Thirteen Years Ago
"Today we have faced a great tragedy at the hands of a mystery terrorist group. The workers who laid the foundations for this new land have been attacked, so far there have been Thirty-four confirmed deaths, twenty six injuries and nineteen unconfirmed. At this time of tragedy we must look forward, not back, we must fight towards the future, not dwell on the past. We shall not, will not, allow the terrorist organizations to get what they want, we build this new land for the next generations, we fight on for our children and our children's children, It is a man's actions during a time of catastrophe that define him, what the disaster forms rather than what it destroys. .."
Nacrene City Gym Battlefield, 12:25 PM
Raian, Lucario, and Josue stood alongside a row of their bags looking at the large battlefield. The Battlefield was rather dull and fitting for the Basic Gym which was a simple green room with purple tiled floor and a large bare dirt field chalked with basic field marks. On opposite sides of the field stood Iian and Lenora with a referee in the middle. Lenora was a dark skinned woman wearing dirt covered pants, a white shirt and had an apron slung over her shoulder along with a smug look. In the field stood Swadloon, the evolve form of Iians Sewaddle, which sat huddled in its leaf based cocoon staring at the adorable four legged green Deerling.
"Now then, I really am starting to see the type of trainer you are" Lenora said in a proud voice as she adjusted her apron "That Swadloon of yours is quite a match"
"Of course" Iian replied "I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, all of my Pokémon are powerful"
"We'll see about that" Lenora replied
"Jeesh he's as loud as ever" Josue said to Raian who was too focused on his phone "Hey, Raian...What's up?"
"Oh...It's uh...ahem...It's nothing" Raian replied wavering his voice trying to keep a straight face as he glanced back at his phone which had a bubble saying a rather simple message 'Two New Messages; Micca, MoMo' raian tried to keep a straight face as he pulled his hood down a little further covering more of his face as he thought back
Eight Years Ago, Sinnoh
A small group of people stood crowding around, all wearing dark suits and dresses as they watched a small metal casket being lowered into a hole in the soft dirt. In the midst of the crowd a small nine year old boy stood clinging to an elderly woman, his eyes tearing up but he remained quiet. An elderly man wearing dark robes stood next to the hole as the casket was lowered.
"And Thus Do I Commend Thee Into The Arms Of Our Lord Of Earth, Preserver of All Mercy And Reality, And The Father Creator!" The elder man spoke in a firm voice as the casket lowered. The little boy looked with tears as the casket sunk deep into the earth, he held tightly to his grandmothers' side. "We give him glory as we give you into his arms in everlasting peace to be prepared to return into the denser reality of the father, creator of all, Amen…Amen…Amen"
The little boy dropped a single rose into the grave before the first shovel of dirt was released covering the casket.
Present Day, Nacrene Gym
"Come on Swadloon get up!" Iian yelled out snapping Raian back into the present
"A critical hit" The Referee said as Swadloon groaned, Deerling happily leaping around
"Don't give up Ian, use your research skills no matter how grim the situation.
"Swadloon is unable to battle, Deerling wins" The Referee yelled out as Swadloon stopped squirming
"Damn it" Iian muttered as he returned Swadloon
"Way to go Mister Pokémon Master!" Josue yelled laughing "Eh Raian?" he muttered nudging Raian with his elbow "…Raian…?"
Raian stood looking down, his hood covering most of his face, Lucario watched the battle holding Petilil in his hands.
"Alright" Iian said lowering a brow "It's time to get serious, it's time to electrify this stage, come on out Flaaffy!"
Out of the pokeball came forth the tacit conqueror of Iians Pokémon, the dazzling pink sheep known as Flaaffy. Flaaffy stood proud holding its arms bent and resting onto its sides.
"Hah!" Lenora loudly laughed "An odd sheep won't get any sympathy from me"
Raian looked up a moment at the word Sympathy which rung in his head, his face seemed to be losing color as though he was getting ready to pass out.
Eight Years Ago, Sinnoh
"It's alright" the elderly tanned woman said on a phone in a thick accent '"its best that you continue, I'll take care of him, he's so quiet lately, I don't know how badly this is affecting him"
In the small kitchen with the woman sitting at a small wooden table was the young boy from the funeral, he wore a black small jacket and stared blankly looking down remaining quiet with an eevee sitting on his lap and a Lucario sitting on the chair next to him.
"Well first his father, now his mother" the woman said trying to be quiet and out of the kids earshot, but he could hear her still "I just don't know, he's just bottling it up and it can't be good, he's almost ten, I don't think he'll even be able to go to his Pokémon Training registration class."
The little boy ran his hand from eevees head to her tail at which the small furry Pokémon happily looked up at the child. The child looked over at Lucario you smiled and closed his eyes, spreading a slight grin to the boy.
"It's okay Micca, go on, I'll call you later" The elderly woman said "I'm going to take him to a contest, maybe it can cheer him up a little"
Present Day, Nacrene Gym
"YeEeEaaah!" Iian yelled with excitement holding his fist up with his elbows to his side "Come on Flaaffy, now's your chance, finish off the stupid deer, use thundershock!"
"Flaaf!" Flaaffy excitedly replied as it stood feet from a tensed up deerling. Flaaffy quickly shot forth its wave of crackling shattered pattern electric shocks which struck the deer and sent it flying across the field with its fur all standing on edge.
"Deerling is unable to battle, Flaaffy wins" The referee yelled out holding his flag up to Iians side
"Hahah, one down one to go!" Iian yelled sticking his tongue out and pulling his eyelid down at Lenora
"Good job Iian!" Josue yelled before turning to Raian "…Raian, you okay?"
Raian stood in silence a moment before snapping out of it
"Huh...uhh...yeah I'm fine" Raian replied looking up and shaking his head
"Dude, you seriously aren't looking to well" Josue said as he looked at Raians paling face "What did that creepy girl do to you?"
"Wha?" Raian stuttered "I already told you everything, she just painted my face and gave me a stone"
"Are you sure, you really aren't looking too well" Josue asked
"Y-yeah…I'm…I'm...maybe I should sit down a little bit" Raian said lifting his hood a little bit before stumbling to the floor sitting cross legged
"Come on out Watchdog!" Lenoras voice yelled fading away in Raians head
"Okay, just relax, drink some water" Josue said handing raian a leather canteen of water from his bag "You aren't looking very well. Are you sure you're telling me everything?"
"Tackle!" Iians voice could be heard yelling
"Well, she was singing some odd song and she did mention her name, that's about it" Raian responded as he moved the canteen from his mouth
"That's good!" Josue replied as he moved Raians hood from his head "Do you remember either?"
"Well her song didn't sound like words, that's what was odd about it, it sounded odd, and her name was even weirder" Raian said before splashing his face with some of the water "Miss Maggie I think, but she pronounced it weird, she pronounced it as Miss Maggie Us"
"Huh" Josue said stumped "That is odd"
"She gave off two feelings" Raian continued "She seemed like a nice and somewhat off artsy girl, but she also seemed to be superficial, as though what I was seeing was just in my mind"
"….Okay dude you are bugging out" Josue said suddenly
"Damn it get up!" Iians yells filled the room
"Just calm down, and wipe off this stupid paint, maybe you ate something bad and you're just bugging from it" Josue said smudging the paint all around Raians face "Just calm down and relax before your gym battle"
Josue stood back up with a worried look as he turned back to the battlefield where Watchdog suddenly swatted flaaffy in the head, but the sheep grabbed its tail and threw the odd furry creature.
"Come on Flaaffy!" Iian yelled out "We got this, just one more good hit and they're done"
"Sorry to get your hopes up string bean, but one more good hit and YOU're done" Lenora replied
"Let's finish this with class, use tackle!" Iian yelled out
"Watchdog use Low Kick!" Lenora replied
Both creatures charged each other with intensity, as Watchdog shot its leg forth in a kick, Flaaffy jumped up and shot forth tackling the lanky creature. Flaaffy directly tackled the Watchdog and hard. Watchdogs legs and arms shot straight as Flaaffy took the beast back several feet with force, knocking the wind from the Watchdog in mid-air. Watchdog hit the ground hard as Flaaffy kneeled over the Pokémon, a critical hit from the tackle
"Watchdog is unable to battle, Flaaffy wins, the match goes to the challenger Iian!" The Referee yelled out holding his flag to Iian
"Damn Stra…" Iian began to yell before he stopped mid sentence, turning to flaaffy who stood up and began to glow a light undulating blue.
"No" Josue said with shock as he gasped, his jaw dropping. Iian gasped sucking in air with his dropped jaw and wide watering eyes as he watched the glowing blue form change, the small pink sheep now stretching nearly double in size, its fluff disappearing in the blue form. Raian looked up and he too suddenly gasped with a jaw dropped as Flaaffy evolved. It took a few seconds before the blue light dissipated and in Flaaffys spot stood a moderately tall proud yellow marsupial, Ampharos.
Iian fell to his knees with his hands held up and together as he gasped looking at Ampharos.
"Am-pharos?" Ampharos curiously said
"Holy sh!t you sound cute as f^ck!" Iian yelled out jumping to his feet and charging the Pokémon.
Josue jumped up and charged Ampharos too, both he and Iian examining the Pokémon who practically blushed in the attention.
"Umm…Kid...You won the Basic Badge" Lenora said confused holding out the badge to Iian
"Yeahthanks" Iian muttered in one quick breath as he snatched it and continued looking over Ampharos
"Well then, could you leave? I have other things to get to" Lenora said
The group quickly scooted to the side in small steps still in awe at Ampharos as Raian rose and walked up to the battlefield with Lucario. As Raian looked at Lucario he began to have another minor hallucination.
"There's that kid" Raian heard in his head as he walked to his box on the end of the battlefield "No parents, brothers been gone for years"
"At least he seems to take it all well" another voice responded, an image of several shadowy figures appearing to Raian
"Come on Contest Boy!" Iian yelled out after everything was set and he and Josue stood alongside Ampharos watching the field.
"Just stay focused Raian!" Josue yelled out
"Alright then, the battle between Rain the challenger and Lenora the gym leader is about to get under way" The Referee yelled out enthusiastically "Each side will have two Pokémon and the battle is over when both are unable to continue, furthermore, only the challenger can substitute Pokémon. Battle Begin!"
"Come on out Audino!" Lenora yelled, raians sight filled with shadowy figures, Lenoras words mixed and shifted around turning into the odd sounds the woman was making earlier, sounds like death tip-toeing around
"Ready Petilil?" Raian asked trying to keep the two worlds separate
"Peti!" Petilil happily responded jumping from lucarios arms into the field
"Woah, an actual shiny Pokémon" Lenora exclaimed excitedly "A rare pigmentation disorder, impressive"
Raian tried to let out a small laugh but his head became very light as he looked at his opponents Audino, an odd bipedal creature to say the least.
"And the winner of this contest is…Lucario and Raian!" Raian suddenly heard bouncing around his head
"Huh, Wonder why Raian didn't dress up for this gym" Iian said to Josue
"Oh, he's tripping out" Josue calmly responded "I didn't have the heart to tell him he got a nasty run in with a Mismagius"
"What now?" Iian asked as Petilil shook releasing sleeping powder onto Audino
"Oh my dad use to live in Lavender Town and would see it all the time, place is crawling with Mismagius, you can even hear them chanting during any given part of the day, pretty eerie" Josue said as Petilil and Audino fought "If you hear ones direct cries you can get some nasty fear or sadness based hallucinations, or if you're lucky some happiness based dreams"
"Wait, so that creepy girl was a Mismagius?" Iian asked
"Maybe, or maybe she owned one that felt mischievous" Josue replied watching Petilil attach weak roots into Audino "I'm leaning towards the second e, why would a Mismagius give someone a sun stone after all? Either way, raian will be fine after a little bit, but tonight he'll either have some bad nightmares or some awesome dreams"
"Sh!t" Iian replied
"Petilil use synthesis" Raian yelled out slurring his words as he saw a field full of dark shadow beings who all spoke random phrases;
"..Died during the attack on the Frontiers construction"
"..In a horrible accident"
"…All alone"
"Alone"
"ALONE"
"Come on Audino wake up!" Lenora yelled out "You've got to wake up and use fire blast!"
"Wow, I do have to give him credit" Iian said crossing his arms "For someone being tortured by hallucinations he's certainly doing well in the battle…I mean…good for a coordinator"
"It's something about contests" Josue replied "They help Raian, they're like some odd therapy for him, it's just what he loves to do, and even when distracted he can put on a show, and that's all any battle is, a show"
"Audino is unable to battle, Petilil wins!" the referee yelled out holding his flag up to Raian
"Good job" Raian yelled out to Petilil, his vision undulating "Good form, nice execution"
"It's not over yet!" Lenora yelled out as she returned Audino "Come on out Dunsparce!"
"Weird" Iian said as the odd creature came out of the pokeball. It was a long yellow beast with small wings and a drill-like tail, no arms or legs, and a large head with closed eyes.
"Dunsparce, non-feral, normal type, the Land Snake Pokémon" Josues pokedex spoke out "A Shy Pokémon which avoids human contact by drilling underground with its drill like tail. According to folk-lore the dunsparce inspired early humans on the invention of the drill"
"Alright Dunsparce use defense curl!" Lenora yelled out. Raian began to sway back and forth as his legs grew weak; Lucario put his paw on Raian to reassure him.
"Name's Iian, you?" Raian suddenly heard amongst the mixing words of the shadow figures "…Yeah, I'm new to sinnoh, but I already have my Pokémon from Hoenn…"
"Petilil" Raian said out loud trying to concentrate "Use that new move we've been working on, Sleep powder and Magical Leaf!"
"Peti!" Petilil happily responded before taking a serious look. Everyone watched as the small creature jumped in the air and began twirling releasing a small sprinkle of sparkling powder over the field, including Dunsparce. Everyone kept their eyes on Petilil as she stopped spinning and several leaves fell off of her, each leaf gave off a small glow around its edges as it was charged with some of Petilils power. As the powder fell on Dunsparce the poor creature began to become instantly dreary, and abruptly the leaves surrounding petilil shot down with amazing speed, each leaf striking dunsparce hard. As Dunsparce flinched Petilil came down joyfully and striking a pose as it drove itself down hard on dunsparces back.
"You don't belong" Raian heard the voices continue speaking "You aren't a real trainer"
"Now!" raian yelled out
Petilil outshot several weak roots which dug into dunsparce and drained the creature of energy. Everyone watched as Dunsparce dropped its head to the ground, its eyes shut and its movements stopped
"…Sleep Powder...Tackle…Absorb…Mega Drain" Lenora said to herself in shock
"Dunsparce is unable to battle…Petilil wins…The match goes to Raian the challenger!" The referee yelled out not quite sure of what happened.
"Way to go Raian!" Josue yelled out
"Not bad Coordinator" Iian yelled out
"You did amazing buddy" Lenora said as she patted Dunsparce before returning it "And you…your fighting style is so enchanting. It is charming, you are a Pokémon trainer worthy of receiving this basic badge"
As Lenora walked towards the delusional Raian he did not see her but saw a young looking woman with short blonde hair wearing a dress which had large shards of bleeding glass sticking from it along with several smaller shards sticking from her face.
"Uh oh" Iian said looking at Raians panicking look "I don't think the hallucinations are gone yet, come on!"
Raian began to shake as his monster approached him, every time the woman opened her mouth another stream of blood dribbled out. As she got within feet she held out her hand which had a shard of glass directly through it and three of its fingernails were shredded in pieces and sticking straight up.
"Are you okay?" Lenora asked holding out the basic badge. As Raian looked with pure fear he began to open his mouth to scream, suddenly Iian grabbed Raian from behind covering his mouth. Raian began thrashing about in fear as Iian placed him in a full nelson while Josue kept his hands over Raians mouth.
"Sorry" Josue said looking back at Lenora "There was a little mix up earlier, really sorry about this"
"Is he going to be okay?" Lenora asked concerned
"Yeah, he'll be fine" Iian replied "Wanker just had a bit of a bad run in with a Mismagius"
"OoO" Lenora said with morbid curiosity "Wait here, I'm going to go grab a notebook"
And so Iian and Josue stood holding back the panicking Raian as Lenora left for a notebook to write down observations on the effect of Mismagius incantations on humans. The Three now had their first two badges, six more to go, despite the un-traditional celebration, they were all quite content to have their second badge, except raian who was still seeing terrible visions, but as soon as the visions leave he is sure to be happy that he won his second badge.
12:00 PM, earlier that day in Nacrene City
"I don't know" a blonde haired woman wearing a green sweater and a black skirt said in a soft voice to her phone "I just want to find someone to give this sun stone to, it bugs Mismagius…yeah...I just don't want her aura to be disrupted too much and she ends up hurting people or causing a disturbance, I…wait...I'll need to get back to you I think I found my answer…Excuse me sir! Your Aura is exceptionally purplish-green…"
To Be Continued…
New Pokémon Seen this episode
Swadloon
Deerling
Watchdog
Ampharos
Audino
Dunsparce