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

Seven: Fame

Orbion absorbed the last of the information from the runes and blinked once to store it permanently within his memory. He smiled wickedly. "The runes of creation," he said aloud. "They grant the power to rewrite the laws of nature themselves."

He gazed up at the wall of the tomb yet again. His eyes fell on the map detailing each point of connection to the world of the Unowns. "Pity this portal is so unstable, or I may have attempted the summoning here." He traced one clawed finger along the rough surface of the map until it settled on a large island just above the equator. His eyes widened in shock and recognition. An evil chuckle began to bubble from his throat.

"This is simply too perfect," he crooned. "The irony is almost delicious. The place where it all began shall become the place where this world as we know it ends."

He rubbed the map slightly, removing the dust from the island. In the archaic symbols of the Unown, the name "Verdant Island" was revealed beneath it, the name written in the blocky symbols resembling the Unown. A raised circular dot on the northern end of the island labeled "Basin of Creation" marked a gateway between the two worlds.

To his dominion orbs scattered far across the face of the world he sent his mental commands. Gather my army and send them to the region I have indicated. The water orb shall create a temporary path for their crossing. Tell those who arrive first to clear the area of any unwanted eyes and begin erecting the necessary fortifications.

Heshifted his focus, narrowing his thoughts to just the Psychic orb. I fear the numbers so far gathered shall notbe enough. Begin enslaving the wild Pokémon of the Basin and using them to killany humans in the area. Their enslaved Pokémon will further swell our ranksonce their bonds have been severed. Once a suitable force has been gathered, havethem begin clearing the land in preparation for my arrival. I have one matterthat I must attend to personally before I join you for the summoning.

Ash awoke to a pounding pain in his chest and stomach. He opened his eyes to see Vierachu furiously jumping up and down on his midriff and pointing at the clock on the wall.

"What...? Oh right, the ceremony." He crawled out of the cot and donned his unwashed clothes from the previous day. "These smell alright I guess." He noticed that the Poké Balls of the team he had used for the final round of the tournament were missing, no doubt retrieved by one of the nurse attendants and taken to be healed.

He found Bonnie and Clemont already seated at a table in the Center's mess hall. Tyson and Harrison sat across from them. "Hey Ash, congratulations again," said Tyson, looking even more exhausted than Ash felt.

"Ash, shouldn't you have left by now?" asked Clemont. "You probably need to get to the Stadium ahead of time.

Harrison waggled one finger at the blond engineer. "Let the man have some coffee first," he replied, indicating the steaming pot of black liquid in the center of the table.

Ash nodded, slumped onto the long bench, and downed the entire pot of hot liquid without taking a breath. Everyone stared in shock as he set down the empty container and whipped his mouth. He sighed and patted his stomach. "Ah, that was... HOT!!!" The final word came out as a high-pitched scream as his sluggish pain receptors finally relayed the agony of the scalding liquid to his brain. He leapt up and ran frantically around the room, steam pouring from his ears and mouth. He found the ice box and began shoveling handfuls of cubes down his throat, his face blisteringly red.

After nearly emptying the large tray of ice, Ash slowly staggered back to the table. He groaned as he sat down and rubbed his churning stomach.

"Well, that's one way to wake up I suppose," Harrison said humorously.