Chapter 1 - Legendary encounters

Thunder roared and blood-coloured clouds swirled high in the sky, a crimson light beamed down on the tall protruding tower, where the many trainers that climbed it watched in awe at the event before them.

Never in their lives had they thought that their journeys would have led to this, where they must take all their pokemon and all of the skills they gained to fight the pokemon of origin, Arceus.

As the deity descended upon them, the trainers braced themselves for the battle of a lifetime.

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During a stormy night, deep in the clouds, a battle raged on between the legendary dragon of the sky Rayquaza and the three forces of nature, Thundurus, Landorus and Tornadus.

It was a battle of titans. Rayquaza, soared in the skies of Hoenn and was known as the pokemon that could quell the battling ancient Pokemon, Groudon and Kyogre. While the forces of nature were revered and feared in the land of Unova for bringing devastating winds, storms and earthquakes upon the land.

Though outnumbered, Rayquaza strength managed to repel its opposition thanks to its larger size, allowing it to swat the three pokemon away from itself before firing beams of hyper-concentrated energy at them.

It seemed like a lost cause for the three genies, they have all been fighting for some time and they have barely made any contact with the sky serpent. But their battle was not over yet, because just as Rayquaza was about to strike yet again with another powerful beam that could've ended the battle, several blasts struck its side, causing the dragon's attack to fly into the clouds instead.

Turning its head the dragon saw the arrival of several helicopters that were accompanied by a small army of airborne pokemon. Inside these mechanical flying machines, were humans in these white and red robes, their faces shrouded by the shadows of their hoods, their hands tattooed with the symbol of a barbed ring and their presence filled the air with malice.

Rayquaza knew this was trouble. It glared at the group, guard up, ready for a fight.

"Rayquaza come with us."

One of the robed people said, reaching their hand out to the serpent. However, Rayquaza wouldn't budge.

"Rayquaza do you not wish for this world to be in peace?! You, who have quelled the anger of Kyrogre and Groudon for centuries, a protector of the world, a child of Arceus. Do you not wish to return this world to its rightful owner, the Pokemon? Where you and your brothers and sisters ruled over humanity, where we filthy creatures were yours. Join us and we shall give our bodies, our hearts and our minds to you!"

Rayquaza silently gazed at the preaching human, and for a second the robed person thought they had won over the dragon, as they let out a small laugh in triumph. However, they quickly learned that this wasn't the case when a powerful gale engulfed them and destroyed the chopper.

Though shaken by the sudden strike, the army quickly composed themselves and shouted for their pokemon to attack, sending a volley of different moves toward the sky serpent.

Using its flexibility, Rayquaza weaved through the countless blasts of flame, ice and thunder before striking back with a powerful hyper-beam that took out a huge chunk of the armada as it panned through them.

With the army now in disarray, Rayquaza turned tail and soared away in order to recuperate. Unfortunately, the forces of nature were still kicking and they weren't going to let their prey go so easily.

Giving chase the three genies, tailed Rayquaza closely, firing power shots at it in an attempt to slow it down. But instead, this only served to irritate the dragon as it kept firing beams back in retaliation. However, unlike before the forces of nature managed to dodge Rayquaza's attacks, allowing them to advance closer to the dragon.

Defeat was not an option Rayquaza could take, because it noticed that the three forces of nature were with the army from before, helping them during the skirmish. With the last of its strength, Rayquaza gathered fierce winds on the tip of its tail, creating a twister that it used to push its foes back further away.

But Tornadus, true to its name of the cyclone pokemon, broke through the raging winds and countered Rayquaza with a powerful hurricane that entrapped the dragon, striking every part of its body with raging winds, that made it screech in pain.

After a couple of seconds, the attacks ceased, but they did their mark as all of the pokemon except Tornadus were bruised and panting.

Seizing the opportunity Tornadus rushed at Rayquaza with arms glowing, ready to strike the tired pokemon. But before it could deal the finishing blow, it was struck by a blue beam that encased it in an ice prison.

Surprised by the sudden intervention, Rayquaza reared its head around to watch as the legendary bird of ice, Articuno, flew towards it alongside the blue jet-like pokemon Latios.

"Articuno ice beam!"

"Latios dragon pulse."

Following those voices, the two pokemon charged their attacks and shot past Rayquaza, striking both Landorus and Thundurus, causing them to faint and fall to the earth below.

Confused by the situation it has found itself in, Rayquaza turned to the pokemon that saved it with its guard up. It only got more defensive when it noticed that at the distance a helicopter was coming its way.

Articuno and Latios spoke to the sky dragon, trying to get it to relax and lower its guard but Rayquaza was far too wary. It already had struggled from its previous encounter with humans, it wasn't just going to blindly trust another group just because they helped it.

"Rayquaza! We aren't here to hurt you."

A voice said from the chopper. Though, those words didn't really change its opinion. It glared at the chopper, tensing up, ready to fight.

"I promise that we won't fight you. If you wish to stay safe, please I beg you, follow us."

Articuno and Latios also spoke to Rayquaza, their tones that of begging, which led to the sky dragon relaxing slightly. The chopper turned around and flew back to where it came from, followed by Articuno and Latios. Rayquaza hesitated slightly but sensing that this new group meant no harm, it followed.

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In Sinnoh, there were many things that the people took pride in. The champion, archaeologist Cynthia; the space and time pokemon, Dialga and Palkia; and most importantly the idol group named Hololive, who soared into greatness with their colourful cast of ladies who are more comedians than idols… or so they said in the streets. Still, despite their shenanigans, Hololive were stars that were revered everywhere.

During a concert, the girls gathered at the end and their first member, Tokino Sora, walked to the front, microphone in hand. On behalf of her entire group, she told the audience that she had an announcement.

Everyone held their breath, this was the most senior member, admired as the goddess of the rowdiest group of idols. Her words were always held to the highest of high when it came to announcing activities within the group.

Now she was talking to the crowd, so it warranted that everyone gave their full attention to her.

Raising the microphone close to her lips, Tokino Sora spoke these words…

"This is my final concert, thank you all for your support these past few years of my life. It was truly one of the best journeys I've had. I will remember all of you, my friends and the people who have backed me up all the way, every single one of you will be in my heart forever. Thank you and goodbye."

At that moment the world went silent, not a whisper nor a breath could be heard, it was as if time itself had stopped. The words slowly began to sink into everyone's mind, their eyes and mouths slowly widening as the seconds go by, and in one go, the world went wild. Many flocked to the internet and discussed the announcement, news outlets reported on it with article after article flooding the internet, speculation flew high into the air and everyone was in a mix of wanting to show their support and grief at the revelation.

Tokino Sora herself was surprised by the reaction her words instigated, she didn't think it would blow up to such a degree. She thought of quelling the masses, but she was advised to let the crowd get it out of their system and instead use the opportunity to relax for her new endeavours. So despite the chaos happening around the world, Tokino Sora decided to lay low for a while and head somewhere to relax, as for where, well no one really knew.

While many were undergoing a ton of effort in trying to make sense of the situation. A certain young man had little care for that world and was cooped up in the local library in Sunyshore City, reading about pokemon mythology.

Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly getting the lull atmosphere he came for.

"Hey did you hear about Tokino Sora?"

"Of course I did. It's big news."

"Why do you think she decided to retire, she's still young right?"

"Maybe she's actually older than she looks? If so, damn she looked good for her age."

Through with the gossip which had occupied the last hour he had been there, the boy decided to stop his reading session and left the library in a huff.

But as he walked down the steps to the outside world, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Sho!"

Looking up, the boy was treated to the sight of a young lady with black hair and colourful neon-like eyes.

"AZKi?"

"Reading again? You sure love your books huh?"

"Yeah- wait, what are you doing back in Sunyshore? I thought you were still abroad."

"Hmm? Oh I came back a week ago. Sorry for not telling."

"What couldn't even drop a message for a friend?"

Sho teased, with a slight grin. He didn't really mind not getting a message since he knew she was quite busy, he just needed to let some steam out was all and she didn't disappoint in that department.

"I'm really sorry."

The girl clasped her hand together and bowed a little as she apologised while some beads of sweat trickled down her head, eliciting a giggle of amusement from the boy.

"I'm kidding. So, why are you here?"

AZKi then pointed beside Sho where a poster was plastered onto a wall. On it was the title "Hololive, Final Stage!" tacky, but it definitely got to the point.

"Our last concert with Sora was here."

"Oh I think Yuna mentioned something like that. She did leave for something a couple of nights ago."

AZKi giggled at the boy's comment.

"Eh? Yuna is a fan huh?"

Sho sighed and showed the girl a tired smile before detailing the amount of merchandise his younger sister has bought, as well as the number of times she had squealed in her room while watching the group perform online. That last part was especially tiring since the girls were always online as streamers, and according to Sho, Yuna would always be watching them with stars in her eyes.

AZKi felt kinda bad, she couldn't help but feel responsible for the fatigue in Sho's voice as he spoke about her and her group.

"Well anyway, enough about that. I'm more surprised that your first member decided to retire. Any reason why? She doesn't look that old that she needs to stop."

"It's definitely not that, she's the same age as us. But we don't know her reasons honestly, she wouldn't give us specifics, all she said was that it was an important matter."

Sho hummed in curiosity, he never thought that Tokino Sora would quit being an idol, after all, he could remember her saying that her dream was to be a top-tier idol for a long time. So to see her stop when she was about to reach her peak was shocking.

But who was he to speculate? Not like he knew the girl personally anyway.

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Deep in the forest outside Sunyshore City, a young lady with chestnut hair was sitting in a small opening, caressing the body of a majestic blue-furred pokemon with rainbow-coloured antlers.

"Do I sense an uneasiness in your heart Sora?"

"It's nothing to worry about, I'm just… anxious. I've only been an idol before so I don't know if I can do this job."

"Which is why I am here, I have awoken early for the purpose of guiding you."

"I know and I can't be more grateful Xerneas. Hopefully I can live up to your expectations."

"You will sweetheart, so no more sad thoughts you hear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now then, we should discuss-"

Just then a roar echoed through the trees, coming from the far seas across the city. Its ferocity caused Xerneas to lift its head in concern.

"That shout."

Xerneas instructed Sora to return to the city and head for the beach. When asked what was going on, Xerneas answered that trouble was brewing and that if they don't go to quell it, the city could be in danger.

Distraught, Sora called Xerneas back into its Pokeball before sprinting through the forest, heading back into the city in a hurry.

Meanwhile, closer to the beach of Sunyshore, Sho was returning home late after being dragged around by AZKi around the city as a form of catch-up. A little annoying for him since he wanted to laze about that day, but with the girl literally dragging him around by the arm, escaping wasn't an option available to him.

"Dang it AZKi, I said we needed to head home, but no, we just had to go to another arcade! Yuna is gonna kill me."

On his way home, Sho was passing in front of the beach when a bellowing roar suddenly erupted from the sea, sending a gust of air that nearly blew out the leaves of the nearby trees. Sho himself nearly got swept away but he managed to hold onto some railings to keep his feet firmly on the ground.

The gust soon passed and what followed next was what seemed to be the sound of crashing waves. But when Sho looked out into the sea, his eyes met a tower of rapids that held glowing red eyes within.

Sho's body trembled, his breath, caught in the middle of his throat and sweat dripped through his pores. Never had the boy ever felt such an overwhelming sense of fear before, his body didn't know how to react.

Run? His body didn't listen to him.

Scream? Who was there to listen?

Fight? He wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Xerneas we're here."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Sho glanced to the side and saw a girl staring at the tower of raging waters with a determined look.

Sho didn't know whether his mind or the dark was playing tricks on him, but he felt as though the girl that was beside him was someone he knew.

Feeling the stare on her, the girl turned her head and her gaze landed straight on the boy. A few blinks later and the girl's eyes widened in surprise. She pointed at the boy with gaped a mouth, stuttering as she spoke out.

"You… you are- Sho?"

"Huh? Do we, know each other? Wait aren't you Tokino Sora?!"

"You remember me?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You just said my name, that must mean you remember me right?"

"What are you on about? Of course I would know a world-popular idol!."

Sora could feel her very being break like glass upon hearing those words.

"He doesn't remember me!"

Unfortunately, her time to grieve had to be cut short when a blood-curdling roar erupted from the sea.

"Oh right, was here for that?"

The girl told the boy to get out of the area before vaulting over the railing and sliding down to the beach, leaving a dumbfounded Sho to just watch from the distance.

She stopped in front of the entity that came from the depths, and with a smirk, she readied a Pokeball and challenged the being in front of her.

"Let's do this Xerneas!"

"I see you have finally readied yourself. Very well, I am at your command."