The Next Day...
"Pika!" Zap had just climbed on the tree in the front yard, napping on one of the branches (Thunder on another branch guarding/napping as usual aside from training with Lisa), when he was awoken by the princess of doom.
"Get back down here and let me give you a makeover!" She yells pointing at him.
Zap rolls his eyes, before sticking out his tongue at her, "Pi!"
Lola gasped, before her face turned red and she glared up at the mouse.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm coming up, so you'll get a makeover whether you like it or not!" Lola said before starting to climb the tree.
Thankfully Lana taught her after she once got one of her crowns stuck in one.
She eventually reached the branch Zap was on, carful not to be near Thunder, as she looked at the mouse with a insane look of glee, "Ah HA! It's princess makeover ti-"
Lola was interrupted once more by Zap thunder shocking her once more. Luckily it wasn't a far drop, and the only thing damaged was Lola's pride.
Zap then jumps gracefully off the tree branch and onto the grass, before going over to Lincoln whom was just coming back from the arcade.
Meanwhile, at the mall, Leni was done with work and ready to head back home when she saw some newswriters toward Leni. Leni notices this, so she hides from them.
"That was a close one" Leni walked out the door to see a Ralts who was very confused. "oh no! A lost baby with no clothes."
Leni put down her bags and uses the shirt she bought to put it on the Ralts.
"There, all better now. Where is your mommy little girl?" Leni asked.
The Ralts remain silent and looks hungry.
"Why don't I buy you some milk and we can go find your mom? She got to be around here somewhere."
Leni doesn't know it was a Pokemon, but her mother instincts is telling her that it's a lost child and she has to mother the baby until she can find its mom. Leni went to the baby store to buy some baby shirts and pants for the Ralts and a few baby bottles, so she can feed her some milk.
Leni walk out with a few bags while holding Ralts who was drinking some milk like a baby.
Leni looks around." Hello did anyone lost there child?"
No one answers.
"I guess the mother is already gone." She frown.
"Hey Leni! What's up!" Fiona said
"Oh hey Fiona, what are you still doing here?" Leni asked
"I was getting some food when I saw you holding..." She looked at the strange thing." What is that thing anyway Leni?"
Leni looked at the Ralts. "It's a baby, Fiona. I was just looking for her mother after I found her all alone with no clothes on."
"Why would they leave their baby alone like that for?! Only a heartless mother would do that to their own child!" Fiona got made
"That's horrible what should I do?" Leni asked
Fiona look at the baby. "You should take care of her until we report this to the police and find the horrible parent who left there baby" Fiona said
"Me take care of a baby? Are you sure? Am I old enough to be a mother?" She questions.
"Leni. You are a very kind and sweet friend that I know and you'll be a great mother towards this little girl." Fiona rubs the Ralts head. "You're great with babies, I'll help you learn how to take care of her."
Leni look down at the Ralts who was now sleeping. This made her smile, knowing she wants to keep the baby as her own child. But will mom and dad let Leni keep a baby she just found? Or will they give the baby to the police?
Leni was worried. "Fiona can you help convince my parents to care for this baby until we find the parents?"
"Sure! Let me help you with the bags," Fiona says, as she grabs the bags. "Let's go report this to the police and head to your house," Fiona said.
"Thanks, and don't worry little baby" she look at her 'baby'. "I'll make a great mommy."
Back at the loud house
Lincoln smiles and picks up Zap, placing on his right shoulder before petting the mouse behind his left ear, making him purr, "Missed me huh?"
He saw Lola go back inside, and then looked at Zap, "Let's see how Luna and Lily are doing."
Lincoln walks to the backyard to find Leni with a small Ralts clinging to her leg, Lily meanwhile helping Luna fill up her kiddie pool for the small, red Magikarp flopping in said pool, making the process of filling it harder as more water seemed to get out.
"Looks like Lisa is going to be able to study some more pokemon." Lincoln says with smile, seeing already Leni with her custom teal pokeballs on the grass near her, defintly caught the Ralts already due to the attachment. Meanwhile Lily caught the Magikarp as Luna exclaims, much to their mother's dismay as she seemed to research on Pokemon too, and so, knows what said fish will evolve into over time.
"Magikarp!"
"Pearl! Geez looks like we need more water dude!" Luna said.
Lily pets Pearl the Magikarp as if there was not a care in the world, "Good fishy, good Peawl." She giggles, making Pearl jump more with glee to Luna's distain.
"Don't know if we can keep Pearl in this tiny pool forever Lily," Luna said. " She just might get bigger at this rate."
Lincoln slightly chuckles, "Haha yeah...especially since Gyarados, her evolved form, will need a lake size of water to stay in."
Lana comes out with Thorn, Lisa by her side as the two see both new Pokemon.
"Another portal opened up, both came stumbling out, and now attach to Leni and Lily like no tomorrow." Luna explains as Lisa and Lana ask of how they appeared.
"Well at least the military won't want to capture these two." Lana says as she and Thorn introduce themselves and everyone to the new Pokemon.
"Not at least until either evolve. Magikarp evolve to Gyarados, a forminable ally for battle. Ralts meanwhile can evolve to either Gallade, another worthy ally of battle, or Gardevoir, whom can be a big deal to help with medicine and health." Lisa says as she puts her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Before Lincoln could add to such information, Thunder suddenly appears from behind him, tilting his head slightly as he looks among the new guest.
Zap, whom hopped off Lincoln's shoulder while everyone was talking to introduce himself to the two new mons, looks at Thunder and explains, "Pika pika."
"Bulba, bulbasaur" Thorn inputs before going back to the splashing war he was having with Pearl.
"So I'm guessing Lily and Leni caught these two?" Lincoln asks, which the two girls nod.
"Well sorta, Pearl kinda just caught herself for Lily. Meanwhile Lyra, Leni's Ralts, seemed to jump at the opportunity to be caught by Leni, she kinda caught herself too." Luna says with a slight smile.
"Well so long as the two are happy, I'm sure they'll fit right in," Lincoln says smiling bright, "though they will need to be trained for battle sometime, as like the others, we can't let the military or anyone else try and catch and hurt them. Perhaps later the two can train with Zap and Thorn? Their most likely to go the easiest on them."
Thunder did what everyone assumed was a shrug, while Zap and Thorn nod to Lincoln with determination.
While everyone was having fun outback with there pokemon, Luna hears her cell phone ring in her left pant pocket.
Picking it up and goes inside to answer (but not before making sure Lily has proper swim wear as she tried to play with Pearl in the kiddie pool).
It Sam, whom quickly explains to Luna about a Pokemon in her house. It was breaking everything and in frantic was unsure what to do.
While she still knows very little about pokemon, she did research some and the facts were blowing her mind. From size, power, it's enough to make her head spin.
Still, she goes to Sam's house as quick as she can, Sam coming to the front door just as she came over.
"hi sa...ahhhhh! " Luna freaked out as on her girlfriend's shoulder was a medium sized rat, only difference is she knew it had to be a Pokemon, as no rat has teeth that big.
"Yeah, crazy little fella huh? Looked online and he seems to be a Rattata, the purple version to be exact. Nearly stole all my family's food and destroy a bunch of furniture before I managed to make a deal with him."
Luna, still looks oddly at the rat, "Uh what kind of deal?"
Sam sighs, "He won't try to steal anymore food, or destroy more property, if I can somehow give him a good battle."
Luna looks at Sam still confused, "Wait, did you catch another Pokemon? Why not battle in your backyard or something now?
Sam frowns and puts the rat Pokemon down beside her legs, the rat just looking impatient but stays where he is, "I don't have any Pokemon, and since your brother and sisters caught some, perhaps you have one to battle Remy here too?"
Luna snaps out of her confusion and chuckles, "Remy? Really?"
Sam's cheeks turn red, "Hey! I got it from a movie okay? First thing that came to mind."
Luna sighs and smiles, "I don't have a Pokemon, but I'm sure Lincoln or even Lana will help with the battle."
Sam smiles back and hugs her, "Yes! Thank you! Lets head back to your house now!"
"...So, if I throw a pokeball at a Pokémon, will I be able to use it again or not? In the games they were one use only for some reason… I thought it was because they broke when a pokémon got loose but it never really made sense to me." Sam says as the two make their way to the ironic loud house.
Lincoln overhears as he come from out back with Lisa and Lana, as Leni and Lily wanted to stay in the backyard and play with Pearl and Lyra, "I never fully understood it myself, but considering one of the most recent games, I guess balancing? The in-game explanation is probably something like the pokéballs get lost, or the trainer doesn't have the time to pick them up mid-battle."
Luna and Sam come over, Remy following but reluctantly as he get suspicious glares from all the Pokemon surrounding the white haired boy and the tiny genius.
"It's to make money, of course. One-use only, regardless of success rate means that regardless of whether or not you catch the pokémon in question, you still have to go buy more. Supply and demand. But anyways, no, if the pokéball fails, you can always use it to try again. Just don't lose it." Lisa explains, looking back down to her phone, clearly searching for something.
"Looks like a really big pokémon has been spotted swimming around in the Pacific Ocean!"
"Could be a Wailord?" Sam suggests, "If I remember correctly, they're supposed to be very friendly, kind of like regular whales!"
"There's a whale pokémon now? At least it's friendly like a normal, regular whale I guess…" Luna says, rubbing the back of her head.
Lisa shakes her head, seeing that the supposed "wailord" in the pictures on the news site look nothing like the image she finds of the whale Pokemon.
"Guys… uh… the 'waillord'? It's not a wailord. I think it's something called a ky-kyog… uh kyogre?" Lisa says, tone cautious.
"KYOGRE!" Both Sam and lincoln exclaims at the same time, looking equal parts concerned and frightened.
"What's a Kyogre? Sounds like a one of those water toys you use in the pool when you go swimming." Luna asks, looking between the two.
"Is it a super rare pokemon?" Lola comes all the sudden rushing outside, her eyes almost glittering in excitement.
Lana pets Thorn as Leni and Lily come over (Lyra in Leni's arms, and Pearl in the kiddie pool now being dragged by the toddler leash in Lily's hands), "Maybe this Kyogre pokémon is super friendly! Like Thorn when I found him at the park!" She suggests, her tone hopeful.
Lincoln and Sam look at each other, their expressions anything but reassuring.
"Uh… well…"
"Ok, so, kyogre? It's not like Thorn or Zap, or even Thunder or Titan. It's a… well… it's a legendary pokémon. Wailord may be larger than our whales, but Kyogre...it's nearly the size of a continent at that."
Sam elaborates as Lincoln finishes speaking, "Within the universe of the game, that means it's basically a god. First appeared in Pokemon Sapphire and Ruby. It was Pokemon Sapphire's mascot, alongside the remakes. I guess. Um… in the game, there was this evil gang that wanted to use its powers to flood the whole world for some reason. In the original, they failed because they had the wrong item, but in the remakes they nearly succeeded, I think." Sam sighs, scratching at her head. "But anyways, not the most friendly of pokémon…"
"Wait… so what is a legendary pokémon exactly?" Lola asked.
"Like Sam said earlier, basically a god. Or at least, god-like, I guess. In the video games there was only one of each. They have no gender, unlike a pokémon like Zap or Thunder. And if you look them all up online, their stats are all a lot higher than a normal pokemon, which means fighting it would be impossible to beat compared to Titan. You can't breed them either."
"They're not just super rare. They're unique, one of a kind. Only rare have there been two of one legendary, even then, it's usually due to experiments like with Mewtwo, or some shiny version which really isn't explained but still. The vast majority of them are temperamental at best. And dangerously territorial at worst." Lincoln says as he looks among his now frighten sisters, "Which means the military is for sure going to have a tough time with it."
"They can be stopped though, right?" Luan says, worrying in case one of them tries to go catch it.
"Uh, well… in-game you could battle and beat them, and then catch them with a master ball. There was only one in the game though, and was more found by the bad guy's gang leader or some higher up. So uh, if you had a regular old red and white pokéball, it was liable to bust free and then attack. But if you had say, an ultra ball, there was a better chance that it'd stay in and be caught." Sam says.
"But you had to weaken it a bunch first, and even than there wasn't really a guarantee you'd catch it." Lincoln adds.
"This isn't the video games though… I have no idea if we can beat it. And even if we could, Zap and the others have a long way to go experience-wise before we could even think of challenging it to a battle."
"Okay, this is a problem." Lana said.
"Yeah." Lola agreed.
"Agreed." Added Sam.
...
Lincoln and Sam race indoors, followed by everyone else. His mother turns on the TV with the remote, right at the same Lincoln is lunging for the power button, and the image that greets his eyes freezes him cold.
"This just in. A giant sea monster has appeared off the southern coast of California, United States Naval services has been mobilized to deal with the apparent threat. Mr. Ezekiel is on site now. Jonathan?"
The woman on the TV—pretty in the way TV personalities usually are, nods, as the screen cuts away to an older man in a bright, yellow rain coat. He's sitting in what is very obviously a helicopter from the sound of the propellers beating in the background, loud enough that the man practically hast o yell himself hoarse to be heard clearly. The howling winds of the apparent storm going on just outside can't be making his job any easier.
"Thank you, Amanda. An hour ago, reports came flooding in of another, strange portal opening up just a few meters out, and dumping what could only be described as a large blue boulder into the ocean waters. Eye witnesses were unclear of whether or not it was yet another pokemon at first, but the weather, once sunny and clear, has now turned incredibly hostile!"
The camera pans then, down below to the churning waters where what feels like the entire bulk of the US naval forces sits, resting precariously in the rocking waves.
There, far too obvious and large to be anything other than the pokemon Lisa had found out about on the news, sits the Kyogre.
It's submerged, but its shadow is so massive one could identify the Pokemon instantly.
Kyogre, veritable god of the seas and one of the most canonically ornery pokemon to ever be created by the company that owns the franchise, sits in the waters just off the coast of a heavy populated city.
Lincoln watches the tv in horror, despite it being miles and miles of distance, his body shakes of a near existential dread as he suddenly sees a shadowy figure appear from the sky just above the sea beast.
"Oh no…"
The camera cuts back to the boat against the high seas, "We are join by Captain Seigfried William, who leads the operation to fell this great beast. Captain William?"
The old captain looks at the camera every now and then, while trying hard to keep the boat at bay.
"Thank you kindly, Mr. Ezekiel. Evacuations for the surrounding areas and nearby cities is well under way, as we mobilize ships to take down this apparent threat. And we will defeat it. Our scientists and researchers have confirmed that this… monster, is in fact one of the pokemon that have been appearing from the portals that have been opening across our fair country. But the people should not be afraid. We have the situation completely under our control."
"They can't be serious." Sam says, tone filled with disbelief.
Lincoln doesn't know what to say or do.
It was one thing to beat a boss like creature in a video game, but this was impossible in reality.
On the TV, someone must give the order for the ships to fire. The ocean lights up in a brilliant show of fire and smoke.
The water's churning even more as the explosives detonate into the back of the beast. They don't need the news reporter to tell them that every single shot hit their mark.
People are celebrating, but the Louds and Sam look at the screen still in fear.
The first sign, is the storm doesn't let go away.
If anything, it gets worse.
What was a torrential downpour now looks more like the ocean is falling from the sky, the wind screaming now as they blow faster, rocking the helicopter dangerously and forcing them to flee back to land before they crash, the boat just barley making it to shore as well.
Lincoln knows they've made a mistake. He wonders if they realize they've made a mistake. He doubts they even scratched the great beast. If not, then the only thing they've managed to do is really, REALLY PISS it off.
Kyogre surfaces, all sleek blue skin and red lines and a roar that makes him want to crawl up a wall and hide or run, and the waters rise with it. In an instant, barely longer than the time it takes to blink your eyes, the ships, the jets, everything is gone. Kyogre sinking back under the waters as if it hasn't just wiped out an entire fleet's worth of ships like Lincoln swatting a fly out of the air, leaving little more than ruined bits of twisted, torn metal floating in the waves.
Whatever the news reporters say about the rampant destruction is lost in a field of white noise. Lincoln can only stare at the frozen image of the ocean where Kyogre had initially surfaced; smoke billowing from still burning fires in surging waters and the kind of weather you'd normally only see in over-the-top, end-of-the-world movies. The kind where Mother Nature slams the reset button for humanity as a whole by summoning some ridiculous tsunami.
"Wh-What? Why?" Leni questions from just behind Lincoln, Lyra held close to her chest with one hand covering the dual-type's "eyes". Lincoln guesses that Leni was trying to shelter her child from the violence, but he's not sure if it was strictly necessary. "Why did they do that?! It hadn't even done anything to them yet?!"
"Because despite the Pokemon franchise's world-wide popularity, not everyone knows what a pokemon is." Their mother pipes up from where she's sitting on the sofa. Her voice is steady and even, casual like she's talking about the weather instead of the horror show they just witnessed on national television. "Or what they might look like. And Kyogre is big, and scary looking and can apparently cause huge, dangerous storms just by existing. Which puts a lot of innocent, helpless people in danger. So they tried to do their jobs. They tried to protect us by eliminating a dangerous threat."
"Yeah, and they failed. Spectacularly." Sam cuts in, a certain bite to her tone that Lincoln hasn't heard before.
"The only thing they really managed to do was pissed it off and put everyone in even more danger."
As if to emphasize that point, the news reporter cuts in, telling them about the expansion of the evacuation from just a handful of counties and cities to the entire western coast. The whole area now deemed a forbidden zone until they can figure out a way to deal with Kyogre.