A brunette young child, probably around 3 hovered over a crib. The brunette had been smiling at the baby. The baby was sleeping. The brunette girl just kept smiling. A look on her face that was so pure and so filled wit love. The little girl continued to lovingly stare at the baby. The clocks in the house read 8 pm. Probably well passed the bedtimes of both children.
"Hi. I'm your big sister.", the child just cracked a smile. The baby just stared up at the girl. The little girl just continued to smile at the baby. "You want a toy?" The baby just stared at her sister. The little girl assumed that this meant yes. The girl hoped down from the steps that were attached to the crib. The little girl walked over to the toy chest. She moved through the stuffed pikachus and stuffed Eevees. Finally she found it, her favorite toy. The Pokémon had wings like an angel or a large hawk. It's body was all white with blue eyes. This was her favorite toy ever. Ever since her dad had brought it home, she had loved this stuffed Pokémon.
That was why she wanted to give it to her baby sister. If she loved the toy then her sister would too. The girl walked back up the steps by the crib and placed the toy into the bed. The young girl watched as the baby looked at her then the toy. It was as if the baby understood that this toy was for her. The baby picked up the toy and played with it. The baby let out what amounted to be a squee of joy. The baby looked up at her sister and smiled. The sister would then smile back at the baby. She even reached into the crib and started to stroke the hair of the baby.
"I love you, Viola", the older sister, who turned out to be Alexa, said. Alexa continued to stare at her baby sister. That was until shouting interrupted the joyous moment. The infant version of Alexa looked towards the door as more shouting was heard. There were cries of Pokémon and humans. Alexa hopped into the crib and wrapped her arms around the baby. Then the door slammed open...
Four figures stood on what happened to be a hill. Two of the figures appeared to be human while the other two appeared to be Pokémon. The larger of the shadows turned to the smaller, clearly female, figure. "Did you get the both of them?", the female figure nodded. "Augustus is taking care of them right now.", the female figured nodded towards a bear like Pokémon that watched over the two young children who laid motionless. The children were fast asleep and unharmed. The male figure nodded. "Very good.", he turned to face a floating pyramid Pokémon. "You know what to do."
The pyramid Pokémon floated towards the bear Pokémon who stepped aside. This left the two infants at the pyramid Pokémon's disposal. "Demi...", a haunting voice called out into the night. Pieces of the Pokémon split from the Pokémon's body and hovered. "Demiforce", the creature's one eye started to glow red as did the other pieces of the triangle Pokémon. The baby, supposedly Viola, lifted off the ground and levitated. That was when a shadow appeared behind the baby. The shadow held out a clawed hand and touched the baby's shoulder. That left a small black V on the back of the baby's shoulder. The mark would then quickly be absorbed by the baby's skin.
The pyramid Pokémon would then place the baby carefully on the ground. It's focus now solely on the other child. "Demi", the pyramid Pokémon's eye started to glow as it had before. The same red energy surrounded the other infant, presumably Alexa, and lifted her into the air as well. Once again the shadow creature reached out a clawed out. This time it pressed its claw into the palm of the infant's left hand. The V mark boiled into the infant's skin and disappeared. The pyramid Pokémon would then have the bits that broke from it return and the Pokémon reshaped itself. The pyramid Pokémon, a Demiforce, returned over to where the three shapes were.
The male figure turned to the female, "now Alexandra. You know what to do. You will take these two in as your own children. Raise them to be great soldiers for our cause."
Alexa woke up in a sweat. 'What the fuck', the dream had felt so real. The 21 year old looked at the illuminated clock in her private room, the perks of being a prefect, it read 4 am. The brunette took a deep breath. She was covered in sweat. She had never had this nightmare before. Sure she had nightmares before, but this was different. This one felt real. All too real for her taste. Her leg was still shaking. 'Come on calm down', she rubbed herself and tried to calm down. She couldn't understand what that dream was. Why was a baby that shared a name with her sister there? Who were those 4 figures? Was that her mom? Alexa just shook her head. Alexa then felt something jump onto her bed.
Sparks, her beloved Volpan, had leapt up on her bed. The red panda electric/dark type did not come alone. On top of Sparks' head sat Electra, the recently caught Biray. The biray was covered in a almost gold armor. The bird Pokémon was small, but had given Alexa a hard time and had resisted capture. But now that Alexa was her trainer, Electra trusted Alexa. So when Alexa had been calling out Sparks and Electra were worried. It helped that these two Pokémon were the only ones that Alexa could let out of their balls or else Alexa would have had problems if the 'big guy' had tried to comfort her. Sparks' eyes conveyed enormous concern for his beloved trainer. Alexa stroked the Volpan's fur, but the Pokémon shook his head.
"Volpan...Vol...Pan", Sparks said. Alexa obviously couldn't speak to the Pokémon, but could tell that clearly Sparks was worried. Even Electra frowned after what Sparks' said. Sparks climbed into his trainers lap and just sat there and stared. Sparks and Alexa had a special bond, he was her starter afterall, but she had never seen him so concerned. She faked a smile as she stroked his fur again before stroking Electra's head.
"It's ok guys. I'm fine.", she said as her Pokémon looked at her then each other. They didn't believe her. Both Pokémon continued to nuzzle their trainer. Alexa sighed and continued to pet both of the Pokémon. "It was just a really bad nightmare.", a bad nightmare that had somehow involved her sister. 'Why was I dreaming about Viola', perhaps it had something to do with the fact that they were now in the same house. A therapist would probably have a field day with her dreams. But who were those people and was that her mother in the dream? Alexa shook those thoughts out of her head. The nightmare was over. It was just some food induced bad dream.
Then why did her hand hurt? There was a burning in Alexa's left palm. A searing pain that caused Alexa to start profusely sweat again. Her breath became deeper as she held her hand. It was as if she had pet a carkoal. She stared at it as a red marked had formed. "Fuck!", she managed to meekly get out. She leapt up from her bed and shoved Pokémon from the bed. The sweat started to pour down her face. Her skin was pale and clammy. She felt sick to her stomach from the pain that was circulating throughout her arm. She ran to her private bathroom and knelt at the toilet. 'What's wrong with me', she managed to croak out. There was something about that nightmare that had totally screwed her up.
Sparks and Electra walked towards their trainer. Both very concerned as they watched Alexa shake at the foot of the toilet. "Pan...Vol...", Sparks looked at Electra, who nodded. It was clear that Alexa needed help. The Biray leapt up and took off to go find some sort of nurse in the health wing. Sparks hurriedly ran over to his trainer. "Vol...Vol!", his voice pained at the condition his beloved trainer found herself in. After a few moments, the pain seemed to end. Alexa took a deep breath, the pain in her hand was fully gone now. "I'm fine Sparks", she managed to say through gritted teeth. The Volpan did not believe her.
Alexa steadied herself as she got up. Sparks monitored the situation closely. He had never seen his trainer like this before. It terrified him. Alexa meanwhile lifted herself up and took another deep breath. Her green eyes looked at her beloved and oldest Pokémon. "See Sparks. I'm fine just a really bad nightmare and I think I drank too much at the feast.", Sparks didn't know if Alexa was trying to convince Sparks of that or herself. Alexa looked at herself in the mirror. She was paler than she liked. "Yep it was all that wine last night took a toll on me.", Alexa tried to convince herself. It was all just a dream and the wine. There was no other explanation.
But that didn't explain the hand and the pain. Alexa hobbled her way to bed with Sparks quickly on her heels. Alexa looked at her hand, the redness had subsided. She sighed and relaxed as Sparks got back into his position now that his trainer had settled down. Electra came flying back up, unsuccessful in her trip to find help. "It's fine, Electra. I'm good now. It was just a bad nightmare from the wine and excitement." Alexa sold herself on that lie as she went back to sleep. She just hoped that she would never have another nightmare like that ever again.
Nick Baldwin had not been able to sleep. He had spent all not, along with the other first years in Ravenclaw, had been getting to know one another. The apprehensiveness to show off Hamlet had gone away once the night had worn on. Hamlet had been a hit as had Brawley's Charlemagne. The other students had cool looking Pokémon, but none that matched Hamlet or Charlemagne. Ravenclaw had a reputation of being the book nerd house, but that was not the case. Nick had found that there was a good mixture of jocks, preppys, and those that were into books. And of course there was Brawley, who Nick still couldn't figure out. The 18 year old from Miverena seemed to be in his own world at times. Not as talkative as Nick was, but when he did speak he would offer some accurate words of wisdom.
Still Nick wondered why he wasn't In Gryffindor. The Alakazaam had told Nick that he had selected his own path. That this was the way he would go if he wanted to achieve greatness. That he was more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. His parents would not be happy with him being in Ravenclaw, but Nick would deal with that later. Of course it sucked that Nick was not in the same house as Alexa and Viola. They were his nearest and dearest friends. Not being with them sucked. But Nick would see them around. There were no rules where you had to always socialize with your house all the time. Nick would find a way to hang out with his friends from Accordia. Nick would have to make new friends. That would be a challenge, but it was his biggest challenge.
His biggest problem was that Nick couldn't find the Great Hall. He had gotten lost as he had told Brawley to go ahead in front of him. This had been a really stupid move by Nick as he didn't have anyone to show him around. Sure the older students were supposed to guide the younger ones throughout campus, but Nick doubted that would happen. So he had roamed around the hall and tried to find the way to the Great Hall. 'I should have really remembered how to get to the Great Hall from the dorm', Nick just roamed around too proud to ask for help. So the 1st year Rabenclaw had looked to try and figure out how to get to the Great Hall. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Nick turned around and saw a rather tall brunette with blue eyes staring at him. The brunette had her hair in a long ponytail. She had a few streaks of pink in her hair. This seemed to match that pink nails she had. Nick noticed that she wore the bronze and blue colors of Ravenclaw. The bruenette carried a small, four legged Pokémon in her hands. The Pokémon had long, floppy ears and a medium sized flame on its head. The brunette Ravenclaw titled her head and smiled at Nick as did her Pokémon.
"'Scuse me", the female had a similar accent to Professor McGonnagall. "You're a first year, right? Nick something?", Nick resisted correcting the girl as he nodded. He would have corrected her if she wasn't so damn cute. The brunette smile got even wider, "I saw you get sorted yesterday. Trust me Ravenclaw is the best house to be in. We even won the Pokémon Cup last year!", Nick raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of the Pokémon Cup.
Hilda laughed at Nick's reaction, "you should probably pay more attention during the opening ceremony." Even the Pokémon she held in her arms let out a chuckle. "The Pokémon cup is a yearly event where we earn points for battling, dungeon ball, and generally good participation in class. Gryffindor had been on a four year winning streak, but we ended that last year. The gits thought they had wrapped it up last year. We showed them.", there was a gleam in the girl's eyes. She seemed to be just as competitive as Nick was. He hadn't expected to find someone like that in Ravenclaw. But now he had. It brought a smile to his face.
"You're right. I probably should have paid more attention to the ceremony. Then I would have known how to get back to the Great Hall." It was a sad and pathetic way of asking for help, but Nick really didn't like asking for help. His parents had raised him to figure stuff out for himself and be self reliant. But he imagined that if he didn't ask for help then he would be wondering around for a while. "Tch. Sure I'll show you how to get to the Hall. I'm Hilda by the way and this is Wolfie.", the fire type pokemon stuck up a paw as a hello. Nick pulled out his Pokédex, which he had gotten after being sorted, and pointed it at the Pokémon in Hilda's arms.
"Smolderen, male, the fire kit Pokémon. While peaceful and cuddly outside of battle, these Pokémon will attack without hesitation if they feel threatened. The flame on top of their heads tell how close they are too their trainer. The brighter the flame, the closer the bond.",
Nick peered at Wolfie and saw that his flame was quite bright. Clearly the Pokémon had a close relationship with his trainer.
Nick smiled at both Hilda and Wolfie, "well you two seem to have a close bond." Both nodded emphatically. "Yep, yep. Wolfie was my first catch at Hogwarts. I've loved him ever since.", Hilda held Wolfie up to her cheek and nuzzled the Smolderen. Hilda then looked back at Nick.
"Come on, we'll show you how to get to the Great Hall."
The Great Hall breakfast spread was more impressive than the dinner. There were pancakes, eggs, omelets galore. Nick even got himself a crepe. The eighteen year old had tried to keep himself in good shape, but if he kept eating this way then he wouldn't be able to keep up his figure. Nick grabbed his seat next to Brawley. Hilda had decided to sit with her needy friend and Brawley. After exchanjoin her new friend at breakfast. After an exchange of greetings, nick nudged Brawley.
"What are you reading?", there was a newspaper in the middle of the table. Brawley had been reading the paper before the other had joined them. The fighting trainer handed the paper to Nick. Hilda popped over Nick's shoulder to scan the headline from The Erseen Times.
"Team Illusion Returns?"
Both Nick and Hilda looked at one another as they skimmed through the article. It turned out that Mowbry, a town on the south east coast of Erseen and former Team Illusion stronghold, had its gym ransacked. Inside the Team Illusion logo had been spray painted inside. Along with other spray painted words such as "HE returns." Of course the writer just speculated that this was the work of a few pranksters. Even the gym leader, Max Verstrappen, had said that this was not something important. That it was probably punks messing around. The author of the story had discussed that even the Pokémon Ministry had denied any possibility that Team Illusion was back. "It's just a sick prank" was the direct quote.
After they finished reading the article, Nick looked at Brawley. The fighting trainer shrugged, "it's probably just some left over radical group. Just some losers who did not get the memo that the war was over." Brawley had made a good point. Afterall, Nick knew of someone who had tried to bring Team Illusion back. Still he did think the ministry was probably right.
"It's a prank. I have no reason to doubt the ministry. Afterall they would know better than any of us", he offered up. Nick's mom had used to work at the ministry before she had retired to help his dad at the gym. If the ministry had said that this was a prank then it was a prank. Brawley, meanwhile, had snickered at Nick's comment, which got an eyebrow raise from Nick.
"You disagree?", Nick asked. He didn't know if he should be offended by Brawley or not.
"You people from the South sure do tend to believe whatever the Ministry tells you.", Brawley had dug into some pancakes before continuing. "That's why you were so easily manipulated the last war. Remember that the ministry had been corrupted by Team Illusion. So I just find it funny that you are so easy to believe them again." People from Miverena had a reputation for looking down at what they were viewed as the "backwards" ways of the south. Brawley had not done anything to dispute it.
"Well I wasn't born yet, so I don't know what happened with the ministry the last war. Why would they lie though? What possible reason could they have to possibly lie to us? Plus wouldn't people have figured out that the ministry could be corrupted. Why would Team illusion try it again?"
Brawley paused to reflect on what Nick had said. He took a deep sigh, "because it worked last time. If it's not broke, why fix it? The last time everyone had their pants down. Why wouldn't Team Illusion think that they could do it again. It's in their name, illusion, they can manipulate anyone and anything. Especially something as corruptible as the ministry."
Though he hated to admit it, Brawley made a good point. But Nick was not ready to admit defeat. "And so what's their end game then? What they cover up some radical ex team Illusion members? Why? What their end game then?"
Brawley shrugged, "probably to bring team illusion back. If they squash the small stuff then no one will believe those that warn about the big stuff. It's the same pattern."
Nick had wondered why Brawley had been sorted in Ravenclaw. Afterall everything about him had screamed Gryffindor, but now Nick could see why Brawley had been sorted. He was clever, well paranoid, but still he could debate. Nick would have t keep an eye on him. "Well we agree to disagree. What about you Hilda..."
Hilda meanwhile was stealing food from Nick's plate and feeding the food to Wolfie. When she heard her name, she jumped up and let out an "eek." She then scrambled to compose herself. "Ummm... I agree with Brawley."
"See...wait what?", Nick had fully expected Hilda to agree with him. But the second year had sided with Brawley. Brawley smiled triumphantly as Nick stared at Hilda. She seemed unfazed by the glare coming from Nick.
"Sorry, but he makes a good point. Plus...", she motioned for Brawley and Nick to lean into her so she could whisper. "My dad works for the ministry. He says that there are numerous people who secretly support Team Illusion. They will never admit it, but he even suspects the minister to be connected to Team Illusion.", Nick was floored at Hilda's accusation. The minister? Yes the minister was an incompetent moron at times, especially with regards to making catching certain Pokémon species illegal, but he never seemed evil or even competent enough to be someone in charge of Team Illusion. Nick was going to respond, but then his Pokédex buzzed. Nick looked down and read:
"First year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors,
Please report to Wildfork Veld for your first period catching class.
-Professor Hagrid."
Nick and Brawley would bid goodbye to Hilda. As they started to walk towards the entrance to the Great Hall. Nick was excited especially since the first class he had signed up for was catching. Nick wanted to add to his team. He was excited to see what Pokémon they would catch.
Author notes: So a lot happened. We were introduced to a new character(Hilda), we learned that Team Illusion might not be finished, amd oh yeah Viola is having terrifying "nightmares." So things are picking up. I hope you enjoy.
