Gold's POV

I am so underprepared for this.

Who did I think I was marching after legendaries a day after losing to a Starly?

Volcanion's mean looking face stares at me, his head only a couple feet away.

"You're weak," He states telepathically.

I'm assuming most legendaries have the ability to communicate telepathically. At least I hope so because it does make things easier. Granted it is a little weird to talk to a Pokemon.

"I know," I try to explain. "Eevee and I just star--"

"Not Eevee," It interrupts. "Your aura is weak."

"Awesome," I sigh while Eevee gives an agreeing chirp.

"Hmm," Volcanion continues to stare into my soul. "You do not seem brave enough to have made the jump."

"I had no choice," I state. "Arceus se-"

"I am aware," He interrupts again. Rude. 

"How?"

"We are not far from Arceus' position," Volcanion looks off in the distance. "He is able to contact me when he has enough energy."

"So you'll give me your spirit then?"

"No."

Really thought I had him there.

"A legendary's spirit is the source of their power," Volcanion gets back to staring into me. "Holding our spirit means you wield our power, our control."

"Okay but you know I need it for a good purpose."

"I do not know that."

I take off my hat and wipe the sweat off my face. It feels much warmer in this paradise area than it should. Or it's just the stress.

"I will give you a chance to prove yourself weak one."

I look back at the legendary Pokemon with a little hope. Chosen one? No of course not. Weak one? Yep that's me.

"A battle."

I'm sure he could see the hope leave my face.

"Not against me," Volcanion sighs, a huff of steam coming out. "You may choose your opponent."

Pokemon of all kinds start to come out of the trees and bushes, inching closer with curiosity. I notice some rattata and caterpie, two smaller potential opponents,

There's some I'm definitely not picking like the Torterra or Pidgeot watching from afar.

Do I go for the easy win? 

"That one," I point to a Pokemon I'm pretty I recognize as a Scyther. It has a green armoured body, bipedal and huge scythes for arms. It has two large bug wings off its back. It's sharp eyes study Eevee as it flies forward.

Eevee glances up at me and I nod, "We got this."

Volcanion steps back giving us room, with what looks like a little respect in his expression.

Scyther clicks his scythes together while hovering slightly above the ground. It's an intimidating choice but I know it has low special attack and defense. I just need to wear it down.

I may not have natural battle instinct so I need to really on the random Pokemon knowledge I have.

"Baby-doll eyes!" I shout before Scyther can move.

It shudders a bit from Eevee's innocent look. Something she used for extra dessert last night.

Scyther recovers and its scythes glow brightly as it runs forward.

"Eevee dodge!" But it was too late and she gets wacked into a nearby tree by the Fury Cutter attack.

The green bug and flying type wastes no time going for more.

"Quick attack to push it back!"

Eevee launches off the tree, nailing Scyther in a blur of light. Unfortunately it puts her right in scythe range.

"Vee!" She screams in pain as Scyther swipes with a False Swipe attack.

Eevee lies in the previously green grass that's torn up and muddy now. A long skid trail leads from her position to Scyther who looks unfazed.

It is breathing a little heavier but nothing compared to Eevee.

I'm just not cut out for this.

Scyther interrupts my thinking as it prepares another attack. Probably the one to finish the battle.

Eevee is struggling to get up so there's no way a dodge is going to work.

"Swift on the ground in front of you," I say and watch Eevee fire glittering stars into ground. 

A flash of light blinds Scyther as it approaches, causing it to stop and blink for a bit.

"Bite!"

Eevee chomps down on Scyther, causing it to wince slightly. Before it can recover she dashes away.

"Hide!" 

Not an attack but this may just work. Scyther loses Eevee in the surrounding shrubbery, waiting patiently for her to come out. Thankfully she doesn't have to.

"Fire Swift attacks and keep hiding."

Another burst of stars erupts out of a bush. Swift can't miss so the stars do a wide arc in the sky before spinning towards Scyther.

Scyther slashes through them but another attack is on the way. It tries to dodge that one unsuccessfully and takes a hit.

The green armoured Pokemon falls to the ground, searching for the source of the dangerous stars. After taking another hit, it starts rampaging through bushes. Slicing them up into piles of leaves and sticks.

But Eevee is faster.

The routine continues and eventually enough damage is dealt to bring Scyther to the ground.

"That is enough," Volcanion's voice echoes deeply.

Eevee runs out with a big smile, her fur full of branches and leaves. "You did great Eevee," I pick up the Pokemon and start picking the stuff out.

"I must admit I'm surprised," Volcanion slowly moves his huge red body towards us. "Perhaps you are not as weak as I thought."

"Does that mean we passed?" I hold Eevee in my arms tight.

"You have a long ways to go," The Pokemon sighs. "But I am willing to lend you my spirit. Please bring out Arceus' charm."

I take the golden bracelet thing out of my jacket pocket. It starts to float and morphs into a simpler golden ring. 

I fastens itself around my wrist, a warm sensation filling my body. Pretty sure there's no turning back now.

"That will help conceal the spirits," Volcanion gestures to the bracelet.

I guess walking around with a huge Arceus-looking thing on my arm might raise some questions.

Volcanion closes his eyes and starts to glow brightly. His face is crunches with concentration. "It's been awhile since I've done this," He grumbles.

"This isn't the first time?" I question. "We couldn't find any record of this being done."

"You are correct. No one has been foolish enough to try and bear the burden of enough spirits to control Arceus. But I have lent my power to humans before. How do you think humans were inspired to make steam engines or machines? Of course the gas engines destroying the environment was not my idea."

As Volcanion talks, a small red bead glimmers in the light. It's no bigger than a pea but I'm assuming it holds Volcanion's being. Its power.

The bead floats towards my new jewellery and fastens to the gold.

"Coo--AHHH."

Pain sears through me as I fall backwards into the ground. My brain is all fuzzy with an endless amount of ideas and words blasting through my head. None of it is coherent just noise inside my brain.

I try holding my head to help it slow down.

Slowly my actual thoughts start to come back.

"What was that?" I say sharply, not mad at Volcanion specifically.

"You have accepted my spirit," Volcanion nods. "You will have to learn to carry a legendary's power. Wait until you get more and they start conflicting. That's when it gets dangerous."

"This thing should've come with an instruction manual."

Ash's POV

"There it is already!" I exclaim as Serena and I walk down the path. 

It was pretty boring for a route. Just a closed off asphalt bridge with no opportunity to get out in the wild and meet Pokemon. At least it wasn't a very far walk.

A big white box gets closer. It almost looks like one of those super big malls May and Dawn would drag me through. Is this really the city?"

"New Oldton," Serena confirms with her map. Her hair sparkles from the sun as it falls from underneath her pink fedora. She has it tied into a ponytail with that blue ribbon she's always wearing.

I wonder if Elemente has anything like the giving tree festival? I'd love to get her something again, it made her so happy.

"I wonder if there's Pokemon inside?" I ask. There's large trees coming up from the roof of the building so there must be a park on top. There may be Pokemon there.

"Maybe," Serena laughs. "It is a city though."

"Excuse me," A guard stops us at the entrance gateway. 

"Right," We pull out our Pokedexs and scan them.

"Welcome to New Oldton," He lets us through before getting back to his post.

"Woah," Serena awes at the city.

A lot of it is white like the outside with very large fluorescent lights around. But the city is busy with people walking around, having coffee, or shopping. We can see down the entire length of the city and it looks like anything you could need is here.

An area that looks like a Pokemon Center sticks out so we go there first. "Look Ash," The honey blonde points to the innards of the city.

"Woah that's so cool!" I admire a battlefield on the other side of huge windows. 

The city concourse is a ring around what looks like a standard-sized battlefield. There's no one on it at the moment but I'll be changing that soon.

"Hi how may I help you?" A voice calls us over to the Pokemon center desk. 

A familiar pink-haired nurse smiles at us. Even in Elemente the Nurse Joys look the same. She has a pale face, bright blue eyes, curled pink hair, and a nice caring personality. As per usual, she has the typical pink and white nurse outfit on.

"We need a room for a couple nights while we visit," Serena says and Nurse Joy moves to her computer.

"I thought you guys looked unfamiliar," She studies us. "And you don't look like military recruits."

"No we're just here to battle," I say confidently.

She raises a skeptical eyebrow so Serena explains the situation quick. "Wow it's been awhile, so long that most of the Pokemon Center guest rooms have been renovated into apartments. Usually military recruits just make day trips here from the Capital so even they don't need rooms."

"So there's nowhere for us?" My travelling partner asks.

"No no sorry," Nurse Joy waves. "I have one room available I've been able to save." 

She hands us a key and winks while handing Serena the keys. "Enjoy your stay."

"Awesome!" I cheer. "Now let's go find the leader."

"I heard you come in," A deep voice interrupts. 

We turn to see a bigger man in a lab coat. He has a scruffy white mustache, balding hair, and a friendly round face. He's wearing all white underneath the lab coat which may look out of place if everything around us wasn't white too.

"I'm Wayne Watts," He offers his hand and I shake it. He shakes Serena's hand as well. "Leader of the Normal District."

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," I greet and Serena does the same.

"President Triton informed me of your travel," He nods. "Let's have a battle shall we?"

Green's POV

"Okay let's take a detour here," I say to Litleo as we approach a small mountain. The perfect road of Route 12 cuts through this mountain, making it unnecessary to climb or go around it. 

But there is way to get off the asphalt road and explore a little. A perfect place to find another Pokemon.

I step into the cave entrance connected to the tunnel. It has a few torches lighting the way but is much darker than the perfectly cut tunnel. As expected, there seems to be no one else down the cave.

A few drops of water echo through the cave, but other than that it's pretty quiet. I guess typically normal type Pokemon don't like caves.

"Whismur!" A cry pulses through the cave.

"Litleo come on!" We run towards the sound. Thankfully the cave doesn't really have any forks so we'll run into it eventually.

The rock walls eventually widen into more of a room, glowing orange from the torches. In the middle a small purple Pokemon is getting attacked by three black rat Pokemon.

"Litleo use Ember!"

My Pokemon wastes no time sending multiple flame bursts towards the attacking Pokemon.

They turn with their beady red eyes to watch the flames engulf them. Apparently it wasn't very strong because they didn't even cry in pain.

They shake them off and face Litleo. Three vs one.

I take out my Pokedex quick and scan them. "Rattata, the mouse Pokemon," I read. "This particular species of Rattata originated in Alola and was brought to Elemente, disrupting ecosystems due to its troublesome behaviour."

I release Starly out of its ball to make this more of a fight.

The bird Pokemon flies a couple feet off the ground, limited by the ceiling.

The fangs of the Rattata glow white and they charge in.

"Blow them away with Gust!"

Starly quickly flaps up a storm, sending a powerful gust that sweeps two of them away. The one in front continues towards Litleo.

"Tackle! Peck"

Litleo and the head Rattata meet head on, both screaming in pain as the attacks land. But then Starly swoops in with an extended beak and sends Rattata flying across the cave, crashing into the wall.

The three dark type Pokemon recover and wisely scurry away.

"Whis," The purple Pokemon whimpers. It has two long and wide light purple ears that cover its face, beige at the end. Its body is very round with two small eyes and a big mouth.

"It's okay," I pet its soft head while pulling out my Pokedex again.

"Whismur, the whisper Pokemon," The Pokedex's voice function says. "Usually, its cries are like quiet murmurs. If frightened, it shrieks at the same volume as a jet plane."

"Well let's keep you calm then," I smile and it manages to stop its crying a bit. "Are you hurt?"

I give Whismur a quick check but it doesn't look like the Rattata caused anything more serious than a bruise. I'm sure they'll come back though.

"How about you come with me?" I hold out a pokeball. "We'll turn you into the strongest Pokemon in the cave."

It jumps up, still having a worried look on its face but maybe that's permanent. I catch it in a flash of light and now I have three Pokemon.

"We caught a Whismur!" I cheer and Litleo gives an approving cry. "Now let's get out of here, I've been missing New Oldton's food for years."

The exit of the cave wasn't too far further and back to the road we went. Soon enough, the city comes into view in its white cubic glory.

It looks just how I remember... but not the sound.

Cheering and noise draws me in closer as my walk turns into a jog.

New Oldton isn't as quiet as Maple Village for sure, but it's still usually calm.

But not today.

A crowd of people are visible in the entrance and I return Litleo into his pokeball so we don't get separated. Getting around the ground floor is impossible so I manage to make it to the staircase that goes to the roof.

I climb up to my favourite part of the city. There's trees, flowers, and benches that turn this part of the city into a beautiful park. There's no time to admire it now though.

The crowd's cheering is louder up here so I run to the grandstands that overlook the central battlefield. I find a spot against the glass railing and I can't believe it.

A trainer stands on the field across from the Normal District's leader. A trainer with a Pikachu. The one from the tv the other day.

Someone very much not from Elemente.