Through Shadow and Lightning A Warrior Rises

Prologue

Pokemon speech translated

X walked out from the darkness into the light of the moon.  He looked around to get a better understanding of his surroundings.  In front of him was a lake and a bunch of creatures surrounded the lake drinking from it.  They were strange looking and different from the creatures on his world, they were sentient and not savage.  X felt something brush up against his leg and looked down.  It was small rabbit looking creature with purple skin with a horn on its head.  It rubbed against his boot trying to see if this was possibly food but it looked and saw that it was a person.  It made a sound and X realized it was trying to communicate.

"Who are you?" the creature asked.

"Just a traveler trying to accomplish his mission" X said.  "What and who are you?"

The creature was shocked.  "Humans don't normally understand what I'm saying."

"I'm not human now please answer my question."

"My name is Nidoran and I'm a Pokemon."

Pokemon, so that's what all these creatures are, X thought to himself.

"Listen I'm looking to find out if anything unusual has happened here lately."

Out of nowhere an explosion went off and smoke started to fill the air and X ran toward it.  When he got to where the explosion went off he saw a man with an orange dragon fighting off 4 figures in black robes.  X knew exactly who they were, a creature that he and his people, the demons, had been fighting against for nearly two millennium.  They were the shadows, creatures born in darkness that desired chaos and spreading their seed and covering the entirety of existence in shadow.  The man and his Pokemon were putting up a decent fight but they were outclassed.  These shadows were some of the elite assassins of the shadow army.  They were trained to kill thousands of soldiers before dying and when asked to kill someone quietly they are never heard or seen until the moment they kill their target.  One of the shadows knocked the man down with his sword and stabbed him the stomach.  The Pokemon tried to get to the man but the other shadows held it back.

"When we finish you we will go after your loved ones" the shadow said while laughing.  "Actually we will keep you alive long enough to watch us rape your wife and kill your infant son."

"Not this time" X said.

X drew his swords and dashed from the dark of the trees slicing off the head of the shadow that spoke and watched as it dissolved into black dust and was blown away by the wind.  He turned his attention to the other two shadows.  X brought his thumb and middle finger together and snapped while swing his arm in a sidearm fashion. (A/N: this isn't a Thanos type thing.  Think more Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood)  A stream of blue lightning appear and disintegrated both of the shadows in one fell swoop.  He was about to finish off the one who stabbed the man, but it fled.  X had a feeling he would meet it again.  X ran over to the man who was bleeding out on the ground.  He took one look at the man's injuries and knew there was nothing he could do.  Fighting a war for this long you learned when a soldier was too far gone for any hope of living.

"Hey kid would you please hand me that Pokeball?" the man asked pointing.

X looked at where the man was pointing and saw a ball with red and white halves.  He picked up the ball and gave it to the man on the ground.  He took it and pointed it at the dragon.

"Charizard return" the man said as a red stream appeared and touched the dragon.  The dragon disappeared into the ball and then the man gestured for X to come over.  X walked and knelt beside the man.  "My house is on the top of that hill where my wife and my infant son live.  I won't make it there so I want you to tell them that I love them and to tell my son that I wish I could have been there to see him grow into a proud and strong man."

He then handed the Pokeball to X entrusting him with it.

"What is your name soldier?" X asked.  To X if one has fought against the shadows he/she was a soldier in his eyes

"My name is Red Ketchum" the man said with his last breath and then went still the shadow of death, the only comforting shadow, taking him away.

A few minutes later

X walked to the small house at the top of hill while carrying Red's body.  This wasn't the first time he had to deliver news that a soldier had died in combat but he hated it every time he had to do it.  Thing was he had the advantage of knowing the family he told.  This would be a test for him.  He walked up to the door and knocked.  The door opened and a woman about 5'2 was looking up at him.

"Hello who are you?" the woman asked.

"Are you Mrs. Ketchum?" X asked.

"Yes is something wrong?" she asked.

She then noticed what was in his arms.  As soon as she got a good look at who it was she had to catch herself with the door jam.  She collapsed and sobbed loudly screaming no over and over again.  X set Red's body down and put his hand on the woman's shoulder not to so much calm her down but more to feel like he could actually do something knowing nothing was going to work.  After an eternity the woman stopped crying mainly because her eyes were dry and her voice was shot.

"He wanted me to give you and your son a message.  Where is your son?"

Just then X heard a cry from the next room.  X's heart broke at the sound.  He was imagining telling a seven or eight year old that his father was gone which would have been bad enough.  This was worse, this was so much worse because now this woman would have to raise the boy on her own as a Pokemon could only do so much and the boy would have to grow up without a father.  The woman walked into the other room and got the baby.

"How old is he?" X asked.

"He is a year old" the woman said hoarsely.

"I never asked you your name Mrs. Ketchum" X said.

The woman looked at him suspiciously which was reasonable considering he had showed up with her husband in his arms dead.  "What was the message he gave you?"

"He told me to tell you that he loves you and your son.  He also said to tell his son that he wished he could have seen him grow into a proud and strong man.  He also gave me this."

X brought out the Pokeball and threw it in the air.  The Pokemon Red called Charizard appeared and looked at the woman sadly.

X looked at the woman and all suspicion had left her face.  X looked at the baby she held in her hands.  He had stopped crying and was asleep at peace.

I will watch over this boy until he is strong enough to fight on his own, X thought to himself.

"My name is Delia and this little light's name is Ash" the woman said.

"You can call me X" X said.  "Know that should there be trouble I will not be far from you.  Should you need me look behind you and I will be there."

With that X left Delia to bury her husband.  It was cruel but X had some hunting to do.