A/N: Hey! I'll keep this quick, but I figured I'd go ahead and fill any readers in on this fic. It's a prequel to my primary story, Traveler, although it's not necessary to read that if you're a new reader of mine. Those who did read Traveler will recognize a lot of references to its established backstory, although much of this content will be new.

This story will be a good deal darker than Traveler and go into the vicious side of pokemon before the world was tamed, but it won't be entirely bleak. Much of the story is based around hope, and that will become far more clear after this first chapter.

If you make it past this first chapter fine then the rest should be easy.

Thanks for reading!

"Come, Mamaru!" Taimu laughed as he trudged his way past the rocky outcroppings and lakes that characterized the lands where Indigo and Cerulean's territories mixed. He turned back to his friend with a bright smile and leaned upon his walking staff. "I know you don't wish to miss dinner! Akemi isn't afraid to send us away with empty stomachs!"

Mamaru grunted softly and trotted up alongside Taimu, who reached up to pat his partner's rock-hard shoulder. "Why am I not surprised that the only thing that will make you move quickly is the anticipation of Akemi's cooking?"

The Rhydon snorted and gently knocked Taimu off of his feet with a light sweep of his tail, although Taimu just grinned and admonishingly smacked him on the nose with his walking staff, which might as well have been a gust of wind for all Mamaru paid attention to it.

"You wound me!" Taimu sighed and pointed at Mamaru with faux anger. "How could you be so unkind as to throw your own partner to the dirt? What if we are needed to protect Indigo?"

Mamaru shrugged, unconcerned. Taimu caught up to the Rhydon shortly thereafter, a look of content on his face as they settled into their familiar routine of comfortable silence, silence that felt as natural as breathing to the Guardians of Indigo.

It was impossible for Taimu to not remember when he and Mamaru had not been together. Even his earliest memories held a young Rhyhorn blessed with great size and strength beyond any other beast of stone known by his people or their ancestors.

Taimu sighed at that. It was his father, Ai Hisao, the Indigo Champion, who had ventured out of the confines of Indigo with his famed Blastoise to find him a suitable partner for his future as the Champion himself, should he prove worthy.

His father had found him a true brother that day, one that would stand by Taimu's side in this life and the next. Taimu held faith that he would rise to be as great as his father with Mamaru's strength by his side.

"Home sweet home," Taimu murmured as they reached the apex of the last hill before Indigo and looked down upon the small city famed for being one of the few with the power to resist Cerulean's unceasing attempts at martial dominance. "Let us hurry, Mamaru. Perhaps my sister will take pity on us for once."

Mamaru snorted disbelievingly at that but lengthened his long strides even further as the two Guardians set a hard pace for the city. Their status would earn them almost whatever they desired in the city's walls, but the one thing not guaranteed to them was the cooking of Taimu's sister, Akemi. Only the most skilled chefs that catered to his father could hope to match his sister's gifts in the culinary arts and that skill gave the shrewd girl a measure of power over him.

Taimu smiled at that. Akemi knew just how to use that power, too.

Still, the sun had not yet fallen over Indigo. Darkness had only just begun to seep into the city's walls and he hoped that mighty Lugia would not hasten night's coming for his sake. The tales told that the Moon Lord's eternal struggle with Ho-Oh fell in its favor in the winter, and the bitter cold of Taimu's least favorite season had just begun to encroach on Indigo's lands.

So he made haste and Mamaru, as much a slave to Akemi's special dishes as Taimu himself, matched him step for step.

XX

"I hope that your meals are to your satisfaction, O great Guardians," Akemi curtsied playfully to Taimu and Mamaru. "You are most fortunate that you arrived when you did, else I'm afraid I would have sent it all to father. He seems to need it — I don't think he has left the Indigo Tower all day."

"That's unsettling," Taimu pondered as he delicately picked at his meal. As much as he would have loved to simply devour the carefully prepared meal of soup and meat his birth and station did not allow it. A Guardian of Indigo must maintain propriety at all times, a rule that was strictly enforced by his father for Taimu, who was destined to become Indigo's Champion. "I'll see that he remembers to eat after Mamaru and I finish our dinner. If he continues like this he'll lose what little hair he's managed to keep."

Akemi playfully swatted him, although she had to stifle a laugh as she did so. "You're lucky that I don't inform Kappa of such an insult to our noble father! She would remind you that you have a long way to go before you can equal the Indigo Champion."

Mamaru grunted at that and swayed his tail in annoyance, the memories of their last spar with the Indigo Champion and his fearsome companion still fresh in their minds. Taimu and Mamaru could match even the fiercest of the other Guardians but his father and Kappa were still far above them, renowned throughout all of Kanto for their legendary strength in battle.

"Father made sure I would keep that in mind for many years to come," Taimu laughed. He didn't share Mamaru's bitterness over their defeat. It had simply kindled a spark to overcome his father one day, when he and his brother had grown enough to match the greatest of Indigo's children. "He wasn't gentle about it, either. After Kappa defeated Mamaru he decided to display my shortcomings with the blade as well."

"Of which there are many, I am sure," Akemi sent an amused jab at him. She turned and busied herself with wrapping up a bit of food in a light cloth and placed the bundle in his hands. "Go now, Taimu. We wouldn't want to keep Father waiting, would we?"

Taimu smiled back and took the bundle as he rose from his comfortable seat and left the scraps of his meal behind. "If I see any of the servants I'll direct them this way."

"I can lower myself to such a menial task as cleaning up after myself, dearest Brother," Akemi rolled her eyes and busied herself with cleaning up the mess. "Don't tell Mother, though. She'd be appalled."

Both Taimu and Mamaru snorted at that. His mother, kind as she could be, would die of shock should she hear of her children doing anything "beneath" them, an attitude that wasn't supported by their father. She could hardly even fathom aiding their servants.

"But that's their job!" Taimu mocked his mother's repulsed tone the last time the issue had been brought up. He grinned as Akemi dissolved into giggles and swatted him on the back of his head again. "Well, I'd best be off. Father won't remember to feed himself, after all."

Akemi flashed him another bright smile as he and Mamaru left their home and headed for the Indigo Tower where their father ruled alongside the civilian Council.

Taimu took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air as he stepped into the twilight. What few citizens still wandered the streets at this time waved to him eagerly, in awe of their Champion's son and the mighty beast of stone that walked with him.

Guardians of Indigo, those few with the honor of receiving a companion taken from the magical creatures that dwelled in the wilderness and the skill to conquer the creature's will and hone it into a warrior unmatched by any human, were often unseen amongst Indigo's populace due to their necessity on the border in these times of strife.

Taimu was one of the five left in Indigo proper, discounting his father. The Council and his father had refused to allow him to travel to the border of Cerulean. While he and Mamaru were already feared warriors even amongst their fellow Guardians, his father deemed him unready to face Cerulean's might.

He let a slight frown slip onto his face before he wiped it away with a jovial smile to another of Indigo's influential citizens, this one an attractive young woman that Taimu vaguely recognized from some formal occasion he couldn't be bothered to remember.

The Guardian did make a mental note to get to know her much more intimately at a later date, although it seemed that the woman's escort were rather against that thought given the way they glared at him.

Still that hadn't stopped him before. Taimu felt his lips quirk up into a fond smile as he remembered sweet Hana. Her father had certainly been displeased with their brief, secret affair. It was a good thing that Mamaru was there else he was sure that the stout, angry fellow would have followed through on his obvious desire to strangle him.

Mamaru just snorted and lightly tapped him on the shoulder with one of his huge blunt claws. He knew his companion well enough to realize where his thoughts had strayed. Taimu just laughed and sent a knowing grin to Mamaru as they headed to the Indigo Tower that jutted proudly above the city's landscape.

Taimu hastened his pace when he realized that he had slowed quite a bit in his contemplation of the noblewoman.

While his father was rather lenient with him, he doubted that he would take that as an excuse as for why his food was cold. The Indigo Champion was as much a slave to Akemi's renowned dishes as Taimu himself.

His lips quirked up at that.

As his mother said, like father like son.

XX

"I am here to deliver a package of great importance to the Champion," Taimu announced gravely to the head of his father's personal guard, a grim-faced man renowned for his loyalty to Indigo and ruthlessness in dealing with its enemies. "It is a matter of gravest concern."

"Itsuki, escort young Taimu to the Champion," Ichiro sighed, all too used to Taimu's games. His Arbok reared up behind him and hissed at Mamaru, who snorted back without fear. Deadly as Arbok was, it could do little to the mightiest of all Rhydon — a fact that had been proven many times in their spars. "Your father is in council with Generals Katashi and Riku at present, but he wished for you to be present regardless. A messenger was just recently dispatched to your residence, actually."

Taimu laughed at that. "See, Captain Ichiro, I'm not always an inconvenience for you. Every now and then I do turn out to be just as much trouble as I'm worth."

"I doubt any of the Lords with daughters would agree…" the Captain muttered under his breath, although Taimu was still able to hear it and barked out a laugh. Arbok hissed at him when he clapped the man on the shoulder, its dislike for him obvious. "Go, Guardian Taimu. We do not have much time."

"What does he mean by that?" Taimu inquired of the grizzled guardsman that escorted him through the halls that he knew as well as those of his own home.

Itsuki glanced around to make sure that none of the servants, guardsmen, or officials that made the tower their home paid any attention to the two before he muttered, "Word is Cerulean's on the move. They've taken Minato and the Ryujin has begun his path of destruction along the coast."

"But they only just began their campaign against Blackthorn in Rota," Taimu frowned, puzzled. "Pewter knows better than to step in there. Do you know what pushed them back? Blackthorn's not so powerful as to force Cerulean back that quickly."

"I'm afraid I haven't heard anything beyond rumors, Guardian. I'm just a simple guardsman," Itsuki apologized.

Taimu glanced over to Itsuki with sharp eyes. Mamaru listened intensely, although he got distracted trying not to bowl over anyone who did their best to walk past his bulk. "And what are these rumors?"

"They say that Rota's Aura Guardian stopped the fighting somehow," Itsuku whispered. "I've heard from traders that a great wave of light stopped the fighting and caused the armies to leave Rota in peace."

"Ha!" Taimu gave a barking laugh at that. "I wouldn't trust the word of that trader any further than I could throw Mamaru, then. Cerulean would have their heads for that and Blackthorn would have plenty of meat to feed those dragons of theirs."

"I never said I believed it, Lord Guardian," Itsuki snorted. "Perhaps the Champion and the Council know more."

Taimu nodded as they came to a stop in front of the great wooden doors that barred the entrance to his father's office. With the weight of the news he'd just received the warm bundle held in his hands seemed inconsequential.

"The Champion is expecting you," one of the two guardsman that were stationed in front of the doors told Taimu and Mamaru as they pulled the doors open for the Guardians.

He nodded his thanks as he stepped in, prepared for whatever was important enough for his father to demand his attention.

Taimu suspected that he would not enjoy what was to come.

XX

"Our garrison at Minato was — ah, Taimu!" His father greeted tiredly, the gaunt face and haggard eyes a far cry from the man who had singlehandedly repelled a dozen of Cerulean's most powerful Guardians several decades ago. "It is good that you did not tarry. We must prepare to act at once."

"What's going on?" He asked, alarmed. Mamaru echoed his concern with an insistent growl, although he calmed himself when the massive form of Kappa glared at him from behind the Champion.

"Cerulean has made its move," General Riku scowled. "They've decided we aren't worth the trouble and that they have finally grown powerful enough to challenge Lavender."

Taimu shook his head ruefully, a bit awed at Cerulean's stupidity. "They're mad."

"Indeed," his father sighed. "But it matters not whether they can best Lavender. All that matters is that we must prepare ourselves for war once again. Minato was lost to their navy yesterday. Their Champion led the attack himself."

Mamaru huffed in concern at that, although he didn't show any other sign of surprise. Taimu, on the other hand, had paled. He'd hoped that Itsuki's claim of the Ryujin's action was simply a rumor that the guardsman had recounted to him.

Cerulean was feared for many things. Their territory was impossibly difficult to assault, given their own powerful navy and the many magical creatures that called the lakes and rivers that wove through the landscape their home. Their warriors were fierce and leaders shrewd. Their trade with distant lands left them wealthy and powerful, one of the two great forces of Kanto.

But their Champion, the Ryujin, was their most powerful weapon. The man, son of Cerulean's Lord, had somehow tamed one of the Sea Dragons that could destroy a hundred ships and raze a bustling town to the ground in less than a day.

Even his father feared Cerulean's Champion, although the Ryujin only held his great power in the seas and rivers of Cerulean. He and the Sea God that had earned him his title had only taken to the land once and it had led to the near-destruction of Pewter's army when they had dared to invade Cerulean from holy Mt. Moon.

Their only comfort was that Indigo was too deep inland for the Cerulean Champion to appear. Ryujin would not take their city, although that was little comfort should the true force of Cerulean's armies direct their attention to Indigo.

"Taimu, the time has come. Cerulean has abandoned any pretense of peace and Indigo must hear the drums of ," his father began forlornly. Kappa put one of her stubby arms onto the Champion's shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly, ready to support her partner in whatever course he chose. "It is time I take to the field myself. Cerulean must be reminded that, while we are small, we are not to be trifled with."

Taimu's eyes widened at that and he struggled not to gawk at his father. It was almost unimaginable to imagine the aging Champion on the field of battle once more, adorned in shining armor and with his worn blade raised in war with Kappa's legendary power at his side.

Cerulean would rue the day they had begun their attack. Minato could not be reclaimed, not with the Ryujin on the field of battle, but Cerulean would pay dearly for their arrogance.

The Indigo Champion had decided his fate and Cerulean's rivers would flow with blood rather than water.

"You shall assume power in my absence," his father smiled at him, pride in his dark eyes. Taimu felt a wide grin split his face and the entire world seemed distant and far away as he realized the trust his father held in him. "Until I return from the fields of bloody battle you will be this city's Lord and Champion, Ai Taimu. Bear this burden well, for it shall be you who leads this city in the future years. Learn and grow wise from this trial, my son."

"I will, Father," Taimu and Mamaru knelt before the Indigo Champion as one. "I shall not disappoint you!"

"I would think not," his father grinned, a bit of his old youthful fire rekindled as he motioned for Taimu to rise and clapped his hand on the Guardian's shoulder. "You are my flesh and blood, after all. You were born for greatness."

"Rise, Taimu, Mamaru!" The Champion commanded. "General Katashi will remain here and advise you in military matters, although I hope that his expertise will not be needed. Councilman Goro will assist you with the day-to-day matters, should an issue arise that the Council is insufficient to deal with. I wish you luck, my son."

Taimu nodded and wiped the silly grin off his face. It was unbefitting of a Champion, even if he was only acting as a regent until his father returned from the border, and it was a necessity to prove himself worthy of his father's faith.

"Guardians Taimu and Mamaru, if you will come with me I will begin to inform you —" General Katashi's deep, slow tones began before he was interrupted with a scream. "What?!"

The occupants of the room all turned to see an Indigo warrior rush towards them with panic and fear revealed in his bloodshot eyes the likes of which Taimu had never seen on a man. He placed a weathered hand onto the hilt of his sword and prepared to draw should the warrior prove to be a threat, although Mamaru or Kappa would likely strike him down before he could act.

He frowned at the man who obviously had little time left in the world if the terrible wounds that leaked his life's essence down his broken armor and bare skin was any hint. How had he entered?

"Lord Champion, Lord Champion!" The man cried as he stumbled to them, his armor rent and torn open by claws harder and sharper than any blade forged by men. Blood ran down his face in rivulets and dripped from his chin. "Please, my Lord, listen to —"

"Calm yourself," his father soothed the man and held him steady. "What is the cause of your concern, Captain?"

"Cerulean!" The man wailed, his mind made weak and feeble by his fear. It was good that he would die soon. His family would be ashamed of such a pathetic display. "They've attacked! White River Fortress has been overrun and the men butchered!"

"What?!" The Champion thundered, face white. Taimu and the Generals let out a deep breath, true fear alit in their hearts. "When? How many of our men have been lost?!"

The man squeezed his eyes shut and did his best to draw away from the enraged Champion as he answered, "Less than an hour ago. Their main force had already moved on when I returned from patrol with my men. The Fortress was razed and the garrison left impaled on pikes. Cerulean only left a few men there to gather their dead and wounded. I don't…I don't think more than a hundred of our men escaped the massacre."

"No…" his father whispered. He slowly rose to his full height and turned to the Generals and Taimu. HIs face was resigned to their fate but his eyes still glittered with the defiant fire that had earned him his place in the world. "Cerulean will be here within a day, should the Captain's words be true. There will be no surrender — we have fought too long and too hard for them to allow us that mercy."

Kappa lowered her head with her partner and allowed her cannons to extend from the darkness of her shell in an act of rage. Her eyes blazed with fury at Cerulean and she grunted softly to the Champion, who sighed and nodded.

"We fight to the death," his father announced grimly. Taimu and the Generals nodded. "Have the men evacuate what citizens they can. The city of Indigo may die, but its soul must live on. I will not give Hanada Minoru the satisfaction of leaving us dead and forgotten in the annals of history."

"Of course, Lord Champion!" General Katashi nodded tiredly and turned to leave. "I shall prepare the defense and organize the evacuation. Perhaps Indigo shall run red with the blood of men, but little will be ours."

His father nodded and waited for Katashi to leave the room before he turned to Taimu and General Riku. The wounded Captain stood forgotten, the suffering of one man nothing to the danger of the news he had brought.

"How do we know he's telling the truth?" Riku demanded, his beady eyes laid upon the dying Captain suspiciously. "He couldn't have made it from the Fortress to Indigo in a single hour! That is a half-day's journey at a brisk pace and his body has already failed him!"

"He didn't come through the door," Taimu noted grimly. He felt his body shake with anticipation and only Mamaru's comforting presence beside him stayed his fear. His brother would support him as he would Mamaru.

His father scowled and began to say something, but was cut off when another presence made itself known.

"That is my doing," a timeless whisper echoed throughout the room. "Lavender sends its regards, Shields of Indigo."

Taimu's hand clenched around the hilt of his sword, an action mirrored by his father and General Riku. Mamaru growled softly and readied himself to charge, whatever good that would do against an envoy of Lavender.

"Calm yourselves, I come as an emissary of the Lavender Champion," the voice's source made itself known in the form of a pale woman with eyes that looked past the Lords of Indigo. "Cerulean has upset the balance and we desire to set the scales back in balance. Indigo is the counterweight we seek."

"I doubt that," his father laughed bitterly. "My army has been butchered and Guardians scattered by Cerulean's might. All we can do now is die honorably and deny the Cerulean Lord the opportunity to rejoice in our fall."

The Envoy nodded, expressionless. "We have felt the massacres. Cerulean has extended its blade and a cloak of death billows in its wake. Lavender will give what assistance we can."

"Bah!" Riku sneered. "And what aid may you give? Our enemies shall arrive within two days at the latest. This warning," he sent a derisive glance at the Captain, whose eyes were blank and dead, "you have deemed fit to give us does little other than to give us the anticipation of our demise. Our soldiers cannot be reorganized in a day!"

"They cannot," the Envoy acknowledged. "There is little we can do at this point. By the time we felt the massacres Cerulean had already broken you. Our Mystics may not journey here in so little time. But we do offer sanctuary."

Taimu's blood chilled even as he felt a rush of hope soar through him. Not for him, but for his people. For Akemi, his mother, and all of those who could not protect themselves from Cerulean's wrath.

They would survive. Indigo would live on, even if its Champion and Guardians did not.

"We accept your offer," his father muttered after a moment's deliberation. "Our people shall go to Lavender. Tell your Champion that my wife and daughter are to be treated as his own, do you understand?"

"Of course," the Envoy replied smoothly. "Your people will be taken care of until they may return to Indigo or rebuild their lives elsewhere. Lavender aids its allies, and you have proven your worthiness of that honor with your coming sacrifice."

The Indigo Champion nodded tiredly. "That is all I ask."

"Send your people along the Violet Road," the Envoy instructed. "A Mystic shall meet them and shepherd them to Lavender. They shall be kept safe in our lands, Indigo Champion. Do not fear for them."

When his father nodded, the Envoy simply disappeared as though she were a mere specter. With the Envoy gone, the Captain who had informed them of Cerulean's movements collapsed, utterly silent other than the thud of his armored body against the floor.

"Do you truly trust Lavender, Lord Champion?" Riku snarled as he glared at the corpse bleeding on the polished wooden floor. "I do not put my faith in those that consort with the dead and defile the world with their magic! They knew of our impending doom and seek to profit from our demise!"

"I do not," his father agreed matter-of-factly. "Lavender seeks only to safeguard themselves. They know of Cerulean's aims and refuse to allow such a thing to happen. We are a mere blade to them, useful only for our sacrifice. But there is more at stake here than our dislike of their manipulations, General. Our families…our treasures, they must be removed from Indigo."

Riku sneered at that but stiffly bowed to the Champion.

"Taimu, my boy…" his father sighed. "Dispatch messengers to the other cities. Cerulean has overstepped their bounds, now. None will allow such arrogance to go unpunished and we shall have our last act of defiance."

"Yes, Father!" Taimu nodded and turned, only to realize that he still held the warm cloth that held his father's dinner. He wordlessly handed it to his father, who let a genuine smile flash across his haggard face.

"Ah, I shall miss Akemi and her cooking," he spoke wistfully. "I do hope it will be many years before I see her once again. Go now, Taimu. Send our last message and go to your mother and sister. I cannot join you, but treasure your time with them as I would."

"Of course," he choked out, the full weight of what was happening finally settled upon his shoulders. "Your will shall be done, Father."

His father smiled softly and patted him on the arm. "Sleep well, Taimu, and return to me when you are rested. You are one of our last Guardians and I will not have you fighting these but hers at anything but your best."

He nodded silently and hurried out of the room, Mamaru beside him. Neither tried to communicate. Indigo was their home and it was about to die, and them with it.

Taimu knew that to be his fate. He would never abandon Indigo in its time of need. Every second that he fought and every Cerulean butcher that he slew alongside his brother would be that much more of a chance his people had to escape their doom.

His life was forfeit to such an enormity.

His strength, his skill, his training — all put on the line. He would die tomorrow, but he would make Cerulean curse his and Mamaru's names before they fell. The legend of his father would be joined with his own.

But that could wait.

For now he had to hurry and carry out his duty. Indigo would die, but Cerulean would die along with it. Taimu carried the poison that would lead to their own demise — the news of their atrocity would be enough even to rile up Pewter's ancient Champion.

Cerulean was strong, perhaps even as strong as Lavender. But they could not resist the wrath of Kanto. Their power paled in comparison.

And it would be Taimu who ensured that Cerulean would face that devastation.

He had to let a bitter smile flow free at that.

At least his death would not be in vain.

XX

"Please, come with us!" Akemi pleaded with him as their mother sobbed quietly in the background. His little sister's eyes were filled with tears and she looked as though she would break down as their mother had in a matter of seconds. "Father will not stop you! We cannot lose the both of you!"

"I cannot, Akemi," Taimu apologized and squeezed her hand reassuringly. His voice was as resolute as he could keep it in face of his inevitable death at the blades and spears of Cerulean. "As a Guardian of Indigo I must remain here. My duty demands that I assist Father in his time of need, even at the cost of my life. I will not abandon him."

Akemi blinked away her tears as best she could. "But you cannot abandon us either! Whatever lives we build in Lavender will be empty and hollow without you, Taimu. Shall we just live on as pets of the Lavender Lord, mere trophies of his fallen neighbors?"

"You will be safe there," Taimu whispered and allowed himself to hold his sister one last time as she wilted into his embrace. "You are our family's future, Akemi. Whatever web of deceit the Lavender Lord weaves, you are strong enough to break free. When the time comes I trust that you will rebuild Indigo and continue our legacy as Ai Akemi. Stay strong, Sister. Mother needs you."

"I — I understand, Brother," Akemi choked out and Taimu sighed and hugged her closer. She had seen but fifteen summers. She was so young. Too young for the quest he had burdened her with and the destruction of the life that should have been hers for many decades to come.

"Stay safe," Taimu murmured and let her go. He ached to give into her pleading and flee with the remnants of his family, to let his weakness dictate his fate. He ached to live. "I love you, dear Sister. Never forget that."

"I love you too," she sniffled and looked to floor until her long curtain of shiny black hair hung around her face like a curtain. "Fight well, Ai Taimu."

"Live well, Ai Akemi," he smiled sadly down at his little sister. "May it be many years before you join me in the stars."

She nod silently and turned away from him. Taimu gazed upon the slight figure of his sister for a few brief moments before he squeezed his eyes shut and allowed the full weight of the coming battle descend upon him.

But Akemi was not the only one he needed to give his farewell to.

"Mother," he acknowledged and sat down on the luxurious bed beside her. She did not look at him and stared at the symbol of Indigo's Champion, a blade covered in flowing vines, that hung upon the wall of his father's quarters with dead eyes rimmed with red.

"It has finally come to this," she whispered and the resignation behind her words wounded his heart. "Our family sundered and lives sacrificed to Cerulean and Lavender both. Perhaps it would be better to die here on Cerulean's cold steel than to languish in Lavender's gilded prison."

"Do not say that!" Taimu snarled as he realized Akemi had left them, what propriety that had been drilled into him since birth banished by the coming death. His mother finally looked at him, shocked at his furious words. "Akemi needs you!"

His mother stared at him coldly, the bright sapphire eyes that Taimu had inherited reminiscent of chips of ice. "Then perhaps you should go in my place rather than chasing an honorable death to avoid the struggles we shall face, boy. It is not I that your sister reveres as an idol."

"My duty is to Indigo first," Taimu snapped out with some difficulty. "No matter what I may wish, I cannot abandon it in its darkest hour. Akemi may yet live a full life, unburdened by the hatred of old men. Lavender will protect her as a symbol of their benevolence. But I? I am known to them. Cerulean and Lavender both will hunt me down as a beast to stamp out the line of Ai."

"Just like your father," she muttered bitterly. "Then do not go to Lavender. Allow our people to find new lives amongst the Mystics and forge your own destiny with Akemi at your side. A Guardian of your skill would be a prized weapon of any Lord, my son. You may find your vengeance at Pewter or Celadon's side, but you must leave this city and the death that will consume it."

Taimu cradled his head in his hands and wished that Mamaru was here to harden his resolve. HIs mother's offer was tempting. The weakness of man shown evident in him here. What would dishonor be in exchange for life? For Akemi's safety?

"No, Mother," he said at last and felt a terrible guilt well up within him at her saddened gaze. "I cannot abandon Father nor my brothers-in-arms to their fate. I am one of our last Guardians and both Mamaru and I will stay with our city to the end. It is our duty."

"Very well," the cold woman hissed. "Begone, my son. This will be the last time we meet in this life. I do hope that your honor is worth our sorrow."

He stood abruptly and left the luxurious room his mother had made her tomb, pale with anger and guilt. His eyes blazed with fire as he stormed out of the Champion's quarters, his mother's harsh words enough to wound his resolve but strengthen it all the same.

Mamaru waited outside the door, great head lowered in sorrow. It seemed that his brother had pondered the coming battle as much as he had and come to the same conclusion.

"Let us rest, Mamaru," he sighed, voice hollow. "It shall not be of fatigue that we fall."

The Rhydon snorted and plodded along beside him as they slowly walked to their quarters, minds dim and cold as they prepared themselves for true war.

It would not be a peaceful slumber.

XX

It was the acrid scent of smoke and the dust of shattered brick that awoke Taimu and Mamaru from his fitful slumber. He wearily opened his eyes, confused and groggy in the haze of sleep, before a jolt of lightning shot through his blood and revitalized him.

"Mamaru!" He shouted above the din of battle and beating of war drums that boomed throughout the night sky. Screams echoed throughout the night before they were quenched all at once, only for another choir of the damned to sing their lament moments later.

Taimu leapt from his bed and kept wary eyes on the door as Mamaru, who had curled his immense bulk on a great heap of sheets near the foot of his bed, rose in a panic at Taimu's call. His slate eyes widened and his tail thrashed furiously as his sensitive ears took in the helpless screams of Indigo's citizens as the Cerulean army made its way into their sanctum.

He quickly pulled on his belt and the expertly crafted gloves that would supplement his grip on his blade and pulled the sword that had been forged for his hand alone from its sheath, which he strapped to the leather strip around his waist.

"We must hurry!" Taimu cried and followed Mamaru, who tore the heavy wooden door off of its hinges with a simple push of his mighty claws. "Mamaru, we must find Father and Kappa! He will need our aid to banish these wretches from our lands!"

Mamaru grunted fiercely and rushed out of the home with the raw fury only the Stone Wall of Indigo could muster, the hatred born only from the threatening of his kin about him like the heat of molten stone.

Taimu's eyes were reminiscent of chips of ice as he followed his companion out of his house, which was still unscathed from whatever beasts Cerulean had mustered against Indigo. It would be one of the last areas the honorless butchers would claim, given its proximity to the Indigo Tower.

His mind bled worry as his thoughts turned to Akemi and his mother, but he steeled himself. Taimu's duty was to his father now. It was only by the Indigo Champion's side that one of the last Guardians could hope to repel Cerulean's incursion.

The Guardian felt true dread well in his heart when he saw just how dark the sky was, still black with night other than the red glow that emanated from the western outskirts of the city. Screams still pierced his ears with their frightened lament and Taimu's grip on his blade tightened as they grew closer.

"Lord Guardian!" A young boy, twelve summers at the oldest, cried as he stumbled over to Taimu and Mamaru. Taimu caught the boy with his free hand and held the terrified child steady as the boy did his best not to collapse from exhaustion. Blood painted the boy's face but it did not appear to be his own, a single flicker of light in the darkness that had consumed this world.

"Speak, boy!" Taimu demanded, fearful for what news the boy brought. "When was battle joined? How many civilians have been evacuated?"

"Mere minutes, sir!" He gasped and looked up at Taimu with eyes that betrayed his terror. Taimu couldn't offer any comfort right now, lest he lose himself to the sorrow that sought to poison his heart. "The Champion holds the western gate, but the Cerulean Tamers match him! He demands your assistance!"

The boy hesitated. "Sir, I don't know if anyone escaped. The Cerulean Tamers…they came out of nowhere!"

Taimu nodded stoically and struggled to retain the dagger of fear that twisted its poisoned blade into his heart at the news. "Very well. Go, boy, and muster what men you can. Tell them that your words hold the weight of my own, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Lord Guardian!" The boy cried and scampered off. Taimu watched him go for a single second and bemoaned the child's likely death before he followed Mamaru, who had already charged for the Western Gate.

Endless hordes of civilians fled past him, tear-stricken faces shaped into incarnations of terror as they sought to escape the marauders. They parted like water about a stone as Taimu and Mamaru dashed through the streets, murder in their eyes and hate in their hearts.

He caught a few flashes of familiar faces: men he had known, women he had charmed, children who had admired he and Mamaru in the streets.

But none were Akemi or his mother.

"Lord Guardian!" A single guardsman clad in only leathers and torn cloth stopped him. The short man's simple armor was ragged and torn and blood seeped from a dark wound on his chest, although it was not deep. "You must flee! Cerulean's Bane has fallen! The Indigo Champion is no more!"

Both Guardians of Indigo froze and Taimu felt as though he had just been punched in the gut. His face paled and he struggled to fight down the acrid bile that rose in the back of his throat.

"…What?" He asked, voice hoarse and weak. "No! You…you must be mistaken! The Indigo Champion must be alive!"

"No, he has been slain," the soldier bowed his head in respect to the fallen Lord. "I saw it myself, Lord Guardian. The Mindflayer and Thundertail…their might was too much for the Champion. He died with honor."

"Then they will be the first to die!" Taimu raged and held his blade high. "How many are there?"

"There are only Tamers," the soldier shuddered as he held his bloodied wound as closely as he dared. Taimu could just barely see the man's pale entrails covered in blood and remaining skin. His death would be a painful one. "At least twenty of them. The Champion and Captain Ichiro slew nine before the Champion fell. I know not of the Captain's fate. He sounded a retreat and we —"

He dropped to the ground, dead. His spine jutted grotesquely out of his neck from beneath the skin of his snapped neck.

"How tiresome. These soldiers…they are not fit sport for men such as you and I!" A low voice chuckled and what few civilians hadn't fled already screamed as they fell as well, necks snapped just as the guardsman's by a force that revealed itself only in a luminescent blue energy. "But you…you are a worthy trophy. Let us fight as men of honor."

A figure wreathed in shadow and the grim blaze that had engulfed the outer reaches of the city appeared beside a strange creature that Taimu scarcely recognized as a Slowbro amongst the devastation wrought upon his city and its people.

"I have killed a good many of your fellows, Indigo Guardian!" The man taunted as he stepped forward and revealed a tall warrior garbed in armor woven of many interlocked strips of leather, iron, and wood. A long blade was held in his hand, alit with the fiery blue glow of a mystic's power. "Meet your doom at the hand of Hayashi Hibiki, greatest of Cerulean's Guardians!"

Taimu snarled and raised his blade to wordlessly accept his challenge. Mamaru snorted and stood by his side, eyes locked on the Slowbro that blankly gazed past him and into the inner confines of the city.

The Slowbro's eyes shone with a deathly blue light as it suddenly shifted its gaze upon Mamaru, who grunted and charged the creature with his great horn lowered even as Taimu rushed forward and prepared to do battle with the bastard Hibiki.

Hibiki grinned with childish delight as Taimu met him in a dance of blades, each warrior honed by years of harsh training and tempered to perfection. The Cerulean Guardian was older, stronger, and more experienced in battle but could not match the younger Taimu's speed and technique.

Taimu was careful as he slashed at the other Guardian with his thin blade and quickly dashed underneath the murderer's guard to jab him in the leg where his armor was thin and weak. Hibiki howled in fury and chopped at him with little more finesse than a woodsman, but the glowing blade very nearly carved through his arm with the power infused into it by Hibeki's companion.

"Die, bastard!" Hibiki howled and swung his blade with both hands in an attempt to slice Taimu into two. He pressed the attack when Taimu dodged, forced to avoid any touch of the butcher's blade due to his own lack of armor, and began to push the younger man back with his longer reach and frenzied blows. "I will have your head!"

He narrowly ducked under yet another chop more fit for an ax than a blade forged for a city's greatest warriors, but saw his own chance as the berserker overextended himself and fell off balance. Hibiki screamed in pain as he slashed at his legs and his razor-sharp blade carved through leather, cloth, and the meat of his calves with hardly any hesitation.

Hibiki collapsed, unable to hold his own weight through the pain of his half-severed legs, but brought his blade down like a hammer upon Taimu, who just barely moved away when the blade smashed into the earth and exploded in a blue flash that blinded him and left a small crater where it impacted.

"I will kill you, meat!" Hibiki raged before Taimu silenced him. The man's head held on only by a string of flesh but Taimu cared not to finish the gruesome task.

Slowbro, who had been steadily backed into an alleyway by Mamaru as it failed to slow the Rhydon with its mystic powers, froze at its partner's death and merely cocked its head to the side as Mamaru rushed forward and gored it through the chest with his great horn.

Taimu sighed at the creature's death and held his blade at the ready. Hibiki had chosen poorly in challenging him. He was no Champion, but Taimu had been trained with Mamaru since he could only just begin to toddle. He had been personally honed into a weapon by his father and tutelage of Indigo's Champion had made him a deadly force.

He let out a shuddering breath at the thought of his father, who couldn't be dead. His father and Kappa were the strongest, the most fearsome warriors ever produced by Indigo. They had left legions of dead in their wake in the last war with Cerulean and were revered as living legends by all of Kanto as the only warriors fierce and skilled enough to force even Cerulean away.

What would the world think of him now?

"Come, Mamaru," he sighed, tired. "We must trek onward. We have bought some citizens time, but Cerulean's Guardians will not retreat until we have all been slain. Let us not keep them waiting."

Mamaru nodded and walked ahead of Taimu, his hide stronger than any blade or blow.

Taimu kept a sharp eye on his surroundings as they ventured into the ruined exterior of the city. There were piles of civilians and soldiers along the road, all killed by Hibiki and his Slowbro. Most had their necks snapped, but several had their chests torn open with blasts of water or were little more than meaty pulp from the strange power Slowbro had infused into Hibiki's blade.

He was no stranger to death, but amidst such carnage Taimu felt the bile rise again.

Kanto was better without Hibiki. He could die knowing that.

But as he approached the Western Gate more devastation made itself known. Buildings had been collapsed from errant attacks of the Tamers' companions and the corpses of mere foot soldiers were cast about the streets and plazas like trash.

He felt a fierce flame grow within him as he saw the injustice of his soldiers' and peoples' deaths. They had been hunted down by Cerulean's Tamers with impunity, torn to shreds by their fierce beasts or burnt till little was left but bone and blackened strips of flesh that made Taimu's stomach roil. Others had been ripped apart with water or hands stronger than any human's.

The worst were the victims of the Mindflayer and Thundertail. Taimu knew who the slayers of his father were. They were almost as renowned as the Ryujin on the fields of battle, feared for their skill and reviled for their cruelty to defeated foes.

They were easy to identify. The Mindflayer's Golduck left its victims alive but dead in spirit. They sputtered wildly to invisible entities and people that were butchered around them, covered with blood and beyond the reach of any man. They cried furiously and ate at their fingernails until they bled, pulled at their skin until it was torn off in strips of flesh.

They were broken.

Taimu steeled his heart and sent them to the stars with a swift slice of his blade. Mamaru simply stood by his side and allowed Taimu his time to grieve.

The Thundertail's Pikachu had fried dozens of men, its lightning terrible in scope and power. Entire squads died in an instant, appearing almost alive save for their stiff bodies and unseeing eyes. Their corpses were posed strangely, frozen in positions forced upon them by the monster's lightning.

He let hate flow through him. They would die by his blade or Mamaru's horn.

He would not allow himself to die until then. Taimu would rise from the grave should he fail to avenge his father and ensure that little Akemi and his mother would not suffer such a despicable fate.

Taimu felt ill as he finally reached the Western Gate, which had been abandoned by the Cerulean force as they pushed farther into Indigo. Hundreds of men were strewn haphazardly across the plaza, many unrecognizable from the pillars of flame and lightning that had slain them.

"So this is war," Taimu fought down a gag as the stench of charred corpses and the sharp bite of iron filled his nostrils. Mamaru grunted forlornly beside him, as horrified as he was if not quite as badly affected by human death. "I see no glory here."

His eyes shone with tears from the acrid smoke that burned his eyes but he held as firm as he could. Taimu knew that should he lose himself to the brutality of this macabre scene he would lose all composure.

He could not allow himself to falter. Not yet. Not until his father's assassins had been cut down by his hand.

But Taimu could deny the sense of dread that poisoned his will as he carefully stepped through the piles of shredded bodies. His boots were liberally painted with the slick red of blood and he dared not to think of the cause of the soft squelching beneath him.

"No," he whispered when he finally came to a spot relatively clear of the gore that layered over the rest of the plaza. Black marks had scorched the stone, remnants of the Pikachu's ruthless attacks and parts of the cobblestone road had been dredged up by the Mindflayer's blasts of water, although most had gone past and collapsed several of the nearby buildings.

Three familiar forms laid in it, left unspoiled out of either respect or necessity. He suspected the latter. Cerulean would want the bodies as trophies.

"Ichiro," he murmured as he knelt beside the limp corpse, who almost seemed alive. His eyes were shut peacefully and only the slit through his chest and lack of breathing told him that the Captain was dead. "A good death."

He lightly flipped the famed warrior over and motioned for Mamaru to drag him into the midst of the corpses surrounding them. Taimu could do nothing for the dead Arbok that laid beside Ichiro protectively, its midsection crushed by some terrible force, or Kappa, but Ichiro could be hidden from Cerulean.

Mamaru returned quickly, his protective nature only amplified by the death and danger that pervaded their home like a foul miasma. The Rhydon bowed his head sorrowfully and lightly touched Kappa's still form, which was relatively unscathed from what Taimu could see.

"May you find peace amongst the stars," Taimu murmured as Rhydon gently flipped over Kappa's massive body to reveal what had slain her. He breathed deeply when he saw the full extent of the damage Cerulean had done to the underside of his father's dearest companion, closer to him than any of his kin. "Rest well, Kappa. Keep Father company until we may join him."

Mamaru let out a soft cry as he looked upon his mentor's ravaged body, the slightly weaker underbelly opened up as though she had been torn apart by something's bare hands. Her eyes looked to have been burned out by some terrible power and all of her limbs had been broken horribly.

Taimu struggled to look away from the visceral sight that almost made him want to lose control of his stomach. Of all the horrors he had seen on this damned night this was the worse. Most of the men he didn't know. What Guardians remained in Indigo hadn't been stationed at this Gate and any of the men he would have recognized were lost amongst the piles of the dead.

A sense of numbness finally set over him as he squeezed his eyes shut to allow himself just a moment of peace.

Kappa had been one of the great constants in his life, even more so than his own mother. She had trained him and Mamaru alongside Father, always there and always an immovable rock amongst the occasional chaos of his life.

She was a mentor, practically a second shade of his father.

But to Mamaru she was so much more. Kappa had practically raised him when he had been newly taken from the wilderness. She had taught him to fight, how to protect, how to live.

Taimu placed a gentle hand on his brother's frozen form, offering what little comfort he could. Mamaru had helped him many times, saved his life several times over. He would repay those favors in any way he could.

"She will be remembered," Taimu whispered. Mamaru just remained silent and still. "We shall keep her in our hearts, no matter what else happens. Kappa's legend will never die."

Mamaru nodded slowly and straightened, bloody fury in his eyes. He restrained himself lest Taimu be hurt or the bodies of the dead be defiled by his power, but Taimu could see the power that had built up within him.

Taimu turned away from Mamaru now that he knew that his friend would be alright. They could not tarry, not when Indigo was being sacked and his people slaughtered like beasts.

But he had to find his father first. Cerulean could not have the Indigo Champion's body — his father would never be reduced to a trophy, nor would his head adorn a pike in Cerulean City. Taimu had failed to assist his father against Cerulean's ruthless surprise attack but he would not fail to avenge him.

Mamaru grunted softly and slowly dipped his head in the direction of the gate, eyes veiled with sorrow as Taimu found what he sought.

He immediately wished that he had never come here, that he had simply gone to hunt down the Cerulean Guardians without a thought for the fate of his father.

For Ai Hisou, Champion of Indigo, Cerulean's Bane, had been subjected to a fate no man of his station had a right to bear.

"Father!" Taimu cried and stepped forward, his body slow and sluggish as he sought to reconcile the sight of the man bound to the stone arch of the Western Gate and stripped of his armor, left with no modesty in his fall from grace. He was almost undamaged save for a few bloody gashes that would take hours to kill a man, let alone one of the Indigo Champion's constitution.

But his father's humiliation was the least of his concerns. What almost brought Taimu to his knees was that he was still alive.

It was a false life, though. One no man should suffer through, an indignity as shameful to the foul perpetrator as it was to the victim.

His father squealed at his voice, eyes erratic and unfocused as he screamed at invisible specters that haunted his shattered mind. He did not even see Taimu, but his presence only exacerbated the terrors inflicted upon the Indigo Champion, the pain enough to cause his father to let out yet another ear-splitting shriek and struggle to tear his bloody hands out of their bindings and pluck his eyes out.

"Father," Taimu murmured and nearly dropped his sword, immune to all of the horror and blood that surrounded him in favor of the worst sight of his life. His body acted on its own, independent of his frozen mind. He felt as though he simply watched himself, locked out of his mortal shell.

"Mamaru," his hoarse voice whispered, "raise me. I cannot leave him like this."

The Rhydon chuffed softly and tapped a dull claw to his heart in a symbol of his own pain before he followed Taimu's command and lifted the man of nineteen summers as high as he could.

Taimu met his father's glazed, unfocused eyes as best he could without allowing himself to weep at the Indigo Champion's ignoble fate. He shuddered and raised his blade to the now-silent man's neck as the shell of his father was lost once more to the terrible visions inflicted upon him by the Mindflayer.

"Farewell, Father," the last Guardian of Indigo cried as the shattered man before him opened his unseeing eyes for yet another wail of pain and terror, "May your name live forever amongst the stars!"

His blade struck true and Taimu forced himself to watch as what little light had been spared left his father's eyes in unison with the blood that trickled from his neck. Taimu felt his stomach lurch as his father died and could not withstand the upheaval of his gut as he felt the true horror of what he had done wash over him.

He was Kinslayer, foul and lesser than any of the murderers that stalked his city. Any true son of Kanto would take his head for this terrible act, a murder that was the only mercy he could give.

Taimu turned from his father as Mamaru let him down and tears stung his eyes. His blade was heavy in his hand and he gazed down at the bloody steel in disgust. The blood of Indigo's last Champion glistened under the fiery light of the Gate's great braziers, the evidence of his patricide evident upon it, blood that would stain his hands in this life and the next.

Mamaru rested a great claw on his shoulder, the cold stone as comforting as any warm embrace. Taimu's eyes burned with sorrow and the beginnings of a great wrath, the spirit of grief summoned only by the most terrible loss. His hand tightened and he rose with a straight back, righteous fury ablaze in his sapphire eyes even as tears trickled down his face.

"Come, Mindflayer!" He roared out to the dying city of his forefathers. "I, Ai Taimu, son of Ai Hisou, the last Indigo Champion, call out for death! Come and find it, coward!"

"Hail, Guardian," a gravelly voice announced its presence to his right. Taimu whirled around with his blade at the ready, although no attack came from the source. Mamaru growled and inched forward, ready to defend his companion from this new threat. "I fear that I am not the one you seek, though I would bring him to you if such an act was within my power."

"Then begone!" The enraged Guardian raged and raised his blade to the fearless older man that looked at him with weary eyes. A shadow hung behind the newcomer, tall and built as solidly as Mamaru. "Your death is not the one I have ordained!"

The man with a head of silver nodded slowly and lightly stroked his long beard as he regarded Taimu. "I'm afraid I can't do that, young Guardian. It is an ugly duty I perform, but my duty nonetheless."

"Then fight me!" Taimu cried. "I will strike down every Cerulean usurper should it give me my vengeance!"

"Ah, the folly of youth," the man bowed his head. "But it is not misplaced here. Young Haru has earned his fate. I weep alongside you, Guardian. Ai Hisou was my enemy for far longer than a sapling like you has weathered this world but he was a worthy foe, a man I was proud to meet on the field of battle. To see the legendary Cerulean's Bane brought so low stung my heart more deeply than any blade."

Taimu watched with hate in his eyes as the old man's shadow revealed itself as a mighty Machamp, just as old and scarred as its life-long partner. The hulking warrior dipped its crested head to he and Mamaru, possessing the same grave presence as the man beside it.

"Before we meet in battle I must thank you, Guardian," the old man sighed forlornly. "Had I not been forbidden I would have given the Indigo Champion the mercy of my blade long ago. I had hoped that a son of Indigo would find him and accomplish what I could not. You have done your Champion and myself a great service, boy."

Taimu's grip tightened and he fought the urge to charge the man as wildly as Hibiki. He did not know this man but to have survived this long in the fierce battles between Cerulean and Indigo he must have been truly powerful, particularly if he had fought and survived against his father as he implied.

"I take no pleasure in this, but let us do battle!" The old man brandished his own blade, which was scarred from years upon years of use but as deadly as Taimu's own. "I wish you peace, child."

That was enough for him. Taimu and Mamaru charged as one, brothers of rage and united in fury. His blade sailed high as he moved to the old man, but the ancient warrior had decided a different path for him.

"Han," the old man sighed. The Machamp nodded with regret in its wise eyes and stepped forward to meet the last Guardians in battle. Its movements were quick, precise, and graceful in a way such fearsome warriors as Machamp rarely attained. "Let us fight for our old adversary's honor today, my old friend."

Taimu was only aware of a sharp pain in his chest before the world flickered away.