Tale of a Mew
Myu, along with his team of seven other Pokémon, were now leaving Crimson Village. They had spent part of the morning gathering supplies for their expedition to the stone ruins to the west. Dominus, the Eelektross, was leading the small group of travelers, though no one chose him. Bella, the shiny Kirlia, was walking alongside Myu, and Zeni, the Squirtle, followed behind. Lykos, the Riolu, and Mimi, the Buneary, were walking side-by-side next to the group. Ryu, the Dratini, slithered next to them. The Machoke that volunteered to assist followed behind everyone else.
"All right, people, you follow me," Dominus said. "I will lead us to the stone structures."
"Do you even know where to go?" Myu asked.
"Uh... sure I do," Dominus defended. "We just follow this path and get off at..."
Myu figured out from the silence that he did not really know. "Zeni, I trust you know where to really go."
"I sure do," the Squirtle replied. " We should reach the go off point by about midday."
"We'll have to stop for lunch at that time," Mimi chimed in.
"I can't wait to get there," Lykos said, jumping up and down.
"You're gonna have to wait," Zeni said. "It'll take almost the whole day to get there."
"This is going to be a long walk, isn't it?" Bella asked rhetorically.
"The group had been walking for quite some time when Myu began to sing a little tune to himself.
"As we go on a journey
We will see things new & old
We must be brave, we must be bold.
"What is the reason?
For our beginnings?
As we find our way to the unknown?" Myu sang.
"Stop singing!" Dominus demanded.
"What's the problem? Hate music?" Myu asked.
"It's annoying is the problem," Dominus stated.
"I kind of like it," Bella said.
"What are you taking his side for?" Dominus demanded.
"I'm just saying it sounded kind of pretty," Bella defended herself.
"Well, I don't want to hear it," Dominus said. "So he needs to remain silent for the rest of this trip."
"Music hater," Myu muttered. "This is going to be one boring trip without something exciting."
"I don't hate music!" Dominus defended. "I just don't want to hear your annoying voice for the length of this trip - ow!" Dominus flinched when he felt a searing pain. He looked at his arm and saw a little yellow creature. He began to shake his arm rapidly, trying to dislodge the little bug. Eventually, it fell off on its own.
"What is that?" Myu asked.
"Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon," Zeni began. "Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch."
"He's so cute," Mimi said.
"The little bug bit me!" Dominus screeched.
"Well, they do need electricity to survive," Myu said.
"I don't care," Dominus said. "He bit me and he's going to pay."
The Joltik was starting to skitter away, having received enough electricity. Dominus wasn't about to let it get away though. He followed after, charging up a Zap Cannon.
"Wait, Dominus! I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Zeni warned, but he was too late. Dominus fired off the electric ball and it struck the bug causing it to crash into a tree trunk.
Dominus cheered at his seeming victory, but the tree the Joltik slammed into shook and several more Joltik fell out, along with several larger arachnid Pokémon.
"What are those?" Lykos asked.
"Galvantula, the EleSpider Pokémon," Zeni informed. "Galvantula attack its prey by shooting electrically-charged threads and its front mandibles can hold down opponents."
"It's just a bunch of big bugs," Dominus said cockily. "I can beat them easily."
"Individually, maybe," Zeni said. "But wildlings may attack as a group if they are provoked."
Sure enough, the Joltik and Galvantula fired electric webbing at Dominus, pinning him to a tree. He tried to fight against it, but it was too strong.
"What is that stuff?" Bella asked.
"That would be Electroweb," Zeni informed. "It's very tough and shocks the foe."
"Get this stuff off of me!" Dominus demanded.
"No way," Myu said. "I would say you've stepped in it this time, but you don't have any feet."
"The wildlings should leave us alone, so long as we do not attack them," Zeni informed.
Before long, Dominus was attacked by all the electric spiders. Once they felt they had done enough damage, they went back to their tree, taking their wounded comrade with them. Dominus collapsed on the ground, damaged from all the attacks.
"Ow… I'll get them for this," Dominus muttered. He tried to get up, but ended up collapsing back onto the ground.
"What's wrong with him?" Myu asked.
"Well," Zeni began, "Joltik drain the electricity out of Electric Pokémon, and since Eelektross need electricity to hover, he can't fly."
"Stupid bugs. I'm going to destroy them!" Dominus shouted. He tried to get up, but once again fell down.
"Yeah, you can't fly," Myu stated. "Machoke, get him back to the village."
"Why me?" he asked.
"Dominus can't make it back on his own, and the rest of us are either too small or too weak," Myu said. The Machoke grabbed Dominus and put him over his shoulder.
"Hey, put me down!" Dominus demanded.
"What are the rest of you going to do?" the Machoke asked.
"We're going to continue on," Myu said.
"I'll tell Devoir of that," the Machoke said. He started walking away, with Dominus protesting rather loudly.
"We haven't even reached the stones, and we've already lost two of our party," Myu said. "Not the best start."
"If you ask me, we didn't need them," Zeni said. "We can do this just fine on our own."
"I hope you're right, Zeni," Myu said. "Onward!" The six Pokémon continued their walk. When midday came around, they got off the road and settled down for lunch. Mimi got out a few Poffins from the pouch on her waist and handed them to everyone.
"I made sure to pack enough for everyone, and I made sure that they are everyone's favorite," Mimi said.
"Thanks, Mimi," Lykos said.
"Hey, Myu," Bella asked, "why were you singing while we were walking, and why that particular song?"
"It was mainly to fill the big space," Myu answered. "It was also because the trip was rather boring, and it made it a little more exciting."
"Why that particular song though? And what is that song? I've never heard it before," Bella asked.
"It was just going through my head, and it's a song from my home," Myu answered.
"Ah, it sounded rather pretty," Bella commented.
"Thank you."
A while later, they started the trek through the forest. Myu and Ryu had the easiest time. The other four were having difficulties. The uneven ground and the tree roots sticking out of the ground and the branches hanging overhead were making it difficult to keep up. Eventually though, they reached the end of the forest and pushed a final few branches out of the way to see the stone structures.
"Finally! We're here!" Lykos exclaimed.
"And we're finally out of that forest!" Mimi said.
"Alright, then. Let's find out what they wanted here," Myu said, walking toward the stones. He stopped when he noticed that only Zeni and Lykos were following him. "Come on girls, what are you afraid of?"
"Well, it's just… rumors about this place aren't very good," Bella said.
"Come on. It can't be that bad," Myu said. "Besides, there's six of us. I'm sure we can handle whatever happens."
Reluctantly, the girls followed the boys through the stone structures. Myu started to notice something peculiar about the structures.
"Anyone else noticing something odd about these?" Myu asked.
"Odd how?" Zeni asked.
"Well, some of these stones look like blocks," Myu observed. "And I think some of those structures are columns. And I think some of the others are buildings."
The others looked around and they did notice that there was something odd about the structures.
"I always thought that they were just unusually shaped," Ryu said.
"No, there seems to be tool marks on these," Myu said. "Someone obviously made these."
"But who?" Bella asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say your ancestors lived here," Myu said.
"Why would our ancestors live in a miserable place like this?" Mimi asked.
"It probably didn't always look like this," Myu said. "A long time ago, these buildings were probably intact. If I had to guess, I'd say that we are standing in a ruin."
"What's a 'ruin'?" Bella asked.
"It's the destroyed remains of a city," Myu explained.
"What's a city?" Mimi asked.
"It's like a village, only bigger," Myu explained. "We need to fan out and explore this place. We need to find out what the Shadows want with this place."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ryu asked. "I mean, our ancestors abandoned this place for a reason. How do we know this place isn't still dangerous?"
"Ryu, I'm pretty sure that whatever scared your ancestors away probably isn't here anymore," Myu reassured. "This place was obviously abandoned a long time ago. Come on, let's go!"
Everyone started to look around, investigating many of the destroyed buildings and brick pavement for clues. They were unaware, however, that they were being watched. Myu eventually came across a massive stone building in the shape of a dome. On the outside there were markings that were similar to the Temple from the Crimson Village. He called the others over.
"Look at this place! It's huge!" Myu exclaimed. "There's probably something inside that's important. Let's go in and find out." Myu started to walk in, only to realize that the others weren't following him. "Something wrong?"
"Well, it's just… it doesn't exactly look friendly," Bella said nervously.
"Still, that shouldn't stop us. Besides, what are you afraid of?" Myu asked. "It's not like there's going to be some monster inside." Myu continued forward, the others following along behind, a couple of them reluctantly. They entered the building and found that there were several paintings inside lining the walls. The others admired the paintings, awed at what they depicted.
"Wow, what are those things?" Zeni asked.
"Murals of legendary creatures," Myu said.
"There's so many of them," Bella said.
"But they all seem to share a general theme," Myu observed. "And that theme is water."
Zeni looked around and noticed some stone shelves with stone blocks stacked on them. He walked over to examine them. He picked one up and noticed writing on them. "Hey guys. Come look at these." They came over and stood around Zeni. "There's some sort of ancient writing on these."
"Can you read it?" Myu asked.
"I can try," Zeni answered. "It seems to call this place... Water City. Apparently, it's the home of all Water-type Pokémon and all types related to it."
"So, water Pokémon came from here?" Bella asked.
"It seems that way," Zeni explained.
"Anything else to add?" Myu asked.
"That's all I can make out," Zeni said. He puts the tablet aside and picked up another one. "This one seems to describe a race of extremely powerful creatures that come by here every now and then. It calls them 'Legendary Pokémon', and apparently each one controls some aspect of the oceans. Yeah, right."
"Sounds interesting," Myu said. Zeni didn't pay it much mind and put it away. He grabbed yet another tablet and looked at it.
"This one's more interesting," Zeni said. "From what I can tell of it, it describes four other cities: Earth City, Air City, Fire City, and Spirit City. They were the homes of all the different Pokémon. Each one was regularly visited by different Legendary Pokémon. This tablet even has the locations of each one."
"That could be what the Shadows are after," Myu said. "We should take it with us."
"I'll take it," Bella offered. Zeni handed her the tablet. She was unprepared for its weight and it pulled her toward the ground. She tried to lift it up, but it was incredibly heavy.
"Zeni, look at some of the other tablets. See what you can find," Myu said.
Zeni sorted through the other tablets. "Some of these are describing the Legendary Pokémon that come here."
"That could be helpful," Myu concluded. "Let's take them with us." Zeni didn't see the helpfulness but didn't argue. He handed the tablets to Lykos, Mimi, and Myu. Mimi was struggling with the tablet she was given, but Lykos and Myu weren't having as much trouble, and Myu was even able to hold several with his tail.
"Okay, let's head back to -" Myu began, but was cut off when a Hydro Pump slammed into Bella, causing her to let go of the tablet she was struggling to hold. Everyone else turned to the entrance, and saw a Croconaw standing there, with an aggressive look on its face.
"Think he's a Shadow?" Lykos asked.
"I think so," Zeni answered.
Before anyone else could react, the Croconaw shot off several more Hydro Pumps. They dodged the best they could, but only Ryu could avoid them. The Croconaw walked over to the tablets that everyone dropped and started looking through them. Myu got up and noticed what the Croconaw was doing.
"He's looking for something in particular. Stop him!" Myu shouted. Zeni got up first and fired a Water Pulse at the Croconaw, but he used Crunch to tear it apart and then shot another Hydro Pump at Zeni, knocking the Squirtle away. Lykos was next to join the fight running at the Croconaw with Quick Attack, but the Croconaw used Slash to send him away.
Ryu charged at the Croconaw with Dragon Rush, but the Croconaw stopped her with another Hydro Pump, then used Slash on her to send her flying.
Mimi wanted to help and tried using Dizzy Punch on the Croconaw, but it bit her ear with Crunch, canceling her attack and causing her to shout in pain. Lykos ran to her rescue, using Force Palm on the Croconaw's jaw to make it release her. Lykos caught Mimi in his arms and prepared to run away, but the Croconaw struck him with Aqua Tail, sending them both to the ground.
Myu knew this was bad and saw it get worse when the Croconaw picked up the tablet that Bella dropped. It started to walk away with it, but Myu wasn't about to let it get far. He got up and put his paws to his side, charging an Aura Sphere between them and fired it off when fully charged. The Aura Sphere struck the Croconaw, but it didn't fall. The Croconaw turned around and fired a Hydro Pump at Myu.
Myu put his paws out in what he knew was a futile defense. But surprisingly, a transparent barrier appeared in front of him, blocking the Hydro Pump. When the attack ended, Myu stared at his paws in awe. That was Barrier! He thought. Aura Sphere won't work again, so I need another move, but do I know any others? He didn't think so, but then remembered his accidental use of Psychic the other day, but he didn't know what triggered that. Okay, so I remembered being scared when I used it, and Barrier was formed the same way. Is fear the trigger? No, emotion! Both are Psychic moves, and emotions are mental reactions. So maybe if I just put some emotion into it, I could trigger the move and control it. He realized a problem with that: he wasn't a very emotional person and at times he even thought he was emotionally stunted. How could he put emotion into something when he could barely feel?
Bella had recovered in the meantime and decided to join the fight. She fired a Thunderbolt at the Croconaw, and it struck, but she didn't knock it out. It fired another Hydro Pump at her, but she grabbed it with Psychic, stopping and causing it to fall apart. But it was just a distraction for the Croconaw to close the gap and strike her with Shadow Claw. Bella flew into a wall, knocked out.
"Bella!" Myu exclaimed. He turned to the Croconaw and felt anger at it, and fear for Bella. Trying to focus the emotions, he reached forward with one of his paws and felt Psychic target the Croconaw. With a flick of his paw, he sent the Croconaw flying, the tablet falling from its claws. The Croconaw quickly recovered and focused on Myu. Myu saw the enraged look on its features and panicked. The anger had already dissipated, and he doubted fear would be sufficient to stop it.
Myu turned to look at the unconscious Bella. Her mother told him to protect her, and he wouldn't let her down. He saw the others around him, injured and unable to fight, looking to him, hoping he could win. Myu refused to let them down. With determination filling him, he extended his arm once again, focusing on the Croconaw as it charged at him with a Crunch at the ready. Myu used the determination to fuel his Psychic and stopped the Croconaw mid-stride. He then lifted it into the air and slammed it down on the ground.
"Go, Myu!" Myu turned to the source of the voice and saw Lykos looking at him with excitement and amazement. He could tell the others had the same expression of awe, and Myu felt pride in that. With that, he clenched his fist, and with a swipe of his arm, sent the Croconaw into the wall of the building, and with another swipe, sent it into the adjacent wall. The Croconaw still wasn't out and tried struggling against Myu's telekinetic grip. Myu didn't want to hurt the Pokémon too badly, as he knew it was being controlled, but he was left with no choice but to knock it out. He brought his fist down, and the Croconaw was slammed into the ground, hard.
Myu released it, and when the dust cleared, the Croconaw was out.
"That was awesome!" Lykos exclaimed. Before anything else could be said, a purple glow surrounded the Croconaw, which exploded outwards in every direction. The Croconaw opened its eyes and slowly sat up.
"Ow, what happened?" it asked, and just then Myu realized it was female, as it had a feminine voice.
"You were turned into a Shadow," Myu answered. "I had to knock you out to stop you."
"Oh, thanks, I think," she said, holding her head.
"That was an interesting way of using Psychic, Myu," Zeni said, walking over.
"What do you mean?" Myu asked.
"We don't use our arms when using Psychic, at least not like that," Bella answered, having recovered.
"That Psychic was also incredibly strong!" Mimi exclaimed. "Even Devoir isn't that powerful. How can you be this small and that powerful?"
"I don't know," Myu lied, as he knew the answer to that.
"Well, regardless, problem solved," Ryu said.
"Where are you from?" Mimi asked the Croconaw.
"Orange Village," she answered.
"Orange Village?" Zeni questioned. "That's a long way away. We're just west of Crimson Village," Zeni answered the Croconaw's unasked question.
"It's too dangerous for her to head back there alone," Bella said. "She'll have to stay at Crimson Village until we can arrange something."
"We're going to have to stay here for the night," Myu said.
"Why?" Bella asked, until a blast of thunder was heard, followed by the sound of water pouring outside. Everyone looked outside and saw that it was raining.
"And it's too late to head back," Myu added.
"He's right. The wildlings will attack us on the road," Zeni said.
"I'll get a fire started then," Mimi stated.
"I've got a few traveling beds with me," Zeni said. He retracted his arms into his shell and pulled out several rolled-up bags. "Problem is, I don't have enough for all of us. I could only get five."
"I don't need one of those," Ryu said. "I'm more comfortable sleeping on the ground."
"I'll do that too," Myu spoke up. "I'll just sleep curled up on the ground."
An hour later, the sleeping arrangements had been made, the fire was set up, and Mimi had shared a few Poffins there were left over to eat. After everyone ate, they spent the rest of the night reminiscing about the day, while Zeni poured over the tablets. After a few hours of sharing stories, everyone but Myu and Zeni had fallen asleep. Myu laid next to Zeni. The Squirtle had a paper laid out next to him and was writing on it.
"Still working on translating the language?" Myu asked.
"Yep. I've pulled a lot of late-nighters doing research," Zeni answered. "What about you? Why are you still up?"
"I like staying up late," Myu answered. "What have you figured out so far?"
"Well, from what I can tell, their phonetics, words, and alphabet are the same as our Common, but the character system differs. Every letter has these dotted circles somewhere in the letter. I'm trying to work on figuring out which character is which, but I'm having difficulty."
Myu looked at the letters and found that he could read the tablet. "It doesn't seem that hard, I can make out many of the letters and numbers."
"Hmm, maybe their alphabet is similar to yours."
"It's possible." Myu looked at one of the tablets. "This one looks like it's about a Mythical Pokémon called Manaphy. There's some sort of temple dedicated to it, but this doesn't say where."
"Let's figure it out tomorrow," Zeni suggested. "I'm tired and need to sleep now."
"I'll put out the fire," Myu said. He started walking to the fire, only for a Water Gun to put it out. Myu glared at Zeni, who just smirked back in the darkened building. The Squirtle climbed into his own bag and soon fell asleep.
Myu curled up next to Bella but spent a few minutes listening to the pitter-patter of the rain outside. His eyelids started growing heavy and he started to fall asleep. His head shot up, as he was suddenly alert. He wasn't sure why, but something had made his instincts, something he was still learning about, to wake him up. He looked around, hoping to spot whatever it was that woke him up, but not spotting it, he laid back down and started to fall asleep, no matter how much his instincts told him someone was watching.
End of Chapter 3