Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Kung Fu Panda. Any OCs however, are mine unless stated otherwise.
Chapter 1: Storm Front
We open to a midday shot of the Jade Palace from a distance. The battle between Riley and the disgruntled Tai Lung had been hard-fought, thankfully the Riolu had managed to defeat the mad leopard and even managed to finally achieve his evolved form, a Lucario, in order to protect everyone from Tai Lung's descent into madness.
It had been nearly 3 months since that day, with the village having rebuilt from the damage of the battle. The place now looked as good as new, barring a few new additions. Some of the changes were cosmetic, merely the color of some of the rooftops looking different from the replaced shingles. Some buildings were being remodeled after they were destroyed, with Riley sharing what knowledge he had from back home. But there was one thing in particular that was wholly new.
Lying at the location of the crater Tai Lung made where he finally acquired the Dragon Scroll was a structure. The structure was carved out of stone, depicting the finishing blow of the battle. A statue made to resemble their savior, the Dragon Warrior, as they fired their attack at Tai Lung. The statue of Tai Lung was shown with the attack colliding with him as he screamed.
There is a figure seen inspecting the structure. The figure is bipedal and possesses a large, round dark-red nose. They have bulbous features, resembling curls of "hair", on their head. Violet bulges resembling swelling veins patterned their muscular, large arms, thighs, and chest, and similar thick violet bands adorn their shoulders. They possess an hourglass shape and are wearing a pair of bulky violet boxer shorts matching the color of their bulging veins.
As people went about their day nearby, they stared as they walked past the figure.
"Who's that?" One pig said.
"More like what is that?" Another beside him whispered.
"He looks scary." A bunny child whispered to his mother.
"It's rude to stare." The mother told her child, but still ushered them past the hulking figure, somewhat intimidated by their appearance.
The figure paid the villagers no mind. It was nothing he wasn't used to during his travel to the Valley of Peace. They hummed at the sight of the structure, looking at the title on the pedestal beneath it.
"Aurannihilation? Hm. Corny. But fitting." The figure said in a firm masculine voice. Their eyes focused on the statue of the Dragon Warrior, noticing the canine-like features of them.
"It can't be a coincidence. I must stop them before-" The figure stated, before smelling something they found awfully familiar.
'Oran Berries? Perhaps they can lead me to him.' The figure thought, noticing a noodle shop nearby with a drawing of an Oran Berry advertising today's special.
GRUMBLE
The figure internally sweatdropped.
'Okay, a bite to eat wouldn't hurt.' He shrugged before walking over to the noodle shop to sate his hunger and find his targets.
Entering the small shop, the 5-foot tall figure's broad and bulking shoulders were just small enough to fit through the entrance. Everyone in the shop turned toward him as his shadow was cast inside. The citizens began to whisper to one another commenting on him as he made his way to the counter to make an order.
"Excuse me. Sorry. Coming through. Nothing to see here." The hulking figure said with surprising sheepishness as he turned to his side so he could fit through the path between tables.
While everyone was still wary, seeing the figure with such a bashful expression reassured them. They just hoped this…whatever he is, wasn't looking to cause some destruction.
"Hope that guy isn't some kind of super strong criminal. Maybe someone should get the masters." A nearby pig talked to his rabbit friend sitting next to him.
"With a face like that, I'm sure we'd know if he was." The rabbit shrugged off her friend's concerns. "Can't say I'm not curious where the guy's from though. Never seen anything like him before."
The pig looked back thoughtfully to his companion. "Say, isn't the Dragon Warrior an uncommon species around here too?"
"Oh yeah, maybe they know each other?" The rabbit responded.
The figure made it to the counter as a goose walked up to the counter.
"Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop. What can I get for you to-" The owner, Mr. Ping, paused in the middle of his greeting upon seeing the mysterious customer.
"-day. Would you like to try the special?" Mr. Ping finished, managing to recollect himself from the surprise.
"Actually, I would like to try the special. Can you make it two bowls? A body like this needs the mass to accommodate." The figure said with a light-hearted chuckle, his left arm tensing a bit and showing off his muscles.
"I'm sure it does. All right then sir, two orders of Oran Noodle Soup coming up." Mr. Ping said as he began to walk to the pot.
"I hope I'm not intruding, but I've never seen a person quite like you before sir." Mr. Ping pointed out as he began to put some noodles into two bowls nearby.
The figure laughed a bit. "Not the first time I've been asked that in the past few weeks, though hopefully that might stop soon once my business here is over."
"Oh. Traveling for business?" Mr. Ping asked.
"Yeah. Though I'm a bit bummed I had to leave something back home. Couldn't take my trusty barbell with me." The figure lamented a bit. He puffed his chest up a bit. "But I've gotten a Distortion of a leg workout though. I may be a bit top-heavy, but you simply can't skip leg day." He said with a newfound grin, looking on the bright side.
The figure's words made Mr. Ping think for a bit as he began ladling the sauce into one of the bowls. "Hm. You wouldn't happen to be from a place called Ransei would you?" Mr. Ping asked.
The figure gave a mild smirk. "Yeah actually. My species is known as Gurdurr. I take it I'm not the first Pokémon you've met?"
"Riley actually works with me every once in a while, during rush usually. He gives me a supply of Oran Berries from the little farm he started up at the Jade Palace." Mr. Ping said as he brought over the two ready dishes. "Your noodles are ready Mister…"
"Call me Banner. And thank you." The now-named Banner dropped the proper amount of coins onto the counter as he took one of the bowls and downed the whole thing in a manner of 10 seconds. He wiped a bit of sauce from the corners of his lips with a cheery smile.
"Ah! Nothing like Oran to remind you of home. This is good stuff, Mr. Ping." Banner complimented.
"Well, I can't take all the credit. Riley's the only reason I managed to get some Oran Berries after all." Mr. Ping said bashfully. "So, what kind of business brings you here?"
"Two things, actually. I came here in search of a group of criminals, the SHS Brothers. Got a lead talking about them heading here toward the Valley of Peace." Banner admitted.
"Oh. I hope you catch them then. So, what's the other reason?" Mr. Ping asked.
"Funny you mentioned Riley earlier because I'm also here to talk to him," Banner said as he downed the second bowl at a slower pace.
"Oh? Well, your best chance of talking to him is to head up to the Jade Palace." Mr. Ping told him.
Banner set his second bowl down, now emptied of its contents, and gave the goose a nod. "Thank you. Both for the information and the food." Banner thanked him, before turning to the entrance and departing.
Looking up to the top of the staircase, Banner gulped.
"Hoo boy. This is gonna take a while." The Gurdurr lamented. He didn't like stairs, but his bigger concern was the foreboding feeling he was getting. 'Why do I get the feeling I'll be killing two Pidove with one Roggenrola?'
Banner resolved himself and began to climb the stairs.
In the courtyard of the Jade Palace, we see a figure sitting cross-legged in the middle of the area with a book in his left hand. The figure is canine-like with predominantly blue and black fur. They possess a small bump on the back of each forepaw, in addition to a third on its chest. It has red eyes, a long snout, and ears. They wear a royal blue Gi with portions of light blue metal lining the folds like armor and revealing a patch of cream-colored fur on their torso. They have a medium-length tail matching the blue color of the figure. They have four black appendages that hang down from their head, while their pointed ears sit atop their head.
This was a Lucario. And more specifically, this is Riley.
Once a Riolu that had yet to evolve even into his twenties, he set out from his home country of Ransei on a journey to evolve or to find his place. In a string of unexpected luck, he found both. Having arrived in the Valley of Peace, he attended a ceremony that would reveal the Dragon Warrior. As luck would have it, Riley ended up being chosen for the role.
At first, he was confused, and the people of the Jade Palace had been wary of him, especially one tiger and red panda. But he proved himself in a battle against the fallen master Tai Lung, evolving in the process. Given time, both the tiger Tigress and red panda Master Shifu would come to accept Riley after learning more about him and his struggles, both having realized their mistakes in treating him after learning more about him.
In the present, Riley flipped the page of the book he was reading. On the side of the book written in Japanese kanji, the name 'Nobunaga's Ambition by Oda Oichi' can be seen on the cover of the book. 1
Surrounding him, two blurs are moving in the shadows as they circle him in the distance. The Lucario didn't seem to notice them though as he continued to read from the book.
One of the shadows moves by again, the air causing the soccer ball they passed by to shift a few centimeters from its original position.
Riley then got up, not looking away from the book as he unfolded his legs, the action causing him to get to his feet using only his leg strength.
Two blurs zoom by again from opposite sides of the sparring ground as Riley flips the page again, but this time he twists his body on a vertical axis and pivots on his right leg. As he spun, he outstretched both his left leg and right arm.
Two collisions sound off simultaneously, his leg countering a punch and his arm guarding against a kick.
"You'll have to do better than that," Riley stated, pushing off his right leg and propelling himself backward and out from between his two assailants.
"We're just getting started." A female voice called out from his left.
Zooming the POV to Riley's left, we are greeted by the sight of a South China tiger taking on a tiger-style combat stance, wearing a red qipao vest with gold vine patterns and black pants.
"We'll come out on top today." An identical voice called out from his left.
Zooming the POV to Riley's right this time, we are greeted by the sight of a South China tiger taking on a tiger-style combat stance, wearing a red qipao-
-wait a minute…
Before the Lucario stood not one, but two of Master Tigress.
Both Tigress stared Riley down as he closed the book. "Resume once the book hits the ground," Riley said simply, before promptly tossing the book into the air as he closed his eyes.
The book flew through the air as the three stood in a standoff, waiting for the cue. The book began its descent and landed perfectly upright next to the building's entrance.
The two tigers bolted forward.
The match was on.
The three blocked blow after blow from one another in their three-person free-for-all. Riley went for a leg sweep, both his opponents jumping over the sweep as they attempted to strike one another. One of them proceeded to grapple the other and slammed them down in an attempt to suplex them, but the one who got grappled was able to recover and instead pinned her attacker between her thighs.
The one who was trapped resisted though, as she managed to pull both of them up in a brilliant display, pulling off a kip-up and forcing them to headbutt into the approaching Riley, knocking both back and stunning the thigh-locker.
Freed, the suplexer glowed red before revealing a different figure. They were revealed to be a bipedal, slate gray, fox with crimson and black accents. They had a large, red, voluminous mane with black tips, tied into a ponytail located near their shoulders, as a teal bangle down its length separates a mass of the mane from the lower portion. They have a black ruff on their upper body, pointed at the shoulders from which their arms extend. Their upper arms are thin, whereas their lower arms, while still slim, are bulkier. The arms have spiky extensions of fur at the elbows, and they have red claws on their hands and feet. They wear a form-fitting black hakamashita underneath a scarlet red hakama extending to their knees and revealing a feminine figure.
This was Lyla, Riley's childhood friend from Ransei, and a Zoroark. She arrived in the Valley of Peace in search of her friend, and now she has elected to train under the current master of the Jade Palace, Master Shifu.
With Riley stunned, Lyla swung her leg low to the ground, sweeping Riley's legs and causing him to fall backward. Riley landed on his back and Lyla would've taken that opportunity to go on the advance, but instead, she had to block an incoming punch from Tigress. Lyla turned back to Tigress and held her arms in an X-formation, successfully blocking her striped opponent's attack.
With Lyla distracted, Riley rolled backward and onto his feet using the momentum, landing in his fighting stance. One of his arms charged a half-foot diameter Aura Sphere as he dove to the side and flung the attack forward.
The Aura Sphere stopped in the air between the two women, with them having just enough time to realize what was happening as their eyes widened. The ball of energy detonated between the two, causing a cloud of smoke to be kicked up around them.
Tigress and Lyla could be heard coughing as they fanned the smoke away from their faces.
Lyla looked over to Riley with a comical tickmark on her forehead. "Oi! This was supposed to be a no-moves fight!"
Tigress scowled at the Lucario as he simply shrugged. Tigress gained a smirk as she swept the legs of the Zoroark standing next to her, eliciting a yelp from the fox as she landed on her rear.
"And you shouldn't let your guard down," Tigress stated with sass.
Lyla huffed as Tigress' outstretched hand reached her vision. Lyla took it and Tigress brought the fox to her feet.
CRACK
The three combatants bowed as the red panda, Master Shifu, walked toward them from the dojo's entrance with the others in tow and a serious expression on his face. Masters Viper and Crane moved forward from his right, while masters Mantis and Monkey came in on his left.
"Tigress is correct. Until the battle is finished, you should never leave yourself open." Shifu advised, pointing his staff toward the Zoroark.
"Of course, Sensei," Lyla responded.
Shifu then directed his staff toward Tigress. "Tigress. You have improved with your ferocity in battle, but be wary of your guard as well. You must analyze your opponent and what they intend to do, learn all you can about them, and wait for the time to strike."
Tigress nodded in response.
Shifu nodded before turning to Riley. "As for you Riley…"
Shifu's serious gaze turned into a deadpan one.
"Was the Aura Sphere really necessary?" Shifu asked in blunt disappointment.
Riley sighed. "That headbutt really threw me off. I was a bit dazed."
Shifu raised a brow. "So, you decided to use an Aura Sphere?"
Riley brought himself out of the bow and shrugged. "It's not like a real enemy's gonna take it easy on you in a real fight. In a fight for survival, you use what you can."
"That was a spar," Viper said with exasperation.
"Just making it feel more real. You never know when you have to fight an evil Lucario."
"Uh…aren't your species super honorable though?" Mantis questioned.
"It could happen I suppose," Crane stated.
"Plus, you interrupted me while I was reading 'Nobunaga's Ambition'. Word for the future: Don't." Riley stated with finality.
"Haven't you read that book like, a thousand times?" Lyla asked confused.
Riley scoffed. "Ridiculous! I've only read it 237 times, thank you very much!"
"Why are you so obsessed with it anyway?" Monkey asked.
"I dunno. Something about it feels familiar to me, is all. It's comforting." Riley gave a loose defense.
"I can't say I blame him." An unrecognized voice agrees with the Lucario.
Riley smiled triumphantly. "Thank you, inconspicuous sinister voice!"
…
…
Hold up!
Riley's eyes opened with alarm as he turned to the source of the voice as everyone else turned to it as well. Their gazes were met with a figure shrouded by their shadow cast as they stood with the Sun behind them, hands held out in a flamboyant pose (Frieza's signature pose).
As their eyes adjusted to the light, the group could identify the figure was reminiscent of a simian. Their ears were broad with orange insides, and they had oval eyes and a small black nose. It has a swirled, flame-like tuft on its head with a smaller tuft on either side of it. They wore an orange unitard under bloodred body armor and a pair of matching bloodred gloves. Jutting out at their neck were white shoulder ruffs, beneath a cream-colored face and toes. They had five fingers, and their bare feet had three toes. Poking out of their posterior was a fluffy, swirled tail that resembled a flame, being red in color, like their hair.
"Indeed brother. It is quite the aspiring tale. Sadly though, this will be the last time you ever read it." A second voice called out with a posh tone, directing their attention to the new voice.
If the first figure would be considered at Riley's 12, then this one would be at his 8. The second figure was also notably simian-like. Their ears were broad with light blue insides, and just like the first they had oval eyes and a small black nose; though the eyes were noticeably squinting. There are several tufts of fur on its head, which resemble dreadlocks. They wore a unitard, armor, and gloves as well; the colors being sea green and royal blue respectively. They have a white marking around the neck that resembles a ruff, and a cream-colored face and feet. Just like the other one, they had five fingers and were barefoot with three toes. Their tail is tipped with a blue plume, resembling a spout of water, akin to their equally blue hair.
"Yo, can we like, get this over with? This place is killing my high." A third voice said in a somewhat droll tone, sounding a bit…uninterested to put it lightly.
The third figure revealed themselves at Riley's 4. Just like the others, they were notably simian-like in body shape.
They had a pointed, bush-like crest on its head similar to a pompadour. Their ears are broad with light green insides, and the same oval eyes and a black nose as the previous two. They have furry, white eyebrows and shoulder tufts that leaked over their outfit; and a cream-colored face and feet. Like the others they wore a unitard, armor, and gloves; the unitard was lime green and both the armor and gloves were navy green. Five fingers, barefoot, and three toes. Their tail was long and tipped with leaves.
The blue one groaned.
"Rafiki! Are you already high again?!" The blue one exclaimed in disbelief.
The red one rolled his eyes. "Bold of you to assume he would stop smoking it, Koba."
"But Rafiki promised he wouldn't do it before a job!" The now-named Koba argued with the red one.
"Hang on! Time out!" Riley yelled, getting their attention as he made a T with his arms. "Are you saying that the Simisage over there is currently high?"
The one in blue nodded. "Yes. And unfortunately, I'm fairly certain that the last time he wasn't, was on Wednesday."
Crane turned to Viper. "Um…isn't today Tuesday?"
"Yeah…it is," Viper answered, registering what that meant.
Lyla blinks. She blinks again. She then blinks a third time much more slowly before turning to the Simisear with a confused look. "How the Distortion does he still function?" She asks exasperated.
The one in blue piped up. "Funny you ask that. We still don't know either, and we grew up together."
The Simisear pinches the bridge of his nose. "And yet we still don't have an answer to it somehow. At this point, it's honestly more impressive his brain hasn't been turned to a paste already. But given his abilities, it begins to make sense."
Shifu was now getting frustrated as he was in a battle stance. "All right, I want answers. Who are you three?" The master demanded.
The blue one smiled. "We're the Trio Of Danger!"
The red one nodded with a sinister smile. "And let's just say there's a certain someone that wants one of you dead. But seeing as I doubt any of you would simply let us."
"I'm afraid we'll have to kill the whole lot of you."
Outtake 1:
Before the Lucario stood not one, but two of Master Tigress.
The two Tigress turned to each other, pointing at one another with their right arm.
"That woman is an imposter!" One of them declares.
The other Tigress replies, "That woman is the imposter!"
Riley held out his hand charged with Aura, swiveling between the two. "There can't be two Tigress'."
CUT!
Shifu is seen looking on from the side to LEGOBRICK13 with a raised brow. "You knew they would do this, didn't you?" He asked rhetorically.
LEGOBRICK13 simply grinned. "Of course, I did. Sure, I need a setup, but come on. How can anyone not resist the urge to do it?"
"I'm the one who came up with it. I made the suggestion and the boss just kept chanting 'Yes!' repeatedly." Riley admitted. "After half an hour of chanting though, I started getting worried about him."
Outtake 2:
Before the Lucario stood not one, but two of Master Tigress.
One of the Tigress jumped up onto the roof nearby, glowing before the colors changed. Her fur was now black and her stripes were now red.
"I found you! You faker!" The normal-looking one yelled as they pointed at each other.
The darker-looking Tigress looked affronted. "Faker?! I think you're the fake Tigress around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake-"
"I'll make you eat those words!" The normal-looking Tigress yelled angrily at her counterpart.
CUT!
The dark Tigress jumped down. "Not gonna lie, I kind of dig this look." She said in Lyla's voice. "I was originally gonna make the stripes just turn orange, but I think the red pulls off the reference a little better."
Tigress blinked. "I thought it was because you naturally have red on you?"
Lyla shrugged. "That too."
"I just wanna say, I enjoy the reference there ladies!" LEOGBRICK13 cheered happily from his chair.
Outtake 3:
"I dunno. Something about it feels familiar to me, is all. It's comforting." Riley gave a loose defense.
Their surroundings darkened as they looked around in confusion before a pair of spotlights illuminated over a nearby Simisear and Simipour.
"Prepare for trouble!" The Simisear began.
"And make it double!" The Simipour followed.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse!"
"James!"
A giant, styled magenta 'R' could be seen shining in the darkness behind them as the darkness changes to look more like space.
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
A Simisage landed in front of them.
"Meowth! That's right!" The Simisage declared triumphantly.
CUT!
Po can be seen out of the camera's sight with his fists pumped in the air. "WOOOOO! YEEEEAAAHH!" The panda cheered excitedly, his arms shaking violently from his sheer excitement.
A yellow Riolu looked up at LEGOBRICK13 blankly. "You do realize people are going to be mad about removing the 'i' in Jessie, right?"
LEGOBRICK13 waved her off. "The Simisear is male. As if I'm going to make it the female spelling when a male is doing it. Besides, the guy the humans of the TRio are named after was a dude. So technically I'm spelling it correctly."
1: Reference to the game Pokémon Conquest. Pokémon Conquest was a crossover with the game Nobunaga's Ambition. The majority of the characters are references to people from that era of real-life Japan, to which the real-life Oda Nobunaga sought to unify all of Japan. Oda Oichi was his sister, so the book is meant as a biography that somewhat depicts the main story of Conquest, only by its equivalent in this world. Ransei is actually the name of the Arceus-shaped region where the game takes place.
And if you ask me the game was an amazingly underrated masterpiece. Dynamic environments and playstyles depending on the map, a fun story, a neat art style, and overall a change of pace (man, the Unova era was just great in the game department, too bad about what happened with the anime). If you ever have the opportunity to play this game in some way, I highly suggest trying it out. The play style is a fun mixture and invokes the need to play a lot more strategically as you plan out your next move in order to win. There's a limited number of Pokémon in the game overall (only 200 including legendaries and a higher preference toward Unovan Pokémon, also Fairy Types didn't exist yet, so you can still nuke a Jigglypuff with a Dragon move), but it makes well with its limited options.
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed and feel free to comment!