Canalave City, Sinnoh Region, over ten years ago:
Eric Hahn partially stood behind his mother at the docks in Canalave City. In the distance, mooring to the dock was a transport ship. It was a vessel he hadn't seen in over three years, and there was one particular man onboard the ship that he hadn't seen in that same amount of time. There was a hint of resentment in the ten-year-old's heart. It was a resentment that his father left for so long. He knew of the requirements that his father's job entailed, but he still felt anger nevertheless.
There he was. A man in his late twenties, dressed in his favorite trench coat, stepped off the deck of the old vessel and onto the wooden boards of the dock. He turned and looked towards Eric and his mother, and the young boy could see a tearful grin from even the distance that separated them. His father couldn't hide the smile of seeing his family after such a long time and began moving towards them.
Eric kept still, even as his mother took off running towards her husband. The two quickly reached each other and wrapped their arms around one another in a tight and emotional embrace. Both were sobbing with joy after having been able to see one another in so long. The boy watched his parents hold each other for a moment, then slowly started towards them.
Friedrich, Eric's father, pulled away slightly from the embrace he had in his wife in and looked her deeply in the eyes. He caressed her face with one gloved hand, then brought his lips to hers. The kiss lasted for what seemed like an eternity to the married couple as their hearts leapt with joy at their reunification. Eric watched his parents for another second, then turned his attention to the ship as he started to walk passed it.
The ship, many times older than he was, definitely showed its age. Light surface rust tarnished the dull black of its paint, and even crept onto the pale white lettering that proudly spelled out the ship's name across either side of its bow.
"Eric, my son!" Friedrich excitedly called out, snapping the boy from his thoughts.
Eric turned to see his father was now separated from his mother and was on one knee. His arms were spread wide as he awaited his son. Friedrich smiled warmly at him as he finally reached and wrapped his arms around him. The father then tightly held onto Eric, happily reunited with his family once more.
"Oh, my sweet son," Friedrich quietly said. "I've missed both you and your mother so much."
Eric slowly pushed away from him. This time, the boy had tears welling in his eyes as he stared at him intently. Friedrich looked over his son, grinning more widely.
"My boy, you have grown so much!" he chuckled. "You are maturing into such a strong-looking young man!"
Friedrich continued to study his son as the young boy squinted his eyes at him. The father noticed this, and his smile wavered. He went to ask what was wrong when Eric spoke.
"W-why were you gone for so long, dad?" he asked, his young voice slightly breaking with a mixture of sadness and anger.
The man didn't know how to respond to that. He understood his son's anger at him. After all, this last deployment was only meant to last a few months. Instead here he was, returning home after several years.
"Three years dad... three years that you weren't here for us," Eric continued as tears broke from his blue eyes.
Friedrich dropped his gaze to the ground and nodded slowly. He fought back a wave of emotion and tried his best to come up with a response that would calm his son. He reached out and place his hands on Eric's shoulders.
"Eric... I am sorry," he said. "If I could have come home sooner, I would have in a heartbeat."
The young boy shrugged off his father's hands, taking a step back and wiping the tears from his eyes. He tried to appear strong in front of his father as he felt more anger rising in his chest.
"You weren't there for us!" he now hollered. Eric tried his best to make himself look as large as possible, though with his small stature as a child, it made such a thing difficult, "How do I know you won't leave me again?"
Friedrich flinched at his son's words. Every syllable stung at his heart like a vicious Beedrill. Eric's pain and anger resonated in his voice and rung deep in his father's heart, causing him to look back down at the wooden boards of the dock.
Eric's mother looked at her husband, then moved her gaze to her son. She couldn't allow Eric to feel anger and resentment towards him. The mother only wanted her family to be complete and happy again.
"Eric, please…," she begged, taking a step closer. "He's home now, there's no need for this."
The boy glanced to his mom, then back to his dad. His small hands were clenched into fists. Life without his father had been hard for him. He was forced to wake up every morning and go through three years of life without the strongest man he knew being there to guide him. He resented his father's service to his job because of that. Above all, though, he was fearful. Eric feared losing his father again and didn't want him walking back into his life just for him to leave once more.
Friedrich finally looked back up at Eric. The young boy noticed tears were trailing down his father's face, and this caused him to lose all his anger immediately.
"I am sorry, son... so terribly sorry," the captain said with sorrow. "I was indeed not there for you in your times of need... and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Everything went silent for several moments. Only the sounds of the ocean's breeze and the slight creaking of the transport ship bobbing in the water could be heard. Eric stared at his father for, wanting to forgive him but still holding onto his worries of him leaving again.
"How do I know that you won't leave again?" Eric asked, fighting back another wave of tears.
His father seemed to lose himself in thought for a second, then he nodded to himself and looked back to him.
"I'll begin the process to resign from my job," he then said, surprising both his wife and son. "I've done my time... I'll begin work in a more local business or something to support you two."
"Friedrich, are you sure of this?" Eric's mother asked. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.
The captain simply nodded to her.
"I am sure, Sofia," he responded, looking to her now. "You two are more important to me than anything in the world...I was just too blind to see that my place is right here, with both of you."
Eric felt his heart leap with joy at his father's words. His face beamed with emotions as he finally managed to break a smile towards Friedrich. He then jumped onto his father, tightly wrapping his arms around him. This motion surprised his father, who slowly and warmly returned the embrace. They held each other in this position for several unspoken moments, but then something popped into the father's mind.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, breaking away from Eric. "There is something I have brought home for you as a gift."
Friedrich quickly removed his knapsack and began to undo the leather buckles holding it closed. Eric watched on with slight confusion as his father retrieved a bundle of blankets from within the knapsack. The man then held the bundle out for Eric with a grin on his face.
"This is for you, son," he said. "I was gifted this by a trainer, who told me to give it to you. You are to take care of it and raise it well."
Eric's heart palpitated at the thoughts that were rushing through his young mind. A Pokemon trainer gave this to him? Raise it? This could only mean a single thing, and that thought made him shake with anticipation.
The young boy took the bundle from his father's arms and began to remove the wool coverings. After a few loose layers, the hard, speckled surface of an egg revealed itself. Eric gasped at the sight. His eyes widened greatly with excitement.
"The beast within this egg is what is called a Gible, the Land Shark Pokemon," Friedrich explained to the boy. "They evolve to be very powerful creatures, and they are said to be very loyal to their masters if raised well."
Eric looked from the egg to his father. Then, while still holding the egg to his chest, gave Friedrich another tight hug. Happiness washed over both of them as a smile managed to reappear on the man's face. They were then interrupted by movement coming from the egg itself.
"Oh my," Friedrich said, motioning Eric to place the egg down. "It appears it's ready to hatch. Maybe the creature was waiting for you?"
The father smiled at his son as the young boy pulled away and gently placed the egg onto the ground. It shook gently at first, then jerked violently as the small dragon-type within it attempted to break through the shell. Finally, a crack appeared. Small at first, it quickly spread across the egg's surface. The first chip of the shell then fell away, revealing the thin membrane that was broken through as well.
The Gible then pushed his head out of the egg and into the daylight, showing his blue scales for the first time. A tiny clawed hand and foot then broke through as the small dragon helped itself from its egg. Soon, the Land Shark Pokemon pulled himself out and fully into view. He was tiny and convulsing slightly as he stretched his limbs for the first time ever.
The creature then stood on his two feet, pushing himself up into the upright position. He opened his eyes, centering and adjusting his large, round pupils on the young child that stared on in amusement. The infant dragon then let out a small noise, which made Eric grin wider at the sight. The boy slowly reached out and touched the Pokemon, who stared at him intently. After a moment, the baby let out another noise not unlike that of a purr, then pushed his head into Eric's hand.
"What's its name, dad?" Eric then asked his father.
Friedrich shrugged, smiling at the two newly found friends.
"That's your choice, Eric," he simply responded. "It's whatever you want its name to be."
The boy got a thoughtful look on his face, then smiled wider as he lit up with his idea.
"I like Blitz," Eric said. "He looks like he'll be fast when he evolves, so Blitz."
He then lifted the newly hatched Gible into his arms. The two looked at each other as Eric couldn't hide his wide grin.
"What do you think, little one?" he asked the Pokemon, pulling the small creature in for a light hug. "Is that a name you like?"
The dragon responded with a light coo, then licked Eric's face with a long, forked tongue. The sensation caused Eric to laugh as it slightly tickled him. Joy and happiness at his new friend filled the young boy, but then the scene quickly melted around him and transformed.
Present Day:
"Everyone take cover!" Sergeant Burke yelled out, snapping Eric back from his trance.
Eric looked around in a panic. Joe was still safely by his side, though he noticed that the Gardevoir was now gone.
"Where did she go?" Eric asked out loud, still panicking.
Joe looked briefly to his friend, then back to where their new enemy was firing from.
"She teleported away, don't worry about her! Worry about is right now!" He yelled back.
The soldiers were still scattering in every direction to different pieces of cover, whether it be trees or large rocks. One unlucky soldier, Private Hennick, got hit by plume of fire from the sky and burst into flames just as he almost reached the treeline. He began screaming as he threw himself onto the ground, rolling around trying to put out the fire. Corporal Ando ran out to try to help his comrade, but got struck by gunfire coming from the other side of the open field. Ando was hit several times in the arm, and one hit him in the neck. Blood spurted out as he clutched his neck and dropped to the ground, his eyes wide in fear.
"Return fire! Return fire!" Sergeant Burke screamed as he took aim at some of the unknown enemies. He sprayed stun rounds at them out of instinct, momentarily forgetting how ineffective they actually were. In the distance, he could see others pouring out into the open.
There has to be several dozen of them! He thought to himself.
Several of the enemies tossed pokeballs, releasing a Gyarados and Skuntank. The Pokemon roared and growled at the intruders. A Charizard, the source of the fire that killed Private Hennick, reappeared from over the treetops and was ready for another attack run. Eric was in cover as he saw the Pokemon being released. He quickly reached for his own belt to where he would normally keep his own pokeballs, but felt nothing there.
"Shit!" he cursed to himself, reaching back for his assault pack and unslinging it from his shoulder.
He began to dig through it, looking for one particular piece of electronic.
Screw our orders... we need help. He thought as he found the old, scratched and faded red device.
It was a Pokedex, his own that he got when he started his journey years ago. It was large and blocky compared to the newer Rotom devices seen in the hands of trainers now, but it still worked, and was even still "new" enough to still have access to one important thing: Eric's Pokemon Storage System.
"Come on, come on!" He yelled as he waited for the Pokedex to boot up, then scrolled through its menus to the storage system.
He clicked two of the Pokemon in it, then watched a loading bar fill, then heard a beep as the Pokedex displayed the words 'transport complete' flashed across the screen. Several bullets whistled passed as a click was barely heard from the device, then dispensed a pair of Pokeballs from its transfer slot at the bottom. The pair of red and white orbs were tiny, just bigger than grapes, but with a fast click of their buttons, they grew to their normal, baseball size.
The soldier took a deep breath, knowing he would get in trouble to having two of his Pokemon transferred to him, but he didn't care. They needed the help.
"Gyarados! Raichu! It's all you guys!" Eric yelled as he tossed the two Pokeballs.
The pair emerged from their Pokeballs, looking determined. They stared down the hostile Pokemon that their enemy had deployed. The enemy Charizard swooped to attack Eric's Pokemon, attacking again with flamethrower.
"Guys, dodge it!" Eric called out, his two pokemon moving out of the way of the fiery attack, "Gyarados, use hydro pump on the Charizard, knock it out of the sky! Raichu, use thunderbolt on their Gyarados!"
His Pokemon leaped into action. His Gyarados fired his hydro pump, and hit the Charizard. The fire Pokemon fell to the ground with a hard thump, hurt by both the water attack and the fall, but it slowly rose to its feet. Meanwhile the Raichu shot off a powerful thunderbolt, hitting and electrocuting the enemy Gyarados. Their Skuntank countered with a sucker punch, targeting the Mouse Pokemon. The Raichu was hit hard, and flew back from the hit.
Eric winced when he saw his Raichu hit, but stayed determined to knock the enemy Pokemon out of action. A bullet hit next to him, he flinched and returned fire. He looked back at his Pokemon and was relieved to see Raichu back up, ready to continue. The enemy Charizard was back up as well, though, and charged his Raichu with slash. The Mouse Pokemon tried jumping out of the way, but still got hit. The Raichu seemed hurt but fought through it, Then a bullet fired from their enemy hit the electric-type and badly injured her.
"Raichu!" Eric screamed, running out of cover to help his Pokemon. He fired his rifle up at the mysterious enemy, trying to pin them down as he made his way to Raichu. His other Pokemon moved to protect his trainer from the hostile Pokemon, each one attacking. Eric got to his Raichu and picked her up. She was hurt, but the wound didn't seem life threatening. Raichu looked at her trainer and looked like she had disappointed her master. Eric smiled at her, reassuring her that she would be ok, and then returned her to her Pokeball. He looked back up and began firing again at the enemy soldiers in the field.
"Retreat, we have to retreat!" yelled Sergeant Burke, before being hit in the shoulder and falling to the ground. He quickly jumped back up and started to run, pulling a nearby wounded soldier with him.
Eric stopped and looked at his squad leader, then looked back at the chaos he just then realized was being unfolded around him. Half a dozen more enemy Pokemon was being tossed out; there was too many to handle. A new enemy Manetric fired off a thunderbolt, hitting his Gyarados, with several other Pokemon moving in to surround the Atrocious Pokemon. Eric kept looking around, frozen and not knowing what to do. He saw several of his fellow soldiers laying on the ground in the distance, not moving. He still couldn't find himself to move until Joe grabbed him by the shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing! We gotta get out of here, we're badly outnumbered!" he yelled at Eric, shaking sense into him.
Eric snapped out of his trance and jumped up, once again firing at the enemy. He pulled out his Gyarados's Pokeball and returned him before he could be seriously hurt. He then turned and ran, following Joe. The two ran as fast as they could, plumes of dirt kicking up where bullets hit around them. Occasionally they would turn and fire to keep the enemy pinned. They ran as fast and as far as they could through the thick woods, and they continued running until they couldn't breathe anymore. The two soldiers stopped to catch their breaths.
"I... I think... we're ok for now." said Joe, breathing heavily. He looked over at Eric and began to look him up and down, looking for any signs of injury, "Are you ok man?"
Eric panted for a few moments before responding, "I think so, what about you?"
Joe shook his head, looking around, "I'm fine... don't worry about me... we gotta find out where we are."
"Yea, and we have to find Sergeant," responding Eric. He hoped Sergeant Burke and the others were ok.
The two caught their breaths and started running again, they had to get further away from the enemy. The gunfire behind them had stopped, though they both knew that couldn't be good. They ran until they went down into a ravine, moving quickly along its wall, and then spotted a cave entrance ahead. Joe and Eric got within a few dozen yards before hearing a few shots being fired and then movement heading that way. They both hunkered down behind a cluster of rocks and watched as muzzle flashes could be seen coming from inside the cave.
"What the hell?" Joe asked.
They jumped up and started to run to the cave when two of the enemy soldiers came sprinting out of it and into view, followed by a Skuntank. The two grunts and their Pokemon came to a halt and opened fire on Eric and Joe. The Skuntank attacked them with poison gas. Eric jumped back into cover, and was about to return fire when he noticed that the shooting had already stopped. He paused for a second before looking over his piece of cover; the enemy was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief before freezing up with fear. Joe was laying face-down on the ground, blood pooling under him. Eric jumped up and ran to his friend in a terrible panic.
No, no, no, no! He was screaming in his head. He knelt down and flipped his friend over, who was barely still conscious.
"Joe! Joe stay with me!" Eric yelled, choking up. Joe began coughing uncontrollably, blood running out of his mouth. Once he controlled his coughing, he looked weakly at Eric.
"What the hell are you doing crying?" He said, breaking into a fake smile, "I'll be fine... I just got to take a sec to rest..."
Tears began building up in Eric's eyes. It hurt him to see his childhood friend like this, "You're hurt Joe... I need to get you to safety."
Eric started to lift Joe up, but Joe pushed Eric away, shaking his head.
"No man... I'm done... I'm sorry." He then said weakly.
Eric shook his head, "No, hell no, you're not done. Not at all..."
Joe chuckled, but then groaned in pain, "Heh... ow... leave me here man, I'm only going to weigh you down... Like I said, I'm done."
Eric's tears started falling from his cheeks as he held his dying friend.
"Go... now... go and find a way to kick their ass...," Joe took his last breath before passing away in Eric's arms.
Eric stared at his friend's face, sobbing quietly to himself. He slowly lowered Joe's body to the ground. He saw that they both were covered in Joe's blood. He went to say his goodbyes when he heard another sound come from the cave. It was like a girl sobbing.
He jumped up, moving as quickly as he could into the cave. He ran around a corner and saw two of the same kind of Pokemon. It was Celestial, and another Gardevoir, who was flat on the ground, mortally wounded. Celestial was on her knees, sobbing over the other's deathly still body. Between him and them, was a pair of dead human bodies. Two of the enemy, their heads crushed into a red pulp.
Eric slung his rifle, then slowly started walking over to the two Gardevoir, stepping over the bodies of the two enemies. Celestial looked terrified. She slowly glancing up at Eric with tears streaming down her face. It was like she was looking at him again for the first time, only this time, it was with primal fear as she had just learned what those strange black objects the humans were carrying could do. The other Gardevoir slowly looked at him and appeared to try to move, but couldn't due to her injuries. He slowly got down to one knee to check the Gardevoir's pulse. It was weak, but still there. He slowly and carefully lifted the fairy Pokemon into his arms, looking to the other who he'd only met shortly before all this hell.
He may have looked disheartened, but he knew he needed to try to help them.
"I need to take her to get help now. Follow me, I promise to protect you." he said, before turning around to walk out of the cave.
