Chapter I

I

Gardevor’s POV

Two years after the battle of Cerulean

I ran, holding my daughter’s hand. The Mightyhena were closing in on us. I cursed this life silently. This wasn’t a world to raise a child in.

 

As I ran, I thought about how the world became this dreadful place.

 

Two years ago, when Mewtwo and two humans and their Pokémon sacrificed their lives; that was when the world changed. They tried to kill the being known as Mewomega. Mewtwo was my lover; the father of my daughter, Vitae.

 

All of them died, but Mewomega had escaped. He ran and hid, slowly recovering his power. He had gathered followers, Pokémon and humans alike, all who sought to survive in his new world.

 

Vitae shouting snapped me out of my thoughts. A Mightyhena had nearly bit her. I fired a Focus Blast into its open jaws. It whimpered and failed.

 

"Come on, just a little farther! A little more, Mom," Vitae shouted. I looked at her and smiled. She looked like me, but she had Mewtwo’s eyes. She smiled the same way I did, full of coldness.

 

She was my little girl, but I raised her to be a warrior; proud, beautiful, and fierce. And every day, she grew to be more like her father was.

 

The hound Pokémon were right on our heels. Suddenly, they yelped and backpedaled as hard as they could. We had made it.

 

The Secret Grove, where Celebi lived. Secret Grove was a thick, dark forest. It was now so over run with Ghost Pokémon, almost nothing entered willingly. It was the last sanctuary from Mewomega.

 

 

 

We headed to the center of the forest. When we arrived, a hundred or so Pokémon greeted us. They yammered loudly and I and Vitae winced. Their joy was overwhelming; it was almost a physical force.

 

I looked about, scanning over the heads of the small Pokémon. Somewhere between seven hundred and a thousand Pokémon stood in the vast area. I looked to the north and saw who had attended.

 

The massive fallen tree at the northern end of the clearing served as a place for the leaders of our group, the Omega Resistance.

 

I looked at the leaders one by one, them nodding at my gaze. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, tiny Mew, Lugia, Celebi, Registeel, Latias and Latios, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Giratina and Darkrai. All the other legendary Pokémon, in exclusion to Arceus, had joined Mewomega.

 

But, more amazing than any of the legends was the Pokémon at the center. Charizard, released after Mewomega had murdered the hero, Ash.

 

It was Charizard who had gathered all these Pokémon together. They believed in his power and that he could defeat Mewomega. Even from across the clearing, I could see his giant flame at the end of his tail. I couldn’t imagine how hot those flames must have been.

 

Charizard’s wings had a few holes and tears in them from his many battles. The tough skin on his snout and face was scarred, a vibrant scar going over his right eye and down to his jaw. Charizard was our leader because of his extreme fighting spirit. Out of all the Pokémon who had thought Mewomega one-on-one, Charizard was the only one to ever actually harm the demon. Even Rayquaza had to humble himself, having lost to Mewomega before without even so much as a scratch on him.

 

I saw Celebi move and bob as if trying to speak, but I couldn’t hear her over the shrieks of the others.

 

"QUIET!" Charizard yelled, flame billowing from his jaws. Immediately, every Pokémon stopped and froze; nobody dared to anger Charizard.

 

"Thank you, Lord Charizard. As I was saying, would Lady Gardevor and her child please present themselves?" Celebi said, her tiny voice booming in the silence.

 

Holding Vitae’s hand, I walked us to the front of the clearing. As we neared the fallen tree, the necklace I wore grew warm, but then chilled, cooling me and Vitae with psychic power.

 

"Yes, my Lords and Ladies? What is your wish?" I asked. I had to be formal, as I had broken one of our most precious rules. Even as a member of the council, I was expected to follow all the rules. The penalties were harsh, even for minor infractions.

 

"Lady Gardevor, do you know of the crime you have committed?" Celebi asked.

 

"Yes. I left the Grove and went into a populated area. I risked the entirety of the Resistance," I said. I knew I had a chance if I spoke my words carefully. " But I had good reason to leave the compound."

 

"What. Reasoning?" Lord Registeel said his machine-like voice deep and slow.

 

"I did it in an attempt to save a group of Lavatar, who had been kidnapped by Mewomega’s hounds."

 

"How did you acquire the knowledge of the kidnapping in the first place, Gardevor?" Charizard asked, his voice strong and dominating.

 

"Two Pokémon told me when and where the attack would take place, and I acted upon this information." As I spoke, I saw Darkrai and Giratina slowly take steps backward.

 

"And who were these Pokémon?" Latios and Latias said together.

 

"Lords Giratina and Darkrai, your honors," I said with a smile. Fifteen heads turned to the far left end of the tree, where the two sat.

 

"Would you look at the moon?! I need to go," Darkrai said, instantly melting into shadows.

 

"Damn it, Darkrai! You cheat," Giratina said, unable to leave. After Mewomega took over, Giratina had been unable to return to his Reverse World, his quickest means of escape.

 

"Figures. Now it’s up to a vote. All in favor of letting the three go away unpunished, say ‘Aye,’" Charizard said. I knew his rules. If more than one Pokémon committed the crime, it was up to a vote to decide by the majority. "All opposed, say ‘Neigh.’"

 

"Aye!" Giratina said.

 

"Not. You," Registeel said, hitting the Dragon/Ghost type with Mega Punch.

 

"Aye," Articuno said.

 

"Aye," Zapdos droned, his wings slightly open out of boredom.

 

Moltres looked at the other two. "Neigh, this has to stop."

 

Mew looked her, hurt. "Aye!"

 

"Neigh. I agree with Moltres," Lugia said, holding his head high to avoid looking me in the eyes.

 

"Aye!" Celebi said. I looked at her in surprise. I hadn’t expected to get her vote.

 

"Neigh," Registeel droned.

 

"Aye," Latios and Latias said together.

 

"Neigh?" Groudon said, confused. He couldn’t decide anything on his own, so always went with the minority of votes.

 

"Neigh," Rayquaza said. I was shocked that he thought we needed to be punished; usually he voted against it.

 

"Aye," Jarachi said sleepily. Mewomega had awoken him over 900 years early, so Jarachi could not sleep until the next Millennium Comet.

 

"Neigh," Deoxys said, morphing into his defensive form. Deoxys looked sad at having to say that about me, but he stood by his belief that punishment must be dealt out.

 

"Neigh," Dialga said. He looked down and mouthed "Forgive me."

 

"The vote is tied. My decision will decide. Before I vote, answer me one thing. What happened to the group of Lavatar you tried to rescue?" Charizard spoke.

 

My face dropped. "I- I could only save one of the children. The others were either taken or killed during the struggle." I felt Vitae’s thin fingers touch my back.

 

"Very well then," Charizard looked to his left and right before looking at the crowd.

 

"Aye. Gardevor and the others receive no punishment." Before anyone could react, his wings burst open and he flew off towards the lake he lived at.

 

With Charizard gone, the meeting was adjourned. The council members headed back to our hall.

 

 

 

The "hall" was a giant mountain to the north of the clearing. It had been hollowed out, creating tunnels and chambers throughout and under the mountain, passages that sprawled outward for miles from the base of the mountain.

 

Every Pokémon had their own living space in the maze of tunnels. Because of the endless amount of passages, the law said you had to travel in groups. The Pokémon who were not on the council preferred to double up in their rooms, so we always had plenty of space.

 

The Lavatar me and Vitae saved had been given a room near an exit, so she wouldn’t get lost. It was customary for all new rescues to get a room close to an exit.

 

I waved to her as I passed her room. Vitae had gone to her room, a natural cave high up on the mountain. She had found it and chose to stay there on her own and nobody questioned it. It gave me plenty of time to go to the Council’s Chamber.

 

Soon I lost track of where I was. I didn’t like to, but I had to resort to teleporting to the Chamber.

 

I appeared in the doorway of the gargantuan room. The room was sixty feet from wall to wall, extending fifty feet back. The ceiling was thirty feet from the floor, big enough for all the Legendries to move about comfortably.

 

Many of the legendries stayed in groups of three or four, preferring Pokémon from their own regions. The birds talked together in a corner, occasionally taking long drinks from the river that flowed along the wall. Registeel, Groudon, and Rayquaza sat in a group, apparently asleep. Lugia, Latias, and her brother were arguing over something. Dialga, Giratina, and Darkrai, who had returned after the meeting, were relaxing.

 

The three Psychic Pokémon, Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, floated over to me. The four of us had been close for a while, now. Mew had visited me and Mewtwo often, when he was still alive. I had been introduced to the others almost immediately after Mewomega returned.

 

"Where is Deoxys? Isn’t he supposed to be here as well," I asked the trio. We looked back as Giratina shouted, Dialga having hit him in the head.

 

"He hasn’t come. But we can resolve this without his help. He can’t complain if he doesn’t show, so that’s a plus," Celebi said.

 

"Ya. If he came, we’d never resolve this," Mew said, flying around in circles. She usually did this to distract herself, chasing her own tail.

 

"Can we just talk about how we’ll go after Mewomega? I’m so tired, as it is," Jirachi, the only male in the group, said.

 

"Okay, how will we go after Mewomega," I said loudly. The other council members came over and we discussed how best to go after the abomination. Not a single one of the others worried about Deoxys’ disappearance.