Pokemon: Orbion and the Runes of Chaos [#Wattys2016]

Prologue: Philosophy of a God

A distant flame cast a flickering light on the dusty wall, illuminating its ancient hieroglyphs. They were chiseled in a dialect not seen nor spoken for tens of thousands of years; a mixture of foreign letters and stylized pictures. More of the intricate symbols were revealed as the flame drew nearer.

The holder of the flame paused, his golden eyes picking out the markings carved into the rough sandstone. He was a rather unusual looking fellow to be found so many miles beneath the surface. He was tall for his obvious young age, and he had purple-gray hair done up in an elaborate arrangement of spikes. His clothes were hardly typical of a person wandering a subterranean tunnel either. He wore black jeans and a matching silver-studded jacket with a high, slightly flared collar over a snowy undershirt. The jeans were ringed by an intricate leather belt covered in small satchels and various outdoor survival tools. Along the back of it was a row of six standard Poké Balls, each secured by a separate leather strap. Behind the unusual figure plodded a hulking monster covered in plates and studded with wicked spikes on its arms, shoulders, and helmet-like skull. It was, of course, an Aggron, but unlike any found in a regular Pokédex. Where a normal Aggron possessed armor of dull gray and white, the beast standing in the torchlight was covered in plates of brilliant sapphire. This anomaly was lost on the boy with the torch, so intent was he on the strange hieroglyphs covering the wall.

"That archivist was right; these caverns really are ancient. I don't even recognize this language," he murmured to himself, running one hand along the runes. After a moment he shrugged and turned back to the Aggron. "Should we keep going?"

Aggron sniffed the air, detecting and reading the minute wind currents that flowed through the huge cave system. Eventually, he nodded and pointed deeper into the cavern.

"Awesome. I hope we find a few rare Pokémon down here." He glanced down at the floor, which was coated with a thick mat of dust. "Although by the looks of it, nothing has been down here for centuries. I doubt even Steelixes would venture this far beneath the surface."

They continued ever deeper into the tunnels, Aggron guiding the way at each fork and intersection. After several hours of this, they eventually came to massive stone door. Unlike the illegible glyphs that covered the surrounding walls, the door had only one massive picture chiseled into it. It seemed to depict dozens of humans bowing down in worship of an equine Pokémon descending from a stylized sun.

"Well this looks promising. Do you think maybe you could—?"

Before he even finished the question, Aggron rushed the door and shattered it with a powerful Iron Claw attack. Dust and slivers of stone flew everywhere, causing the youth's torch to sputter and dance wildly.

"I was going to say gently try to open it, but that works too."

Aggron scuffed the ground with one clawed foot and looked down sheepishly.

The two of them stepped through the gaping hole left by the destruction of the door. Beyond was a large chamber. The ornate geometric hangings covering its curved walls held more depictions of the great horse-like creature that had adorned the now destroyed door. Several showed it creating entire stars and planets with its power. Another showed the same Pokémon granting a small oval object to a group of what appeared to be humans.

"Dang it, there's no treasure," the youth grumbled, starting to turn away. Before he could leave the room, the Aggron placed one claw on his shoulder and pointed with the other at the center of the chamber.

In the middle of the room stood a single pedestal. On it rested what appeared to be the same oval object from the hangings that draped the walls. Like everything else, it was shrouded in a fine layer of dust, but the boy recognized it nonetheless.