Author's Note: Thank you for taking the time to read as always. This is a new account and my first pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy, if not then I'd still welcome any tips you have that could make it better ^_^ I'm also looking for a beta to help me with my English.
Update: This is was my first pokemon fic. While its a first fic and I still have much to learn overall I enjoyed writing this and have slowly updated it here and there to make it tighter, and plan to try to revisit this with a third chapter this month. Xoxoxo
-Lore
Chapter 1: Grey
"Accumula Town, the fast-growing town," read an inquisitive, lanky teen with a swing of his arms back and forth as he stood before the sign post.
This was the next stop as N and his sisters accompanied their father around Unova, spreading the honest word of Pokemon Liberation to her citizens, teaching them how to really love pokemon- by setting them free.
There are 30 people on the street besides Team Plasma, N counted in his head with delight. How perfect! 30 is the atomic number for zinc, also known as the philosopher's wool. Zinc is pure and white, illuminating as Reshiram's truth. It is a good omen for the truth coming out today.
Natural Harmonious Gropius was the full name of the tall, elfin fellow with the bushy ponytail. He put his hands behind his neck and strolled toward the town square. Nothing would have made anyone aware that the strange, green-haired boy in the baseball cap was destined to be a king.
N squinted, pulling the hat's brim over his eyes, trying to hide from the sunlight. Sage Rood had been very kind and cautioned him that photosensitivity was something he might experience today since he was not accustomed to being outdoors for long intervals.
What was eye strain or a headache to N when he was going to hear Ghetsis of Team Plasma give a speech? He was so proud to call him Father today, and he was so lucky to be able to go outdoors.
I know! I'll just close my eyes and find my way there blind, N thought with a confident smile then grabbed a hold of a nearby railing.
He hopped onto the rail, making a total liepard of himself as he walked the narrow path with his head in the clouds and arms stretched open. As he walked by an oversized puzzle box swung back and forth from the key chain clipped to his belt loop. N never once opened his eyes as he stepped in a straight line down the banister. All I have to do is listen to sounds of the city. They will guide me wherever I wish to go.
A group of kids ran down the street, singing and playing the game of fire, grass water. Underneath the screaming voices was the sound of revolving doors to the sad institution known as the pokemon center. N could hear dozens of feet headed towards the park. Running shoes stepped off of hard cobblestone and touched down on the soft grass, making a distinctive vibration to N's ears. This was where the rally would be. He could even hear the voices of three of the seven sages asking questions of one another.
N chuckled, I was raised by perfect beings, it is only natural that I Natural will succeed in my endeavors.
The perfect beings were of course pokemon, Papa Darmanitan, lil Zorua, Woobat and all of his other friends from the woods. They did not eat him like the people from the village said they would when they put him there. They gnawed off the ropes that bound his hands, kept him warm and melted the snows.
Mama Zoroark had showed him how to forage for food at night, teaching him to use his ears unlike humans who did not use all of their senses.
As N entered the park he was greeted by a tall, stately pokemon with piercing, watery eyes, smooth violet skin and full lips. Her hair was black with white ribbons strew throughout it, and matching pieces of lace on a dark gown that fell to the floor. The psychic pokemon Gothitelle was his elder sister's childhood friend. Gothitelle carried with her a dwindling stack of flyers to advertise the Team Plasma meet-up.
She was always eager to volunteer her help. In many cases it was better for pokemon to hear endorsements of Liberation from their own kind, rather than humans. Gothitelle could also use telepathy to reveal the whereabouts of shelters run by Team Plasma to pokemon, while keeping it a secret from the trainer standing beside them, should a pokemon wish to runaway.
Two young ladies had also arrived at the park. They walked hand in hand, whispering to one another. The older of the two was a woman with an oval face and straight, rose-colored hair. She wore a plain part in the middle of her hair but it was perfect, just as every step she took was careful, controlled and appropriate for the daughter of the demanding Ghetsis Harmonia.
Anthea greeted each citizen of Accumula with the most formal of courtesies, flashing a beautiful smile of white teeth as she offered literature about Pokemon Liberation.
Her companion was a very tall if odd blonde with a French braid. She would have been extremely beautiful had her bangs not sat up straight on top of head, resembling a Pikachu's ears ever so slightly. Beside her was the embrace pokemon Gardevoir. She had been Concordia's friend for as long as Gothitelle had been Athea's.
Anthea stared at a pamphlet entitled Reclaiming Unova. A picture of a valiant, young man in chainmail was used for the cover art. It was the image of a knight in shining armor. He was an activist in Team Plasma, and the photo showed him leading a battered and bruised Rapidash back to the wild to be free. She smiled.
Gothitelle soon returned to the side of her friend Anthea. The psychic Pokemon lifted the hems of her skirt so as not to sully a thing as she entered the town square. Gone were the days of getting into fistfights so her trainer could win badges. She was a class act, and used her friend Anthea as inspiration for how she would live her new life.
The yellow-haired girl flipped ahead to a page with an article entitled From Tamers to Cueballs to Cool Trainers. There were pictures taken by a photographer in their organization who had visited Kanto. The photos showed young, successful Pokemon trainers carrying whips in their hand for good measure as they flung their pokeballs into battle.
Concordia wrinkled her brow, quickly turning to a different page. There was a picture of Pokemon for sale like shopping goods at the Goldenrod City Game Corner. The rich walked to the counter carrying cases full of gold coins, pointing out which pokemon they wanted to purchase. Dratini, the chubby water serpent with the sky blue and white pattern went for 2,100 coins. Cubone, the mammal holding his mother's bones, was priced at a very reasonable 800. Both Pokemon had been hunted to near extinction.
A wobuffet stood behind the counter, his mouth agape, arm raised high in the air and his beaver-like tail also perked up. The psychic Pokemon was off in his own world, hearing happy music, while trainers gathered around a card table, playing a game of Voltob Flip that would decide his fate.
"Look at this Anthea, I'm glad that at least in Unova this doesn't exist."
"The worst part was the section about the unethical attitudes of breeders. Because of its unstable DNA trainers often force Ditto to go into heat and breed with any number of Pokemon, regardless of species, gender or toll on the body in order to obtain more uncommon Pokemon. Many never have a life outside of reproduction. When the offspring fails to meet the trainers expectations they are called breeding rejects, seperated from the parents and traded away without a second thought. Fighting until unconscious begins to seem a blessing," Anthea said with a weak shake of her head.
"How is this friendship?" Concordia asked on the verge of angry tears.
She turned her head with a look of worry at a pokemon floating beside her, a willowy slyph with large coral eyes, snowy skin and a seaweed-colored crown of hair around her shoulders. What if father and our brother fail, and Gardevoir falls into the hands of a Pokemon trainer?
"They are 'friends' so long as the trainer can profit from that relationship. When that Pokemon starts losing some battles the trainers show their true colors," Anthea said stoically, folding her arms.
Concordia nodded her head with understanding. "Look at the amazing things our friends can do. Gardevoir is beautiful, strong, smart and good! She can read the future, it is possible for her to even move through dimensions. Yet somebody thinks that they have the right to imprison her soul in a ball for their gain? It isn't right!"
The fairy pokemon would not see the girl upset herself on her account. She hovered in mid air, circling Concordia slowly before pulling her into a protective hug.
"Thanks Gardevoir,"
"Lord N will make the world full of truth again, not Man's false ideals. Justice always prevails Concordia," Anthea said with certainty.
N sat down on the soft earth and waited for Father Ghetsis to come to the park as he enjoyed the open air. He found a shady area and took in the cool, minty scents of the sky, ivy and wood. A patrat wandered next to N.
"Come here my friend," N said, reaching his hand out to the Patrat that had scampered over to him, offering him a chocolate sweetheart. "You are about to hear a wonderful speech. Those of us who have gathered here today dream a common dream."
He was a short, nut brown rodent with cheeks so big that they seemed stuffed with dozens of apricorns. His red eyes were very alert however. Patrat folded his arms with curiosity after it had finished wolfing down the candy.
A dark, cute female who was about the same age as N sat down beside him. She smiled at him. N was so engrossed with meeting a brand new pokemon and spoke at such a quick pace that he sometimes overlooked those who cared for him, even when they stood plainly in front of him. The expression of N's admirer quickly turned from nervous to heartbroken. He only saw the patrat and not her.
"Hi," she whispered with eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
Grey was one of the newest advocates for Team Plasma. Her shy speaking voice would not have been heard had it been anyone other than N. His ears rotated, giving him a whimsical look befitting a Buneary. She could not help but giggle at the sight of him, even when she thought she was going to cry just a moment ago.
He wore a distant facial expression even at the moment he turned to look at Grey. His eyes were clouded, still lost in the dreams he spoke of. A broad but still placid smile slowly appeared on his face. "Let me hear your voice again, Grey."
"What?" Grey asked, becoming embarrassed.
A curl of hair fell out of place and hung in front of her eyes as she tried to scoot away, making her look not as mature as she would have liked in front of the king.
She hoped that he liked her. There was a caring tone in his voice but Lord N was always polite to everyone. She had never met anyone like this. No matter how harshly he was treated he always wore a smile.
N had dreams of the future that came true, he could understand pokemon verbatim, count vast sums in his head and often spoke in riddles. How could she read someone like N? No, someone like my lord N, she corrected herself in her head. While he was always informal she would not take advantage of his friendliness. She could not make a mistake with Father Ghetsis here today most of all.
Though he was a man of charity who had saved the lives of the Shadow Triad, everyone involved with Team Plasma was still expected to act with dignity, formality and treat his son with utmost respect. Grey would be homeless if it were not for Team Plasma, and she did not want to do anything to get herself thrown out of the castle.
"You are with friends now Grey, you may speak as much as your heart desires or as little, and do so without fear. I decree that it can be no other way for any soul with the courage to embrace Pokemon Liberation and stand with Team Plasma. I am King to serve at your pleasure," he said in a chipper fashion.
This frightened Grey even more. Could he read minds too? Grey held her head down with a groan.
A polite applause started, N and Grey turned their attention toward the wooden platform in the center of the park and watched a man with yellow-green hair around his shoulders climb the steps. He was followed by a lake of fabric that caught the sunlight. The honey drizzled down the side of the wood and covered the steps as he took center stage. Dusky purple flecks intertwined with the gold, revealing ornate, eye-shaped patterns on the cloak.
The motivational speaker's own eye was hidden with a metal plate, large enough to conceal most of the right side of his face in red. Though one eye was missing, the other eye looked on his audience with intelligence and confidence. He dared anyone in the crowd to look away from his deformity in horror. If he could stand the pain, then so would they.
The bone structure on the left side of his face had been preserved perfectly. He looked young and patrician, and made bending his lips into a smile for the people of Accumula look effortless. The injured side of his face was on fire with pain but it would not have hurt any less if he had scowled instead.
"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to to you about Pokemon Liberation," spoke N's adoptive father.
"Yes!" N cheered for him, adding a strong hand clap to the gathering.
Ghetsis had a gravelly speaking voice, but each syllable was clear and precise. He had polished his instrument until the gunmetal was almost pleasant to hear. His words gave calm to the strangers as if he was their own father speaking. He never broke eye contact with anyone.
"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokemon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that we humans...only assume that this is truth?"
Grey wanted to dig a hole, bury herself underground and disappear. She had cooperated with the oppressors for years. It was not long ago that she heard Team Plasma preach to pokemon trainers in a town just like this. It was then she realized that there was a better way to live; just because it had been this way ever since she could remember did not mean it was right.
"Yes sir, that's right," Anthea exclaimed from a park bench as claps from various directions followed her lead.
There were young faces sitting towards the front of the stage that looked especially curious, two boys and a girl. Though Accumula was a little town it was on route to Nuvema where starter Pokemon were given away regularly to help beginning trainers. New trainers were of the greatest interest to Ghetsis, he found them more receptive.
The girl had a Snivy sitting calmly in her lap. Meanwhile an Oshawott and Tepig played tag with each other as the speech continued. The young man who trained Tepig frowned and turned to his rival, not liking the tone of the conversation. Oshawott's trainer however reached into his wallet and donated 40 pokedollars to Ghetsis' daughter Concordia, nodding his head along with Ghetsis.
Ghetsis' youngest girl made a senrei bow, thanked the young man for his kindness and passed the collection plate around the front row. It would be nice if more pokemon trainers acted like that and did the right thing, she thought, offering a tray of homemade desserts to everyone.
The oshawott trainer sifted through the rainbow of differently-colored sweets and grabbed a little vanilla and pomeg berry treat. Concordia had carefully designed the candy to look like a shattered pokeball, as a symbol of the revolution. He decided that this was the right cookie for him.
"Pokemon are subject to the selfish commands of Trainers. They get pushed around when they are our 'partners' at work," Ghetsis exclaimed with a fiery gesture of his hand. "Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I am saying?"
Grey felt panic as she stared into the judgmental red eye of Lord's N father looking at each and everyone at the meeting, melting them with just one look. She felt like she was going to faint, it was turning so hot. She needed a moment away from the gathering. She was not the only one that walked out while Ghetsis was speaking.
A woman dressed in a vulpix-skin coat picked up her purse and snatched a luxury ball from inside of the handbag. She clenched the black sphere and its gold inserts angrily, ejecting a swanna from the pokeball. The lady placed her girth on top of the slender white creature and commanded it to fly, nearly running over Grey in her haste.
Grey kept walking, trying to appear calm as she left the park and not make a scene like the trainer on the bird Pokemon. There had been a couple of other walkouts, which was to be expected, but it basically seemed that the meeting was going well. She could hear the voices of plenty of strangers cheering as Ghetsis went into detail about a brighter Unova.
Grey hoped that nobody thought she was leaving because she disagreed. She loved Team Plasma, but she couldn't stand being around so many people, especially strangers. Sometimes she missed her family too, even if they were pokemon trainers who did not approve of her running away and joining the fight to liberate all pokemon.
She had walked until she was no longer in Accumula Town. There was a sign post up ahead painted with the words Route 1, and a long pink road that made Grey sneeze. She stepped over the cherry blossom petals with a sad smile.
Those were his favorite. He loved spring, she thought.
What am I thinking? He wasn't my brother. Lord N is my brother now. We are all one family until segregation is established for good and Pokemon have a boundary to protect them.
Grey got down on the ground, sat by the sign and touched the cool earth, drawing shapes in the soil to cheer herself up. All she needed was a few moments, if she stayed away for long Lord N or one of sweet his sisters might come looking for her. She did not want to be even more of a burden than she already was.
"Excuse me,"
Grey looked down the road and saw nothing but trees, before finally spotting two shy, chocolate-toned eyes hiding behind the grass in the field. A gumdrop-shaped nose sniffed the air, followed by a bark. The puppy cautiously peered out of the grass. He tilted his head to the right and stared at Grey.
"What is wrong Lillipup?"
"What is wrong with you I should say? Come into the grass and hide with us where its safe little one," the pile of fluff continued to bark at Grey.
Grey rose to her feet. "But why?"
"Because of the Pokemon trainers! Nuvema Town is just down the road. New trainers hunting for Pokemon come in out of there all the time, so do old trainers and their teachers! One caught my neighbor this morning-"
"It is so little and cuddly John! I have never seen that species before, it looks more like a pet," said a brunette in a sailor dress, pointing down the road directly at Grey.
The canine's face vanished behind the grass. The tiny paws slowly backed away until he was safe behind an oran berry tree. He felt sorry for the pretty pokemon sitting under the sign. He supposed she had not been on her own for long; wild pokemon never strolled up and down the road in plain sight.
An ace trainer with a bowl cut of blue hair stood with one hand in his pocket, appraising Grey. "Definitely not obtainable in the wild here. You see those sparkles floating all around it? That means whatever species it is, its the shiny variety. Cool!"
The lass rummaged through her purse to get her pokedex and unlock the dex entry. A pleasant, if slightly electronic male voice came from the digital encyclopedia in the girl's hands: Zorua, the tricky fox Pokemon. This Pokemon has human-like characteristics. It evolves into Zoroark at level 20. Bonds between these Pokemon are very strong. It protects the safety of its pack by tricking its opponents.
A hologram resembling Grey appeared across the screen of her pokedex. It was a small quadruped with grey and black fur, large kitten-like ears and the thickest collar of fluff surrounding the creature's neck. She had the face of a fox cub, a feminine, impish expression, teeny nose and innocent green eyes that took up most of her face.
"So this is Zorua? It says this one's female too," said the lass, nodding her head as she took in the information.
"Great that she happens to be female, if her ivs aren't good you can make her breed a better one."
"Nobody's getting me," Grey growled, holding her head high up the air. "I had a Pokemon trainer before and won't again, he said that we were like a family and that he was my brother, but Team Plasma taught me to see through his lies. I am a liberated Pokemon under their protection!"
Lass Genevive had no comprehension of what the fox Pokemon's yaps meant; a human like N who understood Pokemon as a second language was one in a million. The girl smiled, unhooking from her charm bracelet a fuchsia and white pokeball engraved with a heart. She pressed the button in the center of the loveball to enlarge the capsule. The Zorua's eyes widened in panic as she saw what was in the girl's hand.
"I want to dress you up and put you in a musical when we get to Nimbasa city."
Grey scampered as fast as her stubby legs could carry her, but felt the orb collide with the back of her head, knocking her off balance. With a groan she forced herself to walk again, only to see a red shadow hover over her and the love ball open. When the two halves of the pokeball separated it revealed a gaping mouth. The throat swallowed Grey whole.
Grey screamed at the trainers as she was sucked inside of the ball. "Not again!"
The pokeball rolled into the mud and then sat still at the lass' feet. She tapped her loafers, waiting to hear the pokeball lock. For a second it shook violently to the left. The patter of small feet could just barely be heard coming from inside of the pokeball. It was perfectly normal, the Pokemon was trying to find a way out, probably kicking at the ceiling and chewing on some wires, but pokeballs were stronger than they looked.
The loveball shook again, this time to the right, but to no avail for the Zorua. The two trainers stared at the ball intensely.
The ace trainer folded his arms with curiosity as the loveball spun on its side for a third time.
The girl leaped up into the air, raising her fist in excitement. "Gotcha!"
To be continued...