Encounter of the Four Ruins

Author's Note: This fic's premise operates on the presumption of Tommy's passing, which the English-language dub went out of its way to avoid, but was more ambiguous in the original. Enjoy the story and R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Pokémon franchise.

Summary:

An investigation into bizarre phenomena plaguing the Paldea region. A trail of missing students, invisible Pokémon, random teleportation and the like leading back to Florian, last known to be on the trail of the Treasures of Ruin.

"A student's gone missing?"

"Not just a student! Ten enrollees vanished without a trace just yesterday!"

"But the student you told me about, he was special?"

"He was the first to disappear! The history teacher at Naranja Academy, Ms. Raifort, believes the recent bizarre phenomena around Paldea are connected to the Treasures of Ruin!"

"Treasures of Ruin?"

"Four legendary Pokémon purportedly sealed away somewhere in Paldea long ago. Apparently, the student…Florian was his name, if I'm not misinformed…went searching for the Treasures of Ruin and never returned! That's when more students began disappearing! And all the other weird incidents!"

"What kind of weird incidents?"

"Travellers falling through sinkholes and waking up on the other side of Paldea! Pokémon nearly drowning themselves in bodies of water! Pokémon copying themselves! Deerling walking off cliffs! Mysterious Ultra Balls no one can pick up! Spontaneous Dynamax!"

"Dynamax? Here? In Paldea?" The Trainer from Galar was most surprised by that.

"Yes! But not in Pokémon! In people!"

"That's…"

"Disturbing."

"You said it, Tommy!"

"Tommy? My name's not Tommy."

"Sorry, I wasn't talking to y – You know what? Never mind. It's too complicated to explain."

"Oh, all right, but –"

A girl flew between John and Tommy at top speeds, riding nothing, it seemed!

"HEY! No riding invisible Ride Pokémon! You know the rules! Just because it happened to your Pokémon by accident, doesn't make it okay!"

"J-John! Did you see that?" Tommy pulled John's sleeve.

"No…I think that's the problem!"

"You see what we're dealing with?" The man speaking to John threw his arms up.

John didn't feel like repeating himself.

"It's just a story, right, John? The legendary Pokémon, they didn't…" Tommy produced a gruesome noise, swiping his thumb across his neck. "They didn't do that to those kids, right?"

"Tommy, you're a ghost! How can you be scared?" John whisper-hissed.

"Ghosts get scared too, John!"

"I wanna go home…" a student walking by with his Combee groused. Not that notable, if not for the fact he only walked to a certain point, then kept walking in place like a wall of air was keeping him from walking any further.

"Oh, I get why he wants to go home! Cuz he's stuck!" Tommy observed.

All of sudden, the student and his Combee faded out into the void.

"Arceus! Another one! You stay here! I'll get help!" The man ran down the road.

"Ahhhh, John!" Tommy shook his friend. "He went home! That kid went to where Arceus is! We shouldn't have come to Paldea! We need to leave!"

"Tommy, get a hold of yourself!"

"The spirit child offers sensible advice. It would be wise to listen."

John spun back. A boy also wearing the Naranja Academy uniform was glaring at him with a quartet of grudges.

"Florian…I take it?"

"John! He can see me!"

"I don't think it's him, Tommy!"

"What?"

"Which of the Treasures of Ruin am I talking to?" John directed the question towards Florian.

"All of us. We, the Four Ruins." Each of Florian's eyes swirled simmering scarlet and violent violet, and he roared with four distinct cries.

"Cut! Cuuuttt!"

"Scriiibe!"

"Splashyyy!"

"Poooourrr!"

"The Pokémon…They've possessed him." Tommy knew a possession when he saw one.

"Why don't we make a deal? A battle, us against you?" John challenged.

"A battle, is it? What are the stakes?"

"If you win, we'll be your prisoners. If we win, you promise to release Florian and the missing students, wherever you've hidden them!"

"Your foolhardiness is interesting! We accept!" Florian enlarged a Poké Ball in his hand. It and three additional Poké Balls on his person swam with ominous black energy.

"John, you realize how bad an idea this is, don't you? Those Poké Balls definitely have the four Ruinous Pokémon in them!"

"Yes, Tommy! But look at it this way: We win, they'll patch Paldea up for us! The trip will have been worth the 6,500 cost!"

"We shouldn't have to battle four evil legendary Pokémon not to encounter unforeseen issues on a trip we paid full price for!"