CHAPTER ONE: Burning Beacons

"...ashes to ashes, dust to dust.."

It was a boring funeral, and to top it all off, it was a grey, gloomy day. The redheaded man sat in one of the pews furthest from the altar, only half paying attention to the priest's speech as the old man droned on and on.

He didn't even know this person; apparently he was supposed to, but he had been far too busy tying up the loose ends that the Groudon and Kyogre fiasco had left to know that some distant relative that had visited him once in his distant childhood had recently died of some accident or other.

His ever-vigilant Mightyena whined softly and pressed its nose into his palm, nudging a few times. The message that the Pokemon was trying to convey was all too clear: can we go yet?

"Not yet," he murmured softly, stroking the dog-like creature's glossy black mane. "Not yet."

"....we mourn his passing...."

I certainly don't.

The Team Magma leader crossed his arms, frowning. He hadn't had time to get changed into anything halfway presentable for a funeral when he'd gotten the call; he was still dressed in his uniform, and his Pokeballs neatly stored away in a special armguard clamped to his right arm, like they always were when he was doing field work.

His outfit had already earned him several snide comments and odd looks, despite it being common fact that Team Magma were no longer performing illegal operations.

".....he was a good man..."

Maxie was hardly paying attention by now.

Why did we have to come here to have his funeral anyway? Hoenn's not good enough, I presume?

The church he was currently sitting in was situated in Lavender Town. True to its name, the whole town was literally painted purple-giving rise to a whole new meaning of 'paint the town red'-and the pungent stench-there was no other word for it-of lavender hung in the air.

He surpressed the urge to release his Camerupt and start burning everything in sight until the whole area was purged of the smell and duly noted that the procession was about to move out. He also noticed that his Mightyena was bristling and growling, its attentions directed towards the entrance of the church. "Hey, what is it? Something wrong?" There was no response from the normally attentive Pokemon, except more growling. Maxie sighed and ruffled the wolf-like creature's coat. "C'mon. I know you think it's boring, but it's going to be over pretty soon."

The Mightyena whined softly, tugging on its master's sleeve-something it did only when anxious. Something was obviously wrong here.

Its trainer scanned the church, but saw nobody. "Just settle down. What is it?" The dog-like Pokemon whined, pointing its muzzle towards the church doors, and then to a window nearby. It was open to let in the breeze, as it was stifling in the old building.

"You want to get out?" The Pokemon nodded vigorously, with a hint of fear in its eyes. "Why?" The Mightyena simply whined some more and repeated the motions again. Maxie sighed and got up, being treated to several glares by people sitting in various pews. "Okay, okay....come o-"

Thump. Thump. Thump.

There was something hammering at the church doors. Maxie's Mightyena tugged at his sleeve, trying to lead him towards the open window, but the aforementioned trainer could only stare, wondering what would be making that sort of noise. Everyone else turned to see what was interrupting the service.

Thump. Thump.

The grey-furred Pokemon started forcibly pushing Maxie towards the window, whining loudly now. The doors shuddered under the pressure of whatever was beating on them. The wood creaked and groaned, and started to splinter in places. Some of the other people were standing up and moving towards the doors, ready to tackle whatever was behind them. Hands moved towards Pokeballs.

Thump.

The doors wouldn't hold much longer, so Maxie started running for the open window, his Mightyena now bounding ahead of him, barking urgently. Shadows flitted just beyond the stained-glass windows, vague shapes impossible to pinpoint.

There was a crash and splinters flew everywhere as a burly Pokemon that resembled a brown, stumpy-legged kangaroo burst through the doors of the church, making the building shudder under the impact. Terrified silence hung in the still air for a moment, and then the Kangaskhan started roaring and people started screaming.

The Pokemon grabbed a pew and hefted it like a club, swinging it through the air. An orange-furred dog with a bushy tail and black stripes leapt at the Kangaskhan, only to be bodily knocked aside by the impromptu weapon. A brown bird with cream belly-feathers launched itself like a fat cannonball towards the Pokemon, feathers fluffed. There was a thock as the Kangaskhan swung the wooden bench like a star batter and the bird flew straight through the huge glass window at the back of the building.

Third base, Maxie thought absentmindedly.

Then there was the sound of a window being smashed behind him and the red-headed trainer turned just in time to see something lash through the air and curl itself around a woman's neck. She was yanked out the window, struggling to get free. There was a sickening crack, just audible over the Kangaskhan's roaring and the thuds of bodies, and after a shocked moment everybody started scrambling away from the windows. His Mightyena yelped as the big brown Pokemon in the doorway suddenly flung the pew at them, and Maxie dived and slid under another bench, his Pokemon right behind him.

Splinters flew everywhere as the wooden pew smashed onto the stone floor of the church, and then there was silence.

Horrible, horrible silence.

What the hell is going on.....?

And then, quite suddenly, it was too loud for words, and the world went far too fast. He briefly remembered there being quite a lot of fire and screaming and bodies before something hit him on the head and he passed out.

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He ran.

He was sprinting away from whatever was chasing him. He didn't know what it was, but it sounded big and mean and nasty and no way in hell did he want to be anywhere near it. Whatever it was, it was roaring for all the world to hear and smashing through the forest like it was so much firewood.

And then it lumbered out from behind the trees and he turned. He saw the gargantuan olive-green lizard crashing through the undergrowth and his face paled-and then he started running faster than he'd ever thought possible, fear lending him speed. The Tyranitar's roar echoed through the forest and grew distant, and then the forest was still.

He kept running for a while, and then stopped, panting. The forest was quiet, with only the breeze rustling the branches to break the silence. Nothing moved, and soon the breeze died down and the entire area was silent as the grave.

It was too quiet, and he took a step forward-only to feel a sharp stinging on his back, and then another, and another, and he fell seemingly into a yawning abyss in the ground with his entire being flaring with agonizing pain. A numbness, a cold feeling in his belly, spread throughout his entire body and he welcomed it as it drove the pain away......

The last thing he ever heard was the buzzing and humming of many, many insects before the numb feeling engulfed him entirely and he took his final breath.

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He hardly dared to breathe. He was crammed into a tiny space, his Xatu wedged uncomfortably behind him, watching hundreds, no, thousands of Pokemon tear the facility down. The screams of trainers and staff who hadn't got out in time could be heard among the crackle of hungry flames and the muffled whumps of explosions that shook what remained of the building.

The fire and the scorching heat practically scalded his face, even from his concealed spot in the rocks, and he struggled to take in air that wasn't tainted with thick, hazy smoke. -oh god the screaming and the blood and and and-

No. He couldn't break down now, he was an Elite, he was supposed to protect people-but the fact was that he couldn't. Not without getting torn apart in the process. So he was forced to stay here in this cramped space and watch the massacre of innocents.

Most of the Pokemon that belonged to aspiring trainers died valiantly, fighting to protect their masters-other Pokemon abandoned their owners and joined in with the carnage, tearing down the buildings or killing any humans they could find.

The Elites had scattered. There was nothing they could do besides run, lest they get torn apart themselves. There was plenty to be scared about-the bloodshed, the screams, the rampant slaughter. But it was the singing that frightened him most of all.

Some of the Pokemon were mostly silent, crying out only when hurt or when making a successful kill.

But the rest... They sang-a terrible yet beautiful harmony of bloodlust without words, raw emotion praising the hunt and the joy of killing. It was a melody from the depths of Hell.

everything's burning burning burning- His vision began to blur and he started to hyperventilate, panicking, unable to breathe properly among the haze. have to get out have to get out In his hysteria he pushed himself out of the crack, despite his Xatu's frantic efforts to stop him, and fell straight down.

into the flames into death i'm going to die

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never noticed the beating of wings above him until somebody caught him by the arm and he stopped falling. "Ka....Karen...?"

"Will! What possessed you to jump down like that? Are you suicidal or something-" But the psychic Elite wasn't listening any more. He was tired out from the day's events and gratefully collapsed onto his Xatu as it flew below him, lost in hazy dreams of wandering through a labyrinth of flames...

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Moltres soared high above the burning region, cackling maniacally. "Is it not magnificent, my brothers? Everything burns! Everything turns to ash!"Articuno circled just below Moltres, viewing the scene with a critical eye. "It needs more ice. Perhaps a little here, a little there....and voila~! It will be perfect!" Zapdos shrieked triumph to the skies, laughing hysterically. "It needs more destruction! More! Until they're all dead! Alllll dead!"

He was then promptly slapped by Articuno, gliding out of his course to stop Zapdos' fit of crazy laughter. "Compose yourself, brother! You shall see your fill of destruction in due time. Until then.....we fly!" The trio of birds flew away over the sea to fufill some unknown purpose, Zapdos still giggling at the thought of destroying everything as they went.

Mew watched them from some distance away, making sure they had disappeared over the horizon before plummeting downwards towards Johto, and towards Ecruteak. "Everything is burning...the countdown has begun."

A/N: Chapter One is up! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to pick out any mistakes I might have made, or point out if it needs more. x_X

...I hope the action scenes were good enough. I'm not all that good at them.

Also, despite all the things you could say about Maxie, patience is not one of his strong points.