Archie - Pokémon: 6 Deaths: 0
Blue - Pokémon: 4 Deaths: 0
{Monua 26th, 8:16AM}
{Eterna Forest}
The moment they set foot in the forest, Blue knew that a fight was going to be inevitable.
Seemingly never-ending murmurs came from the trees. Archie jumped whenever one of the forest Pokémon suddenly popped down from a tree branch or out of a small patch of grass, never knowing if they were going to be attacked, or get a plea for help, or something else. Archie was tense, more than he should be, and Blue had to forcibly hold him back and stop him from darting out head-first to 'get it over with'. Although Blue was pretty convinced that they were up against a bunch of those Galactic people, there was no telling if they'd be plain grunts or if some of the higher-ranked agents were there, nor exactly how messed up in the head they were.
Not having had the chance to determine how bad it was- and somewhat hoping that he wouldn't have to determine just how bad it was- Blue didn't feel the urge to risk making the wrong decisions.
They stopped at a small fork.
"Path splits here..." Blue muttered, looking at both directions. "Star, which way do you think we should go?"
The Luxio sniffed the air a moment. "Sorry sugar, I'm not sure," Star admitted, looking disappointed. "It smells like there's some on both sides."
"Let's split up, then," Archie suggested. "We need to try and get rid of all of them, anyway."
"I don't think that's a good-" Blue started, but Archie and Star were already several feet down the left path and still running. "Bloody hell, Archie, how godsdamned irresponsible can you be?!" he hissed angrily, picking a couple Pokéballs off his belt. He released his Pidgeot and his Alakazam. "Pete, I need you to go that way and fly after Archie and Star. The asshole's been jumpy as fuck even since we stepped into this damn forest and I don't need him doing something stupid and getting hurt. Help him if he needs it and lead him back when you're done, otherwise just try and go as unnoticed as possible. Adam, see if you can sense any people or Pokémon that feel like they don't normally belong in this forest."
Adam simply nodded. "Gotcha," Pete answered before taking off and flying over the path that Blue indicated. Adam closed his eyes and focused.
It took only a few seconds before Adam's eyes snapped back open.
"That many?" Blue asked quietly.
"There are lots of creatures that don't even belong in this realm," Adam replied seriously.
Blue frowned. He did not like the sound of that, nor the incredibly serious face Adam was making. "Alright, let's move closer and see how much ass needs kicked."
As it turned out, there were more than enough grunts for Blue to leisurely knock out if he wished. They all wore white and grey clothes with a golden 'G' printed on the front of their uniforms, and they all had the same ugly green bowl cut. Keeping low in the high grass and staying behind a tree to try and remain more or less hidden, he watched as a group of them all chattered away about their work, ignoring the whining and wailing of the captured Pokémon kept in cages. Blue couldn't help but notice that most of them were considerably young, and that the handful of older, evolved Pokémon were being kept separate.
"Looks like they mostly only have Wurmple and Zubats..." Blue muttered quietly, staring at a bunch of Meowth-like Pokémon he didn't know the name of and that clearly also belonged to Galactic as they strutted arrogantly around the captured Pokémon. "This means they're only low-ranked grunts with low-level Pokémon." He frowned when one of them answered a call of some kind, and relayed information to others about some grunts needing back-up in a different part of the forest. Blue crouched down even lower when a group of them ran along the path past him, headed for the direction Archie was in. Well, I guess that idiot makes a good distraction, at least... he thought to himself before looking at the cages again. He slowly stood up, keeping close to the tree. Damn...if I had Pete here, he could snap them open in seconds with Aerial Ace...Gary could tear them open as well, but he doesn't exactly blend in with the forest enough for me to have time to explain...
BLUE, WATCH OUT! Adam's voice rang in his head.
"Ooh, what do we have here?"
Blue's head snapped around at the female voice to see who had crept up behind him, but he was immediately greeted by a surprisingly strong hand pressing him against the tree trunk.
"Oh? Now isn't this interesting!" she smiled sweetly, though Blue knew her intentions were all but sweet. "I know you. You're the one responsible for ruining our plans at Lavender, aren't you? When you put our dearest Commander Mercury 'out of service'. What a shame- you have such a cute face."
"What are you trying to do?" Blue wheezed. Trying to ignore the dumb purple hair that was tied into three buns as he looked over the lady's shoulder, he could see Adam struggling under the large body of a dark, purple Pokémon. The only reason Blue could think of to explain why Adam couldn't simply shove it off using psychic abilities was that it was a dark-type. "What is your goal?"
"Nothing that would concern a brat like you," she replied coldly. "So how about you just move along instead of trying to get in our way again?"
"I've beaten tougher trainers than you," Blue growled.
"Ooh, how provoking," she said with a mocking smirk. "How about you try and say that again when you're not pinned against a tree by a woman?"
"What if I knock you out while being pinned to a tree by a woman?" Blue suggested smugly, returning the smirk.
The lady suddenly seemed less amused. "Don't get cocky. Your insolence will cost you, someday," she claimed. She looked toward the grunts and whistled loudly. It took a few seconds for a couple of the grunts to run over. "I want you to grab this kid and hold him so he doesn't escape. We're taking him with us so we can figure out the best way to stop him from meddling in our plans."
"Aww, but Jupiter, he looks like sooo much fun!" a third person with red hair whined mockingly, skipping up the the lady. Blue's stomach lurched when he noted that this person had a very eerie resemblance to a couple of other people he knew and desperately hoped they weren't related. "Are you sure I can't keep him?"
"You can toy with him after we bring him to the boss," the lady- Jupiter- snapped sharply at the red-haired one. "That is, if the boss lets you."
"Yeah, yeah, love you too," the red-haired one snorted, a cold tone replacing her playful one as she crossed her arms. "Well, leave him to me, I'll make sure he doesn't run away," she finished as she motioned for the grunts to follow her with her finger. The grunts started dragging him off, and all Blue could do was watch as Jupiter walked over to Adam next, where the Alakazam seemingly gave up on freeing himself from the weight of the purple Pokémon and had stopped struggling.
The instant Jupiter reached a hand out to the Alakazam, however, a large winged Pokémon swooped down and knocked the purple Pokémon off, to which Adam immediately bounced up and pushed Jupiter aside. The red-haired lady gasped in surprise.
"INCOMING!" Blue heard Archie roar, and the next thing he knew most of the grunts had jumped to the side in order to evade the large Gyarados that had come sliding across the pathway and snapping its jaws at people, crashing into several trees and knocking them over. The two grunts holding Blue squeezed down on his arms together as they cowered in fear while Mark ripped a tree from its roots with his mouth, swinging it at the army of Zubats and Wurmple that had all decided to try and gang up on him.
"What in the name of Arceus is going on?!" the red-haired lady shrieked in rage.
Standing at the top of the Gyarados' head, Archie crossed his arms and barked out a laugh. "You have made a grave mistake in defiling this forest with your presence, Galactic!" he declared with a smug smirk, his voice booming across the forest for all the grunts to hear. To Blue's slight confusion, the grunts all suddenly held their breaths, staring at Archie with rapt attention. "You will not be allowed to get away with such vile acts, for I- Archie- have come to thwart your plans!" For all the jokes that Blue had made about Archie being the least threatening villain he'd ever seen and asking how the heck he managed to do something as bad as nearly destroy the entire fucking planet, Blue felt like he was seeing exactly how Archie succeeded in that. It was like the Aqua Leader had come straight out of a dramatic play from the sixteenth century.
"Like fuck you will!" the red-haired one snapped, picking all the Pokéballs she could off her belt and sending them all out at once. Her Zubat, an evolved form of the spiral-tailed Pokémon, and something resembling a floating disc all charged toward Mark as well, but Star leapt out of the grass and managed to pounce down Zubat and the disc-shaped Pokémon. The evolved Pokémon on the other hand, despite its oversized-looking body, managed to very swiftly run up and bounce off the tree nearest to the Gyarados' head and tackle Archie off of Mark's neck and into the grass.
Blue whistled as loudly as he could, and almost instantly the Pidgeot came swooping down toward him, causing the two grunts holding him to shriek and let go in favor of running away. Blue quickly hopped up on Pete's back in the two seconds he landed before taking off again. "Adam, I haven't seen Archie pop back out, go see if he needs help!" Blue ordered, to which the Alakazam rushed over to check on Archie. Most of the Zubats and Wurmple being down, Mark finally had enough time and space to turn around and help Star free the captive Pokémon, easily tearing the metal open with his oversized jaws- but then Blue's attention was brought back to the grass when the large spiral-tailed Pokémon was suddenly flung out and landed on the other side of the path, Archie easily stepping out and looking like being out of breath was the most it had managed to do to him. For someone who was made 'exempt' of 'combat duties', Archie is holding his ground against Pokémon pretty damn well, Blue noted.
Suddenly Pete dived, and about a second after that Blue heard Star scream.
Clinging to Pete's body as he could without ripping out any feathers, Blue watched as Mark collapsed to the ground while Pete swooped down on the dark-type that belonged to Jupiter and knocked it away. Star screeched in rage and charged directly at anything Galactic, electricity bounding off her fur in all directions in an uncontrolled manner, zapping Zubats and Wurmple and a couple grunts on the way, even narrowly missing Pete with a stray charge. Just when Blue opened his mouth to tell her to watch out, he heard Archie roar and proceed to adopt almost the exact same tactic as his Luxio, swinging his fists at anything that dared cross his path in some sort of blind rampage.
Jupiter finally decided the chaos was getting too out-of-hand and quickly proceeded to call her Pokémon into its Pokéball.
"Retreat! I SAID RETREAT!" she bellowed at everyone. The grunts didn't need to be told twice as they all called their Pokémon back and immediately ran for it, though Jupiter did have to almost forcefully drag the red-haired woman away with how big of an enraged fit she was throwing.
"I AM NOT FINISHED!" she screamed, trying to force her Pokémon back up. Her Zubat was the only one to move.
"Don't let them get away!" Blue yelled, and Pete dived at them again.
The last thing Blue remembered was a loud, screeching sound before his mind went blank.
{Monua 26th, 9:21AM}
{Eterna Forest}
Blue slowly blinked his eyes open. His head was spinning and hurt, but his vision quickly became clear. A big, long coat had been draped over him, and felt oddly warm. On his left, Archie was sitting not too far away, absently staring ahead. Blue noted that a very thin sheet of snow had started to settle, the grass just barely dotted with white, and that the extra coat that wasn't his had also kept the snow particles off of him.
"You're still here."
Archie blinked like he'd been dragged out of deep thought and glanced down at Blue. "Sorry? Oh- yeah, I'm still here. Why?"
"Dunno. Thought you'd try and get away or something."
Archie snorted wryly. "Well, I did agree to take on Galactic with you when you offered- and as it turns out, we still have a lot of Galactic ass to kick." Archie carefully got back to his feet, brushing the light snow off his coat. "Also hung around to make sure you were alright. If you need to know, I returned Pete and Adam because you were all hit by that Zubat's Supersonic, and...I also went through your pockets to take Shanks back." Blue frowned. Archie ignored the face Blue was making. "Anyway, you just woke up, so I'd suggest staying on the ground for a bit longer while you recover. When you're ready, let me know and we can head to Eterna to ask about that building that supposedly belongs to Galactic there." There was an odd hint of bitterness in Archie's voice that wasn't there before that made Blue's frown deepen.
Archie finally started marching off. "Oi-" Blue started, trying to sit up. His head suddenly felt like it'd taken another sledgehammer to the brain and he hissed in pain, slowly sinking back down and trying to peer in Archie's direction.
The ominous dark color he could see under the light cover of snow and the large shape resting beside it made Blue's heart sink.
The gym leader carefully got up, taking it slow and keeping the coat- which he recognised as being the one that belonged to Archie's brother- around his shoulders for warmth. Once he was on his feet, he waited for the last of the dizziness to go away before walking over to the others, stopping next to Star. He quietly watched as Archie hesitantly walked around the still Gyarados' body. The Aqua Leader's fingers kept brushing over the layer of blue and white scales, as if expecting Mark to react.
"Prince went to the Leaf Lord's royal court," Star explained quietly. "Mark is too big for us to move on our own, so he decided to ask for help giving him proper rites."
"I see," Blue said.
"That fallen camarade of yours was a brave warrior," Blue heard someone say solemnly, and turned to look at the tiny Budew that had spoken. "There is nothing more honorable as a warrior than to protect the life of another. It is only right that he be given the proper prayers of farewell."
"I think saving someone's life is honorable too," Star said quietly. "But...it's not always worth losing your own. It shouldn't be. It's still a lost life."
"Indeed," the Budew agreed. "But you and your camarade have protected more than just one life. This is Eterna Forest, where everyone born from la terre grow until they are ready to return to la terre they are born from. The acts of un héros who dies are never forgotten, and always passed on for the future to remember." The Budew looked up at Mark and frowned. "...I will not allow the efforts of your fallen camarade go to waste. I will not allow his spirit to fade. That bande de salauds dared desecrate this forest with their vile actions, and forced this brave warrior to lay his épée. I shall pick it up from where he has left it. Please, allow me- Rapier- to defend you on your quest as he would have done," the Budew finished, bowing at them.
"Oh, so you're Rapier?" Archie asked, taking his eyes off Mark to look at the little Budew. Though his hand was still resting over the Gyarados' scales. "Belle, from Floaroma, sent us to find you. We brought Warin at her request."
"Belle?" Rapier repeated curiously. "Ah, ma chère soeur… She need not worry about me. But you brought Warin, you say?"
Archie nodded, digging for one of the Pokéballs on his belt and releasing a bundle of white silk. A pair of red eyes blinked open as it glanced around quickly. "Oh, hello Rapier," the cocoon said, noticing the Budew. "Guess I'm finally in Eterna Forest- though not in the most pleasant of circumstances, visibly..." Warin sighed, looking up sadly at the unmoving Gyarados.
"Indeed," Rapier said with a nod. "I have offered my services to your camarades, to continue the work that your fallen warrior can no longer perform."
Warin blinked. "Really? Well, I suppose that's up to them to decide, but...I guess if you're going, then I'll go too. Archie, are you alright with that?"
"...Rapier is welcome to come along with us, and Warin is welcome to stay," the Aqua Leader said quietly.
Blue looked up when he heard some grass rustling, and saw Prince returning with a group of Pokémon in tow that, in Blue's opinion, looked like a bunch of green Squirtle with tiny sprouts in their heads. A couple of them were a little larger and has entire bushes on their sides.
"Ooft, he's a big one indeed," one of them commented sadly. It looked up at the lot of them. "It might not be worth much, but you are all have my sincerest condolences."
"It's worth plenty," Archie said weakly. "Thank you for your kind words and for your help. Please forward my deepest gratitude to Her Majesty when you go back to the court," he finished with a bow.
"We will," the bushy Pokémon promised.
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Technically Mark died after I beat Gardenia, but Jupiter's Skuntank took him out with a single (critical) hit. If I remember right, I was trying to beat Jupiter with anyone that wasn't Star because she was already insanely overleveled (she was level 29 by the time I got out of the gym whoops). But then Mark died and I stopped caring and just let Star tear into it. But, well, there you go, Archie's first Sinnoh death.
ARCHIE
Shanks the Sharpedo, Prince the Prinplup, Star the Luxio, Warin the Silcoon, Basil the Buizel, Rapier the Budew
RIP Mark the Gyarados, levels 5-23
BLUE
Sam the Blastoise, Pete the Pidgeot, Adam the Alakazam, Gary the Arcanine