A World Reborn - Lessons of Peace
Seema woke to the sounds of chirping. Every morning, the bird-like Pokémon would sing, though the Humans couldn't understand. Seema wished she could understand them, as she sure would like to know what they were singing.
The others soon woke up. She noticed that everyone was becoming accustomed to the new features every morning and was glad that they were adjusting. Some went out to gather berries, and she saw that some Pokémon helped out in the gathering. She was glad that humans and Pokémon were getting along better than they used to, though she could still detect some hatred from several Pokémon, most of it focused at her.
"So, Mike," she said, turning to the adult. "Have your kids adjusted well?" she asked.
"Most of them, except Judas," he replied. "He seems to have trouble accepting that we're safe."
"Well, you can tell him that there is nothing to fear here. So long as we don't get on the Pokémon's bad side, we will be just fine," Seema said.
At that moment, Myu appeared. He had made it a habit to greet the humans every morning to ensure that they were fine, and to impart the lesson of the day.
"Greetings," he telepathed. "I trust you slept well."
"Yeah, it's getting better," Seema said. "I think the peaceful environment really helps. So, what do we learn today?"
"Let's see, you already practice purity, I've taught you generosity, you've witnessed forgiveness, you've mastered persistence. The lessons left are altruism, compassion, and bravery." Myu assumed a thinking pose as he thought over what needed to be done next. "Let's work on altruism. But not just yours. My own children could use a reminder of this lesson. For today, I want your kind to mingle with mine. I will inform the others of what needs to be done." He teleported away, presumably to tell the Pokémon what needed to be done.
Seema gathered everyone after they had breakfast to tell them of Myu's next lesson.
"What's 'altruism'?" one of the kids asked.
"It basically means we need to show sympathy for others," Seema said. "To learn this, we need to interact with the Pokémon more than we normally do each day, and he's going to have them interact with us."
"How will that help us learn this lesson?" another asked.
"I don't know, but we do need to interact with the Pokémon more. We're gonna be stuck with them for a long time," Seema answered.
"Is it really safe to be around them?" yet another asked.
"As long as you don't provoke them," Seema answered.
Lucario, Charizard, Pidgeot, Pikachu and Infernape had been traveling across the ocean for several days without stop. They couldn't find a place to stop while they traveled, for there were no islands for them to land. But now, they could see land in the distance.
"Land ho!" Pikachu shouted.
"Finally!" Charizard cheered. "We've been flying for days!"
Lucario held his crystal. It had been steadily growing brighter as they drew closer, but it wasn't so bright to indicate they were closer.
"We might have to fly for a little farther," he said. "Its still a ways to the next item."
"Lucario, we need to rest," Pidgeot said gently. "Charizard and I have been carrying you three for the past few days. We need to give our wings a rest."
"As soon as we reach our destination, you two can rest," Lucario assured.
"Well, I think I can go for a while longer," Charizard said pridefully.
"Alright, but I don't know for how long we can go," Pidgeot acquiesced.
They continued for a couple hours more, before Lucario's crystal brightened. They looked ahead and saw another city in the distance.
"What city do you think that is?" Infernape asked.
"Don't know, we're on the other side of the Atlantic," Lucario said. "Its anyone's guess what city this is."
"I think I can help narrow it down," Pikachu said. "We're in the United Kingdom."
"How do you know that?" Infernape questioned.
"I've been keeping track of where we're going, and in addition to going east, we've been going slightly north. That should put us somewhere in the British Isles," Pikachu explained.
"Hey, I think I see ocean past the city," Charizard said.
"Wait, to my knowledge, there's only one city that fits that description," Lucario said. "Guys, we're in London."
Nearby, in a military base that survived, a radar was detecting two small objects entering their airspace.
A man sitting at the radar was puzzled by what it was detecting. The objects were so small, they barely registered.
"Commander, you need to see this. Radar picked up two bogeys coming," he called out. The commander of the base came over to observe the radar.
"Twenty years of nothing, and now something shows up? Inform the other bases that we've picked up two bogeys," he told one of the other officers. "Can you identify them?"
"No, they're so small they barely register," the first officer informed him. "It seems they're heading for London."
"Well, then, radiation levels are low enough that we can be out there for a few hours. Let's take a squad and investigate," the commander commanded.
Back at the Tree, the Pokémon were outside the Tree to greet the humans, though they had a problem communicating with each other.
Zorua picked her way through the Humans until she found the girl and boy she met before. She ran up and rubbed the boy's leg.
"Hey, I remember you, you're that black fox," he said, picking Zorua up. She yipped in happiness when he recognized her. She didn't say anything back for he wouldn't understand it. "Hey, Karina," he called out.
"What is it Jefferey?" the girl called back. She spotted Zorua and greeted the fox. "Oh, hi there, nice to see you again. Why did you come see us?"
"I just wanted to see you again," Zorua said, rubbing the boy's cheek with her own, hoping they understood.
"I think she just wanted to see us again," Jefferey said. An older male came up, and seemed shocked that Zorua was there.
"What are you doing, letting one be so close to you?" he questioned.
"She just wanted to see us again, Judas," Karina said. "Lighten up, they're quite nice."
"They're still animals, they're dangerous," Judas rebutted.
Zorua got a mischievous idea. She leapt off Jeffery's shoulder and glowed purple. When she landed, she looked identical to Judas. She let out a small chuckle at his shocked face. "Yeah, we're really dangerous," she joked.
"Wow, she looks just like you, Judas," Jefferey noted. He then looked behind her and notice a small black tail. "Well, almost. Why's this still here?" he wondered as he grabbed it. Suddenly, Zorua turned back into her real form.
"Whoa, neat," Karina said, astonished.
"That was creepy," Judas said.
"She just wants to play," Jefferey defended. Zorua made a few yipping noises as she bounced away, trying to get them to follow. "I think she wants us to follow her," Jefferey guessed.
"Well, then, let's follow her," Karina said, following the small black fox, Jefferey beside her. Judas didn't follow, staying back.
Myu observed what was going on through the crystals, glad to see the kids of both races getting along. Zorua wasn't the only one reaching out, several of their children were trying to play with the humans' kids. He saw that they were making up several new games, mostly incorporating the abilities of the Pokémon. Hide-and-Seek seemed to be a favorite of several of them, as it required very little communication.
"Myu, you wanted to see us?" Mightyena said as he and Flygon walked up to the Mew.
Myu turned his attention away from the crystal to focus on the two Pokémon. "Yes, I need your help. It has been too long since we've heard from the humans at Fort Riley. After what Seema has told me, I would have expected them to do something by now. I need the two of you to go there and report back on what you find."
"We will not fail you, Myu," Flygon said, giving Myu a small bow, which Mightyena copied as best as he could.
The two of them turned to leave, and Myu found himself alone. He decided to go down and talk to Seema for a while before those two came back.
Charizard and Pidgeot landed in the remains of London, stretching their wings, grateful for the rest.
"Ah, finally! Three days of non-stop flight from New York to here. We can rest," Charizard said.
Lucario, Infernape and Pikachu were also doing various stretches, trying to get their bodies acclimated to being mobile again.
"Yeah, sitting on dragon back for three days straight isn't very fun," Lucario commented. "No offence."
"None taken," Charizard said.
"So, while we try to get feeling back in our limbs, where do we go Lucario?" Pikachu asked.
Lucario held out his crystal, pointing it in various directions until it glowed brighter. It was pointing to deeper in the city. "That way," he said.
"But… isn't there a huge crater in that direction?" Pikachu questioned.
"Yeah, probably where the missile struck," Charizard confirmed.
"But, that would mean there's nothing there," Infernape said.
"The crystal is pointing that way," Lucario said. "It wants us to go that way."
"Well, then, let's get walking," Pikachu said, his legs no longer numb. The group of five Pokémon began walking in the direction Lucario pointed. They reached the rim of the crater, but the crystal kept pointing that way. They made their way into the crater, following the direction of the crystal's glow. Eventually though, it suddenly went out.
"Wait, what?" Lucario questioned. "What happened?"
"Did we pass it?" Charizard questioned.
Lucario turned around, and the crystal lit up again. He followed it for a few steps, but it went out again. He turned around once again, and it lit up. He stared down at the crystal, confused.
"Myu said that thing was supposed to lead us to what he needed," Charizard said. "But there's nothing here, just a large crater where once stood the center of the city."
"I don't get it," Lucario said. "We must be in the right place, but where could it be leading us?"
"Maybe nowhere," Pikachu suggested.
"Myu wouldn't lead us astray," Pidgeot said. "There must be something here we're not seeing."
"There's nothing here," Charizard insisted. "The missile that hit this place obliterated everything on the surface."
"On the surface," Lucario muttered, an idea popping into his head. While he looked down, the others argued over whether or not there was anything there. Lucario started by pointing the crystal down, and it did glow brighter. He tapped the spot he was standing with his feet and felt something shake. "Down," he breathed. "What we need is down," he said, loud enough for the others to hear. He got down on his knees and started brushing some of the dirt away. Pikachu picked up on it and helped out.
After a few seconds, they revealed a metal panel. Lucario picked it up and found a small room underneath. "This way," he said before leaping through the hole. He landed in the room, which turned out to be an elevator. The doors that led out were closed. "Infernape, I need your help!" he shouted up.
The fire primate leapt down into the elevator and saw the doors. "I see," he said before walking up to one of the doors and began pulling. Lucario helped by pulling the other, but the doors wouldn't budge.
"Charizard!" Lucario shouted up.
"I don't think I can fit through that," Charizard said, pointing at the hole that was only big enough for Lucario and Infernape.
"Just tear the rest of the top off," Pikachu suggested.
Charizard grabbed the top of the elevator and pulled with all his might, the flimsy metal easily tearing apart. He leapt down into the small room. He saw the elevator doors and began to pull, helping Lucario and Infernape. Eventually, they managed to open the doors. They walked into an underground vault, though much of what was down there was severely damaged. Pikachu and Pidgeot followed down, entering the same area.
"Wow, what is this place?" Pikachu asked.
"Seems to be an underground vault," Charizard said.
"Looks like there's some relics down here," Lucario observed.
"Great, but which one do we take?" Pikachu asked.
"Don't know, but this will probably tell us," Lucario said, holding the crystal in his paw. They continued through the vault, Lucario waving the crystal by everything. They were about to stop when the crystal got a lot brighter by an unmarked wood box.
"What's that?" Pikachu questioned.
"Let's find out," Lucario said. "Charizard?"
"Say no more," the pseudo-dragon said. He grabbed the box and laid it on the ground. He forced it open by pulling the lid off. Infernape reached inside and pulled out a vase.
"We came all this way for that?" Pikachu asked.
Infernape reached back into the box and pulled out a slip of paper. "This vase has a depiction of Bennu on it, an Egyptian bird deity that's linked to the sun, creation and rebirth. Some historians believe that this bird was inspired by the Greek Phoenix."
"That's great, but what makes this vase so important?" Pikachu asked.
Lucario stared at the vase before his aura senses picked something up. "Something's in there," he said. Charizard smashed the vase with a single punch. "I didn't say punch it," Lucario complained.
"You said something was in it, I assumed you wanted it open to get what's inside," Charizard defended.
"That doesn't mean… ugh," Lucario sighed. He looked through the broken remains when the crystal turned a fiery red. A piece of the vase glowed the same color. Lucario gently picked it up, and saw a feather poking out of the pottery. He smashed the rest of the piece and picked up the feather. It glowed in all the colors of a rainbow.
"What is that?" Pidgeot asked.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like this before," Lucario said. He waved it by the crystal, and they were both enveloped in the same fiery red glow. "This is what we need next." He took out the lead box from his bag, placing the feather inside. Once the box was closed, the crystal went out. As Lucario put the box back inside, he saw that they were low on the moss they needed to survive the radiation.
"We need to get back to the Tree," he told everyone.
A couple minutes later, they were back at the elevator. But before they left, Lucario's aura sensors activated, revealing people outside. Their signatures were not anything he could remember seeing.
"Wait," he said before Pikachu leapt outside. "Someone's outside."
"Who could be out there?" Charizard asked.
"Humans," Infernape suggested.
"Lucario, can you see anything else about them?" Pidgeot asked.
Lucario closed his eyes and focused on the humans he sensed. "There's three of them, and they're carrying large guns."
"Great, how are we going to get out of here?" Pikachu asked, realizing they were trapped.
"I have a plan," Lucario said. "Listen closely, here's what we're going to do…"
Myu flew above the gathered Humans and Pokémon, scanning them for the blonde-haired woman he called friend. He was so glad to see Humans and Pokémon getting along so well. He knew that they still weren't friends just yet, but the children from both races were playing together, and that did bode well. If they didn't share the animosity of their parents, then they would forge a bond that would last generations. It was why he was pushing for them to interact so much. If the children got along, then their parents would follow.
He eventually spotted Seema among the crowd and flew down to greet her.
"Greetings, Seema," he said.
"Hi, Myu, why are you here?" she asked.
"I wanted to spend some time with you if that's alright. In fact, I want to introduce you to someone," Myu answered. "Follow me." He started flying away, gesturing for Seema to follow. He stopped by a stream and told Seema to sit. "Hope, where are you?" Myu asked.
"Who's Hope?" Seema asked when a small blue Pokémon leapt out of the water.
"Hi, father!" she said, excited to see Myu.
"Hello, Hope," Myu said, returning the greeting. "Seema, this is my daughter Hope. She's a Manaphy," Myu telepathed, introducing the Human to the Pokémon. "Hope, this is an old friend of mine, her name is Seema."
"Nice to meet you!" Hope said, extending one of her flippers to Seema. Seema shook her head when she recognized the gesture.
"Oh, um, hi," she said, taking the flipper in her hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you."
"I said that!" Hope said.
"Hope, Seema can't understand Pokémon. She's a Human," Myu explained.
"Oh, well then…" Hope began, before saying to Seema, "hi, Human!"
Seema fell back in surprise. "Did… did you just speak? In English?" she questioned.
"Yep," Hope said. "My father taught me your language, so I can speak it."
"Whoa, incredible," Seema said. She turned to Myu. "So, who's her mother?"
"I don't have a mother, just a father," Hope answered for him.
Seema looked confused, so Myu decided to explain. "I created Hope myself. I birthed her egg without a female's help."
"How? How can you do that?" Seema questioned. It didn't seem possible to her. In her mind, only God could create life.
"I was granted the ability to create and reshape life to my liking. It's a part of being a Mew," Myu answered.
"Where did you get such power?" Seema asked.
"From the Alpha," Myu answered. "Humans have known him by several names throughout history. To the Egyptians, he was Ptah, to the Japanese, he was Izanagi, to the Christians, he was Yahweh."
"That's not very helpful," Seema said. "You could give me a little more accurate description, or maybe his real name."
"Then call him Archeus," Myu said. "That's the name I gave to my children."
"Arch-us?" Seema tried.
"Archeus," Myu repeated.
"Archaus," she tried again.
"You're not getting it," Myu said.
"It's hard to pronounce," Seema defended. Myu sighed. "So, Hope, tell me about yourself," Seema asked, deciding to change topics.
"Oh, well, I've lived under my father's care for the past twenty-one winters, and I have the power to control water and currents, though since there's no ocean I can't use that power, and…"
"Wait, twenty-one winters?" Seema questioned.
"That's how we measure the passage of time. You use years," Myu said.
"I know that, but that means she's twenty-one," Seema said. "But, she doesn't sound any older than Jefferey, and he's eleven. Is she stunted or something?"
"I'm not stunted, I just age slower," Hope said.
Seema was about to say something when Myu spoke up. "I designed her to age at a slower rate than Humans or even other Pokémon," Myu explained. "I want to make sure she's fully educated before she becomes an adult. She's probably over ten at her aging rate."
"Oh," was all Seema said. "Well, is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"How about father talks about how he made the world?" Hope suggested.
"I'll explain as best I can," Myu said. For the next few hours, he talked to Seema, Hope interjecting every now and then. Eventually, Myu's tale came to an end.
"Wow, I mean I know you're incredible from how the Pokémon act around you, but, wow," Seema said.
"I offered them a chance to start over, just as I was offered the same chance, and all I asked in return was they listen and learn," Myu said.
"You're not going to talk about how they worship you?" Seema asked.
"I did not ask for it, so I see no reason to talk about it," Myu answered.
"Oh come on, they act like you are God and the whole world goes around you," she said.
"I may be a god, but I do not control the world, nor do I command the sun to rise and set," Myu said.
"You even talk like you're God," Seema pointed out.
"I had to be someone they would respect, so I adopted this speech from the one who made me who I am," Myu said.
"Okay, say what you want, but you act like you're God, and you have to admit, your refusal to outright attack the humans makes you a great deal like Him," Seema joked.
"The God you speak of is the new version of him. If you truly want to compare me to the Christian God, then I suggest you refer to the Old Testament, for I am more like him," Myu said.
"What's the difference?" Seema asked.
"The difference, child… is great."
Before the conversation could continue, they heard a commotion from the Tree. "What's going on?" Seema questioned.
"I'm not sure. Let's see," Myu said before flying to the Tree.
Seema followed, but was stopped when Hope leapt onto her shoulder. She rolled her eyes before continuing on. When she reached the base of the Tree, there was a massive gathering of Pokémon and Humans, and they seemed to be surrounding something.
Blastoise came up and picked Hope off Seema's shoulder, several other children surrounding her. "Come on, Hope, Myu doesn't want any of the children to see this."
Seema continued on, managing her way through the crowd. She reached the center of this circle, and saw Flygon there, badly injured, and with a bag in his claws, Myu beside him.
"Tell me what happened Flygon," Myu asked soothingly.
"We reached Fort Riley, I was circling above while Mightyena stalked from the ground. Somehow, they knew he was there, because they cornered him and grabbed him before I could help him. I tried to help, but they shot my wings and I crashed," Flygon explained.
"What happened next?" Myu asked.
"They kept asking when we were going to attack, as if they could ever understand us, and their leader, Harold, assumed we were advance scouts to determine if they were weak enough for us to kill them. So, he decided to send a message to us," Flygon continued.
"What's in the bag?" Seema asked, wanting to know what they were saying.
Flygon's eyes teared up when she asked that.
"Flygon, where's Mightyena, what happened to him?" Myu asked soothingly. Zoroark walked closer when she heard her mate's name.
"He said only one of us was needed to deliver the message, so he said he would spare me, but Mightyena…" Tears continued to well up, Myu encouraging him to continue. "They hauled him away, but not so far that I couldn't see them shoot him several times." He started to sob. "But they didn't stop there…" He couldn't continue as he held the bag up.
Myu peered inside, and sadly sighed at what he saw.
"My mate, where is he?" Zoroark demanded, grabbing the bag and looking inside before Myu could stop her. She dropped the bag and fell down, catching herself on her paws. "No, no!" she cried, sobbing.
"What's going on?" Seema asked.
"The Humans decapitated Mightyena," Myu said bluntly, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible. The Humans were shocked to hear that, but not so much as the Pokémon. They were in a mix of fury and sadness. Some roared to the skies in anger.
Seema knelt down to hug Zoroark, trying to help console her. "I'm sorry Zoroark," she said. "I know what its like to lose someone you love."
"It's not just that, they've condemned him to a fate worse than death," Zoroark sobbed, which Myu telepathically translated. Seema gave Myu a questioning glance, so he explained.
"We believe that so long as the body remains, the soul remains tethered here, too. We burn the body so the soul can pass on. But if the body is desecrated, then the soul will be in pain until the body is destroyed. Condemning a body to a slow decay is considered disrespectful to the soul but damaging it after death is sacrilege. Mightyena's soul will remain in this world until we burn his body."
Seema hugged the sobbing black fox, understanding why she was upset. She tried to make sense of this belief and realized that the Pokémon believed in a life after death, but unlike most religions, they believed that the body had to be burned so they could go to the afterlife. Damaging it after death was considered to be torturous to the soul, and the soul couldn't pass on until they burned the body. Zoroark wouldn't stop being sad until they did just that; find Mightyena's body and burn it.
Seema looked around and saw that the other humans had understood Myu's telepathy, and they were sympathizing with Zoroark.
Myu's lesson. Seema thought to herself. Altruism is to sympathize with another being and do everything you can to make them happy again. "I promise Zoroark, we'll find your mate's body and bring it back so it can be burned," Seema told the fox.
Zoroark looked up into Seema's eyes to try and detect any trace of lie. Finding none, she leaned into the girl's shoulder, sniffling as the tears lessened. "Thank you," she said.
For once, Seema didn't need the translation. She understood Zoroark's words well enough.
The soldiers in London were hesitant to enter the center of the city, knowing that radiation could linger for quite a while. But it had been twenty years, so it was probably safe.
"So, where do you think these intruders are?" one of them asked.
"Don't know, but the commander said they landed somewhere nearby," another answered.
"I think it was just a glitch in the radar," a third commented. "What kind of plane could be that small and reach this land?"
"One with a great fuel supply?" the first offered.
"Keep an eye out," the second said. "If the jet landed nearby, then the pilots are here somewhere."
"I still don't think there's anything here," the third said. Just then, Pikachu leapt out and into the air, firing out scattered bolts of electricity to confuse the soldiers. They tried to look at him, but the bright yellow color of his fur caused them to hesitate.
"What is that thing?" the first asked.
"Maybe some kind of mutant rat?" the third suggested.
"Don't question what it is, shoot it!" the second shouted. He held his gun and prepared to shoot Pikachu when it suddenly flew out of his hands, surrounded by a dark blue glow.
"Okay, that's freaky," the third commented, giving Pikachu enough time to ram into him, and slashed his tail, which turned to steel, at the gun, slicing it in two.
"What is that thing?!" the second shouted.
Infernape leapt out, turning into a flaming wheel and smashing into the first soldier, grabbing his gun away before whacking the second soldier with it like a club.
"Alright, they're out!" Pikachu shouted.
From the hole the two came out of, Pidgeot and Charizard flew out, Lucario riding on Charizard's back. Pidgeot swooped around to let Pikachu and Infernape hop on before they flew away.
The first soldier recovered and tried to shoot them, but the two fliers spiraled to avoid getting shot before making a sharp turn.
"You're not bad for a bird," Charizard told Pidgeot.
"Thanks," she said.
"So where do we go next?" Pikachu asked.
"The Tree, we need to get more moss," Lucario said.
"Okay, but we're taking the long route," Charizard said. "The one that involves more rest and no non-stop flying for three days."
"Fine, but we need to get back to the Tree as soon as possible," Lucario agreed. The two fliers angled themselves to go northwest, intending to go through Greenland and Canada before going back to America, and the Tree of Beginning.
End of Chapter 6
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