Prologue: Survival
Lightning flashed across the sky like fingers of blue doom and thunder pounded through the air. The huge black clouds mercilessly chased the wind, causing it to whip the sea into a frenzy of conflicting waves as it fled from the sharp stabs of electric fire. Nature warred with itself, oblivious to the tiny creature that fought vainly to survive in the crossfire.
Water roared all around her, deafening her highly tuned ears to even the clashing thunder above. The waves tossed her from one to the other, end over end, as if seeking to rob her of what little oxygen she still held in her lungs. Her legs, exhausted from hours of fighting, still feebly twitched and floundered in an attempt to reach the surface and air. Eyes squeezed shut by instinct, she thrashed and squirmed desperately, still fighting for the chance to survive that seemed ever farther out of reach.
The tiny creature finally managed to turn herself right-side up, only to have a huge wave snatch her from its nearby neighbor and carry her up onto its rearing crest. She broke the surface for one merciful split second and greedily gulped for air as the wave plunged downward and submerged her once again. Water flooded into her mouth before she could close it, constricting her lungs without pity. The will to survive began to weaken and panic set in, pumping one last burst of adrenaline into the veins of the storm's helpless victim. Her eyes snapped open and her tail began thrashing back and forth like a tiny paddle.
Blackness crept across her vision, threatening to still her attempts and allow the sea to claim her forever. Leaden limbs flailed in one last struggle for life, one last valiant battle against forces a thousand times more powerful than she. The waves pulled the creature deeper underwater. Down, down, until oxygen, light, and solid ground seemed like a forlorn myth and all that really existed was water. Constricting, unmerciful, unconquerable, water.
The tiny flicker of hope inside the creature died, her body went limp and her eyes slid shut again as bubbles escaped her mouth. The sea had won.
High above, thunder crashed and rolled as if just realizing what had happened and mourning the loss of such a brave being. At that second, lightning lashed out, stabbing downward into the depths of the dark, rain pounded waters. The waves exploded in all directions, fleeing from the violent energy. One of the waves crashed into a narrow cave burrowed in the cliffside of an island. As it retracted back into the sea, it left behind the limp body of the valiant creature who had fought so bravely.
The storm continued to rage for hours before finally exhausting itself and allowing the mist to rise under the watchful eye of the dawning sun. As the sun came up, it turned the now calm sea into a symphony of red, orange, gold, and purple colors. A long finger of sunlight worked its way into the cave, casting a golden glow on the still form that lay inside.
As the ray of sun continued to bathe the figure ... one ear feebly twitched. The brave sea fighter was alive.
Chapter One: Strange Occurrences
Castor Charmander of clan Charizard took a deep breath of the clean morning air, the flame on his tail tip flared brightly with energy and happiness. Mornings after a big storm are always the best. The air has been washed clean by rain and not a cloud can be seen! Castor sat on his haunches on the wet green grass, making sure to keep his tail well away from the dewdrops as he admired the view.
From his perch on the high hill, Castor could see for miles. At the base of the hill was Nagai Kusa Village, a series of neat underground homes dug out by the Normal and Poison-types. From where he sat they looked like grassy bumps in a huge field connected by a winding dirt path. Just to the left of the village ran the broad, slow moving stream whose banks were home to the Water Pokemon who wished to settle in the village permanently.
Far off to his left, Meiro Woods stood tall and proud against the background of Kōken'nin Mountain, its dark green trees offering stark contrast to the soft green of the grass on which Castor sat. Looking to his right, he could just make out the hazy yellow and green of the scrubland of the Kasai Desert, home to the Dark, Ground, and Steel-types. If he turned all the way around, Castor was able to see the small but diverse Shimai Mountain, his original home. Finally, if he returned his gaze forward and concentrated, he could make out the glitter of the Endless Sea and the wall of mist that was ever present around the island.
Castor sighed, closed his eyes, and let the sunlight tinge the inside of his eyelids orange. It was early enough that many of the villagers where still asleep so Castor found himself blessed with silence, serenity, and solitude. He sighed happily, nothing can go wrong on a day like this ... nothing!
Deep in the ground, almost below the hearing range of a Pokemon, something rumbled. At first the sound was so faint that Castor wasn't even aware he had heard it, but as the morning wore on and the villagers of Nagai Kusa began their day with cheerful calls of 'hello!' and 'good morning!', the noise started to grow in volume.
Castor opened his eyes and looked around, huh? What's that rumbling noise? Is an Onix coming to visit? But why would an Onix come here? If it was traveling as part of the Discovering, wouldn't it travel overland? "Hey, Cast! Are you going to sit up there all day?" Castor looked down the hill to see Cora Squirtle of Clan Blastoise, his best friend, trotting steadily up the hill.
Castor waved absentmindedly and resumed looking around, the rumbling was starting to make him nervous, "Oh, hey Cora. Do you hear that?"
Cora breasted the top of the hill and sat down to catch her breath. A few drops of sweat gleamed on her sky blue forehead and her shell, the same color as the grass, glinted brightly in the sun. She looked up at him curiously, "What's up Castor? I don't hear-" Castor shushed her and pressed the right side of his head to the ground. The rumbling was getting slowly louder and now he could faintly feel vibrations emanating from the soil.
Out of the corner of his eye, Castor saw Cora give him a weird look, shrug, than place one side of her head against the ground in an imitation of him. Her eyes widened, "I hear it too ... sounds like an Onix that's using Dig. Do you think one of them is coming to pay us a visit?"
Castor frowned and opened his mouth to disagree when the rumbling suddenly grew to a crescendo and the vibrations turned into violent shaking. With identical cries of surprise, Castor and Cora lost their balance and sprawled onto their stomachs, noses digging up small furrows in the dirt from the impact against the shuddering ground.
Castor gripped at some grass patches with his claws and yelled over the noise, "Earthquake! Hang on!"
Cora glared at him as she frantically clutched the ground, "No kidding, Chieftain Absol!" Castor lifted his head and looked over his shoulder, straining to see the village. Small dots of color were running back and forth crazily as villagers attempted to get to safe places without losing their balance.
Castor rested his chin on the ground and closed his eyes. Earthquakes, while not exactly common in this region of the island, were common enough that the Pokemon knew not to panic. They knew to simply find somewhere where there wasn't the risk of an imported flower pot falling on their head and hunker down, earthquakes never lasted more than a minute at the most.
A minute dragged on, than two, Castor was beginning to get bruises along his arms and stomach from the constant hammering of pebbles and he was squeezing the grass clumps so hard that his claws had punctured the blades and were digging into his paws. Three minutes passed and the rumbling hadn't shown any signs of lessening. What is going on? The earthquake should have ended by now!
Castor opened his eyes and looked into Cora's terrified ones, the thoughts shining in them was identical to his own, something is terribly wrong. Cora shouted over the sound of shaking earth, her voice sounded jittery and would have been comical in any other situation, "If this quake doesn't stop soon, serious damage will be done to the village!"
As if to punctuate the meaning of her words, screams of terror began to rise from below. Castor's heart pounded in fear and a sick feeling churned in his stomach, the dens must be collapsing! Sekani will still be asleep at this hour! He will be buried alive! Castor blindly staggered to his feet, he had to do something!
Behind him he could hear Cora yelling as he stumbled down the hill, "Castor! Don't! Wait until the earthquake is over! You won't be able to help anybody if one of the dens collapses on you! Castor!"
The shudders underneath his feet grew even more violent and Castor felt his legs abruptly switch places with his head as to which was higher, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He tumbled end over end down the hill, his tail flame taking a terrible beating against the dirt and dewy grass. Pain exploded in his senses and his eyes squeezed shut as first his head, than his back, than his tail changed places with ever increasing speed as he bounced and rolled down the hill uncontrollably.
He finally crashed to a stop at the bottom of the hill, the ground was still quaking. From his position he could see that today was going to be a very bad day in the history Nagai Kusa Village. Pokemon were stumbling and crawling willy-nilly, trying to get away from the dens as they threatened to collapse. Everything was now shaking so hard that Castor could actually see the dens bouncing up and down.
Castor didn't register the startled squeal that came from above him, or the shadow that unfurled over him until something hard crashed onto his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs. The thing was shaken off of him by the still ongoing earthquake and landed heavily on his left side. He dazedly turned his head and stared at the reason for his sudden need for air.
Cora lay on the back of her shell, all four legs flailing wildly. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear and her mouth was open and gasping. Both of them lay there for the remainder of the earthquake, too scared and winded to move.
Far more suddenly than it had started, the earthquake stopped. Everything became deathly still, it was like nature itself was holding its breath, afraid to move lest another earthquake struck. Castor finally allowed himself a sigh of relief, it was over, after five minutes, the earthquake had passed. His teasing statement about how Cora needed to heed her own advice of 'staying put' died on his lips the moment he took a good look at the village.
It was ruined. Totally, utterly, ruined. Castor slowly stood up and looked all around, numbly taking in the full extent of the destruction. Den upon den was nothing more than a depression of rock and dirt. They had been dug deep to help resist earthquakes and typhoons, but obviously not deep enough.
Scattered all around, Pokemon lay, completely covered in dust and grime. Some of them were moaning in pain, the little ones were crying in terror as their parents shakily tried to soothe them. Castor's heart clenched when he realized that some of the little ones were sitting forlornly without their parents' comfort and that some parents were now wandering around, calling desperately for their hatchlings. He hoped fervently that these families had simply gotten separated during the mad scramble and that the parents would be at their hatchlings' sides soon.
Cora had righted herself and was now standing dazedly beside Castor, just as horrified at the destruction of their homes as he was. A tiny Vulpix kit ran frantically over to Castor, tears trickling from terrified eyes, her normally fluffy reddish fur turned a grimy dead brown, "P-please! Have you seen my Mama? I - I need my Mama!"
The cry for help snapped Castor out of his daze, he looked down at the tiny kit and recognized it to be one of Farrah's litter. He opened his mouth to reassure her, but no sound came out, his heart was beating too fast and he felt light headed. Cora stepped in, she gently hugged the Fire-type fox and rubbed its back with a paw, "Don't worry, little one! I'm sure your Mama is fine. Shush, it's okay, don't cry. We'll help you find your Mama."
The Vulpix's face lit up and she sniffled, "Really?"
Cora smiled, "Really and truly." Castor nodded in agreement and the three of them promptly set off through the village, looking and calling for the Vulpix's mother. Castor glanced around at the chaos and silently begged to no one in particular, Oh please let her mother be all right!
Twenty minutes passed, Castor had already spotted the ruins of his house and several villagers that he knew, but none of them were Farrah. Just as Castor was beginning to lose hope, he caught sight of nine waving, dusty white tails. He shouted excitedly and waved, "I see her! Farrah!"
A joyful cry exploded from the kit and she ran forward, "Mama!"
Farrah Ninetails' dusty head snapped around and her amber eyes lit up with joy, "Amia!" Mother, daughter and various siblings tearfully embraced, licking each other comfortingly and exclaiming how glad they were to find each other safe and sound.
Castor and Cora shared a tiny smile, crisis averted. Now if only I could get my house back so Sekani won't complain about the lack of a mattress ... Sekani! He whirled, "Cora! I haven't seen Sekani! We have to find him!"
Cora's eyes widened, "Oh shell, you're right! Come on, let's go check around your house!" The two Pokemon ran back to the depression of rubble that used to be his and Sekani's house.
Castor looked around frantically, "Sekani! Can you hear me, buddy? Answer me if you can!" Silence greeted his plea. All around, other Pokemon were digging into the rubble of their homes, trying to find survivors or to salvage whatever personal items that might have survived. He must be trapped inside! Castor flung himself at the rubble and began digging, "Hold on, Sekani! I'm coming!"
Cora clambered next to him and took a deep breath, "Castor, I'm going to soften the dirt with WaterGun. That should make it easier!" Castor stepped to one side as water spouted out of Cora's mouth in a concentrated blast. Rocks, dirt and mud spattered in every direction and Castor did his best to keep his tail flame safe.
Castor felt a desperate hope flicker in his soul, please be okay, Sekani ... please by alive. Dirt and mud ceased to fly in all directions, something was stopping Cora's WaterGun from tunneling deeper. Cora's eyes were squeezed shut in concentration, she had just learned WaterGun two days ago and she still had difficulty using it instead of Bubble. She couldn't see that her WaterGun was no longer working.
Castor shouted to get her attention, "Hold it Cora!" The Squirtle opened her eyes and ceased spraying WaterGun. Castor carefully scrambled into the depression and examined the obstacle, it was a large rock that had originally been used as a wall support. Castor ran his paw gently over the rock, feeling the niches in it. This was the rock that Sekani always marks for a successful prank! It was right outside his room!
Castor and Cora thumped their paws hard against the rock several times. Castor yelled as loud as he could, "Sekani! Are you in there? Can you hear me? Thump the rock if you're alive!" The two worried friends pressed the sides of their heads against the rock and listened, not even daring to breathe. It seemed like an eternity for three weak thumps to sound from the other side of the rock.
Castor let out the breath that he'd been holding and felt his heart start beating again, He's alive! Pressing his mouth against the rock, Castor shouted, "Don't worry, Sekani! We'll get you out of there! Just hold on a little bit longer!" Cora scrabbled to the top of the rock and surveyed how it was tilted.
She frowned, "I think this rock leaning on another support pillar, We should be able to tilt it without too much risk of hurting Sekani."
Castor scrambled onto the rock, braced his back against the side of the depression, and pushed with every fiber of his being. Cora joined him in pushing and the two grunted in exertion. Castor's bruised muscles protested loudly about the work and threatened to fail him as the Charmander gritted his teeth. Come on, come on! Move already you stupid rock!
His feet suddenly slipped out from under him and with a startled cry he slid gracelessly down its length to the mud at the bottom that promptly greeted his orange snout. He dragged himself out of the mud and spat out grit. Cora called down apologetically, "Sorry! My WaterGun attack must have made it too slippery for you to keep a grip!"
Castor glared at the rock, "We'll just see about that!" He sucked in a deep gulp of air, preparing to use his Ember attack.
"Wait!" A streak of brown flashed in the corner of his eye and tackled him to the muddy ground, the Ember attack shot uselessly into the excessively cheerful looking sky.
Castor shoved the mystery attacker off of him and shot to his feet, his tail flame leaping to twice its normal size with rage and baking the mud on his tail instantly. "What are you doing?" he howled, "My friend is trapped in there and I'm trying to get him out before he suffocates!"
The brown streak stood up and revealed itself to be an Eevee. A package of adaptability wrapped up in smooth brown fur with long slender ears, a cream tipped puffy tail and a fluffy cream collar-like ruff, Eevee's often traveled the island to see the many different types of Pokemon before deciding which of their possible seven forms to evolve into.
The Eevee studied Castor with aggravatingly calm brown eyes. The stranger's voice was surprisingly mature for his tiny stature as he spoke, "Do you want to free your friend, or bake him into a mud cake? Rocks absorb heat, Charmander. If you used Ember on the rock, it would not only dry the rock, it would heat up the rock to the point where any air left under there would heat to the point of being unbreathable. You'd kill your friend within minutes."
Castor felt despair flood his heart, "Then what do I do? I can't leave him and the rock is too slippery for me to help Cora push!" The Eevee looked around, his ears twitching thoughtfully.
Brown eyes swept from the rock, to the ground, left to right, and finally to Cora. He nodded to himself firmly, "That will work. You, Squirtle! Get down here, quickly." Cora blinked a few times and then jumped down.
She cocked her head to one side, "Yeah?"
The Eevee bounded over to the left side of the rock and dipped one of his back legs to the ground, he then dragged his leg in a straight line away from the rock. Stepping away from the line, he straightened calmly, "I need you to use WaterGun right on that line. Make a trench as deep as you can manage without curving the sides." Cora looked from the Eevee to the rock to the line before nodding and running to the far end of the line.
He turned to Castor, "After she digs the trench, use Ember to bake the trench hard. But be careful to leave the first two feet of the trench closest to the rock untouched, it needs to be slick underneath the left edge of that rock for my plan to work."
Castor blinked and used one of his paws to block the spraying mud from Cora's WaterGun, "Uh, okay ... but do you mind telling me how exactly your plan will save my friend?"
The Eevee nodded, "Certainly, your Squirtle is blasting a guiding trench and you are going to harden the length of it. This will make sure that the rock won't fall on us when I knock it loose with a Tackle attack."
Castor stared at him in surprise, Wow. "Um, not that I mind at all, but why are you helping us?"
The Eevee was watching Cora work as he answered, "Because."
Castor frowned, "Because? Because what?"
Deep brown eyes suddenly stared into his, "Because no one should have to die slowly, chained by life so that they suffer endlessly before passing before their time. Besides, I want to help."
Cora trotted up to them, "Morbid, much? Castor, you're up, I finished the trench." Castor ran eagerly to the trench. He studied the muddy channel, okay, leave some of the channel untouched so it will slide properly. Castor placed his back cautiously against the rock and straddled the ditch. He took a deep breath, feeling the fire on his tail flair brightly as he gathered heat and power.
Small bullet-like projectiles of flame hammered the trench, drying the mud quickly enough to send up a cloud of steam. Castor had barely finished closing his mouth when Cora cried out a warning, "The Eevee is going to use Tackle! Castor, get out of the way!" Castor lunged to side and crashed onto the ground just as the mystery Eevee got into the right position and charged.
As the Eevee charged he roared, "Adaptability!" At the last second, he twisted in the air so that his shoulder, instead of his head, smashed into the rock. A loud groan sounded through the air as the rock slowly tilted to one side. The Eevee had rebounded off the rock and fallen onto his side, panting.
Castor whirled to Cora, "Hurry Cora! The rock is almost loose! Help me tackle it!" The two Pokemon ran to the right side of the rock and flung themselves at it. Castor winced, he had never learned how to use Tackle attack and so he didn't know the special technique required to smash against a rock without injuring himself.
The rock leaned a little more but still didn't give, my tail must have hardened the trench when I used Ember without my noticing! The Eevee was suddenly by his side, panting heavily, "Come on, if we hit it all together one more time ... it should break loose."
Castor briefly wondered why the Eevee seemed so out of breath from one Tackle Attack but his thoughts cut off abruptly at the sound of a small voice coming from behind the rock, "Yo, you guys are doing great out there but if its no trouble, hurry up! I feel like I'm folded nine different ways in here!"
Castor's tail flame flared briefly with joy, "Sekani! You are alive! Hold on! We've almost got you out!" Glancing over at Cora and the Eevee, the three shared a determined look and backed up as far as they could.
Castor inwardly hoped the healer's den had survived the earthquake because this was going to hurt. All three of them shouted at the same time, "One, two, three!" and charged. They all hit the rock at the same time. With a loud cracking noise, the rock pillar tilted over and crashed into the trench. The three Pokemon had rebounded off the rock and were sprawled out on the ground, watching in surprise. They hadn't actually thought that their plan would work.
A hushed silence fell on the rescuers as they sat on the ground and panted. After a moment's pause, Sekani Aipom of clan Ambipom crawled out of the newly made exit to his would-be grave. The monkey-like Pokemon coughed, stretched, felt himself all over with the three-fingered hand on his tail, and gave a loud cheer. Pumping one small paw in air, the grime covered former-victim whooped, "I'm alive! I knew I was too handsome to die! It sure took you guys long enough!"
Cora rolled her eyes and muttered sarcastically, "I can see that this whole thing has left him so grateful and humbled."
From above, two voices shouted, "Hey, are you guys all right? Do you need any help down there?" Castor looked up at the concerned Rattata twins peering down and standing a short distance away at the edge of the depression that used to be his den.
And now the dirt-loving twins show up ... of course. Castor sighed and called up to them with false cheerfulness, "We're fine! We've got everything taken care of, thanks anyway!" The two Rattata looked at each other, shrugged and trotted off to see if anyone else needed help.
Castor, Cora, and the Eevee stood up and shook themselves off. Sekani was too busy dancing around happily to really notice the stranger as he cheered for his friends, "Great going, Cast, Cora! I'm free! I thought I was a goner for a minute there!" He abruptly stopped dancing and blinked at Castor, "Say, what gave you the idea to knock the rock sideways into a trench?"
Cora spoke up, "It wasn't our idea, Sekani," she motioned to the stranger with her paw, "this Eevee showed up out of nowhere and helped us get you out. He was the one who came up with the plan." Sekani stared at the Eevee as if he had just teleported to Cora's side instead of having been standing there quietly the whole time.
The small brown Pokemon smiled shyly, "Hi, I suppose I should introduce myself." He tilted his head and left front leg downward in a small bow, "I am Dale Eevee of the Eeveelution clans. I was going to stop here on my Discovering when the earthquake hit and I'm just glad I could help."
Castor, Cora and Sekani bowed at the waist in return. Castor smiled at Dale, "It's nice to meet you, Dale. Thanks for helping us." The Eevee smiled back timidly and shifted his position clumsily. Castor blinked, Dale's stance seemed off somehow. His eyes trailed down Dale's body. His new friend was balanced carefully, his front legs spaced farther apart the normal for an Eevee.
Castor's eyes trailed down to Dale's hindquarters and the reason for Dale's earlier shortness of breath and current stance became painfully clear. His right rear leg, the one he had used to draw the trench guide line, hung twisted and useless. The paw was curled tightly inward and the main leg joint was permanently bent, forever ensuring that its owner would never be able to place weight of any kind on it.
Cora gasped, she had spotted Dale's leg as well, "Your leg!"
Dale glanced at his leg and then back at Cora, he shrugged softly, "What about it?"
Castor's jaw dropped, what about it? He sounds like Cora commenting about the weather! He stammered in surprise, "It ... it..." he clamped his jaw shut to stop himself from saying anything insensitive.
Sekani, however, was not so discreet, "How did you pull off a Tackle Attack with that leg?" He blurted. Cora stamped hard on his paw for being rude, making him yelp loudly.
Dale smiled softly, "Its okay, Squirtle. My leg has been this way since I was a hatchling. I'm used to Pokemon saying stuff like that."
Castor coughed slightly, "Sorry about Sekani's manners, he's like this all the time. I'm Castor, this is Cora, and you already know grimy-fur's name over here."
Sekani swatted Castor with his tail hand, "Don't look now, Matchstick, but you aren't exactly a newly washed egg yourself."
Dale giggled a little bit at Sekani's quip and motioned his head to the lip of the depression just above them, "Nice to meet you all, sorry it had to be under these circumstances. Maybe we should climb out of this thing and check on the rest of your village." Cora and Castor murmured in agreement while Sekani muttered something about it 'being too early in the morning for this kind of thing' and climbed out of the remains of Castor and Sekani's home.
Castor inwardly marveled at his new friend's dexterity. Despite a useless rear leg, Dale jumped out with an easy grace and surprising speed. He promptly set about making himself useful to the other villagers in need.
The four young creatures spent the rest of the day making themselves useful, helping families to find missing loved ones, digging into former dens to check for anything that might have survived the quake, and even aiding the kind-hearted Healer Miltank, whose den/herb shop had miraculously remained standing, in treating and bandaging the injured.
Since Sekani was untouched other than being utterly filthy and having a nick in one ear, he made himself useful by using his Sand Attack ability to speed up the excavation process. Dale also proved surprisingly competent at kicking the soil loosened by Cora's WaterGun out of the way by using his front legs and tail as a 'tripod' so his good back leg could preform Sand Attack.