PreWriting: I want to introduce the idea of legendary companions, and why Zygarde might be on Alola at the start of SoLuna.
Chapter Synopsis: Set in Kalos, after Lysandre's plan went into action...and subsequently failed. Something unknown is threatening the city/region, and if not contained, will spread to the world. Someone has to step in...and there will be casualties.
Major Characters: Zygarde, Spark (Go), Blanche (Go), Candela (Go), Fiti (OC)
When someone is speaking in "normal quotation marks and in italics.", it means they are speaking a language that is not English. My logic is that Alola used to be a sub-region under Unova, like how Hawaii is a part of the USA, so even though they're their own region now, English is still the dominant language. People in the night class (like Hau, Moana (Tsuki's mom), and Hala) tend to speak the native Hawaiin more often, or in this case, Alolan, while people in the day class (Gladion, Lillie (originally) and Teresa) don't know as much Alolan. Back on point, most of the time, it will be translated, but not always. The three languages here in Summer of 2831 are "English", "Mainland (Japanese)", and "Alolan (Hawiian)".
In the meantime, please enjoy! Read and Review! Honest criticism is appreciated!
~Inspired Gracidea of the Valley
Fight in Lumiose City
20 Years 30 Days Ago
A battle was raging throughout Lumiose City as unknown forces ravaged everything in their path. Tendrils of dark energy shot down the street, throwing pavement into the air and destroying organic and non-organic material alike.
Lysandre's plan had gone to hell when he got more than he bargained for. The roots that Z2 had summoned were out of control, even with both Zygarde cores freed from Lysandre's mega evolution-powered machine. The Giant Rock that served as the backup plan had absorbed so much negative energy, it had unleashed monstrosities of shadows, vines, and stone upon the city.
And something else had joined in the chaos, something that no one knew, and could not fight against.
A group of civilians huddled in the back of a broken-down store, flinching every time an explosion was heard. The building they were in shook, tiles raining down.
"We can't stay here," one of them whispered, holding a drawstring bag close to her chest. "We've got to go."
"With an injured person?" A man who was tending a girl who had a bloody stump instead of a foot demanded. "We're better off waiting it out."
"For how long? We've been here for hours."
"Who knows for how much longer we'll be stuck."
Elsewhere, a teenage boy was peeking out from a broken wall. As a tendril of dark matter passed and went out of sight, he beckoned. "Okay, let's go." A group of humans and pokémon dashed from behind the wall. They ran down the street, slipping between buildings and overturned vehicles. "We need to make it underground."
One of the women in the group had a small paper map, and was trying to check their location in an attempt to ignore the bodies of pokémon and humans alike that were spread across the street, some mangled beyond recognition, others missing limbs that are thrown yards away. Holes were blasted into the asphalt like a war zone. Which it was.
"There is a subway ahead of us. Four blocks." If they weren't careful, they would end up like those bodies.
"We can make it." The group moved forward, creeping behind an overturned bus. Seconds after they had cleared it, the bus was thrown into the air, crashing into a nearby building. A vine of dark energy rose over where it had been standing.
"Luxray! Discharge!" The lion-dog leapt forward, electricity coursing from it's fur towards the vine, which didn't react. "Discharge!" No response. The group continued to back away. "Keep it up, Luxray!" The Electric-type snarled, blasting the vine over and over, which only continued to advance.
"Pachirisu! Thunderbolt!" A teenager released a small electric squirrel from a pokéball. The pachirisu squealed and released a burst of energy, which was as effective as the luxray's attack.
The vine continued to advance, and a second tendril burst from a nearby building, the group of humans and Pokémon trapped between the two.
"We're going to die here! We're going to die!" one of the women screamed, clutching a wailing child to her chest.
A burst of electricity descended from above, blasting the vine into wisps of energy, which dissipated on the wind.
"Hurry!" a young man with spikey golden hair yelled down from where he was crouched on a thatched roof. "The subway's up ahead! You can make it! Go! Go!" This spurred the group into action, and they kept going, followed by the blonde, who stuck to the rooves.
The lamppost was sprawled across the subway entrance, but they moved over it, down the stairs. Luxray and Pachirisu paused, staring at the man with knowing eyes. They bowed, electric sparks shooting upward before following their humans.
When they had disappeared, the blonde ran towards the edge of the building. Without hesitation, he threw himself into the air.
But instead of plummeting to the street below, his body warped and grew. Yellow jacket and hair shifted into bright yellow plumage, and blown-clad feet shifted into sharp claws. A loud screech filled the air as a majestic bird flew into the sky above Lumiose City.
'Zapdos!' a graceful blue bird called out as the yellow bird shot towards her. 'Moltres needs our help!' The pair cut through the air towards where flames rose above the buildings.
'It caught a group of humans. We needed to help.'
In one of the main squares, a group of creatures were surrounding a redhead, who was shooting flames at them from her hands, although the flames were slow and red, and sweat was rolling down her face. The shadows were growing bolder, nipping at the flames surrounding her, testing her boundaries.
Her eyes rose as the yellow bird descended, morphing back into a human form. He charged towards her, electricity coursing off him, and in one moment, he had scooped the redhead into his arms, and the blue bird had grabbed both in her talons.
The shadows snarled in fury, but the three were too far away for them to do anything.
The man dropped to an undamaged rooftop, still holding the redhead. The articuno gave a final screech before dropping alongside the man in the form of a human female in a blue coat.
"Candela-"
"I've had worse, Spark."
"Enough, Candela." the platinum blonde warned, opening the redhead's vest to reveal a gaping hold on her collarbone that should have been fatal to any person. But instead, the redhead grimaced, watching her flesh slowly knit together. "How did you get caught?"
"They have air support, Blanche, in the clouds." A dark look passed over Spark's face, and he rose, staring off into the distance where a tornado of green, blue, and orange was moving over the rooftops. The tornado paused, before whirling away with even more force.
"The forces of nature will spread the warning." Spark knelt beside Candela, while Blanche scanned their surroundings for enemies.
"What's everyone's status?"
"Nyte and the twins are sweeping the North sector." The Unovan legendaries worked best as the set they were. A shadow vine appeared over the edge of the building, and Blanche sent a blast of cold air at it, freezing it in place. "Kaede and her human mate are working the central squares with Meloetta and her Inspired." Blanche frowned, showing her disapproval of humans being in the fight, but the Guardian of All Dreams was certain that having her mate nearby would help. He wasn't a normal human, so Meloetta had no qualms about his presence.
The ground shook, and multicolored lights rained down on the area surrounding the tower. All three raised their heads, feeling the pressure on the city lift ever so slightly.
An unspoken agreement passed between them. Ash needed no help.
They were lucky Mew had found the Kanto boy when he was in Sinnoh, and helped train him with Arceus's aura. They were even luckier that he had been participating in the Kalos league when Lysandre had acted; just a breath away from the disaster that had brought all the Guardians to this land. They needed the Chosen One now more than ever.
A hurricane swept towards the three, kicking materials of all kinds into the air, and Lugia appeared, perched on the roof, tiles cracking under her weight. All three bowed their heads in respect to their mistress.
'Candela, Moltres, are you injured?'
"It knocked Moltres out from the air." Candela kept her eyes on the roof, showing the still-healing injury. "I couldn't resume flight from the ground. There was too much pressure from all sides."
'Hmph.' All three flinched, before Lugia drew close to the red-haired woman, breathing on her. Warmth surged within her, and her wounds knit closed. 'Take to the air. There is still too much to deal with for a break. Ho-Oh and her wielders need our assistance in the poorer sectors.' All three nodded, and when Lugia rose, she was accompanied by the Legendary Birds, although Moltres seemed more content to fly closer to Lugia.
Complete. That is the word Fiti would use to describe what she was feeling right now. Complete. No longer broken apart or feeling like something was missing in her life. Complete.
Around her, four massive green hounds moved about the square, striking with their jaws or slamming the shadows that dared get too close to their Chosen.
Never again would she need to stare off into the ocean from the top of Ten Caret Hill, towards the mainland, feeling like she should be there. Never again would she feel a phantom ache in her heart, or the pounding thud of a headache that came about randomly, and wonder why. She had been chosen to be part of something bigger.
The red- and blue-tinted hounds worked closely in tandem, weaving together with Extreme Speed to clear the weaker shadows while the orange- and purple-tinted hounds fired off Dragon Pulses with deadly accuracy.
It was sheer luck, or perhaps fate, that had her family visiting her when this disaster struck. But whatever the reason, she was here now. Her family was safe underground, surrounded by earth these monsters could not-would not-penetrate.
The dark-skinned woman waved her arms and glowing green beams shot from the ground, impaling the creatures and dissolving them.
'They are a plague on this land.'
'They are parasites in this world.'
'They should not be here.'
'They will be destroyed.'
'We will protect our home.'
Their thoughts all echoed together. Which thoughts were hers, which were theirs? It felt like one and the same, and it put her at ease. Complete.
There was a high-pitched scream from above her, and white eyes turned upward to see a foul mimicry of a talonflame swoop towards her, talons outstretched. But the orange-core hound lunged forward, jaw snapping on it with a loud crunch. The shadows dissolved into wisps and slipped free from it's jaw, spiraling upward to escape, screaming in pain.
'Well done.' Fiti laid a hand on the hound's shoulder when it landed.
'Protect you. Protect this land.'
'The part that makes us whole.'
'Our Chosen.' The red-core hound bounded towards the orange-core, both disintegrating in a flash of green light, cells and cores separating before reforming into a massive green serpent, which curled around Fiti protectively.
'Part of the land. Part of the world.'
'Balance life. Balance death.'
'It will not take the earth.'
'We are the earth, bound to and to protect.'
'The earth is ours.' The blue and purple hounds leapt together, reforming like the red and orange hounds had, curling around Fiti with the other serpent.
'Our home.'
'We will protect.'
'Family. Friends.'
'Our fellow pokémon. Our fellow humans.'
Their eyes flashed in unison, a green light throwing the monstrosities back. When it died away, Zygarde Complete Form towered above the creatures.
'Too long since we have been one.'
'This form cannot be maintained for long.'
'Then we must act quickly.'
Zapdos was slicing the flying shadows that had knocked Moltres down when a green explosion rose above the rooftops, beams of green light fracturing in all directions. An earthquake rocked the area, crumbling buildings and trees. One beam crashed beneath Zapdos, and the dust settled to reveal one of Zygarde's cells, although it was very dazed. Zapdos swooped close to it, destroying a vine-like monster along the way.
'What happened?!' Only the cores could respond coherently to outsiders, so Zapdos didn't expect a clear answer. But the cell only wobbled, barely able to rise, and vanished from sight, to regain strength or return to where the cores were, Zapdos didn't know. But neither sat well with the electric bird.
'Mistress!' Zapdos screeched, rising up to where the others were. Moltres glanced over from where they were sending a shadow spiraling to the city below, while Articuno, who was hovering near Lugia, looked apprehensive.
'Let the environment trio deal with their own.'
'But Xerneas and Yveltal have yet to appear!' Zapdos always trusted their instincts to keep them out of danger, and right now, those instincts were uneasy, worried for the newest demi-mortal member of their Guard.
'Peace, bird of thunder.' Ho-Oh swung close, brushing against Lugia's side. 'Sister, if I may, send Zapdos with Raikou. They can scout.' The thunder beast looked up from the roof he was on.
'I'll tolerate Sparky.' Zapdos gave an annoyed caw. That name was for the human, not the bird!
'Very well.' Lugia accepted this, somewhat reluctantly. 'Return once the situation has been accessed.'
It may have escalated beyond that though.
The dark clouds above Fiti were glowing an unnatural green color, with lightning rushing over the clouds. Laying on her back and looking up at the clouds was all she could do right now.
She tried to take a breath, but only spit up blood. Cold, dust-filled air flowed into her lungs not down her throat, but from elsewhere. Her chest hurt...it hurt so much. She let out a strangled cry, white eyes moving to her surroundings. Everything around her was leveled, and the buildings that still stood a distance away were crumbling.
A snarl ripped through the air, and her head slowly turned, causing new spasms of pain to course through her body.
The shadow monsters were gathering, dead eyes trained on her as they circled her, jaws dripping with poison.
'Help. Where are you? Help. Help.'
Weak glows emitted from buildings around her, but none of them had enough energy to help her. They could only watch, and she was on her own.
Mend. Mend. Heal. Protect. She coughed, forcing her fingers to move, to dig into the earth beneath her. Heal. Heal. Energy. The earth was trying to provide her with strength, but it wasn't enough. The energy was vanishing as soon as it entered her body. Protect. Columns of light burst from the ground, but they were fading as quickly as they appeared.
"Zy..." The monsters were drawing nearer, unafraid of the Land's Wrath, knowing she couldn't do anything. "Zygarde..."
A thunderclap filled the air, and Raikou snarled, electricity from it's fur blasting the monsters into wisps as the Thunder Beast slammed into the ground from the rooftops. The monsters fled from the new opponent, but they did not escape and were blasted away.
Zapdos screeched, snagging the dark-skinned female in it's talons, carrying her up, up past the crumbling buildings to a stable rooftop, where the massive bird deposited her as gently as it could, before shifting into human form.
"Fiti..." Spark whispered, pulling her shirt up, and there was no protest. When he saw her blood-covered torso and chest, he swore.
"That...bad?" Her flesh was trying to knit itself back together, but the shadow poison was corroding it much more quickly. Normally, she would heal slower than him, being a demi-mortal guardian, but the poison was rendering her immune system human.
"It's not looking too good." he responded, golden eyes sweeping the rooftop and spotting a clothline with a few shirts whipping in the wind. He stood, moving across the space to snag a few, tearing them into strips, and binding the less pressing injuries. When he moved to the hole in her chest-
"Spark...enough..." The woman stopped his hand, tears escaping her eyes. "Can't...too much..."
"I'll heal you. Take you to Mistress." Spark tried to wrap the bandage again. "We just need to stop the bleeding."
"Spark..." He shook his head, not wanting to believe what his instincts told him. She was a demi-mortal guardian, not a demi-immortal like him, and the wound was poisoned by something not from their dimension. If it were normal poison, her body would have been able to expel it quickly-
A low whine reached Spark's ears, and he twisted, hand crackling with electricity to blast away the threat, but it was an overreaction. It was only one of the cores in 10% Form, limping across the roof.
'Worried. Worried. Fear for you. Injured.' The core's voice reached Spark.
"Zygarde..." The hound whimpered, nudging her face.
'Can't heal you. Can't lose you.'
"Shhh... just another human...another human..." An angry bark of disagreement. Green tears were trickling down her face, pooling next to her head. "Sorry... could help...more." A whimper. Her vision was blurring. It was green and grey. "chose me...but I fail...ed..." Her eyes found gold. Spark. "Help...who follows. Zy..." White eyes connected with brown. "Follow...my so..."
Darkness.
A blonde man traveled down a dark subway tunnel, his persona emitting a soft light.
The girls had disagreed, and the birds hadn't approved, but the human part of Spark cried against not doing this.
Fiti had mentioned being on the mainland with family, so if her family had survived, they would look for her. It felt wrong to leave her body out to the elements.
The human's whispers filled the tunnel, but it was the pokémon's that were the clearest to Spark. He had a foot in both worlds. They were aware of what he was, and that he was coming.
"Fiti!" a man whose skin matched hers cried, scrambling towards Spark. "Fiti! Wake up!" His tongue switched into that of the island people. "Fiti...my love...please. Please. Please wake up."
"Papa?" A boy who shared both the man and Fiti's dark skin came forward hesitantly. Spark's eyes widened. "Mom? Mom!" He dashed forward, but his feet halted before he reached his parents. Poor kid...and he won't be the only one. There will be families who are broken apart, orphans in the streets, parents who have no children. "Who are you? What did you do to her?" Sky blue eyes bored into his golden ones, fear, respect, and angst mixed together. He deserved the truth, but it wasn't Spark's to give.
"Someone who wanted your mom to get back home." He ran his hand over the boy's head, just enough to protect him, but not to give him a blessing. "This will be over soon, kid. Be strong." The ground shook as another Judgement was unleased. The humans cowered and covered their heads, but Spark and the kid remained upright. "This will be over soon."
...
...
19 Years 47 Days Ago
Something came alive in the network that Zygarde used to observe and watch the world. A lost link had been reconnected. A crystal that had been dark had become illuminated once again.
'Returned.'
PostWriting: So I included the Pokémon Go team leaders. Sue me. I like the idea of them having been chosen by the birds their teams represent. Actually, I saw a surfcage comic about Spark having a mark on his hand from Zapdos when he was young, with Lt. Surge and Professor Willow remarking on the mark he got from bonding from a Fearow (Zapdos) (snicker). Follow the link below! (just remove the spaces (because ff .net is annoying like that.)
www. surfacage post/ 150917306904/ go-so-youre-telling-me-the-lunatic-who-spent-two
Stay tuned for more!