Oh hey look, we start with a Luffy perspective~
*Throws this chapter at you and runs away to hide.*
Chapter 15-The Heart is a Drum
Aliahra doesn't always feel like a crewmate. She gets lost in her head with the others a lot and would fade into the background as fast as she could whenever a conversation that didn't have to involve her was going on. She couldn't spend all her time on the Merry, he got that, otherwise, the others wouldn't get to either.
But Luffy couldn't shake the fact that Aliahra was just going along with what happened, with his crew, because she didn't have another option. She thought she wanted to be here, but she didn't truly want to be here yet. She didn't know how she fit, and neither did Luffy.
Before, it was clear. She and the Pokémon were essentially one being, they worked together and though she was scared, she knew what she wanted and was going for it. Luffy could see that, and why wouldn't he want someone like that on his crew?
A girl who befriended the Devil, one who was now searching for a home and saw it in his crew. A person who could turn into really cool creatures with personalities and powers of their own. She was awesome, so Luffy claimed her as his.
But now, after that lightning bolt… she wasn't Aliahra anymore. She was trying to be, but Luffy could see she wasn't. But that's fine, people change. Ace used to be angry and rude, but he got nicer and used manners and stuff.
Luffy just had to figure out how to help Aliahra be herself and not what she thought she should be. But it was hard.
"Hey, Aliahra!" He says, snagging the leftovers from breakfast as Aliahra washed stuff up. It was something, a need to be useful. That was hers and she knew it. If that meant she and Zhaleh would do chores, he'd let it happen. Maybe he should tell her about the Chore Boy position in a pirate crew? He doesn't really like it though, so maybe not.
"Hey Luffy," Aliahra said, smiling. There's a moment of glazed eyes as someone speaks to her. "No, I will not let you into the fridge."
Luffy pouts, it wasn't what he was here for but he would've liked it! "Meanie," he says, and the word makes the grin on her face wider, truer. Even her smile is different now, but that's partially because of the scarring on her face. Her muscles won't let her. "What's your Dream?"
"Dream?" Aliahra seems confused by the term, and Luffy perks up as he figures he might be onto a winning strategy. Past Aliahra called herself a strategist. If she and her Pokémon needed an entire person to come up with battle strategies, then it must be a pretty important thing. It's hard though, as Luffy is finding out.
Maybe Aliahra will still be good at strategies. Then he can call her his strategist and she can know where she belongs. That's the point of a crew after all.
"A Dream. I'm going to become King of the Pirates!" He stated. "Zoro's going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman. Nami's going to draw a map of the whole world, the first of its kind. Usopp's going to be a brave warrior, like the giants of Elbaf. Sanji is going to find the All Blue, where all the fish can be found. Vivi is going to save her country."
"It's… something one's going to do?" Aliahra asks, she keeps cleaning as her eyes glaze again. That's new. She would usually stop whatever she was doing if she got distracted by talking with her Pokémon.
"Nico said she's going to have a home no one can take from her. Darcy says he's going to save people. Zhaleh…" She pauses there and sets a glass down. A Vaporeon stands on the counter instead now. It's still so cool that it can happen.
"I'm going to conquer the Grand Line," Zhaleh states, his stare conveying the weight of a proper Dream. "It's going to bow to me."
Some might call his grin bloodthirsty. Luffy knows it's the grin of determination, a drive to challenge and succeed. "Roger got called the Pirate King for conquering the Grand Line." Luffy begins, Zhaleh's determination burns brighter instead of dimming at the knowledge. "A good thing you're on my crew then!"
"Considering you can't even float, let alone swim. It's a good thing for you." That response got a laugh out of Luffy. He got it.
The grin disappeared though, and Zhaleh looked uncomfortable as he drew the water off the drying stuff and put it back with the washing water. "Aliahra says she doesn't have one, a Dream."
"I'm not going to kick her off the crew for that." He says, getting why she'd feel scared by that. "But when she finds it, I want to know it straight away! I bet it's going to be awesome."
Zhaleh grins thankfully at it, and he gestures for him to go. Luffy doesn't want to push Aliahra just yet. When she gets her sea legs so to speak, then he'll do so. He hopes it's soon, but he doesn't know her well enough to be certain.
As they got closer and everything got colder, Gira made the supported decision that Terra and Nico were to be outside as little as possible. If Niran could get hurt by being underwater, they didn't want to see what the cold would do to Terra and Nico. That left only Zhaleh, Darcy, and Niran able to go out.
Aliahra was also not being allowed out, because her Pokemon were being overprotective. She just wanted to touch the snow dammit!
Zhaleh didn't need Darcy to relay all of that to him. She was being expressive enough about it on her own. It was kind of weird seeing her act so petulant. But that's the way things are now he supposes.
When hostiles - "Protective, determined" yeah, what Darcy said - were felt by the Lucario, the Vaporeon jumped off the side of the ship away from the shore to hide his splash and swam right up to the shore. Initially, he was just going to sweep them all out to sea with a surf, but stuff happening on the ship made him merely wait.
Vivi was bowing. Sure, Sinnoh didn't have royalty, but he still knew that a Princess bowing just wasn't done. Unless to a king or god at least. When they met Giratina, they tried to make them bow. But they said no and battled the banished god into submission.
Zhaleh didn't bow to Giratina in the Distortion World, even when reality was at stake. He wouldn't bow for anything.
Being a pacifist, though willing to also fight for that ideal, wasn't something Zhaleh understood. Even less now when the Princess was bowing to these random people. He could fight this crowd so easily from the water's edge. They hadn't even noticed him. It's the Grand Line, would they even consider it weird if a giant wave suddenly hit the shore, dragging them out to sea?
But no, they had to parley and be nice. Fighting your way through was always the solution before, why isn't it now?
Vivi's pleas worked and the Straw Hats got to dock, the strongest among the island's guards decided he would be their guide. If he thinks by staying close, he'll be able to stop them if they do something he doesn't like, then has Zhaleh got something to tell him.
Dalton, Lv 19
If he thinks a three-level difference between him and the Vaporeon meant something, then clearly, he's not aware of how some beings are just built differently. Zhaleh's fully evolved; his Base Stats are much higher than some early sea, named mooks.
The guards all jolt when, after the crew docked and most of them got off (Zoro and Carue staying behind to guard the ship apparently), Zhaleh jumps out of the cold ocean and onto the snowy bank.
"Reminds me of Snowpoint." He remarks, mostly to his team but also to show off he can speak.
One of the soldiers raises his weapon, Zhaleh grins and prepares for the fight. Vivi dashes in between them with a loud voice. "Zhaleh, no! Put your weapon down now, please."
Zhaleh snorts, rolling his eyes. Does she really think she can tell him what to do? But the guard lowers his weapon and Darcy's sitting at the edge of switching. Sure, he'll be a goody-two-shoes. But Zhaleh's got four feet, so no thanks.
Not wanting to switch out, he does stand down and walks alongside everyone as they head to a village. It seems quaint, not city-like at all. Gira remarks that it reminds them of a place called Montanevera in Paldea since they're thinking of places in their home world.
At least Zhaleh thought of a place they'd all been to before. Maybe it was before Giratina joined, but if they didn't know of it then they're lying. Okay, Aliahra doesn't know it anymore, but maybe it could awaken some memories. Giratina seemed sure she eventually could due to someone on this island.
Darcy was the only doubter, but Zhaleh believed in Giratina. They're a god, they helped shape reality. They have to be right.
They have to be.
Zhaleh got a chance to get some more experience when they came across something called a "Hiking Bear". If you want them to be peaceful, you need to bow to them. And okay fine, it'll bow back and it's some sort of politeness thing, but Nico was right with Zhaleh when they were told they had to bow to this random creature.
Niran is quick to run away. He's not timid, but he's always been more pyromantic than battle thirsty. He doesn't have an opinion on being "nice" and mannerly. Terra tends to follow what Aliahra's taught him to be, and in their world, grinding for experience isn't new.
Darcy is the weird one for trying to stop this fight, but even with his Steel-Type, Nico is intimidating. It's not the first time he's been cowed by her.
Although Zhaleh is fully aware he can't switch for this battle. If he does, then Darcy would take advantage of it.
But does he even need to explain how the battle goes?
One Baby-Doll Eyes to reduce the damage the clearly physical opponent can deal, a Sand-Attack to make the battle go just that little longer, and then two Surfs. The first nearly knocked the opponent out in one hit, the second was just to finish it off.
The snow that melted to form the water required for Surf went to water the once-hidden grass and ground. A patch of dewy grass and an unconscious bear were all that was left.
When Vivi opened her mouth to yell at him for needlessly fighting, Zhaleh flung snow like he could fling sand at her.
Zhaleh learnt a New Move-Powder Snow! It can only be used in places where the environment fits though.
…
'Giratina, what the fuck?' Zhaleh mentally hisses. There's another bit of the message that he ignores, too focused on the first part. He is already irritated by the lack-lustre fight he just had, by the reminder that he only has one offensive move and he can only use it a few times and not in a group fight.
A New Move? That's conditional to the environment? Now?!
Actually, 'Niran, switch with me. Darcy, hold me back. Nico, hold him back. I'm going to beat up a god and faint trying.'
Niran is left in a weird position as he apologises for his eldest brother's behaviour to the Hiking Bear, Dalton, and Vivi all while hearing Zhaleh try his absolute best to knock out Giratina.
It takes him a long time to just waste all his stamina and should start using "Struggle". But then he starts controlling water from inside the Distortion World. It's very disturbing to hear Zhaleh coughing up blood and vomit from overexertion while hearing about the Doctors of Drum standing on the other side of the room from Nami who's also coughing and being absolutely miserable.
He keeps dashing over to make sure it's not her who's suddenly letting out internal liquids before dashing again because he's too hot to be near her safely. It gets some looks, but they all seem to realise something is going on with Zhaleh and thankfully ignore him to focus on Nami.
He's still going strong even after Luffy and Sanji decide they're going to scale the Drum Rock the island that got its name from in the distance to reach the doctor with Nami. Niran kind of follows them by habit and misses why Vivi and Usopp stay in the village. He keeps his focus inwards on Zhaleh.
If Zhaleh had wanted to be knocked out, then he wouldn't have used Baby-Doll Eyes and Sand Attack to make Nico and Terra completely useless as well as Darcy being mostly useless. Aura Sphere is special and always hits after all.
However, it is kind of impressive. Vaporeon is a Stone Evolution, which means that it can "learn" or really relearn a lot of Level 1 Moves.
And that's a new move. Charm huh, another Fairy Move that reduces Attack, but instead of with Priority it's two stages? That'll go with Baton Pass, Bite, Covet, Double-Edge, Growl, Swift, Tackle, Quick Attack (again, didn't Zhaleh just forget the move?), Tail Whip, Take Down, Copycat (which did Zhaleh really use to copy Absorb so he could restore his own health from all that Recoil?) and Water Gun, which would have been a much celebrated event before today.
He started pulling out these relearned moves with a Tackle and then a Quick Attack. Normal moves that can't affect Giratina, but damage is not why he used them.
'Did you really think I forgot, you dipshit? You may have taken my memories on how to use higher level moves, but I fucking know these ones arsehole!'
Niran tries to remember what moves he should know by level up until this point.
Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember, and Flame Charge. Combined with Poison Jab and Quick Attack, that's six moves. In the aftermath of… that event, while running away, he learnt Flame Charge and asked to forget Tail Whip. It along with Tackle should be the moves he doesn't know how to use.
Oh, would you look at that. A bunch of Lapahns that are now after them because Sanji had kicked one of the young ones.
"Maybe don't kick kids in the future?" Niran says before doing what he had once said he'd never do again. Cutely wag his tail to lower the opposing side's defence.
Oh hey, it worked.
'Hey, Darcy? Take over for me would you, I think I want to join Zhaleh in his endeavour.'
'Try to help me and I will fight you too!' Zhaleh manages to yell. Surprising considering his state.
'Uhh, um-' Darcy begins, but Niran just shrugs and says to not bother. In fact, he decides he does have some very good targets to misplace his feelings he won't describe right now.
(It's betrayal, embarrassment, hurt, and anger, with a little bit of 'what if Darcy is right', because if Giratina has managed to lie and pull the wool over their eyes about this for so long, then what else have they lied about? What else can they be trusted about? At the very least, Niran really can't remember how to use any higher-level moves or other moves only Rapidash should be able to know.)
"Please tell me you're all Ice Types," Niran says before wreathing himself in flames and charging, his speed increasing as he hits his target for some really effective damage. One Hit Knock Out on an Lv 14 Lapahn, Niran almost wonders if it's quad weak to be OHKO'd in such a fashion.
'Fluffy is an ability that reduces physical damage but then makes one weak to fire-type moves. So, it wouldn't affect Flame Charge.' Aliahra whispers near the portal.
Niran feels kind of weird and also awful for forgetting she's stuck in the Distortion World with everything going on. She was already annoyed at Gira saying she can't go out in the cold, now things have turned violent.
He would look in to check, but he's been almost critically injured by two fights now. That bullet in his shoulder and his spine from Miss Valentine. If it were in a slightly different location then it could have been a lot worse.
He's been trying not to think about how he can feel there's a scar on his shoulder, one that pulls with every step he takes. Unbelievably, fighting Giratina who was enraged enough to try and destroy the world he grew up in and knew in their domain, the Distortion World, was somehow safer than this world had been.
Even with a villainous organisation that blew up the Lakes and enslaved the Guardian Spirits to then enslave the living representations of Time and Space and remake the world anew was less likely to go for the killing and debilitating blows. In a world where children could capture and befriend monsters, everyone had to be careful about who they crossed. You never know who Mewtwo is friends with, who had chased down a legendary bird or beast, if they had Kyogre at their beck and call, or if they were the ones chosen by Reshiram or Zekrom.
Niran is quick to flee because he knows some fights just aren't worth fighting. And he'd still be that way if he didn't have a team. One that could support him where he's weak, one he could support where he's strong. Zhaleh and Nico are going to be bloodthirsty, Terra was raised to never back down from a fight, and Darcy wants to be good although they're going to have to figure out his definition and limits going forwards.
Niran doesn't mind running, but he also doesn't mind staying.
If these Lapahns were going to stand in his way and ask for a fight, especially while they're trying to get their dying friend to a doctor? Niran can't carry Nami, nor can he climb a shear cliff, but he can fight.
He'll burn these enemies to ash and bring summer to this eternally cold island. He's part of the Pokémon Team that fought a god bent on destroying the world. So what if they never fought the Champion? Cynthia wasn't the one to face Giratina with a team of five.
Thoughts meant nothing if you don't act.
Niran let out embers between every charge. With increasing regularity, he's managing to attack more times than he should according to the traditional turn order.
Once you think about it, it makes sense. Niran is faster than these Lapahns, and moves don't take a full six seconds to use. Why can't Niran let out an Ember before or after controlling some flames to use in a charge? Why can't he notice an enemy has a smidge of health left and use a quick attack to knock it out without using any flames and just good old normal force?
Niran's never thought about it before. He tends to have a lot of them. They go through his mind so fast it's hard to keep track but he's starting to get good at it. In fact, he knows he's never thought like this before. It was new, but it had felt so strangely natural.
Darcy would probably know.
Ahh, that doesn't look too good. Niran's talking about the avalanche that's sweeping down the mountainside like a partially frozen Surf. He does not want to be faced with that much water when it unfreezes because of him. Good thing he's good at jumping and running. Cause it's time to run.
The sheer mountainside looms in front of them. Sanji's unconscious form should have woken by now, but he hasn't. Something is wrong. He needs to see the doctor too. It is no longer just Nami.
There was a benefit to his Mum's abandonment of them, leading a desperate Giratina to drag her and them to this world, accidentally merging them in the process to keep her safe. Darcy and the others were part of a human's mind. When Gira separated them at Mum's death, those pieces of her went with them.
Because of her, Darcy and the others have gained the ability to think like a human. No longer could just he understand their speech. Now they could reason. Now they could problem solve.
They have two able-bodied people and two incapacitated. There was a mountain that stretches up for a large distance, 5km if those lessons Gira's been teaching to Aliahra are correct. That's well out of his range for sensing so he can't know for certain if the witch doctor lady is even home.
The icy winds swirl around, barraging the nearly smooth wall that makes up the mountain like a blizzard. Nico can't fly in such conditions. Not as a Staravia. Niran can't jump that high, and there's nowhere for him to land.
But he doesn't need to land.
Darcy looks at his hands. On the back of his hands are metal spikes, a part of his biology. He puts Sanji down and walks over to the wall. Luffy looks at him but doesn't get confused. He knows that Darcy is figuring something out to help get them up the mountain.
Darcy jumps up and stabs the back of his hand into the mountain. He hangs from it easily.
"Grab on. I need to see something."
Luffy places Nami down next to Sanji. She's still conscious but delirious. Luffy grabs Darcy and tries to drag him down. He manages to stay in place, but there's a bit of a wobble. He extends some aura from the back of his hand and into the mountain. He stabilises. With a nod, he falls back down.
"Niran is joining to jump us up as far as he can as a start boost. Then I'll climb the rest, Nico can't handle the cold but I can." He extends some glowing aura claws to prove a point. "You hold them and onto me. I'll do the climbing. If as a Riolu I can climb two mountains and a valley in a single night, then as a Lucario, this will be a piece of meat."
It went exactly as planned. Luffy secured Sanji and Nami onto his person, Niran switched out and allowed Luffy to get a hold of him. Then the pre-evolution of a Rapidash that can jump over three and a half hundred metres into the air gives them a head start on the five thousand metre trek by nearly two hundred.
'That's 4% of the distance,' Aliahra comments, doing the maths while stuck in the Distortion World. Niran wilts at that fact.
Maybe it's not much, but with these conditions, Nami's critical condition, and Luffy's rubber body's vulnerability to the cold, every little bit matters. Climbing a sheer mountain is unfortunately slower than running, but Luffy's pride and relief at the pace that Darcy is managing means it's faster than what he could have accomplished on his own.
Who knows, perhaps as a Rapidash, Niran can run fast enough to be able to run up vertical faces. The Ponyta cheers up at that thought and at having a goal he can work towards.
The entire way up, Luffy keeps an upbeat mood. Reassuring, confident. It's so strong there's no room for doubt in Darcy's own feelings. It's almost intoxicating how strong and genuine Luffy's emotions can be.
Nami passes out halfway up the cliff, but Luffy just adjusts his grip to be stronger and they continue. There's a fraction more urgency, but not enough to tire Darcy out to the point it'd risk all of them. If PP is a measurement of how much stamina it takes to use a move, Rock Climb is relatively cheap if it gets assigned 20.
But does PP even matter? Zhaleh proved things were different than they were used to. They weren't limited to four moves, even if it might be easier to keep to four in battles to begin with. No, Niran and Nico knew six, Terra knew seven, Zhaleh knew sixteen, and Darcy knew eighteen.
All at the cost of Zhaleh fighting until he truly had nothing left to give and passed out. Hopefully, the doctor can help him too. Just because this Chopper that Gira's been thinking about is an animal, doesn't mean he can treat a Pokemon.
(Just because he managed to make a shadow in a corpse remember something, doesn't mean he can make Aliahra come back. She's dead. Just because Gira is trying to deny the thought they do keep having and is selfishly dragging Darcy's siblings' hopes along despite what is reality, doesn't change that fact.
If Giratina could change this reality and bring Aliahra back from the dead, they'd have done so already.)
It's so quiet up here now. Luffy very rarely thinks in words. Sanji and Nami are both unconscious. Nothing would be idiotic enough to be climbing or flying amongst this blizzard. Well, they are, but they have a good reason.
That's all to say, Darcy feels weirdly empty in his head, especially with everyone being so quiet so they won't disturb his concentration and the atmosphere in the Distortion World. Giratina must have put some sort of wall between them. Niran could never be quiet for so long. Aliahra too, she wouldn't be used to it.
Makes sense, they really don't want Darcy to reveal the truth they've been so desperate to hide. And unfortunately, Darcy's not at a level where he can change that fact.
Before either of them could actually see the lip of the mountain, Darcy felt it. Two presences.
If 200 metres was 4%, and Darcy had a range of 800 metres, then that must mean there's 16% left to go. And technically, Darcy's range could be bigger than that. 800 is just a low estimate for the average Lucario's capabilities.
Wait no, that means he'd be even further than 16% of the way away. His brain is getting a bit tired.
"Almost there, I can feel the doctor and her assistant? He feels young and only part human, she's old but young at heart." Darcy calls out to Luffy, trying to be clear. His aura intensifies, he heard him. Good. He didn't want to try talking again. A mouthful of blizzard is not pleasant.
Nami's burning body, and Luffy's and Sanji's warm ones, against Darcy's back was nice. If it weren't for the Aura thrumming through Darcy's body, almost barely burning, he'd have no feeling in any of it.
Sure, he's a fighting and steel type. That makes him four times resistant against ice. He is not immune like Niran's Flash Fire makes him immune to fire or maybe eight times resistant to ice like a Walrein with thick fat.
Resistance from Water typing, 0.5. Resistance from Ice typing, 0.5. Resistance from Thick Fat, 0.5. That has to make it 0.125… right?
Darcy's fist cuts through the cliffside like a molten blade. He really is still a little affected by Zhaleh's rage. They all jolt, getting caught on his other hand's aura pick. His shoulder is too frozen to scream in pain, but he knows it is. The phantom feeling of pain still burns sharply.
A rubber hand catches onto the wall using the obvious new handhold. Rubber feet push at the wall beneath Darcy, and he's pulled away from it. He doesn't fight, but he keeps his aura circulating so as to be ready to grab onto the wall again at a moment's notice.
~I've got it from here, Darcy.~ Luffy's fierce reassurance and determination said.
But Darcy's not ready to quit just yet. He kicks a hole in the wall, his aura giving him the reach he needs. Luffy doesn't fight it. His foot goes to the new foothold.
It's not fast by any means, but it's safe. Just because Darcy's ability to manipulate Aura in a consistent manner has faltered from exhaustion, doesn't mean he can't still use it in short bursts. Like weaker-powered, not fully formed Aura Spheres. Darcy blasts holds into the side of the mountainside for Luffy to use.
In this abysmal temperature, Luffy can't stretch to reach the mountain lip when it comes into view. However, they're above the storms and the wind, while still harsh, has calmed a little. It'd have to if sucky people like the former king decided to keep living so far above. He'd paid attention while Niran was distracted by Zhaleh's one Vaporeon war.
Gira took down the barrier, and Darcy saw no reason to not do as was suggested. He twisted out of Luffy's grip, and after falling for a bit, kicked off the wall. Nico caught them and immediately they were all blasted with the curses she'd learnt from the News Coo.
Niran's open flames felt like agony after the frozen reality. Gira's lower body temperature and massive form made for a good wall between them.
Darcy only looks out to watch Nico grab Luffy by the shoulders and haul him and the other two up and over the ledge, before switching again, this time with Niran. Because by redacted you could not keep her out there for anything.
Considering she was out there for a while, anything wasn't absolute. He pushes some love and "agreement" in her direction before passing the heck out. He did not want to be awake while his body returned to normal temperatures, thank you very much.
Niran might just be seeing things because of mirages. His heat and the cold everything else making illusions. But that blue-nosed, terrible at hiding, transforming "reindeer" is giving off sparkles.
… Is he one of those "shinies" Niran has heard about? Did it really take traversing two alternative realities to find one?! Damn, they're rare.
So I managed to generate this chapter using spite which definitely affected things. Do I know what I'm doing with this story? Kind of. Did I intend to start the destruction of the "game world influence" here? No, but have I really broken completely away from it yet?
When will the chapter after this come out? On the first of a month, whenever I get the motivation to write this current arc of the story. Dunno why, but my mind just doesn't like Drum. (Looks over at the three unpublished stories I am now several chapters in of writing... ahh, well at least I'm writing?)