Hello, and welcome to the story… that got me started writing. 10 long years ago, a freshman in high school read a fan fiction whose premise he loved but execution left him wanting, and so he decided to try and do it better. But this 14 year old didn't understand what the meaning of the word effort was, and so he quit. Over the years, though, this story has stuck with me, and I've told myself over and over that I would start it up again when I felt like I was in a place where I wouldn't just drop it again. And, well, I've been writing for almost 4 years now, so I think that's pretty good evidence that I'm gonna keep at it.
This story is very much a product of my 14 year old mind filtered through my 24 year old self. As such, this story will include a couple things that may turn people off of it, but I'm leaving it in to honor the original intentions I had meant for it (those I can actually remember at this point).
I don't expect any of the people who have read the old version of this to read this one, nor do I think anyone reading this version should go read the old version because… yikes, but I'm gonna keep them up at least until I get further than them with this because why not? So if you really wanna see all of that unedited cringe-y goodness, title's below.
I regret nothing.
Disclaimer: since I came up with most of this story as it will sit now in 2010 anything past gen 4 won't really be included until way later, just to make it so I don't need to change like a third the plot.
Also trigger warning: attempted suicide.
Have fun!
Arceus and the Fate of the World
By: A Guy Who Stole the Name of a Character in this Story
"Power without a purpose is meaningless and worthless.
A purpose that is firm can change the impossible to the possible."
-Lord Deus, Asura's Wrath
This world is cruel. It has no bias, and it picks no favorites. From the moment of birth, all creatures must struggle against its will and the will of all other creatures that live. People take advantage, and people are taken advantage of, and the world does not care. It doesn't care if someone cheats; it does not care if someone lies, wins, loses, kills, or is killed. This is world meant for the hardened; for those whose will is strong enough to do what must be done to succeed.
But sometimes… there comes someone who does care – someone willing to use their strength not to push up themselves, but to help pull up others. And those are the ones that will truly change everything.
Deep within a forest, a young Eevee has learned the true nature of this world. He stumbles through the brush in search of the hollowed tree he had used for shelter the night before. This tree was special because it was unclaimed. The Eevee had learned quickly what happened if he tried to encroach on another's territory, and what signs to look for so it wouldn't happen again.
The Eevee had lost track of how long it had spent its nights exposed; to be woken by rain, predators, or those who attacked simply because they viewed him as a threat. When the small Pokémon had found the tree, he knew a joy he thought he'd forgotten. That night it had rained and he did not care. It was a small victory, but a powerful one.
He hadn't wanted to leave that place of safety, but he had other needs. There was no food or water within sight of the tree, so the Eevee was forced to enter this cruel world once more.
The Eevee became lost not long after, his sense of direction never having a chance to fully develop. Everything looked the same in the forest. He had learned to use his sense of smell to keep him away from any serious danger, but that was all.
He lost hope as he lost the light, the sun that filtered down to him slowly fading to night. It had to be close. He couldn't have wandered that far away from it. Yet it was nowhere to be seen.
It was all the fault of that human.
The Eevee despised humans. They were selfish and cruel just like this world. One of them had almost snuck up on the Eevee while he was drinking at a stream he found, and he'd had to run and hide. If it wasn't for them, he would already be back in his tree. If it wasn't for them, he wouldn't have been in the forest at all.
There was little light left now. Soon the nighttime predators would be on the move and it would be too dangerous out in the open. Regretfully, the Eevee started looking for a different shelter. His fear doubled by the second as he searched. Any moment, a well-concealed Pokémon could spring out of a tree or hole in the ground and he would be able to do nothing about it. Normally the Eevee would not dare approach any of these places, but he didn't want to leave himself exposed again, not after finally relearning what safety felt like.
Eventually he came upon a small depression covered by a fallen tree and decided it would do. Before he could inspect it fully to see if it was safe and unoccupied, a loud crack rang through the forest followed by a deep growl. The startled Eevee took no chances and dived under the tree. He adopted a technique he saw used by another Pokémon to hide from predators and covered himself in the dirt that was beneath the tree to mask his scent. That monster had chased after him instead of the Pokémon that had camouflaged themselves like that that day, so he knew it would work.
Another crack made the night seem to freeze. Something was close.
The Eevee feared going to sleep in case he needed to quickly get away. The shelter was not as good has his tree; a big Pokémon could reach under the tree and grab him with ease if they smelled him, but it was better that being up above.
He laid there for what felt like the whole night, afraid he would be ripped out from under the tree any second, but no other sound came that night, beyond the ever-present chirp of Nincada, and the croaks of Politoeds and Croagunks. Eventually, though, his exhaustion beat out his instincts and he drifted off to sleep.
.
The Eevee felt warmth – a warmth he had almost forgotten: the warmth of curling up close to the fireplace, surrounded by his humans – his family. And for a moment he was back there, happily resting after spending the day running around the yard, playing with them and the toys they had gotten for him. But then, the fire went dark, and he heard his family arguing in the other room, just like they were on that day. In the corner of his mind, he could hear the whimpers of a little girl trying desperately to stop crying for fear that she would be next. Then the plates started smashing against floor, and the Eevee felt the familiar dread seep back into him, and the Eevee remembered he was not home and the warmth he knew was nothing more than a lie…
.
A pain in his side woke the Eevee. At first his mind linked it to the dream, as the last thing he had felt before losing his old life, but this pain persisted, and quickly got worse.
As his eyes shot open, the Eevee saw an even worse nightmare standing over him. It was a Skorupi, and it definitely looked like a Pokémon trying to protect its home. He knew he hadn't been careful enough.
The Eevee scrambled out from under the tree and tried to run away as fast as he could, but he stumbled to the ground almost as soon as he got out, his whole body numb. He tried to get back up but his body wouldn't listen at all. A skittering from behind told him his attacker had followed him out from his hole. Fear took over the young Eevee. He whimpered for mercy and for help that he knew wouldn't come. The abandoned Eevee felt another pressure in his side, and then searing pain before he blacked out.
.
The Eevee woke to the sound of voices. At first he thought he was simply imagining it, but soon he began to understand the words.
"… still don't understand why we're even in this forest," one was saying.
Then a different voice, "There are still a couple days before our meet-up. I thought we could use this time to explore."
Then the first voice again, "We could have explored the city, not the middle of nowhere."
The Eevee didn't know what they were talking about, nor did he care; his head felt like it had been crushed under a rock. Black spots filled his vision as he opened his eyes. He could only make out that it was still dark.
The second voice spoke again, "Team Rocket doesn't hide out in cities anymore."
The Eevee finally recognized who was talking: humans. Snapping to full alert, he immediately tried to get away but his strength still failed him and he collapsed again before he could even make it to his feet.
"Looks like he's awake," he heard one of the humans say as his head swam. He tried to think of a way to escape. Pulling his head up, all he saw was a dark-haired human walking over to him. A small fire lit him from behind, obscuring most of his face.
"Stay away from me!" the Eevee shouted in defiance to the inevitable. It was too late. He had been captured. It was all going to happen again.
The human paused for a second but kept coming closer, slower now.
"It's okay," he said, "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"I said stay back!" the Eevee screamed. He knew full well the human couldn't understand him, but maybe he could at least get the point across.
That time, the human stopped. He let out a breath and got down on his knees. "Easy little guy." The human's voice was deep and sounded almost soothing, but the Eevee would not fall for that again. "If you work yourself up like that you may not make it this time," he went on. "You were in a pretty bad way when we found you. I didn't think I'd have enough antidote for a bit."
The Eevee ignored the human and used everything it had left to try to get to his feet again. "I won't listen to you," he said weakly. "You just saved me so you can capture me and force me to do things I don't want to do, and then you're going to leave me to die just like they did." He felt tears welling up in his eyes, and then is front legs collapsed. Everything suddenly hurt worse than it did when the Skorupi stung him.
"He thinks you're going to capture him," the other voice he'd heard spoke up.
The Eevee had forgotten about them. Had the human understood him?
"I'll deal with that later," the first human answered, "just calm him down before he kills himself."
The Eevee didn't like the sound of that. He tried to stand again, but suddenly he was exhausted. The pain faded away and so did his fear, and he drifted to sleep once again.
.
When the Eevee woke up next the sun was on his face, and with the light he could see that he was in a clearing. Getting his bearings, he looked around to see that the human from before was no longer there. Instead there was another Pokémon sitting by a small campfire: a Gardevoir.
The Eevee sat up. He still felt dizzy and sore all over, but he was markedly better than he had been the night before. He watched the other Pokémon curiously. She hadn't reacted to him moving.
He knew he should try to run again but for some reason he felt he knew this Gardevoir wouldn't harm him. He wasn't sure where it came from. Maybe he could get some answers from her instead.
"Feeling better?" she asked just as he was about to speak up, although it didn't really sound like a question. The Eevee recognized the voice as the other from the night before. There was just one human then, but that meant that this Gardevoir was probably his and that was just as bad. Still, he had the feeling he could trust her.
"What do you want from me?" the Eevee demanded. "Where did that human go?"
The Gardevoir gave him the most genuine smile he had ever seen and said, "We don't want anything from you. You were hurt, so we saved you. That's all there is to it. And when you're all better, you're free to go. As for where he went, keeping track of him is harder than guessing where an electron will be in three seconds."
The Eevee tilted his head to the side. "A what?"
"Never mind," she giggled. She stood up and put some berries in front of him. "Here, I know you're hungry. These will help you get some of your strength back."
The Eevee eyed them warily for a moment, but he was starving and could not think of a good reason to refuse. It was more food than he'd seen in days.
As the young Eevee satiated his hunger, the human reappeared.
"Has our guest woken up yet?" he said to the Gardevoir. She nodded and the human knelt in front of him again. "How are you doing?" he asked.
The Eevee remained silent. The berries had done what the Gardevoir had said, and he felt ready to escape if the human tried to get any closer. Luckily he stayed where he was, letting out a breath and dropping his head. "Alright let's start over. I'm Rush and this is Anna." He gestured to the Gardevoir. "How about you, do you have a name?"
"Like you care," the Eevee mumbled.
"I do care," the man responded surprisingly. Did this human could understand him?
The Eevee looked up at the human again. Now that it was light and he could see him better, he saw that his hair was so dark it was nearly black. His blue eyes had an intensity to them he had never seen before, but it was softened by his smile. He wore the same blue pants he'd seen many humans wearing and a grey shirt with the parts that covered his arms pushed halfway up them.
"When I first saw you at that river I knew you seemed out of place," he continued. The Eevee's eyes narrowed. "At first I just wondered if you'd be okay, but as fortune would have it our paths crossed again." The human sat next to his Gardevoir by the fire. "Now, I can't and won't force you to do anything, but after the mess we got you out of last night, I'd like to at least make sure that you're well enough that it won't happen again."
The Eevee glared at Rush. This was the human from yesterday. It had been his fault he had gotten hurt and he didn't even realize it. And now he was just trying to gain his trust.
"You had a home at one point, didn't you? A family?"
The human's words caught him off guard and his expression must have given away the answer.
"They abandoned you out here. Without even thinking about what might happen. I hate people like that: people who mess with others' lives and think it's okay just because it doesn't directly affect them."
"How do you know all of that?" the Eevee questioned, angry but also on the verge of tears. He didn't want to think about any of that ever again.
Rush shrugged, "Just a guess," he said and stood up. "Well, Anna and I have some stuff to do. You'll be safe here so don't go running off. I want to be sure you're back at one hundred present. Then you're free to do whatever you like." And with that, they disappeared before the Eevee could say another word.
Confused and alone again, the Eevee tried to figure out what to do. He knew he should run, but as he looked at the forest around him his fear kept him rooted near the dying fire pit. He almost wished that the human would come back.
Rush: the young Eevee did not know what to make of him. If he had wanted to capture him, wouldn't he have done by now? But he said nothing on the topic; he only wanted to make sure he was okay. No, humans do nothing but lie and this one would prove to be no different. He still felt weak, so the Eevee decided that as soon as he was able he would try to get away, but not back into the forest, he need to find a way out that as well. They seemed to know; they had said something about a city, he remembered. Maybe they would be willing to tell him how to get out of there.
With his belly full, the last of his pain began to fade and soon his exhaustion took him again as he watched the dying flames.
.
When he woke again, it was night once more and the fire was rekindled. The human and the Gardevoir had returned. They were sitting by the fire on either side of him. Uncomfortable by their proximity, the Eevee stood to try and move away.
"Don't move," Rush said. He reached out and gently pushed the Eevee back to the ground, but his voice held none of the same gentleness. He knew it; he knew they wouldn't let him get away. The Eevee yelped in protest and started to struggle until he looked up and saw the human's face.
He wasn't looking at him. He was staring out into the forest as if he was waiting for something he knew would be there. His next words confirmed this, "We may have company soon."
Just then, as if waiting to be introduced, a Luxray crept into the clearing exactly where Rush was looking. Its large, limber form looked ready for a fight. It wasn't the human's Pokémon, then, or any others'.
Another Luxray appeared to its left, and then another to its right, and then more.
They were surrounded.
The human and his Pokémon stood up. The Eevee wondered what they were doing. They weren't going to try to fight them, were they? No, that would be insane.
They were going to run. That's why the human didn't want him to move, so they could use him as a distraction to get away.
"Looks like they decided to be ballsy after all," the human said, "Anna, give them a warning."
Suddenly the Luxray that had gotten the closest yelped and sprung back as if it had been struck and the ones near it backed up as well, but they didn't get scared off.
The ones behind them saw their opening and lunged at them. The small Pokémon closed his eyes and waited for pain that never came. He looked up to see the Luxrays in heaps against the nearby trees. The remaining members of the pack closed the gaps and began to spark in anger.
"Guess they're not gonna give up," Rush said.
The Gardevoir took a step away from the fire. The Luxray held their ground. "Shall I show them what they're up against?" she asked.
The Eevee was surprised to hear the human chuckle. "Be my guest," he said, and he sat back down.
The Eevee looked back and forth between the two. So they really were going to try to fight them. They were crazy! There were at least ten of them left. They stood no chance against them all.
But, he realized, that could work in his favor. He could use them for a chance to escape himself. He just needed to wait for the right moment, maybe once they were able to take down the Gardevoir. That wouldn't take long. What could she do against so many? And the human getting eaten would distract the rest as he ran away.
The Eevee waited for his chance, watching the Gardevoir closely. The meek-looking Pokémon adopted a casual fighting stance, staring at the Luxray directly in front of her and waiting for it to make the first move. But one to her left decided to move first. The Eevee readied to move, thinking its chance had come sooner than he'd thought, but almost faster than he could see the Gardevoir dodged the canine and kicked it back into the tree line hard enough to cause a loud crack as the wood broke.
Not giving her the chance to recover, two more lunged. Anna used the follow through of the kick to spin herself back around and she grabbed one of the Luxray by the neck with one hand as her other became surrounded by flame. Then she slammed her fist into the Luxray, sending it flying into the other one.
The rest of the Luxray still standing loosed a thunderbolt at her in unison, but just before they hit the Gardevoir moved back faster than the Eevee could blink.
The Gardevoir held her hand out in front of her until a light blipped from her palm then she pulled her arm in as if pulling on a rope. The remaining Luxray suddenly soared through the air towards her, and just before they were upon her she pushed out with both arms, sending them all flying.
The Eevee was amazed by her power, but he shook himself out of his trance realizing that this was his chance to get away. He looked to the human who had his eyes on the Gardevoir's back then quickly bolted for the spot where the forest looked thinnest. He made it there without anyone noticing.
He did it, he thought to himself as he sprinted away from that madness. He was free of the human. Now all he had to do was find a place to hide for the night then he could find a way out of that hellish forest in the morning. It was a shame he couldn't ask the human for a way out, but he wasn't sure he would have been able to trust it anyway, so all the same.
Suddenly a shadow blocked his path, and the Eevee's heart sank. It was another Luxray, one of the pack that must have stayed back for when their pray tried to escape.
The Eevee, terrified, tried to double back but the canine was in front of him again before he even finished turning around. The young Eevee was then frozen in place with fear. There was nothing he could do. The Luxray almost seemed to smile as a shadow formed around its front claws. The Eevee closed his eyes to his inevitable death. He heard the sound of the Luxray's claws hit flesh but he felt nothing. He waited for pain but it didn't come. Once more, the Eevee slowly opened its eyes and saw another shadow in front of him, but this wasn't another Luxray, it was the human.
He had the Luxray by the throat, his forearm covered in blood-soaked claw marks. The Eevee almost didn't believe it. Had this human really taken the hit for him? The Luxray's fur began to ark with electricity.
"Oh no you don't!" the human growled. Before the Luxray could do anything, he slammed it to the ground and it hit with a yelp.
Instead of getting back up and attacking again, the Luxray ran off and disappeared. But it wasn't because of the human. The Gardevoir had come up behind them.
"Rush, are you alright?" she asked, worried.
Rush looked at his arm then to the Eevee and shrugged. "More or less." He smiled at his Gardevoir, trying to seem like it was no big deal, but she wouldn't be fooled. She took his arm and started to drag him back to the campsite. "Ow! Alright Anna, stop please," he said in pain.
The Eevee was left in the silence of the forest, once more confused and stunned by everything that had happened. They didn't come back for him, and nothing else jumped out to attack. Was that really the end of it then?
He looked backed in the direction the Luxray had run and rethought his decision to return to the forest. Anywhere was better than there, even if it was a human's camp. Besides, the young Eevee was beginning to think that not all of them were the same.
.
As he returned to the clearing, the Eevee saw the Gardevoir wrapping bandages around the human's arm while he let the occasional pained squint sneak through his otherwise calm expression. The Eevee approached with caution, unsure of what he was doing. The human looked his way and smiled.
"Hey little guy. That was exciting, wasn't it?"
In response, his Gardevoir started wrapping tighter, making him flinch.
The Eevee wasn't sure how to respond. He wanted to apologize, to thank them, to yell at them, question their sanity, but he couldn't think of where to begin.
"Blaze," he said after some thought.
"Hmm?" the human responded.
"That's what my family called me, Blaze, because I always liked being close to fire."
The Gardevoir finished, and reluctantly gave him permission to get up. Rush walked over to Blaze and sat down. "Do you like that name?" he asked.
"Yeah," Blaze said, nodding.
Rush nodded back. "Alright, Blaze it is." He got back up and went over to the fire to try to breathe some life back into it. The night's events had left it little more than a scattered pile of half-living embers.
Blaze stood there, confused. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but they were just acting like this was an everyday occurrence for them. He had expected them to mad at him at least for running off and getting Rush hurt, but they said nothing.
"So… what now?" he asked.
"Now," the Gardevoir growled, putting the remaining bandages back in a pack, "Rush is going rest, and then he's going to go to the hospital tomorrow to make sure his arm doesn't get infected." She seemed angrier her human than anyone else.
"I'm fine, Anna," Rush told her.
"You don't get to make that decision," she replied.
"Um… thank you," Blaze said meekly before an argument could break out. "You saved me twice, and I don't even understand why you did it."
"Don't worry about it," Rush told him. "I did it because I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and because I wanted to. You don't owe us anything if that's what you're thinking. You're free to go now that you're on your feet."
"Wait," Blaze said before he could think. "I… I don't want to go back there…"
Rush stopped mending the fire and straightened. "Okay," he said, "what do you want?"
"I want to get out of here," he said honestly.
"Well the edge of the forest is about a half mile west. You could probably make it there with little trouble before afternoon if you set out after breakfast tomorrow."
"No!" he jumped. What was he doing? "I… I want to come with you." His own words caught him off guard. He hadn't even realized he was going to say them until he did, but they rang true in his own head, so he didn't backpedal on them.
"I had thought all humans were the same," he explained, "that they would just try to capture me and force me to battle, then abandon me when they realized I wasn't any good. No one was ever willing to do anything like that for me before. Everyone always only thought about themselves; doing anything to get their way no matter who they hurt. Even my own family. They left me in this forest to die." Blaze broke down. A hand reached out to pat him on the head.
"You're right." Rush said, "the world is full of people and Pokémon alike who will do anything to have their way. What do you say we change that world?" Blaze looked up at the human. "What if we made a world where nothing has to be sacrificed, and people fought for each other instead of themselves? What do you say? Want to help us with that?"
"Do you really think you can do that?" he asked the human.
He shrugged. "I think we should try. I think everyone should try. That's all that's needed to make it happen… People just need to realize that." He trailed off for a moment, but then turned back down to Blaze. "Sound like a good plan?"
The human's confidence was rubbing off on him, so much so that he actually thought he could do what he said, and he did want to help, even if it was impossible. What was the harm? It was better than being stuck in the forest.
Blazed looked up at Rush and nodded, smiling.
"Alright then," Rush went on, lying down next to the fire. "Let's do all the formal stuff tomorrow, though. I, for one, am tired."
"You're one to talk. I fought off a dozen of those things." Anna said playfully, lying down next to Rush.
Blaze walked over to Rush and settled down by his other side, close to the fire. He quickly fell asleep listening to them banter back and forth, feeling truly safe for the first time in what felt like forever.