Well, here is the first chapter in Dusts of Honor. I'm happy to see that people are enjoying this so far. Enjoy!
A news report blared on the big screen in the middle of Saffron City;
"In a show of League authority, Lance Wataru has just announced a full information blackout to any area outside of League territory. This blackout will be for the next few days while the League officially prepares to deal with the threat in the Orre region." The news reporter said grimly to her audience.
The people of the five United League Territories did not complain; many of them had been anticipating the League invasion of the godless region for years now. More and more reports had come back of ambitious trainers being killed out in the desert, and popular opinion was that Orre was in need of a regime change.
"We have a special announcement from Lance Wataru himself, here it is;" The reporter said to the audience.
"People of Indigo, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and the Orange Archipelago territories. Long has Orre been a region where our sons and daughters have gone in pursuit of power. For just as long we've been sent back the message that they had died out in the desert. No longer shall this be so!" The champion of Indigo said impassionedly. For all of his faults, he was a skilled orator, well suited for inflaming the populace for a cause; whether it be to exterminate the Rocket menace that had once threatened Indigo, or leading the G-Men in their mission to exterminate poachers and criminals alike. He was bred as a war-leader.
"Soon the League intends to lead an invasion force into the Orre region to wipe out the menace that dwells in the deserts and restore order to its cities. Soon Orre will finally have the peace it has long been in need of, and we will be able to visit without fear of our lives!" He said, and the crowd let out a cheer.
He continued; "The information blackout will halt all signals outside of the League territories for the next week while we prepare our forces. This includes the Orre region, but also the Ranger Union as well. This is a temporary measure, and will lift as soon as Orre has been pacified."
Taking a breath, he finished; "The League has finally come to the point where we may expand our borders again. With your support this will be so, thank you."
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Professor Samuel Oak was worried.
His old friend Ash Ketchum had been missing ever since he departed for Orre six years ago. That was six years of time where he could have been killed in the desolate region and seven since he'd had most of his life ripped away from him.
The professor had let him go with only a young Vulpix as a companion – the young fox had needed a good friend and there were none better than Ash. He'd not heard from him since he'd called for a last time from the city of Altomare with the announcement that he was leaving for Orre the next day.
Now Lance had prepared an invasion force for the region, and this Oak was worried. If Ash was still alive in Orre he was either a trainer in the desert, and therefore a target; or he would be living in one of the cities and would have to suffer the distaste of the League which had painted Orre with the brush of a criminal.
It was distasteful to the aged professor, but while his word remained powerful on the research scene, he had very little influence in politics anymore.
The other champions, Cynthia, Alder, and Wallace all had given their support to Lance in his endeavor, and the Orange Islands had decided to keep to themselves despite lying almost directly in the path between Orre and Indigo.
'Please, oh whatever deity is out there and listening; keep Ash safe' the professor prayed.
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Samuel Hashira felt pride in himself and his team of Pokémon.
They had come so far from when they'd started out, only a boy and his Totodile against the world.
Now they stood in command of the fighting forces of the Indigo League, and were just minutes away from departing for the Orre region. There they would have the first true combat since the annexing of the Sevii Isles by the Indigo League.
He was ready; his team was on the same level as the Elite Four of Indigo, byproduct of working eight years in the Pokémon G-Men.
He had waited for this moment ever since Lance had announced to the G-Men that Orre would be their next target to cleanse of lawlessness just over four years ago.
A signal on his headset gave him the all clear to call for the boats to start up – no need to tire their flying types out by taking them over the ocean.
Each commander had his own camera to broadcast back to the League territories, where the information would be processed and broadcasted to the League officials. After some editing, some of it would go live to the rest of the public, to give them a sense of pride in their country.
With another signal the boats revved up and jumped out of the docking area. They cut through the water so fast that the wind pushed against them, making those on deck need to hold onto the handrails.
'Now,' Samuel thought, 'It is a waiting game'.
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An explosion shattered the peace and calm of Gateon Port.
The inhabitants quickly roused themselves and those people that had them grabbed their Pokéballs and prepared to fight whatever new threat dared to attack them.
Despite their efforts though, the League forces quickly captured the city, placing the unresisting residents under hypnosis until all was settled, and fiercely fighting those who would not submit.
Samuel felt a great deal of sorrow at disrupting the calm night with death and destruction; but he quickly quashed those thoughts. The League was depending on him to be a strong leader and quell the threat that Orre presented. He couldn't feel pity now.
In a few minutes, a man ran up to him and spoke; "Sir, the port has been captured. About forty natives were killed, and approximately three-hundred sixty have been captured. We lost only three fighters total." He rattled off quickly.
Samuel winced at the deaths; he'd thought he was prepared. Apparently not.
"Very well," He responded, "make sure that the guard force is stationed and let me know when the men are ready to march. We are driving right into the heart of the southern desert to capture the mountain range, while two smaller forces will head southeast and southwest and capture the rest of the cities. With any luck, we'll be finished here by the day after tomorrow." Samuel finished.
The man nodded at him and saluted "Yes sir!" before running off to follow orders.
Samuel was satisfied. All was going well.
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Erin Faulson was an ambitious trainer.
He'd come to Orre, like many others, looking for battle and to make him and his team as strong as they could be.
He'd carved his spot in the very outskirts of the desert territories, and trained tirelessly to move closer to the center. His territory was right in between Port Gateon and the mountains; not a smart position to keep if one is partial to living.
When Erin saw the dust rising in the early morning, and the red sun rising in the East, he knew that something was wrong.
He looked closer at the rising dust cloud, and started when he saw the marching force that was heading right towards his run-down shack.
"Floatzel, Meganium, Drifblim, and Tyranitar, get up; now!" He screamed behind him. They only had a few minutes before they would be overwhelmed.
They roused themselves in an instant, wary of his tone. When they saw the force, they instantly knew that there was no hope; that the best they could do was fight to the death and take as many with them as possible.
Erin turned back towards his longtime team with a solemn nod; "I love all of you guys, thanks for having me as your trainer. Now let's show these bastards how strong we are!" He told them.
A defiant roar met his ears, and he drew his short sword. The League force was nearly upon him, and each of his Pokémon began firing their long-ranged attacks at them.
The League forces hesitated for a brief moment, but then they abandoned their marching pace and ran full out against the Orrean trainer.
His own cry met theirs as he and his Pokémon sprinted out to meet them in response.
By the end of the skirmish, Erin and his Pokémon were killed, but their efforts took five of the League force with them.
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"Sir, we cannot continue to keep sustaining losses like this. We'll be a skeleton force before we reach the mountains!" Samuel's second-in-command said to him in a frustrated tone.
Samuel was frustrated too – the Orrean trainers had proven to be fiercer than he'd imagined. For each loss they sustained it seemed to take twice as many of the League force, and they were getting stronger the further they went in!
"We're nearly to the mountains, and ever since that last trainer sent off a warning shot to his fellows they've all fallen back to the mountain range. We'll have to meet them there." Samuel said in response.
The League back home had sent its condolences forward to them; and Lance himself was ready to fly out to aid them if they needed reinforcements. He had only abstained at first for them to have a firm command back in the territories to prevent any local emergencies.
Already some wannabe Rockets had tried to pull off a massive robbery, but that had been quelled quickly by the dragon-master's might.
Samuel kept his troops marching though. At this rate they would reach the mountains by mid-afternoon. He planned to fight at least one battle by the end of the day, and see just how powerful the Orre command would be.
By the time they did reach the mountains, they realized just how difficult their chosen path would be to follow.
They stood imposingly above their heads; almost completely sheer, leaving jagged crags and passages through them. A slight tremor occasionally shook their feet, giving credit to the constant earthquakes that the area suffered.
Samuel knew what his job was though, and marched up to the front of the line. "Trainers of Orre, we represent the forces of the five United Regions of the Pokémon League." He shouted to the silent mountains.
"After years of observance and failure to comply to demands, the Pokémon League has deemed Orre a threat to the safety of its inhabitants. We are here to clean the scum from Orre, and stop the senseless murdering that you have perpetrated continuously over the years." Samuel continued. Behind him, the troops growled their appreciation, and over the link he heard the command center murmur their support.
From one of the passes, he noticed a small party of people moving towards them. Four explosions rent the air above them, and the League forces gripped their weapons, and the Pokémon prepared to fight.
At the head of the party was a man who stood at normal height. He wore a ragged black cloak with a hood that obscured his face. At his side was a beautiful Ninetales that radiated elegance and strength. It had a single scar marring its pristine fur, right at the base of its left foreleg.
Behind them stood a man wearing a thin muscle shirt that covered a highly tanned physique. His face was uncovered, showing strong features and thick, dark brown hair. His pants were stained and dirty from use, and his shoes were so covered in dust that the original color was impossible to tell.
Next to him stood a woman who could have modeled for fashion back in the region. Her beauty was incredible, but it was marred slightly by the layer of dust and grime that seemed to cover all of these people. Her hair was brown like the other man's, and it was tangled and dirty. Her clothes were ragged and dusty as well.
The image that these three gave off was one of rough, harsh strength. These were people that, under normal circumstances, Samuel would respect and listen closely to, hoping to learn from them.
Now however, he knew that he could very well be fighting them for his life soon enough.
Samuel cleared his throat - the dust that constantly seemed to get under his clothes temporarily robbing him of his ability to talk clearly – before loudly speaking to the strangers.
"We represent the united regions of the Pokémon League. I am sure you have heard what we are here for by now, so now I only ask of you how you plan to move forward. Surrender, or to fight in vain?" He said to them.
Their faces betrayed no emotion; the man in the cloak seemed to almost smirk at them, from what Samuel could see from under his hood. The Ninetales at his side tilted its head to the side, before closing its eyes and purring as the cloaked man scratched it underneath the ear.
The cloaked man cleared his throat – it seemed even the natives had that problem – and replied; "I do not know who you are, and you do not know who I am. I ask of you though; what right does the Pokémon League have to invade our home of Orre?"
Samuel thought for a moment, bearing in mind that the entirety of the five regions were watching the parlay, before replying to the man, "You respect strength. That is something that all trainers can respect. However, the constant death of our sons and daughters has gone on long enough. The pursuit of strength does not warrant death to those who cannot match those already strong. We are here to prevent this from continuing, for the betterment of the League and of Orre." Samuel said.
The man tilted his head, managing to convey the same curiosity his Ninetales had displayed before, "You come here to conquer Orre by force; to exert your will upon its inhabitants and reshape it into what you deem good." He said matter-of-factly. "I can respect that. In Orre, strength decides reality. The strong conquer the weak. Orre is strong on its own though. Can your force defeat ours?" He continued. "We in Orre, however, do not condone the unjust slaughtering of people and Pokémon. Death is a state that is honored here. Murderers are not tolerated, and are killed as soon as they are revealed. The deaths you speak of are natural – hunger or thirst or entering a fight where they should have left well enough alone." The cloaked man coughed a bit as a breeze caught up a bit of dust.
"Death is commonplace is Orre because Orre is its own kind of hell. It is harsh, it is unforgiving. The people here are the same." The man kept going. The link in Samuel's ear was silent. His words had each person entranced.
"By our laws, you have every right to attempt to conquer Orre. You have no right, though, to kill and slaughter as you please like you have in Gateon Port and the rest of the cities. The desert is fair game, and if you take the mountains you take the cities. Not the other way around." He finished with a hint of malice coloring his voice. A feeling of cold dread began to engulf Samuel. He saw the troops shift, as if they'd felt it too.
"Since you claim to be here to conquer us in a show of strength – flouting all of our sacred codes of honor in the process, I might add – I feel that it is only just for us to do the same to your League." The man began again, a sneer coloring his voice.
Samuel noticed more trainers trickling out of the mountains; their Pokémon standing beside them. The Ninetales that before had seemed so serene and elegant now had risen to its feet, and it glared at them analytically; seemingly scanning them for weaknesses.
"You claim to represent the five united regions of the Pokémon League. Very well. We therefore declare that hostilities have begun between Orre and the League. I hope very much that you are prepared for the forces you have unleashed upon yourselves." The cloaked man finished his speech once again, drawing a sword from the confines of his cloak.
The blade gleamed in the sunlight, and he raised his other hand, extending his fingers as if to catch a ball.
In between his fingertips a sphere of pure energy appeared; pure blue with a corona of silver at the center. An aura sphere, Samuel recognized.
The aura sphere launched into the air and detonated a hundred feet up, and the world was silent for a moment.
Then, the world detonated as each of the Orrean trainers' Pokémon unleashed its own devastating attack.