I don't really have much to say for this author's note, so yeah. Apologies if this gets a bit melodramatic, I was listening to the Hamilton soundtrack the entire time and decided to lean FULLY INTO THE MUSICAL VIBES. Remember to read and review, and without further adieu...
Let's get right back into it.
DISCLAIMER: Any references to people, events, persons, or products, real or fictional, are purely coincidental.
DISCLAIMER 2: Any songs in this chapter will be listed at the end with title and author, in order of appearance. I do not claim the rights to any of these songs, and I hope you will check out the artists who made them.
Hall of Legends
"Are we all here?" Arceus boomed.
"Yes, Arceus." Came a booming reply from the entire room.
"Good. Now, I'm sure we all know the situation. But just to cover all our bases, I'll let Celebi explain the situation, seeing as she's part of the reason this all happened."
"Of course, Arceus." Celebi said, shrinking from the withering gazes of an entire room of legendaries. "Me and Hoopa were checking on the human world, I can't remember why. We wound up accidentally killing a human before his time was up, damaging the timeline. Hoopa had the brilliant idea to turn back time to the moment of the human's death, and send him to our world in an attempt to fix everything. Well, we did that, and he was somewhere in the vast continent when we lost track of him. As a result of this little incident, the two timelines have been merging, forcing Palkia to do damage control."
"Thank you, Celebi. If we don't fix this, this may cause the entire multiverse to collapse, and end infinite lives." Arceus spoke. "Now, I will be opening up the floor for discussion of solutions to this problem."
"What if we just let it happen?" Shaymin said.
"Did you not hear what Arceus said, or do you just have gracidea between your ears?" Marshadow retorted.
"Why not spare our world, and kill the humans?" Mewtwo offered.
"Mewtwo, I know they hurt you, but you can't just kill them all-" Mew interjected.
"And why not? Humans are but a stain on all reality."
"Because THAT'S GENOCIDE, MEWTWO." Groudon yelled.
"And?" Mewtwo responded.
"What if we just start over with both of those timelines?" Giratina spoke at last.
"NO!" The rest of the legendaries boomed.
"Maybe we just kill the human. Think about it, it's one life to save trillions." Kyogre said.
"I hate to admit it, but you have a point. He was the one who started all of this, was he not?" Zekrom replies.
"No, we cant resort to murder!" Palkia cries. "There has to be another way!"
"Be quiet Palkia, this is all your fault!" Jirachi screams.
"No, you shut up, Jirachi! You were ASLEEP when this began." Darkrai yells back. "In fact, why should we be listening to ANY of you!?"
"I just wanted to help, why must you shut me down every time we have this meeting!?"
"You-"
Jirachi floats up from their seat, getting right up into Darkrai's face. "WHAT!?"
Darkrai rises, growling. "Say that again, and you'll wish you were DEAD."
"I'll kill you, you son of a-"
"Oh, try me you fat fucker-"
"Guys, that's enough-"
"Be quiet Rayquaza, NOBODY ASKED YOU-"
"Mewtwo, be quiet you arc-damned lab rat."
"How dare you, Solgaleo!? I could crush you in an INSTANT, you petulant lion!"
"Mewtwo, that's enough, this has gone too far!"
"BE QUIET HO-OH, YOU INFERIOR CHILD!"
"Mewtwo, you had BETTER back off or me, Suicune, and Raikou will END YOU-"
"You freaks should not even be alive, Entei!" Mewtwo roars, as the room erupts in a mass argument.
"Arceus, do something!" Lugia roared.
"No, I will not be getting involved in your petty dispute."
"If you won't resolve this, then why are you even in charge!? I would make a much better ruler of this council then you, old man!" Lugia screeched.
"Lugia, that's ENOUGH." Lunala roared.
"Be quiet Lunala, you have NO RIGHT to weigh in on this dispute when you are one of the newest legendaries in EXISTANCE." Raikou yowled.
"I agree, you need to back down." Moltres chirped.
"Be quiet, you burnt chicken." Latios demanded.
"Brother, that's enough." Latias gently spoke.
"I always told Arceus, ADDING MORE LEGENDARIES WON'T WORK, BUT DID HE LISTEN!?" Dialga roared.
Suddenly, without warning, a hyper beam strikes Darkrai across the face, and he quickly responds by firing off a blizzard, striking Jirachi and Mew.
"Oh, you just fucked up." Mew sighs, firing off an aura sphere, striking Darkrai, who responds with a shadow claw, drawing blood. Solgaleo quickly uses flare blitz, slamming into the three of them. Mewtwo then used psychic, slamming Mew into the wall and choking the life out of her.
"When will you learn, Mew? I am superior."
Latios and Latias slam into Mewtwo, before both using Dragon Pulse to sweep him off his feet.
"ENOUGH." Arceus roars, slamming a hoof into the ground, the shockwave sending every legend in the room crashing into the wall.
"I will have NO MORE of this in my hall. Now, we will come to a vote. All in favor of killing the human?" Arceus questions, to which half the legends in the room raised their hands, paws, or what-have-you.
"All in favor of ending the humans?"
This time, only Mewtwo, Darkrai, Lugia, Marshadow, and Dialga raised their hands.
"All in favor of letting the collision of the timelines happen?" This time, 15 of the legends raised their hands.
"Very well. All in favor of helping the human, and attempting to restore everything?" The 31 remaining legendaries raised their hands.
"We do not have a majority reached. We shall reconvene soon, but for now you are dismissed." Arceus says as the legendaries begin to file out of the room.
"Oh, and Palkia?"
"Yes father?"
"I'm trusting you to fix this."
"Understood."
Vast Guildhall
"So, walk me through what happened, Alex." Flareon says as the rest of the guild looks on.
"A-alright. I woke up that morning, and felt something wrong, but ignored it. I went on with my day, and when I was getting home from work, a massive gap opened up, and swallowed a portion of the city whole. When I came to, I was... THIS. I began to make my way through the dungeon, but the whole time I could feel something in the back of my mind, and when you all found me, I... Well, it all gets a bit fuzzy after that. The next thing I remember is when you all revived me."
"That is worrying. I will be having the whole guild look into this. Don't worry, we're gonna get you and Ash back home."
"T-thanks."
I was silent, as the rest of the guild filed into the dining hall.
"Ember, what're we gonna do?" I asked.
"Ben, I don't know. All we can do is try to keep going." Ember replied.
"I'm scared..."
"I know. I am too."
I watched as everyone began to eat, and Ash picked up a lute resting in the corner, beginning to strum.
"I look into your eyes and I, think back to the son of mine..."
"You're as old as he was, when I left for war."
"Will these actions haunt my days, every man I've slain? Is the price I pay endless pain? Close your eyes and spare yourself the view... How could I hurt you?"
"I'm just a man, who's trying to go home, even after all the years away from what I've known..."
"I'm just a man, who's fighting for his life, deep down I would trade the world to see my son and wife..."
"I'm just a man..."
"But when does a comet become a meteor? When does a candle become a blaze?"
"When does a man become a monster?"
"When does a ripple become a tidal wave? When does the reason become the blame?"
"When does a man become a monster...?"
As the song finished, Ash looked up to see the entire guild looking at her.
"O-oh, sorry..." She said sheepishly.
"Ash, that was amazing." I said.
"Say, Guildmaster. I was thinking, why don't Alex and I join the guild, at least until we can get back home?" Ash said, turning to the guildmaster.
"Good idea!" I cheer. "Alex, what do you think?"
"I'm in." He replies.
"Then, let's make it official. Ash and Alex, do you pledge to fight for the good of both our worlds?"
"I do." They reply.
"Then by the power vested in me as team leader, I pronounce you members of Team Horizons!"
"Did you just make that oath up?" Ember asks.
"I'll never tell." I replied, laughing internally.
?
As I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, I realized I was in a pure black void.
"What the... Where am I?" I asked groggily.
"Human, please heed my words carefully. You are the key to the fate of all worlds, both human and pokemon. You will meet many friends and enemies along your journey, and I will not lie and say that it will be easy. Have faith in yourself and in your partners, and you will survive. Danger comes your way, you must beware." Boomed a voice from the shadows.
"Who... Who are you?"
"I am someone who will be watching your journey very closely. I cannot reveal my identity, for it would jeopardize my safety. But I promise you, you will know who I am soon. Good luck, and may Arceus be with you, Ben."
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, as I woke up.
Vast Guildhall
I arose from my bed, as sunlight filtered through the window. Outside, I could see pokemon milling about, doing shopping, and generally going about their lives.
"Morning, everyone."
"Morning." Ash muttered, wriggling her way out of bed. "What'll we do today?"
"Let's keep it simple today, just a normal mission." Ember spoke up.
"Good idea, I actually grabbed a poster off the board before bed last night." Alex said, fishing it out of the bag.
LOCATION: In town.
DESCRIPTION: A wanted outlaw has been spotted around town, we have received word that she'll be at the local cafe around noon. Requesting explorers to help apprehend this criminal!
REWARD: 100000 Poke
"So, should we do it?" Ember asked.
"Yeah, this should be easy!" I said. "Let's go!"
Spinda's Cafe
As we walked towards the cafe, I smelled the heavenly aroma of various foods and drinks, only to walk inside and realize nobody was there.
"Wonder where everyone is?" I said, before being ensnared by a ribbon, and held aloft.
"So, you're the new team on the block, eh? Did Magnezone get desperate enough to send a bunch of newbies to catch me?" Sylveon said, stepping out of the shadows.
"And who the hell are you?" Ash asked.
"I'm Glitter, and I'm the one you were sent to apprehend."
"OH." Alex said.
I watched as Ember set one of Glitter's ribbons on fire, causing her to drop us.
"Ouch!" She cried, firing a moonblast right at Ember, who thankfully managed to dodge.
I rushed her from the left, with Ash doing the same from the right. Glitter promptly jumped, causing us to slam into each other.
"Come on, you gotta do better than that!" Glitter taunted.
"Is that a challenge?" Ember yelled, biting down into Glitter's foreleg.
"AGH!" She yowled, trying to shake Ember off.
I took the opportunity to help Ash up, as Alex lept onto Glitter's back, trying to wrangle her down to the ground.
"Get OFF!" She screamed, rolling to get Alex and Ember off of her.
The five of us stood there, not moving a muscle.
"Here's a word of advice, kid. You'll be better off leaving me alone unless you wanna get involved in some crazy shit." Glitter said, running away.
"You guys stay here in case the officers come here, I'm going after her!" I said, sprinting off.
Young Wood
I silently followed Glitter, as she sat down.
"I can't do this anymore..." She said, slouching. "Huh, who left this guitar here?"
I silently watched as she picked it up, and started playing.
"You're the reason I dream, you're the reason I wake..."
I found myself joining in without realizing it, singing a second verse.
"Every moment of sleep, every second of day..."
"There's not a minute I would take back... Why would I ever wanna change that?" I harmonized, stepping into view.
"Yeah, we pack on, we drove off, kept goin' through roadblocks, doesn't matter what they throw our way, rain, hail, snowfall..."
"Been there, done that, no thanks, I'm taking my own road, no solo, speed bump and we go..."
"Slow, slow, slow 'til we get back on track, and then we go, go go, now there's no turning back..."
"It's never no, no, no, you get whatever you ask, go make the most, announce that one day you'll remember the past and just smile..."
We both just stood there for a solid second, before Glitter finally spoke up.
"What... just happened?"
"I don't know." I replied.
"At least it was fun, huh?"
"Yeah, it really was. Say, you wanna hang out sometime?"
"Sure, I'd love to!"
"Great, it's a date!" I said, before realizing my mistake.
"Well, not an ACTUAL date, just a- well I-" I stammered.
"I know what you meant, don't worry! Actually, that gives me an idea!" Glitter reassured me.
"Oh?"
"Why not fake a relationship, and see how far we can go?"
"That is so stupid... I'm in." I replied. "Where do you wanna meet up?"
"How about the cafe tomorrow?"
"Perfect. See you then!"
Spinda's Cafe.
As I made my way back to the cafe, I saw Ember standing outside.
"Did you catch her?"
"Nah, she got away." I lied.
"Damn. Anyway, the rest of the team's already back at the guild, having dinner. How's about we join them?"
"Sounds good to me, I'm starving!"
Songs in order of appearance:
Just A Man- Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Nobodies- Nic D, Connor Price