Author's note/disclaimer: I don't own the pokemon franchise, but do own some individual units of their product. I am simply a fan of the games, and like fanfiction. Please enjoy.
Or not.
1st Cycle: Search
Standing.
That was his first thought, a simple observation of his current status.
Standing.
He looked around quizzically, but not sure for what or why. He stood near a lake, and quite a beautiful view, he decided. The water at the edge was mirror-like, clean, and very deep. He gazed at the verdant nature and quiet depths, and was pleased to have had a second thought.
He had realized his location was Lake Verity.
This realization pleased him. He didn't know why, nor how he knew this location since he was sure he'd never been here before. It then occurred to him to wonder what a Lake was or, more precisely, how he could identify one. He couldn't recall any hard facts about his own existence pre-dating this moment. He looked himself over, hypothesizing he was some manner of entity that learned things by seeing them.
He was pretty sure that was incorrect.
He saw he was wearing heavy brown things-travel boots- on his feet. He also wore dark blue-green pants that he somehow knew were very sturdy. He was wearing an off-white, subtlety pink shirt under a light brown aviator's jacket with a more prominent pink collar. He wore a sash across his torso from his right shoulder to hip, a soft pink color with a brown edge and small golden clasp-hooks.
He temporarily disregarded his clothing in favor of his reflection. The reflection was definitely a reflection, as it confirmed what he had already observed about his appearance. He also discovered he had a somewhat pale face with large blue eyes. He also decided he was effeminate, and also that he was male, and realized why he thought with the pronoun 'he'. His eyes were glass like, abnormal, and seemed to be a shadow of something he should remember. He didn't like knowing this was abnormal, or not being able to verify that with proof to compare with. His hair reached his eyebrows, but reached farther down to his neck on the left side of his face. It was a shiny, unnatural black.
He didn't know why, but that color made him uncomfortable. Unnatural.
He would've stood there all day, contemplating his physical existence, if not for something, two somethings, on the opposite shore.
It was a tall man in a blue vest, with white hair connected to a big white mustache via sideburns. Something about him set off alarms in his head, but he couldn't quite get why. He also noticed a girl, maybe around 13, somewhat sorter than himself. She had straight blue hair, a white cap, and red jacket. Both were staring intently at a rock formation in the middle of the lake, the smaller with a large avianoid being covered in shiny black metal, with 3 large golden horns.
He recited something by rote."Empoleon, the emperor pokémon. Typing: water/steel hybrid. Rank: Paragon. Notes: High offensive power, wings can easily cut or crush ice floes. Horns are a symbol of level and power. Has the ability to glide. Prefers cold climates. Social creatures, enjoy bragging. Evolution chain: piplup, prinplup, empoleon."
He started, but not because he was unnerved by his prior knowledge of what an empoleon was, but by the apparently 'paragon' rank pokémon. It was diving into the water with a metallic gray rope attached to its leg, and seemed to be coming for him. He looked back at his reflection, assessing the situation. It was possible he was being hunted, and those were the hunters, in which case he was in danger. He saw the orb attached to 3 of the metal hook-clasps on his sash. He unhooked it and acted on instinct born of a past he couldn't fathom.
"I choose you!"
She knew her instructions, and waited.
And waited.
And waited...
...
She could remember that past, and did. She wished to forget, wished to un-remember, but knew that to forget that past would be to deny her vow.
She would not deny that.
She also knew to deny her failure would to deny her hate...sorrow...most of all...
Her reason. For that reason directed her, and marked her path. For that vow, she couldn't falter. And for this time, she had to wai-
a shake.
Anxiety came upon her with the force of a Draco meteor as she felt movement within the void, which was replaced by a giddy joy as she heard a sound from beyond the void.
A voice, forming the command that would free her from the void and release her to achieve her vow. Just three words...
" I choose you!"
Dawn and Rowan had come to regularly check up on Lake Verity, hoping against hope for a sight of Lucas again. Ever since she visited him at the villa a year ago, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. It was nearly a year ago that anybody had seen or heard anything of him. Last anyone had heard, he had been in Celestic town, researching the myths surrounding the Sinnoh pantheon Pokémon. He had left after several weeks, and had never been seen again.
It really scared her. He had managed to tame Giratina, the antimatter Pokémon. What kind of thing could take him out?
She and Rowan had decided to try and interrogate Mespirit in the lake cave. Mespirit definitely had a connection to Lucas, and had even helped him to suppress Giratina's destructive nature. If no human knew where her friend was, then- wait.
She saw a brown and pink thing across the lake. It wasn't, she thought it wasn't, a Pokémon. A person, and on the far side of the lake. She decided to help him, as he certainly couldn't get across the lake himself.
"Empoleon," she called to her friend "that guy needs our help! But be careful." Empoleon turned towards the lake, and dived like a high-power submarine.
Going underwater, he shot through the clear water like a torpedo. He was planning on helping to speak with the legendary Mespirit, and locate Lucas. He knew that Verde Mundo, Lucas's Torterra, was immensely strong. Even if Lucas was in trouble, he'd be found safe.
Empoleon tugged at the heart rope on his left leg. Even across the lake, Dawn could use the end of the rope around her left wrist to communicate her wishes directly to his heart. It was supposed to be used as a way for Dawn and the scary-faced man to communicate with the mythical Mespirit through Empoleon. For now, he could use it to learn how to deal with the one who needs rescuing.
When he surfaced, he expected to find a slightly dazed human on a beach. He didn't expect that serene, almost bored gaze.
And he could never expect the thing that stood between them. For the second time ever, he felt offended on behalf of another that wasn't his master.
He was dumbstruck. Or at least, he would be, if his understanding of pokémon wasn't an encyclopedia of all known species with no link to prior experiences. Instead, he was mildly surprised that he didn't switch to rote mode at the site of, well, whatever name his pokémon assumed. While the penguin just stood there, he gathered observational data on the creature he summoned.
It was doglike, with short, silver-gray fur. Its hind legs had jet-black bands on the forelegs, and appeared to each be composed of a single metal band. Its tail was segmented, and was either composed of/coated in a greenish black metalloid. Its shoulders had crimson cables attached to the back of its neck, and that was hidden by a white fur collar.
Those observations took 3 seconds.
He then compared its physiology to hundreds of images he realized were at his disposal. He realized that this, though an odd specimen, was a shiny eevee.
Given the nature of its form, it was some odd...variation. Suddenly, 'rote mode' activated. Name: eevee. Type: normal. Rank: demi-paragon. Notes: extremely versatile. Unstable DNA, combined with a bizarre ability to create new alleles spontaneously when under environmental stress gives eevee the ability to evolve into one of 8 known species. They can, theoretically, thrive in any environment. Evolution chain: eevee-(jolteon, flareon, vaporeon, espeon, umbreon, leafeon, glaceon, silveon).
The pokémon turned back and snarled at him. He saw the unnatural sleekness of its forehead, the pink scar between it's nostrils, and the polychromatic sclera
More than those things, he understood this pokémon's will. As if it was cryong out n madness, eagerness, and reckless desire. It wanted to fight-it must fight-and now. Regardless of his thoughts, his intentions, or even speculations, the meaning of this creature's posture was unmistakable anyway. It wanted to be released.
And he was happy to oblige.
Dawn gasped. "What is this? It's like a dream!"
Dawn could feel her body where she left it, but she could also 'feel' herself behind Empoleon. She could also see the stranger on the shore, and his 'pokémon', much more clearly.
'Is this that astral projection thing psychics do?' She knew the heart rope was developed by the psychic gym leader Sabrina in Kanto, but she never expected this.
"RrrrraAaaaaaaissshhh!"
Dawn's astral form was nearly shattered by the pokémon's inner voice, and her mind reeling from it's actual voice. that ,whatever it was, meant business. She could see that the guy was calm, slightly confused, and certainly not aggressive.
She also saw the sheer intent in his pokémon's eyes. It wasn't aggression, fear, or even eagerness-it was simply a need to act until exhausted. As if someone had managed to stop up a volcano, then let it loose.
If she wanted to help, she'd need to calm his pokémon down, and that meant a fight. Not how she wanted to, but she and Empoleon were always ready when it mattered!
After observing the two a little longer, and reviewing what things he already knew, he decided that; yes, he was hiding. No, he wasn't being pursued. And no, these two people weren't inherently dangerous to his goals.
He didn't know his goals.
He was forced to pay attention when his eeveelution issued a challenge. The empoleon responded by crossing its arms for attack. His own, whatever, seemed to get happier at the hostile act.
'No choice now.' He thought haggardly. Time to fight.
Battle Start!
"Empoleon, use metal claw!"
The mysterious pokémon dodged, while the mysterious stranger... Stared ahead blankly.
'What's wrong with him?' Dawn wondered. She also wondered what his name was, as calling him mysterious stranger was feeling sorta rude.
He had similar thoughts. He tried to think of a name to call his own pokémon, but got distracted by his own absent identification. He stuffed a hand in his pocket, and revealed a trainer card. Apparently, he was named Delta, was fourteen, and...that was it.
Even without out commands, the pokémon moved fast. "Okay, use whirlpool to immobilize it!" Empoleon complied, readying the attack.
Delta considered what to call his pokémon. 'Regardless of species, it must have suitable name, all it's own. Something with meaning...'
He started. 'Why not ask it myself?' He tried to remember the feel of hearing it's voice. He peered at, and into, his pokémon. And sent out a single question.
'Who are you?' He asked.
It-She-answered.
His mind jolted, feeling a new level of understanding, and witnessed a memory lost in sleepy darkness...
He sat on the floor of the empty lab. It was cold, like the air and steel, and his entire 'world'. It was dark here, but there was light here, for the glass was here.
He had snuck from his room, though he was told not to by Her, and didn't want to be caught yet. He snuck through the wide, empty halls he called the 'world', and couldn't get out. Weeks of attempts. Months of them. Years.
He was trapped, and he couldn't get out.
The other, the one in the glass was stuck too.
He stared at the large vessel in front of him. It reached many times taller than himself, but never reached the sky that was shrouded in darkness. It was filled with a bubbly, crimson liquid, and suspended within was the other.
The other was an eevee, but not.
The other was broken.
The other was dead.
He wondered if it was Her that brought it here.
He never saw any others here but Her. He sometimes heard others, but She told him to hide whenever there was. Not even She stayed, all the time, and he was only let out within this 'world'. He was here all the time.
So was this other.
"We are the same." He whispered. "We are here, unable to go beyond. We are always here. Since you're broken, then am I as well? Since you are dead, then what am I?"
"Not dead."
He whirled, shame written on his face as he recognized her. He thought she would anger, or frown, or upset, but just smiled a sad smile.
She never got angry, sad, or upset.
Not at him.
"Not dead," she repeated," but sleeping. She was hurt, but will be well. You two actually have a great destiny."
That word. Destiny. Destiny meant future, and future meant life. This creature's tail was broken away, the hind leg's skin shredded, ears torn, eye sockets but empty holes, and he could see her brain as well.
But life was still there. If life still existed, she was more than he saw, and therefore had meaning.
She caught on to his question before he asked. As she answered, a true smile, one of hope and tranquility, graced her features.
"Her name," she whispered lovingly," is Ko-Ai."
"Ko-Ai, use sand-attack!" The pokemon hurled a cloud of the powdery stuff into the emperor pokémon's face. It reeled, and hurled the miniature typhoon far off mark.
'He got serious!' She wasn't sure why, but she felt that was good. 'Then I'll go all out too!' "Empoleon, sneak and strike!"
Empoleon wiped its eyes and breathed a barrier of thin mist.
Delta felt another attack coming on. Mist had no offensive purpose, and he somehow knew his pokémon had no offensive moves capable of any lasting harm. However, Ko-Ai had something else that could slay a king.
And now, to use it.
"Ko-Ai, Hyper voice!" Ko-Ai stood her ground against the metal claws, feeling a deep well of power become unleashed through her form.
She was finally released.
Author's notes: I really wanted to make a pokémon fanfic, and it's (being) done. this story takes place post-game in Platinum, with a minor twist regarding Regigigas and Spear Pillar, though it's been awhile since I've actually played
it. It'll also have more than 1 mewtwo, and include mewtwo(s) from both movies, and games.
If you're curious about why I named Ko-Ai what she's named, search google along with "great bell", or "Chinese mythology".
1/23- I must also apologize for my bad grammar, and being too lazy to mind enough about my dialogue issues to fix those errors also. I will try to avoid future screw ups, and should update this story before Sunday.