Yo! DevilsUnited Here! pulled a sneaky one on y'all. This is the story I'm writing alongside Destiny: A Star Wars Story! And I decided that I'm too excited for this story's debut, so I'm writing the first chapter early! I also wanted to Thank Luanastar for sparking the basic idea for this story and My good friend Xeta for the amzing cover art! so I devote this chapter to them, and to everyone who was supportive of this idea. make sure to check out Luanastar's 'That Glaceon', 'That Sylveon', and 'First Catch' if you haven't already. So, without further adieu, the first chapter of Dusk and Dawn!
This text here: Thoughts
Disclaimer: DevilsUnited does not own Pokémon or any terms, names, or items from other places or concepts used in this story.
Chapter 1: A Daring Escape
August 13th, 2020, Kalos Region
Luminos City was once the crown jewel of the once peaceful region of Kalos. It's towering skyscrapers and vast landscapes were a sight to behold. That was, until the Regime took over. Anthropomorphic pokémon have existed alongside humans and normal pokémon longer than anyone can remember, and all regions have accepted them into society, until Kalos rose up to drive them out. Many have died, and the outskirts of Luminos remain a barren wasteland. Home to crime bosses, gangs, syndicates, the suffering never ends. Regime troops patrol the streets day and night, making sure to kill as many anthros as they can before the patrol teams rotate. Kalos nowadays is described as "Hell on Earth". Currently trapped in civil war, the regime fights a faction of anthro sympathizers known simply as "The Insurrection". Fighting to stop the Regime any way they can. However, this isn't about their war. This is about a lone anthro umbreon who has had enough of the suffering and is planning a daring escape. Swift as a shadow, his white rings and yellow eyes giving off a faint glow as he dashes between the war torn alleyways.
Chase Gardner ran through the crumbling streets trying to reach the parking garage where he usually slept. He wore a black jacket with with quite a few holes and cuts in it and a dirty white undershirt, along with torn jeans and worn combat boots. He also had leg bracers and arm guards, as well as a shoulder plate on his left shoulder. They all looked to be made out of a carbon fiber and kevlar weave. The garage itself was in more than disrepair, looking like it would collapse with a flick to the support beams. He had been in Kalos for almost two years now and he's finally had enough. He entered his little compartment in the garage and grabbed his bag. Sirens could be heard in the distance nearing is location.
Fuck! How did they catch my trail so fast? They usually don't get here till I'm already gone!
Chase looked around the crummy room to quickly check if he forgot anything. He saw a rifle with a peculiar design leaned against the wall. It was his CJ-9 BO Rifle. It had a circular design for the main body of the rifle and an odd barrel design. On top of the barrel was a blade with an old bloodstain nearly covering it. You could faintly see a rose engraved on the blade. The rifle has a standard stock with a rose engraved on that as well. The gun was a dull gunmetal grey, just how chase liked it. He picked up the rifle and slung it on his back. The sirens got louder, this was Chase's queue to leave.
He made a break for it. He went down the stairs that had more than a few holes in them and went to the lowest level of the garage, where, a Tamiya 14131 Kawasaki Ninja H2R was waiting to be used. He wasted no time and hopped on. He started the bike and listened to the satisfying rev the it made. He then went full throttle and blasted down the street. The patrol vehicles immediately noticed him and gave chase. Chase looked at his wrist to see a small control panel. he pressed a button and the entire garage was blown to kingdom come, creating a makeshift blockade out of the rubble so that the patrol couldn't go after him.
Chase continued down the street until he reached the city limits. Not wanting to waste time, Chase grabbed his rifle and with one precise shot, killed the human at the controls. Their head fell on the console, thus lowering the barricades. He continued riding into the Kalos countryside for the last time. Looking back at the city, Chase could only glare at the terrible sight. Buildings were torn apart, streets were crumbled and destroyed, bodies lined said streets, all in the regime's campaign to drive the anthros out. Chase then saw more Vehicles coming after him. He counted 4 armored trucks, two quad bikes, and one helicopter.
Damn they really want a piece of me don't they? Well, I cant blame them.
He looked down at his belt and eyed a piece of tech strapped to it, pulsating with energy. It was an industrial grade power cell.
There is no way that I'm giving this back. This is my only ticket out of this hell.
Chase's pursuers were gaining on him, he was quick to think however. He grabbed a couple of grenades and pulled the pins. letting them drop onto the road. Two of the armored cars drove right over them and were upturned when the grenades exploded. The machine gun of the helicopter started firing on him, he was quick to evade the bullets and retaliated by eliminating the pilots with his BO Rifle, causing it to crash into the ground, as well as cause the quad bikes to be thrown off the road and into the trees, and the cars to be cut off, forcing them to take a different route. This bought Chase time, but not much. The rest of the ride was quiet, almost too quiet for his taste. An unbearable silence filled the air, only accompanied by the sound of his bike. Thankfully, the ride wasn't too long. He reached a medium size house with two stories. The wood slightly rotting and chipping, the paint clearly old. There were cameras on the outer walls, ready to notify the Umbreon of any intruders on the property. He pulled the house key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
Upon stepping inside, Memories of his past flooded into his mind. He managed to push them out however, and continued on. He entered the living room of the house and looked around, visualizing fond memories with his family and friends. This put a faint smile on his face, but then a frown as he remembered that they were all gone. He went over to the mantle above the fireplace, and looked at a picture in a comforting wooden frame. In this picture were three anthro eeveelutions. An Umbreon, a Glaceon, and an Eevee. The Umbreon wore a leather jacket with a dark red shirt, emulating his eyes. The Glaceon wore a white dress with a Lilac flower in the fur on her head. The Eevee wore a white shirt with blue overalls and was munching on a cheri berry, whilst looking at the camera. All of them had smiles on their faces and looked as happy as can be. Chase sighed and put the picture back. He took a quick glance at the picture next to it, an Umbreon with white rings and gold eyes next to an Espeon in a wooden frame with a rose pattern carved into it. He averted his eyes immediately, not wanting to remember her.
He decided that he had wasted enough time and went to his old weapons locker. He pulled out two fold out automated turrets, three Claymore explosives, and two laser sensor trip mines. This was more than enough to make a set of defenses capable of holding them off until he escapes. He set up the Claymores at the door ways of the house leading to the kitchen. He placed the trip mines on the ceiling by the front door. He then set up the turrets in the two entrances leading to the kitchen. Chase made sure that the turrets were loaded to the brim with bullets. After his defenses were set up, he pressed a panel in the wall behind the staircase leading to the second floor, and an electronic panel emerged. He dusted it off and placed his hand on it. It beeped in acknowledgement and the wall opened up, revealing an elevator. He stepped inside and did the same as before, thus closing the wall and sending the elevator down. When it reached it's destination, Chase stepped out into what could only be described as a marvel of technology. The walls were made of shiny metal with light pulsing from the ceiling. The floor looked to be made of steel and was cold to the touch. Tables lined the room and machines of different kinds could be seen. Everything was dusty and old, yet was still advanced far beyond his time, courtesy of his massive intelligence.
As he walked into the room, a computer hummed to life, revealing a holographic display of what is arguably, his greatest creation.
His AI companion, VEGA.
"Welcome back Dr. Gardner." VEGA chirped. "It is good to see you alive and well."
The systems in the facility all powered on, making the room much brighter now that the main lights were on.
"Likewise VEGA." Chase responded. "How are we with the project?"
"Project IKELOS is complete and ready to be used. I hope you have collected the aether cell needed to power the device."
"I dd VEGA. Now it's time to take our leave. Just need to grab one thing from the vault."
Chase ran over to a panel in the wall and pressed it. a large piece of the wall raised up and revealed a door, with many security locks. Voice recognition, face recognition, hand print scanner, number combination, letter combination, retinal scanner, even a blood sample is needed for the door. Chase was about to start unlocking the vault until he heard an explosion from the main floor.
"Alert! Hostile forces have breached the front entrance!"
Chase then heard a series of explosions paired with the sound of gunfire.
"Alright, the vault will have to wait. I'm gonna have to come back for it. VEGA! Seal the vault and bring out IKELOS! after that, shut down the lab and eject yourself from the console!"
VEGA did just that. The vault closed and two floor panels retracted, a table holding a wrist gauntlet rising from the ground. Chase put the gauntlet on and put the power cell in. it hummed to life as the lights illuminated the now dark laboratory. He grabbed the compact data chip that was VEGA and plugged him into the IKELOS gauntlet. VEGA's hologram appeared in the display. "I am fully integrated into the IKELOS teleportation gauntlet. "What coordinates shall I input?"
"Anywhere but Kalos. Surprise me."
"Acknowledged."
And with that, an aura surrounded Chase as he was teleported out of the region in a blinding light.
August 13th, 2020, Alola Region
The Alola Region is one of the most popular regions in the pokémon world for it's reputation as a tropical paradise. Alola is also one of the many regions to accept anthros and has even given anthro immigrants from Kalos citizenship so they are not forced to go back. There were many tourist attractions in the Alola region and many had reason to go there, either to escape, or to enjoy the sights. The sound of wind rustling against trees was prominent as the peaceful sounds of flying type pokémon filled the air. It was truly a peaceful place.
Unfortunately, the peaceful sound was broken by a vortex opening on one of Alola's high cliffs. The vortex was an unstable swirling blue void that wouldn't be open for long, and it didn't need to be. Soon, and familiar Umbreon with white rings flew out of the vortex and and subsequently down the cliff face. He tumbled and tumbled, hurting himself on the way down, hitting rocked and branches until he came to a stop. He groaned in discomfort and tried to get up, only to collapse onto the ground again. he turned himself over and looked himself over. he saw that his left arm and leg were bent in awkward ways. He immediately realized that they were broken, but Chase didn't let out even a grunt of pain. He just lay there. Eventually, he used his good arm and moved his broken one back into place with a pop from the bone. He did the same with his leg. After that, he found a small rock embedded in his side. He pulled it out and flicked it away. He Checked his bag to make sure everything was intact, then stood up and looked out to the tropical land of Alola. For the first time in years he was at a loss for words. He stared out seemingly in a trance by the lush colors of the forests of palm trees and the blue skies. The view was staggering. "VEGA I must say... you definitely surprised me."
Suddenly, Chase heard a voice behind him, "Hey there stranger. View's nice is- oh!" The voice was interrupted when it was swept by the leg and met with the barrel of a rifle in its face. Chase recognized that it as a civilian and immediately dropped his rifle and helped the stranger up. The stranger was revealed to be an anthro Luxray, but this one was different. Instead of the normal blue skin, this one had gold. Chase had never seen anything like it. "Well. I guess you're not one for being sneaked up on." The Luxray laughed. Chase looked at him, and went to grab his rifle. Upon doing so, he spoke to the Luxray, "Well, living in Kalos will do that to you, and trust me, I've lived there long enough." The Luxray can only stare in amazement. "Wait! You're from Kalos?!"
Chase gave an unreadable expression, but it definitely wasn't a happy one. "Yeah, and the rumors are true. It is hell on earth." was all he responded with. The Luxray looked at the Umbreon with a concerned look in his eyes. Chase noticed this and spoke up. "If you're wondering if I'm dangerous, then you have nothing to fear as long as you are not a threat." The Luxray looked confused, but then understood. "Oh! No no no no it's just that I've never seen an Umbreon with white rings. That's all. Because if you were a killer, I'd be dead by now. Either way, the name's James Volt, and welcome to Alola!" James finished. "Chase Gardner. It's nice to meet a friendly face."
"Oh don't worry Chase. Most of the people here are really friendly, and don't worry about anything right now, lets just get you to the city and settled in."
"wait. What do you mean by "Settling in?" asked Chase. "Well you gotta have some place to live while you get things sorted! You can live with me while we do that. We have an extra room." James explained. Chase was dumbfounded by the Luxray's act of kindness. He never got that kind of treatment, especially from someone he just met. "Thanks James. That... That means a lot." Chase eventually said. "No problem bud. It's just the right thing to do. We should head to the city, It's getting dark out, and you wouldn't want to be out here when it gets dark. The cliffs can do more than make you sore."
So Chase and his newfound friend James the Luxray headed off to the city. Chase was ready to start his new life.
And he'll be damned i he didn't make this second chance count.
Well, that's it for the first chapter of Dusk and Dawn! Stay tuned for a new chapter every other Saturday! Someone better pop a champagne bottle.