A young trainer and his three pokemon sat around a campfire, their faces illuminated by the flames. The forest around them was dark and cold, but they seemed to be comfortable in each other's company.
The boy had tan skin and dark hair and eyes, and he held a stick on which a few pieces of meat were skewered. He handed the stick to the oshawott next to him, and the small water type squeaked in gratitude. He pulled another kebab off the campfire and gestured towards his pidove. The bird flew over and landed on his shoulder, chirping all the while. He grabbed another kebab from above the fire, but before he could do anything with it, a long, pink tongue reached out and tore it from his hands.
The young trainer groaned as the kecleon darted off into the woods with the kebab. "Why does he have to do this every time? I was going to give it to him anyway."
The pidove chirped in distaste at the kecleon's actions, but the oshawott was too busy eating to notice what had happened. The boy sighed and pulled the last kebab from the fire, this time keeping it for himself.
As he tore into the tender meat, he heard a squawk of surprise and watched as the kecleon returned to the campfire, still holding the kebab. The lizard was being followed by a wild pidgey who was chasing the kecleon and pecking at him in anger. The kecleon ran circles around the fire, desperately trying to get rid of the pidgey, but to no avail.
The boy stared dumbfounded at the scene, but his oshawott began laughing, a high-pitched, infectious noise that invoked cheer in all those around to hear it. Soon enough the boy was chuckling as well, and the pidove eventually began laughing at the kecleon's antics too.
As the pidgey finally left the kecleon alone and the lizard collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, the laughter only increased. Mirth and joy radiated from the campfire, and suddenly the forest wasn't so dark and cold anymore.
Alfgar slowly willed himself awake as the sunlight came pouring in from the window in his room at the pokemon center. As he shuffled around and sat up, his hand brushed against something warm and furry. He turned to see his luxray asleep and taking up half the bed.
"At least he didn't kill anyone out of hunger..." Alfgar muttered to himself.
Luce's disturbing red and yellow eyes flashed open at the sound of Alfgar's voice, and the large lion sat up and fixed his gaze on his trainer.
"Good morning, Master," he greeted, his tone mocking.
"Did you guys eat anything last night?" Alfgar asked as he saw that his glaceon and kecleon were still asleep.
"You forgot to feed us, I believe. I almost took matters into my own hands, but then I remembered how disappointed our Master would be if we killed another human."
"Good thing you didn't," Alfgar replied as he got up from the bed. "You're lucky you didn't get caught last time."
Luce looked offended. "I am not so stupid as to get caught. I know how to hunt."
"Whatever," Alfgar said. "We'll go have breakfast in a few minutes. Wake Evenfall and Randy up," he told his luxray as he headed to the bathroom.
As he finished his business in the bathroom and reentered the room, Alfgar saw that Evenfall and Randy were both shouting at Luce. The luxray only grinned back at them, his fangs making his smile look eerily sinister.
"What's going on now?" Alfgar groaned.
"That damned cat just shocked us!" Evenfall complained.
Luce glanced at Alfgar with an amused glint in his eye. "You told me to wake them up."
Alfgar shook his head as he walked towards the window. He should have known that asking Luce was a bad idea. He peered outside as the pokemon continued to squabble. The sea around Pacifidlog was much more alluring in the daytime, and it shimmered as if it were made up of a thousand sapphires. He turned away from the beautiful view and back towards his pokemon.
"Shut up, all of you. We're going to the cafeteria for breakfast, and I don't want to deal with any of this fighting while we're in public."
He didn't wait for a response as he lifted his pack and walked out of the room. He heard his pokemon following behind, and Randy leapt at him and landed on his shoulder. Alfgar staggered a bit but managed to keep his footing.
"I told you to stop doing that," he said to his kecleon. "You're way too heavy." Randy only squawked loudly in his ear as a reply.
The group made their way down to the cafeteria and Alfgar ordered food for himself and his three pokemon. As he struggled to balance the trays, he saw Gary sitting at a booth table with his umbreon beside him.
Evenfall cried out in delight at seeing the umbreon and ran over to where Gary sat. Alfgar followed his glaceon, albeit more slowly, and sat down across from Gary.
"What's up?" Gary greeted as he watched his umbreon and Alfgar's glaceon talk excitedly to each other. "Looks like these two sure haven't forgotten each other," he noted.
Alfgar gingerly put the trays down as he sat next to Evenfall. "They are sisters, after all," he replied. Luce was too large to fit on the booth, so the luxray slunk underneath the table as Alfgar set the lion's food down.
"It feels like it's been forever since Gramps gave them to us. They went from little eevee to dragonslayers," Gary said with a grin.
"I guess. Where's Spencer?" Alfgar asked.
Gary shrugged. "Still asleep, probably. He went to the bar after dinner."
"We need to leave as soon as possible, so he's going to have to wake up soon," Alfgar replied, slightly irritated.
Randy reached his tongue across the table and grabbed one of Gary's syrup-coated pancakes from his plate, swallowing it in one fluid motion.
The Silver Champion glared at the kecleon. "You're lucky I was done with that."
After a few more minutes, Alfgar and his pokemon finished their breakfast and left the cafeteria with Gary and his umbreon. They headed to the main lobby of the center and picked up their pokemon they had left overnight to heal. Spencer eventually came down from his room as well, though he was complaining of a massive headache.
The three trainers left the pokemon center and went out into Pacifidlog Town. The town was much more lively in the daytime, and many people were out fishing and milling around. Gary had already secured tickets back to Jungle Harbor, so the group strolled through the town until the time came for their boat to depart.
The boat itself was small but fast, and it took the vessel about two and a half hours to reach Jungle Harbor. As the trio disembarked, Alfgar released his charizard and Spencer sent out his gyarados. Alfgar and Spencer knew the terrain well, and as a result, the group flew over the rainforest and descended at the exact spot where the base was cut into the side of the cliff.
The three trainers dismounted in front of the cliff, and Alfgar performed the customary series of knocks on the cliff face until a portion of it slid open and the entrance to the base was revealed to them. The short man once again greeted the returning men.
"There they are," he started with a wide grin on his face. "Our heroes. Come on in, boys."
As the three men walked into the base, the Brothers ceased what they were doing and began watching them. Alfgar strode to the front of the room.
"Brothers," he began. "We have captured Rayquaza." Cheers and yells erupted after he said this, though Alfgar's expression remained impassive. "I have bad news as well. Ogdun is dead, and Rayquaza won't just obey us blindly. We'll have to make him listen to reason, and we'll need to get him to fight for our cause."
"How do we do that?" One of the Brothers asked.
"I have a rough plan, though it's very dangerous. I propose we release Rayquaza from his ball outside of the base. He's weakened right now, so he won't be able to do much damage, and we'll all be there with our pokemon in case he tries something." Alfgar glanced at Spencer and Gary who stood beside him silently. Gary nodded his approval at the plan.
"Sounds good to me," the Kantonese trainer said. "If all of us go out there with all of our pokemon, Rayquaza will be too afraid to attack us."
"Alright then," Alfgar concluded. "No point in wasting time. Gather your pokeballs and meet me outside the base," he finished as he headed outside.
Alfgar stepped into the small clearing that lay in front of the base's entrance. The patch of jungle grass was surrounded by foliage and the cliff face, so Rayquaza would have nowhere to run but directly upwards. As Alfgar fingered the ultra ball, he heard the rest of the Brothers emerge from the base and assemble around him.
"Release some of your pokemon now," he said to the men as he tapped four of his own pokeballs.
Alfgar had sent out Luce, Apollo, Randy, and Evenfall to stand around him as he plucked Rayquaza's ultra ball from his belt. While he told his pokemon the plan, he heard various cries and roars sound around him as the men released their own pokemon in preparation. Soon enough, everything and everybody was in place, and Alfgar tossed Rayquaza's ball into the clearing.
The great green dragon emerged in a flash of bright white light. His long, serpentine form lay motionless on the ground as the light faded, though after a few seconds, Rayquaza lifted his head and neck to observe the army of pokemon and trainers that surrounded him. Despite his predicament, the Sky God smiled. His pink gums and his pointy teeth showed as he donned his sinister grin.
Alfgar was a bit unnerved by the legendary, but he found his voice and began speaking. "Rayquaza, you've been captured by us, the Brotherhood of the Black. You're weakened and surrounded on all sides by our pokemon, so there is no escape. Will you listen to what we have to say?"
Rayquaza's disturbing grin grew even wider. "Am I supposed to fear you?"
"Listen up, you dumbass," Gary shouted up at the legendary dragon. "We beat you with only twenty, and now we have at least triple that number. You better listen, or we'll make you listen."
Rayquaza laughed at the young champion, a harsh, grating sound. Alfgar took it upon himself to attempt to defuse the situation before Rayquaza actually got angry.
"We need your help," he said to the dragon. "We don't want to control you or tell you what to do. We want to work together with you."
Rayquaza's violent yellow eyes shifted to focus on Alfgar. "Oh? Is that so? Humor me, then. What would you have me do?"
Alfgar could tell that the dragon was not taking him seriously, but he continued on nonetheless. "We received an order from Arceus himself, telling us to get as many legendaries as we can on our side in preparation for the war that is to come. We need you to help us gather the other legendaries. It's Arceus' wish."
The large green dragon laughed again. "Are you mad, human? Arceus? When has Arceus ever taken interest in the lives of mortals? You are spouting nonsense, and wasting my time as well."
"It's true," Alfgar insisted, "we all dreamt the same dream. Arceus appeared to us and ordered us to do this." He glanced back at the Brothers, who nodded in agreement.
"You are delusional, all of you, just like those Magma and Aqua fools. You think a god appeared to you? No. Gods do not deign to speak to mere mortals."
"You're talking with us right now," Alfgar countered.
"Only because you went through so much effort to shove me into one of those balls. I underestimated you, and now I am paying the price for it because I have to listen to your nonsense. Still, do not mistake me, human. I may be weakened and you may outnumber me, but I am far more dangerous than you believe me to be."
Alfgar couldn't tell whether Rayquaza was bluffing or not, but he decided to play it safe either way. "We're not forcing you to do anything; we're asking you. We just need your help."
Rayquaza stared at him with a strange look in his yellow eyes. "Alright, human, suppose Arceus did appear to you, and suppose he did order you to gather the legendaries. What then? And how many legendaries do you need? Only the ones in Hoenn, or from every region? You must see that your 'divine orders' do not make any sense."
"I... I don't know. All I know is what I was told by Arceus. I know it was Him, and I know He needed us. Rayquaza, you may have underestimated us or you may have been holding back, but we still managed to beat you in a battle that you yourself said was unfair towards us. Will you help us with this?"
"... We shall see. What would you want of me, specifically?"
"We're thinking about going after Groudon next," Alfgar replied, relieved that Rayquaza had actually decided to listen. "We have the Red Orb, but with your help, the fight would be a lot easier."
"The Red Orb? You have it? Hmm... I suppose I could lend you my assistance. However, it will be under my terms. First, I will not be held in that ball any longer. I must destroy it."
Alfgar hesitated. "Where would you stay, then? We can't exactly hide you in this jungle the whole time."
Rayquaza lowered his long neck and reached one of his arms up to his head. He grabbed one of his horns and tore off the tip and tossed it to Alfgar.
"It will grow back," he said after seeing Alfgar's surprised expression. "If you set that on fire, I will come to you immediately. Use it to call me when you require my assistance. Now, the ball."
Alfgar threw the ultra ball up towards Rayquaza and watched as the legendary dragon's jaws closed around the ball, shattering it.
"Now then, I must be going." Rayquaza lifted himself off the ground and began to fly up and out of the jungle.
"Wait!" Shouted Alfgar, and the green dragon snaked his head back downwards to look at the dark-haired soldier. "The metagross who was with us, he said that a group of people came to capture you before we did. Who were they?"
"I do not know. People arrive all the time to attempt to catch me, and they all fail. This group was no exception. I killed all of them, save for that damn metagross. He escaped and came back with you, and you are lucky he did."
Alfgar took in Rayquaza's words. Steelshanks was with the previous group?
"What did they look like?" Alfgar asked. "Were they from the government?"
"No. They did not wear the same uniform as the soldiers that the government have sent in the past. They wore all black, and they had a red letter 'R' written on their chests," Rayquaza replied.
Team Rocket, Alfgar thought, they must have been hired by the Hoennese government. "Alright, thank you for your help, Rayquaza."
The dragon's eye glinted, and then he took off, disappearing into the sky. Alfgar looked up and watched Rayquaza leave, wondering if he made the right decision by letting Rayquaza go.
"Are you insane!" Gary yelled at him. "You're just going to let him leave like that?"
Alfgar turned to face Gary. "What else could I have done? We can't really force him to do anything if he doesn't want to. We need his help, and we can only accomplish that through mutual respect, something you seem to lack."
"How do you know that the horn he gave you actually works? He could have tricked you and then just escaped. That was our one legendary, and now he's gone," Gary fumed.
"I had to trust him. I had to."
With that, Alfgar recalled his pokemon and stormed past Gary. He walked back into the base and sat down on one of the beds. The other Brothers soon followed him in, and the base was once again filled with chatter, most of it centered around Rayquaza. Gary sulked in a corner with his umbreon, not sharing the men's excitement at seeing the legendary pokemon.
As the day went on and night came, the Brothers continued to talk and fool around as Alfgar lay in his bed resting his eyes. He let out all of his pokemon except for Apollo and Odin, and his traitorous glaceon had gone over to Gary's umbreon to talk with her. Luce snored quietly under the bed, and Randy darted among the Brothers and stole food from the long table as often as he could.
Alfgar finally got up from the bed and stretched for a bit before heading over to the table where most of the men sat. Dinner tonight was roasted swellow with a side of tropius bananas, and Alfgar took a plate full and headed over to the end of the table where Stoke the Viper sat by himself.
Stoke was a cold, ruthless, and pragmatic killer who preferred to work alone. Alfgar sat across from the muscular, bearded man, and Stoke's gray eyes flicked upwards for moment as he noticed Alfgar. The Viper had his combat knife out and was carving something on the skull of a sawsbuck.
"Stoke," Alfgar greeted.
"Commander," the man replied gruffly. His eyes remained focused on his carving, his large knife gleaming in the dim light of the base.
"What did you think of Rayquaza?" Alfgar asked. Stoke was probably the best soldier in the group, and Alfgar wondered if the battle-hardened man would agree with his decision or whether he preferred Gary's idea.
Stoke still did not look up from the skull and the knife. "Big. Powerful."
Alfgar paused for a moment. "Did you think we made the right decision by letting him go?"
"We didn't make any decisions, Commander, you did." The knife made a dull scratching noise as it carved into the skull.
"... Alright... Well, did you think that Rayquaza was telling the truth? About the horn and everything, I mean. You think he'll come back and help us when we need him?"
"No." Stoke finally looked up from the skull and stared at Alfgar with his hard gray eyes. "But I don't think there's anything else you could have done."
Alfgar nodded. "Glad you see it my way."
He finished the rest of his dinner in silence and then headed back to his bed. Luce was still asleep under the bed and his other two pokemon were somewhere in the base, so Alfgar lay down and closed his eyes. The last few days had been taxing, and Alfgar took all the rest he could get. If they were going to go after the other legendaries soon, he had a feeling that he wouldn't get much sleep in the future.
Alfgar awoke with a start as he heard shouting and the whir of helicopter blades. He leapt to his feet and saw that the rest of the Brothers were also getting up, their guns and pokeballs in hand. Luce slunk out from underneath Alfgar's bed and grinned excitedly, and Randy and Evenfall also jumped down from his bed. Gary approached Alfgar, his umbreon trailing closely behind and his face serious.
"What's going on?" Alfgar asked, still groggy from sleep.
"Helicopters and soldiers are outside. They're saying they're from Unova, and they're telling us to come out."
"How do they even know we're in here?"
Gary shrugged. "I don't know, but it sounds like there's a lot of them outside. They said that if we don't open up, they'll have to blast the cliff face."
Alfgar cursed under his breath. "Jet, open the door!" He shouted as he struggled to make his voice heard over the cacophony. "Nobody shoot unless they shoot first!"
The short man ran over to the entrance and undid a series of latches. He then slid open the door to reveal a group of about twenty soldiers in the clearing in front of the base. A large carrier helicopter had landed behind the group, and four other smaller helicopters were present as well. The soldiers were all armed with assault rifles and pokeballs, though none of them made a move to fire at the men inside the base.
The soldiers all wore jungle camouflage, though they also had a stripe of royal purple on their shoulders, marking them as Unovan soldiers. Alfgar stepped closer to the entrance, and one of the Unovan soldiers entered the base.
Raising his hand to show that he meant no harm, the Unovan soldier began speaking. "This is the Brotherhood of the Black, correct?"
None of the men replied, leaving it up to Alfgar to respond. "How did you find us?"
The Unovan soldier ignored the question. "My name is Lieutenant Burnside. We're your exfil squad," he said as he grinned.
No one spoke for a long moment.
"You're a bit late," quipped Sven.
"I know, I know," replied Lieutenant Burnside as he put his hands down. "But we're here now. You boys are going home."
The Brothers began muttering, and Alfgar once again raised his voice to speak. "How come you're here now? Why does Unova suddenly care about us?"
"It's a long story, but I can give you the short version. You know that Unova and Hoenn have declared war on each other?" Burnside continued after Alfgar nodded. "Well, that gives us the perfect opportunity to come and rescue you guys. We couldn't exactly send a team into Hoenn before without raising suspicion."
Alfgar was still skeptical. "So Unova's decided to invade? The invasion has started?"
"Kind of. I can't really go into much detail right now, but if you'll come with me, we can get you guys loaded onto the choppers and get you out of here!" Lieutenant Burnside raised his voice so that all the men could hear him.
The Brothers cheered and began shuffling out of the base, ignoring Alfgar's protests.
"Wait! What about our mission? What if it's a trap?" Alfgar was not a trusting person, and he still had his doubts.
Gary walked up beside him. "I don't think it's a trap, Alfgar. They would have already started attacking by now if it were."
Alfgar stared dumbly as the Brothers left the base and grabbed their supplies, abandoning him and Arceus' mission after a few words from a soldier they had never met before in their lives.
Soon enough the Brothers had all packed into the carrier helicopter and some of the other smaller ones with the rest of the Unovan soldiers. Only Alfgar, his pokemon, Gary and his umbreon, and Lieutenant Burnside remained in the base.
"Come on. We should be leaving," Burnside said as he exited the base. Alfgar reluctant followed.
"You two can ride with me," Burnside said as he stepped into one of the smaller helicopters. "You'll have to recall your pokemon, though. We don't have enough room."
Alfgar and Gary recalled their pokemon as they entered the helicopter. Alfgar had to admit that it didn't look like a trap, and that it appeared as if the soldiers were actually here to return them to Unova. As the two strapped themselves into the helicopter and the pilot began to take off, Burnside looked at Gary with a confused look.
"You look really familiar," he said to Gary. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."
"I'm Gary Oak," Gary replied, seemingly excited at finally being recognized. "Silver Champion in the Indigo League. You probably saw me on TV or something."
Burnside nodded. "Yep, that's it. Why are you here, though?"
"We're all here for the same purpose," Alfgar interrupted. "But I've got some questions of my own first. A few days ago I was attacked by a couple Unovan agents, and now I'm being taken home by Unovan soldiers. Why the sudden change in attitude?"
Burnside's brow furled in confusion. "I don't know what you mean. What agents?"
"They were Ghosts," Alfgar replied, referring to the name of a group of elite operatives in the Unovan military.
"Ghosts? I'm afraid that's above my paygrade. You'll have to ask someone else about that," said Burnside.
"Like who? Do you have a commanding officer? Where exactly are we going?"
"We're heading to our base on Delgradde Island, about an hour and a half away from here. I'm sure you're familiar with it; it's where you left from when you went on Operation Iridescent. General Blackstone is there, and I'm sure he'll be able to give you more answers than I can," explained Burnside.
"Fine," Alfgar spat. He still didn't entirely trust the man. "What now?"
Burnside put on a pair of military-style headphones and leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes and made himself comfortable. "Just enjoy the ride."
The Unovan base on Delgradde Island wasn't very big, and it hadn't changed much since the last time Alfgar had been there. The only differences were that there were a few more soldiers patrolling the area and that more ships and planes were docked in and around the island.
The island itself was small as well, and most of it was taken up by the base. Only small patches of the tropical jungle remained, but the air was just as humid and as hot as any part of the Hoennese rainforest.
The Brothers and the soldiers were sent to the mess hall as they dismounted, and a serving of pasta and potatoes was given to each man. Alfgar and Gary sat alone at the edge of one of the tables, the former still angry about the whole situation.
"It's as if they completely forgot about our purpose in Hoenn," he was saying to Gary. "They don't even care anymore. Johnny and Ogdun didn't die for this."
Spencer overheard the conversation and slid over to the two trainers. "Relax, Alfgar. We haven't forgotten, but we could use a rest. These guys haven't seen their homes or their families in years. What do you expect?"
"This is more important."
Spencer shook his head. "Are you seriously telling me that you would rather hunt legendaries than go back to your family and rest for a while? You need to lighten up." He got up and left, heading back towards the main group where the soldiers were laughing and talking among themselves.
Alfgar sighed. "They just don't understand."
"He's right, though," Gary said between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. "Not even Arceus could stop these men from wanting to see their families again. And you do need to lighten up."
Just as Alfgar was about to respond, one of the Unovan soldiers came up to the two trainers.
"Sorry to interrupt, but General Blackstone requires your presence in the war room," he said to Alfgar.
"I'm coming too," Gary told the soldier as he got up to join Alfgar.
"I don't know if..."
"It's no use arguing with him," Alfgar interrupted. "Lead the way."
Alfgar and Gary followed the soldier down a long hallway and into a large, dimly-lit room. Inside the room was a huge table with all kinds of different maps on top of it. A tall, stocky, old man stood at the head of the table.
"Ah, you must be Alfgar. And who might you be?" He asked, addressing Gary.
"Gary Oak," the brown-haired trainer replied haughtily.
The general squinted. "Samuel Oak's grandson? What are you doing here?"
Alfgar explained everything to General Blackstone, and when he finished the old man stared at him incredulously.
"Son, that is a load of tauros shit you just spouted there."
Alfgar clenched his teeth, though he didn't really expect the general to believe him anyway. "We did catch Rayquaza. I have proof." He pulled out the tip of Rayquaza's horn and showed it to General Blackstone.
"That? That could be anything," replied the general. "Anyway, I don't care what you think you may have seen or what you supposedly captured. I have a mission for you and for your friend if he wants it."
Alfgar decided he would hear the general out, though he planned to get back to his own mission as soon as possible. Since he was trapped inside the Unovan military base, he thought it best not to act up and disobey orders as long as the general had an entire battalion under his command.
"I need you two to go to Undella Town," Blackstone continued. "You are to meet with someone very important, and you are to listen to her plans and negotiate with her and the others you will meet there. It's a sort of diplomatic mission, and based on your history, Alfgar, I think you're perfect for the job. Oak, I can't really make you do anything, but you can tag along if you want."
Gary grinned. "Undella Town? I'm in."
General Blackstone nodded. "Alright, then. You two will leave tomorrow. For now, you're welcome to use any of the facilities here. I'll have rooms prepared for you in the barracks."
As Alfgar and Gary turned to leave, the general called out to them again.
"Alfgar? Don't screw this up. We're giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Take it."
Dex entry #197: umbreon
"It's common knowledge not to go deep into a forest during a full moon. You've got to watch out for killer houndoom and vicious mightyena, but the real threat that no one ever sees coming is the umbreon. They're quiet and almost invisible in the dark, and once you see those glowing rings, you're done." - Sidney Obscurus, Hoenn League Elite Four member
Umbreon are rare eeveelutions found in forests across the world. Their most prominent feature is their coat, which contains a pattern of rings which glow in the dark. Though these pokemon tend to avoid humans, they become restless on full moons and their powers are greatly increased. Umbreon are nocturnal pokemon and prefer to hunt under the cover of night, but trained umbreon are often forced to battle during the day and eventually acclimate to sunlight. Umbreon are considered a level two threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale.