In the Beginning; The Tale of Mew, An original fan-fiction by Polursine

That's right! I'm doing a fan fiction. It isn't complete, but I have done 9 chapters so far; few more to go (hoping for 15)

I use WordPad, so if you find an error, point it out. It's a pain to read something that you know what to expect...

Anyway, here's a short Prologue. It kinda has nothing to do with the basic story line, so I guess you could call it a teaser trailer...
~

IN THE BEGINNING
The tale of Mew

Prologue

Pain. Suffering. Fear. Darkness. Mystery.

He wrestled in his sleep.

Misery. Sadness. Isolation. Terror. Insanity.

It wouldn't stop. It had gone on too long. No more, he begged. Please, stop this damn nightmare before it consumes us all.

A blur of white, and a scurry of hooves. The winds picked up in the darkened place. How can something exist in such blackness? The pain of not seeing any light, of not having contact with any physical being. How?

He sat up, eyes wide open in shock. Sweat dripped from his head. The dream had eaten him whole, but he had passed the test. His breath slowed, and returned to normal rate. "Test?" he whispered into the night. He pondered at what the test was, and how he had come to taking it.

That tale? he thought. A connection, perhaps?

In a far away place not known to man, sat a pink being. It cowered in the shades of the surrounding trees. Its bright blue eyes hung low and heavy. The body lay huddled and motionless. What this thing had experienced was not natural.

And not possible.

~

Who-Hah! You'd probably never guess what the "blur of white and scurry of hooves" was! :D

C+C before Chapter 1?

Well, it was pretty short [Yes, I know you specified that it would be short, but still].

Combine the overall shortness of the prologue with the style of fragments and one word sentences you used, and it comes across as very quick and a tad bit rushed.

Also, when the 'boy' is thinking in his head, try using italics or quotations to seperate his internal dialogue with the rest of the story. Makes it easier to identify and cleaner/neater.

Take the time to flesh things out more. For example, you just quickly passed by the description of wherever Mew [I'm assuming that pink thing was Mew based on the title and its description] was asleep[?], just saying it was a place far away and not known to man. Maybe stick in a sentence or two detailing what the environment was like, the terrain Mew's laying on, the color of the sky/time of day, things of that nature.

Like I said before, very short, and comes off as a bit rushed. You have sentences that are split up that should probably be combined in order to make the story flow more smoothly and seem lengthier.

But, overall, it was pretty good. Your word choice was fitting of the story so far, though that whole 'test' part could use some more explanation [though I assume that'll come up later on, so that's fine], and the concept seems original thus far. Keep it up.

~Sky Bandit~

This post has been edited by Sky Bandit on May 6 2007, 11:25 PM

Erm...

You need to order sentence 1 and 3 of the quote in order of lowest to highest priority.

Plus, if you won't remove either misery or sadness, don't put them next to each other. :P

REPLIES :O

1. Oh, there's more. Lots more. That's just the prologue.
2. You'll find out about where Mew is later in the story. There's four seperate tales being told at once.
3. Things get more longer as the story drags on. You'll find that this was only a teaser trailer, and has really nothing to do with the basic story line.

Jake: Bah. They're just random words I chucked in. Pain, Suffering, Fear is a Star Wars quote. I might change "Misery" to something else...Ideas?

Anywho, here's Chapapater 1 :D

CHAPTER 1: To Know the Unown

Several thousand years later...

"Speak again child, and your head will be mine to keep!" roared a large man. He was pointing to a small boy, around the age of eight, maybe nine. The boy had short trimmed blonde hair, and sparkling blue eyes. '"Sorry Mr Breksten," said the boy in a small tone. He lowered his eyes to the desk and continued to work. "Now, now Thomas, you know that I hate to shout, but your continuing chatter does irritate me from time to time." said Mr Breksten.

Mr Breksten turned around, and stood at the blackboard. He grabbed something from the low ledge, and moved his hand about the dusty area. He had drawn some strange symbols with the fine white chalk in his hand. His bald head shone in the midday sunlight that glared through the open window.

"Now?" he said, forcing rage out of his voice. "Who can tell me what this is?" he questioned the class. He had drawn a white figure of an eye with four small protrusions coming out of the eyes body at diagonal lines.

No one answered. Mr Breksten's eyes met the class. "Anyone?" he questioned. "I know sir," spoke a small girl. The entire class shuffled to meet the girl. She was young, and pretty. Her hair brown and long, tied neatly in a ponytail. Her hazel eyes glittered with intelligence.

"That," she said with confidence, "is Unown X". She placed her hands together on top of the desk. She smiled happily and triumphantly. Mr Breksten grinned too, either at the cuteness of the girl, or her voice, or that he was in a cheerful mood. His guess wasn't placed on option two.

"How right you are, Alice," Mr Breksten said, standing back up straight. "Can anyone tell me, in few detail as possible, what the Unown were for? Their purpose?" he asked the class, now strolling the front row of students.

Silence again. There was a cough from someone, who then forced to keep it down. Alice rolled her eyes, and raised her hand. Without care if anyone else wanted to answer, he acknowledged Alice's smarts by swiftly striking his hand toward her direction. "It depends on where you are. In Johto, collecting all Unowns give you the right for an UnownDex. In the Sevii Islands, they are just there for the sake of mystery. No one is sure..." she said, but was cut off by Mr Breksten who had given her a stern look.

"In few detail, m'dear," he reminded. If Mr Breksten wanted somthing, it was best to read the fine print before signing the contract. "But yes, the Unown do serve bizarre wonders. If anyone has any information they would like to share about the subject, please say so. This has been most a pleasing conversation," he said eyeing Thomas.

All was quiet. Mr Breksten rolled his eyes in frustration. "Very well, make that your homework," he sighed. The class moaned, but Mr Breksten ignored the pleas. "Now, now. Just because today is the last day until your schooling break, does not mean you cannot have some research to do over the holiday." he said over the class' continuing awe.

Then came the bell. It chimed five times, with a second between each clang of the metal ball. It played a harmonious D Major chord, according to Kenny, a stout but musically talented boy, during the previous week's music class. The final lesson of the day had ended, on a disappointing note. The class hurried out, grabbing books and paper, and anything else that belonged to them.

"Alice! Wait up!" called Thomas, as Alice was leaving the room. She turned around, books closed upon her chest. She looked at Thomas with opened eyes, as if she was asking him what he had wanted. "I..." he paused. His emotions were getting in the way of his life with her. "I found that gold locket you were looking for," he said. "Where is it?!" she said excitedly. "At home. Had you tried to look under the bed, you may have discovered it," he sighed.

Alice blushed. "To look under there would be like looking in mud. It's filthy, full of disgusting things, and you can't see anything," Alice said trying to cover her cowardice. Thomas looked at her with confusion. "Stop being a wuss, and start doing the fun stuff in life! Learn to explore caves, ponder the mysteries of life, and down right have the best time of your life like there's no tomorrow!" he said, grabbing Alice's hand and began to run down the busy hallway.

Alice jerked her arm backward, stopping Thomas in his tracks. His gaze shifted to curiousity. "Learn to learn about these things first, before you get yourself killed!" she laughed. But she was serious. Thomas shrugged, and let out a sigh. "And here I was thinking you were boring," he said sarcastically. Alice jokingly hit him with a back hand to knock him out of his foolish game of "Let's Pity Alice Because She'd Rather Read Than Ride", or so he called it.

"I'd rather do this task before the time is up. You should follow my example," she said walking toward the library. "What have I got to lose? I've got all that I need right here!" he said, refering to Alice as his eventual completion of the homework.

As the two walked down the almost empty corridor to the library, Thomas asked, "Why do they call it 'Homework'? Clearly it was meant to be done at home!" Alice whacked him again, this time with a book. The two laughed at the situation, and pushed the double doors of the library open.

---*---

"Grandma's locket!" Alice shrieked. "You found it!". Alice hugged the gold locket close to her heart. "She would kill me if I had lost this!".

"Good thing you didn't..." murmured Thomas, hiding his voice behind his hand. He knew Alice heard it, and sort of wanted to. Alice blushed, and hit Thomas with a back handed slap. She smiled, and placed the locket around her neck.

The locket was a sight of beauty. It's golden surrounding encased in a small oval with a transluctant diamond in the middle, sparkled in the sunlight. The long linked chain dangled at the tip of the locket from a thin small golden arch. Whatever this thing was made of, it was sure to be worth a bit.

She smiled at him, in a sort of thanking manner. He smiled too, but only due to its contagious nature. That and it would be rude not to.

"What's so special about this hunk of gold, anyway?" Thomas asked, bending his knees and looking deeply into the diamond that was embedded in the locket. He could see his face in all the surfaces of the gem. He watched as he moved his head from side to side to see what reaction it would have on the mirrored images of his face.

Alice placed her hand over the locket and brought it up to her heart. Thomas, startled at the sudden loss of his game, peered up to Alice. "This was the last remnant she gave to me before she died years ago," she said sweetly, and closed her eyes. "She said, "One day, you too will know what lies in the heavens, the earth, and the unknown"".

"Joy! More speaking of the mysteries of life," Thomas said under his breath. He hadn't disturbed Alice from her sad memory, which was a good sign of tolerance.

"She said to find where my heart truly belongs and the discover the rights of all. She was 89," Alice finished. A small tear ran down Alice's cheek. Thomas wiped it away with his hand, and grabbed her chin.

"Sounds like we got some work to do," he whispered into her eyes.

---*---

The two had left the awkward topic of her wise, dead grandmother, and were out the yard kicking around a soccer ball. Its black and white shapes blurring with each other across the green and brown lawn. Even though it had been a long, dry, drought, the lawn had managed to keep alive. Even with little water.

The yard was small, but not to small. Big, but not to big. It was right next door to a large, open field of hills and hay. Golden brown weeds and grass flooded the land, and made the sunsets look divine, almost like a gift from the gods. Flocks of Pidgey and Pidgeotto, bird like Pokémon with a coat of brown feathers and a head tail of red and gold, were often seen from time to time, scowering the fields for food.

Seperating the two sections was a small white picket fence, only about a metre tall. To its right was a large oak tree, smothered in deep green wines. The vines had stretched vastly over the fence, and formed a small hedge near the tree. Surrounding the green to gold lawn was a flower bed. Basic, but beautiful. Flowers of all sorts were placed equally in the soil, varing in colour and size. Nothing seemed like it was there in duplicate.

Thomas had the ball at his bare feet. Not even Alice could convince him to wear shoes, and she was a darn good debater. He was smiling wildly. Alice was red in the face, from all the running she had done.

The idea of the game was to see who could get the ball from the other person. You could only use your feet, anything else earned the right to hand the ball over immediately. The objective was to get the ball into the other person's goals, in this case, was Alice's washing basket (it was simply tipped on its side). It was very similar to the real sport Soccer, but the idea was to get three in a row. The moment you had the ball taken away, your score was taken back to zero (touching the ball did not count, only full body control).

Thomas was in the lead with one goal. And it was a fluke too. He had kicked the ball a bit too hard it had reflected off of the oak tree's trunk and rolled slowly into the goal.

Alice watched the ball intently. Thomas was batting it side to side with his feet, taunting Alice to get it. She breathed in deeply, then out, and closed her eyes. She sat down, in a meditating type pose.

"You're not a Meditite!" Thomas shouted, trying to awaken Alice. She remained silent.

Thomas took the opportunity to walk around her with the ball, and to put it into the goal. But as he stood right in front of the basket, his feet fumbled, and the ball was gone! Alice was shooting down the lawn, the ball at her feet. She was grimacing at her plan.

She kicked! And scored! The tables turned, and she was now in the lead, with full dominance of the game. But Thomas has stopped, and was still standing at the goals, staring into the open fields.

Alice turned as well and saw what Thomas was seeing.

There in the golden brown field right next to where they were playing was a large red bird with green tipped wings. Its black feet stabbed into the soft, dry ground. It's golden head feathers and broom like tail glittered in the evening light.

There, in front of Alice and Thomas, stood a Ho-Oh.

---*---

Hoo-Hah! I'm incorpreting Colo and with the 'prequel' to the Cipher project and why Team Rocket wasn't included in the games...You'll be getting answers to questions you probably didn't ask yourself in the games.

The Chapter itself is kinda cheezy. Gets better IMO at the very end with the Ho-Oh and all. Chapter 2 is kinda cheezy as well, but has a fairly cool battle scene.

CHAPTER 2: Gold and Silver Blood

They stood in shock and awe, with a little confusion. Why was a Ho-Oh in the middle of an open field, watching humans play a game, and them watching it? What had brought it here, and why? Questions raced in and out of Alice's mind like a speeding race car.

Alice and Thomas stood perfectly still, as the Ho-Oh shuffled about, obviously trying to stand its ground. It tilted its head to its side as it gazed at Thomas. They watched in caution as the large phoenix edged slowly towards them. It too was cautious. It was understandable, as any powerful Legendary Pokémon would want to be captured by any trainers that saw it.

"I think it's coming towards you," whispered Alice, after noticing that the Ho-Oh had changed its path of destination toward Thomas. Thomas gulped, and stood straight up, sweat wriggling through his pores.

The Ho-Oh squawked a bit, as it closed in on Thomas. It looked him in the eyes from the distance. There is something about this human, thought the Ho-Oh to itself. Maybe he can help.

The Ho-Oh raised its body to full height, wings broad and coloured. It flapped them while screeching into the sunset evening.

Thomas and Alice jumped, and posed ready to run. But continued to look into the bird's eyes. It was here on a mission, to collect something. Someone was in danger, from a higher being, and it was up to the Ho-Oh to help. It was all a guess, but from the activity of the Ho-Oh, this was something serious.

The Ho-Oh contined to scream, its giant wings beating rapidly with glitters of light speckling the sky. Then came a soothing cry. The trees began to sway heavily, and the hay field moved in syncronised motions.

There was a SWOOSH!, and gusts of high velocity pushed the nearby abandoned shed over, the cramp dust gliding with the wind. Thomas had shielded his eyes, but saw a large branch knock Alice in the head. He cried into the winds, but was barely heard. He tried to run to her side, but saw something of more serious nature. Even the Ho-Oh had turned to face the disturbance.

The counterpart for Ho-Oh stood in the field. But its wasn't right. Lugia was meant to be white, not purple. Its eye covers black, not deep blue. The Lugia was evil, straight to the heart.

And it wasn't alone. On his back sat a plump man, hooded, but it was visible to see his face. The shadow served no use for him now.

This man's hair was white to grey, and was only extended to either side. He was completely bald elsewhere. The black cape covered his body, so Thomas could not recognise anything else.

Thomas ran for Alice, trying to wake her with light slaps on the face. Nothing. He grabbed her by the arms and dragged her inside the house, to safety.

The Lugia stared at the Ho-Oh, who immediately began to fly away. The Lugia opened its mouth, and a long funnel of air hit the Ho-Oh. It fell to the ground, in apparant shock. Aeroblast had made a Critical Hit. Ho-Oh lay on the ground, gasping for air. The Lugia flapped over to the Ho-Oh, and bent its head and looked the phoenix in the eyes at close range.

"How the stories were so wrong," said the man on the Lugia's back. "And now, with you at my hand, the rainbows will die, and your heart will be locked. The light never to be seen." The Lugia growled lowly. Ho-Oh tried to retaliate to the snarl, but fell back into exhaution.

The man pulled out a Pokeball, only purple with the letter M imprinted on its top half. Attached to the man's arm was a strange machine, wires and metal forming an exoskeleton for the limb. He grasped the ball in it, and threw. A red aurora surrounded the Ho-Oh, as it retreated into the Master Ball.

The Master Ball lay on the ground. It wiggled from side to side. One. Two. Three. DING! It was caught.

The man snickered. "With the blood of gold and silver at my hand, the world will fall," he said, as the Lugia took off, grasping the Master Ball in its foot. The giant purple bird flew into the sky.

---*---

Alice woke several hours later, and found herself in the lounge room of the house in which she and Thomas lived. An elderly lady sat by her side, smiling. "Welcome back to real life, m'dear," she said. Alice stirred. But she fell weak again. Her head heavy and in pain. She gritted to try and stop the soreness.

"Rest easy child," the old lady said, rubbing her hand on Alice's cheek.

Thomas walked in, carrying a tray of drinks. He sighed in relief. "Finally, you're awake," he said, putting the drinks on a small coffee table, and sat in a chair opposite the old lady. Alice shuffled to face him.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was a giant purple blur in the fields. It was very windy. Ho-Oh was looking worried," she said weakly. She wanted to know answers, and now. "You were knocked out, by a branch. I had to drag you inside. I'm not sure what happened after that," Thomas said, looking sad.

There was an uncomfortable silence. The old lady grabbed an ice pack from the coffee table. She placed it on Alice's head. "Grandma, I think she'll need a moment away from the ice," Thomas said, causing the old lady, who was Thomas' grandmother, to pause. "Thankyou, Lesleigh, but I think I'll just wait a moment," Alice said, reinforcing Thomas' protest.

Lesleigh shrugged, and put the icepack back down again.

"What was the purple thing?" she asked. Thomas looked at her with cold dark eyes. He remembered seeing the evil Lugia, the unnatural being from who knows where. "It...It..." he held the sour taste of sickness in his throat. "A Lugia," he murmured. Leisleigh sat up, now interested in the conversation. She watched her grandson as he bit his tounge hard at the bad memory.

"Lugia is white. Why..." began Alice, but was butt in by Thomas.

"I don't know how, but it was purple. And the moment I looked into its black eyes, I saw evil." Thomas looked horrified. "It made no sense. Why would a beautiful calm Pokémon be so....monsterous?"

Alice was clueless. A purple Lugia indeed was a mystery. She remembered Thomas saying to have fun when trying to figure out the impossible. She knew this was wise, as if stressing over the difficult, it can lead to internal distruption, eventually insanity.

"And," he continued, looking een more befabbled than ever. "there was a man on its back. Its master, at my guess." Thomas gave a sort of sniff of 'unbelievable' or 'it makes no sense'. '"Who would want to control a beast like that?" He fell deep into his seat.

Lesleigh got up, anger and confusion consuming her face.

"What is it Grandma?" Thomas said, snapping out of his moment of darkness. She continued to looked really mad. Her eyes were fixed to the roof. Something was up there that would put an answer to this question.

She stormed out of the lounge room, and into the hallway, and up the spiralling stair case.

Thomas looked at Alice. He didn't want to leave her in her current state. "Go!" she begged. "I'll be fine". Thomas nodded, and scooted to the stairs.

As he ascended the stairs, he heard a loud thud, and a clatter of chains. Thomas reached the attic, and saw his Grandmother. Lesleigh was standing near a large open chest, chains pouring from the inside out slithered along the dusty boards. She was standing with her eyes looked darkly into the chest, her hands by her sides.

"Grandma?" Thomas called from the doorway. "What is it?"

Lesleigh stood still. Thomas tip toed closer, eyeing his grandmother in confusion. "A legendary tale, cast as fiction," she said. She reached into the chest, and drew out a small wooden box.

She slowly opened the lid, and pulled out a book. It was cover coated in a gold paint with big black letters in the middle saying "Blood". She turned the book over, the back being splashed in silver paint.

"Tale? What tale?" said Thomas, pondering the story in which he didn't know. He should have known it, since his grandmother had told him every single story she knew. Except this one.

"Hmph. This was a tale I ignored, simply for its lies," she said, eyeing the book heavily. She began to open it, and turn pages carefully. "I haven't told you this one, because of the misfortune I had with it with your father." Thomas looked gloomy. His father had died the very next day he was born. The day he turned 30. It was a most unlucky birthday.

Lesleigh closed the book. "'A story of love, mystery, and the hidden ability of knowledge'," she quoted from the blurb. "What a load of Grimer," she spat in disgust.

"Do tell, grandma. I have heard all stories by you, except this one that you hate," begged Thomas. Lesleigh shot around. "It would help you answer the questions of these events no doubt, but you will think nothing of it. Forgetting it is a mistake you only make once," she lowered her voice. She sounded sad.

Maybe it has something to do with dad, Thomas thought to himself.

Another awkward silence.

"Alright, but make me the promise you will not forget a word I say," Lesleigh said. "I promise, by the eye of my soul, and the life of my heart," Thomas said, quoting to old oath he and his ancestors had said for many a generation.

Lesleigh nodded in response, and opened the book. "Since I have had it locked up from the world for so long, I may forget things from time to time," she said, quickly reading the book's pages. "Give me a moment to re-read this".

Time passed short. It must have been a few good minutes. Thomas and Lesleigh had sat down onto some dusty old cushion Thomas had found in he back of the attic.

Thomas was growing increasingly bored, but became excited when the book snapped shut.

"Here's the basic story line; Long ago, before Pokémon were even around, there lived an ancient being. He was as white as snow, with a large ring around his body. He had a blank green face, with black eyes to match. His name is not known, but he did the worst thing anything can possibly do; he split his soul. No one is sure why, and when, but this caused a smaller version of himself to appear. This thing, is called Mew.

"Mew learned that he was created by evil, so he destroyed his origins, and absorbed his powers. Mew became power hungry, and gained the knowledge of his former mother-like figure. Becoming evil was not in his intentions. He created clones of itself, over 10, 000 of them, but they were hideously deformed. Each basically took on a form of what we know today, as Pokémon.

"These things appeared out of no where, and attacked people of all over the globe. Blood was split ever moment.

"Until Mew, during its dark rampage of the Earth, came across a small boy and girl. The two were not brother and sister, and indeed not related in any way. Mew attacked the girl, but the boy, in his love for he girl, sacrificed his life for her. While the girl weeped, Mew realised his wrong ways, and resorted back to the calm cool minded creature he was so very long before."

Lesleigh paused. Thomas was eager to hear more. "Is that is?" he questioned, in hopes of an extended story.

Lesleigh continued, her eyes lowering even further. She took pain and sorrow for the tale, and its future. She was doing Thomas a favour, but the worst was yet to come.

"After the revolution of Mew, all of the clones of Mew began to change their ways as well. Each began to cooperate, and settled into the new world. Two giant birds of the deep sea and the sky were called to Mew. Mew asked the two to remain by the weeping girl's side. When Mew left the girl with the birds, the dead boy was resurrected. Joy was in the air. But the birds had not done this action, but rather than a small green forest fairy. She turned time backwards, and saved the boy's life from the wicked Mew's wrath.

"The two birds thanked the fairy, and served only the girl and boy, as requested by Mew. But one night, things got out of control. The deep sea bird, after receiving nothing for his labour, turned evil. It chased the sky bird away, and killed the girl and boy, who were then a fully grown adults."

"What happened to the evil bird?" said Thomas, wanting answers even more than when they first started. Lesleigh lowered her head.

"Something greater happened, unknown to this story. But one thing is for sure; Blood, m'boy, is the key" she said looking wildly into his eyes. "Gold and Silver Blood".

personally, i think that terms like 'critical hit' should be avoided in fics. word it maybe like:
Lugia's attack had severely injured its target.

or something.

Or I could just eliminate the need for pronouns. Critical hit would still retain its meaning of serious and sudden injury.

I don't like the way it ended. I ran over board with the length, and I couldn't find any ideas to finish that crappy Gold and Silver story off, so I just made the grandma stop in a serious nature. 150 lines on WordPad I aim for. I can go over, but only to stop and finish the chapter; as I've done here, but it ended abruptly.

Erm... Master Balls shouldn't have Pokémon struggling to get out. If I recall, in the 4th Pokémon Movie (The celebi one), whenever the evil rocket member through one of those always capture balls, it just sucked it in and went PING!

I had no idea what the Master Ball did, so I went for a Pokeball approach. And if the Ho-Oh was trying to struggle, isn't that an indication of its power?

No Pokémon can escape a Masterball, it's just not plosable. But I am being over-analytical. ^^

although technically you could argue that no one knows that for sure, until all Pokémon have been caught with one.

If you didn't know, this is in a time before the GameCube games of Pokémon. 17 years to be exact. So, maybe the Pokeball technology isn't as advanced (yet later on, you'll find complex machines X3)


CHAPTER 3: New Years Resolution

Thomas walked down the swirl of stairs, his bare feet thumping on the wooden floors. His mind was in a state of shock, or confusion. So many questions, and this tale had something to do with it all.

Alice was lying on the floor, apparantly asleep. Her breathing was loud, but mostly grunts of the nose. Thomas sat in the seat he sat before learning of the lost tale. It must have been a good half and hour or so that he was kept in the attic.

He looked at the clock that hung on the cream white wall. Its pine case shone eeirly beautiful in the ever dying sunlight.

Thomas gave a large sigh. The day had been hectec. Nothing was old. They say new experiences happen to the meek, and the willing. Or maybe they were lying, and it was in fact bad luck. Unlucky as seeing a Murkrow in a full moon, or seeing a Murkrow in general.

Alice turned to her side, and saw Thomas frowning. "Why the puzzled look?"

"I'm totally zoned out by this whole thing of 'Gold and Silver Blood' story, and its connection with today," Thomas said, resting his head on his hand.

Alice was stunned. Her intelligence, despite her age, was of unusual high standards. "I see one," she said bluntly. "'Course, I know nothing about the story you speak of".

Thomas was about to respond, by telling her the story in basic terms that even he could understand, or simply tell her what he could remember. Whatever can first. But he was disrupted by a sudden knocking at the door.

Thomas, with the look of annoyance on his face, lept from his chair, and approached the door. "It's not the best of times, ya know?" he said, shouting at the visitor at the door.

The door swung open, and there stood a tall man, wearing a blue uniform with a yellow and white tie. He hat a small cap like hat on his head. "Sor'y," he apologized. "Don' normal'y deliv'r this late, but it was a matt'r of great immergancy," he was of a Irish or Scottish nature by the sounds of his voice.

He tipped his hat, handed Thomas a small envelope, and turned around. He walked away, but used his full extent of his legs to do so. Thomas almost began to laugh.

"Must be fresh back from the drycleaners," he joked. Alice frowned at the lame attempt at a comic moment.

But attention turned to the letter that sat in Thomas' hands. It was rare that he would get a letter home. If he did, it was usually one from the police officers saying they were sorry for placing Thomas under accidental charges of apparent crime.

His fingers slid along the white edges. He moved slowly, before arriving at the folded mouth of the envelope. Sealed on top of he tip was a small red and purple circle, marked with black and gold letters, saying, "The Agency; Well Prepared"

Thomas removed the seal, and opened the mouth. The letter was there, on bright white paper. He pulled it out carefully, not knowing what it would say. Alice was looking worried. The letter would have been opened already, but Thomas was taking his time. Which was rare in any case.

The night had begun. The sun had fully set, its orange rays of light no longer in sight. The amber sky had dulled to a pseudo-dark blue, with stars starting to pop out.

Several Hoothoot, spherical owl type Pokémon, began to cry into the moon. Their calls could shiver even the toughest of warriors. A single hoot from a Hoothoot meant the night was dark, and you were alone.

Thomas read the letter aloud, with expression showing his uncertainty of the letters doing.

"Dear Master Thomas Robins,
It is by request that your presence be known at the New Year's Resolution Party, held on every 31st of December.

'It would be of great importance that you make yourself known, as we have great news for you. This will be discussed upon your entry to the party.

"Yours sincerely, (Thomas couldn't read the signature, but knew who it was)

"Mayor James Turneworth"

Thomas eyed with letter with suspision. "Very superstious..." he murmured. "Writing's on the wall," said Alice, breaking the shadowy silence.

It was odd indeed. Not once had he, or anyone he had known been given a special invitation to the New Year's Resolution Party. What was even stranger, was that he didn't even know the Mayor of the town. Nor know if the Mayor knew him!

But the party, due to its distance away, would take a good while to get there. A day or so. And the woods surrounding it would be thick, and abundant of wild Pokémon. He had none of his own.

Thomas took the letter, and pinned it on the notice board in the kitchen. The board was covered in all sorts of coloured papers; a reminder of someone's lost dog, a shopping list, a doctor's appointment along with a prescription for some medicine.

As he was about to put the envelope in the rubbish bin, he noticed a small slip. It was green, with The Agency's stamp in the corner. It has in small text. "To be used at the Pokémon Counter, in town square".

This was new to Thomas, but not to Alice. Alice trudged in slowly, holding her head with the hand. She noticed the slip straight off.

"Lucky," she said, jealously. Thomas was confused at the note. "What? You want a slip like this?" he joked.

Alice sighed. "This is for a certain Pokémon," she said plainly. "My mother got one a few years ago, except it was red. When we went to the Pokémon Counter, she got a Vulpix". Vulpix was a Fire type Pokémon that looked like a fox, but it has six tails, all curled at the tip.

"What would green be, then?" Thomas questioned. Alice shrugged. She was young at the time, and didn't know a lot about Pokémon.

Thomas stared at the slip. "I'll go in the morning," he said.

---*---

It floated in the night. Where...am...I? it thought to itself. The forest was dense, and hardly any light reached the earth below. It's vision was poor enough to see on top of the darkness.

It slowly floated back down to the ground, resting on a nearby rock. It breathed heavily in and out. What...have...I...done?

The horrid memory of its birth, its sickened him. It's tyrantial rage around the world, make him uneasy. Its life, and what it had done to all those of his blood and bone, forced it to cower.

It continued to watch the trees, motionless and lifeless. But they began to shuffle. There came an unexpected voice, and sudden movement. No...Don't...Come...Near...Me

More voices, of grown men. They were close. Stop...Stop...

A small boy, around twelve, saw the Mew, and picked it up. Mew was thankful, but this boy was far worse than what appeared.

"I found it!" the boy shouted. Men ran to the boy's side, each wearing a long black robe with a black hat. "So, life begins, anew," the boy snickered.

With its last dying breath before passing out, Mew looked the boy in the eyes, and said, "Giovanni...Wait..."

~*~

Thomas woke, the sun glaring him in the eyes. He tossed his blankets off, and pounced out of bed. Today, he would get his first Pokémon. And from this strange Pokémon Counter, that was in town.

He had mixed feelings of caution, excitement, happiness, and worriedness. He often called this IHNIWTHTEI (I Have No Idea What The Heck This Emotion Is)

After a good hour or so of organising himself, he was ready to leave. With Alice by his side, he was ready to go into town. It was a short walk, and since the day was young, both travellers were still tired.

Atop his back was a bag, small, but carried enough to keep him alive. A towel, water bottles, food, a portable radio, and the green slip. It was more the enough.

All was good and ready. Any moment now, the front door would open, and he would be on his way.

He reached for the door knob, and opened it. "See ya, grandma! Off to town!" he called. Lesleigh was still in bed, but tossed and turned, saying to herself "Gimme five minutes, boy". She heard him, but was too lazy to answer back properly.

Several minutes later, in the open road, walked Alice and Thomas. Alice was wearing a pink and white dress, tipped in balled up ribbons of red. Her chestnut brown hair gleamed in the morning sun. Thomas wore a green shirt with blue shorts. His white sneakers, weren't so white as they were when he left the house. Now more of a light brown, with a hint of green.

The open fields were full of activity, farmers were cropping their stock with machines, some with their hands. Pokémon of all sort were helping too. Camerupt, a large camel Pokémon with two small volcanoes for humps, were carrying the produce in small baskets attached to their sides. Scyther, a green mantis Pokémon with bladed scythes helped cut the fields short.

Humans and Pokémon in harmony, Thomas thought. Such wonder, and peace.

Alice began to look around frantically. Thomas looked at her with worried eyes. She was looking scared. "What is it?" Thomas asked, grabbing Alice by the arm.

"Do you hear that?!" she sneered. She was turning sharply around, if she put a little more energy into it, her head could fly off.

"Hear what?"

"That....grinding?"

"Not that I know off. Maybe it's just you."

Alice looked calmer. "You're right, it is me. Must have been from that nightmare I had last night," she said, reassuring herself.

Thomas gave up. The situation was averted, there was no need to start bringing up topics like this. He faced the road ahead, and continued to walk.

All was well, until Alice dropped to the ground screaming. She was covering her ears, shouting "STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!". Thomas called for help, but no one was around.

Everyone seemed to disappear.

He held Alice by the head, shaking her from side to side, hoping to snap her out.

It worked, but she too was out. Her limp body lay on the ground, her breath only heard, heaving in and out.

A normal day, had turned bizarre.

CHAPTER 4: A Coloured War

Alice woke in the little light. Candles illuminated the room, but most were blown out by fast movement. She tried to adjust to the darkness, but failed. Even with her eyes wide open, she could not see. A hard surface lay beneath her, but she was upon a thick blanket. A bed, no doubt.

She felt around her face, feeling a long cloth, or bandana covering her sight. She removed the cloth and sat up. She squinted into the room, forcing her optic scensors to realign.

Thomas was not there, it appeared. She was alone. Abandoned? Impossible, Thomas wouldn't leave her behind.

Would he?

She was pushed out of her gaze around the room, until meeting an old man, who had just entered the room. He had a long white beard, with little hair on the head. He wore small moon shaped glasses, and a long purple starred robe. He approached a small wooden table, and began to move about it rapidly.

Alice saw the old man grab a bottle, and heard liquid pouring. To obvious conclusion, she knew he was pouring something into the bottle.

The old man continued to ignore Alice, even though she tried to make some sort of noise to distract him.

There came a scuttle of claws, and a small groan of a door. "Paras, Paras," it chanted. Alice couldn't see it fully, except for a large red mound of something moving passed where she lay.

"Ah! You must be ready!" said the old man, still not turning around. The creature replied angrily, "Paras! Parasect! PARAS-RASECT!" There was a swoosh of something big, and a scrapping on wood, probably the floors.

"Settle down. You know what to do. I'm busy," frowned the old man. The creature turned, more scuttling was heard, and the thing muttered to itself. "Para, ParasECT!" it said. The thing got up on a stool, and Alice saw clearly what it was.

The Parasect, a large bug like Pokémon with an enormous mushroom growing on its back was reaching into a small box. It was putting its large claws in, and feeling around for something, which it suceeded in.

The Parasect pulled out a soft sponge like object, stabbed by its claw. It put the sponge in a bucket of water, and let it soak. Once fully drenched, it pulled it out, and began to bathe its mushroom, as far as it could reach. And by the looks of it, wasn't very far. Alice tried not to laugh.

"It's gathering juice for me," said the old man, still with his back turned. Alice didn't know what to say. She had seen plenty a way to extract potion juice from a Parasect, but not by bathing it.

"Hot water forces the mushroom to open its pores, and let out the juice. While it may not spill everywhere, it oozes out slowly, in large clumps". The old man finished working at the bench, and turned around.

Before saying a word, the old man said, "You are safe, in a small hut that people would rarely know of. We are in the Loceden Woods. Your friend is out, gathering me some berries". He had just about answered all the questions Alice was about to ask. She shrugged.

"Thank you, for your hospitality, but I..." she began, but the old man shouted, "NO!" Alice, startled beyond her nightmares, froze.

"Even the slightest movement would upset the toxic poison circulating your blood system," he said, in a very serious tone.

Alice did not move a muscle. She remained in her awkwardly unconfortable position of trying to get up. Sweat began to emerge from her face. "Poison?," she gulped. "What poison?"

The old man had not moved, and was staring at her with complete attentitiveness. He then started to laugh. Almost spliting his sides. He grasped his waist firmly, and his little glasses fell to the ground.

Alice frowned in anger. A trick, a stupid little trick, she thought to herself.

"But seriously now, the juice that Parasect here is making is for you," he said, suddenly changing his mood. "It's nothing deadly, just to rid the demonic being that caused that grinding you heard".

"How do you know it was..." Alice started, but once again, the old man cut in front.

"You said so yourself. While you may not remember, when I asked you out on the open road, you screamed at me 'WHY IS THE GRINDING SO PAINFUL?!'. It was once of the most strangest events I've ever exprienced. That m'dear, is not a good thing," he said, handing Alice the bottle she saw earlier.

"Drink," he encouraged. "It'll help with the headache". He turned to the Parasect, and took another bottle from the table, and squatted near the mushroom Pokémon.

Alice wondered about the headache she was supposed to have. She felt completely normal. But then it hit her. Hard and fast, like an oncoming train.

The searing pain, forced her to drop the bottle. She tried to watch the bottle shattered, and content's spill, but neither happened. Even with her piercing pain in the head, she still had energy to think; Why?

The old man sighed. He got up, rolled his eyes, and said, "Parasect, use Spore". The mushroom Pokémon raised its claws, and millions of tiny golden yellow spores floated around the room. They gathered at the screaming body of Alice, and soon, she was fast asleep.

The old man reached for the bottle, forcedly opened Alice's mouth, and poured a small amount of the drink in. He watched as the liquid slowly twirled down her throat. He poured another amount, but slighty more, and it spiralled down again. He did this until the entire bottle was empty.

By the time he had finished the job, the Parasect has looking angry. "Sorry, but she needed help." The Parasect finished the job of bathing itself, and stepped aside. The old man grabbed a long handled broom, and swept up the large globs of excreted goo into a small pile. He grabbed a glass beaker, and scooped as much as he could into it.

"Alright, done. Now use Hidden Power," he said, standing upright, and examining the Parasect. Two diagonal streams of small red balls of energy circled the Parasect. "Par-ra-SECT!" is shouted, as the red balls hit the remaining goo. It set alight, and puffed into dust.

The old man, happy with the gloop he held, thanked the Parasect. He put the broom back away and set the beaker down on the table.

He whistled about the table, adding ingredients after ingredients to the goo. It fizzed, bubbled, puffed steam, and changed colour on more than one occassion.

He stood back, and marveled at the now light blue goo. Now all he needed was...

BAM! Thomas rushed in the door, sweat leaking from his face. In his arms he held a bunch of different berries, with a white piece of paper in between two fingers.

"Here's the berries, all on the list," he said, puffed. The old man smiled, and took a few berries from Thomas' arms.

"Thankyou Thomas," he replied, taking the final berries. "And here is your gift in return." The old man handed Thomas an amber coloured spray bottle. It had a red nose and handle. "The Hyper Potion will come in handy, just use it when you feel is right," the old man grinned happily.

Thomas put the Hyper Potion in his bag upon his back, and rushed to Alice's side. "Has she awoken?" he asked.

The old man turned grim. "She did, but failed to respond to direct orders," he said, slightly disappointed. Thomas was confused. The Alice he knew would do anything, within reason, straight away. "But that could be the responsitory disruption of the fever,"

The Parasect looked uncomfortable. Its claws were scrunched up against its face, almost cowering like. The old man saw the distraught mushroom Pokémon and looked it in the eyes. He smiled when he knew what was the problem.

He simply got up, and opened the door. The Parasect shone with happiness, and raced outside. Long had it been without its family, and the free world.

"Do come back often. It's nice to see a smiling face," the old man called from the open door. The Parasect turned around, waved its claw, then proceeded back home. The old man shut the door, praying that it would return.

"So...Now what?" Thomas enquired about Alice. The old man took of his moon shaped glasses, and looked at Thomas with his big, blue eyes, swirling with knowledge. "Now, we feast," he said quietly.

---*---

The evening sun had already begun to set. The forest was still, but heavily active. Any moment now, dozens of species of Pokémon would come and greet the night. Stantler, Hoothoot, Noctowl, Murkow, Mightyena just to name a few.

They had been walking for a long time, carrying the sleeping body of Alice on a small pull-along cart. They had walked up hills, down valleys, across a river, and through sand.

They almost lost her body, going through a maze of hedges. A pack of Houndoom chased them, in hopes of them leaving their territory, but Alice's clothes snagged on a small branch. With the fast pace running, then a sudden halt, along with a mass of gathering wolfs, there was little time to spare. But all was well, when as the Houndoom approached, they changed their sights to a lonely Pidgey, sitting on the ground, pecking for food. This gave Thomas and the old man a little more time.

But finally, they had arrived. A large tree, with gathering of Pokémon. Most of which were Bulbasaur and Ivysaur, dinosaur like Pokémon with a big bulb growing on their back, which would eventually bloom.

In front of the grand tree was a small stump, big enough for Alice to lay. Thomas had no idea what was going on, but the old man had promised him she would be better once the night was done.

They approached the stump with caution, and still pride. As if they had done if plenty of times. Once reached, they grabbed the sleeping Alice and lay her upon the round, wooden trunk. Thomas was still confused, but all was going as planned.

"Any minute, Lord and Savior of the Forest will come, and scatter the seeds of life," said the old man, not changing his gaze from the large tree.

It seemed like forever, but an hour when doing nothing can really seem that way. Thomas was confused, they had done nothing, but stare at the tree. But as the sun finally sank below, his answer came with a thunderous roar.

"VENUSAUR!" it bellowed, shaking the earth below. The Bulbasaur and Ivysaur cried too, wanting this thing to come out into the ever growing night. There came a stomp, and another, each shaking the ground with trembling force.

From within a large hidden hole in the tree walked a Venusaur. The final evolution of Bulbasaur, with its enormous red flower standing in the air from its back. But as Thomas' vision increased with the darkening sky, he saw some was different.

The Venusaur was pale green, not aquatic blue. Its flower was faint orange, not light scarlet. Its flowers were darker, but only slightly more.

The Venusaur was old, and battle worn. Its face marked with scars of previous battle. Thomas knew that he was a saviour of the forest, for the face showed it all.

"The Forest Lord has arrived," the old man said to himself.

Neither moved a muscle, but the Venusaur trudged slowly toward the stump, never lifting its gaze from the humans. But it suddenly stopped. And turned angry. The old man was shocked. This is not how it works, he thought to himself.

Venusaur roared, and fired a flurry of leaves. Thomas and the old man ducked, hiding behind the stump. But the two watched the leaves soar through the air, and hit their target.

All Thomas could see was a black blur and a pale purple splodge. Even with the moon's silver glow, he couldn't see the attackers.

But he knew this was a war between the three beings.

---------------

Two AWESOME-O! cookies if you can identify the two attackers. :D

Ahhh...The introduction of Cipher...

CHAPTER 5: A Shadowy Dawn

The black creature lifted into the air, and cried into the night. Its echo chilled Thomas' spine. As it reached the top of the moon's gaze, it shot at the Venusaur with incredible speed.

The purple one stood its ground, and arched its back. Two long streams of water erupted from its sides, and they collided into the ground.

Bulbasaur and Ivysaur ran, screaming in terror. Although the water wouldn't do a lot of damage to a Grass type, the pressure could do a serious job of it.

The black beast flew head on with the Venusaur, bashing skulls with painful results. The black being was a Charizard, the final evolution of Charmander, its long horned neck curled at the impact. It beat its giant black wings to flap away, still clinching the pain. It swung its long flaming tail at the Venusaur, but missed.

The two long water arches continued to spurt from the purple being, and began to slowly move forward. Either so was the purple thing, or more power was being put in.

The old man grabbed the limp body of Alice, and snatched Thomas' hand. "We must vacate. That Blastoise is deadly serious, it could kill us if we stay too long," he paniced. Thomas then realised that the unknown purple figure was a Blastoise, but in its Alternate Colour. Just like the Venusaur and Charizard. Even with the immense urge to run, Thomas had taken the time to see all three Kanto final evolutions, in their Alternate Colours.

The old man threw Alice upon his shoulder and scurried back into the woods. "This cannot be done like this!", he shouted. Thomas heard him, and shouted back, "Like what?". The old man quickened his pace, as a large explosion was heard. Fire and Water had met, with a big boom.

"Venusaur can help you heal this girl! But as he is waging war, it cannot be done! I have nothing to do now, but to leave!" he yelled, over the scattering rain of rubble. Thomas was shocked. The old man was going to leave him! Ditch them, and cast them back out! After he made a solemn promise to cure her fever!

"She could die!" Thomas cried, increasing his speed. He tried to catch up, and stop in front of the old man. Force him to live up to his word.

Thomas pushed the remainder of his energy to get in the old man's path. He did, but the old man cast him aside. Thomas fell, and with the unexpected motion, he clutched his stomach. "A stitch!" he whinced.

The old man continued to run, with Alice still at his back. Thomas let the pain take over, and he fell into a deep sleep.

---*---

"Give it here, boy," said a man in black robe. A small boy, holding a pink being was looking scared. "You said we'd be in this together!" he shouted. "No, I said we'd get this thing at any expense. You must have thought you were actually apart of the deal," the man corrected.

The boy grasped the pink thing tighter. His eyes were wide with shock. They had betrayed him, used him to get the very thing that started the sudden appearance of thousands of these creatures, all over the world.

There was only one option left. He would run. He turned, holding the pink figure close to his robe. "Giovanni!" called the black robed man. "You cannot hide from us! We know all! Team Rocket will get that Mew! And take your life into darkness!"

Giovanni kept running. He would run and not stop, until the horrid memory of those evil men where gone.

Even if it took the whole of his life.

---*---

The sun was passing through the dense canopy of the woods. Thomas awoke, to see a delighted Stantler looking at him. Its pronged circular horns nuzzled close to his chest. He yelped, causing the Stantler to run off. It galloped back into the heavy bush, its hooves clocking against the moist earth.

He must have been knocked out all night. There was no way to tell. For all he knew, it could have been days.

He tried to sit up, but felt the uneasy movement to fall back down again. He removed the urge, and tried to remember what had happened.

He remembered the Alternate Coloured Venusaur, and Charizard, along with the distance Blastoise. Then came the memory of the old man, pushing him down and running off with Alice. It sickened him to think that he had trusted this old coot.

Thomas tried to slowly get up, but felt his stomach churn. He groaned, griping his gut tightly. After adjusting to the uncomfortable sleep, he looked around the forest, trying to get any indication of where the old man had run off too.

"Not good," he murmured. "Should be this way," he said, looking to his right, "but who knows. The Loceden Woods are far too thick." He shrugged, and went with pure instinct. But as he attempted to follow, he saw something. Something small and green.

It had a long snout, and a large head-sprouted mane. It had a facial highlight of gold, which met at the nose from under each eye. It was the Electric type Pokémon, Electrike.

It was sniffing wildly, stopping on occasion, then realigning its nose with the ground. "Elec, Electrike," it mumbled. If this dog has the old man's scent, then I could catch him! Thomas though.

"Hey!" he called to the sniffing Pokémon. But as he tried to get close, the Electrike turned to run. "WAIT!" Thomas called after it. But the Electrike jumped into some neighbouring bushes and ran away.

Thomas cursed, his best chance of catching the betraying old man had pounced away into the forest. He fell to the ground, and huddled his legs close to his chest.

"No, no, no, no, no," he chanted, as he rocked back and forth on the ground. He would rock until the depression of his loss had depleted.

---*---

BZZZZZZTTT! GRAAAAAH! FWEEEERRRR!

Thomas regained consciousness from the sounds of building construtions. He heard grinding, sawing and several drills twirling. The slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes, and tried to pick out where the sounds were coming from.

They seemed close, but far enough away he wouldn't be spotted. The tried to work out why someone would build something in the Loceden Woods, an extremely dense forest with nothing of good value to offer.

But then he heard voices. They were close. Thomas, in his small state of bewilderment, lept to his feet and tried to hide behind a large tree.

He was too close for comfort. As he made it behind the tree, two men appeared at the top of a hill. One was tall, with big muscles and a long zigzagging moustache. He was bald, with his chest entirely revealed except for the sides.

The other man was short and pudgy, with grey hair on either side of his balding head. He wore a grey shirt with a deep scarlet jacket, and oceanic blue pants. He walked with his hands behind his back.

"I trust that you have gathered a reasonable amount," he said. The strong looking man followed him, waving his arms to and fro. "We have a substantial amount of Pokémon ready. The darkening process shouldn't take too long,"

The fat man smiled with delight. "Good," he said "It will be easier with this machine. You have no idea how long it took to block out that damned Lugia's heart." The moustached man grinned. "With this, it''ll take only moments. And the Pokémon will have no will to stop. We'll have total control over them!" He laughed evily. The fat man did not.

"Gonzap, what of the Time Traveler?" he said, looking the moustached man named Gonzap, in the eyes. "We cannot find it. It moves away whenever we get close," he held a serious look on his face. The fat man was looking angry. "Evice, if I could..." started Gonzap, but the fat man cut him off. "YOU HAVE HAD PLENTY OF TIME!" shouted Evice. He calmed down, and closed his eyes.

"Ein has a device I want you to use. Take it, and find the green guardian. When it is cornered, use it," said Evice. Gonzap looked thankful that Evice wasn't going to punish him. Nascour was bad enough to deal with, but the boss was a lot higher than you'd think.

Gonzap bowed, and walked away. Evice grinned, and rubbed his hands together. 'I can't wait for the sweet moment of obtaining time. To hold it in my hands will be such a delectable prize". Evice too walked away, but in the opposite direction of Gonzap.

Thomas was left shocked. These people had imprisoned innocent Pokémon, and planned to use them for evil purposes. He had to do something, anything to stop them. But he had bigger problems to deal with.

He had to rescue Alice, and take the green slip to the Pokémon Counter in town.

He ran away from either of the two men, in hopes of finding answers.

---*---

Time had taken his breath away. He had been running for hours, in search for Alice and the old man, but had suceeded in nothing. He had run around in circles several times, and grew entremely tired.

But as he looked onwards, catching his breath, he saw something. It was green and small, and sniffing the ground. It was an Electrike, mostly likely the one Thomas had seen before.

Thomas edged slowly forward, hoping not to disturb the dog like Pokémon. It turned its back, so that made it easier for Thomas to approach with being seen.

While the Electrike sniffed, Thomas took a giant step forward. The Electrike did not turn. He took another, and landed right near the Electrike. The Electrike stopped sniffing, and began to quietly growl.

Unexpectedly, it jumped in the air, and slammed heads with Thomas. Dazed, Thomas stumbled back, trying to readjust to the situation. The Electrike landed, and howled.

Its body was surged with an electricc blue light. A thin stream of electricty spiralled from its mouth and hit Thomas''s body. He was stunned, his body not moving except for the ocassional twitch.

"Lec, lec! Elec, trike!" it shouted. It was angry, and anyone could tell. It's course voice and furoius eyes could burn a hole in anyone's face.

Thomas tried to talk, but found himself unable. The Electrike was still yelling at him. "Trike! Elec, lectrike, ike! Elec!" It screamed. It began to prowl the grounds while still yelling.

Thomas urged the voice inside to come forth. "WAIT!" he shouted. The Electrike stopped his march, and focused on Thomas. Thomas broke free of his paralysis, and sighed heavily.

"Okay, I admit. Sneaking up on you was bad," Thomas said, causing the Electrike to be puzzled. "But you see; an old man stole my friend, and I don't know where they went. I though that using your nose would help find them".

The Electrike was looking confused. But it smiled happily, and jumped at Thomas, who caught the green dog. The Electrike grinned widely, and looked up to Thomas.

"So its a yes?" he asked it. The Electrike nodded, and jumped from his arms, back to the ground.

With the helper ready to work, all he needed was the tools. Thomas pulled out the Hyper Potion from his bag, and bent down to meet Electrike's nose. The Electrike got right on the job, shoving its nose right into the Potion.

Within seconds, the Electrike had turned from Thomas and was at the ground. It began to wonder off, finding the trail.

Thomas weakly smiled. "Time to follow the yellow thick nose," he said. He smiled at his own joke, and walked with the Electrike. With no one around, he was glad he could talk to something that didn't get his jokes.

CHAPTER 6: Eaguns and Roses

Gonzap entered a darkened hallway, illuminated by few candles on the walls.

He neared the end, and to the appearance of a door. The door was of deep brown elm, and carved magnificently. Upon the glossy surface sat a small gold plaque. It read in solid black bulging words;

"Nascour. Cheif Constructor and Manufacturer of Shadow Pokémon"

Gonzap bearly moved a muscle. All who tread into the room ahead were frightened. It was a place of ill fortune and demise.

He slowly pushed the door open, placing his enormous hands on its edge. "Nascour?" he called into the black room.

"Enter", said a voice, low and distruntled.

Gonzap entered the room, unnerved. He closed the door behind him, making the entire room dark. Nothing could be seen. Only sounds were witnessed.

"What is it you want, Gonzap?" questioned the man to the lone brute. "Evice sent me here, for a device for the Celebi," Gonzap replied, trying to find out where Nascour was sitting.

"Indeed," Nascour said. "In the drawer to your right is a small black box. Do not open it until you have your goal set perfectly".

Gonzap felt around for the drawer. His hands hit a cupboard, and he slid his hands down. They met a thick handle. He pulled it open. It was a big drawer, and unusally light.

Gonzap searched the drawer, only to find it empty, except for a small steel box. It had a large lock on the front of its hinge.

"You'll find that time itself unlocks the box," Nascour said. There came a series of footsteps within the room. Gonzap began to sweat. He felt movement near him.

A warm blast of air lightly blew on his face, his moustache tingling. "But beware; Only time itself will open it," whispered Nascour into Gonzap's ear.

"Thank you," Gonzap said, shuffling away from the ghostly man. He scrambled for the door, and when he found the knob, he raced out.

In the hallway, he held the steel box. It was very small, with a gold lock. There was no keyhole, so it couldn't be picked. It was dotted in small holes everywhere, even the thick bands that covered the box's edges.

Gonzap breathed deeply in, and held the box tight. Now was the time to find the Time Traveler, and hold it against its will.

---*---

The Electrike sure lived up to its nature as a canine. It's nose sniffed like mad at the ground, but occassionally lost its trail, eventually returning back order. Thomas and the Electric dog Pokémon had been trying to find Alice's scent for hours now, and had had no such luck.

They did stride off path more than once, returning to a similar site. Thomas would sighed in exhaustion, and the Electrike would flop to the ground comically.

But they had come very close on more than one occassion. The Electrike would be glued to the ground, then suddenly rear away, turning in an entirely different direction. Thomas almost certainly knew that the old man was trying to throw him off, but it wasn't a very well thought out plan.

After spending most of the late afternoon searching, Thomas decided it was time for much needed rest.

"Alrighty," he said, stopping and sitting under the shade of a large tree. "Time for a break, I'd say". The Electrike reared its head from the dust, and smiled. "Lec, Lec!" it cried happily.

Thomas reached into his bag, and pulled out a box of biscuits. Plainly flavoured with a hint of sprinkled salt. They were round, and light brown, with the speckles of salt scattered all over it.

He threw a few a Electrike, who gobbled them wildly down. Thomas tossed some into his mouth. Electrike jumped onto his lap, and snatched one as it was airbourne.

"Oi!" Thomas laughed. He wrestled the Electrike, enjoying the peaceful moment of fun.

The silence was broken. He heard a scuffle from the bushes. Twigs and branches snapped, leaves rustled. Thomas and the Electrike sat up, waiting. The Electrike lowly growled.

Out of the shrubs, fell the old man. Beaten, and bashed, he fell to the ground in pain.

---*---

Their warehouse was huge. If it was even a warehouse to begin with, it was now. Towering machinery dwarfed the bustling humans below, each wearing a blue and purple uniforms, the ones wearing blue wore orange bandanas around their necks.

The machines were stationary, non-active by the looks of things. Each varying in structure and technology. Some were simple steel contructions, others were loaded with pulleys and levers, the rest were coated in buttons flashing all sorts of colours and numbers.

"Hut-two, hut-two, hut-two" chanted a bulky man with red flaming hair. His bare arms exposed showed he was a man of pure strength. Following the man was an army of ten or so people wearing the blue and purple uniform.

Upon a balcony stood a beautiful lady, her long blone hair matched her dazzling pink dress with jewels plotted over her body. A large black cresent moon sat upon her back. She watched the people train, her gaze never shifting.

"Venus, please leave Dakim to his job," sighed Evice appearing from the behind doorway. Venus looked at him with steady eyes. "I do not trust him," she said bluntly.

Evice placed his arm around her shoulder, which seemed very uncomfortable for Venus. "My dear. He is here for one sole purpose; to make sure we get the strongest Peons ever. They must be strong in order to obtain one." Evice said, sweeping his other arm across the open warehouse.

Venus wiped Evice's arm from her shoulder, giving him a stern look. "When will Gorigan return from Johto? I want that..." she started, but Evice cut her off. "Ein is trying hard with his new machines. If we can get that Lugia to purify, then anything will!" he smiled.

"And what of the Ho-Oh?" she asked, making the stout man sneer. "It appears the continous electromagnetic spectrum is far harder to turn into a Shadow Pokémon. We are trying to find out why," he said, clenching his fists.

A tall man with a gigantic multicolored afro, garish glasses, and dressed in a golden sequen-studded leisure suit, walked onto the balcony. His boofy hair was half coloured red, and the other white.

"Snazzy, yo" he said, his voice very loose and calm. "Came for a Shadow Pokémon"

Evice grunted, and shoved passed the man. "Miror B., he isn't happy with progress," said Venus, looking sad.

"I can wait. Time itself would stand still for me," Miror B. said. He raised his arms into the air, turned around, and danced away.

Venus, now happy she was alone, watched Dakim downstairs. Dakim's arms flexing, and twenty more did the same, she gazed at him helplessly.

But she forced to break her sight. Her next plan was to go to The Under, and complete her task of being a beauty idol.

Snapping away from time and space, she turned. At the last second before turning away to leave, she saw Dakim look at her with dark eyes.

She knew he was holding a secret.

---*---

The night had fallen, and Thomas had set up fire. Both he and Electrike had gathered plently of leaves, and lain the old man down.

The old man's wounds had slowly begun to heal. He torn clothes were cleaned, but still in tatters.

The moon was out, and already the howl's of the wolves called into the night. Thomas shivered at the thought of the ravenous dogs picking his flesh from his bones. But he had his own wolf.

The Electrike has fallen asleep, huddled near the fire. Its eyes calm and relaxed, making Thomas wish he too were like the little dog.

As the flames burst the added sticks and leaves, Thomas watched the sparks fly into the air, then cool into ash. The flecks of grey flew with the gentle breeze.

The old man began to stir. Thomas paid full attention to him and watched him lightly stretch.

The old man sat up. "What happened?" he moaned. He shuffled to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.

"Good question. Mind telling me?" said Thomas. The old man gulped, but it hurt to do so.

"It's rather long. You wouldn't believe me," replied the old man, feeling for his glasses. Thomas laughed.

"You ran off with my friend. I go with you, then you run from a battle, leaving me in the woods alone. Then I find you tumbling out here, right near me." Thomas snorted. "I think I'll believe your story, since it'll put mine to more sense!"

The old man almost began to cry. "They took her," he said quietly. "Right from my hands." Thomas was now in shock. "I was running, trying to return to my cabin," continued the old man. He looked up at Thomas with crying eyes.

"I thought you would have followed me!" he sobbed. "But...These people...in strange uniforms came out of no where, and took her from me. They beat me like a rag doll. Using various Pokémon to attack me."

The old man looked at the night sky. "Why would a Pokémon follow such orders? They could seriously injure someone doing that. Who knew a Skiploom could leave a deep wound on your back?" he pondered.

Thomas was looking really scared at the horrid tale. "Who are you?" he hissed.

"My name," began the old man. ", is Eagun".

I gave you all a week's break to comment, and I get nothing ;-;

CHAPTER 7: Mass Gathering

Giovanni had be running for a while now. He now hid behind a small bank of an almost dried up river. The tall weeds provided excellent shelter.

Mew was tired. Its eyes were closed, and its breathing was low. Giovanni was frustrated at the men, and how they had used him to find Mew.

But now all he could do is wait, until either day break to run, or wait until the Mew was ready to fly away. Chances were Mew was going to take a fair while to recover.

Giovanni looked at the Mew curiously. "What are you?" he said, examining the quiet pink being. A small voice inside his head spoke to him, softly and like a small child. "I am a creation of the immortal," it said, echoing Giovanni's brain.

Giovanni was flabbergasted. "Your rage around the world has led to serious damage," he said. The Mew opens its eyes a fraction. "My rage is a small portion compared to my clones," Giovanni heard within his mind. "This world has seen far too little to what I had been through".

With a last breath, the Mew fell unconscious in Giovanni's eyes.

---*---

In a dark office, a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, sat at a large dark desk. The corner lamp was on, illuminating the papers on the desk.

The man was wearing a bright orange suit, with a green and blue tie. He had his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest. He was either asleep, or in deep thought.

There came a rattle at the door. A man wearing a black uniform with a blood red R across his shirt walked in.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir. But we've found it," he said, bowing in apology. The orange suited man shot up, knocking his chair to the ground.

"WHERE?!" he bellowed. The black uniformed man stood up straight. "Reports say Orre," he said. "It's locked in some sort of dimension gate."

The orange suited man rubbed his hand across his head in frustration. "Where is this 'gate'?" he said, stilling rubbing his head.

The black uniformed man pulled out a sheet of paper from behind his back, and walked up to the desk. "In the desert," he whispered. "Mr. Giovanni, we must act now. We are unsure of how long..." he continued, but Giovanni pushed him away.

He grabbed a small black orb from the corner of his desk, and rushed out the door. The black uniformed man followed.

In the bright hallway, Giovanni grabbed a telephone from the left wall. "Kelly, prepare my chopper. I want it loaded with the best men and their Pokémon," he ordered.

A siren blared, and lights began to flash red. Over an intercom, came a feminine voice. "Army 17; assemble on the loading pad," she said, almost with a robotic voice.

Giovanni hurriedly walked toward the end of the hallway. The elevators were out of order, so he had to climb the stairs. It was only a few floors, but he hated to do the work himself.

Upon reaching the roof, a large black helicopter with two fast spinning propellers sat at the launch pad. Several black uniformed men were scrambling into the back door of helicopter.

Giovanni walked around the other side, and opened the door. The pilot was ready, flicking buttons ready for launch.

"So. Orre, huh?" came the voice of women. She approached the window side of Giovanni. She had her blonde hair tied in several ponytails. She held a black rose in her hand.

"Leave us. You are not welcome," Giovanni snapped. The women pulled a puppy dog face. "Aww. Someone's grumpy," she mocked.

The pilot pulled a gear stick back, and the helicopter began to lift. "Go get a prune," Giovanni taunted. The women looked angry, and jumped onto the side railing of the helicopter. Giovanni did not see it, due to being too concentrated on the path to Orre.

The Black Tulip was getting an unwanted ride with him, and he knew nothing of it.

---*---

The morning sun was creeping up. Thomas and the Electrike lay near the doused fire and charred wood. Eagun had gotten up, and was stretching, breathing in the morning air.

Eagun saw the moment to search Thomas for some history. He silently reached for Thomas' backpack, and dragged it closer.

Eagun quietly unzipped the large compartment and opened it. He saw food, water, clothes. Nothing of serious nature. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a green slip.

Curious, Eagun pulled it out and began to examine it. His eyes widened when he read it.

Immediately, he rushed to Thomas' side and softly nudged him. "Do wake!" he whispered. The Electrike woke, and blinked its eyes. It ruffled its fur, and stretched.

Thomas groaned. "What it is?" he mumbled. Eagun was wide eyes. When Thomas saw this, he shot up frightened. "What's wrong?!" he shouted.

Eagun handed the slip to Thomas. "We must hurry! This slip is very rare!" he said, putting the slip in Thomas' hands.

Thomas eyed the slip in disbelief. "Nothing special here," he commented. Eagun snatched the slip and got up. In a devilish attempt to get Thomas to believe him, he ran.

"Wait! Get back here!" Thomas shouted, grabbing his bag and flinging it over his shoulder. Electrike began to bark, and chased after Eagun. Both ran, side by side, after the old man.

Eagun was already panting, unlike Thomas. Years spending running away from his daughter should have strengthened him. But it had only made him weaker. He needed her, more than he knew.

Thomas took a daring leap, and caught the feet of Eagun. Eagun stumbled, and dropped the slip. It fluttered to the ground, but as he went to grab it, Electrike jumped from behind and snatched it at the last moment.

It landed, and bared its teeth, the green slip stabbed by a lone fang. Eagun gave up, and relaxed.

Thomas, stilling attached to Eagun's legs, said "What was that for, huh?". Eagun turned his head to face Thomas. "Do you mind not hugging my legs?" he said, raising his eyebrows at Thomas.

Thomas let go, and stood up. He began to brush down the dirt and leaves from his clothes. "Well?" he said.

Eagun too got up, but did not bother with cleaning his clothes. "Was an attempt to get you moving," he said, pointing at the slip still stuck in Electrike's mouth. Thomas raised an eyebrow at the moment. Eagun sighed heavily.

"The Agency does not give out green slips like this. Red are common, blue are not so common, and green are rare," he said. "Vulpix for red. Feebas for blue. And Larvitar for green".

"So...I get a free Larvitar?" Thomas said. Eagun shrugged his shoulders. "Depends. If they want you to join their elite forces, then yes. Otherwise no; it'll be a rental," Eagun responded.

Thomas began to walk in the direction of Eagun. "Where to next?" he said. Eagun raised his arm and pointed straight ahead. "Right down this valley," he said. "Beyond the valley is a river, which we shall follow. That should lead us to town square".

"Then what?" asked Thomas, trying to figure out which river he was talking about. Eagun was smiling, a huge grin slapped on his face made him look very unusual. "Then we party," he said plainly.

And that's what they did. After Thomas asked Eagun questions about his past life, and what he knew about Alice, Eagun did the same. It seemed Eagun was more interested in what Thomas knew of Alice than what he did.

The river was fairly long, its waters gushing fast. The waves pounded the sides of the banks, carving slight curves. Wasn't much of a sight, but if you fell in, you'd be pretty deep.

The two went quiet after a while of going down the river. Electrike was happily bobbing its head side to side. "Lec, Lec, Lec," it muttered with each step. The luminescent green fur glistened in the sunlight. It was very well kept clean, Thomas noticed.

"So? What's this about the Agency, and their elite forces?" Thomas asked, after several minutes of pure silence. Eagun looked surprised. "You know nothing of the Agency Force?" he said, quite shocked. Thomas shrugged his shoulders.

Eagun sighed, and tried to trace his memory for what to say. "The Agency Force..." he began, but paused in search for his next sentence. ", is an army of Orre that acts as police. They scower the lands, finding things all about Pokémon, and investigating potential theifs."

"Why would they pick me?" Thomas asked. "I assume they did because you know something, something that'll help them with making Orre a better place to live," Eagun said. He raised his hands to the fertile land of the Loceden Woods.

Thomas was curious. "I have nothing to offer," he said, confused even more. "I bet you do, just you do not know it," Eagun said, eyeing Thomas deeply.

The whole situation was weird. He and this old man were walking to a 'party', instead of looking for Alice. He pondered over what he knew, but didn't know. It was double thinking, as they'd put it.

Alice herself had nothing worth while to offer, so why did they steal her? Why did they beat the old man? WHY?[\i]

Questions flooded Thomas, his mind nearly exploding from the over crowdedness of thinking.

But all he could do was shrug. They would be answered, no doubt. It was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to go looking.

---*---

Evice sat at his desk, head down and writing fast on the papers in front of him. He grumbled, sneered, and scrunched up the paper. He threw it hard and fast against the wall to his left.

He began to reach for another sheet of paper, but stopped. He held his hand out, and noticed a small red mark near his thumb.

This was new. Hadn't been there long. Last time he checked his hands was...

[i]After the purification he remembered.

The shocks of the chamber had send his hands into a frenzy of twitches. The Lugia was far more reluctant to darken than anything else he had encountered. He tried to imagine the possibility of the Ho-Oh. It was next to nothing.

The mark itself was no more than a blood clot, at least Evice hoped. He had seen one on Ein when Lugia was first tested, only to find that Lovrina hadn't pulled the chamber closed fully. Foolish girl.

Her job was specified in anti-purifying, not purifying. That was Ein's job.

But Evice had no one to blame. Except the Lugia.

Shaking his head, he grabbed another piece of paper, and furiously wrote upon it. This will be possible, he encouraged himself.

I GIVE YOU A MONTH, AND STILL NO COMMENTS! Makes me wonder WHY I started this in the first place...

CHAPTER 8: The Lurking Horror

Giovanni stepped out of his helicopter, the blades still twirling above him. The dust and sand blew fiercely, but he remained calm and collected. He looked out across the barren land.

Several men in black uniforms trudged out of the rear of the copter. A man in a white coat with a blood red R on it appeared by Giovanni's side. He handed Giovanni a piece of paper.

"Here," the man in the coat said, pointing to a large area on the map. He basically pointed to nothing but open land. Giovanni looked confused.

"And why did we not fly to there?" Giovanni said, slightly angry. "We would like to go in quietly, and unseen," the man said. Giovanni saw the logic and tactics. He smiled, and gave the map back.

"Go," Giovanni ordered, and the man bowed, and walked away.

Orre was a place Giovanni did not know well. He had been here only once, as a small child, back when Orre was covered in lush forestry. But the heat, and lack of rainfall had caused most of the forests to die. Demolition was a simple way to get rid of large areas of dead wood and plants. Soon, if Orre was unfed by water, it won’t be long until everything is gone.

Giovanni's parents lived in the town of Phenac City, run by the jolly man known as Es Cade. He was plump and wore a snazzy red jacket. His head was balding, and turning slight grey. Giovanni's parents were very good friends of Es Cade.

The town itself was a marvel. High stone walls were used to act as barriers from strong breezes. In the centre of the town gushed a large ornamental water fountain, supplying the townsfolk with fresh water, which flowed straight from Hoenn's west. There had been a dispute over whether Hoenn or Johto would supply water, but Hoenn jumped in after serious negotiations.

But Giovanni didn't care for any of the beauty of the land. He was after what his ancient relatives had found, but was stolen. The Legendary Pokémon of the Beginning; Mew.

"What a dump," came a familiar female voice. Giovanni shot around, furious. "What in Mew's name are you doing here?!" he bellowed. Several black uniformed men stopped and turned to see Giovanni. Realizing it wasn't them he was shouting at, they continued to gather equipment from the helicopter.

The Black Tulip, also known as Dominique, or 009, walked out from behind the helicopter. Her hair was waving about in the gentle breeze of the spinning blades.

"Just taggin' along," she said simply, looking innocent. Giovanni did not change his face. "I said specifically that you were to stay behind!"

Dominique looked sad. "But you wuv me," she said, pulling a puppy dog face. "You may be my new Elite officer, but that still doesn't mean that you need to hang around me all the time."

Dominique looked at Giovanni happily. "Domino is fine, she is with a babysitter," she said, looking deeply at Giovanni. Giovanni rolled his eyes. "I do not care of your daughter. This mission is about reclaiming a lost artifact!" he said, clenching his fists.

Dominique looked at the mass of Rocket Grunts. "So? Am I leading them?" she scoffed. Giovanni gave her a stern look. "These are the finest..." he began, but Dominique cut him off.

"Yeah. Finest Grunts," she sighed. Giovanni turned to the Grunts, still pulling things out of the helicopter. "You get what you are given, Dominique," he said.

"Fine," she murmured, giving up an attempt to get better men. It was no use, there was nothing else she could pinch.

"Alright men!" she shouted. Several Grunts stood tall and still, dropping what they were doing. "Let's get moving; no time to waste!" she shouted at them. They all grabbed various bags and boxes and put them on their backs. Dominique said, "Onward," and the men raced ahead.

They filed in two straight lines, and marched into the desert winds. Dominique followed after them.

"See ya, there," she called to Giovanni. Giovanni laughed to himself. "Foolish woman," he whipered to himself.

---*---

Finally, after hours of walking, Thomas and Eagun arrived at the town. Electrike had bid them farewell, and ran back into the forest. Both Thomas and Electrike were sad to part, but knew they would rejoin later on.

Its huge barred gates dwarfed the two. The gates creaked open, and a man on top a high tower called out "Gates!"

Thomas and Eagun walked in, but a swarm of people hurried out. They were chatting wildly to each other, laughter heard now and then. Mostly women and the occasional child. A grey, four-armed muscular Pokémon walked out, boxed in each arm. "Ma, champ. Ma, champ. Ma, champ," he huffed.

Thomas and Eagun saw a giant tent from a distance, behind large masses of people, all too occupied with anything else.

"That is where we go," Eagun said, pointing to the tent. His glasses almost fell off his head, but he pushed them back against his nose.

"Great," Thomas said sarcastically. "Now we gotta swim through this ocean of people" Eagun laughed, as the two politely pushed past the crowd.

Eventually, they made it to the tent. A man with a split jester hat of gold and silver jumped at their faces. "Weh-helcome!" he said with a huge grin on his face. "Names please!"

"Thomas Robins," replied Thomas, brushing his clothes down for any dirt that may or may not have been on their. "Eagun Epsy," said Eagun. Thomas looked at Eagun is disbelief. "It means 'the future'," he said plainly.

The jester looking man pulled out a clip board, with apparently lots of names on it. "Go right in!" he said, ushering both in.

Thomas and Eagun walked in, half expecting a full-on party. But there was little people around. There were little decorations put up, and various forms of rubbish scattered across the room. Eagun pulled the jester in from outside. "What happened here?" Eagun said. The jester looked confused.

"You are here for the party, no doubt?" he said, checking the clip board again. "Yes, but why is there little done and ready?" Eagun asked. The jester snickered to himself lightly.

"I'm afraid you've missed it," he said. Both Eagun and Thomas jumped in disbelief. "The party was last night" "Then why are we stilled allowed in?" Thomas questioned.

The jester shrugged. "The Mayor wanted to see you," he said pointing to Thomas. "That's all I know" This made Eagun wonder.

"Hang on," Eagun began. "Why is my name on the list? I received no letter about this party" The jester was about to speak, but looked up, and jumped back outside in fright.

"Because I knew you'd come," came a deep, rough voice from behind them.

Both Thomas and Eagun turned around, to see the man before them. He was fairly old, with a face that was chiseled and weathered. He had light green to blue eyes, and frightfully open at that matter. He wore a dark green trench coat, full of large pockets.

Eagun curiously bowed. Thomas did the same, simply just following Eagun's actions. "Stand," said the man. "There is no need to bow to me" Eagun and Thomas stood up, in which Eagun did straight away.

"Umm. If you don't mind me asking, but who are you?" Thomas said, trying not to be rude to the man. But he simply laughed. "My name is James Turneworth, the Mayor of Walowood City," he said.

The Mayor looked at Thomas curiously. "Did you bring it?" he asked. Thomas searched his mind quickly for what he was meant to bring. "The slip..." the Mayor continued.

Remembering, Thomas reached into his bag and pulled out the green slip. It was slightly scrunched, but good enough to read.

"Excellent," said the Mayor. "Let's get you this gift" Thomas smiled. He was about to get his first official Pokémon. Even though he was just of the Pokémon Trainer age, he had never really thought so much, nor been so excited, about Pokémon.

The Mayor turned around, and headed to the back of the tent. Men and women were pulling down decorations still, and paid no attention to Thomas or Eagun.

The three of them came to a zip in the tent, where he pulled it down. Within it was a room, small enough for a few people to sit down. There was a large desk at the end, covered neatly in yellow cinnamon files.

The Mayor walked around the desk, and opened a drawer. He pulled out a PokeBall, and handed it to Thomas.

"You did not come last night, so The Agency men gave me it personally," said the Mayor. Thomas held the red and white ball in his hands, marveling at the occasion. He smiled wildly in delight.

"Go on," whispered the Mayor, urging Thomas to release the Pokémon inside. Thomas nodded, and threw the ball into the space above his head.

"Go!" he shouted. A bright flash of light erupted from the ball, and a small green figure with a long horn stood silently at the ground, huddled together. It weakly opened its eyes, and gazed around.

"Lar!" it cried happily, jumping into Thomas' arms. Thomas was immediately dropped to the ground by the sudden weight of the Larvitar. Larvitar looked worried, but they both laughed at the situation.

Eagun and the Mayor smiled.

"Now Thomas, I have a favour to ask of you," said the Mayor, looking very serious. Thomas and Larvitar stopped laughing and looked at the Mayor.

"We need your help," the Mayor said, striding to the side of his desk. He reached into a file and pulled out a piece of paper. "It's a contract; for two weeks training for the Walowood Elite Forces"

Thomas looked at the piece of paper in confusion. "You're asking me to join the Elite Forces? What for?" he blurted. The Mayor looked dull. "We need a team to head into the desert to investigate a possible threat," he said.

"What threat?" Thomas asked. "We don't know, but we need you. You are young, fit, and well equipped for the job..." the Mayor continued, but Thomas got up. "Woh, woh, woh, woh," he said. "What's in it for me?" he said.

"Nobility, and the privilege to venture the world as a job," the Mayor said, telling the tale as if it were a fantasy. Thomas paused. He would go around the world, see new and wonderful Pokémon, if all he did was join the Agency.

"I'll do it," he said. The Mayor smiled. "Good. But I warn you; these next two weeks will be nothing but hard work. Everyone will be testing you and that Larvitar" At this point, the Larvitar cowered behind Thomas.

"You will complete the task, I dare say, and be immediately shipped out to the site," the Mayor said. Eagun was looking worried.

"Do not worry Eagun, you will be called upon. I hear Beluh is in town" Eagun's mood changed drastically, and he raced outside. Even for his age, he was pretty fast.

The Mayor smiled. "His wife," he whispered to Thomas. Thomas too smiled, and looked at his Larvitar. Already, he was excited about his choice.

The Larvitar looked even cuter when smiling.

I will comment then. ^^'
I like it, although the kidies seem more like 11/12 year olds rather than 8 or 9. except with the "nononononono"/fetal postition part.
Too bad I totally forget all these colosseum characters though. .___.''

Yeah, I should alter their ages...I imagined Alice to be Emma Watson X///D
The Major of Phenac City is Lance Heinre

They're supposed to be like, 15...but with time constraints on my story line with Colo/...I might need to work around it...

Hurray for revising :D
I have Word now, so I can hopefully find mistakes/typos.



CHAPTER 9: Moments to Live

The Mayor was right; it was nothing but hard work.

The two weeks had flown hard and fast, but took its time in doing so. Thomas had remained positive and counted down the days until it was all over. "Only 8 days left," he'd say at the end of his sixth day.

Larvitar, or should it be, Pupitar took a hell of a beating. They were out battling random Pokémon in the forest, when one of the Agency Elite men came out from behind a tree and launched a Thunderbolt from his Raichu, a bipedal mouse/rat with a long tail tipped with a lightning bolt.

Larvitar stuttered at the damage, but grew angry. Its body began to glow bright white, and change shape. It morphed into a blue cocoon like thing with a spiky 'mask' around its face.

The newly evolved Pupitar jumped into the air, and shot straight at the Raichu. A Thrash, and a fairly powerful topple at that too. The Raichu stumbled back, and attempted to get back up. It did, but barely.

It tried to attack with an Iron Tail, but Pupitar took the damage, absorbing it with its Iron Defence. It was as if nothing had happened. With instant reaction, Pupitar struck again, head butting the Raichu in the gut.

The Raichu soared through the air, and thumped on the ground in a collapsed heap. Its tail flopped near its dazed head, coiling lightly at the tip.

Thomas and Pupitar rejoiced, and spent the rest of the day training. They even discovered that Pupitar knew Earthquake. It had jumped in the air and Thrashed toward the ground. As it made contact with the earth, fissures began to open; hence a new technique was learnt.

Thomas' work was harder. He had to learn to be stealthful, going through dark arenas in an attempt to reach certain goals, or perform certain tasks. He had failed some, but achieved others with outstanding results.

He once had to team up with his previously evolved Larvitar in a match. Thomas was lent a Pokeball, not knowing what was in it, and was to do battle with his partner.

He threw it in the air, and was shocked to see what it was; a large serpent like blue being, with a gaping mouth. It roared in fury. Larvitar didn't even budge.

At once, the Gyarados fired a long, high pressured water stream from its mouth, a Hydro Pump. Larvitar dodged at the last minute, but was slowed down by its weight. It was hit, but not as badly as it would of had it taken the full blast.

The Gyarados stood its ground, but began to dance around the field. It grew angrier with each passing moment. The Dragon Dance was only marvelled by trainers with strong desires to make their Pokémon stronger and faster.

But the Larvitar had taken this time to attack. It scooped up rocks from the ground, and threw them at the dancing water snake. The Gyarados flinched at the pain, but continued to dance.

Finally the Larvitar grabbed a large boulder, and hurtled it toward the Gyarados. It knocked the Gyarados square in the jaw. The Gyarados stopped dancing, and fell at the pain. But it reared its ugly head again.

Just as it looked as though it was going to swallow the Larvitar, it vanished into thin air. Everyone was confused. A Gyarados does not disappear like that.

But as people began to get really worried, it appeared again, suddenly too, catching the Larvitar off guard. The two collided, but Larvitar took the damage. The Aerial Ace was enough to take out anything after the serious Stat raisings of the Dragon Dances.

Larvitar was sent rocketing to the ground, fast and insanely hard. The Gyarados did not spare it any pain. Larvitar tried to get back up, but fell back with exhaustion. Thomas ran to its side and held it dear. Although smiling at the intensely long battle, he was still scared he'd lose his Pokémon, his first and foremost friend.

Thomas himself had vigourous training. His first task was the scale a thirty or so foot wall of thin trunks of wood. No rope; nothing. Just his bare hands and sheer determination.

He embedded his fingers into the highest gap of the two trunks to him. There wasn't much room to grab. He forced all his energy into keeping that grip. With the push of his legs, he propelled up the wall. He swiped at another grab of the next gap he could reach. But as he grabbed, his foot slipped, and he fell.

He bumped his rear into the ground. He got up, and clutched it, in hopes of stopping the pain. Although it was a small fall, the ground was as hard as concrete. Larvitar sat on the side lines, eating out of a small red bowl filled with Pokémon treats.

As soon as Larvitar saw his trainer fall, it rushed to Thomas' side. It was saddened by the fall, and slightly wept at the eyes. Thomas wiped the tears away, and comfortably whispered, "I'm alright. This pain would be nothing compared to the pain if I ever lost you". Larvitar smiled, and jumped into his lap. The midday sun bounced off of Larvitar's green coat of skin with a gleam of beauty.

Another task was to race with rental Pokémon. Thomas was given a Crobat, a large purple bat with four wings, and was to beat, or come close to beating, the champion. The champion was a scrawny man, with a rugged beard. He had a large horse with a sharp horn on its head and a flaming tail and mane; a Rapidash. The champion had no name, and was simply called "The Champion".

Thomas had mounted, with extreme difficulty, the Crobat, as it helplessly tried to maintain the weight of him. The Champion was ready, and looked dead down the race line; a straight narrow path of dirt, with wide open grass lands either side the lane. Obviously the race was not new.

When both contestants were ready, the umpire fired his cap gun into the air. Both were off, with incredible speed. The Champion and Rapidash rocketed down the dirt road, and it seemed like not even wind resistance held them back.

Crobat troubled to keep up, and began to pant heavily. In the midst of the soaring winds, Thomas lent over to the ears of the Crobat and said, "We can do it! The word 'triumph' doesn't have the beginning 'try' for no reason!"

With a sudden burst of energy, the Crobat flapped its wings hard, and caught up with the flaming horse. It was neck-in-neck as they began to approach the finish. Crobat beat its wings like a maniac, as the calm Rapidash galloped coolly along. The Champion merely grinned evilly.

The Champion kicked the Rapidash's sides lightly, and the horse began to slow down. The Crobat continued to look onwards, ignoring any possible distractions. Thomas saw the mischievous little plan, and ignored it.

The Crobat soared ahead, crossing the line before the Rapidash, but only slightly. The umpire blew a whistle to declare the finish of the race.

The Crobat grinned, and slowly lowered to the ground. Thomas jumped off, baring no smile, but the Crobat smiled in delight. Thomas put his hands over the Crobat, who sat on the ground, its wings folded over its round purple body.

The Champion smiled at Thomas, and handed him a small blue badge in the shape of a space rocket. The shiny blue metal glinted in the sunlight. Thomas was happy, but not nearly as happy as the Crobat, who was waving its wings around with a big grin slapped on its face.

It wasn't the race that was the challenge, but to connect with the Pokémon.

---*---

Dakim strode around the floor of the Shadow Laboratory. He watched as scientists bustled around, pulling levers and pushing buttons. It was all technology, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

Ein was standing by a giant cylindrical tower etched with golden streaks. A mighty roar echoed from within. Ein merely continued to look at the clipboard suited in his arms cradle. Lovrina sat in a tall upright chair situated near the far corner of the cylinder building, staring in complete boredom at Ein.

"What are they trying now?" Dakim said, disturbing Lovrina from her daydream. "Ein's created a new electrical power surge that'll force a neurotoxin into Lugia's brain. That'll make the Shadowing process a little easier, he hopes". Dakim stood with utter confusion.

"Science, my thick-headed friend," she wittingly remarked. Dakim frowned.

Ein grabbed a pen from a nearby scientist's pocket, and wrote on the notepad. The busy men around the tower stopped. They watched and waited for their next command.

Silence as Ein calculated in his head.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he shouted. He threw the pen and paper across the floor. "Why did we not include the possible resistance charges?!" he shouted. Several men attempted to avoid his rage by disappearing behind the tower.

"Get those silver cables. Attach the copper coils to them and plug them in in the lower compartment of Sector B," he ordered. The men rushed around as Ein rubbed his head in frustration.

Dakim laughed to himself. "Foolish man. He knows what he's doing, but not how!" Lovrina looked at Dakim with a disconcerted face. "Just what are you doing down here any way?"

Dakim looked at her with a smile. "Oh, just checking on our new recruit. She's having a hard time adjusting," he grinned.

In the far back corner of the lab was a black door with a red X across it. No one dared to enter the room, as whoever attempted was to be never seen again. But what was inside the room behind the door was dark and full of mystery. Torture and brainwashing was the rumour.

But in that lonely room was a single chair and light. Sitting silently in the chair sat a figure whose head was facing the floor by a metal brace. A long tube was inserted into what appeared to be the base of the figures skull.

Whatever they were doing to her, Alice was sure to be in pain.

Hmmm...I was sure I posted this...

CHAPTER 10: Sands of Time

The winds had picked up. Sand was being thrown around like a rag doll, or even a Shuppet. But at Dominique's command, the troops still marched. They held their arms over their face to keep the sand away, but still stamped in unison.

What was he thinking?! Dominique thought as she suddenly tripped over a small mount of dirt. "Rather go in unseen!"? A fool with tactics could make a better leader!

She loathed Giovanni's word. But her family had served his family since the day of Team Rocket's birth, back when they were petty thieves, stealing jewels and treasures. But with the sudden bloom of extraterrestrial life, these "Pokemon", they reverted to a weaker stage of theft. But had bigger plans with the world...

Several troops had fell in the wind. Only few remained, and still the numbers were dropping. But Dominique did not care. She wanted to join the ride, to meet her lost partner in crime again; a brawly figure with muscles as strong as a Machamp. Her husband was lost in this barren land...

The Mew was costing her more than her spare time. She grew impatient with Mother Nature, and wanted to get there soon. But the bad weather held her position longer than she ever wanted.

"Ma'am!" called a Grunt. Dominique snapped out of her trance, and turned to the Grunt. "Prehaps we should rest in there!" he shouted over the roaring winds. He pointed to a small cave hidden in the sand dunes. Dominique, growing impatient and wanting more than ever to rest, lost her resistance to fight any longer.

"Good work lad!" she smiled. She pointed the way and the men ran to shelter. The marched quicker than when fighting the sandstorm. And they made it too.

The winds got even furious. They blew loudly, scattering several forms of metallic debris. Large, flat and curved sheets of corrugated iron flomped in the winds, their thunderous echo booming the cavern.

The Grunts shook off the sand. Several of the Grunts were brushing her body down before themselves. Suck ups, she thought to herself. But she turned to the Grunt who led them there. "You sir, shall make an excellent leader when you graduate," she said, causing the Grunt to smile.

Now that the happiness was over, she concentrated on the sandstorm. Its ferocity was not to be mocked. She contemplated on how they were to get to the designated location.

She sat down in the dirt, and sighed. The Grunts stood tall, waiting any orders. Silence.

"We rest. The night will come, and the storm will leave. We will trek in dawn's first light, no later," she said, closing her eyes and leaning against the cave wall.

The Grunts heaved lightly. They deserved the rest, for the following morning's promise would be kept, no matter what.

---*---

Thomas sat on his bed, with his Pupitar sleeping soundly at his side. He was looking out into the night sky. The moon's gleam lit the night up with its sheer golden light; elegance was not the word to describe it. The rich rays of night light beamed through the windows, forming streaks of pure energy.

Tomorrow was the day when he was to be escorted to the desert regions of Orre. He was to walk with the elite members of the Agency, and reach a hidden goal.

He watched the moon. He smiled at its beauty, and noticed a flock of Misdreavus and Mismagius, purple floating ghost Pokémon, soar the open sky. He heard their chants of "Misdreavus, Mismagius, Misdreavus, Mismagius", and grew a desire for one. Any would do, as he was now a Pokémon trainer.

And he did want one. He slowly moved away from Pupitar, and scrambled off his bed. He had Pokeballs, sitting unused on his desk, along with several pieces of paper. He snatched up two, one for an emergency.

He jumped into his shoes, and scooted out the door, making a silent exit.

He peered around the sky, looking for the ghostly flock. Their dark colours made it hard to see in the blackness of the night.

But he saw them, and grew increasingly excited. "Here we go," he whispered to himself. "Pokeball! GO!" he shouted. He threw the ball high into the air, aimed at the flock.

The ghosts grew alarmed, and began to scream as they glided away, scattering from each other. The Pokeball continued to fly, through the flock, and arched back to the ground.

Awestruck, Thomas let his jaw hang low. He ran to fetch the ball, but as he neared it, he saw the ball hit something mid air, and a red aura surrounded the mysterious figure. It was a large figure too, and red lights surged the body. The red lights retreated into the Pokeball, which lightly landed on the ground, despite the enormous throw.

Wriggle. Wriggle. Wriggle. Ding! Thomas had just caught a Pokémon. Whatever it was, it was big, and fairly willing to be caught unattended. Thomas ran to the motionless Pokeball, and picked it up.

He wondered at to what he caught. He remembered a figure than was tall, with a fairly small head like object. It had feathers, or something that looked like feathers.

But rather than guess, he wanted to know. He threw the ball into the air, saying "Come on out! Who ever you are!"

The Pokeball snapped in half at the hinge, and a white light split out. In front of him was what appeared to be a large eagle, or a hawk. It had long black to grey wings, and red claws and head, which was in fact bald. It was standing quietly, looking at Thomas

Thomas had never seen this kinda of Pokémon. It was entirely new, not even during his Pokémon Identification lessons did he not recognise it.

Then it hit him! Maybe, just maybe, it was a new type of Pokémon. Unknown to the Agency.

"HAWK!" it shouted in a deep voice. Thomas almost had a heart attack. He ran up to the bird and held against its body tightly. "SHHH!!!" he hissed at the Pokémon.

"Kwila?" it seemed to ask him. "No one knows I'm out here. You might scare people!" he said, whispering harshly at the eagle.

The bird opened its eyes widely in apology. "Hawk," it whispered into Thomas' ears. Without the need of a translation, he knew exactly what to do. "Good idea. Return!" he said, pointing the Pokeball at the giant bird.

A red light hit it, and then retreated back into the ball. The bird was gone, and he could run back to bed without anyone knowing. Hopefully.

Grasping the Pokeball with the new Pokémon inside, he dashed back to his bed, and turned off the lights to sleep.

The morning should provide ample light to see the Pokémon.

---*---

Mew was awake. It peered lightly around at the surroundings. It was humid, dense part of the forest, overshadowed by the canopy above. Giovanni was fast asleep, mud and grass scattered over his body and face. He was protecting the Mew with his life.

Mew silently and softly slithered and writhed out of Giovanni's hold on it. His arms were limp with exhaustion.

Now scanning the forest, Mew looked to the sky. He saw a small red caterpillar like creature with bumps and spikes on its body, tipped with two yellow barbs at its tail. It was climbing a branch of a nearby tree, scowering for food. "Wurm, ple. Wurm, ple," it chanted.

Mew turned again, and saw a group of brown sloths, all sleeping, except one, who was eating berries from a branch. "Koth," is said as it devoured the red fruit.

My creations? Mew thought. They do not fear me...It is as if I am one of them...

Intrigued, Mew wanted to know more about his clones, and what they were doing in the new world. He lightly lifted into the air, and began to move away from Giovanni.

But as it reached a point of interest and fascination, it snapped out of its daydream. What of this? it questioned to himself about the sleeping Giovanni. But even Mew knew the answer.

With a final point of contact, Mew kissed Giovanni on the cheek and whispered, "Mew,"

That lone word would be enough to keep his life at bay.

---*---

The black helicopter buzzed through the sandstorm. Dust and dirt clattered against all windows. This was an order that Giovanni himself wanted to keep.

Dominique is too busy leading the men into a death trap, he thought to himself. The decoy will work its power.

"Sir, we have direct confirmation that Phenac city is under siege. Harness straps are ready to go," said the pilot over the ruffle of the helicopter blades. Giovanni grinned.

"Release Squadron F1 and prepare on my command!" he shouted as the storm attacked. The pilot nodded and pushed a small green button. Dozens of black Pokeballs dropped from the under carrier of the helicopter and dropped into the sand below.

"NOW!" Giovanni ordered. Troops, in turn, jumped from the back of the helicopter. Each wore thick red goggles and a parachute. They could carry the winds to the city.

One by one the troops fell to the sands. They opened up their parachutes and glided harshly through the storm. When all troops had landed, the pilot looked at Giovanni, who nodded singularly. The pilot then pushed a black button under the main control desk.

Below on the dunes, the black Pokeballs began to open and send a flurry of creatures into battle. The fields were coated in white light which quickly dispersed and took the form of figures, great and small.

From the helicopter, it was barely recognisable to distinguish what they were exactly. But Giovanni had planned the whole attack, he knew what he wanted.

Giovanni leapt up and reached for a parachute pack. He draped it over his shoulder and grabbed the goggles above. Pulling the pack over his body, he adjusted the straps and clips.

He clambered to the back of the helicopter, opening a door in the process. With a daring leap, he jumped from edge into the swirl of sand.

The wind rushed and grains pelted his precious face. He reached over his shoulder and ripped a long cord. His parachute opened with a puff, and he jerked at the change in velocity. His body slowly drifted through the storm despite being battered by the winds.

The sands below were coarse and filled his shoes quickly. His troops, now holding the black Pokeballs, gathered around him waiting for a command. But instead, he raise his hand. There was a roar, and the sandstorm seemed to subside.

"Onward march to Phenac City, and the Mayor," he said with a smile. "This visit will provide him with a new organised crime."

---*---

Miror B. looked out onto the work floor. Dakim was doing pushups by himself, but had a few lone Peons clueless of their next job joining him. Ein was sitting at his desk, hand grasping his forehead in frustration, with the corner lamp illuminating his work.

He sighed. "Why is this place so damn boring?" he said to himself. "Perhaps it's best if you wander away to your lair..." sneered a deep voice.

Miror B rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Don't make me get my Ludicolo to break your rhythm!" he snapped, turning to face his arrival.

"My rhythm has perfect timing," Gonzap grinned, as he held a small black hourglass into the light. The sands within drained slowly and a spark of green exploded before fading into nothing.

I'm not going to comment much on the story, just writing style.

mouse/rat? ><'' I think you ought to avoid slashes in writing.

I also think you describe all the aspects of the Pokémon too early. In one sentence you describe the pupitar, making it seem a bit too contrived. Maybe try spreading it out a bit like

See? it's a bit more fluid since you aren't taking an entire sentence to describe it, allowing the reader to go more with the story, while also picking up little details. You also do this type of thing later with crobat and rapidash.
(oh, and don't use the word 'thing' to describe something. It makes it seem like you don't know what it is you're talking about)

and just some random grammar, I noticed some commas out of place.

It could be either
She sat down in the dirt and sighed.
or
Sitting down in the dirt, she sighed.

Thomas sat on his bed with his Pupitar sleeping soundly at his side.
Thomas sat on his bed, his Pupitar sleeping soundly at his side.

So yeah, just some smaller things to help the whole thing read better, nothing too major. :D

Hurray! Comment!

I have a habit of putting random commas in sentences :3 Need to reread more often...

I got this week to do another chapapater, but maybe I'll go over and expand what needs expanding :D