Shot Down
Chapter 1 – The Annual Summit
The time had come for the annual summit at Spear Pillar, a meeting mandatory for all legendary Pokemon, no excuses, designated by Arceus himself. Traditionally, the group of godlike beings would all have gathered for an intense and completely serious discussion on the state of affairs of the world, and each Pokemon would give a report on the events that had occurred in their own personal department. Every legendary had a role to play in this world; Kyogre, for example, was to watch and protect the seas, whereas Groudon, her fiery counterpart, observed the movement and development of the continents.
It just so happens that on this particular meeting, a certain blue-coloured Arctic bird was a bit behind schedule, and rushing to arrive on time.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" he mentally screamed at himself. "Arceus will have my feathers if I'm late again, especially after last time!"
Panting from exertion, Articuno sped through the landscape, recognizable only as a vaguely blue blur. While the Lati twins held the title of being the fastest flying Pokemon ever with speeds rivalling those of jet planes, Articuno's speed was nothing to be laughed at, not that most Pokemon dared to even snicker in the legendary bird's direction for fear of eliciting his wrath… except for Mew. Then again, Mew pranked and taunted everyone, even the terrifyingly strict Mewtwo.
Articuno, despite having spent most of his time in a barren, icy wasteland, shivered from the thought of either purple/pink-ish, long-tailed feline. Mew was playful, dangerously so, to the point where she may have well been torturing her playmates with how annoying she became due to her lack of maturity. The part-flying-type legendary could think of more than one instance when he would rather have been electrocuted by Thunder from a thousand Electivires than spend another second in her company. Mewtwo, on the other hand, was Mew's complete and utter opposite, despite his appearance and origin. Those piercing amethyst eyes of his, constantly analyzing and calculating their environment as though imagining the most efficient and ruthless manner to completely destroy the object of their attention, frightened Articuno from how they seemed to able penetrate his mind to the very core.
The tardy bird was quickly pulled out if his thoughts after being forced to swerve sharply from his course of travel to avoid colliding with the edge of rock poking out of the side of Mt Coronet. Nearly arriving at his destination, he exerted one last burst of speed before zooming through the portal at the peak of the mountain tops that led to the meeting.
~SD~
"And that is why we must remai-" Arceus' speech was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang of the doors opening, revealing the only absent member of the present company of Pokemon.
Articuno promptly collapsed into an unrefined heap onto the polished floor of the Hall of Origins, sweating and panting from the exhaustion from traversing all of Sinnoh and half of Hoenn within the past half-hour. For a second, shocked silence permeated the room.
The silence was broken by a rather cheery green Pokemon.
"Hey, Blue! How ya chillin'?" Celebi giggled from both the legendary bird's comedic appearance and her own clever pun. Several legendaries snorted, and Articuno attempted to save face by glaring at them, although his ridiculous appearance detracted from the severity of the look.
The unkempt state of the bird's normally majestic coat was merely the tip of the iceberg. The unnatural redness of Articuno's blue face from blushing caused his visages to take on a rather purple tint, similar to that found in berries only added to the hilarity of the scene. Finally, in an attempt to rise and move forwards, the bird's tail managed to tangle itself in his claws, causing the legendary to trip flat on his face in front of the entire assembly of Pokemon. This was apparently too much to bear for some. Palkia burst into full out roars of laughter, tightly gripping the central table of the meeting room in order to prevent herself from falling. Legendaries all around the room gave into the temptation to chuckle at Articuno's unluckiness. Even the normally stoic Suicune cracked a smile.
The floored- literally!- Freeze Pokemon blushed heavily from his position on the floor, but quickly rose and drifted towards his proper seat for the meeting. Soon, the laughter died down, and the room returned to its previous silence.
Once sure that no further interruptions would occur, Arceus once again began to speak.
"So nice of you to join us." the god dryly stated at the flustered Articuno. "But we must return to the matter at hand, or rather, the lack thereof. As you all know, there has been a recent lack of catastrophic events, surprisingly, both natural and man made. The criminal organizations around the globe have been silenced for the time being, and I believe it is about time for all of you to enjoy a well deserved break."
At this, all the legendaries cheered. Ignoring the reaction, Arceus continued.
"Please, you may all return to your abodes and rest. But be sure to remain vigilant and careful. Just because there hasn't been any disasters recently doesn't mean you can all let your guards down, I'm case some rookie trainer appears with a wretched Master Ball. Now, the meeting is adjourned." At this, the god disappeared in a flash of light, presumably to perform his duties as creator of the universe and all that.
The legendary Pokemon dispersed one by one, some pausing to chat or catch up, whereas others left in pairs or trios with their respective counterparts. Articuno moved to sneak out of the room, before (Arceus-forbid) she showed up-
"Hey there, hot stuff." He froze. Why, why, why, why did she have to see him? Oh right, because he had barged right into the middle of the meeting.
Might as well get this over with, he sighed. Turning around, the legendary plastered a strained smile onto his beak, before replying,
"Hey Moltres."
Said fiery avian batted her eyes flirtatiously in Articuno's direction, before stretching out her body to emphasize her graceful features.
"So... are you planning on doing anything tonight?" She spoke in a low, seductive tone, moving closer towards the arctic legendary.
Articuno cringed. In truth, Moltres' actions elicited the opposite response she had been aiming for.
"Uh, no- I mean YES! Yes. Something very important- legendary business, after all, that must be done ALONE. To avoid any, um, distractions; yes, distractions. So sorry, maybe another time?" Maybe when humans stop catching Pokemon, he thought sarcastically.
Moltres looked truly disappointed. "Oh, alright then. Perhaps another time. I'm very flexible you know; in more ways than one." She ended with a whisper, before taking to the skies, presumably back to Mt Ember.
Preparing himself to also take off, Articuno shook his wings to relieve them of their soreness, before flying off into the clear blue sky at a leisurely glide... in the opposite direction of Moltres, of course.
~SD~
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the region of Sinnoh, a certain blonde-haired woman clothed in black, with hair accessories resembling black teardrops, was contentedly enjoying her double-scooped ice cream on a cone, as her Pokémon around her enjoyed the serene beauty of the forested clearing they were in. The woman in question was Cynthia Shirona, current Sinnoh League Champion and part-time ice cream connoisseur, and had decided to take herself and her Pokemon on a small trip to her private villa.
Garchomp was basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun, while Milotic and Gastrodon playfully splashed each other in a nearby river. Lucario was in the midst of his daily meditation to hone his aura. Spiritomb was up to his usual shenanigans, futilely attempting to steal some frozen desert from his trainer from his position, floating over her shoulder. Unfortunately for the ghost/dark type, however, Cynthia guarded her ice-cream extremely jealously, perhaps even more protectively than her own champion status.
Unable to wait any longer for an opportunity to present itself, Spiritomb clumsily lunged over Cynthia's shoulder, but alas; his effort was in vain, as the trainer had subtly shifted the arm that held her treat to the right, causing the Pokémon to crash onto the hard, unforgiving ground, his outstretched tongue tasting nothing but air, then dirt and soil, in that exact order.
"Oww... Cynthia! Why won't you even share a lick of ice-cream?" Spiritomb moaned. Cynthia simply ignored the cries of the Pokemon and finished the frozen delight, whereas Togekiss giggled at the ghost's predicament.
"Very well. Since Spiritomb seems to be so full of energy, you all must be well rested for more training." Cynthia grinned evilly. "Perhaps some endurance training will suffice." Upon hearing of more physical torture from the champion, all 6 Pokémon simultaneously groaned, 5 of them glaring at the aforementioned ghost.
"Arceus damnit, Spiritomb!" Togekiss covered her face with her wings. "Thanks a lot."
"Sprint a few dozen kilometers for me, will you?" Cynthia cheekily asked, knowing none would dare to outright disobey her. In a fit of rage, Garchomp unleashed a terrifyingly massive hyper beam, which disappeared into the sky. Cynthia, unfazed, didn't even blink.
Suddenly, a screech full of agony pierced the sky, causing everyone to jump on shock. It appeared to have originated from where Garchomp's hyper beam had been directed.
"I, uh, believe it would be best if someone checked that noise out… please?" Cynthia, still fairly spooked by the sudden sound, said in a shaky voice.
Everyone immediately looked at Garchomp.
"What? Why me?!" the dragon all but screamed.
"Well…" Milotic reasoned. "You are the strongest and most experienced out of all of us, even if we don't like to admit it."
"Ugh. Fine." Garchomp rolled her eyes, before taking off.
"We hope you don't come back!" Spiritomb yelled out at the dragon's disappearing figure.
~SD~
"Today literally cannot get any worse." grumbled an irate Articuno. "First, some Rattata thought it would be funny to steal my breakfast, so I had to begin my day with an empty stomach. Then, I ended up late for the annual legendary meeting, and made laughingstock of myself in front of everyone. Now, I have to fly all the way back to Kanto to reach my home. I can't catch a break! Arceus!"
Unbeknownst to Articuno, however, his day was about to become a Distortion World of a lot worse.
Closing his eyes in an attempt to find even a semblance of peace, the legendary bird heard nothing except the wind whistling past his face, the cries of a flock of Pidgeys, the thrumming vibrations of an incoming hyper beam.
Wait, what?
A searing pain hit the ice-type full-force right in the middle of his abdomen, blasting him out of sky. Black spots and pretty little stars danced across his vision, as Articuno felt himself getting increasingly woozy during his downwards spiral. The ground approached at an alarmingly fast pace, and just before the darkness fully claimed him, Articuno had time for one last thought.
Fuck.
Started: August 6, 2016
Finished: August 9, 2016
Hi everybody! My name's MaximusPanis21 (laugh if you get the joke)! I'm pretty new to writing fanfiction, so I would really appreciate any reviews/advice/help. I dunno. This is my first story, and just the result of a little brain fart I had. Anyway, thanks, and see you later for the next update!