Prologue: Rayquaza

She was used to flying this fast, she had been for years. On the back of Salamence the world beneath her flew by in a blink. There was a peace to it, the flapping of her cloak, the rush of the wind, the humming of her pokemon beneath her. There was a peace to it, even if she was alone.

Though to say she was truly alone was an exaggeration, she always told herself. She had her Salamence, the clanking of her anklet a reminder of that bond. She had Aster, but she released the little Whismur shortly before her journey began. And could she even count that champion from Hoenn as her friend? No, she had Salamence, and that was all she needed most of the time.

Except for now, now more than ever she needed more. All this time she had been on a soul searching journey trying to discover what life had in her store for her after discarding her role as Lorekeeper. She traveled across the lands with Salamence, and yet through it all, she began to realize how little she felt for it all, and so that journey was cut short.

A grunt from Salamence beneath her, looks like they were here. A pat on the neck and Salamence descended from the skies. Eyes resting on a massive tower standing in the middle of the Hoenn sea. Salamence touched down at the top of the tower and flexed his wings from the long flight. She hopped off and rubbed his neck, earning a mix of a growl and a purr from the dragon.

"Thanks," she said, flipping her hood, shaking her black hair free, mindful of the ponytail in the back. Undoing the cloak and stretching, one would think wearing a black t-shirt and short shorts during a flight would lead to one being cold. But again, she was used to flying.

An uneasy smile spread across her face. Here she was again; Sky Pillar, the place of her defeat and her worldview falling all around here. Rayquaza was supposed to be at her side for all of this. Save the world, fulfill her destiny as Lorekeeper and do something with herself. But no, here she was again, empty-handed and directionless. She didn't know where else to turn.

"Well Zinnia…" She began, speaking to no one in particular, walking to the edge of the pillar and looking up to the sky, a bright sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky; perfect weather to how nothing has come of her life since she failed. She sighed, realizing she didn't have the gall to openly admit it all. Her gaze looked back over the vast sea, and then she looked down, a part of her acknowledging a drop like that would certainly end her.

An annoyed roar from Salamence behind her, and the thought was out of her mind.

"I know, I know." Zinnia chuckled, turning around to face him. He was already walking towards her, headbutting her gently and rumbling as Zinnia rubbed and scratched at his head. She could always count on him through all of this.

And then the sky grew dark.

Zinnia and Salamence looked up, grimacing as the sky began to turn cloudy in an unnatural way. A quick drop in temperature that made her shiver, clouds that blocked out the sun, and why was it purple?

And then she heard the roaring, a roaring she was all too familiar with. The two whipped around, a massive green snake like pokemon flying panicked through the sky, blobs of black stuck to it, and slowly covering its body. She recognized Rayquaza immediately, but what were those things attached to it?

She couldn't dwell on those thoughts for long, as Rayquaza was beginning to come crashing down on the top of the Pillar. A quick look and Zinnia was already running, Salamence flying right beside her. A quick jump and the two were off the tower as Rayquaza crash landed, still writhing and squirming.

The thought of a second chance was honestly the farthest from her mind, doing her job as a Draconid and a Lorekeeper was priority number one. A quick tap and Salamence was back on the roof of the pillar. Zinnia rushed towards Rayquaza, but hesitated when she realized she didn't even know what she was dealing with. She noticed that Rayquaza's scales were turning black as night

"Hu…man…" Zinnia eyes snapped to Rayquaza's muzzle, the screaming stopped as it was breathing raggedly. No, it didn't speak, it was a voice in her mind "Human." it spoke clearer now, a hint of hope in its voice.

"It'll be okay. I'm here to help." Zinnia tried to be reassuring, still assessing what to do.

"Yes…thank you…" the voice continued, the panic gone, only a calm relief "You will help me." and suddenly Rayquaza's body was disappearing, turning into wisps and smoke that swirled around Zinnia.

"What? Nononono…-!?" Zinnia backed up, slipping back into a familiar despair, realizing she was about to fail at her duty again. When the shadows began to swirl around her however, she realized this was something more, something worse. She screamed as she heard the bubbling shadow of an inhale before launching itself at her; it quickly surrounded her and began to seep into her body, recoiling as the shadows slowly entered her body, a dark aura swarmed her body as she suddenly stopped moving; she had lost control of her body "L…Let go of me!" Zinnia thrashed as her body began to hurt as the aura applied pressure to her body.

"This needs to be quick." She heard Rayquaza speak, completely ignoring Zinnia's plea. she saw her hands begin to rise up, her eyes went wide in fear as she saw long silver talons begin to pierce her fingertips; blood seeping from the puncture holes as they rolled down her hands. she saw her left hand begin to reach for her right and her new claws came down on her arm, tearing the skin away in a combination of blood and flesh. her other hand followed suit upon her other arm. She screamed, watching the it all slide away from her open wounds. she gasped as she saw that in its place were black scales instead of her flesh. There were not the green scales like Rayquaza, this was something more, something worse. Zinnia's breathing was becoming fast and uneven as her hands reached the back of her head.

"Next…" as the shadow forced her to rip the skin from her face. Zinnia howled in agony as she saw her skin and hair get thrown to the ground in clumps. The sky above him crashed and stormed with lightning and rain. The rain came down upon her body harshly, which didn't help her expanding muzzle as her skull cracked forward. It shot out into a long black muzzle as her tongue shifted as well, turning into a long, thin, serpentine tongue. her eyes clamped shut as she felt the shadows force their ways into her eyes, inverting the colors of her eyes to a sickly yellow with black slits.

"Ssstop!" Zinnia finally found the strength to cry out, sounding more serpentine than she had intended. Her prayers were surprisingly answered and the changes ceased, even for a moment, the shadows left her body as control and pain returned to her body.

"I know this is painful, and I am sorry it has to be like this." she heard Rayquaza and a new voice speaking in unison now "Like you, I have also lost my purpose, but this is how we regain it." Zinnia remained silent, still in too much pain to speak "Look at yourself, Zinnia," the shadows picked her up to show him to a puddle that the rain had created "We know what happened. The day you feel you lost your role as Lorekeeper, when they stepped in and saved the world with me instead of you." Rayquaza watched Zinnia stare at her reflection for a moment "Now that we are together, you can have purpose again, meaning. What better way to become a true Lorekeeper than with us together?" It was Rayquaza mostly talking at this point.

Zinnia, in her addled state of mind, was transfixed on what they were saying. A chance to set everything right. A chance to live up to everything that she had to give up when she failed as Lorekeeper. Another concerned roar from Salamence in the distance shook her from her thoughts for a moment. She looked at her pokemon, and never seen him look so scared.

"I know…I'm scared too. But I'll be okay." it was hard for Zinnia to look away and ignore the next roar "Keep going," Zinnia sighed feebly. A pause, and then she felt tired. So tired. Another roar from Salamence, one she had to drown out now.

"I understand. The three of us are going to do something amazing." two voices in her mind now. The shadow attacked Zinnia again forcing itself into its body. Rayquaza was about to force Zinnia to tear at herself more before realizing Zinnia was fighting the shadow to the point of controlling them. Rayquaza allowed Zinnia to continue.

"Grrk!" Zinnia began to mutilate herself by tearing her ears away, leaving ear holes at the sides of her face. Rayquaza was surprised to see Zinnia smile lazily at her action. Zinnia reached for her clothing and with amazing strength; she tore it all away in one rip. Zinnia laughed as he saw her body become bloody. The rain washed away her blood, revealing black scales with yellow, glowing etchings tracing across them. Zinnia fell to the ground, her legs suddenly numb. she raised her lower back to the stormy sky as she felt pressure building up. She bellowed as finally, a long, bloody black tail erupted from her back. she writhed as it grew farther out in chunks at a time. Every single burst of her growing tail caused her to roar and writhe. A part of her recognized this was all supposed to hurt. But with the promise of setting everything right, be it euphoria or mania, she was ready to see it all through.

Zinnia grunted as her neck and body began to grow longer and longer with each passing second. her roaring grew deeper with each passing second. Before long, Zinnia grew taller than Salamence, taller than she ever was or ever would become. The transformation was complete and Zinnia knew it. she brought her new, long serpentine body upward as she now looked at her new body. she began to wheeze in excitement before letting out a primal roar that released a bright beam of powerful energy that launched itself into the heavens, causing lightning to dance across the sky.

"You've done so well Zinnia, now let us all work together to find our purpose." Three voices in unison spoke. Their head turned to Salamence, Zinnia's pokemon who had to sit there and watch her transformation into this monster. A horrified look on its muzzle as it watched its master transform before its eyes. It's a miracle it stayed through it all.

"A witness." the first voice spoke calmly.

"A challenger." Rayquaza's voice spoke angrily.

"No, an ally." Zinnia spoke through them. A moment's pause and the other two voices relented, agreed even. Darkness pooled around Salamence, who tried to fly away in time, but it was too late. The darkness overwhelmed him, before dripping away and revealing Salamence standing there, a grim determination on their muzzle that showed they would follow their friend, now matter what.

A twitch, and Rayquaza looked through the storm clouds, seeing two figures flying towards them at a breakneck pace. Two other dragons, one blue and white, the other red and white "...Challengers…" the three voices agreed on this much. The body moving and coiling on itself, flying up into the clouds to face the two dragons. "I…will not be stopped…again…" one of the voices whispered, fueling the dark emotions of the other two. There would be no witnesses to what happened here, no one to spread the word and warn others. Their retribution would be swift.