Authors Note: If you have not read Nothing to Arceus, I advise reading that first because nothing here will make sense otherwise.
"I promise, I'll come back." stated Daniel Barsony, him and Serena parted from their embrace. Daniel's friend, Andres, informed the teen it was time to go. The boy looked towards Serena, their eyes meeting as he simply nodded in assurance. Daniel, Andres, and Bisharp met together to walk through the portal created by Arceus himself. They all walked through and disappeared from everyone's sight, Serena stood there nearly heart-broken and looking up to the bright sky.
That was a year ago, a whole year had passed since Daniel Barsony ventured with his comrades with the Pokemon God for the betterment of man-kind. He had become world-renowned just like this older brother. The battle between Bisharp and Deoxys would come to be known as one of the most legendary battles in Pokemon Battling history and was later named "The Clash of Titans" cliche, ain't it? The video would end up becoming one of the most popular, if not the most popular video to have popped up in the net since the very first battle. Daniel was therefore declared the new Unbeatable Champion and news articles surrounding his disappearance flooded the net. All of the people he knew refused to provide a valid answer, not wanting anyone to search for him and hunt him down. They were sure he was in good hands and nothing would happen to him.
Daniel's friends had made a promise to him, the promise was for them to achieve all of their dreams like he had. Daniel was living proof that almost anything is possible as long as you put the work in. He had hoped his friends would learn from that and for him to hopefully come back to everyone's success. Unfortunately, shortly after the teen's departure, everyone scattered. Everyone had went their own separate ways and went off to focus on their goals and achievements.
The video being shown displayed the legendary battle, camera only having a good view on Daniel Barsony himself as he let out a powerful shout of determination. He was mimicking his Bisharp due to a "linking sphere" as Arceus put it, and the two partners managed to escape their dicey situation where the camera would show Deoxys being forced higher into the sky and it would therefore switch back to Daniel.
The video or rather the screen was the only source of light within the room, everything else was dark. The light being bright enough to reveal Serena's face. The girl was lying in bed on her side as she held her phone out in front of her watching the video. Her eyes were on her dear friend whom she had a slight crush on. She was amazed by his tenacity and how he held true despite the pain. She continued watching, making it to the very end where all of Daniel's friends had come down to personally congratulate the boy. The camera was zoomed in to show Daniel embraced by Serena in his weak and nimble state after the fight. The sight of this triggered a flashback for her, she remembered what happened next and his departure shortly after the video ended. The last time she saw him, the visual of him turning his back to look at her one last time with a warm smile made her heart ache.
Her vision became blurry as her eyes were obscured by the tears she tried to hold back but she eventually had to let it out. Silently sobbing and staining her pillow, eventually falling asleep in bed.
It was pouring in the Kanto region, the sky was pitch black and the raindrops were loud. It sounded like an army was rapidly marching on the ceiling. Inside the current house, the lights were still on in the living room. Samuel Barsony closed up the last box, brushing his arm across his head to wipe off the sweat and he made a "phew" sound. He looked around and gazed upon his work, boxes, nothing but boxes surrounding him. His work was done for now, the fun part will be unpacking in their new house. Samuel placed his hands on his hips, looking down in thought and realizing Daniel won't have a clue that they moved/are moving. He was deciding whether he should leave a note but the probability it would stay there is low. Well, Daniel could always ask a neighbor and he's sure they can give him an answer. He liked that idea, he trusted his neighbors so it should be no problem.
Samuel felt like it was time to take a break and sleep for tomorrow because it's going to be hell. He lazily walked towards the couch and just as he collapsed on it, he heard knocking coming from the door. This made his eyes widen, one: why would anyone be knocking on the door this late? Two: he just got comfortable, come on. The man angrily got off and trudged towards the door and looked through the peep-hole to see if he could see the individual. It was too dark to see, this caused him to worry and he mentally prepared himself for something ugly. He slowly opened the door and was surprisingly not met with hostility but some boy slouching on the door frame.
"Hey br-" The boy fell through the frame and collapsed inside, this left Samuel flabbergasted at what just transpired. The boy was lying on his front side, the only identifiable features was black hair, a very familiar brown coat and torn up and beaten shorts. He furrowed his brows, dragging the body inside and closing the door so the rain doesn't get in. He flipped the body over and inspected the rest, the boy had a scar on his left cheek and he got a better view of the jacket. He soon realized who this was based off the scar and jacket, this made his eyes shoot open as he cursed to himself. He lifted the boy up and brought him to the couch, trying his best to wake the boy up. Luckily, he was woken up and was greeted with an uncomfortably bright ceiling light.
The boy complained about the light, struggling to use his arms to shield his eyes and he groaned as a result. Samuel, now knelt down in front of the couch called out, "Dude, is that you?"
"Yup…" Daniel confirmed, he sounded tired but Samuel noticed his voice had gotten slightly deeper than last time which caught him off-guard. Regardless, he smiled, relieved this brother was safe and home for that matter. "What happened? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm sore… and wet… not the Zach wet… like… wet wet… y'know…?" Daniel responded, earning a light chuckle out of his older sibling.
"Wait, so did you complete your tr-" Daniel was already fast asleep, snoring loudly with his arm over his eyes. The older man shook his head, laughing to himself as he looked his brother up and down. He noticed a strange object was stowed away in one of the jacket pockets, he reached to take a look and surprisingly enough, it was the Arceus Stone but only half of it. This made Samuel question where the other half was. He'll find out later, for now, it was time to sleep.
After they both had woken up, Daniel needed to get patched up. The boy was dirty and filthy and needed a shower quick. So Daniel did, Samuel then discovered that aside from the boy's pants being torn up, his shirt was practically destroyed with only half of it left. The only thing undamaged was their fathers jacket which was dry now. After Daniel was clean, he had his hair trimmed slightly due to how long and spiky it had become.
With all of that taken care of now, Daniel was completely refreshed with new clothes and a new look. Opposed to before, the boy had a noticeable scar on his left cheek, His long and black spiky hair was shorter than last time but significantly messier. His bangs pointed in opposite directions instead of the right. He wore his father's jacket unzipped revealing his black tank-top underneath. He wore straight dark-grey pants and brown shoes. One thing Samuel noticed was that the boy had bulked up and his muscles were noticeable upon first glance. His facial expression, although not too drastic was more sharp and focused, his eyes not as wide with youth as they used to be.
Daniel was also informed of their moving, apparently, they were moving to a new house in Kalos and he wanted to surprise him with it. Daniel was eager to see their new house and bid his farewell with their old one. Their stuff was packed and shipped off and soon, they would leave themselves. They boarded a plane and set off towards Kalos. On the trip there, Samuel explained to Daniel what had transpired, from the surprise Team Flare Attack which occurred shortly after Daniel's departure to everyone scattering. He reported that no one has fully achieved their dream yet but they're still working on it which worked just fine for the Representative of Creation. He looked out the window to watch the scenery and took in the fact he was back and it certainly felt good. As Daniel gazed off into the distance, Samuel watched his sibling and the vibe his brother gave off was different, he looked and felt confident. Though he might look relaxed on the outside, he was on guard, prepared for anything. This caused Samuel to question the type of training Daniel had to undergo to change this much.
It wasn't long until they had arrived in Kalos and exiting the plane, it was bright and sunny in the Kalos region. Fortunately, no one recognized Daniel except for the employees at the airport when they had to check Daniel's identification and were shocked to see the boy. They promised to keep quiet and allowed the two men to pass through. They were in Lumiose City and they were hungry so they hit up a restaurant, coincidentally enough, they chose the restaurant Daniel visited before when he was first in the Kalos region.
They entered and they did their best to cover their identities to avoid all the attention and found a seat. Their orders were taken and they were soon given their meal. As they happily chewed on their food, a group of young men wearing black and baggy clothing all sat up from one table. Some people peaked but paid it no mind and returned their attention elsewhere. The group went outside and a minute after that, they heard a woman yell "No!" abruptly. The Barsony brothers grew curious, leaning to the side to get a better view and saw they were talking with a woman outside. Daniel immediately got flashbacks from back then, the images flashed in his mind rapidly. The Sullivan gang members harassing the woman, to his crushing defeat, and the following beatdown. The teen snapped back into reality, furrowing his brows and getting up, making his way outside to confront the men. Samuel became concerned for multiple reasons and prepared himself for things to go down.
"Come on, we'll pay you lotsa money if you do it! Now come on, we don't got all day." One of the scruffier ones demanded, the woman refusing ofcourse. The others attempted to convince her otherwise but to no avail. Then, a tall and slender one amongst them forced himself in front of his comrades and informed her.
"Miss, you got my word, that will be the only thing happening, no kidnapping or no shit, ya feel me?"
Daniel heard enough, stomping behind the men and raising his voice, "Okay, what the hell is this?!" Everyone turned towards him, his arms crossed and an unpleasant expression plastered on his face. The scruffy member made an "eh?" sound, so nonchalant, and stepped towards the boy.
"Who the hell do you think you're supposed to be? The police?" The man was about to forcefully poke Daniel but his arm was slapped away. This caused the rest of them except for the tall one to get defensive and hover around. Daniel didn't say anything, keeping a watchful eye over the individuals and readying himself. The Arceus Stone in his pocket generated a bright outline around itself in preparation for its activation.
Fortunately, the tall one broke through and attempted to break the tension, "Guys, guys, come on, no need to get violent now, do we?" He looked left and right to see if it worked.
"Shut yo bitch-ass up Zach, always tryin' to be the nice one get the fuck outta here."
"Fuck you bro." Zach retorted, despite this, the name caught Daniel severely off guard. His eyes widened and he looked towards Zach and inspected him. The more he observed, the more he was surprised and hurt by what he was seeing.
"Zach…?" Daniel called out, the young man looked to the teen confused and asked what he wanted. "No… it couldn't be… what the hell… why are you in a gang?" Daniel was completely flabbergasted, his eye twitching out of confusion.
"Umm… yeah…? Who are you?"
"I'm your friend, Zach, your friend Daniel. Remember? We met and your first words were like 'yo girl thick' or something like that. Remember? Holy GADZ? Remember any of that?"
Now it was Zach's time to be surprised, his jaw dropped upon realizing who it was. "No way… Dan, you're back? Uhh… well… this isn't what it looks like as I explained…"
"Don't give me that shit, what the hell happened? Why are you with a gang, speaking of which, what gang?!"
"Sullivan…"
Daniel facepalmed in frustration, draggin his hands forcefully down his face and leaving a red mark. "What happened to 'finding your dreams' and doing that, is this your idea of a job? Going around harassing and/or assaulting people for your own amusement?"
"This job gave me everything I ever wanted, alright?! It gave me women, power, sex, status, and glory! And all I gotta do is work for . It's that easy! I would have never done this if I stuck with you guys."
"So, you're saying that we held you back?"
"Kinda, I got everything I need right here."
"This is your IDEAL life? Is this really how you're going to treat your friends?! Well?!"
"It's not like that! It's no personal bro, just gotta do what you gotta do, ya feel me?"
"No, I don't feel you, as far as I'm concerned… I'm not even talking to the right person!"
"Things change, alright?! Is that hard for you to understand?!"
They heard a loud noise come from down the street, this caught everyone's attention and caused them to look. The noise was coming from somewhere down the street but the buildings blocked the view. They heard screams of fear and potentially pain, and people were running away. It wasn't long until the noises grew louder and louder and objects were flung into the air. The guys all took a step back and a bead of sweat formed on their foreheads, confused by the ruckus. They soon identified whatever it was is heading their way. They looked down the street, keeping their eyes glued in that direction and awaiting an arrival.
Objects were flung in that direction from street lights to fire hoses and even a small car was thrown.
Something finally appeared from hiding, it looked like a large pokemon wreaking havoc along with two others. The largest one was throwing cars aside left and right and flinging them into buildings. The bigger one seemed to notice the large group of guys and grab ahold a bigger car and with all of its might managed to lob it towards them. All the customers and pedestrians alike screaming in fear at the approaching vehicle. Samuel and Zach panicked and had no time to react besides bracing for the imminent impact. They shut their eyes closed and prepared for pain.
Nothing, they heard the car crash and hit something but not them. They didn't feel any different and left everyone surprised. They unshielded themselves and looked in front and was shocked to see Daniel standing, unscathed. The teen turned towards the men, his pupils now of a flaring red color and his hair spiked upwards. Daniel asked the bunch, "You guys okay?" They were speechless, leaving the boy to assume they were considering the lack of injuries. The representative looked towards the threat and identifying a Blastoise, an Infernape, and a Sceptile. What came across as odd to Daniel was how oddly humanoid they appeared, unnaturally so. "You guys get out of here, I'll take care of this."
Samuel was bewildered by his little brother's claim and begged, "Take care of this how-?" Daniel cut him off by taking off his jacket and throwing it at his brother. The teen zoomed straight towards the threat, leaving the guys in the dust. Zach's friends bolted off while he merely watched and attempted to process what was going on. The pokemon grew closer and closer to Daniel as he raced forward at shocking speeds. The Blastoise noticed their incoming target and grabbed a car and chucked it. Samuel cried out for his sibling, however, Daniel flipped over the car just as it made an impact with the ground and rolled off. The teen performed a spinning kick and got a hit directly on the enemy's shoulder. The impact causing the Pokemon to budge from its position just slightly and leave it stunned.
The Blastoise snapped out of its gaze, attempting to get a hook on the boy. Daniel maneuvered past the hit and used his new opening to land two consecutive hits before having to dodge a backhand hit. After dodging it, Daniel performed a stationary drop kick and pushed himself back. He was quick to flip back and regain his footing. The Infernape closed in on the boy and threw a flaming punch towards him, this caught him off-guard and he narrowly managed to dodge. Daniel did back-handsprings to gain distance and gain a better view of the situation. Once he was done, he looked up to find the three Pokemon had regrouped and were staring down their newest target. Daniel studied them briefly, surmising which one he should take down first and what order.
He was cut off with the Sceptile generating a Leaf Storm with its tail and launching it towards the boy. He hopped up, bringing his legs close to his body as to not get hit. This left him open as the Infernape from earlier struck Daniel and forced him back, he coughed out and slid on the hard pavement. A powerful stream of Water zoomed towards Daniel which almost hit him but this time he was prepared. He hopped out of the way, coming in close within range to handle those three. They sent out any far-ranged attacks they could manage and Daniel did his best to evade them all.
Samuel simply watched in awe, questioning whether he was watching someone else or his precious little brother fight. It was all a blur for him and all he could do was watch the action unfold in front of him.
The Trio of pokemon focused their first at one spot in front of him, creating an explosion in that spot. Daniel emerged from the cloud of smoke unscathed as he managed to dodge and land between the three of them. He crossed his arms and using the stone's abilities, held all of them in place using psychic. The three Pokemon were frozen in place until they were launched in three separate directions when Daniel shot his arms outwards. They collected themselves, wiggling their heads and looking up towards Daniel who motioned for them to come close.
Serena was walking down the stairs of the Pokemon Center she was inside, she had just finished showering so her hair was still slightly wet. As she was descending, she heard a lot of chatter coming from nearby which caught her attention. She was down the stairs and noticed everyone hovering around a television that was hanging up on the ceiling. Even Nurse Joy stopped what she was doing to watch, Serena's curiosity was peaked and she joined the crowd as she attempted to get a better view of what was happening.
A new anchor was giving context to the situation, explaining how three rampaging Pokemon of abnormal appearance have wreaked havoc in Lumiose City. The anchor explained that the police are being mobilized and the Pokemon are being held back by someone or something. The screen now displayed a separate male anchor coming in close and gripping his gear as he approached the site. Once they finished turning the corner, they identified a person weaving and hopping around the three like a fly. He confirmed it was a person who was "fighting" the Pokemon and the maneuvers said individual was pulling off could only be considered superhuman. Serena watched and processed what she was observing with her own two eyes.
Daniel was bobbing around each attack, mainly focusing on the Blastoise as it swung repeatedly. With each opening the creature left, Daniel exploited getting a free hit. Daniel wasn't making much headway with the strength he was using and needed to amp it up if he wanted to finish this quickly. The large water pokemon swung with another hook and the teen took this as an opportunity. With one swift movement, he slid under the attack and forced himself just above the ground slightly. Using all this built up momentum, he cranked up the power of the Arceus Stone to where he was enveloped in a blue aura with green static electricity emanating from it. Finally, adding all this up, he whipped his whole body to the side and struck the creature's face with immense force.
The kick knocked some teeth out along with a light stream of blood following it. Daniel witnessed this and cringed at the sight, deducing he used too much power. The Blastoise regained its senses, grabbing ahold of Daniel tightly and throwing him towards a building. The representative managed to recover mid-air and hit the building without causing it any damage. The Infernape generated a large stream of flames and directed it towards Daniel. The flames consumed the entire area Daniel was planted at and scorching the walls of the building. The Infernape smirked at victory but was deadly wrong.
Daniel used the stone's ability to Teleport behind and smash its face in and launch it towards the Sceptile who was not expecting that. Blastoise readied itself and Rapidly spun on its shell towards the teen and surrounding itself with water blades. Daniel was prepared, jumping into the air to avoid the incoming target. The same Pokemon did something unexpected, firing Hydropumps from both cannons as it spun thus generating a spiralling vortex of water. Daniel was not prepared for this and was blasted at full force by the Hydro Pumps and launched away.
The representative tumbled on the floor, rolling on the hard pavement and getting bruised up slightly. He managed to get up and focus his attention towards this opponents who were farther away now due to the last attack. He assumed a fighting stance and thought to himself, "Damn, this is kind of difficult. I'm used to doing bigger fights with Bisharp at my side but now that he's not here, I'm all on my own. Well, I suppose the only thing I can do is take my time and make sure no one gets hurt."
The Sceptile Stepped forward and used Leaf Storm to hit Daniel from afar. Daniel dodged it, coming in close once more and trailing the storm. Blastoise came in close and focused his Hydro Pumps to fire towards Daniel. The representative jumped into the air and prepared a Focus blast in one hand and tossing it towards the Infernape and managing to curve the trajectory. The Blast hit and knocked the pokemon back dealing some serious damage. However, the representative didn't quite plan his landing and landed between the three of them. They now surrounded him in a triangle formation and they took this opportunity to close in and attack him. Daniel flinched, using his ability to generate a protective shield.
The three Pokemon struck it, continuously hitting and unleashing any attack they could think of. Daniel calmed down slightly knowing he was safe until his shield began to crack and cause him to panic. Daniel remembered he was nowhere near as powerful as Deoxys and Bisharp so of course the shield would not be as strong either. He began to panic once more as he watched his shield crumble bit by bit until it was holding onto its last shred of life. Daniel saw each of them back off and prepare their strongest attacks. Daniel began to sweat and thought quickly on how to handle the situation. He winced just as they are about to launch their attacks.
Nothing happened and he opened his eyes to see the three of them were frozen in place by psychic abilities. Daniel knew he wasn't doing this because he wasn't focusing on it. "How pathetic" Daniel heard in his mind, this caused him to flinch and look up to see Deoxys hovering above him with his usual cold expression. The Legendary slowly descended as he used Psychic to force them to the ground and make them kneel. As the Psychic himself landed, he pushed even further and was pressing them on the ground, almost as if he was crushing them alive. The Pokemon began to choke and reached out for help, this made Daniel concerned and he begged Deoxys to stop. The pokemon did shortly after and he relaxed, telling the representative "Relax, I know what I'm doing unlike you."
They inspected the three Pokemon and deciphered that they fainted from the pain and were knocked unconscious. Daniel knelt down towards one of them, observing it and asking, "What's up with these guys? Why were they rampaging like this?" Before Deoxys could provide his thoughts, the three feral Pokemon began to spazz out of control. The teen stepped back as the Pokemon shook uncontrollably and began to foam up in their mouth. Both Daniel and Deoxys looked with disgust as they began to change shape and shrink. They continued watching as they changed color, appeared more humanoid, and didn't even look like pokemon anymore. Their eyes widened when it stopped and surrounding them were three human corpses. "What the hell…?! They were people?! But how?!"
They were interrupted once more by the sound of clapping coming from nearby. It was slow, and almost produced a sense of sarcasm, they looked around until they spotted someone upon one of the rooftops near them. They were standing in front of the sun's light, making it hard to decipher the person's appearance. They continued clapping until the sun was blocked out by a cloud and no light blocked the view anymore.
The person was tall, having tall, spiky white hair with bangs that curled upwards. The person also wore sunglasses and a black mask covering the lower part of their face. They also wore a red and black leather jacket zipped up along with dark jeans and red shoes.
"Well well, would you look who it is, Daniel Barsony, so nice of you to save this city." The individual spoke, it was clearly a man based on their voice. This shocked Daniel as no one besides Samuel and Zach knew he was back. Daniel didn't want to make his return public yet so this surprised him that this person already knew who he is.
Daniel spoke up in a demanding tone, "And who the hell are you?"
"Me? I am Engano, in the flesh and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance." Engano bowed, it was clear this man was very confident, almost cocky.
"How do you know who I am?"
"That's my own little secret Daniel Barsony, you see, I know a lot about you but the fun part is that you know nothing about me. Funny, isn't it?"
"Besides the fact that you're quite pompous."
"Oh but my dear boy, I can back it up, every word, every gesture and every action I take… I can prove and back it up. Unfortunately, I would love to stay and chat but I gotta go. Ta-da!" The man fell backwards out of their sight and like that, he was gone.
Daniel and Deoxys were both very confused by the situation, just what was going on? Why were the abnormal pokemon just regular humans and who is Engano? Do they have some sort of connection? And where are Bisharp and Andres? It was hard to make out, but regardless, they'll find their answer in time if they investigate. All will be revealed in due time, Next time on Nothing to Arceus: Aftermath
The news anchor talked about what had happened, explaining that they know nothing about the heroic superhuman and how the infamous Crime Lord, Engano, made a allegid appearance at the scene when the ruckus was over. Serena sighed in relief knowing it was over and walked away to do her business. It wasn't until hours later until she received a text from Samuel, she opened up her phone and read the message to read "You need to come back." Serena grew concerned, and closed her phone as she prepared.