Hey there, this is Ramenlord, with my new story! I'm pretty excited about it, it has some fun stuff to write and (hopefully) to read. Enjoy! Or... don't, I suppose.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, etc., etc... except for my original characters and story lines.

~~Triumph and Defeat~~

Prologue

"Gardevoir, use Magical Leaf!"

"Devoir!"

Joseph winced as he watched the multi-coloured leaves fly unerringly straight from the opposing pokémon to his own, their sharp edges digging deep into his already bleeding pokémon's lightly furred flanks. His vaporeon, already tired from previous attacks, stood no chance. As its trainer looked on helplessly, it tried painfully to get back to its feet, then collapsed, fainted, on the ground. Worriedly, Joseph recalled it, then bit his lip, thinking. 'Damn. Only one pokémon left.' Glancing down, he plucked the final ball from his belt. Then, he remembered which pokémon it was exactly that he has left, and his anxiety disappeared. With a grin, he raised the ball, winding up his arm powerfully before lobbing it up toward the ceiling, crying, "Go, Umbreon!"

Across the stadium from him he saw Ron, his long-time rival since childhood, let out a curse, his face darkening as the Moonlight pokémon materialized in a flash of red light. Joseph's grin grew wider, as his loyal pokémon located its target and shifted into a battle stance, letting out a low, menacing, "Umb..."

Quickly, Ron's face set into a mask of determination, speedily ordering another Magical Leaf. This time, the barrage of psychically powered foliage seemed to have little effect, most glancing off of Umbreon's dense fur.

"Umbreon, Faint Attack!"

Umbreon gave a quick nod to indicate its understanding, then, slowly, the rings on its sides, head, and tail began to fade, eventually disappearing altogether. As Joseph watched, it continued to fade, its entire body becoming invisible.

Startled, Ron's gardevoir glanced around, searching for its vanished opponent. The cry of its trainer alerted it, and it spun around, just in time to see Umbreon lead toward it. Umbreon slammed into the psychic-type, raking with its claws and throwing the enemy back. Gardevoir let out a cry, stumbling, and fell to one knee. Seeing the end of the battle in sight, Joseph yelled, "Now, Umbreon! Dark Pulse!"

Umbreon closed its eyes and sank to one knee in a pose strikingly similar to its still stunned opponent. Then, in one smooth movement, it leapt forward, its eyes flaring open, and let out a deep bellow, uncharacteristic of such a small pokémon. As it did so, all the light in the room seemed to dim, and a gigantic ring of pure blackness radiated out from the dark-type, pulsing and writhing as if it were alive. The wave of dark energy slammed into Gardevoir, and though no physical damage was apparent, it flinched backward, shuddering, before letting out a sudden, high-pitched scream of pain, stopping only when it was recalled by its furious trainer.

Joseph let out a huge sigh of relief, then recalled his own pokémon, and looked up at his red-faced rival. Ron's face was contorted in anger and one or his eyes was twitching. Slowly, deliberately, he reached up to his chest, ripped the Champion's Badge from his jacket, and threw it at Joseph's feet. Then he stormed out of the room, pushing past Joseph and slamming the door behind him.

No sooner had the door closed fully than it burst open again, revealing the professors Oak and Elm, both grinning wildly. The next couple hours passed in a blur: him posing with Umbreon, Espeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Eevee for the press; him emerging victorious from the Indigo Plateau to crowds of roaring fans; his girlfriend, Jenna, pulling him into their bedroom for a night of passion, the first experienced for either of them. Later that night, as they laid in one another's arms, he thought to himself, just before fading into unconsciousness, just how perfect everything was.

The next morning, Joseph awoke to the soft, warm rays of the sun, tickling his nose. Sleepily, he shifted, his brain slow to come to consciousness. As it did, he realized that there was something digging into his back. Irritated, he rolled over a bit, only to find another of what he now recognized to be rocks.

Wait... rocks?

Confused, he sat up and looked around. He was not inside his house, cozy in his comfortable bed with his even more comfortable girlfriend. Instead, he was sitting on the ground, outside. Still bleary from lack of sleep, he looked around a bit, and recognized across the street from him was Professor Oak's lab. What was he doing lying out front of his house? Now thoroughly mystified, he turned around to go back inside, then stopped.

There, where mere hours previously had stood his beautiful home, was nothing.

His eyes grew wide as the implications of that fact sunk in. All his money, possessions, gone. His TV, gone. His fridge, gone. His pokédex, go- and then a horrible thought struck him. Slowly, tensely, he reached down, feeling his waist for his pokéball belt. It wasn't there.

Shock and horror flooding his veins, he sank to his knees, his head bowed, and a single tear dropped to the ground.

Everything... was gone.

A/N: Ooh, how mysterious! Sorry to any Leafeon/Glaceon fans out there, but you can only have six pokemon on a team, and it wouldn't feel right to include only one, so... yeah. Also, as you may have noticed, this story takes place in the Gold/Silver Kanto/Jhoto regions, but the two main characters and based loosely (emphasis on loosely) on Red and Blue from the original Red/Blue/Yellow games. Review!