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I'm a songwriter and just a casual writer basically. I will probably be posting a story I wrote for my brothers and friends, who are all pokemon fans. I am also a pokemon fan and was interested in the lore more so than the battles, how the stories of the manga, games, and anime all connected. So I started a very rough world building project I called 'Eclipse Chronicles'. It's far from perfect, but here are the concept chapters I have so far. I will continue to post as I work.

SHADES OF GRAY

Prologue
“And the Princess Stella lived happily ever after.”
Lusamine neatly folded the golden lined pages of the book she was reading to her daughter. It was one of those Little Golden Books. They were always her favorite as a child, specifically the one she had just finished reading. She thought it must be Lillie’s favorite as well; her daughter’s green eyes were soundly shut.
Part of Lusamine wanted to find some way to force the truth onto Lillie, because life was not a stupid fairytale. It was unfair to her. The other part wanted to keep her innocent and happy like this forever.. to never let her see the world the way it was. After all, that’s how Lusamine grew up. No one told her about the darkness in life. It just happened.
And she turned out perfectly fine.
“Good night, Lillie,” whispered Lusamine. Lillie didn’t stir and Lusamine decided to let her be. She gently closed the door and started to walk out through the hall, when she caught sight of her son.
“Gladion? Why aren’t you in bed?” Lusamine asked. Gladion was.. not intimidating, to say the least. Despite being 4 years older than Lillie, he was about the same height, if not shorter than his sister. He had the same soft green eyes as his sister, but in a way they were sharper, more piercing. Like he was trying to read your mind. Lusamine knew he was her own son, but she couldn’t take him as seriously as she should.
“Hobbes told me to deliver this letter,” Gladion said, his tone emotionless. That doesn’t answer my question, she thought, but didn’t pry when she saw a familiar seal. She eagerly took the letter, holding herself back from snatching it out of Gladion’s delicate hands.
“Thank you! I was expecting this.” Gladion didn’t bat an eye. He looked… conflicted? Concerned? Like he was going to scream at his mother and rebel for no reason? That’s strange. He’s only seven. Nobody thinks properly at seven. Lusamine decided he was tired and was focusing his eyes to stay awake. She did that herself, a lot.
“Get to bed, Gladion, you shouldn’t be up this late,” said Lusamine finally. Gladion nodded quietly, the same odd look on his face. If he wasn’t her own son, she would think of him as a strange child. But he was her own son.
What a strange child.

Chapter 1
When people dream, they don’t usually remember what exactly happened in their dream. Neither did Gladion. Most times.
But people awoke with a vague memory of something. They knew they dreamed, but couldn’t place their finger on what exactly.
All that was left was sometimes a face. Two pairs of soft green eyes. A face they may have wished to remember, or would have preferred to forget.
Sometimes all that was left was an emotion. A lasting feeling of sadness or of regret. They wake up and feel like something was missing, stolen from within their memory.
When Gladion awoke, he always heard a command. Is it even considered a dream if it happens every night? I don’t think anything… happens. Really, it was like some little voice in his conscience, something that was a part of him, a part of his headspace. It was no ordinary morning, but Gladion woke in an ordinary way.
I will protect Lillie with my life.

Gladion adjusted his black hoodie in the mirror. He had other clothes, of course, but he wanted to look as intimidating as someone like him could look to make sure the people at Lillie’s new school wouldn’t dare mess with her.
It was also Gladion’s new school but that part wasn’t really important.
All his other outfits were incredibly classy and honestly, uncomfortable. The Aether family had always been well off, but since his mother took over the local biology department and Pokémon site, they had been in the top percent. He didn’t think anymore about the topic. He did not think of his mother.
“Morning, Umbreon,” called Gladion. His black, foxlike Pokémon leapt from her bed and stood beside him. She was used to the daily routine: before they went out to breakfast, Umbreon was put inside her pokeball. Pokémon weren’t allowed in the main house. Partly because his mother wanted it clean and tidy for guests, but that didn’t matter. Gladion didn’t think of his mother. She wasn’t ever there anyways.
It was mostly because Lillie was deathly afraid of Pokémon. It didn’t matter what species, she was uncomfortable around them and would never touch one. Like they didn’t think or talk about their mother, they didn’t think or talk about why Lillie was afraid of Pokémon. Some things were better unsaid, just existing.
“Good morning, Lillie,” Gladion said to his sister in the dining hall.
“Good morning!” Lillie chimed back. Gladion noticed Lillie’s attire was quite formal. It almost looked like something she would wear at her old school. Well, something she would wear if there weren’t uniforms.
What if she gets bullied? Or hated because she’s wealthy? The students might think she was stuck up. They couldn’t though, Gladion assured himself. Lillie is the sweetest person to walk this planet. Then came an even worse thought. What if she’s taken advantage of because of her sweetness? She’s smart, but is she strong enough to say no to someone who wants to hurt her? Lillie was such a kind and beautiful girl. Gladion felt sick. I’d never forgive myself if she was hurt by some boy because of her beauty. I can’t let that happen. Gladion took a deep breath.
I will protect Lillie with my life.
Gladion sighed to himself. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t think Lillie would last very long at this school. Not that she wasn’t smart. Lillie had the highest average in her grade at her old school, and even that school was one of, if not the most prestigious in Melemele. She was also good socially, even if she was a bit shy. She would excel in any environment.
Any environment except a Pokémon School.

Gladion had no idea why their mother signed them up for this school. Didn’t she care about her daughter? She was basically paying for Lillie to receive extra, unnecessary trauma.
There was nothing Gladion could do about it, though. And to be honest.. Gladion glanced over at his sister walking beside him. She seems okay with it. Lillie had a kind of security in her eyes that wasn’t usually there, and he realized… This could be a fresh start for her.
“This should be it,” Gladion said. He knew it wasn’t going to be the same as their old school, but he wasn’t expecting it to look so… what would I even call this? Everything looked natural. It was certainly going to be a different experience, with plants growing out of the ground in the classroom.
It was quite pretty the more he looked at it. Lillie obviously thought it was more than pretty. She looked like she had just met her celebrity crush- she was giddy with excitement. Gladion smiled to himself. She has to be alright…
After frolicking around for about five minutes, Lillie turned to face her brother, her eyes lit up like stars.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked. Gladion nodded, happy she was so enthusiastic.
“Yeah,” he answered, still telling himself that Lillie would be fine. She had to be.
His thoughts were interrupted as Lillie wrapped her arms around Gladion in a hug. After he snapped back to focus he returned the hug warmly.
“You will do amazing,” he assured. It was a short hug, and Lillie hurried over to her classroom excitedly. It was a short hug but the feeling of her in his arms lasted. Gladion didn’t think it would ever go away, as long as he was living.
I will protect Lillie with my life.

Chapter 2
Seven AM. Father returns at eight AM, and Father doesn’t break his promises.
I usually wake up at six-thirty. That’s odd. The minutes on the wall clock ticked slowly, just like they always did. No matter. I’ll have time for my daily work.
Zorua wasn’t awake yet. Natural Harmonia Gropius tilted his head to look at the stacks of paper Father had set for him. About 10 stacks of routine busywork. Calculus, geometry, literature, and natural history. This will probably take about… 40 minutes? Actually, probably closer to 35. Minutes were slow, and his mind and hand were fast anyways.
His calculations had been correct, the wall clock read seven-thirty-five. He got up and looked at his bookshelves. He had carved them out of the wall about 4 years ago. He used them often, but the only thing he remembered about the crafted process is that the walls were weirdly thick. That explained why he never heard anything outside his room.
There were twelve separate bookshelves. Natural Harmonia Gropius organized his books by the number of times he had read them. Every time he reread a book, he shifted it over one shelf. That way, they never got bored. He did notice almost all of his books were on the twelfth shelf. I suppose Father hasn’t brought me many new books recently. The ones he has brought have been long, informational history books. The interesting thing was, the books were all quite opinionated for history books. He tended to agree with them though, so it was fine. Maybe Father had been getting into persuasive writing recently.
Or maybe it was time.
Natural Harmonia Gropius heard a sudden knock on the door. His thoughts had wandered away; it was eight AM. Weird. Father usually doesn’t knock. Zorua stirred beside him.
“He knocked? How out of character,” Zorua noted.
“Come in,” Natural Harmonia Gropius called. Some mixture of nerves and excitement was bubbling in his chest. There was definitely something different about today.
Father opened the door with his good arm. Half of his upper body was paralyzed; it was a wonder he managed to get around. He smiled silently and sat down beside his son.
“I thought I’d let you sleep in today,” Father started. Natural Harmonia Gropius would have paused to try and comprehend that statement on any other day, but this couldn’t be a normal day. He just felt it.
“Your coronation is in exactly one year.” Everything went quiet. Father had confirmed it. It was really happening.
“During this year, you have permission to leave the tower,” Father continued. Natural Harmonia Gropius couldn’t even speak. Zorua looked equally stunned. His eyes were so wide, it looked like they would pop out of his tiny, furry body.
“Wait, leave? Like, go into the forest?” he interrupted. I shouldn’t have done that.. to his surprise, Father just smiled calmly.
“Well… yes. But our forest is smaller than you think it is. In just a mile is Nimbasa City.”
Natural Harmonia Gropius pictured one of the maps he had studied a while back. “So… we’re in Unova. Right now. With… Pokémon trainers,” he realized. His eyes instinctively caught the scar on Zorua’s neck.
Father calmly continued. “Your job, starting tomorrow, is to live in the Unova mainland and learn everything you can, from experience. Learn exactly why you believe what you believe.” He didn’t need to continue. All the pieces were coming together.
“In one year, you will be ready to liberate Pokémon and meet Reshiram, the legendary Pokémon.” Father met his son’s eyes with a gentle, somewhat solemn smile. “Make me proud, son.”

Chapter 3
Gladion was not one to have social anxiety. He was usually pretty blunt and straightforward.
But the people he used to be surrounded by weren’t so… friendly. They weren’t mean, exactly, but a lot more closed off. Even the professor seemed bubbly and easygoing.
“Nice to meet you, Gladion!” The professor’s cheery voice snapped him back to reality. He nodded in appreciation, feeling out of place. “I’m Miss Pina. Class, why don’t we introduce ourselves?” Her face seemed to light up. “Why don’t we play a name game?” She suggested. There were about five or six people in the class, and they appeared to be all ages. That’s odd, Gladion thought.
The class groaned enthusiastically, if that was possible. They looked like they were used to this. Before he knew it, he was a part of a circle on the ground with these strangers.
Miss Pina did a sort of skippy dance around the circle, her enthusiasm obvious. Despite her friendliness, Gladion was kind of freaked out by her. It cannot be normal to have that kind of energy.
“Let’s all say our name, one fact about ourselves and…” the bubbly professor’s eyes seemed to light up her glasses, and she gasped. “Our. Favorite. Color!” The class nodded, oddly enthusiastic.
“I’ll go first!” shouted a tiny girl with dark skin. “I’m Mimo! My favorite color is red!” She was easily the youngest in the class- she could not have been more than ten. “My big brother, Kiawe, is the Passion Trial Captain!”
This caught Gladion off guard for a second, but he then remembered Lillie telling him one of the most special things about this school. The trial captains, some of the strongest young trainers in Alola, all went to this school. Gladion was suddenly aware that someone in this classroom could be a trial captain themselves.
“I’m Elio Sun. Nice to meet you, Gladion. I offer many services such as-“ Mimo stepped on Elio’s foot, and he yelped in pain and broke off his advertisement. He had black hair and, Gladion noticed, very light skin. He must not be from Alola, because I don’t get the sense he stays indoors all the time.
With a dirty look at Mimo, he then added, “my favorite color’s green.” Like money. I’m sure it is. Mimo stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at Elio. A girl with short purple hair and a flowy dress went next.
“My name is Acerola. I love reading, and my favorite color is purple. As you can probably see,” the girl said. She’d probably get along with Lillie, Gladion thought. They both like reading, and I get the impression Acerola is a very sweet person.
“I’m Hau, and my favorite color is orange!” said the next boy in the circle. “And I love malasadas!” Huh… for someone who likes eating, he’s not as… large as I would expect him to be. Gladion thought about it for a second and decided he must be really hyper and had a fast metabolism. He got the impression Hau was a bit… obnoxious.
“I’m Ilima,” said a steadier boy with rose gold hair. He looked a bit older than the other class members. And definitely more level-headed. Perhaps he was a trial captain. “I like to swim and play tennis, and my favorite color is probably yellow.” He was an odd-looking, but not unattractive, boy. He had warm, tanned skin with darker freckles along his nose and cheeks. More interesting were his eyes- they were a bright, pale blue. They contrasted both with how he looked, and his calmer personality.
The girl sitting next to him looked up from her book and waved quietly. She had not spoken once that entire class period. She seemed chill; Gladion could tell he was going to like her. “I’m Meina, and I like pink and painting,” she said, then resumed looking at the book in her lap. Huh… everyone in the classroom was certainly… unique, but Meina was different on another level.
She was rather pale, but the Poni native flowers in her hair suggested she went outside a decent amount and was likely local. Her dirty blonde hair was adorned with bright pink streaks. Gladion honestly couldn’t tell if it was dye or paint. Her shirt was tie-died and paint stained, and her face had some splotches likely from whatever she was using.
“Yeah, Meina’s really good at art,” Ilima chimed. Gladion noticed an odd, almost adoring tone in his voice. Meina breathed a quiet thanks, but her gray eyes seemed to light up. On the other side of the circle, Hau was looking intently at Ilima with a mischievous smirk, and that all but confirmed his earlier suspicions.
Gladion cracked a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you all,” he told the circle. He wasn’t really lying. He was pleased to learn the type of people Lillie would be with, even if he didn’t see himself growing close to them. After all, that was what he had come here to do. Learn, but mostly to look out for Lillie.
He now realized… if these were the kind of people Lillie would be interacting with, she would be okay. Even if she could not approach Pokémon, she would have friends that could lighten the burden and love her as he does.
Yes… she will be fine. The command his conscience told him did not fade from his headspace, but it lightened its grip on his mind for once.

Chapter Four
Father went over the rules for a third time, even though Natural Harmonia Gropius already understood.
“Don’t tell anyone about where you live and about your plan.” Father didn’t want any ordinary person to mess up the coronation, and neither did Natural Harmonia Gropius. Other people had different beliefs than them and might try to stop it. Neither of them could let that happen. No more Pokémon could get hurt.
“Don’t take your necklace off.” At this point, Natural Harmonia Gropius understood it was some sort of tracker. He had vague memories of waking up in the forest and being scolded by Father for going out too far. A tracker was the only possible way he knew where he was. He had never taken it off before, and had never bothered to or wanted to. He was sure whatever would happen was something he did not want. Father had told him since he could remember that if he took it off, bad things would happen, and Father always kept his promises.
“And finally, don’t fall in love.” Growing close to a human would impair his judgement and his priorities. Natural Harmonia Gropius didn’t exactly want to fall in love with a person anyways. He knew what people were capable of… and they were nothing like the characters in the books he reads. He would never forgive himself if he did.
Once Father was sure the three rules were burned in the back of his son’s mind, he led him out to the forest. Natural Harmonia Gropius had always loved the forest, but he had not been allowed to go in it for a while. He didn’t remember exactly when or what happened, but he remembered being allowed in it at some point. All of his best memories were there- he used to play with the Pokémon who lived there. Zorua loved it too. He and his Pokémon friend shared a bond, but it couldn’t replace the bond a Pokémon had with others of its kind.
Natural Harmonia Gropius felt an odd sense of nostalgia walking through the woods, specifically the path they were taking. A tiny part of him didn’t want to leave. This forest, even if he hadn’t walked it for years, felt like home. No… home is with Father, he reminded himself. Then why wasn’t I this sad when I left my room?
He didn’t see it, but Father must have had something in his hand, because when he touched the empty space in front of him, it was not an empty space anymore.
It was a wall.
Natural Harmonia Gropius’ mind was whirring with questions, but he was so shocked he couldn’t find the words to ask them. How did I not know about this before? Surely he had gone this far. Running into a physical wall is not just something you forget.
Father offered no answers to his son’s unspoken questions. He led him through the door. Beyond was more forest, but it was unfamiliar land. This wasn’t a dream. He knew it wasn’t, but it felt so surreal. He had a feeling it was going to get more strange from here. Father, from behind him, placed his good hand on his left shoulder.
“Remember what I have told you.” And with that, the familiar forest behind him, the wall, his father, everything he had ever known, disappeared.

your writing so good!! it reads so well omg

OOh this looks interesting!! I love the sibling relationship between Lillie and Gladion, it's so sweet

thanks (: