Aoi Hyoudou: What's up, everyone! I decided to reboot the original J's Apprentice story after taking nearly a four year hiatus from writing. The remake will feature a lot of new twists and turns. Also, it will start in the Crown Tundra unlike the original since Pokémon Journeys is currently the active season right now. I will try to do a daily update each week for this story depending how fast I work on each chapter during the same week. Without further ado, enjoy the first chapter!
Chapter I
Black Raven Strikes!
~(...)~
The Crown Tundra - Galar region
Miles and miles away from the Legendary Titans ruins in the Crown Tundra, there was a massive, gray aircraft with a black bird-like symbol in the sky. It was accompanied by two smaller aircrafts with similar logos. They were traveling at a high velocity rate towards a certain location. Most likely, they were heading towards the ruins of the Legendary Titans where Regirock, Regice, and Registeel slumbers.
The mission's sole purpose: obtain all three Titans and awaken... Regidrago!
~(...)~
Onboard the primary aircraft and waiting inside the ship's dispatching zone, there was a group of men in gray jumpsuits suited up in winter coats. They were all sitting around quietly in their respective seats. They were all waiting patiently for their ship to reach its destination point. Once it does, the real fun can finally begin. Till then, all the men can do for now is play the waiting game and wait. The same ruling goes to everyone else who was onboard the ship.
At the far edge corner, there was a young male figure, no older than eighteen years of age, sitting by himself and not suited up in a winter coat. Unlike the older males, he was dawning in nothing, but black clothing and accessories, which consists of a black trench coat, pair of black pants, and a pair of black boots. His hair was also black, short and messy. On the back of his trench coat, there was a white logo in a form of a bird, most likely a raven. Around his neck was some kind of a mechanical device with a red jewel-like center. Last, but not least, he was wearing a fingerless black glove with a logo, similar to the one on his coat, over his right hand.
With all the pieces slowly coming together, one could assume that this young man was the leader of the pack, at best, the leader of the operation. Apart from his dark appearance, there was something mysterious about the young male. His face was shrouded in darkness, keeping all his enemies in suspense about his identity. Even now, when glancing down at his lap in deep thought while fidgeting around with a pair of goggles, similar to the ones a certain female Pokémon Hunter uses, in his hands, his true identity was still in the dark. Well, to most, that is.
All the henchmen were all keeping their distance away from their young commander and for good reason. The chilling atmosphere around the young male was giving them the heebie jeebies. They know better not to cross boundaries with him when he's like this. That would be a death wish. So it would be a wise choice if they just leave him alone for a while with his thoughts until they arrived at their destination. That way, tensions can be avoided. Smart move, right?
But even so, some can't help, but wonder what was on his mind.
Truth to be told, it's best not to know.
"Sir!" a voice called out to the young commander's attention, breaking the awkward silence among the group.
While most acknowledge the co-pilot and his approaching form, one did not. And that one happens to be the leader himself. Even now, when the co-pilot made his way over to the young leader's side, the young lad in black still refuses to acknowledge his presence, much less give him a second glance of awareness.
"Sir!" the co-pilot called out again, in hopes the young leader would give him a second or two, this time around. There was something important that the male co-pilot wanted to inform the young male about.
"What?" the young commander asked in an icy cold tone while avoiding eye contact with the ship's co-pilot. "Can't you see I'm busy thinking?" His voice filled with venom.
The male co-pilot slightly flinched at the cold treatment. "Uh, well, yes, but…" he stuttered.
Annoyed, the young male barked angrily at the bumbling idiot before him. "Just get on with it already!" His patience was growing thin, especially when he had to work with stupid morons like this guy before him. Ugh, why must his life suck so much?
The co-pilot jumped in fright. "W-W-We're minutes away from our target, sir!" He reported. "Just wanting to let you know," And he was being very sincere about it, too. "Should we inform the other pilots to change course and head to their locations as planned?"
After hearing that and collecting his composure, the young commander gave the frightened man a slight nod. "All right, then." all he said before dismissing the man back to his duties.
The co-pilot saluted before heading back to the cockpit.
With the news of them closing in on their location, it was time for the group to prepare themselves for the upcoming mission. But first, before anything could happen, the young leader needed to conceal his identity. It was very crucial if he did.
Once he placed his goggles over his face and got up from his seat, he turned his attention to his men who were all staring at him, in return. "Men, this is it. The time of reckoning is upon us. Our main goal is to achieve our objective. Failure is NOT an option. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, sir!"
"I can't hear you!"
"YES, SIR!"
With their minds set, it's only a matter of time before they accomplish their goal.
Giant's Bed - Rock Peak Ruins
Upon reaching their destination, the massive airship slowly descended from the sky and landed perfectly in front of Regirock's temple. Once secured, the aircraft's ramp began to lower down. A barrage of thunderous footsteps echoed the once peaceful atmosphere as the men filed out one by one. Two men were carrying a black duffel bag, inside full with customized sticky bombs. The young commander casually observed his henchmen go to work as he slowly approached the ancient temple. The grunts stormed up the stony steps and began to do their business, setting down the duffel bag and unzipping it. They pulled out the sticky bombs and began planting them on the ancient sliding doors which had descriptive cravings of Regirock's silhouette. The young male began ascending the stone stairs and approached the ancient craving doors, momentarily admiring the gorgeous artwork. Behind his googles, his auburn eyes sharply gazed at the small ancient text on the craving which reads: "Let the first Pokémon hold a never-changing stone."
"Sir!" one of the grunts called out, breaking the young commander's gaze away from the text and focused it over to the latter. "All the bombs has been planted." The man informed.
With a slight nod, the young male reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an earpiece, properly placing it inside his right ear and spoke. "Delta team, come in."
Giant's Bed - Iron Ruins
"The last bomb has been properly secured, Commander!" Delta's team leader responded as the final sticky bomb was planted on Registeel's temple doors just in time. "How about you, Gamma?"
Snowslide Slope - Iceburg Ruins
"We're all set here, too!" Gamma's squad leader immediately answered, watching a grunt placed the last sticky bomb in place on Regice's icy temple doors. "Waiting for your orders, Commander!"
Giant's Bed - Rock Peak Ruins
With everything set in place, the young male lifted his right arm upright and snapped his fingers, cuing his men to hurry their asses over to a safe location because it was about to get explosive. The men quickly scrambled to the safe zone near the aircraft as the young teen in black turned his back against the ancient temple and descended the steps. "Time to wake up the sleeping beauties from their little nap." His lips twisted into a sadistic smirk.
Boom.
BOOM.
BOOOOM.
BBBOOOOOMMMMM.
All the sticky bombs in the three locations simultaneously detonated, disturbing and spooking all the nearby Pokémon in the areas. They fled for their lives. Debris from the temple doors collapsed and flooded inside the structures. "Move in!" The young commander barked.
The men stormed the ruins and entered through the crumbled entrance, one by one. Soon afterwards, the young teen in black entered the ancient structure where he was met by complete darkness. It was pitch black upon entering one of the Legendary Titans' lairs. The earlier explosions must have taken out the structure's light system-a minor setback that he didn't expect. He could sense his men were beginning to fret within the darkness.
"Ciel!" the young commander unexpectedly shouted, startling the grunts as his icy cold tone echoed within the ruins.
The AI system within his googles began to flash high digital lights and soon followed by a robotic female voice. "Yes, Master." it obediently responded.
"Analyze target." was all the young male said.
"Yes, Master. Anaylzing...Analyzing...Analyzing..." He slowly moved his head around as the AI began to scan the ruins for any suspicious movements and living objects, displaying outlines and data. When the young male gazed straight ahead into the darkness, the AI suddenly picked up Regirock's silhouette and highlighted it. "Target found!" it reported.
On cue, several red dots appeared within darkness and gazed right back at the unwelcome intruders. The frightened henchmen were shivering in fear by the red glowing eyes. The young commander looked pleased that the primary target was found.
"Commander!" However, before he could even execute his first order, his earpiece suddenly went off and Delta team's squad leader's panicking voice echoed through. "Registeel! It's...It's too powerful! We need backup...Aaaahhhhh!" The transmitter abruptly ended by the squad leader's scream, followed by loud explosions and Registeel's terrifying screech.
"Tch." The young commander clicked his tongue in annoyance and then proceeded to press the earpiece to radio the other squadron. "Gamma, do you read? What's your status?"
"C-Commander...we're trying to hold our ground...but...But...we need backup. Aaaahhhhh!" The signal abruptly ended by static disruptions and a loud cry by Regice, cutting off the signal.
The young male angrily yanked the earpiece and threw it down, crushing it beneath his feet after an angry stomp. "Useless! Every last one of them!" the fuming teen sneered.
His actions immediately triggered the Legendary Titan Regirock to let out a powerful screech echoing within its domain. The men winced as the temple's emergency lights were off, revealing the Rock Peak Pokémon in the center of the room.
("BEGONE, INTRUDERS! YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE!") it screeched angrily as its set of red glowing orbs gazed upon the group dangerously.
Paying no heed to its warning, the young commander ordered his AI to do some work. "Ciel, analyze Regirock, now!"
"Analyzing...analyzing...analyzing." The program began to scan the raging Pokémon and collected its data, flooding all the information within the googles.
"I see..."
"Regirock - the Rock Peak Pokémon..."
...
"Type: Rock..."
...
"It is a member of the Legendary Titans along with Regice, Registeel, Regieleki, and Regidrago..."
...
"Ability: Sturdy..."
...
"Analyzing stats...attack...high...defense...excellent...special attack...low...special defense...high...speed...low."
...
"Analyzing known moves...processing...Iron Defense...Hammer Arm...Stone Edge...Hyper Beam."
"Good work, Ciel." The young teen praised his AI. Then he glanced to his men who were waiting for his orders. He gave a slight nod, which they nodded right back already knowing what to do.
The grunts quickly surrounded Regirock and then proceeded to toss Poké Balls up high. "Go, Houndoom!" they said in unison. Several canine-like Pokémon appeared and snarled at the Legendary Titan, which had little-if not zero effect whatsoever. "Flamethrower!"
The hounds obeyed their orders and launched a barrage of intense scorching blasts at their target. Regirock simply ate the fire moves as they engulfed it, however, the results were less effective. The Rock-type immediately shrugged off the Flamethrower like it was nothing, canceling out each one with its overwhelming strength and willpower.
The grunts and their Pokémon were speechless. Their attacks did absolutely nothing. "No way!" one man said in shock.
'That's one strong defense.' Their commander was quite impressive with the Rock Titan's Sturdy Ability.
Regirock went on the attack by channeling its powers and producing rock-like shards, swirling around its stone body. It proceeded to launch the shards at the Dark/Fire Type hounds.
Boom.
Boooom.
Booooommmm.
The barrage of Stone Edge exploded on impact, sending all the Houndoom flying back in a world of hurt. They cried in agony as they collapsed in defeat soon afterwards. Their eyes have now replaced with swirls.
"N-No way!" said another henchman with great surprise.
It wasn't long before they too shared a similar fate with their Houndoom. Regirock immediately fired another round of Stone Edge towards them, sending the unprepared men in a world of hurt of their own. Their blood cries echoed the air and soon afterwards fell dead silent when they collapsed in defeat. Several stone shards were heading directly at their commander's way, however, unlike them he easily read their movements and evaded each one without a single scratch.
Regirock fixed its raging gaze at the lone, pathetic human standing in its way, who in return couldn't care less if it was a Legendary Pokémon-a Legendary Titan-or both, it was still going to get captured by his own hands. "It's true what they say, you have to do it yourself." he murmured with great annoyance. The young commander fixed his sharp gaze at the Rock Titan momentarily and then proceeded to reach for a Poké Ball of his own, firmly grasping it. "Hope you're ready, oh great Titan~!" A confident smirk tugged against the teen's lips.
...
...
...
Moments later
Outside Rock Peak Ruins, a soundly defeated Regirock was tied down on a mobile cart, designed for its size and carted off by the young commander's men who finally recovered after the fierce encounter. The young male strictly watched from afar as the Rock Titan was being escorted and loaded onto the airship. One stray grunt approached the leader and congratulated him on his impressive work.
"Good work, sir!" However, the young commander shrugged off the underling's pathetic compliments and turned away as he slowly walked off to his next destination. "Uh, sir!" the alarmed grunt called out to the retreating leader. "Where are you going?!"
"The mission isn't over." he said simply without giving the latter a single glance. "We got two more Titans to go and I'll handle it myself."
Giant's Bed - Iron Ruins
"Gaaaahhhhhh!" a fallen grunt screamed and collapsed near Registeel's temple entrance.
The young commander entered the ruins and strolled past the disappointed underling. He briefly paused and observed the situation unfolding before him. There were bodies lying everywhere. Delta team was struggling immensely to subdue Registeel, the Iron Titan. Even with several Swoobat on deck and a couple of the grunts themselves riding on the Titan's back, the situation was becoming even sadder to watch. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. 'No wonder she's always angry...so much incompetence...'
The young male reached for another Poké Ball and tossed it up high. "Go-"
Moments later
Registeel met the similar fate like its fellow Titan; an embarrassing defeat. A dejected Delta team escorted the Legendary Titan away from its temple.
"Now, for the last Titan."
Snowslide Slope - Iceburg Ruins
Regice was going on a rampage after its rude awakening. Ice Beam after Ice Beam, it froze everything in its path, turning the Gamma team into human popsicles and Banette into living ice sculptures with their creepy expression frozen in place. The Ice Titan continued its rampage until it momentarily paused when it heard approaching footsteps coming from the temple's entrance. It fixed its attention in the direction where it spotted the young commander entering inside with a Poké Ball in his grasp.
"If you're done playing around little Titan, we can finally get the real fun started." A smug appeared on the human's face.
Regice didn't take too kindly of the cocky human's words as it immediately fired an Ice Beam directly at the smug commander.
In response, he simply tossed a Poké Ball at the incoming attack.
A loud explosion soon followed.
BBBooooommmm.
Moments later
An extra crispy Regice was being strapped down and carted off to the final airship by the defrosted Gamma squad. The squad leader approached and saluted his commander. "Sir! All three Titans has been secured! Do we proceed with phrase 2 as scheduled?" he asked, which in return he received a slight nod. "Very well, sir!" He quickly took his leave and rejoined with his team onboard the aircraft.
"Time to wake up the ultimate prize." the young commander murmured with an evil smirk.
Three-Point Pass - Split-Decision Ruins
Landing safely at the location of the final temple, the young commander exited the gray aircraft through the dispatching zone and descended downward on the ramp. When both feet touched the soft yet frozen soil, the co-pilot called out. "Sir!" The young male in black slightly glanced over his shoulder and gave the co-pilot a cold stare. "Are you possible you don't need anyone to come down and assist you with the final mission? We can se-"
"No need!" The young commander abruptly cut the co-pilot off, already glancing back towards his main objective. "I'm more than enough to handle this by myself." The overconfidence was showing. "The rest of you stayed on the ship and keep warm. If you see any suspicious activity, report. Got it?" His mind was set. He was in no mood for petty arguments from the peanut gallery. He was going to do this mission alone.
"Y-Yes, Sir!"
With the subject finally dropped for another day, the young commander proceeded forward until he reached the temple's steps. He took a brief moment and gazed upon the structure, which lived up to its name. Both the exterior and interior of the temple were painted yellow on one side and red on the other side. The respective colors represented the two final Legendary Titans; yellow for Regieleki and red for Regidrago. Just above the entrance, the eye patterns of both Regieleki and Regidrago are on their respective sides.
The young male resumed his focus and walked up the steps while thinking about the earlier conservation he had with the co-pilot. "And besides..." He spoke aloud. "All of you would only get in my way." He approached the door and gave the ancient patterns one hard look. "And if I had to..." he drawled the "if". "I have an old ace up my sleeve who I can rely on." Beneath his black jacket and equipped to his black leather belt was a lone Poké Ball, which shined on cue almost as if it heard its master's words and agreed.
He fixed his gaze on the message, which reads the following:
"A giant of rock."
"A giant of ice."
"A giant of steel."
"When gather the three giants, the door of destiny shall be opened."
The young male has already fulfilled the requirements on his end of the bargain by acquiring Regirock, Regice and Registeel. Now, it was time to collect his reward - the final Legendary Titan, Regidrago! He waited patiently for the doors to slide open so he can move forward with the rest of his objective.
...
...
...
However, something was a little off as he was waiting. Nothing appeared to be happening. It was pure dead silence. No given indication that the doors were sliding open anytime soon or the temple structure rumbling, which was a common theme in most standard situations like this. No...the entire temple remained perfectly still, which was frustrating the young commander's patience. Realizing that the final temple was refusing full access to reach Regidrago, he slammed his foot against the doors, rocking the whole structure with pieces of it cracking and threatening to fall.
"Fine, have it your way." The young commander dug his hand into his coat pocket and searched thoroughly for a sticky bomb. He pulled it out and slapped the device onto the doors, slowly backing away a few feet afterwards. Then he snapped his fingers and the bomb detonated.
BOOM!
The immense blast momentarily rocked the temple. The doors were no longer an obstacle as they crumbled by the explosion and fell over. The young commander proceeded inside where he was met with a new set of stairs, leading upward to the mission's final stage. He ascended the steps as each step he took, they echoed loudly within Regidrago's domain. When he reached the top, nothing was waiting for him.
No giant stone statue.
No Regidrago.
Just an empty room.
A feeling of disappointment rushed through in the back of the teen's mind. What went wrong? Was he missing? Regirock, Regice, and Registeel were currently in their possession so everything should've worked according to plan. Yet, Regidrago hasn't appeared before him.
"Tch." The frustrated teen walked up in the center of the room and took a quick glance around the room, making sure he wasn't overlooking anything. When he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, he resorted to plan B. "Ciel!"
His googles' AI system immediately switched on. "Yes, Master." the female robotic voice responded on cue.
"Search target!"
"Anaylzing...analyzing...analyzing..." The AI did a quick scan around the room not missing a single detail, but when the process was completed; the results were disappointing. "Analyzing...complete...target...not...found." Ciel reported in an almost sad tone.
It was something the apprentice of the notorious Pokémon Hunter J didn't want to hear.
Failure.
The young apprentice clenched both fists in frustration, unbeknownst, that a creeping silhouette was looming over him. When he finally took notice of a massive shadow intertwining his shadow on the floor, he immediately got the sense of feeling that he wasn't alone. He immediately glanced over his shoulder and instinctively evaded the incoming danger.
BOOM!
The spot from which the teen previously occupied, crumbled when Regidrago's dragon mouth-like arm slammed into the pavement after a Hammer Arm. The Dragon Titan slowly removed its arm from the crater and then proceeded to fix its multi-raging eyes on the intruder, which in return received a smug smirk from the Pokémon Hunter apprentice.
"So...you finally showed yourself, Regidrago!" The Dragon-type Legendary let out an angry dragon-like cry in response. "Now you can join with the rest of your fellow Titans as part of our client's personal collection!" He reached for his "ace" Poké Ball and detached it off from his belt, grasping it firmly. "Don't worry, though, this won't take too long either!" he declared with a confident smirk.
Next Preview - Chapter 2: "Wanted!"
Officer Jenny: "Stop right there, Black Raven! You're under arrest!"
Black Raven: "Tch. What an annoyance."
Goh: "...So, it's been four years since Ash disappeared. How time flies so quick."
Black Raven: "Hand over your Pokémon!"
?: "Ekkkkk! Black Raven!"
Raihan: "Hold it right there, Black Raven!"
Black Raven: "Chapter 2: Wanted!"
Black Raven: "You have no idea who you're messing with, but I'll gladly crush you again, Raihan~!"
Raihan: "What? Have we met before?"
Sorry about cutting out a lot of the battles and teasing them. You will get an extended version of the Regidrago's fight in the next chapter along with a few other surprises as well! As for Black Raven aka Ash's Pokémon I didn't want to reveal them too soon, but a couple of them will appear in chapter 2 so you had better start guessing Black Raven/Ash's starting rotation. Speaking of which, who is Black Raven/Ash's ace? That's the question of the day! Please leave a comment after reading the chapter and stay tuned for more updates!
P.S. - I notice most of you want to submit OCs for the story. We shall see first how the story does before adding in additional characters. I won't go overboard with the OCs like last time. XD
Peace!