TThanks for checking out my story! To start off, I need to say that most chapters will (hopefully) not jump around as much as this one. This chapter should be considered more of a prologue than anything. Anyway, please read and enjoy!
Humans and Pokémon. Today, they live in a peaceful coexistence. They work together, play together, and, what most people will say is most important, fight together. Teams composed of human trainers and Pokémon combatants combine forces to oppose other teams in grand spectacles know as Pokémon battles. These battles, the most popular sport in recorded history, generally are fought in large arenas, which are specifically made for large scale tournaments. However, one can also see battles going on all over. Farms, fields, forests, and city streets all make ideal places for these battles to take place. Pokémon battles are said to bring both humans and Pokémon closer, bringing all involved closer to true peace.
However, some people think that there may be a world, completely different from this one but still the same. A world where humans and Pokémon live even closer than they do here, more complete than ours. These people would be shocked to know that a world much like the one they dream off exists.
But, this other world is not as perfect as they would expect. While Pokémon and humans are much closer in the other world than they ever will be in ours, their world is overcome by chaos. This is the world that our story will take place in. The world where the line between human and Pokémon has become so blurred that it has completely disappeared. The world of Spirit Pokémon and Shifting Humans.
The village was quite. It was a small but nice place, with only twenty buildings housing its inhabitants. One building, a few stories higher than the others, was the only one with an identifiable sign that could be seen from the hills surrounding the town. The sign, titled with the words 'Swalot Inn' and decorated with a mug of ale being downed by a large purple creature, lightly rocked back in forth in the gentle wind. As the light from the moon beamed into the center of the town, only one other source of light could be seen in one of the inn's windows.
Inside the window, an aspiring bard, his room paid for by his performance at the inn earlier that day, was writing with an elegant quill. As he scratched down notes for his next performance, he accidently lightly punctured his left ring finger. With a hiss of pain and a light flare of gray spilling out of his eyes, three drops of blood dropped onto his notes as he quickly went to bandage the light wound.
"This won't do at all!" The bard cried quietly as the saw the crimson dots on the notes. Acting quickly, he rushed over to the window and lightly shook the surface that he had been writing on.
He sighed as he looked back at the parchment, as some of the ink had also been shook off as he had disposed of when he disposed of the blood. With a shake of his head, the bard went back to his work.
Little did the bard know that his action was what spurred on the horror that was to come. The scent of the bard's blood was carried on the gentle breeze towards the hills. As it continued to flow past the land, a nose detected the anomaly.
A group had surrounded the town, hiding in the hills to mask their approach. Easily two hundred strong, the group had formed a complete circle around the town. The breeze, which had been lightly blowing southeast for at least a day, was noted by all. However, only one in the group took particular notice in its shift.
As he stood, the other near him looked towards him, as if they had expected this course of action. As the hooded man stood, for he was indeed wearing a hooded black cloak, those with even the worst eyesight could see the gleam of his smile. However, only those with the best hearing could hear what he said.
"The blood of a Staraptor." He chuckled. The sound, quiet as it was, silenced all other noise around him. The hooded man slowly unclasped his cloak, and let it fall to the ground. The one who stood beneath the cloak was a powerfully built young man, strong and lithe. He wore a black uniform, completely out of place with the hills he now stood in. Most would comment on his long dark hair done up in a ponytail, but all would comment on his crimson eyes.
With another chuckle, the man began to change. While before he had been tall, he was now towering over the others around him. His angular face turned into a dark muzzle, and his gleaming smile turned to a fang-filled snarl. His fingers and toes changed to blood-red claws. His uniform appeared to have changed with him. It had apparently disappeared; instead he was covered in long dark fur. However, his ponytail had changed to a shade matching his eyes and claws.
With one last chuckle, this one sounding much more like a growl, the shifted man lifted his newly changed muzzle to the sky and let out a bloodcurdling howl. As if it was a signal, for that it was it truly, the other members of the group also shifted. The most common change among the group was the losing of arms and growing of large leathery wings, along with the legs becoming much more thin and weak, skin changing to varying shades of blues and blacks, and their eyes shrinking to a point of near nonexistence.
Other common shifts included the skin becoming scaly and rough, along with the sprouting of long crocodilian tails and black mask like shapes around the eyes, and bodies becoming gaseous, as well as large eyes and mouths taking from. The winged ones easily reached thirteen feet in wingspan, while the crocodilian ones appeared to measure anywhere from twelve to fifteen feet from snout to tail. The gaseous ones no longer had any definite shape, their presence only shown by a lightly glowing purple mist, huge eyes, and yawning mouths.
However, the young man was still the largest. With another howl, he went down on all fours and began to sprint down towards the little village.
By this point, the villagers had been able to detect the danger, and had begun to either flee or shift themselves. While most chose too attempt to flee the danger, two could easily be seen around the chaos. A large purple creature, with little shape beyond that of a living stomach, and a huge bird of prey, with a wingspan of thirty feet and talons of immense size, tried their best to keep the village's small population calm and to scare of the invaders.
However, no matter how hard they tried, the ambush claimed many lives. Most of the village's occupants had been brutal slain. The blood soaked ground provided not traction, leaving many to trip over their own desperation, only to be cut down.
The bandits, for what else could they be, ruthlessly attacked the few remaining people. Roughly ten were left, and it was obvious that they stood no chance. The gaseous ones would overwhelm them one at a time, forcing them to suffocate on their noxious fumes. The bat-like ones fought the large bird. The bird, obviously a warrior of some skill, was able to keep almost all of them away from others, using his large wings as buffers to keep the bulk of them away and his beak and talons to shred those who dared to attack him directly.
The purple one was in a similar situation with the crocodilians. He would open his moth far wider than should have been possible, displaying his rows of small, razor sharp teeth, only to snap it shut upon large numbers of crocodilians, spraying the other with their lifeblood.
Finally, the battle began to wear down. The bird, overwhelmed by the bat ones, had fallen to the ground, one wing broken and the other completely missing. He was also the only one of the defenders left. Most of the villagers had either been suffocated by the gaseous ones or torn to pieces by the crocodilians.
The purple one had finally fallen when a new foe appeared in the midst of the fight. The young man, now a large fur covered creature, fell upon the one who devoured so many of his subordinates. With a few precise strikes, the young man caused blood to spray from wounds that were once the purple one's eyes. With a cry of pain and sadness, the purple one took one more strike that impaled him straight through what was left of his face.
The bird, or Staraptor, as he was known in this world, looked towards the young man, or Zoroark, paced over to the fallen warrior. With a smirk, he knelt next to him.
"Why?" The Staraptor weakly asked. "I know you were after me. Why slaughter the village?"
The Zoroark, who was quickly turning back into his human form, looked in the Staraptor's eyes. With no hesitation whatsoever, he slashed his still shifted claws across the Staraptor's throat.
A spray of blood covered the Zoroark's human face. He stood, and turned to his remaining men. He looked at each of them, noting that only one hundred and sixty-three of his men, including himself, survived the battle.
With a gleaming smile, he told them "Congratulations! You all survived the battle against the Bard and his allies!"
As his men cheered their victory, the Zoroark turned away from them and pulled a glowing green stone out of his pocket. He held it towards his mouth, and spoke into it.
"Casualty report. No Gastly deaths, twenty-one Zubat deaths, and fifteen Krokorok deaths. As for wounds, those that have them are those that no longer are with us. All other injuries were minor. The Bard, as well as a believed to be resistance outpost, was eliminated." He started to pocket the stone, but he saw that it started to flare purple.
Putting it up to his ear, he heard, "Well done, Agent Verin. Bard, Wanted Number 287, was a very important and powerful target. It is amazing you did so well with so little casualties." The feminine voice continued with, "Now, just make sure you get home safely."
"Roger." Agent Verin stated with a smile. Pocketing the stone, he looked back out across the destroyed village. He walked back over to the Staraptor corpse. With one last smirk, he plucked one of its long gray flight feathers and stuck it behind his ear.
Agent Verin then turned back to his men, and gave the order to head back to base.
Wow, you read all of the first chapter! Thanks! Or you just skipped to the end to see if I had and ending note. Anyway, this chapter was pretty much a spur of the moment thing, so anything you think I could improve one, just let me know! As well, I will be included any OCs you guys decide to send to me. While I can not exactly tell when they will get used, I hope that they will. If anyone submits any, that is. The format for OCs is as follows:
*Name (Self-explanatory):
*Spirit Pokemon (What they can change into. Limit of 1!):
Allegiance (This will become more apparent as the story progresses):
*Past and Personality (Let me know how I need to try to make these characters appear! I hope to put my own spin on them, but I would like a foundation to build on):
*Appearance (How do you want your OC to look? A human form and a Pokemon form would be appreciated, as I am going to go into more detail with appearnces later):
Anything marked with * is necessary for your character to get in, so make sure you fill it out if you want your OC in the story! If you want to wait until the story has started up more, then just let me know and I will reserve a OC slot for your character. Just don't wait too long, or else your OC might not be able to fit into the story anymore! Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Spirit Pokemon and Shifting Humans!