Authors Notes
Hello everyone. I should let you all know that I did in fact originally upload this story a couple of months ago but took it down as I believed it was garbage and began to edit and complete it. I've been working on this story for about five or six months and I intend to kick off a franchise with this as my tent-pole adventure. I hope that everyone gives it a chance and ends up enjoying it, as I'm really keen to entertain readers. Leave feedback below regarding how much you are enjoying the story or even any memorable or funny lines and characters that you picked up. Each chapter will be posted every few days so keep an eye peeled or follow the story if you would like. I am truly grateful for anyone to talk to me about it or any consistent readers. Anyway, enough of me gushing. Sit back and enjoy the story!
Shining Tales: Rise of a New World
Prologue
A swirl of colours suddenly engulfed the darkness. The colours went and merged, forming shapes that could not quite be made out. Then an explosion of light, and suddenly fully formed images appeared in sight. There was now a clear visual, and not a pleasant one. A red figure falling from the highest tower...A black and blue being standing at the window having just committed a murder...Glaceon? No! His hand reached out as the pokemon materialized in front of him, too far away for him to touch. Then he felt his hands and legs tighten together and saw nothing but flames beneath him as he suddenly found himself staring down an inferno. There were sounds around him as the pokemon watching yelled and swore at him, throwing objects and creating an all too familiar feel. He started to be lowered, closer and closer to the fire, feeling the searing hot flames gradually crawling up his leg, up to his body. Glaceon continued to flash before him along with other familiar pokemon. King Volcarona...Queen Vespiquen...The zoroark! Was that the seed? Before his questions could be answered, the fire then faded from view with another flash of white light and he saw another pokemon swoop in to save him, ripping him free from his restraints and bringing him away from all the noise and chaos and Glaceon...
Lucario sat bolt upright, his forehead dripping with sweat. He was trying to steady his rapid breathing, his hand clutched against his chest and his eyes wide open from the vivid dream he just experienced. It was rather musty and warm in his tent so he leaned forward and unzipped it. The cool breeze flowed through the opening, allowing Lucario to feel awake again. He slowly stepped out into the night and stood up straight, looking out at the star spangled sky. He had had dreams like that before in the past several weeks but never had the visuals been so vibrant and clear. His heart fluttered when he thought of Glaceon and his soul ached when he thought of the king and queen. He then remembered the other pokemon he saw, the wind cutting past his spiky ears and the night sky casting a veil over the whole universe it seemed. He had seen the zoroark, a type of being that nobody had ever seen in living memory. A pokemon with the ability to shape shift into any other creature it wanted. He wondered why he saw it so vividly. It was holding the seed. The seed of endeavors, which had gone missing that fateful night as well. The mysterious object whose qualities were unknown yet Lucario still swore to defend it under King Volcarona's wishes. Seemed that Xatu's prediction was right after all.
'Something needs to be done.' Lucario said to himself, looking up and clenching his fists. It was the only explanation! Lucario did not know if his own dreams had shown him something brand new but now his mind and eyes were wide open. He started breathing heavily, knowing that his hunch was almost too good to be true.
'Lucario?' said a voice behind him. He turned his head slowly to see his friend, Togekiss, who had also appeared in his dream as the pokemon who had rescued him, mirroring real life. He analyzed Lucario closely, wondering what was happening.
'Togekiss.' Lucario said, his voice building strength as he knew what needed to be done. 'We need more members.'
'Why are you saying that?' Togekiss asked. Lucario turned back round to look ahead of him at the vast wasteland that encompassed as far as the eye can see,
'Cos we're going to save the land.'
Chapter One: Royal Duties
Night had fallen around the once peaceful continent of Charom. In the most northern part of the pokemon land, the queens guard were filing out of the beautiful white castle to stand at the ready for potential attackers. There had been at least three raids on the courtyard below and one attempt on the keep itself, which had been successfully repelled but numbers of troops were being badly stretched. Before King Volcarona's death, the guards of the castle were mostly comprised of a troop of powerful pokemon in the types of fire, ground, steel, fighting and dragon. Nowadays, more pokemon were being forced into defensive duties to defend their families and homes from the Clan of Shadows, which was rapidly rising in followers. Not only that, but pokemon who had planned to settle down were since brought back to fight these battles, one of those pokemon being Charizard. Charizard hovered above a nearby clifftop, watching the troops being marshaled as he remembered his days as a soldier. He remembered some of the most intense battles he had fought, such as intervening in the conflict between the the prideful dragons of Rylus Mountain and the scheming scavengers of the Shan'rala Desert. When he was promoted to a captain, he was put in charge of a squad of soldiers that held off a barrage of attacks from a group of wrong-doers in the eastern city of Giruphin. Charizard then descended to the top of the rocky hill, his clawed feet crunching into the surface. He had initially planned to settle down with his wife, Ampharos to raise their family but her majesty, Queen Vespiquen, had summoned his presence personally, her intentions he did not know. As Charizard watched the action at the castle, the clouds began to spread, covering the moon. He began to summon a small flame but then stopped. He suspected that any distant sight of a hostile element would cause the guards to take action. Charizard then sat on the cliff, looking at the types of Pokemon that were standing guard. He recognized a number of them, including his old comrades Rhyperior, Donphan and Turtonator as well as some recruits he once knew who had grown into soldiers like Breloom and Mienshao. There were some very unlikely looking guards as well, such as Gastrodon, Carnivine and even Stunfisk. Despite this, Charizard had nothing but respect for these brave Pokemon.
'This both of our stations then?'
Charizard whipped around, ready to use fire blast only for a friendly green dragon to be standing smiling at him, his triangular wings settling down after silently gliding up to this point.
'Oh Flygon...' Charizard breathed a sigh of relief. 'I was honestly about to explode you off this cliff!'
Flygon chuckled.
'Sorry Charizard, I know how quick to action you are.' he chuckled. 'It is good to see you again anyway.'
'You too.' Charizard flopped down on the rock again as Flygon joined him to observe down below. 'Were you called into action earlier today?'
'Never quit this job my friend.' said Flygon, his insect-like eyes twinkling. 'You forget your age. Always a loyal soldier to the crown. An atrocity isn't it?'
'What is?'
Flygon frowned.
'Lucario.'
Charizard nodded. He remembered that day vividly. It shook the island like the awakening of Groudon, shattering order across the land. The betrayal of Lucario was the most shocking part, as he was well known across the land for his loyalty to the crown.
'They say that the queens spirit has been broken.' Flygon continued, further driving Charizard's anger at the situation up. 'He took everything that night. Volcarona's life, her soul, even the seed of endeavors.'
Charizard slowly nodded. He had known Lucario before all this. How he was the guardian of the seed of endeavors and a friend of both Charizard and the king. It was well documented that only the king knew what hidden power the seed had, and despite Lucario never finding out what it could do, he still guarded it with his life.
'How did this happen?' asked Charizard, his tail flaming up. Flygon looked at him. 'The murder of the king is bad enough but the fact that Lucario did it. It has diminished all loyalty in the land I swear.'
'Indeed.' said Flygon, solemnly. 'Towns and villages acting irrationally, families scared to leave their homes and this...vile shadow clan. I mean, what is their motivation? Did the kings death bring them or did they bring the kings death? Complete monsters.'
Charizard shook his head.
'Remember Flygon.' he said. Flygon turned to him. 'Every action has meaning behind it. This Clan of Shadows will have reason for the things they have committed, as I do not believe that Pokemon are born pure evil.
'You're sympathizing with them?'
'I am not.' Charizard's nostrils flared. 'What they have done is a violation against Charom itself and I have nothing but contempt for this repugnant clan. However, the best way to defeat the enemy is to know everything about them, which is the reason why the Queen has summoned me I believe.'
Flygon acknowledged his statement. Charizard was a proud warrior and would not tolerate false accusations.
'Well if her majesty is planning a skirmish to take the fight to the Clan..' said Flygon, as Charizard stood up and stretched his wings. 'She has picked a fine Pokemon for the job.' Charizard blinked and looked back at him, halting his take off momentarily.
'...You think so?'
'Of course!' Flygon looked surprised. 'I have no doubts in your abilities.'
'Well that is reassuring.' Charizard shrugged, knowing that Flygon was too polite to bring up past actions. 'In all honesty, I was surprised she picked me of all pokemon. She could have easily chosen you.'
'Oh please,' Flygon waved it off with a wry smile. 'I welcome the call but it should be left to more experienced hands.'
'I know you're more than capable of handling yourself Flygon.' Charizard reminded him, beginning to roll back his shoulders to move his wings into a good position for him to start flying. 'Proved that in the siege on Giruphin.'
'Learned from the best!' Flygon smiled. 'Take care.'
'You too my friend.'
With that, Charizard took off from the cliff, soaring down towards the castle. Flygon panicked for a second, thinking that the guards would think that Charizard was an incoming threat, then relaxed as the guards all stood to attention when Charizard landed. One of them stepped forward, nodding his head at Charizard's presence.
'Soldiers!' Donphan shouted at his squad, who stood to attention. 'This is Captain Charizard!'
The troops there all sprung to a salute, their backs to the front doors of the castle.
'At ease.' Charizard waved them off, as a path was formed allowing Charizard and Donphan to walk through.
'So what brings you here?' Donphan asked as behind him, some of the soldiers whispered and stared at Charizard in awe. They had heard so much about him. 'I thought you had retired?'
'Her highness has requested me to come here.' Charizard explained, the two of them walking across the drawbridge on the way to the front gates. 'A special mission.'
'I understand.'
Donphan gave the order for the two guards to open the door and they let Charizard inside. The huge hall that stood before him was absolutely majestic looking. Silver walls with countless wonderful paintings hanging from them, some of pokemon, some of completely abstract colours. In the middle facing Charizard was a marble staircase which lead straight upwards, past many floors and up to the top where another gleaming door was situated. This was the throne room and where Charizard would meet the queen. Charizard spread his wings again, disregarding the many tiring steps and began to float upwards, thinking of what it could be that she wanted him for. Perhaps leading an investigation? Scouting ahead to see if anything dangerous was coming? These thoughts persisted with Charizard as he reached the top floor and gave a loud knock on the golden entrance. It slowly opened by the tiniest of margins for Charizard to be greeted by a scowling armored face that was definitely not Vespiquen.
'General Aggron.' Charizard tucked his wings back and stood upright, similar to how he was greeted outside the castle.
'Captain Charizard,' Aggron acknowledged him, using his mighty steel arms to pull the huge doors further open. As Charizard stepped in, he looked over Aggron's shoulder to see her; an insect like pokemon with black and yellow stripes covering her large abdomen. Vespiquen.
'Your majesty.' Charizard sank to his knee in a sign of respect after Aggron performed a thorough investigation to make sure he was not a threat. The queen floated gracefully from her throne down to where they were both standing.
'Ah Charizard.' she said, as Charizard stood back up. 'I am so glad to see you. I bet your presence has inspired many of our troops. Well those we have left anyway.'
'I am just a soldier, my queen.' said Charizard, humbly, as Aggron clunked round to close the throne room door. 'I do what I must to protect this land for my family and for the people.'
'Admirable of you.' said Vespiquen. 'And how is your wife?'
'Ampharos is fine. She is looking after our egg as we speak. It will be a shame to not use my warmth to speed up the hatching.'
Vespiquen gave a weak smile. It was clear that she was still deeply tortured by the king's murder.
'You know why we brought you out of retirement?' she asked, allowing Aggron to form a circle with them. 'We would not have brought back just any soldier.'
Charizard blinked.
'You want me to lead an attack on the Clan of Shadow's base of operations, assuming you have located it?'
Vespiquen shook her head.
'Not exactly.' she looked at Aggron, who laid out a map of Charom on the floor.
'Recon teams have sussed out something.' said Aggron in his gravelly voice. 'This clan seems to dispatch assault groups at different intervals to multiple towns and cities across the land. The last points of attack have all seemed to be in the western area of Charom, springing raids on Fayonra Bay, Vortur Forest, Harfawn Town and of course, Stian Volcano.' Aggron looked up for a second to confirm that was where Charizard lived to which he nodded. 'This gives us a clue for who their targets mainly are.'
'So what are you saying?' asked Charizard. Aggron pointed at the map.
'This is the place that can reach out to all those places simultaneously.' His finger landed on an orange stretch of land located some way outside the citadel.
'The Shan'rala desert...' said Charizard. He had hoped that he could have stayed away from that place for longer than he anticipated. 'This is going off a hunch?'
'We need to take all initiatives, Charizard.' said Vespiquen. She picked up the map and folded it up. 'We are not asking you to storm through the desert and set everything ablaze in hope of finding them. We just need you to be the one who can prove this theory, then we can take them down.'
'I understand.' said Charizard, thinking that he would serve better as a warrior rather than a scout. 'When do you need me to-'
'As soon as possible' said Vespiquen, quickly. 'We need to act swiftly. Enough blood has been spilled already because of these barbarians. You scope the desert for any suspicious activity. If nothing comes to fruition then come back and we will start on the next place. However, if you see anything noteworthy, any Pokemon behaving strangely; track them. Do not take anything for granted.'
Charizard nodded. He then realised something that he hadn't thought of before.
'What are all the regional leaders doing?' he asked.
'What do you mean?'
'Well Lord Arcanine has been unusually quiet ever since the attack on Stian.' Charizard explained. 'Are all the others the same? I haven't heard much from Lady Florges of Harfawn or Prince Greninja of Fayonra.'
'Well you should ask them shouldn't you?' Vespiquen said, unusually harshly. 'They make the governmental decisions for their area alone. I am the only one who can have a say in a universal sense.'
'I just think it's peculiar that there has been a distinct lack of resistance put up.' Charizard shrugged, turning away.
'Well if the public have a say about things, then they can't be ignored for long.' rumbled Aggron after having a thought about what was said. 'Apparently Fayonra Bay has been acting pretty hostile to any outsiders recently. Anyway Charizard, go now. The sooner we solve this, the less you'll have to worry about the leadership of the regions.'
Charizard nodded and began to head towards the door.
'Oh one more thing, Charizard.' Vespiquen added. Charizard turned back to her, seeing her face had dropped again. She struggled to get her next words out.
'If you see him...' Vespiquen's voice was choked up. She turned away. Aggron quickly turned to see to his queens needs.
'Your majesty...'
Vespiquen waved off Aggron and turned back to face Charizard. Her eyes went to steely determination.
'If you see Lucario, I know he is out there somewhere.' she said, as Aggron gritted his teeth at the mention of his name. 'If you see him, bring him here. He is done running.'
'Of course, my queen.' Charizard bowed, and left the room, leaving Vespiquen to float back to her throne, albeit with her wings shaking as they glided through the air. Aggron quickly rushed up to her.
'My queen...'
'I'm fine Aggron.' Vespiquen warded off his hand and turned back round to face him, her eyes glistening slightly. 'It's just...the thought of him. Every factor of it. Oh...'
She rested her head in her hand and collapsed in her jewel-encrusted throne.
'Mark my words, Lucario will pay.' Aggron said then quickly thought to change the subject. 'Are you sure Charizard is the pokemon for the task ahead?'
'You have doubts, Aggron?' she sniffed, looking up at her trusted general.
'I know that he is a skilled combatant,' Aggron said. 'but he is known to be careless.'
'As in he rushes into conflict?'
Aggron tilted his head slightly to the side and pursed his mouth tightly.
'Kind of.' he replied. 'More of the fact that he is known to forget vital pieces of information and make decisions that aren't thought out properly. And it can be critical. A couple of years ago he was leading a squad into-'
'Be that as it may,' Vespiquen looked down at Aggron who was below her steps to the throne. 'He is arguably the best fighter we have at our disposal.'
Aggron stayed quiet as Vespiquen leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. Around the beautiful chandelier in the centre of it was artwork of what appeared to be the known pokemon world with planets, stars and solar systems. The outline of Arceus, the god of all pokemon was faded into the colours and Vespiquen felt as if she needed a miracle from him to make things right.
Stian Volcano was where Charizard needed to head to before he began his mission, and for good reason. He flew over the many generators churning the pouring lava and changing it into solid rock, past the main village situated on top of the mountain and to the outskirts where he landed on front of a little cottage that was rather secluded. It was about one hundred metres away from the nearest homestead and was positioned near the edge of a jagged cliff, overseeing the fiery plains down below. Charizard landed on the charcoal black rock and looked behind him over his shoulder. The volcano above was billowing grey smoke up to the sky while down below, many pokemon put in a massive shift to contain the levels of fire emerging from the ground and file it into their devices, ready to convert it to energy. Is this the life that I am set to lead soon? thought Charizard, taking a step closer to the edge of the cliff. Once this is settled, I have to adapt to this lifestyle. I thought I would remain a true soldier all my life... His train of thought was interrupted by the creaking of a door to his left. He turned round to see the face that had set his world alight and warmed his heart for so much of his adult life. It was his loving wife, Ampharos, standing in the doorway and waiting for him to respond.
'Well?' she asked, her face pleasant but her tone rather serious. Charizard stayed quiet as he looked at the black and yellow bipedal sheep pokemon, his fiery tail swaying in the slight breeze. He turned his body to face her and began to walk slowly. One look at his body language made Ampharos know what was going on. She bowed her head.
'It won't be long.' Charizard said, approaching Ampharos with a sad look in his eye. 'I will make sure of that.'
'I thought you were done.' Ampharos murmured, her head still lowered. Over her shoulder, a small fire was seen crackling and almost sparking out. 'No more fighting. No more bloodshed.'
'I stop when the Clan of Shadows stop.' Charizard told her, resting his hand on Ampharos's arm gently. 'When I am done with my small mission, I will return.'
'Charizard, I am worried.' Ampharos shuddered slightly as the two embraced. 'We've seen what these pokemon have done, we don't know the extent of their cruelty! How much more of this do we have to bear through?'
'I am putting myself forward as a husband and a warrior.' Charizard told her. 'It's only an excursion around the Shan'rala desert and if nothing is found, I will campaign to General Aggron to have my role reduced in the next mission.'
Charizard gave her a reassuring look as they let go of each other, hoping she would understand. Ampharos wiped her eye and managed a slight smile as the fire inside sizzled and burned out.
'May I..?' Charizard gestured over at the interior of the house. Ampharos nodded and Charizard walked on inside. His homestead was very well kept, the stone walls polished and shiny, the carpet underfoot free of any dust as Charizard's feet stepped over it. A fireplace was installed into the wall, powered by heat generators positioned directly underground. It seemed that the power had gone out as the fire that had been burning for some time had evaporated, leaving the object in the fire all alone. Charizard knelt down in front of it and gently stroked the green-dotted little thing with a gentle finger. It was an egg. His and Ampharos's egg that was laid on the last few days of winter, just before the murder of Volcarona. He leaned in and breathed a little trickle of flames into the base of the fireplace, causing the fire to reignite and the egg to receive the warmth that it needed to speed up its hatching.
'Hey you.' Charizard whispered to the little egg, his hand caressing it's shell, Ampharos appearing at the doorway. 'Look...Daddy needs to be away for a a while. Your mother will be your guardian and she will protect you at all costs.' He paused for a second and looked back at his wife, giving her the most reassuring facial expression he could. He turned back to his unborn child, the fire beginning to grow until it was licking the whole bottom half. 'It's a scary world out there just now but my goal is to make it safe so I can bring you into it. Don't you go hatching without me.'
Charizard stood back up, watching his egg heating up in the fireplace and gave a small smile. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his stomach, and his hand closed over his wifes as she held on tightly to him, seemingly not wanting to let go. Above the fireplace, Charizard saw a small object that was perched on a shelf for all to see. It was their unity gem, the traditional symbol of marriage in Charom which he presented to Ampharos about a year ago. Charizard closed his eyes, knowing how much he would miss this and leaned turned his head so his snout was positioned next to Ampharos's ear.
'I love you forever. And I will return to both of you.'
