Soul of Light 1: It All Began With You
On a long suspension bridge, a black moving truck zoomed down the road at a bumpy pace. The morning sun gleamed off of the signature Poke'ball symbol on the side. Inside the passenger side sat a woman wearing a yellow kimono with orange flowers. She had raven-black hair tied with an indigo ribbon and shimmering eyes of sapphire that stood out on her smooth skin.
"So, Mrs. Hibiki, what made you decide to move out here?" The man driving the truck asked the woman.
"It was my husband; he owns a Poke'mon gym in Pettleberg, so my son and I moved to be closer to him."
"Ah, so your husband's the gym leader. It's nice to see that kids haven't fully taken over the Poke'mon world." The driver chuckled.
"Poke'mon certainly are strange; they're all my son talks about." Mrs. Hibiki took a glance back out the window to the caboose of the moving truck. There were a few bumps from the back, as though something was moving back there. She wrinkled her nose in a frown that seriously didn't match her face. "I hope he's doing alright back there…"
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"Blarggh!!"
There was a loud thudding sound of a body hitting a waxed wooden floor. The sunlight gleamed on the sparkling old-style Japanese structure of the Hibiki dojo as the sound of Mrs. Hibiki's voice echoed against the wall.
"You're breathing is shifting too much and your movements have become irregular, Landon."
"Duahh…" Landon shakily got back to his feet, using his wooden shinai as a balance. Young Landon Hibiki brushed the skid marks off of his blue and white hakama and kimono as he looked past the raven black of his bangs with his jeweled sapphire eyes to his mother. Beads of sweat trickled down the childish features of the seven year old boy as he looked up to his mother, who didn't looked fatigued at all. He shook his hair and lunched at her with his sword outreached; Mrs. Hibiki stepped aside and struck him on the shoulder with her own respective shinai, sending him down once more.
"Alright, Lan; take a break. That's enough for this morning." Mrs. Hibiki couldn't help but give a triumphant grin, even if it was her own son face-down on the wooden floor.
"Yeah…" Landon sat up and rubbed his fist against his cheek to rid his skin of the stinging pain of landing on it. It's not that he didn't like Kendo. It was just…damn, why'd his mom always have to go all-out on him whenever she got into the training?
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After he had showered, Landon skipped off out of the dojo wearing a black T and a pair of jeans that were too big for him. The morning sun greeted him eagerly, glaring off his sapphire eyes behind his squared glasses. He took in a breath of fresh air and then let it out as he ran along the sidewalk of the suburban residence in Littleroot Town. The Pidgey were chirping loudly—today was going to be a good day.
"Hey, Landon, what's the rush?" A voice called up to him from the distance. Landon glanced back at the girl running behind him. The pigtails of her brown hair swayed wildly behind her in her run and a few strands in the front blew across her green eyes. She wore a red T, which was so long, her black shorts were almost hidden away completely. May had been one of the first friends Landon had ever made since his trek to Littleroot Town. Really not surprising, seeing as the two lived next door to each other.
"Hey, May, I was just on the way to Zeru's house." Landon stopped to let her catch up. When she did, she leaned on his shoulder to catch her breath.
"W-why to Zeru's house?" She panted. Landon rolled his eyes a little; May and Zeru, his other best friend, could never be together for too long before picking at each other. It was like they were brother and sister or something. Or cat and dog…
"Because he was going to show me somewhere new in the park today—an old hideout his brothers left behind when they were little!" Landon answered excitedly. Bad idea.
"And you weren't going to tell me?! How could you—we're Door-buddies!"
"Door-buddies…?" Landon blinked.
"Yes; yes—Door-buddies. Your door is next to my door." May explained in a voice that implied that he should have known better. Landon caught the edge and responded with a quick "sorry" before continuing down the sidewalk. May grunted; it seemed that he was gonna go whether she wanted to or not. So she folded her arms and walked behind her friend.
Unlike the others, Zeru didn't live in the residential district of Littleroot Town. Instead, his family owned a restaurant downtown in the shopping district, in which also doubled as their home. It was always a trek Landon preferred to take without May, on account that she always got restless and complained about how long the trip was when they got on the train.
"Hey, May," Landon stopped her for just a second as the train stopped in the shopping district and they got off, "What do you plan to do with your life?"
"What kind of question is that?" May asked, "I'm going to be a Poke'mon trainer, just like gramps was."
"Yeah, but that's just it." Landon looked at her, "Don't you think there should be more..? Aren't you tired of the same ol' things? Everyone becomes a Poke'mon trainer, or coordinator, or something along those lines. I'm just…looking for something different."
May let him walk ahead a little before responding. "What're you talking about?? There's nothing cooler than being a trainer!" Landon simply shrugged and continued to walk on. This was a matter he constantly touched with his dad, about there being more than the same outcome of destinies. 'You can achieve whatever you want in life, Little Lan' His dad would say. It was always so vague.
The Kamen Beef Bowl was always busy, no matter what time of day it was. Landon and May pushed past the crowd of people into the restaurant, trying to ignore the lurch of hunger their stomach's gave in reaction to the smell of food. Landon was the first to reach the booth where a little boy was sitting. He had chocolate brown hair that was brushed back wildly and somber yet cheery grey eyes. He turned over from the table to greet his friends, taking the apron off his grey shirt.
"Sup, Lan? Pigtails,"
"May," May corrected with a sneer.
Zeru hopped of the booth, "I guess it's time to go. Been waitin' for you ever since I called."
"Sorry, sorry, practice ran a little long." Landon winced playfully when Zeru punched his arm.
"So why'd you bring Pigtails?"
"Ma—"
"She followed me—she can come too, right?" Landon asked, trying to avoid a fight.
"Hmm…" Zeru looked at May and grinned. She knew what was coming and lifted her foot over his, threatening to stomp on him the moment he retorted. Zeru brandished his hand at her; she was so easy to make angry. Landon sighed and grabbed Zeru, dragging him off. If they started up like they normally did, then there would be no way he'd leave the Kamen Beef Bowl.
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"So, as I was saying, this place is really cool." Zeru stated for about the fiftieth time. He, Landon, and May walked in a spread out group down the thick forest trail. The pigeon-like Poke'mon, Pidgey, and the swallow-like Poke'mon, Tailow, hopped from tree branch to tree branch, either tilting their heads at the children, or fluttering off.
"So what makes this place so cool anyway?" May's eyes scrolled off the red body of a Wurmple on a tree. However, she soon let out a scowl as Zeru suddenly gapped himself and Landon between her. He was always leaving her out, as if she didn't exist. "Hey, I'm talking back here!" She barked.
"Zeru, one day she's gonna get you back for this." Landon glanced back to May, but Zeru just shrugged.
"She'll get over it one day. Now lemme finish telling you…"
But Landon's mind had suddenly cut off the sound of Zeru's voice, and pretty much the rest of the forest around him. He couldn't explain it; it was as if some invisible force was pulling at his body; forcing the puppet strings to work his limbs for him.
"Landon…"
His voice caught as the sound of his name echoed amongst the trees. It was alluring; a siren voice beckoning towards him from the depths of the vegetation. Landon felt his feet move forward, further off the trail and deeper into the forest. He didn't pay attention to the Zangoose that scurried out of his way, nor the buzz of the moth-like Dustox zooming past his ears. No, all he could do was follow to the melody of the vocals singing his name.
He wasn't aware of how far he had really gone. Hell, he was hardly aware of how much he was actually moving, or if anyone noticed he was even gone. What little bit of his senses that actually seemed to work picked up that the ground seemed to sink lower and lower the more he walked, until he was finally submersed in a pathway well beneath the earthy soil of the forest path. The light of the sun was quickly extinguished, replaced by some odd iridescent and eerie blue glow. His footsteps made echoes against the wet earthy walls as he delved deeper and deeper into the underground pathway.
"Landon…"
The voice beckoned again. And again, he treaded in its direction, until he finally came to a barrier—a stone wall that sealed off the entire pathway. It was now that Landon was released from his captivity and his eyes came into full focus behind his glasses. "E-eh? Where am I?" He gasped, though there was obviously no one around to hear him. But soon, his question became insignificant, even to himself once he turned his gaze back to the wall. The entire stone surface was riddled from top to bottom with awkward glyphs, squiggles, lines, and shapes that Landon had never seen before in his life. And yet…something about them…something about them seemed so…familiar. Yet another unexplainable sensation he felt as he brought his hand up to the brailed surface, dragging his fingers along the figure of the symbols as though they were made of thin glass.
"I've been waiting for you..!"
Suddenly, the entire room began to tremble and shake wildly, as though someone had put it in a jar and rattled it violently. Landon clenched his teeth as he staggered to and fro, the trembling inner sanctum forcing him to try and keep his equilibrium. It was a struggle to keep his glasses on his face and hold onto the wall at the same time, and he let out a loud shriek of fear.
"W-what the heck?! What's going on?!" But his shouts fell on deaf ears as the underground shook at him. Slowly, very slowly, the markings on the stoned barrier began to light up; a slow-moving ball of illumination working its way from one line of text to the other. Landon watched in awe as the entire wall lit up brightly, and then suddenly, the light burst all around the cave in a sharp crack of energy. He was swept off of his feet, the rush of warm light taking over the world around him and twisting it horribly. Landon's body tipped backwards and before he knew it, he was falling face-down through the high sky. In the distance, he could spot a tall, very tall, tower that spiraled high into the clouds above.
"W-what's that..? Some kind of—" But before he could finish, Landon's body spiraled uncontrollably through the rushing sky and then, everything suddenly went pitch black.
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"Landon..? Lan..? Or maybe you like 'Hibiki', better? Hey, are you dead? If you're dead, tell me so I can stop."
Whatever the hell it was, it wouldn't shut up. And it wouldn't stop poking him in the arm with something sharp and pointed. He groaned and swatted his hand at whatever it was before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. His vision was blurry, and when he felt his face, he knew exactly why. His glasses were gone. While his mind still adjusted, he automatically rolled on his hands and knees, feeling around what seemed like soft grass for his corrective eyewear. How had he landed? Or maybe the better question would be how he landed and wasn't a big stain on the ground?
"Here, I think you're looking for these." And just like that, the cold glass of his glasses were pressed up against his fingertips. He hurriedly pulled them on his face, relieved when he could finally make out the rolling hilltops that seemed to move around in a crater-like formation. The sunlight poured down into the vast land, pushing the shadows off of the hills to reveal the contents of what seemed like a large village comprised of both marble and alabaster stone, if he was looking at it correctly. Right in the middle of the city, a tall, towering palace loomed over its kingdom like a jewel.
"Hey, what? No thank you?"
"Dah?!" Landon fell back on his arse. The Poke'mon just suddenly zipped up in front of him, her bubblegum pink face and blue eyes gazing upon the human's features. She free-floated around him in circles, her long tail occasionally curling against Landon's shoulders. The kangaroo-mouse Poke'mon finally came to a land in front of him and beamed with a high-pitched "Mew!", the large blue ribbon on the back of her head slightly askew. Landon's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what Poke'mon was sitting right before him. His adrenaline gave a spike of excitement as he blinked several times, sure that if he did it just the right amount of times, she would disappear into the thin air that she seemed to come from.
"Silly-Billy, what're you doing?" The Mew cra///=wled into his lap boldly, as though she had no feelings of fear or repulse to the human boy.
"You're a Mew!"
"Well I'd hope to god so. Otherwise, I'd have quite a story to give to my father." The Mew answered with a tilt in her head. She then held her face very close to his, examining every nook and cranny of his facial features. "Wow, seeing you up close is a lot different."
"Argh!" Landon shoved her off of him and crawled back, giving the mew an abrasive but moreso shocked look.
"Owww…that was mean." The Mew rubbed her fanny, "I guess that's what I get for not introducing myself." No, that's what she got for getting so damn close. But Landon really wasn't in a position to correct her as she floated up to her feet. "My name is Indigo, and I've been waiting a long time to meet you, Landon Hibiki."
"Wait, you know my name?" Landon blinked.
"Oh, I know a lot about you." Indigo fluffed her ribbon and then started to drift off.
"H-huh? Whadda you mean?" But the Poke'mon just continued to drift onward and onward across the hills, downwards towards the city. Landon gave a grumble. But what choice did he have in a strange world in the middle of who-knew-where, but follow?
Landon felt the hot pangs of embarrassment sting and stab him all over as he followed close behind Indigo while she lead him through the village. The entire living space was inhabited by mew, all different colors and sizes. Most of them stared at the human visitor from the safety of their house windows, while others were so bold as to float a little closer just for the sake of getting a look at the stranger that was in their midst. Indigo floated on like everything was fine—as if they did this sort of thing everyday. But by the reaction of the legendary mirage Poke'mon around him, he easily ruled that out.
"Just don't say anything and keep walking forward…" Landon coached to himself in his head. If only he could have been more fascinated than embarrassed, he would have found this as one of those great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity moments. But at the moment, he was really just wanting a good place to hide his misfit self from the crowd.
"It's not too far now, Landon." Indigo spoke up once they passed by two towering alabaster gates that encircled the courtyard of the castle. The towering red double doors yielded open to them, as though some magic force were controlling them, and lead way to the red carpeting of the inclining staircase. Landon didn't say a word as his eyes wandered against the gold-and-red décor that seemed so commonplace in the castle's inner sanctum. Indigo lead the young human boy down a few more twisting corridors before they came to a stop within a vast courtroom. Two gargantuan thrones hovered against the back wall over the stair case leading to them as light flitted through the shadows of the corridors from the grand chandelier above. And standing amidst the middle of the thrones with his back turned…
"Father, he's here."
"Good job, Indigo." The mew spoke, his ears flickering at the sides. When he turned around, his long, poofy white mustache—with complimenting eyebrows—ruffled in the wind. "Let's have a look-see." Landon blinked. It was more the mustache that got him than anything. The mew's body suddenly faded, only to reappear right in front of Landon. The human boy stood still as the kangaroo mouse Poke'mon Floated circles around him, just as his daughter had done before him. "So tell me—Landon, was it?—do you know why you're here?"
"Not a clue," Landon responded, "Don't even know how you know my name."
"I said I've been watching you." Indigo said a little too gleefully. "I have been for a long while now." Great, so now she was a stalker on top of everything else. When the old mew had his fill of visually frisking Landon, he came to a float before him once more.
"I am King Teotan, King of the Mew Village. And I've been awaiting your arrival for a very long time—"
"Approximately one thousand-plus years—"
"Indigo," The old mew rolled his eyes and floated off, "If you'd follow me, Landon."
And what real choice did he have? Landon complied and followed behind the mew with Indigo close behind. The group proceeded into a long, darkening corridor, of which the ceiling was decorated with a rather long—possibly endless, by the looks of it—mural depicting both humans and Poke'mon.
"Ever since the beginning of time, Poke'mon have helped to keep the balance of this world, and helped restore it when this balance has been corrupted time and time again. However, what you may not have known about, were the special humans that have also strived to protect the peace of our world." King Teotan brandished a paw up to the mural in which block-ish paintings of human men and women fighting against something that looked like an amorphous demon rising up over them. "When this world has fallen into danger and temptation of the darkness, these humans stood alongside Poke'mon and nature to push back the threat of peril. These humans were called Origin Wakers…humans with the power of both worlds—Poke'mon and humanity."
"Origin Wakers, huh?"
"Yes. Our world's own Secret Protectors." King Teotan turned around to Landon, "And the blood of those protectors flows within you. Potently, one might say." He turned back around and headed up a narrow staircase.
Landon pointed to himself, "A blood of a protector? No offense, but I can't even beat my own mom in kendo…."
King Teotan merely rolled his eyes, "What makes you so sure not to believe it? Afterall, look around you. Many don't even believe we exist," He only halted once more to psychically push open a rather tall oaken door, "And yet, here we are...Talking, breathing—Showing and telling you that the impossible is in fact very possible. What was it you said…? 'Don't you think there should be more..?'. Well Landon Hibiki…" He moved out of the way, as did Indigo, allowing Landon a clear path to the threshold, "This is your 'more'."
What the hell? Landon's eye twitched; just how much spying had they done, anyway? All points and logic aside, again, what choice did he really have but to comply? With a slightly skeptical sigh, Landon moved past the door. The moment he entered past the threshold and into the vast, dark room, his heartbeat suddenly sped up. The blood in his veins coursed and his senses became heightened by a fragment of unexplainable adrenaline. An oddly familiar adrenaline….but from what? Surely this room with nothing but a towering spire jutting out of the groundless bottom of black could produce such a feeling…right? He walked up the stairs and came to a stop at the top of the spire, in which awaiting him on the flat surface, wedged within a groove of its own shape, was a bell. Its crystal surface shimmered in the light from above. He couldn't explain why his hand darted for it, immediately working it from its grooved prison, but once he had a hold of it, the adrenaline feeling only got worse.
KABLOOO!!!
"Ahhh!!" Landon felt the room tremble, leaning down on the platform.
"What was that?!" King Teotan disappeared almost immediately as Indigo had done. Another exploding sound echoed from outside, rattling the room once more. Landon trembled as he got to his feet, bolting down the stair well and through the corridors of the castle until he came to the edge of a balcony.
The land before him gave a mighty quake, spewing the pinkened kangaroo-mouse Poke'mon to flee within the cobble-stone streets in a mass of panic. And with no wonder why, a thought that came to Landon as his eyes fell upon the entity within the distance. It's body retained little shape, just enough to make out two legs, long saucy arms, and a rounded head that curved into where the shoulders were supposed to be. Every time it gave a swing of its arms, they hacked against a house or tree as though they were made of blades. It gave a shrill cry into the sky, its red eye that resided in the pit of its gut area flaring.
"What the hell is that?!" Landon gasped. And at that, the creature's eye shot right in his direction. The retina shrunk for only a second before the creature suddenly rampaged towards the castle.
"Everyone calm down!" King Teotan suddenly appeared in the air space betwixt the creature and the castle. He placed his paw to his head and his eyes glowed blue, going into some performance of psychic power. But the creature merely shrugged off the aura of blue light that befell it, continuing its rampage. "Oh no! It must be a Golem!"
"Don't worry, I'll stop it!" Indigo flashed before the creature just as randomly as her father had down and held out her paws, causing a dark sphere to first gather, then launch towards her intended target. The creature, however, seemed to anticipate the move as its torso opened up in just the exact shape of the Shadow Ball, letting it pass and strike down a few more standing houses instead. It's one-tracked mind, or eye in which case, was trained on the one single human boy standing amidst the balcony edge.
"No…No!" Landon turned on his heels to run.
WHAAA!!! The creature's body slammed into the balcony, its shape spilling inside the inner sanctum like thick water, and crashing up along the walls. Landon kicked off to the opposing direction, only to be halted by a whip-like strike from the amorphous figure on the ground. He doubled back and tried for the spire room; the creature's soupy form wiggled right under his feet and hurtled the young boy right into a wall. Landon gasped, his fingers clasped tightly around the bell; he didn't even gain a chance to hit ground as the being pinned him to the wall, curling around his wrists and legs and neck in some sort of awkward attempt to swallow him.
"G-gahh…" Landon struggled in vain, for the creature seemed both solid and liquid-like at the same time, unable to even get a firm bit of resisting force from it. Tighter and tighter it squeezed around him. And for whatever reason, he still clung onto that stupid bell. As though if he let it go, something awful would happen to him. There was a loud shriek and the creature shot over him, covering his head. "Arrggghhh!!!!!"
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…..
He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't smell or feel anything either. The only thing he could tell is that he was standing on nothing and something at the same time. Landon brought his hand up. Nothing but air.
"Hello…?" His voice sounded so faint, as though he were miles away from himself. Landon took a deep breath and walked forward. Even though the world didn't seem to move, he just walked as though he knew he would find something at the end of the nothingness.
"Who are you…?" A voice, strangely familiar, seemed to echo all around.
"My name is—" But when he went to say his name, nothing came out.
"You have the same name as me. You even sound like me. I wonder if you look like me too." The voice responded to the unsaid answer.
"How do you know me…?" Landon called out inquisitively. But in response, what felt like a hand gripped his own. A rush of warmth suddenly shocked the feeling back into his body. A bright light spiraled from his grip and pushed back the darkness of the world in a gallant gale force, and in doing so, returning Landon's senses…
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"Landon…?" The sound of Indigo's voice echoed into his ears. Well, he was still on his feet, of that he was sure. Landon slowly opened his eyes, the world coming into a very quick focus around him. The mews hovering in the sky floated in place, eying him with wide gazes. Indigo drifted right beside him, seemingly giving him the same kind of look. Even the amorphous figure had stooped to a lively slump on the floor before him. His first reaction was "What's on my face?". But when he brought his hand up to his face, he noticed something glowing on the back of his palm. The swivel symbol shimmered a vibrant crystal blue, the tail of which disappeared in a wrap around his wrist. And it wasn't just that—his whole outfit had changed! Landon was now sporting a black, sleeveless and hooded shirt that ended in two long, flat swallowtails in the back. His black Capri were marked with the same symbol as on his hand, as well as the sides of his black shoes, which seemed to be supported by a rounded mettle latch on the base of his ankles. The crystal bell was vibrating soundlessly on the chain around his neck.
"What the heck is this?!" Landon exclaimed.
"That shape…could it be—"
"That we were right." King Teotan finished for his daughter, his paws behind his back, "The Crystal Bell's Chosen has finally come. That is the form of an Origin Waker."
Landon's eyes widened just slightly. An Origin Waker? So the old codger wasn't lying…?
"Raaaaaahhhh!!!!" The amorphous figure let out a loud howl and spiraled upwards till it hovered high over the human figure. Landon panicked; what now? So he had an outfit change, what did it mean? The shapeless being raised one of its knife-like tentacles and whipped straight out towards Landon's gut.
"Jump, Landon, jump!"
And boy, did he jump! Landon gazed in awe as his body—now seemingly as light as a feather—sprang incredibly, flinging him out onto the streets on his feet in one graceful bound.
"How in the he—"
But before he could even finish, the creature's appendages flung outwards towards him wildly. Landon couldn't believe his eyes as his body automatically strafed from side to side, leaping over any tentacle that swiped at his feet, and avoiding the ones raining from above as they crashed down onto the ground. With one more mighty push, Landon sprang backwards and landed well on top of one of the housing rooftops.
"This is…this is awesome! I don't know what the heck this is, but this is totally—"
SMACK!
"Landon!" Indigo shouted out, floating from off the broken balcony. Landon braced his arms across from him as his body spiraled from the roof and crash-landed into a pile of logs, shattering them. But lo, the only pain in his body was the slight sting from where the whip struck him. Light and adamant? This couldn't be real.
"Ruuaaahhhh!!!" The creature bolted from off the balcony and splashed onto the ground, slithering it's way right at Landon dead-set to kill. Landon frowned and bolted from the logs onto the rooftops once more, darting from top to top in evasion of every whip that came his way. The Mew floated well out of the way as they watched Landon spiral wildly along the tops of the houses. They both seemed amazed at their human visitor, and elated that the creature had now found a new target other than them.
"But this is pointless…I can't just keep running from it!" And as if responding to his thoughts, Landon's fingers came to grip around something solid. There was a flash of light and the object sparked into the shape of a black sword hilt. It had no hand guard, but the long, crystallized blade jutted out from the shaft almost as long as his arm. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Landon landed back on the ground and turned to face the creature. He wasn't scared. No, this rush of power flowing through him; the confidence of his new speedy and adamant body. This definitely wasn't fear. This was adrenaline. This fighting, facing off with this creature, made his body excited and brim with an unseen energy as though he could move mountains on his own.
The amorphous creature gave one final roar before heaving its entire body into the air high over Landon, raining down as a bizarre ray of pointed spikes. The young human shook his bangs from his face pointlessly and drew his sword back, as though his next move had been a planned one from the start. The blade shook slightly once a bluish wind-like energy twisted around it. Closer and closer the spikes came, until they were right over his body just inches from his head.
"Gale Thrust!"
The words just seemed to roll of his tongue and he thrust his blade forward like a crack of lightning; the energy spun off his blade, tearing and repulsing the black goopish figure of the attacker all the way up to the last descending spike. Landon's bangs fell over his right eye slightly in his look, the only remaining bit being the red eye that clattered to the ground. King Teotan floated down and grasped the glowing orb betwixt his fingers and held it up to his face.
"Huh…Huh…" Landon felt his breath suddenly catch up to him. The rush that was once flowing through his veins left almost as quickly as it came, and the vibrant energy boiling inside dissipated. Why, even his outfit faded back into his normal wear in a rushed flash of light. Damn, mundane once again. Indigo abruptly flashed before Landon's face, being so near that her muzzle almost touched his nose. He'd have to coach her on personal space later.
"Is he supposed to be this tired after?" She asked.
"H-hey, just what—" But before Landon could even get a word out, the mews let out loud psychic whoops and shouts that extended out to the walls of the valley. They crowded around Landon, floating to and fro and smacking their paws on him in thanks of saving their…er, now, rather tattered town. It was great, but in all honesty, he really just wanted to sit down for a minute. It was a lot to take in; Origin Wakers, Mew villages, Giant blobs that tried to whip you six ways from Sunday. His gaze then fell down to the Crystal Bell hanging around his neck. It had long since stopped ringing and now lay calm on his chest. Still, as he brought his fingertips to it, he could feel a vibrant warmth that felt as though it was flowing inside of him.
"Landon," King Teotan floated before him. "On behalf of my people, I thank you for your help. However…" He looked the young human over, "It seems there's still a little time yet before you grow into your role."
"My role…?"
"Yes," King Teotan put his paw softly on Landon's head, his eyes closing slightly. "You will make a promise to me to never speak of this place or your endeavors here to any other human. Is that understood?" Landon nodded slightly, more concerned about the glowing outline of the old mew. "I'm going to send you home now. Until we meet again…Landon Hibiki."
"Bye-bye, Little Lan—I hope we get to see each other really soon!" Indigo waved gleefully. King Teotan closed his eyes fully and his outline glowed profusely. The last thing Landon could see was the smiling faces and waving paws of all the Mew before total darkness overtook his world.
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"Landon. Hey—yo! Landon Hibiki! Wake up, man."
"Lan, come on…"
"Ughn…" Landon swatted at whatever was shouting his name a few times before sitting upright. His head tingled a little bit, but he was more concerned about the blurred world before him.
"Here, this might help." The sound of Zeru's voice said and he quickly came into focus once he replaced Landon's glasses.
"What happened…?" Landon asked.
"You tell us. I was talking and suddenly noticed you weren't behind me." Zeru helped him to his feet.
"Probably ditched you for talking too much."
"Funny coming from the motor mouth that couldn't even calm down to look when we noticed he was missing." Zeru snapped back at May. Landon gazed up at the sky through the trees of the forest. His mind quickly shocked back his memories of the mew village; of the less-than-real transformation; of the goopish figure; and of the fierce rush he had felt. Was it all a dream?
"Maybe, I just…" But as he went to finish his sentence, his fingers closed softly around the Crystal Bell hanging around his neck.
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So, what mysterious events will unfold now that Landon's "Dream" seems to have been something more? What new destiny will unfold for our young hero as he begins to realize the mysteries enshrouding both him and his world? Find out on the next episode of "Poke'mon Eternia: Soul of Light"!