27Hey, I'm back with my renewed Rise of Legends!
Molly: And we're here too!
Well, time for you three to get to work. Keep this A/N simple and Let's Go!
Disclaimer, I do not own Pokemon, or else it would have been more like this. ...Or Ashes of the Past. Go read that, if you haven't.
In this world, there are those who are blessed with power beyond mind. Beyond will. Beyond heart. Powers that can create or destroy. Redeem or punish. Sacrifice or save.
Some people will understand and learn. Some will be afraid and attack. Some will be greedy and try to steal the power.
However, only a chosen few can truly spread this power for the souls of all. Those who do not stick to one path, but still chase dreams. Those who do not let sin over take them, but are not sinless. Those who can see the side of good and bad to balance both out.
These Chosen Ones shall spread their will across the nation. They shall rise as the greedy fall and the scared shall wake with courage from this. It shall be a time when the world is set right. A time of balance. A time of greatness.
And it begins…. with a Rise of Legends.
In a large mansion sat a girl of four years. She could remember only a fraction of her life, but she could feel the loneliness all around her, a thick haze trying to suffocate her. The father of this child was a great researcher of the Pokemon, Unown, but after the death of his wife he cared little for the girl she birthed.
He ignored her and gave her no love, opting to live in another house to carry on his research while the girl was left in the care of the staff that lived in the mansion. The father forgot she even existed and she became invisible to him. Anytime he saw the girl on his few trips to the mansion, he would never see the girl that ran up to him. That hugged his legs. That begged for him to see her, to show her love.
The haze loneliness increased as she stared at the box on the table, stone in nature, full of little tablets. Beside it was a book filled with different pictures, each one decorated beautifully. Tears formed in the girl's eyes as she looked at what her father had left behind.
"Why…" She whispered, sorrow filling her tone.
The tears started streaming down her face as she smacked the box off the table, causing the tablets to spill onto the ground. In a rage, she grabbed the book and threw it to the ground, causing it to open.
"Why don't he see me?" She whimpered.
Yet her focus shifted to the tiles littering the floor. Each one had an Unown carved on it, but the more she looked, the more she saw something else: Letters.
She sat down upon the tiled floor, picking up a few tablets in her hands. She knew how to read and spell from the staff, but she had trouble writing due to her small fingers. Looking at the tiles, a new idea came into her head.
A wish that was never answered.
She grabbed several slabs, looking each one over and throwing it off to the side if it wasn't right and setting the right ones down in front of her. Finally, she had her word written down.
F-A-M-I-L-Y.
Family.
The one thing she didn't have yet wanted the most.
Staring down at the word, the tears came back as sorrow clouded her mind. She felt she would never be able to have such a thing, he mother dead and her father neglectful.
She looked off to the side, seeing the book she threw down. Out of curiosity, she picked it up, finding it was on a page with Entei drawn upon it, though she knew not his name for she was never taught. A magnificent beast that was as powerful as a volcano's eruption. One who ran across the land to help those in need.
"Why can't I have that?"
A single tear fell from her face, landing right on the 'F' of 'Family'. It remained there for only a second before the tile lit up with a mysterious blue light, the others following, from the rest of the word to the ones scattered about. They flew into the air above the girl, causing her to look up.
The tablets spun in a circle before a portal formed, all the tiles flying into it. As soon as they vanished, Unown appeared in their place, filling the room as they spiraled around.
Crystal began covering the floor and creeping up the walls, finding its way around the mansion, altering the staff, all of which ran to the room their charge was in. However, none of them could reach the girl, the crystals having grown too thick to allow even a dent in the door, much less opening it. Knowing saving the girl was a lost cause, everyone ran, scared to see what would happen if they remained.
The girl, meanwhile, stared at the Pokemon surrounding her, more confused than scared. Before long, one single thought came to her mind:
"Want to be my friend?"
In Pallet Town, the Ketchum family thought it was an average day. Seven year old Ash was sitting on the couch, watching some of the latest Pokemon battles on the TV, while his mother, Delia, was doing some light cleaning to pass the time. As the battle on TV started to reach its high point, Ash began jumping on the couch in excitement, eager to see who would win.
"Ash," Delia called, "Don't jump on the couch. You'll break it."
"Aww…" Ash muttered as he stopped.
"You can jump on the floor if you need to, but don't do it on the couch or else we won't have one."
"Okay…"
Delia chuckled slightly at her son's enthusiasm as she returned to her cleaning, Ash still watching the TV with intensity.
As the young woman started cleaning a shelf of pictures, one stood out to her causing her to stop. It showed her and her son standing with several others, but the person that caught her attention the most was a little girl riding on the shoulder of a man with a distant stare. The girl looked to be the happiest she's ever been while the man's smile didn't seem to match his eyes.
Delia sighed. "I hope you're alright Molly."
It had been a year since she had heard anything about Molly or her father. She knew, especially with insight from Professor Oak, that Mr. Hale had been distraught over the death of his wife and surrounded himself in research rather than caring for his child. The mother had suffered from internal bleeding at the time of birth and the doctors were too late to save her.
Delia was worried that Molly's father had placed the blame on the child, a reason why he never cared. She knew that, for now, he was only concerned about his research, but what would happen when Molly grew up? When he could not keep her out of his life any longer?
The man could be thrown into a rage and start abusing her if something wasn't done. Even now, she worried that poor Molly was being neglected in a way no child her age should be.
Putting the picture back down, Delia snapped out of her trance long enough to notice the TV was muted. Looking back, she saw Ash looking out the window, a distant look on his face.
"Ash?" She called, walking over, "What's wrong?"
"The Pokemon," Ash replied, eyes never leaving the window, "They keep shouting."
The mother stared out the window as her son was doing and listened.
"What's that?"
"Isn't he a legendary?"
"His scent isn't right!"
"What's with the crystals!?"
"I'm scared, Memma!"
After hearing all this, Delia hastefully shut the blinds of the window. She walked all around the house, making sure everything was turned off, as if the two weren't home. Ash watched her in confusion and fear.
"Come here, Ash," she told him as she sat down on the floor.
Ash listened and walked into her arms, holding onto her like a lifeline. His fear was rising each moment that passed.
With her son in her arms, Delia closed her eyes, focusing in practiced technique. When her eyes snapped open, they were glowing an unearthly blue.
Her sight now was not limited by the walls of her home. The only difference was that everything lack details, becoming one solid color, an energy, an Aura. The most frightening thing she saw, however, was a large amount of purplish Aura, unnatural to the area, with small bits of purple trailing behind it.
Illusions… Delia thought.
Ash shivered in fear, causing her to slowly rub his back to calm him, but even Delia was starting to panic. She didn't have any Pokemon on hand, leaving them vulnerable to an attack.
The Aura approached faster, causing her worry to spike as it came closer to Pallet. Her heart rate picked up as it came into town, stopping entirely when it stood outside there home.
Oh, no…
SLAM!
The two shot up as light entered their home, a Pokemon walking in through the door. Beast like body, shaggy brown fur, a smoke like mane.
"Eneti," Delia whispered.
However, she knew it wasn't real. The purple color it had was not something the Legendary of Johto would have, for his was a blazing orange-red. She looked down at his feet, seeing crystals grow from them like plants.
She held Ash in her arms and moved back, only for the beast to follow.
"You…" The fake Eneti said, his voice echoing.
"What-"
"YOU ARE WHO SHE DESIRES!"
The two looked at the beast, meeting his eyes. They shimmered in an unnaturally, causing both to be put in a trance, slowly falling into unconsciousness. Ash passed out as Delia tried to keep both of standing up, before falling over as the energy overtook her. The last thing she saw was the back of doppelganger coming into view as her eyes shut.
The world slowly began to return to Delia.
As her eyes opened once more, she managed to groggily look at her surroundings. Instantly, her breath hitched at the sights. All around were crystals of blue and pink in the wide open space, bigger than an average school gym. There was hardly anything in the room, the bed being one of the only things there and only the mattress was normal.
Delia turned back to the bed, finding that Ash was also there, still sound asleep.
"Ash? Ash!" She called as she lightly shook him, panic easing into her voice.
Thankfully, any fears were not realized as Ash started to wake.
He rubbed his eyes as they fell onto her. "Mommy?"
His sleepiness instantly subsided, however, when he saw the room. Fear built up in his gut, unsure of where he was.
"Shh…" Delia quietly said, wiping a tear that started falling from her son's face, "I'll try my best to protect you if there is someone bad here."
"Okay…" Ash replied softly.
Footsteps against the crystal floor drew their attention away from one another. Delia stood up, Ash looking from behind her. The Entei from before slowly stepped out of the shadows, causing Delia's heart to pick up once more. She honestly felt like she was going to faint again, but stood strong for her son.
Yet it was not needed, as a girl came out of the shadows soon after.
Delia gasped. "M-Molly…"
Ash merely looked at the girl, trying to remember the few times he had seen her.
Molly ran forward, tackling Delia's legs in a hug.
"Momma!" She cried.
After a few seconds, Delia awkwardly patted her on the back, unsure of what to do. Molly then let go and jumped onto the bed, facing Ash and taking his hands.
"You're my new big brother!" She cheered, "Let's play!"
Ash, being the child he is, instantly let go of the strange happenings around him, from the Legendary sitting in the corner to the girl proclaiming him to be her older brother, in order to have fun. Both children leaped off the bed and started running across the crystal floor in a game of tag.
Delia sat back on the bed, confused as to what the heck was even happening. Her and her son's powers often made her life strange, yes, but this was starting to take it to a whole new level. She was expecting big corporations kidnapping her and her son for testing or weapons, not to become an impromptu family.
… Yet she couldn't help but smile as the two ran around, playing their game.
"Gotcha!" Ash yelled as he pinned Molly down, "Now the tickle monster is going to get ya!"
"AHAHAHAHA!" Molly cried, though she was full of joy as the bitter sting of loneliness slowly healed.
As Delia watched, her gaze shifted back to the Entei that had been sitting in the corner. Without any words, he slipped into the floor, as if he was never there to begin with.
The next week was heaven for Molly.
Any pain she felt from being alone was gone, all thanks to the two who she decided to make her family. Ash and her loved playing with one another, which lead to the discovery that Molly could create things by imagining them, from simple objects to Pokemon to whole landscapes. Delia was concerned because of the potential for things to go horribly wrong, but Ash was amazed every time she made something new.
Yet this happiness could not last forever. The group managed to get a laptop that was left within the house before it became crystal to see the outside world via video feeds. As it turned out, the crystals were spreading much farther than the mansion, now a castle. They enveloped the landscape too, causing a massive panic to form.
Worse, every time someone attempted to come close to the house, Molly started throwing a temper tantrum, which always seemed to cause some sort of misfortune for those who had tried breaking in. This ranged from the crystals growing even faster to strange Pokemon attacking anyone who approached.
On the evening of the seventh day, Delia knew it was time to end it. Too many people were being threatened, even if Molly didn't mean to do so. She let the children have their fun, but it was time for her to act like the parent she is.
"Molly, can you come here?" Delia called.
Molly instantly walked over, Ash close behind her.
"What is it Momma?"
"Molly, me and Ash have to leave," Delia said sternly.
Molly felt like her heart broke in two. "Wha-wha-what?"
"Molly, we can't stay here forever, neither can you. Ash want to be a Pokemon Trainer, he can't do that if he's stuck in here."
"Yeah!" Ash commented, "I want to be the best!"
"But-but, we're happy here…"
"But not only are you hurting yourself, you're hurting others!" Delia tried to touch her on the shoulder. "Molly…"
"NO!" Molly shouted, flinching away from the woman's touch, "We're happy here! You can stay forever! We can have everything we want!"
All around her, crystals appeared, some jagged, others in the forms of Pokemon, their eyes containing no life for they had no soul.
"Don't leave me…" Molly whispered.
Delia honestly didn't know what to do. If she made one wrong move, said one wrong word, there was the possibility of an apocalypse caused by this one child. However, she didn't need to think for long, as Ash beat her to the punch.
"Hey, Molly?" He said, walking up to her.
Molly looked up to him, eyes still full of tears.
"Do you remember how you showed me that Lugia yesterday? Well, I want to go find it myself. But, can you come with me when I do?"
"What?"
"Yeah! It's no fun to see something when you just ask for it and it will be there. When you go out and find it yourself, it feels awesome! Like you can take on the world!"
"But-but isn't it dangerous?"
"If you run from danger all the time, you'll never do anything ever! And you don't need to worry, you're big brother will be there if you get into trouble! Because big brother's make sure their little siblings are happy!"
"Big… Brother…" Molly whispered as she hugged Ash, "You won't leave me?"
"Never ever! If I ever need to go, I'll take you with me. Then it'll be more fun!"
Molly started to cry, but it was not out of sadness or fear. It was relief. Joy. Pure happiness. The pain she felt for as long as she breathed would no longer haunt her.
Suddenly, a light began to envelop everything, starting from the two and stretching outwards. A group of Unown appeared above them, spinning around in a giant sphere, before a portal opened up right above them.
Delia instantly ran for the two kids as winds started to rush around them, the Unown returning to their dimension without any restraint. And, in an instant, it was all over.
The group all opened their eyes to see that there was no more crystals. No more jagged edges. No more souless Pokemon. All that stood before them was a simple bedroom. Molly's bedroom.
Delia ran over to the window. The sun was on a course for the horizon, a faint blush already forming in the sky. There were no crystals to be seen, not on the mansion nor on any nearby area.
With a relieved sigh, she turned back to the two.
"Let's head back home," she told them, "We'd better get out of her before the media starts swarming us."
The group quickly packed up Molly things, which wasn't very much, before heading for the backdoor. But right as they were leaving, Molly raced back into the house for a minute. When she returned, she was holding the case of Unown Tiles and the book that came with them.
"What are those?" Ash questioned.
"My friends," Molly told him.
"Well, keep your friends safe," Delia said, "Let's get to the edge of town to see if we can find a phone. The reporters will swarm us if we don't get out soon enough."
The group luckily managed to avoid all the reporters guided by the staff that worked at the mansion. No doubt the story would be all over the news, yet no one would be aware as to who had been trapped inside or who caused all the problems.
When the trio was far enough away, Delia managed to find a payphone. Using some coins she had (Or maybe stole from the house), she dialed up a close friend.
"..."
"It's Delia."
"..."
"I need your help. Me, Ash, and… my new daughter are sorta stuck out in Johto, and it would be nice if we had a ride home."
"..."
"There was some… issues…"
"..."
"It's Molly. You know, Molly Hale? Or Molly Ketchum, as we're probably going to have to start calling her."
"..."
"It's very, very complicated. I'll tell you more face to face."
"..."
"We're at Greenfield."
"..."
"We may or may not have had anything to do with that. Samuel, can you please just pick us up before we get robbed or something? Molly has already been through enough as is."
"..."
"Thank you. See you soon."
With that, she hung up and the group began waiting for their ride.
By the time it did arrive, both kids were already asleep and the sun was a fading orange in the sky. A car pulled up right alongside them, the window rolling down to reveal the famed professor of Kanto, Professor Oak.
Delia lifted her little ones into the backseats before hopping into the front, ready to be interrogated by the elderly professor. Sure enough, as soon as he started driving, he was giving her suspicious looks.
"I'm not entirely sure what happened myself," Delia explained without any verbal prompt, "Molly seemed to have gain some sort of power that allowed her to turn her thoughts into reality. I guess her time spent all alone caused her to seek out a family, going instantly to me and Ash from the few time we met. An Entei she made had grabbed us and brought us to her mansion from our house."
"Was it caused by a Pokemon?" Oak asked.
"I… think so? It was these strange creatures that looked like some sort of ancient writing."
"Primarily black with one big eye on them?"
"Sounds like it. I guess you know what they are?"
"They are called Unown. It was the same Pokemon her-" he pointed back to Molly "-father was researching. I wouldn't be surprised if he left something behind and she started messing with it."
"I think Molly might have grabbed it, too. She took a box that was in there and claimed it was her 'friends'."
"I'll check it out later so she doesn't create another crystal castle in Pallet Town. The media would never leave her alone if that happened. And you should probably work on some adoption papers."
"That's probably for the best. While I highly doubt her father will try to take her, it's better she's legally my daughter."
The rest of the trip was mostly done in silence, Oak occasionally asking an odd question here or there about what happened within the walls or Delia asking for some general advice on where she could get what she needed for Molly.
The sky grew dark as Delia herself started to succumb to her weariness. There would be many challenges ahead for her and her family, especially with their new addition, but she was fine with that.
And that was when she noticed a strange sensation, a call of some sort, in the back of her head.
So, that's the first part of the prologue renewed. I hope it was either better or stayed in the same quality for you.
Ash: Make sure to leave a review!
Tomo: GoldenGirl will answer it in the next chapter.
And to all my readers, watchers, and reviewers, Stay Golden!
