Before I start, I just wanted to remind that I will take any OC that could be fit into the plot. Also I'm not going to write a whole location out unless it's a completely new place. For example, there will be no more 'CAVE CAVE, TERF THE DIRT CONTINENT, MID AFTERNOON SLIGHTLY BEFORE EVENING'. It was getting annoying, so I'll just write the immediate location for each section
So without further adieu, let us begin Arch II.
?
Will she be alright?
Yes, she just needs to rest.
Look mother, she's waking.
I see, go get her something to eat.
With her eyes still closed, Frost takes in the aroma of several herbs and spices. She takes in the scent of one particularly sweet scent that almost makes her fall back to sleep. Remembering the voices she had heard a moment ago, she tiredly opens her eyes. Adjusting to the light, she finds herself in a dimly lit room with pleasantly colored ivory walls.
The Froslass attempts to move herself, but stops when her head shoots up in a fiery pain. The pain subsides when she feels a gentle hand on the back of her head. An aura Frost recognizes as Aromatherapy washes over her and gives her a tingling feeling in her eyes.
"Get up, but not too quickly. You might hurt your body if you overexert yourself."
She does as the voice tells her, by slowly floating upwards. Looking to her left, Frost finds the source of the voice to be a female Sceptile. She notices the Sceptiles eyes to be a faded orange color resembling that of a sunrise.
Forgetting momentarily about her situation, she asks, "Those eyes… they're different from any Pokemon I've ever seen."
The Sceptile smiles, "They are something aren't they? I'm sure you'll find out how I obtained them sometime."
"Where am I? I thought I was…"
...None of them match me, Kuretta, for I am Deoxys. For a moment, Roselyn's dreamscape and Deoxys's harsh words flash through her mind. She narrows her eyes when she thinks of his challenge. He called me by my real name. Not even Branna calls me by my real name.
"You are in my Inn, sweetheart. My name is Salientia."
Frost snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Salientia, "Others call me Frost. Thank you for taking care of me, but I have to ask. How did I get here?"
"My son was travelling to the Bone Clan camp, when he passed by you and a group of other Pokemon. He said that you and a Sylveon were laying on the ground unconscious."
This puzzled her, "There should have been a Leafeon near us at the time. He is a naturalist like yourself, so I wonder why he couldn't have healed us then."
"Oh, Blade? He's an old friend of mine. Though he is a good healer, he's not good with damage to the psyche, so he came to me."
Out of nowhere, Frost gets tapped from behind. Turning around, she finds a small Cyndaquil handing her a leppa berry.
"Thank you."
She takes the berry, then bites into it with a careless chomp. As she chews, she notices a strange bottle in a bag at the Cyndaquil's side.
"These berries are my favorite y'know."
The Cyndaquil stares at her with a blank face, "I predicted that. Earlier I introduced various smells to you in your sleep. You reacted to the Leppa berry scent the most."
Frost stops chewing and looks closely at the berry. She remembers the sweet scent she had smelled only a moment ago.
Looking at the Fire-Type, she says simply, "I'm impressed."
He looks at her with curiosity in his eyes, but remains silent.
"Kane, you should thank her for the complement," Salientia says to him.
"Mother, please don't call me that," He says in a mildly irritated voice
"It's your name, what else would I call you?"
"Djinn. It is what I want to be called."
"Why?"
"When a pokemon dies, it becomes a ghost. It is, for some reason, common among ghosts to choose a name based on what the nature of their form is. When I die, I don not want anyone to forget who I am, so I will choose my name now so that when others hear it, they will recognize me."
The Sceptile shakes her head, "That would be a good idea, if such a thing existed, but I'm afraid that when a Pokemon dies, they move on from this world. This is why you must not throw away your life by listening to stories that ghosts and fairies tell you. They always like to exaggerate when it comes to-"
"He's right," Frost interrupts. "A tradition like this does exist, but you're write in the fact that he shouldn't waste his time with something like this. Unlike most beings of the human world, pokemon have two chances. So use both chances wisely."
The Cyndaquil looks the Froslass in the eyes, "Earlier, you said others call you Frost. So what was your name before you died?"
She gives him a smile, "They called me Frost. See, I did the same thing you're doing now. My question is, this is a tradition that is kept secret from pokemon that are still living. So how did you come across this information?"
"I will not tell you that. If this worked for you, why won't it work for me?"
"My sister was already a ghost, so I knew ahead of time what happens after a pokemon dies. Knowing however, didn't work for me. If I had listened to the one lesson that was told to me when I was young, then I wouldn't have been so focused on the afterlife."
"What lesson is that?" He asks curiously.
"If a pokemon really knows you, then they don't need a name to tell who you are. What I'm saying is that you can call yourself what you want, and your idea will work, but don't lose sight of what's important while you're living."
"So should I be called Kane until I die?"
Frost comes closer to him and smiles, "As you put it, a pokemon's name is chosen by the nature of their form. I can see that you are a free spirit, one that governs himself. That alone earns the name Djinn, so like I said, call yourself what you want."
"Thank you," He says with gratitude.
A moment later, he perks his head, "How can you tell that I am a free spirit? You have never crossed paths with me before today."
Remembering one of Roselyn's memories, she responds, "It's all in the eyes. Your eyes move quickly from one point to another, showing me that you have a strong curiosity for the world around you. Besides, the name Djinn means a free spirit, one who has unlimited willpower. It resonates with you, does it not?"
LIGHTNINGROD PALACE, AFTERNOON
Zapdos hears the clanking of metal footsteps approach the massive vault door leading to his hall. He doesn't turn around to see who it is, instead he stares out at the city through a massive window on one side of the room. Normally, the only ones who would approach him so confidently would be his Agent, Nova, or his assistant, Braravi. The Pokemon that approaches him is neither of them.
He suspected the reason why the Pokemon might be coming here is to negotiate with him. Of course, he will listen to the proposal, but likely he likely won't accept it. He feels as if Nova is his own son, so he won't lose Bone Clan to anyone.
The large door opens with a crash, and the Pokemon walks in. The steps come closer to the lightning bird in a rhythmic fashion. Zapdos' patience starts to break due to the repetitiveness of the sound.
"STOP!" He shouts. "I apologize, Rook, but I'm trying to think."
The Bisharps footsteps stop.
"I've come here to negotiate, Lord Zapdos."
He turns around, "Just Zapdos. I don't need titles like the others do. Though I lead these people, I'm not above them."
"You're awfully commanding to be on the same level as a citizen," Rook comments.
"You misunderstand, I just have the nerve to say what I want, but I don't care how other people talk to me if it's not unwarranted. Besides, I've always strived to break to barrier between Basic Pokemon and Legendary Pokemon. To me, we all live, we all die. It's just a matter of who lives longer, that's all."
"Is it?"
"Yes, it is. Witch brings me to the question of why you're here. You don't have to tell me, and I've already made my decision. I won't give Bone Clan to the Relic Master."
"Please hear me out. The Relic Master is willing to pay any price to assume command over Bone Clan."
The bird laughs, "I can't be bought, and Nova can't be bought either. The answer is no."
Rook smirks, "Not even for the DNA Splicers. We know you have been looking for them, but we beat you to it."
"Do you now? Well, that would be a fine offer, if of course I didn't already have one of them already."
Surprised, Rook asks, "How? The DNA Splicers were made using ancient technology that only the Relic Master could have had access to."
"How do you suppose that the ancients built them in the first place?"
"It was likely trials, time, and resources, but that kind of thing would take a long time to make, even by the Relic Master's standards."
"Then you should have kept up to date on my research, because the esteemed Dr. Hardware has created me a group of them in less then a year."
"I'm sure we can figure something out, then. We could always-"
Zapdos holds his wing out for Rook to stop talking.
"When I say no, Rook, I mean it. I won't give a large portion of my territory to you, especially when they are my primary military force. How do you think it would work, if Sepullen and I were at war and he had a base right next to the heart of the territory."
The Bisharp nods his head, "Very well, I will give the Relic Master your answer."
"While you're at it, tell Sepullen I want to speak to him in person."
STEEL CITY STREETS (WEST END), AFTERNOON
Frost looks up and down the streets of the city curiously. Oddly enough, they're vacant. This, Frost thinks, is most likely due to the majority of the city's population adding onto the rooftops of buildings, or building new ones. Her idea is reinforced by the multitude of sounds coming from artificial tools and machines.
She looks behind her at Djinn. Despite her moving very quickly, he is able to keep up with her easily. What a strange child, I wonder why he wanted to come with me in the first place. As they turn around a corner, the Cyndaquil tells her to stop.
"We are here Miss Frost," He says in an unenthused voice.
She shakes her head, "Just call me Frost, formalities are for important people."
"You are important."
She turns around and looks him in the eye, "If you knew who I was, Djinn, you would know that I'm a traitor to everyone I've ever known."
"I already knew that."
Slightly stunned, Frost asks, "So why do you think that I'm someone noteworthy?"
"I have always looked up to Team Fade for going off on their own. Even when they were good, they always did what they wanted, and used their own methods."
She narrows her eyes, "Are you sure it's not because we were an all ghost team?"
Reluctantly he answers, "Partially."
She turns around toward the corner of the nearest building.
"Where are we?"
Djinn walks up beside her, "This is the best place to get berries and flowers. You told mother that you needed pecha berries. The ones here are better then any others you will find."
In front of them is a small shop with a bright red neon sign that reads 'Shuckle's Seed Shop'.
"You don't say?"
Frost absentmindedly wanders toward the shop. Inside, she is greeted by several intermixing aromas with opposing scents. Frost immediately starts gagging on the thickness of the air. Djinn's back starts smoldering, as he charges a Smokescreen. He recoils slightly when Frost chokes up a small bit of blood. Quickly, he moves his smoke over her and forms a clear layer of it around her body. Immediately, she stops choking.
"Thanks," She says through heavy breathing.
"You are welcome."
She floats forward towards a counter with a Shuckle behind it. Seeing the two of them, the shuckle smiles.
"Hello, what can I do for you?"
"Well, Djinn here said I could find good pecha berries."
"Yes, and they don't rot for a long time."
Frost smile back at her, "Well in that case I'd like twenty of them."
Djinn takes several coins with a lightning bolt symbol on them out of his bag and puts them on the counter.
"We would also like ten leppa berries please."
The Shuckle nods to her and heads to a room behind her.
Frost looks at Djinn, "What are you doing? You don't have to pay for me you know."
"I know that, but I have more than enough money to spare. I am a messenger for Bone Clan and Steel City. For that, Zapdos likes to pay his workers large sums, even for menial tasks."
"Well, thank you."
Djinn looks at her curiously, "I wanted to ask you about something."
"Yes, what is it?"
"Well, when you almost suffocated earlier, you coughed up blood. I have never heard of a ghost that bleeds before."
She is MINE, living ghost. Frost jumps at the voice in her mind.
"Are you alright?" Djinn asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why I bleed? I'm not sure, but I intend to find out someday."
She pauses, the asks, "I've actually been meaning to ask you something as well. I saw a strange looking bottle in your bag earlier. Why do you carry it around with you."
He opens his bag and takes the bottle out to where she can see it. The bottle is a faded pink color with a grey base. Yellow rings wrap around it from top to bottom.
"I don't know what it is, honestly. Salientia said that is was next to me when she found me out in the desert. I had no memory at the time, so I would not know what it is. Though it does have an effect that makes anyone near it hear voices of the person they fear most."
Could he be the reason I keep hearing Deoxys?
He asks, "It hasn't affected you has it?"
"I'm not sure."
Djinn looks at her, but says nothing. A moment later, the Shuckle comes into the room holding several berries.
"Here you go," She says in a singsong voice.
Frost turns to Djinn, "I'd be best if I took you home."
"I can watch out for myself."
She smirks, "Well, I like talking to you, so it can't hurt anything, can it?"
"I suppose not."
"Well, let's be on our way."
STEEL CITY STREETS (EAST END), MID AFTERNOON
Branna slithers in between streets looking for the specified building. Blade had asked her to check on Frost and Roselyn's conditions. After a moment, she stops to rest. Looking at the card that the Leafeon had given her, it reads; SALIENTIA'S INN, E4 STREET.
"Why did he have to write this in Unown Script, I can hardly read it."
"You never were good with other languages, were you Branna?" A deep, raspy voice comes from above her.
Looking up, she sees a very sickly looking red and orange Blaziken. He jumps down from a pillar and lands in front of Branna. With a blank look, Branna stares at him. His stares back at her with a piercing gaze that makes her start to feel nervous.
"Do I know you?" She asks uncomfortably.
He laughs with a sound that gives Branna the feeling that he might die soon.
"Of course you do Branna, you spent most of your childhood with me. Remember?"
With a stutter in her voice, she asks, "Is that you… Lyle?"
"Yes, it is me. I didn't even come into the city to see you, but I thought I'd stop by."
"What happened to you, Lyle? You… don't look well."
"It's a small price to pay for the power of Groudon. Can you believe that he was actually the one commanding me before."
Branna slithers forward, "You can join us, it's not too late for that."
"No, I suppose it's not too late, but what if I don't want to?"
"We'll come after you, but I'll be the one to kill you if you don't."
He grabs her by the throat and lifts her up.
"You'll be the one to kill me, huh? If you're not here by then, then you can't kill me can you? I COULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"
He looks her in the eye and drops her.
"Though I guess I won't, because if you're here that means-"
A fist comes forward and punches him into a nearby concrete wall. He slams into it with a loud crack. When the dust from the impact clears, Branna is surprised to see Frost and a Cyndaquil looking at Lyle.
Through grit teeth, he says, "What a lovely reunion. TOO BAD YOU MADE ME BLEED!"
He comes at Frost with a Fire Punch so fast, she can't do anything other then brace herself. In quick succession, Djinn throws himself in front of the Froslass and throws up a Smokescreen. They wait for the impact, but it never comes. Instead, Lyle is knocked sideways by a purple blur. The Blaziken is surprised to feel claws implanted deep into his side.
On landing, the claws release and Lyle rolls on the ground. He grunts and spits out blood onto the metal pavement. He stands up then turns to see me in close proximity to him with my claws out. Retracting my Fury Swipes, I give him a malicious glare.
Walking forward toward them, "Now everyone really is here."
"Come any closer, and I'll kill you on the spot," I warn.
He growls, "YOU'LL KILL ME?! FUNNY, BRANNA SAID THE SAME THING TO ME ONLY MOMENTS AGO!"
The Blaziken ran at him with a fire punch. I do the same with my Fury Swipes. As soon as we get close, a massive explosion of smoke forces us backwards. The smoke clears to reveal Djinn at it's center.
"Mother once told me that the best strategy to battle, is to not battle at all. What this means, is that, though you may have to fight sometimes, never run into a battle looking for bloodshed."
He looks at me, "You are Frost's teammate, I assume. If this Blaziken is someone you must capture, then don't fight in the city."
He then turns to Lyle, "You… I recognize you from somewhere."
Lyle thinks, it couldn't be him could it? I thought I had him killed. No, it's not him, the one I had killed possessed a-
"Does this mean anything to you?"
The Cyndaquil pulls the strange bottle out of his bag.
Shocked, Lyle stares at him, "You, but how?"
He backs away from Djinn slowly, then jumps onto a building and runs away. He looks back at the others and me.
"You must be Venomitus."
I nod, "Indeed. May I ask your name?"
"Djinn. I was just escorting Frost around the city so she could get supplies."
Behind us, Frost observes the burn marks around Branna's neck.
"Are you alright?" The Froslass asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
The Cyndaquil walks over to her and examines the burns closely. After a moment, several leaves float out of his bag and lay lightly on Branna's neck. I watch as the leaves fade into her skin, leaving the burn marks nowhere to be found.
"How did you…?" She asks.
"I am a naturalist, so I would know how to heal a burn."
She shakes her head, "No, I meant the way you made them float like that."
For a second, the Cyndaquil stares at her.
"It is a magic trick I was taught from a ghost who happened to be passing through once. I believe it is called Kinesis, the base power for most ghost-types."
I watch Branna look at him in awe, like he's some sacred treasure found in the deepest reaches of the earth. He acknowledges her, then turns to Frost.
"There is one last place we need to go, before you go back to the camp."
I ask, "We should go after Lyle first, we have to -WIPE THE FLOOR WITH HIM- catch him."
Unfazed by my outburst, he answers, "He would not have come here alone, so he likely has teammates in the city with him."
"I wonder who could be working with him."
The Cyndaquil ignores me, "Anyway, Frost and I will be going to the square if anyone else would like to join us."
As Djinn and Frost start to move down the street, Branna and I follow. For a moment, I catch a glimpse of Djinn's bottle.
Do you remember me, Spawn? We will meet again, once I get out of here.
"That cannot happen," I say under my breath.
CIRCUIT SQUARE, LATE AFTERNOON
A large fountain sits in the center of the square. Mr. Money looks at it with extreme intensity. More specifically, he looks at the fountain's center piece. The statue on the top of it resembles a jolly-looking Electivire with a wrench in his right hand and a somewhat confused Porygon.
"I've been everywhere with you since you came to this world, and I'm telling you you've never met anyone like them," Rodium says from next to him.
"I swear I've seen them, Rodium, I just don't know where."
"But on the plaque, it says; THE ESTEEMED DR. HARDWARE AND DR. SOFTWARE AS PRESENTED BY LORD ZAPDOS. That doesn't sound familiar."
"You don't have to yell just because it's written in bold. Anyways, to me, those names do sound familiar."
"Zey do, don't zey?" A Pokemon asks as they put their arms around Mr. Money and Rodium.
"Yeah," Mr. Money says absentmindedly.
Rodium looks at the Pokemon with a strange look.
"What are you doing?"
"Enjoying ze view, vhat else?"
"You're making them uncomfortable. Here let me handle this," Another Pokemon says from behind them.
Mr. Money jolts as several volts of electricity move throughout his body. While stunned, he looks up to see an Electivire and a Porygon. The Electivire looks down at him with a wide smile, while the Porygon twitches around uncontrollably.
"Look what you did, Hardware, you scared them. I know you just couldn't help yourself when you saw the famous Team Gold, but you shouldn't be so personal with people all the time."
"You're ze von who shocked zem, Softvare. It's okay zough, zey're fine."
The Porygon looks down at the two team members.
"I don't think so."
From behind them, Ember, Metal Claw, and Nepheren walk over carrying various electric themed merchandise.
"...So why do think they call it a taser, anyways? It would be much easier just to call it a zapper, or an electricutor, or something," Ember says.
"Maybe it's the creator's name. All great inventors name at least one thing after themselves," Nepheren suggests.
"NEGATIVE, STATUS OF THE NAME 'TASER' IS DESIGNATED AS STUPID."
The Salamence rolls his eyes, "You know Metal Claw, you can be such a pain sometimes."
"METAL CLAW CANNOT FEEL PAIN, BUT CAN CERTAINLY GIVE IT IF THE RECIPIENT WISHES."
"Calm down, both of you. It's not like we know the answer anyway," The Salazzle inputs.
"You're right, I guess we- Hey! Is that who I think it is."
Dr. Hardware turns and looks at them.
"Do I know you from somevare?" He asks.
"Yes," Dr. Software says. "They're the rest of the members of Team Gold."
"Are you positive?"
"METAL CLAW IS POSITIVE."
The Electivire nods his head, "Okay, yes. Zat's zem."
"So how have you two been?" Ember asks.
Dr. Hardware smiles, "Ve have been good. Right now ve vere just conversing vis your teammates."
"Not to interrupt," the Porygon says. "But I think something's wrong with this fountain."
Mr. Money picks himself up off the ground and looks at the fountain. It appears to be normal, save for the lack of water coming out of the spouts.
"Vell zen go fix it."
Dr. Software floats over to the fountain and peers inside one of the spouts. A moment later, a jet of water sprays him in the face. He starts jerking and twitching as electricity moves from one random point in his body to another. Ember and Dr. Hardware laugh at the moment.
"It's not funny," He says in an irritated tone.
"Relax Softvare, ve have some sings to catch up on vis Team Gold."
?
"Okay, Myro. Are you ready to make your move?"
"Almost, preparations are nearly complete. This victory will be most delightful."
NIMBASA CITY, UNOVA, LATE AFTERNOON
"Come on, Aroven, we're going to be late," A Servine calls back to a Tranquil.
On his back, a Joltik says to him, "How do you know that he'll be here?"
"If I know him, he likes the limelight. If anywhere had cameras, It'd be here."
The group of Pokemon continue running throughout the city looking for Elesa's gym. As the Servine turns around a corner, a law enforcement officer stands in their way.
"Pokemon running around freely in city limits? Someone needs to up security around here."
"Voltri, you go on ahead to the gym and tell Sollavera we'll be late," The Sevine tells the Joltik.
The tiny electric-type jumps off of his back and runs into an ally.
"I'll see you later Loxonov. Don't lose to this guy."
"I won't. Now come on Aroven, it looks like we'll have to fight if we want to pass him."
Well that wraps up the first chapter of Arch II. The characters Dr. Hardware, Dr. Software, Sepullen, and Team Gold belong to RodiumTech. Roselyn belongs to EonTheZoarark. All other characters belong to me. Pokemon as a whole belongs to GAMEFREAK and the POKEMON Company.
Once again, feel free to submit any kind of OC you want as long as it's not too ridiculous.
-Vein Locke