16 Years Ago...

A high pitched throbbing flatlined.

Feet shuffled in the brightly lit room in a panic. It was if everyone had their own distant event that they were already horribly late for, but didn't know where to go.

"We're losing her!" said a doctor, grabbing an infant from her mother. He forced his way out through the sea of nurses, then stopped at the door.

"What's going on?!" cried the mother, eyes too clouded by tears to see her newborn child being carried away from her arms. Blankets laden with blood rested between her legs, and her body was still in shock from all the pain she had just endured. Her black hair as silky as a spider's web splayed out in every direction.

"Her heart! It's stopped!" The doctor turned towards the new parents. "The worst case scenario we talked about has come true. Your decision: now!" He knew that if neither of the parents spoke up immediately, he would have no choice but to bolt out of the room on his own volition.

The mother looked to her husband, grasping for answers while still in disbelief.

The father's lip trembled. He instinctively knew the expression that his wife was bearing towards him, and he couldn't look her way, lest his heart break entirely. "Do it," he stammered, and then turned away, ashamed of the decision that had forced his hand.

Neither the parents nor the doctor said another word while the babe was carried to another room. Their tears formed a channel of communication all on their own. The scores of legs shuffled out of the room, leaving the parents alone in their despair.

The wait crushed those not in the operating room, time feeling just as heavy as stone.

Still refusing to look his wife in the eye, the father hit the wall. "Why?! Why must it happen like this?! Why must the choice of whether my child lives or dies be an ethical dilemma?!" He rested his head slowly on the wall. "Why couldn't there have been a different way?"

The mother solemnly picked up a manilla envelope from her bedside and gingerly flipped it open. A picture of a Pokemon in the shape of a candle slid out and onto her lap. She put down the other papers and held the picture up in front of her. She looked at it silently, then pressed it against her chest. "I'm sorry... You don't deserve to be a sacrifice for my daughter's life..."

The doors creaked open eerily into the hospital room. The sound of a baby crying entered the room.

"The operation was a success," said the doctor, handing the babe to her mother. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must leave."

A red-orange strand of hair poked out from the newborn's head and spiraled into a curl. The mother looked at her child, and a strange sense of relief filled her mind. She played carefully with the single hair and smiled at the child. "Saffron. I think that's what we should call her."

"Yeah," the father said quickly, not giving it any thought.

She looked at him, ready to criticize him for not taking any interest in their child, but then stopped herself. As much as she felt wrong for it, she understood and could not blame him.

"Saffron, you'll grow into a wonderful woman some day, I know it. This all happened for a reason, right?" She tickled the baby and her tears stopped. The baby burst into laughter, a shrill, loud laughter.

-----

And Some Time Not Too Long Ago...

Energy coursed across the planet outwards from Kalos. Life in its purest form surged across the surface, instead of the death that was supposed to wreak havoc. Not too far from the epicenter, a long-slumbering figure was disturbed by the weak but present energy.

Deep within one of the various pores of the region was a rocky, winding, tunneling cavern with dark red walls and slowly pulsating crystals as blue as the sky. The pulse echoed through the dimly lit walls like liquid through a straw.

A crystal deep within the cave glowed brightly, then went instantly dark as a crack presented itself on its surface. Malice seeped out of the crack, and before long the crystal appeared to split apart at its seams. It shattered across the floor, leaving a dark figure where the crystal had once illuminated its surroundings.

The figure moved its hands, clenching and releasing them, affirming their functionality. It stepped down from its pedestal, looking around. Its bulging muscles felt the cold embrace of the stale cave air.

A noise like a mouse scampering away presented itself to the figure's ears, getting its attention.

In the corner of the cavern, a middle-aged man in sand-colored clothes cowered behind a rock.

"Stand up," ordered the figure.

Fear made the man obey, and he stood. His appearance suggested that he worked as an archeologist, and his clouded monocle told of his partial blindness.

The figure lifted its finger and points it towards the terrified man. "Shadow Ball."

A purple substance with the consistency of syrup and the internal swirling of pollen in the wind leaked out from the unfortunate scientist's forearm, making him feel faint. "Stop! Whatever you're doing, please stop!"

The substance continued to flow out, but then it stopped. The figure appeared to then reverse the process with the slight gesture, and the purple goo disappeared back into the man's skin.

The archeologist felt as though his life was almost taken from him, and he practically fell to the floor from exhaustion.

"Bow," said the figure to the man, who obeyed.

A twisted smile leapt onto the figure's face. "That's right. I am king!"

-----

And Finally, Now Our Story Truly Begins...

A young blue eyed girl squatted above the amber colored grass and looked intently at what was before her. She had thick black hair braided behind her hair in a ponytail, but a particular lock the color of flames sprouted out like a cowlick but in a single wound up loop. She wore a mostly white shirt that looked like it was taken straight off of a sailor's back, a testament to her trying to find her individuality when she just never quite felt like she belonged. Her jeans dark as the ocean floor clung tightly to her body as her legs pulled it into a bend.

"How are you doing little guy?" she asked the Watchog at her feet.

It sniffed around and looked inquisitively at her with its goggle-like eyes. It twitched as it examined her, trying to determine if she was friend or foe.

"Oh, you're probably hungry, aren't you?" She dug into her single strapped backpack and pulled out a granola bar. She opened it up and broke off a piece for it, then took a crunch out of it herself.

The Watchog nibbled at the bit, then grabbed it and scurried off.

"Feeding wild Pokemon now, huh Saffron?" asked a voice from behind.

She stood up and turned around in a flash. "What took you so long, Floyd?"

The boy freckled shrugged. He attempted to contain his shaggy brown hair under his green cap, but there was simply too much of it, and it spilled in excess out the sides. His eccentric brown eyes poked out from beneath the mat of hair. He wore a black sleeveless shirt that had surely seen better days, and navy green cargo pants that were a marvel to modern science for staying together for so long.

"Good grief, get that watch of yours fixed sometime. Maybe then you'll actually use it!"

He looked at the bronze colored watch on his wrist, its cracked face no longer able to tell time. "What, this? I'll get it fixed soon."

"That's what you said last month," she teased. "Anyways, are you finally ready to go on this hike? It was your idea after all."

"You bet I am!" said Floyd with glee. "Our Pokemon aren't the only ones who need to stay fit, you know?!"

"Well lead the way then, preferably before the seasons change."

"Away we go!"

The two looked at the peak of the short mountain they were going to try to scale that day and, after getting a good look at their goal, trekked forward.

Saffron had always felt a special connection to Floyd, but she could never tell what it was. They weren't anything alike as far as personality goes, however that didn't stop her from thinking that the two understood each other in a way that no one else could. It was like a secret hideout between siblings, but not even she knew what it was.

They climbed up the increasingly steep slope in her tennis shoes and his hiking boots. Saffron caught the Watchog following them out of the corner of her eye, and she secretly kept watch as it continued pursuing them in hopes of food.

At about halfway up the mountain, Floyd suggested a snack break. They sat down on some nice mossy rocks and looked out from their vantage point. At that point, they could hardly see anything through the orange fall leaves of the trees around them, but they could partially see their hometown of Laverre City.

They munched on some snack bars, and Saffron's eyes looked out for the Watchog. With food now out in the open, surely it would come out and try to get some for itself. Some bushes rustled and the creature revealed itself, cautiously approaching them.

"We have a visitor," she said to Floyd.

He looked over.

The weasel Pokemon stepped on a slightly darker patch of dirt as it approached them, then suddenly a spike shot up through the ground and impaled the small Watchog through its stomach. Blood trickled out of its now limp body, down the stake, and spilled across the ground.

"What?!" shouted the both of them as they stood up in shock.

Saffron tried moving forward to help the innocent little creature but was stopped by Floyd's hand.

"Don't move!" he yelled. "Something isn't right here!"

"What a sharp young lad you are," said a voice behind them.

They turned around and saw a man in sand-colored clothes peer at them through the trees. His left eye glowed red under his monocle.

"Sand Tomb!"

***

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "Heart of Ghost"! This story will be published on Friday afternoons/nights, starting with this one. While I will be gone on a cruise next Friday, I will have my girlfriend post the next chapter when it comes time, so don't worry about being left on a cliffhanger ;) See you next time!