The Resurrection’s Beginning (one-shot prequel)

A/N: This is the prequel to “Apocalyptic Dawn”. It leads up to Rowan, Josephine’s older brother, being revealed as TR’s new leader in the sequel and explains other things which were left unclear. “The Resurrection’s Beginning” is brought to life by a series of events that happens before Josephine becomes a trainer.

Disclaimer: Pokémon is © Game Freak and Nintendo, 1995-2010. All other characters are © Legendarian Mistress.


The Resurrection’s Beginning

2007


Two years had passed and my family welcomed the arrival of my brother, Rowan Moreau. I was the only one who believed that something was not right with him, for I had sensed a dark aura hidden in the deepest depths of his soul. But I held my tongue, because if I had spoken out about it I would have been punished for sure.

He was always getting into trouble, always poking his nose into things that weren’t his business. My mother was forever telling him off.

By the time I was five, and Rowan three, Josephine was born. According to my parents, Josephine was just as gorgeous as I was when I’d been born. Rowan, being Rowan, decided to start poking my younger sister. Mum wouldn’t have any of it.

He was immediately sent out of the room, with his punishment being no dessert for a week. Being a three-year-old, he chucked a tantrum, which caused me to raise my eyebrow in disgust. I mean, come on! This was a public hospital. Patients shouldn’t have to put up with a three-year-old’s outburst.


Time continued to pass. I had turned ten, Rowan was eight, Josephine five and Natalie was the newest addition to the family. I’d not been interested in the way of a trainer, preferring instead to spend my time writing stories.

My lone brother, on the other hand, did want to be a trainer. But I had seen his battling style, it was callously ruthless. It had attracted the attention of a figure dressed all in black. I had my suspicions about that man, I knew nothing good would come of his meeting with my brother, but for a long while nothing happened.

Josephine was content to study as hard as she could at the Magnet School, learning all that she could about Pokémon. She had an unusual personality, not wanting to make any friends for some reason.

And as for Mum, well... she had her hands busy, yet again, with Natalie. It was around the clock care for the newest Harris. I had once heard her say to Dad that “Natalie was the last. After her, there’ll be no more.” I felt satisfied with that, because four children – in my opinion – seemed too much for her.



“Tara wouldn’t have wanted you to be upset.” My brother’s voice was cold and distant that day. As we all stood at Pallet’s memorial cemetery, his voice was like a gunshot in the eerie quiet as it echoed. It had been two weeks after the accident which claimed her life and, as I looked into his disinterested eyes, there was not a single shred of remorse.

The pre-teen was dressed in a red, short-sleeved polo shirt, whilst wearing light green three-quarter pants. He had inherited his father’s long, pony-tailed hair – though Rowan’s was crimson, whereas his dad’s was brown – and his hazel eyes shone like an inferno had engulfed them.

“Shut up, Rowan!” I yelled. “This is your fault!” I was furious at him, for the blame lay squarely on him. My teeth clenched and the blood boiled inside me. If only he hadn’t invited Tara to come with him and a friend, then neither my sister nor his friend would have died. The grief roiled inside me once again, seething like a maddened serpent, threatening to break free if I lost control.


I was fourteen, Rowan twelve, Josephine nine and Natalie five. It was two days before the accident which would take my life, though I didn’t know that at the time. A friend of Rowan’s had recently obtained a new car, and my brother asked me if I would like to come with them in it around town.

I kept saying I had other things to do, that I was busy. But on the second day, that day, he put his foot down. “Tara, come with us.” Rather than requesting my presence, as he had done so previously, he now demanded that I join them. To placate him, I got in the car.

His friend chose a particularly straight piece of road and slammed his foot on the accelerator, causing the speed to increase to one hundred kilometres an hour.

The next thing I know, I see Rowan barrel-roll out of the car mere seconds before it struck a sturdy cedar tree. My spirit rose from my body and I look down at Rowan, who was just standing there, staring at the totalled car with a small smirk on his face.

I heard him say “Well, that’s them out of the picture.” and I instantly felt betrayed. The car ride had been a trap to get rid of us! I felt nothing but bitter, angry emotions boiling in me. I knew then that I had to warn Josephine about Rowan, but how would I be able to do it?


As it was, his friend’s car had been totalled. A report from the Viridian Police Station said the driver, my brother’s friend, had been speeding. This resulted in two unnecessary deaths, deaths which could have easily been prevented.

At that thought, and still overwhelmed by my loss, I turned and walked away a small distance as I felt the tears start to burn at the back of my eyes. I knelt down on one knee. Losing my sibling made my head spin around and around, as if I were dizzied by the grief. She was my sister, after all; my flesh and blood. My heart felt as though it were being crushed; the tears slipped out of my eyes.

My younger, five-year-old sister approached me quietly. “Big sis, are you okay?” she asked.

Despite all of the pain I felt right now, I smiled inwardly. That’s Natalie for ya, I thought. My nine-year-old eyes looked into hers, which were showing just as much pain and suffering, for tears trickled down her eyes as well. We had both loved our fourteen-year-old sibling a lot, and for her to be taken from us in so much as a second really hurt our close-knit family.

But it seemed that one of us did not care in the slightest, that one of us had been distant to the rest of us for a while. Rowan, you might ask? Spot on. His attitude at the Academy often landed him in detention. He didn’t have any friends because of the ‘bully-boy’ tactics and his callously ruthless battling style, in which he wasn’t afraid to use the Pokémon the teachers had given him to physically attack the other students. The teachers were just as shocked as his injured classmates when they realized it wasn’t an act, that Rowan was deadly serious.

A man dressed all in black had been spotted at the Academy’s training grounds from time to time, silently watching my brother train, eying him as if he were worthy.

An unintentional sneeze from overhead alerted me to the fact that someone was spying on us. I shielded Natalie as I quickly turned around. Mum, Dad, Row-... My eyes widened in shock. Whoever had been spying on us had taken Rowan, and left Mum and Dad unharmed. I then narrowed my eyes. It must’ve been a Psychic with teleporting abilities. But who has those sort of powers? I asked myself. But just to be sure... “Hey Mum, where did Rowan go?”

“He was standing over there...” She trailed off, upon looking around the cemetery and confirming that her son was nowhere to be seen. “Oh my God! Where did he go?!” A scream burst from her mouth.

*****

“Seek out the boy and return with him. Those were your instructions. You have done well. You may stand down.” The intimidating voice with a distinct accent came from a tall, mysterious man with neat black hair. Dressed formally in a black suit, he had a smirk on his clean-cut face.

The woman who had brought Rowan to her boss was a psychic. Her clothing consisted of a long red blouse and black trousers. She had long, flowing raven-coloured hair; two locks of which came down on either side of her face and the fringe just above her eyes, with the rest going down to around her waist. Scarlet eyes gazed at the boy in a calculating way and she had on a pair of long red boots.

But she was no normal psychic; she had been able to hide her spiritual powers, preventing her from being discovered. Upon hearing the order to fall back, she nodded once and knelt down.

“Boy, come here.” The man ordered. The twelve-year-old hesitated, but hurried forward when the man frowned. “You seek power, do you not?”

“... I...” Rowan stammered, looking uncertain. He had heard stories about this man being the leader of a criminal organization. Though he’d kept it to himself, he actually admired him and was excited by the prospect of having a position of power one day.

“Speak up, boy!” Another voice snapped. This was the voice of Ross, the second-in-command.

“Yes, I do.” The boy responded, as he stood tall in response to the order.

“Ask, and you shall receive.” The man countered. He then clicked his fingers. “Boy, do me a favour and in time you shall have all the power you want.”

“What sort of favour?” Rowan asked. His eyes widened and shone brightly upon hearing that statement.

“Become a trainer, and then go to the land of Sinnoh. Stay there for a few years and then come back. Once you’ve returned, you will have what you want.”

“Okay, I will do that,” came the answer. The boy’s eyebrows narrowed and his eyes darkened as he thought of his future.

“Sa- Ramona! Take him back now!” The man commanded.

“As you wish, boss,” she replied. The Psychic stood up and grabbed Rowan with both hands. Before the twelve-year-old knew what was happening, he had been teleported away from these beings of power and was more than likely being taken back to the cemetery.

*****

Back at the cemetery, a red-haired figure who looked very similar to my deceased older sister was watching the grieving family, while keeping hidden in the shadows. Unbeknownst to even herself, she was a product of Giovanni’s cloning tests. Her growth rate had been accelerated, however. Therefore, she had reached the age of fourteen in just under ten years.

Codenamed ‘Crimson Lightning’, her purpose – in Giovanni’s scheme – was to serve as second-in-command to Rowan when he came back from Sinnoh. By then, Giovanni would be long gone. Just then, she felt a wave of psychic power and withdrew back into the cedar tree as Ramona appeared with Rowan. The Psychic dematerialized a split second later, not wanting anyone to see her.

“WHERE have you been?!” Fiona screamed hysterically. A fraction of a smirk appeared on my face. Ever since the death of Tara, my mother was always worrying about things that shouldn’t be worried about. I found the situation funny, because my brother always seemed to be getting into trouble.

Charles, my wheelchair-bound father, wheeled himself over to them. “Settle down, Fi,” he said quietly, calling his wife by a nickname. With my father being the only brown-haired person in the family, I had always thought it strange that none of my siblings, not even myself, had managed to carry over the slightest amount of same coloured hair. All of us, even the now deceased Tara, had been redheads.

“I want to become a trainer.” That was all Rowan said, for he did not want to reveal the reason why or his lust for power which had just been born.

Fiona blinked a few times, then... “OH MY GOD! My son wants to be a trainer! Oh Rowan, good on you!”

Meanwhile, I was stopped in my tracks as the world seemed to come to a standstill. Everything was removed from my surroundings so that only I could see the figure in front of me. A pale ghostly figure stood there in front of me.

“Josephine,” the ghost began, compassion showing in its ethereal eyes.

I silently gasped when I realized who the ghost was. It was my sister, Tara.

“I see you’ve recognized me. But this isn’t exactly a good time. I’ve come to warn you about the one who will defect. Beware your brother! For the one whom defects will cause more trouble than you can possibly imagine!”

Tara’s ghostly outline began to fade, satisfied that she had done her job.

“Wait!” I cried out. “I miss you!”

Tara’s last words were brief as the last of her spirit faded. “As I you.”

As Tara’s ghostly figure vanished, so had the vision.

“Okay everyone, we’re going home now!” Fiona said to her family. As the group left the cemetery, I kept shooting glances at my brother. Was he really going to defect like Tara had foretold?

*****

“I know what you’re up to, Rowan. I don’t think you should go ahead with this,” I began casually, leaning against the hallway wall the next morning.

Having already gone past me, he simply turned his head and replied to my statement. “What I do is none of your concern. Be a good nine-year-old and mind your own business.”

My eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Rowan, I’m warning you. Don’t do this!” I hissed.

He faced me slightly and tilted his head, as if amused. “Or what, little sister?”

As my anger level rose, a tremor ran through my body. “This!” I said loudly, as my frame became enveloped in a bright pink aura. I stood breathing heavily as my hazel-coloured eyes turned cerise in accordance with the aura I now exuded.

He faced me properly and in one brief moment I saw that he, too, was radiating an aura. His manifestation was of a lightning yellow. In that instant, I realized that both of us had been chosen, however indirectly to begin with, by Kanto Legendaries.

“Mew...” My brother’s voice was static due to Zapdos’ Electric abilities.

“Zapdos...” Mine was telepathic.

“So... It... Has... Come... To... This...” We spoke in unison.

“ARE YOU TWO ARGUING AGAIN?! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT ARGUMENTS BEFORE ROWAN LEAVES, JOSEPHINE?!” Fiona shouted up the staircase.

The auras dissipated and we returned to normal. We glanced at each other before Rowan continued down the hallway. “This won’t be forgotten, sis.” By putting emphasis on the last word, he further reinforced that he intended to head down his current path.

My heart-rate quickened as he left me and I started sweating. I feared the worst, not only for my family and the other Kantonians, but for the whole region. Deep down, I had already cast him out of the family. What's more, if my parents were to discover this they, too, would disown him.

*****

Five years had passed since my brother left Kanto bound for the Sinnoh region. He was adamant that Sinnoh would somehow give him what he needed. He has now come back, determined to wreak havoc on his homeland. When I learned that Zapdos had well and truly sided with him, that the Titan of Lightning’s lust for power had caused a split in the Bird Trio, I shook my head in sorrow.

There is some good in all of this chaos, however. In those five years, I graduated from Pallet’s Magnet School at the age of ten, but refused to go anywhere because I wanted to learn more about all of the different types of Pokémon. I also made friends with Pewterian-born Rachel Savina, who shares one of my traits – like impatience – and Pallet-born Paul Johnson, who quickly turned into my rival.

*****

Mew

I had chosen the girl to possess in order to get the message through to the dissenter, Zapdos, that his lust for power would not be accepted in the Bird Trinity. I knew that if he continued down that path, the Trinity would end up dispersing. It seemed as though he’d heeded my warning, but I suspected that wasn’t really the case.

Years later, however, in the present, I was shocked and very disappointed that he had indeed bonded with the boy and that the Trinity had broken up.

Zapdos

I controlled the boy because the ‘seeking power’ aura he exuded was exactly what I wanted. Together, we would be unstoppable. Mew attempted to stop me, saying that the Trinity would not accept my thirst for supremacy. I was tempted to lunge at her, for I didn’t care about the other two one little bit.

When I bonded with the human, I had to assume a similar form. I felt slightly less authoritarian as one of his kind, but I thought nothing of it as I was his advisor.

*****

The Trinity, better known as the Titans of Ice, Thunder and Fire, are no more.


Let me take you back five years.


The Trinity are meeting to discuss what trouble is brewing in each corner of the Kanto region. Articuno, who always resided at the Seafoam Islands, is the first to arrive at the rest house entrance to the Viridian Forest. She sets herself up in the best position to look out for the others who are coming from the east, i.e. the Power Plant, and the far south-west – One Island’s Mt. Ember.

The young woman, tall and elegant, spots Zapdos flying in low and stopping on the outskirts of Viridian City. Her crimson eyes watched him hide behind the Gym to change into his human form of a young man with sinister black eyes, spiky yellow hair and fair skin. As Zapdos walked up to the house, Articuno could see Moltres landing.

Articuno and Zapdos were impressed by Moltres’ super quick transformation. However, Alcina, which was the human name Articuno had bestowed upon herself, immediately raised her voice as the trio passed through the rest house and crossed the threshold into the Forest. “I always get to places first! You two aren’t organized enough!”

It soon became clear that Articuno’s bold bluntness, along with the fact that she was now unsympathetic towards the other two, had caused small rifts in the Trinity before. “Shut the hell up, Alcina!” Zapdos snapped bossily. His domineering tone quickly silenced any chance of a retort. Unbeknownst to the others, Zapdos had been training in private with Ho-oh in order to get stronger.

As they entered a particularly dark part of the Forest, the human-ized birds walked into the temple.

The temple, in another universe, may have been likened to the antiquity of the Pantheon. It had been built by a forgotten people, who had laboured for those they thought as gods, and they had dragged huge sandstone blocks from as far away as Celadon to mould into its huge bastions. The multitude of columns and sculpted colonnades were carved with the faded visages of Legendaries time forgot.

Thick vines engulfed it. The undergrowth was unpleasantly damp and chilly and smelt heavily of copper. Below the canopy, the slender light of the full moon petered out completely and the tree roots clambered over each other for space. Hidden in the undergrowth was a small, brown, round shellfish-like creature; its scratchy search for insects in the leaf litter was the only sound above the chirping of its prey.

Inside the temple, Alcina peered out of the ancient architecture's only window. It was far too hot for her and she felt faint as she brushed her sweeping, icy blue hair over her shoulder. Frost glistened off it as they did of her pale skin which radiated an eerie chill in the humid forest. Her outfit consisted of a long pale blue dress, with white and blue sandshoes.

Zenas, the name Zapdos had chosen for himself, lounged around on a stone table at the back of the sanctuary. As he ran his hand through his hair, sparks leapt like an electric cable, bright coils of yellow that made the hair of his two companions stand on end. A bright yellow shirt matched his equally bright yellow trousers. Protecting his feet were black boots.

“Stop that!” Alcina said peevishly. She seriously wanted to go over and slap Zenas, but thought better of it. One eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he continued to mess with his hair.

Moltres had picked the human name of Magnus and was quite proud of it. He was kneeling on the floor. His hair was brass red in colour, his eyes were rich brown and his skin was tanned to perfection. The Titan brushed his hand over a carving of an ancient Pokémon, and he sighed wistfully, thinking of the eons that had passed them by.

How the mighty had fallen and how the great were lost to history. Time had forgotten his brethren, who the people had once worshipped as gods amongst men. Magnus lost interest in what he was doing and rose to his feet. Then he idly clicked his fingers once and a flame appeared in the palm of his left hand. Matching each other were a reddish-orange shirt and trousers. He had on knee-high amber-coloured footwear.

Turning quickly to the other members of the Trinity, Magnus posed a question, with the fire still burning brightly in his hand. “I have recently become aware that Zenas, of the three of us, has a lust for power. Don’t give me that look. I have my source, Zapdos. The question is as thus: What are we going to do about it?”

“There’s nothing we really can do about it,” a masculine-toned telepathic voice responded brusquely. A man had materialized out of what seemed like thin air. He had the whitest of white skin, and the same could be said for his hair. The eyes were an eerie purple. In addition, he wore a white loose business shirt with matching trousers and same colour sandshoes.

“Oh dear, forgive me, Mewtwo. I must’ve forgotten to drop off your invitation,” Magnus joked. Neither Alcina nor Zenas laughed.

The human-ized super-clone sneered and narrowed his eyes. “There is nothing to forgive. I sensed the auras of the Trinity and came to investigate. If Zapdos wants to go his own way, so be it.”

Alcina decided it was time she interrupted. “But Ho-oh will not be pleased.”

“Stuff Ho-oh,” Zenas answered. Proceeding to flip them off, he turned and phased back. “**** everyone!” His static voice sounded, before he flew off, crashing through the treetops of the Forest.

Magnus sighed. “Well, I guess to finish this meeting off; I’ll ask the remaining Legendaries what their goals are.”

“Some trainers have piqued the interest of a few of us,” a soft feminine-toned psychic voice answered.

When the owner of the voice didn’t appear, Mewtwo stepped in. “Mew’s decided to stay invisible,” he replied.

“Celebi and Articuno have become fascinated with a New Bark and Pewterian-born duo respectively. Myself? A Pallet-born redhead has me spellbound. What about you, Mewtwo?” Mew continued, as though there had been no interruption whatsoever.

“He’s Pallet-born, just like yours. But he has auburn hair,” he responded.

“So our goal for now is to watch over these four, am I right?” Magnus asked.

“Stupid question. What do you think?” Alcina retorted.

“Why do you have to be so unfriendly all of the time? God, it’s annoying.” Magnus stated.

“That’s enough, you two,” Mew’s soft, cheerful voice tinkled. “There’s no need to be fighting, not now that Zenas has caused a split in the Trinity.”

“You’re right. Anyway, I think it’s about time we got back to our respective homes. Don’t you agree, Alcina?” Magnus questioned his companion.

“Too true,” was all she said. She immediately left the temple and hurried on, not looking back once.

“Well, this is goodbye. See you two another time.” Moltres directed his comment at Mewtwo and the invisible Mew.

“...” Silence was his only response from the super-clone.

Whereas Mew was quite happy to telepathically say farewell to the departing Titan of Fire, as Magnus left the Forest. Upon seeing Moltres leave, Mewtwo teleported away.

*****

Since Zapdos’ departure, disharmony from the Trinity’s split was causing abnormal weather occurrences in Sinnoh. Why Sinnoh, you may very well ask? Because that was where Rowan had travelled to, in order to receive his first Pokémon; so, when the Titan of Lightning arrived there, the after effects of the split began wreaking havoc with Sinnoh’s climate.

Four weeks ago, an icy cold wind blew in from the region’s east, bringing with it dark grey storm clouds that were tinged with a shade of green. The strong chilling winds filled the frigid air in Sunyshore City with snow, and the snowfall covered the walkways of the electrically powered city.

But Sunyshore wasn’t the only city affected by the freak-of-nature weather. Canalave had been completely flooded and it was reported that no-one had been spared. Twinleaf had succumbed to an earthquake, Sandgem was a ghost town, Pastoria was as though a drought had been in effect for a year, and even Snowpoint was struck hard. A passing meteor had practically obliterated the seventh city.


Having set up residency in Saffron City, the fact remained that the Kantonian royal family was not of Kantonian blood. In fact, they had escaped their homeland just in time.

Now that the noble aristocrats lived in Kanto, they would have to quickly adjust to the Kantonian way of life. It was said that they had had three children but, strangely enough, only two were with them when they arrived. Rumours began spreading that the oldest had been a royal knight who had his life taken from him in the line of action.

The queen and the next oldest child, also a male, did nothing to stop these rumours – though they knew the truth. And so the Regan clan did what they could to survive in an unfamiliar region. But as the years passed, the remaining son began to harbour a desire to quit nobility and just be a normal trainer.