Mount Silver

General Drake Blackthorn stood atop Mount Silver, gazing out toward Johto. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered, with wild, unkempt black hair streaked with silver that fell to his shoulders. Scars littered his body, both from battle and from working with his dragons. Generally, Drake was a serious but friendly man; however, his current mien was one of darkness and wrath. His mind, filled with fury, echoed a thought he couldn't place: "War. War never changes. Since the dawn of humankind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage."

He wasn't sure where the thought had sprung from, but it seemed highly appropriate. This useless war had taken so much from him, and all he wanted was for it to end. But his orders from the Senate—that worthless cesspool of corruption—were to keep pushing into Kanto. Drake was not a greedy man; far from it. "Haven't we enough?" he thought bitterly. Johto had conquered Hoenn, Orre, Unova, Kalos, and everything in between. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of telling the Senate where they could shove their orders and then backing those words up physically. But he let it go. Honor demanded he serve to his best. More importantly, he had to serve, or his clan—the once-mighty Blackthorn Clan—would fall due to the machinations of the Johto Senate.

Suppressing the scream he so desperately wanted to release, as well as the power of his team of dragons that could easily tear down this mountain, Drake slumped slightly and began his trek back to the hidden base camp on the Johto side of Mount Silver. He had to prepare to return to Goldenrod City and give his report to the Senate. The general had never felt more defeated.

Johto Base Camp

John Silver of Olivine City stormed through the camp toward his tent, Johto's conscripted warrior trainers scrambling desperately out of his way as he flared his dark red aura. He hated Johto, hated Kanto, hated everything! Everything had been stolen from him—especially the light of his life, Vivienne Oak. He ignored the dark hole that represented his son—no, the "leech." He would never love that child. The boy had stolen Vivienne away from him. She had wanted to stay in Viridian City with her family, to raise the "leech" there among relatives. The "leech" got all the love and affection that John had desired. Before he came along, everything had been perfect with Vivienne. John sighed, remembering those few precious moments fondly.

Then the darkness returned, as it always did, when he remembered the "leech" being born. He never had a desire for a family; he only ever wanted to conquer and hold onto what was his. Family meant nothing to him. The "leech" had stolen that from him—stolen her love and attention. Even Arcanine, the Growlithe gifted to him by Elder Oak when he married Vivienne before Johto declared war on the world, had chosen the "leech" over him. The thought made his rage burn hotter.

Upon reaching his tent, John found an unwelcome presence standing in front of it. Commander Troy of Goldenrod City. Unfortunately, as his superior, John couldn't just brush him off or beat him to a pulp. Especially not without Arcanine as part of his team anymore. He pushed those dark thoughts down and lazily snapped to attention, knowing he'd pay for the disrespect later. In that moment, though, it was worth it.

Troy looked at John stoically, as if he would ever show any emotion besides boredom. John snorted internally. He knew better than to push his commander too far—Troy was ruthless and methodical in eliminating anyone who challenged him, or even those he perceived might be challenging him. John sighed internally and snapped to attention again, this time with more exaggerated respect.

"I will overlook your disrespect this time," Commander Troy stated in his gravelly voice, "considering what you've been through in the last day."

John swallowed the bile rising in his throat and bowed deeply.

"You are to replace the lost member of your team immediately, either from the stockpile in the armory or from your personal stable," Troy said. He looked John over again, as if considering something. The scrutiny made John nervous. "You will be leading the attack on Viridian in three days. You will not fail."

The consequences of failure were left unsaid. Johto did not forgive failure. Failure meant death—unless you had influence in the Senate, and even then, that influence would be burned quickly. John had no such influence. He knew he would be executed if this mission failed.

"Yes, Commander. My life for Johto!" John exclaimed.

"Yes, your life," Commander Troy said simply, giving John a last, chilling glance before teleporting away.

Johto Base Camp (Three Days Later)

John mounted his Skarmory and looked around at his squad of 25 warrior trainers, each with 12 Pokémon. He had replaced Arcanine with his personal Steelix, a monstrous creature nearly 45 meters long that had brought John many victories before the war.

He gave the command, and the squad took to the air. The plan was to fly directly over Mount Silver and strike Viridian City with a lightning-fast attack, leaving no survivors. John's thoughts were dark as he recalled the Oak compound in northern Viridian. He had marked it as a priority target, and no one had dared question him.

The squad had made it halfway up the height of Mount Silver when the air began to feel unnaturally warm. John wiped the sweat from his brow and readjusted his goggles. He pressed his communicator, calling out to the psychic specialist to ask if there were any surprises in the area. There was no response. As John turned to berate the specialist, he caught a flash of fire out of the corner of his eye. Quickly turning to face it, he realized just how utterly and terribly doomed they were. Moltres, the Legendary Bird of Fire, rose from what had once been the peak of Mount Silver. John didn't have time to think before his entire squad was incinerated, and Moltres turned its gaze toward the Johto base camp.

An hour later, the Johto base camp—and indeed the entire forest on the Johto side of Mount Silver—was no more.