Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. Pokémon belongs to Nintendo and the Pokémon Company; Bakugan: Battle Brawlers belongs to TMS Entertainment, Spin Master, and Sega Toys. I do not own Pokémon, Bakugan, or anything belonging to their respective franchises.
(EDIT: 3/16/2014) A/N: Each chapter has a heading giving both location and date. Up to Chapter 5, the dates are exclusively in the Vestal calendar, which I have made up for this series. A link comparing the Gregorian and Vestal calendars is on my profile. Dates in the Gregorian calendar will be added in Chapter 5.
Chapter 1
Vestal Motherpalace
26th Day of Ananeosis, 30th Year of the Reign of King Zenoheld (26 Ananeosis, 30 Zenoheld)
In the throne room of the Vestal Motherpalace, King Zenoheld of Planet Vestal was conferring with his servants, the Vexos. As usual, Zenoheld was standing in front of his throne. His son Hydron, Crown Prince and second-in-command of the Vexos, was standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the throne. The rest of the Vexos were kneeling in a semi-circle before the dais.
"Time to make those involved with the destruction of the BT System pay for their crimes with the lethal powers of Professor Clay's Alternative Weapon System!" Zenoheld bellowed. "When it's completed, we will harness enough power to destroy Vestal and Earth! We'll be able to annihilate every living thing that dares to oppose us! We will be unstoppable! They will all weep such bitter tears once they feel the full force of my mighty wrath!" Zenoheld continued.
Earlier that year, King Zenoheld had conquered the world of New Vestroia, home to a species called Bakugan. However, a group of humans, Vestals, and Bakugan calling themselves the "Bakugan Brawler Resistance" stood against him and liberated Vestroia from his rule. When King Zenoheld tried to retaliate by deploying the BT System—a machine designed to eliminate all Bakugan within a six-thousand-kilometer radius—those same meddlers destroyed it.
Nonetheless, all the Vexos hearing King Zenoheld were shocked at what they heard. Was their king really willing to destroy two planets—one of them being their planet—in a bid for revenge? None, however, dared say a thing.
None, that was, except Volt Luster: "Excuse me, sire."
"Hmm?" replied the king.
"The original plan was to get revenge against the Brawlers who got us kicked out of Vestal," Volt said.
During the conquest of New Vestroia, the Royal Family had told the populace of Vestal that Bakugan were savage, unintelligent animals. Once the Vestals learned that Bakugan were actually intelligent beings, the outrage grew to such levels that the Royal Family, Vexos in tow, left the planet.
"This new mission of yours is wrong," Volt continued. "It involves the destruction of innocents. It's not cool to punish people who did nothing to harm us; I won't do it!"
"How dare you question me!" replied King Zenoheld.
"Disloyal scum!" exclaimed Prince Hydron, who immediately struck Volt, making him fall flat on his back. "You're a soldier, Volt, not a policymaker. All you need to do is be quiet and take orders, like a good little doggy."
Volt's eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw at the statement, but the only sound that came from the Vestal was a barely audible growl.
Later that day, Volt entered the Motherpalace's transporter room, a canvas bag over his shoulder. There was no way that he was staying there any longer. If Volt was a dog, then it was high time that this dog left his leash!
Waiting for him in the transporter room, however, was Mylene Farrow, another of the Vexos.
"Don't be foolish, Volt," she said. "You and I both know that he cannot be stopped when he gets like this."
"And you're OK to just sit by and let it happen?" Volt asked.
"I'm not saying I agree with him. I'm just saying that it's pointless to try and stop him; he's too powerful. Too crazy."
"Maybe so, but still, I can't be a part of this."
"You know what will happen if you leave."
"Hmph." Without another word, Volt headed for the transporter.
"Take care of yourself, Volt. Every move you make from now on, you'll have to be looking over your shoulder."
"Yeah, I know." Stepping on the transporter pad, Volt dematerialized, to be transported to his home on planet Vestal.
"Good luck, friend."
Back in the throne room, King Zenoheld heard that Volt had left the Motherpalace. "I just can't believe that insubordinate fool! Hydron!"
"Sire," replied the prince.
"One of your dogs has broken free of his leash! Take care of it, immediately!"
"Of course, sir."
Volt had managed to run away from the Vestal Motherpalace, but as promised, one of Zenoheld's flunkies followed him back to Vestal. Volt had valiantly fought back, but at the end, he found himself a victim of one of the most heinous devices ever conceived by Vestal science: the Death Bomb. Once caught inside the event horizon of the vortex that it created, there was no escape, only the impending banishment in the far reaches of the dimension. The last words he would hear on Planet Vestal were from Prince Hydron, saying, "Enjoy your suffering!"
Unlike the interdimensional portals created by Vestal ships, the Death Bomb's vortex was oppressive. Instead of the usual bright tunnel, all that surrounded Volt was a pressing blackness, as if he were in the throat of a giant monster drawing its Vestal-sized morsel towards its stomach. Whoever designed the Death Bomb certainly knew how to make even the voyage seem like a foray into hell. What horrors awaited on the other end of this interdimensional esophagus?
After what seemed like an eternity, Volt saw a pinprick of light in the distance. Well, thought Volt, it's time to see what type of suffering Prince Hydron has in store for me. He had better have sent me to some remote planet in some backwater galaxy, because otherwise, he will not have seen the last of me!
Unfortunately for Volt, the Death Bomb had one more surprise in store. The other end was not near the surface of the planet, but instead a few yards above it. Thus, when Volt emerged from the vortex, the first sight that greeted him was the rapidly approaching ground.
Unknown Dimension
26 Ananeosis, 30 Zenoheld
When Volt came to, he surveyed his surroundings. He was lying on a grassy field, not unlike those of New Vestroia. In the distance, he could see trees and mountains. The air was breathable, not oppressive in the slightest. Above him was a blue, cloudless sky.
If I wanted to send someone somewhere to suffer, I would have sent him to some far-off, barely-habitable planet! thought Volt. But this planet looks nothing like a place of suffering. In fact, this place looks almost idyllic! Was the inventor of the Death Bomb planning on boring the banished to death?
Well, whatever the situation is, it's useless to just stay here. Best to figure out where I am. Perhaps there may even be a way back to Vestal.
Volt got up and started to walk forward, continuing to survey his surroundings.
Even though I am no longer welcome at the Motherpalace, I know that there are still people on Vestal who still admire me as a Bakugan brawler. I could easily find a place to lay low. Or maybe I could join the Resistance; they certainly would not want to see their planet blown up by a mad king on a bid for revenge!
Hah. Me, joining the Resistance. What irony! Everyone in the Motherpalace would think that I was long gone, only to find out that I was hiding right under their very noses. Or even better, that I was now fighting against King Zenoheld right under his nose!
A strange sight took Volt out of his reverie. It was a small red bug. It had six legs, the front two being the largest. It had big, blue-scleraed eyes, and two teeth on each side on its mouth. But the weirdest thing about it was that it had mushrooms growing out of its back.
Whatever it was, it seemed to have been spooked as the tall, bulky, peach-haired humanoid continued to approach it, because before Volt knew it, the bug was shaking its mushrooms, causing a huge cloud of orange dust to spread out. Deciding that the dust was likely a defense mechanism, Volt covered his nose and mouth and started running as far away as he could from the bug and the cloud that it was emitting.
When he felt that he was far enough away, he turned around. The bug was gone. But at the very least, Volt knew that he wasn't on New Vestroia. That bug was no Bakugan; it was way too small for that.
However, a bug that could emit spores from its back did not look like any animal species that he knew of. Where was he? Were there more strange creatures like that? Volt decided to look around to see if there were any signs of intelligent life.
After running what felt like a marathon, Volt hid inside of a bush and was soon relieved to hear the buzzing noises fading away. If giant bees came out from every tree on this planet, it seemed to Volt that getting fruit was out of the question!
Over the past few hours, Volt had managed to avoid being gored by a bull that whipped itself into a frenzy with its three tails and being trampled by a rhinoceros seemingly made of stone. His current sprint was due to his latest encounter with the local wildlife: avoiding being skewered by the giant drill-like appendages at the ends of the front legs of a swarm of giant bees.
Enjoy your suffering! Was this what Hydron was talking about? Was he doomed to wander this planet forever, forced to survive until one misstep got him killed by one of these creatures?
As Volt tried to regain his composure after his latest brush with death, he heard a sound nearby. Fearing that the bees had returned, Volt readied himself to run again, but he soon regained his calm as the nature of the sound became clear: the sounds appeared to be that of conversation! Perhaps there was intelligent life on this planet!
Heading towards the noise, he saw that it came from three humanoids. Hiding behind a nearby tree, Volt listened in.
"We won't ask again, old man: where's the breeding ground?"
The question came from an aquamarine-haired male wearing a black long-sleeved shirt that had a red "R" on the front, black pants, a white belt, white boots that extended an inch above the ankle, and white gloves that extended an inch above the wrist. Standing next to him was a blond-haired female, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with a red "R" on front, a black miniskirt, white boots that extended past her knees, and white gloves that went up to the end of the shirt's sleeves.
The two were standing next to a bound old man who was seated on the ground. The old man was wearing khaki pants and a tan vest that was over a blue dress shirt.
The old man replied, "I told y'all before, and I'll tell y'all again: I ain't telling y'all! If y'all hadn't tied me up, I'd've ran the whole lot of ya out of here by now!"
"A feisty one, isn't he?" the aquamarine-haired male replied. "But you should know that it's only a matter of time before we find it ourselves, so you might as well save us the trouble."
"Do ya take me for a fool?" said the old man. "Y'all are in a hurry because the parents'll be on their way back here any minute! Time is on my side."
"Is that so? Who says that we don't have anything planned for them if they do show up?"
The old man saw past Aquamarine's bluff: "You. Ya have me all tied up here, and yer grunts have the run of the place. If y'all were so sure y'all had everything under control, ya wouldn't be wastin' yer time pesterin' me ta tell ya where the breedin' ground was!"
The blonde said, "We'll see about that. With or without your help, that egg now belongs to Team Rocket."
After overhearing the exchange, Volt was confused. What would be so special about an egg that someone would go through all this trouble? And what was "Team Rocket"?
Seconds later, Volt saw another humanoid, a male in a black uniform similar to that worn by the questioning duo, running up towards the duo. The uniform consisted of a long-sleeved black shirt with a red "R" in the front, a black beret, black pants, gray boots, and gray gloves. Attached to his belt were small balls—red on one half and white on the other—that were little bigger than a Bakugan in ball form.
This new humanoid saluted the other two black-clad ones and reported, "Sir, ma'am, the dive team has found the breeding ground. It was in a lake a few meters to the northwest of here. The lake was difficult to spot because of all the cliffs around it. They found the egg and are bringing it to the copter as we speak."
Upon hearing the news, the blonde said to the old man, "Well, thanks for the chat, but it seems like we don't need you anymore. We'll be taking our leave now. Bye!" The three black-clad humanoids then ran off to the south.
Once the three were far enough away that Volt thought them out of earshot, he came out of hiding. The old man, hearing the rustling, cried out, "Hey! You over there! Come over here and untie me!"
Volt approached the old man and asked, "Who are you?"
"M'name's Kaiser. I'm the proprietor of this here Safari Zone," Kaiser answered.
"Who tied you up?" Volt asked.
"That would be Team Rocket, that bunch of no-good Pokémon thieves!" Kaiser replied.
"Pokémon?"
"Yeah, but not just any Pokémon. They look specifically for rare and powerful ones, and there're few Pokémon in Kanto rarer, or more powerful, than a Dragonite."
"So that's a … 'Dragonite' … egg they stole?"
"Are ya gonna untie me, or are we gonna play Twenty Questions? Yeah, that's a Dratini egg they just stole, and they're gonna get away with it if I don't stop 'em!"
Though people always thought of Volt as a musclehead, he was no dummy. Instead of pressing the question "What is a Pokémon?" Volt used what he heard to get a grasp of the situation. Apparently, he was in a place called "Kanto"; whether that was the name of this planet or just some region of it was not important now. "Pokémon" must be the collective name for the creatures living here, since "Dragonite" and "Dratini" are apparently types of "Pokémon." So those weird creatures that he had spent all those hours avoiding must have also been "Pokémon."
It also seemed that this human Kaiser cared about that egg that "Team Rocket" stole, so if Volt wanted to get any more answers from him, it seemed that retrieving that egg would have to be his first priority.
Volt started loosening Kaiser's bonds, which consisted of a rope binding his arms to his body, another rope tying his wrists together behind his back, and another rope tying his legs together.
After Volt finished freeing Kaiser, Kaiser said, "Thanks a lot. Now let's see if I can't catch them Rockets before they—"
Kaiser's sentence was interrupted by the sound of helicopter rotors powering up. He then ran towards the south, but did not get far before seeing the helicopter lift off and turn towards the west.
"Just my luck. They're gettin' away! Now how am I gonna stop them? How am I gonna get that egg back before its parents return?"
Seeing the helicopter flying away, Volt said, "I'll shoot it down."
Kaiser, incredulous, said, "Unless ya got a RPG under them clothes of yours, how are ya gonna shoot down that helicopter?"
Volt replied, "Like this."
Out of his cloak, Volt took a device that seemed like an oversized bracelet with a flat surface on one side, and clamped it onto his left arm, flat side out. He thrust his forearm vertically and said, "Gauntlet, Power Strike!" The flat side of the Gauntlet started to glow.
Volt then pressed a few buttons on the Gauntlet. A mechanical female voice replied, "Custom Battle Ability has performed a program update."
Volt then pulled what seemed like a white marble with yellow highlights out of his cloak. "Bakugan, Brawl!" he yelled, throwing the marble onto the ground.
"Bakugan, Stand!" Volt commanded once the marble stopped rolling.
The marble popped open into a figure that had arms, legs, and a horned head.
"Rise, Haos Boriates!" Volt commanded.
The ground around the marble began to glow. When the light waned, a sixty-foot-tall robot stood in the marble's place. The robot was predominantly white, with gold highlights. Its basic shape was that of a human, but with a head shaped like a bull's, which had gold horns that extended vertically from its temples. Each horn was as tall as the head itself.
Volt said, "Boriates, I want that flying machine shot down, not blown up. Aim for the tail and fire!" He then pulled a card out of his cloak and set it into a slot that had extended from the Gauntlet. The slot closed, and the mechanical voice said, "Ability card set."
"Ability, activate: Prometheus Cannon!" Volt ordered.
Two gun barrels extended from a box on Boriates' left forearm. Boriates aimed the cannon at the helicopter and fired.
Two yellow lasers issued from the cannon barrels and headed towards the helicopter. They grazed the tail, which began to smoke, causing the helicopter to go into a tailspin.
Kaiser watched the entire scene with mouth agape. Once he saw the helicopter begin to descend, he said, "Ya shot it down, but how're we gonna get ta them before they run away?"
As if on cue, Boriates bent down and lowered its right hand onto the ground.
Volt jumped onto the outstretched hand and said, "Climb on!"
"What?!" Kaiser exclaimed. "Ya want me ta get onto that thing?"
"Do you or don't you want to get that egg back?" Volt replied.
At that, Kaiser reluctantly climbed on. Boriates lifted its hand towards its left shoulder. Once the two humanoids were on its shoulder, Boriates started walking towards the downed helicopter.
At the crash-landing site, the Rockets had left the helicopter to survey the damage. The egg had survived intact, having been stored in a padded case.
"Report!" the blonde ordered.
"It appears that the tail rotor has been damaged, Ma'am," one of the grunts, the pilot, reported.
"How could that be?" she replied. "Did you cut into the path of some Flying Pokémon?"
The blonde's question was met by a series of thuds rumbling across the ground. Before long, the Rockets saw a giant bull-headed robot headed towards them. On its left shoulder were two people. One was unfamiliar to the blonde: a bulky man with peach hair, standing by the robot's head as if riding on its shoulder were second nature to him. The other figure—Kaiser—was clearly not as experienced, lying prone and holding on to the shoulder as if for dear life.
However, once the robot stopped moving, Kaiser stood up and crowed, as if he had shot down the helicopter himself, "Team Rocket, this here's Chaos Four-Eyed Hades—"
"That's 'Haos Boriates,' sir," Volt corrected.
"Whatever," Kaiser replied, and turning to the Rockets, he continued, "and unless y'all want another taste of the power that shot down yer helicopter, y'all return that egg!"
Aquamarine-hair was unconvinced. "Uh-huh. A sixty-foot robot. In the Safari Zone. Where could you possibly have hid a sixty-foot robot?" Turning to the grunts, he said, "Whoever has a Pokémon with Foresight, use it and tell us what's really going on!"
At that, one of the grunts took one of the tiny balls from his belt. Pressing a button in the middle, the ball expanded to about twice its previous diameter. The grunt then threw the ball to the ground, commanding, "Noctowl, use Foresight!"
When the ball hit the ground, the colored halves split apart, and out came what appeared to be a mass of white plasma, which coalesced into the form of an owl with huge eyebrows. Red spotlights then proceeded from its eyes. The beams, however, had no effect on Boriates or its riders.
Seeing that the sight before him was no illusion, Aquamarine, trembling, said, "Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." After picking up a ball from his belt, he threw it to the ground, saying, "Go, Aggron!"
Believing that attacks were soon to come, Volt had Boriates help him and Kaiser get back onto the ground.
Emerging from Aquamarine's ball was a mass of plasma that coalesced into what looked like a seven-foot-tall bipedal dinosaur with dark-grey armor plating throughout, three claws at the ends of each of its limbs, and a silver head with horns extending from holes in the sides of the forehead.
"Aggron, use Thunder!" Aquamarine ordered.
At the command, a spark of electricity formed in between Aggron's horns. Three seconds later, a massive burst of electricity issued from Aggron, heading straight to Boriates …
… to no effect. Boriates didn't even flinch.
"What?" exclaimed Aquamarine. "It's a giant robot! How can electricity not affect it? Aggron, try Thunder again!"
Aggron loosed yet another bolt of Thunder, this time aiming for Boriates' head. The bolt made contact, but Boriates did not so much as move.
"So, immune to electricity, is it? Well, let's see how it likes a little Earthquake!" said the male.
At the word "Earthquake," Aggron jumped. When it landed, the ground started to shake. However, the shock wave was too small to make Boriates even flinch, much less lose its balance.
"Now that you see that your attacks are useless against Boriates, why don't you give up that egg? It is clear that you cannot win," Volt said.
"You want it?" said the blonde, who was holding the box. Throwing it towards the duo, she said, "Then have it!"
Volt and Kaiser scrambled to get the box before it crashed into the ground. Volt was the first to the box, and he caught it like a football player catching a pass.
While the two were scrambling for the box, the blonde ordered, "Retreat!" Needless to say, the grunts were eager to comply; there was no way that they were going to try their luck against that giant robot! By the time Volt and Kaiser recovered their wits enough to look for the Rockets, they had disappeared in a nearby wooded area.
"Well, it looks like them Rockets got away," said Kaiser. "Let's see if we at least got what we came for."
Opening the box, Kaiser found an eighteen-inch-tall egg, blue all over with a picture of a white fin on each of the sides.
"Yep, this is the egg we were lookin' for," Kaiser said. "Now let's bring it back ta its nest before its parents get home."
A/N: And thus begin the Vexos Chronicles. I am hoping for this to be a three-part series, with each part focusing on different lost Vexos.
For those of you who don't know who Kaiser is, he is the proprietor of the Kanto Safari Zone in the anime. He appears in one episode: The Legend of Dratini (episode 35 of the anime). The episode was banned in America for...a reason that will show itself in Chapter 3.
The Custom Battle Ability, whose only appearance is in the episode Volt's Revolt (episode 46 of Bakugan Battle Brawlers: New Vestroia), is an ability that is activated from the Gauntlet. It nullifies any subsequent abilities that the opponent tries to play, and allows the user's Bakugan to stay out of ball form even when the battle is over. For the purposes of this fic, the Custom Battle Ability also allows a Bakugan to appear full-size without the necessity of starting a Bakugan brawl. That's why I had Volt activate it before he summoned Boriates.
Many thanks to my beta, Outhra, for his help in the development of the Vexos Chronicles.
Constructive criticism and reviews will be highly appreciated. Please review or send a PM, and enjoy the next chapter!