Pokemon Heartgold Xenophobia !new! <TOP>

The old man wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's not about the Egg, child. It's about the bloodline. We don't know what those… creatures… are bringing in. Sickness. Bad luck. Professor Elm says there's no science to it, but Elm isn't from here. He's from Kanto."

The protagonist, Lyra, had never questioned this. She had grown up with Mr. Pokémon and Professor Elm, with the gentle rhythm of the Pokédex and the familiar cries of Sentret and Hoothoot. Her own team—a loyal Typhlosion, a swift Ampharos, a steadfast Slowbro—were Johto-born and Johto-bred. When whispers began, she dismissed them. "Old people," she told her rival, Silver, "they always fear what's new."

Someone had spray-painted a crude, snarling face over the carved image of Celebi. Beneath it, in clumsy letters: NO FALSE GODS. ONLY JOHTO POKÉMON. Lyra stood before the desecration, her Typhlosion's flame flaring on her back in sympathetic rage. The forest was silent. No wild Paras skittered. No Weedle dangled from branches. Even the Pokémon were afraid.

That was the moment Lyra understood. Xenophobia wasn't a monster you could battle with a Thunderbolt or a Flamethrower. It was a slow, creeping poison. It wore the face of tradition, spoke in the voice of protection, and found its strength in the silence of good people.