Chapter 1 - Friend or Foe?

Disclaimer: There will be death, blood, and very loose swearing. You have been warned. Also, I don't own Pokémon.

"Are you sure the rumor you heard was right," the Sevine asked his partner as they walked on . path.

His partner, who was a Mawile, just sighed. "Yes. I'm positive. Besides, if the Order won't protect the smaller villages, it's up to us. So, if we hear anything, we should investigate it."

"What if it's a trap," the Servine asked.

"We have to take risks," the Mawile answered. "If we dont answer because we suspect it's a trap and it's not, then there's no reason for us to be doing this. But if it is a trap and we answer, we either stand our ground, or die fighting."

The Servine shook his head. "Well, if I had to choose, I'd prefer to live, thank you very much."

The Mawile chuckled. "I never said we have to die. I just said we have to take risks."

Dusk Woods

Eli suddenly woke up. He was breathing heavily. Ugh... My head..., he thought.

He then put his hand to his forehead, then panicked when he felt fur. Slowly, he looked down, and saw something he didn't expect. His body was covered in blue fur, and his hands and feet ended in .oooo fur. He then reached further up on his head, and discover he now had large ears. He olooked behind him and saw that he had two large blue and white tails.

Okay, I'm definitely not human any more, but how did I get here, Eli thought. I-I can't remember! What happened?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a growl behind him. He turned and came face to face with a Mightyena. Slowly, he stood up and began backing away. As he backed away, four more Mightyena appeared behind the first one.

Okay, not good. I'm at a disadvantage. I can't stay and fight, so I have to escape as soon as I can.

The Mightyena continued to approached slowly. Suddenly, the lead Mightyena tensed.

Now. Eli quickly turned and ran away from the Mightyena as it attempted to bite ooohim. As he ran, he heard the Mightyena howl. Soon, he began to hear the sound of them running.

Just need to keep running. Eli picked up his pace, dodging trees and fallen logs as he ran. Soon he saw thick brush. Quickly he ran through it.

On the other side of the brush, there was a dirt pathway that seemed to stretch through the forest both ways endlessly. He heard the Mightyena approaching, so he chose a direction and followed the path that way.

Keep running. Eli ran as quickly as he could down the path. The Mightyena then jumped through the brush onto the pathway. Damn. Just keep running. Soon, he saw two figures further down the path and ran towards them. As Eli came closer, the two figures finally noticed him. It was a Servine and a Mawile. They shared a glance, then noticed the Mightyena behind him.

Quickly, they charged the pack head on. The Servine quickly generated a large, green tornado and launched it at the Mightyena. It hit them dead on, incapacitating three of them. The Mawile clawed at another Mightyena, her arm coated in a silver light. The attack hit the Mightyena dead on, disabling it.

The final Mightyena dodged the two attackers and lunged at Eli. He instinctivooooely threw his arms up to shield himself. Suddenly, a greenish-blue bubble formed around him. The Mightyena ran into the bubble, hitting it hard enough to disorient itself. Quickly, the Mawile charged the Mightyena. She clawed at it, knocking it out.

As the bubble dropped from around Eli, he glanced around at the now unconscious Mightyena. He then glanced towards the Mawile and the Servine. They sure make a great team, Eli thought.

"Are you okay," a voice asked. Eli jumped at the sudden question. He turned around to see who had asked. It was the Mawile.

"Oh, um... I'm fine, I guess," Eli responded. I guess I really am a Pokémon. I can understand what they're saying.

"Hey Sara, how's the Meowstic," the Servine asked.

Meowstic, Eli thought. I guess that's what I am.

"He says he's fine," The Mawile, Sara, responded.

The Servine nodded. "Great. Now," he turned to Eli, "What were you doing out here by yourself?"

Should I tell them, Eli thought. I don't want to lie to them, and it's not like I know anything, so I can't make anything up. Eli sighed. "I-I can't remember..."

The Servine tilted his head. "You can't remember?"

Sara shook her head. "Leon, don't tell me you believe him."

"W-What," Leon asked. "What do you mean?"

"This could easily be a trap." Eli was silent. Please believe me...

"So, what do you propose we do," Leon asked

"We leave him to the Mightyena," Sara suggested. "They must've had a reason to chase him."

"Yeah, no. We're taking him with us."

"What?! Why would we do that?"

"Because, I believe him. So I'm going to help him." Eli sighed with relief. "Also," Leon added, "I believe it was you who said we should take risks." He then turned to Eli. "We can't help you get your memories back, but we can bring you to the nearest village. Just follow us." Eli nodded.

Sara shook her head, then began walking down the path again. Leon just chuckled and followed after her. Eli followed closely behind him.

Hours later...

"The sun's setting," Leon said to Sara. "We need to stop soon."

Sara nodded. "Let's find a spot to set up camp for the night." Eli nodded.

The three of them left the path and walked towards the edge of the woods. After finding the ideal spot, Leon and Sara began setting up camp.

For the first time, Eli got a good look at the pair.

Leon had a pair of goggles that rested on his head, and single leather strap across his body. He also carried a leather bag that was filled with what looked like herbs and berries.

Sara was a little shorter than Leon, and her forearms were wrapped in leather. Eli then noticed she had a scar across her chest.

Soon, they had a fire built, and were sitting around it.

"So, amnesiac," Leon began, "what's your name?"

"M-My name," Eli asked. "It's... Eli."

"Nice to meet you, Eli. As you've probably heard, my name's Leon." He then pointed to Sara. "And the rude Pokémon over there is Sara."

"Rude," Sara asked. "How?"

"Well, you suggested we leave Eli with the Mightyena back there. In my opinion, that's pretty damn rude."

"I just threw out a possibility. This could still be a trap."

"A trap," Eli asked.

"Yeah, well," Leon began, "Let's just say, Sara and I aren't exactly on the good side of the law."

"You mean, you and Sara are criminals?"

"Well, sort of. The law is after us, but we haven't done anything wrong."

Sara punched the ground. "The damn Order is the criminal."

"The... Order," Eli asked.

"The Order of Knights, or 'Order' for short, is the kingdom's peace keeping force," Leon responded. "They keep their form of peace by silencing any small amount of unrest. Leveling the origin point and killing both innocent and guilty Pokémon."

"They branded us outlaws for protecting the poorer villages," Sara said angrily. "We've been fighting against them for several years now."

"Wait, years," Eli asked, surprised.

Leon nodded. "We've been hunted by the Order for about three years."

"How have you not been caught?"

Leon grinned. "Intuition, my dear friend. That's all you need. Well, that and help from the villages we protect."

"We don't ask for anything in return when we help," Sara explained. "Sometimes, the villagers will offer us food, or even shelter for the night. That's how we survive."

"Speaking of food," Leon said, digging in his bag. He then pulled out three large, blue berries and threw them towards Eli and Sara, who caught them. "Sorry that it's not much. I only have these three Oran berries left."

"Th-Thanks Leon," Eli said. He then bit into the berry.

Hours later...

Soon, Leon and Sara fell asleep. Eli, however, couldn't stop thinking. I became a Pokémon somehow. I need to know how. And if I can reverse it. But, where do I start? He then looked at Leon and Sara. I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay with them for a while. All this worrying isn't going to help me fall asleep. I should just try to relax. Eli then began to let his mind wander and soon, he fell asleep as well.

The next morning...

Eli awoke to the feeling of something poking his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he turned over and came face to face with Leon.

"Wake up, it's time to start walking again," he said with a smile.

Eli stood up and shook himself awake. "Are you two always up this early," he asked

Leon shrugged. "When you're on the run, you can't sleep in." Eli chuckled.

"You good to go Leon," Sara asked.

"Whenever you are," Leon responded. Sara nodded and the three of them continued down the path.

After a little walking, Eli decided to finally get some answers.

"Hey, Leon," Eli said. "I have some thing to ask."

"Okay, what's on your mind," Leon asked.

"C-Could you tell me about where we are? Thanks to my amnesia, I don't remember anything about this place." Or this world for that matter, Eli added mentally.

"A history lesson, eh? I'd be happy to oblige." He then cleared his throat.

"This is the Kingdom of Aternia," Leon said. "This is the largest kingdom on the continent."

"The kingdom itself is split into three large provinces. There's the Greater North, the Eastern Plains, and the Mountains of Y'llas. all of which rely on the others to provide materials they need, but can't produce. The North provides lumber, the Plains provide food, and the Mountains provide coal and metal. All of the kingdom is ruled over by a king. And although we should have a royal hierarchy, the Order has taken control."

As Leon said that last sentence, the anger in his voice grew. He sighed, then continued. "The Order itself, however, is also a hierarchy. The highest position you can obtain in the Order is Grandmaster, who is in charge of all knights in the kingdom, and is. the king's right hand. That is then followed by Generals, who are in charge of all knights within a section of the kingdom. There are three Generals within the Order, one for each province. Then, there's the Captains, who are in charge of all knights within a defined area. There's at least fourty or fifty captains within the Order. And finally, there's the Officers. They are in charge of all knights within a city."

Leon looked at Eli and paused when he saw his expression. "Am I going to fast?"

Eli shook his head. "It's just a lot to take all at once."

"All right then. I'll stop for now. I will tell you the rest later."

"I-I'd also like to know where we're headed now."

"Well, we're headed to a village named Shade. And before you ask why, I'll have to keep that to myself."

He still doesn't totally believe me, Eli thought. I was hoping he trusted me at least a little.

Eli then nodded and the two of them walked in silence.

Hours later...

The sun was now overhead, and Eli, Sara, and Leon had been walking nonstop. Then, their prayers were answered. The entrance to Shade had just come into view.