//------------------------------// // Prologue: In The End // Story: Pokémon: Knight of Order // by Darkevony //------------------------------// Pokemon: Knight of Order By: Team Magma Grunt (a.k.a Darkevony) Prologue: In The End Weary, his body exhausted, he kept moving with a determination that superseded the cry of fear from his heart. His sight was beginning to blur as the skies and the world all around him became dark, darker still. He could no longer feel anything in his limbs when trying to urge them forward. His breath had become short and sharp, striking him with pain at every huff. He fell to his knees. A small purple sphere with a distinct white M fell out of his pocket and into the mud. A strong rain beat heavily across the baked plains in front of him. The intensity of the sun tore even through the thick dark clouds with the air itself feeling locked and scarce. Far to his right, the ocean was in chaos with hurricane-like winds and violent waves thrashing the beach. The sea to his left was covered completely in ice, showered by a strong hail. The forest far behind him was ablaze in a golden rainbow-like fire, burning to sacred ashes. Thunder and lightning ravaged the heavens with their silhouette cracking and streaming across the darkened sky. It truly felt like the end of the world. Both his body and his clothes had been done in. They’d been burned to singes, hardened by frostbite, and torn at by powerful claws and fangs. The mixture of the elements had taken a huge toll on even his mind and he struggled to stay standing. Deafening roars screamed all around him and he could feel his legs begin to fail him. He remained steadfast and got up again, his mind yelling at him not to stop. He couldn't stop... as stopping now meant the end of everything he'd ever loved. But before he could even take another step forward, he felt an invisible force push him down and was forcefully knelt onto the muddied burnt ground. It took him a great deal of effort to even look up towards the sky where three ripple-like holes distorted the very space around them. The celestial trio... this is it then, he thought. In that moment, several small noises sounded off near him. He knew the sounds all too well, the sound of Pokemon being released from their pokeballs. He felt a tug on his battered shirt. Two tusks picked him up off the ground and onto something feathery and soft. He felt his body relax as his Staraptor's down enveloped him in a Roost. He opened his eyes and saw his Leafeon looking directly at him in worry. From the corner of his eye, he saw the tattered back of his Mamoswine... its stance ready for battle. His eyes widened in shock realizing what it intended to do. His fears were confirmed when he saw his worn Wailord's fins drift down into the depths of the ocean. His Magnezone too surveyed the air with what little energy it had left in it. Pokemon were deeply instinctual creatures, but even through the worst of times, they had stuck with him through thick and thin. Yet the events unfolding before them were unlike anything they'd ever faced before. Even in his human nature, he felt like his very soul was screaming at him to run. He couldn't possibly understand why they had stayed as long as they had. They had already fought so much up until now... In his heart, he couldn't accept what they planned to do. They stood their ground fully prepared to protect the final steps of his journey. To fight to the very end... He sat straight up immediately to shout at them to stop and run away, but a force from behind pulled him back onto Staraptor's back and a black spiked hand placed itself onto his chest. "Luca, please... Don't do this. Please tell them to run." This is our fate, master. To fight by your side and for you. Yours is up there. Allow us this final farewell. He heard his Lucario's voice speak into his mind as she placed into his hands the purple pokeball that had fallen out of his pocket. How could he accept this? No person could possibly wish for this. But it seemed Luca had already foreseen all of this happening. She and the rest of his Pokemon were intent in seeing this through, come what may. The blue pokémon nodded towards the Staraptor, then towards a small leafeon at its side. Wordlessly, they exchanged their plans. The leafeon proceeded to wrap him usings its powers to keep him from interfering. The boy struggled in vain in Leafeon's conscript of vines from the grass knot it used on him. The green fox proceeded to jump onto his chest and yell over to the Staraptor to take off. His heart filled with overwhelming sadness as he watched his Pokemon get further and further away. From the sky, he saw Groudon making his way towards Mamoswine, the two-behemoths readying to fight. In the oceans, he could see the giant silhouette of his Wailord and Kyogre's slamming against each other. Thunderbolts and waves of energy were striking all around them as his Magnezone valiantly fended off an angered Ho-Oh, thankfully dodging and reflecting the powerful flames. A steel type like Magnezone was a weak match up to it... How much longer could it keep it up...? How much longer until they would suffer this terrible fate that he himself had placed them in? A surge of terror arose within him when he saw the serpent body of Rayquaza appear from within dense, black clouds and heading straight for them, its mouth gaped in a roar. Staraptor made a dangerous maneuver, purposely plummeting down to ground to avoid the angered protector of the sky's Extreme Speed. Before the leviathan doubled back to hit them, it was intercepted by Luca's aura sphere. She sent a second volley to goad and taunt it in order to distract its pursuit. Master, you must hurry! Don't look back. You must finish what we began. Luca’s voice said into his mind, sensing that this would be the end. He watched on in absolute horror as Rayquaza slammed into the ground towards her with the full heft of its body kicking up a massive dust cloud. When the green serpent broke through the veil of dirt and towards the sky, he saw Luca holding onto the Guardian's head and using her Flash Cannon at point blank into the mighty beast's eyes. It roared in pain and lashed out in the air with Luca holding on with everything she had. He could feel his Staraptor having difficulties avoiding Rayquaza's violent movements that were sending shockwaves of air toward them. He felt his breath leave him all together when Rayquaza shook off a now weakened Luca, following her freefall descent with a Hyper Beam priming in its mouth. The blue fighter met this by creating the most powerful Aura Sphere she could muster within her hands. "Luca!!!" The boy yelled atop of Staraptor's back, his heart sinking into a deep despair when the two were enveloped by a bright light and the dark smoke of a very strong explosion as their powers met. Lucarios and their masters shared a deep connection in thoughts and feelings, and they could sense each other's souls even from many kilometers away. But as he saw Rayquaza's body appear from the smoke to hit the ground below defeated, he could not sense even a fraction her soul anymore. His devastation was immeasurable, and he could no longer help the emotion in his heart from spilling forth. He felt a soft nudge on his side, his Leafeon crying with him and doing its best to comfort him at the same time. He hugged his Leafeon tight, his tears rolling onto its fur and leaves. "What am I to do? What can I do?" Leafeon called out to him in a cry of worry as if responding that he needed to be strong, that he needed to go on. "You're right, I'm sorry... Luca knew better than me... I can't let her sacrifice be in vain." As they flew, something was beginning to change. Subtly and quietly, a creeping feeling began to replace the space before them as if there was something wrong with reality itself. In that moment, the very air around them became still and silent, as if time had stopped. Just as suddenly, hundreds if not thousands of cries began to fill the silence. From the ground below, he could see an overwhelming amount of Pokemon appear, all of them somehow being called upon. He was thoroughly bewildered and couldn't understand what was happening. Even the guardians that had been fighting his Pokemon had stopped their advance and were beginning to pool enmasse with the rest of them. He felt a great relief seeing his Mamoswine, Wailord and Magnezone fall to the wayside tired from their fighting. Wounded but not fatally so. Even the unaffected guardians that had not been corrupted by the red chain had begun to appear within the swarms. From the Regi's to even the mythical types. He looked up to see the celestial trio now in full view in the sky. They yelled out their deafening, alien roar. Yet even they only floated there, staring at them with uncanny silence and purpose. Thousands of Pokemon were still pouring out of every inch from water, land, and even the sky. All of them seemingly standing guard as he flew away with his Staraptor, and slowly becoming specs across the terrain. They were anticipating something... And the boy could hazard a guess as to what that something was. At a distance, Mt. Coronet came into view. He could see it... the top of Spear Pillar. His Staraptor landed heavily near the peak in its exhaustion having been wounded before when it staved off a couple of the legendary birds. It struggled to compose itself again. It was hard to tell if his Staraptor would be okay after this. "Thank you old friend, but we both know it's time for you to leave. Time for you to rest from all the fighting we've done." He spoke softly at it, pooling its beak in his two hands and bringing its head onto his. His Staraptor refused at first, but they could both sense that this was their final farewell. The boy couldn't help but remember the past and imagined a fledgling Starly reluctantly taking flight, slowly becoming a Staravia when it hesitated to leave in a hover mid-air, and finally seeing his Staraptor fade away in the distance. He looked down, only now aware of Leafeon's concern towards him. "Leafeon... you too... You should've left with Star..." It responded with defiance as if it did not want to leave. "Please, you need to. Do it for me." Leafeon stayed where it was and doubled down on its refusal. To be honest, he didn't want Leafeon to leave. They had become the best of friends, the first Pokemon he had ever obtained. He had saved it during a thunderstorm back when it was just an Eevee. It had cried out in pain amidst the pouring rain, a felled log of a tree on top of its leg. Thankfully he had been able to save that Eevee in between that chaotic force of nature, but not before being hit by a bolt himself, the lightning missing his heart but leaving a serious scar that ran down the full length of his back. Electricity was dangerous in any capacity, even from Pokemon. But nature's lightning was far stronger than a Pokémon's, and it had left him with a permanent mark that he now looks back on as the proof of his friendship with his Leafeon. He had made that Eevee his starter Pokemon thereafter and they had become inseparable from that point onwards. But... whatever came ahead he knew he had to do alone. What he was going to attempt to do was tantamount to going against the very end of the world. He could not be sure that he would even survive. He didn't want that for his Leafeon... His Leafeon cried out to him with all the resolution of a creature knowing full well what was at stake. It was ready to follow him to the ends of the world. He could understand his Leafeon more than any other Pokemon, even Luca, and heck, even all other humans too. The bond they shared was undeniable. He didn't need words to know what it wanted to say. "Leafeon..." It stood by him, a determined look on its face. There really was no convincing this little one. They were absolutely inseparable. He nodded at his Leafeon and the two walked to the beginning steps of Spear Pillar and onto an ornate slab on the ground just before reaching them. The slab itself was made from a material far different than the rest of the old broken pillars and steps, with an unusual engraving of some ancient language on it. From his bag, he pulled out a strange golden shell-like flute that resonated an elusive and mythical power. He placed his lips onto the mouthpiece and blew on it softly. An otherworldly and mystic tune played from it without him having to do anything as an unseen contraption from within rotated the segmented parts of the flute to play that alien melody autonomously. When it ended, a glass-like stairway began to materialize. They all lead far up into the sky, to the beginning of time, space, and all that had ever existed. The birth of life and the end of destiny. The start of all these problems... The Hall of Origin. He climbed for what felt like hours, each step heavier than the last. He wanted to collapse right there and then, but he would not allow himself. The unnerving silence stabbed at him as he drew closer to the end. Finally, at the top... there stood a being unlike any other looking directly at him. Ethereal and almost transcendental. It was like nothing he had ever read about. Nothing he could even begin to understand. The historical markings... the ancient glyphs... the very annals of time all pointed towards... Arceus. The ideals and truths that have led you here still hold strong in your heart. You've gone through much, the weary soul that believes himself a pretender. I shall pass on your judgement, speak. It's ethereal voice spoke to him inside his head. "It was your doing, wasn't it? You wanted me here... You could've made them stop sooner; you knew I was coming. You could've fixed everything from the start, yet, you still insisted on meeting me in the end. I want to know... why?" Arceus looked at him with an indescribable pressure and lack of any emotion, as though It were looking at an ant. What is it that you will do now as you stand before me? That is what I wished to know. The boy laughed defeatedly. "So just a show, huh? Found us interesting for once?" He enlarged the small purple ball that he had been fiddling in his hand nervously that entire time. "Well, alright, I'll tell you what it is I came here for. It was to end what I had begun. To ask you for my one wish. Turn back the world's fate! Don't let it end like this! They all deserve better... every Pokemon and human living together. Please, I implore you!" The world's failing is their own. Once judged, it will not be undone. This judgement is for you alone. "Then so be it." He produced an ancient blue tablet from his satchel, glyph-like lettering engraved on its surface. At the mere presence of Arceus, the tablet trembled with incredible power. It burst and shattered into thousands of shards that then encircled the deity in a glow that forced It to change its forms. "Leafeon, Leaf Storm!" With that, Leafeon unleashed a great power from its own being, materializing a massive swarm of leaves to weaken Arceus by slashing at the vulnerability the tablet had afforded them. As if understanding the next set of commands without being told, Leafeon followed up with Grass Knot, enveloping Arceus' legs in a binding hold and forcing the almighty being to kneel. That tablet... what... no... who led you to this human? "As the creator, you must understand! I want to see this world live on. I must fix this. Even if I have to take you down." Leafeon struggled intensely to keep its hold. Even severely weakened by the tablet, Arceus was stronger than they could've imagined. The boy threw the purple ball with all his might, wishing against all hope itself that it would work. As the ball took in the almighty being's form into it, immediately it began to shatter. White streaks of light formed across its entire surface. Come on... I can't let things lie as it is... please..... He thought to himself. With every shake, the white glowing cracks increased until eventually there was nothing of the purple from the ball, only a white sphere too bright to even look upon. The ball broke entirely at this and Arceus' form began seeping back into the Hall of Origin, stronger than ever before and undoubtedly angered by this insolence. The boy felt his heart sink to its very depths. His hopes had been shattered along with the ball. "Arrogance! O' foolish child of man!" Its voice echoed throughout the cosmos and in his head at the same time. Its anger had now become the very air around them. "My Judgement will not be light for you or your world!" Arceus' golden rims along his sides began to glow pure white. No... no no no no! His thoughts began to grow rampant. This wasn't how he wanted things to end. In his desperation, he pulled a brown tablet out of his satchel and like the blue one from before, it vanished changing Arceus' form with It still creating Its Judgement. "Leafeon! Solar Blade!" Leafeon slashed at Arceus with a massive blade of energy, forcing the figure to fall again. In a final act of desperation, the boy pulled out a pinkish ball with purple swirls that he had kept in his bag since he'd first started his journey. He had no idea what it really was. It was like no other Pokeball he had ever seen, and truthfully, he could not even so much as remember where he'd obtained it from, but this was the last shot he was going to get. It was now or never. He ran towards Arceus with all his might, Its Judgement filling the Hall of Origin with a pure white light. He felt himself disappearing... but this was not the end... he had to... Finally, he managed to connect the ball with Its body. Arceus' Judgement remained as its form went into the pink ball. The boy felt his own body slowly disappearing, the light of Judgement seemingly shredding his very existence. He felt himself beginning to slip into nothing... Finally, his strength left him altogether and the ball slipped out of his hand and onto the floor where it still shook. Then the shaking stopped. Arceus was caught... An explosion went off atop Mt. Coronet with a strength rivaling even the strongest volcanic eruption. A white, blindingly bright light enveloped the entire mountain top as though a star had gone supernova. The shockwave of pressure and air reached out for miles, shaking the earth with violence. Almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the white light shrank as though it had collapsed into itself and disappeared. The resulting phenomena left a now hollowed Mt. Coronet, a scar of what had taken place. All of the Pokemon that had been instinctually called had stayed all throughout having not been scared away by the explosion. Sensing that the moment had passed, they began to scatter back to their homes. The Pokemon who had battled for their master turned towards the guardians, seeing if they still intended to fight in their frenzied state. Yet, it was as though their anger had been blown away by that explosion and they now started to return to their own resting locations too. The oceans calmed, the sky cleared, and a gentle sunlight filled the landscape as the ground itself began to rest and settle. The four Pokemon now without a master cried their respect at Mt. Coronet one last time almost as if knowing what had happened, and they too headed back to their homes. The boy awoke with a start, his vision having a hard time adjusting to the bright pastel colors of his surroundings. The world itself had become incredibly alien and unlike anything he'd ever seen before, as though it had come straight out of a children's fairy tale. The clouds were unnaturally fluffy, the trees unusually lush. Even the air tasted and smelled slightly sweet. Stranger yet, he felt MUCH better than he had in months, heck even years. His clothes were still tattered, but his limbs felt more flexible than he could've imagined only a week ago. In taking a look around him, he noticed a large white egg sitting next to his legs, and on the other side, a small brown fox-like animal. "L-Leafeon?!" He shook it gently with one hand. "Leafeon, c'mon buddy, if it's you say something." He flinched at his own voice, it sounded much... different. He shook off his immediate surprise, his concerns entirely on the Eevee before him. It slowly awakened to its name, or perhaps maybe the pestering from him. "Leafeon! Is everything alright?! You're not hurt or anything?" It shook its head in order to shake off its sleep and then proceeded to stare at him blankly. "Leafeon...?" Stuck in a stupor and finally regaining its sense, it jumped with fear as it realized that there was an unknown human before it, its wild instincts telling it to run. "Wait Leafeon where are you going?!" The boy ran after it leaving the egg behind. The boy was beginning to see how deathly afraid the Eevee was of him, and a sense of dread filled him as he chased after it. What was going on? Why had his Leafeon reverted to an Eevee? It almost felt like he was chasing after a wild Pokemon that couldn't recognize him at all. Despite all of that, he was sure that this was his Leafeon. Every slight twitch of its ears, every swish of its tail... even in the way it ran he could see every bit of his old Leafeon's mannerisms in it. "Leafeon! It's me!" The small Eevee kicked dirt into his face with Sand-Attack and used Tackle to make him stumble backwards while he shook the dirt off, his eyes watery. The Eevee then used Bite on his leg causing the boy to yell in pain, further startling the fox making it run away again. Had his Leafeon truly lost its memory? All the times they had spent together... Could they truly have been lost to the wind? Tears began to roll down his eyes. "Leafeon!!!" The Eevee turned back in the middle of its run at the sound of its former name. Seeing the boy crying seemingly slowed its stride, as though it had felt guilty about what it had done. In looking back however, it crashed into the large egg from before, sending both of them careening towards a very steep cliff. The Eevee cried out in fear and tried to dig its claws into the ground trying to slow down its rapid slide, to no avail as it flew off the edge along with the egg. "Leafeon!!! I'm coming buddy!" The boy said, throwing himself over the cliff after the fox. He barely caught a hold of the Eevee and quickly manuvered himself to protect it from the inevitable drop by turning his body to the ground in order to cushion its fall. He was left breathless as the pain from the impact sent shockwaves through his entire back. The Eevee, understanding that it had just been saved, saw as the boy struggled in pain. It cried out to him in its worry and licked his cheek, easing one part of the boy's worry. Finally composed, he sighed with relief as he relaxed his body into the cushiony grass beneath him. "What a ride, huh? You really don't seem to remember anything... well... that's too bad..." The boy began to cry. His exhaustion had gotten the better of him, slowly lulling him to sleep as tears rolled down his cheeks. It had been a long day for his weary soul. The Eevee didn't understand a word the boy had been saying, but it stayed with him, seemingly concerned for him. From his dreamless sleep he heard the Eevee cry out in panic, and in the distance, the clattering of hooves.