A New Legend

The Rift

It was a bright and sunny morning. He could hear something, but he wasn't sure what it was. He rolled over in his futon and opened his eyes. Sunlight streamed in through the window, directly onto his face. It made for quite the wake up call. "Nanbu!" His father called. "Nanbu, wake up! It's time for breakfast!"

Nanbu was still pretty young, around twelve years old, to be exact. He had short brown hair like his dad, brown eyes, full of hope, and a huge smile on his face, ready to greet the world. He knew exactly what was waiting for him in the house's main room.

If there was one thing guaranteed to get Nanbu up and ready to go, it was breakfast. He practically threw the covers off and bolted up to go eat with his father. Stepping into the main room of their home, he found a plate of eggs and potatoes waiting for him. The potatoes reminded him of Beni's potato mochi at the Wallflower. He had always heard the food was good, but he just didn't understand why potato mochi seemed to be the only food the survey corps ate. Maybe it helped them catch pokémon. Who knew?

Nanbu's father was a generally relaxed man. He hardly ever yelled for any reason, and he had never even considered physical punishments if Nanbu acted up. The one thing he didn't like, was pokémon. It was bad enough that Nanbu's brother had joined the survey corps and caught his own partner. There was no way he would even consider allowing Nanbu to have one.

He wasn't old, by any means, but raising two kids had taken a bit of a toll on him. His hair, a dark brown color, was starting to grey, and his grey eyes were clearly tired. He had already donned his uniform, like he did every morning. He took his job in the supply corps seriously. Nothing would stop him from completing a supply run, save for maybe some aggressive wild pokémon.

Breakfast mostly went as it normally did. Nanbu would scarf down whatever was put in front of him, while his father explained what the supply corps had him doing today. It was also common to throw in some negative remarks on the pokémon of that area. Today, he was running errands in the Coronet Highlands. "Those blasted Sneasel had better leave me alone this time." His Father muttered.

As the pair finished up their breakfast, they suddenly heard a commotion from outside. There were collective gasps and a scream or two. Nanbu and his father stood up immediately to look into what caused such an outcry. "Stay here. I'll be right back." His father commanded. "If I'm not, don't leave this house. The security corps will come to help you."

Nanbu was frustrated by not being able to go out and see what was happening, but like anyone his age, he found a workaround almost instantly. As his father joined the mass of villagers in the street, Nanbu looked out the window. Following their gaze, Nanbu couldn't believe what he was seeing. The sky had always reminded him of glass, although he couldn't really explain why. What he hadn't been expecting, was that the sky, like glass, could crack.

Yet, looking out the window, that was exactly what he saw, just over Mount Coronet. A deep purple vortex surrounded the crack in the sky, swirling ominously. What was truly alarming, however, was that it seemed to be growing. The sky kept cracking and sometimes the cracks would loop back in on themselves. Finally, when it seemed to be done spreading, there was a massive gash in the sky, open wide enough for almost anything to pass through. As the vortex swirled around it, Nanbu's imagination ran wild.

Outside, Nanbu's Father, Hatano, was stunned by the vortex in the sky. What could have done this? Would it be harmful to the village? Was there any way to get rid of it? These questions and many more swam through his head like a school of Magikarp, never knowing where they're going and doing they're best not to lose the school. Fortunately, he could see that Commander Kamado had taken notice. Kamado was an intimidating presence if he had ever seen one. Surely the leader of the Galaxy Team would know what to do in this situation.

Standing above the village on the balcony of the Galaxy Team's headquarters, Kamado couldn't help but stare into the rift. He had read about such an event occurring in Hisui's past, but he never thought for even a second that he would one day see it himself. For the first time since he took charge of the Galaxy Team, Kamado didn't know what to do. So he did the only thing he could think to do.

A village meeting was called to order immediately. Kamado, himself would be addressing the villagers today. As the gathered villagers muttered whispers amongst themselves, Kamado took the stage, Cyllene at his side. He raised his hand for silence and the talking died down. "As I am sure you all have noticed, there is a situation atop Mount Coronet."

The concerned murmuring returned temporarily before the villagers were once again quieted. "As of yet, we do not know what has caused this to occur." Kamado admitted to the concern of his audience. "However, we do know that this has happened before, which means that it can be stopped. I will send my most experienced members of the survey corps to gain any information we can on this rift."

To Nanbu, this meant that his brother would be gone for a while. He couldn't find him in the crowd, so he was probably already on his way. A clearly less worried discussion started to spread through the crowd before they were once again, asked to be quiet, this time by Cyllene. "For the time being, no one outside the specifically chosen members of this expedition team shall be allowed in the Coronet Highlands." Kamado commanded.

"Great." Hakano muttered to himself. "Looks like crunchy salt is going to be on a premium from now on."

The other villagers clearly weren't happy about this arrangement either, and they were letting that be known. The Coronet Highlands had a lot to offer, from Crunchy Salt, to Historical Ruins, and even pokémon that couldn't be found anywhere else in the region. Yet, despite the outcry from the community, Kamado held firm. "I understand that this may be a difficult thing to ask, but for now, it is best that no one get hurt." He said. "But mark my word. I will find a way to rid the skies of our unwelcome guest. That, is a promise."

"Unbelievable." Hakano muttered, taking his son home with him. "I run out of crunchy salt and a day later I'm not allowed to get any more."

This also concerned Nanbu, who absolutely loved crunchy salt. What was he going to put on every meal now? Surely Kamado could make an exception, just this once, to let his dad go gather some of his favorite seasoning. And if he didn't? Nanbu would do it anyways. Nanbu imagined donning the ninja outfit he had seen in the clothier's store and leaping a side wall to head to the Highlands. With all his salt, he would be a hero! Yet, as he looked up at the rift, he decided that maybe somebody else could do it.

Author's Note: This story has been sitting in the back of my mind for so long now. It feels really good to have something actually written. As you can probably tell, this story is set in Legends Arceus, before the player appears and around the time the Rift opened. I have a direction I want to go with this, and I have a few chapters planned out already, so maybe this story will actually be good. Either way, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter!