Chapter 1- Calm and Serene
In which Z meets new allies.
"HYAH!"
I rode in upon my faithful Skidoo through town, pulling on her reins to bring her to a stop. The Pokemon whinnied, nuzzling my maroon jacket. I smiled, scratching under her chin, "Epona, wait here. I'm going to go inside a store for supplies."
With that, I entered a small store in the town.
It was the next day. I had chosen to begin my adventure in Aquacorde Town. It was a beautiful town, I give it that, but I wasn't there for sightseeing. I had decided what I was to do. I would beat all 8 Gyms in Kalos, challenge the Kalos league and hopefully win. That was the plan. No distractions. No diversions at all. What's the worst that could happen?
Epona scratched herself with a small hoof, licking some small insects off the small patch of grass on her back happily. The Skidoo let out a small sigh, watching a small group of children run past, the two eldest ones carrying a briefcase of some sort...
Suddenly, a man in red ran past, knocking out the boy in the blue and girl in red. He snatched the case and began to make a break for it. Epona cried out, lowering her head and charging blindly at the enemy.
I came out of the store, licking an ice-cream, "Mmm. Hey, Epona, want some- EPONA!"
The little goat head butted the Team Flare Grunt, knocking him into the air. This gave me time to run over, snatching the suitcase off the fallen grunt.
"AND STAY DOWN!" I barked. Epona nodded, sticking out her tongue at him.
I walked back to the store, carrying the briefcase, "Hmph. Asshole... Making me drop my ice cream... Good work, though, Epona." The little goat happily called out her name, nuzzling my leg.
"THERE HE IS! GET 'IM!"
Suddenly, the boy in blue jumped me, growling. I yelped, "AAAAAHHH!" This was then followed by several more kids piling on top of me.
"NO! TIERNO! DOOONNNN'TTTTT!"
"YAAAAAAHHH!"
SLAM!
Everything went black after that.
...
"...diot..."
Ugh, my head...
"...Not...fat..."
Mmf... Shut up...
"...AND NOW HE'S DEAD! DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL! ALL BECAUSE MR TIERNO HERE DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO JUMP ON HIM JUST BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!" a female voice shrieked.
"Y, c...calm down!" a male voice called out, "I think he may be okay! I...I think!"
I groaned, "Ugh... Random girl, you're too loud..."
"See?! What did I tell you, Y! He's okay!"
"Shut it, Tierno!"
Suddenly, a pair of faces came into view. One was a black-haired boy wearing a dark red hat with black sunglasses, the other was a blond girl wearing a red bucket hat with white sunglasses.
"Are you okay?" the girl asked, wide blue eyes looking over my body. I weakly nodded, "Yeah... I think... Who... Who are you two?"
The boy helped me up, "I'm X. The bipolar girl's Y. We are both trainers... well, we're going to be." I stared, "Wait... X... and Y? Is this some setup?" X tilted his head, "What setup?"
I dusted myself off, "The name's Z. I'm also going to be a trainer. Put all our names together..." Y giggled, "XYZ! Well, coincidences happen a lot. I suppose we were all fated to meet like this!"
"Just letting you know, their real names aren't X or Y. X is actually Xavier Calem, while Y is Yolanda Serena." a brown-haired girl explained behind Y. Both mentioned scratched the back of their heads sheepishly, "Aw, don't be a spoiler!"
I smiled, "Seeing as we're all revealing identities here, I suppose I can let you know mine, then. Real name's Ed. Edward Auditore da Firenze. But that's confusing, so just call me Z. So... Who are the little kids? They yours?"
(A.N. Assassin's Creed joke... Ezio's last name is also Auditore da Firenze... *Jumps off a building into a haystack*)
Y laughed, "I wish! Not because I explicitly like them, but I just would like to be... nevermind! The orange haired one's Trevor, the girl is Shauna, and the fat guy (Who NEARLY KILLED YOU!) is Tierno."
Tierno growled at Y, "I already apologized, Y! Grr...If you weren't keeping us on the edge of our seats about that briefcase you got in the mail..." Y laughed, "Sure, sure. Okay. I think you all want to see what I called you all here for. Well... TA-DAH!"
She held up the iron briefcase with the grey pokeball logo, "I got this in the mail today addressed to both X and I!" X massaged his temples, "Pokemon Lab, Luminose City... What would they want with us?"
"HELL IF I KNOW! LET'S CRACK IT OPEN!" Shauna squealed, unable to rein in her excitement. Arceus, that girl is loud!
X nodded, undoing the left latch. Y undid the right...
"POKEMON!"
I peered in, spotting three pokeballs. They shone in the morning light, sunlight reflecting off red steel.
X whistled, "Our starters! Gee, our application for our starters was successful! Adventure, here we come!" Y turned to me, "Thanks for saving them from Team Flare! I can't imagine what horrible crime they were planning to enact with these little guys!" I sighed, "There are two of you... And three Pokeballs... That means one will go unchosen... That sounds kinda sad, doesn't it? One Pokemon not getting to travel around out of each batch..."
X placed a hand on my back, "Z, that's just how the cookie crumbles... We can't choose without leaving one behind. Still, we need to pick one to travel. That's the way it goes."
"AGH! GIT BACK 'ERE!"
"SWEET MOTHER OF BLUE THAT GIRL IS FAST!"
I spun, as the Team Flare Grunt from earlier ran away, a girl in red hot on his tail. The grunt held a white backpack in his hands, dashing away. The girl lowered her head, sprinting headlong with practiced technique at the terrorist.
She suddenly reeled, realizing the grunt had sent out a Houndoom. She edged back, as the Grunt continued to run...
"From now on, you are sworn to protect those who can't protect themselves!"AZ's voice echoed in my head.
It was all so sudden. I can't even remember whipping around. But in passing, I recall a red flash as my hand snatched up a ball from the case, called out an apology to the shocked Y, and began to run. The world around me blurred, as I leaped up to gain more height over my opponent, sending out whatever was in my pokeball...
A flash of red flames!
Orange and yellow fur. Amber eyes. A short fluffy tail. And a tuft of yellow fur on his head. I swung my fist forward, "USE EMBER!" He obliged, spitting flames!
Houndoom reeled, falling back due to the heat. I wasted no time in calling out my next move, "TACKLE! GET HIM INTO THE AIR!" The small pokemon ran forwards, upper cutting the much larger dog.
"HYAH!" Both of us yelled at the same time, slamming the Dark-type into the ground swiftly.
It lunged forwards for one final attack, striking my Pokemon directly on the forehead, leaving a small X shaped wound. My Pokemon screamed in pain. I drew my blade, "HYAH!"I smacked the Houndoom, knocking him out with the flat side.
I spun my sword, sheathing it.
The girl on the ground grumbled, "I had that." I smiled, shaking my head, "Y'know, most girls would thank someone after they save them." The woman growled, "I am not most girls. I'm going after that Team Flare asshole!"
With that, she leapt up and dashed off. I grumbled, "What does she think I am, chopped liver?"
"I FOUND YOU! GIMME BACK MY WORK!"
The girl had cornered the grunt in an alleyway, and was now yelling at him.
"No chance in hell!" the grunt laughed, "With these vital Power Plant Schematics, Team Flare can take over the Kalos Power Plant flawlessly for our plans!" The girl roared, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I'M A FREAKING POKEMON GO PROGRAMMER! THAT IS MY LAPTOP AND POKEPAD YOU ARE STEALING! HOW ARE THE PLAYERS SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY IF WE DON'T DELIVER THE UPDATES TO PROPERLY PATCH OUT BUGS?! I WORK ON FREAKING CLOUD COMPUTING AND DESIGN! HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND THE POWER PLANT SCHEMATICS?!"
The terrorist blinked, "Huh? B...But the Boss said... The girls were easy targets..."
"I CALL DESCRIMINATION! YOU AND YOUR SKINNY DIPPERS ALL DIE TONIGHT!" the girl screamed, "YAAAAAHHH!"
I landed on top of the grunt before the girl could do sizable damage on his groin, "Nice moves." She scoffed, "Asshole... Whoever made us Zubatman and Fletchling in the first place?" With that, the programmer dusted off her shirt and picked up her white backpack, "What a way to start my vacation..."
"Well, I suppose I must thank you now. So there ya go. Name's Go." she yawned, scratching her back. She wore a red logo cap, like me, except it had a small black pokeball logo on the front. Her jacket was almost the same, save for the shorter sleeves and smaller hip. Around her waist was a small sash with an orange circular emblem for the buckle.
Out the back of her cap was a cute chestnut ponytail, tied up messily by a simple rubber band.
Go sighed, "Well, back to work, I suppose- Oh, right, I'm on stress leave." I walked over, "What?"
"I'm not one to talk 'bout my feelings, but if you really wanna hear... I got stressed, screwed up real bad, and the boss told me to take a month-long leave." the programmer explained, yawning again, "Plus, the Boss is my grandfather, and he's weird. He believes in all this 'health' crap. I swear, if he read that jumping into an active volcano would improve his muscles or stamina or something like that, he'd go do it over and over again... Ooh... Why do I feel so light-headed all of a sudden?"
She collapsed into my arms. I gasped, "AH!"
Several hours later...
X poked Go, "Your story sounds foofy."
"I swear, that's what happened!" I exclaimed. Y smirked, "Are you sure you didn't... 'Go' with her?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. X groaned, "Xerneas... Out of all the humans I could have living next door to me, why did you choose the cutest girl with the dirtiest mind?" Y giggled, "Don't be such a stiff, X! That's how people become recluses! In fact, I bet if you beat the league, you'd get a phobia of the medias and shut yourself away from humanity." "What? That's ridiculous!" Xavier replied, rolling Go over to check for wounds, "That can't happen!"
After I alerted the others to the battle, X and Y told the others to head on the next town without them, as we checked up on Go. As it turned out, X was the son of a Nurse Joy, and this proved extra helpful.
X placed two fingers on Go's wrist, checking her pulse, "Uh huh... Yup, definitely overworking." I stared at X, "Amazing! You can tell that from her pulse?"
"Nah. I mean, just look at her! Her eye's bags have bags! Also, most people don't tend to have such messy hair." he coughed, "Or wear clothes that smell of Coffee all the time..."
Okay, so maybe X didn't understand too much about medicine. But that doesn't mean he's useless!
X turned to me, "So, how was your starter?" I smiled, sending the small pokemon out and scratching him, "Really good! It's a little fox thingy!" The little thing resembled a cute little fox that looked like it literally jumped out of some anime somewhere! He let out a soft bark, looking up at the small scar he now had on his forehead.
Y squealed, "How cute! A Fennekin! I...I got Froakie! She's really cute and her full evolution is a freaking ninja! MWAHAHAHA!" "That left me with Chespin. He is a grass-type and... I heard that he can be used to promote Berry growth." Xavier nodded, "Or not... Anyway, he was all that was left, but mark my words, he WILL be the strongest PokemonEVER!"
I looked at the duo, brushing away the fur around the little fox's wound.
X cocked his head, "...Eh? Scarred already? Wow, so soon and you already got wounded. And at such a young evolution... That scar will most likely remain there on his forehead until he grows and becomes a Delphox." I shrugged, as did the Fennekin, "It adds a little character to him, right Fennekin?... He needs a name!"
The boy in blue dug into his pocket, "Well, it's a little odd. Here, I'll give you this." He produced a red headband from his pocket, "I was going to give this to Y, but turns out she's not much for headbands." "I have long hair, and you can't deny!" she smirked, "Oh! I thought of a name for your Fennekin! Red headband, fire... He can be called RYU! Y'know, like in Street Fighter? I can never seem to do a helicopter kick, though..."
Ryu...
I finished tying the headband around Ryu's forehead, hiding his scar perfectly. The small lock of yellow fur flopped down over the red cloth, as Ryu curled up and began sleeping in my lap with a content smile.
"I like the sound of that. I bet Ryu does as well." I smiled, absent-mindedly running my fingers through Go's soft hair.
Suddenly, Go stirred, "C...Careful... I... I bite, son... Don't be touching anything that ain't yours..." She sat up, "Not again... I keep fainting today... Why? It's never happened before... Has it?"
I bolted back, "ACK! A...Are you okay? You passed out mid-sentence!"
Go grumbled, "I'm fine. It's just that I've been working for so long... Heh... Sorry, I'll just go now... That is my nickname, after all..."
Wait.
I grabbed her arm, "Go? How about you travel with us?" She spun around while tossing off my hand in one fluid motion, "What'cha talking 'bout?!"
"Well, it is your holidays, right? Well, why not travel around Kalos?" I explained, "Also, your athletic skills could help you in the field immensely." Go looked at me, seemingly unconvinced, "So let me get this straight; you want me to drop all my stuff and go on an incredible journey with you to collect 8 shinies." I sweatdropped, "... Yes."
"..." she stared at me. I stared into her brown eyes awkwardly, "..." She leaned in closer, her breath now blowing down my neck. I began to sweat increasingly more and more, still staring into her brown irises, still blank.
Go snorted, before falling on me, all-out laughing. My cheeks turned very red, "So... I take that as a no?"
The Pokemon GO programmer smiled, wiping away tears of laughter, "Sorry... I'm definitely coming! You're a funny guy! Besides, I got nothing better to do, and you did just save a few million dollars worth of important goods!"
She dusted herself off, leaning on me, "Besides, my grandpa is a freaking Pokemon Professor. I am obligated to be awesome like him. So let's do this! From now on, I am officially travelling with... Hey, I never learnt your name."
I smiled, "They call me Z."
"Z? Well, I never thought I'd meet someone with a single letter as their nickname." Go chuckled, "So, who are the other two?" "I'm X. She's Y." X introduced, "This was a coincidence, I swear! We never knew someone named Z even existed before 5 minutes ago!"
Go looked between the three of us, "Welp! Here we are, all together! I reckon that our first port of call should be Santalune City. To get there, there is a long, winding forest..." She dug into her backpack, "X, Y, you two go ahead. Z and I will remain here to organize supplies."
She dug out three headsets, "This is something my grandpa gave me. He got it a long time ago, but it should still function now. We should use this to keep in touch, 'kay? Alright, see ya."
X, Y and I stared at the girl, dumbfounded. One second she was on the ground, next she was happily barking out orders like a drill officer. This'll be fun...
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! MOVE OUT!" Go yelled. X and Y leaped about a foot in the air and dashed off.
Go sighed, giggling, "Sorry. I watched 'Hearts of Darkness' one too many times." I stared at her, "You are a weird, weird person."
She turned to face me, "Z... I can tell. You're way older than most kids who challenge the league. Why are you going?" I paused, "...You wouldn't understand."
I turned around to walk away, but she ran in front of me, marching towards me, "No, I want a reason. You don't just up and drop all your life in order to get a shiny. You have reasons. So tell me." I shook my head, "I...I can't...!"
She growled, "TELL ME!"
SHINK!
I didn't know what happened, but the next moment my sword was in my hands, blocking Go with its flat shape. She stared, shocked at me, "A...A...A sword...?!" I gasped, lowering it, "I...I didn't want to harm...!"
She looked back at the triangular sword, "Could it be...? Z, I know that sword. Well, at least...My grandfather knew who wielded it."
(A.N. The next segment is a reference to a Megaman Zero Drama Track (Ciel's Memory- Prologue) and an animated rendition created by UltimateMaverickX on Youtube.)
The girl sat down on a bench, "Let me tell you a little story..."
"It was May 1962. The Sinnoh army had taken most of Kalos by force."
"It was a sad time. Those that survived lived under Sinnoh rule, and the army was hunting down whoever resisted them. But there was still a résistance force that stood to fight. These brave men and women... They were headed into a legendary ruin, being pursued by Sinnoh soldiers."
"In that ruin, was their one hope... Where it was said a legendary hero slept..."
May 1962. Geosenge Town.
The forest was lit up by gunfire, as a small unit of green-clad soldiers ran within the trees. Large tanks rolled through the bark and mud, firing rounds that easily fell the resistance soldiers. A commander led the remainder of his platoon towards a tree, using a sub-machine gun to take out any in his way, "ALL UNITS! THIS WAY!" Bullets flew past a young man, who had long before ran out of ammo for his assault rifle and was now firing his pistol at the blue-clad Sinnoh invaders. This was Soldier Z3Q9. Also known as Go's Grandfather.
"My Grandfather was drafted into the fight. He hoped for things to end peacefully... Heh... look how that turned out."
The commander slid into the ruins, pulling out an RPG from over his back and firing it at the roof. It caved in, sealing both Z3Q9 and the commander in one ancient room in the rocky cavern. Z3Q9 fell on his knees, gasping for breath.
Nobody else from platoon Z3 survived.
"S...Sir... We're trapped in." he sighed. The commander smirked, "So is mah ass! Listen, son! We're gonna find that supa-weapon, and git it 'ome, or we're goin' home in a crate! Remember what Noah taught us; He lured all the Pokemon onto a boat, and then he BEAT THE STUFFIN' OUTTA THEM!"
"...Sir, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you don't have a good grasp on the Bible."
"Nah, that's totally how I remember it..." the commander sighed, pulling out his flask of his favorite Tequilla and drinking a shot, "Now, where izdat gun?!"
Z3Q9 face-palmed, "Sir, we're looking for a legendary man, not a gun." The commander's eyes bugged out, "Wait... WHAT?!"
"NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Outside the ruins, several birds flew away as the man screamed.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE! I HATE CAVES! THEY'RE ICKY AND FULL OF ZUBATS!"the commander yelled, "WE'RE GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA GET REAL DRUNK, AND THEN I'M GONNA DIE!"
The soldier sighed, "Idiot... Wait... This is...!"
"The legendary ruins!"
The commander sat bolt-upright, nearly dropping his flask, "Say what the wha?!"
Suddenly, in the lone soldier's mind, a voice echoed.
"Stay away... Don't call me into this fight..."
The soldier checked his ears, "Huh? A... voice...? Who?"
"What do you plan to do when I join?"
"...I need you to help us save Kalos... Sir..." Z3Q9 replied softly.
The commander thought, "Wait... If he joins us... Wouldn't he be Z3R0? Hey! Zero! That's awesome!"
"Very well... That is a noble cause, considering the circumstances. I will not allow my homeland to fall!"
"R...Really?! Thank you soo much!" the soldier whimpered in joy.
The commander scratched his green beret, "I do not get this guy."
The soldier shrugged, "...Nothing. Let's move on ahead, sir!"Theman removed his cap, short blonde hair flowing down, "...Zero... Help us... Help Kalos..."
"Help us..."
A Sinnoh soldier fired a tank round futilely at the rubble, attempting to blast his way through.
"Dangit! Why won't this damn thing just blow up-"
Be careful for what you wish for! The rubble suddenly cleared with a massive explosion!
From the darkness, a massive giant of a man clad in plate armor ran outside, holding a gleaming blue sword. He sliced through tanks like butter, as the two resistance soldiers marched out, the commander wielding two massive orange bazookas and blasting everything in sight and the soldier following with his pistol.
"WE ARE SO GETTING PROMOTED FOR THIS, MEN! WHOOO!"the commander cheered.
"AGREED!"the soldier whooped.
"VERILY!"A.Z agreed.
"That's all he told me." Go finished, "He never told me anything about his adventures with the aptly nicknamed 'Zero', mainly because... as it appeared, the man didn't want to fight. But he told me all kinds of crazy adventures he had with Commander Budwiener!"
(Needle scratches record)
(ACDC- It's a long way to the top!)
A boy in red jumped into the scene, "Wait, MY FATHER WAS IN 'RRE?!"
Yes, Redneck.
"I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR HIM MY WHOLE LIFE!"
Well, you can stop looking now.
"SON OF A BI-"
*Poof!*
(Cut music)
I looked around, "I thought I felt someone pass by." Go shrugged, "I dunno."
Go held the sword, "But if the sword is yours now... I suppose it was fated it would have to travel with one of our family again. But... When it was last used, the world was at war. Does this mean... The world will fall into war again?"
I slid it back into my bag, "I dunno. But I sure know what we're going to do now."
"Let's head into the woods."