Hello readers! I am starting a new story here today! If you are familiar with my previous works, then I thank you for staying with me!
I know that I should be focusing on METS or DLiT or my other stories, but I just couldn't help but start this story! I feel like I can't go on writing for my other stories until I start this, plus a few chapters, and get it out of my system. I'm not abandoning any of my stories. I promise you.
So without further ado, I'd like to welcome you to my newest work, With a Melody!
I don't own the Pokemon series. Now let's get on with the story, savvy?
Damn, this meeting was taking too long. A cyan eye looked around the spacious room. Its owner ordered it to rest on other occupants in the room, including the one speaking. Many other eyes, which were also not focused on the speaker, met the cold cyan with the same expression. It was only natural that they were as bored as he was. Sitting, or floating, in a single spot for hours on end was not an ideal way to spend their days. Even the humans, whose forms they took at times, did not have to endure this kind of torture. No offense to Arceus, but she needed to relax a little more.
With the addition of Solgaleo, Lunala, and the Alolan Island Guardians, came the discovery of extra dimensional Pokemon that the humans dubbed "Ultra Beasts." Arceus, being the ever-cautious leader that she was, ordered every being in the Hall of Legends to find, report, and, if possible, capture any Ultra Beasts to send back to their point of origin, called "Ultra Space." Arceus warned them all to be cautious when one was spotted. No one knew how dangerous each Ultra Beast could be at its fullest extent. That was nearly a year ago.
Today, Darkrai couldn't understand why they were still forced to attend these meetings. There was no apparent danger at the moment ever since the human's International Police started to look into the Ultra Beasts, along with the Alolan champion. An Ultra Beast sighting was rare in Alola these days, let alone outside the tropical region. But Arceus, for some reason, had sensed Ultra Wormhole energy in the other regions. It was only slight, but enough to make Arceus worry again.
Darkrai sighed. He was still bored as the meeting appeared to be drawing to a close. He cast his gaze to the one floating next to Arceus. The spectral dragon was just as bored as Darkrai was, but one could only know if one knew him like Darkrai did. Giratina met his eye and twitched his wings. Darkrai responded with a nose scratch. The unsaid signals were caught by others in the room, all returned with their own signals: a head or nose scratch, neck or wing twitch, or a silent yawn.
"And that is all we have for today." Darkrai inwardly sighed as Arceus finally said the blessed words. "Thank you for your attendance. You may all spend the next few days however you wish. I just ask that you be careful when you decide to return home. And my offer still stands for all of you to stay here in the Hall of Legends. Many have already decided to stay here and I ask that the rest of you at least consider it. Meeting adjourned." Darkrai could see the hidden smirk of Giratina as Arceus finished her speech. The nightmare bringer gave his own smirk and shook his head.
Darkrai still remembered the shocked face of Arceus's human form of that day he came to her. He had asked her, out of the blue, if he could stay in the Hall of Legends as his new home. Arceus, still recovering from the initial shock of the message, agreed and welcomed him with open arms, both literally and metaphorically. The hug, which Arceus thought Darkrai would reject, got tighter as he gave no indication he didn't want it. Arceus acted like a mother to everyone in the Hall of Legends, except to her counterpart, Giratina. And the interaction was caught by none other than the Reverse World guardian himself, who never let the phantom live the hug down.
Darkrai, seeing the doors of the meeting hall open, shifted to his human form and stood from his seat. The dark type found that his human form was much more comfortable than his original form. Most everyone felt the same. However, his taste of clothes was much simpler than the others, who were much more extravagant. His white, messy hair covered one of his cyan eyes and reached down to the red scarf tied around his neck. A simple black t-shirt and ragged black jeans covered most of his pale white body. His shoes had the same dark theme and were pitch black down to the soles. His body matched the type of human in his early twenties. He doubted the compliments of the several female legends towards his physical appearance, remembering the torments and threats during his early years in the Hall.
A nudge against his arm made him turn around. To his right was Yveltal, also in his human form. The dark bird's human form was close in age to Darkrai's own form. Those grinning sky blue eyes and tan skin under his slicked back black hair, all of it fit into a laid back attitude that Yveltal gave off. His clothes consisted of a grey, fluffy scarf, a black vest covering a red t-shirt, and pants that were covered in Yveltal's wing patterns and reaching past his shoes to the floor.
"Hey, Darkrai! Some meeting, huh?"
"Hey, Yveltal. You ready for tomorrow?" Darkrai asked him with a whisper. Yveltal seemed to fidget for a moment. Yveltal looked around to make sure no one was watching as he started to respond.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you something about it."
"What is it?"
"Is it alright if Xerneas comes with us? She's starting to stress out and I asked her if she would like to take a break." Darkrai's eyes widened at Yveltal.
"You didn't tell her everything, did you?" He harshly whispered. Yveltal waved his hands back and forth rapidly.
"No no no! I swear I didn't!" He said. He stopped waving his hands and continued. "I told her that I had to see if it was okay with the others. I didn't tell her who the others were, either! You're the last one to ask and…"
Darkrai laid his face in his right hand. He would have to check with the others in their secret group to make sure, but if Yveltal was telling the truth and he didn't squeal everything…
"Fine. Tell her she can come with us. Latias was getting lonely, anyway."
"Awesome! Thanks, Darkrai!"
"Just meet us in the garage at 6:00 in the morning. We have to meet bright and early to make sure no one knows what we're doing."
"Got it. Who's covering for us this time, again?" Yveltal asked. Darkrai looked upwards and tried to remember who was doing what.
"I think… Lugia and Latios. They're coming next time. And keep an eye on Solgaleo, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Bulu. They're still new, but you never know. If you see them stressing out, give them the offer. I've still gotta make the call and see if Michael and the others are okay with us coming again."
"Got it. I owe you one, Darkrai."
"Yeah yeah. Just tell Xerneas to come in her human form and be prepared to use her fake name."
"Roger that. See ya later." Both dark types nodded and bumped fists before going in opposite directions, Yveltal with a little spring in his step.
As Darkrai walked through the halls to his room, he stopped at the door beside his room. Inside was Cresselia, his counterpart. She was always working lately, whether it was with the Ultra Beasts, the wormhole energy, or looking after the young legendary Pokemon.
If there was anyone stressed these days, it was Cresselia. She never let it show outside her room, but Darkrai knew the truth while living next to her. Every night he would hear her flipping papers and books as she looked for any information on the Ultra Beasts and Alola's mythology. And he heard the same sound as he stood in front of the door right then.
Reluctantly, he brought his hand up to the door and tapped his knuckles on the wooden surface. A soft voice saying they were busy made him knock again. A squeal and a bang interrupted the soft voice this time, causing Darkrai to open the door himself and entering the room.
There was Cresselia, in her Pokemon form and floating above many opened books and papers on the floor. Cresselia looked at who intruded on her private space and scowled when she saw it was Darkrai.
"What do you want? I'm busy." She spat at him. Darkrai just looked at her with indifference to hide the worry previously on his face.
"Hello to you too, Cressy. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm perfectly fine! Why does everyone ask me that?" She tried to pick up the books with her psychic. The books glowed and floated upwards slightly before they dropped back to the floor. Darkrai just sighed and started picking up the books with his hands.
"You can barely keep yourself afloat, let alone these books. Don't try to deny it, I hear you every single night doing this. You're working yourself ragged and you never realized it."
"What do you know about working hard? I've never seen you work a day in your life."
'That's because you never look at me at all.' He thought. Being a dark type, Cresselia and other psychic types couldn't read his mind. "I'm just saying that you need to take a break. To me, it's like you're working harder than Arceus."
Cresselia huffed and just watched Darkrai pick up her books and place them on the pink bookshelf. She floated down and rested on her feather stuffed bed, seeing that it was rather difficult to keep herself in the air. "Why are you doing this? I thought you hated me."
"I never said that. And if anything happened to you, Arceus would make me care for you anyway." He answered. Cresselia only gave a leer to his response, while he acted like she hadn't done anything. "So before that happens, I want to ask you something."
"What is it?" She asked, her voice finally losing the edge.
"Some of us are going out for a little while, starting tomorrow. Would you like to come?" He finally asked, putting the last book in its place. This was a crucial part of his offer. He can't reveal where he and the others would be going or who else is going.
"Going out? You don't mean like on a date, right?"
"God no." He quickly spat out. "Just a couple of us guys and girls going somewhere to blow off some steam. I thought you might want to come with us."
"How long would we be gone?"
"Just a few days." He supplied. They would be gone for however long they wanted, but if she didn't want to stay long, she didn't have to.
"And you're not just gonna strand me in the middle of nowhere all alone?"
"Swear on my heart." He answered and placed his right hand on his chest. She was silent for a few minutes as she sat on her bed. After contemplating, she let out a small smile and nodded.
"Okay, I'll go."
"Alright, we have to meet up at the garage at 6:00 in the morning. I'll knock when I'm up and ready. I'll wait for you, since you probably don't know where the garage is." Cresselia was about to protest, but he had a point. "And come in human form, simple clothes, and with a fake name. You'll understand why when we get going."
"Okay… Wait! I'm supposed to look after Shaymin tomorrow! I forgot!"
"That's fine, ask her if she wants to come. Manaphy's coming too." Now that Cresselia had accepted, Darkrai could at least tell her that the young water type was coming. And knowing Shaymin, she might join in a heartbeat with Manaphy.
Cresselia nodded and weakly floated off the bed. "Fine. I guess I'll see you in the morning Darkrai. Now get out. I need to decide what to wear." Darkrai quickly complied and left the room as she started shifting forms. He knew early on to never get in between a girl and her wardrobe.
A buzz in his pocket caused him to reach in and pull out a small black object. He held it up to his ear and he heard a voice. He scrambled into his room in an effort to have a private conversation.
"Michael? Yeah, I was just about to call… We're still on? Gotcha. We'll meet you at around 6:30 or 7:00. Keep working on that list… Oh? A new one? Sounds fine. We have a couple new ones on our end as well… Ha! Giratina thinks she might show up again… Alright, I'll let you go for now. Tell Melody I said hey. Later." He tapped on the screen of the device and flopped onto his bed. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.
Tomorrow did come, finding Darkrai knocking on Cresselia's door again. She opened the door and she was in her human form. Same age as him, she had done her golden hair in waves. Beautiful lavender eyes stared back at him. He avoided her gaze and saw that she was dressed in a simple pink shirt with a crescent moon and a purple skirt that almost reached to her knees. He suggested that she wear comfortable shoes, so she changed her high heels to some running shoes.
"So? How do I look?" She asked. She twirled as a small purse and a light jacket swung in her arms.
"You look good." He said, giving his honest opinion.
"Thanks." She shyly said, hiding her blush. "We should go get Shaymin."
"No need. I got in touch with Manaphy and told him to get her. We have to leave now and their rooms are on the other side of the complex. Let's go."
The two dream bringers stopped outside a specific door. Darkrai looked all around to make sure no one was watching before he opened the door for Cresselia.
When the light in her eyes died down, she noticed many other people gathered around three vehicles. Cresselia recognized them as the human forms of Yveltal, Xerneas, Giratina, Groudon, Dialga, Latias, Victini, Manaphy and Shaymin. Everyone seemed to be wearing less conspicuous clothing in different colors, as opposed to their original colors. When the group finally noticed the two newcomers, Giratina nodded his head as if he understood.
"Darkrai?" Cresselia started.
"Luna, remember I told you to call me Daniel." He said, using her alias. "We have to keep our fake names. Now what's up?"
"Well, Daniel, where exactly are we going?"
"You'll find out soon enough. It was a surprise for everyone when we first found out with Gabriel." He pointed to Giratina as he donned a black leather jacket and mounted the motorcycle, revving its engine.
"You sure take the names thing seriously…"
"We kind of have to, since we'll be called our names a lot they'll be like our real names." Daniel said. "You might as well get used to it. I'll tell you everyone's names when we get going."
"Okay…" Luna said as she started heading towards the large and intimidating truck. Daniel stopped her with a grab and pulled her back. "What are you doing? Aren't we getting ready? And why do we need human vehicles anyway?"
"You're riding on the other motor with me. There's not enough room in the truck, unless you would rather ride in the truck bed." She was appalled with him. Why on earth would she get on a motorcycle with anyone, let alone him? Yet there he was, standing by the cycle and twirling the keys on his finger. She looked back at the truck and saw that there was no room inside at all and the truck bed behind the cabin was filled with Groudon and Latias, though anymore occupants would not be wise. She huffed in defeat and took the open space behind Daniel.
"Just tell me where we're going." Luna shouted over the revving noise of the vehicles.
"We're going to Opelucid city! That's all we're saying right now!" Luna's eyes bulged as she heard the destination. A human city! No wonder they had to be like this! But why Opelucid? She didn't have enough time to ask as the portal to the human realm opened and the revving increased.
Twenty minutes have passed since they left the portal and they still had not arrived at Opelucid. It was mostly quiet as Luna held tightly onto Daniel and watched the scenery pass by. He certainly knew how to drive as they had appeared in a forest before they drove onto the road.
For those twenty minutes, Daniel explained to Luna everyone's names. Giratina, of course, was named Gabriel. Yveltal chose Yeti as his name. Groudon had chosen Grayson. Dialga settled on David. Latias picked Lucy. Victini chose Trey. And Manaphy called himself Phey. Gabriel called out and said that Xerneas chose Violet and Shaymin chose Shay. Daniel explained that everyone chose these names to hide as humans, though they actually liked being called by their aliases, himself included.
Luna felt like she understood and asked if she could keep her name. Though, she got a laugh and was told that it was her name anyway. She pouted and went back to her silence.
She was so tired from waking up early. Normally, she wouldn't have a problem with sleep, since she sometimes pulled all-nighters to spread good dreams across Sinnoh. But lately, she's stayed up multiple nights in a row. She almost rested her head on Daniel's back when she heard something unusual. The terrain switch from road to gravel wasn't a problem, it was a strange tune that caught her attention.
"Daniel! Is that music?!" She screamed once again over the running motor. Daniel gave a laugh in response when he heard the tune as well.
"Hell yeah, it is!" He shouted. Luna's eyes widened at his language as he brought the motorcycle closer to Gabriel's and the truck. "You guys hear what I hear?!"
"BTR!" Phey and Trey screamed out the open window. Gabriel smirked and let out a bellow of a laugh as he heard it as well.
Luna sat in confusion. She had heard of this BTR. A boy band, she knew. But they had broken up a few years ago and this singing sounded nothing like them. She leaned upwards and saw something in the distance. A metal fence surrounding a certain area. She knew this area was near Opelucid city, but she hadn't heard of anything big going on around here.
"Are we here for a concert?!" Luna asked. Daniel simply shook his head as the metal fence came closer.
The three vehicles slowed down as they neared the fence and Luna saw that a security guard was standing at the gate. Daniel drew closer to the man and held out his right hand. The guard took it in greetings.
"Hey, Wolf! It's good ta see ya!" Daniel shouted. The man, now known as Wolf, laughed heartily.
"Good to see you, too, Daniel. Michael told me that you were coming. You guys can come on in." Wolf said as he let go of Daniel's hand and opened the gate. "Have a hell of a time!"
Daniel and Gabriel hooted loudly and all three vehicles entered with reduced speed. A large stage was seen and the music grew louder as they approached it, though there was no one onstage, save a few workers. There were multiple booths in the area as well, each containing their own workers. It almost looked like a festival ready to open.
Luna was shocked beyond belief at Daniel's behavior. She had never seen him act like anything other than a quiet man. To see him yell and laugh like this was like looking at a different person. To see everyone except Shay and Violet like this only added on to her shock.
Luna's confusion grew when Daniel started pulling around the stage and behind it. The music had become much clearer and sounded like a young girl was singing the lyrics normally sung by the boy band. When everyone stopped, Luna understood why.
Another group of people was gathered behind the stage and watching a teenage girl happily singing along and dancing to the song being played on speakers of another truck. The girl looked to be around Phey's, Trey's, and Shay's age group. Her wavy hair looked to be blonde with red highlights. Luna thought she was trying to be cute as she used a long branch as a pretend microphone stand.
The girl was the first to notice the new vehicles and waved her hand as she kept singing. The rest of the group followed her gaze and grinned. Phey and Trey burst out of the truck, spooking Luna into tightening her grip on Daniel, and stood with the girl in the middle of the group and joining her singing.
Realizing what she was doing, Luna let go of Daniel as soon as he stopped the cycle. Daniel chuckled as he killed the engine and got off the bike, walking towards a young man his age with silver hair and red eyes.
"Michael! How's the little superstar?" Daniel said with a laugh as he jabbed a thumb at the singing trio. The young man, Michael, laughed with him. Luna wondered why they were laughing until she heard the three sing the chorus, repeating 'superstar.'
"Fara's doing fine, Daniel. I see that Phey and Trey missed her. I bet they have been wanting to blow the speakers out for a while." Michael said. Catching sight of Luna, and Shay and Violet as they exited the truck, he smiled warmly and held out a hand to Luna. "It's nice to meet newcomers with Daniel and Gabriel. Name's Michael, ma'am."
Luna graciously took the offered hand and felt a spark in her palm.
For an instant, she saw, not the face of a human, but a silver X across Michael's face, his blue clothes gaining a metallic sheen and his red eyes glowing. The hand still felt human, but she was looking at a Metagross. To her, the entire group had changed. She saw her friend's normal forms, the girl singing with Phey and Trey had become a Braixen, the new boys had become an Aegislash and a Zoroark, and the other girls had become a Meloetta, a Milotic, and a Froslass.
When she let go, no one was fazed by her reaction and stepping back. Everyone had gone back to their human shapes, but she was still disturbed.
"D-Daniel." She gasped.
"Peace Cresselia." Michael said. The declaration had only scared her further. Normal Pokemon were not supposed to have the ability to become human, let alone know who she was in reality.
"Luna, it's alright. Everything is fine. They know who we all are, but there's nothing to worry about." She heard Daniel say. She whipped around to the disguised Darkrai and glared at him.
"Daniel, how is there nothing to worry about?!" She whispered.
"Because we have no idea how we came to be." Michael said. Luna slowly turned to the other group and noticed that the music had stopped. "We simply woke up one day years ago to find ourselves like this. I and another were already together when we transformed." The man that had previously been a Zoroark nodded with Michael.
"Gabriel found us and led us to everyone else here." The Zoroark said. "Since then, we lived together and among humans in secret."
"But, why…?" Luna whispered.
"It's best not to question why or how. We've been living just fine here." Michael said. "We've even discovered a mutual love of music and became performers. The only work we have, since we can't become trainers or battle anymore."
"And no human knows what we are either, so we can live peacefully." The Meloetta offered. "…Well, as peacefully as the press leaves us alone."
"Luna, does this sound wrong to you? What's done is done and they can't change back." Daniel said. Luna's shock turned to sorrow at Daniel's response. They couldn't change back?
Luna had finally accepted who Michael and the others were and the atmosphere had resumed its jubilant air. She thought that if they couldn't change back and they were happy with their new lives, there's nothing wrong with the situation. And if there was nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong with joining in on the fun.
She had learned the names of the group from Gabriel. Fara was the Braixen, the Zoroark was named Zack, the Aegislash gave his name as Aaron, the Froslass was named Rebecca, and the Milotic called herself Molly. Surprisingly, the Meloetta was not the same one as the one back at the Hall of Legends, though the two were related. This Meloetta called herself Melody. And the security guard at the front gate, named Wolf, was actually a Mightyena. He worked better as the intimidation factor rather than a performer, but he still loved music.
Michael said that there was another with them, but they were resting in one of the various cars behind the stage. However, it was not the vehicle that had continued to play music after the explanations.
After the explanations, Daniel and the guys said they would help unload the trailer behind the silver truck while the girls and kids got some breakfast for everyone from one of the food vendors. Bringing back biscuits and various breakfast meats, Luna saw David and Grayson carrying drums and setting them up.
As she was looking at the other instruments already set up, Fara squealed loudly and ran to the stage. Rather than taking a guitar or one of the microphones, she grabbed two drumsticks that David held out to her. Seeing her earlier, it was odd to know that Fara played the drums.
"She never changes." Luna heard Lucy say beside her.
"Lucy, how long have you been seeing these people? You act like this happens every day to you."
"It's practically like that, Luna. I'm one of the ones who's known the longest. I've just… gotten used to it. But it never stops being fun." Lucy finished with a grin. "Now, come on! The guys are gonna do sound check and we get to pick the songs from their playlist!"
Lucy broke out into a run and was followed by Melody and Molly. Violet and Rebecca kept a slow pace by Luna and smiled to each other. Phey, Trey, and Shay had already run onto the stage with Fara.
As Luna watched Daniel walk onstage and pick up a guitar, she thought that maybe this trip could really do her some good and help her relax. If Daniel was like this with them, maybe she could have some fun as well.
And that concludes the first chapter of With a Melody. We didn't get to any real songs, but you can guess at what Fara, Phey, and Trey were singing along to earlier. The next chapter will really contain songs and parts of lyrics. I will tell that this won't be some kind of musical where they spontaneously burst into song whenever the mood strikes.
Also, yes, the characters will be using their names in this story. Sorry if this confused anyone at that point in the story when I started using their names. I thought it would give them an individuality, as opposed to being called by their species name.
I hope you liked the first chapter. The second chapter will be coming soon.
See you soon, and listen to the melody of your soul!