A World Reborn - Forward
The group of five Pokémon, composed of Lucario, Charizard, Pidgeot, Pikachu and Infernape, were currently standing in the remains of a shopping center on the outskirts of the ruins of New York City to avoid a rainstorm. None of them knew if it was contaminated water, but they weren't going to risk being drenched in nuclear fallout.
"So, Lucario," Pikachu began, "New York City is where you're from?"
"Yes," Lucario answered simply, watching the rain outside.
"Huh. I always knew you were a city boy, but you never told us you were from the Big Apple," Pikachu said.
"It didn't seem necessary," Lucario said. "I knew this city was destroyed. That's partly the reason I was in Wamego to begin with. It wasn't going to be a target of missiles, and if the world was going to end, I figured I might as well see the country while I had the chance."
"Too bad our home was less than thirty miles away from Fort Riley, which was a target," Charizard spoke up. "How come you never talked about your home?"
"I thought you guys knew all about New York City," Lucario answered.
Infernape chuckled at that. "Guys, show of appendages, who here knows anything about the Big Apple, and information from movies and TV don't count."
Lucario turned his head to look at the Pokémon, and no one raised anything. This did surprise him. "You can't be serious."
"Lucario, we've lived in the country our whole lives," Charizard said. "And besides, we got a Little Apple within a few miles."
Lucario chuckled. "Your Manhattan doesn't compare with mine. Yours is much smaller and has fewer stores."
"I think that's actually a good thing," Pikachu said. "Plus, how many McDonald's do you need? I spotted four within walking distance of each other."
That caused several Pokémon to laugh, and even Lucario couldn't stop a chuckle. "No wonder humans were getting so fat; they had too many fast food restaurants near each other," Charizard joked.
"You're just jealous that my home has more to choose from than yours did," Lucario said, trying to sound offended. It didn't work.
"Oh sure," Pikachu said rolling his eyes. "Do we want the McDonald's next to our hotel or down the street?" That got another laugh. "Plus, how many hotels do you need? With that many rooms, you'd think there wouldn't be anyone living on the streets."
"Those cost money," Lucario said.
"Greed is the path to destruction," Charizard said. "Great, now I'm quoting Myu."
Some laughed, but it quickly died down.
"You know, for all its faults, I did miss my home," Lucario said.
Pidgeot could sense the sudden change in mood and decided to change topics. "So, where do we go to get what we need here?" she asked.
Lucario held the crystal necklace around his neck with one paw, moving it around until it glowed brighter. "That way."
"We're gonna have to wait for this storm to pass before we go anywhere," Infernape reminded.
"So, what do we do in the meantime?" Charizard asked.
"Lucario could tell us about his home," Pikachu suggested.
"I don't really feel like sharing," Lucario said. "This place brings up too many memories."
"Okay, any other ideas?" Pikachu asked.
"Twenty questions?" Infernape offered.
Back at the Tree of Beginning, morning had risen, and the group of one hundred thirty-three humans were forced awake by the rays of sunlight. Many of the kids whined and asked that the light be turned off.
Seema got up and noticed that there were already many Pokémon up and about, picking berries off bushes and trees and eating them.
"Alright, breakfast time I guess," she muttered. She noticed that several people were pulling out the food packets they brought with them. However, they noticed a problem, as there was no place to put the empty packets. So, some of them resorted to dumping them on the ground. Seema was about to caution them against it when Myu appeared.
"Myu, good morning," Seema greeted.
"I'd return the greeting, but first I want to know why your people are dumping their trash on our land," Myu said.
"Um, because we have no place to put them?" Seema offered, but Myu didn't accept the answer.
"Why do you even have those? There are more than enough berries to go around," Myu said, gesturing to all the bushes. "I'd appreciate if you got rid of those things and eat the fruits that my children will provide."
"How do we do that? Do you have a landfill?" Seema asked.
"No, why would we need one?" Myu answered. "You must get rid of those… food packets in a safe way. I will not have you corrupting the land I have spent years rejuvenating." With that, Myu teleported away.
"Easier said than done," Seema muttered. She passed the request along to the others.
"But we need to eat," one of the humans said. "How can we sustain ourselves without these?"
"Myu said to eat the berries. They are everywhere, and are probably better for us," Seema said.
"But where will we get rid of the food packets?" another asked.
"I don't know. We need suggestions," Seema asked. "Meanwhile, start picking berries."
In the remains of New York, the rain had finally stopped, and Lucario's group were now walking through the ruined streets. Lucario held his crystal out in front of him, pointing it in the directions they needed to go. Many in his group complained about the maze-like streets and often commented about the number of stores they could see. Pikachu even turned it into a game, to see how many stores or hotels they passed by.
Lucario stopped just before he ran into a building. "I think we're here," he said out loud.
"Well, then, final count, forty-three," Pikachu said smugly.
"Forty-two," Charizard grumbled.
"What is this place?" Pidgeot asked.
"Not sure," Lucario answered. "Although judging by the dirty white color of it, I'm guessing a lab of some sort."
"What kind of lab?" Infernape asked.
"Don't know," Lucario said.
"I'm guessing it had something to do with biological hazards," Pikachu said. Everyone turned to look at him weirdly. "Yellow circle with those black triangle-things on the doors means biological hazards."
"So, we need to get something from here?" Charizard questioned.
"Apparently," Lucario said. He walked up to the door and noticed a metal sign hanging on one of the doors. "Warning, restricted access. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he read.
"Oh, scary," Pikachu said sarcastically.
Lucario stepped back from the door to prepare himself. He put his paws together before focusing his power in them. Then he spread them apart, and a bone made from green energy appeared in his clenched paws. He whacked it on the door, and they flew into the building.
"Was that really necessary?" Pidgeot questioned.
"Pretty sure. The doors were reinforced, so I had to attack them to open them," Lucario answered. He dispelled the bone and walked inside.
He found himself in a hallway, doors lining the walls.
"So, that crystal tell you which door to open?" Pikachu asked.
"Let's see," Lucario answered. He held it in his paw again before moving onward. He pointed it at each door to see if it would glow any brighter. They walked down halls and went around corners when the crystal brightened. The further they walked, the darker the hallway got. Fortunately, the crystal and Charizard's tail flame provided enough illumination to see well enough.
Eventually, they came to a stop at one door when Lucario's crystal became brighter. This one wasn't locked, so Lucario opened it with a push. They walked in but could barely see anything. Lucario reached for a light switch but flicking it did nothing.
"No power," he commented.
Charizard gripped his tail and pointed it forward as a makeshift flashlight. The room had biohazard suits. On the other side was a large metal door with a wheel.
"I'm gonna guess we're going that way," Pikachu said, pointing to the door. Lucario checked with his crystal, and sure enough, it lit up.
Infernape walked up to the wheel and gripped it. He tried to turn it, but it was stiff. "I don't think I can do this," he said. Charizard and Lucario walked over and assisted, turning it with all their strength. Eventually, it started to turn. After several minutes of struggling, they heard a clunk that indicated it was unlocked, though the three had to pull in unison to open the door.
The five stepped inside and saw that the walls were lined with metal.
"If that metal is thick enough, everything in here would have been untouched by radiation," Pidgeot speculated.
"Then there's something in here that's biological and could be used," Lucario realized.
"So, what do we take?" Charizard questioned. The room had several vials and test tubes that were filled with liquids of varying color.
"I don't know," Lucario said. "I don't think we can check everything."
"Okay, let's employ a process of elimination then," Pikachu offered. "Let's avoid everything that's a biohazard and what's labeled as unsafe. Look through everything else and let's hope that something important shows up, like if it has an unpronounceable name." The five split up, reading various vials and test tubes for anything important. For several minutes they searched, until Charizard found something.
"Hey, this is interesting," he said out loud. "It says this vial contains a single strand of hair from a previously undiscovered species." The others came over to look. "The DNA of this creature is unlike any the scientists studying it have ever seen. Many says the DNA is actually fake, but multiple tests have proven it is authentic. This creature has blue fur, which is also unusual for a natural creature."
"Blue fur?" Lucario questioned.
"Yes, and apparently its so fine, that they need a microscope to view it," Charizard continued. "They also believe this fur is slightly transparent, which is why it is so hard to see."
"Myu's fur is somewhat transparent," Lucario said. "You don't think it's his fur, do you?"
"How would they get their hands on it?" Pikachu asked.
"Apparently it was discovered in a city in the middle of the country, but it doesn't give any more information," Charizard said.
Lucario held his crystal up to the vial in Charizard's claws, and it glowed brighter than ever. "This is what we need."
"Well then, let's take it and move on," Pikachu said.
"Hold on, there's still a great deal of radiation out there," Infernape reminded. "While we have a way to survive it, this vial and whatever's in it doesn't. The radiation could destroy it. We need a way to protect it when we're out there."
"How about that?" Pidgeot said, pointing to a lead box. "It's big enough to hold the vial, and small enough that Lucario can carry it in his bag."
"Alright," Lucario said, picking up the box. He opened it and saw it had some things in it. In particular, he saw a picture of a human family, and for a brief moment was reminded of his family that lived here. He shook his head before taking the picture out and laying it on the table, along with the rest of the box's contents. He held it open for Charizard, who placed the vial inside. When he did, Lucario's crystal went out, and the only source of light they had was Charizard's tail flame.
"Well, now what?" Pikachu asked.
"I guess we should spend the night here, as we will probably have to spend the whole day traveling tomorrow," Pidgeot suggested.
"Yeah, probably would be best," Lucario agreed. They made their way back through the halls, but stopped just short of leaving the building, wary of another potential shower. As night fell, they all found spots to sleep. Though Lucario couldn't sleep, as memories of another life plagued his mind, causing him to toss and turn. Eventually he gave up.
He sat up and looked outside, his gut telling him to go where he needed to; his old home. He looked at the others and saw they were asleep, so he quietly snuck away, into the night. He had to see it. He had to.
At the Tree of Beginning, night had come around again, and all the Humans were adjusting to sleep again. They had spent nearly the whole morning collecting berries, and they found the small fruits to be very tasty. The kids loved them, as they tasted much better than the food packets. They had the same berries for lunch and dinner, and now they were having a few more before they slept for the night.
The only thing they hadn't accomplished was disposing of the food packets. They were wrapped in plastic, which wasn't easy to get rid of. They hoped to have found some way to get rid of it before Myu returned, a hope that was dashed when the blue Mew teleported to them.
"I see you have yet to dispose of the food packets," he telepathically told them. Seema walked up to him to address him.
"They aren't easy to get rid of Myu," Seema said. "We can't think of any safe way to get rid of them without damaging your home."
"I was afraid it would come to this," Myu said forlornly. Many of the humans were frightened by that. Was he going to banish them? "Bring your garbage here. I have a way to dispose of it."
The humans carried the food packets over and put them all in a pile. Once that was done, Myu surrounded the packets in a blue bubble, which was teleported away.
"Where did it go?" Seema asked.
"Into space," Myu answered.
"Where in space?" she asked.
"Far enough away that it won't be a problem," Myu answered. "It will be destroyed with time."
"Okay, if you think so," she said. As the others prepared for bed, Seema decided to follow Myu before he left. "Hey, this doesn't make us look bad or hurt our chances to be here, right?" she asked him.
"You are fine. To be honest, I didn't expect you to find a solution that didn't damage the environment," Myu answered.
"Good," Seema responded. "Hey, we're still friends, right? Regardless of what happened with Sceptile?"
"I know you had nothing to do with it, though I am disappointed that you didn't protect her better."
"I did everything I could, but Harold has become unreasonable. He seems convinced that you are the bad guys, and our psychologist thinks he's suffering from PTSD," Seema explained.
"Then why make him your leader?" Myu questioned.
"It wasn't by choice, he was the highest-ranking officer that survived. It was only natural that he be put in charge." Seema looked at Myu to see if he understood. "I only ask that you take that into consideration."
"Consideration for what?" Myu questioned.
"Um, aren't you going to attack them?" Seema asked.
"No," Myu answered bluntly. Seeing Seema's puzzled expression, he explained why. "I will not be provoked into war with them, and I do not condone any action that results in bloodshed."
"But… I thought you would try to destroy them after what happened. That's partly why I'm here, so you know I'm not bad and don't kill me," Seema said.
Myu sighed before telling Seema there was a plan. "Don't tell anyone, but actions are already being taken to destroy humanity, but it will not be in a bloodbath."
"Then… how are you going to kill them?" Seema asked.
"I will not tell. While I trust you, I do not trust the others, and that is all the answer you will get," Myu said before he teleported away.
Seema was confused. If she and Myu were friends, why wouldn't he tell her what he was planning? Perhaps it was because, as he said, he trusted her and her alone. He didn't want something to accidentally be said and give away what his plan was. So, for now, she was content to remain in the dark.
Pikachu awoke the next morning when sunlight hit his face. He groaned at being roused from his peaceful slumber, but eventually sat up when he realized he wasn't going back to sleep. He scanned the room to make sure everyone was here. Charizard, Pidgeot, Infernape. But where was Lucario?
"Lucario," he said out loud. No answer. "Lucario," he said a little louder. Still no answer. "Lucario!" he shouted, this time succeeding in waking up Pidgeot.
"Pikachu, what's wrong?" she asked, still waking up, the others following.
"Lucario's not here," Pikachu said. At that, they all scanned the hall they slept in, and sure enough, it was absent of the blue canine.
"Where did he go?" Charizard wondered.
"I don't know. Pikachu, can you track him?" Pidgeot asked, knowing that the electric rodent was a skilled tracker.
Pikachu sniffed the spot where he knew Lucario had slept. He picked up a trail of the canine's scent and followed it outside the building. "It's a good thing there's nothing out on the streets and that we're the only things here, or this would be a lot harder," Pikachu commented as he continued to follow the scent, the others behind him.
Pikachu followed the scent out of the urban area to the northern part of Long Island. Though the skyscrapers dominated the land to the south, this part had more houses than towering buildings, and the quartet was glad they could see into the distance now. They followed the scent to one of the houses. The door looked like it had been forced, and Pikachu confirmed that Lucario was inside, as his scent was stronger.
They walked through the house, which wasn't in the best shape. A fine layer of dust covered everything. Pidgeot's keen eyes spotted a picture frame that wasn't so covered. She walked over to it and saw that the dust was brushed off very recently. The picture was of four humans. Two older ones were obviously the parents, and the two younger ones, a boy and a girl, were their kids. She took the picture in her beak as she followed them through the house.
Pikachu sniffed a door that was slightly ajar and pushed it open. They had entered a bedroom and sleeping on the bed was the wayward blue canine, Lucario.
"Lucario?" Pikachu asked.
Lucario woke up at the sound of Pikachu's voice. He sat up in the bed to see everyone else there.
"How did you find me?" he asked.
"This is the emptiest city I've ever seen," Pikachu said. "Your scent sticks out big time."
"What are you doing here? And why did you come here?" Charizard asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lucario sarcastically asked.
Pidgeot walked up, setting the picture down next to him. "I'm guessing this used to be your home." She gestured to the boy in the picture. "That was you, wasn't it?"
Lucario sighed. "Yeah, that's me as a kid, years before the world came to an abrupt end. It's from a time when we were happy."
"Why did you come here?" Charizard asked.
"I… I wanted to see if it was still here. If everything was still here," Lucario said before standing up. "And sadly, everything I left is here."
"Why is that sad?" Pikachu questioned.
Lucario walked out of the room, stopping by another door. "This is why," he said before turning the handle and opening the door. The others gasped at what was inside; there were three severely rotted corpses on the floor. "When it seemed war was inevitable, I started making travel plans to go elsewhere, and I tried to convince them to come." A tear came to Lucario's eye as he fell to the floor. "They kept insisting it wouldn't come to that, that the world leaders weren't stupid enough to declare nuclear war." He blinked, and the tear fell. "I begged them to come with me, telling them that it would be safer in Kansas than here, but they wouldn't listen." He desperately tried to stop more tears from forming, but he was failing.
"So, I left without them. I arrived in Kansas City, booked a hotel room in a quiet town that I thought would be safe." More tears started to fall. "A couple days later, war was declared, and a day after, Myu gave me the chance to start over, to build a new life with a new race, and I accepted, as I thought it would be better than death." He started to choke as he fought the tears and well of emotions that threatened to erupt. "I lived, but they died here."
He grabbed a couple faded pieces of paper off the floor and handed them to the others. "Plane tickets, and the destination is the same airport I landed in. They must have realized it wasn't safe and tried to follow me, but they didn't make it!" He punched the ground with a fist, shaking the floor. "If they had come with me, if they had listened, then maybe they could have been given the same chance I got." He couldn't hold back anymore and began to sob. "Why is it that I got to live, and they died? Why?!" He broke down right there, not caring that it was undignified. Too many questions were swirling in his head, and he had no answers. He was consumed with wondering what might have been.
Pikachu walked over and held Lucario's paw with his own in a gesture of comfort. "I can't imagine what this is like for you, seeing the remains of your family and the life you once had. It must be hard."
Charizard walked up and placed a clawed hand on Lucario's shoulder. "I wish I could say I know how you feel, but I don't. I never knew my family, but you spent most of your life with yours. I can only imagine how much this hurts."
"We all lost people we care about," Infernape said, placing his hand on Lucario's other shoulder. "But for most of us, we got the chance to say goodbye. You never had that chance."
"What happened here is tragic," Pidgeot said, placing a wing around Lucario. "But as Myu taught us, it does no good to ponder what might have been, and what's done can't be undone, no matter how much we want it to. We must always look to the future, to make sure our children don't suffer the same tragedies that we did."
"Yeah, think about what you have Lucario," Pikachu said. "A beautiful daughter, a mate that loves you, and friends who adore you."
"Be thankful for what we have," Charizard said, remembering that Myu was fond of saying that.
"You lost your human family, Lucario, but your Pokémon family will always be here for you," Infernape reassured.
Lucario rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears. "Thanks, guys."
"Well, we should probably leave. We've got more to get," Charizard said.
"Not yet," Lucario said. "There's something we need to do first."
Lucario lead them to a shed that had full gas cans in them. He handed everyone a can. They didn't need to be told what to do with them. They spread the gas around the house, covering everything in it, but Lucario personally saw to the bodies of his parents and sister. Once it was done, they all met outside at the front of the house, standing several feet away for safety.
Lucario thought in his head what he needed to say before finding what he needed. "It isn't right what happened here. The people who lived here didn't deserve to die. They were victims of an unjust and cruel world, a world that destroyed itself." He paused to hold back the tears that threatened to start again. "But we who survived, seek to bring about a new world, one where things like this never happen. We will continue on and make sure that the new world will be one of peace and happiness." He turned his gaze to the room his family occupied. "We burn your bodies, so your souls can go to the next world. May you find happiness in the endless plains and know no sorrow as you rest in peace." Lucario focused his gaze on the house as a whole. "From dust they came, to dust they will return. We continue the cycle of life and death and remain confident that one day we will see them again when our time comes. Until that day…" he gestured to Charizard, who fired a small flame at a trail of the gas that lead to the house, setting it on fire. "As above, so below. In Archeus we trust."
"We trust," the others echoed. For several minutes they stood watching the house burn, hearing small explosions from inside.
"Sorry you had to see your family this way, Lucario," Pikachu said.
"It's fine. Time heals all wounds, right?" Lucario said.
"So, what next?" Infernape said.
"We continue on," Lucario said determinedly. "We're going to make sure that what happened here never happens again." He held the crystal in his paw, and he pointed it in various directions. It lit up when he pointed it east. "That's where we go next."
"Still got the bag?" Infernape asked.
Lucario slung it around his shoulder, climbing onto Charizard's back. "Forward." With that, Charizard took off, Pidgeot and her passengers following a second later. Lucario gave one last glance at his old home as it vanished, the bright orange fire fading in the distance as they crossed the ocean.
End of Chapter 5
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Chapter 6 - Lessons of Peace - Dec 18