Pokémon Conquest: Soul of a Warlord
Chapter One: Aurora's Hope
Long ago, there was a region of land that was simply known as Ransei. Here, Pokémon lived in harmony with humans. Many humans had a special ability to form Links with Pokémon, thereby controlling them as friends and allies in battle. These humans were known as the great Warriors of the land.
Ransei was split into seventeen Kingdoms, each home to many Pokémon: Aurora, Ignis, Greenleaf, Fontaine, Violight, Chrysalia, Pugilis, Terrera, Illusio, Cragspur, Yaksha, Viperia, Avia, Spectra, Valora, Nixtorm, and Dragnor. Every Kingdom was led by a powerful Warlord, who each had a single dream: to conquer all of Ransei.
There is a legend in Ransei that says that, if a single Warrior were to unite all of Ransei under his or her control, the Pokémon that created Ransei would appear before them, and grant them their greatest wishes and deepest desires. However, that person would have to prove their worth in battle before the Legendary Pokémon would grant them its power. Many have tried to summon the Legendary Pokémon. All have failed.
This is the story about one man's ambition to summon the Legendary Pokémon, of how a young Warlord opposed him, and of how that young Warlord managed to unite Ransei...
It was the beginning of spring in the land of Ransei. In many areas of the massive continent, the crystal white snow was starting to melt, leaving dozens of puddles for children and Pokémon alike to play in. The cold northern winds also grew less intense, making way for the warmer, gentler western winds. There were only three regions that were unaffected by the coming of spring: the Kingdom of Nixtorm, a mountainous region that was blanketed by an eternal snowstorm; the Kingdom of Terrera, a desert region whose only reliable signs of the changing seasons were the slight shifts in temperature; and the Kingdom of Aurora.
Aurora was a Kingdom that was constantly locked in an eternal spring, as it rarely snowed during the winter. Even if it did, Aurora rarely received more than a few inches, and it always melted within a few days' time. The Kingdom was very beautiful, with sakura trees in constant bloom all over the land. But nowhere was more beautiful than Aurora Castle and the surrounding village.
Standing in front of Aurora Castle's southeastern gate was a young man of about nineteen years of age. His dark brown hair hung messily over his head, as if he had little to no time to fix it in the morning, and his sapphire blue eyes shone with a dark brilliance, almost as if he had seen things that no human should ever have to witness. A light breeze caused his hair, as well as the red scarf he wore, to flow with the winds. Apart from the scarf, everything else he wore was ordinary: a white t-shirt, white pants, and black shoes that seemed to fuse with a pair of gold-banded greaves.
At his feet sat a quadrupedal Pokémon whose fur was brown, except for the tip of her tail and the mane around her neck, both of which were cream-colored, and had brown eyes and long, pointed ears. The Pokémon was an Eevee, a relatively rare species of Pokémon in Ransei. Eevee sat up and stretched her legs, letting out a large yawn as she did so.
"Finally, after two years of travelling, we've arrived," the young Warrior said to his Pokémon, kneeling down to stroke her head.
"Vee!" Eevee purred in response to the stimulus, her bushy tail swinging from side to side. After a few seconds, the Warrior stopped petting her and picked her up, placing her on his shoulder. Taking a couple of breaths to calm his nerves, he placed a hand on the gate, and was slightly surprised to find that it swung open almost immediately. Smiling softly to himself, the Warrior stepped into the town.
As soon as he entered, the young Warrior could see that the rumors he had heard about how peaceful Aurora was were not rumors at all, but the actual truth: young children played in the streets alongside countless Normal-Type Pokémon, including Bidoofs and Sentrets, while their parents chatted away amicably.
One of the children saw the Warrior and Eevee, and whispered excitedly to his friends. Soon, many of the kids looked at the Warrior passing by, their eyes full of awe and curiosity. A young girl-probably no older than nine-approached the duo, and spoke to the Warrior.
"U-Um, excuse me, Mister?" she asked nervously, her eyes darting away from the Warrior as he looked to her. "M-My friends an-and I...We were wondering if...If that's a real Eevee you're travelling with." The Warrior regarded the girl with gentle eyes for a few moments, before smiling softly.
"Yes, she is," he replied, his carefree tone of voice breaking some of the little girl's uneasiness. "Would you like to pet her?" The girl gasped, not believing what she was hearing, before nodding her head vigorously. She placed her hand down by her knees, and watched in wonder as the Evolution Pokémon went right up to it and nuzzled her head against the hand.
"It seems she likes you," the Warrior laughed. The girl's hand twitched slightly when Eevee decided to lick it-the feeling felt like sandpaper-but she giggled, finding the sensation to be ticklish rather than rough. Soon, the other kids gathered around the rare Normal-Type, and stared in wonder.
"Wow, a real Eevee…" one child mused as Eevee rubbed his legs with her side.
"I never thought I'd get the chance to see one, except in picture books," another gasped as the Pokémon nuzzled his hand.
"How did you find her?" the young girl asked the Warrior. He chuckled softly, and sat down on a nearby box, waving his hand to call the kids over.
"So, you want to know how I met Eevee?" All the kids nodded. "Well, I suppose I can spare a few minutes telling you the tale." Eevee jumped into the Warrior's lap, and he recounted his story.
"About two years ago, I was wandering through the snowy mountains of a Kingdom far to the north of Aurora. I had settled into my camp for the night when I heard a low growling noise coming from behind me. I turned around, and there she was! A little Eevee, cold and afraid. I took pity on her when I saw her: at the time, she was much thinner than she is now, and that's a bad thing. So, I broke off a few chunks of a Red Ponigiri I had and offered her one. She was very cautious, and wouldn't come near me at the time.
"Eventually, hunger won out over caution, and she approached me. As soon as she took the food from my hand, a golden glow emerged from my hand, and surrounded me and her." He took a pause, and noticed that quite a few parents and a bunch of Pokémon were also listening to him alongside the kids. "That glow I just mentioned is what we Warriors call a 'Link'. It represents a special bond between human and Pokémon, and it allows us to work alongside each other in battles. Not that I've ever been in any battles, mind you.
"Anyways, after the glow disappeared, Eevee looked at me, and I could see in her eyes that she was starting to trust me: in other words, the Link was successfully forged. And we've been together since that day, completely inseparable."
The Warrior looked to the sky, and saw that quite a bit of time had passed by. "Oh, look at the time. Sorry, but I need to be going now." The children all groaned in disappointment, causing the Warrior to chuckle silently. "But don't worry. I promise that me and Eevee will come back and play when we get the chance. Okay?" The promise seemed to satisfy the children, and they all went back to playing with the Pokémon. The parents gave the Warrior their thanks with being so nice, before returning to their conversations.
The little girl looked around nervously, so the Warrior called to her. "Hey, what's your name?" The girl turned to him, and answered the question.
"I-It's Kaguya, Mister."
"You know something, Kaguya? I can sense a hidden potential in you. Someday, you'll become a great Warrior. I guarantee it." The Warrior turned, and started towards the market, before stopping as Kaguya called out to him.
"Do you really think so, Mister?" she asked him. He nodded to her, before continuing on his way, while she ran off to tell her friends what the Warrior had told her.
The marketplace wasn't as big as some of the others the Warrior had seen, but it was still a pretty decent size. Situated amongst the regular stalls that sold the necessary supplies for Warriors-Potions, Antidotes, and other essentials-the Warrior caught sight of some places he hadn't seen before. He saw a few textile shops, a couple of outside restaurants, and even a jewelry shop. The most surprising thing, though, was the Pokémon that he saw. Many of the species he saw as he wandered-including Zangoose and Tauros-were infamous for their temperament, but the ones he saw seemed to have been transformed by the peaceful aura that permeated throughout Aurora.
"Vee-Vee! Eevee..." Eevee purred into the Warrior's ear, causing him to chuckle silently.
"Yeah, you're right, Eevee," he told his Partner Pokémon. "This place really is as peaceful as the rumors said..."
Suddenly, the peacefulness of Aurora was shattered as a large explosion, quickly followed by a woman's scream, came from the north, causing everyone in the market to look towards Aurora Castle, expressions of worry and shock on the faces of the people. Soon, the gathered crowd began to talk in hushed voices.
"What do you suppose happened?" "Could we be under attack?" "Is the peace that we have lived with for so long finally broken?" "Do you think the Warlord is okay?" These were among the many things said by the people, but no one heard what the young Warrior said to his Partner: the statement that, unbeknownst to him at the time, was the catalyst that started his adventure.
"Eevee, are you ready for battle?" She growled in response, and leapt off his shoulders. The two took off through the crowd, running full speed towards Aurora Castle.
As the young Warrior raced through the streets, his mind was racing at a mile a minute, shifting through the various battle strategies his father had taught him many years in the past, setting aside all the what-ifs and focusing on the present. Soon, the buildings all but disappeared, and the young Warrior and Eevee found themselves running through a grassy field that was clear of all obstructions, with the exception of a few logs here and there. The Warrior noticed that some patches of grass were cleanly scorched, leading him to hypothesize that he would be dealing with Fire-Type Pokémon.
Finally, he saw the castle. It was a small castle in height-only appearing to have two stories to it-but it made up for that in length. The castle's first floor appeared to have an extension that stretched all the way to the western gate. As he looked, the Warrior saw that part of the front left wall of Aurora Castle's proper gate was missing, and three people were in front of the hole.
Two of them were male, and they were both standing over an unconscious female. She looked to be a year younger than the young Warrior, and had hair that appeared to be some color between auburn and chocolate brown. She wore a white kimono-like dress that fanned out into pink at the bottom, making it look more like an elongated skirt. She also had an actual skirt that was light blue in color, and a dark blue sash was tied around her waist, with a large, blue bow on her back. By her head, a magenta bow with a sakura flower adorning it lay partially crushed in the dirt.
Lying a few feet away from the female was a Pokémon that looked like a pink puffball with stubby arms and feet. The Warrior instantly recognized it as a Jigglypuff, and assumed that she was the girl's Partner Pokémon.
"Heh, this is the best that Aurora's Warlord can throw at us?" one of the men-a muscular fellow that held a snack cake in his hand-sneered, taking a large bite out of the snack cake. At his feet was an orange and black pig Pokémon that had a pink nose and a yellow stripe running vertically along the middle of his head. The other man, who had a black and dull gold striped shirt and headband, laughed as well. He also had a Pokémon at his feet, although this one looked like an orange bipedal lizard with a cream-colored underside and had a bright flame on his tail.
"I know, right Koroku?" the second man addressed his ally. "It was all thanks to Charmander here that we achieved victory!" He proceeded to pet the Lizard Pokémon's head, and Charmander appeared to sigh in contentment.
"Charrr..." the Fire-Type said, before scratching the back of his head.
"No way, Nagayasu!" Koroku cried out to his companion. "It was my Tepig that won us the fight, not your Charmander!" Koroku picked up the pig Pokémon, and tickled his stomach. "Isn't that right, Tepig?"
"Tep! Tepig!" Tepig squealed in response. Nagayasu shrugged his shoulders, ignoring his friend's statement.
"Either way, what do we do with the girl now?" Nagayasu asked Koroku as the latter set Tepig down. "Should we bring her back to Ignis Castle, or leave her in one of the nearby villages?" As the two Warriors from Ignis pondered over the girl's fate, the young Warrior and his Eevee briskly walked up towards the Warriors, the Normal-Type Pokémon conjuring a small sphere of spectral energy in her mouth as they walked.
When they were within feet of the two men, the Tepig noticed them and squealed in surprise. As the two men turned towards the path leading to the town, the young Warrior issued a command to his Partner.
"Eevee, use Shadow Ball on the Tepig!" The spectral sphere in Eevee's mouth grew to about the size of her head, and she flung it at the shocked group. The sphere hit Tepig, and exploded, sending him crashing into the wall behind him.
"Wha?! Who the heck is this kid!?" Koroku cried out as Tepig fell to the ground, before the Fire-Type Pokémon picked himself up and stood on his legs, although he did wobble a little.
"Don't know, but he's definitely an enemy!" Nagayasu said, his eyes burning with flames of frustration. "Charmander, cut that furball down to size with Metal Claw!" The Fire-Type growled, and his claws started to glow silver. The Lizard Pokémon then dashed towards the young Warrior and Eevee.
"Eevee, counter with Iron Tail." The fur on Eevee's tail glowed with a silver color, and she spun in a half circle, clashing her tail against the opposing Pokémon's claws. The two combatants stayed locked together for a few seconds, before the Evolution Pokémon overpowered the Lizard Pokémon, sending him back to Nagayasu's side.
"Tepig, Flame Charge!" Koroku cried out. The Fire-Type pig went charging towards Eevee, red and orange flames swirling in front of him as he picked up speed. She was ready for the assault, however, and dodged to the left in a blur of white and brown fur.
"Nice one, Eevee," the young Warrior said to his Eevee. "Now, Quick Attack on Tepig." Eevee dashed back towards the Fire Pig Pokémon, circling to his front, and, with a viscous headbutt, sent him careening into Koroku, knocking both Warrior and Pokémon to the ground. Tepig laid there, down and out, as Koroku gaped at how easily he had been defeated.
"We got you now! Charmander, Dragon Rage!" Nagayasu cried out with rage and arrogance. Eevee quickly turned around, and saw Charmander's mouth fill with dark blue flames, which seemed to spark occasionally. The young Warrior grinned, and nodded. Eevee saw this, and stood her ground, flashing for a moment. At that moment, the draconic flames burst forth from the Fire-Type, and scorched Eevee, while leaving the ground untouched.
As the flames vanished, Eevee fell to the ground, her energy all but exhausted. "And that's why nobody messes with-!" Nagayasu started to gloat, before the 'Eevee' that Charmander had attacked vanished in a puff of smoke. The arrogance on his and Charmander's faces quickly turned to shock. "What the-! But how!?"
"Simple," the young Warrior stated matter-of-factly, as the true Eevee suddenly appeared in front of Charmander, a fully formed Shadow Ball in her mouth. "The 'Eevee' you attacked was nothing more than a decoy set up by Eevee's Substitute attack. And besides," he snapped his fingers quickly, "This is how to finish a battle." Eevee slammed the sphere into Charmander's torso, catching herself and the enemy in the blast. As the energy dissipated, only Eevee, whose Type made her immune to the Ghost-Type damage from Shadow Ball, was left standing.
"I-Impossible!" Nagayasu stammered as he picked the unconscious fire lizard off of the ground. "How could have lost to some kid!?" He turned to Koroku, who was just rising with Tepig in his arms.
"Forget that!" Koroku said nervously. "We need to get out of here!" Nodding, the two Warriors ran through Aurora Castle's east gate, blazing a dusty trail of panic as they moved. The young Warrior watched the retreating figures for some time, before turning to the girl. He gently picked her up in his arms, and, after doing the same with the Jigglypuff, stepped through the hole in the wall, and walked up to the main castle entrance, Eevee in tow.
As the duo approached the main castle's entrance, the Warrior took in the scenery he found inside the castle walls. Off towards the western side of the courtyard was a large sakura tree, standing like a goddess among a rock garden. To his right was a large pond, which was home to two Magikarps at the moment. Throughout the court, beautiful cobblestones were laid out in branching pathways, supposedly so that people didn't have to walk across the dirt. Soon, he reached the doors, and, delicately holding the female Warlord and her Jigglypuff with one hand, he knocked.
"Just a minute," a weary voice called out from inside. Soon, the door opened, revealing an older man of about forty years, with white hair, brown eyes covered by a pair of reading glasses, and a long, white beard. He was wearing a brown and green kimono that had light beige patterns adorning it that looked eerily similar to the Pokémon Sewaddle. At his feet stood a bipedal cat-like Pokémon that was cream colored, except for the tip of its curved tail and hind paws.
"Yes, how may I-!" the old man started to say, before noticing the destroyed wall and the unconscious girl in the young Warrior's arms. "What in the name of Distortion happened!?" He looked to the Warrior before him. "Did you save her?"
"I did," he responded. "Your Warlord had been attacked by two other Warriors, both of who I managed to drive off." The old man became lost in thought for a moment, before addressing the Warrior again and beckoning for him to enter.
"I thank you for helping defend Aurora, good sir. My name is Tsunehisa Amago, the advisor and clerk for the Warlord of Aurora. And might I ask you for your name?" The Warrior paused, as if contemplating whether or not to tell Tsunehisa his name. After a tense moment of silence, he answered the elder as he walked into the castle.
"My name is Minoru Tsumaki."
Author's Note: Hey all, ServantofGrima here, and yes, you're seeing things right: I've finished revamping Soul of a Warlord! …Or at least the first chapter, which does combine the two previously posted chapters into one, whilst making a few content cuts (i.e. not bringing Kiyomasa in. Don't worry: he and his pals will show up soon. I hope…) and bringing some new stuff in. Anyways, I want to state a bit of news here. It's on my profile page, but for those who haven't seen it, here it is: I will be doing a bit of a semi-schedule regarding my stories. For the foreseeable future, my attention will be on Soul of a Warlord, at least until I get to Chapter Five. From there, my focus will be on War of the Shadows, up until Chapter Five. Then, I'll update each of my stories by one chapter each in a set pattern that goes like this: Fell Dragon Chronicles, Soul of a Warlord, War of the Shadows, and repeat as necessary. Sound good? Okay then.
Finally, I want you all to know that I WILL be sticking to the original plan for this story (i.e. Pokémon know up to four moves, all SW4 Characters bar Koshosho make appearances, etc.) And also, if at all possible, I'd like to have a beta reader for this story. I feel that having another person helping me out with this story by showing where I did things weirdly or wrong will be most helpful to me, since I want to try and major in English at college.
As always, read, review, favorite, and follow, please. Thank you.