The Messanger of Time

Chapter 11: Beginning Of A New Journey

~January 1, 2007~

"There's Pallet! Right through the trees!"

Vincent blinks and looks ahead from Larisa's voice, seeing an opening through the trees. "Hey... You're right. That was fast..."

Larisa smiles and pokes his arm. "Getting distracted again? Come on, we're home now."

Vincent chuckles quietly, somewhat embarrassed by the comment, but then nodding in agreement. "Right. Let's go." He starts off, then slips over a bed of snow and falls backwards, and Larisa meeps in surprise.

"Vincent! Are you okay?"

He groans lightly and rubs the back of his head. "Stupid snow..."

The Latias stares down at him and giggles. "Do you have to learn how to walk again?"

Vincent glares up at her and pulls him up. "It's not my fault Johto and Kanto have bipolar weather. It wasn't snowing when we left two months ago..."

Larisa shakes her head. "You should be used to it by now. One moment, it's clear, the next, it's a blizzard."

"I got that..." He moves his blanket down from his head and brushes the snow out of his hair, then looks back ahead. "Let's try this again."

The two go for a few seconds, before they hear the faint sound of approaching engines. Vincent stops to the sound and stares ahead. "Do you hear that..?"

Larisa nods slowly. "Yeah... What could it be?"

They look at each other, then rush ahead to the open plain, only to get sight of something disturbing.

A group of large trucks and bulldozers are approaching the forest from Pallet, leaving behind a crowd of people in the town who appear to be in distress. They go towards the trucks and stop in front of them, forcing them to a halt as one of the drivers moves his head out the window of his vehicle.

"Hey, what are you doing, kid!? You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Vincent shouts back to the driver. "What's going on here!?"

"What does it look like? We're cutting down this forest! Didn't you read the memo?"

Vincent tenses up at this, and glares at them. "You're what? With what right!?"

Another driver shouts from his truck. "Get out of the way, kid! We're trying to work here!"

Larisa looks at Vincent with worry. "What do we do..?"

Vincent growls and holds his arms out from his sides. "You won't touch the forest."

The second driver scoffs and starts his truck again, then proceeds ahead, followed by the others. And Larisa quickly pushes Vincent out of the way of one of them.

As they drive by, one from the back calls out to them. "Go back home! You're only getting yourself into danger!"

Vincent gets up and shoots a glare at them, his hands glowing. But Larisa moves in front of him. "Vincent, stop! There's nothing we can do..."

He looks at her, then growls and his hands stop glowing. He then runs to the crowd in the town. "I want to know who let this happen."

A woman goes to him and gives him a sheet of paper, before responding. "Apparently the officials from Saffron have made arrangements for a trade with Goldenrod by use of transport vehicles, and the Western Forest is in the way of that..."

Larisa flies over as Vincent looks over the sheet. "A trade... But couldn't they simply do that with the Magnet Train?"

Another man speaks up. "That's what everyone says. But they make an argument that the train is meant for passangers and not shipment of cargo."

He looks up at the man. "That's crazy..! Don't they realize how many pokemon they could drive out of their home by cutting the forest down?"

"It's just empty words to them... They're concerned about profit."

Vincent crumbles the paper and gives it back to the woman. "They need to quit trying to destroy the natural terrain just for money. Didn't they learn when they tried to blow their way through the Silver Mountains to get to Blackthorn Ridge before, and the rockslide happened? If places were meant to be accessed, they would be already."

The woman shakes her head. "Tell that to them..."

He and Larisa look back at the forest as the bulldozers in the front of the group start moving in to knock down the trees. He growls at the idea of not being able to stop them from taking out the forest he's spent much of his life wandering in.

But as they're just about to touch the trees, a green light is seen emanating from deep inside the forest, drawing the attention of the crowd and many of the drivers. As everyone looks towards the source of the light, a wave of teal energy spreads in all directions, causing a massive distortion in the area.

Vincent immediately runs towards the forest, just in time to see a small, green creature fly out above the trucks, and release a bright light. And just as it happens, everyone that is in the vicinity is taken away by a mysterious power, vanishing into thin air.

But Vincent is only able to get a short view of it, before he grunts loudly and drops to one knee. Seeing this, Larisa quickly rushes over to him, calling his name.

"Are you okay!?"

He shuts his eyes tightly as he feels a surging pain run through his head. "I-It hurts..."

"What..? What is it?" The Latias hovers down to his side as he pants, then he soon falls forward, unconscious. She goes down and puts her paw on him. "Vincent!"

Many people from the crowd run over after seeing him fall, one of them calling out, "Hey, what's going on!?"

- - - - -

Vincent looks around, seeing himself in a ravaged valley, in darkness. "Where... am I?"

Soon, light steps can be heard behind him, and he turns around to see a Grovyle approaching him. As the pokemon stops a distance away, the two stare at each other in confusion.

Vincent is the first to speak, asking in a quiet tone, "Who are you..?"

The Grovyle continues to stare at him, going from confusion to caution. "I might ask the same to you."

After a moment, Vincent hesitently responds. "...I'm Vincent Verona. Where... are we?" He looks around the area, and the smaller pokemon immediately grows tense at the name.

"Vincent?"

He looks back at him. "Did that... mean something to you?"

The Grovyle closes his eyes tightly and shakes his head, before fading out slowly. Vincent runs towards him, shouting, "Hey, wait!" But it's too late. The pokemon is now gone. He sighs and looks around again, before several voices are heard from all directions.

He winces at the shouts which seem to flood his mind, before he drops to his knees and yelps out.

- - - - -

Vincent yelps and jumps up, having been lying in the ground. He looks around, noticing he is surrounded by several people.

"What... Where..."

Larisa quickly moves out of the way of him and looks at him with concern. "Vincent... What happened to you..?"

He looks at her, then bows his head. "I... really don't know. I think I passed out. And then... there was this dream."

"A dream..?"

Vincent thinks for a moment. "There was a Grovyle... The place was dark and lifeless, but he seemed like he knew me when I told him my name..."

"...I see." Larisa hovers closer to him. "I don't know about a Grovyle, but..." She hugs him tightly. "You scare me when you just go unconscious like that. I don't know what to do, and panic..."

He looks back up at her, then sighs and returns the hug. "I'm sorry, Larisa... I'm okay now."

A man from the crowd chimes in. "Wait, wait. You're Vincent? The Vincent who used to live over there?" He points off towards what looks like a small garden area surrounded by a wooden fence.

Vincent stands up and stares at it in silence, remembering that it is the exact spot where his house used to be.

The man soon speaks up again. "Hey, I'm sorry for what happened."

He looks back at the person for only a moment, before he turns and pushes through the crowd to go to the garden, Larisa following him quietly. As they reach the outside fence, they walk through a small gate. Inside, there are various potted plants placed, and envelopes wrapped in plastic film strewn along the fence. In the middle of the garden, surrounded by the many flowers, are two stone tablets.

The two go to the tablets and look them over. On one says, "Samuel Alicera - 8/12/1970~11/3/2006," and on the other, "Crissa Verona - 2/6/1971~11/3/2006." They stare at them for what seems like forever, and Vincent steps forward, kneeling down in front of them. He closes his eyes and grasps his stone necklace in silent melancholy.

Larisa looks at him, then moves forward to wrap her arms around his neck in an embrace. As the two remain to pay their respects, another teenaged boy from the crowd overlooks them, dressed in a black jacket and jeans. His only thoughts go to the two who have, not long ago, lost something dear...

- - - - -

~Cerulean Outskirts~

As Christina and Melissa stand in an open field, staring at their necklaces which both have a light blue glow, they begin to realize what is happening.

Christina looks at Melissa. "I guess Vincent made it back home..."

Melissa slowly nods and takes hold of her necklace. "Then we'll have to be here to keep helping however we can."

Christina takes her own necklace and nods in return. "Right... Let's keep going. We won't let him down."

The two stones then release a wave of energy through the area, a calming aura that spreads through them, and Sierra and Aerthos flying just above them. They then let go of the stones and they soon stop glowing, the energy fading.

The sisters look at each other, then turn to the city. They are about to start off, when Melissa notices something glowing in the sky above it. She taps Christina's shoulder and points to it, and the two stare at what looks like a tiny dark purple ball of energy.

Before they have any time to react, the ball explodes and releases waves of energy throughout the city. Immediately after, a crash is heard as something appears to shoot down to the ground from it.

The two dragon pokemon above instinctively fly down just in time to cover them from what would've been a harsh impact from the waves of energy. As they do, they are hit with a force nearly strong enough to blow them into the girls. But they are able to stand their ground until it is over.

Melissa and Christina look at the Dragonite and Flygon and immediately run over as they stagger.

"Aerthos! Sierra! Are you okay?" Christina calls to them, and the two shake their heads, disoriented for a moment. They then look down to the sisters, and nod reassuringly.

Melissa steps towards Sierra and puts her hand on the Flygon's head. "Thanks for protecting us... That was brave of you two."

Christina nods and looks up at Aerthos with a smile, and he snorts proudly.

After a moment, they all turn towards the city again and look at the cloud of dust that has risen since the event. Christina grows anxious at this, and speaks up. "Should we check it out..?"

Before Melissa can respond, they hear sirens coming from all all over in the city.

"...I don't think we'll be the only ones doing so."

Christina nods slowly, and they all rush into the city. As they reach what they believe to be the crash site a short while later, they come to see a large crowd of what seems to be over a hundred people surrounding a crater the size of several yards.

As they make it through the crowd, they look into the hole in the ground, noticing something small beginning to move in it... a black, quadrupedal creature staggering up and having purple sparks all around it.

Melissa comes to the edge of the crater to inspect it closer, it eventually becoming clear to be a dark-blue-ringed Umbreon with deep, red eyes. Christina goes over and looks down at it, blinking at the unexpected sight.

The small pokemon shakes its head and looks around at the crowd, appearing shaken and confused. The sparks around its body continue, as it stands still, seeming unsure of what is happening around it.

As several sirens are heard approaching, the crowd of people is scattered by officers running through to the site. One of the officers comes out of the crowd, and calls out to Christina and Melissa. "Girls, I must ask you to step away from the crater! This site is being closed off for investigation."

They look at the officer, then Christina looks back at the Umbreon, who seems to be growing annoyed at being surrounded by so many people. It quickly runs out of the crater and towards the crowd, before being stopped by a burst of flames passing in front of it.

The small pokemon turns to see a couple officers with a Growlithe between them. The canine pokemon growls at the Umbreon, who braces itself. The sparks around its body intensify as it becomes agitated. Then, it does something that no one expects.

"Who are you people!?"

Many of them gasp at hearing the pokemon speak, and Melissa squeaks. "It talks!"

The officers appear dumbfounded at this too, but they keep their positions, in an attempt to keep the civilians away from the Umbreon, and it away from them.

One of the officers runs to the girls, before stopping when Aerthos and Sierra fly down to protect them from the apparent threat.

The Umbreon growls as he fades away, before reappearing in the distance. "Typical of you all to gather at something like this... Can't you all leave me alone!?"

The Growlithe blinks, then its ears twitch and he looks towards the new location of the dark pokemon. A female voice is heard from the crowd. "Arcanine, go!"

In response, a much larger canine pokemon emerges at high speed, stopping at the opposite side of the Umbreon. Behind the Arcanine, a familiar female officer with blue hair and eyes runs out to come to its side.

"We don't want to hurt you! If you come with us willingly, we won't have to use force!"

The Umbreon grunts. "The last time I dealt with cops, they tried to tase me. I don't think so!" His body sparks erradically and he stomps on the ground. Right after, several purple beams shoot up in a line at high speed towards the Arcanine, managing to catch even it off guard as it is blown into the sky with great force, howling in response.

The small pokemon then fades and reappears above the Arcanine, as he flips around with his tail covered in the energy, slamming the much larger pokemon down and knocking it unconscious. He then drops down next to it afterwards and staggers, the sparks now intense as he strains.

Christina and Melissa run to the baffled officer, followed by the two dragon pokemon. And Christina calls to her. "Call off all your pokemon, Jenny! He's only going to keep attacking if he feels threatened!"

The Umbreon looks at her and shudders, and Jenny turns to face her. "Er... We must remain persistent and see to it that he comes to us!"

Christina stops in front of her. "Screw your protocol! You keep this up, more harm will come than good! You wanted him to come willingly, well this isn't the way to make that happen!"

The dark pokemon stares at her as she argues with Jenny, and he yelps out and drops to his side. Christina then turns to him, and quickly runs over to keel down next to him.

"Hey! Are you okay..?"

The Umbreon looks up at her. "N-Nice try there... But I don't feel like going..."

She sighs. "Then you don't have to."

"What are you talking about..? Are you trying to trick me? 'Cause I'll drop you right here if you are."

Christina shakes her head and puts her hand on him. "Oh, cut it out... You look like you're about to explode. You probably wouldn't even be able to do something to me."

The Umbreon huffs and stares at her defiantly, though the sparks die down. "Crazy girl."

She rolls her eyes, then looks back at Melissa and the two dragon pokemon. She then nods to Aerthos, who flies over, and she looks at Melissa and motions for her to go to Sierra. She looks back at the Umbreon.

"What's your name?"

The pokemon stares at her for a moment, before speaking. "...Umbros."

She nods a bit. "Umbros... I'm Christina. We're gonna get you out of here."

The officers, primarily Jenny, stare at them suspiciously as they are unable to tell what they're saying or what they plan to do. Melissa jumps onto Sierra's back, and Christina strokes Umbros' head as he looks at her with confusion.

"Are you serious..?"

"It'll be fine. I'll take care of you."

Umbros sighs. "Fine... Not like I can really move anyways."

Christina then picks him up and jumps onto Aerthos' back, and Jenny immediately runs towards her, calling out. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"

The two sisters tap Aerthos and Sierra, and they both take off from the ground before any of the officers get the chance to get near them. Even the flames that come from their squad of Growlithe and Arcanine are unable to reach them as they fly off from the site and away from everyone.

Umbros looks at Christina with uncertainty, but then closes his eyes as he decides to accept what is happening. He awaits what is to come next, as they fly off towards the south end of Cerulean to escape...