Chapter Two: The Littleroot Beast

Littleroot Town

After running for a while, Dennis finally stopped to catch his breath, gasping for air. Looking behind him, Dennis noticed that the Poochyena was no longer chasing him. He also noticed that there were several buildings in front of him and that he was leaning against a sign that read "Littleroot Town"

"Hey voice. What is this place?"

First of all, my name is Dexil. I meant to properly introduce myself before, but then I detected that Poochyena's presence and decided to disable your ability to talk out loud temporarily. As for this place, this is Littleroot Town, a town in Hoenn infamous for being the home of Professor Birch, the leader of the Petalburg Gym Norman Ruby, and his son, Brendan Ruby, who is the Hoenn champion. However, it would appear that my data is outdated as I see no signs of human life and all of the houses are in a state of disrepair. We must find a source of information if we are to safely continue throughout the region.

"Well, that does explain why my voice doesn't seem to work. Anyway, why do we need to know anything about this region? What are we even supposed to do?"

Our objective is to defeat all Gym Leaders from what my programming tells me. Clearly, we were meant to challenge the League. However, further details of our mission have been erased. This is also why we need a source of updated information. From searching our mind, we apparently have lost almost all of our memories. The only thing you have is your name, gender identification, sexuality, and knowledge of how your body works and your personal, physical strength. The only thing I have is my name as well, along with apparently outdated information of Hoenn, it's Pokemon, and it's more significant human inhabitants. Therefore, we must create a customized mission of our own to find out who we are.

"Alright, I can see why a source of information would be important then. But first, can I have my voice back?"

Certainly. However, I advise you to be silent. We don't know what could be here...

"Okay, Dexil." Dennis thought as he felt his ability to speak return before he looked around. There were three buildings, each one in a state of disrepair and covered in vines, and the one to his right even had a large hole in it. The one to the left wasn't as bad, but it still didn't look like it would have anything that could help him. The final building, however, looked to be some sort of lab.

Very accurate guess, Dennis. That is indeed the lab, or rather, the former lab of Professor Birch. It will most certainly have a computer that is connected to the internet and the PC, and perhaps a Pokedex, which would certainly help us in our mission. It is advised that you proceed with caution though.

"Noted" Dennis thought before he walked between the two houses, being sure to carefully watch for anything suspicious. He wasn't careful enough though, for he didn't notice something come out of the hole in the house on his right, which stared out at him with eyes that were filled with anger and malice...

Littleroot Pokemon Lab

The inside of the lab was an absolute mess. Books were scattered across the floor, and supplies had fallen out of a nearby desk, which was turned over on it's side. Clearly, the lab had been abandoned in haste a long time ago, the inhabitants obviously not having time to get out in an organized fashion. Dennis briefly wondered what could have scared everybody off, but dismissed this thought once Dexil pointed out that there was a computer ahead. Walking between the two empty bookshelves, Dennis saw a laptop on a desk over to the left, a strange machine that neither he or Dexil knew the purpose of, and a table with a strange object to the right. Dennis walked over to the computer, deciding to look at the object after he got done with the problem of the computer.

"So how do we do this exactly?"

Simply take the necklace you're wearing and place the crystal on it near the slot in the laptop's right side.

Dennis looked down at the object around his neck with surprise. Clearly, he didn't notice it until just now. The silver necklace was made up of a string of small circles that wrapped around his neck. Directly in the middle of it was a larger ring with a small, multicolored orb that connected to a small, intricate piece of metal that held a long, dark-purple crystal by several, vine-like strands of silver that crossed each other in an intricate pattern. Taking it off, Dennis placed the purple crystal near the slot on the side of the laptop, then jumped back as the crystal suddenly morphed itself into a rectangular shape that could fit into the hole, the lines of silver changing to hold it appropriately. He was even more surprised when the necklace, instead of falling onto the desk like he expected, levitated itself over into the slot and fit itself into it. Once it was in the slot, the open laptop suddenly turned on, showing several images flashing across the screen too fast for the eye to follow.

Excellent, the information is being gathered together at an acceptable pace. It will take approximately five minutes.

"Alright, I'm going to go look at this thing over here," Dennis thought as he walked over to the table, and looked at the sphere on it. It was small enough to fit Dennis' hand comfortably, and was divided into two halves. The top side was red, while the bottom was white, and there was a small white circle in the middle.

That's a Pokeball. It's used to catch and contain Pokemon. It is a pivotal part of a trainer's journey. Judging by the labs database, this one contains a Torchic, the usual fire type starter of Hoenn. It is level 5, male, has a brave nature, is able to use Growl, Scratch, and Ember, and...has been in there for fifteen years.

"Fifteen years?!" Dennis thought in alarm. "Is he okay? I mean, would something like that hurt him or something?"

No need to worry. Pokeballs act as sort of cryogenic freezing chambers. They maintain the health of any Pokemon in them, making them immune to any disease with some exceptions such as the Pokerus. If the Torchic is let out, he will not have aged a day. The only case of a Pokemon dying in a ball is when the Pokeball was crushed, and that can only happen under extreme pressure nowadays. However, if we are to complete our mission, it would be extremely to have a Pokemon.

"Would he even listen to me if I took him with me though? I mean, he doesn't know me in any way, shape, or form."

I will be able to create a basic trainer card for you from this laptop. Luckily, this computer specialized to do both that and register Pokemon and their balls to a trainer's card, so he should listen to whatever command you give in battle. Outside of that, he will only listen to you if you gain his trust. I suggest you talk with him and explain the situation to him. You should have enough time. I need only two more minutes to finish gathering the information we need.

"Sounds like a plan." Dennis said before holding up the Pokeball, and pressing the small button on it, letting out the orange, chicken-like Pokemon with a small pop, which looked around the abandoned lab in confusion before focusing on Dennis.

"Hi there little man, my name's Dennis," Dennis said to the Torchic as he crouched down, feeling only slightly ridiculous talking to a Pokemon. "Listen, I know you're probably very surprised to see...this," Dennis said before waving his hand around the room. "But just know that I'm just as confused as you are about all this. So I guess since neither of us know what's going on, we can help each other to find out," he said with a small chuckle

The Torchic tilted his head and chirped questioningly in a clear sign that he didn't fully understand what Dennis was talking about exactly.

"Yeah, I guess I should explain it more fully," the red-haired boy replied, realizing that the Pokemon was asking him to elaborate. "Well, the thing is, and don't freak out on me here, you were apparently in this Pokeball for fifteen years."

To say the Torchic was surprised was an understatement. His eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to comprehend this shocking news.

"Yeah, I know, it's really surprising," Dennis said as he tried to calm down the chicken-like Pokemon. "But I'm sort of in a situation like yours. I have absolutely no memories of who I am, and the only thing I have is an annoying voice in my head that talks really weirdly most of the time."

HEY!

Dennis ignored Dexil and continued speaking with the Torchic. "I realize that you don't really have anybody to tell you what fully happened though, so I'd like it if you could come with me so that we can figure it out together. What do you say?" Dennis asked, holding out his hand. The Torchic stared at Dennis for a few seconds, considering his offer, before smiling(or as much as he could with a beak), put one of his talons in Dennis' hand, and shook it slightly, chirping as he did so.

"Great to have you aboard," Dennis said with a smile. "Do you have a name?"

The Torchic tilted his head to the side before shaking his head no.

"Then I guess I should give you one," Dennis replied before taking a moment to think about it. "How about...Markus."

Torchic considered this name for a few seconds, chirping quietly to himself, presumably saying Markus in his own Pokemon language, before nodding vigorously in agreement.

"Alright, Markus it is then," Dennis grinned.

Where did you get a name like Markus from?

"Where did you get a name like Dexil from?" Dennis thought back.

Touche. Anyway, I've finished gathering all the data we could possibly need and I'm afraid we must get out of this town as quickly as we possibly can.

"Why?"

Well, I found out there's a reason this town was abandoned. Dexil then proceeded to talk about what we had discovered, Dennis' eyes growing wide with surprise and fear with every word.

"Oh no, we need to haul it out of here then," Dennis thought before looking back down at Markus, who was watching Dennis with confusion during the entire mental conversation between the two that he had no idea about. "Alright Markus, I just heard from my friend that there's something very dangerous going on here, so we need to get out of here as fast as we can. So I'm going to need to return you to your Pokeball for a while, alright?" Markus looked up at Dennis with concern, but nodded yes after a second. Dennis then pointed the Pokeball at the chicken-like Pokemon, which was zapped back in with a small red laser. Once inside, the Pokeball shrunk down to a size small enough that the boy could place it in his pocket. Dennis then got up and walked over to the computer where his necklace was, along with a small plastic card showing some information about him, most of which he knew from Dexil to be fake, sticking out of a larger yet narrower slot in a small device next to the laptop. He grabbed both of these things, putting his necklace back around his neck and the trainer card in his right pocket along with Markus' Pokeball.

"You made sure to register Markus to the card, right?"

Of course. I also registered five Pokeballs to it as well which are in that machine over to your right. Apparently, that's what it's used for. If we're going to challenge the league, we'll need more than Markus.

"I understand," Dennis replied before walking over to the machine, sliding the blue glass over, grabbed five shrunken down Pokeballs, and placed them in his other pocket. The red-haired teenager then walked between the bookshelves to the door. Before he could reach it though, he suddenly heard a rumbling growl from outside. He immediately changed direction, putting his back against the wall at the side of the entrance that the door wasn't blocking and glanced out of it from the side. From there saw a large, blue...thing that was almost as big as the lab itself looking around the area in front of the lab.

"Dexil, what is that?"

Unknown. Subject's general features resemble a Swampert, but it's shape is completely different. It does however match the reports that were given of the monster that I spoke of before.

"Okay. So what do the reports say about it's senses?"

Survivors of the Littleroot Incident reported that it's hearing, sight, and smell were very poor. However, many hypothesized that it had a unique sense of...

Dexil was suddenly interrupted by the beast roaring into the sky before grabbing the walls of the lab and ripping the entire front of it clean off the ground to reveal Dennis.

...heat-detection...

The beast then threw the entire wall off to the side where it shattered into many pieces and then roared at Dennis as he turned around to see the monster raising one of it's massive fists to strike him down. Bracing himself for the strike, Dennis put his hands above his head and closed his eyes, praying for a quick and painless death as he waited for the crushing weight of doom...But it never came. Instead, Dennis heard a small popping noise coming from his pocket, followed by a just as small growl. Opening his eyes, Dennis saw Markus standing in front of the monster growling at him.

"Markus...?" the red-haired boy said with just as much shock and confusion as the beast in front of them had on it's face.

It tilted it's head to the side as it clearly wondered whether this Torchic was extremely brave or extremely stupid. Either way, he didn't seem to fear it, which apparently amused it to no end as he made a laughing noise that sounded like an avalanche before glowing with rainbow colored light and shrinking down into a smaller form.

So it was a Swampert, Dexil spoke in Dennis' mind as both they and Markus looked at the monster in confusion, which walked past them and went back into the hole in the house it apparently came from. Dennis meanwhile stood in complete shock at what had just happened as his Torchic jumped up and down in a victory dance, apparently very proud of, in his mind, scaring away the monster.

So...we should probably get going now...

"Agreed," Dennis confirmed, snapping himself out of his reverie to pull Markus' Pokeball out and send him back inside. He then ran as fast as he could through the town and back into Route 101, not pausing to look back even once...

Brendan's House

Swampert crawled back into the house through the hole, still chuckling from the Torchic's courage. When he evolved, he would make a fine battler, and Swampert was secretly hoping that trainer would get strong enough to challenge him. "Although," Swampert thought as he looked at one corner of the room. "I wouldn't mind if he didn't either. I rather like my life as it is without any disturbances." Over in the corner of the room the giant Mud Fish Pokemon was looking, a Meganium was laying down sleeping, not disturbed by the noise Swampert made earlier, next to several green and blue eggs. A Torkoal was also sleeping nearby, using his Flame Body ability to warm the eggs up. Above them, a Togekiss was sitting down on top of a cabinet, watching over them both. When the white, bird-like Pokemon noticed Swampert, he smiled and waved with his wing in greeting at the large, blue Pokemon, who nodded back. In the other corner, an Absol sat at the base of the stairs, diligently watching the entrance to the house without even a single blink.

Looking at each of these Pokemon, all of which he had for so long considered his family, Swampert again thought of the trainer he had seen earlier, and he found the more he thought about him, the less he seemed to be able to think about anything else. There was something about that trainer, how he had been able to gain that Torchic's trust that it would have attacked something as big as him, that made him remember another trainer, one who gained his trust just as easily...

Coming to a decision, Swampert walked out of the house and made a strange sound that echoed through the forest, yet could not be heard by the human ear. A few minutes later, a giant silver and gold Metagross landed in front of him, having levitated out of the nearby forest. It made a mechanical sound that seemed to question why Swampert had called it there. Swampert replied in his own more organic and rumbling voice, explaining all that had happened that day, and what he wanted Metagross to do. Metagross nodded before disappearing, vibrating it's body so fast that it could not be seen, then proceeded to float over to Route 101.

Swampert, satisfied with his decision, went back inside and laid down on the other side of the pile of eggs, closing his eyes and letting exhaustion take him into his dreams...

A/N

It's as though a million feels all cried out at once, and were silenced. And yes, I put that egg scene there simply to pull at your heartstrings. Aren't I evil? XD Anyway, most of you probably guessed what would happen last chapter, and for those who didn't...well, I don't really know what to say. If it's not obvious by now that the Pokemon in Littleroot Town are Brendan's, then...there you go. Yeah, Brendan. You know, that guy who DIED in the first chapter along with Rayquaza from a Hyper Beam from Deoxys? Most of you probably don't remember that, so I was just reminding you all. After all, that particular plot point is going to be explored later on. And noo, he's not going to have miraculously survived. A human can't survive a Hyper Beam. A Pokemon could, but a human can't. Also, just to clear things up, this is not based on any of my runs from ORAS. This is all stuff that's happening in my mind. I don't actually have a Torchic with a Brave nature in my game. I've always been more inclined to Sceptile, and yes, that also means Brendan's team isn't my own either.

Before I go, I'd like to thank WriterBaboon for reviewing.

Anyway, until the next chapter, stay magical.