Author's Note: This story was written for fun.

Reviews and comments are welcome. Malicious remarks and destructive criticism are not. Please remember that the people behind the computer screens are real human beings with feelings.

CHAPTER 1

Ting. Ting.

Distant, low-pitched chimes echoed in meaningful intervals. More gradually joined in and overlapped each other. The sounds weren't loud enough that they'd piss off local Pokemon, and that was the whole point. My eyes snapped open.

Today was the day.

I crawled out from ragged blankets laid haphazardly over scraps of fur — what I called my bed — and padded barefoot across the floor. Only a few strides were needed to reach a basin by the wall, and that wasn't far considering they came from a child. The 'house' I lived in didn't own up to its name; it was a single cramped room in actuality. A barebones dwelling fashioned from humble earth and stone.

Cold water that had been brought in the night before was scooped up and splashed over my face. Strands of blue hair so dark it almost seemed black clung to my skin. My hand grasped at empty air, fumbling for the rag I knew was nearby— oh, there it was. I dragged it across my face, blinked water out of gray eyes, and moved on.

Like clockwork, I went through the rest of my morning routine. My so-called bed was meticulously rearranged. Pajamas were exchanged for plain, earthy clothes made from cotton, one of only two other sets of garments I owned. An egg and loaf of bread were then retrieved from my makeshift fridge for breakfast. Normally that would have been it, but today was special. I grinned and pulled out strips of meat I'd been saving. From a pouch nearby, I grabbed a dark and unassuming rock that fit snugly in my palm. I squeezed the Cinderstone twice, lowered it into a little pit on a stone countertop, and then covered the hole with a battered pan.

Minutes passed. I cleaned the floor to keep myself busy. Eventually, faint crackling sounds drifted through the air like whispers.

The egg from before was promptly cracked, and its contents spilled onto sizzling metal. I tossed the eggshell into a separate container for later and added the meat to the now heated pan. This was going to take a bit. Cooking with a Cinderstone wasn't ideal, at least not with a low-quality rock like the one in my possession, but I didn't have an alternative. Nor did most people in the city. There weren't enough premium Cinderstones to go around, and I didn't have a Fire type who could make a stronger flame… or any Pokemon, really.

That was going to change after today.

I savored breakfast as long as possible after it was fully cooked. It wasn't often I got to enjoy meat. The weekly rations City Hall handed out almost never changed. Usually it was some combination of milk, bread, eggs, vegetables, and a handful of fruits and Berries. Bland but healthy. If you wanted meat, you either had to exchange tokens or wait for it to be distributed on special occasions.

I could have bought meat whenever I wanted or even new blankets and clothes, but I'd long been saving my contribution tokens for things higher on my priority list.

There wasn't any more time to hang around, not unless I wanted to get to school late. The used pan was hurriedly rinsed and stowed away. Underneath, the Cinderstone had reverted to its usual dark hue indicating it was safe to pick up. It was one of many things I grabbed and stashed in my backpack before darting out the door.

My face was instantly washed aglow with warm shades of yellow.

It was bright. Very bright, but it didn't come from the sun. No, the sources of light came from lampposts and little rocks half-buried in the ground. Daystones. I even carried one with me in an unactivated state, but I had no use for it right now. Stone houses nearly identical to my own blurred past as I ran down a maze of streets, some so narrow that I had to inhale sharply and squeeze through to forge ahead. People were already up and about this early in the morning. Everyone had places to be and roles to fulfill. I carefully maneuvered around passersby as I made my way deeper into the city, and a few of them called out to me.

"Hey, Orion! Off to school?"

"Thanks for helping me yesterday!"

They were all people I regularly ran errands for. Hasty good mornings spilled out of my mouth, but I never stopped sprinting.

My surroundings started to change at one point. Buildings got taller, bigger, older. Some of them even had actual color and ornamentation etched or dyed into their facades. Streets widened out to have more breathing space, but houses everywhere remained densely-packed together in unending rows. My eyes picked out a gigantic watchtower in the distance. There were over a dozen of them spread out across the city, each with a bell to signal the time. For those who missed the hourly call, they had the luxury of looking at the mechanical hands ticking along their sides. I didn't know or care too much to know the science behind how they worked, but apparently some scientist among the earliest survivors had found a way to make clocks work using a combination of Day and Powerstones.

So long as you didn't look up at the telltale darkness looming high, high above or the lack of a sky, one never would have guessed all of this was far below ground.

Belona, the Underground City.

Its beginnings as a shoddy, half-constructed military base turned evacuation center were a thing of the distant past. Now, this underground settlement had turned into something truly worth calling one of humanity's last bastions.

It was home to thousands of people including me.

The next street I swerved onto had locals crowded around a certain house for some reason. I was more interested in getting to class on time, but I did spare a look when I passed by. Snatches of distinct white and gold uniforms appeared in small gaps in the crowd, and I got a fuller view when some bystanders walked away.

I knew I hadn't seen wrong. A group of men and women knelt by a still body on the ground, one whose face was covered with a white cloth. Their eyes were closed as they raised their hands in silent prayer.

Members of the Euria Church. They were devout followers of Arceus, the Original One. Further away from them, people whispered quietly among themselves.

"Kane's neighbor found him this morning."

"Was it Terrabloom?"

"Yeah… May he rest in the Original One's embrace."

Even though I was a kid, it wasn't my first time seeing a dead body. Death was a common occurrence in the underground. You got used to it after a while. That didn't stop a brief twinge of pain from passing through my chest.

The same disease they'd mentioned had claimed mom last year.

It was more likely to occur in people who had prolonged exposure to the raw and unpurified versions of the stones we used in our everyday life, ones like the Cinderstones I'd used earlier. The name came from stone-like shards that would grow out of your skin in the shape of jagged petals. A lot of miners passed away at early ages because of Terrabloom. Mom hadn't worked in the mines, but she'd worked as a stone carver and processor. Never knew my dad as he'd died before I was born. A Rhydon had gotten him during a tunnel patrol.

Mom had raised me by herself. I still remembered her last words to me.

Live as long as you can and be happy.

I lingered a little longer, eyes locked onto the scene of prayer. Then my feet unglued themselves from the earth, and I went on my way without another look back.

Five minutes later, I finally made it to school. It wasn't a particularly impressive or large building, but it did stand out with its bright green roof. I hurried inside and made my way through drab halls to a room labelled Class 4-C. There were a bunch of kids inside already, and almost all of them were older. The only other person my age here was a boy named Stein. Like usual, he sat in a corner of the room by himself. The most I could see was a clump of messy brown hair as he hunched over his desk, scribbling who knew what in a tattered notebook.

He and I had skipped class grades together. We'd never talked before, but he consistently tied with me for the highest marks on assessments. Very smart.

I took a seat in between two of my classmates and exchanged friendly greetings. I wasn't particularly close with anyone in my class, but that was fine with me. None of them had interests or ambitions remotely similar to mine as far as I was aware.

Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long. Mrs. Kino plodded in soon enough to take attendance. Quiet affirmatives rang out in the wake of names being called.

"Stein Colson."

"Kanae Duvolks."

Then she got to my name on the list.

"Orion Hadley."

"Here."

Our small class of twelve meant attendance was over and done with in the blink of an eye. If only the rest of the school day could have been the same. Instead, it felt painfully slow… even more than usual. My leg bounced wildly underneath the desk as we crawled through lesson after lesson. I wanted out of here already.

I knew a lot of what we were being taught because I'd studied ahead, anything to graduate from mandatory schooling as fast as possible. There was higher education available for people who wanted to pursue specialized jobs like tending to the fields, but I wasn't going to apply for that. Schools covered basic subjects like arithmetics, reading, writing, and…

History, just like the somber story we were being told right now. It was one every citizen of Belona had heard before from the moment they were born until their dying breath. A piece of history passed down through generations as a lesson and warning.

It was also the same story that was drilled into our heads at least once a week

People were already falling asleep in the audience as Mrs. Kino droned on in a grave tone. I would have joined them ordinarily, but I paid special attention today.

"Ninety-four years ago, slumbering Legendaries awoke across the world," our teacher intoned. Her brittle voice echoed in the classroom as she paced from one end of the room to the other. "Beings of great and unfathomable power. Some were gods who even played a part in shaping and governing the world's beginnings. Most are Pokemon that humans cannot ever hope to fight against, but we didn't have to fear them. They didn't care about humanity and left us alone to flourish."

She paused meaningfully. The fateful caveat was coming.

"That was only if we reciprocated. Written records reveal how various organizations back then, both criminal and ordinary ones alike, showed interest in the power of gods. They wanted to harness that vast power for themselves, so they tried to capture Legendaries. Awaken them. Control them."

She scoffed, and I did the same in my head. The saying fuck around and find out was about to apply to the next part of this familiar story.

"Foolish endeavors. They brought ruin upon us all. From records, we know that the first Legendary awoke in Hoenn. Kyogre brought with it neverending floods and storms. Groudon awoke next in response to the surging seas, and Rayquaza then came down from the skies to quell their conflict. In Galar, a great disaster of its own unfolded. A terrible being was unleashed to steal energy without end, and it could not be stopped. In Kanto-Johto, Alola, Unova, and every region in the world— Legends felt the shift in the world's overall balance and rose from the deep one by one. Some wanted to punish humanity further for their greed. Others wished to stop their rampaging brethren."

"Legends who were never supposed to meet fought. One Legend is already enough to herald a region's doom. With so many active at once, it inevitably resulted in a catastrophic clash of titans that almost destroyed the entire world: the Longest Night. Over half the world's population was wiped out in a day from these collisions of untamed power."

Mrs. Kino's voice dropped further in pitch as she continued, and this time, it took on a reverent tone. Like a lot of people in Belona, she was a devout believer.

"The Original One, Arceus, eventually intervened and put a stop to the warring legends, but too much damage had been inflicted by then. Entire cities had been destroyed, continents ravaged, and many lives lost. The rest of the world had to retreat underground. They had to avoid the miasma that had accumulated on the surface from the gods' wrath…"

It was always at this point in the story that I clenched a fist.

My mind drifted to lands far away, of rolling valleys and mountains, trees and Pokemon species I'd only ever read about in books at the library— anywhere but here and this godforsaken underground.

I snapped back to reality when Mrs. Kino's voice grew louder.

"Now… can anyone finish and tell me the history of Belona's founding?"

I threw a quick glance around the room before she finished speaking. Yep, everyone was basically out cold except for me and Stein, and the latter was still jotting things down in his notebook without a care in the world.

Looked like it was up to me to end our mutual suffering.

I sighed inwardly and briefly raised a hand, plastering a smile on my face as I did.

"Led by remnants of the Eires League, survivors of Roenwall City fled south and took over a half-finished military base—"

Ting. Ting.

Annnnd I was saved by bells chiming in the distance. Fantastic timing.

"Remember, today's only a half-day, so—"

I was out of my seat faster than Mrs. Kino could finish. I practically ran up to her podium and held out an expectant hand. I'd been waiting all day for this. On a technical level, I'd been waiting the better half of a whole year.

The middle-aged woman smiled wryly, handing me a folded letter long written in advance.

"You've earned it, Orion. Happy tenth birthday," she told me with full sincerity. Huh, so she was capable of injecting her monotonous voice with some emotion after all.

I blurted out a thank you, snatched the paper from her, and spun on my heel all in the same motion. Envious looks from my older classmates followed me out the door. They might not have known exactly what the paper was for, but they had pretty good ideas. Rumors had been flying around our school ever since a recruitment officer from the Belright Guards started making visits in and out of the principal's office.

It didn't take a genius to figure out they had their eye on a talented individual.

A wide, almost maniacal grin threatened to split my face in two as I ran down the halls. After a pit stop at the cafeteria to pick up free food, I dashed out of school in the direction of City Hall. My heartbeat quickened for every step I flew.

Something gnawed at my insides without end. It was an insatiable hunger, and it wasn't because I needed to eat.

I didn't plan on living and dying here in the underground like everyone else. I was going to leave someday.

And to achieve my ambitions long harbored in secret, I needed to go get my first Pokemon.

Author's Note: This is very different from any of my other Pokemon fics: a fantasy, post-apocalyptic journeyfic with kingdom building-esque elements far down the road. Features an OC protagonist, an original region, and… no spoilers, but some other stuff not canon to the franchise. No "Fakemon" before anyone asks or worries, but changes to existing Gen 1-9 Pokemon are fair game. Creative liberties, you know the drill.

Buckle in for the ride, it's going to be a long and epic one as our protagonist carves a legend for himself. Expect shorter chapters on average compared to the other fics I write.

Visual reference for Belona City from an image I found online: https i imgur com LyKfIHr png

A wiki/database thing for this fic can be found among my AO3 works. Will contain information about the MC and his team, side characters, lore, terminology, etc. going forward: https archiveofourown org works 60913462 chapters 158608414