Disclaimer: Pokémon is a registered trademark of Nintendo Entertainment LTD. and Pokémon USA Inc. All characters and locations are copyrighted and used without permission or profit. All original characters belong to Shady and should not be used without permission. Prologue – Release Deep in the Kultran Jungle An enormous bolt of lightning lit up the sky once again. The canopy of the surrounding rainforest blocked much of the flash and helped to muffle the sound of the thunder, but it was unable to do much to slow the torrential downpour of rain being produced by the thunderstorm. Bill Tillgood, a senior archeologist at the Katek Ruins Archeological Site, trudged miserably along the ground which had turned to mush from the rain, his wide brimmed hat keeping a large amount of the rain away from his face. He grumbled quietly to himself about evil chief archeologists and their diabolical schemes to give their underlings pneumonia. He hated these sorts of days when it rained for the entirety of the day, because the head of the archeological expedition still demanded work from them regardless of the weather. Bill made his way past the dozen or so ancient stone buildings and pyramids that the group had uncovered and explored over the past seven months. The Katek Ruins were named after the ancient civilization that had live in the area thousands of years ago and built this large city. The Katek had ruled over a large kingdom, and it was believed that these ruins were that of the capitol city. Professor Bentland, the leader of the expedition estimated that they had uncovered a mere fraction of the city, and that the rest remained covered by the overgrowth of the surrounding jungle. This was supported by some evidence – aerial exploration runs of the area had revealed the tips of larger pyramids sticking out above the canopy several miles away from the current site. Through the nearly blinding downpour, Bill could see the outline of the latest project – a large, squat, stepped pyramid. It was not tall, barely eighty feet in height, but it was large in its other two dimensions, covering well over ten acres of area. As he got closer, he could see his fellow archeologists scurrying around the eastern face of the pyramid. He climbed the slippery, narrow stone stairs in the center of the face, stumbling only once before he reached the upper portion of the pyramid where the research was now centered on. “’Morning, Diane, ready for yet another beautiful day?” he said to the nearest member of the team, a beautiful red- headed woman with brilliant green eyes. She also happened to be his girlfriend. Diane, whose long red hair was braided into a ponytail and covered by a wide-brimmed waterproof hat, smiled at the sarcasm in his voice and leaned in to give him a kiss. “Good morning to you too, Mr. Sunshine,” she said teasingly. Bill had met Diane several years ago at the University of Sinnoh, when both of them were studying archeology. They had been two of the best students in their classes, and constantly tried to one-up the other on test scores, answering questions during lectures, and even in board games. Their friendly rivalry eventually led to romance, and they had now been dating for two and a half years. Their agenda for the day was for several of them to travel down a narrow passage into the pyramid. They had discovered the passage over a week ago when an intern had sat down on the pyramid steps and leaned against one which began to move. Bentland had seen it, and soon got a group together to shove it inward. There had been a loud clang, and then several other steps had slid away and sank back into the pyramid, revealing the passage. They had already done some work on the first chamber they had discovered, and while most of the group would continue their work there, Bentland, Bill, Diane, and two other senior archeologists – Lane and Edward, would explore down another passage that led further into the pyramid. Professor Bentland was the first to enter, followed closely by Bill and Diane, and Edward and Lane, and then by the rest of the group. They descended the narrow staircase for a long distance; it doubled back and forth several times, and went down nearly the entire height of the pyramid before it opened up into the large chamber they had been studying. Bill tossed out a Pokéball, and it popped open to reveal a yellow mouse-like Pokémon with red cheek pouches and a long, lighting-bolt shaped tail. “Hey, Pikachu, could you use Flash for us?” Bill asked his Pokémon. She knew what to do immediately, concentrating as her cheeks began to spark and glow, and soon the glow spread along her body and then brightened, illuminating the chamber around them much better than their flashlights could. Bill and the others made their way to the other end of the large chamber, where another staircase led further down into the pyramid. They passed the detailed paintings on the walls depicting ceremonies and everyday life of the Katek. As the others of the group spread out along the chamber, Bentland led their small group on the first trip down the stairway. They descended another thirty feet and suddenly the brick walls disappeared and were replaced by dirty brown and gray limestone. The tunnel widened slightly and the stairs leveled out into another floor. “Very interesting,” said Bentland, who was in the front of the group and entered the next room first, “It seems the Katek built their pyramid over an underground cave system.” Bill and the others came up beside him and Pikachu used Flash once more, revealing that the “chamber” was a resistant platform of limestone that extended for twenty feet further before it dropped away down into a large dark chasm. Other tunnels branched off around the area, showing it to be a complex cavern system formed from the dissolution of the surrounding limestone. When the Katek had found this they must have believed that these tunnels led straight into their Underworld. A few paintings were visible on this wall, of chained people and Pokémon being carried down into this chamber, sacrifices to their god of the Underworld - Kuitlatl. Another showed the Katek building the pyramid over the entrance to the cave system. While they were examining the paintings, curiosity got the best of Edward who moved to the edge of the chasm and shone his light down. He shivered when he saw that the light became diffuse and faded before it could reach any type of floor to the chasm. His light did however reveal a narrow staircase carved out of the rock along the steep wall that he stood above. He brought this to the attention of the others, and within minutes they had set up ropes anchored to the floor of the chamber. The archeologists fastened the ropes to themselves so they could climb down this staircase without worry of falling off into the darkness below. Bill moved down first, being the most surefooted of the group. They had climbed down a good fifty feet when they came upon a smaller chamber situated directly beneath the one they had just stood in. Bill shone his flashlight farther down the chasm and they were finally able to just make out the bottom of that chamber, over two-hundred feet further below them. Diane gasped aloud when the dim light flickered across the floor of the chasm – it was completely covered with off-white bones of humans and Pokémon. Bill turned his attention to the chamber, which Lane had already entered. She had been immediately been drawn to a large stone altar in the center of the chamber. She walked around the altar, which seemed, like the stairs in the cave, to have been carved out of solid rock. It was over six feet in length, but only three feet in width. It rose up to slightly above her waist. The top of the altar was covered in the white swirls of the Katek rune- script, and resting in the center of the altar, in a slight depression, was a black pyramidal object covered in golden rune-script that appeared to have been painted on. She reached out and touched the object which was strangely warm to the touch, odd considering the cool dankness of the cave. She screamed in agony when the temperature spiked, and she could feel the flesh of her palm burning. She jerked her hand away, or rather, attempted to but found that something … some force was keeping her hand gripped onto the object. The others of the group rushed over to her, but she couldn’t stand the pain anymore and yanked her hand, and the object along with it, away from the altar with all the strength she could muster. This allowed the object to be pried free from its resting place. The object began to glow brighter and brighter, before ejecting a beam of light out of the chamber and toward the bottom of the chasm. It stopped glowing and dropped from Lane’s hand. Lane fell to the floor, sobbing and cradling her burn hand. Bill moved to her side and gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand into the open so they could see it. The skin on her palm had been charred a brown-black color, and the triangular shape of one face of the pyramidal object was very visible. “I-it hurt so b-bad,” Lane said, still sobbing. “B-but now I can’t feel it at all – that’s bad isn’t it?” Bill exchanged glances with Diane who shook her head slightly. “Well, its not as bad as it could be, Lane, you’re going to be just fine – we just need to get you back up to the surface, okay?” Bill said, not wanting to cause her panic. He knew that the charring of this skin and lack of pain signified a third-degree burn that had destroyed the nerve endings around the burn and could even have damaged the surrounding muscle and tendons, and would never heal cleanly without scarring unless they got to a Blissey within the first few hours after the burn. Diane pulled a bandanna – what she usually wore when it wasn’t raining – from her pack and gave it to Bill who wrapped it carefully around Lane’s hand, covering the burn. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing her other hand and pulling her to her feet, “let’s get back to the surface and get you to a doctor.” Bill looked over to see that Bentland had picked up the object and was examining it and the writings on the altar. He looked up at them. “These writings are describing a revered Katek warrior who fashioned a device with the help of a slave that they captured from another civilization. It says he battled with the demon Kuitlatl and weakened him enough to imprison him within the device – this pyramid.” Diane looked at him. “You don’t think….” The Professor shrugged. “I don’t know. I just think that flash of light is very odd considering this description of what this is supposed to be, however. In any case, the important thing now is to get Lane some medical attention.” They tied the ropes to themselves one again, and began ascending the narrow stairs. They had made it halfway up when a sudden ear-shattering screech sounded throughout the cavern. Then the archeologists began to feel a vibration that grew into a shaking – some sort of tremor that nearly made them lose their balance on the steps. Bill looked around wildly, and realized that the scream had originated from beneath them – at the bottom of the chasm. He hurried his pace up the stairs and upon reaching the top he lent a hand to the others behind him. Pikachu was still using Flash, and providing an excellent source of light, and when he leaned over to help the last person, Diane, up the stairs, he looked down the chasm and on the dimmest edge of the light being produced by Pikachu, he saw an enormous, writhing mass of black moving up the chasm wall. “RUN!” he shouted to them as the screech pierced the air, this time much louder than the last. He shoved Bentland in the direction of the stairway, and grabbed Diane and Lane by the arm, yanking them along with him. Edward stared at them in confusion, but started jogging behind them as well, although much more slowly. “Hey! What are you guys running for?” He shouted ahead to them. No one answered, and he began shouting again. “What are Y-ouch!” He was cut off when he tripped on something and fell to the floor. He pushed himself up and then screamed when he saw what had tripped him. He was staring directly at an enormous black creature whose body stretched back down the tunnel and out of sight. He kicked it in the face and started running, but was tripped once more – this time there were two. Bill looked back when Edwards’ second scream was cut off, and saw two black things coiling around him – one seemed to have bitten down over Edwards’ head. Several more of the creatures appeared and slithered over the two attacking Edward, making their way swiftly up the stairs towards Bill. He spun quickly and continued running behind Diane, Lane, and Pikachu. They burst into the upper chamber, startling all of their fellow archeologists. Bill, Diane, Lane, and Pikachu tore past the others. “Run! Get out of here!” Bill yelled to them as he passed. When they saw Professor Bentland running as well, they started making their way toward the next staircase, unsure of what had happened down there. Then one of the interns screamed. From the stairwell, numerous long black beings emerged, lunging at those closest to them. This led to a panicked rush to the stairwell as more and more entered the room and joined in the attack. Bill picked up his pace as he heard the panicked screams of the others, and the distinct sound of them being cut off. Suddenly Lane tripped on the stairs, forcing Diane and Bill to stop or fall over her. Bill reached down and yanked her to her feet, but by then it was too late. Diane screamed as one of the creatures grabbed her by the ankles and yanked her feet from under her, pulling her down the stairs. Bill grasped desperately at her hands, aware that Lane was being attacked as well. He clung to her, pulling back with all his might. Then he lost his grip when one of the creatures slammed forcefully into his chest. Bill fought to catch his breath, watching helplessly as Diane was pulled further and disappeared underneath the writhing mass of creatures. He felt one grab his leg, its razor-sharp fangs slicing into his flesh, and then it felt as if the skin on his leg was on fire, the pain coursing through his body. The creature unclamped its jaws and lunged for his arm, and he saw a black substance where it had bitten him, bubbling and steaming on his skin, and then felt another surge of pain as it spit the same substance on his arm. Next to him, Pikachu was blasting her attackers with thunderbolts, but was barely able to keep them away, while also trying to handle the ones attacking her friend and master. He gasped as the creature grabbed his midsection and began coiling around him, slowly constricting. “Pikachu!” He gasped out. “Run! Save yourself! You’re the only one fast enough to get away!” Pikachu glanced uncertainly at her master – he was telling her to leave him to die. “Please, go – you can’t save me.” He said weakly as the creature began constricting around his chest and neck, black spots beginning to appear on the edge of his vision. Tears ran down her cheeks and she turned and dashed up the staircase. That was the last Bill saw of her, in fact, the last Bill saw anything, as the creature’s coils moved over his face. With every breath out he took, it constricted tighter and tighter, and he could already feel the pressure in his chest building and felt a sudden pain coming from his heart. His last thought before everything faded to black was that he would never get to ask Diane to marry him like he had been planning. Outside another tremor, this time much bigger, shook the surrounding area, sending Pokémon everywhere scurrying. A loud, primordial screech filled the air of the jungle, and then everything went quiet except for the frightened cries of the Chatot and Tarcan, and the rustling of the fleeing Mankey and Primape. The horrible secret of the Katek pyramid had finally been released. - - - - - A/N: Hey all, hope you enjoyed the prologue – this is the equivalent of the first opening scene of most of the Pokémon movies. Well, I’m already hard at work on the first real chapter, and hope to have it up at the latest by next Tuesday – if things go well, as early as Saturday. Thanks for reading, and please take some time to give me a review – even if it’s just a short one like “great job” or even “this story sucks”. Any sort of feedback would be great (while this isn’t the first fanfic I have written – I’ve written several Harry Potter ones on other sites – I am always willing to take advice on ways to improve my writing).