Authors' Note: If there are any questions, please leave a review and we will do our best and try to answer it!
Disclaimer: We don't actually own Pokemon.
Chapter Three: Recruits and Recon
"A... a revolution?" Jason gulped, trembling. He'd been expecting Ralph to scream, I'm a waffle! or something equally bizarre. But since Ralph had blurted out something so serious, he was completely taken off guard. "Are you... sure?"
"Yes." Ralph replied, determination flashing in his auburn eyes. "So far, we've only been protesting. But that's not enough. We're going to hit Darkrai with a whole new level of pain! This is no longer just a verbal revolt. This is war!"
A moment of absurd silence thundered down in the room, and the only sound was Charlez's labored breathing. Ralph sat down abruptly, suddenly realizing, with much embarrassment, that all eyes were on him. "I mean... if you guys are okay with that..." His voice trailed off miserably. How am I suppose to start a revolution just like this? he thought sadly, Who actually just starts a revolution by saying "I'm going to start a revolution!"?
Marcus exchanged a glance with Mark, eyeing his posture. Mark nodded in a simple exchange of agreement. The two had had a difficult past together, and the idea of a revolution was not new to them. The two silently agreed that, although they had both failed in many things in their lives and seen the deaths of so many dear friends, they would help this strange, yet surprisingly passionate Lucario. It would make up for the wrongs they had committed, oh so long ago.
"We're both in," Marcus and Mark said in sync.
Ralph looked up at them, shock lighting up his gloomy expression. "How - why?" He flashed an inquisitive glance at the two.
"The Shadow Forces must be stopped," Marcus stated in a very matter-of-factly manner, lifting a chocolate-colored forepaw tentatively.
"But why would you agree with me?" Ralph gaped at the Leafeon, who looked as serene as an Altaria.
"I don't want the them to hurt other Pokemon like us... and her," Marcus said calmly, glancing at Charlez.
"You owe me a van." Mark intoned. "And I expect you to pay up."
"Mark!" Marcus chided.
"What? The last van cost me like, a thousa - "
"You stole that car!"
"I borrowed it!"
"Those two words are completely different things!"
As the two hurled themselves into a friendly quarrel, Ralph casted a fearful look at Jason, praying that his brother would not object. He didn't know if he could bear starting a revolution without his favorite waffle bro. "Jason...I know you probably think I'm crazy, and maybe that's true, but I just can't...can't..." His voice ceased to work, and he stared limply on the ground.
"Meh, it's fine. My waffles and I are in, too!" Jason cheered carelessly. "Never has there been a twelve-year-old Riolu involved in so much. Let's go kick some SFP butts!"
"SFP?" Mark asked, his sharp squint turning wide-eyed for a moment. "Isn't that a type of orange juice?"
Mark frowned. "Wasn't that the same brand of orange juice that made you puke up an entire pizza?"
"You were the one who started that orange-n-pizza eating contest." Marcus argued. "And then you just had to make that face and make me puke all over that waitress."
"I remember we won that Comedy Award in Gwen's Book of World Records." Mark chuckled. "Paid off all my debts."
"Screw your debts." Marcus muttered, then cleared his throat. "Jason, I honestly hope your SFP doesn't stand for that orange juice...Sunny Fuchista Punch."
"It stands for Shadow Force Police." Jason explained. "It's too complicated to go and say 'Hey! The Shadow Force Police this and The Shadow Force Police that,' So why not shorten it?"
"You got a point there." The Leafeon shuffled his paws and twitched his leafy tail
Ralph was still shocked. "So... y-you all agree," he asked, surprise showing in his eyes.
"Sure!" The other three were in unison as they all showed their agreement in some sort of gesture or another.
"I'd do anything for my bro, and waffles." Jason grinned, his muzzle wrinkling up in a bright smile. "I mean, I get to quit school for this, right? Schools are useless."
"Schools aren't useless." Marcus chided. "You actually learn a lot from them, like math, and grammar, and music and arts….I learned how to play Alto Saxophone professionally, too!"
Jason rolled his eyes. "Lame."
Ralph stared at the three. "So you don't think I'm insane? Or stupid? Or pathetic?"
Marcus grinned. "Hey, we're all in the same boat now. Why would you be crazy?"
Mark and Jason nodded in agreement, as if starting a revolution was a daily thing for them. However, Ralph, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by their generous comments.
"T-Thank you," he whispered to them, then glanced down at Charlez's sleeping figure. "I'll avenge you," he vowed, watching her side rise and fall with passing breathes.
"Meanwhile, why not eat waffles?" Jason's cheerful voice piped up. He'd wandered over to the snack table that Lumiere had provided for them. "Hey! They got whipped cream, maple syrup, and chocolate sauce for the waffles! WHOOO!" The young Riolu's snout was buried into the pile of waffles within the next second.
"He sure loves waffles." Marcus commented, shying away from the mess of baked goods and glossing at the tea set.
"You have no idea," Ralph agreed. Smiling at each other, the three shrugged over to join Jason.
Somewhere far away…
An old, battle-scarred Nidoqueen circled Darkrai slowly. She was known as the Queen, Her Highness, or Matilda, but that name was only ever used by other royalty. She was the Queen of the Northern Kingdom, a kingdom that covered much of Northern Unova.
Waving her bejeweled fan, she gracefully perched on her throne, which had became known as the Gem Chair.
"Proceed with your business." Her tone was that of someone who had little or no care for any matter concerning the creature before her, such a mood being shown by the look of apathy upon her traumatized face. Despite Darkrai being a minor god and immortal, she showed no reverence towards him. Her easy pose warned Darkrai that she expected him to treat her as an equal - or suffer the consequences.
Darkrai stared in awe at the old queen. She had killed many Nidoking suitors that had tried to seize her everlasting reign. This well-worn woman was not a force to be reckoned with, and Darkrai knew it from the moment he saw her.
"I am trying to establish the new bill, but there are certain, how to put it...?" Darkrai summed up. "Protesters, refusing to accept it. From my sources, they are led by a Lucario and they have been protesting against the police. The poor Police Force cannot do anything but be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers!" Darkrai started with his odd element of pity, playing against her knowledge of war. "And, you seeー"
Her royal Highness held up a huge paw, crisscrossed with scars. She seemed to ponder over his words for quite a while before replying gruffly.
"Stop." She ordered, her authority so strong in her voice that even Darkrai faltered in his smooth speech. "I know exactly what you are getting at," She proclaimed calmly, "Xiawa!"
Immediately, a Weavile darted out of the shadows and bowed before the queen.
"Yes, m'lady?" He kept his head down, casting a sideways glance at the queen's subject.
"Gather information on the protesters," she ordered,"They are being led by a Lucario. That should be enough information for you, correct?"
"Of course." Xiawa replied in a low voice.
"Then go." The queen said.
"Anything to please my lady, her Royal Highness." He spoke proudly and quickly darted off.
Darkrai stared at the queen, and yet she smiled understandingly.
"It has always been rather hard for those of us with authority to constitute anything." She reflected sadly. "However, you, a god nonetheless, bowed down to me, a mortal. That is enough sacrifice for me to understand how willing you are to assimilate with us mortals. Before you ask, my answer will be yes." She paused, smiling. "I have heard news from the other regions, news of the revolts. I understand what you need, and I shall give you all within my power. My troops will aid you in your battles against the revolts. My citizens will ship goods to help. No thanks are needed."
"Thank you will never explain my gratitude to you, oh great Lady of honor," Darkrai remarked gratefully, "But one day, I will help you."
Matilda nodded, smiling an old and dark smile. "And their little revolution will be crushed..."
Back in the secret room, next morning…
Ralph yawned loudly as he blinked open his drowsy eyes. He turned to see Jason snoring on a pile of half-eaten waffles, and Mark and Marcus sleeping on bamboo mats to his left. He worriedly eyed Charlez, who was still sleeping soundly.
"Good morning, friends." The secret door opened and Lumiere floated in with Clarisse. The Lilligant towed a heavy, strange-looking contraption with an assortment of colored wires poking in and out of it.
"Place it here, Clarisse... yes... no, a little bit to the... good!" CLUNK! "That was...a rough landing. Are you okay? Alright. Move it a bit towards the wall - " THUMP! "That's perfect. Thank you. You may depart now," he told her.
The Lilligant smiled and quietly exited via the secret entry. As she did, the other Pokemon woke up.
"Uh... whazat?" Jason yawned, stretching his forelimbs, his sharp teeth glinting. He narrowed his eyes. "Looks like a no-good, waffle-destroying...MY WAFFLES!" He dove back into his pile of waffles.
"Looks... techy." Mark offered his opinion, the feathery replacement for his eyebrows furrowing.
Lumiere nodded. "This is an electric machine that possess the ability to heal Dark Burns. Please stand back."
Ralph and the other shuffled back to give the Chandelure his space. Lumiere placed a heavy metal-like coat on Charlez, and gently secured it. He pressed several buttons on the strange machine and fiddle with several switches before he finally announced. "Et c'est parti!"
A slow, yellow glow wrapped around the metal coat Charlez was in. The glow slowly faded into lighter yellow, then white. With a final, heart-stopping flash, the machine whined and groaned to a stop. Lumiere removed the metal coat from Charlez and sighed with satisfaction. "Oui, it's all healed now. She should be waking soon," he then smiled, "It's a good thing that I had all those years of engineering school."
"Engineering school?" Ralph asked, "Wow! I got a master degree in mine. Which school did you go to?"
"KAEI, Klinklang Academy of Engineering and Invention." The Head Cleric replied. "Unfortunately, I wasn't very skilled there..." he sighed sadly. "But I made some good friends and gained new skills, so that was good." He added brightly.
Ralph blinked. "Was there a Riolu in your class?"
Lumier frowned. "I don't remember there being a Riolu, no."
"But... I went there too!" Ralph exclaimed.
"So did I!" Jason called from his pile of waffles. "I mean, as a spectator, since we didn't have Nana Charlez back then and Ralphie had to take care of me."
"So how come I've never seen you around...ah.." Lumiere drifted off into his thoughts.
Ralph frowned, trying to remember. There weren't any Chandelure in his class back then, but there was a..."Wait! Were you that Lampent..."
Lumiere nodded vigorously. "And you were that Riolu that got hit in the head with a flying gear!"
"That was hilarious!" Jason added.
"Wait, who got hit in the head with what?" Mark asked, lost in translation.
Jason laughed. "One of Ralph's machines went haywire, and then teacher had to blow it apart. When it did, the main gear blasted off and whomped Ralphie, here, in the head... you should've been there!"
"That sounds rather dangerous," Mark commented mildly, shaking out his claws. "I'm not much for engineering..."
"Don't you just hate the academy's food? Absolutely horrid..." Lumière asked. "I mean...I'm a Ghost and Fire type! And all they served was..."
"Oh my gods! Don't remind me! Yellow gummies, scrap metal, and mashed Sitrus Berry gunk!" Ralph laughed as he felt the memories flood into his mind.
Lumiere chuckled as well, but this was a much more hollow sound. Well, no surprise, him being a lamp and all. "And remember the head principal, Karet? He thinks he's so great, but the students all call him..."
"The Carrot Head!" Jason and Ralph both said simultaneously. All three started laughing.
"Okay, it's great that you engineering chums got together, but remember? Revolution?" Marcus asked, his leafy ears twitching in annoyance.
"Oh...right." Ralph deflated almost immediately, murmuring, "We need to plan for the revolution..."
"Oho? What revolution?" Lumiere asked, a glimmer appearing in his yellow eyes.
Jason hopped up to him, woofing loudly, "We're starting a revolution to overthrow the Shadow Force Police! Also known as..." he took a deep breath. "THE KICK-THE-SHADOW-FORCE-POLICE-GOOD-BYE-AND-HIGH- FIVE-THEM-IN-THE-FACE- WITH-A-FLYING-GEAR REVOLUTION!"
"That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but may I help?" Lumiere winced at the loudness of the pup. He was more used to the quiet serenity of the chapel and silent prayers.
"Sure! After all...you're pretty much the only one of us who's not wanted by the SFP." Ralph told him excitedly.
"Great! But...how do we start?" Lumiere inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him despite himself.
"First of all, we're going to need more recruits. Subtracting the ten of our protesters who got hurt, we barely have enough Pokemon to fight the SFP, much less start a revolution." Ralph spoke carefully, then added slowly. "I have a friend who might want to join. He'll be a small addition, but he's a great mechanic. We'll need him...unfortunately, he's all the way across town. There's too many SFP around here. There's no way we're going to make it even halfway across town without being seen."
Lumiere nodded. "Follow me, please." He floated over to the wall and whispered something incomprehensible. Suddenly, the entire wall flipped to the side to reveal a tunnel.
"Woah... how many secret chambers do you have in this place?" Jason asked, amazed.
Lumiere smiled. "That, my friend, is a secret, much like these tunnels, eh? This tunnel can magically lead you to any underground place within this town. Just imagine the place you want to go to, and the tunnel will shift according to your wishes. It can help you get anywhere without the Pokemon above ground noticing you. Of course, it can't go everywhere... especially magically-protected places. But be aware, the tunnel will close if you step out of it."
"Really?" Ralph stared at the tunnel.
Lumiere nodded. "You should go no -"
"Hey guys!" Victor bounded in, followed by a Bellossom.
"Sorry, Sir Lumiere." The Bellossom apologized, fluffing out her petals in embarrassment . "This Snivy claimed to be a friend of..."
"It's fine," Lumiere told her. "Thank you, Laurel. But next time, don't let anyone else come down the secret passage." He turned to Ralph. "You should go now, to your friend's house. I will stay back here and wait for your return, and to explain things to Charlez when she wakes up." Laurel quietly left the room, her face still flustered with blushing mortification.
Ralph nodded. "Thanks again, Lumiere." He turned and informed Victor of the Revolution. After doing so, Ralph, Jason, Mark, Marcus, and Victor darted into the tunnel.
"Where are we going?" Jason asked, after several minutes of continuous walking.
"Ron's basement." Ralph explained.
"Ron? The Treecko? Your old kindergarten buddy?" Jason exclaimed, snorting out a giggle.
Ralph smiled. "Yeah," he said shortly. They moved on in silence. After a while, they popped out of the wall. Ralph surveyed the place.
"Toys, toys, toys. Yep, this is Ron's base-" A crash behind him made him jump in surprise. As he did, he saw that the other four Pokemon were collapsed in a pile on the floor.
"The tunnel's closing!" Jason yelped, his paws scrabbling at the stone."Mark, get off meh back!"
"Tell Marcus to get off me first!"
"Who's stepping on my tail?" Victor wailed, his eyes wide with pain.
"My legs are stuck under this... this... gigantic robot toy!" Marcus yelped, his yellow eyes flickering with tiny tear droplets.
Ralph jumped over them and landed in the tunnel before it closed. The entrance opened wide again.
"WHOA, WHOA, STOP!" A Treecko bounded down the dusty steps. "ROBBERS! FIENDS! MURDERERS! AND... Ralph?" He frowned. "What are you...?"
"Get off me, Marcus!"
"Get the robot off me first!"
"I'm... can't... breathe!" Jason gasped.
"My tail!" Victor whimpered.
Ron frowned, and clapped his paws. The robot disintegrated, and the four Pokemon slowly disengaged themselves from each other. "Uh... why - what? How?"
"Magic tunnel." Ralph explained. "Ron, we're going to start something big. We're gonna start a..."
"A revolution!" Jason declared. "Against the Shadow Force Police!"
"And we're trying to recruit people. Can you - do you want to join?" Ralph asked hopefully.
Ron frowned, and tapped a nearby machine. He frowned some more and muttered to himself. He shook his head several times and smacked his palm against his forehead. Ralph began to get a depressing feeling of dread as Ron shook his head more and more vigorously.
Then Ron looked up. "I'm in," he said, then faced Ralph. "You know they took my parents and my sister, right?"
Ralph was shocked. "What - how?"
Ron shrugged. "This ain't a small town, buddy. I suppose news doesn't travel very well with those Shadow Force scums around, either. They're taking everybody's parents. Something about the old and elderly not contributing anything to the republic? My sister tried to stop them, and... well, she got it their way... and you know what happens to people that get in their way. When I came to, after being knocked out, they told me all that."
"So, that's why they took my parents too," Mark growled, still shaking his forepaws from their fuzzy sleep, "Haven't they ever thought about what the elderly have already done for society?"
The others pondered that thought in silence.
Somewhere, within a room…
"General Doomsday. We have not located the suspects..." A Sableye squeaked nervously. "Even Lieutenant Mali has been bested. But we'll..."
Do what? The general's voice floated through the air. What can you do to contribute to the Shadow Force? What can you possibly do to diminish the starvation of a darkness that has been kept hungry for so many eons?
The Sableye started shaking. The General wasn't in a good mood. Doomsday hissed. You are weak. Too weak! Yubabah! Shadow!
A shiny Gengar and shiny Honchkrow appeared out of the shadows, crouching beside the Sableye with distinct grimaces, as if they were appalled by being in her presence.
Show those weaklings true power! True darkness! Those who can't take on full-on merciless training will be tossed aside! Banish the weak! Strengthen the strong! That is how it has always been, and that is how it will always be! General Doomsday's words sliced through the air like a knife.
The Sableye backed away, shuddering under the pressure of the dark voice. "G-G-General D-Doomsday... s-surely this is not necessary f-for..."
Everything I say is necessary, you fool, The general snapped, Are you foolish enough to talk back to me, again?
The Sableye trembled and backed away, shaking her head, jeweled eyes glinting in fear and horror.
The Honchkrow and Gengar snickered, snapping and teasing the poor creature till she ran from the room.
"They are indeed weak." Yubabah, the Honchkrow, chortled.
"We will show them true darkness." Shadow, the Gengar, agreed.
Then leave my sight be from your sorry carcasses, The General growled, turning toward a bright red crystal orb.
The two Pokemon bowed and backed away, leaving the general's line of vision. The General hissed and stared into the orb. We must play our parts!
~Back at Lumiere's secret hideout…
"So this is your friend." Lumiere glanced at Ron. "That's great! Charlez's awake now. She's been begging to know where you've been."
"Okay," Ralph replied. "Got that."
The group gathered around Charlez, who looked both happy and confused, as she was definitely not used to suddenly being crowded by others. "Um... who're you guy?" she asked warily.
"We're the Revolutionists!" Ron boasted, giving a leering smirk of pride.
"We're gonna overthrow the SFP!" Jason cheered.
"What they said," Marcus muttered, glancing at Mark for reassurance. The Blaziken shrugged, obviously equally uncomfortable at the idea of joining a group of strangers.
After filling her in, Charlez nodded, and staggered weakly out of bed. "I'm... fine," she said, swaying a bit. "Just need to get my strength back."
Ralph nodded. "While you do that, let's discuss our plans."
"You're gonna need more recruits." Ron noted, flicking his tongue instinctively.
Ralph sighed. "Yeah, I got that. And to do that quickly, Ron, Victor, and Lumiere, you guys have to go out and seek out the Pokemon that may..."
"Um, why us?" Victor asked, stepping back and squinting.
"Well..." Ralph glanced at Mark and Marcus. "We're kind of... wanted by the SFP right now. There's no way we're gonna get away with wandering around town for a few
hours."
"I disagree," Lumiere spoke up, "The SFP barely saw you five. They won't recognize if you act like regular citizens... which you are. There're a lot of Pokemon in town. What are the odds of the SFP finding you?"
"That's true," Ralph admitted. "Okay, then. Change of plans. We'll split up to recruit more Pokemon. Lumiere, Jason, Victor and Marcus, you guys will go together. I'll go with Mark and Ron. We'll meet back here at the chapel tonight."
"Should be easy. There are lot of Pokemon who feel bitterness towards the Shadow Forces," Mark cheered.
Ralph nodded. "Let's go!"
~A few hours later...
Ralph, Mark and Ron seemed to have had everyone turn them down, and their expressions had turned dismal. Now, wandering about with sore feet and paws, they arrived, tired and filled with despair, at the beach.
The beach setting was lovely, and somehow, it reminded Ralph of how hungry he was. Quickly sniffing out the nearest restaurant, the three entered Pansear's Grill: A Beach BBQ Haven. Eager to fill their empty stomachs, they raced in, unaware of a hideously dark presence lurking behind them...
HIdden in the shadows and glowing with dark, malicious power, a Liepard kept her sharp glare on the group. She flashed a devious grin at a Braixen several feet behind her and indicated towards their prey with a slight twitch of her velvety ears. The Braixen watched her partner's movements out of a corner of her eye as she browsed through several racks of merchandise at a nearby stand, looking mildly interested. The Liepard hissed softly through her teeth, alerting the Braixen, then summoned her with a flick of her long tail as she turned back towards the grill.
"I dinna even get ta take a look at the scarves yet, Charna! " The Braixen hissed through her sharp teeth, coming up from behind the Liepard. She fell into a silence soon enough as the three Pokemon they were appeared near the entrance of the grill..
A dark chuckle rumbled from the Liepard's mouth and she stepped forward, twisting slightly to turn to the Braixen.
"Amethyst, wait in those oaks over there. I'll deliver them to you soon. And then they'll..." an elated, crazed smile lit up her face, "... die."
Amethyst, the Braixen, nodded, hopping onto the roof of the grill and jumping from building to building, tree to tree. The Liepard purred through a grin as she stalked Ralph and his comrades, her emerald eyes often flickering up towards the trees to make sure Amethyst hadn't gotten sidetracked.
Minutes passed. The Liepard and Braixen's prey stepped out of the grill and into the ambush scene. Another minute passed with no clear actions taken.
Ralph and Ron, completely unaware they were being hunted, idly chatted about random plans, walking slightly ahead of Mark, who seemed uneasy. He, being a skilled runaway, could sense that something was not so right. He kept trying to find some way to express the watched feeling he was getting, but every time he attempted to talk, he cut off by either Ron or Ralph. It was horrible, having this tingling sense of danger following his every move. Mark could even swear, later, that he'd saw a cat-like figure a few times, but as soon as he tried to remember what it looked like, his vision became clouded with a dark purple haze and he soon forgot to mention it.
Behind him, Charnette flinched, her low heartbeat skipping as she softly uttered spells under her breath. She had to continuously send those spells provoking dark magic in order to keep the Blaziken ahead of her from realizing that he was being followed. Her already lightless heart was growing even darker with every ounce of magic she used, tapping into her soul. Such an evil art would've scared any lesser Pokemon away, but she liked it; welcomed it.
Amethyst was already sitting in the oak tree Charnette had referenced to and seemed bored, her fiery, alive attitude being overcome by her serious "work" attitude. This assassination would prove to keep calm a whole revolt within seconds. The news would merely report that "...a young Lucario and his friends were caught in the unlikely, unlucky event of an old tree falling..." Ooooh! This is just too good, Amethyst thought, remembering the reward she was to get from her assignment leader. So much money that she could afford to build a better shrine to Yveltal and that Charnette could gain more black market goods to continue her dark path of black magic. It would be perfect.
Would be.
As Charnette brought the three Pokemon closer to Amethyst, she grew disturbed by the chatter they were making. Their plans were starting to sound bad. And she liked how bad it was. It was against the norm bad, with good intentions bad, the best kind of bad. The type of bad that defined fun. If only she could join in on their plans…. Charnette felt a low growl rise in her throat as she realized Amethyst starting to question herself. She transferred a thought to Amethyst, wanting to see if the demonic Braixen had any similar thoughts to her.
So, what do you think about their deadly little plan? Charnette sent telepathically.
I dunno, but I want in. Was the fox's quick reply.
Before Charnette could realize what was going on, Amethyst had sprung down from her spot in the trees and pinned down the Lucario, having knocked out the other two out insanely fast. A loud hiss came from Charnette as Amethyst blocked her out of her mind, raising a fire-lit stick and aiming it at Ralph as she did.
A sly grin crossed the fox's face as she read Ralph's shocked expression. She snickered quietly and stood up.
"Oh calm down, I haven't the slightest want ta kill ya yet. Ya haven't even heard my question yet-"
Amethyst stopped in her tracks, turning toward Charnette, who had a very dark aura pulsing around her. Ralph was wide-eyed and began to scoot backward, bumping into Ron, who had only just regained consciousness. Mark was already up and in the position to fight, his attention on the Liepard.
Before Ralph could decide on a plan of action, a Breloom and Houndoom darted over.
"Amethyst And Charnette! How dare you run from your condemnation like that?!" The Houndoom snarled through her canines, feeling that she had almost failed to stop the Braixen from assassinating Ralph.
The Houndoom and Breloom were unofficial criminal hunters, and they'd been on Amethyst and Charnette's tracks for quite a while, as the two had done many murders and other filthy underworld business prior to the moment. Amethyst and Charnette, of course, were not strangers to the Houndoom and Breloom. They'd also known that they'd been hunted for a long time.
"We're joining the revolution!" Amethyst announced, proudly puffing out her fluffy chest.
"Can you say that a little bit louder?" Mark grumbled with cynical sarcasm laced in his words.
"Yes," Amethyst replied in a rather forward manner, a flame burning in her sunrise orange eyes. "This is gonna be fun!"
"Um... I haven't..." Ralph tried to talk.
"This Houndoom is Rachiel, but you can call her Rachie. She was tryin ta kill me when I was tryin ta kill you, Ralphie," Amethyst practically purred the words, like they had no deeper meaning to her, "And this Breloom is Xeno, she was also at me neck!"
"Wanna join us?" Charnette offered.
Xeno shrugged. "Sure?"
"Looking forward to the revolution!" Rachiel said, forgetting immediately her task of decapitating the two assassins.
"Yeah!" Xeno agreed, shuffling away from a very grabby Amethyst.
Ralph glanced at Ron and Mark, awaiting their opinions.
Ron shrugged. "We haven't recruited anyone in the last hour. And now we've got four wanna-be recruits here."
"True," Mark agreed. "Even though they're all girls and two apparently wanted to kill us all..."
"Being a female or no has no matter on the subject," Charnette's mouth tweaked into a pain-inducing smirk. "Death comes no matter the gender. Besides, I pride myself in black-magic curses that slowly kill, and Amethyst, the fox girlie, is the quietest mercenary on this side of the mountain range. Either of us could kill you and you would never feel us coming."
"Oh," Mark crept back slowly, rubbing his claws awkwardly, "Um, I take my words back."
Rachiel and Xeno rolled their eyes, and Xeno was pulled into another grabby hug by Amethyst.
"Okay, okay, you guys can join," Ralph agreed excitedly, forgiving them for attempting to assassinate him in seconds. "Let's start the revolution!"
~Meanwhile, Jason, Marcus, Lumiere, and Victor aren't having much luck either…
Jason groaned as he plopped down in a chair at the restaurant they had stopped at. "I'm starving! And we haven't recruited anybody yet!" He stared at his menu. The restaurant apparently specialized in pizzas, as there were thousands of different pizzas on the menu.
Lumiere sighed. "I hope that Ralph will have more luck than us. It's getting dark." He added as he glanced out the window.
"Ughhh..." Victor groaned.
Marcus sighed. "Yeah... luck's not on our side today, huh?"
Jason yawned. Suddenly, Lumiere hissed in alarm and Jason froze, mid-yawn.
"S-F-P," the Chandelure whispered, his flames flickering and dancing in his surprise. The others followed his gaze to the door, where a squad of Banettes had just walked in.
Jason stiffened as they sat down in the booth adjacent to him. Just my luck! They couldn't have sat at any of the other empty tables! Jason flinched back as he heard the seats crinkle.
"Don't... make... sudden... moves..." Victor whispered. "Actually, don't move at all."
"Thanks a lot." Jason mumbled, feeling rather squirmy.
One of the Banettes stood to use the restroom. He lost his balance suddenly and fell off his chair and somersaulted to the restroom. It was a rather funny performance to see, but the Revolutionists were so stiff that if they had tried to laugh, they probably would've sounded like a bunch of old men.
"Hello. My name's Morfient, and I'll be your waiter for today," A Munchlax chattered, looking a bit uncomfortable in his waiter's uniform. He glanced at the group and stopped for a moment, seeing that they all looked stiff and nervous. "Are you folks okay?"
Lumiere managed to relax and laugh it off. "It's okay, everything's fi - "
"Hey, you!" One of the SFP yelled, her gold teeth glinting. The entire Revolutionist group cringed with horror. "Hurry up, will you? Our break's almost over!"
"Sorry, ma'am," Morfient apologized, "Sorry, gents. I'm going to have to take their orders first."
"That's fine. We can wait." Lumiere replied.
"Yeah, you'd better wait," a male Banette growled, nudging the female beside him. "Hey, fatso! I want a pizza with Oran berries, Hondew berries, and... " He went off ordering a ridiculous list of berries for his pizza and the female clasped her puppet hands together.
The Banette that had gone to restroom floated back, frowning when he saw Jason.
"Haven't I met you before?" He wondered as he floated over the the Revolutionist's table.
"N-No." Jason replied. "You got the wrong Riolu."
"No, I'm pretty sure I've met you somewhere..." he frowned.
By then, all four Pokemon were on edge and ready to make a mad scramble to the door. Jason tensed, ready to flee.
"Calm down, gent," Morfient came over. "That's a Riolu! I mean, that's my friend visiting from... uh, all the way from Sinnoh!"
The Banette glared at him, his black eyes filled with annoyed confusion. "No, isn't he one of the protes- "
"Hey, Yo-yo," the snappy male Banette yelled. "You gonna order or what? Break's almost over and I'm definitely not letting you eat my pizza this time!"
"A Banette called Yo-yo?" Jason tried not to snicker.
The Banette scowled at them but went back to his seat. The four Revolutionists warily made their order. The Banettes attacked their pizzas as soon as they arrived and tore them apart. After filling up their empty stomachs, they left.
Morfient came over with the Revolutionists' pizzas after the officers had vanished.
Jason let out a long breath. "Thanks, Morfient." He thanked gladly. "For not blowing our cover."
"I knew it. You're one of the protester folks, heh?" He asked. "That's mighty brave of ya, you know. Going up and against those dark little pizza-destroyers."
"Do you want to join?" Victor asked.
Morfient frowned. "I'll think about it..."
"Waiter!" A Pokemon yelled from another table. "Hurry up!"
"Sorry!" Morfient yelped, "I'll be right back," He told the group, and hurried off.
"Why'd you invite a complete stranger?" Lumière asked. "Is that a good choice? Having a... Munchlax on this?"
"Look, when there's battle, there's got to be food and goods, right?" Victor explained. "Morfient can provide that. He'll be a great addition to our team if he joins."
"That's true. Food is vital." Marcus admitted.
Their pizzas were soon served, hot and steaming, and the four ravenous Pokemons devoured it mere seconds. After Jason was done and was licking his plate, Morfient came back.
"So... deal?" Victor asked.
Morfient nodded. "Sure, but on one condition."
"What condition?" Marcus asked warily.
"You have to let my best friend, Trent the Tank, into the group." Morfient announced.
"Who's Trent?" Jason wondered.
"ME." The four looked up, startled, as a huge Tyranitar rumbled over. He dropped his voice down to a whisper so the other dining guests couldn't hear,. "My family was taken from me by the SFP," he growled, "The Tank wants REVENGE!"
"Shh!" Lumiere hissed worriedly as the other guests looked at them strangely.
Victor beamed. "Okay, you're in. It's a deal!"
"That said, let's go back to the chapel! I bet Ralph hasn't recruited even two Pokemon!" Jason cheered.
~Back at the Chapel…
"No way! You recruited four Pokemon?" Jason practically screamed. "That's... that's a new record!"
"There's never been a record set for this, but sure." Ralph replied, grinning.
"Well, hello," Marcus said as he sidled up to Charnette. "What's your sign?"
Charnette returned with one of her trademark crazed smiles, "The sign of death."
"Aww, don't be like that-" He shuffled his paws. Charnette's pelt glimmered like a brocade of stars, yet it was the type of stars that meant death. She was gorgeous and terrifying at the same time, and Marcus liked that. She purred, circling him.
"I always wanted a test subject~ Ame isn't really ideal for curses, you know!" She giggled, her naturally dark aura turning pitch black.
"Okay, fine! But-"
"It entails entrails and rolling skulls, lovely," she snapped at his paw in a hopefully joking manner.
Mark burst out laughing, seeing Marcus become slightly hopeless against the she-cat, "Marcus, really? Is this necessary?"
Charnette got tackled by Amethyst before she could speak another corrupted word.
"Ye need ta stop-" Ame growled playfully, sitting on Charnette's stomach, "Enough is enough, Charna."
Charnette simply flashed a smirk at Marcus and Mark, then promptly turned her back on them.
"We now have thirteen members of the revolution, plus the rest of the protesters and some citizens on our side," Ralph announced, "Next thing we have to do is to drive the SFP away from Nuvema Town, which will be our home base for the upcoming battles."
Mark raised a claw, confused. "How exactly are we going to do that?" he asked.
"What if we slowly switch in one Pokemon at a time," Marcus suggested, "We're going to slowly swap each citizen with one Revolutionist. When we're all set and the citizens are safe and sound here, in the Chapel, which will be a refugee camp..." he glanced at Lumiere. "Is that okay?"
"Yes, we have a huge underground chamber. It's big enough to hold several hundred Pokemon," Lumiere replied, catching onto the idea.
"Yes, that's a great plan." Ralph agreed. "We'll take out the ones that sides with the Shadow Force first, then slowly switch with the others. Jason, call in all protesters close enough to get here within one week."
"Roger!" Jason agreed.
"Nice plan." Mark nudged Marcus. "For a lovesick Leafeon."
"Hey come on!" Marcus hissed. Charna was squinting at him with emerald eyes that seemed like they could burn a hole through him.
"Everyone agrees?" Ralph asked.
"Sure." Xeno and Rachiel said together.
"Why not?" Ame cheered.
"I'm in." Victor offered.
"So am I." Lumiere agreed.
"Yay!" Jason jumped up and down. "Let's do this!"
As Ralph stared at the moonlight drifting in from a stained-glass window of the Chapel, his auburn eyes lit with the fire of determination. "Get some rest, gang. Tomorrow, we start the plan."
~In a dark cavern beneath the Bloodred Temple…
A creature stirred, eyeing an orb beside it. Yes, yes, our children have done their work. The low whisper floated out the cracks and crevices like a quiet, yet chaotic breeze. Something very old, and very bad, had awoken and wanted to play. Its wings stretched only the slightest inch and it closed its piercing blue eyes, trailing off into a short nap.
We are proud of you, our Braixen, our Liepard, you have led us to our source of fun for this sweet era. We have had just enough time to contemplate our battle plan. We will play with the lovely dark doll and the mighty time doll, watch as they corrupt under pressure, crack, like the spines of our prey…
~Somewhere within the shadows…
A shadow detached itself swiftly from the walls of the Chapel. It had heard everything, being an expert spy of the shadows, and it would make sure that the Queen, Her Highness, knows about this…
"You're not the only spy here." A cool voice drifted past him.
Xiawa eyed the darkness around him. He had never before met a Pokemon that could hide from him in the dark. How is this possible? He thought, confused. Then a thought crossed his mind... unless it was... he froze. No! It couldn't be! That Pokemon was supposed to be dead a long, long time ago…
"Yesss." A heavy weight slammed into him. "It's me."
Credits:
alpha2275: LoG Representative on Fanfiction and Fanfiction Manager
MarcusUCOD: Dialogue Writer
Esther Hung: Chief Writer, Editor, Video Maker, and Character Creator
Anisa Krieg: Writer, Artist, Character Creator, and Tweaker
(More TBD...)