Dying Lands

Before this all begins, just to point a few things out that I find important or noteworthy of mentioning. First of all, as some of you have already figured out from the synopsis, this will be based on the fan game Pokemon Reborn. Very sick game, in more ways than one. Also, this will be a single pairing, so no harems or the such. The love interest has already been decided.

Also, I'm pretty tired right now, so the dialogue and such might be a bit awkward in this first chapter. It hopefully won't be for future chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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A certain young man could be seen seated in what looked to be a train, a rather fancy one at that. The young man appeared to be around the age of seventeen, his eyes were closed as he was calmly sitting. Though, he soon turned his head to the window and opened his eyes slightly, revealing two different colours. A crimson red eye and a silver eye, his silver eye matching with his smooth hair of the same colour.

His attire was pretty casual as he was wearing a tight white t-shirt with grey outlines, along with sleek long black pants that stuck well to his rather slim legs. Along with wearing black tall combat boots, and what looked to be black gloves on both of his hands.

This young man was none other than Nixon, someone who had boarded this train from the Hoenn region, and his destination was the Reborn region. He doubted anyone on this train knew, but he knew very well the condition of the region he once called home, and it was anything but pretty.

If any of them knew of the place they were heading to now, he doubted they would even consider staying for over a minute. Looking around, he could tell a few of them were either new or average trainers, most likely coming to Reborn to participate in the league, which was apparently rumoured to be immensely difficult.

While others only took it as rumours of being stronger than any other league in the world by leaps and bounds, Nixon knew first hand as he has had some experience with some gym leaders all those years ago. How long ago was it, ten years now? He knew just how strong Reborn's gym leaders were, and no other gyms in the world could compare.

He had met some gym leaders back during his life in Hoenn, and he had seen them battle, they really couldn't compare.

Anyway, even though he had his own very personal reasons for coming to Reborn, returning that is, he was still coming here to participate in the league. The reason being that gym leaders were the stepping stones to becoming stronger, they were like trials to determine whether or not you've become stronger.

If there was anything he knew of to help him get stronger, it was taking on the gym leaders!

'We should be arriving soon...'

"Excuse me, young man." Nixon didn't seem to react much when a sudden voice suddenly called out to him. Turning his head away from the window, he looked to see that the person that called out to him was a woman who was probably in her early thirties or later, though she did look rather young.

He also noticed that two others were standing behind her, and from the looks of it, they were probably around the same age as himself. All of them had blonde hair, with two of them being female and the other a male. It didn't take a genius to tell that they were obviously related to one another.

Nixon couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly though when he saw the clothing they were wearing, said clothing looking to be rather fancy. The older woman had a blue fancy dress, the other female wearing a white fancy dress, and the male of the three wearing a suit. The younger girl also looked to be holding a white pokemon in her arms.

Nixon immediately recognised it to be a Vulpix, the Alolan variant that is. He had seen a number of Alolan pokemon in the past, back when he lived here in the Reborn region as a child. They weren't extremely common, but you could definitely find them if you looked in the right places.

"This was the seat we were assigned to, do you mind?"

"Go ahead." Nixon replied simply in a dull tone as he took hold of his backpack that he had placed on the seat opposite to the one he was sitting on. They all gave him a thankful nod as they all sat on the seat opposite to him. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you travelling to Reborn?"

Nixon was honestly curious.

He wasn't sure whether or not they knew the shit hole that the region was, but he wanted to see if he could know the reasons for them boarding this train. Perhaps they were as clueless as the other trainers on this train, or maybe they had a legitimate reason.

"My name is Nixon by the way."

"I see, a pleasure to meet you, Nixon. My name is Lusamine, these two are Lillie and Gladion, my children." It was the older woman that spoke as she gestured to the two sitting beside her. Nixon blinked at this, for a mother, she certainly looked young. "We are looking for my husband."

"Your husband? He's in Reborn?"

"That's what we have been lead to believe."

"From... what evidence exactly?" Nixon couldn't help but ask as he rose an eyebrow at the three. If memory serves, there was no connection between any of the regions with Reborn. There wasn't even a communication connection between Reborn and any region. How could they have heard of anything being outside of the region?

"Well, it's thanks to Magearna actually." The girl, otherwise known as Lillie, voiced as Nixon blinked. He wasn't entirely sure who this Magearna was, perhaps a pokemon? It didn't sound like a human name. "Magearna's powers pointed us towards here."

"I see..." Nixon closed his eyes as he heard this.

"What about you, Nixon?" Lusamine's voice spoke out as Nixon opened his eyes again and looked at her. "What are the reasons for you coming to Reborn?"

"You told me yours, so I guess it's fair to share mine." Nixon shrugged. He wasn't exactly going to tell them everything, just a very vague answer. After all, he doubted they told him everything about their reason. "Like most trainers on this train, I'm here to participate in the league. Similar to you as well, I'm here to find out just why and what happened to my family."

"Your family...?" Gladion decided to speak out as well. "Did something happen to them?"

"You can say that..." Nixon gave them a simple answer as the blonde trio looked at one another. Lusamine narrowed her eyes though, she could tell that there was something wrong. There was obviously something more that Nixon knew, but it wasn't her place to pry. Whatever happened to his family was obviously sensitive. "Anyway, I want to give you a word of advice."

The family blinked when Nixon looked at them, though they flinched when his eyes were rather dead, having practically no light to them. They had seen some yes similar in the past, but the eyes Nixon had were far duller than anyone else's they had seen.

"When we reach the station, I suggest that you just turn around immediately." Nixon spoke as they just stared at him with incredulous looks. He was pretty friendly a few seconds ago, but his attitude just suddenly became so cold. They were speechless. "Just give up on your search, it isn't worth it."

"Give up...?!" Gladion was the one that shouted this as he gave a small glare towards Nixon. Nixon didn't react at all and sat there calmly, his dead look still in his eyes. The other two were just silent. "Why should we? We came all the way here to find our father and we aren't leaving until we do!"

"Gladion, calm down!" Lusamine scolded her son, who looked at her before reluctantly doing so, sitting back down as he continued to glare at Nixon. Lusamine then narrowed her eyes and turned back to Nixon. "Might I ask why it is you say so? You must have a reason."

"For your own safety." Nixon stated bluntly as the blondes seemed confused. "I won't sugar coat my words. If you decide to remain in Reborn, then prepare for the horrors within. The region is a pathetic and dying place, the very definition of a fucking hell hole. It isn't entirely rare if you travel across the lands and find trainers who have perished along the road. After all, the mortality rate of this region is more than thirty times and more compared to other regions."

After Nixon said those words, the family couldn't help but be speechless. They had heard about the Reborn region having a very powerful league, but none of the other pieces of information. Was all of that really true? It was just unbelievable what Nixon had just stated.

"...How can we trust that you're telling the truth?" Gladion was the one that asked this as Nixon turned his gaze towards the blonde male and response in his usual dull tone.

"Whether or not you believe me or not is entirely up to you. But, once you see the region once we get there, you'll understand exactly what I mean." Nixon stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "If finding your father is the only goal you have, then turn around, it isn't worth the risk."

"B-But, aren't you going there for the same reason?!" Lillie was the one that raised her voice and asked this. Nixon stared at her blankly as he heard her say this. "You said that you what to find out what happened to you family... Aren't you going there to find them?"

"Find them? I think you misunderstood... My goal isn't to find my family." Nixon frowned as his eyes became shadowed. The family seemed confused, though they felt a chill go down their spines due to the look Nixon had. "After all, you can't hope to find those who aren't alive anymore..."

Lusamine and her children couldn't help but gape as they heard this. They had initially thought Nixon came here to look for his family, thinking they had become lost just like Mohn. Lusamine muttered soon after. "E-Excuse me...?"

"My goal isn't to find my family. My family is dead, so what's the point in trying to look for them?" Nixon responded as he then rose his right hand clenched it, his face contorting a bit in anger. "My true goal isn't just find out what happened to them and why... but, to enact vengeance on those that did so."

"Vengeance..." Gladion muttered as the two females were speechless. The coldness of Nixon's voice when he spat that out made them shake a bit, they had never felt such coldness before in anyone's voice. "You... are here for revenge?"

"Exactly. Even if it brings me an inevitable death, I WILL find who was responsible and bring an end to them."

No one said anything after that, no one knew what to say. The family weren't sure what to say, and they weren't sure whether or not to take what Nixon said to heart or not. It was true that anything about Reborn is rather unknown in the other regions, but it couldn't be as bad as Nixon was making it out to be, right?

"Alright, hello everyone!" A new voice suddenly spoke out as they all turned to see that a new woman was standing at the entrance to their little booth. From the looks of it, she appeared to be in her mid or early thirties. Similar to Lusamine, she looked rather young. "My name is Ame, and I'm the manager of the Reborn League. I'm looking for Nixon."

"That's me."

"If I'm not mistaken, you are hoping to sign up for the Reborn league, correct?" Ame had questioned as Nixon gave a simple nod in response. "That's great! We're finally just getting things off the ground again. After everything's that's happened, we're finally back up and running again."

"Umm..."

"Oh, my apologies. What are your names?" Ame was referring to the family that was sitting opposite of Nixon.

"Gladion, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, miss. My name is Lillie, and this is Snowy." Lillie had introduced herself as she held the small vulpix in her arms up for Ame to see. Ame smiled down at the small ice type as said pokemon gave its own cry of greeting to the woman.

"I'm Lusamine, it's a pleasure to meet you." Lusamine gave her own polite greeting to Ame as she also bowed her head slightly. She then decided to ask. "What did you mean exactly when you said 'after everything that's happened'? Did something happen in Reborn?"

"Well, there was a certain incident we had a few years ago..." Ame seemed to sigh as Nixon just closed his eyes. He already knew of the condition of the region and all that. "Due to that, the region was almost entirely abandoned. Not only by its people, but also the pokemon..."

"I see..." Lusamine went wide-eyed at the sentence, along with both Lillie, Gladion and Snowy. They then looked at Nixon, who was sitting down with closed eyes. Was there really truth to what Nixon was saying about the region a few minutes ago?

"Don't worry though! While it might not be an ideal place, our Gym Leaders here are nothing like you've ever seen before! You'll find the Reborn region to also be like none other too!" Ame quickly assured as she was speaking to all four of them. "Anyway, I had only just finished up with some business out of town. I figured it'd be best to get myself introduced early so I can get a head start on everyone's registration."

When Ame was talking about that, she was aiming it more towards Nixon. After all, one of the reasons he was going to Reborn was for the league, the blonde family in front of him not so much.

"We'll be arriving at Grandview Station soon, so after we disembark, please just follow me to the Grand Hall. I'll finish your registration there, and you can choose a starter if you so wish." Ame smiled as Nixon nodded his head in response. She then looked at the family. "You are free to do the same as well. It'd be best to rest there before anything else."

Lusamine gave her own nod to the advice. "I see, thank you."

"Until we arrive though, I want to ask you a few questions, Nixon. Just things to fully register you into the league datab-." Ame seemed to stop whatever she was saying as he eyes widened slightly. Nixon felt a chill go down him as he saw something staring at him from behind the blonde family members.

The figure looked humanoid, but completely black in colour aside from a few silver linings that helped make out the outline of a coat and hat of some sort. It was strange though, despite the entity not having a face, Nixon felt like it was staring straight at him.

They too felt a chill go down their spine, though they didn't seem to notice that whatever was causing it was standing... floating right behind them. However, before they could even ask what was wrong, the entity seemed to fade out of existence as Nixon blinked his eyes and shook his head.

"D-Did you guys feel that?" Lillie asked with a stutter as she held Snowy closer to her, the small pokemon also giving its own cry with a nod. Lusamine and Gladion nodded their heads as the male then added. "Yeah, it was a really unsettling feeling... like something was watching us."

"Let's just ignore it for now..." Nixon just shook his head as he might have just been imagining whatever it was. 'Was I imagining that...? It kind of looked familiar for second though... Whatever, I can't let that distract me right now.'

'Shade? Why was he here...?' Ame narrowed her eyes slightly as she recalled the appearance of that being. She knew Shade very well, after all, he was someone who was a part of the league. Despite how mysterious he was. Ame just gave a small sigh. "Wait... something isn't right here."

"What do you mean...?" Lusamine seemed confused by Ame's words as the other two blondes were in the same vote. Nixon, however, narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head to look out of the window. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, so why was he getting a strange foreboding here?

'There's Grandview Station... wait, why aren't we slowing down?' Nixon widened his eyes slightly as he saw the view of the coming station getting closer and closer. However, there was NO sign of the train attempting to slow down. "Ame! Shouldn't the train be slowing down by now?!"

"Shit...! Nixon, grab them and move! To the window!"

"What's happening?! Wha-!" Lusamine was going to demand and answer, but Ame had quickly grabbed onto her as Nixon followed suit and grabbed both Gladion and Lillie before they both jumped out of the window. It was harder for Nixon to do so as he had both Lillie and Gladion, but he managed to get through... just in time.

All they heard soon after was a massive explosion as well as a number of screams before everything became pitch black...

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"...on!"

"...xon!"

"Nixon!"

Nixon could hear his name being called out by a familiar voice, causing him to stir as his eyes slowly began to open. He had to blink them a few times so that they adjusted to the new area, which didn't take long as he started pushing himself off of what felt to be a brick floor.

"Thank goodness, you're okay!" Nixon shook his head as he looked up to see that it was none other than Ame who was giving him support. Nodding his head in thanks, Ame helped Nixon to stand up, though he did stumble a bit. "Nothing's hurting, right?!"

"I think I'm fine... did the other four make it out okay?" Nixon decided to ask. He did remember them grabbing the other four, meaning the blondes and the vulpix, before jumping out of the train. He wasn't a heartless person, not at all, so he was naturally concerned whether or not they made it out.

"Yes, they're fine thankfully. We managed to get out of the train just in time." Ame sighed as she pointed over towards where Lusamine, Gladion, Lillie and Snowy were all resting up against a nearby wall, still unconscious. "However, it was only us that managed to make it out. Everyone else didn't..."

"I see..." Nixon clenched his fist as he looked towards the demolished train station. It was falling to pieces, some foundation barely standing as remnants of the train could be seen, though the majority of it had sunk into the water. The polluted water that is. "This was no way a mere coincidence,.."

"I have to agree, the timing of the only train arriving here in the region after so many years exploding is too coincidental. It's most likely some kind of terrorist attack." Ame nodded her head seriously as they examined the destroyed station. While the train wasn't too big, it still held more than eighty people in it, yet only they survived...

"Ugh..."

Both Ame and Nixon turned their heads to see that the four that were leaning up against the wall were waking up, to which both of them walked on over towards them. It didn't take long before they all began to open their eyes, shaking their heads, no doubt having headaches after the collision.

"What happened...?" Lusamine muttered as she rubbed her right temple. She looked up to see that Ame was smiling sympathetically towards her. "Ame? What in the world happened...? All I remember was both you and Nixon grabbing us and jumping out the window..."

"It's good to see that you're okay. About the question though, we have found ourselves in a terrible accident..."

"What do you mean?" Gladion was the one that asked as he pushed himself up onto his feet, with Nixon helping his sister up as well. Ame gave a sad sigh as she gestured for them to look to the left, and when they did, they could only widen their eyes in horror. "What the...?!"

"Oh no, how could this have happened...?" Lillie covered her mouth in shock as the blonde family along with Snowy all stared at the destroyed station with unrestrained horror. "What happened to all those people that were on the train...?"

"Unfortunately, every single one of them met their end. Only us survived." Nixon stated grimly as the family all looked at him with disbelief. All the other families, the parents, the children, the trainers and more... all gone just like that. "We suspect it to be the work of a terrorist, or something similar..."

"That's awful, a group of terrorists..." Lusamine could only stare at the station with a grim look on her face. She knew that she had done some questionable things back during her time with the Aether Foundation, but never had she actually killed people like this before... She just wasn't used to a sight like this.

Lusamine also noticed that on a few of the scraps of the train that hadn't sunk into the ocean, remnants of blood splatter and more could be seen. Lusamine had to look away, and she hoped that neither Gladion or Lillie noticed that same sight. It was too awful of a sight.

"Oh, wow!" A rather unexpectedly cheerful voice sounded as they all turned to see that a young girl, probably in her mid or late twenties, with green hair and a rather yellow-based outfit was running over towards them as she moved through the working police officers. For some reason, she had pompoms on her hands. "That was a big boom!"

"Julia..." Everyone heard Ame mutter as they all watched as Ame narrowed her eyes at the young girl before seemingly demanding the girl in the form of a question. "Julia, did you do this?!"

"What?! Me?! You'd think that I would do something like this?" The one known as Julia seemed to be rather offended as she dramatically held her chest in fake pain. Ame's glare seemed to quiet the girl though. "Okay, maybe I would... but, I definitely wouldn't if there were people inside!"

"I guess that's true... Though, if Julia didn't do it, then who did...?" Ame sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She then shook her head before turning towards the others and gesturing towards Julia. "Everyone, this here is Julia. She is the local gym leader here in the area."

"Hello~!"

"Nixon, nice to meet you." Nixon gave his own simple introduction, which was followed by the others who did the same. They were surprised by the news that this girl was a gym leader, though Nixon wasn't so much, he was more focused on the events that had just happened with the train. "Ame, we should lock down the area just in case. The person who did this might still be in the area."

"Indeed, that would be the best course of action for now." Ame nodded her head in agreement. She turned towards the others before adding. "I apologise, all of you. But, I have to go for now. Another trainer should be able to show you around, just head down the road towards the Grand Hall and you should be able to find her there."

Before any of them could respond, Ame gave them a small wave before running off towards the city to who knows where. They all shared a look with one another, Nixon crossing his arms as he continued to ponder about everything that transpired.

"Anyway~! As you know, I'm Julia! The captain of all that is cheer and pep, and all things bubbly and bright!" Julia cheered as she shook both pompoms. The action made them blink and stare at her in confusion, her attitude really didn't fit the current situation. All of them were still shaken up by everything that happened, especially the family and Snowy as they had all almost died.

If it weren't for Ame and Nixon, they would have met their end right then and there...

"So, are you the one that's going to be joining the Reborn league?" Julia asked as she approached and stared at Nixon. The male stepped back due to the distance as he nodded his head in response. "Great! Then we'll be seeing each other soon! I'm the electric gym leader around these parts!"

"Excuse me..." Lillie voiced as both Nixon and Julia turned towards her and her family. "What's that rather unpleasant smell? I've only just started noticing it after calming down..."

"Yeah, it reeks..." Gladion frowned as he held his nose. "Is it the city?"

"Brother, don't be rude!" Lillie scolded lightly as Lusamine just sighed at her son's words. What confused them though was when Julia began laughing out loud, also making a few police officers turn and stare at them with confusion before shrugging and going back to work. "Is something funny...?"

"The truth is, Gladion's correct. Take a look at the city's water." Nixon closed his eyes and stated as he turned his body away from them. They seemed confused before looking off of the dock to see just what the male was talking about.

"What in the world?!"

"Huh...?!"

"What is this...? I-Is this really what the Reborn region is?"

When they did, they could only stare with disbelief as the entire ocean around the city and as far as they could see out towards see was entirely brown and also purple in some areas. Not the usual beautiful blue you would usually see.

They had heard the things that Nixon said about the region, and they found it hard to believe that a place could be as bad as he described. However, after the station incident, and now this. They could only accept that Nixon's words was all the truth, this was dying region...

"Welcome to the Reborn region, I warned you..."