Chapter Text
Prologue:
Kanto Region
Sabrina walked through the halls of the one person in the world she knew whose psychic power may have rivaled her own. His mansion was five times that of her family's home, but it was hidden deep in the forests of Kanto. He always seemed to be the sort to keep his world hidden, never allowing anyone near, that was… until he met her.
He reached out to her in a dream. His power was unmistakable. She loathed the way it made her feel in his presence. It brought out the masochistic joy she enjoyed when he was around, the feeling of needles pressing against her breast, her oxygen feeling trapped in her throat as every bad vision she's ever felt becoming twice as real and vehemently begging to be let loose into the world.
She enjoyed the feeling almost as much as she hated it. It's like our relationship. Toxic. Distinctly toxic and physical. She was in her late twenties when their relationship started. All the fights, all the whispering sweet nothings to each other, and all the passionate sex… yeah, lots of the arguments turned into them finding ways to get into bed one another. They enjoyed each other too much, found too many ways to both bring pleasure and torture the other. She found that because they were both masochistic sadist, they always found ways to bring pleasure to only each other.
As much as she hated to admit it, she could only be with Yasu. Even right now when they're supposed to be broken up, she found herself making her way to him because she had a bad dream that only he would be able to understand. Or understand.
Then again, she sighed, truth be told… he was the only person who made her feel something more than just being numb. She felt like a person, a real person that was more than just a gym leader, more than just a powerful girl who once turned her parents into dolls and also made the mistake of working for Team Rocket. Though very few were aware of this, her conscience never allowed her to forget.
The very same year that Team Rocket had been disbanded, a boy named Red became the Kanto champion. He was supposedly the same boy that she warned Giovanni about. Dark times seemed like they would be forever upon her until a bright light seemed to shine a few months after Red was announced as champion. The very boy who gave her that Gengar had become World Champion. Ash Ketchum, the boy whose light gave the world something to hope for. Something to believe in. Ash was the first person to not make her feel out of place, the first person to make her smile, the person who gave her a reason to not end it all even when she believed that would be the best escape from this world.
Alakazam and Gengar's spiritual powers sent Sabrina into a daze for a moment. For a moment, she saw a woman with dark hair and a face of a goddess singing with fire surrounding her body. It seemed to dance around the girl. The girl was reaching out. For a moment, Sabrina thought she was reaching for her but stopped when a flaming arrow appeared before her and then she looked and saw a man, handsome and familiar, with messy hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder. The boy pulled a sword from his side and his eyes seemed to stare into the abyss.
A blue aura surrounded the boy as he ran forward towards her. As he sped down, the arrow was shot from the woman and seemed to keep at his speed.
Alakazam and Gengar appeared before her then a man with bloodied white wings. No, he was more like an angel. She looked to his hands that were covered in the blood of many then he turned and all she could see his shadowed face was a smile as he said, "The end has finally come."
Before she could respond, his hand went straight through her chest.
The vision disappeared as she sat there trying to catch her breath. Did her pokemon just send her a warning or did her power activate on its own? She stood outside the door of the room that she'd been heading to this entire time, wondering if she'd regret coming after all this time. Was that vision a warning about her next actions?
Would this be just another regret for her?
Pacing her breathing back to normal and opening the door, she stared at the scientist who owned the land she stood on. He appeared young, very youthful but he was much older than his appearance would say. He was lean, but his clothes didn't hide his muscles very well. His fair skin probably didn't get much sun beyond the times that he walked with Sabrina in his garden under a shaded area, and his stormy blue eyes always seemed to know more than what he was willing to give out.
"I fear that you may have dreamt what I've been dreaming for years, m'dear." She could see his full lips hadn't moved so Sabrina knew there were others in the room though from her angle, she couldn't see them.
"Yasu-san… I've brought my Pokémon along as you asked," the psychic gym leader said as she walked into the room. She tossed her straight, long green hair behind her back and forced a smile. There was a male to the left of her, large upper body with a long sharp chin and skinny lower body. His dark eyes pierced and cut even the shadows of the room and landed on her. He stood in a way that suggested that he was protective of the scientist that she called by first name basis.
"Even Lord Amaterasu-kamisama would be ashamed at how we did not give honor to Sabrina-dono at her being among us."
"Sabrina-dono?"
"Who is this Sabrina-dono that I should acknowledge?" the dark-eyed man finally spoke. His deep voice shook the very ground beneath her. The power he gave was close to that of Bruno of the Elite Four. She wondered why a man like him would even be in a place like this and how a man like him would not be known by even someone like her.
Yasu smiled. "Mondai-san, do you not recognize a gym leader when you see one?" He raised his hand and waved it casually. The smell of wild roses filtered through the air. Sabrina had to wonder if Yasu was controlling their senses with his psychic power.
Mondai shifted in his spot. He was surprisingly bashful. If Sabrina had been anyone else, she would've made a joke about it. Part of her wondered if the boy that gifted her with her precious Gengar would've laughed in his face about this.
"Gym leader Sabrina of the Saffron Gym, the city that shines of the hues of orange and yellow… a golden city that once had two gyms but one was cruelly put away?" In the beginning, it was almost seemed as he was going to praise her hometown and instead, he did the opposite.
Yasu chuckled but a smile did not reflect in his eyes. "Mondai, I would learn to watch your tongue if I were you."
Mondai's eyes widened in shock.
"Even if she is kind enough to forgive you doesn't mean that I am." The others in the room backed away from Mondai as if they were afraid of a curse being put upon them for being in his company. Yasu grimaced at their reactions then smiled at Sabrina. "You had a vision, didn't you?"
Alakazam and Gengar popped out their pokeballs and stood in front of Sabrina; they appeared like they were ready for a fight.
Sabrina nodded.
Yasu smiled deeply and nearly flipped out of excitement. "I knew it!" His deep voice went up two octaves. "The piano girl truly was a sign from heaven."
"The piano girl?"
"Yes, the piano girl."
XxXx****xXxX
24 HOURS EARLIER
A Midsummer's Dream Bar
The melody she played made him forget about his past. The woman playing was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in all his life. Her long black hair cascaded down her back and her forlorn purple eyes stared intently on the music sheet despite the fact that it was obvious that she could play the score blindfolded.
She looked as if she were looking for herself, for a distant time and space; she looked like she was looking for things that even his money couldn't buy.
He was a scientist looking for answers in the unknown. Myths, things in the unknown, legendary Pokémon were the things that interested him… but more than that, his interests laid in the ideas of love and its destructive power over individuals and the world among them. He wanted to know if pure love existed and if it did, could it's power destroy all the evils in the world or could it create the greatest darkness in its will to protect its love.
He watched as her fingers went from b flat and going into the sharp notes, lifting the darkness in the song and blaring into the light. The softer dark notes ascend as if to wave its white flag as the sharper light notes descend from the heavens to face the darkness on ground. She presses the flat notes heavier and it feels like the dark notes are given courage and decide to lift up their weapons as they ascend to the heavens to battle a war that they will most likely not win.
Her song is different from any other song he has ever heard and yet when she plays, it feels familiar to him. He feels as if she's playing only to him as he remembers a time when he would lay in bed as he awaited for someone to read a story to him, the very story that got him to this point in time now.
"She's incredible, isn't she?" He heard Officer Jenny say to one of the customers in the bar. She wasn't in uniform so it meant she was most likely off duty. Jenny was in a tight black dress that didn't leave much to the imagination. Her long thick legs were in full display, probably freshly shaved. Her face was fully made up though he could tell she wasn't used to doing her own make up as there was a bit too much blush on her cheeks and the lipstick was a bit too thick and a color too light for her skin.
She'd probably been crying because her mascara looked like it had been dripping down her face and she attempted to wipe it off, but the streak of tear stains were left a bit on her face and on her napkin. Still, he would be lying if he didn't admit that the beautiful disaster standing there didn't catch his attention. She was a beaut even with her chipped fingernails, and the fact that she was an officer of the law.
He wondered what Sabrina would think if she'd been there with him. Sabrina was a gym leader who at one time, in secret, worked with a gang called Team Rocket, an organized crime unit based in Kanto but a terrorist group that made a name around the world for power.
"Wow!" He could hear someone speaking from behind him. "Even someone like Yasu-sama comes to a place like this to relax."
Of course I do…
Yasu didn't bother turning around to see what boarish idiot would say something like that. The voice was deep. Probably a man.
"Yasu-sama really is something… don't you think?" A woman with a sensual tone responded. He felt her eyes staring at his back.
He turned his attention back to Officer Jenny who just ordered a dark drink with ice. He could tell it was a smooth drink, a little bit of alcohol then the young officer took her hair out of its bun then stumbled over to him. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," he replied with a slight smile. "It'll be nice to have company."
She turned to him with a drunken smile. "You…" she took a long swallow of her drink, "too? You want company?"
He swore this was how every one of his relationships started. This was how he met Sabrina also on a night when she was most vulnerable and told him everything there was to know about her depression and how she regretted so many things in her life.
He always listened to every story. These girls always felt comfortable around him. Yasu could tell a girl that his interests in these stories were for pure scientific reasons. That was always how it started until they would fall in love with him. Then they would begin to hate him when they saw the real him.
He never hid that side; it probably just wasn't obvious.
"I bet that girl has never had a broken heart at all…" Officer Jenny hiccuped. "A girl like her…" her voice trailed off.
Yasu looked at Jenny then the girl at the piano.
The bartender walked over to the two of them and sat on the other side of Yasu. "You mean Miss Hino Rei?"
So that's her name?
"The way she plays seems like her hearts been broken in more ways than one, but she keeps going anyways…"
Yasu nodded. Yes, indeed, that's probably why I love the way it sounds so much. The sound didn't sound human or of this world though. He'd never heard this piece.
Officer Jenny began to pout. "I bet it was a man… they're such wild Pokémon… I swear."
She probably meant they're growlithes… but those are known for their loyalty.
The bartender half-smiled. "I don't think that's it… at least, I don't think her pain comes from romance. She doesn't seem interested in men or people in general."
Yasu's ears perked up at that. The music in the air changed suddenly. The flat notes and sharp notes became smooth and the air around them became peaceful. The song hadn't ended but the emotions changed.
It was hope.
And suddenly her voice joined the piano's song. The song transitioned into something different, something just for her voice.
"Say, thanks for your bravery," she sang into the microphone, her melodic soprano voice chorused through the air. "Look, the newly born power!
Covering everything, shining brightly…" the power of the strength of love and friendship… and hope rang through the air.
His own psychic power began to activate without his knowledge. Suddenly, he began to see visions of her in another world, maybe another life with friends and her fighting against monsters with powers like Pokémon. He saw her standing before a fire, trying to get answers, trying to understand why she was born the way she was.
He suddenly could see her as a child and could feel pain from wanting a parent that was never there. He could feel hope when meeting someone named Usagi Tsukino and also upon remembering a life before that when she was a princess of the Mars Kingdom and a protector of the goddess of the moon's daughter.
The visions suddenly stopped.
"I will chase after my dreams with love…Your deep eyes told me to do that."
The song ended and for the first time in 30 years, Yasu had tears in his eyes. He found his answer. He believed that answer would be the one thing that could end this world as he creates a new world. Like the song she sang, which gave him a reason to not give up, he would chase after his dreams with love.
She turned her deep, amethyst voice to the crowd. "Thank you," she said with a sad smile.
Yasu stood up and as he did, the entire bar stood with him and gave her a standing ovation.
"No!" He called out. "I should thank you." Your eyes are the reason I am living. Your eyes are telling me to not give up on my dream.
XxXx****xXxX
Present Day
Kanto
Pallet Town
He'd been back three times already within the past four weeks. Ash'd been patient enough if you'd asked him. For the past six months, he'd been doing nothing but press conferences, autograph signing and promotional shoots all to get the hype up for the Pokémon World Championship Cup or "PWC" for short. Er, is it PWCC…
This would be his eighth year being a part of the Cup and if he won again, he would be seven years undefeated. He laughed to himself. Well, that doesn't include when Misty bested me right after the first one. She and him were always going back and forth. It reminded him that he could always improve, never settle down.
He went left then right then swirled back into a circle, trying to find something to prove that he hadn't been coming back to Kanto, specifically to Pallet Town for no reason. His current film contract said that he wasn't supposed to leave Hoenn during the filming process, but he hadn't listened since he signed the piece of paper confirming what his life should be like as an A-list actor and champion.
There's been rumors for months about a new Pokémon that's been sighted in Pallet Town, and he had to check it out. Even Gary confirmed the rumors to be true. He and his grandad seen the supposed new Pokémon together. They said that it appeared like a beautiful girl with fair skin and deep red lips.
She had been described as appearing to be like a priestess with violet eyes and what appeared to be dark raven-like hair but in the sun, it reflected the same color as her eyes. Oak claimed that she may have been a fire type as she used fire to combat against another before seeing them and running into the forest.
Gary claimed that it may have been a relative to Jynx as they had many of the same colors, and the way she used her senses, he said that she may have been a psychic type.
Notably, after hearing Ash's tale about Gym Leader Sabrina, Tracey said that she may have been human. He claimed that young trainers had faced a mysterious trainer with a similar description who only seemed to battle for either information or for food.
Reports were different with the trainers. Some claimed that they didn't realize it was a Pokémon until it was too late.
Ash wondered what "too late" could've meant in a scenario when you're battling a trainer. Battling Mewtwo when he was 10 was probably the closest thing he could imagine being similar to that feeling however even then, he always knew he was battling a Pokémon the moment he'd seen him.
He continued walking until he felt a warmth come over him. Ash wasn't sure why, but it felt like arms enveloped him and his heart first quickened out of fear but then a calmness swelled over his very soul. His heartbeat slowed to a calmness that he couldn't remember ever feeling before. A voice that he'd never heard before sounded from the wind, a soprano—the voice surely of an angel. "Prince Satoshi, my aura bearer…" He felt himself go into a trance at hearing the name. Why did it seem so familiar? Despite the name, he knew the angel was speaking to him.
XxXx****xXxX
Near Viridian City
The fire seemed to fear the future as much as she did. She felt its dread as it swayed with the wind. Rattata nestled closer to her, sniffing the air despite being asleep. Unlike her, though, he seemed calm and ready for anything that may come its way. He was always like that. The small purple and white rodent reminded her of the friends that she couldn't contact.
Not now, at least, probably never again. Despite the terrible situation and the questioning inside her, Rei felt serene somehow. There was a peace inside her that told her that soon everything would be just fine. No, it said more than that, it said that all her questions would be answered.
That feeling of peace stopped as fast as it came. She stood up and started running. Rei had no clue where she was going but knew her soul said she needed to be there.
"Prince Satoshi!" She called out though the urge to call out for this man's name escaped her. She called out his name a second time then a third time and screamed it out until she didn't know how many times she called out for him.
Her feet carried her along, but she still didn't know where it was that she was going.
She was sure she blacked out while running. Rei didn't stop until she saw a boy around her age staring at her like he knew her but also as confused as she felt.
When she finally came to and no longer had the desire to call out for a prince that she'd never heard of or even known, Rattata caught up and jumped on her shoulder. It sniffed the air then pawed at her neck. Instinctively, Rei grabbed an anti-evil scroll out of her pocket.
The boy tilted his head slightly. He looked almost wild yet somehow innocent at the same time. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and his messy black hair flittered with the wind as his full lips looked like he wanted to say something but was being careful. His muscles tensed but now seemed to loosen up.
"Pikapi."
Rei somehow knew the Pikachu on his shoulder was talking directly to the male.
The boy's eyes softened. "You don't look like any sort of Pokémon to me…"
"Nor do you look like any sort of Prince…" She responded.
He chuckled. Rei couldn't help but find his voice deep, rough voice somehow familiar. Comforting. Disturbingly comfortable sounding. Rei decided then and there that she hated it.
"Only if you consider my nickname these days as confirmation of my prince status." He had an easy laugh about him. Rei couldn't help but imagine that he must've lived an easy life up until now.
There. Just now. I felt it. A powerful aura slipped out when he chuckled. It was enough to bring her to her knees. That couldn't have been on purpose. He made a mistake. Why would he allow such an unreasonable amount of power slip from himself?
He stepped towards her.
Without even a second thought, her powers activated and the ofuda in hand caught on fire and she threw it. With incredible reflexes, he dodged then threw a ball at the ground and a giant bipedal frog-like creature came forth and threw water shurikens at it. "Good job, Greninja… that could've caused a fire in this forest." He was looking away from her.
She was tempted to run but didn't. The more he looked away all casually, the more he pissed her off. "I think I finally found the new species of Pokémon," he laughed easily while petting the Pikachu on his shoulder, "Though I don't think I could catch her even if I wanted to." He grabbed the red and white ball that released the one he called Greninja and a translucent red light came forth and brought it back.
Rattata snarled at the disappearing Pokémon as Rei pulled the purple rat close to her chest and backed away. Rattata was clearly reacting to her own emotions. She hated when that happened.
Rattata jumped out of her arms, snarling and it's fur puffed out in an attempt to make itself look bigger and stronger. He reminded her of Phobos and Deimos with how it was trying to protect her.
The boy finally turned to look back at her and smiled at Rattata. "Hey buddy, you're pretty awesome to be protecting your trainer like that!" His eyes were soft and gentle as he knelt down and tried to pet the small Pokémon but it whacked him with his tail then tried to bite him but the Pikachu head butted Rattata away, the small Pokémon flying back towards Rei who jumped in his direction to make sure he didn't hit the ground.
"I'm okay, buddy," the young male said confidently as he hugged onto Pikachu and put him back on his shoulder. He grabbed another pokeball from his belt buckle. "She's definitely not a Pokémon… that's for sure." It looked to Rei like he still wanted to throw the ball to make sure.
Rei sighed. "No, I am not a Pokémon."
Ash frowned. He almost seemed disappointed though she couldn't be bothered to ask as it seemed aware of this fact before her confirmation. "Guess this trip was a waste…" he took a deep breath of air.
That gulp of air seemed even more insulting than any argument she and Usagi ever had.
Smiling, he put his hand out. "My name is Ash Ketchum. I'm from Pallet Town, not too far from the Viridian Forest, which is where we are now."
Rei shook his hand though now even more annoyed than before that his voice took her in like a soft fleece blanket to a baby. Up close, he was even more familiar, even more handsome, and for the first time in her life, she felt comfortable in front of a man outside of her grandfather.
It somehow felt like they'd known each other her entire life.
His eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not from here, are you?"
Rei didn't answer. He was right, but something about the question seemed more like a statement. It also felt like he knew something he shouldn't.
"I'm lost, yes… if that's your question."
His expression didn't change much, but it did say what Rei feared.
"Your aura is not from this world…" Ash finally said as he stared at his hand. Over the years, he'd been mastering the power of aura as it sometimes helped with coming to be friends with Pokémon.
The last time he'd met someone with an aura like this… Ash shook his head. "Umm… this is weird… but do you happen to know someone named Tomoe-chan… I mean, Tomoe Hotaru?" His eyes almost seemed wet and there was this longing as he spoke.
Rei flashed to the moment before she disappeared out of her world and into the Pokémon World. She remembered feeling like her and Hotaru were switching places and there was nothing she could do to change their fates.
She remembered the dreams of a boy from another time who needed Princess Mars but somehow called Hotaru to their world. The dreams were constant until one day, Rei realized it was no longer just a dream but a vision that came to pass and no one was able to stop it.
For three months, Rei and the Outer senshi relentlessly tried to find a portal to this world that only Rei and Hotaru seemed to have a connection.
Then one day, the connection was made. Hotaru came back… and the last thing Rei heard her say, "They can never come together again. It'll be the end of both our worlds. Princess Mars and the aura bearer can never meet again. The Great Darkness will awaken if they do."
Rei remembered feeling dizzy and suddenly like a sadness similar to the one she felt when remembering the Silver Millennium's fall. No, this felt even deeper, closer, and even more broken. It felt like a memory trying to resurface. Her body felt like it was burning and like her soul was leaving her body.
Before Rei could answer the question, Ash looked down at his phone then looked away. "I have to get back to my set… but what's your name?"
"You can call me Hino Rei."
"Hmm… maybe you are a Pokémon?!" He chuckled.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Spirit of Fire? Hino Rei seems perfect for someone who can use fire the way you do… and your personality!"
Sounds like something Usagi would say…
"Nice to meet you. Let's have a battle next time we meet."
Rei half expected him to say that they should hang out or go on a date next time, but instead, he smiled and compared her to a Pokémon and asked for a battle next time.
He was different from other guys. That was for sure.
She smiled for the first time since they met. "Sounds good."
He gave her a thumbs up then ran the other way.
It was only then that she noticed that he put a piece of paper in her hand with an address. It read: Go here and relax. My mom will cook for you.
She wasn't sure why, but the invitation seemed good to her. Maybe he could end up being useful.
She smiled and looked to the sky, the very sky that would soon be red like the blood that will be loss when that Great Darkness comes forth.
Yes, that great darkness was coming soon and it would be thanks to them.
That letter was the beginning of dark days ahead that began with a simple smile and an even simpler introduction.