Plot-Scorbunny 10: Fractured Time Part 1
Emerald Silverlock felt like today was going to be a good one.
As she opened her bedroom curtains and gazed out at her back garden in awe of the beautiful sunrise and clear skies that awaited her outside, she couldn't help but feel happy. By her very nature, Emerald was a very cheerful and happy person but nice days like this made her even more so. The brunette girl sighed to herself as she watched the sun rise into the morning sky.
"Ahhhh…good morning to you world!" she cooed cheerfully, "And what a lovely morning it looks to be. Just the kind of morning to do some contest training!"
She quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Her sisters were already downstairs with Ruby finishing off her plate of bacon, egg and toast while Sapphire had clearly eaten already for she was away from the table and say on the sofa reading a book to herself. Her mum Annie was chopping up strawberries to put on top of some waffles for her breakfast. Her father Michael was sipping a cup of tea and reading today's newspaper.
"Good morning everybody!" Emerald said sweetly.
"Morning to you too sweetheart." Annie said brightly.
"You're in a good mood today." Michael remarked.
"You know me dad, I'm just always full of joy to give to everybody!" Emerald said with a huge smile on her face, "And I feel that today's going to be a fun one for me and my Pokémon as we do some more practicing for future contests!"
"You always have fun with that Em." Ruby agreed as she dunked a piece of toast into her egg yolk, "And your Pokémon enjoy it too so it's great for everybody. Have you got any new routines or performances in mind?"
"Not yet Ruby but I'll improvise something new when I practice, I'm sure." Emerald replied, "I really want Baker to perform in my next contest for she's never been in one before. It'll be great for the audience to see a Paldean Pokémon on stage looking adorable and performing beautifully for everyone."
"Oh I'm sure the audience will love her." Ruby said optimistically, "It'll be hard not to enjoy a performance from a Pokémon that looks like a dog made of bread."
"I agree!" Emerald piped excitedly.
She turned to Sapphire and peered over her shoulder. The blue-haired girl was totally absorbed in a new guide book she was reading, so much so that she didn't even notice that Emerald was looking over her.
"Hey Sapph! What are you reading there?" Emerald asked with interest.
Sapphire jumped in surprise. She turned to see it was only Emerald and chuckled.
"Gosh, you didn't half creep up on me there Em!" she laughed, "Nearly scared the shit out of me…ahem, it's a guide book all about the Mythical and Legendary Pokémon of Galar." she answered.
She showed Emerald a picture of a Grass/Dark type Pokémon named Zarude. Emerald looked at the picture curiously. She'd never seen that Pokémon before. Zarude looked like a monkey, and a menacing one at that. It had red eyes, long arms, clawed hands, green vines wrapped around its forearms and a long tail. Emerald wasn't sure if she wanted to meet this Pokémon. It looked as if it would rather rip her to pieces than make friends with her.
"Interesting, isn't it?" Sapphire said with enthusiasm, "I bet a Zarude would be cool to see one day. The book says they often live in packs and have been seen in the Forest of Okoya on an island outside of Galar. But what's really interesting to me is that apparently, the Forest of Okoya sometimes gets a visit from a Celebi. But this Celebi is a different colour to the one we're more familiar with…"
She turned the page to show Emerald Celebi. Emerald knew what a Celebi was of course. They were Grass/Psychic type Pokémon that looked like adorable little fairies with large blue eyes, large heads, small bodies, antennae on their heads and green coloured bodies. But the one in the book wasn't green like the usual species. Its eyes were green instead of blue and its body was instead coloured in two shades of pink. Emerald's eyes lit up at the picture. Somehow Celebi looked even cuter in pink.
"So adorable! I want to see it!" she cried.
"We'll be lucky if we do." Sapphire said grimly, "It's very rare if anyone sees this Celebi and given they can time-travel, there's no telling if one will appear at all. But you never know, it could happen." she said with a wink.
"Given how crazy our lives are, I'm counting on it." Ruby joked, "Let's not forget how last week you had to deal with a black Rayquaza! That could only have happened to one of us!"
"Oh Ruby, you say that as if crazy shit only ever happens to us." Sapphire retorted, "Half the stories I hear about Ash Ketchum sound even crazier than that!"
"And Dawn once told me and Ruby that she along with Ash actually met Arceus itself. That's pretty nuts!" Emerald added.
"Good points." Ruby acknowledged, spearing another piece of bacon with her fork, "Still, it'll be just like us to be among the few that ever see that shiny Celebi in the forest."
It was still a lovely thought and as Emerald sat down to the table to eat her waffles and fruit, her favourite breakfast, she thought about how sweet it would be to meet that pink Celebi. As long as it didn't make her time travel, it would be an awesome encounter and one to remember. She even wondered what it would be like to catch the Celebi. It would make one awesome performer in a Pokémon Contest! But it might be for the best if she left it alone. Maybe Celebi had some kind of role to play in the Forest of Okoya and she'd hate to deprive it of that. Emerald would be content to just see it and that'd be it.
After breakfast, Emerald ran out into the garden to see her Pokémon. As a coordinator and a battler, some of her Pokémon were more adept at battling than performing and vice versa but some were able to do both as well. She also liked to train six at a time with her roster changing each day so as not to wear herself out managing too many Pokémon and it also gave those six Pokémon a day to rest while six others trained.
"Good morning everyone!" she called to her Pokémon, "Can I please have Kerchak, Slasher, Baker, Katana, Blue and Gemstone come over for contest training?"
Her selected Pokémon came to her. Kerchak the Rillaboom, Slasher the Golisopod, Katana the Ninjask, Blue the Seismitoad, Gemstone the Starmie and her latest addition to her roster, Baker the Daschbun, were all here and ready to practice.
"There may not be any new contests upcoming but it never hurts to stay in shape." Emerald said eagerly, "And I especially want our new friend Baker to be in the next contest so let's help her train up and be a great performer as well!"
Baker yapped excitedly. She was keen to learn about performing like the rest of Emerald's Pokémon and wanted to prove herself to be as great as everyone else.
"I know Baker, you can't wait to get started." the girl in green said enthusiastically, "So without further ado, let's get training!"
But her training regimen would have to wait. Just as her Pokémon were lining up to get started, Ruby suddenly came rushing out of the house with Sapphire behind her. Emerald turned around and watched them run to her. She felt nervous. Her sisters were panicked over something and she had a nasty feeling it wasn't good.
"Ruby? Sapphire? What's wrong?" she asked nervously.
"We've got a situation! And a BIG one at that!" Ruby exclaimed, "All three of us need to get to Wyndon City, NOW!"
"There's reports claiming Dialga's in Wyndon and is on a rampage!" Sapphire shrieked, "We must quell the threat before it destroys the city! Or worse, destroys all of Galar!"
Emerald was horrified to hear the news. A rampaging Dialga?! That was definitely a serious matter! But what was Dialga doing in Galar? Didn't it live in Sinnoh? It couldn't be Drago and his wicked scheme to gather all the Legendary Pokémon of the world because he was trapped in the Distortion World with Giratina. Was someone else trying to gather Legendary Pokémon? Answers could wait for she and her sisters had a region to save!
"Then let's get to Wyndon! Come on girls, let's save Galar once again!"
She whipped out a Pokéball and returned Kerchak to it. The girls were in a rush and Emerald didn't have time to be picky or choosy about which Pokémon to take. Kerchak would do for now. Broadsword the Zacian ran up to the girls and offered to aid them in their battle. She knew that as a Legendary Pokémon, her strength would be valuable to them. With that done, Emerald returned Broadsword to her Master Ball so she could take her as well. Ruby threw a Pokéball and brought out Doomsday the Eternatus. It was the perfect ride for the trio for Doomsday was big enough for all three of them to ride and it would be able to fly them there quickly. Doomsday took to the skies and flew off towards Wyndon. Annie and Michael watched their daughters leave and waved to them.
"Be careful out there my girls! Please don't get killed…" Annie prayed.
"They're strong my love. They'll stop Dialga's rampage." Michael reassured his wife, "Our girls have never let us down before. They'll be fine."
Annie only hoped that Michael would be right in the end…
Soon enough, the Silverlock sisters arrived in Wyndon City. They were dismayed to see that they'd been too late and some of the city had already been wrecked by Dialga. Several buildings had been obliterated by Dialga's attacks with holes punched through walls, felled towers, broken brickwork and debris lying everywhere and overturned buses and cars. People were evacuating as fast as they could to get away from the rampaging Pokémon. Ruby hoped dearly that there were no casualties from this attack.
As Doomsday came down to the ground, the girls could see Dialga just up ahead. Dialga was a blue and silver-coloured Pokémon with a huge diamond set in its chest, large metal fins on its back, four legs, a long tail and a large pointy head. Its body shape and anatomy made it looked vaguely sauropodian in appearance. It seemed somewhat fitting for the Pokémon of Time should resemble a dinosaur, a creature lost to time. The Dragon/Steel Pokémon looked to be in an uncontrollable frenzy, blasting away this way and that with its signature Roar of Time attack. The metal fins on its back extended in length, its eyes flowed orange and it fired an indigo beam out of its mouth. Anything in its path was obliterated instantly. Dialga screeched furiously and stamped at the ground. Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire began to feel scared. Should they even try to fight this Pokémon?! Given it had powers over time, who knew what would happen?! Knowing their luck, it would cause them to age forwards or backwards if it tried anything crazy on them!
As they contemplated their moves, they noticed that someone else was on the scene. It was a large, muscular man wearing a golden mask and carrying the Team Rocket logo on his uniform. He had a black, unusually shaped Pokéball in his hand and was holding it out at Dialga. This man was known only as the Iron Masked Marauder. He was a member of Team Rocket and was the owner of Dark Balls, a cruel Pokéball that corrupted the Pokémon it caught. He'd once tried to control Celebi but was defeated by Ash and his friends a while back. He was trying it again with Dialga, but he was clearly failing for the Dragon/Steel Pokémon was ignoring his commands.
"Dialga! I command you! You must obey me now! Stop this rampage!" he bellowed.
But Dialga wouldn't obey him. It just continued roaring furiously and blasting buildings to smithereens. Ruby narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"That man…he's the cause of this! I know it!" she growled, "He's probably trying to control Dialga and that's what's making it mad!"
"That monster! He's going to get us all killed at this rate!" Emerald yelled angrily.
"Not on our watch!" Sapphire said hotly, "Let's stop this madness before it gets any worse!"
The girls ran towards Dialga and the Marauder. The Team Rocket member heard them approaching and growled in annoyance.
"What are you kids doing here? You should be fleeing for your lives!" he growled.
"We're here to fix your mess!" Ruby snarled, "Who are you and what did you do to Dialga to make it so mad?!"
"I'm not telling you anything!" the Marauder retorted, "All you need to know is that once Dialga's under my control, I'll have the power to rule not just Team Rocket, but the entire world! With control over time, even Giovanni will have to bow at my feet!"
"Not gonna happen asshole!" Ruby snarled, "We'll calm Dialga and throw you in the nearest jail cell while we're at it!"
She chose Doomsday to battle Dialga while Sapphire sent out Iron Fist the Urshifu and Emerald sent out Broadsword. With three powerful Legendries at their side, they'd stop Dialga in no time. The Iron Masked Marauder frowned and decided now was a good time to run for it. Hopefully Dialga would deal with those brats and the battle would soften it up enough for him to take control. He couldn't understand why his Dark Ball wasn't working. It never failed him!
I bet Dialga's trying to fight its control just as Celebi did back then… he muttered in his thoughts as he ran for cover, It can fight all it wants, I won't let it break free of my control!
The girls leapt into action by commanding their Pokémon to start whaling on Dialga. Doomsday used Dynamax Cannon, Iron Fist used Close Combat and Broadsword used Sacred Sword. The attacks homed in on Dialga but miraculously, it managed to protect itself. With a loud roar, Dialga conjured up some kind of time portal that slowed down the attacks. Time slowed down to the point that the attacks stopped completely and Dialga was able to dodge them with ease. Once Dialga was out of the way, it struck back by using Roar of Time on Doomsday and Iron Fist. Broadsword was immune to the attack due to being half-Fairy so she was unharmed while Doomsday and Iron First were knocked aside by the attack. The two crashed into a nearby building and brought it down to the ground in a pile of rubble. Ruby shook her head in worry.
"This won't be easy. Dialga's powers over time will give it one big advantage over us." she muttered, "And now we're trying to battle it, we're probably making it even madder!"
"We should catch that Team Rocket guy!" Emerald suggested, "I bet if we smash that Pokéball he has, that'll free Dialga and it'll stop attacking everyone!"
"It might work." Ruby agreed, "Me and Sapphire will keep Dialga busy Em. You and Broadsword can catch that guy."
"He ran off that way." Sapphire directed.
Emerald ran ahead while Ruby and Sapphire stayed put. The Marauder cursed angrily and emerged from his hiding place. If those kids wanted a fight, he'd give them one! He wouldn't let them free Dialga before he had a chance to control its rage! He threw another Dark Ball out and summoned a powerful looking Tyranitar. Emerald stopped in her tracks and sent Broadsword forward. It was best she kept well back against a Tyranitar!
"We'll get that Pokéball off you and destroy it!" Emerald declared, "Then Dialga will be free and you won't make it mad anymore!"
"You can try kid but you're out of your league against me!" the Marauder sneered, "Tyranitar, Hyper Beam!"
"Broadsword, counter it with Sacred Sword!" Emerald commanded.
Tyranitar blasted at Broadsword with Hyper Beam but the Fairy/Steel Pokémon effortlessly sliced through it with the huge sword in her mouth. She carried on her attack and swung the sword straight into Tyranitar. The single sword strike was enough to knock it out instantly for Tyranitar had a double Fighting weakness. The Rock/Dark Pokémon collapsed onto its back and passed out. Broadsword stood triumphant above it. The Marauder recoiled, incredulous at what had happened.
"Impossible! I can't be beaten by a scrawny little kid!" he ranted.
"This scrawny little kid has had plenty of practice beating bad guys like you!" Emerald crowed, "Now give me that Pokéball so I may stop Dialga's rampage!"
"This Dark Ball belongs to me and I will quell Dialga's rage!" the Marauder snarled.
"No way!" Emerald spat, "Broadsword, get that…"
She was interrupted by a horrible screeching sound right behind her. Emerald turned around in shock to see that Dialga was looming above her and the Iron Masked Marauder! It had managed to knock down Doomsday and Iron Fist again and it looked ready to attack. It opened its mouth wide and blasted at Emerald and the Marauder with Roar of Time. Broadsword jumped in front of her trainer to shield her from the blast. The indigo energy beam hit Broadsword but it may as well have not been there at all for all the damage it did. Emerald sighed with relief. At times like this, it helped to have a Fairy-type! Dialga was annoyed to see that its attack hadn't worked so it instead blasted at Broadsword with Flash Cannon. The steel beam hit Broadsword but she took the blow. Being half-Steel type herself meant Steel attacks didn't do much to her. She leapt back with Sacred Sword and sliced into Dialga with her sword. The Pokémon of Time reeled back in agony and stumbled back from the super-effective hit. Emerald could tell that it had done the damage but the fight wasn't over yet.
"OK Broadsword, we need to keep this up!" Emerald cried, "Multiple Sacred Swords should do the trick!"
"Indeed so young trainer." Broadsword agreed, "This untamed beast will not cause any more damage to Galar!"
She was about to attack again but Dialga suddenly retaliated in a way they hadn't expect. It held its head up high, let out a mighty roar that echoed all through the sky and then unleashed a wave of strange energy beams that erupted from all over its body. Broadsword was hit by one of the beams and was seemingly disintegrated into atoms by it. Emerald gasped in horror as her Pokémon disappeared in front of her eyes. Ruby and Sapphire threw themselves down to the ground to dodge the beams as they blasted out towards them. Most of the beams either shot harmlessly into the sky, hit buildings and made them disappear into nothing or punched holes into the ground. One beam headed straight towards Emerald. The Galarian teen only had enough time to scream in shock before she was hit by the beam and she too was vaporized on the spot. The Iron Masked Marauder was hit shortly after. Eventually the beams stopped firing and Dialga continued flailing about uncontrollably. Ruby and Sapphire picked themselves up, relieved that they were still alive. But they quickly saw that Emerald hadn't been so lucky. The world seemed to stop in front of their eyes as the horror of the situation set in for the two. Ruby ran over to the spot where Emerald had been standing a moment ago. There was nothing left of her, not even so much as a single hair. Ruby's hands trembled. Her insides turned to jelly and her legs gave out underneath her. She collapsed to her knees. Her eyes streamed with tears. Sapphire fell beside her. The terrible truth dawned on them…their sister was dead. Atomized by Dialga's beams. Ruby let out a blood-curdling scream of anguish right up to the heavens.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she howled, "Not Emerald! Not my sweet little sister! Please not her! Emerald, come back to us! Please!"
She lowered her head into her hands and sobbed heavily. Sapphire was equally as distraught. With Emerald gone, they felt as if their lives had been cruelly smashed to pieces and they'd never be able to live on without the one big piece that made it whole.
"Oh Emerald…why?! Why did you have to die?!" Sapphire wailed, "Why did Dialga have to take you away from us?!"
But contrary to what Ruby and Sapphire believed, Emerald was not dead.
The girl in green found herself being nudged awake by something that was pawing at her cheeks. Emerald eventually stirred out of her sleep and groaned groggily. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. She appeared to be lying in a field somewhere. She could feel soil and grass underneath her. As she came to, a million thoughts were already racing through her head. Where was she? How long had she been unconscious for? What happened to her? The last thing she remembered was being hit by a beam from Dialga and now…she was here. And still alive somehow. Emerald ran a hand over her head, relieved to be feeling her hair and her hat again. She ran her hands over the rest of her body. Nothing was broken and everything seemed fine. She didn't even feel slightly hurt after all that. Now she had one more question: what was nudging her awake a second ago?
"Emerald! Thank Arceus you're awake! I was worried for a moment."
That was odd. Emerald swore that it was Kerchak that had spoken to her but he sounded different. It wasn't his voice as it was now, but back when he was a Grookey. Emerald looked down to see a Grookey looking up at her with big, round adorable eyes. The Galarian girl screamed in shock.
"Kerchak?! What the hell happened to you?!" she gasped, "You're…you're…you're a Grookey again?! How did that happen?!"
"Beats me." Kerchak said with a shrug, "Given Dialga's the Pokémon of Time and all, maybe it reversed time around me and caused me to devolve?"
"But then why am I unchanged?" Emerald asked, feeling herself over again, "I'm definitely still a teenager aren't I? I don't look any older or younger?"
"Nope. You're definitely still the same as before." Kerchak informed.
"That is weird." Emerald murmured, "You're back as a Grookey but I didn't get any younger. You'd think I would've aged back into a baby or something."
"Maybe Dialga's rampage caused some crazy things to happen and you got spared." Kerchak suggested, "If only the rest of the world were so lucky."
"W-what do you mean?" Emerald asked worriedly.
Kerchak only gestured ahead to show her. Emerald looked up from Kerchak and saw the most horrible thing she had ever seen in her life. She saw Postwick Town…or what was left of it at least. The entire town was completely destroyed. The grass had been scorched, houses had been knocked down, buildings had been reduced to smithereens, trees had been felled and incinerated and no sign of life could be seen anywhere. No humans or Pokémon were around, giving Emerald all sorts of horrific conclusions to come to. The whole town looked like a giant wasteland with broken bricks, smashed roof tiles, burnt grass, piles of ashes and wrecked rubble lying everywhere. The sky was pitch black, suggesting it was currently night time but the darkness somehow didn't seem natural. Emerald doubted it was even night time right now. Emerald put her hands to her mouth in horror. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. How could this have happened?!
"No…no, no, no, no, no, NO! This can't be happening! This can't be happening! I must be dreaming! This must be a nightmare!" Emerald screamed, breathing in and out very fast.
She threw herself down onto the blackened grass and threw dirt into her face. It made no difference. She was awake and this was real. She was in Postwick Town and it had been completely razed. Emerald stood back up again and brushed the dirt off her face.
"This is horrible! What happened to my home?! Why is it all in ruins?!" Emerald shrieked.
"I guess Dialga's rampage was never stopped." Kerchak said solemnly.
"Bollocks! Of course it would've been stopped! My sisters would never have allowed it to do all this!" Emerald retorted, "Something else must've happened. Let's see if we can find any people to tell us what happened."
She scooped Kerchak up and ran off to search for anyone who could help. Kerchak held tightly onto her shoulder as Emerald ran through the destroyed village and checked all the ruins for any survivors. It was harrowing for both of them to see what had once been a peaceful, beautiful farm town reduced to nothing. It made the Pokémon coordinator feel like crying but she forced her tears back and told herself to remain brave and strong. Crying wouldn't help her in this situation. She climbed over piles of rubble and roamed through ruined houses, calling out for any survivors. She found none. No humans answered her and no Pokémon were around. Emerald swallowed heavily. Was everyone in the world dead and she was the last surviving human? Was Kerchak the only Pokémon alive too? She'd heard of films and books that told stories about the end of the world and only one human surviving. But many of those stories also had it turn out more humans were alive so maybe she would reach that part of the story if she kept on going. It would be nice to see if anyone else was alive, especially her sisters and her parents. Just as she thought of them, she passed by the remains of the Silverlock family home. It wounded her very heart to see her big house all in ruins. What had happened to cause all this?! She searched the remains for any survivors. All she and Kerchak ended up finding were two gravestones in the blackened remains of her back garden. Emerald gasped in horror as she saw what was on the gravestones. There were words written on them saying:
RIP Annie and Michael Silverlock
A loving mother and a devoted father taken cruelly away by an uncontrolled Pokémon's rampage
May they find peace in the afterlife.
Emerald's legs turned to jelly and she collapsed to her knees as the horror of the situation settled in for her. She put her hands on the gravestones and shook with uncontrollable shock and sorrow. Tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"M-m-mum…d-d-dad…they're…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she howled, "Please no, not mum and dad!"
She pounded the grass with grief. This really was a nightmare! If only she could wake up from it! Emerald lowered her head and sobbed heavily, her tears splashing down onto the grass as if hurriedly trying to reach her parent's bodies. The poor girl couldn't even begin to imagine how horribly Annie and Michael had died. Whatever happened, hopefully it hadn't been a slow and agonising death. Kerchak allowed Emerald a moment to grieve for her lost parents before patting her on the head.
"We can't stay here Emerald. We need to move on." he said softly.
Emerald wiped her eyes and got back to her feet.
"Y-y-yes. Of course. W-we won't get a-anywhere just crying like this." she acknowledged, "I'm sorry we couldn't save you mum and dad. But maybe there's a way to undo all this…"
She stroked the gravestone gently, hoping that her parents could feel her touch through the stones wherever they were. As Emerald walked away from the gravestones, her stomach tingled with a tiny surge of hope as she realized something. There were no graves marking where her sisters had been buried. So maybe they were still alive! She clamped down on her excitement. She mustn't get her hopes up too much but she would hold onto them a little.
"If Ruby and Sapphire are alive, we can work together to fix all this!" she declared optimistically, "I just hope I find them soon cause I doubt I'll keep it together if I'm stuck wandering aimlessly any longer."
"If there are any survivors, I doubt they'll be here." Kerchak murmured, "We should try heading for any of the bigger towns or cities out there."
"But we could be AGES doing that!" Emerald protested, "And I doubt we'll find a mode of transport in this post-apocalyptic nightmare…"
So for now, all she could do was walk. She kept on going forwards with Kerchak acting as her eyes and ears for any danger. Eventually they left the ruination of Postwick Town and were heading towards Wedgehurst. Even with everything as it was now, Emerald still recognized the way ahead. Wedgehurst looked to be in slightly better condition than Postwick Town…but only slightly. Emerald could see that whatever had happened here and hit Wedgehurst too. Everywhere was a wreck but some buildings were still standing and were mostly in tact except for some broken walls and windows here and there. She recognized Postwick Pizzeria and was thankful to see that was mostly still standing, though it was doubtful that anyone would be serving pizza there anytime soon. It saddened her to see that the very place where Ruby and Hop's first date had been held in was now just a sad wreck of its former self. Even the fact it was the least destroyed building in the town didn't make it any better. Emerald called out.
"Hello? Helloooooooooooooooo? Is there anyone here? Anybody? Hello?!"
But there was no answer. Emerald began to feel scared. Maybe she truly was alone in the world now and nobody would be able to help her? Maybe she was doomed to wonder aimlessly forever? But then a few minutes later, Emerald heard something wonderful. Another voice was calling back to her!
"Hey! Over here! Come on quickly!"
Emerald didn't recognize the voice but she was just grateful to hear another voice at all. She wasn't the last human after all! Emerald ran over to the voice and saw that indeed, there were more humans there after all. A whole settlement had set up camp in the remains of Wedgehurst and they were using what was left of the local train station as a shelter. The camp had a few torches lit so the people could see in the dark and a fire was blazing away in a metal bin. A couple of people were using the fire to roast some kind of meat over it for dinner. Emerald counted at least twenty people in this settlement. They were all filthy, clearly having not washed or bathed in weeks or even months and they were all wearing ragged remains of whatever clothes they had on their backs. A few Pokémon shared the habitat with them. While it was nice to see more people and Pokémon, Emerald felt sorry to see that this was what humanity had been reduced to: nothing more than a group of stragglers huddled around a campfire for warmth. The catastrophe must've been immense to have caused all this!
"Hey everyone, there's another survivor!" said the one who'd called Emerald over, "And she's surprisingly clean looking too…" he added, sounding puzzled to acknowledge this.
The survivors all gazed at Emerald in astonishment. Emerald recoiled and began to feel uncomfortable. Was it her imagination or did they have that look on their faces that one might have when they've seen a ghost? They seemed unable to believe that they were actually looking at her.
"Um…h-hello?" Emerald asked nervously, "W-why are you all staring at me like that?"
"You seeing this everyone?!" exclaimed a blonde woman in a ragged dress.
"It can't be! It's Emerald Silverlock!" exclaimed a man wearing a ragged trench coat.
"But that's impossible! She can't be alive!" cried a teenage boy who was using a Charmander's tail flame to keep his hands warm.
"It has to be a trick! Surely! There's no way that's really her!" cried a teenage girl with a Galarian Zigzagoon in her hands.
Emerald felt increasingly uneasy. What was going on here? She felt herself beginning to panic but she clamped down on her anxieties so she could ask the most important question she could:
"What are you all talking about? What's going on with you? What do you mean "I can't be alive"?! I'm literally standing right here!" she fretted, "Please someone tell me what's going on here!"
The survivors were incredibly confused at the teenager's concerns.
"You seriously don't know?" asked the boy with the Charmander, "Where the hell have you been all this time?"
"Dialga went on a rampage and razed Galar to the ground!" cried the man in the coat, "We're some of the few people that survived the attack!"
"Ruby and Sapphire, the poor dears, gave up on the fight after Dialga blasted you to atoms." said the woman in the dress, "They thought you'd been killed and your death just took the fight out of them…they were so distraught and it was so heart-breaking to see them mourn for you."
Emerald thought she was going to be sick. Everybody thought she was dead?! Ruby and Sapphire thought Dialga had killed her and because of that, Dialga had gone on to destroy Galar with nobody else to stop it?! She clamped a hand over her mouth as she came close to throwing up. She swallowed hard and allowed the information to settle in her brain.
"They think I'm dead?!" Emerald shrieked, "But…but…I'm still alive! You can see for yourselves!"
"And that's what's so unbelievable about it!" cried the teenage girl, "How is it you've been blasted by a Dialga and then suddenly two years later, you show up alive and completely unharmed?!"
Emerald thought her ears had fallen off. TWO whole years had passed since Dialga's rampage?! That was impossible! There was no way she'd been asleep for two years! This whole thing was starting to sound like a crazy science-fiction story and she was struggling to make sense of everything that was happening. Her head spun so much that she felt dizzy despite standing still. She put a hand to her head as her brain began to ache from everything she'd been told.
"This is completely insane! I get blasted, then I wake up and find two whole years have gone by and in that time, Galar's been destroyed and now everyone thinks I'm dead?!" Emerald spluttered, "What the hell's happening to me?! What's going on anymore?!"
"That's what we'd like to know." said a muscular looking man in a tattered kimono, "How is it you seemingly die for two years and then come back alive?"
"That's what I want to know!" Emerald exclaimed.
"Well I have a suggestion…" said a skinny looking gentlemen with a pair of thick glasses and a nasally, clipped, arrogant voice, "I bet you abandoned us all little girl. You deserted your sisters and let them think you were dead. You didn't want to stop Dialga and so you ran away and hid for the past two years, thus dooming us all to our fates!"
"WHAT?!" Emerald screamed incredulously, "That's the biggest load of bollocks I've ever heard! How can you even come to such a conclusion?! I would NEVER abandon my sisters or anyone in need!"
"So you say." the gentlemen sniffed, "Well I don't believe you. I mean it seems awfully convenient you just happen to disappear from the battle and then suddenly turn up again after everything's been destroyed. And you look remarkably intact compared to the rest of us. Did you find a particularly good place to hide away while Galar fell to pieces all around us? Didn't think to share what you had with the rest of us, did you?"
"You're full of shit! Completely and utterly full of it!" Emerald snapped angrily, "I got blasted by Dialga and the next thing I know, I wake up here with Galar in ruins! That's what happened! Honest to god that's how it was! I never abandoned anyone! In fact…" she thought for a moment, "I bet that's what it is: Dialga caused me to time travel! It beamed me two years into the future! That must be what happened!"
"Dialga IS the Pokémon of time…" murmured one of the survivors.
"Oh yeah?" sneered another survivor, "Then why were YOU spared and nobody else was, time traveller? Did you make some secret deal with Dialga to spare your life or something?"
"I don't believe she time travelled at all!" cried the teenage girl, "Nobody else I'm aware of has done it so why would Dialga do it to her and not the rest of us? What makes HER so special?"
"Exactly." the gentlemen said coldly, "So there is only one conclusion: Emerald Silverlock is a traitor to mankind! She clearly conspired with Dialga to destroy Galar in favour of saving her own skin! There's no other explanation for it! So I say…"
"We kill the traitor! She caused all this to happen by abandoning us to Dialga! So let's teach her what happens to those that betray us all!" growled the muscular man.
"Yeah! Kill the traitor!" chanted another survivor.
Emerald thought her heart was going to stop. This was completely insane! How had she ended up in a situation where the world was destroyed and any surviving humans were now contemplating MURDER?! Emerald hugged Kerchak tightly to her chest as the survivors advanced on her. Some were holding Molotov cocktails and some were carrying pitchforks.
"No! Please! You can't do this! You've got it all wrong!" Emerald pleaded, "I swear I'm not a traitor, I…"
"Shut it! We want no more of your lies Emerald!" growled the man in the coat, "All we want is your life! It'll serve you right for condemning us to this sorry state of living!"
Emerald screamed as one of the survivors threw a Molotov cocktail at her face. She ducked down just in time to avoid it and the glass bottle smashed to pieces against a nearby wall. The alcohol inside exploded, reminding Emerald just how close she'd come to being killed right then and there. Kerchak screeched and looked up to Emerald.
"RUN EMERALD! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" he shrieked.
Another near miss from a Molotov cocktail told Emerald that that was a good idea right now. Emerald took to her heels and ran for her life as the survivors began throwing old stones and bricks in her direction.
"Go ahead, run for it! Run like the miserable cowardly traitor you are!" snarled the muscular man.
"She ain't living with the shame of her actions!" growled the teenage girl, "Let's get her!"
And with that, the chase was on. The survivors ran after Emerald as the terrified teenager ran like hell. They cried out angrily as they stampeded over the blackened fields and chased their prey. Emerald looked back to see the angry mob coming for her. She couldn't believe this was actually happening! Being chased by an angry mob?! That sort of thing only happened in cartoons, didn't it?! She put the thought aside as there was one more important thought on her mind: get the hell out of here and fast! Emerald forced herself to run even faster as she fled Wedgehurst and headed back towards Postwick Town. But she quickly changed her mind and swerved away from the ravaged farm town. The last thing she wanted was for these violent psychopaths to desecrate her parent's graves.
Emerald instead headed towards the old railway tracks that led out from Wedgehurst station towards the Wild Area. It would take too long to get there on foot of course but hopefully the train tracks would take her somewhere she could lose the mob. The mob pursued, leaping onto the train tracks and running after her. One of the survivors ordered a Rookidee he had on his shoulder to fly ahead and try to slow Emerald down by pecking her. The Rookidee flew ahead and homed in on Emerald. Kerchak saw it coming and threw his stick towards it. The Rookidee didn't have time to dodge for it was coming in too fast and the stick hit it between the eyes. The Rookidee chirped in pain and shook its head while Kerchak's stick boomeranged back to him. He caught it and stuck his tongue out tauntingly at the Flying Pokémon. The Rookidee chirped angrily and kept up the chase. Some of the survivors started throwing stones towards Emerald, hoping to at least hit her and knock her down. The stones whooshed through the air towards the fleeing girl but neither one managed to hit her. The muscular man even threw his pitchfork at Emerald. It missed her by centimetres, the sharp prongs narrowly missing her foot and embedding itself in the earth behind her. Emerald screamed in shock and pressed on even further. The mob followed and the muscular man retrieved his pitchfork along the way.
Emerald ran for another two minutes before she came across something that might be of some help to her. There was an old train parked halfway up the hill she was running. It was mostly in tact but had no windows remaining, the front of it was crumpled and it was covered in dirt and leaves from the two years it had spent not working. It didn't look as if it would be working anytime soon but suppose she could get it moving? She worried about accidentally killing any of the survivors but in this case, it was her life or theirs and she rather enjoyed being alive right now! As Emerald ran past the train, she ordered Kerchak to throw his stick through the smashed window and hit the brake lever. Kerchak obeyed, throwing his stick through the broken window and scoring a direct hit. The stick hit the brake lever and it shifted to one side. The brakes released and the train began to plunge down the hill now nothing was holding it back. The pursuing mob were forced to separate and dive to one side to avoid being ploughed down by the oncoming train. The train thundered past, missing everybody but it did the trick Emerald had hoped for. It had slowed them down for the time being so she could further expand the gap between herself and her would-be-murderers.
Emerald reached the top of the hill and allowed herself a quick minute to catch her breath. She gazed out at the horizon to see what was available for her. She could see a broken viaduct stretching over the train tracks, a stream and a steep bank that stretched down to goodness knows where. Hopefully she could lose them over the stream. Emerald sprinted down the hill, allowing herself to slide some of the way to pick up speed. Once she reached the bottom, she sprinted ahead again and headed towards the stream. She came up to it and jumped onto some stepping stones that led the way across. Once she reached the other side, she took off again. She looked over her shoulder to see the mob sliding down the hill and following her direction. At least it would take them a while for all of them to cross the stream so she'd still get plenty further ahead. But Emerald had been so distracted by seeing how close the mob was that she turned around too late to see that she'd reached the steep bank and she tripped down it as a result. With a loud squeal, Emerald tumbled down roly-poly down the bank with Kerchak tumbling after her. They both crashed down at the bottom of the bank and winced as they came down heavily onto some hard stones. Emerald grabbed her shoulder in pain and rubbed at it furiously as the pain flared down her arm and across her back. The coordinator was filthy and wet from the damp, dirty grass and mud on the bank but she ignored it. There were more important things to worry about than a bit of muck. She saw that she'd ended up in some other destroyed town that was at the bottom of this hill. Hopefully there was a place to hide in there and she'd be able to lose the mob.
Emerald ran off ahead again. She heard voices shouting and the Rookidee that had tried to peck her earlier chirped loudly to alert the mob that it had seen her. They would be coming down the bank after her now! This chase had to end before she got too exhausted to run anymore. Emerald could see that none of the houses nearby would be much of a hiding place. They were either too ruined or too full of holes to hide her from sight. Then Emerald saw an open sewer lid just ahead of her. The thought repulsed her. Surely she had better options than a freaking sewer to hide in?! But there were no options. And anyway, the sewer would be a perfect place to hide. The stench alone would probably tempt the mob to leave her alone as it wouldn't be worth making themselves sick just to follow her. Steeling her nerves, Emerald ran over to the sewer lid, opened it further and climbed down into the sewers. She closed the lid after her. Unfortunately, the Rookidee had seen her climb down it so it stopped on top of the lid to let the mob know that was where she'd gone. The mob reached the bottom of the bank and ran through the town. The survivor who owned Rookidee spotted his Pokémon and ran over to the sewer lid. He quickly deduced that was where Emerald was now and opened up the lid. One by one the twenty surviving humans filed down into the sewers to search for Emerald.
But they would have no chance of finding her. The sewer tunnels were a large maze of tunnels that went every which way one could go, but Emerald had run past a large gear system that Kerchak had decided to loosen in order to bring a huge iron gate down behind him and his trainer. The gate slid down shut with a heavy clang, sealing Emerald off from her pursuers. Even the strength of the mob combined wouldn't get the gate down and neither of their Pokémon were strong enough to break it down either. They would only spend hours searching fruitlessly in the tunnels for her and never find her. Emerald kept on running. She knew the gate had kept the mob from finding her but she still didn't want to stay in the sewers for long. The last thing she needed was to catch some kind of disease down in these rancid smelling tunnels! It took all of Emerald's physical strength to keep herself from throwing up for how bad the smell was. She had her hand over her mouth and nose just to keep the smell out as much as possible. Emerald spent two minutes of running through the tunnel until finally, she found a ladder that led back up outside. With no hesitation, she climbed up the ladder and pushed at the lid up above. To her relief, fresh air seeped down into her lungs and greeted her warmly. With that, the smell of the sewers was forgotten and new strength came to Emerald as she could finally leave it behind.
Emerald climbed back out of the sewer, closed up the lid and ran off again. The tunnels had taken her into a ruined industrial park not far from the Wild Area. There were destroyed crates, lorries and spilled oil cans lying everywhere. It wasn't the most ideal place to stay but it would do for now. Emerald ran towards an overturned lorry and collapsed into a heap by its trailer. She was exhausted from so much running and needed to rest. She lay crumpled up against the trailer, her hand clutching her chest tightly as if to keep her heart from escaping. She panted heavily but gradually she began to recover her breath. Her heart slowed down to normal and her breathing was back under control after a few minutes of resting. Kerchak nuzzled up to Emerald and the Galarian girl stroked him softly to further ease her nerves. With one last, loud, heavy sigh, Emerald felt the stress and shock of what had happened to her leave her body and she was now relaxed enough to feel safe and at ease. She ran her hands through Kerchak's fur softly.
"Thanks Kerchak. You really helped me out there." Emerald said softly.
"Just doing what any Pokémon would do for their trainers." Kerchak said kindly, "I'm just glad we're safe now!"
"Thankfully." Emerald sighed, "That was the scariest moment of my life! I'm amazed my heart didn't stop after all that!"
"The nerve of those people though!" Kerchak spat, "How could they think you abandoned them or that you teamed up with Dialga to let this happen? Are they really that stupid as to believe you of all people would turn evil?"
"I guess in their eyes, it probably does seem a little suspicious that I disappear for two years and then just happen to show up again." Emerald suggested, "So I guess maybe it's easy to believe that I struck some kind of deal with Dialga in exchange for my life to them. Shows how well they know me because I would never even tease such a thought!"
"Of course not!" Kerchak agreed, "You're the sweetest most pure human being I know! You'd never do anything bad!"
"Never ever." Emerald swore, "But hey, they're gone now and they'll never find us out here. And I doubt anyone else will too…" she added solemnly.
It just occurred to her that her situation didn't look all that much better in spite of everything before. Sure she'd escaped an angry mob but here in this industrial park, she was in the middle of nowhere, possibly miles from civilization and with no access to food or water. If the mob didn't kill her then starvation or malnutrition would! Emerald tucked her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her anxieties began to play up as the hopelessness of her situation weighed down on her.
"Oooh this is the worst day of my life!" she whimpered, her voice trembling as if she was on the verge of a panic attack, "I get sent into this horrible future where my parents are dead, Galar is in ruins, my sisters are god knows where at this point, everyone thinks I'm dead and now some people still alive wish I were dead! There's no sign of Dialga so there's likely no way to undo this so I'm gonna be stuck in this horrible future forever and I'll likely starve to death or worse while I'm out here on my own!"
"Emerald, calm down, panicking won't solve anything." Kerchak said hastily.
"I know but what else can I do?!" Emerald shot back, "It's hopeless! Everything's gone to shit and there's nobody who can help!" her voice cracked as she went on. Her body trembled and her eyes began to well up.
"Oh Kerchak…I'm so scared! I don't know what to…I don't know what to do!"
Emerald could hold it back no longer. She lowered her head into her knees and covered her face with her hands. She began to cry. She cried so hard that she felt the tears would never stop. She'd never felt more scared, more helpless and more alone in her life. All Emerald wanted now was to feel her sister's arms around her again, to hear their voices calling out to her, to feel the warmth of her mother and father's love and to hear them comfort her and tell her everything would be alright. She would give anything, just ANYTHING to undo this whole mess and have her life back the way it was! But it wasn't to be. Nobody could help and Emerald had nobody to comfort her during this terrible time. Kerchak didn't know what to do either. His large eyes welled up with tears just listening to his trainer. Her sobs made him feel like his heart was being torn in half. He lay beside his trainer's thigh and patted her gently. Emerald could only continue to cry. But there was no one else to hear her sorrow.
In this ruined world, she and Kerchak were well and truly all alone…
Just makes you want to give her a hug, doesn't it? :( Emerald really has gone through the worst day of her life. But as long as she can draw breath, there's still hope for her. Maybe she can find a way to fix this mess? Maybe there's a way to undo everything? Follow her quest to restore humanity back to normal as Fractured Time continues in Part 2...
Trivia: The Iron Masked Maruder is a villain whom you may remember from Pokemon 4Ever. If you don't, I don't blame you. He's pretty one-dimensional as far as villains go with only Dan Green's voice making him worth remembering. XD I felt he'd be the perfect impetus for this plot to happen as of course he'd hunt for Dialga as he did Celebi and his Dark Ball would likely cause it to go on a rampage as it tries to fight against it.
Him using a Tyranitar also references how he takes a poacher's Tyranitar for himself to use as his own. If you're curious, no, this isn't the same Tyranitar from the movie as that one was freed from his control. This is another Tyranitar.
Sapphire reading about Zarude and a shiny Celebi is also a reference to a giveaway event for Sword and Shield where those who bought tickets to see the Secrets of the Jungle movie could claim one. I wish I could've got it...
Also this story serves one major purpose: and that's to be a middle finger to this ridiculous stigma in media (especially comic books) that you need to make your characters suffer and break them and make them miserable in order to be "interesting" or "more realistic". In this story, Emerald has been thrust into the worst hell she's ever experienced...but by the end SHE. WILL. NOT. BREAK. This story will show how strong she truly is and that not even the worst possible future will break her. Emerald maybe the sweetheart of the Silverlock trio but mark my words, she's probably stronger than even Ruby and Sapphire themselves as you'll see. ;)
And for those who may worry, I assure you the rest of the story won't be this miserable. Emerald's already at rock bottom so we can go up next time. ^^
