Author's Note: Hey folks, Tony Dark again. Just posting a little stand-alone story, nothing to do with any of my other characters. I don't know how often I'll be updating this fic, but enjoy anyway.

Driven

Prologue:

They arrived without fanfare, without exclamation. In fact, they arrived without much of anything. Few saw them arrive. Later, those few would remember.

They didn't look like much. Just one speck spread out among the myriad other specks visible from the dock. Only a little girl saw them, and she just waved. What a silly little speck, she thought to herself, bobbing along like that!

It took an hour for that speck to double in size, which wasn't much. In another hour it had doubled again. A few more people were watching it now, mostly curiosity seekers. It would be another five hours before the captain of a small sailboat would be able to see that it was a small group of creatures, all riding on the back of a Lapras. By then most of the curiosity seekers had left, and the only witnesses were the captain, a few Wingull, the little girl, and her parents.

The little girl-her name was Madeline-took her turn with the captain's spyglass and promptly announced, "look mummy! A swimming angel!"

Her parents laughed. "There's no such thing as angels, silly!" her mother said. "That's just someone on a Lapras!"

"Well I don't care what you say, it looks like a swimming angel to me!"

Mother and father shook their heads indulgently. "Of course dear."

Madeline looked at the captain, her eyes wide as tea saucers. "You believe me, don't you Mr. Sea Captain?"

The captain, a crusty old soul by the name of Bart, looked directly into Madeline's eyes. "Har!" he said, "I ain't never seen an angel before, little miss. I'm no marr fit ta judge than y'arr! But I seen strange things on that thar sea, and I ain't one ta count it out jus' yet!"

After two more hours, Madeline's parents were becoming impatient. They clearly wished to adjourn to the hotel and sip a few Crown and Cokes while their daughter sat quietly and colored. "Come along Madeline," said her mother, a bit curtly, "it's time to go. You can clearly see that it's a trainer on a Lapras, and it's time for dinner and bed. Be a good girl and come along now!"

"But mummy!" whined Madeline. She was truly feeling tired, but she wanted to see the man with the Lapras. He seemed…special, somehow.

"Now, Madeline!" said her father, even more curtly.

Captain Bart turned to look at Madeline. "Thar thar, little miss. Old Bart'll greet yon ship and seaman, and ye jus' trot by in the marrnin' and I'll point 'im out ta ya, how that be?"

Madeline smiled. "Oh thank you Mr. Sea Captain! Goodnight!"

And with that she ran back to her parents, who caught hold of her and started quietly scolding her while they led her back to the hotel. Captain Bart chuckled, then turned to face the sea again.

Within thirty minutes, the unusual Lapras arrived at the dock. Sitting astride her shell were three of the most extraordinary creatures Captain Bart had yet seen. The first was a Charizard, tall, but slight of frame, wearing a custom-fit leather jacket. The second was a Pokémon, but like no other the Captain had seen before. It was red, with a white underbelly, and it wore a down-gray turtleneck with a long neck to cover its own. The third was a man. But such a man as Captain Bart hadn't seen in many a year! He was tall, with a dark, weatherbeaten face. His hair was black as the stormy sea, and beneath his bangs glinted the hardest, most determined eyes the Captain had seen in decades. Little else could be told about him, for he wore a trenchcoat as gray as choppy waters. Even the Lapras was strange, for it wore a scarf wound around its neck.

The man stepped onto the dock. The Charizard followed him, and the strange pokèmon floated up and onto its shoulder. The man jutted his chin sharply in the direction of the gate.

"Come on," he said in a gravelly voice.

Captain Bart was astounded as all three pokèmon followed him, the Lapras rising up on a pillar of ice and swishing down a ramp of it.

OOOOOOO

The woman at the gate was not having a good day. The summer holiday season was upon them, and dealing with the crowds of merrymakers had left her tired and frustrated. She was off in five minutes, and looking forward to a hot meal, followed by a soothing bath and a tall glass of wine. But she had to handle every guest that walked up in that five minutes, no matter how long it took her. But still avoid overtime. And here came one now. The woman moaned in abject irritation.

"Welcome to Battle Frontier!" she said. Her face and her voice were cheerful, but it was a very insincere cheerful, and the group before her could tell. "Do you have a reservation at one of our fine five star resorts?"

The man shook his head. "We came here to compete," he said.

Dear God, thought the woman. Another hopeful who thought he had what it took. "I'm sorry sir, but you can only compete by invitation. But feel free to book a modestly priced room and enjoy all of our civilian attractions, such as sitting in the audience at one of our-" the woman cut herself off abruptly as the man produced a signed invitation and a Frontier Pass. Jaw slack, she struggled to gather her wits. "I, um, that is, we, er, I mean I'm so sorry, sir! I apologize, but there are a few talentless hacks who try to get in! Not that I could have ever mistaken you for one of them! If you'll just tell me your name, I'll check it off on the list…"

"We're not on the list," said the man. "Last minute addition."

The woman was taken aback. Sighing with yet more irritation, she quickly opened the list of participants and scrolled down to the bottom. Sure enough, there was an empty spot waiting to be filled. Shaking her head in confusion and disbelief, she looked up. "Your name, sir?"

"David bar Yaweh."

"Ah. Ahh, how do you spell that last bit?"

David sighed. "Lowercase B, lowercase A, lowercase R, space. Capitol Y, lowercase A, lowercase W, lowercase E, lowercase H." He arched his right eyebrow. "I trust you need not hear me say 'period'?"

The woman bristled slightly at the condescension in his tone. "Right," she said brusquely, "That's that. And what will you be competing with?"

David jerked his chin, and the Charizard stepped forward. "Hearth, Charizard, Male." Hearth bowed and stepped back. The Lapras swished into his place. "Iceberg, Lapras, Female." Iceberg dipped her head and slowly backed away. The strange pokèmon floated onto David's shoulder. "Whisper, Latias, Female."

The woman paused in her typing. "Very funny, sir! Now please tell me her real species."

David gave her a soul-chilling gaze. "Did I stutter?"

"N-no sir, I'm sorry, I j-just don't handle jokes well this late at night."

David growled. "Is anyone laughing, miss? I'm not!"

The woman stared at him, nonplussed. "Oh come on!" She finally cried, "do you really expect me to believe that that is the legendary Latias? That's absurd!"

"Latias ti lati s'la tias latias tias," interjected Whisper quietly.

The poor woman at the gate was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Attempting to gather her wits, she reminded herself that she had seen one or two other legendary pokèmon before. "I'm sorry sir," she said, "but legendary pokèmon are forbidden to compete in the tournament. You'll just have to find a more suitable contestant."

David sighed. "You have a list of all the pokèmon that are forbidden from competing, do you not?"

Inwardly the woman grumbled. "Yes sir, we do," she said. There was a sort of syrupy sweetness in the way she said it, as if she were speaking to a child, or a mentally deficient person.

"Well, check it!" David snarled. "You'll be surprised!"

The woman sighed, and pulled up the list on her screen. She read it. Then she reread it. Then she read it a third time. She found all sorts of legendaries' names, and the names of quite a few strong pokèmon, but Latias wasn't on the list, nor was her brother Latios. Shocked, she closed the window and entered in Whisper's information. "Is there anything else sir?" she asked. She desperately wanted to finish with this strange group; her mind just couldn't handle any more.

"Yes," said David. "I want you to make a note to the seven Frontier Brains. Now don't try to deny them," he interrupted her protests, "because I know they exist. Tell them that we are here, on a mission. We have come to face them. And we will, and they will feel it. And they will also feel the heels of our boots. As they're placed upon their throats." And with that, the four passed through the gate, leaving behind a woman who was bewildered, nonplussed…

And more than a little afraid.