Prologue
"This forest is growing faster than I can tell."
Somewhere amongst the Seafoam Islands…
"Oh my!" the young woman whispered to herself. She gulped as she stared upon at the bird's majesty. The frozen fowl was a sight to behold. Its plumage did not appear soft and light, but rigid and frigid. With every small breath, the light-blue icicles-for-feathers that covered the massive bird tinkled quietly, resonating like little pieces of crystal on a chandelier. Articuno was a lovely sight while awake and soaring about, but it had a solemn beauty as it innocently slumbered.
Marcy was a young woman, age 17, who had had an undying love for adventure ever since she was able to walk. She had scaled many mountains throughout the world: Mt. Chimney, Mt. Silver, and Mt. Ember were a few of the many. The many mountains amongst the Seafoam Islands were merely practice courses for her – climbing them only required an empty morning schedule and a liter of water. Never, though, had she stumbled upon one of the Legendary Birds.
"I think I'll let you rest," muttered Marcy, as she slowly backed out of the cave. "What a fortunate accident." She continued to silently slip out of the shallow cavern, out into the fresh sea air and the revitalizing morning sun, just barely rising above the opposite side of the peak. The 20-foot-tall cave was carved into the side of the mountain, among a few ponderosa pines and boulders. Marcy had strayed off of the beaten path, so she decided to free-climb up the 45° face to the zenith, considering there was only 50 feet left. She moved over to the side of the cave and deciphered a route of attack. She placed her right foot, and then grabbed a tree shrub with her left hand. Thanks to her long, slender limbs, she was able to extend her left leg up high enough to reach her foot above a protruding rock. From there, Marcy was able to get into a rhythm, unconsciously grabbing rocks and boulders with one hand and then extending her opposite foot up to a previously-visited "peg".
After about thirty feet of climbing, Marcy's glanced down and noticed that her path had led her just above Articuno's lair, realizing that she had accidentally strayed off of her predetermined path. Her next limb up was her left arm, and she was unsure if she could reach the nearest object: a large boulder, jetting quite a ways out of the crag. She used all of her might and was just able to reach the top of the boulder. However, as Marcy put her weight down upon the giant stone, she felt it give. Startled, the inexperienced rock-climber scrambled to return her hand to its previous rock, and she moved to her right as she felt the boulder ponderously slide down the hill. She hastily found a new path and dashed up the remaining 20 feet until the rock face flattened out to become the pinnacle of the peak, at which she stood up. After a minute of hearing rock-upon-rock, Marcy now heard nothing. She braced herself. The boulder crashed. The mountain trembled.
"Cccuuuuuuu-nnnoooooooo!!!"
As the tremor settled, Marcy heard the beating of crystal pieces beating against each other violently. The legendary bird, Articuno, flew up the face of the mountain and hovered above the frightened young woman. The lighter-colored, softer down was within a few feet of the girl. It gave her a long, ominous look, then bolted off into the opposite direction from where it came, out over the vast ocean.
Marcy stood there, petrified. She had a feeling that the fowl was keeping an eye on her. Without moving her head, Marcy glanced over at a wooden sign.
"Congratulations! You've made it to the top!"
Congratulations indeed, Marcy thought to herself, sarcastically. I hope that thing doesn't follow me back to Cerulean. The girl sat down into a conveniently-placed bench, sighing heavily.
North of Cerulean City, a few hours later…
Two male rangers walked next to each other, climbing over every rock and fallen tree in their pathway amongst the dense forest of pine trees. They both wore dark grey jackets with red on the shoulders. There pants and hat were of the same uniform color coordination.
"Hey, it's snowing," the first ranger observed. The sun had almost instantly disappeared behind humongous snow-clouds. Despite the lack of snow for nearly 24 hours, a layer of snow about an inch thick blanketed the ground and trees. Now, a negligible amount of snowflakes floated down from the sky.
"Yeah, I didn't even notice those clouds until now," the second ranger commented. The two continued their disjointed walk, hunting for small obstacles to climb over.
"Cccuuuuuuu-nnnooooo!!!"
The two rangers instantly turned around and looked up at the sky. There, they could see the figure a bird, soaring a few thousand feet above the ground.
"Hey, it's Articuno!" the first ranger yelled, though his colleague was within only a few yards, "and that call didn't seem nice." The bird now flapped its wings, speeding up as it flew further North.
"We should probably contact headquarters," the second ranger asserted. He grabbed a radio from his belt, pressing one of the buttons to issue out a call. After a few seconds, over a considerable amount of static, a female voice came up.
"Ranger 24, what's your situation?"
"Yeah, we just spotted an Articuno flying over our location," the second ranger reported.
"It didn't sound very happy," the first ranger interjected, now huddling over the radio.
"I've got your location up here. You're about 15 miles north of Cerulean City. Doesn't Articuno usually stay in the Seafoam Islands?"
"Yeah, that's what's funny about it," the second ranger stated. The snow began picking up slightly. The rangers could hear a steady flow of snowflakes hitting the backs of their jackets.
Suddenly, many rustling sounds were heard, followed by many heavy footsteps. Both rangers' hearts lurched at the sound. They felt something coming. The snow continued to pick up, and the wind started to blow.
"Why don't you two come down to local headquarters south of Cerulean? We can discuss the situation more thoroughly back here. This could be serious."
The first ranger's eyes bulged out of his head. "Look!" he beckoned, pointing in the direction where he and his colleague were walking. Tall, dark figures loomed in the near distance, their silhouettes similar to trees. They seemed to be walking.
The second ranger started sweating. "Yeah, we're going to get there as fast as we can," he said with a shaky voice. The combination of pounding snow and blustery winds obscured the rangers' visions. They put on their un-tinted goggles; their purposes were for situations like this.
"I think…I think those are Abomasnow," the first ranger observed. "And by the looks of it, their pack is increasing in size." His statement was completely correct. From behind trees, more and more Abomasnow joined into the path. Their figures were now looming only in the near distance, perhaps only 150 yards away.
"Yeah, where do you think they're all coming from?" retorted the second ranger, nervously. "And why are they coming after us?"
"I don't know," said the first ranger, "but I have a feeling that this forest is growing faster than I can tell. Let's get out of here!" And with that, both rangers dashed into the opposite direction, avoiding all obstacles in the road.
On the top floor of some building in Saffron City, a few days later…
A tall man stood in front of a glass wall, peering down at the city below. He wore an orange suit with a red tie. His balding forehead reflected the sunlight. A Persian rested near his desk a couple feet behind him. Something rang from his high-tech desk. He rushed behind him, careful to avoid his Persian. He pressed and held a red button the surface, turning on a microphone.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Your client is here, sir."
"Excellent. Send him up to the 25th floor immediately."
"Right away, sir."
The towering man sat down in his office chair, pressing his hands down upon his desk to help him do so, since he did have to move down quite a distance. He waited silently for a minute, stroking his Persian in patience. Then, he heard the elevator ring, and his sliding metal doors soon opened. The figure walking through the door was tall, robust, and wore a purple cape with a black muscle shirt and black, faded jeans. His cape looked almost like a poncho, making it seem like he was a cowboy, but at the same time he looked like some strange magician due to the beads at the end of it. His short, black hair was covered up by a leather, brown, triangular hat, similar to those worn in the 18th century. He working gloves made out of a similar material. His overall scruffy look was rounded out with a heavy five-o'clock shadow covering up his square jaw.
"Please, good sir, take a seat," the original man stated sternly. The man walked 10 feet through the spacious room and plopped into one of the two other chairs in the room. "Now, do you know what I want me for?"
The second man positioned his left leg on top of his right, creating a figure-four formation. He waited a few seconds to answer, "No; 'mind to inform me?" in a deep, raspy voice.
The first man smirked, then answered: "You see," (he stood up), "it seems that Articuno, one of the Legendary Birds, has been disturbed and has been causing a ruckus among Kanto." He started pacing in front of the window. "I hear that you know how to control Pokemon. I want you to control this Articuno for me."
The gruff man retorted haughtily, "So what exactly do you want me to do with it?"
The orange-suited man looked out his giant window. "I'll let you know what to do when the time comes. I don't need to give away information so frivolously just yet," (he turned around, dramatically), "would I, Concordio?"
"I suppose that wouldn't be wise," the sitting man replied. "Then I guess you wouldn't be willing to give me your name, would you?"
"Of course not." The man in front of the window sat back down in his seat. "Now, Articuno was last spotted due north of Cerulean City. Can I count on you to take control of it?"
The dark-skinned man returned his body to a normal sitting position, causing the 24 beads on his cape to rattle lightly. "Yes, you can."
"Good," was the now-seated man had to say. He opened up a compartment of his desk and picked up a radio. He tossed it to the other man, who lightly caught it. "Only contact me when your first task is complete. Good day." With that, the scruffy man got up and quietly stalked out of the room.
"Do you think he'll be able to pull it off?" the man asked his Persian as he stroked it.
Mow!
He chuckled. "Yeah, me neither."
