Following Disaster
Prologue

Thick clouds of creamy silver-gray hung in a deep purple midnight sky. The mountain tops, cloud formations, and glittering sea below were iced with generous pools of moonlight, glowing dreamily in the silent atmosphere. A whisper of wind through sturdy wings was all that disturbed it as a Skarmory soared through, tearing through the wispy clouds and streaking their cottony masses across the sky. The base of its metallic wings was smooth and strong, pumping with the energy that kept them aloft. A firm grip on the bird Pokémon's long, slender neck was kept by a boy in his young teens, brown hair whipped back from his forehead by the force of the wind. A belt of six Pokéballs was slung loosely about his waist, and he was obviously a trainer. Riding on the Skarmory's back, the two creatures' sihlouettes were one as the bird gave a burst of speed and sailed off through the darkness.

One silhouette floated alone in the clouds. One silhouette plummeted from the sky. The silence was broken, a loud splash and a strangled cry. Then, once again, the lull was complete.

Naia's dark eyes opened wide. She lay quiet, tranquil, though part of her wanted to jump up immediately. She blinked and searched her memory for the details of the dream, bits of which were already beginning to seep away. She knew that most dreams were hazy and dark and made no sense, but Naia sensed that this one was shockingly clear. She could even see the boy's face in her mind's eye, each feature sharp and perfect like a photograph. And this was what worried her the most, because she knew the face. She pulled it out of her most cherished memories, could see the little boy he was four years ago, when she had last known him. It was him, Naia was sure of it; the long brown bangs that constantly fell into his excited eyes, the small nose with its little trail of freckles, the grin which seemed always full of interest. But most of all, Naia remembered the look in his eyes, that determined and faraway gaze.

That spark had been in his expression for as long as Naia had known him. He had been a decent Pokémon trainer who always fought to win (but really only won about half the time). He hadn't lived in Fortree all his life, as Naia had, but he hovered around the area often. The initial reason was because he was determined to catch an Absol, the distaster Pokémon: it was his favorite, and they lived only in the marshes at the outskirts of Fortree. This was how the two had met. Once he had caught his prized Absol, he kept coming back. He and Naia had become friends.

The boy was restless. He heard many legends of one-of-a-kind Pokémon that lived in the deep and dark, or the endless skies, or the tops of impossibly high towers. Eventually, his team was trained to incredible extremes and he was eager to leave his local roaming area and set out for these rare Pokémon. The last of him that Naia saw was on a breezy spring day, mounting his Skarmory and soaring away. First, however, he put a Poké Ball into her hand and told her to keep the Pokémon to remember him by, in case he didn't come back for a while. Naia watched him go, clutching the Poké Ball tight and attempting to comfort herself. Then, she threw the Ball and waited for the blinding flash of neon light to shape itself into a Pokémon.

It was Chaos, his Absol. The Pokémon that had brought him to Fortree. His most prized and strong. Naia almost gasped. She felt that she should go after him and return Chaos, knew that she couldn't let him give away this Pokémon, but that was impossible. She watched the sky, which by now was devoid of the Skarmory, and tried to untangle her thoughts. The boy had given away a piece of his soul in handing her that Poké Ball.

Naia remembered it all as clearly as if the four years had been four days. Naturally, she had thought of the boy often over the time, but she knew this dream told her that thinking wasn't enough. It was high time to go after him and seek him out. If he had fallen into trouble, she would do her best to help. But in the back of her mind, what Naia feared even more was the concept that he had forgotten her and continued his journey elsewhere. She stared pensively at Chaos's empty Poké Ball, which rested on her bedside.

'I'm going to find Spect,' She told herself firmly. It was the first time she could remember speaking his name aloud in over a year.

Outside, Chaos the disaster Pokémon let out a long and lonely howl.