Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.Special Thanks to xAka-chanx for playing the role of Beta Reader.The rating / warnings / catagories will be changed as needed.
Chapter 1
The Thief
Chapter 1
April 8th, 2015...
A massive mansion lay quietly resting on a small island. Just a short distance from Cinnabar Island, far enough away to be left alone from the prying eyes of reporters, but close enough that it wasn't a hassle to reach. Although surrounded by tall grass, various species of pokemon were visible roaming the island. The only sound that broke the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded the island was the sound of an incoming aircraft.
The small helicopter, the primary method of transportation between Cinnabar and the island came in slowly, setting down on the concrete landing pad beside the mansion. As the sliding cargo door opened up, a man dressed in a black business suit exited the vehicle before looking towards the pilot. "Have a nice day, Mr. Star. I'll be back in two days then with the next shipment of supplies," the pilot shouted.
"I told you I don't care for all these formalities, just call me James. When you bring over the next set of supplies, I'll pay you extra if you get your hands if you can track down a batch of Hoenn grown Oran berries. According to Freya, they're much sweeter then the ones we have growing here on the island," the man shouted before giving the pilot the okay to return back to Cinnabar. With his jacket and tie resting over one shoulder, he used his free hand to move his hair back out of face after the helicopter took off before turning to face his home.
Looking to the sky as he placed a hand on the knob to the large oak doors, a small look of indecision crossed his face. Knowing that it was only midday, James reasoned that an incoming storm was the most likely cause for the darkening sky. Glancing around towards the tall grass and pokemon that shared the island, he questioned whether or not he should call the Pokemon back. Returning his gaze to sky, he gave the idea some more thought before deciding against it for now. If the weather report called for anything serious, then he would call them back, but for now there was no reason to interrupt their fun.
James opened the door this home, greeted by a sight that still amazed him. The large open room that served as the main hall with a staircase on either side arcing over to meet at the center of the floor above them. The large window covering most of the second story outer wall allowed the fading light to spread, shining on various pieces of art, small pedestals holding an assortment of figurines, and a glass sculpture of Articuno with her wings out at full spread, nearly reaching the room's whole length. He still had trouble believing that he had been the only heir to mansion, much less all the private projects that were still in use by Silph Co.
Not even having spent a few seconds looking over the room, a bright flash of light caught his eyes. Quickly looking over, the man saw a gardevoir standing next to the eastern staircase, but rather then wear the tradition white flowing dress that most gardevoir wore, this one had taken a different style of dress to wear. Dressed in a soft green dress that came down the floor, it hid her lower body beneath it while fitting nicely around her upper body. A small hole had already been fitted into the front and back of the dress allowing her red horns to fit through without damaging it. The man looked on a bit puzzled at first, but quickly came to a plausible solution.
"Alright Freya, how much did Faith spend this time?" James smiled as he walked up to greet his pokemon partner.
'No more than she usual does, James. You know that she doesn't go overboard, but tends to be conservative.' The words came slowly and clearly, the tone behind them easily feminine, soft and gentle.
"Yeah, I know, Freya. By the way, I like your new dress. It looks very good on you." James placed a hand on Freya's shoulder as she blushed from the compliment, her head turning down some trying to hide her face a bit.
"Alright James, where'd you stash it?" A voice called from the floor above them, drawing the attention of both Freya and James. Although slightly surprised, James still smiled upon seeing one of his oldest friends once again.
"I wasn't expecting you to show up for a few more days at least, Grant." James replied. "When did you get here?"
"Yesterday morning." Grant smiled.
"Still it would help if I know what you were talking about. What do you think I stashed?" James asked as Grant threw a small object down at him. James was able to catch the newspaper that had been tossed his way, although he had to step to the side a bit to do so.
With the paper now in hand, James noticed that it was yesterday's paper. "Ancient Johto Vase Stolen, Cat Burglar Strikes Again." James read it taking a close look at the large clay vase that filled most of the page. The vase itself was big enough, taking up most of the pedestal that it rested upon with a number of flying Pokemon carved into its sides. A single large image of Ho-oh took up most of the vase on one side; the details, while worn, still looking as though they had been done by an expert.
"Sorry, Grant, that wasn't me. I was thinking about it. I even scoped the place out but..." James looked up to see a man coming down the staircase towards him.
Although Grant was just a year younger than James himself, he was much shorter. The scyther walking next to him was proof of that fact, having at least half a foot on him and scythers were never known to even reach five feet in height themselves. Seeing Grant dressed in sweat pants with matching sweatshirt, James and Freya both knew what Grant and his partner Blade had been sparring before he had shown up.
"But what?" Grant asked, coming down one set of stairs to meet with him.
"Security around museum was too high tech for me. Without Andrew's technical know how, would have been too dangerous," James admitted.
"You're not losing your touch are you?" Grant asked, finally noticing Freya, tilting his head a bit as he walked over to her. "Faith really knows her stuff. That dress looks very nice on you," Grant smiled, walking around her. Once again, Freya's head bowed down trying to hide the growing shade of red that was gathering on her cheeks.
'Thank you,' Freya replied slowly.
"Look's like Faith ran out of thread though. I can see a few points where she used some of Andrew's thread that he uses to fix up his own clothes." Grant leaned in close behind Freya noticing a single black thread hidden among the blue and white threads and Faith always favored.
"Say, where is Andrew anyway? I've got a letter for him from his mother. I thought he'd be here to retrieve it." James reached into his jacket, pulling out a white envelope.
"Oh, Andrew took that boat he had shipped here and went to get some fresh fish," Grant replied.
"When did he leave?" James asked as he headed down one of the halls with Grant and Freya behind him, leaving Blade to find a place to rest.
"About four days ago according to Faith, not too long after you left for that conference for that matter," Grant replied. "Speaking of which, how did it go?"
"Well, I now own four of the projects that are still under development by Silph Co. They tried to buy me off, but the lawyer my father had keep all of his assets in check presented a compromise. I'll retain ownership of the projects with my name now replacing my father's on the patents and they're basically just leasing them from me. The lawyer gets himself a nice fat bonus, and Silph Co. continues to pay for this," James explained, pointing to the mansion around him. "In the end though, they'll still make a massive amount themselves when they start production of the projects my father owned while we just get a percentage of the profits."
As they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by a woman working about the kitchen trying to make something that they couldn't identify. Dressed in a pair of black sweat pants much like Grant, but with a light blue T-shirt and slippers, she was hard at work picking up various spices and berries while replacing objects she no longer needed. Her long blond braided hair fell off her shoulder put was quickly put back into place to keep it out of her way.
"Faith, what are you making?" James asked, noticing the heavy smell of roots and herbs in the air.
"I found a recipe in one those books we have," she responded quickly, taking another look into the book on the counter.
"You know as well as I do that we're not allowed to use magic," Grant stated.
"It's supposed to be a powder you mix into drinks. If it works, it will give us a bit of resistance against arcane energies as well as help remove the trace amounts built up over time from magically crafted items," Faith countered.
"And given the vault we have on the island filled with them, that would be real advantage." James walked to Faith, looking over her shoulder. "At the very least, it will help hide the fact that we have such a massive stash of them here on the island from those trying to steal them for personal gain."
"Precisely." Faith turned away from the book heading towards the spice rack, grabbing a few containers before quickly returning to the counter and the large bowl filled with everything she had mixed together so far. "There's just one little detail about it though that I'm having trouble with. I can't read that last passage listing the final ingredient. The pages have suffered a bit of water damage. In any case, I'd have to left this batch I'm working on dry out before I can add the last ingredient anyway."
"Has Andrew taken a look?" James asked as Faith passed the book to him.
"Not yet. I was putting away that knife we stole a week ago, which took forever to clean I might add, and while I was down in the vault yesterday, a representative from that firm came by to finalize to a few things concerning the will. Grant told me just in time before I walked up on him. I got bored of waiting and decided to do a little of reading and found this book. It lists a lot of ways to help keep magical energies under control," Faith explained as she added a few more pinches of crushed herbs to the bowl.
"It's no good, I can't read this," James sighed, passing the book towards Grant who simply raised a hand, shaking his head.
"Already took a look at it myself. You know as well I do, I can't read any of those books," Grant replied. James handed the book back to Faith, who took another look at it. James then proceeded over to the control unit in the room. He pressed the touch screen, bringing the small panel to life, displaying the room current temperature, a small display showing which lights had been activated, as well as picture of rain cloud with number below it. "Ninety-three percent chance of rain, huh?" James stated as he looked out the window. A few drops of water had already hit it and the group easily made out a heavy line of clouds approaching the island.
James pressed the rain cloud on the screen and brought up weather map of the area. "We'd better start calling the pokemon back." James pointed the screen out to the others. While mostly green in color, the few red spots on the map, one of which was headed right for the island. "I'll take care of the ones to the east. Faith, can you get the ones to the south while Grant grabs the ones to the west."
'I'll alert the ones by the pier after I change,' Freya stated as she vanished in a flash of blue light.
James tapped the screen twice putting it back into standby, before setting his jacket down on the counter and heading out the door in the dining room. Grant and Faith were right behind him, but they each went their separate ways to gather the pokemon up.
"Dusk, Razor, Burner, get over here. Everyone else inside, we got a storm coming," James shouted, calling out the names of the pokemon who had taken charge of select groups and helped keep everything in check. It didn't take long before two pokemon, a Zangoose and an Arcanine, came running up.
"Oh good. Razor, Burner, we got a real big storm coming in according to the weather maps," James stated as the rain started to come down now. "I'll need some help rounding up the pokemon."
Both of the pokemon before him nodded their heads, knowing that if their master was warning them about a storm, then it meant that a real nasty one was most likely showing up soon.
"This storm is moving fast. Why didn't it show up on the map while I was still on the mainland?" James asked himself before once again calling out, alerting more pokemon about the storm, many of which were already heading back to the mansion for safety anyway. After spending a few long minutes shouting for the pokemon to head in while the rain picked up, James headed back himself.
He had just reached the door as Faith and Grant came running up, both of them covered in water just like James. Behind all three of them was a small collection of pokemon each one trying to be the first one in while their human masters held open the doors, making sure everyone got in. Fairly certain that most of the pokemon were in and those left outside had already found cover by now, James held the door, letting Faith and Grant in first. Many of the pokemon were busy shaking away water from their fur and using their abilities to dry themselves, leaving their masters to head to the kitchen and grab a few towels from there.
As the three of them entered the kitchen, they found a small letter on the counter waiting for them, with a single three digit paw print upon it. "Okay, can someone tell please me how in the world they do that?" Grant half shouted as he passed out the towels.
"I don't know, magic maybe?" James shrugged his shoulders earning a small sigh from Grant.
"I wonder what we've been to chosen to recover this time?" Faith asked, picking up the letter and opening it with a small knife. "Let's see." Faith pulled out the letter and a picture from the envelope. James took the picture leaving Faith to read the letter.
"Well, this is an odd looking...thing?" James looked at the picture turning it sideways and upside down. The small item had the look of a pair of spirals, one black in color what appeared to flow in a clockwise motion laying on top of a white one that appeared to flow in the opposite direction. What appeared to be a glass marble that almost looked like an eyeball held the two spirals together serving as some sort of centerpiece to the object. Even as James turned the picture different angles, the eye always appeared to be looking his way.
"It's called the Eye of Shadows," Faith informed them, looking at the picture. "Supposedly, the magician responsible for crafting this brooch had found a way to bend light in such a way that one could only see shadows allowing its owner to walk around unnoticed in night. It's a processes similar to how Latios and Latias hide themselves, but this one only works in darkness." Faith passed the letter to Grant.
"According to this, it was lost after a thief like ourselves stole it and tried to use it to enter a prison complex. A riot broke out and half of the prison ended up falling over the cliffside when a mage used the Eye of Moltres to try and settle the riot down," Grant explained as he read the letter, "The Eye of Moltres was recovered only to be locked away later on, but the Eye of Shadows was never found again. It's claimed that it is really the sister piece to the Eye of Moltres and using both would unlock the full power of both Eyes."
"At least we already have the Eye of Moltres in our possession. From the sounds of it, if they are sister pieces, then we have the offensive sister locked away." James passed the picture to Faith as Freya teleported back into the room wearing her usual white gown this time.
"Sorry Freya, but it looks like we're needed." Grant informed her passing the letter to James while drawing a worried look from Freya.
'But...' Freya started to argue.
"Relax," James stated, looking over the letter himself. "The object has just been dug up at a dig site where they are planning to rebuild the new Indigo Plateau complex after the stadium got trashed last year. We'll just have our vacation there." James placed a hand on Freya's shoulder. "I promise you that we'll have a few days alone, just to ourselves while we're up there." Freya although worried, still knew that her master would do all that he could to keep his promise. An unexpected flash of light from outside followed by a massive boom that shook the windows and all four of them quickly looked to the window with a look of surprise. While Faith and Freya both looked a little scared, James was just disgusted. "I hate storms."
"I'm thinking I'll spend the night down in that viewing room. The storm can't hope to bother us much down there," Faith stated.
"I'm all for that idea," Grant stated replied, as Freya held on to James. "None of us like this weather."
"I'll go grab some blankets from the wash room and meet you down there," James informed the others. "Grab some snacks while you're here and I'll also grab us a change of clothes." James started for one of the hallways, leaving Freya with Grant and Faith as they gathered up some snacks.
It didn't take long for James to reach the large washroom with the multiple sets of washers and dryers. After grabbing what he had come for, he headed down a different hall taking a staircase down into the lower levels of the mansion.
He carried the basket with the clothes and blankets to the lowest level in the mansion before turning down a new hall, made of stone this time rather then tile and drywall. It was much cooler down here and James began to wonder if he should have brought himself something warmer. It was a long walk down the stone hallway without any other doors or windows, just small tube lights placed every so often to provide the light.
At last, James came to another set of stairs with a large iron door had been left slightly open at the end. As he pushed open the iron door, James walked into the viewing room. The large room was set up as a massive circle with rough stone walls just like the hall he had walked down, but there were benches lining the back wall. An ocean blue carpet lined most of the floor except for a large spot next to the window in the room. An extremely thick pain of glass separated the water from the room, allowing those inside to watch the sea life in their natural habitat. In one corner of the room, a small table with a lamp on it while a bed shaped to fit in the rounded corner occupied the other corner of the room. A small door on one of the room had been left ajar revealing the small bathroom. Grant, Faith, and Freya had all taken a seat on the sofa placed before the window as they waited for James to show up.
"There is no doubt about it. This is by far the best room in this oversized house," James stated as he walked up to passed out blankets and clothing to the others.
"I wonder how much it cost?" Grant asked.
"Far more then we ever could have hoped to make without James's father leaving this to him," Faith stated as the three of them took their clothing out of the basket. Once the three of them had changed, they joined Freya on the couch. James took a spot beside Freya before she leaned against him covering them both up while Grant took the other edge without a blanket himself.
It wasn't long before Faith, Grant, and Freya started to fall asleep. Grant rolled himself out a small sleeping bag that had been stored in the corner while Faith took the bed. This left Freya to sleep on the couch leaning on James while he continued to look out the window reading the letter that detailed the history of their next target. Once again, he reread one small detail that began to worry him. "If both eyes are used in unison, they will unlock the maximum power of the other." James whispered to himself. "To think that the Eye of Moltres was that powerful just by itself." James yawned before passing out himself.
::: ::::: :::
15 years ago...
Somewhere in Viridian Forest...
James had been lucky so far on his quest to be a Pokemon trainer. He had just gotten out of the Kanto School of Pokemon Training, ranking in the top 15 percent of all those who had come to the Kanto School. After having passed his last test, a one week trip from the school located at the Indigo Plateau to Pallet Town where he had picked up his Pokedex and Pokeballs, officially becoming a Pokemon Trainer, he had met up with a good group of other trainers, two of which were new trainers just like him while the other two were older experienced trainers.
All of that luck had run out though rather quickly though. Now on a return trip to Indigo Plateau to register for the Indigo League, the group had been forced to stop their travels thanks to a heavy storm. With nothing else better to do while the others were busy preparing a meal, James pulled out his notebook and began to write a letter.
'Hey mom.
I know I have written to you in a while, but these last few weeks have been busy. I'm sorry I can't be back for my fifteenth birthday next week, but I still need to make it back to the school within a week to get my trainer license. I just hope I can make it back there in time. At the time that I'm writing this, I'm currently in the middle of the Viridian forest and a storm has forced me and the group I've joined up to stay still for now. Luckily we've found a cave to stay in for now.
James paused, thinking of what to write next as he tapped the pen on the cover of the notebook.
'I guess then that since I've joined up with a group of other trainers, you're going to be curious about them. You already know about Andrew, but the real surprise is that his sister Faith showed back up and decided to travel with us for while. One of my classmates, Grant will also be with us for a while. I know I've written about him to you, he was after all the only one I couldn't beat in battle at school at least once. I guess the only you don't know then is Steven. He's the oldest member of the group, a little more then five years older then myself. He claims himself to a traveler, but he's a really good trainer as well. I don't know too much about right now though, but he seems kind enough. I kinda get the feeling that he has taken an interest in Faith though. I've seen them talk back and forth a lot and I've seen her blush a few times, so that makes me wonder. They've also been sharing a tent. Anyway, he's a nice guy and from what I've seen, I could get use to traveling around with him. He knows all sorts of first aid tricks and when it comes to cook a meal, well I can't decide who makes a better meal between the two of you. Honestly, I think he would have better time as a chef then a traveler since he appears to enjoy cooking so much. I can't say too much about him though, but I really look forward to getting to know him. '
James stopped writing for a second looking back up at the sky as the area was blasted with a loud crack of thunder. Even from inside the cave where James and group he had just started traveling with, he could still feel some drops of water coming into the cave. Despite the fact that the storm had already been going on for several hours, it showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. James sighed hoping that the storm wouldn't delay him too long. If he was going to compete in the Indigo League this year, he would have to make it back to the Indigo Plateau soon to register and thought of missing after working so hard at the Trainer's School filled with the fear of missing his chance.
"Hey James. The soup is ready." An older male voice shouted out from deeper in the cave.
James turned as his name had been called. "I'll be right there Steven," he shouted back. Closing his notebook, James decided to finish his letter later. If nothing else, spending a day or two in the cave they had chosen to take shelter in would give him a chance to get to Steven better and learn why he had decided to travel with them. Upon getting up, he checked his belt to make sure that hadn't dropped his Pokeballs again, a mistake that he did not want to repeat having already nearly lost his partner back at Professor Oak's lab just a day ago. James got up and turned to look deeper into the cave. Just as he was about to walk towards the others, another much powerful blast shook the area as the area. A bright red glow lit up the cave causing James to whirl around in surprise.
"Is that... Moltres?" James asked himself more than anyone as a large fiery winged figure held its place above the forest a distance away. James smiled as he looked on. He could hardly believe his luck since most trainers had spent years if not decades just hoping to catch a mere glimpse of the legendary fire bird. Pulling out his camera to get a picture while walking out of the cave to get a better view, James witnessed a powerful stream of fire rising from the forest straight for Moltres. James raised an eyebrow in confusion as he lowered his camera. There was no way that something would be attacking Moltres with it's own element.
Moltres quickly took to a higher altitude to avoid the attack. A large fireball from the stream that Moltres had just avoided however began its return trip back towards the ground. "Whatever picked a fight a Moltres sure has guts." James whispered to himself as he slowly took note of the fireball that had begun its decent.
"Oh crap." James turned and dove back into the cave as the fireball hit the ground where he had just been. Several small embers rained out from the impact sight and caught the surrounding trees on fire despite the heavy rain. The embers took hold on the surrounding plants cackling as they began to grow into the start of several small flames. Unfortunately a few of the embers landed on James's back burning his shirt as he screamed in pain.
Upon hearing him scream, James could hear the others coming, but after turning around to try and see what was going on, James was once again forced to take cover, this time jumping out of the cave as another giant ball of fire was heading right for it. After landing, James flipped over to see the entrance of the cave engulfed in flames with his notebook close to the fire. James quickly reached over and grabbed it before it caught fire quickly stuffing it in his bag. James could hear the others shouting at him, but his mind was too preoccupied. Several thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to make sense of the world around him. His back was already in enough pain and that little acrobatic stunt of his didn't help the issue. James began to cough as the flames grew into larger fires filling the area with smoke. His eyes began to water disrupting his vision. He could still hear the others shouting at him, but he couldn't make any of it out, he was too disoriented. He shook his head clearing his vision enough as he looked back up to see Moltres avoiding another blast of fire.
"What kind of fire attack is that?" James asked vacantly, but his question went without an answer. He coughed again as the smoke continued to rise around him throwing him into a nasty coughing fit. The smoke was thickening up quickly as it began to act like a blanket, blocking his vision and attacking his lungs. He couldn't see the cave, which left him wondering how bad the others were doing.
Another sound from above caught his eyes though. James looked up, his sight blurred by tears and obscured by smoke. It was difficult to make things out clearly, but Moltres' bright flame shone like a beacon. This time Moltres was one the attack letting loose an unending torrent of fire upon the forest below bathing the entire area in a red glow. James just looked on partially confused, partially amazed by the sight before as the flames moved closer. His head turned rapidly looking someway to escape as the fires continued to grow around him. Just before the flames could reach James, he was thrown to the side. He had a moment of relief before the pain in his head caught up with him and he lost consciousness.
::: ::::: :::
James woke up to the darkness around him. His lungs ached and his were sore. For that matter, his whole body felt sore almost as though he had been crushed. He could feel that he was laying down in a soft pile of mud and rocks and he could also still feel the rain hit his body. Turning his head back and forth, he couldn't see anything other than a very dull red glow that was peering over the edge of what James assumed was a pit that he had been dropped into or something like that. A bright of lighting lit up the edges of the pit confirming his theory, but it also reveal one other detail. Just for a brief second, James could see the outline of someone else sitting in this pit with him.
"James, you're finally up." A voice whispered. "I was beginning to worry about you."
"Steven? Is that you?" James asked as he slowly moved into a sitting position. He held his head as he tried to shake up a bit of dizziness. "Where's my bag?" James moved his free hand around and while he felt his belt with his Pokeballs on it, he could feel his bag anywhere.
"Sorry about that." Steven replied. "I couldn't exactly save you and your bag. At least I managed to grab your belt though with your Pokeballs on it... well most of your Pokeballs anyway. I think your Ultra Ball was still in your bag." Steven got up and moved towards James as another bright flash of lighting lit up the sky again. This time, James was able to see the full extent of the damage that he had suffered. Although he may have sore, most of his body was numb which was why he didn't feel any cuts or bruises he had on his body. Steven didn't look much better himself though with all of the cuts and bruises he had. James knew that Steven was in worse condition then he felt himself though when he noticed the large gash on Steven's arm.
James started to stand up only to have Steven pull him back down to a sitting position. "What's going on? I remember seeing Moltres and something else."
"I don't exactly know for sure what happened. What ever is going on though, we don't want to get caught in the middle of it. All that I know for sure is that something has picked a fight with Moltres and neither of them seem to care about the damage they are causing." Steven explained. "We're just lucky that this pit was here. I was sure we were both goners until I tripped and fell into it."
"Are the others safe?" James asked as he tried to sort his thoughts out.
"I hope they are, can't say for sure though. When that fireball hit the cave, the other retreated back further into the cave we were staying." Steven explained. A sudden wave of fire shot over the pit that James and Steven were hiding in providing more than enough light to see in the pit. James quickly made out the fact that Steven's entire left arm appeared to be covered in blood from where James could cleary see a large tear in his skin. The mud on his body wasn't going him help him either and James quickly got the idea that he would need a trip the hospital in the nearest city when this was over. Looking over to himself, he could see that he had his fair share of blood on his skin as well. Both of them had a fair number of cuts and bruises, but Steven looked a lot worse for wear then James did. Despite the fact that Steven looked like he should have been in a lot of pain, he wasn't showing any signs of it.
The wave of fire was quick to retreat though returning the pit to it's darkened state.
"Keep quiet." Steven warned as he pulled James up against the wall of the pit. Even with the rain, the sounds of a pair feet walking through a heavy mud were growing a bit louder as someone approached.
"Alright, where did you go my friend?" A deep male voice asked calmly. Steven and James crouched as much as they could while another quick flash of lighting lit the area long enough to reveal a large cloaked figure. Even with the cloak, it was easy to see that the man was very large with broad shoulders, but that was all that James could tell from his position. "There's no place for you to hide Moltres." The figure shouted. James just looked up slowly, the fear building in his body. A powerful blast behind them caught them off guard, but Steven held James against the wall of the pit as the figure above them turned around. "Interesting trick, but you'll be mine soon enough." The figure stated as it walked off.
What felt like several minutes to James passed before Steven finally released his grip on James and he slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position finally letting out the air in his lungs since. Steven grabbed James' belt and handed it to him making sure to be a quiet as possible.
Slowly Steven stood up and looked over the edge while James took a moment to calm himself. "Come on, we're not too far from the cave." Steven whispered. "I don't see anything so now's our chance." Steven jumped up just a bit before pulling himself over leaving James alone in the pit, still sitting in the muddy water. Seconds later, Steven looked back over the edge. "James, come on." Steven urged reaching his hand down. Finally getting up, James took Steven's hand with his help, climbed out of the pit.
James made sure to tie the belt around his waist since the clip was broken and took a good look around. Several trees and bushes had been burned and many were still on fire. All the heavy rain appeared to be doing was just keep it under control, but it wasn't able to put the flames out. James felt Steven tug on his shoulder. Turning his attention towards the direction that Steven was pulling him, James could make out the cliffside and hurried along behind Steven to reach it.
As they neared the cliff James looked down each side and saw a cave that he assumed was the one where they had been staying when the storm first showed up. As Steven and James ran along the cliffside, James paid little attention to the burning forest beside him, his eyes fixed on the cave as he saw Faith come out to look for them. She quickly saw them and waved to them as they ran closer. Just as they were nearing the cave, James saw Steven slow down a bit and was looking towards the forest. "Come on, we're almost there." James stated as he slowly caught up to Steven.
Before James even knew what had happened, a massive blast of fire flew out the burning forest right in front of James and Steven. James quickly turned away from the blast using an arm to shield his eyes as more small embers landing on his arm and back. Out of instinct, James reached for his Pokeballs only to find that they had fallen from his waist as he stepped back and tripped over the belt that was now around his ankles. He fell face first into the mud.
"Damn." A deep voice stated behind James. He rolled over and wiped the mud off his face to see the same cloaked figure as before, only this time his hood was down. The man had a large black beard and James swore he could see large red eyes on the man. "You're not the ones I was looking for." The figure stated walking over to Steven who had managed to pull himself up against the cliffside. "I'm afraid that I can't leave any witnesses behind though." The man raised a hand from his cloak and pointed some sort of glowing red orb at Steven. Looking around, James couldn't see Faith, but knew that she still had to be nearby. Looking to his feet, he saw his belt with his Pokeballs laying just a few feet away. Before he had a chance to reach for them though, another powerful blast of fire hit the area.
James could only stare in horror as he saw where the fires were coming from though. The cloaked figure in front of Steven was responsible for the attack and orb he had in his hands was the source. The fire attack struck Steven head on at point blank range leaving James in state of shook as Steven's painful scream filled the air before it was drowned out by the fire. The attack died down quickly leaving a charred body behind. Looking back towards the cave, James saw Faith standing there with her hands at her face, the same look of horror and shook upon her face.
This time, the cloaked figure turned toward James pointing the orb at him. The last thing James recalled seeing was that eye, the man wasn't holding an orb, but an eye of some sort trapped in a glass like orb. The eye opened up just as an explosion shook the area and something hit James knocking him out.
::: ::::: :::
Present day...
James twisted a bit before he rolled right off the couch. This brought Freya down with him since she had been curled up with him in the blanket. As James fell over, his banged his head on the stone floor and quickly began rubbing his head with his hand. As James opened his eyes, he could see that Freya had landed on top of him and she was rubbing her own elbow, which she had banged on the floor from the unexpected wake up call. "Ouch." James half shouted quickly removing his had from his head as he touched a spot on his head that proved to me extremely sore
'James, what happened?' Freya asked. James could tell from her voice and the slightly irritated look on her face that she was not too happy about the fall. Looking over towards the corner of the room, James was thankful that Faith and Grant were had remained asleep.
"Nothing, just a bad dream." James replied as Freya got off him and moved back to the couch. James took a look at the clock as he got up and wasn't pleased to find that it was still early in the morning.
'Are you sure you're alright James.' Freya asked sensing that something had happened. She knew that something when she felt him lock his mind off to her.
"Yea, it's nothing." James lied a bit hoping that she would just drop the subject as he handed her the blanket.
'You're remembering that night aren't you. That night Steven died.' Freya stated looked down some.
"Just don't worry about it. It's nothing too big and those times are long since gone." James stated taking a seat on the couch looking out the window. He closed his eyes for a second as that last image of what he later found out to be the Eye of Moltres once again appeared in his head with that same hand grabbing it as the eye opened up. 'I don't care who you are, but I will still find you someday. I won't let you restore magic to this world.' James' thoughts were mixed again as he slowly returned to sitting on the couch with Freya lying against him.
Chapter 1
April 8th, 2015...
A massive mansion lay quietly resting on a small island. Just a short distance from Cinnabar Island, far enough away to be left alone from the prying eyes of reporters, but close enough that it wasn't a hassle to reach. Although surrounded by tall grass, various species of pokemon were visible roaming the island. The only sound that broke the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded the island was the sound of an incoming aircraft.
The small helicopter, the primary method of transportation between Cinnabar and the island came in slowly, setting down on the concrete landing pad beside the mansion. As the sliding cargo door opened up, a man dressed in a black business suit exited the vehicle before looking towards the pilot. "Have a nice day, Mr. Star. I'll be back in two days then with the next shipment of supplies," the pilot shouted.
"I told you I don't care for all these formalities, just call me James. When you bring over the next set of supplies, I'll pay you extra if you get your hands if you can track down a batch of Hoenn grown Oran berries. According to Freya, they're much sweeter then the ones we have growing here on the island," the man shouted before giving the pilot the okay to return back to Cinnabar. With his jacket and tie resting over one shoulder, he used his free hand to move his hair back out of face after the helicopter took off before turning to face his home.
Looking to the sky as he placed a hand on the knob to the large oak doors, a small look of indecision crossed his face. Knowing that it was only midday, James reasoned that an incoming storm was the most likely cause for the darkening sky. Glancing around towards the tall grass and pokemon that shared the island, he questioned whether or not he should call the Pokemon back. Returning his gaze to sky, he gave the idea some more thought before deciding against it for now. If the weather report called for anything serious, then he would call them back, but for now there was no reason to interrupt their fun.
James opened the door this home, greeted by a sight that still amazed him. The large open room that served as the main hall with a staircase on either side arcing over to meet at the center of the floor above them. The large window covering most of the second story outer wall allowed the fading light to spread, shining on various pieces of art, small pedestals holding an assortment of figurines, and a glass sculpture of Articuno with her wings out at full spread, nearly reaching the room's whole length. He still had trouble believing that he had been the only heir to mansion, much less all the private projects that were still in use by Silph Co.
Not even having spent a few seconds looking over the room, a bright flash of light caught his eyes. Quickly looking over, the man saw a gardevoir standing next to the eastern staircase, but rather then wear the tradition white flowing dress that most gardevoir wore, this one had taken a different style of dress to wear. Dressed in a soft green dress that came down the floor, it hid her lower body beneath it while fitting nicely around her upper body. A small hole had already been fitted into the front and back of the dress allowing her red horns to fit through without damaging it. The man looked on a bit puzzled at first, but quickly came to a plausible solution.
"Alright Freya, how much did Faith spend this time?" James smiled as he walked up to greet his pokemon partner.
'No more than she usual does, James. You know that she doesn't go overboard, but tends to be conservative.' The words came slowly and clearly, the tone behind them easily feminine, soft and gentle.
"Yeah, I know, Freya. By the way, I like your new dress. It looks very good on you." James placed a hand on Freya's shoulder as she blushed from the compliment, her head turning down some trying to hide her face a bit.
"Alright James, where'd you stash it?" A voice called from the floor above them, drawing the attention of both Freya and James. Although slightly surprised, James still smiled upon seeing one of his oldest friends once again.
"I wasn't expecting you to show up for a few more days at least, Grant." James replied. "When did you get here?"
"Yesterday morning." Grant smiled.
"Still it would help if I know what you were talking about. What do you think I stashed?" James asked as Grant threw a small object down at him. James was able to catch the newspaper that had been tossed his way, although he had to step to the side a bit to do so.
With the paper now in hand, James noticed that it was yesterday's paper. "Ancient Johto Vase Stolen, Cat Burglar Strikes Again." James read it taking a close look at the large clay vase that filled most of the page. The vase itself was big enough, taking up most of the pedestal that it rested upon with a number of flying Pokemon carved into its sides. A single large image of Ho-oh took up most of the vase on one side; the details, while worn, still looking as though they had been done by an expert.
"Sorry, Grant, that wasn't me. I was thinking about it. I even scoped the place out but..." James looked up to see a man coming down the staircase towards him.
Although Grant was just a year younger than James himself, he was much shorter. The scyther walking next to him was proof of that fact, having at least half a foot on him and scythers were never known to even reach five feet in height themselves. Seeing Grant dressed in sweat pants with matching sweatshirt, James and Freya both knew what Grant and his partner Blade had been sparring before he had shown up.
"But what?" Grant asked, coming down one set of stairs to meet with him.
"Security around museum was too high tech for me. Without Andrew's technical know how, would have been too dangerous," James admitted.
"You're not losing your touch are you?" Grant asked, finally noticing Freya, tilting his head a bit as he walked over to her. "Faith really knows her stuff. That dress looks very nice on you," Grant smiled, walking around her. Once again, Freya's head bowed down trying to hide the growing shade of red that was gathering on her cheeks.
'Thank you,' Freya replied slowly.
"Look's like Faith ran out of thread though. I can see a few points where she used some of Andrew's thread that he uses to fix up his own clothes." Grant leaned in close behind Freya noticing a single black thread hidden among the blue and white threads and Faith always favored.
"Say, where is Andrew anyway? I've got a letter for him from his mother. I thought he'd be here to retrieve it." James reached into his jacket, pulling out a white envelope.
"Oh, Andrew took that boat he had shipped here and went to get some fresh fish," Grant replied.
"When did he leave?" James asked as he headed down one of the halls with Grant and Freya behind him, leaving Blade to find a place to rest.
"About four days ago according to Faith, not too long after you left for that conference for that matter," Grant replied. "Speaking of which, how did it go?"
"Well, I now own four of the projects that are still under development by Silph Co. They tried to buy me off, but the lawyer my father had keep all of his assets in check presented a compromise. I'll retain ownership of the projects with my name now replacing my father's on the patents and they're basically just leasing them from me. The lawyer gets himself a nice fat bonus, and Silph Co. continues to pay for this," James explained, pointing to the mansion around him. "In the end though, they'll still make a massive amount themselves when they start production of the projects my father owned while we just get a percentage of the profits."
As they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by a woman working about the kitchen trying to make something that they couldn't identify. Dressed in a pair of black sweat pants much like Grant, but with a light blue T-shirt and slippers, she was hard at work picking up various spices and berries while replacing objects she no longer needed. Her long blond braided hair fell off her shoulder put was quickly put back into place to keep it out of her way.
"Faith, what are you making?" James asked, noticing the heavy smell of roots and herbs in the air.
"I found a recipe in one those books we have," she responded quickly, taking another look into the book on the counter.
"You know as well as I do that we're not allowed to use magic," Grant stated.
"It's supposed to be a powder you mix into drinks. If it works, it will give us a bit of resistance against arcane energies as well as help remove the trace amounts built up over time from magically crafted items," Faith countered.
"And given the vault we have on the island filled with them, that would be real advantage." James walked to Faith, looking over her shoulder. "At the very least, it will help hide the fact that we have such a massive stash of them here on the island from those trying to steal them for personal gain."
"Precisely." Faith turned away from the book heading towards the spice rack, grabbing a few containers before quickly returning to the counter and the large bowl filled with everything she had mixed together so far. "There's just one little detail about it though that I'm having trouble with. I can't read that last passage listing the final ingredient. The pages have suffered a bit of water damage. In any case, I'd have to left this batch I'm working on dry out before I can add the last ingredient anyway."
"Has Andrew taken a look?" James asked as Faith passed the book to him.
"Not yet. I was putting away that knife we stole a week ago, which took forever to clean I might add, and while I was down in the vault yesterday, a representative from that firm came by to finalize to a few things concerning the will. Grant told me just in time before I walked up on him. I got bored of waiting and decided to do a little of reading and found this book. It lists a lot of ways to help keep magical energies under control," Faith explained as she added a few more pinches of crushed herbs to the bowl.
"It's no good, I can't read this," James sighed, passing the book towards Grant who simply raised a hand, shaking his head.
"Already took a look at it myself. You know as well I do, I can't read any of those books," Grant replied. James handed the book back to Faith, who took another look at it. James then proceeded over to the control unit in the room. He pressed the touch screen, bringing the small panel to life, displaying the room current temperature, a small display showing which lights had been activated, as well as picture of rain cloud with number below it. "Ninety-three percent chance of rain, huh?" James stated as he looked out the window. A few drops of water had already hit it and the group easily made out a heavy line of clouds approaching the island.
James pressed the rain cloud on the screen and brought up weather map of the area. "We'd better start calling the pokemon back." James pointed the screen out to the others. While mostly green in color, the few red spots on the map, one of which was headed right for the island. "I'll take care of the ones to the east. Faith, can you get the ones to the south while Grant grabs the ones to the west."
'I'll alert the ones by the pier after I change,' Freya stated as she vanished in a flash of blue light.
James tapped the screen twice putting it back into standby, before setting his jacket down on the counter and heading out the door in the dining room. Grant and Faith were right behind him, but they each went their separate ways to gather the pokemon up.
"Dusk, Razor, Burner, get over here. Everyone else inside, we got a storm coming," James shouted, calling out the names of the pokemon who had taken charge of select groups and helped keep everything in check. It didn't take long before two pokemon, a Zangoose and an Arcanine, came running up.
"Oh good. Razor, Burner, we got a real big storm coming in according to the weather maps," James stated as the rain started to come down now. "I'll need some help rounding up the pokemon."
Both of the pokemon before him nodded their heads, knowing that if their master was warning them about a storm, then it meant that a real nasty one was most likely showing up soon.
"This storm is moving fast. Why didn't it show up on the map while I was still on the mainland?" James asked himself before once again calling out, alerting more pokemon about the storm, many of which were already heading back to the mansion for safety anyway. After spending a few long minutes shouting for the pokemon to head in while the rain picked up, James headed back himself.
He had just reached the door as Faith and Grant came running up, both of them covered in water just like James. Behind all three of them was a small collection of pokemon each one trying to be the first one in while their human masters held open the doors, making sure everyone got in. Fairly certain that most of the pokemon were in and those left outside had already found cover by now, James held the door, letting Faith and Grant in first. Many of the pokemon were busy shaking away water from their fur and using their abilities to dry themselves, leaving their masters to head to the kitchen and grab a few towels from there.
As the three of them entered the kitchen, they found a small letter on the counter waiting for them, with a single three digit paw print upon it. "Okay, can someone tell please me how in the world they do that?" Grant half shouted as he passed out the towels.
"I don't know, magic maybe?" James shrugged his shoulders earning a small sigh from Grant.
"I wonder what we've been to chosen to recover this time?" Faith asked, picking up the letter and opening it with a small knife. "Let's see." Faith pulled out the letter and a picture from the envelope. James took the picture leaving Faith to read the letter.
"Well, this is an odd looking...thing?" James looked at the picture turning it sideways and upside down. The small item had the look of a pair of spirals, one black in color what appeared to flow in a clockwise motion laying on top of a white one that appeared to flow in the opposite direction. What appeared to be a glass marble that almost looked like an eyeball held the two spirals together serving as some sort of centerpiece to the object. Even as James turned the picture different angles, the eye always appeared to be looking his way.
"It's called the Eye of Shadows," Faith informed them, looking at the picture. "Supposedly, the magician responsible for crafting this brooch had found a way to bend light in such a way that one could only see shadows allowing its owner to walk around unnoticed in night. It's a processes similar to how Latios and Latias hide themselves, but this one only works in darkness." Faith passed the letter to Grant.
"According to this, it was lost after a thief like ourselves stole it and tried to use it to enter a prison complex. A riot broke out and half of the prison ended up falling over the cliffside when a mage used the Eye of Moltres to try and settle the riot down," Grant explained as he read the letter, "The Eye of Moltres was recovered only to be locked away later on, but the Eye of Shadows was never found again. It's claimed that it is really the sister piece to the Eye of Moltres and using both would unlock the full power of both Eyes."
"At least we already have the Eye of Moltres in our possession. From the sounds of it, if they are sister pieces, then we have the offensive sister locked away." James passed the picture to Faith as Freya teleported back into the room wearing her usual white gown this time.
"Sorry Freya, but it looks like we're needed." Grant informed her passing the letter to James while drawing a worried look from Freya.
'But...' Freya started to argue.
"Relax," James stated, looking over the letter himself. "The object has just been dug up at a dig site where they are planning to rebuild the new Indigo Plateau complex after the stadium got trashed last year. We'll just have our vacation there." James placed a hand on Freya's shoulder. "I promise you that we'll have a few days alone, just to ourselves while we're up there." Freya although worried, still knew that her master would do all that he could to keep his promise. An unexpected flash of light from outside followed by a massive boom that shook the windows and all four of them quickly looked to the window with a look of surprise. While Faith and Freya both looked a little scared, James was just disgusted. "I hate storms."
"I'm thinking I'll spend the night down in that viewing room. The storm can't hope to bother us much down there," Faith stated.
"I'm all for that idea," Grant stated replied, as Freya held on to James. "None of us like this weather."
"I'll go grab some blankets from the wash room and meet you down there," James informed the others. "Grab some snacks while you're here and I'll also grab us a change of clothes." James started for one of the hallways, leaving Freya with Grant and Faith as they gathered up some snacks.
It didn't take long for James to reach the large washroom with the multiple sets of washers and dryers. After grabbing what he had come for, he headed down a different hall taking a staircase down into the lower levels of the mansion.
He carried the basket with the clothes and blankets to the lowest level in the mansion before turning down a new hall, made of stone this time rather then tile and drywall. It was much cooler down here and James began to wonder if he should have brought himself something warmer. It was a long walk down the stone hallway without any other doors or windows, just small tube lights placed every so often to provide the light.
At last, James came to another set of stairs with a large iron door had been left slightly open at the end. As he pushed open the iron door, James walked into the viewing room. The large room was set up as a massive circle with rough stone walls just like the hall he had walked down, but there were benches lining the back wall. An ocean blue carpet lined most of the floor except for a large spot next to the window in the room. An extremely thick pain of glass separated the water from the room, allowing those inside to watch the sea life in their natural habitat. In one corner of the room, a small table with a lamp on it while a bed shaped to fit in the rounded corner occupied the other corner of the room. A small door on one of the room had been left ajar revealing the small bathroom. Grant, Faith, and Freya had all taken a seat on the sofa placed before the window as they waited for James to show up.
"There is no doubt about it. This is by far the best room in this oversized house," James stated as he walked up to passed out blankets and clothing to the others.
"I wonder how much it cost?" Grant asked.
"Far more then we ever could have hoped to make without James's father leaving this to him," Faith stated as the three of them took their clothing out of the basket. Once the three of them had changed, they joined Freya on the couch. James took a spot beside Freya before she leaned against him covering them both up while Grant took the other edge without a blanket himself.
It wasn't long before Faith, Grant, and Freya started to fall asleep. Grant rolled himself out a small sleeping bag that had been stored in the corner while Faith took the bed. This left Freya to sleep on the couch leaning on James while he continued to look out the window reading the letter that detailed the history of their next target. Once again, he reread one small detail that began to worry him. "If both eyes are used in unison, they will unlock the maximum power of the other." James whispered to himself. "To think that the Eye of Moltres was that powerful just by itself." James yawned before passing out himself.
::: ::::: :::
15 years ago...
Somewhere in Viridian Forest...
James had been lucky so far on his quest to be a Pokemon trainer. He had just gotten out of the Kanto School of Pokemon Training, ranking in the top 15 percent of all those who had come to the Kanto School. After having passed his last test, a one week trip from the school located at the Indigo Plateau to Pallet Town where he had picked up his Pokedex and Pokeballs, officially becoming a Pokemon Trainer, he had met up with a good group of other trainers, two of which were new trainers just like him while the other two were older experienced trainers.
All of that luck had run out though rather quickly though. Now on a return trip to Indigo Plateau to register for the Indigo League, the group had been forced to stop their travels thanks to a heavy storm. With nothing else better to do while the others were busy preparing a meal, James pulled out his notebook and began to write a letter.
'Hey mom.
I know I have written to you in a while, but these last few weeks have been busy. I'm sorry I can't be back for my fifteenth birthday next week, but I still need to make it back to the school within a week to get my trainer license. I just hope I can make it back there in time. At the time that I'm writing this, I'm currently in the middle of the Viridian forest and a storm has forced me and the group I've joined up to stay still for now. Luckily we've found a cave to stay in for now.
James paused, thinking of what to write next as he tapped the pen on the cover of the notebook.
'I guess then that since I've joined up with a group of other trainers, you're going to be curious about them. You already know about Andrew, but the real surprise is that his sister Faith showed back up and decided to travel with us for while. One of my classmates, Grant will also be with us for a while. I know I've written about him to you, he was after all the only one I couldn't beat in battle at school at least once. I guess the only you don't know then is Steven. He's the oldest member of the group, a little more then five years older then myself. He claims himself to a traveler, but he's a really good trainer as well. I don't know too much about right now though, but he seems kind enough. I kinda get the feeling that he has taken an interest in Faith though. I've seen them talk back and forth a lot and I've seen her blush a few times, so that makes me wonder. They've also been sharing a tent. Anyway, he's a nice guy and from what I've seen, I could get use to traveling around with him. He knows all sorts of first aid tricks and when it comes to cook a meal, well I can't decide who makes a better meal between the two of you. Honestly, I think he would have better time as a chef then a traveler since he appears to enjoy cooking so much. I can't say too much about him though, but I really look forward to getting to know him. '
James stopped writing for a second looking back up at the sky as the area was blasted with a loud crack of thunder. Even from inside the cave where James and group he had just started traveling with, he could still feel some drops of water coming into the cave. Despite the fact that the storm had already been going on for several hours, it showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. James sighed hoping that the storm wouldn't delay him too long. If he was going to compete in the Indigo League this year, he would have to make it back to the Indigo Plateau soon to register and thought of missing after working so hard at the Trainer's School filled with the fear of missing his chance.
"Hey James. The soup is ready." An older male voice shouted out from deeper in the cave.
James turned as his name had been called. "I'll be right there Steven," he shouted back. Closing his notebook, James decided to finish his letter later. If nothing else, spending a day or two in the cave they had chosen to take shelter in would give him a chance to get to Steven better and learn why he had decided to travel with them. Upon getting up, he checked his belt to make sure that hadn't dropped his Pokeballs again, a mistake that he did not want to repeat having already nearly lost his partner back at Professor Oak's lab just a day ago. James got up and turned to look deeper into the cave. Just as he was about to walk towards the others, another much powerful blast shook the area as the area. A bright red glow lit up the cave causing James to whirl around in surprise.
"Is that... Moltres?" James asked himself more than anyone as a large fiery winged figure held its place above the forest a distance away. James smiled as he looked on. He could hardly believe his luck since most trainers had spent years if not decades just hoping to catch a mere glimpse of the legendary fire bird. Pulling out his camera to get a picture while walking out of the cave to get a better view, James witnessed a powerful stream of fire rising from the forest straight for Moltres. James raised an eyebrow in confusion as he lowered his camera. There was no way that something would be attacking Moltres with it's own element.
Moltres quickly took to a higher altitude to avoid the attack. A large fireball from the stream that Moltres had just avoided however began its return trip back towards the ground. "Whatever picked a fight a Moltres sure has guts." James whispered to himself as he slowly took note of the fireball that had begun its decent.
"Oh crap." James turned and dove back into the cave as the fireball hit the ground where he had just been. Several small embers rained out from the impact sight and caught the surrounding trees on fire despite the heavy rain. The embers took hold on the surrounding plants cackling as they began to grow into the start of several small flames. Unfortunately a few of the embers landed on James's back burning his shirt as he screamed in pain.
Upon hearing him scream, James could hear the others coming, but after turning around to try and see what was going on, James was once again forced to take cover, this time jumping out of the cave as another giant ball of fire was heading right for it. After landing, James flipped over to see the entrance of the cave engulfed in flames with his notebook close to the fire. James quickly reached over and grabbed it before it caught fire quickly stuffing it in his bag. James could hear the others shouting at him, but his mind was too preoccupied. Several thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to make sense of the world around him. His back was already in enough pain and that little acrobatic stunt of his didn't help the issue. James began to cough as the flames grew into larger fires filling the area with smoke. His eyes began to water disrupting his vision. He could still hear the others shouting at him, but he couldn't make any of it out, he was too disoriented. He shook his head clearing his vision enough as he looked back up to see Moltres avoiding another blast of fire.
"What kind of fire attack is that?" James asked vacantly, but his question went without an answer. He coughed again as the smoke continued to rise around him throwing him into a nasty coughing fit. The smoke was thickening up quickly as it began to act like a blanket, blocking his vision and attacking his lungs. He couldn't see the cave, which left him wondering how bad the others were doing.
Another sound from above caught his eyes though. James looked up, his sight blurred by tears and obscured by smoke. It was difficult to make things out clearly, but Moltres' bright flame shone like a beacon. This time Moltres was one the attack letting loose an unending torrent of fire upon the forest below bathing the entire area in a red glow. James just looked on partially confused, partially amazed by the sight before as the flames moved closer. His head turned rapidly looking someway to escape as the fires continued to grow around him. Just before the flames could reach James, he was thrown to the side. He had a moment of relief before the pain in his head caught up with him and he lost consciousness.
::: ::::: :::
James woke up to the darkness around him. His lungs ached and his were sore. For that matter, his whole body felt sore almost as though he had been crushed. He could feel that he was laying down in a soft pile of mud and rocks and he could also still feel the rain hit his body. Turning his head back and forth, he couldn't see anything other than a very dull red glow that was peering over the edge of what James assumed was a pit that he had been dropped into or something like that. A bright of lighting lit up the edges of the pit confirming his theory, but it also reveal one other detail. Just for a brief second, James could see the outline of someone else sitting in this pit with him.
"James, you're finally up." A voice whispered. "I was beginning to worry about you."
"Steven? Is that you?" James asked as he slowly moved into a sitting position. He held his head as he tried to shake up a bit of dizziness. "Where's my bag?" James moved his free hand around and while he felt his belt with his Pokeballs on it, he could feel his bag anywhere.
"Sorry about that." Steven replied. "I couldn't exactly save you and your bag. At least I managed to grab your belt though with your Pokeballs on it... well most of your Pokeballs anyway. I think your Ultra Ball was still in your bag." Steven got up and moved towards James as another bright flash of lighting lit up the sky again. This time, James was able to see the full extent of the damage that he had suffered. Although he may have sore, most of his body was numb which was why he didn't feel any cuts or bruises he had on his body. Steven didn't look much better himself though with all of the cuts and bruises he had. James knew that Steven was in worse condition then he felt himself though when he noticed the large gash on Steven's arm.
James started to stand up only to have Steven pull him back down to a sitting position. "What's going on? I remember seeing Moltres and something else."
"I don't exactly know for sure what happened. What ever is going on though, we don't want to get caught in the middle of it. All that I know for sure is that something has picked a fight with Moltres and neither of them seem to care about the damage they are causing." Steven explained. "We're just lucky that this pit was here. I was sure we were both goners until I tripped and fell into it."
"Are the others safe?" James asked as he tried to sort his thoughts out.
"I hope they are, can't say for sure though. When that fireball hit the cave, the other retreated back further into the cave we were staying." Steven explained. A sudden wave of fire shot over the pit that James and Steven were hiding in providing more than enough light to see in the pit. James quickly made out the fact that Steven's entire left arm appeared to be covered in blood from where James could cleary see a large tear in his skin. The mud on his body wasn't going him help him either and James quickly got the idea that he would need a trip the hospital in the nearest city when this was over. Looking over to himself, he could see that he had his fair share of blood on his skin as well. Both of them had a fair number of cuts and bruises, but Steven looked a lot worse for wear then James did. Despite the fact that Steven looked like he should have been in a lot of pain, he wasn't showing any signs of it.
The wave of fire was quick to retreat though returning the pit to it's darkened state.
"Keep quiet." Steven warned as he pulled James up against the wall of the pit. Even with the rain, the sounds of a pair feet walking through a heavy mud were growing a bit louder as someone approached.
"Alright, where did you go my friend?" A deep male voice asked calmly. Steven and James crouched as much as they could while another quick flash of lighting lit the area long enough to reveal a large cloaked figure. Even with the cloak, it was easy to see that the man was very large with broad shoulders, but that was all that James could tell from his position. "There's no place for you to hide Moltres." The figure shouted. James just looked up slowly, the fear building in his body. A powerful blast behind them caught them off guard, but Steven held James against the wall of the pit as the figure above them turned around. "Interesting trick, but you'll be mine soon enough." The figure stated as it walked off.
What felt like several minutes to James passed before Steven finally released his grip on James and he slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position finally letting out the air in his lungs since. Steven grabbed James' belt and handed it to him making sure to be a quiet as possible.
Slowly Steven stood up and looked over the edge while James took a moment to calm himself. "Come on, we're not too far from the cave." Steven whispered. "I don't see anything so now's our chance." Steven jumped up just a bit before pulling himself over leaving James alone in the pit, still sitting in the muddy water. Seconds later, Steven looked back over the edge. "James, come on." Steven urged reaching his hand down. Finally getting up, James took Steven's hand with his help, climbed out of the pit.
James made sure to tie the belt around his waist since the clip was broken and took a good look around. Several trees and bushes had been burned and many were still on fire. All the heavy rain appeared to be doing was just keep it under control, but it wasn't able to put the flames out. James felt Steven tug on his shoulder. Turning his attention towards the direction that Steven was pulling him, James could make out the cliffside and hurried along behind Steven to reach it.
As they neared the cliff James looked down each side and saw a cave that he assumed was the one where they had been staying when the storm first showed up. As Steven and James ran along the cliffside, James paid little attention to the burning forest beside him, his eyes fixed on the cave as he saw Faith come out to look for them. She quickly saw them and waved to them as they ran closer. Just as they were nearing the cave, James saw Steven slow down a bit and was looking towards the forest. "Come on, we're almost there." James stated as he slowly caught up to Steven.
Before James even knew what had happened, a massive blast of fire flew out the burning forest right in front of James and Steven. James quickly turned away from the blast using an arm to shield his eyes as more small embers landing on his arm and back. Out of instinct, James reached for his Pokeballs only to find that they had fallen from his waist as he stepped back and tripped over the belt that was now around his ankles. He fell face first into the mud.
"Damn." A deep voice stated behind James. He rolled over and wiped the mud off his face to see the same cloaked figure as before, only this time his hood was down. The man had a large black beard and James swore he could see large red eyes on the man. "You're not the ones I was looking for." The figure stated walking over to Steven who had managed to pull himself up against the cliffside. "I'm afraid that I can't leave any witnesses behind though." The man raised a hand from his cloak and pointed some sort of glowing red orb at Steven. Looking around, James couldn't see Faith, but knew that she still had to be nearby. Looking to his feet, he saw his belt with his Pokeballs laying just a few feet away. Before he had a chance to reach for them though, another powerful blast of fire hit the area.
James could only stare in horror as he saw where the fires were coming from though. The cloaked figure in front of Steven was responsible for the attack and orb he had in his hands was the source. The fire attack struck Steven head on at point blank range leaving James in state of shook as Steven's painful scream filled the air before it was drowned out by the fire. The attack died down quickly leaving a charred body behind. Looking back towards the cave, James saw Faith standing there with her hands at her face, the same look of horror and shook upon her face.
This time, the cloaked figure turned toward James pointing the orb at him. The last thing James recalled seeing was that eye, the man wasn't holding an orb, but an eye of some sort trapped in a glass like orb. The eye opened up just as an explosion shook the area and something hit James knocking him out.
::: ::::: :::
Present day...
James twisted a bit before he rolled right off the couch. This brought Freya down with him since she had been curled up with him in the blanket. As James fell over, his banged his head on the stone floor and quickly began rubbing his head with his hand. As James opened his eyes, he could see that Freya had landed on top of him and she was rubbing her own elbow, which she had banged on the floor from the unexpected wake up call. "Ouch." James half shouted quickly removing his had from his head as he touched a spot on his head that proved to me extremely sore
'James, what happened?' Freya asked. James could tell from her voice and the slightly irritated look on her face that she was not too happy about the fall. Looking over towards the corner of the room, James was thankful that Faith and Grant were had remained asleep.
"Nothing, just a bad dream." James replied as Freya got off him and moved back to the couch. James took a look at the clock as he got up and wasn't pleased to find that it was still early in the morning.
'Are you sure you're alright James.' Freya asked sensing that something had happened. She knew that something when she felt him lock his mind off to her.
"Yea, it's nothing." James lied a bit hoping that she would just drop the subject as he handed her the blanket.
'You're remembering that night aren't you. That night Steven died.' Freya stated looked down some.
"Just don't worry about it. It's nothing too big and those times are long since gone." James stated taking a seat on the couch looking out the window. He closed his eyes for a second as that last image of what he later found out to be the Eye of Moltres once again appeared in his head with that same hand grabbing it as the eye opened up. 'I don't care who you are, but I will still find you someday. I won't let you restore magic to this world.' James' thoughts were mixed again as he slowly returned to sitting on the couch with Freya lying against him.