…O.k., my last story SUCKED. Really bad. The reviews were pretty much written by Siskel and Ebert. Yeah, grammar problems, story problems, it just plain out SUCKED. So I cancelled it for this.

To explain, I was sick for an entire week, (SPRING BREAK) and hospitalized for a day. My colon stopped working for some reason. That 'story' (Very loose term) was the first thing I've done afterwards. My only hope is that story fills the void left by that wretched story. Heroic League will resume hopefully next week. Please enjoy, review, and wipe your mind clean of the last tale. This is…

The Cursed Saviors

It was the festival night where the all began. The Festival of the Moon, a celebration of the glorious moon, loved by all who enjoy the moon's beauty. Fireworks were blazing the sky in several colors, the first being a scarlet red. Clefairy would even come out and dance.

Today's guests were a team of six, a trainer and his six Pokemon. The trainer was named Syl, aged 17, short, having dark brown short semi-curly hair and wearing clothes that you would see a relaxed teen would wear. He and his six Pokemon held a curse.

"To explain, I don't know what the curse really is. I feel liked I'm cursed, but nothing has happened." He explained to the people at his table, an old man, a blonde woman with her same-color hair husband, a middle-aged man with glasses, and a little girl. The glasses-man spoke next, with a small sneer, "That makes no sense."

"Yeah. But I don't know what it meant when he cursed me." He replied. His Pokemon were enjoying the show behind him. People were amazed to see that the trainer had captured the lord of the ground himself, Groudon, along with a Sceptile, a Gardevoir, an Empoleon, a Swellow, and an Infernape. They seemed to be nice. The old man, thought to be asleep, asked with a calm, but alert, voice, "Where did you get your curse? Maybe I can shine some light on what clouds you?"

Syl took a deep breath, both in remembrance, and in pain. "I had a friend a while back who went to sleep and didn't wake up. When I heard about her condition, I headed straight to her house. She had a high fever, and had horrible nightmares. I learned about others like her, and found out it was a Legendary behind it all. So I took my team and found him with his hiding place. I waged a war...and came close."

"Close? What does that mean?" asked the glasses-man. Syl found the man to be a bit annoying.

"It means we almost won, but he got desperate, and hit us with everything he had. He was panting he finished KOing my team. He looked me in the eye and said…

"I can't let your slaves surpass me."

"I was shocked. He talked to me in a way I could understand. He raised his, arm (?), and a purplish aura surrounded me and my team. He said something that to this day, I yet to understand.

"You and your slaves shall have a gift…and a curse. You shall understand anything on your world, and your slaves shall understand you. Enjoy your gift, for your curse shall help me, and kill all of you."

The old man hung his head. "I'm sorry, I don't understand either. In fact, I don't remember the Pokemon who did this to us." Syl shook his head with a smile. "That's o.k. It has been a year since that day. I doubt it will be a while before the 'curse' takes effect."

The young girl tugged on his shirt. "Mister, what was the gift?" Syl smiled.

"I don't remember. Hey, Sam, what was the gift we got with out curse?"

"We could talk as humans, and you could talk to other Pokemon." Answered the Sceptile (Samuel/Sam), much to everyone's surprise. Even the glasses-man was shocked. The old man was that surprised, for some reason. The Groudon sighed; they did this almost everyday for a year. A long year indeed.

Syl clapped his hands. "Alright guys and gal, role call time. Don't sulk, Solstice."

The Sceptile got up. He spoke with a voice like a leader, confident, clear, and strong. "My name is Samuel, but I don't mind being called Sam. I'm Syl's first Pokemon. We've been together for the whole six years. I've become quite strong, if I do say so myself. These guys, and gal, are my family." As he sat down, he started on a melon.

The Swellow's turn came next. His voice was that of a gentleman's, proper, polite, smooth. "Good evening, sorry if we startled you. My name is Charles; the second Pokemon Syl picked up on his journey, exactly 2 hours in with Sam. I have flown all over the world and fought thousands of battles. I'm may be the smallest of the group, but I'm by far the fastest." He picked up a bag of nuts that was on a cart, and began enjoying it.

The Groudon spoke next. His voice sounded tough, but with a hint of smoothness. "Yes, I'm Groudon, but now I prefer to be called James. I'm the third in line, caught while rampaging. At first, I hated the idea that traveling with a Trainer, but Syl was different. I started to enjoy the adventure, fighting along side others. Don't be afraid of me." He sat down, grabbing a leg of lamb and ate the meat clean off the bone.

The Gardevoir, who is definitely a female, went next. Her voice was mature, but kind, respectful, and loving. "Hello. My name is Garcia. I joined a little later after James. I've got stronger over the years to help whenever I can. If there is one thing I love, is being with all of my friends." She kept her introduction short to allow others to speak. Sam handed her a apple, she thanked him, and started to eat.

The Infernape stood up, cleared his throat, and started. He spoke with a voice like a trained fighter, strong, but not loud. "Name's Ace. I was chosen as Syl's second starter while these four took a vacation." He said while pointing to the last four, who put on their not-happy faces. Ace laughed a little and continued. "I was shelved for a while myself, but I got out of that, and helped the team out whenever I can. I'm a master at Issai-Gotai (All-Limbs). Don't worry, only my enemies need to fear that." He finished with a laugh, and continue eating his hamburger

At last, it was the Empoleon. He sounded regal, like an emperor. "Hello. They call me Solstice. I'm the 'rookie' of this team, but I have experience. I was traded from his brother, a retired trainer. I'm an excellent fighter, and a commander of the sea. Now we're acquainted, may the party continue?" People shrugged, and the music began again. Sam, Charles and James went to the bar to get a drink, Ace went to see the dancing girls, Solstice went over to Syl to join the conservation, and Garcia decided to watch the Clefairy dance. Solstice pulled a chair over and sat down, holding a grilled salmon on a stick.

"This is a very nice town. Unlike others…" Solstice said, but was smacked by Syl before he finished his sentence. "Yeah. Still, old man, I noticed your reaction. Have you seen this before?" The old man chuckled. "No, I lived for a long time, but never seen a talking Pokemon before, yet, I expected that top happen before I died. I have a name, you know, it's Guildrick."

"Thanks, Guildrick." So they talked about on all sorts of things. The world, Pokemon, latest trends, all sorts of things. All but the glasses-man, who left after Solstice sat down, treated Solstice as a normal human. Their laughter confirmed this.

Sam, after having a small drink, decided to join Garcia, who left the dance to a quiet atoll to look at the moon. He sat down besides her, saying a small 'hi.' It was a short silence before Garcia broke it.

"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it? The festival does manage add on." Sam replied, "Ay, but not as much as you." Garcia didn't blush, the two's relationship had been going on for nearly two years. The two had their private moments, yet everyone in the team knew and supported their relationship. The two held their hands.

"Same to you, my handsome knight." She replied.

"Hey, isn't a little too mushy to you?"

"Ahh, was that to much for your manly mind?"

"Hey…a little…"

"Well…you are my shining knight, right?"

"Of course…"

It was a tender moment; the two were going in for the kiss…

…when a blood-curling scream was in the air. Sam and Garcia were shocked by the scream, but only for a moment, and ran back to the village to investigate. They rushed past both confused and scared people.

Syl and Solstice were standing up, their chairs on the floor, the table sliced in half. Guildrick was on the floor in shock, but the blood belong to the husband, his wife was the screamer, the husband didn't have time to cry out. James held the girl close, trying to quiet her crying. Ace and Charles were in battle stance.

The murderer was a Gallade, still holding his Physic-Blade, a glowing purple blade made out of psycho energy; the blood was dripping off it. He retracted the sword, revealing a real sword, a Kalis (a wavy double-edge Filipino sword). He was staring at the ground, as if in thought. But as soon as Garcia and Sam got close, he raised it up.

It was a face of pure evil. A smile came on when he saw Garcia.

"Hello. Do you remember me? No? Ask Garcia, she should know." Was all he said before he walked towards her. Garcia didn't flinch, but tensed up. The Gallade slowly walked over, then stopped near Garcia. He looked up even more, then making Garcia gasp. She remembered the long scar going across his face.

"Galahad? Is that…"

"Me? Yes. Things will be easier now that you remember me. You can explain to your teammates, please do, I don't have to kill the wife." He said, pointing his sword at the wife, still crying over her dead husband. Garcia explained.

"His name is Galahad. He was a friend of mine before Syl. He wanted to marry me…" Samuel's interest peaked. Garcia noticed and continued. "He always claimed to be the strongest…" That woke Galahad up.

"I AM the strongest. I, in my hand, posses the greatest blade on the planet, the Hero's End. No one is better than me, not even all of you together. So, I've come to fulfill the next thing I said…take Garcia to be my bride." He said as if it was a simple matter, like he was deciding to choose a candy bar.

Outright, while everyone was in shock, Garcia said, "No."

"You don't have a choice."

"Guess what?" She grabbed Sam and held him close. "We two are getting married! So tough luck!" Sam smiled a comfortable smile. Galahad did not.

"Fine." Sam sighed.

"Then you shall be the prize in our fight." Sam frowned. Syl got closer to Galahad. He said to him, "Too bad. We're taking you to jail for murder." Galahad smiled, unnerving Syl.

"You're right." Said Galahad, pretending to sound guilty. "But only an officer can arrest me. Where is one? Oh, right." He walked over to the dead man. "Oh, officer. When you come back to life, can you arrest me?" He laughed a demented, but quiet, laugh, and turned towards Sam, pointing his sword at him. "You have no choice. Fight or die."

Sam sighed. He held his hand out besides him, and concentrated. A small breeze blew through the square. Leaves that were being carried by the breeze attached themselves to Sam's arm, and once the entire arm was covered in green leaves, the breeze stopped. The leaves instantly crawled down his arm and onto his outstretched hand. The leaves instantly formed a sword, handle, guard, blade and all.

Galahad didn't react. "That's a different kind of Leaf Blade." Sam got into his battle stance. "I've had years of practice. What do you have?" Galahad remained emotionless. His sword regained its psycho energy.

"Victory."

The two charged at each other, blades interlocking when the two met at the middle. They broke apart, and started to duel off. Galahad's only surprise were how strong the leaves were, it was like they were made of steel. Other than that, Sam and Galahad were equals, their blades were following in perfect synchronization. Both were waiting for an opening.

Galahad broke free, and back flipped onto a small building, also sending off a wave of physic energy at Sam. Sam instantly leapt over it, and slashed at Galahad, who blocked it and the duel began again, only faster and more violent. Galahad elbowed Sam, and unleashed a powerful burst of physic energy that cut the building in half, but Sam managed to avoid it in time.

Galahad unleashed more waves of energy, only allowing enough time for Sam to block, which left him open to being slashed by Galahad, a cut across the right part of his chest. Sam applied pressure, and felt some blood run through his fingers. He applied some sort of healing power, and the wound closed. Galahad noticed, and didn't care.

The sword clash began again, this time Sam was fighting harder and faster, and Galahad was starting to slow down, as if in confidence. He attempted a floor sweep, but Sam jumped over the leg, and went over Galahad in a back-flip, upon landing, his leaf blade glowed in a light-green light, and he bought the blade down on Galahad's back, following it was the light, in a powerful attack which was dubbed by Sam, "Tree Split".

Galahad fell down, and rolled for a bit. He stopped, and got up. He was tired, but he wasn't going to show that. He held his sword down. He looked up and smiled a smile that made the others creeped out. He spoke. "Not bad. But, disappointing at best."

Sam smiled back. "Just getting started. Round 2?" Sam held his sword out in front of him. Galahad didn't follow suit, instead, a dark purple energy surrounded his open hand. The smile faded. "Later." He said, before a portal made of the same color aura appeared. Instantly, six monsters, shaped like up-right beetles, showed up.

"But first…save the village. These guys like flesh." The beetles leapt at the villagers, causing screams and fleeing. Sam was stunned at first, but got into action, swinging his blade at the nearest beetle, causing it pain, but not killing it. The beetle retaliated with a head-butt, knocking Sam back a little.

The others, for some reason, were unable to actually do physical harm to the monsters. Garcia's spells seemed to tickle the monsters. Charles was constantly swooping up and down at the beetles, but they proceeded to ignore that. Solstice was both attacking and using spells. No effect what so ever. Ace was almost flying at the enemies, covered in fire, still nothing. James, the biggest and strongest of the group, wasn't having any effect on the monsters.

Sam looked puzzled, while also fighting the beetle. His weapon was actually having an effect on the monster, eventually killing it. The monster disappeared in a ball of purple light. A thought came towards Sam. He left behind his Leaf Blade, and normally attacked a nearby beetle that was giving Ace some trouble. No effect. He grabbed his weapon and attacked, and THIS time it hurt the beetle.

"Guys! You need weapons to hurt this buggers! Find something! Anything!" Sam shouted before being swamped by more beetles and a new monster, a grey-skinned dog with fangs sticking out of its mouth.

Charles flew past the monsters, being chased by one of the dogs. He hid in a nearby shack, letting the dog run past. He held his breath, and looked around the room, and noticed a simple spear in the corner. A growling sound came from the door, signaling that the dog had found him. Charles stood his ground, having a stare-off with the dog. The dog leapt forward, hitting the wall behind Charles, as he flew over, grabbed the spear, and stabbed forward, hitting directly in the forehead, killing it.

James was at a stalemate. The monsters couldn't hurt him much, but he wasn't doing anything to them. He noticed a crate of building supplies nearby. Knocking the monsters off of him, he opened the crate and got to work, bending metal into a pair of claws for him to use. As the monsters attacked, they were torn to shreds by the furious swings of James' new claws.

Ace had better luck on finding a weapon. Some big, thick work gloves were around the area he was fighting. Putting them on, he handled the monsters, punching at different angles everywhere. Enemies were never stood a chance. Ace let out a monkey cry before leaping at the next batch of monsters.

Solstice, in a manner of quick craftsmanship, made a trident for him to use and a pole for Garcia. He got to work, spinning and stabbing enemies who got close, and using some water spells to handle further enemies. Garcia mostly used spells, but whacked enemies who came too close. Sam appeared to help her by defending.

"Here!" yelled the old man found behind a half of the table, tossing a bow and a quiver full of arrows to Garcia. She put the pole down, grabbed both objects in mid-air, and quickly fired a salvo at the approaching monsters.

"Good thing that crash-course in weapon training I made you guys do paid off!" shouted Syl, who was protecting the villagers by getting inside of a shack.

"Good thing we did, otherwise this would have been a bad plot device!" shouted Ace, who finished off the last monster, earning victory for the heroes. Ace back-flipped and jumped up and down, Solstice calmly put his trident away and shrugged his shoulders, James pumped his right arm up and down, Charles twirled his spear, Garcia placed her staff to lean on and rest, Sam crossed his arms and said, "Alright Galahad, you're next."

Galahad walked from behind a building. "Sorry, I've other things to do now. But I shall win one day. Ready yourselves for that day. Also, head north to the city. Your curse is coming full-circle…" He said before entering the portal and then closing it, leaving the group with many questions.

"What…what's with him? I'm confused!" shouted Ace, scratching his head. Solstice thought for a moment and replied, "He definitely has a part in this so-called curse. Let's find that city and get some answers." Both went to pack their stuff, knowing that regardless of opinion, they were onto an adventure.

Garcia went to healing everyone. Sam thought about Galahad, how he acted, his skills, his bravado, and everything else. Sam shuddered as he thought about how Galahad will stop at nothing to have Garcia be his wife. Sam decided. Galahad will, one day, have to be stopped for good. Sam didn't enjoy killing, but if necessary…

James looked around. "Hey, where's Syl?" He asked. Garcia shrugged. Charles flew up into the air, and looked around. "I don't see him." He shouted back. Garcia knew where Syl was.

"Galahad." She said, with absolute terror in her voice.

Act One: Cursed Beginnings: END

Please review. I only own Syl and names. I will get better.