Pokemon - From the Brink

Prologue - In Your Hands

There were gasps of confusion and panic as people looked around at each other. And then, almost before anyone had any time to take it all in, the lights in the office began to flicker, accompanied by an eerie creaking sound and a cold wind, despite the heating in the room.

There was the sound of a circuit being blown, and the lights died, engulfing the whole place in darkness. The only lights were those in the buildings down below and far away, like feeble beacons being drowned by the void.

And then, just as quickly, natural light flooded the room as the world outside lit up. The representatives winced and rubbed their eyes, the natural world now back in full colour whilst the bulbs overhead remained off.

The whole ordeal had barely lasted ten seconds, and yet, it was so unnatural and so surreal that there wasn't a single person in the room who wasn't feeling uneasy.

Their eyes were all fixated on the windows, looking away from the centre of the room and out into the sky that had just been completely dark but was now bright blue, and the Sun was shining just where it always had been.

None of them felt the presence. The cold wind had so soon been forgotten. So it made itself heard.

"None shall leave this room and speak of what they hear here today." A cold, vengeful voice spoke from behind them all, chilling their spines and making their hairs stand on end.

One by one, everybody turned to face the middle of the room...

And saw nothing.

"You will all listen, and listen well." The maniacal voice seemed to come from all directions all at once.

The people began to panic even more, looking around in fear. A few glanced towards the door.

"Do not attempt to flee."

The door locked itself all on its own.

Some of them screamed.

One man representing Canada led the charge towards the door in the hopes of breaking it down, but he never got anywhere close.

A light bulb exploded, but the shards of glass didn't fall. Instead, they hovered for a moment, before hurling themselves across the room. They shattered against the wall just in front of the fleeing crowd. A warning shot. One shard of glass floated ominously close to the man's neck.

"Am I understood?" The voice asked. The glass lightly scraped the man's neck and drew a trickle of blood before it pulled away and violently smashed itself against the wall.

"Now, please be seated. I wish to propose a deal..."

Without argument, every single person returned to their seats, dropping their belongings and looking around at each other nervously.

The meeting had effectively turned into a hostage situation. Except there was no sign of the one taking them hostage, and nobody knew what they wanted.

*

One hour later...

Percival Kudou, former manager of Destiny Angel, Japan, walked through the reception area of a hospital, heading for the exit. His face showed little emotion as he strolled forward, hands in his pockets.

He passed a group of old men gathered around the television set up for them as they waited to see their doctors. They were intently watching a news report about some sort of black-out that had occurred in the USA earlier that day.

"One eyewitness claimed that it was as if the Sun had completely disappeared, only to reappear moments later. We now go to..." The reporter's voice faded away as Kudou made it to the door and stepped outside. He stepped forward and looked at the car park, seeing an ambulance pull in, sirens wailing. He bowed his head and stepped aside, looking away as somebody new was rushed through the doors.