-a/n-
This is the first chapter of the first arc-y thing-y of the New World Saga. Since this chapter, I have progressed quite a bit, and the work you see here is not nearly up to snuff.
That being said, enjoy.
-TDK
"Cowards. You simply don't want to lose, is that right? You're scared of a little bet?" The shadows smiled, a thousand mouths laughing at the shadows' taunting.
"That would be logical, yes. Era, I have no interest in making any sort of bet with you. Not now, and not ever. I would rather allow this land to be torn apart and fought ever for the rest of time than risk having the peace we have all," the levitating being did not pause, merely gracefully waving a hand towards the majestic birds which stood behind it, "worked so very hard to bring about. I will not force you to leave, but I daresay you will want to be doing better things with your time than being here."
The shadows frowned. "So be it. I will wait, and when you are not the only god-"
Here the shadows were interrupted by the harsh cawing of one of the birds, which flapped its huge, powerful wings to ensure it was a good deal higher than the shadows, sparks flying from it as it did so. "God?! Have you not the capacity for memory in that pitiful, shared brain of yours? We are not gods; we are spoken of in legends, talked of in voices of awe in myths, yes, but we are not gods."
"You are immortal, are you not?" The shadows questioned, not seeming to care of the slight on their intelligence.
"As are you, and you will never be a god -Or have you forgotten so quickly, Era?" The second bird spoke, beating its wings to gain altitude, flames flying from its eternally burning body and quickly dissipating.
The shadows roared in frustration, drawing in on themselves and winking out of existence.
The third bird was not so arrogant as to presume that being higher up gave it an advantage over its fellow legends; it merely shuffled slightly in place, and spoke calmly. "What do you suppose it was going to say?"
"The shadows are eternal, my friends, and I daresay they will be happy to wait until another region comes about where they can make their infernal bet. But that is neither here nor there." The levitating being turned to the birds, its endless eyes twinkling. "You had best return to your dominions."
It was a clear dismissal, yet, as the birds flew off, they couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. It might not happen for thousands of years, but sure enough, the shadows would return...
"We refuse," the great, pale being said, its voice whale song.
The shadows hissed. "Why? Scared of a little bet? Afraid to lose?"
"Why, of course we are afraid to lose." The pale being turned gracefully to the seven behind it; three were birds, familiar with the shadows, three beasts, newly created by a majestic phoenix, which raised the tip of a wing slightly at the suggestion of losing the shadows' bet. "Are we not, my friends?"
"Of course."
"Indeed."
"How could we lose?" One of the beasts spoke up, its fur as blue as crystal, padding forwards. "We-"
"That is neither here nor there," The phoenix snapped angrily. "Get out of our sight, shadow."
The shadows smirked, its thousands of eyes boring deep into the eyes of the north wind, who turned its head questioningly, yet remained firmly where it was. Its faces swelled with frustration, and it collapsed in on itself, disappearing.
"Your proposition is interesting," The great emerald being mused, turning in mid-air to face its fellow legends. "What think you?"
"I have no faith whatsoever in the scum that currently populate our lands." The titan of ruby gnashed its teeth angrily. "Otherwise, I would take you up on your bet in a second."
"I would not be so sure. So many have conquered our images; indeed, some have captured and controlled them." The sapphire leviathan slowly turned its heads to the others.
"Pah!" The titan spit magma to one side. "Mere images, nothing more!"
"Yet still, no mean feat." The emerald being shook its head. "No, shadow, we will not take you up on your offer."
"What if your trainers were more competent?" The shadows questioned, hardly able to control itself; this was the closest it had been to success in eons.
"Perhaps."
The shadows smiled enigmatically. "Very well." And then they dissipated.
"No. I will not make deals with your kinds." The majestic being's presence would have crushed and defeated anything that could be hurt or had emotion -Yet the shadows did not.
The shadows sighed. "Perhaps you will not..." Its eyes shifted to the dragons on either side of the being.
The diamond dragon snorted disparagingly, turning away. The dragon of pearl flexed its arms threateningly, yet did not step forwards. And yet, uncharacteristically, the shadows did not gnash their teeth, or roar in frustration. They merely smirked, and were gone.
For its appointment in the land commonly referred to as Sinnoh had not been its only meeting that day...No, it had recently been to the dimension-traveling being's home, and while it had not accepted, as after all, the terms were not applicable in its own twisted worlds, it had told the shadows of a place, far, far away, where the presence of the legends thus far had not yet reached.
A place of fresh minds, a land to newly corrupt, a region that would not know of its intention and would be innocently trusting...
...A land called Unova.
The shadows arrived gleefully; it had taken quite some time for the new region to show any signs of human life, yet it had been well worth the wait.
"A betrayal here, some plotting there, and voila!" The shadows murmured to themselves. It had easily split the legends of the region, murmuring about ideals and truth, and while the shadows had been interested only in setting up the bet, its many mouths split in glee as it imagined what fun its employers would have in the region, and what would become of its efforts.
As the black and white dragons had characteristically refused to meet each other, the only legend to set up the terms of the bet had been the gray one, the icy one; the devourer, the ancient people of Unova called it.
"Let us review the terms of the bet once more." The monstrous, mechanical being writhed in glee before composing itself; it would not do to have the gray legend refuse the bet at this time.
"One young person, having proven their skill, will be chosen by us to be your champion," the being of forests began, its voice like bark and branch over leaves, a soft, yet sinister rustling.
"To attempt to become the Champion of Unova," the being of lava continued.
"While following the stated rules:" The being of aqua stopped, for this was the important part of the bet; the rules. "If any of his or her pets fail, they can no longer follow him or her, and will lose any semblance of intelligence, as punishment for being weak enough to fail."
"The young man or woman may obtain just one pet from each location in Unova; throwing lesser beings at a greater foe with no end of supply is not skill, it is a war of attrition." The being of air spun excitedly, hardly able to control itself.
"In addition, the young man or woman will receive a guide, to explain the rules of the bet, at the beginning of his or her journey, as well as a new pet after overcoming every gym leader, the entirety of the Elite Four, and the Champion, to compensate for any losses," the being of earth continued, its voice like the sliding of two great boulders against each other.
"He or she will also be given a new rule to follow after all of the abovementioned incidents, so as to keep them on their toes." The shadows finished with a maniacal glee on each of its faces; after eons and eons of planning, their greatest victory was soon to be at hand.
"I agree," the devourer said, its impassive face not betraying its true excitement; here, at last, was a proper challenge!
"Then let it be done. The bet will begin as soon as is possible." The beings, their work done, evaporated.
"They did what?!" The diamond dragon roared furiously, time distorting before the force of the soundwaves. "The idiots!"
"We should just let them lose their region for their stupidity!" The dragon of pearl slashed space in anger; of course, they would do no such thing. If one region fell, it would be but years before their own fell as well.
"Hm...Clearly, the first step is to pick the representative..." The blue elf sitting calmly on one of the pillars in the Hall of Origin seemed to have not even heard the dragons of diamond and pearl.
"They must be quite powerful, and useful early on..." The golden pixie levitating just behind the majestic creator's left flank did a quick flip in mid-air, before turning to the third of the lake guardians, a blue spirit that was meditating on the floor of the hall. "What do you think?"
"Hm." The blue spirit shook its head from side to side, a sign that it was not yet ready to contribute to the discussion. Meanwhile, the greatest of the golems rose up from its titanic throne.
"It should be able to change at some point," the continent-puller rumbled, "Not simply through evolution, but also through our champion's decision."
"I agree." The core of Stark Mountain said nothing more, but left.
The sea guardians twirled around in each other, the true legend speaking after a pregnant pause. "I would assume, at this point, that we are, of course, all thinking of the same person?"
The answer came back, unsurprisingly, the same.
"The Illusions."
The home of the Illusions was a large, dense forest of river, streams, and mountains.
Of course, the Illusions weaved their potent illusion magic over the forest, causing it to appear as a small grove to humans. It was behind this grove that many of the Illusions had once dwelled; in time, though, loss of habitat and frequent warring with the other residents of Unova had driven down the species.
The small, hedgehog-like creature scampered through the dark forest, moving surprisingly fast for a Pokemon its size. Its underside, arms, and legs were a blissful, pure white, its back covered with green fur that gave it the appearance of a moving shrub. Usually, it sported a pair of vibrant Gracidea on either side of its head, but it had opted in favor of leaving them in its flowery home, for stealth purposes.
The Shaymin ran all throughout the night, pausing only occasionally for drinks of water or to inspect a particularly beautiful flower; time was of the essence, and the forest was massive. As day rose, however, it stopped, plucking a Gracidea and smelling the flower. As it did so, a startling transformation overcame it; the green fur on its back was shifted atop its head as its body grew rather dramatically, its legs elongating and also developing their own fur, and its ears growing exponentially.
The reindeer-like creature tossed its head magnificently, the ears on its head proving to double as wings; the Shaymin flapped its ears, the wind rushing up into the drums and filling the ears like sails. Now a few feet above the ear, the Shaymin pointed its head towards the mountain which was its destination, and wind pushed it onwards, looking for all the world like a reindeer with sails attached to it.
After just a few minutes of flying, it alighted upon the base of the mountain, for it had seen what it was looking for; one of the Illusions.
A small, fox-like creature, its fur a mix between charcoal and slate gray, with reddish paws, appeared from the darkness, its eyes alight with mischief. Its triangular ears perked up as it saw the Shaymin, running forwards. As it did so, the whorled scruff of fur on its head came into better view; it looked like the tip of a paintbrush had been dipped into the same paint used to die its paws and paint its eyelids, then glued atop its head. Its neck surrounded by a ruff of darker fur, its tail bushy and clearly well-kept; not a living being who didn't know what it could do could have guessed its potential for causing chaos.
"I accept your offer," The Zorua burst out eagerly. "I just need a way-"
"To the town called Nuvema?" The Shaymin smiled gratefully; it hadn't wanted to have to persuade one of its dearest friends into such a task. "Don't worry, you can hop on my back."
And the Zorua did indeed, preparing itself and then springing on top of the Shaymin's back; at first its paws seemed about to slip off, but he scrabbled for a purchase, found it in the Shaymin's pure-white fur, and leapt aboard, looking like a captain about to go on his maiden voyage.
"Ready?" The Shaymin smirked teasingly; the first time Shadow had flown on her back, he'd turned a violent shade of green, though in time, Shadow had come to enjoy it; he was looking eager now.
Shadow stuck out his tongue. "Ready as I'll ever be, Flora!"
And with that, the two were off; Flora sprang into the air, her magnificent wings filling with air and carrying them towards their destination: Nuvema Town.
As Flora flew over the landscape, wings allowing her to deftly maneuver the air currents like a captain controlling his ship, Shadow began to review his plan in his head.
Alright, he thought. First of all, he had to prepare to take on the appearance of one of the starters of the Unova region; Flora had told him everything that she knew. The Shirnios, an ancient and conventionally evil race, had made a bet with Kyurem, the icy dragon incarnation of wuji, one of the legends of Unova. They would choose a champion who had proven his worth in other regions, and put him through an extremely hard challenge. If he won, the Shirnios would stop the activity of Team Plasma in Unova, who were dead-set on releasing trainers from their Pokemon. However, if he lost, and Shadow couldn't help but think that he probably would, they would be given free reign over Unova. The Shirnios would, through their ancient powers, put the mind of the champion into the body of Black, the young man who was supposed to be taking the League Challenge.
From there, it was up to him; Shadow would have to take the form of one of the starters from the Unova region, explain the details of the bet to the boy, as well as give the boy a random starter from any of the regions, and then leave.
At least, that was what he was supposed to do; a contented smile crept over Shadow's face as he thought of the plan he had devised. Though...he couldn't help but feel as though he was doing something wrong; while the Illusions had always been taught to use their abilities only for good, he was clearly about to break that rule. He dismissed the thought, though; what had to be done had to be done, as his mother had always said. Instead, he focused on reviewing his plan.
After taking the appearance of one of the starters, he would have to be quick on his feet, and defeat it, taking its place in the gift box. The Shirnios would undoubtedly be trying to keep the champion from waking up, so he'd have to create an external illusion of the boy picking him, and then continue the illusion until the boy woke up -whenever that could be. When the boy did wake up, Shadow would have to manage his own illusion, the external illusion, and explain and argue with the boy at the same time; no mean feat. Afterwards, he would give the boy his 'real' starter, and then stay with the boy for as long as he needed to.
Shadow had been practicing his illusory skills for hours on end; while projecting an internal illusion, external illusion, and using influential techniques at the same time wasn't even expected for matured Zoroark, he was confident he'd be able to pull it off -and with ease, at that.
His musings were interrupted by Flora. Shadow's ears perked up, and he uncurled himself, faking a yawn -though Flora was one of his dearest friends outside of the forest, she couldn't know even the slightest bit about his plans.
"What was that?" Shadow asked, feigning sleepiness.
"I said, we're reaching Nuvema Town!" Flora tossed her head excitedly. "Just look down at it! Isn't it tiny?!"
Shadow had to agree with Flora there; compared to the bustling metropolis that was Castelia City, Nuvema Town may as well have been a village! There was just one main road; a boulevard, with shops on both sides, that opened out into the Nuvema Town Harbor on one end, and Route One on the other. The town seemed to be split down the middle via the boulevard; three roads cut the boulevard into thirds, each road leading into a culdesac of three houses, other than the road that was closest to the Nuvema Town Harbor, which led to some sort of laboratory.
"What's that lab called?" Shadow asked, wrinkling his red eyebrows.
"Oh, that's the lab of a human called Professor Juniper," Flora explained. "She studies Pokemon, and gives out the starters for this region to young boys and girls when they become ten."
"Ah, right, Professor Juniper." Shadow returned to inspecting the town; beside the harbor was a large airport and airport tower. Wracking his brain, Shadow remembered that, had the boy who the Shirnios had chosen decided to come to Unova from whatever region he'd been in, he would have arrived at. Those weren't of massive importance, though; his target was the house of Black, where the starters were due to be delivered.
"Well Shadow, this is where you get off," Flora said as they landed. Shadow jumped off of her back and quickly shook himself off; beads of condensation had collected in his fur during the flight. "I'll be back to pick you up in two hours, alright?"
"Alright! See you soon, Flora!" Shadow's facade almost broke as he watched one of his best friends fly away, knowing fully well that he'd never see her -or anyone else from the forest, for that matter- again. He shook his head, focusing on the matter at hand, and looked around.
Black's house was next to the house of the other two children getting their Pokemon that day; a young man named Cheren, and a young woman named Bianca. And sure enough, there was a blue-and-white striped gift box in front of Black's house, with a green ribbon on top. Before inspecting the box, Shadow stood back slightly, to see the house in its entirety; it would be useful to know the look of it exactly in the future.
It was a small two-story affair, with a large, triangular blue roof, and a blue overhang above the modest wooden door, the knocker a simple Pokeball. Next to the house was a blue mailbox, and on the right side of the door, a window, the shutters pulled down. Above the door, Shadow could see a window, this one wide open, and he cursed the Shirnios for their sloppiness, which, undoubtedly, was on purpose.
He nudged open the lid of the box, and examined the notes under each Pokeball; there was Oshawott, Snivy, and Tepig. After some deliberation, he grasped the Pokeball containing Oshawott, and clicked it, releasing the otter, which was still sleeping.
Before it could react, Shadow took on its shape, running and jumping at the befuddled Water-type, who had just enough time to squeal briefly before he knocked it out, dragging it behind a bush. With luck, nobody would find it for quite some time. He then concentrated his mind, imagining that he was just the tip of a needle, and, maintaining this focus, managed to get himself into the Pokeball without much trouble, breathing a sigh of relief inside it.
The inside of a Pokeball was rather strange; the Pokemon that entered it via a trainer's command were supposedly transported to some sort of forest in the middle of that region. However, Shadow had entered the Pokeball of his own free will, and so was merely stuck inside of his own mind; he also didn't intend to ever be inside a Pokeball again, so he doubted it would ever happen to him.
After waiting for what seemed like ages, he finally heard the opening of a door, and excited squeals as the box was carried up the stairs.
-a/n-
In case you have no idea who Shadow is, he's a Zorua. And this is Unova. Remember to review!
-TDK