A new Spirit Master has arrived!
Collin's eyes shot open. He looked around frantically. All he could see around him was darkness. "Who said that? Where am I?"
A small pinprick of light appeared in front of him as a female voice bounced in his head. Do not be afraid. All will be revealed in time.
"That's a little vague…"
My apologies. I suppose I should explain. You are a Spirit Master. You have been selected to save our world from destruction.
"Okay… But I'm just a normal teenager. Why select me and not… Anyone else?"
You are special. You share a bond with your Pokemon like no other. This bond is a strength that will allow you to save our world.
"Oh… Kay…"
I am sorry that I cannot reveal more right now, but you are in danger. You must wake up!
His eyes shot open a second time, and he jolted upright. He found himself…
In a cage?
He was surrounded by thick wood on all sides. There were small holes on each side, just large enough that he could see through them; he noticed that they were moving, and that he was surrounded by… Knights in black armor? But he couldn't see any faces…
"If you're looking for a way out, don't bother."
He turned around, startled. He noticed another person in the cage with him, a man in his middle ages, sitting in a corner opposite him. He was wearing clothes so tattered, they might as well have been rags and sandals so worn, they looked like nothing more than a piece of string. He had cuts and burns on several places.
Collin then looked down at his clothes, noticing that they had changed. He was now wearing a tight-chested shirt that ran down to his thighs and tight brown cloth pants that felt oddly comfortable. He looked at his hand; the ring that held his Key Stone was gone! Those knights must have searched me before locking me up… Guys…
"If you have any rebel friends, you might want to call for them if you can," the man continued, getting up and moving closer. "My name is Darend. Yours?"
"Collin," he replied, continuing to look through the peepholes.
"Well, Collin," Darend chuckled, "escape from this cage seems impossible. I've tried several times, and my efforts were only met with pain."
Collin looked through the last peephole, which seemed to face towards the direction they were moving. One of the knights he could spot was riding a Rapidash, which had a saddlebag on it that had a small blue strap hanging out of the pouch… Could that be my bag?
"Do you believe in miracles, Darend?"
"Depends. Will a miracle get me out of here?"
"It just might. Can they hear us out there?"
"Probably. If they do, they're just ignoring us."
"Perfect. You might want to get to the back." Darend did so as Collin cupped his hands around his mouth, facing the hole and shouting with all his might…
"LUCAS, COME OUT!"
A bright beam of energy shot out of the bag.
"Yes!" Collin shouted as Lucas appeared in front of the caravan, blocking it.
"SWEET FREEDOM!" Lucas shouted, doing a small loop before he realized what was happening. He snapped, roaring furiously. "WHERE IS COLLIN? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?" The knights gave no reaction.
"LUCAS! I'M IN THE CAGE! GET ME OUT!" Collin shouted, joining Darend at the back.
Lucas unleashed a Dragon Breath, disintegrating the front of the cage. He rushed towards Collin, giving him a big hug. "Thank goodness you're okay…"
"Thank goodness that worked," Collin responded, returning the hug. "Quick, get that Rapidash's saddlebag! The others are in it!"
Lucas flew over, grabbing the bag and tossing it to Collin. He pulled out the Pokeballs. "TENKAI! RICHARD! SHOWTIME!" They came out, appearing on Collin's shoulders. He found his Key Stone ring, putting it and his bag back on. The knights still gave no reaction.
Tenkai nuzzled Collin's cheek. "Where are we?"
"One thing's for sure Tenkai, I don't think we're in Hoenn anymore… Richard, Lucas? Can you sense anything from these guys?"
Richard held out a hand, closing his eyes. Lucas did the same. They stopped after a few seconds.
"What?" Lucas gasped.
"Nothing…?" Richard answered.
Lucas took a closer look. "There's nobody in these armors! But how are they-"
"FOR SPIRITONIA!" a voice called out from the woods. A group of 10 or 20 people came charging out toward the procession. There was something strange about them: they were all wearing armor that seemed to have themes of different Pokemon, and they launched attacks similar to their armor's theme.
The knights suddenly disappeared, leaving only the cage behind.
NOW I can explain why I got rid of the box.
Originally, there were only 2 Spirit Masters, but I decided halfway through writing that I wanted to make some other characters Spirit Masters as well. However, only those who found the box in their world could be Spirit Masters. So in order to make some existing characters Spirit Masters, they'd need to have had the box the whole time, and I was at a point where just giving them one would be more of an ass-pull than a twist.
~Tenkai