The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter One: Loss of the Frost

In the depths of Lacunosa forest, the mysterious creatures known as pokemon live in the small village of Tao. With wonderfully crafted houses made of mortar and sticks, hand painted in colourful swirls by common Smurgles. Small shops owned by Kecleons, Persians, Kangaskans and many more little the small streets. Among the wonders of the pokemon marketplace, smaller pokemon cause mischief.


A young cubone named Morte hastily toddles after his friend, a Torchic named Lilim, carrying a small sack full of pecha berries. An angry Kecleon chases after them both,

"STOP! THIEVES!

Lilim looks over her shoulder, almost leaping out of her skin when she sees the angry store clerk chasing after her and Morte. She squawks loudly,

"MORTE! HURRY! WE CAN'T STOP NOW!

Morte, panting and switching hands to keep hold of the sack, briefly thinks how Lilim would like it if she was told to hold a bag of berries when she had a big head and little arms. But he stops all thoughts when both collide with what seems to be a very large purple brick wall.


"You alright, little one?

The first thing Morte sees upon opening his eyes is a very large pair looking back at him, the right one with a large scar running through it. The purple face is covered poorly by torn and sandblasted fabric, but the prominant horn of a Nidoking quickly gives away the other pokemons identity. Fearing the worst, Morte scrambles to his feet, only to see the pokemon he ran into stand up at its full height, looming over Morte like a mighty tree over a flower. The Nidoking is strange in appearence though, covered head to toe in the same sandblasted and torn fabric, where skin and fur are visable, bandages are strewn over. In the Nidokings right paw, Morte can see Lilim struggling and fighting to get free. The Nidoking is the first to speak,

"I said, are you alright, little one?

Morte gives a dumb nod, too scared to even break eye contact with the large purple pokemon. Lilim struggles and pecks at the Nidokings paw after seeing the angry Kecleon catching up to them.

"LET GO OF ME YOU PALOOKA! LET GO!

The Nidoking looks down at Lilim, and for a second Morte thinks that the purple pokemon will eat her.

"GIVE ME BACK THOSE PECHAS IMMEDIATELY!"

The Kecleon stops at the Nidokings feet, obviously out of breath as it's tongue lolls out of it's mouth, it's face a bright red.

The Nidoking looks down at Morte, then up at Lilim in his right paw. He seems to smile under his veil.

"I'll pay in full for the berries, how much?

The Kecleon, slightly taken aback is livid.

"NO! These children have parents who can pay for such! Do not think them street urchins who never see a proper meal!

Now it's Nidokings turn to look perplexed and surprised, but then his eyes seem to give away a hint of anger.

"I said. I'll pay for them. How much?

Both Morte and Lilim look down at the confused and bumbling Kecleon, who seems at a loss for words.

"S-Six hundred for the lot!

The Nidoking places Lilim on the ground gently, reaching up and behind his neck to pull a sachel from one of his horns. Tossing it at the Kecleon, he seems to smile again.

"I'll take these two to their parents, enjoy your day"

With no warning, the Nidoking swoops down his arms and gather the two small pokemon up. He places Lilim on his right shoulder, and Morte on his left. The Kecleon nods dumbly,

"I-I will! Thank you! And yout two! Don't think I won't tell your parents if he doesn't!

Both Morte and Lilim cringe at that, but don't say a thing. Nidoking nods slowly,

"I'll be on my way now, goodbye"

The trio then started walking back down the marketplace.


Lilim, never one to be too quiet for long, chirps loudly into Nidokings ear,

"Hang on! We don't even know you! How do you know where we live?

The Nidoking gives a slight pause before turning to look at her,

"Well, I don't. So tell me"

Lilim, flustered and annoyed, pecks at his ear, tugging the fur while Morte just stares at her as if she's a moron. Nidoking seems to ignore her and turns to Morte,

"Where do you live, little one?

"A-At the dojo...s-sir"

"Alright, can you point out the way there?

Morte nods rapidly and points a little further down the market,

"W-we take a left and then walk a little further, my dad lives there"

The Nidoking gave a gruff grunt and made his way through the crowd of smaller pokemon. Lilim fiercely glared over the Nidokings head at Morte, whispering none too quietly.

"Why are you telling him? You WANT to be in trouble?

Nidoking leaned his head back a bit and gazed at Lilim,

"Little lady, he's doing the right thing, do YOU want to be in trouble?

Lilim went bright red, or as bright red as a Torchic can go with orange feathers. Nidoking then turned to Morte,

"You two don't seem in dire need of these berries, why did you take them?

Morte could only lower his head in shame before Lilim chirped up again,

"We don't need the berries! We just need the training! Morte's dad won't let us train in the dojo and no other pokemon want to fight!

Nidoking seemed to scowl slightly under his veil,

"But you were just running away"

"EXACTLY! You got in the way before old man Kec could even start trying to tongue lash us! We normally just hit him with a few embers and bones and he's down for the count!

Nidoking, pausing at the word "tongue lash" and chuckling, turned to look at Torchic,

"So what do you do with the berries afterwards?

Lilim blushed and turned away a little,

"W-we eat them"

Nidoking seemed to chuckle,

"Explains why yer bellies are so round"

Lilim fluffed herself up,

"ARE YOU CALLING US FAT?


After a while of Morte trying to calm Lilim, who was still yelling abuse at Nidoking, the three stopped infront of the dojo.

Nidoking places Morte down on the ground,

"Call yer dad out kiddo, I'll hold yer friends as ransom otherwise"

Morte jolted upright and ran inside. The room was thick with smoke from the fire his father Marowak insisted on burning every day. He called out meakly,

"D-Dad? Can you come outside?

A gruff voice from the back replied with a grunt, and slowly Marowak pulled himself out of the mass of paperwork in the small private room he and Morte lived in.

"What's wrong? Someone faint in one of the mazes again?

"N-No, dad, um...can you follow me?

"...You been stealing from Kecleon again, boy?

"..."

Marowak sighed and patted his sons head,

"Did Lilim drag you into it?

"N-NO!

He smiled, touched by his sons fierce loyalty to the tomboyish Torchic. Both father and son walked out of the dojo.

The old Marowak was given quite a start to see a scarred Nidoking drapped in bandages and a cloak sitting outside his dojo, with Lilim sqwaking and yelling into it's right ear. He gave a small sigh,

"Um...I take it you bailed my son and his friend out then?

Nidoking seemed to smile under his veil,

"It was nothing, I'll let you do the telling off part."

Marowak shook his head,

"How much?

"600 poke's worth of Pecha Berries"

"What?

Marowak swiftly smacked Morte upside his head, giving a small scowl. He looked up at Nidoking,

"I'm sorry! I will pay you back in full"

Nidoking shook his head,

"It's quite alright, I'll just keep the berries"

"WHAT?

Lilim squawked again loudly into Nidokings ear,

"Why are you taking our berries? We were the ones who got them!

Nidoking silenced her with a glare,

"And who paid for them, little miss?

Lilim, who while hotheaded and angry did not want a death wish, piped down and lowered her head. Marowak sighed and looked up at Nidoking again after patting Mortes shoulder,

"There must be some way I can repay you?

Nidoking placed Lilim down on the ground and stared back at Marowak,

"Well, there is something you can help me with"

Marowak nodded,

"What is it?

"Information"

Marowak stared at the Nidoking before looking at Morte and Lilim.

"Head inside you two"

Both small pokemon did as he said, and quickly hid behind the door of the dojo.

Marowak placed his bone cane infront of him and leant on it, looking up at Nidoking.

"What information do you need?

Nidoking smiled and lifted his veil from his face, revealing how long the scar on the right side of his face was. It ran from the top of his brow to his lower jaw, but nothing came to Marowaks mind that could make such a wound.

"There's a pokemon I'm looking for, a shiny Typhlosion with bright blue eyes. She also has a long horizontal scar along her muzzle."

Marowak blinked,

"I haven't seen any pokemon like that."

Nidoking nodded,

"I'm partially happy you haven't"

"Why is that?

Nidoking straightened up, pulling the small bag of pecha berries onto his back with little effort. He nodded with a small smile,

"I'll be going now, thank you for your help"

"Hang on!

Nidoking stopped from turning and looked back at Marowak,

"Yes?

"If I may be so bold, what is your name?

"...Alabastre"


The next morning, there was nothing but ash and smoke. Lots of it. Lacunosa forest had practically been burnt to the ground. Marowak and shaken Lilim and Morte up early, telling them to get out of the dojo. He hastened off the the village council after telling the two small pokemon to stay put.

A large group of pokemon waited at the edge of a large pool of water, where the Elder Politoad sat, looking rather upset. A large Serperior was first to speak,

"I say that it was the Nidoking from yesterday in the cloak, he only came to town for one day, and suddenly this fire happens!

A familiar voice pitched in as Kecleon leapt up in the air to say his piece,

"But he couldn't have done it! That pokemon was far too nice to have burnt this place down!

"What makes you call him nice? you little rata-!

A burly Raticate butted in,

"BEFORE YOU EVEN MAKE THAT RACIAL REMARK. I'd like to say that I saw that Nidoking playing with the children yesterday, he didn't seem the type to do such destruction"

Kangaskan chimed in,

"He was very nice to my little boy"

She smiled down at the baby in her pouch, who dumbly smiled and gawped at her. Serperior glared venomously,

"SO he could be psychotic with a soft side for children! I just think that makes him WORSE"

As the commotion grew, Marowak only looked at the silent Elder Politoad, who was staring at the grass sadly.

Marowak quited down the others and waddled up to Politoad,

"Elder?

Politoad reached forward, and plucked a blade of grass from the ground.

"The frost is gone"