Hi everyone. Thank you for reading this fanfiction.

It has been hard thinking of new ideas for fanfictions with lots of homework to do. Also, I'm sure everyone is waiting, anxious for the next Sword Art Online episode to air. I know, so am I.

The idea for this fanfiction was made when I played my Pokémon game while thinking about «Sword Art Online».

"What if Pokémon had a VRMMORPG just like SAO? What if the battle system was just like SAO, only with «Moves» instead of «Sword Skills»?" The ideas filled my head, and I couldn't stop thinking about the numerous possibilities. Of course, that was only normal.

Sorry for the long ramblings and hope you enjoy the story.


"Haaa!"

I shout as the sound of my black blade, clashing against the body of the bulky enemy surged throughout the area. The bluish, rocky crystal-like figure staggered backwards and let out a weak crunching sound. It fell to its side and disappeared shortly after, fading away into nothing.

A display menu appeared in front of me. It said, 'Boldore fainted. Obtained 550 EXP'. On the bottom side there listed a single item, «Everstone», a common item dropped by the creature. I pressed OK on the menu and it disappeared with the sound of ringing bells.

"The Boldore here are pretty persistent" I thought to myself while examining my surroundings. I was inside a quite large cave with dangerously sharp stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. The sound of dripping water can be heard, a BGS I wasn't too fond of. I turn to look at the display map. «Mistralton Cave» it said with big, bold letters. There was an enemy cursor behind me on the mini-map, and I turn back. It was another Boldore, ready to strike with Rock Blast. It launched three rocks at me, which I easily dodged, while the fourth managed to slam my shoulder. My HP bar on the top left side decreased by about 5%, and I sigh.

Raising the blade on my right hand slightly while changing the positioning of my feet, causing a purple light to shine from the sword. The attacking system here works similarly like Sword Art Online's «Sword Skills». All I had to do was assume the starting position, and the system would take care of the rest, including damage calculation and knockback effects. Things like my stats, the enemy's stats, and 'Types' also affect the damage calculation.

In this game, each character, move and creature has their own 'Type'. These types determine our strengths, weaknesses, resistances and much more. Each type has their own Weakness and Resistances. The enemy I am facing now is a Rock-type, which is normally weak to Water and Grass, but I have no moves of those types, and instead I prepare my favorite move, Night Slash. This Dark-type move's specialty was that it landed criticals quite often, and it strikes very quickly. It's very efficient, and is one of my favorite moves.

The skill finished its charge, and I launch forward at the Boldore. It clashed with the thick stone defense and caused it to slowly move back. Finally, I launched it at the wall and it crashed. I was about to lower my guard when I still saw its HP bar ; A very small tint of red at the edge of an empty rectangular bar floating next to it.

I completely forgot.

The Boldore had a passive ability, Sturdy. This ability allowed them to endure even the strongest attacks with one HP remaining. I shook my head and picked up a small rock, slightly smaller than my palm and held it over my head. The rock glowed slightly, and I launched it at the Boldore. With a weak sound effect, it connected and the monster lost its remaining HP. This was a skill that everyone could use, 'Throw'. Well, technically, there was an actual move in this game called Rock Throw, but no one ever uses that.

Another experience gain screen appeared at the side, which I completely ignored. It disappeared shortly after. I continue walking into the depths of the dungeon.

This was a hidden cave I found while scouring the outskirts of Mistralton City. I stumbled upon the entrance by chance, but it might be part of the quest I was taking. As for the quest, I found an old house near the city, and the NPC inside told me about the Swords of Justice. They were a quartet of creatures also known as the "Legendary Musketeers". It seems that the requirements for this quest was to have a great proficiency for One-Handed Swords, which apparently I had developed greatly.

Passing a small water hole, I look into it and see my reflection. A feminine face often mistaken for a girl's. A mix of black and white long hair adorned with a small gray-blue oval on the forehead, resembling the shape of Yin from the Yin-Yang symbol. Two weak red eyes were staring back right at me. There was a ruff of white fur around my neck and chest, with a grayish dark-blue body underneath. I was wearing a black battle tunic. There were small black spikes protruding from the back of my elbows. A single, sickle-shaped horn grew from the right side of my head. I still had fingers, but they could turn into circular paws with sharp claws when I needed them to.

This was my Absol form.

In this VRMMORPG of «Pokémon Soul Online», us players can catch the creatures roaming the land, known as Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon for short. Once done, they turn into a small egg-shaped object known as the «Soul». We can keep up to six of these, and they are listed under "Soul" from our menu. This is accessible at any time and allows us to «Merge» with the soul of that Pokémon.

Merging with a Pokémon soul will change our appearance to match that of the creatures. Just like now, I am merging with the soul of an Absol, a Dark-type Pokémon I managed to befriend earlier in the game. Of course, our appearance will differ because the NerveGear, the software for this game registers our face and size. So even if there were a hundred of the same players merging with the same Pokémon soul, there would be individual differences between each.

An interesting aspect of the game is that we, players, are not given a level. Our level will be that of the soul we are currently merging with. If one soul increases in level, the others won't. Our stats, movesets, and types also change with different souls. So training individual souls can be hard, but tt's a good idea to have diverse souls ready for battle so we can exploit the enemy weaknesses to our favor.

Currently, my Absol soul is level 42. The only other one I have is the Dewott soul I received as a starter Pokémon soul, which is at level 34. I liked it because of its Razor Shell, an interesting Water-type dual-wielding blade move. I had used it until I found an Absol hiding around

Capturing creatures inside this game is fairly easy, with «Poké Balls». The mechanism was the same with the old games ; All you had to do was throw it at the target and wait for it to be caught. You had to weaken the Pokémon before catching it, of course. It was a hard battle to get this Absol, but in the end I managed to do it. After being caught, they will directly transfer to your Soul list, ready to be merged with at any time.

I took a sip from the clean water source and wiped my mouth. The feeling of cold liquid went down my throat. I wasn't drinking anything in real life. The NerveGear sends signals to our brain, and that stimulates the taste. Even though I lost only a little HP, it filled right back up.

Opening my quest log, it said "Find the «Musketeer's Emblem inside Mistralton Cave»". Supposedly, there should be an NPC somewhere that will hand me this item, thus triggering the next chain of events and finally leading me to a powerful Pokémon, most probably. I close it again, checking the area map from my inventory.

I've mapped quite a lot of the cave area from the entrance up until here. I was now on a floor lower than the entrance, and there was only one area left unmapped. It was a small path to my right, with a seemingly big room after it. Without hesitation, I ready my sword and walk through it.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The background sound really gets to my nerves. The background music had a mysterious feeling to it, and didn't help either. I walked slowly, trying as hard as I can not to disturb a group of bluish Woobat hanging silently from the ceiling. I focused hard, and my steps became as silent as the night. This was one of Absol's traits. Nightwalker, a trait that enables a Pokémon to avoid detection while walking. This helped a lot in places surrounded by groups of Pokémon, as I was hardly ever travel with a party.

After successfully passing the monsters, the mapping ended and there was a large cave in front of me. The inside was dark, and I couldn't see anything. "A passage to a new area" I thought. I gulp as I walk in slowly. The surroundings change, and I couldn't see anything behind me anymore and my body stopped moving for a short while.

Regaining my control, the scenery around me slightly changed. It was illuminated, unlike the previous area, but it was still rocky. The map name changed, and now it was «Guidance Chamber». Not knowing what that actually meant, I pressed on forward.

After a few steps, an NPC came into my visual sight. He was a common old man NPC.

"Must be the one I'm looking for".

I approached him, as a number of Woobats swoop down from the ceiling, each one using Psybeam, a Psychic-type move that shoots a peculiar wave at its target. I didn't even bother dodging. The move connected, but not even a single point of HP dropped from my vivid green bar.

There are a total of 17 types in this game, as well as a few minor affinities in this game. The basic types are as follows:

Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon and Dark.

Now, I am a Dark-type at the moment. The Woobats are using a Psychic-type attack. If I were to explain simply, Psychic attacks don't affect Dark-type Pokémon at all. So even if a million Psychic-type attacks would be directed at me, I wouldn't feel anything. In turn, if I were to be hit by a Bug-type or Fighting-type attack, I would suffer a lot of damage.

With Night Slash, I rapidly make a circular motion and slash all the Woobats around me. Since they were part Psychic-type, the attack kills each of them in one blow due to their weakness to it.

A term used for an attack that hits the opponent's weak point is "Super effective". So, I just landed many super effective hits on those bats. I've also noticed there is an EXP bonus for landing super effective or critical hits, so I try my best to do so.

This is also a reason why partying with multiple types is a good idea. Some enemies might have attacks that will greatly damage one teammate, but another might have a resistance to it, so they could take the attack for the disadvantageous one. The same goes for us ; With different types, we can easily attack different kinds of Pokémon's weak points.

Oh, and another thing about this game. Each soul can only have up to four «Active Moves. If we level up and learn a new one, we have to choose to either forget a skill we have learnt, or not learn the new skill at all. This can be hard when choosing the right moveset, as "type coverage" is also important. Even though I'm a Dark-type, that doesn't mean all my moves should be of that type. I have another move, Aerial Ace, which is a Flying-type high-speed slashing attack that will never miss. In other words, it cannot be dodged, but is still blockable. But combined with my quick speed, it usually strikes before the opponent can block.

This move is particularly useful against both of the typings I am weak to, as I've stated before. Both Fighting-type and Bug-type are vulnerable to Flying-type attacks. This move has always been a key out of dangerous situations, and therefore, I always keep it with me.

The Woobats fade away one by one, as the usual display screen appeared on my right side, and disappeared. I check my Experience bar, which is conveniently located under my HP bar.

It was about half-full, the blue meter filled up until the middle of the wide bar. It should still take awhile before I level up again. Sheathing my sword into a dark scabbard with golden motifs attached to my back, I moved closer to him.

Abruptly, an exclamation mark icon appeared above him. Then he faced me and started to talk.

"I saw your skill, boy. Very impressive for someone so young. Maybe you're the one... Hmm... It may be possible..."

When a dialogue event like this occurs, you cannot move away from the NPC's area until it's done. So I can walk around him, but he'll always face me and continue talking. We enter some kind of semi-invulnerable state like this, where the wild Pokémon cannot damage us.

"How about it? Would you like to listen to an old man's story?" he said as a menu popped up with the selections "Yes" and "No". So it looks like all I can do now is listen to the ramblings of an old man. I tap "Yes" lightly.

"In the distant past, when Pokémon and people lived in different worlds, a war between people started an intense fire in a forest where many Pokémon lived. The Pokémon were surrounded by smoke and flames. They were in big trouble. And then, the legends Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion appeared!"

Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion. So those were the names of the three legendary Pokémon.

"Terrakion used its amazing strength to destroy rocks blocking the escape route. Virizion used its quick movements to protect Pokémon from the looming flames. And Cobalion led the frightened Pokémon out of the burning woods."

The man took a small step to the right.

"The people who started the war were routed by the power of the legends. Because of those three, the war was ended."

Now the man was walking in small paces, going left and right, turning from one side to another. He seemed really into his story. He must have been programmed like this.

"When people fight, there's no peace for Pokémon, either. The three legends learned that the deeds of humans could lead to dire consequences for their world. They cut themselves off from people and disappeared. No one saw much of them after that, and the three faded into myth..."

The voice had a hint of mystery in them, which I kind of liked. This guy would make a good storyteller. That is, if he were real.

"I've been searching for them for decades, and I finally figured out that one of them was deep in this cave. But the legendary three do not trust people. If people approach, they bare their fangs and attack. It can't be helped, because they only know the old world..."

Now he was clutching both my shoulders with a kind of horrifying look.

"They still don't know the world has become a place where people and Pokémon try to understand and help each other. You seem like you might be able to show them that people and Pokémon can trust each other and live together. If they take another look at people, I think they will stop hiding from us..."

I regain control again.

So, one of them is somewhere in this cave. As I suspected.

"Right. This is a charm that I have. It might be the key to the legendary Pokémon's presence" the NPC continued as he gave me the item, «Musketeer's Emblem. It went straight to my "Quest Items" pocket, and I check its description.

"An emblem with a sword-shaped symbol embedded on it. Said to be the key to the legendary musketeers"

I materialize it, and it began to glow slightly. "Maybe if I move closer to the legendary Pokémon it will react to it," I thought. As if reading my thoughts, the NPC spoke again. "The emblem will react when you are near the legendary Pokémon"

With this in mind and clutching the emblem, I press on forward.

I climbed a rocky staircase up to some higher ground. There were strange green Pokémon there. Using my 'Analysis' skill, their name, general description and type were displayed. My analysis skill wasn't very high. With a high analysis, you can see things like their exact HP, moveset, passive abilities and potential item drops.

They were Axew, an uncommon Dragon-type Pokémon found only in this cave. They had a cute little posture, with strange looking tusks protruding from their mouths. They didn't look vicious, but I chose not to disturb them anyway.

The area wasn't that large, and all that was left was a part of the cave that hasn't been unmapped. Taking precautions, I equipped a black cloak that increase my hidden affinity. There were a lot more Pokémon in the area, and I didn't want to take risks, even with Nightwalker.

After a cautious dash, I managed to reach the unmapped area. It was some kind of small room with no other exits. It was a dead end, so this must be the place I'm looking for.

Suddenly, the emblem on the palm of my hand started glowing. I prepared my position, my black sword in the other hand. The BGM faded slowly, leaving the sound of dripping water in the air.

After a while, the flashing stopped. I sensed a quick movement from behind me, and reflexively brought up my blade to parry while turning my body 180 degrees.

Wham!

Before I was sent back flying, there was a flash of blue as a force clashed with my blade with great strength. I managed to stay on my feet, but my green HP bar was now about 85%, even after my block. The attack must have either been too strong for me to block, or had a piercing effect. Raising my blade away from my eyesight, I got a clearer view of my assailant. I held my breath in shock.

An aqua-blue, goat-like Pokémon stood gallantly before me. It had a white tuft under its neck, and several small gray spots on its body. The colour of its snout was slightly lighter than the other parts of its body. There were blades on its shoulders, resembling fins. Its horns resembled thunderbolts. It was now staring at me with the coldest glare I've seen since playing this game. A red cursor marking it, two HP bars appeared to its left, and the name "Sword of Justice, Cobalion" appeared on top of it. No doubt, this was a boss I had to defeat.

Analysis showed Cobalion to be a part Fighting-type, part Steel-type Pokémon. With two types, they usually have less weaknesses, one being covered by the other. For instance, Cobalion's Fighting-type is weak to my Flying-type attack, Aerial Ace. But the Steel-type resists it, so it would only deal normal damage.

As for my typing, I'm at a total disadvantage. Both Fighting and Steel resist Dark, so my Dark-type attacks wouldn't do much at all. Plus, my type is weak to Fighting, so that makes it hard for me. I quickly brainstorm for countermeasures, lowering my guard.

The artificial intelligence seemed to notice this, and the boss tucked its head, gray light charging through its horns. It was the charge for Iron Head, a tough ramming attack that can cause me to flinch. Luckily, it should be easy to dodge. I prepare my footing, ready to jump the moment it strikes.

But the strike went earlier than I thought. I somehow managed to dodge in time, but the attack scraped my left arm. My HP went down by about 5% and I stumbled backwards. Not letting up at all, the boss went straight to a turn and opened its mouth, showing sharp fangs. Blue light flashed from its whole body and it charged at me. This was its signature move that caught me off guard the first time, Sacred Sword. I wasn't going to fall for this one, and quickly raised my blade vertically, anticipating from its positioning, predicting that the attack would be horizontal. That was a bad guess. The AI disguised its movements so elaborately, I couldn't predict the actual direction of the attack. There wasn't any time to block.

I learned how to read attack patterns from «Sword Art Online», but most enemies there had actual weapons. Some attack patterns in this game are like SAO, with a method to somehow render the skill useless by blocking it, countering it, and other ways. But with the addition of «Moves», like «Sword Skills», the styles now greatly vary, and I had to rely on instinct most of the time.

There are three types of active moves in PSO. They are "Physical", "Special" and "Status". Physical moves, like the name states, is a type of attack where the user physically hits the target. Special moves are like most offensive Magic in normal RPGs, and they usually attack from a distance, some even having 100% accuracy. Status moves are more like support skills. They may vary from increasing or decreasing stat bonuses, inflicting status problems to enemies, or even special effects like escaping from battle and such.

I had a status move called Double Team. This move allowed me to raise my evasiveness by creating illusory copies of myself. The command trigger was a three-step method that can be done in a blink of an eye, if you were fast enough. Taking a step slightly to one side with the appropriate foot, then lowering your knees, and dashing to the side opposite of the prepared foot. I quickly did those steps, pressing my right foot down and dashed to the left. Many clones of myself circled around Cobalion, confusing the Pokémon and making it miss its first attack.

The were still five illusory copies of myself around it. Cobalion looked left and right, unsure of where to strike. Then I saw a chance. Preparing my Aerial Ace stance, bright red light glowed on my blade without the boss knowing. Without a moment's notice, I launch at Cobalion from the back.

As I expected, the boss had no time to react, and the attack connected. A flash of red light slashed it's back, and a good chunk of it's HP disappeared. The second HP bar was smaller than the first, so if I were to calculate, it should have taken 15% of damage from its full health. The Pokémon roared, and began a stance I am familiar with.

Swords Dance, a status move that increases the attack sharply, while conjuring four small blades around the user. These blades can be manipulated for attacking, blocking, and much more. Sky-blue light enveloped its body, and four glimmering swords formed in the air around it.

This is bad. One clean hit from Sacred Sword will kill me for sure. Double Team could dodge it, but the AI would now recognize my movement patterns. I'm doing my best to avoid using Night Slash for two reasons. The first had already been explained. Cobalion'styping doubly resists it. Second, it has the passive ability Justified. When hit by a Dark-type move, the Pokémon with the ability increases it's attack stat. So using Night Slash definitely wasn't an option.

As for my passive abilities, I have three. This is the maximum number of «Passive Abilities» one can have.

The first is Pressure. To explain this one, I'm going to have to elaborate slightly about the game mechanics.

In this game, every «Active Move» has a limit to it's usage. This game doesn't use MP (Magic/Mana points), so each move can only be used a set number of times. That set number is called Power Points, or PP for short. Every move has it, and it fully heals every time you step into a town or a safe zone inside a dungeon. For instance, now my Night Slash has 8/18 PP. This means that I have used it 10 times since the last town or safe zone I entered. Using it 8 more times will make the PP 0, and render the move unusable until the points are healed.

Now normally, using a move will only deplete 1 PP. My ability, Pressure forces the opponent to use 2 PP for each of their attacks. Very useful indeed.

The second is Justified, exactly the same as Cobalion's. Though I doubt the beast would have a Dark move in it's arsenal.

The third is Super Luck. It increases the critical hit rate of all my skills, so I can land them more often. This ability has saved my life more than once, and even if it's based on luck, I still find it reassuring knowing I have a higher chance to deal more damage.

It doesn't look like I have a choice. The last move in my active slot is the Psychic-type Future Sight attack. As far as I can tell, Absol have the power sense disasters and warn people of the impending doom, so that's probably why I can learn this move. I obtained this move somewhere around level 36 or so, but I've only used it once against a wild Pokémon.

Images of me dying flashed through my mind when I used it. I saw the Pokémon I was battling inside that deep forest stage, a Scyther, digging it's blades through my stomach and causing my HP to reach 0. I didn't like the sensation, so I never used it again.

But now wasn't the time to be picky. Starting the stance for Future Sight, I stiffen my body and stand up straight holding my sword facing upwards with both hands. My whole body was enveloped by purple light, and then more images flashed through my conscience.

Cobalion throwing a Sacred Sword horizontally at me, knocking me back and depleting the rest of my Health Points.

I quickly opened my eyes as I saw the boss dart at me, baring its fangs ready with its signature move. Remembering what I had seen in that vision, I quickly raise my blade vertically on my left hand side as the Pokémon launched its Sacred Sword.

It looks like the prediction was correct, and there was the sound of clashing metal. I desperately hold on as I saw a stream of blue light connect with the middle side of my blade. In terms of endurance, I was going to lose this one. But I didn't give up that easily.

I let go of the blade as the force flung it away from my hands, and duck down. I hastily roll to the side of the Pokémon while it was focused on the flying blade, unable to detect me. Using Double Team again, I made three copies of myself, and made them all look like they were jumping right at the boss. In the midst of confusion, I pull out a new blade from my inventory and prepare Aerial Ace.

Crash!

A clean hit on its head, exactly in the middle of its horns. The writing CRITICAL appeared over the part where I had hit it. Its HP dropped into the red, the shorter bar completely depleted. Looks like that was a critical point.

"Kaa..." it made a moaning sound as it staggered back. The boss fell to its front knees, and gave me a look begging for mercy. Returning the sword I had used back to my inventory, I pick up the black blade on the ground.

"Looks like it lost a lot of durability" I speak to myself as I sheath it back to the scabbard behind my back.

Cobalion stood up again, but now its HP bar was not there anymore, and the cursor has now changed into a blue one, used for quest NPCs. It gave me a graceful bow, or at least that's how I saw it, and an item materialized in front of me.

«Cobalion's Crest»

"Proof bestowed by Cobalion only to those who have gained its trust"

Cobalion looked at me one more time, and with a flash of light, it disappeared. Now the room was quiet. I stare at the ceiling for a while, not sure what to do. The old man NPC from before approached me from nowhere.

"It appears you have gained Cobalion's trust. Maybe the other two, Terrakion and Virizion will appear now"

"So... The quest wasn't over?"

"Do you think the three can be reunited and made to believe that this world is unlike that of the past?" he asked me rhetorically and continued.

"You, boy, are the only one that can do so. This may be rude, but may I have your name?"

The system in this game should already know the username I had inputted for this game, but it looks like I should give him an answer anyway.

"My name is Kirito" I say with a small voice.

"Kirito..." he repeated thoughtfully. After having heard the sound and pronounciation of my name, the system processed the NPC to say it again, but with his own voice. At least, that's how the NerveGear would have processed it from my brainwaves.

"Believe in yourself for the challenges yet to come, boy"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I look at the time. It was already 10 PM. I didn't notice it was already this late. Opening the menu, I click the log-out button, and the world disappeared before me.

Everything went black, and then I slowly open my eyes. There was a ceiling made of wooden planks. It was my room, Kirigaya Kazuto's room. Moving my arms, I took of the helmet shaped headgear I had worn, and sat up straight. Looking around, it wasn't anything to brag about. Dimly lit, with only three pieces of furniture inside, including the bed I was on. The other two were a computer hard-drive and a router.

Yes, this was the real world I had returned to about two months ago.


Well, that's it for the first chapter. The story will take place after the SAO incident had ended, just like the next part of SAO.

I hope you enjoyed reading it, and please post reviews so I can do better on the following chapters.