Chapter 10: Trouble at the Well

Roku's P.O.V.

Azalea City Pokémon Center

"Huh…?"

I stood up, looking around a weird scene. It was like staring into a rainbow as it's being formed in your face.

"Is this…a dream?" I said to myself. "It's gotta be. I haven't left the Pokémon Center. At least, I think I didn't."

I looked around some more. Just then, I heard a slight whispering in my head.

"Hello?" I said loudly. "Is someone there?"

"...You…me…"

"What?!" I shouted. I couldn't make out what the voice was saying. Suddenly, I felt my mind begin to wake up, and I tried my best to cling to the dream a little longer. Eventually, I faded out.


That morning…

I woke up to a bright light shining in my eyes. It turned out to be Reia shining her P*DA light in my face.

"Will you cut that out?" I said, irritated.

"We've got trouble!" she said worriedly. "Someone's stirring up the Slowpoke down in the well!"

"Slowpoke can get stirred up?" I said groggily, reflecting on how lazy Slowpoke usually were.

"C'mon! We have to help them!" Reia pulled me out of bed and dragged me to the dressing room, throwing me in and saying, "Hurry up and get dressed! We have to move! Zuki is waiting outside, and she doesn't like to be kept waiting!"

I pulled on my hoodie and jeans, slowly, and exited the Pokémon Center, where Zuki scolded me about being such a heavy sleeper. I shoved her off and went to the well so we could see what the disturbance was.

Sure enough, there was some guy standing guard at the entrance, him and his Patrat. I looked at Luna, who nodded, and proceeded towards him.

"You sons of bitches!" I heard a very loud and gravely voice shout behind me. I turned around to see some old guy run up and give the grunt a good whack with his pack. The grunt began to fall down the well, and on the way down, he grabbed the old man's pack and took him down with him.

"Oh, crap! We gotta help him!" I shouted. Luna and I ran up to the entrance and grabbed the ladder, sliding down it.

Once we reached the bottom, we found the old man lying on his back, groaning in pain.

"Hey, are you OK?" I asked.

"Aggh…I took a fall down the well, and now I can't move," the old guy said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Roku Kimura," I introduced. "This is my partner, Luna."

"I'm Reia Sakura," Reia followed. "And this is my partner, Lyra."

"And I'm Zuki Nakazato," Zuki said.

"I'm Kurt," the old guy said. "Sorry you've gotta see me like this. If I were younger, my Pokémon would've punished him…"

"Don't worry, Kurt," I said. "We'll show him who's boss in your place."

"Heh, thanks, kid!" he said. "It's great to know that there are people out there who still care."

I nodded and motioned Reia and Zuki to follow. We proceeded to move farther into the well.


Unknown P.O.V.

Slowpoke Well Entrance

"They've gone into the well. I'm going in."

"Very well. But remember, do not engage. I don't want Reia knowing what we're up to."


Latias' P.O.V.

New Bark Town

Latias sat up and yawned loudly. That night, she got an amazing night's sleep, and now she was feeling as bright as the sun itself. She felt so good, in fact, that she felt like it was a good time to give Mrs. Kimura a visit. She hadn't seen her in a while, and she felt like Roku's mother needed to know how her son was doing.

Picking up Professor Elm's laptop, she made her way to Roku's house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Kimura opened it up and lit up once she saw who it was.

"Latias!" she screamed with joy, giving Latias a tight hug. "It's been ages! How are you?"

Well, as far as I know, it's only been, like, a week, she typed. But I'm good. I figured I'd come by for a little visit.

"Well, that's nice of you to come over," Mrs. Kimura said with joy. "Come in!"

Latias smiled and followed Mrs. Kimura into the living room, where a man she didn't expect to see was sitting on the couch.

"Cedric? What are you doing here?" Latias said with confusion.

"I'm here enjoying a chat with a retired Legend Keeper," Cedric said. "Kyoko was one of our most powerful agents. It's a shame she's not with us anymore."

"I always said 'once you take that oath, there's no going back'," Kyoko said from the kitchen, where she was preparing tea. "I'm just not in the fighting part of it anymore. I'll still do all I can to protect the Legendary Pokémon."

"Wait, so, you can understand me?" Latias said.

"Well, yes," Kyoko said. She came back into the living room with three steaming cups, and handed one to Cedric and Latias. "I just didn't want Roku catching on if he found out about the Legend Keepers."

"Well, you're a bit too late on that one, Mrs. Kimura," Latias said. "Roku's already decided to join."

Kyoko nearly spit out her tea at these words. She gulped it down and said, "Are you serious?!" Then she turned to Cedric and said, "Do you know about this?"

"Well, I actually sent one of my agents to recruit him because of his gift with Pokémon," Cedric confessed. "I didn't know that he actually wanted to join."

"And who, may I ask, is traveling with my son?" Kyoko said angrily, putting her hands on her hips.

"Her name is Reia Sakura," Latias said. "She's actually a nice girl. She and Roku have become great friends, as far as I know."

"Hmm…must be a new recruit. I've never heard her name," Kyoko said, the anger leaving her mind.

"Don't worry, Roku's in good hands," Cedric reassured her. "Reia is a damn good Trainer. She's conquered the Kalos region Pokémon League already."

"But, why is she only carrying her Vulpix? Shouldn't she have stronger Pokémon if she's beaten a Pokémon League?" Latias asked.

Cedric turned away in sadness. "Reia's Pokémon were killed on a mission. She was ambushed by Team Prime and their three Dragons. Only her partner, Vulpix, made it."

"What…?" Kyoko said, horrified. "That's terrible! Why would they do such a thing?!"

"They will do anything to attain ultimate power," Cedric said. "You see, Reia was in possession of an extremely powerful Legendary Pokémon, called Yveltal. This Pokémon had a hand in the creation of the ultimate weapon some 3,000 years ago."

"I heard about that legend!" Latias piped up. "There were two powers used to complete the ultimate weapon; one of life and one of death."

"Yes," Cedric continued. "There were two Legendary Pokémon that were used to supply those powers: Xerneas, the Life Pokémon, and Yveltal, the Destruction Pokémon. I would tell you about them, but it's a long story."

"Well, we're all here," Kyoko said, sitting down. "Tell us the story."

"Very well," Cedric said. "I'll tell you one of Kalos' most famous tales."


Roku's P.O.V.

Slowpoke Well

After destroying the remainder of the Team Prime grunts, I was left staring at a terribly awful scene. There were Slowpoke all over the well with their tails cut off, and the ones who didn't make it were off to the side, rotting in a pile. I held back my gag reflex and proceeded to the admin, who was larger than Bruno of the Johto League himself.

"I seriously don't get why the boss asked me to do this," the admin groaned, chopping off the tail of yet another Slowpoke. "This has nothing to do with our cause, but I'd best not disobey him."

"Hey!" I shouted, making my presence known.

The admin turned around and looked at me. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the one who'll be kicking your ass unless you stop this madness!" I shouted.

"Ha! And what's a little whelping like you gonna do if I don't?!" the admin laughed.

"I'll show you!" I shouted. "Go, Luna!"

Luna jumped forward, ready to destroy another Team Prime weakling.

"Heh, I'm gonna enjoy watching you fall," he said with an evil smile. "Go, Dragonite!"

"What did he just say…?" I said, a look of horror washing down my face.

The admin lobbed out a Poke Ball, sending out the massive orange dragon. I was instantly shaking, for Dragonite were incredibly powerful. Luna looked ahead, still trying to be brave, but I knew that she was also scared.

"Gordon!" Zuki yelled as she and Reia ran up. "Do not underestimate this Trainer!"

"Hahaha! Well, if it isn't Zuki!" Gordon laughed. "Not so tough without your sisters, are you?"

"No, but we are together," Zuki said, stepping up beside me.

"You can't beat all three of us!" Reia said, standing beside me as well.

"Ha! Very well, then," Gordon laughed. "I'll defeat all three of you AND take Raikou!"

"Fat chance! Go, Lyra!" Reia shouted.

"Raikou! Take the lead!" Zuki shouted, throwing out her Legendary Partner.

The three Pokémon faced the imposing Dragonite.

"Ha! Prepare to lose, runts!" Dragonite laughed.

"That's kind of a stupid thing to say, because the only one who's runtish out of all of us is Lyra," Raikou said technically. "No offense, Lyra."

"Some taken," Lyra growled.

"And second of all, it's not good to be cocky at the start of a battle," Raikou continued.

"And why would that be, old-timer?" Dragonite teased.

"This," said a voice behind him.

Dragonite was then nailed in the back of the head by a vicious Swift attack from Luna, who had slipped behind him while Raikou was distracting him. Dragonite hit the ground, where Lyra launched a Confuse Ray to keep him loopy.

"Now, Raikou! Rain Dance!"

Raikou roared loudly, making my ears ring afterwards, and it soon started to rain in the cave.

"Come on, Dragonite! Use Dragon Pulse!" Gordon yelled desperately.

Dragonite stumbled up and launched his attack, totally missing his opponents and taking out a nearby pillar.

"OK! Hit him with Thunder!" Zuki shouted.

The clouds on Raikou's back, as well as the ones that had spawned up in the cave, were glowing dangerously. I could feel the hair on my head stand on end, and I knew that this was going to be a doozy.

"Taste my lightning, you overgrown lizard!" Raikou shouted before dropping a massive thunderbolt on Dragonite from above. Dragonite writhed and jolted violently, before becoming limp.

"Dragonite…?" Gordon said, awestruck.

"Yeah! We won!" I shouted with glee.

"Grr…come back," Gordon said, returning the fainted Dragonite to his Poke Ball. "You got lucky this time, kid. But know this: all lucky streaks break at some point." He dropped a Smoke Ball and exploded in a cloud of smoke, disappearing instantly.

"Damn…he got away," I cursed.

"It doesn't matter," Zuki said. "We saved the Slowpoke. For the most part, that is…"

"Yeah…this is terrible," Reia said sadly, taking a gander at the pile of dead Slowpoke.

"I think they should have a proper burial," I said. "I think a call to Pokémon Tower in Kanto should be in order."

"Hang on, Slowpoke! I'm on my way!"

We turned around to see a kid no older than 12 with purple hair and a butterfly net run up. He stopped once he saw us.

"Did you three do this?!" he said angrily, wielding his net like a sword.

"What? No!" I said. "My name is Roku, and these are my friends Reia and Zuki."

"'Sup?" Reia said casually. Zuki facepalmed at these words.

"Hmm…well, you don't seem to be bad people," he said, lowering his net. "My name's Bugsy. I'm the Gym Leader in this town. I heard that someone was down here, cutting off Slowpoke's tails, so I came down here to investigate."

"Well, we already took care of the guy who was doing this horrible thing, but he escaped," Reia said. "But…why would Team Prime do something like this? Not even they would stoop so low."

"Who knows? Maybe they have 'legendary' properties," I joked, trying to break the gloom hanging over their heads. All I got was a slap in the back of the head from Zuki.

"Who's Team Prime?" Bugsy asked curiously.

"They're a criminal organization who is trying to capture the Legendary Pokémon of the world to claim the world as their own," Reia explained. "We are trying to stop them, wherever they may be."

"But, what would they want to do with the Slowpoke?" Bugsy asked. "I'm pretty sure that they're not classified as 'legendary'…"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Zuki said. "It's worrisome, but I'm pretty sure they just needed a little more money."

"Yeah, I heard that Slowpoke Tails are loaded with nutrients," Reia said. "They sold pretty well because of that, until people found out where they came from."

"That's disgusting!" I said. "Who'd want to eat a tail?!"

"Regardless, I'd just say it was a desperate to get some fundage," Zuki said. "Aside from that, we should show these Slowpoke the respect they deserve. Bugsy, can you find a place to bury these Pokémon?"

"No problem, Zuki," Bugsy said. "I'll get the entire town to help out. They love these Slowpoke as much as I do."

We spent the rest of the day gathering the Slowpoke (as smelly as they were) and taking them to the site that Bugsy told us about. Kurt was also feeling better by that time, and he helped us, despite his granddaughter's protests, for which he answered with, "It's just a strained back, I'll be fine!"

Once the Slowpoke were gathered and the graves were dug, the entire town showed up for the procession. Even the rest of the Slowpoke gathered to mourn their fallen kin. It was truly a grim day, and it was even gloomier for the Slowpoke, because one of them yawned and made it rain to add to the effect.

After the procession, night had fallen, and we were helping Bugsy and Nurse Joy patch up the Slowpoke who had survived "the Slowpoke Massacre", as it was christened.

"Hey, I know this isn't a good time to ask this, " I said to Nurse Joy. "But, how many of you are there?"

Nurse Joy looked at me with a horrified look. "You…do NOT…want to know."

We laughed for a minute, then continued with the job. After a few more minutes, I looked over at Luna, who was hanging her head, looking sad.

"What's wrong, Luna?" I asked worriedly. "Still feeling it from the funeral?"

"No, it's not the procession," Luna said, tears welling up in her eyes. "It was that entire scene in the well. I've never seen anything so…horrible."

"Hey…" I said, wrapping Luna in a hug. "It's OK. You don't have to deal with anything like that ever again." Then I looked at her. "To tell you the truth, it got to me, too. I couldn't even imagine someone could be as heartless as that."

I sat there the rest of the night, comforting my partner. But it wasn't just her that I was trying to heal emotionally.

It was my own heart that I had to heal as well.


Author's Note: Well, there's the Slowpoke Well incident through the eyes of a Legend Keeper. I could imagine what Roku and Luna would be going through emotionally right then. I'm pretty sure seeing something like that would traumatize even the hardest of hearts. Well, maybe not Darius'….

Anyway, Roku will be taking on the Azalea City Gym in the next chapter. I'm also thinking about throwing in another one of Roku's preset Pokémon. Maybe Snivy, or Vulpix, something along those lines. Wait…aren't those the only ones I have yet to introduce? Let's see, Eevee, Latias, Fennekin, Riolu…yep, only two left. Maybe I'll save them for the much later chapters.

Well, that's all for yet another chapter. And my 10th! Maybe I'll celebrate by adding yet another retarded remark! Here's an old one for you: One time, when I was 7, I punched a triangle in the face, and it ate my shoe.

Strato Abyss signing out.