Age of Magic - Prologue (Pokemon Fan Fiction)

  Ale, its little wonder why some men crave it. A few tankards can wash away a gloomy day and a few more can rub out the best part of the week, but its during toughs moments that even the most tight lipped man can spill his darkest secrets for little more than a silver piece. One such man lay sprawled on a table, his thirteenth tankard half empty and his eyes spun in their sockets. His stench was only matched by the equally sickly smell of split ale that had gone stale mouths before. Even his shabby clothes did nothing to cover up his odor. The man struggled to lift his grizzly head, his beard dripping with dribbled ale as he tried his best to focus on the men that surrounding him. There were five of them in total, all sitting around him among different table which were placed in the glow of a burning fireplace set deep in a stone wall right at the back of a rundown tavern. Except for one hooded man who choose to stand away from the group and away from the light of the fire.

  “Truth comes on wings of white” said the drunk man grabbing the attention of the others. “I know because I have seen it. A Pokémon whose massive body cuts the very sky in two like a burning blade.”
 
   “Here we go again, he always get like this after he’s drunk too much” said one of the men, he couldn't quite tell who.
 
   “If what you say is true then describe this Pokémon and maybe we’ll believe you.” This time it was one of the other men.
 
He swigged the last of his ale. “Fine” he said, slamming his now empty tankard down and pushed himself up onto the table.
 
   “Imagine a Pokémon whose full height reached higher than the stone walls that protect our city and could crush those walls in a second. A Pokémon who’s fur is like snow and had wingspan that matched the length of a barn house. I have seen its tail glowed with a heat so intense that it burnt the very hair off my face, and I have seen it lash the sky with fire only gods could hope to control.”
 
The drunk man span to face every man as he described the details of the Pokémon, his arms waving wildly more to keep his balance than anything else. Every one of them sitting around him waited, wanting to know the next detail and the drunk man was not one to disappoint. Kneeling down he beckoned them closer.
 
   “If you’re ever unlucky enough to meet this Pokémon” he said in a whisper. “Never look into its eyes. I have seen the power they hold, the power to see deep into a man’s soul and if it doesn't like what it sees it will burn your flesh with its blue fire and devour what’s left of you until only your pure soul remains to wonder the world without your body.”
 
He jumped off the table and stumbled towards the fireplace before turning around to face all five men still watching him. Maybe it was the ale but it seemed that all of them, even the shaded man, clung to his words thirsty for more.
 
   “You’re crazy, no Pokémon like that exists” said the same man from before, but this time he didn't sound so sure of himself.
 
   “Yea, and even if it does how do you know about it?”
 
The drunk man pointed up towards the ceiling swaying lightly as he did. “Because I was there, I was one of hundreds of men that left to fight the beast.”
   
   “But how did you survive?”
 
He let his arm fall back to its side and slumped his head at the recollection of his survival. Reaching for another tankard his head dropped considerably lower when he saw it was empty.
 
   “I was a coward” he said, after a few long minuets of staring into the empty beer mug. “I ran as soon as I saw the thing. Then I watched as my friends died to its flame, unable to do anything to save them.”
 
One of the men got up to put his hand on the drunks shoulder. “Look, it’s not that we don’t believe you, it’s just without evidence it makes your story a little hard to swallow. Maybe you should just go home, soak your head in some cold water and go to bed, hmm?”
   
The hooded man who had spent all night in silence finally moved from his spot in the corner. He pushed passed the group and stood in front of the drunk whose eyes were still fixed on the empty tankard.
   
   “You story is very interesting” he said, an odd smile etched across his lips. “But you forgot to mention the name of this Pokémon.”
   
Most of the hooded man’s face was still covered by the shadow of his hood and even his hands were covered with black leather gloves. The first thing that the drunk man noticed was how clean and pale he was, not a single strand of hair tarnished his face and the fire light seemed to reflect off his bleach white skin like it would off a pool of water. The second thing he noticed was how sharp his features looked, his chin jutted out into a point and his cheekbones stuck out alarmingly, even his nose had a hooked end similar to that of a bird.
 
The drunk man shrugged, “I don't want to say its name for they say it summons the beast, but I think it was called...”

A flash of lighting stabbed the sky outside and its low rumble shook the tavern. The drunk man fell to the floor in a blind panic, his arms wrapped around his head. The man that was standing next to him keeled down to help him up, but he fought against him. Then tavern then began to tremble when a roar sounded in the distance, shaking the dust from the ceiling.
 
   “It’s him, his returned to take my soul” screamed the drunk man from the floor.
 
   “It’s just a storm” Said one of the men.
 
   “That’s no storm” said the hooded man, still with his nerving smile.
 
There was another blood chilling roar but this time it was right outside. The very foundations trembled, the tankards fell from their tables, glass shattered around them and the only one standing by the end of it was the hooded man. The tavern began to groan in agony and without as much as a warning the roof was ripped from the walls. In one swipe thick beams were snapped like twigs and the men were deafened by the crash of the crumbling building, slates came falling down like blades, crushing anything they landed on. The sky was consumed fire, the very air began to sizzle from the heat and in the mists of all the fire, there were two blue eyes watching.