Wooper and Zekrom

Seeing movement above the water's surface, the Wooper swam up and peered into the air. The icy courtyard was busy with humans and Pokemon as usual, although they were scurrying out of the way. This was because of the movement she had first seen, a black figure flying overhead. Descending, the massive Pokemon turned around to get enough time to land safely in the courtyard. With an aura as powerful as the sun and a body that suggested fast and strong attacks, it was still terrifying. The Wooper dropped back into the water with a plunk, thinking that she would just hide at the bottom of the palace waterworks until someone came by with food. She had yet to get near that Pokemon. But, then she recalled some others saying that her friend, the master of this place, was the one who commanded the large black dragon. Curious, she came back up more cautiously and went to the edge of the pool to see.

And it seemed to be true. He was standing next to the dragon now, talking with someone while his hand was on the dragon. His short black hair was ruffed up from the wind and his brown cloak and boots were scuffed up from travel. Of course, most familiar was his scent, even though it was now mingled with dragon and static. She had known that scent since she was very young. But, it seemed so long since she had been near him. Ever since that dragon came, he hadn't come near to her pool often.

Well it was cool enough in the air that she didn't mind coming out, even sneaking to the kitchen entrance to see if there were any treats. But today, her mind was on seeing her human friend again. The Wooper hopped out of the pond and began waddling over.

The dragon flew off without him, which was good. But then he headed out of the courtyard, going towards a tower entrance. "Waa," she cried, then hurried to catch up. If he got into the tower much before her, then she was going to lose him! But she wasn't fast at crossing the ground either, even on this smooth dirt area. There wasn't as much to push against, as the air was so much thinner than water.

She got into the tower after him, but he had already started up the stairs. As she didn't seem that far behind, she hustled over to the stairs too, grabbing the first one with her flipper arms and pulling herself up it. She looked up and saw how easily he was getting up the stairs with his long legs, even though he seemed to be slow, with his head down thinking. "Waa!" she called out again.

In the enclosed space, her cry echoed around, filling the air more than outside. This made him paused to look down at her. "Anise? Don't hurt yourself trying to get up this tower." He came back down as she was pulling herself up the second step. Once she got up it, he picked her up to carry her while he continued on his way. "I know I haven't been around lately. But there's been so much going on, and I," he sighed.

She hummed and snuggled against his shoulder. It was nice to be carried by him again, even though climbing stairs made her wary, even like this. There was a bigger fall with every step he took. However, she trusted him; he wouldn't drop her.

"It is a little strange," he said in a gentle voice. "When I was younger, I went everywhere with your parents. They helped me so much in establishing myself, and defending me against our enemies. When I needed to impress my superiors in order to get alliances or education, their support helped to clear any doubts in me. But now that I'm the one in charge, the one every sees as their superior, they're gone. And I'm a little too busy for you. I'm sorry. But I should have some time in the coming months. We'll see about getting you trained so you can be just as strong as them."

Training? Anise didn't much mind that she wasn't strong. The other Pokemon living in the castle waters recognized that she was favored by the Black King, and so they didn't bother her with battles. But if it made him happy, she wouldn't mind doing it. Because then, she'd get to be around him more. Without her parents being around, he was the only family she had. But what about that dragon he was with so often?

He rubbed her wide ears. "I didn't want to use you in battle. I wanted to raise a Pokemon like you in a world without battles or war. I can't stand the violence. Most people would agree, but those few that don't ruin the world for everyone. I tried to arrange for peace between the peoples of our land, showing them how their disputes were petty and easily solved. I tried to point out that no one wants to lose their loved ones to war, that it only ends up hurting everyone, even those far from the battlefield. But they won't listen. They've tried to kill me over a dozen times now. They killed your parents, trying to stop me. I want to make things right; I just don't see how they don't see the wrongness of their actions."

She understood a few pieces of what he was saying, but the Wooper was most concerned that he seemed so troubled. Her life was pretty simple: swimming in the cool waters, finding muddy spots to roll in, acting cute so that the humans would feed and pet her. His life seemed so complicated that she got confused even just thinking about it. Sometimes she wanted to show him how to live simply too, by not caring about all that stuff. Although, that was a nice thing about him, that he cared so much for many things.

At the top of the stairs, they walked out onto the roof of the tower. And there, perched on the platform made for messengers on flying Pokemon, was the large black dragon. It was much larger than the human, able to put its forepaw on his head while barely lifting its arm. Anise looked up at its eyes; they were a perfect mirror of the blue sky above, even with strands of white clouds. They didn't look like the eyes of any normal creature. Spooked, she put herself as close as she could against her friend.

"This is Zekrom," he said, not scared at all. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you while it's under my command. Zekrom, this is Anise, a Pokemon that I've known since she hatched. She innocent, like so many children of the world." He then walked out onto the platform to look over the countryside beyond the castle.

"Krrraaa," Zekrom said, observing her.

But it didn't say anything she could understand. Anise wasn't sure why; she could understand the sounds and gestures of any other Pokemon, even if she'd never seen one like it before. But here, this dragon gave no hints. It wasn't reassuring, or threatening, or anything that she could understand.

"I've been trying to show the world a better way to live, nicely," he said, taking one hand off the Wooper briefly to adjust is cloak. The wind up here was toying with it. "I've been doing so for a long time. But, it's not working. Even with you Zekrom, people don't want to listen when I ask politely." He stroked Anise's head, getting her to look at his face. This issue was causing him grief, but most of the time he didn't show it. She could see a crack of it now. "They respect me, or so they say. But if they will not listen to respect, then I'll have to make them listen through fear, as much as I didn't want to go this far. Zekrom, I want you to go back to that city we were just at... and show them the kind of power we have. Wipe it off the map."

This didn't sound good. Anise protested this, first looking at her friend, then up at the large dragon. Good Pokemon weren't supposed to do something like that. Surely, the dragon would agree with her.

Zekrom screeched, but in an aggressive way. And then its meaning came loud and clear to Anise, rather like one of the castle bells ringing right above her head. I was born from the minds of humankind, from ideas of what the world should be. I am the ideal. To the ones who truly value the ideal, their will is mine. I will do whatever is asked of me to turn ideal into reality. Then Zekrom took off into the air, sending a gust of air at them. Its power was enough that Anise could feel the static all over her skin.

"This moment of violence will be justified when the world is at peace," the Black King said. "If they still do not listen, then we can cause a storm to purify this whole world. I hope it doesn't come to that."

Shivering, Anise hid her face against his chest. She still felt safe with him. But in that moment, she witnessed when he started to become a tyrant that would be feared for the rest of his reign.

…

Wooper Heart Gold entry: This Pokemon lives in cold water. It will leave the water to search for food when it gets cold outside.

Zekrom W2/B2 entry: This legendary Pokemon can scorch the world with lightning. It assists those who want to build an ideal world.

I usually have legendaries as having personalities and human-like intelligence, sort of like the gods of the Greek world. But I thought I'd play with a different view of them here, working with the 'force of nature' view. If this went on for much longer, then Zekrom and Reshiram would be very much the yin-yang idea given a physical form.