Intrepid: An Emort Tale

PROLOGUE

Mount Moon, Kanto. 1723 AA (Their time system. It's around 1980 our time)


Julian climbed the last few steep rocks of the inside of Mt Moon, his aggressiveness taking hold of him as he finished his journey. He looked around and viewed his surroundings. He seemed to be very close to the peak of the mountain, but he was inside of the colossal rock body.

He couldn't seem to find a way out of the mountain, though. There was no way out but back down. He was disappointed, as he had come with a purpose. Julian felt a tear drip down his cheek.

No. It wasn't a tear.

Julian looked up. There was a stalagmite that was dripping water. Julian followed the stream and saw that the stalagmite wasn't producing its own water, it was coming from somewhere outside the mountain. Julian walked around the floor, following the maze-path the water was making through the ceiling, when he found what he was looking for—a hole. This hole was about 30 feet from where Julian emerged onto the floor. Julian saw that a lot of the water was gushing through this hole. Unfortunately, the hole was on the ceiling, and there were no stairs. Julian squinted his eyes and saw a ropelike ladder, but it was rolled up by the hole.

Julian stared at the hole and thought a while. After a bit of time, he took a pokeball from his belt and out came a slightly blue dragon Pokémon.

"Frozagon!" Julian called to the middle-stage Pokémon. "Use Ice Ball on that ladder! Try to knock it down!" With that, the Frozagon began to conjure a ball of ice in its mouth, and proceeded to fire it at the rope ladder. The ice hit its mark, and the rope ladder fell.

"Nice job, Frozagon!" Julian said as he recalled his Pokémon to its pokéball. Julian clipped the Pokeball onto his belt. He then mounted the ladder and began climbing up to the surface of the mountain.

It was about a 20 ft climb. As soon as Julian finished the climb, he could already feel the rain droplets pelting against his face. Julian's jet black hair was ruffled by the winds, and lightning was constantly hitting the mountain. Julian struggled on the last rung of the ladder, and then finally collapsed on a rock.

After about five minutes of resting, Julian got up from the rock. The rain had gotten stronger, and the sun had no chance of appearing. Even though it was noon, the atmosphere made it feel like it was 7pm.

Where is it? Julian thought. He looked around for a hint of what might be able to call upon the beast of the ozone. He spotted a skeleton holding an ocarina.

Holy Mew, Julian thought, so this is probably what brought that ladder. Julian wrenched the Ocarina from the skeleton's hands and played a single note. Obviously, that was all that was needed, as a single flash of lightning blinded Julian for a few seconds, and when his vision came to, the giant green dragon, Rayquaza, was staring directly at him, no more than 40 feet from him. Julian stood paralyzed for at least a minute, when the Rayquaza screamed a deafening scream, which shocked Julian back into reality.

"I know you are agitated, Rayquaza! I know! It's that global warming! I can stop it! I just need your help to control the ozone!" Julian yelled frantically. Rayquaza…didn't seem to understand. It yelled again, much louder than before.

It's those pollutants… Julian thought. They're causing Rayquaza to go insane. There's only one way I can tame this beast now. Julian took a pokeball out of his backpack. "GO, POKEBALL!" He screamed. The red and white sphere glided through the air, had a rendezvous with Rayquaza's skull, and sucked the beast into it. Less than a second later, the pokeball burst into millions of pieces, and Rayquaza came into being again. Many of the shards scratched Julian.

If I can't capture you now, I'll just have to weaken you first! Julian's short temper was just broken, and he unclipped a pokeball from his belt. "Go!" he screamed, "Frosetti!" and threw the pokeball into the air. However, when the ball was thrown into the air, it was struck by a bolt of lightning (what luck…), and burst, the codings for Julian's Pokémon lost in the rain.

Julian stared at the pokeball for quite a while. His bottom lip began to quiver, and multiple tears formed in his eyes. He looked back at the Rayquaza, then back at the burnt pokeball, and back to Rayquaza. "NO!" he shouted. "NO!" He reached for his other pokeballs, but couldn't seem to grasp them. Julian looked at his belt. The pokeballs weren't there. Julian looked around in just enough time to see his remaining 5 Pokéballs roll off the edge of the mountain. "NO!" he screamed again…it seemed that that was the only word that he could utter now. A chill ran down Julian's back, and his whole body was shaking. He looked up at the Rayquaza, who was thrashing about, colliding with various rocks, and screaming the whole time.

There is no other way to calm him. Julian thought, the fury building within him. Its too late for global warming. The human race is doomed. The least I can do is put Rayquaza out of its misery and outrage.

Julian's face was bright red, and his eyes still had tears flowing from them. Julian ran forward, dodging the flying rocks, and even taking one to the face. He approached the lord of the ozone, who didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. He ran up the rocky build of the monster, holding on to its skin every time it thrashed and looked up at Rayquaza's face.

"…I am only doing this for the betterment of the world and the ozone." On that last word Rayquaza looked down to see Julian. Too late.

Julian drew his hunting dagger from his right side with his left hand, closed his eyes tightly, and shoved the blade into Rayquaza's belly. The skin closed in over the blade, and Julian thrusted the hilt in after the knife. He held it there with his eyes closed while Rayquaza struggled in attempt to delay its death. The entire process lasted 10 minutes, when Rayquaza finally stopped thrashing about, and collapsed on the mountain peak, dead.

Julian kept his hand on the dagger, and began to sob. He held his hand on the dagger for a full hour before releasing his dagger from the insides of Rayquaza. Julian surveyed the dead beast. Colossal tears rolled down his cheeks, as he knelt and gave a proper burial to Rayquaza and his Frosseti. Julian then radioed his father to come pick him up via helicopter.

Prologue Part II
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New Bark Town, Johto. 1762 AA. 9:25pm

"And then, Julian returned home with his father, leaving his Pokémon behind…" Gramma stopped. "Are you sure you want me to continue, Jeffy? Your parents left me in charge while they're gone, and I don't want you having nightmares and waking me up all night. Should I continue?"

"Gramma, I can handle anything." Six-year-old Jeff said, laying down in bed with his Sentret, who turned to Gramma and said, "Sen—sentret!"

"Alright," said Jeff's grandmother. "If you insist, I will continue. 'Some say that Rayquaza's spirit left and departed for pokeheaven. Others say that Raquaza didn't really die, but the wildest of theories, presented by Gary Oak Jr., says that the spirit of Rayquaza was split into three beings, each taking on the types of Fighting, for Rayquaza's fighting spirit, one for water, symbolizing the mortalness of Pokémon and Rayquaza, and one in a Steel type, to symbolize the solid boldness of Rayquaza—a true Intrepid of its time." Gramma looked up from the book, and found young Jeff and his Sentret asleep.

She closed the book and walked out of Jeff's room, turning off the light and closing the door. Jeff opened his mouth without opening his eyes.

He whispered to the Sentret. "Is she gone?"
"Sen"
"Good." Jeff jumped out of bed and ran over to his desk and booted up is Oran Laptop.
[WRITER'S NOTE: Oran Berries are the equivalent to Apples in the Pokémon world. So…hah. Get it?]

Jeff logged onto the internet and brought up his website, and took out a notebook which had some drawings on it. He scrolled down his webpage a bit, and wrote down some information. The words "Emort Region" were written in large letters.

Jeff turned to his Sentret. "Buster, Nessa, and Spectver. Three keys to the soul of Rayquaza—the true Intrepid.

No replies? *sigh*

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Chapter I


Goldenrod City, Johto, 1770 AA

Jeff felt the breeze ruffle through his light brown hair as walked towards the train station. He knew that he couldn't be late, as this train was the last one leaving Goldenrod that day, and he had a busy schedule to keep up with. Unfortunately for Jeff, Goldenrod city is the biggest known city in the Pokémon world, even bigger than Jubilife city in the Sinnoh Region. Jeff took it upon himself to ask the locals where the train station was. He got a jumble of answers, and every one seemed to contradict another in one way or another.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Jeff asked one woman. "Do you happen to know where the train station is?"
The woman turned around, and realizing that Jeff was talking to her, was happy enough to write down directions on a piece of paper that she had pulled out of her purse. Jeff thanked the woman and followed her instructions to the train station.

Jeff walked into a very brightly colored room, filled with large screens showing departure and arrival times, train numbers and destinations, and of course, ticket booths. Jeff had bought his ticket online, so he walked right through the room onto the departure deck. He saw a man who looked like a conductor and confronted him.

"Do you know when the train leaves?" Jeff asked.

The conductor smiled. "It seems as though you came right in time, as we're boarding right now." With that, the conductor blew a whistle, signaling any person who wished to board the train must do so now. Jeff walked onto the train and held onto a bar, letting others sit down instead.

A small fuzzy thing poked its way out of the front of Jeff's green shirt. "Furret!" it exclaimed, and put a big smile on its face.

"Shhh!!" Jeff whispered to the Furret as he pushed it back into his shirt. "We don't want them seeing you." He pointed to a sign, which read "No Pokémon outside of pokeballs on the train." He read it to the Furret, who sulked back into Jeff's shirt.

The conductor, who seemed to have popped out of nowhere, tapped Jeff of the shoulder, and the startled teen turned. "You can keep your Furret out of its pokeball." he said. "We put those signs up so a Snorlax or a Wailord isn't released onto the train.

The Furret crawled out of Jeff's shirt and proceeded to sit on Jeff's shoulder, while giving Jeff a sarcastic smile.

Jeff's Furret remained on his shoulder for the 15 minute journey across the Johto Region. The train slowed to a halt In Saffron City, Kanto, and Jeff got off. The Saffron City station looked more lavish and luxurious, but it was much smaller. Jeff walked out of the building and breathed in some fresh Kanto air. He took out a piece of paper, written from his mother. He squinted to try to read the small text.

"So she gave me directions from Kanto, but not from Johto. Figures. Mmhmm…then I make a right at Silph Co, and make my way to the taxi station…" Suddenly, Furret jumped off of Jeff's shoulder and dashed down the street. "Furret…no! Get back here!" Jeff ran after his Furret, chasing it down Saffron's main street, past the Silph Co. building. The Furret came to a halt just outside of the taxi station. Jeff ran over to the Furret and placed it back on his shoulder.

Jeff looked at the Taxi Station. "Well," he said, "Here it is. The Taxi Station." Furret turned to Jeff as if to say, 'No, really?'

Jeff walked into the building, and was greeted by a Chatot, who flew over and said in a mocking voice, "Welcome to Saffron Taxi Service! Where your transportation pays for our dinner!"

"H—Hey! Who let out the Chatot!" a voice from the back of the building yelled. Within a few seconds, a large old man walked to the counter and calmed the Chatot. He looked at Jeff. "Hello there. Welcome to Saffron Taxi Service!"

"Where your transportation pays—"

The old man cupped his hand over the Chatot's beak. "That's enough, Chatot." Turning to Jeff, he asked, "How can I be of assistance?"

"I am attempting to get a ride to Vermillion City in order to board the cruise ship, the SS Anne. I heard it was on its way to the Emort Region. That where my destination lies."

The old man chuckled. "You sound like an old man when you speak. So many manners. Hmm….Vermillion City eh? Not a problem. It's very close by, so it won't cost you much." He reached his hand across the counter to Jeff. "The name's Adam. I'll be your taxi driver." Jeff shook the hand offered to him.

"Tell me…Adam. How much money is the trip going to cost?"

"Oh, no more than 300 poke." As Jeff began to pull out his wallet, Adam spoke again. "Oh, but you don't pay until I get you there safely. It's our policy."

"Is it, now?" Jeff marveled. "That's not how the cab system works in Johto. I guess you're different. When will we be leaving?"

"Actually, my break is just ending, so I'll put my Chatot in her cage, and we can be off."

"Cool."

As Adam began to gather his things, Jeff stepped out of the building for some fresh air. Above, he could see some Swellow beginning to fly south for the winter, but with this rumored global warming threat that everyone's been hyped up about, the Swellow seemed confused on which direction to go. Or so Jeff has heard. To make sure, Jeff ticked on the compass application on his Poketch.

East.

Julian was right. Jeff took a notebook out of his backpack, and Furret seemed to be interested. Jeff flipped to a page somewhere in the middle, with the header, "Dream #67, October 19, 1764". He read the excerpt to Furret.

"'Today I had that dream again. Yes that same dream. The one where the ozone collapses and everyone is shipped to the moon. And there's a big screen that shows an old man's face saying, "I was right! Global Warming is real!" And then thousands of Koffing and Weezing are released unto us, and the old man lists the signs of global warming…the first being the confusion of bird Pokémon when flying south.'" Jeff looked up and sighed.

Adam walked out of the building with some car keys in his hand. "Yea. Those birds have been going crazy lately, and I'm not sure why." Jeff turned around.

"You scared me for a second there." Jeff replied. "Are we going now?"

"Yup. Just gotta start 'er up, and we can get moving."

Adam walked across the parking lot over to the taxi and placed the key in the ignition. After a cough, the gas started moving into the engine and the car began to heat up. "Well, you coming or not?" Adam shouted to Jeff.

"Yea, I'm coming." Furret ran ahead of Jeff, and got into the Taxi. Jeff looked up at the sky. He thought about what the old man had said in his dream.

"First, the confusion of bird Pokémon when flying south. Next, the melting of the Snow peaked mountains…" Jeff shuderred and got into the Taxi

I don't understand why this doesn't have more replies.

Anyway, this is kind of wicked. Rayquaza was murdered? Awesome. Though, the soul divided into three element is a little weird.

I also like the use of unique cultural elements, like the different calendar. I always thought Pokemon shouldn't be simply 'magic power-puff puppies in real world', but more realistic for a unique world.

Hah. It's sort of a fanfic of my upcoming hack, Pokemon Helio version, where global warming increased and it's near-apocolypse. I made this as sort-of a backstory to it. I couldn't have global warming increase if there was a guardian of the ozone still there...so I got rid of him. And I made its soul split into three so there would be some sort of hope to rejuvinate Rayquaza and 'save the world'

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Chapter I follow up

Mt. Sanguit, Emort, 1782 AA

Rayquaza…forgive me. I have failed you. Had I known earlier of global warming…perhaps you could have been saved…no. I did the right thing. I spared you, Rayquaza. The least you can do is show me your true self! Buster, Nessa, Spectver! Why doth thy not show thine selves? Why are you hiding! Please! (sobs) I…I'm sorry Rayquaza. Your soul should mean more to me. Please…I can still save this world, but I need your combined soul to do it. PLEASE!

….why…why do you torment me?! The planet is being destroyed and all you can do is have your split soul roam the region? Whatever kind of sick humor this is, it isn't funny at all! I am an old man, and my life will have had no meaning if I do not rid this global warming, and your soul is the only thing that can stop it.

Fine. If you will not help me stop global warming, at least show me a sign that global warming will be stopped, whether it be by me or by you, at least show me that one comfort.

~~RRRUMBLE~~

Good. Then my work here is done. I will do everything in my power to quicken the effort.

With a mighty heave, the old man picked himself off the ground, and grasped his cane from a stalactite. Coughing many times, Julian made his way out of Mt. Sanguit.