[ Vermilion City - Pokemon Center ]

Knocking on the door, Misty couldn't help but ask as her voice broke.

" Yellow, please come out."

" I am fine, Misty." A whisper called out to Misty causing her to sigh.

" If you say so."

Inside the room, a red eyed yellow sat besides the door with the bed sheets covering her.

" Odd !" Dish the Oddish whispered to Yellow to just smiled before her smile went away as she remembered Austin's words.

Suddenly sensing something, Yellow stood up causing Dish to fall to the ground.

Turning towards the window, Yellow took a deep breath as she sensed an extremely familiar presence in Vermilion City.

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[ A Few Centuries Ago ]

The Kingdom of Rota.

A once peaceful kingdom of the Kanto Region is now the latest battlefield in the massive war engulfing the lands of Kanto, Johto, and Orre. The Orrenians were a warlike group from across the seas to the east, made up of various small tribes of warriors. When the orrenians learned of the Kanto and Johto regions across the seas, they began a brutal invasion, decimating most of Kanto in their push inland. By the time they made it beyond Mt. Moon, the Johteans had finally mobilized a defense, moving north from Mt. Silver to engage the invading armies. Unfortunately, this put the peaceful Kingdom of Rota directly in the middle of the two rival armies. While Rota was far from defenseless, the bulk of the orrerian's hoard and the Indigo League armies outnumbered the small standing army Rota could field, even with their legendary Aura Guardians.

'Must find Sir Aaron...' was the singular thought running through the mind of one of those very same Aura Guardians as he ran through the foggy mountains near the Tree of Beginning, the massive rock formation that dominated Rota, desperately searching for the crystals that were indigenous to the area. He was much shorter than most people assumed of an Aura Guardian, barely four feet tall, covered in black and blue fur on his limbs with a cream-colored torso. Protruding from the back of his hands and his chest were silver spikes, and his head was decidedly jackal-like, with a pair of large ears, red eyes, and four small appendages hanging from the back of his head. His powerful legs carried him across the rough terrain as the sounds of impending battle echoed through the canyons and cliffs, occasionally leaping from rock to rock.

Turning back down the path he came from, he closed his eyes and began focusing, the appendages on his head beginning to rise slightly.

'Aura is with me,' he thought as his vision was replaced with a rather ghostly landscape, focusing his Aura to the west, moving through canyons and hills, eventually coming to overlook a massive valley filled with humans and Pokémon of every shape, from Charizard to Steelix, Aggron to Skarmory. The Johtean Army.

Grunting, he opened his eyes to scan his surroundings before focusing on the east with his Aura. On the far side of the mountain marched Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Onix, Tyranitar, Blastoise, and countless other types of Pokémon, along with their human allies. Seeing that both armies were nearly within fighting distance, he growled slightly as he returned to his body.

Just as he was about to continue his journey, he heard something on the wing flying towards him. Glancing up to scan the foggy skies, he spotted the silhouette of a massive red and white Flying-Type Pokémon flying over his head, above the cliffs towards the Tree of Beginning. Before he could even think about what it meant, however, a large hound-like Pokémon bounded down the same cliff at him, causing him to backflip away. The pale horns on his head stood out from his black body and red armor.

'Houndoom. Wonderful...' he thought as he turned tail and continued climbing the rough territory, sensing as the Houndoom gave chase along with a second and third at his back. Climbing to the top of the small mesa, he finally spotted what he was searching for, a small collection of blue crystals protruding from the ground. Skidding to a stop in front of them, he knelt and placed his paw on the surface of the crystal, causing it to begin lightly glowing blue.

"Hear me, Sir Aaron…"

.....

Meanwhile, back at Cameran Palace, the Capital of Rota, its beautiful leader, Queen Rin stared out into the foggy forests between the Palace and the Tree of Beginning from one of the balconies. Her otherwise noble features were marred with worry and nervousness about the impending conflict in Rota. Long golden hair fell to nearly her knees, and her light blue and white dress complimented it perfectly. To her right, standing half a head taller than her was one of her oldest companions, Sir Aaron Arlon, head of the Aura Guardians of Rota. Dressed in his typical garb, a simple pair of dark grey pants and shirt, his long blue vest, dark blue cloak, and signature hat, he was a handsome figure, sporting his perpetually messy dark blue hair and sapphire eyes. To the outside world, the kingdom of Rota seemed defenseless with King Able leading the Rotan army to defend the city, Aaron was placed in charge of security for the palace.

Left with only a token force of guards and a few Aura Guardians, Aaron was just as worried as Rin was, staring out into the veil of fog and mist that held over the valley between Cameran Palace and the Tree of Beginning.

'Where is Lucario?' he thought to himself. He had sent his apprentice into the mountains to scout hours ago and was growing more worried by the moment. 'I taught him everything I could, so why hasn't he sent a word yet?'

As if on cue, he heard a light tone behind him, causing him to turn. Spotting the light glow from the crystal formation on the balcony, he hurried over towards it, staff in hand, causing his Queen to turn and watch as he did so. Kneeling and placing his hand upon the formation, he was able to sense Lucario, roughly halfway up the mountain.

"Sir Aaron, please…" he heard in his mind.

"What's the matter, Lucario?" he asked aloud in a worried tone.

"The two armies are about to clash, master, and our Kingdom is caught between them! Once the fighting starts, we will all be destroyed!'

Hearing this caused Rin to turn back towards the mountain, a look of despair taking hold. "When the armies reach this palace, our Kingdom will fall…"

Hearing growls behind him, Lucario flipped away from the crystal to see the three Houndoom leap onto the mesa, glaring at him with their dark red eyes. Darting forward between them, Lucario managed to barely dodge a Flamethrower attack from one before charging back towards the edge he came up from, leaping off.

Dodging another Flamethrower as he landed, he tried to climb the opposite cliff wall, hoping to gain some ground. Unfortunately, one of the Houndoom saw this and attacked the cliff he was clinging to with an Iron Tail attack, blasting part of the cliff apart with explosive force. Dust and debris were hurled into his eyes as a result, causing him to flip away and attempt to clean his eyes, to no avail. Hearing another growl, he leaped up, barely missing another Flamethrower that tore through the space he just inhabited.

Landing on his feet uneasily, he utilized his Aura abilities and saw all three Houndoom in front of him, cornering him into the box canyon, each growling and preparing a Flamethrower. Time seemed to slow as his ingrained instincts and training kicked in, leaping high into the air as the attacks hit. As he fell, he prepared attacks of his own, a pair of blue Aura spheres, one in each hand. He landed between two of the Dark and Fire types, unleashing one into each of their heads, before raising his arms above his head and forming a third sphere, firing it at the ground in front of the third one. As he sensed the final Houndoom fall, the appendages on the back of his head returned to their normal place of hanging.

"I will not flee the palace when the armies attack. My fate will be the same as the rest of my kingdom," she said simply, causing mild annoyance in her companion.

Aaron's mind raced, thinking of how he could convince Rin to leave. "But your highness, there will be no survivors…" Even as he said it, he hung his head, realizing it would be futile.