I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters, locations, etc that I use.
/Anything with a forward slash in italics is an author's note. Always found at the end of a section.
...
Hundreds of years ago, Japan was in chaos. The country was split, with local lords warring to gain land. It all started with a small rebellion. In Kanto, The Daimyo of Fuchsia, Doku, set an ambush on Route 17. Sakura, the princess of Celadon, who was travelling this route to harmlessly bypass Fuchsia and travel to Cinnibar Island, was assassinated, and Doku claimed Celadon as his.
Chaos ensued after this event, other Lords aiming to do the same as Doku; gain land, and conquer not only towns, but regions, some even wanted the whole of Japan to be under their grasp.
The emperor could not control the daimyo, and as such, Japan turned into a dystopia, a hell on earth.
The heads of clans, cities and towns rarely paid heed to the emperor any more: They wanted money, power and land... And they would stop at nothing to achieve it. They would war nearby towns and clans, using their Pokémon, their own weapons and dirty tactics to claim what they craved.
This is the story of a young boy born as the successor of the Pastoria City, the hardships he had to face, and how he aims to unite not only Sinnoh, but all of Japan under his rule. His tale takes place roughly 200 years after this first event.
/Daimyo means local lords.
/Gym Leaders are taken to be Clan Heads that rule the towns, and are Daimyo. They are descended from the Gym Leaders who were around when the event above happened. There will also be invented clans and clan heads for areas such as Forests, Routes and Caves. It is not uncommon for clans on routes to be neutral or allied with/conquered by connecting towns, meaning they may not have any leader mentioned, or may not play a role in the Story whatsoever.
...
It was a dark night. The moon shone lazily in the sky, murky clouds hazing its glow. The mud in the marsh glistened in the dim light, reflecting what little luminescence the moon threw at it.
If one were to listen closely, he would likely be able to hear the Skorupi scuttling around, or the Guard in the South Watchtower yawning. The guard in question wasn't, ironically, properly guarding the town. He sipped nonchalantly from a bottle of Sake, occasionally stretching or glancing around. He began to nod off, but a Carnivine snapped loudly in the Safari Zone, jolting him awake.
"H-huh!? Who's there? Show yourself!" He shouted into the darkness, but his demands fell upon deaf ears.
He had risen from his seat, knocking his bottle of Sake over, spilling it all over his lap, his seat and the floor.
"Shit..." He murmured to himself as he removed his right gauntlet to wipe the beads of moisture off his chainmail.
He heard movement behind him, but he was alert and on his feet now; in one swift movement, with his left hand, he pulled his bow from his back, and with his right hand he pulled an arrow from his side quiver. It took him less than a second to slot the arrow into the bow and draw as he spun and aimed at the perpetrator.
He had moved impressively fast for a drunken soldier, but his movements were pointless. He was aiming at his own Staravia, who had shifted on her perch. He let his bowstring slacken. His right middle and index fingers were bleeding, as he was not wearing the gauntlet on his draw hand, and had pulled rather hard on his bowstring in haste to defend his self.
He sighed, and put his bow away. He folded his chair, wiped up the Sake, and descended the tower in a sense of haste. Once down from the elevated platform, he made his way to the medical building. His Staravia flew down and landed on his shoulder, setting him off balance. He half sauntered, half teetered into the hut, and looked around.
It wasn't quite a hospital; Pastoria had no need for one. Their Daimyo, Crasher Wake, was a very loyal man; he respected and abided by the emperor's rules, and as such, did not go to war with the neighbouring towns or clans.
There was still need for a watch, however, as this "naivety" as other Lords would call it, could be taken advantage of. At any moment, one of the other Daimyo could strike: Maylene of Veilstone had already invaded and conquered Solaceon, and was now warring with Hearthome: should she be victorious, she may continue south and invade Pastoria from the west.
Volkner, the Daimyo of Sunnyshore, was also going to war: he had allied with the clan who abided in Victory Road, and attacked the former Pokémon League building with them as one force. The appointed Shogun of each region abided in these forts beyond Victory Road, some named, some nameless, all huge and all said to be impenetrable.
The Sinnoh Fort, as it was nicknamed due to its lack of official name, held to the reputation of the Shogun Forts: Volkner and the Nakama Clan failed, and retreated to Sunnyshore to rejuvenate. They were unlikely to attack the Sinnoh Fort again: they would have to go through Victory Road, which would now be occupied by a new, trusted clan, supplied from the Sinnoh Fort, which would likely not be swayed as the Nakama Clan were to attack the Shogun.
What if, after rehabilitating, they decided to venture west, to claim land? Maylene's forces were too large for Volkner's army, so he would likely rush for Pastoria before Maylene reached it. Then, what of Pastoria? That was why it was assumed naive by the other lords for Crasher Wake to maintain a neutral state, and not expand: from their point of view, he was sandwiched between Maylene and Volkner, and needed to invade or ally before either of them got too strong and invaded him. Yet, he abstains from taking action.
The guard's hand stung: the transfer from the marsh's humid air to the cold, stinging atmosphere of the hut doing him no good. He could hear strained noises from behind a partition board: a birth, he assumed. Come to think of it, wasn't Crasher Wake's wife due soon? Perhaps she was in there now, giving birth to a Prince.
A Prince. Hah. The guard silently laughed to himself. He wondered if he would be able to call him that, a prince. In the guard's opinion, a true Prince would do what's good for Pastoria and attack Sunnyshore before it's too late. Maybe this Prince would.
The soldier looked around again, and caught sight of a nurse busily tidying some papers at a desk. He called out, and held his bloody hand high so she could see.
"Oh dear, has something happened!? Are we under attack!?" She worriedly blurted as she scuttled to his aid.
"No, no, nothing of the sort. I merely drew without my gauntlet on: long story short, it was a false alarm and I was careless." He adopted a strange posture as he spoke, cooing to the nurse, as if to captivate her.
She visibly slumped, a long rattling sigh echoing from somewhere deep in her belly. She began to idly chitchat as she dressed his wound, when a newborn's scream rang out from behind the partition.
"Oh, do pardon the noise: it's a birthing. Crasher Wake's wife is in there. It's predicted to be a boy: he'll be our lord some day! I can't wait to see him; I'll bet he will be as serene and peaceful as our current lord!" She said, catching the guard's attention.
"Ah, so I was right." The guard whispered to nobody in particular.
"Hm?" She gave him a funny look.
"Oh, nothing. It's nothing. Thank you." He dismissed her inquisitive hum and turned to leave.
He turned and gave one last long, meaningful look at the partition. Another nurse came around, cradling a baby in her arms. He couldn't see much, other than his shock of dark purple hair.
/Clans in Victory Road are always placed there by the Shogun of the region, from within the forts. This is so they can be trusted not to attack. Over time, as the Nakama clan changed from successor to successor, they lost sight of their true goals and why they lived where they did, and were easily swayed to join Volkner's army.
/Note that while I do call the Daimyo Maylene and Volkner, they are very young at this current time, and age to be their ingame apparent ages by the time the protagonist has reached his prime age of 19.
...
A full 19 years later, that same guard was in the East Watchtower. He was thinking about how he had seen Lord Tanuki when he was merely a baby. He chuckled. He was an old man now, and could no longer fight: although they had yet to encounter an instance when they had to fight. Lord Tanuki was everything Pastoria needed, and everything the guard had wanted: he riled villagers up, encouraging them to want more land, recruited militants and allied with the marsh clan to the west. He was planning for something big, and was clearly pressuring Sunnyshore into making a move. Due to such tactics, he had made sure he had more watches on the east side: he was waiting for Volkner to play right into his hands. Maylene had lost to Fantina and retreated to Veilstone. She hasn't made a move since.
Lord Tanuki had succeeded Crasher Wake when he was 17, and for two years has been reforming Pastoria. The Safari Zone is now being used actively to catch and train Pokémon for battle, and 2 hospitals, 2 armouries, a City wall and 3 bunkers for citizens have since been built. A large barracks is now located in the south west part of town, guarded from the West by the Marsh Clan and from inside the town by the watch.
The guard had given up drinking on watch, and now sat, stiff and unmoving with his Staraptor watching the road, extremely attentive. He heard a low crackling sound, low enough you could hardly hear it. It was not the crackling of leaves, or the snap of a Carnivines maw: it was a low, electrified buzz. A scout with a Jolteon had been sent ahead and forces were likely on their way. The scout darted across the road, looking inside the walls: he saw no guards on patrol. Yet another of Lord Tanuki's tactics: the towers were now disguised as trees, and the guards were all in the barracks, waiting for signals.
The guard waited till the scout had disappeared, and rang the gong. The gong was merely a warning: be ready. He wished that this could have happened when he was younger: he yearned for battle. His stiff limbs no longer allowed him to fight, so he sat and watched as soldiers filed out of the barracks and the citizens hurriedly made their way to their delegated bunkers.
Guards, archers, warriors and their Pokémon alike lined up beneath his tower, at the mouth of the road, and adopted stances, ready to receive the enemy head on. At the front, riding a young Nidorino, was Lord Tanuki. He made a turn and rode in front of the soldiers, his direction perpendicular to his men's.
"Well, is this not what we longed for? Is this not how we need to act to survive?" He jeered at his soldiers.
They roared in unison, in what the guard could only take to be agreement.
"Then ride forth! We will conquer Sunnyshore's forces, and leave them to crawl back to their town, weak and defeated! We will show them how war should be fought! Then we will strike while they are crippled, and conquer their town! We won't stop there, we will defeat the other Daimyo, we will rule Sinnoh, and we will rule Japan!" He yelled, invigorating his soldiers.
A deafening roar arose, and Lord Tanuki slid his helmet over his long, spiky deep purple hair. They charged forth, some airborne, riding flying Pokémon, others riding their land based Pokémon, others by foot. They were going to hit Volkner's forces head on, and they planned to win.
The guard watched as Lord Tanuki's dark purple hair, showing beneath the helmet disappeared into the darkness.
/Tanuki means Raccoon in Japanese. The protagonist is called this due to his eyes appearing to have thick eyeliner, and his strange ability to see in the dark. It is not related to his cunning or war tactics, just his appearance.
...
Well, that's it for the first chapter! Honestly didn't plan for it to be this long. The next chapter will be from "Lord Tanuki", or Zephyr's perspective. I just thought using the nameless guard would show a lot about how things were, he won't be a recurring thing, but different viewpoints may be!
The next chapter will also explain a little about Zephyrs upbringing, and don't worry: I won't call him Lord Tanuki very much more: that was just as it was from the guards perspective, and he wouldn't call him by his first name.
Don't be scared to review, constructive criticism is welcomed!