Welcome to Mistaken Destiny!
Make sure to read the notes after the chapter is done, please!
Italics usually indicates thinking, but can also be used to accentuate a word.
Chapter 1)
A dance of emotions
Leo took his phone out and gave his sister a status update.
"Ok, Anna. I'm on my way."
"Ok! ttys!"
"ttys? Isn't it ttyl?"
"It means talk to you soon!"
Leo smiled at his sister's antics. She always found a new way to make him smile, even in the roughest of times. The walk to her school was unusually warm, even for spring standards. The sun radiated a bright hue that made it difficult to see his phone without squinting, exercising his eye muscles to exhaustion.
He wound up giving up trying to fiddle with his phone any longer, and settled with his own thoughts as he made his way to his sister's school. It wasn't a long walk from his place of work, but after having worked for 8 hours, he felt a sharp pain every step he took.
Just one foot in front of the other. You've done this for the last year, and on the bright side, I think you're probably a track and field championship contender now.
His musing was rudely interrupted by a short buzz in his pocket. He fished his phone out of his jeans, squinting once again while attempting to glean the contents of his new message.
"Are we getting donuts? It's a Friday, remember!"
Leo exhaled a nostalgic sigh. He had always gone to the donut shop adjacent to his workplace every Friday, a tradition that began with his parents. Now he was carrying it on to his sister, which was a tough hit on already scarce funds. To say his cashier position at Exxon Mobil didn't pay well wouldn't do his paygrade justice; he could barely afford rent, even with government assistance.
Nonetheless, he wanted his sister to be happy. He hesitated at the sentence, but would up sending it anyways.
"Yes, Anna. We'll go. Just one donut this week, ok?"
"Ok, but if you're only getting one, I want a large, cream filled donut then!" Her loopholes reminded him of, well, himself. Leo had always had a knack for using loopholes, a skill that he utilized to obtain admittance to a digital university. He spent his days with his sister studying vigorously, a dream that one day he will break the unbroken cycle of failure his family endured.
He wasn't indefatigable, the pain in his legs and his dull response to yesterday's physics lesson had reminded him all too well. His unmoving work and study habits left him a recluse, though it's not as if he minded; his introverted personality left him a deep bond with the only remaining family member he had, his twelve year old sister.
He dwelled on the thoughts until he arrived, his reflected gaze upon the brightened glass door of the school snapping him out of a trance of thought. He picked his sister up from the lobby, and proceeded to the donut shop, subtly gritting his teeth as he walked.
"How did your day go?" Leo tried to distract himself from the walk.
"Leo, quit asking me that. Tell me how your day went instead." She had a mischievous grin, apathetic to Leo's discomfort towards the subject.
"Well, I've had a fine day." A lie, one Leo would describe as a white lie. He only intended it for good, Anna would be heartbroken if she knew the truth about how hard he worked for her.
"Are you going to buy yourself any donuts this time?" Anna grinned.
"Why would it matter to you? Are you hoping I give you the rest of mine again?"
"Mmh, no.." It didn't take a rocket scientist, or a rocket psychologist to know that wasn't true. Leo noted that she wasn't very good at hiding deceptive cues, which left him intrigued as to why she still tried to deceive him so often.
The duo arrived at the shop after 10 more excruciating minutes of leg aches. Anna ordered what Leo had anticipated, which elicited an annoyed tone during the order, but Leo wasn't in the mood for sweets. He had too much on his mind to buy a sugary escapism treat.
"Can we stay inside to eat the donut, Leo?" She looked him in the eyes, a subconscious but effective coercive attempt.
"No Anna. I'll get extra napkins in case you drop a part of the cream." Leo needed to make haste in arriving home, an important physics test was scheduled for the next day and he didn't want to fail it. Anna didn't resist.
The two set out on their way home, the blazing, radiant sun melting a portion of the glazing. She made sure to make that known, but Leo couldn't help her if he wanted to; that was up to mother nature's discretion. They approached the shaded right side of the shop, a subconscious effort to cool off. He'd pushed back a suspicion about the small concrete alley, one that would resurface when he heard a man's voice echo from behind him.
"Excuse me, do you know the way to Yelima Public Library?"
Leo turned around and swallowed. Before him was a tall, muscular man, several inches higher than him. He wanted to run, but bet against it.
"No sir, I've never been there my-"
The answer was cut off by a piercing scream. He flung himself around to find two equally muscular men picking up his sister. Leo felt a flash of adrenaline, forgetting about the pepper spray he kept in his back pocket. He picked up a medium-sized stone and chucked it at one of them, missing them both and hitting another man behind the two, watching the new scuffle with tinted sunglasses and a futuristic watch, holographically projecting a creature.
"Well, that wasn't very kind of you, was it Leo?" The figure looked up from his watch to comment, then went straight back to fiddling with it.
"Let my sister go, right now." Leo's face contorted into a projection of rage as he shouted the childish demand in vain. As the adrenaline cleared and his mind defogged, he unveiled his pepper spray.
The slender and techy man noted his anger. "I'd expect no less of a reaction from you, Leo. I'll take my leave now."
Leo felt his heart beat faster, and the adrenaline surged quicker. Leo sized the men up and made a hasty plan. He couldn't just let him take his leave.
Leo flanked right and began spraying the canister, but the men were unexpectedly quick to react. He tried to keep up with them, but the three men in front of him fled. He'd hit himself with collateral damage, his eyes burning, but he was determined to attack them with every ounce of fight he could muster.
Or, atleast, he'd attack them harder if he wasn't immediately hit unconscious.
Leo's unconscious spell was disturbed by a sensory overload. He slowly opened his eyes, the overbearing and bright sun searing his sight. His head throbbed, but he quickly realized he was no longer in a fight for his sister. He rashly predicted that he had been out for a couple minutes, but instead of picking himself up instantly, he took a moment to comprehend what had just happened.
It only took a few seconds to remember the quick yet vivid improvised skirmish.
Who were those men, and what do they want with my sister, he thought, picking himself up off the...
Wait, I'm on muddy grass? Wasn't I just on concr-
Leo lost his balance before he could finish his thought and tripped, catching himself with his hands. He didn't have time to care about his surroundings or where the men had seemingly dragged him out to, nor the fact that his hands seemed out of place and weird; he needed to get to the police station.
If I can last more than 3 seconds without losing my balance, he thought spitefully. Leo took a deep breath and mobilized himself to stand up again, but when he opened his eyes, he only stared at himself in a stunned silence, unbroken if not for a single thought.
What. The. Hell?
A metal spike protruded out of a blue-to-black limb on his right arm, a trend that his left arm dittoed.
Leo instantly sobered from his newly-awaken impairment, and as he astonished himself with the new changes of his mid-section, he couldn't help but realize a new sensation behind him. He took another deep breath and turned to his backside.
Ok, I get that whoever took my sister painted my body and attached metal spikes to me, but just how did they manage to give me a TAIL? One that I can feel, nonetheless?
Leo turned his gaze to his new legs, trying to find the normality of his body once more. To his dismay but not surprise, his legs looked completely different from what they should've been. He reached back to touch his hair, only to feel two triangular ears and four large braided chunks of what he assumed to be his hair.
This doesn't make any sense. These aren't normal feet, and my hair isn't the same either...
Still, his engineering-major mindset told him to work through all the plausible explanations.
The men either painted my body and mutilated me, or... or...
Leo remembered how he'd wake himself up from nightmares following his parents' deaths. Leo picked up his hand to pinch himself, but of course, he had to be shot down by another inexplicable change.
A paw? Ok, I'll have to find another way to awaken.
Leo instead found himself recalling the scuffle minutes ago. The surge of adrenaline didn't stop, the vivid recollection of the fight and his new nightmarish situation shook him. He took another minute to lay there, taking in the surroundings. Everything had happened so fast he hadn't had time to react, and now his emotions were dancing around his head, leaving him unable to do anything but breathe jagged breaths and whimper.
...like a dog.
Leo recovered himself enough to stand up, just for him to fall down again, this time narrowly avoiding a tree. His unalleviated anger built up to a boiling point and he found himself unable to control it. In a bid to take his frustration out and wake himself up, he socked the tree with everything he could muster.
The attempt only served to cause him immense pain and bestowed him with more questions than answers. His only remaining theory was one he still refused to acknowledge, much less accept.
He laid there for what felt like an eternity, trying to control his emotions and breathe, to little avail. His sister was gone, his paw now bled from his stupidity, and not to mention his entirely new body. He picked himself up, only to fall once again. He winced in pain catching himself on his now bloodied paw.
He felt another dance of emotions, unwelcome guests of dread in his own head. He managed to push them aside and stand up long enough to sit down on a fallen log, adjacent to the tree with a small hole and a mark of his blood. There, he finally got a look around him of more than 3 feet. He saw his phone on the ground, but it was in no working condition; it had been badly cracked from what must've been a vertical fall. The more pressing issue was the forest that surrounded him, which furthered his frustration and gave him a new sense of isolation.
Just great. My phone is broken, my sister is gone, I'm a freak and I'm in the middle of nowheresland, he thought. He recalled his training from school. There's a solution to every problem, no matter how obscure or non-existent you think it is. Find the solution, solve your problem.
He stood up this time with precise caution, and tiptoed to his newly useless phone with more cautious stepping, dedicated in giving it one last use. Through the cracks of the screen, Leo saw himself as a creature. The creature wasn't unrecognizable, however; he remembered his sister used to play a game, Pokemon, and she idolized this creature. He also played Pokemon, but only occasionally with his sister, his previous fascination ending when he entered middle school. Despite the recent inexperience with the fictional franchise, he knew all too well the creature he had become. He spitefully tossed the glass reflection to the side, and felt his body once more, confirming the reflection to be a matter of reality.
I'm a Lucario? This is a joke.
Deep inside, Leo knew it was no joke; that didn't stop him from wishing a camera crew would manifest from the bushes, his sister in tow, laughing at his expense. I'd take worldwide humiliation over my current situation, he resolved. Yet it was all too real, too vivid, to be staged.
Remembering his sister's favorite game revitalized the dance of emotions, and he found himself angry again. He sat back down and reracked his thoughts, denouncing himself for distracting himself with a wishful camera-crew fantasy. In an effort to persuade himself to focus, he hit his leg in a self-deprecative manner.
BAD. IDEA.
He hadn't meant to hurt himself; he tensed his leg and purposefully hit it awkwardly, the paw already bruised and bloody from the tree, as to not awaken his paw injuries.
That didn't matter.
He immediately doubled over in pain, the second time in a mere 3 minutes. His leg had been nearly completely incapacitated from his strength, a pain that felt like he had walked 500 miles after picking his sister up from school. The dance of emotions returned, clouding his mind as he berated himself for the reckless action.
You absolute savant. You crack open your paw, not realizing your strength, and your best course of action is to incapacitate your leg.
His second-person line of thought and painful whimpers were interrupted by a light voice coming from his left.
"Hey, are you ok?" The figure asked.
Leo turned over to glance at the creature. It had a worried look about its face, but it was a face unrecognizable from anything he had previously seen. Except on his Nintendo console, of course. Despite his anger at himself, he found it in him to respond nicely.
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine- I think."
"Ok, mister! I'll get you some help just in case."
The quadrupedal creature trotted off. Leo recognized the creature as an Eevee, a seemingly young one at that. He didn't have the willpower to object to the Eevee's attempt to help him, and deep down he thought he could use the help, even if it meant talking to weird creatures.
It's not creatures, they're pokemon. I mean, we're pokemon. I'm a pokemon.
Telling himself he was a Pokemon brought back the dance of emotions, but his logical mind quickly pushed it back again, instead opting to take stock of his new body.
Lucario, a fighting and steel type.
He stopped at that. It wasn't because he didn't know more, he was just dumbfounded at his stupidity. Getting attacked by a fighting type isn't just super-effective against him, but he IS a fighting type, which means he attacked himself for super effective damage AND he was extraordinarily strong. He would've punched himself again for not realizing that if he hadn't learned his lesson by now.
He attempted to hobble over to the blood-marked tree, with little success. He didn't just have new legs, but one of his legs was entirely out of commission, meaning he had to limp with new legs. He eventually found himself propped up against the tree, battered and injured from injuries he inflicted upon himself.
Only took 5 tries! You're really getting the hang of this!, Leo thought bitterly.
He heard the rustling of leaves and a faint voice, and his new ears twitched. He could've sworn he could hear much better than before he was thrust into this unfamiliar world.
"Where is he?" The faint voice asked.
"Just over there!" The unmistakable sound of the Eevee who'd encountered him a couple minutes prior.
The rustling grew louder and louder until he was face-to-face with an Espeon. Leo opened his mouth to say something, but the Espeon summoned a pink ball of energy that hit him in the chest, winding him and knocking him over for the nonillionth time.
Leo regained his breath before windedly commenting on the attack, still lying on the ground.
"Hey, what the hell was that for?" Leo expected help, not his first ever Pokemon fight. He was unsure if he could even use Pokemon moves. He tried to comb through his mind for any implanted memories, to no avail.
The Espeon had wide eyes looking at Leo.
"Facillian, go home now. I'll take it from here." the Espeon commented.
"Mooom, I want to see the pokemon too!" The Eevee's expression drooped and he sighed as his mother was unrelenting in her demand.
"You, bloodied Lucario." The Espeon didn't come any closer than 10 steps away from Leo.
He thought the behavior was odd, but he chalked it up to disheveled and bloody new body.
"I'm sorry if this is your property-"
"This is the edge'a Luvanhalla. We do not permit Lucario in this town, and you should leave." The Espeon's voice was assertive.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know-"
The Espeon's eyes morphed from an angry squint to a normal stare, a stark contrast. "Though, ya do look unkempt and outta shape to travel out 'ere on ya own. You can stay at our place for one. hour. Got it?" The Espeon stared him in the eyes, but she maintained her distance. He was still lying on the ground, not risking another pink energy blast to the face by agitating the Espeon.
Leo wasn't sure if he even wanted the hospitality. He needed to find his sister and he couldn't afford even the hour she had graciously offered.
"Look, I'm sorry, it's just... I don't have the time. I need to get moving." The Espeon seemed to relax more, a welcome surprise to the still-grounded Leo who took the opportunity to sit up before standing on his good paw, still hugging the tree.
"Very well, if ya need help with that legga yers, I'll be happy to lend a paw."
Leo had forgotten that hospitality might mean a chance to walk on his paws without a limp. He cursed himself for causing a delay in his investigation by injuring himself, and having to backtrack his rejection.
"Well, uh... I guess I could use something for my leg." Leo said, bitter at the prospect of having to delay himself by talking to someone; two things he disliked.
"Hmm..." The Espeon studiously gazed Leo. "Ok, follow me."
The two set off towards the way she had come from. The forest was an odd sight, there were giant fruits and trees he had never before seen in his life. His limp gained the sympathy of the telekinetic Espeon, who managed to help his leg move with relative ease. He found the walk a polarizing experience, his new legs only supporting paws, no feet to be had.
After a few minutes of walking, the duo slowed by Leo's limp, they arrived at a cabin, connecting to a pathway.
"We're here, just be careful entering; our door isn't exactly made for Lucario."
Leo made his way in, where he saw the same Eevee that had found him just minutes ago. He was instructed to enter a room near the back of the log cabin, where he studied the house in amazement.
As if this place wasn't dystopian enough.
The thought was elicited by a holographic display to his right as he entered the room. He sat on a rather small bed, one clearly made for the inhabitants of the residence. The Espeon, who he still hadn't learned the name of, gestured her tail towards the bed. Leo found his own tail crushed against the wall, but it didn't hurt that much; just uncomfortable.
Leo opened his mouth to question the display, but he was cut off by a barrage of photons invading his eyes; the Espeon shined a flashlight in them. He blocked the light with his good paw, but it stopped just as soon as it started.
"So, uh, what's your name?" Leo nervously spat out.
She gave him a sideways glance while telekinetically opening drawers. "Abaxa. How 'bout yers?"
"I'm Leo. Sorry to bother you, but, what's with the display?"
Abaxa didn't answer, she just flung a circular disc towards him. Leo didn't touch it, instead opting to take in the configuration and purpose of the buttons on it.
This is totally wack. There's holographic displays inside of olden architecture? Is there an internet here too?
Abaxa noticed his mesmerized expression. "Ya can do whatever ya like with the display, just don't turn it off please."
"Ok, it's just, I don't know how to work it at all." Leo was still scanning the controller with an intense curiosity, just as he had when he interned in a Boeing factory before he went off to college.
Abaxa fished something out of one of the many drawers. "Yer a Lucario and ya don't know how to work a hologram?" She said, flinging the bottle she had fished from the drawers in his direction.
"What is this bottle? And, yeah, I'm a Lucario, but it's a long story and-"
Abaxa cut him off. "It's a Super Potion. Don't use too much, 3 sprays and a small nap and yer leg 'n paw should be fine."
Leo sprayed the potion twice on his leg and once on his paw, following Abaxa's advice.
Leo was confused as to why she had attacked him then let him in her house. It suddenly occurred to him that she could be trying to trap him, but he asked nonetheless.
"So, why did you attack me then take me in?" Leo didn't want to face Abaxa, he thought he might've intimidated her.
"Same reason I shined that there flashlight in yer eyes. There's been a problem with Zoroark 'n Ditto in these parts makin' themselves look like a Lucario. If ya attack a Zoroark, their illusion is revealed. If ya expose a Ditto to a bright light, they will de-transform. And if yer a Mew, well, we've got bigger problems don't we?"
Why would they disguise themselves as a Lucario and not something legendary like Zapdos?
Leo took the information and made an educated guess: this was an entirely new world, one different from Earth, with Pokemon everywhere. His unspoken theory was correct. He didn't know how he'd ended up here, but he NEEDED to go back to Earth. To file a police report, to get his sister back from the crooks who took her. Still, he took the opportunity to glean any extra information he could from Abaxa.
"Are there any humans in this city?"
"I'm afraid I don't know what a humans is, Lucario, sorry to bear some bad news. Now, do ya need some help working the hologram?"
"I think I'll just rest, please." Leo was getting shy, and he wanted time to himself.
"Ok, Lucario-"
"It's Leo."
"Ok Leo, I have one question for ya before I go. What is a Lucario doing on the edge of Luvanhalla with a bruised leg and a bloodied paw?"
Leo didn't want to embarrass himself with the truth, but he couldn't fish an adequate lie. He settled for a middle ground, not a lie but omitting important prior events.
"I don't know."
Abaxa turned towards the door and left, an action which convinced Leo that she was unsatisfied with the answer. Leo found the potion to be effective at nullifying the radiating, stinging pain every time he moved his leg. His leg just felt fatigued now, similar to how he felt walking to his sister's school. He was sorely reminded of the situation he found himself in recalling that, and received another dose of motivation. He picked himself up off the small bed, cautiously stepping on the carpeting with his two new paws.
I need to get back to Earth, my sister is counting on my rescue. That begins with leaving this-
"Lucario, leaving already?" Abaxa called from the other room. Leo was startled at the psychic type's see-through-doors ability, but it only took him a second to recover.
"Well, I need to find my-" Leo stopped himself, not wanting to put a burden of guilt on his host, nor did he wish to spend more time explaining his peril.
"Whaddya need to find? I'm sure I can be of help." Abaxa telekinetically opened the door. Leo should've been startled but he wasn't, he was too lost emotionally to react to surprises anymore.
Leo breathed a deep breath. "Well, to keep it short, can you teleport people between worlds?"
Abaxa looked confused. "Well, I guess not. I'm sure ya've heard'a that wormhole phenomenon though. I don't know nothing 'bout it, but I can point ya in the right direction."
Leo had, but this left him with more questions than ever before.
Aren't those completely random, cosmic events? Not to mention just a theory? How am I gonna find a worm-
"So ya haven't heard of it?" Abaxa cut his thought off. "I don't know much 'bout it either; all I know is that it takes a high auric mastery, which you oughtta be cut out for, Lucario."
Leo sighed. "It's Leo, please. I'm not even supposed to be a Luc-"
"'kay, Leo. If ya wanna find out more, ya'll have to talk to the trainin' master in Horma, two towns over. He knows everything 'bout alla this wormhole stuff."
Leo breathed another deep breath, exasperated from the setback. "How far away is Horma?"
Abaxa grimaced. "For you, you would hafta top the Resistance mountains, then ya'd have to go through Vemine, then ya'd have to cut through the scavenger-infested tundra forests off the trail, get to the other side of Resistance mountains again, then enter the arid, rural town of Horma."
"What do you mean 'for you'?" Leo squinted at Abaxa.
"Ya from one of those bastions of resistance in Vemine? Because in these parts, Lucario, ya'd get killed if ya entered a town other than in the Vemine-Junasio area. I'm supposed to have reported ya presence to one of the officials down in the heartland of Luvanhalla, but not wishing to see a Lucario die, I decided'a take ya in."
"Um, what." Leo's eyes portrayed a stunned silence.
"I'm no history teacher, but I'll give ya the rundown, if ya have amnesia or somethin'. Fitteen years ago, the hundreds'a surrounding towns in this country decided'a fight Yveltal, an evil force possessing the towns, and the leader'a this group was a Lucario. It was a close fight, but our country won the battle 'n caged Yveltal, but had been severely weakened in the process. A Gallade named Vincent who the Lucario, Yolsa, appointed as a military general, took the opportunity to rebel against his rule and became kinda a dictator in this area. Yolsa and Vincent battled head-to-head, and Vincent cheated during the 1 on 1 battle, killing Yolsa. Vincent decided to execute every Lucario in the country after the battle. If ya walk into town now, the organization will snatch you up, charge ya'a some random crimes, and publicly execute ya. They ain't technically in charge of this town, but that means nuttin when they're shadow leaders. Yer not supposed to know this, nor is anyone else in the town."
Great, not only is my sister kidnapped and waiting on my help on Earth, but now I've gotta worry about a murderous dictator trying to stop me from getting home.
"Uh, but why is 'Vincent' executing Lucario?" Leo looked himself over, to verify that he is indeed a Lucario, one that this whole shadow organization is looking to kill.
"He won't say it anywhere, but the truth is, he's scared'a them. Gallades are able to manipulate aura, but only at a very small fraction of the efficiency and power of a Lucario. He hadda cheat 'gainst Yolsa because'a his shortcoming in that field. Lucario can manipulate aura better than a legendary."
Leo sat down and took a moment to visualize the road ahead of him, not paying mind to the whole aura spiel. He wouldn't need to use his aura if he got home quickly.
I've got to make it two towns over, without being found, talk to whoever this training master is, get a wormhole back home, THEN help my sister. What did I do to deserve this?
Leo felt the dance of emotions resurfacing, but held his composure to name every single one. Anger, Sadness, Emptiness, Fear... and yet he persisted with his goal, as to give up was out of the question. Leo swallowed, trying to suppress the dance for the time being. He knew this wasn't the last time it would resurface.
"Well, thanks for your help Abaxa. I've got to hit the road now." Leo wasn't even sure where he was going, but that fear was assuaged.
"Take this map with ya, Lucario." Abaxa telekinetically placed a map in his paws. "It'll tell ya the jurisdiction'a each town so thatcha can avoid being discovered. Also, if I left ya to travel there with no supplies you wouldn't make it halfway. The forest and mountains yer heading out towards ain't got berries on them."
Abaxa gave Leo a steel canister filled with a strange green water, a red spray, and a pile of assorted berries inside a small pouch.
"In there's some pretty high-quality berries. A chesto berry, a cheri berry, a rawst berry, an aspear berry, leppa berries for food, and some sitrus and oran berries incase ya find combat. Figured ya don't need a pecha berry 'cause of that typing'a ya's. It pays well to be the mayor'a Luvanhalla."
"What's the liquid in here for?" Leo asked while shaking the canister. He had smelled it prior to asking, giving his nose a smooth, well-rounded smell that seemed to linger even without being in close proximity to the liquid. He found the sensitivity of his smell was augmented, which he chalked up to the new body he inhabited.
"It's lum juice. Drinking it helps ya get in the right mind, and refreshes yer body." Abaxa thrust open the front door with her psychic ability. "Ya should get on the road now, Lucario. Can't have ya over forever, right?"
Leo didn't bother reminding her of his name again. He gave Abaxa a nod, then left the residence.
"Thank you, Abaxa."
Leo sat down on a log bench connected to her house, hoping she wouldn't mind him lingering around for a couple more minutes to get his bearings together. He took a particularly awkward stretch of exhaustion; stiffening his tail frightened him for a split second.
Lets see.. she drew a path before handing me the map, so if I am to follow the directions, I need to travel back the way I woke up at, up a mountain, through Vemine, then through a heavily forested tundra. Then up the mountain again before entering Horma.
Leo's leg still didn't feel up to the task, as he had completely forgotten the whole "take a nap" part of the healing instructions. He needed to make it to Vemine, as Abaxa had informed him that they were a "bastion of resistance"; surely that means they'd be friendly towards a Lucario.
His feeling of dread from the events just an hour previous relative to him had resurfaced, dancing in his brain once more. This time, he didn't let them shut him down; he turned them into unwavering motivation to get what back what he had wrongfully lost.
Though Leo tried to suppress the negativity, he couldn't ignore one fact anymore: he was hopelessly lost in the bounds of space and time.
A few things I want to get out to the readers who might be interested in the story I'm making:
1) I like listening to music while recalling the events of a chapter, so I will be recommending a song to play over the events of every chapter. You can ignore it if you like, it's not at all integral to the plot. The recommendation for this chapter is Waterflame - Endgame.
2) This is my first literary work, not just in Pokemon or fanfiction or fiction in general, but ever, and thus will have very incomplete and underdeveloped parts of the story. I am in dire need of feedback! If I get good enough at writing by the time I wrap up the story, I will consider remastery.
3) Chapters are posted either weekly or whenever I feel like it.