Pokemon: Endwar's Aftermath Chapter 2, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 2: Dangerous Game

Haven, Ruins of Bokn, Norway

27.08.2023

07.49 Hours

As Eirik and Tor walked into the entrance of their home, Scout flew of to his own home in the small forest, alarming all of those that had remained on last night's run.

The first one to greet them was a small, brown fox, its cream tipped tail wagging back and forth happily, obviously thrilled to see its master and friend.

Hope the Eevee wasted no time, immediately running to Eirik, jumping into his arms, nuzzling his chest in happiness.

"He-hey there" Eirik said with a smile, it was always nice to see someone happy, and it was hard for Eirik to see the times Hope didn't smile, she always smiled when Eirik was nearby.

"How do you do Hope?" Eirik asked, although he knew the answer

"Vee!" Hope shouted happily, wagging her tail as she did

"I thought so" Eirik said, hugging Hope as he did.

"Eirik, Tor, is that you guys?" a voice erupted from the basement, making the three turn to its entrance.

The woman was young, being a little over eighteen years, and due to being part Chansey, a little rounder than the average human, as well as having pink skin.

Her clothes were newer than either of Eirik and Tor's, although her's to were old and worn, with an extra opening for the eggs she always produced

"It's us Lisa" Tor replied

Lisa gave a little smile, happy that her friends had returned from their theft, before she curiously asked "what took you so long?"

Eirik couldn't help but ask with a mocking confused tone "seriously, when did I get a time limit?"

Lisa gave a little giggle, countering with "you haven't, but you usually come when the sun rises"

Eirik couldn't help but give a little chuckle at this, merely replying "True..."

"so what happened?" Lisa asked, continuing to smile as she did, although she already had her suspicions

Tor immediately pointed at Eirik, before saying "he got in trouble"

Eirik however, immediately countered the comment with "sidetracked, not trouble"

Tor looked at Eirik like he had just lost his mind, before he said hysterically "you almost got caught!"

Eirik countered that fact with one of his own "the keyword in that sentence would be almost, I didn't get caught, just almost"

"You're impossible!" Tor shouted, starting another of the two's fights

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As the fight continued, Lisa gave another sigh. Tor and Eirik always ended up in some sort of fight, from the important stuff, like farming, construction and other things, to the more ridicules things, like when tools break or when Eirik makes a bad joke, and it was getting quite boring to watch.

True enough, it was quite the time killer when there was nothing to do, and it was better this than to let the irritation bottle up...

However when they ended up in a fight about five times a day, it got really old, really fast, and when such a fight would erupt, there was often things to do...

suddenly a moan erupted from behind Lisa, followed by the question "what's all the racket?"

Lisa turned around, surprised that Gabriel had taken the liberty of waking up this early in the morning, he usually slept to the middle of the day, due to often working until late at night.

Gabriel was the oldest of the brotherhood, being thirty-four years old, yet he was still the newest member to join, having arrived only four of years ago.

Like the others of the brotherhood, he wore ragged and worn out clothes, and like Tor, his black hair looked like a pidgeotto's nest not even a Grimer would have touched, while his beard, looked newly cut, with the term Newly used very loosely.

Lisa gave a small, fake smile, saddened that some of her friends could be fighting so fiercely, Tor was threatening with Violence, and Eirik, was mocking him for it.

"good morning Gabriel" she said, returning her gaze to Eirik and Tor, whom both were prepared for one of their usual fights.

Gabriel yawned, blinking a little to get the sleep out of his eyes, before replying "right back at ya" Yawning again, before asking "whats going on?"

Lisa gave another sigh, before answering "Eirik and Tor's having a fight again"

Gabriel eyed the scene, neither Tor, nor Eirik were actually fighting, only encircling each other, insulting and mocking each other

"should we do something" Gabriel asked, although he was more curious as to why the two were fighting again, than to actually stopping them

"not unless-"

before Lisa could finish the sentence however, a small, sleeping, yellow and brown, fox-like creature appeared between them.

Like most Abra, Farsight seemed to wear a brown armor, although its pauldrons had been broken halfway of, something that had happened long before it joined Tor.

"Abra" he shouted, seeming almost to be trying to warn his friends of danger

"he arrives showing-"

Before Lisa could finish the sentence, Abra's eyes flashed blue, and both Gabriel and Lisa were shown what the little guy was trying to say.

Immediately Farsight enveloped himself in a blue light, disappearing before Lisa and Gabriel's eyes, although they no longer focused on him, for the news he had brought were more important

Gabriel ran towards the two brawlers, shouting "Break it up! The Empire's on the move!"

"What!" Tor shouted, surprised and shocked that the Empire was coming already now, although Eirik managed to pull himself together a little faster, quickly shouting "Hurry! Into the Shelter"

Lisa was the first to react, immediately darting towards one of the unused patches of land that still was left in the area, immediately searching for the entrance when she reached the small patch.

She soon found what she was looking for; a small rope, colored with some green paint to make it blend in.

She wasted no time, pulling the rope upwards, revealing a small, dirt and grass covered hatch, leading down to the brotherhood's secret hiding place.

"Lisa, Catch!" she turned to Eirik at the comment, barely catching the loaf of bread he tossed to her, before she ran down the hatch.

Before Tor could react, Eirik immediately said to him in a commanding tone "Tor! Take Hope!" immediately handing the little Eevee to Tor, who merely replied with a "got it" before running towards the hiding spot.

Gabriel however had not moved much, merely approaching Eirik, instead of running and hiding like with the others.

Eirik immediately reacted to this, shouting "Gaberiell get moving!"

"I want to help you!" Gabriel said, insisting on being like Eirik, and take one for the team

Eirik however was not all that enthusiastic, immediately countering with "remember what I told you, if you do, one of us might Die!"

"But-"

Eirik didn't let him finish, immediately shouting "Go! Now!"

Gabriel stood there, thinking about it, finally saying in defeat "okay..." he ran towards the hiding spot, and as soon as he got in, he closed it behind him, leaving Eirik to face the Empire alone once again...

Eirik gave a sigh.

The hiding spot had previously been a grenade hole which Tor and Eirik had partially filled, while they had dug it out below, and thanks to its lack of light, somewhat cool temperature and being almost completely airtight, it also made an ideal place for storing much of the Brotherhoods food.

Although many had hid from their enemies there, thanks to Farsight, only the Lost brotherhood knew of it, they with those seeking refugee only knowing that the brotherhood could hide them in times of peril.

And yet, Eirik was only down in the storage and hiding place when he was to go get some food for breakfast and dinner, he never went down there to hide.

He gave another sigh as he started to hear the talking and cruel laughter of the empire, mumbling "showtime again..." to himself.

He ran into the basement, preparing himself for what was about to come, taking deep breaths, he talked to himself again, his words full of sadness and pain, of hope that it would be quick today...

"lets hope that I can put up a decent act..."

The Brotherhood looked among themselves.

The storage wasn't exactly big, and the Empire's dried meat didn't exactly make it look any bigger. It looked barely fit for twelve, with all the meat they had managed to steal, which wasn't much.

This was however, the only place where the brotherhood had any freedom to build whatever they wanted, which meant that much material had been stolen from the Empire to build the four wooden walls, the nice wooden floor, and the brick roof, with the only illumination that entered the room, being from some stolen battery-driven lights.

Gabriel was the first to break the silence, although in a whisper, for while the room was air tight, they often heard screaming when the Empire decided to pay a Visit.

"where's Farsight?" Gabriel asked, seeing the lack of the small fox, as a matter of fact, the only pokemon in the room was Hope, who was struggling to break free from Tor's hold, to help his friend...

"Farsight is currently fetching both Scout, Milly and Miles" Lisa replied, seeming to expect his arrival any minute.

"Abra" Farsight calmly said as he appeared within a blue light, although it also seemed to bring two other creatures.

The two creatures were wooly, their cream colored fur, covering all save their heads, feet and tail. On their yellow and black striped tails were an orange sphere, providing light to the small hideout

"Mareep!" the two shouted simultaneously, showing their dislike in their means of travel, Abra wasn't exactly known for his good teleporting, as it always managed to turn all but him nauseous, sometimes to the point of throwing up.

"There he is!" Tor whispered, ignoring the complaining of the two dizzy Mareep

Abra enveloped himself in his blue light, vanishing once more, presumably to find Scout.

"and there he goes..." Lisa said, although she didn't have time to worry, as Farsight arrived again, bringing the now irritated and nauseous Scout.

"there he is again" Gabriel said with a snicker

"Abra"

"quiet everyone" Tor said, listening to what was happening outside, before he whispered "they're here..."

everyone drew quiet, knowing full and well what would happen next, it was the same every time the empire would visit. Lisa even covered her ears, fearing for what she would hear.

The others didn't knowing full and well that it wouldn't matter, the screams of pain always managed to reach them somehow, be it through the ears, or through the memories of the other times...

"Hey Eric!" a dark voice shouted, sounding furious, although Eirik knew the morph good enough to know that he was always mad when he arrived, so he knew it was normal.

Ferdinand didn't wait, immediately shouting "Get out here you worthless piece of Skin!"

Eirik didn't wait, he knew what would happen if he waited, instead limping out, shouting "of course mi-liege, anything your greatness demands!"

Ferdinand was a Machoke Morph, as was evident with his Grey skin, and Reptilian like face, although he had a different hairstyle than normal, as he had removed two of his Ridges, leaving the middle alone.

Like most pokemorphs of the Empire, he was wearing quite new clothes, mostly because he could afford it, although he, for some disturbing reason, rarely decided to wear a shirt, probably because he liked to flex around with his muscles.

And today, he didn't just seem to be mad, he seemed absolutely furious, which only served to discourage Eirik, this could end badly...

Behind Fredinand, there were also five other morphs, presumably his escort, they always kept the participants guarded if something should occur during the sporting event, luckily nothing never did.

Eirik limped over to the group, he had a lot of training to this, since it happened at least once a month, and if it was one thing he had learned during the last ten years, it was how to fake injury and lie like Loki when the Empire visited.

"Oh heavens, is it that time aga-"

before he could finish the sentence, Ferdinand immediately shouted "Shut it Scum!"

Oh Golly, He's having a bad day... Eirik thought sarcastically as he approached, carefully rubbing his hands together like he was a dishonest merchant about to rip of a customer.

Eirik stopped in front of Ferdinand, pretending to cower in fear, he actually looked like some worthless beggar, scared of being beaten by a superior being

"oh my, the Great Ferdinand sounds a little-"

"Shut up!" Ferdinand screamed in anger, interrupting Eirik from his little thought, before Ferdinand did as he always did, punching Eirik hard in the face, sending him flying up in the air, with a broken, bleeding nose, and a intense headache, before landing on the ground, clutching his face as he recovered from the blow.

Another thing this regular beating had granted him, was a face without much feeling, meaning that he didn't feel the punch as much as he should have.

But he wouldn't let the Empire find that out...

"Get up" Ferdinand said Coldly, wanting to get out more of his frustration on the human.

Eirik did as he was told, using his left hand to get up, while clutching his face with the right hand, only to get a jab in the gut, literary punching the air, and whatever food that had remained in his gut, out of him, and presumably cracking his two lower ribs as well.

He fell on his knees, using his left hand to keep himself up, while still clutching his face with the other, trying to prevent the food from coming out, he needed all the energy it could provide...

Ferdinand didn't give him time to recover, immediately kicking him in the side, and sending him flying into the ground once again, sending the food out of his mouth as he lost his grip, and spilling it out over the yard...

Eirik heard laughing behind him, the other morphs were enjoying his pain, even Ferdinand had joined in a little, before he asked "you don't think it's over yet, do you?"

He was lifted up by two of the guards, both bearing a vicious grin, definitely not good...

the rest of the Morphs continued to laugh, all amused at today's beating, although Ferdinand wore the most vicious, cruel and cold grin of them all, before he added "for we have only just begun..."

Tor watched in remorse as his childhood friend was nearly beaten to death, he always managed to spy on the Morphs when they beat his friend, they were, as always, too occupied with humoring themselves on the cost of Eirik's health.

It had started about seven years ago, when one of the Morph patrols discovered their base. Tor had left to look for some loot that day, and wasn't there when it happened, but from what he was told, it was not pretty.

Tor and Eirik had managed to repair much of the yard, as well as clear out much of the second floor. The Empire, believing this to be an act of rebellion, had decided to wreck what the two had managed to rebuild...

Eirik however, had managed to convince them otherwise...

Exactly how is still unknown to Tor, but instead of turning the house to toothpicks, Eirik managed to strike the morphs a deal; if the morphs left the house and yard alone, Eirik would permit them to beat him up as much as they would like, as long as he got to rest afterward to recover from his injuries...

However, Eirik had also lost something else that day, nothing like a priced possession, or a limb, he just seemed... a little more... distant, more emotionless, more... broken... like he had lost a piece of his already broken heart...

Eirik always acted as if nothing was wrong, and he managed to fake his emotions quite well, but Tor could tell that something was wrong...

The beating worsened over the years, as several learned of the human who would not resist, and more and more came to enjoy themselves, and Eirik continued to do nothing to stop them.

Tor would often wind up asking why Eirik permitted the morphs to beat him up like that, and Eirik would always reply in the same matter; "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but a Sword will cut me clean in two"

A sudden scream of pain caught Tor of guard, focusing his attention back to the Morphs and the man. Ferdinand had apparently decided to use his right foot in the dreaded 'Nutcracker' as Eirik called it, and from the impact, Tor could tell that it hurt, Eirik might have a face of rubber, but that didn't cover what was below the belt.

"what happened?" Gabriel asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind

"I think Ferdinand just turned Eirik into a woman..."

Everyone in the hideout gave a pained look, as they all knew what he meant, none of them knew what that move felt like, as Eirik never had allowed them to go with him, but they could imagine.

What felt like hours passed before the Morphs left, although it probably wasn't any more than half an hour, none of the Brotherhood had a clock to measure the time, and neither did they they need one.

As always, Ferdinand had left Eirik in the position he had fainted, flat on his belly, on the ground where he had landed, meaning that it was easy to locate him.

The Brotherhood didn't hesitate, seeing as Farsight had already showed that the Morphs had left the area, immediately running to where Eirik had fallen.

Lisa arrived first, her quick speed coming to good use, seizing Eirik's hand to check his pulse. He was still alive, he was unconscious and hurt, but he was alive...

Tor arrived next, falling to his right knee, before he immediately turned Eirik around on his back, trying to permit the man to breathe

From a single punch in the face, Ferdinand had managed to break Eirik's nose, as well as giving him two black eyes.

"Gabriel, could you get the medical equipment?" Lisa asked, too busy to tend to the unconscious Eirik.

Gabriel looked at her as if she had just said something stupid, quickly asking "You want to bring the medical equipment we used months to gather, out in the open where whichever bypassing bandit group can spot, and steal it from us without worry?"

Lisa understood what he meant, medical supplies were almost impossible to get, even with a good thief, one could kill hundreds for a single bottle of medicine "good point..." she said, planning her remaining options.

"alright then, I will need you to get some bandages from the medical supplies, as well as some disinfectant"

Gabriel gave a moan, asking "Can't we carry him inside this time? Its safer"

"You must never move an unconscious injured person when he's in such a condition!" Lisa Replied with a frown, she always took her work seriously, and she knew most risks.

"Alright, sorry! I'm on it!" Gabriel replied, running towards the basement of the house. They had scattered various hidden rooms with the resources that they had stolen from the empire, although the hideout was the largest, there were others...

Tor looked at Gabriel as he entered the house, nearly tripping as he entered, although he managed to stop himself from falling. The guy always wanted to help the Brotherhood, no matter how much trouble it may be for him, he rarely fought, but there had been cases when he had to help.

As Gabriel managed to get inside, Tor returned his gaze to Lisa as she tended to the unconscious Eirik, simply asking the question "is he going to be okay?"

"hard to say..." Lisa began, looking over Eirik's body to check if he had any broken bones. "he will live, but the damages of the last time, and the times before that, have not had a chance to get properly healed, if he doesn't find something to have the Morphs leave him alone soon, they might permanently break one of his bones, start an internal bleeding, or cause brain damage..."

Tor gave a sigh, it was true, while Eirik's damages always healed, he never gave them the time to heal properly, so even if he managed to maneuver his body as good as before, the wounds had never been able to heal completely.

"do you have any suggestions?" he asked, currently more concerned with Eirik's health than anything else, the man was a beacon to the brotherhood, due to all he could do, and endure.

Lisa thought about it, before she suggested "We could ask them to leave him alone until his damages have completely healed, figure out a way to trick them to leave him alone." she said, formulating a plan on how to do it, before adding "Or we could hide him away the next times to let him rest. either that, or he will have to stop going on supply runs and the construction of the house, using the extra time to rest."

Tor could see the problems with all three of the suggestions, calmly explaining "none of those options are actually available; The Empire love beating him to much to stop, we could end up worsening the beating by begging them to leave him alone"

Lisa looked down, realizing that it was true, they always enjoyed beating the living hell out of Eirik, and it was a really slim chance that it would work

"as for the other options..." Tor began, already seeing critical flaws within the ideas "The Empire would destroy the house and farmland if we were to hide him away, leaving us with virtually nothing, and Eirik can't stop going on supply runs, our resources are scarce enough as it is, even with the farmland, especially when we're nearing winter..."

Lisa looked to Tor, confused as to why Eirik was so important at the last problem, curiously asking "what about you, can't you or Gabriel go on Supply runs?"

Tor shook his head, preparing to explain the dilemma "neither of us have the skills that Eirik has, I managed to steal from the Empire, but I only escaped them with sheer luck, and Gabriel is just to slow. If he was spotted, he would be caught in the blink of an eye, and that could lead them to us..."

"well we'll have to do something..." Lisa said, once again checking Eirik for broken bones, currently she had discovered three broken ribs, one dislocated right shoulder, and a broken leg...

as well as a broken left arm apparently...

"I know..." Tor said, pulling a little on his beard, as he always did when he was thinking hard on something "the question is what?"

"what about the resistance?" Gabriel asked, startling the other two as he came back with the medical supplies, immediately handing them to Lisa, who in turn began treating Eiriks wound

"what about the Resistance?" Tor asked curiously, the Resistance lived relatively close by, having stationed their headquarters in the ruins of the nearby village, they often tried to bargain with Eirik for his food, in trade for protection for the Brotherhood. None of the other members understood why Eirik continuously refused, although they knew he had his reasons.

Gabriel started to explain "maybe we could arrange some sort of deal with them, give them some pointers in sneaking into the Town"

Tor had to admit that while Gabriel had a good point, he failed to see some of the problems it would cause for the group, perhaps all of the three islands of Bokn "that would only cause a uproar in Chimcity, and lead to our extermination..."

Gabriel looked a little displeased, hurt even, before he commented "that's harsh..."

"I'm just stating the facts..."

"what about Egil Aagard?"

Both Gabriel and Tor looked at Lisa like she had just admitted to drugs, even the unconscious Eirik shifted a little at the name.

Tor was the one to reply, although from the looks of it, he just seemed to beat Gabriel to the case "you know as well as we do that Eirik hates him, he would never accept help from, to quote Eirik; That little traitorous f**ker. Eirik barely permits the supply drops that the guy makes..."

"right..." Gabriel commented, although not finished, quickly adding "besides, we don't really know were his base is really, he's never shown it to anyone he don't trust, and Eirik doesn't want to know for some reason..."

"all to true..." Tor said, closing his eyes to think, he knew they had to do something, but the question was what, they were deadlocked.

Bandits continued to raid their home, stealing whatever fruit, berries and vegetables they could, Eirik was their only hope of getting enough food, and he would soon be to injured to go, let alone work on the house. The latter he could stop on, but it would only slow down the process, maybe...

Truly, the Brotherhood was facing quite a dilemma, one which they maybe couldn't solve...

Author's Notes:

quite an interesting deal isn't it, in turn for leaving the Brotherhood's home alone, the Empire gets to pound the poop out of Eirik.

As for the Brotherhood, one can see that they have been suffering, while its ranks have increased in size, they are under constant assaults from bandit groups, who are desperate to steal their food, provisions, and in some cases tools.

I've also decided to split up the working parts a bit, with Lisa being the Doctor, Tor the farmer, Gabriel the handyman, and Eirik being the Builder and thief, they can help each other out when they need it, but they mostly concentrate on their own field.

Also if anyone is interested in bringing their own character into the story, be it of the Holy Morph Empire, the Resistance movement in Bokn, a random bandit group or even the Brotherhood itself, just fill out these descriptions, and I'll see what I can do (although it's only a slim-to-none chance that a Brotherhood addition will be used)

Name: (for obvious reasons, preferably Scandinavian, although any name can be used)

Age: (whichever age you would like)

Race: (if he's human or Pokemorph, also if he's a pokemorph, it would be nice to know what kind of morph he is too)

appearance: (I don't want to make up someone else's character looks, although clothes wouldn't be that important, I mostly describes them as rags or such anyway)

Family: (just names, and if their alive or not, although if they have their own special story I would love to hear them in the history section)

Abilities: (if he's a good thief, a builder, a fisherman, sharpshooter, and so on, I want to know. he can have more abilities than one, but try not to be overkill)

Affliction: (is he of the Empire, resistance, Brotherhood, yadayadayada...)

Rank: (only if he's from a group with military standards, such as the Resistance or the Holy Morph Empire, would be pointless otherwise)

Personality: (not just if he's naïve, cruel or something, I want specifics)

Moral Compass: (just something I like to keep track on, it is mostly divided between Lawful Good/neutral/Evil, Neutral Good/true neutral/Evil, or Chaotic Good/neutral/Evil)

History:(this one's more important if he's over fifteen, although it would still be appreciated)

Eventual important items he/she might have: (if he/she has a certain item he/she has a certain attachment too, like a medallion, a picture, or a family heirloom, I would like to know what and why)

also, here's this Chapter's Timeline, starting from 1992:

21 January. 1992: Denmark leaves the Three Kings Alliance, leaving the one of Scandinavia's mightiest alliances Broken. UPS Seizes power in Netherlands and Belgium, and suspicions arises in many nations, including US, and China

2 September. 1993: the Empire of Morphetra is founded, annexing the territories of Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Belarus into its rule.

29 August. 1995: Rebellion occurs across South America, forming several Pokemorph Cities, and several Human Camps.

4 September, 1995: USA Interferes with the Coup d'états across South America, and the Pokemorph relations in the entire America spiral out of control, officially beginning the Endwar, or in Pokemorph society, the Birthwar.

5 September, 1995: The Battle for Chicago Begins

11 September, 1995: the Battle for Chicago ends in a horrific defeat for the US, killing a tenth of the US Army

25 September, 1995: Brazil and Chile is lost to the new Morph Empire. California is Occupied, and the Invasion of Nevada Begins

4 October, 1995: Battle for Las Vegas Begins, Invasion of the Caribbean begins