The Choice


Italics + "quotations"= "Telepathic Communication."

Italics (no"quotations)= thoughts.

The hyper beam erupted into a radiant stream of power, Charlie dashed to the right as the hyper beam flew right past him, causing it to crash onto the opposing cavern wall. This results in a wide, smoking crater where stone once rested.

Charlie spun around, analyzing the "hole" he had found himself in. Within a span of not even thirty seconds, he went from standing on a platform- to being telepathically pushed from it and now in "The Ruins".

The cavern was bland and had no outlying features. It was like he was in a large box with little to show. The ground was rough. There were a lot of pebbles around them, and the cavern was very spacious. Every step he took caused echoes to ripple across the cavern.

He could hear dripping water somewhere in the cavern, but he was too high on adrenaline to notice anything but Claydol.

There were no obstacles…just a flat surface. The cavern ceiling was deceptively high. Just how far had he fallen?!

That hyper beam… it was far too slow. If even someone like me could dodge it, then it's evident that Claydol is holding back significantly here.

Claydol spun around rapidly, before another beam of pure energy was created.

The hyper beam suddenly swerved left, Charlie crashed against the ground. He felt a wave of heat run through him as the hyper beam grazed over his body, once more ruining the walls behind him. Charlie began to wonder how stable the cavern really was, and if it'd endure this assault, lest it come crashing down and bury him.

Claydol levitated into the air and created a spiral of small pebbles which rotated around it. Then, Claydol hurled the stones at Charlie.

Charlie leaped to the right, dodging the pebbles which left smaller indents in the ground upon impact. A lot less impressive than the Hyper Beams, but he still wouldn't want to be hit by it.

The ground beneath him quaked, and from it shot out stone pillars which completely encircled Charlie.

"Shatter."

His eyes darted to face Claydol, whose many eyes suddenly glowed a bright blue. The stone pillars all bursted into smaller pebbles, all of them coated in a blue aura.

Shit!

Charlie attempted to escape, but was pelted by the pebbles and rocks. They were akin to rubber bullets, except he'd been shot by stone, which had much more density.

He fell to his knees, gasping for air as he was bruised all over.

"Watch out for the markings, use your psychic powers."

"What–"

Claydol's eyes once again glowed a bright blue, Charlie felt the ground quake again and hastily looked down.

There were black markings, in fact, he was surrounded by these black markings.

Charlie instantly leaped backwards. Only a second later, large stone pillars shot up from the ground.'

More black markings started to appear around him, he felt adrenaline rush through him as he instantly leaped to the side. Stone pillars shot up from the marked spots.

This continued on a couple more times, and eventually he adjusted to the timing of the raised earth, leaping out of the way before he could be skewered by the stone.

"Not bad for an average person. Considering it took you forty minutes to move that bookshelf completely earlier, I had expected much worse."

More markings appeared, and Charlie barely managed to dodge them this time.

Fuck, it's getting faster!

Practically the moment he noticed the markings, Charlie had to move out of the way else he would be slammed by the stone pillars.

However, the time frame between each sets of markings became shorter and shorter until–

He was too slow.

His right leg had already stepped outside of the area of the markings, but his left was still in the hazard area.

The stone pillars shot from the ground and hurled Charlie high into the air, he could nearly touch the top of the room.

He then descended towards the ground, much faster than he'd have liked. Charlie braced himself for impact–

Claydol levitated towards him, their set of eyes glowing a bright blue as Charlie's entire body floated in the air.

"First screening complete."

Claydol stopped levitating, and hovered Charlie inches above the ground. Claydol then released their psychic control over Charlie.

He fell onto the rough surface of the ground, bruised and breathing heavy, but no severe injuries.

Charlie managed to recompose himself, his legs quivering.

Claydol's many cold and impassive eyes stared deep into Charlie the moment he got up. Charlie felt wary of the ground type.

"Sike."

"The fuck-"

Charlie felt a primal fear swell in his chest, his senses screamed at him to move.

Bursting into the air, Claydol began charging up a bright, white beam of energy, no doubt on a direct course for Charlie

He kicked up his legs, and ran for dear life. He turned his head to the direction of Claydol, who detached its head from its body.

The hyper beam swerved in the air, and Charlie screamed in surprise when it grazed his body, the beam of energy fizzling out afterwards, this time before it could cause any more damage to the area

He fell to his knees in shock, gasping for air.

"You needn't fear, human. Despite the flashiness of that hyper beam, it would've only left you heavily injured. I am more than proficient at controlling my own Hyper Beams."

Claydol's telepathic voice was cold and monotone. Charlie felt chills run down his spine just from Claydol's voice alone.

"Wasn't that a good lesson? Never let your guard down."

Charlie felt oddly creeped out by the amount of emotion and enthusiasm placed in that sentence in comparison to Claydol's previous monotone, telepathic voice.

"Tell me, what the fuck is going on?!" Charlie demanded, and Claydol simply spunits body.

"Be patient, human. You first must have to pass the screening first."

"Second screening, initiate-"

Charlie instantly dug into his pocket, as Claydol spun its head around, opting to charge up an attack instead of continuing to speak.

"Mightyena, go!"

Claydol fired an earth power right as Mightyena appeared on the field. The canine was instantly flung into the air by an earth power, and crashed against the ground.

Fuck!

"Mightyena! Uhm- use Crunch!" Charlie shouted out, and the canine Pokemon hesitantly rose, and dashed at Claydol.

"Interesting. Such a pathetic Pokemon could never stand up to my might."

Claydol, without even charging, fired a hyper beam, though this one proved to be much more compact than its previous iterations. The beam of pure energy crashed against Mightyena, who collapsed against the ground, screeching in pain.

T-that hyper beam…it was even denser than the previous one, and took no charge time!

Charlie turned to Claydol, analyzing the ground type.

They're…not even remotely tired.

He clenched his fists, He was holding back on me with the first hyper beam. That hyper beam was significantly weaker, smaller, slower, etc…

"Mightyena, crunch and quick attack!"

The canine managed to stand up again, before moving at breakneck speed, and-

"Sorry, human, but this assessment is not meant to test one's Pokemon Battling skills."

Mightyena was blown away by a massive crack in the ground, which then exploded with power.

T-that was an earth power…?

Charlie gulped, "M-mightyena! Return!"

The canine Pokemon was thoroughly knocked out, cold. Blood seemed to drip from its body. Thankfully it disappeared into a flash of crimson light, returning to confinement before anymore harm could befall them.

"Now, let's continue. I've decided I should tell you the purpose of this screening, lest your ignorance produce faulty results."

Charlie edged backwards, making an effort to distance himself from Claydol.

"The purpose of this screening is quite simple. It's to gauge your basic capabilities and to figure out whether or not you are gifted or talented. If you are neither of the two, you will never be able to step foot in the ruins ever again."

"What happens if I Pass?"

"Then, I shall gift you knowledge. As much knowledge as I can. As much knowledge as I am permitted to."

Sweat trickled down his neck, as he eyed the Claydol intently.

"...Knowledge about what?"

"You know the answer to that…"

"Charlie."

Charlie's blood froze, "What-"

Claydol suddenly levitated into the air, completely ignoring Charlie.

"The second screening will begin now."

l spun around rapidly, kicking up a small gust of sand and wind. Charlie stepped backwards apprehensively as Claydol continued to spin rapidly.

"The second test is simple. Touch me once in this sandstorm. Worry not, I will make it certain that you are unharmed.."

Only a couple of seconds later, the entire cavern was covered in a thick layer of dust and sand, it raged throughout the cavern, obscuring his vision of the taskmaster.

Charlie attempted to shield himself with his arm, but the sandstorm was unrelenting.

He closed his eyes, and concentrated his psychic power.

If I use my Psychic abilities, this shouldn't be too difficult…

He attempted to locate the presence of the Pokemon. Claydol tended to have a very strong mental presence, as do all powerful psychic type Pokemon. He focused, tuning out the sound of the rushing sand. Until he'd found it!

And found it again..

And.. again..

Charlie felt himself grow pale…

There's at least a dozen mental traces I'm picking up!

"I see you've spotted the clones I created with a double team."

Charlie snapped his eyes open, covering his eyes, before they could be assaulted by the localized sandstorm..

Amidst the thick sandstorm, he could barely make out the images of several Claydol.

Why the fuck are the numbers multiplying!?

He gritted his teeth, I need to use psychic location…

This Claydol must be absurdly strong, considering normally whenever a Psychic Pokemon creates clones, I can easily pin-point who is the real one due to the odd distribution of mental traces…

But all of the clones have near-identical signatures!

He shook his head, Think about it, Charlie. It is impossible to create a clone with the perfect replica of your own signature! As long as I concentrate hard enough, I should be able to figure out the location of the real one!"

Charlie concentrated on finding the distinguishable traits of each and every conscious he could sense, attempting to differentiate one from another.

In a broad perspective, all of the Claydol may seem to have the same mental trace- But Charlie knew better. He channeled all of his psychic energy, attempting to find the outlier.

He kept trying, concentrating, focusing more and more of his psychic energy, all in the hopes of finding something.

Charlie's breathing grew heavy and his heart continued to pound, slowly spiking up more and more.

His brain was still in action mode from the previous screening and he still felt the adrenaline…

He clenches his fists, as every hint of the Claydol manifested into silhouettes of white aura. Charlie was taken aback by this, every other time he'd attempted to search for someone's mental trace, it's always manifested into a faint outlining of that person/thing.

Never has it manifested into a white aura.

His concentration was suddenly broken, as he felt a wave of exhaustion run through him.

I have to.. focus...

Charlie closed his eyes, and concentrated on one focal point…again.

This time, it took him much less time to see the white lines of aura, gritting his teeth, he continued to concentrate.

The blobs of white aura became more distinct. He could finally pin-point certain features, but it wasn't completely clear.

He suddenly fell to his knees, gagging and coughing.

Fuck, the dust in the air from the sandstorm is starting to get to me..

His coughing intensified, as he tried once more to locate the elusive Pokemon.

Charlie closed his eyes once again, and continued to focus on the white lines of aura.

As his concentration on the one focal point continued, he could finally figure out the distinct details. His vision of the white blobs of aura slowly, but surely, became clearer.

Charlie continued to ignore the wave of exhaustion that ate away at him, opting to focus on visualizing the signatures of each claydol.

Finally, he could distinctly make out every feature and…

Differences.

All of the Claydol hovered a few feet in the air, roughly thirty meters away from him…

Or is it fourty? Maybe lower? He…couldn't tell.

Charlie cursed to himself, Who the fuck cares.

The Claydol were all unmoving, and Charlie could make out the outlier of them all.

All of the Claydol had a very distinct feature on their white string of aura which was manifested from their own consciousness, all except one.

Charlie could finally visualize it. He could "see" the world faintly through his psychic powers.

He dashed across the rocky field, due to his psychic senses he avoided any stray pebbles or boulders.

"Impressive."

Charlie slapped through several clones, before finally pouncing onto the real one.

"Gotcha!" He shouted, grinning. All of the clones simultaneously burst into a white smoke, and Charlie finally opened his eyes.

He almost instantly fell to the ground, onto his knees from the sheer exhaustion. His head spun as he felt the backlash from psychic locating.

A wave of dizziness rushed through him on top of that. It was disorientating to see the world through normal lenses after visualizing a good chunk of it through psychic ones.

He looked up to see the many eyes of the Claydol peer into him. Charlie was, admittedly, freaked out.

"You passed the second screening. You've proven yourself to be passable in the psychic and physical departments."

Claydol's cold telepathic voice didn't help with the minor headache Charlie had.

"It's time for the third and final screening. Pass this, and I will teach you what I am permitted to."

Claydol levitated into the air, before twisting its body and hovering above Charlie.

Charlie felt the entirety of the ruins suddenly shift, as if an earthquaker was about to strike. He snapped his head over to Claydol, and saw the numerous eyes glow with a bright blue. The sound of the ruins being connected and reformed shook Charlie.

Just as he stood up, he instantly fell against the ground.

The walls which had previously surrounded Charlie all fell apart, and were connected to an entirely separate section of The Ruins.

His eyes widened in pure disbelief when a flight of stairs was formed. The flight of stairs connected the platform he was currently standing on all the way to the trapdoor located at the very top of the gaping hole.

He turned to Claydol as he felt himself gaping in pure awe.

What…the fuck.

The previous platform where they had stood on was now connected to two other platforms.

Claydol slowly levitated towards the platform to the left, which led to another cavern. Charlie followed them.

Once they entered the cavern, he was blown away.

Unlike the other segment of the ruins which he had been in, this section was filled to the brim with ancient artifacts.

These artifacts ranged from tablets which had an artwork framed inside of the tablet with symbols at the side and bottom. Charlie slowly grazed his hand over a statue, it seemed to be made of the same material as the ground he was currently standing on.

The statues all had a spear, helmet, and wore full bodysuit armor. The statues were placed firmly on top of a carved, stone platform that had numerous symbols engraved onto it.

All of this led Charlie to one (obvious) conclusion:

These Ruins were once home to an ancient civilization.

Charlie observed and analyzed the "room" tenaciously. All of the statues were placed symmetrically across from one another, and there seemed to be a stone path paved leading to a shrine-like structure.

In front of all of the statues were tablets with symbols scribbled onto them, and right next to the paved path there were also tablets with a consistent pattern of symbols.

The symbols were clearly some sort of ancient language, but Charlie wasn't an expert in this sort of matter so he couldn't tell what it was.

"Human, how knowledgeable are you of Hoenn's history?"

"Uh- I know the basics from history classes, and I also studied it in my free time during my teenage years." Charlie replied, he felt his cheeks flush at the memories of his teenage obsessions.

I did not need to be reminded of my obsession with the Age Of Warfare when I was fifteen-sixteen...

"Good. Because I'm going to quiz you."

"...What?"

"You heard me, human. I'm going to quiz you."

He stared at the Claydol dumbfounded.

"I-I'm sorry, but how does this relate…to anything?"

"Advanced knowledge of history is needed for me to deem you worthy."

Charlie sighed, I was hoping for a more detailed answer, but I feel I won't get any.

"S-sure, quiz me then."

Claydol spun its head around, as Charlie suddenly felt a sharp pain spike near his temples.

"Don't worry, I am just forcefully creating a stronger telepathic link between us."

Eventually, the sharp pain went away, but Charlie's breathing was still heavy.

"It won't matter much during the quiz, but it will depending on your results."

"O-Okay." Charlie replied shakily, he was, admittedly, exhausted.

He was glad that the final screening didn't require him to do anything physically strenuous and allowed him to get some rest.

He also had a minor, throbbing headache. The many questions and overwhelming information he had to process didn't help with the headache at all.

"The first question is simple, who was the leader of The Cognitor clan during the wars against The Draconid?"

"Easy. Henry Positum III officially, known unofficially as Henry Cognitor."

Charlie felt Claydol's cold, impassive eyes loom into him. He felt that the ground type was awfully good at making him question the accuracy of his answer.

"Correct."

"Second question, what are the five cruelties of Henry Cognitor?"

He felt something click in his mind the moment he heard the question.

"The Sootopolis Famine, The Constrainment Laws, Draconid Extermination, Mares Incident, and...the Rule Of Tyranny."

"Good. Third question— how did Zephyr Clan leader, Richarz Zephyr II, die?"

Charlie took a deep breath as his fingers quivered in despair.

Fuck- I…I don't know.

His body tensed up as he attempted to jog his memory.

Richard Zephyr II…his father, Ivan Zephyr III…I remember that Ivan died by an assassination attempt orchestrated by the Draconids. But–Richard Zephyr II…?

He clenched his fists as something clicked in his mind.

"Richard Zephyr II! He died during a battle against The Draconids, specifically during an aerial battle. Uhm- I think he was fighting against Draconid leader Edward IV!"

"Wrong."

Charlie suddenly repulsed in shock, gritting his teeth in frustration as sweat trickled down his neck. This is harder than I thought…

He glared at Claydol, "How many questions are there in this 'quiz' of yours?"

"Fifteen."

"Three incorrect answers, and you're out."

"Are you fucking serious…?" Charlie asked, eyes widening in shock.

I'm so fucking screwed.


"Question fourteen, what led to the collapse of The Cognitor Clan and its Golden Age?"

Charlie was sweating furiously and breathing heavily. Only…two questions left.

As long as I get this one right, I am guaranteed to pass this bullfuckery of a quiz.

"The downfall of The Cognitor Clan started when their greatest leader, Charles Cognitor, was assassinated. Up until then, Charles Cognitor had been a great leader and had expanded the horizons of The Cognitor Clan. He had improved everything, ranging from culture, clan structure, combat capabilities etc. Due to the improvements he made, he was deemed Charles The Mystical. After he was killed, havoc wreaked-"

"I'll have to stop you there. I can already tell you are incorrect."

Charlie gaped, glaring at Claydol with daggers, but managed to swallow his anger.

Fuck! I am now on my second strike. I was doing so well!

"Bring it on." Charlie taunted, "The final question, I can take it."

"Well then. Fifteenth and final question, which ancient Hoenn clan do The Ruins belong to?"

"...What?"

"I'm curious to see your judgment. Which Major Ancient Hoenn clan does The Ruins, that you are currently standing in, belong to?"

Charlie breathed in, Out of the Ancient Pillars Of Hoenn, eh?

"Okay, so we have The Draconids, The Zephyrs, The Cognitors, The Mares, and finally The Calorians…" Charlie mumbled to himself, attempting to set a clear distinction between all of them.

His mind snapped towards the tablets he saw while walking through the paved ground.

Charlie walked over to them, and saw several drawings on the tablets mixed with curious symbols at the bottom.

One tablet depicted a dragon-like creature, soaring through the skies with several humans mounted on its back, destroying what seems to be a village. Fire plagued the poorly drawn houses. In the middle ground of the drawing there were several humans wearing black robes, seemingly fighting off the dragon.

Hm…

Charlie scanned through the other tablets, most of them depicted some sort of battle against some kind of creature.

However, he noticed that dragons specifically were very common. He saw the occasional Wailord, Camerupt, Swellow, etc…but dragons almost covered half of the beasts depicted in the tablets.

If what is being depicted here based on historic battles that the clan involved itself in…

"Wait. There was not a single 'psychic' type depicted here as an enemy."

He scanned through all of the tablets again, and every single depiction of a beast alike to any psychic type, it was being depicted as fighting against the main, evil beast causing mayhem.

All of the beasts depicted are either dragon types, water types, flying types, or fire types. This means that all of the beasts depicted fall under one of the clans type specialties…"

Except for The Cognitor's clan type specialty, Psychic.

Charlie grinned, I see. This would also explain why the guardian of the ruins is Claydol, a psychic Pokemon.

Not only that, the large majority of the tablets depicted dragon types. The Draconids were The Tyrannical Cognitor's biggest opposition during The Cognitor's large takeover of Hoenn after all, so it made sense.

"Alright, I have a final answer." Charlie boomed, a wave of enthusiasm rushing through him despite his previous exhaustion.

"Oh? Pray tell."

"It's The Cognitors clan." Charlie stated, "You, The Guardian Of The Ruins, are a psychic type yourself. The tablets all depict psychic types fighting against Pokemon of the other clans type specialities! The clear answer is The Cognitors Clan."

"Not bad, human. You are correct."

Charlie grinned widely, "Well, I passed your damned quiz, now what!"

"Human. I didn't expect you to make it this far, if I am to be honest with you."

Claydol's impassive voice caused Charlie to shudder, "If that isn't just reassuring…"

"Human, what do you think of The Cognitor Clan?"

"I- I'm personally not a big fan of them. Their tyrannical rule over Hoenn caused millions to suffer. They inflicted a lot of pain on the innocents and attempted to take over Hoenn's neighbors…they committed sickening acts," Charlie replied truthfully.

"Charlie."

He flinched at Claydol suddenly swapping from 'human' to his given name.

"What if I were to tell you the crimes that The Cognitor clan committed were all naught but lies?"

"I wouldn't believe you." Charlie responded frankly, "I don't feel you are a trustworthy source."

"Heh. What a naive boy. Charlie, The Cognitors were a noble and prideful clan. Far from what you people have been taught. It's disgraceful to the hundreds of years worth of history the Cognitor clan has built up, all to be cast aside and reduced to a shadow of the truth. I can prove it to you, if you truly wish."

"Does this relate to my grandfather's disappearance?"

"It very much does."

"Then please do."

"Charlie, I will give you a choice. The decision that you will make could very well decide your own fate. Take one step forward, and you will never be able to return. The moment you gain this information…"

"There is no coming back. You could die a cruel, unforgiving death."

He gulped, "I've come too far."

Charlie smiled softly, "So this is The Choice that will decide how I die, hm?"

He slicked his brown hair back, "I'm not turning back now."

He raised his leg, and with one simple motion…

Claydol's eyes glowed a bright blue, and using the psychic connection Claydol had formed with Charlie…

"You have made your decision."

Charlie's entire body was disorientated as a flashing light blinded him. His exhaustion had kicked in, and he almost fell to his knees.

"Welcome to my very own dimension. Here, you will witness my memories."


End Of Chapter