Chapter One

“Zack!” Zack snapped up from his nap. It seemed to him that his teacher was psychic. Or maybe he was an Alakazam in disquise- Not impossible, when considering the Pokemon’s mind powers. His teacher, a plump man with a mustache, was a person that many young children tended to mistake for Santa Claus. “I believe that you have the legend memorized, correct?” Zack sighed. He had only pondered his teacher’s humanity because he was upset. However, the school’s faculty seemed bound and determined to make Zack docile… They were constantly calling him for no reason at all, and once, he was called to the principal’s office, but was sent back to class the moment he got there. Anyway, the legend Zack had to know was obvious- The Three Dragons. As the finisher to a unit on Dragon Pokemon, each student had to have a legend about Dragon Pokemon memorized. Zack’s was the Three Dragons. Zack stood up, and slowly made his way to the front. Zack closed his eyes, and recited the tale from memory.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl named Goldilocks- Opps, wrong story.” This got laughs from the class, and a stern look from the teacher.
“Ok, Ok, here’s the real story…”

“Long ago, when the Earth was young… Before the great war between the earth and sea… Before humans came to the Pokemon Lands, a great evil reigned. Two dragons, two great killing machines, rampaged around the land, causing destruction wherever they went. A few brave Pokemon attempted to stop them, but were never heard from again. However, when all hope seemed lost, a third dragon approached. It shone of a golden light, they say… Anyway, this dragon challenged the dark dragons… A fierce battle erupted. The fierce battle raged for years, and Pokemon fled when the three appeared. However, all of a sudden… They vanished. All three dragons. Maybe the dragon of light won, and left. Maybe they all gave up. Who knows? Perhaps they are still fighting.” Zack breathed a sigh of relief when he was finished. Then he made the statement that, in a way, changed his life.
“There, you happy now?”
“Young man… You spoke with a sarcastic air. An attitude that says,” Here, the teacher used a high pitch in his voice, making a ridiculous mockery of Zack, or at least Zack thought he did. “An attitude that says, ‘Whoop-de de, I told the story. Now let me go eat cake and ice cream.’ Well, young man, several people seriously believe the story to be fact. And, in addition, some think that it is actually a prophecy of some kind.” Zack raised his eyebrows. He desperately wanted to shut the teacher up. This was likely to be one of his long-winded lectures. “There have been a series… Of attacks, of some kind, in cities. No major cities, all minor. But the attacks leveled the cities completely… There was only rubble remaining. No survivors were found at all, combined.” Several students who hadn’t shut up did now. They all thought the teacher was crazy, but still wanted to hear what he had to say. “Only one clue has been found- The corner of a piece of paper, clutched tightly in a dead man’s hand. It read, ‘The dragons…’ However, the paper was torn, and it is guessed that he was trying to write more when the paper was yanked away somehow. Anyway, this has been going on for about five weeks. Oh, is that the bell? Class dismissed. Except you, Zack.”

Zack was kept after school, being lectured by his teacher. Zack didn’t really care. He was too angry. He had missed the bus, and had to walk home. Not a short walk, by any means. Zack was muttering to himself, talking about how he would like to shove the nearest anvil down his teacher’s throat. A small strand of something found its way onto Zack’s brown hair- He hastily yanked it off. It stuck in his hand… He realized what it was. A strand of silk, from a caterpillar Pokemon. Zack turned in the direction that it had come from, and saw the battle in progress…

The brown caterpillar, Weedle, was trying to impale its foe with the large, white stinger on its head. It was moving with a speed one would not think possible for such a creature- Weedles look like a group of balls on a string. The foe, a Caterpie, was dodging with equal speed. Looking more like a common caterpillar than Weedle, it still moved with remarkable speed. Caterpies have a red, forked attachment on their heads- The only red object on the green body. If this crest is struck, the Caterpie will give off a foul odor that can carry for a large distance- But the Weedle was trying to strike the crest.

Among other things, Zack enjoyed watching wild Pokemon battles. Among other things, they proved that man had not invented the competitions. Weedle was using about as much strategy as Caterpie- Hit it without getting hit. After about twenty minutes, Weedle seemed to realize that this wasn’t working- Every time it attacked, Caterpie would skillfully dodge. Neither was making progress, and that went on for about half an hour. Zack was about to leave, but the Weedle suddenly changed tactics… It suddenly launched a number of sticky white threads. These quickly entangled the poor Caterpie. Triumphantly, the Weedle crawled over to the green caterpillar and thrust its horn into the red crest…

“Oh, God!” The stench was horrible. A Caterpie’s odor will spread for miles around, and in a matter of minutes. Zack looked around for someplace to hide from the awful stench… And saw a white path, unfamiliar to him. A sweet aroma wafted from the path… Either the Caterpie odor hadn’t gotten here yet, which Zack doubted, or it was somehow protected, which was even less likely. Zack didn’t care- He abandoned all caution, and went down the path.

It was an average sized path, nothing unusual about it… Until you inspected it closely, which Zack, out of sheer curiosity, did. Small, white pebbles… The purest white, not a trace of any other color whatsoever… These filled the path. They didn’t lie with the randomness of pebbles just poured… The pebbles were in neat little rows. Not a single one was out of alignment with its neighbors… Also, the path was lined with flowers. The flowers were as white as the pebbles, and about as large. Two flowers sat on each end of the path, followed by another set, slightly larger than the first. Zack had a lot of time to take this in- The path was longer than he thought. He had no choice- Every time he turned around, the odor was right there. Zack didn’t want to have to endure it, so he went on.

It was about an hour before Zack realized the change- The flowers were no longer flowers, but bushes. Small, round, with little stumps… These were perfectly trimmed, perfectly white, and followed the same manner that the flowers did, with each being slightly larger than the one before it… After a short while, Zack could not see beyond the path. And only a while after that, the bushes were replaced by trees. That same white shade… And Zack noticed the grass was white as well. He was getting fed up with white. He wanted to rip out some grass, just to get some color in there. However, he didn’t… He suspected that the dirt would be white, as well…

Zack decided to turn back. Surely, the odor was gone now? He had been on the godforsaken path for about three hours… Zack turned around, and jumped five feet.
Something had been following him…

The creature stood on four powerful legs. Sleek, shiny white fur, as white as all the plants and things on the path, covered the lower part of the creature’s body. The upper half was covered by a fur barely gray. Powerful muscles could be easily seen in the legs. The vicious, blue eyes watched Zack with something just a tad below hatred or anger. It also seemed to be startled… Zack swore that he saw it jump a little when he turned around. However, the creature soon got over its surprise, and bared its teeth. The teeth were a shade of white a dentist would heartily approve of. However, they were so sharp… That Zack had no doubt that they could easily be stained a different color… The Mightyena gave a low, vicious growl. Zack got the message- Move forward.

After its presence had been revealed, the Mightyena was none too stealthy in following Zack… Although “escorting” would probably be a better word. It would trot along, seeming to step on every twig, stick, and dead leaf on the way, regardless of weather any existed or not. Every time he stopped, or paused a bit too long, the Mightyena would take measures to make Zack move. At first, it was only gentle nudges, to signal Zack to move. After about the tenth time Zack stopped, the Mightyena got more hostile. It would growl, ram, and sometimes, even nip Zack to get him to move. Zack realized he was in a forest… Or he thought he was. He couldn’t stop and see, for the Mightyena wouldn’t let him. At least, until he got to the clearing…

It was about the size of a small room, and circular, lined by trees. A soft, golden glow seemed to come from somewhere… And Zack could’ve sworn he heard a chorus of some sort. Zack glanced behind him, wondering where the Mightyena was. He didn’t see it. However, that was because he was looking in the wrong place. Zack glanced to the side, why, he didn’t know, but he noticed the Mightyena. The white creature seemed to gesture forward. Zack looked, and was stunned by what he saw.

It was a Pokeball.

The object was sitting, seeming to bask in radiance. Around the middle of the sphere was a band of gold. Above this, the top half of the sphere was red… Pure red, redder than even the reddest red… Like blood… In this, a cross shape sat, like an island in a red sea… Gold, like the band. The bottom half of the sphere was white, like the vegetation… Yet even more pure. Zack felt compelled to touch it…

The ball burst open, and a burst of bright light escaped. It light up the small clearing in a way that no light could rival… Shadows could not possibly exist. The light took form somewhere behind Zack… And, for the strangest reason, he felt as if Christ Himself would walk out of the light. But it was not Jesus the Poke Ball held…

It was a dragon.