Persephone finally did it. It took a few more than ridiculous words, she felt like an idiot speaking in whatever language that might have been, but she managed to summon a legendary pokemon. And not just any legendary, the one who had saved her on two separate occasions in her life.
She might have been older by over a decade, she certainly didn't look identical to her dark haired youthful self, but Darkrai definitely recognised her. That was good, she'd have felt like a fool if he didn't.
Those days in Selene City weren't exactly luxurious, years battling for the survival of her and Diana weren't comfortable to say the least, but they were still something she cherished so dearly. She grew close to her sister, she learned how to be strong, and life was simple. She liked it.
But, the Augur showed up and started to pick apart the underworld piece by piece. The underground fighting rings she'd earn her life on were fleeting away from her, and she had to adapt and find a new way to live.
So, when she heard of the Infernal Cult, she decided to join. She was a powerful trainer, and so was her sister. She could just walk away whenever she wanted. What could have gone wrong?
A lot is the answer. Her sister fled to save her own skin, and she had to battle Zenith all on her own.
Darkrai had to save her again, and she managed to escape, but she decided she was done with being at the bottom. Her entire life she was never fully in control, always used by someone, always burdened by them. Her parents, Zenith, her own sister. She didn't need any of them.
Persephone did her best not to cry at the reality of her rejection, instead choosing to gently rub her ring on her finger. Once calmed, she wiped her eyes and walked towards the cell containing their prisoner. The son of the Augur.
She felt some remorse, but didn't let it control her. It was a necessary evil. The power of the Augur's legendary crystal granted it's holder omnipotence, it was the reason he was so powerful and feared as the Champion of the region. So long as he held that stone in his hand, not even the legendaries could defeat him.
But, even if you can't be beaten, you can still be destroyed. Personally, just as a Cult leader, she would prefer it if he disappeared. The fact that Jaern would spare her, well, that was a bonus. As much as doing anything for him made her want to pull her hair out, she had to.
The new Augur was a disgrace. He was slimy, egotistical, and greedy. She could at least respect the old one, if begrudgingly, but he was nothing. Some of the propaganda he spread about himself was enough to make her laugh. If only the people of Torren knew their Champion was the leader of the Sky Cult, they'd go mad.
Regardless, they had a bargain. She gets rid of the first Augur for him and his son, whilst keeping quiet that he was the leader of the Sky Cult, then he'd spare her.
She accepted, but only so that she could have some more time. If she'd managed to capture Darkrai then she might have left the teenager alive, if he wasn't brain dead, however she couldn't defeat someone with a legendary pokemon under their command. Her hands were tied.
His cell coming into view, she noticed that the door was wide open and when she peaked inside she had to hold her breath when she was treated to the sight of her Gengar lying on the ground!
"Gengar!" Persephone ran over to her fallen friend's side, withholding a sigh of relief when she appeared to be uninjured, and quickly returned her.
Persephone felt shocked that Gengar could have even ended up in such a state to begin with. She was by no means a weak trainer and Gengar could handle herself just fine. She'd need to check the surveillance in the room later.
Persephone froze up, slowly turning around and noticing something very worrying.
The boy was gone! How, she did not know, but he was missing. And if Jaern found out then she was in trouble.
As her thoughts were racing, she didn't notice the rushed footsteps that were following behind her." Miss Persephone! What are you-"
"Where is he?" She asked, feeling her hands twitch to her pocket as she questioned them.
The fools didn't seem to understand." What do you mean-"
Unable to contain her frustration she snarled slightly as she turned around "Oh for the love of Arce- The boy! Where did the child go?! You know, just the one you two fools were meant to guard!"
Persephone normally wouldn't have broken her usually cold persona like this, but they royally screwed the Houndour, and they could tell as they backed away slightly with cautious steps. As though she'd end them if they didn't manage to appease her.
The thought made her feel some cold satisfaction. They weren't wrong.
"Look, Miss Persephone, we- we assumed that your Gengar had it handled. Besides, you told us to watch the ritual. If you think about it then this is all-"
Persephone's pink eyes went bloodshot as she released her Spiritomb, silencing them as they began to back away.
She merely followed them, her grinning mass of miasma following behind her as she began to speak with rage just bubbling to be released.
"I hope that you two realise this. You're only alive because I'm generous enough to give you a second chance to correct your mistake. So, find him."
"Wh- what do you-"
"I said find him. I don't care what you need to do, you will find him for me. That boy is a threat to our entire group, and if he gets away because of you then I won't hesitate to end you myself. Leave and don't come back without him."
Her words are short and simple, but the two of them do as they're told. Just nodding, they turn and scamper out of the room, leaving Persephone alone with her headache as her pokemon lets out a dark chuckle.
"This isn't funny, Spiritomb."
After who-knows-how-long of running, Leo stopped for a breather, his legs feeling like they were about to collapse.
"Okay Mew, you need to explain what's going on here. Why was I in that place, and who was that voice talking to me?" Leo knew of course, but he wasn't about to explain how he knew, and he still needed to confirm where he was.
A few seconds passed, no answer.
"Mew, get out here and answer me-"
He paused, noticing something just besides him. It was a flute, coloured a pure and untainted shiny white that seemed to glow when hit by the sun, but it also looked to have some cloth wrapped over it's end.
Picking it up, the cloth came undone and dropped a note into his hand which he read instantly. His grip tightened and he glared at the air in front of him.
"Fuck you Mew!" Leo yelled out and proceeded to roughly shove the flute into his pocket, before he wiped a hand over his face in annoyance, and pick himself up.
Mew wouldn't help him unless he used the flute, and even then it wasn't for battles, so he was stuck in the middle of nowhere without a pokemon. He needed to move, he doubted that Mew would just let him die, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Okay Leo, you can do this. Just find a town and get your first pokemon. This is just like a game." He hyped himself up, ignoring the pain in his legs, as he pushed forward.
He needed to find Telnor Town, since it was the closest place to the Cult base in game, and hopefully he'd be able to figure something out then.
Leo began to walk, and felt a sense of unease grow like a weed the more time he walked forward. It wasn't huge thing, but the more time he spent in the forest the more unsafe he felt. He was in the world of pokemon, a world with creatures just lying around that could be turned into the equivalent of a machine gun. Without one of his own, he was like dead meat.
He was being paranoid, he knew that. But-
A cry of some kind garnered his attention and he quick hid his back behind a tree and, exercising caution, he began to walk away. Afterall, whatever it was, it wasn't his problem and he had no intention of making it that way.
Leo winced when another scream, this one much higher, pierced through the air and he decided to break away and see what was going on.
Peaking from outside the tree, Leo could see six tiny humanoid looking pokemon. Five of them on one side looking to outnumber the final one; they were all white with a green hat that covered their heads, and the final one having a bright yellow one that made it stand out from the others.
They were all Ralts! He could recognise a classic anywhere, and one of them looked to be a Delta Ralts!
Leo felt disturbed when he watched the green ones grin, the sight looking very wrong on something so tiny and cutesy looking, and hold their arms up. The Delta one stood, it looking injured and pretty weak, only to be knocked down when their horns shone purple and they released a wave of energy that knocked the other one backwards.
He winced as they hit the floor, and he felt his heart bleed at the sight. It was honestly hard to watch, and even harder to just stand still. He was almost tempted to run in there and do something.
What could he do though? He was just a human. He bled, he was frail, and he didn't have any special powers. All he had was his head, and maybe a surprise kick or two.
Was that truly going to-
"RALTS!" A final cry from the tenacious little Delta was all it managed to get out before succumbing to unconsciousness, it landing in convenient spot where, if he was fast enough, he could probably get away from them. He doubted they were terribly fast with those legs.
Leo sighed. He didn't have a choice, did he?
Bolting from his spot the other Ralts gasped in surprise, not expecting his arrival, so he made sure to act fast by sweeping the tiny yellow pokemon up into his arms and running away as fast as his arms could carry him.
Leo's legs burned, the running from earlier taking it's tole, but he still refused to stop. Even if they were weak, they were still pokemon. He doubted he could do anything to-
A Ralts suddenly teleported in front of his face and it's horn shined purple in a way that suggested nothing good, and in response Leo immediately pulled his fist back and punched the little thing with all his might.
He was tired and lacked technique, but it did stun them enough to cancel it's attack. They were thrown backwards, hitting the floor for Leo to pass them by.
Leo flailed his hand slightly and wondered just what pokemon were made out of as he continued to run through the forest without leaving anything behind. Noticing the pokemon in his arms shuffle, clearly awake and not hostile.
Hopefully it would stay that way.
The sun was pretty.
He wasn't sure why he noticed that, he had so many more important things to focus on, but the setting sun made him feel better despite the heaviness on his shoulders and the burning in his legs.
The forest was dark, something he didn't notice, but the relief he felt when he found an actual path was enough to take his breath away. Or maybe it was just his fatigue.
Either way, he was grateful for the rest.
Leo dropped onto a rock, groaning as a burden was lifted off his legs, and placed the pokemon still in his arms down next to him. The Ralts hummed slightly, still conscious, but from the way it winced he'd say that it was still pretty hurt.
It tilted it's head at Leo, as though it were examining him. "Ralts?"
He was still tired, but retained his manners as he pointed to himself. "Me? I'm Leo, short for Leonardo. What's your name?"
In response, Leo was reminded that he was speaking to a pokemon, not a human.
"Ralts." It said simply, as though that were an answer.
Leo just sighed. "Yeah, I thought so. Just wanted to make sure." He looked over his shoulder, then his side, seeing that they were alone he said. "Listen, you can't tell anyone this, but I kind of have a super important mission. Essentially, I need to save Torren from cults and legendaries, and to do that I'll need help."
Ralts gasped in surprise. It flashed him it's, big, expressive, icy blue eyes from under it's hat, and he decided to ask a big question.
"So, Ralts, will you join and help me save this region, nay, the entire world?"
Leo honestly expected some debate, maybe hesitation, but he was proven wrong when the tiny pokemon began hopping up and down with agreement, innocence and naivety radiating off their whole being.
He was preying on it's ignorance wasn't he?
Leo, ignoring that he'd just tricked a pokemon into joining his party, sat up against the protest of his legs. "Alright, well it's nice to meet you, Ralts. I don't have a pokeball, so I can't capture you, so if you're going to be travelling with with me you'll need to try and stay out of view. I'm not familiar with this place's status when it comes to criminals, but a pokemon like you would probably be sought after. It probably wouldn't even technically be stealing from me, since I haven't captured you."
Ralts tilted it's head. "Ralts, Ralts?"
"Yeah, I don't understand you. All I'm hearing is one word, so that'll make communicating a bitch."
How would he even talk to it? Maybe he could get a notepad, but then again a wild pokemon probably wouldn't know how to read and write. He could teach it, but-
Actually, now that Leo thought about it, calling a sentient being an 'it' was probably more than a little fucked up. Gender can mean a lot for a Ralts.
In Pokemon Insurgence, he had a Delta Gallade that he ended up benching from his team. It was a good pokemon, he just didn't feel like using it at that point. He didn't mind trying for a Gallade, he knew their moveset and how best to use them, at least in theory.
Gallade was physical, Gardevoir was special. So, what would his Ralts end up being?
Leo awkwardly asked." Hey, what gender are you?"
"Ralts?"
"You know, are you a boy or a girl?" His question seemed to trigger the pokemon, since Ralts bristled and started to yell at me.
"Ralts, Ralts Ralts RALTS!"
He felt surprised." Errr... girl?" Though, with the way he said it, Ralts ended up glaring at him and turning away as though he'd pissed her off.
Okay, getting mad for no reason, definitely a girl.
Leo sighed, not wanting to have his starter resent him for something so stupid. So, he opted to just deal with the problem like any man would. By telling her what she wanted to hear.
"Look, I'm sorry for mistaking your gender. I should have known you were obviously a girl, and it was insensitive of me. I don't deserve it, but can you please give your forgiveness to this oh so unworthy soul?" Leo felt like cringing, but it ended up working.
Ralts turned back to him, her arms still cross, until she uncrossed them and gave a nod. As though she'd forgiven him.
"Ralts." She spoke sagely.
He felt like his current life would end up being far more eventful than his old one.
Yeah, I ended up choosing Ralts for his starter. I wanted to give him a Delta pokemon, and Gardevoir is one of my favourites, and I will be giving him more in the future. Leave comments for what other pokemon you want me to add to his team, and go over to P atreon if you wanna vote on it. I'll try to post more on this one, but I have exams soon, so don't hold your breath.