Origin Of Bad Relations

A long, sparkling, light blue tail with a slightly rounded tip swings back and forth rapidly as its owner holds himself over the railing of the boat, looking out across the azure soaked sea with glistening baby blue eyes. The sun's rays gleam off the surface and make the water sparkle and shine. The sky is reflected on the giant, liquid mirror's surface, showing off the cloudless view above, further exemplifying the oddly perfect day. A fresh breeze gently blows by, carrying a hint of salt with it, a classic scent when over the ocean. All of these combined make the little blue kitten drop his mouth open in a wide smile, captivated by everything he sees. "Wooooow! Look at how pretty the water is!" his tone is high with excitement and carries a secret playfulness to it.

Next to him stands Emma, holding Plush in her arms. She sees how fast Kibou's tail is swinging, knowing well that he would probably wanna dive in and start playing in the water, but if he does that he might lose track of the boat and get lost. "Kibou, I know what you're thinking. The water is very pretty, but you can't play in it. I don't want you getting lost if you decide to swim far from us."

He turns his head to look at her, immediately becoming upset. "Awww, c'mon! I wanted to play in the water…"

Plush puts his paw on his face gently, sighing. "Is playing the only thing you care about? We're not here to play, we're here to escape from those bad guys, remember?"

"I remember… but I wanna do something fun, this whole running away thing is boring!" he seems to blatantly disregard the whole reason as to why they left in the first place.

"If you were all alone, I bet you'd be caught already at this point." Plush says under his breath, but Kibou has insanely good hearing and hears him.

"No I wouldn't, I'd be somewhere safe right now."

Plush rolls his eyes at him. "Yeah, whatever you say…"

Kibou climbs up the railing and situates himself in a way that allows him to sit on it, facing Emma. He has a new question, one that's rather quite unexpected from him considering what he was just talking about. "Emma… I have a question."

She looks at him. "What is it?"

He taps his paws together. "Well… it's about what Arceus told me, and a few things I found out on my own… why are humans and Pokemon fighting with each other? You and Plush are getting along quite well and I saw some other humans getting along with some wild Pokemon and I don't understand."

She looks out across the ocean. "You're talking about the war we're currently in, aren't you?" her tone is lower than usual. He nods, ready to hear what she has to say. "It's pointless, there's no real justifiable reason for this war, only just someone's weird, twisted beliefs keeping it going."

"Is it the work of whoever the "president" is?"

She looks at him. "I believe so, but he isn't the one that truly started the sour relations between humans and Pokemon you know, he's doing it for his own reasons."

"Then what did? What made things get to the way they are now?"

She clears her throat. "My grandparents told me a story about the "100 Year War" from thousands of years ago. According to their story, Arceus, who was thought to not even exist, came down to our planet one day to stop a giant asteroid from crashing into the surface. Had she not come down to protect us, our world might not be around anymore. Arceus used what we call the "Life Plates" to give her powers beyond our comprehension. With these plates, she used their powers along with hers to completely obliterate the asteroid, turning it into harmless space dust. In the process, she drained herself of all her power and fell to the ground in our world in a harsh, wasteland somewhere in the Sinnoh region, extremely weak and ready to keel over. A man by the name of "Damos" found her and with his help and the help of the nearby wild Pokemon, she was brought back to health with the life plates. Eternally grateful for what he did, Arceus took the Zap, Meadow, Splash, Earth, and Draco plates and turned them into a jewel called the "Jewel of Life". This was used to help create a rich and fertile land for humans and Pokemon to live in which came to be known as "Michina Town". The Jewel of Life was supposed to be returned but someone brainwashed Damos into keeping it for himself and instead of the jewel being returned on the day of a solar eclipse, Arceus was ambushed and betrayed."

He finds this to be such a horrible thing. "How could they do that to Arceus!? She's so nice and caring… she would never hurt anyone and only wants the best for those that live here!"

She shrugs. "I don't know, but according to the story, Arceus managed to escape from the attack and was consumed with rage for being betrayed. Her anger and rage transpired into Pokemon all over the world, and with loyalty and anger for having their creator hurt, they started to attack humans furiously. This is what started the war that lasted 100 years. During those 100 years, Arceus laid wasted to all the early civilized human built towns and cities all over the world, destroying anyone that dared attempt to fight her, including any Pokemon foolish enough to still trust their human counterparts. Both bad and good people and Pokemon were caught in this war, causing tons of pain and suffering the likes of which have never been seen in thousands of years since then. The 100 year war was brought to an end when Arceus managed to recover the jewel from a man named "Marcus". He was the one that brainwashed Damos into keeping the jewel for himself and also set up the ambush that Arceus walked into. The story is a bit vague on this part, but according to what was said, Damos handed the jewel to Marcus thanks to being brainwashed by him. Marcus took the jewel and tried to get as far from Sinnoh as he could but after 100 years, Arceus found him. He faced her unbridled rage and fury, being completely erased from this universe, his walking cane hiding the jewel in a crafty manner being simply blown to bits, revealing the jewel and calming her down in the process."

Plush can't believe what he's hearing. "All of this over some jewel? I'd say Arceus might have some anger issues… what's so special about that jewel anyway?"

Emma turns her attention to him. "The Jewel of Life was not just some jewel, Plush. It was comprised of a few life plates, 18 different plates infused with all the types of every Pokemon to ever exist. Each plate has an immeasurable amount of power and it is also a source of power for Arceus. If too many are lost, she could lose her life force, according to legend but only Damos would know since he was the one that revived her. The jewel of life itself had the power to make any desolate wasteland unfit for life become a perfectly sustainable paradise in the blink of an eye, at least, that's what legends say. It was a gift, but one that needed to be returned and being betrayed would make you angry, right?"

He understands better now. "So wait… you're telling me some little stone had the power to make a desert become full of grass, plants, and food?"

She nods. "You bet, but the jewel of life is long gone and only my ancestors would know if this was true or not."

Kibou asks another question. "What about before all of that bad stuff? Were humans and Pokemon fighting with each other?"

She thinks for a second. "Umm… I don't think so. Looking at the Sinnoh region as a whole and from what our recorded history says, most of the cities and towns were built on the ruins of Arceus' wrath hundreds of years ago and technological advances got them to what they look like today. My grandparents didn't really tell me too much about ancient human-Pokemon relations, but I read a book that said the relations between humans and Pokemon from the "Ancient Era" were more than amicable. They seemed to supply each other with goods and resources, helping one another out whenever possible."

He ponders this, it doesn't make sense. "How can relations between humans and Pokemon be so bad today? What happened in order for those bad, peepee guys or whatever they are to be doing what they're doing?"

She sighs, thinking about it for a moment. "I don't know… we just came out of a big war not too long ago but with everything that's going on, we might as well have never ended it. The president might have something to do with it… he's said in the past that Pokemon can be dangerous creatures and are very much capable of killing if they wanted to. He's also said that they're the reason for some bad things in the world."

"But… I just wanna play and have fun! How is that dangerous to anyone?" he whines.

"Because it's partially true, not all Pokemon are as open to human interactions. You see, wild Pokemon still hold the mark of the 100 year war in them due to it being passed down from generation to generation. The first generation that survived the war told their offspring of the horrible event and the next generation would be told and it kept going up to today's current generation of wild Pokemon. You might not notice it because, believe it or not, you're a wild Pokemon too, but if you look around and observe, you may notice wild Pokemon hiding or being very cautious around humans. With the PCU running around doing as they please, it doesn't help the situation at all." She then speaks under her breath. "I just wish I knew why they were capturing and containing all those Pokemon…"

Kibou doesn't quite understand the reasons for why people and Pokemon hate each other so much today, but he does understand the reason behind the 100 year war. He can't believe that someone would do such a thing to Arceus, she never did anything bad to them and she even saved them all from being destroyed. He shakes his head rapidly, not believing it at all. "That can't be right! I know Arceus very well, my parents would always take me to the Hall of Origin to see her and she was never mean or angry towards anyone. She's never attacked any of us and she's very nice!"

Plush thinks otherwise. "If those stories are true, then I don't want to see Arceus when she's that mad… I don't wanna be hurt…"

Kibou looks at him. "She's not mean! She's not!" His tone is defensive.

"Okay fine, maybe she didn't hurt you, but what about other people or Pokemon? Ever thought of that?"

"No! She said she'd never want to hurt anyone! She said it to me when I went to see her a few nights ago!"

Sensing a possible little argument, Emma clears her throat loudly and tries to change the subject. "AHEM… I wanna go check out the boat gift shop. Maybe they'll have something there that's worth buying, after all, I don't think we'll be travelling by boat again anytime soon."

Plush thinks this is a great idea. "Maybe they'll have something I can use to keep myself from evolving…"

She looks down at him, curious as to why he wouldn't want to evolve. "But why? Don't you want to evolve?"

His ears drop down to his sides. "It's… well… If I can even evolve, then I'd turn into something that I don't really wanna turn into… at least, for right now…"

She pats him gently on his back. "It's okay, I think I understand. Well, I guess we can only hope they have an Everstone otherwise we'll just have to look for it ourselves once this whole thing blows over."

"Y-yeah… I hope they do…" he then speaks under his breath. "I really don't need to evolve into THAT, I wouldn't hear the end of it from him and I say that because I get the feeling he's as childish as he really is and would do exactly that… hopefully they have an everstone."

Emma starts to walk away and Kibou tilts his head, curious as to where they're going. "Hey! Where are you going!?"

"We're gonna go quickly check out the gift shop, if they have one. Don't let anyone else see you, okay?" He nods and with that, Emma and Plush head down the stairs nearby to look for a map so they can locate the gift shop, that is, if the boat has one.

While they walk around looking for this map, Emma decides to ask Plush a question. "About what you said… why don't you wanna evolve? I feel like you were hiding the truth from Kibou."

He nods. "Yeah, I don't want him to know that I'd evolve into a Sylveon… which happens because of the love the person taking care of me shows, which means you. There's no doubt about it, I'll definitely evolve into one…"

"But why don't you want that? I saw a Sylveon in the hospital once and they were quite adorable and cute."

His voice becomes quiet and shy. "...Because I'll look girly and if he sees that, he won't stop making fun of me."

"Do you really think Kibou will make fun of you for that? Are you 100% sure that he'll do such a thing?"

"Y-yes! Do you see how he acts? He's all over the place, seems to forget important tasks, and he just gives me a feeling that he'll make fun of me for something like that."

She shrugs. "Okay, well the only way we'll know is if you evolve, but if you don't want to evolve now, that's okay with me. Just know in the future that something could happen and you might evolve by accident."

"That's fine…"

They conveniently end up in front of the boat's gift shop. Emma looks to her right. "Oh, I guess they do have one! That was easy enough to find!"

Plush mumbles under his breath. "We literally were just walking around…"

They enter the store and take a look around. Despite the fact that a place like this would seem like a bad idea to bring Plush into, nobody bats an eye at him. The single cashier running the counter gives a friendly smile to them as they enter. The store isn't too big, but for a boat store, it's much bigger than usual. Near the register are some spinning racks with shirts and pants on them, all with designs that have a tropical vibe to them. Past this are a few rows of shelves put together to make small aisles, holding various merchandise like little model versions of the boat, drinking glasses with tropical designs on them, strange looking sunglasses, and many other things. They walk down one of these aisles and all the way at the end, they find a small collection of Pokemon plushies for sale in a large bin. Plush climbs onto her shoulder and immediately points at them. "What the heck? They're selling Pokemon here!?"

Emma kneels down to grab one with her left hand and shows it off to him. The plushie is of a Butterfree and Emma giggles a little. "You're so silly… these aren't real Pokemon, they're stuffed toys! Look!" She holds it up to him so he can see that isn't a real Pokemon.

He pushes his head up against it and the soft, squishiness of the plush makes him purr faintly. "It's soo soft…"

Emma takes another look at the collection and notices that near the back, there's what looks like an Eevee ear and she goes to grab it. As she does, she has to push the others out of the way but she manages to take it out and just as she thought, it was an Eevee plushie. Plush immediately blushes a little when he sees this. "W-what the heck, Emma!"

She giggles again. "What's wrong? You don't want a little companion coming along for the ride that way you don't get lonely if we have to camp outside or something?"

"N-no… I-I mean yes, I-I mean…" he struggles to explain himself but she understands.

"It's okay, I get it… I'll buy it for you, okay? Let's go see if they have an Everstone first before we leave."

His face is a bit red, embarrassed that someone could've seen him with it but luckily, nobody else was nearby. "Y-you could've said that you saw it and wanted to know if I wanted it before grabbing it and showing it off in the open…"

She shrugs. "Whatever, don't worry about it too much. Let's go get that Everstone now." She stands up, places the plush under her arm to hold it, and the two walk over to the next aisle. This aisle has plates, forks, and spoons on one side, and decorative paintings, uniquely shaped clocks, and a few strange looking stones on the other. She walks over to them and immediately smiles. "This is it! These stones are useful for evolution, but there's one that prevents it!" She grabs what looks to be a normal, everyday stone one could find on the ground off the shelf with her left hand.

He is completely confused by this. "Isn't that just a normal rock? What's so special about it compared to that clear stone with the yellow star in the center?"

She shows it to him. "This stone is the Everstone I was talking about. It looks like a normal stone, but is anything but. If I can find a way to fit this on your body or something, it'll prevent you from evolving. A good thing is that this stone isn't heavy so you won't feel it unless someone took it off and threw it at you, which would hurt a lot." she then shifts her attention to the other stone he mentioned. "That clear stone with the yellow star is a "Shiny Stone", and certain Pokemon evolve when their power releases the latent energy contained within it." She places the stone down for a second to scratch her chin with her left hand. "For example, a Minccino's power can release the latent energy in the stone and make them evolve into a Cinccino."

He understands now. "Oh, I see… but what if I touched that shiny stone? Would I evolve?"

She shakes her head. "The shiny stone doesn't work on all Pokemon, certain powers release the latent energy in these stones and it only happens while they're holding them too. I think the fire, water, ice, grass, and thunder stones can make you evolve, but I thought you said you didn't want that."

He's caught in a bit of a loophole. "W-well… I-I said if I evolved into a Sylveon that would be bad, anything else is fine but I don't want to evolve now for sure."

She grabs the everstone and smiles. "Okay then, you won't evolve. Let's go buy this so we can go back to Kibou… I hope he didn't get spotted by anyone." She walks down the aisle and stops at the cash register where she places the plushie and everstone down so she can pay for it.

The cashier scans the items and as they do this, Emma asks a question. "Excuse me, but do you have something that would allow my little Eevee to wear that Everstone?"

They nod. "Yeah, I can put a small key ring on it and attach it to a collar. Will that work?"

"Yes, that's perfect!"

They take the everstone and with a special machine behind the counter, they insert a key ring into the stone making it possible for Emma to put it on a collar, which the cashier does and includes for free. "Anyway, have that on the house. The total is 4,199 poke please."

She hands over the cash and as she does, someone comes onto the ship's intercom system. "Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in Olivine City in about 30 minutes! The water's clear and clean, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of the trip!"

Emma takes the collar and puts it around Plush's neck for a perfect fit, fastening it securely so it doesn't fall off. It doesn't constrict his throat or choke him and he's happy about it. "Alright, now I won't evolve randomly until it's the right time!"

Emma grabs the plushie off the counter and the cashier bows. "Have a nice day!"

"You too" she says as she, with Plush on her shoulders, walks out of the gift shop to find Kibou.

They've managed to elude the PCU for now, but when they arrive in Johto, I see them going down a much different path, ohohohooo… and perhaps I'll meet him yet again. When we meet, I'll teach him something that he'll need to use for the upcoming fight...


PD: If you looked on my profile, you'll have noticed a small update saying that I lost motivation. Tis is true but I've bounced back and I'm ready to continue writing. In other words, sorry for the 2 week delay with getting this chapter up. There's more to come and this chapter hints at events that will happen in another story that you'll get to read once this one is finished. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I'll seeya in the next chapter!