Jake yawned as he strolled along the path towards Pallet town. He took his time, trying to enjoy the walk but there wasn't much to enjoy. The influence of the darkness that had fallen upon Kanto left the region in a post apocalypse state. The sky was never blue, always appearing to be gray even at noon when the sun directly over the region. In fact, the sun was never visible. It only made part of the sky a really light grey color compared to the rest, but that was about it.
The trail to pallet wasn't better either. The grass was dead and the trees were naked of their leaves. Even the air was depressing, thick and heavy, the possible cause of the illnesses the people of the region usually suffer. Non-the-less Jake took a deep breath of it. Odd as it was, the air didn't bother him.
"join us…."
"Give in"
"Return to darkness"
"Submit!"
"Drown in the abyss"
Jake stopped in mid stride and glanced around hastily. From the corner of his eyes he could catch glances of something moving behind the trees. Something, not humane. He turned his attention back to the main path and saw a man standing before him, his back turned to the boy. The man was taller than the boy, sporting a black cloak and giving off an immense aura of darkness. From his angle, Jake could tell that the man had his arms crossed and his pose suggested that he was thinking about something. After a few seconds the cloaked man dropped his arms to the side and began to walk in the direction of Pallet Town. He stopped for a second and halfway turned, as though he was looking back at the boy, and then continued to walk on, fading into nothing.
Jake fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Seeing the man again had held him in such a state of shock that he had forgotten to breath and his heart raced wildly. Even after years of seeing that man, Jake had yet to become used to his appearance. Perhaps it was the fact that he could never tell if that man was part of his imagination or actually there.
After a few minutes of recollecting himself, Jake was back on his feet, traveling along the path to Pallet Town. Not far away, he could see the old broken fence on the outer edge of town. From his distance, Jake could see that where he was headed really wasn't a town. In reality, it was the ruins of a once peaceful neighborhood, now reduced to a mainly deserted and broken community. Only the foundation of most houses remained, however there were a few in particular that had part of its wall intact. Just like the rest of the world, the grass was dead and gray and the trees were bare.
The young teen looked around, wondering where he was exactly suppose to go. His eyes wondered around, taking in the slightest moments and his body tensed up, expecting an attack of some sorts. He knew he was suppose to meet Prof. Oak and some other trainers here for what was to be the "beginning of the end for the Dark Brotherhood", but at the moment he felt as though he had been tricked. ' They probably did this to lure out possible rebels. ' He gritted his teeth and turned around, swearing under his breath. ' Should have known, but I better get out quick before they notice… '
"Wha…!" The boy called out as he was suddenly grabbed from behind. A black gloved hand reached over his mouth and prevented him from making any more noise. Jake struggled against the person's grip as they proceeded to drag him in the direction of Prof. Oak's old lab and a voice whispered into his ear.
"Shhh, don't fight it. Soon you'll be engulfed into the darkness and everything will be alright…" Jake's eyes widen and he bit down on the person's hand causing them to loosen their grip. He took the opportunity to elbow the person in the gut and take off. He didn't get far when he was tackled by another dark cloaked person and writhed on the ground screaming for help.
"Quiet! You don't want to alert those Clan….Dark Brotherhood people do you?!"
Jake blinked and turned to see a man in a white coat holding him on the ground. He looked past that man to see another one tending to his stomach as he approached the two. Jake glanced between the two, his heart racing and lost consciousness.
"Hey, hey! Wake up!"
Jake groaned as his head drifted to the side. There was another yell telling him to wake up and slowly he opened his eyes. As his mind became adjusted to the lightning, he saw something dark sitting in front of him, waving. Eventually as his vision came into focus it disappeared and all he saw was an empty desk. He blinked and looked around to see a few other kids around his age sitting in chairs next to him. All of them looked really impatient for some reason, but one of them was giving him a curious look.
"Hey, you ok. You've been out for a while now." Jake gave the kid a weak smile and slowly nodded his head still confused about his surroundings. "Where are we?"
"In Prof. Oak's underground lab." Another trainer said and as if it was a cue, the Prof himself walked into the room. The old man was dressed simply in a white shirt and light brown pants under his white lab coat. He carried with him a tray of pokemon balls and some other device. Without a word he handed the trainers a specific poke ball, then five more and some device that Jake had yet to figure out until he actually got one. It was a pokedex. He glanced around the room at the other trainers, watching as they silently expected the things the Prof. had given them until he started to speak. Jake turned his attention to the old man as he approached a map of Kanto.
"Today is a very important day for you young trainers, although I wish this day would have come under different circumstances." He paused for a moment, looking over all the trainers. Jake glanced down at the pokemon in his hand and played around with it as he did. He wished the circumstances had been different as well. ' A trainers' journey with pokemon is supposed to be an eventful experience, filled with good times and bad that you'll remember for the rest of your life. But not us, we're not gonna have it easy. '
"You're here today to begin your quest to save Kanto from the control of the Dark Brotherhood, but you must listen to this warning, once the leader of the group knows of your existence, he will try to persuade you to join his cause. If you deny him then he will have you and your pokemon executed. At your current state you would stand no match against him, he is ruthless and his pokemon are all corrupt and full of evil; he will most likely come after you immediately while you are weak so you do not get to strong." Jake sighed and turned his head to the side. He watched as a shadow moved in the corner of the room and his eyes widen just a bit. Prof. Oak caught him doing this and looked in the same direction but found that there was nothing there. He ignored it and pointed at the map in front of him.
"This is what Kanto currently looks like covered in Darkness, currently you are here, in an underground lab under Pallet town where my old lab used to stand. Your first mission is to make it to Viridian city and go to the old Viridian Gym there you will find a hidden door that will lead to the Clan of Hopes hideout, show the man at the door your pokedex he will let you in, after this wait for a man named Zypher to come to you. That is all so take care young trainers, and let light lead you all." With that the old man sat in his seat shaking and slowly took a sip of his coffee almost dropping his cup in the process.
" Light creates shadows, in the end you'll be consumed by darkness… "
Jake quickly rose to his feet, his eyes surveying the room. The other trainers gave him a weird look as they too got up, only to start heading for the door. Prof. Oak looked at the teen with a concern looked and asked him:
"Is there something wr…" Before he could finish the whole room started to tremble causing books to fall from shelve and throwing everything else into disarray. Oak's coffee spilled over his coat and he jumped up. He looked at the trainers with a stern expression on his face, but Jake was able to see the immense fear behind the Prof.'s glare.
"Run!"
Jake took a step back, half not wanting to leave but at the same time wanting to run. Finally after a second more of looking at the Prof. He turned to headed towards the exit with the others trainers. They were only a few meters away when Jake stopped and searched for the poke ball that he was given. He didn't know why, but he felt a presence similar to what he had felt either that day.
"Going somewhere?" Jake narrowed his eyebrows as a voice filled the room and a large swirling vortex appeared on the ground. The other trainers stopped and reached for their pokeballs as well when six cloaked figures rose from the ground. Upon seeing them, Jake's body froze with terror and his pokeball fell from his hand and landed on the ground. In a burst of light a small round pokemon that resembled a mouse emerged from the ball. It was blue in color and round like a bouncing ball with short arms and two large circular ears. Its stomach was white and it had a jagged tail with a small blue 'bubble' on the end of it. The small pokemon looked around curiously before setting eyes upon Jake and happily calling out to him.
"Marill…marill!" The small blue pokemon hopped over to its trainer and grabbed onto his leg. All the while Jake was still in shock, his eyes set upon the man that had approached him.
"Haha, scared are ya! Good, then you're a smart one, but don't worry. I'll be putting you out of your miserable existence soon!" The man laughed tossing up a pokeball. There was a bright flash of light and something gathered in the air. Marill turned to face the new threat, putting on a tough act. It faced off against a rather large black ball that possessed two large eyes and was surrounded in a purple haze of sorts.
"Well kid, it's time for you and you pathetic pokemon to die! Gastly, lick!" The ghost pokemon cried in delight and floated towards Jake and Marill, ready to attack.
" Fear and drown or accept and control…"
"Marill! Use defense curl and roll to the left!" The cloaked man looked at Jake, who now stood in a stance of sorts, fire burning in his eyes. He was taken back at the sudden interest of battle by the kid, but none-the-less he had Gastly continue its attack. "It seems like you're finally awake. Good, this should be a little fun then!"
Jake didn't pay the man any attention, completely absorbed in the battle. Gastly had now shot its tongue at Marill while curled up into a ball and rolled away, narrowing dodging the attack. Jake turned his attention to Gastly. "Now tackle!"
Marill unrolled herself, using her tail to propel her toward the Gastly as she did. Jake smirked, knowing that the attack was sure to hit, but as Marill fazed through Gastly's body, his smirk faded. The cloaked man laughed. "Did you honestly think that a ghost type would be affected by an attack as tackle? Ha, kid you've a lot to learn! Gastly, lick!"
Jake swore under his breath, calling out for Marill to use defense curl again. She did so, grabbing her tail and rolling herself into a ball. The Gastly's attack collided right after, sending the small blue mouse flying off toward her trainer. He yelled out a little, catching her and setting her on the ground, watching the cloaked man and the Gastly who was floating freely around him. 'I forgot that it was a ghost type pokemon. But I'm sure that this pokemon doesn't have any other moves. So how are we supposed to beat them? '
Watching them he saw something odd. Something in the air was moving and it was affecting the purple haze that was surrounding the black ball that was Gastly's body. ' The smoke around that thing is moving to its left, my right. So whatever is affecting it must be to…my right! ' Jake glanced over to the part of the building to his right. There wasn't anything interesting in particular, just a bunch of fallen books, a fan, and a turned over bookshelf, the map of Kanto and a vent. A vent! ' So the air is messing with its body. But how can we use that to get rid of it? He looked around and then something popped into his head and he whispered something into the Marill's ear.
"What? Do you still think you can possibly win against us? Ha, it's hopeless kid. Your Marill trying to beat my Gastly at its level is like a baby trying to murder an adult. It's futile!" Jake smirked and tapped the ground. As soon as he did he ran off to his right and Marill charge the Gastly. The man scowled and commanded the Gastly use hypnosis. Marill gave a cry and rolled to the right, once again avoiding the Gastly's attack. She stood and stuck her tongue out at the Gastly and ran off after Jake. Angered, the Gastly followed, but found it a bit difficult as the air from the vent was turned up.
"What are you doing!? Stop floating around and get rid of that freakin' mouse!" The man stomped his foot and the Gastly struggled harder against the air current, closing in on the Marill as she waved her tail back and forth by the vent, taunting the Gastly. Fueled by more anger the Gastly picked up its pace and closed the distance between them and just as he it was about to launch a lick attack it found itself stuck in the air.
"Gotcha!" The Gastly turned to see Jake standing behind it with the fan. It cried in displeasure and tried to move, but the air pressure from both the vent and the fan kept it immobilized. The cloaked man yet and rushed over towards Jake, but quickly stopped when the Marill jumped in front of him, ready to defend her trainer. The man swore and recalled the ghost pokemon. Jake sighed in relief, but his victory was cut short as the man pulled out another ball and summoned a new pokemon.
This one was much bigger than the Gastly and had a sort of humanoid body. However it had the same menacing eyes and a large grin on its face. Jake stared at the pokemon in disbelief knowing now that they were certainly doomed. The pokemon in front of him he recognized to be the fully evolved form of Gastly, Gengar. ' Maybe I should have went to Johto with Vince. I'm pretty sure he's not facing off against some killer organization right now. In fact, I bet he's relaxing in the sun while sipping on strawberry lemonade. Lucky… '
Jake bent down on the ground, setting his hand on top of Marill's head and began to whisper something in her ear. However, he stopped in midsentence when he heard clapping coming from behind him. The boy whipped around to come face to face with a man dressed all in black sitting on Prof. Oak's desk. The Prof. himself was being bonded down to the ground by shadows that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.
Jake kept his eye on this new man in black. Something about him was off and he struck fear in the boy. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, each pounding wrecking his body into a shiver of sorts. He gripped his chest, his heartbeat irregular and started to breathe heavily. For a second he believed it was the man he kept 'seeing' but after a few moments he noticed that there was actually something different about this man standing in front of him now. The feeling of sorrow was strong around him, but it wasn't so overwhelming that it would even make the body stop involuntary actions, like that of the man Jake himself kept seeing. However, this man was dangerous and possessed a greater level of darkness than the guy he had just fought.
"That is enough, leave us now." His emotionless voice left no room for opposition and just as quickly as the other trainers had appeared, they vanished into the shadows. The man stood up and removed his hood while saying, "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, I would like to introduce myself." With his hood off Jake found the man before to be…well words couldn't describe well the man in front of him. Long spiky black hair flowed from the man's head and his eyes were pure white, void of any emotion. "My name is Beo. It is a pleasure to meet you all, but if you could excuse me for a second, I have some matters to attend to before we continue." He knelt down beside the Prof. taking out a blood stained dagger as he did so.
"Now, good ol' Oak, are there any last words for Kanto's last breath of life?" Jake felt the blood in his veins slow and become thick. Suddenly he felt very cold and even though his mind screamed for him to move his body wouldn't budge. The shadow that was held over the Prof.'s mouth loosens its grip and slipped away.
" Don't interfere… "
"You scum! Zypher will defeat you and these trainers," He struggle to point over towards the small group of teens. "These trainers will help aid in your destruction!" A sick grin spread across Beo's face as the shadows once again clamped over Oak's mouth. He started to laugh hysterically as he brought the dagger up in the air. ' Darn it, move, MOVE! I…I can't allow this to happen! '
"You fool! I've already won and this very dagger will be the one I use to kill Zypher!" Beo whispered in a harsh tone, loud enough for the Prof. and the trainers to hear. With that said, he stabbed the dagger into Prof. Oak's chest, killing the old man within seconds. Jake's blood ran cold and he felt his knees give out bringing him closer to the ground. He stared as Beo licked the blood off of the dagger and turned to look at the trainers.
"Now, now, there's no reason to be frighten. I've only come to you all to introduce myself and nothing more. You see, it is not yet your time to die, no, I plan on making you all suffer first and when you finally give in to the darkness, I'll come to you again." He snapped his fingers and just like that he was gone leaving behind nothing but Prof. Oak's dead body lying on the ground before his desk.
Still frozen in his position on the ground, Jake's eyes shifted up to the map of Kanto. However what he saw wasn't a normal map. The map now resembled a laughing face made of shadows with white eyes and as he watched the mouth of it move a psychotic laugh filled his ears. After a few seconds he began to laugh along with it, uncontrollably.