AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey everyone! Yes I am back! It has been a very... very long time since I have been on my account on here. My life has become very busy over the months, with many things occurring that I will not go into due to myself not wanting to bore anyone. I will say, though, with pride that among those things was me and my girlfriend welcoming a beautiful little girl into the world six months ago from the time that I post this.

Anyways, I apologize for being gone for so long, so allow me to update you all on what my plans are with this...

I did mention some time ago that I had considered rewriting 'A Soldier and His Gardevoir'. I had decided to do exactly that, and will do so until its end. As you will see as you read this new version of the story, it will be similar in some ways, but different in many others. This is NOT a continuation of the original, but instead a re-imagining. There was some things that I wish I had done differently when I wrote the original version, and I want to reattempt that with this. I will be keeping the original up, as that was my first fanfic ever and I am still overall happy with it. I am sure that some of you would want me to keep it up anyways.

I hope to update this story as often as possible and that I do not make any of you wait too long for new chapters. For those of you who may be new to my stories, you are more than welcome to go and read 'A Soldier and His Gardevoir' before reading this one, but keep in mind that this is a true rewrite and not a retelling. This new version will be different and hopefully much improved over the old. As for which one will the "canon" to Eric and Celest's story... I'll leave that up to the reader to decide them yourselves. :)

This first chapter is a glimpse into what to expect later on... and I hope you all enjoy!

It's good to be back!

The Day of Reckoning, Present Day:

Eric Hahn stumbled forward. His ears rang heavily from the constant gunfire that had just been filling the air. It was now instantly silent, save for the occasional explosion and collapse of some rubble from the nearby ruined buildings of Veilstone City. The soldier slowly rose from his place behind cover, then glanced around at the devastation.

Nearly everyone was dead.

What had been the thousands of soldiers of the Sinnoh Defense Force and the enemy they were fighting had been turned to stone. Perfectly frozen in time, seemingly forever, in whatever pose they was in when the event occurred. Even the plant life had been affected and turned to nothing but a white-ashen stone. Eric saw one soldier, barely of age, turned to stone behind a wall. He had been lying in the fetal position as he wept his last tears of fear and screamed his final begs for his mother.

In the open streets of the ruined city, more of the lifeless statues were scattered. Many soldiers, enemy, Pokémon and civilians alike… all gone and turned to rock. Multiple had fallen over from momentum, as the humans and Pokémon they were only moments ago had struck by the power as they ran for their lives.

Eric stared at a group of the statues as his mind scrambled. One of them was a Pokémon. It was a large, humanoid-like being with four arms, and had been turned as it held four separate soldiers by their throats. The victims had been turned mid-struggle against the impossibly strong grip and was now frozen in the almost-artistic pose. One of them had a knife deeply embedded in the Pokémon's arm; a last and most desperate attempt to get the Machamp to let go.

Another explosion shook Eric to his core from a distance behind him. He turned and just in time saw the remnants of a Defense Force attack helicopter detonate and scatter itself into a thousand pieces of metal shrapnel. It fell back to the earth when its unfortunate pilot had been killed in the event that turned so many others into rock.

The soldier's ears still rang. His head felt stuffy as a sharp pain shot through his skull. He could only stand in place, staring at the wreckage of the helicopter as a large shadow flew overhead. It caught his attention rather quickly, but the pain in Eric's brain made him sluggish to respond. Slowly, he turned and looked to the sky as another battle was still being fought in the air above.

A Pokémon, larger than a bus, paused high in the air above the soldier. It was focused on something else just out of view as it let out a loud war cry and charged a beam of light in its open maw. It was grey in color and had six legs. Sprouting from its back was a pair of massive black wings tipped with blood-red spikes. The god-like Pokémon had a golden crown-like part to its head, which framed its face down to the beak-like mouth that held the powerful ball of energy. It launched the ball, which sliced through the air with blinding speed towards whatever the beast was fighting. The Pokémon then quickly ducked and flew down to avoid an attack from another great monster.

This one was more dragon-like and just as large as its sibling. With a whitish body adorned with purple streaks and large wings, it stood upright on two legs as it swung one glowing arm. It unleashed a wide arc of attack at the first Pokémon, who managed to dodge it. The godly attack instead slammed into a skyscraper, easily slicing through the steel and concrete construction of the building. The structure groaned from the hit, then quickly began to collapse into a massive cloud of dust.

The dust swirled around the soldier. Eric coughed and gagged as the ground shook violently from the shattered building. He fell to the ground and raised his arms to cover his face. Small pieces of debris pelted him, stinging the exposed skin of Eric's neck and hands like small needles. Once the flying debris stopped flying, the young man slowly lowered his hands and brought himself back to one knee.

The pain in his head doubled, nearly knocking the human back to the pavement. He caught himself, merely looking down at his dusty and tattered uniform. At the moment, the soldier found that the only thing he could concentrate on was the pulsating pain in his head and the incessant ring in his ears.

And it was at this time, that the Pokémon that caused the deaths reappeared.

It was large, much like most other legendaries. The monster emerged from the ruins of several buildings at the end of the street, lifting itself from the rubble and into the air. It was blood-red in color, with a pair of massive wings that spread wide and a single tail that stretched straight downward. Black stripes decorated its belly, and its taloned-feet clenched with pure rage. A pair of black horns sat on its head and just over its eyes. The eyes themselves was of the coldest blue, so deep and soulless that merely staring into them would steal one's soul.

Yveltal, the Pokémon God of Destruction, glared around the devastation. It seemed almost pleased with itself at the death it caused. Yet, it's stare halted on the lone human kneeling in the street. The beast let out a scream of pure anger. How dare this human defy the Destruction Pokémon!

Eric's mouth hung open with awe at the Pokémon. His mind drifted aimlessly as he merely stared at the powerful being. He couldn't even bring himself to get back to his feet, let alone even think of trying to do anything. Yet, through the ringing in his ears the throbbing pain of his head, a voice called out to him.

"Eric!" she yelled out.

It was an angelic sound to him, as it always has been. Like the ring of a bell, it was purely sublime. It was not an audible sound, but instead a voice transmitted directly to his thoughts. This time, though, the cry of his name was in a desperate attempt to bring the soldier back to his senses. An attempt, that worked perfectly.

The soldier shook his head, then began looking for the being responsible for the call of his name. His heart pounded hard and fast as he felt a slight panic rise in his throat. He looked once again to the Y-shaped legendary beast, then down at the ground beneath it at the rubble.

There she was. The love of Eric's life, and the reason he kept pushing through it all, lying among the broken bricks and twisted metal. She was a Pokémon, a psychic-type. Her dress, normally a pure-white in color, was dirty and hung loosely and draped over her petite form. Her hair, an emerald-green, clumped together with sweat and partially covered her beautiful face. Eric looked his blue eyes with hers… the pure red rubies of swirling rose colors. Those gorgeous crystals, which pooled with tears until a single droplet finally broke free and trailed down her flawless cheek.

It was with that tear, that Eric regained his senses. He glanced down at the ground beneath himself and saw his rifle. Taking it in hand, he pulled back on the charging handle, ensuring that a round was chambered. Once confirming so, he first looked back to his love, nodding to her in reassurance, then stood as he stared down the massive blood-red Pokémon flying in place a dozen meters above the soldier's injured mate.

Bringing his rifle to his shoulder, Eric ignored the pain coursing through his body. Above him, the fighting amongst the huge god-like Pokémon resumed, but the soldier only took aim at the one that caused the deaths and turning of everything around them. He switched off the rifle's safety, then placed his finger on the trigger. Eric took a deep breath, ready to fight for the sake of the world and his love.

"I'm coming to help, Celest," Eric Hahn quietly said as he pulled the trigger, firing a shot at the Pokémon God of Destruction.