BtP 5

Author's Notes:

Well, here goes nothing. (Besides the time I spent writing this) This chapter will be giving more insight pertaining to a number of things. The prophecy, (Which is badly written in my opinion) the gray zone, (Which I'm making up as I go along) and this new servant of the Master's. I'm getting a sense of nostalgia after finding a bunch of incorrect homonyms in my writings. Oh, I really did love eighth grade. (Sighs with thoughts of happy memories.)

Anyway, I haven't gotten any suggestions for monsters yet. So… It's irrelevant because it's too early for that anyway.

To refresh your memory on the chapter you may very well have just read:

Scotty got interrogated about the invisible glass and sand, and everyone found out he was sane. Meanwhile, everyone else took note of some rather strange things. Vex saw a shiny thing, Gina heard glass cracking, and Tyrone felt a dust-like substance flow down his back. Now, to build off of that, Tyrone knew they were going to be tested. Furthermore, these are all part of the same thing, even if they were separated by long periods of time. You might be able to piece together what the glass and the sand are now. If you do, it also is a huge hint pertaining to the identity of the Master. (Although I'm pretty sure I gave an even huger hint last chapter to the same effect)

Anyway, chapter begin.

BtP 5: The Prophecy Initiated

Unknown POV: (Not an Unown)

"I still can't believe that you guys hid my own sanity from me. And I thought we were friends. Gah," The Squirtle moaned. He had clearly seen better days. I hoped he wouldn't notice my presence. He was supposed to be able to do that kind of thing with his new shell. Or his eyes.

The Tyrogue turned away, looking ashamed of himself. I soaked in the moment until I realized he was looking at me. And fear swept his face. It was only a matter of moments until he warned his friends. I started preparing a shadow ball in one hand, and a psycho cut in the other. I had done dozens of different things to mask my presence, and the fighting type had been the one to discover me. I nearly made the mistake of using psychic when I noticed the young child shivering. He must be blind, then.

"Is something wrong, Tyrone? You seem to be rather cold. Despite the mere foot between you and a fire," The Jirachi said. They were both traitors. Sadly for them, it was foretold long before their birth. Which meant their defeat was set in far too many stones for them to ever pull it out. They were half of the four. But then again, the Squirtle had already done differently from before.

"It's just that I felt something weird on my back. Dust. I'm guessing Stewart's the only one who saw it, though," Tyrone stated, subtly making his hand into a shape that was a rather unknown attack style. I knew of it because it was a great style for those with three fingers.

Gina's POV:

I hoped that it really was dust, and not what I thought it was. Surely we wouldn't be tested so soon. Then again, it was invisible dust. In other words, it almost certainly wasn't dust. I really do hate my life.

"That was sand, actually," Scotty said, making Tyrone nearly jump out of his skin from fright. I managed to contain my own agitation, though. "Wait, what's so bad about that?"

"We're in even more danger than we originally thought. The Master's about to test us, and these tests are not meant to be an easy D-," I said, beginning to mentally prepare for the worst.

"I thought the term was supposed to be "not an easy A"," Vex stated, confused.

"It's definitely not that, either," Tyrone said fearfully, his head slowly drooping from exhaustion. He yawned, a very unfitting action for a scene so intense. I knew it was for the best if we all went to sleep, however, and decided to call it a night and go to bed. Our worries could wait until the morning.

"We should talk about this in the morning, guys," I said, noting that everyone else was already asleep. I could only hope no one was involved in the sudden sleeping, but instead it was just the day that had made us all weary. I went over to my own little nest, turned around, and as I was laying down, I saw a three fingered stance that Tyrone often used for offense. I saw the black hand connected to a shadow ball. Then, it all went dark.

Vex's POV:

I opened my eyes to see a platform wreathed in fire. Heavy plumes of smoke covered everything beyond this pocket of flame from view. I wouldn't have really cared, except for the fact that I was on said platform. There was also the fact that I could feel plant life growing throughout my gut instead of the usual fire. I was a grass type at the moment, for whatever reason. I couldn't move for fear that I would be engulfed in the flames I had been accustomed to loving. I felt tree bark growing around my paws, and leaves replacing my fur. I felt pure water flowing throughout my veins, and vines twisting around my stomach. The flames started closing in on my now tree-like body. I felt the heat of the fire drooling on my wooden skin, a tantalizing treat right in front of one's nose. All it took was one spark, and the flames would get what they desired.

"You think this is fear, girl?" A voice boomed from all sides. "You think that you know what it feels like to truly appreciate how destructive fire can be? You're wrong if you do. You hope that when you wake up it will be to discover that this was just the nightmare your mind had to interpret what happened on that fateful night. And then, when the dust settles and the ashes blow away, you will be dead."

As the voice finished that last sentence, I found the flames at my feet. I tried jumping, but I was rooted to the spot, literally. The flames slowly went up my body, soon covering my entire body. I could feel the flames slowly turning my leaves into ashes, my bark into charcoal. I woke up screaming, hyperventilating, only calming down when I was a good distance away from the fire. It's just a dream, I had to tell myself. But I couldn't shake the feeling that it might be far more than just that.

Tyrone's POV:

I was freaking out when I woke up and covered my ears right before Vex started screaming. That couldn't have been a coincidence. I was predicting the most unpredictable things and then reacting accordingly without realizing it until it had happened. I was still blind, however, but at least now I could detect light. It was around morning, according to my inner clock and my only slightly useful eyes.

I could hear Vex's breathing very clearly, despite the fact that she was on the other side of the cave from me. Wait, how do I know that? I was really freaking myself out, when Kenny put his hand on my shoulder.

"You feeling alright, Tyrone?" Kenny asked me.

"I'd be a lot more concerned with Vex," I said, trying to get the heat off of me.

"She isn't the one who was blinded last night. Besides," He said, starting to lower his voice to a barely audible volume, "you clearly still can't see, otherwise you'd have known that Gina was checking on Vex. Also, you covered your ears before Vex's screaming started. You couldn't possibly have known that that was going to happen, as Vex was perfectly relaxed when it started. So something else is going on. Hence, me asking you if everything is all right."

Wow, that really shocked me. The sheer amount of analysis Kenny did in a matter of seconds. I didn't realize that he had a brain as powerful as those legs of his. I made the decision to ignore my mentor. At least for the moment.

"You okay, Vex?" I asked her. She nodded, and tried to get up, but her knees buckled and she just ended up back on the floor.

Gina looked at me with worryingly. How do I know that as well? I was starting to freak myself out again; it seemed like I could see without needing to look.

"Y-y-yeah, I think so. It was just a nightmare. That's all it was," Vex said. Her tone made it sound like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked her. It could very well help her calm down.

"Wh-why not," She said, her breath shaky. Gina had started moving away to talk to Kenny. Scotty was still asleep. How he slept through such an uproar I will never know. He was still in his shell. "I-I was in the middle a ring of fire. The ground was covered in ashes, so I don't know where it might have been. Anyway, the flames started closing in on me, probably burning whatever was under all the ashes. I would've been fine, except I could feel plant energy flowing throughout my body. So I knew I was a grass type, somehow. Then I looked down at my body, and saw that my body had all the parts of a tree. My skin had turned to bark, my ear and tails to leaves, and my fur to vines. Anyway, the fire kept closing in, and then I heard this voice. It said something about how I'm going to wish it was just a nightmare, and how that wasn't even the start of how destructive my abilities could be. The voice said that that was I interpreted the night we met."

"Hmm… It seems rather prophetic to me. Was that all the voice talked about? Any mention of any sort of places, people, you know, that sort of thing?" I asked her. Something about the whole thing seemed rather off.

"Wait, the voice, at first, seemed to be trying to make it sound like that dream was real. But, then, it said that 'I would hope when I woke up it would be to discover it was just a nightmare'."

"We need to tell the others about this now. The test will be starting soon, I can pretty much guarantee you on that," I said. It was probably Darkrai that would be attempting to run us down, if that was what Vex's dream had been.

"I'll get Scotty up, then," Vex said, renewed vigor in her voice; she couldn't possibly pass up such an opportunity. She walked over to her latest victim.

Scotty's POV:

I was sleeping rather peacefully, until I was woken up by Vex. My sister decided it would be hilarious if she got a bunch of rocks, put them by the holes that my limbs come out of, and screamed at the top of her lungs for me to wake up. I wouldn't really have cared, except for the fact that she shouted directly into my shell. That was something that you just don't do. You simply don't direct any concentrated noise into a shell, or any noise from very close by. The holes that my limbs come from are already small, so there's already a very nasty echo, but putting rocks right by said holes just worsens the echo. So, I essentially woke up to Vex's newest prank: turning my shell into an amplifier. My limbs shot out of my shell, and into the rocks. I was going to have a headache later. I was also going to go hard of hearing thanks to my dear loving sister.

"I told you that it's pretty much a universal law that you don't make any noise directly into someone's shell," I said, although everyone insists that I was yelling. "Also, today is apparently a day that can't take any of antics, Vex, unless if last night's conversation was just a joke."

"Which it most definitely wasn't, Scotty. Vex, none of your pranks. We don't need them right now. You also need to give Tyrone his sight back. We're all going to need it." Gina said, having taken the conversation straight to the point. "There's some things we need to talk about, and we only have today, unless if the Master isn't playing by tradition anymore. Tyrone and I need to tell you three a lot of things."

"It all started a few millennia ago," Tyrone started, "but that's not what you guys need to know for now. What you do need to know, however, is what the Gray Zone and Prophecy are. Sadly, we are physically incapable of bestowing knowledge of the Master to you in any way, shape or form, by any means at our disposal. Sadly, that includes wishes, since Scotty gave me control over that. We also don't know what the Master's plans are, since the Master only gives orders and doesn't ever explain the purpose of the orders."

"Anyway, getting back on topic, we all need the Prophecy. Luckily, we were told of most of its stanzas; probably because the Master knew of this day. Anyway, it goes something like this."

"Dungeons come, dungeons go,
Four to fruit 'n' cease the flow,
In today, out the snout,
The seams are gone and falling out.

On a quest, up a slope,
Where beating the clock's the only hope,
There it is, at the start
The answer hidden in a star.

See the past, serve it well,
Two by two it takes to quell,
Know the path, see it change,

Monsters of pockets which is strange.

Worse for wear, to Time's lair,
One is given all to bear,
Add three more, still too much,
Life is cruel to heroes like such.

Taken down, 'fore you're born,
Knowing not the cause forsworn,
None are safe, without the blue
That is all to be thought as true.

Real and fake will be as one,
A fifth hero one must become,
Be wary of the outside world,
The Pockets of Reality to be unfurled.

A sixth will be the Psychic's bane,
The ash to stop the holy flame
The Sibling's death, the Hero's end,
Gratitude takes over no way to bend.

At the start, lying in chains,
Sight of truth in blood and pains,
To save the world, end the start,
Reckoning eternity's plans of thoughts.

Multiple beginnings, find the peace,
The defining chapter begins the race
At the end, find the start,
As roles reverse to play your part

Impossible tasks, victor's tongue,

Find the ring's other half,

Sell the truth, written in black,

Prisons free half, can't keep track

The Pockets will be undone."

"That was… long. I don't suppose the Master also told what it all meant, I am I right?" I asked the two: I didn't know how to make heads or tails out of it.

"The Master also made a side note. Something about the stanzas written out of order. We were also only given the Prophecy orally, so… yeah," Tyrone said, sighing at their pretty much hopeless situation.

"Well, we just need to know what it means as it applies to the situation, right?" Vex asked hopefully.

"Theoretically. Although, the fact that it was spoken means that our interpretations of it could be different from what it actually means. It would already be hard enough with a written copy…" I said, really hating being the naysayer, but someone would have to do it.

"So we just write it down, then. Simple as that, and we don't have to remember the whole thing anymore," Tyrone said, a look of glee flashing across his face.

"Yeah, okay. So now we know what the Prophecy is, but what's the Gray Zone?" Vex and I asked at the same time.

"It's one's level of involvement in the Prophecy. It changes one in ways that are critical to the Prophecy's completion. For instance, most Vulpix can't curse others, but Vex can. That would be because of the Gray Zone," Tyrone explained.

"So, is that why I'm gray?" I asked.

"Partly. We are almost certainly the four mentioned in the Prophecy. But you, Scotty, are definitely one of the four. Vex is also one of the four, and I am as well," Tyrone said, making us all look at him with bewilderment. "Okay, so I haven't exactly told you guys everything that has been going on with me. I may or may not be able to see a few moments into the future. Not able to use future sight, though."

"Wh-B-But, we've always told each other everything, Tyrone…" Gina said, her voice getting lower and softer with angered disappointment.

At that moment, I felt a surge of psychic power flowing through the room.

"Gina, please don't do this," I said, though strangely, she fainted on the spot, as well Kenny, and Vex. Strangely enough, though, neither Tyrone nor I appeared to be affected by the psychic energy surging through the room.

"Two it takes to pass this test," A voice boomed, as a bulky pink and purple Pokémon revealed itself. "Failure's the option, but not success. Oh, whoever wrote that Prophecy must've had fun rhyming all that stuff. Sadly for you two, I make up this mess."

As the strange Pokémon finished its little speech, we were all teleported out of the cave, and into a battlefield with that had seemingly randomly placed hexagonal tiles. The whole area had a wide variety of different shades of pink and purple. Sadly, Tyrone and I, and our strange opponent, were the only ones on the battle field, while the rest of our friends were in cages. Scratch that, Kenny wasn't anywhere close by, according to my intuition. He'd been left behind. I hadn't ever heard of such a strange looking Pokémon. It seemed to radiate raw power, and had a legendary aura to it.

"Here to kill you, is Mega Mewtwo X.

Author's Notes:

Wow, even I didn't see that twist coming, and I'm writing this. I finally wrote out the Prophecy, and explained the Gray Zone.

Anyway, reviews are welcome as always.

Dude with no Life, out

Buh-Bye