Okay, so since I have an absurd amount of characters in my stories... I'll post a chart at the beginning of all the chapters, detailing which species the characters are in that chapter that aren't Team Firestorm. Unless it's a character's first reveal. Then I won't. For surprise, obviously.
Briar- Sceptile
Talis- Toxicroak
-Chapter II: Forests and Fire-
-Grovyle-
"What do we do, Amber?" Grovyle scowled and stared at her. He had wanted to stop Magnezone, but Amber had insisted that they stay out of police business. They had an assigned task, and their identity as Temporal Guardians had to remain a secret to all but Team Firestorm.
"We wait. Wigglytuff said that he will get Connor out, so that is what will happen."
"Are you sure? Even for him, that's a big task."
"He is the most powerful of us all. If the Mafia can break an outlaw out and frame Team Firestorm in the process, it will be simple for him to get Connor out without much trouble."
Grovyle grunted and clenched his fists. "I don't like this… Even if it is Wigglytuff, we shouldn't have let Magnezone take Connor in the first place."
"There is no point in bickering over it, my son," Briar replied after reappearing next to them. "What's done is done. Our duty is to protect them… If their leader is arrested… We must compensate for the horrible turn of events by applying even greater effort. And I have every intention of doing so."
"But how? How can we overcome this? Dialga said that this was our only chance to change this timeline's history again as Temporal Guardians, and now we are days away from failing."
Briar sighed and seemed to be in deep thought before murmuring, "I don't know…"
"But why did this plan fail? You said doing going to Treasure Town was the best chance at success." Grovyle questioned. "That should have worked!"
"I said it was the best chance. Not a good chance. I anticipated that something along these lines would happen. When the Mafia hadn't found us near Drenched Bluff, it obviously meant that they were up to something else for the time being. I just didn't anticipate the police turning against Connor so easily."
"...What now, Amber?" Galvantula asked.
"We find them and protect them." The pitch-black Charizard replied.
"By splitting up?" Grovyle questioned. "That's the only way we can get to them all in time. We've already tested Dialga's patience with our temporal manipulation. Doing so again for an extended period of time without any immediate danger to ourselves would leave him less than pleased." he sighed and looked to the ground momentarily, trying to think of a solution.
Dusknoir grunted softly, then spoke up. "Amber, I do not suggest splitting up. Even for the Temporal Guardians… Without your temporal manipulation, it is a dangerous journey."
Tyranitar growled and began walking faster. "Then we go get to them as a group, one at a time... before it's too late."
-Caroline-
"Guys, this isn't funny! Seriously Roy, you'd better not be using nightmare as a prank, or you're gonna get a lung full of poison powder when I see you!"
She looked around at the semi-dense forest she was in and took a deep breath. "Listen, there's no way Connor would be arrested, and no way we'd all be separated. But I'll act as if it's real for a little while, alright? I'll play your game."
She sighed and laid down underneath the shade of the nearest forest shrub, ducking down to avoid scraping the top of her head. She exhaled heavily, and dozens of thorny vines as thick as ropes emerged from the ground and formed a chamber around her. She shook her head and tried to stand up, but yelped as a single thorn embedded itself in her head. "I didn't want to do that! I wanted regular vines! Thorny plants are so ugly!"
"Have you ever seen a Rose? Because I can't think of a prettier plant, to be quite honest."
She rapidly closed her eyes tight and shook her head. "No way… It can't be you…"
"Open your eyes, Caroline."
She opened one eye warily, and a familiar Marshtomp was sitting down next to her, smiling shyly. She gasped and teared up. "Ryder…? Is it really you?"
"Yep. Kind of shocking, isn't it?"
"Arceus, how are you even here?! You're in the other world! The… Our reality!"
"I was brought here yesterday by a weird-colored Delphox. Her fur was silver, and her dress was purple and pink. She said that you needed me."
"A silver Delphox…?"
Just like the one that brought me here… And took my strength two years ago. Is that even possible?
She pushed the thought away and smiled with joy at seeing her best friend for the first time in almost three years. "Arceus, Ryder, I'm just glad to see you again…" She leaned her head over his shoulder as tears rolled down her face. "But is it really you…?"
"Yes… Caroline, it's really me. We saved the world, remember?"
"I know… But… Okay, tell me something that only you would know!"
He smiled warmly and said, "Alright… When you found me, I was washed onto the shore at the beach so hard that I almost knocked you out."
After some consideration, she nodded. "Alright, fine. So what happened after I… left?"
"Nothing, really… After the whole Darkrai incident, one night I went to sleep and you weren't there the next morning. Then the day after that, some silver Delphox comes to the Guild and says that I'm needed somewhere else."
"Along with Team Veros." She hadn't intended to say that out loud, but that team was in their reality as well, as much as she hated to admit.
He shifted uncomfortably and stared at her for a moment. "What? They're here too?"
"Yeah… But I don't know how. I don't even really know how I got here, I just woke up and… you were gone. I saw another Mudkip and thought it might have been you, but it wasn't..."
"Regardless… What's going on? Why are you alone?"
"Connor… My leader, he… he was framed and got arrested. We were all separated."
"I heard from the Delphox that some big criminal organization is after you guys."
"Yeah… I don't even know why. I think Vulcan- er, my co-leader... his dad did something to make them mad, and now they're taking it out on us since they can't find him."
"That's not good..."
She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Tch! Tell me about it!"
She flinched as a raindrop fell onto her head, and Ryder chuckled. "You're still afraid of rain?"
"No!"
Another raindrop, and she exhaled deeply again and willed the plants to form a roof. "It just makes me uncomfortable," she murmured quietly.
"Alright, Caroline… You help me out by filling me in on what's going on, and I'll do my best to help you. After all, I'm pretty strong now! Not as strong as a Swampert, but still… I can help!"
Caroline nodded and grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you, Ryder."
-Talis-
"Ha-ha-ha! I mean, seriously! The police are still trying to figure out what happened! To be honest, I didn't think Victor would pull it off." Talis bragged to the Umbreon with blue rings that glowed with a gentle light next to him. They were both enjoying a drink at Malamar's Tavern along with a bunch of other members of the Mafia in celebration of Team Firestorm being separated. They weren't much of a threat now, so they had an off day to celebrate.
"Hmph. He has underestimated them for too long. I know that once he gets serious, he will crush them," the male Umbreon replied. "It's never been an issue before."
The Toxicroak sighed with a slightly annoyed groan. "Oh my gosh, Francis… How long have you been with these guys? Like what, eight, nine years?"
"A little over nine. I was one of the first members outside of the big four, alongside Zorro, Cas and Plague. Although the last two are dead, as far as we know."
"Really? Who killed them?"
"Some brat Pikachu that Victor was looking to recruit killed Cas, and I think Team Virus took down Plague after she went rogue a few years ago."
"Hmph. So you're saying that out of all the teams you guys have taken down, this team's the hardest one yet?"
"Yes. They are putting up more of a fight than any of us could have anticipated."
A new voice entered the conversation from their right. "Hey Talis, I heard that your team gets to go after one of the Firestorm runts!" An Arbok called out.
The Toxicroak smirked and leaned against the bartop. "Yeah, you heard right!"
"How'd you pull that off? I thought that Victor was supposed to be, like, putting the best of the best on the job!" the Arbok jested.
"Ah, shut up. My team is one of the best Victor's got. Especially since Gunther and Deros evolved. They can take probably down Caroline without me!"
"Is that so?" A new voice, definitely female, poured over the crowd of about twenty pokémon, hushing them all instantly. A stale, hot breeze blew through the window, making Talis' skin crack and dry out. (AN: Dry skin) "Yeah. We're like Victor's A-team," he replied with confidence. He smacked his lips in an attempt to stop the itching from the dried skin, but it didn't help.
"Huh. So you know where he is?" the door creaked open to reveal a silver-skinned delphox with a purple dress that had pink patches on the sides standing in the doorway. She was smiling and strode forward without looking around, and once she got close, he noticed that she was a full two feet taller than him, Dwarfing almost every other pokémon in the tavern. "Malamar, I'll have the usual. Extra Colbur and Passho, please. And light on the razz. I don't really like the aftertaste." She waved her wand gently, and the owner of the bar nodded with a smile. "Of course!" He got to work making some concoction of different red-colored berries while the strange-colored Delphox sat down next to him. After a moment of staring at him, she scraped a bit of dried skin off of him with the tip of her wand and curled her nose in disgust. "Have you ever looked into buying lotion? I know a Roserade that could get your dry skin fixed in no time."
Talis was caught off guard momentarily by her bold approach. "Sorry, but who are you? And how does Malamar know you?"
"Malamar knows a lot of people, darling. You'd be surprised. And telling you who I am right out of the gate would ruin the fun!" the Delphox replied with a smile.
Talis began concocting poison in his chin sac silently, and the Delphox giggled lightly. "Please don't tell me that you're thinking about attacking me! We've only just met!"
"Considering the fact that nobody in here except Malamar seems to know you, I'm considering it," Talis warned her.
"Oh... That's not a good idea. You see, I'm what you might call 'dangerous'."
"And you're outnumbered twenty to one by some of the toughest pokémon on Immanis." Talis countered.
The Delphox looked around slowly as the crowd of pokémon stared her down. Then she rolled her eyes playfully and turned back to him. "Hence the word 'dangerous'. You don't give that title to someone just because!" the Delphox sighed and dropped her shoulders momentarily. "I'm sorry, we got off on the wrong foot, Talis. My name is Valerie. The Valerie. The Shiny Mage, Mistress of Illusion, Maker of Magic, the Fallen Guardian, the Alpha Delphox, and a whole bunch of other titles that you probably don't care about. But enough about that. I thought that a tavern is where a woman goes to feel wanted."
"What's so special about you?" He questioned.
"Oh. You don't… know who I am." she seemed kind of disappointed, yet excited at the same time. "Let's have some fun with this, then… Has anyone in here met me before? Francis? Random Arbok in the corner?"
They all shook their heads slightly, but some of them started getting into fighting positions, even in their uncertainty. Valerie giggled some more and twirled her wand once, making a strange pattern out of mystical fire, like an X crossed with a curling flame in the center. "Okay, good… But since you insist on fighting... If I complete this symbol, everyone in here except Malamar will be nothing more than piles of ash in a moment."
His eyes widened as he realized what the symbol was, but before anyone could move, the symbol vanished, and she tapped her chin with her wand, as if she was considering something new. "Actually… I changed my mind. I'll play fair. It's much more fun this way."
Talis lunged at her and used sucker punch while her back was turned, but without even looking, she pointed her wand at him, and his entire movement slowed almost to a halt while she moved at a normal speed. She turned on her heels and walked up to him while he was frozen in place, his fist outstretched, and she tapped his side with the red-hot tip of her wand. He felt the searing pain, but his movement was so slow that his body didn't react until several seconds later. She sighed and unfroze him with a flick of her wand, causing him to crash into several pokémon that were also frozen. She smiled and lowered her arms as they all glared at her. "Boys, boys… Please, at least buy me another drink!"
Francis used feint attack and hit the back of her head, and she twirled her wand and threw him into the Arbok with some sort of telekinesis, which should have been impossible. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to hit a lady?" She used mystical fire, and the scarlet flames washed over the entire general area where Francis was. Before Talis could call out, Francis leapt out of the flames with a snarl and used payback. Valerie waited until he was mere inches from her, then raised her arm and disappeared. Francis gasped and looked around frantically as he landed on the ground, but she appeared in front of him and kicked him so hard that he was sent sprawling.
He got up and used dark pulse, but she used light screen and then double team, creating multiple illusory copies of herself that surrounded him on all sides. Francis used snarl while the rest of the pokémon were overcoming their surprise and finally starting to attack.
Valerie laughed as the end of her wand glowed pink, along with the wands of all of her illusory copies. "Hahaha! This is much more enjoyable than my original plan!" The Dazzling Gleam attack was unleashed, causing all of the pokémon in the bar to turn away from the blinding light. When Talis looked back, the original Delphox was holding Francis aloft in one arm while twirling her wand like a drum stick between her fingers in her other hand. "Tsk, tsk! Never take your eyes off of your opponent!" Her fist crackled with electricity, and Francis shouted in pain as the blue energy coursed through his body.
The rest of the pokémon in the bar rushed towards her, but she tapped her wand on the table and three pillars of fire erupted from the floor and expanded to form a wall of transparent flames, cutting the rest of the pokémon off from her like superheated windows. She threw Francis to the ground and turned to Talis with a bored look. "Talis, quick question: Team Virus?"
"Huh?" He exclaimed with a bit of confusion. Everybody else was trying to get through the fire, but he signaled for them to wait. "What about them?"
"Aren't they the best of the best? After all, they're Victor's lead operatives!"
"Well… We're the best behind them."
"So you're second-best? Darn… I thought I actually found someone useful."
Talis growled and used sludge bomb to put out the fire. Just after he threw up the purple ooze, it was enveloped in a pink glow and slung right back into his face before he could move. Then the Delphox levitated through the flames and said, "All of you except Talis, go ahead and take a nap. And when you wake up in a few hours, you won't remember anything about our little get-together. I want to chat with Victor personally."
All of the pokémon around her collapsed to the ground, and she turned away from him while he laid there, coughing up the poison sludge that had been thrown in his face. She grabbed the small glass off of the bartop and took a sip while the fires died down, and he couldn't help but notice that the fire hadn't burned the wooden tavern to the ground. Not even a single scorch mark was left behind from the white-hot flames that had burned him just a moment ago.
She smiled and winked at Malamar while holding out her glass. "It's lovely, dear. I think I've found a new favorite. And… please be a doll and don't tell the big four about this." Then she looked at her hand and gasped lightly. "Oops! I'm late! Sorry to cut it short, but i'm a very busy woman. Things to do, places to be! Ta-ta~!"
Then without warning, he lost consciousness as well.
Okay... So that just happened. Caroline found some help, and supposedly she's from a different reality... And the Delphox that just appeared is pretty strong. And she's a shiny, if you guys didn't get that from her silver skin. :P
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed! I'll be on my regular posting schedule starting tomorrow. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or theories about what might happen, feel free to leave them in the form of a review or PM! It's always appreciated! Much Love!
-PL
