Why I've Been Gone:
I'll be honest, I was not expecting to come back to this story, heck not even this website. But every so often I'd get a notification saying somebody had reviewed one of my stories. They'd always say that they hoped it continued.
I always assumed that they were fringe cases and that there weren't actually many people viewing my stories, but on February 22, 2018 I got a review on Epica Alola that was just like the others and for some reason it made me want to log into my account.
I checked out my traffic stats and was shocked to find nearly 200 views over the course of the month and it will be well over that by the end of the month.
One could say that seeing all those views reinvigorated me and gave me fresh confidence and while that is true there's also a sense of obligation. There were obviously a lot of people checking back in on stories to see if they'd been updated. These people know
as well as I do that nothing about this account has been updated in over a year and I know what that disappointment feels like. I'm not going to guarantee that I finish or even update a story unless I've gotten most of it finished before any was published. I know myself too well, I put things off, I forget things, I lose interest and while that's a part of me it's gotten to a point where it needs to stop and I need to fix it.
This isn't the most important place to start that, but it's where I want to start.
Now as for the story my good memory has come in handy and I remember everything I wanted to do with this story, even that stupid tease at the end of last chapter that made everyone think I was putting in an OC Pokemon. It's not an OC, just a nickname that tripped up a guy who read ahead in the story without any context. My plan for the story is the same as it was then.
I could explain more, but it's probably better to just get back to the story.
"Alright Chelsh, which room?"
"He'll take the third one on the right. The files say that the ceiling was never installed so the rafters are exposed. He'll be hiding up there on the left side when you get in."
"How the heck do you know all that?"
That was a common question from Mike, so much so that it was as much a joke as a question and it made Chelsea roll her eyes as a result. She was the brains of their little bounty hunter partnership and had been since day one. She was a daytime Lycanroc and he was a nighttime one. She wasn't exactly pathetic and could hold out just fine in a fight, but there was no doubt that Mike's reckless nature had hardened him into a much better fighter than she was.
An incredible success rate had led the duo to getting support and payment from the Alolan police department, so much so that they were practically part of it. If they needed the S.W.A.T. team for a huge or important raid they'd take whatever the local precinct had, but otherwise kept it to just the two of them.
Currently they were looking for a Drowzee that had been putting his victims to sleep before killing them and then having some "personal" time with the bodies. The Hypnosis and post-mortem sex both showed a complete lack of self confidence so Chelsea was quite certain that he was a coward who would surrender once the battle went out of his favor. Still, one successful Hypnosis was all it would take for Mike to be in serious trouble.
"I've told you before, they always turn around to close doors when they're trying to hide and they always look to the right from there." Chelsea responded.
"Yeah, yeah." Mike said getting quieter as he got to the door. "I've got a Shadow Pulse charged and ready."
"Alright, good luck." Chelsea said through the comm device.
Opening the door Mike immediately looked up to his left and hurled the Shadow Pulse toward a large yellow blob. A Hypnosis met it halfway, but since it was a non-damaging move and had a type disadvantage it dissipated without any resistance.
The Shadow Pulse continued on it path and knocked the Drowzee into a rafter behind him and he fell to the floor. Mike was there in a heartbeat and slammed a paw onto his head.
"Gahh! Stop! Stop!" the Drowzee cried. "I give up!"
"Hands behind your back." Mike said. The Drowzee complied and Mike quickly handcuffed him.
"What is this about?" The Drowzee asked as they exited the house even though he already knew. "If I'm being arrested you have to read me my rights!"
"Sorry bud, that's just a myth perpetuated by television." Mike said proudly repeating something Chelsea had told him. "We don't have to read shit until we want to question you, and I aint that high up."
Two hours later Chelsea was lying in one of the beds in the apartment the two shared waiting for sleep to catch up to her. Mike meanwhile had brought over a prostitute for the night, a Liepard this time if she remembered correctly.
That might have seemed a bit awkward and the first few times it was, but it had been Chelsea's idea to begin with. If he was going to mess around with them she'd rather have him doing it here instead of some dark alley. Plus the apartment was pretty well soundproofed so as long as they were in a different room, usually the bathroom, she couldn't even hear them.
The front door wasn't quite as insulated though and right before she could drift off to sleep she heard a knock coming from it. She drowsily rose to answer it wondering who it could be.
Opening it she found the Wigglytuff that was the apartment complex's receptionist.
"Oh, hey Sarah. What brings you up this late?" Chelsea asked.
"W-Well, the police chief called . . . and he wants you two at the department right now." She answered.
"Does it have to be right now?"
"U-Um, he said something about le-level red urgency."
"Oh, crap." Chelsea said before turning and knocking on the bathroom door which was conveniently right next to the front door. A few seconds later the door opened slightly and Mike poked his head out hesitantly.
"This isn't exactly a good time Chelsea . . ."
"The chief called wanting us in. He says it's level red."
"Shit, uh . . . just a second." He said before closing the door.
Chelsea sighed before turning back to Sarah. "Thanks for telling us, I know it's late for you to."
Sarah didn't respond and instead had a blush on her face and a far off look in her eyes. It then came back to Chelsea that Wigglytuff's had better hearing than almost any other Pokemon. Meaning that she had probably heard everything that happened in that bathroom.
"Oh, crud." She said. "I'm sorry if Mike-"
"N-No, no I'm used to that. It's just that Furret and Linoone are . . . very dirty."
"Oh . . ."
There was an awkward moment of silence before Sarah clapped her hands together and spoke. "Well, I should be going."
Just seconds after she left the Liepard emerged from the bathroom with some cash in its mouth. It left the apartment as quickly as it could, trying to walk in a way that wouldn't draw attention and failing miserably. Shortly afterward Mike came out as well.
"So . . ." Chelsea said smirking up at him. "Did you get a discount for blue balls?"
"What happened Chief?" Chelsea asked as the two came through the station doors. The chief looked more pale than usual, which had never happened before through the other level red's.
"I don't know for sure, he just keeps requesting to talk to the two of you." The Chief said
"Who is it?" Mike asked.
"I'm going to let you find out for yourselves, he's in the interrogation room."
Opening the door to the room Mike saw a small dark grey figure sitting on top of the table. When it looked up he was met with burning orange eyes.
Chelsea had also entered the room by this point and recognized the body and eyes immediately. The Pokemon was the legendary Pokemon Marshadow and if she wasn't on guard before she certainly was now.
"Ah, Mike and Chelsea right?"After a tentative nod from both of them he continued. "Sorry about the late hour, but this needed to be done as soon as possible and it draws less attention anyway. Speaking of which . . ." He turned to the side of the room with the one way window and audio box, and created a solid black wall.
"Okay, so you know who I am right?" He asked.
"Not a clue." Mark said before Chelsea butted in.
"The legendary Pokemon Marshadow." She said giving Mark a severe glance. "Past name and existence there's not much we know."
"So you know that if you're seeing me something extremely important is happening." Marshadow responded. "I'm going to get right down to it, we need your help. You remember when the Ultra Beasts invaded correct?"
"Yeah, they caused a lot of widespread destruction, but quieted down after a while." Mike answered.
"They didn't quiet down." Marshadow said bluntly. "They were looking for eachother and now they're moving as one group. We don't know exactly what they're doing, but they're deadly and need to be stopped."
"So why are you talking to us?" Chelsea asked nervously. "We're not legendaries and there are enough of those in Alola to take all of them on."
"No there's not. The island Guardians are bound to their islands and are lone wolf's anyway. It's just me Solgaleo and Lunala, and we've already tried."
"Then how the hell are we going to help?" Mike asked. "I talk big and I can back it up, but I ain't no legendary. Go get some of your buddies from the other regions and take them on."
"Mike!" Chelsea hissed nervously.
After being silent for a moment Marshadow responded. "We can't get any of our 'buddies' because we don't meet up until two months from now and we can't cross into other regions since Arceus doesn't want to chance worldwide apocalypses. I wouldn't be asking for you otherwise."
"Then how can we help?" Chelsea said.
"We don't want you for your strength really, it's more about your wits and experience. As legendaries we just do our job, we don't really have any battle skills or instincts like you do," Marshadow said pointing to Mike before switching to Chelsea. "or the planning and knowledge that you've got."
"So we just have to make plans for how to deal with the Ultra Beasts and train you to execute them." Chelsea summarized.
"Effectively, yes." Marshadow said.
"Alright then, we'd be honored to do it." Chelsea replied.
"Good, I'll be waiting outside."Marshadow said before dissolving into the shadows.
After a moment of silence Mike turned to Chelsea with a confused look. "Alright, I know the guy's a legendary and it's an honor to serve and all, but I've never known you to not ask about payment. What's up?"
"Our payment is not dying." Chelsea hissed. "Marshadow is not a friendly legendary."
"How do you know that?" Mike asked.
"When the islands were being settled centuries ago you know that there was a mass extinction on Poni island."
"Yeah. The volcano went off and buried everyone in ash right?"
"That's the normal story, but . . . there are some old books from survivors, the kahunas hide them away from the public to prevent mass panic. They only allow the ones that they think can handle it and keep the secret read them because they want somebody to be prepared. The books say that one day Marshadow went on a rampage and by the time the sun went down the whole island was in ruins." Chelsea explained. "If this guy goes off on us we're dead, so try not to piss him off anymore."
Mike was silent for a few seconds. " . . . You're sure these aren't just stories Chelsh?"
"Yes." She responded tightly. "And I'd rather not take a fucking chance."
There was more silence before Mike clapped his paws and tried to break the tension. "Well, I'd say not dying is pretty good payment. Let's go see where the guy wants us to be."
On the way out the chief asked. "Okay, we had a wall of black in the way. What the hell is going on?"
"We're not going to be available." Mike said.
"It's kind of secret, I'll let you know when we can be back when it's done." Chelsea added in.
Stepping outside the two looked for Marshadow's glowing eyes but found nothing. They then heard Marshadow's voice call out. "Forest to the right."
After walking a ways into it Marshadow appeared once again. "Okay, I set up a portal a little further in. It'll bring us to our main base of operations."
As Marshadow lead them toward it he continued. "Solgaleo and Lunala will be on the other side to show you guys around and introduce themselves. I'll be off finding another Pokemon we want on our side."
Just a few seconds later they came to a small blue light that Marshadow expanded to the perfect size for them to fit through. Mike and Chelsea both gave each other a look before stepping through the portal together.
And that is the end of chapter two. And what do you know, we still don't have our full cast!
I decided to go a little bit rougher in this story than my previous ones, hence why Mike and Chelsh are the way they are. I'm not going to overload on it though, so the story won't be littered with curses. Also, no lemons in this ones. A vague description of past events and what you just read is about as graphic as it gets.
There will be more chapters of this. I can't guarantee I finish, but I definitely want to try.