April 15th, First Year
Jaku wandered the thick forests of Deertrack Heights, trying but failing to ignore the way the new (and frighteningly large) pokémon followed dutifully behind her.
It loomed over her with its hot breath, its footsteps seeming to shake the ground as it hurried to close the distance between them. From what she had come to see during their wandering across Deertrack Heights, the large pokémon was aggressive. But that in itself was an understatement. It had already ripped apart a Staraptor circling too close, and it had cracked a Geodude clean it two when the hostile pokémon had erupted from the ground, intent on obstructing their way.
But despite its fiery nature and quick disposition toward attacking, the beast kept close to her. She didn't even remember how she came to have the thing's pokéball in her possession. It was shiny and new like the one she'd found Chandelure in, but it was scratched to high hell and covered in what felt like once-sticky patches of adhesive. Maybe then, this pokémon was one of Warden Ingo's?
No, that didn't seem right.
The creature did scare her, though. Enough to the point where she had tried to call it back upon watching the great brute tear through a Luxio like a hot knife through butter. It had absolutely refused to return back to its pokéball and had obliterated the contraption in two with its jaws, the molten metal pooling around its paws. So then, what did it want with her?
She sighed. That didn't matter at the moment. What actually mattered was getting out of these woods. She had no idea how long she'd been trapped in here, but it seemed like no matter which way she turned, the woods continued to loom before her. Were her pokémon lost out here? It was the last place she could remember them still being by her side.
Every now and then, something would scurry past her hidden in the shadows of the woods. Quiet whispers, panicked and calm, filled the air. She would follow the sound of rushing water only to turn herself in circles, having passed the same moss-covered tree stump for what felt to be the umpteenth time that day.
How many days have I been here, Jaku thought to herself, easing herself over a winding tree root. Where is everybody else at? Am I alone out here? Maybe it was just the large distortion swirling overhead. As long as she'd been in the woods, the distortion had been present, its large ethereal cracks spawning overhead like a gorgeous and terrifying wreath of light.
There was a sound… Something had sneezed.
The large pokémon behind her quickly pushed her down, standing over her protectively with its large fangs bared. Thick black smoke poured from its mouth into the grass as it snarled a challenge.
Luxray padded forward from its position on her left, an electric charge jumping from its whiskers as it stalked toward the creature hidden in the underbrush. Another distortion pokémon, maybe? Or would they finally be close to encountering Lord Wyrdeer?
Two pokémon exploded from the brush making a beeline toward her, their little claws scrabbling on the hard rocks. The large pokémon viciously intercepted them, lashing out with their claws.
"Dusk! Peanut!" Jaku left the cover of her new guarddog, eagerly scooping up her partners as she cradled them close. Never again, she vowed. She would need to be more careful in the future. "Where've you guys been? Had me worried to death!"
Dusk snuggled into the folds of her cloak, its warm flames tickling the sides of her face as it struggled against Peanut to vie for her attention. Both of them were trembling in her tight hold. The two pokémon then perked up, their fur bristling as they stared at the beast behind her.
"Don't worry, guys. This one's okay."
She gave her partners a good once-over. They certainly didn't seem hurt. But then, how had they gotten separated in the first place? Why couldn't she remember that part?
She knew that somewhere in the cliffs, Lord Wyrdeer was waiting. She'd been egged on by the… by that thing before to find the strength to calm it. Even trying to remember that event was painful. Was that the lord trying to talk to her or… something else?
She got to her feet and continued, ignoring the steady drip of dread that spread from the back of her neck to her arms and legs. Would she be strong enough to defeat Lord Wyrdeer like the being wanted? It's not like I have a choice. It's either that or continue wandering through the woods until I get hurt or something.
She kept coming across dead pokémon, most with their eyes and nose oozing blood and their heads facing the top of Deertrack Heights. Obviously, the lord's doing. Whatever had killed them didn't seem to be affecting her. At least, she took comfort in thinking that. Besides; they functioned as signposts to her ulterior goal.
They soon arrived at a clearing. Twisted roots snaked across the ground like veins as they wove in and out of the turf, stalks of fungi and ferns sprouting from each and every angle. No wind stirred the dust.
Here, she could see the heart of the distortion. It throbbed, the light brightening with every tick as the cracks widened. A terrible light spilled into the clearing in brilliant shades of scarlet, violet, and most prominently, red.
Almost immediately, Dusk and Peanut broke free of their pokéballs, their fur sticking straight up. Electricity crackled to her left and flames sizzled to her right. She felt a faint weakness spread from behind her eyes to her jaw, not quite strong enough to- paralyze her like it did before.
…Before?
Something large dropped into the clearing, its antlers dripping something sticky and viscous into the dry dirt. It stumbled about wildly on its four overgrown hooves, its crusted eyes wild and its lips pulled back to reveal a mouth full of bubbling foam. Its white fur glowed a sickly golden hue, mottled with bits of blood, dried spit, leaves, and twigs. It was practically smeared with blood. And when it looked at her, it screamed, lowered its head and started a charge. Lord Wyrdeer. Lord of the Hills.
The dog pokémon moved faster, grabbing the lord by its throat with fangs of white-hot fire before it could reach her. Lord Wyrdeer howled. Jaku clutched at her ears, watching as a scarlet light pulsed from the creature's horns.
It stumbled again, its eyes seeming to follow her with eminent confusion before it tried to charge again. Was that move intended for me?
She was just barely pushed out of the way as Peanut came barreling towards her, the same crazed look in its eyes as it readied up a flurry of stars to aim at her.
Hypnosis. That's what this was. Either that or Psychic. But why didn't it work on me? Her mind flashed back to the encounter with the deity, remembering the fact that it had given her something after their meeting. She blinked. Only two things had appeared after her strange encounter on the bridge: the beast's pokéball and the dark cloak pinned around her throat.
… A battle item, her subconscious quickly provided. Could be some kind of status cloak!
She ducked again as Peanut flew at her. Her partner was being controlled like a puppet on a string. She would come to regret her next move later as she steadied herself.
"Luxray, use Thunder Wave!" She prayed that the pokémon at her side would understand her.
A jolt of electricity sent Peanut tumbling away, its limbs twitching and its jaws parting over and over again as it struggled to right itself in the dirt. The sight was revolting, forcing Jaku to look away. She covered her ears as Wyrdeer let out a blood-curdling scream, calling another order.
"Luxray, use Crunch!"
When she looked toward where Wyrdeer was- should be- she found the dog pokémon staring at her as if waiting for a command. In absence of her words, the pokémon reared up onto its hind legs and knocked the lord away so hard that it shattered one of its antlers. Its hooves skittered in the dirt and it fell to one knee, blood oozing into the dirt. There it was again: that familiar strength…!
The name snapped back to her as though she'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. That move. The one that it had just used! She knew that move! That was Return, a move that grew stronger the more a pokémon liked its trainer. She'd named this pokémon specifically for its brute-like strength.
"Lilith!" she called, feeling the name sink onto her tongue. "Bulldoze!"
The clearing jerked around her feet as the two stronger pokémon surged forward as a team, Luxray snaring one of the lord's feet in its mouth and Lilith trapping another in the shifting earth. Lord Wyrdeer forcibly struggled out and managed to stab its remaining antler into Lilith's shoulder. The Arcanine snarled and seized the Wyrdeer by the throat before throwing it down into the dirt, tearing at its belly with her claws.
Luxray did not join in. It stumbled on its feet after its attack, its eyes the same jarring white like Peanut. It began to twitch and jerk violently, blood dripping from its ears. Electricity crackled from its mane as it focused its eyes on her.
"Dusk, keep Luxray busy!"
The headache behind her eyes throbbed before quieting once more. Lord Wyrdeer was again staring straight at her. No doubt about it, these headaches weren't just mere coincidences. She was completely immune to them but her pokémon…? She needed to end this quickly.
Jaku kept up her pursuit of the lord, keeping the coerced Luxray and Peanut at bay as their explosive moves ricocheted around the clearing. One stray Swift caught the hem of her cloak and ripped it away. Almost immediately, the edges of Jaku's vision began to blur and the headache returned, this time, throbbing to life with a new vigor.
After escaping a brutal Return from Lilith, Lord Wyrdeer desperately scrambled up the sheer rock cliff and reared onto its wobbly bleeding legs, its eyes aglow in an eerie scarlet light as it enveloped the clearing in a thick aura.
Jaku collapsed onto her knees this time, her headache growing to a white-hot pain as her limbs began to tingle. Something dripped from her eyes and nose and the ground beneath her began to sway. She struggled to breathe, her breaths coming out in gasps and wheezes.
"B- no- a—a-. H-p -. -elp m-, -lease." A voice, low and weak like dry grass in a windstorm crackled into her mind. Over and over, it repeated the same phrase, its call growing weaker and weaker with every relay. "Help me."
Lilith howled in rage and leaped after Luxray, sinking its fangs deep into its leg and giving the smaller pokémon a thorough shake. It then did the same to Peanut. Almost immediately, the fog from their eyes cleared to be replaced with fury. Luxray screeched and fired off a Thunderbolt, knocking the lord off of its perch and into the clearing.
She heard a sickening wet crunch as the Lord collided with the dirt… but it kept screaming, trying valiantly to get back up, mouth still foaming, legs still thrashing, and eyes still wide and glassy. Jaku had seen that look on other pokémon before and the sight of it occurring again made her want to run. It was a dangerous look, whatever it was.
Lord Wyrdeer lowered its head and enveloped the clearing in the same scarlet light as before but this time, Lilith was faster. Jaku didn't know how, but the Arcanine conjured a glass-like protective wall in front of its comrades just as Lord Wyrdeer fired off an immense beam of light from its destroyed horns. The beam impacted but it ricocheted into the woods.
"Luxray, paralyze it!"
Luxray flew forward and sank its fangs into another of the Lord's feet, this time managing to crack through bone. Lord Wyrdeer's legs finally gave out and with a cry of desperation, her other three partners ran forward, biting, clawing, burning, and zapping the lord until, in a blinding flash of golden light, the frenzy of the battle dissipated.
Her pokémon surrounded her once more, all bleeding from their nose and eyes but still standing, Lilith nearly choking her with its fur again. The headache behind her eyes finally let up.
Before her stood Lord Wyrdeer, legs trembling, head shaking back and forth as it gazed wildly first at Lilith then at her and then at its perch far above the clearing. Jaku stood supported by Lilith as she gently approached the lord.
Lord Wyrdeer seemed to notice this and with a harrowing call, it fled, clearly spooked by the gruesome scene before him. With a shudder, the great distortion above crackled. The light within dimmed and as though mended like a tear in fabric, the great ethereal rip slowly but surely faded into nothingness. Soft sunlight shone down on the creeping grass of the clearing.
Finally, Lord Wyrdeer had been calmed.
Jaku let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, collapsing back into the hold of her pokémon as she found her way to sit. She hadn't even been battling but she still ached all over.
Lilith quietly laid down behind her, setting its great head in her lap as Luxray did the same on her other side. Peanut and Dusk curled up by her feet. All of them looked equally exhausted. Bloody and scarred, Jaku couldn't help but wonder why her pokémon would aid her through such a fight like that one.
Loud footsteps crunched through the undergrowth. Something was quickly approaching her.
Jaku violently twisted around, her pokémon following her lead as best as they could as they all turned toward the far side of the clearing.
"Who's there?" she demanded hoarsely. "Show yourself!"
A man crept forward to stand at the edge of the clearing. He was tall and lean, wearing what looked to be a torn Gingko Guild uniform as he approached closer. As he walked into the sunlight, Jaku could make out a few more of his features.
He had thick silver hair around the sides of his face and a small beard of sorts on his chin . A large white hat, similar to one Jaku could've sworn she'd seen before, shielded half of his face with a familiar pin sitting right on the sash on the visor. But he was smiling. He walked a little closer, a small pink pokémon floating behind him as he approached ever closer.
"Stop right there," Jaku growled. "Who are you? Are you one of the merchants from the village? What are you even doing out here? Don't you know this area is dangerous?"
"I am Emmet." The man came to a stop, his grin faltering as he stared at her. "Are you injured?"
"No, this blood isn't mine. Dunno where it came from," she commented dryly. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you here? Weren't the merchants supposed to stay in camp?"
The man's face fell. "You… you don't recognize me?"
"No... Am I supposed to?"
"I-" the man took a step back, a multitude of emotions flittering behind his eyes as he tipped the visor back down. He certainly wasn't smiling now. The small pink pokémon circled him once, its eyes sad as it took its place on his hat. After a few moments, his grin returned. "Ah. I see. I am Emmet. I… I did not hear about the mandatory lockdown. Have you seen my brother, Ingo?"