A/N: It's been a while since I've written anything (med school had been kicking my butt), but I'm back! I've been thinking about this story for a while and even have a few chapters pre-written. I really love Morty as a character and really wanted to expand on his personality and livelihood more. So, I hope you enjoy this story!
Tags: Morty Centric, Morty Main POV, Eusine - recurring character, Lucian - recurring character
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters. I only own this story and my OCs.
Morty yawned for the thousandth time today.
He was supposed to be filling out some paperwork for the new gym trainers that had just been recruited, but Eusine, an old friend, came to stop by.
Morty was just enjoying himself at the gym leader's manor, reading a book to pass the time.
Suddenly, a knock was heard on his door. Eusine had come to stop by to talk. Morty hated surprises (especially surprise visits), but he never knew what he was going to get with Eusine. He was unpredictable.
Once the two got comfortable on the couch in the living room with hot cups of tea, Eusine immediately started talking.
Eusine was droning on and on about what they usually talk about, the legendary beasts.
They would normally talk about other things as well, but Eusine had been close to a breakthrough (or so he says) lately and was especially keen to talk about them.
Morty had heard this theory a million times already, but he just nodded his head and kept quiet. If his friend just needed a place to vent, he would be there for him.
Eusine and Morty had been friends for a long time now, five years to be exact.
They met when Morty just took over the Ecruteak City Gym.
Eusine, who was 22 at the time, was looking for more information on the legendary beasts for his first research paper. He thought what better place to look for information regarding them than the capital of the old religion.
The old religion was a specific sect of Arceism, which was a polythesitic religion that worshiped the Original One and their children. The old religion sect was created by a covenant between two of the Original One's children and the Johtonians.
It was the predominant religion of the Kingdom of Johto before they aligned themselves with Kanto and became the United Kingdoms of Kanto and Johto.
While Arceism had great mention of the legendary beasts as some of their archon, or messengers of the almegans (1), the old religion sect placed a great deal of importance on them.
In scouring every book he could read in the royal libraries of Ecruteak City, Eusine was recommended to seek out a man named Mordecai "Morty" Matsuba to learn more. Not only was Morty a Johtonian who could speak the native tongue (which he needed if he was going to understand anything in some of those books), but he was also a practitioner of the old religion.
He was the perfect resource.
They soon met and hit it off well, eventually becoming fast friends.
Many people didn't think they could even become friends since Eusine was from a very conservative noble Kantonian family, which would clash with Morty's lifestyle and values. Even with their differences, the two were able to connect on something almost too obvious, books.
Both Eusine and Morty loved to read. They loved learning as much as they could, and books always provided the answer to that craving. Whether it was a memoir, romance, non-fiction, or fantasy, they always had a new book to talk about.
Though lately their discussion of books grew cold. Instead Eusine was quick to talk all about his different research papers he had published, and how they lead to this moment he was in now.
Eusine had been chasing after the legendary beasts, but especially Suicune, for nearly 10 years. In some ways, the constant talk about Archon Suicune made Morty a bit uncomfortable, but he was still willing to support his friend. Trainers had been gifted Archon by the Almegans before, but they had to prove themselves worthy. Morty didn't know if Eusine was seen as worthy or not.
"Morty! Are you even listening to me?" scowled Eusine.
Morty just rolled his eyes.
"Of course I am. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"I don't need your sass today Morty. I just need your good advice."
Morty just nodded his head while taking a sip of his saffron tea. He knew better than to piss off Eusine even more when he was in one of his moods. It was better to keep quiet than to get hit by the fire.
Eusine often got like this when he was either close to a "breakthrough" or was really frustrated with the dead ends of his leads. Morty knew how to navigate his rough mental state with time.
"So there have been faint sightings of Suicune in Elderberry Village, Winstorm Town, and Lemtin Town just due south of here. All three towns form a ring around Windswift City, which has been known to have a polluted water source ever since the factories there started dumping chemicals into their river."
Morty just kept nodding along. He hoped Eusine would get to the point soon; he was known to ramble quite a bit.
"I think this could be it! I think this is the breakthrough I need. I will finally be able to capture Suicune!"
Morty froze. Heart pounding with a thick lump in the back of his throat, his hand shook for a second as he was setting down his tea on the table.
He knew Eusine wanted to find and see the legendary beasts, but he had never stated he was close to capturing Suicune. As far as he knew, any trainer who had an archon was given them as a gift. None of them sought out and captured them outright.
Eusine kept looking at him, waiting for a response.
Bile was rising up in Morty's throat, but all he could say was, "I'm happy for you."
His voice cracked, but he did the best he could. He never thought the day would come. Could Eusine really capture one of the archon?
Eusine furrowed his brows. "I knew you would react this way. All I wanted was for you to be happy for me, but instead you react like this."
"I am happy for you," Morty quickly retorted.
"No you aren't. You never liked me going after Suicune; always saying how unworthy I am."
Morty's face scrunched up with a frown etched on his features.
"When have I ever said that? I have always been supportive of your dream to see Archon Suicune. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been sharing knowledge with you about them for the past couple of years."
"You've said it plenty of times. While always getting on my case about not sacrificing to them. You know that's a bunch of rubbish Morty. There's a reason it's called the old religion."
Morty clenched his fists, biting his tongue at the pain it caused in hopes it would protect him from saying something he didn't mean.
"I told you that any trainer with an archon was seen as worthy in the eyes of the Almegans, and that if you wanted to see Archon Suicune, you would need to prove yourself worthy. I suggested that you give offerings and sacrifices to Archons Suicune, Entei, and Raikou in hopes that they see your persistence and devotion and gift themselves to you. You are the one who thinks that practice was beneath you."
Eusine just rolled his eyes.
"Your mother and grandmother are filling your head with useless thoughts. If you're not careful, you will be stuck in these ways and will never see the light. It's probably why you're still a gym leader and not a member of the Elite."
"Get out!"
Eusine turned his head in surprise.
"Leave my house and leave my city and don't ever come back! How dare you speak about my family. How dare you speak of my faith. You are the one that came to me in hopes of learning more about the archon, and yet you reject everything I tell you. If you were looking for someone to just affirm your beliefs, then I suggest you find a Kantonian to help you."
"Now come on Morty. Don't be like that."
"I don't want to see you ever again. In all our time of being friends, I had always given you the respect that you deserved. I understood that we did not grow up the same way nor do we have the same beliefs. The least you could have done would be to respect mine."
Eusine tried to reason with Morty more, but he was not getting anywhere with him.
Eventually he decided to leave.
With him gone, Morty finally felt safe enough to break down and cry.
He knew this could happen one day, but he didn't want it to be real. So many people told him that they could never be friends because they were too different. He guessed they were right.
Once the tears started to taper off, Morty called the one person he knew always had his back, Lucian.
Morty met Lucian when he was 10 and Lucian was 14.
Morty had grown up knowing that he was blessed. His mother was a medium and the matriarch of the Matsuba Clan, who specialized in Ghost types and were stewards over Johto's Ghost elemental shrine, Exspiravit (2). His grandmother was also the Dragon Priestess, the direct conduit of Supreme Almegan Lugia and the highest power in the old religion besides the Phoenix Priest.
Morty wanted for nothing and was surrounded by knowledge. He was privileged, especially in a region where many of the people still clung to the old ways.
Not only did Morty come from a good family and a good lineage, he was also known to be an anointed one of not only one, but three almegans. With those anointings also came gifts.
Supreme Almegan Giratina anointed Morty with the gift of being a medium. He was able to see and communicate with spirits and ghosts, and he was able to see a world that no one else could see.
Supreme Almegan Lugia anointed him with the gift of clairvoyance, specifically dowsing. There was no object that could escape his sight. Anything he or someone else wanted to find, he could.
High Almegan Darkrai anointed Morty with the gift of future, past, and present sight. In his dreams, he would receive visions from the almegan.
Since Morty was a Johtonian, he knew how to honor Gin Lugia (3) for the gift he had been given. He knew how to honor Supreme Almegan Giratina and High Almegan Darkrai in the arceustic way, but he wanted something more personal. He knew both of the almegans had covenants with different human communities; so he decided to start there.
On his journey to New Moon Island in Sinnoh, that's where he met Lucian. Many elders of the island told him about Lucian.
When they met, they instantly connected. They were both known to be anointed by three Almegans; Morty by Darkrai, Lugia, and Giratina, and Lucian by Darkrai, Cresselia, and Mesprit.
They were able to bond about the pressure of their status as well as having to hide parts of their abilities from others' since they could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
As each year passed, their friendship only grew stronger, even when they were apart. Late night phone calls and video calls quickly became the norm; with a few letters sent from time to time.
They talked to each other daily; so it was no surprise when Lucian picked up the call.
He answered on the first ring.
Morty chuckled, "Did you know I was going to call?"
"I might have. I received a vision last night of Eusine leaving your place angry. I felt sad when I woke up; so I thought you might have been too."
"You definitely got that right," sighed Morty, "It was a disaster."
"What happened, Mordecai?"
Mordecai. Morty hadn't heard that name come out of Lucian's mouth in a long time. Lucian only seemed to use that name for him when Morty was in need of emotional support. The last time he heard that name from him was last year after his father had passed away. Lucian came to the funeral in person and stayed with Morty for a few weeks after.
In many ways, Morty always felt like an equal to Lucain despite their age difference, but in times like these, he can't be thankful for how much Lucian feels like an older brother to him. He's always felt safe with Lucian. Morty was grateful to have someone like him in his life.
After taking a few deep breaths, Morty recounted what happened with Eusine, with a few tears being shed.
"I hope you know you did the right thing. I know it's not easy to let go of a friend like that, especially one that you knew for many years."
"I guess it just hurts knowing that the friendship is over."
"Would you ever take him back?"
Morty sighed deeply, "He would need to grovel on his hands and knees and beg for my forgiveness. I understand that he was frustrated, but there was no reason to involve my family like that. But maybe that's who he was the entire time. Maybe he was just using me for his own ambitions."
"I'm sorry you had to be disrespected like that."
"It's fine," he says shrugging his shoulders, "I should have known this was going to happen. We're from two different worlds."
"I don't think that should mean anything. For example, you know I'm from an indiginous community in Sinnoh and am an Arceusite. Bertha, a member of the Elite of Sinnoh along with me, is not either of those things. And yet, she is still able to be respectful to me. Just because we are from two different worlds doesn't mean we can't at the minimum be cordial."
"I know; you're right. That's just what everyone told me when we were first becoming friends. They all said it wouldn't last, and it didn't."
"It didn't last because he was an ungrateful jerk. I'm proud of you for asserting your boundaries, but don't you think it was too much to ban him from the city?" Lucian chuckled, "Can you even do that?"
Morty laughed, "Not really, but I can keep him from coming to the royal library. Because of my status, he was able to get access to all kinds of books there. Now there should be no reason why he would even come here."
"Clever," gleamed Lucian, "Have any of the archon visited you lately?"
"No they haven't. They've been coming around a lot more recently. It's caused me a lot of stress whenever Eusine would just pop up. I'm glad he's never seen me with them. He would have had an aneurysm if he saw me with either of them."
"I guess you really were the key to achieving his goals."
"Yeah, I guess I was."
Word Count: 2,461
Date Uploaded: Saturday, June 4, 2022
Next Update: Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Footnotes:
(1) Almegan is a word that I made up. It's a mash-up of the words alpha and omega. I use this word as a title for the gods and goddesses of the Arceusite pantheon, but it can also be used in place of the word
(2) Exspiravit is the latin word for ghost (or specter, i don't remember). It's the name of the ghost elemental shrine
(3) Gin is Japanese for silver (according to google translate). I used this as a special title given to the Johtonians to Supreme Almegan Lugia
A/N: Thank you everyone for reading! Please leave comments letting me know if there was anything you liked or something I could have done to make the story better