Chapter 1: Forest Wars
On the eastern side of Hoenn Archipelago, a tribe of nomad zangoose and the inhabitants of a resourceful forest are about to go on battle that will decide their future. The forest pokemon were living their lives casually on that evening. Roaming around, gathering food, meeting their peers. As the night grew darker and the stars started blossoming on the sky, the Zangoose were making their final preparations for the assault. Two special Zangoose in particular were on the soon-to-be battlefield across a river, while talking to each other.
"Reznor," the one with scars said. "Are the preparations ready?"
Reznor said, "Yes, my liege. The scouts are hidden and'r waiting the signal."
"Great, I want to make sure that no stragglers run away and that humans take the blame. This forest WILL be ours."
A messenger zangoose strolled in. He hunched over, catching his breath. The king approached him and he saluted. "My king!"
"At ease, how are you?"
"Doing swell. I mean, I am fine, my liege. Not tired,sir."
"Good. Are you ready?"
"Of course! I'm always ready!"
Reznor laughed. "Except when you get caught by a bloody seviper of all things."
"I was just a kit. And that bastard had the drop on me!"
"Sure, like that'd stop any real zangoose."
The king stamped his foot. "Enough! Both of you! Reznor, watch the west side!" He turned to the messenger. "And you, call the army! We're attacking in half an hour."
Reznor said, "If he doesn't get distracted, that is, Father."
The messenger barked. "Eat Dirt, Rez…!"
The king blowed a sharp whistle with his teeth. "I said enough! Keep this up and I'll toss you both in the river! Zemmas, call the others. Reznor, I believe I told to patrol the riverside!"
Reznor got up and breathed. "Yes, my King!"
As Reznor left the outlook, Zemmas saluted. "Right away, Your Majesty!"
After climbing a steep slope and crossing an extensive field of grass, Zenmas reached an area where low trees began to form, giving way to a forest where several pokémon of the same species as him were camped. Vegetation was not very dense, but the Zangoose certainly left the place moving. As a temporary camp for warriors, Zenmas noticed that almost everyone of the tribe was there; children and females also roamed freely. They certainly knew what was going to happen there; but seeing so many members made him uncomfortable, thinking of the safety and the number of soldiers defending the main "territory".
Zenmas entered the camp by a trail that cut it in the middle and followed walking, unlike the running he did most of the day. The place had several sentinels in the tops of the trees and underneath them, there were several burrows of stone, wood or even behind tall bushes. Some were the size of a small person and all were arranged in a rectangular fashion, with its exits converging on the road, and these were covered in foil and its edges were marked with thorny vines. These vines were also spread between burrows. In case of an attack, unsuspicious enemies would be trapped on them or cut themselves.
Zen followed the road, as he watched and listened to his companions and their families passing by and talking. Two female Zangoose were talking and when Zenmas passed by them, one said his name and that he was the king's youngest son and the cutest. Zen was slightly embarrassed and kept his pace; he wanted to look back and see who they were. As he crossed the field, he heard a Zangoose thank the stars for curing one of his sons from a wound caused by a recent seviper attack.
Venomous and usually very strong, the sevipers never miss a chance to end a Zangoose's life when they encounter one, and the latter never miss a chance to fight a seviper, even when they are alone. (Zangoose tend to attack sevipers in groups). Upon hearing the name of these pokémon, Zen always feels a certain malaise in the abdomen and rage behind the head, waiting to be let loose.
Ignoring other conversations, Zen reached the highest burrow at the end of the trail and entered, calling for someone:
"Yo, Seth! Where are you?"
The wooden hut had several beds of leaves arranged in random locations and a pile of fruit and hunted prey in the base of a wooden pillar that supported to the cabin. A red stone on this pole gave a hint of the importance of the structure as an improvised house for the camp leader, his family and guests. That wasn't Zen's home, but he knew he was welcome there. After Zen said his name, a Zangoose entered by a secret passage behind the burrow and greeted Zen with a nod.
"Zen, my boy!" greeted a Zangoose, well know war veteran. Seth is the king's commander and right-hand man. Always loyal and charismatic, he is like an uncle for Zen and has always been with the king's family even before he was a fighter. "Where's Ken?"
"My father, I mean…" Zen forgot the formality of the conversation, given the context of the battle ahead, and corrected himself "our leader sent me to tell you to send the troops and start the attack."
"Zen, we're among family, you can talk the way you want! But okay, I'll send the troops in ten minutes. Go see Ryan, he said he wants to give you something." Seth replied.
"Give me what?"
"He didn't tell me," Seth shook his head "But it won't take long, I'm sure. Oh and when the battle starts, see if you can waste a lot of those Grass-types."
"You got it!" said Zen, as if he was prepared to face an entire army.
Zen left the room and headed for a hut in the middle of the camp. As he entered it, he came upon a Zangoose who was quietly sharpening one of his claws with a polished stone. Zen stopped at the entrance and waited for the owner of the hut to notice him.
"Zen, there you are," The Zangoose said as he finished sharpening his claws " Wanna sharp yours too?"
"No, I'm fine, Ry. Seth said you had something to give me before we went into the fight."
"I have" Ryan said, now with a serious tone "I found these two potions with a pokémon I defeated a few days ago. Shroomish if I am not mistaken. My supply is full so I think you'd better stick with them" Ryan then took a couple of small red bottles out of a corner of the hollow and handed them to Zen. Despite their small fingers, the Zangoose could carry hand-held objects like bottles in their hand with ease.
"Thanks Ry. I'm fine with items, but guess it doesn't hurt to take more. How's the family going?"
"Great. My daughter is going to be a warrior soon and the little one is always full of energy. You know, some of her friends talk about you all the time." Rob said, changing his voice from serene to playful.
"Oh, those girls…" Zen said, scratching behind his head "I've just been a warrior a little while ago and I'm being flattered like this. I don't know the best way to deal with them."
"You'll know someday" Ryan said. A small puppy Zangoose entered the room, excited and agitated.
"Dad! Hey Zen! I have something cool to show you." The little Zangoose said and showed a silver object for Zen. It was a small, wide earring. It had several perpendicular lines cut into the surface.
"I know that item," Robert said, looking at it from Zen's side "that's a Defender say it's the symbol of those who protect the ones in needs. It increases the defense of the wearer. Keep it Zen, it's very useful."
"Of course" said Zenmas. The thought of putting the earring in one of his ears was strange, but as long as it helped him through the difficult hours, it was no problem. Besides, he could not refuse a child's gift. Zen picked up the earring and put it away.
Zen responded happily "I'll treasure it. Thank you."
"You're welcome! I always want to help the tribe" the puppy said, all excited by his deed.
"Then why don't you help me and go after your sister, huh?" Rob said and the puppy left as fast as entered.
"Okay Zen, I'd better get ready to rush out with everyone else" he said, pointing outside, where Zangoose were running and pacing.
"True… Almost everyone is here. Is it right to bring almost the whole tribe and leave main village exposed when we still don't have the forest?" Zen asked.
" I know we're going to take the forest. We have Kean's leadership to ensure this. As for our home, it's safe. The warriors who stayed there are strong enough. Let them care about their business and us with ours."
"You're right. Speaking of which, I better go; I'll form the vanguard with my brothers."
"Then hurry, and good hunting, Zen!"
"Okay!" Zenmas responded and left the hut.
He hurried passed other Zangoose and crossed the fields the meet the Zangoose king and his brother, except now he was at the company of another comrade. It was Zenmas' other brother Zetto.
"My king," Zenmas said. "I gave the signal. The army will be here soon."
"Good…"
"So, are you ready, little brother?" Zetto questioned with a slap on the shoulder of Zenmas.
"Always." He responded "So, what did the father ask you to do?"
"We'll burn the forest in specific places and surround the enemy; they will have no choice but to fight. Some humans are making camp nearby, so they'll definitely take the blame for it."
"Are you sure this isn't going to burn the whole forest?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. If everything goes well; we will be able to control the fire later. It's a big risk, but we can not let the enemy regroup or get away. The fight will be fiercer; but at least they won't be coming back in a long time."
After the explanation, Zen looked at the forest, searched for any sign of movement, and when he did not find it, he began to think.
Zen did not like the idea of using very destroying the battlefield itself, specially if they were going to occupy it. This fire cage that his brother proposed sounded counterproductive for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, he trusted his brother's judgement since he was famous for making great battle plans and making the plans of others work. Even in defeat, any battle Zetto was involved with had minimum losses. Reznor on the other hand, is a pokémon that let his claws do the speaking. Not smart, but strong. Enough said.
The leader took a few steps back and the brothers now focused on the forest, as if waiting for the right moment to attack. Zenmas was anxious; he had trained and reflected long enough for that moment, but the adrenaline was already working on his body before the attack even began. Suddenly the leader let out a loud snarl. His sons then jumped over the river and entered the forest. Zetto, stripping the riverbank, took a different path by jumping directly into the canopy of one of the trees and going over.
Within the forest, Rez and Zen woke up the forest doing as much damage as possible. Cutting trees after trees with sharp blows and attacking pokémon that fell from them. They lured the attention of a peculiar group: a grovyle escorted by two scythers.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked the grovyle.
"Redecorating the place," Zen said. "Got a problem with that?"
"Turn around now, or else."
"Or else what, dirt face?"
"Dirt face!?"
Zetto then fell from one of the large trees above and knocked the grovyle to the ground with a "Crush Claw" move, by using his right claw as a hammer. Confused by the surprise attack, the scythers lowered their guard and were attacked with quick strikes by Zen and Reznor. Before long, several enemy Pokémon were coming in to attack the Zangoose. However, the Zangoose brothers were not alone now. A legion of them had arrived, making things harder for the defensive pokémon. In addition, some forest pokémon, grass and bug types in particular,started to attack the defending team, making it difficult for them to distinguish between friend or foe. The war had begun.
Zetto had separated and was attacking some airborne pokémon with electric attacks. Reznor broke off somewhere out of sight, but his battle cries showed that he was doing well. Alone, Zenmas was facing against a group of Lombres and Oddish while his tribe was busy with other opponents. Even though he was in small number, he was the fastest zangoose of his tribe.
The lombres charged at Zenmas. One by one they attempted to bum rush him, but Zenmas dodged and weaved. Zenmas charged at one of the lombres, crossing his arms and forming a powerful X shaped move with the claws on his hands. That was the technique "X-cut", and it was super effective in defeating the Lombre, who was too slow and took the move square in his body. the lombre let out a painful squeal and collapsed.
The other Lombre, desperate to avenge his comrade, hit the zangoose with a "water gun", shooting rapid moving water out it's mouth like a giant hose. Zenmas took the hit and staggered, but he continued attacking and hit the second lombre with another "X-cut". The "Oddish" fired an "acid" goo on him, but it missed. Zenmas slashed the critter across its face, cracking the air with his long claws. The Oddish screeched and staggered back. Zenmas charged once more and raked his claws across the oddish's skin, and then it dropped on the ground.
Suddenly, the forest lit up in the darkness. The fire had begun and it spread rapidly. From that point on, it was possible to see clearly the extent of the fury from both sides of the war. The Zangoose were pushed back by elemental attacks of water, thunder and leaf by the locals while the Zangoose knocked them out with sharp or overwhelming attacks, aided by other support Pokemon that were attacking the enemy on various positions and distances. Zen was recovering from wounds with especial berries when he saw several of his tribe brothers being defeated by a huge Pokémon resembling a giant green and yellow pineapple. It was the King Ludicolo, the ruler and guardian of that place.
Zen approached the Ludicolo and threw a stone at his head.
"Hey! How about fighting with me here!?"
The large grass type pokemon turned towards the zangoose "Why are you doing this? Go away; otherwise, I will have to engage with you the way same as the others."
"Engage me?" Asked Zen perplexed "I didn't come here to marry you. I'm here to kick your ass."
King Ludicolo charged a "Water gun" and fired the large jet of water at Zen. He dodged the attack and assaulted King Ludicolo with "Slash". King Ludicolo blocked and used "Focus punch". Zen avoided it and performed an "X-cut" on the big one. The Ludicolo used "counter attack" and sent Zen flying away with a shoulder bash, then he used "Leaf Storm" to cut Zenmas with a shower of sharp leaves. The Zangoose took cover behind a tree. When the leaves stopped flying, King Ludicolo advanced and crushed the tree with a "focus punch".
To his surprise, Zenmas was no longer there. Then behind him came Zen from a hole that had materialized on the ground. He had used the skill "Dig" and then the Zangoose hit the back of the Ludicolo's head with his ability "X cut". The giant king fell to the ground and quickly rolled away from another one of Zen's attack. With his guard open, Zen received a "brick break" on his flank and was attacked by several "furious claws", until he was able recover from the barrage of scratches by dashing away from the line of fire. Zenmas then using the vigor reducing spell called "Leer". The Ludicolo took a step back, crossing his arms across his face in a defensive stance.
The fight lasted for what felt like minutes and Zenmas certainly was at his limit. King Ludicolo was very aggressive, but still seemed well disposed no matter how much damage he took. With his healing items spent, Zen was in a difficult situation. The Ludicolo king was about to use another "Leaf Storm" when Zetto appeared and used "Sand attack" to cause a temporary blindness on the enemy by tossing dirt and grass on his eyes. Then he threw a vial of healing potion towards his brother.
Zen downed the potion and tossed it aside. His wounds closed and the pain vanished. With his energy restored Zen advanced toward King Ludicolo, who countered with the same "Leaf storm" he did before. Zigzagging and ignoring the damage from leaves that managed to hit him, Zen hit King Ludicolo with "Crush Claw" on his head, knocking him to the ground.
The absence of movement in the Ludicolo's body indicated that he had fainted and lost the fight. Zen looked around and realized that battle was over and the fire was almost extinguished. The forest was now territory of the Long Claw Zangoose tribe. Several of his companions approached and then everyone to congratulate them on the battle against King Ludicolo. Zenmas in particular.
"Hey, wait. I can't take all the credit, Zetto helped me too."
Zetto said, "Yeah, but you did the most work. You can celebrate all you want, bro".
Zenmas wanted to retort, but he decided to leave it at that. The Zangoose rested and patched their wounds. After news of the victory reached the outpost, more zangoose arrived to celebrate and settle in. With the remaining forest pokémon kicked out, and the mood was one of relief and glory. Zen was talking to his siblings when a female Zangoose appeared to begin with flattering and licking one of his cheeks. It was one of those Zenmas saw talking about him, back on the camp.
Reznor said, "Wow, this girl's not wasting any time!"
And Zetto said "Get a room, you two"
"Hey, stop nagging her, guys. I know you, you're... Sasha, right? Hey, don't you wanna celebrate a little first before anything else?
"Don't worry about me. We have plenty of time to get back here - Sasha said. - Do you boys mind me borrowing him?"
Zetto replied "No, you're doing us a favor"
Zen ignored him and left with the female at his side. A short time later Kean arrived, who called Rez and Zetto to talk to each other.
"Where is your brother?" the leader asked.
" He went out with a girl" Zetto said.
"Is it true that he defeated King Ludicolo?"
"Yeah, for sure. I saw everything, king."
"I'll congratulate Zenmas when I find him. Even so, he did it alone…?"
"The Ludicolo had attacked others of the tribe, but I know that Zen did the hard part. So we're staying until the humans arrive?"
"No, we'll leave as soon as the party ends, and after we mark the new territory. Our allies will be very pleased with today's results."
Reznor punched both fists in the air.
"Yeah! First this place, then all Hoenn!"
"Speak quietly, now is not the time for this." The leader said. "After we receive another report from Zenmas, we shall see how things will proceed. I have not told him about the plans yet, but let me take care of him."
"Why not?"
"Because he might not be ready yet. He is strong, but I need him to be strong for the tribe and the boy still has a lot to learn."
"Are you sure he has what it takes, Father?" Zetto questioned.
Reznor said. "That wimp will never be one of us, Dad, he's-"
The king slapped Reznor in the face, sending Reznor tumbling onto the ground. He grabbed his face and squealed as his father pointed a finger at him. "Do not," he said, "say that again and I'll disown and banish you two from the tribe. You three are my most valuable tribe chiefs and you MUST cooperate If we want to keep succeeding on our expansion. Just do what I asked both of you, and everything will go according to plan."
The king left his two sons. Zetto pulled his brother next to him and said.
"Father is right. I know it's a ritual we mess with Zen and all, but he practically become one of our best warriors by himself and we need someone like that. You think anyone else in the tribe would last with the humans?"
Reznor wasn't paying attention. One Zangoose warriors offered him a berry juice on the half shell of a coconut and he took it with pleasure. "I'm sorry, what? Shouldn't we be celebrating right now?
Zetto said, "This is serious, Rez. Those pokemon are one thing, but the humans are a different story."
"And does that have to do with Zen?"
"Besides our father, he's the only one that understands them. We need his help to get the stones while our king takes care of the tribe."
"If you say so… You and father are the ones talking making deal weird humans"
"Cool. So can you back off Zen until this is over?"
"Sure, fine." Reznor sighed.
. . .
Weeks later, attacks of pokémon in groups became a frequent occurrence throughout Hoenn. Pokémons usually engage in combat against each other or against humans in a one versus one battle, rarely at two or three; except when an attack occurs against a tribe or pack (depending on the Pokémon). Soon an unusual situation was developing in the archipelago, apart from the fact that a terrorist group had attacked it. The wild life had lost its balance, rumors of strange pokémon started spreading, and humans who made a living out of pokémon had a lot of trouble ahead of them. To make matters worse, a terrorist attack struck Hoenn a year later.
This scenario attracted the attention of the media, family members from distant places, law enforcement authorities and even researchers. In this delicate context, where the laws of nature underwent a violent mutation, two very different travelers from the normal boarded a cruise ship towards Hoenn, more precisely to the town of Lilycove. They wanted a chance to make a difference, a difference in helping Hoenn. And soon, they'd have it.