A Pokemon Tale, Part III: Chasing Shadows

Recap/Prologue

RECAP

Newly certified Pokémon trainer Red is traveling across the Kanto region aiming to collect the eight Gym Badges, which will grant him access into the Pokémon League Tournament. On par with Red is his rival, Green. Along the way, Red travels with his friend, Blue. Red, Green, and Blue each received a rare Pokémon from old Professor Oak, the nation's leading Pokémon researcher, and former Champion. Red and Blue have met new friends along the way, in the form of Gym Leaders, Pokémon, and even members of the prestigious Elite Four, and have even lent a hand in bringing down Team Rocket, an evil crime syndicate. Red has earned six Gym Badges, and is currently traveling south across the gulf on his way to Cinnabar Island to challenge the seventh Gym Leader.

Meanwhile, the Elite Four (Lance, Lorelei, Agatha, and Bruno) are helping put the Kanto back together after Team Rocket infiltrated and nearly brought the nation to its knees. Now, the Elite Four are left to guess at the motives of the Phantom, a mysterious man robed in grey who hides his face, in the wake of Team Rockets destruction.

Prologue

The day was like any other on the South Kanto Sea. Sunny skies with just the right amount of clouds, and the warm water called Tony out for a day of fishing and enjoying the scenery. Tony was a simple man, as all men were who lived near the Seafoam Islands. He lived on a hut on the beach, the best spot in the village.

Today, Tony got in his little wooden boat, with just room enough for him and his faithful companion, Golduck. Tony would get the boat started, and his blue web-fingered companion Pokémon would then take over. Golduck's powerful arms paddled them on at a cruising speed that was pleasant to Tony.

"What more could a man ask for?" he said to Golduck. Tony often talked to his Pokémon as they paddled out past the lagoon. Sometimes he imagined what Golduck would say back. It was normally something along the lines of: "Some fish, perhaps."

Tony and Golduck were the best of friends with the best of lives. They lived on the Seafoam Islands, one of the most peaceful and remote places in all the Kanto region. While really one large island, it had two old mountain peaks that were worn down over the ages and now covered with light jungles and perfectly temperate rainforests. If you could picture paradise, it was the Seafoam Islands. If you were picturing something else, the Seafoam Islands are over a hundred times more pleasant because I, the writer, say so.

The man and his Pokémon had been to other places, of course. Tony had relatives in Fuchsia and sometimes caught the ferry on its way back north and west from Cinnabar Island to visit them. Tony liked visiting his family, but he always missed the soft sound of the waves rolling against the shore as he slept.

As to Cinnabar Island, well...

"Their resorts are nice on Cinnabar, Golduck," he told his duck-billed Pokémon as it paddled farther and farther away from the twin peaks of Seafoam Islands.

Golduck looked back at its partner and cocked its head.

"I know, but they're too noisy. And the rumbling of that volcano they have their gets on my nerves too. How do they sleep at night, I wonder?"

Tony looked back towards the island he came from. His village was a speck on the beach, and he looked back north. It was noon now (Tony could tell by the sun), and Tony and Golduck would watch the sun shine between the twin tops of the old mountains before Golduck would dive into the crystal-clear waters for a fish or two.

Only today, the sun was missing. I could have sworn today was sunny, thought Tony. True enough, the sky was a sickly shade of grey over the tops of the islands. Tony leaned back in his wooden boat and stared at the sky directly above his head, and saw that there was a divide between the great blue infinity and the creeping grey clouds.

"Golduck!" his Pokémon beckoned to him.

Tony sat up and saw the sky was turning at an extremely fast rate. He could see the trees thrashing in a wind upon the island, and began to feel the first breezes of a storm at sea. Tony and Golduck had learned to endure the storms, of course. But today it was different.

The clouds were black, and the sky itself was unstable as lightning shot down, up, and across the horizon in all directions. It was as if the sky itself was readying to explode. Tony knew that this one was going to be one to remember. Or not, he thought. Can't remember anything if I'm sleeping at the bottom of the sea.

He commanded Golduck to get him back to shore as fast as possible. They would go into the sandy caves that the rest of the village went into when the threat of a big storm loomed near. Tony's Pokémon was one step ahead of him. The blue duck jumped into the water and kicked mightily with its feet, and Tony remembered why he never needed one of those fancy speed boats they sell on Cinnabar or in Vermillion City.

Was it the sound of Golduck's paddling, or the mighty sheets of rain pounding the ocean? All Tony could focus on was the sand cave on behind the village on the shore. He didn't need his little hut, they were easily remade.

Man and Pokémon finally made it to shore when the rain stopped, but the wind and flashing skies were heavier than ever. They powered through the wind and blustering sand to join the rest of the village in the sand cave. Before they passed into the entrance, Tony shielded his eyes and looked up directly into the eye of the storm.

Above the dark clouds, he thought he saw a dark shape circling overhead of the islands. The lightning seemed to concentrate and gather around whatever it was. Finally, a gigantic burst of lightning lit up the sky from west to east and north to south and for a split second, he thought he saw a man, tiny as an ant from this distance, drop from the shadow in the clouds onto the top of one of the twin mountains of the Seafoam Islands.

Another bolt of lightning flashed, and the crack of thunder made Tony cover his ears. Golduck grabbed his hand and pulled him into the sand cave and he knew that one if not multiple huts in his village had been set afire.

There was plenty of fish and seaweed in the cave to last out the storm, and the many campfires kept everybody warm through the night. The villagers talked about past storms, and yet even the skeptical old-timers with their walking sticks admitted that this was the worst and most unusual storm they had ever seen, not to mention it was out of season.

Morning came, and the campfires burned low. Tony awoke to Golduck's urging and found that he was huddled close to the dying embers. Golduck hurriedly dragged his tired human partner out of the caves entrance.

The sudden cold jolted Tony awake. It was snowing.