[Pokémon] Faded Glory

Chapter One - Red Trail

The sun slowly set over the horizon, it's once bright yellow glow dimming to orange, then to dark, ominous red. Then, as quick at it appeared, the red disappeared, replaced by a gray shimmer. The grass moved uneasily in the dark night as the morning activity dulled down, leaving the night dwellers to roam. A lone Zubat flew through the dark night; it's screeching filling the air. It zoomed through the air, right into a thicket of trees.

The forest was quiet, only the ear-piercing song of a Kricketune bringing amusement to the night dwellers. The forest ground was brown in small, few spots, and the other parts were lumps, unrecognizable in the darkness. They lay scattered across the floor, trees, and even splattered on the rocks. Dark purple stains were also everywhere, a faint salty scent lingering in the air.

A small figure flew quickly through the forest. It was small and sleek with short pink fur and bright blue eyes. As it passed by each object on the ground, a faint glow illuminated it, revealing all the lumps on the ground to be dead Pokémon. The Pokémon gulped, feeling a hard lump rise in its throat at the sight of such carnage. It littered the ground like dust on a table, no one willing to clean up the mess. The Pokémon quickly maneuvered through the trees while also focusing its eyes on the carcasses.

"What has this come too...?" the flying Pokémon whispered to herself. Her voice was light and feathery, fear making it rise with anxiety.

She escaped the graveyard forest as the night became pitch black. The Pokémon looked around and saw, in the distance, dull lights, signaling a town nearby. The only problem was they'd stone her to death if she dared showed her blood-stained face there, or anywhere. She pondered over her options; either she could keep on roaming through the whole night, or at least hide in a city. Wherever she went people would hate her, so what was the point?

"If only they knew the truth, the truth," she whispered, looking at her small, bloody hands. "They think I'm a mass murderer. Everyone."

A discarded newspaper blew by then. The headline read, 'LEGENDARY POKEMON, THREAT OR NOT?' The picture on it showed a dark silhouette, similar to her, facing a group of dismembered Pokémon. In it's hand was the carcass of a Scizor, and the Pokémon was doused with blood. The sub-title was, 'May Mew Be Against Us?' The newspaper quickly passed by, fluttering into the night sky.

Mew sighed. Humans would believe anything with just the tiny bit of unjustified proof. She slowly hovered towards the town, knowing the least they would do is chase her out. As Mew neared the town, she spotted a tiny face in one of the houses' windows. It moved away quickly and the light shut off. Mew came to an abrupt stop as she heard voices inside the house.

"Mom, there's Mew, that killer." a small voice said. Mew quickly flew over to the house, crouching down under the window. The weeds at the bottom of the house scratched against her delicate skin.

"Ethan, you know there's no chance of Mew coming here. She's already done her damage here, what's the point of returning?" A woman replied.

Now Mew noticed scorch marks and light pink stains on some of the homes and buildings. She realized her enemy had come into this town and rampaged, killing Pokémon and maybe even people. Mew gulped, pressing her back against the wall. She was sure now they would

"What if she did come?" Ethan asked.

"If she did, of course, everyone would cage her and kill her." The woman said bluntly.

The conversation turned sharp then. Ethan began to fight with his mom about harsh treatment, and his mom argued back with the fact Mew has been accused of killing 1/15 of the Pokémon population. Mew couldn't take anymore then, and she flew away, out of the town. Mew sped through the night air, stopping at each dead body she saw on the ground. A tear ran down Mew's cheek at the sight of the carnage left by whomever did it.

It seemed everything was turned upside-down just a few weeks ago. Before, Mew had did all of her duties as a legendary. Then, a reporter in Cianwood City had broadcasted a sighting of "Mew" on the outskirts of the town. "She" was covered in blood and three dead Pokémon were laying there. The reporter said, "May the legendaries have it in for us? It seems they want to eliminate the other threats of Pokémon."

After that the legendaries would have nothing else to do with her, stating she was a traitor. Also anyone else that regarded her as a deity called her evil and most labeled her as a 'Fallen Hero'.

Mew looked to her left, seeing the town she just left, and to her right was another city, one she presumed to be Mahogany Town. Mew flew over, hovering on top of one of the large buildings. Slowly all the lights in each building and home went out, until only one light remained. Mew looked down, spotting dark jeans in the window. She couldn't see anymore. Mew looked around, seeing the streets were empty, and she swooped down the building and next to the window.

Mew peeked into the window to see a young boy, around 13 or 14, sitting on a red couch. He had spiky crimson hair and gold eyes. He wore a blue shirt with dark blue jeans and light blue sneakers. The boy was reading the newspaper, shaking his head in disgust. He stood up, crumpling up the paper and tossing it into a garbage bin, banging his fist against the wall.

"I don't believe for one minute Mew would be such a killer." he scowled. Mew's heart leaped at the thought of at least one person believing her innocence. She would've jumped in at that moment, but she heard footsteps behind her. As soon as Mew turned around, a metal cube fell around her. She could no longer see anything around her, and voices were muffled. Mew could make out a few words though.

"…legendary? Legendary killer maybe!"

"Mew…but…no proof…killed them all." Mew recognized the voice of the teenager that believed she didn't kill a single soul.

"Shut up…just a kid…don't know nothing." The other person, who had a deep, gruff voice, was talking loud. "We're taking her out now."

"Hold it there!" a new voice called. It was old and worn, yet calm.

"Pryce!" the gruff man said, surprised.

"Richard, Tai may seem young, but he knows what he's talking about." Pryce said. "The kids can know more than us sometimes. We do not have any justifiable proof that Mew had killed all of those Pokémon. And on another note, I agree with Tai; Mew has no reason to kill Pokémon, nor has any legendary actually killed anybody. Believing Mew, or any legendary, would do such a thing would make you an idiot."

Mew closed her eyes. She recognized the name; Pryce was the Gym Leader of the city. He kept on going, scolding Richard and anyone else who believed the lies. Then, Mew felt cold air graze her fur. She opened her eyes to gaze at the face of an old man in blue robes holding a white stick. He smiled at her. Then Mew saw Tai standing next to him, looking over through the buildings.

"Mew; there are still many others that would pull out a knife when someone whispers your name." Pryce said calmly, as if he was speaking to an old friend. "You could redeem yourself and the legendary name by stopping the murderer doing this."
Mew nodded once, and then shifted her gaze to Tai. He looked down, speaking in a low voice. "Uh, can I help?"

Mew smiled, and she floated up onto his head. Tai laughed, looking at Pryce. He smiled and nodded, his eyes closed as he began to walk back to his gym. Tai carefully held Mew in front of him, putting his hands under her arms. "We will stop this." He said seriously. "Either that, or all the Pokémon will be wiped out." Determination was clear on his face. Mew nodded, floating up to sit on Tai's shoulder as he walked out the city and into the distance.

The sun began to rise then, its golden rays shining over everything. It seemed to shine its brightest ray on Tai and Mew as they walked further into the distance, following the red trail..

Oh hey, a fic that involves Pryce. I like Pryce, and your portrayal of him seems quite nice as well thus far, and spot on (going from the games anyway). =)

It was a decent beginning I thought - some nice description during it as well, particularly of the way people talked and looked, although I felt there had been a touch too much in the beginning as nice as it was. It's an interesting concept as well, having a legendary being framed for being a mass murderer, although I wonder who the villain is? (One of my guesses is something that can use Transform as well or a Zoroark... and that reporter sounds a bit suspicious too tbh).

I do feel some points of the plot thus far are a bit iffy though - whatever is the villain it must be very tough to take out 1/4 of the entire Pokemon population, and such a number makes me wonder how much that would have had an effect on other parts of the world too. After all removing a single species from the ecosystem can have a significant effect so a quarter of the whole population would have a huge effect. The only mention of it is the dead bodies however, so perhaps that would be something to consider including or covering in the story.

I'm a bit surprised as well that the legendaries had also been so quick to believe the report (would they even watch/read such things, being Pokemon, even if legendaries?) and not investigate themselves - maybe you already have it covered down the line but it struck me as odd and a bit unbelievable when I read it, albeit curious.

Lastly I felt the last part moved a bit too quickly from Mw being caught to defended to already setting out with an unknown person to find out the true killer - maybe some expansion on that by say showing us more on what Mew is thinking and feeling would be one way to slow down the sudden increase in pace there.

The sun slowly set over the horizon, it's once bright yellow glow dimming to orange, then to dark, ominous red.

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its (possessive) rather than it's (it is) there. This came up a few other times in the chapter so watch out for that.

"Mom, there's Mew, that killer." a small voice said.

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You'd want to use a comma there after 'killer'...

She's already done her damage here, what's the point of returning?" A woman replied.

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And likewise, turn that 'A' into an overcapitalised 'a'. The reason for that is that you should only treat the part after the dialogue as its own sentence when it can actually support itself as one sentence. 'A small voice said' and 'a women replied' would not sound right as their own sentences, and furthermore flow on from the dialogue; they're both after all telling is who said those lines/how they were said. Hence there's no need for the capital in the latter example, and in the first you'd want to use a comma instead of a full stop. Note that it doesn't apply to stuff like exclamation marks or question marks because english is silly like that. =p So as another example:

"If she did, of course, everyone would cage her and kill her." The woman said bluntly.

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You want that as:

"If she did, of course, everyone would cage her and kill her," the woman said bluntly.

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(I'd also suggest removing the comma after 'course' as it doesn't sound quite right to have a pause there if it was spoken aloud to me). There's a few other instances of this as well in dialogue, so be sure to check that out.

She was sure now they would

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Missing a full stop at the end there.

It seemed to shine its brightest ray on Tai and Mew as they walked further into the distance, following the red trail..

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Two dots were at the end - should be either one (full stop) or three for an ellipse.

Not a bad start though, certainly - just a few small hicuups with grammar and the aforementioned question marks with the plot thus far. The writing is enjoyable to read though and I am interested to see what happens later on. I wish you luck with the rest of your fic.

I guess I'm lucky then, because I've never played any Pokemon game with Pryce.

And sorry about the many grammatical errors. Grammar isn't my strong point, so I rely on MSWord for catching them. XP

And for the antagonist, 1/4 was just a guess. I'm trying to think of a large yet possible number of Pokemon it killed. And also, I can't drop any hints on who it is without giving the identity away. But, to correct you, it does not have Transform. You'd probably/not be surprised who it turns out to be. Not surprised because of canon reasons, but surprised at my portrayal of it. . >=)

EDIT - Ah, the all-knowing legendaries. They did not watch/read the report, rather, it's kinda hard not to notice the dead bodies laying around, also, Mew's scent (yes, legendaries have a scent too). And sorry about the last part.

Oh, this is quite an interesting concept. I think this is my first time reading a fic where a legendary is accused of mass murder. Poor Mew. :< Also I too like your take on Pyrce. I'm guessing you're basing him on his anime counterpart since you said you didn't play any of the games featuring him?

Yeah, going to have to agree 1/4 is a bit much for a mass murder Pokemon. However, I see you changed it to 1/15, which is more reasonable I think.

Overall this is a good start to a fic with lots of potential for mystery. Can't wait to see what else will happen in this fic!

I need to correct myself on this. I haven't seen Pryce period. I never seen him in the games or the anime. I just made his personality like a friendly old guy.

Chapter Two – Trust
"Ah-ah-ah-ah!"

Tai tumbled down the rocky bank, his clothes tearing slightly. The larger rock he had been standing on was falling with him, and Tai was flailing his arms madly in an attempt to escape his freefall. Mew followed him down hill, trying to stop him with Psychic, but he had too much momentum. The hill was large and it edged Olivine City. Finally Tai crashed down onto the grass, the rocks stopping at his side. He stood up, shaking dust from his hair and clothes.

"Ouch, dang, I've learned not to trust rocky hills." He groaned.

Mew laughed, and then stopped as she heard footsteps behind them. Mew turned around, seeing nothing at first. Then a familiar voice rang in her ears. "Meow meow~"

"Ah!" Mew said, happy to see someone else. A small Pokémon stood on the ground, a few inches shorter than Mew. It had red ears making a V and large blue eyes. Its fur was peach and it had two wing-shaped tails. "Victini!" Mew smiled.

Victini bowed. "Hiya, Mew."

Mew landed on the ground to hug her friend. "I thought Cobalion wouldn't let you see me."

"He didn't," Victini giggled mischievously. "I snuck away in the dead of the night. It isn't too hard to find you with the smell of blood lingering."

Mew took a few steps away from him. "Do you think I killed all those Pokémon?"

Victini coughed, offended. "Heck no! I don't believe anything they said about you. It's just impossible."

Mew pointed at Tai. "Victini, this is Tai. He's helping me find the real oppressor."

Victini's gaze shifted from Mew to Tai. Then he grabbed Mew's hand, pulling her out of earshot. "Do you trust him?"

"Well---uh---"

"C'mon, do you trust him?"

"I really don't know." Mew said, exasperated. "He's one of the very few people that believe me so far, and was willing to help---"

"How do you know he won't wait till the last minute and stab you with a knife in his shoe or something?" Victini demanded.

"You're being extra cynical today," Mew said dryly.

"Mew, I'm the last person that would want to see you dead." Victini said sharply. "Just check."

Then he let go on Mew's hand, flames spiraling around him as he said once more, "Be careful." When the flames shrunk into little wisps, Victini was gone. Mew looked at Tai, who was fiddling with his shoelaces. 'What if Victini is right?' she thought. 'What if Tai really does hate me too? Could he be pretending to believe me?' Interrupting Mew's thoughts was a loud snort. She looked forward, seeing a mad Aagron charging straight at Tai.

"Graaaa!" the Aggron growled. Mew held her hands in front of her, ready to make a barrier. Then, a thought floated in her head. 'Do you trust him?' Again the question of whether or not Tai was with her was bouncing around in her mind. She flinched, dropping her hands. The Aggron knocked Tai onto the ground, towering over him. Tai's breathing quickened as he stared into the red eyes of the Aggron. Then, a high-pitched voice rang through his ears.

"Stone, return!"

The Aggron dissolved into a red light and shot back into a PokeBall, which was on the ground near Tai's feet. A girl ran up to him, panting and out of breath. After a few minutes she straightened out. The girl was a bit older than Tai, probably fifteen. She had short brown hair cut in a bob with a yellow hair band and emerald eyes. She was wearing a white shirt, blue vest, blue Capri shorts and black flats.

"So sorry!" she apologized quickly. "Stone got out of his PokeBall and he's really upset for some reason and I guess he saw you and---" She stopped as she noticed Mew standing on the ground next to Tai. Tai sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh my gosh your partners with Mew?" she said, awe in her voice.

"Yeah, I guess," Tai moaned, scratching his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl said again, face-palming. "I'm so stupid! My name is Brooke."

Mew rose into the air before Tai could speak. She floated over to Stone's PokeBall and rested her hands on it. A green aura surrounded Mew and the PokeBall as she closed her eyes. A low humming sound was heard as Mew slowly opened her eyes. They were glazed over for a minute, then Mew blinked and they returned to their deep blue color. Mew pulled the PokeBall from Brooke's hand and released Stone. He snorted and growled angrily before Mew began speaking to him.

"It's all right. Your family will remain in your heart." She said calmly. Quickly Stone calmed down, falling onto all four's as Mew rubbed his large head. Then Mew faced Brooke. She dropped down onto the ground, imitating a dead body, and then pointing at Stone. After a while Brooke understood. Mew smiled, returning Stone then handing Brooke the PokeBall.

"I get it now," Brooke said, looking at the PokeBall. "Stone's family was killed. It must've been before I caught him. Since I caught him he was hostile, and so was I, and I thought we'd never get along. But I guess we can trust each other now!" Brooke laughed, throwing the PokeBall into the air. Stone came out, and Brooke climbed onto his back. "Bye!" Brooke waved as Aggron charged off.

Mew looked at Tai, who was still sitting on the ground. He looked at Mew, and she was surprised to see the same look of uncertainty in his eyes as she herself. "We, uh, need to be able to trust each other, like Brooke said, if we are ever going to do this." Tai stood up, facing Mew. "I do want to stop this killer, whoever it is, if you'd help me."

Mew was surrounded by the green aura again as she held Tai's hand. Mew could now tell Tai was not lying; he did believe in her, and he did wish to help her. Mew smiled, pulling Tai forward. They were late to Olivine City.

…

Victini walked into the large cave of White Forest. He waded through the deep mud to the other end, where there was a small, round table and chair in the corner. Sitting on the chair was a figure similar to Mew, but could not be seen due to the darkness of the cave. Victini looked up at it.

"Master, I have tried to persuade Mew. I am not sure if it had worked." Victini said to it.

"Do not fret," the other Pokémon said. He had a light and calm voice, like a child. He reached out an odd hand and put it on Victini's head. "You have done well, Victini. I have no more use for you. "The Pokémon raised a hand, creating a ball of dark energy, and threw it at Victini. Victini disappeared in a pile of ashes, which quickly dissolved into the mud.

"Cobalion, I choose you." He said. The molecules in the air gained density, slowly forming into a blue deer-like Pokémon. The Pokémon smiled maliciously.

"Cobalion, I have a job for you."

I like you have Mew questioning a bit whether she should trust Tai or not. I think her then trusting him at the end there wasn't rushed too much, considering it is true the both of them will have to work together to make this work. The ending there is quite intriguing, though perhaps it would have nice if there's a reaction from Victini (like him screaming) before being hit by Shadow Ball (or that's what I'm assuming).

One thing I want to mention real quick is there are parts where you have the punctuation of dialogue all over the place. There are parts where you have it right, like these:

"You're being extra cynical today," Mew said dryly.

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"Do not fret," the other Pokémon said.

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However, there are times where you have it wrong, like these:

"I really don't know." Mew said, exasperated.

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"Cobalion, I choose you." He said.

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If you look at the first two parts of dialogue, you have them end in a comma when the dialogue isn't a question or exclamation. However, the last two you end the dialogue with a period, which isn't right. The correct way to write the last two sentences are like this, with the comma replacing the period:

* "I really don't know," Mew said, exasperated.
* "Cobalion, I choose you," he said. (The h in He needed to be lowercase too as pronouns he, she, we, they, etc. are suppose to be lowercase after a dialogue is finished. Only the pronoun I is capitalized)

So yeah, in short I think you need to be more consistent with the punctuation of the dialogue as it seems you're unsure which way is right. Hopefully I explained how to do dialogue correctly fine. ^^;

Overall I enjoyed this chapter and things look to be interesting now. Looking forward to more!

I don't know if this chapter makes much sense, but I'm no sensible person so, whatever! Also, I'm kind of afraid to drop any hints on the oppressor of Mew, as then it would just be really obvious!

Chapter Three – Encounter

Mew and Tai made it to Olivine City a bit afterwards. The city was bustling, but there were condemned homes and buildings, along with KEEP AWAY signs heading towards the east. Mew and Tai looked at each other before following the signs. They came up to the Pokémon Gym, and heard a loud voice behind them.

"Hey! This place is off-limits!"

A girl walked in front of both of them. She had long brown hair in two ponytails, wearing an aquamarine dress and sandals. She held up a hand to stop Tai. "This place is restricted because all trainers that entered have had all of their Pokémon killed." Tai scratched his head.

"Oh, you must be Jasmine, the Gym leader," Tai said, just realizing it. Jasmine nodded, and then a loud screech was heard inside the Gym. "Hey! Aren't you gonna find out what that is?" Tai said, but Jasmine stood still. Then her face twisted into horror as she heard something Tai and Mew didn't. Jasmine turned, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking the Gym doors. She ran inside, Tai right behind her, and Mew in front of all of them.

Inside was pitch-black, and Tai quickly lost sight of Mew and Jasmine. Then he heard a scream, and he ran towards it. He nearly tripped over many lumps on the ground, which he assumed were the dead Pokémon. As he got further into the gym, Tai could hear noises. He saw a faint light on the ground and walked up. Tai felt the wall, and he found out it was a door. He pressed his ear to it, hearing Jasmine's voice and noises like water and something slamming on the wall. Tai pushed open the door.

Jasmine in the corner, shouting commands to her Pokémon, which were attacking another Pokémon with the help of Mew. The other Pokémon was blue and looked like a ram with yellowish horns and a wing-like tail. Jasmine's Pokémon were easily defeated, and the Pokémon killed them by impaling them on its horns.

"Who is that?" Tai asked. The strange Pokémon's gaze shifted to him. Tai backed up along the wall to stand next to Jasmine.

"It's Cobalion!" Mew said, avoiding a strike with his hooves. Mew swerved to the right, avoiding his Iron Head as she used Psychic. Cobalion started glowing pink as Mew tried to move him, but even being part Fighting type, Cobalion remained in his spot as his eyes began glowing red. The pink around him disappeared as he lunged at Mew and began knocking her around. Cobalion had hit her numerous times before pinning her against the wall. Jasmine opened the door, quickly exiting.

"I'm gonna get help!" she called to Tai, shutting the door again. Mew tried to move but Cobalion had created spikes on the wall and they were stuck in her back. Cobalion turned towards Tai. Then, to both Tai and Mew's surprise, he began to speak.

"Master requests you turn yourselves in," he said. Tai huffed. Then a question popped in his mind.

"Is your so-called master the same person that's gone on a mad killing spree?" Tai asked. Even Mew stopped struggling to listen.

"Yes, that is correct," Cobalion replied.

Tai walked over to Mew, unbeknownst they were spikes lodged in her back, and he pulled her from the wall. Mew yelped as blood ran down her back, but the cuts quickly sealed up.

"Mew use Earthquake, now!" Tai commanded. She was about to point out he wasn't her master when Cobalion started charging at her again. Mew glowed white for a minute as the earth began to violently shake, throwing Tai and Cobalion into each of the walls. When the shaking was gone, both of them were disoriented. "Eh," Tai said, coming to his senses. "Will-O-Wisp,"

A small flame floated towards Cobalion, and he moved out of the way, however, the flame followed him. Then he crushed it under his hoof, burning it slightly. Tai looked down at Cobalion's hooves before ushering another command to Mew. "Scald!" Mew stuck up one hand, blasting out a ton of pressurized water that seared Cobalion's fur with contact. Then Cobalion cringed as flames lingered around him. Tai smirked. 'He's burned; he's not too much of a threat now.' He thought, and then another thought hit him and Mew. Tai shrugged it off as Cobalion charged up white energy the size of a basketball. He held it in front of him for a moment, and then threw it at Mew.

"Flare Blitz!" Tai called out. The ground began shaking again but to a lesser degree, then it heated up. Mew grabbed Tai's hand, both of them floating up to the ceiling as fiery magma flowed onto the ground. It also blew upwards in a lava plume. Then, a huge blast of magma shot at Cobalion, knocking him right through the wall and the gym onto the streets. Everyone passing by, whether pedestrians or drivers, stopped dead in their tracks to see the helpless legendary protector of humans lying in a puddle of lava. Mew flew out the gym through the seared holes in the walls and floated a few feet near Cobalion as he disappeared into a pile of ashes, which dissolved into the ground. Quickly Mew regretted coming out at all as she was met by dirty looks by everyone.

"Hey look it's Mew!" someone called out from the gathering crowd. People crowded around to see the little bits of magma remaining from Mew's attack.

"She killed yet another Pokémon; this time a legendary!" another person shrieked, huffing in anger.

"Let's get her before she kills anyone else!" the first person yelled. The crowd yelled in agreement as half of them threw out Pokémon ---threatening ones like Zoroark and one person even had a spiky-eared Pichu--- while the others charged at Mew, followed by Pokémon. Tai busted out the large hole in the gym to grab onto Mew's tail. Mew floated up, visibly undeterred by Tai's weight as she used Heal Bell, followed by Teleport. The bell rang through Olivine City, leaving everyone with a calm feeling. The crowd looked at each other, wondering why they attacked such a Pokémon. Some of them realized that they had no chance against Mew anyway, evil or not. They retreated back to their homes and vehicles, the scene clearing except for the builders headed towards the Gym.

….

"Cobalion failed? Go figure; he always seemed the weakest."

A young man ---probably 17 or 18--- sat in a chair opposite of the Pokémon which sent the evil Victini and Cobalion. The man had spiky hair that was the purest white ever seen, along with crystal blue eyes. He wore a black trench coat along with jeans and black sneakers. He wore a serious expression on his face as he spoke again.

"Time for me to step in, or are you gonna be a chicken forever?"

The Pokémon grew annoyed at the youngster's bashful attitude. "Why must you address me in such a way? I am wiser than your grandfather and strong enough to kill you by just breathing. Anyhow, I believe it is time for you to take control. Remember the task: destroy Mew and her partner, and once they are gone, all the other Pokémon."

The man yawned and waved a hand passively. "Yeah yeah, I'm not stupid," He exited the cave, pulling a PokeBall from his pocket. He threw it into the air, Ho-oh materializing on the forest ground. The man climbed onto his back, Ho-oh taking off into the skies. The Pokémon sighed, leaning back into the chair. He opened his eyes, which were a violent shade of purple.

"I leave my trust in you, Silver."

To celebrate the holidays, the next chapter will be released on Christmas Eve! Fillers on the way!

I've tweaked the background, but you should be able to figure out who the villain is from this chapter! If not, translate his name, Mya ni.

Chapter Four – Predilection for Destruction

"The experiment is progressing nicely," said one of the scientists, jotting something down on his clipboard. He fixed his glasses atop his nose, looking up at the large tube in front of him. It was filled with a gold liquid and floating inside was a lump of purple fur. It had a tube in its back, leading down into the bottom of the container.

"Yes, he is doing quite well, which surprised me after yesterday's incident…" another scientist said, then trailed off. The head scientist sighed, shuffling sadly into his office, slamming the door shut. The other scientists sighed, resuming their word.

The being inside the tube was sentient and had a far more advanced intelligence than humans. It was already thinking, despite being a few weeks old. It wondered about its purpose in life, why it was created, and why should it live. It then remembered someone telling it life is wonderful.

The creature grew more and more over the course of a month. The scientists continued recording data then one day, the boss came to inspect progress. He looked at the creature, and a familiar malicious grin spread across his face. He whispered commands to one of the scientists, who protested the results. The boss growled to do it and the scientist complied. The tube slipped over, the liquid draining downwards and the tube falling onto the tiled floor. The creature stretched its limbs before touching down on the tiled floor. It looked around, curious.

"From now on you shall be called Myani," the man said, putting a hand on the creature's shoulder. "You shall be the most powerful Pokémon ever, and I will guide you to that title."

The Pokémon, dubbed Myani, stared at the man's hand before meeting his eyes. The man's eyes were dark, burning with the flames of power already. The Pokémon's violent eyes had a confused look in them, but it nodded as the man led it out the double doors. The Pokémon squinted at the large ball of light in the sky.

"What is that?" he asked the man.

"That is the sun. It provides light to the world." the man replied.

"Who are you, and what am I?" Myani asked.

"My name is Giovanni," the man said, smirking. "And you are the recreation of the most powerful Pokémon known. But now, you will take that title as your own."

…

Giovanni stood at one end of the battlefield, Myani standing in front of him, clad in armor blacker than the night. The visor hid his eyes, but not the piercing glare they created. At the other end of the battlefield stood a Pokémon Trainer. He had blond hair that was neatly cut and bright brown eyes. He wore a blue jersey, white shorts and sandals. A Charizard was a few feet ahead of him, roaring and spewing flames into the great azure sky. Storm clouds edged the scene, rumbling and blowing leaves across the dirt field.

"Your move," Giovanni gestured to the Trainer. He gulped, fiddling with his shirt collar.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower," he said weakly.

The Charizard roared before arching his neck towards Myani. He roared again, shooting out a spiral of flames at him. Myani raised a hand, not needing Giovanni's orders to know what to do. The flames stopped just an inch from Myani's helmet as if someone had pressed a pause button. Myani clenched his hand into a fist as the flames made a U-turn right back towards Charizard.

"Dodge!" the Trainer shouted. Charizard swooped upwards, the flames barely grazing his foot. "Charizard get him with Fire Blast!" he yelled at the flying dragon. Charizard became encased in flames as he roared again, the flames around him shooting forward at Myani. He sighed, teleporting just a few feet from his spot. The flames burnt the dirt, leaving a large charcoal mark on the ground. The Trainer took in a sharp intake of breath as he thought of another move. During that time, however, Giovanni had decided on his next strike.

"Myani, use Hydro Cannon," Giovanni said calmly. Myani raised his hand high above his head, crating a light blue ball of compressed liquid in his hand. Suddenly it blasted out a very large amount of pressurized water. It knocked Charizard right out of the sky and he fell onto his Trainer, both of them becoming adequately doused. Charizard flew off his Trainer before collapsing onto the ground. The Trainer returned him, looking at Giovanni and Myani a moment before running away.

"Good work, Myani," Giovanni patted Myani on the back, looking at the Trainer, who had by now become a dot on the horizon. Myani looked up at Giovanni, a new, searing emotion coming to him…

…

"Is there something that you want?"

Giovanni sat at the other end of his desk. The desk was polished dark wood, a desk lamp and various files stacked neatly atop it. Giovanni's chair was a standard computer chair, and his hands were folding at the edge of the desk. Myani stood at the other end of the desk. Giovanni wondered why Myani had requested an urgent audience with him, and also why he wasn't wearing his armor.

"I have served my purpose here," Myani said, his voice light and child-like. At this point Giovanni noticed something new in his eyes, something he had never seen before. Before Giovanni could say anything, Myani raised both hands, the office bursting into flames, followed by the entire HQ. Giovanni slipped open a drawer on his desk, pressing a button inside. A section of the wall slid open, and Giovanni entered quickly as the whole room was on fire. Myani had retreated from the building and was flying overseas at this point.

"I am done with Giovanni," he said, looking further into the distance. "I shall achieve the title, strongest Pokémon ever on my own." He looked out, seeing a new region near, one he remembered was titled Johto. Myani closed his eyes, deciding on a new name for himself, one that will forever be remembered…

…

A Glameow roamed the streets of Azalea Town alone. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. A little boy was running home. His wild crimson hair waved in the wind. He stopped, seeing the Plusle sitting down in the middle of the street. He knelt down, smiling at the Pokémon.

"Hi there," he asked, putting his hands under his arms and lifting the Glameow. "Do you have a home?"

"Glam, glam," the Glameow growled. Then he hissed at the boy, scratching at his arms. The boy yelped, tears streaming down his cheeks as he fell back on his butt. The Glameow's claws were immediately encased in dark energy as he swung furiously at the boy's chest. The Glameow had a murderous glint in his eyes as he pulled his paw back to strike the boy dead. At this point a woman had come out, a garbage bag slung over her shoulder. She glanced at the street, seeing the Glameow and the Boy. The woman dropped the bag, picked up her garbage can ---which was empty--- and slammed it down over the Glameow. He hissed and growled, striking at the can but unable to break its metal.

"Are you ok?" the woman asked, knelling down in front of the boy. He was crying down, blood staining the sleeves of his orange coat and running down his shirt. The woman pulled a cell phone from her pocket and dialed a number. "Hello?" she spoke into the receiver. "This is the hospital? I found a boy here, he's been attacked by a Glameow. He's bleeding a lot. Yeah, the Glameow's here too. I got it under my trash bin. Alright then, goodbye." The woman hung up, shoving the phone back into her pocket. She gripped the boy's shoulders tightly as her brown eyes met his golden eyes.

"Is your mother home?" the woman asked. The boy shook his head. "Your father?" Again he shook his head. "Where are your parents?"

"In the ground," he replied, sniffling.

The woman was confused for a moment, and then realized what he was saying. "Oh. Where is your home?"

"The orphanage," he said simply, rubbing his sleeve on his cheeks. That didn't help; it just smeared blood on his face.

The woman nodded slowly. "Would you like to live with me?"

The boy hesitated, not speaking for a moment. "Ok,"

"What is your name?"

"Tai," he sniffed again. "Tai Aisu."

"My name is Ericka," the woman said with a smile, her eyes twinkling. "Remember that."

…
"Merry Christmas!" Ericka smiled at Tai as he returned home that night. Tai pulled off his cap, stamping the snow off of his boots, pulling them off and tossing them into the corner. While Tai fumbled with the buttons on his jacket, Ericka pulled out Christmas cookies from the oven. Tai finally took off his coat, throwing it onto the couch as he pulled himself onto it. Ericka handed him a cookie.

"It's your first Christmas here," she smiled. "And it's also been 7 months since the Glameow attack." She said on a less happier note.

"Mmm," Tai said, biting into his cookie, which was shaped like a Christmas tree. He felt Alice nudging his foot. He smiled at the little Snivy. Ericka put an arm around Tai's shoulders, leaning on him as she took a bite from her star-shaped cookie. They both stared at the Christmas tree in the corner, the lights seeming to grow brighter every moment.

…

A tiny Mew floated above the bright lights of Goldenrod City. The lights were a great array of color, and people were crowding around a large tree in the middle, decorated from roots to tip. The Pokémon were also enjoying themselves; they were climbing the tree and swinging and laughing. At the tip of the tree was a bright star shaped like a Staryu. Mew pointing a tiny paw at the tree.

"What is that?" she asked. Arceus floated down to be at eye level with Mew.

"It is known as Christmas," he said, his voice echoing through the night sky. "It is a day in which the humans celebrate being together and they sing songs of all the legendary Pokémon round the great tree you see there."

"Haha!" Mew clapped, quickly flying downwards before Arceus could stop her. He sighed, creating a portal in the sky back to his dimension. He casted a glance back at Mew before flying through, leaving it there for when Mew was done.

Mew zoomed through the great city, undetected by the humans. She visited one house, seeing a woman pulling out fresh-baked Christmas cookies from the oven. In another house Mew saw two little boys and a girl playing around near the Christmas tree.

The next house was quite small, and inside there was only a table and chair. On the table was a stick, one tree ornament dangling on one part of it. A woman was sitting on the chair, a little boy in her arms and a Riolu staring up at the 'tree'. Mew closed her eyes, flying out of the city and through the portal. Still no one had seen here, but a loose tear dropped down on her way back.

…

"Merry Christmas!"

Tai laughed, leaning against the brick wall. Night was beginning to fall on Blackthorn City. The moon was late to illuminate the city, however, as a Christmas tree stood in the middle of the city, its lights shining bright in the dark sky. Tai closed his eyes, the memories flooding back to him. Mew also had the familiar sense of nostalgia.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

Tai was startled as he realized a girl standing next to him. She had jet black hair, invisible in the night except for the purple streaks through it. It was very long, down to her waists. She had purple-blue eyes and pale skin. She wore a black tank top and black leather jacket with a purple fingerless glove, black skirt and brown boots. She had a PokeBall belt dangling loosely at her waist, 4 PokeBalls packed in it.
"Yeah, it is," Tai replied, looking at the tree. He looked to his side, seeing Mew had disappeared.

"I never seen you around," the girl said, fiddling with one of her PokeBalls.

"I'm from, er, outta town," Tai said.

"Cool," the girl said, smirking. "My name's Alice, Alice Wright."

"Alice?" Tai repeated. "Cool, I had a Snivy I called Alice before. My name's Tai Aisu."

"Wow, I got a Serperior right here," she laughed. "Ya know, I really love looking at the Christmas tree. It reminds me of my home in Kanto before my dad moved here."

"It brings back some more, how should I say, odd memories for me." Tai said, pressing his lips together.

They were silent now, as people were crowding around the Christmas tree. Tai smiled, tears streaming down his cheeks as they started serving out Christmas cookies. Tai walked over, taking two, and then leaned against the wall again. He held one out.

"Wanna cookie?" he asked. Alice took it, and Tai took a bite. Alice noticed deep dark scars on his arms, but didn't ask as she took a bite. Mew reappeared inside the Christmas tree. She sat down on one the branches, enjoying the time now.