Chapter I
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Sixteen years passed. Fox grew up happily with his stepbrother Barke and the new addition to their family not long after the Zorua's arrival, his stepsister Luna. All three Pokémon went to school, met new friends, tasted the joys and low points of life, and when the time came, evolved and began the next phase in their lives. Barke graduated, left the nest and became a police officer in his sleepy little hometown, while Luna and Fox continued studying in Wisp Academy, the only education hub in town.
And then a new dawn broke, with golden streaks of sunlight piercing through the darkness of night, painting color onto a world which had previously been shrouded in shades of black. As the sun rose over Wisp Town, casting its light over buildings and rousing some of the townspeople to wakefulness, golden sunlight shone into the McClaws household near the edges of the town, illuminating the dark interior of the cozy room and the occupant that snoozed on within: a Zoroark, Fox, sound asleep in bed even as the sun shone through his window and reflected off his dark fur.
He didn't sleep for much longer, however; a loud bang on the door jolted the illusion fox awake. ''Waaagh!'' Comically, Fox leapt up from the covers, hit his head on the low ceiling, and came crashing unceremoniously down onto the floor with an equally loud "thud". He scratched his aching head in an attempt to reorient himself, hoping that he hadn't developed a large bruise the size of a Sitrus berry after inadvertently yeeting himself off the bed (he did find a bump on his head, but it was small and would probably shrink after a few minutes).
''Big brother!'' Luna shouted, her hurried tone penetrating the Zoroark's temporary daze as he turned to face his sister, about to question why she almost knocked the door off its hinges before he noticed that the Lucario was already dressed in her school uniform. But the alarm hasn't rung yet...
''Luna...why are you wearing your uniform?'' Fox mumbled, still somewhat groggy even after his abrupt awakening.
''Big brother! We have to go to school early to get our schedule! Remember?'' The Lucario said, prompting the Zoroark to think for a little bit before the realization hit him. "Oh." Immediately he checked his alarm clock, hoping that he didn't have to suffer the ill fortune of waking up late on the first day of high school. Luckily for him, it was only half past five in the morning; he still had an hour or so to get ready before setting out.
''Sorry, forgot that we have to be in school by 7:30...why don't you get breakfast ready in the meantime? I'll be downstairs in a few minutes,'' Fox suggested.
''Right then! What do you want to eat big brother?'' Luna asked.
''Why don't you make your special sandwich?''
''Okay, coming right up!'' The teenage Lucario dashed out of the bedroom, accidentally slamming the door shut in the face of an amused Fox, oblivious to the fresh bump on his forehead (He's gotten worse anyway, she thought).
Even after fourteen years living with her, Fox thought his sister's antics would never get old (even when said antics indirectly led to a bruised forehead every now and then).
''You can be scary with your energy and temper combined sometimes, you know that?'' Fox remarked, before checking the time again and wasting no time rushing into his personal bathroom and performing his daily routine: taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth and drying his fur ("Just wring most of the water out with a towel and let the hairdryer do the rest," Barke would say) before heading on over to his closet and choosing his daily wear: a navy blue collared T-shirt with long white sleeves, a pair of black trousers and a black belt, mainly used to hold his pants up. He then looked at himself in the mirror, unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt for "fashion purposes", and glanced at the clock again.
It was nearly ten minutes to seven o'clock. Fox grabbed his bag, ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen, watching Luna neatly place one of her self-made sandwiches onto his plate as he rushed down.
''Breakfast is ready, big brother,'' Luna called out, prompting a nod from Fox as he took his seat at the dining table.
''Let's finish breakfast quickly, we really have to go soon.'' Fox took a bite of his sandwich, relishing the decadent, tender slices of Magost berry blending with the tangy, mildly spicy Pinap jam, while Luna nodded and ate her sandwich as well.
After finishing breakfast not long later, Fox grabbed a notepad and a pen from his school bag, scrawled "Leaving early today, will come back at the usual time" in his best handwriting, then packed the two items back into his bag after he stuck the note on the table, and turned towards his sister.
''We'd probably better get going now, or else we'll be late,'' Fox said, briefly glancing at his watch before unlocking the front door, gesturing to Luna to leave. "Yeah, let's go then!" The two exited the small house, Fox locking the door behind them, and they set off on the long, winding road to school.
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By the time Fox and Luna reached the school gates, it was 7:19: around eleven minutes before school started. Even from the gates, they could see the many, many students packed inside, several different species of Pokémon all attending the same school.
''Luna, you know where to get your schedule, right?'' Fox asked, upon entering the giant school compound.
''I know, big brother. I'm supposed to go to 8-2 and isn't your old class at 10-2?'' Luna replied, receiving a nod from her brother as the two walked up the stairs to the second floor.
''Yeah, let's get our schedules, class starts at 8:15. I'll see you when classes end, alright?''
''Okay then! Bye, big brother!'' Fox waved goodbye to his sister as she left the stairway, leaving him to continue on to the third floor. After a short walk up the stairs and down the hallway, the Zoroark reached a door labeled with the letters "10-2" and stopped, opening the door to enter his old classroom. And then to immediately stumble backwards when a small yellow mouse bolted at him, nearly tackling Fox to the ground with a hug.
"Woah! Ray?!" Fox gasped in surprise and delight at the small yet incredibly strong Pikachu, whose white-and-blue uniform was somewhat crumpled by the strength of his hug. "Long time no see, Fox!" Ray beamed, his brown eyes lighting up like stars in the night sky as he hopped from his current position in Fox's arms to the Zoroark's shoulder, his fiddler cap balancing precariously on his head.
When Fox looked around the old classroom, a wave of nostalgia hit him; the simple and almost-barren room, save for the twenty-two chairs and tables for each student, had been the venue for some of the most hilarious and…well, interesting events in Fox's school life. Examples included that one time a Meowstic levitated practically everything in the room and the rest of the students decided to parkour on the flying objects, only for the things to come crashing down a few minutes later, resulting in no less than three cases of sprained ankles and broken bones and Henry receiving a two-hour detention, and the infamous "Haunted Pop Quiz" incident, mainly involving one terrified Chemistry teacher, one scare-happy Gengar and a whole class of amused students, to say the least. However, unlike the Meowstic, Mandy didn't receive a detention sentence for her "crimes".
The Zoroark took his seat at a table somewhat further away from the front and near the windows, slumping his bag on one of the table legs as Ray leaped off his shoulder and made his way to his own seat, around two spaces in front of Fox. Then, to his left, Fox heard a familiar voice. "Hey Fox, how was your vacation?" Turning to face the source, he found a Charizard in the seat next to him, the glint in his eyes and the extra spark in his tail flame the same as ever.
"Oh hey, Dracon. It was good, what about yours?" Fox asked, noticing the subtle frown on his friend's face. "Dad was teaching me the way of Mega Evolution the whole holiday. You can imagine how painful that is…" "Wait. Mega Evolution?" Seeing the confused look on Fox's face, Dracon took a deep breath. "Mega Evolution is an ability that certain Pokémon can get, it basically increases your endurance and speed, it also changes your form and most importantly, it strengthens your attacks. Oh yeah, I need to show you something." The Charizard revealed a thick, black bangle on his wrist, with a large orange marble embedded in the center, glowing faintly like an ember in a campfire. "Also, Mega Evolution is powered by this stone."
"Hey, since when did you wear jewelry?" Fox asked, curious about the strange accessory. He would've ended up pondering the logistics of such a small rock being the catalyst for such a powerful transformation, if Dracon didn't interrupt his train of thought with his reply. "It's not jewelry - this thing's a Mega Stone. This gives me the power for Mega Evolution, but to activate it I need an activation ring. Dad didn't give me one yet since I haven't fully mastered Mega Evolution…"
"This is all very confusing…" Fox admitted, and Dracon let out a sigh as he nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it." A second later, the two noticed the Typhlosion at the front of the class, wearing black, round spectacles and a jolly smile on his face as he walked in. "Good morning, class!"
Every student in the room instantly stopped their chattering and stood up from their seats, greeting the Typhlosion with a loud chorus of "Good morning, Mr. Burns!".
"You all may take your seats," the teacher said, and waited for the screeching of chairs against the floor to die down before he trotted over to his desk and pulled out a stack of cards from the drawer. "As advisor of this class, it is my duty to hand out your schedules for Grade Eleven. In case you don't remember, you will be sorted into your new classes based on your new schedules and your grades for the past year. Now, when I call your name, please step forward to receive your schedule." The bespectacled Typhlosion sat down on his own chair and pulled the first card out of the stack. "Abel!" He called out, and an Absol promptly rose from his seat and made his way to the teacher's desk. "Grade 11-3. Please work on your grades for this year," Mr. Burns advised, before pulling out another card and calling out the next student's name.
Fox and Dracon spent a good few minutes waiting and talking while Mr. Burns called up each student one by one, until the Typhlosion called Dracon to his table. "Good luck." "Thanks," the Charizard replied as he walked over to the teacher's table, small beads of sweat forming on his neck. To his surprise, Mr. Burns had a warm smile on his face as he passed the card to him. "Grade 11-1. You did splendidly this year, I wish you the best of luck for the next." At that, Dracon breathed a sigh of relief as he thanked the Typhlosion, and returned to his table with a spring in his steps.
After a few more rounds of name-calling and reactions (Ellie nearly fainted on the spot, while Fynn grinned as a Grovyle reluctantly handed him ten bucks), Fox finally heard his name being called by Mr. Burns. With a short exchange of well-wishes between him, Dracon and Ray, Fox got up from his seat and approached the Typhlosion, letting a nervous sigh escape his body as he did so. The look on his teacher's face did nothing to calm his nerves. "Grade 11-2. You did rather well, but I know you can do better," Mr. Burns said, passing the Zoroark his schedule. After a short reply of "thank you", Fox quickly returned to his seat, and started reading the schedule printed out for him on the card.
''Sadly, we won't be classmates this year.'' Dracon quietly remarked, watching his friend hastily attempt to memorize his entire timetable.
''Yeah...what's your first class?''
''Battling. How about you?''
''Oh. Math...'' Fox said dejectedly, as Dracon smirked and patted his back.
''Good luck.''
''Thanks for your hospitality,'' the Zoroark sarcastically replied back.
''Ray!'' Fox and Dracon watched as the Pikachu walked to the teacher's desk. ''Grade 11-1. Excellent work, you did well this year.'' Ray took the schedule, a grin forming on his face, and returned to his seat.
Dracon flashed another smirk at Fox. ''Looks like me and Ray are classmates this year, too!'' Fox glared at the Charizard, and proceeded to argue with him about the unfairness of the situation while the remaining students received their own schedules.
After a few minutes, Mr. Burns stood up from his seat, the stack of cards cleared from his desk. ''Now, you've all received your schedules. I've said this last time and I will say this again, thank you all for giving me the best year in this academy. Though I won't be teaching you English anymore, I'll still be in this academy. If you ever need advice just come and tell me, I'll always be free to talk. Now, c'mon everyone! One last time!''
Everyone stood up and bowed. ''Goodbye, and thank you, Mr. Burns!'' The Typhlosion smiled as he nodded, and bowed back.
''Off you go, then! You might be late for your first class.'' The scraping of chairs against the floor resounded as students grabbed their bags and left the old classroom, all waving goodbye to their homeroom teacher as they did so.
''We aren't classmates for this year, Fox. Hope you do well without us,'' Ray teased as the trio exited the classroom, with the Zoroark responding with an annoyed grimace.
''Thanks for the help guys...'' Fox replied sarcastically, prompting a chuckle from the other two Pokémon. ''Well, see you at lunchtime!'' Ray climbed onto Dracon's shoulder and left with him, leaving Fox to walk to his class alone. He couldn't help but grin at their antics as he too walked to his new class, trailing behind his two friends.
Upon entering class 11-2, which was sandwiched in between classes 11-1 and 11-3, the grin on Fox's face quickly curved downwards into a frown. While he could recognize every student in the classroom from prior, brief experiences, no one stood out to him as a friend. With an exasperated sigh the Zoroark chose a random seat near the back of the class, and glanced at his watch. The time was 8:17: he knew that lessons would start soon enough.
As he started wondering about who would be his new adviser, a Scyther entered the room, with the no-nonsense look in his eyes and his menacing arm-blades being enough to intimidate any chattering students into silence. And then he turned to the class and began to speak, his voice surprisingly soft yet firm. "Good morning, class. I am Mr. Blade, your adviser for this year. I will be teaching advanced battle technique. If you take out your schedule, you will see that my class starts eighth period every day. Your first subject is Math, so Mr. Wes should be coming soon. Goodbye, class."
''Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Blade.'' The Scyther nodded and left the classroom, leaving as quickly as he came. After a few minutes, a Floatzel entered the classroom, introduced himself, and proceeded to start lessons.
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Nothing much happened throughout the whole school day. Teachers came in, introduced themselves, discussed their expectations for the school year, showed the class some photos of their daily lives and left shortly afterwards. Lunchtime came and went, and the cycle of teachers entering and leaving continued on until the last period for the day. Like the other teachers, Mr. Blade used his time to explain his expectations, give an overview of his syllabus and break the ice a little bit, while Fox and the rest of the class waited for the school day to just end. The students didn't even have their textbooks to entertain them somewhat and prevent them from dying of boredom, since they would only receive said books the next day.
You could imagine their relief when the bell finally rang.
"Alright, regular class begins tomorrow," Mr. Blade announced as he got up from his seat. "You're all dismissed. Thank you, class."
''Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Blade!'' The class wasted no time in responding before even more chairs were pushed along the ground, the terrible screeching only drowned out by the louder stampede of students rushing out of the classroom, tasting sweet freedom. Fox grabbed his courier bag and ran out with the rest of class 11-2, immediately making a beeline to the stairway.
''Fox!'' The Zoroark halted his movement as he turned to face Dracon, panting and a few meters behind him. "Yeah, what's up?" Fox replied, approaching his friend. "I got you something. Sorry for the late birthday present, I had to undergo Mega Evolution training while you had your seventeenth birthday, but here you go…" From his bag, the Charizard gingerly pulled out a navy blue box, tied together with dark blue ribbon. "Happy belated birthday, Fox."
Fox couldn't help but smile as he accepted the gift and put it in his bag for safe keeping. "Really, you didn't need to give me anything…"
"I know, but I wanted to compensate for missing your birthday…"
"Thanks, Dracon. Wanna leave together?" Fox asked.
"Sure, but I'm afraid I'll have to part ways with you at the gates...I have to train with Dad after school." With that, the two friends climbed down the stairs and walked to the school gates, chatting about school and who-knows-what teens talk about, and waved goodbye as Dracon left the school while Fox waited outside the exit for his sister.
''Big brother!'' Luna shouted as she exited the gate, prompting Fox wave and approach her. "Luna! How was class?"
"It's okay...my class is 9-1! How about you, big brother?"
"11-2. Hey, you wanna go to the beach for old times sake?" The Lucario pondered a bit before she answered back. "But isn't mom gonna be mad?"
"She won't scold us if we're only a few minutes late," Fox reassured, and the two set off to the beach.
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Compared to the half-hour-long jaunt home, the walk to the beach was way shorter. Within five minutes Fox could already see the ocean shimmering under the afternoon sun and the powdery white dust that littered the pathway, and it only took the two Pokémon no time at all to begin spotting the candy-colored parasols and benches strewn across the sand. Fox felt his sleeve being tugged and turned to face his sister, who seemed to be in urgent need of something, given her expression and that one of her paws clutched her abdomen. "What is it, Luna?"
"I-I need to use a bathroom…" The Lucario replied, a blush forming on her cheeks. Fox looked around, spotting a burger shack not too far away. "There's that restaurant over there-" -he pointed in the general direction of the shack with a finger digit- "-where you can probably use the bathroom." Luna nodded and sprinted towards the burger shack, while Fox hurried after her, panting heavily once he reached the restaurant.
"You...huff...can go on your own...right?" Fox asked, caught off guard by Luna's unexpected break for the bathroom. "Don't worry, big brother. I'm not a baby." Fox let out a chuckle.
"I'll be waiting for you outside, okay?" With that, Luna showed him a thumbs up and dashed through the glass doors of the burger shack, leaving Fox to himself.
From the grassy, sandy hill he was on, Fox could see the beach in its entirety, from the tiny child-made sand hills to the ocean that stretched beyond the horizon, glittering with a million trillion shiny scales, scattered on every surface of the water as the afternoon sun shone down on everything. The Zoroark took that moment to remember all the fun times in his childhood; building sandcastles with Barke, making a giant sand hill in an attempt to reach space, having splash fights with Luna...how quickly time flies, he thought. Those moments were now few and far between, especially with school to complicate matters.
A glint in the sand, brighter than the lights from the shimmering ocean, caught Fox's eye. The Zoroark picked himself up and climbed down the sandy hill to investigate, fascinated somewhat by the object that briefly shone brighter than the sun. Of course, he was rather disappointed when the object on top of the sandhill turned out to just be a small but colorful crystal, bearing strange engraved markings and slightly smaller than his palm, a far cry from the precious emeralds and diamonds he saw in his video games.
Soon he realized that colorful might not be the appropriate word to describe the strange object - hues of just about every color on the spectrum flashed on the crystal, the streams of color waning and waxing and brightening and ever-changing as the same multi-colored glow emanated from the otherwise unassuming gem. Like an aurora borealis was compressed into this one crystal, and dipped in the substance of rainbows. As insignificant as the multi-colored gem was, Fox just couldn't tear his eyes away from it, and curiosity spurred him to pick up the crystal and observe the star-shaped, mystical patterns imprinted on it.
Then he touched the crystal-
and power flowed through him
and dreams came to life
and colors painted the world
and light strengthened him
and all was-
"Big brother!" Fox flinched, snapped back to reality by Luna's shouting. "I thought you said you'd wait for me outside!"
A sheepish grin crossed the Zoroark's face. "Sorry, sis, I saw something that caught by interest…" He then gave her a small, irritated scowl. "And don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Heh. Sorry…" Luna apologized, glancing at the sandy ground. At that, Fox's expression softened up. "Oh, don't be sad, you're too cute to be mad at-" "Don't call me cute!" Fox got a laugh out of her reaction. "Sure you do-" he teased, jumping out of the way of a well-shot Aura Sphere. The Lucario then lunged at her brother, and the two siblings wrestled briefly on the sand before Luna came out as victor, pinning Fox to the ground.
"Okay, okay! I get it - now get off me!" The Zoroark half laughed, half demanded as he struggled to break free of his sister's hold. Once Luna let go, the two spent a minute or so dusting powdery sand off their uniforms, though they weren't able to dust off every single grain. "Let's head home quick and dump our uniforms in the laundry," Fox suggested, earning a nod from his sister as the two grabbed their backpacks and headed home, with Fox bringing along the multi-colored crystal for keeps.
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To Fox's and Luna's surprise, no one was home. While their mother wouldn't usually be back at this time due to her grocery shopping, they did expect their dad to have reached home by then. Maybe he had to do overtime that day.
Quickly, Fox rinsed and dried the uniforms, then proceeded to perform his daily chores. While each individual task wasn't long, having to do all of them in a row was rather tedious and tiring, and Fox slumped on the couch once he was finished.
''Are you okay?'' Luna asked, concerned somewhat.
''Yeah, just tired...that's all...''
''Sorry I couldn't help...'' Luna said.
''It's fine...''
''By the way, I was meaning to ask...''
''Yes?''
''Why are you shirtless?'' Fox looked down, realized that he was only wearing pants and blushed in utter embarrassment.
''W-well...it was hot so I took off my shirt,'' he stuttered, trying to give a legit explanation, though Luna understood completely.
"Fox, dear...why are you shirtless?" Another voice chimed in, and the two siblings saw their parents, already home with groceries and what seemed to be a fast-food dinner, and they were both staring at Fox's shirtless body like it was heresy. "It was hot, Mom," Fox quickly answered, changing back into the navy blue shirt he left lying on the couch before helping his parents store the groceries in the fridge.
"You bought fast food?" "Yes, just for a change," Lenda replied, placing the eggs in their refrigerator egg compartment. "What section are you in, Fox?" "I'm in section two while Luna's in section one-" The Zoroark said, only to be interrupted by Jake's announcement of "Dinner is ready!".
Dinner was a rather quiet affair. Only the occasional small talk pierced the silence, while everyone else just sat down and ate their burgers and fries. The family split up into their separate rooms after their meal, all exhausted after such a long day. Fox slumped on his bed, and only then noticed the dark blue ribbon trailing out of his bag. Oh. He unpacked the gift and placed it on his table, taking care to not accidentally snap the blue ribbon while untying the present (he planned to put it in his ribbon collection afterwards).
Inside the blue packaging was a jade green silk scarf. Fox took it out and had fun wearing it for a few minutes, before noticing the multi-colored glow in his bag. Apparently, he'd also forgotten about the strange crystal while he did his chores. Luckily for him, he wasn't on the receiving end of a power surge when he picked it up again, though he did feel an explosive energy pounding through his very being when he did. Eventually, Fox decided to hold the crystal no longer - the power flowing through him threatened to overwhelm his senses...it was as if the gem's power had increased, somehow.
"That's probably just my imagination…" Fox reasoned with himself, placing the multi-colored crystal on his bedside table before slumping on the bed, drifting off into sleep.
He never noticed the crystal turning bright pink, engulfing the whole room in light with a brief flash before he fell into slumber.
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Only the sound of footsteps resonated in the small cave, dimly lit by crystals emanating their icy, blue glow, faintly illuminating the scars and fresh wounds on the lone Pokémon. The air was cold enough to make their breath condense in front of them, yet they trudged on, hastily wiping blood from their scrapes as they walked.
They could sense it; the gemstone they saw in their visions, icy blue and enchanting, was surely in this dank and cold cavern, tens of hundreds of meters below the surface. As they continued on, mist began to form in the air; they knew they were close.
"Turn back now, lest you bring upon the wrath of-" A Mightyena warned, approaching the intruder from deeper inside the cave, but the mysterious Pokémon nailed him with a barrage of rocks before the Bite Pokémon could ever finish. The intruder huffed, trudging onwards despite the thick, freezing air and the snow gathering at their feet. "I have no time for this."
Before long, they saw a light at the end of the cavern, and knew that their visions were indeed correct. Illuminating its pedestal and the frozen ground was a light blue gemstone, sparkling like snow crystals in the sun, engraved with the symbol of a snowflake. The intruder grinned. "So this is the Snow gemstone...I've found it at long last." They reached out to grab the icy crystal, only to hear an attack coming at them, forcing them to quickly dodge the incoming Ice Beam.
"Who goes there?!" The intruder shouted, scrambling to his feet. From above they then heard a voice, mystical and mighty. "Leave! You are not welcome here!" The intruder heard another beam of frozen energy coming at their left, and rolled to one side to dodge it. They then saw the distinct light of a Hyper Beam, and shielded themself in the nick of time with a Protect. Without wasting any time, the intruder knocked their foe down to the ground with a strong Rock Slide, before subduing them with a Brick Break, covering the area with icy dust.
In the faint light of the Snow gemstone, the intruder caught hints of blue plumage and the long, ribbon-like tail feathers of their opponent, an Articuno. The legendary bird struggled to break free of the intruder's grasp, only to sap the last of his strength in doing so. "Wh...why are you taking the Snow gemstone?" The Articuno gasped, attempting to just remain conscious.
"To simply prevent something. I have no quarrel with you," the intruder replied coolly.
"B-but if you take the gemstone, snow will-" Silenced by another Brick Break to the chest, the Articuno fell unconscious, leaving the intruder be. Snatching their prize off the pedestal, the intruder turned to leave, glancing at the defeated legendary bird one last time.
''Like I said, I have no quarrel with you. I am simply preventing a disaster, forgive me.''
To Be Continued...
