Prologue -2: Journey
After a moment's thought, I released my six Pokemon. As soon as she hit the ground, Absol winced, screwing her eyes shut. "Return her," Metagross recommended, and I nodded, tripping the clasp on her Pokeball again.
"Whaddya all think?" I asked the other five. "Should we go to Sinnoh and look for Arceus?"
"Gya," Gyarados shook his head. "Lux," Luxray argued. "Zar, zar," Charizard retorted.
"Gyara! Gya gya gyara!" the Water-Type growled. "Chari char!" his enemy retorted.
"Sylph," my Fairy-Type shook her head in amused disdain.
I looked over at Metagross for a translation with a raised eyebrow. "Luxray and Charizard feel that Sinnoh is a good idea. Gyarados is not in agreement,"
"And you?" I asked. The big guy didn't show his emotions much, but his opinion was as important as any. "Logically, despite my inability to estimate our chances, if there is any hope at all to prevent the apocalypse, then we ought to attempt," the speaker on his chin blared.
"Sylph!" the vulpine fairy nodded in agreement.
"And that's a majority," I smiled. "Sorry, Gyar," The sea serpent huffed as I returned him. "Lux," my starter commented.
"He believes that he can carry you on the first leg of the journey to Sinnoh, and Charizard can fly the rest of the way when he tires," Metagross translated. "Good idea," I smiled, returning the other three. I took a second to affectionately pat Absol's Pokeball, and transferred the Absolite to a safer position in my backpack. It was then I remembered the device Trevors had given me, and I produced it for further inspection.
"Ray, ray," the lion growled, and I nodded, correctly guessing his meaning and putting it away. "You're right, it can wait," I carefully straddled the Pokemon's back, getting into a good position.
As Luxray dashed across fields and roads, I kept one eye on my Pokedex' internet browser, keeping an eye out for any new information. Nothing major so far, but Absol predictions usually happened a day or two in advance. Which meant we had about 45 hours to prepare for the worst. It would probably take about seven hours to reach Sinnoh, knowing Luxray and Charizard's top speeds, and I kept coaxing my Pokemon on, clinging to his mane as the wind whistled past.
It was when we were about half an hour into the trip when something smashed into Luxray and sent him sprawling. I was thrown clear and landed in a ditch. "Ow. Hey, what gives?" I frowned, looking at my Pokemon, who was sprawled on his belly at the base of a tree.
Wait . . . trees don't have eyes.
I fumbled with my belt and pulled out Luxray's Pokeball as the Trevenant brought its hands together for a massive blow.
It's claws hit empty air as my starter returned to its ball. The wild Pokemon growled, it's eyes turning to me. I snatched the first Pokeball that came to hand from my belt and threw it at the Trevenant, where it bounced off its face and fell backwards, before opening.
"What is the situation?" Metagross questioned.
"That Trevenant knocked me off Luxray," I explained. "Knock it . . ." I paused, feeling something vibrate in my pocket. It was Trevors' device, and I pulled it out in interest.
"Driver-compatible Pokemon detected," the device spoke. "Please capture for synchronisation,"
I frowned, but shrugged, pulling a spare Pokeball out of my bag. There had to be a reason for this, right? "Okay, Metagross. Apparently we have to catch that Trevenant. Give it a shot with Hyper Beam!" I commanded, and the Steel-Type nodded, firing an X-shaped beam of light. The tree was blown backwards, before retaliating with a swinging Tree Slam, which bounced off Metagross' leg and knocked him back. I watched carefully, waiting for the perfect time to capture the Pokemon.
It arrived when Metagross landed a Meteor Mash, knocking the Pokemon onto its back and stunning it. "Now is the opportunity," he reported, and I tossed the ball, which soared over Metagross' pod-like body and landed near the Trevenant's roots, cracking open. I crossed my fingers.
The Trevenant was absorbed in a flash of light, and I cautiously approached the ball as it quivered and shook. But, finally, it pinged and settled, and I snatched it up, eyeing it cautiously. "Don't suppose you wanna tell me why I needed to catch him?" I asked the machine, but it was silent.
"Allow Luxray a rest. There is a river in that direction, Gyarados can carry you for a while," Metagross suggested.
"Good idea. Mind staying out for a while? I want you to translate so I can talk to him," I requested, holding up the new ball. "Very well," Metagross nodded. "Follow me," He turned in the direction of the river, and I followed, throwing the Pokeball over my shoulder as I did.
Trevenant re-materialised and stretched. "Trevenant," he growled.
"He says, 'What the hell was that for?'," Metagross told me.
"You attacked me first. Also, the world is ending, so you can sit around attacking peaceful trainers and their Pokemon, or you could try to help," I reasoned.
"Treh? Nant, nant, Trevenant!" The tree nodded frantically. "He says that in that case, he's completely willing to help out," Metagross translated.
"Venant, treve treeeeveeenant, trevenant, nant nant nant," the Pokemon rambled, easily keeping pace. "Apparently he's been considering getting a trainer for a while, and just wasn't sure how to go about it,"
"Well, it's not like I force my Pokemon to stick around. Just tell me if you want to leave, don't up and vanish for no known reason, okay?" I requested. The tree nodded eagerly, and I returned him. "The river is another five hundred metres in that direction," Metagross informed me, returning himself too.
I paused, thought for a second, and released Sylveon. "Sylph?" she chirped, looking around.
"I didn't want to walk by myself," I admitted, smiling at her. "Sylveon," she chirped in agreement, strutting along ahead of me.
To occupy myself as I walked, I fished out the device again and tried to boot it up. It succeeded immediately, but the first thing that came up read; CONNECT APPROPRIATE POWER SOURCE.
"What, this thing needs batteries?" I groaned, shaking it a bit.
A new message popped up. The Professor had programmed an instruction manual into it, I grinned. "Battle Ready Energy/Armour Kombat Booster," I read, stumbling over the fact that the word 'combat' was spelt with a 'K'. "This device is built to draw energy from a appropriate source and transfer it to a Pokemon to increase their capabilities in battle," I inferred from the technical description. "However, beta testing has indicated that only Pokemon with a certain kind of internal energy signature are compatible with this device. A scanner has been installed that automatically scans the energy signature of all nearby Pokemon in order to determine if they are compatible,"
"Sylph?" Sylveon frowned. "No idea how to trigger it, though, sorry," I shrugged. "Guess Trevenant's compatible,"
We reached the river and I returned the Eveelution, throwing Gyarados out instead. The Pokemon glared at me, and I glared back. "I know you're not a fan of the plan, but if there's any chance to figure all this out, we have to try," My Pokemon thought this over for a second, but sighed, and offered his broad back. "Cheers," I grinned, straddling his neck and getting comfortable. "Maybe I should get a Pidgeot or an Aerodactyl," I considered. My Pokemon nodded in agreement, setting off down the river, and I held on tight.
As I did, I checked the Pokedex again, searching for any new information. I didn't expect any, but it was always worth a look.
I frowned, seeing one particular blog post that someone had just made on .
HOLY SHIT EVERYONE PALLET TOWN IS GONE
"What?" I muttered under my breath, refreshing the page. A new post duly appeared.
FREAKY EVIL LEGENDARY DESTROYED PALLET TOWN
My eyes widened, and I refreshed again. Suddenly, there was a photo accompanying the post, an overhead shot of Pallet Town. I recognised it, having been in the area a while ago.
The landscape seemed unchanged, but where Pallet Town itself should have been . . . there was nothing. What seemed like a massive sphere of white, a . . . hole in the world, was there instead. Directly above it, a tiny figure was floating in the air.
"This is the apocalypse? A deranged Legendary Pokemon ripping time and space apart?" I whispered in horror, slowly processing the situation.
How could we do anything against that? How could anyone do anything against that?
We journeyed onwards in silence, me occasionally checking the map to ensure we were on course. Every time I did so, my eyes strayed to the spot marked 'Pallet Town' on the map.
After an hour, we reached the end of the river. I returned Gyarados and threw out Charizard, climbing onto his back. "No time to waste, Char," I told him. "Let's go," The dragon growled in agreement, dashing into the air.
The flight passed in silence, the world around us bereft of other life. Every Pokemon was hiding in the vain hope that the apocalypse would somehow pass them by.
We continued on our journey, but I couldn't stop a worrying thought from gnawing at my mind.
What if even Arceus couldn't stop something like this?
Slowly, the sun set on the horizon, and Charizard landed. "We can't stop, boy. We're almost there," I told him. My dragon grumbled, but nodded, and took wing once more. "Atta boy," I smiled, patting his neck.
By the time we could see the moon, we had reached Sinnoh. I checked the Pokedex for reports. By now, a news story had aired, and I opened it, playing the recording.
The camera was obviously on board a helicopter of some kind, and a windswept reporter was clinging to the side of the chopper. "Hello, everyone. This unknown white ball has so far swallowed up almost forty percent of the Johto region, and is still slowly but steadily growing. Images have surfaced of an unknown Pokemon of some kind that appears to be causing this catastrophe. We are now searching for this Pokemon, in hopes of understanding its intentions and hopefully convincing it to reverse this," the reporter shouted. "Any sign of him?"
Suddenly there was a blur. The next thing anyone knew, a white and purple feline Pokemon was dangling the unfortunate reporter out of the chopper by one leg. "Oh, so now I'm a 'him'? Now that I'm destroying the world, I suddenly count as enough of a being to qualify as a 'him'? How interesting," The Pokemon's lips didn't move, but sound was created nonetheless, quite possibly caused by the Pokemon itself's power.
"What are you talking about?" the reporter called. "Why are you doing this?"
"Simple," the Pokemon hissed. "I am Mewtwo. I was created in a laboratory by you humans, and you regarded me as a test subject, a weapon, not a life form. Eventually, Imwas rescued by a man known as Giovanni - or so I thought. Giovanni wanted the same thing as the scientists had - to use me as a weapon, not recognise me as a person,"
"That's terrible, but -" the reporter tried.
Mewtwo dropped her, and the unfortunate woman fell screaming into the whiteness. The screams were cut off in an instant as she vanished.
"Know this, humans. You have proven yourself an irreparably flawed species. I will destroy this world, and create a new one, home to only beings that are your superior in every way - my fellow Pokemon. Pokemon everywhere! Renounce your misguided allegiance to humans and come to join me. We shall forge a better -" I paused the video, horror-stricken. This Mewtwo was a lunatic.
I felt a comforting presence at my side, and saw Luxray pressing his flank against me. He stared up at me, and I somehow knew that we agreed. There was no way that he was going to have anything to do with that Mewtwo character's delusional regime
"You're right," I nodded. "Let's head into town,"
The two of us made our way to the entrance of Pastoria City, and I looked around as we went.
The place was deserted. "What the hell is going on here?" I frowned, looking around.
"Lux!" my Pokemon suddenly barked, looking up, and I followed suit. "No way," I slowly breathed.
A massive, bird-like Pokemon slowly lowered to the ground in front of me. It's body was covered in coarse red-and-black skin, with five long claws at the end of each wing, and five more at the end of its similarly shaped tail. It balanced on two small legs near the base of its tail, and eyed me with solid blue eyes that hid beneath rocky horns, and had a mane of brown-black fur around its neck like a scarf.
The legendary Pokemon Yvetal was standing in front of me.
A voice spoke in my mind. 'Get on,' the Legendary commanded.
"Why are you here?" I asked in confusion. Yvetal wasn't native to Sinnoh, he lived in the Kalos region.
'I prefer to identify as female,' the Destruction Pokemon told me. 'Also, I am not that Yvetal. I am more civilised than my Kalos-dwelling cousin. And all of the Legendary Pokemon are gathering. We are grouping together in order to combine our strength and defeat Mewtwo,' she explained. 'Our rendezvous point is at Turnback Cave, and we are bringing all civilians we can find there in order to ensure their safety,'
"Turnback Cave?" I frowned, failing to comprehend.
'It is the place where the barriers between this world and the Reverse World are weak enough to allow a portal,' Yvetal explained.
"Reverse World?"
'Just come with me, you'll see,' the Legendary sighed.
I looked at Luxray, who nodded, and we carefully clambered up Yvetal's back, and the Legendary threw himself into the air.
'The Reverse World is a pocket dimension that exists within the Turnback Caves, and is home to Giratina, the Antimatter Pokemon, and a Legendary like myself,' Yvetal explained. 'By virtue of the fact that it is not part of the world as a whole, we hope that Mewtwo will overlook it, and thus are taking as many people there as possible. Additionally, all the available Legendary Pokemon in the world are rendezvousing there, in order to pool our resources for the battle against Mewtwo,'
"What about Arceus?" I pressed. "Is he helping?"
'Arceus is not available,' Yvetal shook her head. 'No one knows where he is or how to contact him,'
"What? But . . ." I trailed off. "Surely someone knows something about how to contact Arceus,"
Legendary Pokemon were fast fliers, and it was around now that Yvetal descended towards a hole in the side of the mountain. 'No one does,' the Dark-Type shook her head, ducking into the cave.
Turnback Cave had been renovated. The individual caverns had been merged and the roof raised, and a colourful stream of humans and Pokemon alike were making their way to a massive portal at the far end of the cavern. A multitude of Legendary Pokemon guarded the edges. Just from first glance, I counted two Moltres, a Ho-Oh, a Regigigas and its three vassals - Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, and a white, lion-like Legendary I didn't recognise.
'That's Solgaleo. He lives in the Alola region,' Yvetal explained, lowering her tail to let me and Luxray off. 'Go on, join the others,'
I looked at my starter, who shook his head, and I knew we were on the same page. "No," I spoke for both of us. "We're going to find Arceus,"
Suddenly, a black, insectoid face, framed with yellow horns, was staring directly at us, attached to a long, caterpillar-like body. 'Find Arceus?' the unknown Legendary snorted. Somehow, I understood him. 'I am Giratina, one of the three great dragons created by Arceus to help him shape the universe. I am veritably his son, and even I have no idea where he slumbers. What makes you think you can succeed where I have failed?'
"I -" I tried to come up with a response, really, I did. But Giratina was right. There was no reason for Arceus to listen to me, or way for me to find him.
'As I thought,' the antimatter Pokemon shook his head, and Yvetal let me down.
"We can't just give up, though," I frowned.
'Look around,' Yvetal told me. 'Every single Legendary Pokemon we can get ahold of is grouping together for a final stand against Mewtwo. No one's giving up,'
The machine in my pocket suddenly whirred, and I fished it out, staring in confusion. "Driver-compatible Pokemon detected," it reported. "Please capture for synchronisation,"
'What is that?' Yvetal frowned.
"Something a friend of mine made. It's supposed to make Pokemon stronger, but it needs a power source," I shrugged.
'Can't help you there,' the Legendary shook her head, then paused, looking up.
'I am Rayquaza. I assume command in this time of peril,' the great green serpent boomed, smashing a hole into the roof as he entered. He looked around, taking in the situation. 'Does anyone have any Pokemon that are capable of Mega-evolution?' he demanded of the refugees.
No one volunteered. 'Very well,' he sighed. 'Xerneas, Yvetal, Ho-Oh,' He gestured to the three Legendaries, including the one I stood next to. 'You three are the last line of defence, should we fail. All else, come! It is time for us to made our stand!'
I watched in despair as the dozens of Legendary Pokemon left the cave, as the last of the civilians passed through the portal. Giratina, notably, seemed grumpy about the fact that Rayquaza was taking charge, but didn't protest.
'You ought to go with the others,' Yvetal told me, but I shook my head and opened my Pokedex, checking the Internet. Nothing. Mewtwo had destroyed the Internet routers.
"What exactly is the plan as far as being the last line of defence goes?" I asked the three Legendaries.
'Hold back Mewtwo for as long as is necessary to make our retreat through the portal, then seal off the Reverse World,' the deer-like Pokemon told me.
"How?" I questioned. "What makes you think Mewtwo is just gonna let you fall back?"
'He won't,' the majestic firebird growled. 'Such are the sacrifices we make,'
My jaw set. "Not if I have anything to say about it,"
'You are a human," Xerneas snorted. "How could you help?'
I patted my belt, and sensed my Pokemon were in agreement. "We'll figure something out," I grinned.
'Your spirit is impressive, young trainer,' Ho-Oh nodded. 'Very well. Remain,'
I settled down, and released my Pokemon - with the exception of Absol.
Gyarados promptly tried to cram himself back into his ball. I sighed and returned him.
We waited. My team was skittish around Yvetal at first, but, learning she was not the destructive Yvetal of legend, they got on fine, and time passed.
Eventually, there was a muffled BOOM outside. "Is that good?" I asked.
Ho-Oh shook his head.
Suddenly, the cave wall exploded, revealing a figure I recognised from the news broadcast.
"This is seriously the best defence you so-called Legendaries could put up?" Mewtwo huffed, arms folded in disappointment. There was a wall of blank whiteness feet behind him.
I cursed.
'Stop this. This isn't right,' Ho-Oh pleaded.
"Neither am I. So we're even," Mewtwo snorted.
He was promptly blindsided by a massive gout of flame. My Charizard roared in triumph as his Flamethrower hit head-on.
Mewtwo turned and glared in anger. "How disappointing," And then, the part of the cave where my Fire-Type was was just gone, consumed by white nothingness. The Pokeball on my belt crumbled to ash and disintegrated.
I paled, swallowing out of reflex. My Pokemon. Charizard . . . .
"I do hope that none of you will be foolish enough to try that again," the Legendary frowned.
"Stop, please," I started. "I-if you do this, you're no better than the people who created you - in fact, you're even worse!" My voice cracked as I spoke, unable to stop thinking about what he had just done to my Pokemon.
Mewtwo paused for a second, mulling this over.
He shrugged. "I can live with that," And with that, a massive tentacle of nothingness reached out at his behest and twisted towards me. I threw my hands up in reflex.
And one of those hands still contained Professor Trevors' gadget. "Appropriate power source detected," the machine droned. "Battle Ready Energy-slash-Armour Kombat Driver initialised," it declared, drinking in Mewtwo's power. I stared in confusion as it crackled with golden energy, before suddenly a burst of power crackled up my arm. I dropped it in shock, and every eye was focused on the device as golden energy built within it.
Suddenly, it cracked, sending out massive bolts of lightning in opposite directions, and the ground split apart where the lightning touched, forming a chasm with glowing gold sides. "What?" I breathed, stepping back.
Suddenly, the ground crumbled beneath me, and I pitched forwards, falling into the growing hole. "Lux!" my starter shrieked, leaping after me. 'Not on my watch,' Yvetal agreed, following.
That was all I heard before blacking out.