Chapter 1: Dawn
A small port town in a very little explored land without even a proper name is where our story begins. This port, known locally as Station 1, is just one of four such exploration outposts in the region, but this one is where most supplies are shipped to. It is here that a ship the residents of the port call "The Arcceonn Express", unloads its usual load of passengers, including one passenger of particular interest. His name is Raynar K'Tal; a relatively unknown explorer who is as far as most are concerned nonexistent, but his mission to find his long absent father is truly the stuff of legend.
It is about six o'clock in the afternoon when the S.S. Harpoon arrived at the port called Station 1 as it always does. The ferry arrives carrying food, commodities, and workers, but no matter what the cargo, there are sometimes other passengers it carried. It was this day that two such passengers disembarked, ready to take on every challenge the Arcceonn region could throw at them. One of them was there to visit family and find a job, the other, however, was on a mission that he knew was of the utmost importance; because his life, was the life of the explorer.
"Wow, so this is the Arcceonn Region!" exclaimed Rocky Dustan: a slightly larger-than-average-sized Golem, "I knew it was big, but this place makes me feel microscopic…and I just got here!" His companion, a Lucario, rested his palm upon Rocky's shoulder. Rocky looked up to his companion, who had an expression on his face that seemed to say, "I know. You'll get used to it." Rocky felt reassured with that, especially since his friend was born and raised in the region. He knew he could trust his friend to get him out of trouble, as he had before.
"I suggest we find a place to stay for the night", said the Lucario in a serious tone, "It will be dusk soon, and the nights here can be much darker than they were at the academy, and far more dangerous…" He tightened the focus sash he wore around his waist and prepared to leave the dock when he sensed a familiar presence nearby. He closed his eyes and reached out with his aura, trying to identify the stalker. "I see it's still not so easy to sneak up on you Raynar", said a deep voice from behind the Lucario, "You haven't changed a bit." Raynar, the Lucario, sighed and replied, "Hello Dallon, didn't think I'd find you here." Dallon Lettos was a large Dusknoir with an uncanny amount of intelligence and a tendency to disappear as soon as he entered an area. Raynar never particularly trusted him, but then again, neither did he trust many others. Rocky turned to face Dallon and said, "Whatcha doing here Spooky, lost something?"
Dallon looked at Rocky and narrowed his single, luminescent red eye at Rocky's use of his old nickname. "You haven't changed either Boulder", Dallon remarked, using the name Rocky earned for being thick-skulled. It wasn't really an insult, as Rocky actually seemed to take pride in his moniker. Dallon then turned back to Raynar. "I hear you're going to explore the region Raynar", he said, "I have some…business here in the region that I need to secure. Good luck." Dallon faded into a shadow and disappeared. "Why does he have to that?" Rocky whined. "You know Dallon…" Raynar replied, "As soon as you see him, he's gone."
* * *
The next day, Raynar opened his eyes and sat up in his cot at the local motel. Rocky was still asleep, but it was almost dawn, and to maximize his progress, he would have to leave now, even if Rocky would be left behind. "He's a big guy, he can take care of himself" Raynar thought as he got out of his bed and stretched his limbs before beginning his preparations to leave. Raynar was in no rush though, since everything he had could either be worn on his waist or fit into one of the many pockets on his worn-out pants. He took a quick shower and made himself a cup of coffee using one of the free packs the motel provided. As he sat on his cot with his coffee, he thought to himself, "Is my father alive, and if so, will I ever find him?" He was suddenly angry at himself for thinking defeatist thoughts. He cursed himself mentally and threw the now-empty coffee mug against the wall, shattering it on impact, before tying his focus sash around his waist and walking out the door.
Within ten minutes Raynar was on the road to Station 3, the final rest stop before entering the Arcceonn Wilderness, the still unexplored areas of the region. Raynar looked out ahead of him. The first rays of sunlight had begun to arc out on the horizon, as if a set of ropes were hoisting the morning sun into the sky. "I'm home" he thought, "After two years of waiting, I'm finally home." Now rejuvenated by the sun's rays, Raynar continued along the road, stopping every few miles to ensure he was on the right path. "At this rate, I should arrive by noon" he thought, "I should be able to get way into the wilderness by then."
Just then Raynar hears footsteps behind him. He turns to see a Weavile approaching him. "Excuse me sir" said the Weavile, "But could you do me a favor?" Raynar paused for a second and replied, "What do you need?" The Weavile shrugged and responded, "Oh I don't know, some water and directions to Station 3 would suffice." Raynar handed the Weavile his canteen, from which he drank over half its contents. "Thank you very much" the Weavile said, appearing refreshed, "Now about those directions…" Raynar cut him off, saying, "I was heading that way anyways, just follow this road." Raynar continued walking when the Weavile stopped him. "You know it's never a good idea to travel alone." He said, "You might be attacked." Raynar was about to reply with a smart remark when he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him from a tree. "Get down!" Raynar yelled as a Hitmontop jumped out of the tree in his direction. Not adjusting for Raynar's sudden maneuver, the Hitmontop kept going and collided with the Weavile, knocking him to the ground. "Way to go Westley" the Weavile yelled angrily as he pushed the Hitmontop off of him, "how could you miss him at this range!?" Westley, the Hitmontop, got up and sarcastically retorted, "Yeah and I was supposed to know he would duck out of the way, huh John!?" As they argued, Raynar realized he had just walked into a bandit ambush, albeit a poorly coordinated one. He was embarrassed that he had fallen into a trap so easily, and that the two bandits obviously didn't plan this far forward, which doesn't speak much of their intelligence. However, Raynar now knew that they were criminals, and he intended to knock them out.
"So you're bandits huh?" Raynar said, "In that case, you've ambushed the wrong Lucario!" John and Westley stopped arguing and turned to face Raynar. "And what are you, a cop?" Westley taunted, "Or just some do-gooder who's asking for trouble?" Raynar didn't answer, instead opting to slowly slide his left leg back, enabling him to lunge at them if necessary. "Either way, we can't leave any witnesses to call the fuzz" John said in a calm but menacing tone, "No hard feelings, it's just business." Raynar tenses his muscles, prepared to move at the any second. "All right then, looks like we'll have to settle this my way…" Raynar said, "Let's go!" With these words, the fight was on.
John and Westley jump, one to each side to move behind Raynar and strike from the rear, but Raynar anticipated this and jumped and Westley. Westley wasn't prepared for Raynar's sudden offense and tries to counter, but not before Raynar sends him flying to the other side with an aerial side kick. This disrupted John's own movement, causing him to fall to the ground. Westley was hit hard and staggered back to his feet, while John, who was virtually unharmed, recovers quickly. "Hmm, not bad…" John said in his naturally cold voice, "but you can't win, not against us!" Raynar replied, "We'll see…" as he rushed at his opponents. Westley was now on his feet and attacked with Hi-Jump Kick. Raynar simply ducked to evade, causing Westley to fly right towards a tree. "Not again!" Westley exclaimed as he hit the tree at full speed. He slid down the trunk and slumped over, unconscious. "Well, looks like It's up to me" John said as he ran at Raynar, attacking with a flurry of Night Slashes. Raynar effortlessly blocked his attacks and grabbed John's neck, raising his fist to knock him out. "Uh…can we talk about this?" John asked sheepishly. "Sure" Raynar said as he threw Westley at the same tree, knocking him out on impact, "…when you're in jail…"
After ensuring that the bandits were unconscious, Raynar continued on his way. "Their little distraction cost me about half an hour" he thought, "I'll have to bypass Station 3 altogether and take the shortcut…right through the most dangerous stretch of the mountain range." There had been more than a few explorers who died in the mountains Raynar now had to traverse, and he knew it, which is why he only considered this option as a last resort. "Oh well, beggars can't be choosers…" he lamented as he walked off of the path and into the woods.
* * *
It was now nearly sunset, and Raynar had been moving nonstop since daybreak, not that it bothered him that much. Instead, another, but equally important matter was on Raynar's mind. "I haven't eaten in over a day straight" he thought, "I'll need find something soon, or it'll be too dark to set up a shelter." As if somebody had read his thoughts, an apple dropped right onto his head, and bounced into his hands. Raynar looked up to see if anybody threw it as well as to look for more apples, but he saw neither pokémon nor apples. "Oh well, I guess this'll do for now…" Raynar thought, as he devoured the apple, "That just leaves the shelter, but it's too dark for that." Raynar then looked at the tree again and thought, "The tree should do." He climbed up into the tree and lay down on a wide and relatively flat limb. He looked off into the sky as the light faded; wondering what was in store for him. He slowly closed his eyes and succumbed to sleep.
* * *
Raynar awoke with a jolt. He was in a cold sweat and his body trembled. "Another nightmare…" he thought. He looked up into the sky and checked the moon's position and phase. It was a full moon and by its position Raynar deduced it was probably just before midnight. "It's very late, I need to get some sleep" he thought as he lay back down, "If these nightmares continue, I won't be getting much sleep for a long time…"
He was about to doze off again when he saw a strange figure standing right over him. His eyes finally made it out as an Absol; it was ragged, tired-looking, and looked as if it had just fought in war, the diamond-hard blade on his head obviously being scratched and worn through years of use, but its edge was still honed down to the sharpest it could possibly be. Raynar was not the type who was easily scared, but this Absol seemed quite foreboding to Raynar. "W-who are you?" Raynar asked, his voice trembling, "What do you want from me?" The Absol didn't respond, instead just turning and jumping away, further into the forest. "That was strange…" Raynar thought, "I'd better look out for him in the future, as I don't think he's one to be trusted. Raynar was about to go back to sleep when he jolted t back up. "Oh yeah, the letter I got!" he thought. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket, opened it and pulled out the letter inside. He created a small aura sphere to provide light and began to read…
Dear Raynar,
I heard you were coming back. That's great to hear! I've missed you so much while you were gone, I couldn't even sleep at night since I got your message that you were coming back. About Derek, I have no idea what he's up to, you know how difficult it is to keep track of him, but last I checked he was talking looking for a part-time job. He always says, "If I wanna look good for the ladies I gotta have some cash right!?" Whenever I try to tell him that he's not "all-that", he starts raving like a maniac about one day he's gonna be a celebrity, but he doesn't seem to get that he needs to graduate high school first! Anyways, how are things on your end? Actually on second thought, I'll wait for you to tell me in person! I hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Eva Sorenson
Raynar smiled as he thought of his childhood friend. "I hope to see you soon as well Eva", he thought, "I really do." With that, Raynar put the letter back in his pocket and let his aura sphere dissipate. He slowly, but steadily, drifted off to sleep, knowing that by sunrise the next morning, he would be on the move again, only this time, he'll need every ounce of strength he can muster, for once he gets across the mountains, he would be in the wilderness, and his real journey would begin.
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