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    Brettles' Entry for GCEA short Story competition

    Notes:
    This story has references to violence.

    Remembrance lost.

    The Spring festival was in full swing.

    Brett stood at the Mauville monument. He read the names of his friends and his old Pokémon who had given their lives here in this city. The crater that had once been a thriving city had been cleaned of rubble, but no-one had rebuilt in this area. I was considered sacred ground.

    The monument was a huge granite Growlithe with its head thrown back as if howling at the midday sun. It was designed to represent the mournful howl of one of the trainer who had given her life trying to save the city.

    This area was normally quiet and deserted.

    Today however was the first day of the spring festival. The crowds gathered to pay respects to the fallen, and celebrate those who help rebuild the Hoenn region. The crowds were happy and excited that spring had come, but there was also a feeling of nostalgia from the older participants in the day. This area and the day were still respected by the survivors.

    The crowd of spring-time revellers flowed around Brett, and he withdrew deeper into his coat which was rough by design, to allow him to remain incognito.

    Brett had avoided this spring-time festival for years. Today though, he had something special planned. His plan might stop this festival from ever having been needed.

    If he was going to try to change it, he needed to embrace the event one last time.

    He heard the whispers of the crowd who were standing back giving him room.

    “I tell you that’s him. That’s Brettles.”

    “That old guy in the dusty old coat? Brettles is a hero. That guy is just some old geezer lost in his past.”

    “I tell you it’s him.”

    “Well go ask him then.”

    There was tug on Brett’s coat. He turned to see a young boy looking up at him.

    “Excuse me mister. Are you Brettles?”

    Brett looked down at the child. “No child. Trust me I am no hero! I heard that Brettles died a long time ago.”

    Brett turned and walked into the crowd.

    The buzz of the crowd seemed louder this year. That was probably because the crowds were much larger than last year. It was the 50th anniversary of the Event. This marked the 50th spring festival since the Shadow Event. Once upon a time that was all that needed to be said. Once upon a time people still remembered the horror of that day and the awful years that followed it.

    Most of the people here today were too young to have experienced it. Those who were old enough had a warped remembrance. Most had watched reports about it on TV, or heard about it from someone who claimed to have seen it.
    Brett knew however that there was only one person in the crowd knew the truth. Only one person here had witnessed the day, and that man was responsible for most of the lies that were spread about the day. They heralded Brettles as a hero. They claimed he had saved them. But Brett knew the truth. He truly was no hero. The heroes were all gone. Forgotten twisted and warped by a false history.

    Today they were celebrating heroism, and trust in each other. It was ironic how much trust was honoured on this day. Little did they know that is was distrust that had led to this in the first place. The distrust of a friend and team-mate that had led a decent hard-working trainer into corruption that led to the near destruction of the whole country.
    A fanfare blared out announcing the start of the re-enactment of the Shadow Event. Children who had been gathering new flowers and hunting coloured eggs ran back to their parents. This was an annual event, and this year promised to be of even bigger significance.

    Tis year the re-enactment would be performed for actual descendants of the survivors of Mauville. Brett sighed as he settled in to watch what everyone believed to be the truth about the day.

    As always the actor playing Jacob came out first, they must have used some dark Pokémon to create the effect of shadows wrapped about ‘Jacob’. The crowd booed at the destroyer of Mauville. Hatred of the destroyer filled the hearts of the audience. ‘Jacob’ was once again, portrayed as the great evil villain, who brought about the destruction of Mauville and the lands for hundreds miles around.

    The historical record was very clear about Jacob being the mastermind behind the Shadow plague and destruction of the city. But the records were at odds to the boy that Brett had known so many years ago. This earnest young trainer had fallen into shadow and driven in desperation to re-earn the trust that he had lost when his team abandoned him in distrust. The real Jacob was a fallen hero, not this abomination of evil personified that the crowd believed.

    Whatever had happened to Jacob when he tried to tackle the desert alone had changed Jacob, and his Pokémon. That had been a horrible day.

    The boos stopped and a respectful silence fell over the crowd as the actors playing Trissa and Serena appeared. As always they were portrayed with beams of light radiating from them as they came to stop Jacob.

    ‘Trissa the Brave’ walked up to confront ‘Jacob’ directly. She gave the traditional ‘impassioned speech’ to try to sway the destroyer. History recorded her pleading with him to spare city, while ‘Serena the Guardian’ gathered the little children in the crowd to protect them.

    Brett always chuckled at that bit. The usual row that Trissa had with Jacob had been changed through the years into a stirring emotional plea and declaration of independence from the destroyer’s evil. The real Trissa would have been quite annoyed if she knew how soft she was being represented.

    The next part of the re-enactment was much less pleasant, but much closer to the truth of the day. ‘Jacob’ sent out his Scyther to attack ‘Trissa’. Two small children dressed as a Mudkip and a Zigzagoon, jumped in front of ‘Trissa’ to save her.

    While the crowd booed, Brett remembered the day, 50 years ago; when Trissa’s beloved Kips and Zag gave their lives to protect their trainer. He remembered Trissa’s cry of despair as her Pokémon were cut down. He remembered the shadows that seemed to live in Jacob’s eyes that day. He remembered the cry of pain, quickly silenced as Jacob finished Trissa once and for all.

    The children cheered as the actor who played ‘Serena the protector’ tried to usher them to safety. Finally turning to face ‘Jacob’ as the children of the crowd ran to safety, she faced down an actor in a shadow Charizard which slew her.

    “Close, but no quite”, Brett murmured to himself, remembering the orphanage that Serena had barricaded against Jacob. She had bravely refused his commands to bring out the children. Brett remembered the smell of flames as Jacob’s huge shadow Charizard burned that orphanage to the ground.

    The next part of the re-enactment had always annoyed Magnus. Along with Brettles, Magnus had been the only witness to survive the battle. With Magnus’s passing way in the past year, only Brett remembered the truth.

    Three figures emerged to the frenzied cheers of the crowd. Brett groaned as he watched the actors enter. This was the worst of the lies. A ‘hero’ who didn’t deserve the title, accompanied by two of the bravest people Brett had ever met.

    First entered ‘Scope the Clever’ a fair representation of the young trainer in his white lab coat, seemingly inquisitive about everything. ‘Scope’ was as the man who had finally put down the destroyer, sacrificing his own life in the act. Brett knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t smart to believe your own lies.

    Next entered ‘Magnus the Sidekick’ in the flawed memory that was recorded of him. A scrawny, nervous kid in an army top quickly ran from hiding spot to hiding spot, trying to escape ‘Jacob’s gaze. Seemingly scared but willing to back up the true hero of the piece. Magnus was always annoyed that he was displayed as the comic relief of the piece.

    Brett had tried man times to apologise for how Magnus was portrayed, but the large trainer always responded the same way. “It’s what had to happen! Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Brett turned to reply to Magnus, but then remembered that his old friend was no longer here. He was alone now. Sadly he turned back to the re-enactment. It was time for Brettles to appear.

    A huge actor in a golden cape stepped out into the arena. The actor Strode forward, full of courage, ready to face down the destroyer. The cheers of the crowd swelled as the actor playing ‘Brettles the valiant” blew kisses to the audience.

    The crowd screamed as the shadowy ‘Jacob’ attacked, sending out wave after wave of powerful shadow Pokémon. ‘Brettles’ stood still and sent out his six Pokémon to face the horde. In this re-enactment the 6 Pokémon easily fought off the Shadows.

    Brett closed his eyes at the sight trying to avoid the memories, but the memories came anyway.

    Somehow the shadowy energy that Jacob was radiated had affected all of the Pokémon at the local Pokémon Centre. There hundreds of them. Brettles tried to stand against Jacob, but he truly had no chance. He was very quickly overpowered by Jacob’s shadow Pokémon. Char and Quicksilver were cornered by Jacob’s shadow Swampert. Their flames extinguished in a single powerful stream of mud. Sparks was crushed by a rockslide from that murderous Aggron. Current melted by a fireblast from the shadowy Charizard, and Liquefaction torn apart by Jacob’s Scyther and Golbat. Night Fang, that beautiful loyal Mightyena, had fallen while trying to cover Brettles with its body.

    Tears rolled down Brettles face as he remembered the tragic loss of his team. He watched the actors re-enact ‘Brettles’ saving both ‘Magnus’ and ‘Scope’ time and time again.

    “What a load of rubbish”, he thought. The truth of Magnus appearing at the last moment, rescuing Brettles and Scope when it seemed that Jacob was about to kill Brettles and take his last remaining Pokémon was forgotten. The heroics, when Magnus battled Jacob to a standstill were not found in any history book.

    He remembered the wounds that Magnus had taken, leaving the fit trainer unable to walk again. Such sacrifices were lost and forgotten to the winds of history now.

    In the re-enactment ‘Scope’ set up the machine that would wind up taking his own life, along with the life of the destroyer. That was the way that it was recorded.

    The truth was much harder to handle. Brettles remembered the purification machine that Scope set up, while Magnus held the shadows back. The deaths of many Pokémon and the ruination of Magnus’s legs had paid for this one-shot opportunity to remove the shadow from Jacob. Scope lined up the shot and hit Jacob with the powerful beam.
    As Jacob writhed in pain from the Shadow energy being drained out of him, the shadowy Pokémon descended on Scope, and whatever happened, by the end of Scope was simply no longer there. To this day Brett wondered what had happened to Scope.

    Back in the play, ‘Scope’ set his machine off killing Jacob, and then being killed by the power of the weapon overloading. ‘Brettles’ however fought off the rest of the shadow Pokémon and saved the remaining citizens, and was praised as the hero of Mauville.

    In his mind however, Brettles knew the truth. The purification machine worked. Jacob fought off whatever dark force had control of him and tried to redeem himself by fighting off his own shadow infected Pokémon to save what was left of the town. He stood no chance, The Shadow Pokémon turned on him devouring him, before scattering throughout the country spreading destruction and their shadowy curse far and wide.

    Brettles remembered grabbing Magnus and doing what he could to stop the bleeding, but the damage to Magnus’ legs was beyond his ability to heal.

    Magnus seemed to know the extent of his injuries, but even then he had taken control. “They are going to need a champion to hunt down these Shadow Pokémon” he said. “I can’t do it with these legs. The others are dead. It has to be you. Here is what we tell the authorities.” Magnus unfolded a tale, much of it made up, which they would tell the authorities when they finally arrived. The truth would have to be sacrificed in order to give the country hope.

    History recorded those lies as truth, and Brettles had been a figurehead in the Shadow wars. Brettles and Magnus became the stewards of the truth of Mauville.

    Brettles looked at the crowd of people and then turned away from the re-enactment and walked back to the monument. He reread the names of the fallen and paid his respects one last time.

    Slowly walking away from the crowd, he found a nice shady place to sit.

    He pulled out his last remaining Pokeball. All of the other Pokémon he had trained had been passed on to his Nephews and Nieces as they started their own Pokémon journeys a long time ago. This one was special however.
    “Merrilin, my old friend. I choose you.”

    The old Alakazam came out of its ball. ‘You look older than ever my friend. I sense that you are still focussed on your task.’

    Brett smiled. “I am. This world is wrong. We need to fix it.”

    Merrilin smiled ‘There is a way. I have been training. A mind strong enough can go back to when the mind was weak and deliver a message. A small one.’

    “How so I do that?” Brettles asked.

    You, don’t’! I am old, but my mind is at its strongest, I will go back to when I was weakest. To the day when you first met me. I will implant a single thought into my younger head that will help guide a new future.’

    The Alakazam didn’t seem to want to meet Brett’s eyes as it spoke.

    “What aren’t you telling me?” Brettles asked.

    This is a one way trip. I will stay in the new history. You will be alone.

    “I know! But the chance to stop the shadow plague from happening, to stop the Shadow Event. This history may not even happen. Perhaps I will be lonely, or perhaps this will change the world enough that all of our friends will be back with us. I don’t know what will happen but it will be better than this. What do you need to make the journey?”

    I am ready. All I await is your command. You are my friend, but as has always been, you are my trainer and my master. This must be at your command.

    Brettles embraced his old friend. “You know the tipping point. Whatever happens don’t let me spy on Jacob once we enter Mauville. Don’t let him go into the desert alone. Make sure I trust him, or this all happens again.”

    Are you sure you are ready to let it all end?

    “Go.”


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