Prologue

Japanese Names:

Jun = Barry (rival from Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)

Professor Nanakamado = Professor Rowan

Kouki = Lucas (male protagonist from DPP)

Hikari = Dawn (female protagonist from DPP)

Important Notes Before You Read: The story was revised to elaborate more on the plot and to make the characters more three dimensional. New scenes and plots have been added along with rewriting scenes to match the new characterization and plots. Please read this story from the very beginning; the revision barely resembles the original version. Characters will all be referred to by their Japanese names due to future contents that will appear in the work. Please enjoy reading our work! :D

Disclaimer:We do not own Pokémon in any shape or form. Pokémon rightfully belongs to Satoshi Tajiri, Game Freak, and Nintendo. We only own the plot of this fanfic. Characters are a mix of OC and game characters. Game characters' personalities are loosely based off of the game's counterparts. The cover picture also does not belong to us and is drawn by Nintendo's Ken Sugimori.

Blood painted the cold stone floor. Roars and screeches left a haunting echo at the peak of Spear Pillar. The brilliant pearly shine that once gleamed proudly within the gem on its arm had already considerably faded as the crimson liquid steadily flowed down due to gravity. Its voice could no longer form words as it screamed out in pain and suffering. Another being stood tall before the pitiable pink figure, as if mocking.

Down so soon? It bellowed. Unlike the injured one's, the other had a calm and collected growl, as if to brag of victory. Its pale blue gem middle of its chest sparkled brightly. Did that battle with that mere human really bring you down this low? Imagine, the mighty Palkia! On his knees and hands, begging for his current incarnation to be spared. Your struggle was pointless and shameful.

The fatally injured legendary Pokémon only cried out of pain. Its tone begging.

… Be glad that my own current incarnation is merciful; the rival spoke with a low and serious voice. I'll answer your cries.

The steel plated blue Pokémon took stance, legs apart and knees slightly bent. It lifted its head to face the sky as it took a deep breath before it snapped forward and roared. Sparks of light encircled the legendary Pokémon before being released in bursts of energy. Dialga used Roar of Time!

Palkia allowed the attack connect, not making a single move to dodge whatsoever. It hardly held up its head to its incoming fate. It felt the force of Dialga's attack but didn't feel anything as he slammed against an already broken pillar. The Spatial Pokémon instead looked up at its powerful rival with a peaceful gaze. Its body slowly disintegrated, turning into dust as the wind picked up speed and blew away the once legendary being's remains from the peak of Mt. Coronet.

May your time with Arceus be short, but blissful? I await your next incarnation, Dialga murmured to the fading winds. With a great sigh, filled with both sorrow and the acceptance of boredom, the Temporal Pokémon slowly turned away from the cliff of the half destroyed pillar.

"Waaaaait!" A voice called out from the edge of the cliff.

You're still alive? The legendary Pokémon screeched with anger. It snapped around in time to see a teenage girl shakily drag herself up from the ledge.

The young trainer was no more than fifteen years old and had ridiculously long, uneven jet black hair that reached to the bottom of her calves. She wore a pair of dark blue shorts and a long black t-shirt with sleeves that went down to her elbows. She also had on a metallic silver hooded vest with little pokeballs hanging down from the cords of her hood.

"Did you just kill Palkia?" She asked with a horrified expression as she struggled to catch her breath. She took a few steps forward towards the nearest broken pillar and flopped down against it. "So that's how a legendary Pokémon dies... Actually, after that first Roar of Time, I thought I was going to die..." The teenager wiped a bit of dirt and grime layered on her clothes and skin, a sign that she had been traveling in the mountains for some time.

Which you should have. It growled dangerously. You humans never seem to die easily. He growled. You are worse than the Magikarp.

"If I could simply die without harming anyone or anything, believe me, I would have done myself in a long time ago," she chuckled darkly. The holes and rips on her clothes made her appearance more surprising for the legendary Pokémon when she had first appeared in between its fight with Palkia.

Would you like me to kill you for you?

"Ah, no... That would be very problematic." The teenager smirked. She swiftly withdrew a black pokeball designed with blue bubbles, gave it a spinning toss into the air as she caught it with a downwards sweep of her arm and looked up at the giant legendary Pokémon before asking, "Is there any way you'd let me catch you without having to battle? I feel bad enough that I missed the chance to get Palkia before you killed it..."

Veilstone City

"Where is he?" The boy asked to no one in particular. He impatiently glanced at his Poke-etch to check the time. "He said he would be here at 12:30. It's 12:34 PM!" the teen grumbled. "He's late!"

His Infernape stopped itself from sighing. He watched his trainer rub his messy blonde hair for the umpteenth time today. It looked as if he woke up late that day and rolled out of his bed without caring. Puberty emphasized his tall awkward figure, two long arms that dangled on the sides, unsure of what to do. The teen started rocking in place before he decided to pace within seconds. He wore a striped shirt with a green scarf wrapped around his neck.

"All I said was that the legendaries have gone missing..." He mumbled. Infernape grunted at his trainer. Seconds later, he grabbed at his hair and mentally screamed while throwing his head back to face the sky, asking quite loudly why wasn't the trainer there yet. He didn't notice the tourists staring at him for his eccentric behavior. Their brightly patterned clothes made them stand out like a flock of Chatots.

Jun, resident of Twinleaf Town, was standing in front of the Veilstone Game Corner of Veilstone City. The person he was supposed to meet up with requested that specific area. Said that the place was so crowded from the tourists and gamblers that it would hide their conversation. Veilstone City was an isolated city that seemed to separate itself from the rest of the region, although the newly built Game Corner seemed to have brought in more tourists in the last few years. Carved out of steep mountains, the city rightfully earned its name and stood quietly at the northeastern portion of Sinnoh.

A week ago, the impatient trainer loudly complained to a Pokémon professor that a legendary Pokémon disappeared off the map. That caught the attention of a strange trainer, who was listening in to the conversation. The mysterious trainer quickly introduced himself and asked, more like demanded, the surprised boy to exchange phone numbers and to arrange a meeting to find out more about the disappearance of the Pokémon.

"Be careful, boy." Professor Nanakamado looked at Jun with concern. He eyed the stranger from the distance. "He could be trouble."

"Sure, sure," he replied as he sprinted out the door without so much of a good-bye. It's not like the guy was from Team Galactic or anything, he reasoned.

Jun went along with the arranged meeting and chose to go to Veilstone today. It wasn't like he had anything else to do. The blond teen tried to phone the trainer, but no one answered. The blond teen tried to phone the trainer, but was met with the answering machine. Jun glared at the digital device on his wrist as he hung up the call to try again, as if doing so would make the other side of the call answer. He remembered the mysterious trainer having a similar device as his, but it was bigger and it wasn't worn like a watch.

"What the hell is he-" The boy moaned.

"Sorry," a person said to him abruptly. "Got lost." The unknown person said the two sentences quickly and quietly, as if fearing that someone would hear him. He joined the trainer underneath the shade of the Game Corner, sliding his palms inside his jean pockets. He leaned on the side of the building to catch his breath.

"You're late!" Jun immediately accused him, pointing at the trainer.

He didn't bother to deny Jun's accusation. The stranger did not say anything more and waited. He stretched out his hand, demanding the reason of their meeting: information.

The Sinnoh trainer didn't have to guess what the mysterious trainer was waiting for. Jun said, "Disappeared, ok? Giratina and Dialga are gone. Dialga just disappeared a few days ago, right after Palkia was wiped off the map." He folded his arms and waited for his reaction.

"...gone?" The person whispered. If Jun didn't see that his lips were moving, he wouldn't have caught what the stranger said. The person's voice was barely audible. His red and white cap was tilted down, so Jun couldn't see his face properly. It was hard to determine how old the mysterious trainer was. His voice sounded young, so the Jun guessed that he was still in his teens.

Jun nodded. He gulped and uttered, "I was back at home when I was checking my Pokedex. Just wanted to see where Giratina was that day. Haven't seen it for years. Wanted to make sure Team Galactic wasn't trying to catch it again." His voice carried off into the loud chatter around them. He spoke very quickly, ending each sentence with a short small sigh. The stranger chose not to make a comment about it. He hadn't said much in general. The blonde saw that this conversation could quickly become one sided and asked, "How are you?"

He shrugged and signaled so-so with his hand. His Pokémon beside him cried out its name, looking gloomy of their apparent unsuccessful search.

"The other legendaries are still here," Jun added, hoping to make the guy feel better. His Pokémon looked depressed. "I just went back to check on them."

The stranger nodded.

"My other friends said that they'll both be searching the other areas too." He continued without stopping, "You probably want to know if we caught the culprit, but no. We don't even know what the person looks like. Could be an old insane guy for all we know... Those legendaries just went missing one day, leaving no trace behind."

The mysterious person gave the trainer a puzzled look. 'No evidence left behind?' his expression seemed to ask.

Jun shook his head. "Whoever made them disappear made sure to hide their trace. I don't think even the professor knows if a person caused this or that the Pokémon themselves moved away for some other reason."

The person nodded again. "That's all?" He looked at Jun expectantly.

"That's all I can say," the trainer showed his two empty hands at him. "I have nothing else I can tell you. You can ask Kouki and Hikari if you want. They might know more."

"I'm leaving," the stranger said suddenly, nodding at teen as a good bye.

The blond trainer waved at the odd trainer. "I guess your search was useless?" He said lamely, feeling like their meeting ended on an awkward note. It was as comfortable as talking at a funeral.

"No," he shook his head. "It's enough." Before the boy could ask what he meant, the stranger left.

Jun watched the trainer walk out of the shade to step back into the sun. His pale skin made him blend well with the Sinnoh citizens, but his dialect made him sound like he was from somewhere else. The boy stared down at the concrete. What was going to happen to those legendaries? He sighed and mumbled a few words to himself. When he looked back up after a few seconds, he saw that the stranger was already gone, somewhere in the midst of the crowd.

Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed the prologue of this story. As we mentioned before, this is a collaboration story of two authors. We have a beta reader as well. Question of the chapter: Just who is that mysterious trainer talking to Jun? Constructive criticism and comments are appreciated. Find out in the next chapter of Disappearance! See you next time!