Right, first thing I want to get out of the way: I'm not what you'd call a massive Warhammer fan. I'd heard about it for years, but only recently started looking at the lore and everything, so please forgive me if I get some details wrong. I am, on the other hand, a huge Pokemon fan.
So, this idea started from me, looking at Warhammer, discovered that Marines were customisable, which led me to the Bolter and Chainsword Marine Painter. This, coupled with my being a Pokemon fan, led to me designing Arceus-based Marine armour. This in turn led to a project in creating a Marine Chapter/Chaos Warband for every single legendary Pokemon. Then to this.
Oh yeah, it's gonna be lighter than regular 40K. At the very least, the vast majority of characters-yes, even Orks-treat their Pokemon well (though in the Ork's case it's more a mutual respect for a creature that loves battling just as much as the Orks). It is, however, going to be darker than regular Pokemon, owing to, you know, death. You have been warned.
I don't own either Warhammer or Pokemon, just in case you thought I did.
The Ultra Wormhole opened and vomited three figures into the Distortion World. Three heavily armoured figures. The first stood up, brushing some dust off his chest-plate.
"Well, looks like we made it" he muttered, his voice deepened by his helmet. He reached down and picked up his Cerulean-pattern bolt gun, known colloquially among his troops as a 'bolter'. "You two all right?"
The second figure pulled himself up. "Yes. Fine."
The third figure pulled himself to his feet. This one was clad in a suit of Tactical Dreadnought 'Terminator' armour, and equipped with two main weapons, a Cerulean-pattern bolt pistol and a chainsword. And, of course, his Pokemon team.
Speaking of which, he quickly checked his Pokeballs. They were all there, thank Arceus. He selected the one containing his partner and tossed it lightly to the ground. The other two followed suit, a huge, lumbering Torterra and a relatively small, energetic Infernape appearing next to Empoleon.
"Well" said Arkias, Lord Champion of the Hands of Arceus legion of the Adeptus Astartes, "We're here. Now we need everyone else."
Yveral, Lord Champion of the Arceus's Children legion and the first of the three who had stood up, hit a button on the side of his gauntlet, signalling the rest of his forces while Torterra bellowed in agreement. Arkias and Orkais, Lord Champion of the Blades of Judgement, did the same. Wormhole after wormhole opened, dispensing hundreds, thousands of soldiers.
Three thousand thought Arkias. Three thousand Astartes warriors, each with at least one partner Pokemon. It was said that one marine and his Pokemon could take a planet. Three thousand, every marine in existence, was frankly overkill.
But it was necessary. After all, they had just dropped into the Distortion World of all places. Evil lurked here, demonic beings of Chaos that Arceus Himself had given them the holy duty of wiping out. For too long, the demons had struck at Imperial worlds, killing all they could find. No more. All three of Arceus's Holy Legions were going in to… sterilize the wound, so to speak.
Arkias frowned, casting an eye over his warriors. That couldn't be a thousand, could it?
Yveral had clearly noticed as well. "Captain!" he yelled at the nearest of his marines. The marine, Captain Ignis of the Arceus's Children Second Company, hurried over, his Flareon at his heels.
"My lord Champion" he muttered, bowing to Yveral. "We've experienced some… troubles in Ultra Space. It seems not all of our marines made it."
Yveral scowled, not that you could tell underneath the helmet. "It matters little. Our mission remains the same. We'll account for our losses later. Get whatever's left of your companies together and move!"
Ignis snapped a salute and headed off to marshal Second Company. Yveral nodded and turned back to his fellow Lord Champions. "We head out, hunt Giratina, and kill him. Once victory's ours, we meet back here, alright?"
"Right!" the other two said in unison, and hurried off.
Yveral squeezed his bolter's trigger, unleashing a hail of explosive rounds. They slammed into the Claydol and detonated. The ground/psychic type practically ignored the heavy fire, lifting a stubby 'arm' and firing a beam of psychic energy at one of Yveral's Tactical Marines. The soldier took the blast full to the chest, melting his armour and sending him plummeting over the edge of one of the small 'islands' that made up the Distortion World.
Yveral growled, brought up his arm and pointed at the Claydol. Torterra didn't need any more than that, already unleashing a Frenzy Plant attack that slammed into the Claydol, sending it spiralling away.
The marine who'd been sent over the edge suddenly came back up, screaming, actually falling upward. Ignis reacted with a speed only an Astartes could, grabbing his battle-brother and hauling him back to safety.
Even the gravity didn't obey normal laws here. This place truly was an abomination.
More Pokemon were appearing, this time with human soldiers alongside them, firing blasts from lasguns. Imperial soldiers? Here? Fighting for Giratina?
Yveral shrugged and snapped another order. Torterra roared, unleashing an Earthquake. With the few surviving Guardsmen knocked off their feet, it was easy for the Astartes marines to kill them, leaving just the few Pokemon immune to ground attacks, which happened to mostly be more Claydols, with a few Sigilyphs and a Honchkrow or two.
One of the Sigilyph's eyes flashed, and a marine howled, psychic energy coursing over the soldier and crushing him. Another one loosed his Jolteon at the target, while Ignis drew his plasma pistol, brought it up and fired bolts of superhot energy at one of the Claydols. Six rounds and it finally collapsed.
The Jolteon screeched as a blast of mud from one of the Claydols slammed into it, throwing it several metres and leaving it prone on the ground. The trainer started towards the Jolteon, only for a Hyper Beam to hit him full in the back, severing the warrior's legs from his torso.
Ignis aimed the smoking pistol at the Claydol, when his head was suddenly wrenched back by an unseen force. The marine was still dropping to the floor as Yveral aimed and shot the full thirty rounds in his bolter at the Sigilpyh, dropping it to the floor. The other marines and their Pokemon quickly took down the remaining Chaos forces, but at the cost of several troopers.
"Regroup!" barked Yveral. "Regroup and ignore our casualties. Once we've completed the…" he trailed off, staring up at the huge Pokemon who'd just materialized in front of him.
Yveral rumbled Giratina. Lord Champion of Arceus's Children. Not a true warrior. A tool for Arceus. An instrument of his will.
Yveral's marines swept up their bolters, but before a single one of them could fire, they had been impaled on Giratina's tentacles. Six marines were dead in less time than it took to blink, their Pokeballs opening automatically as a fail-safe. Their Pokemon, seeing the deaths of their trainers, growled at Giratina. The great God of Antimatter ignored them, focussing on Yveral with his eyes glowing.
Tell me, Yveral. Have you ever wanted to be something more? Not just a puppet for that so-called God?
Yveral frowned. Maybe Giratina had- no. He was a marine of Arceus! A member of the Adeptus Astartes and a loyal soldier of the Imperium!
And what had the Imperium ever done for him?
They'd sent him into battle again and again. He'd lost soldiers, he'd lost members of his Pokemon team. And what had they done? They'd just sent him out yet another time. Giratina's glowing eyes promised… personal glory. Fortune. Recognition.
The other marines were already laying down their weapons, looking at each other in confusion. Yveral's Astartes conditioning screamed at him to stay loyal to Arceus, but Giratina's hypnotic, seductive gaze was stronger. The bolter clattered to the floor. Torterra glanced at his master in confusion.
"Members of the Arceus's Children" he said in a low voice, but thanks to his communicator it was relayed to every surviving member of his legion. "We now serve Giratina."
Yes, the name's going to have to go, you know. I now rename you as Giratina's Shadows.
"For Giratina" said Yveral, and the others took up the chant. "FOR GIRATINA!"
Good. Now, it's time for you to eliminate the other Astartes. Kill your former allies. Prove your loyalty.
"My lord" Yveral bowed, then stood up, turned to his troops, and barked the order. The marines moved out. Torterra was still confused, but obeyed his master.
And the marines surged towards the locations of their allies.
Captain Orationis, Blades of Judgement Fourth Company, slumped to the floor. His second-in-command, Sergeant Iudices, shimmered, his armour disappearing to reveal a Zoroark. Orkais spun around, pointing his bolt pistol at Sergeant Supplicium, who had crept up behind him, and fired. The Sergeant dropped, his illusion vanishing.
Orkais frowned as Infernape dispatched the Zoroark who had impersonated Iudices. How many other members of his legion had been replaced by illusionary infiltrators? It didn't do to dwell on the fate of those impersonated, of course. Glancing at the Pokemon's bloodied claws, Orkais could tell.
"You good, buddy?" he asked. Orkais had always been more informal than his fellow Lord Champions, at least around his Pokemon. Infernape nodded, grinning. Orkais cast an eye over his troops. "Alright, everyone split up! I don't want a single marine within five feet of another!"
The Astartes eyed each other nervously as they separated. This was another favourite trick of the Chaos forces. Zoroark infiltrators could tear straight through Astartes armour and their illusions were near-perfect. Orkais was seriously tempted to start stabbing his own men with a combat knife just to be sure.
Orkais felt a sudden foreboding. He turned to face a Pokemon who had rose up behind him. Almost entirely black, with a white plume of hair and jagged red teeth. Darkrai. The Lord of Nightmares and second only to Giratina as a Chaos God. A very high value target. Orkais swept up his bolter and fired as Infernape unleashed a Blast Burn.
Darkrai casually lifted a hand, summoning a Protect to absorb the blasts. The other marines, still concentrating on each other, were distracted for that one, crucial moment. Darkrai lifted his hand again and shot dark orbs, each catching a marine or Pokemon and knocking them unconscious in an instant, including Orkais and Infernape.
Darkrai chuckled. His nightmares weren't as quick or efficient as Giratina's hypnosis-based methods, but they were certainly low-maintenance. He didn't need to do anything else now. Each warrior's mind was being destroyed from within by their own terror, and when they woke up, all would be loyal Chaos soldiers. His mission, his part of the plan, was complete. So was his master's. Only thing left was to corrupt or destroy the final legion, and get rid of these irritating supersoldier trainers forever. Then the Distortion World forces would move on Arceus.
Arkias called for a retreat. It was clearly a necessity now, with so many of his legion lying dead and contact being lost with his fellow Lord Champions. The warriors of the Hands of Arceus disengaged from a hundred battles and, as one, started to head back to the staging area, firing bolters and ordering Pokemon as they went.
Come on… come on…
Where were the other two, anyway? Arkias frowned, then spotted a hulking figure in armour approaching. Yveral.
His Terminator armour was the only reason he survived the first blow from Yveral's chainsword. The suit took the chugging blade directly to the chest, carving a scratch through the paint, but the toughened armour was enough to absorb the majority of the impact.
Arkias drew his own chainsword, not understanding, but realizing a threat when he saw it. He brought the blade up, parrying Yveral's second attack, and snapping an order to Empoleon. The penguin dutifully fired an Ice Beam attack at Torterra, freezing the great turtle solid.
The two Lord Champions duelled as the newly-christened Giratina's Shadows descended on the Hands of Arceus (which admittedly wasn't too hard due to the odd dimensions in the Distortion World).
Another order from Arkias and Empoleon took over the duel. A single swing of his razor-sharp wings cut Yveral's chainsword in half, sending the sparking weapon clattering to the floor. Yveral responded by drawing his bolt pistol and shooting Empoleon in chest. The penguin staggered back. Arkias pulled out his Pokeball and recalled his partner. Yveral unleashed his Absol. The panther of disaster leapt forward as the Ultra Space portal opened.
"Lord Champion! We've got to go!" roared an Assault Marine, his last action before a Houndoom melted the front of his chest in a blast of fire.
Arkias knew the soldier was right. One full legion lost, one apparently fallen to Chaos, and one still staggering under heavy losses. The mission was screwed. Arkias fired his bolt pistol in the general direction of Absol as he retreated into the portal. One of the first in, and the last to leave.
"Halt" Yveral rumbled to his forces. "Let them go."
Giratina's plan was near-perfect, but it hadn't accounted for a couple of other things. The first thing was the creation of many new Chapters of Astartes to serve Arceus, each worshipping a particular member of the Pokemon Pantheon. The second thing was the existence of other alien races like the Orks, Tyranids, Eldar and Necrons giving both sides serious trouble.
And that is how what was going to be a quick operation turned into a ten-thousand-year war.
This isn't going to be a continuous story, not really. More like a bunch of one-shots set in the same universe. So expect updates to be sporadic.
The Hands of Arceus were a lucky coincidence. According to the Pokedex, Arceus had a thousand arms, presumably with a thousand hands, with which he shaped the universe. There are a thousand Space Marines in a Chapter, so symbolism! Yay!
The Blades of Judgement, after the event, were renamed the Nightmare Guard. My original name for them was the Nightmare Lords, but I then realized that it sounded too close to the Night Lords. Arceus's Children, on the other hand, I admit were named after the Emperor's Children, but I decided to give them a pass because they weren't keeping the name long.
Just to clear up any confusion, this is a parallel universe. Arceus is the closest analogue to the Emperor in this universe, with Giratina being... Khorne, I guess?
So, this chapter has been somewhat edited, to replace the Pokemon character Primarchs with Lord Champions, the equivalent of a Chapter Master. This change was because I was contacted by a couple of very helpful people on who are more experienced with 40K than me. So shout-out to Maxattack890 and Lolface390, thanks for the help.