Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Well, this is my first attempt at fanfiction. Hope you'll like it. It's written in first-person, Ash. It was an attempt by me to make something cool like Pokémon seemed perhaps a tad more real and grittier. I don't know if I succeeded, or if I just messed it all up. I'll leave that for you, the reader, to decide. And in advance, I'll say thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing.

-Stjernefald

The World We Die In

These are perhaps the most trying times
we have ever faced since the Dark Ages.
The people of Kanto need to stand together
and believe that we can overcome this threat,
that we can stand strong and not give in
to the whims of this lunatic.
You will be saved – because even in this darkness…
the light isn't further away than Red.

-Lance

Finally! I thought for a minute you'd all forgotten about little ol' me, sitting here in all my lonesome, waiting for someone to talk some sense into. Must admit, I had hoped for some higher-ups, but you'll have to do… for now. Scant welcomes for the guy who turned the whole fucking world on its head, eh? Can't have everything, I guess. Let's get to the point, shall we? Good. I'm here to tell your bosses that they either wake up from whatever girly fantasy they're living in and take notice of the growing shitstorm we are heading into, or this whole fucking place is dead and gone within the end of this week.

Got your attention, didn't it?

Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? How rude of me. Ah, my name is of no importance here anyway – but for the sake of this conversation you can call me Red. Yes as in the color. Why the color red? Well, why not? They say your eyes are the windows to your soul…

Where was I…? Oh, that's right, Apocalypse, dear, sweet old Apocalypse – there is a certain beauty to the madness, don't you think? No? Oh well. You've seen the news, right? Of course you have, you're an educated man, after all. Have you seen what he did to Vermillion City, what's left of it? What if I told you he had Legendary monsters in his army of batshit insane Pokémon? Flying, fire-spitting creatures that leaves cities waste in their wake, man. And he's only growing stronger every day.

It's a funny world we live in, don't you agree, Drew? Forget for a moment the fact that I know you name without you introducing yourself – which I find extremely rude considering I made such a big show out of introducing myself– and think about this: why has Lance been so wary and hostile to me when all I've done is trying to keep the world over waters?

It's mindboggling, right? We have a faceless enemy who has terrorized a whole nation singlehandedly, and then we have me who has fought with all my inhuman strength to keep it all together, to keep the world standing while you dickheads have been hiding behind your mommies.

So why am I the one getting the bad press here? Well, for one, I'm the easiest target, but most importantly Giovanni wanted it like that.

What choice did Lance have but to obey his wishes? I sincerely hope you can detect the sarcasm in my voice here, otherwise I think you'd might want your school money back from… wherever you shrinks get your educations from these days.

I don't know how well your bosses have briefed you. Not much, right? They only told you the bare minimum, of course. We can't have a low-level shrink go home to his wife with exciting stories that might compromise just how deep the fucking corruption has sunk its claws into the system. I guess I'll just have to tell you all of it, start from the top and go all the way down into that filthy abomination we call planet Earth.

I'm here today to seek out Lance's assistance in this goddamn war. I don't know what the future will hold – who does, after all? – but I'll need every fucking man with me if we want to sail through this maelstrom of insanity without losing humanity for good. We can save the remains of our beautiful Region.

But trust is a two-way street, right? Right. Right, I'll tell you how it all came to be, how I went from a normal human being like yourself and to be what I am now – my journey from a puny human to a destructive force of Mother-fucking-nature.

I'll mention no name of the places I visited, the people I met, or any kind of detail that can reveal my identity – just a heads-up for you.

But before I start you really need to relax, man. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead before you even saw the door to this interrogations room. Chill, Drew, and enjoy the story. It's not a funny or happy one, but I promise you, it's entertaining as fuck.

Well, maybe…

I awoke with a certain feeling of déjà vu, like I had done this one too many times before, been in this kind of danger too many times before. The forest smelled fresh and rich, the sun burning my skin through the shadow of the trees. I wanted to bask in the glow of another fine morning. Really, I did. There was just one small detail I couldn't help but notice, couldn't help but dread.

It was quiet, and in a forest that could only mean danger.

I sat up in my sleeping back, my mind and body too groggy for comfort, and looked around the small clearing I had camped in for the night. It had been another late night last night – never enough peace out here to relax, always too much fear and adrenalin streaming through my blood to calm down.

There was not a living soul in the clearing beyond Pikachu and me, the whistling leaves and gentle breeze the only sound I could hear. Pikachu was awake. The mouse had probably stayed up all night to keep watch – to protect me from the monsters prowling the moonlit wastelands of the forest.

I wanted to say I had grown used to the wild Pokémon in the forest, their awesome powers becoming nothing more than an afterthought in my mind. It should just be an afterthought by now; I had survived for years out here now, looking for that goddamn clue that could bring me closer to my goal, closer to getting me out of this hellhole.

There was light at end of the tunnel, however, and it was shining brighter and brighter for every day. I was getting closer to the origin of Aura.

I say that like it's something special, something all should know what is. Well, Aura is life, that's about as accurate a description you'll ever get, and that's pretty fucking special if you ask me, Drew. But Aura is also a power a selected few people through the course of history have been able to tap into and use as a weapon. These persons were called Guardians of Aura – or Aura Guardians. The legend said that these persons used their powers only for unselfish reasons, only to protect the innocent against evil.

I'm not sure if I even believe that, really. It sounds far too much like a fairytale to be true. Too much power can corrupt even the purest of souls, man – can make even the best of our intentions into a screaming abyss hell-bent on tearing down everything in its wake.

I'm not even trying to make a metaphor here, Drew. The world was breaking, is breaking, always will break – unless someone decides to stand up against it all, a brave – or foolish – soul defiant enough to stand up to all the corruption and chaos and defend the innocent at all costs. And it will cost, all victories costs something, that's probably the wisest thing to ever leave my mouth.

I was brave and foolish enough to risk my own soul for the power to save the world, or at least give it a fighting chance. That was why I was out here in the nothingness, seeking power of old and make-believe, I hoped against all rational thoughts that the legends were true, that I was basing my beliefs on something real.

It was a long shot – but it was the only shot I had left.

It had been years since an Aura Guardian had seen the light of day, years since people had stopped believing in the legends surrounding Aura, and today it was considered nothing more than a funny bedtime story for kids. Hell, I wouldn't have believed in all those stupid fairytales if it wasn't because I knew, if it wasn't because I had seen it with my own eyes, used it with my own hands.

I had looked for clues ever since the day I saw, searched every corner and every shadow of every fucking Region ever since I used it. The world is a big place, let me tell you that. But I finally found it – in Sinnoh of all places – the missing link to the past.

Supposedly, in the forests and mountains north of Indigo Plateau was a village called Milando Village. According to legends it was the birthplace of the legendary Aura Guardian Sir Aaron, and one of the only places where they still believed in the old legends.

I had no idea how much time I had spent sifting through the forest, travelling across the mountains, every day a new place to see, every day a new thing to fight and survive. In the beginning it was a welcomed changed as fucked up as that sounds, getting away from the death and grief of my past and explore the unmapped terrain. But as the days turned to months and the months turned to god-knows-how-long, I started to become… a little edgy, you might say.

Pikachu hissed through gritted teeth, its body tensed and on all fours, electricity vibrated along its yellow fur, making its hair stand on end. I stood up and put on my clothes and armor quickly. The armor was self-made in a dull-grey color with no characterizing marks or decorations, ugly, fetid and efficient – it suited me well, I guess. It was heavy and that always took me a few seconds to get used to, but I would manage… or I'd die. I looked beyond the trees where Pikachu was pointing for me; I saw nothing but darkness and only heard a strange whirling sound, like the sound of an echoing wind… but without the wind.

You don't think that was an adequate explanation? Fuck you, Drew – I'm telling the story, it's not my fault if you don't get it.

This was not good – not good at all.

I unclipped a red and white Poké Ball on the belt of my armor; the brilliant light illuminated the clearing and cast some clarity on the darkness for a second as I released the Pokémon inside. A great, orange dragon coalesced from the light and Charizard roared its entrance and challenge.

Perhaps it was a little overkill, not to say fucking reckless brining out a fire-spitting dragon in the middle of a very combustible forest, but I was taking no chances this time, last one almost cost me my left hand…

"Charizard, flush it out," I ordered.

Charizard rumbled an affirmative in the back of its throat and crouched on its hind legs, releasing a small column of flames into the darkness and spreading it wide like a geyser.

I looked on with narrowed eyes, ready for even the smallest movement. You had to be tough and prepared to survive out here, and sometimes you had to be a merciless fuck.

Something moved in the darkness.

"What's – OH SHIT!"

Something dark and all too fucking fast jumped out of the void behind the clearing, evading Charizard's Flamethrower like it was nothing. I tensed my body and readied myself to jump behind Pikachu and Charizard – brave little me – but the little bastard didn't go for us. It went for the tree near us, slashing the thick trunk over like it was paper with its freakishly strong paw and sending the giant thing spiraling down on us.

It might have worked on everybody else but us, the Pokémon with fur as black as the blackest night was already moving to attack us at another angle. The fucker was smart, but not fast enough the make it count.

My Pokémon moved as one without my order. Driven by instinct, Charizard pushed off the ground and hurled its impressive body into the falling tree, muscles bulging like a bodybuilder on too many steroids. The tree was pushed aside and the earth shivered when it hit the ground some meters away. Pikachu chittered like mad and all the energy it had stored since I woke up was released in great wisps of lightning. The attack struck true and the Pokémon that attacked us went down like a hooker on a client.

I breathed hard and felt dizzy, the sudden spike of adrenalin leaving my body. Charizard landed heavily beside me, shaking the ground beneath it. It had all been over so fast I barely caught it, I had trained these monsters and even I was surprised sometimes over their efficiency.

Pikachu relaxed its body. Its ears stopped twitching, always a good sign that the danger was over – one I had come to rely on. I stepped past my two guardians and took my first look at the Pokémon that woke me this fine morning. It was an Umbreon, all dark fur and special yellow markings. You'd never find two Umbreon with identical markings – it was their fingerprints. It was fried and smoking and most certainly dead - just a Dark-Type out looking for some food. Ah, the ironies of the world. You'll see, Drew.

Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder and Charizard came up beside me. We looked at the dead corpse in silence for a few seconds. Then I smiled, noting something positive of the rude awakening. "Guess dinner's served, huh?"

One well-grilled Umbreon dinner later and we were off. I looked at my compass to make sure we were heading in the right direction, and called back Charizard and released Sceptile, my grass Pokémon and guide through the forest. The fire left behind by my dragon had been easily put out by my Greninja, and it filled my bottle with fresh water, too.

It was a good morning.

I pushed my way through the tree at the edge of the clearing and let the darkness consume me, asking Pikachu for some light on the fly. And everything was going according to the plan, tummies full and a quiet road – a very fine morning, indeed. My reptilian Pokémon were leading us through the forest, somehow Sceptile didn't need a compass to find the right way. I never could figure out how – something with Grass-Type Pokémon more in tune with the nature than the rest of us.

We were one step closer to Milando; I could feel it in my guts. Maybe wishful thinking…

According to the scripts I had found in the Godly Ruins of Sinnoh, Milando Village was supposed to be somewhere directly to the north of the Indigo Plateau. I had often felt like I had been walking in circles among these trees even though my compass kept assuring me I wasn't – hell, even when I walked in the snowy mountains it felt like a fucking circle. Who knew, maybe I had been walking in circles and Sceptile had just been bullshitting me all this time.

Ah, surely not…

This forest was without a doubt the most horrific forest I had ever journeyed through, probably the most horrific place I had ever journeyed through. However, Viridian Forest had been tough in its own right. I could vividly remember my fifteen-year-old self creeping through the forest, my dear parents' screams ringing in my head the whole time. The walk through Viridian Forest had been brutal, more than one time Pikachu and Charmander had saved me from a very painful death. I didn't have clue about the age old art of surviving at the time. My parents hadn't seen fit to teach me that the world was full of creatures that wouldn't hesitate to tear me to pieces. Live and learn, they always said. I learned the hard way.

I could still hear the bitch screaming she never wanted to see me again; still see the red-raw spots of anger on my mother's cheeks as she kicked me out. I had taken that literally and run off with the Pikachu Oak gave me a couple of years earlier, hoping I would never see her again. Never finished my school time – never was any good at it anyway…

It turned out I didn't need an education. Few days into my journey I came across a Charmander, I caught it and that was how my Trainer career started. Then the money started ticking in. When I was sixteen-close-to-seventeen my mother saw me on the television as I won my first League Trophy and all the millions that came with it, and then she graciously forgave me for running away.

As I said, she was a bitch – a dead bitch now.

Fucking Team Rocket!

My father was gone to god-knows-where; he survived the attack on Pallet through an unforeseen occurrence. I had no goddamn idea how he survived – he probably just ran off like a coward. And I was out here in no man's land looking for the past to help save the future from corruption and an army of super-clones. I'll get back to the super-clones, just let me talk, Drew. All shall be revealed…

But first I had to find the way.

I focused on the dormant power inside me and forced a little blue light to appear in my hand, bright and strong as a second sun. It felt like the second sun, it was a straining task that took far too much out of me. A few seconds and my hand were shaking with exertion under the sheer power coursing through me, and I had to let it go quickly before I passed out or worse.

I breathed out and basked in the raw flash of ecstasy streaming through my blood like fire – it felt like being reborn. As I said, I was looking for the link to the past that nobody had been able to find in over a millennium, but where they failed I was gonna succeed because I had the undeniable proof of its existence hardening my resolve.

I was the goddamn proof.

Sceptile stopped and sniffed the air; I caught a wisp of something… unpleasant. I was going in my own thoughts and almost walked into its back; I stopped at the last second and managed to maneuver around the green reptilian without any of us falling and making a scene – couldn't look stupid with so many people watching, right, Drew? Then it went rigid, and I had this inexplicable feeling that the peace would be broken soon.

"Is something there?" I couldn't keep myself quiet, peeking out from behind Sceptile shoulder. I couldn't see a thing – didn't mean the coast was clear. In fact, it probably did mean there was something.

Fucking unnatural silence!

Sceptile growled lowly in the back of its throat, it couldn't see anything either. I understood Pokémon's sounds as much as the next human being. That was to say I understood nothing, but I could make an educated guess about their intentions through my experience as a Pokémon Trainer and an inborn talent.

I was good at reading Pokémon – always have been – don't ask me why, I don't even know why myself.

We moved onwards, braving through the shadows of the trees. The eerie silence that had settled over the forest this morning, the goddamn fetid smell that had started to spread; it all made me more than a little agitated. It wasn't normal; it wasn't fucking supposed to be this quiet.

"Stop," I mumbled. Something was lying amongst the green, knee-high grass we were walking through on our right. My Pokémon had seen it, too. We turned and crept closer to the red blob; it was red with blood. I stopped and frowned, staring at the disfigured body, watching the blood running through the grass from its form. I had to physically stop myself from gagging. Fuck, it smelled.

It wasn't like I'd never seen a dead body before; my life had been filled with more corpses than I cared to count. The Pokémon League in Hoenn and what came after had seen to that, and you didn't live to see your twentieth birthday without seeing something burn. But the smell, man, the smell coming of this thing was not just disgusting… it was sickening. You might say that sounds like the same thing, Drew, but believe you me, you'd never seen or smelled anything like this.

And the body, fuck, it was just so mutilated, skin and flesh ripped off its bones – the bones bearing bite marks from something really fucking large. Someone had gone to town on this poor bastard, I couldn't even tell what Pokémon it was anymore. But I didn't judge the beast that did this – we all became some kind of animal out here, we had to if we wanted to survive.

"Keep your heads up for any trouble, we're not alone."

Have you ever been in a forest? No? Smart man, it's only gonna break you – however long it will take it, forests is some of the most dangerous environment in the world because you simply have no idea what might hide behind the trees. Trust me. We were definitely not alone. The next thirty minutes or so were spent creeping as silently as possible through that damned high grass. The list of things capable of hiding in such high grass and killing you in five seconds flat is long – it's practically endless.

So we walk on, me hiding between Sceptile and Pikachu like a little coward, my hand always on my belt with my Poké Balls, ready to release more soldiers to the course, ready to unleash fucking hell. I wasn't really capable of defending myself back then, as you can see I've grown some since then.

Was the legend true; was Milando Village really the focal point for Aura-practitioner back in the times of Old and Dark Wars? Well, you should know that every – and I mean every – legend and myth has some truth in it. With Gods-of-fire-like creatures like Moltres flying around goddamn everywhere these days I would have thought you'd know that.

Of course it was the fucking focal point for everything Aura. It contains – or contained – the power to change the world and more… much, much more. Did I reach it? Ah, in a fashion… you'll see.

Ahem, so we moved along the tall grass, making sure to keep every little tuft of grass under observation, lest we'd suffer the wraith of the reaper, man. Bodies like the one we found kept showing up as the day progressed, and I thought it was only a matter of time before we would clash with something big and ugly.

I was right, of course. We clashed with something, alright, and my live changed… forever.

"Poor bastard," I sighed, looking at the dead Caterpie. "Poor bastards…"

This was really bad and unnerving; something was clearly on a rampage through the forest. I didn't want another fight today; I just wanted to reach the village – but as the body count continued rising, that village seemed further and further away.

We'd just happened upon the tenth victim of the day. Each killed by something with big teethes and a lot of power behind it. The bodies weren't in a state of half-eaten or maimed anymore, now there were just killed for the heck of it, it seemed.

The bite marks looked like they belonged to a dragon, but dragons didn't roam this forest. They lived in groups, and if there was a group of dragons in this area I would had seen or heard them by now. But a dragon had eaten its way through these poor creatures, of that I was sure.

I was a little wary of where the trail of bodies would take us, or to what they would take us to. But it had become like a trail for us, creeping and ducking through the high grass and thick trees, the withered leaves crunching under my feet sounded like resounding booms in the silence. Follow the line of dead bodies and you shall fine what you seek – not-fucking-likely, buddy, but I did it anyway – I had to…

We tried to keep away from the areas with too many blind spots: bushes and thick trees with shadows. But this was a forest, blind spots were everywhere. And standing still could mean contact with the unknown, but moving could also mean walking right into a trap.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," I whispered, running a hand through my shoulder-length black hair. I would kill for a haircut. "Ah, the perils of being a recluse…"

We came upon a clearing with a dusty ground, no tall grass and no bushes, no obvious blind spots – you could never be too sure out here, of course. But I relaxed just a tiny bit for the first time since I woke up, making my way to the big structure standing in the center of the field; I felt Pikachu and Sceptile falling in behind me.

A simple, grey stone-statue arched up high, almost kissing the branches of the lower trees from a black plateau. I craned my neck to get a look at the face. It was a statue of a man with a very dignified face, his nose held high; I got the feeling he was someone important. The statue had a long pointy hat, a couple of pants and shirt with a vest, and a cape over his shoulders. I had never cared for art in my life, always felt it was a waste of time, but still – there was something mesmerizing about this figure. The stone surface was shimmering, my own face reflected back at me as if through a withering mirror.

The statue seemed alive, was alive. I had never seen something so awesome before, man – it was so fucking beautiful. The statue drew me in, Drew – Ha! Get it? I felt like I should fall to my knees and pray to this statue; kiss its stone feet in surrender. A power – a fucking Aura – radiated from the very stones of the statue, making me shake in my pants in awe at the very sight of the thing. It was the boss; it could make me the fucking boss if it wanted to, if it found me worthy. It was – I was…

I had no clue who this man was supposed to be, Drew, no fucking clue. I had never seen the man before, and that's not a thing to be proud of, buddy. We should all know who this man was. This man was a hero, is a hero – bigger than anyone have ever been.

He was also an insane asshole, but that's a story for later, man.

I shook my head, getting my mind back from the half-assed attempt at controlling it; I staggered unsteadily on my own two feet and glared at the statue. The fucker of a statue had tried to take control of me, tried to lure me into its net like some fish. It wasn't psychic; I had felt Sabrina's particular mind-rape once upon a time and would know it anywhere. But it was not Aura, either, it wasn't like me…

God, the Sabrina incident had been ugly, and another sign of my special affinity for Aura. Back when I was still just a rookie trainer drunk on my own success and power, I challenged Sabrina. She, being the psychic with no social skills and no grasp of personal space that she is, invaded my mind like it was her backyard. I stopped her. We stopped her. I didn't know how I did it at the time, of course – if only I had, maybe then I could have stopped Giovanni before he grew as strong and dominating as he was today.

Oh well, live and learn, live and learn…

I walked closer to the statue with careful steps, closer to the inscription on the black pedestal the statue rested on. It read in a bright blue color:

A tribute to Sir Aaron
The first Aura Guardian

So this is Sir Aaron, huh? I thought, looking more intently at the figure's face. I had never seen the man in my life, which was weird because the man was legendary. I could have sworn I had seen a picture of Sir Aaron in the Ruins back in Sinnoh, though, but this statue looked nothing like that picture. Maybe it was just a wrong photo, wouldn't be the first time history got something wrong…

Wait! If this was a statue of Sir Aaron that meant that the village had to be nearby. I could feel myself growing excited despite the rational voice in the back of my head that kept telling me it might just have been a random location for the statue.

And then the wind picked up in my direction and the smell hit me like a speeding train, my excitement was quickly replaced by repulsion in a flash of rotten decay – and behold a well-chewed and half-digested piece of Umbreon meat at my feet.

"Fuck!" I coughed, wiping the vomit away with my sleeve. That was not just the smell of death on the air; it was way worse, way more potent. It had an almost acid quality to it, like a fucking Sludge Bomb from a particular volatile Weezing. Maybe it was a dead one – I could hope, always hated those floating fuckers.

Pikachu and Sceptile had smelled it, too, if their expressions were anything to go by. I wondered for a moment why they hadn't smelled it before now, what with all those super senses a Pokémon had and all. But then I remembered they had stopped one or two steps behind me with some distance from the statue, maybe they had been affected by it like me – or to a lesser extent, at least.

"My bet is on a Weezing," I coughed out through my shirt; I held it up to take the brunt of the smell. It didn't really help. My two Pokémon stepped around the statue of Sir Aaron, and walked towards the smell coming from behind the rugged wall of stacked stone with measured steps, their body postures folded tight, tensed and alert for a fight.

It wasn't a half-eaten, rotten Weezing.

But I really fucking wished that it was, Drew, it would have been like seeing an angel compared to what lay beyond those stones.

In a pool of quickly growing blood lay a horde of forest Pokémon in various states of putrefaction. Some of them had been eaten and skinned into their bones; others looked like they had been killed as recently as today. And in the middle of it all sat a Shedinja, all light brown fur with a grey abdomen, and gummed the corpses down like it was fucking candy, man.

Shedinja is one of the most blood hungry monsters you're ever gonna find, which is funny because it has no internal organs that needs sustaining. How it was even alive and kicking I had no idea of, but Oak said it feed on the energy of its victims instead of food – I had a feeling my Aura would keep its tummy full for a long time.

The weird thing was, I had never seen a Shedinja open its mouth before, never gazed into that black hole that could consume a human being three times the size of itself. And get this Drew! It turned those hollow and black holes it called eyes on me, they were as dead as the poor bastards it was eating, and I thought we were gonna die, I was scared out of my fucking mind, like it had me in some kind of trance all over again.

And then it looked up, catching sight of us, and I knew that we had to act, knew that where there was one Shedinja there were almost always more.

"Kill it before-"

I didn't finish my order before Pikachu moved, striking faster than my eyes could follow, but it wasn't fast enough – just a microsecond faster and the little asshole would have been squashed like a bug without a sound. But it managed to make a sound just in time, a high-pitched, ear-torturing sound that could wake the dead and set the world on fire.

I tore my eyes away from the carnage and blood; I searched the bushes for any buzzing sound of small beady wings flapping like mad to get their bodies airborne. There were none, but that didn't make me feel any more comfortable. These Pokémon were smart, however much I detested admitting that, and could hear a call from a – friend? – from miles away.

I looked around, quickly realizing we were sitting ducks down here if they came flying at us.

My hand was already gripping Charizard's Poké Ball before Pikachu had even finished the little fucker off. I spent a second or two contemplating whether or not I should make a dash for safety, take my hide and run like all fucking hell. It would have been the most sensible thing to do, right, Drew? You would have done it, I'm sure.

I didn't. I could be an arrogant idiot sometimes, I suppose. I clicked Sceptile's Poké Ball from my belt and returned the green reptilian to the Ball in a red beam, releasing Charizard with my other hand.

The great dragon towered over me with its thirteen feet. It had barely materialized before I crawled onto its back, getting it to crouch down for me in the process. Pikachu jumped like a kangaroo and landed elegantly on Charizard's neck directly in front of me.

Show off…

I kicked the sides of my Pokémon, and with a tremendous beat of its wings, we were flying. It had taken me a couple of months into my quest for Aura to learn Charizard to fly with me; it was a useful tool for the great distances I didn't want to walk. I was lazy like that.

We breached the tree tops through the clearing, a green ocean of tree spreading under us as far as my eyes could see. Had I really walked through all of this? The reasons why I didn't have Charizard flying me around over the forest were many, but there were really only two that mattered. For one, the air was usually ruled by Pokémon a lot more dangerous and powerful than the forest. The second reason was because the chances of flying past the village and never see it was high, too high.

I couldn't risk that.

The mountains behind me reached all the way up to the cloudless, azure sky, their tops covered in a thick layer of snow. The conditions up there were terrible – I should know, I had walked through the damned environment. The gentle breeze kissed my forehead and I had a moment to enjoy the summer sun and the scenery. It was a beautiful world, even with all the monsters and darkness hiding behind every corner.

The sounds of flapping wings and clicking jaws reached me now, and I turned Charizard with a simple gesture towards the sound and the growing horde of Shedinjas. The little monsters were coming towards us, flying low over the trees in a swarm, looking like a flock of particular blood-hungry mosquitoes.

I made an attempt to keep my head calm and in the game. We could take them; they were not stronger than me and my Pokémon. "Okay, Charizard, fly straight towards them and burn everything. Pikachu, you'll shield us with that neat, little trick you learned the other day, okay? Good. Go!"

Charizard roared again, shaking my very bones, and we charged them, looking like we had a sound plan against the larger force. I thought my plan was sound; Charizard had fought this outnumbered before and come out on top.

The swarm of Shedinjas moved as one, climbing the air in an arrow formation, and headed straight at us. I could feel energy being gathered and see a purple glow coming from their mouths.

Hyper Beams, I thought. It was unusual that a wild Shedinja knew Hyper Beam, even more so for an entire flock of them to know it, but I had seen stranger things, and didn't really have time to care about it.

I pulled at my Pokémon's neck; Charizard knew what to do. Folding its wings and spinning in the air, we danced on the blue sky as they hurled their attacks at us, dodging through fires and beams of world shattering forces. I clung to my dragon with my arms and legs as I felt gravity pull at us. We dived under the swarm of Shedinja with our backs to the ground below. Charizard spread its wings and I felt us going somewhat steady as we lined up for the kill shot.

"DO IT!" I roared over the howling wind.

Charizard released a huge column of super-hot flames into their numbers and sprayed them with fire, lighting them up and making them squeal in pain, even as Pikachu somehow managed to crawl to the dragon's head while we were upside down and fire its own attack at our enemies.

Now they fell like mosquitoes going into a light trap.

Charizard's attacks kept coming, kept striking the horde head on, tearing through them with a savage vengeance, while Pikachu's thunder materialized as a dark blue protective globe of electric spider-web around us. The opposing forces' attacks hit us like tsunamis, the power collision rattling my bones, but whenever Pikachu's shield looked like it was gonna break, more electricity poured into the fray, closing the gaps before any attacks could slip through.

The power around us made my hair stand on end, and the attacks kept bombarding us from all over the fucking place. I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes against the howling wind and chaos turned alive, guiding Charizard to the best of my ability through the fires and combusted corpses that we left behind us.

Then the beams of all colors exploded against our shield, igniting the whole thunder structure and bathing us in a scorching orange glow. The wind stopped suddenly and everything was quiet, like someone had stopped time. I couldn't hear anything but my own heartbeat as I glared at the swarm of Shedinja's in front of me – utter silence ruled inside the orange vortex of scorching power we found ourselves in.

Then it all crashed in on itself and exploded, the sheer pressure snapping us around like rag dolls. Charizard staggered in midair and I grunted as the explosions buffeted me and almost tilted me of the dragon, but through sheer dumb luck I managed to keep myself secure and the dragon flew us through it.

Edged on by our initial success, Charizard breathed another Flamethrower at them. Pikachu chittered quietly and hugged its arms over its small frame, releasing a huge amount of white-yellow tendrils of thunder that captured and fried and killed the few Shedinja Charizard didn't manage to catch.

I almost felt sympathetic for the Pokémon, they didn't stand a chance.

I gazed coolly and calculated at the carnage we caused, making sure we got them all. I felt a little prideful, however wrong and sadistic it seemed – we were good! Charizard righted us up and we climbed straight up towards the sky through the falling enemies. Pikachu jumped back down in front of me, and I held on tightly through the ride. We cleared out without getting hit, the sun blazing down on us; I had another moment to bask in its rays.

Of course it wasn't gonna last. Charizard spun in midair with an elegance that shouldn't be possible for such a big frame, and roared towards the ground. I couldn't see or hear what it had spotted, but Pikachu had felt it, too. Its body going completely rigid – if I didn't know any better I would say they looked scared, fear hidden behind a fiery resolve.

And then I heard it, the inhuman sound of a forgotten time, an unknown future, and all chaos of the past and future unleashed upon a fucked up world. Don't worry, Drew, you'll understand in due time, and then you'll wish you'd never asked.

Out of the forest poured every fucking forest Pokémon with a set of wings, not just Shedinja, not just a Butterfree or two. They came like smoke from a burning building, soaring higher and higher into the air, and then they were above us, and I swear they blocked the fucking sunlight, a great shadow casted over us. I knew that this wasn't gonna end well, these fuckers looked mad, sheer insanity blazing from their dead eyes.

There were hundreds of different specimens; I didn't even recognize half of them. The whole fucking shebang moved as one entirety, like they were some kind of hive mind.

And then the leader – a Dragonite of all things – gurgled the most menacing sound I'd ever heard in my life. Something snapped in the swarm at the sound, and every Pokémon started to gurgle with it – even those that weren't capable of making sounds seemed to scream at me.

That solves that mystery about the dragon, I thought, looking at the big yellow dragon. The Dragonite had its fangs barred, and I could see that there were red with blood. "But just what the fuck is going on here?"

I almost laughed in fucking despair when the rearranged themselves, the big ones of the lot taking the head of the group, we were about to be attacked by some motherfuckers.

I searched my party of Pokémon for something small enough to ride on Charizard with us, I came up short. However, I had two others capable of flying in my arsenal.

"Make it rain," I whispered, staring up at the lifeless eyes of our enemies, they almost seemed to wait for me, holding their attacks until I was ready to fight back, like they wanted to see what I was capable off. "I've never seen wild Pokémon act like this – did you guys act like this before you were caught?"

I didn't receive an answer, my Pokémon focused at the opposite force that just seemed to grow and grow and grow and... Ah, it was a stupid question anyway, though one I'd have liked an answer to. "Do you feel lucky… or are you just dead inside?"

I released my two Pokémon into the fray. Braviary and Garchomp coalesced from the white light and the two red and white orbs flew back into my hands of their own accord. Braviary's blue and red and white plumage was marred with scars of past battles, battles it had undertaken before meeting me in these forests. The Braviary species was a violent sort, making them extremely hard to train – humans were often advised to stay clear of them. I had to have one, of course.

Garchomp had been with me since it was just a tiny little Gible and was perhaps my second strongest Pokémon after Charizard. Like all my other Pokémon it had saved my life more times than I could remember, and was one tough fucker in a fight.

"Stay close to each other," I said, my voice rising to make it known above the wind that had picked up with the army of Pokémon appearing out of the forest. "Strength in number, it's our only chance."

I didn't really have any more to say, or any more time to say anything. The Pokémon struck us like a well-oiled machine, screaming and blasting at us with a rainbow colored wave of attacks. Like smoke on the wind, they crawled the sky, spiraling and attacking down on us – they reached for us.

We reached back. I guided Charizard without a word, and my two other weapons in this fight – this war – followed us. We jumped on the air, avoiding the first crackling wave of attacks coming at us. Charizard roared its challenge and soared straight at the horde of insane Pokémon. I knew instinctively that there were insane. They never – and I repeat, Drew – never fought like this, never together with other species than their own, at best they go different ways when they meet, at worst… well, you catch my drift, right?

Charizard opened its muzzle and sent liquid fire – more powerful than any Charizard should be able to produce – surging into the Dragonite. Rule 102 in a survivor's guidebook: take the leader out first. I thought for sure we had it, but the big monster just rolled and tucked, maneuvering in the sky like some ballerina, and dodged the blazing beam of flames. Garchomp went for the sidekicks, firing and blasting the Pokémon to kingdom come with a barricade of destructive attacks that lit up the sky and shook the nature below us.

I didn't even see what Braviary did because the Dragonite had locked on us, bloody fucking murder in its eyes, sending a Hyper Beam that blazed like a second sun, blinding me from the fight. I felt Pikachu leave my lap, I was barely able to see its frame land on Charizard's head through the scorching light. It screamed and I felt its full power being released upon the world, a thunder struck so hard I had to dig my face into Charizard's hide and just hold on until the world would stop shivering again.

BOOM!

The two attacks collided and the world shook beneath us, the air ignited and we were sent spiraling through fire and wind and fucking chaos. I didn't know down from up, didn't know ally from enemy. Charizard charged mindlessly through the vortex of released energy clashing, and I could only hold on as tightly as humanly possible through it, hoping I wouldn't be burned to crisp.

I felt Charizard maneuver us through it all, through Pokémon and fire, the beating heat making my skin raw and painful. We spun and rolled, evading and blasting everything – Charizard's muscles bulged under me as it did a particular vicious move through the air, and suddenly my hands lost contact to its skin and I was spinning and falling and screaming and dying all over again.

My body surged through the air, my eyes blind to it all, feeling the ground getting closer without really knowing which way I was falling. It was all just one big fucking chaos, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then something crashed into me hard, knocking the air right out of me. I tumbled and glided along a huge and hot frame before grapping around a long neck and hung on tightly, desperately, Charizard roaring in fierce anger and protectiveness as it caught me in the sky again.

I could kiss the little beast, but there wasn't any time for affection because we were being hunted like animals.

I gained my vision in time to see a fucking cloud of Pokémon swallow us, burrowing us in enemies on all sides. They slashed and bit and clawed at us, making deep gouges in my dragon's hide, and Charizard and Pikachu screamed their defiance, releasing huge amounts of potent powers into their numbers.

I felt like I had one leg in hell already.

I clung tightly to Charizard with my left hand, swinging my body back on its back and reaching down into my right boot with my right hand, producing a wicked-looking, long knife. I turned the knife in my hand with a practiced roll and stabbed the closest fucker – a Pidgeotto – through its brains, making it spray blood like a fucking fountain; it didn't have time to even twitch before it was dead.

I had lost sight of Braviary and Garchomp, but I could hear their cries coming from right behind me, I could see arcs of mass-destruction flying around me, exploding like fireworks upon the azure sky, killing and burning everything that dared to move too close to me.

We set the air on fire, battling with such devastating power that could change the whole fucking world. They shielded with their attacks as did we, and the earth shook and vibrated with every clash of inhuman force we made.

I tried to keep up, tried to slash everything that got too close to Charizard, but I found myself so hopelessly out of my depth that more than once I just had to rely on my Pokémon to do the job. I was useless against the vortex of power beating down on us, and only my four brave Pokémon were standing between me and the abyss.

Look into the abyss, Drew, and it will look back at ya. It will fucking break you with its sheer ferocity.

I was only a human against a power I couldn't possible grasp the meaning of, it was like putting an ant in boiling water, I didn't know what to do with myself – I was just burning up.

The air was suffocating me. It was more fire than oxygen, and corpses I hadn't seen getting hit fell around me like black snow. We surged through a incoming horde of Beedrill, burning them before they hit us with those conical stingers that could break through metal. They whined and composted, some of them even blew up like a balloon with too much hot air, and that disgusting green blood of theirs was everywhere, bathing us in it, as we turned on the wind and shot through it towards the ground.

Pikachu jumped from Charizard's head and over me. For a minute I thought it was gonna make some kind of suicidal sacrifice, and I tried to catch it before it fell away. I missed it and almost cried out, but then I looked behind me and saw Garchomp catch it as if we had planned it all along. I could see Pikachu's small muscles bulged and bright arcs of thunder left its body in super-thin tendrils, catching most of our closest pursuers, mowing them down with its power.

We righted up in the last second, Charizard's hind legs almost kissing the trees, and I felt my other Pokémon do the same behind me. Then Charizard spun in midair, almost throwing me off again, and unleashed the fires of hell on the swarm that had followed us.

We had no control of the forest fire this time – just burn it, man, burn it before it burns you!

Where the fuck is the Dragonite? I thought, taking a half look around, fear and exhilaration drumming through my being.

The head of the horde didn't have time to evade and took the fires head on, disappearing in the flames never to be seen again. The rest of the group spread around the column of fire just in time, forming two groups on each side of the blast. One group targeted me and Charizard; the other went for Pikachu and the others.

I caught a glimpse of Pikachu, Garchomp and Braviary clashing with them and cutting through their numbers like a knife through warm butter before Charizard took to the skies and removed the fight from my vision, climbing higher and higher with me hanging like a fucking rack doll behind it. It burned through everything, going at a speed I simply couldn't comprehend. My vision swam in Flamethrowers and Hyper Beams and SolarBeams, and I was scared shitless, Drew. This was a fight on a whole other velocity than anything I had ever witnessed. The air was filled with so much power that my hair was standing on end, and I could only wonder how Charizard managed to get us through it, I certainly wasn't guiding it anymore…

My body was ragged with pain; fierce lances of agony shooting through me from attacks I didn't see hit me. I couldn't have been hit; I reasoned with myself, if I had I would have been a goner for sure, right?

I was only human, after all…

My plan didn't work anymore, if it had ever worked to begin with. I had lost all sense of where my other Pokémon where, I hoped that they would somehow make it through it all. The forest burned with an otherworldly glow, I could taste sulfur on the air, and I thought for a second I had descended to Hell for real this time.

I hadn't, the big fucking Dragonite reminded me of that, as it came screaming out from behind the Pokémon that was attacking us, going straight for Charizard's throat and the kill.

Charizard tried to turn its neck, tried to turn the Flamethrower on the big yellow monster before it was upon us. But he didn't make it, and the dragon sunk its abnormally long and sharp teethes into Charizard neck, making my dragon cry out in agony. Its Flamethrower went wide, and fire-hot blood oozed out of my Pokémon. Charizard tried to turn its neck to defend itself, but the scaly dragon had it in a tight grip.

We lost control of our flight, the larger dragon pushing and gnawing at us. I acted on instinct, even as we were falling, and flung my knife with everything I had at its head. My aim was true but the fucking thing just bounced off its scaly hide, not even making a dent in it. We continued to fall, the other Pokémon buzzing around us, waiting for our cadavers. Charizard was dying in front of me. Its body vibrated under me with cramps of pain, and I felt useless all over again, holding on as the howling wind sent us spinning limply in our fall. I was out here to gain the means to stop Giovanni from taking over, to fill the void that had settled someplace I couldn't quite reach. But now it wouldn't matter anymore, it seemed. We were fucked.

I felt like I was caught in a tornado, in the fucking eye of the storm. I was just along for the ride while we were being picked apart. A little dot in the wind – what the hell did I think I could accomplish in a fight like this. I was only human...

"NO!" I raged, energy boiling over in my body, in my very soul. I lifted my hand, not really sure what I was doing, and came alive again! I could feel energy being gathered, running along my arm with a control I never had before. It was as intense as it was awe-inspiring, as beautiful as it was terrifying. My palm flashed with a holy, blue light, a light I would fucking pray to, and a Sphere the size of my head coalesced out of it. I grunted and heaved with exertion and pushed the Ball from my hand.

I didn't have any strength left in me to push it hard enough. The thing should have just fallen to the ground, should have just glided lazily through the air and then gone cold. It didn't, however, it fucking blasted from my palm, almost dislocating my shoulder, and screamed towards the Dragonite faster than my eyes could see.

It struck Dragonite's neck, and the thick, long joint filled with muscles you could only dream about and a hide strong enough to brush of bullet and bombs like there were nothing exploded upon contact, separating its head from its body.

I would have whooped and fucking screamed in joy if I wasn't so goddamn tired all of a sudden. That little ball had almost taken all the strength out of me. Charizard finally pushed the dead, draconic head off its neck, sending it falling with the rest of its body into the burning forest while we gained control again.

I breathed out in reverence. That felt good getting out.

We turned to meet the rest of the Pokémon, who had all crawled around us and waited for their leader to finish its work – their looked troubled for a moment, unsure of themselves – this was what dumbstruck looked like on a Pokémon, I realized as an afterthought. Strange mind, we humans have. Charizard was painting heavily under me, the strain of the long fight along with the deep wound in its neck and sides finally taking its toll. I was just as fucked, just as mind-boggling tired. My right hand simply refused to do anything anymore, a tingling from my fingertips and to my shoulder the only thing that reassured me I still had a working arm – but there was no rest for the wicked. My left hand would have to do for now; I tighten my hold with said hand, and prayed to fucking Arceus I would stay on this time.

We plunged straight into the fray, riding and fighting and burning on an energy I didn't know where came from. It became a maelstrom of insanity and power, pieces of bones and half-burned bodies swirling around us and the Pokémon. Fires and scorched beams of all kinds of colors burned the blue sky orange.

I screamed through it all, a giggle almost leaving me at the sheer madness of it all. Here I was, riding on a giant dragon as the whole fucking world turned ablaze around me. We flew through the fire like it was water, and I had no clue where we were anymore – just screaming and screaming and…

Garchomp came through the smoke with Pikachu on its back, Braviary just behind them. They looked relatively unharmed all things considered, little spots of blood running down the side of their bodies. Hell, it might not even have been their blood – ah, the wound in Garchomp's side looked real and bloody enough to be his own. They joined the fight, and suddenly we were winning, breaking the horde of Pokémon apart and taking them out one by one.

We hunted them like animals, sending them spiraling to the ground, gnawing and maiming and scorching them with such savagely satisfaction that we must have looked like the fucking reaper. We were the kings of the forest, the head of the pack – and nobody fucked with us.

I can talk big and brag about it all I want, Drew. I'm awesome.

And then it was over, the few Pokémon that were left turned and fled from us. We stopped our pursuit, letting them run away. And get this, Drew, the sky was clouded and raindrops started falling down on us. The forest fire slowly clenched. It was all just one big happy ending.

It wasn't a happy ending, of course. There is no such thing in this world.

Dark smoke rose below us as the fire was extinguished, but it wasn't the only smoke that rose from the forest. A couple of klicks from our position another column of black smoke was rising – I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Please, tell me it's not Milando Village…" I guided Charizard towards the smoke, my other Pokémon following close behind us, looking out for any extra dangers.

We reached our destination quickly and without any trouble, the forest seemed as dead as it had been all morning, now the silence just made sense. We had created this silence with blood. The trees had been burned away slightly under us, revealing a village no bigger than my home town.

It was still on fire – but the now heavy rain was slowly putting it out.

We dropped down on the edge of the village, and I was just about call out Greninja when I saw the wreckage in front of me, heard the silence of death – and I knew we had been too late. It wouldn't make a difference; burned human bodies lay among all the burning wooden townhouses, the corpses becoming nothing but ash in the fire – an old memory on the wind.

There was nothing left, not a living soul had been left behind.

I didn't know whether to cry or laugh. I was finally here, finally after years of travelling the world for clues, and now there was nothing left. My feeling of invincibility from the fight left me as I gazed upon my last hope being burned away – all fighting spirit leaving me.

I'm sorry; son, but we don't know who did it.

I know. It was Giovanni. He fucking burned her – burned them all. And you just stood by and watched as he got away with it.

God, I hated burning houses.

I recalled Charizard, Braviary and Garchomp; they could rest inside their Poké Ball. Pikachu hopped onto my shoulder, and my legs almost buckled under the little extra weight – I was just so fucking exhausted, I felt like I could fall asleep among the fire.

But I didn't have time for sleep, the rain fell heavy on me now, soaking my clothes, and the houses gradually stopped burning. I stood alone under the darkened sky.

Something twitched behind me and my body somehow tensed through the agony and exhaustion. I spun about on the scorched and wet earth and came face-to-face with… a man.

A survivor! I thought, my hopes rising.

"Hello Ash Ketchum," the stranger said almost sadly, running a practiced eye over the scene around us, taking in all the tragedy and then looking back at me. No emotions. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances… I fear I might have been too late."

Too late? My suspicion rose the moment he uttered my name, and I paid a little closer attention to him. He's clothes looked fashionable and entirely too clean to have been part of any fight. Hell, he looked fresh out of a bath after a good night sleep – with soap and all. There was no good night sleep out here, and certainly no clean bath with soap. I missed a bath with soap.

I didn't sound too much like a girlyman, did I?

"Who are you?" I all but growled, my hand etching closer to my belt and Pikachu going down on all fours. "What do you want?"

The man didn't seem to sense my aggressiveness, or at least didn't fear it. He would learn.

"My name is Riley," the man, Riley, said. "And I've been looking for you, Ash Ketchum."

The way the man said his name, like he was someone of great importance. I couldn't care less about his name, though, but his last sentence made me more than a little wary.

"How did you find me?" Nobody was supposed to know where I was. I hadn't told anybody – not even Professor Oak. I was dead in the world's eyes.

"I followed the scent…"

I frowned – what the actual fuck – and waited for him to elaborate, then blinked when he offered no further explanation. I felt a headache coming. "What?"

"I followed the scent," he repeated, his eyes looking at Pikachu's threatening sparks with idle curiosity.

I never was a very patient man. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Do you even know who you are?"

I very, very strongly considered just ordering Pikachu to fry the man and call it a day. "How did you survive the attack?

"I'm skilled."

"Bullshit!" I took a step closer to the unnerving man, breaking his personal space. I wanted to hit him really fucking hard. Somehow I kept myself in check. "Not even Lance could have survived that shit!"

The man smiled. "You did."

I laughed harshly, it sounded hollower than it used to – maybe the forest had finally gotten to me – and spat blood on the ground at his feet. "I'm not just anyone."

He didn't bat an eyelid. "Neither am I."

He held his hand out towards me; his palm turned against the sky in front of him, pain and concentration flashed across his unremarkable features and dull, blue eyes, and then the hand turned blue.

I took a step back from the sheer shock that hit me, staring wide-eyed at the golf ball-sized Aura Sphere in his hand. But Riley didn't seem to have the strength to keep the power coursing into the ball and he let it go, wobbling unsteadily on his feet and resting his hands on his knees.

I blinked, trying for words and found none. So I blinked again. "I thought I was the only one…"

"You are," Riley breathed raggedly. He looked to be near death, slowly standing up again. "You are. What you just saw… was the most Aura I can squeeze out of me… without killing myself, but you – you could set the whole world on fire."

I was still suspicious, but his show of the impossible had made me temporally lost for words.

"I saw what you did to that Dragonite. I knew you were the one I had searched for – knew it the moment I saw you blow its head off."

"What do you want?" I asked. My voice sounded dead to me; I just wanted to fall asleep. But I kept myself alert, distrusting to the end, people in this world never did anything for free – another of the hard truths I had come to learn on the road. Live and learn.

"Aura," said the man, looking absentmindedly at the wreckage around us before looking straight into my eyes. "The most mysterious force of all known to mankind. I want to see you reach your full potential – to save mankind before it destroys itself in its corruption and lust for power, to undo all the wrongs of our past. You are the key, Ash. You can save us all."

There was a fire in his eyes, a burning belief in what he said. He was almost shouting by the end, and for some strange and unfathomable reason I couldn't help but believe every word he said.

Well, it wasn't that strange. I knew what he said was true, but it was strange seeing another person actually agreeing with me.

"I can help you achieve your goal. I can help make an end for your journey, and stop Giovanni from taking over everything. Will you accept me as your teacher?"

No beating around the bush, huh. The man was one big fucking question mark. Riley knew far too many secrets. How had he known about me? If he knew about Giovanni, then why was I the only one fighting him? But what choice did I have but to take his offer? I had exhausted all resources, used and lost any opportunity I'd ever had to hone my affinity for Aura into a potent weapon – this was my last shot. He was my last shot. A gift sent from heaven? Probably not, but if I wanted to make a difference I needed to take whatever chance I received.

I nodded. "When can we begin?"