Some things you may need to know.
"What are you thinking of?" People talking.
Things. People thoughts.
G'day. Legendary Pokémon or Celestial beings talking.
"Morning." Pokémon talking being understood when near people.
"Fire!" Attack or Pokémon's moves names.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other things that I may reference to.
Now to the story.
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"The curse?" Faktlar asked, looking at the strange Pokémon in confusion.
"Yes, I wish to know more about it if you may," June said, taking on his best formal-ish accent. "Your daughter said that it was possible for someone to break this millennium-long curse."
Faktlar blinked at his sudden change of tone.
"Why would you want that information?" Anjo said, eyebrow raising as she gave him a wondering look.
"Well, when Evie and I heard about this strange and ancient curse from your daughter yesterday," he said before shrugging. "I just thought that it'd be a good idea to help break your world out of it. After all, I am Cosmo's champion and I'm supposed to help any creature in my way." Or at least I think that's what a champion does.
Cosmo wasn't really being specific about what exactly a champion did. He mentally shrugged before returning to the task at hand.
"And just who is this Cosmo exactly?" Faktlar asked, his mind racing, trying to figure out what June's motives were.
"A Celestial Being is, um, someone that's stronger than Arceus," he said, unsure of whether Arceus was a god or not in this world.
At that revelation, the two widened their eyes in surprise before quickly recovering themselves.
"Arceus? You mean the legendary, mythical Pokémon that destroyed a majority of the world during the first war? The one that instilled fear of what could happen if something as intense as that, happen again?" Pixels said with a surprisingly cheery tone.
Upon seeing the strange looks given to her, she let out a confused "What?"
Faktlar shook his head, muttering, "Just like your mother."
Their Arceus did what now?! June screamed mentally, giving the cheery fox a look of disbelief. And why do they not seem bothered by that?
And here he thought that his version of humans were crazy. After all, having the underdog country nuking and completely obliterating a vast majority of a major country's armies and cities is not something to scoff at. Not to mention the more recent things that had happened.
But he digress, knowing that focusing on those thoughts were pointless in his current situation. Although he couldn't help but wonder if, somewhere in the vastness of the multiverse, there was another version of his world that was even worse.
He shook his head to clear those thoughts before maintaining a level of focus back onto the subject.
"A being more powerful than Arceus itself..." He heard Faktlar said before watching him shake his head. "No, there's just no possible way."
"I've got proof if you still don't believe me." That got the three's attention.
"Proof?" Anjo asked.
"Yup!" he said. "You see, Cosmo had given me a special backpack that allows me to store an infinite amount of things in it. It is also full of things that were from the previous generations of champions."
June shoved half of his right arm into the invisible bag before pulling out a spatula, that to them, seemed like it had materialised from thin air.
He tossed the spatula onto the ground before proceeding to pull out a shovel.
"Honestly, I'm still not sure how many things are in here. I haven't yet gotten through the first two layers of this thing," he said, stabbing the ground with the tool. "Proof enough for ya?"
"Hm... I suppose that would be enough for now," Or at least until I could figure out how a non-psychic type manage to access their inner storage.
Faktlar shook his head. "All right, that settles it. We shall be discussing this topic back in the safety of our village. Come now, lest the ferals awaken."
The ferals? Does he mean wild Pokémon? June blinked. How can wild creatures appear in the same world as their civilized self? That's like having anthropomorphic animals and their regular forms stuck in one big town.
June shook his head. "Lead the way, your majesty."
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Solace couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Here was the one thing his people had been talking about.
The ones who could break this wretched curse brought upon by the ancient one.
The ones that Arceus had entrusted to save their world.
What little information they had wrested from the Psychics were finally going to fall into play.
And all he needed to do was get this Zorua's friends and information back to his village.
His people could finally stop living in the shadows.
Although...
He couldn't suppress the frown that came with the thought. He had no real way of getting Zeal nor anyone else out of this damned hell hole.
He gave a sideways-glance to one of the stationed guards that stood sentry.
Most of the guards that kept an eye over them were bipeds, whether they be Quagsires, Golducks, Marshtomps or any other bipedal water-types.
He knew there was no way to escape upwards as there were several dual-types that stood on top of small ledges that were sticking out of the cave's interior.
He grimaced, knowing that there was almost no possible way he could escape on his own-
That was it!
There was no possible way he could escape on his own!
Ah! He was such a fool! All this time, he had been planning out a solo escape when he should've been relying on the help of others.
No wonder his commander had been trying to drill that thought process into his brain.
He gave the Zorua a glance.
Maybe just maybe, he could do this. Maybe, with the help of others. They could finally break out of this place!
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Blissfully unaware of the Absol's inner monologue, Zeal turned to face the massive crevice several meters away from them.
Galloping over to the near edge of it, she gasped in shock at what she saw.
On closer inspection, the crevice was actually a crater, it was nearly a kilometer wide, and over a hundred meters deep. In the crater were dozens- no, hundreds of dark-types.
Quadrapeds carrying wagons filled with rocks and other materials while bipeds clawed their way through the hard structure of the cave, some used their bare claws while others used some sort of item she had never seen before, a stick with something metallic that was shaped like an arc, both of its ends being sharp and thin enough to break the stone easily.
"What a sight, right?" She jumped at the sudden voice before relaxing when she realised that it was just the Absol.
"Y-yeah," she said, gazing over the massive crater.
Sol chuckled darkly. "It's incredible how they've managed to enslaved so much of my kind and to do so, so discretely. It almost makes me respect them." He ended with a low growl. "Almost."
Zeal shivered at the sheer animosity pouring from him, how she was able to sense it was beyond her.
"But fret not, little one. We shall find a way to escape this prison," Sol said.
"And get my friends back?"
"That as well." He crouched down. "Now follow me, little one. We shall meet with someone that knows this place like the back of their hand... or should I say, the back of their pincer."
And with that, he leapt into the air and allowed gravity to take ahold of him as he plummeted down into the crater.
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Getting escorted back to their village was an... interesting experience.
June couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the village walls.
It was easily bigger than any building back in his town, heck! It was easily several meters taller than most of the trees there.
The walls were a mixture of dark-red and green. Shades of green were painted on the wall, seemingly randomly until June realised that they were trying to blend in with their surroundings as he'd noticed that the green were mostly around the bottom and top of the walls.
And man, they are doing a crappy job at it. Although, he supposed that trying to hide something as large as this was nearly impossible, points for effort though.
He stared at the walls once more, thinking to himself, Strange, it feels like I've seen something like this before.
He shook his head before turning around to look back at Evie, who was still surrounded by a dozen other fire-types.
Evie held a crossed look on her face as they arrived at the foot of the wall.
Two Magmortars stood between the gates, surprisingly the gates were only slightly above their height. The two held a spear of some sort but instead of a metal tip, it was however replaced by a jet of blue fire.
The Magmortars straightened their posture and saluted.
"Lord and Lady Yon-Endan, I can see that the search party was a success," the one to the right said.
"You had us worried for a moment when it became nine," the one to the left said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"I'm truly sorry for taking so long but as you can see, we had an encounter with some interesting Pokémon," Faktlar said, flashing a smile at the two.
"Oh?" The two said in unison before glancing at Evie and June.
"A Charmander and Eevee? How strange..." the one to the right started.
"Indeed..." his brother said.
"Do not fret, my child. These two are merely here for a visit," Faktlar said. "Apparently, they are from a land far beyond the eighteen regions."
"They've requested an audience from us, and we have accepted their request," said Anjo.
The two nodded before jabbing the blunt end of their spears onto the ground.
The metal gates shook a bit, slowly it rose an inch above the ground. Slowly but surely, it rose to its maximum height, allowing the group to enter the village.
Buildings of various shapes and sizes littered their field of vision, each made of some type of stone or metal as the glare of the sun glinted against the walls.
It looked pretty modern yet old-timey at the same time, which was a sight to behold upon.
"Wow," said June, absorbing in the view of the village.
Evie was also amazed at the sight, noticing how similar the buildings were to humans', except with minor details as unlike humans, Pokémon were all different from one another.
Amazing! These fire-types have learned how to manage such fine architecture and had accounted for every possible problems they could've been experiencing with their tendency to light things on fire! Evie thought, her respect for them raising a considerable amount.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Pixels said with barely-contained joy.
"I'll say," June said, letting out a longing smile. "Been a while since I've been in someplace big."
Pixels tilted her head at him, confusion plastered on her face. "What do you mean by that?"
"Just a little homesick," he said, taking in a deep breath.
"Oh," she said, looking at the ground in thought.
"So how was it like?" Pixels said, stepping a little closer to him.
June rose a non-existent brow at her before getting what she'd meant. "Well, frankly, it was... very boring. But it was peaceful, relaxing and quiet. The complete opposite of what had happened recently," he said. "But it was home and home is where the heart is, and what not. You get it?" He smiled at the kit.
"Hm, I think I do," Pixels said. "It was just like how I've been trying to get home after escaping their grasps."
June coughed out a small chuckle. "I guess, in a way. We were both trapped by something that's out of our control." He sighed. "But unfortunately, I don't think we'll be returning home for a loooong time."
Pixels frowned. "It's gonna be all right, you'll get home one day. Just look at me!" she said, hoping that that would lift his spirits.
June let out an amused smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. "Sorry if I'd troubled you."
"It's nothing. I LOVE helping anybody in need."
And with that, their little conversation ended as they continued their trip to Faktlar's temple.
Unbeknownst to the two, Evie had heard their talk and couldn't help but frown at what she'd heard.
Is that how he truly feels about this? Lost and having the feeling of hopelessness? She cast a sympathetic look on him. Is this his way of coping? Hiding behind a mask of cheer and jokes?
The rest of the trip went off without much excitement.
They'd finally arrived at a tall building. Its walls were a smooth cream white, it had beautiful engravings of various fire-type Pokémon on it.
From June's point of view, he could make out at least four floors in the ginormous building.
"Man, this place is huge!" Almost as big as the temple I've been in when I was a kid.
"I know right?" Pixels said, childish-enthusiasm springing out of her. "This place is where daddy and mommy do all their work."
"Yeah... I'll bet." He chuckled, imagining the royal fox struggling against some paperwork.
"Although..." She pouted. "I wished they weren't always so busy with their work to play with me."
"Private Stork," Faktlar said.
"Yes, your highness?" A Quilava trotted into the front of the group before bowing down. "What is it that you require?"
"Take my daughter into her chambers, and make sure she doesn't leave her room until I say so," Faktlar said, "Somebody got to teach her a lesson about leaving the village on her own..."
"What?" Pixels shook her head in disbelief. "But daaad! I didn't leave the village! They were the one that took me out of it!"
Faktlar raised a brow at her. "And where were the guards I've assigned to protect you when that had happened?"
Pixels chuckled nervously. "Well... funny thing is... I may have... kinda... ditch 'em," she let out another guilty chuckle.
Faktlar let out a long and enduring groan. "Stork, make sure she doesn't escape your sight. I need her to be in her room when we're done talking."
"Understood, your majesty." Stork bowed before standing on his two feet and taking the young vixen in his arms.
"B-bu-" She clicked her tongue, knowing that arguing further wouldn't do any good to her. Instead she slumped back into the arms of the Quilava with a groan.
"Fine." She puffed out her cheeks with a glare as she crossed her forelegs.
Stork then proceeded to enter the building before walking around the corner and out of their sight.
"Now shall we begin?" Faktlar said, stepping into the ginormous building.
"Yeah," he said. "Quick question."
"Ask away," he said.
"Is this meeting gonna be private? Like y'know, between you, Evie, Anjo and I? 'Cause I don't think exposing our secrets to a bunch of strangers is a good idea."
Tch, like that had stopped you earlier, Evie thought with an eye roll.
"I understand your concern." Faktlar nodded. "If so be it. Guards leave these two with Anjo and I."
"Huh?" Were the collective answers of the group before one of them quickly responded,
"With all due respect, your majesty. This Eevee is too dangerous to leave you alone with. Leaving her alone with two of the most important figures of the village will be a disaster in the making." A Monferno protested.
"I am certain that my wife and I can handle whatever she throws at us," he said, sounding rather confident
"Don't worry about us," Anjo said. "Don't forget that you're talking to the current strongest, and second strongest Pokémon in this village. We were there by our parents' side when the third war broke out."
What the hell happened to this dimension? June thought, not believing that this place already had a third war, and he wouldn't place it behind him if it had involved the rest of the typings.
"But-ugh-" The Monferno looked like he was having an internal struggle with himself but stopped when he saw the dead seriousness in the eyes of the king.
He sighed. "All right, if you say so, your highnesses."
"Thank you," Faktlar said. "General, take the rest into the training fields and get started on your daily routine. I want everybody to be in their best just in case something happens in the near future."
"As you wish, my liege," a Heatmor said, bowing before commanding his team to leave the four.
Evie let out a sigh of relief. Phew, now I don't have to worry about having a damn weapon held against me.
While they were unarmed... we all know that a Pokémon don't exactly need a weapon to kill, now do they?
"So where are we headin'?" June said. "I'm assuming that we'll be heading to some sort of meeting place, right?"
"Correct," Anjo said with a kind smile. "Head in, and we'll lead you there."
"Got it," June said, jokingly saluting at the two. "Come on, Evie. Let's go in."
"Sure," Evie said, cautiously looking at the royal foxes as she went in.
The interior of the temple was a sight to behold. Its foundation was simple enough, smooth and solid stone bricks aligned orderly and properly, filling each bit of space with a kind of precision and skill of an expert architect.
The walls were a continuation of the exterior, beautiful and professionally made.
"Man, this place is huge," June said, grinning at how much space there was.
"I'll say," Evie said, wondering why would anyone need such a big home.
"Well, it tends to get pretty cramped when you got an entire bloodline of Pokémon that can live for nearly a thousand years." Anjo chuckled kind-heartedly.
"Hm? June rose a scaly brow before widening his eyes in recognition. "Right, I've read that a Ninetales can live upto a thousand years."
He hummed in thought, squinting his eyes at the two. "H-how does it feel to live that long?"
"It has its ups and downs," Anjo said.
I bet it does... It was difficult for him to not notice the longing gazes of the two foxes. Must be hard to move on...
He knew how it felt like to lose someone you loved, but he couldn't imagine how it must have felt like to lose dozens.
"Come, let's get started," Faktlar said, taking the lead.
"Yes, sir."
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Ane blinked.
Confusion clearly etched across his face
"Where the hell am I?" he thought out loud, staring at his new surroundings.
He was in a strange and white room, the walls were a dull white, along with the ceiling, bed and floor.
There was also some sort of smell lingering in the air, similar to metal and chemicals.
The only door to the room, which was made of oak, creaked open.
A small reddish-orange creature steppe- floated into the room, it had two bright blue eyes with a white outline. Its body had a thick layer of electricity, and its skin seemed to be made of metal.
"~Bzzt~ Oh ho, good morning, little rodent. ~Bzzt~"
A Rotom? Ane thought in surprise. What's a Rotom doing here?
The Rotom frowned. "~Bzzt~ You're supposed to say 'good morning' when someone says it to you. ~Bzzt~"
Unable to come up with a good response, Ane said, "Uhh, good morning?
"~Bzzt~ There. That wasn't so hard now was it? ~Bzzt~" The Rotom gave him a satisfied smirk. "~Bzzt~ Let's get you settled in. ~Bzzt~"
Settled in?
"I know you ~Bzzt~ may have some questions concerning about your whereabouts but don't worry. All will be explained in ~Bzzt~ due time," Rotom said. "Would you like me to give you a tour of the place?"
"Sure," Ane said, hoping that he could get some answers from it.
"Fantastic. ~Bzzt~" It said. "And before we start, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Bizz Strung and I am the water village's electrician welcomer. Basically, I welcome in the electric-types that have been captured by the lord."
"Wait, 'captured'? The hell do you mean by that?"
Bizz gave him a weird look before it shook its head. "What was the last thing you remember before arriving here?"
"Hmm... I was arguing with Zeal and left with my brother, then... something hit me, I think."
"That 'something' was one of our elites. Your 'brother' and that Zorua have been taken down into their respective places and are currently adjusting to their new lives."
"Lives?" Is he being serious about this? No way is he saying that this 'water village' whatever just kidnapped us and expect us to work with them? No, that can't be... That's just stupid.
"Anyways, ~Bzzt~ let's begin your tou-"
"Hail to the king!" A voice shouted before a blaring explosion followed suit.
A loud ear piercing screech followed shortly before the force of the explosion rocked the very building.
"What in the world is going on?" Bizz cried out.
Smoke began pouring into the room through the shut door. Then suddenly, the door swung open as a white blur appeared before tackling down Bizz.
Bizz didn't get the chance to retaliate as the object swung a bright and metallic tail at it, knocking Bizz out with one hit.
Ane didn't get the time to blink before the object set its sights on him.
"Uhh... Ni-nice cr-creature?" Ane let out a nervous chuckle, seeing the animal's eyes gleaming in the midst of the smoke cloud.
Ane fell onto his back, scared out of his metaphorical pants as the animal leapt onto the bed.
Without the smoke obstructing the animal, Ane was able to see the creature in all of its glory.
It was dog-like in shape, its coat was a sky blue with bits of black fur sticking out. Its front part was covered with the black fur that reached all the way to its paws. Its flank was covered by a tuft of fur that reached down to its knees. Its tail was thin and had a star-shaped end on it.
Its spiky mane flowing in the winds of the explosion behind it.
Looking down, it gave Ane a chilling glare.
"Come with me if you want to live," it said, coolly.
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"Huh, you sure that's what he is?" A strange bipedal plant-like creature said.
The creature was plant-like in shape and form. She had two leafy arms with yellow petals around her neck. Below her white mid-section was a green skirt-like object that covered the legs, leaving her feet exposed. She had some leaves on her head that looked like hair and a large flower covering a side of it.
The Lilligant held the daffodil closer to her. "And there's more of him?" she whispered to the flower.
The Lilligant then recoiled back in shock before shortly recovering as she whispered back to the flower, "Really now? They're not from this world?"
How interesting... so the fire one is at Kakagure and the other one is at the Suigakure's generator chamber. Anything else you'd like to tell me?
Two more different non-human Pokémon? An Eevee and a Zorua, huh? And... Oh, the youngling's waking up?
Lilligant turned to face the awakening Bulbasaur. Huh, so he is. All right, talk to you later, Daffi.
She settled the flower down into the ground, cutting her connection with it.
She smiled as she made her way towards the semi-conscious child.
"Hello, youngling. My name is Rosy Buds," she said after waiting for him to stir up from his laying position.
"Huh? What?" he said, looking at his surroundings in panic. "Where am I?"
"You're in the middle of nowhere!"
Quil blinked. "What?"
"Oh, uh, not like that," Rosy said with a sheepish smile. "I mean you're literally in Nowhere. That's the name of the place. I've brought you here after rescuing you from the clutches of the Suigakure."
"The what now?"
"The Suigakure, village of the water-types," Rosy said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't save your friends but I think it's for the best."
"What?" Quil widened his eyes in shock. "They've been kidnapped?!"
"Yeah, sorry. But it's for the best as the curse would've made them almost unresponsive and then... well, we would have an even bigger problem."
"The curse?"
"Yup. That thing's a nasty little spell that causes any type to be hostile to anything that's not their own."
"A spell? Like magic?" Rosy nodded.
"There's magic in this place?" Quil said in disbelief.
"Eyup! Although not many of us practice spells as much anymore; only the Psychic-types practice them regularly," Rosy said. "And maybe the Dark-types. We're not really sure, they're not as easy to gather info on as the rest of the villages."
"Gathering info? You-you're a spy?"
"More of a scout, actually. Us grass-types have the ability to communicate with plant life," Rosy said. "I was just on my way back to the village when I heard the plants talking about you."
"They were saying something," Rosy said. "Something about you not being from this world."
"Oh, really? That's such a cool power!" Quil said with childish exuberance.
"So it is true," Rosy said, not seeing him denying her claim.
"Well, my brother didn't really wanted it to be a secret, so..." He shrugged.
"Brother? Ah, the fire-type's your brother, right?"
"Yes, and the Pikachu that was taken by the Suiga-whatever is also my brother," Quil said.
"Right, I'm assuming the Eevee and Zorua are just friends, right?"
"Yupperoni," Quil said, grinning. June is right, making up words is funny
Quil blinked. Wait, where is he? Quil blinked once more. Right! We were supposed to be looking for him. Crap, how could I forget.
No wait. She said she saw him, which means...
"Hey, do you know where my brother is?"
"Well, one's in Kakagure with the Eevee and the other had just been captured by the Suigakure along with the Zorua."
"Got it. Hm..." Quil hummed in thought, a trait he had borrowed from his brother. "Dang, I've no clue what I could do. Grr... what would my brothers do in this situation?"
Argue? No, that doesn't seem right... Making stupid jokes? Nah, that's dumb.Hm... Oh! I think I got it.
"Hey, Rosy. You said you know where my brother is, right?" At her nod, he beamed. "Awesome. Can you lead me to him?"
"Oh, heavens no. I can't possibly fight against the entirety of the Suigakure, in spite of my type advantage." She gazed at him like he was crazy.
"No, I don't mean Ane. I meant June, you said he's in the Kaka-whatever and you didn't say 'capture' which means that he and Evie are safe there, so let's go there," he said, pointing at a random direction.
"It's over there," she said, pointing her leafy appendages to east.
"Okay, thanks," Quil said, smiling at her. "It was nice meeting you."
"Don't mention it, kid," Rosy said, waving the ten-year-old goodbye.
However, as soon as he left her vision. She froze in thought. Wait, did I just send a kid into the forest? Alone?
Her eye twitched at what she had done before she face-palmed. I did. Fuck.