Chapter 11: Island of Liberty

Erick sighed as he scanned over the brochure Petra had handed him earlier this morning. They had boarded the ferry and were on their way to Liberty Island before stopping in Castelia City. He didn't exactly know why Petra was so insistent on going there, it was just a tourist attraction after all.

"Let's see…" he said, scanning over the info provided on the brochure.

Long ago, it was rumored that the Mythical Pokemon of Luck, Victini, once lived on this island. It was befriended by an older man, who used its luck based power of infinite energy to provide good and safe deeds to the people of Unova.

Of course, as he was only human, the man would eventually pass, leaving the poor Pokemon in a state of sadness, it's said that the Unova Region experienced a high rate in bad luck for about a decade after the old man's death. Searches went out to find and comfort Victini, however, those efforts were futile.

Nowadays, the location and existence of Victini is highly debated, some say the Pokemon vanished and went back to its own dimension, never to be seen again. Others note times of extreme luck coming to them, saving them from diseases, or just pure luck against avoiding terrorist-like attacks from Team Neo Plasma. It's all entirely up to debate though.

Erick nodded to himself as he looked up from the brochure, he took out his pokedex, looking up Victini in the dex. Interestingly, it was listed in the Pokedex before Snivy.

Pokemon #494; Victini, the Victory Pokemon.

This Pokemon brings victory. It is said that Trainers with Victini always win, regardless of the type of encounter. It creates an unlimited supply of energy inside its body, which it shares with those who touch it.

The image of the white winged rabbit with orange ears popped up on the screen. Just like in his visions, the Pokemon looked exactly the same with its bright blue eyes and orange ears. It looked relatively cheerful in the image.

"So...that's Victini, huh?" he wondered. "I wonder why I've been getting visions of it."

The slight femine yawn had him snapback to reality as Petra sat next to him on the deck seat.

"Man...this trip is long…" she yawned, laying her head down on his lap, making the young knight blush heavily. Her long chocolate hair flowed over the other side of his legs as she looked up at him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, a smug look on her face.

"N...No…" Erick replied, worried that his face looked like it just came out of a sauna. "I...I just wish you wouldn't do stuff like this in public."

"Ah psh." Petra scoffed as she sat herself back up. "You're no fun, I just want to relax a little bit."

"It's a lot harder to do that when you're leaning into me at all times like you're my girlfriend."

Petra crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. "No, fair,"

Erick rolled his eyes as the boat started to move towards the dock, the airhorn blared a little, alerting the two of them of their arrival.

The two of them got off the boat, Erick looked up, the island was relatively small. There were a few vending machines and a customer service desk. And, the small white lighthouse in the center.

Petra grabbed his hand and dragged him to the lighthouse. Erick sighed to himself as Sunny and Ares walked alongside them.

"Petra please," Erick muttered as Petra dragged him into the lighthouse. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to come here and look around," the princess replied curtly. "You said that you've been getting visions of this place, so why would we not check it out?"

"Well...I...oh alright," Erick sighed as Petra dragged him into the lighthouse. She pushed him down a few steps of stairs and down a hallway…(weren't lighthouses supposed to go up?).

Erick muttered as Petra pushed him into a small room, it had a bed and a couple of book shelves, along with a playset of somesorts.

"So...what's all this stuff for?" he asked.

"Well, the original friend or keeper of Victini did live on this island. So he had stuff to keep himself entertained, am I right?" the princess asked.

"I didn't say you were wrong, but it didn't mention that the guy lived here on anything."

Erick looked around curiously. Why was this place a tourist attraction again? Apart from the history with Victini, there wasn't much else to see here. Maybe it was just an experience or something like that? Or maybe there was a demonstration of some sorts that took place?

Regardless, he turned back to Petra, the princess was giving him a strange look of hope as she waited attentively.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" Erick asked.

"Do you feel any different? Anymore visions or anything like that?"

"What?! No!" Erick fired back. "There's nothing in here, what am I supposed to do?!"

Petra tilted her head to the side. "Well...maybe you were just dreaming...but...I thought maybe that…'' her eyes suddenly widened, stopping her from finishing her sentence.

"Yes,"

"Roomish?" Ares asked.

"Vee?" Sunny also titled his head to the side.

"Turn around!" Petra said.

Erick rolled his eyes from under his glasses and turned around, a bit of orange light suddenly filled the area as the small rabbit Pokemon appeared in front of him, it gave him a happy smile as it held up a peace sign with its fingers.

"Tini!" it cheered.

Erick took a step back as the rabbit hopped up, floating around in the air with its wings.

"See! I knew it!" Petra cheered, her chocolate eyes twinkling. "Victini likes you!"

"Tini Vict!" the rabbit Pokemon floated down to Erick, it poked his nose a little, giggling mischievously as it floated away.

"Well...it's nice to meet you Victini…" Erick said, rubbing the back of his head. "Um...do you...want to battle or something?"

The small rabbit-like Pokemon shook its head, then, it floated over to one of the bookshelves, landing on the top. It crawled through a small hole in the area, then, it crawled out, floating back over to Erick, this time, it had a small pendant around its tiny arm, the pendant was made out of a small string with a star made of what he thought was quartz.

Victini offered him the pendant, too which Erick, after waiting for a moment, took hesitantly.

Vicitini stared at him as he held the pendant in his hand, and, after standing in silence, he heard Petra let out a groan.

"It wants you to put the thing on!" she shouted, facepalming to herself.

"Oh…" Erick put the string around his neck, tying it firmly. Upon finishing, the white star began to glow as Victini smiled at him.

"See...much better." It said.

"Oh...you can talk?!"

"Only to you since you wear my pendant. Now I can follow you around and we can stay connected. If you ever need me, I'll be there for you."

"Wait...so...did you make me a keeper?"

"Yes...I trust that you can keep me safe. Your beliefs and luck seem to match mine. So I think its best that we become good friends. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Um...okay?" Erick asked.

"Splendid...I can sense great things from you...and...maybe someday. I can travel with you. But for now, I think it's best that we stay apart. It might lead you to places you aren't ready for."

"But...don't you give me a guaranteed victory?" Erick asked.

"Please...people say that because I grant good luck. In reality, it's my limitless energy that I give to them that makes them lucky. Plus, as a certain Potions Teacher in a book once said. "Too much of a good thing, is a bad thing." Don't ya think?"

"Don't go quoting Harry Potter...wait...how do you even know what that is?!"

"Well, when I select a keeper, I follow them around all the time, you could say that, I've always been with you. So of course I'd know a lot about you."

Erick sighed, jeez the legendaries made up their minds to just stalk everyone.

"You know, your friends Moon and Sarah are also keepers, so is Cynthia."

"Really?" Erick raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed, Moon guards Manaphy, Sarah guards Shaymin, and Cynthia guards Arceus."

"Arceus eh?"

"Yeah, Arceus…" Erick flinched, he had completely forgotten about Petra. "You never knew that Cynthia guards Arceus? It's common knowledge everywhere."

"I don't recall her ever mentioning it, but I suppose that would explain why she was so powerful. And why Cryus and the rest of Team Galactic were afraid of her."

"You actually know who the leader of Team Galactic is?" Petra jumped in.

"Oh...well…" Erick tripped over his words, desperately thinking of an excuse. "Well, my father was killed by them. So it was likely given orders by him."

"Ah...that explains why your father didn't come see you off with me."

"Mhm."

"You haven't told her yet?" Victini asked.

"Why would I?" Erick asked. "That might destroy my reputation with her."

"Eh...well...I suppose you have a fair point. But, since you're chosen by me, that means that you must be a good person? At least...in my eyes."

"What?!"

"Well...when we place our support in a human, that means we share the same ideals. What, you think we'll just let a human capture us in those pathetic Pokeballs? Nah, if a human proves themselves to us, we decide to join them for a little while. As keepers, we just let humans hold onto our power if needed. Even if you aren't seen as a good person in society's eyes. In our eyes, we can still feel as though you're a person who can do good for society. That's why Lugia helped out Aurdrey in Torren, even though she was a cult leader. Or how Petra's brother was seen as good in the eyes of Reshiram. Even though he was blatantly working with Ghetsis."

"I see...so that's why you think I'm worthy of your power...does that mean you would've helped me...even if I was still...back there?"

"Absolutely. Because I trust in your judgement. Anyway, you've got a journey to continue."

Erick turned back to Petra, who seemed puzzled, Victini waved goodbye and vanished.

"Alright princess, looks like you're going to New Yor-I mean Castelia City." Petra nodded with a grin. As the two made their way out, they were unaware that Victini and Meloetta were watching

That's all for today's chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it.

Pokemon is a strange game don't you think? I mean, children can go out and capture the gods of everything. Pokemon that control life and death, the sea, the earth, time, space, evil, creation, and whatever the hell Ultra Necrozma is meant to be. I much prefer the explanation that the legendries allow you to capture them since you proved your worth to them.

Does the keeper concept sound familiar? Yeah, I based it a bit on the fan game; Pokemon Insurgence. I love the darker story and game that the developers created, the Delta Pokemon, and the legendries choosing people based on a prophecy, or joining because they see worth in you. Of course...you could still just chuck a master ball at them and make them do stuff...but that's beside the point. I guess when you've got literal gods running around, it's hard to explain why they can be captured.

While Victini and Meloetta aren't quite ready to join the team. It's important to understand that they're always their, watching the two keepers. If you want to learn more about it, I've got another story that sorta comes after the events of this one.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, you can let me know, or simply say nice chapter. Both are apprieciated.

PKMN Teams:

Erick Heart:
Sunny - Eevee
Nagini - Servine
Slippy - Poliwhirl
Terra - Espurr
Trinity - Toxel
Argon - Aron
Damage - Darumaka

Petra Gropius:
Ares - Shroomish

See you all, next time.