ION DESERT, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MORNING
They'll see that I'm not weak. I'll show them somehow. Maybe if I challenge the winner of this fight… Branna thinks these thoughts to herself as she watches Frost and I stare each other down.
"I don't think you're weak Branna."
She jolts slightly as she notices Sepullen floating slightly behind her.
"You were reading my thoughts?" She asks.
"It can't be helped. When I am near enough to a person, I pick up on what they're thinking. Other then that, earlier I said you are fragile, not weak. What this entails, is that while you don't necessarily have to be unkind to others, your modesty might get in the way of a fight with an enemy."
"So I'm not fit to lead a team… because I'm nice?"
"Precisely. See, there's a difference between being compassionate and being a fighter. Now I am not saying that being compassionate is a bad thing, it just has no place in my army."
Branna is silent. This just doesn't make sense. What does it matter if I spare an enemy, or defeat them for good?
"It actually makes more sense then you think. Unless you're in a dual, sparing an enemy would be pointless. If I have learned anything over the years, it's that Pokemon might find different paths in life, but if they are good, they will stay good. If they are evil, they will stay that way."
The Serperior shakes her head, "No, I don't believe that. If I did, that would mean that Frost is still evil and I won't accept that."
"It's not like that Branna. How could she still be evil if she never was in the first place."
She looks at him, "You don't think so?"
"No, I think she's prideful. If anything, I think the only reason she stayed with Team Fade for so long is the absence of anywhere else to go."
"What about Venomitus?"
He pauses for a moment. Branna notices a look of uncertainty in his eyes.
"I have not figured him out yet, but I'm sure he's hiding his true nature."
"Really? How's that."
"Well, I have known him for years and because of our work, our paths have crossed multiple times. Through all of those times he has held the facade of a careless, oblivious explorer. Everytime we meet, he turns hostile. Even when I am not around, he gets hostile at the mention of my name. Honestly, I don't think he even knows why, but I think it has to do with-"
He stops suddenly.
"Nevermind, I'll tell you another time."
She looks him in the eye, "Sepullen, you're starting to sound like an agent."
As soon as she finishes her sentence, his orange aura flares up.
"YOU REALLY THINK THAT'S WHAT I AM DOING. I AM NOT HIDING THE TRUTH BECAUSE 'THE TIME ISN'T RIGHT'. I AM NOT TELLING YOU, BECAUSE KNOWING COULD KILL YOU."
Seeing Branna's nervous reaction, his aura dims down.
"I apologize. You will have to tell me how the fight goes."
He Teleports away, leaving Branna to think about his words.
"Come on, hit me already!"
I try to hit Frost, but she swiftly dodges out of the way. Turning around, I lunge at her again, only for her to move to the side slightly and punch the back of my head as I move past her.
As I hit the ground, I hear her say, "I'm not fighting you while I have a clear advantage, so you can either keep doing this little charade and attempt to wear me out, or you can become on par with me by Mega Evolving. Your choice."
I get up and look at the cracked stone on my necklace. I forgot about it, I did. A stupid mistake, yes it was. Without hesitation, I grab onto the Sablenite and project my energy into it. Frost moves back slightly as white energy condenses around me, then explodes outward. I stumble for a moment when the green gem on my chest pops out and grows bigger.
"There you go. Now try to hit me again."
She smirks and puts her arms behind her back. I jump up with my gem, then kick off of it for momentum. Charging up dark energy, I attempt to ram into her with Foul Play. However, she reaches her hand forward and catches me by the neck.
"Stop… doing that… please," I say as I gasp for air.
"A tip, spawn. Don't try to outclass me in strength, and stop trying to rush me. The best way to beat me is through tactics. Remember, I'm not going to go easy, you are as powerful as me now in your Mega Evolution."
She drops me down on the ground, then moves a distance away from me.
"Now, come at me again, only this time use your head. Though, knowing you, I can probably take anything you throw at me."
Smirking, I take a handful of sand and toss it at her.
Unamused she says, "You know what I meant. Besides, even if you could use something like Sand Attack it wouldn't…"
She forms a grin, "You just gave me an idea."
I am surprised when all of the sudden, she shoots into the air. When she stops, she holds up a finger and starts charging a Shadow Ball. For several moments, she stays in the air. I start to notice her Shadow Ball growing at a fast rate. When she doesn't stop, I start to worry.
"Frost, you can't -cannot- release that if it gets too large. You'll kill us both."
Her attack casts a shadow over most of our fighting area.
Above me, I hear Frost say, "It'll be fine, I'm not aiming for you."
When her attack grows out of proportion, I start to run the opposite direction.
BONE CLAN CAMP PLAZA, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MORNING
"Wow, this is good. Who made it?" Mr. Money asks through a mouthful of cooked Basculin.
Ember rolls his eyes, "No one made it for you, it's meat."
"I know, but someone cooked it perfectly, it's like I'm falling in love," He says dreamily.
"With the person who made it?"
Mr. Money shakes his head slowly, "No, the fish."
The Salamence sighs, "There must be something really good in that fish. Who cooked it anyway?"
He looks over at his other teammates, then at Nepheren, who is asleep on the table the rest of them are gathered around. With every breath she takes, she exhales a small amount of flame.
"Cooking is not in Metal Claw's database," Metal Claw states.
Ember asks, "Rodium, did you cook that fish?"
"Yes, why?"
He gives the Empoleon a look, "Where did you cook it at?"
"Well, since there's no fire around and I'm a water-type, I just roasted it over Nepherens flames."
Ember nods, "Tell me something, do you know what type of Pokemon she is?"
"Um, maybe she's a Feraligatr."
"Feraligatr's are blue, and they can't breath fire."
"She could be one of those Pokemon that are born with rare color differences."
He shakes his head again, "No, Rodium, she's a Salazzle. Her fire contains a toxin that makes anyone who smells or consumes it becomes attracted to whatever it's on."
Rodium stares at Mr. Money, "Oh. That's bad isn't it."
"I suppose."
"It's not bad, it's wonderful," Mr. Money says while chomping down on the fish.
Irritated, Ember tells him, "This may not be dangerous, but you need to stop acting like this."
"NO, STAY BACK. YOU'RE NOT TAKING MY PRECIOUS FISH."
The Salamence rolls his eyes, "I'm not taking your fish, I need you to stop acting like this."
"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking about the evil Black Sun in the sky."
Rodium laughs, "The sun isn't black, it's bright yellow. Unless of course you're talking about Frost's signature attack, but that's highly unlikely."
Suddenly, they noticed most of the camp had gone dark.
Ember comments, "Maybe the sun did turn black. No, that can't be right."
He and Rodium gain shocked expression with they look at the sky over the desert. Frost's Shadow Ball had become big enough to blot out the sun from everything within a three kilometer radius.
The Empoleon comments, "I bet Zapdos isn't going to be happy about this."
LIGHTNINGROD PALACE, STEEL CITY, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MID MORNING
An Aggron walks up to a window overlooking the city and the desert. Next to him is a large yellow and black bird looking at the massive Shadow Ball in the sky.
"Lord Zapdos, it is getting unstable. What should we do about it?"
He turns to his assistant, "Nothing. That attack belongs to Miss Frost. I have received word from my Agent that she has recently joined Bone Clan's side. She may be aggressive, but she is never reckless."
The Aggron looks at him with confusion, "That attack could damage Steel City's structure."
Zapdos bursts into laughter, "Nothing can damage Steel City's infrastructure. Sure we'll probably feel it's impact, but the Citizens love a good show."
"Fair enough, but what about Bone Clan?"
"Eh don't worry about it, they'll be fine."
His assistant look at him, "How did a Shadow Ball get so big anyway?"
"Frost has trained herself rigorously, passed the point any Pokemon should be able to. This is the attack she has worked hardest on. Others who have seen it have nicknamed it the 'Black Sun' due to it casting a very large shadow over the surrounding area."
"Well, it looks like she's finally stopped charging it."
The Aggron and Zapdos watch as Frost prepares to releases her attack.
ION DESERT, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MID MORNING
I stop running and look behind me. Frost smirks as her Black Sun attack starts moving toward the ground with a flick of her finger. 'I'm not aiming for you' says her. Of course not, no. You don't have to aim, no, you don't. The attack comes closer to the ground, and I start to panic. Seeing no other option, I hide under my gem. The attack hits the ground with a deadly impact. I watch the edges of my gem start to crack, and start panic even more.
Lose my gem, I might, again. Seeing no other way, I toss my gem out of the radius of the attack. Immediately, I'm hit with a massive amount of pain as the attack explodes outwards. The explosion kicks up sand and metal, as I fly backward for about half a kilometer before making an impact in the sand. All of the sudden, the grains of metal and sand in the air blow toward me in violent gust.
The small projectiles move at a high enough velocity to pierce straight through my skin and bones. This barrage lasts for over a minute, before letting up. I try to move, but fail. Black steam emits from me, as my body attempts to repair itself. I notice Branna unburrow herself from the ground. Frost comes down from the sky and looks at me.
"So what do you think?"
I say nothing and collapse onto the ground.
"Well said," She taunts sarcastically.
Branna comments, "Well, you've won again. I guess that makes you the leader of our future team."
She shakes her head, "I said before, Branna, I won't accept an easy victory."
"You could always just rechallenge him later, but become the leader for now."
"No, it doesn't work like that. I don't care about being the leader. Venomitus is the only one close to being my perfect rival. With that said, if I took this victory, my leadership wouldn't be a reward for beating him, and I want it to be."
"I see. So what do we tell Master Sepullen?"
The Froslass smirks, "I have an idea, and I think you'll like it alot."
BONE CLAN CAMP, ARCHIEA THE ROCK CONTINENT, MID MORNING
"I see," The Relic Master says.
Frost and Branna are having a conversation with Sepullen in the guest's den.
"I understand you reasoning for not accepting this victory, but your team must have a leader."
"It does, and I have an idea. See, I'm good at fighting and all, and Venomitus is good at strategy and creeping people the hell out. However, the only person here that has leadership experience is Branna."
Branna gains a slightly surprised look, but she says nothing.
"So, you're saying that you want her to lead you, because she's more experienced?"
Frost nods, "Precisely."
"No."
It takes a moment for her to register this.
"What?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, Frost. You already knew what my stance was before you came in here."
"If she were leader, Sepullen, she could run our team like she did Elemental. If you knew us back then, then you would know how efficient our system was."
"Back then you had a well built team that consisted of more then three members, and every member was extremely powerful. What you have now is a Sableye who has suddenly become uncoordinated and a teammate that is out of shape. The only dependable, viable person on the team is you."
She glares at him, "I'll admit that Branna's a little out of shape, but that's because she was waiting for me to return to her for nineteen years. She could have done anything else and yet, she waited that long for me. So if I were to trust anyone with my life it would be her. As for Venomitus, the reason he has become 'suddenly uncoordinated' is you fault. Those Persim berries were the only thing keeping him aware and adept. Now he panics easily and loses his concentration."
The Claydol hesitates for a moment.
"All I am saying, is that as it stands right now, your team as a whole has weak links that need to be broken. All you have to do to break them is train hard. If you do that, I might reconsider. As for now, I'm telling you that a team needs a strong leader until the team can maintain balance..."
He looks at Branna for a moment then back at Frost.
"You know what? Do what you want, however you want. I'll train you to be part of my army, even higher ups if you end up being good enough, but don't come crawling to me when what I've said ends up true. As for you, Branna, I still am sticking to what I said to you earlier. I will see you later. Remember, we leave at dusk."
He Teleports away, leaving the two Pokemon to themselves.
After a moment, Frost comments, "Well that was a little harsh."
"Yeah, but as Lyle once said; if you challenge a Pokemon's nature, their inner anger will show itself."
She smiles slightly, "Ironic isn't it?"
"His inner anger certainly showed itself."
Frost smiles, "Well, it seems you're the leader now."
"Thank you for that."
After a moment Branna asks, "That last attack on Venomitus, how did you do it?"
"What, the Shadow Ball?"
She shakes her head, "No, the sand. How did you spike it toward him like that?"
"Well, being that it's the desert, my ice attacks don't really work out here. Though I can still generate wind from Blizzard. So what I did was use my Shadow Ball to kick up sand, then I propelled it with the wind."
Branna gives her a look, "Don't you think you went a little hard on him?"
"It was his idea, he threw sand in my face."
"Whatever you say. Also, tonight we leave with Sepullen, so I was thinking we'd go to Steel City to pick up supplies."
"Right."
"Was I too harsh on them?"
Rook leans back against a post, "No, If they're going to be joining us, they might as well learn how we do things."
Aubadia looks at Sepullen, "If you want my opinion, I think we could use a team like them."
The Relic Master is silent.
The Bisharp asks, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that maybe instead of trying to eliminate certain traits, why don't you train them according to their natural inclinations."
Sepullen shakes his head, "That's not going to work. Frost is fine for the most part, except for her constant defence of Branna. That Serperior however, is the main problem. Even though she acknowledges her own weaknesses, she refuses to admit that compassion is one of them."
"So what are you going to do about them?" Rook asks.
He sighs, "If I cannot convince them otherwise, then I will have to take drastic measures to get rid of both of their problems."
"What kind of drastic measures?"
"If I forcefully make Branna realize her errors, then she will become a new person. With that said, Frost will be less inclined to defend her, because she won't be the Branna she knows and loves."
"So it's true then, is it? You will do anything -EVERYTHING- to accomplish your goals," A malicious voice comes from behind them.
Without turning around, Sepullen says, "Curse my ability not to detect Dark-Types, what do you want Spawn?"
I stand a distance away from them with a look of viciousness.
"If you can not have what you want, you will -EXTRACT- take it from them, is that it? If that is the case, then it doesn't stop at them, now does it? No. I know about Roselyn -THE CARRIER-, and if this is what you plan to do with all your assets, as you call them, then that is the one thing you will fail in obtaining."
For a moment there is silence.
Rook extends his blades in a fighting stance, "You care to repeat that?"
I smirk, "Yes, if you want."
"Then I'll just have to-"
"Enough, Rook."
He nods his head then retracts his blades. After a moment, Sepullen turns to me.
"Now, as he said just a moment ago, would you care to repeat what you said, or would you like to rephrase it and pretend this moment never happened?"
Shaking my head, I say, "I stand by what I said. No one one this planet can change that."
"Is that so? Venomitus, you are my subordinate, meaning that you do what I tell you."
"On the contrary, as the Relic Keeper, I am your counterpart, therefore, your equal."
The ground starts shaking around us as Sepullen's aura flares up.
"YOU ARE NOT MY EQUAL, YOU ARE A SPAWN AND CANNOT EVEN BEAT ME IN BATTLE."
"You are an Agent. Give me a Persim berry, then let's fight."
"I've had about enough of all of you. Here's a deal, you recover your energy from you and Frost's fight, then meet me in the desert at sundown before we leave. Then, we will do what the humans called, a 'triple battle'. My team versus you, Branna and Frost. If I win, you do what I say. If I lose, then I will consider your team partners in our operation. Until then, I don't want to see you again."
With his Psychic energy, he lifts me up and launches me into the air toward the other side of the camp.
"Shouldn't we check on Venomitus before we leave?" Branna asks.
Frost shakes her head, "No it should be fine. Last I saw, he was the medical ward with Blade and Roselyn."
"Not anymore," I light voice comes from beside them.
They turn to see the Leafeon and Sylveon walking up to them.
"What do you mean?" The Froslass asks.
Blade answers, "He just got up and left to go talk to the Relic Master."
Roselyn asks, "Why was he so badly hurt, Miss Frost?"
Branna interjects, "Oh, they were just working out together, nothing big."
Frost looks at her strangely, "What are you talking about? We were-"
The Serperior gives her a sharp Glare.
"-Working out big time, yeah, that's what we were doing."
The Sylveon jumps up and down excitedly, "That's so cool. I don't believe them when they said you were bad, Miss Frost."
The Froslass laughs nervously, "Yeah, who would believe that?"
For a moment, there is silence. All of the sudden, I crash down in the sand next to them. Roselyn jolts, then hides behind Blade. I look up to see all of them staring at me.
"Hello everyone. What are all of you -friends- up to?"
"Well, we were going to go to Steel City to pick up supplies for our trip," Branna says.
Blade starts nervously, "Um, Branna I-"
Frost adds, "Apparently there are a lot of Poison-Types near the mountain, so we wanted to stock up on Pecha berries and the like."
"I really don't think you should-" Blade tries to say.
"I remember seeing something about…"
Branna stops mid sentence as she sees Roselyn. I notice her shivering and staring blankly forward. A moment later, she breaks down in tears. Blade tries to come close to her to cheer her up, but is knocked when she uses Protect around herself. Frost rolls her eyes, then phases through the barrier. She picks Roselyn up into her arms.
"Rose, please cheer up and tell us what's wrong."
The Sylveon looks Frost in the eye and shakes her head.
"If you can't tell me what's wrong, then do you care if I look inside your mind?"
She nods her head head, then curls up in the Froslass's arms. A faint white light forms itself in Frost's hand. She moves it toward Roselyn's head slowly, then uses the light to peer into her mind. At first, she sees nothing, but as she goes deeper and deeper, she starts to see memories. Images flash in her mind, some of them she recognizes as steel beams, multiple kinds of toxic materials.
So she fears these things, that's what this is about, but where do they come from?
Frost starts to push deeper into her mind, past recent events and into her past. Images of snow and grass start to form. In a scenario, she recognizes a certain Pokemon.
Is that... Regigigas?
Icy wind blows violently, as a young girl makes her way to an old looking ruin. She does not enter to escape the snow, in fact she enjoys being in the snow. The reason for her making a trip all the up in the mountain is because she had heard that there was a legendary pokemon in the area. The prospect of meeting a legendary gave her an exciting feeling.
She enters the ruins with a wondrous gaze, as she sees several hallways inscribed with Unown Script. Carelessly, she starts running down the hallways in excitement. After running through the ruin, she finds herself in an open room. Looking around, she notices that there are four statues on each side of the room. In front of her is a statue of some sort of Ice-Type pokemon. On the walls on either side of her, there are similar statues of a Rock-Type, and a Steel-Type Pokemon which unnerved her slightly. She turns around to where she came in and notices a giant Pokemon that looks similar to the others, only much bigger.
After marveling at the statues for several moments, she loses interest. As she starts leaving the room, a faint static voice comes from behind her.
"What could a little girl like you be doing all the way up here?"
The girl turns around to try and find where the voice came from. She becomes startled when a Claydol appears in front of her.
With a friendly voice, she asks, "Oh hi, who are you?"
"I'm am known by my master and my pupil as Nocturan, Agent of Regigigas. Who might you be?"
She replies happily, "I was never given a name, Mister Nocturan, but I've been trying to think one."
"Is that so? Well I can't call you nothing, so I'll call you Roselyn."
The girl looks at him with a confused expression, "Roselyn?"
"Yes quite. Roselyn is an old Sinnoh name witch means soft red eyes, and I see that in you."
"Roselyn," She repeats. "I like it."
"Now Roselyn, I have been waiting for you. You see, if you have heard of the Legendary Pokemon, then you know it is also said that they have what is called Agents of Spirits. What you might not have heard, is that each Legendary has a guardian that they watch over, in return for that guardian doing work for the Legendaries that the Agents cannot."
"What does that have to do with me, Mister Nocturan?"
"It's simple, I think you must be the right guardian for Master Regigigas. It is easy for me to see what traits you possess, and for that, I have come to this conclusion."
"How do you know that I'm the right person?"
"It is all in the eyes, Roselyn. For instance, your eyes reveal to me that you are fragile and naive, but they also show me that you are extremely caring and completely incorruptible. I believe you can be trusted with the power of the Legendaries."
"QUITE RIGHT, RELIC MASTER NOCTURAN, I KNEW YOUR EVALUATIONS WOULD HELP ME FIND A PERFECT GUARDIAN," A powerful, booming voice comes out from behind Roselyn.
Roselyn trembles and starts turning around. She sees the statue above the entryway come to life and step toward her. Without thinking, she runs behind Nocturan in fear.
"DO NOT BE AFRAID, LITTLE ONE, I AM THE ONE KNOWN AS REGIGIGAS THE COLOSSAL. YOU HAVE NO NEED TO FEAR ME."
Forgetting her fear, she jumps up excitedly, "You're Regigigas, the Legendary Pokemon?!"
"I AM."
"Wow I never thought I would be able to actually see a Legendary?!"
"CALM DOWN, LITTLE ONE. DO ACCEPT THE PROPOSAL TO BECOME MY GUARDIAN?"
She shakes her head eagerly.
"THEN TELL ME SOMETHING. HAVE YOU HEARD OF MAGIC?"
Roselyn nods, "I was born with the ability to heal."
"THEN I WILL TEACH YOU THE ART OF ICE. LET US BEGIN."
So she learned how to harness ice, just as I do. I 'll go deeper.
Frost goes past the memory, and into another. Before she can view it, she suddenly blacks out.
You cannot have her, she is MINE.
Frost awakes to find herself in a strange dreamscape. Looking around, she feels a malicious presence.
"Who are you? Reveal yourself, before I collapse this dreamworld and force you out!"
I wouldn't do that if I were you. Destroy me, and you destroy this one's mind.
"This one? Are you talking about Roselyn?"
Yes, she is mine for the taking.
"No she isn't, you're the source of her fears and you need to leave!"
You misunderstand. I'm not the source of her fears, I merely amplify them.
"Then what do you want here?"
I want her soul.
"I'm afraid her soul is hers. If you will not leave, then I will extract you from this place."
Not possible. I have mixed my deoxyribonucleic acid with hers, so if you remove me, you kill her.
"Nevertheless, I will find a way to remove you."
She is MINE, living ghost. Just as your friend is a Spawn, she too, is my Spawn.
A thought comes across Frost's mind, "I know your voice from somewhere, but what could it be?"
You imbecile, you have faced me in combat. I also, am a Spawn, but far more powerful then any you have ever seen. The only beings that can match me are ones filled with just as much hatred as me. Those such as the Bittercold, the Dark Matter, or the Ultra Beasts come close, but none of them match me, Kuretta, for I am Deoxys. So come at me, if you dare. I'll be waiting.
Thus ends Arch 1 of Legend of Archiea: Rebirth. I thank EonTheZoarark for Roselyn and her backstory. I also give credit to RodiumTeck for the creation of Team Gold, Nocturan, and Sepullen.
As always, I accept OC's as long as they pertain to the plot, though I can be very flexible. Magic and the like have been in my story since the very beginning, so don't be afraid to include those elements in your characters. Also, there are fifty+ Legendaries, so if you want to make your character an Agent of a Legendary that doesn't already have one, then that's fine too.
-Vein Locke