A/N: After playing Battlefield V, replaying Pokemon X, and listening to Sabaton while designing the cover art, the alien brain in my head wishes to present a War-themed Pokemon story. For future reference, I am determined to finish this tale, though I can't promise that I won't hit writer's block. Chapters may take a while to release, but that's all part of the writing process.
In short, this is a story that I had my mind set on for about a month, and I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Also, do not be afraid to leave some feedback on how I can improve my writing. Thank you!
Death is a scary thing. One moment you're there, the next moment you're not. Lysandre had everyone in the world face that fact in less than a minute. They said he was crazy; that he was a fool to think that he could play god, and decide the earth's fate with a press of a button. And yet he did it. He actually did it.
With one finger, he activated the weapon. The tip of the machine shot a large ball of energy far into the sky, eventually it slowed on its ascent, and it began to fall straight back. Faster, and faster it fell, and once it hit the surface of the planet, cities, towns, humans, pokemon, they were all destroyed in a huge explosion.
From the underground labs of Team Flare, cheers and whistles echoed through the metal corridors. "He did it!" They cried. Lysandre came in and stood on a platform to see all of his loyal members down below. They all clapped for him, and chanted his name through tears of joy. Any rational mind wouldn't worship or relish destruction such as this. It was almost scary for Lysandre.
He then looked up at the satellite footage on a big lab monitor. The explosion had ceased. The earth was now a big sphere of ruins. One could say it was lifeless. Wrong. In years to come, it would be teeming with life. The world before was a place of impurity. Hate, war, and suffering was what it offered to its inhabitants. It was only a matter of time until that was all there would be. But he prevented that. He started everything over. No war, no hate, no suffering. Only Team Flare.
However now was no time to celebrate. Society was in need of rebuilding, and he would do it in his vision. "Xerosic!" He called. The Team Flare lead scientist appeared before him. "Are the suits ready?" Xerosic grinned. "Yes sir. We only have a few, but they should prove to be a great asset in our conquest."
"Excellent." Lysandre looked back at the monitor. Soon, this world will be the way it was supposed to be: Under one government, one nation, one team.
Frederick Moreau was twelve when it happened. He was living in Santalune City, and at the time, he was in his backyard playing a game of Chase with Garand, his family's young riolu. "I'm coming for ya ol' buddy!" He yelled as Garand hopped from one place to the other like a gymnast.
Finally, Frederick had him cornered between the house, and the chain link fence. "Haha! Nowhere to run now." But just when he was about to catch him, Garand suddenly jumped up high in the air, and landed on the roof of the house.
"Hey!" Frederick laughed. "No fair! Since when was sitting on the roof part of Chase." The little riolu giggled as his pursuer failed multiple times to climb the side of the house to reach him. "Get down here you sore loser!" Soon, Garand grew tired of Frederick's repetitive attempts. He decided to make this game more fun than it was.
"Wait, what are you-" Before he could finish, Garand had hopped over the roof, and disappeared behind the other side of the house. "Oh come on!" Frederick shouted. "If you're going to the playground again, let me at least tell Mom!" He then dashed inside to alert his parents.
Frederick found his mom at the dinner table, reading one of her favorite novels. He told her what happened and that they were going to the playground. "I swear, that pokemon is going to bring the roof down on us if he continues to do that." She said with a smile.
"Just be careful out there, and bring a few band-aids just in case you do something like skin your knee."
"Okay mom!"
Frederick found a tiny box, pulled two band-aids out, and stuffed them into his right pocket. "I love you!" He called, as he opened the front door. "Love you too dear!" Before leaving, he spotted the old military rifle framed over the mantelpiece. "Love you dad," he thought as he closed the door behind him. He then made his way to the playground to meet up with Garand.
When he arrived, he saw the riolu sitting on top of the monkey bars, whistling a tune as if he was waiting forever for him. "Don't be cheeky with me mister," Frederick snickered. "You ready to pick up where we left off?" Garand front flipped off the bars, and landed feet first on the wood chip covered ground. He then gave him a "come at me" gesture that made Frederick grin. "Alright you vaurien, I'll give you three seconds."
The two laughed and played for the next half hour. Everytime Frederick was the chaser, Garand would always find a way to escape him. And when they swapped roles, the boy would be running from the pokemon for less than a minute before the little guy would pounce on to his shoulders.
"Whew, okay timeout." Frederick collapsed on the ground, sweating like it was the beach. Garand came over, and laid across from him. "You have cuts anywhere? Mom had me bring bandages." Garand checked himself on his arms and legs, but no cuts or bruises were found. "That's good."
The two of them stared up at the clear blue sky. As Frederick gazed, he began to see tiny white dots scramble around his peripheral vision. He used to think they were bugs, until his mom taught him that it was just his eyes playing tricks on him. He found that to be very weird. Eyes playing tricks? Why would they do that?
Suddenly, he heard Garand starting to yap furiously. He began to pull Frederick's shoulder off the ground. "Hey! Take it easy! What's the problem?" He sat up and faced his riolu. The pokemon's red eyes were filled with panic, as he started shoving the boy, trying to get him to stand.
Frederick was beginning to get scared. Garand only acted like this when he sensed peril near where they were. The riolu took him by the hand, and pulled him out of the playground. Frederick looked around rapidly, but couldn't see any signs of danger. "What's going on? Are we in danger? Slow down!" But Garand gave no indication of slowing his pace. Whenever his senses kicked in, he never knew what the danger was until it came. However, his body would hint at the danger by moving on its own for only a split-second.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. With every second passing, the shaking increased. Garand lost his grasp on Frederick's hand, but instead of taking the time to grab it again, he signaled the boy to keep running with him. Frederick followed his lead, but then heard a low rumble behind them. When he looked back, his pace slowly faltered. In his mind, everything went into slow-motion.
His ears could only hear the crashing and the rumbling, nothing else. His eyes saw a colossal wave of earth, smoke, and fire all trampling over one another. And his mouth began to tremble from terror. Sentences in his head began to form as the scene played out in front of him. "What is that? What is that?! Is this a nightmare? Get me out of here! Help me! Get me out! HELP!
Garand turned around, and saw Frederick standing still; facing the blazing inferno. It was hastily coming towards him. Suddenly, he thought of a horrifying future: Frederick's body becoming consumed in the blast; his head turning towards him just as the flames fully enveloped his face; Frederick screaming the riolu's name for one final time before the wave completely devoured him.
On instinct, Garand ran back to Frederick. The wave was less than a kilometer away from them. Frederick couldn't move. He was too scared. His mind was rushing, and he didn't know what to do. All of the sudden, Garand ran out in front of him, and thrusted his paws towards the wave. A blue layer of energy formed in his paws, and encased the two inside a glowing blue sphere. Garand was using Protect. At that moment, the wave finally reached its victims, and with a loud and unending roar, it swallowed them both into the raging fire and smoke within.
Frederick snapped back to reality. He found himself inside of the riolu's round barricade. Outside of the bubble, he saw nothing but debris and flames all crashing against the side of the barrier, and attempting to break the casing and demolish the two. He saw Garand in front of him, straining his arms to keep the barrier up. His stamina was clearly running low. Protect wasn't a move that could be used (or held) continuously. Frederick could only pray that his pokemon could keep them both safe.
As the boy stood frozen and speechless, Garand was struggling. His body ached badly, and he was getting light headed, but he still held the barrier up. He surfed through his mind, trying to find something to distract him from the pain. Desperately he searched, until he found one of his fondest memories. The time they met.