Revival Chapter Three:
Waves the hue of the cloudy night sky crashed against the tall rocks that jutted out of the ocean. As he struggled to keep in the air, Eldrin could see the faint silhouettes of the generators hidden among the rock, providing electricity to the complex ahead of him. Pidgeot endeavored to keep it and its rider at an even keel, but the high winds buffeted the pair, sending the bird pokemon tumbling every which way, like a kite in a wind storm. The leather harness strained and pulled as Eldrin tried to maintain his balance. He was afraid that at any second, the harness would snap, sending the man tumbling into the choppy waves below.
The landing platform came in sight, much to his relief and the pidgeot landed on the platform, its beak gaping as it panted with exhaustion. Eldrin returned the pokemon back in its ball and looked around. It had been nearly two years since he had been here, yet there seemed very little change to the landscape. He was on a small island, a little more than a lump of rock, due west from Hoenn, on the outskirts of the Orange archipelago. A tall castle took up the majority of the island, its spires stretching towards the darkened skies. The castle's construction was fluid, consisting of organic shapes, all made of a gray slick stone. A woman was advancing towards Eldrin, clad in a midnight blue cloak, with a swampert plodding alongside her. A hooded lantern was in one hand, the shutters aiming the light straight ahead.
"It's about time you showed up," she commented acidly. "The Master has been waiting for you."
Eldrin shook a few stray locks of bright red hair from his face. "He's been waiting for two years, he can wait for a few moments more Stella."
Stella harrumphed. "Whatever. Just remember I'll be saying 'I told you so' once his salamence eats you alive."
Eldrin rolled his eyes and adjusted his red cloak, revealing a long sword attached to his belt. "So, what's it like being the Master's lapdog for two years? Tell me, was it nice sitting at the Master's feet like his Mightyena?"
"Enough to know that I could kill you quite easily without you even realizing it until your corpse is one the floor. The Master has taught me many things."
"I'd like to see you try," Eldrin snarled, hand going to the hilt of his weapon.
Stella did likewise, shifting her cape to show a long thin sword. She smirked. "Later though. I'm frankly not in the mood to clean off your corpse off the platform." The two entered through a doorway.
The castle hadn't changed much since Eldrin left it two years ago. The curves and fluid shapes of the castle, the smoothness of the structures, it gave off the impression that the castle was a living, sentient being, which Eldrin knew his Master wanted to achieve. Eldrin held his cloak closer to his muscular frame. Even after all this time, it still was accursedly cold in the complex, eliciting chills down his spine.
Stella led him to a large central chamber in the main building of the castle, the 'throne room', where his Master stayed. Stella returned swampert back in its pokeball and gestured for Eldrin to enter. Eldrin shot her a dirty look as he entered, while Stella waggled her eyebrows. She flicked back her dark, curly locks and left Eldrin to the mercy of the Master.
"Enter Eldrin. It has been too long." A voice emanated from the darkest part of the antechamber, where the light didn't reach the room. The voice was smooth, eloquent, like the speech of an educated man, but there was an undertone of venom, malevolence, reminding Eldrin of poisoned honey. "Come closer Eldrin."
Eldrin bowed to the shadowy Master. "Yes, my Master, it has been too long."
"Tell me Eldrin, have you discovered anything new about the boy?"
"Not much, my liege. He is as clueless as ever, unaware of his destiny. He has however, exhibited signs of the Aura, albeit sporadically."
"That is to be expected. He has no teacher, no one to guide him in the ways of Aura." The shadows shifted and the Master stood up from the chair, which also reflected the designs of the castle. A pair of Mightyena looked up at their master and relocated nearby, where the watch the scene unfold
"Truly my liege, he is naïve. " Eldrin offered.
The Master moved closer to Eldrin, exposing his face in the light. He had broad, handsome features, except for the jagged scar that ran across his nose. His hair was raven black, and went to his shoulders, along with a trimmed beard . He had the body built of an Usaring, broad in every way, with the strength of one as well. His shrewd green eyes studied Eldrin, as a scientist would study a subject under a microscope. "So tell me Eldrin, after two years of spying, all you have to tell me is NOTHING!" He roared and Eldrin staggered back.
"I'm sorry my lord," Eldrin apologized, feverishly praying that his Master wouldn't cleave him in two and feed him to the Mightyena nearby.
The Master struck Eldrin across the face with a meaty hand, sending the man stumbling away from him, nursing the rapidly bruising cheek. The Master came closer, to inflict further punishment, then paused in mid gesture. He let his hand fall to his side. "The time is coming closer and closer and all we have is a naïve teenager who knows nothing about his past. Someone will have to teach him, isn't that right Eldrin?" Eldrin nodded; the Master was known for his extreme changes in temper and mood, it was always best to agree with him.
The Master picked up Eldrin off the floor by the collar of his shirt. Eldrin struggled to breathe, the iron like grip was slowly cutting off his air supply. "I'm sending you and Stella to watch the boy. When the time is right, I want the pair of you to bring him to me. Got it?"
"Yes," Eldrin wheezed, his face turning an unpleasant shade of purple and blue. The Master dropped him to the floor.
"Good. Bring Alan and Mia with you, they're good trackers, along with at least a score of underlings. Get the boy by any means necessary, but I want him alive when he's brought back here."
Eldrin nodded again and scrambled out of the antechamber. One of the Mightyena started after him, but the Master stopped her with a gesture. "No, not today, Kutya."
The Master pulled his claymore that was leaning against his chair. He grabbed a nearby rag and started to polish the long blade of blackened metal. "They just don't make followers like they used to, huh Hond?" he wished. The Mightyena pair moved closer to their master and fell back asleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Eldrin stomped down the hallways, furious at himself. Stella popped up next to him, her curly hair obscuring part of her face. "So," she began, taking note of the large bruise across Eldrin's cheek. "I guess you forgot that the Master had a temper."
"I'm not in the mood Stella," Eldrin growled.
"Well, you better be, the Master did say we're working together." Stella pointed out, and smiled as she watched Eldrin's face darkened.
"Eavesdropper," Eldrin scornfully sneered.
Stella moved closer to him and brushed her hand against his leg. "I know. But since we're going to have to work together again, maybe we should get, 'reacquainted' again, hmm?" she whispered seductively in his ear, her brown eyes twinkling.
Eldrin shoved her aside. "I'd rather have a hot iron shoved in my eye than to go through that again."
Stella pouted. "But you do have to admit, it was quite fun."
"Quite," Eldrin conceded. "Maybe later."
She winked. "I'll be waiting," she purred and stalked off.
XXXXXXXXXXX
The semi-final matches went well, without much of a hitch, although Ash had lost to a trainer who had somehow obtained a Darkrai during his travels. Blaidd left shortly after that, hoping to catch the trainer once again, but like as before, he failed to get his attention. "It seems that Acreus has decided to make it much harder for me," Blaidd bemoaned under his breath. He glanced skyward, and softly uttered a few lines from a verse:
When the last moon rises
Along the summer's night
Only the blood of the Son,
Can make the tomb open to desert light,
"Only two months left," Blaidd whispered and pulled the coat closer to him. According to his research, the boy lived in a sleepy town known as 'Pallet Town', so that was where he was going next. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
Yes, after doing some research, in the Japanese episodes, there is a trainer that has a Darkrai...don't believe me, go to bulbapedia XD. But I know you do anyway. I always said I do my research lol.
And ah yes, the incorporation of ancient weaponry. Why swords, and other stuff along this line, which will be seen later ? Long story. During a conversation with another author here on this site, we had discussed the addition of firearms in pokemon settings. We had come to the general consensus that there really wasn't a need for guns, because of the fact that pokemon are quintessentially THE 'guns' so to speak.
As I put more thought into it, it made more and more sense, in terms of practicality. Firearms wouldn't be able to penetrate certain pokemon's armor, like steel, ground, or rock, while psychic types could just mentally stop the bullet all together. Fire types, ice types and water types would be bad around any sort of gunpowder (fire would set it off, water would make it useless if soaked, while ice and cold could go long term damage to the gun). Electronic weaponry could be short circuited by any semblance of electrical attack. So why go through the time and resources just to manufacture firearms, when their effects could be nullified in an instant? Better to be able to make them cheaper, like arrows and crossbow bolts, and to retrieve them easily, like daggers, swords, hatchets and axes.
Of course, this weaponry would be focused at humans, so the need for armor would be metallic in material, since metal can deflect items better than plastic could. Of course, you always run the risk of being roasted like spam in a can by a fire attack, but that's what you have your pokemon for XD.
Hope you enjoyed the discussion!