The Patron Quadrilogy: The Legend Begins

Chapter 9

Saturday, October 14th, 7:03 a.m. 2018
Brimstone Pub
Brendan woke up, but something wasn't right.
"Is it just me, or is it pitch black in this room? I think I'm still in the Pub, at least."
He went to hold May's hand, only to feel the mattress instead of her familiar, soft, hand. He turned over to look at where she'd been laying.
"Did she turn over? I can't see a damn thing!" He thought in frustration. He snapped his fingers, and his finger tips ignited; small embers, but good enough for now. He hovered his hand over where he thought she was sleeping. She wasn't there.
"Did she go downstairs? What time is it?" He looked around for his alarm clock.
"7:03 a.m.? Then where's the sunlight? Why is everything so damn dark?"
He stood up, suddenly aware of the fact he was clothed.
"And why am I wearing pants and a t-shirt!? Okay, I did have a t-shirt on, but I didn't have any pants on when I went to sleep."
He guided himself over to the door. He entered the hallway, which was just as dark as his room. He didn't see any of his Lieutenants' rooms. No doors. No lights. Nothing.
"Groudon, are you getting weirded out by this, too? This is bizarre." The Legend didn't respond. "Groudon? You there? No? Alright, guess I'm alone here."
He made his way downstairs, to the first floor. It was just as dark as it was upstairs. Matter of fact, there was no light anywhere. There was no light from the outside, every single street light was off, and Brendan couldn't see the sun from the window.
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Where is everyone? Why is it so dark out? Why are no street lights on?" Brendan snapped his fingers again. The embers on his fingers grew even larger, and even brighter. "Guess I should go outside. Maybe I can find somebody who tell me what's going on."
Brendan walked to the door, and exited Brimstone. "I don't know where I am, but it's not Littleroot. Or Hoenn, for that matter. Could it just be a dream? But, if it's a dream, why does this feel so real?"
Saturday, October 14th, 7:30 a.m. 2018
Somewhere
As Brendan walked outside, looking around. His eyes had adjusted slightly, so he could make out a few details about his surroundings. The apartments, stores, and offices around the Pub, all seemed to be damaged. Fire hydrants were destroyed, street lights ripped from the concrete, bent, or completely missing.
"The bulbs look like they burst," he thought, inspecting a fallen street light. "That partly explains why there's very little light. But why is some of the glass intact? It's like it burst internally."
He looked around more. Signs, and electric poles were ripped from the ground. Some signs had been twisted around, and were bending at odd angles. Some of the electric poles were splintered, and burnt. Some of the trees on the sidewalks were uprooted, cut, or had huge chunks of bark and wood missing. "Some scourge of Arceus came through here. Craters in the road, broken glass everywhere, destroyed cars...... and... is that blood!?" He looked in front of him, seeing splatters of blood on the sidewalk, street, and on the walls. "The destruction is definitely catastrophic. Did a Patron do this? Or, Patrons? Did a fight happen?"
That's when he noticed it. A single street light, not too far away. He ran toward it.
"Hey! Is anyone alive!? What happened here?" He shouted as he ran towards the light. Once he got to the light, he heard the bulb fizzle, flicker, and then burst. Apart from the occasional sparks coming from the now exposed wires, the only other light source was the fire on his fingers. He looked around, using his hand to illuminate his surroundings. He noticed an alleyway to his right, and he held his hand out into the darkness of it. The shadows withdrew just enough for him to make out a bloodstained white glove with blue fingertips.
"Wait a minute, I know that glove!" He thought, a feeling of dread now present. "Please, let me be mistaken." He took a step forward, and his fire revealed more. He clenched his fist, willing his fire to engulf him. The alleyway illuminated completely. And he wished it didn't.
"No. No!" He raced over to the body on the ground. It was May, her sapphire-blue eyes now glassy, lifeless. Blood, now dried, had trickled down the side of her mouth. Blood had also flowed from her nose, drying onto her cheek. Her shirt was drenched in blood, and there was a hole through her heart.
"No! May!" He held her in his hands, tears sliding down his face. He pressed his forehead against hers. It was cold. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." He heard footsteps behind him. Lay laid her down, and quickly turned around. A man stood in his view, engulfed in shadows. Brendan instantly knew this man had killed May.
"You son of a bitch!" He snarled, the fire engulfing him began to intensify. "I'll kill you for this!" He charged the man, only to be stopped by a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down, seeing that he was impaled on a shadowy spike. When he looked up, the man was right in front of him, and with inhuman speed, he slashed Brendan across the chest. Brendan coughed out blood, and tried to throw a punch at the man. Then he felt the spike in his stomach disappear. He fell to the ground, unable to keep himself up. He still looked at the man, who was hold his palm out toward him. A shadowy ball appeared in his hand.
"A Shadow Ball attack?" The man fired the Shadow Ball at him.
Saturday, October 14th, 8:30 a.m. 2018
Brimstone Pub, Brendan's room.
Brendan woke with a start, drenched with sweat. He frantically looked around. The room was illuminated. May was sleeping in bed next to him, alive and breathing, and only covered by the blanket.
"It was just a dream. Well, a nightmare, I suppose. Thank Arceus."
He exhaled, and held May's hand. He felt May's grip tighten slightly, and a light smile formed on her face.
"I'll let her sleep for awhile," he thought, leaning back against gently against the pillows. His nightmare kept playing in his head. "Why did that dream feel so real? It seemed like something that could happen in real life. And that shadowy guy.... Could he be Harley? And if so, does that mean that there is such a thing as a Shadow Patron? If that was more than a dream..... I need to change the outcome. But, how?"
"Are you done, human?" Groudon interrupted.
"I'm just thinking something over," Brendan explained.
"The Shadow Patron thing? And before you ask, yes I was eavesdropping. I heard the girl you're in bed with mention someone when you met her at the harbor. Someone who likes shadows. Well, I can confirm, they do in fact exist."
"Why didn't you say something before?" Brendan thought, annoyed that Groudon hadn't mentioned anything.
"Because you seemed preoccupied with burning the green-haired idiot. That was hilarious, by the way. And then, after that, you almost torched the blue-haired girl. Also, I have to agree, she deserved it."
"I think we're getting off topic here."
"Not to mention, you were a bit busy pleasing your girlfriend here," he added quickly. "I'll yell at you later for that one. Because that broke lots of rules."
"You're a gigantic lizard that lives in a volcano, causes mass destruction, and you gave me fire powers. You are a Legend that lives for chaos. And what we did bothers you? Really?"
"Aw, you flatter me, human. And, technically, you got the secondary and lesser power that I have. I'm technically a Rock-Type. When I'm primal, I become part Fire-Type."
"That doesn't make any damn sense. Then why not be part Fire-Type all the time?"
"Hey, don't ask me why I have to have a special form for that. Anyways, we're way off topic now. What were we originally supposed to talk about again?"
"We were originally going to talk about Shadow Patrons," Brendan reminded him.
"Ah, yes. They exist, but they are extremely rare to see. So, nobody knows much about them. What I do know, however, is that they are some of the strongest and most dangerous Patrons in the world. They are strong enough to give you, your team, the Patrons of Rayquaza and Articuno, a brutal fight. You don't know this, but a couple hundred years ago, the Patrons of Rayquaza, Kyogre, and myself, wound up having to sacrifice themselves to defeat a Shadow Patron. Another interesting thing to note is that the Patrons themselves almost always have malicious intent."
"But, who's giving them their powers?"
"That's just it. There is only one Legend that can create Shadow Patrons. And his name is Darkrai."
"I thought Darkrai was a mythical Pokémon."
"He is, but, a long time ago, Arceus granted him and other Mythical Pokémon the ability to choose Patrons. However, they have a strict role. They defend the Tree of Beginning. All of them understand this role. Except for Darkrai. After a few hundred years of subservience to the Legends, Arceus, and the Tree, he decided he'd had enough. We still don't know why. Around the same time that Giratina was banished to the Distortion World, Darkrai ordered his Patron to abandon the Tree. After that, his Patron's have basically been causing chaos and discord. All except for one."
"Who was that?" Brendan asked.
"A rather odd young man named Ervin Clay. In many ways, he was very much like you. He was a boy of extreme potential. One who would've been an extremely dangerous enemy. However, Darkrai never managed to corrupt him completely. Because he still knew love. He had a certain.... effect, on women. He was irresistible to many of them. However, he didn't like any of them back. He saw them as sheep. However, then he met a young woman by the name of Yvette Adkins. She was a Patron of Cressilia, the rival of Darkrai. However, despite Darkrai's constant urging, Ervin couldn't bring himself to fight her. She felt the same way. They'd fallen in love. He married her, raised a family, and life was good. However, a being Shadow Patron is  dangerous. Ervin was beginning to lose control of his powers. So, a Patron of Mewtwo was sent to fight him. When he found Ervin, he gave him an ultimatum. Come with him and die, or risk Yvette and their child getting killed in the fight that would ensue if he refused. Ultimately, he couldn't bring himself to use his powers, because he knew he'd almost lost total control of them. After explaining the situation to his wife and child, he left, and let the Patron of Mewtwo kill him, so his family would be safe."
"That's touching, but that sounds like the plot to a bad romance movie," Brendan replied.
"Anyways, there's your answer. Shadow Patrons do exist," Groudon told him.
"Thank you, Groudon. But, I have some questions. Is there any way to defeat them in combat if they're as powerful as you say they are?"
"Yes. But it would require at least four or five Patrons. And one or two would probably die before they defeated the Shadow Patron. And, remember, each Patron's abilities are unique. So, even what I know about them probably isn't accurate. More Patrons might be needed, or maybe fewer."
"Alright. Why don't Steven and April know about Shadow Patrons?"
"Honestly," Groudon explained. "Very few Patrons know they exist. Usually the Patrons of Psychic-Type Legends, like Cressilia, are the only ones who can sense them. Very few other Patrons know about them."
"Okay, thanks. That's all I needed to know. I'm just going to wait for May to wake up."
"Alright, human. I'm going back to sleep."