Welcome to our world! Hope you enjoy and please read and review. Criticism is greatly appreciated.
Chapter One:
The lingering light was obliterated by the rapidly falling night. The once salmon and purple sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the forest. A canopy of luminous stars materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark, moonless night. The lake glistened, mirroring the dazzling assemblage of glittering stars and the luminescence from the glowing homes, only effulgent speckles dotted throughout the tannin-brown woodland. The faint wind brushed against the water's surface, the ripples ruffling the stillness of the surface, and shattering the reflection of the forest.
As the twilight slowly spread its icy tentacles through the air and through the sky, something altogether more familiar to the world showed its existence.
Change.
A change was coming to this world, one that would throw it off its axis. But, like everything, it has small beginnings
THUMP!
Every pokémon in the near vicinity that wasn't already asleep peeked out to view the odd spectacle before them. It isn't every day that you find a mess of a pokémon in the middle of nowhere, unconscious and most likely drunk on stolen berries—in the opinions of everyone awake. While not a common occurrence, it was something that all turned a blind eye towards in hopes that it would disappear by the next day. All except for one curious eevee who stared at the unconscious pokémon, baffled.
A few seconds passed by where the eevee just sat there, blinking, before she reached out with her right paw and lightly probed at the slate gray fox around her size. The young child found that she couldn't stop herself from laughing slightly at the position the fox was in
The zorua was lying on her neck, her body curving up into the air and around like a little ball of fur. As the brown fox continued to prod the fox lightly with her paw, the pokémon let out a grunt before swatting away her paw. The brown fox nearly jumped back in surprise.
"E-Excuse me." The eevee murmured quietly as she poked the zorua once again, and to her surprise the fox continued to battle her in its sleep. Letting out another grumble, the zorua made a few more movements to fend off the 'intruder'.
"Mmph, mother... you obnoxious bug. Just give me five more days..." The zorua mumbled, nearly incoherently, rolling over and with a small thump, hitting the ground and curling into an even tighter ball.
"Wha-what?" The eevee rose her left brow at what she just thought she heard.
"Ummm, excuse me, I wouldn't think that position would be very comfortable for you." She tried again. The zorua blinked open her eyes sleepily, slowly beginning to focus on the eevee standing above her. Still not fully awake, she mumbled a rather idiotic response.
"I've told you, you can't scare me with stuffed animals…" The zorua looked a second time, trying to focus on something for once.
"A really live like one, too. Where'd you get this one?"
"Stuffed animal?" the eevee repeated, unsure of what such a thing was.
"Yeah… it's like this right here." The zorua reached up and stroked the eevee's face, who went cross eyed trying to look at her paw. "That is most certainly not a stuffed animal," She told herself. After a few seconds more of trying to comprehend the situation, something clicked inside her head.
"AGH! IT'S ALIVE!"
The zorua immediately launched herself from the small ball she was in, trying to land on her feet and instead tumbling quite an astounding distance. Groaning slightly, she moved into a more comfortable position and didn't look like she wanted to get up again.
The eevee let out a high pitched screech from the zorua's reaction, "I am so confused right now!" The eevee exclaimed as she backed away from the zorua, unsure on its mental state.
"W-Who are you, where am I, what a-am I?" The zorua stuttered, eyes flickering between the eevee and her new surroundings; not sure who to focus on. She hefted herself up off the ground and took an unsteady step forwards on her four feet, wobbling slightly but getting the hang of walking around quickly.
"What… what do you mean?! I feel like I should be the one asking these questions right now." The eevee said timidly, her volume barely audible. The eevee kept a short distance from the odd pokémon, mostly due to the fact that she wasn't sure of what to think of her.
"Well, my name's Kyveli. What's yours?" The zorua—now named Kyveli—took a few unsteady steps to just before the eevee, head cocked inquisitively. After verifying that she did indeed have paws and wasn't going into shock, she spun in a little circle, surveying her surroundings.
"And again, where am I? And what am I?" Halting her rotations, she simply stared at the sky; oblivious of her surroundings. "It's so beautiful here." Kyveli breathed in awe.
"Ummm, I'm Lily. And what exactly do you mean 'what am I'? you're a pokémon, what else would you be?" The eevee cast Kyveli an odd glance as she tried to piece together the puzzle before her. Still, it never once crossed Lily's mind that she was a bad pokémon, but, to say the least, she would label her as different.
"I-I…" She looked at the ground, a forlorn look crossing her visage.
"I don't know."
Sighing, she turned to face Lily and nodded her head in her direction. "Do you have a possible place that both of us could stay for the night until this dream ends?"
The eevee's baffled expression was quick to turn to a more somber expression. "I wish I had a place for you to stay, but I've actually been on my own for quite some time now." Lily responded in an empty tone as her head lowered along with her gaze.
Kyveli walked over and brushed the eevee's side with her own. "Hey, c'mon now. Don't get so down." Looking forward, the zorua quickly searched for anything that they could possibly take cover in. Seeing none, she lightly hit Lily's head with her tail and immediately looked back, surprised. As she inspected her new-found appendage, a flash of bewilderment crossed her visage.
"I'm a zorua…" Kyveli muttered quietly to herself, in slight awe. She shook her head and resumed her original task: getting them to a safe spot. Regardless of the fact that Kyveli was in a foreign body that she had no idea how to properly use, she was going to get them all to safety. "Come on, Lily, let's go and find a place to rest until night passes!" She exclaimed, startling the poor eevee.
"Umm, yeah, I think there is a village up ahead that we can search for shelter," the eevee quietly replied as she pointed her paw in the general direction of… more trees. Kyveli took the lead of the group and Lily followed without a word.
It was a beautiful evening with not a cloud in the sky. The fields stretched out for miles, an endless amount of bushes and plants spread chaotically, yet with the subtle organization. Many plants leaving clear, winding paths in fields. The plants were varying in colors, due to endless amounts of berries decorating them. The beautiful mystery dungeon was an endless rainbow, but that was the least of the riolu's concerns.
Raven had come to the mystery dungeon to replenish her food supply. She had been running low on berries for a while, and the next town was a few days walk away. Luckily, she had been near the Berry Grotto mystery dungeon, so she took a detour. She walked through the endless fields, picking a rainbow of berries. The dungeon had been surprisingly empty, though. Usually, there would be at least a few enemies in a dungeon, but this one was shockingly void of them.
After picking a few more pecha berries for her dinner, she glanced over at a patch that caught her attention. Giant yellow berries, shaped somewhat like pears, were hanging off a long wall of bushes. Sitrus berries are incredibly rare, so she went to go pick some to add to her stash of food. Smiling, she picked one of the firm berries and took a bite of it. It was absolutely delicious, the juice was somewhat sour and bitter, but the skin was sweet, balancing the flavors out just right. After picking a few more berries, she heard a growl behind her.
Raven whipped her head around, about seven Poochyena glaring at her, growling. Her riolu sense was picking up anger and aggressiveness from them. "H-Hello…" the riolu timidly mumbled. "Is something the matter?" A large Poochyena was standing in the front of the other six, whom Raven assumed was the pack leader, for he stood taller, with a prouder demeanor about him.
The Poochyena snarled. "This is our territory! And you just casually waltz in, and steal our food, then try to leave?"
"Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't know this was claimed territory. I just saw some sitrus berries I wanted to pick for my journey."
"I doubt it!" One of the poochyena in the back snarled.
"You just want to steal all our food!"
"Probably claim our territory too!" The Poochyena pack continued.
"We need to teach intruders like you a lesson!" The leader shouted, lunging towards Raven.
"Please! Stop! I didn't mean to! I don't wish to fight you!" Raven desperately cried, jumping sideways to avoid the tackle that was heading straight for her. The Poochyena ignored her pleas and continued attacking, jumping towards her once more, fangs bared viciously. Raven let out a cry as the angry pokémon bit her left arm, his teeth sinking into her flesh.
The riolu grunted once more in pain as she pulled her right arm back, an orange glow enveloping it and dancing around her fist like fire. She slammed the hostile Poochyena directly in the face. He let out a yelp and stumbled backward, releasing her bleeding arm. He just glared at the panting riolu for a short while, reevaluating what he had originally taken to be a soft wimp.
He growled once again and charged her, baring his fangs, which this time were lit ablaze, fire swirling around them. Thinking fast, the riolu powered up another force palm, this one surrounded in a red, blazing aura. Raven then lurched forward to meet the Poochyena, her force palm taking the brunt of the attack, her fist completely unharmed. The Poochyena yipped in surprise after his fire fang fizzled out, his fangs back to normal.
"How?" The poochyena asked, shocked that his attack had been ineffective. Raven felt his anger flicker to shock and curiosity for just an instant, but then return to anger and hostility.
Knowing the Poochyena was going to attack her anyway, she charged up another force palm, this one glowing a sky blue, as she lunged forward; the poochyena doing the same. When Raven suddenly launched herself to the side, the angry wolf once again yipped in surprise as he tripped, falling flat on his face, his tail comically sticking straight up. Raven struck the ground next to his paws, ice blossoming from her fist, encompassing his paws, rendering him unable to move. His pack, which had assumed she would be an easy victim, looked on in shock.
The furious and humiliated Poochyena managed to lift his dirt-covered head into the air and let out a howl. Raven sensed a now powerful surge of anger from the six pack members who had been in shock seconds ago.
They all growled and charged her at once, Raven doing her best to dodge and block the attacks, but was having no luck. She charged up a regular force palm on one fist, and a royal blue one on the other, and continued to try fending off the attacks that seemed to come from every angle at once when she felt a stab of searing pain, ice formulating on her shoulder. She let out a scream of agony, whipped around, and punched the Poochyena that bit her square in his muzzle, who then let out a yip of pain, stumbling backward. Unfortunately, it was the window of opportunity the other Poochyena needed to tackle her to the ground, and pin her down, their claws digging into her chest, as she whimpered in pain.
Looking up, she saw the Poochyena was none other than the pack leader, who had freed his paws from the ice. Raven did not need the power to sense emotions to tell he was extremely upset, him glaring at her viciously, any signs of intelligence now replaced with rage.
"This ends now!" He barked, his fangs growing pointed, fire spiraling around them. Raven closed her eyes and turned her head, waiting for the attack. It never came. Instead, she heard another yip of pain. She slowly opened her eyes to see another pokémon standing between her and the angry Poochyena.
Raven could only see the silhouette of the pokémon for a moment, against the sun, as it stood between her and the pack. Enraged, all seven leaped at once at it. A strangely shaped disc flew across her vision, appearing to originate from the mystery pokémon's back, sweeping through the air in front of it and knocking each poochyena back at once, where they landed on their backs in similar positions.
"Come, now." the male pokémon stated, stepping forward "Why are you attacking this girl?"
They scrambled to their feet. "Another intruder!" the pack leader exclaimed, "Leave now, or we will make you!"
A sigh could be heard. "You attack a girl for foraging?" the new pokémon muttered, his voice calm "Please, allow her to finish her business and we shall depart. I suspect she merely needs food for her travels."
"Never! This is our territory, and our food!" they exclaimed, practically as if they had rehearsed it.
Another sigh. "There is no reason to fight. Please, depart and allow us to finish our business. I promise you that we will exit your territory the moment we are finished with our business."
"Never!" the pack leader yowled, charging him. The pokémon swung his horned head, and the disc floating above his back flew around and smacked the poochyena away with little effort. Now, as he stepped to the side to distract them, Raven could see that her savior was an absol. The disk floating directly above his back spun slowly, and consisted of a white four-pointed star, within a green circle, and a yellow jagged edge that looked to simulate energy. The disc was one-inch-thick, and did not look like it should cut anything, but it must have been magic in nature, as the pack leader had a gash in his side where he had been struck by the disc.
Blue-grey eyes looked somewhere between calm and bored as he watched the lead pooch look at his wound, whimpering in pain. The others, taking advantage of this apparent distraction, charged. The first shot forward with a quick attack, only to slam face-first into the floating disc, which had gotten in the way and had barely budged from the attack.
The newcomer opened his mouth to reason with them once more, but they continued attacking. Finally, the absol sighed and began swinging his head from side to side, the disc copying his movements by swinging around him to strike his foes with precision. He clearly had a lot of practice with the weapon.
Soon, all seven of them had wounds to some degree, though none of those wounds could possibly be fatal. "Leave us." the absol commanded, and the pack leader along with his followers scattered into the foliage.
The absol turned back to Raven. "Are you alright?" he asked of the riolu.
"Ugh… Never… Better." Raven replied with a forced smile, trying to stand. "Thanks for that. I don't know what I would've done without you." She thanked, clutching her bleeding arm.
"Let us get that looked at." the absol walked over to the sitrus berries. "Though oran berries may only provide extra energy, Sitrus berries have far more energy to give. Wounds will heal faster after the sitrus berry has been made into proper medicine. I carry bandages as well though I cannot use them properly. Those are mostly to assist travelers I pass by. Where are you headed?"
"I was planning on stopping by Meadow Village soon to restock on items. I was running low on berries, though, and decided to come in here to restock." Raven replied, grimacing. "I did not know pokémon claimed their territory in here. I just thought it was another dungeon, just with more food."
"Territories change constantly" the absol informed her "when territorial pokémon settle outside of a civilized town, they claim it as their own, and depending on species, handle intruders or visitors very differently. I was here four months ago, and found no difficulty." He reached around to open a pocket on the bags slung over his back in a harness, and pulled out a few bandages. "Yes, I know these can be expensive because they originate from the Desolated City. I do have a stockpile of them, so let us stop the bleeding," he offered, tossing a roll of bandages to Raven before snapping the bag shut carefully.
"Heh… thanks. Sorry for all this trouble." Raven graciously thanked, grabbing a roll of bandages and wrapping them carefully on her wounded arm. "Desolated City? Is that another mystery dungeon?"
"Yes," he replied, looking off into the distance. "Past Spiral Mountain there, to the southeast, is a massive, broken down city. The buildings reach high into the sky and appear not to be of any type of building that pokémon would build. Instead of typical treasure, there are other things to be found. The dungeon turned what could have been orderly streets into a maze, but the corridors of the maze are very wide. The dungeon has a lot of space to maneuver around in, but it can still be dangerous. However, it is the only dungeon where things like these advanced bandages appear." he explained.
The absol peered down at Raven. "Those pendants are rare pieces of equipment" he noted, looking at the riolu's jewelry. "May I ask your name?"
"My names Raven. And I got these pendants as a gift from my parents, along with the bag. I think they got them after trading with the right kecleon. I use them quite often, trying to get used to their effects on both my moves and my body. They change the type of my moves when I use them, and the gems in them begin to glow. They do, however, sap your strength if you're not accustomed to them." Raven explained.
There were two pendants around her wrists, both of them silver dragon wings. They both mirrored each other exactly, except for the large gems embedded in each of them. One of them was a bright red, and the other was a sky blue. There was one more pendant around her neck, which looked like a dragon's head, facing the left, from the absol's perspective. It had its silver jaw open, with a purple gemstone securely fit into the hole, making it appear as though the dragon was holding the gem in its mouth.
"Anywho, what's your name?" Raven asked her savior.
"My name is Jade" he introduced himself "it is a pleasure to meet you. I assume you may need some assistance getting to the town in your state?"
"Hehe. Yeah… I'm sorry for the trouble. You know what? Here! I think I have a few golden bows in my bag! They should hopefully pay for the bandaging and the trouble!" Raven said, rummaging through the brown bag that hung over her shoulder. She then pulled out two golden bows and hurriedly presented them to Jade.
"Please, do not spend your money on me." Jade protested, stepping back "I only wished to help, as I always do. I prefer to spend energy rather than money to gain my materials, food, and supplies. I can survive without towns to aid me. I do not require pay."
"Are… are you certain?" Raven timidly asked still holding out the bows.
"I am," he replied shortly
"Hmm… Well… only if you are certain… please let me know if there is anyway, whatsoever I can repay you." Raven replied, slowly returning her bows to her bag. "I think I happen to have some escape orbs I picked up when I went to the Apple fields, for… well… apples." Raven once again started, digging through her bag, pulling out two, small, blue orbs. "I always keep some on me, though I didn't have a chance to pull them out when those poochyena attacked."
"...Very well." Jade responded, accepting one of the orbs. Escape orbs were special items used to get out of mystery dungeons if you needed to get out of a dungeon on short notice. You simply had to destroy it in one way or another to activate it. Thankfully they were easy to break purposefully, though otherwise durable.
Jade set his orb on the ground and raised his paw above the magical item. He looked towards Raven calmly. Raven nodded and held her orb in her paw, prepared to break it with the other fist. With a nod, the two together crushed their orbs under paw, and a blue pillar of light erupted from the ground underneath them. The energy faded to reveal an empty clearing.
The two found themselves directly outside of the dungeon entrance, within a forest. "Well," Jade said, "That was a relatively easy departure."
"Much easier than trying to reach the end of a dungeon," Raven replied, with a sigh. Once you reach the end of a dungeon, the same spatial magic that would bring you to another "floor" of a mystery dungeon when you found a staircase would bring you back to the back to the entrance if, and only if, you wanted to leave. It was the only option if you did not have any escape orbs to try and reach the end of a dungeon if you needed to leave.
"By the way, thank you so much! I would have been knocked out for sure if it weren't for you, I would have been KO'd for sure!" Raven cheerfully thanked, wrapping her arms around the surprised absol's neck.
Jade leaned in the opposite direction though the riolu's grip was firm. He tried to be subtle about dealing with the unexpected act of happiness and affection. However, he could not passively disengage her. "Erm… You're welcome?" he muttered, "Yes, I know my chest fur makes an excellent pillow, but truly, you are… Not going to let me go, are you."
"One second." the grateful riolu replied, tightening her grip on Jade for another second before releasing him. Raven casually stepped back. "Okay, sorry about that. Anyway, where to now?"
She looked to the absol's face and saw that he was still quite still, as if not sure what to make of her hug at all. Apparently, it was not often that the guy got a hug. He looked nearly shell shocked. It took a half minute for him to regain his composure. "Well…" he murmured "I believe we are quite close to Meadow Village" he decided.
"Okay! If my map is correct…" Raven started, pulling out an ordinary paper map. "which it tends to be, I think it is a few days walk through that forest!" Raven pointed to the nearby forest. "Though you seem to know far more of the geography than I do. Would that be correct?" the riolu timidly asked, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Other than having misjudged the distance, you are correct," Jade responded, looking at the map over her shoulder "It is merely a day and a half away unless we pick up the pace."
The riolu joyfully pumped her fist in victory. "Yes! I didn't read it upside down this time! I actually did that once… took me over a day to realize my mistake…" she commented, blushing a bit. "Well okay then. I guess we should go!" she finished cheerfully
"I recall the path to Meadow Village. You may put away your map." Jade replied calmly, before walking away towards where the village would be. There seemed to be a small path through the woods that reached the entrance to the dungeon, which was sensible. "Many paths find their way to dungeon entrances, as pokémon commonly flock to them for materials they can gain. Follow the path, reach the pokémon, and in this case, likely the nearest settlement."
"Wow! You have been everywhere, and know everything, it seems!" Raven commented in awe.
"Not everywhere. I do not commonly visit the northeast of the region." Jade refuted "It takes time to reach there from anywhere else, with ravines common to the east and different obstacles to the north."
"Well, then you know everything. I've been trying to learn all I can, but I've only been traveling a few short months," she replied, somewhat embarrassed at her lack of knowledge and experience.
"Do not fret," he assured her "There is time enough to learn your way around." The absol led the riolu through the forest at a brisk pace, Raven nodded and started jogging to keep up without complaint though still holding her arm gingerly. They were making good time, but the riolu soon caught her foot on a tree root and tripped, her head flipping forward as she let out an "Oof," face planting into the soft dirt.
"Would you like to slow down?" Jade asked kindly, moving to make certain that the riolu was alright.
"Heh. No way! I have to practice going quickly if I want to go quickly!" The riolu optimistically replied, jumping back up and wiping what dirt she could out of her fur.
"Then let us continue." Jade nodded, and the two continued on.
Not far away from the absol and riolu's current location, a male torchic is walking around the forest, but this torchic was not simply idling around; there was food to be found! Peering around the surrounding brush, he spotted a lone tree, dotted with fruits. Overjoyed that something would finally be able to fill his tummy, he dashed off towards its bountiful harvest.
Reaching his much anticipated destination, he looked up the tree and pondered the best way to get the food. It was no use to him hanging up in the branches, and even less use to him if he were dead. But, stomach overriding rational thought, he decided to just improvise.
With a few strong jumps and hops, he had managed to scale the tree to the lowest branch with fruit on it using the knots in the tree and his sharp talons to dig into the wood, pushing off the small leverage points.
Eying one of the jucy, wonderful smelling, heavenly fruits, he tried to use his beak to reach for the apple, but found that he could not reach anywhere close. Edging out on the branch slightly, the Torchic reached as far as he could.
"Almost … there …" He grunted, his beak a mere inch away from the large, red apple.
Crack!
"WHOA!" The Torchic yelped as the branch let out a warning, and then promptly broke. With plenty of cursing and flailing, the Torchic discovered how gravity worked.
Boof!
"Ow … Ow, ow, ow ..." The Torchic chirped, in pain, "It hurts ... "
Jade and Raven halted as Jade sensed something with his horn. Just a blip of danger, to the point where someone must have taken minor damage. "One moment," he told Raven, "We shall take a detour."
"Hmm? What's wrong? Do you sense danger?" Raven asked, knowing absol had a special sixth sense that let them know if danger was near, though the specifics of it varied absol to absol.
"Just for a moment. Someone has managed to or has nearly injured themselves." Jade replied, changing course. He moved through some bushes to find a little torchic on the ground. The bird pokémon chirped in pain repeatedly.
"...Hello." Jade greeted the pokémon as Raven came up to him.
"Oh no!" Raven cried, digging into her bag to find one of her oran berries to help ease his pain. Raven ran up to him, and held the firm, blue berry out to him, awaiting a response.
"Ow …" The Torchic squealed painfully as he rubbed his bruised back, "Do you mind ... " He asked rudely as he slowly stood from the ground. He was about to say something until he saw the berry in Raven's paws, "Oh! A berry!" He squealed.
Raven held the berry out to him. The torchic jumped at the offer and tried to snatch it, but suddenly flinched and halted his steps, panting slightly. "Are you okay? What happened? What hurt?" Raven frantically asked, clearly worried for the injured torchic.
"My back, Sherlock!" The Chicken Pokémon stated, annoyed and irritated with his reaction, "Did you even see me rubbing my back out of pain?"
Jade frowned at the torchic. "You are quite the rude one," he informed the fire type "and you cannot actually rub your back with your physique. I suggest you simply accept the oran berry."
"Oh ... " The Torchic muttered. Embarrassed, he turned around and looked up to the tree, "I … I was looking for food when I saw an apple over there." He spoke, pointing at the apple on the tree. However, much to his surprise, the branch that was holding the apple had disappeared, "Hey?! Where did it go?!" He spoke, frantic.
"An apple? Oh, I went to the Apple Fields a day or so ago! Would you like one?" The riolu asked, letting the rude comment slide harmlessly off her back. She then pulled three apples out of her bag, one green, one red, and one yellow.
"I was looking for the great Perfect Apple." The Torchic explained to them, "My friend's grandfather is dying and I need to get a Perfect Apple to fulfill his last wish before he died. He gave me a quest to search one in the Apple Fields while my friend went to the other way."
Then, the Torchic blinked. He screamed in irritation and shouted, "Why would I even tell you about it?!" He shouted, hitting his head to the tree, "Stupid, stupid, stupid me!" He whammed his head on the tree every time he spoke the words.
"Well, you won't find one here… the Apple Fields are a few hours away. You won't find anything rare like that if you aren't in a mystery dungeon… sorry." Raven replied, genuine regret in her voice.
"I am not believing this story about a dying grandfather for a moment." Jade voiced "If the situation was so dire, I think he would have checked his directions more carefully, and maybe have either hired or asked a person better suited for the job to find a perfect apple for him. I have reason to believe that he simply wanted an apple and tried to climb for it."
"... that does explain him feeling more annoyance than panic or something of the sorts..." The riolu remarked, glancing at the torchic.
"I am not lying!" The Torchic shouted at them, "If you're going to just stand there and doing nothing, I'm outta here!" He shouted before walking away. However, he suddenly stumbled over a branch and fell flat on his face.
"...It seems the child is in need of assistance…" Jade muttered almost inaudibly "Very well." he said louder "Accept the apple we give you for your food, and we can lead you to the nearest village to gain your bearings. Will that be acceptable?"
The Torchic slowly stood from the ground. Finally, admitting his defeat, he spoke, "Fine. Let's get this over with."
"Hey… I don't recall asking. What's your name?" Raven asked.
"The name's Faia. I'm a Torchic." He muttered, "Would you believe me if I said I was once human for about … 2 months ago?"
"Uh… I- what? You're obviously serious about that statement, but… it sounds crazy. I thought humans only existed in myths or legends." Raven stated, confused.
"There are the occasional oddities in this world." Jade commented from the side "The Desolated City to the southeast, for example, looked like it had once been far more advanced than anything pokémon have ever built. As for humans, they are only mentioned in a few legends."
"Huh… that's… but how does a human just end up in the pokémon world, as a pokémon, no less? It makes it somewhat… difficult… to believe. But again, you are being serious… so…" The riolu rubbed her head in clear confusion.
Faia groaned, "I never said I was once human. I asked you if you would believe me if I said that." He spoke, "Can we get to the town now? I'm thinking about creating a request on the Mission Board soon after I got there."
Raven blinked at his response, even more confused at Faia's strange statement.
"...That is what we offered. Follow along if you wish to get to Meadow Village." Jade responded flatly, seeming not to have the highest opinion of Faia at this time. he began to walk off, motioning with his head to follow him.
Faia sighed, "Let's get this over with." He muttered, before deciding to go with the said person. Raven nodded and cheerfully darted after them.
Meanwhile…
After trundling along a worn down path that they had found for what felt like ages, the trees started to thin out and show the beginnings of a population. After a few more minutes, it finally began to be noticeable to the members of the small party traveling along it.
"Hey! Looks like we're getting close to civilization. Where are we, anyways?" Kyveli spoke up, the zorua stopping for a moment to shake something off her foreleg before running a little to catch up. As Kyveli came out of the brush of the forest, she stopped in awe as she simply stared at the foreign civilization presented before her.
Lily joined Kyveli's side on the small crest before the village, not seeming to be mesmerized by the setting in any way.
She could only stare as she watched the bustle of activity everywhere, and before she knew it, she was categorizing all the species that looked much different than the one she had been around.
The homes of this village seemed strange in Kyveli's eyes, as most were made of hollowed out trees. Many of the trees were colossal in size, easily making the two pokémon to appear as ants in comparison. Along with the trees, there were also large entrances to caves which were lit up from the inside with strange crystals that radiated with light. The village was plenty lively. Much different from the modern towns that Kyveli remembered.
Turning to the eevee, she asked the one question that was burning in her head.
"Where do we go from here?" The Zorua nudged Lily slightly, waking her up from her apparent trance. Lily just dropped her ears and looked at the ground, ashamed of something.
"I-I…" She drew in a large breath and looked at Kyveli sadly.
"I don't know. There's nowhere that we can stay without any money, and I don't have any and neither do you. W-We can ask around for someone who's nice enough to let us sleep in their house temporarily." She stutted out, shrinking away from Kyveli's gaze, believing it to be wrathful. Instead, she was met with a sympathetic look.
"Guess we're going to have to bother a few people." Kyveli sighed. She lifted a paw to continue on, but noticed that Lily wasn't beginning to follow.
"Is something the matter?"
The eevee shook herself from her thoughts and rejoined her place by the zorua's side, showing no evidence that she had just been blind to the outside world. She didn't look to be in the greatest of moods either.
Sighing once again, Kyveli plodded along the path and into the town of pokemon, leaving a watchful eye on Lily. She didn't like seeing her in a state like this, regardless that she didn't know her very well. Lily was traveling with her and that was a good enough reason.
"What do you mean I'm cursed!"
"Zorua's have always been known to become someone's loved one and deceive them, knocking them unconscious and stealing everything that they own!"
"But I don't know how to use illusions!"
"That makes you even more suspicious!"
THUD!
Kyveli sighed yet again in defeat, staring balefully at the door in front of her. She couldn't help it. Every house that they had come across and knocked upon or rung the bell came up with the same response. That she had come to steal everything that they owned. They never so much had spared Lily a glance, their attention focused on Kyveli and getting her out of their sight as fast as possible.
It had started to rain soon after they had entered the village, soaking them to the bone and making them search for shelter with a haste they never knew they had. No one was kind enough to let two pokemon who looked like they were going to rattle out of their skins at any second.
Letting her ears droop, Kyveli hung her head low, the rain dripping slowly off her head. She watched the little drops fall, marveling how simple their small lives were. Nothing could even be simple around her.
"Go on without me, Lily, you will have a better chance of getting into a place with your cuteness."
"My c-cuteness?"
"Aye. You should have no trouble getting someone to let you sleep in their home for a day."
Raising a hesitant paw, she cast Kyveli a worried glance. "You're not thinking of staying out in the rain by yourself, a-aren't you?" The zorua just sunk lower into herself, nodding slightly.
"B-but it's horrible out here!"
"I'll be fine. A little rain never hurt anyone." Shaking herself off, she began to walk down the trail farther, disappearing into the fog that resided around the village while rain was present.
"Kyveli," The little eevee whispered to herself, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. Kyveli didn't know, but she had been one of the only people who deemed a lost eevee worthy enough for her attention. It was a fleeting feeling, but it was gone altogether too fast.
Deciding that dealing with that female's unfathomable stubbornness wouldn't be good for either of them. Lily didn't even know where the strength to keep on asking people even when she was cursed out, attacked, and insulted every time she asked for a place to stay. But true to her word, she kept trudging on. A few times, Lily caught her murmuring something about not letting her friends rot in the rain, but she just shook it off as a wistful thought.
Why would someone like her want to be friends with a stray?
Setting her sights on the home of an Ursaring, she meandered over to it, trying to push her thoughts of Kyveli to the back of her head momentarily. The door was huge! Lily couldn't fathom how Kyveli did anything, but regardless, she had to do this.
Raising a paw to knock, she tried to swallow her anxiety and and give it a firm rap, but a little knot formed in her throat. She couldn't do it. She lowered her paw and let her ears droop, beginning to wander off to find the lost zorua.
"WHO'S THERE- Oh! It's you little cute thing you! Why are you out here in the rain by yourself?"
In a blurry instant, she was lifted from the ground and crushed into a hug that threatened to make her into a black hole, finding herself face to face with the not so intimidating face of an Ursaring.
If only she would stop nuzzling me, it would be even better. Lily dryly thought to herself, as she felt herself being smothered even more by the affectionate pokemon.
"U-Um excuse me?" Lily tried asking her, but didn't get a response.
"E-Excuse me, m-m-miss?" She tried again, finally getting the Ursaring to lift her head and look at her.
"You're c-crushing me!"
Oh, I'm so, so sorry!" The Ursaring exclaimed, dropping the poor Eevee on the floor and leaving her to cough and try to catch her breath.
Through her coughing, she thought she heard a pokemon scream, but dismissed it as her imagination. Kyveli looked strong enough, right? She probably had plenty of battle experience, despite the fact that she somehow couldn't use her illusions.
"Do you t-think that I could stay here on the floor until it stops raining, p-please?"
"Of course you can-" She was suddenly interrupted by another, louder scream from the same person as last time. The Ursaring perked her ears at the sound and let out a hearty chuckle.
Looks like that zorua got her comeuppance. Now, little one of-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lily was already out the door and sprinting down the street, but not before shooting the Ursaring a condescending look and sending a good chunk of dirt into her house for revenge. She was tired of all the people treating her like that!
"Kyveli!" She called out.
"I'm coming for you!"
Someone was going to find out just how much this furball could-
Kick.
Ass.
Raven: Woohoo! Chapter one is off and running! This collab defines chaos… Thanks for giving this chaos a chance! Pure, fun, organized chaos!
1MrGray: Thanks for reading.
WesternFail: Can chaos be organized? … Anyway, off topic, I hope you enjoyed our little collaboration here, it sure took a lot of time to get this first chapter up and running, criticism would be greatly appreciated, I hope you had fun reading this chapter.
Pigeoncracker: Hope you enjoyed! Fortunately for you guys, you've got me proofreading, so most errors should be obliterated. Unfortunately for you guys (And myself), I seem to have lost my semicolon key.
Aurorabeam: Thank you, Pigeoncracker. For another note, thank you for reading this Chapter. We appreciate your time to read this thing. Don't forget to review! Hopefully, we can do better in the next Chapter … Hopefully …
Magic Ball: Knowing schedules, things people have called lives, and how everything works out, I believe there is a 81.6782% chance that we might do better next time compared to this. Hope whoever reads this enjoys it
Hyperjade: Please tell us what you think of the chapter by reviewing. I don't know about this lot, but I adore reviews. For another point, if you enjoy our collaborative work, I believe that you would also enjoy the works we individually have. The collab profile contains links to many of our personal profiles or story, if you would like to check those out. Thank you all for reading, and have a pleasant day.
Meloncake6: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review and tell us what you think of it. Anywho, stay tuned for future chapters and have a good day.