PokeStones of the Dead - Chapter One

Where's the PokeStone?

This wasn't right. Two years ago, fed up with the constant blackouts due to electric Pokemon crossing the wires, or big Pokemon simply crashing into electrical boxes, the Kanto committee (the 8 Gym Leaders) had come to an agreement that, for once, was a good idea. Each Gym Leader would construct a PokeStone at their respective city. The cities of Viridian, Cinnabar, and Celadon would construct smaller PokeStones at Pallet, Seafoam, and Lavender respectively. Imbued with the powers of many hundreds of Pokemon, the PokeStone was sealed with a special power that allowed it to power the city very effectively. Made of a very hard alloy, then coated with earth, the PokeStone was fenced up with titanium, preventing it from damage.

The PokeStone had other advantages too. Besides powering the city, each of the Gym Leaders put a little of their spirit into the stone. Therefore, the Stone acted as some sort of idol for the city, acting as a leader in the event of the Leader's absence. Temperance's parents had sent correspondence to him regarding the event, along with two pictures of the PokeStones at Celadon and Lavender. The PokeStone at Celadon, in the shape of a Jumpluff, was almost three metres tall. The Gengar PokeStone at Lavender was smaller, but supremely made, and very lifelike.

Now…

In the place where the PokeStone should be, there was a hole. The entire PokeStone was gone, fence and all. Not surprisingly, the entire city was totally dark, save for the Pokemon Centre – the only building to have emergency power supplies. Temperance approached the hole where the stone should have been, taking step after step in that direction. Somehow, his feet felt sluggish, and hard to lift, almost as if they were made of lead.

This isn't right… I should just return to the ship…

Temperance turned around, and the passengers, on emerging from the vessel, all turned around and pleaded for the ship to take to the seas again. Vermillion City in its current state was in no shape for tourists who wanted to see Kanto. Apparently, Temperance was the only one who was returning to visit relatives or on business – the rest were all here for a holiday. The captain, glancing at the dark and eerie Vermillion, considered for barely ten seconds before ordering the ship to return to Hoenn. The passengers gratefully returned to the ship, not noticing the lone boy standing at the pier, only thinking of their safe beds on the ship - and the entertainment on board.

Temperance shook his head in exasperation. Returning to Hoenn was not an option in any case – he never backed down from this sort of danger anyway. Afraid of the dark – why was he acting like a six-year-old all of a sudden? He decided but to investigate the hole further. Resuming his walk to the ex-PokeStone, Temperance was suddenly aware of a clammy coldness emitting from the hole, causing nausea and buzzing in his ears. He felt really uncomfortable, and almost considered turning back, but he had to find out what was it that was making the town so deadly creepy. It seemed like his legs were following a spell, and had to approach that hole. Ignoring the signals from his brain, and the warnings of his sixth sense, his legs slowly moved towards the deathly hole.

Finally, he could see down the hole. Temperance could not see the bottom, the hole was very deep. The buzzing was now much louder, and Temperance was forced to constantly fight the need to throw up. He was vaguely aware of running water in the hole, but Temperance was sure that this was not just a canal, but something far more mysterious and dangerous. And then he felt that he was being watched, again unexplainable. He didn't make unfounded assumptions like this – so why was he so sure of a presence down the hole, observing his actions?

Just as Temperance decided to turn around and go to the Pokemon Centre, looking for information, he heard a noise down the hole. It was a rattling breath, the very sound of which caused Temperance's nerves to go cold. The breath was totally unnatural, very loud, and seemed to penetrate Temperance's body.

Something is down there breathing, perhaps? But no… such a breath could not belong to any living thing, whether human or Pokemon.

The breaths were coming closer, and Temperance heard the sound of someone… something… moving up the hole. Temperance knew he should run, or send out his Pokemon. Already, he could feel their presence, straining to be released from their Poke Balls in order to fight this unknown enemy. But his legs and arms seemed rooted. Only one emotion was now coursing through his body, one emotion that Temperance had never expected to feel.

It was fear.

A rotting hand appeared at the edge of the hole, its decaying hand visible even in the darkness. There was still a tinge of yellow in its flesh, but most of the hand was brown, and emitting a horrible smell. The nausea was now affecting Temperance worse than ever, as the dead hand of the Ampharos pulled its body up, actions exactly like those seen in cheap and clichéd zombie movies.

This can't be happening…

For some reason, Temperance was still struck horrified by the Pokemon. He was still rooted to the ground, in exactly the same position since hearing the sound. The Ampharos was almost out of the hole now, its rotting ears infested with maggots crawling in and out, but still crackling with electricity. The rattling breath hadn't stopped, yet the Ampharos was not making the noise. Was there another zombie Pokemon down that hole? What on earth was going on?

The Ampharos was out of the hole. Electricity passed along its hand, creating a disgusting effect between rotting flesh and static electricity. Moving with a speed that would put most zombies in legend to shame, the Ampharos attacked the still-frozen Temperance with a Thunder Punch. Poke Balls useless at his side, Temperance, mouth open, saw the zombified hand coming at his face.

"Scizor, Silver Wind!"

It was a girl's voice shouting, coming by the silent PokeMart. Wind, fast and deadly, blocked the Ampharos' attack, the entire hand getting cut off by the razor-sharp attack. While the Ampharos did not show any sign of pain or damage, the attack served to shock Temperance out of immobility.

"Go, Flygon!"

Temperance jumped on the Dragon Pokemon as it took to the skies, out of reach from any physical attack from the zombie. Looking at where the voice had come from, Temperance could see a Scizor in the shadows, approaching the Ampharos at high speed.

"Metal Claw!"

The Scizor's metal hand closed on the Ampharos' rotting one, and closed, cutting it clean off. Temperance noticed that the zombie was weak in the sense that it lost limbs and other body parts quite easily – in fact, flesh was dropping from it as it walked – but could withstand such losses far more effectively than normal Pokemon. Even without limbs, the Ampharos' ears glowed with electricity, and shot it at the Scizor, knocking it back. Temperance knew that he had to help.

Ordering his Flygon into a steep dive, Temperance stared into the attacker's hideous face for a second, before Flygon Fire Blasted its face into charcoal. Following up with pummeling rocks onto the stunned zombie, Flygon left a path clear for the helpful Scizor to land the final blow.

Another Silver Wind and the zombie was down for the count, its body too mutilated to stand. Teetering on its crumpled legs, it tried to regain its warped sense of balance, before toppling into the hole from which it came, also stopping the breathing abruptly.

Temperance landed onto the ground, still in shock that he had went to pieces after seeing that zombie. Then again, it was the last thing he had expected coming from that hole, and he was recovering already… after throwing up into the sea.

The girl was walking towards him now, her face unclear in the dark. Returning Flygon to his Poke Ball, Temperance walked over to her, wanting to thank her for her timely intervention, and also to get some much-needed information.

"Young man, what in the name of the PokeStones are you doing here?"

"I arrived on a ship… from Hoenn. It left Slateport a week ago. What's happening?"

"One week… that would be about right. We stopped all coming transport from other regions about six days ago, owing to the… situation… over here in Kanto."

"What situation? I came here to see my parents near Celadon! I'm a Kanto resident; shouldn't I deserve to know what's going on?"

Showing his Kanto ID to the girl, Temperance was aware of a sudden change in her aggressive tone. Shrinking slightly, the girl made the dreaded statement:

"I'm Lillette… defending people from these zombies. Celadon to Fuchsia was taken by the Dead 3 days ago. There is nothing there now but death."

Temperance sunk to his knees. The city his parents were living… taken by hordes of those zombies that he had just fought? Dismembered, their very souls ripped out by the zombies… then turned into one of them, mindlessly marching, and indiscriminately attacking everyone in sight? Why?

"Lillette… How? Why?"

"Some PokeStones cracked and fell into a hole much like this six days ago. Huge amounts of Dead crawled out of these holes, and attacked en masse Vermillion, Celadon and Fuchsia. It took everybody by surprise, and there was no time to even make plans for a resistance. After some premature fighting, all residents of Celadon and Fuchsia were ordered to evacuate to neighbouring cities, but surrounded, few survived. As for Vermillion, a resistance party was organised, and we successfully quelled the flow of the Dead from this hellhole and retook the city… but as you can see, stray Dead still appear, and the city is totally unpowered."

"Any better news?" Temperance asked, trying to regain his composure. The news was no doubt shocking, and the last thing he had expected to hear. While he never really showed his parents a lot of love, they still played a major role in his heart – albeit locked up only for him to know. Now, he started to regret showing no active emotion to convey his love.

"Some. Apart from the retaking of Vermillion, I am glad to say that not all the PokeStones were taken. Pallet, Viridian, Pewter, Cerulean, Cinnabar and Seafoam still remain untainted, and we are still holding out at Lavender and Saffron. There is still hope yet."

"But surely…! The Elite Four, and Gym Leaders, can't they quell this… uprising, in a snap? Their Pokemon are the strongest!"

Lillette brushed this aside with a simple snap of her fingers. The sorry tone and facial expression were gone, replaced with the preliminary exasperated look.

"Oh please! Can you get a brain? Did you think these PokeStones – artefacts of immense power – could be simply destroyed through brute force? There is an ancient binding here. The PokeStones can only be broken through the slaying of a Pokemon, its blood staining the stone. And not just any Pokemon - it has to be from a Gym Leader."

Temperance gasped. These zombies had somehow managed to get hold of a Gym Leader's Pokemon? That means… the Gym Leaders…

Lillette glanced at his face and saw the question in there. "Yes, the Lieutenant, Erika, and Koga were slain on the halls of their Gym. There is news that Janine managed to escape the clutches of the zombies, and is co-leading the defence at Saffron, but it is little comfort. The largest host of Dead lie just outside Victory Road, preventing even the Elite Four from getting past. Similarly, the Gym Leaders have no way to coordinate and work together for a combined attack. Even the skies are not safe – zombified Flying Pokemon scour the skies and will pick out humans."

Temperance got up, composure regained. The death of his parents was one thing that broke his icy exterior, and made him feel some genuine grief. Of course, the sadness would still be there. However, he was not one to stay in mourning instead of taking active action against the problem. There was no time to despair. He knew he had a duty to help Kanto fight this problem – also as a form of revenge for his dead parents. His three Pokemon may have yet some serious fighting to do. "Let me help. I can help."