her feat and a black whirlwind sprouted from the canyon, she rushed to her father's side; he never took his eyes from the sight. Taking a closer look, the black wind wasn't wind at all, but a stream of strange black geometric shapes, each appeared to have an eyespot, she could only wonder if they were also pokemon. Powerful gusts buffeted the tents and knocked over bins and buckets, but the little girl and the dark man leaned into the barrage and gazed on. The strange black shapes funneled out from some cave below and high into the sky where they dispersed. The whole sight was magnificent to witness, but it was not that that held her attention so, it was the fact that her father had a genuine smile upon his face, never before had she seen such a thing.

Current Day – Pallet Town

Stan Short, master of all he attempted, took the stairs two at a time as he walked to the entrance of Professor Pine's laboratory, the stars and moon shown brightly above his head, and the air was quite cool. From the front door he could turn and see much of Pallet Town, but he didn't wait for that, instead he simply walked in; the Professor never locked his door, or answered it for that matter. Walking on he had to think of tomorrow the day that he would leave on his Journey. He was almost packed, and his friends were probably already in bed.

Rounding the corner and entering the actual lab, Stan found Pine laboring over books and notepads as he worked on putting notes upon a blackboard. The man was young, or at least young for what most people would think a Professor should be. "Hey, Professor," Stan greeted with a little waive. Pine jumped, startled by the sudden voice, but quickly composed himself as he took off his reading glasses and set down his piece of chalk, dusting off his hands.

"Stan, shouldn't you be at home preparing for tomorrow?" Pine questioned.

"Well I…" Stan began.

"Just had to look at them one more time before tomorrow?" Pine finished for him.

"Yea, how'd you know?"

Professor Pine walked over to a large rectangular window which had a curtain drawn over it. Next to the viewing glass he flipped the switch and the lights in the lab dimmed, Pine drew the partition then, revealing the pokemon in their little nursery beyond the viewing window. Each lay in their little sleeping baskets, small pokemon toys were absently scattered about the room. Stan walked forward, longingly gazing at each of the nine.

"I knew because all the others did the same thing already," Pine answered.